[0:04] >> All right,
[0:05] we're settled in. Good evening,
[0:06] everyone. How we doing? Are you
[0:09] having an exciting discussion
[0:11] about our General Plan? Well,
[0:13] welcome. Let's first
[0:16] of all call this meeting
[0:17] to order,
[0:18] a special joint meeting
[0:18] of the City Council and the
[0:20] Planning Commission,
[0:21] Thursday, December 17, 2015
[0:23] at 6:03 P.M. And let's maybe
[0:26] start with the role. This ought
[0:27] to be fun.
[0:28] >> For the role call,
[0:28] we'll actually start with the
[0:29] Planning Commissioners.
[0:30] Commissioner Tong?
[0:31] >> Here.
[0:32] >> Commissioner Spease?
[0:34] >> Here.
[0:35] >> Commissioner Maita?
[0:36] >> Present.
[0:37] >> Commissioner Harris is
[0:38] absent, and Commissioner
[0:38] Murphy?
[0:40] >> Here.
[0:40] >> And for the City Council,
[0:42] Councilmember Suen?
[0:42] >> Here.
[0:44] >> Councilmember Hume?
[0:45] >> Here.
[0:45] >> Councilmember Detrick?
[0:46] >> Here.
[0:46] >> Vice Mayor Lee?
[0:47] >> Here.
[0:48] >> And Mayor Davis?
[0:48] >> Here.
[0:50] >> I'd like to ask maybe the
[0:50] Chair of the Planning
[0:51] Commission to lead us in the
[0:52] Pledge of Allegiance, please.
[0:55] >> Will everyone stand? Hand
[0:56] over heart,
[0:57] pledge.
[0:58] >> I pledge allegiance
[0:59] to the flag of the United
[1:00] States of America and to the
[1:02] Republic for which it stands,
[1:04] one nation under God,
[1:07] indivisible,
[1:07] with liberty and justice
[1:09] for all.
[1:16] >> Great, thanks very much. I
[1:16] think this is going
[1:17] to be an exciting workshop.
[1:18] Obviously, any time we can get
[1:19] the Planning Commission and the
[1:21] Council together
[1:22] with the community to talk
[1:24] about anything is exciting.
[1:25] But really to check in on our
[1:27] General Plan and have a
[1:29] workshop around that,
[1:30] certainly is going
[1:31] to be a productive use
[1:32] of our time. So I'm excited
[1:33] about it. We do have a formal
[1:36] agenda in front of us,
[1:38] so maybe we'll just jump right
[1:39] in and look for--I'd like
[1:41] to entertain a motion to
[1:42] approve the agenda.
[1:43] >> I move it.
[1:44] >> Second.
[1:45] >> Motion by Lee, second by
[1:46] Suen. All right. All
[1:49] in favor?
[1:50] >> Aye.
[1:51] >> Opposed? Abstentions?
[1:52] Great, okay. So we've got one
[1:54] item in front of us tonight,
[1:58] and who's going
[1:58] to kick us off?
[2:04] >> Good evening, Mayor,
[2:05] Council, and Commission
[2:06] Members. Christopher Jordan
[2:06] with the City Manager's
[2:07] Office. Thank you so much for
[2:08] giving us your time this
[2:10] evening for this item and
[2:11] for all sitting up there with
[2:13] us low types. I very much
[2:15] appreciate it. So tonight,
[2:17] we're going to be talking
[2:18] about the General Plan update.
[2:19] This is a check-in opportunity
[2:20] for where we've been
[2:22] since we were last with you
[2:24] in June and initially scoping
[2:26] the project. We do have some
[2:26] initial -- to share
[2:27] with you and get your feedback
[2:29] and further direction upon
[2:31] to move into the next phase
[2:31] in the new year. So our agenda
[2:34] tonight in the updates,
[2:36] we're going to go
[2:37] through some finer points of
[2:38] the status and the outreach
[2:40] that's been conducted and what
[2:41] we've been hearing
[2:42] from the community,
[2:43] from the residents,
[2:44] from interested parties through
[2:45] the engagement activities.
[2:47] It's been a very
[2:47] in-depth--we've had a very
[2:49] broad cross-section
[2:51] of community engaged
[2:52] through our mobile workshops,
[2:53] through the weekend workshops
[2:55] that we held, I think, in
[2:58] September and November, and we
[2:59] also have a lot more planned in
[3:00] the new year as we start
[3:01] getting into the deeper policy
[3:03] conversations. And we'll be
[3:04] highlighting some
[3:06] of those pieces
[3:07] for you later this evening.
[3:08] The next half
[3:09] of the presentation,
[3:10] the second half is going
[3:11] to be talking
[3:11] about the vision, that's the
[3:12] document,
[3:13] the booklet that you got
[3:14] in your packet that you have up
[3:15] on the -- this
[3:16] evening. We do have additional
[3:17] copies for the public
[3:18] in the back of the room. If any
[3:19] of you don't have hard copies,
[3:20] we can certainly get them
[3:21] to you. I want to really
[3:23] highlight and stress the
[3:24] importance of this. And there's
[3:27] an analogy here I'll try
[3:28] to use very briefly. This
[3:30] process of creating the
[3:31] General Plan is
[3:32] about setting a direction,
[3:33] where is it that we're going as
[3:34] a community. I sort
[3:35] of liken it to at the vision
[3:37] level we're deciding we're
[3:38] going to travel East. We're
[3:40] going to the East Coast, we're
[3:42] going to drive there. The
[3:42] policies get
[3:44] into how we get there,
[3:45] what roads we're taking,
[3:47] what modes of transportation.
[3:48] So we want
[3:49] to make sure that we're all
[3:50] on the same page, that we're
[3:51] going eastward or whatever that
[3:52] direction is. And to the policy
[3:54] conversations that we're going
[3:56] to have in the first half
[3:57] of next year, we're deciding
[3:58] what routes we get there and
[4:00] whether we're going to say
[4:01] Boston or Miami. So this is a
[4:04] critical point
[4:05] in understanding that we're all
[4:07] on the same page, we're all
[4:07] holding hands together and
[4:08] understanding it. The finer
[4:10] details of what that direction
[4:11] means and how it's implemented
[4:13] on the ground
[4:14] through development projects,
[4:15] city actions, coordination
[4:17] with outside service providers,
[4:19] other things that happen, those
[4:21] will be the critical decisions
[4:22] going forward. So this is an
[4:23] important first step
[4:25] in the preparation
[4:26] of the overall General Plan.
[4:28] We'll have opportunities
[4:29] to walk through the documents
[4:30] and how we got there
[4:31] at a staff perspective,
[4:33] why we're recommending this
[4:34] to you this evening,
[4:35] and then opportunity
[4:36] for further public comment
[4:37] on it. And then seeking
[4:38] direction
[4:38] from you--did we get it right,
[4:39] are we on the same page,
[4:41] or what changes should be make
[4:43] to this as we move forward
[4:44] into the new year. This real
[4:45] briefly, primarily
[4:47] for the audience
[4:48] of folks that are joining us,
[4:50] we'll obviously be posting the
[4:51] audio to the websites early
[4:53] next week so others can take
[4:54] advantage of it. The General
[4:56] Plan, as it exists today,
[4:58] was first adopted in 2003.
[4:59] There have been a number
[5:00] of amendments the City has done
[5:01] to it over the following 13
[5:02] years. Many
[5:05] of them developer-initiated or,
[5:06] obviously, city-initiated
[5:08] for various topics, some
[5:09] on the land use side, some
[5:10] for various policies like our
[5:11] sustainability element. There
[5:13] are some upcoming amendments
[5:15] that are already in process,
[5:16] like the safety element update
[5:17] dealing with 200-year flood
[5:19] plan requirements
[5:20] of the state. And there's other
[5:21] changes that have occurred in
[5:23] the broader law or regulatory
[5:24] framework that we need
[5:25] to take advantage
[5:26] of and really address
[5:27] in an updated General Plan.
[5:28] These are the elements or
[5:31] chapters or components
[5:32] of your existing General Plan.
[5:35] I think it's about 9 or 11
[5:36] in all. Some
[5:37] of these are required
[5:37] components under state law,
[5:39] like circulation, land use,
[5:40] housing. Others are optional
[5:42] elements or things that we've
[5:44] chosen as a community
[5:45] to include, such as: historic
[5:46] preservation, economic
[5:47] development,
[5:48] and sustainability. What format
[5:49] the General Plan takes
[5:51] in its newer version,
[5:53] the new edition that will come
[5:54] out of this process,
[5:56] whether it's an existing format
[5:57] of the elements as individual
[5:58] chapters or those element
[6:00] requirements broken up into
[6:02] clusters based upon the key
[6:04] topics -- embedded and
[6:14] explored so that we package
[6:15] this thing in ultimately a
[6:17] format that is user-friendly,
[6:18] that really responds
[6:19] to the interest
[6:20] of the community, which is one
[6:22] of the central tenents you gave
[6:23] us
[6:23] in initiating this process back
[6:24] in June. You asked
[6:26] for an up-to-date,
[6:27] forward-thinking plan--what is
[6:28] the next 15, 20, 25 years
[6:31] of the City look like--to make
[6:32] the document something that the
[6:34] average resident can pick up
[6:35] and understand and really be
[6:36] able to see what the
[6:38] community's vision is
[6:39] for itself in the future and
[6:40] how we're going to get there.
[6:41] It needs
[6:43] to be clear and understandable
[6:44] but also flexible to changing
[6:46] circumstances that exist. It
[6:47] ought to be based upon active
[6:49] and an engaged community, which
[6:51] is what we have been striving
[6:52] to do through these outreach
[6:53] opportunities the last several
[6:53] months and will continue
[6:55] to do all the way through the
[6:56] adoption process slated for
[6:58] 2017. We are engaging not only
[7:02] the staff level but also
[7:02] with the decisionmakers,
[7:04] the ten of you or nine that are
[7:05] here this evening,
[7:05] through this process to make
[7:07] sure we're understanding is and
[7:08] how to articulate these things
[7:11] appropriately. And finally,
[7:13] and also very importantly, that
[7:15] it's a fiscally viable plan.
[7:17] Is this plan and the vision and
[7:19] the goals that it's setting
[7:20] out something that we can live
[7:22] with in our financial means
[7:23] to achieve. So real briefly
[7:26] on the status, and we'll get
[7:27] into some
[7:28] of these detail points
[7:29] in a little bit. There's an
[7:30] Existing Conditions report that
[7:31] documents where the City is
[7:33] today. We did one
[7:34] of these back in 2003
[7:35] with the original General
[7:37] Plan, so we're updating it. It
[7:38] reflects newer regulations,
[7:40] state law components,
[7:42] and existing status of the
[7:43] City. That report will be
[7:44] coming out in the new year
[7:46] for the public to review, and
[7:47] ultimately would be an appendix
[7:48] to the General Plan, informing
[7:50] how we got
[7:50] to where we would be
[7:51] in the new document. Through
[7:53] the community engagements,
[7:54] we've been working since
[7:55] August on a variety
[7:56] of aspects. You'll hear
[7:57] about those later this evening.
[7:59] That outreach, again,
[7:59] will continue through
[8:00] into the ultimate adoption in
[8:01] 2017. And tonight we have this
[8:05] draft shared community vision
[8:06] and supporting principles.
[8:08] This is the outgrowth
[8:09] of the outreach,
[8:10] what we've been hearing today,
[8:11] and what we're understanding
[8:12] and trying to vet this evening
[8:14] and get final direction on,
[8:15] that this is ultimately where
[8:17] we are trying to go. That being
[8:19] said, if we get through, let's
[8:21] say, the next six months
[8:22] of policy direction, policy
[8:24] discussion, land use
[8:25] discussion,
[8:27] and we're analyzing things back
[8:28] to this vision statement, back
[8:29] to the supporting principles
[8:30] for consistency and a tweak is
[8:32] needed,
[8:33] we can certainly do that. This
[8:34] isn't something that is set
[8:36] in stone. Tonight,
[8:36] with your direction, it's
[8:38] something that could be
[8:39] massaged going forward as we
[8:40] have these further
[8:41] conversations. That's okay. But
[8:43] it's important that we have a
[8:44] starting point for the
[8:45] conversations going forward.
[8:47] As I've mentioned,
[8:50] the ultimate goal is adoption
[8:51] in 2017. So you can see where
[8:53] we are in that process,
[8:54] we're right on schedule
[8:55] with the Conditions report and
[8:56] the Visioning Workshop hasn't
[8:57] been completed. And some of the
[8:59] key issues and policy topics,
[9:01] we're beginning to,
[9:03] starting next month actually,
[9:05] we'll get
[9:06] into those policy pieces. The
[9:08] goal is to have a draft
[9:09] General Plan and the EIR
[9:10] released at
[9:12] about this time next year. So
[9:14] we've got quite a ways to go
[9:15] in the next 12 months
[9:16] to get there. And ultimately,
[9:17] into adoption, spring,
[9:19] early part of summer of 2017.
[9:22] So there's several folks with
[9:24] me here this evening that will
[9:25] be presenting various pieces:
[9:27] Jeff Henderson, the overall
[9:28] project manager, Sara
[9:29] Allender, the assistant
[9:31] manager, and Nora De Cuir, the
[9:32] outreach coordinator. So I'll
[9:33] turn it over to them to walk
[9:34] through some
[9:35] of these pieces now. Thank you.
[9:44] >> Good evening, Council,
[9:45] Commissioners. I'm Nora De
[9:46] Cuir, an outreach coordinator
[9:47] with the General Plan team.
[9:49] And I want to take you
[9:51] through just a refresher
[9:53] of where we've been thus far
[9:55] with our community engagement
[9:56] program. I know many
[9:58] of you have caught us either
[10:00] at a workshop or out at one of
[10:03] mobile studios that we've been
[10:04] conducting. So as you can see
[10:07] from the graphic that you have
[10:09] in front of you, we kicked off
[10:10] with a planning academy,
[10:12] which is a focus event
[10:14] to provide additional context
[10:17] to set the stage
[10:18] for the community in terms of
[10:19] what a general plan is and why
[10:20] it's important
[10:22] for our future. It's hard
[10:23] to want to engage in a topic as
[10:25] broad as the general plan for
[10:28] your community if you don't
[10:30] have a sense
[10:31] of how that relates
[10:32] to local governance as a whole.
[10:34] So the planning academy was
[10:35] intended to provide not only
[10:37] in person
[10:38] for folks who attended that
[10:39] on that Saturday morning,
[10:40] but also
[10:41] to have those materials online
[10:42] for people who are digging in
[10:44] to the General Plan and want a
[10:46] little bit of that context. So
[10:48] we moved from there
[10:49] into events that went out into
[10:51] the community and brought
[10:52] essentially a mini workshop
[10:54] in a doublewide tent to events
[10:57] where people were already
[10:58] gathering, like the Dickens
[10:59] Fair and the Safety Fair and
[11:01] Food Truck Mania. And what our
[11:04] experience has shown us and has
[11:06] really proven true throughout
[11:08] the course
[11:09] of this outreach effort since
[11:11] August is that while a
[11:13] community workshop is a great
[11:15] forum for sitting down
[11:16] with a focused group of folks
[11:19] and rolling up your sleeves
[11:20] to work on something, you can
[11:22] reach more people just
[11:24] numbers-wise if you are going
[11:26] out where folks are already
[11:28] gathering and they don't need
[11:29] to think about scheduling
[11:31] in that workshop on their
[11:33] calendar or taking too much
[11:35] time out
[11:36] of a busy weekend morning
[11:38] to attend. So the mobile
[11:40] workshop, I will take you
[11:41] through some of our results
[11:43] from those, and we have more
[11:44] of those planned as we move
[11:45] into the spring. We did also
[11:49] hold a community-wide vision
[11:51] workshop which provided a forum
[11:54] for folks who are interested to
[11:55] come together and do more
[11:57] brainstorming. We're thinking
[11:59] about where we should be going
[12:01] as a community, and Sara will
[12:05] be taking you through some
[12:06] of the results
[12:06] of that workshop as well.
[12:09] We've also had an online
[12:11] component for folks who have
[12:12] not yet been able
[12:13] to participate in person
[12:15] but enables you not only
[12:16] to receive information
[12:17] but also just to provide
[12:19] your--you can click a "submit
[12:21] comments" button and have
[12:22] comments come right through
[12:23] to Christopher. So we've tried,
[12:26] like Christopher said, to
[12:27] provide as broad an opportunity
[12:29] as possible
[12:30] for participation, but
[12:32] participation is always
[12:33] something that you are working
[12:35] on improving. And so as we move
[12:37] forward, we really want
[12:38] to build on the lessons that
[12:40] we've learned in terms of how
[12:42] to reach people, how
[12:44] to recruit people
[12:45] for the effort. We want
[12:46] to encourage everyone
[12:47] in this room to help us recruit
[12:49] people so that we can keep
[12:50] adding voices
[12:51] to the process as we go long.
