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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-06-09; City Council; 19850; Design Review Board presentationCITY OF CARLSBAD - AGENDA BILL AB# 19,850 MTG. 06/09/09 DEPT. CM Carlsbad Village Design Review Board Presentation DEPT. HEAD *$-L CITY ATTY. (®& CITYMGR. l/jL^-- RECOMMENDED ACTION: Receive a presentation from Chairman of Design Review Board. ITEM EXPLANATION: The City Council provides an opportunity for citizens and organizations to have an item placed on a City Council Agenda. Attached is a request from Anthony Lawson, Chairman of the Carlsbad Design Review Board, to present a discussion on the current plan to sunset the Village Design Review Board and the possible impacts this could have on the unique character of the Village. FISCAL IMPACT: None. EXHIBITS: 1. Letter requesting opportunity to present to City Council ideas regarding the planned sunset of the Design Review Board. DEPARTMENT CONTACT: Rob Houston, 760-434-2958, rob.houston@carlsbadca.gov FOR CITY CLERKS USE ONLY. COUNCIL ACTION: APPROVED DENIED CONTINUED WITHDRAWN AMENDED j Dn n CONTINUED TO DATE SPECIFIC CONTINUED TO DATE UNKNOWN RETURNED TO STAFF OTHER -SEE MINUTES Council received the report. D D D n \ EXHIBIT 1 May 28, 2009 Lisa Hildabrand City Manager City of Carlsbad 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive Carlsbad, CA 92008 RE: City Council Presentation Request Dear Lisa: I am writing to request time at an upcoming City Council Hearing to make a presentation to the Council regarding the current suggestion to "Sunset" the City's Design Review Board. Recently I met with the Mayor to discuss this issue and especially, as it related to the events of our last Design Review Board meeting of April 27, 2009. As a result of that conversation, the Mayor asked if I would make similar presentation to the full Council prior to their hearing of this topic. While I have never made such a request before, nor a presentation of this nature, I hope this correspondence follows proper protocol to put this on an upcoming Council Agenda. Please note I will be out of town the week of June 22nd and again on the week of July 20th. Thank you for your assistance. Should you have any questions or require clarification, please call. Respectfully, Anthony D./awson Chairman Design Review Board 822-8637 All Receive-Agenda Item # For the Information of the' CITY COUNCILAsst. Minutes of: DESIGN REVIEW BOARD Time of Meeting: 6:00 P.M. Date of Meeting: APRIL 27, 2009 Place of Meeting: COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Lawson called the Meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chairperson Lawson asked Board Member Prietto to lead the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Chairperson Lawson proceeded with the roll call of Board Members. Present: Board Members: Julie Baker John Prietto Michael Schumacher Frank Whitton Chairperson: Anthony Lawson Absent: None Staff Present: Housing and Redevelopment Director: Debbie Fountain Assistant City Attorney: Jane Mobaldi APPROVAL OF MINUTES ACTION: The Board unanimously approved the minutes of the January 26, 2009, as written. COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE ON ITEMS NOT LISTED ON THE AGENDA There were no comments from the audience. NEW BUSINESS Chairperson Lawson asked Ms. Debbie Fountain, Director of Housing and Redevelopment, to present the item on the agenda tonight. Ms. Fountain said the item on the agenda tonight is related to the expiration of our Redevelopment Plan in the Village Area. In proceeding tonight, we will talk about the Redevelopment Plan itself and why we need to take the actions that we are taking tonight. Also, we will give you some information on the success of redevelopment to date and what happens next. The Village Redevelopment Plan was adopted originally in July of 1981. The reasons given for its adoption was physical decline in the Village Area, obsolescence in terms of building usage, buildings themselves and a declining residential fabric in the Village. At the time that we formed the Redevelopment Area, over 50% of the commercial buildings in the downtown area were vacant; either boarded up or completely vacant. There were declining property values, declining sales tax, there were a lot of disreputable businesses in the Village, and the Council decided at the time to take action related to trying to revitalize the Village from an infrastructure standpoint as well as a business revitalization standpoint. In 1981 they did adopt the Village Redevelopment Plan. At that time, it was a 25 year time limit on the plan. It would have expired in July of 2006, however, prior to the expiration of the plan, the State of California decided that it needed to take some money from the redevelopment agencies to help with the state financial issues. When they did take funding from the agencies, it was referred to as an ERAF payment or an Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund payment. The state was taking money from the redevelopment agencies to give to the school districts to help fund the mandate by the state in terms of the level of funding that is required for schools in the state of California. When they did that, they passed legislation that said, "redevelopment areas could automatically extend their redevelopment plans or effectiveness dates for the redevelopment plans without having to make any of the normal findings or go through the normal amendment process." We were allowed three year extensions on the plan. As of this year, however, there are no further extensions available; therefore, the plan is expected to expire on July 21, 2009. DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MINUTES APRIL 27, 2009 PAGE 2 of 14 As a result of that, we need to make some decisions on how to address the expiration of the different policy documents. The Redevelopment Plan itself is one policy document. It is a very general document that talks about what the tools of redevelopment are, what the authorities of a redevelopment agency are. We currently have two redevelopment areas in Carlsbad; the first one is the Village Area, and the second one is the South Carlsbad Coastal Redevelopment Area. It starts at the power plant property, and it goes south from there into the Ponto area. That area was formed in 2000. It is a fairly recent redevelopment area. It will still continue. We will still have a Redevelopment Agency, and there will still be activities related to redevelopment, but the Redevelopment Plan for the Village is expiring. In March, staff presented to the City Council in a workshop setting to find out what their ideas were on how to continue revitalization efforts in the Village Area. We made some assumptions when we went to Council, and those assumptions were that we wanted to continue to focus on the Village Area as a special review area so that we could ensure the long term success of what has happened with redevelopment so far and make sure that none of that is lost as we continue into the future. We wanted to have a seamless transition in terms of the land use regulations for the Village because they are unique and they are special. There are many standards and policies that are allowed from a land use standpoint in the Village Area that are not allowed anywhere else within the city. They are very unique. We did not want to process any zone changes in the Village. We wanted to keep the VR zoning. We wanted to maintain the development standards as they are because as you all know, only a couple of years ago we went forward with some fairly major revisions to our Development Standards and we wanted to ensure their continuation from a land use regulation standpoint. We also indicated we wanted to ensure a seamless transition for the process of land use permits and the cohesion of the land use regulations, and also look at the tax increment financing. There are regulations within redevelopment law that allow us to continue to fund projects for about the next ten years in the Redevelopment Area even though the Redevelopment Plan is expiring. I will talk a little bit more about that later. During the workshop, the Council indicated they accepted the staff assumptions in how to proceed. That resulted in what we are bringing forward to you tonight. Some reference and narrative changes are necessary, and to remove some references related to redevelopment and redevelopment plans and project areas are required. There is actually no program or policy changes within what we are giving you tonight, but it is to allow continuing policies and regulations for