Special and Regular City Council Meetings June 18, 2019

0:23:10i think sure

0:23:14you are ready greg

0:23:16[Music]

0:23:18the meeting is called to order

0:23:20will the city clerk please call roll

0:23:23council member fidelity here mayor putin

0:23:25lyman here

0:23:26mayor pardue okimoto president council

0:23:29member abelson president councilmember

0:23:31quinto

0:23:33all right first we will have the pledge

0:23:35of allegiance led by council member

0:23:37abelson

0:23:41i pledge allegiance to the flag of the

0:23:43united states of america and to the

0:23:46republic for which it stands

0:23:49one nation under god

0:23:51indivisible with liberty and justice for

0:23:54all

0:24:03we have any

0:24:04communications from the staff

0:24:07yes good evening mayor and council

0:24:09members i'm holly charlotte your city

0:24:10clerk and i'm excited i have my first

0:24:12report for you tonight i for the council

0:24:16and for the public i want to update you

0:24:17on our just cause for eviction ordinance

0:24:20on july 10 the referendum petition was

0:24:22filed with the city against the adopted

0:24:24just cause for eviction ordinance passed

0:24:26by city council in may

0:24:28election codes provides this process of

0:24:30protesting the adoption of an ordinance

0:24:31through circulation of a referendum

0:24:33petition

0:24:34which must be signed by not less than 10

0:24:36percent of registered voters of the city

0:24:38the petition submitted was determined

0:24:40sufficient for filing based on my primo

0:24:43facial review causing the actions of the

0:24:45ordinance to be formally suspended

0:24:47at this time the petition is with the

0:24:49county elections department to verify

0:24:51voter registration status of each

0:24:53signature

0:24:54their determination is due to the city

0:24:56no later than july 24th if the petition

0:24:59is found to contain sufficient

0:25:00signatures staff will bring it forward

0:25:02to the city council for action pursuant

0:25:04to elections code

0:25:06if it is found insufficient no further

0:25:08action will occur and the ordinance will

0:25:10go into effect

0:25:12and the second announcement that i

0:25:14wanted to share tonight was art on our

0:25:16tenant protections task force so we have

0:25:19formally opened the application period

0:25:21for the eight members for

0:25:24the tenant protection task force the

0:25:25deadline to apply is thursday june 27th

0:25:29the application is available in several

0:25:31places including on our website we have

0:25:33some hard copies available here out

0:25:35front and in our lobby outside and we

0:25:37encourage any interested parties to

0:25:39apply

0:25:40thank you

0:25:42also immediately before this meeting we

0:25:45had a

0:25:46special city council meeting

0:25:49for the appointments of

0:25:51commissioners and we did make two

0:25:53appointments

0:25:55so we will be appointing blake

0:25:57washington for the arts and culture

0:25:59commission

0:26:00and avis codrone for

0:26:03parks and rec

0:26:05and um we would just like to make

0:26:08an extra comment saying that all of the

0:26:10applicants were really great applicants

0:26:12and

0:26:14we had a hard time coming to our

0:26:16decision but we hope that these

0:26:17applicants will serve the city of el

0:26:18cerrito well

0:26:21next do we have

0:26:23reports from our council members

0:26:26paul

0:26:28yes last week i attended a league of

0:26:32california city's policy committee

0:26:34meetings in sacramento

0:26:36on i'm on the transportation and public

0:26:38utilities committee meeting and i also

0:26:40attended a housing policy committee

0:26:43which was

0:26:45fascinating and also in their handout i

0:26:47just wanted the city to know that they

0:26:50had a elsewhere highlighted as an

0:26:52innovative idea for their specific plan

0:26:55for

0:26:56san pablo avenue so

0:26:58we're highlighted to the rest of the

0:27:01state and other cities as being creative

0:27:04also attended uh congressman desolney's

0:27:07town hall last night that was held in el

0:27:08cerrito and attended the chamber of

0:27:11commerce lunch today

0:27:13thank you

0:27:14for tim yeah i'm gonna give a shout out

0:27:17to all of the volunteers that have

0:27:18served on our boards commissions and

0:27:20committees

0:27:22we have a number of boards commissions

0:27:25and committees and we celebrated

0:27:27our volunteers with a dinner at one of

0:27:29our local restaurants all the council

0:27:31members were present

0:27:33so

0:27:34with great appreciation that we have for

0:27:37our

0:27:37volunteers

0:27:39so i

0:27:40want to go on though and announce that

0:27:42we have lots of vacancies we will be

0:27:44getting a presentation tonight from the

0:27:46contra costa mosquito and vector control

0:27:47district we have a vacant position for

0:27:50that

0:27:51so if the presentation tonight

0:27:54turns out to be something that interests

0:27:55you

0:27:56please apply for that position

0:27:59the other

0:28:01positions that we have for volunteers

0:28:03that remain open are on committees and

0:28:06for committees you need to attend the

0:28:08meetings up to

0:28:10three

0:28:11meetings and then if you attend those

0:28:13meetings and you ask to join the

0:28:16committee the committee will take an

0:28:18action and and it'll come before us as a

0:28:20consent item so at this point we don't

0:28:22other than the vector control

0:28:24uh position

0:28:26we don't have any other in interviews to

0:28:29do but the we do have positions vacant

0:28:32on the committee on aging

0:28:34crime prevention committee

0:28:36economic development committee

0:28:39and the urban forest committee

0:28:43and then i'll reiterate what our

0:28:45[Music]

0:28:47city clerk said we do need to have

0:28:51applications for the tenant protection

0:28:52task force

0:28:53and those applications are due by the

0:28:5627th of june thank you

0:29:00councilmember abelson

0:29:01yes i um

0:29:04i'm just trying to calculate which

0:29:06meetings were before and after our last

0:29:09meeting to know to what to report i

0:29:11attended the meeting of the abag general

0:29:14assembly

0:29:16and

0:29:17the budget was approved i think that's

0:29:19the most noticeable

0:29:21official action

0:29:23that gets taken there

0:29:26and

0:29:27[Music]

0:29:28the

0:29:29[Music]

0:29:32i also attended

0:29:34another

0:29:36i attended several things that were just

0:29:39mentioned i attended the policy

0:29:40committee meeting

0:29:42for community services

0:29:45and

0:29:46i also attended

0:29:49last night the the meeting

0:29:52that was put on by mark desogne the most

0:29:54interesting

0:29:55thing i found there in terms of the city

0:29:58of el cerrito beyond the specific policy

0:30:01stuff that was discussed was that they

0:30:04had an overflow crowd

0:30:06and it was so overflow that not only did

0:30:09they have the regular part of the

0:30:11auditorium in the harding art auditorium

0:30:15and the balcony was completely full they

0:30:18also had 50 people sitting in the

0:30:21cafeteria

0:30:22so

0:30:23[Music]

0:30:25i found that to be really interesting

0:30:27that they were able to bring out that

0:30:29many people

0:30:32in that facility

0:30:33i don't know that that had ever been

0:30:35done to that extent before

0:30:37so

0:30:38people are interested is i think what it

0:30:40said

0:30:41and

0:30:43i everything else i think is in my

0:30:46committee reports later

0:30:48thank you um i also attended last night

0:30:51and it was a very good and informative

0:30:54uh meeting i'm not sure does anyone know

0:30:56if they

0:30:57tape it or have it up on youtube or

0:30:59anything they said it would be on his

0:31:01his website yeah it would be worth

0:31:04checking out if you're interested in

0:31:05hearing more about the mueller report

0:31:08um so

0:31:10uh also i was able to go to our fourth

0:31:12annual loving day event and it was a

0:31:15very great event

0:31:17in combination with off the grid and

0:31:20they had various

0:31:22loving day specials of various types of

0:31:25food and i think one of the greatest

0:31:26things about different cultures coming

0:31:28together is

0:31:29new food combinations i had a

0:31:32filipino sausage with some vietnamese

0:31:35pickles and it was really good

0:31:39also i attended the commissioner's

0:31:41dinner and it was

0:31:44also well attended but um competing with

0:31:47the warriors game so it was

0:31:50a little bit tough competition

0:31:52um

0:31:53and

0:31:54i also wanted to mention that before our

0:31:57next meeting because we'll be going to

0:31:59our summer schedule that we'll have

0:32:01the july 4th celebration so i wanted to

0:32:03make sure to invite everybody to come

0:32:05out

0:32:06to

0:32:07cerrito vista park for our annual 4th of

0:32:10july

0:32:11world one multicultural celebration

0:32:14um i've been explaining it to people

0:32:16that aren't from here that it's not your

0:32:18average uh celebration it's really

0:32:20something a little bit more a little bit

0:32:22more special in my opinion and i'm

0:32:24looking forward to being the mayor at

0:32:26this one

0:32:29okay next

0:32:31see on

0:32:32with oral communications from the public

0:32:35at this time anyone wishing to speak

0:32:37should complete a speaker card and give

0:32:39it to the city clerk remarks are

0:32:41typically limited to three minutes per

0:32:44person but depending on the number

0:32:46i will

0:32:48possibly reduce that time limit

0:32:51comments regarding non-agenda item

0:32:54non-agenda and consent calendar items

0:32:56will be heard first

0:32:58comments related to other agenda items

0:33:01will be heard at the time the city

0:33:02council deliberates on those items

0:33:06please come forward and speak when you

0:33:08speak state your name and your city for

0:33:11the record

0:33:12will the court please call the speakers

0:33:15please we have eight speakers tonight

0:33:18the first three speakers are cordell

0:33:20hindler followed by buddy akasich and

0:33:22howdy gowdy

0:33:24thanks mike so

0:33:26good evening uh mayor pedro okimoto

0:33:28council i am cody handler richmond

0:33:30resident so

0:33:31first i want to apologize for missing

0:33:33the last council meeting i wanted to

0:33:34hear about the police department's uh

0:33:36presentation so it was my bad because i

0:33:39had another meeting back in richmond so

0:33:41i want to put that on record so that's

0:33:43one and then number two is um i have a

0:33:45future agenda item request uh i want to

0:33:47bring forward to you all if you recall

0:33:50at a few meetings ago about the the idea

0:33:52of a travel policy because

0:33:54i think it's a good idea because i have

0:33:55been in communication with other cities

0:33:57and they do have a travel policy that uh

0:34:00that is that is up to a certain amount

0:34:02of per council and i said that's not a

0:34:05bad idea so i'm thinking i want to bring

0:34:06this forward so you can have it agendize

0:34:09it for next time number two and then

0:34:11also as um another agenda i know i would

0:34:13like to bring forward to is um

0:34:16a follow up with the regarding of the

0:34:18the ultimate um hospital um items so i

0:34:21was thinking that if you would like to

0:34:22have someone from the

0:34:24the healthcare industry to kind of like

0:34:26give us give it kind of like come back

0:34:28give an update on that it'll be very

0:34:30helpful so

0:34:31and then what else oh yeah i'll bring

0:34:33some flyers for a new show called once

0:34:35on this island i'll bring it next month

0:34:37so with that eddie it's all yours

0:34:40the next speaker is buddy akasic

0:34:42followed by howdy gowdy

0:34:53good evening i'm

0:34:55buddy akasich and i live next door at

0:34:57the

0:34:58hanna gardens and i've done that since

0:35:00january 28th

0:35:03can i just pick up where i left off you

0:35:05know i don't think it's doing anybody a

0:35:07disservice

0:35:09so chris jones and i sat and

0:35:12talked about the letter from flavio

0:35:15cavallo

0:35:16and and i hypothesized and fantasized

0:35:19that what if the church was gone

0:35:22not there anymore

0:35:24and the the

0:35:25carvalho it seems to me recognizes that

0:35:29his church is awkward to the city of el

0:35:32cerrito and and his feeling is that the

0:35:35city of el cerrito would be better

0:35:37served if he was elsewhere

0:35:41imagine then

0:35:42what you could conceive of as a civic

0:35:45center campus

0:35:47hannah gardens

0:35:48city hall

0:35:50fire department police department senior

0:35:53center

0:35:54it just fits together so beautifully

0:35:56and

0:35:57at least i thought so and i asked chris

0:36:00what he thought about the idea and

0:36:02incidentally i asked him for his

0:36:05approval to quote him i don't quote

0:36:07people without getting prior approval

0:36:10specifically in public settings like

0:36:12this one

0:36:13and he said yeah go ahead and and

0:36:17he said he thinks it's a great idea

0:36:23so

0:36:24i have the feeling that a great idea is

0:36:27born i mean

0:36:29what about that idea well you can't

0:36:32comment god just kept my three minutes

0:36:34but um that's essentially what i wanted

0:36:37to present this evening and i thank you

0:36:38for the opportunity to having made that

0:36:41presentation

0:36:43thank you

0:36:45the next speaker is howdy gowdy followed

0:36:46by robin mitchell

0:36:51good evening mayor and council members

0:36:52my name is howdy gaudi i live in el

0:36:54cerrito

0:36:55so i wanted to speak on your

0:36:58recycling item that's on the consent

0:37:00calendar

0:37:02and

0:37:03this probably isn't a new

0:37:05vision but it came to me recently which

0:37:08is

0:37:08that

0:37:09you know we um

0:37:12have had very strong responses to um you

0:37:15know environmental

0:37:17impacts of oil spills in our um

0:37:20history i mean that basically launched a

0:37:22whole movement in this country

0:37:25following the santa barbara oil spill we

0:37:26have the alaska and the

0:37:29um

0:37:30the horizon so all these really

0:37:34very iconic and devastating events

0:37:37have uh

0:37:39gotten awareness and

0:37:41it turns out that the worst

0:37:43spill into the ocean that has happened

0:37:45over the last 20 30 years is our plastic

0:37:48spill it's not an oil spill that's

0:37:50actually a different form of oil it's

0:37:51just in the form of plastic and it's

0:37:54it's ubiquitous it's all over the ocean

0:37:57i think if people treated it the same

0:37:59way that we

0:38:01react to oil spills we we might think

0:38:03about it differently and so i just

0:38:05wanted to

0:38:06offer that image that we have been

0:38:08[Music]

