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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Stockton Planning Commission Meeting: Wireless Facilities Code Amendment (March 25, 2021)

Planning Commission — Thursday, March 25, 2021

BodyStockton, California

SessionPlanning Commission

DateThursday, March 25, 2021

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 53:38

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

0:02

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the planning commission meeting of March 25th, 2021.

0:09

At this time, I would like to ask the city clerk to please take roll.

0:13

Chair Mallet present.

0:15

Vice Chair Sanguinetti.

0:17

Present.

0:18

Commissioner Garcia.

0:19

Present.

0:20

Commissioner Mountain?

0:21

Here.

0:22

Commissioner Rizby.

0:24

Here.

0:24

Commissioner Jones.

0:26

Present.

0:26

Commissioner Via Pudua.

0:28

Present.

0:29

We have a quorum.

0:31

Thank you.

0:33

I would now like to ask Commissioner Sanguinetti to lead us in the flag salute.

0:42

I pledge alludes to the United States.

1:03

Okay, so we're starting consent items.

1:06

There, since there are no consent items, I will move to agenda item number four, public comment.

1:12

Um this is reserved for public comment on anything within the jurisdiction of the committee.

1:20

Um if you'd like to speak on a specific agenda item, you may do so here or later with that item calls.

1:29

Um do we have any public comments?

1:33

Let me chat check with staff downstairs.

1:36

We have no public comments.

1:38

Thank you.

1:39

Okay, so then we will be moving on to agenda item number five.

1:45

Agenda item 5.1 is a continued public hearing amendment to Title 16, chapter 16.72, section 16.72.125 of the municipal code related to wireless facilities.

2:07

So I will open the public hearing and ask commissioners.

2:12

Do we have any disclosures?

2:15

If you consider talking with staff, okay.

2:23

Staff do the presentation.

2:29

My microphones on, I made that mistake at council on Tuesday.

2:34

Started talking, I'm thinking I have the microphones on, but that's just my voice, kind of like Jeff's voice, Carrie's.

2:41

Um just to recap, this is a continuation.

2:45

So just to recap uh on February 25th, uh staff presented a city initiated code amendment to chapter 16.44, wireless communications, and chapter 16.72.7172 encroachment permit.

3:02

Purpose of this proposal was to provide for micro micro wireless facilities, and also small cell uh as the industry you guys learned in that.

3:12

And I'm looking over at Xavier because I know Xavier was a part of that micro and macro.

3:17

So here we are at the micro.

3:19

This is small cell facilities.

3:20

That's the whole purpose of this to for the smart city concept that we kind of mentioned there for the commission.

3:27

After much discussion and some concerns remaining on the encroachment permit section, the planning commission recommended approval on 16.44, and that's intended to move forward, so we're not here to discuss that now, and then continued discussion on 16.72, and that's what we are here to discuss as far as the continuation of 16.72.

3:51

Since that meeting, um CDD staff and public works coordinated to further um discuss the comments that came about in that last hearing in regards to the proposed code section 16.72 to see if there's anything we could add, change uh to address some of those concerns.

4:13

So what we've done, as you'll see in in the staff report, is we've made some adjustments, proposed amendments to uh what was originally proposed, and they're highlighted in yellow in your staff report to uh what we think uh addresses the concerns and uh they're what what we consider to be clarifications, and that's all that we're trying to provide, and I think that's the intent uh when we heard it in the planning commission meeting is that there was need for clarification, and one example of that uh was the encroachment permit inspections, and so the the community development department director is the review authority on encroachment permits, and the inspection side is actually handled by our public works inspectors.

5:00

So what we've added in there is further clarification to the fact that the public works director is the oversight for inspections, and so again, we feel that is more of a clarification made to the code to kind of help distinguish between community developments role and public works role.

5:19

Uh also in the staff report, we provided responses to address some of the concerns related to the findings of approval for this amendment, which requires consistency specifically with this development code and not the entire municipal code.

5:34

The report also addresses the conflict with Title 12 regarding the review authority for permitted permitted work in the right-of-way.

5:42

Uh, we acknowledge this conflict is there.

5:46

Uh Commissioner Sanguinetti brought it up.

5:48

We acknowledge it is there, but it's been there for a number of years, and it should be cleaned up.

5:53

We're not going to address that now.

5:55

We're we're proposing this title 16 change to go along with the Smart City proposal to council.

6:02

We're gonna take it as that and present that proposal for council at some future point.

6:09

Uh the Title 12 will be addressed to align with Title 16.

6:13

Title 16 is correct, and there's no need to change it as far as the review authority.

6:26

So staff recommends that the planning commission act on the proposed amendment this evening so we can move forward uh along with the other components that are outside of Title 16 for the Smart City program.

6:39

The city manager and city council are anticipating this program to come forward, and so that's what we're recommending this evening for you to decide on is to take an action of some sort uh on this proposed amendment.

6:54

Uh as Mr.

6:55

Um as Commissioner Sanguinetti did briefly mention there, um he did provide some comments to us late.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████████████████████████████45%

Technology and Innovation████████████████████20%

Procedural███████████████████19%

Public Works████████████12%

Cannabis Regulation████4%

Summary of Proceedings

Stockton Planning Commission Meeting: Wireless Facilities Code Amendment (March 25, 2021)

On March 25, 2021, the Stockton Planning Commission held a continued public hearing to consider amendments to Title 16, Chapter 16.72, Section 16.72.125 of the Municipal Code related to wireless facilities (small cell). The meeting lasted from 5:30 PM to 6:23 PM. All seven commissioners were present: Anne Mallett (Chair), Jeff Sanguinetti (Vice Chair), Gerardo Garcia, Brenda Jones, Xavier Mountain, Waqar Rizvi, and Brando Villapudua.

Consent Calendar

No items were presented for adoption.

