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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2012-08-15CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM 400 GRAND AVENYIE S01717H SAN FRANCISCO WEDNESDAY AUGUST 15, 2012 Call to Order: Time: 6:36 p.m. 2. Roll Call. Present: Councilmembers Addiego, Matsumoto and Mullin, Vice Mayor Gonzalez, Mayor Garbarino. Absent: None. 3. Public Comments — comments are limited to items on the Special Meeting Agenda. None. 4. Agenda Review. None. Study Session: Land Use. Noting the study session was intended to serve as a general land use discussion with Council, Principal Planner Beaudin provided a PowerPoint presentation on the subject. At the outset he briefly outlined areas of recent Council policy and staff focus, including the General Plan and recent policy updates, the 2010 Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance update and the GIS Platform for the South San Francisco Zoning Ordinance. Regarding the General Plan, he summarized the various elements as the blueprint for future development in the community including the following notable policy updates: the Housing Element updated in 2002 and 2009, South El Camino Real updated in 2010, Chestnut/El Camino real updated in 2011, the Bicycle Master Plan updated in 2011 and the Downtown which he characterized as ongoing. Regarding the Zoning Ordinance, he noted that the complete overhaul in 2010 was the result of MINUTES .(.( n SPECIAL MEETING o CITY COUNCIL °�ttr0R� OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO P.O. Box 711 (City Hall, 400 Grand Avenue) South San Francisco, California 94083 CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM 400 GRAND AVENYIE S01717H SAN FRANCISCO WEDNESDAY AUGUST 15, 2012 Call to Order: Time: 6:36 p.m. 2. Roll Call. Present: Councilmembers Addiego, Matsumoto and Mullin, Vice Mayor Gonzalez, Mayor Garbarino. Absent: None. 3. Public Comments — comments are limited to items on the Special Meeting Agenda. None. 4. Agenda Review. None. Study Session: Land Use. Noting the study session was intended to serve as a general land use discussion with Council, Principal Planner Beaudin provided a PowerPoint presentation on the subject. At the outset he briefly outlined areas of recent Council policy and staff focus, including the General Plan and recent policy updates, the 2010 Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance update and the GIS Platform for the South San Francisco Zoning Ordinance. Regarding the General Plan, he summarized the various elements as the blueprint for future development in the community including the following notable policy updates: the Housing Element updated in 2002 and 2009, South El Camino Real updated in 2010, Chestnut/El Camino real updated in 2011, the Bicycle Master Plan updated in 2011 and the Downtown which he characterized as ongoing. Regarding the Zoning Ordinance, he noted that the complete overhaul in 2010 was the result of three plus years of outreach and redrafting. The goals of this update are to bring consistency with the General Plan, streamline the review process and permit clarification and flexibility. Councilwoman Matsumoto queried progress with respect to consistency between the Zoning Ordinance and General Plan. Associate Planner Beaudin opined that with recent amendments progress was about 90% complete. Key zoning changes included more applications eligible for major use permits. The City also has the most flexible standard in the County related to non - conforming use standards offering up to three years. Up to 10% of several standards can be waived or modified at the staff level. Regarding flexible parking standards, he noted the provisions lay out clear process requirements while supporting the transportation demand management network and Complete Streets requirements. Associate Planner Beaudin also noted the Lindenville /San Bruno Bart Station Area Solution which allows mixed industrial uses until 2024 or until necessary improvements are planned. He further observed that East of 101 industrial uses in the business technology park ( "BTP ") are conforming if they existed in 1997 or were approved prior to July 10, 2000. Councilman Mullin questioned options if a variance could not be permitted in certain Iocations. Associate Planner Beaudin advised a Zoning or General Plan amendment is always an option. Associate Planner Beaudin next moved to the portion of the presentation dealing with Planning Division Staff's responsibility for implementing the City's General Plan and Zoning Regulations including CEQA. He noted the various layers of that responsibility, including work for Council and Boards and Commissions as follows: City Council, Successor Agency, Planning Commission, Parking Place Commission and Design Review Board. Within direction from these agencies, staffs responsibilities include ongoing regional and local participation. Further, development projects and