0:38:09you know

0:38:10participating in an unending plastic

0:38:13spill into the ocean for the past 30

0:38:15plus years so

0:38:17and it's it's a daunting thing to fix

0:38:20but we really need to take action

0:38:22and um i think it's great that you know

0:38:25we have

0:38:27a new contract tonight but i fear it it

0:38:30feels like we're just kind of returning

0:38:31to the complacency that oh we can put

0:38:33this stuff in the recycling bin it'll be

0:38:35all fine

0:38:36um but the reality i mean what has been

0:38:39revealed of this recycling market you

0:38:41know where this material ends up how

0:38:43it's processed some might be processed

0:38:45very responsibly but you know the images

0:38:48we see of it being exported and just you

0:38:51know dumped on the ground it's somebody

0:38:53else's problem is is really unacceptable

0:38:56and i think we need to raise the bar on

0:38:58our expectations of our handlers and

0:39:00processors that we know

0:39:02what the outcome is of our actions

0:39:06and i hope that you will work to get

0:39:08that disclosure from our processors

0:39:13it's

0:39:14it's just suspicious that you know

0:39:18someone that's offering a price a third

0:39:20of what the others are offering is

0:39:22really

0:39:23getting us all

0:39:25of these things recycled as as stated it

0:39:28just seems suspicious given what has

0:39:30transpired to get to us to this point so

0:39:33i hope we can really have a transparent

0:39:36understanding of that um

0:39:39and i'm disappointed that we're trucking

0:39:40it a lot farther i mean eqc just had a

0:39:44report on the climate action plan for

0:39:47municipal emissions and it was stated

0:39:49that municipal fleet

0:39:52carbon emissions actually went up from

0:39:54a few years ago and so this is only

0:39:56going to push them up higher so

0:39:59thank you for your comments yeah thank

0:40:00you

0:40:02the next speaker is robin mitchell

0:40:04followed by sherry dropner

0:40:13so my name is robin mitchell i live in

0:40:15el cerrito and i would request that 4b

0:40:18the recycling item on the consent

0:40:20calendar be pulled from the consent

0:40:22calendar to be discussed by the council

0:40:24before approval

0:40:26and i know that this topic is

0:40:28complicated and nuanced issue

0:40:31but my concerns are that the recommended

0:40:33candidate for the single stream

0:40:34commingled recycling contract napa

0:40:36recycling and waste services

0:40:38has such a low bid compared to the other

0:40:41proposals they are also going to accept

0:40:44clam shells and plastic tubs for example

0:40:46yogurt and cottage cheese containers

0:40:49and i'm just skeptical that they can

0:40:51find a market for these items when the

0:40:53other companies who put in proposals

0:40:54can't guarantee that i know it's

0:40:57important to try to control costs i do

0:40:58not think the city should enter into an

0:41:00agreement which everyone feels good

0:41:03about recycling when in all likelihood

0:41:05many if not most of the products are not

0:41:06actually going to get recycled but

0:41:08instead ended up dumped on poor

0:41:11countries and end up polluting the

0:41:12environment

0:41:13so i would like to know how this company

0:41:15will be held accountable for actually

0:41:17what is recycled

0:41:19other companies seem to be more

0:41:21realistic in their assessment of what

0:41:22could be recycled and they built that

0:41:24into their proposals

0:41:26which leads me to my second topic which

0:41:28is the revision to the el cerrito food

0:41:29ware ordinance

0:41:30i think it is clear from the plastic

0:41:32recycling emergency that is happening

0:41:34worldwide that most plastic can't

0:41:36actually be recycled

0:41:38and is dumped into the environment this

0:41:40should lead the city to disallow plastic

0:41:42of any kind even supposedly compostable

0:41:45plastic in the foodwear ordinance

0:41:47and i know the city staff is working to

0:41:49revise the foodware ordinance but i'm

0:41:51afraid it won't go far enough

0:41:53and i would urge the city manager to

0:41:55direct staff

0:41:57to look at the city of berkeley's

0:41:58revised food ware ordinance this is the

0:42:00statement on the web page of berkeley's

0:42:02revised ordinance it says effective

0:42:05march 27 2019 the berkeley single-use

0:42:08food wear and litter reduction ordinance

0:42:10is designed to reduce the use and

0:42:11disposable disposal of single-use food

0:42:14wear including cups lids utensils straws

0:42:17clamshells and other disposables that

0:42:19contribute to street litter marine

0:42:21pollution harm to wildlife greenhouse

0:42:23gas emissions and waste sent to

0:42:24landfills this ordinance seeks to assist

0:42:27businesses with the shift away from

0:42:28environmentally harmful single-use

0:42:30disposable food wear and and toward

0:42:32reusable food wear

0:42:34reducing the use of disposable food wear

0:42:36is a component of the city's zero-waste

0:42:38goal the ordinance is implemented in

0:42:40phases to give businesses time and

0:42:41flexibility to successfully transition

0:42:44so that seems like a good goal for our

0:42:46ordinance also

0:42:48and it's clear to me that we as

0:42:50individuals and as the city need to

0:42:52phase out all use of single-use plastic

0:42:54materials as fast as possible

0:42:56and the one last thing i want to comment

0:42:58on and i've heard this in a couple of

0:42:59different committee meetings that i've

0:43:00been that i've attended

0:43:02is that um there's new direction about

0:43:04how the minutes are to be taken in those

0:43:05committees and it's only action items

0:43:07that are recorded

0:43:08and several committee members that i've

0:43:10heard have expressed concern that the

0:43:13discussion that is that is had maybe not

0:43:16on the agenda or not on the item isn't

0:43:18captured and i agree with that concern

0:43:21thank you

0:43:22the next speaker is sherry dropner

0:43:24followed by michael fisher

0:43:29hi my name is sherry trobhner i'm an el

0:43:31cerrito resident

0:43:33i just wanted to speak briefly about the

0:43:36measure that was referred to earlier the

0:43:39petition to

0:43:40against the petition to have a

0:43:43referendum

0:43:44against the just cause for eviction

0:43:46ordinance

0:43:48the measure was placed on a ballot by an

0:43:50outside group

0:43:51california apartments association

0:43:54with a few members in el cerrito

0:43:58the mom-and-pop landlords have

0:43:59repeatedly stated that they're not

0:44:01members of caa

0:44:03and i hope that they will speak out

0:44:05against efforts

0:44:07by the professional landlord lobby to

0:44:09interfere in el cerrito affairs

0:44:13the signatures for the petition were

0:44:14gathered through deceptive

0:44:17and misleading representations

0:44:19we have documented numerous cases in

0:44:21which people were told that the petition

0:44:23would increase protection

0:44:25for renters

0:44:27or that it would promote public safety

0:44:29and make it easier to keep criminals out

0:44:31of el cerrito

0:44:34in most cases people were not told that

0:44:37the petition would actually force a vote

0:44:40to repeal a measure that provides just

0:44:42cause protections

0:44:44for renters

0:44:46these misrepresentations were so

0:44:48egregious

0:44:49that even the former chair of el

0:44:51cerrito's planning commission was

0:44:53tricked into signing the petition

0:44:56the city council should condemn in

0:44:58strongest terms the tactics that were

0:45:01used to gather signatures

0:45:03if the opponents cannot even be honest

0:45:05with voters about what the measure would

0:45:07do we need to call them out on their

0:45:10motives and their tactics thank you

0:45:12thank you the next speaker is michael

0:45:14fisher followed by susan duncan

0:45:18good evening mayor and members of the

0:45:20council my name is michael fisher and i

0:45:22live in el cerrito

0:45:24i'd like to urge the council to support

0:45:27assembly constitutional amendment one

0:45:30it's a measure that would reduce

0:45:33from the current high level of 66 and

0:45:36two-thirds percent to 55

0:45:39the requirement for passing local bonded

0:45:43indebtedness measures

0:45:45including affordable housing and public

0:45:49infrastructure including libraries

0:45:53i would note 55 percent is the current

0:45:55requirement for passage of school bonds

0:45:59this measure has the support of many of

0:46:02our neighbors

0:46:03including the cities of alameda albany

0:46:07emeryville hayward oakland and walnut

0:46:10creek

0:46:12it is co-authored by both our assembly

0:46:15member buffy wicks and our state senator

0:46:18nancy skinner

0:46:20the bill has passed out of two

0:46:22committees in the assembly

0:46:24and awaits a vote now in the assembly

0:46:27floor and action in the status state

0:46:30senate

0:46:31el cerritos should join our neighbors in

0:46:34supporting this important measure

0:46:36and i'm handing to the city clerk

0:46:40both the text of the amendment and the

0:46:44fact sheet from the assembly on this

0:46:46measure

0:46:49the next speaker is susan duncan

0:46:51followed by al miller

0:47:00good evening i'm susan duncans i live in

0:47:03el cerrito first i wanted to thank both

0:47:06chief pagonie and chief keef for meeting

0:47:08with our group yesterday and i also

0:47:10wanted to thank the city for including

0:47:12so much good information in the current

0:47:14news and views i hope that continues

0:47:18it's now been two weeks since the

0:47:20changes to the budget have been made has

0:47:22the process for to have a new master

0:47:25plan for hillside natural areas started

0:47:27and if not why not

0:47:30those four hot days we had last week

0:47:32were a preview a reminder what's to come

0:47:35in september and october when the hot

0:47:37dry

0:47:38diablo winds blow i hope those days

0:47:41spurred the city into action to get the

0:47:43ball rolling for the hillside natural

0:47:44area master plan

0:47:46thank you very much and if you haven't

0:47:48started it what are you waiting for

0:47:52and the last speaker is al miller

0:47:56good evening mayor pardue okamoto

0:47:58council members and staff i have two

0:48:00items to suggest to you tonight

0:48:02one is called bike the bridges and the

0:48:04other is called food in the library

0:48:08i had the

0:48:10honor i don't know

0:48:12the chance that i did it to participate

0:48:14in the bike the bridges this is a

0:48:17primary

0:48:18fundraising charity for law enforcement

0:48:21in support of the special olympics

0:48:24it was the 10th anniversary of this

0:48:26event that was actually founded 10 years

0:48:29ago by two el cerrito police department

0:48:32officers

0:48:34this last

0:48:35sunday when they had the event they

0:48:37raised over a hundred and fourteen

0:48:39thousand dollars uh in that event

0:48:42so it's a great for biking you can go 25

0:48:46miles 50 kilometers 100 kilometers or

0:48:50100 miles

0:48:52at different

0:48:54prices for entry

0:48:56and it's a great event i have a great

0:48:59brew fest afterwards too food in the

0:49:02library

0:49:04most parents in el cerrito are aware of

0:49:07the fact that students at west county

0:49:10unified school districts that qualify

0:49:13can get free or reduced

0:49:16food lunches during a school year

0:49:19what too many people don't realize is

0:49:21that that program is continued in the

0:49:24summer time

0:49:25at local libraries

0:49:27the osrido library participates in that

0:49:30program tuesday wednesday and thursdays

0:49:34every week i think through the end of

0:49:36july

0:49:38and

0:49:39it's the only time you can have food in

0:49:41the library

0:49:43uh it's a nutritious lunch it's a free

0:49:46lunch

0:49:47everyone up to 18. you don't even have

0:49:49to be a student in the school but if you

0:49:52go there and you're under 18

0:49:55you can have a free lunch

0:49:57thank you

0:49:59thank you

0:50:03next we have the adoption of the consent

0:50:05calendar

0:50:07a approval of

0:50:10minutes b processing contract for

0:50:14recyclable materials

0:50:16and c amendments to city classification

0:50:19plan

0:50:20i have a motion

0:50:27lived

0:50:30a second

0:50:32i have a motion by abelson a second by

0:50:35fidelity

0:50:36all in favor

0:50:37aye

0:50:38those opposed

0:50:40motion carries

0:50:45next we have our presentations the

0:50:48contra costa mosquito and vector control

0:50:51district

0:50:52presentation on the role of the trustee

0:50:55appointment made by

0:50:57the city of el cerrito which is

0:50:59currently vacant

0:51:02good evening thank you so much for

0:51:04having me come tonight to speak to you

0:51:06about our opening on our board of

0:51:09trustees

0:51:10for a representative of the city of el

0:51:12cerrito

0:51:14i wanted first off my name is nola woods

0:51:16and i'm the public affairs director for

0:51:18the district and i wanted to let you

0:51:20know that for the past 25 years we've

0:51:22had a wonderful trustee from el cerrito

0:51:25but uh

0:51:27richard bank has retired

0:51:29and it's time for el cerrito to appoint

0:51:32a new trustee

0:51:34we actually had a deadline back in may

0:51:37we still didn't have a trustee from el

0:51:39cerrito but because you've been

0:51:42graciously working with us we've

0:51:43extended that deadline but we hope that

0:51:45we do get a trustee from el cerrito very

0:51:48soon because the alternative is turning

0:51:50to the board of supervisors the county

0:51:52board of supervisors to appoint someone

0:51:54from el cerrito so hopefully your

0:51:57interest will be peaked when you see a

0:51:59little more about the district

0:52:02so we are

0:52:04a district that was

0:52:06voted upon by the citizens of contra

0:52:09costa county because back in the 1920s

0:52:11the problem particularly with the salt

0:52:12marsh mosquito was so bad in contra

0:52:15costa county that they had to close

0:52:17businesses they couldn't sell homes they

0:52:19had to close schools it was horrible

0:52:22but at the same time in the 1920s

0:52:25scientists were learning that mosquitoes

0:52:26weren't just a nuisance they could

0:52:28spread disease

0:52:29so at that time

0:52:31the citizens of contra costa county

0:52:33decided that they would vote and create

0:52:36a public health agency that would deal

0:52:39with mosquitoes and so we were created

0:52:43they voted for us in 1926 we opened our

0:52:45doors in 1927

0:52:47and we've been here ever since working

0:52:49for the people of contra costa county

0:52:52after prop 13 we took on some additional

0:52:55services from

0:52:57our folks at environmental health and we

0:52:59became the contra costa mosquito and

0:53:01vector control district and we've been

0:53:04protecting public health since 1927.

