Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

To the September 2nd Planning Commission meeting, I'd like to call this meeting to order and lead you in a pledge of allegiance. Zoom webinar participation is available for members of the public. The Zoom webinar ID and link are available on the posted agenda on the city website. This time I'd like to ask for a roll call.

Commissioner McKelvey.

I couldn't hear you.

Sorry. Commissioner McKelvey. Present. Commissioner Perno. Here. Commissioner Flores.

Here.

Commissioner Mora.

Here.

Commissioner Gutierrez. Here. Commissioner Rugg. Here. Thank you. Chairperson Ruggamora.

Here. I'd like to welcome, at this time I'd like to welcome the new Chief of Planning, Fernando Stellon. Santillan. Santillan.

Yes, thank you for the warm welcome, Chairman. My name is Fernando Santia. I just want to introduce myself to the community. I'm in my third week with the city of Salinas. I have just a little bit about myself. My background is in planning. I've been a planning director in several cities, mostly in the Central Valley of California. I have a master's in public administration, also a certified planner. Very happy to be working with the staff here at Salinas and enjoying my time here so far. Thank you.

Thank you. It's great to have someone like Fernando with that type of background. I'd like to also welcome the new assistant planner, Miranda Denise Areola. Would you like to say a few words?

Good afternoon, planning commissioners. Miranda Denise Arriola, new assistant planner with the city. I was formerly with the Council of San Benito County Governments as a transportation planner. And prior to that, while completing my master's in urban and regional planning, I was a student professional worker with the city of Los Angeles. Happy to be here. Thank you.

Thank you, Miranda. And again, Samir, this is lucky to have you. Can I ask for a staff introduction?

Prisa Salcedo, administrative aide.

Courtney Grossman, planning manager. Fernando Santillan, chief of planning.

This time public comments, general 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. This time we're open for public comments. Are there any comments from the public regarding items not on today's agenda? As we have none, any Zoom participants, please use the raise hand feature if you'd like to provide public comment. Are there any comments on Zoom? As we have none. Consent agenda ID 26421, approval of minutes from the August 19, 2026 meeting. Are there any questions or comments from the commissioners? Commissioner McKelvey-Day?

No questions or comments.

Commissioner Purnell?

No questions or comments.

Commissioner Flores? No questions or comments. Commissioner Mora?

No questions or comments.

Commissioner Ruck?

No questions or comments.

Is there a motion and a second?

I'll make a motion to accept the minutes.

I'll second.

Okay. With a motion from Commissioner Mora and a second from Commissioner McKelvey-Day, we will have a roll call vote.

Commissioner McKelvey-Day? Aye. Commissioner Purnell?

Abstain.

Commissioner Flores?

Aye.

Commissioner Mora?

Yes.

Commissioner Rugg? Aye. Chairperson Rocamora?

Yes.

Motion passes.

Thank you. ID 26425, Williams Road Street Corridor Project. We have Adriana Robles, City Engineer, willing to introduce this item.

Hi, good afternoon, Commissioners. Adriana Robles, I'm the Assistant Public Works Director, City Engineer. And I'm actually here just to introduce our consultant. They will be giving you the presentation remotely. So Molly Tremblay with Kimley Horn, she's our designer for this project.