the Village and to continue to allow that seamless transition of process. Because the plan has been in effect since 1981, sometimes it is hard to remember that we have made positive change and that positive things have happened. It doesn't mean that there still might not be more that we want to do and more revitalization that needs to occur, but sometimes it is good to remind ourselves that there has been success. We have reduced vacancy rates in the Village Area. Even with the current economy, we are still at less than 5% vacancy. When we started the Redevelopment Plan in 1981, we were over 50% vacancy. We have increased sales tax nearly 25% in just the last few years. We have increased assessed property values for the Village. We started out at about $45 million dollars in assessed property values, specifically for the Village and within the Village boundaries. We are now well over $285+ million in assessed values. We have had new businesses that have come to the Village, new development, and over $20 million dollars in public infrastructure improvements. The area has become much more attractive, and we spent quite a bit of money on beautification projects in the area which have been positively received. The Village consistently receives high marks in the city survey whenever it is done in terms of the number of people visiting and what their assessment is of the Village. It almost nearly always receives a good or excellent rank when asked about the experience in the Village. Through Envision Carlsbad, we have heard a lot from the community that there is still an interest in village revitalization. Fairly consistently in all the workshops and various surveys, the Village continues to be of high interest to the community in terms of continuing that revitalization effort. There is a need for continued focused attention and special review; both the staff and the community have indicated they would like to see that. You can do that without a redevelopment plan. There are a number of cities around us that have done this without redevelopment plans in place. It is just different tools that are used. It is possible. We did, as I mentioned, want to continue the existing zoning, which is VR, and the existing land use designations. We do still want to accommodate a special review permit process for the Village. There was a decision made by the Council, however, they would like to sunset the Design Review Board and turn over the responsibilities to the Planning Commission for review and acting or recommending on land use permits. The permits they would act on would remain the same and that process would remain the same. Rather than having the Design DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MINUTES APRIL 27, 2009 PAGE 3 of 14 Review Board acting on those, it is proposed to have the Planning Commission. That particular ordinance revision is not in front of you tonight. That is something that would go directly to the City Council. In the Master Plan document there are revisions that relate to this in changing it from Design Review Board to Planning Commission. We also will be transferring the jurisdiction from the Housing and Redevelopment Commission or the Redevelopment Agency to the City Council for review of permits. Currently the Design Review Board makes a recommendation to the Housing and Redevelopment Commission; if approved by the City Council that will now be Planning Commission to the City Council. The City Council and the Housing and Redevelopment Commission are the same body so the people that are making the decision will not change. They just have a different legal jurisdiction or name when they are acting as the Redevelopment Agency. As we continue our special review, the proposal that is before you tonight is to make revisions or amendments to the Municipal Code and/or the Carlsbad Village Master Plan and Design Manual, to maintain special review focus, to incorporate necessary information from the Village Redevelopment Plan. Also if there was some language in the Redevelopment Plan that we thought was important to include in the Village Master Plan, we have incorporated that and integrated it into the changes that we are proposing to the Village Master Plan. All in all, when you look at the revisions that we are making, there are no substantial changes in policy programs or the process proposed other than mentioning about the Design Review Board. It is mostly heading changes and consolidation. There are document reference revisions, integration of relevant language and language clarifications. The types of revisions within the Carlsbad Village Master Plan and Design Manual as well as the related ordinances are primarily to remove references to "redevelopment" and to the Redevelopment Plan and Project Area. We are incorporating the legal description that was in the Village Redevelopment Plan which means the boundaries that will be covered by the Village Master Plan will stay the same. We are not changing any of the mapping boundaries. We have incorporated a few extra goals and objectives that we thought were relevant from the Redevelopment Plan into the Village Master Plan. They don't really change our goals and objectives that much. It was just an additional focus on the Village that we thought had some good language in it. We want to confirm the legal regulatory standing of the Village Master Plan and Design Manual and restate that whenever there is a conflict between the Village Master Plan and any other chapters of the Municipal Code, then the Village Master Plan will always stand in precedence. We are reconfirming that the Carlsbad Village Master Plan serves as the local coastal program for the Village. We are changing the term "Village Redevelopment Zone" to "Village Review Zone" so we can keep the initials VR. In this case, we don't have to change any of our maps. We will change "Village Redevelopment Permit" to "Village Review Permit." Again, our RP initials will stand so we don't create confusion over previous redevelopment permits that were issued. Anything for the Village will still have an RP designation in terms of the permit. We have provided some clarification through better definitions in what the Village Master Plan is, what types of permits there are. We had a small change to our implementation section; rather than calling it a strategy, we are just referring to it as measures. Again, we are removing references to the Redevelopment Agency in the implementation section. Other documents that are being revised are the Carlsbad Municipal Code Chapters 21.35 and 21.41; 21.35 is the specific code that establishes the Village Area and sets forth the Village Master Plan as the regulatory document; 21.41 is related to signs, and there are small changes in that code to remove references to redevelopment; and, 21.81 is the coastal development permit section for the Village Area, making similar changes. The local coastal program is being revised with these changes as well. There is not a separate local coastal program document. The Village Master Plan and Design Manual and the implementing ordinances are the local coastal program. We have a small General Plan amendment, which is changing references to the "Redevelopment Area." We are still going to consider it a special planning consideration in the General Plan so it can have its unique development standards. The City Council Policy number 65, which is related to signs in the public right-of-way such as our A-frame signs, our banners on the street poles, is to remove references to "Redevelopment." In summary, the revisions to the Village Master Plan and Design Manual and implementing ordinances and policies are before you tonight to delete the references to the Redevelopment Plan or the project area, DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MINUTES APRIL 27, 2009 PAGE 4 of 14 incorporate relevant language from the Redevelopment Plan, and continue special focus in the Village Area. One of the biggest concerns that I hear on a regular basis is what will happen to the Village if nobody is paying attention to it, if nobody is giving it special focus. The message that we want to send with what we are doing tonight is there will continue to be a special focus on the Village. Some of the techniques and tools that we use for that and some of the staffing that we use may change over time, but there still will be a special focus and the City Council still feels it is a special area and it needs special attention. Through redevelopment, we are changing the message about the Village Area and what it is. As we speak about the Village in