Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Recording in progress

All right, good evening. It is Wednesday, August 26, 7 p.m. Welcome to the meeting. I'd like to call this meeting to order. 1A, disclosure of participation by teleconference pursuant to government code section 54953.8.3, if applicable.

No requests.

No requests. Roll call and declaration of conflicts.

Commissioner Atwal. Atwal. Present. No conflict. Commissioner Boitier-Boitain.

Present. No conflicts.

Commissioner Chavez. Present. No conflicts. Vice Chair Shrout. Present. No conflicts.

Chair Penning. Present. No conflicts. If you all would please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, thank you for that. All right, the City of Tracy will continue to allow for remote participation by members of the public at tonight's meeting by using the following option. ONLINE BY LOGGING INTO ZOOM USING THE LINK PROVIDED UNDER PUBLIC COMMENT RAISE YOUR HAND TO SPEAK BY CLICKING ON THE HAND ICON ON THE PARTICIPANTS PANEL TO THE RIGHT OF YOUR SCREEN. THIS PROCEDURE WILL BE USED TO RECEIVE ALL COMMENTS RECEIVED FROM ZOOM DURING ITEMS FROM THE AUDIENCE AND ALL NEW BUSINESS ITEMS.

INITIAL DIRECTOR'S REPORT. THANK YOU, PLANNING COMMISSIONER CHAIR. AND I THINK JUST REAL QUICKLY, I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE MYSELF TO ALL OF YOU. I AM CARL CAHILL. I'M THE INTERIM PLANNING DIVISION MANAGER HERE FOR some period of time not to exceed 960 hours and and then um you know real fast uh you know we have some supplemental materials for item 7a and that is the powerpoint presentation you should have the slides in front of you and there should be slides in the back of the room as well and then quickly i would like to introduce uh claudia our new um PLANNING DIVISION ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT, AND LET'S SEE, WE HAVE THE NEW PLANNING COMMISSIONER ALTERNATE, MARINA, AND I THINK THAT WAS IT. WAS THERE ANYONE ELSE? OKAY. SO I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THOSE NAMES UP FRONT, AND THAT CONCLUDES MY INITIAL REPORT HERE. THANK YOU.

ALL RIGHT. WELCOME ABOARD, CLAUDIA AND MARINA. Are there any presentations?

No presentations.

No presentations. All right. Order of business. Consent calendar. Item 4A, minutes. I know Commissioner Chavez was not present. However, did you get a chance to take a peek at it? I did. Okay, perfect. If everyone approves, can I get a motion?

Motion to accept the minutes of August 26, 2026. Second. Second.

We have a motion that's been seconded. Roll call vote, please.

Commissioner Atwal?

Yes.

Commissioner Boachie-Boateng?

Yes.

Commissioner Chavez?

Yes.

Vice Chair Shrout?

Yes.

Chair Penning?

Yes.

Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Okay, items from the audience. Just first and foremost, please sign in before speaking. We have a sign-in sheet up here at the podium. We invite members of the public to use Zoom to comment on our items from the audience. These are for particular items that are not on the agenda. Online by logging on to Zoom using the link provided. Are there any public comments received by email for items that are not on the agenda? No emails received. No emails received. Are there any public comments received via Zoom? for items that are not on the agenda.

No comments via Zoom.

No comments. Looking out in the audience, are there any folks out here that would like to speak on items that are not on the agenda by a show of hands? No show of hands. The public hearing is now closed. The public comment period has closed. Any comments that are received after a close of the public comment period will not be included in the record. Moving on to public hearings, item 6A. CONDUCT A PUBLIC HEARING AND UPON ITS CONCLUSION ADOPT A RESOLUTION RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL TAKE THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS WAIVE THE FIRST READING BY SUBSTITUTION OF THE TITLE AND INTRODUCE AN ORDINANCE ADDING ARTICLE 35.5 WAREHOUSES TO CHAPTER 10.08 ZONING REGULATIONS OF TITLE 10 PLANNING AND ZONING OF THE TRACY MUNICIPAL CODE AND AMENDING THE CORRIDOR RANCH SPECIFIC PLAN THE INDUSTRIAL AREA SPECIFIC PLAN NORTHEAST INDUSTRIAL SPECIFIC PLAN AND THE TRACY HILLS SPECIFIC PLAN TO REQUIRE THE DEVELOPMENT OF WAREHOUSES AND LOGISTICS FACILITY TO COMPLY WITH THE TRACY MUNICIPAL CODE ARTICLE 35.5 WAREHOUSES EXEMPT FROM THE QUALITY ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT ALSO KNOWN AS CEQA PURSUANT TO CEQA GUIDELINES SECTION 15061B3. STAFF REPORT.

Thank you, Chair. My name is Brianna Alamia, and I'm a senior planner with the Planning Division, and I'm here tonight to talk about the warehouse ordinance amendments. So staff is proposing to establish a new article within Tracy Municipal Code. Can we pause for a second?

Can we get this up on our screens here? IT? There it is. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Thank you. Okay. Continuing on. So we are proposing to add a new article in the code, article 35.5, warehouses. We currently do not have an ordinance on warehouses in our code. And Tracy has had a lot of development with warehouses in recent years. So we want to come into compliance with state law and make sure that we have correct and appropriate standards to prevent adverse impacts to neighboring communities. We're also proposing amendments to the specific plans, the Cordes Ranch specific plan, the industrial area specific plan, the Northeast industrial specific plan, and the Tracy Hill specific plan. Warehouses are permitted in all these specific plans, so we just want to ensure that any new warehouse development or any expansions to warehouses that exist in these areas follow the new ordinance. So the reason we are proposing this ordinance amendment tonight is to come into compliance with state law and to set standards for warehouse development in our community, since we have a prevalence of warehouse development here. So this amendment is establishing standards for new and expanded logistics facilities to address truck traffic, air pollution, and land use compatibility. And it's complying with AB 98, which became effective on January 1st, 2026. So we are establishing development and operational standards, which is required by state law. We're setting limits on warehouse locations, requirements for setbacks from sensitive uses, mandating truck routing plans, mandating electric vehicle infrastructure, and requiring compliance with green building and clean energy standards. We're also establishing construction operational requirements to help reduce air pollution and any other environmental impacts to neighboring communities. These include limits on truck idling, requirements for energy efficient construction, EV infrastructure requirements, and requires use of zero emission equipment where feasible. This ordinance is exempt from CEQA pursuant to section 15061B3. And before I conclude, I just wanted to add, while this ordinance is intended to come into compliance with state law, during the general plan update project, we have an opportunity to go beyond state law and address any other areas we might want to consider for warehouses, which we can talk more about later tonight. So in conclusion, staff is recommending that the planning commission adopt the resolution, recommending that city council introduce the ordinance to establish warehouse standards in compliance with state law. Thank you.

All right. Thank you very much. Prior to going to public hearing, I want to bring it back up here for if any commissioners have any clarifying questions for Brianna. Besides me.

I do. There you go. You keep saying establish, establish. When are you going to establish these and when will we see them?

So this is what the ordinance is. These are the standards. So it's going to city council on September 15th. And then when it has the second reading at the next meeting, that's when they'll go into effect. So around October.

So just to clarify, it'd be 30 days after the second reading. So probably November because it would be the second read would be on October 6th. So it would be effective November 5th. So right around election day. is when these would be effective. Now, and again, just to clarify too, so any previous warehouses that had been entitled, Tracy Hills Commerce Center is a big one that comes to mind, because those were previously entitled, the updates to the municipal code will not apply to things that have already been entitled, but if they come in for a second phase of entitlement that, you know, new warehouses that weren't contemplated, then those new warehouses would be subject to these requirements.

Okay, thank you. Just out of curiosity, are we creating a policy here? or more of an ordinance and help me understand the difference.

So the state has requirements on warehouse standards and we are implementing the state requirements. So they're already in effect with California. Every city and county is required to follow these standards. We're just adding them to our code.

So we're required to adopt them by ordinance so they become the local law of the land, so they would be as effective as any other part of the code, whether you're getting a business license, whether you're applying for fee credits, whether you're trying to get a cannabis license, it would have the same force and effect as any of those other local ordinances under our Tracy Municipal Code.

