Mayor & Commission Meetings

LEGISLATIVE REVIEW COMMITTEE Thursday, April 4, 2024 City Hall Conference Room 301B Committee Members Present: Committee Members Absent: Commissioner Carol Myers, Chair Commissioner John Culpepper Commissioner Jesse Houle Commissioner Ovita Thornton Commissioner Allison Wright Staff: Niki Jones, Assistant Manager Sherrie Hines, Deputy Chief Attorney Tim Griffeth, Transportation & Public Works Courtney Davis, Senior Attorney Sarah George, Recorder Rani Katreeb, Transportation & Public Works Commissioner Myers called the meeting to order at 1:02 p.m. A. Approval of Minutes: Commissioner Houle made a motion to approve the March 7, 2024 minutes and reaffirm the approval of the February 1, 2024 minutes. Commissioner Wright seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. B. Public Input: There was none. Commission Identified Items of Interest: C. Revise the ACC smoking ordinance, using recommendations from the American Heart Association as a model Assistant Manager Jones provided a summary of past discussion. He shared that the American Heart Association proposed a draft, which expands upon state law to be more restrictive including banning smoking in private clubs, hotels, restaurants, bars, etc. He noted that state law does allow local jurisdictions to pass local ordinances regarding smoking that are more restrictive than the state law, but it does state that they can only do so if they are not in direct conflict with a specific chapter. He shared that he would defer to the Attorney’s Office, but the draft provided would attempt to override the exemptions listed in this very specific chapter. Assistant Manager Jones explained that the American Heart Association noted that, in order for us to be designated as a smoke-free city, Athens-Clarke County would have to remove the exemption in section 4-3-5(a)(5), smoking area designated by employer or banquet or meeting rooms. Commissioner Wright shared that she would prefer more time to absorb the topic and discuss it further when more members of the Committee are present. Commissioner Myers explained that there were a few places in the draft ordinance analysis that note elements that may “comply” or “partially conflict”; Commissioner Myers suggested moving discussion to employee break rooms and then discuss “comply” or “partially conflict” items. Deputy Chief Attorney Hines explained that the presentation from the American Heart Association at the last meeting recommended removing exemption subsection five, which would allow for internal smoking employee break rooms; she explained that our subsection five is  broader than that and combines two exemptions listed in state law. Our section 4-3-5(a)(5) exempts not just employee break rooms but also banquet or meeting rooms being used in private events where there is no one under of the age of 18. Deputy Chief Attorney Hines requested clarification from the Committee on, if they do want to pursue the American Heart Association proposal, whether or not they would want to remove everything exempted in 4-3- 5(a)(5) or if they would prefer to only remove the references to employee break rooms. Commissioner Myers explained that the Committee would need further clarification as to whether or not the American Heart Association would still deem Athens-Clarke County as a smoke free city if we had an exemption for banquet or meeting rooms being used in private events. Commissioner Houle explained that, after reviewing examples from other jurisdictions, it appears that, in practice, there are many localities being more restrictive than state law. They shared that they would feel more comfortable moving forward more of what the American Heart Association is encouraging us to remove from our exemptions. Commissioner Houle suggested removing the exemption for hotel/motel rooms and also removing exemptions four, which exempts private and semiprivate rooms in health care facilities that meet certain criteria, and five; they recommended moving the exemption for banquet or meeting rooms to fall under exemption six. In reviewing 4- 3-2 and 4-3-3, it was not clear to them if smoking would also be prohibited in festival zones; they expressed interest in including explicit language to prohibit smoking in outdoor festival zones. Commissioner Wright noted that gaining the designation of a smoke-free city is not a high priority for her. Commissioner Myers requested staff prepare draft language to remove the exemption for employee break rooms for Committee consideration at the next meeting if the American Heart Association clarifies that Athens-Clarke County would be eligible for designation as a smoke-free City with the removal of that exemption alone. The Committee can then decide if they would like to move forward with removing only the employee break room exemption, Commissioner Houle’s recommendations for modifications, or if they would like to pass it out of Committee with no action. Commissioner Houle inquired as to whether smoking was prohibited in festival zones under the language of section 4-3-2 and, if it is not, would it be possible to add festival zones to the exclusion. Deputy Chief Attorney Hines explained that she would need to research it further to ensure there was not another legal issue that she is not considering and would defer to the Manager’s Office; however, she would anticipate the greatest challenge would be in