Regular City Council Meeting November 4, 2025

0:00:08The November 4th, 2025 regular City Council meeting is called to order at 6.02 p.m. Will the City Clerk please call roll? Mayor Weisinger? Present. Mayor Pro Tem Quinto? Here. Councilmember Gutzanes? Present. Councilmember Mochiyama? Here. Councilmember Saltzman? Here. We have a quorum.

0:00:25Okay, the first item on the agenda is consideration under AB 24449. City Clerk, do we have any requests? We do not, Mayor. All right. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance or a moment of silence.

0:00:38I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

0:00:54The next item on the agenda is teleconference and public comment instructions.

0:00:59Please proceed, City Clerk. Thank you, Mayor. This hybrid meeting provides an option to participate in person or via Zoom, with closed captions available.

0:01:07Meetings of the City Council are subject to the Brown Act and are held for the purpose of conducting city business. The Brown Act also ensures the public's right to be heard, and while City Council is not able to respond to your comments directly, your comments will be heard prior to Council taking action.

0:01:21For members of the public who wish to provide oral testimony, the Mayor will announce the time for public comments on each applicable item. Public comments will be taken in person only, and a request to speak can be submitted to the City Clerk by completing a speaker card.

0:01:34The Council's adopted Rules of Order and Procedure specify that public speakers address the City Council in an orderly and respectful manner.

0:01:42Proceed their comments with their name and city of residence, and be respectful of time limits.

0:01:47Just a quick note that time may not be yielded from one speaker to another, and we ask that everyone be respectful in observing these rules so that all speakers feel comfortable providing their comments. Thank you, Mary. That concludes my instructions.

0:01:58All right, the next item on the agenda is Council Staff Communications. City Manager, do we have any staff communications? Yes, we do. Thank you, Your Honor. I'm Karen Pincus, the City Manager. Just a few announcements.

0:02:10We just wanted to let you know tomorrow, there is a…

0:02:14Transit-Oriented development pop-up information station at El Cerrito Plaza, so everyone is invited to learn about the TOD, the Transit-Oriented Development, that is breaking ground in November on the Northeast Station parking lot near El Cerrito Plaza Station, so drop in any time on Wednesday, November 5th at the station concourse.

0:02:35between 4 and 6 p.m, and you can find information on bart.gov slash El Cerrito PlazaTod.

0:02:44One word?

0:02:45Second, I would like to, honor, Stephen Mello, who is our mighty, neighborhood preservation program coordinator, or our Code Enforcement Department of One Person.

0:02:58Has just been appointed to serve on the California Association of Code Enforcement Officers Region 2 Board for a two-year term. So he is out there doing great. Congratulations, Steven, for, for your professional development. And then for the last item, I would like to turn it over to the City Clerk.

0:03:15Thank you, City Manager. On behalf of the City Council, I would like to announce that the City is currently seeking applications for 21 boards, commissions, and committees.

0:03:23Seats that are set to expire on March 1st of 2026.

0:03:27In addition to these upcoming term expirations, there are over 40 current vacancies, so a lot of opportunities to apply, including Financial Advisory Board, Design Review Board, Planning Commission, and Committees for Citizen Streets Oversight, Community Safety, Economic Development, and Urban Forest.

0:03:45Serving as an advisory body member can be a rewarding experience for El Cerrito residents looking to serve their community.

0:03:51It's an excellent way to participate in local government and to make a personal contribution. Most terms are 4 years, meetings are generally held once a month during evening hours, and applications are due by January 29th. For more information, you can visit elcerito.gov backslash commissions, or contact the City Clerk.

0:04:09Thank you, City Manager. And with that, I'd just like to say Happy Election Day, everyone. Polls close at 8, so you still have time to go over to Hannah Gardens and vote, or drop your, ballot off at our ballot box. Thank you.

0:04:23All right, any announcements from the Council? Councilmember Motayama? Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to let people know that the ticket sales are ongoing for the pancake Breakfast and toy drive, which is December 6th,

0:04:38From 9 to 11 at the Community Center. Tickets always go, go… they sell out, so if you would like to attend, please do get your tickets early.

0:04:48All right, any other announcements from Council?

0:04:51All right, and there's only one announcement from the mayor, but our city manager already stole it. So, it's election night.

0:04:59I won't tell you what to vote for, but as a city manager did say there is a polling location right next door in Hanna Gardens, and of course, the vote by mail in your ballot box, and if you voted by mail, you probably have one of these handy stickers, so I hope that you have it on to show us that you did your duty today. Polls close at 8 p.m. tonight.

0:05:17All right, the next item on the agenda is oral communications from the public. Now is the time for members of the public who wish to provide public comment regarding matters not on the agenda, consent items, and presentation items. Requests to speak can be submitted to the City Clerk by completing a speaker card. Public comments will be taken in person only. Please remember to identify yourself and your City of Residence at the beginning of your comments.

0:05:40City Clerk, please proceed. Thank you, Mayor. At this time, we have

0:05:45Five requests to speak for this, which includes our presentation items and our consent items. So I'll call our first speaker up to the public podium here, Bill Barish, followed by David Ghiorly. And City Clerk, if we can actually make the time 2 minutes per speaker, please. Yes, ma'am.

0:06:02Give me one second, Bill.

0:06:17Okay, you maybe begin.

0:06:19Good evening. Bill Barish, I live here in El Cerrito. I just wanted to comment on the report on the CAAP that's

0:06:29beans.

0:06:30Sean Moss (Planning Manager): Jeff?

0:06:31this question tonight.

0:06:33And I was looking at it online, and I find that this is a little bit,

0:06:39more like a summary, and it's short on details, and all I would ask for… just let me give you a couple of examples.

0:06:49Under Buildings and Energy, it says there are 15 tasks, 2 are underway.

0:06:56Coordination with utilities, ongoing, and energy efficiency upgrades.

0:07:04If anyone could just provide me with a…

0:07:11Document or some source that tells me, for example.

0:07:16What coordination with what utilities towards what end.

0:07:23And what energy efficiency upgrades are taking place?

0:07:29I would be very happy. So that's my request. I just need to know more details. This document is somewhat opaque.

0:07:38Thank you Our next speaker is David Giorley, followed by Brian Richmond.

0:07:47Apologies. David Giorgi?

0:07:553 minutes or 2 minutes? 2 minutes. You may begin. Okay, I'll make it quick. I'm David Yorkie.

0:08:01I'm a resident of El Cerrito for over 30 years.

0:08:04I'm here talking about the El Cerrito Trail Tracker program.

0:08:09There's 11 trails that need to be built.

0:08:12And…

0:08:14I'm involved with the Berkeley Pathwanderers Association. I'm building their trails right now, and I'd love to be able to apply those experiences and skills to getting those trails, the El Cerrito trails, completed.

0:08:28I have a,

0:08:29technical and business background, I ran medical device companies for the last 20 years, and I've been in industry 40 years.

0:08:38I have non-profit leadership experience.

0:08:41I was with the Rebuilding Together group, I was their board president, and I ran their program with 600 volunteers one year.

0:08:50I, I'm excited to have the opportunity to develop this program to its potential here at El Cerrito.

0:09:02Alright.

0:09:04Our next speaker is Brian Richman, followed by Ahmed Messer.

0:09:12Hi, I'm Brian Richmond. I'm a resident of El Cerrito for the last 6, 7 years. Honorable mayor, council members, and staff, it's good to be here. I just wanted to report on some activities the trail truckers have had.

0:09:27Had our first of what will probably be an annual public paths festival, so it builds on a long-standing, more than 10 years, hillside natural area festival, but this one was

0:09:38had the aim of raising awareness in the community about all the public paths that we have. We have over 40-something public paths throughout our community. Many of them… some are in wonderful shape.

0:09:49Like the ones from Chevron up to Arlington that allow people to access the wonderful facilities and the upgraded Arlington Park we have up there, without having to walk on Mosier or Drive. But others are impassable or in pretty bad shape.

0:10:03So, we've been working for many years. Dave Weinstein got… has gotten very frustrated. He's passed off the project to us. But I'm really pleased to say, that, the city's been really supportive and cooperative.

0:10:18I want to give a shout out to Yvette Ortiz. Her office has been amazing, and we're making progress on

0:10:25now a more formal agreement that has the right kinds of, I guess, you know, volunteer agreements so that we put some of the structure in place. We hope this will be a model for even other nonprofit organizations that can work with the city.

0:10:41during this Public Paths Festival, we had over 125 people, and there wasn't a single person, other than maybe Dave Weinstein, who actually knew about many of the paths, and so there was a lot of curiosity, a lot of excitement.

0:10:54John Joya came and spoke at one of the hikes, which was great to have his support, too. So, we just want to bring this to your attention because we're starting to rally a lot of support in the community, and we really would like to see this be put on the priority of the CIP that's coming up next year. We're not asking for resources because we have the money and…

0:11:17Thank you for your comments. Okay. Two minutes, sorry. Thank you for your comments. Thank you very much. And next speaker is Ahmed Masser, followed by Janoslinsky.

0:11:32Oh, okay. Well, Ahmed is speaking under… wants to speak on the appeal, so we'll go to Janos.

0:11:42Loop.

0:11:44My name is Janoslatena, and I'd like to talk about the fees in this city.

0:11:49So let me quote some line items from the new fee study. Item 75, vegetation removal by the city. It costed $75, now it's gonna cost $775.

0:12:00Item 72, concrete removal. It costed $219, it's gonna cost $655. Subsidy zero, both places.

0:12:10when I… when somebody wants to plant a tree, or wants the city to plant a tree that costed $354, it's going to cost $1,306. Subsidy zero. Meanwhile, you can get a map of the… or a copy of the map for $3.38.

0:12:27So, cool the review on the vegetation and street-related costs.

0:12:31increase was about 4 to 7 times, which is illegal. It is illegal.

0:12:37So… The fact that, based on a…

0:12:39Low-quality expert study, what we paid a lot of money for.

0:12:43the city thinks that we can jack up the prices four to seven times, that doesn't pause the basic test of proportionality. The fact that this happens before we adopt the California framework, how we are governing municipal fees, which would provide the constitutional protections as communication, hearing, and so on, I think that makes it sinister.

0:13:03The fact that this happens a month before the largest curb renovation project, which involves removing trees, adds a lingering sulfuric smell in the air.

0:13:12So the fact that the masterpiece study, or the Master Schedule, was first published on the website

0:13:19About, what, a month ago, which included the previous fees, and the updated version is not including the previous fees.

0:13:26That, I think, is not a good signal for a reasonable relationship with the public.

0:13:30So, beside all of this, this move is counterproductive. This is reducing public engagement. The Urban Forest Committee yearly budget is $1,000, so they can plant 3 trees in 4 years, based on the new fee schedule.

0:13:45Thank you for your comments. Please, Mayor, reconsider the feast.

0:13:49Thank you, Mayor. That concludes our request to speak at this time. All right, thank you so much. The next item on the agenda is presentations. However, we have two proclamations on the consent calendar tonight that have representatives here to receive them.

0:14:03In the interest of their time, we will take the consent calendar out of order, followed by the presentation items. So the next item on the agenda is the consent calendar, which includes the following items.

0:14:15Approval of minutes, Shelter-in-Place Education Day Proclamation, 85th Anniversary of El Cerrito Preschool Cooperative Proclamation, Amendment of the Pierce Street San Mateo Street Utility Underground District for the I-80 Central Avenue Interchange Improvements Project.

0:14:33And Mayor, if I may, you did miss item C, the Homeless Awareness. Oh, sorry, yes, Item C, Homeless Awareness and Youth Homelessness Outreach Prevention and Education Month Proclamation. I'm sorry about that. Do I have any motions to pull, or questions from the consent calendar?

0:14:50Councilmember Motiamo. I'd like to… I have questions on 7B and 7E.

0:14:55B and E… Any other questions or polls?

0:15:00Okay, go ahead, Councilmember Motiamo, with item B. Okay, thank you. Regarding the shelter-in-place, I think that's really important that there's drills for that.

0:15:09However, one of the things that I've been learning from the East Bay Wildfire Coalition of Governments meetings regarding wildfires is, leave the concept of leave early. And so, I just want to take this a second to say.

0:15:24You know, when you're preparing and you hear that something might be coming.

0:15:28Don't wait to get official notifications. Feel free to leave early. Then there will not be traffic jams that people have to abandon their cars for and run out.

0:15:40To try to get themselves saved. So, I don't know if Chief Sailors has any comment on that, but, I just wanted to bring that up.

0:15:50I don't think he has any comment on that. Oh, maybe he does.

0:15:54Only if you want to, Chief Sailors. There's no pressure at all.

0:16:00I'll make it brief. Good evening, I'm Eric Saylors, I'm your Fire Chief. The LevoE concept has really solidified after the fires in Southern California, when we realized that we could not run winds that fast.

0:16:12The reason why it's becoming such a relevant conversation is the fire chiefs in this region are coordinating on how to get that message out, because we can't officially send out evacuation orders, and we can't send out evacuation warnings, but what we can do is set up a process where we work together and send out a leave early message

0:16:29And that conversation is going on on a weekly basis on how we get that done. So thank you for bringing that up, I really appreciate it, because it will make the difference.

0:16:36on how many lives we save in an event like that. And we have a lot of people in the room this evening, so hopefully they can spread the word.

0:16:44Perfect timing, thank you Thank you, Chief. And item E, Councilmember.

0:16:49Thank you, Mayor. Regarding, 7E, I know that Richmond is using their Rural 20A work credit, but I know that we have some as well. Can you tell me, how much we have and where the… what… what area of the city that it's, slated for?