[12:52] So if we take a quick look
[12:56] at what we have heard thus far
[12:57] for the mobile workshops,
[12:59] we were interested in
[13:01] understanding a little bit more
[13:03] about the characteristics of
[13:05] those participating and how
[13:08] they've perceived their
[13:09] neighborhood quality right now.
[13:11] So we did ask in some
[13:13] of the activities, which you
[13:14] may have seen, for folks to
[13:16] pick up a chip that was labeled
[13:18] with an "E" if you lived on the
[13:20] east side town or a "W" if you
[13:22] lived on the west side
[13:23] of town, so that the
[13:24] information that you provided
[13:24] during those mini workshop
[13:26] activities would help us better
[13:29] understand what your input said
[13:33] relative to where you lived and
[13:34] what your Elk Grove experience
[13:36] is. So you'll see that the
[13:38] results that I share on the
[13:40] next slide are split here. We
[13:42] can look at the
[13:45] Input that we've received both
[13:47] in terms of citywide, and also
[13:49] on the neighborhood level
[13:52] relative to whether or not
[13:53] folks were participating as a
[13:55] resident of the west side of
[13:58] 99 in Elk Grove or the east
[14:01] side of 99. So as you see here,
[14:04] some of the workshop results,
[14:05] some items in common. That
[14:07] multi-mobile transportation is
[14:10] something that shows up as a
[14:11] citywide priority when we asked
[14:13] folks to put chips in a bucket
[14:16] indicating their highest
[14:18] priorities. You'll see that
[14:19] shows up
[14:20] for both east and west, though
[14:23] in different order. You'll see
[14:24] that open space
[14:25] in resource management is also
[14:26] on there. But you will see that
[14:28] there is a, for example,
[14:29] unique note that east of 99,
[14:33] rural areas were a priority,
[14:34] whereas
[14:35] for folks participating as west
[14:37] of 99 residents, that was not a
[14:39] priority they indicated.
[14:41] Neighborhood ratings also
[14:43] showed some things in common,
[14:46] things that are going well,
[14:48] presence
[14:49] of children and seniors. You
[14:51] get a lot of feedback in terms
[14:52] of quality of life
[14:55] for children. We did have
[14:56] children's activities that,
[14:58] at the Merry Movie Night last
[15:00] weekend, gathered a lot
[15:01] of input
[15:04] from folks just coming
[15:04] in that are not included
[15:06] in our head count, where
[15:08] children are participating and
[15:09] providing us good input and
[15:12] parents are simply reviewing
[15:13] the materials that are
[15:15] out there. You will see here
[15:16] that in terms of things that
[15:18] are doing well and things that
[15:20] need improvement,
[15:21] we do have a common response.
[15:24] So as Sara and Jeff will talk
[15:26] more about, because we're just
[15:28] at the beginning
[15:29] of the process, we're
[15:30] unearthing things that our
[15:32] response that right now we know
[15:34] we need
[15:35] to dig a little bit deeper
[15:36] into that because, obviously,
[15:37] for some of our residents, it's
[15:40] something that's working really
[15:42] well in their neighborhood and
[15:44] for others, it's not. And so
[15:45] this doesn't indicate
[15:47] to us where a policy might go.
[15:51] We need
[15:51] to talk a little bit more
[15:53] with the community
[15:53] about things like that,
[15:55] that have turned up through the
[15:55] mobile workshop responses. We
[15:58] also started
[15:59] out our visioning process
[16:02] at the mobile workshops. We
[16:03] wanted to capture some
[16:05] of that brainstorming
[16:06] about our vision from everyone
[16:09] that we've interacted
[16:10] with thus far,
[16:11] not just the folks who came
[16:12] to the visioning workshops. So
[16:13] we did ask for some
[16:14] of that input
[16:15] to provide a comparable
[16:18] exercise at both division
[16:20] workshop and the mobile
[16:21] workshop. And these results
[16:22] helped feed into the vision,
[16:24] which is the book that you have
[16:27] in front of you
[16:28] in draft form. And I'm going
[16:30] to bring Sara up at this point
[16:32] to help describe a little bit
[16:33] more how this input was used
[16:35] and what other elements played
[16:38] into it. And I'll be happy to
[16:41] answer more questions that you
[16:43] have as you get
[16:44] into your discussion
[16:45] about --.
[16:46] >> One quick question
[16:46] for you.
[16:47] >> Yes.
[16:48] >> You don't need
[16:48] to go back necessarily,
[16:49] but the previous slide sort of
[16:50] summarized strengths and
[16:51] opportunities. And at the
[16:55] bottom you said there's more
[16:58] available online. So I think--I
[17:01] mean just from a general
[17:03] curiosity standpoint, I mean it
[17:04] would be--I bet you the
[17:06] differences are in geography.
[17:08] Are we able to dig
[17:09] in and see what parts of the
[17:10] community see trails as a
[17:13] strength and what parts of the
[17:15] community sees trails as an
[17:16] opportunity for even more,
[17:18] that sort of thing? Or is it
[17:20] just purely all lumped
[17:22] in together?
[17:23] >> We don't have fine-grained
[17:25] geographic data on that, based
[17:28] on just the type
[17:29] of exercise that it was,
[17:30] because we were just asking
[17:31] someone
[17:32] to identify as east or west,
[17:35] not to put the--there was a map
[17:37] where we were asking folks
[17:38] to pinpoint where you live,
[17:40] but that was just
[17:41] to help us get a sense of how
[17:43] representative the input has
[17:45] been.
[17:46] >> Okay.
[17:47] >> But there is a summary.
[17:48] Everything that we have heard
[17:49] thus far,
[17:50] all input that we've received
[17:51] across the community engagement
[17:54] program is in a memo that's
[17:56] being continually updated as
[17:58] events happen and as an event
[18:00] happens and we update that
[18:02] input. It goes online. Right
[18:04] now it is really in transcript
[18:06] form and doesn't have the sort
[18:09] of key summary--the key themes
[18:11] summary that it will eventually
[18:13] have when it's concluded,
[18:14] but it's there if you'd like
[18:15] to take a look at it.
[18:18] >> Okay, thank you.
[18:19] >> Sure.
[18:19] >> If I can ask a question.
[18:20] >> Yes, please --.
[18:21] >> -- for a lot
[18:22] of the topics you're talking
[18:22] about tonight
[18:23] in that you haven't drilled
[18:24] down far enough to find out why
[18:25] the comments are being made
[18:26] exactly?
[18:27] >> Mm-hmm, exactly. Because
[18:29] we're still
[18:30] at a very early stage.
[18:31] >> Obviously it raises
[18:32] questions up here
[18:33] from a different vantage point.
[18:36] Thank you.
[18:38] >> Thank you. And part
[18:41] of that is going
[18:42] to be discussed at some of the
[18:44] topic-based workshops that
[18:46] we're scheduling moving
[18:47] forward. So Nora's example of
[18:48] the walkability showing up both
[18:51] on what we like and what could
[18:53] be improved, that's one
[18:54] of the proposed items
[18:56] for our topic-based workshops.
[18:58] And that would be an
[18:59] opportunity to be able
[18:59] to drill
[19:00] down a little bit more based
[19:01] on the participants who come
[19:03] to that workshop. And we
[19:04] actually have some
[19:06] recommendations on a couple of
[19:07] other topic-based workshops
[19:09] based on the information that
[19:10] we've heard thus far. So I'm
[19:12] going to run through really
[19:13] quickly the visioning workshop.
[19:16] It would be a half-day event
[19:17] held on a Saturday in early
[19:19] November. We had just over 20
[19:20] participants,
[19:22] a pretty even split
[19:23] between participants coming
[19:24] from the east side of 99 and
[19:26] the west side of 99. We had
[19:27] several small group activities.
[19:30] We had three focused small
[19:31] group activities that I'll run
[19:33] through quickly. And then we
[19:35] also had what we call
[19:37] free-flowing activities. I just
[19:38] made that name up,
[19:40] but it will probably work. And
[19:41] that is--you know, there's
[19:43] downtime when people are coming
[19:44] into the event and walking
[19:46] out and taking breaks. So we
[19:47] wanted to really still provide
[19:48] that downtime as an opportunity
[19:49] for people to provide input.
[19:52] So one of the events was an "I
[19:54] like," "I wish," "I wonder,"
[19:56] and that's people writing
[19:57] down what they like,
[19:58] what they wish for Elk Grove,
[19:59] and what they wonder
[20:00] about the process on sticky
[20:01] notes and placing those on
[20:03] poster format so we could get
[20:05] that additional input
[20:06] in that downtime. We also had a
[20:08] "Where do you live," and that's
[20:09] pinning a map, taking a pin
[20:12] on putting it on a map. So we
[20:13] had that distribution
[20:14] of geography through the
[20:15] planning area participants.
[20:17] And then as always, we have a
[20:18] general comments sheets because
[20:20] there's always an opportunity
[20:21] for people to provide us with
[20:22] additional comments--excuse me.
[20:27] So one of the first small group
[20:28] activities we did was community
[20:30] priorities. And this is where
[20:31] we took sort of those nine
[20:33] identified issues that we've
[20:35] been talking about since June
[20:37] and we asked folks
[20:39] to prioritize what those are
[20:40] from their own perspective.
[20:43] And the top three that came
[20:44] out
[20:45] of that was economic vitality,
[20:46] and this was really recognized
[20:49] as like during discussions
[20:50] throughout that event that you
[20:52] can't really achieve all of
[20:54] this fun stuff that we're
[20:55] talking about and what we want
[20:56] if you don't really have a good
[20:58] vital economic base. So that a
[21:00] key theme throughout the
[21:01] discussions
[21:02] from the visioning workshop.
[21:03] Coordinated services,
[21:05] technology and infrastructure,
[21:06] folks talking about this item
[21:08] were really more focused
[21:09] on social services, so youth
[21:11] services, senior services,
[21:14] health services,
[21:15] and school districts. And then
[21:18] sustainable and healthy
[21:19] communities which really ties
[21:20] them a little bit with the
[21:22] coordinated services and health
[21:23] service aspects. The next small
[21:26] group activity,
[21:26] we call it important issues
[21:29] for personas. And this was an
[21:31] activity where we--it's more
[21:33] of an empathy activity. So
[21:35] whereas we asked folks
[21:37] to prioritize issues
[21:38] from their own perspective in
[21:40] the community priority
[21:41] activity,
[21:42] we really wanted them
[21:43] to take a step out of there own
[21:46] thought process and their own
[21:47] conform zone and try and answer
[21:49] that same question
[21:50] for another segment
[21:51] within the community. So we had
[21:54] seven identified personas, and
[21:56] we asked them the same
[21:57] question: Based
[21:58] on this persona,
[21:59] and we had a description
[22:00] of that persona,
[22:02] how would you think they want
[22:04] to rank those priorities? And
[22:06] this was really more
[22:07] of an exercise
[22:08] to get people thinking
[22:09] about other people
[22:12] within the community. And
[22:15] important issues that came out,
[22:16] there were some certain
[22:18] overlaps, of course. The youth
[22:18] and senior services,
[22:20] which tied in
[22:21] with coordinated services,
[22:22] again, economic vitality and
[22:24] some issues
[22:25] on sustainability. The next
[22:28] small group activity that we
[22:31] had was the headline
[22:32] development activity. And this
[22:34] was just more
[22:34] of an open-ended activity. We
[22:37] asked participates to,
[22:39] say they're in Elk Grove 20,
[22:42] 25 years from now, you go
[22:43] to a store and buy a newspaper,
[22:45] or more likely you go online,
[22:47] and what are the headlines that
[22:49] you see or would like to see
[22:51] about how your community has
[22:53] evolved
[22:54] within that time. I won't read
[22:55] through all of them,
[22:56] but certainly you can see some
[22:58] of the topics that were covered
[22:59] within the headlines.
[23:01] Examples, for someone,
[23:03] job and economic growth,
[23:04] alternative modes
[23:05] of transportation,
[23:06] -- service provision.
[23:07] And while we didn't have a
[23:09] large group of participants,
[23:11] you can see that the
[23:12] conversation really still
[23:14] covered a wide range of issues
[23:15] within that focus group. This
[23:19] was one
[23:21] of those free-flow activities.
[23:24] This is the "I wish,
[23:24] I wonder." Again, I won't read
[23:26] through them,
[23:27] but you can see that some of
[23:28] the topics are really starting
[23:30] to coalesce. There's some
[23:32] similarities
[23:33] across the board. Where we did
[23:34] get some comments was a
[23:36] distinction in one of the
[23:38] issues where it was infill and
[23:39] outward expansion. So a lot
[23:41] of participants, it was hard
[23:43] to make comments
[23:44] on that because, of course,
[23:45] sometimes those are competing
[23:47] interests. So that is actually
[23:50] one of the topic-based
[23:51] workshops that we've identified
[23:52] for additional discussion,
[23:54] to be able to drill down
[23:55] on that issue. And finally,
[23:58] there is another component to
[23:59] the outreach that we've been
[24:01] doing. We've been doing the
[24:02] mobile workshops. We have the
[24:03] visioning workshop. And then
[24:05] we've also had some interviews
[24:07] with focus groups. As you can
[24:09] see, there's a lot
[24:10] of city committees
[24:11] on this list. We also had
[24:12] discussions
[24:14] with service providers,
[24:14] some regional agencies,
[24:16] school districts. And these--in
[24:19] your Attachment No. 1, the
[24:21] summary,
[24:21] that is where we have listed
[24:24] all of the comments that we've
[24:25] been recording
[24:27] from these discussions. And
[24:29] with that--oh, no, these are
[24:33] those topics I was talking
[24:35] about. Though Nora already
[24:36] identified the last one
[24:37] on this list, which is
[24:38] transportation, planning,
[24:39] and drilling
[24:40] down a little bit deeper on
[24:41] where we're finding those
[24:42] comments that are really
[24:45] diverging, and we want
[24:46] to be able
[24:47] to make sure that we're clear
[24:48] in the understanding
[24:49] of which way we need to go with
[24:50] our policies. I also mentioned
[24:52] the infill development and that
[24:55] discussion on infill versus
[24:56] outward expansion, and also how
[24:59] you start balancing some other
[25:00] trade-offs such as conserving
[25:02] open space. And then the other
[25:05] topic was how do you really
[25:07] better unified Elk Grove.
[25:09] Because throughout the
[25:10] discussions--and part of the
[25:12] reason why we were recording
[25:13] that distinction
[25:14] between the west side of 99 and
[25:16] east side of 99 is that's the
[25:18] one comment that we've been
[25:20] hearing fairly consistently
[25:21] throughout the process is it
[25:22] seems like there isn't
[25:24] necessarily one unified Elk
[25:26] Grove, and how can we better
[25:27] make that more
[25:29] of a unified community. So
[25:31] that's one
[25:31] of the additional topics. And
[25:33] part of that is talking about
[25:34] neighborhood characteristics.
[25:36] So now with that, I'm going
[25:38] to pass it back over to CJ,
[25:39] who's going to open it up for
[25:41] some comments and discussions
[25:43] with Commission and Council.
[25:45] Thank you.
[25:51] >> So I know you asked a couple
[25:51] of questions
[25:52] during the process of this.
[25:53] But I think the opportunity to
[25:55] take a beat and really review
[25:57] what's been presented,
[25:59] and if there's any questions,
[26:00] we ought to go over thoughts.
[26:01] It's certainly an opportunity
[26:03] for public comment if you'd
[26:04] like to get it now
[26:05] on this first half
[26:06] of what we'd like to go
[26:07] through tonight. Okay, well,
[26:12] so you want to get feedback now
[26:14] or questions and --,
[26:16] yeah, so in this step so far,
[26:18] in the outreach pieces and what
[26:19] we've heard, and the summary
[26:21] that we've presented you.
[26:22] Okay. Any thoughts on the
[26:25] outreach piece?
[26:27] >> I've attended the first
[26:30] joint session and the Chamber
[26:34] of Commerce session and the
[26:35] visioning session,
[26:36] and there's a lot of very
[26:38] general comments here that I
[26:40] think are going to need a lot
[26:41] of work on. So I think we're
[26:42] going in the right direction. I
[26:44] see a lot of commonalities
[26:45] in some of the comments, even
[26:46] though we're hearing where east
[26:49] and west and highway come
[26:50] together, there's still some
[26:51] commonality there.
