HomeMy WebLinkAboutDRB 2020-01-07 #3REPORT TO DESIGN REVIEW BOARD
SUBJECT: Preparation in advance of Annual Meeting of Design Review Board to include: a) Distribution
of Design Review Board "Rules of Order" for review before annual meeting; and b) Election of
Officers for 2020 Design Review Board meetings.
The Design Review Board (Board) is required to hold its annual meeting at their first meeting of a calendar
year. The first scheduled meeting in 2020 will be January 7, 2019. At that meeting, the Board will be
requested to elect new officers and review its "Rules of Order", in addition to reviewing design -related
agenda items.
Rules of Order
Planning staff is distributing the current Design Review Board "Rules of Order" (attached; Exhibit 1),
which were last amended and adopted Feb. 6, 2018. Between 2014 — 2018, the Board reviewed the
Rules of Order and chose to not make any changes In 2018, the Board made one minor procedural
change to the timing of the Board's questions (Page 4, Item 134). That section was modified from having
the Board hold their questions of staff, the applicant or the public until the conclusion of the public
comment period to allowing the Board to ask questions following each presentation by either staff, the
applicant or the public.
Staff does not have any areas of concern with the current rules and procedures and does not offer any
recommended changes. However, the Board can consider further modifications or request that staff
investigate possible changes. Please review the current rules and procedures and if there are any
changes that you would like to suggest or possible modifications that warrant staff research, please inform
staff before the annual meeting, so that we can research the item and provide any draft revisions at the
Annual Meeting. If we hear no suggestions for edits, we will present the current Rules of Order for
adoption `as is'.
Election of Officers for 2020
Since 2004 the Board has elected officers following a rotation schedule generally set based on
member's length of service. For 2019, Board Member Summers has been serving as Chair and Board
Member Kent has been serving as Vice Chair. Should the Board choose to continue to follow this
rotation schedule, Board Member Kent would serve as Chair in 2020 and Board Member Paul would
serve as Vice Chair. Here is the projected 5 -year rotation schedule of officers for the Board:
I Chair
Vice Chair
2020
Kent
Paul
2021
Paul
Saude
2022
Saude
Rege
2023
Rege
Summer
2024
Summer
Kent
Staff recommends the Board consider the above officer rotation and elect new officers for 2020. New
officer terms would tape effect after the next meeting.
Attachments
Exhibit 1 Current Board "Rules of Order," amended and adopted Feb. 6, 2018
DESIGN REVIEW BOARD
RULES OF ORDER
As adopted: Feb. 6, 2018
1. Authority to Adopt Rules of Order
The establishment, organization and membership of the Design Review Board are prescribed by
City of San Rafael Municipal Code (City Code), Chapter 25. These Rules of Order are hereby
adopted by the Board, as prescribed under City Code Section 14.25.070.I., to ensure conduct of
efficient and responsive meetings, and provide guidance to the Board, staff, applicants and the
general public as to how business before the Board shall be conducted.
2. Organization and Officers
A. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. A Chair and Vice -Chair shall be elected from among the
Board's membership at a regular meeting held during the month of December. It is intended that
the Chair and Vice -Chair shall be rotated among the Board based on tenure, as defined by total
years of service. The Board may establish a standing rotation of officers, based on tenure and
years between service as Chair and Vice -Chair. The rotation and new officers shall be confirmed
by majority vote of the Board at the regular meeting held for election of officers.
B. TERMS OF OFFICE. The Chair and Vice -Chair shall serve for a term of one year,
beginning the first regular meeting in January. The Vice -Chair shall serve in the absence of the
Chair, and generally shall serve as Chair in the following year.
C. PRESIDES AND POINTS OF ORDER. The Chair shall preside at all meetings, preserve order,
decide all points of order, see that all actions of the Board are properly taken, and assist staff in
determining agenda items. The following other duties shall be assigned to the office of the
Chair:
1. The Chair, with the concurrence of a majority vote of the Design Review Board, may
create such special sub -Committees as it may, from time to time, deem necessary or
desirable.
2. The Chair shall sign any formal resolutions or transmittals adopted by the majority of
the Board to the Planning Commission and City Council (as needed).
3. The Chair shall represent the Design Review Board before the City Council, if called
upon. The Chair may appoint any member to appear on his or her behalf.
4. In the event of absence or disability of the Chair, the Vice -Chair shall preside. In the
absence of both, the members shall appoint a chair for that meeting.
D. LIAISON TO STAFF. When it is deemed appropriate to do so, the Chair shall appoint one
member of the Design Review Board, or a subcommittee of up to two board members, in order to
review staff approvals of projects that have been reviewed by the Board or as otherwise requested
by the Secretary to the Board.
