Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

The Valo Planning Commission meeting is in session at 710. Commissioner Doug, Doug, could you please lead us off for the pledge of allegiance, please? Thank you, Commissioner Douglas. I appreciate that. Uh, if we can go to the next agenda item for a roll call. Okay. Um, Commissioner Maderos,

present. Commissioner White, present. Commissioner Blind, present. Commissioner Beasley Stanberry, present. Vice Chair Douglas present and Chair Taylor present. We have a quorum.

Perfect. All right. So, we'll move to the next agenda item which is the consent calendar and approval of the agenda uh which would be the approval of the agenda and uh April 20th, 2026 uh regular meeting uh minutes. I'll make a motion to approve the minutes. Okay. Second, looks like we have uh six eyes and we uh have an approval.

Great. Perfect. Thank you. So, we will move to the next agenda item which is the report of the city council leaison. Uh, we have Vice Mayor Matulik. Good afternoon, uh, Chair Taylor, Vice Chair Douglas, uh, commissioners, staff, and the general public. Um, thank you for all being here tonight. Um, no true report for me to to provide at this time, but I I do want to commend um those of you that submitted your quote unquote homework assignments. Um, that was a lot of great um work you guys put into it and a lot of great information provided. Um I think the and and I've had conversations with some of you um just prior to this meeting about now now the next step would be um putting all that information and and obviously we as a council we're going to end up reading that at some point but also the general public is going to be reading this. So, my recommendation uh and I want to commend uh Chair Taylor and um Commissioner Blind for the format um that they put their responses in because one of the key things that that I look for is the ease of readability. And so, the way that it was formatted, the the font size, the the way it was broken out. Um, I re would recommend this commission to kind of look at that and see how you would want to synthesize um the the um the complete reports that all of you put together and the comments you have and if you can break it down per the respective sections and things of that nature that would help not only myself but the general public to understand um and put all that information in in one document. uh and if there is an potentially an executive summary that can that can go along with that uh um that people would would be able to read uh because obviously that that is a very detailed report and with a lot of great information but that's

once again getting to the level to where it may be overwhelming for some individuals. So if we can simplify it in the end to where an E executive summary may be able to get be able to get to that conclusion at that point that would be my recommendation. Um but once again um great information, great feedback and great insight. Um so taking it to the next level of where it needs to be reviewed and and looked at by the city council and to the general public. uh that would something I would leave to you as a as a commission to identify how to best do that um for the next step. So that would be the end of my report. Any questions?

Uh yes, I have a question and sure thank you for the feedback that's very helpful because taking this project or assignment into consideration trying to think of all the aspects. So there probably was more information that was needed and simpl simplification is is ideal. So I agree. Uh but I still have questions around it like so I believe that we supposed to have a a due date to have this completed by uh May 10th and I or have it completed by today June 1st

and yeah keeping in mind that we're looking at this the council is actually looking this where we're looking at the upcoming 2627 budget and we're trying to identify if there are ways that items that may impact that and that's where this general report may impact that. But until we get to the breaking it out and and um identifying specifics of that, it it it may not um get to that level. So that's something that that we are are looking at um in a totality of of any budget impacts at this point. So, um, so with that being said, I think that I think that deadline is is kind of like a, um, not really a hard and fast deadline, but that's something that that a goal for us to kind of at least have information that we kind of can start reviewing and identifying things that may impact some of the other decisions that we as a council have to get to. So, great question. Thank you.

Great. Well, that's the only question I have unless any other the commissioners have any questions or any comments.

No, I I Well, I think I I do have a question. I know the deadlines did say that it was June 1st. Is that something that will go into consideration um you did say before so for budgeting purposes? Is that correct? I I think ultimately anything that may impact the budget, that's something that we want to get a heads up on and it kind of um uh um be able to um throw that into some of the conversations that we're having cuz as you can see from some of our council meetings, we do have critical items that we want to get to, but obviously with a lot of the robust conversation we've had, some of those things may be getting pushed back and stuff like that. But so this is where we have a a kind of a moving target with some things and it depends on how much of this information is prioritized to some of the decisions that we're having to make in the next couple of weeks or a few months.

Some of the Thank you for that. Some of the projects um specifically like Sonoma corridor um and I believe Tennessee and um I believe the mayor island. I was wondering, are you planning for improvements to happen within the budgeted year or maybe something in the near future? And I see Director Plet on there, so she may have some kind of guidance on this one. So, I'll go and kind of turn it over to Director Plet at this point.

Oh, I think she froze. But but getting back to your question of those specific quarters, I think that ties to the overall um I guess you as the commission as a recommend recommending body, that's something that we would look to your recommendation to see where that may play into some of the economic development conversations we're having or or things of that nature. So that's where once again we we look to your guidance and any recommendations you may have to see where that may lead some of our conversations at the city council elbow. Okay.

And and so I have a question as well. And so my assumption and is that this is going to go to the economic development uh commission as well to review and give their feedback on this or add any additional information or this is just specifically for our planning commission only.

I I can't speak specifically to the economic development team uh uh commission if they're if that's part of their task to do that. I think it would behoove them to kind of utilize this to kind of look at some of the conversations they have. But I I'll have that conversation with um Council Member Matias who leads the economic development um commission and and see if those are which kind of speaks to some of the things I've talked about in the past of of having collaborative conversations between the planning commission and economic development commission. And so, um, but no, that's a great question to where I think that leads to that. Once again, that's the the forward thinking that I would like for us to get to get to as as a city as a whole to utilize the expertise that we have in this commission with other commissions and kind of combine it to to kind of get a uh a futuristic type of goal and plan for us to to shoot for um so that way we can kind of have better strategies to put in place.

Okay. Yes. Great. Thank you. and and might ask uh if you can bring this up to Councilman Matias uh to bring this to the economic commission to review it and provide any feedback uh that I think that would just strengthen the document from their perspective as well if that's a request that can happen. I

I will definitely bring that up to council member Matias because I if you look at some of the uh at the later in the agenda you talk about review of the existing business quarters. So that's kind of the similar conversation of that would tie similarly to to the economic development at some point. So this is where a lot of the work that you're doing um speaks to other aspects of we as a council looking at especially from a um a budget in a in a um uh revenue generating standpoint. So that's where we're very um we're very looking forward to some of the feedback that we can get to help guide us um with with the expertise that you have combined with with the expertise of the economic development commission uh to help move us forward with some of the conversations that we all are under the same like-minded goals that we have.

Yes. Great. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. All right. Were we able to get Director Plet back on? There she is. Hi. I see Director Plet back on there. Hi. Good evening. Can you all hear me? Okay. Yes, we can.

Okay, great. I'm um pretty far tonight. So, um I just wanted to jump in. The um video feed cut out, so I don't know if it was mentioned, but I wanted to add that um first of all, this item is on the agenda on the other category towards the end, so we can talk about it in more detail then. But also, um the date um the deadline is June 1st. However, we had talked about um pulling all of this information together sooner so that we had enough time to um share it with the economic development commission before pres pro providing a final um you know draft of some sort to the city council. So that was why we had requested it by tonight. Very perfect. Thank you. I think that answered my question for the commission as well. Yes.

