Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Hope you don't get stage fright with the big crowd tonight. Okay, I'd like to call to order the Planning Commission meeting for Tuesday, June 30th, 2026. Ms. Secretary, you please take the roll.

Commissioner Vandermuelen? Present. Commissioner Edsel?

Here.

Vice Chair Murphy?

Here.

Chair Davidson?

Here.

Let the records show Commissioner Limon is absent.

Okay, thank you. If everybody could please stand now for the Pledge of Allegiance, and Beverly will lead us.

Please begin.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

Are there any public comments?

There are no public comments.

Okay, thank you. Next item on the agenda is public comment. This will be for items that are not listed on tonight's agenda, but we don't have any, so we're just going to skip right by that. Moving on to our discussion items. Item B, the climate action plan.

Chair Davidson.

I missed something, didn't I?

Yes, consent.

Oh boy, let's take a look at our consent agenda. How does that look? How did the agenda look from last, or minutes from the last meeting? How did they look?

I'll make a motion that we approve the consent agenda.

Do we have a second?

I'll second.

Take the vote.

Commissioner Vandermuelen.

Yes.

Commissioner Itzel.

Yes.

Vice Chair Murphy.

Yes.

Chair Davidson.

Yes. Thanks for catching me. Now let's move on to our discussion items. I think I was trying to get us all out of here early tonight. Let's move on for the action plan.

Okay, great. Thank you, Chair Davidson. This item will be presented by Hannah Mize with Rincon Consultants.

Hello, and thank you for having me again. I too am excited about the Climate Action Plan. So we can jump right in. We have been here before, so I appreciate, again, the opportunity to come back and discuss a couple of things. Today we wanted to talk about a quick project update, run through what's next, and then open it up for discussion and Q&A. Of course, if you have any questions at any time, please let me know. Happy to stop, look at slides, whatever's helpful for the team. So quick project update. Since we were here last, we updated some metrics for various measures and actions, specifically water, waste, and transportation. And we also completed the CEQA analysis, which was a categorical exemption. It is not a qualified climate action plan, which we can speak to a little bit later, but wanted to recognize that the environmental compliance was complete. The qualification piece, I'm going to dive into the reasoning why there and what that really means for the city in a slide or two. But before we jump into that, we wanted to get some specifics on the measures and actions that were changed and kind of the why here. So you'll see a list here essentially that we updated. Again, waste, water, and transportation. And the reasons being really recognizing that the near-term feasibility, and this project started in 2021. We've been on the roll for a long time, working with the community, city staff, the planning commission, city council, having multiple conversations with a variety of folks. And again, I just want to appreciate everybody's time because it has been so meaningful to get to where we are. Recognizing that we live in a in a very different world than we did in 2021 when this started. 2030 is very close and right around the corner. And there's a limited time to really have highly aggressive targets. And so what we're doing is we want to be realistic in what we can achieve, although still aspirational, and moving forward in that direction to help the state and the city hit the goals for the climate that we all have. However, recognizing that really in the next couple of years, what can we do feasibly? that's one of the biggest pieces also understanding that there's a minimal kind of opportunity for capacity everybody is busy funding has constraints which we're working around we have a lot of opportunities for grants and components like that but also understanding that there's certain things that are outside of the city's control so we wanted to be as realistic as possible while still again being really aspirational and excited about what we can do here

I have a question. Yeah, of course. With respect to water use, the city is obviously involved in some pretty serious litigation. What steps have you taken to look at both sides of that without getting into the merits of anything? Are we hedging both sides so that depending on how water and its supply comes out, how we are going to address that? Is that being considered?

I think with regard to the measures and the climate action plan, it's not really dependent on the ongoing litigation.

Okay. So we're not going to tighten our belts more if the city loses and we lose access to a significant amount of water? Doesn't it seem like we would need to?

I think we can continue to monitor the climate action plan and the measures that we have in place, knowing that this is a document that is going to be continuously evaluated, not just in terms of water, but all of the measures to see, you know, how we're tracking to see whether those need to be updated in any way. So it is a living document that, you know, we'll talk a little bit about how we're going to be monitoring that. and then also looking at ways that we may want to adjust some of these measures, you know, given that things and conditions can change.

Okay, thanks for that.

