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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008/05/28 - Minutes - Special Joint w/ P.C.May 28, 2008 CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA CITY COUNCIL MINUTES FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT MINUTES REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION SPECIAL JOINT MEETING A. CALL TO ORDER A special joint meeting of the Rancho Cucamonga City Council, Fire Protection District, Redevelopment Agency and Planning Commission was held on Wednesday, May 28, 2008, in the Tri Communities Room at the Civic Center located at 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, California. Vice Chairman/Vice PresidenUMayor Pro Tem L. Dennis Michael Balled the meeting to order at 5:13 p.m. Present Agencymembers/Boardmembers/Councilmembers: Rex Gutierrez, Sam Spagnolo, Diane Williams, and Vice Chairman/Vice PresidenUMayor Pro Tem L. Dennis Michael. Absent was: Chairman/PresidenUMayor Donald J. Kurth, M.D. Present were Planning Commissioners: Howdyshell, Munoz and Wimberly, Vice Chairman Fletcher and Chairman Stewart. Also present were: Jack Lam, City Manager; Pamela Easter, Assistant City Manager; Fabian Villenas, Principal Management Analyst; Erika Lewis-Huntley, Management Analyst II; Mahdi Aluzri, Deputy City Manager/Community Development; Mike Ten Eyck, Utility Operation Manager; Dave Blevins, Public Works Maintenance Manager; Rebecca Coleman, Administrative Secretary; James Troyer, Planning Director; Corky Nicholson, Assistant Planning Director; Rina Leung, Senior Planner; Donald Granger, Associate Planner; Barbara Tuncay, Assistant Planner; Lois Schrader, Planning Commission Secretary; Trang Huynh, Building and Safety Official; Dawn Haddon, Purchasing Manager; and Kathryn L. Scott, Assistant City Clerk. •1F1e/• B. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS No communication was made from the public. C. ITEM(S) OF BUSINESS C1. PRESENTATION OF "GREEN" SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM IN RANCHO CUCAMONGA - SHORTTERM INITIATIVES Jack Lam, City Manager, said in the past they have had discussions about what sustainability might mean and what "green" programs might mean. He said tonight the purpose is for discussion and potential policy direction from the Council and Commission. Special City Council/Redevelopment Agency/Fire Protection District/Planning Commission Meeting May 28, 2008 Page 2 James Troyer, Planning Director, presented the PowerPoint presentation (on file in the City Clerks' Office). He stated that green sustainability is a theme of the General Plan, as well as "healthy cities." He said the General Plan Update process commenced a few months ago, starting with the "healthy cities' initiative which the City Council has adopted by resolution, and the program is moving forward. He said the next main theme of the General Plan is "green" sustainability. He said the purpose of the joint meeting is to get policy direction on green sustainability short-term initiatives, mostly related to land use, as that is the most immediate need in sustainability now. He said staff developed some incremental steps, did some strategic planning, and formed (appointed) an inter-departmental citywide green team. He said we are going to engage in some internal training and involve stakeholders-residents, developers, and the business community-to develop comprehensive land use sustainability plan. He said the General Plan will be complete with green sustainability policies and at the end of the general plan process, staff envisions a future appointment of a sustainability citywide task force that would be comprised with members of the community. He said the internal green team identified some short and long term potential actions. He said a healthy cities website is being developed and we may pull sustainability into that website. He said the Cucamonga Valley District is constructing the first LEED project in the city, which will be a LEED Platinum building, the "Frontier Project." He said they just had their dedication. He said they want to aggressively pursue grant funding. There's a lot of money coming on line for green programs and green policies. Other potential actions are a review of municipal operations implementing a green purchasing program, strengthening our existing recycling, waste diversion programs, improve water conservation, partnerships with other sustainable groups and staff training. Mr. Troyer stated for the Public Short Term, we are going to do internal training and, we have just become a member of the U.S. Green Building Council and we're currently a member of the Green Valley Initiative. He said we joined the Green Building Council mainly to provide training to staff, as they hold the most kind of advanced LEED training workshops. He said six staff members (two from Planning, Building and Engineering) will be attending the LEED new construction training/workshop sponsored by the USGBC in July, so that as green projects get submitted, we have the kind of staff and expertise to process those projects. He said we have seven potential municipal projects in the development phase, and we initially talked about the potential of LEED certifying those seven projects. He said we are doing an internal review of our Development Code, as we want to incorporate some sustainability development features, and we are doing an initial citywide training program that's going to be open to all employees on June 11. Mr. Troyer stated that going into the LEED Program, there are four different levels of certification; he said there's a minimum certification which has the least amount of added construction costs, typically 0 to 2%; if it's done carefully at the front end during the design process, the increase in construction costs are about 0 to 1%. He said "Silver," which is a higher level of sustainability is 2 to 3% in increased construction costs; "Gold" is 3 to 5% and "Platinum" (highest level of LEED Certification) is 5 to 6.5% increased construction costs. He further stated in addition to the construction costs, there is the third party certification process, which ranges from $.20 to $2/square foot, based on size and complexity of project. He said over the life of the building, the benefits are: 30% savings in energy and water; enhanced productivity and health to employees; minimized environmental impact; and probable increase in value and longer lifespan of buildings. Mr. Troyer stated the LEED for new non-construction is based upon a point system and points are accumulated in six different areas: sustainable site development; water efficiency; energy & atmosphere; materials & resources; indoor environmental quality; and innovation & design. Mr. Troyer stated that for Private Development they talked about three potential programs that could be offered to the private sector: 1) voluntary; 2) incentive based; or 3) mandatory program. Option 1- Voluntarv: There would be no mandate; no requirement; we would develop some educational guidelines and outreach programs encouraging people to submit green projects, but green features or LEED features would not be required for any development project. Option 2-Incentive Based: Would go through a point system, with high-achieving point projects, depending on point level, available for some types of incentives, such as: expedited development review; expedited plan check; reduced Community Development fees; density and lot Special City Council/Redevelopment Agency/Fire Protection DistricUPlanning Commission Meeting May 28, 2008 Page 3 coverage bonuses; reduced parking standards/open space; and City recognition award programs. Option 3- Private -Mandatory: This would look at mandating LEED or some kind of alternate green certification process at certain square foot thresholds. He said the typical threshold that is being used right now by CA cities is 25,000 and 50,000 square feet. Pasadena and San Francisco does it at 25,000 square feet; Los Angeles does it at 50,000 square feet. He said those are the two typical thresholds that are being utilized for Commercial/Industrial; and for multi-family residential, those same cities that have the 25,000 to 50,000 sq. ft. cutoff also have LEED mandated at four stories and above for residential. Mr. Troyer stated during the last five years (2003-2007), there were 289 new buildings that were constructed and 58% were from 0 to 10,000 sq. ft.; 25% were from 10,000 to 25,000 sq. ft; 8% were from 25,000 to 50,000 sq. ft and 9% were from 50,000 and higher sq. ft. He said if the decision was to go with a mandatory requirement that would potentially capture 17% new buildings that would require being LEED certified. Mr. Troyer stated for the Private, Single-family Residential, most cities that are doing the mandatory requirements are doing the mandatory side on municipal buildings and commercial; and for residential, they are offering a variety of programs, such as California Green Builder (BIA); Green Point Rated (Build it Green); and LEED for Homes (USGBC). Mr. Troyer ended by stating that the feedback and direction that staff wants is: 1) Public Sector: Should all new municipal buildings be LEED certified? 2) Private Sector: What type of program to develop (voluntary, incentive based or mandatory)? Mr. Troyer proposed the following timeline 1) This date: Policy direction on certifying municipal buildings and private development standards. 2) Upon direction, staff to develop a preliminary green program. 3) Submit preliminary green program for Council discussion at City Council meeting of August 6, 2008. 4) Continue to review development projects in the pipeline. 5) After August 6`" direction, conduct public outreach meetings with stakeholders (i.e. developers, utilities, contractors, design community), which should be a 2 to 2.5 month process. 6) Finalize the Green Program and provide feedback from outreach meetings and recommend a final green program for presentation to the City Council on November 19, 2008. Councilmember Gutierrez asked what the incentive would be on the private sector side. James Troyer, Planning Director, answered that it could be expedited review (priority Planning Commission scheduling). He said it could go to the top of the calendar; they could offer reduced fees or an expedited plan check. He mentioned reducing parking incentives if there was a bicycle parking plan or offered by 5% of the parking to hybrid vehicles. He said there are all kinds of incentives to offer. He said a point system would be established, and then the higher the amount of points achieved, the more incentives available. Councilmember Spagnolo asked that in order to receive grant money, do you have to have the LEED certification or is it just the standards that are applied to LEED certification. Mr. Troyer said that staff is currently looking for grant money, but we won't become eligible for that grant money until we get concrete standards on the books (any kind of green building ordinance or plans and specs for any projects). Councilmember Williams said she is very excited about the idea of a green team who would have specific training. She said we should reward someone, not charge them, who is innovative enough to bring us a building they feel is LEED certifiable for the Rancho Cucamonga certification. Mr. Troyer answered that this person said they would be entitled to the incentives Special City Council/Redevelopment Agency/Fire Protection District/Planning Commission Meeting May 28, 2008 Page 4 Jack Lam stated that on the private side, the developers want the LEED certification because that means something in the marketability of the project. Chairperson Stewart asked if we have redevelopment in this mix. Mr. Troyer stated they would fall under any residential program that we adopt. One incentive that cities mandate, if they have Agency funds, is that the project be green as a result of Agency