HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin 11-15-06 wks planning build CITY OF UKIAH CITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING
MINUTES
PLANNING & BUILDING ACTIVITIES WORKSHOP
CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBERS
300 Seminary Avenue
Ukiah, CA 95482
November 15, 2006
4:30 p.m.
The Ukiah City Council met at a Special Meeting on November 15, 2006, the notice for which
being legally noticed on November 9, 2006. Councilmember Rodin called the meeting to order
at 4:52:27 P~l. Roll was taken with the following Councilmembers present: Crane, McCowen,
and Rodin. Arriving at 5:22 PM was Mayor Ashiku; and arriving at 5:35 PM was Vice Mayor
Baldwin. Staff present: City Manager Horsley, Director of Planning and Building, Stump,
Associate Planner Lohse, and Deputy City Clerk Brown.
PLANNING & BUILDING ACTIVITIES WORKSHOP
Director Stump introduced the topic. The Building Department issues about 600 permits per
year. The first four months of this fiscal year we have taken in 100 more permits than last year
during the same time. The Building division is working at capacity. Staff wants to develop an
un-reinforced masonry program, policies and procedures, etc., and put the information on the
website for the benefit of the public.
Ongoing education and training: Council increased the training budget, and staff is taking
advantage of that. Building Inspector David Willoughby is very close to being certified as a
plans examiner and checker and is pursuing his building official certification. It gives him a lot
more knowledge, and should free Director Stump up more, as Mr. Willoughby would be more
vested with decision making in building matters. More public outreach is desired, meeting with
people using Community Development services to create more of a team atmosphere with the
people we serve. Finally, staff is cross-training in all divisions.
Council Questions/Discussion
Staffin.q
Difficulty was noted in keeping fully staffed; Mr. Stump discussed the economics of hiring a
contract planner versus a City employee.
Code Compliance
Concern was expressed about code compliance, and it may well be appropriate to deal with it in
its own right in a workshop setting. Topics included:
· Overview should be done of ordinances.
· What are the linkages we have between issuance of business licenses and checking for
compliance under the provisions of the California Building Code? We do have linkages: the
business license is routed through Fire, Building, and Planning for signoff, and often involves
inspection by the fire and building departments for occupancy. What drives the inspection?
Change of occupancy.
· Under 'q'he Future, item 5: develop programmatic approach, with emphasis on education:"
What documents will be used in the effort? At this point it is the ordinances themselves.
· Discuss in more detail how to evaluate ordinances we have, determine what our carrying
capacity is.
· Even-handed enforcement. Police/Parking Officers/Street Sweepers can assist.
· If insufficient staff, should we not have the law?
· If not enforced, then does ordinance serve a purpose?
· '~/Vhat are our options?"
· Downtown broken windows not allowed in business district, yet we have some. Council took
time to develop, staff took time to make the ordinance, to what end? In the instance of a
burned-out building, we're able to use that ordinance to say either move forward and do
something, or there will be penalty.
· Criteria to establish priorities: aesthetics -health and safety. We need to define priorities.
How are we going to decide what our carrying capacity is? Past Councils have said we don't
want Gestapo techniques and have set certain limits - but each Council has different ideas,
so that's a good discussion.
· There are two A-frame signs by the Airport, in the public way, that don't conform to our
ordinance. The City owns the airport and street in front. The City is both rule maker and
owner of the land, so we should be in compliance. A consolidated sign would make it
obvious what the businesses are that are at the Airport, with possibly the City maintaining
the structure and then the individual placards placed on it depending on the businesses that
are there, would make sense.
· If we are gong to take time to have ordinances, we should have an outcome for our rules.
· Every government body would like to pass more regulation as time goes on-- rarely do City's
ever retreat.
· Worse than new laws, are laws that conflict with each other.
Outreach Meetinqs
· Referenced number 10, Outreach Meetings: Frequency? Probably a couple of times per
year, or more frequent, if desired. A suggestion was made to schedule in conjunction with
the realtors meeting--go to realtors meeting to open the dialog, instead of hosting. Their tud
might make for better dialog-- more open to input.
Public Comment: 5:35:05 PM Mary Anne Miller offered suggestions for staff employment, and
Outreach Meetings.
3. ADJOURNMENT OF WORKSHOP
~~~her business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:41:54 PM
Dep-~ City C~rown