Council Study Session

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL, IN SPECIAL MEETING FOR A STUDY SESSION, OF TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2024, AT 5:00 PM, MUNICIPAL BUILDING I, COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 50 E. CIVIC CENTER DRIVE, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL Mayor Brigette PRESENT: Peterson Mayor Brigette Peterson, Vice Mayor Scott Anderson, Councilmembers Chuck Bongiovanni, Bobbi Buchli, Yung Koprowski, Kathy Tilque, and Jim Torgeson COUNCIL ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Patrick Banger, Town Attorney Chris Payne, Town Clerk Chaveli Herrera, Deputy Town Clerk Judy Martinez, Principal Planner Ashlee MacDonald CALL TO ORDER OF SPECIAL MEETING Mayor Peterson called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. AGENDA ITEM 1. Presentation and discussion of Land Development Code and Parking Text Amendment. Principal Planner MacDonald provided the history of the Land Development Code, stating they reserved that section for future update for a parking study. She stated they initiated a contract with Walker Consultants and were looking at bringing forth recommendations to the Council. She discussed the importance of parking and its impact. She noted the guiding principles that were identified including updating, simplifying, and modernizing it; removing parking barriers; creating innovated and flexible parking requirements; developing new and effective tools; and looking for opportunities to streamline the parking review process. She discussed the areas of interest including ratios and parking requirements, design standards for off-street parking areas, opportunities for administrative relief for sites with unique conditions, parking standards for new mode types, and ordinance organization. She reviewed 1 what needed to be prioritized to provide administrative relief and said the rest was not part of the request before the Council; it would be part of a future phase of the Parking Code. She stated they were only looking for direction on opportunities for administrative relief from parking standards for sites with unique conditions and parking ordinance organization. Planner MacDonald discussed existing tools of shared parking including off-peak usage, noting deferred parking options for a unique parking demand with a deferral of up to 50 percent of the required parking may be approved by an Administrative Use Permit. She said a deferral was not a permanent parking reduction. She discussed a parking reduction for businesses that had unique building designs and said structural limitation impacting building occupancy could defer up to 25 percent of their parking. She discussed the proposed changes for parking reductions and the following three different tiers of the application: Administrative Relief, Administrative Use Permit, and Conditional Use Permit. She noted the Planning Commission recommended that a 1 to 50 percent change for Residential uses would require a Conditional Use Permit. Mayor Peterson asked for clarification and said that it was a difficult process to go through for changes with a lower percentage. Planner MacDonald provided an example and explained the reasoning for the change. She discussed the language to be added to shared parking to recognize the Mixed-Use zoning districts and said it would be part of the design review process. She mentioned the Code would also outline what was provided in the minor parking study and discussed the applicable factors for the calculation. She said with the major parking study everything was required from the minor study, plus parking inventory and occupancy counts conducted a minimum of three times on a weekday and weekend for various properties. She discussed the redline changes and said sections were consolidated and reorganized, as well as corrections made for Scrivener’s errors. She said the Planning Commission recommended approval of the changes on December 6, 2023, and the Chamber Public Policy Committee was also supportive. She stated the proposed changes would be discussed at the Public Hearing on February 20, 2024. 2 Councilmember Torgeson asked if after approval of relief had occurred, then it was proved that they needed more parking, would there be a step back on that. Planner MacDonald said it depended on the study and the use permit limitations. She said if there was no user change, they would work with the applicant to find alternative solutions, then said there was not a process to rescind the administrative approval. Councilmember Koprowski asked if a shared parking agreement would be required when a development noted additional parking available in a nearby area. Planner MacDonald said there was a requirement in the existing language to provide that documentation, but it was not part of the presentation because it was not a Code change. Councilmember Koprowski asked why the Mixed-Use land uses had a 10 percent reduction by right, instead of a higher number. Planner MacDonald said 10 percent was consistent with an administrative relief, and a higher number could be requested and would go through an alternate process. Councilmember Koprowski confirmed that the number could go up based on a parking study, to which Planner MacDonald affirmed. Councilmember Koprowski asked if the mode split reduction was directly related to on-site amenities that were provided by the development. Planner MacDonald said there was enough latitude in the description to provide information explaining the mode split reduction. Councilmember Koprowski said it would be beneficial to add examples and make sure there was direct linkage to what was being provided. She also discussed the data collection requirements and said it was a lot and expensive. She said it was smart to have some type of metric and suggested structuring it based on the type of use. Planner MacDonald asked if the Council was comfortable with language that would allow staff to provide direction based on the use and request, Councilmember Koprowski responded, saying yes, having staff direction would be appropriate. Vice Mayor Anderson asked Planner MacDonald if she could think of any examples of Residential Use that would be reduced by 50 percent. Planner MacDonald responded that she could not. She pointed out that the text proposed to the Planning Commission did not have the Residential and Non-Residential language and said that the Planning Commission recommended to be broken up between Residential and Non-Residential; she said they could look at revising the language. Vice Mayor Anderson responded that he would like that. 3 Mayor Peterson spoke of another valley city development of no cars, but said she did not anticipate that in Gilbert. Councilmember Tilque stated she appreciated the information and suggested stating something over 10% would require a Conditional Use Permit, adding when you put numbers in, it appeared to be a right. Mayor Peterson stated one of the biggest complaints was parking and said she was conscious to make sure there was parking where it was needed. 