REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION MEETING DATE: MAY 12, 2020 TITLE: CERTIFY THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE INITIATIVE MEASURE TO REMOVE CEMETERY, MAUSOLEUM, CREMATORY, FUNERAL HOME, AND MORTUARY USES ("CEMETERY USES") FROM THE LIST OF ALLOWABLE USES WITHIN THE ORANGE COUNTY GREAT PARK AND MOST OF THE SURROUNDING LAND , AND TO CREATE A NEW ZONING DESIGNATION FOR THE APPROXIMATELY 125.5 ACRES OF CITY­ OWNED LAND NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF PUSAN AND IRVINE BOULEVARD WHERE CEMETERY USES WILL BE PERMITTED; AND CONSIDER ACTIONS (1) TO ADOPT THE INITIATIVE ORDINANCE, (2) TO ADOPT RESOLUTIONS SUBMITTING THE INITIATIVE ORDINANCE TO THE VOTERS AT THE NOVEMBER 3, 2020 GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION , OR (3) ORDER A REPORT ON THE EFFECT OF THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE ON MUNICIPAL OPERATIONS; * AND CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST BY MAYOR SHEA TO DISCUSS A CITY COUNCIL SPONSORED INITIATIVE MEASURE AFFIRMING VETERANS CEMETERY SITE SELECTION City Manager RECOMMENDED ACTION 1) Approve Certificate of Sufficiency of Initiative Petition executed by the City Clerk for the Initiative Petition to Rezone The Amended and Restated Development Agreement Site for Cemetery Uses. 2) Adopt the initiative ordinance, without alteration, and introduce for first read ing and read by title only - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING AN INITIATIVE PETITION THAT WILL REMOVE CEMETERY USES FROM THE LIST OF ALLOWABLE USES WITHIN THE ORANGE COUNTY GREAT PARK AND MOST OF THE SURROUNDING LAND , AND CREATE A NEW ZONING DESIGNATION FOR THE APPROXIMATELY 125.5 ACRES OF CITY-OWNED LAND NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF PUSAN AND IRVINE BOULEVARD WHERE CEMETERY USES WILL BE PERMITTED OR City Council Meeting May 12, 2020 Page 2 3) Submit the initiative ordinance, without alteration, to the voters at the November 3, 2020 General Municipal Election and adopt the following resolutions: (i) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, CALLING FOR THE HOLDING OF A GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2020, FOR THE ELECTION OF CERTAIN OFFICERS AS REQUIRED BY THE PROVISIONS OF THE CITY CHARTER AND FOR THE SUBMISSION TO THE VOTERS A QUESTION RELATING TO THE REMOVAL OF CEMETERY USES FROM THE LIST OF ALLOWABLE USES WITHIN THE ORANGE COUNTY GREAT PARK AND MOST OF THE SURROUNDING LAND, AND CREATION OF A NEW ZONING DESIGNATION FOR THE APPROXIMATELY 125.5 ACRES OF CITY-OWNED LAND NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF PUSAN AND IRVINE BOULEVARD WHERE CEMETERY USES WILL BE PERMITTED (ii) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, REQUESTING THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE COUNTY OF ORANGE TO CONSOLIDATE A GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 3, 2020, WITH THE STATEWIDE GENERAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON THE DATE PURSUANT TO § 10403 OF THE ELECTIONS CODE (iii) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, SETTING PRIORITIES FOR FILING (A) WRITTEN ARGUMENT(S) REGARDING A CITY MEASURE AND DIRECTING THE CITY ATTORNEY TO PREPARE AN IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS (iv) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, PROVIDING FOR THE FILING OF REBUTTAL ARGUMENTS FOR CITY MEASURES SUBMITTED AT MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS OR 4) Order a report on the effect of the proposed initiative on municipal operations in accordance with Elections Code section 9212; and direct staff to return with the report at the City Council meeting on June 9, 2020, at which time the City Council must take one of the actions described in 2 or 3 above. AND 5) * City Council discussion and direction on a request by Mayor Shea to discuss a City Council sponsored initiative measure affirming Veterans Cemetery site selection. City Council Meeting May 12, 2020 Page 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The petition for the initiative titled “AN INITIATIVE MEASURE TO REMOVE CEMETERY, MAUSOLEUM, CREMATORY, FUNERAL HOME, AND MORTUARY USES (“CEMETERY USES”) FROM THE LIST OF ALLOWABLE USES WITHIN THE ORANGE COUNTY GREAT PARK AND MOST OF THE SURROUNDING LAND, AND TO CREATE A NEW ZONING DESIGNATION FOR THE APPROXIMATELY 125.5 ACRES OF CITY- OWNED LAND NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF PUSAN AND IRVINE BOULEVARD WHERE CEMETERY USES WILL BE PERMITTED” (Cemetery Initiative) was filed in the City Clerk's Office on March 17, 2020. To be accepted for filing, the petition must contain signatures of at least ten percent of the number of registered voters as of the Orange County Registrar's (Registrar) last official report of registration to the Secretary of State effective at the time the Notice of Intention to Circulate Petition was published by the proponents. After conducting a prima facie review of the petition on March 17-18, the City Clerk found the Cemetery Petition to contain the requisite number of signatures and accepted the Cemetery Petition for filing and signature verification. Rather than use a random sampling technique, every signature was counted up until the point