City of Sacramento Planning and Design Commission Meeting - February 11, 2021
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City of Sacramento Planning and Design Commission Meeting - February 11, 2021
The Sacramento Planning and Design Commission met via teleconference on Thursday, February 11, 2021, beginning at 5:30 p.m. and adjourning at 8:29 p.m. All 11 commissioners were present. The Commission approved consent items, recommended approval of the Sacramento Valley Station Area Plan amendments, and recommended approval of a new building electrification ordinance to the City Council.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1 – Meeting Minutes (January 28, 2021): Approved 11-0 (motion Pluckebaum/Farrell).
- Item 2 – Cannabis Uses in North Sacramento Community Plan Area: Initially approved as part of the consent calendar, but the item was reopened after 13 callers were found in the public comment queue. After hearing testimony, the Commission voted 11-0 (motion Macias Reed/Ogilvie) to initiate a study of cannabis uses and appropriate regulations to prevent overconcentration. The motion included Commissioner Ogilvie's request that the study analyze the total number of cannabis businesses citywide and North Sacramento's share relative to other districts. Commissioners noted that the action does not impose a moratorium; any moratorium would require City Council action.
- Director's Report: Received and filed.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Cannabis study (Item 2): Numerous District 2 residents and community advocates called in support of the study and a moratorium. Speakers described an overconcentration of cannabis businesses, including six businesses within a mile of one home, five cultivation facilities within 1,000 feet of another home, and more than 2,600,000 square feet of cannabis-related business in District 2, which one caller equated to 59 acres or 54 football fields. Daryl Roberts of the Roberts Family Development Center supported the moratorium, saying only two to four of roughly 30 cannabis licenses were owned by Black or Brown businesspeople. Laire Glover Mead, a former neighborhood association president, framed overconcentration as an equity issue, noting District 2 lacks a full-service grocery store. Christine Spencer of Olympus Floyd's Coliseum and a Robla community association representative also supported caps in Robla. No callers opposed the study.
- Electrification ordinance (Item 5): Public testimony was divided. Supporters included Rick Codena and Rosie Accum of 350 Sacramento, Judy Robinson of the Sacramento Area Plug In Electric Vehicle Collaborative, Shai Forb, and Bruce Nagel of the Fossil Free Buildings Initiative; they generally supported the ordinance, with some urging earlier effective dates and stronger EV-ready requirements. Opponents and concerned stakeholders included a District 4 restaurant owner/architect, Matt Button of the restaurant association, Steve Blanson of Power and Alliance, Erica Diorc of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and a Woodlake homeowner; they raised concerns about restaurant cooking needs, waiver process specificity, potential marketability and lease impacts, and the need for defined infeasibility criteria. Steve Euler cautioned that SMUD's electricity supply still includes natural gas and urged a slower transition. Cornelius Burke of the North State BIA supported maintaining the 2023-2026 timeline and robust infeasibility provisions.
Discussion Items
- Sacramento Valley Station Area Plan (Item 4): Staff from Public Works and Community Development presented amendments to five policy documents, including the Railyards Specific Plan, Central City Specific Plan, Railyards and Central City Special Planning Districts, Railyards Design Guidelines, and Bicycle Master Plan. The proposal included an EIR addendum, boundary adjustments, zoning changes, and a new housing policy (HO-3.6) requiring 25% of residential units on city-owned properties to be income-restricted at low- and very-low-income levels. The Commission asked about affordable housing applicability and feasibility. Staff noted one comment from the Lot 40 developer and said clarifying language would be added before City Council. The Commission voted 11-0 (motion Yee/Wang-Connelly) to recommend approval and forward it to City Council.
- Green Building Standards and Electrification (Item 5): Staff presented an ordinance requiring all-electric construction for new buildings, with phased effective dates of January 1, 2023 (buildings three stories or less) and January 1, 2026 (buildings four stories or more), plus EV charging requirements and Title 17 parking incentives. The ordinance includes an infeasibility waiver and exemptions for additions, remodels, and tenant improvements. Commissioner questions addressed grid reliability, marketability of all-electric buildings, and SMUD incentives. Commissioner Macias Reed moved to approve staff's recommendation with a direction to include restaurants, business groups, and other stakeholders in developing the infeasibility waiver process. Commissioner Wang-Connelly offered a successful amendment to allow EV car-share spaces to count for up to 20% of parking reduction, rather than the proposed 10% for level 2 chargers. Commissioner Hernandez recused herself due to a potential conflict of interest with her employer. The Commission voted 10-0-1 (motion Macias Reed/Buckley) to recommend approval with amendments and forward to City Council.
Key Outcomes
- Approved minutes and cannabis study initiation.
- Recommended approval of the Sacramento Valley Station Area Plan amendments to City Council (11-0).
- Recommended approval of the building electrification ordinance to City Council with amendments (10-0-1; Hernandez recused).
- Directed staff to develop the infeasibility waiver process with stakeholders and to include EV car-share parking incentives.
- Welcomed new Commissioner Maya Wallace.
- No public comments on matters not on the agenda.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, you can start any time. Okay, well, good evening, everyone. Welcome to the February 11th, 2021 City of Sacramento Planning and Design Commission hearing. A little housekeeping before we get started. For staff, commissioners, applicants that are logged into the meeting, please remember to keep your microphones muted until we're speaking, until you are speaking. For members of the public that are joining the meeting, in addition to submitting e-comments, you have the option to phone in during the public comment period. And Stacia will share her screen right now for both of those options. Comments that are submitted through email or e-comments before 5 p.m. today have been received by city staff and available for commissioners to review. If you would like to give an e-comment during the meeting, please do so. E-comments posted after 5 p.m. today will be pulled up and will be taken on a moment to review them. If you're calling in to comment on an item, please refer to the instructions on the screen. After you dial in, you will be prompted to select a hearing item number to move into that item's queue. You can in any any time before or during the public comment period for that item, and you will be placed on hold until it's your turn to speak. Once you call in, please keep in mind it may take a minute or two or so to move you into the queue. Okay. So before tonight's agenda, uh I'd like to welcome our newest member to the planning and design commission. If she's here, Mia Wallace. Welcome. It's pronounced Maya. Maya, sorry. Okay. Okay, so let's uh get started with the agenda. At this point, we don't have any changes with the agenda. And with that, we'll move on to roll call. So commissioners, please unmute your mics. Commissioner Farrell. Here. Commissioner Buckley. Here. Commissioner Hernandez. Here. Commissioner Lenzi. Here. Commissioner Messias Reed. Here. Commissioner OV. Here. Commissioner Wallace. Here. Commissioner Wonconnelly. Here. Commissioner Yee. Here. Vice Chair Pluckabom? Here. Chair Cobil? I am here. You have a quorum.
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