And as we were preparing the measures and actions, I will say again, staff involvement was so critical. I think that we were able to bounce a lot of ideas back and with our consulting experience using like the best practices and what's available out there, what other jurisdictions are doing and also calibrating really to what's feasible and what the city can do here. So that was really fun to work with the whole team on that. The last one here that we have just about updating those metrics is really, again, about accountability and making sure that what we say we are going to do, we can do. There are, again, multiple aspirational things in this. We recognize that the climate plan, there's a lot of room for growth. And with that, we want to be really realistic and be able to achieve what we put out in the world. And this last one, CEQA compliant, what that really means is that a CEQA qualified climate action plan is essentially one that can be backed up by substantial evidence. Things like ordinances to require, in a lot of instances, for example, new homes to have electric appliances across the board, not just be ready for that. And there's been pushback from entities on how that could work and what that could look like. And we want to make sure that people still have an opportunity to choose. And so what we understand here is that maybe... having that qualified climate action plan doesn't add value for the city. However, having a CEQA compliant plan does because it can be streamlined for grant funding and it's adoptable, all of those things within the realm of compliance. It just isn't something that has those strict requirements that say an ordinance must be adopted by this day, these requirements must be met, et cetera. And it's a little bit more fluid in that space. I think going back to what Jackie said about it really being a living document, And I want to say one more thing about this piece. Five years ago, pretty much all climate action plans were qualified. They had this analysis done, and the reason why is because it was five years ago, and it was a little bit easier. There's still technology and things in the place to really get that implemented. And it's become, again, trickier and trickier to meet the 40% below 1990 levels that would be required to have this qualified plan. So it's a very big reduction for the city. Doesn't mean we're not on the right path though. This one, last time we were here, we heard some questions about clarity on airport emissions. So that was really recognized, we wove that in. Really wanted to understand who has operational control, the county, what their role is, how we can work together, and there's been some kind of evolution in that section. So there's been additional context about what the city can do and what the city cannot do realistically with operational control and how we can come together more jurisdictionally to work together. So really excited about that and appreciate the feedback. We also updated references to the sustainability master plan or the SMP. And again, that regional collaboration. BEEN SO COOL TO SEE JUST HOW THIS IS ALL PLAYED IN. I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH DIFFERENT FOLKS AND SEEN GRANTS POP UP AND DIFFERENT PROGRAMS AND WORKING WITH THE CITY OF VENTURA AND JUST ALL OF THESE CONNECTIONS THAT I THINK ARE SO VALUABLE TO THE CITY AND REALLY RECOGNIZING THAT INTO THIS PLAN. And then we also heard during the last meeting recognizing the native plants but also fire resistant and that sometimes those might be different or sometimes they're the same and what that means and how we can be really thoughtful about that. And so we updated two specific actions about the urban tree canopy plan. And so that was just, again, recognizing that there's a lot of validity in understanding the risks of fires and that there's a lot of things that we learn as we go over time. And then this last one, the Electrification Concierge Program, really about including residents, not just building owners. So it goes to everybody, because originally we were talking, it said building owners in the text, and we didn't want it to be so structured. We wanted it to be more open to people who might be a resident and might not own the building. So what's next? Where do we go from here? Really, we're hoping to talk with you guys today. If you have any questions, address those, and then take this for adoption next week, which is really exciting. I know we have a short week ahead. I was looking at the timeline, and I'm just so excited to be here and really the reason why is because from here we're going to implement and so the plan is amazing it's a great foundation for the city it provides what we need to move forward i think that it speaks volumes to the community to the city staff to the entire team that's been part of it and it's just a really cool culmination of all of the work and to say hey what do we do from here you know we start to plan we start to implement we prepare these grant applications you know we allocate city staff time and then we just track and report progress coming back to the planning commission city council and letting the team know here's where we're excelling here's where there's trickiness and let's calibrate and make sure we're all on the same page and getting what the city really needs so again i appreciate everybody's time um here i can pass it to jackie for the final recommendation piece and then we'll close it out

Yeah, thank you for that presentation, Hannah. So with that, staff's recommendation is that the Planning Commission find the Climate Action Plan exempt from review under California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to Section 15061 of the CEQA guidelines and adopt a resolution recommending approval of the Climate Action Plan to the City Council. And staff's available for any questions.

Are there any questions for staff?

I do have a question. Maybe you can answer it without having the graph, but there was one graph that I couldn't quite get the explanation of, and it was the... I believe it's called target pathways. It was in two different sections. So it had the business as usual line, the target line, and then another line with only the percentage or the amount difference between the second lines. So does that mean that we have to reduce that much more or is that what we're reducing from the top line? I couldn't find that answer.

YES, ABSOLUTELY, AND I CAN RUN THROUGH IT REALLY QUICKLY, AND IF THIS HELPS, I'M HAPPY TO ALSO BRING IT UP, BUT I THINK, SO I'LL JUST TALK THROUGH IT ENTIRELY. THERE'S THE BUSINESS AS USUAL LINE, THINGS STAY THE SAME, THERE'S AN ADJUSTED FORECAST LINE, AND THAT ONE SHOWS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF STATE LEGISLATION WAS IMPLEMENTED, SO THINGS LIKE PAVLEY, CLEAN CAR, THINGS LIKE SP100 FOR ELECTRICITY, AND THOSE THINGS THAT ARE AT THE STATE LEVEL, RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD, THAT'S GOING TO REDUCE IT, AND THEN THE DIFFERENCE THERE IS WHAT THE CITY NEEDS TO ACHIEVE. SO EXACTLY RIGHT. IT SHOULD BE A GRAY.

IT WAS GRAY, YES. YES, AWESOME.

ALL RIGHT. SOME SORT OF A COLORED LINE. SO THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT.

I WAS JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, OKAY, ARE WE REDUCING IT FROM THE TOP ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM, OR IS THAT JUST FROM WHAT WE TARGET TO THE BOTTOM? YES, IT'S KIND OF THAT. SO IT IS JUST BETWEEN THOSE TWO NUMBERS?

