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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-11-2014 PC MinutesSAN LUIS OBISPO PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES September 11, 2014 CALL TO ORDER /PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL: Commissioners Hemalata Dandekar, Michael Draze, Ronald Malak, William Riggs, and Chairperson John Larson Absent: Commissioner John Fowler and Vice - Chairperson Michael Multari Staff: Community Development Director Derek Johnson, Public Works Deputy Director Tim Bochum, Traffic Operations Manager Jake Hudson, Associate Planner Brian Leveille, Contract Planner Gary Kaiser, Assistant City Attorney Jon Ansolabehere, and Recording Secretary Diane Clement Consultant: Rick Rust, Matrix Design Group ACCEPTANCE OF THE AGENDA: The agenda was accepted as presented. MINUTES: Minutes of September 10, 2014, were continued. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON - AGENDA ITEMS: There were no comments made from the public. PUBLIC HEARINGS: 1. City -Wide. GPI /ER 15 -12: Continued review of the Draft Land Use Element (LUE) and associated Final Environmental Impact Report; City of San Luis Obispo, Community Development Dept., applicant. (Gary Kaiser) Focus for this meeting: Provide recommendation to City Council for Policies and Programs in Chapters 1 -6 and 9 -12 of the draft Land Use Element and Policies and Programs in Chapters 1 -5 of the draft Circulation Element, as part of a City- wide effort to update the Land Use and Circulation elements of the General Plan. Contract planner Gary Kaiser presented the staff report and summarized how public input and staff recommendations were reflected in the staff report attachments, including a staff recommendation for a new policy regarding limits to provision of recycled water outside the City limits. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Eugene Jud, SLO, thanked the City for reducing the vehicle share to 50% and emphasizing multimodal transportation. He suggested the addition of a new transportation goal in the Circulation Element to project the image of the City as a known non -car city to continue the legacy of the City as a pioneer, such as with no Planning Commission Minutes September 11, 2014 Page 2 smoking and no drive - through service ordinances. He also suggested that transit access be required with development like utilities such as water and electricity. He gave several examples of how transportation is handled in Zurich, Switzerland. Myron Amerine, SLO, stated that he hoped the City and the County will add protected bikeways with buffer zones as provided for in the new State law. Mila Vujovich- La Barre, SLO, expressed concern that the piecemeal development of Prado Road as a truck highway is for the benefit of developers- and that no comprehensive EIR has been planned. She supported Class 1 bicycle lanes but stated that the 800,000 square feet planned for development on the Chevron property should be reduced by half. She noted that the San Luis Ranch is one of only one 100 parcels classified as prime agricultural land and development on this land is in conflict with the LUE which calls for preservation. She expressed concern about tall hotel development on lots zoned for one -story car dealerships and noted that this view shed is a gateway to the City. She added that she agrees with Mr. Jud and the letter from the Sierra Club. Blayne Morgan, SLO, supported the modal split objectives and suggested Higuera be closed to vehicles for short periods, and a study be done of the resulting impacts. Eric Meyer, SLO, stated that as a private citizen he is proud of the LUCE document and the advocates on various issues who came to Task Force meetings time after time and how everyone worked together. There were no further comments made from the public. COMMISSION COMMENTS: Land Use Element -- Chapter 1 Commr. Draze stated that he supports the language in 1.13 about consideration of a range of financing options for calculating the fair share of costs for new development. Commr. Larson stated that the concept of fair share payment by new development has been tested and is in statutory language. He added that the City has some limitations on what they can impose on new development. He stated that staff has done a good job in the way this has been addressed in policy. Commr. Dandekar noted that the rationale for annexation of all or part of the Cal Poly property is not included in 1.12.3. Director Johnson stated that studying the benefits and costs of annexing Cal Poly would be done at the direction of the City Council at some future time. Commr. Dandekar stated that this seems expansionist and there