[26:53] >> Councilmember Hume.
[26:54] >> Thank you. Christopher, what
[26:56] are we doing to reach the folks
[26:58] who don't come out? In a lot
[27:00] of the pictures I saw a lot
[27:01] of familiar faces. I know
[27:03] at these events
[27:04] with the popup tents,
[27:05] that's a good way to kind of
[27:06] get people that wouldn't
[27:08] normally take an interest
[27:08] in city issues.
[27:10] But do you feel like we're
[27:11] really scratching the surface
[27:12] of John Q. public that thinks
[27:14] the City's going fine,
[27:15] is happy where they live, but
[27:17] still would maybe provide
[27:19] valuable input
[27:20] into the process?
[27:22] >> One piece
[27:22] of information we're waiting
[27:23] on getting the results in,
[27:25] we'll get a full presentation
[27:27] in the new year, is the
[27:28] biannual citywide survey.
[27:30] That's another pulse point that
[27:31] we'll be grabbing into this
[27:32] process as we go forward. So
[27:34] once that data is available,
[27:35] we'll integrate it in.
[27:36] At a certain point though,
[27:39] you just can't pry some folks
[27:40] out of their houses. And that's
[27:42] an unfortunate thing.
[27:43] But we'll continue to try
[27:45] to find ways, whether it's
[27:46] through online mechanisms or
[27:48] in person,
[27:49] to see things we can do to try
[27:50] to gather as broad a
[27:50] cross-section
[27:53] of input as possible. So
[27:54] obviously, we're interested
[27:55] in any ideas anybody has
[27:56] on how
[27:58] to do that effectively.
[27:59] >> Well, it looks
[28:00] like you've had a number
[28:00] of meetings with groups,
[28:03] and that's summarized
[28:05] in here. This memorandum,
[28:08] Attachment 1, it looks like--is
[28:12] that it? And there's a lot
[28:13] of bullet points in there
[28:13] about feedback that came
[28:14] from that meeting. So I think
[28:16] that's--I mean there's some
[28:17] good stuff
[28:18] in there. I guess one thing,
[28:19] I'll just point
[28:20] out a suggestion. I mean you
[28:21] met with the multicultural
[28:24] committee, of course, but--and
[28:25] I think that's a--and that's a
[28:27] representative body,
[28:28] but I think another place
[28:30] to consider going to,
[28:32] as we continue the public
[28:32] outreach, would be reaching
[28:34] into, you know, other kind
[28:35] of cultural and ethnic pockets
[28:38] of our community and maybe
[28:40] even, you know,
[28:41] faith-based groups to just kind
[28:43] of--I mean I think that's one
[28:44] place where we could continue
[28:45] to--and I think just showing up
[28:46] is great too. I mean just
[28:48] showing up at community events
[28:49] clearly is giving you feedback
[28:51] that otherwise you wouldn't
[28:53] have received. And it seems
[28:55] like the mobile events have
[28:56] been pretty successful. But I
[28:58] think the cultural groups are a
[28:59] little harder to find because
[29:00] they're--you know, we're not an
[29:02] ethnic pocket-oriented
[29:06] community where you can just go
[29:08] find the leadership
[29:08] of the community. But a lot
[29:10] of it is faith-based and some
[29:13] of it are--you know, they meet
[29:14] in people's homes and whatnot.
[29:15] But they're out there. So
[29:17] that'll be one place, I think,
[29:18] to look. Okay, thank you.
[29:21] >> So, Chris, I actually
[29:22] thought the list of outreach as
[29:25] listed here is pretty
[29:25] impressive as to what, you
[29:28] know, you and your staff have
[29:29] done. I guess I'm curious to
[29:30] see whether or not there are
[29:32] any baseline comparisons on how
[29:34] the other cities conduct this
[29:36] similar type
[29:38] of civics planning. What is the
[29:39] participation rate comparing to
[29:42] the responses that we get?
[29:44] >> We should let Nora answer
[29:45] that because she does so much
[29:46] of on a regular basis.
[29:49] >> Sure. It's a great question.
[29:51] So relative to other cities
[29:53] of our size, I think this is a
[29:56] relatively good rate
[29:58] of participation thus far. And
[30:01] the program that we've planned
[30:02] is fairly robust relative
[30:04] particularly
[30:05] to the state guidance
[30:06] on public involvement
[30:08] for a general plan process,
[30:11] which really fairly minimal to
[30:13] workshops are recommended and
[30:17] only public hearings are
[30:19] required. And certainly the
[30:20] program in place, it will be
[30:23] far more robust than that. But
[30:26] in my opinion,
[30:27] there's always room to work on
[30:29] more public involvement and
[30:31] reaching into corners of the
[30:33] community that have not yet
[30:34] participated. So we're
[30:35] certainly going
[30:37] to continue trying, even though
[30:38] we're exceeding the state
[30:39] recommendations.
[30:42] >> Councilman Suen.
[30:44] >> I do want to commend you on
[30:45] your outreach. I think the
[30:46] mobile studios have been pretty
[30:48] effective. I've seen them when
[30:50] I've been out at events myself.
[30:51] I would encourage us to--you
[30:53] know, part of it is the
[30:54] General Plan itself, to a lot
[30:56] of people who may not even be
[30:58] familiar with the term and
[31:00] recognize what it's for. And so
[31:01] maybe, you know, with
[31:03] Kristin's help we can go on a
[31:05] more aggressive marketing
[31:07] campaign. We have our Next
[31:09] Door apps,
[31:10] we can start posting those. So
[31:12] as any new City events come up,
[31:14] you know, blast it out
[31:15] through there. And so get folks
[31:18] wonderful what's a general
[31:19] plan, and then let them know
[31:20] about the mobile events that
[31:21] are going to take place here.
[31:26] Thank you.
[31:27] >> Thank you. Councilman
[31:28] Detrick.
[31:29] >> Yeah, Chris, one of the
[31:31] things I was wondering when you
[31:32] talked about the surveys, is
[31:34] there anything to--we're
[31:35] looking at doing
[31:36] to incentivize folks
[31:39] to return the survey?
[31:41] >> There's two pieces
[31:43] of the survey. One is the
[31:44] statistically valid phone
[31:45] survey, and the other is the
[31:47] online piece. It's mailed,
[31:51] I'm sorry. There's a mailed
[31:51] survey piece. So there's two
[31:54] parallel components to it.
[31:56] >> But is there any incentive
[31:58] to--
[31:58] >> No.
[31:59] >> --respond to those surveys?
[32:01] >> No.
[32:02] >> Is that something that we
[32:03] could do,
[32:04] is add an incentive?
[32:07] >> At this late date,
[32:08] probably--definitely not
[32:09] for the mail survey. That has
[32:11] closed. And we have just
[32:13] received the draft reports
[32:15] of those findings. We are
[32:18] encouraging people who were not
[32:21] selected to participate
[32:24] in the mail survey
[32:25] to participate
[32:26] on the online survey,
[32:29] and we're going
[32:31] to keep that open
[32:32] through the end of the year.
[32:33] In fact,
[32:36] there will be an article
[32:37] in the local paper
[32:39] about it within, I think,
[32:40] next Wednesday.
[32:42] But I'm not really sure at this
[32:43] late date if there is really
[32:44] any real way
[32:46] to incentivize it. That is
[32:50] something we can look at
[32:51] for when we do it in two years.
[32:52] >> I don't know if that's ever
[32:54] been done in another city,
[32:56] but it seems like people
[32:58] in general,
[33:00] if there's some type
[33:00] of incentive,
[33:01] they're more inclined
[33:02] to respond. And that's our
[33:05] goal, is
[33:06] to get a response.
[33:11] >> All right, thank you.
[33:12] Commissioner Maita.
[33:14] >> Yes, Christopher. First off,
[33:16] I would like to commend as well
[33:18] the--I've seen the mobile sites
[33:19] and they--I've seen them pretty
[33:21] well attended and a lot
[33:24] of interest,
[33:26] and it was gratifying. And
[33:27] particularly, I did attend the
[33:28] workshop where I think they
[33:31] said it was 21 people.
[33:33] Gratifyingly enough,
[33:34] those few people who were
[33:35] there, we did see some new
[33:36] faces, which was nice and got
[33:38] some new perspective. At least
[33:39] at the table I was at. So I
[33:42] appreciated that. But then I'd
[33:44] like to back up and just have
[33:46] you answer a couple questions
[33:48] for me in a broader sense,
[33:50] not specifically to outreach,
[33:52] and that's just
[33:54] to refresh my memory
[33:55] of what your expectation
[33:56] of the shelf life of the
[33:57] General Plan is. And then
[34:00] secondly, when it comes
[34:01] to the elements, I understand
[34:03] the state requirements.
[34:06] But are they presently weighted
[34:11] in any fashion vis- -vis each
[34:13] other, and if they are not, can
[34:18] they be and potentially should
[34:20] they be?
[34:22] >> On your first question,
[34:23] the length of time,
[34:26] it can vary from community
[34:28] to community. Some are
[34:29] on a very regular basis
[34:31] of every 5 to 10 years they do
[34:32] an update. We will have gone
[34:33] about 15 years since our first
[34:36] general plan. I would imagine
[34:38] that this one
[34:39] in its totality will last
[34:42] for a similar period of time,
[34:44] maybe longer, maybe less. It
[34:46] depends on a number
[34:46] of factors. Obviously, there
[34:47] will be updates
[34:49] along the way, amendments
[34:50] to various things, changes
[34:51] in state law. In terms
[34:54] of the elements themselves, the
[34:56] mandatory elements and all
[34:58] other topics or elements that
[35:00] are within the General Plan are
[35:01] required by law
[35:02] to have equal weight. So you
[35:04] don't--land use or housing
[35:05] don't have a higher level
[35:07] of weight or character
[35:09] between any of the others.
[35:10] They all have
[35:11] to be equal and they ought
[35:12] to be consistent
[35:13] with each other. So if you say
[35:14] something on page 35, it must
[35:15] be consistent on page 197. The
[35:19] elements themselves, though,
[35:21] the way the law describes them,
[35:23] it uses that word "elements,"
[35:24] it never uses the word
[35:25] "chapters." Many communities
[35:26] have interpreted or implemented
[35:29] that by having each element be
[35:31] its own standalone chapter. As
[35:33] we approach this,
[35:34] the dialogue we've been having,
[35:36] starting
[35:38] with the issues discussion back
[35:39] in June and following through
[35:41] with the outreach and where the
[35:43] outreach may take us,
[35:45] the discussion may take us
[35:46] over the next six, eight
[35:48] months, I would not be
[35:49] surprised if the organization
[35:50] of the General Plan, how the
[35:50] information is presented,
[35:51] is more in line
[35:54] with those topic elements,
[35:55] those topic components rather
[35:57] than the more traditional every
[35:59] required element or every
[36:00] optional -- that has
[36:01] its own chapter. Because
[36:03] of the inner relationship
[36:04] between those various pieces,
[36:06] how can we talk about land use
[36:08] if you're not also talking
[36:09] about transportation? How can
[36:11] you talk about air quality if
[36:12] you're aligning that with what
[36:15] your transportation issues are?
[36:17] So based on how we've been
[36:18] approaching this
[36:19] for the issues' list,
[36:21] there's a different
[36:23] organization, a different
[36:24] framework pattern that may be
[36:26] more approachable for folks.
[36:26] So we're going
[36:28] to be exploring that.
[36:30] >> Thank you.
[36:30] >> All right, thank you. Now
[36:32] Councilman Detrick?
[36:33] >> On the 500-plus visitors
[36:35] that--I've looked at this. Do
[36:39] you guys keep track of unique
[36:40] visitors versus total count?
[36:41] >> No. That total count was
[36:46] based off of map locations,
[36:48] because not everyone--because
[36:52] there's no requirement,
[36:53] for example, to sign
[36:55] in or check in when you visit a
[36:56] mobile workshop. It was based
[36:58] on those folks who wanted
[36:59] to volunteer the location
[37:00] of their residence within Elk
[37:02] Grove. So what it is, is I
[37:04] would say it's a good rough
[37:08] estimate of the amount
[37:10] of participation,
[37:11] but it certainly doesn't
[37:13] account for anyone who may have
[37:14] given us a comment
[37:16] but not put a pin on a map or
[37:19] had their child color a piece
[37:22] of artwork but didn't chose
[37:23] to sign in. So it's really just
[37:25] our best guesstimate as to how
[37:27] many folks have participated
[37:29] thus far through the mobile
[37:30] workshops.
[37:34] >> Chris, I noticed under the
[37:34] regional agencies groupings
[37:37] that one agency that wasn't
[37:39] mentioned,
[37:40] and there's been a lot of talk
[37:41] about it
[37:43] within the visioning workshop,
[37:44] is transportation. I didn't see
[37:48] regional transit as a
[37:49] participant.
[37:52] >> We will do coordination
[37:53] with them as we get
[37:54] into the specific policies,
[37:56] particularly as we talk about
[37:57] fixed transit opportunities.
[38:00] Because we operate our own
[38:01] local and commuter bus service,
[38:03] there isn't as much overlap.
[38:05] Their engagement has been
[38:06] more--at this point
[38:08] in time more to the extent that
[38:10] it's been occurring--with the
[38:12] comprehensive operational, and
[38:14] now the transit is undergoing
[38:15] right now. So we will be
[38:16] involving them as we get into,
[38:18] okay, what is the vision City
[38:20] has
[38:22] for whether it's light rail,
[38:25] would be RT or something else,
[38:26] how that gets coordinated
[38:29] with them long term.
[38:32] >> Okay. I know we've had a lot
[38:33] of discussion, you know,
[38:34] during SEPA,
[38:36] and the college has mentioned
[38:37] it in here too. So I want to
[38:39] make sure that we do include
[38:40] them at some point in time.
[38:43] >> I'll say one thing too.
[38:44] Something to keep in mind, I
[38:45] mean, obviously, the General
[38:46] Plan update doesn't come
[38:48] around very often and, you
[38:50] know, doesn't come around even
[38:53] as often as it should.
[38:55] But keep in mind that,
[38:57] obviously,
[39:00] the end product is extremely
[39:01] valuable, but the process is,
[39:03] I would say,
[39:04] equally as valuable. So I think
[39:05] the fact that, you know, what
[39:07] you've summarized here is some
[39:09] outreach to those that are
[39:11] involved--certainly our
[39:12] committees or commissions,
[39:14] folks that are already
[39:15] involved, advocates, community
[39:16] groups--those are folks that
[39:19] are already involved in the
[39:20] community. I think the mobile
[39:22] studio gets you beyond the
[39:23] folks that are already
[39:25] involved. And, you know,
[39:27] we threw out some groups I
[39:30] think you could see them do a
[39:31] deeper level of outreach too.
[39:33] But also, you do have other
[39:35] groups that are involved
[39:36] in their neighborhoods
[39:37] but not necessarily involved
[39:38] in the City. And that's just
[39:39] all of our neighborhood
[39:40] associations,
[39:42] community groups. So I think
[39:44] that's another place. I mean if
[39:45] you're going
[39:48] to dig deeper for, you know,
[39:48] some other nuggets,
[39:49] I think there's a whole layer
[39:50] beyond the mobile studio that
[39:52] you can do
[39:53] to really dig deep.
[39:54] Recognizing that, again,
[39:56] the goals are twofold,
[39:58] I fundamentally believe. And
[39:59] it's about the end product,
[40:00] but it's also about engagement
[40:02] and making sure this this
[40:03] process is used in a way to
[40:04] really engage folks. I mean I
[40:06] think you're off
[40:08] to a great start and I'm
[40:09] excited
[40:10] about this continuing. Other
[40:14] thoughts before we go
[40:15] to public comment?
[40:17] >> With the neighborhoods, we
[40:18] can piggyback their neighbor
[40:19] watch 'cause we got
[40:20] to keep the database already
[40:21] on that. So the neighborhood
[40:22] watch is a great one
[40:23] to piggyback off of.
[40:28] >> Yeah. Okay, let's see.
[40:28] Well, let's see,
[40:30] I've got someone signed up
[40:31] to speak. Mark Doty?
[40:41] >> I'm it?
[40:42] That's so disappointing.
[40:44] It's not often I--
[40:45] >> Just first, that's all.
[40:47] >> Okay, good.
[40:49] Councilmembers,
[40:50] Commissioners, it's a pleasure
[40:51] to speak
[40:52] with you this evening. I'm
[40:54] Mark Doty. I'm Chair of the
[40:56] Trails Committee,
[40:57] but my comments
[40:58] in no way reflect the Trails
[41:00] Committee. I've been stuck on
[41:00] that a few times. A couple
[41:03] things I just wanted to talk
[41:05] about tonight. It's already
[41:07] kind of been discussed.
