November 7, 2023 Special Meeting of Mountain View City Council

Video

Transcript

[00:08:00] Unknown Speaker: Hi, Emily.

[00:08:02] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Hi, how are you?

[00:08:05] Unknown Speaker: Good. Good. Is everything just getting set up now?

[00:08:19] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Um, yeah.

[00:08:21] Unknown Speaker: Okay. You can, you can mute right now if you'd like. We'll take it off. practice in a few minutes. Thank you.

[00:12:35] Unknown Speaker: And it works. Okay.

[00:16:10] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Good evening, everyone. This is Pat Show, Walter, and I'm going to be running the meeting this evening, as the vice mayor. I would like to welcome everybody to this study session of the Mountain View City Council. This November 7th, 2023. Council member Ramos, do you have an announcement to make?

[00:16:34] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Can you hear me?

[00:16:35] Unknown Speaker: We can.

[00:16:36] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Great. Um, thank you. Thanks, Mayor. Let me pull up the thing. Pursuant to government code section 54953, I am participating in this meeting remotely through both audio and visual technology under the quote, just cause, unquote, provision due to a contagious illness that prevents me from attending in person, 0 other people over 8 over 18 years of age, are present at this remote location with me.

[00:17:08] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay, we hope you feel better, and we're glad that you can join us remotely. Um, all right. Uh, roll call? Clerk, would you like to call roll?

[00:17:19] Unknown Speaker: Council member, come A,

[00:17:20] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: here.

[00:17:21] Unknown Speaker: Councilman Romatachek.

[00:17:22] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Here.

[00:17:22] Unknown Speaker: Councilman member Ramirez. Council member Ramos.

[00:17:25] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Yeah,

[00:17:26] Unknown Speaker: Vice Mayor Walter.

[00:17:27] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Here.

[00:17:27] Unknown Speaker: You have a quorum with council member, Abby Koka, and Mayor Hicks absent.

[00:17:31] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Thank you. All right. So, um, We're going to have Chinese translation services available for this item. So we will now hear from our interpreter. , Thank you, Xi. And also, um, senior assistant attorney, uh, backdrop, you have an announcement?

[00:18:15] Unknown Speaker: Thank you, vice mayor. Yes. Mayor Hicks and council member Abby Koga are recused from participating in the first item, item 3.1 study session, because of the proximity of their residences to the downtown precise plan area. Thank you.

[00:18:29] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: All right. Okay. So the purpose of this study session is to introduce the downtown precise plan, comprehensive update to the city council, and receive direction on the potential scope of work and key topics for the project and the related temporary office cap. We're joined at the diace by principal planner Diana Pentioli, and advanced planning manager, Eric Anderson, who will present the item. Note that the following individuals will be available for questions. Assistance, City Manager, Community Director, RT Shravastova, and public works director, Dawn Cameron. Thank you very much for being here. Steph, go ahead.

[00:19:19] Principal Planner Diana Pancholi: Good evening, council, and the community members, tonight's item begins the exciting conversation on the comprehensive update to the city's downtown precise plan. My name is Diana Pancholi, principal planner and project manager from the city's planning division, and I have with me tonight our advanced planning manager, Eric Anderson. The downtown precise plan covers approximately 100 acres, and it was originally adopted in 1988 with subsequent amendments over the years. The latest one was completed last year, uh, with the focus on area A H N G. The precise line is subdivided into 10 sub areas and includes the historic retail core, and um, as well as mix of office and residential and Syracuses. It is anchored by the transit center to the north and stretches all the way to El Camino Real in the south. The plan also includes properties, um, one to 2 blocks from Castro Street, accommodating residential transition areas, between the commercial core and the largely single family residential neighborhoods surrounding it. Over the past 25 years, downtown has been subject to shifts in the economic markets and changing urban dynamics. Concurrently, the city's priorities and vision have evolved as well, necessitating the comprehensive reevaluations of our policies and the um, goals, which are which are outlined in our downtown precise man. The comprehensive update project is included in the city council's, fiscal year 2325, uh, strategic priority goals as well, and through the review of numerous development proposals, the economic vitality strategy, the housing element update. Council has expressed interest in updating different sections of the precise plan to address the current development trends and the community's vision for our city. The topics that have been articulated by council as potential areas for the study includes historic preservation, permit streamlining, appropriate, and updated land use mixes, categories, parking, heights, intensities, and architectural design along with support for small business retention as well. So introducing this project at tonight's study session, staff will be presenting the project introduction, seeking council direction on the key topics to be studied as part of the scope of work for the project. Staff will also seek input on the outreach strategy, inform the council and the community about other parallel significant downtown projects, which are going on, and seek council direction on the temporary office gap council priority work item. This downtown precise plan update project will update the vision for downtown and amends standards, processes, and guidelines within the existing precise plan document. This update will focus on fostering a vibrant sustainable development environment in our downtown. Based on previous council directions and experience with preparing other precise plans, staff has identified the following topics as shown on the slide here and also identified in table one of the study session staff report, um, which includes additional elements and deliverables associated with each of the topics listed here. At this stage of the process, staff is requesting feedback and direction from council regarding the scope of work that will shape the work plan further. The current precise fan boundary includes one to 2 blocks on either side of Castro Street, roughly covering the transition to the surrounding single family neighborhoods between Evelyn Avenue and El Camino Real. The precise plan area has a very unique character, which is very different from the surrounding precise plans and the plant community districts. The adjacent Evelyn Avenue corridor precise plan, as precise plan area, as shown on the slide here, is primarily residential and commercial, with different characteristics from the downtown and is largely built out. The El Camino real precise plan, which is towards the south of the downtown precise plan area boundary, also went through a separate planning process and is currently being implemented through development projects since its adoption in 2015. Therefore, at this point of time, staff is not recommending changing the precise plan boundary. So tonight's 1st question for your feedback is, does counsel agree with, or wish to revise either the scope of work as shown in table one, of the staff report or the precise plan boundary? Moving on, given the significant importance of the downtown and the widespread community interest in the project as well, a robust community outreach approach has been envisioned for this project. The outreach effort will encompass the key elements as shown in here, including inclusive stakeholder engagement, regular updates and dialogues, citywide notices, community workshops, and forums. Staff has also developed the project website where most updated information for the project will be presented. A detailed description of you know, various stages of the outreach has also been included in the staff report for this project. Additionally, city can also explore an option to establish an ad hoc advisory working group of key stakeholders, representing various interest groups. Establishing an advisory working group can help achieve several city goals such as engaging a wide range of stakeholders that may not be represented on the city's current advisory bodies, and having dedicated members that can bring expertise and buy in on complex issues. This option of an advisory body was used in the preparation of the alcomino real precise plan, and was found to be very effective in fostering a consistent feedback mechanism. A similar approach of the downtown precise plan could include approximately 25 members who would meet approximately 5 to 6 times during the update process. As a reminder, if council generally supports this working group approach, staff will bring back options later next year for your considerations. Depending on the approach, the working group may be legislative body and would follow the same rules and processes as currently do, we do for the other council advisory bodies. So the 2nd question for your feedback tonight is does council have feedback regarding the proposed outreach approach and is council interested in an advisory working group for this project? If so, does council have feedback on the composition of this group? The city council fiscal year 2325 work plan includes a priority A project to explore implementing a temporary downtown office cap on new developments. Council discussions related to some of the recent developments, such as 590 Castro Street, have included a focus on achieving a more balanced job housing ratio, mitigating parking spillover impacts to the neighborhood streets, promoting ground for activation, preserving the visual and aesthetic character of downtown, and providing support to the small businesses. The short-term limit on office development is intended to offer time to allow for the implementation of the precise plan, which will address these issues. Staff would bring options for council consideration related to the temporary office limit at a study session in 2024. Key elements of the downtown temporary office gap will include timeline of the temporary cap, the project size threshold to be considered, pipeline exemptions for projects currently in the review pipeline. The key stakeholders, including the Chamber of Commerce, have raised concerns regarding the proposed temporary office cap, citing the cap can be seen as an impediment to development and might hamper other investments coming to downtown, especially in the retail and restaurant sectors. Moreover, the current economic conditions and the vacancies in the office sector have decreased the potential for new office development projects in the area as well. Considering these aspects, staff is requesting direction from the city council on whether to proceed with the project. So the 3rd and the last question for tonight is, does council support, removal or delay of the temporary office cap item in the council work plan, or alternatively, does council wish to move forward with a temporary office cap item as a priority item in the current council work plan and schedule the item for discussion at a future study session. Staff would like to bring to your notice that there are currently several significant city led projects that are ongoing parallel within or immediately adjacent to the downtown area. There are 2 specific planning efforts that are underway. The 1st one is Moffat rezoning study, and the 2nd is the historic preservation ordinance update. Which are occurring in peril with the downtown precise plan update, and both the potential both have the potential to inform and be informed by this project. Staff is therefore working in coordination to maintain internal consistency within various city policies, project efficiency, coordinated outreach and effectiveness in achieving the city's overall goals and the vision for the downtown. On this slide, we are presenting the estimated project timeline for the project plan. It is estimated to span across approximately 28 months, commencing at the end of 2023, and with the final adoption hearing estimated in Q3 of 2026. This timeline allows for comprehensive planning, through community engagement and careful consideration of various aspects for the update. And this concludes the staff presentation, staff is available here tonight for any cancel questions.

[00:29:56] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Thank you. Thank you. All right. Well, since this is a study session, we, um, we typically go to public comment before counsel makes comments or ask questions. So, that's what we're going to do. And first, we'd like to take people who are in the room, who would like to make a comment, if anybody would, would any member of the public joining us virtually, or in person, like to provide comment on this item, if so, please click the raised hand button in Zoom, or submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk. We will take in person speakers first. City clerk, do you have any speakers?

[00:30:43] Unknown Speaker: No,

[00:30:43] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: okay, because I see some people who have sent us emails in the audience, all right? Um, okay, what about, do we, we have two people on Zoom? And we will give them three minutes each. First one is Robert Cox. Robert.

[00:31:02] Robert Cox: Hi. Can hear me?

[00:31:03] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes, thank you.

[00:31:04] Robert Cox: Okay. Uh, vice mayor, Sean Walter, and members of the city council. Robert Cox, speaking for the steering committee of Livable Mountain View, we already sent you a letter on this important topic. So let me just underline some key points on questions to counsel. Our key concern with the 12 step work plan is the open-ended nature of item number one land use. We support the other actions, but are not looking forward to a major rezoning that would affect the character of our down print town, particularly historic retail district. We are also concerned that joining the transit center to the downtown precise plan will exclude mayor Alison Hicks and council member Margaret Abbe Koga from the discussion as they are recused now. We value their participation and want them to be included in the voting and discussion of anything related to the transit issue. We do not support the special advisory group for the precise plan. We prefer contact, staff, conduct meetings with residents, and various stakeholders, and then feed the input back to the council, clearly indicating what feedback came from what group? This allows the council to weigh the interests of different groups in a transparent manner, and makes it makes them make a conscious decision on behalf of those who elected them to office. We support maintaining the town, town office cap while the precise is under discussion. The council already proved this is part of the work plan. Many new office projects are still going forward, even though the office cap would be in place, but the council needs to address the long term impacts of our job's housing imbalance, and how to mitigate it, or our goal of a community for all, will continue to slip away. Thank you for listening to our views. I yield my time.

[00:33:01] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Thank you. And then the... Next person is... Can't see their name. Albert Lester. Okay, Robert Metzter? Will you join us, please?

[00:33:15] Albert Lustre: Good evening, Mayor, and city council members. My name is Albert Lustre, with the Carpenters Union, uh, local 405. And then I just want to talk about the project that has opportunity to have labor standards on the downtown specific project. such as a livable wage, local hire, and apprenticeship, and healthcare, which is more needed for the workforce is going to build this projects in the city. It's a great opportunity to implement those in the specific plan. It'd be great to protect our working class, and it would make the, it would make a difference on the people, lives and their families. How many healthcares I must? We only need health care, as far as human beings, and especially somebody has family, uh, young ones. We only family healthcare. So it'd be great to have those area standards in the specific plan. And, uh, yeah, thank you for your time.

[00:34:02] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Thank you. All right. So are there any more hands on, I don't see any more hands on Zoom, and nobody's decided in the office. I mean in the, uh, that they want to speak. So we will move on to counsel questions and deliberation. We have, I'm just gonna sort of set this up a little bit. We really have six questions. They're sort of divided into three topics. So you can call them three questions. One's kind of about the scope of work and some administrative things, like the boundary. The other one is about the outreach program, and the third one is about the office cap. I think it would be a good idea to take some comets. initially, and then get to the questions, if that makes... works of people. Or do you want to combine comments and questions? Oh, that's right. What am I thinking? I haven't done this in a while. Sorry. Of course. We have to have council questions first. So, council questions. Obviously, council member Manachek has a question.