a positive way, positive things will happen to the Village. As we speak about the Village in a positive way, positive things will happen to the Village. I am providing you with some of the positive statements we have come up with recently through different business groups. The Village is a vibrant commercial center that attracts new and exciting, unique businesses and helps existing businesses to grow and prosper. We want to provide a platinum shopping experience for all who visit. People really believe they get top quality customer service when they come to the Village, and we want it to be better than just good. We have an abundance of free parking, more than plenty for all who live, work and play in Carlsbad. We want to keep encouraging people to come visit all the different uses that are in the Village; not just retail, but the services and the restaurants. We want to make sure the message is that we have an incredible gift for Carlsbad through the Village and the opportunities it provides for shopping, eating, and entertainment. We want it to be a fun place to be so we want to add entertainment. We want to add more art venues and culture and be a place where people know they can come and have a good time, but that it is also family oriented. This last point is really important, that we are focused on continuous improvement enhancement. We are not saying that everything has been done that could possibly be done. Retail areas really need to continue to grow and change to be prosperous in the future. As noted earlier, we can continue that revitalization effort even without the Redevelopment Plan in place. The recommendation for you tonight as the Board is to accept public testimony on the proposed revisions, accept the CEQA exempt determination, and then you have several resolutions to adopt, 337, 338, and 339. These will recommend to the Housing and Redevelopment Commission and the City Council the approval of the amendments or the revisions that we have made to the Village Master Plan and Design Manual, the local coastal program, and City Council Policy Number 65. Also, we recommend the approval of the amendments to the different chapters of the Municipal Code that we mentioned, 21.35, 21.41, and 21.81. Also the General Plan amendment to address the expiration of the Village Redevelopment Plan. That is staffs recommendation and report. Board Member Whitton asked Chairperson Lawson if we could poll the Board to see what their opinion is. This is really a straight forward document where we are just simply changing verbiage and titles and transferring them over to the City Council and the Planning Commission. It is nothing substantive has been changed at all. Unless anyone has any serious questions, perhaps we could ask the Board if they could just vote. Chairperson Lawson said he personally has a lot of questions. I would not be in favor of that. I think first of all we need to follow a certain procedure here this evening. I would not be supportive of that. Unless you have a group that wants to do that, then by all means. I don't understand what the purpose is of needing to jump past this. Board Member Whitton said it is really a straight forward document. You are not making any substantial changes. You are just moving things over in the appropriate documents with the Planning Commission and the Master Plan and changing the verbiage so they fit in there. There are no real significant changes other than just reference material and narrative changes. I suggest simply that perhaps the Chairman might want to ask the Board Members how they feel. If you have questions, I don't have a problem with that. I am just offering. Chairperson Lawson said he has some significant questions that he wants to put out there and straighten out. I would like to make sure I get those on the record and through the process. Board Member Whitton asked if Chairperson Lawson would like to poll the Board. Chairperson Lawson said he would prefer to not poll the Board because he wants to move forward with this. Board Member Baker said Board Member Whitton is just asking to poll the Board, not make the decision. DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MINUTES APRIL 27, 2009 PAGE 5 of 14 Chairperson Lawson said then I'll poll the Board. Board Member Prietto, would you like to rubber stamp this or would you like to discuss this. Board Member Prietto said it is administrative, just housekeeping, in terms of changing it. But I do have some questions on some of these other issues. Board Member Schumacher agreed. It is mostly administrative, but I have a couple of questions. Chairperson Lawson said he agrees there is a lot of administrative aspects of all this that I would agree to, but I would still like to go through. Board Member Baker said it doesn't matter. Chairperson Lawson asked if there are any specific questions of staff at this time. Board Member Prietto said generally when a company consolidates, it is to save money. Can you tell me if we are saving money by disbanding the Design Review Board? Ms. Fountain said we did complete an analysis to compare what we think the administrative costs are related to the Design Review Board and the Planning Commission. It is not necessarily being done for cost savings purposes. Actually, our administrative support of the Design Review Board is only about a third of what we project to be for the Planning Commission. I think based on the City Council's feedback, it was related to the city moving toward build out. The Planning Commission will be dealing more and more with infill development like what is happening in the Village Area. The thought was if the Planning Commission is moving more towards that and that is similar to what the Design Review Board, then wouldn't it be more appropriate just to have one body looking at it all? Obviously, I can't speak entirely for all of the City Council as to what their thinking was on that, but I don't think it was so much as cost cutting as an efficiency of process in terms of having one board looking at land use permits rather than two separate boards. Board Member Prietto said he hopes the process doesn't create a further disconnect with the people in the Village. I live and work in the Village, and there are a lot of shop owners that really don't participate because of the disconnect. I just hope it doesn't get further by pushing these decisions further away from the Village. I think the Design Review Board has the opportunity to be a little closer to the shop owners. They are very delicate in their lives in being able to be successful. I think part of our job here is not just to follow the rules and regulations, but to help them to become successful. If the City Council closes down the Design Review Board, I hope they will at least invest in the VIP or some organization to make that connection. Ms. Fountain said that information will be captured as part of the minutes as well. I know the City Council does read the minutes from the different boards and commissions so they will hear your concern. Board Member Schumacher said he has similar concerns. I echo Board Member Prietto's comments. I think that regardless of whether it is the Design Review Board or the Planning Commission that has jurisdiction over the Redevelopment Area, my bigger concern is that from a staff level going through and interpreting the redevelopment and the code and coming up with creative solutions is something that is special to the Redevelopment Area as opposed to new development we have seen throughout the rest of the city. That is where the rubber meets the road, and I would hope the city, Redevelopment Agency or staff I hope it is stated in the Redevelopment Agency on a staff level so those negotiations for those unique properties that the Village has plenty of continues to have that ability to have flexibility at a staff level. Board Member Schumacher asked Ms. Fountain to talk a little bit more about "another 10 years funding can be spent in the Village." Can you talk a little bit more about that. When redevelopment plans expire, contracts or certain agreements can be approved continuing implementation of projects or programs. We have a ten year window where we can continue to pay for those projects and programs with redevelopment tax increment monies. Tax increment is a portion of property taxes that are specifically identified within your Redevelopment Area that are used to repay debt. We have a lot of debt in the Village Area. We have debt for bonds that we previously issued for the Streetscape Program, infrastructure projects, etc. We also have^city loans taken for