Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-30-2007 MinutesCITY OF SAN BERNARDINO 300 N. `D " Street San Bernardino, CA 92418 Website: www.sbcity.org MINT TTF.S Mayor Patrick J. Morris r ...it Mamharc• cstner csuaaa Dennis J. Baxter Tobin Brinker Neil Derry Chas Kelley Rikke Van Johnson Wendy McCammack MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO JOINT SPECIAL MEETING APRIL 30, 2007 MIC ROOM - CITY HALL NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Mayor and Common Council and Community Development Commission of the City of San Bernardino have called a joint special meeting of the Mayor and Common Council and Community Development Commission for 4:00 p.m., Monday, April 30, 2007, in the MIC Room, Sixth Floor, City Hall, 300 North "D" Street, San Bernardino, California The purpose for which this meeting was called was to discuss and adopt a resolution approving and authorizing a Professional Services Agreement between the Economic Development Agency of the City of San Bernardino and Urban Land Institute to develop a land use plan and urban design for the greater downtown area of the City. The joint special meeting of the Mayor and Common Council and Community Development Commission of the City of San Bernardino was called to order by Mayor/Chairman Morris at 4:04 p.m., Monday, April 30, 2007, in the Management Information Center (MIC) of City Hall, 300 North "D" Street, San Bernardino, California. Roll Call Roll call was taken by City Clerk Clark with the following being present: Mayor/Chairman Morris; Council Members/Commissioners Baxter, Brinker, Derry, Johnson; Assistant City Attorney Easland, City Clerk Clark, City Manager Wilson, Economic Development Agency Deputy Director Gee. Absent: Council Members/ Commissioners Estrada, Kelley, McCammack. 1 04/30/2007 Council Member/Commissioner Estrada Arrived At 4:05 p.m., Council Member/Commissioner Estrada arrived at the Council/ Commission meeting. Council Member/Commissioner Kelley Arrived At 4:15 p.m., Council Member/Commissioner Kelley arrived at the Council/ Commission meeting. 1. RES. CDC/2007-10 — Resolution of the Community Development Commission of the City of San Bernardino ("Commission") approving and authorizing the Chairperson of the Commission to execute a Professional Services Agreement by and between the Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Bernardino ("Agency") and the Urban Land Institute ("ULI"), a non-profit research and education organization, to develop a land use plan and urban design for the greater downtown area of the City, in an amount of not to exceed $115,000. Mayor/Chairman Morris stated that a PowerPoint presentation would be given and during the presentation, Mr. Tom Eider, Director of Advisory Services for Urban Land Institute, would be hooked up to a conference call, whereby he would narrate the presentation and then questions could be asked of Mr. Eider. Mr. Eitler provided background information on Urban Land Institute (ULI), noting that they were a non-profit research and education organization based in Washington, D.C. with approximately 35,000 members worldwide comprised of developers, architects, planners, and other land use professionals from both the public and private sectors. He advised that the mission of the ULI is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. He stated that during his presentation he would be addressing land use issues, downtown redevelopment, and economic development. Mr. Eider stated that as a planner in a large metropolitan county outside of Washington, D.C., he had brought in ULI on two separate occasions, and he understands what it takes to put one of these panels together. He stated that they address all types of land use issues including downtown redevelopment, revitalization, military base reuse, issues of growth management and zoning, etc. He stated that they do not look at this as a consulting relationship —they look at it as a ULI panel —and they try to maintain an unbiased objective point of view when providing their recommendations. Mr. Eider noted that the City had already submitted an application to ULI, and they hoped to get started soon. He indicated that there would be an advance trip where ULI will come to San Bernardino to tour the area and discuss 2 04/30/2007 expectations, expertise, and logistics, which will probably be in mid -May. He stated that there are a couple of things that are very important for the sponsor to do other than to sign a contract and pay them, and one of those things is to put together a briefing book. This book is intended to be sent to the panelists sometime before they arrive on site and covers a wide variety of information about development, demographics, the scope of work, and questions from the City. He noted that the briefing book is important, but is not the only thing they use; the panelists will be doing a lot of research online also. The next step would be scheduling interviews, and the City needs to decide what stakeholders they want interviewed as part of the process. Certainly the Mayor and Council members and other important City staff members will be part of the interviews. He noted that on the Tuesday they are here, they will interview anywhere from 50 to 100 people —County and City officials, local business folks, neighborhood activists, etc. He stated that they do not want to keep people out, and they will be looking for representative groups. Mr. Eider reviewed the activities that will take place during their week on site, and advised that they will put together recommendations and write their report while they are here. They will also put together a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the report, which will be presented on Friday. He stated that the information presented on Friday is all summarized, followed by a draft report in 