(by Wendy Thomas)
CITY COUNCIL UPDATE…It’s been so long and so stormy since we had a Council meeting, we thought we might be rusty! There was a lot on the Agenda, and here are some of the highlights.
NEW MAYOR: Welcome John Clerici as our new Mayor. I am pleased to serve as his Vice.
THANK YOU: We offered our deepest thanks to our entire Staff for diligently safeguarding our City in the latest storms. They worked non-stop to ensure our safety and they did a heck of a good job!
PUBLIC HEARINGS: HOUSING OPPORTUNITY OVERLAY ZONE
Items 11.1 and 11.2 dealt with Affordable Housing Overlay Zone on the Placerville Heritage Home site (off of Ray Lawyer Drive) and a commercially zoned parcel off of Cold Springs and Middletown Road. As you have heard me talk about, we need to bring our Housing Element up to compliance and create the opportunity for 239 units. THEY DON’T HAVE TO BE BUILT, we just have to reduce the barriers for doing so. When we get sites identified for these units, our Housing Element will be compliant until 2021.
We ALL were concerned about the impact of this on our City. Last year, Councilmembers and Staff met with Legislators and the State Dept. of Housing and Community Development. What transpired was this idea of an “Overlay Zone”…where we can identify sites and give property owners the opportunity to build 20-24 units per acre. BUT, if they don’t want to, they don’t have to. It’s just an option, and this will satisfy the requirement for our Housing Element. Our Staff has done an excellent job in finding a way for us to build a little flexibility into our compliance.
Neighbors were, of course, concerned. I get that! There are some important things to remember. 1) The Cold Springs site is zoned commercial right now. A commercial development, including mixed use housing, currently has the right to be developed there now. 2) A compliant Housing Element IS NOT AN OPTION. It is a mandate by the State. If we don’t have one, the State can come in and make Land Use Decisions for us. I’m certainly not going to give up any local control! 3) The Housing Opportunity Zone is not all “Affordable Housing”. 20% has to be designated as low-income and 30% is very low income. The remaining 50% of a project can be market rate housing.
DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEM HIGHLIGHTS:
PARKING METERS: The Parking Committee has done a stellar job in creating a new parking program that not only pays for itself, it puts money away for parking facilities maintenance and Capital Replacement…something that has never been achieved before. This plan has the unanimous approval of the Placerville Downtown Assoc. We will also be getting new parking meters that are easier to use and where you can pay from your cell phone!
Here’s the gist of the new plan:
- Maintain 2-hour Free Parking
- Increase Daily Rate from $1.00 to $2.00/hour
- Increase Standard Leased Parking from $40 to $50/mo
- Increase Center St. Leased Parking from $55 to $70/mo
- Eliminate Multiple Lease Discounts
- Lease the space between Shell and Jack Russell
- Extend $2.00/hr parking rules from 5:00-7:00 p.m.
- Eliminate free Court Employee parking behind Historic City Hall
- Enforce Daily and Leased parking 7 days a week (with a ghost day…you will never know which days they are enforcing)
This will allow us to pay for new parking meters, set aside $40,000/year for deferred maintenance and $60,000/yr for future major improvements to parking facilities. Well done, Finance Director Dave Warren and our Parking Committee!
Item 12.9: MEASURE L COMMITTEE MAKE UP
The current Measure H committee has done an incredible job in overseeing Measure H funds, and since water/sewer and road projects are interrelated, we agreed to a joint committee while allowing for new members to be involved. In March, we will recruit for 3 new members, 2 voting members and 1 Alternate. So thank you for supporting Measure L and think about serving on this vital committee!
Next meeting will be Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14 at 6 pm. And we will see you next Tuesday, Jan. 31 at our NEIGHBORHOOD CHAT where we will talk about our process for Measure L funds. Enjoy this sunshine, Placerville!