a variety of different programs and DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MINUTES APRIL 27, 2009 PAGE 6 of 14 projects. We have the ability to continue to pay for any programs or projects that we have in place at the time that the plan expires. We have previously had the City Council take action to identify other projects or programs they would like to continue to implement in the Village Area, and those would have to be implemented within the next ten years or ten years after the expiration of the plan effectiveness date. We can continue to pay for them with redevelopment monies. The City Council has already said they would like to do that, but we still have to have them take formal action on the contract between the Redevelopment Agency and the city, basically saying the city will implement those projects for the Redevelopment Area over the next ten years. The projects include more streetscape improvements, a public parking garage potentially on North County Transit property, and other programs that could continue such as administration of the Redevelopment Office, paying for its staff, paying for the continuing programs that we have been working like business development and improvement programs. It could potentially fund the VIP or other types of programs like that. Board Member Schumacher asked then at the end of ten years, in year eleven, the Redevelopment Agency will have the funds already spent or they are no longer eligible to be spent, then the Redevelopment Agency really doesn't have a presence in the Village anymore? Ms. Fountain said the Redevelopment Agency will continue to exist as long as we have a Redevelopment Plan that is still effective, which we will have the South Carlsbad Redevelopment Plan, it is a 30 year plan. So a Redevelopment Agency will still be in place. What the Redevelopment Agency can pay for in the Village Area, will change on that eleventh year. Then it will have to go into more General Fund type projects and it will be the same CIP, Capital Improvement Program, that the city uses for the remainder of the City. Board Member Baker asked Ms. Fountain is it for certain that redevelopment cannot be renewed? Because I have had several conversations with people down in the Village who have put together some plans and have looked at some long term ideas. Their idea is that it can be extended and renewed. All you have to do is get our local legislators to ask for it to be extended or renewed. I have heard you say many times over the year that it is a question of blight findings. I am just asking for some clarification on that question. I think you know who I am talking about and what the issue is. Ms. Fountain said we have had that question come up a number of times. Staff understands it is hard to let the plan expire. To extend a redevelopment plan or even to create a new redevelopment plan, the process is the same. You have to be able to determine that you have substantial blight in an area to either form a redevelopment area or to extend the effectiveness date. To try and make the findings in our current Village Area that we still have substantial blight are almost impossible to make. We may still have pockets of areas that we feel are blighted and that can stilt meet the test, but when you have increasing sales tax or at least your sales tax is holding, you have increasing property values, you have reduced vacancy rates, it is very hard to make both the economic and the physical blight findings that you need to make to extend a redevelopment area. I think what some people might be thinking about is that the legislature could just pass legislation that says you can just extend like they did when they took money from us. Just to pass legislation that says a redevelopment plan can extend without having some circumstances for doing that, I just don't think is realistic. There have been various proposals that have been submitted to the state. I know the City of Industry has actually submitted a proposal to the state to allow all redevelopment areas to automatically extend for 30 years and then the state could take 5% off the top for their financial crisis. But the California Redevelopment Association is a major advocacy group and would not support that type of proposal because under the state constitution, the state is not allowed to take money from redevelopment. There is a lawsuit that is going on right now over that whole issue. It is not realistic to think the state is going to pass legislation to do it, especially for one city. I am speaking on my own opinion of what I think. We haven't asked the legislature to pass a resolution to allow the City of Carlsbad to extend its Redevelopment Plan. Just understanding redevelopment, understanding what the purpose of redevelopment is, it would be hard to see why it would have any benefit to the state and that they would be willing to do that. There comes a point in time that you have to declare victory and say that you have done what redevelopment intended for you to do. Redevelopment is all about blight elimination, and if you have blight or blighting influences, redevelopment is supposed to help you resolve those. It is not a program specifically to say we wanted a bigger, better development project than we got or we wanted a city hall to be built in our downtown area and it wasn't. That is not really what redevelopment is for. When you can start saying you have addressed a lot of what your blight determination was when you originally formed your redevelopment area, it would be very difficult then to make findings that say you need to continue. If you have been doing redevelopment for 28 years and you can still say you have substantial blight in an area, somebody has to ask the question: What have you been DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MINUTES APRIL 27,2009 PAGE 7 of 14 doing for 28 years? It is a tough one. It is hard to let go sometimes and to say we have done what we can with this part, but there is still more to do that we can do through other programs. Because we have this ten year window where we can continue to implement some programs and projects with the redevelopment funding, I think it serves the same purpose as would be for extending the Redevelopment Plan for another ten years. Board Member Baker said she has two more questions. Some decisions the Planning Commission makes are final. Am I to understand from your presentation and the staff report that every village project is only advisory to the Council, that the Council would have the final decision? Ms. Fountain said we are not actually proposing to make any changes to the type of permits that we have so that structure will remain the same. If we have a new major redevelopment project, regardless of whether it could have been something the Planning Commission could have approved because it was 50 units or less of residential or something similar to that; it would still have to go to City Council. So the Planning Commission would still only be a recommending body to the City Council. Minor redevelopment permits can be approved by the Design Review Board so they could be approved by the Planning Commission. Appeals for administrative decisions that currently go to the Design Review Board would go to the Planning Commission and could be final, unless obviously appealed to the City Council. So that structure will all remain the same. Board Member Baker said to follow up on that question, will the Redevelopment Director's title change? Is your office still going to be the point of contact for projects in the Village or do they all go to Faraday now? Will the Planning Director be the one you can appeal his decision to or how is that going to work? Ms. Fountain said currently we are not making any changes in staff assignments so we will continue as we are. That would mean the Redevelopment Director or our Redevelopment Planner would be making the presentations to the Planning Commission. That is always subject to change in the future. That may be something that is changed. It is not written into the Village Master Plan as to what staff serves. We would need to make changes eventually if you eliminated the Housing and Redevelopment Director and where it said Housing and Redevelopment Director would make the decision, an administrative decision, and that needs to be changed to the Planning Director. That might be something that would have to come back at a later date if that type of decision was made. It doesn't mean that it couldn't be made in the future. Board Member Baker said her last question concerns the Coastal Commission. Have they