Remarks by Scott McCarty
40 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 2
- Play at 21:43
“Thank you, Chair Boussa, and thanks for the presentation, staff, I appreciate it. Can we bring up the application again? Page 20, please.”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 22:20
“Yeah. So yeah, that's it. OK. So a question here. So the columns here, we don't see it on this view. The third column from the left is key milestones and milestone dates. The fourth column from the left is anticipated completion date. And let's take item number 14.1.1 in the middle column. In the key milestones for the Pacific View Mall, It says by 2026, establish development standards, et cetera. For that same item, 14.1.1, in the next column over, the anticipated completion date is December 31st, 2029. Should I read anything into, and this is kind of common throughout the application. I…”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 24:13
“Okay, so you don't anticipate HCD taking a look at this document and saying, well, they didn't meet their commitments in 2026, what confidence do I have that they're gonna make it in 2029? That's not any kind of issue you read into it?”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 26:12
“OK, thank you. One more question for right now. If you could scroll down a couple of pages to item number 14.6. I think one more page down. 14.6, continue all Ventura water programs and new projects such as Water Pure and the State Water Connection Project to ensure adequate water supply, et cetera. So this is a key milestone and what I read into this, my own personal read is very interesting. To me this is the first time I've seen in writing where the city is actually committing to the state to complete our water projects. Those two in particular, Ventura Water Pure and the State Water…”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 28:14
“Okay, thanks. I must have just missed that portion in the housing element. Sorry about that. That's all the questions I have for now. I'll have a couple of comments later if you could keep the application handy.”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 41:22
“Oh, Commissioner McCarty. Actually, so I'm back to, like, no questions, but recommendations for the document itself?”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 49:23
“Thank you. And thank you for taking charge of the situation that just occurred. So with regard to feedback for the application, a couple of things, editorial, typographical kind of things. On page four, the application information lists the authorized representative and her email as Rachel Diamond. So that will need to be changed.”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 50:01
“Could you go back to my favorite page, page 20 of the application?”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 50:19
“Okay, so I have reviewed and edited way too many documents in my lifetime. And I want to talk about how this document is aligned typographically. In the two right-hand columns where we see text, the two rightmost columns where we see text, that text is center justified. I don't have an issue with that. There's also left justification, right justification, and full justification. You can see in the left hand column, the left hand column is what's called fully justified. And if you can blow it up a little bit, you can see how irritating that kind of justification is at the bottom of that left…”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 53:04
“I have a quick follow-up question to that answer. So do we have any capability in this room to turn off the microphones remotely?”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 1:12:19
“Thank you, Chair Boussa. Thanks for the good staff report. So part of the staff report, there's a paragraph on historic context. And this slide you have up is apropos. We see the project site. outlined in red. In the extreme lower right-hand portion of this image is the Ventura Center for Spiritual Living, which is a historical landmark. And just, I think, two lots over from the project site is the Rubicon Theater, which is, in my mind, a potential historical landmark. So in the staff paragraph on historic context, It says that this site is not located within a potential historical district.…”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 1:14:16
“Okay. Thank you. That allays my concerns. that I cannot unilaterally make this a historic district myself.”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 1:52:57
“Thank you, Chair Boussa. As part of the supplemental packet that the Commission received this afternoon, there was a letter from the California Housing Defense Fund, which references the Housing Accountability Act as it pertains to this project. The gist of the letter uh... sites the city's obligation under state law specifically that the housing accountability act protections apply and the city may not reject the project except based on health and safety standards I think my question is directed to council and perhaps to staff. I'd like to just hear a reaction or your thoughts on that…”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 1:55:18
“Thank you. I appreciate that answer. I like this project. a very thoughtful and innovative use of that particular size and shape lot. And I think all my questions have been answered. I don't have any qualms about it. I'm in favor of this project.”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 2:06:45
“Can I ask a question about that event? So I'm planning on attending, but if I show up and I see three other planning commissioners there, do I need to turn around and leave to comply with the Brown Act?”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 2:18:02
“Thank you. Commissioner McCarty. Thank you, Chair Booth. I do have one question about the director's hearing, the Chase Bank on Harbor Boulevard. Do you recall what will be replacing that?”
Planning Commission · Aug 26, 2026
- Play at 1:34:54
“Thank you. And thank you for Shanna and the JKA representatives for the presentation. I appreciate it. So I'm trying to get grounded here. And I have a question about the scorecard approach. Ami, you had mentioned it. You called it an interesting challenge for us. And John, in your presentation, you were more explicit Number one, saying or implying that parts of it are in fact subjective and not objective and that this was the first time that JKA had moved forward with a scorecard approach. So is this the first time JKA has done ODS? Oh, no.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:38:16
“Okay. You mentioned, John, that you looked at documents going back to the 1990s. And, Ami, you had mentioned that actually 80% of the the ODS is from existing residential mixed use overlay. So it sounds like part of it comes from documentation already in place, and then part of it, for instance, the scorecard, is kind of being invented from scratch. You alluded to other cities. Some cities do scorecards, others don't. So in addition to looking backward temporally in older documents, what comparisons did you do with other municipalities who have ODS in place that seem to be successful? Did you…”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:42:50
“It's diametrically opposed to what we're looking at here when city council is adamant we want to be eclectic. We're at complete opposite ends of the spectrum.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:43:21
“Thank you. Let me just move on quickly, ask a couple more quick questions. Can we go to slide 27, please? First of all, before I ask the question, with regard to the scorecard, who is actually doing the scoring when a project proceeds through the process?”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:44:36
“So that leads into my question which is the bottom line on this slide. In my mind objective design standards are self-described if you either meet the design standards or you don't meet the design standards. So, Maruja, maybe this question is for you. Last line, Planning Commission would see projects not meeting ODS. Why would a project not meeting ODS even go through the process?”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:46:04
“Okay, so I'm familiar with some of those projects you're alluding to, so that's a good and fair answer. Slide 28, please. City Council workshop being moved to October 6th. Thank you. Reading this agenda and boning up for this meeting, I was in dire fear that we didn't have enough time to.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:46:26
“OK, good, good, good. And finally, let's go to the last slide in the presentation, which we didn't get to, slide 31. Or 30? Well, actually, that's a pretty good representation of slide 31. Slide 31.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:46:42
“It's the light reflectance value chart. And my comment was going to be, so what you're looking at is actually a light reflectance value of approximately 6.5.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:46:55
“So when you say that you set the threshold at 6.5, I was kind of shocked by that because that allows anything up to a charcoal color on the entire side of a building pretty much. So we don't need to talk about this now, but I have a concern about setting the light reflectance value at 6.5 if you're shooting for true light reflectance and lighter colors. So that's just a comment. We can talk more about that later. Thank you.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026