[00:35:17] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: I do have a question. Thank you. Yeah, there's been a few emails about the potential temporary office cap, and I think there's misunderstanding confusion, lack of information about it. And I was wondering, it's my understanding that the EPC actually discussed this. I think it was last year. Um, can you share with us what specifically was talked about in terms of a temporary office cap at that meeting?

[00:35:51] Unknown Speaker: Yes, uh, thank you, uh, Counselor Matachek. Let me just get my notes from that meeting open. We brought forward a recommendation for a language in the downtown precise plan to adopt the office cap. There was some discussion at the EPC. They ultimately did recommend approval of that language, although, it was not a, there was a lot of discussion during the meeting about the pros and cons of the project. Um, just a moment and I can bring up my notes. Their recommendation was uh, to, um, add that they wanted to prioritize the downtown precise plan. This was before the council, had actually adopted the work plan. As you said, it was last year almost exactly a year ago, actually. And they wanted to ensure that there was a pipeline provision for projects underway, and to ensure that those current applications were clear in the staff report to council, and that they were, they were interested in a potential for a separate, more lenient cap for additions and modific to a building that we would have teed up to council for consideration as an alternative.

[00:37:34] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: And so the would that be all the parameters then? was that just the ones that they specifically commented on?

[00:37:41] Unknown Speaker: Well, we had brought forward some draft language in the precise plan that included a lot of parameters, things like how big a new building could be under the office cap, the dates for any potential pipeline provisions. So those, that was all drafted. However, if council wants to move forward with this, we would recommend actually coming back to another study session with the EPC and Council so that we can have more of a dialogue about what that includes rather than relying on what we had, you know, tried to bring forward quickly to EPC last year.

[00:38:20] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Okay. But I just want to make sure, everyone knows, they did not recommend a moratorium, correct?

[00:38:28] Unknown Speaker: No, it was not a moratorium. The goal is at a cap so that there was some flexibility to allow some new office, it wouldn't be a blanket, no more office, but it would help, kind of bring stakeholders to the table, to discuss their vision for downtown, and be included in the downtown precise plan update process, rather than just applying for a large office bill.

[00:38:55] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Okay, thank you. And the other question I have is about the Dark Skies ordinance. So, um, you know, lighting downtown is really critical. Um, would this downtown precise plan, if there's also a dark skies ordinance, would, um, that would just be citywide, the Dark Skies ordinance, right? So it would apply to downtown, even if it's not included in this precise plan.

[00:39:23] Unknown Speaker: Yes, it would. And that's how, you know, any of these citywide zoning projects work, there's always a measure of, um, you know, uh, evaluation of individual neighborhoods and how they might, um, uh, need to modify or adjust any citywide standards at the local level, that could be possible for downtown. We don't want to paint with too broad a brush necessarily, but certainly the Dark Sky's ordinance project, the council is recommended for the 2325 work plan, would be a citywide project, and so it would affect downtown as well.

[00:40:07] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Okay, great. Thank you. I have.

[00:40:16] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thank you. So I have a question for our public works director. Um, so some of the questions and part of the staff rapport included, um, discussing assembly bill. Oops, my iPad hit the thing off. Part of the feedback we've been receiving in part of the staff report addressed assembly bill 2097 which passed last year. And so, um, maybe kind of in the same main council member Matachek. Do you mind just sharing a little bit of what that means, um, for the city of Mountain View, um, as we're implementing that?

[00:40:57] Public Works Director Don Cameron: Um, thank you for the question, Castle member Kameh. And I'm going to also invite our planning experts as well. But generally, that assembly bill basically does not allow setting minimum parking requirements for land uses within a half mile of transit facilities transit stations. But as I recall, in addition to that, I know this is going a little bit beyond the assembly bill. The city also made some commitments, and it's housing element that we would look at removing parking minimums in other areas, and this is why I would invite our advanced planning manager, Anderson, if I misspeak in any way.

[00:41:46] Advanced Planning Manager Anderson: I've got it. Okay. So what does that mean? If we're not going to be able to have parking minimums, especially in the downtown area, which most of it is within half mile of a major transit facility, which is our transit center with Caltrain, BTA light rail, and all kinds of buses. It means that, number one, you know, it'll be up to the developers in terms of what they want to propose for putting in parking. The city cannot enforce minimum requirements except for, as I understand it, We can require some ADA parking, some EV chargers, but not general parking. And we cannot charge parking in lieu fees as a way to collect funding in order to provide other public parking availability in downtown or potentially using those fees for other ways to reduce parking demand in downtown. So that's the implications of this. I think, if I could assume what you're leading to, what we're planning.

[00:42:53] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Okay. Great, thanks.

[00:42:54] Public Works Director Don Cameron: So another council priority. A, in the work plan, was for staff to work with counsel on doing a holistic review of our street parking regulations. And one of the things that we're aware of is that if there are no minimum parking standards for new development, and they choose to put in minimal parking or no parking, number one, of course, we're going to be really working with them, that they have to have very, very aggressive TDM programs, and get people to those locations without using cars and minimizing their parking needs. But building a zero parking need development is very unlikely. And therefore, the next concern is gonna be, will that lead to more on street parking. And whether this is happening in the downtown or other areas of the city, will that then create more major demand for on street parking, which then could affect some of the neighborhoods, which are already seeing excessive demand for parking. And what are the possibilities for providing relief for that? And primarily, one of the goals of parking on your street is make it available for the public. So you wanted to change over regularly, and it's meant for use by everybody. So, as part, the reason I brought up that council priority, um, project is one of the things we do envision, when we come back to council, do envision a study session in the spring, to talk about the scope of that, but talk about the implications of AB 2097, as well as removing parking minimums due to the housing element. And what that might mean for a residential parking permit program. We feel that we're going to need a fresh look at it. We may need a whole new approach to it. We may need to relook at, Is it really petition driven, or we're going to have to be a little more proactive because we could see that there could be consequences that we want to get in front of? What do other jurisdictions do? I think we need to do a new benchmarking study, in terms of residential parking permits, and how we should work with that. So we did envision staff was going to recommend that that be included in the scope of work for this holistic review of our street parking regulations, because permits are a street parking regulation.

[00:45:21] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great. Thank you. read my mind. So that'll... Thank you. Those are my questions. I think, obviously, that might be more discussioning in comments than what we can ask for from staff later. And then just a point of clarification. So, one of the comments and in some of the emails we received have been talking about the transit center becoming part of the downtown precise plan. Are we just, is that accurate? No, right?

[00:45:49] Unknown Speaker: Okay. So we do ask the question in the staff report whether council wants us to take a look at any boundary changes. So theoretically, that could be an option. We're not recommending that because the transit center does need to be approved. Zoning changes for the transit center based on the housing element needs to be approved before we are conservatively scheduling the downtown precise plan to be done. So we will probably bring that forward to council as a separate item in the next, you know, 2 years before it has to get done by the by the housing element deadline.

[00:46:31] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Okay, perfect, great. Thank you. I appreciate that clarity because I thought, did I miss something in the stab report?

[00:46:38] Unknown Speaker: All right, there was the assumption there.

[00:46:39] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thanks, vice mayor. Those are my questions.

[00:46:43] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay, um... I'm gonna ask, uh, council member Ramos, since she's on Zoom, because do you have any questions at this point?

[00:46:52] Councilmember Emily Ramos: I don't I don't have any questions. Thank you, Vice Mayor.

[00:46:56] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: All right, great. Okay, well, I have a couple. Um, one is, uh, you know, we, there's a tremendous amount of interest in, um, the vacancies, the storefront vacancies that we have, and how we want to get rid of them. And we have this economic vitality plan, which is largely focused on that. And so that's another thing that I think, you know, there's a lot of overlap between this and economic vitality plan. So just wanted you to talk a little bit about that overlap, because we, um, we really, there is a strong desire to work on those vacancies immediately, not to wear two and a half years until this, this plan is done. So could you talk about that a little bit? No? Yes?

[00:47:52] Assistant Community Development Director Artisha Vastva: Thank you for that question, my Smear. Artisha Vastva, Assistant City Magic Community development director. While the downtown precise plan, we'll have a role in making sure that we're taking a fresh look at land uses, so that we can find better ways and look at new things that are coming up as we allow permits in the downtown. We are also working on other efforts. We have a rapid response team that we're creating, along with the public works department, and the economic vitality group, as well as community development, so that we can be more responsive, especially in the downtown to some of these questions. And that means taking a different approach. It would mean, um, doing a little bit of handholding, um, you know, going beyond letting them know what the permit requirements are, but putting things together for them because many of the property owners are not experienced developers. And they do need that help. Also, within the current land uses that are allowed in the ground on the ground floor. We're looking at Sometimes new uses that come up and looking at whether they're allowed. Um, you know, and I'll give you an example, um, not necessarily in the downtown, but there was a person who came in and said, I want to, um, create a, uh, I want to do printing. And, you know, staff looked at it and they were puzzled because this was in a different area of town that didn't allow printing. Turns out it was 3D printing. And we found out that we could allow it in the land use, even though it was not specifically in the industrial zone, because 3D printing is a different, is a different kind of, um, process, and it doesn't use some of those heavy chemicals. So that's an example. You know, we're being asked if we could look at software galleries, for example, in the downtown. We're being asked if we could have, I forget what it's called, cat cafes. So these are examples of things that we could look at currently to see if the current land uses could be used to allow them. And of course, the downtown precise plan is going to look at this in a more holistic way. So these are examples of what we can do today, to make it easier for people to tenant downtown spaces.

[00:50:22] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay, so I just, I, I, I, we've all heard a lot about how we want to move forward with that. So I just wanted to ask that question to make sure that people can hear that we are moving forward on this particular part of it, and we're not waiting for the downtown precise plan to be done. We're moving forward, and they'll be done, you know, with knowledge of one another, and very carefully, because it's very important to the community. Okay, great. Yes. And then I also wanted to ask a question about the advisory group. We've gotten a lot of emails for and against the advisory groups, and one of the things that has been brought up is that the advisory group would essentially take the place of our standard community meeting. And when I look at your list, and I look at the description in the study report. I got the impression that there would still be community meetings. Can you talk a little about the differences between the community meeting process you would expect to go forward with this, and the advisory group, and how they would differ?

[00:51:42] Assistant Community Development Director Artisha Vastva: So I'll start in, Eric, you can add later. Um, the advisory working group, um, option that staff report discusses, it is in addition to all the community meetings that I've been envisioned and outlined in the staff report. It is not going to replace them. The advisory working group is found to be beneficial because since it does have representatives from our key stakeholder groups, you know, there are certain times when, you know, we need to do a quick check-in on stuff or we need to make sure that we are, you know, we want to get, um, the key stakeholder feedback on some of the topics pretty quickly. We might not have time to go through a whole, whole round of reviews. We can use them at that point of time. It is definitely an additional opportunity to do more outreach. It is not a replacement.

[00:52:37] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Great. And then the other part, sort of aspect to that is, um, you would also probably be doing regular updates to the downtown committee.

[00:52:46] Assistant Community Development Director Artisha Vastva: Yes.

[00:52:47] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay. All right. I don't think is that on the list?

[00:52:51] Assistant Community Development Director Artisha Vastva: Um, it's not on the list, but it should, it should, you know, it's meant to be on. Well, it's not. That will be as part of our regular...

[00:53:00] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: That's what I thought. what I do now. All right, I just wanted to, again, make everybody feel that they're not being forgotten, and it's understood that their expertise will be, you know, will be used and valued in this process. Okay. So, I think that brings any more questions come up? That brings us to the end of the questions. And so now it's time to, um, move into, uh, talking about the questions themselves, and comments related to the questions.

[00:53:33] Unknown Speaker: Well, that is the option, one by one or all...

[00:53:37] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: I, um... I think we'll just go and do them one by one.

[00:53:44] Unknown Speaker: And, uh, you want to do them all together?

[00:53:47] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: No. Yeah, I think one by one is, 'cause they are really septic topic. So let's start off with, you know, the first one, which is more administrative about the scope of work itself, and the precise plan boundary, and, um, council member Ramirez, looks like you would like to go first.

