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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/14/1980City-Council Minutes October 14,-1980-- 6:15 p.m. Page 2 1. . City. Council met in. joint.._ session .. with ... tha- .City._Planiiing. Commission for.. the. purpose - of- discussion;.o.f.'.mu_tual concerns in:..the:Planning /Community Development Department aiea: 2. Mayor Cooper adjourned.the'meeting --at 8:00 p:ia. to the City Council Hearing Room at City Hall, 990 Palm Street. Approved:: rge Thacher, Deputy City-Clerk- ---------------------- -------------- ------------------ MINUTES CITY COUNCIL ADJOURNED MEETING CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO TUESDAY, OCTOBER.14, 1980 - 8:10 P.M." HEARING ROOM, CITY HALL, 990 PALM STREET Roll Call Councilmembers PRESENT: Melanie Billig, Alan Bond,.Ron Dunin, Gerald Munger and Mayor Cooper ABSENT: None... . City Staff, _ PRESENT: George Thacher, Deputy.City Clerk Planning Commissioners PRESENT: Charles Andrews, Randal.Bullock, Sylvia Drucker, Rob Rossi, Alan.Settle;'and Mike Deneve,.Chairman ABSENT: Sidney Findley 1. . Mayor Cooper.explained.that.the purpose.of the meeting was to be an informal discussion between the. councilmembers .and.planning.commission members in an attempt to come closer.together.and..discuss real or imagined problems-between the.two.groups. Commissioner.Settle stated he.objected. -to the-staff being excluded from the meeting and.asked for an explanation. Mayor Cooper stated that in discussion..with..some.of:..the members of--the-council and planning commission, . that the least number of participants would.make for more fruitful discussion and also.some people -felt that both councilmembers and planning commission members might. speak more frankly if a large mumber of other members were present, although he felt that the attorney should be present if needed on legal matters. The Mayor continued that he would like to.proceed item by item on the ' suggested agenda. NUMBER 1 - WORK PROGRAM PRIORITIES Rob Rossi stated the_Planning:Commission.has. decided-on-four-(4) advanced planning items for study and prioi:itized.them for.completion. He- .admitted that they are behind 'schedule,- _but,.no more-than a.meeting or two. He continued that the Planning Commission tries to take on an item at a time for study. He felt the commission should stick to .the priority .schedule- establ- ished. The Planning Commission would sit down again,in January or February to establish new priority schedules-of incomplete items. City Council Minutes October 14, 1980 -8:10 P.M. Page 2 Mike Deneve expressed some concern that some other items should have gone before the four items adopted and prioritized for _study. He was quite concerned that the Planning Commission had not given any input to the master park plan. Sylvia Drucker had no comment on Item No. 1. Jerry Munger had no comment on Item No. 1, but a general comment of the Planning Commission's role in interpreting the pulse of the community. He felt that the City Council needs the Planning Commission's input in trying to address the needs and concerns of the community. Ron Dunin stated he felt the Planning Commission did not receive clear direction from the council. He agreed that amendments to the general plan and zoning ordinance were important. Nevertheless, he felt that the Planning Commission,- should move ahead on other planning issues. He did feel that the Planning Commission tends to get hung up on small issues and he felt that the Planning Commission's first priority should be communication with each other and act as a body rather than individuals. Alan Bond had no comments. Melanie Billig stated the Planning Commission was unable to see the forest through the trees. She felt Planning Commission should emphasize future planning rather than smaller entitlement issues. She also felt that the Planning Commission was an independent advisory body and the City Council should not dictate to the Planning Commission. Charles Andrews discussed with Councilman Munger re the Planning Commission sitting apolitically vis -a -vis with the City Council. He felt the commission should be concerned with specifics and generalities. Allen Settle felt that the priorities the.Planning Commission have set are ' months behind and there are a great number of issues still to be addressed. Randal Bullock felt the Planning Commission spends too much time on uncompromising issues...a lot- of'time spent without result. Sylvia Drucker stated the Planning Commission has a time schedules, but she was unclear whether the questions is that the City Council is in agreement with the priorities established by the Planning Commission or is it a matter of sequence. Melanie Billig stated it was the time and diligence in which the Planning Commission moves is of concern. She continued that the City Council is saying if the Planning Commission is having trouble getting through their priorities, they should pay attention.to the prioritizing or else delegate some of the work to staff or ask the