Del Mar City Council Meeting Agenda
Del Mar Town Hall
1050 Camino del Mar, Del Mar, California
May 19, 2025 City Council Meeting
INFORMATION RECEIVED
AFTER THE COUNCIL AGENDA
WAS DISTRIBUTED
(“Red Dots”)
1 Denise Galvan
From: Tina Thomas <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2025 3:36 PM
To: Denise Galvan
Cc: Sarah Krietor; Kseniia Izgarskaia
Subject: Re: FW: Design Review Board (DRB) - Application Status update Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Hi,
I have a prior commitment that day that will not end most likely until 6:00pm. So I will not be able to make it at 4:30. I did send in a letter the last meeting and hoping that in case I cannot get there in time that my letter can go in as a red dot and distributed to the city council.
Thanks,
Tina
On Fri, May 16, 2025 at 2:48 PM Denise Galvan <[email protected]> wrote:
Hi Tina,
This email is to provide you with additional information about your upcoming Design Review Board interview at the May 19, 2025, City Council meeting. The City Council meeting starts at 4:30 p.m. The Design Review Board interviews will be heard early in the meeting, so please plan to arrive to the meeting at 4:30 p.m. Any member of the public can come to speak on this item for up to 3 minutes and should submit a speaker slip to Sarah Krietor, Administrative Services Manager/City Clerk. If you are not able to attend, you’re welcome to provide written comments and/or join the meeting via Zoom. Please let me know if you need remote attendance accommodations.
DRB candidates can contact City Council Members regarding their candidacy, but should be cognizant of the Brown Act when doing so, specifically when it comes to regulations about avoiding serial meetings which require that “[a] majority of the members of a legislative body shall not, outside a meeting … use a series of communications of any kind, directly or through intermediaries, to discuss, deliberate, or take action on any item of business that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body.” More information about the Brown Act is available through the League of California Cities website. One way to avoid conducting a serial meeting is to contact Council members individually, not as a group, and by not sharing your discussions among the members.
Additionally, Red Dot communications can be submitted after the City Council agenda packet has been distributed, and should be submitted via email to [email protected] for distribution to the Council. Red Dot communications that are submitted before the deadline will also be posted online. You can find out more about the City’s Red Dot Communications policy/process online at: http://www.delmar.ca.us/620/Red-Dot-Communications.
The agenda packet for the May 19, 2025, City Council meeting has been posted and is available in our agenda center. After all applicants have been interviewed, the Council will vote on the appointments. An applicant needs 3 affirmative votes in order to be appointed to the DRB. The votes will be announced during the meeting. Following the meeting, the applicant who is appointed to the DRB will receive appointment information from the Administrative Services Department and orientation information from the Planning Department.
May 19, 2025 ITEM 10
DRB: 5/5/2025 application letter to city council
To Del Mar City Council,
I am sorry that I am out of town and missing tonight’s city council meeting. In lieu of my being there I am writing a brief letter to convey my interest on serving on the Design Review Board for another 4 years.
I have had a positive experience over the last 4 years on DRB and believe that the board is working well together. The well-defined ordinances along with the guidelines are a great framework for the candidate and applicant to navigate the process. The guidelines also aid the board in their deliberations to better properly evaluate each project in response to the design ordinances.
Over the last 4 years, the board has proven to be thoughtful and respectful of the applicant, the process and each other’s point of view. All of this seems to have helped improve the overall experience for applicants and board members and help to dissipate unnecessary rancor and this has made me very happy to see.
My degree in architecture and my having been through the process myself provided a good perspective for me on the board. While I am not there to decide if I “like” the design, I am there to determine if the home is or is not violating an ordinance and understanding design and proportion is helpful to ensure the character of Del Mar is considered properly. My knowledge also allows me a solid understanding of the issues such as bulk and mass and to better understand how the design affects those. Del Mar views are important to all of us and, especially with the current housing law mandates ,it is imperative that the view ordinance be well understood and properly upheld.
Again, I apologize that I am unable to join the meeting but am grateful for your consideration and hope that my experience speaks for itself.
Thank you for what you all do for our city as well.
Best,
Tina Thomas
May 19, 2025 ITEM 10
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: Camilla Rang <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2025 8:21 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Item 6, Del Mar City Council meeting 05.19.2025 Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear City Council,
I understand we may have no other choice but to abide by Coastal Commission and SB9, but I still want to voice my grievance. FOUR houses per one house zoned lot! We will be the new Carmel Valley. Del Mar will lose all its charm and what makes us unique and special and cute. It is the saddest thing. I think people will move out. My heart is crying. If we wanted to live in Carmel Valley, we would have bought a house in Carmel Valley and not paid double the price to live in Del Mar. But yet, here we now are. Paid double the price to live in New Carmel Valley (no offense, CV, you know what I mean). /Camilla Rang
Del Mar
May 19, 2025 Item 11
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: Ann Feeney <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2025 8:21 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Item #15
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and City Councilmembers,
I am a current member of Parks and Rec, and have previously been on Sustainability Advisory Committee. I am concerned that all advisory committees across the board (other than UPAC) will only have 5 members in the future. SAC advises on several topics, including plastic ordinances, organic waste and recycling issues, healthy tree recommendations, outreach, sustainable action recommendations, and next year SAC will also advise on the Climate Action Plan update (as SAC did 10 years ago for the original CAP). That is a lot of work covered by the committee. While I was on SAC, we often had 4-5 subcommittees. It seems wiser to decide for each committee how many members would be a reasonable number to accomplish the tasks that the committee normally covers.