EXACTLY, EXACTLY. AND IF NOTHING WERE TO, IF WE WERE JUST TO, FROM 1990 EVERYTHING GOES, THAT WOULD BE THAT TOP, TOP LINE.

OKAY, THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?

YEAH, I JUST HAVE A COUPLE OF GENERAL QUESTIONS. SO THE SB 32 HAD THIS Stated goal of reducing carbon emissions 40% from the 1990 Levels and yes, it does seem ambitious at this point in time or even at the beginning of the 2020s Has there been an estimation of where the city will be in? 2030 relative Well, I don't know that the city's goal is actually 40%. It's the statewide goal of 40%. But could you talk a little bit about what the city's actual objective is for 2030 and how that has been adjusted more recently?

Yeah, great question. So that, how we ended up drafting it was really in alignment with supporting the state, recognizing that the city's gonna do what they can to get in that 40%. However, there are a lot of different technologies, there's those legislative requirements that are gonna move the needle additionally. And so aligning with the state, recognizing a lot of the measures that we did set were really in line with those goals, specifically around mobility and energy use, so we can ambitiously get there. And overall, I want to say in 2020, 20, I think it was 2020, the state went under 1990 for the first time. So there's not been a lot of, I mean, there's still a lot of movement and COVID moved the needle significantly, you know, of course. And then it bounced back up. So I think that understanding, you know, the work from home and also understanding A lot of the new analysis is using models that are not based on projections or based on like cell phone data and GIS information. And so using more and more of that information, I think we'll have a better calibration and that'll be kind of the next iteration of inventories to see where we're at. But the state is making progress. And I think we can pull up, we didn't quantify the full 2040, 2045 reductions or 2030, but the intent was to move in that direction with the state schools.

Okay, I think that answers my next question. We're moving in the right direction. And then the AB 1279, the net zero by 2045, I think you referred to that. Again, we're moving in the right direction. We don't have numerical values yet, but... They're emerging, is my understanding.

That's exactly right. And even just in the time that I've worked with the city, anecdotally, it's been incredible just working with the team and seeing things come together across the board. It's all of these things that are already in kind of play. And now we're creating the mechanism to track them and kind of pull the things in the same direction. Because I think a lot of people were working on the different projects, getting funding for EVs and doing these really cool things. But now we're just kind of cataloging all of that. AND THEN WE'LL DO AN INVENTORY, YOU KNOW, THE CITY OR WHOEVER, THAT WOULD BE THE INTENT IS THE NEXT PART WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, IN A COUPLE OF YEARS, DO AN INVENTORY, SEE WHERE THAT UPDATED SPACE IS AND KIND OF COMPARE AND SAY, ALL RIGHT, ARE WE DOING IT, ARE WE NOT? OKAY, WE DID A LOT ON MOBILITY, BUT MAYBE ON ENERGY WE CAN MOVE THE NEEDLE A LITTLE MORE.

THAT'S EXCITING. THANK YOU.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? NO. OK, if there are no other questions, we'll open this up for public comments. Are there any comments from the public?

There are no public comments.

OK, very good. Seeing no further, I'll entertain a motion. Hearing's closed. I'll entertain a motion.

I'LL MOVE THAT WE FOLLOW THE RECOMMENDATION. ONE AND TWO, WOULD YOU VOTE FOR THEM AT THE SAME TIME? THAT THE CLIMATE PLAN IS EXEMPT FROM CEQA AND THEN ADOPT THE RESOLUTION RECOMMENDING. DO WE VOTE FOR THOSE SEPARATELY?

IS THERE A SECOND?

I'LL SECOND.

AND A VOTE.

COMMISSIONER VANDERMUELEN? YES. COMMISSIONER EDSALL?

YES.

VICE CHAIR MURPHY?

YES.

CHAIR DAVIDSON?

YES. Okay, clunkily moving right along tonight. Sorry, guys. We will now move on to item C. This is a review of the draft vision statement and guiding principles for our Camarillo 2050 general plan update.

Thank you, Chair Davidson. This item will be presented by Andrew Hill of Dye and Batia Urban and Regional Planners.