E. VACANCIES. Vacancies of the Board for other than expiration of term will be filled by
appointment for the un -expired portion of the term. A permanent vacancy by the Chair or Vice -
Chair shall be filled based on tenure or per the approved rotation schedule and confirmed by a
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EXHIBIT 1
vote of the Board prior to conducting business at the next regular meeting. Officer(s) elected to
serve the remainder of a partial term may be re-elected for a full-term the following year.
F. ALTERNATE MEMBER. The alternate Board member will receive all staff reports and
materials delivered to the Board, and shall sit at the dais with the Board members and Planning
Commission Liaison. When the alternate member is not acting as a regular member (i.e., filling a
vacancy created due to an absence or abstention of a regular member), the alternate may
participate in the discussion to ask questions and make suggestions to the Board for their
consideration, but will not vote or provide formal recommendations and his/her comments will
not be included in the Boards consensus items.
3. Secretary to the Board
The Community Development Director or his/her designee shall be the Secretary of the Design
Review Board. The Secretary shall prepare copies of the Design Review Board agenda and
deliver the agenda, together with any other reports, materials and communications pertaining to
the matters on the agenda, on the Fridays before the scheduled meeting. The Secretary shall
attend all meetings of the Design Review Board. The Secretary shall prepare reports and gather
such information as may be necessary for the Design Review Board to conduct its business.
4. Design Review Process
The Design Review Board offers a two-tiered review process for projects requiring a
recommendation from the Board: I.e., an informal Concept Review and a formal Design or
Decision Review. The level of review required for a project application shall be as established by
the Municipal Code or determined by the Community Development Director.
CONCEPTUAL REVIEW
The purpose of the conceptual review is to give the applicant an evaluation of the basic
design approach proposed for a project. This is typically an informal critique of the
project conducted in a workshop format. No consensus vote by the Board is required. The
applicant will work with staff to obtain a summary or access to video of the meeting
comments.
FORMAL DESIGN/DECISION REVIEW
The purpose of formal review is to evaluate a completed project application for
consistency with applicable criteria and provide a recommended action and conditions to
the decision-making body, as required (i.e., Staff, Zoning Administrator, Planning
Commission or City Council).
5. Meetings and Agendas
A. REGULAR MEETINGS. Regular meetings of the Design Review Board will be held twice
per month on Tuesdays following City Council meetings, beginning at 7:00 PM.
B. SPECIAL MEETINGS. Special meetings for any purpose may be held on the call of the
Chair or of three members of the Design Review Board. Such meetings shall be duly noticed by
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the Secretary in accordance with the provisions of City and State law. Such meetings shall be
open to the public.
C. CONTINUED MEETINGS. In the event the Board wishes to adjourn its meeting or
to a certain hour on another day, a specified date, time, and place must be set by a majority vote
of the members present, prior to the regular motion to adjourn.
D. ADJOURNED MEETINGS. The Chair shall adjourn the meeting following the conduct of all
business on the agenda.
E. PLACE OF MEETINGS. Meetings shall be held in the City Council Chamber or at another
public place in the community.
F. QUORUM. A quorum of the Design Review Board shall consist of three
members. A quorum will be necessary to conduct business.
G. MEETING AGENDA. The Secretary shall prepare and deliver an agenda at least five (5)
calendar days prior to each Design Review Board meeting.
H. AGENDA ORDER. A change in order of the Design Review Board agenda shall be
determined by the Secretary and the Chair of the Design Review Board. The listing of matters of
business shall normally be in the following order:
1. Call to Order
2. Staff and Board communications
3. Approval of Minutes
4. Consensus Items
5. Old Business
6. New Business
7. Other Board Business
8. Adjournment
6. Voting & Abstention or Disqualification
A. MAJORITY VOTE. All official recommendations and decisions by the Board shall require
a majority vote of those present at the meeting.
B. ABSTENTION/DISQUALIFICATION. An abstention on any vote shall only be allowed for a
conflict of interest by a member in accordance with the State Political Reform Act and other
applicable state law. A disqualified member shall leave the voting area prior to consideration of
the matter.
C. CHANGE OF VOTE. A member may change his or her vote after the roll has been
completed before the announcement of the result.
7. Conduct of Meetings
A. PUBLIC RECOGNIZED. NO person shall be permitted to speak unless recognized by the
Chair, who may permit persons to speak on any matter properly before the Board.
B. PROCEDURE OF PRESENTATION. Agenda Items before the Design Review Board shall be
presented and heard in the following manner:
1. Chair shall announce the agenda item. If a request for continuance is made, a motion
may be made and voted to continue the meeting to a date specified or unspecified. Re -
notice shall be required if continued to a date unspecified.