Hey, good afternoon. Can you all hear me? All right, let me grab the presentation. Okay, so good afternoon. Thank you for having me. I will be presenting on the Williams Road Safe Street Corridor Improvements Project. So just an overview of this project runs along Williams Road and it will extend from Alice Hall and John Street all the way to Freedom Parkway. This project includes three roundabouts proposed at Alice Hall, at Market, and at Freedom. The project also includes protected bike lanes, so that will extend from Alisal to Del Monte. There's restriping from Del Monte to Freedom, so the cross section along that portion of the corridor really stays the same as it is now. We're also introducing mid-block crossings at particular locations. Those will include RRFBs, so flashing beacons. There will also be a new signal and I will get into more of the details going forward here. So just some background on this project. It was really conceived of during the several city plans. So the Salinas Vision Zero Action Plan in 2021, the Alice Hall Streetscape Master Plan in 2024 and the Active Transportation Plan also in 2024. Based on some initial studies and based on the feedback that we had received both during the master plan and the active transportation plan, the city moved forward to pursue design and construction funding for this project. That was through the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program and the Active Transportation Program grant. In total, the project has received just under $24 million. Since that time, we have completed an intersection control evaluation for the corridor, particularly those roundabout intersections. And I'll go into more detail about that evaluation. We have also since completed our environmental clearance due to the nature of the funding that required both CEQA and NEPA. At this point, we're in our public outreach and preliminary design phase. This presentation is set up to really mimic the outreach that we've already done with the community and ongoing outreach that we're completing. And at the end of the presentation, I'll also have the different cross-section alternatives that we're hoping to receive feedback on. And then once we get more feedback and understand what the preferred alternative is, we'll move into the final design, PS&E, and that would be next year. The goals of this project, it's truly a complete street project with active transportation elements. So as I mentioned, integral to the grant funding, there's quite a few safety elements that we need to include, and then also the protected bike lanes. And really it's geared towards increasing safety for all users, cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers. We also have a very strong goal to incorporate community input into the design. And really all the iterations of this project have gone through community input and we want to adhere to what the public would like to see. As I mentioned, this is a safety project. So based on the SS4A grant that we got, there are some specific project improvements that we need to include. That includes raised medians, lighting, enhanced crossings, curb extensions, along with the roundabouts at Alisal Market and Freedom. Due to the ATP grant, we also have protected bike lanes or some sort of multi-use path from Alisal to Del Monte. Based on the feedback that we got through some of those initial plans, and then also through other projects that we are completing throughout the city, we understand that there's some sort of hot button topics that the community would like to hear. So that's how this presentation is set up. So I'll talk about the intersection control evaluation that we completed, how to navigate around about some specific safety topics, and then we'll go through the overall plans and alternatives that we have. So the intersection control evaluation is essentially a benefit cost analysis. Through this evaluation, we monetize the benefits associated with safety and then travel time reductions and compare those to the operations and maintenance and initial capital costs across the different alternatives. So in this case, we looked at comparing roundabout alternatives to the traffic signals. Across the board, we saw that the roundabouts provided a greater return on investment, a greater benefit for safety delay and operations and maintenance. The traffic signal is there really existing, so there's not much initial capital cost. And overall, the roundabouts were far and away the preferred control at each of the project intersections. How to navigate. I've shortened this quite a bit. We actually have some really comprehensive videos that we've been sharing with the community. But essentially, we want everyone to know how to negotiate a roundabout. And that's really that everyone's traveling in the same counterclockwise direction. You pause ahead of the roundabout to let pedestrians go through. And we have some videos actually of the installed roundabouts at Barden and Barden Elementary that we've been using to show people how to navigate. Next is safety. So there's a few key points that I'll cover specific to pedestrian safety at roundabouts because that's often one of the major concerns. So one of the primary benefits are lower traffic speeds, which lead to less severe collisions. When we're designing our singling roundabouts on the approaches, we shoot for 23 miles per hour or slower. And what that means is if a pedestrian were to be struck, there's a 10% chance of a fatality. When we look at traffic signals or even stop controls, by the time vehicles get to the exit, they're often driving much faster than that. So above the 30 or 40 mile per hour threshold. And in that case, you have a 40 and then 80% chance of a fatality based on the speed. We also see fewer vehicle pedestrian conflict points at roundabouts. So at a traditional traffic signal or stop controlled intersection, there are 32 conflict points. So this is where your vehicle path and your pedestrian path overlap. At a roundabout, we only have 12 conflict points. So again, in addition to the speed going down, just the chance of collision based on the paths is also reduced dramatically. Shorter crossing distances also lead to less pedestrian exposure so less time spent in the roadway and having that chance to interact with vehicles. At Alice all and john street we're seeing 82 up to over 100 foot crossing distances. With the roundabouts, because of the pedestrian refuge islands in the center, you only have to cross one lane at a time. So comparing 12 feet to 100 feet is, again, a very dramatic reduction. And then clear decision points. So I'll walk through this one. As vehicles are approaching the roundabout, they're able to look ahead and see the crosswalk and also look ahead and see the vehicles approaching the intersection. This is also the location where we would have cyclists take the lane. So those more confident riders, if they don't wanna go up on the shared use path, they can actually take the lane and ride straight through. So the vehicle has a chance to slow down and let the cyclist in. Then as you're approaching the roundabout, you have space to look and see if there's anyone waiting to cross and slow and let them cross the crosswalk. Then as you get towards the circulating lane, we actually have space between the yield line and the crosswalk. So again, you're able to look to your left, see if there's any vehicles that already have the right of way within the circulating lane, and then decide whether to enter or not. Once you travel through the roundabout, there's space to stop again and let pedestrians cross, and then you can exit and continue on. As a pedestrian, because we have the two-stage crossing, you're able to look to your left, see if there's a vehicle approaching, cross to the center, and then look to your right and cross again. When we look at a stop control, you go all the way up to the intersection, you stop at the yield line, and you have to look in many directions to see if there's vehicles oncoming. You also need to look at that same time to see if there's pedestrians crossing and then look across to see if there's pedestrians crossing in the direction that you're going. So you're making all of these decisions all at one point in time, all at once, rather than having them spaced out. One of the most dangerous movements that we actually see is when you're making a right turn. And this is primarily because drivers are looking to their left And there may be a pedestrian crossing in the crosswalk that they're not seeing. Similarly, at a traffic signal, you get to the light and you're waiting for the light to let you know if you can cross or not. You're still looking for any conflicting vehicles, looking to see if there may be pedestrians that are still crossing. And again, all of that is happening at one point in time. So now I'll share the alternatives that we've developed for the Williams Road cross section. Up at the top here, we have the existing conditions. So two lanes on either side with parking and then the two way left turn lane in the center. So this first alternative is inspired by the North Fremont corridor in Monterey. So this has a center running bike lane that is raised up and then has fencing along the side. This one does preserve parking on both sides. And I would say so far is one that is preferred by the community. Then we have this Paseito design. So this is a bit more inspired by the initial feedback that we heard during the streetscape plan development. This has a wider center running bike path. And it allows us to include more landscaping and really have more separation between the cyclists and the vehicles. This would require removal of parking on one side of the street. Then we have the green track. So this is a class four protected cycle track, and it would be on one side of the corridor and it would be two way. As you can see, we still have the raised median in the center, two lanes on either side and one parking lane. This garden alternative basically narrows the cycle track, but allows for more room for landscaping and bigger trees and things to really change the nature and the look of the corridor. Then we have the standard class four protected bike lanes. So these would be on either side of the street. Um, TAB, With the parking adjacent to the parking lane, we need that three foot buffer there. TAB, I would say that the difficulty with this one is just the sheer amount of driveways that are along Williams road so in reality, the amount of protection that you really have along the bike lanes is greatly reduced. So some of the project elements that we've included are based on stakeholder input. So we are including 11 foot wide lanes and that's to accommodate MST buses and also based on feedback that we've heard from emergency responders. One of the grant requirements is that raised median. We don't necessarily need to have the multi-use path there, but we do need to include the raised median. We also have protected bike facilities. One of the biggest things we heard from the community was the want for more landscaping along Williams Road. So that's something we've tried to include as much as possible. And then finally, lots of public feedback about the need to maintain the parking. So this, these cross sections are or we are currently seeking input from the community on. I don't believe we have a survey up yet, but that will be posted and we're hoping to get feedback to see what the final preferred alternative is. And that's it, thank you.