Okay, so it's not an actual policy, it's more of an ordinance. It is an ordinance. From my understanding, policy doesn't come through planning, that's why this is here, is that correct?

No, you're recommending it to city council.

All right, thank you very much, I appreciate it. So building off of Chairman Penning's question, the way that this amendment reads, it almost sounds as though we are encouraging further warehouse development. And I'm aware of the fact that Quarters Ranch Development On the west side of town and the east side of town, it's mixed use for many different types of industrial developments beyond warehouses. I've heard a lot of concerns throughout the community about the Medline fire and future warehouse developments that may come. And I would just ask, besides warehouses, what does the city envision coming to the Cordes Ranch specific plan and other specific plans within the jurisdiction? Does the passing of this ordinance mandate warehouses as sole future development? Does this affect the zoning? I know it's a broad question, but it's just for my clarification.

Yeah, thank you. So we are not changing what's allowed in the Cordes French specific plan. Everything's staying the same. The same uses are going to be permitted. This is simply creating standards to make sure that warehouse developments are environmentally friendly and making more restrictions that we don't currently have. So it's just to make it safer for the communities.

Thank you.

The first clarification is that the state law went into effect 1st of January this year. And this ordinance is going into effect somewhere in November. If there are any approvals in between then, does the state law go into effect with that? How does that work? Do we have any developments that were approved during that buffer period?

We have not. We have received an application for an extension for a permit, but that does not trigger this. So we booked into that.

And built into the state law are different timing requirements, too, of when the applications were submitted and whether or not that triggers the new standards under AB 98. And like Brianna had mentioned, it's a lot of setbacks, dry vial lengths, fencing requirements intended to make neighbors good warehouses into the environments they are being put into. There's also certain floor areas and whatnot that they have to hit in order to qualify for this particular assembly bill to be set by these restrictions. So, you know, if you have a relatively small warehouse, like 5,000 square feet, I don't believe that qualifies. This is really intended to target the, you know, the much bigger warehouses, distribution centers, things along those lines.

OK, thank you. The second one is just following up with Commissioner Chavez's point. I noted it during my first reading. If you look at the part where you're talking about the specific plans, when it ends with Tracy Hill's specific plan to require the development of. So the expression to require the development of a naive reading may make it sound like we are requiring development of distribution centers in these specific plans. I was thinking that the wording could be that's the requirement that require the development of, but I also went against it because the definite article makes certainty. I'm wondering if you can, if that's the only wording we could use or if you would like to make it clearer for a naive user to understand that we are not saying that all these particular plans should include, certainly include distribution centers.

So I'm looking at the change to the Tracy Hill specific plan and the only thing that staff is including is the sentences at the end and the bold and underline saying that the Tracy, any developments within the Tracy specific plan need to follow the municipal code warehouse ordinance. So we're not changing if they're allowed there. They're already allowed there. We're just saying, like, you must follow these environmental restrictions now.

Yes. So that's what disabused my mind when I read the whole thing. But when you look at the initial phrasing, it sounds as if. If you look at the reading of the agenda item, it may sound like that. Yeah. The clarification is there in the document. If there's interest in changing it, maybe we can consider it. Other than that, I don't think it's a big deal. This one is just technical understanding. I don't understand what stacking death means. Is it on page? It's under 10.08.4566A5. If you can explain, the rest of the terminology was pretty plain, but stacking depth, I didn't know what it means and what it impacts and why you're making that determination.

Stacking depth refers to when the trucks are stacking up against each other, like the line. So how many feet of trucks stacking up could be there.

So you don't want too long a queue. Okay. Thank you.

Yeah, just to clarify, there was a comment that previously entitled projects are exempt. So can you clarify on that? What does that mean?

Right. So any projects that have previously been approved by the commission or city council that maybe aren't built yet, but they've been granted their entitlement by the legislative body, you can't come back and now impose these requirements on something that has already been entitled. They're going to go under the law that they were entitled under. So like Tracy Hills Commerce Center that was approved last Last July, just over a year ago by city council, they're bound by the requirements at the time that their application came in and their entitlement was approved. So just because they're not built right now doesn't mean that these new stacking depth requirements and whatnot will apply to them. So because they came in before this ordinance was adopted, they get the old law. Anything that comes in basically after November 5th and meets the cutoff requirement and written into AB 98 gets these new requirements. So you can't re-legislate, re-litigate what has already been decided by both Planning Commission and City Council.

But to add to that, so for existing warehouse facilities, if they come in for a new application to expand, and if it's 20% or more of the existing square footage, then these go into effect, even if it's existing.

Right, because that would be a new entitlement under.

So entitlement can say it is the building review permit?

No, not for a building, like for their building permit, no, because they would have already been entitled to come in. So no, if they're in building permit, no. they would not be subject to these new requirements. They would be subject to whatever they were entitled under.

Okay. So just a little bit more clarification. So like we have these specific plans in place. Now we are saying that at a certain date when everything is approved, These specific plans have to abide by the regulation.

If there's a new building, a new entitlement, a new building going into that specific plan area, correct? So like in the Cordes Ranch specific plan, if they come into the city and they say, hey, we want to build a new warehouse, they have to comply with their specific plan requirements and this new section of the Tracy Municipal Code. They have to meet with both. Okay. But their existing buildings, we're not going to force anybody to tear anything down, change any of the engineering that's already been approved to their site plans, because that's already been approved by Planning Commission and City Council. So say they had, like Tracy Hills Commerce Center, they haven't put shovels in the ground yet. They're still under their entitlement that they received in July of last year. Not these new requirements. So if their setback requirement was 25 feet, their setback requirement is 25 feet. If their drive, their stacking depth is 20 feet of truck, they get 20 feet of truck. They do not have to abide by 50 feet of truck because now the requirements have changed.

Okay, thank you.

All right, looks like there are no more further clarifying questions. We will now open up the public hearing. Please, again, once again, please sign in at the podium up here if you do decide to come up and speak. First of all, are there any public comments received by email for item 6A? No emails received. Any public comments via Zoom for 6A?

No comments via Zoom.

No via Zoom. Looking out in the audience, once again, are there any, anyone out here would like to comment on item 6A in the audience? Show of hands. No show of hands. The public hearing for this item is now closed. Any comments that were received after the close of the public comment period will not be included in the record. Now we'll bring it back to the Commission for a little bit more detailed conversation. If you guys don't mind me kicking it off. Can we go back to slide one? No. Okay, and the reason I'm actually bringing this up is just for, you know, for whoever's watching, listening on the Zoom, or for actually for the City of Tracy, I want to make sure there's a clear understanding for everyone that's, again, watching and paying attention. So part of this 98B, if I'm looking at, you know, number one, two, three, four, you know, the Cordes Ranch industrial areas. So just in the terms of simplicity, so are we, if this goes through, Are we allowing warehouses to be built in Tracy Hills, in Cordes Ranch? Is that what that, you know, looking for a clear answer on that.

So in these specific plans, warehouses are already allowed to be built.

They're already allowed to be built. And so the 98B or AB98, what does that do? That'll continue this though.

So we're not changing what's allowed or not. We're just saying you need to follow these moving forward.

And once again, we did this a year ago. They were building warehouses right next to Ellis, and the Planning Commission actually disapproved that but got overridden by council, three to two on each side. We voted no, they voted yeah. So that's a situation that's still sticks in my head. Now, if we allow warehouses right in the middle of residential areas, that's just problematic. for the hundred plus thousand residents in Tracy. And that's where I have a little bit of a struggle.

So this is, again, to kind of emphasize Brianna's point, this is not changing any of the allowed uses. This is only putting much more strict environmental controls on the allowed warehouses that are already allowed either, number one, by the zoning designation in the city or in the specific plan that would allow warehouses, which is, again, it's a different layer of zoning as opposed to their base zoning layer. So this is a much more strict... uh way to make warehouses good environmentally friendly neighbors in the places that they are already going to go do you think there is such a thing as a environmentally safe warehouse in middle residential area I'm not going to answer what is not a legal question, I think, from the dais, but there are very strict controls regarding even the equipment that's allowed to be used. There's requirements that as much of that equipment is green and electric-friendly. It has to be there. There's much more strict setback requirements to the point where anecdotally I have seen some projects not work with the geometry of a parcel of land that they're working on anymore. So it's going to require warehouses to be much better neighbors than they otherwise would be required to be.

