Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Commissioner Se. Is my mic on now? I don't hear it. I caught it right at the end of the statement there. So, Tess Tess, can you hear me now? Okay, sorry. Commissioner Su here. Commissioner Kulie here. Commissioner Copeland here. Vice Chair Qua. Chairman Smith here. Right. Do we have any requests for an excused absence tonight? Yes, sir.

Right. If you'll join me in the pledge of allegiance, please. flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right. Do we have any adjustments to the agenda tonight? There are no adjustments. And any conflicts of interest to disclose?

Seeing none, uh item B, public comment period for items not on the agenda. Any one person may address the committee on any matter not on this agenda. If you wish to speak, please fill out a public comment form provided at the back table and give it to the committee chair or secretary. There is a three-minute limit on public comments. There will be no sharing or passing of time to another person. State law prohibits the committee from discussing or taking actions brought up by your comments. Do we have any requests to speak tonight? I have no written request. Kylie, do we have any callers on the line? No callers. Okay. Uh go to action items. Item C1 is approval of the minutes. Do we have a motion or any comments on the minutes? So moved.

I second. Motion to second. Roll call, please. Commissioner Southern. Yes. Commissioner Kulie. Yes. Commissioner Copelan. Yes. Chairman Smith. Yes. Okay. Okay. Item C2, consideration of a recommendation of approval and submission of the 2025 general plan annual progress report and the 2025 housing element annual progress report. Uh staff report, please.

Hi, good evening. Um my name is Melody Archega, senior planner with the planning division. Um as noted, this is for the general plan and housing annual progress reports. Per state law. These reports are required to be submitted on a yearly basis to the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation um as well as the California Department of Housing and Community Development. So just a little bit of background, the general plan was adopted in 2021 and then the housing element was adopted in 2022. Um in subsequent slides I will summarize um the contents of the uh annual progress reports um which cover the work that was completed January 1st to December 31st of 2025. So starting with planning, um we collaborated with the city departments as well as um yourselves, the planning commission and the city council to adop adopt a comprehensive zoning code update which meets uh general plan implementation measure EDF1 in 2025. We also uh created efficiencies, expedited processes um with the removal of the administrative plot plan requirement um and simplified other processes including uh the food truck and special event permits. So this slide just highlights some of the work that we do uh behind the scenes um and daytoday. Um so just some noteworthy items. The planning division completed 884 building plan check reviews as well as 69 public works plan

check reviews um along with other advanced planning and current planning applications. Um so that includes specific plans, general plan applications um and then plot plan applications as well. Um some of the numbers for the administrative plot plan as you can see are smaller but that's came about because of that removal of that requirement. Building and community enhancement um also completed. So building and safety completed 1,836 permit issuances um and the type are broken down on the slide. code conducted 314 inspections which resulted in um new cases, 279 inspections that resulted in closed cases and we debated approximately 286 acres. Fire Safety also provides various review services. Um, and in 2025 they completed 1,33 construction inspections, 577 building plan reviews, 290 statemandated life safety inspections, as well as the other reviews and inspections noted on the slide. The land use element in 2025 was not amended. Um however the Pont Point point entitlements um that were approved in 2024 did become effective um with LAFCO's approval of the annexation on July 25th of 2025. Um so that one included a general plan amendment, a specific plan and then added um new acreage to the city as well. So with the housing element annual

progress report um we completed several programs with the adoption of the comprehensive zoning code update. This included adding provisions for transitional and supportive housing group and community care facilities as well as other programs that are listed um both on the slide as well as in the annual progress reports that were attached to the staff report. Community services in 2025 uh worked to adopt the parks and community services master plan. Um this complied with implementation measure CFI34. Um and then this element was also not amended in 2025. And then the remaining elements of the general plan that are um required elements were not amended in 2025 as well. So this is uh the downtown area plan is not an element of the specific plan but was an implementation or is not an amendment to the or element of the general plan but was an implementation measure um that was adopted in 2024 and in 2025 um the city with economic the economic development team um made a lot of progress as you can see on the slide and highlighting just some noteworthy ones including the activating ating downtown with regular events such as Bowmont Nights and then opening the biz uh hub pass area as well. With this, staff recommends that the planning commission forward a recommendation of approval for city council to approve the 2025 general plan annual progress report and 2025 housing element annual progress report and direct staff to submit the reports to the office of land use and climate

innovation and the California Department of Housing and Community Development. This concludes um my presentation and I'm available for any questions.

