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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin 11-29-95 CITY OF UKIAH CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Regular Adjourned Meeting Joint City Council/Planning Commission Meeting November 29, 1995 6:00 p.m. The City Council and the Planning Commission convened in a regular adjourned meeting, of which the agenda was legally posted at 6:01 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Civic Center. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Schneiter. Roll was taken with the following Councilmembers present: Mastin, Malone, and Mayor Schneiter. Planning Commissioners present: Baker, Larson, Pruden, Smith and Chairman Ashiku. Staff present: City Manager Horsley, City Attorney Rapport, Asst. to City Manager Harris, City Engineer Kennedy, Planning Director Sawyer, Senior Planner Stump, Associate Planner Lohse, Administrative Secretary Giuntoli and Recording Secretary Harris. Councilmember James Wattenburger arrived at 6:05 p.m. and Councilmember Richard Shoemaker arrived at 7:40 p.m. COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS No one came forward. Mayor Schneiter advised they should proceed through the agenda in the order given, noting this meeting is scheduled to end at 8:00 p.m. He requested that the person whose name is given with each agenda item lead the discussion. NEW BUSINESS I. PLANNING COMMISSION PURVIEW, PROTOCOL AND PROGRAMS A. Commission,s role in redevelopment agency projects - Discuss possible ways in which the Commission might become more involved in the review of redevelopment agency projects. (Commissioner Pruden) Councilmembers and Planning Commissioners discussed the review process for land use issue and design review matters pertaining to Redevelopment projects. The City Attorney advised details pertaining to Redevelopment law. B. Demeanor with applicants - Discuss the appropriate limits of questions asked of applicants during decision-making hearings, and consider that questions unrelated to planning or project review should not be asked of applicants or audience members. (Councilman Malone) Councilmember Malone offered his advice to Planning Commissioners as to his perspectives, regarding conduct with applicants and City staff. C. Meeting attendance requirements - Discuss the need for regular attendance by Commission members so as to ensure the presence of a quorum, and, more importantly, so as to ensure the diversity of ideas and dialogue in conducting Planning Commission business. (Councilman Shoemaker) Mayor Schneiter reported for Councilmember Shoemaker in his absence, of his concern for attendance of the Commission, especially after going from a seven to a five member Commission. He feels every effort should be made by Commissioners to attend. Councilmember Malone advised discussion of this topic later in the meeting. He stated we already have the provision for two or three meetings with unexcused absences. He commented if there continuously going to be only a three member Commission, he suggested they have to go back and revisit the notion of having a larger Commission. 337 Reg. Adj. Mtg. November 29, 1995 Page 1 The City Attorney advised under the general heading of Commissions, particularly Planning, it talks about the number of absences allowed and that the Council has to notify the Commissioner, there is a process for it. Commissioner Pruden stated the Planning Commission has only had a three member Commission twice in almost six months. D. Proactive Planning Programs - Discuss ways in which the Planning Commission might involve proactive planning programs and issues in its meeting business, so as not to focus solely on project review and reactive planning. (Mayor Schneiter) Mayor Schneiter and Councilmember Malone offered their advice to the Planning Commission on how to handle difficult issues, as they have served on the Planning Commission. Discussion ensued regarding proactive planning. The Planning Director stated Staff already has four or five policy guidelines or ordinances ready to come to the Commission once they have the final document. Staff has already been working on the priority of the general plan in terms of bringing something forward to the Commission for their review. E. Implementing the new General Plan - Discuss a strategy for implementing the new General Plan, including priorities of programs contained in the Plan. (Commissioner Pruden) The Planning Director reported staff's proposed strategy is take the pool of short term planning programs and develop a prioritization list in respect to their resources. This will address deficiencies in the current code and the current General Plan, which is coming to the Planning Commission very