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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCVRC Min 2008/04/24 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE CHULA VISTA REDEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (CVRC) April 24, 2008 6:00 P.M. A Regular Meeting of the Chula Vista Redevelopment Corporation was called to order at 6:02 p.m. in Conference Room C-lOl, located in City Hall, 276 Fourth Avenue, Chula Vista, California. CVRC ROLL CALL PRESENT: Directors: Munoz (arrived at 6:04 p.m.), Paul, Reyes, Rooney, Salas (arrived at 6:05 p.m.), and Chair Lewis ABSENT: Directors: Desrochers ALSO PRESENT: Assistant City Manager Tulloch, Deputy City Attorney Shirey, Redevelopment & Housing Manager Mills, Assistant Planning and Building Director Lytle, Principal Project Coordinator Lee, Planning Manager Ladiana, Assistant Building Director Remp, Conservation and Environmental Services Director Meacham, Environmental Resource Manager Reed, Senior Deputy City Clerk Peoples, Senior Administrative Secretary Fields PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, MOMENT OF SILENCE PRESENTATIONS This item was heard after Item B. A. PERMIT STREAMLINING AND MEASURES TO REDUCE COST AND TIME FOR DEVELOPMENT ENTITLEMENTS. ENCOURAGING ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION Assistant Planning & Building Director Lytle explained that staff was directed to review all processes and remove unnecessary or redundant steps with regards to project reviews by various Boards and Commissions including the Resource Conservation Commission, Redevelopment Advisory Committee, and Design Review Committee. She then provided an overview of the current process and options noting that staff would be speaking with all Boards and Commissions and then returning to the CVRC with the results of the discussions and recommended actions. Ms. Lytle provided the Board with a copy of Longtin's Land Use Procedures & Timelines, as well as Local Ordinance & Administrative Processes Flow Charts. She spoke on the creation of a Zoning Administrator position and responded to questions of the Board. Director Rooney inquired as to where the current thresholds were, and Planning Manager Ladiana responded that they were based on the size of a project, and that new construction would go to the Design Review Committee for review. PRESENTATION A (continued) Pat Aguilar, Chula Vista resident, stated that it made sense to her that the Resource Conservation Commission should not be involved in environmental documents and she encouraged the consideration by staff of having them take over historic preservation issues as required by State law as it would go well with their Mills Act reviews. She also suggested that the community be involved in the determination of what the thresholds should be, and that design review should be done by design professionals who have appropriate training. Director Reyes requested that during the second cycle of comment and review, staff meet with developers/applicants to outline a timeline for their project (internal audit of administrative processes) and if they were willing, make this a condition of approval to expedite the timeline. He also suggested that the Zoning Administrator should have a design background. Chairman Lewis stated that although the charts presented were good, they should include clarification that streamlining would save time and money for everyone involved. He requested that when staff returns, a chart be provided that reflects what has been done and what was being planned to be done (condense the core) and that the zoning administration process be added to get the public involved early and often, and to get the master developer involved early and often. Assistant Planning and Building Director Lytle closed by stating that staff was forming focus groups to critique the process and that there were new managers in Planning and Building who were providing new vision and perspective. She also stated they were working on getting the information about properties out to the public as soon as possible and that they were looking at the fee schedules as well as the internal work flows. Director Reyes suggested they might also consider providing clients vvith probable cost estimates. B. CLIMATE CHANGE WORKING GROUP FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS REPORT Environmental Resource Manager Reed provided a PowerPoint presentation, which included the Reduction Goals, Mission Statement, Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Working Group Participants, and Process and Evaluation Criteria. Director Reyes, member of the working group, provided an overview of the Emissions Sector. Transportation: included the immediate implementation by Council of a Clean Vehicle Policy that requires 100% of replacement vehicles purchased for the municipal fleet be high efficiency (hybrid) or alternative fuel vehicles; and encouragement of fleet operators and companies doing business in Chula Vista to adopt a 100% clean vehicle replacement purchasing policy. Environmental Resource Manager Reed continued with the presentation providing the Emissions Sector. Energy: directed staff to develop a plan to require City-licensed businesses to participate in an energy assessment every 3 years or upon change of ownership; adopt green building standards for all new and major renovations of residential and commercial construction; develop a solar conversion program for existing residential and commercial buildings, pro actively enforcing existing codes and requiring pre-plumbing for solar hot water; facilitate smart growth around the H Street, E Street, and Palomar Trolley Stations; and coordinate with Otay Water District, San Diego County Water Authority, and the Sweetwater Authority to convert turflawns to xeriscape landscaping. PRESENTATION B (continued) Page 2 of5 CVRC - Minutes - April 24, 2008 Conservation and Environmental Services Director Meacham stated that although staff was