[41:09] But when I was reading
[41:12] through this, I was just kind
[41:13] of curious what the community
[41:14] has been bringing up, and you
[41:16] saw trails was mentioned
[41:17] numerous times. There's 500
[41:20] people or so that have been
[41:22] surveyed, and a lot
[41:23] of it came up. So I mean I want
[41:24] ahead and tabbed some things:
[41:27] improved bicycle
[41:28] infrastructure,
[41:30] connect the trail system. Some
[41:32] other interesting ones I saw
[41:35] was the Multicultural
[41:37] Committee said we need to
[41:39] complete our bike path network,
[41:41] we need a network where you
[41:42] don't need to cross
[41:44] at the intersection,
[41:45] which I've been at Planning
[41:48] Commission meetings and City
[41:49] Council meetings hammering
[41:51] on that.
[41:52] >> Once or twice.
[41:53] >> A few times. Apparently,
[41:55] it's getting out to other
[41:56] people 'cause I didn't expect
[41:57] the Housing Youth Authority or
[42:03] the Youth Commission--a lot of
[42:05] different people mention the
[42:06] trails--school district,
[42:07] I was talking
[42:08] about safe routes
[42:09] to school and trail system.
[42:13] Even Sacramento Safe Help
[42:15] Housing mentioned active
[42:17] transportation is key. The
[42:20] streets in Elk Grove are almost
[42:21] freeway-like and are a big
[42:22] barrier
[42:23] to biking and walking. Make
[42:24] sure there are sidewalks
[42:28] everywhere and make it safe
[42:29] to walk and/or bike. Youth
[42:33] Commission I thought was very
[42:34] interesting. You know, same
[42:36] thing: bike lanes should be
[42:37] separated from the road.
[42:40] Everyone drives
[42:40] in the bike lane,
[42:41] so it's not safe. Some
[42:42] suggestion, green ways,
[42:44] mixed use pass separated
[42:45] from the roadways. The trail
[42:47] should be connected,
[42:49] and it should connect
[42:50] to parks. And then overall from
[42:52] the visioning workshops there
[42:56] was also talk
[42:58] about the trails and so on. So
[43:01] I think that speaks pretty well
[43:04] of what people like about Elk
[43:08] Grove and what they want
[43:09] to see continue. One other
[43:11] thing that's not trail related
[43:12] that I didn't even--wasn't
[43:15] looking for when I read this
[43:16] but came
[43:18] across it is the expansion
[43:22] of the City. I saw all these
[43:26] different groups, but the only
[43:28] group that was pro expand the
[43:32] boundaries of the City was the
[43:36] developers. The whole group was
[43:37] a bunch
[43:37] of housing developers. Some
[43:38] of them are probably sitting in
[43:40] the back and probably not
[43:41] liking me right now.
[43:42] But anyway, I'd just throw it
[43:43] out there that it doesn't
[43:45] seem--I don't see the
[43:47] Multicultural Committee and the
[43:48] Youth Commission saying we need
[43:51] to expand our City, you know,
[43:53] we need more housing,
[43:54] more blowing past Kammerer
[43:56] Road to the south. I know there
[43:59] was probably a need for it and
[44:01] will happen probably someday.
[44:02] But, you know, so I have kind
[44:03] of been out there. And
[44:05] since I got nine of you here,
[44:06] I'll throw it out there,
[44:08] that you need to listen
[44:09] to your constituents,
[44:10] the people that live here. And
[44:11] I don't know,
[44:13] I read this whole thing cover
[44:14] to cover and I didn't see one
[44:16] group besides the developer
[44:17] group that was, you know, hey,
[44:19] we need a bigger city
[44:20] to make a better city,
[44:22] 'cause we really don't. So
[44:23] appreciate your time,
[44:24] thank you.
[44:25] >> Thanks, Mark. All right,
[44:25] Leo, you're up. If anybody
[44:30] would like to speak after
[44:31] Leo, please get your form in
[44:33] 'cause I don't have anybody
[44:34] else at this point.
[44:38] >> Good evening,
[44:38] Councilmembers and
[44:39] Commissioners. I appreciate all
[44:41] the work you're putting
[44:42] into this whole thing. It's
[44:44] very valuable. It's going
[44:46] to be the most valuable thing,
[44:47] I think, that the City has. As
[44:50] for myself,
[44:51] I'm a lifelong resident
[44:53] of the area. I was raised
[44:54] on what is now the Pilgrim
[44:56] Ranch on Sloughhouse Road. And
[44:58] I've lived
[45:00] in my place for--before I moved
[45:03] out here, I was the last class
[45:05] out of the old historic
[45:07] Rhoads School down
[45:10] at the park. And I just tell
[45:14] you that because I dye my hair
[45:15] white, it's not because
[45:17] of my age. But you're all
[45:22] to be very much complimented
[45:24] for doing this. I think it's a
[45:25] very, very important element
[45:27] for the future of this City.
[45:30] And we all, us that live out
[45:32] in the rural area,
[45:33] we treasure it. And one
[45:34] of the things that I've got
[45:38] to compliment all of you for is
[45:40] you've supported us all this
[45:41] time through. And in talking
[45:45] to Jason, it looks
[45:47] like we're going
[45:49] to finally put an end to the
[45:51] General Plan, and that's very
[45:52] important. That'll keep it
[45:54] in place. The other thing that
[45:57] I want to say is the biggest
[46:02] issue that we have out there,
[46:04] to my knowledge, is traffic.
[46:09] So when the circulation element
[46:11] is put together in the
[46:12] General Plan, I would suggest
[46:14] that staff meet,
[46:17] have a few more meetings
[46:18] with the people out there so
[46:19] they can--you know, we can
[46:22] express our concerns and maybe
[46:24] they can get more information
[46:26] that we can help them
[46:27] with too.
[46:28] But other than that, there's
[46:30] nothing we can do other than
[46:32] thank you
[46:33] for everything you've done
[46:34] to support us, all of you.
[46:36] Thank you very much. And people
[46:37] like Shane Diller here,
[46:39] he has worked with us,
[46:41] and every time there's an
[46:42] issue, he gets it resolved.
[46:45] And that's the kind of topnotch
[46:47] people we have here and
[46:49] in our City. You're
[46:50] to be complimented. Thank you
[46:52] so much.
[46:53] >> Thank you very much, Leo.
[46:54] You nailed it. I mean Shane is
[46:55] an example,
[46:56] but I think that is everybody
[46:58] on City staff though.
[47:00] >> Mr. Mayor, can we start
[47:01] Leo's clock over again? I'd
[47:02] like to have him come back up
[47:03] here.
[47:09] >> All right, thanks, Pat.
[47:11] >> He was joking. Beth, you're
[47:12] next. And by way,
[47:17] I didn't announce it earlier,
[47:19] so if you would like to
[47:19] participate and make some
[47:20] comments, you can. Just please
[47:22] fill
[47:23] out the speaker request form
[47:23] at the back
[47:24] of the room and bring it up
[47:25] here to Jason.
[47:27] >> All right, I'm Beth
[47:28] Ruthven, and like Leo, I was
[47:30] born and raised here in Elk
[47:32] Grove, and I appreciate all the
[47:33] work done on the General
[47:35] Plan. And I'd like
[47:36] to piggyback on what Leo said
[47:38] in terms of the rural area.
[47:40] That's extraordinarily
[47:41] important to us. And I think
[47:42] that's reflected in a lot of
[47:43] community wishes. I think
[47:46] perhaps that one of the issues
[47:48] in bringing both east and west
[47:50] together is that as long as
[47:52] there are concerns about
[47:54] whether or not the rural area
[47:56] will be preserved,
[47:57] that it's going
[47:58] to be an us or them kind of
[48:00] problem. I know working as a
[48:01] teacher at Elk Grove High
[48:03] School that when it comes
[48:06] to promoting headlines for
[48:08] Elk Grove, one of the things
[48:10] that we do every year is we
[48:13] take lots and lots of awards
[48:14] through our ad program. Our
[48:16] rural kids who attend our
[48:20] school attend and have an
[48:23] opportunity to participate
[48:25] in one of the most amazing ad
[48:28] programs. And these are our
[48:30] country kids. And we'll lose
[48:31] that if we lose the character
[48:33] of our country areas.
[48:36] Personally, I miss it. I still
[48:38] live in the rural community,
[48:40] but it does not feel
[48:42] like it used to. And so I'd
[48:43] like to see it reflected
[48:45] in the General Plan that we're
[48:46] working on taking care of that
[48:49] and ensuring that it will stay.
[48:53] And in fact, trying to maybe
[48:55] make some changes so that
[48:58] Sheldon Road does not become a
[49:02] main artery,
[49:03] so that the portion of Sheldon
[49:06] that's just beautiful and
[49:08] overhung with oaks,
[49:10] that we can maybe extend that.
[49:11] And I know our homeowners'
[49:12] association is interested
[49:14] in partnering with the City
[49:16] in providing trees
[49:18] to help make that happen. We do
[49:20] need to look
[49:20] at traffic calming measures.
[49:22] But that really needs
[49:24] to be respected in the
[49:25] General Plan. And I think that
[49:27] would resolve a lot of the us
[49:29] against them stuff. As long as
[49:31] the rural community kind
[49:32] of feels threatened, when we
[49:34] have such a long history there
[49:36] and we have kids involved in
[49:38] this stuff and this is just
[49:40] such a part of our roots,
[49:41] there's always going to be,
[49:42] you know, some headbutting.
[49:44] And I don't think it would be a
[49:45] difficult thing
[49:46] to resolve overall. Anyway,
[49:47] just wanted to throw that
[49:49] out there. And
[49:51] in case you weren't aware,
[49:52] right,
[49:53] we do nationally recognized ad
[49:56] programs, so we need
[49:57] to support our kids,
[49:58] right?
[49:59] >> Yep, well said, Beth. I
[50:01] think everyone here knows when
[50:02] you go to the state fair,
[50:03] the county fair, and that Elk
[50:04] Grove dominates. And not just
[50:06] Elk Grove High School, you
[50:07] know, many of our high schools
[50:08] dominate.
[50:09] >> Nationally ----
[50:11] >> Yep.
[50:12] >> ---- so anyway.
[50:14] >> Agreed. Thank you.
[50:18] >> Not that I'm partial
[50:19] to us --.
[50:21] >> Okay. Anyone else care
[50:22] to share? Do we have further
[50:25] staff presentation?
[50:36] >> Good evening,
[50:37] Commissioners, Councilmembers.
[50:38] I'm Jeff Henderson, Special
[50:39] Projects Manager with the
[50:40] City. And I'm going to take us
[50:42] through the second half
[50:43] of our presentation,
[50:45] which is really on the draft
[50:47] shared community vision,
[50:50] two modifiers there. Draft
[50:52] in the sense that this is, you
[50:54] know, all of it looks kind
[50:55] of glossy and flashy. It's a
[50:57] work
[50:58] in progress and it's meant
[50:58] to be that. This is the
[51:01] starting point, this is some
[51:02] of the first texts, if you
[51:04] will, that we're drafting
[51:05] for the actual General Plan.
[51:06] And the purpose
[51:08] of tonight's discussion is
[51:09] to share
[51:11] with you our initial thoughts
[51:12] on what the vision looks
[51:13] like based on all
[51:14] of the input that Nora and
[51:16] Sara summarized earlier and
[51:18] to relay that as a draft, to
[51:21] say this is our starting point.
[51:22] And as Christopher mentioned
[51:24] earlier, it can and should be
[51:25] tweaked a bit as the policy
[51:28] discussion progresses.
[51:29] But it sets
[51:30] for us that initial course
[51:32] for the direction that we want
[51:33] to go for the next 15 years.
[51:35] It outlines what we believe
[51:38] to be a good vision for
[51:39] essentially bringing the
[51:42] community together
[51:43] toward a common vision.
[51:45] Again, trying to say, you know,
[51:46] one
[51:47] of the objectives potentially
[51:48] of this plan going forward is
[51:49] so that 15 years from now,
[51:51] when we're here talking about a
[51:53] potential general plan update
[51:54] again, you know,
[51:55] maybe the initial point of
[51:57] conversation isn't an east-west
[51:59] divide,
[52:00] it's some other new challenge
[52:00] or issue, but that that's
[52:01] something that we've
[52:02] potentially worked
[52:04] toward resolving
[52:05] over the course of the nest 15
[52:06] years. So it's a more common
[52:08] vision
[52:09] toward a brighter future,
[52:11] which is one of the key themes
[52:12] of the General Plan update.
[52:14] And it really represents a
[52:15] summary of where the City is
[52:16] going to go, what it's going
[52:18] to do, and how it will do it.
[52:19] That's ultimately what the
[52:21] General Plan does. This
[52:22] document really kind of starts
[52:24] with that first bullet point,
[52:25] where do we want to go? What do
[52:27] we want to be in 15 to 20
[52:28] years? The vision is used
[52:31] ultimately in conjunction
[52:35] with the rest of the General
[52:36] Plan--sorry -- back.
[52:38] It's used in tandem
[52:40] with the policies and actions
[52:41] of the General Plan. This is
[52:43] sort of the first step, the
[52:44] very top level step that's then
[52:46] implemented further
[52:47] with goals, policies,
[52:49] and actions. To use
[52:51] Christopher's analogy earlier
[52:52] about driving east, you know,
[52:54] we know we're going to the
[52:55] East Coast, just as an analogy,
[52:57] we know we're going to the
[52:58] East Coast. We don't know yet
[52:59] whether we're aiming more
[53:01] toward Boston or more toward
[53:03] Miami. As we move farther east,
[53:04] we start choosing highways,
[53:06] we start determining the
[53:08] timeframe, how fast we want
[53:09] to go, and ultimately what the
[53:10] final destination is. And
[53:12] that's a process that can be
[53:14] kind of drawn parallel
[53:15] from this vision level,
[53:17] where we're essentially
[53:18] pointing east,
[53:19] and an action level which says,
[53:21] you know,
[53:21] at what timeframe and by what
[53:24] mode and how fast are we going
[53:25] to get, say, Washington, D.C.
[53:28] as our destination. So that's
[53:31] really an analogy
[53:33] for where this vision fits in
[53:34] to the overall system.
[53:36] In our next Roundabout Reach
[53:37] that we'll initiate
[53:39] after the first of the year, in
[53:40] future joint study
[53:41] sessions--and at the end
[53:42] of the meeting we're going to
[53:44] outlay the calendar that we've
[53:45] selected for getting us
[53:47] from where we are now
[53:48] to a very key timeframe in
[53:51] June where we'd be presenting a
[53:52] preferred alternative that's
[53:54] the basis for the plan,
[53:55] and then ultimately
[53:57] to the release
[53:58] of the draft plan
[53:58] toward the end of next year.
[54:00] And those study sessions are
[54:01] very important points. This one
[54:02] is the first. These are very
[54:04] important points for us
[54:06] to essentially check
[54:07] in and say, is this
[54:09] on the right direction,
[54:11] shall we proceed
[54:12] to the next step? And that's
[54:13] really the type
[54:14] of direction we're seeking
[54:14] from you tonight. So I'm going
[54:19] to take a minute, and this is
[54:20] the one slide I'm going
[54:21] to read, because this is
[54:23] ultimately the draft
[54:25] of the community vision itself.
[54:28] And it's describing Elk Grove
[54:29] in fifteen years. So when we
[54:31] talk about the tense
[54:33] of this statement,
[54:34] we're talking
[54:35] about the community I 15 years.
[54:37] "As Elk Grove is a great place
[54:38] to make a home and a great
[54:39] place to work, our community is
[54:41] healthy and safe and is
[54:43] family-oriented with thriving
[54:45] schools and plentiful parks,
[54:47] shops, and places to work.
[54:49] Agriculture, rural homes, and
[54:52] urban life flourish together.
[54:57] Our natural resources,
[54:58] including water and open
[54:59] spaces, are protected and offer
[55:01] a variety
[55:02] of recreational opportunities.
[55:03] Community members travel easily
[55:06] by automobile, by bicycle,
[55:08] on foot, or using transit.
[55:12] The City's proactive is making
[55:14] daily life healthy and
[55:16] sustainable,
[55:17] considering the needs of future
[55:18] generations while protecting
[55:20] what is valued today.
