Measure Z And Group Homes Ordinances Top Council Agenda
The Costa Mesa City Council meets again tomorrow, Tuesday, May 2, 2017 for what may be an action-packed event. The regular meeting begins at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall and is preceded by a five (5) item (1 labor negotiation and 4 lawsuits!) Closed Session beginning at 4:30 p.m. and, following Public Comments in Council Chambers, will be held in Conference Room 5A in the Fifth Floor Bunker. You can read the full agenda HERE.
Thanks to a very loyal reader for pointing out an ironic twist at the beginning of the meeting. Apparently the National Anthem will be performed by Mariachi Herencia Michoacana Group, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilman Allan Mansoor, the man whose policies regarding immigration petrified the Lation population of our city during his last tour on the council. I'm sorry, but I just cannot stop smiling thinking about this interesting juxtapositioning - particularly a couple days before Cinco de Mayo.
CONSENT CALENDAR
The Consent Calendar - items that in theory can be voted upon without separate discussion - holds nine (9) items, so it's likely that one or two may be pulled for discussion. Among the items are:
Item #2, Warrant Resolution #2576, HERE. This accounts for over $3.6 million of your dollars being spent. I won't attempt to list the largest expenditures - you can click on that link and scroll down through the roster to see who got paid when and for what. I will observe, however, that the old meter keeps on spinning for consultants and lawyers - understandable, since we still have over 80 vacancies throughout city government.
Item #9, HERE, is an amendment to the professional services agreement with Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, PC for $83,500. It's not the agreement that's so interesting, but the assignment. This staff report concisely outlines the financing scheme for the Lions Park Project, which makes this report interesting reading.
Public Hearing #1, HERE, addresses the funding priorities for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investiment Partnerships Program (HOME). For the fiscal year 2017/2018 the City anticipates $1,000,000 in CDBG funds and $340,000 for the HOME program. Washington has been making noises about defunding those programs downstream, but I'm told the next fiscal year will not be affected.... fingers crossed on this one.
Public Hearing #2, HERE, is going to be very interesting. This deals with the fallout of the passage of Measure Z relating to open space and public park impact fees PLUS involves creation, composition and name of the Open Space and Recreation Advisory Committee. You may recall that the Planning Commission rejected the creation of that committee, suggesting, instead, that the duties planned for it could best be performed by the Parks and Recreation Commission. The discussion of this item should be fun. The staff report provides the council with three options.
Public Hearing #3, HERE, is the vacation of a portion of East 19th Street at 152 East 19th Street. This issue has been batted around for several months. The Bikeway and Walkability Committee reviewed it in February. The Planning Commission heard the item in March and the City Council heard it in April. Staff recommends approval.
Old Business #1, HERE, is the second reading of the reauthorization of the collection of a fee to support public, education and governmental (PEG) channel facilities within the City. This item took about 3 minutes the first time and there's no reason it should take that long this time around.
Old Business #2, HERE, is also going to be fun. This deals with the Group Homes issue and has been significantly modified since the first reading last month. There are actually two (2) ordinances involved so you should read the staff report for the details. Revisions were made in the following areas:
- Special Use Permit Approvals
- Compliance with Vehicle Code
- Required Separation Between Group Homes
- Application Requirements
- Eviction/involuntary Termination of Residency
New Business #1, HERE is the Business Improvement Area (BIA) reauthorization and resolution of intention, review of annual report and introduction of an ordinance. This involves eleven (11) hotels in Costa Mesa that collect an additional 3% on top of the normal 8% in Transient Occupancy Tax. That additional money is used to fund Travel Costa Mesa, formerly the Conference and Visitor's Bureau. This staff report includes the annual report.
I think there's a very good chance we could be out of this meeting by 10 p.m. - sure hope so!
Labels: Allan Mansoor, BIA, CDBG, Measure Z, Sober Living Homes
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 5/01/2017 03:55:00 PM
2 Comments:
Measure Zero, true to other Righeimer contrivances, is going to cost the taxpayers more than the funds it brings in. The City Council should follow the recommendation of the Planning Commission: get rid of the redundant committee and let the Parks Commissioners handle the task. Better yet would be to simply overturn Righeimer's initiative. I suspect it was voted in by citizens who didn't know the difference between it and Measure Y anyway.
Outta there by 10 would be nice! Two weeks ago it ended at 1am. That's not reasonable or healthy -- I think it was Libby Cowan who asked "Do any good decisions ever get made after midnight?"
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