City Council for advice or help. Lynn Cooper stated if the City Council was more aware of the workload of the Planning Commission, the City Council could better judge when to request answers or recommend actions from the Planning Commission. Rob Rossi stated he felt that the Planning Commission had been fairly faithful to their schedule. Melanie Billig stated that the energy program has been a concern to her. She continued that the Planning Commission had not met the July 1980 deadline on energy, although she can understand that other more pressing matters took precedence, from their perspective, but the energy program was also important. She added that the new zoning ordinance was a likely spot for energy regulations, but this too had been ignored. Alan Bond stated that he felt that the Planning Commission meeting a$peared to disagree. He felt too much fillibusting by individual Planning Commission members was going on. Jerry Munger felt that the Planning Commission rather than speak to specific parcels, should speak to broader issues. City Council Minutes October 14, 1980 - 8:10 p.m. Page 3 .;Melanie „Billig felt -the Planning Commission should gpend less time on . some items. She felt too much rhetoric prior to a decision. Some -:. recommendations should be made as soon as practicable on every item. Lynn Cooper felt that this concluded Item No. 1. He felt Planning Commission had priorities and City Council should not disrupt shcedules unless there is an urgency to do so. NUMBER 2 - DISCUSSION OF MATTERS THAT COULD BE DELEGATED , Lynn Cooper stated Item 2 dealt with delegation of certain planning /zoning decisions; but on second thought, this might not be a good idea and less should be delegated. Rob Rossi stated that most items considered for delegation are items that come to the Planning Commission in any event at present, and he felt that making a final decision at the earliest possible stage is preferred. Charles Andrews felt that items that do not have to be appealed should stay at the Planning Commission level. Mike Deneve felt that if the Planning Commission was doing their job right, they would establish a favorable reputation; for example, fi the City Council supported the action of the Planning Commission for most parts, then the Planning Commission would be doing its job. Melanie Billig felt that Planning Commission members have an important function at the City Council meetings,. She felt that -they could-point out discrepancies in information between the Planning Commission and council. - r, Alan Bond felt that final maps should be handled at the staff level. Sylvia Drucker did not feel it was necessary to have Planning Commission members at every council meeting. Mike Deneve stated he felt there was a lack of trust between the council and commissio . and between the commission and staff. Alan Bond felt staff should handle more matters. If the City Council had faith in the Planning Commission, they should give them more decisions at the final level subject to appeal or not. Lynn Cooper felt that the City Council should put decisions at the lowest possible decision - making level. He was very critical of "technical” denials. Ron Dunin was concerned with denying the right to appeal. Allen Settle had no problem with delegation, but he did not want to deny the right to appeal. NUMBER 3 - HILLSIDE DEVELOPMENT Alan Bond stated city should look to developing standards for the whole community. But, he felt that hillside development plans should be the first priority item. Melanie Billig stated that hillside development requests often result in a free - for -all due to the absence of standards. She felt that hillside standards should be a first priority item. Randal Bullock felt that hillside standards should be arrived at jointly by the City Council and Planning Commission. Alan Bond felt that the staff should be putting together a preliminary draft of hisslisde standards including consultation with cities which have formulated such standards. R. Bullock felt that there was too much discussion by the Planning Commission and staff on the intent of ordinances, guidelines and other Planning Commission declarations. He felt more clarification was needed for better understanding of the matter. Melanie Bii!i A stated she wanted the best advice of the Planning Commission wi out concern of what they felt the council wanted to hear. City Council Minutes October 14, 1980 - 8:10 p.m. Page 4 Lynn Cooper agreed that clear, concise hillside standards were necessary for the entire community. NUMBER 4 - ADOPTION OF PRECUDURES OR PROCESSING MANUAL FOR PLANNING COMMISSION Rob Rossi stated the majority of the membership of the Planning Commission were lay people with broad backgrounds in many fields utilized to professional staff planning decisions. ' Sylvia Drucker felt that there should be an orientation and indoctrination program for new.members of the Planning Commission to include legal and . administrative information. She felt orientation was better than a manual. Melanie Billig felt that