Thank you. Thanks. Perfect. Thank you, Director Pollock for the clarification there. I appreciate it. And so we can move on to the next agenda item, which is the community forum. And the community forum is for anyone uh wishing to address the commission on any matter for which another opportunity to speak is not provided on the agenda and which is in within the jurisdiction of the planning commission to resolve. uh is requested to speak submit a completed speaker card to the secretary or if you're online I guess submit your request and we can open up the form and give each speaker three minutes

through the chair. There are two speakers on Zoom that would like to make public comment. Okay, Crystal Gyos, go ahead and unmute yourself. You have the floor. Can you hear me? My internet Yes, we can hear you. Right now we can't hear you. I can't hear. Yes, if we can. Yes.

Thank you. Apologies for the inconvenience. Uh, chair. Uh, this is Manny. Um, if you're okay, we can carry on with the meeting and also hear the public comments.

Yes, if we can still continue with the the public with the com with the committee forum. So, thank you. Thank you. Uh, let's go back to Crystal Gyos. Please unmute yourself. You have the floor. Crystal Gyos, please unmute yourself. You have the floor. Okay, Crystal, we'll come back to you. Uh, Paul Ty, please unmute yourself. You have the floor. Hi. Can you hear me? Okay. Yes.

Good. Thank you. Uh, dear commission members and staff, my name is Paul Ty. I live in Valo and I represent the Sierra Club's campaign for affordable housing. Thank you for this opportunity to comment. I respectfully ask that the commission and staff develop a clear plan with dates and way points to present affordable housing provisions to the city council. It is unclear from the agenda whether the commission's ad hoc committees and work plan will include focused attention to the following three items from the housing element. First, a package of renter protections including provisions for rent stabilization, just cause eviction, anti-harassment, and right to counel. Second, inclusionary zoning. And third, a commercial linkage fee. As you know, the state mandated these items. These statemandated items are almost two and a half years overdue into a seven-year housing element. In 2024, your commission moved one of these items onto an accelerated schedule. All of them were due to be presented to the city council last year. An RFP for a consultant to draw up these plans was issued at the first of the year, but after months of delay, the consultant contract will not be presented to the council until late May at the earliest. After that, the consultant will need more months to survey the community and draft the ordinances. Then the ordinances will go to the planning commission and then after further review, the city council. We are talking months and months of further delay before these overdue items can be even considered for adoption. The city of Valo has a history of months stretching into years for these

mandates. Meanwhile, Valleoans are being shoved onto the street by rising rents. The unhoused population is growing. Almost half of the city is either rentstressed or mortgage stressed. The city is permitting hundreds of units of market rate and luxury housing as it has for decades. The city of Valo needs to stop gentrifying and start permitting affordable housing for its citizens. Without a clear plan with targets and dates, affordable housing will continue to be shoved to the back burner. The citizens need to see this plan or we will wonder if Valleo's decadesl long practice of delay and denial is is sadly continuing. Thank you for considering my views.

Thank you for presenting Paul. I appreciate it. Uh next speaker, uh Crystal Gyos, please unmute yourself. You have the floor.

Great. I can hear you all clearly. Sorry about that delay before. Good evening, commissioners. My name's Kristal and I'm here tonight cuz I want to talk about what's happening here in Valo and to also uplift and sort of reiterate a lot of what Paul just lifted because it's we're not talking about anything abstract, anything theoretical that's happening to tenants. It's very real and I'm working with them every single day. So, just quick overview, we're now almost about 2 and 1/2 years into a 7-year housing element cycle, and Valo still does not have the basic statemandated protections that were supposed to be completed back in um it's been years, let's say. And to Paul's point, there's no package of the ren protections named for that we specified. There's no inclusionary zoning, and there's no commercial linkage fee. And just a reminder that these aren't simply optional for our city. They're required tools as we continue to reiterate um in order to prevent the displacement I'm seeing every day and to meet our arena obligations, which if you take a look at those again, you see how far behind we are. So, we see that the RFP for the consultant went out in January, but now after months, we're seeing that the contract may not even reach council until late May at the earliest. And so, once the consultants hired, as Paul said, we're looking at months of hopeful community engagement. We're looking forward to that. But the drafting the review here in this commission and then of course the other round at council. So, we're talking about months and months of more delay on work that was already overdue. Meanwhile, tenants aren't living in the theoretical timelines that we're talking here. It's it's extreme crisis zone. And throughout the process, VHJC and community partners have consistently

engaged and worked to assist in any and all ways and continue to do so with open arms. Right now, I'm working with families who are facing illegal evictions, sudden rent hikes, and harassment from corporate property management companies. These aren't isolated incidents. I see them as patterns happening over and over again. And we're still approving hundreds of market rate luxury units just as we always have for decades and never address this contradiction and how we're accelerating gentrification while sloww walking those policies that would actually keep people housed. The housing element is very very clear. State law is very very clear. And the lived reality of Alot tenants is super painfully clear. We can't afford more delay. We can't afford another cycle where the city meets its above moderate arena numbers while almost producing nothing for very lowincome units. I asked this commission to do what you did back in 2024 to name the truth on record to acknowledge the delays to call for urgency and to ensure that renter protections inclusionary zoning and commercial linkage fee are moving forward without more obstruction. Tenants are waiting and we're organizing and done being displaced into silence. Really, thank you.

Thank you, Crystal, for presenting and sharing that with us. I appreciate that. All right. Do we have any uh more speakers for our community forum? Uh through the chair, we do not have any other speakers at this time. Okay, we can close the community form and we can move to the next agenda item uh which is a public hearing uh which is for line item A is review the proposed fiscal year 202627 capital improvement for conformity with the general plan pursuant to government code section 65401. Hello.

Good evening uh Mr. Chair. Uh my name is Fernando Bravo uh and I'm representing public works. And here we have uh Brad Job. He's uh the new public works director. So this is his first official day. So take it easy on him. But we're here to present the CIP program and we do have a PowerPoint. If you can bring that up, please. Yeah. So this is for the fiscal year 2627 CIP uh capital improvement program. So the purpose of the program is to establish current year transportation, water, facility, capital improvement budget and it establishes project priorities. Uh so for today is to conduct the public hearing on the proposed uh physical year uh uh three projects that we're presenting today and make sure that those projects have uh that you find those consistent with the general uh digital plan uh under this government code section. Next slide, please. So the just a in general overview uh the uh for the CI for the capital improvement program 2627 and is elimination of potential hazardous uh of unsafe conditions and potential liability. Uh so this is the way that most projects are uh selected by choosing uh through these various sections. Uh compliance with the regulatory requirements and and mandates uh uh replacement of high maintenance inefficient and ineffective infrastructure. Uh preservation of existing assets. uh uh the uh improvement of to uh improvements to service the public general public uh cooperative efforts with other agencies for joint projects uh uh and then uh public safety and services uh stimula stimulation of the

local economy elimination of blight and conditions and then support the general plan uh priorities. So that's uh this is in general the overview of how we structure the the CIP program. So next slide please. So for this year we have three new projects that are being considered. Uh the first one is the P uh WL10 which is Hidden Brook traffic coming. This is uh within the specific uh special district with is the land maintenance district for Hidden Brook. Uh this project will uh in general look at mobility and uh safety improvements across the the community for uh the what is being collected and overall establishing project priorities to deal with with traffic coming across that neighborhood. Uh the second project is the Hidden Brook uh pavement rehabilitation project. Uh the uh LMD is uh wants to preserve the life of the pavement sections across the community. So they're looking at implementing a new project. Uh that project will be started uh if approved uh this uh this uh this year and it'll be uh funded and prioritized in the future uh funding appropriation. Uh the third project is the imp the measure P uh cycle 3 uh street payment project. So this is part of the overall uh measure P uh funding program that is trying to preserve and maintain the street services across the community uh for the various uh uh you know materials collectors and local streets. Uh so those are the three new projects that are being introduced uh today. uh this project's staff has reviewed uh in within the general plan and found them consistent with uh as stated on the staff report with chapter six uh of the general plan. So the all the findings are in the staff report and

uh and we're happy to respond to any of those questions with within that. All the project descriptions are also in the staff report and happy to go over those in more detail if you need. Uh next slide please. Uh and that really uh concludes our report. Uh it's sweet and short and happy to respond to any questions. Well, great. Thank you for the presentation and welcome on your first day here. I don't have any questions at this moment, but I'm wondering if my fellow commissioners have any questions or uh any comments.