[00:54:04] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Vice Mayor. And I actually don't have a lot to say about each of the questions, so I'll try and be pretty quick. So first, I want to thank staff for the work done and the presentation and the staff report, which I thought were all phenomenal, helping make clear what some of the objectives and goals are or could be and elevating some of the policy questions for the council, providing a lot of helpful background material. I think the this is a great way to begin providing the direction that you'll need to proceed with this work, which is very exciting. And so I just wanted to commend you for teaing it up in a way that I think is very helpful and gives us a lot of opportunity to think about what we really want to achieve in this as we proceed with the update. So for question one, A, I support the scope of work proposed by staff. I think it's good to do a deep dive. I don't, my, my expectation is, as staff does this work, you may find some things are perfectly fine and don't need to be changed, right? Some things will need a little bit of tweaking and other things might need some comprehensive rethinking, particularly we're preempted by state law. So I do think giving staff the latitude to explore all of these questions is important, um, and not being, uh, uh, I don't know if there's anything that we need to add to beyond that, but just making sure that staff has a lot of flexibility in exploring all of these questions. Um, I do think as we think about, the vice member brought up the economic vitality strategy, which I agree is something that we want to be mindful about. To the extent we could avoid doing duplicate work, if we can fold some of those strategies and action items into the downtown precise plan where it makes sense to. I think that would be ideal, and not having to come back incrementally or in piecemeal fashion as we implement that strategy. And then the other thing, some members of the public had brought up other types of objectives that we can consider. I don't feel comfortable being terribly prescriptive right now, but I'm thinking about number 10 in particular other development strategies. What are some community goals that could be achieved with things like development agreements and things of that nature? So I'd be very interested in staff's recommendations and what we hear from community input. And then for B, the precise plan boundary. I appreciate asking the question. I don't know if I have a definitive answer now, but I would be open to staffs, as you begin this work, and as we take public comment and stakeholder input, I would be interested in staff's perspective on whether there are some objectives that could be achieved by expanding the downtown precise plan boundary. So I'm not a firm yes or no. I think that's something that does merit some attention and some feedback from the public. And we may find that there is value in some tactical additions to the precise plan. Thank you.

[00:57:24] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Council member Mamachek.

[00:57:25] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. Question number one, um, in terms of the scope. I'm really not looking to completely change our downtown. Um, I really like it. I think a lot of people really like it, especially the historic district. And so while I support looking at various land uses and stuff. I'm really not looking to dramatically increase the intensity or the density, especially along Castro. Um, because I wanted to remain sort of the same character it has. I am very interested in the streetcape standards, especially when it comes to pedestrians. You know, I feel like we talk a lot about other modes of getting around, but, um, Castro, you know, we want it to be very walkable, and as a result, we really need to focus on the pedestrian experience. on Castro. Um, let's see. I'm also interested, very much in, um, the public art and place making. There was a presentation. I feel like I mentioned this quite frequently, but it was really good. And that was the presentation by the project for public spaces on how to do place making right. And that was done in conjunction with the development at San Antonio Center. And we have taken some elements of that to the downtown area. The one that really stands out for me is the tables and chairs can be moved. So if you have a party of two. You can just have two chairs. If you need a few extra, you take it from the table next year, you have six people. So it allows people to get together in the way they want to get together. So I'm really interested in focusing on place making. Also, I get that we can't do much about the parking. which is really frustrating because we know that the public transportation that we have, well, the transit center is right there, not everyone can make use of the, um, light rail, the train, the buses, and a lot of people are still driving their cars to downtown Mountain View. And I think we need to just recognize that we all want great public transportation, but we're not there yet. So how are we gonna manage working? As the public works director talked about, This is one that we're really gonna have to put some thought into and think about how we want to approach this. Um, I'm also very interested in the landscaping trees and the open space. Um, I think that really adds to the character, the quality of life, the enjoyment, and I want to make sure in our downtown area that we've really thought about how to make it, um, very attractive. And I think nature makes it really attractive. It also is really good for wildlife. And let's see. Oh, the boundaries. I actually prefer to stick with the existing boundaries for the reasons that were mentioned by, I think it was livable Mountain View. Um, I do want my colleagues to be able to participate, uh, if we talk about the transit center. You know, they have great input. And if it's part of the precise plan that would potentially rule out their participation. So I would like to stick with the existing boundaries. Thanks.

[01:01:06] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Um, council member Kameh.

[01:01:07] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thank you. Okay, so for, um, question one, A, for the scope of work, so, I suppose, I just wanted to share that, when thinking about the scope of work, I'm thinking about how that goes in tandem with our economic vitality strategy, and how the things that are in the scope of work might be levers, for us to be able to kind of implement some of the things that we've been discussing in the strategy. Um, and so I think that some of the topics highlight that, right? So kind of the, um, the permitting process, public art. I think those are things we had talked about in the strategy. Something I did want to call out was one of the things that council had a robust discussion about last year was, how do we address issues where we have form compliant projects that we feel don't meet kind of the downtown of today that we want? So, for example, 590 Castro. And so, I just want, in the scope of work presented, I feel like that could fall under, you know, land use mix, it could fall under objective development standard, design standards. I'm just hoping that staff would agree that there's, it falls under one of these, um, scopes of work, so that can be addressed, I think, for myself, that's the largest topic that I want to make sure that council tackles as well as what Ms. Shravostova brought up, which is maybe an alternate use that we hadn't thought of in decades past and how do we have a progressive way to look at a use that our community could be interested in. So, I think that's what I really wanted to call out in terms of the scope of work. I think that this falls into a lot of the Buckets Council's already been discussing and I am encouraged to kind of move down this path and look into it more. Um, and then for the, um, oh, I did want to share. So one of the things that I'm trying to understand if this would fall under this question of 1A is looking at the other parallel city projects, because under item 5, Um, the state legislation, I had a question on earlier, AB 2097 is called out, and we talk about staff mentions the downtown parking strategy and the TDM ordinance. But the downtown parking strategy isn't listed as a parallel city project, I would like that to be included as a parallel city project, or even as Ms. Cameron was mentioning, our holistic review of parking, that might fall under a parallel city project, but I do want to find a way to be thinking about that. The the parking issue, um, and how we address kind of residential concerns, um, in parallel as we're looking at Moffat Boulevard, historic Ordinance, TDM. Um, And I don't think that we need to specifically call out the residential parking program there, because I think it'll be addressed under the downtown parking strategy. Okay, great. And then, um, for the precise plan boundary, um, I too feel that comfortable with the boundary we have now. I think when council was originally discussing the downtown precise plan, we were only looking at certain areas, and we've already expanded it. So, um, I'm comfortable with the expansion that we've made. You know, central all the way to El Camino. And I do appreciate staff's comments earlier about how the transit center and master plan will be separate. Thanks, Vice Mayor.

[01:05:06] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Council member Ramos, would you like to answer the questions for us?

[01:05:10] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Vice Mayor. Um, I'll start with, um, I agree with council member Kamei about, um, the downtown parking strategy being, um, really interacting with, uh, the scope of this work as well. Um, I am actually very happy with the scope of work. I am inclined to keep abroad, particularly in the land use mix. Um, I'm really interested seeing what kind of community feedback that people have on that item. We're not just looking at downtown today, but like the downtown we want in the future. And so, um, as we go through what, what could change. Um, is it meeting the needs of our community and it will, will it be meeting the needs of our community? as we move forward. Um, uh, I like, um, some up the, the items, particularly toward place making. Um, as we have made it like a downtown pedestrian mall, there's a lot of things that are changing in downtown that is not even just because of, uh, the downtown precise plan and as meant, as my colleagues have mentioned before, the down, the, um, Economic vitality strategy is going to make significant impacts on that, uh, our historic preservation, um, Ida, uh, ordinance, update, uh, will make significant, impacts on this. And I kind of hope that as we do, the precise plan, it does take into, um, account all these other projects, like even council member Mattachek mentioned how, like, even dark skies would have an interesting effect on what we could think about in our downtown, uh, area. Um, and the fact that we do have our trans center there. Um, and, or basically, we have Caltrain, VTA, and a bunch of buses. When I say VTA, I meant light rail. Um, and that, that... The best amount of transit amount to be going to get is going to be here. So I want us to think very, um, broadly in what can be done because of that. Um, so I'm very interested in how, when we get feedback from the community on what they want from our downtown area, that, that expansion of, of, uh, what is possible. Um, I kind of want to, to see. Um, as for the boundary, including the, uh, transit center, uh, part, um, unless there's a particular, uh, advantage and including it, like, I see how, um, unless there, there is, LS staff can, can bring up particular advantages relating to that. I'm okay with leaving it out, but, um, But if there are advantages, I would like to know what those are.

[01:08:20] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay. For me, your 1st question. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Well, I have, um, a couple comments, too. I am quite happy with the scope of work, generally. The, um, one thing I thought about adding was a category of climate change impacts and adaptation. Not that I necessarily think, they aren't embedded in what is already here. But I think we need to be more explicit, moving forward, and things that we're doing because of climate change, and there are things that we need to do, because of climate change. I mean, for instance, we need to have places for people to go to get out, away from the heat. That's something that we didn't need to consider so explicitly before. And a lot of those are going on, and they're part of our sustainability effort, but I just, I would just like to, to see them called out, not necessarily, um, add work, but just to call them out. And, um, then, um, I, uh, I really wanted to compliment you on this chart. Uh, this one right here. It was on one... It's a great chart. I love this chart. I hope you'll do lots of charts like this to show how things interact, because there are so many moving parts to the things that we work on here. And it's really important to understand what they are and where things start and stop, and, um, so, uh, so thanks. This is great. And I, too, would have added a few things. I would have added the dark skies, the downtown parking, and our sustainability efforts, and many of those things are, you know, long term ongoing, but I still think they're, you know, appropriate when you think about how they work. anyway, love the chart. Okay, so the scope of work. I kind of like to have another category, and I'd be interested in what my colleagues think about that. Is that okay with you, or do you object to that? Having it explicitly called out? Um, I'd just like to have a section where we describe, um, what are the things that are being done for climate change, impacts and climate change mitigation. For instance, there are definitely I think, aspects of the streetscape, the trees. We will have trees now that are more acclimated to our future weather. That would be one. We may want to have more awnings. I mean, they're just, you know, we will, we may have building requirements. There may be some going forward. There are some building requirements for using more efficiency. I mean, they are currently in the building, but that's the kind of thing I'm thinking.

[01:11:35] Unknown Speaker: Sure. So is it, um, pulling out information from the different sections and consolidating it? Or is it, um, additional work that we want to look at certain things?

[01:11:48] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: I think it's consolidating things. It's primarily pulling things out from the sections that are, you know, that we're doing anyway and identifying that they also have impact for climate change, mitigation, and adaptation. I mean, there might be a few that we come up with that are new, but I think, primarily, it would just be recognizing that there are components of the ongoing work that are related to that.

[01:12:14] Unknown Speaker: So, um, I think it's, um, an interesting idea. I guess I'm trying to figure out though, how to make it easy. And could it be that, uh, it's just noted, like, in the different, in the existing 12, uh, topics, if a particular item, um, could be on that list? That might be one way to handle it.

[01:12:40] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: I would be, you know, I would be open to how staff wanted to do it. I guess I'd ask staff, yeah, what are your thoughts on it?

[01:12:48] Unknown Speaker: Yeah. Well, I think... So, my question is to staff. I'm trying to jog my memory through all our past precise plans, because I feel like this usually finds a way to come out in the precise plan process. I don't know if it's like necessarily for tonight's discussion, but I know the final product always typically includes a sustainability, climate piece for the fully adopted plan, kind of thinking back to all the ones that we've done in the past. So I just wanted to throw that out to staff because I'm sure that they're already thinking about it, but...

[01:13:27] Unknown Speaker: Absolutely. And I, you know, just to remind everyone, you know, sustainability in all of its forms is embedded deeply in everything we do, um, all the way down to the general plan, uh, and the guidance in that document. So, um, it's it's a sure thing that we are going to be considering climate change, considering sustainability and considering these issues as we develop policies in the downtown precise plan. We've used several different tools to kind of communicate these elements. For example, in the general plan. We had 5 themes that kind of ran throughout the general plan, and we talk about those themes. You know, it was things like sustainability and quality of life and diversity and those types of things. We talk about some of the parts of the general plan that relate to those themes. In some of our precise plans, we have guiding principles. and strategies where we talk about how different policies and standards and the precise plans kind of work together to support those guiding principles and strategies. So there really are all kinds of different ways that we can approach, which you're talking about. Any more, you know, we're here to listen. So any additional guidance that you want to provide us, this early stage, we will take in and we'll use it to further flesh out the scope.

[01:14:59] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Council member Ramirez.

[01:15:01] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you. So I'm interested in exploring this concept, and council member Kame's point, I think, is well taken, that we've used, for instance, in some other precise plans, things like bonus FAR, to require lead certification, right? And so that could be something that we can incorporate, I think, pretty easily. We've done it before. Um, and so things of that nature, um, I think I would, I'd be happy to support. Well, the reason I'm bringing this up is because I think that going forward in the next few years, There is a desire on the part of the public, and really all of us, to understand what is being done for climate change. And I think sometimes when it's so embedded in all of what we do, people don't realize that it's what it's for. And so I think, explicitly calling it out, has value to give people, um, to educate people about what we are doing on this front. So that's why I bring this up, more as an education thing than as a, you know, we need, we necessarily need to do more, which, I mean, we always need to be doing more, but we know that that's not tonight's topic.

