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HomeMy WebLinkAboutR04-RDA Minutes " ,-" '-' - "- ,..- \.- ~ r \.....- -.,; MT. VERNON CORRIDOR PROJECT AREA COMMITTEE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO ~Y!1!1~.BY May 9, 1990 6:30 P.M. The Mt. Vernon Corridor PrOject Area Committee (PAC> meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m., at the Mt. Vernon Elementary School, 1271 Hest 10th Street, San Bernardino, California, by Vice-Chairman R. Hade Byars, Sr. ROLL CALL Roll Call was taken with the following being present: Members R. Hade Byars, Sr., Richard Churchwell, Melvin Elliott, Maureen A. Giovanni, Graciano Gomez, Esther Mata, Tod McDonald, Kevin Mitchell, Trinidad Padilla, Randy Hyatt. Absent: Alfredo Enciso, Teresa S. Enciso, Jose Gomez, Manuel Morales, Gloria L. Torres, Ernest Vasquez, Sr. STAFF PRESENT Dennis Barlow, Senior Assistant City Attorney; Susan M. Morales, Project Manager, RDA; Margie Vance, Recording Secretary, RDA; Vince Bautista, Principal Planner, City of San Bernardino; Carl Morgan, Urban Futures, Inc. 1. Pledge of Allegiance Mr. Vince Bautista led those In attendance In the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. COMMITTEE MEMBER GRACIANO GOMEZ EXCUSED HIMSELF FROM THE MEETING 2. Public Comments Mr. Trinidad Padilla expressed his opinion regarding the consumption of table grapes. COMMITTEE MEMBER TRINIDAD PADILLA LEFT THE MEETING Due to a lack of quorum the members did not meet as an official Committee. This Is a summary of the presentation by Mr. Vince Bautista, Principal Planner, of Planning and Building Services Department, regarding the General Plan. 1 May 9, 1990 5146R 1 ,- '- c - '- ~ c -' Mr. R. Wade Byars, Sr., stated that as a member of the General Plan Citizen AdvIsory Committee (CAC), he participated In the various discussions held during the preparation of the General Plan regarding the Importance and the need to change the re-zonlng procedure. He stated that the policIes and guidelines established by the Planning CommIssion, the Mayor and Common Council and the City AdministratIon are the law. He also stated that the City was guided by State Law In the preparation of Its General Plan. Ms. Morales said that the CommIttee's request to Inform the Mayor and Common Council of their desire to simplify the General Plan Amendment process to a zone change process was presented to the Mt. Vernon Task Force on Wednesday, May 2, 1990. The Task Force dIrected staff to research the General Plan discussions regarding the zone change process and to report back to the Task Force. Mr. Bautista began his presentation by describing how the Planning Department functions. He said that It Is divided Into two sections; Current PlannIng, which deals wIth the day-to-day applicatIon process for development, and Advanced Planning, whIch deals wIth the long-range, long-term comprehensIve master planning for the City. He said that three years ago his section was assIgned by the Council the task of preparing a new General Plan to be In compliance with current State LegIslation. He said that In 1964 the Council approved the last General Plan, but at that time, the State dId not have any guIdelines for preparing a General Plan. After 23 years, the City's General Plan was out of compliance with new State Legislation. During the 1970's and 1980's, State Legislation placed many new requirements on every City and County stIpulatIng what a General Plan had to contain. In February, 1987 the Mayor and Common CouncIl approved a $1.2 mIllIon dollar budget to completely revIse the City's General Plan. The CIty recruited a consultant who had extensive experience In thIs fIeld by sendIng out Request for Proposals to 60 consultants. EIght con~Jltants responded and the City Interviewed five out of the eIght. He said that ENVIC<>M was the fIrm selected to assist staff In the preparatIon of the Plan. The City created a CItizen Advisory CommIttee (CAC) whIch played a key role during the General Plan Amendment process. In order to ensure proper representation from throughout the CIty, staff used a City map to help verIfy that every neighborhood had a representative on the CitIzen AdvIsory Committee. Out of the 85 citizens IntervIewed, 35 were appointed to serve In the capacity of regular or alternate member. Mr. R. Hade Byars, Sr., was among the citizens appoInted to the Citizen Advisory Committee. In an effort to the ensure a legally adequate General Plan, staff and the consultants tested mandatory elements of the plan (there are a total of seventeen mandatory and permissIve elements In the plan), usIng the criterIa found In the State General Plan GuidelInes for what a General Plan must contain. 