Palm Desert City Council - Regular Meeting, March 13, 2025

Transcript text

AI transcript text.

[00:04:56] Speaker: I'll give it a little
[00:05:00] Mayor Jan Harnik: Good afternoon and welcome. This is Thursday, March 13, 2025, and welcome to the Palm Desert City Council, Successor Agency to the Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency, and Palm Desert Housing Authority, and Palm Desert Board of Library Trustees meeting. So we will begin with roll call, please.
[00:05:23] City Clerk: Councilmember Nandy?
[00:05:25] Councilmember Nandy: Here.
[00:05:26] City Clerk: Councilmember Petto?
[00:05:28] Councilmember Petto: Here.
[00:05:29] City Clerk: Councilmember Quintanilla?
[00:05:31] Councilmember Quintanilla: Present.
[00:05:32] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem Trusty?
[00:05:33] Mayor Pro Tem Trusty: Here.
[00:05:33] City Clerk: Mayor Harnik?
[00:05:34] Mayor Harnik: Here.
[00:05:34] City Clerk: All Council present.
[00:05:35] Mayor Jan Harnik: Thank you very much. We'll start with the Pledge of Allegiance with Councilmember Quintanilla, and our inspiration from Councilmember Petto. Please stand if you are able.
[00:05:45] Councilmember Quintanilla: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[00:06:08] Councilmember Petto: From 'The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms' by Nassim Taleb: 'Education makes the wise slightly wiser, but it makes the fool vastly more dangerous.' Tonight, as we conduct our business, may we do so with humility and wisdom. Thank you.
[00:06:35] City Attorney: So, report of closed session: there is no reportable action taken, as there is no closed session this afternoon. Thank you.
[00:06:47] Mayor Jan Harnik: Okay, thank you. We will now go to Awards, Presentations, and Appointments. And we do have—why am I losing track—someone from Red Cross here today? Perfect. Share words with us.
[00:07:30] Mayor Jan Harnik: So, this is a proclamation from the City of Palm Desert. Whereas, we celebrate American Red Cross Month by recognizing the compassionate acts of people in Riverside County and by renewing our commitment to lend a helping hand to our neighbors in need; whereas, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross more than 140 years ago, and since then, volunteers have delivered relief and care across our country and around the world; whereas, their voluntary and generous contributions shine a beacon of hope in people's darkest hours by providing shelter, food, and comfort, critical blood donations for hospital patients, supporting service members, veterans, and saving lives with first aid, CPR, and AEDs; whereas, their commitment to uplifting our community is truly made possible by those who selflessly answer the call to help whenever and wherever it is needed; now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Jan Harnik, Mayor of the City of Palm Desert, on behalf of the City Council, do hereby recognize the month of March 2025 as Red Cross Month in honor of their remarkable service, and encourage all residents to join in their commitment to care for one another. Thank you. Would you like to say some words? This is Lois Beckman.
[00:08:53] Lois Beckman: Thank you, yes. I'm Lois Beckman, and I'm the Executive Director for the American Red Cross serving all of Riverside County. We do serve the entire county, and we have an office here in Palm Desert. We're co-located with your Palm Desert Chamber, so if you're looking for us, that's where you can find us. But mostly, we're out in the community helping people. And as the proclamation says, most of our work is done by volunteers. 90% of our workforce is made up of volunteers, people from the communities where we serve. Most people recognize us in times of the very large disasters; certainly, that was true this past January when the wildfires broke out in the Los Angeles area. However, we respond to individual house fires almost on a daily basis in the community, and we're there to make sure that that family that maybe just lost everything in a fire has resources so that they have a place to stay, food to eat, clothes to wear. And along with our collection of blood, to make sure that people here have the life-saving blood that they...
[00:10:01] Red Cross Representative: ...need and helping people prepare for disasters. We're here working every day, and I want to thank you and thank the Mayor and the Council for this recognition. We'll be sharing this with our volunteers at their meeting later this month. And I have one question.
[00:10:16] Councilmember: Sure.
[00:10:16] Councilmember: Can you share with these people, when there is a crisis, how do they find out what they need and how to get it to what they need—what the needs are of those who are experiencing whatever that tragedy might be?
[00:10:30] Red Cross Representative: Sure. You know, we work with a lot of different partners in the community, and so the first thing that most people think of is, 'Oh, they're going to need clothes, they're going to need food, they're going to need things.' And that's really true, but what the Red Cross really focuses on is on that sheltering for the people. So if you have clothing that you want to donate, we might refer you to another organization. The best bet really is to call one of our great partners, 2-1-1, and they're going to have that information as to what's needed right in that moment. But you can rest assured that we're going to be opening the shelter and making sure that people have a safe place to stay and that they have food to eat. Does that answer?
[00:11:05] Councilmember: Great information. Thank you so much, appreciate it.
[00:11:33] Mayor: Thank you so much, and thank you for that information on how to help. We'll move to City Manager comments.
[00:11:41] City Manager: Thank you, Mayor. No comments this evening.
[00:11:43] Mayor: Okay, then we will go to Councilmember reports and requests for action. Can we start with Karina Quintanilla, please?
