Steering Group III:  Policies and Ordinances

January 13, 2004

Meeting Notes

 

I.          Welcome and Introductions

 

Adrienne Domas introduced herself as a planner in Development Review South Division who is assisting Dan Klemann with management of the Ordinance Reformat project.

 

II.        Review and approve notes from last meeting

 

Notes from the December 9, 2003 meeting were reviewed and approved by the group.

 

III.       February 18 Steering Group Coordination Meeting

 

Discussion:  The Board of Supervisors members are feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the volume of information that is being generated.  It is their desire that individual groups make reports to the Board when the reports are ready; rather than grouping them altogether in one presentation.

 

A meeting of all four Steering Groups to coordinate our work will be held at the Anderson’s Pea Soup restaurant in Buellton.  A buffet will be provided beginning at 5:00 pm, with presentations and discussions among the different group members beginning at 5:30.  The steering groups are getting into their work in sufficient depth that overlap among the groups is occurring.  This meeting will provide an opportunity for PIT members to split into small groups based on issues, not steering group membership.

 

Action:  Tom and the PIT I members will identify the issues to be coordinated among the PIT II members.  Steering Group III subcommittees will flesh out the one-page worksheets and prepare a white paper on the Zoning Ordinance Update to present at the meeting.

 

IV.       Subcommittee Work Updates

 

Discussion:  Tom asked the group to split into its subcommittees to work on fleshing out the worksheets for each issue area.  Discussions ensued for approximately 20 minutes.

 

Action:   Subcommittees will convene over the next two weeks and provide completed worksheets at our next meeting.  The worksheets will be amended to also include roll out steps for the individual proposals.  Subcommittees were asked to consider whether ordinance changes, additional assistance from professionals (e.g., a biologist for the riparian and creek setback group), or what neighborhood/community groups need to be involved.

 

Subcommittees will begin to meet outside of the larger Steering Group to make progress on their respective issue areas.  Each subcommittee should meet at least once before our next Steering Group meeting on January 27.  Subcommittees will report back to the larger Steering Group to discuss, review, and integrate their work.

 

V.        Zoning Ordinance Update

 

Discussion:  The subcommittee group members were identified for the group.  A general introduction meeting was held in December to kick off the project.  A second meeting was held in January to review a draft outline of the proposed reformatted Ordinance.  The goal is to combine Articles I (Signs), II (Coastal), III (Inland), IV (Montecito) and V (Road Naming) into one user-friendly and web-based land use and development code document.  Overlays for specific community plan area s would be included.  This project does not address substantive changes other than that where the separate ordinances are unintentionally inconsistent or unclear an effort will be made to standardize and clarify existing language – this is a reformatting effort.  Meetings with community groups and interest groups are scheduled, as well as briefings for the County and Montecito Planning Commissions.  After this public outreach effort, we will take the proposal to the Board of Supervisors to request their direction on format and next steps in the process.

 

Action:  Comments are due back on the draft “Working Outline, Style Sheet, Sample Chapter” to Adrienne Domas by Friday, January 16, 2004 at 5:00 pm.  Help is needed in getting the word out to the public about the reformatting.  Any lists of contacts or outreach that Steering Group III members can do is greatly appreciated and should be coordinated with P&D staff.

 

VI.       Discussion with Dianne Meester

 

Dianne discussed some ideas for handling permit appeals.  Suggestions that P&D eliminate appeals for ministerial permits, recover fees for processing appeals, develop a procedure similar to the substantial issue test used by the Coastal Commission, and/or provide noticing earlier in the process to avert potential future appeals.  We are looking for a balanced approach to appeals so that they are available to individuals of all income levels, that they do not result in unnecessary delays to permit processing and that they do not cost the department substantial amounts of staff time and lost revenue.  These ideas will be explored further through PIT.

 

VII.           Next Steps

 

Subcommittee Worksheets will be completed and reviewed at the next meeting

 

VIII.        Adjourn

 

Meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.  Next meeting scheduled for January 27, 2004.