enforcement if there are no other legal concerns. Commissioner Myers requested staff discuss this further and bring back their findings at the next meeting. D. Review and update Neighborhood Traffic Management Program- Voluntary Residential Traffic Management Process Assistant Manager Jones introduced the topic, and he shared that previously the Legislative Review Committee discussed, and the Mayor and Commission subsequently approved, the publicly-funded Residential Traffic Management Program. The Committee will now be discussing and considering the voluntary portion of this program, the self-funded traffic calming process. Rani Katreeb shared a draft version of the Voluntary Residential Traffic Management policy; he noted that it is a standalone policy but is complimentary to the Residential Traffic Management Program previously approved. He explained that this policy addresses traffic calming requests that are privately funded as well as other elements that may be added to the right-of-way that will require future maintenance from ACCGov. He shared that the policy in general allows residents to collaborate and request traffic calming. The expectation is that the residents will fund the construction and will also manage the design and the delivery of construction of these traffic management elements. The qualifications for roadways in the draft policy mimics the Residential Traffic Management Program, so arterials and collector roadways would not be eligible. Legislative Review Committee Meeting Minutes Page 2 040424  Rani Katreeb reviewed the draft Voluntary Residential Traffic Management policy with the Committee. Assistant Manager Jones emphasized that, with this proposed policy, a privately- funded traffic calming device would be constructed in the ACCGov right-of-way. Commissioner Myers inquired as to whether or not the policy should state “property owners” rather than “homeowners”. The Committee agreed. Commissioner Houle shared that, in their mind, this policy could capture how ACCGov approaches the sidewalk program; they requested clarification on whether or not this policy does reflect the sidewalk program or if it is significantly different in certain elements. Rani Katreeb explained that it is not significantly different; the main difference is that there is only one type of sidewalk that could be constructed, whereas there are multiple elements for traffic calming that will be considered for construction. Commissioner Houle also inquired as to the final decisionmaker on what type of traffic calming device to be constructed in an area and if that would be staff or the property owners. Rani Katreeb shared that there would be open communication with the residents, but staff does have authority under the policy; staff will want to consider required maintenance and future life cycle needs when deciding what would be constructed in the right-of-way. Commissioner Wright shared that she agreed with the 65% threshold, as it matches a previous threshold that has been done, but she requested clarification on the feasibility of it in practice. She noted that, with the residential parking permit process, once a resident had received 65% of agreement, they stopped talking to any additional residents, which caused some residents to not be aware of the residential parking permit until the sign was installed. She inquired as to whether there was a way that we could note the requirement that 100% are informed but only 65% are required for approval to initiate it. She also explained that there could be other complexities to consider like potential weights for agreement if certain properties may be greater impacted by the construction, like with roundabout constructions. Rani Katreeb noted that, within the policy, staff request 100% support from property owners prior to taking the consideration for action to the Mayor and Commission. 65% of support is required to initiate the process, but 100% consent of property owners is required to move it to the Commission. He noted that there could be the potential that funding is secured for an area with less than 100% of property owners’ consent. Commissioner Myers requested clarification on the financing component and if there were specifics regarding requirements of property owners to contribute to the traffic calming device, specifically if non-consenting property owners would be required to contribute to the funding of it. Rani Katreeb explained that the policy as drafted expects the representative of the property owners to have figured out the funding of the device. Commissioner Myers inquired as to whether the representative of the property owners would be required to collect the money or if this would be coordinated by staff. Rani Katreeb shared that there is more to be discussed in terms of how to obtain the funding, but, at the moment, the property owners’ representative would be asked to demonstrate that they have obtained the funding required to construct and install the traffic calming device prior to staff submitted an agenda report for Mayor and Commission approval. Commissioner Myers asked if anyone had previously used the opt-in sidewalk program. Rani Katreeb shared that it had been used by one neighborhood. He also noted that the sidewalk program involves staff constructing the sidewalk, whereas this policy anticipates using a contractor hired by the property owners to construct the device to the