0:53:08we are a special district we are not

0:53:10part of county government we have about

0:53:1234 full-time personnel members and our

0:53:16operational jurisdiction is the entire

0:53:19county of contra costa

0:53:22a vector is any animal including insects

0:53:25that can transmit the causative agent of

0:53:27disease or cause discomfort to people

0:53:30that's why we are a public health agency

0:53:33we work to prevent the vectors of

0:53:35disease or harm

0:53:37and those vectors of disease are harm

0:53:39for which we provide services to the

0:53:41people of contra costa county are to

0:53:44prevent mosquitoes we provide an

0:53:45inspection and control we provide

0:53:48mosquito fish for residential ponds

0:53:51and those fish will eat the mosquito

0:53:52larvae in the residential ponds to

0:53:54prevent them from growing into adults

0:53:55that can potentially bite and spread

0:53:57disease

0:53:58we provide services for underground

0:54:01yellow jackets only

0:54:02in cases where we

0:54:04provide an inspection for underground

0:54:06yellow jackets if we determine that

0:54:08they're actually underground bees

0:54:10instead that's where the inspection

0:54:12comes in for bees

0:54:14we do often times we will refer people

0:54:16to the mount diablo beekeepers

0:54:18association for the bees

0:54:20we do tick identifications we provide

0:54:23inspections and advice for rats and mice

0:54:26inspections and assistance for skunks

0:54:28because they are a vector of rabies and

0:54:31public education which brings me here

0:54:33tonight to share information about our

0:54:35district and encourage you to have a

0:54:37trustee on our board of trustees from el

0:54:39cerrito

0:54:41as far as trustees are concerned

0:54:43specifically the term for a first term

0:54:46trustee is two years any additional

0:54:49terms that the trustee agrees to serve

0:54:52uh can be from two to four years at a

0:54:55time

0:54:56the qualifications for a trustee on our

0:54:58board of trustees is someone at least 18

0:55:00years old a contra costa county taxpayer

0:55:03who's a resident of in our in this case

0:55:06el cerrito

0:55:08and and that the person has an interest

0:55:10in public health public policy wetlands

0:55:14farming community education finance

0:55:17personnel or land development

0:55:20so they can have an interest in any of

0:55:22those things and find a place to

0:55:24participate on our board of trustees

0:55:27the duties of our trustees are they set

0:55:30policy they hire our district general

0:55:32manager they hire an independent auditor

0:55:36they establish the budget and approve

0:55:38expenditures

0:55:39they retain legal counsel now the board

0:55:42overseas and provides counsel and

0:55:43direction to management

0:55:46but should not be involved in the

0:55:48day-to-day affairs of the district the

0:55:51power and ability to make decisions lies

0:55:53with the full board and not with an

0:55:55individual

0:55:57board member

0:55:58and the board of trustees is not

0:56:00involved in the hiring of employees or

0:56:03rather

0:56:04personnel actions except those that

0:56:07concern the district general manager the

0:56:09personnel committee of the board is the

0:56:11appeal body for employee grievances and

0:56:14disciplinary actions

0:56:17and this is our district

0:56:19we're located in concord

0:56:21and a trustee would be attending the

0:56:25main board meetings are every other

0:56:28month on mondays at 7 pm

0:56:31and then if the trustee is part of one

0:56:33of the committees for example our

0:56:35executive committee is meeting right now

0:56:37so they would have some additional

0:56:40committee member

0:56:41meetings potentially if they joined one

0:56:43of our committees

0:56:45that's all i have do you have any

0:56:47questions

0:56:51uh yes when

0:56:53you're referring to taxpayers is that

0:56:57homeowners taxes or is it

0:56:59so it's kind of confused does that mean

0:57:01renters as well or it's property taxes

0:57:03property taxes

0:57:05so you can't be someone who just rents

0:57:07so someone who rents could be i mean

0:57:09they they are

0:57:10they i would think that a

0:57:14a renter would be able to be a uh a

0:57:17trustee because they are a citizen of

0:57:19the county okay just because it happened

0:57:22to say you had the qualifications that

0:57:24you had to be a taxpayer

0:57:26so i know that our services are funded

0:57:28through county property taxes and

0:57:31benefit assessments

0:57:33that particular qualification i actually

0:57:35would appreciate the opportunity to

0:57:37double check with our legal okay and

0:57:39then and maybe follow up with you follow

0:57:42up with holly to make sure that i have

0:57:43the correct information for that okay

0:57:46thank you thank you

0:57:48are there questions

0:57:50yes how do you assist with b

0:57:53bee production in this

0:57:55time when bees especially honeybees are

0:57:58scarce right as i described

0:58:01we provide service for ground nesting

0:58:03yellow jackets

0:58:05but there are times when our inspector

0:58:08goes out and they're told that there are

0:58:10ground nesting yellow jackets there that

0:58:12they actually find that they are

0:58:13underground bees which can

0:58:16can be there and so in those cases we

0:58:19will refer the folks to the mount diablo

0:58:21beekeepers association

0:58:23so you don't help with production of

0:58:25bees you just

0:58:27no sir we're in a vector control

0:58:28district so our job is to work to

0:58:31mitigate the issues that can cause harm

0:58:33or spread disease thank you thank you

0:58:38a question about rats what do you do

0:58:42um

0:58:43what what is your role relative to rats

0:58:46so

0:58:47the first thing that we explain to our

0:58:50citizens is that rats and mice are not a

0:58:52sign that someone isn't clean enough

0:58:54they are opportunistic they're looking

0:58:56for food and shelter and so the service

0:58:59that we provide is our inspector would

0:59:02go out to the property people will

0:59:04contact us either on through our

0:59:06voicemail or through our website online

0:59:10and request

0:59:11a service appointment

0:59:13we then go out and provide a residential

0:59:16inspection to determine what is

0:59:18happening what's attracting rats and

0:59:20mice to that location and how are they

0:59:22potentially getting into the home and

0:59:25then we provide information and a report

0:59:28to them on what we found and give them

0:59:30information on what to do to get rid of

0:59:33the rats that are currently there and

0:59:35usually it's removing attractants like

0:59:37fruit trees and nut trees and ivy and

0:59:39things like that and then we explain how

0:59:42to close up or

0:59:44any areas where the rats could get in so

0:59:46it's an inspection and advice

0:59:49service that we provide as a public

0:59:51health service

0:59:52thank you

0:59:54is there a stipend for the meeting for

0:59:56the trustees so there is a 100

1:00:00stipend per meeting

1:00:03or

1:00:04they can get

1:00:05travel a travel cost

1:00:07and i there's a

1:00:10paperwork that i included in

1:00:12the folders that i left for each of you

1:00:13that has more details on that okay great

1:00:16thank you i hope the people at home are

1:00:19um

1:00:20listening and apply and uh we would love

1:00:22to have uh

1:00:24someone from el cerrito representing us

1:00:26on on the tr with one of the trustee

1:00:28memberships thank you thank you

1:00:33all right

1:00:34on with our presentations next we have a

1:00:36presentation from west contra costa

1:00:38unified school district an update

1:00:40on transition to trustee area elections

1:00:49welcome

1:00:50thank you

1:00:53mayor and members of the council and

1:00:55city staff

1:00:56my name is marcus walton i'm the

1:00:57communications director with the west

1:00:59contra costa unified school district and

1:01:01this evening i'm here to give you an

1:01:03update on the transition to trustee area

1:01:05elections some of you have heard this

1:01:08information in different venues

1:01:11but my hope is that this evening i can

1:01:14give you a little additional information

1:01:17not only to

1:01:18those of you on the council but to

1:01:21the citizens of el cerrito who may be

1:01:22watching this evening

1:01:25as you um maybe well the objectives this

1:01:28evening are to give you a quick

1:01:30chronological review of how we uh got to

1:01:32the point of moving to trustee area

1:01:34elections uh

1:01:36give you a brief summary of the

1:01:37stipulation and judgment that ended the

1:01:39litigation the district found itself in

1:01:43that also do a review of the

1:01:46trustee area map that has been approved

1:01:48by a superior court judge

1:01:50and also to review the independent

1:01:52commission that was put into place by

1:01:55the judgment and finally a quick

1:01:58discussion of what our next steps are

1:02:02so

1:02:02just in brief

1:02:04at large elections the school district

1:02:07in this past election in 2018

1:02:10elected members at large each trustee

1:02:13was elected by all the voters within the

1:02:15district and that's been the way uh our

1:02:17elected officials have been

1:02:19selected but

1:02:21through this action we will be moving to

1:02:23trustee area elections also known as

1:02:25district-based elections where each

1:02:27trustee will represent a specific

1:02:29geographic area must live in that

1:02:31geographic area and will only be elected

1:02:34by the registered voters in that area

1:02:38this is brought on by the california

1:02:39voting rights act

1:02:41which

1:02:42expands on federal voting right the

1:02:44federal voting rights act of 1965.

