City Council - Regular Meeting

Recording in progress.

Good evening. We are now calling to order Rockland City Council regular meeting, 01/27/2026. If you'd all join me first in the pledge of allegiance. Thank you. Next we have roll call. Madam Clerk.

Good evening. Councilmember Janda.

Present.

Vice Mayor Holden.

Present.

Councilmember Gayaldo. Present. Councilmember Broadway.

Here.

Mayor Bass.

Here. Okay.

Next is agenda review. Do we have anyone that has items for agenda review? No? Okay. Then next we are going to move on to citizens addressing the city council. A couple of rules for the road. This is an opportunity for the public to speak on anything that is not appearing on today's agenda. We welcome your comments. First, we'd ask that you identify yourself as well as give an address or area, city of residence. We do have time limits, three minutes.

There's gonna be a green, yellow, and red light up there. Unfortunately, it's not a dialogue, so it's a one way street. You just give us information that you want to let us know, and then if we have a way to direct to your attention, a particular staff member will be able to do that, but we cannot comment on anything that is brought to the council at this point. And then finally, just a moment of decorum, we just ask that no clapping, cheering, or booing, so that everyone has an honest effort at being able to speak their mind. So at this point, I'll ask, do we have any speaker cards?

Mayor Bass, we have not received any comment cards.

Okay. At this point, I'll open it up to the general public if there's any comments. Okay. Seeing none, we will close the citizens addressing city council and move on to reports from the city council and the city manager. I will start to my right.

Great. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I had a Pioneer meeting a week ago where we had a rate discussion. So PG and E has lowered their electricity rate but they increased their exit fee for Pioneer customers, which was from a percentage standpoint pretty significant, about 240%, which is about 2.5¢ per kilowatt.

So in response, Pioneer lowered their rates, electricity rates 17% to help compensate for that, but it'll still result in about an 8% differential. So the Pioneer rates, for this year anyways, will be slightly higher than PG and E's. This isn't it's unusual that this happens. It did happen in 2021. Typically, Pioneer rates are anywhere from 3% to 20% lower than PG and E, which has been the case for several years.

But in this one instance for this year, it's going to be slightly higher. There's a number of things that Pioneer is doing with other organizations throughout the state to challenge this. They're going through the CPUC, appealing some things. They're hopeful that there's some movement sometime in the middle of the year. But for now, starting with your March bill, you'll see that difference. And I also had the honor of attending Congressman Lemalpha's service on Saturday up in Chico, and we'll honor him a little bit later. That was a very nice event that honored him very well.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just to mention, I was also at Congressman Lamafel's service on Saturday. I want to thank the community for organizing the Martin Luther King Day events on Martin Luther King Day, including a march that's become an annual tradition here in Rockland. So appreciate the work that goes into that.

And just also joined the chamber yesterday for ribbon cutting for a business that's been open for a little while, but Johnny's New York Pizza right here in Rockland. And it's a great story because Johnny started out making pizza at home during COVID. His wife said he bought 50 pizza boxes and he wasn't sure he'd sell 50 pizzas. But it became a viral sensation where getting a Johnny pizza was like winning the lottery for a while. But now he's got a storefront and churning out pizza at the corner of Whitney And Sunset.

If you haven't been there, stop by and see Johnny. Great. Council member Galdo.

There we go. Thank you. Just a couple things on the fifteenth was the Sacramento Area Council of Government meeting, and, honored to share that I was sworn in as chair for SACOG for this year because I'm a little bit crazy. Thank you. I believe we were checking with our former council member Yule. I think the last time Rockland had a chair was Peter Hill. So it's early nineties, I'm guessing. It's been a little bit. So I'm honored to be doing this. And thank you so much to mayor Bass for being there through my swearing in.

Much appreciate the support. Also that day was the Placer County Association of Realtors. They're they're changing of the guard for their new president and thanking their outgoing president. Then this week on Monday, we had our Rock Pal. If anyone's familiar with the Rockland Police Activities League, they are taking over Run Rockland this year.

So that will be their biggest fundraiser and we absolutely encourage everybody to get out there. That is an event that was started in honor of our fallen officer Matthew Redding and his family has done a tremendous job in keeping his memory alive and so we encourage everybody to join us through that. Then also yesterday was the mosquito vector control district meeting and really all we did was the organization for new officers So the new chair will be the representative from Auburn. And then this morning, thank you to our city manager who joined me this morning for SACOG down at Aggie Square. We had the announcement and the kickoff for the 2025 blueprint that we have adopted and moved forward. I think that's it.

Okay, great. Thank you. Councilmember Broadway.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a few things. First of all, on January 19, I had the opportunity to participate in the eighth Annual Placer County Martin Luther King Jr. March and celebration. So I did see a few of our members there and I want to thank the team that put together the event. It was well attended and it was enjoyed by many and a great way to recognize Doctor. Martin Luther King and all he did. On January 22, I attended the consolidated oversight board meeting. Real exciting stuff.

We reviewed the ROPS reports or the recognized obligation payment schedules. Our municipalities are required to report on the efforts that are being made in relationship to winding down the redevelopment activities that have occurred and the properties that they have. And so, we were able to, review the ROPS report for, Rockland and the other communities. I want to commend, the team here in Rockland for a, solid report and a great presentation. And then on the, twenty fourth, I also attended, Congressman Doug Lemofa's memorial in Chico, and it was a clear reminder of the impact that the congress member had, attended by several thousand individuals and paying their respects for the congressman and all he did for our communities in Northern California.

And I was honored to have the opportunity to be there. And, that is all that I have, mister mayor. Thank you.

Many of the events, have already been mentioned. I just wanna say, congrats again, for chairing SACOG. When I was there, was pretty impressed with there's a lot of heavy hitters there. So to have Rockland be represented and at a time that's I think very key for us for a number of reasons, including Rina allocation, I'm excited that you're there and appreciate the leadership, Councilmember Gayaldo, to get to that point. So I don't have anything else really for my reports. We'll move on to the consent calendar. Is there yes.

Did we receive a report from the city manager?

Oh, yes. I was good at it last time. I missed it this time.

It's fine, mayor. You must have known that I have no report tonight.

See? I could have played that

off. Alright.

Hopefully I won't make that a habit. All right. So next we do have the consent calendar. I'll ask if anyone has anything they'd like to pull.

No, sir.

Seeing none. Okay. Then I will be seeking a motion.

Mister mayor, I'll move approval of consent calendar items c one through c seven.

Okay. So.

Alright. Councilmember Holden seconds. All in favor, aye.

Aye. No.

Abstain? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Okay. So next, I think the reason many people are here, is for, the proclamation honoring, Congressman Doug LaMalfa.

The way we're going to do this is I'm going to invite my council members first to speak regarding Mr. Lomolfo, and then I will do the proclamation and we'll do a photo, and then I'm going to invite members of the public to speak. So I would like to start and I would mention I'm going start with Greg because right when this happened, I got a text from you and I knew that this was important to you to make sure that our flags were at half. And so I'd like to start with you.

Great. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah. Doug Amalfa was was a very special man, and there were a lot of wonderful stories about him and how he conducted his his business both at the state and the federal level and how he interacted with with not only fellow assemblymen, congressmen, but also the staff and the people in DC, his local staff who I know a few that have been with him through all those different offices throughout the years.

A special story, when I first met Doug in 2010, I was first running for this position. My very first fundraiser didn't really know what I was doing. But at the end of the night, we were kind of wrapping things up, and in walked Doug. And he's a very commanding person, very tall. And I didn't know him.

He didn't know me. But someone asked him if he had time to come up and meet me. What I didn't realize is he was down in Sacramento. He was assemblyman at that time, and they were having an all night budget session. So he came up during a break and sat down with me and basically asked me from the moment I graduated high school, how did I end up at that point in that day?

And that was about a thirty year story. So we sat down and I told him my story and we talked for forty five minutes or so. And then he got up and he went right back down to the capital and spent all night working on the budget. And I reflect on that and just couldn't quite grasp why you know, I'm not that special. I'm just I'm just a guy, you know, trying to do a good thing.

But what what I learned, especially this Saturday listening to speaker Mike Johnson and former speaker Kevin McCarthy talk about him, is Doug was the special person. He was the one that did this with everybody he came across. His districts, being north of us, covered hundreds of miles. And he would be in DC or down in Sacramento during the week, and he'd come home on the weekends and he'd get in his car with staff and he would drive all over the district meeting with whether it was one or two people at a time or a larger group. But he felt he represented everybody, and everybody needed the attention.

It wasn't just the donors or the big groups. And that says a lot about a person. And he wasn't one that would boast. He'd go about his business quietly. He wasn't looking for accolades. And that speaks a lot about him. And also, his faith was very strong, his Christian faith. And that was certainly felt throughout the service. When you see our leader of the house break down when he's telling a story, that tells you something about the person that they really knew and felt very strongly for. So it was very moving, of course very sad, but it was a great way to honor him.

And I appreciate the few minutes to share my personal connection. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I heard the news of Doug's passing very early on the day that the news broke out and of course I was shocked because Doug was out and about all the time. But for me, I met Doug in 2009 when he decided he might run for the state senate to represent a big area, including the city of Rockland. And he, all of a sudden, started showing up everywhere.

This rice farmer, he was all over Rockland. And he he was here, there, and everywhere. And the election came along. He won the election. And, you know, I suspect some people thought he might go back to Richfield and we'd never see him again, but instead he, opened up his office, right behind Bel Air on Stanford Ranch.

So he planted his flag right here in Rockland and sent a clear message about the importance of our community to him. And I always appreciate that. My office ended up being across the parking lot from him, so I got to wander over anytime, I wanted to to see people. But, Doug went on to be elected to congress. Didn't represent Rockland, but you never would have known it because he was as connected to us as ever.

And the redistricting people, a few years ago, took all of Placer County out of his district. But you wouldn't know it because he kept in good touch with us when the Placer Business Alliance would do their trips back to Washington. Doug was there as if he represented Placer. And in his mind, he did, you know, because these were his people. So I I marvel, you know, sometimes going around Rockland, meeting people.

I I sometimes struggle to remember people and then I think, wow, Doug was remembering people from like 25 counties. All these people that he had to interact with all the time and travel around do all those things. One thing I will say, would go every fair number of times to his he'd do a harvest fundraiser every year in his big barn on his farm. And that was always kind of surreal, hundreds and hundreds of people packed into this barn with tables and, you know, having a good old fashioned harvest banquet. It was really, really special.

I I would run into Doug at different events and everything else, but, you know, one memorable one was about I think about a year and a half ago, I was taking a nonstop flight to New York or I'm sorry, to Washington. And I show up at the airport, and there's Doug and his chief of staff hanging out before they got on the plane. So I went up to Doug and said, hey, I'm on the same plane, you know. And of course, Doug was in coach. There's no first class Doug.

