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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Environmentally Sensitive Lands Task Force - 6/11/2009 QO�P��EY gR,ro MINUTES o ORO VALLEY } ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE LANDS (ESL) ,, PUBLIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE #1 ��UNDEO psi ENVIRONMENTALLY JUNE 11, 2009 SENSITIVF I ANDS KACHINA CONFERENCE ROOM 11000 N. LA CANADA DR. PAC Members Present: Steve Taillie Steve Soloman Bill Adler Doug McKee Philip Kline Chet Oldakowski Oro Valley ESL Team Members Present: Mary Davis Karen Berchtold Joe Andrews David Williams Bayer Vella Kelsie Hanson 1. Call to order at 3 p.m. 2. Introductions Mary Davis will be the facilitator for all meetings and sending out all notices. Arinda Asper will be the primary contact for attendance notification, sending out minutes, posting meetings, etc. The PAC members were invited to introduce themselves and give a brief background on their history in Oro Valley and other volunteer projects they have worked on as a citizen. The team also gave their roles and backgrounds. 3. Ground Rules Mary Davis laid the ground rules for the meeting. Committee members are to ask questions as they arise. If questions come up after the meeting they are to direct them to Karen Berchtold. She is the point person to do the research for them. This group was approved by Council and has been given the charge to work together. Mary Davis then listed the employees of the Town involved with the project. -Bayer Vella is project manager for the Town -Steve is working on mapping and GIS 1 i -Joe is the Chief Civil Deputy Attorney. Mary Davis listed the external people involved. -David Williams, project lead with Willdan -Lori Woods with RECON -Howard will be working on GIS -Fredda is up in Phoenix and will be working with Joe Joe Andrews gave a presentation about open meeting requirements and public records. The Attorney General's office says we are all subject to open meeting law. When it comes to Reply All issues, meetings can be in cyberspace. If a group of the majority meets there can be a violation. Example: someone proposed a new topic over email and it was a violation. For public records, everything including email is open to the public. In nine years, no one has requested files from private computers. But it's possible through a public records request. Philip Kline asked if they should be only communicating directly with Karen and is there is no CCing on emails allowed. Joe Andrews answered that he was correct. If a committee member has something they would like to share they should give it to Karen and she will distribute it at the next meeting. Joe Andrews provided an overview of Proposition 207 and how it applies to ESL. Specifically, it is important that the ordinance that is developed must not interfere with property owners' rights. He stated that the PAC would have a more in depth review of the law at the second PAC meeting. Bill Adler questioned why the PAC should be concerned with Prop 207. He stated that if there is a new ordinance there will be a conflict. That is not the concern of the committee, it is the Council's if the ordinance is passed and there is a protest. Joe Andrews said that in depth discussion will happen in the next meeting, but stated care needed to be given to sending Council an ordinance they could adopt without the danger of legal challenge. Mary Davis said that throughout the process lands owners will be engaged and issues will come forward for discussion and hopefully resolution. Bayer Vella added that if someone owns property and having their rights taken away is a concern, he hopes it can be workable. An ordinance is wanted that will accepted by all. 2 4. ESL Schedule, Purpose & History David Williams presented the project purpose. The ESL team met with Council in February and presented the project schedule to them. There are two components: 1. the part that will affect zoning code 2. the legal realities with existing properties Currently the team is in the field looking at resources. He presented a schedule and informed committee members that a detailed schedule was in their materials. There will be public review and revision with the planning and zoning commission and Town Council. The target is January for zoning requirements. Right now the project is in the middle of the schedule. The team is lucky to be in Oro Valley with people that realize the resources they have, like washes, mountain views, cultural resources and vegetation. There are a number of layers to the project. All these things should work together. There are environmental layers and built layers, like open space, roadways and grading. The goal is to get all these things working together. This has been done elsewhere in the country, but not much in Arizona. The policy development went on for a decade, but is in the general plan now. David emphasized that the PAC is here to implement the policy, not reshape it, and must look at the zoning process and existing code while maximizing resources. ESL started in 1999 and they had a PAC then and the team acknowledges their work. The team will build on it. In 2005, it was voted on by Town Council with policies specific to ESL. In 2008, it was updated for Arroyo Grande and sustainability. In March 2009 Council decided to go forward with ESL despite economic times. To date, there have been several TAC meetings. The team has been working on criteria with the TAC. Right