2. Presentation by staff; limited to five (5) minutes, and extended at Chair's discretion.
3. Public meeting is opened.
4. Presentation by applicant; limited to ten (10) minutes, and extended at Chair's
discretion. The Board may have questions of the applicant regarding the project
materials or applicant presentation after completion of the applicant's presentation.
5. Comments from the public, where appropriate; limited to three (3) minutes per
speaker, extended at Chair's discretion. If there are numerous speakers, the Chair may
request that a spokesperson be selected for the entire group and that comments not be
repeated.
a. All comments or questions shall be addressed through the Chair.
b. The Chair may limit the number of speakers or the time on a particular issue to
avoid unnecessary repetitive evidence.
c. Irrelevant, defamatory, or disruptive comments will be ruled out of order.
6. Questions from Board members of the applicant, staff, public or other meeting
participant, with responses by the appropriate participants.
7. Public meeting is closed.
8. The applicant may provide responses to any concerns or questions raised by the public
for benefit of the Board in its deliberation and discussion of the matter.
9. Comments on the project are made by each Board member. The Chair selects a
member to comment first, and may elect to be the last to provide comment.
a. Comments on conceptual review should focus on the over-all design approach.
b. Comments on a formal review requiring a decision by the Board will focus on
the recommendation to approve or deny the project and any conditions of
approval or design changes which the Board recommends.
10. Follow-up Discussion. Before the Board concludes its discussion and votes on the
project, the following opportunities shall be provided to the applicant and Board:
a. The applicant shall be given an opportunity to indicate willingness to make
specific changes to the project, or discuss any recommended revisions, or to
respond to questions, or to seek further clarification.
b. A Board member shall have the opportunity to consult with other Board
members, staff and meeting participants, to consider whether members wish to
revise, support, or not support any comments made based on the discussion, and
in order to reach a consensus.
11. Comments or conditions are summarized by the Secretary, and a list of the consensus
items is identified. Further discussion with the Board members may occur if needed to
finalize the list of consensus items, directed through the Chair.
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12. Vote is taken on an action requiring a formal decision or recommendation by the
Board. Staff liaison to the Board shall summarize the vote. No vote is taken on
Concept level review items.
C. OBJECTIVITY. Participants, including the public, staff, Board members and
applicants, will strive to focus comments on design matters and relate comments to issues of
consistency with established design criteria. Comment on individual design "preferences", or the
motivation or qualifications of other participants, or land use issues that will be considered by the
decision-making authority should be avoided; but recognizing that many issues are based on the
professional experience and subjective considerations of the Board members in an effort to
provide a better design. As noted above, comments by all participants shall be respectful and in a
civil manner.
D. DECISIONS / ACTIONS. The Board's comments and/or recommendations shall be recorded
as follows:
1. An action requiring a formal decision or recommendation by the Board shall be
formulated in a motion and approved by a majority vote of the members present. A
motion must be made and seconded, and may be debated prior to call of a vote on the
decision. An amended motion shall be affirmed by a second of the amended motion.
The vote will result in the following outcomes:
a. A motion shall fail due to lack of a second or a majority vote affirming the
motion.
b. If a positive recommendation is made, this will be transmitted as indicated in
Section 8.
c. If the Board does not provide a positive recommendation, the applicant may
proceed to the decision making body with a negative recommendation or may
accept a continuance for redesign to address the comments of the Board. The
applicant may re -appear before the Board two times following initial formal
review, after which time the Board will make a final positive or negative
recommendation unless. the Board, applicant and staff agree to further
continuances to address outstanding design issues.
2. On Conceptual Review matters or discussion items, a vote and decision on the project
is not made.
3. Items listed on consent do not require formal discussion, and may be acted on by
motion and vote of a majority of the members present.
8. Transmittal to City Council, Planning Commission and Zoning Administrator
Decisions on matters that are being forwarded to the Zoning Administrator, Planning
Commission and/or City Council from the Design Review Board shall include the majority
recommendation that has been affirmed by a vote of the Design Review Board.
9. Parliamentary Procedure
Robert's Rules of Order shall be followed in all cases not in conflict with these rules.
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10. Review, Amendment and Suspension of Rules
A. No rule of procedure may be suspended except by unanimous vote of those members
present. A motion to suspend the rules shall be decided without debate. Inconsistent procedure,
without objection, implies suspension. Any member may object to inconsistent procedures and
require a return to the adopted rules.
B. These Rules and Procedures shall be reviewed at the first meeting of each year to
consider any updates and assure consistency with the adopted City design criteria. The rules may
be amended at any meeting by a majority vote of the Board provided that each member has
received a notice of proposed amendments at least 5 days prior to the meeting.
Approved 02/06/18