Are there any questions from the commissioners to the members of the city staff regarding this presentation? Commissioner McElvide.

Hi, yes, thank you for your presentation. I do have some questions. In the beginning, maybe if you can go back on the slides to the beginning, you had here the timelines. 2021's kind of the earliest and then 2023. You said just now you had the CEQA pass. Is it just now or when was the environmental clearance completed?

That was this past year.

OK. So 2025? 2026. OK.

So this year.

Yes. OK. And then I guess I have a couple of questions kind of branching from that. So where we are in the process here, we have some grants involved. Are there any deadlines on the grants for completion?

Yes, there are. That PS&E deadline, so we need to have PS&E completed by the end of 2027. It's a little tricky because we have multiple timelines. So we've worked with the grant administrators to make sure that we can align up those timelines, but we do have to adhere to those deadlines.

And then for the grant that we have that you're mentioning here, it looks like you have two grants, right? You're coordinating. So does that cover the entire project? Are there other elements that need to happen? And my question is going to be, how are those covered? Are they budgeted already with the city? Or how are we going to know we can complete this entirely?

I can answer that question for you. There are other elements to this project. Part of that would be undergrounding of the overhead lines, and we are working with PG&E in that aspect.

Okay. And that's it? That's the only thing that's not covered in the grants?

Yes. That's the only additional work that's not covered in those grants.

Okay. And then I have a question about, you mentioned in there that you have shareholders. Who are the shareholders?

Primarily, we've been working with FIRE. We have an upcoming meeting with Salinas High School. And forgive me, I can't remember the name of the elementary school. It's just off Del Monte. We've also coordinated with MST. Those would be the primary stakeholders. And then we're working with businesses along the corridor as well.

Okay. And then when you had here, I'm assuming now you're getting more public outreach. Prior to that, has it only been the stakeholders that you've gotten feedback from or has there been also public outreach?

There's been public outreach. We had a workshop last month. at the Cesar Chavez Library and then we had a not very well attended workshop before that.

OK. That's what I was going to ask was how was the attendance on those?

This last one was good. I would say Adriana maybe correct me but I think at least 20 people.

Yeah, it was in the 20-something range. We also did outreach at our recent Cluster Park grand opening, and we had over 90 people provide feedback on the options that we provided.

Okay, yeah, I did see you guys out there. Okay, so then going back to... When you said preferred traffic control with the roundabouts, can you explain who, preferred by whom?

That's based on the intersection control evaluation, so essentially benefit cost analysis.

Okay, so that's by you guys? When you say preferred, it's not like, I guess I'm trying to understand, is this preferred by the community or is this preferred by what you think is best to present?

Yeah, preferred based on the analysis comparing the benefits of safety and delay to the overall costs of the project.

Okay, and then when I was looking at the diagram for the roundabout where you have the crosswalks, I get the shortened span, but would there be lights? It doesn't seem like then there'd be lights or anything. I mean, where's... you know, somebody just has to go at their own risk when they think they can go?

Yeah. So one of the, uh, because of the speed control, the forced speed control due to the geometrics of the roundabout, um, one of the really nice things is as drivers are approaching, you really have, that's where the slowest point is, is right up right before the crosswalk. Um, and you can actually basically make eye contact with pedestrians. So there isn't a, There isn't a light that lets you know when to go, but we see a lot more positive driver interaction with the pedestrians because of that forced speed control and because of the curb extensions.

And then for these areas that you chose for the roundabouts, was there any data showing how many people are walking, how much of a demand there is for pedestrian safety in that area?

Yes, so as part of the SS4A grant, so Safe Streets and Roads for All, we analyzed the existing collisions along the corridor and that's what informed all of the improvement countermeasures that we had chosen. Off the top of my head, I don't recall what the pedestrian counts are, but certainly the mid block crossings in particular were chosen because of the desired paths that we heard from the community and where people were trying to cross from north to south.

Okay, yeah, the reason I ask is just to justify those that really do not like the roundabouts. Obviously, one life saved should be enough, but, you know, because this is, we're shifting away from what we're used to into something new. And are we doing it for the right reasons or is just more safety visibility needed? Which leads me into the the foot or sorry the the bike lanes we did the improvements in downtown and You know for all the bike bikers, you know the ones that are on bikes, but We haven't seen a whole, you know, there's there's been some bike traffic but was it really warranted to designate these areas. So I'm wondering on that too, what's the numbers for bike usage? Or is it just an intention of hopefully people will start riding their bike if it's safer?

Yeah, I'd say a lot of, especially on this corridor, because there's no protected bike, I mean, really no bike lanes at all, there is very low ridership. And when we did the outreach for the active transportation plan, a lot of what we heard was if it's safe, I would maybe ride there or allow my kids to ride there, but certainly they wouldn't do it now.

And I'd also like to add to that that also we want to think about some of these multimodal features and aspects more like along the lines to similar to say ADA improvements where it's not the fact how many use it, it's that if there's someone who needs it, you want to provide that.

Yeah, I just was asking more so than it would, for me, I would then consider the design dependent on the use. You know, if you have very heavily used, like I think your example was Monterey. I think they do use walking and bikes more than Salinas does. So I don't know if that's a good comparison in my opinion. You know, so I was trying to ask in a way of, you know, then which design would make the most sense You know, because we don't want to disrupt everybody else for a few bikers, you know, that are on their bikes. But definitely providing a safe space, I agree with. All right, that's all my questions for now. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Commissioner Purnell?