1:02:47now a violation of the california voting

1:02:49rights act is established if it's shown

1:02:52that there's racially polarized voting

1:02:54occurring in

1:02:55elections for the members of a governing

1:02:57body and it's important to note that two

1:03:00things first is that proof of intent

1:03:02on part of the voters or elected

1:03:04officials is not

1:03:05necessary in order to violate the

1:03:08california voting rights act but

1:03:09secondly

1:03:10there was never any official

1:03:13study or research done to find out

1:03:16whether or not there was racially

1:03:18polarized voting in the west contra

1:03:19costa unified school district

1:03:22so the chronology how do we get to where

1:03:24we are today back in january of 2018

1:03:27their district received a letter that

1:03:29accused alleged that the system of

1:03:31at-large elections violated the

1:03:33california voting rights act

1:03:35in march the board considered a

1:03:37resolution to transition to trustee area

1:03:40elections and that resolution did not

1:03:42fail

1:03:43the board took a second stab at it and

1:03:45later on that same month and on that

1:03:48night the board actually passed a

1:03:49resolution to move to trustee area

1:03:51elections however we were outside of the

1:03:53safe harbor period that is uh in place

1:03:56in the california voting rights act and

1:03:59earlier that same day

1:04:01the plaintiff filed a lawsuit to compel

1:04:04the district to move to trustee area

1:04:05elections so

1:04:08that pushed us into litigation which

1:04:10affected many of the decisions that were

1:04:12later made

1:04:14between april and june the district did

1:04:16develop six draft maps and held five

1:04:18public hearings to develop trustee area

1:04:21maps

1:04:23in june the board did adopt a resolution

1:04:25and adopted a map

1:04:28that was titled cities and schools b and

1:04:31that map was taken before the county

1:04:33committee on school district

1:04:34organization which is actually the

1:04:36county school board the county school

1:04:38board rejected the district's proposal

1:04:40and suggested that we go back to the

1:04:42community

1:04:43please remember that we are were in

1:04:45litigation at this time and in august

1:04:47the court approved a partial resolution

1:04:50to some of the elements of the lawsuit

1:04:52but not the

1:04:54most important elements around the

1:04:55trustee area map

1:04:58in september

1:05:00because the board still wanted to get

1:05:02community input the board directed staff

1:05:04to hold some map planning sessions and

1:05:07the staff performed the outreach and we

1:05:09held those map planning sessions in uh

1:05:11october

1:05:13in november the board did adopt a

1:05:16preferred map and directed staff to

1:05:19negotiate with the plaintiffs to end the

1:05:21litigation

1:05:22between november and february staff

1:05:25worked and our attorneys worked with the

1:05:28litigants and with the plaintiffs and in

1:05:30february the board did approve a

1:05:32settlement in closed session pending the

1:05:35plaintiff's approval and court signature

1:05:38and in march the court did sign the

1:05:41stipulation and judgment and for some

1:05:43reason our attorneys don't want us to

1:05:44call it an agreement but it was an

1:05:46agreement that the court signed off on

1:05:48but our attorneys don't like that term

1:05:49for some reason

1:05:51um so what what does all this mean

1:05:55what was signed by the court

1:05:57the judgment that was signed

1:05:59indicates that anyone who was elected in

1:06:02the 2018 election for west contra costa

1:06:05unified school district would only serve

1:06:07two-year terms

1:06:08that would set up an election in 2020

1:06:11where all five seats for school board

1:06:13will be up for election

1:06:16and the judgment approved a trustee area

1:06:19amount that will be in place for the

1:06:212020 election in the 2020 election alone

1:06:26in 2020 areas one two and three

1:06:30the folks who are elected in those areas

1:06:32will have four-year terms

1:06:34anyone elected from areas four and five

1:06:36will have two-year terms

1:06:38and the staggering is to ensure that

1:06:41going into the future you don't turn

1:06:42over the board

1:06:44the all five members of the board at the

1:06:46same time

1:06:47um

1:06:48also in the judgment uh the district

1:06:51place pays the plaintiff's council a

1:06:53total of about three hundred and ten

1:06:54thousand dollars and it also put into

1:06:57place an independent redistricting

1:06:59commission to draw maps for

1:07:012022 and the elections for moving

1:07:05forward from 2022

1:07:08so this is the approved trustee area map

1:07:10that was negotiated with the plaintiff

1:07:13and we'll go into more detail

1:07:15this map is available on the district

1:07:17website and including an interactive map

1:07:21real briefly as you can see the city of

1:07:23el cerrito is in area 5 which is down at

1:07:26the bottom of the map

1:07:29bottom and then it

1:07:31rolls up

1:07:32to the eastern part of the district a

1:07:34bit

1:07:36so area one is mainly the cities of

1:07:38panola hercules although it does take in

1:07:40the richmond country club in some of the

1:07:42unincorporated areas such as montalvan

1:07:44manor and

1:07:45parts of terra hills

1:07:47area two

1:07:49is mainly the city of richmond it goes

1:07:52from parchester village in the

1:07:55north and northwest part and it goes it

1:07:58wraps around through

1:08:00um

1:08:01it wraps around through some less

1:08:03densely populated areas and takes in a

1:08:06lot of the chevron property it swings

1:08:08around through south richmond and into

1:08:10north parts of north and east richmond

1:08:14there it is and to there so from

1:08:16parchester swings around into north and

1:08:18east

1:08:20in area three area three is mainly the

1:08:22city of san pablo

1:08:24and it does take in it does grab parts

1:08:28of north richmond and pieces of central

1:08:30richmond here but mainly it's the city

1:08:32of san pablo

1:08:34area four

1:08:35much of the unincorporated area of elsa

1:08:37bronte

1:08:39and it does take in a small portion of

1:08:42san pablo and hilltop and a piece of the

1:08:44unincorporated terra hills area

1:08:47and then area five is something that

1:08:49you're more interested in here

1:08:51the city of el cerrito and it swings

1:08:54down through the richmond annex and it

1:08:56takes in the rich marina and point

1:08:58richmond as well

1:09:04so that is the

1:09:06trusty area map that was proved agreed

1:09:10upon by the plaintiff and the district

1:09:12and

1:09:13signed off on by the judge

1:09:15another interesting part of this

1:09:17judgment is that

1:09:18an independent redistricting commission

1:09:20i'm told by our attorneys that we're

1:09:22only the second school district to put

1:09:24into place an independent redistricting

1:09:25commission

1:09:26which we think will hopefully take away

1:09:29any

1:09:31any perception of political bias in the

1:09:34way the maps will be drawn in the future

1:09:37the commission will have seven members

1:09:40who are would be appointed by a retired

1:09:43judge

1:09:44one member from each of the five trustee

1:09:46areas and two members from contra costa

1:09:49county but from outside of the

1:09:51boundaries of the district

1:09:54the members cannot all be from the same

1:09:56political party so if you have

1:09:58the seven members at least one must not

1:10:00be a member of the same party as the

1:10:02other six

1:10:04a retired judge who would be selected by

1:10:06the district and the plaintiff's

1:10:07attorneys

1:10:09judge delton henderson a long time

1:10:11federal judge is someone the plaintiff's

1:10:14attorney

1:10:15wants to to pursue and the district did

1:10:18not have any objection to that and so

1:10:20we'll be reaching out to him in the next

1:10:23few months

1:10:24also anyone who does serve on the

1:10:26redistricting commission must not seek

1:10:28election as a school board member before

1:10:302028 and this is uh

1:10:33the the rules and and regulations

1:10:35regarding this commission are found in

1:10:37california elections code

1:10:40a couple of other things of note the

1:10:43nomination period will be from january

1:10:45for members of the commission will

1:10:47last from january 1 of 2021 through

1:10:50march 1st of 2021 and the selection of

1:10:53commission members must take place by

1:10:54may 1st of 20 of that year

1:10:57there's some transparency written in

1:10:59to the judgment as well that any

1:11:01communication from anyone who's

1:11:03currently seated on the

1:11:05school board must be made public and

1:11:08there has to be at least five public

1:11:10hearings one in each trustee area and

1:11:12that the members would be subject to

1:11:13conflicts of interest code and there's a

1:11:15lot another a

1:11:17number of other rules

1:11:19in terms of who they can work for and

1:11:21how much money they can donate to

1:11:23political candidates who might be

1:11:24running for school board as well

1:11:27so a few next steps we'll continue our

1:11:30outreach to parent groups city councils

1:11:32municipal advisory groups any

1:11:34organization or persons who want more

1:11:37information on our transition to trustee

1:11:39area elections uh very important in

1:11:41april 2020 we'll have our census uh the

1:11:44the

1:11:45uh

1:11:46the

1:11:47census that takes place every 10 years

1:11:49and that's important because the census

1:11:51is what will the

1:11:53maps that will be drawn in 2022 will be

1:11:55based on they'll be based on those

1:11:56numbers

1:11:58just as a reminder in november of 2020

1:12:00all five seats will be up for election

1:12:02using the map that i showed you

1:12:04previously

1:12:06in january 2021 we will begin accepting

1:12:08applications for the redistricting

1:12:10commission and hopefully by well um

1:12:13we're mandated to have a recommended map

1:12:16uh presented by january 1st of 2022 and

1:12:20again in 2022 the new map will be in

1:12:23place so if

1:12:25additional information is available on

1:12:27the district website again as i

1:12:29mentioned there is an interactive map

1:12:30where you can type in an address or a

1:12:33point of interest and find out which

1:12:35trustee area you reside in and a copy of

1:12:39the judgment is also available as well

1:12:41as a link to the california elections

1:12:43code which describes the independent

1:12:46redistricting commission in more detail

1:12:48so if there are any questions

1:12:52questions

1:12:54thank you very much i think it was very

1:12:55clear thank you very much thank you have

1:12:57a good night we do have one public

1:12:58speaker on this item as well okay

1:13:01go ahead

1:13:03thanks so much thank you marcus uh

1:13:05so good evening again mayor parade okay

1:13:07model

1:13:09thanks

1:13:10so i think i think this presentation is

1:13:12very refreshing so i'm glad that he came

1:13:15to give you all an update on this so i

1:13:18because i have seen these trusty area

1:13:20maps in the past and i'm like okay i'm a

1:13:22little

1:13:23a little skeptic about this but i do

1:13:25like how it's outlined so

1:13:27so you heard the report so now that's

1:13:29pretty much

1:13:30it

1:13:32thank you

1:13:34so our final presentation we have the

1:13:37contra costa library commission update

1:13:41by michael fisher

1:13:44good evening again

1:13:46i'm michael fisher

1:13:48and i have both the honor and privilege

1:13:50of being your library commissioner

1:13:54as part of the agenda materials for this

1:13:56evening's meeting i've submitted a

1:13:59report on various recent matters of

1:14:02interest

1:14:03concerning our library and libraries

1:14:05generally

1:14:06and i plan to do this on a regular basis

1:14:09going forward

1:14:12i don't intend to cover every item in

1:14:14the report i figure you all know how to

1:14:17read

1:14:18um but rather to focus on one issue

1:14:21namely that of libraries as second

1:14:23responders which is one of the

1:14:26pieces that i've included in there

1:14:29the article in my report notes that this

1:14:32is an increasingly important role that

1:14:35libraries play in our communities

1:14:37and it is unfortunately a role that our

1:14:41old library is structurally unfit to

1:14:44carry out

1:14:46libraries are an important community

1:14:48resource that should be able to provide

1:14:52respite

1:14:53to members of the community from heat

1:14:55and smoke

1:14:58many libraries including some in our

1:15:01county

1:15:02do provide that role

1:15:04but both several years ago during

1:15:07record-breaking heat wave and last week

1:15:11during a similar period

1:15:14our library was too hot and had to be

1:15:17closed for the safety of staff and

1:15:19patrons rather than being able to be

1:15:22open to provide a cooling refuge

1:15:26i don't know how many of you listen to

1:15:28science friday

1:15:30but last week it had a piece on how

1:15:33important cooling refuges are

1:15:36too many people in our country die from

1:15:39heat related causes

1:15:42also you may remember last year when our

1:15:44air was unhealthy due to smoke from

1:15:46fires in northern california

1:15:50again the library had to close during

1:15:52some of this time

1:15:54because it does not have an hvac system

1:15:57that can address the problem

1:16:00there are many reasons why we need a new

1:16:03library in el cerrito

1:16:05but this one reason should be enough

1:16:08it's literally a matter of life and

1:16:10death

1:16:11and i'll be happy to answer any

1:16:12questions

1:16:17council member fidelity

1:16:18no air conditioning but do you know if

1:16:20the library has fans

1:16:22that were used don't know if they have

1:16:24could be an economical way at least to

1:16:26get

1:16:27two or three industrial fans in the

1:16:29meantime because that can keep perhaps

1:16:32the

1:16:33building from

1:16:34having to close but it's not a cooling

1:16:36refuge no i'm not happening no but yeah

1:16:39i agree

1:16:42you can check that thank you what those

1:16:44are

1:16:46any further questions oh thank you thank

1:16:49you for your service

1:16:50thank you very much

1:16:52you have any speakers on this item we do

1:16:54not

1:16:56all right so next we will move on to

1:16:58public hearings

1:17:01first we have

1:17:02an ordinance to amend chapter

1:17:0513.28 of the el cerrito municipal code

1:17:09trees and shrubs

1:17:13they have the staff report

1:17:32good evening mayor city council and

1:17:34members of the public my name is will

1:17:35provost i'm an analyst in the public

1:17:37works department and i'll be speaking on

1:17:39the drafted updates and amendments to

1:17:40the city's tree and shrub ordinance

1:17:44i'll discuss the background reasons for

1:17:46updating the city's existing ordinance

1:17:48the public process we completed to

1:17:50develop these changes the changes being

1:17:52made and how they support other city

1:17:53policies and lastly steps for moving

1:17:56forward

1:17:59so the el cerrito municipal code already

1:18:00has some language around trees and

1:18:02shrubs the reasons for updating the

1:18:04ordinance were driven primarily by the

1:18:06desire to add protections for city trees

1:18:08to clarify who would be responsible for

1:18:10pruning planting and removing city trees

1:18:13to create a more robust process for

1:18:15enforcement and appeals

1:18:17and to meet the prerequisite standards

1:18:18to become a tree city usa

1:18:23following in-depth research and

1:18:24discussion by the urban forest committee

1:18:26starting last june city staff began

1:18:28working with the ufc in a more concerted

1:18:30effort to develop revisions to the

1:18:31city's municipal code language around

1:18:33trees

1:18:34the language was drafted after reviewing

1:18:36guidance from the international society

1:18:38of arbor culture by incorporating

1:18:39provisions from a number of model

1:18:41ordinances from other communities and

1:18:43after soliciting feedback from cal fire

1:18:45the davie tree expert company the

1:18:47municipal polling authority and of

1:18:49course our city attorney and other city

1:18:50departments

1:18:53after reviewing an administrative draft

1:18:54of the ordinance with the committee in

1:18:56november at a january 7 public meeting

1:18:58we heard concerns from members of the

1:19:00community and members of the urban

1:19:01forest committee about wildfire concerns

1:19:04and concerns about protecting or

1:19:05prohibiting trees on private property

1:19:08to discuss those concerns staff in the

1:19:10ufc decided to discuss further at their

1:19:12february meeting rather than

1:19:14recommending the ordinance for approval

1:19:15at that time

1:19:17at the february ufc meeting the

1:19:19committee identified opportunities to

1:19:20further refine this ordinance

1:19:22still focusing on public trees while

1:19:24also developing other processes for the

1:19:26review of the city's policies and

1:19:27programs relating to private trees and

1:19:30the prevention of wildfires

1:19:32a motion was passed to make fire

1:19:33management a priority in the ufc's

1:19:35current work plan

1:19:37in april the ufc reviewed the draft

1:19:40ordinance which incorporated additional

1:19:41comments and suggestions and recommended

1:19:43that the ordinance be presented at a

1:19:45second public meeting

1:19:46after the second public meeting held in

1:19:48may the ufc passed a motion unanimously

1:19:51recommending the council's adoption of

1:19:52the draft ordinance

1:19:57so the existing tree and shrub ordinance

1:19:59references an official tree list for

1:20:01planting in the parking strip requires

1:20:03approval for planting a public tree or

1:20:05shrub

1:20:06allows the city to prune or remove these

1:20:08trees and makes it unlawful to damage

1:20:10trees

1:20:13the expanded and updated ordinance

1:20:14provides a much stronger foundation for

1:20:16the city's tree program and publicly

1:20:18controlled urban forest

1:20:19it would expand the focus from the

1:20:21parking strip to all public spaces

1:20:23it emphasizes the protection and proper

1:20:25management of public trees

1:20:27it clarifies when permits are needed to

1:20:29ensure that trees that are planted are

1:20:31suitable for their locations and won't

1:20:33interfere with utilities for example

1:20:36the updated language also expands the

1:20:37ability of property owners to plant

1:20:39small plants and shrubs and take

1:20:41ownership of the planting strip in front

1:20:42of their homes without a permit

1:20:47the ordinance sets standards for the

1:20:49maintenance of public trees in line with

1:20:51industry best practices it defines a

1:20:53protected root zone to ensure roots of

1:20:55trees are protected even in the planting

1:20:57strip

1:20:58the language specifies clear liability

1:21:00for damaging public trees and it creates

1:21:02an appeals process for permits and

1:21:04violations and as you can be seen in

1:21:06this photo

1:21:07where some rocks are placed around the

1:21:08base of the tree part of the protected

1:21:10root zone is really trying to prevent

1:21:12permeable or impermeable pavements or

1:21:15other things being placed around the

1:21:16base of a tree that can really damage

1:21:18the roots

1:21:21the updated language also calls for the

1:21:23establishment of criteria and standard

1:21:25operating procedures that shall guide

1:21:26the implementation of the city's tree

1:21:28program

1:21:29these sops will clearly define processes

1:21:32enabling the tree program to implement

1:21:34the ordinance consistently and equitably

1:21:37across all requests received

1:21:39examples include how the city will

1:21:41respond to hazardous and emergency tree

1:21:43issues how the city prioritizes public

1:21:46tree pruning planting and removal

1:21:48requests

1:21:49the process and criteria for allowing

1:21:51the private planting pruning or removal

1:21:53of a public tree

1:21:54and the mitigation required for the

1:21:56removal of a public tree if needed for a

1:21:58development project for example

1:22:03so these changes are all consistent with

1:22:04the city's broader pan plans and

1:22:06policies and recognize that the city's

1:22:08trees and publicly controlled urban

1:22:10forests are major infrastructure element

1:22:12that provide valuable benefits to the

1:22:13community

1:22:14these include environmental benefits

1:22:16such as reducing greenhouse gas

1:22:18emissions or improving water quality

1:22:20public health benefits by improving air

1:22:22quality and supporting a healthy and

1:22:23active community

1:22:25social benefits including creating a

1:22:27sense of place and memorable nodes and

1:22:29economic benefits increasing property

1:22:31values and reducing potential damage to

1:22:33public and private infrastructure

1:22:36trees play a major role in each of the

1:22:38plans listed here by offering

1:22:39environmental benefits in place making

1:22:41supporting the city's mission to create

1:22:43an environmentally sustainable future

1:22:49in addition to the many comments we

1:22:50received that were incorporated into the

1:22:52ordinance as mentioned some members of

1:22:53the community also expressed the desire

1:22:55to add other tree-related code language

1:22:57that staff in the urban forest committee

1:22:59ultimately determined were better suited

1:23:00for robust public processes of their own

1:23:03to take place at a later date

1:23:05we heard suggestions to add protections

1:23:07for trees on private property for

1:23:09example prohibiting the removal of

1:23:11certain what are called heritage trees

1:23:13controlling trees on private property

1:23:15can be control controversial and hasn't

1:23:17yet been well researched in el cerrito

1:23:20as a result the decision was made to

1:23:22maintain this ordinance's focus on

1:23:24improving the code language around

1:23:25public trees controlled and owned by the

1:23:27city

1:23:29other concerns had to do with fire risk

1:23:30and fire prevention

1:23:32similarly while this is an important and

1:23:33timely issue staff in the ufc determined

1:23:36that there are other processes

1:23:37forthcoming that would be better suited

1:23:39to take up the complex issue of managing

1:23:41public trees for fire prevention

1:23:43as mentioned the ufc passed a motion to

1:23:45make fire management a priority in their

1:23:47current work plan

1:23:48in some cases more than any anything the

1:23:50desire was to increase city funding and

1:23:52resources for the maintenance and

1:23:53removal of trees in the hillside natural

1:23:55area

1:23:56ultimately this ordinance makes valuable

1:23:58improvements and sets a solid foundation

1:24:00for the city's tree program and will

1:24:02enable the city to become a tree city

1:24:04usa

1:24:07so to conclude this evening we ask that

1:24:08the council consider

1:24:10adopting the amended public transfer

1:24:12ordinance and to pursue becoming a tree

1:24:14city usa

1:24:16thank you and let me know if you have

1:24:17any questions i'm joined here by stephen

1:24:19pray the city's environmental program

1:24:21manager and city arborist who may also

1:24:23be able to assist in any questions you

1:24:24may have

1:24:27one question

1:24:29i have a few questions but first i want

1:24:31to say how much i appreciate

1:24:34that you're creating a process that

1:24:36leads

1:24:37to the city of el cerrito becoming a

1:24:39tree city

1:24:42i'm very happy about that

1:24:44um but i want to make sure that the

1:24:47trees so this would so the trees were

1:24:49really talking about

1:24:52now are in areas such as public parks

1:24:56um parking strips

1:25:00and um

1:25:01other city properties that's correct

1:25:04okay the old ordnance focused primarily

1:25:06on parking strips what they called

1:25:07parking strips this broadens the focus

1:25:09to include what we're calling the

1:25:10planting strip but also other public

1:25:12spaces including parks and media it

1:25:14would include the iolani greenway for

1:25:16example

1:25:17okay so what i'm curious about

1:25:21is for example if there's a

1:25:24[Music]

