Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

good afternoon and welcome to the june 17th 2026 planning commission meeting i will now call the meeting to order and lead you in the pledge of allegiance Zoom webinar participation is available for members on the public. The Zoom webinar ID and link are available on the posted agenda on the city website. Will we please have a roll call?

Commissioner Ruck? Here. Commissioner Mora? Commissioner Gutierrez? Here. Commissioner Flores?

Here.

Commissioner Pernell? Here. Chairperson Lacavity?

Here. And now can we please have staff introductions?

Lisa Salcedo, Administrative Aid.

Lisa Brinton, Community Development Director.

Courtney Grossman, Planning Manager.

Yesenia Segovia, Assistant Planner.

Grant Leonard, Planning Manager.

All right, welcome everyone. Public comments generally are limited to two minutes per speaker. The chair may further limit the time for public comments depending on the agenda schedule. Are there any comments from the public regarding items not on today's agenda? Are there any on Zoom?

No comments on Zoom.

Okay, if you want to do a public comment on Zoom, just raise your hand, use the raise hand feature and we'll call on you. All right, moving on to consent ID number 26309, approval of minutes from June 3rd, 2026 meeting. Are there any questions or comments from the commissioners? Commissioner Rocamora?

No questions or comments.

Commissioner Rugg? No questions, no comments, thank you. Commissioner Gutierrez?

No questions, no comments.

Commissioner Flores?

No questions or comments.

And Commissioner Pernell? No questions or comments. And I have no questions or comments. Is there a motion and a second?

Move to approve the minutes from May 20th.

I second that.

With a motion from Commissioner Pernell and a second from Commissioner Gutierrez, can we have a roll call vote? Commissioner Rocamara?

Yes.

Commissioner Rock? Yes. Commissioner Gutierrez? Yes. Commissioner Flores? Yes. Commissioner Pernell? Yes. Chairperson McAvey?

Yes.

Motion passes.

All right, thank you. And moving on to administrative reports, ID number 26-283, study session, Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center, ITC, planning efforts. Yesenia Segovia, assistant planner, will introduce and present this item.