But I told him, you know, I was going there to do this and that. And he bent me he bent my ear on some things about Wall Street. I work for a Wall Street company that we needed I needed to work on Wall Street. He did not hesitate, gave me a straight shooting talk and you know, that's something I always appreciated about Doug. As Greg said, he had a great interest in people and everybody and just authentic to the core.

When he first started running, he adopted this campaign slogan, he's one of us and he really was one of us. As I said, I suspect maybe people didn't think he was one of us here in Rockland, but he was. And we really appreciated Doug and I'm so sorry to lose him and for his family to lose somebody like him.

Councilmember Galdo or Broadway.

Thank you. Well, think these gentlemen have covered so much of it. For me, hearing the news, besides the shock, the first thing I thought of is is the staff, and I know how close. That was a family, and I'm so sorry for the loss. I know we look at it as the person that serves our community. You guys are looking at the person, and I know that's a tremendous loss. Same thing for me. The first time I met him, one, he called me young lady, so I thought that was quite gracious. And then I think later it was little lady, so I had to wear higher heels. I was so amazed that he knew so much about us.

And the same thing when we go back for Cap to Cap or for Placer Business Alliance, he's there with us. He's there for hours. It's not a, you know, stop in and meet and greet and gone. He's there to stay and meet us and have those conversations. And even though I say he didn't represent us, it felt like he represented us. And he was incredibly gracious with his time, and I think it's a tremendous loss for our region, and I want you guys to know how much we're feeling your loss. Thank you for your service and for his.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The comments here, the comments that were made and shared during Congress member Lemofa's service were indicative of of what a presence he was and and how much he impacted all of our communities in Northern California. And I'll share with you that the night that the congressman passed, I was having dinner with the former mayor of Roosevelt and his wife. And we had a conversation about the congressman and how engaged he was and how supportive, whether it was water or transportation, and how he engaged.

And I'll share with you a story just like many have. My first opportunity to meet the congressman was at my first Cap to Cap. And we walk into his office for our appointment. I'm on the transportation committee. And, of course, his presence is immediate because he's a very tall, very stocky gentleman.

And so you're immediately taken by that. And he had a way of making you feel immediately comfortable and like you were the only person in the room that he was having a conversation with. And whatever you needed to talk about was the most pressing thing for him that day. That's how he made you feel. And I had the opportunity to meet him many, many times during my visits to Washington to talk about the different aspects of things that were going on here in in Northern California in our communities.

And he always went out of his way to give you time. And I don't know how he found the ability to do that, but he always did. And I will say that he was so well known for his commitment to our communities. And he demonstrated something that's very unique in today's political world, which is an ability to work across the aisle to do what's best for our communities. And because of that, I'm going to truly miss him and but I will always be thankful for what he did for all of us here in Northern California. Thank you.

I just I did not get to meet and have these types of stories, unfortunately, but I have spent a tremendous amount of time recently with people and hearing theirs. And I think of the quote, Waste no more time arguing what a good man is, just be one. So I think that pretty much sums it up, because when I was in the room with him, he was like a reluctant main character. You knew he was a main character, but he could take it or leave it. And he wasn't there for the adulation. And when you meet somebody that authentic, that's something special. Especially for how long he was in politics, I don't know. That's a superpower in itself, to be that authentic. So,

at

this point, what I'm gonna do is I am going to offer this proclamation. I think what I'll do is I'm just gonna read it from here, and then we'll ask you to come on up. But whereas Congressman Lamafah served the people of Northern California as The United States Representative for California's 1st Congressional District from 2013 until his passing, representing rural communities and advocating for issues such as agriculture, natural resources, and disaster recovery. And whereas prior to his service in Congress, he served with distinction in the California State Assembly and State Senate, representing communities throughout Northern California, including the city of Rockland, and demonstrating a longstanding commitment to public service and well-being of his constituents. And whereas, throughout his career, Congressman Lomolfo worked with all elected officials, regardless of the political affiliation, to advance the interests of Californians, championing legislation in support of family farms, natural resource stewardship, and community resilience, earning respect from colleagues and citizens alike.

And whereas, the contributions of Congressman Lauwafa to the broader region and state were felt by many across California who benefited from his legislative efforts, and whereas his legacy of service to California and the nation stands as a testament to his unwavering dedication to public life and civic engagement. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the city the Rockland City Council hereby extends its sincere condolences to the family of Congressman Doug LaMoffa, recognizing his many years of service and honors his memory as an individual devoted to the common good. I do want to acknowledge, I believe, right now, we do have some other honored guests. David Morgan, Regional Deputy Director, as well as Lisa Mara, District Senior Advisor. I want to thank you for being here as well as the family.

I believe at this time, we would I'm gonna offer this proclamation. I'd ask that, you and the family maybe come up so that we can have a photo in honor. Oh, I'm gonna invite you to come up and say those words. Let's do the photo, and then I'm gonna have you you step up there if that's okay.

Would you like me to oh, there we go. I was like, well, this would be the one Doug would choose. I know if I should choose that one or not. Mayor Bass, council members, friends that are gathered here, We wish to say thank you. Missus Lemalfa says thank you.

Thank you for honoring her husband and your friend. You know, I was thinking back today, you know, when this started and, you know, Bill, you're right. When, Doug hired me to run his senate campaign, Placer County, he'd been in the assembly, but Placer County was in the senate district. And so that's when we started this beautiful friendship with Placer County. And I will tell you, we started walking precincts in Placer County and Lincoln in January for a June race because we knew we had a lot of ground to cover.

And those friendships began there with car shows and our district office. And the final approval for our district office was because there was a Taco Bell right down the street so he could, you know, get a snack. And, you know, even when the lines changed, you know, that relationship didn't because people matter and you mattered. And I appreciated you saying, like, we were his people, and that is 100% correct. You know?

And, again, I will note, council member Galeldo, he did hire three Del Oro grads. We will we will say that. We we love Rockland, but, you know, three of us are Del Oro grads too. But thank you for taking the time to honor Doug, his legacy. I believe missus Lamaufa's words were incredible this last weekend that we we will be legacy extenders.

And I think there are so many examples of Doug humble, but we'll be on time. Like, that's when we'll we'll we'll work to be on time. The people matter that the North State matters and the issues that are important to us. We will carry that legacy on of liberty, of resilience, of, protecting our communities, managing our resources, our forests, our water, things like that. So we will take that little bit of Doug, and I appreciate also personally what you have done here for our team today.

It's, it's I'm coming home, obviously, but thank you. Thank you, David. Thank you.

Mayor Bass, council members, just wanna say thank you. Really appreciate the relationship that we've had over the years, and just this final recognition for somebody who made every single person. We got to see it as a staff every time we were staffing him or hanging out. But you guys hit the dart right on bull's eye. Every single person he talked to, he made that person feel like they were the most important person at that time for everything big or small issues and I can say when we did have the redistricting there were a lot of issues that came up right from people that were down here in Placer County and some of the other counties that we lost that we were constantly going to bat with against some of the bureaucrats in DC saying, no, we're gonna we're gonna handle this.

We were working on it before and we're gonna handle this. He never forgot you guys and he really did appreciate the community down here. So thank you. We really do appreciate it. Thank you.

Do we have any speaker cards? We do not. Okay. Then I'm just gonna open it up. If there is somebody that would like to take a moment to speak, I'd invite you to. If none, no.

Thank you, mister mayor and council. Scott Ewell in Rockland. I just wanted to setting all the politics aside, the service was really it left a lasting impact on me because I had a few long evenings unexpectedly similarly with Doug and it's like, gosh, this guy's never gonna leave. And just a wonderful man. Speaker of the house said something that really caught my ear and that was that right after he had passed, actually Congressman McClintock had come up to him and said on the floor, hey, gosh, Doug was not just one of the nicest people I've ever met, he is the nicest person I ever met.

And the message rang true and through the whole ceremony that we could all be a little more like Doug. So, setting all the politics aside, America needs us to all be a little bit more like Doug. So, you. To you all, thank you.

Excellent. Is there anyone else who would like to speak? All right. Well, I'm gonna close it out with another we did this last time, but I'd like to do one more moment of silence. Thank you.

No sure words, we can all be a little more like Doug, for sure. I thank everyone for being here for this. I'm gonna suggest a five minute break to allow anybody that does want to leave, and they can do so now, because the next piece of work we've to do is another public hearing, and so we'll just take a five minute break. Thank you. Alright, thank you everyone.

We've returned from our break. We are gonna move on to the public hearings. I do have to, recuse myself on this particular item. My law firm did do some work on or around this type of project, before I was on the city council, but after I was, off of the planning commission, and based on that, I've chosen to recuse myself. So right now, I'm going to hand it over to vice mayor, Holden.

Alright. Thank you, mister mayor. The next item is public hearing item one regarding the Destiny Christian School. And at this time, I will open the public hearing and have the staff make a presentation on the item. Thank you,

Vice Mayor Halden. Good evening. Nathan Anderson with the Rockland Planning Division. Tonight, I'll be presenting the Destiny Christian School. This multi entitlement project is requesting approval to develop a school within an approximately 53,000 square foot tenant space.

The school would operate as an extension of the existing Destiny Elementary School, which is located immediately to the west of the project site, which serves students grades four through eight. The school would provide 15 classrooms, each limited to a maximum of 20 students, for total enrollment not exceeding two fifty students. The project site is located within an existing commercial center located North Of Highway 65, West Of Destiny Drive, and East of 5 Star Boulevard. Shopping center was originally constructed in 1993. In 2004, an exterior remodel was completed along with a 17,000 square foot addition that created Harbor Freight Tools storefront on the northeast portion of the building.

The Destiny Community Center is located in the approximately 62,000 square foot central portion of the building between the proposed school and the Harbor Freight Tools. As stated, the Destiny Christian Elementary is located to the east, adjacent to the Destiny Christian Church. That school facility currently provides TK through sixth grade, serving 136 total students. With the proposed project, the existing fourth through sixth grades, along with a new seventh and eighth grade class, would move to the expansion site. TK through third grade would remain on the existing school campus.

The project site is designated as retail commercial in the general plan and is zoned plan development commercial or PDC in a five star general development plan. Should be noted that the existing elementary school to the east has a different general plan designation, business professional, and a different zoning, plan development, business professional than that of the subject site. You can see it there in pink as opposed to the red. Specifically, the project site is located in Area 15A of the Five Star General Development Plan. Area 15A, known as the Five Star Plaza Shopping Center, comprises two parcels, both of which are zoned PDC.

These parcels contain the subject building and the property to Northwest, which is currently occupied by Scandinavian Designs. Zoning within Area 15A has always been retail commercial at its core. However, this area zoning was amended once before in 2014 to permit additional uses beyond the previous retail commercial operations. This modification permitted a broader range of uses including professional offices, banks, financial institutions, personal service establishments, places of assembly, and others. The modified zoning does not, however, allow for the operation of any school uses either by right or conditionally within area 15A of the general development plan.

