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2005/10/25 City Council MinutesCITY OF ROHNERT PARK CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING October 25, 2005 Tuesday The City Council of the City of Rohnert Park met this date for a Special Meeting to commence at 5:00 p.m. at the Rohnert Park City Hall, 6750 Commerce Boulevard, Rohnert Park, with Mayor Mackenzie presiding. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Mackenzie CALLED the Special Meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. ROLL CALL: Present: (2) Councilmembers Flores and Smith; Mayor Mackenzie Absent: (0) None Late: (2) Councilmember Breeze (5:08 p.m.); Vice Mayor Vidak- Martinez (5:10 p.m.) Staff present for all or part of the Special Meeting: City Manager Donley, Assistant City Attorney Whelan, Director Community Development Bendorff, Director Public Works /City Engineer Jenkins, Housing and Redevelopment Project Manager Ellena, Deputy Chief Building Official Bruck and Videographer Beltz. UNSCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES: None. WORK SESSION GENERAL PLAN IMPLEMENTATION - GROWTH MANAGEMENT PROGRAM FOR: (1) BUILDING PERMIT ALLOCATION PRIORITIES and (2) RESIDENTIAL EXEMPTIONS Consideration of reworking of the building permit allocation priorities and the potential exemption of additional types of infill development from the "trigger cap" calculations: *City Council Special Meeting City of Rohnert Park *SPECIAL MEETING October 25, 2005 Page(2 ) Council Discussion /Direction: Growth Management Program: Infill Residential Project Exemptions Director Community Development Bendorff reviewed the contents of the Staff Report. Council discussion included the following: Councilmember Flores discussed the critical need to look at the infill opportunities that have arisen in the City over the last five years, as well as to foster affordable housing. Councilmember Breeze expressed support for staff's list as outlined in the Staff Report. Councilmember Smith also expressed support for said list, and he stated that the Sonoma -Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) train station should be located by Rohnert Park Expressway. Vice Mayor Vidak- Martinez expressed support for infill development and affordable housing. She also stressed the importance of energy efficiency and artistic and cultural components. Mayor Mackenzie expressed support for the SMART train station to be located by Rohnert Park Expressway, and he expressed an interest in seeing how progress can be implemented with the Sonoma Mountain Village project so as to compliment the community. Council discussion concluded with Council CONCURRENCE TO DIRECT STAFF to proceed with its work on Infill Residential Project Exemptions using the Staff Report as a basis for its work. Growth Management Program: Building Permit Allocation Priorities Director Community Development Bendorff reviewed the contents of the Staff Report. Council discussion included the following questions and comments regarding the proposed priorities: Staff responded to Councilmember Breeze's inquiry about the possible redundancy of "Affordable Housing," and she expressed concern that developers may pass the cost of all of the extras on to the homebuyers. City Attorney Donley discussed the dynamics of the real estate market. Councilmember Flores SHARED his priority list, and he spoke of the need to look at projects that have had sustained planning, projects that have met the existing City requirements, projects with mixed use for small regional development and projects that bring economic benefits to the City. Staff responded to Councilmember Smith's inquiry about proximity to Sonoma State *City Council Special Meeting City of Rohnert Park *SPECIAL MEETING October 25, 2005 Page(3 ) University as a priority. He noted that he believes the priority of "Public Safety" is subsumed by "Maintenance of City Services." Vice Mayor Vidak- Martinez expressed a desire to have the same standards for building permits and infill development. She and Mayor Mackenzie expressed support for placing "Public Safety" under "Maintenance of City Services." Council CONCURRED to place "Public Safety" under "Maintenance of City Services." At the suggestion of City Manager Donley,, Council CONCURRED to place "Accessibility" under "Project Design." Staff reviewed priority voting directions for the Councilmembers. At this time, Mayor Mackenzie called forward members of the public interested in speaking on these matters: 1. Alex Lansburg, Research Analyst with the Carpenters Union, was recognized and discussed how builders charge what the market will bear. He asked Council to consider whether a developer's project reduces problems to the City, what economic benefits said projects would bring to the community and whether the project has met and addressed issues of sustainability, particularly in terms of job training and health care for the workers who build the projects. 2. Van Logan, Representative for the Northeast Specific Plan, was recognized and expressed concern about the priority of Project Design in that it promotes mixed use. He noted that there are no plans for mixed use in the Northeast Specific Plan. He also expressed concern about promoting economic value to the City as residential use does not do so. He stated that he did not want the mixed -use aspect of the priorities to override an area where the Northeast Specific Plan has no control. He noted that certain costs in the Southeast Area will be covered by all developers and should, therefore, not necessarily be considered. Councilmembers cast their votes and CONCURRED on the following top four priorities: Project Design, Maintenance of City Services, including Public Safety, Sustainability /Green Building and Affordable Housing. *City Council Special Meeting City of Rohnert Park *SPECIAL MEETING October 25, 2005 Page(4 ) ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, Mayor Mackenzie adjourned the Special Meeting at 6:00 p.m. Mackenzie Mayor City of Rohnert Park *City Council Special Meeting RatW Leonard Certified Shorthand Reporter CSR No. 11599 Mackenzie Mayor City of Rohnert Park *City Council Special Meeting