Attachment 5: Community Workshop Process & Summary of Direction #
Meeting date
Community City Council & Planning Commission Workshops
1 2009 -2012
The City of Fort Bragg, the community, and the property owner, Georgia Pacific (GP) engaged in a collaborative process to prepare a Specific Plan for the rezoning and eventual redevelopment of the property for other uses, but the planning process stopped in 2012, when GP withdrew its Specific Plan application.
The Specific Plan Process included 29 community meetings over 6 years as follows:
2012 - 1/17, 1/18, 2/29, 3/1
2011 - 2/28, 5/9, 6/22, 8/29
2010 - 2/10, 7/07, 10/20
2009 - 2/23, 5/9, 5/11, 6/24, 8/10, 9/2, 10/13, 11/09
2008 - 2/25, 4/14, 4/28, 5/27, 8/25
2007 - 3/27, 4/09, 6/11, 6/25, 11/26
2003-2006 - 38 additional Mill Site Reuse public meetings.
The Land Use Plans generated out of these meetings, included the development of the Coastal Trail zoning boundaries in 2008, and the Noyo Center and SVBP residential uses were added in 2009 and 2010 as illustrated in the following images. 2004 – Open Space
2008- Coastal Trail Alignment Finalized
2009 - Noyo Center Location & SVBP added
2010 – Noyo Center Site Defined
The final Land Use Plan from this Specific Plan process defined the locations for the Coastal Trail, Noyo Center and SVBP Residential Use as illustrated below:
A preliminary draft of the specific plan was produced in January 2012, but the process abruptly stopped in the Fall of 2012 when Georgia Pacific withdrew their specific plan application and ceased funding the planning process due to a three party lawsuit between Georgia-Pacific, Office Max and the City of Fort Bragg regarding the liability for remediation of the Mill Site. At the time the Specific Plan was withdrawn, Georgia-Pacific’s consultant team, working with input from City staff, had engaged in extensive public outreach, and prepared a draft land use map (see Attachment 3), draft policies and regulations for the specific plan, draft revised citywide design guidelines, a draft master tentative map, a draft utility master plan, and numerous resource and background studies for EIR including a botanical survey, a wetland delineation, a traffic study, an archaeology report, and a geotechnical study among other studies. However, GP’s consultant had not completed a draft financing plan, infrastructure plan, or EIR for the specific plan. Additionally, the Coastal Commission, during their briefing on the project, provided input to City staff suggesting the need for changes to the draft plan, including reductions in the area and amount of allowable development. 2017
Restart the Community Planning Process
In 2017 the City initiated a new comprehensive planning process for the site. The City was awarded a Community Development Block Grant from the California Housing and Community Development Department in the amount of $50,000, a Coastal Commission grant of $100,000, and a Mendocino County of Governments grant of $48,000 to help fund the Mill Site comprehensive planning process. The City completed about 80% of this comprehensive planning process, including submittal of the proposed Land Use Plan and changes to policies and regulations in the LCP to Coastal Commission staff for comment. This comprehensive planning process included numerous community meetings, Planning Commission meetings and City Council meetings to craft and draft the Land Use Plan (attachment 3), policies and regulations for the redevelopment of the Mill Site. 2 February 6,
2017
The City Council and the Planning Commission held a joint meeting to discuss how to move forward with rezoning and planning for the reuse of the Mill Site. The City Council and the Planning Commission supported a two-step process as follows: (1) process a Local Coastal Program (LCP) amendment to eliminate the requirement that a Specific Plan be prepared to rezone property on the Mill Site (by revising Coastal General Plan Policies LU-7.1 and LU- 7.2); and (2) complete a comprehensive community-based planning process to develop a major LCP amendment to rezone the Mill Site. The Council and Commission determined that the Major LCP Amendment will address new land use zones, development regulations, infrastructure requirements, sustainability, open space, circulation, design guidelines and more. This Major LCP Amendment will be formulated over the next year or so in an interactive process between the City Council, Planning Commission, community and City staff.
3 Feb 27, 2017
City Council provided direction regarding how to structure the community-based planning process, which included following:
1. Conduct a two-day open house, one day at Town Hall and one day at CV Starr Center. One workshop could happen on a weekday and one on a weekend to maximize opportunities for participation. The open house would accommodate the active participation of people who prefer one-on-one and small workshop formats and those who have busy schedules.
2. Conduct a Mill Site reuse survey on Survey Monkey. The survey could include an opportunity to provide feedback on the top land use maps, guiding principles, and key policies that would guide development. The survey would allow for further input from the wider community of Fort Bragg that does not typically participate in planning processes. Staff anticipates a very significant amount of participation from an online survey like this. The survey could be run for a few weeks to ensure the greatest level of participation.