I have a few clarifying questions. So what's the total cost of the project and what does the $23.9 million cover exactly?

That's a great question, and I don't have the total cost off the top of my head. I know that for the SS4A required a 20% local match. We scored 100% on the ATP, so that one didn't necessitate a local match. I believe the total cost is about 26 million.

And the difference in cost is going to be covered by?

Adriana, I don't remember what the local match source was.

Yes. Local funds are what we use to cover the local match. Typically, this is covered by either Measure X or one of our other different funds that we use within Public Works. Then on top of that, what Molly also didn't include is the cost that we have for PG&E. So we also have that additional cost for the undergrowing.

I think just for the sake of transparency, as we share this messaging with folks, an itemized where this dollar amount is going is going to be important for residents just so they know where the dollars are going and where they're coming from. Because even if it is measure money, it's still got to go to the measure committees for approval, so it's not necessarily...

well that' s all part of our budget documents so if you do look at our annual budget documents the project is identified as well as the underground project both are identified within it.

Okay. And then do we lean into any of the data that came from the AVP research that we did with our residents? Because I know that was a really long and in-depth process where folks were pretty honest and transparent. So did we lean into any of the AVP?

Correct. So the AVP was actually the initial... I mean, I know Molly didn't include it in here, but the AVP was the initial document. Because there was a lot within that document also... that talked about the safety and the crossings and the lighting. So part of the project incorporates lighting and it does incorporate those safety elements. There was in the AVP also the request for landscaping, additional landscaping. And so that's why the options include the various options that do have additional landscaping.

And then in terms of the allocation for the dollars, is there funding for the maintenance of like existing infrastructure? Because I know Williams Road holds a special place in a lot of flat tires hearts in the city. So things like potholes and uneven sidewalks, is that an additional cost to be incurred or is that included in this budgeting?

so we are uh... looking at at the roadway condition itself uh... and we are looking at other there's a lot of uh... there's a lot of different parts that are are coming into williams road williams road is kind of a complicated corridor uh... because of the condition because of the fact that we also have uh... possible sewer and storm drain improvements in that roadway that we are looking at uh... so we are looking at different improvements, different funding buckets, and just we're getting it all together. It's going to be a pretty significant project that's going to, you know, make huge impacts to that corridor.

And do we have like pre and post roundabout studies? Because I know that there's one that runs parallel off of Barden, and I think as residents we hear oftentimes that they're much more safe and like the efficacy of them is great, but I think for those of us who live it, I think we would love to see data to prove it otherwise, because I think the accidents in the morning and the calls to AMR are still there from like a school perspective. So have we done any pre and post roundabout studies for like the Barden one that runs adjacent to Williams?

Molly, do you have, do you know of any of that information? I know we did an after study for that project because we had to do it for our grant. We have to do before studies and then after studies.

or gerardo yeah we we also flew the drone footage uh or excuse me flew the drone to grab footage and analyze i mean it was really just a 15 minute period um but certainly we can pull the collisions because we have a lot of drone video of the before condition and it's truly alarming um I think that's a great idea. I'll see what analysis we have, at least on that one video, but I think that would be a great idea. We can do further analysis on it.

And I think, selfishly, because I spent a good two decades of my career on the corner of Del Monte and Williams, there's a left-hand turn into Alice Hill High School that has not worked the entire time that I've lived in Salinas. And so I feel like if we're making improvements, we don't need that there. So I just want to make that plug, because my colleagues would be upset if I didn't. And then my last question, which is also, I guess, slightly a comment, is the 93905, I'm assuming, is the most condensed zip code in this city. 50, 60,000 people, so 90 residents contributing to a conversation is not sufficient. So I'm curious as to what is the outreach plan? It's great we're conducting work with the schools, but are we going to the churches?

We need... We're working with our PIO to put together a greater strategy on the outreach. Okay, thank you. No more questions.

Commissioner Flores. First of all, thank you. I was there Saturday, and I did put up one of the blue dots. Great job in the presentation. A couple of questions. I traveled through two roundabouts daily, the one at Pula and the one on Skonberg and Dallas all coming in. Can you bring up the Fremont?

Yeah.

Oh, sorry. So this is the only one that really keeps parking on both sides of Williams Road, correct? Correct. Now, the medium down there, is that going to be solid all the way through, or will there still be left-hand turns onto existing streets? The reason I ask, there's a fire department, and if this medium goes all the way through, how do they get out or how do they back in?

Yeah. So the medium will extend the majority of the length from Alisal to Del Monte. We're currently looking at opportunities to allow for some U-turns because the nearest roundabout after Barden, after that signal, would be Market. So that's a really long length for people to go. And we know that there's a lot of Housing and high density housing on that southern side. So we are looking to accommodate that. But. When we did the analysis for the SS for a grant, 1 of the primary collision factors that we saw was because of the 2 way left turn lane. And so that's why the raised median goes for so long. So. And then with fire, we're working, we've worked with them quite a bit and we have some, um, mountable areas where the, where they will be able to traverse the, the median in the center. And so we're working with them on where those locations need to be so that they can still get out and we'll maintain their signals that they have there. So that'll help alert. If we do have that center running median, it'll alert the cyclists that they have to stop and allow fire to pass.

Again, the three options, me personally, I like this one because you take away the parking from these residents, where are they going to go? There's really, well, there's a couple of side streets, but very few. Hopefully we get input from that little area, well, mile and a half of residents that live along there because they will be greatly impacted if they decide to go with any of the others, specifically the ones that don't have any parking. So again, as Ms. Purcell said, 90 people doesn't really give a true gauge of what people want out there. So I hope that we reach out to these residents Again, I was totally opposed to roundabouts when they first came in. I love them now. I've gotten used to them. And one of the things that you stated, when I come up to the roundabout, I can see, you know, it's at 6 in the morning, and I can see when somebody's crossing. Where in the past, you come up to a 90-degree turn, I mean, I'm having to look way over. I don't have to do that at roundabouts. I think safety-wise, it's a great idea. People will have to get used to it. It's a change. I've been doing it now for a couple of years, and I love it. So, you know, roundabouts are the way of the future in town, I think. Thank you.

