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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-02-12; Housing Commission; MinutesMinutes of: Time of Meeting: Date of Meeting: Place of Meeting: HOUSING COMMISSION 6:00 P.M. February 12, 2009 CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Smith called the Meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioner Ritchie led with the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Present: Absent: Commissioners: Emelda Bradwell Craig Kirk Doris Ritchie Bobbie Smith Hope Wrisley None Staff Present: Housing and Redevelopment Director: Debbie Fountain Senior Planner: Scott Donnell APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of January 8, 2009, were approved with one correction on page 5, paragraph 5, line one, delete the first "in the way." VOTE: 4-0 AYES: Bradwell, Wrisley, Kirk and Smith NOES: None ABSTAIN: Ritchie (absent from meeting) ABSENT: None ITEM NOT ON AGENDA There were no items that were not on the agenda. NEW BUSINESS Debbie Fountain, Director of Housing and Redevelopment, presented the item on the agenda which is the 2005 to 2010 draft Housing Element. On January 8, 2009, the draft Housing Element was presented to the Housing Commission. We had a report presented at that time by staff and our consultant, and our consultant unfortunately couldn't be with us tonight. The staff planner on this project, Scott Donnell, is here tonight, and he will be making a short presentation for you to go over where we are at. At the last meeting there was a decision to close the public testimony at that time, and the intent was the Housing Commission wanted to think about all the testimony it had received that evening and not make a decision and give you more time to think about it and to review the issues. After Mr. Donnell makes his presentation, we will turn the meeting back to you Madam Chair and if the Commission wishes to reopen the testimony, you can have that discussion with the Commission at that time and take a vote as to whether or not you would like to reopen the testimony. There are a couple of people who have contacted our office and indicated they were interested in speaking tonight and providing you with some additional information. That is up to the Housing Commission at this point as to whether or not you would like to reopen that public testimony. Scott Donnell, the staff planner, said he briefly wanted to go over what will be covered in tonight's presentation. We will first of all recap the meeting at which you last heard this item on January 8, 2009. HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 12, 2009 PAGE 2 of 13 We will also take some time to respond to the public comments as well as the Housing Commission comments that were raised at that meeting, discuss the Errata you have been provided already, provide you with staffs recommendation as well as the anticipated review schedule once the Housing Element finishes its review by you. There is some updated information regarding the review I would like to share. I would also like to mention, for the public's benefit, there is some information in the Council's Chambers foyer that is available to them including a couple of handouts that have been provided by both McMillin Homes and Hanson regarding the soil remediation that is occurring there as well as some general development information, zoning land use, etc. that has been provided by McMillin. We have also provided a Housing Element site study map that we'll cover in more detail later in this presentation. Also provided in the back are both copies of the Errata you already have as well as copies of the slides. I would like to briefly recap the meeting. The primary purpose of the January 8, 2009, meeting was to introduce you to the Housing Element, its contents, and go over the requirements of the State Housing Law, what cities and counties in California are obligated to do. At that meeting we also spent a large amount of time talking about the growth projection, the Regional Share Housing Needs Assessment that Carlsbad must deal with and how that impacts our Housing Element programs. We also discussed the ramifications of not adopting a Housing Element; how that may eventually lead to the city being unable to issue permits for development. No Housing Element also penalizes the city in being less likely to apply for certain grants through the San Diego Association of Governments. We concluded our presentation in January with a recommendation. There were a number of public comments, as you probably remember, as well as comments from the Housing Commission itself. Those comments focused on two areas; one had to do with site selection, and the other focused on the Quarry Creek property. We will discuss both of those later. The public comment period was closed as Ms. Fountain mentioned, and the meeting was continued to tonight. I would like to respond to the first primary point of the comments raised on January 8, 2009, and that has to do with the site selection. I would like to lay the ground work for why we are where we are in terms of recommending programs and up-zoning of certain property in Carlsbad. First of all, the government code establishes that the availability of housing is of statewide importance as a mandate that is passed down from the state to all counties and cities in California. That can take many forms. It can be in the form of providing emergency shelters, providing housing for the elderly, providing farm worker housing, but in this case it takes the form also of accommodating or providing enough units for expected growth in Carlsbad. The growth projections estimate that Carlsbad needs to provide nearly 8,400 units in the 2003 to 2010 timeframe. Fortunately, that included a very busy time in Carlsbad's growth and we have been able to reduce that number through the construction of units by about 5,000. It does leave a need that still needs to be fulfilled even though we have that original growth projection of about 8,400 units subtracting the 5,000 units that have been constructed; we still have a need of 3,566 homes. The growth projections are broken down by income category. Those 3,566 homes that Carlsbad needs to provide are for the lower and moderate income family categories. The State Department of Housing and Community Development, which reviews our Housing Element, says that providing homes to families in those income categories must be at specific densities. In Carlsbad those specific densities are 12 units to the acre for moderate income families and 20 units to the acre for lower income families. We do not actually need to require these units be built. The city does not have to act as a contractor. We instead simply need to make sure that we have land and programs and densities that are adequate to accommodate those 3,566 homes. Some of the problems with doing that are: Our existing land use policies per our General Plan are inadequate based on our General Plan Land Use Map to date; we don't have the land or the densities to accommodate 3,566 homes. That is largely because we have a lack of appropriately located vacant land. Carlsbad for the most part is primarily built out; residentially speaking, we are probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 85 to 90% of our residential build out. Another limitation or criteria that is important for selecting sites to accommodate that lower and moderate income housing need is the General Plan. The General Plan contains a number of policies which dictate where it is appropriate to locate higher density housing or multifamily housing. Both higher density and HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 12, 2009 PAGE 3 