Hello, Chair and Commissioners. Today I will provide an overview of the draft existing conditions and opportunities reports prepared by the City of Salinas for the Salinas Train Station, also known as the Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center, ITC. These draft memorandums were completed earlier this year and presented to the Salinas Historic Resources Board. at its February 2nd meeting. During that meeting, the Historic Resources Board requested that the city conduct additional outreach. Therefore, the city conducted additional community outreach to further inform the development of the opportunities memorandum. The purpose of this meeting is to share key findings from the ITC memorandums, gather feedback, and incorporate the public's input into the final memos. To provide some background on the ITC, I'd like to begin with a brief overview of previous planning efforts. In 2015, the Downtown Vibrancy Plan identified opportunities to enhance the ITC area. In 2017, the city entered into a memorandum with the Transportation Agency of Monterey County, or TAMC, to launch the Kickstart Project. This project redesigned parking at the ITC and removed outdated buildings to prepare the site for future commuter rail service in Salinas. In 2021, the city rezoned the ITC to allow for mixed-use development and create opportunities for future housing. In 2024, the city contracted Harris and Associates to prepare the existing conditions memorandum. However, the contract concluded in December 2024 before the work could be completed. In 2025, city staff carried out the draft existing conditions memo and opportunities memo and completed both drafts earlier this year. As part of Harris and Associates' work on the project, they conducted an outreach survey that covered transportation usage and improvements to the ITC, amenities and activities, and historical value and significance. Image one shows community members who took the survey are looking for enhanced amenities like improved public restrooms, covered waiting areas, and better wayfinding signage. It also showed strong interest in activating the site through food vendors, parks, housing, and bike storage. Image two shows that respondents who regularly used public transportation most often used the Monterey Salinas Transit, MST, followed by rail service and Greyhound buses. Image 3 shows how history at the ITC was identified as a major draw along with strong recognition of the importance of preserving its historical buildings. As I mentioned, city staff was asked to conduct additional outreach for the ITC to further inform the development of the opportunities memorandum. Therefore, during the month of April and early May, city staff conducted additional outreach through multiple one-on-one stakeholder meetings and a one community workshop that was held on May 11th. So the table shown on this slide summarizes the one on one stakeholder meetings. It highlights the key themes that emerged along with common a common shared across the multiple stakeholder meetings. The one-on-one stakeholder meetings were conducted with individuals who work, live near, or otherwise are connected to the ITC. During these meetings, city staff shared key findings from the ITC survey and existing condition memorandums, along with city staff recommended opportunities that derived from the ITC survey and existing conditions memorandum that could potentially be implemented into the ITC. Stakeholders were then given the opportunity to provide feedback on the findings and recommendations, including identifying what they supported as well as any items they felt that were missing. Additional outreach, the May 11th community workshop was structured similarly to the stakeholder meetings, but included a broader range of Salinas community members. Participants engaged with informational posters displaying the city's recommendations, ideas, and were asked to rate each idea on a scale from one to five. with one representing strongly disagree and five representing strongly agree. Currently, city staff are gathering and analyzing all outreach data to incorporate feedback into the final memorandums before bringing them back to the Historic Resources Board on July 6th. So the topics shown on the slide were analyzed as part of the existing conditions memorandum, which identified several key findings. First, in terms of circulation, internal improvements implemented by TAMC have improved circulation by enhancing parking and transit access. For access and signage, there is an opportunity to improve wayfinding, including the potential for an addition of a welcome sign at the main entrance of Lincoln Avenue. Safety at the ITC continues to face challenges related to the unhoused population, fires, and overall site security. The ITC is currently designated as a public slash semi-public and mixed use, which allows for a broader range of facility uses. Regarding existing facilities and uses, the site currently includes tenants such as the First Mayor's House, Railroad Museum, California Welcome Center, Amtrak, and Greyhound. The ITC also serves as a community resource, supporting events and community programming such as events like What's Grubbing Salinas. TAMC, IN ADDITION, IS CONTINUING WORK ON THE KICKSTART RAIL EXTENSION PROJECT AND IS PREPARING FOR CONSTRUCTION OF ITS LAYOVER FACILITIES. FINALLY, IN TERMS OF PARKING AND CIRCULATION, CURRENT PARKING AT THE ITC IS APPROXIMATELY 17% OCCUPIED DURING ITS PEAK PERIODS. THE OPPORTUNITIES SHOWN ON THE SLIDE WERE IDENTIFIED THROUGH ANALYSIS OF THE ITC SURVEY RESPONSES AS WELL AS FINDINGS FROM THE EXISTING CONDITIONS MEMORANDUM. OVERALL KEY OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE ITC INCLUDE SEVERAL FOCUS AREAS. FIRST, BRANDING AND SIGNAGE IMPROVEMENTS AROUND THE ITC. SECOND, BETTER COORDINATION OF TRANSPORTATION SCHEDULES SUCH AS ALIGNING MST ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES WITH AMTRAK SERVICE. THIRD, PROMOTING THE ITC AS AN INTERIM PARK AND RIDE DESTINATION TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT PARKING CAPACITY FOR FUTURE COMMUTER RAIL SERVICE. THERE'S ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENHANCE WAY FINDING AROUND THE SITE, PARTICULARLY FOR DROP OFF AND PICK UP ZONES. IN ADDITION, THE ITC'S EXISTING MIXED USE ZONING COULD BE BETTER UTILIZED TO SUPPORT A WIDER RANGE OF USES AND ACTIVITIES. And finally, there are opportunities to improve technology and operations, such as adding interactive kiosks, digital schedule displays that would help passenger experience. Additionally, MST is studying ways to improve its bus services along East Alisal and Williams Road. A key part of the study is exploring possible relocation of their transit center. One area MST is considering but is not definite is moving to the ITC. While MST's relocation is not definite, it could serve as an additional opportunity to the ITC as it can become an opportunity to co-locate local and regional transit, improve transfer and rider convenience, and reinforce the ITC as a multimodal hub. The image that you see now on the slide is a draft design concept designed by MST that shows what the relocation could look like. The design includes designated bus loading areas, pedestrian crossing, bike amenities on the loading area, landscaping, and parking. The design shows MST circulation operating on a one-way loop exiting onto Lincoln, IN ADDITION, MST IS CONTINUING TO EVALUATE HOW NON-MST CIRCULATION BUSES WOULD FUNCTION ON THE SITE. THIS SCHEDULE OUTLINES THE TIMELINE FOR MST'S RELOCATION STUDY. THE PROJECT IS CURRENTLY IN OUTREACH ROUND TWO WHERE DRAFT CORRIDOR ALTERNATIVES ARE BEING EVALUATED. Next steps for the Salinas train station include incorporating community feedback into final memorandums, present key findings from the existing conditions and opportunities memorandums to both traffic and transportation commissions and to planning commission, present finalized memorandums to the Historic Resources Board, and pursue near-term recommendations for activating the ITC. Pursuing activation at the ITC has already begun, with earlier this month, on June 2nd, City Council approved a request to rename the ITC to Salinas City Heritage Park at the ITC, establishing a new identity for the site and creating opportunities for increased community awareness, programming, and future activation efforts. And with that, I'll turn it back to the chair and commissioners for any questions or comments. Thank you.

