City Council Meeting Page 1 of 14 October 11, 2022
7 City of Lafayette
City Council
Meeting Minutes
Teleconference Meeting – Watch on the City of Lafayette’s YouTube Channel at October 11, 2022 http://bit.ly/LoveLafayetteYouTube Submit public comments to [email protected] 7:00 p.m. before or during the meeting.
To protect public health, our residents, officials, and staff, and aligned with the Governor’s recent executive order N-29-20, certain teleconference requirements of the Brown Act have been suspended, including the requirement to provide a physical location for members of the public to participate in the meeting. Here is how to participate in the meeting and provide public comment:
1) Watch or Listen: Meetings are broadcast on the City of Lafayette’s YouTube Channel:
http://bit.ly/LoveLafayetteYouTube. An archived, on-demand video of each meeting is maintained on the channel as part of the public record.
2) Submit Comments Before the Meeting: Members of the public can provide public comment by sending an e-mail to [email protected] (for City Council meetings). Those e-mails will be distributed to the members of the City Council, the City Manager, and the City Attorney, and will be posted as part of the public record.
3) Live Remote Public Comments: Members of the public may submit live public comment via Zoom conferencing. You must download the Zoom app or software. Zoom meetings can be accessed by telephone, computer, or smart device. When the Mayor invites public comment for the item on which you would like to comment, please use the "raise hand" feature (or press *9 if connecting via telephone only) to alert staff you have a public comment to provide. Each speaker is allowed three (3) minutes to speak.
Any graphic a speaker wishes to use as part of public comment must be emailed to [email protected] for City Council meetings by 3:00 p.m. the day of the meeting. Zoom Webinar joining instructions will be posted on the meeting agenda prior to the start of the scheduled meeting. 4) Join the Meeting Remotely: Use the links below to join the meeting and provide remote live audio public comment.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85182717432?pwd=NHhPQ0tTN29KQURJblFrdlB5U1JZZz09 Passcode: 780541 or join by phone: Dial 1 669 900 9128; Webinar ID: 851 8271 7432 Passcode: 780541
City Council Meeting Page 2 of 14 October 11, 2022
1. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Gerringer called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. via teleconference.
2. ROLL CALL
Present: Mayor Gerringer; Vice Mayor Anduri; Councilmembers Candell, Dawson and Kwok
Absent: None
Staff Present: Tracy Robinson, Administrative Services Director; Greg Wolff, Planning and Building Director; Nancy Tran, Senior Planner; Suzanne Iarla, Communications Analyst; Mala Subramanian, City Attorney; Joanne Robbins, City Clerk
3. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Dawson) to adopt the agenda. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Gerringer, Anduri, Candell, Dawson, and Kwok; Noes: None).
4. PUBLIC COMMENTS – (for items not on the agenda).
MARY O’MALLEY spoke of an unfortunate event involving an injured deer on the side of Mt. Diablo Boulevard where the mother stayed with it for about 30 hours. Several residents contacted County Animal Services which they found out does not service wildlife. The Department of Fish and Wildlife was not able to respond because of staffing shortages, and the police came out and was unable to put the animal down humanely. Many people are horrified to see this along its main road, and she asked to find some type of solution.
ANOUSCHKA WARDY echoed comments of Ms. O’Malley, felt it was unfortunate that emergency services representatives walked away from the suffering animal. She wondered if the City could create an ordinance for incidents like this and under special circumstances and asked the Council to find out how other cities are handling this.
ELIOT HUDSON said two months ago he appeared and asked to appoint a task force to draft objective architectural standards consistent with Lafayette’s mission statement and mothing has happened to date.
Over the last two months, the City has a proposal considered in a joint meeting of the DRC and PC on September 19th for massive development in the middle of the downtown, which he described. The DRC and PC indicated they do not have the tools to stop this and they do not have them. Therefore, he again asks that a task force be created now so developments adhere to the City’s mission statement.
LORI echoed comments regarding the injured deer, provided a background of Contra Costa County Animal Services’ elimination of 5 field officer positions, with 9 current working officers doing mandatory overtime due to leaves of absences. These 9 positions cover 1.1 million people and the County tells people to call Fish and Wildlife, knowing they cannot respond due to staffing issues. Other counties assist injured wildlife which she relayed, said Contra Costa increased fees but do not respond to wildlife, and there is no agency able to help here, which is inhumane. Residents are traumatized by this and asked that something be done.
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Vice Mayor Anduri asked if Lori could send the information regarding statistics in writing to [email protected] and the City Clerk can share it with Councilmembers.
VALERIE echoed comments about the wildlife issue, thinks most people are aware of how bad the situation is and said nearby residents have said they cannot walk their dogs without encountering dead animals in various stages of decomposition. In terms of public safety, an injured deer can live for a surprisingly long time and this can attract coyotes and mountain lions into the neighborhoods. Other counties will come out 24/7 and humanely euthanize critically injured wild animals, but not in Lafayette.
The town has a lot of civic pride and it seems like the latest contract with the County runs counter to that.
She asked if the County cities could band together and either insist the County provide wildlife services or perhaps the cities find another solution together.
LAUREEN LOBER, Animal Rights Coalition, said they held a campaign in defense of animals trying to improve their animal services. The contract with the 18 cities was one of the main topics. The contracts were signed. She feels there was not time for cities to conduct negotiations and she thinks the big issue is that there are only 9 field officers now that are struggling to just do their job. She hears from many citizens all over the County about injured wildlife. The problem is that CCAS can do these services, but they want cities to pay more money for this. Next year, the per capita rate will go up to $9.11 and the City will probably spend about $234,000 so she asked what the City will get for that. The City of Richmond is very dissatisfied, and the Mayor is looking to form a JPA with other West County cities, and she suggested Lafayette investigate this. Animal services had indicated that deceased pickup was a priority to the cities, yet injured wildlife is not, and she could not believe this.
CALLER #249 stated she does cat rescue in Contra Costa County and sent an email to the Public Protection Commission of the County in 2020 regarding a racoon that no one would pick up in the City of Bay Point that laid dead for 6 days. She had to find someone vaccinated against rabies in order to put it in a trap and transport it. She deals with wildlife on a regular basis because and she knows racoons can have rabies and the one she spoke of had rabies and distemper, which is a threat to the public. In 2020, the City of Lafayette received a letter from CCAS that they would no longer pick up sick and injured wildlife. Not only is this inhumane but a public threat of disease to residents. She asked that the City Manager bring this up at their next meeting or the Mayors’ Conference and look to re-negotiate the City’s contract with CCAS. If 11 cents more per capita would get animals picked up in the County, she thinks the City has a responsibility to the public to do this.
MARILYN echoed comments about the wildlife problem with CCAS. She raised her children in Lafayette, lives now in Martinez, has done cat rescues since 1988 which allows her to see a lot of the wildlife problems, and she sincerely hopes the City can try to do something to address the situation and figure out a solution to the problem.
Mayor Gerringer stated the Mayors’ Conference and City Manager’s Association did hear this topic and they were looking at statistics and the opportunity to review what services were received. She has also reached out to Supervisor Andersen’s office to determine what other resources might be available.
5. PRESENTATIONS
A. Tracy Robinson, Administrative Services Director
Introduction of Planning Technicians Anna Tolle and Erik Lara Mora Recommendation: Receive and file.
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Administrative Services Director Tracy Robinson introduced and provided a brief background and experience of Planning Technicians Anna Tolle and Erik Lara Mora.
Mayor Gerringer and Councilmembers welcomed Ms. Tolle and Mr. Mora to the City of Lafayette, and both thanked the Council, stating they are excited in joining the team.
6. CONSENT CALENDAR
Mayor Gerringer asked if there were public comments or requests to remove an item from the Consent Calendar, and there were none.
A. Minutes - September 26, 2022
Recommendation: Approve.
B. Resolution 2022-60 Allowing for Video and Teleconference Meetings during the COVID-19 State of Emergency under AB361
Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2022-60.
C. Final Acceptance of the Construction Contract for 2022 Surface Seal Project – Project No. 014- 9733
Recommendation: Accept the construction contract with Pavement Coatings Company as complete and authorize staff to file a Notice of Completion for the 2022 Surface Seal Project – Project No. 014-9733.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Candell) to adopt Consent Calendar Item A, B, and C. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes:
Gerringer, Anduri, Candell, Dawson, and Kwok; Noes: None).
7. OLD BUSINESS
A. Minutes - September 12, 2022
Recommendation: Approve.
Councilmember Kwok said there was a typographical error on page 18, second line when it references CEQA guideline 1.126.2A, which should be 1.5126.2A.
Vice Mayor Anduri said he consistently referred to Fehr and Peers throughout the evening as Fehr and Polling, and he asked to make this change.
Mayor Gerringer opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Kwok) to approve the Minutes of September 12, 2022, as amended. Roll:
5-0 (Ayes: Gerringer, Anduri, Candell, Dawson, and Kwok; Noes: None).
B. Niroop Srivatsa, City Manager
Consideration of Resolution 2022-61 Declaring Lafayette an Idle-Free City Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2022-61.
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Senior Planner Nancy Tran introduced Environmental Task Force (ETF) Member Eric Fonstein. She noted Mr. Fonstein and the City Manager presented the no idling resolution to the ETF last month and the ETF voted to forward the recommendation of approval to adopt Resolution 2022-61 to the Council.
Eric Fonstein, ETF member, introduced ETF Chair Nancy Hu and gave a background the project, presentations made to the Council wherein the item was referred to the ETF for its review and recommendation. The ETF reviewed the matter and recommends to the Council to adopt Resolution 2022-61 declaring Lafayette an Idle-Free City. He said the resolution indicates that the City will commit not idling municipal vehicles except for cars used by patrol officers on duty. The ETF also made a slight modification to a “Whereas” clause to state that given ambient temperature situations, cars can remain idling. With these changes, the ETF unanimously endorsed its recommendation for approval.
Project Earth Team Members Raini, David, and Lauren thanked the Council for its consideration of the resolution.
Vice Mayor Anduri referred to Item No. 2 under “Now, Therefore Be it Resolved” clause which states “Encourages vehicles to turn off their engines immediately at schools.” He asked if this could be changed to “Encourages drivers to turn off their vehicle engines immediately at schools.” Staff confirmed.
Mayor Gerringer opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
Mayor Gerringer and Councilmembers thanked the Project Earth Team members and the ETF.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Dawson) to adopt Resolution 2022-61, as amended, declaring Lafayette an Idle-Free City. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Gerringer, Anduri, Candell, Dawson, and Kwok; Noes: None).
C. Greg Wolff, Planning and Building Director
Resolution 2022-51, Approving Certification of the 6th Cycle Housing Element EIR Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2022-51 Approving Certification of the 6th Cycle Housing Element EIR.
Planning and Building Director Greg Wolff gave the staff report, stating the Council had considered this matter at two public hearings on August 8th and September 12th. The continuation of discussion was scheduled for October 4th; however, that meeting was canceled, and the matter is before the Council this evening.
Yesterday, the California Attorney General issued a document entitled, “Best Practices for Analyzing and Mitigating Wildfire Impacts of Development Projects under CEQA.” The press release and guidance document were attached to a staff report supplemented that was uploaded to the City’s website earlier today. Staff is in the process of reviewing this new information and how it can inform the environmental impact analysis prepared for the City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element, will continue with it, and bring it back to the Council with recommendations of how this new information can best be incorporated into the Housing Element EIR. Thus, staff is recommending continuance of the matter to a future date to be determined. New public notice will be provided when the matter is scheduled for Council consideration.
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Staff received a recent comment letter from Mr. Richard Drury that included the 2020 letter from Rick Ramacier, formally with County Connection, and this 2020 letter does not discuss the Housing Element EIR or its analysis. While Mr. Ramacier stepped down from County Connection in December 2021, the County Connection’s current General Manager, Bill Churchill, testified to the City Council on September 12th confirming the County Connection’s role in supporting the Contra Costa County Office of Emergency Services if Lafayette’s Evacuation Plan is executed.
Mr. Ramacier’s letter stated how they can respond is totally dependent upon the various factors that exist in the moment of a particular emergency. These factors could include, but are not limited to, traffic, the exact nature of the emergency, the distance of the evacuation from our resources and how quickly they can get employees organized to respond who might not be at work. To further elaborate, there are no pre-fixed number of buses or vehicles pre-assigned to different kinds of emergencies. Mr. Ramacier’s letter does not state County Connection cannot be relied on in the event of an evacuation. Rather, it seeks to manage expectations around how the agency can respond.
Mr. Churchill, the current General Manager, similarly spoke to this issue on the 12th and noted that if resources are stretched, reciprocal mutual aid agreements are in place with other transit providers in the area which can be called upon, not unlike police and fire.
Staff recommends continuance based upon the new information from the State Attorney General’s Office yesterday and he could answer any questions of the Council.
Councilmember Candell said in reading the Attorney General’s letter, one suggestion made was to come up with a community-acceptable solutions for evacuation. Tonight, even though the Council is continuing this item, she asked if staff could include a community task force as something possible in their next staff report. Or, she asked if they should continue without any recommendations tonight.
City Attorney Mala Subramanian stated the Council could provide staff with suggestions or parameters to consider, as they will be reviewing the documents. The Council can also do this at its subsequent meeting.
Vice Mayor Anduri asked if the recommendation would be from staff that the Council not provide any advice to staff until they have had a chance to analyzed the Attorney General’s guidelines.
Ms. Subramanian said staff is looking to continue the item. Staff will bring it back once they have had a change to analyze it and they do not have a specific date being recommended and will re-notice it. To the extent the Council wants to provide any guidance, since they have not done their deep dive staff could not actually provide any initial feedback so the Council could give guidance which they may later have concerns or issues with. The Council could obtain guidance at a subsequent meeting, but if there are things the Council wants staff to pay particular attention to she can receive that tonight. However, given the guidelines came out yesterday, there is very little to analyze.
Councilmember Dawson recognized the City is under a deadline with its Housing Element, and she asked if there will be allowance for additional time provided.
Mr. Wolff said there has been no discussion, but staff can reach out to HCD and determine if they would consider it.
Mayor Gerringer opened the public comment period.
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PATTY BATTERSBY said since there was such late notice, she would urge anyone to wait until the next meeting.
DAWN EAMES thanked the Council for extending the discussion on the EIR and for the new information.
If she is not able to attend the future meeting, she noted that City staff indicated that they appropriately analyzed the additional information received and recommended approval. CEQA identifies or defines significant impact on the environment but also states that the City Council may also exercise in its own judgement, determining an appropriate standard of significance, which it can do so on a project-specific basis. She would support the Council to direct staff to revise the methodology of assessing impact 4.17-1 on Lafayette. Her understanding is that 53% of Lafayette is in a very high fire hazard severity zone, and the impact should be considered very significant.
The staff report states there are no established numerical standards or thresholds determined if the amount of time required to evacuate an area is excessive. There needs to be some development of standards and/or efforts to determine thresholds of time required to evacuate as being excessive or significant. The staff report says that evacuation orders should be issued based on zones or closeness to a fire. Realistically, many more people would evacuate when threatened and cause chaos in the Evacuation Plan that may look fine on paper but not in a life or death situation. No mitigation can replace human lives lost or the impact of projects by replacing or providing substitute resources or environments from the damage that is already done. The DSP EIR done in 2006 that is part of Lettis Study did acknowledge that due to the large number of faults in the region, the possibility of a future rupture along an unknown fault is present. So, the Alquist-Priolo Fault Zoning Act zones are updated periodically as new information becomes available. She asked if new information has become available and whether staff has followed through on finding about it. She urged the Council not to approve the FEIR without further consideration for the development of standards for time thresholds of evacuation, reviewing new fault zone information and its adverse impact to citizens and the City.
LIBBY HENRY said she is glad the Council made the decision to table this item and asked if it would be held as a special meeting or not. Regarding the County Connection and its willingness to respond in the case of an emergency something Mr. Wolff did not cover is about where they would be coming from which would increase the time for response. She also echoed that the loss of human life should be the priority in considering any of this rather than seeing what can be mitigated of a few lives versus 100 lives. The State designated the high fire severity zone, but they say it does not affect the BART station, but it is okay if it affects the rest of the City, so she fails to see such justification.
Mayor Gerringer stated staff does not know how much time it will take to analyze the latest information so they do not know at what meeting the item will be presented, but public notice will be given.
Councilmember Candell said in reading the guidance there was one sentence that stuck out to her. It is on the top of page 12 that states, “A conclusion that an increase in evacuation times is a less than significant impact should be based on a threshold of significance that reflects community-wide goals and standards.” She asked staff to think about what that really means to the City.
Vice Mayor Anduri agreed that any discussion would involve speculation and said he looks forward to analysis and recommendations from staff. He said the same sentence Councilmember Candell recited was like his reaction and he was looking for clarification on that.
Mayor Gerringer agreed it was one of her questions, as well.
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Councilmember Dawson said she agreed with Councilmembers regarding the statement and she supported staff looking at it, prior evacuations, and their success. She also asked to gather information on other areas that might not be directly impacted by wildfire and compare the times of evacuation to come up with what is an acceptable threshold.
Councilmember Kwok agreed and said he has many question marks, and said this document is very germane to the conversation the Council is having. Words like “threshold of significance, evacuation times, and impacts of neighbors” are exactly the core issues the Council has faced for several weeks in trying to come to resolution on. It is a challenging space, and this is probably the reason why the Attorney General came out with best practices. They are not easy solutions but tighter commentary that gives more framework to analyze or charts a course for the work they must do.
Vice Mayor Anduri said this exemplifies what the Council has been discussing about how one part of the State is saying cities should not build and another part is saying cities must build. So, he looks forward to the analysis by staff at a future meeting.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Candell) to continue the matter to a future date to be determined. Vote:
5-0 (Ayes: Gerringer, Anduri, Candell, Dawson, and Kwok; Noes: None).
8. PUBLIC HEARING
A. Nancy Tran, Senior Planner
1. ZT05-22 MWELO, CITY OF LAFAYETTE (APPLICANT): City-initiated amendment to the Lafayette Municipal Code adding a new chapter titled “Water Efficient Landscaping” to implement the State mandate requiring local jurisdictions to implement water efficient landscape design and irrigation practices set forth in California Code of Regulations Title 23, Chapter 2.7. (CEQA Determination: Exempt Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061 [b][3] – General Rule Exemption)
Recommendation: Introduce Ordinance 669, take public comment and continue the item to the October 24, 2022 meeting for second reading and adoption.
Senior Planner Nancy Tran explained that former planner Joshua Muller prepared the staff report and recorded technical presentation regarding ZT05-22 which is a City-initiated amendment to the LMC adding a new chapter titled “Water Efficient Landscaping” in order to implement the State mandate requiring local jurisdictions to implement water efficient landscape design and irrigation practices.
There are two main thresholds for MWELO which is: 1) New construction projects with an aggregate landscape area equal to or greater than 500 square feet, or 2) A rehabilitated landscape project with an aggregate landscape area equal to or greater than 2,500 square feet. He then described the prescriptive pathway applying to new construction, rehabilitation of existing landscaping between 500 and 2,500 square feet of landscaped area, and the performance pathway that applies to new construction, rehabilitation of existing landscaping over 2,500 square feet of landscaped area, and there are some nuances between the two, which he described.
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Ms. Nancy Tran stated staff received one public comment from the PTR Commission Chair Joe Doherty who expressed concern on how the ordinance might affect the Lafayette park system. She clarified that the WELO requirement is only triggered if work requires some sort of review in terms of building, landscape permit, plan check, and design review; landscape rehabilitation-only projects does not require the City’s review. Staff recommends the Council take public testimony, introduce Ordinance 669, and continue the item to October 24, 2022 for a second reading and adoption. She also said Penn Phillips, the City’s landscape consultant, was present and available to answer questions.
Penn Phillips, landscape consultant, stated he thinks it is great Lafayette is coming on board with the rest of the State.
Mayor Gerringer opened the public hearing and comment period, and there were no speakers.
Councilmember Candell said her only concern is the wildfire and fire hardening aspects of this. There were a couple of comments about mulch and the need to have 3”. The Fire Department is stating this cannot be within 5 feet of a house, so she wants to be sure they are not requiring things the Fire Department does not want people to do.
Mr. Phillips suggested reviewing the regulations with the Fire Department to insure everyone is on the same page. Another issue with the Fire Department is they do not want to see any trees or overhanging limbs within 30 feet of buildings, and it is a shame because oaks and trees give cooling effects to residences. Therefore, he thinks it is a “give and take” and hopefully the Fire Department will see it that way, as well.
Councilmember Kwok asked Mr. Phillips if he had experience of implementation of MWELO in other cities, and if so, he asked how the implementation is going and for some of the pros and cons or things to watch out for.
Mr. Phillips said some cities embrace this and get a bit too zealous. It is very technical. At the preliminary design stage, some cities like Berkeley require having complete MWELO compliance right at the very beginning which involves a detailed planting plan and irrigation plan and all water calculations for all vegetation being proposed. While the site plan and architecture is changing, they would need to do it over again, and this costs extra to the applicants because they will have to do it twice. So, this is one caution and he suggested requiring this towards the end. All that is needed in the beginning is a statement that says, as plans progress this planting plan will be MWELO-compliant and that can be a condition of approval or provided during the building submittal. The City of Martinez is different, and they do not necessarily require it. If the City would want to contact other cities that have adopted this, those would be Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Hillsboro, and Contra Costa County cities are adopting it later. It will also likely take an irrigation consultant for applicants to hire and coordinate with.
Vice Mayor Anduri said this came from the ETF and then the Planning Commission as a recommendation.
He asked if there were any similar issues discussed by the Planning Commission or any other issues.
Ms. Tran said when she read the minutes she did not see any concerns about the fire issue or any conflicts.
Vice Mayor Anduri said in terms of adopting the ordinance, he believes the City refers to MWELO in their SB 9 implementing ordinance. Ms. Tran stated this is correct.
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Councilmember Dawson said she could see where the Council would want to review this and make it part of their conditions so there is compliance.
Mr. Wolff concurred that including this at the appropriate time and taking Mr. Phillips’ comments is appropriate not to have it too early in the process which would incur additional costs to applicants.
Further, comments he has heard with respect to Firewise and overhanging limbs. He is not seeing any conflict between MWELO and its intentions and goals and Firewise and thinks they can co-exist. If groundcover mulch is needed within 5 feet of the residence, it can be non-flammable gravel, so it does not need to be bark mulch. The Fire District is sensitive to Lafayette’s natural character and at the same time, they are looking out for fire risk, so it is a balance for them when issuing letters during review for residents to remove or change vegetation.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Kwok/Dawson) to introduce Ordinance 669 and continue the item to the October 24, 2022 meeting for second reading and adoption. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Gerringer, Anduri, Candell, Dawson, and Kwok; Noes: None).
2. ZT07-22 ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING REQUIREMENTS, CITY OF LAFAYETTE (APPLICANT):
City-initiated Zoning Text amendment to Title 6 of the Lafayette Municipal Code to revise the EV Charging requirements for multi-family and commercial development projects. (CEQA Determination: Exempt Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061 [b][3] – General Rule Exemption)
Recommendation: Introduce Ordinance 682, take public comment and continue the item to October 24, 2022 meeting for second reading and adoption.
Senior Planner Nancy Tran said Joshua Muller prepared another presentation before he left regarding this item and after his presentation, she will continue.
Former planner Joshua Muller gave the staff report and PowerPoint presentation regarding the Cityinitiated Zoning Text Amendments to Title 6 of the Lafayette Municipal Code to revise the EV charging requirements for multi-family and commercial development projects.
Ms. Tran stated staff received two public comments earlier today which were forwarded to the Council earlier and uploaded on-line. Staff recommends the Council take public testimony, introduce Ordinance 682 and continue the item to October 24th for a second reading and adoption. She and ETF Chair Nancy Hu and ETF member Steven Botic are available to answer any questions.
Chair Nancy Hu said the ETF member is Steve Kalogeras, former ETF Chair who was working extensively on the EV ordinance with Councilmember Kwok. He is available for questions, as well.
Vice Mayor Anduri said the presentation referred to the Planning Commission recommending adoption of Ordinance 683 and the Council has before it Ordinance 682, and he asked if this was just the wrong number.
City Attorney Subramanian said it looks like it was a typo. In the packet it was Ordinance 682, so this is the ordinance before the Council.
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Councilmember Candell said the Council is exempting those projects with car lifts. She understands but asked if there was any way to retrofit a lift safely. Ms. Tran said from her experience in working with multi-family development projects, it is possible to have EV charging within it but not for both spaces.
Councilmember Candell asked if the Council would require having at least one EV plug in the wall for EV charging because right now they are exempt which is not ideal.
Mayor Gerringer opened the public hearing and public comment period, and there were no speakers.
Councilmember Kwok referred to the question regarding lifts because an increasing number of units may have lifts for vehicles. He thinks the reason the language is here to exempt parking facilities served by parking lifts is because this was the language the State had. He thinks if someone plugged in their car but then someone pushes a button and moves it, it might pinch the cable or there could be electrical dangers or have it broken. So, he thinks it was a safety reason. The Council could look at this more, but for simplicity reasons the code is to reflect State language and not conflict with it.
Councilmember Candell said while she agrees with this, she thinks at least the City could require the outlet because at some point, there will be a safer device.
Councilmember Dawson said it states, “area of parking facilities served by the lift”. She asked if the balance of those areas would be more intensive in terms of EV compliance with the City’s ordinance. If the lift is exempt and other parking areas available possibly the City could ask for some level of compliance with the ordinance or percentage not served by the lift.
Ms. Tran said in terms of the exception when it talks about the parking lifts, it is not saying the entire parking facility that has any kind of parking lift is exempt. It just says the areas that are served by parking lifts are exempt. Other parts of the facility would not be exempt.
Steve Kalogeras, former ETF Chair, echoed Councilmember Kwok’s comments that they are keeping the State language for simplification and for safety reasons. He also agrees with Ms. Tran that he does not think entire developments that have lifts are exempt. It is just the parking spaces accounted for as lifts are not part of the denominator. The language states 10% of spaces need to be EV-ready. His understanding is that in calculating that 10% you do not include the spaces on the lift. So, if a development has 20 spaces, half are in a lift and half are surface parking, then he thinks the ordinance would apply to half of those 10 surface parking spaces. Lifts are large and expensive and while they are powered already, it is something that the market might handle well given the demand for EV charging, and he does not think the ordinance dis-incentivizes that happening in the future.
Councilmember Dawson said she would think the City could hold applicants accountable for this in the future and she thanked Mr. Calageras and ETF members for getting to this point.
Mayor Gerringer thanked ETF members and Councilmembers who worked on this, and she asked if there was a motion.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Dawson/Candell) to introduce Ordinance 682 and continue the item to October 24, 2022 meeting for second reading and adoption. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Gerringer, Anduri, Candell, Dawson, and Kwok; Noes: None).
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9. COUNCIL/COMMISSION REPORTS
A. Councilmembers report on activities and consideration of matters a Councilmember wishes to initiate for placement on a future agenda.
Vice Mayor Anduri requested that the Council consider moving the one Council meeting in August from the second Monday to the fourth Monday in 2023, and after brief discussion, City Attorney Mala Subramanian stated the Council Calendar for 2023 will be brought to the Council at its next meeting, and this can be considered at that time.
Councilmember Kwok reported on his attendance from September 7 to 9 at the League of California Cities’ Annual Conference, stating he and the Mayor attended a session presentation from the City of El Cerrito regarding below market housing and partners, particularly Eden Housing. Mayor Gerringer suggested this return to the Council and potentially the City Manager and staff could first meet and then bring it to the Council for a presentation.
Councilmember Candell said she also attended the League’s Conference and one of the things she was involved with was trying to get a resolution passed by the members to support the Constitutional Amendment on a future ballot to support local land use and zoning, which the Rules Committee did not recommend. She spoke about the League flipping the format and the awkwardness of the fact there was no discussion at all. There was much confusion and other motions were made that were denied. The vote went through and she believed it was a surprise and disappointing conduct by the League in how they held their meeting.
She also attended the DEIB meeting at Stanley Middle School on gender identity, presented by Gender Spectrum, which was a very interesting talk directed towards parents. The concept of doing this community-wide is something she has brought to the DEIB committee. Another public forum will be held with renters in Lafayette in the future to obtain feedback.
Regarding comments surrounding the County Animal Control and Fish and Wildlife issue, she hopes this can be brought back in terms of possibility the Council can pursue in terms of options. The objective standards right now that Eliot Hudson brought up could be as simple as a review of those checklist and points and look at revising how they score things.
Councilmember Dawson asked and confirmed the City has Phase 1 multi-family objective standards have been completed. Mr. Wolff said at that time the PC and the Council envisioned revisiting that and establishing a more refined Phase 2 which has not happened yet.
Councilmember Candell asked if it would be simpler on staff to bring back just the checklist and points, and Mr. Wolff said staff can take the existing work and refine the point values that can be achieved by any one move which can be agendized in the future.
Councilmember Candell stated at the Art and Wine Festival TransCirc Commissioner Stella Wotherspoon spoke about employee retention of City staff and Lafayette employees’ children able to attend Lafayette Schools. Mayor Gerringer stated she also heard the conversation and said City Manager Srivatsa will speak to the Superintendent about this.
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Mayor Gerringer said at the meeting Councilmember Candell missed, she had given a report on the League of California Cities and believed she talked about parliamentary procedures that were followed at that meeting.
She wanted to publicly clarify why the Council canceled the October 4th meeting. This was the meeting where the Council decided to continue several items including the EIR because of time constraints on the previous September 26th meeting. The Council and staff were informed prior to the meeting by a resident that October 4th was Yom Kippur. The September 26th meeting was also Rosh Hashanah and she decided to cancel the October 4th meeting. In speaking with the City Manager, staff does try to check those dates with conflicts of different occasions, and they will strive to check for those.
She is also continuing the County Animal Services discussion and staff is bringing that back to a future Council meeting. She then reported on her being invited to present to the 4th and 5th graders at their first Assembly at the end of their Advocacy Week, which she described.
She also announced that the City Manager helped to facilitate replacement of the Chamber proclamations after the fire. Jay Lifson will be officially stepping down on October 28th and leaving the Chamber in the capable hands of Sara Regan, Executive Director.
Councilmember Dawson reported that as Chamber of Commerce liaisons, she, Vice Mayor Anduri, and Thomas Myers met yesterday with Jay Lifson and Sara Regan to thank them and transition into welcoming Ms. Regan in continuing their great relationship.
B. City Manager’s Update
Recommendation: Receive and file.
There was no report.
C. Vice Mayor Anduri and Mayor Gerringer
Lafayette: Celebrating 175+ Years
Recommendation: Review timeline, provide feedback, and approve the increase of $20,000 to City Council budget 011-110-861.
Vice Mayor Anduri gave the staff report , stating this is a significant anniversary for the City celebrating 175+ years. He and the Mayor provided some ideas and welcome feedback from the Council. They need approval of the $20,000 budget in order to move forward, particularly with the utility boxes that need to be redone in any event. He asked for other thoughts on what they might do.
Councilmember Dawson suggested doing as much as they can but keep it on the low resources side.
Councilmember Kwok voiced appreciation of reading the list and said he was personally interested in hearing the Lafayette Historical Society and letting them bathe in the spotlight in learning Lafayette’s history.
Mayor Gerringer noted Dennis from Town Hall Theater would also love to be involved as well, along with other stakeholders and partners.
Mayor Gerringer opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
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ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Dawson) to approve the increase of $20,000 to City Council budget 011- 110-861. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Gerringer, Anduri, Candell, Dawson, Kwok; Noes: None).
D. Vice Mayor Anduri
Safe Gun Storage Ordinance
Recommendation: Refer the matter to the Crime Prevention Commission for an analysis of the pros and cons of adopting a safe gun storage ordinance.
Vice Mayor Anduri stated the Council has received numerous communications on this topic. He is very much in favor of moving forward with this. He recommended referring this item to the Crime Prevention Commission for analysis of pros and cons of adopting a safe gun storage ordinance modeled on the Walnut Creek ordinance. It should be presented to the Council in time for the November 28th Council meeting.
Mayor Gerringer opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Candell) to refer the matter to the Crime Prevention Commission for an analysis of the pros and cons of adopting a safe gun storage ordinance modeled on the Walnut Creek ordinance to be given to the Council in time for the November 28, 2022 Council meeting. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes:
Gerringer, Anduri, Candell, Dawson, and Kwok; Noes: None).
10. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS – None.
11. ADJOURNMENT – 9:34 p.m.
APPROVED:
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Teresa Gerringer, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Joanne Robbins, City Clerk