So it helps compared to what it is now? Yes. And just for the record, and for anyone of you who's listening, I'm 100% not anti-warehouse. I've always said that for the three years I've been up here. But it's just the locations are so critical in this town that is growing and growing and new developments going everywhere. And so I'm not anti-warehouse. It's just the locations are extremely critical. They're very important to the residents of Tracy. They're extremely important. And I just, you know, as a chair and a commissioner, I want to be the voice of that reason. So that's why I brought that up. But I relinquish to the other commissioners.

I have a question. So in these four areas that we're talking about right now, how many warehouses have been approved under the old that just haven't been built yet?

Let's see. So currently in Cordes Ranch specific plan, we have 16 warehouses that exist. In the I-205 specific plan, we have one warehouse. Industrial area specific plan, we have 99 warehouses. And in the West Tracy annexation area, we have 18. So the city of Tracy currently has 189 warehouses.

So how many are slated to be built that have not been above ground?

We have 16 pending warehouse applications.

So and those will come here or have they already gone through here?

They're pending. We have five pending apps, nine that have been approved already and two that are currently under construction.

So what you're saying is a year ago some came through us, we voted it down and then it got correct. So all we can keep doing is saying this commission doesn't agree it should go there and if they out. Okay. So we just, okay. Sounds good. Thank you.

I just, I think this is probably sorted, but I just want the clarity to be out there. Looking at the timing of the state law and the time that this ordinance is going into implementation, is there any lapse within time within the expected timing that a state law anticipates local authorities to implement?

From my understanding, any applications that are received after January 1st, 2026 need to follow these requirements. So anything that we receive moving forward need to follow these requirements. But if they've already been entitled, then they don't need to follow these.

Right. And that was written into AB 98 that way. I know a very specific large amount about this law because of a lot of the other entitlements I was dealing with in my previous jurisdiction. It actually was part of my job interview as well. And there's longer-term horizons as well in the rest of AB 98. For example, there's a requirement that every city has to update their circulation element. I think it's by 2028. um so that is a much longer range horizon project that we're going to meet that we will probably meet also when we talk about with the general plan update so when we do our circulation element as part of the general plan update it will also be compliant with requirements in ab98 so there's not though the way the state law was written i will give the drafters of this law quite a bit of credit because they did kind of think for those contingencies for when it's effective versus when others when cities would actually get around to adopting this. I will also give the City of Tracy a lot of credit. We are far ahead of many of our neighbors getting these requirements put into our municipal code.

Thank you. I really appreciate that because there are a lot of really specific guidance in this ordinance, especially when it comes to residential property and the setbacks around that. So good that you're having it going to effect possibly.

Yeah, just a little clarification. So as we are talking about the specific plan amendments where this regulation will be added, so is it safe to say that these specific plans, they have a set zoning in there where this kind of infrastructure is allowed? If yes, what is that zoning that allows this kind of an infrastructure?

So each of these specific plans all have their own development standards, and they all vary. So they're all laid out kind of like our zoning code in each of our zones, how we have setbacks, height requirements, square footage. All of these specific plans each have their own set of standards. So this is not amending those sets of standards unless they conflict with the new regulations for setbacks from sensitive receptors and environmentally friendly aspects of the project.

So just to add, so that means hypothetically saying that one of the specific plan could be 100 acre of land in which 10 or 20 acre could be designated to a zoning in which this kind of infrastructure can go.

They each have their own allowed uses and areas within the specific plan.

And what is the zoning criteria in which a warehouse is allowed? It is industrial, light industrial.

So in our zoning code, they're allowed in three zones, light industrial, heavy industrial, and they're conditionally permitted in the general highway commercial zone. And then these specific plans, they're just allowed in the entirety of the specific plans or wherever they designate within the specific plans.

So it is safe to say that these specific plans already have those zonings in there. Okay, thank you.

One last question from me. Will the passing of this ordinance introduce restrictions on what type of business is allowed to be conducted in these warehouses, like medical or hazardous waste provisions?

No, we are not restricting the types of warehouses. We're just adding restrictions for the environmental considerations and neighboring properties.

Thank you.

That's a great question, Commissioner Chavez. I want to piggyback on that. You brought it up earlier, as did Vice Chair over here. AB 98 is more likely going to go through. We know that. However, any new warehouses, whether it's in 1, 2, 3, or 4, still needs to come through here. And to Commissioner Chavez's point, if there's a warehouse that's not green or have hazardous waste, we still have the liberty to not approve that. Is that correct?

If they're not meeting the standards in the ordinance or a specific plan, then, yeah, we would recommend denial.

Right. Again, I don't mean approval. We recommend a council approval or disapproval. We still have that, you know, empowerment.

Yes, if they're not meeting the standards, yes.

No other questions. I will entertain a motion.

I'll entertain a motion. Move to recommend that the Planning Commission ADOPT RESOLUTION MAKING A RECOMMENDATION FOR THE CITY COUNCIL TO WAVE THE FIRST READING BY SUBSTITUTION OF THE TITLE AND INTRODUCE AN ORDER ADDING ARTICLE 35.5, WAREHOUSES TO CHAPTER 10.08, ZONING REGULATIONS OF TITLE 10, PLANNING AND ZONING OF THE TRACED MUNICIPAL CODE AND AMENDING THE QUARTUS RANCH SPECIFIC PLAN, INDUSTRIAL AREA SPECIFIC PLAN, THE NORTHEAST INDUSTRIAL SPECIFIC PLAN, and the Tracy Hills specific plan to require the development of warehouses and logistics facilities to comply with Tracy Municipal Code Article 35.5, warehouses exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061 . Second.

We have a motion that's been seconded. Roll call vote, please. Commissioner Atwal.

Yeah, so as we are adding stricter guidelines towards the new infrastructures that can go in the designated areas, so I'm a yes for it.

Commissioner Boite-Boiting?

Yes.

Commissioner Chavez?

Yes.

Vice Chair Shrout?

Yes.

Chair Penning?

Yes. And thanks again, Brianna. All right, moving on to the regular agenda, seven, item 7A. Receive an informational update regarding the general plan update process. Back to you, Brianna Saproport.

Hello again. So my name is Brianna Alamia, and I'm the project manager for the general plan update. With me tonight coming to the stage, I have Beth Thompson from De Novo Planning Group, who is assisting the city with completing this big project. So just a quick introduction.

