| Time | Speaker | Text |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00:11.83 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:00:16.77 | Unknown | Can somebody say something? Yep. Come on. |
| 00:00:20.35 | Unknown | Okay. |
| 00:00:20.65 | Unknown | Nice. |
| 00:00:21.19 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:00:21.28 | Unknown | Thank you. We're good in all of the audiences and also |
| 00:00:24.64 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. Okay, excellent Maria, thank you. And are we recording now? Yes. Terrific, great. Well, good evening, everybody, and welcome to the regularly scheduled planning committee meeting of Wednesday, June 16th. Community Development Director Whalen, could you please call the roll? |
| 00:00:47.28 | Director Whalen | Good evening, Chair Feller and Planning Commissioner. This meeting is being held pursuant to section three of executive order N20 nine issued by Governor Newsom on March 17th, 2020. And then we also have an updated, sorry, I got the wrong, um, executive order, there's an updated one that he just issued that I need to- That still works though, Lily. |
| 00:01:09.57 | Mary Wagner | That still works though, Lily. It's fine. Lily, you're fine. |
| 00:01:13.88 | Director Whalen | Okay. Thank you. So executive order N-2920 and issued by Governor Newsom on March 17th, 2020. And all members are now joining this meeting telephonically through Zoom. And I will now call the roll. Commissioner Junius. THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 00:01:28.39 | Andrew Junius | Thank you. |
| 00:01:29.72 | Director Whalen | Commissioner Luxenberg? |
| 00:01:31.34 | Jeffery Luxenberg | I'm not sure. |
| 00:01:33.23 | Director Whalen | Commissioner Sand? Here. Vice Chair Grass. |
| 00:01:37.84 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. |
| 00:01:37.86 | Richard Graef | Thank you, sir. |
| 00:01:39.37 | Director Whalen | and cheer callers. Here. All members are present and we have a quorum. |
| 00:01:45.18 | Kristina Feller | Excellent. Thank you, Director Whelan. The next item on the agenda is the approval of the agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda? |
| 00:01:54.76 | Richard Graef | I moved. to approve. Thank you. |
| 00:01:59.20 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:01:59.22 | Director Whalen | Thank you. Commissioner Luxenberg. |
| 00:02:05.43 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Yes. |
| 00:02:07.49 | Director Whalen | COMMISSIONER ASSAD. Yeah. COMMISSIONER JUNIOR. |
| 00:02:11.88 | Andrew Junius | Yes. |
| 00:02:13.56 | Director Whalen | Vice Chair Graff. |
| 00:02:14.69 | Andrew Junius | Thank you. |
| 00:02:14.71 | Richard Graef | Yeah. |
| 00:02:15.00 | Andrew Junius | Thank you. |
| 00:02:16.16 | Director Whalen | and the chair caller. |
| 00:02:16.92 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:02:17.29 | Richard Graef | Yes. |
| 00:02:17.70 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:02:18.83 | Director Whalen | I carry five zero. |
| 00:02:20.45 | Kristina Feller | Excellent. The next item on the agenda is public comments on items not on the agenda. Director Whalen. |
| 00:02:30.54 | Director Whalen | This is the time to hear from citizens regarding matters that are not on your agenda, except in very limited situations. State law precludes the planning commission from taking on taking action on or engaging in discussions regarding items of business that are not on your agenda. However, the commission may refer matters not on the agenda to city staff or direct that says subject the agenda is for future meetings. Video, audio, Public comment participation is limited to three minutes per speaker. If you'd like to make a comment, please raise your hand in the Zoom application under the participants list and you'll be called upon when it is your time to speak. To raise your hand from a phone, please press star nine. will allow you to unmute yourself and share your video if you'd like and need to adjust your settings. So please be patient. And please state your name for the record before beginning your comments. Thank you. |
| 00:03:16.86 | Kristina Feller | Thank you, Director Whalen. I am looking to see if there are any raised hands. I do not see any at this time. I will close public comment at this time and we can move on to our new business items. |
| 00:03:31.54 | Director Whalen | Excellent. THEIR FAMILY. item tonight. in business item section of the agenda, and it's to review and consider recommending for city council approval. the draft historic context statement for the city. And I'm pleased to introduce Christopher Plonk, who is a specialist the city has worked with on a number of projects over the years. including this long overdue project. And Chris will walk the commission through the purpose of the draft statement and highlight some of the most important facets of the statement. And of course, we'll be available to answer any questions that the Commission may have. And with that, I would like to introduce Chris and have him start his presentation. Thank you. |
| 00:04:18.20 | Christopher Plank | Greetings. This is Christopher Twink. I'm trying to get my video going. |
| 00:04:21.98 | Unknown | Mayor. |
| 00:04:22.62 | Christopher Plank | the Well, there I am. Okay. Hello. |
| 00:04:27.42 | Unknown | Um, |
| 00:04:27.69 | Christopher Plank | Thank you. |
| 00:04:27.72 | Unknown | Bye. |
| 00:04:27.75 | Christopher Plank | you |
| 00:04:27.90 | Richard Graef | you |
| 00:04:29.10 | Christopher Plank | Yeah, I've got, hey Andrew, how are you? I have about a 15 minute presentation, which I go through the historic contact statements. So let me just share my screen and take it away. |
| 00:04:56.63 | Christopher Plank | Okay. Well, good evening. Again, my name is Christopher Plank. I'm principal and founder of Plank Historic Preservation Consulting, San Francisco. I've been around for quite a while. I founded my first independent firm in 2007. Before that, 1999 to 2007, I launched and ran the Cultural Resources Studio at Page and Turnbull. a San Francisco preservation firm, preservation architecture firm, And from 1997 to 1999, fresh out of architecture school, I served as the preservation fellow at San Francisco Architectural Heritage. I hold a master's degree in architectural history and a certificate in historic preservation from University of Virginia's Graduate School of Architecture. |
| 00:05:45.09 | Christopher Plank | But work in Sausalito often a little bit. Um, In addition to authoring historical resource evaluations for several individual properties, I surveyed Marinch in 2011. and prepared a general context statement for that neighborhood and survey forms for all of the World War II properties. In 2013, I prepared a successful national register nomination for the branch of machine shop. And since then, I've been, I've been ambitious to work on the sauce leadership yard property as well. Um, To make a long story short, I started preparing this document back in 2013. after a rigorous amount of field work and research. which I completed with Caitlin Harvey, who helped me with the field work. I think between she and I, we walked pretty much every block in the city Perhaps not up in the higher reaches of the hills, but we covered a lot of ground on foot. even hiked in from the headlands to view Wolfback Ridge. So we really did a lot of looking around and photographing details as obscure as stone-lined gutters and manhole covers and everything we could find. Um, We held a public workshop at the time to solicit community involvement to find out, you know, what we should be looking at. You know, I don't live in Sausalito. I've spent a lot of time there, but, you know, I don't have the local knowledge. So we spend a lot of time on asking community members what we should be looking at, consulted with the Saucydo Historical Society, you know, all sorts of you know, community outreach. Yes. had a lot of input from various people. So what is a historic statement? And I'm sorry about the dreaded wall of text, but this is where we get into the weeds a bit. So please bear with me. Um, The historic context statement is foremost a synthesis of the community's history. specifically related to its environment. So that means that we're dealing with buildings pretty much. buildings, movable objects, ships, trains, public artwork, parks, really anything to do with the built fabric. Second, identify significant themes, patterns, trends, and property types characteristic of a particular community. So it's oscillator like any community, you know, has a history that goes back quite a ways. and various properties kind of index with various periods in the city's past. So there are certain properties which may not look all that significant on the face of it, but you know, they're a rare example of a particular property that was built during a phase of the history's the city's history. Third, it's a framework for identifying, evaluating, and treating historic buildings, structure, sites, and objects, aka historic resources. So this really gets into the state and national criteria for registering historic resources. And it talks about thresholds for significance and also integrity. And finally, as a document focused on a community's physical environment, The historic context statement is not intended to be a comprehensive history of the community. So even though we do get into the biarchies of important people in the past in Sausalito, This is not you know, it's not, as I said, it's not a comprehensive history. It's a history of the built environment. OK. So this is the lowest ball text. This is this describes how the city of the city might be used by the city of San Salido. First and foremost, we provide better information on the city's historic resources. especially in areas that have not been surveyed and that includes most of the city. Very little of the city has been to be surveyed outside of the downtown area. Second, it will assist the city to establish preservation goals and strategies. So, a lot of this work has been done in recent years with the preservation element, but this deals with things like historic registers, historic districts, things like that. Third, it will assist the city update and formalize its historic resource inventory, which has been basically done with the preservation element. Fourth, it'll help the city comply with its ongoing responsibilities as a certified local government. and other state and federal preservation regulations. And finally, it'll provide city planners, many of whom may not actually come from South Salido, A baseline of information about the history of the city and its unique architectural heritage. So with that, I'm going to... talk about some of the themes that came up with research. And this basically is a chronological description of some of our main findings. And it's pretty brief. It's a huge document. I'm going in here, kind of skating the surface, Please feel free to ask questions. |
| 00:10:53.60 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:10:53.72 | Christopher Plank | Thank you. So the first, um, team was combined in Native American, Spanish, and Mexican periods, because there's very little, there's really nothing left above ground from these periods, even though it's by far the biggest period. in the city's history. Um, The dominant story here is one of settlement and peopling of what's now Sausalito. beginning with the last ice age and extending all the way up to the American conquest of California 1846-48. Events within the scene include the settlement of Sausalito by the indigenous Coast Miwoks early contact early contacts with European explorers. in William Richardson's Rancho de Sausalito, which was the first official of European-era landholding here. um, And although there are no above ground resources that we know of, there are certainly archaeological resources throughout the city that are associated with this this thing. |
| 00:11:56.76 | Christopher Plank | Next one is Early American Settlement, 1848 to 1868. So during and immediately after the gold rush, American speculators purchase sections of. |
| 00:12:08.37 | Unknown | Chris, can I stop you there? Just for not sharing your video, because you keep breaking up. Oh. |
| 00:12:14.40 | Unknown | Oh. |
| 00:12:14.77 | Unknown | Thank you. Okay, so I'm going to stop your video and see if that helps. Okay, go on with your presentation, Chris. |
| 00:12:21.55 | Christopher Plank | Okay. I'm not sure. So... Yeah, during and immediately after the gold rush, American speculators purchased sections of Rancho de Sausalito for the purposes of real estate development The earliest subdivision activity occurred in what's now Old Town in 1851 where the Navy built a shipyard there, Little remains from this period, aside from the street plan of Old Town and a handful of very early houses, including the Horn House, otherwise known as Iroquois Villa at 215 South Street. So this is the oldest known house in a city. And on the left is a is a early plat of Old Town. You can see the creek that used to go down mainstream. |
