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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.03.2023 Youth Commission MinutesCity of South San Francisco Youth Commission Meeting Minutes: Monday, July 3, 2023 City Manager’s Conference Room, City Hall, South San Francisco, CA 94080 6:30pm Commission Members: Present: Ethan Mizzi, Melissa Hua, Aaron Adriano, Sophia Cyris, Nika Mariano, Jian Carlo Ray, Claudia Miller, Sara Vides, Julia Tsuei, Jasmine Ho Absent: Megan Yoshida, Nataly Quinteros, Sara Vides, Daniela Aceves, Danielle Leong Staff Members: Present: Maryjo Nuñez, Management Fellow Tianny Zapata, ClimateCorps Fellow Billy Gross, Principal Planner _____________________________________________________________________________________ Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 6:37pm. Agenda Review: No changes to the agenda. Items from Staff No items from Staff. MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION 1. Approval of Minutes The Youth Commissioners approved the June 15, 2023 Meeting Minutes. 2. Report Regarding the Release of the Draft Lindenville Specific Plan. (Billy Gross, Principal Planner) Building on the Industrial Legacy Cultivating Arts and Cultural Identity Arts and Makers District Building Climate Resilience Enhancing Open Spaces Linear Green Park→ requirement that they must give a portion of their rear parcel to be given over for green spaces and connect colma creek to the centennial trail Promoting Health and Environmental Justice -bc region is an industrial area, has close proximity to 101, airport, CalTrain, etc. exposed to pollution Connecting Communities -rethink our relationships with autos; need to redesign key portions of the area to accommodate people, not cars Next steps Draft Specific Plan Engagement Activities Community Open House Events, Pop-Up Events, Boards and Commissions Meetings Specific Plan Feedback in written plan via the General Plan Executive Summaries in English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Mandarin Will compile public comments and recommend Specific Plan changes through the Summer: August Questions and Answers Commissioner Mariano: when talking about the linear park and integrating into existing residential areas, how do you plan to do that? Billy: This is all industrial space; as part of the General Plan, it got re-zoned in such a way to allow for mixed-use development. It might be soon or until 10 years, but the higher densities and the mixed use may be worth more than the current uses there and may get redeveloped. These parcels are large industrial type parcels, so if someone wants to develop a higher density project and the lot is 300 ft deep, we will say please have 70 ft of the rear for open/green public space. All of these asks happen only if it redevelops. So, the hope is over time, there is financial incentive to redevelop, and luckily there is no displacement bc there are no homes currently there. It does drive industrial users out of SSF, but we were starting to see that anyway. Commissioner Adriano: were curious about the design standards for buildings. You mentioned murals, but what other criteria were you looking for? Billy: what this is showing: building massing; color; shading; materials. If someone is coming through, the intent is to incorporate industrial components into your design. The State does require certain objective standards, but “industrial design” is very specific. If someone wanted to come in and do murals, that could be one requirement. Commissioner Adriano: when you mention massing, could you prevent cubes? Billy: This is difficult. We do have more pronounced requirements for changes in height, setbacks, and having more areas where there are more breaks. As we get into higher heights, we would get more of that. One of the things that is interesting is that the state laws have made it easier for more housing to be built but have tied cities’ hands more in terms of what we can ask for. Commissioner Hua: curious about having to push out the already industrial areas… what have been the response of the workers and the industrial community for the Lindenville area? Billy: Not everyone is in favor of the way that things have been moving. They are very many interest groups, i.e., property owners who don’t necessarily care if it’s industrial or not. There has also been a lot of pressures until now because rent has been going up and they can’t afford it anymore. We need to ask what kinds of industrial uses do we need to have? Not everyone also likes the auto repair, but it’s a need. Even with the allowance to have higher density industrial uses, if that happens, some of the existing uses may not be able to move into the newer spaces—older spaces are cheaper. There was also a lot of concern with the General Plan about mixing industrial and residential in the first place. If areas get redeveloped, do we have the ability to look at other spaces in SSF, could we connect them with other industries or owners? Chair Mizzi: what exactly is an Art and Maker District? Billy: There is a public art fee, where 1% of construction valuation fee is given to the City to help us create public art. Former Councilmember Matsumoto always tried to further art in SSF, so she was the one who pushed for this. There is a Public Arts Master Plan out right now about how to create accessible art for the public. This would be a way to create a physical area to have more studios, maker studios, whatever you can think of from this standpoint: live and work in the same building. We’ve left it relatively broad to see what comes out of this… maybe it becomes space that the City manages or maybe it doesn’t. But the main idea is to have a district where we get efficiencies that can grow on each other. Commissioner Cyris: if the plan is to cater accessibility to incoming residents or current businesses? Billy: It is likely for those spaces that if they do mixed use, it would mostly be residential. We are not allowed to restrict to only SSF residents. We do ensure that they are made aware earlier in the process, but we are not able to restrict SSF residents into the new units. Commissioner Cyris: in terms of accessibility, I meant in regards to cost? Billy: affordability is based on the County level, so it’s based on San Mateo County on a whole, not based on the City itself that we cannot modify. Chair Mizzi stated they didn’t know the region was called Lindenville; many Commissioners also expressed this sentiment. 