Remarks by David Comden
71 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 3
- Play at 11:03
“I'd like to request, Ellie, if you have your notes written down, if you could submit them in writing through the portal so it could be part of the record, it would be easier for us to grab that and then be able to forward it to a council member or to staff with questions or what have you.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 27:29
“Thank you, Chair. Thank you for the presentation. Is this the project that had a lawsuit attached to it? And since it is, because we haven't officially gotten any, at least I don't remember us getting any update on that, can you walk us through what happened, please?”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 28:46
“to give us some information on the conversion from rental units to for sale units. Is this common these days? Do we have a disposition as a city on what we would prefer? Walk us through that, if you would, please. I can go for it.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 30:11
“Okay, so doing the math, you said 10%. This new proposal is for eight moderate. If I'm reading it correctly, eight moderate is less than 10% of 94 total units. Or we're down to 75 units now. I see, okay, very good. Yeah, those are my questions, thank you.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 34:42
“thank you for that clarification I believe our further questions are for the applicant unless you have any further absolutely Commissioner Comden thank you chair so moderate does not have a resale restriction as very low income for sale units would like a 50-year Horizon capping the acceleration of The value or the resale value of a unit when it's.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 42:07
“Walk us through, you've gone from six studios to zero. I don't know much about the resale or for sale studio market, but I do know that modern living for younger adults is way downsized from my generation. Speak to why you made that change, please.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 43:36
“Thanks again. What does adaptable to ADA mean? Usually it's door widths and things like that. Will these automatically be within that realm or?”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 44:43
“But the bathroom is naturally large enough for a wheelchair to turn and all those things?”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 49:29
“Okay, let's cut to the chase. What if we deny this? What happens?”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 54:18
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:08:18
“I got to know Ivor Davis over 20 years because he would be a contributor to our newspaper, and he was one of the most remarkable people I've ever met. He lived a witness of history that most of us have only read about. He attended the Manson trials. He was there when the Beatles met Muhammad Ali. He watched in the Ambassador Hotel as RFK took his last few breaths. He was the most incredible person. You know, they say one in a million. He was one in 10 million. And his joie de vivre is really hard to describe. He just made you feel great. He made you feel alive. He made you feel like you…”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:10:09
“I'd like to say that I had originally proposed a different alleyway, which has an unofficial name, but the adjacency to the Rubicon, for which he was a major contributor and donor, as well as the Ventura Music Festival, I think is apropos.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:24:34
“Let's rewind here. I watched the three and a half hour discussion from council on June 9th, not on June 9th, that's my wife's birthday, but recently. And it was mentioned that these changes had been spoken about in prior councils years ago. Do we have any understanding of what prompted this? Why council has been thinking about it for a number of years?”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:26:17
“Why is this before us now? Normally it comes before us and then it goes to council. This is in reverse. They spoke about it, they came to a conclusion, they asked staff to come back for something they could review and either approve or modify if they chose. Why is it coming to us?”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:27:14
“Okay, very good. I just want to... I don't know. Can you confirm that the director at that time, who's no longer with us, said that having these meetings can add two to three months to a timeline of a project's approval and in combination sometimes up to five to six months if both advisory bodies are consulted and have hearings?”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:27:43
“And I also heard that in 2025 that there were 25 such meetings between these two bodies and the cost number of $195,000 or thereabouts was offered at that June 9th meeting.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:28:04
“Okay. Thank you. Those are my questions. Commissioner Wiener.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:32:28
“Commissioner Comden, you have another question? Thank you, Vice Chair. Could you pull up slide eight, please? So in a self-preservation question, planning qualification changes, no change is listed here as it was on June 9th. Now could you pull up slide five? This says current planning commissioners continue to serve out remainder of term before transitioning to refined district-based appointment process. those two things seem to be not the same to me.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:34:07
“Right, but at some point they would change.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:34:35
“OK. Point of clarification, the objective design standards, the draft is available now online, correct? I've seen them.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:34:46
“OK. I know a lot of people don't know that they're out there yet. I just wanted to remind people that the draft is out there and available for you to look at.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 2:11:26
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 2:13:10
“Let's go back to Commissioner Calden. Okay. So can we start with HPC?”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 2:13:23
“I'll wait. I'll wait till after everyone has okay Go next to Commissioner Whittinger.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 2:18:17
“Yes, but I think it would be disjointed to do. Frankly, I think we should stay on topic, make comments about that topic, come to some conclusions, and then wrap it up is how I see it.”
Planning Commission · Sep 23, 2026