Thank you. Any questions for staff? question. You guys are busy. You're doing a lot of good work. Just want to make sure we acknowledge that that you know these things take a lot of time, a lot of resources and um you know do appreciate the effort that staff puts in uh making sure that we're moving forward with our goals um as we have set forth both you know within the city and as mandated. So thank you. All right. With that, we'll open a public hearing at 6:11 p.m. Do we have any request to speak on this item? And just to clarify, my apologies. I put um public hearing on your um on your guide. However, this does not require a public. So, do we have any public comments?

Yes, I will check. I have no written comments. Uh Kylie, do we have any callers on the line? No callers. Okay. So, there's no hearing. There's no need to close it. Uh any other discussion amongst the commission? Yeah, I'll just echo uh our commissioners or our chairman's uh statements. I know this is a lot of work. It's a lot of requirements the state puts in us to uh follow these regulations and just appreciate all your hard work making sure we're being in compliance. Okay. Uh with that, I will entertain a motion.

So moved. I'll second. Roll call, please. Commissioner Southern, yes. Commissioner Culie, yes. Commissioner Copeland, yes. Chairman Smith, yes.

All right, moving on. Item C3, uh, Rosenberg's rules of order training. How about that? Good evening. My name is Fedra Norton. I'm with SBMP. Uh we are your contract city attorney for the city of Bumont. And Chair Smith, it's great to see you in a different role and it's nice to meet all the commissioners. See if I can pull this up. I am technically challenged most days. You got it. But look at that. Um, so as the agenda suggests, I'm going to give you training on the Rosenberg's rules of order. This is the procedural guideline for your parliamentary procedures as you're conducting your meetings. So I always like to tell you what I'm going to tell you, then I'm going to tell you what I said I was going to tell you, and hopefully we all learn something in the process. So today's presentation will cover the four pillars of rules of procedure, how you establish a quorum, the role of the chair, the basic format for agenda item discussions, motions in general. There are three basic motions. How many motions you can have before the body at any one time. The special motion to reconsider and the rules related to a motion to reconsider. What motions are subject to debate? Which motions are not subject to debate? Uh what motions require majority vote versus a supermajority vote? How do you count votes? Uh and then courtesy and discor decorum. and then special notes about public input and would be happy to answer any questions either as we're going through the presentation or if you

want to hold your questions to the end that is certainly within your discretion to do so. So let's start with the foundational support for the parliamentary rules of procedure. Rules should establish a framework for the orderly conduct of business. This is a business meeting that is conducted in public. Um rules should be clear. Simple rules lead to wider participation and understanding by members of the public and they should be user friendly simple enough that the public's invited into the body feels that it has the opportunity to participate in the process and rules should be enforce rules should enforce the will of the majority while protecting the rights of the minority. um encourage discussion and facilitate decisionmaking by the body in a democratic process. Majority rules. So the rule should enable the majority to express itself and fashion a result while permitting the minority to explain itself but not dominate while fully participating in the process. So those are the pillars in which we uh which establish your parliamentary rules of procedure. And so we'll move on to establishing a quorum. Uh a quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the body who must be present at a meeting for business to be legally transacted. Um the default rule is uh of the default rule for a quorum is it's one more than half the body but your rules could establish a different number for quorum. Uh for example if you have a five member body then three is a quorum for per for purposes of legally transacting business. Uh again if you have a quorum you can legally transact business. If you do not then you cannot legally