of 13 multifamily are considered appropriate for moderate and lower income families. The land designated for these densities needs to be near commercial centers, employment centers, major transportation corridors, parks, amenities, shopping areas, and community facilities. There is also another policy that encourages residential uses to be located in commercial areas to take advantage of that close and living opportunity and convenience to shopping. When we look at all the criteria, the fact we have a limited amount of land, the fact that our General Plan dictates where multifamily and higher density uses can go, we end up with a site selection study that really is limited in terms of the options Carlsbad has. You have been provided a map as part of your packet that simply shows the different sites that Carlsbad both selected and rejected in terms of being part of our Housing Element. If you take a look at the upper left corner of the map, you will see there are call outs for three areas; one the Beach Area Overlay, another the proposed Barrio Area, and the third is the Village Redevelopment Area. These are all appropriate infill areas. They are close to major transportation corridors, they are near shopping, they are near amenities, they are appropriate places to locate moderate and lower income housing. Indeed, our Housing Element does have programs which recognize these three areas in particular as great places to do just that. Other sites called out on this map that are part of the Housing Element include Quarry Creek near the upper part of the photo as well as various locations throughout Carlsbad, either along the coast such as the Ponto Area or down toward Encinitas in the La Costa area. This map also shows sites the City considered but rejected and the most prominent feature of this map is the central portion of Carlsbad around the McClennan-Palomar Airport area. The airport is labeled as well as a large area that indicates the flight activity zones of aircrafts as they approach the McClennan-Palomar Airport. It is not appropriate to locate residential areas in that yellow hashed area. Because of the airport's location, because of safety hazards and noise concerns, the General Plan says the area around the airport is most appropriate for industrial land uses. It is not the type of location that is suitable generally for residential uses. Because of that, staff did not include any properties within the industrial areas. I should mention that besides constraints caused by the airport, there are also constraints due to the industrial uses themselves, which might employ chemicals or processing or manufacturing techniques that would be inappropriate or perhaps unsafe for residential uses. That is probably a reason why the majority of properties in our industrial areas have restrictive CC&R's that actually prohibit residential uses. What this Housing Element site study map also shows are the locations of existing affordable projects in the city like Cassia Heights or Villa Loma or Mariposa in the Calavera Hills area. If you look at the locations of those sites, you will realize that generally by and large they are all located along major transportation corridors, close to shopping, and close to employment corridors just as the General Plan requires. On this map the portion of protected open space has been added. The purpose of showing this slide is to emphasize the lack of land which is truly available for residential construction today. Any area you see in a shade of green is protected open space, either protected by easement or zoning or General Plan designation. It is unavailable for development. Any vacant land that is left in Carlsbad today that you might see driving around has generally been set aside as open space or is in a location staff feels is inappropriate for higher density construction. There are a few sites in the central part of the city that we did consider and did believe would be appropriate for lower and moderate income housing; those are the Kelly property, the Tabata El Camino property, and also the Basin BJ property. We would agree these are appropriate locations; however, due to constraints, due to the site simply not being ready, constraints due to access, or unwillingness of the property owner, they were not included in the Housing Element. That is background on how the city arrived at the certain sites such as the beach area overlay, the Village area and also Quarry Creek and why we consider them to be appropriate as part of our Housing Element. The second part of my response to comments I wanted to cover is staffs response to comments raised regarding Quarry Creek in particular. First of all, we do have a program in our proposed Housing Element that designates the 100 acre Quarry Creek property for 500 units of housing on approximately 32 acres of land. I want to be clear that the land to which the Housing Element refers is the property on which the mining has taken place. It is outlined in yellow and pointed out by the yellow arrow on the slide. Staff believes there are many advantages to the Quarry Creek site, and we have listed some of the reasons why we believe it is appropriate for moderate and lower income housing. About 50% of the 100 acre property has been disturbed by past mining. The current General Plan now designates the property or 70 acres of the property for residential use. The location complies with General Plan criteria in terms of being HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 12, 2009 PAGE 4 of 13 close to shopping, employment centers, as well as transportation corridors. It has also been designated by SANDAG as a potential smart growth site in recognition of its location. As provided in the handouts to you, the remediation of soils to remove contaminants about which comments were raised at the last meeting is being addressed. One bullet point that is not provided on this slide is that the zoning for the property is for residential as well as manufacturing uses. Other comments on the Quarry Creek site to respond to issues raised, and this is provided to give you some background information on the open space aspects of Quarry Creek. There are environmental constraints that our General Plan recognizes that any developer has to accommodate; for example, certain steep slopes need to be preserved, areas of sensitive habitat need to be preserved, our General Plan currently calls out that 30 acres of the Quarry Creek site is designated as open space. That open space designation simply cannot be changed. In fact, our General Plan says for open space areas any change to the boundaries of such must not decrease the amount or the quality of the land that is protected by the current open space designation. We also, in our Growth Management Plan, designate that at least 15% of the developable area of a facility zone be set aside as open space. A facility zone has not been adopted for Quarry Creek, but as part of the process to change the land use designation as staff recommends, that facility zone will be adopted and will call out where this 15% additional open space will be located. Finally, the Quarry Creek area has already been mapped in terms of habitat preservation through our Habitat Management Plan has identified the Quarry Creek Property as a proposed hard-line conservation area. I would like to talk about the Errata that has been provided to you. This Errata simply proposes for minor changes to the text of the Housing Element, mainly to bring the Housing Element or portions of it up to date with the review that has occurred through the Housing and Community Development process. It also amends a couple of programs to clarify city efforts towards preserving