Thank you for your presentation. Are there any questions from the commissioners to members of city staff regarding this presentation? Commissioner Rocamora?

Yes. On this presentation, how many people were surveyed about this ITC?

I don't have the exact number, but it was around 160 people that were surveyed online. That was just for the online form. As for how many individuals attended the workshop, I don't have that number. We did not record.

So the size of Salinas and that many people, you're looking at way less than 1% coming up with a decision for this ITC. Is that good for the city of Salinas if you don't have that many people even commenting? We, the city of Salinas, is trying to build something, but you don't have feedback from everybody. We do hear a lot of feedback from a lot of people, but they just don't speak, and I understand that. But coming up with less than 100 people, or at least 100 people coming up with their ideas, that doesn't really fit City of Salinas. And that's my opinion. Hmm?

Through the Chair, if I may add, that was only for the survey. There were other outreach efforts and meetings where there was additional participation, as well as seeking in-person survey comments at the farmer's market.

So looking at your pie, can you bring back that? Showing how many people commented on that.

Which slide?

Keep on going back. All right, there. Go back. Go next. There. So basically, how many people here, you only got so many people. basically being surveyed, that's not even a fraction of the city of Salinas. I think there should be more outreach to the residents on what they really want to do. You know, instead of just going by this, and I know you have workshops, but, you know, jumping on something that's going to be major to Salinas and spending some money, I do think we do need to reach out more to the residents and get their input.

All right, any questions? Commissioner Rook?

Yeah. Actually, I think there should be more reach out. I know it backs things up, but I think trying to reach the people is like, you can take the horse to the trough, OK, but you can't get it to drink. And that's part of the problem is people don't even show up for outreach. They don't take it seriously either when they're given surveys online. But I think we should try again. And I'm one person who, I do not want travel bifurcated. If I'm traveling by train and I wanna get to a bus, I wanna get to the bus. I don't wanna have to go look two or three or four or five blocks for the bus. So making it a, making it co-located right there, you make it a hub. And that's what travel should be, a hub. Not, oh, the bus station's three blocks that way, okay? So reading some of these letters and this and that. Don't bifurcate travel. Don't make it difficult for people who want to travel here to get here and to get a bus or to go there or here or wherever. Co-locate it, make it a hub. I understand what this letter says, but I think it's best that you have a hub here and perhaps a little more outreach. And then depending on the questions of the outreach, the questions, is it a push questionnaire? Is it a push survey? Is it simply put the dots where you want WHAT YOU WANT, IT REALLY DOES DEPEND ON WHAT IS ASKED. SO THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS. THANK YOU.

ANY QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ?

the sample size should be a little bit bigger, because there's a lot of things that will get affected, such as traffic, that's one of the big ones, because Market Street is horrible for traffic, especially that intersection, because you have like three lights that are back to back to back. So there's gonna be people that don't live in the area, but transit the area, that travel through there, that are gonna be affected, you know, when you commute home and stuff. So I think maybe getting a bigger sample size in a survey, you know, just reaching out to more people trying to get more numbers, it would be beneficial. But I mean, I like what you guys are doing. I'm all for it, it's just maybe getting a little more people involved. Because like I said, I mean, People that are not necessarily just using the site for travel or anything, just people that are driving through there. It's going to create a little bit more traffic because, I mean, like I said, drive through there right now, 5 o'clock, and it takes you like 30 minutes to get from, you know, the Charrito Market to, you know, Chinatown. It's that bad. And it's because of those traffic lights there. So maybe by getting more input from people, you'll get some ideas where... I don't know, maybe do something to those traffic lights. Do some sort of AI traffic control light or something like they've done on 68. That's improved traffic on 68 tremendously since they went to the AI traffic lights. I mean, I travel through there all the time and it's day and night compared to the way it was. So, you know, that's just.

Commissioner Flores?