policy work over the past few years have continued the goal of long range planning to sustain the economic and social vitality of the City. Staff has assisted with policy development for the climate action plan, encouragement of mixed use development and increased biotechnology space. Staff is focused on building relationships and making the development review process run as smoothly as possible. Councilwoman Matsumoto highlighted the significance of staff's service on various regional committees, including C /CAG Congestion Management Program Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). She advised of the importance of having a voice on this committee, which reviews proposals prior to C /CAG approval. She also stressed the importance of having housing requirement projects submitted in a timely fashion to meet MTC requirements for receipt of funding. Assistant City Manager and Director of Economic and Community Development Van Duyn advised that the regional noise contour amendments to the airport land use requirements might limit opportunities with respect to the Spruce /El Camino Project due to the fact that the City and Successor Agency don't presently maintain control of the properties due to RDA dissolution. However, the City is well aligned to compete with other projects for MTC grant and loan funds SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 1S, 2012 MINUTES PAGE 2 down the road due to planning and other related regional policies and programs the City already has in place. He noted recent receipt of $650,000 in grant funding from MTC, which was awarded largely on the strength of the policies and programs presently in effect. Staff would continue to work aggressively on sustainability planning and transit oriented developments and the essential structures are in place. Vice Mayor Gonzalez noted his concerns related to parking. He observed that many businesses are parking in neighborhoods and limiting the parking available to residents. City Manager Nagel advised this was a code enforcement issue that could be discussed at a future study session. Principal Planner Beaudin next moved to the portion of the presentation providing a demo of the City's Interactive /GIS Zoning Ordinance, which he opined would help persons who need to access the code on a frequent basis. Councilman Mullin thanked staff for developing the site. He then questioned how the dissolution of RDA would affect the Zoning Ordinance and General Plan since much of the language of these two texts was developed while RDA still existed. Principal Planner Beaudin cited the Chestnut area as an example of where RDA Dissolution might have an impact. He noted, however, that since statewide policies on the issue are still developing, it is not yet advisable to consider changing the Zoning Ordinance or General Plan. Councilman Mullin next focused on the issue of the perceived lack of a quality grocery store in the City. He noted the community's frustration over the lack of upgrades to the Safeways in the City. He questioned whether the addition of a big box grocer such as Wal-Mart to the mix of grocers in the City would further impede such progress. He also questioned the process a large grocer would have to confront at the planning level and requested the City's authority with respect to zoning in this regard. Assistant City Manager and Director of Economic and Community Development Van Duyn advised that Council would first have to define its objective, i.e. to regulate: 1) the number of grocery stores in the City,; or 2) to avoid compaction; or 3) to encourage the development of a quality grocery store in the City, etc.. Councilman Mullin advised he was not prepared to advocate one way or the other but would ask that staff, with consent of Council, study the land use question of whether large grocery stores put smaller and other quality grocery stores out of business or discourage such grocers from improving their facilities or opening businesses in South San Francisco. Councilman Addiego noted that a successful quality grocery store in the center of town draws people into the City and enhances the returns to other local businesses. Councilwoman Matsumoto observed that communities like San Bruno benefitted from the Molly Stone's and Lunardi's operating within City limits. She further commented on the number of South City residents that drive out of town to shop at those stores. SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 15, 2012 MINUTES PAGE 3 Council was in favor of having staff look at land use options related to grocery stores and bringing the item back for discussion at a later meeting. 6. Adjournment. Being no further business, Mayor Garbarino adjourned the meeting at 7:55 p.m. Submitted: Approved: Z6 Vifiddq Kris inelli RjI Garbarino City Clerk, City of South San Francisco Mayor, City of South San Francisco SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES AUGUST 15, 2012 PAGE 4