at-risk housing and clarifying certain standards that regard only the Village as well as finally eliminating some unnecessary words, some misspellings in the Housing Element. None of the changes proposed in the Errata are substantive and no sites are affected. Our recommendation, therefore, is approval of the Housing Element update which actually takes the form of a General Plan amendment. We also recommend that your action tonight include reference to the Errata. Your recommendation will be forwarded to Planning Commission and City Council and it is the City Council that makes the final decision. I would like to update the Housing Commission as well as the audience regarding the review schedule. Presently the environmental document on the Housing Element is out for public review and will be for another two weeks. The Planning Commission hearing date is tentatively set for April 1, 2009. We expect sometime thereafter the City Council will hear this item as well. Finally, after the City Council, assuming it does adopt the Housing Element, staff will provide that Element to the state for certification; the state has 90 days to do that. Subsequently to that, of course, we will be holding additional hearings to actually implement the programs that are adopted in the Housing Element. Ms. Fountain said that is all staff wanted to share with the Housing Commission tonight. At this time, it will be turned back over to the Housing Commission. As mentioned earlier, if you do wish to reopen the public testimony, that will be the first item we would ask you to consider tonight and discuss and take a vote if you would like to do that. Also, you may want to discuss how long you are willing to give each speaker if you are willing to reopen the public testimony. There is at least one member of the public that has a presentation longer than five minutes. Chairperson Smith asked the members of the Housing Commission if they are willing to reopen the public testimony at this time. Commissioner Wrisley said she would be willing to reopen the public comment period if we can be assured that the comments that are made are not things that were already said the last time. We listened, we listened well and we don't want you to go over the same points again. The information we were given tonight looks like mainly it is on the MPBE remediation, and I think that is irrelevant in what we are trying to decide tonight. Yes, we want the remediation done, we want it done correctly, but I don't know that has a HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 12, 2009 PAGE 5 of 13 whole lot to do with what our decision would be. If we can be assured that it is new information, I would be willing to reopen public testimony. Commissioner Kirk said he too is in favor of additional public testimony providing that it is new information and relevant information. I agree the remediation is certainly something that is of concern. I believe it is being addressed. I believe it is not our position to address that here. So if your testimony is regarding that, from my perspective as well, that is not pertinent to this particular decision we will be making tonight. That is an ongoing effort and it is being completed by the necessary commissions, boards and organizations. Other than that, I am certainly in favor of hearing additional new and relevant testimony. Commissioner vyrisley moved that we reopen public testimony. Commissioner Kirk seconded that we would reopen public testimony. VOTE: 4-1 AYES: Bradwell, Kirk, Smith and Wrisley NOES: Ritchie ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None Chairperson Smith asked if there is anyone in the audience who would like to provide new information for the Housing Commission to listen to, please come up to the microphone and give your name and address and limit your comments to five minutes please. Good evening, my name is Casey Cinciarelli and I live on Lyons Court in the northeast quadrant of Carlsbad. I do think the issue of contamination is pertinent, particularly to this Commission, because the way the decontamination schedule has been running, there is probably no need to have this in the current Housing Element and here is why: I am going to present to you the documented information on the history of contamination and the ongoing remediation efforts at the Hanson America site proposed for 500 low and moderate income houses. It is fully documented in the pages of the packet you have been given. That documentation was found in the files at the San Diego County Land and Water Control Division of the US Department of Environmental Health. It shows the extent of contamination at the site and reveals the continuing efforts to remediate the contamination. This began in August of 1998 when eight underground storage tanks were removed after leaking 86,000 gallons of hydrocarbons, primarily diesel fuel and gasoline, into the soil. From August 1998 to December 1999, Kleinfelder Engineering made borings to determine the area of hydrocarbons in the soil. From March 2001 to February 2003, Environmental Business Solutions established 17 monitoring wells and began monitoring the hydrocarbons in the ground water, which is an underground aquifer. In April 2004, Brown and Caldwell Engineers began quartering monitoring of the ground water using monitoring wells placed at the edge of the hydrocarbon plume. In September 2004, Brown and Caldwell submitted their corrective action plan to the San Diego County's division of Department of Environmental Health. The plan outlines aggressive remediation of hydrocarbons in the soil and ground water. It states that remediation would be completed by June 2007 when property ownership would be transferred for redevelopment. The plan recommends removal of the contaminated soil offsite, not natural attenuation in situ. The carcinogenic hydrocarbon MTBE and the ground water will be remediated with ozone sparging to comply with the requirement of no more than five micrograms per liter. MTBE and the soil must be remediated to no greater than five micrograms per kilogram. The community was notified that two carcinogens are present on site. The plan estimates completion of the remediation in eleven months, by February 28, 2006, to be followed by one year of verification of the final acceptable MTBE levels in the ground to end September 15, 2006. In January 2005, Brown and Caldwell submitted their interim remedial action plan to the Department of Environmental Health. Ground water will be remediated by sparging an estimated 550 pounds of ozone with the system operating 24 hours per day. They state the completion of remediation will meet the June 2007 deadline. From July 2005 to March 2006, excavated soil stock piled 43,000 cubic yards of soil in 21 piles on site of proposed Marron Road extension. Ten thousand, five hundred cubic yards of soil contaminated with MTBE recovered with plastic sheeting. They began monitoring the biopiles passive bioremediation. In May 2006, they installed 16 ozone sparge wells to remediate MTBE in the ground HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 12, 2009 PAGE 6 of 13 water. In September 2006 to January 2007, there began pilot tests using ozone sparge system. In January 2007 there began formal remediation of MTBE using the ozone sparge system. In October 17, 2008, Brown and Caldwell submitted their report summarizing their September 2008 ground water monitoring at Hanson America. From January 2007 to September 2008, about 21 months, 850 pounds of ozone had been aggressively sparged 24 hours per day into the ground water to remediate MTBE. They submitted the results of 15 monitoring wells tested in September 2008. Thirteen monitoring wells