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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Santa Rosa City Council Regular Meeting – March 26, 2024: Budget, Scooters, Signs, and Verizon Appeal

City Council — Tuesday, March 26, 2024

BodySanta Rosa, California

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, March 26, 2024

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 3:33:12

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:51

Good afternoon.

0:52

I'd like to ask the interpreter currently on the Spanish channel to convince translation of the meeting.

0:58

For those just joining the meeting, live translation in Spanish is available, and members of the public or staff wishing to listen in Spanish can join the Spanish channel by clicking on the interpretation icon in the Zoom toolbar.

1:12

It looks like a globe.

1:14

Once you join the Spanish channel, we recommend you shut off the main audio so you only hear Spanish translation.

1:21

Pablo, will you please restate this in Spanish?

1:28

Interpretación en vivo al Espanyol.

1:38

But a click in the icono de interpretaciones que ahora de funciones de Zoom como un globo terraqueo.

1:48

Una vez un alcanal de Spanol, se recomienda que apague el audio primario para que Sol escuche la interpretación al Espanyol.

2:17

Again, welcome everyone to our March 26th, 2024 Santa Rosa City Council meeting.

2:22

It is now 144, and we will be starting our meeting.

2:26

Seeing oh, seeing a quorum.

2:28

Madam City Clerk, can you please call the roll?

2:31

Thank you.

2:31

Councilmember Rogers.

2:33

Councilmember O'Krepki.

2:34

Here.

2:34

Councilmember McDonald.

2:36

Here.

2:36

Councilmember Fleming is absent.

2:38

Councilmember Alvarez.

2:39

Present.

2:39

Council Vice Mayor Stapp?

2:41

Here.

2:41

And Mayor Rogers.

2:42

President.

2:43

Let the record show that all council members are present with the exception of Councilmember Fleming.

2:47

We will now proceed to item three, which are our closed session items for today.

3:14

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

3:15

We are now taking public comment on the closed session items 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4.

3:21

If you'd like to make a comment but have not prep yet provided a speaker card, please make your way to the podium.

3:27

You will have three minutes and a countdown timer will alert at the end of that period.

3:31

As you approach the podium, please state your name for the record if you choose to do so.

3:35

The first public comment will be from James Duncan.

3:51

I have participated in virtually all of the official proceedings regarding the Jennings Avenue Rail Crossing, including CPUC proceeding a 1505014.

4:07

The community organizations that have expressed their support for the Jennings Crossing to the City Council, the SMART Board of Directors, and the California Public Utilities Commission include the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, Bicycle Santa Rosa, Sierra Club, Sonoma County Transportation and Land Use Coalition, Friends of Smart, Sonoma County Conservation Action, Greenbelt Alliance, Disability Services and Legal Center, North Bay Organizing Project, and the League of Women Voters.

4:46

The City Council has been wonderfully steadfast in support of the Jennings Crossing.

4:52

The Jennings Crossing application has been approved repeatedly by the CPUC, but the crossing is still closed.

5:01

SMART's role in the continuing closure is well documented in public records and by the press Democrat.

5:11

The extraordinary challenges for the City of Santa Rosa cannot be forgotten.

5:16

The disastrous Tubbs fire, in which so much was lost by so many other wildfires, civic unrest and COVID.

5:26

But the people of Santa Rosa and the city have stood up to those challenges and turned to rebuilding and recovery.

5:33

The council is urged as part of that recovery to direct that the Jennings Crossing be built and reopened for public use.

5:43

Thank you.

5:45

Thank you.

5:45

The next public comment will be from Keith.

6:16

And I thought it would just be appropriate for me to briefly make an appearance and just give us a small update.

6:26

It was about five years ago when I and partners turned our strong attention to downtown Santa Rosa.

6:35

We were motivated by tremendous efforts made by the staff at the time and the council.

6:42

Real breakthroughs regarding the Courthouse Square and a wide variety of regulatory changes that we thought were remarkable in their initiative and creativity in order to encourage dense downtown development.

7:03

Since we began at that point, we we retained superb land planning uh experts that we've used before to really look at the whole of the downtown and identify sites that had the greatest potential.

7:19

And from our perspective, the Garage 5 site was one of the most compelling in terms of its ability to be transformative, that is to say, to take something that has a current use and condition which is poor, uh and make something that would be substantial, be beautiful, and be useful for a variety of city residents and visitors.

8:02

So 644th Street.

8:05

Since that time, as the prior speaker alluded to, there have been a few changes.