[55:22] Well-maintained infrastructure
[55:24] and the right mix of services
[55:26] and amenities draw new and
[55:28] dynamic businesses and
[55:29] development to Elk Grove. And
[55:32] development is guided to ensure
[55:34] responsible growth and
[55:36] opportunities for a diversity
[55:38] of individuals that call Elk
[55:39] Grove home." So you'll see a
[55:41] lot
[55:42] of different themes reflected
[55:43] in there. And when we think
[55:44] back to the topics of the
[55:45] General Plan, one of the things
[55:46] the vision statement is
[55:48] intending to do is to try
[55:49] to kind of touch all those
[55:50] bases and make a statement
[55:51] about what's the future
[55:52] direction with regard to the
[55:54] various topics that were
[55:56] mandated to address in the
[55:57] General Plan. So this then is a
[55:59] narrative statement. The intent
[56:02] would be to place this
[56:03] in the beginning of the
[56:04] General Plan as setting the
[56:06] framework for the resulting
[56:07] goals and policies. And it's
[56:08] referenced in the booklet
[56:10] that's been distributed tonight
[56:11] on page 13 by way
[56:13] of reference. That vision
[56:17] statement is supported
[56:18] by a number of what we call
[56:21] supporting principles. So we
[56:22] start
[56:23] from that vision statement, and
[56:25] then the supporting principles
[56:26] dive in a little bit deeper,
[56:28] providing still guidance
[56:29] statements on a variety
[56:31] of very important topics. It is
[56:34] possible this could be one way
[56:35] that the General Plan is
[56:36] organized. Again, that's not a
[56:38] decision that's been made nor
[56:39] necessarily recommendation
[56:41] at this point, but it is an
[56:42] idea that we're potentially
[56:44] kicking around. And that these
[56:46] supporting principles then take
[56:48] a topic like,
[56:49] if we flip the page to 14, this
[56:54] identifies the supporting
[56:55] principles. If we go again
[56:57] to page 17, it will identify,
[56:59] for example, one
[57:01] of those first,
[57:02] the regional goals and
[57:03] influence topic,
[57:05] with another statement, a
[57:06] supporting statement: "Our
[57:07] regional neighbors know us and
[57:10] our contributions." This
[57:11] responds in many ways
[57:12] to the dialogue that initiated
[57:13] in June about Elk Grove's place
[57:15] in the region and the way the
[57:17] region and its overall
[57:20] strategies consider perhaps
[57:23] economic strategies,
[57:24] sustainability strategies and
[57:25] the like, how those influence
[57:27] Elk Grove. But in turn,
[57:28] this is also about Elk Grove's
[57:31] place in this region from a
[57:33] land resource perspective,
[57:36] from an economic perspective,
[57:38] what is it that Elk Grove
[57:39] uniquely brings
[57:40] to the region. And so it's a
[57:41] statement that essentially says
[57:44] in the future, as is true
[57:46] today, Elk Grove occupies a
[57:47] prominent place
[57:49] in the regional dialogue.
[57:50] That Elk Grove's contributions
[57:52] to the region include
[57:53] recreation, higher education,
[57:56] job centers,
[57:57] and quality neighborhoods.
[57:59] That's a preliminary list. It
[58:01] could certainly be added upon.
[58:02] But I think from the types
[58:04] of input that we've received,
[58:06] these are the areas
[58:07] around which the vision is kind
[58:09] of stepping forward and saying
[58:11] here are some ways
[58:11] in which we're going
[58:12] to contribute to the region.
[58:13] And ultimately, jobs/housing
[58:14] balance becomes an important
[58:16] consideration from a potential
[58:18] policy perspective under this
[58:20] guiding principle or supporting
[58:22] principle. And that's tied up
[58:24] in the final statement
[58:26] under that setting, that both
[58:29] housing and jobs are available
[58:29] in the community providing
[58:31] flexible opportunities
[58:31] for different lifestyles. Next
[58:36] key topic is referred
[58:38] to as "Development Fills
[58:40] in the Gaps." This is one
[58:42] that's really kind of
[58:43] about the growth strategy for
[58:44] the community and how growth
[58:46] would be managed in the future
[58:47] in Elk Grove. And it's
[58:49] recognizing that, you know,
[58:51] today there are a number
[58:52] of kind of undeveloped gaps
[58:53] within the communities and we
[58:55] recognize that these are key
[58:56] opportunities to help bring
[58:58] in the types
[59:00] of additions that are wanted
[59:01] in the City
[59:02] from a economic perspective.
[59:03] There's an emphasis here
[59:05] on small business preservation.
[59:07] Again, from the principle
[59:08] of the first step,
[59:09] economic development is
[59:11] to take care
[59:11] of what you have, and then
[59:13] to move forward and to attract
[59:13] things that are compatible
[59:15] with your overall vision. It's
[59:17] a recognition that new housing
[59:21] in the community is a need,
[59:23] both
[59:23] to protect affordability and to
[59:25] improve that potential
[59:27] jobs/housing balance and
[59:29] potentially to help improve
[59:31] commuting distances and similar
[59:32] topics within the community.
[59:37] And a recognition that the
[59:38] City's growth strategy may
[59:40] involve both infill
[59:42] into these existing kinds
[59:44] of gaps within the community
[59:45] and establishing a creative
[59:48] growth management strategy for
[59:49] if and how outward expansion
[59:52] occurs. And, you know, one
[59:54] of the pieces of dialogue that
[59:55] we've heard throughout this
[59:57] process is, if the City's going
[59:58] to continue
[59:59] to expand outward, that the
[1:00:01] General Plan should lay the
[1:00:03] framework
[1:00:03] under which that occurs. And so
[1:00:05] that, you know,
[1:00:06] there's some statement
[1:00:07] in here that talks
[1:00:08] about the types
[1:00:09] of things that would be needed
[1:00:11] in order
[1:00:12] to enable that development
[1:00:13] to occur
[1:00:14] in a fashion consistent
[1:00:15] with the General Plan. So
[1:00:17] that's an important
[1:00:19] consideration as we go forward
[1:00:21] as well. The next topic is "Our
[1:00:23] Economy Thrives and New
[1:00:26] Businesses Add Value." This is
[1:00:28] recognizing the fact that Elk
[1:00:31] Grove is and should continue
[1:00:33] to--is a diverse economy now
[1:00:35] and should continue to
[1:00:36] diversify its economic
[1:00:38] strengths and become a more
[1:00:40] major employment center
[1:00:41] in the region. That's going
[1:00:43] to be one of the important
[1:00:44] strategies going forward,
[1:00:46] that the City should encourage
[1:00:47] an innovative technology
[1:00:49] infrastructure and continue
[1:00:52] to build upon the opportunity
[1:00:54] to provide technical education
[1:00:55] or opportunities,
[1:00:58] and that plentiful goods,
[1:01:00] services, activities and
[1:01:01] entertainment remain an
[1:01:03] important part
[1:01:04] of the mix that, again, draws
[1:01:05] people here and helps
[1:01:07] businesses to thrive
[1:01:08] in the community. The next key
[1:01:12] topic gets to sort
[1:01:15] of the balance between citywide
[1:01:16] values and neighborhood values.
[1:01:19] And this is titled "City Core
[1:01:20] Heritage and Well-Known
[1:01:22] Neighborhoods." And it
[1:01:24] recognizes that
[1:01:25] in the future, you know, the
[1:01:26] City in 15 years from now,
[1:01:27] we recognize the existence
[1:01:29] of a civic core. You know, this
[1:01:31] could include a civics center
[1:01:32] and surrounding uses,
[1:01:33] for example. So civic core, it
[1:01:36] gives good central gathering
[1:01:39] places for community members,
[1:01:42] something in a physical sense
[1:01:44] that unites the east and west
[1:01:45] sides in that regard,
[1:01:46] and that Old Town,
[1:01:48] for example, continues
[1:01:50] to grow and protect--I'm sorry,
[1:01:53] not grow, but that Old Town
[1:01:54] Elk Grove continues
[1:01:56] to protect and showcase the
[1:01:57] City's history and is a
[1:02:00] valuable resource
[1:02:01] for continuing
[1:02:02] to communicate the history
[1:02:04] of the City. And that
[1:02:05] neighborhoods are an important
[1:02:07] value. And that as they're
[1:02:09] organized around your topnotch
[1:02:11] parks and schools, and that
[1:02:13] that interplay is valued going
[1:02:14] forward and is indeed the model
[1:02:17] for which new development
[1:02:19] continues to occur. And that
[1:02:20] the preservation and change
[1:02:24] in neighborhoods is guided
[1:02:25] by local values,
[1:02:27] and local values centered
[1:02:28] on diversity within the City,
[1:02:31] neighborly spirit that exists
[1:02:32] in current neighborhoods,
[1:02:34] and ultimately protection
[1:02:35] of small town character. Even
[1:02:37] as a large community, by doing
[1:02:38] good neighborhood planning, you
[1:02:39] can protect that small town
[1:02:41] character
[1:02:42] by essentially connecting
[1:02:43] people to neighborhoods. The
[1:02:46] next topic is dedicated
[1:02:48] to "Protecting Our Farming
[1:02:50] Heritage and Rural Life." This
[1:02:52] is where essentially the
[1:02:53] strategies for the rural area
[1:02:55] are incapsulated. And the
[1:02:57] intent here is to use the
[1:02:59] General Plan to celebrate rural
[1:03:00] life as a part
[1:03:02] of the community. And you think
[1:03:04] back to the vision statement
[1:03:05] that was the statement
[1:03:06] essentially
[1:03:07] about agriculture, rural and
[1:03:09] urban, all coexisting,
[1:03:11] and that that's part
[1:03:12] of the vision
[1:03:13] of the community. This really
[1:03:15] gets
[1:03:15] to celebrating the rural aspect
[1:03:16] of that, while recognizing that
[1:03:18] there's going to continue
[1:03:20] to be a bit of a struggle
[1:03:21] in balancing that rural
[1:03:22] heritage
[1:03:24] with all the other needs,
[1:03:25] services,
[1:03:26] and lifestyles that are desired
[1:03:27] by Elk Grove residents. And so
[1:03:29] it's an important thing, I
[1:03:31] think, from our perspective
[1:03:32] to document the commitment
[1:03:34] to the rural area and
[1:03:36] to maintenance of the rural
[1:03:37] area and its character in the
[1:03:39] General Plan. And they've got a
[1:03:41] fundamental value of the
[1:03:42] General Plan that then every
[1:03:44] other planning decision on a
[1:03:46] day-to-day basis is measured
[1:03:47] against, but to do that in a
[1:03:50] manner that also addresses all
[1:03:52] the other needs
[1:03:53] in the community. And so just,
[1:03:55] again, reinforcing a commitment
[1:03:57] that the rural area is valued,
[1:03:59] and that that value is clear
[1:04:00] and codified in all of the
[1:04:02] City's planning documents. And
[1:04:04] the best way to do that is
[1:04:05] to start with the General Plan
[1:04:06] and role down. The next
[1:04:13] principle is "Outdoor
[1:04:14] Recreation is Right Outside
[1:04:14] Our Door." And this gets
[1:04:17] to some of the open space and
[1:04:18] conservation topics required
[1:04:19] by General Plan law. And it
[1:04:20] starts with really valuing the
[1:04:23] parks and trails in the
[1:04:25] community and ensuring that,
[1:04:27] you know,
[1:04:27] we are continually working
[1:04:28] toward a consistent and
[1:04:30] connected system that is
[1:04:32] of high quality and continues
[1:04:33] to be highly valued
[1:04:34] by residents and those looking
[1:04:36] to locate in Elk Grove and
[1:04:38] really sort
[1:04:39] of portrayed as an amenity,
[1:04:41] portrayed as a community
[1:04:42] amenity of Elk Grove, and that
[1:04:44] we enhance and maintain our
[1:04:45] recreational open spaces. And
[1:04:47] again,
[1:04:48] here we're conveying some
[1:04:49] values for these open spaces
[1:04:50] of safety, connection, and
[1:04:53] accessibility, and building the
[1:04:55] essentially open-spaced plan
[1:04:57] around those principles. And
[1:05:00] then ultimately,
[1:05:01] looking outward and saying,
[1:05:03] you know, we have a good
[1:05:04] valuable trail system that's
[1:05:06] only enhanced by connecting
[1:05:07] to other things
[1:05:07] in the region. It produces
[1:05:10] potential transportation
[1:05:12] benefits,
[1:05:13] it produces potential health
[1:05:14] benefits,
[1:05:15] and further connects Elk Grove
[1:05:17] to a larger region. The key
[1:05:18] circulation principle here is
[1:05:23] titled "Moving Around
[1:05:24] Anywhere, Any Way." And it's a
[1:05:27] recognition that people need
[1:05:30] to move
[1:05:32] around efficiently and they
[1:05:33] need to be provided a variety
[1:05:35] of ways to do it,
[1:05:37] and that that results through
[1:05:39] connected transportation
[1:05:40] networks, further regional
[1:05:42] coordination,
[1:05:43] and providing options to the
[1:05:46] single occupancy vehicle. Not
[1:05:47] replacing single occupancy
[1:05:49] vehicle but providing options
[1:05:50] to it that are viable and
[1:05:52] support everyday activity. And
[1:05:56] that's done
[1:05:56] through encouraging a variety
[1:05:58] of transportation modes and
[1:05:59] ensuring both efficiency and
[1:06:01] safety in the roadway system.
[1:06:04] And one of the provisions
[1:06:05] of state law that we are
[1:06:06] working to comply with
[1:06:08] within the General Plan update
[1:06:09] is the requirement to address a
[1:06:11] complete streets transportation
[1:06:13] system. And so there's
[1:06:14] recognition at the vision and
[1:06:16] guiding principle level,
[1:06:18] so all the way up
[1:06:19] at this level,
[1:06:20] that there's necessary
[1:06:21] to provide facilities
[1:06:22] for peds, pedestrians,
[1:06:24] bicyclists, and transit users
[1:06:26] as well as a variety
[1:06:27] of other users in clean, safe,
[1:06:30] and well-maintained facilities.
[1:06:36] The next is "Clean Green
[1:06:37] Practices and Healthy
[1:06:38] Living." So this is really
[1:06:39] getting to sustainability and
[1:06:40] health considerations of the
[1:06:42] General Plan. And it's a goal
[1:06:44] for the City to, you know,
[1:06:46] looking back on this General
[1:06:47] Plan and its implementation as
[1:06:49] the City accomplished the goal
[1:06:50] of being a leader in regional
[1:06:52] conservation efforts and
[1:06:54] understanding the roles
[1:06:56] of organizations, businesses,
[1:06:58] and residents in assisting in
[1:06:59] accomplishing that objective.
[1:07:03] Embracing innovations and green
[1:07:04] technologies is a good
[1:07:06] connection, if you will,
[1:07:07] between conservation goals and
[1:07:09] economic development goals
[1:07:10] potentially and looking
[1:07:12] at that and understanding, you
[1:07:14] know, can we develop policies
[1:07:14] that advance us
[1:07:15] toward those objectives. And
[1:07:18] that the City's layout and land
[1:07:19] uses promote healthy living
[1:07:21] with healthy food options and
[1:07:23] destinations nearby. So those
[1:07:26] are also important
[1:07:27] considerations under the clean
[1:07:29] green practices and healthy
[1:07:30] living principle. And the final
[1:07:35] one is "Services for the Needs
[1:07:37] of All Residents." This really
[1:07:39] gets to community services,
[1:07:41] infrastructure and potentially
[1:07:42] social service impacts of the
[1:07:45] General Plan and laying out a
[1:07:46] strategy that connects those
[1:07:48] services and facilities to the
[1:07:50] broader land use perspective.
[1:07:54] And under this, you know,
[1:07:55] safety and services are
[1:07:56] recognized as important
[1:07:57] to all members
[1:07:58] of the community,
[1:08:00] with particular emphasis on
[1:08:02] youth and seniors as well as
[1:08:03] disadvantaged families
[1:08:05] within the community. And then
[1:08:07] the City stepping forward to
[1:08:08] ensure that services are
[1:08:10] provided, not committing
[1:08:11] to provide services itself,
[1:08:12] but in its role, ensuring that
[1:08:15] residents and businesses have
[1:08:17] access to adequate social,
[1:08:19] housing, transportation,
[1:08:20] health,
[1:08:22] and education services. This is
[1:08:24] something that was underlying a
[1:08:26] lot of the dialogue with the
[1:08:28] community that we've had over
[1:08:29] the last several months and
[1:08:30] something that we as a team
[1:08:31] were kind of very intrigued
[1:08:32] to hear,
[1:08:34] was a strong emphasis and value
[1:08:36] on social services
[1:08:37] within the community
[1:08:38] in the context of a General
[1:08:39] Plan. And so it's something
[1:08:40] that we felt important
[1:08:41] to bring forward
[1:08:42] at this level. And that
[1:08:44] entertainment and social
[1:08:45] centers, kind of thinking more
[1:08:47] about the economic component
[1:08:48] of this, support a thriving
[1:08:50] economy and give residents
[1:08:52] places in the community
[1:08:54] to shop, to play, and just
[1:08:55] to relax and enjoy aspects
[1:08:59] of the community. That
[1:09:03] summarizes the overall vision
[1:09:05] and supporting principles. I've
[1:09:07] got a couple slides just
[1:09:09] to summarize next steps, and
[1:09:10] then we'll have another period
[1:09:12] for discussion and public
[1:09:13] comment. And I'll invite
[1:09:14] Christopher to come up and
[1:09:16] conclude the presentation.
