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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-22-2014 PC MinutesSAN LUIS OBISPO PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES October 22, 2014 CALL TO ORDER /PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL: Commissioners Hemalata Dandekar, Michael Draze, John Fowler, Ronald Malak, William Riggs, Vice - Chairperson Michael Multari, and Chairperson John Larson Absent: None Staff: Community Development Deputy Director Doug Davidson, Contract Planner Rachel Cohen, Utilities Deputy Director Wade Horton, Assistant City Attorney Jon Ansolabehere, and Recording Secretary Diane Clement ACCEPTANCE OF THE AGENDA: The agenda was accepted as presented. MINUTES: Minutes of October 8, 2014, were approved as amended. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON - AGENDA ITEMS: There were no comments made from the public. PRESENTATION ON WATER SUPPLY was made by Utilities Deputy Director Horton. PUBLIC HEARINGS: 1. 43 Prado Road. U 87 -14: Review of a Safe Parking Program at the Prado Day Center with a categorical exemption from environmental review; PF zone; Community Action Partnership SLO, applicant. (Rachel Cohen) Contract Planner Cohen presented the staff report, recommending adoption of the Draft Resolution which approves the project, based on findings and subject to conditions. PUBLIC COMMENTS: There were no comments made from the public. COMMISSION COMMENTS: Commr. Draze stated he is supportive of this program now and in the past, and he does not want to see closure of this program as a condition for the opening of the new homeless facility because a second site may be needed in the future. Commr. Fowler stated he supports the program and noted that it makes perfect sense to increase the number of parking spaces to seven. Planning Commission Minutes October 22, 2014 Page 2 Commr. Riggs asked if staff has considered a condition like the one mentioned by Commr. Draze. He added he is concerned about clustering of the parking spaces. Contract Planner Cohen stated there had been no consideration of a condition because the Prado Day Center will close. Commr. Multari stated the new center will have to come to the Commission to obtain a use permit and a condition could potentially be added at that time. Commissioner Malak stated his concern regarding the safety of the individuals staying at the Safe Parking location. His concern is the communication to the Maxine Lewis Shelter or appropriate emergency services if an incident occurs on site. He stated if a cell phone or wireless device would not be available, timely notification would not happen. He recommends a method to communicate with the Maxine Lewis Shelter, e.g. ring down circuit, be installed at the Safe Parking location. Commr. Dandekar stated she is supportive of this program. There were no further comments made from the Commission. On motion by Commr. Draze, seconded by Commr. Dandekar, to adopt the Draft Resolution which approves the project, based on findings, and subject to conditions. AYES: Commrs. Dandekar, Draze, Fowler, Larson, Malak, Multari, and Riggs NOES: None RECUSED: None ABSENT: None The motion passed on a 7:0 vote. 2. 783 Alphonso Street. GENP- 0136 -2014 (GPC): General Plan conformity report for the acquisition of portions of 783 Alphonso Street and 780 Woodbridge Street properties for use as a right -of -way by the City of San Luis Obispo with a categorical exemption from environmental review; M zone; City of San Luis Obispo, applicant. (Rachel Cohen) Contract Planner Cohen presented the staff report, recommending adoption of the Planning Commission resolution, which determines and reports to the City Council that the proposed acquisition conforms to the General Plan. PUBLIC COMMENTS: There were no comments made from the public. COMMISSION COMMENTS: Commr. Draze stated that he had a phone conversation with a neighbor who is supportive of this. Planning Commission Minutes October 22, 2014 Page 3 There were no further comments made from the Commission. On motion by Commr. Multari, seconded by Commr. Malak, to adopt the Draft Resolution which determines and reports to the City Council that the proposed acquisition conforms to the General Plan. AYES: Commrs. Dandekar, Draze, Fowler, Larson, Malak, Multari, and Riggs NOES: None RECUSED: None ABSENT: None The motion passed on a 7:0 vote COMMENT AND DISCUSSION: 3. Staff a. Agenda Forecast by Deputy Director Davidson: • November 12, 2014 — appeal of a Director's decision about using an RV as a dwelling; an appeal about high occupancy; car wash use permit in a CT zone; housing element update • December 10, 2014 — appeal of use permit for the hotel, homeless services center • Possibility of doing a tour of sites that have come before the Commission • Commission prefers staff to continue filtering emails from the public to avoid a serial meeting. 4. Commission a. Commr. Dandekar will be absent from the November 12, 2014, meeting. Commr. Fowler may be absent from the December 10, 2014, meeting Commr. Malak requested a second meeting about water to learn about how the City handles waste water treatment, runoff, and recycling. b. Budget Goals 2015 -17: Commr. Larson stated that he does not want to drop or change any of the present goals other than a few statements or references that might be out of sync time - wise, such as references to Measure Y. Commr. Dandekar stated there has been a great deal of discussion about access to affordable housing and there is a gap between what the market is providing and what is needed. She suggested that the City look at partnering with developers and think about other creative ways to finance workforce housing and research what is done within the state and across the country. She stated she would like to see the Commission endorsing this as a priority. She suggested that the City have Planning Commission Minutes October 22, 2014 Page 4 a goal to facilitate opportunities to encourage the creation of workforce housing, including developing a definition and a regulatory structure, and identify potentially successful partnerships and financial possibilities. Commr. Riggs stated