bot a manual and orientation were important. She also felt that a manual for the council might be helpful as well. •. Allen Settle did not feel there was enough communications between the Planning Commission and City Council. Lynn Cooper suggested that council recommended that Lee Walton, CAO, look into an orientation program, a cooperative effort to educate new planning commission members. NUMBER 5 - NEED OF DIRECTION FROM CITY COUNCIL Jerry Munger felt that the City Council should give some direction and communication to the Planning Commission. He felt this would result in more harmonious relationships between the two groups. Allen Settle suggested that rather than make inconsistent interpretations of the general plans, they should alter the plans. Ron Dunin suggested joint meetings with the two groups would be helpful every ' six months. NUMBER 6 - PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SCHEDULES AND PRIORITIES Jerry Munger felt that Planning Commission had responsibility for long term planning but he felt that Planning Commission tends to often get stuck on specifics. Mike Deneve cited the shopping mall proposal as an example of confusion.caused by breach of communications and understanding between commission and council Lynn Cooper asked Planning Commission who they would prefer to make presentations at Planning Commission meetings. Sylvia Drucker stated anyone should be able to work with either the commission or council. She felt questions were inappropriate. She felt it was the Planning Commission responsibility to work as well as possible with all staff. Allen Settle felt the Community Development Director should designate who should appeal before council or commission. Charles Andrews felt for the commission to say who they would favor to make presentations would require public evaluations. ' Alan Bond did not feel this was a fair questions at this time. Mike Deneve felt the commission involvement should be mainly with the Community Development Director because he coordinates the planning program. Lynn Cooper asked for comments on the structure of the Planning Commission. R. Bullock.stated he would support any streamlining of the process.. Allen Settle favors seven person commission. Charles Andrews favors five person commission. He felt selection was critical. Melanie Billig favors seven person commission. Alan Bond favors five person commission. City Council-.Minutes October-14,.'1980 - 8:10 p.m. Page 5 Ron :Dunn, favors :five :person commission-.f. Jerry Munger favors five person commission with each.councilmember selecting one member.. Sylvia Drucker asked-.that if obtaining .a.quorum.is.a..problem, she.did. not feel reducing"the membership was the.answer.;-rather..dismissal of -the non- attending members. She also felt the-:commission should represent :the entire community. Thus, seven person commission would more accurately reflect this. Mike Deneve has no preference. He would be- willing to. -try five. _n": nr._ rri__ `n -o` ._tsy . -°= g =. = o_ r:.".i Rob Rossi had no.preference: ::Lynn Cooper asked.for_:a..recap: of the..evening.'.s..discussion. Rob Rossi felt it was valuable to have joint meetings. He sees Planning Commission voting a.planning decision and.forwarding it to council. Mike Deneve felt it was.a good idea -to have joint meetings. Sylvia Drucker felt that this meeting was..more.constructive -than previous joint meetings. She felt they should be held more often. Jerry Munger felt that an understanding between.the. commission and. .council-was important. Ron Dunin felt that this meeting has:closed.._the.communication gap.. Alan Bond hoped.that some direction would result-from-the meeting and would result.in staff suggestions for a change. Melanie Billig.felt..the staff should .begin..work_on.many..of..the items discussed Charles Andrews .felt that the end result of the meeting should be evident in .-the next 4. "to 5 months. Allen Settle felt the commission needed council.direction :on major issues, citycwaterr,capacity;ras an :emmaple: R.- Bullock.felt_ there should be more.meetings. of this. type. 1 LJI Lynn Cooper stated he. hoped.everyone- recognized..that once a:decision.is made, forget. it ,and move on to the next item... He.thanked everyone for attending and taking part in the discussion. He felt that many matters had been cleared up and he hoped the commission.and council.could move_ahead.with a little more understanding of each other's problems. The City Council thanked the Planning Commission for joining them for dinner and,for the frank discussions following-the dinner meeting.. 2. At 10:25 p.m., the City Council-adjourned to Executive Session to discuss ongoing litigation - Biloderac Suit. At 10:35 p.m., the City Council reconvened in regular session; all councilmembers present. 3. . There being no.further. business to come before -the City Council, _- Mayor. Cooper. adjourned the meeting at. 10:30 p.m., to.4.;00.p.m. Tuesday, October 28, 1980. APPROVED: 11/3/80 J.H. Fitzpatrick, City Clerk By George Thacher, Deputy-.City Clerk 1