IRWINDALE COMMUNITY CENTER
1610 ARROW HIGHWAY
IRWINDALE, CALIFORNIA 91706
APRIL 26, 2022
MOND"
5: 30 P. M.
The Irwindale CITY COUNCIL and PLANNING COMMISSION met in special joint session, beginning at the above time and place.
ROLL CALL: Present: Councilmembers Manuel R. Garcia, H. Manuel Ortiz; Mayor Pro Tem Albert F. Ambriz; Mayor Larry G. Burrola; Commissioners: David Fuentes, Robert Hartman; Vice Chair Enoch Burrola; Chair Suzanne E. Gomez
SPONTANEOUS
COMMUNICATIONS
STUDY SESSION ON
THE GENERAL PLAN
UPDATE
Absent: Councilmember Mark A. Breceda; Commissioner Richard Chico
Also Present: Julian A. Miranda, City Manager; Adrian Guerra, City Attorney; Jamie Traxler, Assistant City Attorney; Marilyn Simpson, Community Development Director; Jeff Wagner, Information Technology Manager; and Laura Nieto, Chief Deputy City Clerk There were no speakers.
DIRECTOR SIMPSON Director Simpson introduced the presentation, provided an overview of the process, and reviewed the various General Plan elements that will be updated. She noted that no decision would be made at tonight' s meeting, nor would the agencies vote on any items. She noted new legislative actions that impact the 6th cycle of the General Plan update, called the Environmental Justice Element. She then introduced Sylvia Palimera and Shannon Wages with Environmental Science Associates (" ESA").
SYLVIA PALIMERA Sylvia Palimera, an Urban Planner and Project Manager with ESA, made a PowerPoint presentation and introduced Matt Fairis with BAE, Jennifer Davis with ESA, Shannon Wages, Ruta Thomas, and Matt Kowta with Bay Area Economics, and James Rojas with Placeitl She then discussed the topics on the agenda, which include an overview of the current General Plan and an overview of the process, the General Plan elements that are being updated, community engagement to date, and requested input from the City Council and the Planning Commission. She then provided the definition of environmental justice under the CA Government Code, explained why the housing and environmental elements are being updated, and discussed the General Plan Update process.
MATT KOWTA Matt Kowta provided an overview of the housing element components and key housing element objectives, and described Regional Housing Needs Allocation (" RHNA") for Irwindale.
CITY COUNCIL 1 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES APR]L 25, 2022 SPECIAL MEETING PAGE 2
SYLVIA PALIMERA Sylvia Palimera further discussed the safety element update and planning process.
SHANNON WAGES Shannon Wages defined and discussed the environmental justice element, as well as its importance. She noted that Irwindale has improved its air quality from previous testing and discussed the six pillars" of environmental justice: " pollution and air quality, public facilities, food access, safe and sanitary homes and neighborhoods, health and physical activity, and community engagement". She further discussed community engagement efforts to date as well as next steps and the roles and responsibilities of the members of the Planning Commission and the City Council.
DISCUSSION HELD Discussion was held relating to: 1) exploration and identification of sites to be used to facilitate RHNA, 2) the identification of residentially zoned vacant and potentially non -vacant land to accommodate RHNA, 3) potentially identify land at underutilized sites to accommodate multi -family housing units, such as apartments or town homes, 4) how rezoning specific areas may be a useful tool and the process that would be taken in order to do so, 5) the preliminary search did not identify any vacant sites, and any underutilized sites were not in housing zones, 6) the city' s 10- acre property, 7) the potential of Accessory Dwelling Units to be counted toward meeting the city' s RHNA requirements, 8) the option to identify sites to be earmarked for households of varying income levels, 9) Fair Housing requires that low income households not be over concentrated in one location, 10) potentially constructing housing near the Gold Line station, 11) potentially developing a grocery store or market in an attempt to mitigate environmental concerns, 12) researching ways to increase food access parity, 13) access to transportation resources, 14) varying strategies, including utilizing overlays, to help address air quality concerns, 15) community outreach efforts to gauge the public' s preferences and interests, 16) the need to focus " green improvements" on streets that are heavily impacted by trucks, 17) the consultants will also observe best practices from other cities to present their methods as options to the City Council, 18) the need for the Council to memorialize its intent to develop some or all of the 10- acre site for housing, 19) the environmental justice element is a policy document that will guide future developments and amendments to the General Plan, 20) the environmental justice element can help prevent harm in the community and direct land use, 21) the state is not requiring the City to build anything; rather, it requires the city to enable the development in order to meet RHNA requirements, 22) sites could be zoned for mixed income housing or a combination of single and multi -family, 23) the types and amounts of resources needed to accommodate potentially hundreds of new residents, which would be addressed in part through the environmental review process, 24) the need to prepare a fiscal impact analysis to determine the full financial impact of the project as well as any new revenue streams, 25) past opinions regarding high -density housing developments in Irwindale CITY COUNCIL 1 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
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have not been favorable, 26) the need to establish access to education, exercise, and other amenities in order to promote a positive life outcome for all residents, 27) staff does not currently know what the state will require in its next housing element planning period, 28) incentives available to achieve the desired mix of housing types, 29) the state' s/ SCAG' s formulas and methodologies used in determining each agency' s RHNA numbers, 30) the process to be undertaken to have the housing element certified as well as the ramifications if the housing element is not certified by the deadline, and 31) specific planning steps need to be undertaken in order to zone the section of the 10Wacre property to be used for housing.
FRED BARBOSA Fred Barbosa asked whether underdeveloped land would be acquired by the city through eminent domain.
MAYOR PRO TEM Mayor Pro Tern Ambriz requested that an additional workshop be AMBRIZ presented to residents, to which Mrs. Wages indicated that additional information would be presented at the next workshop, to be held in June. She added that additional comments from the public should be forwarded to Director Simpson.
VICE CHAIR BURROLA Responding to a question by Vice Chair Burrola, Director Simpson advised that any inconsistencies in the general plan would be addressed as they come up. She added that all the information would be uploaded to the dedicated webpage for the general plan update.
MAYOR BURROLA Mayor Burrola stated that air pollution is a great concern of his, and requested that the housing element address this concern as well as the potential of developing a market or grocery store. He also stressed the need for the community to provide input and for the Council to decide what should be developed at the 10- acre site.
COUNCILMEMBER Councilmember Garcia mentioned the possibility of creating an GARCIA overlay zone or a " green zone" near the civic center to help curb air pollution concerns.
CARMEN ROMAN Carmen Roman requested that all residents be notified of future workshops, and suggested developing 200 homes at the 10- acre site.
She also stated her belief that young families do not care for large yards, and as such, they would prefer brownstones or townhomes to be mixed in with single- family homes. She then complained about the state' s 45- year covenant on certain housing programs, agreed that an increase in the number of residents would require additional resources, and questioned the city' s median income levels.
ROBERT DIAZ Robert Diaz suggested zoning and developing more commercial units along the freeway in order to produce more revenue. He also mentioned that he believes that most residents on Morada Street prefer that the land to the west of Breeder' s Choice be zoned for residential use, since the residents do not want the site to be used for CITY COUNCIL 1 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
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commercial purposes. He also suggested that landscape buffers be used between manufacturing and residential sites. He then asked if the city would consider adopting recommendations made previously by the state Air Resources Board relating to the proximity of big box retail facilities to residential areas. Finally, he asked whether RHNA requirements would be met if the city contributes funding to housing projects from other cities.
MATT KOWTA Responding to a question by Robert Diaz, Mr. Kowta stated his belief that it may be possible to conduct city -to -city transfers, though it would probably be a very difficult and complicated transaction. He also noted that it would probably be further complicated at this point since most jurisdictions have advanced far in their processes.
MAYOR BURROLA Replying to a question by Mayor Burrola, Mrs. Wages stated that rezoning sites would require amendments to the land use element and the zoning code. She noted that her firm will be conducting a consistency analysis along with other elements so that land use amendments in the general plan and the zoning map could be amended.
COMMISSIONER Commissioner Fuentes asked about subsidies for housing FUENTES developments, to which Mr. Kowta spoke on funding mechanisms that would assist in the development of the units, such as the lowincome housing tax credit program. He noted that housing developers could also secure subsidy monies necessary to create affordable housing, along with various other state and federal funding programs.
SHANNON WAGES Mrs. Wages added that higher density projects are necessary to incentivize developers to create more affordable units.
VICE CHAIR BURROLA Vice Chair Burrola suggested reviewing the community development element in an effort to determine how to sustain an increase in population as well as the possible creation of a regional commercial center.
ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 7: 31 p. m.
Vauja M. Nieto, MMC
f Deputy City Clerk
Approved as presented at the meeting held May 26, 2022.