Planning Commission Meeting

DRAFT M I N U T E S PLANNING COMMISSION Tuesday, February 9, 2016 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm EVENING SESSION ONLY 580 PACIFIC STREET, COUNCIL CHAMBERS MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA Commissioners Present: Reed, Fletcher, Davis, Garden, Widmar, Dawson, Millich Commissioners Absent: None Staff Members Present: Principal Planner Cole, Principal Planner Caraker, Housing and Property Manager Marvin, Recording Secretary Leinen CALL TO ORDER Chair Reed called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. CONSENT ITEMS Commissioner Dawson made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Commissioner Davis seconded the motion. On a motion by Commissioner Dawson, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and carried by the following vote, the Planning Commission approved the CONSENT ITEMS: AYES: 7 COMMISSIONERS: Reed, Fletcher, Davis, Garden, Widmar, Dawson, Millich NOES: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSTAIN: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None RECUSED: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None Other Consent Items 1. Minutes of January 12, 2016 ACTION: Approved as submitted. ***End of Consent Agenda*** PUBLIC COMMENTS None. PUBLIC APPEARANCE 2. Consider Policy Direction on the 2015-2023 Housing Element ACTION: Received report; Accepted public comment; Provided direction to staff regarding revisions to the Housing Element Goals. Planning Commission Draft Minutes Tuesday, February 9, 2016 Staff Presentation/Commissioner Questions Elizabeth Caraker presented the Agenda Report and answered Commissioners’ questions. Rick Marvin and Kimberly Cole were also present and answered Commissioners’ questions. Public Comments Betsy Wilson, Mid-Pen Housing and resident of Monterey, said she participated in the housing advocacy working group with Councilmember Barrett, and she gave an overview of the meeting attendants and the goals of the group. Ms. Wilson said she is disappointed that more of the recommendations from the group are not being considered. She expressed concern regarding emergency housing, supportive services and case management, adaptive reuse of properties, increased or control on vacation rentals, and examining the home ownership/rental imbalance in Monterey. Katherine Thoeni, Executive Officer of the Homeless Coalition, said she and the housing advocacy group encourage the City to go beyond the state lway Housing Element requirements. She also said there is a housing crisis for people who are homeless, the workforce population, and working families who cannot afford to live in the City. Ms. Thoeni asked the Planning Commission to insert 100 percent of the recommendations provided by the advocacy group into the Housing Element. Jerry Anderson, resident of Monterey, said there is a nexus between the moratorium on hotel construction and the increase in vacation rentals in town, and said this should be kept in mind when considering changing existing hotels into apartments. He also said the City has been involved in redevelopment through leasing City-owned land to developers and suggested that the City liquidate these assets once the development has occurred. Mr. Anderson also suggested that the City look for City-owned land to develop for housing. Commissioner Comments Commissioner Dawson said considering second units in R-1 neighborhoods is a mistake because it will increase density, traffic, and non-residents in these neighborhoods. He also said vacation rentals are a one for one reduction in long term rentals for any neighborhood. Commissioner Dawson said he would like to see the City find funding for a large homeless shelter. Commissioner Millich acknowledged water restrictions in place on the peninsula and questioned whether there is a difference in water use between short term and long term rentals. In response to Commissioner Garden’s questions Ms. Caraker said the state is aware of the water situation and each Housing Element update includes an update on CalAm projects and timelines. Commissioner Garden asked if it is still a concern that around 30 percent of the residents of Monterey are owners and almost 70 percent are renters. Chair Reed asked if the purpose of the Housing Element is to get federal funds or to serve as a guiding document on Housing for the City of Monterey. He also said that homeownership should not be a priority of the City. Ms. Caraker said the City has backed away from the policy towards ownership and is recognizing the need for affordable rentals and rentals for large families. She also said the City does rely on the document for grant funding. Mr. Marvin said one of the most important purposes of the Housing Element is to provide the vision of how the City wants to address housing overall for all of the community. He also said Monterey is not a typical community and an owner/renter balance may not make sense. Commissioner Garden said there is an emphasis in the current draft towards home ownership as a priority. Ms. Caraker said she can change the language to make it toned to reaching out to the needs of students and other populations that need rental units. Commissioner Garden asked for a consensus among the Planning Commission Meeting Draft Minutes Tuesday, February 9, 2016 2 Planning Commission Draft Minutes Tuesday, February 9, 2016 Planning Commission about whether a change should be made. Commissioner Millich said he would be reluctant to change the language until he knows how many people are eligible to be or would like to be homeowners. Commissioner Davis said what the City needs is affordable apartments and emergency housing. Regarding extra units, Commissioner Davis said they could help solve a lot of the housing issues and he supports the idea. Commissioner Garden said he is not in favor of pursuing a change in policy regarding additional units in single family neighborhoods. Vice Chair Fletcher said there may be larger properties in Monterey where the impact of an additional unit would not be as great as in a smaller neighborhood, and that the City should look everywhere that is appropriate for increased housing supply. Chair Reed concurred. Commissioner Garden said if the Planning Commission would like staff to look at allowing additional units in some places, a change to the policy prohibiting them everywhere needs to be made. Commissioner