still contained MTBE, and in 11 of the 13 MTBE levels in the ground water remain above five micrograms per liter, ranging from 8.1 to 480 micrograms per liter. Remediation of the contaminated ground water continues to this day and the biopiles of contaminated soil continue their passive remediation. I confirm there is fuel contamination at the site. I confirm that contamination soil is covered, is being bioremediated, and at present, this is the site of the proposed 500 low income housing units and it is still contaminated. The remediation completion date is unknown. Chairperson Smith reminded the audience to please limit their comments to five minutes. My name is Penny Johnson and I live at 1360 Hillview Court in Carlsbad. I have been a resident for 31 years at that address. I had an interesting experience in August of 2008. I went down to the SANDAG meeting in San Diego when the Quarry Creek site was going to be discussed. They were rather taken aback because of the 200 sites on the smart growth plan, this was the largest response they had ever had to any of the sites that Quarry Creek should not be built on. If there were that many responses, they did not tell us the number, they just said it was the largest response they have ever had to any smart growth site plan. Perhaps you do need to take another look at it. The smart growth designation by SANDAG sounds very officious; however, what I found out at the meeting was, at least it was not knowledge to me, that SANDAG does not designate the areas of smart growth, they only confirm the area when and if it is sent to them by the cities' planning commissions. They have no power over the site being put on or taken off the smart growth map. Those who were there were told that we needed to go back to the city and because of the responses that they did get, that it certainly seemed proper to look at this site again given the large response that they did have to not build on Quarry Creek. So it is up to you to make the proper choice and according to those responses that SANDAG received, it seems the choice would be rather clear. My name is Carl Souza and I live at 3621 Vista Campana South in Oceanside. I am a retired industrial hygienist, which deals with the field of science that is developed for people dealing specifically with hazardous chemicals and materials that can affect the human body or can affect the human communities, not just employees. I have reviewed all the data of the files that have gone into the County of San Diego. You have my testimony before you (attached), but I would like to add a little to it. MTBE is a very interesting product. It was added to gasoline to take the place of lead because lead was polluting the atmosphere. What this does is helps oxygen form in the gasoline so it would burn cleaner and burn more efficiently. This is why certain communities throughout the United States have a requirement to put MTBE in the gasoline. MTBE is a hot potential carcinogen that shows to be a cancer in animal tests. We don't have enough time to assess the human tests. Unfortunately when you find something being a carcinogen, you have human guinea pigs. They are the ones that suffer. You are also dealing with benzene. You have these two products in the soil. Benzene is a noted carcinogen. It affects the lungs, it affects the bone marrow, it affects the body system. In the same way that MTBE goes into your system it goes to the same basic organs so you have a combination when you are dealing with that. Proposition 65 of the State of California states that benzene is found to cause cancer, birth defects and other reproductive problems. It can be passed on from a mother to a future generation. These are things we are extremely concerned about. These are things that are happening basically in our backyard. In order to get rid of this, it takes time. One of the qualities of MTBE is that it is very difficult to get out of soil for the simple reason it does not bind itself with organic compounds. It can attract itself to water molecules a little easier. Benzene is the same thing, but both of them are lighter than water. When you look at the diagrams of the site, you see the plume is migrating towards Buena Vista Creek. What happens with the MTBE and the benzene? They are floating at the front end and they are floating above it. The one thing I can remind you folks of is Love Canal in New York, where people died because of a chemical wasteland that was covered over and homes were built on top of it. All we are asking for now is let the remediation continue until this site is perfectly clear. I don't want my kids or my grandkids living in an area where there is a possible HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 12, 2009 PAGE 7 of 13 contamination. Does the City of Carlsbad have deeper pockets? New York paid a lot, and the chemical companies paid a lot, but what is money compared to human life and reproductive problems? It doesn't equate. I ask you to look very, very carefully at this. Look at postponing judgment on this site until all the standards set by the city and county of San Diego are met and this is complete. I ask your consideration. My name is Maryann Varny and I live at 2796 James Drive in Carlsbad. Remediation of MTBE in the site's ground water began with ozone sparging two and a half years ago in September of 2006. Aggressive ozone sparging 24 hours a day began in January of 2007. We will present the results and samples taken in September 2008 after 19 months of this aggressive ozone sparging. The greatest MTBE concentration allowed by the San Diego County Land and Water Control Division of the Department of Environmental Health is five micrograms per liter of ground water. This level must be reached in all ground water monitoring wells, without exception, before development can be reasonably foreseen. The parcel outlined on the right in the slide is the proposed site of the 500 low income housing units. Near the upper edge is where the leaking underground storage tanks were located. In the middle is Buena Vista Creek. The purple dots indicate the monitoring wells tracking MTBE concentrations in the ground water. Their outline is roughly the size of the hydrocarbon plume in the aquifer. In September of 2008, 15 monitoring wells were sampled; 13 reported MTBE. Brown and Caldwell's October 2008 report tracked the concentration levels of MTBE in those 13 monitoring wells from 2000 through September of 2008. Examination of these graphs reveals that despite ongoing ozone sparging from 2006 to 2008, MTBE concentrations decreased in only two of the 13 monitoring wells. In all the remaining 11 monitoring wells, MTBE levels remained well above the required five micrograms per liter. The vertical line on the left indicates concentration levels. Remember, MTBE concentrations can be no greater than five micrograms per liter. The horizontal line at the bottom of the graph marked yearly monitor sampling from 2000 to 2008. The dark purple line represents MTBE. Close examination of the years 2007 to 2008, a 21 month period of aggressive 24/7 ozone sparging shows it has had little effect in reducing MTBE concentrations in the aquifer. MW4 is the one exception; this graph of MW4 shows a dramatic decrease in MTBE during 2006/2008, which has fallen below required levels. MW5: MTBE has increased since 2007 to 22 micrograms per liter. The concentration levels cited are from the reports tabled: MW8 increased to 250; MW9 increased to 10; MW10 increased to 130; MW13 increased to 64; MW16 at the creek increased to 8.3; MW17 at the creek decreased 8.1; MW18 decreased to 64; MW19 increased to 480, the highest MTBE level; MW20 slightly decreased to 94; MW21 