0:17:10Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. I'm James Mizutani, Associate Engineer with Public Works. Currently, we have, $2,967,570 in Rule 20 credits. That is currently… it's going to be used for the Underground Utilities District that was approved a couple years ago, right here along Manila Avenue.

0:17:30And,

0:17:33any additional project prioritization that might need to happen with that. As we're amending the San Mateo and the Pierce Street, San Mateo Street District tonight, we can also amend our other underground utilities districts going forward in the event that we need to.

0:17:47Thank you very much.

0:17:50Yes, go ahead.

0:17:51I have sort of a comment and a question that there may not be an answer to regarding the same project.

0:17:56I mentioned to the city manager that sometimes I drive down Central, and I tell my friends in the car, this is all going to change one day. And then I read this, and I saw, we're looking at 2 and 3 years out before it happens, and I just… I just wonder why. Why does it take that long to initiate and get done with a project?

0:18:15Well, there's a couple different things that,

0:18:18need to happen. Unfortunately, we are kind of locked in on PG&E's timetable. We approve the district, but then how quickly they actually underground their utilities is more up to them and how quickly they get through their project backlog. In addition to that, there's a couple other

0:18:33Factors with the design that involves some, property acquisition and the realignment of roads, which is a fairly significant change.

0:18:43Okay. Does PG&E to blame?

0:18:47You don't need to comment. Thank you.

0:18:50Alright, do I have a motion to approve the consent calendar? I'll move.

0:18:55All right, so moved by Councilmember Motayama, seconded by Councilmember Salzman. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? So, the consent calendar does pass.

0:19:07And on to our first proclamation, the Homeless Awareness and Youth Homelessness Outreach, Prevention and Education Month Proclamation. We do have a representative, Jenny Robbins from Contra Costa Health, who will accept the proclamation. Would any of the Council members like to make any comments before we bring Jenny up to make, their comments?

0:19:28Councilmember Motiamo. Thank you, Mayor.

0:19:31For those of you who were not here at the previous meeting, which is our Municipal Services Corporation, we did get an update on our investments in the core team that does outreach for people that are unhoused or at risk of becoming homeless. And we're very proud to have this relationship with the county that's been very, very effective. And we are the only

0:19:54City in the county that has a housing stability fund.

0:20:00So.

0:20:02We are really grateful for that partnership. I really appreciate all the work that staff has done to really make some progress in addressing the unhoused issues and housing issues in our city. So, thank you to county staff. Ms. Robinson, please come up.

0:20:19Well, before we do that, before you come up, any other Council comments?

0:20:25All right, so in line with what Councilmember Motayama said, as I said in the MSC meeting, this is an issue that is near and dear to my heart. Ever since before I came onto the Council. I wanted to make sure that El Ceruto was doing our part and not leaving big cities like Richmond holding the bag as far as caring for our unhoused population and keeping people housed. So I'm so proud, as Councilmember Motayama said, of the work that we are doing.

0:20:49The fact that we are leading the way as far as smaller cities doing what we can to support the folks along the Greenway, along San Pablo Avenue, those who have faced hard times. We know sometimes people are just one paycheck away from being unhoused. And even though for some folks it may look like a small amount that we are putting forward, it's a big amount for those who are just $1,000, $2,000, $3,000

0:21:12away from being unhoused, and if nothing else, we know that having Stizzy, and Nugg in our community, the cooperative benefits that we have, set up for them, is going to a great cause in our community. So now, we would love for Jenny to come up

0:21:28And… and accept a proclamation.

0:21:32You know, every week… it's not December yet.

0:21:37Thank you. So, yeah, thank you, Mayor and Councilmembers and members of the public. I want to express my gratitude to the City of El Cerrito for recognizing November as Homeless Awareness Month and the Youth Homelessness Outreach Prevention and Education Month. My name's Jenny Robbins, I'm Chief of Programs with Contra Costa Health Services.

0:21:55And I'm really pleased to be here this evening to lift up the voices of those who are in our community who are experiencing homelessness and shine a light on the pressing needs we have in our community.

0:22:04Contra Costa Health serves as a lead agency for our continuum of care. In 2024, we served more than 14,000 people through programs focused on prevention, permanent housing, street outreach, and emergency shelter. This work is only made possible through strong collaboration between city, county partnership, community partners.

0:22:23nonprofit organizations, and most importantly, people with lived experience of homelessness who guide and inform our efforts. We say time and again that it takes a village to do the work, and without partnership, meant much of this would not be possible.

0:22:35And so community involvement is key. That's why we're here talking about this this evening. We recently launched our Homeless Awareness Toolkit. It provides resources to learn more, take action, and celebrate the success and progress our community has made in addressing unsheltered homelessness in Contra Costa County.

0:22:51And finally, I want to highlight our Homeless Awareness Month video. It features voices of those with lived experience. Hearing directly from those individuals remind us that behind every number or data point is a person or family who is going through a lot, and their stories are what inspires us to keep pushing forward and keep this work alive. So thank you again for your support, and we look forward to continuing our partnership

0:23:16partnership in years to come.

0:23:17Thank you so much, and we're gonna come down and present this to you and take a picture.

0:24:15All right, our next presentation…

0:24:18is for the 85th anniversary of the El Cerrito Preschool Cooperative Proclamation, and we do have Cindy Liu, who is a parent member of ECPC and other representatives who are here tonight to receive the proclamation. First, do we have any comments from the Council?

0:24:39Go ahead, Catherine Ramoth. You know you want to.

0:24:43Thank you, Mayor. Congratulations to ECPC. You guys are an institution, and I really wish I had worn my Messy Art Day shirt, but I forgot, so congratulations on 85 years.

0:25:02And I want to piggyback again on what Councilmember Motoyama said. I am so happy to present this to you all. I mean, I've lived in this area for I don't know how many years, but it was this year, going to the Messy Art Day Festival, that I actually went inside the El Cerrito Cooperative, and it was so awesome, and so amazing, and to see kids that little learning about science, and they don't even know they're learning about science, they're just, like, stepping and stuff.

0:25:26was really awesome, and I still cook with my messy day apron, and I'm happy to finally have gotten my shirt.

0:25:32So… Cindy Liu, if you would like to come up and say some words, where is Cindy?

0:25:43Or someone in Cindy's stead. Yes, you can all… come on up!

0:25:52Yes.

0:25:59Alright, come on, friends!

0:26:02Good evening, Mayor and esteemed council members.

0:26:06On behalf of our entire community, we are so grateful to the city for recognizing 85 years of our cooperative preschool. For eight and a half decades, parents, teachers, and staff have worked side by side to create a space where children are celebrated for who they are.

0:26:22and encouraged to explore the world with curiosity and kindness. We have served over 5,000 children since our inception.

0:26:34We want to thank all our families, past and present, and we have a lot of alumni families here tonight, whose dedication and love have made this school a place that truly reflects the power of community.

0:26:46This milestone belongs to every parent, teacher, staff member, and alum who has nurtured our school spirit of cooperation and care.

0:26:55Thank you for helping us carry forward this beautiful legacy, and we hope to do so for many more years. Thank you so, so much. We're so honored.

0:27:06And after we… after you finish taking that picture, we're gonna come take a picture with you.

0:27:17I have to put a shirt on the wrist sweater, please.

0:28:29Okay, so don't be upset with me, but it's hot, so I gotta take the shirt off. Okay, all right, but first, the next item on the agenda is presentations. El Cerrito Climate Action and Adaptation Plan Update. Can we please have the staff presentation?

0:28:48Thank you.

0:29:03I know, okay.

0:29:06Good evening, Mayor and Council Members.

0:29:09My name is Amelia Timbers, I'm El Cerrito's Manager of Operations and Environmental Services Division.

0:29:17Today, I'm pleased to present a brief update on the City's progress on its Climate Action and Adaptation Plan since its adoption in July 2024.

0:29:31Okay, let's see…

0:29:38For some background, some of you already know all this, but the City of El Cerrito has a robust climate history.

0:29:45And has been working on climate action for over 20 years.

0:29:50El Cerrito has adopted 7 climate resolutions since 2006, as well as several climate-related studies and plans.

0:29:58El Cerrito declared a climate emergency in 2019, and in July 2024, adopted its revised Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, which aims for carbon neutrality by 2045.

0:30:14Which is an aggressive goal, in case.

0:30:16That context need is needed.

0:30:22So…

0:30:23Here we see some key accomplishments from the CAP program since its adoption in the summer of 2024. I'll be going into more depth on these later, but I want to flag the bolded actions, which are the Interdepartmental Task Force.

0:30:39called Climate Force, and the Climate Dashboard. Those are two items that were,

0:30:48emphasize, because OESD promised to deliver them in the last climate update to the Council, and I'm pleased to report they are, completed.

0:31:03So, just as a little review of what the cap included.

0:31:07Here are the focus areas of the 2024 CAP.

0:31:12We have buildings and energy, transportation, consumption and waste.

0:31:17Water and natural systems, and Community Resilience and empowerment and Municipal and Policy.

0:31:24Each of these focus areas includes

0:31:26a varying amount of strategies and actions, and the actions describe specific projects and programs to accomplish each strategy. And for more on the actions themselves, they're detailed in the CAP.

0:31:44Another important element of the CAP is its scope.

0:31:48As a reminder, the CAP analyzed emissions from three perspectives.

0:31:52The community perspective, the municipal perspective, and the consumption-based perspective.

0:31:58Community missions are those generated by a certain geographical area, through local activities.

0:32:05Municipal emissions are what the city's governmental operations generate.

0:32:11And then consumption emissions are the total emissions from goods and services that the city's residents consume, accounting for supply chain impacts. And some of the biggest examples in that category are vehicle gasoline, healthcare, air travel, furnishings, and meat consumption.

0:32:29And as you can see, consumption-based emissions dwarfs what municipal operations generates.

0:32:38However, the CAP strategies and actions are mainly focused on municipal operations and activities under the physical control of the City of El Cerrito.

0:32:48Some of the… Strides and actions will help reduce Canadian consumption emissions as well, however.

0:32:57And in the end, climate safety will really be achieved when we can activate and empower the entire community to take on climate action strategies of their own.

0:33:05In the same vein, climate safety for city operations is a team sport in which participation from all departments is needed to get to the goal of net zero by 2045.

0:33:20So, these next slides provide a kind of snapshot of where we are on each of these focus areas.

0:33:28For buildings and energy, there are 15 tasks, with 2 underway.

0:33:35For coordination with utilities, that's coordination with

0:33:40PG&E, which provides our natural gas service, as well as distribution and transmission for electric power.

0:33:47And we're in Clean Energy, which provides, or MCE.

0:33:50It's our name now, which provides our power purchasing. We speak with these

0:33:56org… agencies approximately quarterly, and kind of on an as-needed basis as well, and we… what we discuss in these meetings ranges. In this upcoming meeting, we will be discussing kind of what we need from them to complete our,

0:34:11Electrification planning for our city For the city vehicles.

0:34:18Additionally, we are exploring PG&E energy efficiency programs that could lead to improvements citywide.

0:34:23To our comment earlier, that's the on-bill Financing Program, OBF.

0:34:29If we end up proceeding with energy efficiency projects through this program, they're likely going to be of a size that we would be back before you for approval, on those contracts, so more details can be provided then. We're really at the beginning of this process.

0:34:50For transportation, planning and engineering have done incredible work advancing several key, significant projects that fall into this category.

0:34:58This includes the Richmond Complete Streets.

0:35:01With the Summer 2026 groundbreaking, including a new bike lane and connectivity features, the Del Norte Complete Streets project, wrapping up this year.

0:35:12And the cities also won transportation grants, including the Sub-Regional Transportation Demand Management Plan.

0:35:20With the City of Richmond, BART, and WCTAC expanding transportation demand management in El Cerrito and Richmond.

0:35:26And the San Pablo Avenue Multimodal Study.

0:35:30Additionally, we just started a new partnership with Zipcar.

0:35:38For consumption and waste, the tasks we have underway are, firstly, of course, operations of the recycling center, which is a very popular amenity the city offers.

0:35:48Additionally, we are working on implementation of a grant for 1383 compliance. AB 1383 is the law that requires the use of compost to divert organics from waste streams.

0:36:00This grant has allowed us to increase our outreach on composting, as well as putting advertising for composting on our recycling vehicles and on East Bay Sanitary's trash, solid waste vehicles.

0:36:14We're also beginning a new phase in outreach and enforcement to encourage plastics reduction by ensuring citywide implementation of our existing foodware ordinance.

0:36:23And the state's updated bag ban, for two examples.

0:36:31For water and natural systems, our biggest accomplishment was the H&A adoption of June 2025. Thank you all for that.

0:36:40We've also pursued many grants.

0:36:45to ensure we have long-term funding for the H&A.

0:36:48Plan implementation and maintenance.

0:36:50Additionally, our Urban Forest Program includes H&A maintenance and work parties.

0:36:56Regular urban forest tree maintenance.

0:36:59Extensive annual wildfire prevention activity in conjunction with the fire department.

0:37:04And our Clean Water Program.

0:37:06As well as the Complete Streets projects we… I mentioned earlier, are increasing green infrastructure throughout the city.

0:37:17For community resilience and empowerment.

0:37:19We developed a climate dashboard that I will share in the next couple slides. We adopted the Urban Greening Plan in 2015, and we have a website linked from the Personal Climate Action webpage, which you can find on the City's website.

0:37:34to the Cleaner Contra Costa Challenge, which is a partnership with Sustainable Contra Costa.

0:37:40And this partnership has resulted in an El Cerrito-specific landing page where residents can register, sign up for the challenge, and commit to climate actions that they complete at their convenience on their own timeframe.

