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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSPJT Minutes 1997-05-29SRCC/P1 Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 1 IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, 1400 FIFTH AVENUE, SAN RAFAEL, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 1997, 7:30 PM Special Joint Annual Meeting: San Rafael City Council/ Planning Commission Present: CITY COUNCIL Present: PLANNING COMMISSION: Albert J. Boro, Mayor Ann Batman, Chair Paul M. Cohen, Councilmember Jim Atchison, Commissioner Barbara Heller, Councilmember Jeff Kirchmann, Commissioner Cyr. N. Miller, Councilmember Bruce Scott, Commissioner John Starkweather, Commissioner Marilyn Williams, Commissioner Absent: Gary O. Phillips, Councilmember Absent: Richard O'Brien, Commissioner Others Present: Rod Gould, City Manager Robert J. Pendoley, Planning Director Sheila Delimont, Principal Planner Linda Jackson, Associate Planner Nimat Shakoor-Grantham, Code Enforcement Officer SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL/PLANNING COMMISSION ANNUAL MEETING - File 9-2-6 x 9-1 Mayor Boro opened the meeting and thanked the Planning Commissioners and City Council Members for attending. He then turned the meeting over to Planning Commission Chair Ann Batman. AN) 4Ia*- to) kWOR) 4I4Lei kMKo.,4WO to) kKs Chair Batman reported that a new group has been formed, Friends of Dominican, in addition to the other group of Dominican neighbors who have been active in the negotiations. Ms. Batman stated she will report back on their progress. URGENT COMMUNICATIONS: None 1. Status Report. Director Pendoley reported on the recent trends in Planning, and the drop in Use Permits beginning in 1991 when the new Zoning Ordinance was adopted, which resulted in streamlining of the procedures. One feature was not renewing a Use Permit if there had been no problems during its duration. He analyzed permit trends during the period 1988 to 1996, as explained in the staff report, and noted that in 1989 we had five professional planners and today, with a staff of three, Planners Bell, Patterson and Tuikka, the workload is kept current. He added they have also streamlined the Design Review process. Commissioner Starkweather stated he had raised a question at a recent meeting, when the Commission was working on a subdivision with a Negative Declaration. There was no EIR (Environmental Impact Report) involved because of the cooperation of the developer in mitigation issues. Commissioner Kirchmann had mentioned that the project had been before the Design Review Board (DRB) approximately eight times, and he did not want to ask for items which had not been requested in the previous hearings. Commissioner Starkweather stated he felt that when a project has proceeded in that fashion the developer must feel he has some sort of entitlement and is not open to basic issues. The DRB does cover all aspects, but are principally concerned with design, and they should operate within their guidelines and not go into the other issues. Commissioner Atchison agreed with the remark about the developers feeling they have an entitlement in such cases. Commissioner Starkweather stated the DRB should move the projects along and not have a lot of "to and fro". Commissioner Kirchmann stated that from the DRB meetings he has attended, it seems that most of the projects go back three or four times, and most of those times the applicants are not responding to the recommendations of the DRB, and it is not because of a lack of direction from the DRB. Councilmember Cohen stated he could see where the Commission feels a sense of obligation to move a project through, but there is a problem when people are not responding to the DRB comments. It might be that it is an extremely difficult site. He added that the DRB has done quite a bit of streamlining to move the projects through. His concern is that the Commission addresses different issues than the DRB. Commissioner Starkweather stated that some of the issues could make a real change in a project. Chair Batman stated that SRCC/ Pl. Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 1 SRCC/P1 Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 2 the Commission should "stick to our guns" and not be afraid to say that a project is not good enough. Commissioner Williams stated that a project can be changed so many times in the DRB that any change the Commission wants would compromise it. Commissioner Starkweather stated it works well when the designer treats the DRB 's directions as helpful comments from his peers. Mayor Boro asked if the staff report could focus the Commission on how many times a project has been before the DRB, and also focus the Council on that issue? He noted that sometimes it will be the first time the Council has seen a project, but it has been in the process for a long time. He felt the staff report should set the tone. Director Pendoley responded that in the project first referred to, the developer was told the first day to expect an EIR, but he wanted to try for a Negative Declaration. They were told they would be working with the DRB, but that the Planning Commission had to make a decision regarding a Negative Declaration or an EIR. It was explained to the developers that the City Council acts in response to the Planning Commission's work. Chair Batman stated we should not be intimidated, even if something has to go back again. Councilmember Cohen questioned how often the Commission would have a problem with design issues? He noted that the DRB approaches have a different perspective; however, some issues overlap. Chair Batman explained there have been site