APPROVED: 08/16/2022
MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE
CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSION
July 19, 2022
1. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Rodriguez and Chair Jimenez called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Members present: Councilmembers: Martin, Mora, Mayor Pro Tem Zamora and Mayor Rodriguez
Commissioners: Fresquez, Rounds, Vice Chair Carbajal, and Chair Jimenez.
Members absent: Councilmember Sarno and Commissioner Hernandez
3. PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were no speakers.
CITY COUNCIL/PLANNING COMMISSION
STUDY SESSION
Objective Development Standards (ODS) Project: A presentation by the consulting firm AECOM about creating multi-unit and mixed-use objective development standards and streamlined permitting processes to increase capacity potential and accelerate housing production within the City of Santa Fe Springs (Planning) Recommendation:
• City Council and Planning Commission receive the presentation from AECOM, and provide feedback as desired.
Assistant Planning Director, Cuong Nguyen provided a introduced Item No. 4. He reminded Council that under the housing element the City is required to plan for 952 housing units. This requirement has resulted in the City reviewing residential development standards to make them more understandable and easier to implement. These changes would hopefully result in faster-permitting timelines and potentially accelerated housing production.
Planning Consultant from AECOM, Ashley Hoang provided a presentation. She spoke about the current legislative changes that have been proposed by the State legislature and how that is currently affecting the economy. She continued to discuss the challenges that are contributing to the lack of housing development in the state of California. Several causal factors are related to development standards and the permitting process. She provided an overview of two current projects that are pending review. These projects aim to accelerate the housing development in the City. The first project is the Housing Elements rezoning districts, which includes the establishment and adoption of new zoning districts and creates new standards for the districts. She reviewed the second project Minutes of the July 19, 2022 Joint City Council and Planning Commission Special Meeting which entails creating objective standards. Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) will create a tool kit with the new standards, which will address forms, site planning, and the public realm, which will be brought to Council in the future for any amendments.
She reviewed recent California legislation that affects different planning policies and procedures and discussed their findings and AECOM's recommendation for the City. The recommendation included developing a new permit approval application. She noted that there was a workshop and discussed how to create a more accessible and easier-to- submit permit process.
AECOM's recommendation for standards included changing standards for lot area, width, and depth, revisiting minimum distant requirements between buildings, and building height requirements along with lot area, lot width, and depth. It also included changes to parking constraints. The project also entails developing multi-unit/ mixed-used zones. The overall goal of these projects will be to accelerate the housing development in the City.
Mayor Rodriguez asked if Council or Planning Commission had any comments.
Councilmember Martin inquired whether the residents that have existing illegal garage conversions will have the opportunity to legalize them based on the new laws. Ms. Hoang stated that this project is not going to touch on single families; the project is more for multifamily projects. Mayor Pro Tem Zamora stated there were workshops that were scheduled for ADUs for residents to know how to convert those units. Assistant Planning Director Nguyen stated that the Planning Department is specifically looking at multi-unit residential in this session but the ADU project will be addressing Councilmember Martin's question.
Chair Jimenez inquired whether the City will have a larger setback when building larger projects. Assistant Director Nguyen noted that the City is currently working with MIG to develop the mix-used zones and have them lined up with the current standards. At this moment, there are no current standards for mixed-used but the city is looking at those standards.
Mayor Rodriguez inquired whether the purpose of the meeting was to provide feedback on facilitating the permit process. She expressed her support for having this process done online. Ms. Hoang provided a background of why they are updating the permit application process. Mayor Rodriguez stated that her idea is to have staff able to meet with the applicant to go through the process.
Mayor Pro Tem Zamora suggested a how-to video to have applicants know the steps needed. He also requested to have this information be in multiple languages.
Councilmember Martin requested to have this included with Chamber of Commerce meetings/conferences. Planning Director, Wayne Morrell noted that the majority of Planning's fillable forms are on the City's website. He added that at this moment the City does not have the ability to prepare a video, however, can find alternatives to assist applicants.
Minutes of the July 19, 2022 Joint City Council and Planning Commission Special Meeting Commissioner Rounds spoke about the parking restrictions and noted that the City is overcrowded with vehicles and businesses are currently coming to the City to place restrictions on parking locations. Commissioner Rounds asked if the project involved allowing for mixed-used industrial and living quarters.
Ms. Hoang noted that they are looking for standards, especially with industrials having parking. She also stated that these standards are sometimes difficult.
5. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Rodriguez adjourned the meeting at 5:40 p.m.
Chair Jimenez adjourned the meeting at 5:40 p.m.
AMERI 08/16/2022
Janet Martinez Date
City Clerk