August 21, 2024 Environmental Planning Commission

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Transcript

Segment 1

[00:00:00] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: and I think corrected but um you'll just make that as a part of the motion. Yeah.

[00:00:06] Chair Hank Dempsey: Commissioner Yin and Commissioner Donahue.

[00:00:09] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Oh, I'm sorry, Commissioner Donahue.

[00:00:12] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Okay. Um, so in my eagle-eye capacity, I went through and noted the differences. There are some differences in the redline version between what we talked about in June versus now, and I think that there's nothing substantive, but I just want to kind of ask that question. There's kind of like a definition of restaurants, some places where it used to say primary use and now it says recreation uses. And then there's one place where it... there's a red line for indoor recreation use as provisional use, which I think just is to be consistent internally. But is that... am I interpreting this correctly, or were there any actual changes between June and now?

[00:01:41] Principal Planner Diana Pancholi: So I can address this. Principal Planner, Diana Pancholi. Uh, you are correct. I think there are three changes. The first one is regarding the, uh... we added a few words in the redline text for restaurant just to make it consistent with the definition of restaurants as defined in the city code itself. It is not substantial, it is just to make things consistent. The second change is regarding the minor principality to the recreation use. That was just a clean-up item. And the third thing, which is about the indoor recreation, that was actually part of the EPC recommendation at the June 26th meeting, which we had missed as a... as a error, which we tried to accommodate as part of the redline and present it correctly to EPC this time around. So again, uh, just confirming no substantial changes to the actual proposed amendments, just making it definitions and terms consistent with our... with our city code.

[00:03:26] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Okay. Um, sounds good. Thanks.

[00:03:31] Chair Hank Dempsey: Commissioner Yin.

[00:03:34] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Thanks for the eagle eyes. But, um, my question was... is a new question, not asked last time, and it was in regards to, um, marketing, your question with... with marketing. Um, so I was talking to someone and, uh, I was thinking it would be wonderful to have some sort of website that showcased what was new in downtown, what was coming, the promotions, and so on and so forth. And someone said that the city was working on it. I just wanted to confirm if that was true, or if it's already out and I just dont know about it. If you wouldn't mind letting the public know that there will be something online, if that is the case, where they can find out what's coming to downtown.

[00:04:14] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: Yeah, thank you. That's a great question. Um, so earlier this year we did launch a new website, um, or a new webpage off of the city's website. Um, so it's mountainview.gov/downtown. And it'll take you to a page that shows, um, ongoing efforts, efforts that we anticipate happening in the next couple of years, um, longer-range projects. Um, and so that's really sort of our one-stop shop for everything in the downtown. The other thing that we've done is we've launched the Downtown Digest, um, which is a monthly publication where we highlight activities, events, changes. Um, we did, uh, our... the last issue that came out two days ago, maybe yesterday, um, did highlight the... these, uh, proposed amendments that were coming to both, uh, your committee and the council. So it's a great way to stay on top of all the things happening in the... in the downtown. So, um, you can sign up to receive that in your inbox. We also have hard copies that are available both here at City Hall and at the chamber. Um, so there are... are both ways to really, really stay in the loop with things happening in the downtown.

[00:05:58] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Perfect. Thank you very much.

[00:06:41] Chair Hank Dempsey: Great. Great. Any further questions from the commission? Seeing none, let's move to public comment. If anyone in attendance would like to provide comments on this item, please fill out a yellow speaker card and provide it to the EPC clerk. If anyone on Zoom would like to provide comment on this item, please click the 'Raise Hand' button in Zoom or press star nine on your phone. Phone users can mute and unmute themselves with a star six. Do we have anyone?

[00:07:08] Public Speaker: We do have one speaker on Zoom. Um, Junaid, um, you can talk now.

[00:07:16] Chair Hank Dempsey: Thank you.

[00:07:17] Junaid Qureshi: Yes. Uh, hi. Thank you so much. My name is Junaid Qureshi. I'm the owner of 384 Castro Street. I believe I'm in downtown block eight, next to Limon. Um, first of all, it's super exciting to see that downtown is seen as a priority. And, uh, we are working with the Economic Development Committee and, uh, few others to hopefully improve, um, the... increase the priority. But unfortunately, um, we do not see the priority when it... when it comes to the processes within the city or the building or the public works department. We have been working with staff in the city for past one year. The staff have been super helpful, but, um, but there doesn't seem to be a priority the way it should be what I'm seeing on, on the presentations and everything. We strongly urge, um, number one, to bring city on the desk, tell everyone it is a priority that we want these 18 places to be, um... to be unvacant... I mean, the vacant places to be filled up. And that can only happen if the processes can be improved. Our experience has been very, very difficult with the city. Um, and we have talked to many small businesses, uh, that are in part of the downtown, and they all have said that going through the process is very difficult. We are architectural firm, and we have seen this in other cities, um, and we have dealt with many cities. We have dealt in Palo Alto for past 10 years. The process is much simpler. Sunnyvale, much, much simpler. Mountain View is difficult. So we need to improve that, number one. Number two, um, we need to make small businesses or businesses in the downtown as the ambassadors to speak out, to have testimonial on the website and everywhere else to bring businesses to downtown. That we have not seen, that people have reached out to us that hey, be our ambassador, tell other businesses to come join us. It's super important that we should be, uh, be part of this thing. Um, I do want to give lot of kudos to, um, Economic Development Committee, John Lang and team. They've done a marvelous job, and... But I think we need all businesses to be, um, all... I mean, there should be all hands on deck to bring other businesses to this, uh, downtown committee.