This brings us to the project's first requested entitlement of the evening. The applicant is requesting approval of a general development plan amendment to add schools to Area 15A of the five star general development plan as a conditionally permitted use. As detailed in the staff report, this proposed change raises several considerations related to land use, operations, and the long term functioning of the shopping center. Operational aspects of a school, such as pick up and drop off times, outdoor play, and accommodation of large numbers of children, do have the potential to interfere with the existing circulation patterns, parking availability, and delivery logistics of many shopping centers. From a purely economics perspective, replacing a leasable commercial space with a noncommercial use does have the potential to alter revenue generation at the site, thereby impacting sales tax generation for the city.

At staff's request, the applicant prepared and submitted a fiscal impact study prepared by economic and planning systems. This report analyzed the potential financial implications and estimated a potential annual general fund deficit of up to $122,200 for this large tenant space. However, while tax generating retail sales are the intended use of the space, it should be noted that there are other permitted uses that could occupy the space under the existing zoning. As previously stated, currently allowed uses within Area 15A do include offices, banks, athletic clubs, and other uses which are allowed by Wright. In addition, as mentioned earlier, the expansion area is located within a center that Destiny Church considers part of its broader campus.

Because of this relationship, the school is expected to generate fewer impacts of the center than would typically be associated with larger commercial centers. If the general development plan amendment is supported, the project applicant is proposing a conditional use permit to be processed concurrently to allow for the school operation. As proposed, the school would have a maximum capacity of up to two fifty students, although initial enrollment is anticipated to be approximately two ten. While the existing school site and the proposed expansion would operate as a single school, each would maintain its own separate drop off and pick up areas, as well as on-site amenities. School staff has indicated that students would be dropped off and picked up at their respective school sites.

Students would not be permitted to walk between the two sites during drop off or pick up times. Families with students at both locations would be instructed to drop off or pick up at one site and then drive to the other. Based on the findings of the project's traffic study, the school will be required to prepare and implement what's called a traffic management plan, or a TMP, for student drop offs, pick ups prior to start of operations. The TMP must include a comprehensive strategy to ensure that vehicle queues remain on private property. The plan must be updated annually or sooner if city staff determine that circulation issues or public complaints warrant an earlier update.

This figure, taken from the traffic study, illustrates one potential routing scenario that uses the existing drive aisles and parking areas to direct the queue through the site in a way that reduces impacts to other tenants. While the TMP recommendations in place prior to opening and through ongoing monitoring and operations, staff is confident that we work with the applicant to maintain consistency with the traffic study recommendations and reduce any off-site impacts. Regarding the building exterior, the project is proposing to convert an existing rear parking area and loading dock previously utilized by American Furniture Galleries into an outdoor playground area for students. The playground would consist primarily of hard surface play space with some artificial turf, prefabricated shade structures, patio benches, and landscaping. The area would be secured with locking gates to ensure student safety and site security.

The playground area is located in close proximity to the Highway 65 off ramp. To evaluate potential impacts, a noise study was prepared by Ecor Consulting Incorporated, which analyzed traffic related noise affecting the playground. The study found that both existing and future noise levels from Highway 65 would exceed the city's outdoor noise compatibility standards without mitigation. To address this, the project proposed to construct a concrete masonry sound wall along the southern and eastern edges of the playground. The wall would block the line of sight to the highway, reducing noise from the southbound traffic.

The wall is designed to be approximately 13 and a half feet tall. According to the study, this barrier would reduce traffic related community noise to a level below the city's exterior noise standards for playground uses. The proposed design review for the project also includes alterations to the rear of the building adjacent to the playground area. These changes consist mostly of new doors and windows. No modifications to the front facade of the building are proposed.

The alterations to the rear parking lot create a to create a playground area would remove 28 parking spaces from the overall site which would reduce the total number of parking on the parcel to 473 spaces. Area 15A of the general development plan has a somewhat unique parking requirements whereas the standard requirements within the municipal code determine parking needs based on specific uses. Area 15A which again was established for retail commercial uses only requires a standard of 3.965 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area and no, I I don't know where that came up with that number but based on the that standard with the removal of 28 spaces in the playground area, the project would be deficient by 23 parking spaces. This the problem with this standard is that school uses particularly those where students are too young to drive and park cars, require far fewer parking spaces than retail uses. Pursuant to the current municipal code, elementary schools are only required to provide loading space for four school buses, and junior high schools are required to provide one parking space for every three seats in the main auditorium or multi purpose room.

In order to address this, the second part of the general development plan amendment proposes to modify parking standards as shown to increase consistency within municipal code and also to allow for deviations as part of a CUP process at the discretion of the decision makers. Based on current junior high school numbers within the RMC, the school use would require 50 fewer parking spaces than retail use and the removal of 28 spaces to accommodate the playground would not create a parking deficit. Staff has also included a condition of approval, requiring the parking lot to be restored to its original configuration once the school ceases use, so that all removed parking spaces are reinstated for future retail operations. Final component of this project is also associated with traffic. The traffic consultant analyzed all study intersections under existing weekday morning and afternoon peak hour conditions and determined that all intersections operate at a level of service or LOS of C or better with the exception of Stanford Ranch Road and 5 Star Boulevard intersection which currently operates at an LOS of D.

This intersection is located just outside of the city's jurisdiction in the city of Roseville. You can see Costco is very close to that. The traffic study concluded that the project would further degrade the LOS of the subject intersection particularly during the afternoon peak hour, and that this degradation would also affect signalized intersections at 5 Star and South Whitney, as well as 5 Star And Destiny Drive. The study stated that the traffic signals could be retimed at the Roseville intersection to allocate additional green time which could help reduce the queuing and improve the intersection significantly ultimately keeping all three at LOSC or better. However, because the city of Roseville maintains the intersection, any timing modifications would require implementation by jurisdiction.

While staff worked with the city of Roseville in an effort to secure commitment to these changes, Roseville could not commit to either approving or denying the request. Instead, Roseville stated that they would continue to analyze operations within their jurisdiction and would possibly be open to signal retiming in the future, but at the end of the day, they could not sacrifice green lights into Costco to make this project's LOS pencil out. The City Of Rockland allows for an exception to LOSC in situations where the required improvements involve facilities controlled by adjacent jurisdictions and agreement that the modifications cannot be achieved. This project complies with the standard. Accordingly, a general plan amendment is required to approve a level of service exception.

This amendment would add the subject intersection along with the two additional intersections impacted by conditions by the Roseville intersection to the circulation element table of intersections identified as infeasible for the current standard. Intersections on this list will be reviewed as part of the ongoing circulation element update. The project was presented to the Planning Commission on 12/02/2025. During deliberations, the commission primary focused on the economic impacts associated with converting retail commercial space to a school use, including whether the project would establish a precedent for similar conversions elsewhere in the city. The commission emphasized that preserving retail space capable of generating sales tax revenue remains a high city priority.

The Commission asked the applicant's representative whether Destiny Church would be willing to consider a development agreement or similar mechanism to offset potential sales tax revenue losses. The applicant indicated that preliminary discussions had occurred with staff and that the church was open to exploring this option but specific terms had not been finalized. Prior to Planning Commission review, the applicant requested that further discussions regarding financial compensation be deferred until the city council had the opportunity to review the project. The Planning Commission ultimately voted four-zero with one member absent to recommend approval of the notice of exemption, general development plan amendment, conditional use permit, design review, and general plan amendment for the LOS exceptions to allow for operation of the school. The Commission also recommended that the City Council discuss their concerns regarding potential financial impacts and, if deemed appropriate, direct the applicant to work with staff to evaluate possible mitigation strategies related to the loss of tax generating potential.

If the city council determines that additional measures are necessary to offset potential city revenue impacts, a development agreement would be the most appropriate mechanism. In that case, staff recommends continuing the item for and returning as soon as possible with a proposed DA for the city council consideration. If this option is selected, staff request that the council provide guidance on the desired terms of the DA, which staff would include when drafting the document. This concludes staff's presentation. Staff is available to answer any questions you may have. The applicant and his team is also here to respond to any project specific questions. Thank you very much.

Thank you. We'll start. Councilmember Broadway, any questions?

Just a couple quick questions. First of all, in regard to the traffic, it was mentioned concerns regarding that one intersection. But the general time frame for impacts for the start of and end of day for an educational center or schools is generally a ten to fifteen peak period, correct?

Correct, yes.

Okay. So the impacts, when we look at that impact, whether it's level C in the morning, which was displayed in the chart or in the evening, be, in general, a fifteen minute period of time, depending upon, of course, the traffic impacts.

Yes, that's very true. But based on the table that was prepared by the traffic consultant, that peak hour was still triggered. I think the traffic is just so bad at that time of day that those intersections are just really congested. And the addition of possibly after school programs or whatever may be going on at the school would just further exacerbate that issue according to the traffic engineer.

Unless an individual has a way of avoiding that intersection, which I think is very hard living in this area, we all are very familiar with the existing concerns. But again, I'm looking at that period of impact and the fact that there are ways, one way really, which would be a modification of the signaling. So that would be available in the event that it was determined that it was impactful enough from a Roseville perspective given they have control over the signalized lights.

Yes.

Okay. All right. Great. Thank you for that. Quick question on the fiscal impact report. When you look at the sales and use tax and you look at the public safety sales and use tax, what is that based on? Is it based on prior usage? Is it based on best case? What is the specifics around how that number is arrived at?

My understanding is it was based on both the previous utilization of the furniture store that was in that spot as well as best case for the total floor area. So, no? So it was based on the furniture gallery?

Please.

Council member Broadway Andrew Keys, assistant city manager. It was not based on a best case scenario. It was based on, generalized, standards of what that center could generate. So a variety of potential uses, not any one specific use.

Okay. So when I think about some of the and I don't necessarily have the specific dollar amounts, but I think about the top 20, top 25 tax generating locations, and then we start to break that down into the smaller numbers and looking at this particular amount. My desire is to understand where we arrive at this type of a figure, because this area, we know that Walmart moved from this area. Traffic impacts, accessibility, their desire for a larger footprint, those type of things. And so the potential uses are important for me to really understand if we're going to have conversations about impacts and how those impacts are offset.

Because we certainly have to be concerned as a community about giving up any of our commercial and retail space. And so how do we offset those impacts? But I want to ensure that our determining what those impacts are and then how we determine how they're offset is as accurate as can be. And I know that's not an easy thing to arrive at. But if we're looking at this and we're saying that 94,400 is a number that's based off of average uses.

But is this an average location? Would this be a normal location? So that's what I'm trying to get at is just really an understanding of are these numbers what we would expect. One, I know that this location has been vacant for a number of years, not because there was a pursuit of filling it, but there was a desire for an alternative use. But had it been vacant, what would we have expected?