6-8 weeks, with a final report ready within 8-10 weeks. Implementation can then start right away. He stated that City Hall would probably be the most appropriate location for the final presentation, and at that time they will provide strategic advice; however, what the City and County do with that advice is up to them. He reviewed the items that need to be accomplished by the sponsor (City/ County) and those items that are the responsibility of ULI. He stated that the big thing that ULI has to do is recruit the panel, getting the right experts and people with the right experience for the scope of the project. Mayor/Chairman Morris noted that there had been discussion regarding the tight timeline for a panel to come out here, and that ULI had already done some preliminary work in identifying a chair for the panel. Mr. Eider advised that Bill Hudnut, a two -term Congressman in the `70s, who became Mayor of Indianapolis in the early `80s through mid `90s and is currently a senior fellow at Urban Land Institute for public policy, has said he would love to do a panel in San Bernardino. According to Mr. Eitler, Mr. Hudnut is the right guy to get —a great chairman who is all about leadership and understands political and administrative difficulties. 3 04/30/2007 He stated that another person that they have a tentative confirmation from is Rick Linhart, a former ULI staff member, who prior to joining ULI was Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Buffalo, New York, and head of the Business Improvement District in Atlanta, Georgia, and in Derry, Northern Ireland and has a lot of experience with downtown revitalization. He stated that one of their most difficult jobs is matching the subject matter with the folks that are available, especially in light of the short timeframe. He added that when people hear that Bill Hudnut is going to be the chair, they will have a lot of success getting people onboard. Mr. Eider advised that their fee will cover 200 copies of the final report, plus an electronic version of the report; and ULI will provide the City with a road map to help implement recommendations. Council Member/Commissioner Estrada asked how the differences between communities are considered in the overall comparison of San Bernardino to some of these other communities that ULI has served —what is the common thread in terms of being able to take the experience that they have studying these other communities and looking at San Bernardino demographics —what enters into the main formula for this study? Mr. Eider noted that every panel is a little different —that every community is different and has its own issues to deal with; however, they try as best they can to match up by having a diverse membership, including women and minorities, on these panels. He stated that he had access to the City's demographic information, and he thought it was important to get the right folks onboard. However, there are some common themes that come with downtown revitalization. Council Member/Commissioner Estrada made a motion, seconded by Council Member/Commissioner Derry, that full reading of the resolution be waived; and that said resolution be adopted. (Note: The vote was taken following additional discussion.) In the absence of Council Member/Commissioner McCammack, and at her request, Councilman Derry submitted a copy and read into the record a letter dated April 27, 2007, from Ms. McCammack to Rachel Clark, City Clerk, in which she stated, "I regret that I am unable to attend this important, urgently scheduled meeting as I would have supported this motion." Council Member/Commissioner Estrada stated that in her discussion with the Mayor, she voiced her concern that there are currently a number of projects in the downtown area; i.e., the Mall project, Metrolink, future Courthouse, and the Meadowbrook and Seccombe Lake projects —that there are a lot of things planned, and we have a lot of dots to connect and this seems like a perfect opportunity to connect those dots. She stated that she told the Mayor that she 4 04/30/2007 would support this project to whatever extent she could to get this done quickly —that turnaround time is critical because of all the things that are being done. She stated that she appreciated whatever support this Council gives to this project because she thought it would be very good for the City; and she thanked Councilman Derry for his efforts. Mayor/Chairman Morris advised that when this was presented to the County Board they were very interested, and several representatives from the County were present today, including Gerry Newcombe, who heads up the County's world of planning and development. He stated that they were clearly anxious to have this done as soon as possible as well —that Chairman Biane made it clear that the County's needs for a housing department is imminent, so the opportunity for a June 23 start time appealed to them greatly. In fact, it was that early date that sold this to the County Board. He noted that it often takes many, many months to pull something like this together, given the volunteer nature and the distinguished panelists that will come together. The motion carried and Resolution No. CDC/2007-10 was adopted by the following vote: Ayes: Council Members/Commissioners Estrada, Baxter, Brinker, Derry, Kelley, Johnson. Nays: None. Absent: Council Member/Commissioner McCammack. 2. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 4:39 p.m. The next joint regular meeting of the Mayor and Common Council/Community Development Commission is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., Monday, May 7, 2007, in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 300 North "D" Street, San Bernardino, California. No. of Items: 2 No. of Hours: .6 RACHEL G. CLARK City Clerk By: ZC . Linda E. Hartzel Deputy City Clerk 5 04/30/2007