participation. Commissioner Fletcher said he would rather see Rancho Cucamonga create its own program. He read Bill Leonard's May 27`" "Leonard Letter" comment about "Earth Day Revisited," in which he quoted Dr. Walter Williams, an economist, who had a knack for explaining policy questions with common sense, regarding Earth Day and the decades of catastrophic warning from environmentalists, explaining the trouble with clamoring to stave off what the leftists believe is inevitable. He mentioned this as he wanted to keep things in perspective as we move forward with the green initiatives and that we keep costs in mind and that we're doing something that really makes a difference. Mayor Pro Tem Michael said he does not want to impose a fee for certification on anybody. He thinks that we should set the standard on municipal buildings. He said he sees opportunities for phasing it, maybe to a level that would be our vision or a goal later on, and doing it the "Rancho Cucamonga way' that makes sense to both the public and private sector. Mr. Troyer commented that a lot of cities are doing that. Frank Williams, Executive Director, Building Industry Association, said the building industry is delighted to see the City addressing the green issue. He said builders are very conscious of the fact they their home buyers want environmental, friendly homes. He said an outside consultant put together the "California Green Builder" Program that the BIA promotes, because it benefits the builder, the homebuyer and the City by saving energy, water and cleaning the air. He distributed a question and answer handout entitled "Conserving Resources, Preserving the Environment, and Measuring the Impact," describing the California Green Builder" program. He said he likes the idea of the City of Rancho Cucamonga establishing their green building standards, using LEED equivalent. He said LEED is an outside organization that charges to certify a building, which is costly. He said it would be prudent for the City to start out with their program, with their own checklist, with aLEED- equivalent certification and incentives with respect to commercial buildings. He said for single-family, the BIA would hope the City would do what the County has done, which is adopt the "California Green Builder" program. He ended by commending the City for even talking about "green" building and that they would like to be the City's partner in this endeavor and help promote it. Michael W. McKinney, Vice President, Government Affairs, Lewis Operating Corporation, stated they support what the City is doing, and they are looking forward to partnering with the City. He said the company complies with the California Green Builders standards that the BIA has put forward for residential, and they are LEED equivalent certified for most of their retail, industrial office space and commercial properties. He said they are not seeking certification in most cases, as the average retail center may cost anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000 to seek certification. He said they are meeting the checklist and supplying the cities and also to the water agencies that are requesting that checklist and indicating that they are the equivalent certification. Mr. Troyer stated there are different programs available; what they recommended on the single-family residential side is to do a hybrid of programs; they could do "California Builder", "Green Point Rated" and LEED for Homes" and then let the residential builder decide what program to build. Councilmember Williams said she would like to consider certain things that we may feel are absolute; she said there may be some things, such as water use, that we may consider. She asked if it was possible in the guideline list to say that is an absolute in Rancho Cucamonga. Special City Council/Redevelopment Agency/Fire Protection DistricUPlanning Commission Meeting May 28, 2008 Page 5 John Zinner, Hogle-Ireland's (General Plan Consultant) sustainability consultant, stated that the City could mandate guidelines. He said that a lot of cities have mandated that a minimum percentage of construction waste be recycled. Mayor Pro Tem Michael stated we should focus on whether or not all the municipal buildings in Rancho Cucamonga should be LEED Certified. Councilmember Williams stated we should meet the standards, but she questions why we should pay extra tax payer dollars for certification. Commissioner Howdyshell stated she feels that if we meet a certain standard, we already have all those mechanisms and elements in place; if down the road, as time progresses, there may be another certifying organization that comes along or the LEED costs come down or it becomes a lot more attractive. Commissioner Munoz said he is not sure that the City benefits in being LEED certified. Mayor Pro Tem Michael stated we should know what LEED equivalent means. He said he also cannot quantify in his mind what "green" means. John Zinner, Hogle-Ireland's (General Plan Consultant) sustainability consultant, said you definitely want to have measurements on progress. He said you could have a baseline and set a goal, and then you can measure the progress against that. ACTION: 1) Public Sector: Should all new municipal buildings be LEED certified? Concensus: To be LEED equivalent 2) Private Sector: What type of program to develop (voluntary, incentive based or mandatory)? Concensus: Establish minimum foundation for the mandatory, overlaid with some incentive based. Education and public information to be provided for the voluntary part. Jack Lam, City Manager, stated that staff will come up with some proposed structure to review and fine tune. ..,._. ' D. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned 6:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted L~~ / Kathry~ott, CMC Assistant City Clerk Approved by Planning Commission: July 23, 2008 Approved by City Council/Redevelopment Agency/Fire Protection District: August 6, 2008