[00:11:52] Karina Quintanilla: Thank you, Madam Mayor. First, I wanted to thank you for supporting my request to have a presentation from the Department of Insurance, especially knowing how many people relocated, whether temporarily or permanently, after the LA wildfires. And this came as part of a conversation with the League of Cities Environmental Quality Policy Action Plan, and I asked for the committee to consider having a similar discussion for earthquake preparedness. As a result, they listened, and I've been invited to a roundtable discussion, which I have invited our Director of Public Works, Mr. Chavez, and our Public Safety Analyst, Mr. Jurado. So thank you for joining me to know what resources we can have available. And later this month, I'll be attending one of those planning meetings where we will be discussing the proceedings from the California Public Utilities Commission on the fixed charging that they will be having. This past weekend, I attended the Cal State San Bernardino Native American Education Summit, and that was a beautiful event across so many different areas. But in particular, Assemblymember James Ramos shared, while we were in the Santos Manuel Student Union, that Santos Manuel is his great-grandfather, and it was incredible to have him share his ancestral bird songs and share the story of how his great-grandfather was able to save his clan from a band of armed militia, and what it takes to have the perseverance of your family and your culture. Met a couple of administrators and the new Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, the new Division of Strategic Enrollment, and a presentation from California Indian Nations College, which is located in Palm Desert. We are the home of higher ed, after all. They have received the accreditation from the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. They are pre-accredited by the Accreditation Committee for Community Colleges, and they are expected to get full accreditation at the end of summer, which means that they will have the ability to transfer all their credits to full degrees. And at this time, their completion rates are just a little bit higher than College of the Desert. And as a reminder, the City Council issued a proclamation recognizing their work in October of '24. Other important things to note from the summit was, for those that are interested in attending the UC system, they have the Blue and Gold Opportunity Program, which offers systemwide tuition—just the tuition and fees—for families that make less than $80,000 a year. There was also a drone demonstration from Southern California Edison and how they use the drones in surveys and in checking their equipment, and they said that the people that are the drone enthusiasts they...
[00:15:01] Council Member: ...encourage people to seek the FAA remote pilot certificates, Part 107, which has excellent pay, is in high demand, and I think they said it's an average pass rate of over 99% for those that seek a preparation course. We're always telling our students STEM, STEM, and how we love seeing technology, so that's our opportunity to support. Um, attended the McCallum Theatre Education Policy Committee. Open call is coming up May 2nd at 7:00 p.m. and May 3rd at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m. The theme is 'Let Your Light Shine.' There are 90 cast members from the ages of 9 to 79. It's wonderful to hear they're growing their engagement across the valley through the CV Symphony, Palm Springs Friends of the Philharmonic, and the Opera Guild. And they shared, in particular, that they had a positive experience with students from Washington Charter. The teachers reached out and said that after they attended an interaction regarding the book 'The Children of Wildflower Lane,' that when they had their book fair, the students were specifically asking for books on World War I and World War II. And on May 7th, for those of you that are interested, there's a French-Canadian work that is called 'The Problem with Pink.' So that one is open to the public, and I think the tickets are like $15, trying to get as many people involved. So that is it. Thank you.
[00:16:35] Mayor: Okay. Council Member Nye, do you have...
[00:16:39] Council Member Nye: Just briefly, CVWD had brought to my attention that the development, The Fountainhead development off of Monterey and Dick Kelly Drive, is facing some challenges, specifically with sewer. So, I'm on the CVWD committee, and we meet as needed, which I plan to do, but I also thought it might be good for us as a Council to get an update on what's going on. I'll defer to—I'm not sure if I should defer to Todd or Chris on this.
[00:17:16] Staff Member: Yes, okay. One of us will help coordinate. Thanks.
[00:17:21] Mayor: Okay, thank you. Council Member Casetto.
[00:17:25] Council Member Casetto: My daughters and I went to the Wildflower Festival on the first, and we had our team out there engaging the public on some of the parks work we're doing in the northern part of the city. So, I wanted to thank our team for being out there on the weekend and for all the hard work putting together a beautiful event that featured our Civic Center Park. Um, actually had an opportunity to fill in for Jan last week at the Student Art and Essay Contest, and it was a lot of fun. Full house. I think we used to hold it in the council chambers, and it got too big and popular, which is a wonderful testament to the success of the event. The students wrote about their favorite building in Palm Desert. It was excellent and wonderful, and it just builds that community spirit. I was so proud to be a part of it. And thank you to Eric and the rest of the staff who all helped put it together, Thomas and everybody else. So, thank you very much.
[00:18:21] Mayor: And there's just a few things. I want to remind everyone that there is a Homeowners Association meeting, and it's educational and informative. It will be here on Saturday from 8:00 until noon. And the good part of it, not only will you walk away with a ton of information—the laws that have changed, landscaping issues, how to build a better board, all the things that really make a successful HOA—but you get breakfast and lunch, so it all works out. Also, I was up with CALCOG, which is the California Council of Governments. We were up in Sacramento doing work, trying to figure out where we go and how we work on getting grants that will help our communities and help our transportation, federal grants as well, and learning how not to speak 'Californian' when you go to Washington, D.C. It doesn't work there anymore. So, we did a lot of work on 375, and I'm not going to make your eyes glaze over, but it is important to you, and it does make a difference. It's one of those mandates from Sacramento that is antiquated. It is no longer relevant in the way it was presented, and we really need to update it. So, that's just a couple of things that I participated in, and I guess that's all right now. We could all sit up here and tell you all the things we do because we're busy all the time going to meetings, but we want to make sure we're telling you what you need to know, not what we did. So, now we'll move to...
[00:20:02] Mayor: Non-agenda public comments, and this time is set aside for people who would like to address the City Council on issues that are not on the agenda but are under the purview of the City Council, and you'll have three minutes. Is there anyone who would like to address the Council at this time?
[00:20:20] Staff: And Madam Mayor, if I could do the housekeeping remarks. For those on Zoom, if you want to participate in public comment, please click the hand button on your computer or smartphone. If you're joining in by calling on your phone, please dial star nine to raise your hand, and when called upon, press star six to unmute yourself. And Madam Mayor, I do believe you should have two speaker cards up there.