THERE, I'M ON. GOOD EVENING. SO MY NAME IS ANDREW HILL. I'M WITH DITE AND BATYA AND WE'RE THE PLANNING AND DESIGN FIRM THAT'S ASSISTING THE CITY WITH THE GENERAL PLAN UPDATE. WE'RE VERY PLEASED TONIGHT TO PRESENT THE DRAFT VISION AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE 2050 GENERAL PLAN. THIS IS REALLY A FOUNDATIONAL FIRST STEP IN UPDATING THE GENERAL PLAN AND IT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT OUTCOME OF PHASE ONE. AND SO THE MAIN OBJECTIVE FOR THE MEETING TONIGHT IS TO INTRODUCE THE DRAFT VISION AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES TO YOU ALL AND GET YOUR FEEDBACK BEFORE IT'S PRESENTED TO THE CITY COUNCIL IN AUGUST. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THE MEETING IS ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF THE PROJECT AND REPORT OUT ON THE PROGRESS MADE TO DATE. So with that in mind, I have a quick presentation. I'd like to provide a little bit of background about the general plan and the process for updating it. I'll recap our community engagement activities to date, and then I'll give you an introduction to the draft vision and guiding principles, and finally touch on next steps in the process. So starting with a little general plan background, Camarillo's 2050 general plan will really serve as the guide for decision makers and developers about how and where development should happen in Camarillo. It will identify the city's assets and challenges and describe a shared vision for the future of the community. THE GENERAL PLAN IS GOING TO RECOMMEND THE TYPE AND THE CHARACTER OF DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATE FOR DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE CITY AND IT WILL IDENTIFY THE NECESSARY TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED TO SUPPORT THAT DEVELOPMENT PATTERN. IT'S GOING TO INCLUDE A VARIETY OF GOALS, POLICIES AND ACTIONS AS WELL AS THE RECOMMENDED RESOURCES NEEDED TO ACHIEVE THE PLAN'S VISION. All cities in California are required to adopt a general plan that really serves as the community's blueprint for development and conservation. It provides a 25-year framework for Camarillo's future, and it addresses really a variety of topics that really touch on all aspects of daily life in the community. Under state law, it must address seven statutory topics, including land use, transportation, open space, conservation, noise, and safety. But a general plan can also address topics of local importance. And so Camarillo's current general plan has two optional elements. One of them is the Camarillo Urban Reserve Boundary, which is about growth management, responsible growth management. And the second one is a community character and design plan. ELEMENT REPRESENTING THAT THAT'S AN IMPORTANT TOPIC FOR THE COMMUNITY. A GENERAL PLAN IS REALLY A CITY'S PRIMARY LONG-RANGE PLANNING DOCUMENT, AND IT'S A HIGH-LEVEL DOCUMENT THAT SETS BROAD POLICIES AND GOALS OVER A LONG-TERM FRAMEWORK. IN TURN, IT'S IMPLEMENTED THROUGH A VARIETY OF MORE SPECIFIC MECHANISMS, SO YOU MIGHT HAVE SPECIFIC PLANS AND MASTER PLANS THAT DEAL WITH SPECIFIC AREAS OF THE CITY. IN THERE'S ALSO THE ZONING RIGHT THAT HAS SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS FOR BUILDING HEIGHTS AND SETBACKS ON INDIVIDUAL PROPERTIES AND THEN THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN ALSO FLOWS FROM THE GENERAL PLAN AND UNDER STATE LAW THE THE ZONING ORDINANCE AND THE SPECIFIC PLANS MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH THE GENERAL PLAN THAT REALLY SETS THE TONE AT A HIGH LEVEL FOR THE COMMUNITY So Camarillo's current general plan actually dates back to 1969. And while the individual chapters or elements have been updated incrementally over the years, the plan has never been comprehensively updated. And as I'm sure you know, since 1969, the world has changed a lot, right? And so you can think of economic factors, even in more recent times, There's a shift to internet shopping and online commerce. But there's also changing workplace preferences. More people are working from home. Or even the design of office spaces is different now than it was even 10 years ago. There's technological changes, right? Autonomous vehicles are coming. Rideshare is already here. And there's new smart city technologies that can help Camarillo use infrastructure more efficiently. and save resources. And then, of course, there's social and demographic changes. Camarillo, like most communities in the U.S., is getting older. And so we have to think about how to make Camarillo an age-friendly community so that people can age in place. But at the same time, the diversity of the population is increasing, and millennials have different needs and preferences as well. And then there's climate change issues as well, globally, as well as a whole raft of new state laws. And so the general, it's just the time is right to get together with the community, to think about these issues, to build a shared vision and a plan for achieving that vision over the long term. So this is a snapshot of our overall process as you can see the general plan is going to be updated in four key phases over about two years. The first phase which we're coming up on the end of right now is about building an understanding of issues and opportunities from a variety of perspectives in the community and building a shared vision for the future of the city. Then in phase two, we'll explore different options and alternatives for land use, economic development, community design that can help achieve the vision that emerges from phase one. Through robust community outreach activities, we'll work through those options and alternatives and build consensus around a preferred set of actions. And then in phase three, we'll roll up our sleeves and actually draft the goals and the policies in the plan and complete environmental review. At the end of phase three, we'll have the draft general plan and the draft EIR on the street for public review. And we'll move into phase four, which is about adoption and finalization. So a really key outcome of this first phase is that vision statement and guiding principles. As I say, they're really a foundational first step in updating the general plan because they identify the key themes and the community priorities that need to be addressed. Taken together, they describe a shared image of the kind of place that residents and businesses want Camarillo to be in 2050. They're intentionally broad and aspirational statements. Later on in the process, when we write the goals and the policies, we'll get into much more specifics. So they're intentionally high level, and they represent the points of consensus in the community. As we get into phase two, we'll explore different options for how to achieve those. AND AT THE END OF PHASE ONE, WE'LL BE PRESENTING THE DRAFT VISION AND THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES TO THE CITY COUNCIL FOR THEIR APPROVAL. ASSUMING WE GET THAT, ROLL INTO PHASE TWO. SO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IS REALLY A PILLAR OF THE GENERAL PLAN UPDATE. IN ORDER FOR THE PLAN TO REFLECT THE COMMUNITY, WE NEED TO HEAR FROM A BROAD RANGE OF PERSPECTIVES. AND SO THE DRAFT VISION AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES THAT IS BEFORE YOU TONIGHT HAS REALLY BEEN INFORMED BY ROBUST COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. Between December of last year through May of this year, we engaged with a broad cross-section of the community through a range of digital and in-person events. So we heard from residents, through surveys and in-person meetings. We also conducted a series of focus groups with arts and culture organizations, business groups, homeowners associations, architects and builders, really to try and understand issues and opportunities from a variety of different perspectives. And the city formed a general plan advisory committee made up of about 15 different residents, each with different perspectives and backgrounds to provide, to serve as kind of a steering committee on the process. And so our GPAC, as we call them, has met three times to weigh in on the draft vision and guiding principles. Overall, through phase one, we've heard from over 850 community members who have shared their ideas, all of which are reflected in the draft before you tonight. A quick recap, the city staff has really taken the lead on implementing a robust program of pop-up outreach. The objective is really to go out into the community and meet people where they are in their daily lives to raise awareness of the project and get quick input to inform the vision and the guiding principles. And so staff was out at events around town and also popular gathering spots like Rolling Pin Donuts, for example. We also conducted two very well attended community open house events. About 300 community members came out for the two events. The first of them was on the 24th of March at the public library. And the second was on Saturday the 28th at the ranch house. The Saturday event was really shaped as a family-friendly event. We had Mr. Softee's ice cream and kids' activities. And both of the events, though, were set up in an open house format with different stations. And so people could circulate, read a little bit of information, and provide input on key topics like mobility and growth. There was even a