3. Presentation on Every Kid Deserves a Bike program. (Tianny Zapata, ClimateCorps Fellow) Tianny is an AmeriCorps Fellow with the ClimateCorps program. The Pilot began in 2022 when Councilmember Flores read the riding a bike is good for kids’ health and self-esteem. Started with 2 elementary schools last year, 150 bikes for 4th and 5th graders, helmets, and locks. Started with a vision that bikes are equitable and safe! Equipment: chose mountain bikes Skills/education: thanks to County Office of Education, provided obstacle course for the students to learn Technical Assistance: check the bikes/assess for safety Commissioner Adriano: you have to register your bike? Tianny: it wasn’t a legal requirement, just another perk Reduce air pollution near schools! Expansion—how do we reach more students? Include more schools Why Middle School? -a lot of middle schools are overlooked→ they are older, so not all programs include them Schools -Parkway Middle School -Sunshine Elementary -Los Cerritos Elementary -Martin Elementary -Spruce Elementary Outcomes: -Media Coverage (Burlingame High School Paper; Telemundo; SSFUSD newsletter) -Playbook for other agencies Questions and Answers Commissioner Leong: are you planning on expanding to all elementary schools, what about the high schools too? Tianny: Councilmember Flores would like to expand, but the City fundraised all its money and received grants, so it’s dependent on the money. We might stick to 5 schools next year, but maybe the question is mixing up which schools. Now, everyone wants to be a part of it, so hopefully we could get more supporters/donors which would help. Billy: is this why partnering with a County also helps? It opens you up to other funding sources? Tianny: yes, when we have the data, we have more opportunities. Commissioner Adriano: on the note of funding being an issue; how you considered bike donations? Tianny: we want to be equitable, so we want to ensure that everyone gets the same, new bike. Vice Chair Hua: you mentioned that there was a group of outside volunteers—are you pitching for volunteers too? Tianny: the volunteers that we acquire are pretty much just the distribution days. SSF luckily has a lot of volunteers already: CERT, Rotary Club, etc. Commissioner Mariano: in terms of bike education, when they are afraid, or have you faced in any circumstances that students didn’t want to learn, do you have a way to provide them with follow-up and learn again in the future? Tianny: last year, we lost contact with the students, so this year, we want to stay in contact, so we collected parents’ emails, phone numbers, etc. For instance, for the bike repairs in the Farmers’ Market last Saturday, we called them to let them know about this. When given the opportunity, we are looking for opportunities to support these students. Generally, it was a positive response from the kids; they needed permission slips to be able to participate in the first place. There were some kids who didn’t want to socialize so much, or those who hurt themselves by scraping a knee, etc. but generally well- received. Commissioner Ho: you source a lot of volunteers from organizations, but is it possible to have high schools volunteers with the distribution event? There were some kids who were timid at first, so I think that the high schoolers there like a peer mentor would be cool. Tianny: we did consider this… The problem is that we had these events during school hours, so high schoolers would have to miss school last minute. But now, we can work earlier to ensure that this can happen. We would definitely want the community to be more involved, so it would be great! Billy: do the high schools have a volunteer arm? Commissioner Ho: yes, at Elco, we often have volunteer events, for example, like a blood drive. Student leadership and spreading information, there would be people interested. Commissioner Leong: I think that high schoolers would be interested in going back to help, especially the schools they went to. Commissioner Cyris: when they graduate, do they have to return the bike? Tianny: nope, it’s theirs to keep. Some already had a bike, but still had one and decided to give it to their sister. Vice Chair Hua: since we bought in bulk, is there a discount? Tianny: yes, absolutely. Billy: Most firms have a volunteer arm/program, so to find people that are willing to help are there. Tianny: yes, it’s definitely good publicity—more supporters, more money, etc. Chair Mizzi: didn’t realize all the details for EKDAB. Was it hard to teach the kids how to ride a bike? Tianny: the volunteers and students were 1:1 because it was trickier than it looked. Now moving forward, we are looking to see what the better ways are to teach kids how to ride a bike. We learned that removing the pedals and balancing first and also not using training wheels because they tend to use them as a crutch. Tianny: also working on outside projects; it is well-known that infrastructure needs updating. 4. Debriefs on Boards and Commissions Anyone attend a public meeting? Next School Board Meeting in July Items from Commissioners -Commissioner Ho passed their permit pass! Items from Commission: -Chair Mizzi, Vice Chair Hua, Maryjo leaving… please nominate someone to be Chair and Vice Chair for the August Meeting -SamTrans Measure W Oversight Committee: looking for a new person because Chair Mizzi is leaving, recommends that you join. The group meets every 4 months and meets to look at Measure W. -Chair Mizzi wrote a document to share his sentiments to the Commission. Meeting Adjourned