Yeah, I love the idea of making a central hub, but as Commissioner Gutierrez just mentioned, getting over here right now, the stoplights were terrible. I can imagine if that becomes a central area for the MST, what it's going to cause. I mean, I don't know if this is an appropriate question, but what do you think of the MST being moved over there? Is this something you guys are really pushing for? Because, you know, also, just to change it over, I'm looking at this survey, 28 people of the 100 or so that replied or did the survey traveled by train. That seems like a high amount. I'm not, you know, unless a lot of people are traveling out of Salinas, that seems, I can see the local transit MST being used highly, but you know, 32 use MST, 28 use the train. So, again, first question is, do you think it would be a good thing to move the MST center over there?

Yeah, thank you. Grant Leonard, planning manager. I'll speak on this because I was working closely with MST as they prepared their study. You know, staff has not provided a recommendation on a final site. for the relocation. City staff did assist Monterey Salinas Transit in identifying potential locations throughout the downtown. They started with a large list of over five to 10 possible sites and they narrowed that down to the final three. This is one of those three sites. The other site is on Alicelle Street across from the post office. And then the third site is Chase Bank at the corner of John and Main. And the criteria they're looking at are having a large enough site to handle up to 12 bays for their buses, having good connectivity to other resources, and in and out ingress and egress related to traffic lights, because they don't do a left turn against traffic. They need to signalize intersection. So keeping the site in downtown, these are the three most viable they've determined. And they're going to start their outreach now to see what the community thinks on these sites, and then yes through technical analysis and community engagement and steel we'll get down to a final statement at this point uh... i t c is just one of three properties being considered any questions commissioner pernell and follow-up question for you mister leonard just maybe i missed something but why isn't it moving to them it's like uh... necessary something No, absolutely. Actually, Monterey Salinas Transit did a presentation at our Traffic and Transportation Commission last week, and so you can see a full presentation on the study on our YouTube channel there. They are relocating because they have outgrown their current site. It has nine bays for their buses, and they need up to 12 bays. And as Assistant Planner Segovia mentioned, They are planning expanded service throughout the city, including looking at bus rapid transit along the Alice Allen Williams corridor. And with that increased frequency and increased service, it hastens the need for a larger site for the transfer station.

And then, Mr. Gove, you had mentioned that TAMC had done some work around circulation efforts. Do you have an example of some of the modifications or edits that they actually did?

Yeah, so an example would be the parking lot. So they added, correct me, they added more parking spots to the parking lots.

And then I think like my fellow commissioners have mentioned too in regards to the traffic, have we done like a comprehensive traffic study on that East Market intersection?

Public Works has done traffic counts.

So we didn't do a full traffic study for this. Again, these are meant to be opportunity memorandums for the council and administration to consider near-term improvements. But West Market Street, Highway 183 is a Caltrans-owned facility. So there's limited jurisdictional control by the city over it. It's really a Caltrans road. We did do traffic counts. Those numbers are in the existing conditions memo. And so it's Off the top of my head, I want to say 18 to 20,000 vehicles a day. It does have peak periods throughout the afternoon in the eastbound direction, which is why you'll see the backups from Salinas Street all the way down to Riker Street or further in the peak periods. Particularly, there's a seasonality component as well with the agricultural trucking industry. So during the summer growing months, you have those longer queues. And I think we all know if you've driven through it, congestion's a serious issue there and that's something MST has to consider because congestion affects their on-time performance and reliability is a key consideration for a transit provider.

Okay, and then I have a few questions. I noticed in your slide you had the vibrancy plan in the beginning. When I look at the vibrancy plan, I see other things that are happening, but when it's specific for the Intermodal Transportation Center, I'm wondering where is all this information being pulled into what you're looking at now?

So the information that you're looking at now, the opportunities that you're seeing that were presented today were pulled from the existing conditions study and then also from the ITC survey.

Okay, but you're not pulling from the vibrancy plan that we've already, like as a city, gone through and did public outreach and all these, spent a lot of money on to develop?

Yes, we are pulling from the downtown vibrancy plan as past commissions and board members presentations have also voiced that concern. So this is a live document. So the opportunities that are mentioned in the downtown vibrancy plan are being incorporated into this opportunities memorandum.

Okay. So when I look at this, it says, um, I mean, there's a lot of change that would need to happen to make this whole area work. And what I'm referring to is like the Baton Park improvements that were in here. So when we look back on when this ITC was presented, there were concepts that were put in place that were supposed to work synergistically with all of these improvements. So I guess I'm kind of asking, so you're just ITC. So who's involved with what happens outside of your property boundaries? Is it all silos and everybody just has to hope we work together, or how does that come together?

