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HomeMy WebLinkAboutIV(a)_Draft Minutes of August 8, 2022 CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH GENERAL PLAN UPDATE STEERING COMMITTEE AGENDA COMMUNITY ROOM – 100 CIVIC CENTER DRIVE AUGUST 8, 2022 REGULAR MEETING – 6 P.M. I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER – 6:00 p.m. II. WELCOME AND ROLL CALL Present: Chair Nancy Gardner and Committee Member Kimberly Carter Absent: Committee Member Phillip Brown Staff: Community Development Director Seimone Jurjis, Deputy Community Development Director Jim Campbell, Principal Planner Ben Zdeba III. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS None IV. CURRENT BUSINESS a. Minutes of July 11, 2022 Motion made by Chair Gardner and seconded by Committee Member Carter to approve the minutes of July 11, 2022 with the edits provided by Jim Mosher, a resident of Newport Beach. b. Update on the Schedule for Adoption of the Housing and Circulation Elements Principal Planner Zdeba used a presentation to provide a brief update on the Housing and Circulation Elements and revisions to the anticipated schedule. In response to resident David Tanner’s inquiry, Deputy Community Development Director Campbell indicated that the Housing Element is a planning document and is exempt from CEQA, as adopted by the City Council. Community Development Director Jurjis noted the Housing Element certification steps and reiterated that no development can take place from the draft. In response to Jim Mosher’s questions, Deputy Community Development Director Campbell explained the General Plan Update approach and process. c. Draft Revised Scope of Work for Kimley-Horn & Associates General Plan Update Steering Committee Agenda August 8, 2022 Page 2 of 7 Deputy Community Development Director Campbell used a slide to review the current General Plan Update timeline and a summary of the proposed changes to the Scope of Work from the City’s executed agreement with Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc. (KHA) for consulting services on the Land Use Element, Noise Element, and rezonings. Mentioned tasks included attending the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) meetings, conducting a market study, examining the Land Use Element and Noise Element policies to prepare for the Housing Element implementation, identifying areas and policies for commercial development. Chair Gardner recommended focusing on the deliverables and Deputy Community Development Director Campbell reviewed the rough draft of tasks, deliverables, and public meetings. David Tanner suggested that KHA be the project manager for the consultants and believed the RHNA number is linked to the Land Use Element and will trigger a CEQA approval. Community Development Director Jurjis clarified that the draft amendments to the Scope of Work will be included in the proposed contract amendment for City Council consideration and approval. In response to Committee Member Carter’s question, Community Development Director Jurjis stated that staff is comfortable moving forward under the assumption that the draft Housing Element is exempt from CEQA and noted supportive legal counsel. Jim Mosher questioned the inclusions, missing tasks, revisions, and traffic improvements in task number 3.1 and believed the plan is not comprehensive or cohesive and reflects little public input. Chair Gardner concurred. Deputy Community Development Director Campbell noted that task number 3.1 is almost completely revised from the original agreement while other parts of the agreement are necessary and complete. Deputy Community Development Director Campbell noted that task 3.2 includes a review of the General Plan and Land Use Element as well as changes to study areas and the draft Housing Element, the advisory role of GPAC, and the main objective to achieve element consistency with the draft Housing Element and obtain community feedback. “Special component” from deliverable number two was revised to “spatial component.” Deputy Community Development Director Campbell clarified that number six addresses policy guidance on five distinct focus areas included in the draft Housing Element and number five addresses incorporated fees for draft revisions. General Plan Update Steering Committee Agenda August 8, 2022 Page 3 of 7 David Tanner suggested including the State in determining if CEQA approval is required in the draft Housing Element process and Deputy Community Development Director Campbell stated that staff feels comfortable with the strategy to get the Housing Element certified by the State, incorporating the housing units into the Land Use Element, and completing an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) followed by City Council adoption and public vote in March 2024. Task number 3.3: Update to land use designation descriptions – no feedback was provided. Task number 3.4: Market and Fiscal Analysis – Staff summarized that a market and fiscal analysis assessment is included in the Scope of Work to make policy recommendations to GPAC for nonresidential development that supports goods and services needed by the residential community. In response to Committee Member Carter’s question, Community Development