station on the guiding principles, and you can see people are writing their own guiding principles at that station as well. And then we had an online community survey as well that was available between February and May, and we had about 400, 401 people provide input on the survey as well. Additionally, a couple other avenues for community input were a photo contest. The objective was to invite community members to share photos of the places that make Camarillo special and unique. And we also had a youth video contest to provide young people with the opportunity to share their vision for the future of the city and what they love. So all of this input has been factored in. And we really heard from a good cross-section of the community. So about 60% of the people who responded to the survey were women and about 40% men. That's actually pretty common. For some reason, women tend to participate in the surveys more. But I think it's a lesson learned for phase two. We can be more intentional about going out to business groups and trying to hear from men as well. We had a pretty even split in terms of age, as you can see. A little less on the youth side, which is why we've tried to have the youth survey to go intentionally to the youth. And we'll be doing more of that in phase two to really engage with young people and get their perspectives in the plan. You can see that the majority of people who responded to the survey have lived in the community for 15 years or more. But that's probably because a lot of people who live in Camarillo have been here for a long time. And in terms of neighborhood representation, we had a pretty even distribution of respondents among the different council districts. A snapshot of some key themes that emerge from the process when we ask people about what they like most about living in Camarillo, one of the top responses is really the friendly community and the neighbors. People also repeatedly mention the weather and the climate and small town feel. Those are really clear values shared across the community. When we asked people about their priority for the next 25 years, maintaining Camarillo's small town, small city feel was really the number one response. But we also heard an emphasis on creating more jobs locally so residents can both live and work in Camarillo. Revitalizing some of the older shopping centers so that they serve more as neighborhood hubs. Attracting and retaining younger households by providing a range of housing types and pathways to home ownership as well. Emphasis on infrastructure as well. So these are some of the key themes. And this input has shaped the vision and the guiding principles. So with that, let me give you an introduction to the document itself. Again, as much as possible, we've tried to reflect the actual language of what community members wrote on those post-it notes at the open house meetings or provided in the survey. So it really, hopefully, has a good Camarillo flavor to it. But we're looking for your input on that. I'M GOING TO READ THE VISION STATEMENT TO YOU. CAMARILLO IS A WELCOMING CLOSE-KNIT COMMUNITY SHAPED BY ITS SMALL TOWN CHARACTER, ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE, NATURAL BEAUTY, EXCELLENT SCHOOLS AND PARKS, AND RELAXED QUALITY OF LIFE. AS THE CITY LOOKS TO THE FUTURE, CAMARILLO WILL PRESERVE THE QUALITIES THAT MAKE IT DISTINCTIVE WHILE THOUGHTFULLY PLANNING FOR THE NEEDS OF FUTURE GENERATIONS. The city will grow responsibly by focusing new housing, jobs, services, and public spaces in strategic locations within the urban boundary while protecting surrounding agricultural lands, open space, and scenic resources. High quality infill development, vibrant gathering places, resilient infrastructure, and a connected transportation network will support a thriving economy and enhance daily life for residents of all ages, incomes, and abilities. Camarillo will continue to be a community where people feel connected, safe, and proud to call home, rooted in this history, guided by sustainability and fiscal responsibility, and prepared to meet the opportunities and challenges of the coming decades. The vision statement is supported by a series of 14 more detailed guiding principles. Some of the guiding principles describe a desired outcome or end state. Some of them describe how the community should approach challenges and opportunities in the future. In order to give the document a bit of structure, we've organized the guiding principles into four key themes, community people, nature and place, livability and economic vitality, and mobility and connections. There's 14 guiding principles, but they're not in any particular order of priority. They're just organized under these topics for the purpose of making the document more readable. But these definitely represent key themes that emerged from the community input. And so under the community and people theme, we have four principles. Small town character. You can see people are really emphasizing the qualities that make Camarillo feel community focused here. Safe and welcoming city. Caring and connected community, which is where we get at the cultural neighborliness, respect and community connections, meaningful participation in civic life. History, arts, and culture, also an important value for Camarillo. Under the nature and place topic, we also have four principles. Responsible growth management, modern resilient infrastructure, cohesive community design, which is really about attractive gateways, prominent public art, tree-lined streets, and healthy green city. Under the livability and economic vitality topic, we also have four principles, a balanced local economy, attainable and diverse housing, vibrant gathering places, and destination old town. And then finally, mobility and connections, we have two, connected Camarillo and streets for people. And so in a moment when we get to the discussion part, we'd certainly like to hear from you all about your reaction to the vision and the guiding principles. And in particular, when you make your comments, we'd like to hear, does the content accurately reflect community priorities as you understand them? Is there anything that you think should be added or removed to make it more reflective of those priorities? Or would you recommend refinements to make sure that it better reflects community priorities? So when you make your comments, if you could think about these questions in particular, we'd appreciate it. We have already reviewed this draft with the General Plan Advisory Committee and also with the Economic Development and Land Use Committee as well. And so here's a quick snapshot of what the GPAC told us. They encouraged us to look again at the language and see if there's opportunities to use more active and aspirational language that emphasizes the excitement, excellence, intentionality, and civic pride. They suggested that we add some references to cultural diversity, volunteerism, and community connections. They also suggested that more context about state laws can be helpful to reinforce, to add some context and reinforce the message about responsible growth and protecting the small town feel in that context of state laws. They encouraged us to add more about transit hub opportunities, particularly around the Metrolink station, connections to Old Town and context-sensitive roadways, meaning some roadways it makes more sense for bicycles, some roadways make more sense for different modes of transportation to recognize that in the language of the guiding principles. And they also wanted to broaden the infrastructure and sustainability concepts to make sure that we're addressing heat, drought, flooding, and water quality, in addition to the wildfires that were mentioned. And they suggested being more specific when we talk about economic vitality and talking about specific key sectors and partnership opportunities, including with Cal State Channel Islands. THE EDLUC MET ON THE 18TH OF JUNE AND OVERALL THEY EXPRESSED SUPPORT FOR THE DOCUMENT AND ENCOURAGED US TO MOVE FORWARD PRESENTING IT TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND ULTIMATELY TO THE WHOLE OF THE CITY COUNCIL. LOOKING TO THE NEXT PHASE, THEY EXPRESSED THAT WE CONTINUE A FOCUS ON LOOKING AT OPPORTUNITIES TO INCORPORATE WORKFORCE HOUSING, ESPECIALLY FOR EARLY CAREER WORKERS, WHICH I THINK IS PICKED UP IN THE VISION AND THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES. and also to expand outreach to Spanish-speaking communities. And so we'll be looking at doing those things in the next phase of the work as well. What I would say is with the GPAC feedback, the EDLUC feedback, and your feedback tonight, we will be revising the vision and guiding principles to take all of that on board, and that's the version that will be presented to the city council in August. And so finally, I just wanted to wrap up by showing you some of our submittals for the teen video contest and the community-wide photo contest. And so as I mentioned, to go out and deliberately hear from young people about their vision for the community and what they hope to see in Camarillo in the future, we invited young people to make a short video on TikTok or Instagram. We got some pretty great submittals and our GPAC met to review them and they voted last month and selected a winner. And I'll show you the winning video now.

