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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-17-07 . . . CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON DEVELOPMENT Meeting Minutes May 17, 2007 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 12: 1 0 p.m. in Room 831 of City Hall. ATTENDANCE The following Committee members were present: Miguel Pulido, Carlos Bustamante and Vince Sarmiento. Staff present were: Cathy Standiford, Assistant City Manager; Steve Harding, Deputy City Manager for Development Services; Jay Trevino, Executive Director Planning and Building Agency; Joe Fletcher, City Attorney; Karen Haluza, Planning Manager; and Ben Kaufman, Chief Assistant City Attorney. AGENDA ITEMS 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - APRIL 5, 2007 SPECIAL MEETING A motion was made by Councilmember Bustamante and seconded by Councilmember Sarmiento to approve the minutes and approved unanimously by a vote of 3:0. 2. YMCA - POTENTIAL REDEVELOPMENT Steve Harding reported that as a follow-up to the withdrawal of the Claremont Club proposal for the YMCA he had contacted nine law schools to assess their interest in the facility. Those schools that expressed interest were concerned about the cost to establish a satellite law school and for potential service overlap with the new law school currently being developed at UC Irvine. Councilmember Sarmiento discussed interest in other higher education facilities, such as Pepperdine University, to establish satellite facilities not specific to law education. Mayor Pulido recognized individuals from the audience to speak. Rosie Avila, Santa Ana School Board Member and founder of the Orange County Youth Commission, was recognized to speak. Ms. Avila requested that the YMCA building be used as a facility for the Youth Commission's headquarters. Ms. Avila explained that she believed that such a use would be in keeping with the building's original purpose as a place for youth mentoring and physical fitness. She stated that the area has a great need for such services and that they would expect funding for rehabilitation of the building to come from a fund raising campaign conducted by the Youth Commission. Councilmember Bustamante acknowledged the need for such facilities in the community, and expressed his desire to see what sort of proposals might be available from private developers also. David DiRienzo, developer with Urban West Strategies, presented his proposal to develop the YMCA building into a boutique hotel. Mr. DiRienzo described that his plan would retain the historic falfade of the building while completely removing the interior and reconstructing it to include a 50 to 60 room all-suites hotel, commercial office, restaurant and roof terrace. He explained that by removing and reconstructing the interior, the development costs of the project would be substantially reduced and greater potential for more flexible use of the interior space created. He stated that he recognized the importance of retaining the historical falf8de. Mr. DiRienzo left a copy of his proposal, called Civic West with the Committee. He stated that he had favorable interest from a number of investment firms in his proposal. Ben Grabiel, representing the Santa Ana Historic Preservation Society Board, stated that he would be submitting a proposal for an income-generating re-use of the property and that he would be contacting Steve Harding with further details. Councilmember Sarmiento stated that he was pleased that there was such varied interest in the property and that it would be important to keep an open mind about any proposals. Mayor Pulido commented that, given the amount of time the building has been vacant, waiting a little longer is appropriate while we try to find the right use. He asked Ms. Avila to consider the Delhi Center as a potential location for the Youth Commission's programs also. The Committee and staff discussed the history of the City's involvement in the redevelopment of the property to date including such barriers as the cost to rehabilitate the building. Phil Brigandi, representing the Orange County Archivist, stated that his agency was interested in using the building for an Orange County museum and also to house the County Archives. Steve Harding stated that he would bring the previously established interest list back to the Committee for its feedback. 3. FACILITATING DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL LOTS Jay Trevino and Karen Haluza provided a presentation and analysis of barriers to development of small, vacant lots. She stated that it might be worthwhile to explore changes to the City's minimum lot size standards in certain zones and locations. Mayor Pulido expressed support for minimum lot size standards in single-family residential zones, but stated that he believed that the City's standards and necessary discretionary actions to vary from these standards make it too difficult to develop these lots. He stated that the presence of so many vacant lots act like "broken windows" in the City and detract from its overall appearance. He requested Development Council Committee Minutes 2 May 17, 2007 . that more vertical solutions for landscaping be explored in order to help reduce required landscape setback areas. Councilmember Sarmiento stated that it would be helpful to have more flexible standards for small lot developments. Councilmember Bustamante stated that the City should be proactive in developing policies to deal with small lots and perhaps consider "0" lot lines. The Committee discussed ways to communicate with the public, property owners and potential developers regarding any changes to small lot standards. 4. STATUS OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE CHURCH Karen Haluza provided an update on the status of parcel acquisition for the church. Councilmember Bustamante recommended that a decomposed granite coating could be added to the interim dirt parking lot in order to keep dust down. 5. FOLLOW-UP TO REGIONAL HOUSING NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND HOUSING ELEMENT POLICIES . Jay Trevino provided a presentation on the current status of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment process and the City's required Housing Element Update. The Committee discussed the need to balance the City's housing stock and to provide housing affordable to middle income working families. A study session with the City Council regarding housing policy will be scheduled during the Housing Element work effort. 6. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS Ben Grabiel discussed ways to attract good tenants. 7. COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS - None 8. ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING A. High-rise parking standards ADJOURNMENT - 1 :36 P.M. ~ ~A:: Karen =a' t:I - . Planning Manager Planning and Building Agency KH:rb rb:Council Comm\Devel CC\Oevel CC Minutes 05-17-07 . Development Council Committee Minutes 3 May 17. 2007