2 May 9, 1990 5146R "-" --- "- "- ,r-- "- ,- '-' ~""''. ....., Some of those elements are as follows: * Land Use * Circulation * Housing * Historic Preservation * Economics * Noise * Air quality * Selsml c * Public Safety * Water qua 11 ty The purpose of the General Plan Is to guide all future Mayor and Common Council decisions. Before any projects are funded and/or approved by the Common Council, a finding must first be made that the project Is consistent with the new General Plan. The General Plan plays a key role as the Constitution for the City. The Land Use Element Is the most Important component of the fInal report. It spells out the types of land uses permItted within the City such as CommercIal, ResidentIal, Industrial, PubliC, etc. All of the sIxteen other elements have to be consistent with the Land Use Element and, In turn, consistent wIth one another. It took 2 1/2 years to put thIs technically difficult document together. It was accomplished with the cooperation and participation of the CAC members, staff, consultants, the Planning Commission and the City Council. One of the things that came up early In the General Plan preparation was the Issue of having consistency between the General Plan and zoning. Under state law every general law city and county must have a general plan map that Is consistent with the zoning map. If the General Plan map shows d residential designation, the zoning on that same pIece of property must also be residentIal (at the same density). Since the CIty of San Bernardino Is a Charter CIty, It does not have to comply with this state law. However, a policy decision was made that the General Plan map was to be consistent with the ZonIng map. Staff, the CAC, the Planning CommissIon and the Council endorsed the concept of a single map system. The County of San Bernardino and several other cities and counties throughout the state now use a single map system. Any changes to the map or the text must be done through a General Plan Amendment. The CIty cannot process a Change of Zone application because there are no more zones to amend. For the first six months after the General Plan was completed (from June 2, 1989 until December 2, 1989), there was a moratorium on any General Plan Amendments. When the six month moratorium ended, the Council began to consider amendments to the General Plan. In December 1989, the Council Instructed staff to do a General Plan Amendment study. Since then, a total of three have been Initiated by the Council and six have been Initiated by citizens. One request has gone through the entire amendment process and has been approved by the Council. 3 May 9, 1990 5146R c -,...." ....) f"""'" The General Plan Is a dynamic document. If It needs to be changed, It will be changed. The council has the ultimate decision to make any changes. General Plan Amendments are charged a "full cost recovery". This means that when someone applies for a General Plan Amendment, staff must keep a very accurate record of the time spent. Depending on the complexity of the request a General Plan Amendment could cost $2,500 or more. If, as a result of the new General Plan an existing use has become non-conforming, the COuncil will authorize staff to Initiate a free General Plan Amendment study. However, If the City Council considered a certain property during the General Plan hearings (out of 70,000 affected parcels, 150 to 200 properties were considered In a specific motion>, the Council will not consider It again. This polley has been available to the public since January I, 1990 and will continue until July I, 1990. QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION '- r- ......... Q. Mr. Mitchell, asked If one has to have a structure. Mr. Bautista said that one has to have a use that became non-conforming as a result of the new General Plan. In other words, If there Is a residence on a property that Is now deSignated commercial, and the residence were to burn down, one cannot rebuild It as residential because It must be consistent with the new General Plan. There Is also a polley that was placed In the General Plan that will allow an owner to rebuild a residential building that was destroyed by a catastrophe. The owner will be allowed to have his building rebuilt at the former density regardless of the current residential designation. If the building Is now In a non-residential land use designation, It will not be permitted to be rebuilt, because It must conform to the new General Plan. Any resident always has the option to Initiate a General Plan Amendment. Anyone can file an application to amend any text, any of the 800 poliCies contained In the plan or amend any of the 70,000 parcels to change the land use designation at any time, keeping In mind that there will be a IIfull cost recovery" to pay for staff and the services provided by the City. Mr. Byars, Sr., stated that there Is no guarantee that the COuncil will approve the request. Mr. Bautista said that the Council will review and give consideration to any evidence presented to them, but that they have the final decision. He further stated that the COuncil followed the same process when they adopted the General Plan, they gave heed and consideration to all of the evidence presented to them and they ultimately made the final decision. He said that the Council has been very firm on the Issue of a one map system. It Is staff's understanding that the Council does not want to tamper with the one map system. The COuncil has been very clear In the direction given to staff In that they do not want Change of Zone applications because they want to keep the one map system as Is. The COuncil will entertain any application for a General Plan Amendment. The "Change of Zone system" Is no longer there because there Isn't a zoning map In existence. He said that there Is only one map, a General Plan map. 4 May 9, 1990 5146R ,..