[01:16:29] Unknown Speaker: So if I may, I was just thinking about it, you know, how to implement this, or how to adopt this as we think about the next steps. And one way that we have done it in our previous precise lenses, you know, during the vision and goal settings session, you know, when we will be coming back to our decision makers, when we will be revisiting the vision and goals. I think it can be a very specific category identified in there. At the same time, you know, we can definitely consider adding a topic, as we're thinking about the scope of work, because as our advanced planning manager just noted, every single topic that we have listed in there, it will have a connection to climate change and sustainability and how are we addressing that in each one of them. So, like Norbatial precise plan is a great example. It does have a very clear vision and goal for sustainability. So that is an example.

[01:17:24] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay, that sounds good. All right. As far as boundaries are concerned, I kind of feel similarly to what's generally been said, particularly council member Ramirez and Ramos, I, at this point in time, I don't really see any particular value in changing the boundaries, if there were to be some ground swell of information, or opinion, as you went through the public outreach that made you feel that it was better to do it as, you know, with different boundaries, well, I wouldn't be opposed to listening to that, but at this point, I don't really, I don't really see that that's necessary. Okay, so I think that everybody's had a chance to answer the questions, and we can move on to the next group. And the next one is... This is one about this one is about outreach. And A is, does the council have feedback regarding the proposed outreach approach? And, B, is the council interested in an advisory working group for this project? If so, does counsel have feedback on the composition of the group. So who would like to start this discussion? Jump in. Ellen.

[01:18:57] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Thank you.

[01:18:58] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay. Come in.

[01:18:59] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thank you.

[01:18:59] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: No problem.

[01:19:00] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Okay, so question 2 about outreach. So, um, I want to thank staff. We had an opportunity council did to do some staff briefings, and I already feel like the list has included some of the feedback that I provided. So I'm very thrilled by that. And I... And I think one of the things that I've been thinking about regarding outreaches, how do we encourage residents, business owners to really get engaged and go beyond the usual people who are involved in the process. And so I love seeing on here our youth advisory group. our non-native English speaking groups, um, and then under other interested parties, I wanted to share one of the things that is so unique about Mountain View is that most all residents come to our downtown. And so I had shared with stuff. I'd love for all of our neighborhood associations to be engaged or to know that our downtown precise plan is happening. I know that we always receive emails from everyone. We represent residents at large. It's really important. So other interested parties, I do consider our different neighborhood groups to be involved with that. And I really want to comment city staff on the outreach approach that we've been taking, which is creating a website, making sure that that website has translation. Um, I'd love to see um, similar to my feedback with the economic vitality strategy, you know, QR codes for people when they're downtown to scan to give the feedback to see the website. I'm really hoping that, um, are, and from what I'm seeing, the proposed outreach will be interactive, engaging, um, and go beyond, I think, um, just those who might be considered in the downtown core. So for question B, in terms of interest in advisory working for the project. I feel torn. I know that in other precise plans, we have done. an advisory working group. I think that it's been interesting to hear the community kind of divided in their feedback to us on whether they would like one or not. And I think that that has me reflecting, as a council member, is there a gap in how we've been doing our typical outreach? Um, with people feeling like maybe there isn't, their voices are not being heard. I think the advisory working group, kind of a dedicated group beyond just the key stakeholders, um, highlighted makes sense. But I want to make sure that people feel a participatory spirit. And so I really look to my colleagues on kind of where they'd like to go with this. I feel like I'm happy to support it if we feel like this is going to be a place where we're going to have impactful feedback. But if not, I do think that we could work with the consultant to do kind of more targeted focused groups as well. So really looking forward to the dialogue. Thank you.

[01:22:45] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Council member Manachek.

[01:22:47] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. So, uh, I think we had a good conversation when, um, I met with staff about the outreach and I appreciate the long list. I think you've got, um, it's a great list, and I certainly hope that, um, especially the neighborhood associations, um, when they hear from the city, send it out to their entire neighborhood, and encourage people to participate, because I think it's really important to get residents to participate in this one. If there's one time they're gonna participate, this should be it. So, I really want to reach residence. Um, in terms of the advisory working group, um, I have very mixed feelings about this. I think it worked well for the El Camino real. project. Um, but I think times have changed, and now it feels more and more like, um, there are more special interest advocacy groups. Um, Actually, many composed of the same people, just with a different name. And many people who don't live in Mountain View. And what I don't want to have happen is those special interest groups take over an advisory working group. And the voice of the average resident isn't heard in that group. So, I'm kind of thinking that those advocacy groups are gonna show up, no matter what, at the council meetings. So, I would say we don't necessarily need an advisory group. Um, let's try to get the average resident in many other ways to participate. Thanks.

[01:24:44] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Council member Ramirez.

[01:24:46] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you. I agree with council members Kumei and Matachek about the robust outreach plan that staff has prepared. So I agree with the list provided. I do think, to some extent, in a way that's appropriate and meaningful, soliciting input from other patrons of downtown. Residents, of course, are very paramount in their participation, but, you know, downtown is successful because there are folks from outside of Mountain View who come and patronize it as well. So, understanding things like how, uh, they choose to come to downtown and, you know, ways that we can help facilitate, uh, transportation and circulation, um, you know, understanding those kinds of questions, I think, um, has some value. But the stakeholder outreach proposal that staff is prepared is very strong. Um, and I also share my colleagues, um, uh, sort of, there's a, an internal tension in, uh, the, uh, advisory working group. I I think there, um, there could be some value in this. Um, and, you know, I would, I would make sure that we would, we would be very careful in the selection of the participants. Um, but, you know, as I as I thought about it over the past couple of days, I feel like, um, one key question that you had asked council member can may is, you know, what's what's missing, right? Is there something that, um, that we can achieve only with this type of working group that we couldn't achieve with the broader strategy that staff has prepared? I'm not, I wasn't able to figure that out. I think this is good. And like council member Mattachek said, the folks who are interested will have multiple opportunities to participate. Downtown committee, EPC, council meetings, and then the community workshops and the website. Um, I'm not sure if there's, um, there's going to be, um, a gap that's going to be filled with this. And then the other thing, the other thing that comes to mind is it's going to take a lot of staff work. And so I feel like if we're not able to readily identify the value add, that the working group, you know, could provide maybe that staff time and effort would be better spent on other components of the update. So those are my thoughts for now. Thank you.

[01:27:18] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Um, Council member Ramos.

[01:27:22] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Vice Mayor. Um, so, uh, I do appreciate staff's robust outreach process. Um, I'm very much a look under every rock, kind of, uh, girl, when it comes to, to figuring this out. Um, and, um, I agree with most of my colleagues on what they have already said, so I will not repeat those. Um, when it comes to the, I guess, the really the surprise, um, pushback against an advisory group. Um, I, I think about, uh, uh, it was mentioned before, like we, we want, uh, maybe we can get more information out from, from a smaller stakeholder group meetings, but the problem is with those smaller stakeholder group meetings is, um, they're not as open to the public and that, that, that has its advantages and where you could get more, um, open feedback than the disadvantages of, It has the advantage of people can be easier conversations to see what those needs are, essentially, like you could have conversations when you have like a small group of a particular stakeholder. Um, setting out as opposed to when you have like a community meeting format where you have like 10000000 people on a Zoom call and you have people yelling at each other in the chat and or even in the questions items in worst case scenarios, which I don't think that this is a type of topic that will hit a worst case scenario. I think this is like a type of topic that people are generally happy to engage in and and come up with with ideas and hopes and. Um, I do not necessarily see exactly the full value of the advisory working group, except that it is an opportunity for more engagement. Um, I am, I'm thinking of staff time in, in staffing that advisory body. I don't know if. Um, if it is redundant, then we could probably get rid of it. If not, it is another community engagement opportunity. Um, We can go to. So I'm, unless staff feels that it is, um, more difficult to do. I'm inclined to keep an advisory, uh, a committee, so you actually have a meeting that where you could have those conversations. Um, and and essentially a more opportunity sort of engagement. Um, and that's generally how I feel about that. Thank you.

[01:30:15] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay, well, I think we all agree. I certainly agree that I really appreciate how well you've mapped up out the possibilities for outreach. I think you have pretty much turned over every possible rock, or opportunity, that we have, and that's great, because, as everybody's said, the downtown really belongs to all of us. I mean, it's not just the people that have a business there, or the people who live there, or work there, it's all of us. We all use the downtown. And, um, uh, and we all enjoy it, or, or are sort of sad when there's problems. And I think, in particular, as we develop this pedestrian mall. That's going to get to be much more the case than it has been even in the past, because it's such a great gathering place. So this is really important. And I'm very pro advisory groups. I've had a lot of experience with them over the years, and the thing that I think is so valuable about an advisory group is that you have the same people who come to not just one meeting, but all the subsequent meeting, or, you know, the four or five meetings that you have. And so, they learn, they get educated at each meeting, and the quality of the recommendations that they can make improves based on that education. And I also think it's a, because you get people on an advisory board, that come from really different perspectives in the community, you allow those people to be face to face, and sort of hear the other perspectives, and come to a consensus about, you know, what's more appropriate for mountain views needs. So I'm really very strong on it. I think we should have an advisory group for this. I think it may take some staff time, but I think that the increase in the caliber of input is really worth it. And I think that community mean, sometimes you have community meetings where you really do get great input. And other times, they're just not helpful at all, and it's very hard to, um... It's very hard to control that. But with advisory groups. You have people who are really committed to this subject. and willing to come back, you know, for months at a time. And I just think for something like this, particularly that's going to go on for several years, it's in our interest to have that. So that's, you know, that's my feeling. So it seems like we have, we have kind of mixed messages on this.

[01:33:13] Unknown Speaker: And, um, uh, Vice mayor.

[01:33:17] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yeah. If I may. So, yes, I'm hearing three, uh, let staff continue with a robust work plan and two for an advisory group. So you may want to take a straw pole on that.

[01:33:34] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Why don't we do that then? And, um, Does anybody have any suggestions of what exactly the straw pole should be? Do we want to say we let staff work on this, or we want we want to just say, let's have one or don't have one? Okay. So that's the question. Everybody raise your hand if you're in favor of having an advisory committee. Okay, and, uh, Emily, I take it you have Council member Ramos has her hand up?

[01:34:11] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Yes.

[01:34:12] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. So we have two, four, and those who do not want to have one. Okay, all right. Well, then, unfortunately, that's, that's, uh... All right, so... We have one more. We have one more topic to respond to that is question three. Does the council support the removal or delay of the temporary office cap in the council work plan? Or ultimately, does council wish to move forward with the temporary office cap? Item as a priority item in the current work plan and schedule the item for discussion at a future study session? So, uh, council member Mattachek.

[01:35:07] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thanks. So I am supportive of exploring some sort of temporary office cap. We haven't really even discussed it, so to remove it from the work plan seems kind of premature to me. Um, because it's, you know, I think we might have different perspectives on this, but for me, it's not a moratorium. It's a way to, um, potentially get some benefits for the city. It's like a job's housing linkage. Um, it would potentially allow whatever's in the pipeline to continue. And others could continue, maybe, depending upon what parameters we have. But I think we should, um, at least talk about it, um, and come up with, if we were gonna have it, what would it look like, um, because it's not, like, cut and dry to me, what it actually looks like, because we haven't had that discussion yet. And while some say, well, you know, we don't want to, um, there isn't much interest in building offices right now, um, so we don't really need this. Well, we continue to see projects that are for offices downtown. Um, they're small offices, but I guess I don't know what I don't know. And I'm guessing there's projects out there that we all don't know about, and some of them could be offices. And so I am interested in exploring this. And again, it's not a moratorium. It's, uh, you know, how do we sort of guide office development in the way we want to until we can get the precise plan done. Thanks.

[01:37:02] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Um, I would just like to bring up that, um, in discussions with, uh, the city attorney, and you can help me out if I don't get this right. Um, we, the idea with this discussion tonight is that we will make a recommendation, and then, um, uh, through this discussion about, uh, for the precise plan, and then it will be officially brought up in February at the, um, at the six month budget review, because that's when we go over our work plan, and we would, we would specifically take it out at that point if we want to do that. Did I get that correct?

[01:37:43] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: Yes, vice mayor. essentially, tonight is just a study session, so you're discussing future actions that can be brought back for final action. You would essentially bring the item back if you wanted to remove the office cap or not.

[01:38:00] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay. Um, Council member Ramirez.

[01:38:04] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you Vice Mayor. So my thinking about this has been pretty heavily influenced by the staff report, which so a couple of things. One is I'm not certain that the staff time and effort will yield the benefits that I think we would like to see. I mean, the unfortunate reality is a lot of the biggest and most impactful office projects have either been constructed or entitled, and as the staff report indicates, the market really isn't there for substantial office projects moving forward. And on top of that, the soonest, realistically, we can get a cap in place would be almost a year from now. And that's a lot of staff time, you know, community meetings, uh, the meetings with EPC and council, um, that sort of like the advisory, uh, working group would probably be better spent on many of our other, uh, work plan items like the Moffat Boulevard precise plan and, uh, others. I'm not sure, you know, who would be working on the temporary office cap item, but that person probably has many other things on their plate as well. And so I'm having trouble seeing, as the staff report had indicated, as the stakeholder input that we've gotten, suggests what we would get in return from that expenditure of staff time and effort. So I'm comfortable with the recommendation to remove or delay. And if we delay it, you know, maybe think about is, if we're achieving something like, uh, jobs housing, balance related objectives, is there maybe a different way of achieving that goal, um, as council member Medachek pointed out, and as a staff report indicated, a lot of the office projects tend to be pretty small. and in downtown, and in contrast, we're seeing very large projects in other parts of the city. And so those have a much bigger impact on the job's housing imbalance. So we might want to think if the council wants to continue exploring this item, you know, what does it mean maybe at a citywide level rather than just narrowly scoped to downtown. So I would be okay based on the information presented to us with delaying or removing the temporary office cap item. Thank you.