3. Joint City Council and Planning Commission workshops. At the workshops, staff would summarize and present the results from the community-based planning process described above. The workshops would focus on City Council and Planning Commission’s vision and direction for the reuse of the Mill Site and would likely include further refinement to the guiding principles, the land use map, and the key policies that regulate development on the site. 4 March 23,
2017
City Council and Planning Commission joint workshop regarding Creek Daylighting project alternatives, permitting and environmental review process, feasibility, cost and timelines 5 August 25,
2017
Short Mill Site Reuse workshop at a Coastal Mendocino Association of Realtors meeting with approximately 30 participants 6 Sept. 6, 2017
Short Mill Site Reuse workshop at a Fort Bragg Rotary Club meeting with approximately 25 participants 7 Sept 7, 2017
Short Mill Site Reuse workshop at a Chamber of Commerce mixer with approximately 30 participants 8 Sept. 16,
2017
The City started the rezone process with an all-day open house with three mini workshops at the CV Starr Center with about 60+ participants.
Sept. 21,
2017
All-day open house with three mini workshops at Town Hall with 80+ participants. 9 Sept. 21,
2017
The Mill Site Reuse Community Survey was opened to accept responses from the community. English and Spanish language versions of the survey were available with identical questions. The survey was designed to minimize survey bias by randomizing the multiple-choice questions and it was designed to be as inclusive as possible by allowing people to provide open-ended responses to a number of questions. Over 970 responses have been received. A survey report was prepared and provided to City Council and the Planning Commission.
Question 7 asked how much of the Mill Site should be dedicated to Open Space. Fully, 70 percent of respondents wanted to retain 50% or less of the site as open space. The average amount of open space requested by all survey participants was 40%.
October 16,
2017
City Council and Planning Commission – Land Use Plan Direction Council and the Commission held a joint meeting and provided direction to staff regarding the vision statement and changes that should be made to the Land Use Plan, which included the following:
Revise the zoning for the Noyo Center from “Open Space” to “Coastal Dependent” zoning.
Add a small neighborhood park with playing field, combined with public fairgrounds.
Bring back the idea for a downtown square.
Do not extend the Central Business District onto the site.
Keep some of site available for a lumber mill, consider leaving a portion of the site with timber industrial zoning instead of urban reserve zoning.
Zone for a mix of small homes, cohousing, multi-family and mixed-use housing. 10 January 10,
2018
Planning Commission - vision statement, guiding principles, Land Use Plan and sustainability policies.
The Planning Commission held a workshop and provided additional direction on the vision statement, guiding principles, Land Use Plan and sustainability policies, including the following:
The Planning Commission recommended that the Mill Site’s role as a visitor serving destination be explicitly included in the Vision Statement.
The Planning Commission recommended that Guiding Principle 5 be retained as written:
Extend the downtown commercial district onto the Mill Site.
The Planning Commission recommended that Principle 6 be reworded as follows:
Establish zoning for residential uses in the Northern District; zoning for the extension of the Central Business District, visitor serving uses and compact mixed-use residential development in the Central District; and zoning for job-generating uses such as light industrial, education, retail, research and development and office space in the Southern District The Planning Commission reviewed Land Use Plan Alternative 1A and made the following additional changes to the plan:
Extend the CBD along the entire length of Redwood Ave.
Provide CBD zoning around the downtown park. The Planning Commission felt strongly that the reasons to extend the Central Business District onto the Mill Site out-weighed the concerns of doing so. Additionally the Planning Commission considered limiting retail development and only encouraging the development of restaurants and visitor serving businesses and discarded this approach. The Planning Commission therefore recommended that commercial development be permitted on the bottom floor of all buildings along the entire length of the Redwood Ave extension onto the Mill Site.
Extend the multi-family residential to the west to compensate for the multifamily residential that was replaced by the extension of the CBD.
Add a neighborhood park back into the plan in the northern district.
Retain the Highway Visitor Serving commercial zoning for the parcel north of Cypress Street. Retain the General Plan policy to protect the trees in this area. The Planning Commission also discussed at length whether to convert the Highway Commercial that is north of Walnut Street into open space. Commissioners noted that: the Land Use Plan already designates a significant amount of open space (175+ acres); and that the maintenance of open space is costly and burdens the City’s General Fund. A majority of the Commission wanted to allow limited development in this area, so long as the trees are retained. This might encourage a private sector person to acquire this parcel and maintain the trails and the forest for public use, rather than the City taking on additional open space responsibilities. Staff noted that the Coastal General Plan currently includes Policy CD-1.2 which requires “preservation of the forested area north of the Georgia-Pacific nursery and south of Maple Street shall be maintained as a sensitive natural habitat and scenic resource, and it shall not be developed.” Additionally, staff noted that any use of this site would require a Coastal Development Permit which would determine if any of the forest qualifies as rare, in which case no development would be permitted within 50 feet of the rare forest.
The Planning Commission provided specific direction regarding preferred changes to the Sustainability Policies as noted in italics blue text. The Planning Commission provided the following direction regarding the sustainability policies:
The City should not be out in front of the State of California when it comes to Green Building. The State of California is already a leader in the nation and the City does not have the technical expertise to require higher levels of sustainability in green building as it relies on the County Building Department in this area.
The Planning Commission recommends that the goal of Net Zero energy use (Policy SD-2) be incentivized with planning incentives rather than be required.