[00:20:41] Mayor: Okay, thank you very much. The first is EA Lynch. Please.
[00:20:56] EA Lynch: Hi everybody, thanks. Thanks for having me today. So I want to say thank you first of all for your service to the residents of Palm Desert, of which I am proud to be one. I'm here today to speak on behalf of the population that I serve, which is people with Parkinson's and their caregivers. Parkinson's is the fastest growing, second most common neurodegenerative condition in the world, and it uniquely impacts our community here in the desert. We estimate that 8,000 to 10,000 people are living with Parkinson's in Coachella, and approximately 2,000 of them are residents of Palm Desert. Southern California actually has a higher concentration of Parkinson's than other parts of the country, and that's likely due to our growing population of seniors. At Parkinson's Resource Organization, we work to ensure that no one is isolated because of Parkinson's. We do this through emotional support, practical resources, education, and more. So today, I have a few requests of this Council. First, I want everyone to be aware that there is a proudly local resource for Parkinson's that has been serving the desert community for 35 years. If you know anyone living with Parkinson's, please let them know that there's a service here ready to support them. Second, we are looking down the barrel at April, which is Parkinson's Awareness Month, so you can help us raise awareness by joining PRO at one of our events, liking and following us on social media, or making a contribution to our community-funded nonprofit. And third, please keep us, the Parkinson's community, in mind as you weigh your actions as a committee. We are eager to help with any and all opportunities to improve quality of life for our seniors, and we're right down the street. Thank you.
[00:22:44] Mayor: Thank you so much. Okay, the next is, it looks like Ju... Fel Falcone, maybe I got it right.
[00:23:24] Ju Fel Falcone: ...members are aware of the concerns raised during the session as well as the feedback provided by the mayor, which I found disappointing and concerning. I have discussed these issues with several students and staff members, and the sentiment expressed are shared by many. During the events, I inquired about several topics. First, I referenced Pharaoh and local data indicating that Palm Desert's minority population is projected to increase 36% from 2020 to 2024, to 40% roughly, most likely more. I asked how the mayor reconciles her commitment to a community that does not tolerate racism and discrimination with her maintained neutrality on immigration protection and opposition to single-member districts, which could benefit these minority communities. The response provided was, 'I support all people.' Secondly, I asked whether there are plans to create a permanent youth council. Many students at College of the Desert are eager to participate and learn from experienced leaders, and a dedicated youth council could provide a meaningful platform for their voices. The answer given was, 'You should join the Civic Academy.' This program is not the same. Lastly, I inquired about initiatives to improve housing for college students over 18, especially those who are homeless or come from foster care backgrounds. The response was that the county provides services for these issues. However, many students at College of the Desert, a community that is roughly 80% minority, often face significant challenges, such as strict qualification requirements and long wait times for assistance. This situation highlights the need for the city and county to work...
[00:25:00] Mr. Falon: ...together and exploring additional solutions for students pursuing higher education. Our future leaders are being developed through higher education, and it's crucial that we have open and constructive conversations about supporting minority and immigrant residents, including undocumented Dreamer students. I believe that by engaging students and volunteering in these discussions, we can better address the real issues our community faces. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to working respectfully and professionally to continue improving our great city for future generations.
[00:25:32] Mayor: Thank you, Mr. Falon, and I appreciate your script. Okay, are there any other public comments?
[00:25:40] Clerk: No.
[00:25:41] Mayor: Okay, we will now move to the consent calendar. Are there... is there any items that the Council would like pulled from the calendar?
[00:25:56] Council Member: I'd like to approve with a small comment, if I can pull Section F, please. Item F.
[00:26:05] Mayor: Are there any other? No. Okay, would you like to make that comment so that we can just go ahead and vote completely?
[00:26:14] Council Member: Yes, I just wanted to... we got a comment that was made from the public, not only in writing but also part of the discussion that I had with Palm Desert residents actually at the Education Summit about why it's important that we oppose the budget cuts that are listed in Section F, which is approximately $375 million that the state wants to remove from the budget to support Cal State. And the Vice Provost of Student Affairs mentioned, and I loved how he said it, that Cal State schools are anchor institutions. And the way he phrased it just really digs into the community, that not only do they serve students, but how many hundreds of people that they employ across the region, and that this is how we can invest in the opportunity for them to give back and leverage the expertise to the community. So I just wanted to pass that on.
[00:27:14] Mayor: Thank you. Thank you. And we have a motion. Is there a second? May we have a roll call vote, or... no, I'm sorry, may we vote, please?
[00:27:25] Clerk: Motion passes 5 to 0.
[00:27:29] Mayor: Thank you very much. We will now move to the action calendar, 11a, which is a resolution. The recommendation is to adopt a resolution entitled, 'Resolution of the City Council of the City of Palm Desert, California, approving the final subdivision of Final Tract Map Number 38434-2.' May we have a report, please?