So I think one way to approach this existing conditions and opportunities memo is this is what is the low-hanging fruit to activate the site. This isn't the permanent long-term development of the site, but we have opportunity. But if you put MST there, that's pretty much a permanent change. When we started this memo, when we started our piece of it, that was before MST came forward. That has come alongside us. So we are bringing them into this report and incorporating it. But our original objective was to look at what opportunities there are to activate that site and kind of looking forward to, yes, it is envisioned as an intermodal transit center. You know, it's the ITC, Intermodal Transit Center. So we wanted to leverage the existing activity draw attention to it. We went through the naming. We want to bring branding and marketing and special events and activities that draw individuals expanding out of the downtown and create that economic opportunity. This I think the this isn't a project this isn't something approval this is saying hey here's something for us to consider how we can activate the site, and I think in terms of you know Community engagement and sometimes it's hard when you're asked these like big. questions versus making a comment on a specific proposal. So I think this gives us a gauge to maybe then formulate some further ideas, working with the Economic Development Division, as to, okay, based on what we've learned to date, let's put this out for some further vetting. So I just kind of want to give that context to the memo. Okay, so we're just looking to band-aid the site for now?

This isn't something... Well, activate.

I would rather say activate. Bring...

There is a plan already in place of what we were going to do in that area. So if we're looking with that plan in mind, we wouldn't consider MST going there because you're going to use up that area that that would not now fit what our plan is, unless the plan has changed.

So at this point, keep in mind, we're informing you that MST is conducting feasibility study.

We listed two properties. Why are they just Alisal and then John and Maine? Are those city properties?

No, those are properties that they've identified based on the criteria that Mr. Leonard. Circulation. Yes. So they had certain criteria that they needed to meet to be able to expand to the 12 bays, have the proper circulation and proximity to make their connections. And those were the three sites. So they are evaluating each site as to what that would look like and if that would meet their needs. So there's been no final determination by MST, no commitment by the city. However, we do support the synergy. Yeah, there has to be a partnership. Yes, of intermodal transportation.

I guess I'm wondering too, so if it's MST who's doing their study now, if there were other options, do those options need to be presented to MST directly or is it to the city?

To MST.

OK. So yeah, because I know there's some other ideas that have been floating around out there that people are working on. And I have the, I could be wrong, but my impression is like they think that needs to go to the city. But this is MST itself. And then if it works, you're considering does it go to the ITC? If that was a location they wanted, then you would explore that?

We would explore that.

OK, thank you for clarifying. And yeah, I was going to ask right away the numbers. I mean, that's just a little embarrassing that we only have 100 and we're considering those. I don't know if they were just stood out there and asked or how they were, like the balance of that survey. But I did have a question. When you say shareholders, who are the shareholders? You had meetings with shareholders? They're just individual, like separate meetings?

So the one-on-one stakeholder meetings were with the tenants at the ITC. So that would be First Mayor's House, California Welcome Center, Railroad Museum, and also adjacent to the ITC, I HOPE I DON'T BUTCHER THIS, THE GRANARY BUILDING? YES. WITH PETER CASAVAN. SO THOSE WERE THE ONE-ON-ONE STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS. OKAY. AND FOR THE WORKSHOP, WE ACTUALLY FLYERED TO TWO SENIOR HOMES AROUND THE AREA AT SACRED HEART AND EVEN AT THE ITC TO MAKE THEM the the workshop that was coming on may 11th and additionally we had also sent out a newsletter blast on using the selena's email and also through social media okay um when we look at the parking that's available what was the intention of all these spots

Is that thinking people are parking and riding and then they come back or do they pay to park there? Like if I took a train wherever, I can park my vehicle there and leave it there? Okay.

Yes. And the intention was for the future commuter rail service.

Right. So then that's why I was kind of leading into then the intention is there for what we're moving towards, but then if we remove all those parking spots, then where would we be parking? You know what I mean? Now we're kind of back stuck with we've cut ourselves off of what we are intending to do instead of pushing forward to what we want to do.

So I think you're asking very valid questions that will need to be addressed and worked through once MST determines if they would like to move forward on this site.

I think I understand what I'm saying. I don't think it's a great idea. Yeah. So when we're giving you our ideas or suggestions, where is it going? What are you doing with the information?

So I will take your ideas and suggestions and incorporate them into the opportunities memorandum.