So California law requires each city to maintain an up-to-date general plan that serves as the city's long-term policy framework to guide the future residential, commercial, and high quality of life, to ensure that you're preserving the resources that are important to the city, to look for opportunities for innovation and change, to increase sustainability, and then also to ensure that you have a vibrant economy with high quality jobs and the businesses you want to see in town. The general plan is comprehensive. So it serves, as planning nerds kind of call it, a blueprint or a constitution for the city. So it's the city's playbook for a number of land use and planning decisions. And it goes beyond just looking at development projects and land use. So it has a land use element that discusses where and how land use occurs. It addresses residential, commercial, industrial, a business park, open space, recreational and other uses. But it also addresses infrastructure planning. So making sure that as you're growing, that you're on track to provide adequate roads, to provide water and sewer service, to look at public services, public safety, police, fire, parks, libraries, cultural activities, et cetera, making sure that those all continue to meet the city's high standards. And then it also looks at a number of resources and how the city can conserve and ensure that those resources are maintained, including clean air, looking at biological habitats, waterways, groundwater, your agricultural lands that surround the city and how growth may affect those. So the general plan is important for a number of reasons. It strategically identifies priorities for the city and that informs a number of the budget and capital investments the city may make because how development, how and where development occurs affects a lot of decisions. And it ends up being a management tool that the city staff uses, that decision makers use when you're making various decisions. A number of those have to be consistent with the general plan. So it informs a number of projects directly and indirectly. It also provides guidance for the city's priorities. So by addressing the long-term vision of the city, it identifies what the city's priorities are for capital improvement program modifications. When you're looking at areas for new parks and recreation services and updating your utilities master plans, those are informed by the general plan. It also is an opportunity to streamline development that's consistent with the city's vision for the future. And we'll talk a little bit about the environmental document that goes along with it in a few slides. And lastly, it's important because it's required to comply with state law. There's changes to state law every year. It's always changing. And so we kind of have a moving target, but we always make sure that as we're preparing the general plan, we're reviewing all of those requirements and folding those in as it's being updated. And then there are a number of grant programs that also you have to have a general plan and certain elements that are in compliance with state law to receive funding. So we'll talk a little bit about the process. So it's a three-year process. There's a lot to the general plan update. In the first phase of the process, we're really learning. We're updating and preparing an existing conditions report that establishes baseline conditions in the city. So this is a really large document, and we'll refer to it throughout the process. It looks at what the current land use conditions are, what the current circulation patterns are, how people get around town. It looks at shops. So we really want to hear from the community what's important to Tracy. So there will be a series of outreach events where we get to understand what the community's vision is for the future. That information is reported back to you. It's reported to the GPAC and shared with the city council so that as we're going through this process, the city's vision and the community vision are really well defined and articulated and can inform all steps of the process. The second phase is developing the draft general plan. The first step of that is looking at land use alternatives. So we look at the land use map and opportunities to modify the land use map. We'll be talking a little bit about the planning area tonight. And so that's really an important step and we prepare a land use alternatives report that looks at several different land use change scenarios and what would happen under each scenario. So how would the city's population and employment change? How would traffic patterns be affected? What would happen with your public and community services? So that's a really detailed document Once we have the preferred land use plan, we also draft the general plan elements, and we'll get to the elements I think in the next slide, but there is a number of elements in the general plan, so we'll talk a little bit about what's in those. And then that becomes available for public review, and there are GPAC workshops throughout this second phase of developing the land use map and the draft general plan. Once we have the land use map selected, the preferred land use map selected, we also start the third phase of looking at the environmental component. So the general plan is a project under the California Environmental Quality Act or CEQA. So a notice of preparation is prepared and a draft environmental impact report or EIR will be prepared to analyze the environmental implications of the general plan. That will be made publicly available for review and comment. And concurrently, the draft general plan will be available for public review. So this is part of that third and final phase. It goes out to the public for input. It comes to you for input. And we consider all of the comments we get, and we prepare a final EIR that responds to comments on the environmental report. And then we also consider all of the comments on the general plan and recommend modifications where appropriate to address those changes. So that is the final component of the project, and that concludes with public hearings to consider its adoption. So I'll just go over the elements of the general plan. And so there are two components of elements in a general plan. State law requires certain topics to be addressed in the general plan. These include land use, circulation, conservation, open space, safety, noise, air quality in San Joaquin Valley, and then environmental justice and community health. The housing element is also a required element of the general plan. The city recently updated its housing element, so we won't be doing a comprehensive update that's on an eight-year cycle. And the state cycle just doesn't coincide with the general plan update cycle. But as part of this update, we do make sure that the general plan is consistent with it. And if modifications are needed to the housing element, we then recommend those as part of the process. Some of the optional elements that the city is elected to include include economic development and fiscal sustainability. So looking at encouraging a great business environment, service and shopping opportunities, and then decisions that keep the city fiscally sustainable and balanced. Looking at public facilities and services. Those include both public safety and public safety components. parks and recreation, and then also infrastructure. And then lastly, an administration and implementation chapter. And this is really important because it identifies the different priorities in the general plan for all of your actions or programs and describes how they'll be implemented, when they'll be implemented, and by whom. So with that, I'll talk a little bit about the public engagement component. So this underscores the entire process. So we want to make sure that the community is aware of the general plan update, that they have opportunities to provide input, and that they also understand what it means to them in terms of future decisions and land use changes that may happen, just like you were talking about the warehouse ordinance. There are a lot of changes that can happen with a general plan that may affect people who live here and likely will. So this gives them an opportunity to understand about that and provide their input regarding preferences, challenges, and concerns. So we've got a number of opportunities for public involvement. There'll be the workshops with the Planning Commission and City Council. The public's invited to attend and comment at all of those. Same with the GPAC meetings. Each of those meetings includes opportunities for public comment. Then we'll also be going out into the community to have workshops oriented towards the community. We'll have visioning workshops at the outset of the process. We'll have open houses throughout to share with the community when we have the land use alternatives. We'll let them know what those are and they can weigh in when the draft general plan is available. Again, we'll have open houses and workshops to let the city know about the draft general plan and provide them opportunities to comment. We also have stakeholder interviews and focus groups with key organizations and entities to provide input on specific topics. And then we also work with Kearns and West to develop a toolkit that city staff uses to go out to a number of pop-up events so they can go to various places in the community and host a quick general plan pop-up event, get some community input on the fly. Those are really a great way to get a hold of people who don't come to traditional workshops. And then, of course, as I mentioned, the public hearings. In addition to the in-person opportunities, people can also participate digitally. So there's a dedicated website to ensure that the city and the community understand what's going on with the general plan. They can go to the city's webpage about the general plan at any point during the process. There'll be information on what's coming up in terms of events, and then all of the documentation and information that's been prepared will also be posted to the website. There will be a number of online surveys. So if people don't want to come to a workshop, but they want to provide input, they can hop on a survey, provide detailed input, as detailed as they want. There will be mapping activities. There's a lot of fill in the blank and then also some multiple choice. So it's a kind of a variety of ways to provide that input. And then we also work with the city to make sure that the outreach involves the city's existing social media outreach. And we'll develop a community outreach and notification plan. And then there will be newsletters also prepared. So Lots of opportunities for people to learn about the general plan update. So with that, I'll take a pause. There's some opportunities for commission comments here on the vision priorities and challenges. But before I hop into that, I'll see if you have any questions about the information so far.

Thank you very much for the presentation. It was very helpful. So one quick question is when you were presenting the phases, is there a timeline for the phases?

Roughly about a year for each phase. Some of them overlap a little bit, but about a year per phase.

Okay. And another thing is, so just to better understand, the gender plan, does it supersede the specific plans?

these specific plans must be consistent with the general plan so if the general plan identifies changes that would affect a specific plan we typically include a program in the general plan to go and modify the specific plan accordingly similarly if there are changes to your land use designations that affect zoning the general plan will include programs that address how the zoning code will be revised to to be consistent and then the city is also preparing a zoning code update concurrently so that most of those changes will be captured by the end of the process so that you're adopting a general plan update and then a zoning code that's consistent.

So... Can you share what's the difference between a general plan and a specific plan? Just to understand better.

Absolutely. So a general plan covers the entire city and your planning area. So it identifies the city-wide land use vision. A specific plan is just that. It's more specific. It identifies a specific area within the city and And then it also includes an implementation component. So when you have a specific plan, you have to address infrastructure, various needs. And so it has really specific requirements that it has to meet. It also includes a property parcel level information that we don't necessarily have to include in the general plan. So it has more implementation at the development level and project level. than a general plan does. So a specific plan is typically intended to accommodate the development of an area or like a specific type of park or a resource as opposed to addressing everything within the city.

So then it's safe to say that general plan guides the specific plans? Absolutely. Okay. So is it possible to see the digital engagement slide on the screen? Thank you. So, yeah. So in this one, what are these shaded areas? What does they signify?

That is just an example. So that just kind of shows, but it is... From here, I'm not actually sure what it signifies, but I apologize for that. It's just an example that we will have information online. As soon as we have the general plan update website ready, we'll actually replace this picture with that when we do the workshops. But just the information will be accessible via computer, via phone, so more of that.

Commissioner Atwal, just to give you a little bit of a, Beth is 100% right. This is an example that assuming your city or your firm prepared the general plan update for the city of Campbell.

Yes, we did.