not recommending implementation of all recommendations at the time of presentation, the City Council took the lead and approved everything. Lisa Cohen, CEO of the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce, advised the CVRC Directors that a lot of her members were already LEED certified and that Environmental Resource Manager Reed was scheduled to provide her Board with a presentation on May 14th She stated that the only concerns her organization had were with how the Council had rushed through things. Director Rooney made inquiry regarding the Third Avenue businesses and LEED compliance, and Conservation and Environmental Services Director Meacham stated that although Recommendation 4, to adopt green building standards, was challenging, what the community had been talking about was not to just require the standards for new development, but for major renovations as well. Assistant Building Director Remp provided a prospective on the building codes and standards, stating that the state established the requirements, yet the legislature was looking at bills that could impact the ability to implement local standards. Director Reyes stated that the smart growth measure speaks to incentives. He added further that timing and financial incentives to encourage use of technology should be considered as well. Director Paul encouraged staff to continue to work with SDG&E to reach an agreement to buy back power, noting that otherwise, the solar conversion program was not a good incentive. Chairman Lewis inquired and Conservation and Environmental Services Director Meacham responded that the intent of the program was for an assessment every three years, not for implementation. Thus, there would be no cost to the business owner, and tracking could perhaps be accomplished by business license renewal with notification to the staff to set an appointment for evaluation. Chairman Lewis then encouraged staff to incorporate the developers into the process as the developer also has an economic interest, and for staff not to make it competitive with the state. ACTION: Motion by Chairman Lewis, seconded by Director Paul, to receive and file the report. The motion carried 6-0-1 with Director Desrochers absent. Item A was heard at this time. CONSENT CALENDAR (Item I) I. WRITTEN COMMUNICA nON A. Memorandum from Christopher Lewis requesting an excused absence from the CVRC meeting of March 13,2008. CONSENT CALENDAR (continued) Page 3 of 5 CVRC - Minutes - April 24, 2008 Staffrecommendation: That the CVRC excuse the absence. B. Memorandum from Paul Desrochers requesting an excused absence from the CVRC meeting of April 24, 2008. Staff recommendation: That the CVRC excuse the absence. ACTION: Director Munoz moved approval of the Consent Calendar. Director Rooney seconded the motion and it carried 6-0-1 with Director Desrochers absent. PUBLIC COMMENTS Patricia Aguilar, Chula Vista resident, spoke regarding the need to update the Chula Vista zoning code. Assistant City Manager Tulloch responded that staff was looking at creative ways to obtain funding to do an update. Ms. Aguilar then extended an invitation to everyone present to participate in the May 10,2008 Chula Vista Historic Home Tour. 2. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S REPORTS Redevelopment and Housing Manager Mills asked the Directors to mark their calendars for the June 23, 2008 Boards and Commissioners appreciation event to be held at 6:00 p.m. at the Montevalle Recreation Center. 3. CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS Director Reyes excused himself and left the Council Chambers. A. SWEETWATER UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT Chairman Lewis stated he had attended a meeting with District Superintendent Dr. Gandara, District Board Member Cartmill, City Manager Garcia and Redevelopment and Housing Assistant Director Crockett, and reported that the District was now ready to proceed and will provide what they think they need. The interest on their loan is coming due and they want to develop their property and have committed to working with the CVRC and Redevelopment Agency. Staff will review what they provide and examine the feasibility of the District proposal once received. Upon conclusion of discussion on the item, Director Reyes returned to the Council Chambers. B. COMPLEX AND MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENTS PROJECTS CONFERENCE Chairman Lewis next reported that he had attended a Law Seminars workshop in Walnut Creek and learned about public/private versus private projects. He also learned from examples presented, that there was absolutely no challenge in redevelopment that could not be met with the right mix of people and encouraged all of the Directors to be proactive in bringing development into Chula Vista. Page 4 of5 eVRC - Minutes - April 24, 2008 4. DIRECTORS' COMMENTS Director Salas stated that he had been in Washington DC to lobby for home funds. A. DIRECTOR REYES - CALIFORNIA REDEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE Director Reyes stated that he had attended the California Redevelopment Association conference with Director Munoz in an attempt to gain more knowledge on redevelopment. Some of the points he learned and wanted to share were: . Redevelopment mixed use - add municipal. . Finance projects - be creative and think outside the box - include tenants in a library.. . . Westside can only have so much commercial - look at being more destination- oriented with attraction pulls rather than scattered retail . Long term vision - retain the ability to accomplish goals . Blighted areas in other cities became the transportation core Chairman Lewis added that investors were looking for "infrastructure investment" for redevelopment projects within cities. ADJOURNMENT At 7:51 p.m., Chairman Lewis adjourned the meeting to the Regular Meeting of May 8, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. .d~ Eric Crockett, Secretary Page 5 of5 CVRe - Minutes - April 24, 2008