| 00:13:10.19 | Christopher Plank | So the third theme is Monte Carlo of the West, 1869-1893. So much of the Solicitor was sub-devited into residential lots in 1869, but the Solicitor was limited to ferry companies. |
| 00:13:21.24 | Unknown | you |
| 00:13:24.60 | Christopher Plank | I'll also leave his climate, scenery, and proximity to San Francisco. made it a natural choice for wealthy San Franciscans who wanted to build elaborate weekend cottages It was during this period, the majority of the city's most architecturally significant estates on the hill were built. including Redonda Vista, Brett Gables. Hazel Mount and many others. |
| 00:13:48.61 | Christopher Plank | Northmond Development of Downtown, 1874 to 1941. the arrival of the North Pacific Coast Railroad in 1874 What if the development of Sausli was bound on a commercial district? This most urban part of Sausalito consists of several Victorian, Edwardian, and commercial blocks and hotels. Following the 1893 file, downtown became the administrative and commercial artist, of the use of repayments to this day. |
| 00:14:19.12 | Christopher Plank | Fifth one, working class enclaves, 1874, 1891. This is a part of the. Um, And part of the history of the city that a lot of people are not familiar with Um, on the The arrival of the railroad brought up a lot of Portuguese, Italian, and Irish immigrants this oscillated in the 1870s and 1880s big jobs in the rail yard the ferry terminal in the bookyards. These new residents built dozens of folk vernacular cottages on the gridded streets of Old Town, Newtown. Spring Street Valley and Nevada Street Valley. Though many workers cottages remain, they're steadily being eroded as redevelopment takes hold in these. lesser valued neighborhoods of the city |
| 00:15:09.42 | Christopher Plank | Gateway to the north, Sausalito, has transit of 1874 to 1941. with the establishment of regular ferry service between San Salido and San Francisco in 1874. Suslitor became the primary transit node between San Francisco and Marin in the north coast. Anton Saucyut made the nexus of maritime and rail transit of opening the Golden Gate Bridge. 1937. although ferry service was restored after World War II. very little remains of Sausalito's early transit infrastructure. |
| 00:15:48.76 | Christopher Plank | Recreation and culture in Sausalito 1878 to 1941. In the late 19th century, entrepreneurs broadened the number and range of attractions available to tourists and full-time residents alike. Chief among these beer gardens, restaurants and saloons and billiard parlors. including what all of them by the sea college, and dozens of other lesser known establishments. following the imposition of prohibition in 1918. The oscillator became a center of rum running in the Bay Area. And many speakeasies existed in the towns. SEVERAL HIGHBORH RECREATIONAL INSTITUTIONS WERE ALSO BORN DURING THIS PERIOD, INCLUDING THE SAN FRANCISCO YACHT Sausalito Yacht Club. in the South Slater Women's Club. |
| 00:16:37.43 | Christopher Plank | Houses of the Holy, 1882 to 1941. beginning in the 19th century. various congregations built churches to accommodate members of Sausalito's ethnic, diverse, and socially stratified society. Several are widely recognized for their architectural significance. including First Presbyterian Church, Mmm. in Christ Episcopal Church, 1882, These two churches catered to the city's affluent British expats than Anglo-American populations. Meanwhile, Sausalito's Portuguese, Irish, and Italian communities worshiped at various Catholic churches in Newtown. including Star of the Sea. and institutional development in its host leader. 1893, 1941. was also incorporated after a disastrous fire in 1993, destroyed most of the downtown. The pastor convinced many sponsors the community needed to incorporate provide basic services, including fire protection, schools, parks, streets, stairs, sewers, et cetera. throughout most of this period saw city government made do with rented quarters downtown. And that's the picture of old city hall. on Main Street. on the left. Um, And this period also witnessed the birth of the city's parks movement. the construction of the first firehouse in 1924. |
| 00:18:03.02 | Christopher Plank | Pearl Harbor and Yale in Rural Shift Transform of Sausalito 1941 to 1945. The construction of Marin ship along Saucido's northern waterfront of the Acton Corporation in 1942-43. pressured in tremendous changes to put Sausalito at the center of the largest shipbuilding complex the world's ever known. bridge to brought huge physical changes in the city. He put in the relocation of railroad tracks but it would have been as well as the destruction of the residential community point. The tremendous influx of migrant shipyard workers doubled the city's population leading many property owners to add secondary units to their houses. I've shown several in the image on the right. Last but not least, modernism comes to Sassilo, 1946 to 1975. explosive population growth in the Bay Area following World War II. continued to be elevated in the 1960s and beyond. During this period, many smaller Bay Area communities were transformed beyond a commission. Um, Luckily, it's possibly not. But during the 1940s and 1950s, residential developers did begin some providing several steep tracks such as Monte Mar Vista, Toyon Terraces and Wolfback Ridge. And basically the construction of 101 and Waldo grade bypass made this possible access these lots. Modern commercial development went up as infill. in Marinship. and also along Bridgeway. Salcido contains very many important architect design houses built during this period. So this is really only a sample of what the Saucido citywide historic context statement contains. even though it's going through the adoption period, it's been out there for several years, kind of unofficially. And many of its recommendations have already been incorporated. into the city's preservation element, which I was very happy to see. Um, And I've given this presentation in front of the Historic Preservation Commission on May 20th. 2021. And at that time, we only heard one I don't know. citizen of the city and they asked us to Cross reference O'Connell C. as a poet's corner, and I've agreed to do this. So with that, I'm going to wrap up my presentation and and take any questions. Thank you. |
| 00:20:31.64 | Kristina Feller | Chris, thank you so much for this presentation and certainly for the larger document, which is incredibly impressive. So thank you. for that. I have no doubt that the commissioners have a couple questions here. So if I may, I'm going to turn it over to them so we can engage in a little bit more dialogue here. THE FAMILY. I'd like to ask Commissioner Saad for you to kick us off since You are most recently on the Historic Preservation Commission and might be familiar with some of this work. |
| 00:20:59.58 | Nastassya Saad | most reasons. |
| 00:21:06.13 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you Chair Feller and thank you. Yes, it's a great presentation. I am familiar with the original draft for my time on the Historic Preservation Commission and it was something that we actually we used quite often I had we had previously I don't recall when we had reviewed this but provided some feedback many months ago. it must have been in 2020 excuse me in 2019 at least and we had done a study session with this document. So I think I saw some of those edits had been already taken. I don't have any further questions but I will say I think it's a really important It's a really important document and I don't think very many people are familiar with the concept of the of the context and I think it's maybe something we can send back to the Historic Preservation Commission, or if there's something that we can do as the Planning Commission to make sure that it's a resource available to the community, maybe something that even sits at the Community Development Department, or I'm assuming eventually everything is online. It can be posted online as a resource, because quite a few businesses and a lot of residents who do work on their properties tend to use the same architects and the same historic preservation architects in town. So they're familiar, but there are a lot of people out there outside of a few of the key players that I'm sure we're all aware of that I think can also really benefit from understanding what our historic guidelines are and what the context is. So I don't actually have any questions, but I just really want to say it's a huge win for Sausalito to have this. We've been really looking forward to it. Thank you for such a comprehensive set of work. It's great. |
| 00:23:05.11 | Kristina Feller | Excellent comments, and thank you for giving some context to this as well. Commissioner Luxenberg, do you have any questions for Chris? |
| 00:23:15.83 | Jeffery Luxenberg | I just wanted to say it was fascinating. I had read the whole historic preservation guidelines that we use for the zoning, but this fills in a lot of gaps. that are on the history and puts it in a better context. So I applaud you on this. report i i agree with commissioner assad that we should make this available on the city's website once it's adopted I would suggest, which you're probably going to do anyways, that you add a table of contents at the front that might be helpful. to the document. But other than that, I thought kudos for for an excellent document. Thank you. |
| 00:23:53.68 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:23:56.33 | Kristina Feller | Thank you, Commissioner Luxenberg. Table of context is an excellent recommendation. Just making note of that and Commissioner Saad. |
| 00:24:05.17 | Christopher Plank | You're supposed to have one. I'm not sure what happened to it. |
| 00:24:05.19 | Kristina Feller | It's supposed to. |
| 00:24:09.22 | Christopher Plank | It did have one at one point. |
| 00:24:11.47 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:24:11.50 | Christopher Plank | Thank you. |
| 00:24:11.59 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:24:11.63 | Christopher Plank | I'll look into it, though. |
| 00:24:13.90 | Kristina Feller | Right. Commissioner Junius. |
| 00:24:17.31 | Andrew Junius | Thank you, Chair Feller. Well, when I first saw this item and I pulled up the document and I saw it, I knew we were in good shape. |
| 00:24:42.97 | Andrew Junius | No real questions. informative to the commissioners. talk about next steps. I mean, the context statement is an extremely important document, service. |
| 00:25:07.69 | Andrew Junius | you're gonna have that's gonna touch one of these historic resources. And without these surveys and contact statements, the burden falls on the property owner and the developer work over. Thank you. |
| 00:25:21.87 | Andrew Junius | THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 00:25:58.10 | Richard Graef | Thank you. |
| 00:26:00.11 | Unknown | Thank you, Commissioner Junius. Vice Chair Brown. |
| 00:26:03.58 | Richard Graef | Hi there. questions about the document, I have to say that I really didn't anticipate the scope of this and the detail. I was fascinated and delighted to read it all And it's amazing that this is just a piece of a larger picture. which is the next, you know, the next, step after that. So I think this This is going to provide a very strong So, Apple... kind of roadmap and context or the with a survey and Again, I just want to compliments. Uh, Chris, on the work. It's very fine, and I'm really impressed. and thank you so much. |
| 00:26:58.83 | Richard Graef | Thank you. |
| 00:26:58.87 | Kristina Feller | Thank you, Vice Chair Graff. I just, Other than my initial statements, I actually do have a couple questions because one of the wonderful things about your document and all this research It left me wanting for more. So this is really a little bit also about sort of scope and where this stops and starts, which helps us understand and give some guidance to go forward with City Council in terms of what those next steps are that Commissioner Junius was talking about So in terms of just the basic, document. To your knowledge, does this supersede any other existing document in the city? |
| 00:27:42.30 | Christopher Plank | Well, this is the first citywide historic context statement that's been written. Probably the closest |