Yes, through the chair. Um I'm wondering how these projects were chosen. I drive all over the downtown area and I look at the pavement and the roads and then I go up to Hidden Brook and there's no comparison. Agreed. So I I would like to know a little bit of history as far as why um especially the first and second um projects were chosen and what is the order of these projects?

Yeah, as stated before the the Hittenbrook is a special district. So those are uh uh special districts that collect a uh a a fee if you for the assessment of maintaining that neighborhood. So those are paid for by the neighborhood who created those those uh the the formation district collects a partial tax every year and provides a an annual report of all the uh things that are being maintained within the district and that community is uh uh voiced their opinion that they want some new projects. And so the city public works is uh in the process of working with them to establish the priorities for what needs to be built. and according to what their budget availability is. And for the other parts in terms of general uh street program, uh measure P in largely addresses some of the priorities for uh the you know uh every year uh this is the third cycle of the measure P street reservicing program. uh we've completed 2025 and 2026 is in the way and this is the third cycle where we are in introducing the new uh a new program for uh the the fiscal year 2627. So and uh in general uh the city's PCI is average is about 43 out of 100. Uh so this program was intended to improve various neighborhoods uh throughout the city and so uh through the PATAB program uh the city developed a 10-year uh improvement program to basically address some of those priority areas uh with a budget of roughly about 120 million over a 10-year period. And so those this is the third cycle of that funding for those neighborhoods. And those are selected based on project need,

availability of budget. And uh we are looking at establishing a more aggressive program to stretch the dollars to increase the centerline miles to be done for the projects. Uh through the chair, thank you for the explanation for the Hidden Brook projects. Um what is I know this is cycle three. Cycle three, correct?

What start date are we looking at and what completion date are we looking at? Yeah. So this one is just basically starting the the inception of the project. Uh the funding will go before the measure P committee to appropriate some funding for the first part of the the uh cycle three which is the design phase and where we are selecting the street segments and then we do a sort of overall budget review and what is available uh to uh complete within the available budget for that year. And ultimately the council approves the cycle 3 funding for the implementation and construction of those projects. And what if they don't?

What if uh the council does not? Mhm. Uh that is up that is a council policy and I cannot respond to that. So uh we are here to implement council policy and uh if the council decides not to do that anymore um that's uh that would be a council decision. And is there a proposed uh road or street list for this phase? Yes, we do have a a for the 10-year program. Uh if you keep an eye on the city's uh budget of May 9th, the the CIP program has a full list of those streets. Okay. So, yeah. Thank you. You're welcome.

Hi. Thank you so much for your presentation. uh uh Commissioner Maderas took the words right out of my mouth, but I think more importantly I and while I understand that Hidden Brook has a special tax and they're a special district, um there are other districts that are in dire straits and at this time repaving a street that's probably has a 10% margin um of error where there are streets It's literally you can drive down Tennessee all day and you're welcome to get a flat tire. I can guarantee you'll get one. There are other streets that are in dire straits. And I guess my question is because everybody knows that what is the the special tax? What amount is the city contributing to the Hidden Brook projects? Cuz they have two projects and I'm concerned about that as well.

This is all special uh uh uh special district. This is a a maintenance district that is self-funded by property tax being collected by the residents of that community. So the formation documents tells you the boundary of the process that are included in that special assessment and it's a special assessment that funds anything within that district. Okay. So the zero dollars are coming out of the general fund. Okay. So it's 100% paid for by the residents. That is correct.

Okay. And at what point do we look at the special um the capital improvement projects and work on projects that are not funded by the residents because again I just don't see the dire need even if it is funded. I I think reallocating our resources to neighborhoods that truly need help right now and it's and it's imperative is is how do we I mean it sounds like the decision has been made but I guess for the next cycle my concern is do we continue only focusing on projects where the residents have funded it because I don't live in a self-funded area. Um, and a lot of us don't. And we are experiencing blight. We are experiencing toxicity. We are experiencing intoxicated air that we have to breathe every day. We are experiencing a lot of health issues and concerns especially for our seniors and our children. And so I would like to know next cycle, can we focus on the people who don't have the money to pay those special taxes? And and I'm not, please don't think that I'm coming down on you or being aggressive. I just want to know, can we get to that point for the next cycle?

So cycle three basically is the third, you know, the third cycle of the measure P funding. And this is a city-wide measure P by, you know, all the taxpayers within within within the city of Valleo. And so those projects, you know, we reviewed uh the best methodology to stretch those city dollars and we come up with a strategy that you'll see in the CIP program on how we're implementing it. Uh so uh if you read that in great detail, uh which is uh it'll be published for the I think it's the May 9th council meeting. uh it talks about the method that we use to try to uh you know extend the centerline miles for the various treatments uh for uh for the city of Vallejo and the various districts uh within Vallejo.

So the last the last project is the only project that's being funded by measure P. Correct. That that cycle three, correct? Okay. Okay. And then the next cycle um I'm assuming that would start the next budget year. cycle four. Correct. Yeah. Okay. And then have you guys decided which projects you'll be using yet? So, there is a 10-year program that basically establishes sort of the the wish list.

Uh and then for each each project, we go through and uh basically assess the budget available and based on the total availability of budget, we establish what we can actually do. And when we go out to the market, we bid those projects out. And sometimes we have bid alternatives that uh may provide an opportunity to add more projects to to that uh cycle. And we've done that in the past two budget cycles and it's been very successful. So that's uh as best as we can do for what we currently have in terms of funding for the measure B. Okay. Um thank you. You're welcome.

Uh through the chair. Uh, streets in Valo are god awful. That's simple enough, right? Yeah. PCI is 43 is the average across across Springs Road. Uh, the only good street that we have right now is Redwood, right? Redwood. And we spent a bunch of money on Redwoods to put bike lanes and things like that in, which I I assume that's paid for by some fund that has to do with putting in those sorts of things. Uh, what is it? VTM or whatever to vehicle reducing uh miles traveled and all that kind of stuff. But you know, we listen Springs Road. Uh

oh, Springs Road. Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. All of them. Yeah. It's Springs Road. It's Tennessee. It's all our major thorough affairs are awful and we've got to do something about it. Now, I don't know what the priority is, but I'm suggesting that that the priority is major thorough affairs. Yeah. you can't drive down Springs Road, you know,

through through the chair. So, Spring Road, we do have a federally funded project for the segment. Uh I can't remember this the limits, but uh it's a very long stretch. Um and that project is right now in uh design final stages of uh you know getting federal approval for uh proceeding forward with that project. uh part of Tennessee is also currently within the current uh CIP program that is uh that is in the in schedule for uh a mill and overlay. So uh so that is part of Tennessee uh starting from Sacramento. So it's uh and I don't know the exact limits right now at the top of my head but uh happy to get back to you on that. But measure P in general is what the city council uh approved to really address the this the street issue within the city of Vallejo. And uh we're working with the leadership team to do the best we can to maximize the dollars in uh doing the best we can to improve that that road conditions uh from what they currently are to better condition. I don't know if you have history, but I don't mean to interrupt. I'm sorry, but when we passed Measure P, there were people, there was a crew crew of people running around filling in potholes, right? So, now we passed Measure P and it seems like the word the words have de I'm just telling you this because it's a priority. So, I'm not but but we've got to do something about that. That's what we're supposed to do.