Okay. Can we have it outlined as planning commission and what we thought of and recommend? Okay. Thank you. And let me see if I had any other questions. Let's see. It was on the amount of people. And yes, I think. So we had the workshop. We don't know how many were in attendance. Do you have a guess? Like 500 people or? 30, I mean, what were we looking like? Just an idea like 30 ish British. Okay. And then, um, yeah, I definitely think we need more effective outreach. And I know that. Like, when they did the vibrancy plan, they did the, um, there was the E. D. Alisal vibes, you know, these ones that. I don't know what we're if we can look to them to say, how did you get people involved? But we got to improve that because whether we're just thinking, oh, it's just easy to send out this email and whoever responds, responds isn't enough. You know, and I agree with you, social media is out there. But when you look at who's looking on social media and actually going to click on those things, it's probably not your regular response. working people that you need responses from you know they're busy working you know so it's like we need to continue to work on that i think that out the communication has gotten better you know we have more lines of communication happening but we've still got to master that because we're just not getting the information we need to make good decisions you know so whatever we can do to continue to push that it's probably not your department but Keep requesting those things to improve through the city. And then let's see. Oh, I was going to say a suggestion I have is that whatever decision is made, if it does not end up here, that there's some kind of agreement with MST or whomever it needs to happen with to have shuttles available. Because I agree with Maureen, but I still don't think traffic-wise, until we redo the roads and everything else, probably take another 10 years. they need a way to get there or at least you know so wherever they are or if they're parking there can they get over to the bus station you know some type of a shuttle that's running as the service that was that was an idea i had okay and then um let's see we'll now open for public comment on this item are there

Madam Chair, could I interject again? Thank you. OK, it's pouring down rain. How are you going to get people from the bus station here to a train over there or vice versa? That's really a difficult one. And also, I'd like to see the difference in the synergy or the number of individuals if the bus station is there, co-located there or elsewhere. I'd like to see the difference in the numbers of people. Okay, there's gonna be a difference, right? I also wanna know what the housing code says in terms of having a bus station and having more housing. More housing near transit, ALLOWS DEVELOPERS TO GET BIG INCENTIVES BY STATE LAW. AM I CORRECT? SO THAT HELPS OUR HOUSING, OKAY? HAVING IT IN ONE PLACE ALLOWS OUR HOUSING, APARTMENTS, OTHER THINGS, DENSITY BONUSES, MANY OTHER THINGS TO OCCUR. I WANT TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE THERE. NOT THAT MST IS ABSOLUTELY GOING TO DO THIS BUT WE'LL FIND OUT. BUT I REALLY DO THINK THAT KNOWING, YOU KNOW, HAVING more people there rather than less people there, to me, is an incentive to get the train station and the bus station co-located. But that's my comment, thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. All right, going out to the public, are there any comments on this item?

Welcome. Hello, I'm Eloise Shim. I'm on the Historic Resources Board, but I'm not really speaking for the Historic Resources Board just on my own behalf because I do live nearby there. So I have an idea as a resident, since I live right across the street there, of the potential traffic that would occur if you put the MST there. I don't really know how the MST would be able to have their buses be on time because it's already a traffic jam. And right across the street are two senior facilities. So if they changed it there, the seniors would have to be crossing across that very busy street, which is not just Market Street, it's really a highway, it's 183. And mind you, there will be when the Amazon Fulfillment Center comes around, you're going to see a lot more of those big rigs and semis coming down the, you know, coming down the road. So having seniors having to cross that, they have their little pets and stuff on there. You're going to see some dead pets, maybe some dead seniors. with all the traffic. So now it's kind of quiet. I live there, but if they do all this kind of thing to bring a lot of tourist money, it's not going to be quiet for the seniors. It's going to be kind of a nightmare for them and for the kids at the schools and the churches. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, do we have any raised hand on Zoom? Go ahead, Peter.

Hi, this is Peter Casavan. Are you able to hear me?

We can hear you.