where, after removing invalid signatures, a sufficient number of valid signatures was counted (City Clerk Certification - Attachment 1). Subsequent to the posting of the agenda on April 30, staff requested that the Registrar provide an updated petition result breakdown, consisting of a full count of all petition signatures (Revised City Clerk Certification - Attachment 1a). The City Council is required to certify the sufficiency of the initiative petition at its regular meeting immediately following the Registrar's signature verification. The City Council must then consider one of the following actions: a) adopt the initiative ordinance, without alteration; b) adopt a resolution submitting the initiative ordinance, without alteration, to the voters at the November 3, 2020 General Municipal Election; or c) order a report on the effect of the initiative ordinance on municipal operations. If the City Council takes action to order a report, staff is required to present the report to the City Council no later than its meeting on June 9, 2020. Following consideration of the report, the City Council would be required to either adopt the initiative ordinance, without alteration, or adopt a resolution placing the initiative ordinance, without alteration, on the November 3, 2020 ballot. Also related to Veterans Cemetery siting, on May 5, 2020 Mayor Shea submitted the memorandum provided as Attachment 6, requesting consideration of a City Council sponsored initiative to confirm the Golf Course Site as the location for the Veterans Cemetery and to confirm that only small scale retail, park and open space uses will occur on the ARDA Site. COMMISSION/BOARD/COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION Not applicable. City Council Meeting May 12, 2020 Page 4 ANALYSIS Circulation of the Petition and Verification of Signatures On August 12, 2019, proponent Larry A. Agran, filed a Notice of Intention to Circulate Petition for the purpose of qualifying the Cemetery Initiative. Concurrently, the proponent filed a request that the City Attorney prepare a ballot title and summary, not exceeding 500 words, as required by statute. On September 5, 2019, Mr. Agran withdrew the filing and re-submitted a revised version of the Cemetery Initiative and again, requested the City Attorney prepare a ballot title and summary (Attachment 2). The ballot title and summary was filed by the City Attorney on September 19, 2019. The summary of the initiative is as follows: If approved by a majority of the voters in Irvine voting on the measure, the initiative would remove cemetery uses, mausoleum, crematory, funeral home, and mortuary uses (“Cemetery Uses”) from the list of conditionally permitted uses within both the Orange County Great Park and within the “8.1 Trails and Transit Oriented Development” zoning district that surrounds most of the Orange County Great Park. The initiative would also amend the Irvine General Plan and create a new zoning district, to be known as the “Veterans Memorial Park and Cemetery District.” The new zoning district would apply to the approximately 125.5 acres of City-owned land near the intersection of Pusan and Irvine Boulevard known as the “ARDA Transfer Site,” and would allow for development of Cemetery Uses and other uses. Specifically, the initiative would: 1. Create a new “9.1 Veterans Memorial Park and Cemetery” zoning designation and change the Irvine General Plan to allow that new zoning designation within Planning Area 51, which is the portion of the City containing the Orange County Great Park and surrounding privately and publicly owned lands. 2. Remove Cemetery Uses from the list of conditionally permitted uses in both the 1.9 Orange County Great Park zoning district, and the 8.1 Trails and Transit Oriented Development zoning district that applies to most of the land surrounding the Orange County Great Park. City Council Meeting May 12, 2020 Page 5 3. Rezone the ARDA Transfer Site, which is outside of but adjacent to the Orange County Great Park, from 8.1 Trails and Transit Oriented Development to 9.1 Veterans Memorial Park and Cemetery. Permitted uses on the ARDA Transfer Site would include: caretakers quarters; Cemetery Uses; information center; parks (including for recreational use); public park facility; and a newly-created use called “state veterans cemetery.” Conditionally permitted uses on the ARDA Transfer Site would include community facility; composting facility; concrete recycling facilities; government facility; maintenance facilities and structures; manufactured structures, nonresidential; and manufactured structure permit (up to two years). Conditionally permitted uses, other than community facilities, would be allowed either in conjunction with the demolition, removal, and recovery of existing buildings structures and landscaping, or in conjunction with the construction and operation of a veterans memorial park and cemetery. 4. Create a new “District Character” applicable to the ARDA Transfer Site indicating that the property is the location for a veterans memorial park and cemetery (with minor institutional or commercial uses ancillary and related to cemetery use), and describing allowable building, landscaping, and perimeter design characteristics.