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2015/01/13 City Council MinutesMINUTES OF THE JOINT REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF ROHNERT PARK City Council Rohnert Park Financing Authority Successor Agency to the Community Development Commission Tuesday, January 13, 2015 Rohnert Park City Hall, Council Chamber 130 Avram Avenue, Rohnert Park, California 1. CITY COUNCILIRPFA/SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE CDC JOINT REGULAR MEETING - CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Mayor Ahanotu called the joint regular meeting to order at 5:01 pm, the notice for which being legally noticed on January 8, 2015. Present: Amy O. Ahanotu, Mayor Gina Belforte, Vice Mayor Joseph T. Callinan, Councilmember Jake Mackenzie, Councilmember Pam Stafford, Councilmember Absent: None Staff present: City Manager Jenkins, Assistant City Manager Schwartz, City Attorney Kenyon, Assistant City Attorney Visick, City Clerk Buergler, Senior Analyst Atkins, Acting Public Safety Director Taylor, Development Services Director Ponton, Public Works and Community Services Director McArthur, and City Engineer Pawson 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Erin and Jenna Spranger 3. PRESENTATIONS A. Mayor's Certificate of Recognition Honoring: Scott Weaver for winning "The Great Christmas Light Fight" Mayor Ahanotu read and presented the Certificate to Scott Weaver. B. Mayor's Proclamation: Honoring Utilities Services Supervisor, Michael Bracewell, for his Fifteen Years of Service Mayor Ahanotu read and presented the Certificate. to Mike Bracewell. 4. SSU STUDENT REPORT No Report. City of Rohnert Park Joint Regular Meeting Minutes January 13, 2015 for City Council✓Rohnert Park Financing Authority/Successor Agency Page 2 of 8 PUBLIC COMMENTS Mike Tunick stated his public comment is no longer needed because he spoke with Marilyn Ponton regarding his issue with the University District project. Nicholas Turner expressed concern regarding how he was treated by the Rohnert Park Police. Carol Goodwin Blick requested water fluoridation be placed on a future City Council agenda. 6. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of Minutes for: 1. City Council/RPFA/Successor Agency Joint Special Meeting December 18, 2014 2. City Council/RPFA/Successor Agency Joint Regular Meeting December 9, 2014 3. City Council/RPFA/Successor Agency Joint Regular Meeting November 25, 2014 4. City Council/RPFA/Successor Agency Joint Special Meeting November 10, 2014 5. City Council/RPFA/Successor Agency Joint Regular Meeting October 28, 2014 B. Acceptance of Reports for: I (PULLED by Councilmember Callinan) 2. Successor Agency to the CDC Bills/Demands for Payment Dated January 13, 2015 3. RPFA- Cash Report for Month Ending November 2014 4. Housing Successor Agency- Cash Report for Month Ending November 2014 5. Successor Agency- Cash Report for Month Ending November 2014 6. City- Cash Report for Month Ending November 2014 C. City Council Resolutions for Adoption: 1. 2015-004 Authorizing and Approving a Farmer's Market Operation Agreement with Agricultural Community Events Farmers Markets .0-15-005 Approving Elimination -el L11e TemFlol-a1y Pall llllll Teehnieal Advisor- a the Creation f a Regular- Part time Fire T eto an A t .1 job Deser-iption d C.,lafy Range i the Publie Safety DepaAment (PULLED by City Manager Jenkins) 3. 2015-006 Approving the Notice of Completion for the Interceptor Outfall Gravity Section Rehabilitation Project No. 2011-04 and Directing the City Engineer to File 4. 2015-007 Authorizing and Approving an Agreement with the City of Santa Rosa for Funding Consulting Services for Preparation of the 2015 Urban Water Management Plan Demand Analysis and Water Conservation Measures 5. 2015-008 Authorizing and Approving the Second Amendment to Task Order 2011-06 with Brelje & Race Consulting Civil Engineers for Design Review/Value Engineering and Construction Management Services for Adrian Drive Sewer and Water Rehabilitation Project No. 2012- 04 City of Rohnert Park Joint Regular Meeting Minutes January 13, 2015 for City Council/Rohnert Park Financing Authority/Successor Agency Page 3 of 8 6. 2015-009 Authorizing and Approving conveyance of an Emergency Exit Access Easement Agreement to Property Located at 5000 Roberts Lake Road (APN 160-010-031) 7. 2015-010 Rejecting the Claim of Jamie Moldowan 8. 2015-011 Authorizing and Approving an Agreement with Telstar Instruments for Pressure Reducing Valve Controls for the Water Transmission Main - Project No. 2004-08 9. 2015-012 Authorizing and Approving Amendment No. 5 to the Agreement for Services with Michael Brandman Associates (AKA First Carbon Solutions) for the Preparation of an Environmental Impact Report for the Walmart Expansion Project ACTION: Moved/seconded (Mackenzie/Stafford) to approve the Consent Calendar. Motion carried unanimously by the following 5-0 vote: AYES: Callinan, Mackenzie, Stafford, Belforte, and Ahanotu, NOS: None, ABSTAINS: None, ABSENT: None. B. Acceptance of Reports for: 1. City Bills/ Demands for Payment dated January 13, 2015 Recommended Action(s): accept report. ACTION: Moved/seconded (Callinan/Belforte) to accept report. Motion carried unanimously by the following 5-0 vote: AYES: Callinan, Mackenzie, Stafford, Belforte, and Ahanotu, NOS: None, ABSTAINS: None, ABSENT: None. 7. CLOSED SESSION A. Mayor Ahanotu made the closed session announcement pursuant to Government Code §54957.7 and Council recessed to Closed Session at 5:25 pm in Conference Room 2A to Consider: 1. Conference with Legal Counsel — Anticipated Litigation - Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Government Code §54956.9(d)(2): (Two Cases) B. Reconvened Joint Regular Meeting Open Session in Council Chamber at 6:15 pm C. Report On Closed Session (Government Code § 54957.1) City Attorney Kenyon reported: no reportable action. 8. Consideration of nominations and appointments to various City of Rohnert Park Boards, Commissions, Committees for terms expiring December 31, 2016 City of Rohnert Park Joint Regular Meeting Minutes January 13, 2015 for City Council/Rohnert Park Financing Authority/Successor Agency Page 4 of 8 City Clerk Buergler presented the item. Recommended Action(s): Consider nominations and snake appointments to various City of Rohnert Park Boards, Commissions, and Committees. A. Bicycle Advisory Committee- Five, two-year terms expiring 12/31/16 Received reappointment requests from: Terry Gault (Belforte's nomination), Carson Williams (Ahanotu's nomination), and Tim Hensel (Callinan's nomination). B. Cultural Arts Commission- Five, two-year terms expiring 12/31/16 Received reappointment requests from: Judson Snyder (Mackenzie's nomination) and Phyllis Transue (Stafford's nomination). C. Mobile Home Park Rent Appeals Board — Two, two-year terms expiring 12/31 /2016 Received reappointment requests from: Diane Broadhead (Stafford's nomination). D. Parks & Recreation Commission- Five, two-year terms expiring 12/31/16 Received reappointment requests from: Linda Tracy (Stafford's nomination), Michael Bird (Callinan's nomination), Bonnie L. Black (Ahanotu's nomination), Chris Bon• (Belforte's nomination), and Gerald Griffin (Mackenzie's nomination). E. Planning Commission- Five, two-year terms expiring 12/31/16 Received reappointment requests from: Susan Adams (Ahanotu's nomination), Daniel Blanquie (Stafford's nomination), John Borba (Callinan's nomination), Gerard Giudice (Belforte's nomination), and Susan Haydon (Mackenzie's nomination). F. Senior Citizens Advisory Commission — Five, two-year terms expiring 12/31/16 (Mackenzie, Stafford, Belforte, Callinan, and Ahanotu nominations) Received reappointment requests from: Marion Ackerman (Mackenzie's nomination) and Elaine Sampson (Stafford's nomination). G. Sister Cities Relations Committee — Five, two-year terms expiring on 12/31/2016 and five vacancies (At Large nominations) Received reappointment requests from: Olga Senyk, Timothy Wandling, and Alicia Bonner. ACTION: Moved/seconded (Belforte/Mackenzie) to reappoint those incumbents who have submitted reappointment requests as shown in the Staff Report. Motion carried unanimously by the following 5-0 vote: AYES: Callinan, Mackenzie, Stafford, Belforte, and Ahanotu, NOS: None, ABSTAINS: None, ABSENT: None. City of Rohnert Park Joint Regular Meeting Minutes January 13, 2015 for City Council/Rohnert Park Financing Authority/Successor Agency Page 5 of 8 ACTION: Moved/seconded (Stafford/Belforte) to nominate and appoint Stephen Gold to serve on the Bicycle Advisory Committee. Motion carried unanimously by the following 5-0 vote: AYES: Callinan, Mackenzie, Stafford, Belforte, and Ahanotu, NOS: None, ABSTAINS: None, ABSENT: None. 9. PUBLIC HEARING CONTINUED FROM NOVEMBER 10, 2014: (NO EARLIER THAN 6PM ) Consider Appeals of Planning Commission Certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report, Certification of the Partially Recirculated Final Environmental Impact Report, Approval of the Site Plan and Architectural Review Application, and Approval of the Sign Program Application for Walmart Store Expansion Project Director of Development Services Ponton presented the item. Leonard Reporting Services, License No. 11599, provided transcription services. Consultants Grant Gruber and Greg Tonkovich, Michael Brandman Associates; and Zack Matley, W-Trans, were present. Recommended Action(s): Deny the appeals and affirm the Planning Commission's decisions to certify the Rohnert Park Walmart Expansion Project Final Environmental Impact Report ("Final EIR") and Partially Recirculated Final EIR ("PRFEIR") and to approve the Site Plan and Architectural Review and Sign Program applications (collectively, the "Entitlements"). This action would result in the approval of the Walmart Expansion Project. In order to take this action, the following motions were required: A) Adopt Resolution Denying the Appeals to the August 14, 2014 Decisions, Certifying the Final Environmental Impact Report and Partially Recirculated Final Environmental Impact Report, Adopting Statement of Overriding Considerations and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for a Walmart Expansion Located at 4625 Redwood Drive, Rohnert Park, CA; B) Approve Resolution Approving the Site Plan and Architectural Review for a Walmart Expansion Located at 4625 Redwood Drive, Rohnert Park, CA; and C) Approve Resolution Approving the Sign Program for a Walmart Expansion Located at 4625 Redwood Drive, Rohnert Park, CA. The Reporter's transcription of this item is attached for the record. Hearing Opened 6:33 pm Recessed 7:27 pm Reconvened 7:35 pm Hearing Closed 8:10 pm ACTION: Moved/seconded (Callinan/Stafford) to approve Resolution 2015-001 Denying the Appeals to the Planning Commission's August 14, 2014 Decisions, Certifying the Final Environmental Impact Report and the Partially Recirculated Final Environmental Impact Report, Adopting Statement of Overriding Considerations and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for a Walmart Expansion Located at 4625 Redwood Drive, Rohnert Park, CA. City of Rohnert Park Joint Regular Meeting Minutes January 13, 2015 for City Council/Rohnert Park Financing Authority/Successor Agency Page 6 of 8 Motion carried by the following 4-1-0 vote: AYES: Callinan, Stafford, Belforte, and Ahanotu, NOS: Mackenzie, ABSTAINS: None, ABSENT: None. ACTION: Moved/seconded (Callinan/Belforte) to approve Resolution 2015-002 Approving the Site Plan & Architectural Review for a Walmart Expansion Located at 4625 Redwood Drive, Rohnert Park, CA. Motion carried unanimously by the following 5-0 vote: AYES: Callinan, Mackenzie, Stafford, Belforte, and Ahanotu, NOS: None, ABSTAINS: None, ABSENT: None. ACTION: Moved/seconded (Callinan/Stafford) to approve Resolution 2015-003 Approving the Sign Program for a Walmart Expansion Located at 4625 Redwood Drive, Rohnert Park, CA. Motion carried unanimously by the following 5-0 vote: AYES: Callinan, Mackenzie, Stafford, Belforte, and Ahanotu, NOS: None, ABSTAINS: None, ABSENT: None. Recessed 8:51 pm Reconvened 8:58 pm 10. Discussion and Direction regarding a Request for Proposals to Develop a Marketing Plan for the City of Rohnert Park Assistant City Manager Schwartz presented the item. Recommended Action(s): Discuss and Provide Direction on a Request for Proposals to Develop a Marketing Plan for the City of Rohnert Park. ACTION: By Consensus City Council directed staff to move forward with a Request for Proposals to develop a marketing plan for the City. 11. Formation of a Proposed Technology Ad Hoc Committee, Mayor's Announcement of 2015 City Council Committee Appointments, and City Council Confirmation of Mayor's Appointment of Councilmembers to Various Liaison and Outside Agency Assignments Mayor Ahanotu presented the item. Recommended Action(s): 1) Confirm the formation of a proposed Technology Ad -Hoc Committee and Mayor's designation of the term and scope of the committee; 2) Announce Mayor's assignment of Councilmembers to the City's various standing and ad hoc committees; and 3) Confirm the Mayor's appointment of Councilmembers to various outside agencies and liaison assignments. Public Comment on Item 10 and 11: Michael Goldberg Public Comment on Item 11: Cheryl Campers City of Rohnert Park Joint Regular Meeting Minutes January 13, 2015 for City CouncillRohnert Park Financing Authority/Successor Agency Page 7 of 8 ACTION: Moved/seconded (Belforte/Callinan) to form a Technology Ad -Hoc Committee for a one year term to develop policy regarding technology investment and improving efficiency. Motion carried unanimously by the following 5-0 vote: AYES: Callinan, Mackenzie, Stafford, Belforte, and Ahanotu, NOS: None, ABSTAINS: None, ABSENT: None. Mayor Ahanotu distributed a list of assignments to the City's standing and ad hoc committees and to various outside agencies and liaison assignments for 2015. City Council Standing Committees Economic Development Ahanotu/Belforte Waste and Recycling Ahanotu/Stafford Water/Wastewater Issues (To Include Creek Master Plan Sub.) Mackenzie/Belforte Education (SSU & CRPUSD) Stafford/Callinan City Council Ad -hoc Committees City Council Protocols (formed 7/8/14 — 1 year duration) Technology (formed 1/13/15 — 1 year duration) UDSP Street Naming (formed 9/9/14 — 1 year duration) Liaison Appointments to Other Committees Chamber of Commerce Golf Course Oversight Committee Library Advisory Board Senior Citizens Advisory Commission Outside Agency Appointments Association of Bay Area Governments General Assembly [ABAG] Health Action Council Mayors & Councilmembers Legislative Committee Russian River Watershed Association Sonoma County Transportation Authority/ Regional Climate Stafford/Callinan Ahanotu/Mackenzie Callinan/Belforte Liaison Alternate Stafford Ahanotu Callinan Stafford Ahanotu Belforte Stafford Callinan Liaison Alternate Mackenzie Ahanotu Belforte Ahanotu Ahanotu Belforte Stafford Callinan Mackenzie Ahanotu Protection Authority [SCTA/RCPA] Sonoma County Waste Management Agency Schwartz Stafford Sonoma Clean Power Schwartz Stafford Water Advisory Committee Callinan Mackenzie ACTION: Moved/seconded (Callinan/Stafford) to confirm the Mayor's appointments to various outside agencies and liaison assignments Motion carried unanimously by the following 5-0 vote: AYES: Callinan, Mackenzie, Stafford, Belforte, and Ahanotu, NOS: None, ABSTAINS: None, ABSENT: None. City of Rohnert Park Joint Regular Meeting Minutes January 13, 2015 for City CouncillRohnert Park Financing Authority/Successor Agency Page 8 of 8 Other Appointments Liaison Alternate Redwood Empire Municipal Insurance Fund [REMIF] Board Jenkins Perrault ACTION: Moved/seconded (Belforte/Stafford) to confirm the Mayor's appointments to the REMIF Board. Motion carried unanimously by the following 5-0 vote: AYES: Callinan, Mackenzie, Stafford, Belforte, and Ahanotu, NOS: None, ABSTAINS: None, ABSENT: None. 12. COMMITTEE / LIAISON / OTHER REPORTS Golf Course Oversight: Councilmember Callinan reported the Committee is working with staff regarding the contents of the Golf Course inspection report. Councilmember Stafford reported play is down 8% probably because of the rain. Golden Gate Bridge District: Vice Mayor Belforte reported the removable median barrier is in place. Sonoma Clean Power (SCP): Councilmember Stafford asked Assistant City Manager Schwartz to report. Assistant City Manager Schwartz reported that at the February meeting, SCP will be considering their Resource Plan. Health Action: Vice Mayor Belforte reported progress has been made with communicating Rohnert Park's needs to Sonoma County. 13. COMMUNICATIONS None. 14. MATTERS FROM/FOR COUNCIL None. 15. PUBLIC COMMENTS Michael Goldberg announced the Disabled American Veterans State Conference will be held at the DoubleTree Hotel on January 23 and 24, 2015. Cheryl Campers requested to be part of a downtown planning commission because she lives near the State Farm Property. 16. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Ahanotu adjourned the joint regular meetin� at 9:5 pm, AA Anne Buergler, City Clerk Amy O. Ahanotu, Mayor ity of Rohnert Park City of Rohnert Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 rmwwmK*M8j117i11 ---000--- TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2015 JOINT REGULAR MEETING REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS FOR AGENDA ITEM No. 8 CONSIDER APPEALS OF PLANNING COMMISSION CERTIFICATION OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT, CERTIFICATION OF THE PARTIALLY RECIRCULATED FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT, APPROVAL OF THE SITE PLAN AND ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW APPLICATION, AND APPROVAL OF THE SIGN PROGRAM APPLICATION FOR WALMART STORE EXPANSION PROJECT CITY OF ROHNERT PARK 130 Avram Avenue Rohnert Park, California 94928 REPORTED BY: KATY LEONARD, CSR Certified Shorthand Reporter License No. 11599 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I N A T T E N D A N C E ---000--- MAYOR AMY 0. AHANOTU VICE MAYOR GINA BELFORTE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JOSEPH T. CALLINAN CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JAKE MACKENZIE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER PAM STAFFORD CITY MANAGER DARRIN JENKINS CITY ATTORNEY MICHELLE M. KENYON ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY MATTHEW VISICK DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIRECTOR MARILYN PONTON CITY CLERK JOANNE BUERGLER GRANT GRUBER, FIRSTCARBON SOLUTIONS, INC. GREG TONKOVICH, FIRSTCARBON SOLUTIONS, INC. ZACHARY MATLEY, W-TRANS AMELIA McLEAR, WALMART PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR DEBORAH E. QUICK, ESQ., MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP ERIC CRABB, DESIGN ENGINEER, PACLAND ---000--- LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I N D E X ---000--- STAFF REPORT PUBLIC HEARING COUNCIL MOTION/DISCUSSION/VOTE - - - 000 - - - LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 PAGE 7 15 80 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 P R O C E E D I N G S ---000--- TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2015 AGENDA ITEM No. 8 6.16 P.M. MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. Now we are on Item No. M City Manager. CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: I think before we hear the Staff Report; that we would Jke to hear from Council Members as to whether or not they've had any ex parte contacts for this matter for the record. CITY MANAGER JENKINS: So, this item is a Public Hearing continued from November 10th, 2014, to consider Appeals of the Planning Commission Certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report, Certification of the Partially Recirculated Final Environmental Impact Report, Approval of the Site Plan and Architectural Review Appl i oat i nn, and Annrn-17al of the Sign Program Application for Walmart Store Expansion Project. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. And at this time, Council Member Callinan, any 4 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ex parte contacts? COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: I have not met or talked to anybody. I have had some E-mails in my city E-mail that I have not responded to. That's about it. COUNCIL MEMBER STAFFORD: I have met with people for Walmart, opposed to Walmart, and I have received E-mails. And I don't think I've gotten any phone calls, yes. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Mackenzie? COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: Yes, Mr. Mayor. I have over the course of this last number of months had contact with Walmart and their representatives, most particularly in the matter of the Walmart neighborhood store which has opened during the pendency of this matter. And secondly, I have met with individuals who have -- have and are involved in appeals against the decision of the Planning Commission, which is in front of us tonight. And for the record, I have received a number of E-mails from citizens of Rohnert Park and citizens from other parts of Sonoma County who wanted me to know what their position was in this matter. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 5 1 2. 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Vice Mayor? VICE MAYOR BELFORTE: I have met with people that oppose -- excuse me -- who oppose Walmart. I have spoken with people that are for Walmart. I have received numerous E-mails from both parties. I think that's it. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Also, I have met with some people that oppose Walmart and that support Walmart. I received their E-mails, and I have spoken to one or two people over the phone. So, we have all been contacted, so, one way or another. Thank you very much. Okay. Staff report. CITY MANAGER JENKINS: Yes, Mayor. The Director of Development Services, Marilyn Penton, will present this item and she'll introduce her team tonight. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 101 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 STAFF REPORT (Via PowerPoint Presentation) DIR. OF DEV. SERVICES PONTON: Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And good evening, Council Members. Before we begin, I'd like to introduce the staff that is sitting here with me at the staff table this evening. To my left is Mr. Matthew Visick, Assistant City Attorney; Mr. Grant Gruber; Mr. Greg Tonkovich; and Mr. Zach Matley. They are consultants who have worked on the EIR along with staff in this process. This evening we are considering the Appeals of the Planning Commission Certification of Final EIR, the Partially Recirculated EIR, Approval of the Site Plan Architectural Review, and Approval of the Sign Program Application. Just a brief overview of the Project, the proposed expansion is approximately 35,000 square feet to the addition of the existing 131,000 square feet. MAYOR AHANOTU: Marilyn, can I interrupt you? We were notified that we have exceeded the capacity in the building, in the room; is that correct? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We're right there right 7 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 now. MAYOR AHANOTU: We're right up there. Okay. So, let me know if we exceed. Then we can make the announcement. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes, sir. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. So then, continue. DIR. OF DEV. SERVICES PONTON: Thank you. The proposed project includes the addition of 35,000 -- approximately 35,000 square -foot expansion on the southern end of the building. It includes a minor expansion on the north in the garden center_ it includes expansion to food service, the pharmacy, the vision center, groceries, and separate loading docks. The hours of operation are proposed to extend to 24 hours per day. That's a change from the existing. And there's an estimated increase of new jobs to total 85. Again, I mention the request of entitlements. I don't have to read them again. T j11t want, - to ri11i rkl y gn nzTer thre Prpjert- background. The City first looked at the Certification of the Final EIR in July of 2010. We carried through with a -- we received a -- on that decision, there was a challenge and a court determination regarding the EIR 8 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 was adequate except with two items related to Transportation Demand Measurement and Cumulative Noise Impacts. In 2012, the Council rescinded its actions. The City prepared a Partially Recirculated Draft EIR. It was open for public comments for the appropriate period. The Partially Recirculated Final EIR was made available in August of 2014, and the Planning Commission heard and considered the Revised Partially Recirculated EIR in August of 2014. There was a vote of 4-1 to certify the Final EIR and the Partially Recirculated Final EIR, and a vote of 5-0 to approve the Site Plan and Architectural Review and Sign Program. In late August, an appeal was filed by M.R. Wolfe & Associates on behalf of Sierra Club and Sonoma County Conservation. August 25th, a second appeal was filed by Nancy Atwell acting on her behalf and three other named individuals. On November 10th, the City Council opened the Public Hearing on the appeal, received public comments, and continued the hearing to this evening, January 13th. I'd like to go back to the Wolfe appeal. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 There were three areas of deficiency related to the noise analysis brought up in the Wolfe appeal: Project -specific and Cumulative Noise Impacts and the use of the FICON criteria; noise measurements from building facades not justified; and incorrect noise standards related to the Good Nite Inn on Redwood Drive. ini response, the Partially Recirculated Final EIR conflates the Project -specific noise impacts and Cumulative Noise Impacts. Specifically, the Noise Analysis is necessarily cumulative as called out in the Partially Recirculated Draft EIR, and the City employed a two-step process for analysis that was consistent with the direction provided by the trial court. Continuing on the discussion regarding the FICON criteria, it is widely used and cited in published agency guidance that is taken in account for these measurements. The City of Rohnert Park uses this guidance in its noise standards and policies, and it is supported and appropriate when assessing noise impacts from local roadways. No Se meaS11re-me_nF c nn tam -- nn the c�rnnrl item of the Wolfe appeal -- noise measurements from building facades not justified. Numerous guidance documents support this measurement of the facades. It is uniform in placement of receptors in relation to the 10 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 noise measurements. It actually provides a more conservative measurement. And recirculation is not required for clarifying this information. The original conclusions were confirmed. I'd just like to add, because the -- there was not any new significant environmental impacts under this study, therefore CEQA's other criteria for significant new information circulation of clarifying this information was not required at this time. Item 3 in the Wolfe appeal relates to incorrect noise standards applied to assess the impacts to the Good Nite Inn related to measurements of significant cumulative noise impact of the Good Nite Inn located on Redwood Drive. The City's General Plan defined noise standards for lodging and motels and hotels such as Good Nite at 65 dB. Additionally, the impact would be less than significant if treated as being along Redwood Drive. And the noise measurement from commercial uses was also considered from U.S. 101, which was significantly higher. On the Atwell appeal, it particularly relates to two items. One is inconsistency with the General Plan Policy LU-7 in the Land Use Element of our General 11 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 91 22 23 24 25 Plan and violation of the City's Municipal Code, Section 17.02.060. The EIR should be revised to address the Land Use and Urban Decay Impacts and reviewed in light of a California case, Clean Energy vs. City of Woodland. The Appellants asserted that the Project is inconsistent with LU-7 because it would allow a supermarket in a regional commercial area rather than a neighborhood -serving area. The additional item was not an issue found deficient by the trial court action. The Project had already been found to be consistent with Policy LU-7. It promotes the citywide dispersal of new grocery stores, and the proposed project is an existing use. There are no existing stores in a one -mile radius of the existing store in the proposed expansion. Bicycle and pedestrian facilities and the 24-hour operations serve the residents and the surrounding neighborhood area, and it encourages accessibility to supermarkets, and specifically does not prohibit -- LU-7 does not prohibit big -box supercenters. Additionally, staff h a s received a letter dated January 9th from Brett Jolley, attorney, on behalf Nancy Atwell, Nat Feinstein, Elizabeth Craven, and Jessica Jones, the Appellants. Staff has found the Project consistent with General Plan LU-7 and its LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 objective to maximize accessibility of supermarkets to all residents. The Project is consistent with LU-7 by proposing a supermarket in the area of the City where no supermarkets exist and residential development is occurring. There are no existing grocery stores near the Project site, and therefore the Project would be consistent with the policy commentary language concerning dispersal of grocery uses throughout the City. Additional residential development has been approved by the City in close proximity to the Project, those being 244 units in the Fiori Estates Project, 84 units at The Reserve, and the proposed 398 dwelling units recently approved in November within the Northwest Specific Plan, which is immediately adjacent to the Project site. The Project would be expected to serve a larger market area than just the northern Rohnert Park and primary trade area for the Project, which consists of Rohnert Park, Cotati, and Southwest Santa Rosa. Given the absence of grocery stores in the southwest Santa Rosa area, the expanded Walmart would be well positioned to serve area residents. The Project would more than simply be a local supermarket and, LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 therefore, be differentiated from a more local -servicing grocery store. The Project, additionally, would install bicycle storage facilities, enhance pedestrian facilities, and improve accessibility for those modes of transportation. The 24-hour expansion of the store would provide local residents with the opportunity to shop at times when existing stores are not open. These characteristics are consistent with the objectives of Policy LU-7 of maximizing accessibility to supermarkets. While Policy LU-7 encourages maximum accessibility to supermarkets for all residential areas, the language does not prohibit or discourage big -box supercenters. Staff recommends the City Council deny the appeals and affirm the Planning Commission's decision to certify the Rohnert Park Walmart Expansion Project Final EIR, Partially Recirculated Final EIR, the Preface to the EIR, the Draft FTR, and the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program, and approve the Project. This action would result in approval of the Expansion Project. With that, I conclude my comments, and staff 14 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 and our consultant are available for any questions. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. PUBLIC HEARING MAYOR AHANOTU: I'll go ahead and open for Public Hearing and just to give you some information. (Public Hearing opened at 6:33 p.m.) MAYOR AHANOTU: The Appellant and the Applicant first get 10 minutes. If you are here and you wish to get to the podium and give your case, each of the public, please, we are going to limit each person to two minutes. We have a lot of cards. And I would like to ask Council for concurrence if that's okay for us to limit the public comments to two minutes due to the number of cards that we have. (Council Members concur.) COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: Yes. COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: I will agree. MAYOR AHANOTU: Fine. Okay. Okay. All right. Thank you. All right. So, I have the first five people. What I will do is I will call from five cards each, and 15 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 if you can just step to the wall and wait for your turn, that way we can speed up of the public comments. I have a Jo. I have Steve. I have Karen, Tom, Overstreet, and Bronwen Thomas. So, if you can just line up there, that would be appreciated. So, let's start with Jo Caulk. MS. CAULK: I'm Jo Caulk. Is this where I talk? MAYOR AHANOTU: Yes. Give us your name and the street address -- MS. CAULK: Okay. MAYOR AHANOTU: -- and the street. MS. CAULK: My name is Jo Caulk. I live at 6054 Donna Court right here in Rohnert Park. Anything else? MAYOR AHANOTU: That's it. Go ahead. MS. CAULK: Okay. I just have a few things I want to say. Last summer, my husband and I visited the Town of Laughlin, Nevada, and we crossed the river and went over to a super-Walmart, and it was a very pleasing activity. It's a beautiful store, and I just can't wait to get one here in Rohnert Park. Everything was well displayed, and it was a happy shopping experience. I understand from reading the Press Democrat LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 there will be 85 new jobs, possibly more, and the remodelled store will have good energy policies. And also, the Press Democrat stated that the average salary will start around $13 an hour and there will be medical benefits available for the employees. People will come from all around to shop at this beautiful store, and I know all of you will be proud to have it in our vicinity. It means more money for Rohnert Park, and I think that's certainly an asset to our city. So, I'm very, very much for the superstore. I went out to Walmart, and I interviewed a number of the employees, and most people were very positive and happy that they had a job at Walmart. So, I do know from experience of shopping at a super-Walmart it was a wonderful experience, and I hope to do that in Rohnert Park in the future. Thank you so much. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Steve? Do we have Steve? Jasmine Circle? You live on Jasmine Circle. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Steve. Sorry. Common name. MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. TELUCI: Good evening. My name is Steve Teluci. I live on Jasmine Circle in Rohnert Park. I'm a resident of Rohnert Park, store manager of FoodMaxx supermarket, Rohnert Park Expressway on the west side of 101. FoodMaxx has been operating at this location for 25-plus years, happily serving the community. Our store serves the food shopping needs of many families who live on the west side of 101 to include the new apartment complex and some of the new developments that you spoke about earlier in your report. We also serve a couple of apartment complexes and large trailer parks. I would estimate that we provide community shopping for 6,000 Rohnert Park residents west of Highway 101, plus a number of other families who shop us because of our reputation for low prices. Our store has been slated for a major remodel, but that has been put on hold pending the outcome your decision regarding the Walmart expansion. I'm aware that the General Plan encourages supermarkets to locate to where people livP, and for this reason I have come tonight to voice my objection to the proposed Walmart expansion. All of you know that very few people live within a mile of this Walmart and west of 101. Even a 18 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 small residential project now under construction will not be enough to support a 40,000 square -foot grocery addition. This means that Walmart's business will have to come from existing businesses just like ours. We understand that this country is built around competition, but for a store to open with minimal nearby residential support will harm stores like ours and also violate the policies of our General Plan. Walmart recently opened a Rohnert Park supermarket in what is clearly a neighborhood -serving location. Walmart also sells a modest amount of food products in their existing store, which provides some convenient cross shopping. Allowing this footprint to expand to 40,000 square feet might serve Walmart's interest, but will not -- MAYOR AHANOTU: Can you please conclude? MR. TELUCI: Oh, absolutely. I'm wrapping it up right now. -- but will serve the interests of Rohnert Park's existing supermarkets, as well as their many well paid employees. I urge you to deny the expansion. Thank you very much for your time. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. (Audience applauds.) LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MAYOR AHANOTU: Please do not applaud, and everyone will have the opportunity to speak. Thank you. Karen Elliott. The next person is Tom Thunderhorse. MS. ELLIOTT: Yes. My name is Karen Elliott. I live at 1429 Mariner Place in Rohnert Park. And today's Press Democrat talked about the poverty in California. It's the highest in the nation. Twenty-five percent of Californians live in poverty. Governor Brown says that he can't -- California can't afford the benefits that these impoverished people require. So, I am urging you not to vote for this expansion, because Walmart is a well known, low -paying employer. Many of their people have to seek benefits. We can't afford it. Taxpayers can't afford it. And so, I urge you to not perpetuate poverty in the State of California and turn down Walmart's application. Thank you. MAYOR, AHANTOTU - Thank ynii , Tom. MR. THUNDERHORSE: That was very well put, except now we have ObamaCare in California. Everybody can afford that. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 we 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 As far as Walmart is concerned, there are a lot of people, even on the opposing side here, who say that their families can't go anywhere else except Walmart because they're food prices are just too far out of reach. I, for one, shop at FoodMaxx, Grocery Outlet, Safeway, and sometimes Walmart. I am for Walmart expanding their operation, because it will bring more jobs to the community. We'll have more jobs while building this site, and I think it would be well worth the committee's idea to continue on and allow this expansion to happen. Thank you very much. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Overstreet. MR. OVERSTREET: Yeah. My name is Reuben Overstreet, and my family and I are Walmart supporters. My whole family shops at Walmart. I was in the new Walmart grocery store that they built. Most the people in there shopping are people from Sonoma State and also the alumnae, because they can afford to go in there and shop, you know. And I can't understand all the sniffling and crying of the -- from the middle (Inaudible) about why we shouldn't have Walmart. Walmart does nothing but LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 21 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 good for the community of Rohnert Park, and it's provided a lot of money and a lot of support. And I urge you that you vote for the Walmart expansion. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Bronwen Thomas. MS. THOMAS: I'm Bronwen Thomas. I live at 1420 Lowell Avenue in Cotati. I've lived in Rohnert Park for 40 years, and I'm a union member of the UFCW. I've been there for almost 23 years, and I'm here to talk about the fact that a union grocery store helps support living wages. I make twice as much monev as a arocery worker in Walmart. I have full benefits. I have a retirement package. I have medical. And these are all things that are important. And I think that instead of lowering our living wage, we should do everything in our community to increase it. Walmart drives businesses out. Small businesses, we've seen lots of them close since they've been open. And I believe that we should do everything in our power as a community to make the living wage higher and not lower our standards. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 22 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 We have Rick, then followed by Marty Bennett. MR. LUTTMANN: Thank you, Mayor Ahanotu. I live at 917 Doreen Avenue in Rohnert Park. I'm representing a coalition tonight. We have prepared a statement which is too long for one of us to read, so we have broken it into six parts, and we will deliver them sequentially. We have some copies here to give to the City Clerk to share with the City Council Members and the staff. This coalition consists of North Bay Jobs with Justice, North Bay Labor Council, North Bay Organizing Project, Sierra Club Sonoma County, and the Sonoma County Conservation Action, as well as other community organizations. We disagree with the Planning Department. We believe the General Plan Policy LU-7 specifically encourages that neighborhood facilities such as supermarkets and drug stores be located close to where people live in order to maximize accessibility of every residential neighborhood to grocery stores. This same policy also specifies that these facilities be located in order to provide convenient access by foot and bicycle. The expansion of the Walmart to a supercenter 23 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 does not comply with this policy. Further, the General Plan defines regional shopping centers as to include department stores or big box stores, which attract consumers from outside the city. It specifically provides that neighborhood -oriented commercial uses may be limited within this regionally zoned district, Because the General Plan is the, quote, constitution of all future development, end quote, any land use approvals must be consistent with the General Plan. The City cannot issue permits that are inconsistent with the General Plan. Section 17.02.060 provides that if an application is not consistent with the General Plan, the General Plan should prevail. The major question that Council should consider this evening regarding the approval of this project is whether Walmart's proposal is consistent with the General Plan. This will be discussed by others. There is overwhelming evidence that any supermarket at this location would contravene our regional General Plan. Please listen to the evidence. I hope you will agree that this regional location is not acceptable to neighborhood -serving supermarkets. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 24 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MAYOR AHANOTU: Marty. MR. BENNETT: Thank you. My name is Marty Bennett. I'm cochair of the North Bay Jobs with Justice. I live in the City of Sonoma, and I'll be reading the second part of our statement. The supercenter is regional, not a neighborhood market. I want to emphasize that the supercenter by Walmart's own standards would serve a regional market and not a local neighborhood market. Walmart itself made the claim in a letter to the City of Woodland in 2003. Here I quote from that letter. Quote: Walmart supercenters are significantly different from conventional neighborhood -serving supermarkets, which are prohibited under city regulations. Neighborhood grocery stores are smaller in overall square footage, approximately 44,000 square feet on average, whereas a typical supermarket supercenter is approximately 219,000 square feet. A neighborhood grocery's mix of merchandise is 90 percent groceries and 10 percent merchandise, whereas the supercenter is 33 percent groceries and 67 percent LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 25 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 merchandise. The average annual sales tax revenue of a neighborhood grocery store is approximately 150,000 whereas the supercenter generates approximately half a million dollars of sales tax. Further, a neighborhood grocery store normally draws from a one- to three-mile radius as compared to a 30-mile radius for a supercenter. A Walmart supercenter does not have a separate check-out aisle for grocery items, therefore their shoppers typically are shopping in all departments of a Walmart store and pick up groceries as part of the overall trip. End quote. Market research confirms Walmart's statement -- confirms this statement by Walmart: The majority of customers shopping at the supercenter will be drawn from a regional market extending at least 30 miles out. MAYOR AHANOTU Nancy Atwell. MS. ATWELL: Gary Court. Thank you. Walmart -- Nancy Atwell. 1504 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 26 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Walmart already offers a superstore alternative. At the hearings for the expansion of Walmart held several years ago, there was considerable concern that the Walmart expansion would result in the closure of Pacific Market in the Mountain Shadows Center. Because Mountain Shadows shopping is the epitome of a neighborhood shop serving -center, the potential loss of the supermarket was a primary concern of many residents. Pacific Market subsequently did close. Now its space has been re -tenanted by Walmart. It is clear that this Walmart neighborhood grocery at Mountain Shadows is consistent with the General Plan. Northeast Rohnert Park has e neighborhood market now, and the current Walmart there is the anchor tenant. Proponents of Walmart at the previous hearing added that a supermarket component to the existing store would extend the benefit of its low prices for grocery shoppers. That role has been fulfilled by their Mountain Shadows store. They also suggested earlier that their expansion would draw from the residential neighborhoods among Golf Course east of 101. However, because of the municipal traffic signals, it actually would be faster 27 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 for residents to go to the Mountain Shadows store. Therefore, it has already fulfilled the existing grocery component of what it said. Currently, also, staff mentioned that -- they are still saying that they will draw from the southwest Santa Rosa. That's not part of Rohnert Park's General Plan. So, would a Rohnert Park expansion mean -- what would it mean for Rohnert Park? It would mean that a combined grocery footprint of both Walmart stores would total 80,000 square feet, a figure that would make it far the largest retailer in Rohnert. Park_, The new sales drawn to this location would come from existing retailers, including most specifically their Mountain Shadows store just over one mile to the east. Since much of Walmart's grocery sales would take from the existing supermarkets, I have concern about the loss of the current ones. And also, once they have their grocery store opened, if they getthe expansi one Why t-' g Jrpnna Happen to the Mountain Shadows store? MAYOR AHANOTU: Can you please conclude? MS. ATWELL: Thank you very much, sir. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MS. ATWELL: I have great concerns over this project. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. MS. ATWELL: Not the store of Walmart. I have shopped there. But I have great concerns. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Beth. Beth. MS. CRAVEN: Elizabeth Craven, 6190 San Mateo Court. I'm a resident of Rohnert Park. To continue what Nancy was saying, a major concern is that Walmart's self -competition could make the Mountain Shadows neighborhood market vulnerable to closure, a prospect that would be totally counterproductive to the needs of Rohnert Park residents. Experience elsewhere suggests that the Mountain Shadows store would lose a third of its business if a competing supercenter were to open up and function a mile away. The City would be back to scrambling to find a replacement tenant to anchor the Mountain Shadows Center. Yet again, northeast Rohnert Park would be without a neighborhood market. Finding a replacement would be even more difficult given the competition from the supercenter. It would also discourage any prospective tenants especially with the knowledge that Walmart itself could 29 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 not run a store with satisfactory performance in that location. Now, Walmart has, of course, invested several million dollars in remodelling the Mountain Shadows space, but for a company as large as Walmart, walking way from such an investment would be of little concern. Indeed, all across our country there are vacant Walmarts that the company has abandoned because they're underperforming. In short, there is no upside for the City of Rohnert Park in approving this expansion, and it would be denied -- and it should be denied for being inconsistent with the General Plan. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Tony White. MR. WHITE: Hello. My name is Tony White. I'm a member of Jobs with Justice, the North Bay chapter. I live at 5490 Newanga Avenue in Santa Rosa. Walmart's original economic study indicated that this store Teo lrl piil1 chnpnrrrc from a Yeginnai area comprising Rohnert Park, Cotati, north to the southern residential area of Santa Rosa. In reality, the draw would undoubtedly be from a much larger area, but even the area they have defined 30 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 clearly indicates that this expansion is not intended solely as a neighborhood -serving facility, and is thus contrary to the General Plan's policy that supermarkets have a neighborhood focus. Walmart has suggested that this expansion would serve the needs of some new housing under construction near the site. However, upon completion of this housing, the population will be -- which was served by Walmart versus other supermarkets would rise from fewer than 200 to a total of fewer than 1,000. Since industry studies indicate that it takes a population of 10- to 15,000 to support one supermarket, the nearby population would be totally inadequate for this proposed supermarket expansion. This means that Walmart's new sales would come from other stores resulting in employee layoffs and possibly the store closing to the economy. Despite Walmart's claim that there are pedestrian and bicycle pathways to the store, the existing Walmart is undeniably automobile -focused in terms of its location and its vast production and (Inaudible) selection. Given the heavy traffic in and around the store, it is certainly not pedestrian- or bicycle -friendly. It is very inconceivable that anyone 31 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 east of Highway 101 would walk or bike to the store, thus, the supercenter does not meet the goal of facilitating easy access by foot or bicycle, whether or not it claims to do so by providing bicycle racks. Well, the facts are clear. It's just good, old common sense that this location does not fit the City's criteria as sect forth in their own General Plan providing a neighborhood focus or offering convenient foot and bicycle access. For these reasons, the Project should be denied. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Lauren. MS. ORNELAS: Hello. I'm Lauren Ornelas. I'm the Executive Director of Food Empowerment Project, also a member of the coalition. As you know, Rohnert Park is unique. At its founding in 1962, the City established a neighborhood concept built around a specific letter designation for each neighborhood. These letters are how residents refer to where we live in Rohnert Park. Some real estate brokers specialize in particular neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods have their own newsletters and associations. Even Google identified by letter the neighborhood location of the site. No such neighborhood exists for the area occupied 32 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 by the existing Walmart. The Walmart location is designated as a regional -serving retail, and most of the adjacent land is zoned for nonresidential uses. The Graton Casino and regional retail are major impediments to any future neighborhood focus for this area. As noted earlier, the General Plan Policy LU-7 specifically encourages facilities such as supermarkets and drugstores to be located close to where people live in order to maximize accessibility. It is also important to consider that this area of the City has undergone dramatic transformation with the opening of the casino. In taking [sic] in retailers from the Bay Area -- talking to them, we've learned that there has been a noticeable increase in homelessness, vagrancy, alcoholism, and drug abuse since the casino opened. An expanded 24-hour Walmart operation pulling people from outside the city will undoubtedly add to this problem. The lack of the neighborhood focus with a potential for increased vagrancy and crime are factors that should be considered in any final decision. The evidence suggests that these are significant grounds for denial of this Project. The EIR issue is no longer in 33 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 contention. I urge you to confirm the Planning Commission's findings that the Revised EIR is adequate to address the concerns of the Court, but then take a further step of denying Walmart's proposal on the grounds of inconsistency with our General Plan. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Chloe Pritchett. Chloe Pritchett. Next person, Chris Simmons. MS. PRITCHETT: Hello. I am Chloe Pritchett. I live on 185 Avram here in Rohnert Park. I just moved out here and I've learned -- I've learned to love Rohnert Park very much, and I love the local stores. And I used to live right next to a superstore Walmart, and I know that it put many local stores out of business. And it did not treat its workers well. It did not treat its customers well. And it did not please me or any of my family with the quality of their items and their food. So. T am here to oppose the bul l ding of the superstore Walmart. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Chris Simmons. Chris Simmons. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 34 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. SIMMONS: My name is Chris Simmons. I live at 920 Golf Course Drive here in Rohnert Park. I actually grew up in Southern California in a city that was founded around the same time Rohnert Park was founded. The city concepts are pretty much the same where I grew up, except we don't have the letter designations. I started at Walmart in 2008 as a part-time job to supplement more payment to help pay out the bills when I worked at State Farm. I lost my job in 2011, and if it wasn't for Walmart, I would have had to have moved from Rohnert Park. I love this city. Because of my job at Walmart, I was able to stay here in Rohnert Park with my kids and (Inaudible) them in a really good school district. Rohnert Park needs this expansion. The one thing that I want to bring up is that Santa Rosa and Petaluma have been expanding. We have the new -- they have the new Target's. They're adding new stores. We need to draw more people here just to bring the business to Rohnert Park. A lot of the customers that we had been getting from Novato and San Rafael are now -- you know why would they come up here to Rohnert Park? They have 35 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 a Target nearby. So, expanding out, yeah, it would be a regional draw. And it's something that Rohnert Park needs, because they're not only gonna shop at Walmart, they're gonna shop at the other stores within Rohnert Park. For the people that talk about Walmart's paying low wages and everything, my wages actually go back into this community. Unfortunately, I seen the FoodMaxx store manager leave. I shop at FoodMaxx. I shop at Target as well. If people have been so worried about Walmart destroying everything, then why did we bring the 99 Cents Store in? They have a grocery -- they have a grocery -produce area. Prices are better. The one thing -- one of the comments that -- that I've heard out in the hallway here is that Walmart is a bunch of pimps. Yeah, and I'm not joking. I'm sorry. Walmart is trying to provide a good community with good jobs. MAYOR AHANnTTT; Okay: Conclude yniir statement. MR. SIMMONS: But I am -- I am totally for the expansion, and I love working for Walmart, and I do get paid pretty good. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 36 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Catherine. MS. SULLIVAN: Mr. Mayor and Members of the Council, my name is Catherine Sullivan. I've had an opportunity to meet each of you throughout my activities as the store manager at the Rohnert Park Walmart on Redwood Drive. I have spoken many times about what brought me to this community and my career with Walmart, but one of the things I wanted to make sure was heard today is that the citizens of Rohnert Park were also heard from. I've got four notebooks here that have cards containing 2,661 postcards in support of Walmart's renovation and expansion proposal. These are not names that have been submitted before. These are new cards and new support for our expansion. In the last five days alone, we have collected 575 cards from supporters who recognize this project will be a positive impact in the Rohnert Park community. The overwhelming response we received is a reflection of the broad base of support for the renovation and the expansion proposal in our community. I urge you to join me, Walmart associates, as well as residents across our community in supporting this proposal. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 37 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Gordon Anderson. Gordon Anderson. Okay. The next person will be Jeff, if you can just be ready. Jeff. MR. ANDERSON: My name is Gordon Anderson. I've lived_ in this county since 1960. Became a corporate officer at the age of 34. Had two (Inaudible) directors. I think I know something about this business of Walmart. I can say first and foremost Walmart is a predator. There's no other word for it. And any corporate officers I know would come up with the same conclusion. So, this business of them coming into here, they've got so damn much money that they don't know how we're going to be able to fight them at this level. We have here in Rohnert Park an average wage of 14.2. The County has a -- not discretionary -- disposable income of approximately 33.6. Poverty is 52,000. We don't need an outfit that pays the kind of wages that Walmart does. I mean, they often teach their people how to get on, how to do it. So, my suggestion is this: For the people here in this audience, it's gonna be a tough, uphill LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 fight, and I maintain that if you go to the NLRB type of election to form your own union, that is going to be your key to take over these guys and take them where they ought to go and make them pay the type of wages that somebody can make a reasonable living on. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Jeff . The next person is Christine Wright. MR. WILLIAMSON: My name is this Jeff Williamson. I live at 1044 Hawthorne Circle. I was born and raised here in Rohnert Park. My wife and I are expecting our first child any day now, and now more than ever the well-being of this great city is more important to me. I understand that big corporations like Walmart bring the potential to bring in jobs and taxable revenue to our city, but at what cost to our community? Many of you know Walmart has for the second year topped the Forbes "Fortune 500" list, making it the biggest company in America. Walmart sold $476 billion in goods last year, more than Apple, Target, Amazon, Coke, Macy's, and Walt Disney combined. Walmart is the biggest grocer in the nation, controlling 56 percent of the market. You might ask yourself how Walmart got to be 39 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 this big and why they need to be this big. As any business professional will tell you, the key to success is to reduce costs, raise production and sales. Walmart has done this by getting 80 percent of its good from China. This has resulted in 196,000 jobs lost from 2001 to 2006 alone. Walmart creates net job loss in the community because the sales are transferred from existing merchants resulting in little or no economic gain to the host community. In 2010, Walmart ended their employee profit-sharing program, and in 2012 they stopped giving benefits to part-time employees and raised insurance premiums for full-time employees by 63 percent. This impacts not only the employees but taxpayers as well. It is estimated that taxpayers give $5,815 to Walmart employees on Food Stamps and government healthcare aid. The same study estimates that $2 billion per year is given in government assistance to underpaid and underappreciated Walmart employees. These studies were done by the Democratic staff of the rt.S, House Committee. And on top of all this, studies have shown that for every two jobs Walmart creates, the community loses three. None of this sounds good for Rohnert Park. We 40 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 may save a little money at the register, but at what cost to our community? Ask yourself: Does Rohnert Park really need a super-Walmart? I urge everyone here to get back to the roots of the city and shop a little wiser at your grocer and big -box stores. Together, we can make a change and live a healthier and more responsible life. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Christine Wright. Christine Wright. Kelly Scullion. Kelly Scullion. Kelly. Okay. Next two people will be Kimberly Pritchett and David Mejia. Kimberly Pritchett and David. Okay. Go ahead. MS. SCULLION: Good evening, City Council and Mayor. On behalf of the Rohnert Park Chamber of Commerce, I am here today to urge you to approve the -- Walmart's proposal to expand and renovate their Rohnert Park location. We see many benefits for our community if project is approved. First and foremost is an increase in job opportunities. With a planned renovation and LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 expansion of the Rohnert Park Walmart store, approximately 85 new jobs will become available for our residents and those looking for work. Furthermore, the addition of a grocery department including a deli, bakery, and fresh produce will provide more opportunities for shoppers and especially serve the needs of those (Inaudible) who are providing for their families. At the Chamber of Commerce, our mission is to create an environment in Rohnert Park in which businesses can thrive economically, socially, and culturally while improving the quality of life in the community. As a local chamber member, Walmart has continually proven themselves to be a trusted partner we can rely on in the community, actively engaged with local charitable organizations and important civic causes. We support Walmart's remodel needs and hope you vote to approve Walmart. Thank vou. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Kimberly Pritchett. Next person, David. MS. PRITCHETT: Hello. My name is Kimberly LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 42 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pritchett. I live right across the street, 185 Avram Avenue in Rohnert Park. My family and I just moved here from Yuba County, and we're very happy with the town here so far. We moved here at the end of November, and we have a family of six that just had a baby. And we moved here because we are wanting to live in a neighborhood that is family oriented, has a great community, is not like the rest. The music notes on the bridge shows that this city is very special. And I am very against the Walmart supercenter coming here. Like I said, the music notes make this place seem very, very special and very unique, and having a Walmart supercenter, just like any other city, will make that diminish. I am also very against it because we have one -- we have two supercenters, one in Yuba City and one in Marysville, and the people there really make the city very degraded. It -- I shopped there because I had no other places to go to because there were no other. local stores, no one to compare to -- compare the prices. And like I said, I'm against it because a lot of reasons, but one is, I very much, as an outsider and now live here -- very much respect the local businesses 43 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 here, and I look forward to shopping there more with my family. And I will be very upset and very -- just very unhappy with the city if it plans to have the supercenter happening. It just will -- I don't know. It just will take away a lot of the reasons that we came here. So, that is all. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. David. MR. MEDIA: My name is David Mejia. I lived here since 1970. I'm an employee at FoodMaxx. My parents retired. I went to Vegas. And in the last ten years that they lived there, I've been to -- there's Food 4 Lesses there, and there's some -- there's two major Walmarts there that really devastated that community. I don't think there is -- I think there's maybe one or two FoodMaxxes left in Las Vegas out of the 20 that were there ten years ago. I got a great wage. I make great benefits. I don't know if Walmart could match that. I just want to say one thing: Remember that movie -- that Christmas movie, "It's a Wonderful Life"? Well, you guys are looking at Mr. Potter moving in; all 44 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 right? What's next? They already bought the store in Country Club, the old Roger Wilco. What's next? Might be -- it might be my store. It might be Safeway. It might be Raley's. You guys aren't even in the grocery business. It will happen. And you guys probably already made up your mind one way or another to make a vote, but just remember that movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." Mr. Potter is moving in. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Okay. I have a Christine Wright. Christine Wright. (No response) MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. Fred, Luis Santoyo. Fred and Luis. MR. ALLENBACH: Hello. My name is Fred Allenbach, and I live at 19550 Eighth Street East in Sonoma. And as I'm listening to the public comments, and as I have attended many City Council meetings in Sonoma, I know that everyone appeals to the facts, but at something like this that, you know, you say, Well, we got a high wage. No, they don't get a high wage. This really is going to get down to how you LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 45 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 feel about it and what your values are. And I think that it's clear to me that the values choice is between social equity and the little guy and between big money and the top dogs; and so, that you could, you know, approve this project and you would get a lot of tax money, but then you would be seen as -- as leaving the little guy in a place where they're not making as much money. And then, any type of sustainable public policy, they have a thing called the triple bottom line or a three pillars concept. And so, on a triple bottom line, it's not just money, but it's also social equity and environmental justice. So, those are three pillars or three legs of a policy stool. And if you go with Walmart, I think that you're gonna be stilted too far away from social justice and social equity and going for the money. So, I would encourage you to stand with the values of the little guy and FDR and not approve this project. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Luis Santoyo. Teri Shore. MR. SANTOYO-MEDIA: Hi. Yeah. This is Luis and I choose to pass. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 iN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Teri Shore. Christel is next. Christel. MS. SHORE: Yes. Good evening, Mayor, Council Members, and staff. My name is Teri shore. I live at 515 Hopkins Street in the Town of Sonoma, and I am here to oppose a Rohnert Park Walmart supercenter. Sonoma County is one of the most environmentally conscious places in California. Through conservation of open space, protection of the coast, organic farming, investments in rail transit, clean power, smart growth policies, residents have tried to preserve natural beauty, reduce greenhouse gases, and create a sustainable economy. However, the proposed expansion of the Walmart discount store in Rohnert Park to become a supercenter selling both general merchandise and groceries undermines these efforts. A supercenter will increase dependency on the automobile and increase traffic in an already congested 101 corridor. The supercenter operations and its supply chain will increase greenhouse gas emissions and reduce air quality in the region. According to the Sonoma County Climate Action Plan, 62 percent of Sonoma's greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation section -- sector. So, I would call on Walmart to become part of 47 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the solution, first by abandoning the supercenter project, number one; second, invest in renewable energy, power, and resources for the existing stores and their stores across the nation; and then lastly -- here's an idea I just came up with -- why not investing in a clean, electric hybrid shuttle bus to serve the community of Rohnert Park and the other folks who might be shopping at the existing Walmart center, and also for the employees who have to drive to the store every day to go to work. It may not be Google, but I think Walmart could do a bus. So, thank you very much. (Cell phone interruption) MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. Thank you. Can you please turn off your cell phones? Thank you. Christel Antone. The next person is Arin Stevens. MS. ANTONE: Good evening. My name is Christel Antone, and I am currently the shift manager at the Rohnert Park Walmart. I started with Walmart in October of 1999, 15 years ago. I was married with three children, and I was hired to temp as a cashier for the holiday season, which I was looking for since I was going to school to be a LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 i; 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 nurse, which I have completed. I just wanted extra money for the holidays. I ended up loving it there. I loved the associates, I loved the customers, and I loved the job itself . At the end of the temp season, I was asked to stay on as the many, permanent. After talking it over with my husband, I decided why not get paid for something that I loved to do and that I was having fun doing. I worked at night and went to school during the day. Walmart also worked with my school schedule. Over the next year or so, I became attached to the people and the store. I saw how much opportunity they had and decided to stay even longer. I didn't realize it would be 15 years longer. I started as a cashier and moved my way up to customer service manager, zone supervisor, where I was an hourly associate for 12 years. And the past three years, I've become salaried. After -- shortly after becoming permanent at Walmart, I -- my husband lost his job with the State and we also lost our benefits. I was offered benefits immediately going back to when I first was hired on permanent. I was offered health, dental, life insurance 49 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 for both me and my family, accident coverage, 401(k), and Walmart stock. I chose to participate in all of them at the time, except for health and dental, and that was because my husband had it through his employer and I just didn't want to deal with the hassle. But about halfway through my career, I was diagnosed with cancer and was given the option for benefits throughout the year. I did take on the benefits, and I've had them ever since. I went to the doctors, and I -- of course, as you can imagine, my bills were $15,000 plus. I only paid 600 out of pocket. I was the sole income provider for my family. I never had to go on any kind of government assistance thankfully for what Walmart had to offer. So, overall, $33,000 is what our store in Rohnert Park has contributed to Rohnert Park. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Conclude your statement. MS. ANTONE: Yes. Walmart is- what you choose to make it, and I've chose to make it my career and my family, and I am very proud and happy to be a Walmart associate. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Arin Stevens. The next person is Matt Myres. MR. STEVENS: Hi. My name is Arin Stevens. I live at 4415 Hamlet Court. I'm a relatively new, recent -- I'm a relatively recent arrival in Rohnert Park. We really enjoy it here, but one of the things that we struggle with here throughout the region is very poor air quality. As anybody who has been breathing the past 11 days can tell you, we've had 11 "Spare the Air" days in a row. My concern with this -- with the Walmart expansion is a further decrease in our air quality. This is really personal to me, because my daughter has very severe asthma, and she struggles every day with it, and "Spare the Air" days are in particular very difficult for her. This is not consistent with Rohnert Park's General Plan. It's going to bring much more traffic into the region, and we are already suffering enough from the air quality here. So, I urge you to reject their application for expansion. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Matt Myres. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 51 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. MYRES: Good evening. My name is Matt Myres and I live in Windsor. I am the chair of the North Bay Workers' Rights Board, which is affiliated with North Bav Jobs with Justice. There is a precedence in Sonoma County for limiting the size of Walmart. In 1996, the Town of Windsor issued a conditional use permit which limits the Windsor Walmart store to 1-29,000 square feet compared to the proposed Walmart supercenter of 166,000 square feet. The Rohnert Park City Council does have the means and the justification to limit the size of Walmart. Income inequality is one of the most serious issues that we face as a nation. Because of paying low wages, the Walton family who owns Walmart has more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of all Americans. Walmart can easily afford to pay living wages to their workers. Since many of the Walmart workers have to rely on programs to survive, Walmart is able to transfer much of its labor costs and its responsibility for meeting the needs of workers over to taxpayers. That's how they're getting more wealthy. And in order to compete with Walmart, surrounding businesses have to lower their prices or lower their wages or close. And this is increasing this 52 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 inequality. And making a decision today either to increase inequality or say no is what you have before you. With the Town of Windsor, there is a precedence in Sonoma County to prevent the expansion of Walmart. Join the Town of Windsor. Say no to the Walmart supercenter. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Roberta Martinez. MS. MARTINEZ: Good evening. My name is Roberta Martinez, 3652 Primrose Avenue, Santa Rosa. I have been working at the Rohnert Park FoodMaxx or associated with FoodMaxx for the last 11 years. I have 30 years in the industry. You have heard from Walmart employees and about the benefits of working for their company, but an Internet research reveals that Walmart's pay and benefits are significantly below other supermarket retailers. For example, Walmart online numbers suggest their workers earn an average of about $12 per hour and that many receive a full benefit packet to include medical coverage. Not stated is that many employees are below the $12 average and that Walmart recently dropped medical coverage for 30,000 employees working less than 53 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 V 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 30 hours per week. By comparison, the average wage at FoodMaxx is $17 per hour and probably 20 per hour at full-blown supermarkets like Safeway or Rale_y's. These numbers are 40 percent to 65 percent above Walmart and can make the difference between a living wage and one that requires government assistance. Likewise, FoodMaxx employees receive pension and medical benefits so long as they work 20 hours a week. 20 hours is all you have to work to get full benefits, which makes many of them off the government welfare system. Since labor costs typically represent about 60 percent of the costs of operating a grocery store, it is any wonder that Walmart can sell for less when they pay so much less. Yes, Walmart may add 80 largely part-time jobs, but studies show for that [sic] every one Walmart job, 1.2 other jobs are lost. One of the City's goals is to create jobs, not lose jobs.. You also need to consider retaining good -paying jobs and pay a living wage. Thank you for your time. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. We are going to go on recess for 10 minutes. 54 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 We will reconvene in 10 minutes. (Off the record from 7:27 p.m. until 7:37 p.m.) MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. We reconvene our meeting at 7:35. I have more cards here to call, and I'm going to call two or three in advance, so please listen for your name. Philip. Philip. (No response) MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. The next person is Lisa Maldonado, and then the next person is Raymond Bravo. Okay. MR. BEARD: Good evening. My name is Philip Beard. I live at 2293 Dutton Avenue in Santa Rosa. I'm one of the founding members of the Sonoma County GO LOCAL Cooperative and I sit on their board. GO LOCAL, as you may know, is a network of locally -owned businesses, residents, non-profit organizations, and government agencies working together to build a resilient, thriving, local economy by supporting local independently -owned businesses and promoting sustainable practices. The Walmart business model is the antithesis of all we believe in and are striving to achieve. It LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 55 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 became apparent in the three small group meetings with Council Members that I attended last week that while those Council Members might personally agree with our objections to Walmart, they feel constrained by legal. advice provided by counsel to focus their action today solely on the narrowly defined agenda items before them. To that I say, not true. You, the Rohnert Park City Council, have the authority to set your own agendas, and you have the authority to fashion your own interpretations of the legal issues raised by the evident contradiction between Walmart's expansion and the General Plan paragraph that obliges you to support neighborhood -based grocery stores. How would you like to be remembered? As the timid City Council that laid down and let a bullying corporation run roughshod over your concern over your own community's rules and values, or as the courageous group that stood up and said, Our General Plan is clear. It is the law we must follow, and to follow it, we must respectfully deny this application. Which will it be? MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Lisa Maldonado. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: She left. MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Raymond Bravo. The next person is Ed. MR. BRAVO: Hello. My name is Raymond Bravo. I'm a (Inaudible) of our Walmart. (Inaudible) for Walmart related with Jobs with Justice. I'm a resident of Hayward, California. I'm just here to say that, you know, I assume everybody on the -- on the panel right here loved -- you know, Rohnert Park want the best. Walmart is not the best. Expanding is not the best for Rohnert Park. It's gonna cost a million dollars a year just for tax revenue -- for the tax subsidies that the states are gonna pay. The State doesn't have that money. Walmart is not a great company to work, I experienced. Walmart commits various UOP's against its associates, try to silence them for trying to speak up. You love Rohnert Park, you will not approve this. Tell Walmart to leave. You know, whatever. Okay. You got kids out there that are our future, man, and you owe Rohnert Park. Walmart doesn't care about Rohnert Park. Walmart doesn't even care about the associates. 85 jobs? You want 85 jobs at 8.81 an hour? 8.81 an hour, you can't even support yourself. Man, I worked for Walmart and I was part-time and I had to get 57 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (Inaudible). You know, this ain't right. This ain't the best. It ain't for Rohnert Park. It's gonna shut everything down, and every business that you take for granted will be gone. You owe Rohnert Park. You're there for a reason. Don't be deceived. Don't make a deal with the devil. Walmart doesn't have the best a_ntentions for Rohnert Park. They're gonna come here. They're gonna shut everything down, and they ain't gonna care. And who's gonna be left with the bill? The taxpayers. Our state doesn't have the money to, you know, provide the aid that many of the associates need. Walmart ain't gonna pay them $13 and 13 cents. Do you know how many years you have to work there? Let's -- let's not be deceived. I assume everybody is smart in this City Council -- in the City Council. Just tell Walmart no. They don't care about Rohnert Park, man. Just look around. Go to other urban areas where they expanded. Look at the businesses or the lack thereof. You got good jobs; they're gonna be lost. Would you rather. have 85 low -paying jobs with no benefits? You owe Rohnert Park, man. You're there 58 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 for a reason. Please don't vote on this, man. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Ed. Next person, Linda. Lives at Cyprus Way. MR. DAGUOIAN: Good afternoon. I'm Ed, a current associate of Walmart. And I'm here today because of the unfair labor practices of the giant that is Walmart. Whereas before we work in one department for 40 hours a week, but now you get work in two or three departments only 30, 34 hours. Another thing is the inconsistency of the schedule. You work this schedule this week; the next week it's another, it's a different one. And then sometimes you get stripped of the deal. Another thing is the practice of Walmart hiring people. Two, three years, four years and I know one year -- one person in 15 years is still a part-time employee. And,lastly, on my personal experience, I got injured in Walmart February 2013. Then I was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff, and they keep postponing my surgery. And then I turned to my -- the Bay Area Walmart Association and the help of our legal counsel attorney, Dennis Copolardo (phonetic). I was finally -- 59 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I finally had my surgery only January 2014, almost a year later. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. The next person is Linda, followed by Mark. Mark. MS. HEMMINGWAY: My name is Linda Hemmingway. I live at 3338 Cyprus Way in Santa Rosa, and I've been asked to read the Sonoma County Democratic Par-Ly's Resolution Opposing the Proposed Rohnert Park Walmart Supercenter. "The impact of the supercenter upon small, locally -owned independent businesses and local grocers that pay decent wages and benefits has been shown to be such that for every supercenter that opens in a county, two local grocery stores will go out of business. "Walmart has not only encouraged the off -shoring of manufacturing by relentlessly forcing suppliers to lower costs, particularly labor costs, by moving production to low -wage, underdeveloped countries such as China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Mexico, but is one of the LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 .t 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 worst anti -union employers in America, with the result that not one Walmart store has been unionized, and those Walmart workers who attempt to organize experience unlawful surveillance and interrogation, are routinely harassed, threatened, and fired. "It is estimated that Walmart will employ approximately 300 workers at the supercenter, paying an average wage of 8.81 an hour, less than half of a living or self-sufficient wage for Sonoma County; less than 50 percent of those employees will receive healthcare benefits; and that Walmart employee compensation policies place such a substantial burden on the public sector, but by their workers having to seek government assistance -- food stamps, Section 8 housing vouchers, Medicaid, and other state -subsidized healthcare services, in order to make ends meet, a supercenter with 300 employees will cost the taxpayers nearly a million annually. "Therefore, be it resolved that the Sonoma County Democrat Party strongly opposes the proposed expansion of the LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 61 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Rohnert Park Walmart to become a supercenter, and Walmart's assault on the public sector of local business labor rights and standards." MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Mark. Mark. (No response) MAYOR AHANOTU: The next person is Magick. The next person is Tomas. MS. MAGICK: Good evening. I was here the night that the Planning Commission years ago denied this project. The Mayor was part of that denial. Although the PD has chose to not mention that that -- that there was a vote against it, we need to have some memory here of what happened. And the reasons to deny it are still here today. You know, we need to start really listening to our people. Corporations don't have any ethics, emotions, values. Their purpose is for profit only. And all of you, if you follow what the Press Democrat said today, have found good excuses to look within some narrow purview of the law and feel that you could possibly approve this, although the General Plan says it's supposed to be locally -serving. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 62 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 You know, the game is changed, and you are now holding the future of our community and our children, and you need to think as imaginatively and out of the big box as you can. This is a chance for you to show imagination. I mean, I suggest that you petition the State of California to reject -- to deny Walmart a corporate license. It's been sued for environment degradation, labor abuse, slave labor in foreign countries. It -- the lists goes on and on. If this were an individual, he'd be in jail. So, if corporations are people, they don't act like people. They act like sociopaths. And this is your opportunity as humans at an important point in our evolution as humans to care. This is not an audience; this is the public. You have heard every reason you need tonight to deny this project, to stand up and to be representatives of people and not pretend you can hide behind some I's and T's that you've dotted and crossed in a law that is unethical. Do what's right. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Tomas. Next person is Melanie. MR. PHILLIPS: I'm Thomas Phillips. I live on Sonoma Avenue in Sebastopol. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 63 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 It's been demonstrated over and over that Walmart sucks jobs. In communities where Walmart has located, there's been a net closure of business. I call your attention to Rohnert Park, In_ this part of town, on Commerce you have a couple shopping centers. Rohnert Park really -- that's sort of the commercial center of Rohnert Park -- is Commerce there where Safeway and some of the other shops are. The drugstore, couple other small shopping centers. Can you imagine the effect that this supercenter is gonna have on those small businesses? Over and over in small towns like Rohnert Park where there's a supercenter located, the small businesses close. So, I urge you not to be, you know, pound foolish and just go for the penny. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank vou. Melanie. Next person is Peter Alexander. Peter. MS. FLEEK: Hi. I'm Melanie Fleek. I live at 1450 East Cotati in Rohnert Park. I'll just say we don't need Walmart and its poverty wages. Everywhere that Walmart opens a store, the local city and county health services get burdened with greater costs, straining their limited resources. 