MINUTES

JANUARY 10, 2005 MEETING OF THE

CITY OF SANTA MONICA

SUSTAINABLE CITY TASK FORCE

 

The meeting was convened at 7:25 p.m.  SCTF members in attendance: Jennifer Wolch, Dennis Woods, Sandy Grant, Jim Ries, and Christina Erickson (SCTF members Roe Johnston, Genevieve Bertone, Euri De Oliveira, Terry O’Day, Mark Olson and Leonard Mitchell were unable to attend).  Santa Monica City staff in attendance: Dean Kubani, Amanda Schachter and Jon Lait.  Others: City Councilmember Kevin McKeown and Kenneth Koslow.

 

Public Input on Agenda Items

There was no public input.

 

Minutes

Approval of the minutes from the December 13, 2004 meeting was deferred until the February meeting due to lack of a quorum.

 

Presentation and Discussion Regarding Update of the City’s Land Use Element

Principal Planner Amanda Schachter and Senior Planner Jon Lait gave the presentation on the update of the Land Use Element of the City’s General Plan.  The Land Use and Circulation Elements have not been updated since 1984.  The process is currently in the initial phase, with staff conducting numerous community forums to receive input to help shape the vision of the new element.  SCTF input included the following recommendations:

§         The Sustainable City Plan goals for Open Space and Land Use and Transportation should serve as starting points for the updates, and the SCP indicators in these areas should be incorporated into the updates

§         The update should address energy use issues related to buildings and transportation

§         Green building requirements and incentives should be incorporated into the updated Zoning Ordinance

§         Watershed planning should be integrated into the Land Use Element

§         The Land Use Element should be designed to facilitate the creation of more open space

§         Sustainability criteria and economic development criteria should be incorporated into the planning decision making/approval process.  Need to go beyond the use of traffic impacts as one of the sole factors in determining if a project should be built and instead develop a more holistic approach.

§         Urban design should be a separate component of the Zoning Ordinance and should address issues such as pedestrian friendliness and mixed-use integrated development

 

A summary of the recommendations made by the SCTF can be found at http://www.shapethefuture2025.net/pdf/sustainablecity_taskforce_1.10.05.pdf

 

SCTF members also asked questions regarding the outreach process for the update and next steps in the update process.  Jon noted that the Working Principles Report for the update is scheduled to be completed in late April 2005.  The SCTF requested a chance to review this document when available and requested a return visit by planning staff prior to development of the draft reports which will be presented to the Planning Commission and City Council for review and approval.  Jon and Amanda agreed to return and update the SCTF at that time.

 

Discussion and Recommendations Regarding SCTF Budget Priorities

SCTF members discussed draft recommendations for presentation to City Council at their January 11, 2005 meeting.  Following discussion, Jennifer Wolch agreed to create a revised draft that captures all of the input and distribute it to the other SCTF members.  These recommendations will remain in draft form when Jennifer delivers them to City Council and will be formally adopted at the February SCTF meeting if a quorum is present.

 

Discussion and Recommendations Regarding Future Interaction Between the SCTF and the Staff Sustainability Advisory Team

 

SCTF members agreed with a staff recommendation that SCTF schedule a joint meeting with the staff Sustainability Advisory Team, or the steering committee of that group, to discuss the incorporation of recommendations from the SAT into the Implementation Plan.  This meeting will be scheduled after both groups have begun formulating specific recommendations.

Review of Status on Timeline for Development of the SCP Implementation Plan

Sandy Grant presented the timeline and led the discussion about next steps.  She indicated that she would contact the subcommittee chairs to clarify some of the deadlines for input from POIs and experts.  She reported that the first draft of the Implementation Plan will be presented for review and input at the February 14, 2005 SCTF meeting.

 

Subcommittee Reports

Sandy Grant reported for the Land Use Element subcommittee. She attended the monthly Planning Commission meeting in January that focused on the LUE update, and plans to attend future meetings to monitor the process.

 

Christina Erickson reported that the POI subcommittee has completed its outreach materials and committee members have begun interviewing POIs.

 

Jennifer Wolch reported that the Expert subcommittee will begin scheduling the first meeting of experts during the next month.

 

 

Discussion and Recommendations Regarding Implementation Plan Report Structure

 

Discussion on this item was deferred until the February due to time considerations.

 

 

Public Input on Non-Agendized Items

There was no public input.

 

 

The meeting was adjourned at 10:00pm