[00:27:55] Carlos Flores: Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the City Council. Carlos Flores, Principal Engineer, here to present on the item in front of you today. I just want to provide a little bit of background in terms of what you would be considering today as a final map. A tentative map, which is a tentative subdivision map, is a discretionary project, a discretionary item, because it requires findings and is subject to reasonable conditions. What is in front of you today is consideration of a final map, which is a ministerial action, which means it must be approved if it's found to be in substantial conformance with the approved tentative map. What a final map does is it takes a tentative map, which is a conceptual approval, into legal subdivision of land. It creates the actual parcels after an approval and recordation. So with all that said, the review criteria for a final map... there's a few items within the State Subdivision Map Act as well as our Municipal Code that are to be considered when reviewing and approving a final map. Some of them include that the subdivision is shown to be substantially the same as the tentative map, that all code requirements at time of approval have been complied with, and that the map is technically correct. Additionally, these maps require applicants to submit subdivision improvement agreements with bonds, deeds, easements, engineer's estimates of improvement costs, and other technical items on the map itself. So per Municipal Code, a City Council shall approve the map if it's found... if it's determined to be in conformity with the requirements of this chapter of our code and that the conditions of approval of the tentative map... if it's found to be in conformity with that. So in staff's review, the public improvement plans submitted were approved by the City Engineer. A subdivision agreement for this project between the City and the subdivider was executed, and security posted by the subdivider has been submitted for the public...
[00:30:00] Staff Speaker: improvements. So going to give a little bit of background on how we got to where we're at right now, since this map in front of you is the Final Phase and final City Council action for this project.
[00:30:14] Staff Speaker: So back in August of 2022, a specific plan and tentative map was approved by the City Council for what was known as The Refuge project. It included the Vitalia Apartments, a future condo project, as well as a single-family detached product for 339 single-family homes.
[00:30:33] Staff Speaker: In September of 2023, so about a year later, there was an approval for a revision to this project. So it reduced the single-family product from 339 lots to 332, it changed some of the circulation, and also added some open space and retention area capacity, and revised the pad elevations by anywhere from 6 inches to a foot.
[00:31:00] Staff Speaker: In March of 2024, per conditions of approval, the applicant requested to revise the pad elevations on the site, which required a public hearing and it went to our Planning Commission. The revision to those pad elevations was focused on the northwest part of the site, where they're revising them from about 8 inches to a foot, and in all the other areas, about 1 inch or so.
[00:31:26] Staff Speaker: In August of 2024, the City Council approved the final map for Phase 1, which is generally the northern part of this project.
[00:31:36] Staff Speaker: So here in front of you, this is the entirety of the tentative map. There's a rough illustration of what Phase 1, which again has been finaled and approved, is, as well as Phase 2. You see to the—this image in front of you is, you know, up is North, so north of here is Gerald Ford Drive, and then a rough layout of the Vitalia Apartments, which are under construction, an open space lot for a future project, and then you have this project in front of you, the 3434 map.
[00:32:05] Staff Speaker: The entirety of the map includes 332 single-family units, 20 lots (about 16 and a half acres) for open space and retention, one lot for a future condo project, and the retention basins' capacity to capture a 500-year storm.
[00:32:21] Staff Speaker: I also want to note here, as I move through my presentation and in some of the comments you've received, there's a reference to a landscape buffer. And so I just want to note, anytime there's a reference to that, it's the southern and easterly area of this site that has, again, what's called—what's referred to as a landscape buffer. You see how the lots don't run all the way to the perimeter of the site; there's a buffer between the other residential as well as this project here.
[00:32:55] Staff Speaker: Just to get another perspective, so on the right-hand side is North, there's Gerald Ford, and it's a rough illustration of what Phase 1 is and Phase 2. This is an aerial taken from January of this year, so just a couple months ago, to get an idea of current conditions, and again, a rough illustration of what Phase 1 and 2 is, as well as the surrounding residential.
[00:33:19] Staff Speaker: So to step back a little bit, in April 2024, the City issued a rough grading permit and some construction on the site ensued. Subsequent to this, City staff began receiving a lot of concerns from residents on pad elevations, drainage, as well as construction activity.
[00:33:40] Staff Speaker: The construction activity concerns focused on noise, damage to homes, dirt, and pools. We organized a community meeting, so City staff as well as the developer held the community meeting here to hear out those concerns on the project itself as well as construction activity.
[00:33:57] Staff Speaker: The Pulte team, the developer's team, changed some construction activity on that site. So they changed the construction side access, they added an additional water truck, relocated the staging area, and did additional dust control measures.
[00:34:14] Staff Speaker: They also provided an action plan which had a centralized email and centralized phone number where all complaints were to go to this location and then be reported to myself. Every two weeks, we were getting a report on what complaints were being received and how they were responding to it.
[00:34:32] Staff Speaker: One of the other topics that again came up during this community meeting, as well as throughout, was on drainage to the site. Staff and the developer provided answers to the applicant in terms of how drainage would work on the site, including the capacity of the retention basins and how the site would effectively drain to the north, and that's how it was designed and to be developed. Additionally, the City, you know, the way it works as a developer...
[00:35:01] Staff Member: ...drafts the plans with an engineer. City engineer reviews those plans, and we also had an independent third-party engineer review all drainage and hydrology plans to make sure that the development would drain properly. We also created—and I also want to take this opportunity to again emphasize to any members of the public listening—we created a project website where we have put all the project history, project updates. We developed a GIS application where you could see photos of inspections occurring over there to get a centralized area for people to access. And also strongly encourage, anytime there's any comment, concern, question, or whatever it may be, my email is up there to send it to me, and we get it over to the right people.
[00:35:51] Staff Member: So this here, this was a final tract map. This is the first phase that was approved. What I wanted to note here: so this first phase included 135 single-family lots. At the time of approval for the first phase, it included a subdivision improvement agreement and a grading agreement with associated bonds. At the time of that approval, it included securities for the entirety of the project. So the first phase included securities not just for phase one, but actually phase one and two. So we have bonds that are executed and all ready for the subdivision improvement agreement and grading agreement for phase two as well.