Oh, that's great. So thanks for the opportunity. I appreciate all the comments that you've had. I think they're very thoughtful and they're important. I'm the president of Casa Vent Architects, and I'm in the grant granary and have interviewed with the city. Also, I've attended some of the events. I'm also the president of the Salinas Planning and Research Corporation, SPARC. The Intermodal Transportation Center, also Salinas City Heritage Park, may represent some of the most valuable real estate in downtown, if not the entire city. The city planning documents see this as a significant opportunity to create economic development, vibrancy, and transformative opportunities for placemaking and connectivity with other important properties. This may be the most consequential city planning decision this community makes in a generation. And the community's vision for the ITE should not be a mystery. There has been significant and authentic community outreach and engagement. The city commissioned the downtown vibrancy plan at a cost to taxpayers of over $400,000. 30 shareholders agreed to the city's call for volunteers and participated in 28 meetings So that amounted to about 1,000 hours of their time to help Salinas create a vision for the downtown, which includes proposals for the ITC, which you don't really see in this report, although the survey results of 160 people who probably spent in the aggregate a thousandth of the time that these volunteers did in creating this vision. Unfortunately, we believe the plan shows few, if any, of the major opportunities identified in the Vibrancy Plan and the General Plan. And so the Commission has been provided a complete presentation regarding the Council's and the community's official vision for the ITC. So we would respectfully request the Commission continue this hearing to a time when you can hear formal presentations from the community about their visions for the ITC. Thank you very much.

All right. Thank you. Do we have any other raised hands? All right, go ahead, Brian.

Hello, good evening. My name is Brian Shields. I'm with Carpenters Local 646. And as the ITC hubs, public transportation is going to be incredibly important moving into the future. And like what was noted for affordable housing, for all kinds of grants, it's an important aspect to any new city or city build. On top of that, though, I want to make sure that we, you know, I understand this is the Planning Commission just going on public record, talking about misclassification of workers. Many times in the construction workforce, there is misclassification on public works projects where a worker may be performing an electrician scope of work or carpenter scope of work, but then paid as a laborer, which is a lesser hourly rate. And the contractors pad their the contractors are able to pad their bids by the delta in the number, in the wage. So I just wanted to go on the record and say that. I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

All right, thank you. Any other comments? All right, we'll go ahead and close public comment. Are there any additional questions or comments from the commissioners to members of city staff? Commissioner Racamora?

No additional comments or questions?

Commissioner Ruck?

Not at this time, thank you.

Commissioner Gutierrez?

No questions, no comments.

Commissioner Flores?

Further questions or comments?

Commissioner Pernell? Questions or comments? And I have no other questions or comments, just hoping that as you go through your process, it says you're bringing back the... Something July six to the historic resources board. Is that where everything's going to be compiled? Yes. Okay. So in the meantime, will there be more community outreach, uh, types of meetings at this moment?

No.

So if I may, Chair, we're looking to kind of close a process. This started in 2024 where we started doing outreach about activating the site. And so there is no action, there's no formal project coming out of this research. It's an administrative memo that will document all the conversations that have been had to date with the community, et cetera. And we're just gonna kind of close this loop of this project, so to speak, not to say that we won't continue conversations, but we want to kind of complete these memos, and then based on the feedback, we can then move forward through a separate process.

Okay. And yeah, reading through the memos, I noted that it seemed like a lot of the response or information that was received had more to do with the operations of MST. and not so much the intermodal center. So I don't know if the city can help in any of that. I know that when I see other cities, this probably seems kind of silly, but Think it's weird that we don't have like bus stops or sorry benches or something for people waiting at the bus stops and You go in other cities and now I'm noticing they have these at least smaller ones that are set up They're kind of like skinny ones instead of the big one but I don't know where that comes from. Is that the city that puts them in? Is it MST? But having some kind of compassion for these people that are needing to wait, and waiting for their next bus, and they're just standing there. It bothers me every time I see it when I'm driving by. I almost want to say, we need ride. Because I'm like, where are you going? What are you doing? And I think some of them were taken out at one point, just never replaced. But since we're looking at everything, I think that that would look better for our city. And when we look at the intermodal transportation center, we have to look outside of just that property because you're trying to draw attention there. I love the rebranding. I think it's a great effort. But to get people there and coming back there. So you're going to come there once. Are they going to go there for anything else or they're going to look around and go? you know what, this isn't visually where I want to be bringing my kids. We just don't want that happening. You invite them and then they never come back because they're like, no, last time I've been there. And they don't realize, oh, you've done more work and improved the area. So I think part of that has to all come together and looking at outside of that. So when you're on the train coming in through town, They see Salinas as the next stop, looking, where are we slowing down? Oh, Salinas. And what do they see as they are riding on the train all the way down there? Does it give them an impression like, wow, next time I want to stop in Salinas. That seems really cool. you they can see the brochure and see all this cool like train things and and other stuff they can do but is what they're seeing is that going to encourage them to want to stop in salinas so i think it's you can't just say oh this is just the area we're looking at you have to look at as a whole and that's why i was looking at the vibrancy plan because that encompasses that you know it's not just there it's that they'll take that big train ride that goes all the way to oregon and find an airbnb get off stay overnight find somewhere to eat do the movies you know and and get back on the train you know but if it's just not looking inviting you know and it's you know just just what we're doing in this space isn't going to get somebody to get off the train it's got to be a little more than that what is outside of it You know, so that's why I see it as it's got to be all really come together, you know, not just what do we do for this site. Now, if you're just wanting to hold markets there, I mean, yeah, you've got area you can hold a farmer's market, you know, continue to do that. But, I mean, is that really doing what you're trying to do? It doesn't sound like it. You want it to be historic, you know. of the history of salinas and more of i'm picturing like a casa de fruta kind of feel you know where people are coming and really enjoying the space there so anyway that's my comments um thank you for your presentation though thank you all right um moving on to commissioner reports appointments future agenda items uh commissioner rockamora do you have anything to share