transact business. uh at and you can lose a quorum. You can start with a quorum at the beginning of the meeting, but the quorum can be lost during the meeting uh by a member departing that brings you below three. uh or if a member leaves the dis or the once a quorum is lost, you lose your ability to legally transact business and the meeting has to come to a halt until you restore the quorum. A lot of times the clerks call that a quorum call, right? And they take a roll call vote of those present and then business is stopped until the quorum is reestablished. All right? So there's the role of the chair and we'll discuss what that is. So the chair of the body is charged with applying the rules of conduct to the meeting. Uh the decisions of the chair are final unless overruled by the body itself. The chair has the right to participate in the debate, discussion, and decision making. But it's usually a courtesy for the chair to play a less active role. the chair should strive to be the last to speak on an item and that generally the chair should not make or second a motion unless the chair is convinced that no other member of the body will do so. Again, the chair has the right to fully participate in the meeting, but these are the Rosenberg's rules of order related to the chair. Uh there is a basic format for agenda item discussions. Uh Nicole does a great job of putting together your agendas and I've seen her um her script for your meetings and I love following along when I'm sitting in the city attorney chair because it's easy for me to follow as well. Uh so first the chair should clearly announce the agenda item number

and should clearly state what the agenda item is sub subject is. Um, so we're all very familiar with the agenda, the agenda process, but people that participate in the meetings may not be so familiar with the process. And so, you know, it's important to educate people and articulate what we're doing and why we're doing it. Second, the following the agenda format, the chair should invite the appropriate person or persons to give the presentation, usually the staff person, including any recommendations that may come from staff. There not isn't always a recommendation but sometimes there is. The sher chair should ask members of the body if they have any technical questions of clarification. This is not the time to discuss and debate. This is the time to seek clarifying questions about what was presented. You will have the opportunity to discuss and debate but the the the first section is really to ask technical questions of staff. the sh chair should invite public comment or as we heard earlier if you're having a public hearing you need to open the public hearing for public input um and then after public comment and input have been received by the chair it's important to close the public hearing um uh sometimes when there is a public hearing and there's an administrative record uh there may be a legal challenge it's important to understand when the public hearing was closed so that we are clear about what the administrative record is. The chair should invite a motion. Now, this may seem a little odd. This may seem early in the process for some of you um and clearly announce who made the motion. The chair should determine if any member of the body wishes to second the motion. And if the motion is made and seconded, the chair should make sure that everybody understands the motion. Sometimes that's

simple. Uh other times there has been discussion and debate and and tweaks to the motion and so restating the motion either by the chair or by the clerk helps to just make sure we have a clear record. Um you can ask the maker of the motion to repeat it. You can repeat the motion yourself or you can ask the secretary or clerk of the body to repeat the motion and then this is when the chair should now invite discussion on the motion by the body. Now you may see and these remember these are guidelines, right? And uh so you may see in certain instances where the discussion and the debate kind of happens a little earlier before the the motion is made. Um these are again just guidelines. There's nothing improper about this. The this is just the flow that is recommended in Rosenberg's rules of order. Uh and then the chair takes a vote and then you should announce the the vote including who voted for and who voted against so that the record is clear. Um when you to take a roll call vote that's a little simpler uh in terms of announcing the vote. Okay. So let's talk about motions. Uh motions are the vehicle for decision making by the body. That's how you take action. It's usually best to have a motion before the body prior to commencing discussion on the agenda item because that helps focus the discussion and the debate and the decision making. That's why it's recommended earlier on before the debate happens. That way when you have the motion, it really focuses that discussion. Uh it's really a two-step process. the chair should recognize a member of the body and ask the body if they want to make a motion and then somebody on the body says I move to approve or deny or whatever the motion might be from that member. Um and then

you but you can suggest a motion as well and you can make a motion but as stated previously the chair should take a less active role in the process. There are three basic motions. Uh the basic motion is one that's put forward for decision by the body for consideration. So that is the main motion. There's the motion to amend which means you want to keep the basic format but you may make a slight amendment to the main motion. Uh you can do that in a couple ways. You can do it formally uh with a motion to amend or you can do it informally which is the friendly amendment. And as long as you have the approval of the maker and the second of that motion, then you can do the friendly amendment. And then finally, there's the substitute motion. So that's where you want to completely do away with the main motion and say the motion was I want to approve it. Approve the project and somebody else makes a substitute motion to deny the project. Um there can be three motions on the floor at any one time. Why three? because after three it gets a little unruly keeping track of everything. Um so and then the way you deal with motions is in reverse chronological order. So the last motion to be made is the first one to be dealt with and then depending on what happens that with that motion if it passes it does away with all the other motions. If it fails then you go to the next motion and then you deal with that. And then if that fails then you go to the main motion. So reverse chronological order when you're dealing with motions. Okay. Um so one tenant of the procedures is that there is this this concept of finality. Once a decision is made uh that should be final and we should move