[00:36:31] Staff Member: Subsequent to that August City Council approval, City staff continued to receive complaints and concerns from the surrounding residents. In January this year, so just a couple months ago, City staff—so myself, City Manager, Assistant City Manager, and Director of Development Services—we held two different meetings with the residents where we went over questions and concerns on building pads, landscape buffer, view protections, and drainage. After that, the applicant also held a community meeting, not just focusing on some of these concerns, but also going over the final design in these areas to discuss landscaping and options to try to, you know, alleviate some of those concerns.
[00:37:16] Staff Member: You received in your staff report packet a matrix that we put together where we went line-by-line on topics of concerns from the residents, clarification City staff provided, and also in certain areas where we made requests to Pulte and their response. I'm not going to go through every single one that was listed there in your report, but to highlight some of the bigger ones: so the first one is on the landscape buffer. There was a lot of comments and some confusion on the change to this landscape buffer. So the original specific plan and the original goal of the specific plan was to offer flexibility in site development, and this included a 45 to 50-foot landscape buffer. There was a report, a staff report in that original approval, that mentioned only the 50-foot maximum and not the range, but the initial community meetings, as well as presentations to Planning Commissions and City Councils, and all line-of-sight drawings were all done with a 45-foot buffer and not a 50-foot buffer. Subsequent to this, we did ask—at the time, we reached out to Pulte to see if there's any flexibility to reduce some of those lot depths to increase that buffer, and the response is that they would not reduce those depths.
[00:38:38] Staff Member: A couple other items we went over multiple times is on the drainage within the landscape area. So there was a concern that the landscape area would have drainage that would just sit there. And so the only drainage within that landscape area is runoff from rain that would fall within there. And so we just wanted to reiterate that everything we're going to review subsequent to this, in terms of final grading and final engineering plans, would have to conform to those original approvals.
[00:39:15] Staff Member: So with that said, I just kind of want to touch on some of the remaining permits on this project. So this is not an exhaustive list, but subsequent to this, there's still construction permits that would need to be submitted and reviewed, but those would all be done at a City staff level. So we have landscape applications and building architecture master plans, which are under review and require City staff approval with an ARC subcommittee review. We also have precise grading plans, stormwater and drainage, and streets for the second phase. All of those are reviewed by City staff, inclusive of engineering staff.
[00:39:55] Staff Member: So what is in front of you today, and the action today in front of you, is Tract Map 38434-2, so it is phase two.
[00:40:03] Staff: Again, the final phase of this subdivision. The map is in front of you here, as shown in your report. It includes 197 single-family lots, 10 public street infrastructure lots, and seven lots for open space. As mentioned, part of our review, the City Engineer has to review and has deemed the map technically correct, and City staff has to review all conditions of approval from the tentative map from the original approval resolutions and ensure that all of them have been satisfied before we bring this to you. That includes conditions from planning staff, Land Development, and Fire. There's an exhaustive list of conditions of approval. I'm not going to read verbatim every single one and go through how they met them, but you can see here that we have to review all of these to ensure that they are meeting them before we bring it forth. That includes conditions on pad elevations, it includes conditions on ensuring that they submit their final flood and hydrology and hydraulics reports, drainage and storm drain improvements. All that has to be submitted and reviewed before we bring it here, and it has been. And so, with all of that said, our recommendation in front of you today is to adopt a resolution that would approve the final subdivision of Final Tract Map 38434-2. Thank you.
[00:41:21] Mayor: Thank you. Are there any questions of here? No questions? You have a question for the staff?
[00:41:30] Councilmember: My question for staff: can you help me understand what specifically was the response that the community has felt regarding the change in drainage? I think it was in terms of the traditional drainage going south and the project making it so the drainage went north. I think I remember that was one of the challenges.
[00:42:00] Staff: Most of the concerns we heard from drainage was simply that the drainage plans on the site were not adequate and would impact the surrounding neighbors. What again, with the plans that we have to review and approve and have gone over with them, is that the general design of the project is to drain to the north. The current condition, or the previous conditions—what you call the existing conditions at the time of original approval—had where the site was in a condition that would drain south as well. But for our requirements and for the design, the idea was that the project itself, generally speaking, drains to the north.
[00:42:46] Mayor: Okay, so before we get into discussion, I do have some speaker cards. So let's start with the applicant from Pulte Group, David... and, you know, help me here... Du... G... Dy? Close enough? Yeah, all right. Thank you, thank you.
[00:43:11] David Duley: Good evening, Mayor and Councilmembers. My name is David Duley. I'm with Pulte Homes, and I just want to thank the staff for their hard work on reviewing the plans and for creating the community engagement meetings and engaging with the community, and also educating everyone on the process and everything that's gone through public review. We're just here to answer any questions if you have any.
[00:43:46] Mayor: Are there any questions of the applicant? No? Okay, thank you. Thank you.
[00:43:55] Mayor: And now I have more speaker cards. We'll start with Linda Candler.
[00:44:14] Linda Candler: Thank you, Madam Mayor, members of Council. My name is Linda Candler. I live at 74040 Chinook Circle. Our residence is in the southeast corner of this project. I've been here previously on several occasions questioning some of the design for this project, particularly as it relates to the south and the east portions. One of the comments by Mr. Flores, and one of the comments I've been here to discuss before, is the fact that there was initially a reference to the buffer zone, which was to create space because of the dramatic increase in the pad heights behind the homes on the...