agreed to sign off on the changes or what is their position on it? Ms. Fountain said she has spoken with the Coastal Commission and they feel it would be a minor or a de minimus action and I will be sending them a copy of the report that you are seeing tonight so they can determine that for sure. Based on what we have shared with them, they feel it probably is not significant because we are not changing any policies or programs, but it does need to go to them because we are changing those local coastal program documents. Chairperson Lawson said he would like to get a clarification. In the Design Manual, you have a new goal. I was just trying to understand it. I understand most of the administrative changes where you are just cleaning things up, but there is goal 1.10, which says: Establish the Village Center Area as the San Diego North County's focus for specialty goods and services. Is that a new one? Ms. Fountain said actually 1.9 and 1.10 are new ones; those that are underlined. This is an integration from the Redevelopment Plan into the Village Master Plan. These were some goals that were in that document that we didn't think was clearly stated in the goals and objectives that we already had so we added them. It is similar to the goals I had put up on the slide that we have always wanted the Village Area to serve that purpose as being a specialty retail center so that it was different than a mall or it was different than other retail centers we have in Carlsbad and other surrounding cities. We had unique businesses, we had special focus types of areas, and if we look at the Business Development Plan that was developed a couple of years ago when we brought Kennedy Smith in as our consultant, she reinforced that in the Business Development Plan; try to attract unique businesses to your Village Area. Don't try to be a copycat of some other area in trying to get the national chains or the same stores that are other places; try to be unique, try to be different and try to be a focus area to show that you are special in some way. This message in this goal just reiterated what we had in the Business Development Plan so it made sense to incorporate it. DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MINUTES APRIL 27, 2009 PAGE 8 of 14 Chairperson Lawson asked would it allow for a business that would be unique to where it may not fit within the so-called guidelines and zoning ordinances and codes outside of the Village Area or is it an emphasis that we are trying to maintain uniqueness? Are there any types of businesses that this would help to perpetuate? Ms. Fountain said it wasn't so much in saying it is a unique business that doesn't necessarily fit somewhere else. It was more the type of product that is sold might be unique or it might be something that you don't see everywhere else or you might get a group of stores in the Village Area that found a niche that is not being met somewhere else. Chairperson Lawson said to Ms. Fountain in her presentation in the beginning she talked about the successes that we have met. Could you go back to that slide? Would it be correct to interpret that those successes took place because of the Redevelopment designation or could they also have taken place through time? With time, businesses come in and economics change. Are all of those attributable primarily just because and would not have happened if there wasn't the redevelopment designation? Ms. Fountain said most areas the economy effects a lot of what happens. Specifically in the Village Area if there hadn't been a focus, if there hadn't been a designated effort that the Council decided to do in 1981, and it actually started back as early as the mid 70's as the community started thinking about the Village Area and what needs to happen. I don't think if that focused effort hadn't been there, that we would have seen the type of change that is more directive. I think what you might have seen happen is whatever the economy would support would be the types of uses that might come in to the area. I think because it was more directive, there were specific goals and objectives of what was trying to be accomplished. But I think the final success was better. It wasn't just filling spaces. It was filling spaces with the types of businesses that the community wanted to see and not just be attractive to the outside but attractive to its own residents and visitors. I think because it was directive and it was specific in terms of what was trying to be accomplished, we had a better result than we would have if we had just let the economy decide what was going to happen in the Village. Chairperson Lawson said he would agree. Also, when you met with the City Council at the workshop that you made reference to, is it true that the first recommendations as you presented to the Council at that time did not address the issue of sun setting the Design Review Board or did it? Ms. Fountain said we gave the City Council several options related to the current process and the Design Review Board. One of the options was sun setting it. It was not staffs initial recommendation, but it was one of the options that was listed. We had about four options listed and one of them was sun setting the Design Review Board. Chairperson Lawson said as it being not your initial recommendation, what might have been some of the reasons in that staff initial thought that the Design Review Board had a role. Ms. Fountain said initially because one of our assumptions was that we wanted to allow for a seamless transition from Redevelopment Plan expiration to a new day, we were making an assumption that everything would stay the same. The process would all stay the same, the Design Review Board would all stay the same to continue that special focus. The City Council, once they were reviewing all those options, felt that because of the change in the whole community, this may be the right time to make that change and to sunset the Design Review Board. It was going into it with some different assumptions. Chairperson Lawson said that he had heard that during the discussion with the City Council at that workshop that it was suggested that the past and or present Design Review Board members had been polled for their opinion on this. Can you elaborate on if that is true or not? Ms. Fountain said during the discussion around the Design Review Board, there was reference to one of the Council members talking to some of the past Design Review Board members and Planning Commission to bounce the idea off of them as to if this made any sense. There was feedback that it seemed to make sense to do it. Chairperson Lawson opened public testimony. Mario Monroy who resides at 749 Magnolia Avenue, Carlsbad: I support what is being proposed mostly because I think things have really changed over the years. Probably one of the most important things is that DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MINUTES APRIL 27, 2009 PAGE 9 of 14 the real estate value of the area from Buena Vista to Agua Hadianda has gotten so pricey that unless a wide revision to densities and design is changed, the pedestrian traffic for the Village is never going to materialize, especially in the winter. One of the things that I learned by looking at the Barrio, for example, is that 60% of the people who own real estate in the Barrio are absentee owners. When you hold a meeting, none of those people show up. With the changes that have taken place and with the fact that Carlsbad is approaching build out and all those things together, I think the area, and one of the things we discussed when the VIP was formed was that when you say Village, you mean from Agua Hadianda to the Buena Vista Lagoon. So the Redevelopment Area being called the Village detracts from the surrounding areas as well. Look at the densities that are north of the Village on Jefferson. The Redevelopment Area never looked beyond those boundaries. They don't have the slightest idea what densities they can place, what the economics are, and the economics have been studied by the city for the Redevelopment Area all apply to the north side and to the south side because without change, there is absolutely no incentive. Since those properties were developed prior to the Village, the Redevelopment Area, the densities are very high. When we changed things in 1986, nobody paid attention to what happened to the Village going from lagoon to lagoon. Now things are happening because of more interest. I think it is time to look beyond those boundaries. With that I support what is being proposed. Ms. Fountain said on the Design Review Board Resolution 339, we