on to other business. Um, the rules say after vigorous discussion, debate, and a vote, the matter is deemed closed, subject only to reopening if there's a proper motion to reconsider. A motion to reconsider requires a majority vote to pass, but there are two special rules that apply to a motion to reconsider. First, the motion may must be made at the meeting when the item was first voted upon. So, if you're you voted on something early in the meeting, you moved on with business and then uh you wanted to reconsider that, you have to do that before the end of the meeting. Um there are certain rules uh for other bodies where they have their own procedural rules that may amend that. You follow Rosenberg, so that is the rule. Um second, a motion to reconsider can only be made by a member who voted in the majority. If you voted in the minority, you cannot make a motion to reconsider. However, if you voted in the minority, you can second the motion to reconsider. Uh if the the motion to reconsider passes, then the original items back before you for discussion, debate, and decision making via other motions on that item. Okay. So the basic rule is that all motions are subject to discussion and debate which includes the basic motion, the motion to amend and the substitute motion. The it's eligible for full discussion before and by the body. Uh the debate can continue as long as you would like for it. Although there will become a there will come a natural time or the chair may say it's time to move on. Right? when you get to enter repetitive comments about the item, it's probably time to move on and take a vote. There are exceptions to the general rule of free and open debate on motions and generally these exceptions

apply when there's a desire to move on. Uh the following motions are not debatable. So once the motion is made and there's a second, there's no debate. You have to take a vote on that item and they are um the motion to adjurnn. So if you want to adjourn, if it passes, the the body immediately adjourns the meeting and it it's adjourned to your next regularly scheduled meeting. It requires simple majority vote. The motion to recess, if somebody makes a motion to recess, there's a second, you must immediately call for the vote on that. Again, that's a simple majority. Uh the motion to fix time to adjurnn. Same same rules apply. Um, and so that's, you know, at the beginning of the meeting, I move that we adjourn the meeting at 10 pm tonight. There's a second to that. Uh, then you have to call for the vote. Motion to table. So, if you don't want to discuss the item anymore, I make motion to table. There's a second immediately take the vote. All of those require a simple majority vote. What requires a supermajority is a motion to limit debate. And that is when you and you've probably heard it said said this way. I call for the question, right? That's we want to stop discussion and we want to take a vote that requires twothirds vote um to pass. Okay. So the majority supermajority in in a democracy generally it's the majority vote determines a question. A tie vote always means a motion fails. you have to have a mo majority in order for a mo motion to pass. Uh but all motions are require a simple majority but there are a few exceptions. We already talked about one of those exceptions where we call for the

question um and mo a motion to close nominations that also requires a super majority to um pass a motion to object to consideration of the question at all. So, say you have an agenda item, there's no staff report, and somebody makes a motion to object to the question, and there's a second. If there's a supermajority vote, that item is not considered at all. The simpler way to do that is simply to table it, and then you need a majority vote. So, I got I gave you the the um secret to getting that passed with a majority versus a supermajority. And then a motion to suspend the rules also requires a supermajority vote. Um, typically a simple majority vote is one vote more than 50% of the body. Um, and then in order to determine a super majority, uh, you take the no votes, you double those and then you add one. So that's how you determine the 2/3. Uh, again, tie votes always fail since there's not an affirmative vote to pass the motion. And then votes can become complicated when members abstain. Do the votes count? How do you count them? Uh for general law cities, resolutions, orders for the payment of money and all ordinances require a recorded vote of the total membership of the body. So that's it says city council, but it's the body. So typically you will uh make a recommendation on an ordinance. Uh and then that requires when the city council approves that ordinance total membership. Um other actions only need a majority of the votes of those that are present and voting.