[1:09:22] >> Thanks, Jeff. So very
[1:09:23] briefly, as you'll see
[1:09:24] on the screen, are what we see
[1:09:25] as the next steps
[1:09:26] to dive down. And we talked
[1:09:28] about this a little bit ago.
[1:09:29] And some of these key points
[1:09:31] are the three workshops that
[1:09:32] Sara identified a minute ago
[1:09:34] and are summarized here: a
[1:09:35] discussion
[1:09:36] about neighborhood identity,
[1:09:37] about growth strategies, and
[1:09:38] about transportation and
[1:09:39] mobility. As you'll see
[1:09:41] in the next slide,
[1:09:42] we're identifying the end of
[1:09:43] January and first part of
[1:09:44] February to have that community
[1:09:45] engagement and go through that
[1:09:47] process and dialogue those
[1:09:49] issues
[1:09:50] in more detail and start
[1:09:50] to prepare the initial rounds
[1:09:52] of a policy discussion
[1:09:53] around those. That would be
[1:09:55] followed up
[1:09:56] by your next joint study
[1:09:57] session on February 11th,
[1:09:59] where we kind
[1:10:00] of summarize the results
[1:10:01] of that and start to articulate
[1:10:02] where that information is
[1:10:04] taking us and how we can
[1:10:06] proceed forward
[1:10:07] in the drafting of the plan.
[1:10:09] So that brings us
[1:10:10] to nearly the midpoint
[1:10:11] in the overall work process.
[1:10:13] So the dates that we're
[1:10:14] targeting
[1:10:15] for that community engagement
[1:10:16] on those three topics,
[1:10:17] and we don't have dates
[1:10:18] specific to those topics yet,
[1:10:20] we'll be working on those
[1:10:21] over the next couple of weeks
[1:10:22] and then announcing them in the
[1:10:23] new year once folks are back
[1:10:25] from the holiday.
[1:10:26] But the dates themselves
[1:10:28] in this room are January 26 and
[1:10:29] 28 and February 1st. So they're
[1:10:32] right on top of each other. But
[1:10:33] given the importance and the
[1:10:35] schedule over all
[1:10:36] of where we are and trying to
[1:10:37] keep this process moving and
[1:10:39] getting the information
[1:10:40] together and developing the
[1:10:41] plan from a time schedule
[1:10:43] perspective,
[1:10:44] these are important dates
[1:10:46] for us. So with that,
[1:10:49] we'll open up
[1:10:50] for comment and discussion,
[1:10:50] both from -- and
[1:10:52] from the public.
[1:10:54] >> Okay. Councilman Detrick.
[1:10:58] >> You know, from where we are
[1:11:00] in the process, I think you
[1:11:02] guys nailed it so far. You
[1:11:04] know, there's still--obviously
[1:11:05] there's going
[1:11:06] to be some tweaking going on,
[1:11:07] but for where we are, I'm very,
[1:11:10] very impressed what's been put
[1:11:12] together and the all that the
[1:11:15] variety
[1:11:15] of topics you've been able to
[1:11:16] hit. I'm just--and the piece
[1:11:19] itself is not only towards the
[1:11:21] General Plan, I mean the
[1:11:22] marketing of the City of Elk
[1:11:24] Grove. And I give you guys--you
[1:11:28] know, you guys hit it out
[1:11:31] of the park. I look forward
[1:11:34] to hearing some other comments
[1:11:35] from everybody. But I'm very,
[1:11:36] very impressed. Thank you.
[1:11:38] >> Councilman Suen.
[1:11:39] >> Yeah, I would definitely
[1:11:40] echo those comments and that
[1:11:42] sentiment. You've taken a very
[1:11:46] complex document,
[1:11:48] and the way things are
[1:11:49] connected together,
[1:11:50] there's a lot of nuances
[1:11:51] to every single topic. And so
[1:11:53] you're approach thus far I
[1:11:54] think has been very good
[1:11:57] in terms of your outreach. And
[1:11:58] what's coming out was
[1:12:00] resonating amongst the public.
[1:12:03] I would risk saying that all
[1:12:04] of us up here agree with
[1:12:06] everything that's been stated
[1:12:07] thus far. So I look forward to
[1:12:09] the next steps and additional
[1:12:11] outreach opportunities.
[1:12:13] Thanks.
[1:12:15] >> Councilman Hume.
[1:12:17] >> So I'll echo those comments.
[1:12:18] I mean I think
[1:12:19] from where you are,
[1:12:20] you're tapping
[1:12:20] into things that I wanted
[1:12:21] to see come out
[1:12:22] of this process, and
[1:12:22] from listening to some
[1:12:24] of the comments here tonight,
[1:12:25] certainly echoing what the
[1:12:26] residents are wanting
[1:12:27] to see come out
[1:12:28] of this process. I'm going
[1:12:29] to go into little more specific
[1:12:30] comments about some
[1:12:31] of the items though,
[1:12:32] other than just heap praise
[1:12:35] on you. My first question is,
[1:12:37] what is the horizon of this
[1:12:39] General Plan once this update
[1:12:40] is completed? Does it--another
[1:12:41] 20 years?
[1:12:45] >> So this has actually been a
[1:12:46] discussion amongst our group at
[1:12:48] a staff level. I professionally
[1:12:49] am of the opinion that while
[1:12:51] you do an update on the
[1:12:52] General Plan, maybe it's 10,
[1:12:54] 15 years, whatever's right
[1:12:55] for the community,
[1:12:57] you should never box yourself
[1:12:58] in to a specific timeframe--so
[1:13:01] by 2030 we're going to be
[1:13:03] this-- because the community is
[1:13:04] always changing. There's always
[1:13:05] something new to think about.
[1:13:08] And you should be visionary
[1:13:09] at a vision level
[1:13:10] of what's the broad approach.
[1:13:12] And certainly, as you get
[1:13:13] into the implementation,
[1:13:14] there should be benchmarks of
[1:13:15] how you are working towards
[1:13:16] achieving that vision. But to
[1:13:18] just unilaterally say there's a
[1:13:20] date and we're going
[1:13:22] to hit this by this date,
[1:13:23] I think shortchanges the intent
[1:13:25] of what a general plan is
[1:13:26] supposed to be. Now that said,
[1:13:28] from an environmental review
[1:13:30] perspective, it has to go
[1:13:31] along with this, there has
[1:13:33] to be a sort of timeframe. You
[1:13:35] have to start marrying these
[1:13:36] things together. And
[1:13:37] from that standpoint, what will
[1:13:39] likely be used is--and we
[1:13:41] talked about this from the
[1:13:42] regional supporting statements
[1:13:46] of connecting with other plans
[1:13:48] and other studies
[1:13:50] around the region--the
[1:13:51] Sacramento Council governs its
[1:13:53] metropolitan transportation
[1:13:54] plan,
[1:13:55] the sustainable community
[1:13:56] strategy,
[1:13:57] and the growth timeframe. It
[1:13:59] identifies from a
[1:14:00] transportation perspective,
[1:14:01] is what's commonly used
[1:14:02] to do that. So I think it's
[1:14:03] 2036, the current version. So
[1:14:05] that information at a
[1:14:06] transportation level would
[1:14:08] likely be a benchmark date
[1:14:10] to use. When you're looking
[1:14:12] at that, puts you at about 20
[1:14:13] years--yeah, 20 years out.
[1:14:18] >> I appreciate that answer
[1:14:19] because you're right, it is a
[1:14:21] living document that you refer
[1:14:22] to as you're going along. It's
[1:14:25] not something that you blow the
[1:14:25] dust off of and go,
[1:14:28] how did we do at the end
[1:14:28] of it all? But I want to point
[1:14:31] out something that I think it's
[1:14:32] kind of shocking to me and it
[1:14:34] takes a little while for it
[1:14:35] to sink in, and that is it'll
[1:14:36] become more apparent in
[1:14:38] January 'cause the math will
[1:14:39] become easier, but
[1:14:41] at some point in June, we are
[1:14:42] now closer to 2030 than we are
[1:14:44] to 2000. And that's just
[1:14:46] mindboggling
[1:14:48] to me when I think
[1:14:48] about it.
[1:14:50] >> Thanks again --.
[1:14:51] I'm getting old.
[1:14:54] >> But--so one
[1:14:55] of the things that I saw in
[1:14:56] this callout is that by--and I
[1:14:57] think 2030 was the date
[1:14:58] used--that the projected
[1:14:59] population adds another 40,000
[1:15:01] or so residents to the City
[1:15:03] of Elk Grove. And so that's
[1:15:06] more than doubled the size of
[1:15:08] Elk Grove when we grew up,
[1:15:10] maybe the size of New Helvetia
[1:15:11] when Leo grew up.
[1:15:15] But those are a lot
[1:15:19] of people. And then when you
[1:15:20] look at what is the overall
[1:15:21] glacial speed
[1:15:23] of growth absorption, you know,
[1:15:25] for local examples, Laguna
[1:15:27] Ridge took over six years
[1:15:28] to plan,
[1:15:29] and it's probably going
[1:15:30] to be close to 12, 15 years
[1:15:32] for full buildout. We're
[1:15:33] already 10 years
[1:15:35] into it now. SEPA,
[1:15:36] similar lead time
[1:15:39] on the planning effort. And
[1:15:40] these were in areas
[1:15:41] of that were already sort
[1:15:44] of cleared for growth, so
[1:15:45] to speak. And so I want
[1:15:47] to talk
[1:15:48] about the infill and expansion.
[1:15:51] Infill is always important.
[1:15:53] You always want
[1:15:53] to use up your available land,
[1:15:55] because if you pass it
[1:15:57] over and growth just keeps
[1:15:58] on going,
[1:15:59] then it's less desirable
[1:16:00] to come back to. And there's a
[1:16:02] lot of problems created
[1:16:03] by empty lots. But what I want
[1:16:05] to make sure that this
[1:16:06] General Plan definitely does is
[1:16:08] remove the Sheldon area or the
[1:16:10] rural area
[1:16:11] from that equation. Those large
[1:16:13] parcels
[1:16:14] of land are not available for
[1:16:16] infill development and they are
[1:16:18] not to be calculated when other
[1:16:19] agencies and other folks take a
[1:16:20] look at where Elk Grove can put
[1:16:23] more density. It's not
[1:16:25] on the table. And so I'd like
[1:16:27] to see the General Plan
[1:16:28] absolutely crystal clear
[1:16:29] on that point, and not just in,
[1:16:30] say, land use,
[1:16:34] but that the fingers of it go
[1:16:36] into the other elements as
[1:16:37] well. And so in that regard,
[1:16:39] on page 18
[1:16:41] of the document where it talks
[1:16:42] about infill and existing
[1:16:44] development, it says, "A create
[1:16:45] growth management strategy
[1:16:46] allows expansion to recur only
[1:16:47] when economic need, community
[1:16:50] vision and regional goals
[1:16:51] align." I appreciate the
[1:16:55] sentiment of that statement,
[1:16:56] but I think if that gets
[1:16:57] codified into a General Plan,
[1:16:58] that's a very dicey situation.
[1:17:00] Because you have a very
[1:17:01] constrained qualifier and only
[1:17:02] followed by some very nebulous
[1:17:04] conditions that aren't clearly
[1:17:08] stated. Economic need
[1:17:09] for whom? Who's benefitting
[1:17:11] from it? Community vision as
[1:17:13] stated by whom? Regional goals
[1:17:16] that who established? And so I
[1:17:18] just want to be careful that
[1:17:20] when we use language
[1:17:21] like that,
[1:17:22] we're not pinning ourselves
[1:17:24] into a box that somebody else
[1:17:25] is going to use our words
[1:17:27] against us at the end of it.
[1:17:29] But, Jeff, you said something
[1:17:32] that I thought was great,
[1:17:33] and something that I've heard
[1:17:35] from the community, and it's to
[1:17:36] really strengthen and document
[1:17:38] the character
[1:17:39] of the rural area. This is not
[1:17:40] a vision of what we want
[1:17:42] to be, it's what it is and what
[1:17:44] it's going to remain to be.
[1:17:46] And I know that
[1:17:46] in the initial General Plan we
[1:17:49] put actual policies, no wet
[1:17:51] utilities, into the area.
[1:17:55] Things that will by the nature
[1:17:56] of them keep that
[1:17:58] from happening. And so I'd
[1:18:00] like to see areas where we can
[1:18:02] strengthen those ideas. The
[1:18:04] other thing I'd like to see
[1:18:05] in respect to that is our
[1:18:08] farming heritage,
[1:18:11] and that that not only goes to
[1:18:13] strengthen the rural character,
[1:18:15] but it also talks about our
[1:18:16] economic development and our
[1:18:18] infill strategies and these
[1:18:19] types of things. You know,
[1:18:20] farm to fork is a huge regional
[1:18:22] moment right now. We should be
[1:18:24] looking
[1:18:24] at food processing facilities.
[1:18:26] We should be looking
[1:18:27] at micro farm--how does the
[1:18:28] City encourage micro farming
[1:18:30] in the Sheldon area,
[1:18:32] so that these chefs can have,
[1:18:33] you know, Sheldon Road carrots
[1:18:36] for their whatever. You know
[1:18:37] what I mean? And this type
[1:18:38] of thing. And that's what I
[1:18:39] like about the General Plan is
[1:18:41] that it establishes the
[1:18:43] overarching goal. This is what
[1:18:45] we want
[1:18:45] to be when we grow up,
[1:18:47] this is how we're going
[1:18:48] to get there, and then it has
[1:18:49] the policies that say these are
[1:18:51] the things that we would like
[1:18:52] to see happen,
[1:18:53] and then it calls out
[1:18:54] like some action items that,
[1:18:55] well, we will put this in place
[1:18:57] so that it feeds back up
[1:18:59] to that overarching goal. And
[1:19:01] so, you know, I'd like
[1:19:02] to see how we can kind
[1:19:03] of take the talk and get it
[1:19:06] down to the walk the walk.
[1:19:08] But I think you're totally
[1:19:09] on the right track, and these
[1:19:10] are just initial comments that
[1:19:12] I have, but I'm going to stand
[1:19:14] against and process. So thank
[1:19:16] you.
[1:19:17] >> Well said, thank you.
[1:19:18] Commissioner Tong.
[1:19:21] >> Hi. So I'm not going
[1:19:22] to do anymore echo
[1:19:24] on the kudos, because I was the
[1:19:25] first one that gave the kudos
[1:19:27] that the guys up here just
[1:19:27] followed that. But I do want to
[1:19:30] make a public comment and
[1:19:32] perhaps some suggestions
[1:19:33] for you to consider. First
[1:19:36] of all, going back
[1:19:38] to the outreach effort,
[1:19:40] I do want to mention,
[1:19:42] I believe the Mayor might have
[1:19:44] mentioned this,
[1:19:45] that the process of itself
[1:19:46] of developing this plan,
[1:19:48] if it's not just important, in
[1:19:51] many cases it's more important
[1:19:52] that the final plan itself. So
[1:19:55] I do like
[1:19:56] to see--'cause I look at the
[1:19:58] next step as further outreach
[1:19:59] effort. Somehow insert more
[1:20:02] excitement and energy in
[1:20:05] promoting this because that's
[1:20:06] going
[1:20:07] to translate more engagement
[1:20:07] from a resident, number one.
[1:20:11] Number two is that the more
[1:20:14] targeted areas,
[1:20:15] the convenience
[1:20:15] for the neighbors
[1:20:16] to participate in this. And I
[1:20:18] think it's a great idea
[1:20:19] with the mobile as well as to
[1:20:21] the fairs and events people are
[1:20:22] attending. But somehow
[1:20:24] to the neighborhood, I know a
[1:20:25] colleague here mentioned the
[1:20:27] neighborhood watch group.