increased to 86; KMW2, little change to 43. These graphs demonstrate that even after two and a half years of ozone sparging, there has been little significant decrease in MTBE concentrations with exception of MW4. The required five micrograms per liter has still not been reached in 11 of the 13 monitoring wells reporting MTBE last September. In fact, as you have just seen, the lowest concentration levels are 60% and 100% above the required level. Commissioner Wrisley asked Chairperson Smith if they can stipulate they know the soil is contaminated and they are attempting to remediate it and the city will not allow them to build on that land until it is remediated. We have been listening to one person after another telling us the same thing. We know it is going to need to be done. My name is Diane Nygaard and I am representing Preserve Calavera and our 2,300 local families. We are also part of the Buena Vista Valley coalition. I think why people wanted to make sure you were all aware of this is this Housing Element plan is through 2010, and we think it is very clear this land is not going to be ready for houses in 2010. We think you care about when these housing units actually are available to this community. Of course, we realize in order to take 500 units away from Quarry Creek, they would have to go somewhere. Your staff and consultants have been working for some time to come up with a reasonable plan, and we would not presume to come in here tonight as community volunteers without any expertise in this area and undo your plan. What we have done is identify a number of reasonable options for replacing these 500 units, every one of which has some challenges, but every one of which we believe has less challenges than putting 500 units at the Quarry Creek site. Let me step you through the handout package; category A, already submitted applications for projects; these are already further through the review process with the city than the Quarry Creek project with one project alone would account for a minimum of 86 units. We learned of another one in the same category last night. Category B: Shopping center/mixed use; this is already in your plan, this is nothing new, but the number of units really hasn't been optimized. The guidelines in the plan are to ensure that only 25% of the site yield so HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 12, 2009 PAGE 8 of 13 that you really protected the commercial uses and the revenue. The numbers used are based on the low end of the yield, 20 units per acre. Most such developments, mixed-use shopping center projects across this country are built at a much higher density than that. In an area like this with a commitment and the 20/30 regional transportation plan, with high frequency public transit along El Camino Real, the Westfield Mall, and other shopping centers along that road are ideal locations for dense affordable housing. Your own policy says that 80% of such projects should be at the higher end at 28 units per acre. Just meeting your policy standard on this one mall could add 114 units. The former 17 acre Wal-Mart site at College and Cannon is also ideal for this type of development. Per your staff, this could yield another 88 units. Category C: Permitted, but unbuilt projects. We only looked at one of several possible projects in this category, Canterini Holly Springs. This combined project proposed to build 374 units less than the zoning allowed; and put those 374 units into the excess dwelling bank; units that are sorely needed in this community. That project has sat unbuilt, not moved forward now for over four years and the expiration of the time extension is soon approaching. Redoing this single project could make it economically viable so that it could move forward, and just restoring 20% of those lost units could yield another 93. Category D: Industrial/Commercial mixed use; last month and earlier this evening there was discussion about the airport and how this was a barrier to putting residential in that area. In the handout package you will see the noise contours and the housing policies of the airport authority, and as you can see, you would virtually have to build on the runway for this to be an issue. There are very limited number of locations that are required to report to the County Health Department. They are using hazardous chemicals in industrial sites, so those sites are known; very few locations that store and use such chemicals in the City of Carlsbad. So there are very few restrictions on that, putting residential in the industrial zone. So there are several key properties that have excellent potential for that consistent with your policy 2.3. One project alone, Carlsbad Oaks North at the 25% yield rate, would equal over 1,000 units. Every one of these options will take some work to realize, but as we stand here tonight, they are much more feasible in a reasonable timeframe than the Quarry Creek project. So we would urge you to ask your staff to seriously explore all of these other alternatives before we destroy the Buena Vista Creek Valley. My name is Carmen Mujado and I am a representative for the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians and also for Saving Sacred Sites Monitoring. I am the monitor who goes out to these job sites and does the monitoring to protect our cultural resources. I am here today to speak to you and read a letter to the Housing Commissioners that we wrote. We, the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians along with the Native American Heritage Commission and the County of San Diego, have expressed deep concerns regarding the destruction of our cultural heritage. After a thorough review of the GPA 03-02 Housing Element for 2005-2010, we have serious apprehension about the potential negative impact on sacred and cultural resources on our prehistoric and historic sites. We have previously discussed with the Commission on numerous occasions our ongoing concerns regarding the Quarry Creek development and El Salto Falls. Our concerns have always stemmed from the fact these sites include numerous Native American and cultural resources that have been recorded in sacred land, inventory maintained by the NAHC. However, these are not our only concerns with the proposed Housing Element. It is SLR's and other's collective fear that in order to meet the City of Carlsbad's needs for development and improvements GPA 03-02 may have great implications to additional cultural sensitive areas. SLR is concerned about the protection of unique and irreplaceable cultural resources such as Luiseno Village site, archeological items which would be displaced by development. In addition, we are legitimately concerned about the proper treatment of cultural items, sacred artifacts, and Native American remains that are highly likely to be discovered in the city's continuing developments and improvements. We respectfully request that the City, through this Commission, consider avoidance as defined in the California and Environmental Quality Act, Section 15370, which states Lead Agencies should contemplate avoidance when significant cultural resources could be affected by the project. Therefore, it is SLR's hope that this Commission values our concerns and recommends avoidance of culturally sensitive areas to the City. It is also our hope that we continue working together with the City of Carlsbad, as partners, in protecting our precious Native American/Luiseno cultural resources that have been located and continued to be unearthed within the City's boundaries. I would like to thank the Commissioners for reopening public comment. I do appreciate that. My name is Don Christiansen, and I live at 3715 Longview Drive in