Yeah. This is why this project is on the on the agenda today to move forward to Is it possible that we'll see we'll see some improvements throughout the year? The rest of Yes. Uh currently we have uh undergoing the 2025 projects and that's I believe about eight centerline miles that are being uh constructed this summer. Uh and then for the 2026 project we have roughly about seven center line miles that are being done as part of that measure P. And for the 2026 I Yeah, the 2027 we don't know yet. So that's still to be determined. Thank you very much. You're very welcome.

Um through the chair. First, thank you for your work. I know you guys have a very difficult job, right? Um I know you said you developed a 10-year plan, right? And that funding is based upon the measure P funds that are developed. And so you decide the roads each year. Is there a vote to decide which roads would be worked on? And based on some of my fellow commissioners points, right, if certain roles were placed in an order based on this 10-year plan, do you uh uh potentially like revise the order in which they'll be done? Do you look at that yearly?

So, so the the council when we first came I think when the first project came forward, the council approved a 10-year plan. So right now we're implementing the 10-year plan. So uh based on the the market and how much we can do based on bids uh you know we try to do as many projects as we can and we're also continuing to look at new innovation uh for how we rehabilitate pavement surfaces to decrease the cost. uh as an example, you know, a rubberized escape seal cost you anywhere between uh10 to $18 a square yard uh for a full reservicing uh street could be anywhere between 28 and 98 depending on the level of uh treatment that you do. So there's a big cost disparity and so we're trying to figure out the best way to do it and the best methodology to stretch those those dollars and increasing the centerline miles of roads that we do. So that's what we're currently looking at. But the 10-year program is already laid out, has been approved, and uh each year we just go through and select what we can and figure out what we can do and establish that final list and then uh we go to council and the plans get approved after we go out to bid and they then we implement those those those projects.

Okay. Thank you. So and I do understand you look at different technologies, right? Because there's different sealant meth uh methods that come up yearly, right? new technology that's developed. Um, but I don't know if I specifically got this answer, but to my question, so is it yearly that you decide which streets you're going to work on? We have a a 10-year plan. Yes.

And then we visually look at every street segment visually with our eyes. Correct. And look at it and and based on our engineering judgment, we figure out what is the best treatment for the best cost. So, and that's what we direct the designers to do. And then those are eventually get implemented, designed, come back to city council for approval of the plans and then we implement those and those projects get built. Okay. Thank you. Yeah.

Hi there. Um, thanks very much. I've noticed the work that's been going on um of the Tennessee corridor and it's impressive. It's a lot of work and it's making a big improvement in the neighborhoods that it's in. So, I really do appreciate it. Um, for, you know, for the action that we're asked to take here today, you've got the, you know, the policy aspects that we need to check. That's our role is to check that this conforms with general panin policy. Um, I'd encourage you in in the future to show us a map. Um, we're supposed to, you know, look, is this the arterial roads? Are these the neighborhood corridors? Are these high safety areas? is going to lead to better pedestrian and you know multi-vehicular access and without a map it's hard for us to tell what roads you're doing. Happy to do that. Yeah. So right now it's just you know the three projects are within Hittenbrook. So uh I'm happy to forward uh right now those project details are not available because we're still working with the with the LMD uh community to specifically develop the scope of those projects. So this is at the very early stages of budget appropriation. Uh so we really don't have exactly the the project scope for the measure three. Obviously we do have a project list that will be available at the for the city council packet for the 9th. Uh so you're welcome to look at it. Uh I'll make sure that when we go to council we have maps of the various current projects to date and what is being proposed for the uh 2026 and also uh the 2027 obviously it's it's it's still in limo because we haven't you know really done anything with it yet. So, but we have a list of streets that potentially could be if we have all the funding, we can do all of them.

That that would be great for for our purposes as well for for future proposals to us for us to be able to see the streets, be able to do our own assessment of whether it meets these municipal codes um and the policies that you've laid out. Um otherwise, uh thanks for your work

uh through the chair. One more follow-up question from Commissioner White's line of questioning. Um, excuse me. I know you have your 10-year plan with a list of streets. Are those streets yearly um looked at to see if out of that whole list that some roads are degrading faster than others? In other words, are they repriator repriatorized um yearly? That's I believe what he was getting at.

Yeah. So, so the pavement condition index is the indicator for the measurement of the roadway condition. So, um every 3 years or two, two years the plant gets reertified. Uh which gives you the deterioration over time. Uh and based on that that gives you sort of a soft look at budgets of what it would cost to bring it up to from zero. So PCI is from zero to 100. Uh our average is 43. So if you look at 43 uh you know we can figure out you know basically what strategist to use for improving those sections. So um and every year when we are doing a project we visually have to reassess what was uh surveyed uh the prior years because every year you know the the more time it goes the more deterioration happens every rainy season right so uh we have to evaluate those and and uh assess what we can do with the available budget. That's why the streets are we have a wish list and then we have a final list of what we can afford to do and those get rolled over to the following year if they get don't get done.

I'm sorry. Is the wish is that the wish list? Is that it's not I'm sorry. It's not a wish list. Is a technical report that establishes the No, I know what you mean. I mean I didn't I know what you mean. But is that something that's Is that document public? Yes, it is. Okay. I thought so. Okay. Thank you. Now I understand. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. You're welcome.

Well, my fellow commissioners asked all the questions and the comments were great. Uh and I appreciate the other questions and you're answering them because I believe that actually give a perspective of the process going forward so the citizens can know how we are prioritizing our our projects because even though that hidden brook is actually is a private fund because they're a special district uh it's still reallocation of public resources that's working on that. And so when we're thinking about the comparison when we have roads like Springs Road uh which has a tremendous amount of amount of potholes uh considering that we have other place other other roads on Ascot by Jesse Beth High School where I know a fellow citizen who tire got blown out the other day and so and they stated they was going to make a complaint uh and hopefully have be reimbursed or figure out what would be the next steps are but I'm wondering are those responses are taken into the methodology into making a determination in addition to the road index being affected and the limitation or the amount of resources that the city of Vo has has to allocate to that and based on uh the traffic conditions and how frequent that road is being used because I can imagine that if you're driving down a road like Springs as busy as it is with the amount of potholes I can assume that it can be a dangerous factor considering how many people on versus the beautiful road you guys repaved on uh Rollingwood where you have less traffic, less people driving and it's smooth. But I'm thinking about the risk assessment in that as well, how that's all factored in. I'm sure that can't be an answer now, but maybe in the next meeting going forward, this is something that we can actually see what that index score look like. What is the the public's sentiments around the impact and what are the damages or any damages or accidents or near accidents safety safety u measures on that as well

into that methodology and we just like to be able to understand and hopefully help the public be able to understand what goes into this process so we probably wouldn't have to have as many questions because I was very curious as well you know all the questions they were asking and I think the rest of the public would know as well and so it's just curious minds Okay, I'm just trying to decipher your question. So,

so the question that I have is that you know next time possibly when we present could you show that information as blind said like a map can you show us an index score and share that methodology and how we actually select the roads based on traffic conditions road conditions the index scores and uh the community sentiments around it based on any complaints that they may have submitted regarding any incidents that they had experienced on specific roads. Yeah. So I think uh respectfully I think uh I mean we're happy to provide some of that information but in general we're looking at general plan conformity uh and the policies around that with chapter 6 which is you know basically making sure that those projects are consistent with uh with the mobility transportation and uh connectivity for within the general plan of chapter 6. So that's the purview that I uh am trying to respond to. Um so happy to provide any other of that information but uh generally that was the intent for today's meeting. So um and uh in terms of you know giving you additional information on project map locations we we'd happy to do it. I don't think that's an issue so in the future. Yeah.