plans where the Commission is not happy with what has come through the DRB. Commissioner Atchison stated he can see more being done with opening meetings such as last Tuesday (Macy's project); he sees a real value in that type of meeting. Commissioner Kirchmann noted that the DRB has streamlined their process over the last couple of years. Mayor Boro remarked that whatever you put up today will be here for at least 100 years and we should be completely satisfied, just so our requirements are not unreasonable. Councilmember Miller noted that people who have had problems with the DRB in the past are feeling a lot better now. Mayor Boro agreed, adding that the Chamber of Commerce is now very satisfied with the DRB. Councilmember Cohen stated that sometimes people come to the Commission with a design issue on which the DRB has already done its work. He asked about the amount of public input at DRB meetings, and Commissioner Kirchmann explained there is a tremendous amount of public input at the DRB meetings. Councilmember Cohen stated we should avoid "whipsawing" applicants. 2. Department Reorganization 3. Community Development City Manager Rod Gould spoke about plans for reorganization to form a new Community Development Department. He stated that since coming to San Rafael he has done a lot of studying and talking with staff, commissions and business groups, and also reading independent surveys. He also observed the various departments' functions and capacities. Although San Rafael's development processing is probably the best in Marin County, it can be improved. He noted that the Building and Planning activities are staffed by dedicated and professional employees; however, the process for the public has been cumbersome. The public, who are our "customers" felt very confused with the process, going from one area to another when processing a project. They do not understand how the process works. Also, there is not always good communications between the departments. City Manager Gould stated that the Community Development concept is working very well in a number of other cities in California, and has been in use for at least two decades. He reported that in February he commenced a series of meetings with staff, to ask City employees who were working at the front counters and in the processing, if they felt the new system would work. They agreed it would, and we have since had a series of workshops. He stated he is certain that the Planning Commission is aware of the professionalism of the Planning Department staff, who were hard hit by the recent cutbacks, and have been performing efficiently and handling a heavy workload. The staff agreed that this type of reorganization, which is called "One -Stop permit processing", would operate much more efficiently. He explained that the applicant does not have to go to several people to get things done, but would go to one counter, and a lot of the processing can be done right at the counter. A lot of the coordination would be done behind the scenes, but would require a lot less of the applicant. Also, the physical set-up is confusing for the public, with SRCC/ Pl. Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 2 SRCC/P1 Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 3 three counters facing them as they come through the door. He stated that if we changed the floor plan and reorganized how we present ourselves to the public, we could do better. We could avail ourselves of information systems technology and share it throughout the department. Mr. Gould suggested there would be opportunities for cross -training, whereby the building officials would know more about what the planners do, and vice versa. In that way they could be of more assistance to one another. He listed the functions to be under one organizational roof: 1) Current Planning; 2) Advance Planning; 3) Transportation Planning; 4) Land Development; 5) Building Inspection; 6) Code Enforcement; 7) Counter Technicians; and 8) Clerical and Information Services. He noted the department would have close links with Redevelopment, Public Works, Fire Department, and Police Department. The plan was presented to the City Council and they said it is worth trying. Since that time there have been additional meetings with staff, and Mr. Gould stated he senses there is a greater comfort level among the players, and he is optimistic about the plan. Mr. Gould explained the necessity for outside recruitment for a Director of Community Development position. He stated that even if you have in-house candidates, it is advisable to test the market. Also, given the organizational change, it might be easier for someone coming from the outside to effect that change. The Council authorized a professional recruiter. Mr. Gould noted that Director Pendoley was asked to apply for the position, but he respectfully declined at this time. Mr. Gould stated that during his eleven months with the City he has come to admire and respect Mr. Pendoley's work with the City. He stated he realizes the large projects which have been coming before the City, necessitating numerous night meetings and expertise, and he appreciates Mr. Pendoley's work, as well as the Planning staff. He stated that if the City Council is not fully convinced that we have a candidate who is a perfect match for this City and the future challenges of Community Development, he would recommend that we go back to Mr. Pendoley and ask him to continue his service to the City of San Rafael. He reported that at this point there have been 54 applications, and the recruiter is spending the next few weeks interviewing 17 of the applicants. There will be 6 to 10 for the first round