1:25:25i know that one of the prohibited trees

1:25:28species at least i think it still is is

1:25:30the um

1:25:32um

1:25:35uh let's see there's the

1:25:37monterey pine is one of them i believe

1:25:39redwood redwood and the other ones are

1:25:42there aren't that many

1:25:44okay

1:25:46honorary cyprus okay so um the uh let's

1:25:50say that um

1:25:52we prohibited them but they're already

1:25:54there

1:25:56um and then

1:25:59so that's one situation but the other

1:26:01situation is that that had happened but

1:26:04then there was some volunteer that

1:26:07emerged on its own from one of those

1:26:10mature trees

1:26:11then how do you treat those volunteers

1:26:15the focus primarily of this ordinance is

1:26:17to moving forward to make sure that the

1:26:19right tree gets planted in the right

1:26:20place to ensure that there's no

1:26:22conflicts with utilities with overhead

1:26:25wires sidewalks things like that

1:26:27the practice won't be initially to try

1:26:30and remove every tree

1:26:31that conflicts with this ordinance but

1:26:34more to moving forward just make sure

1:26:35that the the trees that are planted are

1:26:38appropriate for where there's they're

1:26:39being planted okay the the emphasis on

1:26:42my question was on those volunteers

1:26:45that would come up

1:26:47from the mature trees not the

1:26:50research

1:26:51not the

1:26:53mature trees themselves

1:26:56the volunteers that come up in the on

1:26:58public property are the

1:27:01the responsibility of the city to remove

1:27:04those volunteers that

1:27:07volunteer

1:27:09on

1:27:10in the public rather on the planting

1:27:12strip

1:27:13are the responsibility of the property

1:27:16owner to maintain or remove

1:27:18so the city removes

1:27:21volunteer prohibited species

1:27:24from city property okay so that would be

1:27:26like the

1:27:28the park the iolani greenway

1:27:30yes similar types of spaces but if it

1:27:33were on the parking strip then the

1:27:36property owner at that address

1:27:38that is the responsibility of the

1:27:39property that add responsibility and

1:27:41what if they don't

1:27:45the city um could

1:27:48request that they

1:27:49remove it or may remove it um

1:27:52on

1:27:53you know the city may remove it during

1:27:55routine pruning i don't know that we

1:27:57would seek out to remove it it is the

1:28:00responsibility of the property owner but

1:28:02if they um maintain that but if you were

1:28:04notified by a third party

1:28:07that it that this situation was

1:28:10occurring and the property owner wasn't

1:28:12taking care of it yeah one note so as

1:28:15steven mentioned that

1:28:16we have control of all planting strips

1:28:18and public spaces and right away when it

1:28:20pertains to trees and so we could cause

1:28:22the removal of any tree that was a new

1:28:25public nuisance um however i'd also note

1:28:27that the section you're referring to

1:28:29which prohibits certain trees is a

1:28:31different section of the code and wasn't

1:28:32the focus of this ordinance um however

1:28:35if we did want to prohibit or to remove

1:28:37a tree because it was a public nuisance

1:28:39we could still do that under this code

1:28:41section

1:28:43okay i'm just wanting

1:28:45i'm wanting to know that we can get rid

1:28:46of those

1:28:47volunteers we can um

1:28:50and we have yes we have full

1:28:52responsibility and control

1:28:54in the public realm in the public not

1:28:57but not on private property not on

1:28:58private property different i understand

1:29:00this is just about public property and

1:29:02you're going to do us

1:29:03a companion

1:29:05ordinance for

1:29:08private property uh it's something that

1:29:10could be done in the future

1:29:11it could be so you don't have any plans

1:29:13to and no plans or direction at this

1:29:15point in time

1:29:18okay because that seems to me is where

1:29:20the problem

1:29:21is left then

1:29:25yep

1:29:27i'm not imagining it i don't think

1:29:31okay for the moment

1:29:33since this is about public property i

1:29:35will set that aside but for the moment

1:29:41yeah i've got a just a number of um

1:29:44suggestions on how to make minor changes

1:29:47to this to i think broad or make the

1:29:50intent clear

1:29:51on page 87

1:29:54in

1:29:5713.28.070 b

1:30:00it's

1:30:01this is exactly what i think

1:30:03councilmember abelson was

1:30:05just

1:30:06talking about

1:30:08in and this was in the event that the

1:30:11tree program manager determines a public

1:30:13tree or shrub has become objectionable

1:30:14or a nuisance because of actions of the

1:30:17adjacent property owner

1:30:19uh his or her

1:30:21tenants the city may require adjacent

1:30:23property owner to prune that's that's

1:30:25exactly what you were talking about with

1:30:27the parking strip that's right so that

1:30:29so when it's in certain locations it

1:30:32becomes the obligation of the property

1:30:34owner to manage it right uh if if it was

1:30:37improperly pruned by the property owner

1:30:40or if uh the property owner planted an

1:30:43improper species without an encroachment

1:30:45permit at that point in time we could

1:30:47use this provision to uh cause the

1:30:49property owner to either complete the

1:30:52pruning or removal on their own or we

1:30:54could complete that work and then charge

1:30:56that property owner excellent and that

1:30:57that if i read this you said it in about

1:30:59three different places in the ordinance

1:31:01it would be a lien back on the property

1:31:04pursuant to chapter 8.34 of the code yes

1:31:07right it's it's not a it's not a it's

1:31:09not a bill that they potentially can pay

1:31:13it i mean you bill them or you lean them

1:31:15and they can compare you say we invoice

1:31:17them in one location i'll refer back to

1:31:19our city attorney there

1:31:21so

1:31:21um

1:31:22the ordinance actually authorizes the

1:31:25use of any of the nuisance abatement or

1:31:27code enforcement tools that are

1:31:28currently in the municipal code

1:31:30typically

1:31:31the process that's an 8.34 or the

1:31:34administrative citation process

1:31:36requires

1:31:38if the city does its own does the work

1:31:40itself

1:31:41to provide the property owner with

1:31:43notice of the amount that's been charged

1:31:45if the property owner then fails to pay

1:31:47that amount then the city would move

1:31:49forward with bringing to council

1:31:50authorization to collect that through a

1:31:53lien or a special assessment on the

1:31:55property great thank you for that

1:31:56clarification

1:31:57on page 88 of our agenda bill

1:32:0313.28.080 mutilation or destruction of

1:32:06public trees

1:32:08prohibited

1:32:10the uh

1:32:13the the email exchange that we had

1:32:15earlier today i suggested that the ore

1:32:18plant in the first sentence be removed

1:32:21um

1:32:23because

1:32:24and and moved to another location and

1:32:26and

1:32:26the i'm going to hopefully explain

1:32:28myself a little better

1:32:30um it is a violation of the chapter to

1:32:32damage or mutilate any public tree shrub

1:32:34or plant in any public place including

1:32:37but not limited to a planting strip

1:32:41the following acts are prohibited under

1:32:43this chapter unless

1:32:45otherwise exempt

1:32:47so

1:32:48unfortunately

1:32:50war plant is not mentioned in any of the

1:32:52exemptions

1:32:53so if i have planted the planting strip

1:32:56with a ground cover

1:32:58and i would like to now remove it

1:33:01i there by damaging or mutilating it it

1:33:04is actually not an exempted action for

1:33:06me to remove it in accordance with this

1:33:09and and that is

1:33:11that that is um

1:33:13potentially

1:33:15not

1:33:16what was intended so i just wanted to

1:33:18make sure that

1:33:20we potentially put some sort of

1:33:23exemption language in that first

1:33:24sentence maybe is appropriate

1:33:29uh these are prohibited acts listed here

1:33:33but they could still remove it with an

1:33:34encroachment permit but they don't need

1:33:36an encroachment permit to put in that

1:33:38ground cover so why would they need an

1:33:39encroachment permit to remove the ground

1:33:41cover

1:33:43uh yeah in under the

1:33:45i don't believe it would be in this

1:33:47section but under the area where we

1:33:49govern that they allow them to plant in

1:33:51the planting strip we could make it more

1:33:52clear that they're also allowed to

1:33:53remove ground cover uh from their

1:33:55adjacent planting strip okay it it's

1:33:58just that this is it's a violation to do

1:34:01it under this code so i want to make

1:34:02sure that if somebody is

1:34:05doing it elsewhere in the code we could

1:34:07make it clearly exempt that you can

1:34:09remove ground cover

1:34:10just like junior adjacent planning right

1:34:12the shrubs and the ground covers just in

1:34:14that same

1:34:15uh meaning and i think you caught on to

1:34:18the count

1:34:19i just want to i'll actually i'm sorry

1:34:20interrupt but i just want to make sure

1:34:21from staff that so um

1:34:25one issue that i just that i that i

1:34:28in terms of intent is

1:34:30while it would while you could look at

1:34:31it and say that if they're allowed to

1:34:33plant it without an encroachment permit

1:34:35they should be able to remove it

1:34:37um another view on it would be

1:34:39um if they are allowed to install it but

1:34:41the city actually wants to review what

1:34:43they're planning to do before they

1:34:45remove it

1:34:46without knowing what has been planted

1:34:48the city would actually want to require

1:34:50an encroachment permit to to review what

1:34:53had been planted and what the what

1:34:55manner of work they're proposing to do

1:34:57particularly if they need to do work if

1:34:59they need to do work actually in the

1:35:01street to access some of the ground

1:35:03cover that they want to remove the city

1:35:04would want an encroachment permit to be

1:35:06able to to

1:35:08review safety protocols and actually

1:35:10what's been planted to see whether or

1:35:11not the city agrees with

1:35:15okay so so that

1:35:16i'm gonna i'm gonna agree with that

1:35:18that's not a problem but that is not

1:35:20currently envisioned in this

1:35:23i did not see that

1:35:24did not see that concept captured in the

1:35:27current version so if i'm fine with that

1:35:31i'm going to use this shrub

1:35:33the shrub that's now eight feet tall

1:35:35to prune the top of it you need a ladder

1:35:37you're probably going to put the ladder

1:35:39up in the street because that's the

1:35:40flattest area and that potentially is

1:35:43something we want to regulate for safety

1:35:45in the current version they would be

1:35:47required to get an encroachment permit

1:35:48and get proper approval

1:35:50uh to do that work

1:35:52you'll have to direct me to where that

1:35:55um where that is that under pruning

1:35:59is that's under 070

1:36:02i

1:36:03yes uh under d

1:36:05so that the city may authorize the

1:36:07pruning or removal of public tree at uh

1:36:09by a person at the person's own expense

1:36:11yeah sure that doesn't say shrub or

1:36:13plant

1:36:14oh

1:36:15yes that's my point it's shrub and plant

1:36:18you're very inconsistent about shrub and

1:36:20plant

1:36:21so

1:36:22i don't know if this addresses i don't

1:36:24want to make i'm not

1:36:26i'm not sure this does address your

1:36:27question but if you look at

1:36:2913.28.060 e

1:36:31it says no permit or prior approval from

1:36:33the city is required for the planting of

1:36:35shrubs plants or ground cover in the

1:36:37planting strip as long as the item to be

1:36:38planted complies with all requirements

1:36:40of this chapter correct so now i've

1:36:42planted it right and so the sec and and

1:36:45the later one says

1:36:47that and i oh you're looking for the

1:36:49section that says an encroachment

1:36:50permits required for the removal of

1:36:52the removal of of what's just been

1:36:54planted under under e is that correct

1:36:56correct because and it and whether it's

1:36:58in 0607-0

1:37:00pruning

1:37:01or in mutilation 080

1:37:04i the problem is in odo we bring in

1:37:07shrub and plant it's prohibited to do

1:37:09anything with those but we

1:37:11so we've now allowed them to plant it

1:37:13but never allowed them to

1:37:15actually manage it so if i was to plant

1:37:18um a flower that needs to be

1:37:20um you know the the flower heads need to

1:37:23be removed in order for it to

1:37:25to do its reproductive process

1:37:27i actually am breaking the law when i go

1:37:29and do that pruning

1:37:32of that flower that

1:37:34that perennial flower

1:37:36so i just i want to make sure

1:37:39we aren't telling people that they're

1:37:41going to need an encroachment permit to

1:37:43do annual pruning of their

1:37:46perennial flowers

1:37:49or

1:37:50and that's what that's what

1:37:51unfortunately the way i think it's

1:37:53structured right now that's what's

1:37:54required

1:37:56and that that doesn't

1:37:58it doesn't i don't think that was the

1:38:00intent

1:38:02mr pray

1:38:03thank you

1:38:04mr lyman um that section um 2808-0

1:38:09refers to public tree shrub or plant

1:38:13correct and if i planted it in the

1:38:15planting strip it becomes a public plant

1:38:17tree or shrub i

1:38:21it does yep

1:38:26so

1:38:28we could be more clear that they after

1:38:31they plant a ground club ground cover or

1:38:33small plant in the planting trip which

1:38:35we want to encourage and the intent of

1:38:37this ordinance so in the existing

1:38:38municipal code you're not allowed to do

1:38:40anything without an encroachment permit

1:38:42and we wanted to make it clear that yes

1:38:44we want people to plant in their

1:38:46planting strip and really take ownership

1:38:47of it

1:38:48the one i'm thinking of is the the

1:38:49gentleman who plants hay in his plant

1:38:52planting strip or he plants oats i can't

1:38:54remember which it is and every year he

1:38:56harvests it so he can get a pound of

1:38:57flour

1:38:58and every year he would theoretically

1:39:00need to come get an encroachment permit

1:39:03to harvest his his wheat and that that

1:39:06doesn't

1:39:07make sense to me and that's what i was i

1:39:10that wasn't the only example i was using

1:39:11when i was reading through

1:39:13i i i'm not trying to pick on this but

1:39:16i'm but it is as the city attorney noted

1:39:18there are other concerns so we might

1:39:20have to discuss internally to just make

1:39:21sure that they got the proper approval

1:39:23if they needed to check site lines check

1:39:25excavation anything like that yep yeah

1:39:28i'm fine i finally i just wanted to

1:39:29point out that right now that that that

1:39:32ground i use ground cover i use wheat i

1:39:34use the things that are

1:39:35small

1:39:36and intended to be managed by the

1:39:39property adjacent property owner

1:39:41right now

1:39:42the neither pruning nor mutilation

1:39:45seems to

1:39:46cover this

1:39:48the the desired effect which is what we

1:39:51want which is people to manage

1:39:53their

1:39:54public shrubs and plants

1:39:58that is the desire so i think that if

1:40:00you if you re so

1:40:02if the desire was to require an

1:40:05encroachment permit for

1:40:08anything that had been planted

1:40:10in a public place so let's talk let's

1:40:12say the ground cover that had been

1:40:13planted in a planting strip one way to

1:40:16address it would be to

1:40:18revise

1:40:1913.28.08 ob

1:40:21so that it would say

1:40:23that it's prohibited to cut prune plant

1:40:25or remove a tree shrub or plant in a

1:40:28public place without first obtaining

1:40:29authorization from the city in the form

1:40:31of an encroachment permit

1:40:33that's if that's what staff is

1:40:34recommending if staff wants to permit

1:40:38some work on for example to keep using

1:40:40the example of ground cover without

1:40:42requiring an encroachment permit then

1:40:43that wouldn't work

1:40:46if i may

1:40:47maria sanders operations and

1:40:50environmental services division manager

1:40:52the intent of

1:40:55the

1:40:57the intent of

1:40:59the one where we said that we want no um

1:41:03of protecting uh

1:41:05shrubs was really meant to

1:41:07deal with

1:41:09uh medians and things like that and um

1:41:11and shrubs and

1:41:13uh plantings and landscapes that were in

1:41:16public places such as parks and medians

1:41:20the idea is that we don't want to

1:41:23regulate every single solitary action

1:41:25that somebody takes in the planting

1:41:27strip right outside their home

1:41:30so if they're chopping their wheat or if

1:41:32they're chopping if they're removing

1:41:35some ground cover as long as they're not

1:41:37interfering with the protected root zone

1:41:39then it is one of those things that we

1:41:41wouldn't necessarily need an

1:41:43encroachment permit for

1:41:44so that was the intent if that makes

1:41:47sense it does and i i support that

1:41:49intent and right now the language does

1:41:50not

1:41:51clarify

1:41:53clearly

1:41:54cover that intent so it sounds like um

1:41:57the

1:41:58um i don't have it right in front of me

1:42:00sorry but uh the um o2

1:42:03a um the original one that basically

1:42:05says

1:42:06the the the

1:42:08um version that says not the version but

1:42:11the clause that says that they have the

1:42:12right to

1:42:15without an encroachment permit to plant

1:42:16we should probably also say they have a

1:42:19right also to perform work and maintain

1:42:21that area without a permit subject to

1:42:24limitations in um because because i do

1:42:28understand what the uh

1:42:30council said

1:42:31in

1:42:32i think above a certain height

1:42:34we want that like if it's above five

1:42:36feet or above four feet i think we do

1:42:39want to

1:42:40make sure that they we have some

1:42:42control over the fact that they're doing

1:42:44that safely when they go to do that so i

1:42:48would

1:42:49i mean

1:42:50i'm thinking about

