09-0805_CRA_Minutes_Adjourned Regular Meeting. MINUTES
August 5, 2009
Long Term Vision/Strategic Plain
Workshop
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
CITY COUNCIL
COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
Mayor Nielsen called the Adjourned Regular Joint Meeting of the San Juan Capistrano
City Council and Community Redevelopment Agency to order at 3:06 p.m. in the City
Council Chamber.
ROLL CALL
COUNCIL MEMBERS & COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY PRESENT:
Sam Allevato, Tom Hribar, Laura Freese, Mayor pro tem Dr. Londres Uso and
Mayor Nielsen
COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT/COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY: None
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Council Member Hribar led the Pledge of Allegiance
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS: None
DISCUSSION ITEM
C1. MISSION, VISION & STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN REVIEWED AND
DISCUSSED (400.40) - No action taken.
Cindy Russell, Assistant City Manager provided a staff report. Power point
presentation by Shane Kavanagh, Government Finance Officers Associations.
"Mission"
City Council/Directors Comments:
• Revision is too long.
• Sample 1 from the Council packet is a preferred starting point
• Suggested re -wording that was well-received. Essentially combined "small town
and oasis" into "small town oasis" and "the efforts of the City government and the
entirety of the diverse people who live and do business in the community' to
"civic efforts"
• The word "vigilant" should be removed from sample 1 in favor of a different term.
• Economic "vitality" is preferred to "opportunity" (note: "opportunity" actually
replaced "vitality" from earlier drafts because it was thought that San Juan
Capistrano has unrealized potential and because it was important to provide
residents with the opportunity to succeed economically. This change was
suggested by the Mayor, so perhaps the Steering Committee can discuss and
resolve it).
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"Values"
Council Council/Directors Comments:
The concept of !'sustainability" should be added to the vision. (Note: - here is a
suggestion for how to do it — change the first line of point #2 like so "The
community values and is determined to sustain its open space and natural
advantages...". This would be an easy and quick way to do it.)
In the 4th point, change the first line to read: ". residents and government
officials prize a high level of community engagement and openness, which..."
"Vision"
City Council/Directors Comments:
• Mention connection to rail system
• Swapping the order of vision point #2 and #3.
• On point 7, rework the last clause "when the situation calls for it" . by either
dropping the phase or rewording it.
On point #3, change the second sentence thusly: "The economic stability of its
residents will help control expenditure needs by attenuating demands on' the
social Safety net heaping demands f9F human wolf ite spell ting in nheGk and
keeping crime low.
"Prioritization"
There were four issues that were designated as priorities. Below are. the issues in order
of priority. The average score from the Council's ranking exercise is shown in
parenthesis.
1. Financial Sustainability (1.4) - The continued financial sustainability of the City
government is essential to providing valued public services and 'addressing the
strategic issues. The current economic environment puts a spotlight on financial
sustainability.
2. Strengthening the downtown, Los Rios Historic District & the Mission as a
Community Icon (1.2) - The downtown, Los Rios, and the Mission SJC and at
the core of the town's historic identity. This issue is about the ultimate vision for
these places, how they fit as part of a "brand" for San.Juan Capistrano, and how
these assets can be further capitalized on for the benefit of the community
(particularly downtown revitalization).
3. Land Use, Economic Development, Open Space & Building Standards (1.0)
- Land use is at the center of the town's prized character as well as its economic
vitality. How can the town balance concerns about preserving its special
character with the need to maintain economic vitality for the community? This
issue includes questions of the cost and benefits of open space, new
development strategies, and economic diversification, among others.
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4. Infrastructure & Maintenance (0.6) - As an older community and one of the few
cities with its own water and sewer utilities, infrastructure takes on increased
importance in San Juan Capistrano. How can the city best maintain its stock of
infrastructure in addition to procuring needed new assets?
"Traffic"
• Traffic was not rated highly as a strategic issue and the strategic questions received
a moderate level of interest.
• Question A ("What is a "livable" level of traffic? How is this defined? Is this impacted
by the type of traffic? Shopping traffic is desirable. Through traffic is not") received a
moderate level of interest. The Council further defined the question: how does
quality -of -life balance against travel time? What are the trade-offs residents are
willing to make (for less traffic vs. QoL)?
• The importance of regional cooperation was emphasized.
• The Council advocated combining questions A, B, and C, with A receiving primary
emphasis
A. What is a "livable" level of traffic? How is this defined? Is this impacted by the
type of traffic? Shopping traffic is desirable. Through traffic is not.