0:37:54Residents can also take the El Cerrito Climate Pledge, which is part of the CAP itself.

0:37:59And which also lists actions individuals can complete.

0:38:03And we're looking at making promotion of these tools a focus of our next Civic Sparks work plan.

0:38:13So this is a screenshot of our climate dashboard, which provides a summary of where we are in climate actions.

0:38:19Here we see the focus areas on the left, and

0:38:23what actions are underway, basically what I've taken you through this evening.

0:38:30And we plan to update this dashboard annually, and this dashboard was created by our Civic Spark Fellow, Valerie Zhang, and I just want to recognize her and her fantastic work.

0:38:43This is further down on the dashboard, and on the dashboard, it's another way of seeing that same data.

0:38:50You can also click through on each of these focus areas to see what's included in each one specifically, so…

0:38:57There's a little exploring to do on this site.

0:39:02For municipal and policy, we have our interdepartmental task force going, which is met twice and is meaning a third time in December.

0:39:12We're discussing issues such as electric vehicle charging options for employees.

0:39:18In regard to staff capacity, as I mentioned, we are able to hire our wonderful Civics Park fellow, Valerie Zhang, who has stayed on with us as a management intern helping to deliver the 1383 implementation grant I mentioned earlier.

0:39:32We'll be seeking a new fellow in 2026 after Valerie departs for grad school.

0:39:38For regional coordination, OESD staff participate in county-level climate, waste, and electrification coordinating groups.

0:39:45And for EV charging and facilities,

0:39:49Recreation is planning to install chargers, which I think you've heard about recently.

0:39:55We have chargers at City Hall, and one at the recycling center, and then plenty more to come once we have our fleet electrification plan complete.

0:40:04On that note, the fleet… City Fleet Electrification for City Fleet Electrification were amidst implementation of a grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission

0:40:16Sponsoring the consulting work and analysis required to plan for what amount of energy will be needed to electrify the city's fleet, as well as where charging infrastructure will be located.

0:40:26Here's some more information on that grant.

0:40:30We received this grant, from MTC, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, as I said, which plans programs and funds transportation activities throughout the Bay Area.

0:40:41The grant funds consultants to develop a comprehensive electrification plan for the city.

0:40:46And we had a kickoff in July, and are currently working on vehicle replacement assessment.

0:40:52We expect this to be wrapped up

0:40:54In Spring 2026, so a very compressed timeline.

0:41:02And then additionally, the CAP benefits from climate policy that California adopts.

0:41:06Which continues to lead the nation.

0:41:09Very often, California's innovative climate policy supports CAP objectives and saves us from having to pass these ordinances on our own.

0:41:19In terms of next steps, we're going to continue to implement the projects that are underway, which I just went through.

0:41:26We'll address challenges such as

0:41:28Deciding what done or complete looks like for some of these kind of ongoing tasks.

0:41:34And we will continue addressing Excuse me, capacity constraints?

0:41:41Without devoted staff, teamwork throughout the city, especially with the Interdepartmental Task Force, is critical to accomplish CAP actions.

0:41:48Several CAP actions require setting up entire new programs, so increasing staff capacity is key to long-term CAP success. And to this end, as I mentioned, we will be replacing our, Civic Spark Fellow once she has gone to grad school.

0:42:05We're going to continue to seek funding and resources that will allow us to increase our capacity. For HNA alone, OESD has applied for 5 grants… for 5 grants totaling approximately $2.2 million, not counting what the fire department has applied for regarding the H&A, which is also very significant.

0:42:24And that is it. Thank you so much, and I'm here for questions, and happy to receive questions or outreach via email.

0:42:34Any questions from the Council? Councilmember Saltsman, and then I'll come up here. We'll just go down the line, then.

0:42:41Thank you for the presentation, and it's great to see a lot of

0:42:44progress happening at the various tasks within the Climate Action Plan. How do we measure, or when will we measure.

0:42:55Whether these various projects are getting us to our carbon neutral goal.

0:43:03That's a good question. I will have to follow up on that one.

0:43:09Measurement would come in an update of the Climate Action Plan that we just approved last year, so we do need to decide on, kind of, the cadence in which we are going to want to update it.

0:43:21So yeah, I'll have to follow up on that one.

0:43:24It would be helpful whenever the next presentation is, and then update, whether we're going to get annual updates or whatever it's going to look like, even if you don't have that measurement.

0:43:35to tell us which of these things you think are most impactful towards getting us to that. Now, some of these have other impacts as well that aren't just on being carbon neutral, and it's not that they wouldn't be important if they don't, you know, move the needle a lot on that.

0:43:51But I think we kind of have… it's a very ambitious goal, and the reality is that so many of the emissions in our city are from personal vehicles.

0:44:01And very few of these things move the needle very much on the use of personal vehicles. And even electric vehicles have emissions. So.

0:44:12I just want to make sure we're both being ambitious enough in the things we're doing to reach this ambitious goal, and not setting ourselves up for failure, and that we're focused on the things that will actually get us there.

0:44:28Which ultimately is going to be getting people to replace their vehicle trips with walking, biking, and transit.

0:44:37And I know not all of that's within our control. Some of it means getting transit well-funded. El Cerrito can't do that on its own. So I get that it's not all ours, and it's good that you put forward some of the state stuff as updates.

0:44:50But I think…

0:44:52As we continue to look at this and move forward over the next several years, we need to figure out how to measure, even if we don't have an exact measurement.

0:45:01But where we think we're going with what we've achieved and where our big gaps are, where we need to find funding, but just so we can be strategic and we don't get to 2040 and realize we're really far off from the goal.

0:45:15Thank you.

0:45:16All right, Councilmember Motiana. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you for this presentation. It's nice to know that we are, even in the first year, getting some things done.

0:45:28I have a quick question, and you've mentioned this a number of times in your presentation. What is OESD?

0:45:35Operations and Environmental Services Division. I'm sorry about that. Okay, thank you. I thought so, but I couldn't fit the letters in. So that's… that's helpful. So that… that just tells us that the… that's the department that's leading the way on this. Regarding the Interdepartmental Task Force,

0:45:53How much is, kind of… how does information and discussion from the Interdepartmental Task Force get out to the rest of staff?

0:46:02Because it sounds like you have really active people in the task force, and you're discussing important things, but how is it getting back out to all staff? Because I think one of the things that

0:46:13Is really important for… for… You know, this culture of, you know.

0:46:20Climate action and, focusing on, you know, saving money, saving resources,

0:46:29it's… it really matters that everybody is… is part of that. So what is… what is the kind of the… the process in getting the word out?

0:46:38We have representatives from each department participating in the task force.

0:46:45And, those… Points of contact are responsible for kind of communicating to their rest of their department.

0:46:56in terms of kind of more coordinated outreach than that, we… that's something I'm happy to put on the discussion for, December. And if I could just add that one of the things that we've done, not just with this, but other interdepartmental teams, is that if there are

0:47:11Procedures or policies that come up from this type of discussion, as we've done in the past.

0:47:16That will bring those back to… from the task force to the greater, leadership team for us to be able to discuss.

0:47:24and see how we can put some of those things into place. And as an example, years ago,

0:47:29we do this work for our environmental purchasing policy, for example, and making sure that then each of the task force members do have the responsibility of kind of leading their department, or being the liaison to the department. So, it's worked really well in the past, and this is kind of, you know, it's starting to get energized right now, no pun intended. But we will be working pretty closely with our leadership team, and knowing that as this is one of our

0:47:54values, this is one of our strategic plan goals. I mean, this is of a high priority to me and the executive team as well.

0:48:00Thank you. All right, Mayor Pro Tem?

0:48:03Thank you, Mayor. Amelia, welcome back. Good to have you back, and thank you for this great presentation.

0:48:10The things that I do regionally go hand-in-hand with what we do on the environment level and this Climate Action Plan. So.

0:48:20You know, as the vice chair of MCE, and I'll be chair in January, you know, I know they're working with the majority of the cities here in Contra Costa, Marin County, Solano, and Napa County.

0:48:34You know, we're gonna continue, despite what Trump is doing, in stopping all of our plans here in California. We're just gonna move on and just do this, because, he wants to concentrate on big oil and,

0:48:50and wants to, have offshore, oil, rigs again, and we're not going to go back to those days. So we're, you know, as a member of the Air Board as well, we're continuing with what we're going to do, despite

0:49:08what they're doing at the federal level. So, the National League of Cities, we're all working together, and we are changing the wording of all of our resolutions in support

0:49:22Of, electrification and modernizing our energy to,

0:49:28make sure that despite what Trump is doing, we are moving forward with this, and this is just a temporary stoppage of just the things that Trump is doing by canceling a lot of these green projects.

0:49:47we've been working on for many, many years. So this just transition is, we're on our way already, so we've been dealing with this for many, many years, and we're seeing, for example, in the air board.

0:50:01We're seeing a green hydrogen project, that's going to be on board very, very soon.

0:50:07That was in, you know, Chevron invested in this company, and this company is going to create green hydrogen from our green waste.

0:50:16So you look at our green clippings from our lawn clippings and our trees and bushes, that will create green hydrogen in the future, in the near future here.

0:50:28in Richmond with Republic Services. So the state of California is on board of that. Department of Energy supported this way before Trump got in office. And just know a lot of our red states are far ahead of us.

0:50:44getting to this green circular economy, because they support nuclear power. And nuclear power is considered green energy.

0:50:53Except here in California, where a lot of activists don't believe in it. So we are having our corporations in Silicon Valley, and up and down the state, they would like to put mini-nukes

0:51:07because we're not going to have enough energy. We are not prepared for this, but the… the future of getting to offshore wind, that was part of the equation to get us to, 2045 faster. That will… there's a little,

0:51:25pause there for the next couple of years, but we're going to go back to that, and we're going to continue with this.

0:51:30So, just wanted to let the residents know that, El Cerrito, we have a first-time board member, and we're going to have a first-time chair of MCE, so we're going to take a

0:51:43West County, El Cerrito values, in what we do in the future when it comes to energy and green hardening our homes, getting to,

0:51:54green hydrogen, which we will… we have our Honda dealership here. I know they can't wait to sell hydrogen green cars, fuel cell, electric, fuel cell generated cars, and I see that as the future when it comes to,

0:52:12You know, right now we have, diesel engines that's going to the port to all points across the country. That will change, for the most part.

0:52:22Most Californians cannot afford these EV vehicles, and these are pie-in-the-sky ideas. The governor moved the dial more to the middle, because we see the closing of our refineries, and no, we are not ready to do that. We need to keep our refineries open.

0:52:40We do not want $12 a gallon, and we just… so these are all the things that

0:52:46I am working on, on the air board, MCE, and Cal Cities, so this is, the state of California supports this, Department of Energy, and we are going to move forward on it. But, a few things we need to work on locally, and, small cities, we do this

0:53:03by collaborating with the regional boards, and, like ABAG, when it comes to building of homes and air board, MTC when it comes to transportation.

0:53:15We have a hydrogen ferry boat that is, online in San Francisco. They're gonna start using that once we start getting hydrogen rolling. So, these are not pie-in-the-sky ideas. These are practical ideas that,

0:53:32we can do now. So, real excited about the future, and again, thank you for this, and you know, moving forward with this, this will create, this, cap that we need to do, and, we're getting there.

0:53:46You know, hopefully we'll get to 2045 faster. And I'm on the board of Civic Well. Civic Well did and was in charge of the Civic Park Spark program, so look forward to having another intern from Civic Spark. They do great work.

0:54:03So, thank you for your work.

0:54:06And thank you so much for that presentation. We look forward to seeing the updated plan.

0:54:14All right, so the next item on the agenda is public hearings. Appeal of conditional… excuse me, conditional use permit approval for a new daycare center land use at 556 Richmond Street. Can we please have the staff report?

0:55:27Good evening, Mayor Weisinger, Councilmembers. My name is Diego Romero. I'm an Associate Planner for the City. The requested action for you tonight is to conduct a public hearing, and upon conclusion, adopt a resolution denying the appeal of Planning Commission approval.

0:55:43of application PO24-0044, granting the conditional use permit for a new daycare center at 556 Richmond Street.

0:55:53So just a brief overview. On September 20th… or September 17th, 2025, the Alstratal Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit for a new daycare center at 556 Richmond Street.

0:56:04On September 25th, 2025, an appeal of the Planning Commission's action was submitted to the City. Pursuant to the Municipal Code, the City Council is the hearing body for appeals of Planning Commission decisions.

0:56:20So, a bit about the site. The project site here is located on the corner of Richmond Street and Lincoln Avenue.

0:56:25The site is approximately 4,200 square feet in size, and contains an approximately 1,400 square foot building, which was previously used as a single-family home.

0:56:34The zoning across the street,

0:56:37From the site is residential multifamily, but the existing uses, range from single-family to multi-family, and the…

0:56:47Properties that abut this property are… include existing single-family houses. The site is located less than 1,000 feet from a BART station, and you can see the parking lot for the BART station at the bottom of the aerial.

0:57:04So here, you can just see an image of the property. This image is from the corner of Lincoln and Richmond Street.

0:57:13So, the project is proposing a daycare center, which would serve, 2- to 6-year-olds. The applicant was originally requesting up to be able to have up to 25 children. They would have 4 on-site staff.

0:57:28Their proposed hours would be Monday through Friday, 8am to 5.30pm. They weren't proposing any modifications to the exterior of the building, and they would have an outdoor play area.

0:57:39And just, a lot of the operating centers for daycare centers, are established by the state, like the maximum number of allowed children, which is based on the amount of outdoor and indoor space available to the children.

