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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved Minutes_06-19-2024Page 1 of 6 CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH GENERAL PLAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES COMMUNITY ROOM – 100 CIVIC CENTER DRIVE JUNE 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING – 5 P.M. I. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER – 5:00 p.m. II. WELCOME AND ROLL CALL Present: Co-Chairs Arlene Greer and Jeremy Evans Staff: Deputy Community Development Director Jaime Murillo and Principal Planner Ben Zdeba Committee Members: Nicholas Acevedo, Dennis Baker, Curtis Black, James Carlson, Annie Clougherty, Susan DeSantis, David Guder, Lynn Hackman, Laird Hayes, Charles Klobe, Katie Love, Anthony Maniscalchi, Thomas Meng, Jim Mosher, Maxwell Pearson, Nancy Scarbrough, Amber Snider, Debbie Stevens, Christy Walker, Paul Watkins, and Lori Williams Absent: Jeff Cefalia, Scott Laidlaw, Harrison Rolfes, Ruth Kobayashi (Excused), Robert Rader (Excused) III. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS GPAC Noise Subcommittee Chair Jim Mosher provided a brief informal report from the second meeting of the Noise Subcommittee that highlighted an expected memo from Dudek’s acoustic engineer reviewing the current Noise Element, a multi-step process to create City and noise programs, outreach efforts, common noise complaints, and next steps. He noted a quantitatively and accurate picture of the City’s current and future soundscape should be considered and predicted, and the Subcommittee meeting recording and minutes will be available. Principal Planner Ben Zdeba reported that Matthew Brady and Graham Wahlberg resigned from the GPAC, and the City Clerk will post a Notice of Vacancies. Committee Member Nancy Scarbrough shared she attended the pop-up event at the Battle in the Bay. She thought the business cards presented should be made available to the GPAC members for outreach. Principal Planner Zdeba stated that staff can coordinate with Kearns & West and the Outreach Subcommittee to pursue the distribution of the cards. A member of the public, Philip Bettencourt, inquired about mailers for outreach. General Plan Advisory Committee Meeting June 19, 2024 Page 2 of 6 IV. CURRENT BUSINESS a. Meeting Minutes of April 30, 2024 Motion made by Committee Member Charles Klobe and seconded by Committee Member Katie Love to approve the meeting minutes of April 30, 2024, with Committee Member Mosher’s edits and a correction to Co-Chair Arlene Greer abstaining and Co-Chair Evans supporting the Minutes of March 20, 2024. The motion carried unanimously. Co-Chair Greer turned the meeting over to Co-Chair Jeremy Evans. b. Land Use Subcommittee Recap The GPAC Land Use Subcommittee met on Thursday, May 16, to identify a chairperson, to review the Existing Conditions and Background Analysis Reports for the Land Use Element, and to discuss the question of whether to support having density bonus units included towards the overall development limit for the Housing Element Implementation Program Amendments. Committee Member Susan DeSantis was identified as the chairperson and provided an overview of the Subcommittee’s discussions and actions. Attachment 2 included a cover memo, action minutes from the Subcommittee meetings, the PowerPoints displayed at the meeting, and Dudek’s report. Recommended Actions: 1- Receive an overview from the GPAC Land Use Subcommittee 2- Provide any feedback on the Subcommittee’s efforts; and 3- Receive and file Attachment 2 to express concurrence with the Subcommittee on the matter of density bonus units, and to continue guiding the initial outreach efforts. Elizabeth Dickson, the City’s consultant from Dudek, began by providing an overview of the contents of the General Plan by reviewing what is a General Plan, breakdown of the key components for the vision statement, goals, and policies, implementation program, an example from adopted General Plans, acceptable guidelines, and who uses the General Plan and how. In response to Committee Member Dennis Baker’s question, Ms. Dickson indicated that there could be legal implications for not having consistency between the General Plan, land use, and zoning. She also noted there are laws for what should be contained in a General Plan. In response to Committee Member Mosher’s inquiry, Ms. Dickson stated that selecting a horizon year will be discussed as part of Phase 2. Ms. Dickson used a presentation to provide an overview of the Land Use Element and Subcommittee considerations. Subcommittee Chair DeSantis noted a good turnout for the Land Use Subcommittee meeting, support for specific plans for the airport area and Newport Center and Fashion General Plan Advisory Committee Meeting June 19, 2024 Page 3 of 6 Island, and the Committee could provide guidance beyond what is there now. She suggested creating goals and policies for areas that could be incorporated into the General Plan, noted limitations that create challenges moving forward with the General Plan Update, and relayed the importance of including community input. In response to Committee Member Klobe’s inquiry, Principal Planner Zdeba relayed that the Land Use Element will come before the Council on July 23. In response to Co-Chair Greer’s question, Principal Planner Zdeba indicated a well-orchestrated coordination of retail services or developer plans in the City’s sphere of influence does not exist. Subcommittee Chair DeSantis shared an idea to develop affordable housing and senior living in Coyote Canyon in partnership with the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and to house employees of major employers. A member of the public, Chuck Fancher, suggested a policy under the Land Use section of the General Plan Update that provides for change in a reasonable timeframe to avoid unnecessary constraints to the process. Committee Member Debbie Stevens proposed coordinating housing development efforts in the airport area with the City of Irvine. Committee Member Baker inquired about marine and touring services and, in response, Ms. Dickson noted that one of the primary considerations of the Harbor and Bay Element is uses. This is an example of overlapping elements, and the planned use must be consistent across elements. In response to Committee Member Mosher’s questions, Ms. Dickson stated that the Background Report for the Land Use Element uses 2019 Assessor Parcel data, the maps are quantified from a planned land use perspective and not existing land use development, some indications of existing densities are