should be a definition of what parts of the campus are being considered for annexation. Planning Commission Minutes September 11, 2014 Page 3 Commr. Larson stated that this is the first time he has seen this policy in writing but he noted that the concept has been discussed for decades. Director Johnson stated that counting Cal Poly in demographics could be beneficial to the City. Land Use Element -- Chapter 4 Commr. Larson stated that the reference to "A Conceptual Physical Plan for the City's Center" in the Introduction helps for clarity when considering new projects. Commr. Riggs suggested adding "parklets" to the new policy about downtown green space between 4.0.6 and 4.0.7 on page 67 so it reads as follows: "including pocket parks and parklets, as the number of people living Downtown increases." Land Use Element -- Chapter 9 Commr. Riggs commended staff, the City Council and the public for including a new program about renewal of the urban forest. Commr. Malak recommended inclusion in 9.3.7 encouragement for building solar -ready homes and solar canopies, such as the solar panel arrays in local school parking lots. Commr. Larson supported this as providing more details for sustainability. Mr. Rust recommended language to read "The City shall encourage...." Comm. Riggs wanted to include a description of the term solar canopies. Commr. Draze stated he was happy to see that grey water is included under Plumbing in 9.3.7D. Mr. Rust pointed out that on page PC 2 -43 of the Staff Report, staff has recommended adding "and encourage new homes to be constructed grey water ready' to 9.3.7D. Commr. Draze stated he likes "encourage" because requiring this could be a deal breaker for some types of housing. Commr. Malak stated he prefers "where appropriate" instead of "encourage." Commr. Draze stated that he favors "encourage" until the City has more experience dealing with grey water. Commr. Larson stated "encourage" is appropriate. This was acceptable to Commr. Malak. Commr. Dandekar supported the staff addition of a new incentive program for sustainable design features as it sets a direction for the future. Planning Commission Minutes September 11, 2014 Page 4 Land Use Element -- Chapter 10 Commissioner Draze asked how the City would support healthy food retailers as part of supporting sustainable local food systems. Commr. Riggs stated that in in West Oakland there is a city- supported back -to -work program at a food retailer. He added that keeping the language flexible is important. Land Use Element -- Chapter 12 Commr. Draze commended the language in 12.3.12 Interagency Communication as being much better and more sensible than the original wording. Circulation Element -- Chapter 1 Commr. Larson stated that the revised Table 1 Modal Split Objectives shows the most important change in the update and illustrates the City's significant commitment. Commr. Riggs thanked Mr. Jud for his comments and suggested adding "creative transportation demand management" after "strategies" and before "telecommuting" in 1.5.1 Transportation Goals, #8. He noted that he appreciates Mr. Jud's request for a non -car goal but prefers the intent of 1.5.1 as a fair plan that speaks to all people. Commr. Draze stated that he agrees with this change and noted that the beauty of the short two - column Table 1 is that it emphasizes the modal split. Circulation Element -- Chapter 3 Commr. Riggs suggested adding "The City shall encourage transit accessibility' to 3.0.7 Transit Service Access just before the sentence that begins "New development...." The other Commissioners agreed. Circulation Element -- Chapter 4 Commr. Larson noted that, in reference to 4.0.4 New Development and 6.0.4 Defining Significant Circulation Impact, the State has released new draft CEQA requirements that involve measuring traffic impacts by Vehicle Miles Traveled, rather than Level of Service, because it tells more about emissions, energy consumption and the adverse effects of vehicles. He suggested that the City should try to reconcile its language with this, even though continuing to use LOS may be allowed by legislation. Traffic Operations Manager Hudson responded that staff is struggling with this right now because new State language is not yet approved. He added that the City will continue to use LOS to identify impacts but will override that when necessary. Commr. Draze stated that not all impacts rise to the level of CEQA, and he prefers to leave the current language in place to cover these other kinds of impacts. Planning Commission Minutes September 11, 2014 Page 5 Mr. Rust stated that there was agreement to add "and maintaining" just after "expanding" in 4.1.9 Bicycle Licensing. Commr. Riggs stated that he sees no reason to move 4. 