0:57:59There are two similar, but different land use classifications in the municipal code. There are daycare centers, and then there are family daycare homes.

0:58:08Daycare centers are defined as establishments providing non-medical care for one or more persons on a less than 24-hour basis. So this includes nursery schools, preschools, daycare centers, and other… any other daycare facility that's licensed by the state of California, but excluding small or large family daycares.

0:58:26And then there are family daycare homes, which are defined as a daycare facility licensed by the state that is located in a single-family residence, or other dwelling unit where the occupant of the residence provides care and supervision for the children.

0:58:40The family daycare homes are more commonly referred to as, home-based daycares.

0:58:47Cities are required to treat all family daycare homes as residential uses, meaning that cities are not permitted to place land use regulations on family daycare homes, or to require a business license or a use permit for these facilities. Family daycare homes can be licensed by the state to serve up to 14 children.

0:59:05the… Proposed project falls squarely within the first definition.

0:59:10The daycare center land use type requires a conditional use permit when located in the RS-5 zoning district, and is subject to specific use standards, which will be outlined in the next slide. And then just to differentiate these two uses from… there's also schools, but schools are defined as, facilities

0:59:30Which have curricula comparable to the requirements of public schools in the state of California.

0:59:40So, daycare centers are required to comply with the following use-specific standards.

0:59:45So there, one of the first requirement is, landscape and buffer yards.

0:59:51When a daycare center is located adjacent to any residential use, they are required to provide a landscape and buffer yard, and they are also required to provide some type of wall constructed of wood or masonry that is meant to secure the outdoor play area and to help provide screening.

1:00:09The proposed outdoor play area is located to the rear of the property. The nearest residences are located directly to the east and south of the property.

1:00:17So, pursuant to the municipal code, the project is proposing a 5-foot landscape buffer yard along the south and east property lines. The other side of the outdoor play area to the north is adjacent to Lincoln Avenue, and it will be secured with a 6-foot wooden fence.

1:00:34The second requirement is, a limitation on the hours of operation. The municipal code allows daycares to operate from 7 a.m. to 7pm, Monday through Friday.

1:00:43The project is proposing to operate between 8 a.m. and 5.30pm, Monday through Friday.

1:00:51The third requirement is related to noise, so the standard is that outdoor play cannot occur before 8 AM, if the site is located within or adjacent to a residential district, and that the daycare center still has to comply with the city's noise ordinance limits.

1:01:06The project, will comply with this requirement and not have any outdoor play occur before 8 AM, and they will still be subject to the city's noise ordinance.

1:01:16And then the final requirement is related to passenger loading and drop-off. So, one curbside passenger loading zone, needs to be designated and located near the entrance of the daycare, or in an off-street location that's acceptable to staff.

1:01:30The project is including, or is proposing, a loading and drop-off zone along Lincoln Avenue.

1:01:36The Lincoln Avenue frontage of the project site, which has been reviewed and deemed adequate by Public Works staff.

1:01:43The conditions of approval require that the applicant submit an application to facilitate the installation of this loading zone, and in addition, the project is proposing to have one staff member assigned to facilitate curb

1:01:55curbside drop-off and instruct parents not to obstruct through traffic on Lincoln Avenue.

1:02:06A little bit about the site. The existing approximately 1,400 square foot building is located in the front half of the property, and it's on a 4,200 square foot lot.

1:02:17The rear half of the lot is proposed to be an outdoor play area for the daycare center, and a new proposed gate and fence would separate the play area from the street. The site plan originally had the front

1:02:28yard to, be used as outdoor play area as well, but as part of the Planning Commission action, they conditioned that that front outdoor area not be used as play area.

1:02:40Staff and students would access the building through the entrance on Richmond Street and Lincoln Avenue, and the parents would utilize the passenger loading zone expected to be along the frontage of Lincoln Avenue. The project site is within a half mile of El Cerrito Plaza Bar Station.

1:02:57And pursuant to Assembly Bill 2097, the City cannot impose any parking requirements. However, the applicant is proposing one non-required parking space, which is proposing the existing driveway.

1:03:13So here you can see the floor plans. The proposed ground floor is on the left, and then the upper floor is on the right. On the first floor, the two classrooms are proposed in the building with two bathrooms, a kitchen, and an open play area, and then the second floor is proposed to be used as a staff lounge area.

1:03:36So, the project applicants, submitted an application for a conditional use permit.

1:03:41That would accommodate up to 25 students. On September 17th, the Planning Commission, considered the project during… in a public hearing. After receiving presentations from city staff, the applicant, the Commission opened the public hearing. Eight speakers addressed the Commission.

1:03:56In response to public comments, the Planning Commission required two additional conditions of approval.

1:04:02The first condition being that the front yard not be used as an outdoor play area, and the second condition being that the daycare center be limited to no more than 18 children. With these modifications, the Planning Commission adopted a resolution approving the conditional use permit for the project.

1:04:19So, in order to approve a conditional use permit.

1:04:22The following findings must be made. The first finding is that the location, size, design.

1:04:28And operating characteristics of the proposed development and or use will be harmonious and compatible with, and will not adversely affect the livability or appropriate development of abutting properties and the surrounding neighborhood.

1:04:39The second finding is that the location and design of the proposal will provide a convenient and functional living, working, shopping, or civic environment, and that will be an attractive amenity for the city.

1:04:50And the last finding is that the proposal is consistent with the purpose of the district where it is located, and conforms in all significant respects with the El Cerrito General Plan, with… and with any other applicable plan adopted by the City.

1:05:09So…

1:05:10Pursuant to the Municipal Code, decisions of the Planning Commission may be appealed to the City Council within 10 calendar days of the decision.

1:05:17The municipal Code establishes the de novo review process for appeals, meaning that the standard of review for the appeal is the same as the standard of review for the original decision, and the hearing body for the appeal is free to make different findings and adopt different conditions of approval from the original decision.

1:05:34On September 25th, the appellant submitted an appeal of the Planning Commission's approval of the conditional use permit for this project.

1:05:44So, in their letter of appeal, the appellants made a series of points related to the appeal.

1:05:48The parents contend that the approval of a daycare center will directly harm 9 existing daycare providers that are currently operating in the vicinity of the project, which have existing vacancies rather than benefiting the community, and the city should not oversaturate markets to the detriment of established providers.

1:06:06So, as mentioned previously, in order to approve a conditional use permit, the decision-making body has to make three specific findings outlined in the Municipal Code, and those findings relate to the project being harmonious with the neighborhood, an attractive amenity for the city, and in compliance with the intent of the general plan.

1:06:21None of the findings consider the proximity of similar existing businesses to the proposed project. Many of these existing businesses would be classified as family daycare homes, which are regulated by the state, and the city must treat as residential uses.

1:06:35Historically, the role of zoning as an exercise of the city's police power has been to address incompatibilities in land uses, public health.

1:06:43And safety issues, and to guide the development of the built environment.

1:06:48The role of zoning has not traditionally been to examine the economic effects of new businesses on existing businesses, or to evaluate business models of proposed businesses.

1:06:59None of these require findings related to the economic of businesses offering the same service. Childcare is an essential service.

1:07:05For any thriving and inclusive community, and by providing an additional childcare option, the project supports the required findings with regard to the project's compatibility with the neighborhood.

1:07:14Its position as an amenity for the city, and its consistency with various general plan policies.

1:07:20The approval of an additional similar business should not be assumed to threaten existing businesses, since each business may offer unique products and services, and the findings do not examine the saturation of any particular type of business within a given area.

1:07:38The opponents also contend that the property is located on two heavily trafficked corridors, and the approval of this project will create dangerous conditions due to the existing family daycare and the proximity of El Cerrito High School.

1:07:50So, according to the Elstrido General Plan.

1:07:53Richmond Street is categorized as a minor arterial, and as typical… as is typical of other local streets in El Cerrito, Lincoln Avenue is not categorized in the general plan street hierarchy.

1:08:04While not required by the municipal code, it is often city staff's practice to request traffic studies for certain projects, such as daycare centers, as a source of data and analysis that can inform the required findings.

1:08:16So, as mentioned previously, the applicant prepared a traffic study which found that the project

1:08:22It's not anticipated to cause any significant impacts on the surrounding intersections, as the volumes of trips generated by the project is very low, and the trips would be distributed onto various streets that provide access to the area.

1:08:34Proposed projects are not required to mitigate existing conditions, and can only be required to address the impact of the proposed

1:08:41Project in a manner that is roughly proportional to the project's impact.

1:08:44The transportation analysis found that the impact of the proposed project on existing traffic conditions is not significant.

1:08:52As part of the Richmond Street Complete Streets project, safety improvements are planned at the intersection of Richmond Street and Lincoln Avenue. While the exact design of this intersection is not finalized, it will potentially include features such as raised intersections, speed tables, and curb extensions.

1:09:15The plans also contend that the project will double the existing outdoor play noise in a residential neighborhood, therefore diminishing the quality of life.

1:09:23For the surrounding neighborhood.

1:09:25One of the use-specific standards that apply to daycare centers is related to noise. When uses are located in or adjacent residential districts, it is required

1:09:33that the outdoor play does not occur before 8 AM. The tentative standard is to help reduce the impact and noise on the surrounding neighborhood. And another use-specific standard for daycare centers is that they are required to provide landscape and buffer yards when next to residential uses.

1:09:48The buffer yards require a certain number of shrubs and trees, which will also help, with sound mitigation. In addition, the project would still be required to comply with the municipal code, which sets outdoor noise levels for residential areas and applies to all of the zoning districts.

1:10:04And the applicant has also indicated the willingness to stagger their outdoor play so that not all children are outside at the same time.

1:10:16The parents also contend that the location of the two daycares next to each other will create an institutional character inappropriate for a residential neighborhood, and will negatively impact property values for the surrounding homeowners.

1:10:29Daycare center land uses are classified as public semi-public service uses, and are not classified as commercial uses.

1:10:36There is an existing family daycare located at 557 Everett Street. The family daycare is classified as a residential use pursuant to state law, and the city is not allowed to place any regulations on those uses. Pursuant to the municipal code, daycare centers are permitted in the RS-5 zoning district, subject to approval of a conditional use permit.

1:10:56The required findings do not explicitly address property values, but rather the findings relate to the project being harmonious with the neighborhood and attracting the menu with the city, and in compliance with the intent of the general plan.

1:11:13The opponents contend that 90 care facilities are within walking distance of 556 Richmond Street and have documented vacancies. As such, there is no unmet demand for childcare in the neighborhood.

1:11:24So, as mentioned previously, in order to approve a conditional use permit, the decision-making body must make

1:11:30The three findings related to…

1:11:33it being… the project being harmonious with the neighborhood, an attractive amenity with the city, and in compliance with the intent of the general plan. None of the findings relate to whether there is an unmet demand or not.

1:11:44Ultimately, it is, market conditions that determine the demand for any business.

1:11:49And marking conditions can change at any time.

1:11:53The project applicant has stated that their existing daycare center in the city of Albany has a waiting list that is

1:12:02And that has, unmet demand, has driven her decision to open this second facility.

1:12:11The police contend that converting a single-family home during a declared housing crisis contradicts the city's stated priorities.

1:12:19The General Plan promotes sustainable development by encouraging suitable housing and a mixture of uses which are conveniently located close to residents. The approval of this use permit advances multiple city goals. In addition to the general plan, it also advances the strategic plan of goal of livability and belonging.

1:12:36As required by state law, the city's housing element accommodates almost 1,400 new housing units as part of the City's Regional Housing Needs Allocation.

1:12:47In fact, 743 new units have been approved as part of the Elstrito Plaza BART station TOD project, which is located one block from the project site.

1:12:56The El Cerido Plaza TOD, will be served by having an additional community-located childcare option, and will far more than mitigate the loss of housing necessary to create the proposed daycare center.

1:13:12They also contend that the general plan emphasizes preserving the residential character and housing stock, and that converting homes to commercial uses when no demonstrated need exists violates these principles.

1:13:24So the proposed project, is proposing minimal changes to the building and to the site. From the exterior, the structure will still appear as a single-family house, thus preserving the character of the neighborhood while providing additional childcare options in close proximity to residents.

1:13:38The general plan promotes sustainable development by encouraging suitable housing and a mixture of uses, which are conveniently located close to residents. The approval of this conditional use permit is consistent with the City's goals.

1:13:56They also state that the failure to assess cumulative impacts related to traffic noise, parking, and the creek running under the outdoor play area.

1:14:07From the two adjacent facilities operating simultaneously represent a procedural failure requiring correction, and that no CEQA assessment was performed.

1:14:16So, the proposed project is exempt from the provisions of CEQA pursuant to a Class 1 existing facilities categorical Exemption, and a Class 3 new construction or conversion of small structures categorical Exemption.

1:14:32Categorical exemptions are categories of projects, which are typically assumed to be exempt from CECO, which is the California Environmental Equality Act.

1:14:41due to their nature as types of projects that do not typically have significant environmental impacts. The Class 1 exemption specifically applies to the conversion of single-family residences to office use, which is generally similar to intensive use to a daycare center.

1:14:57And the Class 3 exemption applies to the conversion of

1:15:01Existing small structures from one use to another, where only minor modifications are made to the exterior of the structure.

1:15:09There is an underground storm drain that runs underneath the property. This culvert is not delineated as a creek on the city's creek map. Therefore, the standards of the city's Creek Protection Overlay District do not apply to the project.

1:15:21Pursuant to state law, traffic impacts are… proposed projects are analyzed through an evaluation of additional vehicle miles traveled, BMT.

