Planning Commission Meeting

MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION AFTERNOON SESSION ONLY Tuesday, March 10, 2015 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm 580 PACIFIC STREET, COUNCIL CHAMBERS MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA Commissioners Present: Osorio, Reed, McCrone, Widmar, Stocker, Garden Commissioners Absent: Davis Staff Members Present: Principal Planner Kim Cole, Principal Planner Elizabeth Caraker and Recording Secretary Alicia Salas CALL TO ORDER Chair Osorio called the meeting to order at 4:02 pm. CONSENT ITEMS On a motion by Commissioner Reed, seconded by Commissioner McCrone and carried by the following vote, the Planning Commission approved the CONSENT ITEMS. AYES: 5 COMMISSIONERS: Osorio, Reed, McCrone, Stocker, Garden NOES: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: 1 COMMISSIONERS: Davis ABSTAIN: 1 COMMISSIONERS: Widmar RECUSED: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None Approval of Minutes 1. February 24, 2015 ACTION: Approved as submitted. ***End of Consent Agenda*** PUBLIC COMMENTS PUBLIC HEARING 2. Work Program Update Staff Presentation/Commissioner Questions Kim Cole presented the Agenda Report and answered Commissioners’ questions. Public Comments None. Commission Member Comment: Commissioner Garden asked that the Climate Action Plan have a scheduled meeting soon as he would like to discuss the issue of incentives to the community to implement carbon foot reduction. Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, March 10, 2015 Commissioner Garden asked when Alvarado Street might be going two-way and if the project was funded. Ms. Cole said that she has been working with the staff that prepares the CIP. She said that first they are focusing on putting before the City Council the option of two-way on Del Monte Avenue, as well as the upgrade of the Conference Center. She said that Del Monte is the first phase. She went on to say, according to the Engineering Department, it can be done in phases with the first phase being Del Monte Ave and then Alvarado with the two roundabouts going simultaneously, and the last phase would be Franklin Street. She said discussions have taken place about how to implement that project. Ms. Cole also said there are some big funding decisions that need to be made as to whether or not Del Monte Avenue will ultimately be going two-way. Commissioner Garden asked if the Washington/Del Monte Concept was still hung up in the Waterfront Master Plan. Ms. Caraker said that issue would be addressed in the environmental in the Waterfront Master Plan. Commissioner Garden asked if we can proceed with examining alternatives for changing Del Monte Avenue west of Washington before we have a concept from the Waterfront Master Plan. Ms. Caraker said that the Traffic Engineering division has worked on that CEQA model to make sure that would work. Ms. Cole said that was what was envisioned in the Downtown Specific Plan; the plan specifically excluded Del Monte/Washington but looked at the two-way scenario and said that it did work on Del Monte. Commissioner Garden asked where the preferred alternative for the Multi Modal Transportation Center is. Ms. Caraker said the grant was focusing on the feasibility of RT lanes on Del Monte and then looking at the Transportation sites. She said a preferred alternative was not looked at due to the fact that a substantial amount of grant funding was needed to continue the feasibility study and make it a real project. Commissioner Garden asked Ms. Caraker if the original concept that put the bus terminal in the parking garage was abandoned due to false information that the garages were not seismically fit to have that kind of remodel. Ms. Caraker said according to the Building Conditions Report it deemed that the garages have plenty of years left in them but would not render the preferred alternative as it would be the most expensive. She went on to say they are still looking at potential private property sites and working with the potential owners. Commissioner McCrone asked about the Washington Street parking, he said we were told it was abandoned because the Rec Center did not want to give up any parking spaces. He went on to say that was never discussed with the Planning Commission. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, March 10 24, 2015 2 Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, March 10, 2015 Ms. Caraker said that when it is time to pick up this topic again that alternative will be on the table for discussion. Commissioner Garden asked if the planning staff is at full capacity. Ms. Cole said as of January we have a part-time planner that was hired, as of now she is working full-time. We still have a need for a long term hire in the office if we are to move forward in our current planning as well as completing our advanced planning program we will need to fill that position. Commissioner Garden asked if there was a vacancy for a Senior Planner. Ms. Cole stated that there is a vacancy for a Senior Associate Planner. Commissioner Garden asked if the City managers and staff think it’s appropriate to go through the Planning Commission to give the City Council recommendations after a concept or a vision has been reviewed. He stated he has noticed several issues going directly to the City Council without the recommendation from the Planning Commission. He went on to ask if staff is now going to City Council with land use issues. He said he was under the impression that was part of the function of the Planning Commission. Ms. Cole said as far as the CIP/NIP projects, that direction is coming from the City management. She