[00:07:21] Public Speaker: That's all the speakers we have.

[00:07:23] Chair Hank Dempsey: Thank you, Madam Clerk. EPC deliberation and action. Um, let's see here. Before we do that, uh, statements and comments from the commissioners. Anything we want to say? Uh, Commissioner Yin.

[00:07:43] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Um, I'll just repeat a little bit of what I said last time, which is I am excited to see the Economic Vitality Plan moving forward and from what the presentation has shown, um, and given the questions that were asked, um, I am going to just be pleasantly surprised, I believe, when it all comes into play. So I am in favor of moving forward and, um, excited to see everything in downtown in the years to come.

[00:08:21] Chair Hank Dempsey: All right, I have Commissioner Nunez and then Commissioner Cranston.

[00:08:24] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Uh, yeah, same. I'm just going to, uh, kind of give a quick summary of what were my previous comments, which largely reflect Commissioner Yin's sense of excitement as well. Um, and really excited to see, uh, both the proposed amendments, uh, and visualizing what that could translate into in terms of a more, uh, diverse array of options, uh, from the consumer side that we could potentially be having, uh, in our downtown, is something that I feel really excited about. And I am happy to wholeheartedly support this, uh, and those were my comments before, and they haven't really changed.

[00:09:09] Chair Hank Dempsey: Commissioner Cranston.

[00:09:11] Commissioner Bill Cranston: I agree this is a... a good start. Um, we do have the... a full Precise Plan on the... on the agenda, and so, um, I think, as Diana said, it's noted that we wanted to see this... see the Economic Vitality Strategy, I think it's very important that we see that before we start going into the downtown Precise Plan because, um, I think there's more to be done. Um, and I think we'll be... it's very important that we understand that before we get into the details of the... of the Precise Plan, to see if there's... to make sure we're thinking of that as we're looking at that. But this is a step in the right direction, and I will be supporting it. So, thanks.

[00:09:49] Chair Hank Dempsey: Commissioner Donahue.

[00:09:51] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Uh, I guess I'll echo the... the... the comments that the other commissioners have made. I'm very supportive of this. I think that it's kind of a... I was on the Downtown Committee like 10 years ago or something like that. I mean, I think... I think the Downtown Committee... or the downtown is one of the crown jewels of... of Mountain View. And, um, some of the... the vacancies now are... are kind of a shame, and, uh... but I think this is a step in the right direction and it will really, um... well, hopefully, will, uh... uh, address some of that and, uh, bring these experiential things, uh, which, um, will, you know, benefit the... the... the people of Mountain View as well as is the... the downtown vitality. So I am, uh, supportive.

[00:10:40] Chair Hank Dempsey: So I will surprise no one by agreeing with my colleagues. Um, I think this is a... this is a good measure. I'd like to see more of these, um, you know, in conjunction with the, you know, the whole downtown... whole downtown plan. But this kind of thinking, I think is fantastic, and I really do commend the economic development team for what they're doing here. Um, and I gotta say it makes me so happy to go out on Castro on a, you know, on a Saturday morning, and there's all these kids out there playing and they're playing miniature golf, and there's people sitting on those tables, and it looks nice, and it's orderly. But it's fun, and we needed that. We really did need that. And so whoever came up with that deserves a round of applause. Trying to make it easier for... and to... for more folks to come and take some of those empty spaces, that is exactly what we should be doing. We should be doing more of that. Um, you know, in government we love talking about bringing people together. Like, that's literally what downtown does. And so, um, this is fantastic. I support this. I hope we get the chance to support more of this. Um, with that, no other comments. Um, I'm prepared to entertain a motion. Mr. Cranston.

[00:11:44] Commissioner Bill Cranston: So I move that the Environmental Planning Commission, number one, rescind the Environmental Planning Commission's recommendation on item 5.1, Minor Downtown Precise Plan updates made at the June 26, 2024 meeting. And two, recommend the City Council adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View amending the Downtown Precise Plan to update land use table for areas D, E, H, I, and J, to be read in title only, further reading waived, exhibit 1 to the staff report.

[00:12:15] Chair Hank Dempsey: Do I have a second?

[00:12:16] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: I'll second that.

[00:12:17] Chair Hank Dempsey: Commissioner Nunez seconds. Madam Clerk, when you're ready, please call the roll.

[00:12:21] Public Speaker: Commissioner Nunez?

[00:12:22] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Aye.