Yeah. So this is actually the city of Campbell's general plan and some of their maps that are on the slide. So obviously we're not the city of Campbell. So the specific colors that are shaded in have really nothing to do with city of Tracy.

Yeah, no, no. I'm just in general. So these colors, they signify certain zoning. Is that correct?

These actually signify areas that people can comment on. So as I was mentioning during the general plan update, we'll have a number of surveys. And so those surveys will include mapping opportunities where people will see a map. They'll have an explanation of what's on the map. And then there will be a legend that identifies what specifically is shaded.

So general plan will have a map of the city with the certain color codings, which will imply to certain zonings.

certain land use designations those are more broad than zoning but the zoning must be consistent with the land use designation so yes it will have a land use map that identifies allowed uses for each parcel and for a specific plan as well similar kind of land use will be depicted So the general plan doesn't directly update the specific plans. So we won't necessarily include every single specific plan map in the general plan. But as part of the update process, the existing conditions report will describe the specific plans in the city and will include those maps and that information.

Yeah, the guidelines and the standards, they are same for a general plan and a specific reason. I am asking this as you brought the warehouse ordinance as well. So from that perspective, so if we talk about the general plan, general plan is created 2050, then we have a certain designated land use designation. So if a future project complies with that land use designation, can it be denied?

It depends on the type of project. There are... There's a lot of streamlining for housing projects under state law that requires ministerial approval of certain projects. So for residential and commercial and office and parking, for various uses, projects cannot be denied if they're consistent with the general plan. For projects that are non-residential, the city... has some opportunities to deny projects depending on how the zoning requirements and standards and conditions are written. So the zoning code, when you're looking at implementing a project, a project has to be consistent with the general plan at the broad level, but then it has to meet all of the standards and requirements of the zoning code. So for non-residential projects, if they don't meet those standards, typically they can be denied.

If they meet all the standards?

If they don't meet the standards, they can be denied.

If they meet all the standards, then... They should be allowed in those categories.

Correct.

Okay. So is it safe to say that this is an opportunity for the city to shape the city? Absolutely. So how do they want, if they are engaged, they can shape the city for coming decades? Yes.

Yes, identify where you want your residential uses, commercial, industrial. Yes, all of that will be reflected on the land use map. And this is a great opportunity for that input.

And if we say in terms of a specific plan, suppose a specific plan discussion comes into place for a specific area, that could be an opportunity for the citizens to define that specific plan.

Yes, to request revisions or to, yes, to modify that plan. Yes, the general plan provides that opportunity.

So, and yeah, so this discussion will be taking almost three years as phase one, phase two, phase three. So this will decide if the city requires more industrial, if the city requires more residential, how to shape the city. So this could be a right opportunity. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Thanks, Chair. Just three questions, clarifications. Regarding the timeline, we are dealing with approximately three years. Since this is done on schedule, do we have a goal deadline or is it open-ended once we start? We are trying to get to three years, but it goes slow. How does this work?

We have a contract for a three-year project and we intend to deliver it within those three years. Occasionally when we're working on a project like this, modifications can happen, unexpected things can happen and it can be delayed. But three years is... In the mid-range for general plans, if you're really aggressive, you may finish one in two years. That's not typical. They often take three to five years. But for us, we do a lot of our general plan updates within three years. And that's typically because we have a city that understands their community well. We have decision makers who go through this process and they work with us in a spirit of cooperation. And so that usually helps the general plan go smoothly. And I expect in Tracy that three years is realistic.

Thank you. So all things being equal, three years. But if there are exceptions, we'll call it out and communicate.

Right. And we always if that happens, we let staff know. And then frequently we also will go to the city council and let them know, hey, these issues have come up and we're looking for your direction. Do you want us to proceed in this manner or this manner? And if one approach was going to take longer, they understand that and they can let us know if they do or don't want to go that direction.

Okay. Thank you. And once we are done with the general plan update, does the update recommend when the change is going to effect or there's some standard code that tells, okay, once an update is done, it goes into effect by this amount of time? When would these changes we are working towards start reflecting in the planning of the city?

So in terms of how quickly it takes effect or how quickly the various programs get implemented?

Yes. how quickly it takes effect because the programs themselves will be on their own schedule but once you do the update within three years all things being equal are we looking at right after the three years everything's going into effect or what's the general guideline

So the general plan, so there's different parts of the general plan. So some parts of the general plan are approved by resolution of the city council. Other parts of the general plan need extra agency approvals. For example, if we change our sphere of influence, that has to go to LAFCO to be approved. So that would probably be approved slightly, it could be approved within the three-year time horizon. It might be three years and six months, depending on when we can get in front of LAFCO. The zoning code update is typically at the end of the three-year timeline that we're looking at, so it might be about three years and three months when those are effective. It's all going to be right around the same time, but there might be slight modifications depending on what approval exactly is coming with the general plan. Typically, it's the zoning code and the sphere of influence that just take the longest amount of time. Number one, because the zoning code is so involved and there's so many changes that have to be made, then like any ordinance, you have a 30-day waiting period after your second reading. And two, for like your sphere of influence, if that's getting approved by LAFCO. At the end of your general plan update, you have to wait to get on LAFCO's calendar. You have to circulate your EIR at LAFCO. So that can all take additional time, slightly beyond the three years. But in terms of Bethner contract, not to get too far off topic, that's all stuff that, you know, the city staff, we would work with them to make sure that we're still covered during that time period.

OK, thank you. So meaning that as part of the process, we'll be able to determine when the different changes you are making are going to land on schedule. And you also mentioned EIR. Is there a possibility that there will be an EIR involved, or that was just a mention as an example?

No, that's part of the process too. I'm not going to take Beth's thunder, so I'll let her talk about it. But the general plan has a lot of elements. The actual elements of the general plan, there's a lot of moving parts, a lot of things that have to get approved. In my previous jurisdiction, we approved ours actually with the help of Beth and her firm. um in in 2023 and like beth mentioned there are always things that can kind of uh take that off schedule uh they were in the middle of working on that in the middle of 2020 so they had covered that kind of derailed their timeline in that jurisdiction so that's a good example of something that might make the process take longer than anticipated absolutely and then the final note we are at 189 warehouses

In the operation, we have 16 in line, so we have about 205 almost set to be there, which affects the energy use budget and strain on public utilities. Our track route is going through Coral Hollow, which is struggling on its own. I'm wondering which part of the general plan, which element of the general plan will help us answer some of those questions. I'm interested in knowing that area so that we can focus on it.

So in terms of knowing the physical area that those would go in or in terms of the overall topic?

Understanding which element.

So warehouses will be informed by multiple elements of the general plan. So the land use element includes the land use map and land use designation. So it's going to identify at a parcel level where in the city various types of uses can occur. And those land use designations are going to define like where you have like say high density residential areas. It will define a minimum density and a maximum density. Where you have non-residential uses, typically we define floor area ratios, typically not a minimum, but a maximum. So it will identify those. Height limits are addressed in the general plan, but then beyond that, the zoning code identifies standards typically for setbacks. So your land use element will identify where specific uses are allowed. The circulation element may include components that require specific... policies or components for warehouses. And then also when we're talking about the environmental justice element, we're going to be looking at disadvantaged communities, if any are inequitably impacted by warehouses. When we talk about disadvantaged communities, those are typically lower income areas that are affected at a greater level by environmental and health concerns than other areas of the city. So we'll look at those areas. And if there are expectations Inequitable numbers of warehouses or a higher density of warehouses in those areas, we call that out and we talk about ways to reduce impacts. So the environmental justice element may include health and other measures to address warehouses. And then also when we're talking about air quality and greenhouse gas emissions, we'll be looking at those through the lens of air quality and sustainability. So elements addressing those topics will also affect warehouses so that the general plan has a lot of interweaving where there are topics that are addressed in multiple parts of the general plan depending on the effect of a specific issue like for example the infrastructure component will address water use so there there are a lot of different ways we can look at that and then depending on the input we get from the gpac from your body from the community from the city council we'll be developing policies that address those concerns

Thank you. So you've given me a few places to look, but it looks like it's going to affect other areas. So just to think about it broadly. Thanks a lot. That's all I have.