1:15:31That is generated as part of the project. However, if SQL analysis was required for this project, BMT analysis would not be required, since this project is located a half mile from a major trend to stop.

1:15:43And also the traffic study… the traffic study that was prepared.

1:15:47Found that once that traffic was distributed onto the various streets, the resulting increase in traffic would not be significant.

1:15:54The project is still required to comply with the municipal code, noise ordinance, which sets outdoor noise levels for residential areas.

1:16:08They also stated that there is a sinkhole related, located in the rear yard of the property, which could cause structural issues to the building and could be dangerous to the children.

1:16:18So, staff from the City's Public Works Department has inspected the seam cool in question. The facility is a private storm drain that transverses the project site, and it connects to the public storm drain facilities in the public right-of-way. It was determined that the storm drain and the seam cool could be repaired, and not to pose an imminent threat to the adjacent structures.

1:16:35City staff has notified the property owner of the responsibility for repairing the storm drain and the sinkhole. A condition of approval has been included to ensure that the storm drain and the sinkhole are repaired to the satisfaction of the city engineer as part of the project.

1:16:51So, just to… to radiate… to reiterate, the municipal Code establishes, a de novo review process for appeals.

1:16:59This means that the standard of review for the appeal is the same as the standard of a review for the original decision, and that the hearing body for the appeal is free to make different findings and adopt different conditions of approval from the original decision.

1:17:12City staff's determination that the findings of approval for this project can be made. So, City staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution denying the appeal of Planning Commission approval.

1:17:23of application PL24-0044, granting a conditional use permit for a new take care center at 556 Richmond Street.

1:17:33So, that concludes my presentation. Staff is available for questions.

1:17:41Thank you so much for that staff report.

1:17:45Are there any questions from the Council? I'll start over here in this Councilmember Cassanis. I'm not sure what the right point is in time to ask this question, but I want to go ahead and ask it now.

1:17:56Could you explain the rationale for… the re…

1:18:00The reduction in student numbers and the prohibit… prohibiting the front yard from being used.

1:18:09I'm not expressing an opinion one way or the other, just sort of curious what led to that decision.

1:18:13From my memory, it was,

1:18:16Do the planning commissioners work for the front door… for the front yard, they were concerned about possible, because the requirements for, like, the fence height in the front yards for the zoning district is lower, so they were concerned of, children playing in the front yard and, like, tossing a ball out into, like, the street.

1:18:35So that was, some of the rationale behind that. And then, I think…

1:18:39the rationale behind lowering the, students was to also help with some of the potential traffic impacts, as it would just lower the total number of parents dropping off children.

1:18:50Is that about right. Do similar restrictions exist on the adjacent daycare center?

1:18:55No, they do not, as that is a family daycare. It is treated as a residential use, so the city is not allowed to place any regulations on those, but their limit is, for up to 14 students, and that's established by the state.

1:19:09Okay, and there are no restrictions on the front yard or anything like that?

1:19:12Okay.

1:19:14Not from the city.

1:19:16Okay.

1:19:20Any other… Will we have opportunities later to ask more questions as other…

1:19:24After the, the, process, yes.

1:19:28Mayor Pro Jim? Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for this complete

1:19:34description, and… and appreciate the update, and… and this is very, very thorough. Looking at what the Planning Commission has done, you know.

1:19:44very much appreciate this, but this truly shows the desirability of, El Cerrito.

1:19:52And, we're getting, with the 700 units being built just down the street,

1:19:58Yeah, more families are gonna move here. So, wanted to,

1:20:04let you know about that. I know that area because I grew up on Lexington. So, I know that neighborhood, I know that house, I pass by it practically every day, and I know there will be construction happening there, but then the next

1:20:25within the next, year with one building that's gonna break ground soon. So, you know, so I wanted to let, the Planning Commission go. This was a thorough

1:20:39description. I appreciate what, the appeal had to say. So let's go on with this and listen to, what the audience has to say as well, and what our colleagues have to say.

1:20:52All right, any other comments? Councilmember Maltayama? Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, staff, for this presentation. It was very thorough. I do have a question about the traffic study that was attached, that it doesn't sound like it was

1:21:07describing the same things. Can you confirm that AB 2097, which is the

1:21:15Proximity to transit overrides any requirement for parking.

1:21:20The parking study, didn't seem like it was… Yeah, that is correct, yes. AB2097 overrides, the city's ability to implement any parking minimums if a product is within a half mile of transit, with some limited exceptions.

1:21:40And since this is a state requirement, we can't really do anything about that. That is correct. Thank you.

1:21:47All right, Councilmember Southby, did you have any questions?

1:21:50All right, so the public hearing…

1:21:54is now open. Before going into general public comment, a representative of the applicant and applicant

1:22:02We'll each be given 15 minutes to present their information to the City Council, then general public comments will be heard, followed by a final option for a 5-minute rebuttal for the appellant and appellant.

1:22:15An applicant on the matter.

1:22:17First, can we have the appellant and or representatives approach the dais and present your case? You will have 15 minutes to present. And just one additional note, I'll be taking… I'll be keeping track of time over here, so if, your time has ended, I will let you know that

1:22:34Maybe I'll give you, like, a one-minute warning that your time is nearing the end, okay?

1:22:38Yep, hopefully I don't go 15 minutes, but…

1:22:41Save everybody some time. thank you, Mayor and Councilmembers. My name's Asher Schaefer, member… resident of El Cerrito, obviously. I appreciate you taking the time to discuss the proposal for 556 Richmond Street.

1:22:55We moved to El Cerrito 8 years ago, and when we first toured what was to become our home, one of the things that stood out to us was the people in the neighborhood.

1:23:04We had met the neighbors before we placed an offer, and throughout the years, it was the people working together who supported each other through COVID,

1:23:12who held block parties, and who greet each other by name on the street when we pass each other. And that's what continues to bring joy to living here.

1:23:21The neighborhood is not just the buildings. It is the residents who fill these homes and walk the streets.

1:23:27We watch out for each other, share our food, and feed each other's pets.

1:23:31The conversion of this home to a business begins to degrade the contract that forms a community by removing a key component, the people.

1:23:40As you may be aware, universal TK and Universal Preschool programs are now providing services to all children over the age of 4, and many three and a half year olds.

1:23:51This has resulted in a marked decrease in demand of care facilities for children in the age range in this proposal.

1:23:58As noted in the appeal, there are numerous daycares in the immediate area that have vacancies.

1:24:04This addition does not add an amenity that is needed by the city.

1:24:08In addition to the data gathered from the neighborhood, we've provided reports from the journalists in the Bay Area and elsewhere in the state, showing that this is not an isolated situation.

1:24:17There is surplus capacity in the system for childcare, while there is an acute housing shortage.

1:24:23The residents of the city are best served through increased housing, rather than the removal of housing to provide a service that is not in demand.

1:24:31If there were a need for this service, there are vacancies within walking distance of BART that would not require removing neighbors from the neighborhood.

1:24:40The proposed play area is atop a section of the Cerrito Creek watershed, and due to a leaking pipe, as you heard, a sinkhole is formed.

1:24:48We understand that the repair of the pipe and the sinkhole is going to be required as a condition for this project.

1:24:56As this water is a watershed that discharges to the bay, it is important to ensure that the environmental impact of the work, the pipe repair, and the tree planting above the pipe are assessed to ensure the health of the bay's ecosystem.

1:25:09We respectfully disagree with the city's position that this is not part of the Creek Project Overlay District.

1:25:16Annual mailers are sent by the city, both to 556 Richmond and to my property next door, informing us that our location contains a creek and of our obligations accordingly.

1:25:29While this section of the creek is engineered, it is connected to and follows the path of the creek, carrying water from the hills to the bay.

1:25:37The sinkhole was discovered due to an unpermitted construction that was occurring on the 556 Richmond Street property.

1:25:44That construction process… project, the existence of an unpermitted short-term rental, additional construction and remodeling projects that we later learned through public records requests were not permitted, raises concerns as to the applicant's adherence to the terms of the Planning Commission's approval and the safety of the site for children.

1:26:04A week ago, the planning staff asked to meet with myself and other neighbors to observe the conditions at Lincoln Avenue and Richmond Street during the morning commute hours.

1:26:13Throughout that meeting, we all observed numerous near collisions, traffic backed up into the intersection due to bottlenecks on Lincoln, and pedestrians having difficulty navigating the intersection.

1:26:24While the Richmond Street Safety Project is not yet finalized, we were told the plans call for a further narrowing of Lincoln Avenue at the intersection.

1:26:33This location already cannot fit two cars side by side, and is in the proposed area of the loading zone.

1:26:39This loading zone, feet away from an intersection that is 8 times the state average of accidents per mile.

1:26:45Will only increase the risk associated for those navigating this intersection.

1:26:51The risks are not limited

1:26:54by the additional… to the additional count of cars through the intersection, but through cars stopping in the loading zone, aggravating the traffic on Lincoln Avenue.

1:27:06Like many residents in the area, since COVID, I work from home most of the week, and we all must be accommodating to the usual noises in the neighborhood.

1:27:15However, a school with up to 22 people, 18 students, and 4 staff is not the expected experience in a residential location that was not previously zoned for it.

1:27:25The opinion expressed by the Planning Commission that we should be expected to close our windows in order to use our homes is detrimental to the quality of life expected in the community.

1:27:35There is a reason why a permit like this has never been issued before.

1:27:39Removing housing from our community reduces the number of residents in an area, is detrimental to the harmony and cohesiveness of the neighborhood.

1:27:47A family-run daycare is a cohesive amenity in a residential area. The house is lived in. The people become part of the fabric of the community.

1:27:57A business opening a second location for a service that is not needed, displacing a location that could otherwise house a family is the antithesis of what the city needs. I urge you to oppose this permit. Thank you.

1:28:12Thank you very much.

1:28:14Next, the applicant and or representatives may approach the dais to present their case. You will have 15 minutes to present.

1:28:26I have your presentation, too, just give me one moment to pull it up for you.

1:29:14Okay, you can go ahead and begin.

1:29:18Good evening, my name is Anahita Baktiari, and I'm a director at Happy Day Montessori School. I'm just gonna go over the presentation. So, this is the reason behind opening another Montessori school in Essayito, is we strongly believe Montessori and strongly believe

1:29:37in building a community, just part of the Montessori philosophy, and as you see, building a strong foundation, the value of Montessori is in our city.

1:29:47Can we go to that next, presentation? I'm just gonna read that.

1:29:52They need to accommodation says our city currently has more than 10 home-based daycares, but not many monastery schools. Many parents are choosing to drive out of the city or to enroll their children to Montessori program.

1:30:06Approving this school will help parents stay local, reduce travel time, and keep educational investment right here in our community.

1:30:17What is Montessori education? Montessori education, founded by Dr. Mario Montessori, is child-centered method where children learn through hands-on exploration. Teachers serve as guides, observing and supporting each child's progress.

1:30:32The result is confident, self-motivated learners who genuinely love to learn.

1:30:41how Montessori differs from traditional daycare. Montessori education is not a replacement for daycare, it is a different approach… approach. Daycares provide

1:30:52Custodial care, while Montessori schools offer structured learning environments with certified teachers and specialized materials. They complement each other by offering families meaningful choices.

1:31:08Benefits for children. Montessori helps children develop self-confidence, independence, and emotional intelligence. They learn to take care of themselves, solve problems, and collaborate with peers

1:31:21with peers. Research shows monastery children excel in literacy, math, and executive…

1:31:29Executive function, and most importantly, they love learning.

1:31:37Benefits for families and the community. A monastery school benefits the entire community by reducing travel for families, creating local jobs, and enhancing our city's reputation as an education for the community. It keeps resources local and strengthens community bonds.

1:31:59Montessori and early learning standards. Montessori programs align with the state early learning standards. Every lesson supports whole child development, social, emotional, physical, and intellectual. Montessori also promotes peace.

1:32:15Empathy and respect core… Respect and the core civic values.

1:32:24Addressing community concerns. This school is not here to compete with existing centers, but to complement… but to complement them. Families have diverse needs. Montessori simply expands choice… expands choice.

1:32:40The school will comply with all safety, zoning, and licensing requirements.

1:32:48Voice of parents. Local parents say, we have been driving 30 minutes each day to reach a Montessori school. Having one nearby will mean more time with our, with our children. We want an education that natures independence and kindness, that's what Montessori does.

1:33:10Monastery schools prepare children to become thoughtful, capable citizens.

1:33:17Approving the school is an investment in our city, youngest learners, and in the future of our community.

1:33:31Good evening.

1:33:33Mayor and City Council members.

1:33:36And everyone…

1:33:39First and foremost, I would like to thank you, for giving me the opportunity to speak.

1:33:44I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Fahib Badruddin. I am currently operating a Montessori preschool in Albany.

1:33:55I was born and raised in Sri Lanka.

1:33:58As a child, I also went to a Montessori preschool.

1:34:02My inspiration to open a Montessori Peace School came from my own experience growing up as a Montessorian.

1:34:10Building on the success of my current Montessori preschool, which has gained positive reviews from parents.

1:34:17I'm excited to share my plans to expand and open a new branch, the beautiful city of El Cerrito.

1:34:25Our Montessori school will be a valuable addition to the community, offering much-needed service to families in the area.

1:34:34I wanted to let you know that I am not going to open a home-based daycare. I'm going to open a second branch of my already established, wonderful Montessori preschool, Happy Day Montessori, which has been operating in Albany for the

1:34:49past 5 years.

1:34:52What motivated me the most to open another branch?

1:34:56And El Sarito is my own client, who has been commuting from El Cerrito to Albany.