Director Jurjis noted that motivation for affordable housing development is dependent on the permitting process timeline and associated fees. In response to resident Chuck Fancher’s question, Deputy Community Development Director Campbell explained that the KHA agreement terms include analysis costs. Mr. Fancher believed the commercial market is in great flux and suggested allotting 150,000 – 250,000 square feet for commercial space and letting the marketplace find what it needs. Jim Mosher suggested posting a list of focus areas for public review. Nancy Scarbrough, resident, noted that commercial and residential property tax make up 52 percent of the City’s budget and suggested a financial impact study of the infrastructure from the new housing development. Deputy Community Development Director Campbell stated that the housing development is using current residential properties that already considers infrastructure needs, relayed the developers’ responsibility for related costs, and noted an ongoing deficiency infrastructure analysis and inclusions in the Master Plan and Capital Improvement Project (CIP) program to examine and address related upgrade costs. David Tanner supported a fiscal analysis by a consultant with a project description and parameters. Task number 3.5: Rezoning – Deputy Community Development Director Campbell summarized that the task provides zoning for housing opportunity sites, changes to the Land Use Element, all the overlays for the focus areas including density, general development standards, consideration for commercial uses, and ordinances for policies and directs the consultant to complete an assessment and provide a recommended zoning strategy for GPAC review and Council ordinance approval. General Plan Update Steering Committee Agenda August 8, 2022 Page 4 of 7 In response to David Tanner’s request for project detail clarification, Deputy Community Development Director Campbell confirmed the rezonings include approximately 8,174 dwelling units for analysis by KHA. Jim Mosher noted Mariner’s Mile was omitted from the focus area analysis list and questioned the Land Use Element and General Plan comprehensiveness in the Scope of Work. Deputy Community Development Director Campbell relayed the duties of the GPAC to provide focus area recommendations and KHA to implement the draft Housing Element and rezoning. Task number 3.6: Noise Element – Deputy Community Development Director Campbell noted sites in the draft Housing Element that are in the noise contour and prohibited in the Noise Element, Land Use Element, and Zoning Code. He explained that they are included in the draft for the purpose of changing the policies and making the draft Housing Element consistent with other elements and codes and confirmed the consideration of the Airport Land Use Commission. David Tanner noted that public support is required for the City Charter and encouraged the GPUSC to steer staff. Jim Mosher expressed concern for the airport noise and suggested an Airport Element. Deputy Community Development Director Campbell concurred with Chair Gardner that the GPAC will take a comprehensive approach to the Noise Element. Task number 3.7: General Plan Build-Out Analysis - Deputy Community Development Director Campbell relayed that a detailed analysis and GPAC review is needed to access housing units and non-residential development in preparation for a ballot vote. David Tanner questioned the schedule of public workshops and suggested the GPUSC steer staff. Jim Mosher questioned the meaning and impact of City Charter Section 423 as it relates to the draft Housing Element process and Community Development Director Jurjis indicated that staff is following the direction provided by the City Council and will conduct a vote as per the City Charter. Task number 3.8: Mapping – no feedback was provided. Task number 3.9: EIR - Deputy Community Development Director Campbell noted that the task also includes any modifications that result from the process. General Plan Update Steering Committee Agenda August 8, 2022 Page 5 of 7 Jim Mosher expressed confusion for the difference between task numbers 3.9 and 9 and Deputy Community Development Director Campbell indicated that there will be no project redundancy and clarified the EIR focus on the Land Use Element, zoning, additional commercial development, and modifications from the community. David Tanner was of the opinion that without a defined project description, the consultant cannot complete the impact assessment and questioned if the General Plan Update will be invalid or a new CEQA document required if the housing unit count is exceeded. Furthermore, he expressed concern for a low housing unit number, mitigation measures for a higher housing unit number, and inclusion of the Housing Element in the Land Use Element and asked the GPUSC to recommend to staff that the study include a higher housing unit number. d. Draft Request for Proposal for the General Plan Update Principal Planner Zdeba summarized the draft Request for Proposal (RFP) document related to consulting services for the remainder of the General Plan Update and reminded the Committee that the RFP is a rough draft that does not include boilerplate language required