Thank you. Commissioner Mora. I had the opposite experience with the roundabouts. I was like super excited for them and I hate them now. Radical honesty. Thank you so much for the presentation. I'm wondering whether it's like premature to ask this, but has there been any thought given to what could be done with the actual like the center part of the roundabout? Because I know in neighboring Marina, that space has been used for artwork. And could we maximize the value of this investment on Williams Road through art, through lighting, through something to make it more exciting than shrubbery that people may not like, landscaping that people may not like?

So, yeah. Oh, sorry, Molly. This grant does not have an art component to it, but it doesn't necessarily mean that in the future we can't look at that. I mean, that's no different than the roundabout that we currently have at Skyway and Alicelle, which we are going to be doing installation. We're working with community development on that installation of artwork at that location.

Thank you for that. I'll echo everyone's sentiments about outreach. And I say that also doing this for a living and acknowledging that that's always the criticism, right, is that there's never enough outreach and it's really hard. And while I agree with my fellow commissioners that more outreach is always necessary, it's really hard because I also, as a resident of East Salinas, I can tell you that it feels like we're bombarded by service. that I know it's more costly to do in-person engagement, but obviously everyone who saw the cluster park outreach was really fond of it, and I'm wondering whether there's an opportunity to go into the schools. I believe the Alice L. Community School is part of the communities. Oh, my God. Why am I blanking on it? The statewide grant community schools grant? Community schools. Thank you. AND MAYBE THERE'S A PATHWAY. I KNOW A LOT OF THE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS COORDINATORS ALREADY CONVENE PARENTS TO TAP INTO EXISTING NETWORKS SO THAT WE'RE NOT HAVING TO DO, YOU KNOW, OUTREACH FROM THE START. I KNOW ALSO THE COUNTY THROUGH THEIR HEALTH DEPARTMENT IN PREVIOUS YEARS HAD BEEN WORKING WITH ALLISON HIGH SCHOOL FOR through their STRIVE program. And now I can't remember what that stands for, but it's like safety through design, very similar to I think kind of the end goal with this project. then I'm wondering whether that might be a good pathway. I'll also just throw out there that even though roundabouts are nothing new in our community, people do struggle with them. I actually completely forgot about the Varden one. And again, I live in Salinas, in East Salinas of all places, right? And now that I'm working in Soledad, we have a few roundabouts that people still struggle with, and they insist on not... yielding to others. So I'm wondering whether ahead of it, it might be good to do some public outreach, some videos reminding people to be courteous. The only last point that I'll make is concerning crossing for pedestrians. And I do have concerns, same thing like lighting. I think sometimes we're positing that people are walking, but increasingly we're seeing kids on e-bikes, electric scooters, and they're going a lot faster than people can on foot, right? So even when you're slowing down to enter the roundabout, You could have a child, especially with so many schools in that area, crossing pretty quickly under the illusion of there's no stop here. So I'm wondering how we can maybe co-create solutions with the schools to ensure that as we build these roundabouts, we also don't limit children's abilities to walk to school.

Yeah, that's a really good point. And actually, like Molly said, like we've said, we've been working with our PIO on different strategies for outreach. And part of that is education. So we're seeing it right now with Barandas because we have McKinnon right there. So we've been working very closely with that school and with the school district in general. So that's exactly the plan that we plan to take, just the proximity of these schools.

Okay, Commissioner Ruck.

I'm a rabid bicyclist. I have two street bikes and a mountain bike. And I want to bring this car-centric town out of the backwoods and get more bicycle infrastructure. And we need it everywhere. Most of us leave town to ride our bikes. It is too dangerous here. So we want protected bike lanes. And the best ones, I think, for us, frankly, is not the Fremont one. We don't, a lot of us refuse to use that one in Fremont, frankly. The class four bike lanes, The class four protected bike lanes are usually the ones that I personally like more. And I am a bicyclist, and I've been hit by a car, and I've been hit by a bus. And I have 17 stitches to prove it. But yes, these class four protected bike lanes are better, I think, for bicyclists. And I'm going to say that. And I think that we do, we absolutely do need infrastructure for bikes. If you want more people to ride, they're not going to get out there. They might have a bike in the garage, but they're not going to get out there because they're going to get killed. I leave town. I won't ride here. And that's sad. That is a sad statement, that I have to leave town to ride my bike. I like roundabouts. I know people need to get used to them. I think with signage on the roadway that's right in front of them, that helps direct them, gets the people to learn at a much faster pace. I think that. I also think artwork in the middle of the roundabout is something that should be included. We should include these things. I know it's costly, but this is our town, and we need to include these things for our town and the landscaping. But those are my... Those are my points. And I do want to bring this car-centric town into the 21st century and out of the backwoods with regards to bicycling. Thank you. And thank you to staff. Thank you.

Thank you. I have a few questions. Well, basically some feedback on the public outreach. We all discussed, all my colleagues here, about 20 people reaching out. Have we discussed social media feedback? I know the city of Salinas does have a Facebook and all that. They did put, you guys possibly put a link there to what we're discussing here or what you guys discussed. on your outreach? Because like everybody's saying, a lot of people can't make it to those. And have a little spot where they could give feedback.

Yes. So we actually do have, we're actually just waiting on it to be published. We do have a survey and we've, I think we've already tried a survey previously. It was open for a while, but again, working with our PIO, we're looking at reissuing a survey so that we get direct feedback also from people through social media and not just in person.

