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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20191106_GPUSC_Minutes_ApprovedCITY OF NEWPORT BEACH GENERAL PLAN UPDATE STEERING COMMITTEE MINUTES CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS – 100 CIVIC CENTER DRIVE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2019 REGULAR MEETING – 6 P.M. I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER – 6 p.m. II. WELCOME AND ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Nancy Gardner, James Carlson, Catherine O'Hara, Ed Selich, Debbie Stevens, Larry Tucker, Paul Watkins, (Ex Officio Member) Mayor Diane Dixon (arrived at 6:03 p.m.) MEMBERS ABSENT: None Staff Present: Community Development Director Seimone Jurjis, Deputy Community Development Director Jim Campbell, City Traffic Engineer Tony Brine, Associate Planner Ben Zdeba, Administrative Support Specialist Clarivel Rodriguez III. CONSENT CALENDAR a. Review Minutes of the October 16, 2019 Meeting Recommended Action: Approve the minutes of October 16, 2019 Jim Mosher suggested Committee Members utilize their microphones so that the video will capture their comments and the minutes follow the order of the meeting. Motion by Committee Member Selich, seconded by Committee Member Tucker, to approve the minutes of the September 12, 2019 meeting as presented. Motion passed 7-0 b. Review Kearns & West Invoice for August 2019 Recommended Action: Approve the August 2019 invoice c. Review Kearns & West Invoice for September 2019 Recommended Action: Approve the September 2019 invoice The General Plan Update Steering Committee (“Committee”) directed staff to present future invoices as informational items. In response to questions, Associate Planner Ben Zdeba explained that the “ODC” (other direct costs) expense of $21,000 is comprised of invoices from subcontractors Bang the Table and Common Thread Collective. Jenna Tourje added the work included website design and domain registration. Committee Member O'Hara requested staff provide budget information along with future invoices. Motion by Committee Member Selich, seconded by Committee Member Carlson, to approve the Kearns & West invoices for August and September 2019. Motion passed 7-0 General Plan Update Steering Committee Minutes November 6, 2019 Page 2 of 5 IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS Charles Klobe requested staff prepare as soon as possible a synopsis of SB 330, AB 68, and any other new laws that will affect the General Plan Update process. Luke Dru remarked that the brochure is not clear that the upcoming workshops are community outreach related to the General Plan Update. Deputy Community Development Director Jim Campbell reported the diagnostic memorandum will contain a synopsis of a variety of bills that affect housing. The synopsis, prepared by Dyett & Bhatia, explains what needs to be done to comply with the laws. Staff is planning to publish the memo and can share it with the Committee at the next meeting. All jurisdictions will have to comply with new regulations and incorporate changes into their housing policies, Housing Elements, and Zoning Codes as needed. The City Attorney is also involved in the discussion of the new laws. Staff may plan a community forum in early 2020 to explain the effects of SB 330. V. CURRENT BUSINESS a. October 26, Community Fair Event Recap and Engagement Updates Recommended Action: Discuss and provide comments Associate Planner Zdeba advised that community members who had not participated in previous community outreach attended the Community Fair. Jenna Tourje, Kearns & West, reported engagement efforts generated 26,000 impressions and 480 engagements via social media; 4,500 emails via the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, of which 1,900 emails were opened; 1,500 emails and 170 unique calendar views via the City's contacts; and 95,000 impressions via print and digital ads. Approximately 380 people attended the Community Fair during the four-hour event. Approximately 800 unique individuals have visited NewportTogether.com, and 94 people have registered on the site. The team is developing an advertising campaign for the website. At the Community Fair, approximately 164 people provided their email addresses. Primary takeaways from the Community Fair are engaging partners and the types of effective engagement. Committee Members appreciated the creative and useful activities, the storyboards, the Chamber of Commerce's support, the mapping of work/live/play, and the business cards for Newport, Together. However, it was noted that the Fair seemed a bit long. Mayor Dixon suggested announcements of events be included on the City's homepage. Luke Dru commented that the Community Fair did not reference the General Plan. His perception of the event was an information meeting about the City. Deputy Community Development Director Campbell indicated Associate Planner Zdeba interacted with participants at the educational boards, which were displayed near the check-in area. Hoiyin Ip hoped engagement efforts would generate additional attendance at future events and the Youth Council would participate in district workshops. General Plan Update Steering Committee Minutes November 6, 2019 Page 3 of 5 Jim Mosher suggested the educational posters and residents' postcards be posted to the website in order to interest and engage the community in the process. The mapping activity shows six people live in the Irvine City Hall. Ms. Tourje advised that a report of the Community Fair, including photos and postcards, will be uploaded to the website. She clarified that the team mapped people who lived outside Newport Beach to the City Hall in their towns. At future events, participants will have the option to sign in via paper or electronic device. Susan Desantis offered to serve as a resource for community engagement efforts. b. Upcoming Council District Workshops Recommended Action: Review schedule and provide comments Associate Planner Zdeba indicated the workshops have been difficult to schedule, but the dates have been selected, and each Council Member will attend the workshop in his or her district. Ms. Tourje reported outreach for the workshops is planned through the usual outlets and to homeowner associations (HOA) and partners. The agenda for workshops includes an introduction to Newport Together, a General Plan 101, and live polling, values, and vision statement activities. The goal of the agenda is interaction with community members. Participants should have an understanding of the General Plan prior to discussing values. The details of the activities have not been determined at the current time. Committee Members emphasized the need for the workshops to cover the General Plan elements and the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA). Community Development Director Seimone Jurjis explained that the dates for workshops have been planned around schedules for Council Members, venues, and City meetings. If the Committee wishes, staff can explore dates in January, but there will be an additional cost for changing some