Rooftop decks and vacation rentals will be on the Wednesday, Sept. 5 Seal Beach Planning Commission agenda. Planners will hold four public hearings, two dealing with the rooftop deck issue and two dealing with vacation rental applications.
The commission will look at a proposed amendment to the text of the Zoning Code that would regulate the location and height of temporary items (such as umbreallas) that are allowed on rooftop decks.
Planners discussed this issue on Aug. 1 and asked staff to come back to the commission with proposed changes to the city code.Planners do not have the authority to change the city code. However, the Planning Commission may make recommendations to the City Council. Following the Sept. 5 hearing, the issue will likely be sent to the council for another public hearing.
“Roof decks are permitted in all residential zones in the city, with the exception of the RLD-15 (Bridgeport) zone,” according to an Aug. 1 staff report by Interim Community Development Director Greg Hastings.
California law says roof deck railings must not extend above the height limit for a particular zone. The height limit for homes in most parts of Seal Beach is 25-feet, or two stories. Residences may be three-stories high in the condominium complexes on the Seal Beach side of Montecito Road, a few buildings in Leisure World, the Surfside Colony and the beach side of Ocean Avenue, also known as the Gold Coast.
Planners began reexamining the rooftop deck issue at the request of the council.
On the same night that planners will look at roof deck regulations, planners will hear a request for a conditional use permit to build a covered roof access structure on Surfside Avenue.
Vacation rentals
Summer vacation may be over for Seal Beach’s school-age children, but next week planners will consider two vacation rental permit applications. One proposed vacation rental would be at 1520 Ocean Ave., and the others would be at 1215 and 1215-1/2 Seal Way.
Vacation rentals are currently regulated by an urgency ordinance that was extended for 10 months and 14 days this past May.
The ordinance limits vacation rentals to the Old Town area of the city, requires an on-site manager for multi-unit properties and requires owners to apply for a conditional use permit.
Vacation rental owners must have a business license and pay the Seal Beach bed tax, also known as the transient occupancy tax.
In May, Ellery Deaton, who represents District 1, said that vacation rentals were not legal in Seal Beach until 2011, yet Seal Beach has a tradition of vacation rentals.
