Item 8-B

 

MEMORANDUM  "Draft"

 

 

To:       Santa Monica City Council

 

From:  Santa Monica Planning Commission

 

Date:   October 11, 2004

 

Re:      Land Use Element, Circulation Element, and Zoning Ordinance Update

 

On October 9, 2004 the Planning Commission held a Special Meeting to discuss the process of updating the City’s Land Use and Circulation Elements and Zoning Ordinance, and the Planning Commission’s role in that process.  As an outcome of that discussion, which included input from members of the public, at the Joint Session of the City Council and the Planning Commission on October 26, 2004, the Planning Commission will request the City Council to do the following:

 

1.         Affirm and approve the role the Planning Commission sees for itself in this update process.      

 

Santa Monica’s Municipal Code ' 9.04.20.18.030 provides in part as follows: 

 

It shall be the function and duty of the Planning Commission, with the assistance of the Director of Planning, to prepare and recommend that the City Council adopt the General Plan, including any, all, or any combination of the Elements.  In preparing the General Plan, or any element of the General Plan, the Planning Commission shall take such steps as they deem  necessary or as the Director of Planning recommends. . . . .  During the preparation or amendment of the General Plan, or any element thereof, the Planning Commission must provide opportunities for involvement of citizens, public agencies, public utility companies, and business, civic, educational, neighborhood organizations, and other community groups, through public hearings and any other means the Planning Commission or City Council deems appropriate. . . . .

 

To fulfill this responsibility the Planning Commission believes it must participate proactively in the update process and not serve merely as a deliberative body to opine on the consultant’s finished product.  The Commission therefore believes it must have input into and monitor every stage of the process.

 

The Planning Commission takes this role quite seriously.  The commissioners want to educate themselves about the update process to the greatest extent logistically feasible.  The Director of Planning and Development has provided each commissioner with a substantial notebook of resource materials, but there are additional resources the commissioners would like to access.  For example, there are online materials, some of which need to be purchased; books which the Planning Department library does not yet have; and local academics and experts with whom the Commission would like to consult, some of whom may charge a fee.  There are also other nearby cities who have recently updated their General Plans, and commissioners would like to visit them and take advantage of their experience.  The Commission therefore requests a modest budget to acquire and take advantage of these resources.

 

To fulfill its role the Planning Commission would like to meet at appropriate points with other Santa Monica boards and commissions, as it deems necessary, to get their input.  The Commission also views itself as the front line for the City Council in the update process and requests that the Council establish a plan for communication between the Commission and the Council with respect to it.

 

2.         Give direction to Dyett & Bhatia, the project consultants, as follows:

 

a. The public must own the goals for the update and the process itself.

 

b. There must be a complete identification of stakeholders, and those stakeholders must have the broadest possible input at the earliest possible time. 

 

c. The public must be educated throughout the process not only about the process itself but also about the ramifications, economic and otherwise, of the policy choices that may emerge from that process.  Community input must be respected, and the public needs to know how its input will be - and was - used.  In addition to the public participation program Dyett & Bhatia has suggested, plan a charrette.

 

d. Submit all reports and outcomes to the Planning Commission for its review.  At the beginning of each step of the process, meet with the Planning Commission for its input.  At the end of each stop of the process, meet with the Planning Commission for its evaluation.

 

e. All data gathering must be valid and reliable.  Surveys must be scientific and reflect the entire community.  The process must be completely transparent and open.

 

f. Santa Monica’s sustainable city plan, and any revisions to it, must be incorporated into the update program as a fundamental principle.

 

3.         Give direction to Staff as follows:

 

a. Support the Planning Commission in the role described in paragraph # 1 above.

 

b. Review the directions given to Dyett & Bhatia for any changes to the scope of work and incorporate those changes.

 

4.         Direct that the Circulation Element be updated concurrently with the Land Use Element

 

The Planning Commission role and the public process are to be the same for the Circulation Element as for the Land Use Element.  To proceed with the Circulation Element there must be current data on traffic counts and cut-through traffic.

 

The Planning Commission, with further discussion at its October 20 Regular Meeting, may add to or amend this request.