Redwood City City Council Meeting Summary - May 6, 2024
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Redwood City City Council Meeting Summary - May 6, 2024
The Redwood City City Council held a regular meeting on May 6, 2024, at 6:00 PM. The meeting began with proclamations recognizing Jewish American History Month, Professional Municipal Clerks Week, and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, as well as honoring winners of the Climate Action and Climate Resiliency Video Contest. The council addressed several substantive items, including an update on the Anti-Displacement Strategy (ADS) with a new dispute resolution pilot project, a discussion on transportation and park impact fee discounts, and the establishment of a pedestrian mall on Broadway. Councilmember Howard was absent for the entire meeting.
Consent Calendar
- 7A: Award contract to Musco Sports Lighting, LLC for the Fair Oaks Field LED Sports Lighting Project.
- 7B: Final acceptance of the 2022-2023 water main replacement project.
- 7C: Reject all bids for the Red Morton Park, Mitchell Field Infield synthetic turf field replacement project.
- 7D: Final acceptance of the Dolphin Park Playground Renovation Project.
- 7E: Waive second reading and adopt ordinance amending municipal chapter 2 administration section 2.110 (Architectural Advisory Committee) to modify membership eligibility and project review criteria.
- 7F: Grant application to the State of California for homelessness encampment funding.
- 7G: Waive second reading and adopt ordinance amending sections 27.100 (sewer service charges) updating sewer service charges and adopting a sewer enterprise fund reserve policy.
- 7H: Authorization for disposal of surplus personal property through donation to Sister City organizations or sale at public auction.
- 7I: Purchase of two combination sewer cleaners on Freightliner cab and chassis from Owen Equipment Sales in the amount of $1,426,415 to replace end-of-life equipment.
- 7J: Approve April 15, 2024 City Council minutes.
- 7K: Approve claims and checks from May 6 to May 20, 2024, and usual and necessary payments through May 20, 2024.
The consent calendar was approved by a vote of 6-0 (Councilmember Howard absent).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Docktown Resident: Edward Stancil spoke on behalf of Mark Bernard, a 32-year Docktown resident facing eviction. Stancil requested compassion and an extension until June 1st so Bernard could find alternative housing, noting Bernard is deaf and received only half the buyout offered to others.
- Anti-Displacement Strategy: One emailed comment from Evangeline Mesa opposed the proposed tenant protections, analogizing them to "band-aid solutions" and urging legislation to encourage housing providers.
- Fee Discounts (Park and Transportation Impact Fees):
- Alice Kaufman (Green Foothills, Redwood City Parks Commissioner, speaking as resident) opposed cutting park impact fees, emphasizing that parks are essential for community well-being and that impact fees mitigate development impacts.
- Dylan Finch supported reduced transportation impact fees for transit-oriented development, noting it aligns with reduced infrastructure costs.
- 87 emailed comments were received; 75 were identical template emails opposing cuts to park fees. Twelve unique emails also opposed cuts, citing the importance of parks for health, equity, and community.
- Pedestrian Mall on Broadway:
- Ali Ahmad (business owner) urged approval of the permanent closure, stating outdoor dining helped his business survive COVID-19.
- Shishir Bat supported the pedestrian mall and requested that bicyclists be allowed through the area.
- Dylan Finch expressed strong support, noting a petition with 83 signatures in favor, and thanked staff for addressing pedestrian signal concerns.
- One emailed comment from Taylor Pope supported the mall and asked to allow courteous bicycle traffic.
Discussion Items
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Anti-Displacement Strategy (ADS) Update: Staff presented the status of the ADS, highlighting completed tasks (Affordable Housing Preservation Fund with $6.8M, mobile home park rezoning, and a $1.5M Calhome grant from Habitat for Humanity). Pending items include a housing preservation model and community land trust. Staff proposed a two-year dispute resolution pilot project with Project Sentinel (not to exceed $131,000, with optional one-year extension at $68,000) to provide mediation and education for tenants and landlords. Staff also recommended pausing further work on tenant protections and mobile home activities until the first quarter of 2025, pending outcome of a pending citizen-sponsored rent control initiative. Council discussed metrics, definitions, and reporting. Councilmember Espinoza Garnica requested a one-year update rather than waiting two years. The council voted to approve the pilot and the pause.
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Fee Discounts for Transportation and Park Impact Fees: Staff recommended reducing transportation impact fees (TIFF) for transit-oriented development (25% discount within a half-mile of Caltrain platform) and for affordable housing (additional discount outside that radius) to incentivize development consistent with strategic priorities. Staff recommended against further discounts for park impact fees, citing potential $18.6 million revenue loss that would hinder park master plan goals, and instead suggested evaluating fee credits case-by-case through development agreements. Council extensively debated park fees: Councilmember Sterkin proposed temporarily reinstating the 50% park impact fee rate for nine pipeline market-rate multifamily projects for up to three years with a 1.5-year check-in, arguing that projects started before the current fee was adopted in 2022. Councilmember Aiken and Councilmember Aguirre supported staff's full-fee recommendation, emphasizing parks' importance and reliable revenue. Vice Mayor Espinoza Garnica opposed non-residential TIFF discounts but supported residential discounts and staff's park fee recommendation. Councilmember Gede supported TIFF discounts and park fee credits. Mayor G emphasized process fairness and suggested a shorter incentive period. The council did not take a vote on park impact fees but directed staff to return with options for a temporary discount for the nine pipeline multifamily projects, possibly with shorter duration.
