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Home My WebLink About3/5/2008 - STAFF REPORTS - 2.E. ,FALMSo V N City Council Staff Report q�rran�� DATE: March 5, 2008 CONSENT CALENDAR SUBJECT: SECOND READING AND ADOPTION OF PROPOSED ORDINANCE NO. 1737, ADDING CHAPTER 5.78 TO THE PALM SPRINGS MUNICIPAL CODE REQUIRING COMPLETION OF COURSE ON OVERSEEDING ALTERNATIVE AS A PREREQUISITE FOR ISSUANCE AND RENEWAL OF BUSINESS LICENSE TO LANDSCAPE RELATED BUSINESSES FROM: David H. Ready, City Manager BY: Office of the City Clerk SUMMARY: The City Council will consider adoption of Ordinance No. 1737. RECOMMENDATION: Waive further reading and adopt Ordinance No. 1737, "AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, ADDING CHAPTER 5.78 TO THE PALM SPRINGS MUNICIPAL CODE REQUIRING COMPLETION OF COURSE ON OVERSEEDING ALTERNATIVE AS A PREREQUISITE FOR ISSUANCE AND RENEWAL OF BUSINESS LICENSE TO LANDSCAPE RELATED BUSINESSES." STAFF ANALYSIS: At its February 20, 2008, meeting Ordinance No. 1737 was introduced by the following vote: AYES: Councilmember Hutcheson, Councilmember Mills, Councilmember Weigel, Mayor Pro Tern Foat, and Mayor Pougnet. NOES: None. ABSENT: None. This report provides for the City Council to waive further reading and adopt the ordinances. The ordinances shall be effective 30-days from adoption. J5*(/es Thompson David H. Ready, Esq., P y Clerk City Manager Attachments: Ordinance No. 1737 Item No. 2 . E . ORDINANCE NO. 1737 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, ADDING CHAPTER 5.78 TO THE PALM SPRINGS MUNICIPAL CODE REQUIRING COMPLETION OF COURSE ON OVERSEEDING ALTERNATIVE AS A PREREQUISITE FOR ISSUANCE AND RENEWAL OF BUSINESS LICENSE TO LANDSCAPE RELATED BUSINESSES. City Attorney Summary This ordinance enacts regulations on landscape related businesses that require an employee of such businesses to complete, within the previous 12 months, a two-hour course on grass overseeding, which course is to be administered by the Coachella Valley Association of Governments, and to submit proof of completion to the City prior to the issuance and/or renewal of a business license. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. FINDINGS A. The City Council finds that air quality within the Coachella Valley Is significantly impacted by the local tradition of scalping the summer (Bermuda) turfgrass in preparation for annual overseeding with rye grass each fall. B. The City Council finds that air quality is one of the most essential issues associated with public health and safety, which in turn is essential to the continued economic well-being of the Coachella Valley and to the needs of its residents. C. The City Council finds that the Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG), in partnership with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) and local stakeholders, has developed a course promoting an overseeding process whereby there is a gradual reduction of watering combined with a progressive lowering of the turf as an alternative to the traditional single- scalping operation (as described in the "Promoting Healthier Grass Re-seeding" brochure available online at www.cvaq.org). D. The City Council finds that results from a research project, "The Effect of Fall Renovation Treatments on PM10 Emissions During Raking of Debris Following Scalping of Common Bermuda grass Fairways Prior to Overseeding" performed by the University of California, Riverside's Turf Research Advisory Committee (UCRTRAC) in partnership with CVAG, Riverside County, and the Desert Hi-Lo Golf Course Superintendents Association completed in August, 2000 provides 000G 2 Ordinance No. 1737 Page 2 the Correlation for this alternative (http://ucrturf.ucr.edu). E. The City Council finds that the UCR research demonstrates the traditional turf- renovation practices can be modified and the overseeding alternative utilized without undermining the aesthetics of the resulting winter turfgrass. F. The City Council finds that the overseeding alternative does not increase the net cost of the new winter turfgrass. G. The City Council finds that the primary reason for the slow acceptance and under-utilization of the overseeding alternative in the Coachella Valley is the lack of public understanding of the merits and health benefits of the alternative- H. The City Council finds that the most efficient and effective method of promoting the overseeding alternative is to require a representative of the landscaping installation, maintenance, and design professionals and their suppliers within the City to, on an annual basis, attend a two-hour course on the topic, with said course organized by CVAG and AQMD. I. The City Council finds that the public health and safety is served by requiring completion of said course as a prerequisite for the issuance and renewal of business licenses for landscape-related businesses within the City. J. The City Council finds that a public information campaign regarding the new educational prerequisite cannot be organized in sufficient time prior to or during the scalping season and that the prerequisite will, therefore, not be enforced until September 1, 2008. SECTION 2. ADDITION OF CHAPTER 5.78 "LANDSCAPE RELATED BUSINESSES" Chapter 5.78 is hereby added to the Palm Springs Municipal Code to read as follows: Chapter 5.78 LANDSCAPE RELATED BUSINESSES Sections: 5.78.010 Purpose and intent. 5.78.020 Landscape related business defined. 5.78.030 Overseeding education requirement. 0000I3 Ordinance No. 1737 Page 3 5,78.040 Effective date. 5.78.010 Purpose and intent. The purpose and intent of this chapter is to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare by insuring that landscape related businesses operating within the City understand and appreciate the grass overseeding alternative promoted by CVAG, AQMD, and local stakeholders which eliminates the need for turf scalping, serves as an important air quality control measure, and thereby enhances the local air quality. 5.78.020 landscape related business defined. For purposes of this chapter, landscape related business means any business operating within the jurisdictional boundaries of the City of Palm Springs that provides any landscape services, including the sale of nursery products, related to or used for landscape installation, maintenance, or design. 5.78.030 Overseeding education requirement. All landscape related businesses shall be required to present with an application for business license, or the renewal of a business license, pursuant to Palm Springs Municipal Code Chapter 3.40, proof to the satisfaction of the City that at least one employee of the business has within the preceding twelve (12) month period successfully completed a two-hour course administered by the Coachella Valley Association of Governments on grass overseeding alternatives to traditional scalping. 5.78.040 Effective Date. The education and reporting requirements imposed under this chapter shall become effective on September 1, 2008. SECTION 3. SEVERABILITY If any section, subsection or clause of this ordinance shall be deemed to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the validity of the remaining section, subsection and clauses shall not be affected thereby. SECTION 4. EFFECTIVE DATE The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause the same, or the summary thereof, to be published and posted pursuant to the provisions of law, and this Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after passage. Ordinance No. 1737 Page 4 PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED THIS, DAY OF 2008. STEPHEN POUGNET, MAYOR ATTEST: JAMES THOMPSON, CITY CLERK CERTIFICATION STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE ) ss. CITY OF PALM SPRINGS ) I, JAMES THOMPSON, City Clerk of the City of Palm Springs, California, do hereby certify that Ordinance No. 1737 is a full, true, and correct copy, and was introduced at a regular meeting of the Palm Springs City Council on February 20, 2008, and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council held on March 5, 2008, by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: James Thompson, City Clerk City of Palm Springs, California O09�?�5