[01:40:44] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Council member Kameh.

[01:40:45] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thank you. Um, I've been trying to recollect the council discussion about this item, and I feel like one of the, the things that came up was, how do we, what do we do in the interim between the adopt final adoption of the downtown precise plan? and what I'd call incompatible uses or uses that council and the residents are not wanting to see downtown? town So, I don't, and I, I don't know if it is a cap or it is something else in the interim. And so I suppose, and I apologize that I didn't ask staff this in advance. At times, when counsel is moving in a certain direction. We make it known to our development community, that these are the things that we're looking for. These are the things that council would like to see, and this is the direction that our precise plans are going in. and we're able to work with applicants to kind of move them in the area of what will finally be adopted. Is that something that staff feels can be done? Or do we need to look at something like a cap or something else in the interim?

[01:42:22] Unknown Speaker: So I think what you're alluding to, correct me if I'm wrong, is, um, occasionally when we've been in process with precise plans, we've opened up gatekeeper opportunities to applicants that are interested in, um, building something that will ultimately fit the vision of the precise plan that we're working on, but maybe isn't consistent with the existing intensities or standards of the area. That's really effective when you're talking about increases in intensity or development. And so that really gives a developer, an applicant, a strong incentive to work with the city, in order to get that that additional density or intensity. It's a little bit harder if we're not sure right now about the potential density change or intensity change that the community wants to see downtown. Um, and so, um, that is, I think, one reason for the cap approach is because, um, it kind of ensures that whatever we ultimately adopt with the downtown precise plan, it's going to be larger than the cap. And so people have the incentive to work with us on the vision, rather than maybe what's allowed today.

[01:43:48] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: But the projects listed in the staff report on page 14 that are projects in the pipeline, those are ones that would be, quote unquote, grandfathered already, correct?

[01:44:01] Unknown Speaker: Yeah, so we had originally proposed, even back when we took it to the EPC last year, that certain projects that had already submitted applications would be pipelined in. Again, and just to clarify, you know, the question in the staff report is, you know, should, you know, direct staff to come back and maybe remove or delay the project when we come back for the scope of work, as you ask the attorney, or come back for a study session, if you want to continue moving forward with the project. And so we would come back for that study session to talk about those questions of pipeline provisions, who to let through the door. Yeah. Okay.

[01:44:50] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Thank you. Because as I've been thinking about question three, I'm trying to figure out with the different moving pieces that we have on our work plan is calling out a temporary office cap the way that we will address kind of the issues that are coming up. and I'm not and I'm not sure. Um, and so, that's, I'm trying to get, I'm trying to get creative on how we address that. Um, versus having to go through a separate study session process on, on this item and kind of, because the other, the other thing that I feel constrained by is staff has, or in past, the temporary office cap would only be until the end of 2024. Is that, that was what was in the, from the EPC meeting from last year. So that would still, right?

[01:45:51] Unknown Speaker: So even if this came back to council, it wouldn't come back to us in 2024. And then this would only be implemented for. We would implement it for approximately 2 years from the date that, well, again, we would come back for a study session and we would talk to council, you know, if we were to bring back something similar to what we brought to EPC, it would be a two-year cap. So that would be from the date that council adopts.

[01:46:23] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: I just think kind of given that tight timeline and our ambition to have this downtown precise plan adopted by 2026, it leads me to think about delaying this. Um, and perhaps, you know, we can discuss this, again, when when staff comes back in Q one, after we know more about, like, the RFP and the consultant selection, but I don't feel comfortable today, making a determination. Um, so for for me, I think it's gonna be question 3A, um, delay. Thanks, vice mayor. And thanks staff for answering my questions.

[01:47:10] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: We like to hear from our city manager.

[01:47:13] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Thank you, vice mayor and council member, Kamee, everyone with the questions. Um, I think perhaps I could provide a little more context into timing and what staff was thinking of. So in terms of bringing this back to council for a study session. It was contemplated to come back to council the 1st quarter of 24. So we're talking January or February. And that's just because of all the work that's needed to do the cap, have another meeting, go to EPC, and then come back to council. And then at that point, when you all would formally adopt it after staff would come back to you ostensibly a 2nd time, then the cap would be in place after that. And then, as noted, we would be driving to finish up the price precise plan by the end of 26. So, if that just gives a little context just with timing of the work plan projects, that's how that would roll out. Then in terms of how we would bring this back to council, depending on what you all decide tonight. You would be discussing this in February with the midgear budget. That's normally your check-in on council work plan items, where sometimes you shift things around or tweak them or remove them or change them. And so that's essentially when we would bring this back to you all for formal determination, if that's what you wish. Thank you.

[01:48:41] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Council member Ramos.

[01:48:44] Councilmember Emily Ramos: So, um, I've been kind of irritated with the office cap item for a while. It's very strange because no, because of Mountain View's jobs housing imbalance, really most of us are not going to fall on our swords for office space. It's, it's one of those things where it's just like, we, there, there's, we want more housing, we want to, uh, create a nice, vibrant community. Um, but it's also kind of strange that, especially in this economy as it is now, where, like, uh, most office space is not really game built, but somehow amount of view is getting some projects. We're gonna see one later, uh, tonight. Um, but like, particularly the peninsula seems to be like this weird bizarro land where there is, uh, demand for the office space while every other city outside of this area, essentially, is like begging for offices. So I always found it like really a strange conundrum to me. Um, With, with it being a temporary thing. Um, I don't think it's necessary with the economy as it is now. And then by the time the economy actually does ramp up, hopefully we do have our precise plan, so I am inclined to go with a removal or delay, um, based on what staff has provided us already. Um, Yeah, and but I guess the biggest thing is I'm not inclined to make it the highest of our priorities, or not necessarily the highest priorities, but like among group with the highest priorities. We have so many other things I'd rather have our staff doing, particularly in our planning department. So, um, I am inclined to move forward with either removal or delay. Thank you.

[01:50:43] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Thank you. Well, um, so that brings it to me, and I think this is unnecessary at this time. When we talked about this, when we were developing our work plan almost a year ago, the interest rates hadn't gotten to the point they were, things hadn't slowed down, you know, the ability to borrow money, hadn't slowed down so dramatically. I just think this is something that's gonna happen naturally. Well, that's happening naturally. There's a huge vacancy rate. I don't think we need to impose this. I think the economies imposing it. And, um, I just hope that we'll get more housing development, because that's what we really need. That's what I'm hoping for. But anyway, so I would concur with staff's recommendation to remove this and from the council work plan. And, of course, we would need to vote on that in February.

[01:51:47] Mayor Alison Hicks: So, I think that that brings us to the end of this discussion, and, uh, I think we would all like to take a 10 minute break. Oh, do we need to... right. We need to summarize.

[01:52:07] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay. We've gone through the scope of work. Everybody seemed to feel that the scope of work was good, and there was a lot of interest in place making, pedestrian strategies, giving staff the latitude to evaluate other objectives, and... interest in discussing climate change impacts and adaptations that were included. We, there was not interest in changing the boundary at this time, but there was quite a bit of discussion of, um, if something was to come up in the public outreach, that, you know, that change that, we'd be interested in hearing about it. Everybody was very impressed by the robust outreach program that staff is proposing, but there was not majority support for an advisory group. That was quite mixed. The office cap. Most people seem to feel that we should delay this or get rid of it. that Council member Mattachek had a different opinion, but generally, the idea was to delay it because of the economic factors. Does that sum it up?

[01:53:48] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you, Vice Mayor. I would just add, in terms of the first question for the scope of work, um, also to add the downtown parking strategy, the dark skies ordinance and the holistic parking review to the parallel work product timeline.

[01:54:06] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes, that sounds good.

[01:54:07] Mayor Alison Hicks: Does anybody else have anything that we should add to that summary? Okay, seeing none. Um, I think that that does, uh, wrap it up, and we'll take a 10 minute break, and, um, then we'll start the regular meeting. Thanks, everybody.

[01:54:41] Mayor Alison Hicks: Oh. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the special meeting of the Mountain View City Council of November 7th, 2023. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. 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. The city clerk will now take attendance by roll call.

[01:55:30] City Clerk: Council member, Abbe Koga,

[01:55:31] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: here,

[01:55:32] City Clerk: Council member, Kamei, Council member, Matachek.

[01:55:34] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Here.

[01:55:35] City Clerk: Council member Ramirez.

[01:55:36] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Here.

[01:55:36] City Clerk: Council member Ramos.

[01:55:38] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Here.

[01:55:38] City Clerk: Vice Mayor Shal Walter.

[01:55:39] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Here,

[01:55:40] City Clerk: Mayor Hicks.

[01:55:40] Mayor Alison Hicks: Here.

[01:55:41] City Clerk: Unicorn.

[01:55:42] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Unfortunately, in recent weeks, several of our neighboring elected decision making bodies have been subjected to disruptive, racist verbal attacks by anonymous callers during virtual public comments. The city of Mountain View is fully committed to racial, religious, and cultural equity and justice as we strive to create a welcoming, safe, and inclusive community for all. The council welcomes respectful and non threatening public comments regarding matters over which the council has jurisdiction. Comments deemed otherwise, pursuant to the council code of conduct, and the government code may be grounds for terminating a speaker's comment period. And now we'll move to item number four on our agenda, which is the consent calendar. These items will be improved by one motion. Unless any member of the council wishes to remove an item for discussion. If you'd like to speak on this item, or the next item, which is oral communications on nonagenda items in person, then please submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk now. And I see, now is the time when council members can pull an item if they like, and I see several council members, either with comments or items they want to pull. So vice mayor.

[01:57:12] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes, I'd like to make a couple of comments. Um, one, um, about, uh, 4.3. That is the fiscal year annual compliance report for development impact fees and capacity charges, and information or reporting on the parkland dedication fees. These fees are a very interesting part of the city's revenue stream. And I would just urge people to take a look at this, if you're interested in seeing how the city brings in money for water and sewer and transportation improvements in housing. It's very interesting. And thank you very much to all of the staff that put this together. I know it's a complex report, but it's an important part of our budget. And I want to thank council member, Mattachek, for being willing to stay the extra day at the National League of Cities conference to go to the business meeting, and vote for us. Or I presume she will still agree to do that. And, um, then... And then I wanted to mention the, uh, the inventory, the greenhouse gas inventory. That is for our local city use. And, um, you know, we are, we are being very aggressive on the greenhouse gas reduction front, and asking, really, everyone in our community to, um, you know, to make changes so that we're all cutting our emissions. So it's important that the city report out what exactly are we doing with our own, you know, our own buildings and fleet and our own use. So that's what this report is about. And I think it's quite interesting. And, um, then, um, for the city schedule meeting, um, there was one meeting, I wanted to bring up. That's, I think, the second one in March. That is during the National League of Cities conference. And I wondered if we will want to just bring that to attention to staff, and maybe we'll want to add a special meeting in March to allow us to all go to NLC. Thank you.

[01:59:41] Mayor Alison Hicks: So, Vice Mayor, are you pulling that one for changes, or how are you, what are you suggesting?

[01:59:50] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: I'll pull that for changes.

[01:59:52] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yeah. And which item again was that?

[01:59:57] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay, you'll have time to... I don't know. let you come back and tell me.

[02:00:02] Mayor Alison Hicks: Uh, so, Council member Mattachek?

[02:00:05] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Uh, I just want to register a no vote on item 4.2.

[02:00:10] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Thank you. So, uh, vice mayor, did you find it?

[02:00:19] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes. When you... I think it's 4.7.

[02:00:23] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay.

[02:00:24] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: And when you look at the meeting schedule, March 12th, actually, that's the first meeting in March, that is a Tuesday, and the NLC conference is essentially Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. So many of us will be in Washington, D.C. Then, so it might be good to have a meeting the week before or the week after, but I think that, um, uh, it will be hard to have one that day and have us all go to, or have many of us go to NLC as well.

[02:00:57] Mayor Alison Hicks: So you're suggesting March 5th, which is the week before the week before?

[02:01:02] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Well, I would just suggest that we give it to staff to evaluate.

[02:01:10] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. So... Council member, command?

[02:01:17] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thank you. I guess a question for staff. If people go to NLC, they're able to remotely participate.