| 00:27:45.54 | Unknown | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:27:49.80 | Christopher Plank | Probably the closest document we have There's very little actually is the introductory uh section to the downtown overlay district you know but it's it's very minimal um No, I can't think of anything that's really analogous. |
| 00:28:06.06 | Kristina Feller | Okay. Um, that's good to know. And then in terms of sort of the scope, only for built. And the reason I'm asking that is that you know, there's, there's sort of some gray area when it comes to, you know, the, the historic, uh, uh, railways that you were referring to. |
| 00:28:26.73 | Unknown | Mm-hmm. |
| 00:28:27.17 | Kristina Feller | shipways that we know of. But then the entire shoreline and the actual buildable land area and the infill and reclamation areas |
| 00:28:36.02 | Unknown | Mm-hmm. |
| 00:28:36.54 | Kristina Feller | It really significantly changed the shoreline and the land mass of Sausalito. And I didn't see a lot of reference to that. |
| 00:28:45.60 | Mary Wagner | Thank you. |
| 00:28:45.62 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 00:28:49.09 | Kristina Feller | Again, this is one of the items of you've left me wanting for more information, which is a good thing, but I'm curious how that's being handled or addressed. |
| 00:29:00.89 | Christopher Plank | Yeah, that's a really good question. And it's a bit confusing in times because since I did a separate historic context statement and survey for marineship, I left a lot of that detail out of the citywide historic context statement at the request of a previous planning director. And that really gets into the weeds in terms of filling. that went on when Marinship was built. Because of course that constitutes the vast majority of the filled ground in the city. But of course, you know, that doesn't include The railroad lands along the waterfront closer to downtown along Bridgeway. That was done by private parties, the railroads mainly in the 1870s and beyond. |
| 00:29:41.47 | Unknown | Uh, |
| 00:29:41.68 | Christopher Plank | But yeah, you're right. I mean, also, it's interesting, there's a lot of you probably notice water lots that still exist in Richards' Bay that are part of the city that are legal you know, parcels. which are not developed because they have not been filled in yet. San Francisco has them as well. And of course with BCDC, it's doubtful they'll ever be filled in, You know, it's an interesting interesting fact when it comes to this topic. |
| 00:30:09.96 | Kristina Feller | In your sort of professional opinion, and of course, I know that this was that under you know community development that was sort of really driven by HPC but in your opinion, is there room in your document to make reference to any of these things or back to the first question of if this supersedes anything, is there anything about sort of the Marin ship overlay and what you had originally done there, which is a little bit more dated, that this document could supersede that just in terms of giving greater context and more information. You know, ultimately, we want to have, you know, sort of streamlined documents so people don't have to look at 10 things. |
| 00:30:56.48 | Christopher Plank | Mm-hmm. |
| 00:30:57.38 | Kristina Feller | So that's really what I'm asking. |
| 00:30:57.66 | Christopher Plank | Yeah. Right, yeah, that's a good question. You know, honestly, you know, the downtown overlay district should be looked at again. I mean, that was prepared back in the 70s. It was done mainly by volunteers, as far as I can tell, you know, not a lot of professional methodology involved, not sliding people involved because that was, that's just how things were done at the time. |
| 00:31:21.96 | Richard Graef | Thank you. |
| 00:31:21.98 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:31:22.00 | Richard Graef | you know, |
| 00:31:22.07 | Christopher Plank | You know, there weren't a lot of graduate schools and historic preservation churning out graduates to do this kind of work. |
| 00:31:22.35 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:31:22.37 | Richard Graef | Thank you. |
| 00:31:28.63 | Christopher Plank | In terms of MarinShip, you know, since I prepared it, it's done to the same level of detail that I did. the citywide historic context statement. It's incorporated by reference. |
| 00:31:38.45 | Unknown | It's a good thing. Amen. |
| 00:31:40.87 | Christopher Plank | And I did try to incorporate some of the more pertinent information from that document into the citywide |
| 00:31:46.35 | Unknown | THE END OF |
| 00:31:47.58 | Christopher Plank | historic context statement, especially dealing with post-war resources. Because they do talk about some of the commercial buildings that are in Marin Ship and some of the modern buildings that are there as well. |
| 00:31:57.64 | Unknown | Mm-hmm. |
| 00:31:58.55 | Christopher Plank | But I suppose there's always a, you know, I mean, there's no budget to do it now, but I suppose there's a possibility of you know, revising the citywide historic context David to include more of the marinship if that's more helpful. |
| 00:32:12.86 | Kristina Feller | Well, I mean, I just, I think that this is an incredible document, and I wouldn't, truthfully both for ourselves somewhat selfishly as landing commissioners but also for the public, which it does great good for, I would rather something be all in one location. rather than in two different locations, so we don't inadvertently confuse the public or... or anything like that. So I just wanted to understand that a little bit better. And I know I'd like to open this up for public comment, Real quickly before we go there, could I ask Lily to join us up here on the virtual dais for just a moment? Cause I just wanna double check on in terms of those next steps, if there is anything that has been that Community Development Department has sort of outlined as the next steps beyond this document that Chris has put together for us to review today. and or can this commission recommend certain next steps that can also be taken to the city council at the time the document is? |
| 00:33:31.16 | Director Whalen | Certainly, maybe I'll take the last one first there. So you can recommend to the city council, whatever you think is best for moving this forward, any subsequent projects. The next step, as I understand it, after the council reviews and hopefully approves this document as a guidance document for the city. is to do that citywide inventory that's been discussed this evening. That is obviously very needed, has been needed for some time and was anticipated. through the adoption of our overhaul of our historic regulations in 2018. I know that that was anticipated to go along with that effort. It is an effort that doesn't come with a small price tag. So it does have a significant budget associated with it as far as I've been then made aware. So it is something that the council needs to plan for and budget for. for us to accomplish. |
| 00:34:34.10 | Kristina Feller | AND I WANT TO TALK ABOUT |
| 00:34:34.10 | Director Whalen | I'm sending through questions here, Paula. |
| 00:34:35.59 | Kristina Feller | absolutely and that's really helpful reference and context for this commission And just back to the question about Um, the fact that this scope is really for buildings, built buildings, and it didn't necessarily include the railway, railway track, the shipway or shipway track, the reclamation or infill of our shoreline Do you feel that that is adequately addressed in other documents? |
| 00:35:10.97 | Director Whalen | Yes. |
| 00:35:11.33 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:35:13.79 | Director Whalen | I think I need to chat with Chris about that. I haven't reviewed the marriage of the store contact statement a number of years. And so I would need to work with him to see if his recommendation would be that that |
| 00:35:26.35 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:35:29.67 | Director Whalen | inventory or not inventory, sorry, that context statement be updated. and potentially fold it into this larger citywide a contest statement or not. Maybe he could speak to that this evening. |
| 00:35:47.14 | Kristina Feller | Chris, what are your thoughts about that? |
| 00:35:47.61 | Christopher Plank | Bye. Well, you know, one thing that comes to mind is that the, um, the Marinship project was, um, I can't remember exactly what the motivation for that project was locally, but... We were looking at World War II era resource for the most part. So what with the citywide historic conduct statement, I tried to touch on post-war resources that weren't mentioned in the Marin ship study. But the level, it's such an outlier sort of, socially use wise, you know, various other ways from the rest of the city that in some ways I think It sort of deserves its own treatment. It really is a different part of the city. that wasn't even annexed to the city until much later on. So I think in some ways it makes sense to treat it as a standalone historic context statement and survey. because it also includes the survey. I mean, we did DPR forms for everything, all the World War II era resources. Um, but yeah i'm certainly not adverse to incorporating more of the friendship story into the city-wide historic context statement I'm not sure. But yeah, I think that would require some further thought and analysis. |
| 00:37:09.10 | Kristina Feller | Okay. Okay, I appreciate that. Do any commissioners have any additional questions at this time for Chris will open it. If you do not, we will open up for public comment and then bring it back up here. for any final deliberation or thought. At this time, does anybody have a question or comment? Okay. Alright, so let's go ahead and open this for public comment at this time. As Director Whalen had explained previously, you can raise your hand in the Zoom application. Or if you have dialed in from a cell phone, you can hit star nine. So I'm looking for raised hands at this time. |
| 00:37:56.69 | Kristina Feller | Okay, seeing none, I'm gonna close public comment and then bring it back up here to the virtual diaspora Any final discussion, deliberation or recommendations? Commissioner Junius, please. |
| 00:38:11.22 | Andrew Junius | Chair Feller, thank you. Lilly, can I call you on the back on the spot for a second just with a little bit more background? So, it's, um, I'm going to go. Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:38:28.03 | Andrew Junius | I'm not sure. next step to survey. |
| 00:38:31.43 | Director Whalen | Correct. Yes, and we actually, it was a number of years ago, we saw in the staff report that we received that grant money. and the city did. And THE FAMILY IS Um, contract with Chris to finalize this report for, to get it get it through this cycle as well. So, But yes, we would be definitely looking for grant money for a certified local government as well. And so I think we have some good chances applying for and receiving some grants in this area. but we do, you know, we need to put that together and that takes some time to get those resources. Thank you. |
| 00:39:14.51 | Kristina Feller | any other comments or recommendations I have to identified one. is as we recommend this forward to city council, assuming we do, that this report is made public and available Um, as a resource to the community and anyone else who'd like to see that And then to Commissioner Luxembourg's comment about a table of contents. It sounds like Chris thought he had one, but there might not be one there, but let's make sure that there is one for, you know, ease of review of the document for everybody. Um, any other recommendations on the actual report as it stands. Yes, Vice Chair Graff. |
| 00:40:08.41 | Richard Graef | Well, um, This goes to the question of the Marantia a report, the previous report, to to fill in some of those gaps that you were talking about Maybe there are a few gaps. Maybe there are a few other gaps that might ultimately end up in this report I just don't know how they get how that work is paid for, yeah. But perhaps the Marinship document could be incorporated somehow as an addendum or whatever you would call it. So that becomes part of this document. and kind of completes the story as much as possible. So that might be an angle to deal with that. Um, Making this document public I think is great idea and It'd be very nice if there was a hard copy available. It's a pleasure to read it and it's very informative. And I think, that many people could appreciate this at that level. So I just would advocate making it as public as possible and as easily accessible as possible. And again, thank you for THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 00:41:30.09 | Richard Graef | That's it, I think. Amen. I would recommend, you know, just moving it on to council. with our comments. |