Camarillo was established in 1964 by Rodolfo Camarillo, and since then it has continued to flourish and thrive. This unsuspecting town has a lot more to offer than what meets the eye. With glistening views and community connection, this little town of ours is a diamond in the rough. Do you want to know how you can tell a town is great? By its parks. Camarillo has about 15 different parks, including a 4.7 mile bike path that spans across Camarillo, connecting one side of the town to the other. These sanctuaries of nature are vital and well kept. The parks have amazing structures to play on and wide open ranges to roam. You and your family will enjoy spending time here. Next to one of these parks is our community center, where people connect with their fellow townsfolk. Camarillo dawns upon many centers like these, such as the nearby Boys and Girls Club, the Bob Kinley Community Park, an aquatic center, and two of my personal favorites, the Camarillo Library and the Channel Islands Art Center. The Camarillo Library is a spacious library for all ages. They have monthly events and programs, an amazing kid center. I mean, just look at that boat. It's huge. Any kid or adult would feel engaged reading in this library. This library is obviously filled with books, but also has their own outside park in case you wanted to take your reading outside. The Channel Islands Art Centre is filled with amazing art and hosts around 40 artists, but let's hear a bit from... Peter Tyus, I'm the Executive Director here at Studio Channel Islands.

We are entering our 26th year as an organisation and the idea was that artists professional working artists would have a place to make work to gather and to show their work in some of the derelict buildings as the university was taking shape so artists are inherently quiet and reclusive people they work throughout the week in their own space without engagement with the public so not a lot of people have seen how an artist goes about you know making their work So an open studio event is an invitation to the community to come in and walk through the studios and meet the artists and talk to them about the work they're doing. So the first Saturday of every month between 11am and 3pm, we invite anybody who wants to come in to walk through the studios, meet the artists and see what they're working on.