of interviews at City level. The Council has authorized a panel to do those interviews, consisting of a member of the City Council, a member of the Planning Commission, a couple of department directors, a couple of representatives from the City employees, perhaps a representative of the business community, and our City Attorney, who would evaluate the 6 to 10 applicants and recommend 2 or 3 to come before the City Council for in-depth interview and final selection. He expects that the round of interviews at City level would take place during the third week of June, and it would be a great help if the City Council and Planning Commission would let him know in the next week or so who their representatives will be. He will try to find a date for the interviews which will be mutually acceptable for everyone. He stated he is excited about the concept for the new department, and there will be many challenges ahead, such as the updating of the General Plan and some large projects coming up. 4. Report on Long Range Planning Activities Mr. Pendoley introduced Associate Planner Linda Jackson, who first spoke of the Vision for North San Rafael. With the overhead, she explained the Vision process, stating there have been 9 community workshops completed, and on June 5th they will be beginning the work of reaching consensus on values and goals, and writing the document. She reported that on July 24th there will be an Open House; on September 20th there will be a Community Workshop on Implementation; and in October a presentation to the City Council. Ms. Jackson noted that the group also participated in having a reception for the new Police Chief at Terra Linda Recreation Center. Ms. Jackson then reported on the Canal Voice project, stating that the conversation part was completed recently, with over 300 people participating, and many community volunteers helped to facilitate and record the discussions. They formed four action teams, which Ms. Jackson described on the overhead: 1) Farmers' Market, which hopefully will start in July and be at Pickleweed; 2) Canal bridge and ferry (researching the possibilities; 3) Retail/Service Zoning - people wanted more shopping opportunities; and 4) List of stores people would like to see, new tenants in Marin Square. Ms. Jackson stated they would like to allow some neighborhood -serving retail uses in the industrial offices, which at present are not allowed in the General Plan, but be close enough to allow people to walk to them. People are concerned about parking, so they would like the stores within walking distance; they would have to be on the ground floor. They are looking at a conservative time SRCC/ Pl. Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 3 SRCC/P1 Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 4 frame, and hope to have public hearings in August. Mayor Boro noted that there is Lee's Market. He pointed out that in the past a number of chains have looked at the site, and there is not enough market in the Canal area for a chain store. He asked if we could expand Marin Square rather than look for another site? Ms. Jackson responded that the stores going in are locally owned. Mr. Pendoley noted that the Azteca Market is locally owned and very successful, and they now have a store Downtown and one at the Harbor Center. The small business of that type just needs 1,000 square feet to get started. Mayor Boro asked about a mall in the vicinity of Lee' s Market. Ms. Jackson responded that the residents in the Canal west of Kerner Boulevard said it is too far to walk to shopping. The market is a definite market, but people want to make small purchases without having to take a bus to Thrifty, for instance. Councilmember Cohen asked if the focus should be on trying to create a venue, or let the small businesses open throughout the area? Perhaps a number of small uses may point the way to a redevelopment project. He stated he realizes we are not going to get a traditional market like Safeway, and perhaps we should look at a small redevelopment project opening up a number of small spaces. Ms. Jackson stated they drove around looking for a street where they could change the zoning, and did not find one, but we would have to let the market decide. If we change the zoning, the people will go there. Commissioner Atchison stated we might want to include some thought process for filling the industrial spaces. If we did that, we would have to allow businesses to go somewhere else. Chair Batman suggested we might open up areas in the Canal which would be appropriate. Councilmember Miller stated this can be successful if there is even more input from the community. The impact of Canal Voice is just beginning to emerge out there, and will probably move slowly at first. The strategy to open up areas as discussed is good. These market areas are minority-owned businesses. If we could work with these markets and help them learn how to market their products out there, they could move up readily without spending money on redevelopment. He noted that the bowling alley is a huge piece of property, and the Pac Bell area is also a site with possibilities. The concept is to make it an incubator. Everyone is behind that concept. The major thing is if you find the common value; bind the ties; do it from smaller places and people are not antagonistic. He added we need to have someone who really knows community development to give us help on this, and show us how to move ahead. He stated he does not see that on our staff. Mayor Boro agreed we need that, and once we have something more definitive maybe we can see if we can get someone in. Chair Batman stated we need an analysis. Mayor Boro