So um the default rule for Rosenbergs and that's what you will all follow. There are two ways to vote under Rosenbergs. It's president voting. And what that means is that everybody that's present is counted for the quorum. But if you abstain, the abstension doesn't count as a yes or a no. It counts as no vote at all. Um the other rule says that um if you're present, then that means that the vote counts as a no vote, but we follow the default rule. So all we need to know is if there is an abstension that is it neither a yes or a no vote. Okay. So if you have a five member body, which you are, right? And there are four of you present uh and voting and one of you abstains and you need a majority vote, you have a majority vote because you have three right of and you have one abstension. If you have two yes votes, one no vote, and one abstension, depending on the action taken, you still have a majority vote. Um, so courtesy and decorum, the rules of art, order are meant to create an atmosphere where members of the body and members of the public can attend to the business efficiently, fairly, and fully participate. At the same time, it's up to the chair and members of the body to maintain common courtesy and decorum. It's best for only one person to have the floor at any one time. Uh it's best for every speaker to be recognized first by the chair before speaking and the chair should always ensure that de debate and discussion of an agenda item focuses on

the item and the policy in question. Debate about the policy or the decision is very healthy. debate about personality is not uh can a member interrupt the speaker? The general rule is no with the following exceptions. Uh if there's a point of privilege, for example, the room may be too hot or too cold. A fan may be blowing and you can't hear, you can interrupt the speaker, say a point of privilege, say what the point of privilege is, and then um that can be corrected and you can move on with the discussion. uh a point of order. Uh if the chair moved on a vote on a motion that permits debate but didn't allow for debate, you can call for a point of order. Chair point of order that motion was subject to debate and then that can be corrected and you can move on with your business. uh if the chair makes a ruling that a member of the body disagrees with, you can interrupt and you can appeal the ruling of the chair uh and call for orders of the day, say we got off topic and you want to return to the agenda, you can interrupt and say we need to return to the agenda. Um and so that's call for the order of the day. I've never heard ever heard anybody say that. I've been doing this a couple years. I know that I don't look like I've been doing it 27 years, but I have. Um, and then to withdraw a motion. Um, the maker of the motion can withdraw their motion at any time. And once the motion is withdrawn, it is gone. You can't sec even if it had a second, it is completely gone. It's not subject to debate. It's not subject to action. Doesn't mean somebody else can't make the same motion. It just means that motion is gone. And then uh I've been at public service for a very long time and

my focus has always been to you know the community we serve, the citizens we serve and so I think it's important when people attend the meetings. Rule one, tell them what you're doing, right? So they understand. Uh keep the public informed while you're doing what you're doing and then when the body acts, tell the public what you did. Um, the rules outlined in this presentation hopefully make your meetings very f public friendly and the public has the opportunity to participate and I am happy to answer any questions that you may have.

All right. Thank you, Miss Norton, for the presentation. Uh, any questions on the presentation? No. I said, you know, we as a body in my my time I've been on here, we've been very cordial, you know, kind of the whole time. and you know a couple spots we always kind of do the discussion before the motions but um you know I do appreciate you know as a always to learn a little bit more. Yeah. Hopefully half the things on here we never need to use. So all right thank you very much. It was nice seeing all of you. Thank you. Thank you. Uh moving on to item D is staff comments. Do you have any updates?

Yes. Yes. Yes. at the direction of the city council. The um receiving file item for billboards was received in January and February and we were directed to conduct a survey and we've done that and so we'd like to uh share the results and have a workshop as directed by the council as well. So that survey gauges both community input and provides education and along with the options for regulating outdoor advertising. So we just like to set a date and time for that workshop. Our recommendation is to set it for the second meeting in April, which would be your regular meeting, but um we're also considering alternative dates and times if you desire. So, shall we go with any

April or is there something else regular? I've got the I have both meetings on my calendar, so that's already blocked out. So, perfect. That's what that works for me. Yeah. Yeah. I will not be available that meeting. Oh, but I'm just one person. Okay, I will. All right. Yeah. Let's move forward with the second meeting in April. Thank you. Is that okay with you? Mhm. Yep. It's April 22nd, 6 o'clock p.m. Thank you.

Right. Thank you. Uh any comments from the commissioners? All right. Well, hearing none, uh, we will adjourn the meeting at 6:36 and meet again on Wednesday, April 8th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. Thank you.