1:42:51i have some shrubs

1:42:53they are two three feet tall i've got

1:42:55grasses that are a foot tall they're

1:42:58i manage them i maintain them

1:43:01they

1:43:02some of them dangle over the sidewalk

1:43:04and you could come along and say oh you

1:43:05have to prune those and i could go out

1:43:06and prune them quickly

1:43:08but the point i'm trying to get to is

1:43:11right now

1:43:12i would actually potentially need if if

1:43:15the pla if if my

1:43:17lavender was dangling onto the sidewalk

1:43:20from the planting strip i would need an

1:43:22encroachment permit to do that and

1:43:24actually it's not clear that that you

1:43:26allow an encroachment permit because as

1:43:29um

1:43:31yeah because it's

1:43:32it's only b only covers tree which is

1:43:34what

1:43:35scott mr woodruff was covering so would

1:43:37that with that explanation of the intent

1:43:39from ms sanders could i suggest a

1:43:40different approach which is going back

1:43:42to that first sentence in 13.28.080

1:43:46and say uh revise that to state

1:43:50that cutting pruning planting or

1:43:52removing any public tree shrub or plant

1:43:55in any public place including but not

1:43:57limited to a planting strip must be done

1:43:59in compliance with this chapter

1:44:03yes

1:44:05that would work for me i don't

1:44:06understand what that means in terms of

1:44:09um

1:44:11chat

1:44:14i think i if

1:44:15just looking at this i wouldn't be able

1:44:17to tell what it

1:44:19that i could do certain things and

1:44:21couldn't do others that sentence would

1:44:23not alone answer the question it would

1:44:24require you to look at other places in

1:44:26the code but i believe that everything

1:44:27would you know where to look you'd have

1:44:29to read the rest of the code that's

1:44:31would it refer to that other place there

1:44:34are

1:44:34section number we can't do we can't

1:44:36because it's spread throughout the

1:44:38chapter there's no way we could do

1:44:40um cross references because that's the

1:44:42that's the subject of the whole chapter

1:44:44but basically

1:44:46for example the rules about trees are

1:44:49are stated elsewhere the rules about

1:44:51planting and doing other work on shrubs

1:44:53are stated elsewhere and

1:44:55as it is right now it would be clear

1:44:57that you'd be allowed to

1:44:59plant ground cover in the planting strip

1:45:01but um there wouldn't be any prohibition

1:45:03on on doing work or removing that ground

1:45:05cover

1:45:06because i i don't think just

1:45:09it's everything everything that we've

1:45:11just been discussing is addressed

1:45:12somewhere else in the chapter so

1:45:13somebody who's looking to figure out

1:45:15what they want to do would need to read

1:45:16the chapter anyway well it just seems to

1:45:18me like it's becoming too complicated

1:45:21to do it right it becomes too hard to do

1:45:24it right

1:45:25based on this what if for example i was

1:45:27wanting to plant corn

1:45:30there are people who plant corn in the

1:45:32parking strip corn grows to be more than

1:45:34four feet tall

1:45:36right

1:45:38but it um

1:45:41what do you what are you saying here

1:45:43that they can or can't do it

1:45:45i can't i don't have i don't have a way

1:45:47of telling

1:45:48what the sentence that i proposed would

1:45:50mean that they would

1:45:52that that they would have that that that

1:45:54this

1:45:56would simply clarify that that the the

1:45:58items listed have to be done in

1:46:00compliance with the chapter and they

1:46:01would have to read the chapter which

1:46:02they would have to do anyway in order to

1:46:04figure out whether or not they can plant

1:46:05the corn there and and if i just to help

1:46:09my my reading of the chapter would be

1:46:12that they could remove ground cover

1:46:15and shrubs

1:46:17without an encroachment permit

1:46:19shrubs they might require an

1:46:21encroachment permit

1:46:23show me where

1:46:25they might under the only reason they

1:46:28would be is if they were attaching a

1:46:30sign or poster or any other object by

1:46:32piercing or otherwise causing damage to

1:46:35the tree or shrub or if they were using

1:46:37gaseous liquid or solid substance to

1:46:40cause harm or death

1:46:42to tree or shrub otherwise they can

1:46:45pretty much that's the whole reason why

1:46:46i had a problem with that first sentence

1:46:48is because we say it's a violation of

1:46:50this chapter to damage or mutilate the

1:46:51public tree shrub or plant but then we

1:46:54don't in this entire thing we don't

1:46:56necessarily

1:46:57cover it applying or attaching a chain

1:47:00or rope to the tree or shrub so in

1:47:03essence

1:47:05harvesting

1:47:07the wheat harvesting the corn would be

1:47:09allowed is the way i read this

1:47:11yeah you're i think you're right i think

1:47:12what i was thinking of is the provisions

1:47:14that require the removal of

1:47:16an objectionable shrub or require an

1:47:18encroachment that does yes correct yeah

1:47:20so so

1:47:22in reading this

1:47:23i i would tell you that that sentence

1:47:25that the

1:47:27mr woodruff proposed

1:47:29would allow you to plant and harvest

1:47:31your your crops

1:47:32plant and harvest crops crops shrubs and

1:47:35gr and

1:47:36ground cover would all be

1:47:39would be things that you could do unless

1:47:42the

1:47:43shrub or other vegetation was determined

1:47:46to be a nuisance

1:47:48that that you would need an encroachment

1:47:49permit for

1:47:51or if you wanted to try and do it by the

1:47:54um attaching things to

1:47:57the shrub

1:47:58so if you if you went out there and

1:48:00tried to

1:48:01attach a for sale sign or a scarecrow to

1:48:03your corn you would actually be in

1:48:05violation of this code

1:48:07but i'm not sure anybody would enforce

1:48:08it

1:48:10and you couldn't use herbicides in the

1:48:12planting strip because that's obviously

1:48:14we don't want pollution on our property

1:48:17so so you also couldn't violate other

1:48:19sections of the of the code like

1:48:21planting at the base of a tree which is

1:48:23the protected root zone because we don't

1:48:25want damage to the tree's roots um or

1:48:28obstructing the right of way right

1:48:30so corn could be an issue if it was

1:48:32right at a corner where there's a stop

1:48:34sign or something like that it would i

1:48:35mean theoretically it wouldn't be the

1:48:39in that

1:48:41well i don't know how big this zone

1:48:43i i

1:48:44we're getting beyond my knowledge of how

1:48:46do you plant corn but um

1:48:48the

1:48:49the uh the main thing is i'm i would be

1:48:52getting at is that a um

1:48:55a citizen who's not an expert in all of

1:48:58this stuff

1:49:00you know it's going to be really hard

1:49:01for them to figure out how to do this

1:49:03and the next component of this will be

1:49:05education and working with stephen

1:49:07to really educate the public on on this

1:49:10ordinance

1:49:11and it's sort of

1:49:13to me it's sort of speaking of just let

1:49:15it go and don't do anything in the

1:49:17parking strip

1:49:19or plan what about planning that was the

1:49:21previous previously our defen our rule

1:49:24on the books was that you needed an

1:49:25encroachment to do anything and really

1:49:27we're trying to give

1:49:28more latitude to the community and

1:49:30households to plant in the public right

1:49:33in the planting strip adjacent to their

1:49:34home okay and what if you just want to

1:49:36put down some sort of bricks or

1:49:39something to

1:49:40bricks we are concerned with because it

1:49:41can damage roots and so typically you

1:49:44would need an encroachment permit to do

1:49:45other kinds of work in the public right

1:49:47away okay and it says

1:49:49something that's

1:49:51yes

1:49:51um people can figure out what it means

1:49:54yes and we can do a better education on

1:49:56on when you need a permit okay

1:49:59um but for corn corn would be okay right

1:50:03depending on where it's located where

1:50:05it's planted so the the uh if you read

1:50:07the chapter there are places where

1:50:10a certain height of plant is appropriate

1:50:12or not

1:50:13and so

1:50:14corn depending on whether what the

1:50:16height of the variety of corn is is more

1:50:18or less

1:50:20more or less appropriate or permissible

1:50:23depending on the location but if there's

1:50:25no tree at all

1:50:27then it would be okay right

1:50:30it still doesn't interfere with the

1:50:34as long as it doesn't interfere with the

1:50:36public right-of-way diagram uh diagram

1:50:39one

1:50:40it might if it got high enough it might

1:50:42make it difficult for for drivers and

1:50:44pedestrians to see clearly

1:50:47and so then it might be that's only on

1:50:49the corner you mean yeah exactly but i

1:50:51i'm thinking of

1:50:52say mid block and i'm just thinking of

1:50:55what i've seen out there

1:50:57um

1:50:59what people actually do plant

1:51:01out there and some people plant

1:51:03vegetables

1:51:05some people plant flowers some people

1:51:07plant dishes basically anything except a

1:51:10tree so we don't want people planting

1:51:12trees or removing trees without a permit

1:51:15certainly

1:51:16because they can be large they can

1:51:18damage root sidewalks they can harm

1:51:20utilities

1:51:22so certainly not trees but otherwise if

1:51:24it's not on the prohibited tree list we

1:51:26do want to give wide latitude to plant

1:51:29if it doesn't violate other sections of

1:51:31this code

1:51:34so i have two more at the risk of

1:51:35trampling the shrub to death

1:51:37um at the top of page 89 in section

1:51:4113.2810

1:51:45um

1:51:46this is one that i emailed you about

1:51:48deleting text and you said no no you

1:51:50don't want to do that and i now

1:51:51understand why you want to keep it

1:51:54however i would then add some text to it

1:51:57this is the

1:51:59sentence reads

1:52:01during any construction project

1:52:02including but not limited to erection

1:52:04repair alteration or removal of private

1:52:06or public building housing structure

1:52:08other private or public facility or

1:52:10utility

1:52:11the person in charge of such work

1:52:13shall protect any tree

1:52:16shrub or plant identified for protection

1:52:19in the development approval process so

1:52:21that that clearly applies to both

1:52:23private and public trees which is the

1:52:24intent

1:52:25and it goes on to say any

1:52:28and any public trees with good

1:52:31insufficient guards so

1:52:32i would

1:52:33like to if you're going to keep the and

1:52:35any public tree

1:52:37and presumably it's a public tree that

1:52:39hasn't been identified for protection

1:52:41it should read and any other public

1:52:44trees and shrubs

1:52:46with good insufficient guards

1:52:48so i would i would want to make sure

1:52:50that we incorporate shrubs in that

1:52:54concept

1:52:56of protection of the public

1:52:58uh

1:52:59public trees and shrubs that would be

1:53:01one edit that i would like to see

1:53:03and then one last edit

1:53:06um again trump get the

1:53:09the thought of trampling that poor shrub

1:53:11in

1:53:1213.28180 administrative responsibilities

1:53:16the second one

1:53:19make determinations of tree and shrub

1:53:22removals in public places

1:53:25this that that's just an edit to make it

1:53:27consistent with 13.28070

1:53:30where you say the

1:53:32uh designee

1:53:34makes those determinations so that

1:53:35that's just a edit editorial for

1:53:38consistency i think there we may want to

1:53:40add another sentence just to make it

1:53:42clear if we are allowing uh

1:53:45people in the planting strip to remove

1:53:47shrubs that they planted

1:53:48um to be clear about that here also uh

1:53:51whereas we're not making the

1:53:52determination yeah that's

1:53:54um however

1:53:56making determinations of trees and shrub

1:53:58removals in public places i did not add

1:54:01it to the inspection of the of the next

1:54:03one which is

1:54:04um you guys are not necessarily going to

1:54:06inspect the removal of shrubs in public

1:54:09places so i'm not making the edit i

1:54:11propose to line three

1:54:13this is this is to be consistent with

1:54:15your determinations

1:54:16under zero seven zero where you find

1:54:18nuisance so i'm just i'm just allowing

1:54:21you to make that nuisance determination

1:54:22or basically giving you the scope to

1:54:25make that nuisance determination under

1:54:27zero seven zero

1:54:30so it's just number two that i'm making

1:54:31the proposal to

1:54:34right

1:54:40yeah i think we still may want to make

1:54:42it clear that there's a distinction

1:54:43between what happens in the planting

1:54:45strip versus other public spaces uh just

1:54:48because we wouldn't want to be to be our

1:54:50responsibility to make a determination

1:54:51if a shrub needs to be removed or not

1:54:54if it's going to ultimately be the

1:54:55property owner without

1:54:58the city's involvement

1:55:03that would be the third one where you

1:55:05inspect and the planting and removal

1:55:08so

1:55:09if you all i'm trying to do is codify

1:55:11what you've got in 0.70 where you go out

1:55:13and you make the determination of

1:55:15nuisance

1:55:21this is your responsibilities your

1:55:23responsibility right now if we don't put

1:55:25shrub in there

1:55:27there's a conflict in my mind there's a

1:55:28conflict between your responsibilities

1:55:31and the duties we're giving you under

1:55:32070.

1:55:34councilman can you restate what you're

1:55:36proposing yeah sure just want to make

1:55:38sure because i think that given the back

1:55:39and forth it might be helpful sure in

1:55:41bullet number two

1:55:43this is this is you know

1:55:45the chapter shall include but not

1:55:46limited to the following make

1:55:48determinations of tree and shrub

1:55:50removals in public places

1:55:53right

1:55:54generally speaking yes

1:55:56um it's just it's a responsibility you

1:55:58have yes

1:56:00so that's that's all i'm that's all i'm

1:56:02asking

1:56:04i in you our discussion tonight i

1:56:06realized that

1:56:08that is not should not be added to the

1:56:10next bullet which was an earl

1:56:13suggestion i made earlier today right it

1:56:15should not because

1:56:17you really are going to only inspect

1:56:19planting maintenance and removal of

1:56:21trees in public places so that's correct

1:56:24so i

1:56:25i just want to but you are making the

1:56:27determinations of nuisance of shrubs

1:56:29sure okay thanks if it uh obstructed it

1:56:32right away or something like that yep so

1:56:34when the motion's made

1:56:36i

1:56:37will be asking mr woodruff for his edit

1:56:39on

1:56:41080

1:56:42and and

1:56:44and now i can make these other ones or

1:56:46we can just say the record you know they

1:56:47can refer back to the record on these

1:56:49other two edits or do you will i need to

1:56:51include those in the motion you could

1:56:52restate them at the time of the motion

1:56:54but i can help with the one for oaedo

1:56:55great thank you

1:56:58further questions council members yes uh

1:57:00thank you and thank you for bearing with

1:57:02me here because

1:57:04these issues and various um

1:57:07requirements and various parts of the

1:57:09code i may be asking things

1:57:12that you know that i'm not seeing but

1:57:14um

1:57:15so it was a bit confusing to me but i

1:57:18you know was the liaison with the urban

1:57:20forest uh committee a couple years ago

1:57:23when it was brought to our attention

1:57:25that someone mutilated a tree

1:57:27in their neighborhood and this really

1:57:29moves toward resolving those issues

1:57:33of what the public can do with

1:57:36public trees so i congratulate you on

1:57:39the work here i think it's a it's a good

1:57:41work product there are two places i

1:57:43think

1:57:44that i'm disappointed in that didn't

1:57:46it may be a matter of time and staffing

1:57:48but i think the private

1:57:50issues are the issues of

1:57:52most concern to me in el cerrito now

1:57:55what private people are planting

1:57:58and what we can do to make sure they

1:58:00plant the right things and and not the

1:58:02wrong things and i and that's the second

1:58:04thing is that i don't i didn't see in

1:58:06here i'm i just want

1:58:08what we shouldn't be planting to be

1:58:10listed and for the public to know

1:58:11whether it's junipers or whatever and

1:58:13that wasn't your assignment in this is

1:58:15that correct

1:58:17we do have a master tree list and that

1:58:19is they will find junipers in there on

1:58:21the master tree list no not on that list

1:58:23and see

1:58:24i wanted to put them on there through

1:58:26this process

1:58:27it's not a prohibited list it's a it's

1:58:29an approved list so we do not have a

1:58:32prohibited list aside from the ones

1:58:35mentioned in the other section of the

1:58:36code right which i went to a prohibitive

1:58:39list that didn't have junipers which are

1:58:40fire

1:58:41dangers yeah the focus of this uh was

1:58:44primarily on maintenance standards and

1:58:46improving the foundation of the tree

1:58:47program

1:58:48and i

1:58:49and i get that that's the focus but it's

1:58:51like all of a sudden we need to know

1:58:52what not to plant in this city that's

1:58:54fire

1:58:55hazards and now we're saying it could be

1:58:58something we do in the future

1:59:00i mean this took two years

1:59:02so we're not going to have a list of

1:59:03what we shouldn't be planting for people

1:59:05to know about uh well the master tree

1:59:08list itself took one or two years of

1:59:10development within the urban forest

1:59:12committee and careful consideration

1:59:14about i know

1:59:15i thought this was just the logical

1:59:17place to do both of these things but is

1:59:19it isn't so let me just finish my

1:59:21thought on on

1:59:23as an example on section 13.28

1:59:27where we talk about

1:59:28planting of public trees and shrubs

1:59:31number e

1:59:34um.060

1:59:36page 86.

