Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutIV(a) - Draft MinutesAttachment No. 1 Draft Minutes of June 26, 2023 CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH GENERAL PLAN UPDATE STEERING COMMITTEE MINUTES COUNCIL CHAMBERS – 100 CIVIC CENTER DRIVE JUNE 26, 2023 REGULAR MEETING – 6 P.M. I. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER – 6:00 p.m. II. WELCOME AND ROLL CALL Present: Chair Nancy Gardner and Committee Members Phillip Brown and Kimberly Carter Staff: Deputy Community Development Director Jim Campbell and Principal Planner Ben Zdeba Guests: Denise DeSantis, Charles Klobe, Katie Love, Jim Mosher, and Nancy Scarbrough III. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS None IV. CURRENT BUSINESS a. Meeting Minutes of May 3, 2023 Motion made by Committee Member Brown and seconded by Committee Member Carter to approve the minutes of May 3, 2023. The motion carried unanimously 3-0. b. Update on the Consultant for the Comprehensive Update Principal Planner Zdeba provided a brief update on the consultant services agreement with Dudek on the comprehensive update of the General Plan. He noted that staff thinks the revised scope of services is responsive to the feedback received from the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) and General Plan Update Steering Committee (GPUSC) and provides flexibility to review additional elements. Principal Planner Zdeba relayed that the scope includes a boost to the outreach and engagement tasks with greater website quality control and weekly monitoring, an additional 20 Go-To meetings, and a sustainability analysis and best practices. He noted that the consultant agreement is on the City Council agenda for tomorrow, a kickoff meeting is planned for shortly after City Council approval, and the onset of consultant services are planned for July 2023. In response to Chair Gardner’s question, Principal Planner Zdeba confirmed that the consultant is aware of the Outreach Subcommittee and opportunities for joint meetings are included. General Plan Update Steering Committee Minutes June 26, 2023 Page 2 of 4 In response to Committee Member Brown’s questions, Principal Planner Zdeba clarified that in the Dudek proposal local agencies and utilities refers to adequate infrastructure and capacity, the City is responsible for facilitating meetings, existing historical resources will be utilized, and potential strategies and expertise from other General Plans for approaching the elements. In response to Committee Member Carter’s question, Principal Planner Zdeba clarified that the scope includes an analysis of the sustainability elements and best practices. Ultimately, the direction to prepare a sustainability element would go back to the City Council for approval. Council Member Brown thought the agreement was broad and intense and only as good as the people monitoring it, and in response to his question, Principal Planner Zdeba confirmed staff’s comfortability monitoring the agreement and indicated that staff will provide updates to the GPUSC throughout the process. Jim Mosher noted that the GPUSC is reviewing the agreement redline version of the scope of services, concurred that it is important for the consultant to review the structure of the General Plan, noted the shift to an online General Plan structure, and expressed concern for no consultant support for the entire scope of a noise committee. Chair Gardner stated that the scope can be expanded if the subcommittee finds it is not sufficient and GPAC and staff would be open to getting the support the subcommittee needs. Deputy Community Development Director Campbell noted that underutilized areas can be used to address areas requiring more time, costs can be absorbed in the overall time of the contract, and significant departure from the scope of work will require a contract amendment and City Council approval. c. Update on the Implementation of the Housing Element Principal Planner Zdeba provided a brief update on the implementation of the Housing Element as it relates to the Land Use Element amendments, including the environmental impact report (EIR) preparation, scoping meeting, and traffic analysis. He noted a Land Use Element Subcommittee meeting after the last GPAC meeting, clearance to bring the revised policies to the GPAC for consideration at the next meeting tentatively on July 19, the EIR technical analysis is underway, the Notice of Preparation will be released tomorrow, scoping meeting on July 10, the traffic analysis is going hand in hand with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis, and significant progress on the Land Use Element policy updates with the GPAC Land Use Element Subcommittee. Chair Gardner shared that during her time at the GPAC meeting she has observed a lot of activity and decision making. Jim Mosher asked for clarification of who will be reviewing the narrative that sets the context for why the City has goals and policies before it goes to the City Council for General Plan Update Steering Committee Minutes June 26, 2023 Page 3 of 4 approval and thought there needs to be something different leading up to the goals and policies than there was in 2006 because some of them are very different. Chair Gardner stated that the Land Use Element Subcommittee is not charged with looking at the entire Land Use Element, GPAC members needed to be clear on this for greater understanding, and the Committee could decide how much broader to go. In response to Chair Gardner’s question, Deputy Community Development Director Campbell confirmed that the Land Use Element policy changes are focused on Housing Element implementation and the rest of the element will be a separate task. He relayed that after reviewing the General Plan along with Kimley-Horn, they did not see areas that required other changes to the narrative as a result of this work and suggested discussing it at the next GPAC meeting when the policies come forward. d. General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) Applicants to Fill One Vacancy Chair Gardner asked the public if anyone who applied for the GPAC was in attendance and received no response. She noted that the current membership is well-balanced. The Committee members discussed each GPUSC member’s individual list of most-qualified and best-suited candidates and identified the one most qualified applicant for recommendation to the City Council as an appointment to the GPAC. The GPUSC recommended Mr. LaGrande for the GPAC vacancy and Mr. Acevedo as an alternate. e. Consideration of an Attendance Policy for GPAC Members Chair Gardner expressed an interest in proposing to the City Council an attendance policy that allows for three unexcused absences before being asked to not be on the GPAC. Committee Members Brown and Carter agreed. Chair Gardner indicated she will include it in her City Council report and ask the Council for approval. f. Land Use Element Goals and Policies Related to Banning Ranch Chair Gardner explained that at the GPAC meeting there was a robust discussion about what changes should be made to the Land Use Element’s goals and policies related to Banning Ranch given the acquisition of the property by the Trust for Public Land. She noted staff’s concern for a dialogue with new owners about the future development of the property and that GPAC decided to wait on policy revisions until staff had a chance to talk with the new owners. Charles Klobe agreed with the missing meeting policy and relayed that a member of GPAC may be lost to a Planning Commission appointment. He noted that after a conversation with the Banning Ranch owners, they will be sending a letter to staff stating their position and desires. General Plan Update Steering Committee Minutes June 26, 2023 Page 4 of 4 g. Identification of an Outreach Subcommittee Liaison Chair Gardner recommended Committee Member Carter to serve as a GPUSC liaison to the GPAC Outreach Subcommittee to help guide City staff and consultants on outreach and engagement. Committee Member Brown agreed to the recommendation. No public comment was received. V. COMMITTEE ANNOUNCEMENTS OR MATTERS WHICH MEMBERS WOULD LIKE PLACED ON A FUTURE AGENDA FOR DISCUSSION, ACTION OR REPORT (NON-DISCUSSION ITEM) None VI. ADJOURNMENT – With no further business, Chair Gardner adjourned the meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for July 19, 2023 at 6 p.m. with Committee Member Brown noting his absence.