In addition, since the committee meetings were reduced after Covid from monthly to only 4 times a year, at least 3 committees that I know of (SAC, Parks and Rec and Lagoon) have asked to have meetings at least once every 2 months, but still we meet only 4 times a year. Thus, much of the work of each committee will happen in subcommittees. I hope that City Council will reconsider reducing the size of the advisory committees across the board, and instead will evaluate the mission of each committee and decide the size of the committee on that basis, with input from current committee members and officers. If we have willing volunteers with expertise in these areas, why limit the committee to just five? The staff report mentioned comparisons to other local cities. I checked Solana Beach and Encinitas and most if not all of their advisory committees have 7 members, and most also meet monthly, as we have always done until 2020.
Lastly, I would recommend that SAC have the option in their charter to fill an ex officio seat. The staff report says “Alternatively, if the City Council would like to have the option to fill an ex-officio seat on SAC, it could direct the City Clerk to amend the committee’s charter to state, “The Committee may also have one (1) exofficio non-voting member, preferably with an environmental or sustainability background.”“ For example, for the past few years we have been extremely fortunate to have Nilmini Silva-Send be an ex officio member of SAC. Her work experience at EPIC puts her in an ideal position to advise us on CAPs, GHG emissions calculations, etc. Nilmini’s term is up shortly, and I strongly suggest that we continue her ex officio position on SAC. To allow future experts to be on SAC, I strongly support amending the charter of SAC to include one ex officio member with environmental or sustainability background.
Sincerely,
Ann Feeney
May 19, 2025 Item 15
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: Jennifer Anderson <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2025 11:15 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Red Dot for City Council Agenda Item 15 (05/19/25) Initial Recommendations from the Committee Streamlining Taskforce
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear City Clerk: Kindly submit the following red dot email to the City Council for the 05/19/25 meeting. Thank you.
Honorable Mayor and distinguished members of the City Council:
Regarding the proposed resolution to eliminate our option and ability to include ex-officio non-voting (nonresident subject matter expert) members from all advisory committees, please vote to retain the option (as outlined in the staff recommendation) for the SAC to direct the City Clerk to amend the committee's charter to state, "The Committee may also have one (1) ex-officio non-voting member, preferably with an environmental or sustainability background."
Our small community isn’t likely to have resident experts in all areas we need now and in the future. Nonresident, non-voting subject matter experts have brought tremendous value to our city through volunteering their time and expertise via the SAC and other committees. We need a path for the City to engage (on an ongoing basis) and benefit from the knowledge of these experts willing to volunteer their time and insights to benefit our community. We specifically need for these experts to be able to participate on an ongoing basis (eg. throughout the CAP update scheduled this year), at events and in writing opinions and communications to benefit our community.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Anderson
May 19, 2025 Item 15
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2025 12:14 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Cc: Tracy Martinez; Terry Gaasterland; Dan Quirk; [email protected] Subject: Red dot Item #15. Initial Recommendations from the Committee Streamlining Taskforce Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Council Members,
Eliminating non-voting members from the Sustainability Advisory Committee (SAC) would significantly diminish Del Mar’s ability to benefit from the expertise of local specialists, such as Dr. Nilmini Silva-Send. These non-resident experts bring invaluable knowledge and regional insights supporting our city’s climate goals.
This unique structure —allowing for non-resident, non-voting participants—has enabled Del Mar to tap into a broader network of professionals committed to advancing sustainability in our community, even if they do not reside within our city limits. These contributors often have deep ties to the region, extensive academic or professional experience, and a strong desire to help Del Mar succeed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to climate change, and achieving longterm resilience.
As Del Mar continues its climate action journey, now is not the time to narrow the scope of collaboration. Instead, we should expand our access to expert guidance, particularly from those willing to volunteer their time and knowledge to benefit our community.
Thank you for reading.
Valerie Dufort-Roy
Klish Way
May 19, 2025 Item 15
1 Leslie Carrillo
From: Ann Feeney <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2025 7:21 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Item #16 red dot
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Councilmembers,
The City Workplan, Council identified proposed work plan items, item 9, is Electrification incentivization.
1. In the description, it states that Council consensus was for” staff to look for opportunities to incentivize the implementation of electrification specifically for new construction or major remodels”. This was discussed at the Goals and Priorities workshop where there was general support for considering the Encinitas building code rules of new construction which would include major additions and alterations in their current building code.
2. 3. There was also support at the workshop for having SAC work on how to incentivize electrification in new construction, which is what a high performance reach code would do. City Workplan, item 9 says “Staff and the Sustainability Advisory Committee (SAC) will continue to research and gather information about high-performance reach codes similar to one recently adopted by the City of Encinitas.” Item 9 also says that “it is anticipated that staff can bring an informational update on this topic” (“research high- performance reach codes and to coordinate with SAC and organizations that offer electrification incentives”) “to the Council by the end of calendar year 2025”.
However, in item #16, the staff recommendation for modification of SAC workplan Item #3 Energy Efficiency, is “Staff recommends removing the language regarding adopting a high-performance reach code”. I hope that this recommendation for modifying the SAC workplan does not preclude the above items: advising on adopting the Encinitas building code definition of new construction which would include major alterations and additions, and researching and advising about the status, including any legal challenges (of which there have been none to date) of high performance reach codes and, finally, if feasible, for SAC to advise the city to consider adopting a reach code which would incentivize electrification.
Sincerely,
Ann Feeney
May 19, 2025 Item 16