How long would that have been? We have another property down the street from that location that may be occupied in the future, but it's also been vacant for a period of time. And that's much more accessible. So again, really want to understand as much as possible how we're arriving at the number and how accurate that is and that it's not best case, which I know you've said it is not, but then if that is average, is that an average based on what we can expect for this size facility anywhere within Rockland, which this is a unique location?

I again can speak a little bit to so we don't have the consultant here, but the methodology that's identified in the report does talk about using an approach that simulates actual revenue generating resulting from a new development and estimating sales and use tax revenue, for instance, forecasting taxable sales generated by projects on-site retail. So we can get a little bit more detail if the report itself doesn't have enough breakdown in the methodology for your comfort, but we didn't know that you're going to need that level of detail and I don't believe the consultant is here tonight. But they're typically based they do know what the generation was from the prior retail. Actually all know, but that's not information that we're allowed to share. It's proprietary information and confidential, unfortunately.

But that does go that does factor into the analysis as what was the existing retailer was providing in terms of sales tax generation but also what this type of location could generate based on a number of other factors and they're trying to provide both objective analysis so it's not weighing or favoring one piece over another and just providing as much of an impartial analysis as possible.

Thank you. That's all I have at this time. Council

member Gallardo. Yeah,

kind of a follow-up on that. And I was sitting here trying to think how long has it been since Walmart? It's been twenty years probably since they've been gone, I think. Does any, when they were back there? But I think that's the question I had on this too.

And I get it's proprietary, but I think realistic for me would be what was generated from the furniture store that was there and what is now. So I think that's a very realistic because that's what we were getting and what we lost. I appreciate and there's nothing I think we've all decided more important than protecting our commercial centers, but I also do recognize this is a very challenging spot for a commercial center. You have to intentionally be going back there. So I think for me the numbers would be more realistic is to look and see what the furniture store was generating and be something close to that because that's what the reality was.

And I think, too, the other question I have is protecting the other commercial that's there with the Scandinavian furniture and harbor freight. And do we know about what their commitment is for their lease terms?

Staff is not aware of their lease terms. The applicant is here. They own the building, so they could probably speak to it a bit. Not Scandinavian, but for the harbor freight.

Oh, because that is not the I'm not sure who owns which pieces of property, but

The separate owners.

Yeah.

Okay, they are separate owners. Alright, got it. Thank you. So I think that for me, that's I think as we're looking at the numbers, we really need to narrow that down or be very specific on where they're coming from.

Councilmember Janda.

No specific questions at this time. I might have some after the applicant speaks. All right.

I also don't have any questions. At this point, just for everybody to understand, we're going to ask the applicant if they want to come and make some comments. And then after that, we'll open it up for public comment. But invite the applicant to come forward. You're on now. Yeah. Oh, it went off. Yeah. There you go. Okay.

Am I good? Yeah. I'm good. Well, I'm glad to be here tonight. I am Greg Farrington, the lead pastor of Destiny Christian Church. And just want to compliment City Council. Been a part of this city now for thirty nine years. And so, going back to when we started Destiny, it was sunset back then. Council member Clark Dominguez was at our groundbreaking ceremony, which is now the Rockland Event Center. It started off to be where Destiny or Sunset started, our church back in the day.

And Peter Hill also is a part of that ceremony along with Kathy Long. And so over the years, there's been a tremendous history between destiny and the city of Rockland. And I just have to compliment the city on the longevity of excellence that you have run the city with. And so we are beneficiaries of that. Our families are.

And so, compliments to each one of you to continue the legacy of this great city. It's amazing to see what has happened over thirty nine years of living in this area. And so, I've seen all the different changes and some of them have been challenging, but the other ones have been also wonderful. And so, my compliments to you. And I get to see you at different events through the year here, whether it's the State of the City address or Celebrate America or Love Our City that we host at our community center.

And another compliment, I think we're all getting better looking and younger as we get older. So, either we're staying in shape or whatever, but it's been wonderful to be able to be partners with the City of Rockland over the years. And this project here is unique, and I know we're focusing in on traffic and the financial impact it could make. But I would like to say there's another side of looking at this project, is the benefit to the city of Rockland. We have tremendous public schools here.

Wonderful. Some of the best in the region, right here in our community. And the question ought to be, why a school then? Why a Christian school? Since we have such excellent public schools.

And there's a part of the demographics of this city that feel like they would like to have a Christian school to send their children to. I believe that makes a city a better city. I think the option of having another school that people who live in this community want, it's probably not the majority of people, most of the people are going to go to a public school, But there are people who live in our city here who would love this as an option. So I believe it is an enhancement to our city. It encourages people not to move out of state.

We've seen a lot of people, a lot of businesses move to Florida, Texas, Tennessee. And so they're looking for environments to raise their kids in that they feel good about. And these people are people who live in our city, buy homes in our city, shop in our city, and this makes our city a more attractive place for them to live. And beyond that, it is also a job creator. Destiny organization, even though we're spread out through Sacramento and the city of Rockland here, we have over two fifty employees.

And so, we bring a benefit to our community by hiring wonderful people who are going to live here, raise their kids here, shop here, and enjoy the wonderful environment of the different parks and the cities that we have here. So, I see it as a benefit to our city to have an option for people who are looking for an option. As you can see, the numbers are not huge of the children that will be attending the school. At the very maximum, I'm thinking between both sides, it's maybe four fifty kids, something like that. But it's not the vast majority of the people who live in this city.

It will be a small, small percentage of the families that do. But it is an option that I think people want in our city. Regarding the impacts that this makes, we have been at this site for thirty years. So, were here when Walmart came, and we were their neighbors, and it was great. Anytime we needed something from the church, we just run over to Walmart.

And it was the economic engine of that development, and I think that's why it was planned that way. It's a hard area to get to, and it's difficult, but when you have a Walmart, that drives businesses there. And so it worked when Walmart was there, but when Walmart went out, it became more challenging for businesses to survive. And we've seen that. I mean, all know the different businesses that are left in that area.

Not only that area, but over in Roseville, you look at Sprouts, Toys R Us, across the highway, all those different businesses, big box businesses, have not been able to survive. So, it is a unique piece of property. Again, I walk up and down that street now for thirty years. I get my car washed at five star car washed, walked up and down the street. And I'm a minister, so I don't lie.

I wouldn't want to fabricate truth to you. But on any given day, the businesses there at any kind of hour during the day can't have more than maybe 20 cars in that parking lot. And when the furniture store was there, Five Star American Furniture and Scandinavia, Them combined couldn't have more than 10 cars at any particular time during the day. So, it is not a highly trafficked area. I know that intersection is, but the area where we are proposing school is not.

So we do have a petition of all the different supporting businesses that would support Destiny School being there. We have a copy for the city clerk and for the council member. You would give that. There's, I think, about 10 of the different businesses who say we support this Destiny Christian School to be expanded into the proposed area. As a landlord of that building, I can tell you I know we can't probably talk about numbers, but I can give you the reason why maybe there was revenue generated is because of the prior tenant American Furniture was paying two thirds below market value for their lease on the property.

So, profitability went way up. And one of the reasons they're no longer there is we asked for comparable rent that other people were paying in the area. They refused that and would not negotiate. So it's one of the reasons the space is empty. If somebody came in there and would pay market rate, I think their profitability would be much, much smaller than what American Furniture showed as profitability in their business.

I can tell you that we are very, very happy with Harbor Freight. They're a great tenant. We have great relationships with them. They have a long term lease that extends out a ways over a decade, And they have all the options on it. So, it's their decision. It's not Destiny's decision if they're going to stay there. It's their decision. They have the right on all the options to the lease that we have with them. And so I would just, again, say thank you for your consideration, and we want to be a blessing. I think destiny has been a blessing to this community for all the years that we have been here.

We think of all the things that we've been able to do as a church to be something that would be a blessing to our community. We take the motto, we are blessed to be a blessing, and so we try to demonstrate that in our involvement with the city. So, I would answer any of your questions if you'd like to ask me questions

Thank at this you, Pastor Greg. Any questions from the council for the applicant? Yep. A

couple questions, and thank you, pastor Greg as well. And if it's information that you don't wanna share, it's totally fine. As far as the center itself, has Destiny always owned it? Was it under a different ownership and it was purchased somewhat?

That's a rabbit trail. It was obviously originally owned by the Walmart Corporation, and then it was sold and went through a foreclosure process, and it ended up with a group of developers in Boston, believe it or not, owning it, which we began then we, from that point on, have owned the property. Okay.

And then once Destiny decided to purchase, as far as marketing it to for retail, was that something that Destiny wanted to do or was it

more We just wanted to do it, but not giving you specific numbers of our debt and the ratio, the cap space that we would need. The property is not a property that you can get the number that you need in rent to make sense.

Okay, great. Now that helps me. Thank you.

All right, thank you. At this time, I'd like to open up the public comment period. Madam Clerk, do we have any comment cards?

Vice Mayor Halton, we do have a few comment cards. The first speaker is Laura Schmidt, followed by Matt Hahn.

And welcome. We'll ask you to go to three minutes. You'll see the light change when your time is nearing the end. I'll go ahead. But

This is my first time addressing the city council, so hi. My name is Laura Schmidt. I have lived and worked in Placer County in Rockland for over thirty years now. We used to own a home right around the corner from Destiny on South Whitney Boulevard. So I'm very familiar with traffic and everything else there from when Walmart was there to now. I've raised my children here. I should say we. I have a husband there. He's retired from Placer County law enforcement, But we've raised our children here in Rockland, and they graduated college from Sierra College and William Jessup, both of them. I also have grandchildren who have attended Rockland schools and some that attended Destiny Christian also.

I am currently working at Destiny Christian as a teacher. I teach science and Bible, which is quite the combination, but it's a lot of fun. And, I can tell you that as my employer, there is no better employer than Destiny Christian. They care about what happens to us. They care about the employees.

They care about our well-being. As a parent and a grandparent, I loved having my grandchildren in that school because they were they were well loved. They got a fantastic education there. I was very excited today to see some of the pictures because I haven't seen some of those renderings yet of what's going happen and the playground looks absolutely beautiful. I know what it looks like now, so I think that it's going to be a huge improvement on the aesthetics back in that area.

But Destiny has been just a blessing to my family. I'm employed because of Destiny Christian, and I have been for many, many years. Fifteen years I think I've worked there, ten or fifteen years, I don't really remember, but I also worked there long ago when Sierra Christian was a school there. So I'm very familiar with the site, and I can tell you that I am so looking forward to us being able to expand into that space because I think it will be a blessing to Rockland. It's going be a blessing to our kids. We've got great kids. We've got wonderful families, And all of them are also invested in the city of Rockland and in what happens in Rockland and the surrounding communities.

You I very

have forty five seconds left,

Thank but I'm you.

Hi, Leo.