approved, specified design; staff would also inspect the construction. Commissioner Houle requested clarification on whether or not the sidewalk policy required 100% consent or if the residents only had to have secured the funding. Rani Katreeb explained that he did not recall but would confirm. Commissioner Houle expressed concern with the 100% consent requirement, as it would allow one property owner to veto the whole process despite having a super majority of the neighborhood in agreement. They noted that they believed 65% consent could be used for both stages of the process; however, they would support increasing it slightly if Legislative Review Committee Meeting Minutes Page 3 040424  desired. They shared that they do not believe we should create a scenario in which neighborhoods can install a specific traffic calming device that staff do not feel like are appropriate for the area; the funding should be used to initiate the consideration and installation of traffic calming measures sooner than would otherwise occur under the Residential Traffic Management Program, but we should ensure that staff recommends the most appropriate traffic calming device for the area based on their expertise, and the property owners would agree to the recommendation or to nothing at all. Commissioner Houle also requested clarification on whether or not a property owner that owns multiple properties in an area would receive one vote per property or if their vote would be considered one vote per person. It was clarified that it would count as one vote per property. Commissioner Houle expressed concern with this approach and recommended it be counted as one vote per person. Commissioner Myers reiterated that she would want to ensure that any non-consenting property owner would not be required to contribute to the funding of the traffic calming device; she shared this needs to be clear within the policy. Commissioner Wright explained that she believed that we should require 100% consent to initiate it, as people would need to opt-in to contribute given it is not an additional tax or fee. Assistant Manager Jones clarified that the 100% threshold for consent was suggested to prevent anyone from having to contribute financially to a traffic calming device that they did not agree with constructing. Staff recommends having the financial component secured in advance of approval with no special assessments. Commissioner Houle inquired as to how the 100% threshold would work in practice with a homeowner association and if their desire to install a traffic calming device constitute the 100% threshold, since they have the authority to make decisions on behalf of the neighborhood. Rani Katreeb explained that they would be looking at an impact area, typically a block or a couple of blocks on the same stretch of roadway, so it would not be the entire homeowner association; the policy would require 100% consent of the impacted property owners, which could occur even within a homeowner association. The homeowner association could elect to fund the traffic calming device, but it would be up to them to determine if that is desired. Commissioner Myers inquired as to whether a property owner can consent to the traffic calming device and not contribute to the paying for it. Rani Katreeb shared that they could, as staff will not be tracking which property owners have paid or have not; the financial component would be coordinated by the property owners’ representative, so it would be up to them and the area how they would want to finance it. Commissioner Houle shared that, from their perspective, they believe it would make sense to separate the reference to funding from the reference to support; the financial component would be up to the property owners to coordinate, and the policy would simply require the advanced payment prior to pursuing final approval. They also reiterated that they believed 100% consent was too high of a threshold. Commissioner Myers requested clarification from the Attorney’s Office on whether anything within the policy as drafted would allow neighbors to force other neighbors to pay towards the traffic calming device. Deputy Chief Attorney Hines shared that she will discuss with Deputy Chief Attorney Hawkins the concerns that were discussed and then provide some further guidance. Commissioner Houle requested a copy of the sidewalk policy. Commissioner Myers also requested staff provide an estimate of cost of speed tables on an average roadway. Rani Katreeb shared that it would be less than $20,000. Commissioner Myers also requested more information on the approximate amount of staff time that would be involved. Rani Katreeb shared that staff time would be involved in the initiation and verification of the consent as well as the review. Commissioner Myers requested further clarification on an average of how many staff hours would be required. Rani Katreeb estimated it would be fair to assume around 8 hours of staff time but noted it would depend on the roadway being discussed. Legislative Review Committee Meeting Minutes Page 4 040424  Schedule/Agenda Changes The next LRC meeting is scheduled for May 2, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. Commissioner Wright made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Houle seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 2:07 p.m. Legislative Review Committee Meeting Minutes Page 5 040424