Carlsbad. I have a brief PowerPoint presentation, HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 12, 2009 PAGE 9 of 13 and it runs between five and ten minutes. If it runs over five minutes, Shelly has agreed to give me her five minutes. Chairperson Smith asked the Commissioners how they feel about that. Commissioner Wrisley said as long as it is ten minutes total. Mr. Christiansen said first he would like to give credit to the person who created this; her name is Victoria Beach. She used to teach at the Harvard School of Design and was a member of the Oceanside Planning Commission. She moved to Monterey and gave me this presentation to share with you. I would also like to give credit to AN Bine who provided some of the following photos. Victoria's young daughter loves waterfalls, so when Victoria and her family first moved to this part of the country, she did extensive research on the internet and bought several guidebooks so they could check out Southern California waterfalls. One of the closest she could find is Palm Canyon in the Anza Borrego Desert, a couple of hours east of here. This was the beginning of the largest state park system in the lower 48. They went to Palm Canyon and were impressed with the cascading waterfalls, the meandering creek, quiet pools, and the ancient palms. The Palm Canyon waterfall was the catalyst for the entire 600,000 acre Anza Borrego State Park. The same day of the first meeting of the first state park system in the United States the director of the San Diego Natural History Museum contacted state officials urging them to set aside several thousand acres in Palm Canyon, which they did. Please note the word "unique;" that is significant. Soon after Victoria and her daughter returned from their trip to the Palm Canyon waterfall I gave her a tour of El Salto and the Buena Vista Creek Valley. In spite of all the research she had done in Southern California waterfalls, she had never heard of El Salto, and I would add to this day I think very few people in Carlsbad even know it exists. I quote Victoria, "I couldn't believe my eyes. The physical similarities were astonishing." You may be astonished to learn that you have been looking at El Salto all along. As you can tell by this, all the photos on the left are those of Palm Canyon, the beginning of the largest state park in the continental United States, and all the slides on the right are El Salto, in our own backyard. We are looking at the subject area now. Moving from the east where the waterfalls are, the stream, Buena Vista Creek, from the east to the west, fertile land, Buena Vista Lagoon and the ocean. Native Americans inhabited this part of the Buena Vista Creek Valley over 9,000 years ago. El Salto is a designated Native American sacred site. The Portola Expedition camped here in 1769. Early pioneers camped and played here. The Marron Land Grant referred to this area as the planting lands. It is also a major wildlife corridor, and there is a trail that runs from Carlsbad's newest park, Hidden Canyon, almost to the waterfall. Victoria has a background in urban landscape and building design. The following are some of her comments: Most people feel that our community's best natural asset is the incredible beach, but now it turns out that we are also unbelievably fortunate to have one of the highest waterfalls closest to the coast in all of Southern California. It is situated inland enough that it aligns nicely with some other existing and planned inland recreation; for instance, El Corazon, San Luis Key river basin and the Buena Vista Lagoon. It would be a perfect destination for highlight along a larger recreation loop. This means we could be on the verge of a bilateral recreation system that brings more inland people out and more coastal people in. This would be a real unifying device that, aside from being out of the ordinary and very enjoyable, may also allow some of the coastal real estate values to better influence the rest of the city. To summarize, the reverse is also true. If we do not properly use our inland assets, we will forever forego the financial benefits that come from providing unique city amenities that make inland here preferable to inland elsewhere. We are students from Carlsbad High School, and we started a petition. For a brief introduction, we will read our petition. We the students and residents of Carlsbad hereby support the preservation and protection of the Buena Vista Valley and insist the city government recognize the historical, cultural and environmental benefits of this wildlife corridor currently threatened by the "Smart Growth" development proposal. This statement represents over 300 students and staff at Carlsbad High School, the Alternative Energy Organization and Environmental Club have collected over the past 48 hours. We insist you recognize the cultural, environmental and historical values that the Buena Vista Valley holds to our Carlsbad community. Chairperson Smith said we appreciate students coming and taking part in their city government. HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 12, 2009 PAGE 10 of 13 My name is Jack Gumming, and I live at 2855 Carlsbad Blvd. which is in the village area. I think 500 units in the village area would be a nice addition. This could really be fine if we could put it in the village area, concentrate some type of transportation. Wouldn't it be nice to have a monorail that went out to Plaza Camino Real and back so that people could move around without needing to use an automobile? I am probably the least prepared out of the number of prepared presentations. I haven't really prepared anything. Don Christiansen called me, and he is a mighty persuasive fellow as you have seen and has a good heart and he didn't tell me what to say. I must confess that I am from back east and we have waterfalls. I grew up in South Orange, New Jersey, near a delightful park that had a wonderful waterfall. We used to go and picnic at the foot of that waterfall. It was beautiful. There were quarries in those hills, but they weren't right at the waterfall. In fact, that area had been recovered from what had been a quarry at one time and was made over into a beautiful park and I am trying to remember what it was; I think it may have been called the Wachung Reservation, but I have forgotten exactly what the name of that park was. It looks like the waterfall you see a picture of here. Wouldn't it be beautiful if the youngsters who are going to be living in these 500 homes could have a place like that to go out to, but that is not what we are here about tonight. We did have a meeting at Imagine Carlsbad recently, and it was to help with the process which is known as Envision Carlsbad, which has to do with the reworking of the General Plan of the city. The plan is to get wide public input and try to come up with the most creative General Plan that the city can have for what the citizens of Carlsbad really want. It is a tribute to the staff that they are reaching out to do that. Now we come with this particular item, which as I understand it and I just learned of it today and tried to go out on the web to see exactly what this item was, it is described very technically here on the agenda. It is not available on the internet so I have not been able to read it. Don told me a little bit about what it was and I asked Mr. Millich to see if I could get a contrary view to make sure that I was getting exactly the right sense, and I gather the idea here is a piecemeal attempt to increase the density of a particular parcel to foster development. There is a developer who is interested in getting an amendment that would allow greater density there. Whether he would do the development