Reed asked the Planning Commission if it would like to include language regarding junior units. Commissioner Dawson said he is not in favor of the added language. Commissioner Davis summarized that this is a program that the Planning Commission would like staff to look into. Commissioner Garden asked the Commission if a control should be put on the escalation of rental prices. Chair Reed said he does not support rent control and would prefer affordable housing mandated by the legislator. Commissioner Millich said rent control would require creation of a board to hear appeals and could lead to abuses of the system. Mr. Marvin said staff does not recommend rent control, but would like to create policies that would lead to increased supply of housing over the long term. Vice Chair Fletcher said the view towards home ownership is changing among younger generations and the Housing Element should reflect new views. Commissioner Garden requested that each of the recommendations of the housing advocacy committee be discussed by the Commission. Increase Supply Commissioner Dawson said federal grants could help increase the housing supply. Ms. Caraker said the City is engaged in a working group to look at workforce housing. Commissioner Davis said several of the tools and strategies in the attachment to the Agenda Report would be good for staff to consider. Ms. Caraker said many of the recommendations will be used as working groups are convened. Commissioner Garden questioned what impact the Middlebury Institute of International Studies students have on the housing market. Emergency Housing In response to Commissioner Garden’s question, Ms. Cole said that there is no limit to how many people a person can rent their house to and that the City cannot define what a family is. In response to Commissioner Davis’s question, Ms. Caraker said the current limit of people allowed at a facility for emergency housing is six, but the City is looking to increase that number through an overlay zone. Supportive Housing Commissioner Davis said he supports looking for ways to develop more units in the Supportive Housing category. Ms. Caraker said the City could think about introducing a requirement for more bedrooms in rental units, as currently there are no requirements. Commissioner Reed said larger units cost more money and this should be taken into consideration. Planning Commission Meeting Draft Minutes Tuesday, February 9, 2016 3 Planning Commission Draft Minutes Tuesday, February 9, 2016 Adaptive Reuse Commissioner Davis said the City should look for opportunities for adaptive reuse in zones that do not currently allow residential units because some areas, such as Garden Road, have large empty buildings with water credits. In response to Commissioner Dawson’s question, Ms. Caraker said the Housing Element is a living document that can be amended. In response to Chair Reed’s question, Ms. Caraker said she could create some programs based on the Commission’s suggestions and convene the working group and invite couple Planning Commissioners to frame up additions to the policies. Commissioner Garden and Vice Chair Fletcher volunteered to attend the working group meeting. Preservation Commissioner Dawson spoke in support of preservation. Funding for Affordable Housing Commissioner Davis said many of the ideas and strategies in this section could be fleshed out. Commissioner Garden asked what the financial impact on the City would be if the City started making City-owned land available to developers to build affordable housing. Mr. Marvin said the large majority of the property that the City owns is open space or greenbelt and not suitable for housing redevelopment. Commissioner Garden suggested language in the Housing Element that encourages developers to look at the possibility of developing on parking lots. Commissioner Davis said this should be expanded to a program that looks into repurposing publicly-owned property, including school district owned property and federal government parcels. Commissioner Millich said he would like language added to the Housing Element encouraging exploring the feasibility of having public-private partnerships and repurposing publicly-owned land. Commissioner Garden said the Housing Element should address the issue of short term rentals because they occur in the City, even though they are prohibited. He also said he would like to see the City permit short term rentals to gain the advantages. Commissioner Dawson disagreed with Commissioner Garden. Commissioner Reed said that short term rentals are more of a Visitor Accommodation issue not a Housing Element issue. Commissioner Davis said mention could be made in the Housing Element that short-term rentals negatively affect the housing stock. Commissioner Fletcher said acknowledging the impact short term rentals have on the housing stock is appropriate. In response to Commissioner Garden’s question, Ms. Caraker said the Planning Commission’s recommendation of the Housing Element to Council could be pushed back to March to accommodate a working group meeting. Commissioner Garden said he would like to have the draft of the Housing Element posted online, along with changes and modifications. Ms. Caraker said the draft is now online and there will be an errata sheet posted with any changes made. COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS Commissioner Garden said he and Commissioner Dawson went to the Local Coastal Program update meeting at the Aquarium on February 8, 2016 and that the meeting was well attended by people from all parts of the community. Planning Commission Meeting Draft Minutes Tuesday, February 9, 2016 4  Planning Commission Draft Minutes Tuesday, February 9, 2016 INFORMATIONAL REPORTS & STAFF COMMENTS 3. Planning Office Update  Update received.  Ms. Cole said on February 16, 2016 the City Council will consider adoption of the Waterfront Master Plan.  Ms. Cole said Chip Rerig will begin as City Administrator for the city of Carmel in March and in the interim she will serve as Chief of Planning, Engineering, and Environmental Compliance and Ms. Caraker will manage the advanced and current work Planning work program. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:13 pm. Respectfully Submitted, Approved, Elizabeth Caraker, AICP Chair Principal Planner Planning Commission Planning Commission Meeting Draft Minutes Tuesday, February 9, 2016 5