2. Discussion and review of possible changes to Municipal Code Chapter 1, Article II, Division 3 Rules of Order and Procedure. Town Attorney Payne stated from direction at the Council Retreat in November 2023, he would discuss the proposed changes to the Rules of Order and Procedure in the Town Code to address inconsistencies, to conform to current practices, make process improvements, and codify formal rules of the Council procedure and rules of decorum. He discusses the Code change of Section 1-86, Regular meetings and Study Sessions, to conform with other parts of the Code clarifying the Town Manager, Mayor, or three Councilmembers could request Study Sessions. Councilmember Tilque said one of the items added was the requirement to meet with the Town Manager to discuss the scope and timing of an item to allow staff to be prepared to present something if needed. She said it was another step that allowed the Council to understand what was being discussed. Mayor Peterson said sometimes an item may not be necessary to be added to the agenda after discussion with the Town Manager, Attorney, or Clerk. Town Attorney Payne said the section clarified who could request a Study Session, and Section B was new language that discussed Councilmember Tilque’s comment. Councilmember Bongiovanni asked about the timing to discuss items. Town Manager Banger said the purpose was to determine what type of work needed to be done to prepare 4 information for the item and understand the scope of what was needed to be brought forward at a Study Session. Town Attorney Payne discussed the changes to Special Meetings and said the addition was that the Town Manager could also call Special Meetings, and they were subject to the same requirements discussed. He also discussed the changes to Section 1-88, Meetings to be Public, regarding notices and consistency with who could call an Executive Session, noting the Town Attorney could call an Executive Session. He discussed removing language from Section 1-89, Quorum, regarding quorum requirements, then discussed removing language from Section 1-90, Disorderly Conduct; Fine; Expulsion, regarding disorderly conduct fines. He also noted the addition of language per state law related to expulsion of a Councilmember, adding “but not a second time for the same cause.” He noted that the new process of conferring with the Town Manager for agenda items was also in the agenda section of the Code. He spoke of removing language about starting the meeting immediately at the appointed hour. Town Attorney Payne discussed codifying the Communications from Citizens process and Council authority to set time limits. Mayor Peterson asked if the Council was allowing speakers to combine their time for Communications from Citizens. Councilmember Tilque said it had happened in the past, adding the purpose was to control it ahead of the meeting because it was difficult to manage it from the dais. Mayor Peterson said consistency and rules helped people know what to expect. She asked about the 15-minute time limit for Communications from Citizens, and Town Attorney Payne said that sentence morphed to allow 6 minutes for combined time, noting the Council had authority to change the speaking time limits. Mayor Peterson said it was difficult to make changes on the fly and treat people differently. The Council acknowledged they wanted to hear everyone speak, then discussed options for managing Communications from Citizens. Town Attorney Payne discussed the Order of Business and said it was formally codifying the way public meetings were ran. He said the section for Policy items was removed and added to Administrative items, then discussed adding agenda items on future meetings. There was further discussion among Councilmember Tilque, Mayor Peterson, Town Attorney Payne, 5 and Town Clerk Herrera regarding what could be discussed in terms of requests to add an item on a future agenda and the agenda language for the Administrative Items section on the agenda template. Town Attorney Payne discussed codifying the section on Executive Sessions and said the Council could convene in Executive Session for legal advice on any item on the agenda. He discussed the section on voting and noted state law and majority vote requirements. He discussed changes to the language for consistency in addressing the council. Mayor Peterson suggested changing the order of the language in that section to match the same order on the agenda. Town Attorney Payne said that change could be made. There was discussion on time limits for Communications from Citizens and how it could be managed by the Council. Direction was given to provide a separate card for Communication from Citizens on consent items. There was discussion about establishing time limits based on the number of speakers at each meeting. Town Attorney Payne discussed the changes to disruption of meetings and removal of penalties. He discussed the Rules of Decorum and said the Town followed Robert’s Rules of Order, but said it was not designed for small public bodies. He said they looked at Rosenberg’s Rules of Order, but the recommendation was to make their own rules of decorum. He discussed proposed rules for decorum of public meetings and said it would formally codify the rules currently being followed. Mayor Peterson spoke about personal attacks in recent meetings. Councilmember Tilque said nothing could be done about it due to First Amendment rights. There was further discussion on comments and personal attacks. Town Attorney Payne stated the Council had the authority under law to maintain decorum of the public meeting, then said the priority was to conduct Town business. Councilmember Torgeson spoke about examples of comments from a subcommittee meeting. Town Attorney Payne stated state law required that responding to criticism or directing staff after public comment had to be made after the last speaker, but the Council had authority to stop someone who was in violation of the rules of decorum. He discussed the recommended Rules of Procedure and stated they moved away from Robert’s Rules of Order and decided against Rosenberg’s Rules of Order because of inconsistencies that would need to be amended. He discussed the different types of motions and procedures for adjourning meetings. He spoke about the rules and procedures of miscellaneous motions, amendments, and reconsiderations of items after a vote. Town Attorney Payne stated the 6 language for reconsiderations was the current practice. The Council discussed and agreed to keep the language in the Code. ADJOURN Mayor Peterson adjourned the meeting at 6:53 p.m. ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Brigette Peterson, Mayor Chaveli Herrera, MMC, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Study Session of the Town Council of the Town of Gilbert held on the 6th day of February, 2024. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this ____ day of ____________________2024. ___________________________________ Chaveli Herrera, MMC, Town Clerk 7