Welcome. Thank you.

My name is Matt Hahn. Father of five that all go to Destiny School, local business owner here. I own a couple businesses here. And my kids have been going to school at Destiny for eleven years now. I got five of them there. And I got one job as a dad. It's to raise kids that love Christ and love others well. And so for me, if you sit around your dinner table long enough as a dad, you get a good pulse of what's going on in your family. And every single day that I sit at that table, we do high low buffalo every night. Every single night, it's my high of the day was going to school because of this.

And it's always because of the teachers, because of the staff, because of their friends. And so I really am hoping that you vote for this because it has been a blessing for my family and for me personally seeing my kids raised with a Christ centered background and seeing them have a strong faith as a graduate of William Jessup. I've seen you around a ton over there, Bill, so it's bringing back a lot of stuff for me. But cut I cut a lot of checks every month in all my businesses, and this is a check that I love to cut every single month because our schools are awesome here. But having my kids singing bible verses in the house and praising Jesus every day, I look at that check and I say, man, I'll cut that every time for that.

So having that option and giving that option to other kids for me is why I'm here. So I appreciate it.

Okay. Thank you.

Ms. Colleen Mullendor followed by Grant Marble.

Welcome.

Hi, it's so nice to be here this evening and see you and be able to tell you kind of what we do. I'm the school administrator at the Rockland campus, and so my job is to lead these teachers and support the families that we have. I've been there the entire seventeen years that we've had the school there, and three weeks ago, a parent sent me an email and I want to read this to you because this really embodies everything that we do. I wanted to take a moment and share a bit more of our heart and the impact Destiny's culture has had on Aiden, our son, and our family. Both in the big moments and the small, everyone that means so much to us.

From the moment my son walks on campus and receives high fives from the older students, he feels seen, welcomed, and valued. He comes home every day excited to tell us what he learned, proudly reciting Bible verses and sharing stories about his teachers and friends. His joy for learning and growing confidence and his love for Jesus have flourished in ways that feel like such a gift. We're deeply grateful for the way that Destiny supports Aiden through his harder moments. When he makes a wrong choice or hurts a friend or becomes overwhelmed by his big feelings, the school's approach has always been rooted in patience, guidance, and love rather than shame.

That support has allowed Aiden to learn and grow and repair and build his emotional resilience in ways we haven't seen him do before. It has made such a meaningful difference in his ability to regulate, reflect, and keep moving forward with confidence. Knowing that he is involved in group sessions so soon has been such an answered prayer for us. As a parent to a child who needs a little extra support and care, we cannot express how much it means to know that Aiden is not only accommodated, but truly understood and championed. He adores destiny with his whole heart, and that speaks volumes.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for the love, faith, and intentional care that you pour into destiny. We're endlessly grateful for the role this school has played in our family's story. And this family of a young boy, he's got red hair. We have a second grader, a third grader who has red hair. So, this little guy, Aiden, is known as Ryan, who's the third grader, Ryan's little brother, even though they are not biologically connected at all.

But those connections that our kids make on our campus are huge. And the amount of tuition that we charge is a third of what the public school gets for a student. And I think that what we do with so little and being stewards of that and being able to serve our community in a way that students are able to be supported and championed is huge. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening. Grant Marple. Gotta say Johnny's Pizza is by far the best pizza in town. We we DoorDash every pizza. Was a round table guy, but Johnny's is our spot. I grew up in Rockland. Went to Breen Elementary. It was the first class at Granite Oaks. Ended up taking a bus to Forest Lake Christian, is about an hour up the hill. There was about 40 of us that played sports up the hill.

It was a fundamental aspect of my childhood. My best friend and business partner now went to the high school, and I met my wife at an engagement party through that best friend. So, Christian education has a really impact in my life at an early stage. And lived in Orange County for most of my adult life and said Rockland was always a great place to be from. Through the last several years, my wife and I were considering relocating, and Rockland kept coming up to raise a family.

And so we actually relocated from Newport Beach two years ago, and a lot of our friends thought we were crazy, leaving the beach. What are you guys doing? You own a house. And the main reason was around raising a family here in Rockland just for the community standard, the blue collar mentality. And so we have a four year old son, Logan, and a seven year old daughter, Quinn, who attend the school.

And that was one of the driving factors was to be at a community that they're gonna be able to get that extra care and attention at a Christian and potentially new school. And I I think to myself as a dad and as a parent, our kids are gonna be raised or, you know, with someone else like the Schmidt's for, you know, thirty, forty hours out of the week while I'm at work. My wife's at work. And who is who is doing that? And I and I know I have peace of mind with the character of the people here at Destiny that are gonna take that extra time if they need extra time in the classroom might have a little extra patience with them.

So, appreciate you guys having us consider the project. Definitely recommend Johnny's Pizza, and I will make sure Destiny does many fundraisers with Johnny's in the near future. So, have a good night.

Alright, thank you very much.

The final common card is from Mr. Rob Misty?

Welcome. Thank you. So, good evening. I am Rob Misty, or as a lot of the students there know me, am Mr. Rob. I've lived here in Rockland since 2004, and I am part of the first graduating class of Whitney High even, regardless what the class of 2009 says. So, yeah, they know the situation. And now my family lives here. My two kids attend Destiny. My wife teaches there and I also teach there as a volunteer STEM teacher myself.

And personally, I think it's a great school. I'm glad my kids attend there because the school environment is always very positive. It's upbeat. You go in there and, like, when I walk in, there's kids smiling, there's kids high fiving. There's very just a great atmosphere when you walk in, and I love that in a school.

So the school has been a blessing to us in multiple ways, but one of the best ways is the childcare, the preschool specifically, and having an affordable option here that aligns with my values, that allows me to put my son in a well, I don't want to say daycare because they do so much more than that but having them in an environment that is that positive environment where my kid is happy, where I see him interacting with his classmates, where I see him running around and smiling all the time, has been a huge blessing. And it is affordable. That's the great thing. I've been able to build my business as well because of that affordability. Not just the affordability piece, but we've been able to build relationships with other families that my kids, I trust my kid with their kid.

I like the parents. We've built relationships with people of similar values. And to me, that's been wonderful because now I have a group of dads that were like minded. And I think that allowing this expansion will give way more affordability options to other parents. And if we just happen to be right there at Harbor Freight, I'm dropping the kids off, I might need a tool or two, and I just happen to pick it up, regardless of what my wife says. I don't need any more. But thank you for hearing me. I don't need much more time, so I'll take thirty seconds.

Thank you very much for coming out tonight. Okay. Is there anybody else who would like to comment? You don't have to have filled out a comment card. You can just come on up if you'd like to say a few words.

I just like to say my Welcome. Oh, welcome. Thank you. My grandson goes to the school, and it's just a blessing, a pure blessing. I live up the hill, but he lives down here with his mom. And just wanna say that it's been a blessing for him going to

this Could you give us your name?

Ken Musio. Okay. Alright. Yeah. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you. Anyone else?

Good evening council members. Benjamin Bjorkman, lifelong Rockland residents. Fun fact about me. For my middle school, my middle school was in a business parking lot right behind the fountains. Accelerated Learning Academy, Rescue, Yavskat and Pace.

The high school that I attended for most of my high school years was also in a parking lot sorry, a business lot. It was over by Industrial Avenue, also, Ras Kriyasat and Passe, Partnerships for Student Centered Learning. They were charter schools. And I can say that beyond the destiny witnesses that have spoken before you today that school in a business lot is surprisingly amenable. Even with a lack of common everyday school activities.

There are plenty of opportunities for playing. Our playground was in the parking lot. It was absolutely fine. There no safety there were no major safety concerns. There were no major hiccups.

Everything that was committed or that was almost slandered against us was almost completely baseless. It is a very good way or it is a perfectly acceptable way to raise a student with a top tier education. I think that from what I've heard from Destiny's speakers, Destiny seems to have modeled a very similar education. If you are worried or concerned about potential safety risks or hazards or anything like that, I would like to assuage them. Yeah, school into business law is surprisingly amenable. Thank you.

Thank you, Benjamin. Okay. Anyone else? Okay. All right. At this point I will close the public comment period and return this to the council for any follow-up questions or discussion. But why don't we start with council member Janda?

Okay. So one question on the revenue. I know Councilmember Broadway spoke about that. Given all the other current uses that are possible without going through this process, How is that factored into sort of some of the numbers, and how would it differentiate between, say, a retail use?

The numbers were based on retail use. There are uses which are allowed, as I stated, that don't generate sales tax revenue, but they do generate property tax revenue, which would accommodate for some of it. But those numbers are based on our retail use.

Okay. Do we have an idea? Well, I'll save comments for later. Stick to questions Okay. For

we'll just take questions now. Councilmember Broadway, Councilmember Rialdo, any questions?

Actually, just a couple questions for the applicant, if I can. Just talking about the school piece. Is this an accredited elementary K-eight school?

I'm good? Yes, it will receive accreditation. Now, that is important, but also, when you get to a high school level, it's more important. But because of our involvement in Sacramento at our new campus there, the accreditation is transferred over to our campus in Rockland. So, we'll be fully accredited.

Yeah, because you're right. As I assume a lot of these kids will then move into our public high schools, so want to make sure they work there. And then, for your special needs students, do you accept special needs students?

Yes.

Like, emotionally disturbed at all levels, will this local school district be providing that support?

We make sure that our teachers have the ability to serve a student, but we do have a little guy right now who has cerebral palsy, uses a walker. We have some students who do have, like the student I read about, they have some challenges and we're in the initial stages with a lot of those parents to help explore the resources available to them. So because we have such a great partnership with Rockland Unified, they do provide the assessing for us and then most parents choose to keep their kids at our school, but we're able to have an interface with teachers. So our teachers can be supported by Rockland Unified staff and that's a definite partnership that we appreciate. It does take a little of the burden off of Rockland Unified to have to provide those services to our students at that point.

And I would say roughly we have right now probably 10 students with IEPs or what they're called is independent or private school service plans, so PSPs. And we do work with the different school districts in our area.

And just sort of thinking about it, because you're going to and of course because I'm looking at a

school So expert

Rockland Unified, if they're Rockland students, then they would provide the support services, but they don't get ADA. So you do that out of your budget, but you don't get any income from those students because they're attending your school.

Is a community collaboration that is part of the education code as well.

And then if your students don't live in Rockland, but they have special needs, they need occupational therapy or something else, Would the other

districts Each district kind of has their own process for that. So Roseville City will sometimes kick them over to Rockland Unified. Western Placer will serve them. It really is dependent upon each school year and who is overseeing that special needs department at the school sites in the districts. So each district kind of has their own. We work with all of them.

Would you have any students that need a one on one aid? Do you provide that or

is The this school school doesn't provide a one on one aid. So we let families know if they do need a one on one aid, that's something that they will have to pay for And we would accommodate that with them as long as our classrooms are big enough to accommodate an additional adult in the classroom.