| 00:41:39.27 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:41:39.29 | Richard Graef | Okay. |
| 00:41:40.18 | Kristina Feller | Right. Commissioner Luxenberg any other comments questions or recommendations for even if it's next steps or anything specific to the document. |
| 00:41:53.93 | Jeffery Luxenberg | No, I'm happy to make a motion to move this onto the city council when that's appropriate. |
| 00:41:58.47 | Richard Graef | Okay. Thank you. |
| 00:41:59.03 | Kristina Feller | you |
| 00:41:59.22 | Richard Graef | Okay, good, good. |
| 00:42:00.50 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:42:01.00 | Richard Graef | Thank you. |
| 00:42:01.04 | Kristina Feller | Commissioner Saad, any other thoughts |
| 00:42:04.33 | Nastassya Saad | I think it's ready to move forward. I think you captured our comments. CHAIR FELLER, I THINK I don't know if we can discuss the cost of this is not the appropriate time for what THE END OF THE END OF THE Survey is? I don't remember it when I discussed it at the HPC, but either way, excuse me. Excuse me. Considering we'll need most likely grant money. I'd almost want to go so far as to recommend that we start to ask for the grant. I don't know if that comes from the planning commission or the HPC or if we can just sort add our weight to the concept but I THINK IT WOULD BE GREAT IF THE GRANT CAN START TO BE APPLIED FOR BECAUSE THOSE THINGS things like Lily said they do take a while so. |
| 00:42:49.81 | Unknown | Okay. |
| 00:42:50.68 | Nastassya Saad | If we just prioritize that, we're looking for that. |
| 00:42:54.78 | Kristina Feller | Okay. |
| 00:42:55.34 | Nastassya Saad | if we agree. |
| 00:42:56.52 | Kristina Feller | So... So I think that's a really, really good point, and I think captures what has been discussed here. there's a recommendation to at least reference the marine ship plan in this document so at least the reader understands that the two documents should be considered together as a body of work, even if it's a different focus. make the report a public resource and perhaps even recommend a hard copy BNR library and soft copy be available any other way on a website and so on. ensure that the table of contents is there and that we'd like to recommend that the city council prioritize the citywide inventory and any funding and or grant funding that is required to achieve that. Does that sound? |
| 00:43:56.16 | Nastassya Saad | Sounds perfect. Thank you. |
| 00:43:57.07 | Kristina Feller | Like we got everything here? |
| 00:43:57.49 | Nastassya Saad | We've got everything. |
| 00:43:58.71 | Kristina Feller | Very good. |
| 00:43:58.88 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 00:44:00.34 | Kristina Feller | So if I could ask Chris and Director Whalen to come back up here to the virtual dais, I wanna make sure. that those items are understood Um, as we've sort of articulated that, and I'm happy to restate those items if you did not hear that or capture that. |
| 00:44:26.05 | Christopher Plank | It all makes sense to me. |
| 00:44:28.20 | Kristina Feller | Okay. |
| 00:44:28.69 | Director Whalen | Thank you. |
| 00:44:29.00 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:44:29.01 | Director Whalen | Okay. So thank you Chair Feller. And I did capture all of those, have those written down for me. The one question I did have, thank you for the opportunity is on the first item, the referencing the Mariners' context statement. There was one suggestion, I think from Vice Chair Graf of including |
| 00:44:38.55 | Richard Graef | is, |
| 00:44:46.82 | Director Whalen | the entire contact statement as an agenda. So I was wondering what the direction was. Would you like it as an addendum or would you like it referenced in the document with where it could be found and why it's important to review the two together. |
| 00:45:01.77 | Kristina Feller | Well, it sounds to me that it should be referenced as an addendum to this. and where it is appropriate anywhere in the text of this document to to reference that plan. Um, but you know, as the addendum, So it should be incorporated. Does anybody else have any other feelings or strong thoughts about that? |
| 00:45:28.77 | Nastassya Saad | THE END OF THE END OF THE Chair Miller I think that makes I think that makes sense I think that's a really great plan A if for some reason according you know to Mr Verplank if that can't happen within the TEXT. I THINK The addendum should definitely be there, but maybe there could be something in the table of comments, I don't know, contents if it's or if it's a forward or not, because I think the concept, I think we understand the marine ship, And we understand these these documents may be better than somebody that has no background in this. |
| 00:46:02.69 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:46:04.09 | Nastassya Saad | Um, if at the very least some type of paragraph explaining what that addendum is and how it can function in conjunction with the context statement. as a backup, but I think Chair Feller, your suggestion, if it can get into the text is great. referencing the addendum and if not just some kind of heads up from at the very beginning of the document would be helpful. |
| 00:46:28.74 | Richard Graef | OK. Are you going to use it? |
| 00:46:30.21 | Christopher Plank | If I... Thank you. |
| 00:46:31.11 | Richard Graef | Thank you. Well. |
| 00:46:34.11 | Christopher Plank | I just wanted to say, One thing that comes to mind, I mean, the Marantia Historic Conduct Statement is a like the citywide historic conduct statement is a pretty substantial document And it has its own sort of addenda, which are DPR forms for all the properties in Marincha. You're looking at a really huge document when it's all put together. |
| 00:46:56.25 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:46:56.74 | Christopher Plank | And also one thing that comes to mind is that they might, it might seem like the Marin ship historic conduct statement is kind of subsidiary to the citywide. when they're, They're really two freestanding documents. And I have no problem going through and referencing it, a lot wherever it's relevant and also within the methodology to discuss it in more depth. so people know that it's out there. But to link them? you know, physically might be a little awkward because it's just massive and there's so much information. And they are kind of co-equal documents, if you know what I mean. I think, anyway. |
| 00:47:36.41 | Kristina Feller | Okay. Commissioner Genius. |
| 00:47:39.30 | Andrew Junius | Thank you, Chair Feller. Hey, Chris, I thought you had a reference, I mean, you have referenced the MarinShip document and incorporated it Thank you. as part of this context even already, right? I mean, you've definitely made the connection, in the detail we're talking about today, You didn't like |
| 00:48:11.83 | Andrew Junius | It's got its own context statement, its own survey, you know, DPR statements, et cetera. |
| 00:48:17.86 | Kristina Feller | right what what I think we're trying to avoid is having two completely separate standalone documents and at least for those that don't use these types of documents on what I'll call a regular basis. that it's clear to them that there are two documents currently And I also think it's important to sort of, you know, reference the marineship plan by date or version number or whatever it might be. I mean, I think at some point, these may, you know, maybe meld together, not now, but perhaps sometime in the future, particularly when we do, the survey because I really do recommend that there is reference at some point about the historic uh, rail tracks, the shipway tracks, and the infill or reclamation area. I think it's important. because that is part of this built, what we call the built environment. And there is important historic context to it. |
| 00:49:26.49 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Sure, Feller. I understand what Chris is saying about the volume of the other document. Is it possible that a way to resolve this would be to put an electronic link when it's posted on a website. There's electronic links several times through this document that would open the other document And that way, I mean, the print version would be problematic because there'd be hundreds of pages in addition. But at least for the electronic version, it would just you'd click on it, and it would go to the other document. Would that help? |
| 00:50:00.24 | Kristina Feller | I think it's a wonderful idea. |
| 00:50:02.97 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Yeah. I'm not sure. |
| 00:50:04.17 | Richard Graef | Thank you. |
| 00:50:04.19 | Kristina Feller | Makes sense. |
| 00:50:04.20 | Richard Graef | Thanks, Ben. |
| 00:50:04.59 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. |
| 00:50:04.76 | Richard Graef | Thank you. |
| 00:50:05.42 | Kristina Feller | I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN |
| 00:50:07.36 | Richard Graef | Yeah, I think that's a great idea. just somehow conceptually is as part of the introduction and the, explanation of what the the, um, Thank you. you historic context. statement is all about. that the other documents should probably be referenced And maybe they are considered Thank you. two parts. two volumes or two two pieces or chapters of a of a larger, bigger picture. And so somehow if they were integrated in that way, They then could stand alone. they were separate efforts, but if they were conceptualized as as two parts of a larger picture. I think that might be a way to |
| 00:51:02.24 | Richard Graef | Thank you. |
| 00:51:03.86 | Richard Graef | to visualize. |
| 00:51:06.39 | Richard Graef | Okay. Commissioner Junius? |
| 00:51:09.46 | Andrew Junius | Sorry, one more question through the Chair of Feller. Um, So Chris, clarify one more time though, that there's no real geographic overlap here, right? the Mariners. that we're in. Physically. |
| 00:51:34.20 | Andrew Junius | the Marin ship document in our current, the current document we're looking at, they don't talk about the two things and there's no real chance that there'd be Like, in other words, if you're talking |
| 00:51:50.63 | Andrew Junius | Thank you. |
| 00:51:51.58 | Christopher Plank | They don't really overlap. Andrew. The only times where they do is when I'm talking about post-World War II era commercial development. And I do reference several buildings that are actually on the former Marin ship. parcel because there's no other way to identify them. Because when we did Marinchnip, it was just its own thing. And then when we started this citywide historic contact statement, the previous planning director said, just leave Marinship out of it. And I was like, well, you're the boss. I'll just do it that way. But in retrospect, the post-war stuff kind of got skated over because of that. But in the latest effort, when I revised it for this review process, I tried to overcome that. by referencing important buildings in Marinship. that post-date World War II. So we have done some of this already. But I do like the idea of including a URL And also just referring to it Um, make sure that it's really evident throughout the methodology section that this other document exists and this is where you can find it. Because I do agree that it'd be bad to have it get lost in People just think that we just completely ignored and wrenched it when we did. |
| 00:53:08.95 | Kristina Feller | Yeah. Yeah, I think it's a recommendation by Commissioner Luxenberg Because again, I mean, this is, you know, the name of your document is a context statement for Sausalito. |
| 00:53:21.88 | Nastassya Saad | Okay. |
| 00:53:22.67 | Kristina Feller | part of it. So that's why I just want to make sure the rest of the public So again, maybe not, doesn't use these documents all the time, but we'll find them fascinating. will know that it actually resides in two places. THE END OF |
| 00:53:41.01 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Chair Feller, can I add one other comment? Maybe we could put a forward before the introduction. that explains that and then you have that link up front. |
| 00:53:52.30 | Unknown | Yes. |
| 00:53:52.42 | Jeffery Luxenberg | And then you should have it throughout. Maybe a foreword that just explains that, gives that context or something. |
| 00:53:58.97 | Kristina Feller | Outstanding idea. Yeah, I would like that. In our first sort of recommendation of reference to marinship plan, let's be more specific here. and include a forward. that explains these two documents. as Commissioner Luxenberg just mentioned, as well as including his other recommendation of the URL. in the document, in your document, in the soft copy version, virtual version of it. So if somebody does want to go look at it, they can click on that. Yeah. and do that. |