[02:01:27] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: Yeah, that's correct. So just as Council member Ramos is participating remotely this evening, the government code does have an exception where council members could participate remotely without having to post an agenda. The only requirement is that there be 4 of you present here in chambers. Um, I think last year we only had 2 council members attend the March, um, yeah. So it would really depend on how many council members planned on.

[02:01:55] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great. Okay, that's what I thought. Thank you.

[02:01:57] Mayor Alison Hicks: So I've heard a suggestion to bring it to staff for changes or also a suggestion to maybe keep it at the same date and see and make sure that there are enough people. Oh, uh, Vice mayor, are you still in the queue? Uh, Council member Abi Koka.

[02:02:15] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor. I would just say that there is a 3 hour time difference instead of meeting here at 6.30 starts at 9.30 p.m. in D.C. and just to be mindful of if you were to participate virtually, it gets pretty late, especially if we have a long meeting. So I think it would be ideal to move it for anyone who is thinking of going to it.

[02:02:40] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, so uh, after discussion, uh, maybe bring back to staff for, um, for looking that over and seeing if we need to make any changes and bring it back at another meeting. But otherwise, we'll keep it the same for now. Is that does that work?

[02:02:57] City Clerk: Okay. Mayor, may I clarify?

[02:03:02] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay.

[02:03:02] City Clerk: So, your regular meetings are the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. So you would meet the 12th as you're discussing, and then you already have a meeting on the 26th. So probably the 19th of March would be the most likely candidate, um, to then have your meetings on the 19th and the 26th, but if you all know if you're attending the conference that might be helpful. I mean, if there's a majority of you attending, I could see where that may be a challenge, but if there's not a majority of you attending, you might want to think about whether it's worth it to change the date. It wouldn't be staff's recommendation, but certainly you all have the purview to change your regular meeting schedule. So we could move it, if you all wanted to. I would say the 19th.

[02:03:52] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, so we have the possibility of moving it to the 19th or keeping it the same and uh, and dealing with it later when we know who's attending. I'm going to take a straw pole for moving it to the 19th, all those in favor. One, two, three, four. Oh, and Emily. Okay. Five. So we'll move it to the 19th for now, and if need be, we can discuss it again. Okay, with that. Um, we have, I don't see any members of the public wishing, in person, wishing to discuss the consent calendar, and now is your time to raise hands in Zoom. I don't see anyone with raised hands in Zoom. So, I do see a motion by council member Ramirez, and I think there's some reading to do.

[02:04:51] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Yes, thank you, Mayor. I'll move to approve the consent calendar. Including item 4.2. Adopt a resolution of the city council of the city of Mountain View, reappointing Alex Nuñez, and appointing Paul Donahue to the Environmental Planning Commission, and appointing Alex Brown to the Rental Housing Committee, to be read entitled only, further reading waived, with the no vote registered by council member Manachek. And then it sounds like based on the straw poll, um, approving 4.7 with the modification to, I can't recall what the original date was moved. So March, the meeting on March 12th would be moved to the 19th. Okay, now we can vote.

[02:05:30] Mayor Alison Hicks: We need to do a roll call. Oh, okay. So we won't be using the vote cast.

[02:05:38] City Clerk: Council member Ramirez?

[02:05:40] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Yes.

[02:05:41] City Clerk: Vice mayor show Walter?

[02:05:43] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes.

[02:05:44] City Clerk: Council member Abbe Koga? Council member Kamei.

[02:05:47] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Yes.

[02:05:47] City Clerk: Council member Mattachek?

[02:05:49] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Yes.

[02:05:49] City Clerk: Council member Ramos.

[02:05:51] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Yes.

[02:05:51] City Clerk: Mayor Hicks?

[02:05:52] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yes.

[02:05:53] City Clerk: Motion carries unanimously.

[02:05:57] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, so we, uh, Now we are moving to item 5 on our agenda, which is oral communications. This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the council in any matter, not on the agenda. Speakers are allowed to speak on any topic within the city council, subject matter jurisdiction for up to 3 minutes during this section. State law prohibits the council from acting on these non agenda items. If you would like to speak on this item or the next item in person, submit a blue speaker card, and if you'd like to speak in Zoom, please raise your hand. I see... So, we will take in person speakers first. Again, this will be for three minutes, and I see Nell's DeLander.

[02:06:54] Nels Delander: Ladies and gentlemen of Modern View, my name is Nels Delander, I'm a field representative of the Norcal Harbors Union. I stand before you today of a matter of most importance, the need for strong area labor standards in the community. It is crucial that we have prioritize a livable wage, accessible healthcare, and a steadfast commitment to pressure programs. Mountain View is a vibrant community, and prosperity relies on the hard work and dedication of his residence. We must ensure that those who contribute to the city's progress are fairly compensated and treated with dignity. A livable way is not a luxury, is a fundable right, that allows individuals and families to me the basic needs and thrive in the society. Healthcare is another critical aspect of supporting our workers. Access to affordable healthcare should not be a privilege for a reserved fortunate few by advocating for healthcare provisions. We can guarantee the well-being of the workforce and ability to contribute effectively in the community. Equally important is a commitment to apprenticeship programs. These programs offer individuable opportunities for skill development and career advancement by investing in local talent and providing them with quality training, we not only empower the workers, but also build a resilient local economy. Also, we must address issues of developers exploiting workers by paying them substandard wages. We cannot allow such practices to persist unchecked. It is important that we enact policies and regulations to protect the workers and ensure that developers who enter the community abide by fair labor practices. Together, we can build a stronger, more equitable community for all. Thank you for your time.

[02:08:45] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. So I see no additional in person speakers. Last chance to raise your hand in Zoom, because I see no hands raised right now. Okay, I think we're done with item five, and we'll move on to item six, 6.1 in particular, which is a public hearing on 701 through 747 West Evelyn Avenue Project and Development Agreement. Um, Advanced planning manager, Eric Anderson, and assistant development director, Amber Blizzinsky, will present the item.

[02:09:28] Advanced Planning Manager Eric Anderson: Thank you very much, Mayor Hicks. Thank you, city council. Excuse me. My name is Eric Anderson. I'm the advanced planning manager. I'm joined by Amber Blzinski, Assistant Community Development Director. This is 701 to 747 West Evelyn Avenue Project and Development Agreement. The applicant is Marwood. The project is located on a .26 acre site in the corner of Hope and Evelyn in the downtown Precise Plan. It's currently occupied by one story commercial buildings and it's surrounded by one to three story commercial buildings. and the city parking lot four. The downtown transit center is across Evelyn Avenue, and city parking lot 8 is across Hope Street. Lots 4 and 8 are the subjects of an approved hotel and office development. by the Robert Green Company. They are currently working to receive their building permits. This project's planned community permit and development review permit was approved by the city council in November 2019. That approval has not expired. The approved project is 4 stories and includes about 28,000 square feet of office and about 6,500 square feet of ground floor retail. The applicant is requesting a modification to their proposed project to remove the underground parking and replace it with one level of underground storage bike parking and showers. They are also requesting new approvals for a development agreement, heritage tree removal permit, and preliminary parcel map. When the project was approved back in 2019, it was approved with three levels of underground parking that was accessed only through the adjacent Robert Green Company Hotel garage. Even at that time, that proposal was uncertain, and the applicant proposed 2 options for accommodating their parking need. City council directed staff to bring back an analysis on the alternative parking proposals. In 2021, the city council held a study session, regarding the downtown parking strategy, and partnership options for funding a new parking garage. At this meeting, council directed staff to begin work on a new garage at Lot 5 to be partially funded by developer partnerships, including Marwood. Prior to this hearing, the zoning administrator and subdivision committee held a hearing to make a recommendation regarding this project. The ZA recommended approval of the permit modification, heritage tree removal, permit, and DA and the subdivision committee recommended approval of the preliminary parcel map. No comments from the public were provided prior to or during the hearing. Since 2021, staff have been negotiating a development agreement with Marwood. The key development agreement terms include the following city benefits. First, $8 million for parking and other access improvements, which can include the parking lot parking garage at Lot 5. This is split into two payments. $10,000 at execution, and the balance at occupancy or 2 years, whichever is first. This timing is in line with when the city will need the funds in order to construct the garage. In addition, they're providing a tax point of sale designation, which will allow the city to receive more sales tax from construction activities, and that will provide a mural on the south wall if the Robert Green project on Lot 4 does not precede the Marwood project. Marwood is seeking the following benefits. Preferential access to 65 permits for 30 years. These permits will be the same as other permits offered through the city's downtown parking permit program, except they will be guaranteed no matter how many would be otherwise available to the property owner. They would also be available at reduced rates. Free for 10 years, and 25% off for the remaining 20 years of the agreement. They are also requesting a five-year exemption from new fees. The applicant is also requesting two new permits, which are not modifications to previous permits. First, there are 3 heritage protocarpus trees on Lot 4 located right along the project property line. These trees are currently approved for removal with the Robert Green Company project. However, if that project does not proceed, This project would need a heritage tree removal permit. The trees are too close to the approved projects foundation, an elevator, and would need to be removed in order to construct them. The applicant is also requesting a new preliminary parcel map to merge the underlying lots, and clarify the project's dedications, vacations, and easements. This project includes several public improvements in the area. As part of the previous approval, the project will make a consistent 13 foot wide sidewalk along Evelyn Avenue, where it currently varies between 8 feet and 18 feet. This involved a previously approved street vacation. In addition, the applicant has agreed to make several necessary improvement. to the Hope and Villa Street intersection, including new curb ramps and crosswalk striping. The applicant has proposed a TDM program with monitoring and penalties, which would result in a 33% trip production. It includes funding and services such as free transit passes, guaranteed ride home, membership in the TMA, and others. The project is eligible for the infill exemption to the California Environmental Quality Act. In addition, it is screened out of VMT analysis due to its location near major transit. Here is the zoning administrator and subdivision committee's recommendation, including the sequid determination, approval of the permit modification, the new permits, and the development agreement. The recommendation is based on the project's consistency with the general plan, the city code, and the subdivision Map Act, as well as the findings and conditions in attachments 1, 2, and 3 to the council report. This concludes our presentation, more available for any questions. Marwood Company's Architect, Ernest Yamane is also here with a presentation.

[02:15:38] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you very much.

[02:15:44] Eric (city staff): Thank you.

[02:15:47] Mayor Alison Hicks: So we'll now have a presentation by Ernest Yamane, partner and senior vice president of Steinberg Heart on behalf of the applicant.

[02:15:59] Ernest Yamane (Marwood's architect): Good evening, Mayor Hicks, members of the council. Pleased to be here tonight. It's been a journey that started probably around 2015, um, interrupted by the pandemic, as most of our lives were, um, really, uh, still trying to uh, move forward with this project. Um, I think, is there, uh, slight? The project has, um, you know, I actually was a Mountain View resident, so I'm at the 1980s, and the one of the buildings was actually, um, owned by Depot Garage, the Yamada family who actually took care of the police cars, I think, for the city way back when. So, this is kind of, um, just give you maybe a look at what we tried to do, develop in terms of design. I think we were trying to connect with some of the historical elements of the downtown, keep that character, but also speak to something that's new. It has a, it's a very small site, but a very prominent site next to a city park and across the street from the transit terminal. So it may essentially be the gateway to the city for many of those taking the transit and pedestrian kind of experienced to the downtown next. So, I think Eric really covered quite a bit of this, in terms of, you know, the contributions to this, but we were, um, really trying to build a small office building with a pedestrian oriented retail development, um, and, um, we're trying to extend the entitlements, um, you know, partly because of the economy and so forth. Um, and in that, I want to thank Eric, you know, personally, I think it's been a very, um, back and forth negotiation to even make the project a little bit better since we were here in the last approval. Next. So this is the current site. Um, the, uh, garage building, blossom ways to the right there, uh, which is kind of like a service alley to the, the, uh, retail shops along Castro Street. There's a very prominent corner at Hope Street, because a lot of people actually come down to Evelyn and make that turn. So this building will also have a nice presence as you enter the downtown by automobile as well. So, kind of the appearance of that, as you come, we have a space at the corner, which is really kind of to welcome, I think, both the entrance and celebrate that entrance to the project. That'll be prominent, as I said, from the vehicles, but also from the transit mall, directly across from where the bus loop, essentially, is in plan. In the lighter grade behind it, we've worked to try to integrate this building with the green hotel, so that it's kind of a head or an edge to that activity, but very compatible with their proposed design as well. And, um, kind of, this is actually the view that you would actually see from, uh, the transit mall, um, and the bus stops there. So this would be a great place to kind of stop before and after, I think, if you're taking transportation in some form. So we've tried to use materials, there's metal, the gray as kind of metal panels, which kind of speaks to the more modern, and then we actually have French limestone, which is really the lighter beige material, and what you'll experience more at the street level. in general. And Blossom Lane, which is really quite important, I think, to the whole block development to maintain, but we tried to create a nicer edge there, both for the pedestrian, as well as kind of improve that experience of blossom. And it's our hope, too, that really, that synergy with the park, I think, is a benefit, both ways. And these are just kind of larger views, get a better feel for that, maybe open corner space, that I had mentioned earlier, and its relationship to its surroundings. And then from the blossom lane side with the park, as well. So these are actually the material palettes. I mentioned the French limestone and the metal panels, but some of the details, so that there's some, you know, historic references, I think, to the buildings. At the same time, there's this kind of modern vernacular of metal and glass that's incorporated at the upper levels. So, I think we talked about the office space. There's four floors of about 6,000 square feet. There's a retail, ground level, about 7,000 square feet, air convention, the storage, bicycle storage, and locker rooms down below. And then we have a very nice roof terrace that will overlook the city, as well, about 5,000 square feet. So that'll be a nice space for the tenants and for the city, as well. And I think that's it. So if you have any questions, be happy to answer. Thank you.