now the research team is out mapping and verifying with people out in the field and photography for rezoning requirements and zoning code amendments together. The team wants adoption with Council, the commission and the public. The Historical Preservation Commission will be consulted for the cultural resources. There are two parallel projects. While ESL is moving forward, the HPC is doing an inventory project. The two processes will be integrated. The HPC is a TAC for the cultural resources. They need to establish priorities and create an inventory to know where to flag. The HPC will be updating the cultural resource ordinances and feeding that to the ESL PAC and TAC. Steve Soloman asked if there was a consultant hired for the cultural resources inventory. David Williams stated the vendor's name is William Shelf and Associates (WSA). Bill Adler noted that at some point there must be a discussion about what is meant by "sensitive." Is it just biological or financial, too? David Williams answered that there are both. There will be layers and the team needs help in assigning weight to them. There have to be priorities, some areas nothing is allowed around them, whereas some will allow for it. Bill Adler said he thinks there should be a financial component to the definition. David said he and Joe Andrews would deal with the financial sensitivity; that would not be the charge of the PAC. 3 Mary Davis said the TAC has definitions and criteria they have laid down with parameters for discussion. 5. General Plan Policies Karen Berchtold presented the context for general plan policies. The team went through the general plan and pulled out all the policies that relate to ESL—over 50. The theme has been preservation of significant vegetation and open space. The function is to provide guide posts to make sure this can be achieved. Significant resource areas is a term in the general plan. In the earlier phases the team will do mapping of riparian and vegetation. And also identify resources in the Town. This will be used to evaluate proposals and make amendments and change densities. The SRA has been discussed with the general plan in the last year. It is a placeholder to implement until ESL is finished. Karen Berchtold said there are two approaches that have been informed by relative legislation: 1. vacant lands 2. rezoned and annexed land David Williams wants the group to be challenged creatively by road blocks. He thinks we can still get to our goal. Karen Berchtold said that a query of vacant lands was done to see how much vacant land we have. We want to work with property owners. Doug McKee asked if all the vacant lands were considered developable and if Big Wash was included. David Williams answered that the map simply shows parcel lines but there are varying degrees of developability. Karen Berchtold said that owners have been invited to a meeting to ask questions. Steve Taillie asked what the total acres were. David Williams said around 1,000 or so. Steve Taillie asked what percentage of Oro Valley is vacant. Karen Berchtold said that they can find out. But when you subtract land with constraints it is less. Another consideration is that some lands may go through rezoning at some point. Doug McKee asked which ones. David Williams answered that all are to varying degrees, but they have not. Bayer Vella said that if you split the map in half, east to west, everything on the west side is more subject to be rezoned. On the east most of the lands have been developed. Mary Davis said the stakeholders have said what they own today may not be all that own later. Bill Adler asked if the major thrust is on Arroyo Grande. Bayer Vella answered that the driver is Arroyo Grande, it's a big part, but not only the part. Mary Davis added that the Town may have more annexations down the road. Steve Soloman questioned whether it was feasible to pull Arroyo Grande out and evaluate that property separately. Karen Berchtold said there is a general plan amendment process where the Town works with State Land and they are brought in with the mapping and policies. David Williams said the general plan pulls in Arroyo Grande, so there is only one document. 4 Mary Davis said ESL applies to all lands, not just Arroyo Grande. Politically, Arroyo Grande is awaiting action by the governor and the State Land Commission. The Arroyo Grande general plan amendment was adopted by Council, but not State Land. There is no State Land commission or commissioner, but there are positive murmurings from Phoenix that the project is not dead. David Williams said they understand that being in Oro Valley makes the property values go up. An Oro Valley address ups the value and that brings State Land to the table. Mary Davis said they know our amendment makes the land more valuable. 68 % of Arroyo Grande will be open space. Karen Berchtold said the general plan amendment was approved in November of last fall by the Council. Leading up to that was a TAC from the Town. The State Land committee worked with a consultant to collect data and do a sustainability analysis for dvelopment areas. They came up with a land use concept with significant open space. The key policies were: 1. 