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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/12/2005 B A K E R S F I 'E L D /~ ~ ~/~2<~.-~ .. Sue Benham, Chair Staff: J'dh-n W. Stin~o~n David Couch For: Alan Tandy, City Manager Mike Maggard AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING Monday, September 12, 2005 - 1:00 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room - City Hall 1. ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 1:02 p.m. Present: Councilmembers Sue Benham, Chair; and David Couch Absent: Councilmember Mike Maggard 2. ADOPT JULY 18, AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted. 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS Brian Todd, Building Industry Association of Kern County, stated that Planning Director Jim Movius had mention there was going to be a workshop on the hillside ordinance sometime soon and he wanted to know when and where it was g°ing to take place. Assistant City Manager Stinson will get the information and inform Mr. Todd. Bruce Freeman, Castle and Cooke, spoke regarding credit toward the required parkland for 1.5 to 2.5 acre pocket parks, which are smaller than the 6 to 10 acre threshold; for gated communities, giving developers 75% (or fair percentage) of the park development fee credits for 2.5 to 10 acre parks if the developer builds the park and the homeowners association maintains it; building higher density developments with smaller parks in the future as a way to keep home prices affordable due to the high cost of land; and expressed support of a separate fee for large regional parks so the park development fees collected for neighborhood parks will not be eroded. In response to a question from Committee Chair Benham, City Attorney Gennaro advised the Committee that discussion could continue based on a public statement with no action taken except the Committee's referral request to Council that the issues not already in Committee be referred to the Committee. Recreation and Parks Director Hoover agreed pocket parks improve communities, but expressed the need to build an adequate number of neighborhood parks large enough for recreational amenities to serve the surrounding community. She was not AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING Monday, September 12, 2005 Page 2 in favor of' giving credit for park development fees to developers to build parks in gated communities, as this would deplete the park funds necessary to build and provide access to neighborhood parks for adjacent neighborhoods. Committee Member Couch stated he would like a referral back to the Committee to discuss future planning to provide regional parks in new developing areas. He suggested dividing the City into quadrants or sections and then plan how many regional parks are needed and the cost to build with facilities, whether that would be baseball, soccer or other recreation. To arrive at the fee per unit, take the cost to build the regional parks and set the fee based on how many houses are to be build. He suggested perhaps we should look at the current park standards and expressed there could be more pocket parks if regional parks are financed and built to provide recreation to the surrounding communities. Development Services Director Grady provided a brief overview of a 2003 memorandum the Committee had reviewed previously with an outline for discussing existing General Plan policies and what the current ordinances contain regarding the different park types. The outline provided a comparison of the City's policies for the different park types in comparison to the national standard. Committee Member Couch requested a referral back to the Committee to discuss the bike path and a way to incentivize developers to bring an extension or spur into new developments. Committee Chair Benham requested to include new redevelopment areas to the bike path referral as well. Committee Chair Benham requested staff to prepare an administrative report with a request to Council to refer planning for regional parks and bike path extensions into new developments including new redevelopment to the Planning and Development Committee. Staff was also requested to bring this back to the Committee at its November 14th meeting and to notify NOR Recreation and Parks staff of the meeting. 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding park standards for development agreements Committee Chair Benham explained when she referred this item, it was meant to have a broader scope, not just confined to development agreements. She had concerns the City does not have a policy to achieve pedestrian friendly, walkable communities that provide connection between open space, commercial and residential development. Currently developers can come in with wonderful presentations and graphic designs to show what they are offering and how it will look, but after the development is approved, developers could actually just do typical suburban style developments. AGENDA SUMMARy REPORT PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING Monday, September 12, 2005 Page 3 Development Services Director Grady explained the City's development standards accommodate pedestrian friendly, walkable communities, but unless we adopt design standards they are optional. City Manager Tandy explained there are mechanisms that occur through the subdivision process and the master planning for parks and recreation which afford the opportunity to influence the development. However, built in design standard policies to provide pedestrian friendly, walkable elements that are not optional could be achieved through changes to the subdivision ordinance. Committee Member Couch expressed pedestrian friendly, walkable communities is a broad term with different interpretations. He explained to him it should include the following: 1) provide connection from residential to commercial; 2) sidewalks being set back with a green sPace between the sidewalk and street; and 3) a proportional number of cul-de-sacs should have an opening to walk through so pedestrians do not have to walk extra long distances to get around the block walls. Committee Chair Benham requested staff to bring the subdivision ordinance back to the next Committee meeting, which is scheduled for October 10th. 5. COMMITTEE COMMENTS 6. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 2:05 p.m. Attendance-staff: City Manager Alan Tandy; City Attorney Ginny Gennaro; Assistant City Manager John Stinson; Development Services Director Stan Grady; Public Works Director Raul Rojas; Planning Director Jim Movius; Recreation and Parks Director Dianne Hoover; and Park Construction and Facility Planner Ken Trone Attendance-others: Harry Love, Sierra Club; Brian Todd, Building Industry Association of Kern County; Bruce Freeman, Castle and Cooke; Jeff Leggio; Dave Dmohowski, Project Design Consultants cc: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers S:~JOHN\Council Committees\05Planning&Development~P&D 05 sep 12summary.doc