Right, because that's, a lot of people's on social media, and if it comes up and people click onto it, people see what's going on, and that's one thing City of Salinas needs to do, what's going on in Salinas, then they can give their feedback instead of everybody just talking and saying, you know, why did they put this, who's doing this? But that's something that, you know, I see that you guys are doing it, but hopefully we can get it out there as soon as we can.

And just also so that you're aware, We have been also working with community development, and they have been providing us quite a bit of assistance, even doing door-to-door noticing so that the neighborhood is aware of upcoming meetings and information on the project.

If you have the QR codes, too, they'll take us right to the presentation, and that way people can give that feedback after they watch it or read up about it. That'd be great.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you. As for the bike mediums, I know Commissioner McCovey-Day was saying it's hard to compare to Monterey. If you think back 50 years ago when I was growing up, we rode bikes everywhere. Now I probably wouldn't because it's like Commissioner Ruck said, it's not safe. Okay, so I understand what you guys are doing there. I'm for it. Just like Commissioner Flores said, I'm for that medium in the middle too because we need the parking. The city has a problem with parking. If you take away parking, you're just creating more problems. I think if we start doing something like that, like Commissioner Ruck said, making it more biker friendly, people will start riding bikes to work. And leading on to that is the roundabouts. Roundabouts have been around for centuries. And I see why everybody's going through that. And I hear a lot from everybody else talking, saying, I hate the roundabouts and all that. It's just that you're not used to it. It's just like cell phones. When we switch to cell phones, you guys are not used to it. Now everybody has it. Even I see grandparents using cell phones better than I do. But I think it just takes time. You see the roundabouts over there in Injun Road? People were complaining. Now people love it. And the flow of traffic is so much better. Roundabouts is better for safety, like what you guys are saying. It is great for safety. The cost... You know, lights and all that cost the city. We could use that money somewhere else. We could use it for fixing our roads and infrastructure. And then also pollution. Cars sitting there, you know, how many times have I sat at a light and there's no cars there and you're still waiting for the light? Now with a roundabout, you just go. It's just that everybody has to get used to the roundabouts and knowing that if you're on the outside, you're yielding. People think that, you know, and I've seen it. When they first opened Baranda right there, people stop in the middle. I'm like, what are you doing? And they let the people go through. See, they just don't understand how the roundabouts work. But I think you give it time, just like how Imjin Road was, I think people will get used to it. And it's going everywhere. In every city, you're starting to see roundabouts. Because it is cost effective. It is safety. And the pollution, like they say, cars sitting there. I know we're going electric now, but there's still a lot of cars out there that are gas. But, no, I'm for roundabouts. It just takes time for everybody to get used to it. You know, I always listen to everybody as, you know, planning commissioner to see what they say, and I'll voice their opinion also. But, no, I really like this design, and I know City of Salinas is putting even more roundabouts I've seen, you know, on there, you know, and I've heard there's more coming up on some of the main thoroughfares. Especially I live in North Salinas. There's going to be more in North Salinas. But thank you for the great presentation. We will now open for public comment on this item. Are there any comments from the public regarding this item? As we have none, is there any Zoom participants? And please use your raise hand feature if you'd like to provide a public comment. And you have two minutes.

Hi, good afternoon. My name is Lisa, resident of Salinas. I would just like to make sure that you guys know we, most of the population here in Salinas, like everyone has echoed before, don't really know how to use roundabouts. I feel like that has been improving in the past couple of years. We know by studies that they do improve safety and traffic flow if used properly. So it is, I think, a matter of citizens getting used to it. My preference for the existing conditions would be to use the Class 4 protected cycle track, separating bicycle lanes from parked cars. reduces injuries to bicyclists whenever doors are opened. That's the main cause of, or cars parking there illegally. So creating an actual barrier between the road and cyclists and pedestrians is probably the best idea. I would also like to include that, uh, in the roundabouts, I would like to see raised pedestrian crossing to improve visibility for cars as well as pedestrians. Uh, that's it. Thank you.

Thank you. And do we have any more participants? Zoom? Okay. And we will now close public comment.

Chair Rocamora, there is another public comment. It came through the email. I can provide a summary. It's from MST, which is also known as Monterey Salinas Transit. This is a letter dated September 2, 2026. Essentially, MST indicates that they provide bus service in the city. They want to make sure that their improvements that they're planning on both Alisal Street and Williams Road are compatible with the designs presented here. MST offers five comments on the cross-sections. Comment number one, travel lane widths. MST is desiring 11-foot travel widths on both inside and outside lanes. With regard to the design on Fremont Center median cycle track, MST indicates that they have received negative criticism from cyclists on that regarding the limitations on access. NUMBER THREE, GARDEN AND GREEN TRACK. MST INDICATES THAT CAREFUL DESIGN IS NEEDED TO AVOID CONFLICTS ON THE PASIETO, IF I SAY THAT CORRECTLY, INDICATES THAT IT APPEARS TO RESULT IN INSUFFICIENT SPACE FOR ADA COMPLIANT BUS STOP. NUMBER FIVE, FUTURE BUS RAPID TRANSIT COMPATIBILITY. MST INDICATES THAT EXCEPT FOR THE PASIETO, THE OTHER ALTERNATIVES APPEAR CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING FUTURE OUTSIDE TRAVEL LANES FOR MST OR WHAT THEY CALL BUS RAPID TRANSIT. AND THAT'S THEIR LETTER DATED SEPTEMBER 2.