pointed out there are the traffic and parking analyses, which are important factors. Councilmember Cohen added a note of caution to be analyzed very carefully in the zoning, in the matter of opening other opportunities somewhere else in town. If we throw the zoning wide open it would be a disaster, and we must think of locations for the industrial uses. He stated there are sites where it could be done without a problem, such as the ones mentioned by Councilmember Miller. That needs to be part of the analysis. Commissioner Scott noted that the City' s focus would be helping the people misplaced by the economic forces, rather than having store after store. Councilmember Miller noted that the smaller businesses along Kerner Boulevard are being filled up. Mr. Pendoley pointed out we have to look at the priorities. He noted that ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) has had a terrific impact - you cannot rent a building in the entire area; they have options. Also, they are going to stay there. Commissioner Starkweather suggested looking at the short term goals. Ms. Jackson showed on the overhead that the Planning Commission was established in 1959, and read its Mission Statement. She noted that the General Plan was last updated in 1988. The population of San Rafael is now 53,427. She noted that the State says a General Plan should be updated every 8 to 10 years. She noted a number of General Plan revisions which have been adopted in the interim, such as goals the Council set for itself, fiscal management policies, and along range plan for Falkirk Cultural Center. These should be incorporated in the next revision to the General Plan. Others should be the Land Use/Circulation Element for North San Rafael, and the Housing Element, which is due for revision by State law in 1999. It is almost time to update the various neighborhood plans throughout San Rafael. SRCC/ P1. Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 4 SRCC/P1 Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 5 Ms. Jackson concluded by stating that Mr. Pendoley will be giving a presentation on Land Use/Circulation consistency. A NEW LAND USE/TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT STRATEGY Mr. Pendoley explained that City Manager Gould had asked for the paper which is in the packets regarding new Land Use/Traffic Management strategy. One thing it points up is that it is necessary to look at our General Plan right now. He pointed out that this is a focused review, and only on the Land Use and Traffic Management issues. He stated there is a tangle of difficult and hard to understand regulations with regard to these issues. Another concern is that in some cases we have driven the allowed intensity to a low level, which is not responsive to our economic development needs. We do not need the PPP (Priority Projects Procedure) in order to maintain LOS (Level of Service) D. He explained that three intersections are involved in the PPP, the Lucas Valley/101, Freitas Interchange, and Bellam Interchange. No further development is planned in the Lucas Valley/101 interchange service area except for the Daphne property. Mr. Pendoley referred to the likely outcomes of the Vision for North San Rafael. He is confident that proposed signalization of the Freitas Interchange will handle the build -out that will be proposed by the North San Rafael Vision. Finally, on June 2nd the Council will receive a proposed "fix" for traffic in East San Rafael that will accommodate General Plan build -out without PPP. Commissioner Starkweather agreed with the assessment of the PPP, stating that by eliminating it, it would allow decisions to be made at any time, and not have to wait for the next round of PPP. Mayor Boro stated he agrees with the comments regarding North San Rafael, but he is not sure about the Bellam Interchange. He stated we know we have a lot of uses there, and if they happen and the untapped spaces are already constrained, there might be a problem. It could work in the Canal where there are spaces which could be filled. Mr. Pendoley explained that we have a much more effective and understandable traffic model with seconds of delay instead of critical moves. That will allow us to assess that problem. Mayor Boro stated the real bottom line is, how are people reacting to traffic from the Home Depot? He is told they are very successful and have a lot of traffic, but the traffic seems to be flowing. Councilmember Cohen stated one concern in this paper is a sentence on Page 2, which states, "The problem stems from the very high priority given to managing congestion and the approach taken to achieve this priority". He stated if we have a new approach we should deal with that; his concern is with the first clause, and that would put less priority on managing congestion. He noted that quality of life is very important. We need to deal with congestion, and should continue to make it a high priority. If we can deal with capacity on paper and then deal with these, that is fine, but if we do not deal with traffic congestion at the intersections we will have failed. He asked how staff proposes to use this as a vehicle to fund the intersection improvements? He noted regarding the Freitas Interchange, if we take the airport off the map for development potential that is good, but if the Freitas Interchange is going to cost $6 million, everyone will have to start thinking now where the money will come from. He stated we could do it, but we should not leave future concerns, and some future Commission or Council will have to turn their backs on future development because of our actions. Mr. Pendoley responded that under the present rules we