incorporated, and square footage of what’s on the ground versus the entire structure and the intensity to the extent possible is included. Committee Member Mosher proposed staff provide an update of the amount of commercial and residential development from a City database. Deputy Community Development Director Jaime Murillo stated that the land use database the City has been working on is intended to track development limits within the General Plan and keep an accurate count of dwelling units and nonresidential square footage. There were no further comments, and the summary was considered received and filed by the GPAC. c. Harbor and Bay Subcommittee Recap The GPAC Harbor and Bay Subcommittee met on Tuesday, June 4 to review the Harbor and Bay Existing Conditions and Background Analysis Report. Subcommittee Chair Curtis Black provided an overview of the Subcommittee’s discussion and any actions. Attachment 3 included a cover memo, action minutes from the Subcommittee meetings, the PowerPoints displayed at the meeting, and Dudek’s report. General Plan Advisory Committee Meeting June 19, 2024 Page 4 of 6 Recommended Actions: 1- Receive an overview from the GPAC Harbor and Bay Subcommittee; 2- Provide any feedback on the Subcommittee’s efforts; and 3- Receive and file Attachment 3 to continue guiding the initial outreach efforts. Ms. Dickson used a presentation to provide a high-level overview, harbor economics, and outreach and policy considerations. Subcommittee Chair Black highlighted meeting discussions about changes from 2006 to now, a Harbor Commission outreach effort, the economic impact from the beach, adding beaches to the Element title, assessing the structure of committees and commissions in the City, and changes in the affordability in the harbor. There were no further comments, and the summary was considered received and filed by the GPAC. d. Safety Subcommittee Recap The GPAC Safety Subcommittee met on Wednesday, June 5 to review the Safety Existing Conditions and Background Analysis Report. Subcommittee Chair Scarbrough provided an overview of the Subcommittee’s discussion and any actions. Attachment 4 included a cover memo, action minutes from the Subcommittee meetings, the PowerPoints displayed at the meeting, and Dudek’s report. Recommended Actions: 1. Receive an overview from the GPAC Safety Subcommittee; 2. Provide any feedback on the Subcommittee’s efforts; and 3. Receive and file Attachment 4 to continue guiding the initial outreach efforts. Ms. Dickson used a presentation to provide an overview on outreach and policy considerations. Subcommittee Chair Scarbrough noted the document that outlines laws that are required for compliance, impact of sea level rise on development, impact to slides and erosion from human interference to landscaping, saltwater intrusion, storm tracking for future planning, fire hazards and homeowners’ insurance rates, advanced air mobility, extreme heat by demographics, idea of incentivizing properties to mitigate problems, communication, and Nixle. She reviewed the demographic chart for the aging population in the Background Analysis Report for the Recreation and Natural Resources Element. Committee Member Baker suggested coordination between the lifeguards that are part of the fire department and the State service in Crystal Cove as well as the Junior Lifeguard program. Committee Member Klobe suggested the City consider an alternate back up communication method to land-based internet. Chuck Fancher thought the term 100-year storm is outdated and suggested discontinuing its use, noted a potential mixed community response from drone safety use, and stated that sea rise can be identified through flood tracking. General Plan Advisory Committee Meeting June 19, 2024 Page 5 of 6 Committee Member Lynn Hackman noted the relationship between demographics and affordability and suggested factoring in the job market, asked if the City’s CERT program and partnership with FEMA will be included in the Safety Element, and suggested community outreach and engagement to learn about existing CERT programs. Committee Member David Guder noted his involvement in the CERT communication program and suggested adding amateur radio. Committee Member Mosher noted that roadway speeds impact the Noise and Safety Element and suggested community outreach to assess interest in lowering speed limits and related policy. Subcommittee Chair Scarbrough suggested regular public outreach and surveys regarding speed limits. Committee Member Nicholas Acevedo suggested adding multimodal transportation. Committee Member Klobe relayed that the City of Costa Mesa is promoting increased bicycle use and reduced street speed limits to support shared street use. Co-Chair Greer suggested including Neighborhood Watch as a communication vehicle. There were no further comments, and the summary was considered received and filed by the GPAC. e. Presentation: Overview of Upcoming Deliverables and Objectives Dudek shared more information about current work, upcoming deliverables, and what to expect in terms of next steps. Recommended Action: No action for a presentation item. Ms. Dickson used a presentation to report on the Battle in the Bay pop-up event, website engagement, and next steps. In response to Committee Member Paul Watkins’ inquiry, Steering Committee Chair Nancy Gardner stated that for ballot measures, the City can only provide the community with information. In response to Committee Member Scarbrough’s question, Ms. Dickson stated that the diagnostic memo will include laws that affect the Land Use Element that do not apply to the Housing Element, and one will overlap. In response to Committee Member Mosher’s question, Ms. Dickson stated that Dudek will be working with the Outreach Subcommittee to develop phase 2 of outreach and another survey will be considered. GPAC Member Mosher thought that a survey would be useful. Committee Member DeSantis thought that using relevant surveys in phase 2 is a perfect opportunity to bring to organizations. In response to her inquiry, Principal Planner Zdeba noted a meeting in July for the Outreach Subcommittee and Noise Subcommittee. General Plan Advisory Committee Meeting June 19, 2024 Page 6 of 6 Committee Member DeSantis requested a Land Use Subcommittee meeting to focus on specific plans, goals, and polices for the airport area and Newport Center. Co-Chair Evans asked Principal Planner Zdeba to send a Doodle Poll to establish a GPAC meeting date and he agreed. 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, Co-Chair Evans adjourned the meeting at 6:32 p.m. to a date to be determined.