Heritage Preservation Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes Heritage Preservation Commission Wednesday, June 4, 2014 7:00 PM West Conference Room, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Special Meeting CALL TO ORDER SALUTE TO THE FLAG ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Chair Jeanine Stanek Vice Chair David Squellati Commissioner Hannalore Dietrich Commissioner Mark Johnson Commissioner Mike Michitaka Commissioner Dale Mouritsen Absent: 1 - Commissioner Dixie Larsen Present - Councilmember Tara Martin-Milius Present - Vice Mayor Jim Davis SCHEDULED PRESENTATION 14-0574 Recognition of Service Vice Mayor Davis thanked Comm. Mouritsen and Comm. Dietrich for completing their service. Vice Mayor Davis thanked the entire Heritage Preservation Commission for their ongoing service. Comm. Mouritsen noted his reappointment to the Heritage Preservation Commission for a second term. Comm. Dietrich noted that she was willing to serve another term if the seat is still available. Ms. Ryan noted that the City Council meeting in May 20, 2014 included City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes June 4, 2014 reappointments to Board and Commisisons, and that City Council filled one of the two available seats for this commission. She noted that she would contact the Office of the City Clerk to see if that open seat is available. CONSENT CALENDAR 1 14-0557 Draft Minutes of the Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting of April 2, 2014 Commissioner Dietrich moved and Vice Chair Squellati seconded the motion to approve the draft minutes of April 2, 2014. Yes: 6 - Chair Stanek Vice Chair Squellati Commissioner Dietrich Commissioner Johnson Commissioner Michitaka Commissioner Mouritsen No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Larsen PUBLIC COMMENTS None PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2 14-0573 Review Planning Program Budget and Fees Trudi Ryan, Planning Officer, noted that this is her annual attendance at the Heritage Preservation Commission. She presented the Planning Program 234 Budget. Ms. Ryan asked the Commission if they have any questions regarding the budget, and that their comments and questions will be reflected in the Minutes and forwarded to the City Council. Comm. Johnson noted he did not have a copy of the referenced document. Chair Stanek asked staff if this referenced document was available to the public. Ms. Ryan noted the 40-50 page document is available online and upon request. Comm. Dietrich asked for clarification regarding products, costs, staff hours and City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes June 4, 2014 inflation. She also asked if the budget considers a new measure regarding the City being held accountable for state mandated programs. Ms. Ryan replied and added that the budget for the Heritage Preservation Commission comes from the General Fund and enterprise funds. Comm. Dietrich and Ms. Ryan discussed the “total number of recommended Planning Commission and Heritage Preservation Commission applications." Comm. Dietrich and Ms. Ryan discussed to whom surveys were sent. Comm. Michitaka asked if the budget was reviewed by the new City Manager. Ms. Ryan responded that she just came onboard with the City, and is unclear if she had a chance to review this budget. Ms. Ryan confirmed that there were no reductions to the Heritage Preservation Commission, and that the enterprise fund can be used to address workload issues as they arise. Comm. Dietrich and Ms. Ryan discussed revenues. Ms. Ryan noted that costs for Landmark Alteration Permits and Resource Alteration Permits are relatively low compared to other land use permits. Comm. Michitaka and Ms. Ryan discussed how staff tracks hours for the Heritage Preservation Commission. Comm. Dietrich and Ms. Ryan discussed that the past two years have been steady for the Heritage Preservation Commission applications that there is variation in the amount of time spent on Heritage related study issues. Comm. Johnson and Ms. Ryan discussed the budget activity that reflects the study issue regarding cultural diversity. Comm. Johnson noted that watching this study issue go through the process was frustrating, as he did not see many results. Chair Stanek noted the previous study issue regarding cultural diversity was in need of several corrections that were never completed. Ms. Ryan replied that she will look into this particular study issue. City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes June 4, 2014 Per Comm. Johnson’s question, Ms. Ryan described the "Sense of Place” fee areas and purpose. Ms. Ryan responded to Comm. Johnson’s question, that an example of a direct cost would be a staff member working on a permit, and an indirect cost would be staff in another department such ads Finance or Human Resources. Vice Chair Squellati, noted Attachment 2, page 1, regarding the definition of a complete application. He said that it was good practice that the 90-day period assumes if the project application is complete and not missing items from the applicant. Vice Chair Squellati then asked for clarification about Attachment 1, page 3, regarding activity 234330 (staff training and development), it states a $20,000 difference from the budgeted cost compared to the actual cost. He asked if these differences are normal. Ms. Ryan, said that this is not common, and that this particular year reflected changes in staffing. To Vice Chair Squellati’s question, Ms. Ryan