Right next to the art center is the weekly farmers market hosted every Saturday of the month with fresh produce and local commodities. Let's hear a bit from the vendors and managers here.

Hi, good morning. My name is Patty Davis and my husband Bill. We're market chairs this morning from 7 to 10.

The farmer's market is peacefully located in Old Town, Camarillo's historic hub. Here you'll find all sorts of small businesses, restaurants, games, and more. I don't want to spoil too much, but there is so much to explore, so why don't we plan a trip?

Yeah. And then additionally, as I mentioned, we ran a photo contest, right? And we got 14 different entries. People were invited to share photos of spots around town that really make Camarillo the place it is, from everyday spots to hidden gems. AS I SAID, WE GOT 14 DIFFERENT SUBMISSIONS, AND OUR GPAC VOTED. THEY RANKED EACH OF THE SUBMITTALS ON THE BASIS OF FOUR CATEGORIES, SO CREATIVITY, ORIGINALITY, EMOTIONAL IMPACT, TECHNICAL QUALITY, AND OVERALL AESTHETIC APPEAL. And this was our winner. And so we have a gift basket for the winner. But all of the photos actually can ultimately be used in the general plan, too. So we thank everyone who submitted great photos. So with that, a quick look to next steps. As I mentioned, we'll be presenting a revised version of the vision and the guiding principles to the city council on August 12th. And then following that, assuming the council gives us direction to move forward, we'll start up on the alternatives exploration phase of the work, which is phase two. AND AGAIN, THAT WILL INVOLVE EXTENSIVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THROUGHOUT THE FALL. AT THE END OF THE PROCESS, WE'LL COME BACK TO YOU WITH THE PREFERRED LAND USE PLAN AND THE SET OF KEY STRATEGIES THAT REPRESENTS THE CONSENSUS THAT EMERGES FROM THE PROCESS. SO WITH THAT, I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE.

ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSION?

I don't know that I have any questions. I was pleased to see looking through the answers that there was quite a bit of request for like teenage Activities and your children's activities and indoor type activities because I picture things where I would take my grandsons when they were little but in other areas Like when they were little to the indoor climbing things where they can go all over and you wonder if they're ever gonna come back again You know or I just see the ice skating rinks were on there and the ice and skating rinks So I was glad to see you know that all those items were there One thing that I thought of, which is maybe too early in the game here when I was reading about Old Town getting more active and building that up and used more. I know we've had trolleys and the bus that goes around, but I think maybe when we get to where IT'S BUILT UP A LITTLE BIT MORE. MAYBE WE COULD HAVE ONE THAT JUST CIRCLES OLD TOWN IN SEVERAL STOPS. SO FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE WALKING CHALLENGED LIKE ME, WHEN I DRIVE THROUGH AND I DON'T FIND A PARKING PLACE WHERE I WANT TO GO, I JUST KEEP GOING AND I DON'T STOP. BUT IF WE HAD ONE THAT CIRCLED AND STOPPED AT MAYBE THREE PLACES IN OLD TOWN PLUS MAYBE SOME OF THE OUTSIDE PARKING LOTS, SOMETHING THAT JUST CIRCLED IN THAT AREA, IF WE CAN AFFORD SOMETHING LIKE THAT, EVEN IF IT'S ONLY CERTAIN HOURS IN THE DAY, THAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET MORE USE OUT OF IT. And just as a side note for Old Town, since we've opened Dizdar Park back up again, a couple times when I've stopped to get on the freeway, it's been really enjoyable to see it being filled with lots of people using it. Lots of kids playing and using the new play equipment or ones throwing balls around on the grass. So I've really enjoyed seeing the fact that it is being used well. But... I did enjoy, I didn't read all of the comments. I have to admit, I did not read all of them. But they did seem to, quite a few of them were mentioned over and over and over, especially like this small town or building old town or rebuilding old town for more use. So those were just a few little comments I had as I read through it.

Yeah, I was impressed at the amount of input you got from the community, you know, diversified age-wise and locations, and it was very thorough, I thought. It seemed like they covered about everything, and I thought it was well done. Yeah, thank you.

Yeah, I too was impressed with the outreach, you know, reaching 1,200 people basically, if you include those that attended the workshops and filled out their digital responses. As you move along and continue with community outreach, the one graphic that I am thinking about is the one that shows that 58% of the respondents have lived here over 15 years. And I think that that's really important. And I also would suggest that we hear more from the newer community members. I mean, that's all a function of who comes out and you're reaching out to as many different places. I'm really impressed with that. And I'd like to see a little bit better spread if possible as you move along in the program. But it's a great looking document. It is a draft and congratulations on putting that together.

I think our GPAC can be very helpful for helping us get to newcomers or other segments of the population we haven't heard from as much in phase one as we move forward.