| 00:54:36.57 | Christopher Plank | Does that make sense? |
| 00:54:36.60 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. And I think that that pretty much summarizes what we're recommending in addition to, obviously making the report a public resource, a table of contents that somehow got lost. Chris, that it sneaks back in there, that would be great. And then our recommendations to city council along with approving this Is the prioritization of the inventory and the grant funding or any other funding for necessary to see this entire initiative through the future phases. |
| 00:55:16.44 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:55:16.46 | Unknown | Vice Chair Grasso. |
| 00:55:18.03 | Richard Graef | I would like to second Commissioner Luxembourg's motion to pass this to with all of our recommendations. and observations. |
| 00:55:29.74 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:55:29.92 | Richard Graef | Thank you. |
| 00:55:30.67 | Kristina Feller | Thank you everybody for your input on this. Director Whelan, do you want to? Take the role. Thank you. |
| 00:55:37.18 | Director Whalen | I'd be happy to. |
| 00:55:38.58 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:55:38.60 | Director Whalen | Commissioner Saad. Alright, I'm blindside you there. No, that's okay. I'm going to get off of you. Yes. Commissioner Junior. |
| 00:55:47.27 | Andrew Junius | THE FAMILY. |
| 00:55:47.44 | Jeffery Luxenberg | THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 00:55:47.49 | Andrew Junius | Thank you. |
| 00:55:49.85 | Director Whalen | Commissioner Luxembourg. |
| 00:55:51.59 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Yep. |
| 00:55:53.63 | Director Whalen | Vice Chair Graf. |
| 00:55:54.88 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Yeah. |
| 00:55:55.19 | Director Whalen | Thank you. and sharefeller. |
| 00:55:58.29 | Kristina Feller | Yes. |
| 00:55:59.91 | Director Whalen | And it carries five zero. Thank you very much. Thank you. Mr. Boflank. Thank you. |
| 00:56:05.09 | Andrew Junius | Yes. |
| 00:56:05.55 | Christopher Plank | Thank you. |
| 00:56:05.75 | Andrew Junius | you. |
| 00:56:05.77 | Christopher Plank | Thank you. |
| 00:56:06.27 | Andrew Junius | Thank you, Chris. Great to see you. |
| 00:56:08.25 | Christopher Plank | with this. |
| 00:56:10.20 | Director Whalen | Thank you. |
| 00:56:10.34 | Andrew Junius | Thank you. |
| 00:56:12.43 | Director Whalen | Okay. If I'm okay to swiftly move on to your next item on your agenda here, this is our public hearing items. And we have one for this evening, it's item 5A. which is a request for a true removal permit at 118 central Avenue. And we have assistant planner, Larissa Alchin, who's giving the staff presentation. I wanted to pause for a minute for anyone if they need to recuse themselves, they can take care of that right now. anyone needs to We also need to take care of our ex parte communications as well, so those closures. too. |
| 00:56:49.47 | Kristina Feller | So, I think Commissioner Luxembourg you had your hand raised. |
| 00:56:54.86 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Yes, I live within 500 feet of this property, so I'm going to move myself to the back of the room and turn off my video, and I'll come back for item six, communication. |
| 00:57:06.36 | Kristina Feller | Thank you so much, Ms. Luxembourg. Thank you. |
| 00:57:06.75 | Jeffery Luxenberg | So much. |
| 00:57:10.06 | Kristina Feller | Okay, let's see, Commissioner Junius, do you have any ex parte that you need to declare at this time? |
| 00:57:16.83 | Andrew Junius | note. |
| 00:57:18.01 | Kristina Feller | Okay. Commissioner Saad? and for me. |
| 00:57:21.10 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 00:57:21.89 | Kristina Feller | Vice Chair Graf. |
| 00:57:23.02 | Andrew Junius | the |
| 00:57:24.39 | Kristina Feller | And I do not have any either. So with that, Larissa, we will hand this over to you. Thank you. |
| 00:57:31.98 | Larissa | Great, thank you. Let me share my screen. |
| 00:57:38.17 | Larissa | All right item 5A tonight is a tree removal permit for two Coast Live Oaks at 118 Central Avenue. The request is to remove these two protected coastline oaks |
| 00:57:57.04 | Larissa | The project location is in the R16 Single Family Residential Zoning District. Tree one here is a mature coastline oak 15 inches at breast height. and located in the southwest corner of the property. And tree two is a mature coast live oak with two trunks. one measuring 11 inches and the other one 13 inches. On April 7th, 2021, arborist Dr. Kent Doolin of Arbor Science conducted an inspection of the two trees. His observations showed that tree one here is girtled by sudden oak death. and is showing signs of decay. The arborist indicates the tree is in declining condition and presents a high failure risk. You can see here the decay on the tree. and tree two has extensive decay and has partially failed already and now rests on the trees nearby |
| 00:59:07.80 | Larissa | Arborist conclusions are that the removal of the subject trees will not diminish the slope stability. and removal of the subject trees will improve the fire safety on the property and nearby properties. He recommends that the subject trees or indicates that the subject trees have a high failure risk and recommend removal. and that the entire trees will need to be removed as it relates to potential hazard for life and property and to good professional practice of forestry. Arborist also recommends no replacement trees are needed for the heavily wooded property. |
| 00:59:48.65 | Larissa | to make the findings for this crew removal permit. staff. examine the arborist report. And because both tree one and tree two have extensive decay and present a high failure risk, and that they should be removed. So criteria A and D were found. finding number two is to either require a replacement tree or ask the Planning Commission for a waiver. applicant requests a waive waiver from the Planning Commission. as suggested by the arborist, that no replacement trees are needed. And then the final finding is that any of these, below list of Brown. can be found and there's a reason for denial. Steph was not able to find any of these grounds for denial. So criteria A through E were reviewed and none can be made. |
| 01:00:56.99 | Larissa | And staff recommends the Planning Commission take the following actions, review the true removal requests and required findings, and adopt the attached resolution. which will approve the true removal permit to allow the removal to look close by the subject condition. |
| 01:01:17.14 | Larissa | And that's the end of my presentation. Let me know if you have any questions. |
| 01:01:21.30 | Kristina Feller | Thank you so much, Larissa, for your report and your presentation this evening. very easy for us, so thank you for that. I want to open this up to the commissioners for any questions they might have of staff. Commissioner Saad, do you have any questions for Larissa? |
| 01:01:39.99 | Nastassya Saad | I had one and I don't know if it's for staff or the applicant potentially, I was just... Wondering why this application came up if this if the applicant has noticed the decay potentially in the trees or if there was any other reason to have those. trees, particular tree surveys, it does seem like a quite a few trees are on the property. Do you know if it was just a specific concern about their health? |
| 01:02:05.84 | Larissa | I don't know the impetus for getting the arborist report completed, but the applicant is here tonight. So you could, |
| 01:02:14.72 | Nastassya Saad | address that question to him. Thank you. That was all I had, Chair Feller. |
| 01:02:19.36 | Richard Graef | Great, thank you, Commissioner Saad. |
| 01:02:21.32 | Nastassya Saad | Commissioner Junius. |
| 01:02:23.19 | Andrew Junius | Thank you. |
| 01:02:23.26 | Richard Graef | Any questions? |
| 01:02:23.68 | Andrew Junius | Yeah, one just quick question. |
| 01:02:34.97 | Andrew Junius | if that's also being requested. |
| 01:02:38.38 | Larissa | Yes, yes, the applicant is requesting a waiver for the tree removal of replacement of two trees. |
| 01:02:44.59 | Andrew Junius | So no replacement. |
| 01:02:46.67 | Larissa | Thank you. |
| 01:02:48.37 | Richard Graef | you |
| 01:02:49.45 | Kristina Feller | Great. Vice Chair Graff. Do you have any questions for staff? |
| 01:02:53.97 | Richard Graef | Um, Not exactly. I have a question probably for the applicant and the You know, the arborers. but the the issue of the waiver, I think that is something that we have to decide in our discussion this evening. Yes. So. It's not automatic. |
| 01:03:17.34 | Richard Graef | on. That's correct. |
| 01:03:23.88 | Kristina Feller | That's it? Um, Larissa, I'm just wondering if I did not see this in the Arborist Report, but if there was an inventory of I'm not sure. all of the trees, you know, not a full workup of each one of them, but if there was an inventory And if there were any if there is any indication of the potential of any other unhealthy trees or recommendations to the applicant for a standard care of these real treasures that we have here in Sausalito, the live coastal oaks. |
| 01:04:06.42 | Larissa | I'm not aware that the arborist looked at any of the other trees. applicant might know more he might have just been brought into assess these particular trees because of the visual decay on the outside. Thank you. Yeah, so it was just those two trees that were included in the report. |
| 01:04:28.19 | Kristina Feller | Okay. |
| 01:04:28.47 | Larissa | Thank you. |
| 01:04:29.22 | Kristina Feller | Great, thank you for that. Any other questions this time for staff from anybody? Nope. Okay. Let's go ahead then and ask the applicant and the applicants team to come up for their presentation at this time. screen sharing required, I would ask the Zoom team to assist in allowing those permissions. So Mr. Hicks, you are. now a co-host. I'm gonna hand this over to you. And if we have the, A TIMER CLOCK. available that we can put up on the screen. We have 10 minutes for presentation. or yeah, there we go. So over to you, Mr. Hicks. |
| 01:05:19.25 | Mr. Hicks | Good evening. So I don't have much to add in terms of presentation. in addition to Larissa's, I thought hers was fairly complete just to address the questions that were opposed. So I contacted Pacific slope tree removal company or Pacific slope tree company to come Um, the trees. I have a lot of trees on my property and it was time to And so when I walked through the property with a Soren, who's the owner of the the company he identified the sudden death fungus on two of the trees and indicated that those need to be removed And because they're coastal oaks that I would have to go to the Planning Commission He referred me to Dr. I think that's a good thing. Ken. And so Dr. Julian came to my house I walked the entire property with Dr. Julian. We looked at all the trees. He identified those two as having the sudden death fungus one is already dead and on its side and the other is at risk and suggest those two be removed |
| 01:06:28.81 | Kristina Feller | Great, thank you. Is your arborist available? |
| 01:06:32.13 | Mr. Hicks | I don't have Dr. Julian here. Yeah, I think I would submit on his report. |
| 01:06:39.96 | Kristina Feller | Okay. So Zoom team, let's go ahead and stop the clock. Mr. Is that the presentation? |
| 01:06:46.70 | Mr. Hicks | I guess the final point would be confirming that you all have an actual copy of his report. If you don't have a copy of the report, then I would ask to submit that as part of my presentation. If you do, then yes, that would be the conclusion. |
| 01:07:00.41 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. We do have a report, yes, we do have a report. are still some questions that we have for you. So I've asked the Zoom team as they've done so to stop the clock. because any of the questions we ask you don't go against any of your time. So, Let's see, I know Commissioner Saad, you had a question that probably better suited for the applicant here for Mr. Hicks. You want to start us off? |
| 01:07:27.53 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you Chair Feller. I think Mr. Hicks essentially answered it as far as I understood that you had a general consultation from the tree trimming correct? And then those two were noticed. Was it just those two trees? THAT. have a concern or do you think that there'll be any further needs for any other any other trees on your property at this time? |
| 01:07:50.23 | Mr. Hicks | so i'm having other tree tree work done um some of the other trees are could use a trimming to make them more healthy. So this is not the extent of the work that's going to be done, but those are the only two that need to be removed. |