1:35:03So they have been suggesting to have one here in El Cerrito, so they don't need to drive a few mice away.

1:35:15So I want to clarify that our Montessori program is different in nature and purpose from a daycare.

1:35:22A Montessori school offers an educational environment guided by trained teachers, focusing on individualized, hands-on learning and early academic development.

1:35:34I will highly appreciate your consideration to uphold the Planning Commission's approval of the CUP permit to initiate this venture and prepare the environment and arrange basic child safety requirements required by the Department of Social Services.

1:35:51So, thank you for… thank you, Mayor, and thank you, City Council.

1:35:56For your time and consideration, and for supporting small businesses, supporting teachers, educators, and

1:36:03To create more future leaders in our community.

1:36:06I will end my speech.

1:36:09with a Dr. Maria Montessori score.

1:36:12Free the choice, potential, and you will transform into the world. Thank you so much.

1:36:18Thank you so much. Okay.

1:36:21So, now is the time for general public comments on this item. Requests to speak can be submitted to the City Clerk by completing a speaker card. Public comments will be taken in person only. Please remember to identify yourself and your City of Residence at the beginning of your comments. Remarks will be limited to 2 minutes per speaker. City Clerk, please proceed.

1:36:41Thank you, Mayor. We do have 19 requests to speak, at this time, and I apologize, did you confirm the time limit to can carry forward at 2 minutes? Since it's actually gone up, let's reduce it to 1 minute per speaker. Okay.

1:37:02Okay, so with that, we will move forward. I'll call a couple of names ahead. When it's your turn to speak, you can come up to the speaker podium. We'll start with Cecilia Plaza, followed by Daniela Panzietti.

1:37:17I need a breath.

1:37:20Bye, guys.

1:37:21Thank you. Sorry I didn't finish editing, so bear with me. I'm gonna try to speak as long… as quickly as possible. My name is Cecilia Plaza. I am the neighbor of Fatima, the owner of the in-home daycare that has been around for 15 years.

1:37:35I've been in this community, I grew up here, I've been here as a mother, as a licensed provider, and as a community, as a neighbor,

1:37:44And I've always been committed to the well-being of our neighborhood, our children, and just relationships in general. I'm not speaking tonight just for myself, but for dozens of small childcare providers whose voices are being overlooked.

1:37:56I know that in the CPU findings, it says that it doesn't matter, the economics, and that that's not gonna be what your decision is based on, but on the last hearing we heard.

1:38:08El Cerrito needs a daycare, and so we're gonna go ahead and approve this. So I'm here to speak on behalf of all the providers. I did submit a petition, some of them couldn't make it, some of them are here with us tonight. We're all struggling, so we're gonna be honest about what's happening.

1:38:23They were saying that their new facility… Your time has ended. Well, that was really quick. We're all here, and we just really want your help. Our next speaker is Daniela Pancietti, followed by Michael McDougal.

1:38:35Please, we're gonna ask everyone in the audience to be respectful of everyone's comments, and to not have any audible displays of agreement or disagreement, so everyone feels comfortable to share their comments.

1:38:47Alright, can go ahead and begin your time.

1:38:50Hey, my name is Daniela Panicacci, and I'm here representing dozens of neighbors who are deeply concerned about the proposed school at 556 Richmond. The petition was submitted in time, and it's on record.

1:39:00This is not just my voice, but it's the voice of our constituent, over 50 households.

1:39:05Just last week, when planners Sean and Diego visited an intersection on Lincoln and Richmond, there was a near-miss traffic collision. Sean admitted he wasn't sure how the sidewalk expansion would affect traffic. In fact, he didn't realize how we pointed out that the project would reduce Lincoln Street by 3 feet on each side of Richmond intersection.

1:39:23Since I only have 30 seconds.

1:39:25The house where the school is going to be located is a two-story, but the second story is not permitted.

1:39:32So we're putting a second story, a big house, on a creek, on a sinkhole, with 18 kids inside. That's a recipe for disaster. It's not safety for our… it's not safe for our kids. This should all only be stopped.

1:39:47Fight for what's right, fight against injustice, and this is an injustice. Thank you, but thank you for listening to me. Our next speaker is Michael McDougal, followed by Kristen Lockhart.

1:40:00Hello, I'll be quick. I am before you to recommend that you deny the appeal and approve the original process.

1:40:08I let this whole thing eat my head. I probably spent, like, 6 hours digging through and going and looking at the licenses of all the 19 daycares. Almost all of them are family daycares, 14 people or less. You guys can't regulate them at all. There's only 2

1:40:23That you could regulate if you wanted to. One's a preschool, and another's for 15.

1:40:30the… I did road trips, and I visited a lot of different places. I went to the… I went to the outside of your place. Anyway, I think that, by and large, you should… I'm pro-business. These guys who are proposing things have done everything right.

1:40:44And the Planning Commission said yes.

1:40:47I think you should respect the people who are on bodies, you might understand why, since I'm on one of your advisory bodies, and so I'll just, leave it at that. Thank you.

1:40:56Thank you, our next speaker is Kristen Lockhart, followed by Rajan.

1:41:04Hi. Wanted to address that this, existing daycare has had 5 Type B citations.

1:41:13And one of them was an issue where children… there had been flooding in one of their facilities, and the, it wasn't fixed until people came in and… Can you please make sure to speak into the microphone? It wasn't fixed until a complaint was

1:41:28Was issued, and they came in, and then they had to repair the damage that was existing, but the children were allowed to play within this damaged, water-damaged facility, and

1:41:41it doesn't appear that it was getting fixed on its own, and it was only facilitated into that after a complaint was made. I have copies of the information for all of you as well, if you would like those.

1:41:53That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Rajan, followed by Reid.

1:42:04Hello, my name… hello, my name is Rajan. I live at [address removed], in proximity to 556 Richmond Street. I'm a recently retired administrative law judge from the California Public Utilities Commission.

1:42:17I'm a little concerned about due process here, to be quite honest.

1:42:21Limiting comment periods. Also, in terms of, issues with, not receiving,

1:42:29like, adequate time to, provide comments. I believe, we were notified to

1:42:38provide comments only before October 23rd, 2025. We were notified after that period, so I think that this is an issue that impacts due process. The other issue, too, is that on the staff report.

1:42:54indicated that the appeal period is 10 working days after the date of the City Council decision, but according to the municipal code, the deadline for filing an appeal is 10 calendar days after City Council decision on this matter. Thank you for your comments. Our next speaker is Reid, followed by Patrick Sween.

1:43:14Hello, my name's Reid. I'm a neighbor, I live across the street, across Lincoln, from the,

1:43:20daycare facility. So, first, the city, Planning Commission, claims exemption, to CEQA, but, specifically,

1:43:31That exemption is not… is…

1:43:35Not available to a project that consists exclusively of a daycare center that is located in a residential area. Also, the exemption does not apply because

1:43:47Cumulative impact also exempts, things for these classes. There's another daycare right next door. I have a list of issues with the,

1:43:56Planning Commission and inconsistencies in the staff's wording, but I won't have time to go through all of them. But I have about 7 or 8 of them. Unfortunately, I don't have them all printed out, and I don't have enough time to read them to you, but I'm happy to present them to you if you'd like later.

1:44:15Thank you for your comments. Our next speaker is Patrick Swin, followed by Sirine Yanchin.

1:44:23Good evening, Patrick Swinn. I live directly across… diagonally across the street from the proposed school.

1:44:29Just keep in mind, up to 18 kids, lots of traffic on Lincoln. I went to El Cerrita High, I know how bad it is. Does this project change the current harmonious nature and livability of this neighborhood? Yes, it does. Attractiveness of the neighborhood certainly affects it. Comply with city ordinances? I'm not sure it does.

1:44:49With so much opposition, please take into the account the feelings of the neighbors and the neighborhood, please. Thank you.

1:44:57Our next speaker is Circin Yang-Shen, followed by John Sung?

1:45:07Hi everyone. My name is, Terengk. I'm a daycare provider. I've been a 14 years, or more than a 14 years. I have…

1:45:14And I'm here to ask the Council to please reconsider approving a new childcare center in our neighborhood. This year has been extremely difficult. Normally, I have a few children on a wedding list, but now I have a new call, and from the starting to keep my daycare open, it's even worse than during a COVID-19.

1:45:33Those small, long hands providers like us are important for part of the community.

1:45:39And please, the robots, save us. Thank you.

1:45:43Our next speaker is John Sung, followed by Anahita Bactia?

1:45:52Hello, Council. I am sorry, truly sorry, that you have had to listen to such a cowcade of disappointingly feeble-minded nimby nonsense.

1:46:00That's not what I came to talk about, actually. I came here to talk about my kids. Two of whom, have already gone through a happy day. One was actually a member of the very first cohort, and you know what? They've had an amazing time.

1:46:13It's been truly magical, I mean it. You have kids, you know, right? That feeling of, like, oh, I gotta… I gotta send my kid out into the world to school? Like, he's gonna start school? A whole other place. Away from me, he's gonna have to learn what school is, and what are the teachers like? Will he make friends? Is he gonna have a nice time?

1:46:33The answer that happened today is an unequivocal yes. You have no idea how sweet and nurturing an environment Fahi creates at this place. It is so good.

1:46:43Happy Day is the perfect on-ramp to a greater, wider world for basically any kid. If you want El Cerrito to be a place families come to raise their children, then prove this use and let Happy Day flourish so this town's kids can, too. Thank you for your comment.

1:46:58Our next speaker is Anahita, followed by Jessica Wright.

1:47:05Oh, that's… okay, so we'll go to Jessica Wright, followed by BJ Thorsness.

1:47:13Hello, everyone. My name is Jessica. I am a resident of El Cerrito. My family and I have lived here for almost a decade. I am a parent of a 6-year-old, and I just want to make two points. I've toured many of the preschools that are in El Cerrito and daycare.

1:47:29And I want to say my daycare provider is also in the room as well.

1:47:33When we were searching for preschool, none of the schools in El Cerrito were up to par, so we drove to Albany to Fahi's preschool. My child is now thriving as a first grader, and I award all of that to Fahith's work.

1:47:47And in fact, today, when I said that I was coming here to help Teacher Fahi out, she wanted to come out as well.

1:47:54as a first-time mom, my 2-year-old went on a hunger strike the first month that she was at Fahies Care.

1:48:02She was attentive, she texts us, called us every single day, and I could not thank her more, so I really hope that you all keep the decision to approve this. Thank you.

1:48:14Our next speaker is BJ Thorsness, followed by Lilia Rifius.

1:48:24Hi, everybody.

1:48:25I'm BJ Thorsness, I've lived in El Cerrito for 45 long years, longer than some people were even born in here.

1:48:35And I want to make it clear that I know the value of early childhood education. I'm not only a mother and a grandmother, but I was a special educator for many years, and I'm still working in that field in certain capacities. Whether it's Montessori, there are other good preschools, too. Montessori isn't the end of it, just want to make that clear. It's great, but…

1:48:54The issue here for me is traffic, and in 45 years, I've run my own traffic tests and sound, and the sound that I dread the worst is the screech followed by the thump.

1:49:05Because Lincoln is a thoroughfare for the high school, including high school drivers. And Patrick, in front of your house, your pole was hit.

1:49:14And about a month later, this is a few years ago, another poll was hit, both by high school drivers, and and to add 18 more cars on the corner there. Richmond is a thoroughfare. I don't care how minor you want to say it is, it's a thoroughfare. Thanks for your comments. Sure. Our next speaker is Lilia, followed by Feng Zing.

1:49:35Good evening, everyone. So, I'm a mother of three young children, so as all mothers, we struggle to find quality childcare in El Cerrito. So, from my research, with 2,5962 of its population as of the census of 2020, only for

1:49:52Montessori schools in, El Cerrito, and people are looking for quality care, and

1:49:58Pais Preschool has a quality care. Montessori is a nice curriculum. I'm a professional of child development, so I know what I'm talking about. Also, talking about safety, child care licensing, come to visit, before opening.

1:50:13And they give green light, they check the safety, they check everything for number of children, so there is no way about safety of the center or, anything. So before they give a license to anyone, they do their visit and they check everything. So I strongly,

1:50:28Per the opening of this preschool, because also it needs more quality preschools. Thank you.

1:50:34Our next speaker is Feng, followed by Reid O'Brien.

1:50:43Hello, everyone. I'm Feng. I'm a family child care provider for 12 years, live 3 blocks away from 556 Richmond. I'm here to opposite the convers…

1:50:55conversion of 556 Richmond Street into a commercial school. We already have a lot of big daycare centers and family daycares at El Cerrito. As a large family daycare, I have… I have 6 openings, and I have

1:51:10And I have been struggling for new enrollment, as I know a lot of other family daycares have same difficulty.

1:51:18Family daycares, as a family daycare provider, we do the same work as Montessori schools. Most of us have early childhood education backgrounds. I don't think we need more commercial schools to serve little children at this area. Thank you.

1:51:36Our next speaker is Reid, followed by Ahmed Messer.

1:51:40Hi, I'm Reed O'Brien, deja vu. Yeah, you were on there twice, thank you. So our next speaker is Ahmed, followed by Dolly.

1:51:57Hi, everybody. So, I know it's only one minute. So, I'm here to support a fellow Sri Lankan. At the end of the day, I know both parties just want to do what they love, and make a living. Probably… everybody knows me here. But,

1:52:10I just wanted to say, I…

1:52:14But I hear the concerns of the neighbors, and I understand that, but we are here to lift up our community. We want both the Montessori and the home-based daycare to succeed. It brings something special to the families of El Cerrito. My hope is that moving forward, we can come together as a positive and supportive way to both can thrive in our beautiful community here in El Cerrito.