Yes. And no and thank you for the presentation. I understand what was being requested and what's being asked. Uh but these are just the questions that the community may have and so so they can understand what process that we're doing and walking through it. So it's just having a level of transparency. We understand that the roads need to be paved. We have to meet our conformity aspect of it so it's clear. But just to uh answer the questions, ask the questions so the citizens can understand what we're actually doing and what the next steps are and how we can move forward so they can understand and have more confidence in our process. So that's the purpose of the questions here and that can help shed light on that. So, thank you for that. You're very welcome. Yeah. Thank you. So, if any other fellow commissioners have any questions or comments? Uh

ju just one followup um after the chair's line of questioning. Um it would not be bad because I believe um community safety and security is all part of the general plan as well too. um to uh ask for an accident report for specific roads to see how many accidents happened at specific junctions. Um what you know was there any actual road or traffic um influences that created certain um you know accident zones? Is that ever factored into um your methodology

that that definitely the Switter's reports you're referring to is is definitely a different element of uh things that we look at but for this particular loc uh occasion we we are not looking at any particular uh uh safety uh reports in terms of of how we're implementing these projects. Uh we do look of course at title 2 which is ADA compliance uh that triggers certain levels of improvements that need to be done uh for grant writing and special projects like the springs road. Uh the you know those were very important aspects to get federal grant funding. Uh so for those particular issues and particular projects that we go after grant funding uh those are critical uh issues that we include as data points to be able to get more uh uh federal funding to address those issues. So that's a very different process than what we're talking about today. But but we certainly did look at that for other projects.

All right, great. Thank you. Uh those are excellent questions. uh for this and thank you for answering it. I think uh through the chair we do have member of the public who would like to speak on this item. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. Melvin Cohen, go ahead and unmute yourself. You have the floor.

Yes, thank you. And I appreciate uh the conversation regarding this item this evening uh from everyone. Uh good evening uh Chair Taylor, members of the commission and staff. My name is Melvin Cowan, founder and principal of Enough Housing. Uh, I'm an affordable housing and community stabilization practitioner working with local partners on housing, health, and infrastructure strategies here in Valo. And I understand that tonight's CIP review uh is focused on the general plan conformity uh and that the commission is not being asked to decide budget priorities tonight. I do want to encourage the city as future CIP cycles are developed to think about community serving facilities as part of Valleo civic infrastructure. So streets, pavement, and mobility matter. Uh but facilities that serve seniors, low-income residents, and residents at risk of displacement also support the general plan's broader goals around access, safety, resilience, and community stability. And so as the city considers uh future capital improvements, I hope there can be a clear pathway for senior serving facilities, uh neighborhood serving facilities, uh and potential resilience hub sites to be assessed, scoped, and considered uh as funded or unfunded CIP projects. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing and com and your comments uh through the chair. No other speakers at this time. Okay, great. Thank you. Great. So again, thank you for the presentation uh and answering those questions and help walking us through the process of how we make a determination. I think that was very helpful and I think um you know if we kind of have idea of what the next steps moving forward just you know trying to be as clear as possible so the community can know but again thank you very much for presenting uh and sharing this information. So you're very welcome. Great. And if there's no other question from the commissioner, I guess we can actually uh close out the public I mean my apologies. Close out the public hearing or do we move to a vote for recommendation?

You should have a resolution. Do you not have a resolution through the chair? Yeah, then there's a resolution in the packet. Yes. All right. Uh, we'll move to approve resolution number PC 26XX, resolution of the planning commission finding the proposed fiscal year 2026 2027 capital improvement plan to be in conformity with the Vallejo general plan pursuant to government code section 65401. I'll second.

Okay, looks like we have uh four yeses. We need one one more. All right, we have six eyes. Motion passes. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right, thank you again. Okay. All right, so we can move to the next agenda item, which is written communications. I'm sorry. As for the chair, we have no written communications tonight. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Okay. And we will move to the next agenda item, which is a report of the presiding officers and members of the planning commission. If we can uh the secretary report.

Yes. Uh thank you to the chair. So I don't have anything personally for you tonight on secretary's report. We do have a monthly development activity report uh that um I believe uh director Kristen Paula can walk us through a PowerPoint presentation.

Thank you. Um and good evening again, Chair Taylor and members of the commission. Do we have the I think we sent the PowerPoint to Manny a little bit late, so I don't hopefully we have it ready. Do do we have a PowerPoint or We do have a PowerPoint. Yes, I'm getting it queued up right now. Kristen, thank you.

Oh, okay. Sorry. Kristen, can you share it on your screen by chance? Sure, I could do that. Let me just enlarge it. Okay. Yikes.

Can we see that? Okay. Yes. Thank you.

Okay. Um All right. Just a couple of quick items to go over. Um the first thing I just wanted to note is that we have had some um uh substantial city council um meetings recently. So on Monday the 27th of April, there was a special meeting held to talk about all things Mayor Island. Um highly recommend you go back and listen and watch that meeting if you would like to know more. There was a very um in-depth discussion provided related to CFDs. There was an overview on development agreements and then there were updates provided related to the mayor island specific plan um and then a couple of other of the development projects happening including the beautifification project Connelly corridor and then also the Coral Sea Village um subdivision. Um the very next night um the council held another meeting and we did have a um planning related item. We gave some preliminary information related to um the potential for creating a short-term rental ordinance. Um again, if you're interested in this topic, I would suggest you go back and uh watch that um meeting video. Um overall, there did seem to be support for this ordinance, but um the council wanted to make sure that we were balancing our pri priorities because there are a lot of other um high priority projects in the pipeline which you all are aware of. Um, with regard to upcoming meetings, um, our next meeting is going to be on May 18th. Um, we originally had, um, possibly these three items scheduled for that meeting. I know one of these, the second one listed here for the alcohol sales, um, permit at 480 Redwood Street, um, is going to be pushed to the next meeting. Um, but as of now, I believe the other two are still on track. Um, however, just keep in mind that these dates are tentative. I don't know that we have sent any public notices out yet,

so we'll need to check on that. But, um, these are in the queue. Um, in addition, we have an overview here on just building permit activity for the last couple months. Um, you'll see that we've had pretty steady, um, building permits being issued. Um, we've gotten a we've had a little bit of an uptick in March. Um we tend to see this during the springtime when building starts to pick up a little bit more. Um but yeah, this is this is how we're tracking. Um with regard to some of the advanced planning projects in the queue, um as you all know, we have the downtown and waterfront specific plans. We are in the process of um uh working on finalizing a contract with the consultant that was selected for this work. Um the negotiation process for that contract has taken a little bit longer than we expected. Uh originally we were planning to get that contract in front of council by the end of April. However, we're pushed out until the end of May. Now, um it's also important to note, um there were some commenters earlier this evening that talked about the um housing element program work that is going to be going along with that. Um our plan um is that when we present this contract to city council, we're also going to have a companion document, basically a separate project timeline to show exactly what the plan is moving forward with regard to all of the housing um and tenant protection items. Um, moving forward, the environmental justice um general plan amendments. We um published the draft of this for review um on March 6th. Uh based on some comments that we received, we did extend this comment period into July. Um so we have given a lot more time for