The Planning Commission concurred with staff recommendations regarding language changes to the sustainability policy section of the proposed Mill Site Reuse Plan. d. The Planning Commission further recommended that all policies be general in their requirements so that they don’t become outdated by new technologies, etc. 12 January 22,
2018
City Council – Vision, Principles & Land Use Plan Direction The City Council held a workshop and provided direction on the vision statement, guiding principles and Land Use Plan, including the following:
Directed staff to bring the issue of the extension of the CBD onto the Mill Site back to a joint meeting of the City Council and the Planning Commission for further discussion. Specifically the City Council requested that downtown merchants be invited to the meeting and that the pros and cons of the extension of the CDB onto the Mill Site be thoroughly explored.
Directed staff to revise the zoning of the Highway Commercial zoning district located along highway 1 north of Walnut Street to open space to protect the small forest located there.
Directed staff to eliminate the extension of Walnut Street onto the Mill Site because it is no longer necessary. 13 January 24,
2018
Planning Commission – Open Space Direction
The Planning Commission held a workshop regarding the Open Space framework for the Mill Site, funding mechanisms for open space and parkland facilities, and open space phasing and facility requirement policies. The Planning Commission provided the following direction:
Please schedule joint meetings between City Council and the Planning Commission to address and discuss significant differences in policy direction (policy disagreements) between the Planning Commission and the City Council; Add a small recreational park to the south side of the Land Use Plan to meet recreational needs.
Retain all parks and required facilities within the plan for now. Continue to update the Planning Commission regarding how these facilities can be funded and specific impacts of the funding of these facilities on the feasibility of redevelopment of the site.
Provide a comparison of the Development Impact Fees of other comparable coastal towns, so that the Planning Commission and City Council can better understand how our proposed Development Impact Fees would impact feasibility of development.
Planning Commission generally agreed with the proposed changes to the Open Space policies. 14 February 12,
2018
City Council – Sustainability Direction
The City Council held a workshop regarding sustainability and provided the following direction to staff:
The City Council agreed with staff on the policies that had been struck from the sustainability chapter.
The City Council requested additional information regarding the cost of achieving USGBC LEED Gold certification in a larger building. This information was requested in order to make an informed decision about Policy SD-6, which proposes to require LEED Gold for buildings of more than 10,000 SF.
Council provided direction to make the following changes to Policy SD-7 because passive solar design is required by Policy SD-1: Policy SD-7. Preferred Green Techniques. All green building techniques are encouraged, with preference given to techniques that address local issues, such as use of locally produced natural materials, water and energy conservation measures, and techniques that respond appropriately to Fort Bragg’s cool, rainy environment, such as passive solar design and low impact development (LID) strategies.
The City Council requested additional information about the cost to achieve Net Zero energy use for various use type categories (residential, office, etc.), prior to providing direction on SD-2. City Council would like to revisit this policy with additional information.
City Council concurred with staff’s recommendations for the following policies: Policy SD-1, Policy SD-3, Policy SD-4, Policy SD-5, Policy SD-7 (as worded above) and Policy SD-8. 15 February 14,
2018
Planning Commission – Design Guidelines Direction
The Planning Commission held a workshop regarding the design guidelines and provided the following general direction to Staff regarding the proposed additions to the Citywide Design Guidelines:
The Planning Commission would like one set of design standards for the entire City. Don’t require more stringent design on the Mill Site than is required in other areas of the City.
The PC prefers design standards that are less proscriptive and more performance based. The PC prefers language such as “is encouraged” over “shall” language.
The PC would like to ensure that the Design Guidelines focus both on site design and building design.
The PC wants to ensure that the site design guidelines result in courtyards and public space which is protected from the weather.
The Design Guidelines should place an emphasis on materials that can stand up too Fort Bragg’s climate.
The PC would like Design Guidelines that set a preference for buildings that are designed to speak to the history of the site and the town either in materials or design. Craftsman and barn shaped buildings are preferred.
16 March, 2018
Community Planning Process halted by the new City Manager.
The Land Use Plan from the 2018 community planning process included many different Land Use Plans, however through all the various permutations, all Land Use Plans included the Coastal Trail, Noyo Center and SVBP parcels rezoned as recommended in this LCP Amendment. 18 2024
The Community Based Planning Process Initiated in 2024
19 August 16, 2024
The Planning Commission held a public meeting and adopted a Resolution encouraging the City Council to submit a Local Coastal Plan Amendment Application (LCP 1-24) to the Coastal Commission to:
a. Amend Map LU-4 of the Coastal General Plan To add a Third Plan Area; and b. Amend Table 2-10 of the CLUDC to Allow a Science Center With a Use Permit in the Public Facilities Zoning District; and c. Amend the General Plan Land Use Map and the Zoning Map to: i) Rezone the Noyo Center Parcel to Public Facilities Zoning District, and ii) Rezone the Coastal Trail Parcels to Parks & Recreation Zoning District and iii) Rezone the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo (SVBP) Parcels as Medium Density Residential zoning.
September 9, 2024
City Council held a public hearing and provided direction to:
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