All right. Thank you for that consideration. Back to you.

All right. Well. We will then go actually back to you in just a moment. So at this point, we're really looking for input from the commission on informing the general plan update. So as we go through the visioning process, as we're collecting our existing conditions data, we also want to know from you what notable challenges can you identify that are facing the city that should be addressed in the general plan update? So if you have, you know, say two to five challenges, identify what those are. And if you have more, that's absolutely fine. but identify what challenges you want the general plan update to consider. What are your priorities for Tracy? What's first and foremost the top priority for the city to address? What's the second? So what are some priorities for Tracy? And then when you think about the city in the next 20 years, future generations that might be living here, what kind of city do you want them to have? What kinds of resources do you want? What's your vision for Tracy? So that's the question for you. I'm going to take some notes, and if you have any questions or anything as you're answering that, I'm here to listen and to answer.

Thank you very much for the detailed presentation. I appreciate it. So I want to quick, I'm not going to pause here, but just quick over here. Now, we're still opening this up for public comment?

Yes.

Okay. Let's move on with that.

Well, you're going to have to open it at the end. So right now, Beth is asking for your input from the commission. We'll open it up for public comment after Beth has done her presentation, just like we would on a normal discussion item.

So we're back to the initial...

Right, because it's not a public hearing, so it's a discussion item. The format's a little bit different than we are when we had the warehouse ordinance. At this point, Beth is asking for your input. We'll get input from members of the public when Beth is done with her presentation.

All right. I'll bring it back up here. I'm going to reserve mine. I am part of the GPAC. I'm on that team, so I'm going to reserve mine for that. Thank you.

I'll go first. I think everybody would agree, traffic. I think we've done, the warehousing doesn't bother me, but the infrastructure on how we get these trucks in and out bothers me. I know a lot of it gets hung up in state and federal stuff with the freeways, but we have done a very poor job with that. I think anybody you talk to in town will tell you that that has to leave town. There's not much we can do about the Altamont. That's not our deal. But getting people in and out of this town is laughable at best, especially during peak hours. So I think that's got to be a concern. Heaven forbid anything happened where we needed to get people out of town. My parents live in Reno, and they just were evacuated, and it was a nightmare. And that was a neighborhood that was very well thought out. So I think that's going to be one of the big ones that you're going to hear over and over. Where are these warehouses? I mean, at some point we have to kind of say we're done with building warehouses. I know the big thing now is to go kind of south, I guess southeast or south, I don't know how you would call that, but down Crispin and that area with warehousing, that county area out there. You know, anything kind of south of here seems to me that, We haven't built many warehouses out there, if any, yet. Maybe we leave that. Housing I can handle. Maybe at some point the housing will get to be where it gets a little cheaper than it is now. Leave the warehouses where they're at. I think another thing that is big, as many of you know, I work at the high school, and there's nothing around here for young people to do. And when I say young... kind of late teens, 20s. I think that's kind of a we're not hitting that. I was on the Parks Commission before this. We built a ton of pickleball courts. 20-year-olds are playing that, but it was mostly to cater to people my age that our knees are terrible, so we don't want to run around. I don't know what that looks like, but something for that age group. I hear that a lot at the high school and the people that just graduate. They don't have anything to do. I know different restaurants and things are trying to add some stuff to it, but I think the traffic, I think something for that middle age. No, that's not middle age, but those younger people, something for them to do, whatever that may be in the future. And then affordable housing, whatever that looks like going forward. I know they're building some high-density stuff over by Raley's. They're building some stuff by Redbridge that's going in now. But I just don't. We're going to start losing these kids out of town. Or they're going to live with their parents in town forever. And I know for sure I don't want that. And I have two 20-something-year-olds. I think those are, for me, those are the big things. We've got to get this traffic thing figured out over the next five, ten years, especially if we keep building warehouses and these trucks are everywhere. I drive down 11th Street every day, and there's not a week that goes by where there isn't some semi pullover in the middle of 11th Street that just got turned around probably, and they don't know where to go. So we've got to get ways to get them on the freeway. And I know it's coming, but we've got to get that done. So that would be my general plan without really thinking hard about it. But those are some things that I think.

Perfect. So thank you, Commissioner Shrout. I use the time that you use speaking to take some notes for myself, starting with notable challenges that are facing the city that should be addressed in the general plan update. I have three items I'd like to present. Firstly, the mall. I'm aware of the fact that the mall is a private entity, and there's only so much that we can do as a city to ask them for maintenance or whatnot. But I've gotten feedback from the community saying that the mall used to be a critical gathering place. What a lot of young people say online is these small towns throughout the nation are lacking third spaces. There are really three spaces that we live our lives. Your first space is where you wake up and go to bed and raise your family. Your second space is where you go to work every day, make your money, otherwise engage in the greater world. And the third space is where culture is built. And what a lot of young people have noticed here in Tracy is that we're losing these institutions and places where culture can organically form and where young people like myself don't have to fork out $20 to $50 just to gather, whether it be a Texas roadhouse, a downtown Tracy, et cetera. And I know that them all is losing a lot of their traffic lines, being faded with time. It isn't clear where the zipper merge on one side of the mall blends into one lane as opposed to two lanes, and I'm going to the buffet and the movie theater, and I'm aware of the fact that liability is a bit dubious here. It's not clear as to whether or not The responsibility to redraw the traffic lines is incumbent on the owner of the mall, the city of Tracy, or the county. So that would be one, my first priority that I would like to be addressed in some way in the general plan update. Secondly is traffic. There has been a lot of feedback on my side whenever I'm going to Donuts and Yogurt or Food Max, and I would like to head south on Coral Hollow, people tend to just wait and then shoot in between the two islands. And there have been so many near misses. I've been concerned there. So traffic on the west side of town and really traffic along these shopping centers has been concerning to me and other residents. There have been lots of near misses, and I want to minimize the chances of there being fatalities. Lastly, for the first point, I have heard lots of concerns about hospital and healthcare access within our city. Many people have been saying that in the city of Tracy, we don't have adequate emergency care response. We have just our Sutter Hospital. And people have been asking if there's going to be a secondary hospital built. I think health care access is critical because we have other communities within our area in South San Joaquin County, like Mountain House, that need to come out to Sutter or go to San Joaquin General if they need urgent care. So the three notable challenges I would like to be addressed or see be addressed would be dealing with the mall, addressing traffic within the city and addressing health care needs. As for my priorities for the city of Tracy, what I see important, there are two main points I want to stick to. Number one is third spaces for the youth. I think that parks and public spaces for gathering are great for people that are below the age of 18, the really, you know, children, teenagers. We need more spaces set aside for our city for young to middle adolescents, the people that have graduated college and have chosen to come back to Tracy to reinvest in their community. Right now, it's tough to find somewhere to gather and, again, create culture in the city. And the city does not have to play a hyperactive role in encouraging more development of parks or more restaurants per se. But we need to have more active conversations in engaging the concept of third space. I read somewhere that the median household income for the city of Tracy is around $122,000 a year. I believe we rank sixth or seventh in the county. I know that the wealthiest community is Mountain House when it comes to household income. I foresee the city of Tracy having increasing median incomes. And while that may be great, we want to see more tax dollars coming into our city so that we can sustain ourselves, we have to ensure that the growth matches the populations that we're taking in and, again, that we have housing that is affordable for adolescents, the people that are going to be starting their families in Tracy. I understand, too, that we have a relationship with Tracy Unified School District. I've heard that enrollment numbers are on the decline, and they have been on the decline for the past couple of years. That may be due to the fact that people can't afford to raise their families here. We may be catering to different demographics where people just simply aren't having kids or they're choosing to retire in Tracy or other communities. To reiterate then, my priorities for Tracy would be doing... an emphatic look into for third spaces for the youth, adolescents, and prioritizing sustainable growth for the next generation. Lastly, my vision for the City of Tracy over the next couple of years is a Tracy that still has a small-town feel, that can attract families that are in the beginning, in the middle, early adolescents, and I'd like to see a Tracy where we actively preserve our agricultural heritage while balancing sustainable growth. Like I've said before, I'm fourth-generation Tracy. My family started farming here in the 1920s, and they've seen this city go from a railroad town to 205, the freeway running through town, to now warehouses and the mall and bustling downtown. I would love to preserve... the characteristics that make Tracy great for the next couple of generations. And I do believe our agricultural heritage is inextricable. We have to balance reasonable development. There are going to be houses that need to be built. There are going to be people that are going to be moving to our town. The last note I'll add here is I believe the Delta Stewardship Authority Council noted that in California, there's going to be a net migration of 2 million out of our state, but into the Central Valley, we're going to be receiving 2 million from Los Angeles to Kern County and the Bay Area to San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Merced. My position is the city of Tracy needs to be ready for that migration while preserving what makes the city special.