[00:45:01] Public Speaker: South and the East corners of this project, and again, the pad height elevation was explained to us as being necessary to drain the water to the north. So our initial concern was we were promised 50 feet, it got reduced somehow to 45. There was reference in the community meeting, let's see, that was about an hour and 20 minutes, and about 1 hour and 9 minutes in, there was about a 30-second slide placed on the screen and a reference to a 45 to 50-foot buffer zone. It wasn't specified as exactly where that was. The specific plan specifically referred to 50 feet on the south and East corners. We know that's gone. I mean, the tract map number one, when that got approved, I objected, it was discussed, it's 45 feet. What I am upset about now is, even given that change and modification which raises the slope and brings it closer to our homes, is that Pulte has added, perhaps temporarily, but we want a commitment that it's going to be reduced. They've raised the slope higher than the pad height elevation behind us, it's 2 feet. They've also dug it down 2 feet to create a larger retention basin. That was never part of the initial plan, that was never what was shown to us at the community meetings or in subsequent filings. I pointed this out before as well in meetings with the city and here before Council. The plans are not to scale when they appear on your computer screen, when they're put up on the city's website. The current map now is 1 inch equals 100 feet, so it's really hard to tell if you're talking about 50 feet, if you're talking about a slope of 14 feet, which was originally supposed to be behind us. It's impossible to tell. We want the grading to match what was presented at the community meeting back in August of 2022, which meant that the wall, the slope, had to end at the back wall of the new homes, which is the pad height elevation. It can't be raised up 2 feet. There's also a 5-foot shelf that's been added, it's actually 5 to 8 feet, that also brings the slope closer to our homes.
[00:47:27] Mayor: I need you to wrap up your comments.
[00:47:29] Public Speaker: I am very happy to do so. I just request that you do not consider what is being submitted now in substantial compliance because the slope doesn't match the grading plan. It's at least two feet higher. Thank you very much.
[00:47:44] Mayor: Thank you. Okay, next is Janna Kazinski.
[00:47:56] Janna Kazinski: Good evening, Mayor, Council. My name is Janna Kazinski, and I live at 7357 Woodward Drive in the Kaufman Road development, which is south of Refuge. We understand that the developer of Refuge Del Webb Explorer has followed all the plans approved by the City Council, and the city is powerless to make revisions to the plans after the fact. However, considering all the confusion and misrepresentations to the adjacent neighborhoods, City Commissions, to the City Council, we believe that developers should, at the very least, lower the elevations to those approved in 2022, ensure all slopes are the 2:1 ratio, and landscape the walkway sooner than planned. We want to be on record that we feel the drainage plans for the southeast corner of the Refuge Del Webb Explorer are inadequate. Should there be a downpour like we experienced in August of 2023, both trails on the east and south walls, along with the runoff from their sloped escarpments, channel to the corner that has no drain, counting solely on percolation, and that would be in the southeast corner. Despite our presenting to Council twice this past year how there was confusion about neighborhood meeting invitations due to them either arriving in envelopes easily mistaken as junk mail or not received at all, the latest invitation to that meeting held on January 7th arrived in envelopes from MSA Consulting. This is an example of the very confusion we talked about. We believe a simple fix to this problem...
[00:50:00] Public Speaker: ...is for the city to send out in City envelopes all future communications to affected residents. We believe that neighborhood meetings should not be held in summer months when many residents are not even here because we cannot afford to sue Province West and BlackRock developers with unlimited money and powerful corporate attorneys, or the City for creating a public hazard. Since this project was approved in 2022, we would like assurances in writing from the city that the developer will be held accountable for damages to our properties. Thank you.
[00:50:48] Mayor: Thank you. We have one more speaker card. This is for Charles Cronenworth. Cronenworth, maybe?
[00:51:09] Charles Cronenworth: Thank you, Mayor and City Council. I reside at 7404 Oce Shook Circle. We purchased our property in 2016. There was a 100-acre lot behind us that was zoned R5. We never imagined in our wildest dreams that this would be changed to an R20 zoning, and we never in our wildest dreams thought that a developer would raise the pad heights as high as 11 feet from the existing established community that has been there for 25 years. So we got those surprises. We've been to City Council a couple of times, we've talked about... initially it was always going to be a 50-foot buffer zone that was presented to us when the Refuge people presented various community meetings. Somewhere along the line, there was flexibility. Well, it wasn't flexibility for the existing homeowners; it was flexibility for the developer to do whatever they wanted at the cost of taking away views, privacy, and devaluing our property. So the buffer zone was reduced to 45 feet, and we didn't really find out until pretty far along that the pad heights behind us were going to be 7 feet higher. You take a 7-foot pad elevation and you put a house that has, even if it's a single-story house, it's got a peak that's about 18 feet. So now we have a structure that's approximately going to be built 25 feet higher than our existing elevation. We brought this up to the planning department on several occasions, and they said, unfortunately, in our building code, there was no restriction on what the developer could do as far as building height. I think subsequent to that, when we had a meeting with the planning department, they said to the effect that they're not going to allow this anymore, they're going to cut it off at 5 feet. We just felt that we were taken advantage of, and the developer built to the perimeter as far as he could and as high as he possibly could so that he would have view lots and increase his profitability in the construction. We're also very concerned that the rough grading now behind our specific location is not 7 feet. There's a bench that's almost 2 feet high and 7 feet longer than the pad elevation. This then creates behind us a wall of sand that's almost... it's almost 10 feet high, and because of the 7-foot bench, when it comes down, it ends 10 feet closer to our property line. It's been impossible to live with the dust and the pollution that's coming from this wall of sand and the bench that's been built for the convenience of the developer and no concern for the existing community. Thank you.
[00:54:27] Mayor: Thank you. Are there any other comments?
[00:54:30] Staff: No comments online, Madam Mayor.
