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Home My WebLink About03/14/2006ROLL CALL: Council Members Present: Council Members John Ewan, Christine Mulholland, Vice Mayor Allen Settle and Mayor Dave Romero were present at Roll Call. Council Member Brown was seated at approximately 7:05 p.m. City Staff: Present: Ken Hampian, City Administrative Officer; Jonathan Lowell, City Attorney; Audrey Hooper, City Clerk; Shelly Stanwyck, Assistant City Administrative Officer; John Mandeville, Community Development Director; Deborah Linden, Police Chief; John Moss, Utilities Director; Mike Draze, Deputy Community Development Director; Doug Davidson, Housing Programs Manager; Claire Clark, Economic Development Manager; Pam Ricci, Senior Planner; Warren Stephenson, Battalion Chief 1 CLOSED SESSION City Atiomey Lowell announced the following Closed Session topic: CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL REGARDING EXISTING LITIGATION Pursuant to Government Code § 54956.9 Christina Brown v. City of San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo Police Department, et al. United States District Court, Central District of California, Case No. DCV06 -0048 MMM City Attorney Lowell reported that Council met with the City Attorney and discussed the above - referenced case. There was no further reportable action. PUBLIC COMMENT Dane Senser, San Luis Obispo, congratulated the City and SLO Film Festival for an extraordinary event. He announced that a special event, "Dancing with the Hometown Celebs, Red Hot Ballroom," will be held at the Alex Madonna Expo Center on September 16, 2006. Funds from this event will be offered to children's charities. Sara Home representing the League of Women Voters, discussed the League's activities and invited the community to participate in "Sunshine Week," March 12 -18. She said the purpose of "Sunshine Week" is to stimulate public discussion about open government. STUDY SESSION 1 . BUILDING HEIGHT AND INTENSITY IN THE DOWNTOWN CORE MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2006 - 7:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBER, 990 PALM STREET SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA ROLL CALL: Council Members Present: Council Members John Ewan, Christine Mulholland, Vice Mayor Allen Settle and Mayor Dave Romero were present at Roll Call. Council Member Brown was seated at approximately 7:05 p.m. City Staff: Present: Ken Hampian, City Administrative Officer; Jonathan Lowell, City Attorney; Audrey Hooper, City Clerk; Shelly Stanwyck, Assistant City Administrative Officer; John Mandeville, Community Development Director; Deborah Linden, Police Chief; John Moss, Utilities Director; Mike Draze, Deputy Community Development Director; Doug Davidson, Housing Programs Manager; Claire Clark, Economic Development Manager; Pam Ricci, Senior Planner; Warren Stephenson, Battalion Chief 1 CLOSED SESSION City Atiomey Lowell announced the following Closed Session topic: CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL REGARDING EXISTING LITIGATION Pursuant to Government Code § 54956.9 Christina Brown v. City of San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo Police Department, et al. United States District Court, Central District of California, Case No. DCV06 -0048 MMM City Attorney Lowell reported that Council met with the City Attorney and discussed the above - referenced case. There was no further reportable action. PUBLIC COMMENT Dane Senser, San Luis Obispo, congratulated the City and SLO Film Festival for an extraordinary event. He announced that a special event, "Dancing with the Hometown Celebs, Red Hot Ballroom," will be held at the Alex Madonna Expo Center on September 16, 2006. Funds from this event will be offered to children's charities. Sara Home representing the League of Women Voters, discussed the League's activities and invited the community to participate in "Sunshine Week," March 12 -18. She said the purpose of "Sunshine Week" is to stimulate public discussion about open government. STUDY SESSION 1 . BUILDING HEIGHT AND INTENSITY IN THE DOWNTOWN CORE City Council Meeting Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 7:00 p.m. Page 2 Community Development Director Mandeville, Housing Programs Manager Davidson and Economic Consultant Allen Kotin presented the staff report and responded to Council's questions. Public Comments Mark Rawson. San Luis Obispo resident and architect, discussed his concepts for making the downtown pedestrian friendly and encouraged Council to embrace the concept of taller buildings in the downtown. John Goodell. San Luis Obispo, opposed increasing the density in the downtown because of potentially adverse impacts on the character of the City (blocking views, creating canyons between tall buildings, increased traffic). Andrew Carter, San Luis Obispo, suggested the focus should be on height rather than density and floor area ratios (FARs). He thought "height" should be considered at the street/sidewalk level, and that there should be different height standards based on the width of streets. He also thought that there should be a standard limiting the use to housing after a certain height. Hamish Marshall, downtown property owner, displayed a photograph depicting and discussed the height of existing buildings and historical buildings in the downtown. He suggested that height in feet, not in stories, is what should be considered. He also suggested that the FAR should not be changed and that each development should be considered on a case -by -case basis. Deborah Cash. Downtown Association, discussed the importance of promoting balance in 1 the downtown and encouraged a diverse mix of uses. She expressed concern that adopting strict policies may be counter - productive to the City's goals. Lynn Landwher, San Luis Obispo, urged Council to take into consideration the scale of the