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Pedestrian Mall on Broadway: This was a continued public hearing from April 15. Staff recommended introducing an ordinance establishing a pedestrian mall on Broadway between Jefferson Avenue and Main Street and on Redwood Creek between the Main Street parking lot and Marshall Garage. The project includes permanent bollards, signal adjustments, furniture, and public art. Funding of $400,000 from parking fund and $150,000 from Redwood City Improvement Association was proposed. Staff noted that concerns about the closure were not related to the closure itself. The council approved the staff recommendation unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Anti-Displacement Strategy: Motion to approve the staff recommendation (authorize Project Sentinel pilot for $131,000 with optional extension, and pause tenant protections and mobile home activities until Q1 2025) passed 6-0 (Councilmember Howard absent).
- Transportation Impact Fee Discounts: Motion to adopt the resolution reducing transportation impact fees for transit-oriented and affordable housing projects (as presented) passed 6-0.
- Park Impact Fees: No vote taken. Council directed staff to prepare a resolution for consideration at a future meeting that would reinstitute a 50% park impact fee rate for nine pipeline multifamily residential projects for a limited duration (up to three years with a 1.5-year review, possibly shorter). Council was split; staff will return with options.
- Pedestrian Mall on Broadway: Motion to waive first reading and introduce the ordinance, adopt the resolution establishing the pedestrian mall, and adopt the appropriation of $400,000 passed 6-0.
- Matters of Council Interest: Reports were given on the Progress Seminar and other conferences. Adjournment was in memory of former City Attorney David Schricker, who served from 1966 and was the youngest city attorney in California at the time.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone, and welcome to our May sixth City Council meeting here in Redwood City. I'd like to call our meeting to order. Welcome everybody to May. It's uh the years just keeps running pretty quickly. Um it's hard to believe. We had a ton of rain on Saturday, and now we have spring weather. It's pretty amazing. We are continuing to offer in-person and remote options for our city council meetings. However, due to continued disruptions during public comment at open meetings throughout our region, we've modified our public comment procedures until further notice. The city welcomes public comment on topics within the city subject matter jurisdiction, and this can be provided in person during the meeting or by email ahead of the meeting. At this time we are temporarily suspending public comments by Zoom. We want to ensure that the city can continue to conduct the city's business in a manner that allows all residents to participate. We continue to reevaluate our public comment procedures and we'll share updates as necessary. Comments that were received via email by five PM may be read aloud, time permitting, and in any case will be being part of the final meeting record. In-person speakers must turn in a speaker card to the city clerk at the Diaz to be recognized to speak. Here, Councilmember Aiken. Here. So in about an hour. Thank you. Okay, thank you everyone for your patience. Council has been in closed session for the past hour. Now we're back in open session. There are no record reportable actions that were taken during tonight's closed session. So again, thank you for your patience. And before we move into this section, I want to take a moment to recognize a few additional events that are taking place this month. On behalf of the council, a proclamation was issued to the Jewish Community Relations Council, JCRC of Redwood City to commemorate Jewish American History Month. Lastly, the month of May is also recognized as Mental Health Month. The council will be issuing a proclamation at the next meeting of May 20th. As lime green is the official color for mental health awareness, the library branches are handing out lime green ribbons, and the Courthouse Square is illuminated in lime green for the entire month of May. Our first recognition this evening is recognizing the winners of the Climate Action and Climate Resiliency Video Contest by the City of Ribbon City's public works division. Turning now to our agenda is the first one is climate action and climate resiliency video contests coordinated by our public works services department. The city offers a variety of programs for community members to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve energy, and to take an active part in transitioning to a clean economy and low carbon future. These programs include the annual spring and fall cleanup and the environmental rebates program for electric leaf blowers and lawn care equipment, EV chargers, residential solar, and building electrification projects. I'll just try that again to our third annual climate action and climate resiliency video contest this year. The theme for this year's contest was Super Sorters, highlighting local composting and recycling actions and ideas. Thank you. And good evening, Mayor G, Vice Mayor Espinoza Garnica, Council members, CD staff, and our community members attending in person and virtually. Resiliency part. A mouthful. Like last year, we invited six, seven, and eight grade students to create video aimed at educating their peers about actions they can take to move our city toward greater climate resiliency. We now would like to show you a montage of the winning videos. It will be very fun. Let's hit it. Play. Compost and trash is creating the problem in our land. The methane produced as the compost decomposes heats up our atmosphere. If we separate the compost, we can reduce waste and keep methane from entering the atmosphere. Thank you. Compost and trash is creating a problem in our landfill. The methane produced as the compost decomposes heats up our atmosphere.
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