Thank you. And I hope that's probably noted. So when we have that discussion for the plans, because the bus, a lot of people do use the bus and we need to make sure they're taken care of too. And I understand that college now is issuing those bus passes. So we do need to make sure we have a space for them. Okay, we will now close the public comment. Are there any additional questions or comments from the commissioners to the members of the city staff? Commissioner McKelvie-Day?

Yes, thank you. I do have another question and a couple comments. You referred to PIO. Can you explain what that stands for? Those probably watching this in a future date.

Yes, apologies for that. Yes, that is our public information officer.

Okay, so is that a department? Is it part of the city?

It's part of the city, yes. No, that's our, we have an internal department for public information.

OK, thank you. And then my comments were about the outreach. Well, you did say that community development department, which anything they've presented, they don't have very good community outreach attendance either. So if you're leaning on them to help you, I don't know that they're the best to do that. But I was thinking of with elections in this time period here, how efficient those walkers are. you know, not to, you know, we call them the streetwalkers, you know, but they are pretty efficient. And so maybe looking at budget-wise, the difference between if you hired an agency like that to do the outreach in your specific areas versus these community outreaches and then nobody's really attending, you know, so budget versus effectiveness. That's one suggestion I have. The other one, I think Commissioner Mora mentioned something that made me think of it, is that with the schools, they already have everybody linked in, and if you can get them to partner with you, they can probably send out your survey and really encourage that because it is, as they're listed as a shareholder, that would be of a big interest for them to be able to allow that to run through their system. And it does go out according to English, Spanish, make sure that they understand what they're receiving. So that might be a good resource to partner with. Okay. And then as far as the different tracks, I just wanted to give more of an overall. It's not really identified here. And I know it's really hard to squeeze all these things in, but, and actually Williams Road I think is one of the widest ones we have that you can squeeze, no? No, actually. Is it thinner? I think a lot of other streets in our town are smaller where we can't get all these bike lanes and parking all in the same, you know, side by side. I mean, we're having to share a lot of this.

one of the it depends which portion of williams road you' re thinking of because if you' re thinking williams road north of del monte then yes it does widen up and actually north of barton it widens up but if you' re thinking the portion that we' re looking at also part of the reason why we have multiple options and options that don' t preserve parking is because we don' t have that right of way. we just don't have the right of way to add in all of the amenities and then keep parking.

Right. Okay. So mine's more of a suggestion, I guess, on... Now, when I'm looking at these diagrams, is there any consideration to lessen the sidewalk space? No. Okay. I mean, I guess that would be obviously keeping enough for ADA and everything else you have to have. But if there's any opportunity for that, I think on here you even have it widened for a tree, which trees have been a lot of trouble for us. But I'm thinking, you know, if we can get a scenario, because that middle one, people are not going to use it. They're just going to go their own way and jump in the lanes and be all over the place. if they can't get on and off easily. So if we're thinking of this just, we'd need parking on both sides of the street and we need bike lanes on both sides of the street. MST has very good points, so that has to do with what there's a lot more, I think, of bus transportation, you know, so obviously people need to get there and everything needs to work together. But that is more my suggestion to make it easier to make those two things happen. And I've seen this where they do the parking in other cities, obviously, but they do the parking and then there's a bike lane in between, which there was a diagram like that. I think The caller said there's been issues for the bikers. So I mean, there's a lot to take into consideration. But getting a better sample of your community of who is biking, what are the actual numbers, what are we accommodating, how much volume is this going to increase? Same with pedestrian. If it's easier for them to catch the bus now over, you know, because things have been improved in that area and they like it better, are they going to stop using other ones? You know, there's a lot of fluctuation that could happen with these improvements. So it's just taking into account what's going to be most used, you know, not just now, what we have a problem with now, but, you know, 30 years from now, 20 years from now. So that's my suggestion. Thank you.

Thank you. Commissioner Pernell.

Just one small comment. I'm sure you're done hearing about community engagement. But just to, the 9395 is in the east side, and it's a special community. And I think for those of us who live and work there, it's a special place. And you've got stakeholders who've invested generations into that community. So leaning into your folks like CCA and Santa Maria, you have stakeholders who have thousands of people who come regularly, so you don't have to repeat the work. I know Sophie and her team do amazing things like in the PIO realm, but you've got people there who I think have that informal Eastside network, which is a really powerful thing. So just to stress that The AVP set a really high gold standard in terms of engagement, so I remember going to meetings in Mixteco and Triqui in Spanish, and having local stakeholders be the ones to lead was really special because they take ownership of it. So just, again, telling us that idea of leveraging things that you already have there. But it's great, and it's been a long time coming, so I'm excited to see some improvements. Thank you.

Thank you. Commissioner Flores? No further questions or comments.

Commissioner Mora? I think the only thing I'll say is I think most of us, all of us, hopefully, are signed up to receive the city's e-blast. And Sophie and her team did a great job at sending out notices through that mailing list. But maybe, I know, like, before I was on Measure E, and, you know, it's like the city does have so many wonderful commissioners who are effectively also ambassadors for the city. We were all very active in... uh throughout the city all of us right that maybe once the survey goes live um we can also commit to um contacting these groups a lot of us are are very well connected in salinas and can um hopefully activate uh community members i always think of i don't know where i read it it's like some somewhere about like you know people need to see something like seven times before they consider doing it and hopefully we can each contribute to being one of those you know touch points for the community maybe they see it online on social media maybe they see it at cluster park or at another pop-up and hopefully they can hear from us as commissioners as well telling our fellow neighbors to to please fill out the survey because it's important and i'll end there um and if i can thank you for that comment because um

I don't mean to remind you, but this type of project really isn't within the purview of the Planning Commission. We brought it forward. Again, it's also a part of that outreach, right, to reach a greater span. We've already taken it to our Traffic and Transportation Commission. which is the ones that actually do make a recommendation on this. But we are trying to reach a greater audience. So it is trying to reach different people at different locations and through different means.

you okay commissioner ruck i know outreach is hard everybody's going in a different direction all day all night long um it's difficult um thank you though for everything and the presentation correct me if i'm wrong but doesn't state law and state grants make you put in bicycle infrastructures when you do new roads the um the active

The ATP, Active Transportation Program, that one does require us to install.