valley in which the City sits. She expressed concern that the sense of setting might be lost with too much height, mass and density in the downtown. Michael Sullivan. San Luis Obispo, reviewed the recommendations contained in his letter to Council (on file in the City Clerk's office) and discussed the need for affordable housing in the downtown. Tom Jones, Dean of Cal Poly College of Architecture and Environmental Design, supported increased height and discussed principles he thought should be considered. Dane Senser, San Luis Obispo, spoke in support of the staff recommendation, of permitting an extra story based on the design, and of making decisions on a case -by -case basis. Chuck Crotser. San Luis Obispo, discussed his letter to Council (on file in the City Clerk's office). He said there is a need to continue considering acquiring and preserving open space, and to provide alternatives for moderately increasing heights. Ken Schwartz, San Luis Obispo, referenced his letter to Council (on file in the City Clerk's office) and said he is in favor of modifying the height limitations to accommodate needs for the downtown. He explained that while there has been discussion regarding profitability for the private sector, consideration must also be given to the public sector. He said there is a , need for a careful balance between the permitted land use and revenues generated. City Council Meeting Page 3 Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 7:00 p.m. Pierre Rademaker, San Luis Obispo, pointed out that in the past, the City had a much more ' urban downtown than today and said that this is an opportunity to replace some of the building mass lost. He also said he thinks the FAR needs to be adjusted to encourage more creative solutions to upper level designs. —end of public comments - CAO Hampian explained why he believes there is a need to balance or clarify existing policies. Council discussion ensued, during which staff responded to questions. Vice Mayor Settle supported flexibility in height, a FAR of 4:0, flexibility related to and an underground component for parking, residential components and mixed use downtown, and pursuing stories instead of feet. He also supported staff's recommendation. Council Member Brown concurred with Vice Mayor Settle's comments. Council Member Ewan also concurred with Vice Mayor Settle's comments. He added that there is a need to discuss what percent of a building should be housing. He also concurred with prior comments that it will be important to consider the perceptual framework of buildings and to keep in mind the need to obtain public amenities as a trade off. He suggested that there is a need to move forward within the 5 -story, 70 -foot range and that more workable policies need to be put into place. Council Member Mulholland discussed her opposition to the proposal. Her concerns included, in part, that housing that has been developed in the downtown is not affordable; that there should be a modal shift in transportation and that the downtown should not be auto - dependent, but auto free; that urban life should be redefined to meet the challenge of the growing energy scarcity; that as increased housing is discussed, how to discourage the use of automobiles in the downtown and how not to add the costs of parking them onto the housing must also be discussed; that residents of the City have expressed their opposition to a taller downtown; that taller buildings are likely to create dark alleys; and that what draws tourists is that the City is pedestrian - scaled old, small downtown. She also expressed concern about the projects referenced in the staff report. Mayor Romero said he thinks parking on some basis will need to be provided and that the FAR is too restrictive. He favored a FAR of 4:0, eliminating basements and parking from the FAR, and permitting buildings to exceed two or three stores. He said he would like to consider building heights at 70 to 75 feet and pointed out that this would impact only a few selected sites. He said he didn't object to transfer development credits (TDCs) and that there should be a very careful review of each project greater than three or four stories in height. He supported staff's recommendations. In response to Council Member Mulholland, a brief discussion ensued regarding how the City will maintain equilibrium between the higher and lower buildings (i.e., maintaining light and the view shed) while still incorporating more housing in the downtown. Staff will include the concept of utilizing transfer development credits in the follow up. ACTION: Moved by Brown/Ewan to: 1. Revise the City's floor area ratio (FAR) definition to exclude basements and parking. 2. Confirm policy inconsistencies among General Plan policies and development standards for the downtown. 3. Direct staff to bring back alternatives for moderately increasing the downtown City Council Meeting Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 7:00 p.m. Page 4 building height and intensity limits, in order to achieve other General Plan goals and objectives, including design amenities, housing, and retail land uses. 4. Review recommendations with the Cultural Heritage Committee, Architectural Review Commission, Planning Commission, and Downtown Association before returning to the Council; motion passed 4:1 (Mulholland opposed). Vice Mavor Settle inquired whether Council would support asking for a report from staff on the future of the Dalidio project and its impact on the City's land use policies. There was no consensus give staff this direction at this time. There being no further business to come before the City Council, Mayor Romero adjourned the meeting at 9:40 p.m. to a special meeting on Wednesday, March 15, 2006, in the Council Hearing Room, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo. A Audrey He City Clerk APPROVED BY COUNCIL: 04/04/06 1 1