1:59:38we're talking about and i agree about

1:59:41allowing people

1:59:42not a lot of regulation

1:59:45and you know you don't need approval to

1:59:46plant

1:59:47this shrub or plant

1:59:50but we don't have a place where they we

1:59:51tell them what not to plant

1:59:54early on in the process we did look at

1:59:56the possibility of having a prohibited

1:59:58shrub and plant list but you didn't well

2:00:00ideas came up around prohibiting all

2:00:03allergenic species prohibiting all wild

2:00:06fire prone species prohibiting all

2:00:08poisonous species and just due to the

2:00:10careful consideration that would be

2:00:12needed to develop such a list and the

2:00:14you know desire of other members of the

2:00:15community to have certain what are uh

2:00:18technically poisonous plants

2:00:20we just didn't feel comfortable

2:00:21prohibiting certain trees or i mean

2:00:23shrubs and plants without doing the

2:00:25careful research that we think would be

2:00:27needed

2:00:28so if it took two or three more months

2:00:31would that have

2:00:33i mean it just seemed to me this was the

2:00:34logical place to do all that and now

2:00:36we're going to wait two more years

2:00:38to maybe get something like that when we

2:00:41need to be educating about what things

2:00:43in our city not to plant private people

2:00:45what they plant um

2:00:48um i i know there's a there's a pla

2:00:51you talk about developing the standards

2:00:53the standard operating procedures and

2:00:55and how long is that going to take

2:00:57we have draft version of those currently

2:00:59and those lay out the criteria and

2:01:01processes for the tree program to

2:01:03implement this ordinance and what do you

2:01:04think what do you think that i'll take

2:01:07they're already pretty much completed in

2:01:09draft form

2:01:10um

2:01:11because i think i think you write the

2:01:13criterion process for allowing the

2:01:14private planting pruning

2:01:17and removal of of a public tree is is

2:01:20what you'll be coming up with

2:01:22and

2:01:24do you think there's enough

2:01:27clarification in city code about the

2:01:29public removal of private problems

2:01:33the other way

2:01:35yeah we technically we this ordinance is

2:01:37very much focused on on public property

2:01:39and the public right-of-way right

2:01:41and and i'm just saying to my mind

2:01:43that's that's kind of a void here but um

2:01:47um

2:01:49i just wanted to

2:01:52uh

2:01:53will the list be extended as far as

2:01:55trees are we done with the tree list

2:01:58that are prohibited

2:01:59with trees are there any other trees

2:02:01that need to be added to that

2:02:03uh

2:02:04that's a separate section of the code

2:02:06but it could be updated

2:02:08yeah so the existing code which was part

2:02:11of the

2:02:12view ordinance prohibited the you know

2:02:15the species that we mentioned earlier

2:02:16the red and blue gum the

2:02:18monterey pine monterey cypress and

2:02:22eucalyptus edward trees

2:02:24that is a separate section of the

2:02:26municipal code

2:02:28this the intent again of this ordinance

2:02:30was to protect the public trees um

2:02:34from such things as the mutilation that

2:02:36that you've seen that the city didn't

2:02:37really have an adequate mechanism to

2:02:40enforce um perhaps and um

2:02:44that was the intent of objection

2:02:46i guess i will say though that that the

2:02:49urban forest committee has because the

2:02:52issues

2:02:53that have come up including fire prone

2:02:55species potentially fire prone species

2:02:57in a prohibited plant list it has become

2:03:00so exhaustive that it would not

2:03:02necessarily be

2:03:03the purview of the urban forest

2:03:04committee

2:03:06alone

2:03:07to develop such a prohibited species

2:03:10list but in fact

2:03:12other

2:03:13um

2:03:15city

2:03:16uh

2:03:17committees and possibly departments

2:03:19rather than just public works including

2:03:21maybe we need to do that

2:03:23okay i mean

2:03:25i mean whatever it takes um so the just

2:03:28one last thing and so the urban forest

2:03:29committee has on their work plan has

2:03:31made a priority to

2:03:33um

2:03:34to

2:03:35pursue

2:03:36a

2:03:37some fire

2:03:39prohibited plants i mean i think that's

2:03:41where the action is right now in our

2:03:43city so i mean that's something that i

2:03:45mean not to discount the quality of this

2:03:47work because i think it's a great job i

2:03:48just kept having

2:03:50i wanted to see no juniper somewhere in

2:03:52here and i know that wasn't the goal of

2:03:54this um and finally i just had um

2:03:58on that same section of

2:04:0013.28060 where we talk about uh number f

2:04:04um

2:04:05and when it comes to making a motion i i

2:04:08just i don't think we need to i think we

2:04:09can cross out the word evaluate when

2:04:11planting trees and shrubs in public

2:04:13places the city shall evaluate the use

2:04:16of native species and drought tolerant

2:04:18can't we just say shall use native

2:04:21species and drought tolerant where

2:04:22possible i mean let's let's just

2:04:25prioritize that i mean evaluation

2:04:27sometimes takes time and we should be

2:04:29prioritizing our native plan yeah i

2:04:31think i'll give the tree program manager

2:04:32a minute to respond but i think we did

2:04:34want to give ourselves some flexibility

2:04:36just in terms of planting the right tree

2:04:38in the right place because they're not

2:04:39aware possible the worst and where

2:04:41possible they're not necessarily going

2:04:42to be drought tolerant or native um and

2:04:45so we did want to leave ourselves

2:04:46flexibility to have diversity uh in our

2:04:48parks in our medians and throughout the

2:04:50city

2:04:58and and my and um

2:05:01my last question is do you consider the

2:05:03trees in the natural hillside area to be

2:05:05public trees yes

2:05:07so how to

2:05:09bring that into the discussion here how

2:05:11do these rules

2:05:13relate because we're mainly we've been

2:05:14talking about medians here yeah well

2:05:16when they're maintained similarly we do

2:05:18want them maintained using the industry

2:05:20best practices using the ansi 300

2:05:22standards

2:05:24and and so just similarly we do think of

2:05:26them

2:05:29as public trees

2:05:31when we're maintaining them so that's

2:05:32more directive to city and and to us as

2:05:35opposed to the private citizen dealing

2:05:37with those trees at all right it'd be

2:05:40part of our tree program to be

2:05:41prioritized along other other tree

2:05:43requests we receive

2:05:45one of the other things one crucial

2:05:47distinction with the um with the

2:05:49hillside natural area is that it is a a

2:05:52natural area and so

2:05:55it's

2:05:56different in terms of how you would

2:05:59treat a natural area and how you would

2:06:01maintain a natural area as opposed to a

2:06:03street tree so do we say that anywhere

2:06:05do we need to say that somewhere in this

2:06:08do in the where in our findings and

2:06:10whereas as we talk about the complexity

2:06:12of managing different tree species in

2:06:14different areas

2:06:15okay thank you and to backtrack just a

2:06:18moment to answer your question regarding

2:06:19the evaluation of native species for the

2:06:21use in public spaces the fact is that

2:06:25there are a number of native plants that

2:06:28are really not suited for the urban

2:06:31planting area as it's been created

2:06:34so without serious augmentation to the

2:06:38infrastructure to accommodate certain

2:06:41trees what is there's just there aren't

2:06:43enough it's recognized throughout the

2:06:45industry that there really aren't enough

2:06:46native species to

2:06:48use as a

2:06:50a public street tree

2:06:52unless the situation is just right and

2:06:55so

2:06:56um

2:06:57so we've used these good point thank you

2:06:59very much

2:07:02uh to continue with the hillside natural

2:07:04area

2:07:05you said that you did have some

2:07:07discussions with the

2:07:08urban forest committee and i was

2:07:09wondering

2:07:10if you could elaborate a little bit more

2:07:12on those discussions and also if you

2:07:14could

2:07:15specifically if you've identified

2:07:17dead trees that need to be removed is

2:07:19there a number on those trees and have

2:07:22you discussed that at the committee

2:07:30the number of dead trees is kind of an

2:07:32ongoing

2:07:34you know as trees die we become aware of

2:07:36them and remove them as we are aware of

2:07:38them the fire prone

2:07:40you know a dead tree gets removed in the

2:07:43soonest foreseeable

2:07:45practical time response time

2:07:47um

2:07:48as far as discussing i'm not sure we've

2:07:51discussed

2:07:54there's been a hazard tree uh

2:07:56appropriation specific um specifically

2:07:59for the um

2:08:00the hillside natural area to remove

2:08:03potential fire fuels and dead trees and

2:08:05the urban forest committee is aware of

2:08:07that

2:08:09okay

2:08:10all right

2:08:11if i may follow up on that one go ahead

2:08:13um sudden oak death is obviously

2:08:15something that the hillside natural area

2:08:17is suffering from i've seen sudden oak

2:08:18death maps by matteo gabrillido that

2:08:21shows el cerrito cobblestone cerrito

2:08:24um

2:08:25does eucalyptus suffer from any type of

2:08:27disease is eucalyptus

2:08:29being affected and becoming dead and

2:08:31dying

2:08:32and therefore

2:08:33a hazard tree

2:08:35or is it just a hazard tree because it's

2:08:37eucalyptus

2:08:40i'm not aware of a fungal pathogen

2:08:44that affects um eucalyptus the

2:08:47eucalyptus yeah now what um

2:08:49predominantly we see are the eucalyptus

2:08:52psyllid and some bark beetles on the uh

2:08:55the eucalyptus

2:08:56so there may be

2:08:58but the phytotheramorum which is the

2:09:01sudden oak death as you call it is

2:09:02commonly known right is

2:09:04really the one of concern that is

2:09:06affecting the oaks and that we have

2:09:08documented um through the sudden oak

2:09:10death surveys over the last several

2:09:12years in particularly in the uh

2:09:15the north

2:09:17east section of the um

2:09:20north section of the hillside yeah but

2:09:22but the just it's the beetle it's the

2:09:24bark beetle that's damaging any

2:09:26eucalyptus that's being damaged and the

2:09:28eucalyptus psyllids

2:09:30which eat the leaves

2:09:32all right thank you

2:09:34okay thank you

2:09:36the public hearing is now open do we

2:09:38have any speakers on this item we do not

2:09:40have speakers on this item

2:09:42all right

2:09:43move to close the public hearing

2:09:46wait a second

2:09:48okay move to close by abelson second by

2:09:50fidelity all in favor aye those opposed

2:09:54motion carries

2:09:59i'm ready to make a motion if that's

2:10:01what's next on your script

2:10:04um i move an ordinance of the city of el

2:10:07cerrito amending chapter one three point

2:10:09two eight of the el cerrito municipal

2:10:11code trees

2:10:13and shrubs

2:10:15with the

2:10:16following additions

2:10:18to

2:10:19the first paragraph of 13.28.080

2:10:27the following edit

2:10:30the whole sentence would be revised to

2:10:32state

2:10:33cutting pruning planting or removing any

2:10:36public tree shrub or plant in any public

2:10:39place including but not limited to a

2:10:41planting strip shall be done in

2:10:42compliance with this chapter

2:10:46and in section 13.28.100

2:10:51adding the words

2:10:53other

2:10:54public

2:10:55other in front of any between any public

2:10:58trees and following that with and shrubs

2:11:02with good insufficient guards so that's

2:11:05on the first line of page 89

2:11:08and

2:11:09one last edit in section 13.28.180

2:11:14arabic number two

2:11:16have that read make determinations of

2:11:18tree and shrub removals in public places

2:11:28you have a second

2:11:31second

2:11:32motion by lyman second by abelson all in

2:11:36favor aye as opposed

2:11:39motion carries

2:11:40thank you

2:11:43thank you our next hearing is an appeal

2:11:46of the planning commission's approval of

2:11:49tier 2 design review pursuant to

2:11:53the san pablo avenue specific plan for a

2:11:55project located at

2:11:5811965 san pablo avenue

2:12:01they have the staff report

2:12:09yep as long as just give me a moment to

2:12:10get the presentation up

2:12:41hmm

2:12:55all right good evening um mayor pardue

2:12:57okamoto council members i'm sean moss

2:13:00planning manager

2:13:03so i'm very excited to be here before

2:13:05you tonight um

2:13:07because this project is a very exciting

2:13:11san pablo avenue specific plan project

2:13:14and i realized the council hasn't seen i

2:13:15think this is the first um project

2:13:18pursuant to the specific plan you've

2:13:19seen so i think it'll be

2:13:21an exciting opportunity to to walk you

2:13:24through

2:13:25um one such project that we've been

2:13:27seeing um

2:13:28obviously appeals take a lot of our

2:13:31staff time that we could be

2:13:33um devoting to other things but i

2:13:35nonetheless i'm i'm excited to to show

2:13:37you off this this project

2:13:41so the location for the project

2:13:44is here you may know it as the former

2:13:47site of taco bell this was a taco bell

2:13:49restaurant that's the picture on the top

2:13:52it's been closed for a number of years

2:13:53now

2:13:55this shows the site the project site

2:13:58boundary here

2:13:59i have a better slide i'll show you in a

2:14:01moment

2:14:02i have a better more current aerial and

2:14:05i'll walk you through some of the

2:14:06context on that

2:14:08aerial but i wanted to show this because

2:14:10this was the the only format in which i

2:14:12could get the the project site boundary

2:14:15so we are here this is san pablo avenue

2:14:18here

2:14:19this red line represents the city limits

2:14:22of el cerrito

2:14:24so as you can see the project sits in

2:14:26the very northwest corner of the city

2:14:29the northern

2:14:31uh property line is the city limits as

2:14:34well as the western property line

2:14:36this is the elevated bart tracks here

2:14:40um

2:14:42and this is baxter creek gateway park

2:14:44across the street this is the home depot

2:14:46right here

2:14:48so if we look at this aerial

2:14:51um so again so this is the back of home

2:14:53depot right here and this is the

2:14:54elevated bar tracks and san pablo avenue

2:14:57so you can see the site right here um

2:14:59this is the former taco bell building

2:15:02and some surrounding parking

2:15:04so this is basically the project site

2:15:06right here so the context of the site

2:15:10is baxter creek gateway park is across

2:15:12the street so this is the ohlone

2:15:14greenway right here coming up through

2:15:16baxter creek gateway park

2:15:18don't ask me why google maps thinks this

2:15:20is vista heights road it is not

2:15:23um

2:15:24so anyway so this is um the ohlone

2:15:27greenway coming here there's a

2:15:29new crossing of the ohlone greenway here

2:15:32signalized fully signalized crossing

2:15:35pedestrian and bicycle activated

2:15:38that crosses here where the greenway

2:15:41connects to the richmond greenway

2:15:43going out towards point

2:15:45downtown richmond and point richmond

2:15:48um so the greenway crosses at this

2:15:51signalized intersection it then

2:15:54continues under the elevated bart tracks

2:15:57right here past the project site so for

2:15:59the entire frontage of the project site

2:16:02the greenway is adjacent to it it then

2:16:04swings upward here um and crosses

2:16:08baxter creek um this this is baxter

2:16:11creek coming across here so baxter creek

2:16:13runs through baxter creek gateway park

2:16:15it crosses underneath san pablo avenue

2:16:18comes back up here

2:16:20where the city of richmond has recently

2:16:21completed a

2:16:23creek restoration project

2:16:26so this is meandering baxter creek it

2:16:28did not used to meander like this it

2:16:30used to be

2:16:31very much more straight sean i can't

2:16:33help myself but that looks a lot like 15

2:16:3517 elm could look or 17 15 elk

2:16:42thanks

2:16:47i appreciate that

2:16:49um

2:16:50so

2:16:51meandering baxter creek um it turns

2:16:53south here the so the the um the

2:16:56greenway crosses it with a new bridge

2:16:58crossing here

2:17:00the greenway then continues under

2:17:03interstate 80 and like i said out

2:17:06towards

2:17:07downtown richmond and point richmond

2:17:10so

2:17:12all of this open space here um is

2:17:15recently improved by the city of

2:17:17richmond like i said they did this creek

2:17:19restoration project

2:17:21they

2:17:23built this this trail and the bridge

2:17:26um the city of el cerrito and the city

2:17:28of richmond were joint applicants on a

2:17:30grant application that connected the the

2:17:32two greenways here

2:17:34um so both cities jointly participated

2:17:36in in this new crossing

2:17:39so that is the context of the site there

2:17:40are a lot of um really great open space

2:17:43opportunities here um we're obviously

2:17:46you know we're on the northernmost part

2:17:49of the city but we're obviously

2:17:50relatively close to bart i mean we're

2:17:53very adjacent to the bart tracks but

2:17:55still relatively close to the del norte

2:17:56bart station as well

2:17:58um

2:18:00so that is for some context excuse me

2:18:02sean sorry to interrupt again can you go

2:18:04back to that slide and then just outline

2:18:06using the cursor can you please outline

2:18:08the the city boundary or the property

2:18:11boundary

2:18:12yeah so it's roughly it's a it's kind of

2:18:15hard let me maybe go back here

2:18:18um so it goes to the oak tree if you go

2:18:21back to the other slide it follows that

2:18:23line to out to the ocean right so this

2:18:26this northern edge of the parking lot is

2:18:28basically kind of the city limit line to

2:18:31the oak tree and then and then back

2:18:33towards the

2:18:34yeah

2:18:35great thank you down here

2:18:38um

2:18:39[Music]