| 01:08:03.92 | Nastassya Saad | Okay. THE END OF THE END OF THE I think in terms of the waiver, if I can ask one more question, Chair Fowler, would, we understand the request to waive I think it makes sense given your property would you be open to a donation of a tree for another area of Sausalito that could use one. |
| 01:08:26.46 | Mr. Hicks | Sure. Yes. I mean, I guess the only comment I would make is that I'm a, I'm a government employee and I have a family and this is already a very expensive project for me. But I like trees. I'm really, I'm sad to have to get rid of Both of them, I thought the one dead tree was going to have to go, but I didn't realize the other one was in decay and had to be removed. I like having all these trees on my my property to this this plot has been in my family for 75 years. And so a lot of these trees were planted by my grandparents and were here when they moved. So I, you know, I'm not happy to be doing it, but it seems like it's the safest thing for property and for mine. |
| 01:09:07.77 | Nastassya Saad | UNDERSTOOD. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, CHAIR FELLER. A commission genius. |
| 01:09:16.02 | Andrew Junius | No questions, it's sad to see trees like this go, It has to happen sometimes. Best of luck. |
| 01:09:24.41 | Richard Graef | Vice Chair. |
| 01:09:26.50 | Richard Graef | I just have one question and that is Um, that the arborist recommended complete removal of the trees which, basically is going to leave a couple of large holes in the ground And so then, if the holes are not filled properly and all that, then there might be some, risk of erosion or other problems. And I just wanna be, I wanted to ask a question what was the plan once the trees are removed to restore the space. and make it safe. And then as far as as as a tree donation Um... I think it would be wonderful if if the applicant could do it. But in this case, I don't know that we need to require it. because, you know, there appears to be pretty richly vegetated. So those are my own legs. issues there. I think everything else is pretty clear. I'm sorry. |
| 01:10:36.04 | Kristina Feller | Thank you, Vice Chair. And again, thank you, Mr. Hicks, for coming. before us and appreciate you being here and And really the reason that you're coming to us and that this wasn't just a ministerial approval is that these live coastal trees are part of the heritage also of Sausalito and pretty critical. to you know, a little, you know, to the flora and, uh, birds, bees and the like. And so I don't know. that I would be asking for you to donate a tree to the city or money in lieu of a tree or anything like that, I would actually |
| 01:11:16.39 | Unknown | money. |
| 01:11:20.04 | Kristina Feller | like to see you plant something on this property that's been in your family. Could you give us some idea of what other species of trees, and I recognize you are not an arborist yourself, But if you could give us, you know, or describe to us what else. and what you think might work there or if something was recommended to you by your arborist. |
| 01:11:43.19 | Mr. Hicks | THE FAMILY. He didn't, but I have a I would be happy to call him. I mean, we had a pretty good rapport and, He actually had done some surveys on this plot when my grandmother was still alive, when she lived here. So he knows my family. I know I have at least four or five coastal oaks that are in good health and are still there. I have I'm not sure what specific species of Bay tree they are, but they're, I have two Bay trees. I have one eucalyptus tree that I sort of despise, but it's, you know, it serves a purpose. What else do I have? I mean, there's probably 15 or more trees on this quarter acre. I'm not sure. |
| 01:12:31.13 | Richard Graef | Okay, I appreciate that and I... |
| 01:12:33.51 | Mr. Hicks | I mean, yeah. I have trees on both sides. |
| 01:12:34.79 | Richard Graef | I'm not sure. |
| 01:12:38.99 | Mr. Hicks | east and west side of my house. |
| 01:12:40.87 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:12:40.90 | Mr. Hicks | Thank you. |
| 01:12:40.92 | Unknown | Mm-hmm. |
| 01:12:41.27 | Mr. Hicks | And there's, I mean, yeah, I had some fruit trees, but the deers ate them. Um, |
| 01:12:48.14 | Kristina Feller | better your garden than mine. |
| 01:12:49.69 | Mr. Hicks | Right. Yeah, they have they have a free flow through. |
| 01:12:53.61 | Kristina Feller | Yeah. Okay. |
| 01:12:54.44 | Mr. Hicks | Yeah. |
| 01:12:55.94 | Kristina Feller | Great. Okay, and while we have you here, although we would ask this question later anyway, but would you be willing to replace these two trees with another planting? |
| 01:13:09.15 | Mr. Hicks | Yeah. Certainly. the one that's the one that's dead and is on his side is a little bit of a harder place because it's already failed and it sort of tipped over. And so... I'm not sure what it's going to look like when it comes out. it's like sort of on my, on like a pathway below my house. So it's not like it's, It's not going to cause the hillside to erode Mr. Graff was concerned of, but I'm not sure what I could plant there. On the other side, I would love to. And it's sort of like there's, these trees also create a great deal of sort of privacy and separation between the neighbor just sort of below me. We don't have a fence. And so the deer get to pass freely between our properties. |
| 01:13:56.84 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:13:57.38 | Mr. Hicks | And so the trees were sort of nice because they gave us like a little bit of privacy for sound. And so I would like to plant something else there. Um, And I was going to wait to see after this tree was removed what the space looked like. |
| 01:14:09.60 | Kristina Feller | Okay. Great, well, appreciate that input. At this time, do the commissioners have any other questions for the applicants? Otherwise, I will open this up for public comment so Mr. Hicks don't go too far. Um, Thank you for your presentation. So at this time, I'd like to open this up to public comment. If you could please raise your hand in the Zoom application. or press star nine on your phone. I'll give you a moment to do that. |
| 01:14:43.94 | Kristina Feller | I am not seeing any raised hands at this time. I'm gonna go ahead and close public comment. So Mr. Hicks, you had about eight minutes, 30 seconds left. Is it, if there's anything else you'd like to add you're welcome to do so now. And then what we will do is we will deliberate and make a motion recommendation and obviously ensure that you are okay with that. But if you'd like to add anything at this time, you're welcome to do so. |
| 01:15:14.99 | Mr. Hicks | I mean, just only that my My quarter acre plot is heavily vegetated. I think I have the only unpaved driveway in Sausalito I have no cement anywhere. was a horticulturalist. And so she planted sort of native plants all over. And I've done the best, my wife and I've done the best to try and keep them alive. A lot of them are sort of self-sustaining, but she had a pretty extensive native garden. And she had little tabs with all the plants Latin names underneath which I have now been washed away unfortunately but my anyway the point is that my my my property is heavily heavily vegetated so Yeah. |
| 01:15:57.43 | Kristina Feller | Perfect. Thank you very much, Mr. Hicks. I'm going to go ahead and, pull it up into deliberations here on the virtual dais. Who would like to start us off? Commissioner Junius. |
| 01:16:11.15 | Andrew Junius | Chair Keller, thank you. Well, only one other thing to add to the deliberative record here. that the arborist, there was a reference |
| 01:16:34.49 | Andrew Junius | diminished slope stability in this setting and will improve fire safety. So I don't think there's really an issue there. So I'm ready to move forward with this. |
| 01:16:44.21 | Richard Graef | Great. Um, Anybody else? Commissioner Saad, any other thoughts or comments? |
| 01:16:49.79 | Nastassya Saad | Yeah, I just, I mean, always hate to see trees go but there's a very clear reason and I think given we're in a very hot time of year and fire is a very serious concern it it's great that you're taking care of the property and the trees that you have for trimming and removal so definitely ready to move forward also it was it was just an ask in terms of a donation I certainly understand there's also been a lot of it is expensive and a lot of hardship in the last year and you do have a very heavily vegetated property and I love hearing about your grandma and the property and the history of your property. So it was only if you were comfortable and certainly not a requirement in any way for all comfortable without any replacement. I am as well. |
| 01:17:30.92 | Kristina Feller | Just real quick before we go to vice chair graph, I actually had recommended that there be replacement trees planted. AND THE APPLICANT. said he was open to that and had access to anyway. |
| 01:17:45.23 | Nastassya Saad | Sorry to clarify, I meant a donation for the city. Sorry, yes, yeah. |
| 01:17:51.03 | Kristina Feller | Okay. |
| 01:17:51.35 | Richard Graef | Thank you. |
| 01:17:51.37 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. Great. VICE CHAIR GRABOWS. |
| 01:17:52.97 | Unknown | What are your thoughts? |
| 01:17:54.83 | Richard Graef | Um, Well, I guess my understanding of total tree removal is not correct. So if it leaves the stumps, then it's not an issue. Um, So otherwise, I certainly agree. can make the findings I would encourage the applicant to Um, plant something else there that would be nice to look at or they would enrich is horticultural environment. and he seems willing to do so. So I would I would support the their applications. |
| 01:18:36.74 | Kristina Feller | Yeah. Okay. I mean, I certainly do. I mean, there's some obvious reasons and appreciate this. applicant taking such good care and being mindful that he needs to take care of the vegetation as we all do |
| 01:18:49.99 | Unknown | to take |
| 01:18:53.33 | Kristina Feller | Um, you know, just for a point of reference, I really My interpretation of full tree removal is actually grinding the stump as well. If it has sudden oak, then you probably have that full removal of the stump as well. Um, that's something we can either clarify or require. And then I would recommend that this applicant work with staff to identify appropriate species to plant in its place that are in line with Southern Marin Fire. recommended species. That would be my my position on this. |
| 01:19:32.62 | Kristina Feller | Is that acceptable to everybody? |
| 01:19:35.71 | Andrew Junius | I guess I'm, Chair Feller, I guess I'm curious from the applicant, I mean, the grinding of the stuff, I think, Thank you. |
| 01:19:48.95 | Andrew Junius | here. Was that anticipated, Mr. Hicks? |
| 01:19:51.47 | Kristina Feller | We won't. ask Mr. Hicks if he doesn't mind coming back on camera and on microphone. I'm not sure. just to clarify that for us. There you are, Mr. Hicks. |
| 01:20:05.59 | Mr. Hicks | I did not expect it. My understanding was consistent with what Mr. Julius. Junia said. And so I, my brother-in-law is a, I'm part owner of Pacific Slope Tree Company and I actually did, I worked on a tree crew, my first sort of job after high school. And so my anticipation was that what they were going to do was basically cut it down and leave the stump where it was. Um, I guess that's something that I should clarify with them in terms of whether the fungus needs to act if the actual tree needs to be removed. frankly, to get the stump out, you probably would need a backhoe. So I don't think that they're going to do that. I mean, they would have to dig pretty deep and honestly at the hillside i can't imagine that that's So what I was expecting was they would basically cut the tree down and leave the stump. |
| 01:20:55.02 | Richard Graef | Okay. Yep. Commissioner, do you have any questions? |
| 01:20:58.29 | Andrew Junius | Sorry, Chair Feller, thank you for your indulgence. I have a lot of oaks on my property too, deep in the weeds, literally, with these exactly |
| 01:21:12.99 | Andrew Junius | Thank you. from. know really isn't transmitted by the remaining stuff it's transmitted from the bar the last one. the black. Thank you. gumdropy things that start to cover directly. |
| 01:21:27.49 | Andrew Junius | plant any more bay trees because it's the bay trees that make the oak tree sick. Thank you. |
| 01:21:33.85 | Kristina Feller | Yeah, no, yes, definitely. We don't, I don't think bay trees are an approved species of plants. Anyway, so I think we're all safe there. So, okay, if full tree removal means leave the stump, then that's fine. That certainly helps the stability of the slope. as long as we can replant something that will We'll work with the rest of your landscape that is identified as an approved species by Southern Marin Fire, then the selection of those species can be done directly with the Community Development Department and can be done ministerially. |