originally had this set for the Design Review Board to make a recommendation to the Planning Commission on the General Plan amendment. We have since that time, determined that this would not need to go to the Planning Commission. It can go directly from the Design Review Board to the City Council and the Housing and Redevelopment Commission. We will need to take out the reference that it is recommending to the Planning Commission. It will be just recommending directly to the City Council. Chairperson Lawson said thank you because that was confusing. Ms. Fountain said when we first prepared this, we had a different thought on how this would get processed and we changed it and we forgot to change the resolution. Chairperson Lawson closed the public testimony. He has one follow up question. As it is probably apparent through the topics that I have been raising and some other comments that have been raised or questions asked of staff, is it possible to move everything forward as a recommendation without transferring the reviewing authority or the issue of sun setting the Design Review Board. That all of the other recommendations, the changing of the documents and references to the process and such, they could be done with still having the Design Review Board be a body that reviews the applications within this designated area. Is that possible and if so, could that be done? Ms. Mobaldi said we could dp that. If you wanted to do that, I would recommend that you vote and if the majority is in favor, make a minute motion on that one issue, then recommend approval of the other resolutions as proposed. Board Member Baker said just a clarification. Do you mean a minute motion or an amendment to the motion? Ms. Mobaldi said it would actually be both. You would make a minute motion that the Design Review Board not be sun setted and then you would amend the other resolution to that affect as well. Chairperson Lawson said this is still just a recommendation and nothing more. Obviously it is a suggestion not final by any means. Ms. Mobaldi answered yes, it still has to go to the City Council. Chairperson Lawson asked if there are any discussion items or issues or topics that anyone would like to bring up before moving on this. Board Member Baker said she would like to say between working on the Chamber's Downtown Task Force and CVIP and the Design Review Board, I have spent a lot of time with Ms. Fountain and her staff, and I would like to say you have all done a really great job. I know it has been frustrating because people in the Village like to whine about as much as they like to raise a toast. I think you all have done a really great job DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MINUTES APRIL 27, 2009 PAGE 10 of 14 with working down there. Something to consider and something I have thought about is if it is determined that the Planning Commission will be the review body, I think we might want to think about hiring a Downtown Chief or Czar or somebody down there whose job is partly to think about building and projects but partly to think about marketing and the overall focus of the Village. I know your office has tried to do that, but in certain ways it has been hard because there are a lot of rules down there. If we just had a person such as the Village Chief or the Village Czar or whoever it is. I think North Park has had a model similar to that that if people wanted to develop something in the area, they would go into that office and they would help the person with what the plans are and what the ideas are and what they can do and what they can't do. They can help them negotiate through the Planning Department and process. They have also acted as the marketing consultant and chief with a budget of advertising to sell and be a coordinator of activities that go on in the area. I am wondering if maybe the time hasn't come to do that kind of thing. We talk about funding the CVIP or the CVA, but maybe if it is a city employee that has connections with the city and knows how to get things done, then it might go a long way to solving some of the problems that you all have expressed tonight about losing the connection with the Village. Really at the end of the day the Design Review Board as well as the Planning Commission are land use deciders. We are not marketing people. That is why it does make some sense, in my opinion, to move the review process to the Planning Commission because the bodies are land use issues, and they are not overall making the Village a better place kind of issues. I just wanted to say that maybe it is time to hire someone whose function is a little different than Ms. Fountain's has been but has some of the abilities to do marketing, tourism and planning and business development; even going so far as going out and trying to recruit businesses and form ideas. Thank you and it has been great being a part of this body and working with all of you. Chairperson Lawson said he would like to further elaborate about that topic. Would you then be suggesting that is part of the recommendation moving forward? Are you recommending that be added to these recommendations in lieu of the loss of local representation and it is important to have that or is this just an opinion being offered? Board Member Baker said she is not suggesting that we make this a recommendation. I am just using this ability to bully pulpit and hoping the City Council will read this and the powers that be will think that is an idea work pursuing. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. Maybe it is just something that people who are knowledgeable about this get together and hammer out how that happens. It just seems like a lot happens in the Village and there are just so many rules and maybe it is time to think about hiring the person whose job it is to get by the rules or solve the problem or make things work rather than strictly enforce rules. I am just wondering if it is time to move to that kind of model. I do support sun setting the Design Review Board. Ms. Fountain, you have done an admirable job. I don't want you to think that is a reflection. Board Member Whitton said he agrees with that comment that Board Member Baker just made. I think that an advocate of that sort, so long as there are perimeters drawn around it so as not to conflict with the Chamber of Commerce, and focus on the downtown area or the Redevelopment Area only would be a good idea. It has lots of potential. Again, not to minimize anything Ms. Fountain has done, she has done a great job for this city. Board Member Schumacher agreed with the kudos to the Redevelopment Agency. I agree with having somebody that can play that role going forward. I think there is a lot of unfinished business that the city has already spent energy and money, not least the Kennedy Smith report that exists on paper and needs to be implemented. Without somebody in that role, I am concerned it will just founder. Board Member Prietto said if the job of the Design Review Board is to check boxes and follow rules and regulations, I agree. Push it up to corporate somewhere, and let them follow the rules. The people who are downtown that are self-employed that don't have the 3% at 30, that don't have the 401K, that don't have the sick days, that don't have the holidays, and they live and breathe by virtue of how well they do and it is so delicate, it requires a depth touch. I think the Council hasn't been able to really make that connection. You see it in the eyes of the proprietors downtown that have that "aw shucks" attitude and they are not willing to toast because they see it again and they see it again and they see it again. Somehow, there has to be a connection. I don't have the answer, but I can see the frustration in the shop owners. Maybe a Czar or somebody, a player, somebody who understands being self-employed and maybe have some self- employment experience that can empathize with not having the ability to stay home because the doors have to be open. Maybe the VIP is the answer. DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MINUTES APRIL 27, 2009 PAGE 11 of 14 Ms. Mobaldi wanted to remind the Design Review Board that these ideas are fine and sharing them is fine, but there is nothing on the agenda about whether or not there is going to be somebody hired to manage the Village. That is not before you tonight. You are not voting on that. Chairperson Lawson said he hopes the Board understands that. Board Member Baker said she knows that but just wanted to take the opportunity. Chairperson Lawson said he considers himself the senior person on the Design Review Board. I