2:18:41actually yeah i think i think i did that

2:18:43right um but yeah that's basically it so

2:18:46this driveway is actually located in the

2:18:48city of richmond the driveway the the

2:18:50project site um and the applicant have

2:18:54easement rights in perpetuity to this

2:18:57driveway

2:18:58um and you will see that so so we are

2:19:02considering that part of the project

2:19:04site because it is part of the

2:19:07land that they control basically um

2:19:09although it is not on the property of

2:19:12the project um so that complicates

2:19:14things a little bit and i can i can get

2:19:15into more detail about that if anybody

2:19:17has specific

2:19:18questions so i'll walk you through the

2:19:20project a little bit

2:19:22um it is in the transit oriented higher

2:19:24intensity mixed use zoning designation

2:19:28so those are those are generally the the

2:19:29more

2:19:30intense areas around the bart stations

2:19:34it's obviously proposes housing on a

2:19:37vacant site

2:19:38it's the site is about half an acre

2:19:41and the project qualifies for a density

2:19:43bonus i'll get into that more

2:19:46on the next couple slides pursuant to

2:19:48state law um

2:19:50the project is uh proposes 144 units

2:19:54it's eight stories 85 feet tall which is

2:19:56the height limit for density bonus

2:19:58projects under this san pablo avenue

2:20:00specific plan

2:20:0177 garage parking spaces so it meets the

2:20:04the parking requirement as well all of

2:20:07those will be unbundled as required

2:20:10there will be long and short-term

2:20:12bicycle parking in the amounts required

2:20:14there's public open space that is

2:20:16required i'll

2:20:18bring up the site plan a little bit but

2:20:19you'll see a total of a little over 2

2:20:22500 square feet

2:20:23that's in two public plaza areas in

2:20:26addition there's a rooftop

2:20:29private open space and an interior

2:20:31courtyard

2:20:32and then there's also public art

2:20:34proposed on the exterior of the building

2:20:36on the corner of the building

2:20:38so just to summarize this uh the project

2:20:42really fulfills a lot of the goals of

2:20:45the san pablo avenue specific plan

2:20:46encouraging development building housing

2:20:49uh near transit um this is in addition

2:20:53um to being fairly close to the del

2:20:55norte bart station this is on on san

2:20:57pablo avenue so it's very close to one

2:20:59of the uh 72r rapid bus stops

2:21:03and it's you know very heavily

2:21:06transit rich corridor

2:21:09so to get into the density bonus law a

2:21:12little bit this this can get pretty

2:21:14confusing pretty quickly so i will i

2:21:16will try to give as best an overview of

2:21:18it as i can and i'm happy to go back if

2:21:20there are any specific questions

2:21:23so in order to apply that so the density

2:21:25bonus law

2:21:27is a california state law that allows

2:21:30projects that provide a certain amount

2:21:32of affordable housing

2:21:34to

2:21:35um it entitles them to a density bonus

2:21:38to additional to build additional units

2:21:41as part of the project

2:21:43so in order to apply the law you have to

2:21:45determine what the base project is

2:21:48so the base project is a project that

2:21:50would meet the the development standards

2:21:53before any of the bonuses are applied

2:21:56so for this project the base

2:21:59the base project is basically

2:22:01the first

2:22:02six stories of the project if you if you

2:22:05chopped off the project at six stories

2:22:07it would um comply with the 65-foot

2:22:10height limit and that that that's in a

2:22:12nutshell that's the base project

2:22:16so of that base project the applicant is

2:22:18proposing that nine percent of the units

2:22:21would uh be restricted as very low

2:22:24income units so very low income is

2:22:27uh 50 to or 30 to 50 percent of area

2:22:30median income so it's it's a pretty deep

2:22:32level of affordability

2:22:36and that qualifies the project for a 30

2:22:38percent density bonus

2:22:41the san pablo avenue specific plan

2:22:43establishes a specific height threshold

2:22:46for projects that qualify for a density

2:22:48bonus so it raises the height limit from

2:22:5065 feet to

2:22:5285 feet that also happens to just about

2:22:55correspond with a 30 percent increase

2:22:58in in density although we apply it as

2:23:00height because we don't have a maximum

2:23:02density in the plan

2:23:03area

2:23:05so

2:23:07the applicant is also permitted to seek

2:23:09waiver concessions and waivers one

2:23:11concession and an unlimited number of

2:23:13waivers two development standards

2:23:15there's a difference between those

2:23:17and i can get into that in more detail

2:23:19as well

2:23:21so for this project the waivers include

2:23:23the the building height as i mentioned

2:23:25the ground floor ceiling height and the

2:23:27upper floor ceiling height so there are

2:23:28normally minimum requirements it's 14 14

2:23:31foot ceiling on the ground floor

2:23:33um and nine foot ceilings on upper

2:23:36floors

2:23:37um they are proposing to reduce those

2:23:39slightly so that so that they can

2:23:42construct the building within the 85

2:23:44foot height limit that they are

2:23:45permitted

2:23:47they're also um

2:23:49proposing a waiver for a small amount of

2:23:52public open space so the project is is

2:23:54under uh is 123 square feet under

2:23:58the

2:24:00what they would be required to provide

2:24:02in terms of public open space they've

2:24:04they've

2:24:05actually provided some additional area

2:24:08that it doesn't meet the dimensional

2:24:09requirements as public open space i'll

2:24:11show you that on the site plan

2:24:13if that were to be counted they would be

2:24:14in compliance

2:24:16but they're they're technically 123

2:24:18square feet under

2:24:20and the concession for the project

2:24:22includes the requirement for unit

2:24:24entries on along the san pablo avenue

2:24:26frontage

2:24:28so this is a

2:24:30tier 2 this project is subject to what

2:24:32it's called tier 2 design review and

2:24:34i'll go over real briefly the difference

2:24:36between tier 2 and tier 4 design review

2:24:39so

2:24:40under the san pablo avenue specific plan

2:24:42tiers two and four uh of design review

2:24:46are the the two processes that apply to

2:24:49new construction which this is

2:24:52so the tier two process is um for

2:24:55projects that are fully compliant with

2:24:57the development standards of

2:24:59the specific plan

2:25:02this project meets all the development

2:25:04standards except for the waivers and

2:25:07concession that i just mentioned

2:25:09so when those waivers and concessions

2:25:11are applied to the project it complies

2:25:13with all other standards

2:25:15so therefore we've determined that it is

2:25:17a tier two that it's subject to tier two

2:25:19design review

2:25:20your four design review is for projects

2:25:22that

2:25:23don't fully comply with

2:25:26or don't comply with a strict

2:25:28interpretation of the tier 2 standards

2:25:30and thus need some amount of flexibility

2:25:34or relief from certain standards

2:25:37so those projects um then

2:25:40in addition to being reviewed by the

2:25:42design review board are also reviewed by

2:25:44the planning commission um and the

2:25:46planning commission's uh purview in that

2:25:48is um their their findings require them

2:25:51to make

2:25:52a finding that the project provides a

2:25:55public and sort of an additional public

2:25:57benefit beyond what it would normally

2:25:59provide so the project has to has to do

2:26:01something has to go over and above and

2:26:04beyond what it would normally be

2:26:05required to do

2:26:07um

2:26:08in a way that is

2:26:10that

2:26:10fulfills a goal in a city policy

2:26:13document whether it's

2:26:16the active transportation plan or the

2:26:18climate action plan or the parks and rec

2:26:19facilities master plan or something like

2:26:21that

2:26:23um so as i've explained why this project

2:26:26is subject to to tier two design review

2:26:29like i said i can go back over that if

2:26:30there are any specific questions

2:26:32but just to kind of walk you through the

2:26:34process that this project has been

2:26:35through

2:26:36um the pro i have coming up uh in just a

2:26:40moment some of the earlier site plans

2:26:42and earlier elevations so you'll see

2:26:45some of the progression of the project

2:26:47but

2:26:48just in short the initial proposal was

2:26:50redesigned to address noise concerns at

2:26:53the site there are some significant

2:26:55noise concerns at this site noise

2:26:57existing noise issues i will not

2:27:01be anything but blunt about that

2:27:05as part of the environmental review for

2:27:07this project a noise

2:27:09analysis was done

2:27:11that initial noise analysis

2:27:14um recognized that the project as

2:27:18originally proposed would not be

2:27:20compliant with

2:27:22many of the city's

2:27:23noise standards and the general plan and

2:27:25the zoning ordinance

2:27:27as well as state law

2:27:29state standards with regard to in

2:27:32interior noise

2:27:33interior and exterior

2:27:35noise levels

2:27:37so the project has been designed pretty

2:27:39significantly

2:27:41to address those concerns

2:27:43there were some previous versions of the

2:27:45project that i will show you in a moment

2:27:47that were

2:27:48designed to address these noise concerns

2:27:51they were

2:27:53they were options that were not favored

2:27:55by the design review board the design

2:27:57review board really um challenged the

2:27:59applicant to come back with with

2:28:01additional

2:28:03alternatives and the applicant um did

2:28:06that and i think you will see um the the

2:28:09positive result that they've that

2:28:11they've come up with

2:28:12um the design review board did review

2:28:14this project over six meetings i went

2:28:16back and counted today it's quite a lot

2:28:18some of those were study sessions some

2:28:20of those were public hearings

2:28:22um obviously the the project changed

2:28:24several times so that's that's part of

2:28:26the reason

2:28:27there were the noise issues

2:28:29but this has been reviewed over six

2:28:30meetings um and i think the the changes

2:28:34will be pretty dramatic when i go

2:28:35through those

2:28:37um the result is is a greatly improved

2:28:40project

2:28:41that addresses the the unique noise

2:28:44concerns of the site

2:28:46while

2:28:47providing

2:28:49while

2:28:51really paying attention to the context

2:28:53of the site and really

2:28:55enhancing and providing some amenities

2:28:58on that site

2:29:00the

2:29:01applicant in the end was able to address

2:29:03all of the design review board's

2:29:04concerns

2:29:06and as a result the board unanimously

2:29:09approved the project

2:29:11so subsequent to that an appeal of the

2:29:13design review board decision was filed

2:29:15by um

2:29:17sarah dudley of adams broadwell joseph

2:29:19and cardozo

2:29:21representing

2:29:22i think the group was called el cerrito

2:29:24citizens for responsible development

2:29:27and the planning commission heard that

2:29:29appeal it was a completely different

2:29:30appeal so the issues that were raised

2:29:32were completely different they were

2:29:34related mostly to the environmental

2:29:36analysis that had been done

2:29:38the planning commission considered that

2:29:40appeal

2:29:41and

2:29:43they actually didn't didn't give much

2:29:46weight i think to the appellant's claims

2:29:49in that appeal and they denied the

2:29:51appeal

2:29:52um

2:29:54el cerrito resident howdy gowdy has

2:29:56filed the the current appeal and i will

2:29:57get into his appeal points in the staff

2:30:00response in a moment

2:30:02so for this review the city council's

2:30:05purview is the same as the design review

2:30:08boards was as the planning commissions

2:30:10was

2:30:11and it includes the following items

2:30:13exterior building colors materials and

2:30:15textures landscaping the site plan

2:30:17building facades and articulation the

2:30:20relationship of the development to

2:30:21adjacent public rights of way signs

2:30:24which there aren't any signs proposed

2:30:27and the location and footprints of

2:30:29bioretention facilities required for

2:30:31storm water management

2:30:34this is a rendering of the project

2:30:37um i have

2:30:38some a previous rendering also you'll

2:30:40see the the differences

2:30:42this is the san pablo facing elevation

2:30:46so what you see here this is the main

2:30:48entrance to the building

2:30:51the this

2:30:52is where the elevate this is the

2:30:54elevator shaft basically here

2:30:56next to the elevator shaft on each floor

2:30:59is kind of the elevator lobby on each

2:31:01floor

2:31:02that will have glass

2:31:04so you'll be able to

2:31:05folks will be able to to stand and look

2:31:07out from

2:31:08from

2:31:10each floor adjacent to the elevators

2:31:14this is an amenity space here

2:31:17uses an aluminum storefront system so

2:31:19it'll sort of have the appearance of of

2:31:21a storefront

2:31:23but it will be an amenity space for the

2:31:25residents of the building

2:31:27and then these are some ground floor

2:31:29units here

2:31:31they do not have entries onto san pablo

2:31:33avenue as previously stated but they do

2:31:36have large windows

2:31:38and some architectural interest that's

2:31:40been added in terms of panels

2:31:43of

2:31:44composite wood material that's also

2:31:46featured on the interior of these

2:31:47balconies

2:31:49these are some architectural pop outs

2:31:51here these would be clad in a corrugated

2:31:53metal

2:31:54the remainder of the building would be

2:31:56smooth stucco painted this darker color

2:32:00the

2:32:01this elevation is well all of the

2:32:03elevations are largely the result of the

2:32:06design review board's thorough review of

2:32:08this project

2:32:09and you'll see some of the changes as i

2:32:11said coming up

2:32:12the design review board in their

2:32:14approval of the project did have some a

2:32:16few additional conditions that they

2:32:18imposed related to the the exterior

2:32:20colors and materials those have been

2:32:22included in the council's draft

2:32:24resolution tonight

2:32:27so this is around the corner um this is

2:32:29the north facing elevation so this is

2:32:31the elevation that faces uh the baxter

2:32:34creek that i was highlighting

2:32:36you'll see those architectural pop-outs

2:32:38are continued

2:32:40it's a very very much similar look as

2:32:42the san pablo elevation

2:32:45this is the bart facing elevation so the

2:32:47south facing elevation

2:32:51this so this is so the site the site is

2:32:53kind of an odd shape if you remember um

2:32:55this is kind of an acute corner here

2:32:58um so san pablo this is the san pablo

2:33:00avenue side here it kind of makes a

2:33:02sharp corner the applicant is proposing

2:33:05public art on that corner

2:33:09and then it comes back along the

2:33:11greenway

2:33:13this is a sound partition

2:33:16with a great deal of transparency and

2:33:18openings

2:33:20the height of this was dictated by

2:33:23the

2:33:24noise analysis that was done it was

2:33:26originally proposed you'll see in the in

2:33:28the other proposals it was originally

2:33:30proposed as higher

2:33:32the applicant's noise consultant uh went

2:33:35back and reevaluated that the city's

2:33:37noise consultant did a peer review of

2:33:39that

2:33:40and determined that that this wall

2:33:42height and this configuration of the

2:33:44project would suffice to meet the noise

2:33:46standards i think that was largely due

2:33:49to the the site plan that you see

2:33:50tonight the site plan the current site

2:33:52plan moved the units further away from

2:33:55the bart tracks

2:33:56and i think that distance

2:33:59allowed provided additional noise

2:34:01attenuation and allowed the

2:34:04the height of this sound barrier to be

2:34:06lowered

2:34:09so this is the the landscape plan it

2:34:11also provides a pretty good site plan

2:34:13here

2:34:14so this is is san pablo avenue this is

2:34:17the greenway trail this is that area

2:34:20that i was mentioning so the the

2:34:21applicant has pushed the building back a

2:34:23little bit here if you did add up this

2:34:24square footage it would um

2:34:28it would total at least 123 square feet

2:34:31however it doesn't meet our dimensional

2:34:32requirements it's actually worth noting

2:34:34that the dimensional requirements for

2:34:36the open space um require a minimum of

2:34:3810 by 15 so that's 150 square feet so

2:34:41you actually can't provide you can't

2:34:43provide 123 square feet and meet the

2:34:45dimensional requirements you'd have to

2:34:47provide at least 150 square feet

2:34:51um but the applicant has provided some

2:34:53space here

2:34:55um

2:34:56like i said it doesn't you know we're

2:34:57not counting it as public open space um

2:35:00but they they are trying to as best they

2:35:02can meet the spirit and intent of the

2:35:04specific plan

2:35:05while um

2:35:07addressing the the the existing noise

2:35:11situation at the site

2:35:14so in terms of other public open space

2:35:16these are two public open space areas

2:35:19here and here

2:35:21which are part of the project

2:35:24so

2:35:25um council member lyman kind of going

2:35:27back to kind of orienting you to the

2:35:29city limits again on this site plan

2:35:32this

2:35:33is the northern city limit here and then

2:35:36it turns the corner here and this is the

2:35:38western city limit here

2:35:40so the this is the driveway for the

2:35:42project

2:35:43it's largely in the same location as the

2:35:45existing taco bell driveway

2:35:49this is an adjacent public public plaza

2:35:51that would be adjacent to the building

2:35:53here and this is another area within

2:35:56that easement that the applicant would

2:35:58improve as a public plaza

2:36:00um in the the plans highlight some of

2:36:02the amenities that they have planned for

2:36:04those plazas um in terms of bird houses

2:36:09and insect hotels and and some kind of

2:36:11cool amenities

2:36:12adjacent to the the creek and the other

2:36:14open space areas

2:36:17so

2:36:18now we're finally getting into some of

2:36:19the previous proposals

2:36:21so here on the left is basically the

2:36:24original site plan for the project

2:36:26this is is actually a little bit later

2:36:28iteration and i'll tell you why in a

2:36:30moment

2:36:31but the the project

2:36:33initially proposed this kind of c shape

2:36:36that opened towards the greenway and the

2:36:39bart tracks

2:36:40that was obviously problematic

2:36:44because of sound reasons

2:36:47so the applicant came back and added

2:36:51this

2:36:52sound barrier here which you can kind of

2:36:55see

2:36:56the idea that

2:36:58the initial idea was that it would

2:37:00prevent sound into this courtyard and

2:37:02would shield some of these units

2:37:05it both was

2:37:08there there were some problems with this

2:37:11and it also um was not

2:37:14a an acceptable solution to the design

2:37:16review board

2:37:18the applicant then came back and

2:37:20proposed this kind of o shape where they

2:37:22so they closed off the courtyard

2:37:26this would have had a solid wall on this

2:37:28side facing the bart tracks

2:37:31both both of these would have put some

2:37:34some public open space here

2:37:36um kind of

2:37:37at san pablo avenue and the um the trail

2:37:40junction

2:37:41um

2:37:43the design review board had some very

2:37:45strong concerns about this courtyard

2:37:49they really felt that the dimensions of

2:37:50it were wrong

2:37:52that it wouldn't get sun

2:37:54that it would be a cold and unpleasant

2:37:57place

2:37:58to be and like i said they really

2:38:01challenged the applicant to reconsider

2:38:03their site plan

2:38:04um and re design the project in a way

2:38:07that

2:38:08both addressed the noise concerns um and

2:38:10provided a pleasant elevation along the

2:38:13ohlone greenway

2:38:15excuse me sean yes

2:38:17unless the next one is the next one also

2:38:19a previous proposal no the next one is

2:38:21the is the approved site plan

2:38:23either one of these the the

2:38:26what was used for determining the base

2:38:28project

2:38:31uh

2:38:32so

2:38:33initially initially yes i mean the the

2:38:36the initial base project was evaluated

2:38:39based on this site plan because the the

2:38:41project was using this site plan um but

2:38:43i think the the base the base project

2:38:46for the purpose of the proposal that's

2:38:47before you tonight

2:38:49uses

2:38:50this same site plan it's it's basically

2:38:52six stories of this site plan

2:38:54in a nutshell

2:38:56but this in order to get six stories of

2:38:58this floor plan we would have had to

2:39:01wave this all the ceiling heights

2:39:04no

2:39:06in order to get

2:39:09why do you say that i'm i want to make

2:39:11sure i understand um

2:39:13so

2:39:14in looking at the the vertical profile

2:39:17in order for them to stay under the 65

2:39:19foot height which is what the

2:39:21requirement is for a base project they

2:39:24would have had to

2:39:25use the heights they're getting now

2:39:27of 11 foot for first floor and eight and

2:39:30a half for all the subsequent floors

2:39:32so

2:39:32[Music]

2:39:34i just want to make sure i understand

2:39:35what the base project was the base

2:39:37project may have been a

2:39:39right now

2:39:40if i'm just a quick math you can get

2:39:42five stories that without getting the

2:39:44density bonuses going to 85 you can get

2:39:45five stories in to 65 feet would have

2:39:48been 22 units per floor and i was just

2:39:50curious if you any of the previous

2:39:52iterations

2:39:53showed you a 22 units per floor scenario

2:39:56it would have been ugly we wouldn't have

2:39:57liked it but it would have been

2:39:58potentially the base project

2:40:01um i

2:40:02the applicant can probably um provide

2:40:05you more details on the base project we

2:40:07we did have a a plan that we evaluated

2:40:10at one point uh as the base project

2:40:12um the project has obviously changed you

2:40:15know around a lot um i i think i do want

2:40:18to say though i think um the difference

2:40:20with the building with the heights could

2:40:22be that the construction type changes

2:40:24um when so different floor assemblies

2:40:26can be used so

2:40:28i i think a six i think it is it's

2:40:31possible to design a six-story building

2:40:33that is 65 feet or under

2:40:36and meet all the interior heights that

2:40:37we need

2:40:38okay all right thanks

2:40:42so this is the approved site plan um

2:40:46as you can see it's kind of an l or a u

2:40:48shape here

2:40:49um it's you know vastly different than

2:40:52than

2:40:53those other site plans

2:40:55um

2:40:56the open space is still in the same

2:40:59location on the other side here

2:41:02the

2:41:03you know in order to reconfigure the

2:41:04building and

2:41:06move the units around the open space

2:41:08down here has been deleted um i will

2:41:11also share with you

2:41:14the i think the the open space towards

2:41:17the front of the site here was was not

2:41:19um as problematic but the design review

2:41:21board did have uh some concerns about