[00:54:35] Councilmember: Point... is it discussion or any questions? I think the applicant has an ability to rebut, and I would be curious, especially from our staff. We're being asked to make a determination that this meets the drawings and approvals, and there's allegations that some of the...
[00:55:01] Council Member: ...build, uh, pad heights may not be, and my understanding is that we've had independent engineers verify that. So I just want to verify from staff that what we're approving is consistent, and how that reconciles with the allegations from the residents.
[00:55:20] Carlos (Staff): The short answer in terms of the pads and certifications on them is yes, we do and have verified that already. So through the rough grading plan, we've actually received pad certifications on those lots, and we receive them again as other, um, construction activity occurs.
[00:55:38] Council Member: And in the buffer zone, I'm not going out there with a tape measure and surveying equipment, but it sounds like the slope is significant. The allegation is that the slope is significantly steeper because they've built out from the wall, is what I'm understanding.
[00:55:52] Carlos (Staff): We have a standard of it being a 2-to-1 slope, and that's going to—that continues to be the standard as we review drawings and conduct inspections. So that'll—and it's all of it is based off of conformance with the approved plans, and we have engineers that stamp that the 2-to-1 slope is the condition that is currently present.
[00:56:12] Carlos (Staff): The developer engineer has to stamp, and then we do those inspections to verify.
[00:56:19] Council Member: And as far as developing or engineering for certain outcomes, my understanding is that the development objective of the pad heights was primarily for the purpose of engineering for flood—the waters draining well to the north. Theoretically, you could have mimicked the previous conditions to have water drain to the north and south. As this current development is, we're actually exceeding any sort of retention in our municipal code by going to the capacity of a 500-year storm, correct? Which we would not have been able to do if we mimicked the previous conditions.
[00:57:12] Carlos (Staff): I can't answer that, I'm not that engineer. So, yeah, and we didn't see to that effect, but it's atypical to see, you know, projects draining to other residential developments, right? Usually, we're having everything drain away and onto streets.
[00:57:32] Mayor: Any other questions or comments?
[00:57:37] Council Member: Actually, probably for Carlos again, if you don't mind. So, it sounds like a complaint from the neighbors to the south is that pad heights have remained the same—they were higher than they wanted. There's then, at the southern end of this development and where the pads are, there's going to be a wall constructed, a block wall for privacy. It's going to be several feet high; they mentioned a 6'4" person couldn't see over it, etc. So then, between the wall and the start of the slope, there's a bench, is that right?
[00:58:12] Carlos (Staff): Yeah, so there's a bench when there's slopes, right? So, I'm reading this off of my plan, but the grading bench, what it is, is a horizontal step that's intended to cut a slope to provide stability and reduce the speed of water runoff. They are typical on these slopes. We've actually—one of the requests we did make to Pulte, and they are doing, is on these slopes and on these benches to reduce the amount of bench and, not a technical term, but to try to soften these slopes. And so we are reviewing those grading plans to see their ideas. Residents provided certain ideas to try to reduce those areas. But for the other parts of your question, one, it's still always at a 2-to-1 slope, so the steepness of it, regardless of this area, is always going to be at a 2-to-1. And yes, the other question that came up is on the Pulte homes—those would all be six-foot block walls to be constructed along those perimeters.
[00:59:16] Council Member: And it sounds like the complaint from the neighbors is that on that bench, the level of the height of that bench was raised, which effectively then brings the start of the slope higher, which then means it has to—to still get that 2-to-1 grade—has to then end closer to their properties. So it doesn't sound like Pulte touched the height of the pads, no, but they did raise the height of the bench, which then created all kinds of other changes in the slope.
[00:59:47] Carlos (Staff): Somewhat, yes. It doesn't raise the height—you're right that it doesn't raise the height of the pads for the homes themselves, but as it gets into the walls... And the other part here I want to clarify is it's not finally constructed yet, right?
[01:00:00] Staff: Meaning how they have it right now is for like, you know, it's just dirt. So they've built these slopes with just dirt with the idea of once it's at final construction, some of those conditions go away. There's landscaping along the residence walls, and that's what's being constructed there rather than that dirt condition. But the pad heights of the homes they have, they are certified at, will continue to be certified to be at a height that's not above what was approved.
[01:00:31] Council Member 1: And how much regulatory say-so or oversight do we have on the height of the bench and how that affects the slope? How—I mean, Pulte can do what they want, or not necessarily?
[01:00:43] Staff: We have engineering requirements and standards that they'll have to meet to conform to those approved plans that we have.
[01:00:50] Council Member 1: Okay. They have to create a walkway within that area, right?
[01:00:55] Staff: It was approved. The entitlement approvals, your tentative map and your precise plan, gives you the preliminary approvals as a walkway within this area that they have to construct. And again, everything has to be constructed off that 2:1 slope in that area.
[01:01:09] Council Member 1: And also going back to, I think it was page 11, tentative map versus final map. Final map is—it must be approved if it is in, quote, 'substantial conformance'?
[01:01:24] Staff: Correct.
[01:01:27] Council Member 1: So just walk me through what that discussion might be like. You know, 'substantial' allows a little bit of subjectivity and wiggle room. Is it just up to the Planning Commission staff to determine what substantial conformance is?
[01:01:41] Staff: Well, the final map, the approval goes just to the City Council, so it's not a Planning Commission one. I don't know what type of wiggle room we would have if we had a tentative map—sorry, if you had a final map in front of you that had some differences from a tentative map. That's not the situation here. You know, if there's some—I'd assume at least for some wiggle room if a final map was presented to you that had some small differences from the tentative map, that's what it means by substantial conformance. But that's not the situation here. The situation here is a final map that's in conformance with it.