1.1 from Chapter 4 to the Traffic Reduction section as recommended by the Task Force. He added that he would like this statement to be stronger and to directly incentivize cycling. Commr. Larson recommended moving this language to the Traffic Reduction section and keeping a copy of the same language in 4.1.1 but substituting "bicycling" for "alternative forms of transportation." Commr. Dandekar supported this modification. There were no further comments made from the Commission. Chair Larson reopened Public Comment at this time. Eric Meyer, SLO, noted that the recycling symbol shows up randomly throughout the document but is not explained or defined until page 11 in Chapter 2 of the Circulation Element. He suggested that this should be at the end of the Table of Contents. Myron Amerine, SLO, asked if there is a goal to establish a pedestrian /bicycle advisory commission that is separate from the bicycle advisory groups. He stated that maybe there should be a multimodal coordinator. Traffic Operations Manager Hudson stated that a letter was received asking that consolidation of the transit advisory bodies be considered, which will be done after the policies and programs are finalized. Director Johnson added that staff will get direction from the City Council about whether the organizational structure in place can support this paradigm shift. Mr. Jud stated that Chapter 3 Transit Service should have language making transit a prerequisite for new development. Traffic Operations Manager Hudson stated that new development triggers an impact study that includes transit and, if there is no transit, the LOS grade would be F. Mr. Jud asked if there is a standard for walking from an advocacy group like there is for biking. He stated that the City should set a walking goal. Mila Vujovich- LaBarre stated she would like to see consideration for light rail, perhaps with a route from the airport to San Luis Obispo High School to Cal Poly. Commr. Larson responded that this would have to be done through SLOCOG and it would be about improving intra- county use of current rail lines, not light rail. There were no further comments made from the public Planning Commission Minutes September 11, 2014 Page 6 COMMISSION COMMENTS: Commr. Draze asked that staff present an explanation of LOS at a future meeting. There were no further comments made from the Commission. On motion by Commr. Riggs, seconded by Commr. Dandekar, recommending the City_ Council approve updates to Chapters 1 -6 and 9 -12 of the Land Use Element and Chapters 1 -5 of the Circulation Element including all changes made by staff and the following changes: a. LUE new policy between 4.0.6 and 4.0.7 to read: "including pocket parks and parklets- b. LUE 9.3.7: add "H. The City shall encourage the building of solar -ready homes." and "`l. The City shell encourage the building of solar canopies." c. CE 1.5.1.8: insert "creative transportation demand management" after "strategies" and before "telecommuting ' d, CE 3.0.7: insert "The City shall encourage transit accessibility' before the sentence that begins "New development...." e. CE 4.1.1: move the language in 4.1.1 from Chapter 4 to the Traffic Reduction section and keep a copy of the same language in 4.1.1 but substitute "bicycling" for "alternative forms of transportation." f. CE 4.1.9: add "and maintaining" just after "expanding." g. Policy recommendations provided in the policy matrix attachment as noted durina the presentation. AYES: Commrs. Dandekar, Draze, Larson, Malak, and Riggs NOES: None RECUSED: None ABSENT: Commrs. Fowler and Multari The motion passed on a 5:0 vote.. COMMENT AND DISCUSSION: 2 3 Staff a. Agenda Forecast by Director Johnson • Wednesday, September 17, 2014 —LUCE Update • Thursday, September 18, 2014 —LUCE Update • September 24, 2014 — appeal of Director's decision for a nonconforming structure Commission a. Commr. Malak encouraged Commrs. Riggs and Dandekar to have their students to do short presentations at Commission meetings. Commr. Dandekar stated that this was a very kind invitation which she will use judiciously. Commr. Riggs stated that he has students doing an open space study for Natural Resources Manager Hill about accessibility, who uses natural spaces, how to steward open spaces better and interfaces with the public. Planning Commission Minutes September 11, 2014 Page 7 Students have been interviewing individuals about their experiences with natural spaces. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:14 p.m. Respectfully submitted by, Diane Clement Recording Secretary Approved by the Planning Commission on September 24, 2014. Laurie homas Administrative Assistant III