68.4% maintained as open space 2. a wildlife corridor 3. endorsing the clustering concept Steve Taillie said that TEP wants to build a substation. He asked what the Town's position was on that. Joe Andrews said that until that land becomes part of the Town we have no jurisdiction. Doug McKee said that the county doesn't want the substation either. Mary Davis said that the county will enforce our mandates. Steve Soloman asked why Arroyo Grande is limited to the Pinal County line. Joe Andrews answered that State Land thought that would be more manageable. Steve Soloman said that if something is done north of Arroyo Grande it will be a contrast to what is done down here. Joe Andrews said that State Land controls the boundaries. Doug McKee said that with the existing town boundaries, there are findings that the overall maps are incomplete. He asked is that is being fixed. Karen Berchtold answered that the RECON team is visiting sites. David Williams said remote sensing and field identification is being performed. They will be challenged but they must process the information to review lines and move them. Bayer Vella said significant resource areas were a broad brush through in policies. The team is GPSing this and being very specific. Philip Kline said the plan refers to buffer areas and he thinks they should be incorporated. David Williams said some resources will be damaged by development nearby, where some will not. Bill Adler said that one kilometer is needed for some species of wildlife to survive. Habitat is one of the sensitivities that will be most difficult. Philip Kline said it will 5 • S different for different species. David Williams said if we account for bigger species, usually it will cover the smaller ones. Bayer Vella spoke about ESL and State Land negotiations. One, 68% is a number that we have made an agreement with. It is part of ESL and we need to make sure we have the good part and we stick to that. Two, we need to do our part. The Town Council deals with annexations. We must present what we think is right. Steve Soloman said this can be a nice property. Done right, it can improve it for State Land. 8. Next Steps David Williams presented the items to take away from the meeting. 1. the PAC's role in the project. The PAC is Council appointed which gives them more boundaries 2. the general plan policies are in place including Arroyo Grande and the PAC is not here to change them 3. the PAC should understand the Arroyo Grande project, so it develops Oro Valley style 4. the PAC has limitations like Prop 207 and they must work creatively to accomplish their goals Mary Davis asked for questions or comments. Bill Adler would like a clarification on rezoning versus zoning code amendments. David Williams said that we want to put in our ideals. This is ESL and it can be followed. The new ESL will work for the Town. It will be fixing problems and bugs. If someone rezones they are under the new code. If someone uses old zoning, they are encouraged to use the new code. Joe Andrews said there will be no help or flexibility if someone uses the old code. Bill Adler said the acceptance of State Land depends on the higher density and open space. ESL may get compromised because of the higher density and State Land interest could then be compromised. Steve Soloman would like to see the process reversed and find areas that are good for open space, high density development, etc. He asked, once adopted, it will be adopted in Arroyo Grande, if it is annexed, then would they want the zoning. David Williams answered that they want the zoning first. If the wildlife corridor chews off 68%, then we're in trouble. Bill Adler asked that if it is recreational space, is it included in the 68%. David Williams said that if all of those are counted we may be okay. Mary Davis said there is field research and mapping going on to answer the questions, which will be followed up in future meetings.. The next meeting is July 9, 4—6 p.m. Philip Kline said that works better for him. Mary Davis said that the new meeting schedule will be sent out. If anyone has any schedule conflicts they should send them to Arinda and we can reschedule. Joe Andrews said that if there is less than the majority there cannot be a meeting. He would like to see at least four members in attendance. Mary Davis said there is a lot to do in a short time. All meetings will be from 4—6 p.m. 6 w And if there is a shift in time it is because the room was not available. Steve Soloman asked if two hours is enough. Mary Davis said it is her job to make sure it is. Steve Taillie would like a copy of Prop 207. Joe Andrews said he could supply that. Mary Davis said the team would have it to the committee before the next meeting. Bill Adler said that Doug and Steve have some things to say and he is going to email that to David Williams. Mary Davis said that an addendum to the minutes can be made to include their comments. Mary Davis announced that the public workshops are July 23 and Oct. 22. They are open houses to give the public an opportunity to see where we are at this point and ask questions. The stakeholders meeting is June 23 and it will kind of be a repeat of today. The comments from the stakeholders will be shared with the PAC. Doug McKee said that Oro Valley is not number one to do an ESL project, Scottsdale did it. He asked if the PAC could see their plan and any others. David Williams said yes. Bayer Vella said that Oro Valley is the first to do it post Prop 207. Doug McKee said it would be good for PAC members to attend the stakeholder meeting. Joe Andrews said that if they plan to a quorum must be posted. Mary Davis announced the stakeholder meeting to be June 23, 1 —2p.m. in the Kachina room. 9. Adjourn at 4:40 p.m. Minutes prepared by Kelsie Hanson. 7