[01:02:13] Council Member 1: I guess just moving forward, it'll be up to us to determine what is substantial conformance?
[01:02:17] Staff: Somewhat. I mean, that is staff's job as well, right? To highlight, 'This was the tentative map you approved, this is the change, this is a change that is being presented to you in a final map, and staff believes it is in substantial conformance still.' But it would be, you know, it's our job to present what that tweak or that change is.
[01:02:35] Council Member 1: Okay. And one last question, if you don't mind. There was pointed out about the heights and view lines during this presentation, or in our report rather, and one of it said that single-family homes restricted to within 50 feet of neighboring properties, I believe. Beyond 50 feet could be two-story, is that right?
[01:02:56] Staff: Right, correct. So the original specific plan and original plan provided standards limiting two-story homes to a certain buffer. So all of the homes adjacent to the south and east, they all have to be single-story, and that's not just from in time, that's from the specific plan. So that's the governing document on it.
[01:03:16] Council Member 1: Yeah, got it. Thank you.
[01:03:20] Council Member 2: And I have more of a comment to staff. So basically, to summarize the comments that have just been made, the slope does meet the grading plan. That is the basic premise here that we're getting at. What I read in the staff report says it, but what I heard from the residents, they're saying it does not. However, I see it in the staff report. Is there anything I'm missing here on this?
[01:03:51] Staff: It does, and it will continue to as we go through final plans, is what I'll add.
[01:03:58] Council Member 2: Okay, thank you.
[01:04:04] Council Member 3: Please, do you happen to have—and I'm hoping either whether you can answer that or Pulte can answer—I could swear, I could swear that part of the discussion included that in order to make these conversations more transparent, that communications would not be coming from a third party because that would make it difficult for people that weren't aware. They would seem like it was a pre-approved whatnot, and that there would be a more deliberate effort to ensure that residents and any involved stakeholders were aware who this was coming from and what it was about. Does that ring any bells for you?
[01:04:49] Staff: I'm not sure if maybe this conversation was during—we just updated our community engagement municipal code, if you remember. I'm not sure if it was a conversation as part of that.
[01:05:02] Staff: That you may might recall, but yeah, I'm not sure the specific question, but we did recently update our community engagement requirements to have more stringent requirements.
[01:05:18] Council Member: Yeah, and the reason it came about is when the comment was made that things should come addressed from the city. And that's what, you know, we said. If it's not, if it's the developer that's promoting these changes or their information sessions, it can't come from the city because that was what residents had requested, that it would, you know, put out the bells and say, 'This is important because the city's notifying us.' And I'm wondering if that was not the case as we move forward, is it possible to request that the correspondence not come from a third party?
[01:05:56] Staff: So, a two-part answer. Part one is to clarify on this project, right? There's two different things. We have official public hearings, meaning a public hearing in front of our Planning Commission and our City Council, which there was a total of five of those, if I'm doing my math right. Five of those. And then there's community engagement meetings, which our code requires, right? Which are separate from that. Prior to going to that, developers of certain projects are required to go through community engagement meetings where the developer reaches out to the surrounding residents and presents on the project and answers questions. Those community engagement meetings, that notification is provided and required from the developer, so they do that communication. Anytime there's notification for a public hearing, so for a Planning Commission, City Council meeting, if we're publicly noticing an ARC meeting, that comes from the city. The applicant provides us mailing labels, and our wonderful staff puts together a bunch of envelopes and mails them out on city letterhead envelopes. So there's that distinction of when it comes from the city versus when it comes from them. Now, moving forward, again, we recently updated our community engagement requirements. And, you know, if it's something this Council wants to look into, maybe at a separate discussion or as we move forward with those projects, in terms of the community engagement meetings having communication from the city rather than a developer, but I just want to make sure I provided that distinction.
[01:07:30] Council Member: Thank you. I was just going to say that could be another discussion, but I think that would be a good idea to have correspondence come from the city.
[01:07:40] Council Member: I agree. I think we've had a lot of concerns. This has been an ongoing issue. We're talking public health, we're talking public safety, and what we're learning every time from each opportunity to engage with residents, the challenges and the opportunity, what we can do to engage and make things more fluid. I think that would be a good idea, and I thank you for your support on that.
[01:08:03] Mayor: Are there any other comments? And that does deserve discussion at another time. If we require the developer to do it, you need the developer's name on there. Perhaps they can add the city's name as well, but let's have that discussion at another time. Are there any other questions or comments?
[01:08:26] Mayor: Okay, seeing none, then I will entertain a motion.
[01:08:30] Council Member: I'll make a motion to approve.
[01:08:33] Council Member: I'll second.
[01:08:39] Mayor: Motion passes 4 to 1, with Council Member Kia voting no.
[01:08:48] Staff: Okay, we'll now move to public hearings. And Mayor, staff is requesting that the public hearing be continued. We're going to be taking this back to Parks and Recreation. The staff has recently recalculated the budget after the mid-year adjustments to reconcile everything and have found an error. So we're taking it back to Park and Rec, and then it will be brought back and forth back to you after they have an opportunity to see the updated information.
[01:09:18] Mayor: Okay, do we need any sort of action to pull that to an end?
[01:09:20] City Attorney: No, Madam Mayor. The notice will be republished.
[01:09:26] Mayor: Okay, thank you. Okay, is there anything else for the good of the order? Seems like we have no unfinished business. Tomorrow is Pi Day, so make the most of it. National Pi Day, 3.14. So thank you, and this meeting stands adjourned.