Planning Commission Meeting

MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION Tuesday, February 23, 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 7:02 p.m. CONSENT ITEMS Commissioner Dawson requested that two typos be removed from page two of the Minutes. Elizabeth Caraker said Commissioner Widmar was reflected as present in the draft Minutes and this has been corrected to reflect him as absent. Commissioner Garden made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda with amendments to the Minutes. Commissioner Fletcher seconded the motion. Commissioner Widmar abstained from voting due to his absence from the February 9, 2016 meeting. On a motion by Commissioner Garden, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher, and carried by the following vote, the Planning Commission approved the CONSENT ITEMS with amendments to the minutes: AYES: 6 COMMISSIONERS: Reed, Fletcher, Davis, Garden, Dawson, Millich NOES: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSTAIN: 1 COMMISSIONERS: Widmar RECUSED: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None Approval of Minutes 1. February 9, 2016 ACTION: Approved as amended. PUBLIC COMMENTS None. PUBLIC HEARING 2. Consider Recommendation to the City Council to Adopt 2015-2023 Housing Element. CEQA: Addendum to Environmental Impact Report ACTION: Adopted a Resolution recommending that the City Council adopt the 2015- 2023 Housing Element with amendments to the Housing Element as proposed by the Planning Commission. Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, February 23, 2016 Staff Presentation/Commissioner Questions Ms. Caraker presented the Agenda Report and answered Commissioners’ questions. Kimberly Cole and Rick Marvin were also present and answered Commissioners’ questions. Public Comments Teddy Balesteri, resident of Monterey, urged the commission to continue to explore the opportunities to increase rental housing, including allowing second units. He said increasing the housing units will benefit the schools, the students and the community, and utilizing unused space and renting it out will allow more people to live in and purchase homes in the community they work in. Commissioner Comments Commissioner Garden said he met with the housing advisory committee since the last Planning Commission meeting and that the substance of the committee meeting was discussion on the seven Housing Element recommendations of the committee. Commissioner Garden said Ms. Caraker added language regarding each recommendation and that all representatives at the meeting were pleased and the advocacy group is satisfied with the draft Housing Element. Commissioner Garden suggested that language be added regarding private developments and public-private partnerships to the Introduction on page one of the Housing Element, after the sentence “…where the funding is demonstrated to come from.” The Commission agreed by consensus. Commissioner Garden said the Housing Element refers to Section 8 Housing vouchers, which are now called Housing Choice vouchers. He also suggested that the language under Policy b.1 of the Housing Element stating “…look at ways in which we can decouple parking from rental living spaces that accept housing choice vouchers” be deleted. Ms. Caraker clarified that the Housing Element revision will add section b.1.8 which will read “…to explore allowing the decoupling of parking requirements for projects that provide affordable housing.” Commissioner Garden said he would like the proposed revised language to end at “requirements”. Commissioner Widmar agreed ending at the word “requirements” is appropriate because it allows room to explore whether decoupling is a good idea for any type of housing. Commissioner Dawson said he does not agree that decoupling parking from rentals could work due to the impacts on traffic and parking. Chair Reed said these ideas are only exploratory, and the City and community would have to decide at a further date if decoupling of parking is appropriate. Commissioner Millich said he supports more inclusive language to allow flexibility when dealing with parking. Commissioner Garden said a tremendous amount of research went into the background report of the Housing Element and he commended staff for their work. He also said the report changed his perception of the City and is worth reading. Commissioner Dawson said he supports the language regarding preservation and the language regarding exploring ways to effectively enforce short term rentals in the City. He said short term rentals cause a housing shortage for students in the City and this needs to be fixed. Vice Chair Fletcher said increased supply could be achieved with secondary units. Commissioner Garden said there is nothing in the Housing Element to address the possibility of public-private partnerships involving the sale of land for affordable housing and questioned Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, February 23, 2016 2  Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, February 23, 2016 whether language could be added stating that the City is willing to look at ways in which private developers can gain access to City property to build affordable housing. Commissioner Davis suggested expanding this idea to other publicly owned properties, such as empty schools. Chair Reed suggested a program that explores public-private sale or lease of land to add affordable housing stock to the City. Commissioner Garden said this would cause developers to read the Housing Element and see that there is opportunity for new development. Regarding density bonuses, Commissioner Millich suggested consideration of vehicle-free, long-term overlay zones, which, he said, would appeal to students who do not have cars. Ms. Caraker summarized the changes to the Housing element recommended by the Planning Commission as deleting the language “…for projects that provide affordable housing” in section b.1.8, adding language to the Introduction on page one that there is an opportunity for private developer funding, and the change in the language for Goal A and Policy a.1 from “balance” to “proportion” so the language reads “promote construction of new housing units and conservation of existing housing units to maintain or improve the existing proportion of owner and rental units in Monterey to meet the needs of students and young families.” Commissioner Garden made a motion to adopt a Resolution recommending that the City Council adopt the 2015-2023 Housing Element with the changes as noted by the Planning Commission. Vice Chair Fletcher seconded the motion. On a motion by Commissioner Garden, seconded by Commissioner Fletcher, and carried by the following vote, the Planning Commission adopted a Resolution recommending that the City Council adopt the 2015-2023 Housing Element with amendments to the Housing Element as proposed by the Planning Commission: AYES: 6 COMMISSIONERS: Reed, Fletcher, Davis, Garden, Widmar, Millich NOES: 1 COMMISSIONERS: Dawson ABSENT: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSTAIN: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None RECUSED: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None Commissioner Dawson said he does not support the proposed decoupling of parking and the increased supply through second units, and for this reason he does not support the motion. COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS Commissioner Dawson asked for information regarding the upcoming League of Cities Planning Commissioner’s Academy training. Ms. Caraker said that Christy Hopper will coordinate with those Commissioners attending. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS & STAFF COMMENTS 3. Planning Office Update  Update received.  Ms. Caraker said on February 24, 2016 there will be a joint study session with the Planning Commission, Parks and Recreation Commission and City Council regarding the Local Coastal Plan and the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, at 4:00 pm in the Council Chambers. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, February 23, 2016 3 Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, February 23, 2016 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:49 pm. Respectfully Submitted, Approved, Kimberly Cole, AICP Chair Principal Planner Planning Commission Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, February 23, 2016 4