Thank you.

Any other questions? Councilmember Broadway.

Yes. Thank thank you, mister vice mayor. For for staff, Sue, the impact analysis, 144,000 based on the current calculations, correct?

124.

Correct.

Dollars 122,000

believe. After expenditures. Think

that's After expenditures, okay.

122.

Yeah, so 122. The ability to get at the source, so where those are derived from, what would be required to provide greater detail? Because that for me is probably the biggest challenge. I'll hold for my comments, but that's probably the biggest challenge for me relative to where we're at. And so having the ability to understand where those numbers came from, are those accurate?

If not, where do we come with a better representation of what the impacts are so that we can ascertain how we come up with a decision or potential decision on what we would agree to as impacts and a potential fee?

Yeah. Well, the report was prepared by a consulting firm that was hired by the applicant to write this up in terms of what the loss would be. So it was kind of prepared by them through the applicant to us. We reviewed it. In terms of how they came up with their numbers, I'm sorry, I don't have that information. It would be something that if this project were to be continued, we could bring the consultant here and they could answer those questions a little bit more in more detail. But yes, it was just a consultant's report.

Okay. All right. So really not the ability to drill down into those numbers at this point in time given that it was developed based on their calculations?

That's correct.

All right, that's all I have.

All right, thank you. All right, I think we'll maybe move to comments and our discussion and start with council member Janda.

Thank you. Well, thank you everyone for coming out. Thank you pastor Greg and and mister DeBella for coming out and bringing this forward. Full disclosure, I've attended Destiny in the past. I have gone on mission trips with the men's groups in the past.

Absolutely no question the character and the quality of Destiny and what they do for all that they do for our community. It's been a long time partnership, as Pastor Greg mentioned. No question the integrity of the school, the value that it brings to our community. As far as when I just look at it abstractly, we've been under so many sort of mandates by the state when it comes to housing and the process of being forced to come up with property for dense housing. And over the years, it's tended to be commercial areas that we've had to sacrifice because of that, which is a lot of it, even though we have some control, tends to be out of our control.

So, we've eroded quite a bit of that retail space that, of course, helps sustain our community. This is something that isn't we do have some discretion. I am certainly in full support of moving it forward as presented. However, I do want to understand a little bit more about the revenue impacts of not only I mean, the retail, I get. I think Pastor Greg did a great job of presenting sort of the viability of any significant retail.

But there are some other additional uses that would most likely have a much less revenue stream, so to speak. Our But retail is very sensitive and we've got to be really careful. And I'm not I'm not the only one that will speak about this. But potentially going to our community, asking for additional revenue through sales tax or something else in the future, it will be hard to look those folks in the face and say, well, we need some more because we can't. We're short on our revenues and we've been foregoing some retail space.

So I want to know a little bit more about what a realistic offset would be to fully support moving forward. That's kind of where I'm at right now.

Councilmember Gallardo. Thank you.

Well, I think most of I appreciate everybody that's here to speak. I think I have to always acknowledge what a tremendous support that destiny has been to our community because you do so much for our community. I've been fortunate to go to Love Our City events and your Christmas events and celebrate America. And I remember when and I was here most unhappy with council when we canceled the Jubilee, I think, in 2008. We temporarily canceled the Jubilee for financial reasons because it was such a huge part of our community, and it was Destiny that stepped up and started that filling in that weekend, which has grown to what you do.

So I just appreciate so much. I do want to disclose that I did have an ex parte conversation with the applicant, but no decisions were made in that conversation. It's so hard because certainly for what you guys are doing, and I know from the quality of the events I've seen, I know that you're going to do a quality school. There is no doubt. I do want to appreciate the information because there is always an impact on our public schools because they do provide the services that are that are needed, and I don't think people are always aware of that, that it's their responsibility to make sure those kids get serviced.

So I appreciate you addressing that for me. I as everybody said, it's so hard because if this was if we were a city with a ton of space and we weren't worried about growth, it wouldn't be an issue for me at all. But protecting our commercial pieces is so crucial. But I also have to recognize that this is a strange piece of property and it's a challenging commercial space. It's not like I feel like there's 10 people waiting to come in and rent that space.

I have PTSD, I will tell you every time, every six months when I go to the dentist, because I go to the dentist on Harding where John Adams Academy is. And I went through hell on wheels the first time I made an appointment in the afternoon, and I went to leave after, And we've all seen the traffic as it goes down Harding. And they do such a good job out there with their people, but they all assumed I was cutting into the kid pickup line. And so I went through the kid pickup line, got up to the window and said, no kid, but I have clean teeth. And so I literally now go like, oh, don't do it in the morning, don't do it in the afternoon.

Just because when it started, it wasn't that big and it's grown so big. And I will tell you, I was the first to say, who approved this school in this parking lot? Because this is just a challenging mix. And to get to the dentist office, you have to go past the school and kind of back in the corner. So I think there's that piece of me to make sure we don't ever have that happen.

So size wise is something to watch. And it sounds like you have aftercare, so I don't expect there's so realistically four fifty families and so probably 400 cars, but I assuming they're staggered because you've got full daycare after too, so I think that's helpful. So I think I really want to watch that cautiously to make sure that we don't get to where, like I say, John Ems was small and no dig on them at all. It's just now it's huge and it's in a very challenging spot. So I want make sure we don't get into that.

As far as the finances, like I say, I want to be very protective, but very similar to what councilmember Jen just said, I honestly think that those numbers are not realistic because the place has been vacant for too long. So I think having that conversation of what is a reasonable assistance to get into a development agreement would be great, And I and with that, then I could support the project.

Council member Broadway.

Thank you, mister vice mayor. You know, this this is one of those, you know, can't see the forest for the trees type situations that people run into where you have to see the big picture to understand what is being requested. So we and and Rockland have a limited amount of opportunity both from a development perspective but also from use of our allocated business properties. We also have the opportunity to expand services that are provided within our community through educational opportunities. So you have to get the big picture.

It can't just be, oh, well, this property is x and so you're gonna do y and you need to pay z. It doesn't really calculate for me that way. And that's why I've said I I I need to understand better kind of where those dollar amounts are. We've seen facilities open that transition from a high retail activity to low retail activity and in some cases just almost no tax generation, but it's still a perceived commercial retail use. So I think the ability to realistically understand is the important piece for me.

And the challenge I have is and I'm I'm kinda saddened by the fact that this has been a two year process. We land here after two years and I'm always amazed at how long it can take to get things done. And that it's frustrating for me. I know it's significantly more frustrating for those who are on the other side of this day. And so I always strive to try to come to a quick conclusion.

But I also wanna ensure that what we decide is complete and not incomplete, that where we arrive is as appropriate for all parties as can possibly be. And I don't use that word fair because there's way too many decisions that can be made around that and thoughts about it, but appropriate. You know, how do we how do we arrive at at an appropriate level? And and right now, there's an impact. I don't know that there's anyone because and by the way, just reminded me because I had the opportunity to speak with Tanner.

I did have ex parte communication with the applicant. Tanner was gracious enough to share with me some inside answer questions. No decisions were made. No commitments were made. But I I do appreciate you having that conversation with me. And I shared with Tanner that one of my biggest concerns is there's an impact. And he said, yeah, he he he gets that. But the concern was this study was significant on what that impact was. So for me, there's not much the traffic the traffic is going to be what it is. I live by Rockland High School, Brain Elementary, and Granite Oaks.

So those of you who are here who talked about going to those schools, my kids went there too, and I've dealt with that traffic for twenty eight years that I've lived here. So, Rockland High School was open when we moved here. So I I've dealt with that. So I know. But I also know that it's a compressed time frame.

So I I don't have a lot of concern on that. I think this based on the potential use, I think this could be fine because it does expand educational opportunities. But I do believe we have to address the issue of what is the impact, and we're not there. And while I'm I'm not a fan of continuing things, I'm not comfortable saying let's move this forward and hope that we resolve it. I would rather have it resolved and have everybody comfortable, both counsel and us representing the citizens of Rockland and the applicant.

And so, you know, my desire would be to essentially secure the information, work with the applicant to come up with that agreement and it can be brought back quickly processed so we can move forward with an approval. Because again, the the only obstacle I have in front of me currently is how we address the impact. And and that is my concern. And so that's why I'm challenged in moving this forward as presented because we are absent that piece of the agreement. And to me, it's like buying a car and there are no seat belts. I need seat belts put into. You.

Thank you Councilmember Broadway. I have a few comments. So we have a planning commission recommendation to approve this. I've talked about the forest and the trees. Sit here and we have a piece of property that is an undesirable retail piece of property that could be filled today with lots of things that would produce zero sales tax.

There's many uses that are permitted with zero sales tax to the city. And here we have something that is going to the proposal will enhance our city, will provide a benefit to our city that doesn't have a simple number to it. But I would I'm gonna say the benefit's gonna be way more than any number we've seen as a cost to our city and to our citizens. And to me, when I look at a change of use, I think, well, what's in it for us? And for us, I think what's in it is another educational, enhanced educational option for our city where we have lots of educational options already and this adds to it.

And we know people move here for the schools and they move here for the RUSD schools but they move here for the other schools too. And for many years we accommodated, I don't know how it all happened but we had the charter school over by Save Mart in the retail place over there. And we sit here with a non profit that's not looking to make money on this school, they're looking to provide a service to our community. And frankly, I'm uncomfortable asking them for a dollar extra. They've got a request to us to use this property in a different way than it's been used in the past.

I think that's gonna be a benefit to our community. Will that cost us potential retail sales tax? Yes, but you know, it's not a great property. Let's be honest, it's not a great property. When Walmart vacated many years ago, I remember I think Roseville, I don't know if they felt bad or what they did, but they promised to give us some money for a few years to ease the pain of losing the sales tax from Walmart.

But there's so many other places that retail can be that are way better than this one, we have to be honest with ourselves. This is not a crown jewel of our retail establishment in town. And against the further backdrop of retail is struggling everywhere because of the change in people's buying behavior and they can sit at home and buy things on their computers. We have a lot of retail in town that's not fully utilized already for that very reason. While I feel like these studies are done, I don't know that I don't feel like the studies are all that valuable.

Know that area. We know that frankly the businesses in that area will benefit from more traffic. I'm a regular at Libu. I can assure you they could use more people driving by Libu every day, two or three, you know, three or four times a day, hopefully stopping and buying some stuff. There's other kind of niche stores back there and then there's we've seen the cycle of vendor ribbon cuttings where somebody opens back there and then next thing I it's closed.

The Window Box Cafe is closed back there. I think our this area needs activity. And this will bring regular activity, you know, five days a week anyhow, to that corridor that could desperately need it. So I would like counsel just to think about the financial benefit of this school to other businesses, first of all, but also the benefit that this educational opportunity is going to give to our community. And we've heard from some parents, you know, that's a real benefit.