64 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 So, just say "No, thank you" to Walmart. "Your business model stinks." MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Peter. Next person is David. MR. ALEXANDER: Good evening. Peter Alexander Chernoff. Just a few thoughts here. I'm wondering, if we opened our minds up and we asked, Shall we continue to argue regarding -- over symptoms, or shall we address and cease the core problems? Personally, I find it a little embarrassing that our local Farmers' Markets are so poorly attended. And nationwide, many Walmarts have always used to welcome travelers -- overnight travelers and veterans, and it's kind of shameful that local cities have caused them to cease allowing such kindness. Nationwide, people are angry and frustrated, primarily because of all the insanity resulting from the usurous bankers and their fabricated (Inaudible) currency, and secondly by religious deception. I mean, who's gonna be right if everyone is wrong? Parpadeo (Phonetic) It's a statement. It's a meaning. It's regarding the feeling of acknowledgment 65 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 `7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 when finally coming to terms and realizing that most of our long -held beliefs are wrong. The second greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was getting the big religions to alter the definition of murder to exclude animals. We've got people like Clint Eastwood, Cesar Chavez, Coretta Scott King, Ghandi, Einstein -- I could name a thousand more -- and they're all following in the footsteps of the man that they refer to in this country as Jesus, who was a vegetariano. The murder and inoculated animal flesh industry be the core of all war, so too almost all cancer both socially and physically. I'd like to tell you that --- at this time that over 200,000 law enforcement, truckers, laborers, and veterans, and Californians have gotten off the fence as of January 1st to cease the curse by withholding their mortgages and rents. Who's that gonna harm besides the bankers, the ones that maintain all this insanity, all these depressions, and all these wars and oil tankers? Maybe it's time for us to go a little bit above, you know, talking about a little -- supposedly big issues, but nowhere near as big as this true issue of, As we do under the least of me, which was always truly a reference to the animals. Let's shut down the 66 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 system of animal flesh and stop paying mortgages and rents. Who's that gonna hurt besides these bankers? Isn't it time we step forward and claim the promised land? MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. David. MR. PETRITZ: David Petritz representing Sonoma County Conservation Action, 540 Pacific Avenue, Santa Rosa. Just to begin, in 2010, I was part of efforts -- Sonoma County Conservation Action was a part of an effort that collected 2500 postcards opposing the Walmart expansion, and this was all from Rohnert Park residents. We are opposed to Walmart because we understand that a key component of community stainability is jobs that pay a living wage. We are also aware that low -density, large commercial developments such as that -- the proposed Walmart expansion are generally more expensive for cities to service, but produce far less revenue than higher density, mixed -use commercial uses such as the City's envisioned State Farm mixed -use development project. Finally, we are concerned that the Walmart LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1. 2 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 expansion is not in conformity with the intent of the General Plan for neighborhood commercial, and are concerned, therefore, that it has very serious implications in terms of traffic -generated impacts - Thank impacts_ Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Mark Wolfe. And the next person is Jim. MR. WOLFE: Good evening. Point of order, I'm actually here on behalf of one of the Appellants, and my question is whether you prefer me to take more time at the end for -- in that time allowed or -- that would be my preference. MAYOR AHANOTU: Well, if you are here for the Appellants, I will have ten minutes allotted to that to put the Applicant and the Appellant and the -- and Nancy, do you want to yield to him or -- CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: There are two of them. MAYOR AHANOTU: Oh, there two of them. Okay. So, I can give you three minutes, and then, Nancy, you will not be able to have three minutes. MR. WOLFE: I'm sorry. I'm not clear on this. CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: No. He has ten minutes. MAYOR AHANOTU: And Nancy is different. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 •S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Okay. Then go ahead for your ten minutes. CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: He wants to do it at the end. MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. That's fine then. All right. So, Jim. MR. GROH: Good evening. My name is Jim Groh, and I'm actually from Sacramento, California. I am the District Manager for Walmart, and I am primarily based up here in the North Bay. And I've worked with the Windsor and the Rohnert Park store for the last seven years. And I wanted to just kind of humanize it a little bit. We've been hearing about this big, global corporation, and yes, we are a big company. And one of the great values we have is we empower our local stores to become that partnership with our community. And I will tell you, I have a folder of letters from schools, churches, Boy Scouts, educators -- everybody -- of the things that we do every day, every month to support this community. And we're not asking you to bring in a new store, but to expand on the great things we do. We have 300 associates in Rohnert Park here that love what they do. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 • • 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21, 22 23 24 25 I cover a lot of stores. This is a store I get more support, more community feedback. And I walk in there, and there are silver, gold name badges. We have 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25, and over a dozen associates that have been there since we opened the doors in Rohnert Park 23 years ago. They love what they do. They wouldn't come to work every day if they didn't. And they support our customers, help them save money so they can live better and give back to their community with those funds. So, with the addition of some groceries, we're going to just expand on that, continue to support this community, and do some amazing things. But I just want to say what a pleasure it is to come into your community to the great things that are happening in Rohnert Park, and we certainly hope to continue that. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. I still have one card here. Mark Feldman. Is Mark here? (No response) MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. Mark Wolfe. He's outside. Can you see if you can get his attention for 70 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 me, please? MR. WOLFE: All right. Thank you. Good evening. Sorry for that delay. My name is Mark Wolfe, and I am here on behalf of the Sierra Club and Sonoma County Conservation Action. These were the original Petitioners in the lawsuit that got us to where we are today. The staff presentation made reference to the Wolfe appeal. Just to be clear for the record, I'm not the Appellant. I represent the Appellants. I'm their attorney. I don't think I will need more than five minutes. Basically, feeling deja vu. Back in '09 when the original EIR was released, we put in some comments saying basically among other things, You're not doing the noise analysis right, specifically, You're not doing the Cumulative Noise Impact Analysis in the correct way. The city's response -- rather, the EIR consultant's response in the Final EIR, we thought, was pretty dismissive, basically saying, No, no, no, We're doing it right, You're wrong, You're misreading the law, We're doing it right. We then went and retained a consultant, a fairly well-known noise expert named Derek Watry, and he put a letter into the record addressed to the Council 71 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 that basically said, No, no, no, Y really are not doing it the right way. This is what CEQA requires. This is how you were supposed to do a Cumulative Noise Impact Analysis. The EIR doesn't do it the right way. And the response to the comments on the draft were dismissed. We then came up before the Planning Commission. Then we ended up in this chamber on appeals back in 2010, and it seemed very, very familiar to what we saw tonight. We saw slides up on the board basically saying, These are the points raised on the noise issues on appeal. Here's why they're all wet. We did it right. Ignore the Appellants. They got it wrong. The EIR consultant got it right. The staff got it right. Well, we know what happened. Sonoma County Superior Court agreed with Mr. Watry and did not agree with the staff or with the EIR consultant at that time. I am not saying that the Court is going to agree with Mr. Watry again this time for sure. No one knows the answer to that question. But at the very least, it should give you some degree of pause; when Mr. Watry puts in a set of comments and an analysis as detailed as he did a couple of months ago, to take that seriously and to perhaps compare the responses to his and our comments on the Revised Draft EIR with those that came out in 2009 on 72 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the original Draft EIR to see if they're comparably dismissive. We think they are. We think that the analysis remains flawed and that if there is any doubt as to the correct manner in which it should be done, that doubt should be resolved by you tonight in favor of taking Mr. Watry's comments seriously and addressing some of those concerns in a meaningful fashion, in a more meaningful fashion than was done in the Final EIR with comment response document and in the Staff Report. At the very least, justify the use of noise standards that were designed to measure the impacts of airport noise. At the very least, examine noise impacts as they exist in people's front yards that they use for recreational purposes and not several yards further away from the noise source, the roadway. At the building facades, people use their front yards obviously, and that's where the noise impacts are going to be experienced, particularly on summer days when people are using the outdoors. The thing to do tonight that we would recommend is to postpone this further, take a very careful look at Mr. Watry's critique, and at the very least address those concerns if not by changing the actual analysis in the Revised EIR or addressing them in 73 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 more detail with a level of good faith, meaningful analysis that CEQA requires. Finally, I'll just make one last point which is, lest there be an_y doubt, the question of General Plan consistency, that's not our issue. We didn't raise that in the lawsuit below and the Court never ruled on it. It has not been litigated. What that means is, you have that issue squarely before you tonight. And I'm not going to talk about the merits of it. You're going to get the other appellant talking to you. But if anyone is suggesting to you that you are not permitted to consider the issue of General Plan consistency tonight, that is categorically false. The issue was never litigated. You were ordered to rescind your original approval by virtue of the original failing of the Draft EIR at that time, and as a result the matter is before you fresh. Yes, certain aspects of the EIR that were upheld, those are not before you. I can see that. The General Plan issue is squarely before you, and if you find that the Project is inconsistent with the General Plan, you are well within your power and indeed you have an obligation to deny the Project tonight. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 74 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Thank you very much. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. So, is the Applicant here? Would you like to address the Council? MS. QUICK: Good evening, Mayor Ahanotu and the Council. My name is Deborah Quick. I'm from Morgan Lewis, and we're co -counsel with Sheppard Mullin in representing Walmart. I just wanted to check first to make sure that the other Appellants may have a representative who wants to speak. As it's their appeal, I think it would be appropriate for them to have an opportunity to do so. (No response) MS. QUICK: So, first of all, we would like to thank staff. Marilyn and your team, you've done a tremendous amount of work, and I think it shows in the quality of your work product. Basically, this application has not changed from what has been before you now for years, and so, we're not going to make any presentation because the application itself has stayed the same. We're here to answer your questions, and to do so, we have the project's engineer and Amelia McLear from Walmart, and I am here, obviously, as well. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 75 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I would like to say, though, that -- that we do feel that Marilyn's team has -- that the quality of their work speaks for itself and that the City has taken very seriously the comments from the Superior Court and has turned in a work product that, I think, you can well rely on. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: Mr. Mayor, on a point of order here, the representative for that point of view said that there were people present would could answer questions, and I'd just like to ask you, as the chair who is president of this Council running this public hearing, is this the time for us to ask such questions, or are we waiting -- and I can ask this through you to the City Attorney -- or should we wait and then be able to ask questions of experts that are present? CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: You should ask questions now during the public hearing if you have questions of the public. So, if you have questions of the Appellant, if you have questions for the Applicant, now is the time to ask those questions. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: She was still supposed to speak; remember? LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 76 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: Excuse me? Could I ask my question, Mr. Mayor? MAYOR AHANOTU: Yes. Please, go ahead. COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: Do you want to close the public comments now or CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: I -- my understanding was that you gave your Appellant presentation when you spoke, and there were six people, I believe, who were part of your appeal when you gave the presentation that you gave to the Council; is that incorrect? MS. ATWELL: (Inaudible) and I talked at the end of that, and he gave me additional time at this. I didn't understand originally, but he gave me additional time. And then I understood that I was to split the time with Mark, who then gave me the additional time. MAYOR AHANOTU: Go ahead. Go ahead. MS. ATWELL: So, I'm sorry if it was -- MAYOR AHANOTU: Three minutes. COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: Two minutes. MS. ATWELL: -- the confusion. MAYOR AHANOTU: Go ahead. Three minutes. I said three minutes. MS. ATWELL: Okay. MAYOR AHANOTU: Go ahead. MS. ATWELL: Nancy Atwell, 1504 Gary Court. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 77 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1.4 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Some of the signs in the audience have said that they support local businesses, and Walmart is not sourcing local. Local, in other definitions, means local, the county. And in their earlier appeal -- their earlier -- several years ago they said that they intended to buy local and they intended to buy organic. And I have visited both of their stores. They are not buying local, meaning Sonoma County. They are not helping o>>r current farms and so forth, and they're not selling organic. So, I have concerns when they make those promises and some of the other things that have come up, what other things are not going to be happening that they said they were gonna do. Because if they had that intent, they had several years to already be buying from our local farmers and helping the community. You have heard other speakers point out the problems with the Rohnert Park General Plan and its Constitution. And its the Constitution that trumpets [sic] any specific Zoning Ordinance or Specific Plan and General Plan. The coalition several years ago when this was before the Council delivered 2500 postcards signed by Rohnert Park residents to the City. This was about LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 2010, I believe. We believe that the opposition has only grown since that time. These were collected not at the store, handed out where it's easy to do. This was hand to hand, foot to foot, getting these cards signed. It means a lot more when it comes from the community like that. This is one of the more controversial decisions that I believe this council is going to make now and in the next decade. It's divided the community, and that's unfortunate. Many communities nationwide are fighting Walmart's coming in because of many of the things that have been said at this point. Now, we already have Walmart here. We already have a grocery store here, and the expansion, I think, will be detrimental to the community. We urge you to deny the Project. The discount store will continue to be important in this community, as well as the grocery store that already is there, but the cost of the supercenter far outweighs the benefits that this community will receive from that due to loss of jobs and many of the other issues that are -- have gone on. Please hear us. Don't go local. And as Mark said, you do not have to make this decision tonight. 79 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12, 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 There are many issues that I believe that you still need to explore before a decision is made, and that you need to look into those and talk to counsel, because I think it will be very bad for our community if we don't explore this further. Thank you very much for the additional time. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you very much. And now I close the Public Hearing. (Public Hearing closed at 8:10 p.m.) COUNCIL MOTION/DISCUSSION/VOTE MAYOR AHANOTU: I bring it back to the Council. We have Resolutions for Adoption 2015-001, Denying the Appeals to the Planning Commission's August 14, 2014, Decisions, Certifying the Final Environmental Impact Report and the Partially Recirculated Final Environmental Impact Report, Adopting Statement of Overriding Considerations and Mitigation Monitoring and the Report -- Reporting Program for a Walmart Expansion located at 4625 Redwood Drive, Rohnert Park, California. Can I get Council motion? COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: I'll make that LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 i1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 motion. MAYOR AHANOTU: Any second? COUNCIL MEMBER STAFFORD: I'll second. MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. Before we start on the discussion, I would ask the City Attorney to give us guidance on the law, what we are voting for. CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: Well, the motion is to deny the appeals and approve the Planning Commission's decision certifying the Final Environmental Impact Report, the Partially Recirculated Final Environmental Impact Report, Adopting Statement of Overriding Considerations and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for a Walmart Expansion located at 4625 Redwood Drive, Rohnert Park. That's the first motion that the Council will consider. There are two other motions that the Council should consider after deliberations on this initial motion, which could include questions as well as deliberation by the rest of the Council. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. I'll open up for discussion, Council. COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: I have no -- is it questions or -- MAYOR AHANOTU: Discussion or question. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: I have no question for the Applicants. I do have one question for our attorney. Legally, if we deny this, I mean, are we putting ourselves out there for a lawsuit? Are we -- legally, where do we stand, shall I ask? CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: Well, I think that I concur with staff's recommendation that the appeals do not raise issues that would obligate the Council to overturn the decision of the Planning Commission. So, staff's recommendation and the City Attorney's recommendation is to deny the appeals. COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: That's what I wanted to hear. Okay. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Stafford. COUNCIL MEMBER STAFFORD: Yes. What would the inconsistency be with LU-7? CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: I'm sorry. Say that again. COUNCIL MEMBER STAFFORD: Is there an inconsistency with LU-7? CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: No. And -- not from staff's interpretation of General Plan Policy LU-7, nor 82 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 with the City Attorney's Office interpretation of LU-7. LU-7 is very simply one statement that supports making supermarkets accessible and close to where people live, and to facilitate bicycle and pedestrian access. That is basically all that LU-7 says. It does not prohibit regional center supermarkets. It does not require that all supermarkets be neighboring -- local neighbor markets -- neighborhood markets. It is very clear, not only in the plain language of LU-7, but also in the interpretive provisions that are located in LU-7 that this Project from a legal perspective is consistent with LU-7 and the General Plan. COUNCIL MEMBER STAFFORD: Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. Thank you. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: So, this is both questions and discussion? MAYOR AHANOTU: Yes. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: Questions to elucidate what we've heard up to this point in time and then our discussions on the motion that's before us; correct? MAYOR AHANOTU: That's correct. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: Okay. I thought it was just questions, so I do have -- COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: No, no. MAYOR AHANOTU: I'll come back -- I'_11 come back to you later. COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: Okay. Because I do have comments. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: I was surprised, but never mind. COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: I thought he said questions. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: Toward -- at the very end, the question of the response to the noise problems that were found to exist by the Court, in the Staff Report on page 68 and 67 under Section 8 on noise, it says here that there was supplemental analysis. It did consider whether existing nearby land uses would experience a substantial permanent increase in ambient noise levels due to the Project's vehicular trips. And the supplemental analysis found that no existing land uses that currently experience noise levels that are below the applicable standards would be exposed to noise levels that exceed the applicable standards. And -- and so on. I mean, what I heard the Appellants' attorney 84 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 say was, if I was listening hard enough, that they were just repeating what they said the first time and we could expect that they would -- that this language here wouldn't stand up to further analysis. So, since the people who are trying to overturn the Planning Commission's denial of the appeal, do we, on the side of the staff, have someone who can speak to the point raised, that, in fact, this is nothing but a sort of repetition of what we did five years ago. DIR. OF DEV. SERVICES PONTON: Yes. Thank you. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: Through you, Mr. Mayor. DIR. OF DEV. SERVICES PONTON: Excuse me. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: (Inaudible) DIR. OF DEV. SERVICES PONTON: Excuse me. I apologize. Through the Mayor, in response to that, we do have staff here to respond to the explanation on the noise matter. I'll turn it over to Mr. Gruber and Mr. Tonkovich. much. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: Thank you very MR. GRUBER: For the record, Grant Gruber with 85 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 FirstCarbon Solutions, formerly Michael Brandman Associates. We prepared the Environmental Impact Report. We addressed the comments submitted by Mr, Wolfe and Mr. Watry, I believe, in the Partially Recirculated Final EIR. If you'd like to follow along, the page number is 2-32. Mr. Wolfe's first comment is essentially that we use a noise threshold that was really only for aircraft, and as we explain at length here, that is not the case. And just to briefly summarize, we used standards that were developed by the Federal Interagency Committee On Noise, and this is a federal working group that was convened in the early '90s to study noise. They looked at both scientific research about human responses to noise, and then also studies about sources of noise, including aircraft and traffic noise. They also being looked at transportation noise source in general. And so, this working group developed some recommendations that were ultimately adopted throughout the United States, including here in California, notably by state agencies including Caltrans and also the Governor's Office in the planning of -- the Governor's 86 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Office of Planning and Research and specifically, the General Plan guidelines. Those General Plan guidelines ended up being incorporated into the City of Rohnert Park's General Plan Noise Element. Long story short, these FICON standards have been widely acknowledged to address all sources of noise, not just aircraft but also traffic noise, and are recognized by your General Plan. The second issue Mr. Wolfe raised was about the appropriate place to measure noise, and this was addressed at length on page 2-38. And Mr. Wolfe essentially takes the position, or took the position in his comments we should have used a very conservative standard, we should have measured noise at the nearest property line to the roadway, whereas we had used the building facade. So, just for the sake of argument, we used Mr. Wolfe's approach of measuring noise at the property line, and compared it to what we had reported by measuring it at the building facade. We have a series of tables here showing what the results of those measurements were. And the answer was it did not change a single conclusion. So, whether you take building facade or property line, the result is the same, and we concluded impacts are less than LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 significant. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And if I might just continue very quickly to ask a question of our staff. Ms. Ponton, in your staff review of the consultants' work and in your preparation of the Staff Report, are you satisfied that we have met the challenge that was presented to us in this recirculation? DIR. OF DEV. SERVICES PONTON: Thank you. As staff worked with the consultants over the period of the last few years along in the lines of the Draft EIR and the Partially Recirculated Draft EIR and the Partially Recirculated Final EIR, along with the preface to the EIR, we find that the staff's work and our review is adequate. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: And Mr. Mayor, one final question in this area, if I might ask through you to you City Attorney. City Attorney, did you or your associates work with staff in light of the court -ordered recirculation and find it to be satisfactory? CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: Yes. We worked very closely with staff and the consultants to make sure that the Partially Recirculated Draft and the Final EIR were 88 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 not only adequate with regard to the Project environmental analysis, but that it also conformed to what the Court ordered. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: Thank you. That answers my questions. I'll -- I would prefer to revert back to our normal order of hearing discussion points, and then I'll have my discussion points. MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. Vice Mayor. VICE MAYOR BELFORTE: Yes. I do have questions for Mr. Gruber. On your letter dated November 10th, on page 2, you talk about noise level and how humans hear noise change at three decibels, if I read your report right -- three decibels, okay, and that you put six different receptors on the west side of Dowdell Avenue, and when you looked a the noise -- and that's on page 3 of your letter -- you basically say there were no changes in noise levels or net decrease in noise levels with the exception of one receptor and that one receptor was found with a net increase of .01 decibel increase in noise level; is that correct? MR. GRUBER: That is correct. It's one -tenth of one decibel. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 VICE MAYOR BELFORTE: Okay. Can you explain to me, you talked a little bit about a shield, and you stated there is going to be improvements to the sound wall. located on the west side of the Walmart property -- an additional shielding provided. How -- so, you feel that that's not going to increase the noise, that that actually has potential to decrease even further the noise? MR. GRUBER: I'll let Greg Tonkovich, the noise analyst, take that question. VICE MAYOR BELFORTE: Thank you. Thank you, sir. MR. TONKOVICH: Hi. This is Greg Tonkovich. This is actually from the Draft EIR in 2009. It wasn't part of our revised analysis. And in that study, we analyzed the combined roadway noise and the noise from stationary sources at Walmart. And the biggest noise source in this area is the 101 freeway. And the expansion of the Walmart is -- it's basically making a 30-foot high sound wall that's gonna be expanded and protect the homes behind it. And I -- we -- I used the sound plan model which is capable of analyzing multiple noise sources altogether at the same time. There's noise contrary LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 CI 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 drafts in the EIR that you can actually -- you can see the noise levels at each location. And we modeled five -- six of the homes behind Walmart, and five of the six homes, the noise decreased. There is also a mitigation measure from the 2009 EIR that requires Walmart -- there's a sound wall along the Dowdell Avenue, and they have to increase it by -- to seven feet and extend it. It will provide additional noise attenuation to the homes immediately next -- across the street from Dowdell Avenue to Walmart. And so, the -- the analysis found that those homes will mostly decrease except for the one 0.1 increase, and that house is farther to the south and doesn't get the same amount of blocking of the one on the freeway. VICE MAYOR BELFORTE: Okay. Okay. Great. Thank you very much. And the other question I have -- and maybe this is more for the City Attorney through you Mr. Mayor -- LU-7, the way that it's written, it says "encourage new neighborhood commercial facilities and supermarkets to be located to maximize accessibility to all residential areas." And I understand that with the development LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 91 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 that's going in -- that there will be approximately 2,000 people; is that correct? -- that's going to be moving in to that west side of Rohnert Park? CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: That is my understanding, but I think we would -- I'd like to get some confirmation from Planning Director Marilyn Ponton. DIR. OF DEV. SERVICES PONTON: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And in response, currently approved and under construction is the Fiori Estates, 244 units, so that by our factors that we assess those projects on -- multi-family -- that would net about 500 residents there. Currently under construction. Currently approved across the street from that project is The Reserve. That's about 84 multi -family units. So, we anticipate about 160, 170 residents there. Recently approved in November of last year is the Northwest Specific Plan which envisions about 398 residential units, so we're looking at approximately 800 residents. VICE MAYOR BELFORTE: Okay. And on the slide you put up, you said that General Plan consistency is "not an issue found deficient by the trial court." LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 92 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Could -- could you, City Attorney, expand on that just a little bit? CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: Yeah. That was an issue that was raised in the petition below, but it was not thoroughly litigated by the parties. My understanding is that the Sierra Club dropped that argument during litigation. VICE MAYOR BELFORTE: So, is -- do you feel that that complaint has merit or no merit? CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: Well, the issue is the same -- whether or not the Project is consistent with LU-7 -- and our position back then, which was determined by the Council, and our position today is the same, that the Project is consistent with the General Plan Policy LU-7. VICE MAYOR BELFORTE: So, then, if somebody is saying that it is not consistent, then that would not be with merit; basically, there would be no merit in what they're saying, that it is not consistent? CITY ATTORNEY KENYON: Yes. I would disagree with that statement. VICE MAYOR BELFORTE: All right. Those are my only questions. Thank you very much. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. And I'll bring you back. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 93 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Council Member Callinan. COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: Okay. Comments. Yes, I do have some comments for the record. I agree that our Land Use Policy LU-7 is consistent with this project. It is not intended -- or, was not intended to exclude supercenters. I've looked at Raley's in Rohnert Park, which is a superstore. It opened back in 1980. I know that, because my wife went to work there, and at the time that was the giant superstore. So, we already have superstores or supercenters, as you want to call them, in town. Maybe not to that magnum [sic] or that size, but they are in town. We have Target across the freeway that has a grocery store in it right now. No one said anything when that -- they decided to open up their grocery store. We talked about, you know, it's gonna hurt our local grocery stores. I hate to tell you, buddy, but Safeway, Raley's, and FoodMaxx is not a local grocery store. They are chains, and they are big conglomerates just like everybody else. I can't blame Walmart because they're better at it. Our job is not to be -- (To the audience) I'm sorry you feel that way -- our job is not to talk about 94 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 wages. It's not our job as a council to decide what a business pays their employees. That's -- that's not up to us. If they legally meet the requirements in zoning and planning, which I believe have all been met, that's what do up here as a city council. It is not our job to decide how much they should pay or what benefits they should pay their employees. I'm sorry that people disagree with that. The simple solution is, if you don't like the store, don't shop there. And for the gentleman that says that we're -- we can all be intimidated up here, anybody that knows me knows that I can't be intimidated. And that's why I didn't talk to anybody. I made up my own mind, my own decision. So, I'm sorry, but that's the way I feel. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Council Member Stafford. COUNCIL MEMBER STAFFORD: No comment. MAYOR AHANOTU: No comment. Mackenzie. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: I have a considerable number of comments to make, so bear with me. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Five years ago, this matter was in front of LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 ON 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 this City Council in this room. I can't remember which spot in the dais I was sitting in -- doesn't much matter -- but I did keep my handwritten notes from which I spoke at that time, and I'm -just going to use some of them. For the record, I was one of the principal authors of "Our Place, Rohnert Park 2020," our General Plan, and I do believe that consistency with the General Plan is very important. I do believe that our city has broad discretion in controlling how our city grows and what constitutes quality of life in our city. We did and do have a theme in our General Plan that emphasizes balanced neighborhoods, stores and parks easily accessible to residents. We do have these land use policies. We want to have a vision of the future of our community. At that time, the Planning Commission had denied the Project, refused to certify the EIR, but I respectfully disagreed with the grounds upon which the Planning Commission took that action. And I believed and I continue to believe that the basis for the denial should be that the record does not contain substantial evidence to support a finding that the benefits of the Project outweigh its traffic -related and other significant and unavoidable 96 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 impacts. And there was testimony given by various people at that time, which were entered into the record. Particularly interesting at that time was Dr. Robert Eyler of Sonoma State University, the economist, who reported on potential impact on job retention, the potential impact on increase in sales taxes, talked about data on the distribution of customers in the northeast quadrant of Rohnert Park, and the lack of evidence to support either sales tax revenue increases for the City or overall increase in jobs in Rohnert Park. And I then went on to say the basis for this denial would be that, after review of the entire administrative record, including but not limited to the -- that then -- to that EIR -- that the Staff Report Applicant submittals, and the oral and written testimony and evidence presented at public hearings -- that we should find that the entire administrative record does not contain substantive evidence to support a finding that the specific economic, legal, social, technological, and other anticipated benefits of the Project outweigh the significant and unavoidable impacts of the Project. And I believe that the benefits that were laid 97 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 out in the Draft Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations are not substantially supported by the record. In particular, the Project would generate sales tax for the City and the project would create diverse employment opportunity for city residents. Now, I apologize to the people sitting next to me at this seat, because unfortunately our cats attacked the original Fact and Finding of Statement of Overriding Considerations, so we'll remove that from the dais. We will go back and say that the same Findings of Fact and Overriding Considerations are re -presented to us in virtually identical language. The only change in the language that I could find is that in terms of corporate benefits brought to various organizations in the City of Rohnert Park, there's some figures that are omitted. I don't believe that -- that that is germane. We are supposed to vote on this resolution tonight, and that resolution says, on the basis of the evidence contained in the administrative report of the Final EIR and the Partly [sic] Recirculated Final EIR that the City Council finds there is no significant new information concerning the Project's environmental effects, and so on. And then it goes on to say, Here is Exhibit A, 98 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 which I -- is virtually verbatim from five years ago, that the resolution provides the findings required for significant effects of the Project, and that the Council should find that we should accept these adverse effects of the Project due to overriding considerations. I do not believe that that holds water. I didn't believe it held water then. I don't believe that it holds water now. So, that's not all that I have to say. I have a few more wee things that I'd like to add here. While you were talking and I was taking notes of the 30-plus people who testified, I did bring my General Plan with me, and I think in terms of being intellectually honest and showing that, like Council Member Callinan, I'm not intimidated by one person or lots of people or -- I am persuaded, I hope, by intellectual arguments that stand up. I'm here to tell you that as one of the authors of the General Plan in the year 2000, here's the General Plan diagram. Now, if this is the constitution for growth for the City of Rohnert Park, I'm here to tell you that every commercial area on the west side that was within the City limits at that time that this General Plan language map was put together are very bright red, which means commercial -residential. 99 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I'm also here to tell you that back five years ago, we were shown -- and I'm sorry that I can't, you know, display this up on the screen here, but I did add a circle to this -- we were qiven as part of the presentations and part of the record five years ago this one -mile circle which at that time -- and it says right here -- Pacific Mart, and that was -- that was the circle. It includes G section and E section and F section and H section. And then there was a circle that showed the proposed Project, which takes you out -- way out to Whistler Avenue and parts beyond. But the circle that was not included in this is the one -mile circle that includes FoodMaxx and Target. Now, when you look at that circle and you then superimpose where Fiori Estates and whatever the name of that other place is with the 800 or so residents, these 800 or so residents are just as close to Target and FoodMaxx as the proposed expanded store of Walmart, the superstore. And so, I being a goodfellow went over and looked at the grocery section in the existing Walmart, and I would agree with the public testimony that said for people who may end up living in the Northwest Specific Plan area, which apartments would be a wee bit closer to the Walmart store, they would find an adequate 100 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 supply of groceries right there. And they also would have, I would suggest, easy access to Target and FoodMaxx. And if they chose to walk and bike, it's level land over there, and there will be Class II bike paths there if there aren't now. So, what I'm really saying is that I do not believe that -- the argument that is made that the EIR issue is no longer in contention. I urge you to confirm the Planning Commission's findings that the EIR is adequate to address the concerns of the Court. I held then and I hold now that it is inadequate, that it doesn't meet evidentiary requirements. And frankly, the die was cast a long time ago with the existence of stores on the west side of the freeway. I'm afraid the landscape has changed; corporate practices have changed. There are, as Council Member Callinan said, already existing... I -- I just -- I don't find the argument on the land use element persuasive. What I do find is that there is no need for a Walmart superstore on the west side because of the existence of these three circles. And so, that, to me, buttresses my points of the lack of any advantages under the Statement of Overriding Considerations. The evidence refutes it. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 101 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 And so, that's the end of my discussion. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Vice Mayor. VICE MAYOR BELFORTE: So, clearly, what we're asked to do tonight is to vote on two issues and only two issues. And I've said this publicly and I'll say it again: I'm not a Walmart shopper. The time that I go to Walmart is when my child had 103 temperature and my other child had 102 and it was three o'clock in the morning and I had no medicine. And the only place that was open was Walmart, and thank God they were, because I couldn't reach a doctor, and I needed help and I needed it now. But I'm not a Walmart shopper, and it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I'm a Walmart shopper. What matters is there are people that shop there. And what I'm asked to vote on tonight are two very clear issues. We have another tire store that's coming into town soon. It's gonna be seven tire stores. How many tire stores does the City need? I don't think we need another tire store. I'm not going to be asked to vote on it. That's not how our society works here. If LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 102 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 somebody likes that tire store, they can go and shop there. If they don't, they don't have to. So, there's two different things that are going on. One is that some people don't like the business practices that Target [sic] has. I'm not asked to rule on that. I can choose to shop there or I can choose not to shop there. There are stores that I go to because when I walk in, I'm like, Wow, I like that store. There are other stores I go to, doesn't make me feel comfortable there. But the issue that we're to vote on tonight is a very, very clear issue, and I do find that it has been addressed, and I feel it has been addressed sufficiently. The other issue that has to do with LU-7, I don't find any merit for it at all. I think that that General Plan is very clear. And when you look at the amount of grocery stores that we have -- we have a Raley's right next to a Safeway, which is right across the street from a Grocery Outlet, which is right down the street from FoodMaxx -- that is not in multiple neighborhoods. That's in one neighborhood. So, the way that we have to look at this -- and it's unfortunate, because sometimes people get upset 103 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 with what we're asked to vote on and then what and how we vote on. If I was asked to vote on their corporate practices, if I was asked to vote about the thousand people that were killed in Bangladesh, I might give you a different vote. That's not what I'm being asked to vote on. So, I'm gonna very clearly -- I am very clearly going to follow what I'm going to be asked to vote on, because that's the law. We have heard from the courts. We have heard from attorneys. To me, it is a very clear issue. Thank you. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Anyone else has any comment, questions? COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: (Indicating) MAYOR AHANOTU: Yes. Go ahead. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: Just, Vice Mayor Belfor_te reminded me what I had meant to mention, that in our Staff report on this resolution that I'm clearly opposed to -- that we have -- we have been given by staff the following options for consideration. And number 1 would be to deny the appeals and affirm the Planning Commission's decision to certify, et cetera. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 104 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 The second option that we are given is to grant the appeals, deny certification of the EIR and deny the entitlements. And then, C is modify the various decisions, and that is -- these are the three options considered -- in the Staff Report. I feel very comfortable basically looking at option number B, and I'll just -- I just wanted to be sure that everybody in this room is aware that we were given three options. COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: I'll stick to my first. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Okay. When you get elected, I hope that they will not elect you to make an emotional decision. This has been an emotional decision for everybody. I am not looking at it as an emotional decision. We have a set of conditions laid out by the Court that we need to consider. The next thing is the logic. Two people would look at the same thing and come up with different interpretations. And you can see it happening in this forum today. Again, five of us here will end up making the decisions, and each us will make decisions based on our understanding of the General Plan. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 105 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 An issue that has been brought up is the LU-7. From what I've heard so far I've learned that this project is consistent with the LU-7. We come to the law. When you are given a set of parameters to vote on, you cannot deter from that -- a set-up where everyone will at it from the same angle. This was litigated. It came back to the Council. And the judge gave the Council specific instructions to vote on. And that's what we are going to be voting be. Again, the Walmart practices, benefits, wages, you know, I'm not sure this is the forum for to us litigate that. Maybe people that are smarter than I am or we are might be able to do that, but I don't see it playing out here. I see that we have a set of points that we have to focus on, and that's really what we are going to be looking at -- at least for me what I am going to be looking at when I cast my vote. And finally, for me, fiscal responsibility. We are looking at two options given to us, and we have to be mindful of the City's standard on both sides. And again, we have to make decisions. This is not an easy decision; this is not an easy vote. We have to make that decision, and I hope that at the end of the day -- that our community will 106 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 come together and see that those two -- those parameters that we are given, that we voted on it, and that was the right thing to do. Having said that, I'm going to go ahead and call the vote. Do I have a first? COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: I made the first. MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. COUNCIL MEMBER STAFFORD: I did the second. VICE MAYOR BELFORTE: Pam did the second. MAYOR AHANOTU: Pam second. Okay. And any further discussions on this issue? (No response) MAYOR AHANOTU: No. Okay. All in favor, say "aye." (Council Members vote.) MAYOR AHANOTU: Opposed? COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: No. MAYOR AHANOTU: City Clerk. CITY CLERK BUERGLER: The motion carries by a 4-1-0 vote. Council Member Mackenzie is a "no." MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. We have Resolution for Adoption 2015-002, Approving the Site Plan and Architectural Review for a Walmart Expansion Located at 4625 Redwood Drive. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 107 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: I'll make the motion. VICE MAYOR BELFORTE: Second. MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. And I'll open it up for discussion. COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: No discussion here. MAYOR AHANOTU: Any questions? (No response) MAYOR AHANOTU: No. Okay. I'll call the vote. All in favor, say "aye." (Council Members vote.) MAYOR AHANOTU: Opposed? (No response) MAYOR AHANOTU: Abstain? COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: No, no. No. You're going very fast for me just now. I need to reflect on life and stuff right now. So, this is the one approving the Site Plan and the Architectural Review? COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: Right. MAYOR AHANOTU: Yes. VICE MAYOR BELFORTE: Yes. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: Aye. MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 City Clerk. CITY CLERK BUERGLER: The motion carries 5-0. All are a "yes." MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Another Resolution for Adoption 2015-003, Approving the Sign Program for a Walmart Expansion located at 4625 Redwood Drive, Rohnert Park, California. Call for a motion. COUNCIL MEMBER CALLINAN: I'll make a motion. COUNCIL MEMBER STAFFORD: Second. MAYOR AHANOTU: Okay. We have a first and second. Any discussions? Any questions? COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: (Indicating) MAYOR AHANOTU: Mackenzie. COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE: Discussion, since I had a lot of things that I had meant to say during the course of our major discussions. I have to say very regretfully that in terms of any signage that Walmart will put up, I have not been happy by the way in which the Walmart neighborhood store has conducted itself after a major effort that I and Planning Commissioner Haydon made to introduce Walmart to GO LOCAL to the Sonoma County Farm Bureau to local producers of foods. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 11! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 The only Sonoma County products that -- from agriculture in Sonoma County that I can find in our neighborhood market are wines. We have a very active dairy industry in this county. I can find no Sonoma County dairy products in the dairy section of that store. We had corporate Walmart come out from Bentonville. We had regional people come out. We had meetings with the Farm Bureau. We went on a field trip with Walmart representatives and Walmart staff out to the neighborhood stores in Vacaville. And frankly, since the store opened in October, it is a convenience to those of us who live in the north end of Rohnert Park, but I'm afraid I have not seem any evidence of supporting GO LOCAL. And I would just hope that they will mend their ways. And if, in fact, they do go ahead and build the superstore, then I hope they hold to their promises. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. So, we have the first and the second. Any further discussions? (No response) MAYOR AHANOTU: All in favor say "aye." (Council Members vote.) LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 110 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MAYOR AHANOTU: Opposed? (No response) MAYOR AHANOTU: Zero. City Clerk. CITY CLERK BUERGLER: The motion carries by a 5-0, all yes. MAYOR AHANOTU: Thank you. Okay. We'll go ahead and take five minutes' break. (Whereupon, at 8:51 p.m., the portion of the Joint Regular Meeting of the Rohnert Park City Council for Agenda Item No. 8 was concluded.) ---000--- LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER I, KATY LEONARD, a Certified Shorthand Reporter, hereby certify that the foregoing proceedings were taken in shorthand by me at the time and place therein stated, and that the said proceedings were thereafter reduced to typewriting, by computer, under my direction and supervision; And I further certify that I am not of counsel or attorney for either or any of the parties to said matter, nor in any way interested in the outcome of the cause named herein. DATED: February 7, 2015 KATY LEONARD Certified Shorthand Reporter License No. 11599 LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC. (415) 312-9040 112