8:10

The matter of the pandemic, uh tremendous spike in interest rates, the inflation as a result of the pandemic and other matters, and some changes in the surplus land act.

8:22

So a number of years have passed.

8:24

What has not passed is our interest, our sincere belief that it's an exceptional site, our view and our confidence that we can transform it into a site that would accommodate the parking that the city desires housing, uh both market rate housing at a significant level, which has been very difficult to finance, but we think will be feasible there, inclusionary affordable, and uh accommodate a space for a daycare, public park, and uh children's playground area.

8:56

We're committed to doing it.

8:57

We're excited to do it.

8:58

Uh we look forward to working with you.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Telecommunications Infrastructure████████████████████████████████32%

Procedural████████████12%

Water And Wastewater Management██████████10%

Public Engagement███████7%

International Affairs██████6%

Public Health Awareness██████6%

Wayfinding Signage████4%

Public Safety███3%

Transportation Safety██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Santa Rosa City Council Regular Meeting – March 26, 2024

The City Council met on March 26, 2024, at 1:30 PM for closed session and reconvened at 4:00 PM for the regular session. The meeting covered a Sonoma Water rate increase, adoption of a shared scooter program, a wayfinding sign ordinance, and a contested appeal of a Verizon wireless telecommunications tower. Council approved most items with near-unanimous votes, except the Verizon appeal which passed 5-1.

Consent Calendar

Finley Aquatic Center Spray Ground and Renovation Project – Approved construction contingency funds of $404,534, increasing the total contract to $5,725,015.10.
Purchase of Two Ford Transit Passenger Vans – Approved a purchase order for two 2024 Ford Transit X2C vans for the inRESPONSE program from Towne Motor Co dba Towne Ford Sales for a total not to exceed $130,153.20.
Fifth Amendment to Professional Services Agreement with Jessica Rasmussen – Approved an increase of $20,000 for art programming and project management services for the Public Art Program and Economic Development Division through June 30, 2024, bringing the total compensation to $320,680 (no General Fund impact).

Public Comments & Testimony

Non-Agenda Matters (Item 14) – Several speakers urged the Council to adopt a ceasefire resolution regarding the conflict in Gaza, citing local tax dollars used and citing other cities that have passed similar resolutions. Speakers also raised concerns about local labor standards and the need for local hiring and health benefits for construction workers. (Ten speakers total; no direct Council response per policy.)
Verizon Tower Appeal (Item 16.3) – Ten residents and representatives of the appellant group testified against the tower, arguing it would be a visual blight, harm property values, and that Verizon failed to demonstrate a genuine service gap or consider alternative sites. Some speakers raised health concerns, though the City Attorney noted federal preemption on RF emissions.

Discussion Items

Sonoma Water 2024/25 Water Transmission Budget and Rate Increase – Staff and Sonoma Water representatives presented a proposed 9.88% wholesale rate increase (from $1,173.09 to $1,289.02 per acre foot) due to aging infrastructure, drought-related low deliveries, and deferred maintenance. Council discussed the “use less, pay more” challenge and the need to communicate about infrastructure investments. The City purchases approximately 90% of its water from Sonoma Water.
Shared Scooter System Program Ordinance Amendment (Item 16.1) – Staff presented an ordinance to amend City Code Chapter 9-22 to allow scooters (including shared scooters) to operate on public streets, alleys, and gutters (sidewalks remain prohibited). The pilot program with Bird had ended in August 2023 after about 13,318 rides. The ordinance is detached from any specific operator, allowing future operators.
Wayfinding Sign Ordinance and Fee Resolution (Item 16.2) – Staff presented a zoning code text amendment to allow business wayfinding signs and public/civic amenity wayfinding signs within the Downtown Station Area and North Santa Rosa Station Area Specific Plans. The ordinance sets design standards, a maximum of six sign plaques per business, and requires a minimum of three signposts per program. Public survey (over 400 respondents) informed the design. The Planning Commission had voted 5-0 to recommend adoption.
Verizon Telecommunication Facility Appeal (Item 16.3) – The Council heard an appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval of a 69-foot monopole at 244 Colgan Avenue. Appellant arguments included: no demonstrated service gap, failure to consider co-location or smaller alternatives, visual blight, property value impacts, and inadequate Spanish-language noticing. Verizon countered with data showing network congestion, explained the need for height to avoid multiple smaller sites, and noted FCC compliance. Planning staff and commission endorsed the approval. Council discussion focused on the sufficiency of alternative site analysis and the city’s reliance on applicant-provided expert reports.

