1 of 5February 6, 2024, Public Comment, Item #8, Item #9M EMQRAN DLJ M CityofPoway ADDITIONAL MATERIALS (Agenda Related Writings/Documents provided to City Council or Staff after distribution of the Agenda Packet for the February 6, 2024 Council Meeting) DATE: TO: FROM: CONTACT: SUBJECT: February 6, 2024 Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council Carrie Gallagher, City Clerk v(.f (858) 668-4535 or [email protected] 1) Public Comment; 2) Item 8 -Specific Plan Amendment (SPA) 24-0001, a request to amend the South Poway Specific Plan to add "Battery Storage Facilities" and "Battery Energy Storage Systems" as conditionally permitted uses in the Light Industrial (LI) land use designation; and 3) Item 9 -Minor Development Review Application for Residential Projects Attached please find correspondence received after the agenda posting deadline. Reviewed/Approved By: Wendy Kaserman Assistant City Manager Reviewed By: Alan Fenstermacher City Attorney Approved By:
2 of 5February 6, 2024, Public Comment, Item #8, Item #9From: To: Cc: Subject: Date: Attachments: Poway Voices Steve Vaus: Anita Edmondson: Caylin Frank; Brian Pepin; Peter De Hoff: City Clerk Chris Hazeltine; Bob Manis February 6th Council Meeting Monday, February 5, 2024 12:56:07 PM Comments Council Mtg 2624-V2.odf I Some people who received this message don't often get email from [email protected]. Learn whv this is imoortant EXTERNAL EMAIL • All, Letter with comments, attached. Thank you, Nick Carruthers Chris Cruse Jana Johnson Alison Park Torrey Powers and Eric Weller
3 of 5February 6, 2024, Public Comment, Item #8, Item #9February 5th, 2024 Re: 2/6/24 Council Meeting, Public Oral and Items 8 and 9 Dear Mayor Vaus and Poway City Council Members, City Manager Chris Hazeltine and Director of Development Services Bob Manis. Comments on General Plan and Specific Plans In Poway, approval of general plans, specific plans, and amendments to those plans have involved the public through notices, public meetings, workshops and hearings. Following the incorporation of the City of Poway, general and specific plan amendments were initiated by a vote of council and consequently the public was informed and had the opportunity to comment and provide important feedback to an elected body. However, in October 2010 former councilmember Mullin proposed a "streamlining process" for GPAs and SPAs and in June 2011, following a public workshop, the council approved Zoning Ordinance Amendment 10-02, allowing GPAs and SPAs to be initiated by city staff. This ordinance also rescinded Resolution 85-019 that required City Council approval of all developments within the Hillside/Ridgeline overlay. Unfortunately, we are now dealing with the consequences of this streamlining process, which may have saved time but has come at the cost of public confidence with respect to development decisions within the city. Recent examples include: • The Amazon building was administratively/ministerially approved by the Director of Development Services, without the required ridgeline/hillside review. Many residents only became aware once construction was completed. • The Poway Road Specific Plan, is notably opaque with respect to what does or does not constitute a "community benefit" but such "benefits" have provided leverage for a developer to build three and four story buildings where two story structures would be more compatible with existing structures. The Poway Road Specific Plan gives the Director of Development Services considerable latitude with respect to what can be approved, for example reduction in the required commercial storefront standard by up to 50%; adjustment in the number of required parking spaces by up to 10%; and reductions in other development standards by up to 10% (excluding density and height). • SPA22-001, the Specific Plan Amendment for the LifeTime Fitness Center changes, was initiated by staff on July 26, 2022. The first public notice was a February, 2023 open house from the developer. The public was unaware of this SPA for 7 months and it should be noted that the "traffic study addendum" cited by council members at the March 7th, 2023 pre-development conference was not released to the public until a month later, despite earlier requests to see it.
4 of 5February 6, 2024, Public Comment, Item #8, Item #9• Both The Farm and Harmon Ranch specific plans rely heavily on discretionary administrative approvals by the Director of Development Services. In the case of The Farm, the Director of Development Services can approve "minor modifications" yet the devil is in the details and in the absence of objective criteria can lead to inconsistent decisions with unanticipated consequences. Poway Voices requests: • The council return to the original SPA and GPA processes of initiating SPAs and GPAs at a council meeting and take ownership of the activities. • Staff/ministerial approvals should be based solely on objective criteria. • Approvals requiring discretionary judgement should be made by the Council, with prior public notice. • We also recommend that all documents and information about proposed SPAs and GPAs be available to the public online, for 14 days before the actual vote on the SPA or GPA. Comments on Item #8 2024 02-06-SPA24-0001 Item #8 2024 02-06-SPA24-0001; Request to Amend the South Poway Specific Plan to Add "Battery Storage Facilities" and "Battery Energy Storage Systems" as conditionally permitted uses in the Light Industrial (LI) land use designation. Poway Voices supports SP24-001 and we are particularly pleased that the SPA would "require the discretionary approval of a conditional use permit (CUP) by the City Council" for battery storage projects and not ministerially approved by a staff member. Poway Voices would like to see ALL discretionary decisions come before the council for approval and be communicated to the public in a timely manner. However, we are concerned about the fast tracking of this SPA. It was noticed in the agenda report released on Tuesday evening, Jan 30,2024 with written comments due before 3 pm on Monday, Feb 5th. That left 5 ½ days for the public to do research, ask questions, request and receive information, and submit a letter to the city. City Hall was only open on 2 ½ of those days. That is hardly sufficient allotted time for public input on a specific plan amendment. Comments on Item #9 2024-06-Minor Development Review Application for Residential Projects As part of the current MORA process, courtesy notices are provided to neighbors 10 days prior to approval. Should the MORA process be eliminated for residential projects this courtesy notification would no longer be provided, as the City does not provide advanced
5 of 5February 6, 2024, Public Comment, Item #8, Item #9notice of approval of building permits. At the very least, we do not view this as a neighborly approach to processing minor development reviews. Thank you for your attention and we look forward to a favorable response. Sincerely, Nick Carruthers, Chris Cruse, Alison Park, Jana Johnson, Torrey Powers, and Eric Weller