Correct. So bicycle infrastructure goes in here regardless of the number of people using it. Correct. Correct. Okay. Just trying to remind myself a few things here. But no, thank you very much for your input here. And I didn't even know that there was a community meeting I would have gone. I see a bike lane. I'm there. You know, I guess I need to watch more closely. But I do appreciate you trying to do more outreach. Thank you. Thank you.

And thank you again for your presentation. I could stress even more getting it out to the community. I know, like you just said, that it doesn't go through planning. You're just giving us information. It's stuff that we don't know about because, like I say, we don't see it on the internet. But if you start bringing it out there, you know, as planning commissioners, we do speak to a lot of people. Lots of us are involved in a lot of organizations where we could be the information people for them. But thank you for giving the presentation, and we just need to get more information out there to the city of Salinas. Thank you.

Thank you.

All right. Public hearings ID 26367, the planned unit development permit 2025-002 established a 1.58 acre building pad site and construct a 3,337 square foot vehicle washing building with outdoor vacuums located at the Northridge Mall Shopping Center at 1340 Northridge Mall in the commercial retail CR zoning district. This item is being continued indefinitely, and the city will issue a new public notice when a future date is set. At this point, does any commissioner have any comments or reports? Commissioner McKelvey-Day?

Yeah, I just want to say that I did attend the Closter Park reopening and the Amor Salinas five-year anniversary. It was a great celebration. I would have gone anyway, but I also was there because our Rotary Club... initially put in the rotunda that's there and the surrounding area for a place of gathering. And that was not included in the grant that the city got. So the clubs again came together and did a renovation. There's a few more things that we're going to continue to do out there. but it was a collaboration on our part and of course we want to be there to celebrate but it just was exciting to see the changes. It was a big lift to the community. The city was in full force out there you know so I thought it was a great event. The guys from the rec centers are out there playing with the kids and I mean, just everybody had a good time. I stayed out there for hours. We had dancers and just really showing how that space can be used positively. Baseball games, you know, so it was really neat. It was a great day.

Thank you. Okay, Commissioner Pernell.

No reports.

Okay.

Commissioner Flores? I, too, was fortunate I was out there Saturday. I did see you walking around in a cane, but you were too busy. I was actually watching my grandkids and didn't get a chance to come over. But, yeah, it was awesome. You know, they really beautified that place. And to me, you know, the baseball field being fixed, I mean, now... They've got a great organization out there now. They finally got their batting cages. One of the few facilities that didn't have one, kind of small because I actually was looking at them yesterday, but still, they've got batting cages. The city and all the different agencies that were making presentations, it was pretty awesome. I mean, in the outreach, people asking questions, all of us got T-shirts, which was pretty cool. Nice, great T-shirts, you know, Cluster 2026. Again, great job by the city. Thank you.

Okay. Commissioner Mora? I, too, was at the Kloster Park event. It was a wonderful event.

Actually, I was trying to flag you down. You were walking. I'm like, Commissioner Mora, but you couldn't hear me.

Oh, no. I was with my dog. And so it's really hard when I have my dog in such a crowded space to not get him to be stepped on or something. But shout out to Sophie Rome, public information officer for the city of Salinas. She saw my dog panting and was like, did you know there's a water fountain for dogs as part of the improvements? Go over to the bathroom. And I did, and so many people got a kick of seeing me give my dog water utilizing the third. They have two... Oh my God, water fountains and the third one on the ground for dogs. So it was very inclusive, very beautiful, great to see Cluster Park being used in full force, the baseball, the kids at the park, the live music, and of course the city team doing great outreach. So a great event.

Thank you.

Commissioner Ruck.

Cluster Park is such an inspiration that there's a committee getting together, going to seek money and some input for Central Park, which needs some upgrades and some additions. Thank you.

Thank you. I did not participate on any of that, but I do want to say something about what Commissioner McKelvey-Day said. With that rotunda that you guys built, or you guys helped out, a lot of us belong to a lot of rotary clubs. So we all belong to different rotaries, which is great, and they do a lot of... you know, outreach and fixing things for the city. And just to let everybody know out there in the city that the city alone doesn't build the city of Salinas. You know, I see a lot of people talking on the internet about, oh, they should do this, they should do that. They don't understand, well, they should understand that a city was built, the city of Salinas was built by a lot of private money and non-profits. We shouldn't be bashing people who are contributing to beautify the city of Salinas. Yeah, everybody has their own opinion, but we cannot turn our backs to the big companies that do. donate to the city. They're here to make our city better. And so it's great to hear, you know, Commissioner McCovey, that your club put that money into it. And, you know, Rotary is a great club. I joined that.

It was your club, too, just so you know. All the Salinas area, including Corral de Tierra. They contribute to that project.

So I'm a little passport club, and they're the bigger clubs. But we're all Rotary, and we're all one family. But I just want to let everybody know that we should be embracing these private companies so we can get things done here in the city of Salinas and not blame the city saying, why don't you do this? Because it does take money, and we do need to support our big companies that do support us. But thank you. Okay. Is there any, whoops. Do we have any future agenda items?

Right now we have nothing scheduled. However, we are putting together new content for our next meeting if we don't have a business item.

Okay. So the next regular planning commission meeting is scheduled for September 16th, 2026. Who will be able to attend the meeting? September 16th. Looks like we have a quorum there. At this point, our meeting is adjourned. Thank you.