this and we're hoping to um launch some of our own community engagement related to this work as well, but we are kind of working on the plan for that internally. Um, next up just related to Mar Island um specific plan um as I mentioned we had the meeting on April 27th where we had um a wide variety of updates presented. Um in addition we get a monthly update from Mar Island Company related to a variety of topics happening on the island. The update that we received in March included this um very lengthy list of um all of the different commercial building updates that have happened over the last month. So, if you um are interested in kind of tracking some of the smaller things that are happening across the island, this is a a good um resource to look at that. Um in addition, um here's some information related to leasing um from Maryland company. Looks like they have two new leases that were executed last month. Um, and then we have several extensions and just one move out. Um, lastly here we have um just the list of all of the director level actions that were taken since March 9th, which is the last time we presented this information to you. Um, we've got a total of I think 16 different um, director actions that were taken. And that concludes the information share um, related to this topic. Um, I did want to add just one other note. Um, I'm not sure if you all are aware, but um, our chief building official uh, has recently left. He was offered another opportunity in a nearby city that was um, great for him. and a shorter commute. So definitely happy for him. However, um we are going to need to be recruiting for a new chief building official pretty soon here. So I just wanted to let you know that we have some

staffing limitations in the building division. Um but as of now the uh permits are are still being issued and moving forward. So I think that covers the secretary's update. I'm happy to answer any questions. All right. Yeah. to your chair. Hello, Kristen. How are you? So, in regard to uh one of one of our uh the people online brought up our uh rent protections and linkage fees and all those other things, inclusionary housing, where where is that within the the the scheme of things at this point? Because I know actually the

Yeah. No, I was going to say I'm glad you brought that up again. Um I I did forget to mention that we actually um recently completed a draft internally of the inclusionary housing ordinance.

Um we are looking to publish that for a 20-day public review period. Um we're actually I haven't shared this with anyone yet, but we're looking to hopefully get it out by the end of this week. So that's going to be coming out very soon. Um that date is not set in stone yet, but that that's our internal goal right now. Um and then as I mentioned the the other items from the housing element, the tenant protection. Um we are starting to kind of strategize internally to see if there's any other way that we might be able to push these forward on a faster time frame. Um but ultimately we are going to present um our our plan for moving those items forward with key milestones identified to the city council um uh in conjunction with the contract for the um consultant on the specific plan work. So we we should have that presented by end of May is is the current goal.

Thank you.

Hi there Kristen. Uh first of all thanks for these updates. uh they are very very helpful and help us uh do our job and keep aware and be good advocates for the city and the good work that you're doing. Um the one question I had is um I believe it's on the environmental justice amendments. We had a meeting a while back where there was a group that uh had received a grant of some sort to do community outreach and collaborate with you all on that aspect and move that work forward in a more inclusive way. Can you give us a little update on how that was going? Um yeah, we have met with them and um they actually requested this additional time so that they can do more extensive uh review and research on on their end. So we agreed to grant it um to give them that time. Um, and then as I mentioned, um, Hector and I, uh, the the long-range planning manager, we have been discussing about, um, putting together a plan for our own, um, city, uh, le community outreach related to this as well. So, um, we're trying to kind of figure out what exactly that looks like. Again, there's a lot of competing priorities, so we're trying to find a way to fit this work in, but I think the extended time frame um kind of helps provide provide us a little bit more time to do that as well.

Great. Thank you so much for the update. Yeah. Hey, Kristen, thank you so much. That report was just really amazing. I like the new format, by the way. Um will we be able to view the uh polic inclusionary policy? because I thought I know we said summer so I know we have been waiting on that so okay so I'm actually hoping yeah I'm hoping that it will be out um by next week for public review and comment okay all right thank you

and per the work per the workshops that we had um I think we agreed that we would draft the ordinance based on the feedback that we received which were done and then we were going to send it for a public review period and then the next step would be to bring it to planning commission for uh recommendation. Oh, I'm sorry. Forgive me. Thank you so much.

All right. Great. Thank you for the presentation. I don't have any questions and it appears that my fellow commissioners all have asked their questions or have any comments. So, thank you again. And so, I guess we can move to the next agenda item uh which is the city city attorney's report. I have I'm sorry. Excuse me. I have nothing to report. Thank you. Thank you. Just working hard on these ordinances.

I I can imagine. Uh thank you very much for your work. So I appreciate it. All right. And so we can move to the next agenda item which is uh report of the chairperson and members of the commissioner I mean commission. I don't have anything to report this moment but do my fellow commissioners have any updates to report on? did want to say thank you to uh Chair Taylor and Commissioner Blind for really taking the lead on um you know the project. You know, it it really doesn't go unnoticed and I wanted to go on record. Thank you so much. That was a lot of work. Um very detailed information and I truly appreciate it. I know I've spoken to fellow commissioners and I I think I can speak for us all and say the general consensus is we were very overwhelmed with gratitude. Thank you.

Second maybe. Well, thank you for the updates. All right. And your and your support. Uh so we can move to the next uh line item is report of the ad hoc subcommittees as we don't have one right now. So we can move to the next agenda item which is other uh this is review of the existing business corridor uh council referral. I believe Christian if you're on the call if you can kind of help guide us through uh this discussion point to lead us off if you available.

Sure happy to jump in on this item. Um so I I actually I don't have a presentation but I wanted to maybe start by um just kind of re reading the request for everyone just to um jog our memories and and remind us what exactly we are working on. So um the request from the city council was for the commission to undertake a focused review of the general plan with respect to the city's designated business corridors and mixeduse areas. Specifically, um the goal was to look at business corridors and mixeduse areas including Sonoma Boulevard, downtown Waterfront District, Mar Island District, and then also neighborhood corridors such as Tennessee Street, Springs Road, and some other ones. Um the the goal is to identify opportunities to streamline the development entitlement process and increase allowable density in commercial and in commercial and corridor zones and then prepare this formal set of recommendations. um with input from the economic development commission and then return that to city council by June 1st. So I want to um mention for the general public who are listening in, we have received um memos from four of the commissioners. Uh they have been shared amongst the commission although some of them came in late today. So I don't know if you all have had time to review everything just yet. Um, I believe we are posting them online as well, so folks can read those if they would like to um, check them out. Um, I I think I can defer this back to the commission so you can talk about your next steps, but based on comments from council member that were made earlier this evening, I might suggest we pull them together and and present it with a short executive summary um that um kind of highlights maybe the top five recommendations or so and then attach

all the detail to go with it. So um I think that would be maybe staff's suggestion. Um, and I'll turn it back over to the chair if you want to talk about whether or not you would like to move forward with that approach or if you have other comments.

Yes, I think it's a great idea and just get receiving some of the feedback from our fellow commissioners. I think one report would be good that we can submit uh collectively and bring it together and highlighting the points uh maybe an executive summary maybe a one pager to simplify it. um some of the main points that we have here and have our content in the back as maybe an appendix or a referral or a reference uh document to those those main points that you can refer back to. Uh the question will be is this will be something that you want us to consolidate on or is the planning staff will be the one who will consolidate this and we will provide you with our our highle overview summary uh with the with the supporting documents. Um, well, since we're all here talking about it, I I can tell you that I've uh gone through the comments and I've pulled out what I think maybe are the the five top themes that I've um kind of uh thought were um most relevant. So, um maybe I can share those and then you can tell me if if um I've got it right or not.