shortly. Councilmember Mastin suggested the possibility of a joint City Council/Planning Commission workshop to cut down on the length of time it's going to take to get this approved. II. HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT CONSTRAINT ISSUES A. "Conditions of Approval" and affordable housing - Consider that the imposition of project enhancements through "Conditions of Approval" by decision-makers increases the cost of housing, and discuss ways to minimize this financial impact on developers of affordable housing. (Commissioner Baker) Commissioner Baker expressed her concerns and personal perspectives regarding the Planning Commission process of conditioning projects, which impacts the applicants and housing supply. Discussion ensued regarding Councilmembers and Planning Commissioners perspectives on how to review projects in a professional manner with City staff, who has the Planning expertise. B. Low and moderate income housing - Discuss ways to reduce the "up front" costs of affordable housing as a way of enticing or encouraging developers to build affordable housing. (Chairman Ashiku) Chairman Ashiku waived Item B. because discussion of Item A. covered this issue as well. C. Imposition of off-site improvements - Discuss the limits of imposing off-site improvements as "conditions of approval" on projects. (Councilman Shoemaker) Councilmember Malone noted this agenda item was part of the same discussion currently taking place and asked if perhaps the City Attorney could also explain the concept of rational nexus. The City Attorney offered advice on the legal requirements for the review of projects, noting rational nexus has to be proportional to the amount of need the particular project. 339 Reg. Adj. Mtg. November 29, 1995 Page 2 34O D. Mixing housing with industrial parks - Discuss the topic of mixing residential uses amidst industrial uses, as recently proposed by the Planning Commission in relation to amending the AIP Planned Development Ordinance. (Mayor Schneiter) Mayor Schneiter stated his concerns regarding having residential in a commercial business park and the Planning Commission scope of review and policy regarding this area. Discussion ensued regarding individual perspectives regarding this issue. III. CODE AMENDMENT PROPOSALS A. Outdoor display of merchandise on public sidewalks - Consider amending the municipal code to permit the use of public sidewalks for the display of merchandise by store owners. Currently this practice is not allowed pursuant to §6230 of the Ukiah Municipal Code "Police Regulations". (Chairman Ashiku) Discussion ensued regarding side walk signs in the downtown area, government code provisions, public liability issues and a recent planning matter surrounding this matter. B. Use Permit limitations - Consider initiating a review of the various zoning district provisions to narrow the variety of uses currently permitted by approval of a Use Permit. (Commissioner Larson) Discussion ensued regarding the Use Permit process, zoning amendments, conditional uses, code regulation requirements, residential zoning, industrial zoning, commercial zoning, and a possible flexible conditional use permit process. The City Attorney provided legal advice to the Planning Commission surrounding different theoretical scenarios of planning issues. IV. PROJECT PROCESSING ISSUES A. Planning permit fees - Discuss the need to raise planning permit fees in order to recoup the costs associated with planning permit processing. (Chairman Ashiku) Mayor Schneiter explained he and Chairman Ashiku have discussed the planning permit fees. He explained at budget time, Staff had reported they were in the process of reconstructing all the applications and fees, etc, which addresses this agenda item. He noted the appropriate public hearings will be held after the Planning Commission has done their work to adopt certain fees. B. Appeals of Planning Commission decisions to Council - Consider amending the appeal fee schedule, which is currently $0, as well as establishing criteria for receiving and accepting appeals, in order to discourage frivolous appeals. (Commissioner Pruden) Commissioner Pruden expressed her concern that appeals are taking a tremendous amount of City staff time and is a costly process of which the City does not recover any costs. She expressed her desire to see an appeal fee implemented by. Discussion ensued regarding fee structuring and possible solutions. Mayor Schneiter noted he has not seen any frivolous appeals at the Council level. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the/~eeting was adjourned at 8:04 / !,, / CCMIN.214 CaffhY~ iK~y, City Clerk, as recorded by Melo¢ y HarriS, Recording Secretary Reg. Adj. Mtg. November 29, 1995 Page 3