or not, that is something else. This would just allow somebody to do it. Presumably if you approve this, then that land is worth more than it might otherwise be worth. Scott Donnell outlined general principles for this kind of housing in the city, and they made an awful lot of sense. I tried to apply those general principles to this particular proposal and it stopped making sense. It seemed rather anomalous at that point. I knew from talking to people at SANDAG that the designation of this as a smart growth center is at the initiative of the City of Carlsbad. The regional planners don't see it fitting really well into the regional plan so obviously it is not near the rail lines, it is just out there in the middle of nowhere, but for some reason it is going that way. You have some other reasons that would make this an anomalous place to development. The one thing that was clear at the Imagine Carlsbad meeting that we had on this city was the driving wish for people to have a green city with green areas. So while I can see why a developer might say desecration has already taken place there, people in the past did a bad thing so the damage is done, let's just continue doing it. We are going to fix it up and make it a little bit nicer, but we want to meet this need on this particular parcel, why they might say that. But I would like to say a word for that Envision Carlsbad, I hope everybody participates in it, and I hope we can look at this thing in an overall context and not do our planning piecemeal, parcel by parcel. If you want to know more about Envision Carlsbad, go to envisioncarlsbad.org. My name is Brian Millich from Corky McMillin Company at 2750 Hybrid Street, San Diego, California 92106. I have provided your staff and I believe they provided you with some of the information that tries to sort out a little bit about fact from fiction about the Quarry Creek site. It is not the fact that we came in and requested the change in designation. We are currently allowed up to 283 units on the site. The additional 217 units was considered to be a better idea, primarily because the site is an impacted site, it is next to a freeway, it is next to a Wal-Mart shopping, and if there ever was a site that should develop at least a portion of it, I believe Quarry Creek is that site. It did go through SANDAG at your city's request. They asked SANDAG to consider that it be a smart growth site. There was opposition. It was from the same group that you are hearing from tonight. SANDAG decided that it did make sense as a smart growth site because of its location. This is not Anza Borrego desert. This is Quarry Creek, an extension of an area that has already been impacted. I am not here to talk or to try and persuade you about the attributes of the project, but I will commit to you tonight and I will commit to the Planning Commission and the City Council when I appear before them on the Housing Element that we will be extremely mindful of the HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 12, 2009 PAGE 11 of 13 sensitive resources of the site. We will protect the falls, we will protect the creek, we will provide as much if not more open space than was recently adopted by your City Council, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and California Fish and Game through the Habitat Management plan. We will make sure that the site is dramatically better than it exists today. It can provide housing, it can provide open space, the creek and the falls will be protected and it will be an exemplary project. That is my commitment to you. My name is Sue Ladouceur, and I live at 3460 Charter Oak Drive. I am a private citizen but also a member of the Historic Preservation Commission. You probably have an e-mail that went back and forth with Ms. Fountain on our concerns. Don Christiansen brought this very important issue to us about three years ago, and we made It our primary goal at that time and have tried to follow it and be supportive of the groups that want to make you aware of the historic and cultural value of this land, which of course has already been talked about. I am just reiterating that and how important it is to us and to the sense of history that we hope you remember in this land. There has been many other sites in Carlsbad that have been dug up willy nilly for housing developments. We have put up some wonderful housing developments, I'll admit that, but many of them have been desecrating dinosaurs and all kinds of wonderful bones. We had somebody from one of the schools bring in all kinds of treasures from some of these sites. Some of these things are never sacred after they are dug up, which we would realize from the Native Americans' interest in this land. So realize that once it is dug up, in a way I know Debbie said it wouldn't be destroyed, it is destroyed, it is not the same as it was before. So you are changing a part of Carlsbad's history. Wendy Hinman used to jump into the water from the creek. That was a rite of passage for young people like the railroad trestles. There is so much history back there that will be lost. You can't build 500 homes and have it not impact traffic. I am amazed that frankly the city has let this go this far. I am amazed that it was a part of SANDAG. I am amazed that you are even thinking about doing this when it is polluted land. It will never be totally clean of carcinogens. Think about these things, and think about Carlsbad's history and Carlsbad's history. We need to give this back to the children for tomorrow because they have to have a sense of what Carlsbad is and was. My name is Shelly Hays Carron, and I reside in the Marron Adobe in the Buena Vista Creek Valley in Carlsbad. My question was in the presentation from Ms. Tarn when you gave your first presentation, you cited some state law regarding the Housing Element, and one of the items that you cited, and I believe Ms. Wrisley made mention of it also as to when you submit this Housing Element to the state, the requirement is that this land be available to be built on within a certain parameter. I would say this is flawed because of the remediation and because of the contamination. I don't think it should be included in the 2005-2010 Housing Element for that specific reason and because of the state law. Chairperson Smith closed public testimony as no one else appeared to speak. Commissioner Wrisley said I am not one of the usual suspects. I don't belong to the Historic Preservation Committee, although I have to stipulate that my daughter does, the aforementioned Wendy Hinman. I don't belong to the Historical Society. In no way could I be labeled with the pejorative of tree hugger, but I have lived in this city for 45 years. I have seen my children grow up here for 45 years. We have so little history in Carlsbad. It goes out in little pieces here and there. If you have ever been to Europe, you are just amazed of the history all around you. When I was in Scotland, I visited a house that had been continually occupied for 1,000 years; 700 years by the same family. Mary Queen of Scots used to go there when she was out hunting. We have so little here. I am tired of SANDAG and the State of California holding us hostage. If I went out and abducted someone's child and held them for ransom, I would be in serious trouble but the government does it all the time with impunity. They just say, "well this is the way it is. You have to educate your children a certain way or we are not going to give you money. You have to build your roads a certain way or you are not going to get highway funds." Do you remember the movie, Network, and he says "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to put up with it anymore?" Well