[02:21:42] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. So, do council members have questions? Council member, how about Koga?

[02:21:53] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor, and thank you for the presentation. I just had one question, and it has to do... There's a mention of a mural being painted on the, I believe, the backside of the hotel project doesn't happen, which question it happening. Is the material on the backside then going to be a different material from the limestone?

[02:22:15] Ernest Yamane (Marwood's architect): Yeah, um, it's, um, it's a planer, um, kind of backside. Most of it is actually covered by the hotel itself. There's a small courtyard element in the last designs that we were coordinating with. And that'll have a nicer material on it. The mural ideas, I think, is if the green hotel does not move forward, that we could do something with that wall, and then just leave it as a blank wall, you know, so to speak, yeah.

[02:22:45] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Okay, great. Thank you.

[02:22:46] Unknown Speaker: Mm hmm.

[02:22:48] Mayor Alison Hicks: Vice mayor.

[02:22:50] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yeah, I love the idea of the mayor of the mural. That's if the hotel doesn't go through. I think that would be a great addition. Um, move toward placemaking, which we just discussed. I wanted to ask about the construction schedule. I noticed that you don't have it starting for several years, and I just wanted to comment on why that's the case.

[02:23:20] Ernest Yamane (Marwood's architect): I spoke to, um, Mr. Wu about that a little bit. Well, I might have him come up and speak, but I think a lot of it has to do with what you were actually talking about a little while ago, which is, I think, the office market, you know, conditions in general. Um, you know, there's, you know, pretty high vacancy rates in the whole area. But I think that, you know, a few years down the road, I think we're keeping our fingers crossed that this is something that will be, um, still a positive addition in terms of a workplace. And, um, I mean, if it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen in someplace like Mountain View, where you have a fair amount of vitality, so, so... But, I don't know if you want to speak to that, Vincent, further.

[02:24:03] Vincent (applicant representative): Yeah.

[02:24:03] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay. Thank you.

[02:24:07] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member manager.

[02:24:09] Unknown Speaker: Thank you. Um, I first want to disclose that, um, I had a very brief email exchange with the applicant before tonight's meeting. Um, but a couple questions. I noticed that the parking permit request is 65, but in the previous proposal, um, you are providing 57 spaces for the building, so, I'm curious as to why there's an increase.

[02:24:37] Eric (city staff): Yeah. 57 was probably the minimum required at the time. Um, 65 was probably the discussion negotiation, I guess, huh?

[02:24:50] Mayor Alison Hicks: All right. Uh, Council member I checked.

[02:24:53] Vincent (applicant representative): So, regarding the parking, originally, it's, we have a kind of reserve parking for the less space, because this is a parking permit program now where a great, there's some change. So, first, basically, I just, because current, based on current parking permit program, and I feel like we want a little bit more just to be safe on the safe side. But if there's no need for the additional parking, we definitely want to give it back to the city, because there's no point for us to pay for additional parking phase for the parking, we don't need it. It's just because it's uncertain, unknowing. So that's why, based on our leasing team, all the, we basically talk to our listen team, they recommend us to get a little bit auditional because they are not reserved parking. So that's the background.

[02:25:40] Unknown Speaker: Okay. And their parking spaces have to be used in an area that parking permits are permitted. And it's not just the one new parking structure, correct?

[02:25:57] Eric (city staff): That's correct. Um, you know, the... there is going to be a separate agreement that we work with the applicant on, and that is going to be kind of setting the, the access to those permits over the 30 years, that they would have access to those permits. It's entirely possible that the downtown parking permit program could change substantially over that time. And so we would have this separate agreement in order to kind of determine how that parking changes to the parking program might affect the availability of permit parking spaces or other unforeseen changes. However, the way the parking permit program is now, parking permits are available at a certain, it can be used only at a certain lots around downtown, and so these permits would be identical to other permits given to other people who have them, and they would be able to park at any of those parking lots where permits can be used. And if any of those parking structures are removed or locations, there's would also not be eligible for those locations. That's correct. So the language in the DA says that they'd be eligible for permits under the parking permit program of the city. So it doesn't give them any additional, um, um, different permit access.

[02:27:39] Unknown Speaker: Okay. Great. Thank you. Um, I think that was all my questions.

[02:27:48] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yes, thank you. Thank you. Seeing no other questions. I'm going to ask a couple. First, have you done any thinking or outreach regarding the commercial tenants on the ground floor? I know it may be too early, but thinking, even.

[02:28:07] Vincent (applicant representative): We're trying to, uh, the American, we're trying to, uh, find a single tenant if it's possible, the, the, I mean, just ideally, right? If the downstairs, ideally, we want to fund some company which they have a probably retail, good retail showroom downstairs too. And, uh, office can be upstairs. But that's one option and the other one is just getting 2 tenants, single tenants for the office, then downstairs getting the regular retail tenants. But right now we didn't really haven't really started looking because it's still, if you are asking, we start targeting the tenants exactly what tenants. No we haven't. We just, yeah.

[02:28:51] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Thank you. And then my, my other question, this is not something that we're, you know, I, I, frankly, support this project, and I'm not, um, this question is not to change it. But, um, the, I always like to understand a little better. Evelyn has a 13 foot sidewalk, and this is like a gateway area. So I wanted to understand better if anyone knows, which you might not. Um, how that 13 feet was determined, because sidewalks in a place like this usually have, like, three components, like a frontage area, which is several feet next to the building, where you can put a flower pot or an A frame sign or a chair or something. And then a throughput area where you walk. Maybe that's like 8 feet. And then, like, a planting strip, or it's also called a furniture strip where you can put signs, a bunch of lamp posts. And it's, you know, good to think about those, so you don't end up putting signs and benches in the, the, um, through way area. So I'm just wondering how, if anyone knows how that 13 feet was determined. You know, between the transit and the large street and, you know, a multiple story building, I'm wondering how that, how that number was drawn out of that.

[02:30:12] Eric (city staff): So the existing sidewalk is very generous in front of the subway. It's an 18 foot sidewalk. I think that's because, originally, when the subway, what used to be the subway building was built, there was some thought that there might be another lane added to Evelyn Avenue. And of course, the sidewalk in front of where the depot garage used to be is very small, definitely too small for a vibrant downtown where we're expecting a lot of pedestrian activity. So that 10 foot difference, in my conversations was kind of simply splitting that difference. Now, it's possible that public works had another, um, kind of rationale, because we did include them in that conversation, and I don't know if the public works director has any knowledge.

[02:31:16] Public Works Director Don Cameron: Okay, it's going back quite a few years now. The, um, so the, it is in part based on our experience of other sidewalks in the downtown area. And so I know that public works uses that experience and that knowledge in order to assess whether that is an appropriate amount. Um, I will also mention that, um, part of the challenge in determining this sidewalk with is, um, was that the, um, Oh, unfortunately, this is going back too far. I don't think I can say what I was going to say with a lot of certainty. So I'll leave it at that. Um, and and if I, um, you know, if I see anything else in my notes, I'll look very briefly if I see anything else in my old notes, I'll let you know.

[02:32:15] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Thank you for indulging me.

[02:32:17] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: I always wonder, you know, is it the height of the building, the number of expected pedestrians, the gateway, you know, what, what led to that decision? So I should probably ask at some point when I'm not on the dais, and you can look into it. But thank you.

[02:32:33] Mayor Alison Hicks: So are there any other questions from council members? Okay. If not, um, would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide a comment on this item? If so, please click the raised hand button in Zoom or submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk. We will take in person speakers first, and each speaker will have two minutes. I see no in person speakers. Last chance, okay? Um, virtual speakers. Last chance, I see them. Yes, you can.

[02:33:11] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Sorry, I was, I'm trying to jog my memory and look through my notes. Um, so I just had a question. So given that the applicant, so let's see, we're in 2023, given that the applicant is thinking that this won't go forward till 2026. It's like 2 years, right? So would the applicant have to come back if it's not if they don't go forward in 2026? I'm just wondering if we're going to be in a similar position because, okay.

[02:33:44] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: So, well, if you prove the DA. That DA is good for 10 years. Okay, okay. You don't have to come back for another 10 years. Okay. If you don't approve the DA, and there is an option that you just approve the permit modification without approving the DA, then that would actually expire about a year from now. Right. And they would need to start construction in that time frame.

[02:34:09] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Yeah, sorry. Just, I was thinking it through a little bit more because I know that in tandem and part of the earlier discussion about the downtown precise plan, We're going to be looking at the residential parking permit program. We're going to be, I think, looking at parking overall. So I was just thinking all of these things as counselor Mattachek was asking the question. Okay, because our needs might change in 10 years. So I was just trying to understand the timeline. So they have the 10 years and then you can add a two-year extension to the DA, right? If that happens, is that how it works or it's just one year?

[02:34:49] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: There's no extension provision in this.

[02:34:51] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Okay. It's just 10 years. Okay, great. Thank you for those clarifications. Appreciate it. Thank you. Okay, are there other council questions, or should we move on to comments? I see no questions. Are there comments? Council member. No? Oh you go. So, I see emotion by the vice mayor and a second by council member, Abbe Kogo. Do you want to make comments on your motion, or should we?

[02:35:36] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Sure, I, um, I've been following this, uh, project now for quite a few years, and, um, I, uh, have really appreciated the, uh, developer's willingness to work with the city, and with the, um, adjacent hotel structure, whether it's there or not, and, and the flexibility on all the parking arrangements, and, um, I, um, I'm sorry it will take so many years to get to construction, but I... I understand your problems with the economy, just like the rest of us all have. So we'll, you know, it does look, however, like a, you know, a building that will add, um, a beautiful, a beautiful structure to that part of town, and will function, as you suggested, as a gateway from the transit center. And we will look forward to that. So with that, I would like to move that the council adopt a resolution of the city council, the city of Mountain View, approving a modification to a previously approved planned community permit, and development review permit, to construct a four story, commercial building, containing 28,090 square feet of office, and 6,500 square feet of retail, with a rooftop terrace, and a no parking. on a .26 acre site located at 701, 747 West Evelyn Avenue, and a heritage tree removal permit, to remove two heritage trees on the adjacent city parking lot, to be read entitled only, further reading waived. and to adopt a resolution of the city of Council of the city of Mountain View, approving a preliminary parcel map, to combine two lots onto one, 2.26 acre lot at 701, 747 West, Evelyn Avenue, to be read in title only, further reading wave, and introduce an ordinance of the city of Mountain View, approving a development agreement between the city of Mountain View, and CM Evelyn Station, LLC, for the 70 747 West Avalon Avenue commercial project to be read entitled only, further reading waived, and a second set reading for December 12th, 2023.

[02:37:59] Unknown Speaker: I'd just like to clarify, I'm sorry to interrupt. Um, it is actually three heritage trees on adjacent lot four. I'm not sure if there was a typo in the agenda for... I believe there was a typo in the agenda. It should have been 3 heritage trees. That's what was in the staff report. Yeah. Three heritage trees was in the city. Yeah, yeah. Okay. I apologize. Well, so for the heritage tree removal permit would be to remove 3 heritage trees on the adjacent city parking lot. And then, just to clarify, Vice Mayor, this would also include the staff recommendation for the sequa.

[02:38:48] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes.

[02:38:49] Unknown Speaker: Yes. you.

[02:38:55] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, I see. Do you have more comments, Vice Mayor?

[02:39:00] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay.

[02:39:02] Mayor Alison Hicks: I see comments by council member Abbe Koga?

[02:39:07] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor. I will 2nd the motion and just echo similar comments. I did talk with the applicant also for disclosure. I appreciate the flexibility of the applicant. This has been a long project in the making. And I have questioned at times the challenges with the parcel next door and the developer of that project. But I think this is a good way to move forward, regardless of what happens next door. And, um, I look forward to hopefully the, um, the opportunity to see a parking structure that I, we've been, I've been hoping for for a while and knowing, you know, my frustrations with underground parking, um, garages. So, again, just my things. I like the design very much. I have a preference for limestones, so I'm excited about that. And I think just to memory, in terms of the sidewalk. I recall us talking a lot about sidewalks when we did the Madera project. And so I'm assuming this is gonna match or be close to matching the sidewalk in front of Madeira? Is that?