noted other budget estimated costs and actual costs are currently being reviewed. She noted that this may be an indicator that staff was charging work to the planning permit, and not the building permit. Ms. Ryan clarified for Comm. Dietrich that performance indicators measure several parts of the application process to ensure that staff are meeting deadlines. Ms. Ryan explained to Comm. Johnson that deleted activities are due to the creation of the enterprise fund. The deleted number is affiliated with the General Fund, and the new number reflects the enterprise fund. She noted an example on the top of page three. Comm. Johnson asked for more detail last year, and he would like to ask for it again this year, as it is hard for the Commission to comment on how it relates to the Heritage Preservation Commission. Comm. Dietrich asked staff if they can come up with a report of the last three years of the Heritage Preservation Commission activities. Comm. Michitaka noted that last year staff mentioned percentages, and asked for percentages again. City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes June 4, 2014 Ms. Ryan responded and that page one of Attachment 1 from the “Policy Reports” section. She said that less than 10 percent of this total is Heritage Preservation Commission. She further explained how an application’s cost are reflected in the budget. She noted three or four out of 125 land use permits requiring a hearing come through this commission. Comm. Johnson noted that no figures were provided that pertain to the Heritage Preservation Commission and is having difficulty recommending the budget. Chair Stanek noted that she does not have the information to approve or recommend the budget. Ms. Ryan noted that the Commission does not have to approve the budget, and their comments will be forwarded to the City Council through these minutes. Comm. Michitaka also noted the difficulty to make a decision to recommend or approve the budget, as it seems that the Heritage Preservation Commission is less than 10% of the total Planning budget. He is not sure if the other Heritage Commissioners agree with him. Comm. Johnson noted his agreement, and asked staff for more information. Vice Chair Squellati asked staff if the budgeted amount is a “guesstimate”. He would like to know how that estimate is used. Ms. Ryan explained that the budget is not estimated this way, and staff relies heavily on past activity usage. Comm. Mouritsen asked staff if there are any deficiencies from the way the budget is recommended. Comm. Michitaka noted the estimated budgeted hours of the Management Reporting System to Heritage Preservation Commission (Including to the City Councils), that it is not separated and mixed with the hours of staff's "Day to Day operations".He would like to see the breakdown of the hours between the "Day to Day Operations" hours and staff activities. Ms. Ryan noted that Landmark Alteration Permits and Resource Allocation Permits that this Commission approves or denies are the final products. She stated that if the Commission feels that more or less time is needed to be devoted, then they should state that. City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes June 4, 2014 Comm. Johnson noted that earlier, they brought up that the process is cumbersome if they have no numbers to work with. He would like to see more detail in the work provided by staff towards the approved study issues the Commission has created. Comm.Johnson noted that he does not know what else he can do to recommend the budget without the detail he has asked for. Motion: Comm. Dietrich made a motion to provide comments regarding the Planning Program 234 Budget to City Council, and to request Planning staff to prepare a three-year report of the Heritage Preservation Commission’s budget, in the future in order for the Commission to move forward and make recommendations in the future. Comm. Johnson seconded. Motion carried 4-0-2 with Comm. Mouritsen and Comm. Michitaka abstaining, and Comm. Larsen absent. Yes: 4 - Chair Stanek Vice Chair Squellati Commissioner Dietrich Commissioner Johnson No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Larsen Abstain: 2 - Commissioner Michitaka Commissioner Mouritsen -Commissioner Comments Comm. Johnson noted his agreement with Vice Chair Squellati’s comment of a possible study issue to re-study budget reporting. Vice Chair Squellati noted the term "product", and understood that products are the permits that they decide upon. Comm. Johnson noticed that the last meeting included discussion about the murals at the Goodwill buildings. He noted that he would like to see more murals in the downtown area. Comm. Dietrich noted that the Sunnyvale Art and Wine festival is this weekend. City of Sunnyvale Page 6 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes June 4, 2014 Chair Stanek noted Robin Chapman, “California Apricots: The Lost Orchards”, will be at the Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum on Monday, June 9, 2014. Ms. Ryan introduced Shaunn Mendrin and Amber El-Haaj, Senior Planners, one of whom will be assigned to the Heritage Preservation Commission. Ryan Kuchenig will be passing along the responsibility. Councilmember Martin-Milius noted other murals of Sunnyvale's history located inside the Trader Joe’s store. Comm. Johnson described photos of historical Sunnyvale inside Specialty’s restaurant. -Staff Comments None ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 7