And I don't wanna toss that aside like that's nothing. I think that's what this is all about, actually. And for us to make allow a use that's different, I think is fine. Think the Destiny people communicated with the council and should also mention that I had communications with the applicant as well as some other people interested, not the applicant in this. But they sent us a letter and offered an annual payment that is not required for this.

And I think that it's a generous payment and we know that this has been going on for a long time. I think they had hoped to open this school last fall or maybe even before. And here we are. I'm not a fan of putting them off even further. I'd like to see us move this forward, accept Destiny's offer of paying $15,000 a year to offset some of the costs of this and let them move on with offering this new educational, this expanded educational opportunity in our community.

Councilmember Gayaldo.

Thank you. I think you brought up something that's really important that we haven't even discussed, is the benefit to the neighborhood and those businesses in the neighborhood. I'm a fan obviously of Labou and Izumi is my favorite sushi place and they reached out not long ago saying, hey, you know, can you get some folks? So I called the chamber and like, let's get some activity over there for them so that they can keep going. I think we need to make a rule that when they leave the school they go right to fill their car with gas.

Do not go left to Roseville, you go right. But I think that's that really is an offset for the business as you said, for the businesses that are there, that extra traffic will get some people down there. And maybe they already know because they attend church there, but certainly, like I said, I can see somebody like LaBou in the morning going, hey, I got some coffee and great croissant people here in some of the restaurants. I do think that's a valid point, that there will be benefit. And I say the one thing I've learned is what they do. They do an A1 class job when you do something. So, I expect that they will be

lovely. Thank you.

Any other comments? Councilmember Broadway.

Yeah,

to touch on on your point and and thank you to, the team at at Destiny. I I did receive your letter and while I I'm appreciative of the letter, and this is why I asked for detail because for me and I apologize, pastor Farrington, but the devil's in the detail. So the the fact of the matter is I I need to really understand. And and the difference between 15000 and January and twenty two thousand is a significant delta for me and really understanding the impact because there is still an impact. Regardless of what one may ascertain the potential uses to be, I always go back to my experiences in Reno, Nevada where I saw a property over a twenty year period that nothing happened and now it's one of the most vibrant retail centers for the city of Sparks in the Reno area.

And so, you I am always cautious to say, well, it's not this today and it may not, you know, we don't know. But I would like to have a better idea and I think it's appropriate for all parties and that's why I'm hesitant to say, yes, I can accept this without having a better understanding of really where those numbers are derived from and what we see that impact being.

Councilmember Janda. Yeah. I mean,

appreciate everything the vice mayor said. And, again, this is nothing against kind of where I my comments earlier, my direction. It's nothing not specific to destiny or anything. It's just sort of general with our limited resources and opportunities for commercial use and the eroding of the state's policies, eroding that to housing. Think it would be hopefully we can get this to come back very quickly with just a little more thorough understanding.

To Councilmember Broadway's point, Today or the last ten years, it's not great. There's no way to know what it's going be in the next twenty years. We don't want to sit around. But once we make a move like this, it tends to be more permanent. So, that will be forever removed or at least as long as we'll be around.

And I just want to make sure that we're doing the due diligence for our community, for our citizens, and be wise about giving up opportunities for revenue to support services. So, just I think a little bit more looking into the numbers and the other alternative uses and what that may or may not provide would be good for me. And then I can certainly move this forward.

Councilmember DeCailda.

So, I guess I want to know where would we get that information. So, it is their consultant that came up with those numbers. I guess I think we need to be more specific on what it is we're asking for.

Yeah, we would definitely appreciate specific direction. But if the question is, does the council want a deep dive into the economic impact analysis, we can certainly ask the author to present at an upcoming meeting or provide a follow-up memo, potentially answer individual questions if you have them. Typically they, at this level, are using technical studies and analysis that are used on practices. We just don't have that background in detail to be able to answer the questions at this time. We're not the experts.

Well, I assume they're going to say, well, we gave you the economic. This is what we think it is. Although there is no consideration for the benefit to our businesses, which then may benefit us in sales tax. There's none of that balance.

So what we did not require of the applicant was a full economic impact analysis typically when you're comparing the tradable sector versus government sector or nonprofit sector jobs similar that we've done on other properties, that would be a completely different study. This was simply expenses versus revenue generated of the different types of uses.

Well, think, and I completely appreciate what we're talking about. We really want to know the numbers. But I think we know the high end of the numbers. We know there's going to be an impact. The development agreement we're talking about is, quite honestly, from our residents and our people who live here, they're making donations to that church. I have some discomfort with that. But I'm just wondering, do we I mean, we already know what the high end of the number is. We know it's going to be it's likely less than that. Could we move forward with this subject to a development agreement?

So if if the city council desires to move the project forward with approvals tonight, that would not allow for a development agreement to come back because the project would be approved. So if the council would like any agreement to be memorialized in the development agreement, we would need to continue this off calendar as was identified in the staff report. We had initiated and started some negotiations in the fall. Those stopped, but we are happy to continue those at any time and to have those happen as quickly as possible with the applicant so that we can bring something back as soon as possible if that's the council's desire.

I'd like to ask a question of the applicant. If I could and my question really is a little bit about you know, this this idea, your $15,000, you know, anything you wanna say about that.

And and I'm sorry. Just we've taken a I've I've checked with staff. The we have not seen an a proposal for $15,000. It sounds like perhaps the council has received a piece of communication that hasn't been shared, and so we probably need to provide that to the city clerk and to staff and make it available to the public. No proposal has been made to the staff.

It was

a either it was a the one that Safasine was a lower number. So if there's something that the city council received yes to be ahead of this meeting I'll

forward it to you right now.

Okay. And to the city clerk, please. Thank you.

Speak to your your question. We're a nonprofit, and I gladly show you the books of Destiny School. The church is subsidizing the school. It's not a profit machine. There's such a slim margin. Because of Sacramento, we now have the largest Christian school in the region. Not talking about Catholic schools. And it's razor, razor thin. You're not talking about a profit center by a school. So I don't want to think the illusion of, hey, we're making money off of this space.

And I just want to my father-in-law wrote his biography. It was called The Bottom Line. And the bottom line is that we own the property. And so we can do studies which would just cost Destiny more. We could kick it back to the staff. Destiny is going to have to write another check for a deeper dive into what it would cost. It's going to be on our done because we hired the consultant in the first place. We paid the bill for this information. But if this isn't approved by the council, which is fine, that's your decision, This is not going to be developed by a retail entity. This is owned by Destiny Church.

And so, we can move our offices over there. We can use it as a storage area. And we are a nonprofit. We are exempt from property tax. And there'll be no income to the city. So I know we can do impact studies, but it's not the bottom line. The bottom line is we own the property, and we're not going to be like, okay, we're going to try now to go find a retailer. We're not going to find a retailer. That's not who we are. That's not what we do.

We're going to service the needs of our church. So I appreciate you guys trying to dig down and drill down on this, but really the bottom line is this is the only option the church is offering. And if you don't want it, then we're going to go back and say, okay, what use then do we have? And it would probably be an office use for that space, which then drives no income for the city. So hopefully that brings some clarity.

Thank you. And I wanted to pick up on Councilmember Gallardo's comments. There's one part of me that we've had this study about the financial impact for a long time. And it was presented to the planning commission, it's been there for a long time. But I think we have to I'm hesitant to try to dig further on that when frankly it's all speculation and kind of economic guesswork.

I mean, there's no, you know, what could be there that would generate revenue for the city. And it's, you know, I mean, we have a property owner who doesn't have any retail plans. So it's not like retail is coming or retail could come, it's not coming. You know, they own the property. And so I think, you know, I mean, in all honesty, I'm fine moving this forward without a payment from them at all.

Because I think it's their property, they've proposed a good use for this property given its limited value for other things and the benefit that it will provide to our community. And that's what's before us. I just I don't like the idea of us trying to spend more time thinking about something when or asking staff to go dig into numbers when we've had these numbers for a long time. And, you know, I think we know that they're estimates based on best use. Mean, and you know, we have a it's one building in town.

This is not everything in town. And if this was a different spot, it would be a different thing to me. But I don't think this is a spot that's ever gonna generate anything near what was in that report. And I don't wanna ask somebody to go study more to tell us that, you know.

Well, mister vice mayor, while I I appreciate your willingness to move this forward without any type of, you know, payment or or impact, I I think it's a terrible precedent to set relative to decision making on this body's part. And we have to look at every single parcel, especially given where we find ourselves today. We are not in a place where we have the ability to grab more land for development. We have a set area for us. We have a set amount of property that's available.

Understanding that some is more attractive than other is important, but that's what I'm looking to understand is where did the numbers come from? What are potential adjustments that can be made? What are the potential impacts to the surrounding area so that we make an informed decision? You're absolutely right. It's just an estimate of the numbers right now. And while we can say, yes, they do own the property. And and they certainly can do many other things with the property. We saw the list in the presentation of the different things they can do. But is that what they wanna do? No.

They wanna open a school. They wanna provide greater educational opportunities. And I think I'm hearing that this body would like to do that. But I know from this chair, I would also like to better understand the impacts so that if we do accept an amount that's going to be paid, that I'm comfortable when I have to talk with our residents and say we've given up x thousand square feet of retail space. This was why.

Because we're providing greater educational opportunities in our community and we did so with an agreement that we're also going to general you know, be able to secure some additional revenue, that will help cover some of the cost of providing services. So that that's why for me, you know, I wanna know how did we come up with a number. What does that number look like? What are the alternatives for potential uses and expected revenues? What are the offsets of additional traffic in that area which is substantially more, you know, let's say you have 900 trips because of the usage of the school there.

Okay. Well, what is that economic impact there so that we can calculate that and have a better understanding and make a informed decision as opposed to right now, I don't have the ability to do that. And that's why I am not willing as it stands today to move this forward because it's absent the information I need.

If I may, quickly, I went through this methodology, just reading through the economic impact analysis and it says, the annual taxable sales generated by retail uses in the project were calculated by taking an annual square sales per square foot factor informed by the following sources. So there are three of those. Number one, the Urban Land Institute's dollars and cents shopping centers, 2008 escalated to $20.24 dollars. The city's experiment experience with similar commercial retail outlets and EPS's experience with similar projects and awareness of the subject property. It says it's important to note that the analysis is based on the assumption of that if the property were not rezoned for educational uses, the project could be reoccupied by a retail tenant similar to the prior use, which would generate taxable sales for the city.

This assumption is not based on a market analysis evaluating the viability of a return of a taxable retail use to the project. So it's assuming that based on those three factors, if a retail tenant were to come in, those would be the numbers. Just to clarify where those numbers came from.

Vice mayor? Council member Gailda.