1:52:33That's all. Thank you.

1:52:36Our next speaker is Dolly, followed by Chanal.

1:52:40What's Dolly?

1:52:42Is Ahmed here? No? Okay, so we'll go to Chanel, followed by Hollis.

1:52:49Is Chanel here?

1:52:52No? Oh, that's you? Okay. Hollis?

1:52:55Okay, I'll list you're up.

1:52:59Hello, I would like to talk about three things. First of all, I'd like to talk about parking. Right across the street from this proposed daycare is the bar parking lot. It is never occupied. It would be easy parking for families dropping off.

1:53:13Children.

1:53:14Second, I would like to talk about schools. There is currently a lack of good daycare in El Srira, as has been discussed.

1:53:22I do.

1:53:24A block away from the provost location, there is a good daycare.

1:53:28I believe it is quite crowded.

1:53:31So… There is always ease of… A good idea to… Have more daycare options.

1:53:40The city is not exactly helping a lot of more daycare options exist.

1:53:46On that topic, I remember when I used to go to Harding, and the school didn't even have enough money to replace rubber balls when they would be stolen.

1:53:54But… Having more daycare options would be very helpful.

1:53:59Thank you.

1:54:00Thank you. Mayor, that concludes our general public comments for this appeal. Last call, I am the elections official going out to lock the ballot box, so if you have not voted, now's the time to do it, and Alex will help you continue on.

1:54:13You have so many jobs, Holly, I just never knew that you do so much. Okay, so now that all public testimony has been heard, does the appellant wish to make a final rebuttal statement? If so, you do have 5 minutes to speak.

1:54:30Yes, I… I will. I will try to be well under 5 minutes to… I know everyone, is eager to get on with their evenings. so, just want to call out, I… I am a parent here as well. I have a 5-year-old. I know the struggle of… of finding good, a good place to send your… your child.

1:54:50In terms of what is a Montessori school.

1:54:53There is no trademark on the word Montessori. Anybody can call themselves a Montessori school. While there is accreditation available, Happy Day Montessori is not accredited by the foundation that gives Montessori accreditation. There are other Montessori

1:55:09preschools and after-care schools in El Cerrito. In fact, my daughter's aftercare is at, Little Tree Montessori up,

1:55:18Up in the hills. They have plenty of vacancies as well.

1:55:25It may not have been clear during everybody's limited time, the, the five Type B violations were at the existing Happy Day

1:55:33Facility, where there was mold and water damage where the children were playing.

1:55:39That, I assume, has been corrected, but that was a violation that had been going on for at least 2 months.

1:55:46As others have stated, the family-run daycares does not mean that these are uneducated people who are not qualified to take care of children, right? These people are often accredited, they are trained in early childhood development.

1:56:05They are licensed by the state by the… in the exact same way as the daycare centers are, in terms of the services that they provide to children, the safety requirements.

1:56:15I think to insinuate that these services that are provided by these facilities are somehow subpar, I think is an insult to the great work that these daycare providers are doing.

1:56:25Thank you for your time.

1:56:28Thank you very much. Let's see… does the applicant wish to make a final rebuttal statement? If so, you have 5 minutes to speak.

1:56:38Yes, thank you so much. I just want to address two of his concerns. First of all.

1:56:43Combine me and Fahi together. We have about 40 years of experience in teaching in Montessori schools. I have taught in the Berkeley Montessori School, currently being, the Berkeley School, going, like, Montessori School and East Bay Montessori School. So I've been a teacher for more than 30 years.

1:57:04And so does… and so does Fahi. So the thing is, if he's calling us not being… every school can be a Montessori. Actually, we are all… we are both Montessori trained, and our school is being… if you're asking, the parents will be all following all the state, requirements for being a Montessori school. The second thing is about the flood in the school.

1:57:29we are going by the licensing. So if the licensing were coming to the school, and the parents were complaining about keeping the student in the flood, in danger, keeping the kids in the danger, they were definitely closing the school. So we did not get any citation because of the flood, because we are renting a place.

1:57:53from the church, so the church was the… responsible for repairing, and in the meantime, when the flood was happening, the kids were kept in a different classroom. These are the only things that I wanted to address. Thank you so much.

1:58:07Thank you so much. So…

1:58:15I think your public comment is over, but if there's anything that you would like for the Council to see, you can certainly bring it over here to the City Clerk, and they can, if you have copies for the whole Council, you can… she can provide those to us. Not… not yet, Councilmember. Okay, do I have a motion to close the public hearing?

1:58:32I'll move. I'll second. All right, so moved by Councilmember Motayama and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Quinto to close the public hearing. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? I'm going to oppose, because I have a question.

1:58:47That's related to the public. Like, I'd like to know if I can hear more from one person.

1:58:51Well, the public comment is over.

1:58:53We've gotten through the allotted time for public comment. You can ask more questions of the staff, and I believe that in this time, you can ask more questions of the appellant and the applicant, correct, City, if the mayor is willing to, indulge Councilmember Cassanis to allow for additional testimony from one member of the public, I'd do that before

1:59:16closing the public hearing. If it's from the applicant or the appellant, yes, but not from the member of the public, no. From the mayor who expressed concerns about the due process, the judge? Not from another member of the public, no. The mayor's not willing to indulge that.

1:59:29Okay, so… the…

1:59:32Hearing is closed, with the four council members in, in agreement, and Councilmember Cassanis voting no.

1:59:42now we can go into Council Comments. Would you like to start, Council Comments? The answer's a concern for one of the members of the public expressed concerns about the due process, and given his legal background, I was…

1:59:52we're wanting to hear more about that, and it's hard to learn very much in one minute. So, yeah, I just wanted to hear that more fully, and then contemplate what you had to say.

2:00:00Councilmember Kutzanis, if I may? Sorry, Mayors, is this all right? Sorry, Sean Moss, the City's Planning Manager. Staff will be happy, I think we might have some insight on that, so if you want to direct your questions at us, we'd be happy to try our best.

2:00:16I don't have a specific question. I felt like I didn't hear very much. You know, it was only one minute. He clearly had concerns.

2:00:24And I just wanted to know more about what those concerns were and what they're based on, and if you already know what those concerns are and you can address them, I'd appreciate that. Yeah, sure. So, as I understand the concerns.

2:00:36We did… we mailed a notice, for this hearing, at least 10 days in advance as… as we were required to do so.

2:00:45On that public notice, it included the same information that had been on the notices that the city clerk, the communications that the city clerk had distributed to the appellant and the applicant.

2:00:58notifying, folks that they… if they submitted public comments prior to October 23rd, that those comments would be included in your packet, and that any comments after that

2:01:10Submitted after that time would be included as supplemental communications.

2:01:14We mailed the notice out, in advance of October 23rd, but, you know, we obviously don't control the delivery of those notices, and I think, you know, based on what we heard when Diego and I visited the site and met with the appellants, some folks may have received those notices either on or after October 23rd.

2:01:37That doesn't mean that they couldn't submit public comments, it just means that those public, you know, any comments submitted after October 23rd were submitted to you as supplemental communications. And then the other thing I believe I heard from that speaker,

2:01:52was the… there was a typo, in the Planning Commission staff report, that said that the appeal, the appeal

2:02:03period is 10 working days. It is 10 calendar days pursuant to the Municipal Code. Obviously, we're here considering the appeal, so the appeal was received in a timely manner.

2:02:14And if I could add one more comment, the one-minute time limit was applicable to, members of the public whose opportunity to speak is governed by the Brown Act. The applicant and appellants who are parties to the appeal were provided with, as you know, up to 20 minutes total time.

2:02:32So while I understand it was a brief period of time for members of the public, that is, that was time that is required to be provided to them under the Brown Act. Members of the public are not parties to the appeal or the proceeding.

2:02:46Okay, I was just concerned because it seemed to be raising a potentially legal issue. I want to just make sure that we're adhering to what our legal requirements are. I understand. Councilmember Katranus, I just wanted to mention that the individual from the public did submit his written comments, so those will be posted in the supplemental packet.

2:03:07Any other comments from the Council?

2:03:12Any down here? Councilmember Motiami? Oh, we'll start at the end, then. We'll start with Councilmember Saussman.

2:03:23Just first, thank you for everybody who came tonight and who has been involved in this, and to staff and to the Planning Commission for the work

2:03:31that they did…

2:03:35I think I'm disappointed in all parties at how negative this has become, and there's been a lot of mudslinging on both sides.

2:03:42The reality is, it is challenging for daycare providers now with, you know, universal

2:03:51TK and preschool, which I think is a great thing, but I think when it was passed, there wasn't a lot of thought given to how it impacts folks who've been doing this for a long time, and so I feel for all of you.

2:04:04my daughter went to a very small daycare in El Cerrito, and I don't know what we would have done. It was during COVID, and we were so glad she stayed open, and we could do that, so it's so important. So.

2:04:16I feel for what you're going through right now, and that would be the case whether this preschool came in or not.

2:04:23it's hard whether they come in or not. So that is a reality, and I feel for you, and I wish there was more we could do for you, and I… I just know it's a very challenging time.

2:04:33And also, you know, the reality is different parents look for different things, and one place might be right for one person, and one place might not be right for another person, so I think there's been a lot of mudsling in the other direction, too, and I don't like to hear that.

2:04:51For the neighbors who have some valid concerns in general about traffic in their neighborhood, something I care a lot about, stopping speeding cars, making streets safer, so I would love to work with you all, but I think those are concerns that exist

2:05:06whether this preschool comes in or not. This isn't a lot of trips, especially when you're comparing to the trips generated by the high school or by BART.

2:05:16This is very, you know, tiny compared to that, so I think it's important to kind of keep things in perspective, but I think the issues you raised are still important, so I wanted to just comment on that and say again, like, I'm very open to working with you on that. It's something I think needs to be a high priority in our city, and we are

2:05:35Prioritizing in your neighborhood with the Richmond Complete Streets Project.

2:05:40I think this is pretty straightforward based on, you know, what

2:05:47what we have authority over. You know, we don't have authority over the market. That's just not something a city council does.

2:05:55So for me, it's pretty clear with the Planning Rec… Planning Commission

2:06:00did, and that we should uphold that. But again, I understand the input from folks. And I did just want to add one thing in. You know, I know a lot of neighbors who are right there are concerned about the noise. I get it, change is hard.

2:06:16I hear all of the noise from our community pool and splash park, and when there's a party going on, I hear all the music at the community center. And you know what? It's a great thing! It's nice to hear the noise of children and community members, and to see people in the neighborhood. So.

2:06:34it might not end up being as bad as you think if this goes through, and I just want folks in El Cerrito… I think we're really good about some things about being open to change, and with others, it's harder. But I hope you will have an open mind, because it might

2:06:50turn out that they're great neighbors. My daughter went to another Montessori school, Keystone Montessori.

2:06:57And something they've started for the past few years is they have a block party every Halloween, at the

2:07:03end of, Elm Street, which is, like, the big trick-or-treating hub, and they close off that one block on Blake at Elm, and the whole community can come out. So they've become an integral part of the community, so another school can do that, too. So I just…

2:07:19I hope, if this goes through, that you will all work together, you're gonna all have to be neighbors, so I want

2:07:26folks to, you know, get past all the differences, and hopefully people can welcome each other in, and I know this has been challenging, but that… that is my hope.

2:07:37Councilmember Motiamo? Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, staff, again, and the public for all the comments and presentations. I think this really shows how much people care about our community, and it's, always nice to see a full house, for whatever reason.

2:07:55I really want to support the comments of Councilmembers, Saltzman. It is really important to remember that we are all neighbors, and

2:08:07The city… you can see from your own conversations of going back and forth about what is child care, what is Montessori, that's not something that we have any ability to decide. You don't want us to decide on that. We're not qualified to do that.

2:08:25So what we can do is land use. So this is not, you know, this is a conditional use permit. It is about how the land will be used.

2:08:38That is what we have purview over. So…

2:08:41We don't have the ability to say, well, let's take into consideration other things that we're not actually allowed to.

2:08:50Under the planning ordinance. So,

2:08:55I know that staff worked really hard on this.

2:08:58I know that it's, very time-consuming, and I do appreciate your thoroughness for going over all the points.

2:09:06I do have a couple of new questions based upon some of the public comment, and I just wanted to understand

2:09:15the comment about the short-term rental and unpermitted, renovations. Is that some existing condition of the building? I did see in the plans it looked like the upstairs was a separate unit.

2:09:31What is going on with that?

2:09:36Yeah, so the… I… I think the,

2:09:43The permit history of the house, this home, is a little bit murky, and so we're not entirely clear if it is,

2:09:53a permitted legal two units. This project obviously would, you know, if this… if this project, the daycare center is approved, that point is moot, because it wouldn't be any living units. You know, if… if the…

2:10:12if the home, ever, you know, returns to being a single-family home, we might have to work through those issues as, you know, as part of code enforcement or, you know, verifying the number of legal units on the property. Does that answer your question?

2:10:29So, their renovation work was done without permit, as well?

2:10:35No, I don't… yeah, we're not aware of any unpermitted renovations. We've not… we've not, initiated any,

2:10:46code enforcement actions. And I'll just add, Councilmember, regarding the potential second unit, while the record is unclear, that under state law, there is basically a moratorium period on enforcement against accessory dwelling units that have been

2:11:00created without permits, and so I'm not expressing an opinion about that, but I am pointing out… I just wanted to make sure that Council kept in mind that

2:11:09If it became an issue and needed to be investigated, it might well turn out that the city would not be… well, the city could correct any unpermitted… well, could

2:11:17could identify unpermitted work and address life and safety issues, that the second unit itself might, be subject to that five-year moratorium. Again, I'm not expressing an opinion about it, just making sure that Council keeps that in mind. Okay, that's really helpful. So,

2:11:32a city attorney, that means that this is basically an ADU.

