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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03062024_Action Minutes_Recreation-NaturalResources SubcomitteeAction Minutes: GPAC Recreation and Natural Resources Subcommittee Meeting Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. Location: Balboa Island Meeting Room at City Hall and Teams GPAC and GPUSC Members in Attendance: Ruth Kobayashi, Dennis Baker, Jim Mosher, Nancy Gardner, Paul Watkins, Elizabeth Dickson, Grant, Laura Kerin, Nancy Scarbrough (Microsoft Teams), Charles Klobe (audio), Laird Hayes (Microsoft Teams) Members of the Public: Laura Curran, Charles “Chuck” Fancher City Staff in Attendance: Jenny Tran, Oscar Orozco, Jaime Murillo, Elizabeth Dickson (Consultant), Grant Sles (Consultant), Patrick Miskel (Consultant) Brief Discussion Recap and Action Minutes City staff initiated the meeting by introducing Jenny Tran and Oscar Orozco as the new liaisons taking over from Chelsea Crager. A round table was conducted for the purposes of introducing everyone to the subcommittee. City staff provided the following basic objectives for the meeting: 1) to determine the Chairperson of the GPAC Recreation and Natural Resources Subcommittee; 2) review the “Resilience Existing Conditions and Background” document; 3) suggest any changes to the document; and 4) to move the Resilience Existing Conditions and Background Report forward for GPAC consideration. Identifying the GPAC Vision Statement Subcommittee Chairperson After some discussion, GPAC Member Paul Watkins nominated GPAC Member Charles Klobe. Charles Klobe accepted the nomination. Charles was unable to attend the full meeting. Nancy Scarbrough, in place of Charles, will review and present the action minutes with the recommendation from this Subcommittee meeting to the GPAC. ✓ Action: GPAC Member Klobe will serve as the Chair of the GPAC Recreation and Natural Resources Subcommittee. Discussing the Resiliency Existing Conditions and Background Analysis Elizabeth Dickson (Consultant) of Dudek provided a PowerPoint presentation. She went over why background analyses are important by stating that it is important to understand the issues and opportunities, according to the data and experts, in order to establish a baseline. In addition, it is important to inform interested parties and City staff of key findings and to provide initial recommendations based on findings. Lastly, she stated that it is important to guide discussions with community members during outreach and engagement and inform future policy development. She presented an overview of the Resilience Findings related to nine topics: Coastal Hazards, Education, Building and Development, Transportation, Waste Reduction, Energy, Water Conservation, Recreational Water Quality, and Urban Outdoors. Throughout and after Elizabeth Dickson’s presentation, the Subcommittee discussed the following highlights: GPAC Natural Resources and Recreation Subcommittee Action Minutes for March 6, 2024 General Input • Concerns about topics being addressed in so many different areas/elements and if there are ways to reorganize, combine, or rename elements? Look into this and discuss w GPAC. o An option may be to use an “icon” method throughout the General Plan to allow users to filter by topic or create a “shopping cart” of policies. • There are concerns about sensitive and/or inaccessible language to the public that might deter support or create a negative connotation. It is recommended to use words that resonate with the residents of Newport Beach and to avoid jargon to ensure clarity in the language. o For example, "environmental justice" may seem strange to most Newport Beach residents who may not feel they experience issues related to environmental justice. • Some of the findings feel too optimistic and are not true to the existing situation in the City. • There is a lack of “follow-up” after adoption of the General Plan and there should be efforts made to regularly evaluate if the goals made in the Implementation Plan are being met. This could include “performance expectations” such as specific timelines for action items, staff lead responsible for monitoring progress, and progress evaluations for one element per year. This further includes a more robust Annual Progress Report that also focuses on which goals were not met. • There should be more transparency/communication with the community about the state required elements of the General Plan as there is currently a lack of clarity. Elizabeth provided a breakdown of state requirements. • The topic of resiliency should be woven throughout the other elements/sub-committees which would allow this topic to be address more holistically. Additional Considerations for Resilience Findings: • Coastal Hazards o The General Plan should have a policy to address strategies to address Sea Level Rise (SLR) and to ensure the City is meeting the State standards for SLR planning. o Bluff erosion is seen Citywide and should include other areas in the City, however, the findings only focuses on Corona Del Mar and Pacific Coast Highway. • Education o The City should seek opportunities/resources to provide resilience related education and information about the native plants in the parks. This includes potential for recreation programs to promote education in public spaces/parks. • Buildings and Development o It is the goal of the City and State for buildings to be net-zero which is regulated through the building code. There are currently no CalGreen standards for existing buildings. • Transportation o Parking studies have yielded good recommendations in Corona del Mar, but none have been implemented because they are unpopular among residents. However, there should be broadness in the General Plan to account for different modes of transportation and to compensate for future innovation. • Water Conservation o The City water use is currently below the target but there should be more stringent landscape standards to promote water conservation. o The City should make it a goal to achieve “REC-1” level of water quality. The policy should not be so stringent that the City is penalized for factors that affect the water quality that are outside of the City’s control. GPAC Natural Resources and Recreation Subcommittee Action Minutes for March 6, 2024 • Urban Outdoors o The City should make efforts to prevent “heat islands” by providing higher quality shade- producing trees, reducing asphalt, and providing more permeable pavements. Elizabeth concluded the presentations with the key recommendations as outlined below: • Address resilience throughout the General Plan rather than as a separate element. • Enables resilience to be addressed across topics, primarily in the Safety and Natural Resources elements. • There is no evidence to support that a standalone element would increase access to grant funds or increase internal coordination. • Consider designating a resilience liaison to improve coordination between departments and establish benchmarks. However, it should be noted that stating, “The organization of the General Plan…should be based solely on how City staff anticipates the daily use…” suggests that the General Plan is staff driven whereas the language of the General Plan should be revised to be community driven. • Lead and monitor resilience policy implementation and funding pursuits. • Prioritize policies and programs that are important to the community. • These will become clear during the outreach and engagement process. ✓ Action: The GPAC Recreation and Natural Subcommittee supported moving forward with recommending the Resilience Existing Conditions and Background Analysis Dudek report as supplemented by these action minutes for the larger GPAC to consider moving forward at the March 20, 2024 meeting.