think I have been here a little bit beyond two terms. I have always found as a business owner who is in the Village, I have the best view on the Village than anybody sitting up above State Street, and I see everybody that comes and goes. I walk the streets just about every day and am down in there, and there is an extreme important value in the fact that you do have a connection to it. I have always prided myself and this body that is what we do. We look at the interest and the merits of things within the Village, not just whether they meet height requirements and setbacks, but how they are complimentary to promoting things down in the Village. It does concern me. I have not been on the Planning Commission. I have spent my amount of time watching them and presenting to them and for 20 or 30 years I have been politically active in Carlsbad. It is a different body, I think, than the Design Review Board. I am saddened to think this entity will not continue to move forward. Maybe even the makeup could be slightly changed. Without doing as Ms. Mobaldi mentioned, changing and introducing something different, but maybe the makeup of this entity could slightly be tweaked or whatever to be more loaded with the people that are indeed in the Village or have some interest in that. I might be a minority opinion of this group, but I think the Design Review Board actually plays a very, very valuable roll that is different than the Planning Commission. I think at some point, obviously when the boundaries of the area no longer exists, than there is no reason to have a separate group. I think there is a lot of merit. I have taken pride in all of the things we have done and looked at and entertained and tried to promote through the different things with working with a number of different staff as well that have all been fabulous contributions to the city. Frankly, I think a message should be sent to the City Council before they sunset this board, they need to think about how they are truly going to be able to accomplish those things. The suggestions that were brought up by those that are in favor of supporting it, I think are testimony to why they should be thinking about that before they actually do the sun setting and how we are going to maintain that level of representation. I hope everyone here and it is clear in the record I think this group has performed admirably in representing and furthering all of the goals that have been mentioned and have been part of the successes that have been stated in the presentation. With that, I am not in favor of supporting the recommendations here as long as it is in support of sun setting the Design Review Board. It is not out of personal interest because I don't think I will be on here much longer anyway, even it was to continue. I need to move on because I have been on for two terms. I can support all of the other clean up issues that have to be done, but I would not be supportive of sun setting the Design Review Board without a true plan that replaces the uniqueness that it offers. With that unless there are any other comments, I will entertain a motion. Board Member Baker moved that the Design Review Board adopt Design Review Board Resolutions number 339, 440 and 441 recommending Housing and Redevelopment Commission and or City Council approval of the amendments to the Village Master Plan and Design Manual, Local Coastal Program and City Council Policy number 65 to allow for minor headings/language or revisions, to incorporate relevant information from the expiring Village Redevelopment Plan into the Village Master Plan and Design Manual and to clarify various provisions and amendments to the Carlsbad Municipal Code Chapters 21.35, 21.41, and 21.81 and the General Plan to address the same minor headings, language or revisions and language integration and clarifications to allow for continuation of existing land use and development regulations and related policies for special review within the Village Area following expiration of the Village Redevelopment Plan on July 21, 2009. Board Member Whitton seconded. He continued that he tends to favor the Design Review Board per se, • however, I think I agree we have to reach beyond the boundaries of downtown and start incorporating a vision of these other areas that are contiguous to the boundaries of the Redevelopment Area. Chairperson Lawson said if that is true, the boundaries still exist. Board Member Whitton said he knows the boundaries still exist. DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MINUTES APRIL 27, 2009 PAGE 12 of 14 Chairperson Lawson continued that all of this documentation pertains only to areas within that so that is not precluded, is it not from still happening? Your Planning Commission could take all of these very same things and try to be incorporating them outside of the boundary. There is nothing that stops that from happening. Board Member Whitton said he agrees. Board Member Baker said yes there is. Chairperson Lawson asked what that is. Board Member Baker said a lot of the City of Carlsbad's rules are different for properties that are within the Redevelopment Area then are outside of the Redevelopment Area. You can't take what is in that and apply it to areas outside of the Redevelopment Area because the rules are different in many cases as far as parking, building height, recreational spaces, all kinds of issues. Board Member Whitton said he is going to withdraw his comment and leave it as it is. I second the motion. VOTE: 4-1 AYES: Baker, Prietto, Schumacher, and Whitton NOES: Lawson ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None Ms. Mobaldi asked Chairperson Lawson if he is opposed to the entire motion or just to the expiration of the Design Review Board. Chairperson Lawson said he is opposed to the expiration of the Design Review Board. DIRECTOR'S REPORT Ms. Fountain said she was not going to technically say this was the last meeting of the Design Review Board because until the City Council takes action on the changes to sunset the DRB, then it wouldn't be official. So there is still a potential that if something happens between now and then, we may still need to have another Design Review Board Meeting. We may or may not have any additional projects to bring forward to the Design Review Board. If we don't and the City Council does sunset the Design Review Board, we will at least have a celebration dinner or something so we can honor all of you for all of the work you have done on the Board. We will let you know how things progress. We will take all of your comments forward to the City Council in the form of the minutes so they will be aware of what your concerns were and we'll continue to try and address those as we move forward. Chairperson Lawson asked Mrs. Fountain when you would anticipate knowing that information. Ms. Fountain asked as to when it would go to Council? Chairperson Lawson said yes. Ms. Fountain answered at this time we are not sure because the budget is starting to get processed for the city and that tends to take up a lot of time on each agenda. It may not be until the end of June before we are able to go to the Council but we will let you know. Chairperson Lawson said seeing that there is a possibility we may not meet again, is it possible to get a very brief update on some of the big projects that we voted on and approved and were anticipating moving forward; on whether or not they are moving forward, such as the Lumiare and there was another hotel. Just something confirming whether it is moving forward or not. Ms. Fountain asked if he would like to have another meeting for that. Chairperson Lawson said no, just some brief additional insight. We could take advantage of this potential last time to hear from you. DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MINUTES APRIL 27, 2009 PAGE 13 of 14 Ms. Fountain commented it won't be the last time you hear from me but maybe in a different capacity. We don't have a lot of information on some of the projects that have been approved in the past. I did just receive an e-mail today though on the Springhill Suites Project that is on Carlsbad Boulevard where the Surf Motel is and they are moving forward on their working drawings on their project, and they actually are looking at making it a leed-certified hotel so they are looking for funding to help with that. That was the purpose of their e-mail today. It was nice to hear they are working on their drawings and still plan to go forward. The Lumiare Project, we understand, is on hold right now. That is not any surprise with the current economy in terms of the fact that