Public Comments & Testimony

Maureen Cruzen (representing Verizon) expressed support for the proposed code updates, thanking staff for their efforts and willingness to consider stakeholder input. She noted Verizon’s interest in partnering with the city to invest in infrastructure.

Discussion Items

Continued Public Hearing – Wireless Facilities Code Amendment (Item 5.1)
- The commission revisited a code amendment originally heard on February 25, 2021. The amendment focused on Chapter 16.72 (Encroachment Permits) to accommodate micro wireless and small cell facilities as part of a Smart City initiative. Staff (Michael McDowell, Community Development) highlighted clarifications made since the previous meeting, including distinguishing the roles of Community Development (review authority) and Public Works (inspection authority).
- Vice Chair Sanguinetti proposed two amendments to the proposed ordinance:
  1. Section F1 (Utilities): Remove the word “private” from “private sewer” and add “as approved by the Public Works Department” to the depth requirement (minimum three feet below grade). He argued that the minimum depth should be based on engineering design requirements, especially for arterial streets with thicker structural sections (e.g., Thornton Road example). Public Works Director Jody Almasi agreed to remove “private” but preferred to keep three feet as a baseline, with flexibility for deeper installations through collaboration.
  2. Section F2 (Work Plan): Replace “utility master plan” with “annual utility work plan” to avoid conflict with existing code and better reflect coordination with utility companies on street maintenance schedules. Staff (Director Crew) endorsed this change, noting it aligns with ongoing utility coordination.
- Public Works Director Almasi and Community Development Director Crew affirmed their commitment to inter-departmental collaboration to ensure proper oversight of installations.
- Commissioner Garcia and Rizvi supported the amendments, emphasizing the need for clear engineering standards and continuity regardless of personnel changes.

Key Outcomes

Motion and Vote: Vice Chair Sanguinetti moved to approve Resolution 2021-03-25-0501 recommending City Council adoption of the amended code (removing “private” in F1, adding “as approved by the Public Works Department,” and using “annual utility work plan” in F2). Commissioner Mountain seconded. The motion passed 7-0.
Staff announced a planning commission training session scheduled for April 8, 2021, and provided an update on the cannabis ordinance work plan progressing on schedule with an equity consultant.

Commissioners' Comments

Vice Chair Sanguinetti urged staff to avoid canceling future meetings and suggested using workshops to address other code inconsistencies.
Commissioner Villapudua thanked the chair and staff, and noted attending a National Medal of Honor Day ceremony honoring Marine Master Sergeant Richard Pittman.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the planning commission meeting of March 25th, 2021. At this time, I would like to ask the city clerk to please take roll. Chair Mallet present. Vice Chair Sanguinetti. Present. Commissioner Garcia. Present. Commissioner Mountain? Here. Commissioner Rizby. Here. Commissioner Jones. Present. Commissioner Via Pudua. Present. We have a quorum. Thank you. I would now like to ask Commissioner Sanguinetti to lead us in the flag salute. I pledge alludes to the United States. Okay, so we're starting consent items. There, since there are no consent items, I will move to agenda item number four, public comment. Um this is reserved for public comment on anything within the jurisdiction of the committee. Um if you'd like to speak on a specific agenda item, you may do so here or later with that item calls. Um do we have any public comments? Let me chat check with staff downstairs. We have no public comments. Thank you. Okay, so then we will be moving on to agenda item number five. Agenda item 5.1 is a continued public hearing amendment to Title 16, chapter 16.72, section 16.72.125 of the municipal code related to wireless facilities. So I will open the public hearing and ask commissioners. Do we have any disclosures? If you consider talking with staff, okay. Staff do the presentation. My microphones on, I made that mistake at council on Tuesday. Started talking, I'm thinking I have the microphones on, but that's just my voice, kind of like Jeff's voice, Carrie's. Um just to recap, this is a continuation. So just to recap uh on February 25th, uh staff presented a city initiated code amendment to chapter 16.44, wireless communications, and chapter 16.72.7172 encroachment permit. Purpose of this proposal was to provide for micro micro wireless facilities, and also small cell uh as the industry you guys learned in that. And I'm looking over at Xavier because I know Xavier was a part of that micro and macro. So here we are at the micro. This is small cell facilities. That's the whole purpose of this to for the smart city concept that we kind of mentioned there for the commission. After much discussion and some concerns remaining on the encroachment permit section, the planning commission recommended approval on 16.44, and that's intended to move forward, so we're not here to discuss that now, and then continued discussion on 16.72, and that's what we are here to discuss as far as the continuation of 16.72. Since that meeting, um CDD staff and public works coordinated to further um discuss the comments that came about in that last hearing in regards to the proposed code section 16.72 to see if there's anything we could add, change uh to address some of those concerns. So what we've done, as you'll see in in the staff report, is we've made some adjustments, proposed amendments to uh what was originally proposed, and they're highlighted in yellow in your staff report to uh what we think uh addresses the concerns and uh they're what what we consider to be clarifications, and that's all that we're trying to provide, and I think that's the intent uh when we heard it in the planning commission meeting is that there was need for clarification, and one example of that uh was the encroachment permit inspections, and so the the community development department director is the review authority on encroachment permits, and the inspection side is actually handled by our public works inspectors. So what we've added in there is further clarification to the fact that the public works director is the oversight for inspections, and so again, we feel that is more of a clarification made to the code to kind of help distinguish between community developments role and public works role. Uh also in the staff report, we provided responses to address some of the concerns related to the findings of approval for this amendment, which requires consistency specifically with this development code and not the entire municipal code. The report also addresses the conflict with Title 12 regarding the review authority for permitted permitted work in the right-of-way. Uh, we acknowledge this conflict is there. Uh Commissioner Sanguinetti brought it up.

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