[00:12:23] Public Speaker: Commissioner Donahue?

[00:12:24] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Yes.

[00:12:26] Public Speaker: Commissioner Yin?

[00:12:27] Commissioner Joyce Yin: Aye.

[00:12:29] Public Speaker: Commissioner Cranston?

[00:12:30] Commissioner Bill Cranston: Aye.

[00:12:32] Public Speaker: Commissioner Clark is recused. Commissioner Gutierrez is absent. Um, Chair Dempsey?

[00:12:37] Chair Hank Dempsey: Aye.

[00:12:40] Public Speaker: Motion passed with five yes, um, and one recused, and one absent.

[00:12:46] Chair Hank Dempsey: All right. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Let's see, what do we got left? Item 6, Commission, Staff Announcements, Updates, Requests, and Committee Reports. Uh, no action will be taken on any questions raised by the Commission at this time. Um, for my... for the commissioners, anything we want to announce or report? Seeing nothing. From staff? Oh, Commissioner Nunez, go for it.

[00:13:10] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Uh, I saw, uh... I had a chance to meet with, uh, Mr. Anderson. Uh, Eric Anderson, got a chance to meet his little baby doing fine. Poked the little belly, uh, and definitely alive and becoming more cogent. So just wanted to pass that on. He's... they're doing great.

[00:13:30] Chair Hank Dempsey: Don't know when exactly he's coming back, but... the baby Kai. Kai.

[00:13:35] Assistant Community Development Director Amber Blizinski: He's coming back on the 30th. So next Friday. Yeah.

[00:13:39] Vice Chair Alex Nuñez: Happy parents.

[00:13:41] Chair Hank Dempsey: Best news all hearing. Uh, Ms. Pancholi, any, uh, anything from staff?

[00:13:48] Principal Planner Diana Pancholi: Thank you. Uh, so yeah, a couple of announcements actually. First one more for EPC. This is just a reminder that we're going to have our annual celebration of service awards. That will be held on Monday, September 30th at Michael's Restaurant at Shoreline. And the Commission is invited. We will be sending out an email invitation for that. Uh, we'll be presenting a short presentation as usual showcasing EPC's work over the past year. So please make a note of that. Uh, September 30th at Shoreline. Uh, the second announcement relates to, um, Moffett Boulevard Precise Plan. So as, uh, some of you might have heard about this, City is embarking upon a project to create a new Precise Plan for our Moffett change area, which has been identified in our General Plan. And as part of this initial, um, outreach effort for, uh, preparation of this Precise Plan, we are scheduling a number of community meetings. And the first one is scheduled for August 28th between 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Community Center at 201, uh, Rengstorff Avenue. And, um, daycare services will be provided and translation services will be provided at this meeting. We just, we just want to make sure that, you know, more people, uh, can participate to provide us and help us to prepare this Precise Plan. This is going to be a visioning workshop. We really want to know from people what their vision is for the area. So, uh, you know, spread the word. Uh, make a note of it. First community meeting for Moffett Boulevard Precise Plan on August 28th at the Community Center from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. And then, um, as usual, the... Oh! In addition to that, we are also doing a lot of outreach for the same project at our weekend farmers markets. So we, you know, please, you know, stop by at the city's table, uh, you know, get some more information about the area, the work that we are going to do as part of this project, and, uh, help us gather more community input, uh, into... this is going to be a very exciting project, uh, uh, which we need your help to build the vision for. Uh, and the last announcement for tonight, please note the subsequent EPC meeting for September 4th, uh, is being canceled. Uh, and that's it, uh, from staff. Thank you.

[00:16:19] Chair Hank Dempsey: Thank you very much. We have a question. Uh, Commissioner Cranston.

[00:16:23] Commissioner Bill Cranston: I'm just curious, the noticing for the community input for the Moffett, how far out from Moffett does that go?

[00:16:33] Principal Planner Diana Pancholi: So I can take that question. It actually goes 750-foot radius outside the actual boundary that has been identified of the project. But in addition to that, it is also going out to all the interested parties who have signed up on our city's web page for the project. Uh, a lot of people who have signed up as part of our Housing Element interest group as well. And then all the neighborhood associations which are in that 750-foot radius, you know, which touches the 750-foot radius as well.

[00:17:10] Commissioner Bill Cranston: I guess it's... it's kind of a... a question. There are properties that can only be accessed from that area of Moffett that seems to me like they might be further than 750 feet from Moffett. So I just would hope that, like on Central and some of those other side streets that... that I don't have a little 750-foot map in my head, but it would be... I would hope that the communities... the neighborhoods that are... that can't go anywhere except through Moffett would... would also be part of that noticing. Um, so I... it's just my feedback.

[00:17:51] Principal Planner Diana Pancholi: Thank you.

[00:17:53] Chair Hank Dempsey: No further comments. Uh, looks like adjournment is in order. Um, and therefore the meeting is adjourned as of 7:45 p.m. The next regularly scheduled EPC meeting will be held on September 18th, 2024. Thank you everyone. Good night.

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