that is the way I feel right now. I do realize we need affordable housing, but I do think we should be able to say SANDAG, we don't have any room left without impinging on our history. So we take it down to 1,742 units and we think that is all we can do. Sue me, but that is just what is available. That would still leave us short by 1,824 units. Maybe we can find them someplace. I don't agree with this list that is here necessarily. I don't see getting a 1,055 units in Carlsbad, Oaks North. I don't agree with using the Farmer's Building, but there must be other places. If there is not, then just say we don't have any more room. I realize that HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 12, 2009 PAGE 12 of 13 my vote will be symbolic. It will probably pass anyway, but I am going to have to vote no on the Housing Element. Ms. Fountain said in terms of the Housing Element itself, you can vote not to include the Quarry Creek site in it. But, I just want to remind everybody that there are a lot of other programs and there is a lot of good within the Housing Element. Comments were provided on Quarry Creek only. I didn't actually hear anything tonight that complained about any other program or any other issue at hand here so I would hate for you to proceed thinking that your only option is to not adopt the Housing Element. You can adopt it with revisions or changes in it. This Housing Commission can make recommendations for modification to the Housing Element without just saying you are not going to adopt or approve it. Your recommendations or your suggestions can go forward to the Planning Commission and the City Council, and that is what we are asking you to do tonight. I don't want you to go away thinking that if you don't approve Quarry Creek, you can't adopt the Housing Element. If we take the Quarry Creek site off, we do have to find another site. You can make other suggestions to staff to share with the Planning Commission and the City Council, if you choose to do so. Commissioner Ritchie thanked Mr. Donnell for his thorough presentation, especially the map. It was very informative. Mr. Millich, I appreciate your folder from McMillin. Your maps were also very thorough and very informative. Commissioner Kirk expressed his appreciation for everyone who has commented; their passion, their genuine concern, not only for the historical preservation but for the quality of life of Carlsbad. That is certainly why participating on this Commission is extremely important to me. I share that concern. I think we are faced with some very difficult challenges. I wish we were able to address the concerns with MTBE and benzene. I think simply, quite candidly, it is beyond me. The charts and graphs are a run through. Those require thorough analysis. You can't possibly do justice, nor expect anyone of us to comprehend that data when it is presented so rapidly, and I think your effort was lost. It needs more time, and also to introduce that without establishing who you are to give it a sense of credibility, I think that really diminishes its value as well. On the other hand, Mr. Souza's presentation was definitely taken seriously. He presented a thorough document and provided some very effective commentary. I do wish it was something that I felt that we as a body could contemplate, but quite candidly I think it is a little beyond us. I do have to rely upon the city as this moves forward to ensure that no build out occurs without that being appropriately addressed. I will certainly be watching that myself as a concerned citizen and could find myself sitting over there with you. It is a passionately and emotionally filled discussion, and I have to defer to this and look at this from my perspective. I realize my position is probably not going to be a popular position with all of you, but I do think that it is the right decision in terms of looking at Carlsbad and what we need to do and look forward to. i do believe and trust that Mr. Millich in representing McMillin is in fact sincere and honest and will honor the commitment to not only preserve the falls, enhance the falls, but also the additional open space. I would also like to see a trail system that connects the falls to the waves, as I believe was stated during our last meeting. I think that is a phenomenal idea and certainly something we need in this area. I encourage that they also contemplate that going forward. Again, I would like to thank you. In addition to your testimony, I have also spent a reasonable amount of time with Mr. Donnell and Ms. Fountain. I have done my own independent research. I have read papers dating back to 2006 when this issue was getting a lot of attention and Ms. Nygaard's publication and the Union Tribune and the North County Times and others as well. I have attempted to educate myself to the greatest extent possible. So I make a decision, not based on emotion, but based on what I believe is really the right decision or the best decision for Carlsbad. I thank you all for your testimony and for allowing me to speak for a moment. Chairperson Smith said she too would like to say she is impressed with everyone's concerns. I listened two years ago, I think it was, and one of the things that really touched my heart was a seven or eight year old that came and read a poem about how she felt about the falls. To see you high school students from Carlsbad High School coming out and making yourself known to your city government that is very impressive to me. I love Carlsbad. I love the natural beauty of Carlsbad. Just like Commissioner Kirk said, it is hard to make a decision as to what you should do and what you shouldn't do, but when you look at the other programs that Mr. Donnell has stated that would be implemented with the programs that are HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 12, 2009 PAGE 13 of 13 available for our city that we plan to vote on, we have to move on. We have to look in the future. We have to look at these children here who one day will need a place to live. We have to look at all of us. One day we will need to move on. I believe Mr. McMillin when he said he would not touch the sacred site. I believe that. I feel we should submit this resolution for approval to the Planning Commission and the City of Carlsbad. Commissioner Ritchie moved that the Housing Commission adopt Housing Commission Resolution 2009- 001, recommending approval to the Planning Commission and City Council of the City of Carlsbad of General Plan Amendment GPA 03-02, based upon the findings contained therein and with the minor text changes to the draft 2005-2010 Housing Element set forth within the Errata sheet provided by staff and dated February 12, 2009. Commissioner Kirk made a motion to second the recommendation. VOTE: 3-2 AYES: Kirk, Ritchie and Smith NOES: Bradwell and Wrisley ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None DIRECTOR'S REPORT Ms. Fountain made an announcement that the Housing Commission received invitations to the Glen Ridge Apartments Grand Opening, which is the project in Robertson Ranch. That Grand Opening is scheduled for Thursday, March 19, 2009, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. at 4555 Glen Avenue in Carlsbad. All of the Housing Commissioners are invited to attend. We may be having a Housing Commission meeting in March to discuss the PHA Plan, and we will notify you if that will be presented. ADJOURNMENT By proper motion, the meeting of February 12, 2009, was adjourned at 7:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Deborah Fountain Housing and Redevelopment Director PATRICIA CRESCENTI Minutes Clerk MINUTES ARE ALSO TAPED AND KEPT ON FILE UNTIL THE WRITTEN MINUTES ARE APPROVED.