- \..... ,...... Q. Mr. Churchwell ~ed If when the CIty receIves a~PPllcatlon for a general plan amendment, there Is an actual extra cost Incurred, over and above the normal overhead. -~ '- Mr. BautIsta responded that the CIty Incurs the cost of havIng to assIgn a planner to that project or that request. When the COuncIl requests the amendments, then the CIty wIll absorb the cost. He saId that that planner would normally be assIgned to other General Plan type of actIvItIes, such as redevelopment projects, specIal projects for the Mayor and CouncIlor a specIfIc task, e.g., AIr QualIty Element, or a housIng study, and therefore, a General Plan Amendment takes that planner away from the day-to-day dutIes. He saId that there Is currently one person on hIs staff that Is solely workIng on General Plan Amendments and that It Is very tIme consumIng. (Mr. Churchwell stated that, In actualIty, there Is no extra cost. He saId that by the end of the month It does not cost the CIty any extra dollars to do a General Plan Amendment versus another task>. ,-.- '- Q. Mr. Byars, Sr., asked If approval by the state Is requIred. Mr. BautIsta responded that approval by the state Is not requIred. He saId that the state does not currently monItor any General Plan Amendments. However, In the case where a major amendment requIres an EnvIronmental Impact Report, the state does get Involved. Mr. Byars, Sr., stated that he recalled a representatIve from the State durIng the preparatIon of the General Plan. Mr. BautIsta saId that any CIty Is sometImes watched by the State OffIce of PlannIng and Research or other agencIes because they are the ones that ultImately have to revIew the fInal General Plan. For example, the State does get Involved when It concerns the HousIng Element. Q. Mr. EllIott asked how long It takes for staff to process an applIcatIon to amend the General Plan. ,,- Mr. BautIsta responded that It takes approxImately four to sIx months. Q. Ms. Morales, asked what a Change of Zone would cost. Mr. BautIsta responded that the last Change of Zone was done about three years ago, and back then, the cost ranged between $500 and $600 dollars. He saId that sInce then there have been some cost Increases In all types of land use applIcatIons. When the process to prepare the General Plan began In 1987, It put an end to Change of Zones. Q. Mr. MItchell asked If the process to change a zone could be sImplIfIed and wanted to know why It had to be a lengthy process. Mr. BautIsta responded that sImIlar InformatIon would need to be submItted for both a General Plan Amendment and a Change of Zone. Staff would still have to take both applIcatIons to the EnvIronmental RevIew CommIttee, to the PlannIng CommIssIon at a PublIc HearIng and to the CIty COuncIl at a Public HearIng. '-' 5 May 9, 1990 5146R ,,~'~" "- ,,..... '- ,- ""- c "" ,,.,) Mr. Mitchell stated that he thought that the change of zone stopped at the Planning Commission level. Mr. Bautista stated that a Change of Zone must go forward to the City Council because they are approved by Ordinance. In addition, an Ordinance which changes a zone does not take effect until 30 days after the second reading. He said that a General Plan Amendment Is adopted by Resolution which takes effect as soon as the Council acts on It. Mr. Mitchell stated that the old process to change a zone was a very simple process. Mr. Bautista said that many years ago It was a simple process but that the State" now requires that any Change of Zone application must follow the same process that a General Plan Amendment follows with the same committees, studies and procedures. In addition, with the change of zone, one has to make findings of consistency with the General Plan. Q. Mr. McDonald asked what the last day was to submit applications to amend the General Plan per the Council's policy on non-conforming uses. Mr. Bautista responded that It was July I, 1990. He stated that If the application package Is completed and submitted before then, staff will process It. He encouraged those that were thinking about submitting an application to change the General Plan to visit with him and/or Valerie Ross of his staff to review their request. Q. Ms. Morales asked If the Council reviewed the proposed Mt. Vernon Area. Mr. Byars, Sr., responded that as an active member of the Citizen Advisory Committee for the General Plan revision process, remembers the Council reviewing the Mt. Vernon Area. Ms. Morales said that It was her understanding that the Council was very supportive of what the new General Plan requires for the Mt. Vernon Area. Mr. Hyatt stated that the new General Plan limits the property owner of what he can do with his property. Mr. Bautista said that Indeed the new general plan limits the land use on any parcel, although It also puts compatible uses together. He said that It was a conscious decision on the part of the Council to eliminate the "catch all" land use. The old General Plan was very flexible the state saw this flexibility as a problem. He said that It Is not the best land use process to have a mixture of commercial, Industrial, office and sometimes unrelated uses that work against each other. This mixture may bring down property value and It has a lot of other economic, social and physical problems that sometimes are difficult to deal with. 6 May 9, 1990 5146R ,.....- '- r "- .,- ........ - - - ~ C) .~ Q. Mr. EllIott asked If the compatIble use can be caught when a CertIfIcate of Occupancy Is obtaIned. Mr. Bautista saId that at that tIme It will be too late because the buIldIng would be buIlt. He saId that the CouncIl was aware of the General Plan's ramifications and of the non-conforming uses that were goIng to result. Q. Mr. Wyatt asked how they can find out If their parcel or property was one of the ones that was acted upon. Mr. BautIsta stated that staff kept an audIt trail of all actIons taken and It was avaIlable for anyone's revIew. 7 May 9, 1990 5146R