Key Outcomes

Sonoma Water Rate Increase – Approved unanimously (6-0) to support the proposed 9.88% wholesale rate increase and direct the City’s Water Advisory Committee representative to vote accordingly at the April 8, 2024 WAC meeting. The final decision rests with the Sonoma Water Board of Directors.
Shared Scooter Program Ordinance – Introduced (first reading) and approved 6-0 to allow scooters on city streets, alleys, and gutters. The ordinance must come back for second reading.
Wayfinding Sign Ordinance and Fee Resolution – Introduced (first reading) and approved 6-0 to adopt zoning text amendments and establish application fees. The ordinance must come back for second reading.
Verizon Tower Appeal – Denied the appeal and upheld the Planning Commission’s approval of the Conditional Use Permit for the wireless telecommunications tower. The vote was 5-1 (Councilmember Alvarez dissenting, citing the city’s lack of in-house subject matter expertise to validate Verizon’s technical claims). Council noted the need for improved multilingual noticing in future projects.
Chairperson Appointments – Approved reappointment of existing chairs for various boards, commissions, and committees (listed in minutes) by a 6-0 vote.
Minutes – Approved minutes from February 27, 2024 (with Councilmember MacDonald abstaining) and March 5, 2024.
Litigation Report – No settlements over $50,000 in February; pending caseload remains approximately 28–30 matters.
Adjournment – The meeting adjourned at 7:26 PM in honor of Detective Marylou Armer, who died from COVID-19 on March 31, 2020.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon. I'd like to ask the interpreter currently on the Spanish channel to convince translation of the meeting. For those just joining the meeting, live translation in Spanish is available, and members of the public or staff wishing to listen in Spanish can join the Spanish channel by clicking on the interpretation icon in the Zoom toolbar. It looks like a globe. Once you join the Spanish channel, we recommend you shut off the main audio so you only hear Spanish translation. Pablo, will you please restate this in Spanish? Interpretación en vivo al Espanyol. But a click in the icono de interpretaciones que ahora de funciones de Zoom como un globo terraqueo. Una vez un alcanal de Spanol, se recomienda que apague el audio primario para que Sol escuche la interpretación al Espanyol. Again, welcome everyone to our March 26th, 2024 Santa Rosa City Council meeting. It is now 144, and we will be starting our meeting. Seeing oh, seeing a quorum. Madam City Clerk, can you please call the roll? Thank you. Councilmember Rogers. Councilmember O'Krepki. Here. Councilmember McDonald. Here. Councilmember Fleming is absent. Councilmember Alvarez. Present. Council Vice Mayor Stapp? Here. And Mayor Rogers. President. Let the record show that all council members are present with the exception of Councilmember Fleming. We will now proceed to item three, which are our closed session items for today. Yes, thank you, Mayor. We are now taking public comment on the closed session items 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4. If you'd like to make a comment but have not prep yet provided a speaker card, please make your way to the podium. You will have three minutes and a countdown timer will alert at the end of that period. As you approach the podium, please state your name for the record if you choose to do so. The first public comment will be from James Duncan. I have participated in virtually all of the official proceedings regarding the Jennings Avenue Rail Crossing, including CPUC proceeding a 1505014. The community organizations that have expressed their support for the Jennings Crossing to the City Council, the SMART Board of Directors, and the California Public Utilities Commission include the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, Bicycle Santa Rosa, Sierra Club, Sonoma County Transportation and Land Use Coalition, Friends of Smart, Sonoma County Conservation Action, Greenbelt Alliance, Disability Services and Legal Center, North Bay Organizing Project, and the League of Women Voters. The City Council has been wonderfully steadfast in support of the Jennings Crossing. The Jennings Crossing application has been approved repeatedly by the CPUC, but the crossing is still closed. SMART's role in the continuing closure is well documented in public records and by the press Democrat. The extraordinary challenges for the City of Santa Rosa cannot be forgotten. The disastrous Tubbs fire, in which so much was lost by so many other wildfires, civic unrest and COVID. But the people of Santa Rosa and the city have stood up to those challenges and turned to rebuilding and recovery. The council is urged as part of that recovery to direct that the Jennings Crossing be built and reopened for public use. Thank you. Thank you. The next public comment will be from Keith. And I thought it would just be appropriate for me to briefly make an appearance and just give us a small update. It was about five years ago when I and partners turned our strong attention to downtown Santa Rosa. We were motivated by tremendous efforts made by the staff at the time and the council. Real breakthroughs regarding the Courthouse Square and a wide variety of regulatory changes that we thought were remarkable in their initiative and creativity in order to encourage dense downtown development.

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