I have a comment. As you read the initial introduction, we heard old town, the small town feel, old town referred to. It seemed to me that we could do a little more to tease out WHAT THAT ACTUALLY MEANS. SO MY COMMENTS, YOU'LL SEE A THROUGH LINE TOWARDS IT, THROUGH IT, AND THAT'S MAINTAINING THE CULTURAL ASPECTS OF OUR COMMUNITY, THE SPANISH HERITAGE THAT CAMARILLO IS SO PROUD OF, MAINTAINING OUR UNIQUE CHARACTER, THERE'S DEVELOPERS HAVE A TENDENCY TO WANT TO MINIMIZE WHAT THEY BUILD WITH CLEAN LINES AND LESS ARCHITECTURAL EMBELLISHMENTS. AND I KNOW THESE ARE SPECIFIC THINGS, AND YOU VERY ACUTELY OR ACCURATELY DESCRIBED HOW THAT COMES LATER, BUT I DO THINK THAT THIS INTRODUCTORY LANGUAGE CAN AT LEAST SET THE TONE THAT THESE ARE THINGS THAT ARE WORTHY OF PROTECTION. AND THEN ALSO MAINTAINING AND ENHANCING THOSE ELEMENTS OF OUR COMMUNITY THAT MAKE IT FEEL SMALL TOWN. When I think of a small town, I think of those parts of buildings that make me feel like I'm back in an older time. So I would like to see maybe a little bit stronger language that maybe just focuses more onto that, what does a small town mean? By no means am I suggesting there's any weakness in it, but I do think that element of small-town feel, I think, just didn't find its way into that. So I say that respectfully because I thought it was beautiful work, and I was blown away by the depth of your penetration into the community. And then to see how you engaged with the younger people in our community, fantastic. So thank you for that. Seen no more comments from the Commission Do we have any public comments on this item? There are no public comments All right, then hearing none. I'm gonna close the hearing and it's now open for discussion Are there any questions or comments from the commissioners? No, all right seeing none I will entertain a motion I

I move that we send this document forward to the City Council for review and consideration. Second it.

We have a first and a second.

Commissioner Vandermuelen? Yes. Commissioner Itzel?

Yes.

Vice Chair Murphy?

Yes.

Chair Davidson?

Yes. All right. VERY GOOD. THEN CONCLUDING THAT WE'LL MOVE ON TO OUR DIRECTOR'S REPORT. BRADLEY.

Good evening, chair and commissioners. It's getting a little late in the evening for me to be giving this report, I believe. Here we are. As of now, we do not have any items for the August 4th meeting, so we will keep the rest of that. We are tentatively planning right now for September 15th to do our planning commission tour. So we can kind of give you guys a look at what's happening in the city, what could possibly happen, and kind of get your feedback. It just gets you a little more familiar with some of the changing dynamics out there. Yesterday, we held the Arneal Road groundbreaking for our nine-unit mixed-use affordable housing development. We expect that to open sometime in October next year, is what we're aiming for right now. But a great project that's following up on the heels of Barry, which should be opening up here in the coming weeks and really kind of expanding our affordable housing portfolio. If any of you are interested for a tour in Barry, please let me know. Michael Sepak, one of our housing team members, is happy to provide that for you guys. And then lastly, I'd like to introduce all the way at the very end with the glasses and the black jacket there, way down there. She is a new principal planner here at the City of Camarillo. My stories of your short commission meetings have gone long, far, and wide, and she has decided to join us. I'm bringing friends along with me. She worked with me over in Glendale, but I think she'll be a great contribution compliment to the rest of our team already an excellent team I think she will help just enhance us even better so look for her in the future to be sitting up here giving some presentations as well so that's all I have all right very good next item Commissioner comments do we have any comments from the commissioners start down here I would just have one comment and that is when we do our tour

IT'S NICE WHEN WE ACTUALLY STOP AT A LOCATION, AND THE NARRATIVE KEEPS PACE WITH WHERE WE ARE. THAT'S HARDER TO DO THAN WHEN IT'S SAID, BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT, IT'S LIKE HERDING CATS, AND THERE'S TWO DIFFERENT VEHICLES, AND SO I UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M SUGGESTING MIGHT TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF COORDINATION, BUT IT IS NICE WHEN WE ACTUALLY STOP AT A LOCATION. WE DON'T NEED TO GET OUT AND WALK AROUND, BUT JUST TO STOP AND ACTUALLY HAVE OUR ATTENTION AT THAT SPOT. ALSO WHEN WE'RE DRIVING AND MOVING, THE NOISE CAN GET A LITTLE DIFFICULT. OF COURSE, I WEAR HEARING AIDS, SO I'M ESPECIALLY CHALLENGED. BUT IT IS NICE TO ACTUALLY STOP AND JUST HAVE OUR COMPLETE ATTENTION ON A LOCATION. SO I MIGHT SUGGEST THAT WE MAKE A PURPOSEFUL EFFORT TO DO THAT SO THAT WE CAN TRULY HEAR WHAT'S GOING ON AT EACH SPOT. THAT'S IT.

Very good recommendations. We'll take those into account. Thank you.

Perfect.

I was going to say we did do that in the past when we first started out, or at least when I first started going on them.

Yes.

So rather than just drive by, we did stop and actually get to look at it while it was being described.

Clearly I hit a nerve. All right. Very good. With that then, if there are no other comments or business, we will adjourn.