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Home My WebLink About02/03/2003 B AK ER S FI EL D ~ ~ ~"~ David Couch, Chair Alan Tandy, City Manager Sue Benham Staff: John W. Stinson Mike Maggard AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Monday, February 3, 2003, 3:00 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room - City Hall 1. ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 3:06 p.m. Present: Councilmembers David Couch, Chair; Sue Benham and Mike Maggard 2. ADOPT OCTOBER 7, 2002 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted. 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS Committee Chair David Couch stated the Committee received a request to defer items 4.A and 5.A. The Chair's recommendation was to proceed with the agenda. Staff was directed to provide a copy of the audio tapes to Mr. Brian Todd, Building Industry Association of Kern County. 4. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding Transportation Development Fees Public Works Director Raul Rojas explained staff did not have a recommendation for action at this meeting, but wanted to keep the Committee informed and up to date on the next steps in the process. Marian Shaw working in conjunction with County staff has developed very preliminary numbers on the fees. AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING Monday, February 3, 2003 Page - 2 - Marian Shaw, Public Works Civil Engineer, provided background information. One of the recommendations in the 2010 General Plan was to adopt a fee to take care of developers' impact on the transportation system. The County, City and Kern COG had a report done in 1990 that prepared the framework on how a fee is put together. The City used that framework when Phase One and Phase Two Transportation Impact Fee Schedules were developed. It is based upon the concept that new development pays its way for any new transportation facility that will be needed. Facilities include lanes, bridges, signals and anything needed to get the facility in place, such as right-of-way and earthwork. The General Plan requires the fee to provide facilities for the traveling public. If present trends continue, Bakersfield will have a great deal of growth in the next 20 years. City and County staffs have been reviewing the transportation model with Kern COG and working together over the last several months to develop a preliminary facilities list for "Phase II1." From this point on, staff needs to refine the project totals against Kern COG's traffic model and make the determination the facilities on the list are actually needed to support future development. Several factors make up the equation used to develop the dollar amount for the fees. Set rates are used for single housing and multi-housing per unit. Industrial and commercial are based on a per-trip rate (amount of trips generated by each non- residential classification for commercial and industrial), which is a fair way to distribute the cost for the facilities that will need to be constructed. Once the Facilities List is refined and checked against the Transportation Model, staff will have a level of service fee system. The fee schedule will be taken to the BIA, developers and other groups for their input. It can then be brought to the Urban Development Committee, City Council and Board of Supervisors. An environmental document is required, as well as a nexus document to make sure it meets all the minimum requirements of the Government Code. Public hearings are also needed. This is a metropolitan fee and it is advantageous if it is adopted by the City and the County. Once the fee schedule is in place, new large developments requesting substantial General Plan amendments will be required to pay for a traffic study before the development can be approved. The Committee members had concerns regarding the length of time it takes to develop the fee schedule and requested this be put on the agenda for the joint City and County meeting scheduled for September 2003, if this item is ready to move forward at that time. Staff was requested to put this item back on the March 3rd Committee meeting agenda. AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING Monday, February 3, 2003 Page - 3 - 5. NEW BUSINESS A. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding side yard setbacks Development Services Director Jack Hardisty provided background information. In November 2002, there was a hearing concerning a request for reduction of side yard setbacks by D. R. Horton, Inc. for work to be done in Riverlakes. The City ordinance requires five feet, and the requested modification was denied by the City Council. The item was referred .to-the Urban Development Committee for further discussion regarding side yard setbacks of less than five feet. Mr. Brad Boe, D. R. Horton, Inc., spoke in support of allowing encroachments into the side yard setbacks for niches next to the fireplace for television and stereo equipment. Mr. Teddy Bolden, D. R. Horton, Inc., spoke in support of allowing restricted encroachments into the side yard setbacks. Jack Hardisty felt the space is needed between the houses and recommended keeping the current five-foot side yard setback as required by City Ordinance, with the current limited exceptions, such as fireplaces as allow by the ordinance. Public Works Director Raul Rojas suggested if a developer wants to build out niches for televisions, stereo equipment, or book cases, etc., the house should be put on a lot wide enough to allow the extra square feet or build a slightly smaller house to allow for the separation between houses. Committee Chair Couch requested Development Services staff meet with him to discuss this issue further to explore if there is any middle ground where exceptions could be allowed. B. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding CNG Fleet Vehicles Public Works Fleet Superintendent Ernie Medina gave a report on the City's use of CNG and LNG fleet vehicles. At the present time the City has 67 alternate fuel vehicles, 55 compressed natural gas (CNG), 5 liquid natural gas (LNG), and 7 electric powered vehicles. Staff has applied and received clean-air grants in the past to offset the extra cost. The differential is approximately, $1,800 for sedans, $2,000 for pickups, $45,000 for refuse trucks; and $35,000 for sweepers. The City has just received a grant for $22,000 from Clean Cities/Department of Energy to help offset the cost of 11 CNG pickups purchased by the City. The use of hybrid vehicles was discussed, which allow for alternate types of fuel. However, at the present time there is not a lot of competition in the hybrid field and AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING Monday, February 3, 2003 Page - 4 - competitive bidding is important when purchasing vehicles. Staff will check with the dealere on their plans for future availability of hybrids. The fueling facility is scheduled for construction mid-February 2003. It will previde the ability to fuel CNG and LNG vehicles. The City has received over $1 million from Congestion Mitigation Air Quality threugh Kern COG toward the construction of the fueling station. This station is built above ground so if there is a need to move to a new location, it can be moved. Committee Member Maggard spoke regarding the importance of using alternate fuels to help with the clean-air solution. Public Works staff was requested to provide additional information on price, maintenance cost and availability of dealers who plan to stock hybrid vehicles and when this will allow for competitive bidding. Public Works Director Raul Rojas stated there is still more that can be done to convert fleet vehicles to alternate fuels; however, usually staff does not move forward unless there are grant monies to offset the extra cost. It was pointed out the City is the largest alternate fuel user in this area. Staff will provide the requested information on hybrid vehicles. C. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding Committee meeting schedule for 2003 The Committee approved the meeting schedule. 6. COMMITTEE COMMENTS 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 4:47 p.m. Attendance - staff: City Manager-Alan Tandy; Assistant City Manager John W. Stinson; City Attorney Bart Thiltgen; Public Works Director Raul Rojas; Development Services Director Jack Hardisty; Assistant Public Works Director Jack LaRochelle; Public Works Operations Manager Brad Underwood; Public Works Fleet Superintendent Ernie Medina; Public Works Civil Engineer Bruce Deeter; Public Works Civil Engineer Marian Shaw; and Principal Planner Jim Eggert, Planning Division. Others: Roger Mclntosh, Mclntosh and Associates; Danielle C. Belton, The Bakersfield Californian; Teddy Bolden, D.R. Horton, Inc.; and Brad Boe, D. R. Horton, Inc. cc: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers S:~JOHN\Council Committees\Urban Development 2003\ud03feb03summary.doc