that he would prefer to separate workforce housing and affordable housing to avoid de- emphasizing affordable housing. Commr. Fowler agreed with Commr. Riggs and noted the need to define workforce housing and how to regulate or control it. Commr. Riggs stated that "encourage" is a better word to use than "regulate" or "control." Commr. Fowler stated that a discussion is needed about how to make providing affordable housing equal among the projects coming through, whether it be via requiring a fee, the donation of land or something else. He noted that the aging population is a huge issue that he would like to see included in the consideration of how to deal with housing. Commr. Riggs stated that there are three possible goals that warrant consideration as goals: 1) open space because it is important to all segments of the population; 2) dealing with the need to accommodate the two different ends of the population spectrum —the increasing number of Cal Poly students and the growing number of older residents; and 3) dealing with a cohesive direction for parking across the City including neighborhood parking, rebalancing, structure parking, innovation in pricing, and guidance (way finding). Commr. Larson stated that the City does not have a goal about implementing open space which is related to the LUCE update. He agreed with Commr. Riggs about getting a directive on parking and stated it is a part of transportation and land use planning in general. Commr. Riggs suggested that parking could be a part of the existing Goals 1 or 5 and should be linked to a nonautomotive transportation strategy. Deputy Director Davidson suggested it be part of Goal 1. Commr. Larson supported keeping the five existing goals but updating wording to embody more than is now included. He stated that putting parking in Goal 1 is acceptable. Deputy Director Davidson summarized: keep the existing five goals, add a goal for open space, revise the wording on Goal 1, and include workforce housing. Commr. Dandekar stated she would like some wordsmithing in Goal 2 aimed at broadening the City's economic strategy. She noted that this was discussed in the LUCE Task Force because the City seemed to be focused on downtown retail. She added that there was discussion about developing incentives to broaden the Planning Commission Minutes October 22, 2014 Page 5 economic base by attracting new kinds of businesses, such as high tech, and noted that the housing issue is tied in with this. Commr. Multari agreed that the economic development strategy needs to be much broader than just downtown retail but noted that part of the reason for the focus on downtown was to not forget about the vacant retail spaces there. He stated that accommodating Cal Poly and Cuesta students seems to be a growing problem that has generated the most controversy about housing and the behavior of students. He asked what the Commission would request the City Council to spend resources on to address this over the next two years. He suggested an overlay zone, perhaps in the neighborhoods closest to Cal Poly, and noted that it is important to explicitly address this in relation to parking, housing, and behavior, which are all linked. Deputy Director Davidson asked if this would be a seventh goal. Commr. Riggs stated that workforce housing is caught up in this issue as well, because units acquired to rent to students takes housing off the market. Commr. Larson stated that maybe all types of housing should be considered together but that a structure is needed to keep the identity of each housing issue separate. Commr. Dandekar stated that she thinks Commissioners have been expressing concern about a spectrum of housing issues, from those that have support to those that need more creative solutions. She supported the umbrella idea and, under that, categories. She added that senior housing is one that has the possibility of being met by a partnership with developers. She stated that the reasons students want to live in the City and whether the private sector can meet those needs should be investigated. Commr. Draze stated this is a huge issue that is not just about housing. He suggested coming up with a new separate goal for next meeting about student community relations including housing, communication, neighborliness, and parking. He stated he would be willing to drop another goal and deal with this rather than tacking this onto something else. Commr. Riggs agreed and stated it creates an infrastructure burden including police and fire department issues, and properties off the tax roles. Commr. Malak stated that it is inevitable that the neighborhoods around Cal Poly will change to become a college community because investors will continue to scoop up properties and attempting to deal with it would just be forestalling it. Commr. Dandekar stated that the reasons students move off - campus, such as a desire to experience being downtown, taking charge of their own apartments, living in a more normal environment, and taking charge of their lives, could be benefits for the City and, with creative planning, this need could be met and diffused to Planning Commission Minutes October 22, 2014 Page 6 more areas than just next to Cal Poly which would be a win -win for the City and the students. Commr. Riggs noted that he spent six years working on this issue in Berkeley where the neighborhoods on the south side of the city have been preserved without becoming just student areas. He stated it is important to prioritize this. Commr. Multari stated that because the City Council and the City have limited financial, political, and administrative resources, it is important to come to the next meeting with focused and specific details for goals. Commr. Riggs noted that Cal Poly took four houses off the tax rolls on Grand Avenue. He asked what kind of compensation the City is asking for over the next 30 or 100 years and stated that the City should pay attention to this. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:18 p.m. Respectfully submitted by, Diane Clement Recording Secretary Approved by the Planning Commission on November 12, 2014- Layfie Thomas Administrative Assistant III