The Goleta City Council will hold a special meeting next week to review the city’s first Parks, Facilities and Playground Draft Master Plan.
The plan will help guide the city’s future park-related improvements and development. The city has been soliciting feedback on the plan since February 2018 through public meetings and surveys. Other work on the plan included an inventory of existing facilities, projections and recommendations for the future. During the meeting, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Jan. 16, council will be asked to provide direction or approval of the plan, according to a staff report.
A draft plan was reviewed by the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission at its meetings on June 5 and Aug. 7 of last year. A majority of the concerns raised during those meetings were related to inventory and management of the city’s natural resources in its neighborhood and regional natural open spaces, rather than in its developed parks. City staff reviewed the original scope of work for the consultant and addressing open space in the city was not identified, officials said.
“As determined through discussions with the consultant and the City’s separate consultant for Open Space Management, the current Draft Plan does not address open space in detail, but rather recommends a reference to the area-specific management plan for each open space,” the staff report reads. “For example, concerns related to Ellwood Mesa would be identified in the Ellwood Mesa Management Plan, or specifically in the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Management Plan. The Draft Plan does recommend that these plans, specific to open space, should be reviewed and updated regularly.”
Other comments received were related to organization structure and officials explored the concept of creating a Parks and Recreation Department and the roles and responsibilities of the Parks and Recreation Manager, Public Works Manager and the new Parks Open Space Manager. Such changes would be subject to the purview of the City Manager and City Council.
If the council adopts the final plan, the Parks and Recreation Commission will be asked to determine a list of priorities for council consideration, the priorities will assist the City Council in decisions-related projects, staffing needs and direction over the next 16 years, according to the staff report.
Also on Thursday, the council will consider a resolution to provide no parking zones on Kellogg Avenue at Surfrider Way, as well as on Glen Annie Road at the Southern California Edison vault.
“The intersection of Kellogg Avenue and Surfrider Way was recently constructed and currently does not have parking restrictions,” the staff report reads. “Because vehicles park on Kellogg Avenue directly adjacent to the intersection, the minimum required sight distance from Surfrider Way to vehicles traveling on Kellogg Avenue is blocked by parked vehicles. The City is proposing a No Parking zone extending north and south from Surfrider Way to provide adequate sight distance.”
On Glen Annie Road, vehicles frequently park on the vault, which restricts access for Edison staff. The vault contains a switch that is crucial during emergencies and is used to minimize outages or divert load so residences and businesses don’t lose power. Edison is requesting a five-foot no parking zone at the vault to provide unrestricted access for equipment maintenance and emergency access.
In other business Thursday, the council will consider approving a professional services agreement for the development of Vehicle Miles Traveled California Environmental Quality Act Thresholds with GHD Inc. The city is required to implement state Senate Bill 743, which changes the focus of transportation impact analysis within CEQA from measuring impacts to drivers to measuring the impact of driving as the environmental impact. This will affect all projects that require CEQA analysis beginning July 1.
The council will be asked to authorize the City Manager to execute a $159,478 agreement with GHD to develop the thresholds. The council will also be asked to appropriate $180,478 from unassigned general funds to the current planning program accounts.
The council will also be holding three public hearings at its Jan. 21 meeting, including a continued hearing of the city’s new zoning ordinance, which provides rules and regulations for land use and development on private property.
The other hearings will include streamside protections areas and accessory dwelling units.
email: mwhite@newspress.com