Nothing to share at this moment.

Commissioner Ruck? No, thank you. Commissioner Gutierrez?

Nothing to share.

Commissioner Flores? No, nothing to share. Commissioner Pernell? I have the Italia Festival is going to be happening in downtown on, I think it's Saturday, June 27th, I believe. It's a free event for residents outside, nearby communities, they do live music have vendors, the farmers markers going on 300 block and then on the 200 block, they put on the tie festival. Fox theater is a big, you know, they're like the one that really puts it on. So it's right in front of their spot, you know, and if you haven't been, you've got to go out there just show up, it's free. So you just walk the streets, enjoy yourself and enjoy the music. That's what I have to share. Any future agenda items?

Thank you for that question. July 1 is our next meeting, and we have absolutely nothing scheduled right now. Our lineup of the study session programming has been exhausted. We'll need to either get some input from planning commissioners right now, or we will put our heads together and come up with something at the next meeting. Because right now, there is no regular business scheduled for July 1.

I'll be out of town, so.

Going past that, there are items scheduled for the second part of July, however, including phase one zoning code update.

Yeah, I was going to ask about the zoning code update, if we had a date.

Yeah, we have that one. Let's see here. July 15. I think we have actually three items for the 15th right now. A pair of PUDs at the mall. Different parties are asking for the main unit or planned unit development permit at the mall to be modified. That will be interesting. One of them is an increase for sign area at one of the new tenants in the old Sears building. Sears building, and another is a car wash proposal.

For the zoning code update, can you remind us what, I know we're in the first phase, so what are we getting at the update?

Yes, Chair. We've presented on the phase one twice so far. We presented about the required housing element updates and then recently we presented about the optional increases for auxiliary office space and industrial as well as driveway CUPs. And what you'll get at the July 15th or July 17th meeting is THE FINAL PACKAGE AND DISCUSSION ABOUT RECOMMENDING APPROVAL TO CITY COUNCIL FOR THE PHASE ONE ZONING CODE UPDATES.

IS THERE, WELL, I KNOW WE TYPICALLY GET IT, YOU KNOW, THE FRIDAY 5 O'CLOCK BEFORE THE MEETING. IS THERE ANY WAY WE CAN GET ANY SOONER TO REVIEW IT? THAT'S A LOT TO REVIEW FOR US TO BE PREPARED FOR WEDNESDAY.

YEAH, WE CAN WORK ON GETTING MORE LEAD TIME. THERE'S A LOT OF READING INVOLVED IN THIS ONE.

Okay. Yeah, that way we can, if we're making a recommendation, I think we need to do our due diligence.

Absolutely.

Okay. All right, thank you. Any other future agenda items?

That is the entire lineup for now.

So July 1st, are we then saying you're recommending we don't meet? We don't have any business, right?

Well, if we don't receive any ideas on what the commission perhaps would want to look at as a study session topic right now, staff will look around and come up with some other options for July 1.

I think everybody's not wanting to meet. Maureen's not going to be here.

Yeah, Madam Chair, July 4th is, you know, a couple days later. It seems like just canceling that meeting because I suspect people are going to be. I am leaving town.

OK, well, we will say we're not meeting unless you get some like emergency you need us to meet on. OK. Alright, and then as far as we know, though, if there's nothing that comes up, then July 15th will be our next meeting. Nobody can attend. Alright, this meeting is adjourned.