| 01:22:07.53 | Mr. Hicks | And I just, I think probably. 20 years ago, we had a, my grandmother had one coastal local moved on the other side. and the stump is still there. |
| 01:22:18.06 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:22:18.08 | Kristina Feller | Okay. |
| 01:22:18.10 | Mr. Hicks | for what that's worth, but that's what I was expecting. |
| 01:22:18.53 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:22:22.04 | Kristina Feller | Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Thank you. Um, Okay, anybody ready to make a motion? I can make a motion. I make a motion to approve |
| 01:22:33.86 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:22:36.64 | Kristina Feller | the tree removal permit at 118 Central Avenue for the two diseased trees that have sudden oak and replace those trees with an approved species that is identified by Southern Marin Fire and that the applicant can work with staff to identify appropriate species in their place. |
| 01:23:02.76 | Kristina Feller | Great. Director Whelan, could you take the roll call? |
| 01:23:10.56 | Director Whalen | Commissioner |
| 01:23:11.45 | Larissa | Thank you. son. |
| 01:23:12.57 | Director Whalen | Thank you. Yes. Commissioner. AND I THINK THAT'S A Julia. |
| 01:23:18.90 | Andrew Junius | Yes. |
| 01:23:21.04 | Director Whalen | Thanks, Chair Grass. |
| 01:23:22.37 | Andrew Junius | Yeah. |
| 01:23:22.71 | Director Whalen | Thank you. Chair Fowler. Yes. |
| 01:23:26.42 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 01:23:27.97 | Director Whalen | that carries four zero with one them. abstentions. Wait. |
| 01:23:34.77 | Kristina Feller | Thank you, Director Whalen. And again, thank you, Mr. Hicks, for taking care of your property. We appreciate that. Okay. Director Whelan. |
| 01:23:47.75 | Director Whalen | So the next and last item on our agenda here is a communication items. And I know that I think some of the planning commissioners have some updates on some work that they've been doing before you get into that. I just wanted to mention very briefly that I do have some good news on the staffing front for us. for CDB. We did manage to put together a temporary staffing plan to hold us over. through when we'll get our new senior planner on board. We're starting to recruit for that position, anticipated to take at least three to four months to find someone and get them in the position. In the meantime, we are |
| 01:24:27.22 | Unknown | THE END OF |
| 01:24:28.56 | Director Whalen | having some planners come in and pick up where Christy left off. And then we also have a dedicated historic, um, who will be working with the HPC and processing some historic permits as well. So I wanted to give you an update on that. We're very excited about finally being able to bring some folks on to get us back on track with our permits. |
| 01:24:43.84 | Unknown | Right. |
| 01:24:52.10 | Kristina Feller | Great, congratulations on that. We're looking forward to welcoming them as well. Um, and I just like to quickly ask that we add something on our next agenda so we can, um, have a discussion and that is any followup from our recommendations. specific to CLIPR regarding the EIR and the additional interested parties or stakeholders to receive a copy of that and whether or not that that there's any extension, if we can add that to our next item or if there's anything that you can report here as one-way communication, that would be great. |
| 01:25:33.17 | Director Whalen | I can carefeller yes and thank you very much for that so we did review the recommended additional entities that came in from the commissioners and Chantra Kleiner has put together a list for additional folks. to notify, revise the notice, and I believe the extension I'm not going to guess on the extension date right now. I thought it earlier today, but then it just flew out of my mind. There is an extension date for comments and we are going to be circulating that through the planning commission, of course, and the council boards and commissions, some other city um, commissions and and boards that are in some other nearby communities as well so we'll let the planning commission know via a one-way communication the list. that were the revised list that we're using and then send you the revised notice as well. |
| 01:26:25.47 | Unknown | and I'm not sure. |
| 01:26:28.23 | Director Whalen | And then I also want to send |
| 01:26:28.79 | Unknown | And then I also. |
| 01:26:29.28 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:26:30.32 | Director Whalen | I would mention also, Chair Feller, sorry for interrupting there, that we are I'm going to probably bring back to the commission as a separate agenda item. that process and to have a standardized a list that we send out to for a variety of projects. You can review that. And we can work together to make sure that that list satisfies your needs as a commission as well. And of course, we will make sure that the Planning Commission is first on that list so that you get these documents when they are first released. |
| 01:27:02.76 | Kristina Feller | Outstanding work. Thank you very much for that update to everybody here. I'm not sure. Commissioner. |
| 01:27:10.30 | Jeffery Luxenberg | I have a question along the same lines for an upcoming meeting. Can I ask that? |
| 01:27:13.73 | Kristina Feller | coming Yeah. |
| 01:27:16.60 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Yeah. |
| 01:27:17.52 | Kristina Feller | you |
| 01:27:17.57 | Jeffery Luxenberg | I know I do this. |
| 01:27:17.66 | Kristina Feller | Yeah. As long as we don't get into a dialogue since it wasn't noticed, |
| 01:27:22.72 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Yeah, I'm not looking for. |
| 01:27:22.74 | Kristina Feller | Yeah, I'm not looking for. |
| 01:27:25.84 | Jeffery Luxenberg | A previous meeting we had gotten an update from Public Works regarding the North Street steps and I know that was supposed to go out to bid. I believe it might have gone out to bid. If on the next agenda if we could just get an update. |
| 01:27:26.16 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:27:35.43 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:27:38.96 | Jeffery Luxenberg | not looking to discuss it tonight. |
| 01:27:43.56 | Kristina Feller | Bravo, excellent, yeah, that would be great. That would be great. Um, Does anybody else have any other items before we get into updates. Any other future agenda items? requested or anything. Thank you. |
| 01:28:02.97 | Andrew Junius | Thank you. |
| 01:28:03.04 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:28:03.07 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. All right. for members of the public watching virtually or possibly the recording of this. The Planning Commission has been working on a number of other initiatives on the side other than these hearings. And each of the commissioners have been assigned, excuse me, to other subcommittees or task forces or liaisons, what have you. At this time, I'd like to ask that everyone just provide a quick update And we can provide updates by exception as well. If there's nothing new to report, then we can just state that. I don't want to take up everybody's time unnecessarily, but I think it would be good to keep each other and the public aware of what our activities are. So I'll start first with the housing element and commissioner Luxembourg, if you could provide an update on where we are and what the future steps might look like on that initiative. |
| 01:29:04.34 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Chair Feller. The city is in the process, as you know, but others may not, and the public may not be fully aware of preparing an update of its housing element for the 2023 to 2031 cycle. This update must be adopted by the City Council by January of 2023 and certified by the California Department of Housing and Community Development. On April 27th, the City Council adopted a resolution establishing the roles, responsibility, and membership of a Housing Element Advisory Committee, HEAC, call it HEAC, based on the recommendations of an ad hoc committee. The HEAC will be a seven to nine member committee that provides feedback and guidance throughout the housing element update process. The city sent postcards to all residences in the city, encouraging applications to serve on the HEAC. There was an excellent response with just under 60 applications were received. and the Planning Commission and the City Council also serve on the HIAT. The City Council were planning to interview candidates at the June 22nd meeting and appoint members at that meeting. The city council approved a contract on June 8th for the DeNovo Planning Group, which is a planning consulting firm who will assist the city and the GIAC and the community development department in development of the housing element update. The HEAC will hold public hearings and workshops later this year and next year, and will encourage interested people to become invested in this process, which will establish the city's housing policies basically for the next decade. Anybody that's interested should visit the webpage sausalito.gov slash H-E-A-C, and people can sign up on that website to receive email notifications at that website. So we encourage people to do that. And at this point, that's a quick summary of what's been going on in that regard. |
| 01:31:12.85 | Kristina Feller | that's one of the best summaries I've heard so thank you so much Commissioner Lechtenberg and I can I can attest to the amount of effort that you're putting into this and the substance and therefore results in what so far has been really excellent. and there's much more to do of course, but thank you for taking this on. It's most appreciated, not just by me, but everybody else, so thank you. |
| 01:31:36.13 | Unknown | NOT. |
| 01:31:36.22 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 01:31:40.39 | Kristina Feller | Um, let's move to commissioner sod if you could, give an update on your assignment as ombudsman for the permitting and helping to |
| 01:31:49.89 | Unknown | remedying |
| 01:31:53.08 | Kristina Feller | I'm not sure. unclog logjam and help expedite permitting and so on. |
| 01:31:59.96 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you Chair Feller and thank you Commissioner Luxembourg that was a great update and it's really cool to hear that there were so many people that applied. SO THAT'S EXCITING. IN TERMS OF THE POTENTIAL OBUDSMAN ROLE, that the EDAC committee had recommended. I have spoken to a few I have spoken to some staff. I have spoken to some former members of council and some architects and other members of the community over the last six weeks and I will say I think the the overall EDAC report that was submitted on April 11th. really captures a lot of what the concepts are in terms of the problem statement, basically that it is difficult to receive necessary permits in a timely manner for new development or or during construction or to upgrade existing residences. I think in terms of the ombudsman role from what I've gathered as the main themes we really are seeing a few key key areas one being the that of course to Lily's point that we'll have new staff I think from a staffing perspective. If we really want to utilize this role I feel like the term ombudsman might be slightly misleading. I think that's really focused on Um, BASICALLY BEING A PERSON WHO TAKES COMPLAINTS And while there may be some complaints out there I think a better title may end up being a permit technician of sorts to really be a go-between to actually do the work and not just focus on the complaints particularly between the Department of Public Works and a community development team. There seems to be occasionally, one department will be working on one permit and another department is working on a different permit. And so while work is getting done, the end result isn't being shown to essentially whomever the customer is, whether it's the architect an owner or a business owner. And so for this ombudsman type role or permit technician role to focus on how can we essentially bring those two departments together. And maybe that can be a really good use of this role to manage those inbound permits and make sure people are essentially working on the same things at the same time if possible. Um, as well as being a liaison almost to council. So some of the feedback that I had heard was that city council does have quite a few questions. which of course are all valid and should be warranted but it can slow down some of the work that is being done by the limited staff in these departments. So essentially to have this this role THEIR OWNERS. be a liaison to help field those questions and maybe do some of that groundwork. so that it's not following falling on DPW or the community development. as well as a quarterly report. back out to council to essentially make sure that they are informed of projects and budget. Those seem to be a lot of the top top of mind questions from council which makes sense. But maybe this this type of role can relieve some of that effort. Um, And while reviewing the website and the forms and the guidelines and speaking with Lily there are some really good resources out there already I think it would be worth this this role focusing on the the checklists that are available and making sure that they are up to date and so that they can really be that starting point for people who come in for a permit so they can know exactly what they need so that staff doesn't have to essentially deal with incomplete incomplete packets and then of course it's time on everybody's end. Um, Some those were some of the big key takeaways I'd like to write this up in a more eloquent manner and circulate that out and of course update Mayor Hoffman as well. Maybe we can have a discussion. with Lily but those those seem to be some of the key areas of focus that I would recommend for this for this role. right out the gate. |
