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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1531 - ORDINANCES - 5/22/1996 ORDINANCE NO. 1531 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING THE INTERIM ZONING REGULATIONS OF ORDINANCE 1521 FOR THE CONVERSION OF EXISTING HOTEL PROPERTIES TO CONDOMINIUM-HOTELS AS HEREIN DEFINED AND ' DECLARING THE URGENCY THEREOF WHEREAS, in February of 1995, the City Council has approved three conversions of existing hotel properties to condominium ownership, which will continue functioning primarily as hotel properties (i . e . condominium-hotels) ; and WHEREAS, one of the three hotel properties approved for conversions to condominium-hotels has commenced to operate (the Ocotillo Lodge) ; and WHEREAS, the urgency ordinance currently limits condominium-hotel unit owners to 180 total days of occupancy in any calendar year in order to maintain the City' s transient occupancy tax (TOT) revenues from these properties, and in order to discourage full time residency within the condominium-hotel; and WHEREAS, the 180-day occupancy restriction has caused difficulties with regard to financing such that prospective buyers are unable to secure financing for the purchase of a condominium-hotel unit; and WHEREAS, the mandatory use of condominium-hotel units by the hotel operator for hotel usage when not in use by the unit owner has discouraged some prospective buyers; and ' WHEREAS, the property owners and the City wish to see the condominium-hotels succeed; and WHEREAS, the City and property owners have agreed upon a solution to remove the 180-day occupancy restriction and the mandatory hotel use of units, while maintaining the assurance of TOT and short term use of the condominium-hotel units; and WHEREAS, the City and the property owner, Desert Equitable, have agreed upon the removal of the above discussed restrictions to be replaced with a specific payment in lieu of TOT to be remitted to the City on a monthly basis; and WHEREAS, the City and the property owner or hotel operator will negotiate an appropriate fee in lieu of the TOT, based on what would have been collected in TOT, to be implemented and enforced through the covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC & R' s) for each individual condominium-hotel property; and WHEREAS, the City Council , on December 14 , 1994 , adopted Urgency Ordinance 1488 establishing interim zoning regulations for condominium-hotels and a definition of condominium-hotels, and on January 18 , 1995, extended the provisions of said Urgency Ordinance for ten months and 15 days and on November 15 , 1995, the Urgency Ordinance (1521) was extended for one final year; and ' WHEREAS, the City Council now wishes to amend the subject urgency ordinance by removing portions of and adding to Ordinance 1521 which will expire on November 15, 1996, pursuant to Government Code Section 65858 . NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS : 01531 Page 2 SECTION 1 . Delete a portion of Section 3 of Ordinance 1521 which �c 2 deleted portion reads as follows : "unit owners are limited to a maximum of 180 total days of occupancy in any calendar year and all units shall be available for use by the hotel operator when not occupied by the owner. " SECTION 2 . Add a new Section 4 , which defines the TOT in-lieu fee ' which .reads as follows : "TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY AND COLLECTION OF TAX - IN LIEU :PAYMENT. When the interim urgency ordinance was originally adopted, it limited occupancy for unit owners to 180 clays to encourage transient occupancy and protect the City' s revenue base which originally derived transient occupancy tax from the; hotel . This restriction has limited the ability to sell units and will. create numerous enforcement problems . In exchange for, this restriction, a provision shall be substituted providing the obligation of the owner to make a monthly payment in lieu of transient occupancy tax.. The in-lieu amount shall be included in the covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&R' s) with appropriate adjustment and enforcement mechanisms . The association shall collect the amount as an assessment and remit the same to the City in accordance with the CC&R' s . " SECTION 3 . Renumber existing Sections 4 , 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of Ordinance 1521 to numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 respectively. SECTION 4 . Revise Section 6 of Ordinance 1521 to read as follows : "TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX APPLICABLE. All condominium-hotel ' projects shall be subject to the provisions of Chapters 3 .24 and 3 . 28 of the Palm Springs Municipal Code regarding TOT. Individual owners of condominium-hotel unites are not subject to this provision when occupying actual units owned provided that the in-lieu payment is made pursuant to the CC & R' s, no additional TOT may be collected. However, by a determination made by the City, the City Council may choose to eliminate the in-lieu fee and irreversibly revert back to the collection of TOT pursuant to the Municipal Code regarding TOT. " SECTION 5 . Revise Section 9 of Ordinance 1521 to read as follows : "EXTENSION OF INTERIM REGULATIONS . This Ordinance is intended to amend the interim regulations concerning the conversion of existing hotel properties to condominium-hotels as established in Ordinance 1521 . This amended Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by at least a four-fifths vote of the City Council and shall remain in effect until November 15, 1996 . " SECTION 6 . Add a new Section 11. to Ordinance 152.1 to read as follows : "EXPIRATION. Upon the expiration of this urgency ordinance ' regulating condominium-hotels, unless additional regulations are adopted to permit condominium-hotels, such condominium- hotels shall no longer be permitted and all existing condominium-hotel properties with valid conditional use permits shall be deemed legal non-conforming uses . " SECTION 7 . Renumber Sections 10, 11 and 12 of Ordinance 1521 to numbers 11, 12 and 13 respectively. 01531 Page 3 SECTION B . URGENCY. The City Council hereby declares this Ordinance to be an urgency measure in accordance with Government Code Section 65858 . SECTION 9 . SEVERABILITY. It is the intention of the City Council that the sections, subsections, clauses and phrases of this Ordinance are severable, and if any portion of this Ordinance is ' for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remainder of the Ordinance, and the City Council would have enacted such remainder without the portion found to be invalid or unconstitutional . SECTION 10 . PUBLICATION. The City Clerk of the City of Palm Springs shall certify to the passage and adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause the same to be posted and published in the manner required by law. ADOPTED this 22nd day of May 199G . AYES : Members Barnes, Oden, Spurgin and Mayor Kleindienst NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: Member Hodges ATTEST: CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA By J c_ ,rk 2 City Clerk Mayor REVIEWED AND APPROVED I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT the foregoing Ordinance 1531 was duly adopted by the City Council of the City of Palm Springs, California, in a meeting held on the 22nd day of May, 1996, and that same was duly published in the DESERT SUN, a newspaper of general circulation on May 28, 1996. JUDITH SUMICH City Clerk IC 3