No, that would be perfect. We definitely would love your feedback.

Okay. So um I think the first category is um really related to um leveraging existing state uh policy tools to help streamline. So I think um each of the memos that we received really kind of reinforced um you know applying those and encouraging the use of those streamlining tools that are already there. So I think that is that was a big theme that I pulled out of the the memos. Um, another one was related to improving um, transparency in the permitting process through um, the use of the digital permitting portal and perhaps tying that to some uh, metrics, maybe like a KPI metrics to show how long it's taking to process certain applications. Um, the third item I pulled was related to reducing or eliminating parking minimums and some of the key u major commercial corridors that were um discussed. Uh, a fourth one was implementing um kind of a wide variety of economic development related financing tools to help really spur development in in these key areas. And and then the last theme that I noted was really focused on um branding and beautifification for the major um travel corridors such as I80, State Route 37 and um 29. So those were kind of the the key ones the that that was my key takeaways. So would you all like to add on to that or or change those? I I think those are key takeaways after reading uh both documents. Um leveraging the tools that we have available to move things forward. Uh considering that we want to remain in alignment with the

general plan with state and federal laws uh which support uh the initiative to more of a of a process using uh their their Senate and assembly bills to help help move forward. So, and using some of the transparency and transparency is key as we mentioned earlier uh in this meeting about opening up the questions so everyone can understand our process and and and build confidence in what we're trying to move forward. I think that's a great way to push communication moving forward. So, I think that's very helpful if someone received it or not, but at least that we were able to provide that information uh available and reducing parking minimums. I mean, if we're moving in a direction where uh we're trying to focus on more walkability and focus on those staying in their community and experience that more and leveraging public transit, I think reducing those parking minimums might be very helpful in moving that direction. We h I think in my personal opinion thinking about what is in the need for our our community. I mean, having a housing spot for our cars is great, but housing for our people is even I think is a little bit better uh in my opinion. Uh but I'm sure there's some creative ways we can leverage that where it can it can work. Uh and the economic development tools that definitely that was outlined in blind report. I think those are definitely helpful. I think those are are drivers as well to help fund some of these process I mean these these development process and create jobs as well as for economic development. So I think those are a good point and beautifification is a big deal. Uh we want to eliminate blight. I had highlighted that and some of this process that we can help do that and so making that as a priority to uh make it easier on our eyes uh and appreciating and have more pride in our community. So I think those are some good points unless I missed something or

uh if there's anything else that can be added but those are my thoughts. I think they captur it well. Yeah. Um Kristen, I would just like to say thanks. I think you uh we feel seen. Um I think your your takeaway of the the five points u you know mirrors the the high level kind of points I was trying to put some detail underneath and I I saw the the same in other memos that I read. Um, a couple of things I I'm curious to get your opinion on as we think about what fits where. Um, one of the things that keeps striking me is one of our major problems is uh how many people are just sitting on land. Uh, how much undevelopable land there is because there is not uh a pressure um to either pay high taxes on undeveloped land or whatever the case may be. Um, and so I'm curious in particular about your uh thoughts about sunset clauses uh on permitting so that people cannot sit on permits for many many years without hitting certain milestones along the way.

Um, you know, when I first read your comments about that, I kind of was equating it to the um expiration dates that we've put on our entitlements already. So, I'm not sure maybe if I missed something in that, but is there something more you're thinking beyond just the expiration dates? Yeah, a little bit. It's it's trying to do the same kind of carrot and sticks that we hear from development agreements

um in like um a lowercase form in our permitting. So, that there there are these reasons there's milestones that people need to hit and if they haven't hit it, then the permit expires. So there it it's a forcing mechanism that these things need to move forward and if you're not interested in moving forward, we're not interested in you holding on to a permit um for a development at which time you decide it is valuable for you and we sit on uh you know we have vacant blighted properties while they wait for the right economic conditions.

Um honestly I think that's kind of a tricky one. um me most of the time when a development is obtained it is you know tided with the owner of the property. So if we put the pressures on them and they don't um meet the milestones and their entitlement goes away, then I mean it's it's tough to say what would happen then because for someone else to come in and take over and do something different that would require them to kind of sell the property or give it um you know make a deal with someone else. And I think it gets a little um I'm I'm not sure. I think it's a little bit beyond what I've seen.

Um perhaps as an economic development tool. Maybe it's um something that's used in other places. I'm just I haven't really seen that. Okay.

No, thanks for that. That's one that I think is one that would be it is a forcing mechanism and it it one that could um have unforeseen consequences. But I think the foreseen consequences that we have we know of where people are sitting on, you know, whatever their land they have zoned however they want with permits that are sitting there for a while. Um, we know what the consequences of that are. Um, I would I would be in favor of actually introducing a little bit of force into into that even if that revolves around properties getting sold because the original owner can't do anything with it. Um, so anyway,

yeah, my my only concern is that um it could provide it could like cause additional challenges for development in a market that's already pretty tough to build in. Mhm. So I think maybe if market conditions were improved and it was a little bit easier to um move forward developments and they truly were just sitting on them and and not doing it for whatever other reasons. I think maybe that would be more helpful. But I I do um worry that it could make it harder for folks because sometimes there are economic reasons why they need to delay or take a little bit longer. Yeah. And I think that would be something we could kind of build into the process so that we you your department has discretion

on those things. These aren't like fixed timelines where you have to do X by X, but you have to show forward motion and if that forward motion can be it's something worth exploring through the chair. Yeah, there are already certain um restrictions in the law or or extensions that are granted a developer if there's so many public improvements of a certain value, they already get are guaranteed extensions of their map. Okay. No,

because they've so they already have like there there's like very little tinkering we could do and then once like you said if they've done a little bit they get something as soon as they've done any construction whatsoever they're vested. If you're talking about a small project the minute they've pulled a permit and done any construction they're already they're already vested. So through the chair any go on. Did I I didn't mean to cut you off. But are you still No, I was Okay. Anyway, I was just wondering for properties that are sitting idle

along our business corridors and things like that and they have they don't look like they have any intention of doing anything. Can you speak up a little bit more into that? Oh, I'm sorry. for properties that are along the, you know, major corridors, George Street, some of these others that have been sitting and have been sitting for years. What what hammer do we have to kind of nudge things along? I mean, after all, um, I rode my bike through all of downtown last week just kind of looking around and it's just amazing how much stuff is just stuff. And can is there do we have a hammer? you know, I mean, do we can we through

through the chair? I could try to address that. Um, code enforcement does have a vacant um real property registration program. So, um just this past year, we have um been able to actually start implementation of that program for vacant commercial buildings as well. So, we have been adding a lot of these properties into the program and what that does is it requires them to maintain their properties so that it's not causing blight and they have to submit monthly monitoring reports to our um program administrators to make sure that they are um keeping up with the standards and if they don't then they go um immediately to code um uh administrative citations. um if they don't submit their monitoring, they can be subject to daily fines, which are um $200 a day or about $6,000 a month. So, um there's a lot of pressure put on them through that program just to at least make sure that if they're keeping a vacant property, they're keeping it in a good condition and it's not contributing to blight. So, that's one tool that we have

through the chair. Kristen, when did that um when did code enforcement take over that program? You know, it's actually when did they start? I'm sorry. When did they start?