| 01:36:33.71 | Kristina Feller | outstanding I know you've been working hard on this and there's just the minute you scratch, there's a whole lot more below the surface and and appreciate you being so organized with summarizing this and coming to some initial conclusions all the way. So thank you so much for the heavy lift on this. I think at some point soon we should present some initial thoughts to Mayor Hoffman and maybe also get Director Whelan's ideas about that as well. before we do so. So thank you very much. for that update. |
| 01:37:13.60 | Nastassya Saad | Definitely, may I ask a question? And I don't know if this is an agendized concept for the future or when we can have a discussion like this, but a lot of also what I have heard AND I THINK perhaps maybe we agree when we see some of the things that come before us, but was to help in terms of streamlining the need for a permit or removing some barriers altogether. For example, when We were just listening to Mr. Hicks. It almost seemed in my mind, because this is top of mind, that his his type of concepts while in the municipal code that it comes before the commission the report was so clear that these trees needed to be removed that |
| 01:37:52.85 | Unknown | THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS NOT |
| 01:37:58.64 | Nastassya Saad | Could we find ways as a planning commission and maybe make some recommendations to city council about areas of improvement where we don't have to view all of these permits and it can be at the counter I don't know if that's something to agenize or a workshop |
| 01:38:13.86 | Kristina Feller | Well, for any sort of discussion, we will have to put this on a future agenda. So I think if Director Whelan is listening, if you could make note of that so this can be more of a collaborative discussion, but But truthfully, that is part of what the output is these types of items that you've discovered or recommendations is part of what this initiative is so I'll just ask the director Whalen to make note of that for future agenda. so that we can have a properly noticed discussion and the public can weigh in on that. |
| 01:38:51.49 | Nastassya Saad | OK, I think that would be helpful to talk as a team. Thank you. |
| 01:38:54.83 | Kristina Feller | Thank you very much. Um, So one of our recent commission hearings. we formed a very small task force with a very small remit to sort of look at and benchmark what other towns and cities are doing in terms of their parklets and how they are Um, you know, do they have templates that they pre-approved? Are you self-permitting that or what have you? Vice Chair Graff with his extensive architectural background was good enough to offered to assist with this. Vice Chair, I know There are a number of jurisdictions around here certainly that I've seen, I think you've looked at but do you want to, anything to report out on your end? |
| 01:39:51.50 | Richard Graef | Um... Thank you. I'm not sure if you're a I frankly have not had time to do much of the research. kind of eyeballing some of the conditions locally And it's interesting the different approaches that people have taken Uh, out of you know, in terms of setting up the parklets and decorating them and making them, attractive as much as possible. So I think there's some interesting Um, things to find out there. I need to do more homework, frankly. And which I will do. Um, And um, I'm just kind of wondering if, if this effort I won't. what are we going to try to achieve by this effort in terms of how we're going to how the city uh, manages these parklets and approve some or not approves them. I'm assuming that that's Thank you. part of the goal here. But, um, |
| 01:41:17.44 | Kristina Feller | Yeah, so just real quick, the reason that we created this little task force just to look at benchmarking is because we know the city council that really the issue is sitting with the city council right now and the plan commission has not specifically been asked to do anything or weigh into this in any formal way, but the idea was to at least benchmark and pull that resource information together now before we're asked. So we'd have a better context for what we're doing And to that point, I've pulled Healdsburg, San Francisco, Mill Valley, Palo Alto. already and looked at how they go ahead and do this. Those are the benchmarks. um, that I've pulled so far. And hopefully I'm not in trouble because Mary's just whooped up. |
| 01:42:18.28 | Mary Wagner | Yeah, no, Chair Fuller, that's great, but you're always correct that we can't really get into a discussion, it's really supposed to be a brief update, but, and I don't know if, Director Whalen was gonna let you know about an upcoming workshop too on this topic as part of her update |
| 01:42:35.52 | Kristina Feller | Great. Let's hear about that, Director Whale. Thank you, Mary. |
| 01:42:39.57 | Director Whalen | Yeah, thanks, Marianne, and apologies of not including this earlier on. So we are, planning a community forum on June 30th at 6 o'clock. It'll be by Zoom and we'll get out the information obviously through the current It'll be on the city's website. And we're planning on doing a mailer as well around the Caledonian street properties. The focus of the workshop is going to be on three different. Uh, areas of recovery for the city. is the temporary permits that the city issued during COVID for outdoor activities so a dining on the street, a retail on the street. And then, The other is the temporary permits that the city gave for parklets in the city during COVID. And then the last item to be discussed by the community is the closure of Caledonia Street. And the council wanted the community forum to happen and get some input from the community and then back to the council for a discussion about what recovery and possibly that looks like with regards to outdoor activities and outdoor dining. |
| 01:43:53.71 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:43:53.72 | Director Whalen | Right. |
| 01:43:55.14 | Kristina Feller | Okay, well, thank you for that update. We will look for Um, the information for the June 30th at 6 p.m. that the city council is putting together So thank you. Thank you for that. the next item that |
| 01:44:13.15 | Richard Graef | that we have. |
| 01:44:15.68 | Kristina Feller | we have a subcommittee working on that Commissioner Junius is is really heading up for us is the objective design standards. And Commissioner Arginas, could you give us a quick update on that? |
| 01:44:28.49 | Andrew Junius | Certainly, Chair Feller, thank you. the O-D-D-S-A. |
| 01:44:37.97 | Andrew Junius | be dealing with. Um, What's happened here is the Housing Accountability Act has become more and more onerous on small communities. And there are a number of, state mandated requirements Thank you. Sal Salido has |
| 01:45:43.97 | Andrew Junius | 24. And we will report back after that. |
| 01:45:48.20 | Kristina Feller | Terrific. Thank you very much for that update. I appreciate that. I just have a quick update on the Sea Level Rise Task Force. So we continue to meet every Monday. And we've really been in research mode at this time. We've been working and looking at all the what I'll just call collaborators around the area, including NOAA, including 1TAM, Bay Wave. initiatives beyond Bay Wave that the county is doing. what Belvedere's doing and so on. So we've really been in discussions and trying to figure out all those different data points. We really have an incredible task force, including Cass Green, who has taken on an initiative well before this task force to do mapping here in the area. So we are That is one thing that we learned from the landslide task force is that mapping and inventory and understanding these things and the LIDAR is something that we previously really have a lot of depth on it now we do and so we are and we're suturing together a lot of these data points and we pull together a full remit which the task force is now reviewing editing and then that will be made public. The plan is that a final report |
| 01:47:11.63 | Unknown | plan. |
| 01:47:14.33 | Kristina Feller | would be issued and presented to the city council no later than December 1st, but we're hoping before then. But there are some. that we're still trying to collect that will determine the actual date, but just to give you some idea in terms of timing. what this initiative looks like. So that's the update on sea level rise. I'm not sure. the final issue that I just wanted to report out is if if you recall We had a presentation by Tom Riley, the chair of EDAC earlier this year And he went through a 34 point plan that he had put together and the comments from the planning commission back to edac were really to less focus on permitting and more focus on the enforcement particularly when the enforcement came to conditional use permits and so on, we're finding that there are a lot of businesses and uses that are good paying tenants being kicked out for other uses that don't necessarily comply with conditional use permits. We want to. |
| 01:48:25.82 | Unknown | you want to. |
| 01:48:26.76 | Kristina Feller | do our part in supporting EDAC in that and I would therefore like to make an appointment for a liaison to this smaller task force within EDAC focusing on enforcement and I'd like to ask Commissioner Junius, if you would take on being our liaison for EDAC for that particular initiative. |
| 01:48:50.59 | Andrew Junius | happy to help, certainly willing to do that. |
| 01:48:53.00 | Kristina Feller | Terrific. Thank you. Thank you very much for for agreeing to do that. Um, I don't have any other announcements unless somebody else does. |
| 01:49:07.95 | Richard Graef | Motion to adjourn. |
| 01:49:10.03 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Did Lily have other arguments? She said she had some items. I just want to make sure that she has items. We're not cutting those short. |
| 01:49:20.59 | Kristina Feller | that. presented those first, but really just in case. |
| 01:49:24.93 | Director Whalen | No. Yeah, nothing else that has come to my mind or that I've been reminded of during this conversation. I'm sure there is something else, but if it does come up between now and your next meeting, I'll send a one-way communication. |
| 01:49:28.74 | Kristina Feller | I think it's a good thing. during the pandemic. |
| 01:49:37.79 | Director Whalen | Appreciate it. Thank you. |
| 01:49:39.63 | Kristina Feller | Okay. So motion was made, we had a second. Everyone. |
| 01:49:46.44 | Nastassya Saad | Everyone in favor? Aye. |
| 01:49:47.61 | Kristina Feller | Everyone in favor? Terrific. Thank you everyone for your hard work. Thank you so much. |
| 01:49:50.01 | Nastassya Saad | that they're going to be |
| 01:49:53.82 | Kristina Feller | Nice to see you guys. |
| 01:49:54.78 | Director Whalen | Thank you. |
| 01:49:54.80 | Andrew Junius | Thank you all. Take a look. |
| 01:49:55.03 | Director Whalen | Thank you. |
| 01:49:55.05 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 01:49:56.40 | Director Whalen | Have a good evening. Enjoy your... early night. |
| 01:49:59.42 | Andrew Junius | Together we get exactly together. |
| 01:50:02.22 | Director Whalen | Okay. |
| 01:50:03.20 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Good night. tomorrow. |
| 01:50:09.88 | Unknown | you . |
| 01:50:16.97 | Unknown | Thank you. |