[02:40:21] Unknown Speaker: Well, the sidewalk in front of Madera has a very significant park strip, so landscaping area and maybe a smaller walking area. Um, I don't know off the top of my head the dimensions of those and how they how they might relate to the 13 feet. Madera also has a setback. And so that's going to change the feel of being of the of Madeira as opposed to this location where the building doesn't have a setback other than the plaza at the corner. I did find in my notes, you know, our goals were to just have a consistent and attractive streetscape. We wanted to make sure that the building wall was consistent and didn't have that 10 foot transition. We wanted to make sure that we were creating, you know, more space for the sidewalk. And ultimately, it was a conversation with the applicant, and we, um, we, uh, the, there was some negotiation that was necessary in that process, and that's where we ended up with the negotiation.

[02:41:30] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Right. Well, thank you for that explanation. I just remember 15 feet or 13 feet from back in 2009. So that was my collection. But anyway, happiness support the project. Thank you.

[02:41:44] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Ramirez?

[02:41:47] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. I agree with my colleagues and appreciate the applicant's collaboration and partnership with the city. But I also wanted to appreciate and praise staff's work in negotiating the DA that I think does an excellent job advancing the interests of the city and helping us achieve some important downtown parking goals. So thank you very much for your work and preparing a very strong document that I'm proud to support. Thank you.

[02:42:17] Mayor Alison Hicks: So I will also be supporting the project, as I said before, and I just wanted to, in particular, I'm happy with the design that it's using kind of real materials. I like the limestone, and I like the fact that it's, I think it will fit well with the historic nature of the downtown while being modern at the same time. Not trying to be something that it's not. It's not trying to look like something from 100, 150 years ago, so, hopefully, it will be a good example for other buildings in that area. And also, thank you to staff for the history of the sidewalks. Are there more comments, or are we ready to vote? Okay, so we're voting by roll call? Yes. Vice mayor Walter? Yes.

[02:43:08] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Abi Koga? Council member Kamei?

[02:43:10] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Yes.

[02:43:10] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Madachek?

[02:43:12] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Yes.

[02:43:12] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Ramirez.

[02:43:13] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Yes.

[02:43:14] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Ramos?

[02:43:15] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Yes.

[02:43:16] Mayor Alison Hicks: Mayor Hicks? Yes. Motion carrying unanimously. Okay. So we are now moving on to, uh, item seven, which is council staff committee reports. Are there, um, council members with reports? A vice mayor.

[02:43:41] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yeah, I have a couple things I'd like to share. On Halloween. I joined Palo Alto City council members, and I think, um, mayor, I mean, Council member Abakogo was there as well, on the groundbreaking at the Palo Alto Life moves facility that's right on our border, and it's gonna be using our water and sewer system. So that's... But anyway, it was really good to see another community getting started on that. And so that was good. And then, most of us went to the employees lunch on the first, and on the second, I went to a BCDC meeting, and this one was interesting in that we talked about the seaport plan, which deals with cargo, making sure that there's enough port space to handle the cargo that we need to have in the San Francisco Bay. And actually, cargo is a very big part of our economy, getting things here and getting them here on barges and ships, which generally use less energy than planes. So, it was kind of interesting to take part in that. And then on Friday, the mayor was kind enough to take me to a mayor's meeting, and she can explain about that. Thank you.

[02:45:12] Mayor Alison Hicks: Just out of curiosity, how many stories is Palo Alto's Life moves project? Is it, one or more? How many, what? Stories. I've heard some of them are more than one story.

[02:45:22] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Oh, I think it's just one.

[02:45:24] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Thank you. Okay, apparently it was a groundbreaking. It was a groundbreaking, so it was really not clear.

[02:45:34] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: No, we have no idea I have no idea how many stories, but nobody said it was just...

[02:45:39] Unknown Speaker: Donna's giving us a two.

[02:45:41] Mayor Alison Hicks: All right. Well, that is good. Thank you. Uh, okay. So, council member Abbe Koga?

[02:45:54] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor. Yes, it was 88 units is all I remember for the Life Mis project, but they did give us Mountain View credit for partnering with them and I think probably giving them a lot of advice on how to do the projects. So I thought that was very generous of them to acknowledge us. I also attended, oh, actually, wanted to announce that thank you for your support last meeting for the city's association JPA. I got noticed that San Jose voted it in today, so we have their 8 cities that have approved it. So we will be able to form the JPA. So thank you for your support on that. Thank you.

[02:46:47] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Metic.

[02:46:48] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. We had a meeting of the Investment Review Committee on October 30th and this is an annual meeting where we review the city's investment portfolio. And we discussed potentially tweaking the investment policy to allow more leeway in terms of the types of vehicles we can invest in, and also tweaking the limits that we have in place in terms of the percentage you can invest in the various types of vehicles. But we're going to have another meeting to delve into that in more detail. We just ask staff to take a look at that. And then, after the next investment review committee meeting, if we decide we do want to make tweaks, it will come to council. And that's it. Thank you.

[02:47:41] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Commé.

[02:47:43] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thank you. I just wanted to report last Wednesday. I did my welcome for the Spanish Language Leadership Academy. I know that they graduate, I think, tomorrow. Um, and so more, um, classes, graduating, very exciting. So I just wanted to report that. Thanks.

[02:48:03] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member, Abby Coco, do you have another announcement? Okay.

[02:48:08] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Okay, so I will announce that I did go to the all mayor's meeting that, um, Mayor Matt Mahan, uh, holds quarterly and brought the vice mayor, because she will, she'll be attending next year. And basically, people went around the room and talked about what they were doing in their cities, and a great variety of opinions on the housing element, whether it's a good thing or a bad thing. The cities have the various mayors and vice mayors have very different opinions on that, which I will not share, but Pat will be able to experience them next year. Um, I also want to, uh, there's something I wanted to bring up now, kind of a new item, um, over the past several weeks. I've been meeting with folks working with an organization called Build the Future, Santa Clara County, um, namely, the folks I've been meeting with have been, um, Maria Noel Fernandez, Angelica Ramos, and Moncey Cathuria, which some of you, I think, know. And build the future advocates for affordable quality child care for all within our county. They're working with supervisors, Susan Ellenberg, and Russell Hancock, of Joint Ventures, Silicon Valley, among others. And this summer, I attended a virtual meeting for elected officials, introducing their efforts. Some of you attended as well, I think. My memory serves, I think, the vice mayor, council members, Abbe Koga, Ramos, and Kameh, maybe. If I remember right, correct me if I've added you, and you were not there, or you were there, and I didn't add you. But the city manager also attended to build the future meeting for corporate government and nonprofit leaders. Anyway, so the upshot is that, given that some of us seem to have an interest, build the future, folks, are hoping that our council can endorse a resolution in favor of affordable child care for all who want and need it. And if you're in favor tonight, we can put a resolution like that on one of our December agendas. So I'll take any questions or comments. And then, uh, counsel willing ask, uh, for counsel approval to bring this to a December council meeting.

[02:50:33] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Matachek.

[02:50:35] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Um, what would, I guess, I'm wondering what a resolution would commit us to? Is it just endorsing the concept, or is it, we've got resources to help make this happen, or what specifically would it cover?

[02:50:51] Mayor Alison Hicks: Very good question. I actually have a, um, I have, they sent me a, um, sort of a template. And I, and I, um, modified it a bit, but some of the things that it does not, um, envision that cities will be childcare providers, or will be, um, you know, devoting money to, uh, childcare. It is, um, well, the, the resolution has a number of whereases with reasons you would be doing it, um, such as, uh, how much a family living in Silicon Valley needs to pay on average for child and infant care, for example. And then it has a number of things that we would do, such as advocate for public funding streams, not from ourselves, but be an advocate. propose and support policies and practices that will facilitate expedited zoning, permitting and licensing processes for center based and home based childcare facilities, empower our staff or departments to promote the importance of childcare businesses in the city and provide technical support. So it's things along those lines. And I imagine that the, the, um, agenda and staff report would include this, and we could have a discussion and modify it if, um, if, if it weren't it. Thank you. Council member committee?

[02:52:32] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Oh, great, thank you. I was just gonna share, I think, that just to add a little color, I think this is the ongoing efforts by the county to address the childcare gap that they saw post-pandemic. And I think I mentioned as we were looking at childcare providers, particular for the Evelyn Lot, that there was a $15 million, 12 to $50000000 grant opportunity for childcare, and I was sharing it with all our applicants, like, please apply for this funding. So I think it's really spearheaded by the county and they're just looking for allyship with the resolution, to help address and make it easier for jurisdictions, to find ways to help with the, I would call it, childcare void. Yeah, and it's, I think sometimes hurdles can be, as the mayor was mentioning, permitting processes, which I were trying to streamline throughout the city, I think, in terms of development. So, um, I'm happy to support, um, the strong motion, but just wanted to share that. Thank you.

[02:53:38] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Are there further comments or questions, vice mayor?

[02:53:42] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yeah, I would just like to bring up a little history, and that's that, um, in the, uh, in the 90s, the city did a study on childcare, and how to promote it in Mountain View. And so somebody might want to, um, uh, find that, and, um, and see if, uh, uh, if there's some pertinent goals that, uh, are still part of the resolution. We could add to the rest. Maybe staff would add that to the staff as a link in the staff report.

[02:54:15] Mayor Alison Hicks: City manager, McCarthy?

[02:54:17] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Yes, thank you, Mayor. So just to add on to what you said. So I also attended the stakeholder meeting of executives from multi sector, there were about, I believe, 15 of us, from just around the region, to talk about the rising cost of childcare, and particularly the round table that I was on. They were talking about the childcare constraints that employees are feeling right now and looking for jobs. So it was a really great discussion, and I think right now what they're trying to do is, as council member Kame said, really get the word out countywide and also just start this conversation about affordable childcare, and also they're tying it into preschool too, and looking at what some sort of universal preschool or just having better preschool for all children would entail. But right now, I believe they're really focusing on the childcare piece of it and just kind of starting that countywide discussion. So it was really great to be involved in that. And then just as a reminder to counsel, you all do have on your work plan to explore strategies for enhancing childcare options, that's under your livability and quality of life, strategic priority. So I think a resolution could fit quite nicely with the strategy that you already are, really looking to advance. So I think staff is happy to work with you on what some sort of resolution would entail. And then, of course, we're still looking at what else we might be able to do, whether that's what the county or otherwise. So thank you.

[02:55:55] Mayor Alison Hicks: And the thank you. And the conversations I've had with folks from Build the Future, they kind of wanted us. We had probably more people than anyone else, more council members than anyone else at the, that virtual meeting. And so I, there was some discussion of us being one of the earlier cities, maybe possibly the first to do a resolution so that it could then spread from there to other cities. So we probably want to put it forward ahead of anything else we do, just because it's a pretty easy first step. Council member, Abicogo, do you have another comment?

[02:56:28] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Oh, yeah, thank you, Mayor. Um, just that, um, at our city association meeting on Thursday, we actually have um, members of Build the Future on our agenda to do a presentation. So if you're interested in learning more, please you can watch virtually. You don't have to come. Although the meeting is here at the at our city council or in the conference room. But, um, yeah, and then we did have a presentation about the grant opportunity too, although I believe it's oversubscribed and it's closed. And it was really interesting. The Thai, what the data was showing was, and I, you know, see this, but the school districts are now having to provide TK or, right, the pre-kindergarten. So it's actually the need is for infant care and the grant was, I think, really focused on providing the infant age category and even converting current preschools to more infant care. So, because, yeah, the school districts are now having to supply the older preschool programs, that's the challenge and with infant care, the ratios are smaller and so forth. So, but the point of this, I remember from the when I 1st started hearing about it is that, you know, the idea is to categorize it as an economic development, initiative, that childcare is important to be able to provide, you know, more workforce for the many jobs right now that are open, especially at the county. And then in terms of financing, I think there is some talk about some kind of ballot initiative down the road. Thanks.

[02:58:21] Mayor Alison Hicks: So I suppose I could say a lot more, but I suppose we can save that for when it's on our agenda. So I guess I'll take a straw poll, all those in favor of putting a resolution on the agenda. I see everyone, I don't see council member Ramos, because maybe... Oh, she has a little... I see, yeah. I was looking for a real hand. Okay, thank you. Okay. I need to put my glasses on for that one. Sorry. Okay, so are there any more items for item seven, the council staff committee reports? I see no additional items, so we're now on item 8 on our agenda, closed session reports, senior assistant city attorney Bakta. Do you have a closed session report?

[02:59:14] Senior Assistant City Attorney Bakta: Thank you, Mayor Hicks. There is no close session report for tonight.

[02:59:18] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you very much. So, uh, we are now on item nine. Adjournment, the next city council meeting will be held on November 14, 2024. And this meeting is adjourned at, uh... at 7:58 p.m.

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