cannot approve any more development in East San Rafael until we build the intersection; this blocks our ability to collect the fees that would build the improvements. He stated that based on preliminary studies on Freitas, with taking the airport and COSTCO off the map, with the signals as discussed by the Council, we have the capacity to handle build -out. He asked as a hypothetical case, would they be interested in a better office campus opportunity on the 10 acre Fairchild site? He stated the City must consider whether it needs a timing policy or not. Would they want to create more opportunity at a couple of other places in town? There could be a simpler policy than PPP, such as "first come, first served". Mayor Boro stated we have to think of the end result we want to achieve. Funds at State and Federal level were available at the time for the Freitas project. The money was tied up and that is when the LOS concept was developed. He noted there is so much unused land in the Canal, but he does not know about the "first come, first served" approach. We might get the wrong proposal. Mr. Pendoley stated in this new modeling process that question might be answered. Mayor Boro stated he hopes it is as user friendly as the one Public Works Director Bernardi brought out last week. SRCC/ P1. Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 5 SRCC/P1 Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 6 Councilmember Cohen mentioned the lap top system set up in Gerstle Park, which was very successful. Regarding "first come, first served", he stated that as the system is refined it would be appropriate for the City to use incentives. The problem with PPP was the lack of incentives for office space for large corporations. We should create an incentive for high tech office campuses. He stated the community has a right to allocate traffic capacities. The office campus versus COSTCO is a clear example. Clearly people would want an office campus rather than a big box. It is valid for the City to do something other than "first come, first served", but we should preserve the ability to do that. Mr. Pendoley noted that some of the best results are obtained with incentives. Hundreds of units of affordable housing and the Toys 'R Us complex resulted from incentives in PPP. Height bonuses make Fair, Isaac possible. Those have to be done cautiously and carefully. Chair Batman noted this could be the focus of the General Plan update. Commissioner Starkweather stated we have to have some time period in which you propose and promote new development, rather than just "first come, first served". There is a better way to do it than the PPP. Chair Batman asked if we will be hearing more about this in the General Plan review, and Mr. Pendoley assured her they will. Commissioner Atchison stated it would be helpful to have meeting workshops as a Commission so they are ready when it gets underway. 5. Report on Code Enforcement Mr. Pendoley introduced the new Code Enforcement Officer, Nimat Shakoor-Grantham, whom he said had ten years experience in Gilroy. She is a Certified Building Inspector. He then introduced Florie Robnette, who is bi-lingual and speaks fluent Spanish, and is working the Canal area; and Dan Fink, formerly of the Santa Rosa Police Department, who is working in the rest of San Rafael. Mr. Pendoley noted the Issue Paper on Code Enforcement which is included in the packets, and explains in detail the functions. He added Code Enforcement has been understaffed for some time, and he is delighted to now have such an experienced staff. Ms. Shakoor-Grantham gave a detailed description of the Code Enforcement program, and explained their ability to collect fines, which was a difficult problem in the past. She explained the system of levying fines, and the system for issuing citations. There will be a Hearing Officer as needed for the purpose of conducting a hearing when it is necessary regarding a fine. In response to a question regarding whether the administrative hearing would be a public hearing, Mr. Pendoley explained it will be public, and it is up to the Hearing Officer to decide whether anyone is allowed to testify. Councilmember Miller stated he has had experiences with all three of the new Code Enforcement staff, and he was impressed by their teamwork, thoroughness, and evaluations. Ms. Shakoor- Grantham related experiences with some of the apartment buildings they have been inspecting in the Canal area, and explained how some of their complex problems have ben solved. Commissioner Williams noted there was one problem area which involved a number of people living in crowded conditions and causing many incidents. Since Code Enforcement visited the site, there are now just a few people living there, and there are not more domestic violence calls. Mr. Pendoley thanked the Council and Commission for this opportunity to discuss the department's operations, and to introduce the new Code Enforcement Officer and staff. He then proceeded to introduce the balance of the Planning staff who were seated in the audience. Councilmember Cohen thanked everyone, and stated he appreciates the work of the Planning Commission, which is a necessary part of making the City the wonderful place that it is. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:45 PM. SRCC/ P1. Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 6 SRCC/P1 Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 7 ROBERT J. PENDOLEY, Secretary Clerk For: JEANNE M. LEONCINI, City Clerk APPROVED THIS DAY OF MAYOR OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL REGINA A. BUCHANAN, Deputy City 1997 SRCC/ P1. Comm. MINUTES (Special Annual) 5/29/97 Page 7