by the City’s Finance Department and includes the objective, background, and purpose, community outreach process, and support for the Newport Together website, and is purposely deficient in specificity until the GPAC and community input is received. Chair Gardner suggested replacing the word “must” with a softer word as it applies to project research and data collaborations. Principal Planner Zdeba confirmed that elements can be added to the RFP and staff will look to the GPUSC and GPAC for direction on deliverables. Chair Gardner and Committee Member Carter agreed that plan specifics will be expected of KHA. In response to Chuck Fancher’s question, Deputy Community Development Director Campbell stated that the timeline will remain the same and modifications from public input can occur throughout the process until 2024. David Tanner relayed that future changes would subject the CEQA document to an amendment, revision, recirculation, and public comment promulgated for public input before the EIR is certified, and suggested the GPUSC inquire about the City’s predicament and find solutions alongside the City Council to minimize expenses to the taxpayer. Furthermore, through an example of a legal case of an expired Northern California dam permit, Mr. Tanner demonstrated the time and litigation costs for noncompliance of a mandate and continued dam operation despite the legalities. Deputy Community Development Director Campbell stated that while the project description needs to be identified now to finish the EIR, forward an amendment to the Council, and get the EIR certified and to the voters in March 2024, the Housing Element part is locked-in based on the Housing Element goals and specific allocations. He noted that a bottom-up planning effort is expected for the broader and comprehensive update. General Plan Update Steering Committee Agenda August 8, 2022 Page 6 of 7 In response to Chuck Fancher’s questions, Deputy Community Development Director Campbell indicated that the Planning Commission will review the Circulation Element and make a recommendation to the City Council for approval and the City Council will then hold a public hearing and move to adoption. He further noted 15 community workshops took place to discuss the Circulation Element and are available online. Charles Klobe expressed frustration for the Housing Element dominating the General Plan Update and noted no link available to the GPUSC agenda on the City’s website calendar and staff relayed they will follow-up on it. e. Formation of a General Plan Advisory Committee (Attachment 4) Principal Planner Zdeba used a presentation to provide a brief overview of the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) from the 2006 comprehensive update and some options to consider for forming the new GPAC. Chair Gardner and Committee Member Carter recommended 30 members for the GPAC. Chair Gardner expressed uncertainty for identifying specific groups or including representatives from commissions that match with an element. Committee Member Carter favored incorporating various commissions, while David Tanner suggested including an expert for each element, government representation, Airport Land Commission, representatives from other cities, one overall committee with subcommittees reporting to a larger committee, and diversity. Chair Gardner suggested planning for presentations from other cities who have certified Housing Elements. Jim Mosher supported including commissioners and suggested an entire commission review before recommendations are made and reviewing old GPAC and steering committee records to learn from the past structure. Chuck Fancher suggested including the City’s Water Quality and Coastal Tidelines Committee and affordable housing operations. Chair Gardner provided the following summary of suggested commissions to be represented on the GPAC: Harbor Commission, Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission, Arts Commission, Water Quality Commission, Historical Society (1), Environmental Commissions (3), and business representatives (3). She listed the following issue areas for possible representation: Santa Ana Heights, Newport Coast, Airport Area, Mariner’s Mile, Corona del Mar, Balboa Village, and Banning Ranch and acknowledged representation from each district and school district. In response to Jim Mosher’s suggestion of a phased GPAC focus, Community Development Director Jurjis relayed a vision of one GPAC to work on the Land Use Element expeditiously General Plan Update Steering Committee Agenda August 8, 2022 Page 7 of 7 followed by the same GPAC continuing to work on the comprehensive General Plan Update. David Tanner supported a diverse group of City representatives from impacted areas and recommended identifying people with expertise in each task areas to provide independent views and analysis. Chair Gardner and Committee Member Carter agreed on a diversified group of GPAC members. Staff stated they will return to the GPUSC in two weeks with a draft resolution and matrix for review before going to the City Council. 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 – The next meeting is scheduled for August 24, 2022 at 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.