(a) In any city, county, or city and county that has imposed a time limitation for occupancy of spaces in special occupancy parks, any special occupancy park owner may apply for an exemption to that limitation. The exemption shall be granted unless the city, county, or city and county makes a substantial finding that based on, but not limited to, the lack of needed overnight or tourist spaces in those special occupancy parks in the city, county, or city and county, that the exemption of the applicant’s special occupancy park from the time limitation would cause specific adverse impacts which cannot be mitigated or avoided by providing partial exemptions as set forth in subdivision (b) or by imposing conditions pursuant to subdivision (c).
(b) The requirements of subdivision (a) may be satisfied by partial exemption if either of the following applies:
(1) A number of spaces in a special occupancy park are set aside for short-term occupancy, and the remaining spaces are exempted by the city, county, or city and county from the occupancy limitation.
(2) A city, county, or city and county finds that by increasing the maximum length of stay to a specified additional period of time for the applicant, the problems raised by the applicant for an exemption are satisfied.
(c) As an alternative to granting a partial exemption pursuant to subdivision (a), in approving a request for an exemption from special occupancy park time limitations, a city, county, or city and county may:
(1) Impose conditions to assure there will be no adverse impact on local school districts due to the additional enrollment of residents of a special occupancy park.
(2) Assure that a special occupancy park is in compliance with all regulations adopted pursuant to this part.
(d) If an exemption to a time limitation for occupancy of spaces in a special occupancy park is applied for pursuant to subdivision (a) and the special occupancy park for which the exemption is requested is located within the coastal zone, as defined in Section 30103 of the Public Resources Code, the exemption shall be granted, only, if in addition to meeting the requirements set forth in subdivision (a), the city, county, or city and county finds that granting the exemption is consistent with its certified local coastal program. If granting the exemption would be inconsistent with an approved or certified local coastal program, the applicant for the exemption may petition the appropriate city, county, or city and county to seek an amendment to its certified local coastal program. If, after consultation with the California Coastal Commission, it is determined that an amendment to the certified local coastal program is required in order to grant the exemption, the city, county, or city and county may request an amendment to the certified local coastal program within 90 days of the applicant’s filing of the petition. This request may be made without regard to the limitation on the number of the amendments that can be requested during any year, pursuant to Section 30514 of the Public Resources Code. The California Coastal Commission shall certify the amendment to the local coastal program unless it finds that the certification would not be consistent with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 30200) of Division 20 of the Public Resources Code.
(Added by Stats. 2001, Ch. 434, Sec. 39. Effective January 1, 2002. Operative January 1, 2004, by Sec. 44 of Ch. 434, as amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 1038.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018