from the fourth generation resident and fellow commissioner. So that is what we need. We need the views from public. So as we learned that De Novo has worked with different cities, then you have expertise how to get the feedback from the citizens. So as Tracy, we have a different demographic and workforce they have to travel across ultimate paths that is a big challenge and when they can be available to provide their comments so i would request you you have to be creative find some ways how to engage the citizens because this is one time opportunity lots have been changed since the last gender plan update The other thing based on my experience for living in the city for a couple of decades and serving the commission for almost the seventh year and having interaction with the citizens. So one thing that commissioner also pointed out, so we need diversified growth, but have to keep the small town feel as well. so yeah that has to come from the citizens how they want to approach or how they want this diversified growth because that hasn't been as you may have observed the previous agenda item so the discussion so diversified growth is needed. And the freeway frontage that Tracy Triangle has, so it has to be better utilized. And it can be better utilized. And just a curiosity, so DeNovo, so were you involved with the previous general plan update as well for City of Tracy?

We were not.

Okay, but do you have experience throughout California with different cities, smaller to larger population? Yes. Yeah, so you can bring those positive and some of the learning lessons to the city of Tracy as well. Yeah, that was it. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Any final comments up here before I open up public? Just one.

Yep. Thank you. My fellow commissioners have covered almost everything. Just something that stands out with Tracy, like if you're on the 11th Street, it says, do this in the triangle. A lot of things in the triangle. And that is a good call out. Like there is this tension between living in Tracy versus working in Tracy versus having recreational experiences in Tracy. It's very difficult to have a good number of people being able to do all three consistently here. And I see that as a sort of tension. So if there's one thing I can add is to be able to allow people to live a full life in Tracy where they don't feel like they have to work elsewhere or they are working elsewhere and they have to live. That mismatch, if you're able to make life experience better for the citizens overall, that would be awesome.

All right. Thanks, everyone up here. Again, thanks for listening and taking the questions and the comments. Let's go ahead and open up the public hearing.

And once again, please sign in on the podium before speaking. Sorry, Chair Penning. We're still not done with Beth's presentation. I can kind of look at the slides ahead of time. It looks like she's still got a few. So if we can finish Beth's presentation, and then we'll call for public comment when she's done.

Sorry about that. I could have forewarned you that I had two components of my question because that looked like all three in one.

So just for clarity then, are we going back and forth playing catch ball or how is this going to work? There's not really a clear agenda here.

So I provided the background on the general plan and then commission input on the visions, priorities, and challenges, and then on one more item, the overall planning area for the general plan. And then after that, the input is done and time for the public hearing.

Perfect. Thank you.

So the second item is the planning area boundary. And so the city limits are the areas where the city has land use authority, it provides public services, and that's the regulatory boundary of the city. And then you have a sphere of influence. And the general plan does not establish the sphere of influence. It can include policies that recommend modifications to the sphere of influence. But the local area formation commission, or LAFCO, establishes the sphere of influence. And that sphere of influence is the probable physical boundary and service area of the city. So this identifies areas that are likely to be annexed and served by the city at some point in the future. Some cities have a planning area that's concurrent with their sphere of influence. A lot of the central valley communities have larger planning areas. And this is the geographic area outside of the city limits and outside of the sphere where you will analyze potential future growth land use changes and environmental impacts, or where the city has an interest in seeing unincorporated areas preserved, or you just want to be informed about county decisions. So the planning area is kind of a broad area. It's an area of interest, but not necessarily an area where in the shorter term you're planning on annexing and serving those lands. So kind of long-term development, long-term changes, or long-term preservation. So if you have a large planning area, that doesn't mean that you're planning to develop that land during the life of the general plan, but that you have various interests and the general plan process will flesh those out. So with that said. And I hope you can see the yellow line on this map. So we've looked at a very broad planning area, and that's intended to provide the city with a lot of flexibility. So you can identify growth and preservation concerns for this area. It looks at long-term growth options, so maybe 50 years in the future, you might have lands where you want to have some reserve or consideration or you might not. So by defining the full extent of the planning area, that means that we can look at potential changes when we prepare the environmental impact report. We look at that full area, the impacts within that area. When you're looking at your traffic model, you're looking a little out beyond the city, the sphere of influence and how those outlying areas are affected. It's not a commitment to So we just wanted to get your input on whether or not this yellow boundary that surround that's larger than the city, larger than your sphere of influence, if that looks about appropriate, if it should be extended in various areas or if it should be contracted. So just I'll turn it back over to you.

I think that Yeah, the yellow could expand. I imagine at some point Mountain House, if they had a yellow line on this, it would be expanding. So we're going to run into each other eventually. So sooner than later would probably be better. I know when I was on the Parks Committee, we had a presentation of kind of the same type of a plan. And I meant to mention this earlier, but the bow tie area here, I think that needs to be cleaned up and done something with. I KNOW IT'S IN THE SCOPE OF INFLUENCE, BUT THAT IS KIND OF AN EYESORE FOR THE CITY. AND I KNOW THEY SHOWED US SOME some futuristic type drawings of what that could look like or what they were planning. I don't know what ever happened to those. We, it was a couple of years ago and we never heard about it again. And it, but it seems to be fit into something like this. Um, so I think that would be a good thing. But, um, as far as the, um, Tracy, I agree. It needs to grow. Um, Um, I think it needs to grow north a little bit more than even the yellow line here. Uh, we're going to run into Lathrop. We're going to run into Mountain House. Um, so I think our plan should be to, to grow before they do, if that makes any sense. So I think this yellow line is, it's good for now, but I think in our general plan, if you, if I envision Tracy 25 years from now, um, I imagine a lot more housing, um, A LOT MORE, NOT FREEWAYS, BUT BIGGER ROADS CUTTING THROUGH OUR TOWN. WE NEED MORE FOUR LANE ROADS GOING THROUGH. JUST TO GET PEOPLE IN AND OUT. SO THAT WOULD BE MY SUGGESTION. THAT WE CONTINUE TO GROW THE YELLOW LINE. WE CONTINUE TO GROW OUR SPHERE OF INFLUENCE IF WE CAN. And then we build our infrastructure a little bit quicker than what it seems like we're doing now. And I get the whole you need the revenue from the building. I get all that. But that's a city council issue, I guess. So that's what I got.

Thanks for offering this opportunity. I don't think I can recommend what size the yellow box should be because I don't know which criteria we are using to determine the boundary. So I think it would be better to have a good understanding of what is causing us to be able to draw the line at one point versus another. Then it will be possible to, you know, give more actionable or informative suggestions. Other than that, bigger is better. So I get a sentiment, but I would like to get more understanding of how we are drawing the line. Is it some physical limitations? I see highway boundaries. I'm seeing us getting close to some other cities. Is it because the sphere of influence is there? It's not very clear from the diagram. So if you get more information, maybe.

Okay. Thank you.

Yes. Looking at the proposed planning area boundary, I'm comfortable with where it's at, bouncing off of Commissioner Boche Boton. I'm not too comfortable expanding or recommending sizing down because I'm not too familiar with the criteria being presented here. Like I stated earlier, growth is inevitable. We are going to see an influx of people coming into San Joaquin County, and namely Tracy, looking to live in town and build their families here. If I could recommend anything and predict anything, my guess would be we would see more and more people wanting to live along 580 or 205. So I would look to the southwestern portion of town. I know that we want to not force too many people onto the Altamont. We want to relieve traffic. And with Valley Link coming, that may help with traffic in the future. But I'm comfortable with the planning area boundary as presented so long as we go forward with growth sustainably and account for population growth estimates as they come. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves.