Um the program has been around for several years. It was um expanded Oh, you're testing me. Um I want to say five or six years ago. It was expanded in order to allow um the vacant commercial buildings. Um however, staff was not able to start implementing that provision of the ordinance until uh what was this late let's say the beginning of 2025. Okay.

While we're speaking on that one, if I could follow up. Um is there um there are fines. Is there any escalation to those fines or uh or fees or any or that is kind of flat or Yes. Um each administrative citation um gets uh increases in dollar amount

um for municipal code violations that are found. Um the non-compliance with the ordinance though is just the 200 per day and what happens is we just send them a bill at the end of the month for I think it's $6,000. So, that would just be you get hit with $6,000 for each month that you don't submit your monitoring reports. Um, there is a cap on how much um code enforcement can sign and individual properties for each violation. I think there's a cap of $10,000 per violation per property. Um, but yeah. Okay. That's that's generally the way it works.

While we're in that vein, I'm sorry. just just that one question uh that I have while we're in that vein of uh Commissioner Blind's um question I it imp it it the question comes up and looms about having shovel ready um uh vacant lots because one of the issues that um I've noticed in my observation is that a lot of these vacant lots don't have um any utilities, sewer, water. Um, you know, PG&E. I mean, it's really just a land almost from Gone with the Wind. It's just a piece of land. You call it terror. This is just a piece of land. It's sitting there. You can't do anything with it. Um, it's almost a penny with a hole in it. It's hopeless. And what happens is it doesn't give a developer or it and it doesn't give a developer. It doesn't give a person like any of us who maybe want to purchase a home and build on it, maybe we want to buy a duplex, you know, people can do those things and and I they've spoken to me about it and want to do it. Churches, things like that, faith-based organizations, community development corporations that have formulated and they're looking out scouting for land. But my goodness, if the land is useless and you've got to put in and shell out about $200,000 just to put in some infrastructure, well, the land is going to just sit as it has for 30 years next to Chicken Express on Broadway. A lot of those properties on Broadway don't have any utilities. Y'all know the property sitting right there bacon on Florida and uh Florida and the Alamita. It's just been sitting there for sale for $350,000

for 10 over over 10 years. The price won't even budge. And and so how do we how do we impress upon folks who are purchasing land to get them ready? Or do we do it ourselves to make to put ourselves ahead of the curve? And I knew I threw you a curveball. So don't don't answer it. I'm just putting something on your mind there because sometimes we may have to invest a little bit. You know, give a little take a little.

So if I could um jump in the you know the fourth um item that I had listed in my kind of summary was related to that implementation of different financing tools to help spur development. I think this could fit really nicely under that and and maybe the goal is to utilize some of those tools to really create shovel ready vacant lots. I love that. Thank you so much. Yes. Thank you. Uh thank you for help walking us through this process and uh you know giving us your your five takeaways on this and and assisting. So I I appreciate it and the direction for us to move forward on. Um, unless uh any of my other fellow commissioners or have any other questions or comments. That's good.

One more. Okay.

Um, I just want to make sure when we're talking the you had your fifth point about branding and beautifification. Um, and you know, I think that's so important for us to create the Vallejo we want it to be is to start treating ourselves um like we we are the people we want to be in the future. you know, we have the position, we have the prestige. Um, we we we are what we want to be. Um, and I one of the things that always us corridors without thinking about 80 and while 80 is not, you know, there is a right of way, it is CALR, we have missed many opportunities to apply pressure to CALR

to make that our main street. you know, it's never going to have storefronts on the side. That's not what I'm talking about. But if we want these tax increment financing tools or anything else that's going to be revenue based, we need to improve the appearance of Vallejo for those 275,000 people that come by once or twice a day. Um, and those are the folks that we want that will bring new money to the town. Um, so we're not always financing our own financing because we're the ones paying the sales tax. We want people from outside of Vallejo to pay our sales tax every once in a while so we can contribute to these roads and not just um you know have the same kind of financing that we had in our capital improvement proposal. Um, so I just want to make sure when you see the branding and beautifification that you're also thinking about 80 and the many ways I think that we could apply pressure to CALR to not only beautify the highway but to invest significant capital money in the improvement of that corridor.

Um, yeah, I definitely agree with you. I actually had that written down, but maybe I didn't say it state it. Okay.

Um, yeah. No, I I definitely will make sure that that's included in the summary sheet. Um and then just in terms of next steps, I'm thinking what I can do is kind of create this um like cover page with these, you know, five key items. Um and then I will have the memos attached. I will um share it with you uh planning commissioners via email. Um but what we can do is we can plan to um agendaize that on the economic development commission meeting in May. Um, so we'll share it with them for their agenda. Um, but I I would also recommend that um at least one or or two of you or maybe more plan to attend that meeting to speak to any questions that might come up because I I suspect that the Economic Development Commission um will look at it and they may um want to ask some questions. So just um if you want to think about that, I think that would be helpful.

Absolutely. Thank you. Uh so if we don't have any other questions again thank you so much for the guidance on this I appreciate it and preparing us what the potential next steps are and so with that uh we can move to the next agenda item uh which is a work plan for ad hoc subcommittees and I believe uh Christian if you can help uh guide us in this process as well. I believe this is something we've been waiting for till Maderas was ready to move forward on this one. So, if we get your help, Christian, that'd be great.

Um, through the chair, I actually um would like to know if the city attorney um might be able to help us with this. I I think we're at the point where we are voting to create the subcommittee. Is that correct? I don't have the agenda in front of me. I apologize. It just says work plan ad hoc subcommittees plural. Um I believe this was the first step but it's not labeled as any step. I I can't do you know do you remember do you recall but the la we should have the minutes from the last meeting. Let me check.

I thought this was supposed to be the second step where we voted to create the subcommittee but I'm I'm not sure if that it is. You're right. The last one says the creation of the ad hoc subcommittee was continued to the next regularly scheduled meeting. Okay. It's just not a That's right. No one ran this because commissioner Sorry, such a This one slipped by. I I I think we did that because Commissioner Maduros was not present at the last meeting and we wanted to make sure that she um was able to participate since I I believe maybe. Oh, that's fine. You had Yeah. Yeah. So, um

yeah, I proposed it initially many months ago now. Um and I was absent a few times uh recently, so but I don't really know where anything is at this point. Well, you don't have a work plan subcommittee, so you can start one now. Okay. So, so it just needs to be less than a quorum and you can nominate whomever you want to be on the subcommittee. So, you have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven on the commission. So, you can have three up to three in your subcommittee.

Well, I will volunteer, but I need two more. The chair volunteers. Anybody else? This is for the work plan. You got it. Yeah, it's the work plan. Okay. All right. I want to learn. Okay. So, that's um I can glean from Oh, you can make your motion. I'll make a motion to make a motion.

Why don't you do that? Uh, I'll make a motion to nominate uh my fellow commissioners Taylor Maderos and Beasley Stanberry to uh form our inaugural ad hoc committee on uh work plan. And I second

and they need to vote. We need three. Okay. Six eyes. Motion passes. Thank you.

All right. Great. Thank you. That was that was fun. All right. So, it brings us to well well I guess congratulations on us putting together uh at house subcommittee. So, thank you Maderas for leading the charge in that. So, we appreciate that and thank you making a motion. All right. All right. So, we're moving in the right direction. I And that's I appreciate it. That's great. Absolutely. Yes. So, that moves us to our last agenda item, which is an adjournment. So, we're calling the planning commission uh to adjournment at 8:49.