1 CITY OF GROVER BEACH
Council Goal Candidates & Recommended Synthesized Goal Statements for FY 2023-25
BUILDING AND FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS
This goal helps support many subordinate city priorities (e.g. Public Safety, Community Engagement, Public Art, Recreation), by ensuring we budget for the update, maintenance, and expansion of our city’s built/structure resources.
Provide improvements and enhancements to city buildings, parks, and other facilities to continue to meet safety, health, accessibility, energy, and operational needs. Assess and evaluate overall facility needs to identify and plan the best options to meet the city’s future needs, continue to reduce any deferred maintenance backlogs, and maximize long-term savings with high standard facilities.
City Building/Facilities Maintenance and Improvement. The lack of routine maintenance to aging facilities directly increases future costs to effect repairs.
Develop a computerized maintenance program that helps maintain the assets that we have.
BUILDING AND FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS. Support city programs, operations and assets by ensuring that our public facilities, including parks and buildings, are maintained, improved and expanded to meet community needs into the future; strategically develop priorities and funding plans by evaluating deferred maintenance, safety, health, accessibility, energy, and long-term needs.
CITY AND SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP
Establish a formal framework for a forum of communication between city officials and local public TK-12 education partners' that operate within the city supporting a Community Schools model that improve benefits for our youth, families, and the community 24/7 through more intentional alignment. These can address ongoing shared areas of interest (i.e. public safety, enhancements for Safe Routes to Schools, community engagement opportunities, etc.), better coordination for each jurisdiction’s impacted planning decisions on affected impacts, maximizing each jurisdiction’s existing facilities and programs in partnership that benefits all, and discuss potential parallel policy options for shared adoption.
CITY AND SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP. Establish a framework for communication between city officials and local public TK-12 education partners' that operate within the city supporting a Community Schools model that improve benefits for our youth, families, and the community 24/7 through more intentional alignment.
Maximize each jurisdiction’s existing facilities and programs in partnership that benefits all, and discuss potential parallel policy options for shared adoption.
Attachment 2
2 CODE COMPLIANCE
Add to code enforcement department, as to be able to quickly and effectively enforce our city ordinances.
Develop a tree ordinance program requiring maintenance of trees, permits required to remove trees.
CODE COMPLIANCE. Strengthen the City’s code compliance program to quickly and effectively enforce our existing ordinances, including tree related issues like maintenance and removal permits.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The attendance at the Community Goals Workshop speaks for itself. A comprehensive strategy with limited or staff neutral involvement is necessary to get acceptable community engagement and participation.
Make greater effort to engage community members. Translating press releases and newsletters in Spanish is a good start.
Continue a strong commitment to transparency and public participation in city government through programs, initiatives, events and exploring new opportunities to encourage engagement by our residents, businesses, nonprofits, and community organizations in key community decisions. Evaluate and formalize practices by adopting a public participation plan and appropriate policies such as sunshine policies.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. Continue a strong commitment to transparency and public participation in our city government through existing and new programs, initiatives and events designed to encourage citizen engagement in key community decisions; formalize our practices by adopting and implementing a public participation plan and policies.
3 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNITY PROMOTION
Create programs that encourage retail development, job creations, tax base enhancements and quality of life.
Attraction & Retention of new and existing businesses in Grover Beach, especially along the Grand Avenue corridor.
Develop and implement economic development initiatives and strategies that support business retention for those industry sectors within the city that are most vulnerable to current economic conditions and who provide jobs most accessible to vulnerable populations. Continue other initiatives and strategies that attract businesses to fill commercial vacancies that meet the vision and image of the city such as tourism and hospitality. Work with the South County Chambers of Commerce, appropriate state and federal agencies, local TK-12 and higher education institutions, nonprofit business support organizations, and business stakeholders within the city to continue to create a more business-friendly environment under current conditions such as effectively and timely permitting processes.
Continue efforts to support economic development by growing our tourism market and enhancing West Grand Ave. Walkability is an important factor for consideration. The additional of public art and trees can add to esthetics.
Simply put, without it goals cannot be achieved.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY PROMOTION. Strengthen and maintain a business-friendly environment, implement strategies that build upon existing efforts in business retention with a focus on vulnerable sectors and populations, pursue business attraction and commercial development especially on West Grand Avenue, expedite permit processing, and promote tourism and hotel development.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Pursue carbon neutral solutions to develop a greener Grover Beach. Consider conversion to EV fleet for the city and incentivize developers to use green materials and systems in building.
Provide incentives for planting more trees.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY. Pursue carbon neutral solutions to develop a greener Grover Beach through, for example: conversion to EV fleet for the city and incentivize developers to use green materials and systems in buildings, and planting of trees.
4 HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS
Continue to focus on homelessness and housing by taking a regional approach and collaborating with other cities and the county when appropriate. Ensure the completion of the 4th Street and Barca project. Streamline administrative processes to ease the process for development.
Continue to update the city codes, standards, and practices that cultivate and encourage more housing construction that meets the city’s diverse population’s needs. This includes collaborating with developers, non-profit organizations, and appropriate state and federal agencies to have establish a framework that maximizes opportunities for resources to increase affordable housing available, especially for those residents who are low-income, working families, and seniors looking to continue to age in place here.
A coordinated approach. Continue working with Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach and SLO County delivery services, housing, and innovative programs.
While we are seemingly making progress here the following continues to significantly impact numerous aspects within our city: the faction of homeless population that refuses services, the lack of legally defined shelter and affordable permanent housing.
Housing & Homelessness – Current City goal description
HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS. Work with developers and non-profits in efforts to increase housing availability with a focus on affordable housing; continue partnerships with regional agencies and organizations to address homelessness and related sheltering issues in the city and region, including supporting completion and operation of temporary shelter facilities in the City.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Prioritized resources to ensure the public safety services (fire, police, emergency medical services, etc.) have the staffing, equipment, and facilities to meet the current service level trends and growing needs within the city. These will meet such demands and challenges with our aging population, behavioral health, homelessness, crime, and social justice. This includes advancing leadership, training opportunities, and increasing appropriate partnerships.
Basically, and one way or another, local government has the responsibility to provide fire protection to their residents.
5 Address public safety for residents. Solidify plans for continued fire service and address law enforcement concerns for those living near encampments.
Ensure best in class access to emergency services for Grover Beach to ensure our first responders have the tools, training and experience needed to keep our residents and City safe.
Five Cities Fire Authority
… the faction of homeless population that refuses services … (from proposal under Housing and Homelessness, but also relates here)
PUBLIC SAFETY. Ensure quality police, fire and emergency medical services by providing proper support, including implementation of a new fire services structure and funding, training and leadership development resources to meet service demands and growing challenges in such areas as homelessness, mental health, and social justice; and continue to engage with regional agencies, local businesses and the community in these efforts.
STREET MAINTENANCE AND COMPLETE STREETS
Street Improvements – Including maintenance of repaired K-14 residential streets, completion of K-14 projects and other major street CIPs.
Street Maintenance Planning/Funding: To avoid creating the situation we are working to resolve.
Plan streets for pedestrians and bicycles. Update and add lighting, and more trees.
Trees have been proven to practically slow traffic.
Planning and designing city streets/paths to support safe multi-modal transportation and access to our city (Bike lanes, controlled pedestrian intersections, lighting, etc…)
Continue improvements to major arterials and local streets, incorporating where feasible related improvements, such as utility upgrades and “complete streets” - medians, sidewalks, bicycle lanes, bulb-outs, street trees. Evaluating related improvements that increase accessibility and safety for residents, visitors, and employees of all ages and abilities. Review future needs to adequately provide resources for the maintain and advancement of residential street post Measure K14 bond funding. … enhancing West Grand Ave. Walkability is an important factor for consideration. (from proposal under Economic Development, but also relates here) 6 STREET MAINTENANCE AND COMPLETE STREETS. Continue to complete Measure K-14 street improvements on arterials and local streets; pursue opportunities to design and build safer, more pedestrian and bicycle friendly “complete streets” by incorporating where feasible bicycle lanes, sidewalks, street lights, crosswalks, trees/landscaping and other traffic calming design strategies.
WATER SUPPLY AND RESILIENCY
While we are on our way with CCBRRWA, completion will require continued focus, funding and support.
Water Resiliency – Via Central Coast Blue & Conservation Develop programs to help our citizens understand water conservation. Work on developing ways to catch the rain now runs off into the ocean.
Water resiliency continues to be an area of concern for our city. Continue the work around Central Coast Blue but also consider what other resources or technology are available to generate additional water.
WATER SUPPLY AND RESILIENCY. Meet existing and long-term water needs through the Central Coast Blue recycled ground water project and other regional efforts and by continuing water conservation; identify other feasible strategies to ensure long-term water resiliency.