2:11:36So, not a…

2:11:38Again, we don't really… I think we don't really have enough record about it, but I just… to the extent that it could be, I just wanted to make sure the Council was understanding that there… at this point, if it was an ADU, there's a very complicated regulatory framework around that that the state has created at this point.

2:11:55Thank you very much.

2:11:57Mayor Pro Tem? Thank you. Clarification on one thing, you know, I've driven past that house decades now, and the upstairs unit, is that gonna… are children gonna be using that upstairs unit?

2:12:16No, the applicant said that, upstairs would be just for staff, and, no children would be upstairs.

2:12:22Thank you.

2:12:24Okay, I want to, much like Councilmember Motiamo, echo something that I think I heard Councilmember Sosman say. I don't know if you use the word disappointment, but I am a bit disappointed, and I think that, you know.

2:12:40I am an educator by profession. I worked in the district for several years, left the district for 5 years, and am now back in the district. And education itself is in crisis. Parents all over our region, all over our state, all over our nation are looking for the best place for their kids.

2:12:59Because they might not have the opportunity to go from preschool or monetary school into a private school. They're going into a public education system, which is also in crisis. I deal with kids every day who can't understand the basic comprehension of read two pages, do these questions.

2:13:15Tell me what you think. Write 3 to 5 sentences about what you think happened in these two pages. That's not saying that monastery is better, that's not saying that family daycare is better, that's saying that

2:13:27Similar to what Dolly said, people deserve to have a choice of where they send their kids. I understand what Councilmember Multiyama said, and I'm not a parent, to be clear, but…

2:13:37I wish that there was a way that we could make sure that everyone had all of their vacancies filled in their schools. Unfortunately, that's not within our purview, that's not something that I or anyone on this council can do, but I think

2:13:50something that, again, Dolly said, is that we should be working together to make sure all of these businesses can thrive and support all of our kids that are living here, hopefully, or maybe not, here in El Cerrito. The kids should be the focus, and what I've heard here tonight is not focusing on the kids, and as an educator, that is really, really, really upsetting me.

2:14:09we want to make sure that we are having the… the things that I'm hearing that are problems with this

2:14:15approval are things that we can work together as a city, as a city staff, work together amongst neighbors to figure out the traffic issues, to make sure that we're talking to the person who's putting in the daycare, to make sure that they are having their area up to code.

2:14:31But that doesn't mean that people shouldn't have the opportunity for a different type of daycare. That's what I'm hearing, is if you have a different type of daycare that's coming into the area, and people are throwing the sink and making sure that this daycare doesn't come in, and it's…

2:14:45We gotta focus on the kids. Every time that people come in from this council and they say things to me like, my quality of life is being diminished by something like kids coming into the neighborhood instead of working to make sure that the neighborhood is going to be protected.

2:14:59simpler to, I don't know if it was Councilmember Motiamo or Councilmember Salzman said, we are working on better street safety.

2:15:06That's already something that's in the plan. So why are we faulting them? I hear… I hear complaints every day.

2:15:13From parents at Fairmont, parents at St. John the Baptist, parents at El Cerrito High School. Traffic is bad. I went to Richmond High today, I couldn't even get to work, because it was going to take 20 minutes just to get around the corner to the front of the school. So that is a problem in all of our cities.

2:15:32That doesn't go directly to what the issue is here, but I just want people to recognize what's happening in our educational system, and as an educator, I'm afraid that it's going to get worse.

2:15:43That's what my fear is. So we need… we do need to… if people are going to a school, maybe they have an educator that's better for their kids. Maybe it's something like the co-op that was here tonight, where kids are working with their hands and learning about science. Maybe some kids don't need direct-based monastery learning. Maybe kids are better with active learning or play-based learning. These are val… these are valuable things that different types of kids need these type of… different types of things. So I just don't want us to get bogged

2:16:08And just being angry at a business and trying to make sure it doesn't come into our city.

2:16:13Because we want all types of different people to come into El Cerrito, and not even just as residents. We want everybody that comes into El Cerrito, whether they are a resident, whether they are a business owner, whether they are patronizing a business. We want everybody to feel valuable, and I've said that since the first time I got on this council. Everybody that comes into the city limits of this city should feel valuable.

2:16:36And we, being neighborly, should make sure that everyone feels valuable and supported. If they got a messed up business, but they're gonna be… they've been approved, make sure that they get it up to code. Stay on them! You need to stay on with us. Keep going to that business and make sure they get it fixed.

2:16:50But don't take away the opportunity for kids in this area to have a different type of learning, because some of them are gonna need it. And if they don't get it, they're gonna get to high school and not be able to read two pages and answer 5 questions, who, what, when, where. Some kids really can't do that, y'all.

2:17:06You think that I'm playing? Some kids can't even… they will come to me and say, Ms. Weisinger.

2:17:11What do they mean when they say, how?

2:17:13You mean, how did they do it? Say where. It says it right here in the paragraph. Some kids can't do that, because they didn't have the basic foundational at the daycare level.

2:17:23So, I am supporting this. I'm gonna support our staff decision. I hope that, you know, my fellow council member will consider that as well.

2:17:32Are there any other comments from the Council?

2:17:36Do I have a motion on this item?

2:17:39I'll make the motion. Okay.

2:17:41I'll second. What was the motion?

2:17:44To uphold the Commission's recommendation. Actually, I want to take my second back. Okay.

2:17:52So there's a motion on the floor for Councilmember Cassandra to… Just to clarify that the motion is to, uphold the decision of the Planning Commission and deny the appeal? Yes. Okay, thank you. Do you still take back your second?

2:18:06I have a question. Okay. About… Okay, go ahead. Okay. So…

2:18:12From my understanding, the applicant requested 25 spaces for students.

2:18:19In the report, it sounds like the Department of Social Services said 20.

2:18:25And currently, we're at 18.

2:18:29So, does staff support the 18? Where did the 18 come from?

2:18:36The 18 was a recommendation from the applicant saying that they could do… they could go down to 18, so there was discussion from the Planning Commission to lower the, allowable enrollment count, and the applicant mentioned that they could go down to 18.

2:18:51Okay.

2:18:52But if this program works well, the neighbors are happy, what is their option to increase that number? They would have to come back to the Planning Commission and amend the approval.

2:19:04Yes, or the council could…

2:19:08I mean, you're free to modify the conditions, so you could, you could change the limit at 18 to another number. You could also allow flexibility in the future by

2:19:21Allowing the zoning administrator, for example, to increase the cap, up to a certain number.

2:19:30You could, you know, change the maximum number based on a certain timeline, or when certain conditions were met. I mean, I think there's a lot of flexibility here, so, you know, if that was the…

2:19:43If that was the will of the council, then, you know, we could…

2:19:46You know, try to suggest something more concrete.

2:19:52You still taking back your second? I am. Okay. So there's a motion on the floor for Councilmember Cassanis to uphold the Planning Commission's decision. Can I ask a question? I might make a second, but I just want to understand, so are you proposing

2:20:04Would you be proposing we do something else, Councilmember Montyama? Yes. So, can I… let me withdraw my second year. Okay.

2:20:13So, I would move to deny the appeal, and I would request that we allow the zoning administrator to consider increasing to 20 after a period of, like, a year of operation without any violations or complaints.

2:20:32I would second that. Okay, so just to clarify that that… Without complaints, what is… complaint, I think, needs to be defined, because somebody could just complain and say, I don't like this school, and does that mean they can't… like, it doesn't seem like we're giving any authority at that point. So, are we defining what the complaint means?

2:20:52Wait, does staff have any suggestion about…

2:20:57Oh, oh, sorry, thanks. There used to be… so when, back when we were able to regulate, to, add regulations onto large family daycare homes, which was a category that used to exist, for home-based daycares that I think were between 9 and 14 children.

2:21:15Before the state law changed. There was a complaint process in, the city's zoning ordinance for that. It generally focused on substantiated complaints, so, you know, substantiated complaints that

2:21:31Basically, resulted in a verified violation of An ordinance, or some regulation.

2:21:43I just want to add, I did a quick, during the discussion, did a quick sort of back-of-the-envelope calculation based on the 14 spaces and square footage of the other facility, so if they were even, it would be 20.

2:21:55If you're just going by square footage. So I kind of had the same concern, but… In fairness.

2:22:03They're trying to make an additional… another approach might be to, after… after 12 months from the date of approval, allow the zoning administrator to increase the number to 20, as long as the zoning administrator can continue to make the findings, that are required for the CUP.

2:22:22That sounds great.

2:22:23Okay, so… I'll second that. Okay. Motion is to approve the resolution, deny the appeal.

2:22:31And allow the zoning administrator to increase the number to 20 after a year of operation, so long as the findings remain.

2:22:41Up to 20. Up to 20. As long as an administrator can continue to make the necessary findings for the CUP, and that would include adoption of the resolution, with that modification to that condition, based on the evidence in the record, and making the findings in the resolution.

2:22:57All right, and so motion by Councilmember Motiamo, seconded by Councilmember Salzman. City Mead Clerk, can you do a roll call vote for us, please?

2:23:07Certainly. Mayor Weisinger? A.

2:23:10Aye.

2:23:13Mayor Patanjito?

2:23:16Yes, Councilmember Getzanes?

2:23:18A&I.

2:23:21I'm sorry? A and a.

2:23:23I always forget which is which. Spelled A, but it's I.

2:23:28Yes. Councilmember Sultan? Yes. Motion carries. Okay, thank you so much. Thank you so much to the community for engaging. I know it's hard, rough work, but this is the work of the CV and the Council. I look forward to hopefully everyone working together to make sure that we have safe and affordable and reasonable options for our children.

2:23:48The next item on the agenda is Policy Matters.

2:23:53City Council Local and Regional Liaison appointments. I'm sorry, those are two different items. We do not have any policy items. Policy items. So, City Council Local and Regional Liaison appointments, assignments. Does anyone have any updates or reports?

2:24:08I attended, Recycle More, had a bike giveaway, repair day, I attended that.

2:24:14Yeah, I don't think we had any Board and Commission meetings that I was responsible for in the last two weeks, and…

2:24:20Recycle more, did meat once, and I attended that.

2:24:23All right. Oh, so we'll go with Councilmember, and then Mayor Pro Tem. Okay, October the 23rd, I attended the East Bay Wildfire Coalition of Governments meeting, and we received a presentation from the California Department of Insurance.

2:24:37and a legislative update. The California Department of Insurance presentation included,

2:24:44some work that they're doing to make sure that, insurance can continue, and also potentially receive discounts based on Firewise Communities. And on October 29th, I attended the Enterprise

2:24:59a soiree by the bay, honoring the Turner Center and a BART as a part of a bag.

2:25:07Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Thank you. I did attend the Contra Costa Real Estate Association,

2:25:14reception for elected officials, and I've got to congratulate our, El Cerrito president, and we have a lot of past presidents of that association from El Cerrito.

2:25:29So, proud to see that done. Also, I attended, the Public Safety Committee meeting last night, and I attended

2:25:39the… MCE Clean Energy Executive Committee meeting, where we dis… we did discuss

2:25:50a Marin, newspaper, the independent,

2:25:55Journal? Is that the name of it, Sky? That is correct. Maria and IJ.

2:26:00And I did, let my colleagues know. A lot of that was taken out of context, my interview, but, you know, we will, go forward.

2:26:12In a future meeting to see if we can,

2:26:16either add another standing committee, or to include a finance committee meeting within the executive committee. Right now, I'm attending three

2:26:30MCE meetings a month, and that is too many meetings. So, I'm counting on, one of you

2:26:37to please back me up. I would like to have someone there when I attend my state board meetings. There will be a lot of trips for me, traveling up and down the state, and I need to have one of my councils

2:26:55to be there as… As in your alternate, I can only attend if they change the date of the…

2:27:02Yep, yep, thank you for that. But, you know, the importance of working together, I'm going to be chair. You will not have the responsibilities of being chair, but, it is one of the most important

2:27:14regional committees, boards that, I belong to, because El Sabrita truly is the greenest city in Contra Costa, and I want to continue to take the lead on that. So, your leadership with me matters big time, so please consider, and I look forward to

2:27:33checking in with all of you in the future. So, again, today, I did, as president of League of California Cities, I did meet with, leadership at San Francisco City Hall.

2:27:45to persuade them to return to the league, and they have been members of the league, when it started 126 years ago. Mayor Breed did not pay the dues last time.

2:27:58So, this will be the second year, and they are the only large city that is not part of the League of California Cities, and I did mention to them the importance

2:28:08of working with all cities, and especially the top 13 cities. The Mayor Lurie, did meet with, the 13 mayors last week of the largest cities in California, and they know, and they spoke to him about the importance

2:28:26We're working with the league. We are stronger together, and there are a number of cities, 476 cities, are with us, and there are 10 cities that… wait.

2:28:39We have 483 cities total in California. Right now, we have 476 cities that are full members, so it's my duty as president to get them all back, and and I'll be working on that all next year.

2:28:54Thank you, and I have no reports as the Mayor. So, the time is now 8.30 p.m, and we are adjourned. The next regularly scheduled City Council meeting is Tuesday, November 18th, 2025, at 6 p.m.

2:29:09And just to let you all know, Proposition 50 did pass. I don't know how you feel about it, not my business to care, but you may know. You may… there you go.