[1:20:30] But then there are also a lot
[1:20:32] of sports activity where all
[1:20:36] the parents, you know,
[1:20:37] taking their kids Saturdays,
[1:20:38] those are a perfect time
[1:20:40] because of the kids are riding
[1:20:41] around the soccer field can
[1:20:42] score, sometimes the parents
[1:20:44] will be good to look
[1:20:45] for some diversion. So I
[1:20:48] think--think about if some of
[1:20:49] those activities and it would
[1:20:51] be a good opportunity
[1:20:53] to just go out to them.
[1:20:55] Third, something to--I don't
[1:20:58] know if this is stored
[1:21:00] out there for you--community
[1:21:02] college students area. I
[1:21:06] thought about high school, but
[1:21:07] perhaps they're a little bit
[1:21:08] young. But I'll also get their
[1:21:09] feedback. And I know you guys
[1:21:11] reach out to the Youth
[1:21:12] Commissioners. But
[1:21:15] at the same time,
[1:21:16] the community college,
[1:21:17] the reason is this: People who
[1:21:18] are college age are looking
[1:21:19] very much on their career path
[1:21:22] where the jobs will be
[1:21:24] attracting them as well as
[1:21:25] they're going to be settling
[1:21:26] down with their family. And I
[1:21:28] think sometimes getting that
[1:21:30] perspective of what is going
[1:21:31] to attract them to, you know,
[1:21:33] find the community,
[1:21:35] to continue to develop. I'm
[1:21:36] sure the first thing is, well,
[1:21:37] where the job is. Well, and we
[1:21:39] have that economic development
[1:21:41] plan here of what type
[1:21:44] of jobs people are looking to
[1:21:45] have. I think somehow you can
[1:21:49] tie this together and get that
[1:21:50] level
[1:21:52] of engagement. I just wanted
[1:21:53] to throw it out there that,
[1:21:54] you know, community college
[1:21:56] students will be a great group.
[1:21:58] Finally, what is the
[1:22:01] perspective
[1:22:02] of residents outside of the
[1:22:04] Elk Grove City? And as people
[1:22:07] are traveling here
[1:22:09] to attend events, again,
[1:22:10] coming back to the youth,
[1:22:11] I know there's a lot of
[1:22:12] regional youth sports events. I
[1:22:15] have residents that are coming
[1:22:16] from Elk Grove, not so much as
[1:22:16] what they want to see in Elk
[1:22:20] Grove, but it's always good
[1:22:21] to get on neighboring
[1:22:23] communities' perspectives.
[1:22:25] What is their perception of
[1:22:26] Elk Grove? What would be
[1:22:27] something that would attract
[1:22:29] them to the City of Elk
[1:22:31] Grove? Or what are the things
[1:22:33] that are, uh,
[1:22:34] this is the reason I don't.
[1:22:36] Just get a more
[1:22:38] of a 360-degree kind
[1:22:39] of a perspective
[1:22:40] in addition to, you know,
[1:22:42] the residents who live in Elk
[1:22:44] Grove. So just something
[1:22:45] to think about.
[1:22:47] >> Great points. Thank you.
[1:22:49] Vice Mayor Lee.
[1:22:51] >> Just a couple
[1:22:51] of things. I am pleased with
[1:22:54] the progress. I do appreciate
[1:22:55] that report. The other thing I
[1:22:57] want to echo and kind hone in
[1:22:58] on specifically is one
[1:23:01] of the things special in Elk
[1:23:04] Grove is the fact that you have
[1:23:06] areas like the Sheldon area.
[1:23:08] And I think that Councilman
[1:23:09] Hume hit the nail right
[1:23:10] on it when he talked
[1:23:11] about that. And I certainly
[1:23:13] will be in favor
[1:23:14] of building that into the
[1:23:15] General Plan as well, to make
[1:23:17] it perfectly clear that this is
[1:23:19] something that -- we
[1:23:20] want to preserve. The third
[1:23:22] item is in terms
[1:23:27] of continued outreach,
[1:23:28] I've heard a couple
[1:23:30] of things: faith-based, sports
[1:23:32] group, neighbor association,
[1:23:35] the watch groups. One other
[1:23:38] thing I might add is, you know,
[1:23:41] I think it's really the
[1:23:42] nonprofits that are prominent
[1:23:43] in our community as well.
[1:23:45] Certainly those that are
[1:23:46] involved
[1:23:46] in nonprofits are --.
[1:23:47] It'd be great if you include
[1:23:50] that.
[1:23:51] >> Thank you. Commissioner
[1:23:52] Spease.
[1:23:55] >> Yes, thank you. So first I
[1:23:57] want to give a hearty amen
[1:24:01] to the support for Councilman
[1:24:04] Hume and his position relative
[1:24:06] to the rural area.
[1:24:08] But my piece to add in this is
[1:24:09] to the east. We talk
[1:24:12] about--excuse me,
[1:24:13] to the west. When we talk
[1:24:14] about infill and
[1:24:15] to look upon building
[1:24:18] on what's out there, we need
[1:24:19] to look at clusters
[1:24:23] for coworking spaces, places
[1:24:24] where entrepreneurs can get
[1:24:28] their footing. And we see a lot
[1:24:31] of that good growth up in
[1:24:32] Sacramento and the surrounding
[1:24:34] areas. We have beginnings
[1:24:36] of that, but I'd like
[1:24:38] to--hopefully we can see some
[1:24:40] of that flush out as we move
[1:24:41] down the road on it.
[1:24:42] >> Great points. Councilman
[1:24:45] Suen.
[1:24:47] >> Yeah, something that
[1:24:48] Councilman Hume mentioned that
[1:24:50] sparked a thought of mine. As
[1:24:53] you do the outreach, I want
[1:24:56] to encourage you to talk
[1:24:57] to folk about implementation.
[1:25:01] So to take you back
[1:25:04] off of--there is a lot of
[1:25:05] speculation or misperception,
[1:25:08] I should say,
[1:25:09] that there's a lot
[1:25:10] of open land to be developed,
[1:25:11] and a lot of times the Sheldon
[1:25:12] area,
[1:25:13] the rural area is included
[1:25:14] in that. And so people don't
[1:25:15] quite understand. And there's a
[1:25:17] lot of great suggestions. And
[1:25:19] Commissioner Tong mentioned
[1:25:20] about college campuses and a
[1:25:22] lot of great ideas out there.
[1:25:25] But then if you look
[1:25:26] on a map and you take
[1:25:27] out the rural area,
[1:25:29] where do you put those things?
[1:25:30] So it's great
[1:25:32] to have a vision,
[1:25:33] but I would encourage you,
[1:25:34] when you talk to folks
[1:25:35] about that vision,
[1:25:36] make them take one extra step
[1:25:38] about implementation and seeing
[1:25:39] whether or not, you know,
[1:25:41] that vision can be realized.
[1:25:43] And if not,
[1:25:44] then what could be done
[1:25:45] to make it realized. So thank
[1:25:46] you.
[1:25:48] >> Chairman Murphey.
[1:25:50] >> Yeah, Chris. Let me borrow
[1:25:52] this, if you don't mind,
[1:25:54] Steve. As no surprise, I agree
[1:25:58] with Councilman Hume. But to be
[1:26:01] a little bit more specific,
[1:26:03] I'd like to see what policies
[1:26:04] and other items,
[1:26:08] such as the real road policy,
[1:26:09] the recent mobility study we
[1:26:10] did,
[1:26:11] how that can be incorporated
[1:26:12] to kind of--you know, those are
[1:26:14] items that I think can
[1:26:16] strengthen the protectors
[1:26:17] out there. So, Pat, you said it
[1:26:19] well. Thank you. On page 22
[1:26:22] of our glossy, the one thing
[1:26:25] that struck me was the phrase
[1:26:27] including both east and the
[1:26:30] west sides. That kind of--it
[1:26:32] just struck me in that we're--I
[1:26:37] know we have a bit
[1:26:37] of a divide and a difference
[1:26:39] in opinions sometimes,
[1:26:41] but I don't know if we want
[1:26:42] to put that
[1:26:43] out there so much. It just kind
[1:26:44] of struck me that, you know,
[1:26:45] we understand it, we can work
[1:26:48] on it, we're working on it. I
[1:26:51] don't know if that needs to be
[1:26:51] in there right now. And the
[1:26:53] last thing that hit me was on
[1:26:56] the draft staff--on the staff
[1:27:00] report draft recap was the
[1:27:02] suggestion
[1:27:05] of a social services element
[1:27:06] in the General Plan. A lot's
[1:27:09] been said about some
[1:27:10] of the needs relating
[1:27:11] to that. And I don't know,
[1:27:14] to me, if another layer is
[1:27:16] needed if we can capture those
[1:27:19] needs
[1:27:20] under our existing elements.
[1:27:23] It's just one more thing we
[1:27:24] have to look
[1:27:25] at and people have
[1:27:26] to go through. A lot's been
[1:27:29] said about it though. And I
[1:27:30] think with most of our policies
[1:27:33] and--I mean our elements that
[1:27:34] are in our General Plan, those
[1:27:35] things are doable. And also,
[1:27:37] some of the services, as was
[1:27:40] said, are really related
[1:27:43] to what other agencies can do.
[1:27:44] We can facilitate that and we
[1:27:46] can encourage it, but it may
[1:27:47] not be totally
[1:27:49] within our purview
[1:27:50] to provide those services.
[1:27:52] Unless you can show me a strong
[1:27:53] reason for including that,
[1:27:54] I'd be hesitant
[1:27:57] to include that.
[1:27:59] >> Yeah. Comissioner Maita?
[1:28:01] >> Yes. Well, we heard a lot of
[1:28:05] good thoughts up here and the
[1:28:06] consensuses have worked so far.
[1:28:08] I would like to back up Pat
[1:28:13] in his regard, is that we need
[1:28:15] to make this understood. And I
[1:28:15] think in having that,
[1:28:19] and I think it was Darren's
[1:28:20] suggestion
[1:28:21] about having that conversation,
[1:28:22] you know, just sort
[1:28:25] of engrained,
[1:28:26] because there is a perception,
[1:28:27] and particularly, I think,
[1:28:29] from some outside agencies,
[1:28:30] that see that as a potential.
[1:28:32] And frankly,
[1:28:34] it's very difficult for people
[1:28:35] to understand the nature
[1:28:37] of that. You know,
[1:28:39] we're getting so far away
[1:28:40] from our -- ways,
[1:28:42] that I think it's kind
[1:28:44] of tough for some people
[1:28:45] to grasp the value there. And I
[1:28:49] would also agree with George
[1:28:53] about the social services
[1:28:56] element. And I would like
[1:28:57] to make a comment related
[1:28:58] to east and west as well.
[1:29:00] Because I think--in my
[1:29:04] experience, I think there's
[1:29:05] more concern and more
[1:29:08] imagination related
[1:29:18] to it than reality. And a
[1:29:19] portion of that is--I think
[1:29:19] where the big difference is,
[1:29:20] is really it's the maturity of
[1:29:21] the community and the stability
[1:29:22] of some--long-term stability on
[1:29:25] the east side that a newer
[1:29:31] community has just a tough time
[1:29:32] getting. Than you have a lot
[1:29:33] of commuters. They can't spend
[1:29:34] time--they're
[1:29:35] on the road so much,
[1:29:36] it's very difficult for them
[1:29:37] to do the--a lot
[1:29:39] of what we--well,
[1:29:39] what I would consider sort of
[1:29:43] normal community activities
[1:29:45] when it comes to civic life,
[1:29:46] if you will, because their
[1:29:47] stresses are different. And I
[1:29:50] think that needs to be
[1:29:52] acknowledged or understood how
[1:29:53] it would work
[1:29:54] in here. I don't know.
[1:29:55] But that's more
[1:29:55] of a rhetorical thought that
[1:29:58] I'd like us to keep
[1:30:00] in mind and not get into this
[1:30:02] east-west thing as much either.
[1:30:05] I think if anything,
[1:30:07] when it comes
[1:30:08] to the west side,
[1:30:09] we just need more opportunities
[1:30:11] for them to engage in a similar
[1:30:13] fashion that the east has had.
[1:30:16] And how that's accomplished,
[1:30:17] I mean I'm not going to
[1:30:19] -- that's what I would
[1:30:19] like to see happen.
[1:30:22] >> Well, going last is an
[1:30:23] advantage and a disadvantage.
[1:30:25] One, you know, a lot of you all
[1:30:27] said what my notes say here,
[1:30:31] and, secondly, you know,
[1:30:33] chomping at the bit
[1:30:34] to join in. But I do want--so I
[1:30:35] think that as we start off
[1:30:38] by giving praise,
[1:30:40] and I think it's due, and I
[1:30:41] think we've done a good job
[1:30:43] to start. However, I think that
[1:30:44] we've got a little ways
[1:30:46] to go. Number one,
[1:30:47] this is just a round thing.
[1:30:48] One, this is a nice-looking
[1:30:49] piece of material. And I don't
[1:30:52] know if it's intentional or
[1:30:54] not, but there's a lot
[1:30:55] of photos in here of
[1:30:56] communities that are not ours.
[1:30:57] So I'm not sure if that was
[1:31:00] intentional,
[1:31:01] but I think we got a little
[1:31:03] work to do on the photos.
[1:31:05] Yeah. Secondly, so as I--yeah,
[1:31:13] I think we're getting a lot
[1:31:13] of good data from our--I mean
[1:31:15] we are getting a lot
[1:31:16] of good data
[1:31:16] from our residents. And as we
[1:31:17] dig deeper, we're going
[1:31:19] to get more and more.
[1:31:20] But as I think
[1:31:21] about what's unique about our
[1:31:22] City, the three things that
[1:31:24] really pop out to me are, one,
[1:31:26] of course, we've all echoed it
[1:31:28] here, is the ag rural nature
[1:31:29] of our City. I mean how many
[1:31:33] other suburban, you know,
[1:31:36] middle-class communities have
[1:31:39] as large of a chunk of their
[1:31:41] City that's zoned
[1:31:42] ag-residential as we do,
[1:31:44] right?
[1:31:45] With no water going in, no
[1:31:47] sewer coming out. I mean it's a
[1:31:48] powerful statement
[1:31:48] for a city. It really can be a
[1:31:50] major part
[1:31:51] of what defines us,
[1:31:53] I believe. And so we need to
[1:31:54] make sure that that's reflected
[1:31:55] here. There are, certainly,
[1:31:57] a lot of rural areas that have
[1:32:01] these components, but how many
[1:32:04] cities have that much
[1:32:06] ag-residential within them? So
[1:32:08] I think that's one thing that
[1:32:09] really makes Elk Grove unique.
[1:32:10] Number two is our diversity.
[1:32:11] We're the seventh most diverse
[1:32:13] city in the United States. And
[1:32:15] in addition to diversity,
[1:32:17] we have integrated diversity.
[1:32:21] We don't have pockets
[1:32:23] of diversity. We're fully
[1:32:24] integrated in just
[1:32:25] about every part
[1:32:26] of our community. And so I
[1:32:27] think that as we look at this
[1:32:29] from a high level, that's the
[1:32:30] second thing that makes Elk
[1:32:31] Grove sort
[1:32:32] of unique that should really,
[1:32:34] I think, stand
[1:32:35] out when we're looking
[1:32:36] at who we are as a city. And
[1:32:37] the third piece I would put out
[1:32:39] there is youth sports and
[1:32:41] recreation. Although I'm sure a
[1:32:42] lot of other communities around
[1:32:44] the country have youth sports
[1:32:46] and recreation opportunities,
[1:32:48] we have the largest youth
[1:32:50] soccer program
[1:32:51] in the country, and I believe
[1:32:52] we have the largest --
[1:32:54] and baseball program
[1:32:55] in the country,
[1:32:56] and I'm sure the list goes
[1:32:56] on and on. So it is a
[1:32:57] differentiator for us. So I
[1:32:58] think
[1:32:59] from our perspective I just
[1:33:01] want to make sure that those
[1:33:02] things that make Elk Grove
[1:33:04] unique, shine, and are kind
[1:33:06] of overarching goals
[1:33:08] of this as we move forward. So
[1:33:09] that's the macro level.
[1:33:12] At the micro level,
[1:33:13] I have a few thought too. Just
[1:33:15] talking about the infill,
[1:33:16] we do have a lot
[1:33:17] of legitimately infill sites.
[1:33:20] If you look at Laguna west,
[1:33:21] if you look to the north
[1:33:22] of our City at Bruceville and
[1:33:24] Sheldon, there are sites
[1:33:25] in our City that are absolutely
[1:33:28] infill sites that are hard to
[1:33:29] develop and that need extra TLC
[1:33:32] if it's ever going to happen.
[1:33:34] And so I think we need
[1:33:35] to ensure that we're aggressive
[1:33:36] in those areas. I'm glad I
[1:33:39] didn't--you know,
[1:33:40] I was thinking about, okay,
[1:33:42] should I bring up the east
[1:33:42] versus west, but I didn't have
[1:33:44] to because everybody else
[1:33:45] seemed to bring it up. But on
[1:33:46] one hand we prescribe a
[1:33:47] solution in here --
[1:33:48] divide the gap
[1:33:50] between east and west.
[1:33:51] On the other hand,
[1:33:52] you start the dialogue
[1:33:53] by asking people
[1:33:54] to self-identify if they're
[1:33:55] on the east or the west. So I
[1:33:56] think that that may be--I think
[1:34:00] that maybe we need
[1:34:01] to change that, and maybe it's
[1:34:02] about your neighborhood. So if
[1:34:04] we're going to ask folks
[1:34:05] to self-identify, maybe what
[1:34:07] neighborhood do you live in,
[1:34:08] because we do have unique
[1:34:09] neighborhoods in our City for
[1:34:10] sure. I think our challenge is
[1:34:11] making sure that the uniqueness
[1:34:12] of each part
[1:34:16] of our community is connected
[1:34:17] to the whole so that we're a
[1:34:19] strong city overall. And then
[1:34:23] just echoing what was talked
[1:34:24] about on the specifics
[1:34:25] in the rural,
[1:34:26] I'll just take it a little
[1:34:27] further,
[1:34:27] 'cause everybody did as we went
[1:34:28] down the line. Two lanes,
[1:34:31] roundabouts. Let's put it
[1:34:32] in the plan, let's solidify it,
[1:34:34] let's be done. And then the
[1:34:38] micro farming, the hobby farms,
[1:34:42] you know,
[1:34:43] I think that's really about
[1:34:43] inspiring the next generation.
[1:34:45] So we have--you know,
[1:34:47] people will want to engage
[1:34:48] in farm to fork. We certainly
[1:34:50] have a very successful farmers'
[1:34:52] market here. As we got the
[1:34:54] Old Town Plaza moving forward,
[1:34:55] there's going to be a space
[1:34:56] to do more. How can we make it
[1:34:58] easier for folk
[1:34:59] in the rural community and,
[1:35:00] frankly, even
[1:35:01] in the suburban community
[1:35:03] to micro farm
[1:35:03] in their backyard, whether it's
[1:35:05] one acre or an eight of an acre
[1:35:06] and take fruits and vegetables
[1:35:09] to market. So it would help
[1:35:10] just to continue to encourage
[1:35:12] not only our consumption
[1:35:13] but helping some, you know,
[1:35:14] folks find some economic
[1:35:17] advantage in doing it too,
[1:35:18] which I think ultimately is key
[1:35:18] to long-term sustainability
[1:35:19] of the rural community too.
[1:35:26] Those were most
[1:35:27] of my thoughts and Councilman
[1:35:28] Detrick's got another one.
[1:35:31] >> When you've done all the
[1:35:31] outreach -- seeing
[1:35:34] Darrell Donn, our Economic
[1:35:37] Development Director, come in,
[1:35:37] are we--so all the public
[1:35:39] outreach that it looks like has
[1:35:41] been done has been internally?
[1:35:44] Have we looked externally
[1:35:45] to see what would be attractive
[1:35:48] to residents and businesses
[1:35:52] to come here? Because part of
[1:35:55] what we're doing is offering
[1:35:56] that smorgasbord. So if we're
[1:35:57] not including those elements
[1:35:59] in not only what we want
[1:36:02] but what we need in order
[1:36:03] to be a complete city to make
[1:36:06] it where we're covering all the
[1:36:08] bases, sometimes you have to
[1:36:10] look outside because somebody's
[1:36:11] going to have a vision
[1:36:12] different than what we have
[1:36:14] on the inside. So hopefully
[1:36:15] that can be included. It'll be
[1:36:19] a good resource.
[1:36:21] >> Councilman Suen.
[1:36:23] >> Yes, I heard
[1:36:25] from project-specific things,
[1:36:26] so I have to throw one
[1:36:27] out there. And I don't see
[1:36:28] Mark Doty
[1:36:29] in the audience anymore, but I
[1:36:32] hope he'll appreciate this. I'd
[1:36:34] like to see a connected
[1:36:36] bike/pedestrian trail that runs
[1:36:37] all the way up parallel
[1:36:39] to I-5 that connects us, if we
[1:36:40] can, to the Sacramento area or
[1:36:42] pocket up there to create a
[1:36:43] regional connection so someone
[1:36:44] could bike all the way around
[1:36:47] Grant Line Road, through the
[1:36:48] City, all the up back into
[1:36:50] Sacramento. Thank you.
[1:36:52] >> All right, great. Any other
[1:36:57] closing comments? No? All
[1:37:02] right. Let's go
[1:37:04] to public comment. Sharon? And
[1:37:07] anybody else,
[1:37:08] if you have final comments,
[1:37:11] because I think we're towards
[1:37:11] the end here.
[1:37:15] >> I'm --. Thank you,
[1:37:17] it's been very interesting.
[1:37:18] First thing off the top is
[1:37:21] there's no sign-in sheet
[1:37:22] at the back. And I've seen a
[1:37:25] lot of faces I've never seen
[1:37:26] before, which is really nice
[1:37:27] to see. So we don't have the
[1:37:29] advantage of signing in with
[1:37:31] our email or our phone number
[1:37:34] or anything like that,
[1:37:35] and it's unusual. Usually every
[1:37:37] city event has a sign-in sheet.
[1:37:39] So I don't want
[1:37:40] to lose these folks
[1:37:42] in the process,
[1:37:43] if they read it
[1:37:44] in the paper or whatever. So I
[1:37:47] think that's really important
[1:37:47] to get
[1:37:48] before people start leaving.
[1:37:50] Just a couple of comments. I
[1:37:52] certainly appreciate
[1:37:53] Councilman Hume, I always enjoy
[1:37:55] his speaking. Anyway, he has a
[1:37:59] fun way of talking,
[1:38:00] I love it. So anyway,
[1:38:01] what's interesting
[1:38:02] about that, I do appreciate all
[1:38:04] the support you folks have
[1:38:05] given to the rural area 'cause
[1:38:06] that's where I've lived for
[1:38:07] over 40 years and I hope I
[1:38:09] continue there
[1:38:10] for a long time. Anyway, Pat
[1:38:12] was--I mean Mr. Hume is one
[1:38:15] of the only members of all
[1:38:18] of you that worked
[1:38:20] on the original General Plan,
[1:38:22] and there's only a few of us
[1:38:23] in the audience that did that.
[1:38:25] But I want
[1:38:26] to encourage the rest of you.
[1:38:28] It was a long process. The
[1:38:30] public and the original
[1:38:32] Council worked together. It was
[1:38:34] a real learning curve for all
[1:38:35] of us. Don't give up. I think
[1:38:39] it's a great learning process.
[1:38:43] I learned a lot. Just hang
[1:38:46] in there and you'll come
[1:38:49] to speed. So just
[1:38:50] to encourage you on that. I did
[1:38:53] appreciate so many of you
[1:38:55] mentioning--and I hope I
[1:38:57] haven't forgotten
[1:38:58] Commissioners Murphey, Maita
[1:38:59] and Mayor Davis about the
[1:39:00] east-west. I totally agree
[1:39:02] with your comments. It divides.
[1:39:07] Just those two--those three
[1:39:08] words divides us immediately
[1:39:11] off the bat. And I think that
[1:39:13] needs to be deleted, as you've
[1:39:15] said, from the process and
[1:39:17] from any words in this document
[1:39:21] that we were given tonight,
[1:39:23] anywhere else in the
[1:39:24] Powerpoints and all that. So I
[1:39:27] appreciate you bringing that
[1:39:29] forward because that's
[1:39:30] extremely important. And I
[1:39:31] like Gary's ideas
[1:39:33] on the diversity I've known
[1:39:35] since I've lived here that our
[1:39:36] community for 40 years has been
[1:39:39] diverse. All our welcome,
[1:39:41] especially
[1:39:42] within the school district.
[1:39:43] It's been fabulous
[1:39:44] to see that. I grew up
[1:39:45] in a very diverse neighborhood
[1:39:47] Downtown Sacramento after
[1:39:49] World War II. You talk
[1:39:50] about diversity, we had it.
[1:39:52] And it was wonderful. What a
[1:39:54] heritage it gave me. I lived
[1:39:56] in the projects on X Street. I
[1:39:59] grew up there
[1:40:00] until the sixth grade. And then
[1:40:01] we moved into a real home. So I
[1:40:03] have real history with that.
[1:40:05] And I'm so glad Elk Grove is
[1:40:06] known--it's wonderful and I'm
[1:40:09] glad my kids were raised in
[1:40:10] this community as well because
[1:40:12] of that very fact. So I
[1:40:14] appreciate that, Gary. So thank
[1:40:16] you so much. Keep up the good
[1:40:17] work.
[1:40:18] >> Cheryl, before you leave,
[1:40:19] since you mentioned the quest
[1:40:21] about east to west,
[1:40:23] how would you feel
[1:40:24] about if they were to ask what
[1:40:26] district they live in?
[1:40:28] >> Sure, that's be great.
[1:40:29] Anything but that. Or as they
[1:40:31] said, what neighborhood do you
[1:40:32] live in? I think that's a good
[1:40:33] way too. Council district,
[1:40:35] you mean?
[1:40:36] >> Yeah.
[1:40:37] >> Yeah, I think that's a good
[1:40:38] idea. Yeah,
[1:40:39] but just not that east-west.
[1:40:40] We already feel it,
[1:40:42] but I think it--
[1:40:44] >> It would help the Council
[1:40:44] District bridge 99, so that
[1:40:46] kind of takes away the
[1:40:48] east-west issue,
[1:40:49] but splits it up
[1:40:51] into quadrants.
[1:40:52] >> Right.
[1:40:53] >> This gives you at least a
[1:40:54] rough geographical area.
[1:40:56] >> Yeah. But that east-west,
[1:40:57] we know it exists,
[1:40:59] but I think the City has looked
[1:41:01] at getting that eliminated
[1:41:03] from our vocabulary. So we need
[1:41:04] to keep working on it. Thank
[1:41:06] you.
[1:41:08] >> All right, thank you. Bill
[1:41:09] Myers.
[1:41:17] >> Thank you. You're used
[1:41:18] to seeing me talk
[1:41:19] about the rural area.
[1:41:22] But you've done such a good job
[1:41:23] of it, I have nothing to say
[1:41:24] about it. Just I'm very happy
[1:41:26] --.
[1:41:27] >> Thank you very much.
[1:41:28] >> So I want to talk about
[1:41:30] other professional sites that
[1:41:31] you don't know about, okay?
[1:41:32] And I look ahead to some of the
[1:41:33] things I think might be worth
[1:41:35] taking note of, especially
[1:41:36] in regard
[1:41:37] to the economic component.
[1:41:39] First of all,
[1:41:41] several years ago several of us
[1:41:43] around town--I used to teach
[1:41:45] local economic development at
[1:41:46] Davis for a while. I forgot
[1:41:48] to say that. And some of us
[1:41:50] around town got together and
[1:41:51] took a look
[1:41:52] at what the resources might be.
[1:41:54] This was our own thing. We
[1:41:55] weren't commissioned by the
[1:41:56] City or anything. And Elk
[1:41:58] Grove is full of people
[1:42:01] with really interesting skills.
[1:42:04] Some of these skills are future
[1:42:06] skills,
[1:42:06] they're not past skills. We're
[1:42:08] not making use of them. They
[1:42:09] all go to work
[1:42:10] for somebody else. So we
[1:42:11] asked--you know, they go to
[1:42:13] Folsom and they go to the Bay
[1:42:14] Area or whatever. So we
[1:42:16] actually worked
[1:42:18] with our local bank, you know,
[1:42:19] just kind of
[1:42:20] behind the scenes, and we kind
[1:42:20] of took a look
[1:42:22] to see what would it take to
[1:42:24] actually mobilize what we
[1:42:26] already have here in terms
[1:42:27] of our human resources. Set up
[1:42:30] an idea bank or something. I
[1:42:32] actually think these are done
[1:42:33] somewhere, and I won't go
[1:42:34] into details here except
[1:42:36] to say that there are a number
[1:42:37] of ways of working with the
[1:42:39] people that you already have
[1:42:40] to give them a chance
[1:42:42] to put their skills to work
[1:42:43] on their -- they want
[1:42:45] to go into business or
[1:42:46] to do something here. Not just
[1:42:48] to attract outsiders
[1:42:49] to come in. In other words,
[1:42:50] it's growing your own,
[1:42:51] not just buffalo hunting. And
[1:42:53] this is something I think would
[1:42:55] be really worth looking at,
[1:42:56] because I think we have some
[1:42:57] really interesting human
[1:42:59] resources that could be
[1:43:00] cultivated in that way. Second
[1:43:02] point, talking
[1:43:04] about education,
[1:43:06] I think you're dead on,
[1:43:07] that anything we do needs
[1:43:08] to be tied
[1:43:09] to constant education,
[1:43:10] not just for youth. We're all
[1:43:12] going
[1:43:13] to be educating ourselves, you
[1:43:14] know, -- all
[1:43:15] through our lives
[1:43:16] for one thing or another,
[1:43:17] and it's not going
[1:43:18] to be just the standard stuff.
[1:43:19] But I would be a little careful
[1:43:21] about the brick and mortar,
[1:43:22] because brick and mortar is
[1:43:24] getting to be a--well,
[1:43:26] be brick
[1:43:27] around your neck is what it is.
[1:43:29] Everything is happening online
[1:43:31] and that's going to expand.
[1:43:33] We're getting very good
[1:43:35] at putting at whole courses,
[1:43:36] you know, for everybody. My
[1:43:39] daughter, for example, is
[1:43:40] changing her profession and she
[1:43:42] does three-quarters
[1:43:43] of her stuff online from our
[1:43:45] local institutions here, okay?
[1:43:47] But it's basically going
[1:43:50] to work out of homes,
[1:43:50] very small pods,
[1:43:52] and we're not going to need
[1:43:54] classrooms and parking lots and
[1:43:55] all of that kind of thing
[1:43:56] in the future
[1:43:57] like we've needed it so far.
[1:43:58] So it's worth just thinking
[1:43:59] about where the world is going
[1:44:01] and not where it's already
[1:44:03] been. Third,
[1:44:04] about the farming. We actually,
[1:44:08] for some time,
[1:44:09] have actually been wanting
[1:44:11] to move
[1:44:12] toward the micro farming area.
[1:44:13] The big problem has been
[1:44:14] marketing and a place
[1:44:17] to market. And we keep trying
[1:44:18] to remind the City over and
[1:44:20] over that this would be a
[1:44:21] really nice city function. You
[1:44:23] know, it's something we can't
[1:44:24] very well do on our own. There
[1:44:27] have been ideas around. The
[1:44:28] county actually put $20,000,
[1:44:30] $30,000 into a study we did
[1:44:32] with Charlotte Mitchell and the
[1:44:35] Farm Bureau
[1:44:37] on this and it went nowhere.
[1:44:40] But there is a backlog
[1:44:41] of thinking
[1:44:43] about this and what's
[1:44:44] to be done. And I think that
[1:44:45] could be tapped if you wanted
[1:44:45] to get into that. Thank you
[1:44:47] very much.
[1:44:48] >> Well said, well said,
[1:44:49] Bill. Thank you. Okay, I don't
[1:44:52] see anyone else signed up. Do
[1:44:53] we have any further staff
[1:44:56] comments?
[1:45:05] >> We appreciate all the
[1:45:06] feedback this evening. I think
[1:45:06] it's been really productive. I
[1:45:09] think we have the direction we
[1:45:10] need, therefore, we're
[1:45:11] on the right track. There's a
[1:45:13] little bit of fine-tuning
[1:45:14] in a few places. We've heard
[1:45:15] that. We'll work on that. And
[1:45:16] certainly we'll keep continuing
[1:45:17] to revisit these as we progress
[1:45:19] through the process and
[1:45:20] hopefully memorialize it
[1:45:21] into the document
[1:45:23] at a later point. So thank you
[1:45:24] all very much and thank the
[1:45:26] public for being here. We
[1:45:27] really do appreciate the time
[1:45:28] this evening. Thank you.
[1:45:31] >> Agreed, wonderful. Well,
[1:45:32] yeah, thanks to the Planning
[1:45:34] Commission, City Council
[1:45:35] for your time, staff
[1:45:36] for preparing this. And we're
[1:45:37] going to adjourn. And everyone
[1:45:39] please have a safe and blessed
[1:45:40] holiday season.