project included condominiums as well as hotel rooms and a restaurant. They will wait for the right time. I think eventually that project will move forward. The project that is right next to us has just recently completed construction, the Roosevelt Center. They went forward, as you remember, to get a tentative map approved for their project so they could possibly sell some of their space. They are moving forward to get their space leased up and sold. We do have a restaurant that has been proposed with retail wine sales. The restaurant is called Per Se. It is going to be a French American Restaurant and wine sales. They are moving forward and they have had somebody already move in to one of their residential units. One of the staff people in our office took a tour of their whole project and was impressed. The views from the residential units are very nice. We have quite a few projects on the books that right now we haven't seen working drawings for. Whether or not they will come in the future, I'm not sure. We are watching them to make sure that if they have permits that are expiring or if they have maps that are expiring, that we are helping them to process extensions so they don't have to restart their whole process over again. Board Member Whitton asked Ms. Fountain about Ponto Beach. Board Member Baker said that is coming before the Planning Commission in the next month. Ms. Fountain said we have our first application going forward for a hotel, the Hilton Hotel Resort. That will be May 6, 2009, and it is the first project. With the Coastal Commission we are still trying to get approval of the Vision Plan, but we are still moving forward with the projects. We did resolve the lawsuit that we had on the EIR, thanks to our Attorney's Office. We don't have any other formal applications. Chairperson Lawson said he wants to thank staff immensely. It has been a real pleasure working with Ms. Mobaldi, Ms. Crescent! and Mr. Silva and all of the staff over the years. I greatly appreciate it. It has been a great experience and I greatly appreciate everything that you all have done. Ms. Fountain said thank you. We plan right now that the process will continue as it is for a while. Obviously there is always change that is possible in the future, but I think the City Council is focused on the area as a special area. I think they are looking to continue that effort and all of you have a part to play in that in whatever capacity that might be as board members of the VIP or as developers or business owners in the Village. Even if the Design Review Board does sunset, there is still a role for everybody to play and our office will continue to play our role in that as long as it serves the purpose. Board Member Baker announced that the Carlsbad Village Improvement Partnership along with the Business Association is sponsoring an event on Friday, May 1st. It is Art Surf. It is free. It is not a fund raiser. It is just fun. It started because we wanted to make the Village alive and so we found some empty storefronts and they are being painted by artists and the galleries will be open and the wine stores will be open. The idea is just to wander through the Village, drink some wine, look at art and have some fun. ADJOURNMENT By proper motion, the Design Review Board of April 27, 2009, was adjourned at 7:27 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Debbie Fountain DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MINUTES APRIL 27, 2009 PAGE 14 of 14 Housing and Redevelopment Director PATRICIA CRESCENTI Minutes Clerk NOTE: Due to a clerical error, the Design Review Board Resolutions were changed from 337, 338 and 339 to now reflect 339, 340, and 341. The Future of the Village and the Design Review Board Purpose •To encourage the City Council to consider alternatives to “sunsetting the Design Review Board” Background •Redevelopment Districts typically exist for only 25 to 30 years, •Carlsbad’s Village Redevelopment Area has enjoyed various degrees of success. •Blight and blighting influences have been significantly reduced or eliminated through the use of special tools afforded the Redevelopment District. •Oversight of the Village has been accomplished with a specially structured City board, the Design Review Board The 1981 Village Redevelopment Plan is set to expire July 21, 2009 Recent DRB Action and Recommendation to Council 1.Revise or modify Governing City documents : –The Village Redevelopment Master Plan & Design Manual –Local Coastal Program –City Council Policy # 65 –Municipal Code –General Plan 2.Retire the existing Design Review Board and allow the Planning Commission to resume review of land use permits & other related matters in the Village. (Vote of 4:1 following Staff Recommendations) So what about the Future? What are the City’s on-going intentions? “To continue the redevelopment and/or revitalization efforts within the Village Area through the use of different or modified tools.” According to Staff, the City’s Goal for the Village is: Continued Revitalization Efforts 1.The Village Area warrants continued focus as a “special review area” 2.Seamless transition of land use regulations and related actions to facilitate continued redevelopment and/or revitalization 3.Seamless transition of process for implementation and cohesion of land use regulations and approvals 4.Ten (10) more years of continued Tax increment financing for projects and programs 5.Blight may be minimized, yet redevelopment and/or revitalization continues. 6.Maintain an incremental and steady, but guarded, pace of transforming the Village Assumptions: What’s so Special about the Village? Village Master Plan Executive Summary •Has a distinct visual identity that makes it unique and a memorable place with identifiable landmarks. •Strives for excellence through high quality, well-designed private development and public improvements. •Accommodates a wide range of land uses and also serves as a specialty retail center for the entire City. •Has a strong civic character and provides a place for people to come to be a part of important community events. •Is a comfortable and safe place to work, shop, visit, and live. •Demonstrates a welcoming attitude and a spirit of cooperation to new businesses and developers who are interested in becoming a part of the downtown. The Carlsbad Village Redevelopment Area: Housing & Redevelopment Commission Goals (2005 -2009 Implementation Plan for the Carlsbad Village Redevelopment Project Area •Protect Surrounding Neighborhoods •Encourage Investment •Insist on Quality Use and Design •Emphasize Environmental Character and Public Places •Eliminate Deteriorated Conditions •Enhance Commercial Base of Project Area •Stimulate Economic Growth •Provide First Class Infrastructure •Maintain Village Character •Enrich with Community Facilities •Remediate and Beautify QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture. QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture. QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture. QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture. QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture. 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Other Point & References: •Successful downtowns provide a Sense of Place. •Viable downtowns continue to grow and change over time. •Numerous and sufficient Publications, Plans and Studies have been prepared or completed. •Numerous organized Entities, Partners & Stakeholders have vested interest. •The Unique conditions of the Village have always warranted an equally unique oversight body that is “In Touch” with the area. “People attract people, who attract people” City Publications and Reports Unique Mix of Uses and Activities Unlike any other area of the City (Per the Kennedy Smith Report) Issues and Concerns: 1.City Council workshop suggested the Design Review Board should be retired. 2.Apparent disconnect between Council’s acknowledgment and support for continued special revitalization and the suggested elimination of the DRB. 3.No alternate plan for special focus by a Council-appointed advisory body. 4.Continued direction and support to the Village Area. 5.Planning Commission not the right fit. Recommendations: 1.City Council should reconsider this decision and direct the staff to provide alternate revisions to allow the Design Review Board to continue as the advisory board throughout the Village Area of Carlsbad. 2.Consider a new name for the Design Review Board and to expand its responsibilities (and maybe membership) to address concerns. Suggestion: “Village Advisory Board”. A Unique area requires Unique attention