of the dates. Charles Klobe noted the HOAs for his neighborhood and Mr. Dru's neighborhood have not received information about the workshops. The new housing laws may affect the City's ability to fulfill its RHNA numbers, but the workshops will occur before those effects are known. Associate Planner Zdeba advised that he sent emails to every HOA, property manager, and HOA president for which the City has contact information. HOA members may contact him to provide current contact information. Hoiyin Ip felt the workshops should be delayed. Jim Mosher suggested all documents, both paper and digital versions, contain a date. If the listen and learn process is delayed too much, the subsequent General Plan Advisory Committee will have little time to utilize data gained in the listen and learn process. The District 3 workshop will not be held in District 3. Participants in the workshops should be made aware of the second round of workshops and the subsequent General Plan committee. Ken Carpenter suggested the business community should be included in outreach as businesses pay property taxes and business license fees. General Plan Update Steering Committee Minutes November 6, 2019 Page 4 of 5 c. General Plan Update Timeline and RFP Drafting Recommended Actions: (1) Review the time; and (2) Recommend staff draft a request for proposals (RFP) for a consultant to assist in updating the General Plan and to prepare the required environmental documents Community Development Director Jurjis reported he needs to focus on and dedicate resources to the preparation of a Housing Element in order to complete it by October 2021. Work on the Housing Element needs to begin today. Associate Planner Zdeba advised that the release of an RFP could occur in early January 2020. Community outreach would occur throughout preparation of a Housing Element. The consultant would review the existing Housing, Land Use, and Circulation Elements. Preparation of draft Housing, Land Use, and Circulation Elements and environmental and fiscal impact analyses could begin in July 2020. After submission of a draft Housing Element and comment by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the Council could adopt and/or certify final documents in June 2021 with a possible Greenlight vote in September 2021. The final Housing Element must be submitted to HCD in October 2021. Deputy Community Development Director Campbell explained litigation may be required should the electorate not approve the updated Housing Element due to City Charter Section 423. Staff may have to initiate traffic analyses prior to determining the location of housing and use broad assumptions based on the existing General Plan. The traffic analyses could later be refined with more specific information. The schedule shows adoption of the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in June 2021. Rescheduling a few of the district workshops to January will not hurt the proposed timeline for preparation of the Housing Element. Staff will develop a list of housing opportunity sites on a property-by-property basis. Consequences for not submitting a Housing Element on time include moving the City to a four-year cycle for submitting Housing Elements and imposing a $600,000-per-month fine on the City. Committee Member Selich proposed staff develop a realistic timeline for preparing a Housing Element irrespective of the October 2021 due date. Community Development Director Jurjis indicated staff would shorten timeframes within the process as much as possible. If a Housing Element could not be prepared by the deadline, he would need to involve the City Council. Chair Gardner inquired about the consequences of not submitting the Housing Element by the required deadline and expressed the need to seek more time to update the Housing Element appropriately. City Traffic Engineer Tony Brine clarified that the traffic analyses would utilize vehicle miles traveled (VMT) rather than level of service (LOS). Use of VMT should streamline the analyses. The analyses could assume a greater number of housing units in each statistical area. Depending on the final RHNA number and the results of the analyses, the analyses could be refined. A Traffic Phasing Ordinance (TPO) analysis could be conducted, but it is probably more project-specific than program-specific. A Statement of Overriding Considerations for traffic issues is an option. Staff is developing VMT thresholds, but the Office of Planning and Research has developed general guidelines for VMT thresholds. Staff will establish a screening tool for VMT. Committee Member Tucker remarked that Housing Element decisions have to be made in order to conduct the traffic studies. General Plan Update Steering Committee Minutes November 6, 2019 Page 5 of 5 Committee Member Watkins expressed a need to strive to follow the timeline, such that the deadline is met. If the effort is delayed, it still displays the City’s good-faith effort. The Committee discussed the possibility of higher-than-anticipated RHNA numbers, appeals of the RHNA numbers, and the need to educate residents about state mandates. Jim Mosher requested clarification of the dates cities across the state have to submit their Housing Elements; the date the Committee will transition to the subsequent General Plan committee; and the place of the other General Plan elements in the timeline. He understood SB 330 placed a moratorium on votes such as Greenlight. Associate Planner Zdeba related that Housing Elements are submitted on five-year and eight-year cycles, but most jurisdictions have an eight-year cycle. The specific submittal date is based on the date of adoption. The timeline addresses the Housing Element and the elements that coincide with the Housing Element update. A complete update of the General Plan would follow. Deputy Community Development Director Campbell added that staff is studying SB 330 and its ramifications. At the end of the Listen and Learn process, the Committee will transition to the subsequent General Plan committee. Motion by Committee Member Selich, seconded by Committee Member Tucker, to approve the staff recommendation. Motion passed 7-0 Committee Member O'Hara requested a timeline for the Committee's activities and preparation of the Housing Element. VI. COMMITTEE ANNOUNCEMENTS OR MATTERS WHICH MEMBERS WOULD LIKE PLACED ON A FUTURE AGENDA FOR DISCUSSION, ACTION OR REPORT (NON-DISCUSSION ITEM) Chair Gardner requested an agenda item for a request to the City Council to work with the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), the League of California Cities, and others to request an extension of the deadline for submission of the Housing Element. Committee Member Carlson requested a discussion of an outreach meeting for property and business owners in Mariners' Mile. Committee Member Tucker requested a presentation of information gathered at the district workshops. The Committee agreed to continue with the district workshops as currently scheduled. VI. ADJOURNMENT – 8:02 p.m. Next Meeting: December 4, 2019, 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers