CITY OF PACIFICA
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
Council Chambers
2212 Beach Blvd
Pacifica, CA 94044
Mayor Sue Beckmeyer
Mayor pro Tem Christine Boles
Councilmember Mary Bier
Councilmember Mayra Espinosa
Councilmember Greg Wright
City Council Regular Meeting 1 April 14, 2025
SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETING
April 14, 2025 (MONDAY)
www.cityofpacifica.org
Mayor Sue Beckmeyer called the meeting to order on April 14, 2025 at 5:30 PM 5:30 PM - CLOSED SESSION
00a. CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS - Government Code section 54957.6 - Agency designated representatives: Mark Wilson, Allison Hernandez of Burke, Williams, and Sorenson; Employee organizations: Fire Battalion Chiefs, IAFF Local 2400; Fire Fighters, IAFF Local 240; Management Unit, Teamsters Local 350 ; Miscellaneous Employee, Teamster Local 856; Pacifica Police Officers Association; Police Mgmt. & Police Supervisors; Wastewater Treatment Plant Teamsters Local 856
7:00 PM OPEN SESSION
Call to Order
Mayor Beckmeyer reconvened the meeting at 7:03 p.m.
Attendee Name Title Status Arrived
Sue Beckmeyer Mayor Present
Christine Boles Mayor pro Tem Present
Mary Bier Councilmember Present
Mayra Espinosa Councilmember Present
Greg Wright Councilmember Present
City Clerk Coffey took a verbal roll call.
Staff Present: Kevin Woodhouse, City Manager; Denise Bazzano, Asst. City Attorney; Yulia Carter, Asst. City Manager; Samantha Updegrave, Community Development Director; Maria Sarasua, Police Chief; Louis Sun, PW Interim Director; Roland Yip, PW Dep. Director (Field Services/Engineering); Scott Leslie, PB&R Director; Marisol Gómez, Finance & Administrative Services Director; Tara Schiff, Economic Development Manager; Zach Harris, Human Resources Manager; Sarah Coffey, City Clerk; Emily La, Dep. City Clerk.
City Council Regular Meeting 2 April 14, 2025
Reading of Land Acknowledgment
Mayor Beckmeyer read the Land Acknowledgment.
Salute to the Flag led by Councilmember Bier
Closed Session Report
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated that there was no reportable action.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that, for Agenda Item #5, the appellant has requested a continuance and the public hearing will be continued to the April 28 Council Meeting. She stated that they will need a motion by Council to move that item to the April 28 City Council meeting.
Councilmember Wright moved to continue Agenda Item #5 to the April 28 City Council meeting; seconded by Mayor pro Tem Boles.
CONTINUE AGENDA ITEM #5 TO APRIL 28 CITY COUNCIL MEETING RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
SECONDER: Christine Boles, Mayor pro Tem
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
Mayor Bier requested to move Council Communications to the end of the agenda.
Council agreed.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
A. Proclamation: Earth Day / PelicanFest April 26, 2025 Mayor Beckmeyer read a proclamation in honor of Earth Day/Pelican Fest. She then invited Margo Meiman as a member of the Pacific Beach Coalition (PBC) to accept the proclamation.
Margo Meiman stated that she moved to Pacifica 20 years ago and volunteered for PBC and now works for PBC part-time. She stated that all their volunteers are site captains. She thanked Council for this proclamation. They are pleased to have a strong partnership of many years with Pacifica. She invited the community to Linda Mar State Beach on April 26 and invited all to take action on behalf of the earth. People who wish to learn about the locations to for earth action or sign up can go to Pacific Beach Coaltion’s website.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thanked her for being present. She stated that it is a mixed emotion knowing that it is President Lynn Adam’ last year as leadership. She is proud of all the work they do, not just cleaning the beaches, but educating our youth and inspiring a love of the ocean and responsibility for keeping our beaches clean. She referred to a book by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, an ocean scientist and policymaker, called What If We Get it Right? Visions of a Climate Future. She stated that we all love the ocean and the fact that PBC provides the work as well as an outlet for everyone to make a difference is huge.
City Council Regular Meeting 3 April 14, 2025
Councilmember Bier thanked everyone from PBC. She stated that she has beautiful memories attached to Earth Day and there are beautiful ways we can to participate with layers of people that the Beach Coalition has touched in many different ways and she appreciates that.
Mayor Beckmeyer thanked Lynn Adams and PBC for all the effort that goes into the education piece and creating the tools sent to their schools each year and creating a personal connection.
She is proud of the work that was done last year by Cabrillo School group at the beach. She thanked PBC for the opportunities that they give us.
Councilmember Wright stated that PBC has acted as a community conscience in terms of building a respect for the beach, ocean, and environment, and for each other in the way they pull people together to help serve that common goal of maintaining our pristine environment the way we have it. He sees them everywhere working on it and it is an impressive feat for anyone to take on and he has so much respect for them in what they do.
Councilmember Espinosa stated volunteering for PBC is one of her favorite activities. She cannot imagine Pacifica without all the work they do. She feels that she accomplishes so much during the beach cleanups and she thanks them for what they do.
Mayor Beckmeyer opened public comments.
Suzanne Moore, Pacifica, thanked PBC, the site captains, and volunteers for everything they do for our coast and beaches and long live pelicans.
Mayor Beckmeyer closed public comments.
Lynn Adams, President of the Pacific Beach Coalition, stated it is a very big group effort. She thanked Pacifica for its sponsorship and supporting them. She stated that financial support is also important and she thanked the City for supporting them with time, effort, participation, and sponsorship. They look forward to seeing everyone at the Pelican Fest.
B. Proclamation: Volunteer Appreciation Month - April 2025 Mayor Beckmeyer asked all committee and commission members in the audience to stand near the podium, including Pacific Beach Coalition volunteers and CERT volunteers, as they are essential to the ongoing work of the City. She then read the proclamation honoring Volunteer Appreciation Month. She then thanked everyone in the room including all the volunteers engaging with Council and helping the City grow.
Councilmember Bier thanked all the volunteers and encouraged people to keep applying for committees and commissions.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated there are so many ways people volunteer and give back. She has never been in a place with this level of community and service from all walks of life. She shared a quote from Desmond Tutu: “Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” She stated everyone has different skills and capacities but we do what we can to help each other and our City. She also thanked former Councilmember Tygarjas Bigstyck as councilmembers volunteer at a level of service.
Councilmember Espinosa stated that she also used to volunteer for the Beautification Committee which did so much work. She thanked the volunteers for what they do.
City Council Regular Meeting 4 April 14, 2025
Councilmember Wright stated that volunteers are inspirational and represent what the spirit of Pacifica is. He thanked them for all the hard work they do to make our community better for each and every one of us.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated there are growing generations of continued volunteerism in Pacifica and they are the muscle that keeps Pacifica going. She called for a 10-minute break and then reconvened the meeting.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Mayor Beckmeyer opened public comments and, seeing no one, closed public comments.
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mary Bier, Councilmember
SECONDER: Christine Boles, Mayor pro Tem
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
1. Approval of Disbursements for 03/01/25 through 03/31/25.
PROPOSED ACTION: Receive and file the Monthly Check Register Report for the month of March 2025.
2. Approval of Minutes
PROPOSED ACTION: Move to approve the minutes for the March 1, 2025 City Council Special Meeting / Study Session and the March 10, 2025 City Council Special and Regular Meeting.
3. Continuation of Proclamation of Local Emergency of the Pacifica Coastline from Westline Drive to the End of Beach Boulevard.
PROPOSED ACTION: Accept report and make a determination that conditions of local emergency continue to exist within the Pacifica Coastline from Westline Drive to the end of Beach Boulevard.
4. Resolution to Approve Rockaway Pump Station Rehabilitation and Repair Project C006 PROPOSED ACTION: Adopt a Resolution: (A) Approving the Construction Contract with Blocka Construction, Inc. in an amount of $488,00; (B) Approving a Task Order No. 2 with Hazen and Sawyer in an amount of $53,310; (C) Authorizing a budget authority in the amount of $646,906.50, which includes contingencies in an amount not to exceed twenty percent (20%) of the Construction Contract amount and fifteen percent (15%) of the Engineering Services During Construction Amounts; (E) Authorizing staff to Execute Future Change Orders not to exceed the contingency amount; and (F) Authorizing the City Manager and Designated Personnel to Sign Contract Documents related to the Rockaway Pump Station Rehabilitation and Repair Project C006.
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ITEMS NOT ON THE POSTED AGENDA
Clif Lawrence, Pacifica, referred to the Quarry Site SB 330 Preliminary Application by the owner of the quarry and he eagerly awaited more details. He shared a suggestion that they work with the indigenous community to come up with something agreeable to both.
City Council Regular Meeting 5 April 14, 2025
Ken Miles, Pacifica, stated he moved to Vallemar approximately 50 years ago and shared his concerns of losing trees in the area and lack of proper notice in the process. He recommended PG&E underground their utilities and replant trees.
Lynn Adams, Pacifica, invited everyone to come and enjoy the day with the community at Earth Day and Pelican Fest on April 26.
Brendan Berman, Pacifica, stated he is a member of the Pacifica Pride planning committee and shared information on the Pacifica Pride Festival on June 7 at Ingrid B. Lacey School.
Suzanne Moore, Pacifica, stated people on NextDoor are questioning the parked RVs on Oceana and Milagra, which are allotted spots for the Temporary Safe Parking Program (TSPP).
She praised the success of TSPP and the City’s financial support to extend the program and address the barriers to achieving our goals. She also shared next steps regarding TSPP.
Summer Lee, Pacifica, referred to Mr. Lawrence’s public comment regarding the new quarry plan, and she asked that Council, staff, and the community think of a new model that is not environment versus affordable housing. She encouraged everyone to join hands in finding a way for Pacifica to be healthy.
Mike Wahlman, Pacifica, referred to the Pacifica Pride announcement and stated that they will also be hosting a pet adoption event across the street from IBL on that same date. He referred to the quarry housing possibility and he would like to hear more about it.
COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS
Mayor pro Tem Boles announced an event taking place on April 29 at Council Chambers called "Offshore Reef Proposal," where a group of engineers and coastal scientists would host a panel to discuss an offshore reef design idea for protection of Sharp Park.
STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
City Manager Woodhouse had no critical staff communications.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
5. Consideration of an appeal of the City’s Notice of Expiration of Cannabis Public Safety License/Termination of Cannabis Activity Permit and Cessation of Operations dated March 19, 2025, issued to Seaweed Holistics, LLC., located at 450 Dondee Street, Unit #2, Pacifica, CA 94044 (APN 022-021-640)
PROPOSED ACTION: Move to adopt the attached Resolution to DENY the appeal submitted by Ana Leaňo-Williams (Appellant) and UPHOLD the City’s Notice of Expiration of Cannabis Public Safety License/Termination of Cannabis Activity Permit and Cessation of Operations dated March 19, 2025, issued to Seaweed Holistics, LLC., located at 450 Dondee Street, Unit #2, Pacifica, CA 94044 (APN 022-021-640) Following the Closed Session Report, Mayor Beckmeyer stated that, for Agenda Item #5, the appellant has requested a continuance and the public hearing will be continued to the April 28 Council Meeting. Councilmember Wright made a motion to continue Agenda Item #5 to the April 28 City Council meeting, which was seconded by Mayor pro Tem Boles. The motion passed unanimously.
City Council Regular Meeting 6 April 14, 2025
RESULT: TABLED [UNANIMOUS] Next: 4/28/2025 7:00 PM
MOVER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
SECONDER: Christine Boles, Mayor pro Tem
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
6. Continuation of deliberations following the February 24, 2025, Public Hearing on a proposed ordinance repealing and replacing Article 49 of Title 9, Chapter 4 of the City of the Pacifica Municipal Code (“Short-Term Rentals”); making certain amendments to Article 29 of Title 9, Chapter 4, Section 9-4.2904 (“Exempted Signs”) of the Pacifica Municipal Code; and finding the adoption of the Ordinance exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
PROPOSED ACTION: Continue deliberations from the adjourned Public Hearing held on February 24, 2025, provide final direction to the City Manager for revisions to the draft Ordinance, and direct the City Manager to refer revisions back to the Planning Commission for review and a recommendation.
Mayor Beckmeyer reopened public comments on the continuation of deliberations following the February 24, 2025 public hearing on a proposed ordinance repealing and replacing Article 49, Title 9, Chapter 4 of the City’s municipal code on short-term rentals (STRs).
Clif Lawrence, Pacifica, asked that Council lower the maximum number of unhosted nights from 90 to 60 and require hosted STRs to have operators on-site from 10 pm to 8 am.
Mayor Beckmeyer closed public comments.
Community Development Director Updegrave presented the staff report. She concluded by stating that Council would address the following: maximum rental nights, allowing ADUs to be the primary residence for hosted STRs, occupancy limits, and complaint response time. She confirmed that staff received direction on the following: STR inspections to include life safety issues, inspections for all STRs (hosted and unhosted), platform accountability using the City of Santa Monica’s ordinance as a model, and parking requirements for one off-street space per legally permitted bedroom rented as an STR citywide.
Councilmember Wright asked what happens after deliberations and how long before we have an enforceable ordinance.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated, because some changes directed are substantive, staff will take final direction, make revisions to the ordinance, return to the Planning Commission for review and a vote, and then bring it back to Council. Staff would reintroduce the ordinance to Council with a new public hearing and have a second reading for adoption.
Councilmember Wright asked about Coastal Commission.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated, for the Coastal Commission, we will need to submit an LCP amendment after Council adopts an ordinance.
Councilmember Wright asked if that LCP amendment has any effect on avoiding any future Builder’s Remedy applications.
City Council Regular Meeting 7 April 14, 2025
Community Development Director Updegrave stated that it should not.
Mayor Beckmeyer mentioned that there was a question from Council to staff regarding adding a question to the application about HOAs. She stated that we had given direction asking for that to be included in the application and confirmed that will be done. She would like to discuss the issue of hosted STR and the host’s presence on-site during the time. She also wanted to clarify operators versus owners.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated it was important to have a definition of “natural person,” “operator,” and “responsible party” (clarifying hosted and unhosted). She would also like to talk about signage and the content required on the sign, insurance requirements, the website and the maps and what Council was looking for, suggested language from Better Neighbors LA regarding “private right of action,” and noise monitors and minimum DBA.
Mayor Beckmeyer referred to the website and map. She realized the nature of STRs is not static and she would like to hear from staff on exactly what the issues are regarding creating a map. She stated she is willing to dive into the issue of max rental nights.
Mayor Beckmeyer referred to the question of 60 nights versus 90 nights for max rental night.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that there have been comments made that Coastal Commission staff was recommending 60 nights and he reiterated that this was in the previous report expressing Coastal Commission staff’s position; that is not true, as Coastal Commission staff said 60 or 90 is up to the City and they want to know the rationale for how the decision was made. He reminded Council that a decision about 60 nights versus 90 nights has a direct financial impact to the program.
Councilmember Espinosa does not live next to a rental but she can see the pain of someone living next to a STR. She stated that parking is an issue at all of the locations and she thinks 60 nights are plenty.
Councilmember Wright stated, while he is in favor of the 60 nights, to offer our citizens a much deserved relief, it is incumbent upon Council to make that decision that we have a financial responsibility to fix the financial side of that problem.
Councilmember Bier agreed. She first thought 60 nights was fine, but we are making a lot of cuts and changes to this program and we do not know what that will look like. We have not implemented any of it and we do not know what the effects are going to be budgetarily or how it will play out in our community. She thinks we need to be careful with this, specifically because of the budget, and is it safe to try 90 nights and, if it is not working for the community, can we go back and change it.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked, if we were to allow 90 nights, go forward with that, and later want to adjust, what would the process look like for both coastal zone and out of coastal zone.
City Manager Woodhouse stated, generally, with the program and because it will take some time for approval from the Coastal Commission for the LCP amendment, once that goes into effect, we would have time monitoring the program and see how it is working and, at some future year, there might be not only that issue but other issues that we will want to tweak in the program and bring the ordinance back for additional revisions and we go through the same process again. He stated to change the ordinance while it is pending before the Coastal City Council Regular Meeting 8 April 14, 2025
Commission would not be productive to do but would be possible.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked what his assessment is of what the Coastal Commission staff thinks our rationale is now regarding this issue.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that his assessment is that we do not know what Coastal Commission staff is going to say about the whole package in the end and recommend to the Coastal Commission as they do not know the extent of all the restrictions being put in place on this program. Coastal Commission has concerns about housing supply and options for visitors who are visiting the coastal zone. He stated that it will be a very specific analysis and they will want specific data from the City in order to conduct their analysis and recommendation to the Coastal Commission. Given all the parking restrictions and primary residents, they may look at those and think there are not very many rental nights available in the coastal zone any longer in Pacifica and we are suggesting 60 nights instead of 90 nights. He thought maybe 90 nights makes more sense as it increases the number of visitor rental nights in the coastal zone. He stated that he is surmising and cannot speak for Coastal Commission staff, but that is often how they would think about things.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that it was clear from the Coastal Commission when they talked about our cap, as they asked why we were not considering a smaller number and wanted us to restrict things. She stated that we do not know what they are going to say. Her concern with doing something we think might need changing is how much time we are losing. She is torn on this as she is the one who suggested 90 nights as a compromise to start with; part of her reasoning for that was that one of the key things was making sure it is not profitable to buy a house and use it as a STR versus a long-term rental, in essence limiting the number of days so profit margins are not as much as having a full-time tenant. She stated that her analysis at the time was based on some San Francisco data from a few years ago but we have public comment submitted today stating that even three months was worth it.
Mayor Beckmeyer recalled looking at that analysis and the assumptions behind the calculation were at peak price. She is not sure she agrees with that, but the point was taken and the point has been made by others regarding that profitability issue. She thinks Mayor pro Tem Boles’ last point on that is correct, and that is the dividing line between is it a house for people to live in or not. She stated that, on that basis, she is landing on 60 nights.
Councilmember Wright asked if it was possible to put flexible language to say that it is 90 nights, but Council can, with 60 days’ notice, reduce that number.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated no, that would be fairly vague, so it is better to put a certain number; the way we would change that number is through an amendment to the ordinance.
Councilmember Wright stated that would require another year of suffering by part of our citizens and whatever time it takes to do it and that puts more pressure on this decision today.
Councilmember Bier stated that this deliberation answered her question of is it safe to do 90 nights. She stated that we all answered that question and she will go with 60 nights.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano heard a majority of Council indicating they want 60 nights.
Mayor Beckmeyer agreed and suggested we move on. She mentioned occupancy limits with children. She wanted there to be an option for people with young children to be able to afford to City Council Regular Meeting 9 April 14, 2025
come and stay at the coast if they live far away. She wanted her colleagues to think about something like “unlimited for children under the age of five,” even though it may be difficult to enforce. She wants people to be able to come and enjoy the coast and build memories.
Mayor pro Tem Boles saw that Sonoma County has similar restrictions and they say children under three. She agreed that it is different with small children where the parents are more responsible in keeping an eye on the kids and taking care of them versus 12-year-olds.
Councilmember Bier asked what the limit would be.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated her vision was two people per bedroom but young children under the age of five do not count toward that, but an older child or adult does. She is not comfortable with a toddler counting the same as an adult. She equates it more to a family unit.
Councilmember Wright asked if we are concerned about commotions caused by sports teams.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that was the case from public comment.
Councilmember Wright stated, if that is the case, our goal is to try to prohibit that.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated they can come but they count as a person for the occupancy limit.
Councilmember Espinosa stated that it should be a limit because of health and safety. She stated every place has a limit for the amount of people in the room. She thinks there should be a number.
Councilmember Wright suggested two people per room and kids under X do not count.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if X was five or three.
Councilmember Espinosa stated that it should be at least five.
There was Council consensus for occupancy limits to include two people per room and children under age five do not count.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano confirmed that the revision would read, “It shall not exceed two short-term renters per legally permitted bedroom. Children under the age of 5 shall not count towards the occupancy limits.”
Councilmember Wright asked if Council is presenting something unenforceable.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that is un-enforceable. He wanted to clarify if it is under five or under six, i.e., five and under. He stated that currently it says “under the age of 12”.
There was Council consensus for “under the age of 6”.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that we can now talk about ADUs.
Councilmember Bier referred to the hosted STR arrangement in which a host primary resident is an ADU and the main house is the STR. She stated that, per the ADU work we have been doing to provide affordable housing for community, she would say no to that.
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Mayor Beckmeyer thought Community Development Director Updegrave was bringing forward an interpretation of ADU state law. She stated, regarding what is enforceable, we are trying to avoid people bouncing back and forth between the house and the ADU, effectively removing it as affordable housing.
Community Development Director Updegrave clarified that we checked with HCD and the state ADU law does not regulate how it is used and HCD did not have a comment on that. She thinks the requirement would be for the person to have the ADU as their primary residence, which is not the same as having the main dwelling as the primary residence; that is the distinction currently in the definition for the hosted. Someone can have an ADU as their primary residence, which does not include swapping back and forth.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked how does someone apply on application, i.e. for an unhosted STR, you have to say what your primary residence is as to the applicant and owner.
Community Development Director Updegrave agreed, adding that we will need documentation of the primary residence as well once this goes into effect; part of the implementation is they will need to provide documentation of their primary residence. She stated all STRs will be required to be within a primary residence under the draft ordinance. She stated, to get an STR permit, an applicant would have to provide documentation that the STR is within the primary residence.
Councilmember Wright asked if a corporation could buy a house with an ADU and rent out both.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated there can only be one ADU per site and you could not rent out both.
Community Development Director Updegrave reiterated you cannot have an STR in an ADU.
Mayor pro Tem Boles confirmed that she said you cannot have an STR in an ADU.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano responded affirmatively. She stated that the primary residency could be in the ADU, if that is what we are proposing.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that is allowing an STR in an ADU.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated no, the operator would be in the ADU.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated we are talking about renting the main house when they are living in the ADU.
Asst. City Attorney answered affirmatively.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated it is not a primary residence anymore if they are living in the ADU.
Councilmember Espinosa stated that we are going to lose one unit if the homeowner uses the the ADU as a rental. She stated that we need more housing.
Mayor pro Tem Boles suggested, as our rules say that you cannot use ADUs for STRs, and even if it is your primary residence, you cannot use it as a STR.
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Mayor Beckmeyer stated that you are not going to because you live in the ADU but you are using the big house on the same property as the STR.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that is not your primary residence so you cannot rent it out.
Councilmember Espinosa asked, if you do live in the primary residence and you have an ADU that you want to rent out as an STR.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that you cannot as it is against local and state law. She stated that staff was thinking we wanted this option to allow someone who built an ADU to live in the ADU and rent out the whole house as a STR but she does not think that was Council’s intention.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked how to remove the option from the ordinance.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated we would need to go through and revise it. She stated we would need to be clear that the primary residence on the site could not be an ADU and that operators who had an ADU could not operate the STR from the ADU; if it is hosted, it would have to be hosted from the primary residence, not the ADU. She thinks it would require revisions in a few places, but it sounded like the majority of Council wanted to eliminate it. She stated that it is currently allowed now, although not explicit in the ADU ordinance, but we can revise the proposed ordinance to be explicit that it would prohibited.
Mayor Beckmeyer thought that would be preferable. She stated we would move onto complaint response time.
Councilmember Bier stated prior direction from Council was to require a 24/7 responsible party who must respond to complaints within 30 minutes by phone or in person.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated the responsible party needs to be a natural person that can get to the house. In the case of a noise complaint, that person can get there in 30 minutes and take care of business, up to including evicting the people if they have to. She does not mean every noise complaint has to be responded to in person; however, if it escalates, they have to take care of it.
Councilmember Bier agreed 24/7 responsible parties must respond to complaints within 30 minutes and to strike out “by phone”.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thinks staff will always try to reach them by phone first but we need to be able to have someone be there in 30 minutes so that means they may have to hire someone who is local who can provide that response time if they are traveling.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that, if they just blow it off, that is a strike and we have to make clear what it is that we expect. She felt, if it says “by phone or in person,” it leaves it open to the option of the responsible party to say they called and did their duty. She stated that it is leaving the discretion to the person but we want them to be able to go over there and take care of it.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated that the problem she sees with that is that there may be a number of times where getting in the car and getting over there is not necessary or warranted.
She thinks there has to be some discretion to the operator. If there are violations because of what is going on there and they do not personally attend to it, there will be other methods of enforcement to address that issue. To mandate in the ordinance that they have to go over and respond in person in 30 minutes seems unnecessary for a majority of the complaints.
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Mayor Beckmeyer asked how we tighten the language so that it does not leave it open to the judgment of the responsible party that they fulfilled their duty by making a phone call. If the conditions persist, that responsible party needs to do a next level intervention.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated one option would be to say “the responsible party shall, within 30 minutes of a complaint, determine the response necessary to the complaint and respond in person if appropriate or by telephone call if it is not a substantial or significant issue”.
Councilmember Wright suggested “resolve the issue within 30 minutes”.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano agreed and stated, “if the issue can be resolved within 30 minutes, the responsible party does not need to appear in person”.
Mayor pro Tem Boles referred to a public comment by Cindy Abbott: for hosted STRs, “the operator shall be the host and responsible party […] for unhosted STRs, the responsible party may be the property owner, operator, or the operator’s agent. In all cases, the responsible party shall be a local contact person who shall meet all of the following minimal qualifications: 1) be available 24 hours per day and seven days a week when the short-term vacation rental is in operation and 2) be accessible and able to respond in person at the short-term vacation rental within a reasonable time of 30 minutes to any complaint regarding condition, operation, or conduct of occupants of the dwelling and 3) be responsive to take remedial action necessary to resolve any violation of the requirements of this section”.
City Manager Woodhouse asked about a situation where an STR host receives a call in the middle of an event but cannot respond in 30 minutes. He thought the issue can be resolved by phone, but there are scenarios like this that are not enforceable, which Council should consider.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought we should set expectations so people know that they have to have someone who is available.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano asked if a majority of Council wants to use the language read by Mayor pro Tem Boles.
Councilmember Wright asked the City Attorney to review it to make it appropriate.
There was Council consensus to include the cited language regarding complaint response time.
Mayor Beckmeyer moved on to hosted STR presence on-site.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked how are we defining when a host is there and the public comments suggested requiring nighttime hours. She thinks that is hard, as someone could work nights.
She stated that they may need to spend part of every day that they are hosting. She stated that will be impossible to enforce, but the expectation is that you cannot say that you are having a hosted rental and you go out of town for the weekend.
Councilmember Bier added that you could not respond within 30 minutes.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that you can have somebody do it for you.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that is specifically with a hosted rental. She stated that some of the City Council Regular Meeting 13 April 14, 2025
public comment stated that they have to be there 24 hours a day during the time that the hosted rental is occupied by rental guests, and she thinks that is unrealistic. She thinks other public comments put a finer point to it which is at night when the disturbances are happening. She is favoring the night time and setting the expectation either in our application or somewhere. She stated, generally speaking, you should not get to be a hosted STR and not be there at night.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated that is generally why there is that responsible party requirement. If there is a complaint or issue, somebody has to be available 24/7.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated that the responsible party is required for both hosted and unhosted.
Councilmember Espinosa stated that it is okay because, if you are at work and you are hosting the STR and something happens, somebody has to be there or do something.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that there can be a loophole where somebody says that they are doing something hosted and it is not. She stated that is up to enforcement and neighbors to call in if they are not complying with the terms of their permit.
Councilmember Espinosa asked if we will leave the 24 hours for both.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated yes to a responsible party responding but explicitly stating that the host who lives in that house has to be there 24 hours the whole time is not reasonable.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thinks we can let this one go and if it comes back with something we can address later. She did not think this is as important as we have responsible parties that are going show up, whether it is the host or somebody they hired if they are unavailable, and that takes care of the issue.
Mayor Beckmeyer reiterated that the concern expressed was about nighttime parties.
Councilmember Bier stated we have made many changes and felt that one we can let go.
Councilmember Wright stated that there is nothing stopping Council from changing it again if we continue to have problems.
Mayor Beckmeyer understands that we would have to send to the Coastal Commission and asked that to close all the loopholes and fix the problems this time.
Councilmember Wright asked staff if there was any way that we can fine operators for any cost to the City regarding responses to complaints for STRs.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated, for loud and unruly gatherings, there is a process in place and we can charge host of parties and social hostings for cost of response time.
Councilmember Wright asked if we can put something in the application process that would forewarn operators of this being a possibility.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano thinks staff can include that, as there are already provisions in the ordinance referring to the loud and unruly gatherings in the social host ordinance.
City Council Regular Meeting 14 April 14, 2025
There was Council consensus to leave the language as is for hosted STR presence on-site.
Mayor Beckmeyer would like to include a definition of a natural person in the list of definitions.
Mayor pro Tem Boles agreed, adding “a living human being”.
Mayor Beckmeyer referred to signage and content of signs, insurance requirement, website and map, and noise.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated we listed a few things before, including “operator”.
Mayor Beckmeyer agreed, stating that is why she wants to have a definition of a natural person.
She stated that, in the distinction between operator and owner, there is a legal definition that we cannot change in the country and state. She stated that the way of addressing that is by stating the operator must have proof of residency and another piece of documentation related to the fact that they are a person, but we did not have a definition of “person” or “natural person” anywhere in our definition list, hence why she wants it included.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that the definition of “operator” now means “the person who has applied,” but she thinks the question is whether that can say “natural person”. Therefore, the owner can be a corporation, etc., but the operator must be a natural person.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated that the ordinance is not focused on ownership issues. The operator is a person who has applied for a STR permit or has been issued a STR permit by the City. The person definition includes a natural person and other legal entities. She stated that the operator must get permission from the owner if the operator is not the owner of the property.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thinks that is what we were trying to get to be a natural person, understanding that the ownership can be a corporation, but she knows that is not the recommendation.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if it was okay to add that definition to their definition list. She is not saying supplanting the other definitions.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated she is fine with adding the definition of “natural person”.
Councilmember Bier would like to add “composting” to the trash and recycling requirement in Section 9-4.
Councilmember Wright and Mayor Beckmeyer agreed.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated that there are already requirements that they comply with trash and recycling requirements for the City, which would include composting requirements for any residents.
Councilmember Bier and Mayor Beckmeyer thought it did not explicitly state composting.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated it does not, as that is mixed in to the trash and recycling requirements. She stated we can add it, but it would be the same requirements that is whatever is currently imposed on multifamily dwelling units or single family residential.
City Council Regular Meeting 15 April 14, 2025
There was Council consensus to add “composting” to the trash and recycling requirement in Section 9-4.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated the definition of “operator” means “the person who has applied for a STR permit or has been issued a STR permit by the City”. She wanted to confirm it is not “natural person” but just “person” for that. She stated that there is no way around that. She stated that we could define owner, too, as “a person who has the legal or rightful title to the property or has written consent from the property to be operated”.
Councilmember Wright asked what if the owner is a property manager for somebody.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that was a natural person. She stated that the issue we were talking about before is that the City Attorney was having issues with the corporation counting as person. She stated that corporations can own STRs but they still have to have a primary residency requirement and that would be helpful if that was in the definition of operator.
Mayor Beckmeyer agreed.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated we have a primary residency requirement, not in the definition.
Mayor pro Tem Boles understood. She stated that the suggestion she has says “operator” means “a natural person who has primary residency and who has applied for a STR permit”.
Councilmember Bier stated that it says “natural person” in the definition of “responsible party” and thought it could also say “natural person” in “operator”.
Mayor Beckmeyer and Mayor pro Tem Boles agreed.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated that staff have made their recommendations to Council.
She stated that the Council can do what the Council desires to do. It is up to Council what is contained in the ordinance.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that Council have asked for a definition of “natural person,” and Mayor pro Tem Boles was asking for the insertion of the word “natural” in front of the word “person” in the part that describes the “operator”.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated if that is the desire of Council.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that her concern is that, legally, corporations are people, and so may AI. She thinks we need to be explicit to avoid loopholes, even if there are risks.
Councilmember Bier stated the definition underneath it says “person means natural person” among other things. She agreed that we should add it.
Mayor Beckmeyer and Councilmember Espinosa agreed.
Councilmember Wright stated he is having a hard time with it, as it seems like what we are doing is saying there are no unhosted; if there is a primary residence requirement, there can be no unhosted STRS.
City Council Regular Meeting 16 April 14, 2025
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that is not true, as primary residency requirement is for owning an STR, but you can still go away for 60 days, which is the definition of unhosted.
Councilmember Wright asked if that was the intent of what we are asking for.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that this is different. This is saying that operators are not a corporation but are real persons.
Councilmember Wright asked how that makes any difference in anything.
Councilmember Espinosa stated that it does, as now we have AI agents that can answer any question you want.
Councilmember Wright asked if the operator or the agent needs to show up within a half hour.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated the point is about running businesses and having corporations take over our housing stock to run STRs as businesses.
Councilmember Wright stated, if this may accomplish that, he is for it.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano wanted to point out that the change to requiring the operator be a natural person will not eliminate corporations from coming in and applying as a natural person.
She does not see this as addressing what Council is seeking to address. She stated that what we do have in the ordinance as proposed now are ways to address the concerns that are mentioned: a primary residency requirement, a prohibition on having multiple STRs, and many other regulations that address the concerns that Council has raised about corporations having multiple STRs in Pacifica. She isn’t sure that adding “natural” to the definition of “operator” addresses those particular concerns and, in fact, may create more concerns.
Councilmember Wright stated he is okay as the only dissenting vote but clarified he is not in favor of corporations.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thinks it will take multiple steps to try to peel back our housing from corporations that have taken over. She stated that there are corporations that buy them and corporations that are just managing them. She thought every bit can help.
There was Council consensus to insert the word “natural” in front of the word “person” in the definition of “operator”.
Mayor Beckmeyer proceeded to insurance requirements.
Councilmember Wright stated he has a question for Asst. City Attorney Bazzano about insurance requirements.
Mayor pro Tem Boles noticed this in other city ordinances, i.e. Half Moon Bay’s ordinance states, “The operator shall file a certificate of insurance showing the maintenance of insurance and the amount appropriate to cover any liability of the operator for property damage and injuries to persons in connection with short-term vacation rental activities.” She stated that the point is you have house insurance and that covers you living there but you need a different kind of policy if you are renting it out as a business. She did not think we need to get into the specifics, just that they have to provide, along with their application, a copy of their certificate of City Council Regular Meeting 17 April 14, 2025
insurance; in doing so, they partly notify their insurance company that they are running a business and they have the right insurance and cover if someone is hurt or a neighbor’s property is damaged so there is some recourse.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that we are presently not addressing that.
Mayor pro Tem Boles responded affirmatively. She stated it was on her list but she did not get to it the last time.
Councilmember Wright understood. He asked the Asst. City Attorney if there was any possibility of Council including either in the licensing process to request that the operators indemnify the City from any potential lawsuits arising out of their operation of their STR or would it be a better idea to insist that the City be additionally insured on their policy.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated that there are statutory immunities that would apply to the City. Issuing the permit does not necessarily expose the City to liability because there are immunities that the City could claim. The City does, for land use, have applications that require indemnity and defense because the City could be sued as a result of the project. She does not know if we have any sort of indemnity language on the application now but it is something we can look at. She stated that his second question is about additional insurance to cover those legal expenses. She stated that the problem with generally requiring insurance is that there could be a false sense of security in that the insurance is not renewed, the insurance certificate was insufficient, alongside the possibility that the insurance declaration said they prohibit any commercial use of the residential property and the City would have to track that it is identified that there is a policy and the policy identifies the City as an additional insured and the City would be able to collect on the insurance policy if there was an instant that occurred. She stated it would be a lot of work. She stated indemnifying the City from potential lawsuits due to the STR operations would likely not be necessary with these types of permits but we can look into that and see what language is in the application if any. She stated this is completely different from insurance, as an indemnity provision would be some language we put in the application or in the permit saying that the City is not liable for anything.
Mayor pro Tem Boles and Councilmember Bier thought we should have insurance requirements.
Councilmember Wright asked if this meant having an insurance certificate on file with the City.
Mayor Beckmeyer thought we are asking too much at this point. She referred to Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stating that we have to go through and verify it.
Councilmember Wright stated that was different, as it was if we were additionally insured.
Councilmember Bier stated we have to have our own insurance when we rent IBL’s cafeteria.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated that we can have a general insurance requirement but she asked if the Council wants specific limits of any type of policies.
Councilmember Espinosa thought the provider would tell them what they need to get covered.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that the language she read talked about what insurance it is, not auto insurance: “The operator shall file a certificate of insurance showing the maintenance of City Council Regular Meeting 18 April 14, 2025
insurance and the amount appropriate to cover any liability of the opera tor for property damage and injuries to persons in connection with short-term vacation rental activities.” Councilmember Wright mentioned we could ask them to make sure they file the fact that they did that with their mortgage holder as well. He stated that it may be very different if they are claiming it as a primary residence and using it as something other than that, if real intent is to get away from corporations.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated her real intent here is to make sure we are protected and the neighbors are protected if something goes wrong and that there is a place to collect money.
City Manager Woodhouse would like to make it clear that, if Council is going to support the insurance requirement, it will add a significant workload to staff who will be in the business of verifying insurance and establishing the coverages.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated we do not need to verify the coverage, only ask for a certificate of insurance.
City Manager Woodhouse asked how we know that certificate is valid.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated it is in the application and, if something happens, then they have violated their application by not having proper insurance, and that is a strike.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that we do not know it is a strike unless we are verifying it.
Mayor pro Tem Boles states that we do not know if it is a strike unless something comes up.
She stated that we will not be able to verify everything on the application.
Councilmember Espinosa asked if they can bring it when they apply. She stated that the insurer will give them a document that shows that the City is insured.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought attaching it to their application is enough.
Mayor Beckmeyer concluded it is part of the application.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that can be done but it is not enforceable.
Community Development Director Updegrave believes the concern is whether staff has the ability to verify whether that is a valid document.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated to just have it in the file. If something happens to a neighbor’s house, we can tell them what appears as their insurance company. They might still have to sue them, and that is the other language.
Councilmember Wright asked if we are allowed to release that information to the public.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated it would be a public record so she thinks it will be something that could be released, unless an exemption applies.
Councilmember Wright did not see any harm in including it, unverified, in the application.
City Council Regular Meeting 19 April 14, 2025
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that it is putting them on notice that they need to talk to their insurance company, as they are running a business from their home.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano added that Community Development Director Updegrave mentioned that the certificate itself is not a document that is typically relied on as it does not have any of the exclusions or policy coverages. Any information related to the policy itself is not on the certificate, just the coverage limits.
Councilmember Wright asked what is the document we rely on.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated we should look at the policy itself, which will have all the limitations of the policy.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that one difference is we can ask the applicants to attach documents to the application but it is not a condition of being granted the permit, as we are not taking any action to verify the insurance.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that it is like asking to provide the HOA letter.
Councilmember Espinosa thinks it is better to have the document there than not having insurance, even if it is not verifiable.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano asked if a majority of Council would like to require the insurance with the certificate.
There was Council consensus to include submission of a certificate of insurance with the application.
Mayor Beckmeyer referred to the signage and content of signs.
Councilmember Wright stated he would prefer that we have them mail out information for doing complaints to 500 feet around their place as opposed to having signage in front of them.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated he preferred notification instead of signage.
Councilmember Espinosa stated that, with signage, people do not want to have a phone number in front of the property that anybody can call. She thinks the best is to give the phone number to each neighbor on each side of the house as they will be the ones complaining.
Mayor Beckmeyer concluded that it is a notification issued to neighbors, more than a sign in front of the house. She asked if there was recommendation from the Planning Commission about signs or sizes of the signs.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that there was in a lot of detail. She asked what is currently on the sign, the size, and the QR code and what it covers.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated that the current draft ordinance says, “Each STR site shall be identified with signage with a single weatherproof exterior sign, not more than 2 square feet in total area, posted either at the front of the site and visible from the right of way for single family dwelling and on a door if it is hosted multi-family or condominium […] needs a STR permit number, a QR code with a minimum size, and it would have the City Council Regular Meeting 20 April 14, 2025
operator’s name and contact information, responsible party’s name and contact information is different and a link to the City’s code enforcement website.” Mayor pro Tem Boles stated there were comments from some of the operators that were worried about their privacy if their contact information was included.
Councilmember Espinosa stated that they should have signage so people know it is a STR and for complaints to the City.
Mayor Beckmeyer thought the issue was the purpose of the sign. It is calling attention to the fact that it is a STR.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought it should link to the website that has all the rules and the list of valid STRs, which is part of the website they talked about. She agreed that there must be a way for someone to be able to contact a responsible party at least.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated that we will likely have a template they can use so that the signs are uniform. She stated the Planning Commission asked to add “on a form approved by the administrator,” hence the staff-made template.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated that these signs would be exempt from a permit requirement for the signs.
Councilmember Wright asked if there was any liability to the City by requiring them to put a sign in front of their house declaring they may not be home.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano responded negatively.
Councilmember Bier stated she does feel hesitant about having contact information. She asked if the purpose of the QR code was to have the operators’ information there or to get more information about STRs.
Mayor Beckmeyer thought it was brought forward as a request because people wanted a clear way to complain if there is an issue with the operation of that STR.
Councilmember Bier thought the information can go to Code Enforcement for them to submit a complaint about the address. She did not like having the operator’s name and information.
Councilmember Wright also did not like having the operator’s information there, but he would like to see it mailed out to the immediate neighbors so they know how to get ahold of them in the event there is a problem in order to try to cut down on the amount of responses from PD if it can be resolved with a phone call to the operator.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that we talked about some neighbor notification before and staff was pushing back on that as another big work item.
Councilmember Wright asked if staff can remind them of that.
City Manager Woodhouse stated neighborhood notification is a significant staff undertaking. If we put it on the operator to do the mailing, how do we verify that. He thought that was an unenforceable action and how frequently is it, i.e. every year when the permits are renewed. If City Council Regular Meeting 21 April 14, 2025
that were for every permitted STR, that would be a significant staff undertaking.
Mayor Beckmeyer thought that was the intent to avoid that.
Councilmember Wright stated he did not want to put additional burden on staff for this.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that we should encourage STR operators to get the information to the neighbors. She saw the issue with putting an owner’s name and number, but a responsible party could be someone you are hiring to do the job so it is not necessarily a personal contact.
Councilmember Espinosa stated nothing will happen. Her number is out there, as she is a listed agent, and she gets calls like everyone else.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thinks they need to have someone that they can call if there is a complaint and not necessarily have to bother police.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated, to the City Manager’s point, putting that on staff would be an additional lift in time, materials, etc. If we have a well-defined neighbor notification parameters, we could require certified mail as part of the application to prove neighbor notice with the information for the responsible party.
Councilmember Wright stated he hears that as a win-win solution.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if there could be a notice sent by certified mail and we define it like three houses on either side, three in the back, three in the front.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked how they get the addresses and is it staff looking it up for them.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated that often they probably would be requesting addresses from staff.
Mayor pro Tem Boles suggested keeping the sign and the number for the responsible party.
Councilmember Espinosa agreed.
Mayor Beckmeyer concluded the sign, responsible party, and contact information for Code Enforcement.
Councilmember Wright stated for code enforcement, as he is in favor of responsible party and not putting someone’s phone number on it.
Councilmember Espinosa stated then someone in the City has to deal with that.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated she was talking to some people in Sharp Park and they have the name of the owner and they call him regularly because they do not want to burden staff. She stated however we can give people the opportunity to make that connection and not having to burden staff is a win for everybody.
Councilmember Wright asked why it is our responsibility and not the owner’s responsibility. He thought they can do that by sharing their phone number with their neighbor.
City Council Regular Meeting 22 April 14, 2025
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated we do not know they will do that and we cannot verify that.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that the only way we can verify it is if we make staff do it which is a workload. She does not want that to happen anymore.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that all this was reviewed at the Planning Commission meeting and they were going to include the numbers. She brought it up because of concern by three operators about showing their private numbers.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated what she is hearing is to go with the Planning Commission recommendations, even though there are some operators that have concerns about it.
There was Council consensus to go with Planning Commission recommendation to include operator contact.
Mayor Beckmeyer moved on to the map on the City’s website of where the STRs are located.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought it is okay to list of addresses alphabetically by street names.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated like we do for the oversized vehicles.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated if that is easier to maintain instead of something graphic.
Mayor Beckmeyer recalled staff had concern about this as a workload issue, as it would be changing all the time and it would not be constantly updated. She thinks it could be if there was a dynamic list. She thought there could a disclosure that says it is updated as of a certain date.
She thinks people should have access to information about where the STRs are.
Councilmember Bier agreed.
Councilmember Wright thought there might be an axillary benefit of helping find unlicensed STRs.
Mayor Beckmeyer does not know how staff wants to create the list or the map or post it on the website, but that is the request.
Councilmember Wright asked how much this would cost in terms of estimated staff time.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated that, at this time, we do not have a publicfacing GIS and she thinks it would be challenging to implement this in a map format, but we could create a list. She stated that it is a matter of staff time to maintain and update it.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if HdL updated these lists regularly.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated she would need to look into how their information is maintained but a list would be more manageable, as we should be able to draw from HDL’s information and publish that.
Councilmember Bier thinks a list of addresses is fine.
Councilmember Wright was not clear on how much cost it takes to make and maintain the list.
City Council Regular Meeting 23 April 14, 2025
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that HdL does the list already, as shown in our staff report.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated it was a matter of getting it into a format where we can place it on the public webpage and have regular updates, whether monthly or quarterly or with every permit, and we have to see how that would work. She stated that a majority of their permits will come in at the same time with the renewal and dating that list.
Councilmember Espinosa stated that we need an AI agent for that.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated we are going to have a public-facing GIS someday and it is very close.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano reminded Council that the addition of the platform accountability language from City of Santa Monica will require a list that has to be cross-checked by the platforms, so City staff will need to maintain a very current list so the platforms can cross-check.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that the easiest way to get that available to the public is what we want on the website.
There was Council consensus to include on the City website a list of STR addresses to be maintained by the City.
Mayor Beckmeyer moved onto noise.
Councilmember Wright believed that staff’s response was that our noise ordinance already covers it and we should not be wasting our time on this.
Councilmember Bier and Mayor pro Tem Boles agreed with that. Mayor pro Tem added that an example she found in one city was very complicated.
There was Council consensus not to include decibels in the STR ordinance.
Mayor pro Tem Boles referred to “private right of action,” which suggested by Better Neighbors LA. She read “including a private right of action would provide residents with the ability to pursue legal action against host and platforms that violate the regulations. This takes some of the enforcement burden off of the City. Cities like Santa Monica, West Hollywood and San Francisco have already adopted this enforcement mechanism.” Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated that a private right of action is included in some regulatory programs. She is not familiar with it being included in zoning ordinances, but they would need to research and see if that is appropriate. She believes it would be appropriate, but they want research to confirm. She stated that the challenge with private rights of action is that a lot of people do not want to initiate a lawsuit against their neighbor and would rather have the City enforce the regulations. She agreed it could provide some relief but is unlikely that people will take advantage of that; most people would just prefer to have the city enforce the regulations.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought that is the preference but knows there has been trouble with enforcement.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated that they can sue their neighbors now for private nuisance or even public nuisance and there is nothing that prevents them from doing it.
City Council Regular Meeting 24 April 14, 2025
Mayor Beckmeyer is not clear on why we need to put this in there.
Mayor pro Tem Boles does not know what the difference is.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated that the difference would be that they would sue on a Municipal Code rather than a public or private nuisance.
Mayor Beckmeyer concluded that they can only do that if it says that in our ordinance. She stated it was like we are giving the public permission to sue on the basis of our ordinance.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano answered affirmatively, stating that the City is the only entity that can enforce its laws generally.
Mayor Beckmeyer thought that makes sense, especially for egregious bad actors.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated that, to be clear, the City would probably necessarily be involved in that lawsuit as they would want the City to say whether or not they are interpreting the laws correctly or whether or not the City did play any role in enforcement. It is not negating the potential that the City would be named as a party in that lawsuit but allowing them to initiate the lawsuit.
Councilmember Wright asked if the person with the STR would have to pay for our lawyers because of the indemnification discussed earlier.
Asst. City Attorney Bazzano stated possibly. She would want to do research to confirm that this is an appropriate approach in a zoning ordinance. If direction from Council is to research and potentially include that if possible, we can do that.
There was Council consensus to perform research into private right of action in relation to the STR ordinance.
Mayor Beckmeyer called for a break and then reconvened the meeting.
RESULT: NO VOTE REQUIRED
CONSIDERATION
7. Approve the updated City of Pacifica 2023 to 2030 Strategic Plan Mission, Vision, Values, Goals and Strategies
PROPOSED ACTION: Approve the updated City of Pacifica 2023 to 2030 Strategic Plan Mission, Vision, Values, Goals and Strategies (Attachment A).
City Manager Woodhouse and Consultant Greg Larson presented the staff report.
Mayor Beckmeyer wanted to clarify Item B of “1. Enhance organizational and fiscal stability” would read “pursue possible tax, bond and other revenue opportunities”.
Consultant Larson answered affirmatively
City Council Regular Meeting 25 April 14, 2025
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked for Item C of “4. Pursue climate change adaptation and mitigation” if we should update to “Certify and begin implementation of Pacifica’s Local Coastal Plan and continue collaborations with the Coastal Commission”.
There was Council consensus to add “begin implementation” to the above.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated for the workplan items there was one particular item like the tree ordinance that was off-track and staff’s answer was that we will not be able to work on that this year. She thought it was important to communicate when things are slipping more as we do not have any dates to know whether the work is continuing immediately or being pushed off.
City Manager Woodhouse agreed. He stated the intention and best practice of the system, and why we are using AchieveIt is to have quarterly updates that are publicly facing about the progress on all of these projects and the explanations for why things are taking longer, whether in or not our control.
Mayor pro Tem Boles hopes staff can describe if some things that are listed on the workplan that are not intended to be on staff’s work plan for this coming year.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that some of the work plan items can span multiple years, and that the staff-level work plan is detailed on how we will get this work done. Council focus is on the why and what of the work done to achieve the strategic plan and staff is being transparent about details about how this can get done. If Council has specific questions about timeline, staff can answer those at this point in time, if possible; otherwise, those are evolving timelines.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if Mayor pro Tem Boles was referring to packet pages 394 to 395:
Task 4.2 “Bring preservation ordinance back to City Council for modification as necessary” and Task 4.2.4 “Phase 2 tree program work to develop urban forestry management plan”.
Mayor pro Tem Boles added Task 4.2.1.1, “Work on process for a streamlined implementation” which says it is off track, as it was supposed to be done in 2024. She thinks it is good to know.
Mayor Beckmeyer agreed as Council may be thinking and the public may be thinking that work is happening on that but, when it is off-track, it is not happening. Staff are working on figuring out how to track the new due date or the current due date without losing track of what the original intention was for accountability and follow through. She would like the idea of a quarterly update of the entire plan or a section of the plan to refresh periodically throughout the year where we are so that we can all understand it and have an opportunity to ask questions rather than going through a whole year later when we do Strategic Planning updates. She thinks it is important to be clear so the public understands and Council understands. She stated that being clearer with the language and having an opportunity to have a more robust discussion so we can get public input and explain what we are doing exactly and people have a better understanding of what that is. She stated that this raised questions with regard to the Sanchez Art Center site. She thought we need to explore this further and provide more clarity on what steps we see happening with regard to this specific site. She stated that Task 3.3.4, on packet page 394, is all related to the Housing Element section that has to do with city-owned property. She stated that is why the Sanchez Library and Sanchez Art Center sites are called out because they are in the Housing Element and her understanding is that this was because of the requirements of Housing and Community Development Department under our Housing Element requirement and we need to address the possibility of building housing on City-owned property. In order to do that, we need to start with a fitness of what kind of housing might work City Council Regular Meeting 26 April 14, 2025
on that site. She asked if that is what is referenced as the RFP, where it says “release RFPs for Sanchez Library and Sanchez Art Center,” “identify consultant to conduct test fits,” and “prepare RFPs for Sanchez Library and Sanchez Art Center”.
City Manager Woodhouse stated the way a large project like this would work is study sessions with Council to identify what all of the components are if Council is interested in fitting on the site, i.e. Art Center, playing fields, housing, theater, among other things, and that defines the scope of the RFP for the fit study and any actions taken after that.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that those are the items that Council will be working with when brought forward at a Council meeting; we will have an opportunity for input prior to release of the RFP.
It is already called out in the Housing Element document itself, referencing maintaining the Sanchez Art Center on that whole site. She thinks it is important that we are clear and detailed in explaining what we are doing with the sites and what the next steps are going to be.
Councilmember Bier thinks being clear about how we are including the community in these conversations was important, but she wonders if that discussion is for after public comment.
Mayor pro Tem Boles had thoughts to add about this item after public comments as well.
Councilmember Wright clarified that Council still has the ability, because they are City-owned properties, to condition these RFPs at their discretion.
City Manager Woodhouse agreed. He added that he wanted to be clear that this seven-year Strategic Plan with tasks and subtasks that fulfill all the strategies for the five Council goals is not intended to be the detailed project level work plan for any of these projects. He mentioned that there is a work plan item in there to implement the STR ordinance, but we do not detail all of the intense staff work that will be necessary for implementation and enforcement of the STR ordinance; that is not the goal of this work plan. Those kinds of details come out when staff is presenting the project, kicking it off in study session with Council, and getting community input.
He wants to make sure that it is not Council’s expectation that this Strategic Plan work plan would be so detailed it would become massively untenable.
Councilmember Wright moved to extend the meeting to 12:00 AM; seconded by Mayor pro Tem Boles.
EXTEND MEETING TO 12:00 AM
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
SECONDER: Christine Boles, Mayor pro Tem
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
Consultant Larson completed the staff report.
Mayor Beckmeyer opened public comments.
Kimberly Finale, Pacifica, stated she is speaking as a private citizen on behalf of Pete DeJarnett. She read his handwritten comment regarding his approval of the Pacifica Climate Action Report and creation of a Pacifica Environmental Commission.
City Council Regular Meeting 27 April 14, 2025
Margo Meiman, Pacifica, expressed her surprise that staff considered the Sustainability Commission would be infeasible without reprioritization. She felt strongly that the Sustainability Commission was important as part of implementation for the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan and emphasized that the City needed volunteers in some form to move the Plan forward.
Monica Meagher, Pacifica, stated she is the chair of the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan Task Force and posed three items: 1) The FTE support for Pacifica’s committees/commissions, 2) Benefits of the Sustainability Commission, and 3) Follow through with the Task Force and implementation of the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. She urged City Council to reject staff’s recommendation and to move forward with creation of new Environmental Commission.
Cindy Abbott, Pacifica, stated she is here as the Director of the Sanchez Art Center and she appreciated the clarification about the timelines in the work plan and hoped the conversations about a fit test for the site would involve the community and take place soon.
Gail Benton Shoemaker, Pacifica, read a letter from Tree City Pacifica regarding three requests related to the Strategic Plan: 1) Tree City Pacifica agrees that Arbor Day should be designated as an official City-sponsored event, 2) Tree City Pacifica recommended the Adopt-aTree Program become part of a City Commission/Committee, and 3) Tree City Pacifica requested that the CAAP Task Force be transformed into an ongoing committee or commission focused on implementation of the CAAP.
Lyla Reinero, Pacifica, supported everything Ms. Abbott said.
Mike Wahlman, Pacifica, stated he enjoyed the productive session on March 1 and emphasized the importance of bringing closure to tasks, specifically relating to a State-approved housing development plan.
Mayor Beckmeyer closed public comments.
Councilmember Bier thought the following were on-track: Task 1.3.4.5 “Blues and Brews Annual Event” and Task 1.3.5.4 “Conducting RFP to solicit the non-profit organization to manage the PTMD and complete the transition”.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated Task 1.3.5.4 was originally on the work plan last year and the dates need to be re-calibrated. It is currently listed as off-track because we did not form the district last year, but it is on track.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated it is important to understand the items that have been carried along from the previous year that have not been achieved yet and need to be added to the new work plan. Once it is there, the intent is to change the date with the new date.
Councilmember Bier referred to the E-bikes and Bike/Ped Conflicts on the Bike Rack items. The C/CAG Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee recently had a presentation about E-bike safety; it is a complex issue and there is work going on regionally. She thinks her role in the Ebike discussion is to bring as much information to City staff as she can on what is going on regionally. She thinks it will be important to look at the regional work going on, pay attention to the county ordinances, and try to work towards those. She agreed it should be on the Bike Rack. However, she wants the community to understand that there is work going on and Pacifica is part of that work and conversation and will continue to be. Regarding the Sustainability Environmental Commission, she believed that is the most important work we can City Council Regular Meeting 28 April 14, 2025
be doing. She suggested looking at OSPAC and then expanding it in some way to be the Sustainability Environmental Commission and have OSPAC be a branch of that commission.
She believes that Open Space and Parkland are part of our CAAP. She wondered about the PB&R Commission or BAC’s capacity to discuss Adopt-a-Tree and create a work group to take that on. She mentioned the curated art in the Council Chambers’ community art corner and having a community art program where different community groups could put things in that corner. She stated it does not have to be curated art across the whole city.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated Blues and Brews is being worked on by the Economic Development Committee now but she was surprised to see it on the work plan as a commitment for 2025-2026. She knows there was some dissent among the committee and merchants last year and she thought we may need an evaluation and reporting before we decide that this something that we want to continue.
Councilmember Bier stated Economic Development Committee is having those conversations.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked, generally, where is Council’s direction to the committees and are there other projects we might want them working on but they cannot because they are working on that and is that the best use of their time. She thinks it is important for Council to have that conversation to get some feedback and not just within that committee. She was surprised to see that it is a staff commitment. She understands the committee’s commitment but this is committing staff and City resources to it. On Task 1.3.11, “promoting housing as economic infrastructure,” she stated that we are having less to say about housing projects with State law and asked if there is something we need to do for some marketing reasons.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that ties into what was discussed at the Strategic Planning workshop. Building housing is an economic driver in the community and for the City it brings people to restaurants and he thinks that is what that work item is getting at.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that the intent behind this item is to emphasize the need for the economic development side, in addition to the community development; thus, we are tying the two programs together to advocate for and build on the Housing Element and all initiatives.
Economic Development division is working on this as well.
Mayor pro Tem Boles referred to Task 1.5.5, the zoning ordinance, which says with no substantial edits, and described several non-substantive and minor zoning code amendments from last year to be added: 1) Definition of height of buildings and 2) Clarification in 9-4-2502 regarding height of retaining walls. She noted the Manor Overcrossing Project was missing.
She also stated that the work plan is somewhat vague on the Housing Element but then specific on certain things like Sanchez. It was confusing to her as there were some important things, such as dates we promised HCD for particular things, and she wants to make sure those do not get missed, as some of them are important to our affordable housing goals. Starting with Sanchez, HE-I-3, she stated that particular item talked about master planning for the public sites and talked about the two Sanchez properties and the Public Works corp yard; she asked if it was intentional to be left off. She stated that the corp yard and the library are both core sites, but the Sanchez Art Center is a buffer site, and she asked why.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated the corp yard has a later implementation date in 2027 when that work would be due. Part of developing our work plan at this level is to look at what are the things we are going to be able to initiate and get started in the coming fiscal year. The Housing Element directs that work on the city-owned sites to begin this year and that City Council Regular Meeting 29 April 14, 2025
is why those have been included, to look at the test fits for those sites and why we have not incorporated the corp yard yet.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked about moving the Sanchez Art Center down a year or two.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated that is up to Council.
Councilmember Bier suggested while we do visioning with the community.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought that is fine. She looked at the Housing Element agenda and stated a higher priority item than these sites (due by June 2025) was to begin the decertification process for Caltrans or other state-owned lands.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated she can look into those. She stated that they will have a detailed project level Housing Element implementation plan that will be looking at all of the programs, but we did not come to that level of detail with this. We are trying to identify some of those core projects that will require staff time.
Mayor pro Tem Boles referred to the task of “fund the Housing Action Fund,” which said between 2024 and 2026. Next on the agenda we are talking budget-wise about cutting the Housing Action Fund and she is concerned about that in terms of what that looks like for HCD and, if we are cutting that, it will take a while to come up with ordinances to find other sources of money. She would like some consideration to be given to that part of the work plan. She stated that the other one she noted was the “substantial renovation eviction notice” which was supposed to be done by June 2025. She stated that it is an issue that people are being evicted without permits.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated we are currently in conversation with HEART of San Mateo and looking at areas where they can help us develop our affordable housing policies and some of the other programmatic things and ordinances.
Mayor pro Tem Boles agreed with Councilmember Bier’s remarks on the community art corner and would be happy to serve on an ad hoc committee for that. She stated that Council pay could be done, and she suggested, as the City Attorney told them last year at goal setting that the work had already been done, that this can happen next year as it will be part of an election year; therefore, she asked if that was helpful to take it off for this year. She referred to the Ebike sites and thought, if we want to pursue this now, she thought it might be helpful to consider assigning it to PB&R Commission as something they can research. She stated that it is the same for the food truck ordinance and asked if that is something the Economic Development Committee would consider looking into. She thought the Sustainability Commission is the most important thing. She agreed some of OSPAC’s goals being tied to that but she thought there was more technical stuff about the CAAP that is not just about open space. She knows OSPAC’s agendas are fairly full for their meetings. She suggested continuing with the committee we have now and have them draft up what a more permanent committee would be and what the charter could look like. She recalled, at the CivicWell conference, there was a great presentation from the Vice Mayor of Pico Rivera, a suburb of LA, on water sustainability issues; he said completing their CAP and having a sustainability committee was the key to them being able to find all the money for their flooding projects and water reuse projects, etc., and that turned around the city’s capability to do projects and hire more staff because of the money with these grants. She stated the State has committed a ton of money to climate adaptation and greenhouse gas reductions and we need to be in line to get that money.
City Council Regular Meeting 30 April 14, 2025
Councilmember Wright referred to the budgetary challenges we are facing and how to address bringing in more renewable revenue, which he sees all over the Strategic Plan. He thought that Council has a fiduciary responsibility to the City to keep that as the primary focus of what we need to do. He asked the City Manager to address our budget challenge and where we are trying to address additional renewable revenue sources.
City Manager Woodhouse stated the long-term budget forecast indicated an ongoing structural deficit of millions of dollars and not enough operating revenue to cover the operating expenditures; that does not factor in where the employees are in the marketplace and the number of employees Pacifica has compared to our competitor agencies. We have basic staffing resource challenges in addition to hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure needs.
He stated that is different money than the ongoing operating money, as capital money is the one-time money and we need to save operating revenue to pay for or a bond. The Strategic Plan identifies a few items, and in the budget strategies in the next item, such as an emphasis at additional voter-approved tax revenue measures as one way of raising a significant amount of revenue for a city; the other two most significant ways is property tax revenue, Pacifica’s largest source of revenue, and hotel tax revenue or TOT. Property tax revenue, assessed value in the City, does not go up unless we build things, and TOT does not happen unless we build hotels.
He stated those are the two major revenue sources, and the data he provided in the Strategic Planning workshop was, if we were facilitated the building of our RHNA requirement over the next 5 years, that would amount to about $3.5 million more dollars annually of operating revenue via property tax. He stated that those are the numbers that will help Pacifica avoid the death spiral of local government failing because of not having enough revenue. He stated Goal 1 has strategies related to tax increment financing districts that would help with capital dollars and researching other potential voter-approved measures, emphasizing redevelopment of the Council Chambers site for hotel use, and facilitating the building of housing in Pacifica.
Councilmember Wright stated it would also lead into more economic development and generate more revenue, jobs, opportunities, and options for Pacificans. He stated his rough understanding of those numbers is that we are between 30 and 40 employees short, between $8 million and $12 million short yearly on a revenue basis, and our capital shortcomings are in excess of $200 million. He stated Council‘s responsibility is to meet that challenge and address our No. 1 goal as stated in our Strategic Plan.
City Manager Woodhouse answered affirmatively.
Councilmember Wright stated that is why he wants to refocus on Goal No. 1. He asks what Council’s role is in addressing this renewable revenue issue in a Strategic Plan and what do we need to do to help staff address that hole.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that Council has a difficult task in balancing all of the policy decisions they need to make and the community interests and the organizational interests and needs, etc. It is a matter of being very mindful about the limited staff resources that the City has and how those need to remain laser-focused on endeavors that are going to help revenue generation in Pacifica, which is what helps deliver and maintain services for the community. He stated, if we spend our staff time on talented, limited, professional expertise that is limited in bandwidth, and we spend that time on items that do not relate completely to our financial sustainability into the future, then we are not spending them on the more strategic economic opportunity items that we need to be focused on. He stated that it is a tricky balancing act and we need to be able to focus on those priorities.
City Council Regular Meeting 31 April 14, 2025
Councilmember Wright referred to the committees and commissions, and he agreed that we have a lot more needs. He also agreed we have the ability to reorganize some of our committees as suggested by other councilmembers, and we may have a way of re-tasking some of our committees to incorporate some of these tasks, projects, and ideas. He then referred to talking about updates on the Strategic Plan itself, and he asked how much staff time goes into the idea of updating a document of this size on a quarterly basis.
City Manager Woodhouse stated he cannot provide a number for that but the goal in having a more automated program like AchieveIt is that it is each department director and staff managing those projects updating in the program so there should not be a lot of work to do that.
Councilmember Wright asked if there would not be too much benefit doing it three times a year or only twice a year in order to try to save staff time to be more focused on revenue generation.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that twice a year is great to see how the system develops and how the reporting works out. He stated Council is getting updates on projects all year, every month, and every time staff bring an item to them; however, as a whole comprehensive strategic plan update, we can aspire to quarterly, but regular updates is the goal.
Councilmember Wright would be interested to know what staff’s opinion is on the best way to integrate these new committees and commissions with the existing committees we have or is that something staff need to ruminate on and get back to Council on.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that would require more rumination and research.
Mayor Beckmeyer moved to extend the meeting to 12:30 AM; seconded by Councilmember Wright.
EXTEND MEETING TO 12:30 AM
RESULT: ADOPTED [4-1]
MOVER: Sue Beckmeyer, Mayor
SECONDER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Espinosa, Wright
NOES: Bier
Mayor Beckmeyer was concerned about what she is approving tonight.
City Manager Woodhouse clarified that Council is being asked to adopt the Strategic Plan, the mission, vision, goals and values, and strategies, and not the staff work plan. He stated the staff work plan implements the strategies; the dates will be refined and will change when Council gives different direction about the direction of project needs to take during that time, but it is best practice to transparently say what staff is going to do every day on top of all the ordinary day-to-day work do in order to deliver this Strategic Plan. He stated that Council is not being asked to approve this, but he is asking for direction about the Bike Rack items, i.e. if some of those are going to be added, what else is going to be removed from the work plan and what tasks or strategies are we not going to pursue.
Mayor Beckmeyer agreed that E-bikes are happening on many levels, including county and state, and her view is that the place to start with that is PB&R Commission. She thinks there City Council Regular Meeting 32 April 14, 2025
are crossovers with OSPAC. She feels it is becoming a significant issue. She is asking for the committees and commissions to discuss it and she wants to make this a Council referral for them to take it up and discuss and look at what impact they see as an informational exploratory item, not writing an ordinance but a precursor to that. She referred to food trucks and would like this to be something that EDC takes up in this coming year’s work plan, i.e. is this an economic strategy we want to pursue. She emphasized having committees and commissions that are volunteers who are skilled professionals look at some of this and bring it back to Council in the form of a report. She also believed we should not lose the momentum we have going with the CAAP Task Force. She stated that the reality is that some of the items in that Plan are exactly the things we need to be doing with our Coastal Development Plan under our Local Coastal Land Use Plan, i.e. tree canopy. She wanted to ask the CAAP Task Force to help us figure out how to do it. She wanted to put the art on the wall and we have a public art subcommittee under the BAC who may look at what those regulations say to figure out how we keep that in place. She agreed that funding is our No. 1 priority and supported bringing in funding through the CAAP.
Councilmember Wright stated that it is not General Fund dollars.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated it is money that helps capital improvements projects.
Councilmember Wright stated it is not General Fund money that is going to solve our employee and staff problem.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated we have many problems.
Mayor Beckmeyer agreed with Councilmember Wright and we need to find ongoing sustainable dollars. She believed the property tax is coming, but we still have to patch ourselves.
Councilmember Wright agreed.
Mayor Beckmeyer thought we need to immediately accept the recommendation regarding Arbor Day and request to have PB&R Commission continue working in concert with what PW is already doing and Tree City Pacifica on the Arbor Day issue and formalize that. Regarding the Adopt-a-Tree program, she thinks it is more detailed than it is being positioned, and she would like to get us through the pilot we are doing in West Sharp Park and see if we can do another pilot and see how that goes. She wants to let that be a success before we create a whole thing that we have not tried out yet.
City Manager Woodhouse would like to get Council decisions on the Bike Rack items, as he needs to understand what is the very limited scope that is going to be added or what is going to come off of the Strategic Plan in order to accomplish that.
Councilmember Bier asked what it means to give committees and commissions some of these projects for staff’s Strategic Plan.
City Manager Woodhouse agreed, adding that he needs for Council to be very clear about what is being referred to a committee or commission. For example, with E-bikes, if Council assigns that to the PB&R Commission, are they going to do the legal research, the public safety or police research that this issue invokes, and/or trail usage surveys. He stated that there is a breadth of professional items as a full-blown item on the Strategic Plan that the City staff would be researching, such as what is the problem; the status of all state laws and regional laws that City Council Regular Meeting 33 April 14, 2025
are being worked on; and the technologies, public safety issues, and enforcement issues. If Council has an expectation on that example and that staff is going to support the PB&R Commission in researching all that, then something else needs to come off the work plan. If Council is saying PB&R Commission have a conversation about E-bikes, do what research they might do and then write something up and then send it back to Council, eventually he also needs to know if it is Council’s intention that it will lead to a future staff work plan item; if so, at that point in time, he will need to ask what we are dropping in order to pick this up. He stated that the same goes for food trucks, i.e., will EDC do the CEQA compliance, the Coastal Commission LCP research, all of the legal research that food trucks invoke, and convene a meeting to hear from the Seaside Merchants who have already expressed opposition to food trucks. He asked what kind of research EDC would do, which is what staff would do to formulate a professional opinion about a very significant policy matter before it comes to Council. If Council’s intention on these larger Bike Rack items is to throw it out there and ask committees and commissions to give their thoughts, then that is fine, as there is no staff work involved in that. If Council’s intention is that there should be staff work that supports when a commissioner asks about the City’s public safety ordinance that applies to this, then it is a different matter.
Mayor Beckmeyer thought it was a discussion and research endeavor for the committee or commission. If they cannot figure it out and do it themselves, we do not do it. She stated Council gave CAAP a clear task and they did it. She recognized that they did not do it all by themselves, as there was staff support.
City Manager Woodhouse stated there was significant staff support (1 1/2 FTE) and the CAAP force did great work and came back for additional revenue request to complete the report.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that her intent in referring it is for them to agendize it, discuss it, make a subcommittee about it, do research, figure it out, and bring it back.
Mayor pro Tem Boles suggested to think about whether it is possible or a good idea.
Mayor Beckmeyer added to realize that this is complicated and provide a recommendation to move and not move forward with a project.
City Manager Woodhouse suggested going through each of the six Bike Rack items and getting clear direction. He referred to the Council Chambers art program, and he stated in the report that a streamlined program should be feasible. We still have to develop guidelines or policy but will rely heavily on implementation of this running through the Sanchez Art Center or some other community group if they were not interested. He asked if that is the scope that Council envisions for that if they want it in the work plan.
Councilmember Bier thought an art program is a great idea but possibly not this year.
Mayor Beckmeyer suggested to make ad hoc subcommittee to work on it.
Councilmember Bier agreed.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that the ad hoc subcommittee will bring back a recommendation.
City Manager Woodhouse concluded that would be the scope of that.
City Council Regular Meeting 34 April 14, 2025
There was Council consensus for the ad hoc committee approach to the art program.
City Manager Woodhouse referenced Council pay.
There was Council consensus to move Council pay to the next year.
City Manager Woodhouse stated, for Arbor Day, he was saying that PW is already significantly involved with PB&R and Tree City, and the City-sponsored portion of Arbor Day is something that would be feasible. The Adopt-a-Tree program is not feasible for the City to take on.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated to continue the pilot and evaluate at the end of that on how it is going.
City Manager Woodhouse stated he does not know enough about that specifically whether it is a pilot for an Adopt-a-Tree program or just implementation of the trees and there are some that are volunteering to water for this specific project in Sharp Park.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that specific project in Sharp Park is a pilot of what could be a fullblown Adopt-a-Tree program all over the place in the City.
Mayor pro Tem Boles added it will eventually save PW time and money and save more trees.
There was Council consensus that the scope related to Adopt-a-Tree is continue with that and revisit it in the future.
Councilmember Bier does not think anybody is ready to take on E-bikes and Bike/Ped conflicts yet so we need to wait and see what is happening regionally.
Councilmember Wright asked what Councilmember Bier thinks about Council writing a letter to some of our regional and state representatives to suggest that we would like to support them taking on this issue.
Councilmember Bier thought that was always helpful.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated it is a huge thing to PB&R Commission if Council is telling them to do it. She does not know what else is on their work plan.
Mayor Beckmeyer thought PB&R Commission should talk about it.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that Council can refer that issue to a committee/commission, and he clarified it is not a report that staff is going to prepare, as the PB&R Commission can discuss it, self-assign research, and do some of the work.
Councilmember Bier assumed that they can choose to and vote on that.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that they have to agendize it and talk about it. She knows this is a concern and it fits in her view with that commission.
City Manager Woodhouse explained Council is assigning this to a commission to have them work on this and tell Council what they find out; he added that it is exploratory and staff is not available to them to support research and analysis on this issue. It is work that they have to do as commissioners. He asked if that is the direction from Council.
City Council Regular Meeting 35 April 14, 2025
Councilmember Wright suggested reframing to empower them.
Councilmember Bier agreed, adding Council is harnessing them.
There was Council consensus on referring E-bikes for discussion and potential addition to the work plan for the PB&R Commission.
Mayor Beckmeyer moved onto food trucks.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought EDC wanted to look at it but not that particular year.
Mayor Beckmeyer thought there was a mixed response to that.
Councilmember Bier agreed.
Mayor pro Tem Boles suggested having them talk about whether they would like to talk about it and if they think there are other priorities that would bring in more money.
Mayor Beckmeyer added where the issues and conflicts are with existing businesses and where it should or should not be located and if they also believe they should or should not discuss it.
Council agreed it would be committee or commission work and not work given to staff.
City Manager Woodhouse reiterated that Council wanted EDC to investigate this issue and report back. He would want to specify being careful that what Council is directing the committee or commission to do is that we want to know all the potential policy issues involved in this issue, not only that a majority of EDC may want to have food trucks, but what are the implications, what have they learned from brick and mortar businesses regarding this issue, what have they learned from visitors, etc. He stated Council is saying for the committee or commission to do staff work before reporting back. He stated that would be the expectation.
Councilmember Wright stated their preliminary feasibility study.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated there is the option to not be interested in working on it at all.
Councilmember Bier agreed, as they have to vote on it.
There was Council consensus referring food trucks for discussion to EDC.
City Manager Woodhouse referred to Sustainability Commission options.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated, as a place to start, as we have the opportunity for the Task Force to continue working, she thought we should do that.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated they can come back Council with a recommendation and then Council can decide what the next step is.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated, as we went through the plan as presented, there were some various lengths of projects. She stated bringing back a recommendation about how that can be accomplished is what Council is looking for.
City Council Regular Meeting 36 April 14, 2025
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought some of the tasks could be given to a different committee, but she thinks it is important to have one committee that is overseeing everything, reporting and monitoring the process.
Mayor Beckmeyer added having an understanding of what they are already doing.
Councilmember Wright asked if she is envisioning this as a new committee or a subdivision of an existing committee.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought continuing the existing committee so we are not starting something new.
Councilmember Wright stated, if we were to continue the existing committee, what kind of impact would that have on staff and, considering other adjustments, would that be feasible now.
City Manager Woodhouse thought it would be a continuation of the existing resources that are supporting it, as a Management Analyst and a part-time employee are supporting it.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated that we will need to check. She would have to look into the contract for the part-time staff’s employment.
City Manager Woodhouse reiterated that the direction regarding Sustainability Commission for now is that it will stay with the CAAP Task Force who is still working on bringing the Plan back to Council for adoption.
Mayor pro Tem Boles moved to extend the meeting to 12:45 AM; seconded by Councilmember Wright.
EXTEND MEETING TO 12:45 AM
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Christine Boles, Mayor pro Tem
SECONDER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
Mayor pro Tem Boles moved to approve the updated City of Pacifica 2023 to 2030 Strategic Plan Mission, Vision, Values, Goals and Strategies (Attachment A) as Amended as stated in the Council’s discussion and consensus; seconded by Councilmember Wright.
RESULT: ADOPTED AS AMENDED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Christine Boles, Mayor pro Tem
SECONDER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
8. Fiscal Year 2025-26 Budget Planning Process, Timeline and Preliminary Budget Strategies
PROPOSED ACTION: Accept the report and provide additional policy direction for the preparation of the FY2025-26 Budget.
Asst. City Manager Carter and Finance & Administrative Services Director Gómez presented City Council Regular Meeting 37 April 14, 2025
the staff report.
Councilmember Bier moved to extend the meeting to 1:00 AM; seconded by Councilmember Wright.
EXTEND MEETING TO 1:00 AM
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mary Bier, Councilmember
SECONDER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
Mayor Beckmeyer opened public comments.
Brendan Berman, Pacifica, asked Council to consider renewing their financial support of local LGBTQ+ organizations and shared his support on Coast Pride’s work in the community.
Clif Lawrence, Pacifica, thought the budget was the most complicated thing we deal with in Pacifica and asked if the City would be able to provide details about the budget in a manner suitable for public consumption to promote understanding and transparency.
Mike Wahlman, Pacifica, stated that the City needs to generate more property tax revenue and encouraged the City to approve proposed developments, etc.
Mayor Beckmeyer closed public comments.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that, on the VLF last year, we wanted to show that income as part of lobbying of our state officials. She questions whether we will show it or have it as backup.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated it is general reserves; we still rely on those revenues, considering our financial situation. Staff is proposing setting money aside in the General Fund reserves so, if the State does not follow through on its obligations, we can still survive the year.
Councilmember Wright stated it was a line of credit.
Asst. City Manager Carter agreed, but the money will be used from the General Fund reserves.
The budget will technically not be balanced, but this is a strategy to fill the hole for the year.
City Manager Woodhouse stated this strategy was one that Council approved last year as well.
Councilmember Espinosa asked is the money going back to the original account or do we just put it in the General Fund to spend it and we do not have the money in the account that it is supposed to be.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that what will happen is that we will budget the revenue source, and that will help balance the budget; but if the revenues are not received, then we will take money from the reserve and we set this money aside in the reserves to plug in the hole.
She stated that is how we will operate one year at a time. She stated that it is accounting for this holistically in the General Fund: We will balance the budget but, at the same time, we will look carefully at reserves to see if we can allocate these funds. She stated, when we look on unassigned reserves, it is still compliant with GFOA recommendations.
City Council Regular Meeting 38 April 14, 2025
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if we will be harming our credit rating or going lower than the recommended reserve limits by doing this strategy.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated it was very unlikely that we will go below the recommended reserves. She stated the reserves are not that big of an issue for the City balancing the budget on a day-to-day basis. Staff presented to Council a structural deficit we are struggling with, but we have been applying prudent financial policies to make sure the reserves remain healthy.
Mayor Beckmeyer referred to ERAF strategy one, as she knows that we do not want to use onetime money and put it into ongoing expenses. She stated that it was not clear that there was an articulated goal to not do that. She knows we have had that goal and been moving in that direction and now it is falling back. She wished we were not, but she supported the strategy.
Councilmember Wright thought it was important to make it clear to the public that we are using emergency reserves and measures because we have such a fiscal challenge. He thinks the main point is we need to make some changes in order to stay sustainable.
Councilmember Espinosa stated she would like to see City Council being more involved and having the budget in more detail.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated more information is coming. At the next meeting we will be talking on details of base budget assumptions and we will see what assumptions we are putting into revenues and expenditures and how it balances out at the base budget level to see if they are looking at a surplus or deficit.
Councilmember Espinosa asked if we have an outside auditor.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated yes, we do an independent audit every year.
Councilmember Wright referred to a graph showing $2 million and asked if it did not include the 30-40 staff members that we are short.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that the graph is based on the current level of services. She stated that, if nothing changes in the service level, that is what we are looking at.
Councilmember Wright concluded that it did not include the 30-40 staff members or how we are underpaying all our staff.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that it does not.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated it is just the base budget, the current level of services at tomorrow’s cost. Even if we do not change the services, the cost will still go up.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated she had a couple of questions about the ERAF. She was concerned about the Disaster Accounting and Affordable Housing Funds. The problem is that we are using Disaster Accounting for capital improvements and we keep taking out of that in the course of the year that is not budgeted. She thought we need to make sure we have enough for that for a disaster and how much money we need in that fund. She stated that, regarding the Affordable Housing Development, she is worried about HCD seeing that we are cutting the fund when that is a priority item we are working on.
City Council Regular Meeting 39 April 14, 2025
Mayor Beckmeyer thought we are not funding the fund as opposed to cutting the fund.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated we are supposed to come up with an action for funding the fund this year.
Councilmember Bier stated that is what we are going to be working on with HEART. She stated that there are strategies and she thinks HCD or whoever will see that.
RESULT: NO VOTE REQUIRED
ADJOURN
Mayor Beckmeyer stated a stalwart from our community, Clorinda Campagna, passed away on April 4. Ms. Campagna was a very important member of our community for a very long time and her service to our Historical Society is the tip of the iceberg. Mayor Beckmeyer adjourned the meeting at 1:00 a.m. in her memory.
Transcribed by Barbara Medina, Public Meeting Stenographer.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sarah Coffey, City Clerk
APPROVED: 5 - 0; 5/12/2025
__________________________
Sue Beckmeyer, Mayor