So a couple of clarifications. So was the previous general plan incorporated the planning area boundary or it didn't add?

The previous general plan had a different planning area boundary, but also large. It went up to an actually encompassed mountain house or a portion of what is now a mountain house. It went up to the sloughs and the waterways above the city. It did not extend quite as far east, but extended a little farther to the southwest. So it was similar, but not the same.

And the due diligence that is done in the area that is outside of sphere of influence and inside the planning area, is it the same as the due diligence being done inside the city?

So by due diligence, do you mean the attention paid to that area in the general plan?

No, the effort that the team will be putting in this area in terms of all the analysis, will it be the effort, time spent effort from that aspect.

So the land included in the planning area will be assessed in the existing conditions report. So we'll have data for the city, the SOI, and the planning area boundary. So it will receive that type of analysis. In terms of in the general plan, When you have land in the planning area, but not in the city or SOI, sometimes it's more, the policies are more broad, and when it's not in the city, your land use designations identify what you would like to see there, but because that land is still under the control of the county, the county can make changes regardless of what the city's general plan says, but it identifies the city's vision for those areas.

And does that vision help the entity to give that parcel to the city as a fear of influence or no?

So it would need to be in the sphere of influence. And yes, having it in your planning area means that at the time that the city wants to request that LAFCO modify the sphere of influence, the city can demonstrate to LAFCO that it has considered those lands and that it has a plan either for growth or for preservation, but you've identified desired land uses for those lands. And so you demonstrate to LAFCO that you have done your due diligence for those lands and you have envisioned... Whatever it is you're requesting from LAFCO for those lands, but to include it in your sphere. So that makes sense.

Yeah. Just to understand better, as LAFCO, there is another entity that is responsible of giving sphere of influence to one city versus the other city.

The county LAFCO is the agency that determines city boundaries and special district boundaries. Okay.

Yeah, as you are well expert in this area with city staff. So my only thing is we shouldn't be spending time and effort if we will not be getting that jurisdiction in future inside of our sphere of influence. If your expertise and city's expertise is thinks that certain area can be incorporated and it will not put your efforts in something that could be incorporated in the other cities, then absolutely it should be looked into. Thank you.

And Chair, may I also interject? I actually do have two more slides after this, but no more questions of the commission, so I apologize.

Absolutely. Yeah, thanks for clarifying. I was just confused because the agenda says one thing, but yet our city attorney is telling me something different, so we'll clear that up afterwards, though.

Thank you. And were there more comments on the planning area boundary, or should I go to the next couple?

I do have one question. This is probably for planning. I always run into, with my job, the south of Valpico situation, that that's county. There's a different school district. There's... They can't be on this. Is there any talk in the new general plan or is that something that the general plan can take into advice to bring that into the city limits so that we're not divided within our own literally across the street?

Yes. So what you're referring to is kind of like in the south. west area we call that the donut hole and that's an area of very high focus for city management everybody wanting to definitely include that in our sphere so you pretty much go all the way to linney now that would be kind of a it would be determined by everybody council and who what we want to do moving forward and that would have to go through the county as well right yes through lapgo okay

All right. Well, thank you for your input. It was well considered and much appreciated because it informs the process and we'll be coming back to you and letting you know how these comments have been incorporated into the documents as we move forward. So next steps, we have a very similar meeting with the city council on September 15th. We'll be asking them for their input, their challenges, priorities, and then also just to get direction on that boundary for the planning area so that as we prepare our existing conditions report, we're looking at the correct area. So we're underway on the existing conditions report, but not the mapping yet based on the planning area. We are going to be holding community visioning workshops beginning in the fall. There will be a survey available online. And we'll let you know as soon as we have those dates. And of course, as ambassadors to the community, please, once those dates are shared, let your business folks know, let your residents know, your neighbors, the schools. So let the folks know that you interact with and encourage them to attend. We really, really appreciate getting the word out, not just as city staff and the various ways of advertising it, but also appreciate it when you can make that personal step as well. And with that, I have now concluded the presentation.

Thank you very much. That was extremely informative. Like I said, I kind of reserved my questions because I am part of the GPAC. So I'll, you know, reserve it for that if that's okay. All right. So are we clear to go public comment? Looking at the city clerk, help me out.

Yes, you are.

All right. I would like to open up the public hearing. And once again, please sign into the podium up here. Are there any public comments received by email for item 7A? No emails received. Any public comments received via Zoom for 7A?

No comments via Zoom.

And once again, looking out in the audience, show of hands. No show of hands. The public hearing for this item is now closed. Any comments that were received after the close of the public comment period will not be included in the record. Back to Commission for final discussion. Since there is no action, so just for more of a discussion point.

So, Chair, I have a question. Is it okay if I can? Absolutely. Yeah, sure. So the presentation defined or shared the information with us, but Yeah. So as there are steps that will be followed to have further engagement, so is there a guideline how the public can engage or when those opportunities and what kind of opportunities there will be?

So we will let you know as those opportunities come up. We will have workshops where the public will be invited to come. They'll hear a presentation. We'll have a number of activities that we ask them to do. We ask them to write down their ideas. We do some mapping activities. So they'll have maps. They'll draw on them. They'll work in small groups. And then we'll have some visioning activities as well. And then we will let you know when those are occurring, when the online survey is available, we'll let you know when that's occurring. And so you'll see the notices for those, the pop-up events are a little more informal. So city staff will likely know when and where those will occur a little bit in advance, but sometimes those are a little more spur of the moment, but they'll also be advertising those before they show up at a community event.

And is there a website or a dedicated location where that information can be found?

Yes, there is a webpage on the city's website, and do you know that off the top of your head, Brianna?

Yes, it's live currently. It's on the website. If you go to the planning page and then go to the general plan, it's right, general plan 2050, and we're going to have everything posted there for public outreach activities and opportunities.

Okay, thank you.

All right, once again, thank you very much. It was real detailed. I appreciate it. All right. Moving on. Item eight. Once again, items from the audience. We invite members of the public to use Zoom to comment under items from the audience. And once again, this is for items that are not on the agenda by logging on to Zoom using the link provided. Are there any public comments received via Zoom for items that are not on the agenda?

No comments via Zoom.

Any emails received or comments that are not on the agenda?

No emails received.

And one last time, looking on the audience, any show of hands for items that are not on the agenda? No show of hands. A public comment period for items from the audience that are not on the agenda has now closed. Final director's report.

Thank you.

Just one item. Cal City's Planning Commission Academy. That is coming up March 10th through the 12th. It's in Monterey. And registration is early December. And if you are interested, see Gina Peace right here. I think the city reimburses for... conference related expenses so it's it's a fantastic opportunity and it's also an opportunity to meet your fellow commissioners at cities throughout California so it is designed specifically for commissioners and certainly we encourage you all to attend or how many ever how many can I'm not sure if everybody can go but everybody can go

All right. Thank you, Carl. And I want to piggyback on that. On that note, I, too, encourage everyone up here to at least, you know, consider it, think about it, let Gina know, because there is a deadline coming up. A couple of us went a couple of years ago, and it was definitely worthwhile. You get a lot of knowledge. You know, you get a... I guess I have a question as well. Is our alternate, is she able to attend?

Sounds like it. Yeah, she's basically going to have all the responsibilities of a planning commissioner.

As well, I would encourage you as well to think about it and take a peek at it. With that, any final items from the commission? Anyone want to make a motion to adjourn? I'll make a motion to adjourn. Seconded. We have a motion. It's been seconded. Roll call vote, please.

I'm sorry. Who's seconded? Thank you. Commissioner Atwell?

Yes.

Commissioner Boachie-Boateng?

Yes.

Commissioner Chavez?

Yes.

Vice Chair Shrout?

Yes.

And Chair Penning? Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you and good night.