said City management is asking staff to work on the CIP/NIP backlog as well as make the implementation that was looked at in these plans. Commissioner Garden then asked Ms. Cole about the several issues she brought up in her report that he thought were land use issues but were going to the City Council without recommendation from the Planning Commission. He said is staff still expected to go to Planning Commission for a decision, if a decision was not reached then we would give a recommendation to City Council. He stated he thought it had been a long time since the Planning Commission had done that. Ms. Cole stated planning efforts take awhile. She said the last two major recommendations that were given were the Downtown Specific Plan and the North Fremont Specific Plan. She said the Lighthouse Specific Plan and the Climate Action Plan are shaping up. She said we are getting closer but those do take awhile and they are part of our long range plans. She went on to say that by law any change to the General Plan, Zoning Ordinance change, Use permits, Variances. etc, the Planning Commission has jurisdiction over the vast majority of those items. Chair Osorio said that the Planning Commission should offer recommendation to staff from the perspective of the Planning Commission of what they would like to see completed in the next year. He said that staff is working with many different people, including City Council, City management, NIP/CIP and he feels that the foremost job of the Planning Commission is the implementation of City’s General Plan. Commissioner Reed asked if it is fair to say that staff is going to focus on funded mandates verses unfunded mandates. He asked if since NIP/CIP projects have a “pot of money” that staff can bill their time against that would be were their focus would be. Ms. Cole said that they have not been given any direction from anyone to work only on funded projects. She said this is the work program and this is what we are working on. She said that Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, March 10 24, 2015 3 Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, March 10, 2015 Lighthouse Specific Plan is ahead of the curve verses some of the projects that were just assigned. She said that staff has been given direction to meet some milestones and to continue with the Lighthouse Specific Plan. Commissioner McCrone asked who is assigned the Private Bolio project. Ms. Caraker stated that she was working on that project. She said that the next steps are the environmental and working with the Army on a lease and then pursue the funding for that project. She stated that the next steps are easy but the hard part is trying to find the time to make that a priority along with everything else. Commissioner McCrone said it is a NIP application project that has not been approved by the neighborhood. He stated that if the neighbor who sits at the foot of the corner of the project does not want this then the project will be halted. Ms. Caraker said the project is not an NIP project now and funding that is not NIP related can be pursued. Commissioner McCrone asked about the Alvarado Street Furnishings that are listed as part of the Downtown Specific Plan. Ms. Cole said that item came from the ARC as they have been looking at the outdoor seating areas. They are trying to decide what kind of tree grate to use on Alvarado. Also, she went on to say, there has been a request by City management to upgrade the newspaper racks on Alvarado Street. Ms. Cole stated that she put together a wide overview of what the planning office is working on and has been assigned. She went on to say that she thought it was a good idea to give a broad view instead of just giving the Commission the projects that are land use related. Commissioner McCrone asked about the North Fremont Economic Incentive program. Ms. Caraker said it is a matter of assessing what is in our tool box that can be used to stimulate private development. She said it is brainstorming and taking the next steps to reach out to the North Fremont property and business owners. Commissioner McCrone asked if the incentives would be embodied in the North Fremont Specific Plan and if there are any incentives now. Ms. Caraker said the implementation chapter is the toolbox we are working within and Mr. Gollum, from Bay Area Economics, provided additional possible programs that can be implemented. Commissioner Garden said he would not want to make any suggestions without staffs’ opinion and said he would defer the discussion about priorities of the work program until staff has an opportunity to prioritize for us, if they even can. Commissioner Stocker said it is not our job to prioritize tonight. He said we have been given an update and that was how it was billed. He said it would be inappropriate to prioritize and we all have opinions to what should be a priority. He said we should not have an opinion that we vote on but we should simply thank the staff for their report. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, March 10 24, 2015 4 Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, March 10, 2015 Chair Osorio said he wanted to discuss what was a priority from the perspective of the Planning Commission, and what we would like to see completed in the next year. He went on to say the Waterfront Master Plan has come to a halt after five hard years of work. He said it would not be good to leave that incomplete, and from a Planning perspective we want to see that project finished or it was a waste of five years of work. Commissioner Garden said he is concerned about recommendations to the City Council not being provided by the Planning Commission. He said recently the Housing Manager went in front of the City Council and asked to retain the Wharf Master Plan and Resolution 9000 which are clearly in the Waterfront Master Plan and not to be continued. He said when plans have sat for a year, after we worked five years on them, it would make sense that a manger would think there is a better reason not to do what has been accepted in the Waterfront Master Plan. He said that he thinks there is a break in continuity and he feels this issue and others are worrisome without some recommendation from the Planning Commission before the Council is to make a decision. He said when the Housing Manager asks for policies that are contrary to the direction that has been take with the specific plans and the master plans, then there is a disconnect. Commissioner Widmar said that it would be inappropriate to move forward with any type of prioritization today; this states receiving report. He said if we wanted to comment this should be put on an Agenda, have a new hearing, and invite members of the public. He said that would be the proper forum to have that discussions and forward those recommendations like we usually do. He went on to say there has been a change in City Council and members of the Council and they are reviewing where they would like to see the City go and where the public would like to see the City go. He said he thought the emphasis was on the neighborhood projects but also stated he did not think the Waterfront Plan was dead but was dormant for the time being. He said we need to stay focused on what we are doing and do our jobs the best we can. Commissioner McCrone said what we received today is what the Planning department is doing which is good but we did not get any update on our work program that was approved in August. He said there appeared to be a disconnect at City management level that says money will drive our agenda. He said that he did not feel Villa Del Monte was a priority over revisions to the parking ordinance and not having that is hurting the City throughout. He said it was a struggle to get the project approved on Fremont Street because it was three feet outside the Downtown Specific Plan. He said if we had revised the ordinance we would not have been dealing with a Variance. Commissioner McCrone said he was unsure of the role of the Planning Commission anymore. Chair Osorio said he felt that it was within the role of the Planning Commission to send a message to the City Council to follow up on these projects that we have started as part of the implementation of the General Plan. He said he would like to know what the role of the Planning Commission is and if they just want us to focus on reviewing projects and use permits. He went on to say that a polite message needs to be sent to the City Council that we would like to see our efforts completed. Commissioner Garden stated that he would like to meet the new City Manager. He asked if staff could extend an invite to the City Manager to meet the Planning Commission. Commissioner Widmar said he did not think it was out of order to put an update on the Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, March 10 24, 2015 5  Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, March 10, 2015 Planning Commission work program on the agenda. He said at that point it would be a good time to see how much we are competing for staff’s time and thought that it would be a good meeting to have the City Manager attend. Commissioner McCrone thought it would be good for the City Manager to tell the Planning Commission if their roles have changed. Commissioner McCrone said he perceived a shift in the expectations for the Planning Commission and we would like to discuss this with the City Manager. Commissioner Reed said he thought this was a comprehensive planning department work program. He said he did not think City managers where shifting the Planning Commission but they were shifting staff, which was different from changing the role of the Planning Commission. Commissioner Garden said he would like to meet the City Manager. Chair Osorio said it would be good to put on the Agenda the issue of the Planning Commission work program and were we want to go with that. Commissioner Widmar said it would be a very productive session if the City Manager came in and discussed what are the new expectations that might have been placed on him and how can we better help him with those goals. He went on to say that he would like for the Planning Commission to have a better working relationship with the City Manger. COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS Commissioner McCrone said the cyclone fence at Trinity Christian High School needs a follow-up as that was not supposed to stay past construction but he said the construction never took place. Chair Osorio said the last time he had inquired about the fence he was told it was for construction purposes. He said since the construction is done the fence should come down. Ms. Cole said there would definitely be a Planning Commission meeting on March 24. Commissioner McCrone said he would not be attending the March 24, 2015 Planning Commission Meeting. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS & STAFF COMMENTS 4. Planning Office Update  Update received. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:07 pm. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, March 10 24, 2015 6 Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, March 10, 2015 Respectfully Submitted, Approved, Kimberly Cole, AICP Chair Principal Planner Planning Commission Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, March 10 24, 2015 7