So I think basically we have the numbers. We have the highest number that's here and that's based on an average of what could be, but we also know it's not going to be. Realistically, this is privately owned and they don't have to put anything in there that they don't want to put in. So I think for us, and I completely appreciate where you're coming about narrowing the dollars down, but I think we know the dollars. We know the worst case scenario is this 01/22.

So if you're comfortable with 01/22 and whatever the development agreement is, I think that's kind of where Rex. So if it comes in and goes, well, it's 89,000, are we comfortable with that? You know, think we already know the worst case, so it's basically a matter of but it's not a realistic worst case for us. Like I say, I love and I, being honest, I hated the idea of losing the commercial piece, but I also know we already lost the commercial piece. They own it.

They can put in there what they want to do with it. I appreciate that there's an effort to help alleviate some of that, but I do see the benefits there. And I'm a huge advocate of choice for schools, and so I think having that benefit of not just the school, but having the traffic may help offset that. It's better than we're going to get if it sits empty and it turns into office space, We're not going to get anything then.

Thank you, Councilmember Gallardo. Councilmember Janda, any? Do mean, think thank you for the additional detail on that. I mean, what I didn't hear in that was consideration of where this property is, the history of the property, and it, you know, using averages about other, you know, things. Mean, it's just it's an estimate that somebody's thrown together but we're with the reality, I respect people's right to use their property, alright?

And they've come to us with I think an excellent use for this property. And as I said, I'm willing to let them use the property as they want to without asking them to pay a fee Because I think that net net, it'll be a great thing for our community. Mean, sat here for seven years now, I don't remember a situation where we had a non profit that wanted to do something that we required them to make an extra payment annually to the city. Maybe I'm forgetting that but it's a nonprofit trying to provide a service to the city that we already can appreciate how much they give back to the city. I think putting them off when we've had these numbers for a long time to study and ask questions about, it elongates a process that frankly has been too long already for them.

So I think I'll

Vice Mayor Holden might offer an option for the council to consider if there seems to be potentially an impasse on what to do about moving forward tonight or continuing the item. If the council so desires, we could also, while not quite the staff recommendation as it relates to an impact that was negotiated and adopted through a development agreement, the council could also create a condition of approval that would discuss some type of financial agreement being negotiated and approved prior to some type of some maybe occupancy or something of the school and that would allow the council to consider moving the project forward but that we would continue at the staff level to negotiate over the the fiscal impacts and then bring that agreement back to the council at a future date. If that's something that you would desire, we would request a caucus so we can look at maybe some language and then present an option.

Let me just summarize that to make sure. You you would say, basically, to move this forward with the condition that before the certificate of occupancy, we would consider some kind of an agreement for a payment, but payment to be determined.

Something like that. We would if that's if that is amenable to the council, we'd request a couple of minutes to staff to look at some language, and then we could present an option.

Okay.

Just ask one clarifying question. As it sits right now, we're getting zero income, correct? No property tax, no sales tax?

I do believe we get sales and property tax off of the harbor freight portion

of Right, the yeah. And that won't change. But as for this piece of property, we're we're so we're not losing anything. We literally get nothing now.

I think they have the city directly, I believe so. But I would have to double check. I think they they may have to pay some assessments. I don't know if they use request a hardship waiver for their property taxes.

And then on these items, would they have to be taken separately?

I recommend they be taken separately.

So I'd like to ask the applicant what they think of that idea before we move forward with that idea.

I am hesitant to sign a blank check. And so that's a little concerning to me. It's like we're going to negotiate a price at occupancy. That seems a little concerning to me. I think we have offered the city council some reimbursement for some fees and some services that will be provided to that area.

Again, we're a nonprofit. I can't stress that to you enough. We are not a revenue generating business. And so, we don't have the ability to, like a developer would, to just, yeah, we can make this commitment for twenty years to do this. I wouldn't be in good standing, I don't think, with my board or with my congregation if I made that kind of commitment.

So I don't want to sign a blank check. I would urge the council to approve this project because, as you said, Councilwoman, there is zero income right now. And so that's hypothetical to think that there could be an income based on this property. As long as Destiny owns it, I don't see ever Destiny not owning it. We're a thriving church.

I don't see there is a scenario that we are going to make this a retail space. At best, it's office space. So yes, you have a best case scenario of $120,000 something if we sold the property and had a developer come in and put somebody in there. But we are the owners, and so we don't have the desire to put retail in there. And so if we're not going to do a school, then it'll probably be something, again, that is going to create zero income for the city.

Councilmember Janda?

Yeah. This is a great discussion, and I appreciate the additional input from the applicant. I kind of tend to agree with Councilmember Holden on understands. What I said earlier as far as setting precedents and sales tax generation, that all still stands. But to me, with this unique situation, asking whether it's 10 or 20 or even 30,000, I just don't feel comfortable with that given this situation.

In my mind, it's not a precedent, but I think what's proposed, the fact that it's owned by Destiny, they could do a lot of other things with it and still not have to come to us have this consideration of a fee to sort of hold this project up for that. I just don't feel comfortable. So I kind of agree with Councilor

McHulden. I kind of feel like so I'd like to do these one by one, but I'd like to get a sense of the council before we jump into that so that we know where we're going. I'd that I'd like to see us move forward with this. And as much as I sat here happy to move forward without taking any payment, they've offered $15,000 so I'd like to direct the staff to work on an agreement whereby the school would pay $15,000 a year for the term of them using the property as a school. And I don't know, I guess I'd like to kind of poll the council, are you comfortable with that?

I am. I think, like I said, currently it's generating nothing, and so that 15,000 helps cover some of the fees that we will incur, and then also then the benefit of the businesses in that area with hopefully some improvement in some business and sales tax, think, is a long way to go to improve what we're absolutely better than what we're getting now. So, yeah, I am.

Alright. Could I get a motion for A? I'll make a motion to approve item PH1A. I'll second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?

No.

Okay. I'll make a motion to approve item PH1B. I'll second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed. No. I make a motion to approve PH1C.

Vice Mayor Holden, I apologize for the interruption. Given your prior comments and the reference to the $15,000 fee, this would be an area right now on the subsea where you'd want to address specifically. I'm happy to address questions if you want, but there are different approaches and mechanisms that may or may not legally as be relevant. It currently is proposed in the packet, if you were to proceed with approval without any amendments, it would not capture the points you were making.

So I'd like to make a motion to approve PH1C And I with Yeah.

What I would propose I'm sorry. So it's not not no. I like to interrupt with which is if I may have a minute to make sure we can provide language. This this resolution on c Okay. Has a whole section, as you know, of the conditions. And the one approach that you could entertain as a council, correct me if I'm wrong, C Manager, I believe was referring to just a minute ago, is to move to adopt subsea, which is the resolution with the approval of the conditional use permit, and add a condition to the other conditions that are already there with language that we'd like to put together right now.

And we did,

in anticipation of potentially different options, tried to come up with some semblance of language, and I will confess that you not love drafting legal language mid However, we I think we can come up with something that we can present to the council. I don't know if you'd be willing to let me consult with staff for just a moment Okay. In order to do that. And then we could provide that to you and you could consider whether you want to include it on the motion. I believe we took five minutes

and take a break.

I think that would be fine. Thank you.

We'll reconvene at 08:28. We'll go back to PH1C and I'd like to ask the city attorney to read kind of the proposed amendment for this PH1C.

Okay, yes. This is on, just for the record, PH1C, and I'll do this as concisely as I am able. P1 sees a resolution of the city council of the city of Rockland approving a conditional use permit to allow school use, which is Destiny Christian School U twenty twenty five-three. And in that resolution, as presented in the packet, is a subsection entitled conditions. Bear with me while I pull up that section. And one moment, please. You

have a whole mic computer. You have everything I own.

Right. List number three. So as what could be inserted as paragraph number three, and then the remaining paragraphs there would be renumbered accordingly, would be the following condition, which I'll read now. Prior to occupancy of the school, the applicant and the city shall enter into a mutually agreed upon contract or other mechanism, subject to review and approval as defined by the city attorney, requiring the applicant to pay the city an annual fee in the amount of $15,000 for a term as long as the use permit is valid. Actually, as long as this use permit is valid.

The purpose of this fee shall be for any lawful and valid basis related to, associated with, or arising out of the impacts of the proposed use of the property, including but not limited to partially offset the loss of city revenues and increased service demands associated with the operation of the school, including but not limited to impacts on public safety services, sales tax revenue, property tax revenue, and other municipal services. The agreement shall be executed and in effect prior to issuance of the certificate of occupancy. The first payment is due prior to occupancy and shall be due every twelve months thereafter. I'll make

a motion for PH1C with the amendment as communicated by the city attorney.

I'll second.

Okay. Motion made and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?

No.

Okay. Make a motion to approve PH1 D, a resolution of the city council, city of Rockland approving a design review.

I'll second.

Motion made and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? No. Make a motion to approve PH1E.

I'll second.

Seconded by council member Janda.

Yeah. I need to read that.

All those in favor of yourself. I apologize for interrupting. Sorry. Not my favorite

thing to do. Okay.

Because e is a an introduction and waived by title reading the title only. Okay. Then we should read that entirety of the item. We're not gonna have to read the whole ordinance, but Okay.

But I should read

the whole title.

Yes, I'll make a motion to approve PH1E, introduce, waive the full reading, and read by title only, an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Rockland amending the five star general development plan, ordinance number five seventy nine, to allow school uses within area 15A, subject to the review and approval of a conditional use permit, Destiny Christian School PDG 2020 Five-two.

I'll second.

Seconded by council member Janda. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

No.

Okay. Alright. That concludes that item. Would somebody go and get Mayor Bass back?

I forget he's back there.

If he's back there.

Okay. Okay. Sorry. I think we're going to conclude the meeting. Next item up is future agenda items. Does anybody have any future agenda items?

Nope.

Okay. Yes.

The mayor may have had one. I'm not quite certain.

I'm sorry?

The mayor may have had a future agenda item request. So I don't mean to hold you up, but are we not waiting for him?

I did notify him that we had just voted on the item and okay. I think he's planning on coming back.

Okay. You think he's coming back? I okay.

He said okay.

We'll wait for him. I thought I thought maybe he had hit the road. Mayor. Yeah.

Sure he's gonna appreciate this awkward moment as we wait for him. While we're doing that, I'm going to pass off this flyer to you as my official school rep. SACOG is looking for students to join their youth leadership academy. It's a very cool opportunity for high school students to get some access. And so hopefully if you could share it with the two high schools, that would be great.

Thank you. It wasn't awkward for you at all. I apologize.

We missed you, Mr. Mayor. All right. We were on future agenda items.

All right. Does anyone have any future agenda items?

No. We heard you might, so that's why we were waiting.

What do

I have for future agenda items? Oh, yeah. Let's for future agenda item, would like to discuss fireworks ordinance.

Okay.

I think that's what it was. Anything else? No? All right. We are adjourned.