B. How can SJC engage regional players positively & strategically? Other cities,
state/regional agencies, private -sector entities that make an impact on traffic
are all potential regional players
C. How to define traffic goals and consider trade-offs in route design? Is it worth
building more roads to save driving time? How to balance aesthetics with
transportation route design to improve traffic flow?
"Land Use"
The. Council agreed that strategic questions receiving a rating of over 0.6 should be the
focus of the City's Strategic Business Plan. Below are the questions, including scoring.
B. (1.4) What are the costs and benefits of open space? What is the right
balance? What is the role of open space? For example, how does open
space figure into enhancing the town's equestrian character? How might open
space be leveraged to the town's economic advantage?
C. (0.8) What is the end goal for economic diversification? Given that, what
economic development strategies will the City follow? What land -use
policies? Differentiate between historic downtown & other areas (historic
downtown, 1-5 corridor)? Are different development standards & policies
required?
D. (1.2) New development - What are the key available sites? What are the key
annexation possibilities? What are the uses the City wants to put at these
sites? Can a hotel be added? What are the other major land -use opportunities
to achieve the City's Vision?
E. (0.6) How to work with existing business (and car dealerships, in particular) to
make sure they are successful? How to attract desirable new business? How
does the City proactively attract the desired business?
H. (0.8) How to balance the desire for new development & the requirement to
meet the needs of business (to attract development), with the need to protect
the town's unique identity?
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"Strengthening Downtown, Los Rias, and the Mission"
The council also suggested that - the strategy for question D consider the issues
expressed by question F. 'What are the right regulation strategies? Zoning and height?
Can regulation processes .(e.g., permitting) be streamlined for desired uses? How to
balance the rights of individual property owners with community development goals?"
The Council agreed that strategic questions receiving a rating of over 0.6 should be the
focus of the City's Strategic Business Plan. Below are the questions, including scoring.
A. (1.0) What is the ultimate vision and goal for the Downtown, Los Rios Historic
District, and the Mission? How do these interconnect? What are the synergies?
D. (0.8) What strategies to revitalize the downtown? How to encourage uses that
draw and hold people (residents and visitors) downtown & that are compatible
with the town's character?
E. (0.8) What is the City's "brand" and how could it be expanded or changed to
secure economic sustainability? How to market it? Quality of life, equestrian,
agrarian are examples of potential brands.
F. (0.6) What tactics can the City use to make downtown more attractive?.
While the questions that dealt specifically with how to leverage the Mission and Los
Rios were not prioritized the Council, agreed that the strategy proposals should address
how to leverage these assets.
"Public Safety"
The Council would like to see questions C and F (with questions of readiness for
extreme events considered as part of the answer to "C") answered as part of the
planning process, though these shouldn't receive the same degree of analytical
attention as other issues.
C. (0.6) What is the optimal public safety staffing? How will new commerce,
development, and events impact public safety services? What are key metrics
of service effectiveness?
F. (0.6) How can the City better control the cost of public safety services? What
are key metrics of cost?
"Financial Sustainability
Question A was deemed of great importance with a prioritization score of 1.4. "Can the
City's revenue structure be enhanced? What are the City's goals for revenue diversity?"
The point was made.that on-going sources of revenue were much better than one-time
sources. The link between land use and revenue base was also stressed.
The Council was also interested in question D (a score of 0.6). "How can services be
provided more efficiently? Technology — how can it be used? Innovation — how can the
City be more innovative?"
"Infrastructure & Maintenance"
The Council reduced the number of questions under this issue so that the questions of
interest now look like this:
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A. How to provide new infrastructure and maintain existing infrastructure using a .
proactive approach? How does the City define the standards it will maintain
infrastructure to and schedule and fund the same (including pursuing federal and
state funding opportunities)?
B. How to cost maintenance for open space?
D. How to decrease reliance on imported water and the funding opportunities to *do
so?
"Cultural Diversity"
The Council agreed to the staff recommendation of forming an Action Team to address
questions A and B.
A. How to address and balance the needs of a diverse community? What is the
financial impact on the City?
B. How to assimilate all segments of the community into the San Juan Capistrano
"family"?
The Council also suggested that question E ("How to encourage all residents and
businesses to be valued members of the community? How can the City prevent physical
isolation of some segments of the population?") provides useful additional points for
consideration on question B.
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Nielsen adjourned the City Council and Community Redevelopment Agency
meetin at 9:11 m. to Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. for Closed Session; and
then 6130 rr� fij the public Business Session, in the City Council Chamber.
mitted,
iiYi'��.�f71i•iJt a r �
Approved: July 21,
ATTEST:
THOMAS W. HRIBAR, CHAIRMAN
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