Item 2 - 04-01-21 DRAFT Minutes
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
GENERAL PLAN UPDATE
ADVISORY COMMITTEE REPORT
MEETING DATE: 05/06/2021 ITEM: 2
DRAFT
MINUTES OF THE GENERAL PLAN UPDATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
APRIL 1, 2021
The General Plan Update Advisory Committee of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Regular
Meeting on April 1, 2021, at 7:00 p.m., via teleconference.
This meeting was conducted utilizing teleconferencing and electronic means consistent with
State of California Executive Order N-29-20 dated March 17, 2020, regarding the COVID-19
pandemic and was conducted via Zoom. All committee members and staff participated from
remote locations and all voting was conducted via roll call vote. In accordance with Executive
Order N-29-20, the public could only view the meeting online and not in the Council Chamber.
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 7:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Melanie Hanssen, Vice Chair Kathryn Janoff, Council Member Mary Badame,
Council Member Maria Ristow, Committee Member Joseph Mannina, Committee Member
Steven Piasecki, Committee Member Ryan Rosenberg, Committee Member Emily Thomas,
Committee Member Lee Quintana, and Committee Member Carol Elias Zolla.
Absent: Committee Member Susan Moore Brown and Committee Member Todd Jarvis.
Staff present: Jennifer Armer, Joel Paulson, Laurel Prevetti, and Sally Zarnowitz.
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
CONSENT ITEMS (TO BE ACTED UPON BY A SINGLE MOTION)
None.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
1. Review and Discussion of the Revised Initial Draft Racial, Social, and Environmental Justice
Element.
Jennifer Armer, Senior Planner, presented the staff report.
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Open Public Comment.
Giulianna Pendleton
- Commented that she provided written comments in favor of reducing lighting and
light pollution in the Environmental Justice portion of the Element, and
recommended that modifications be made to Policy RSEJ-4.3 and adding a new
policy about equitable access and distribution of tree canopy.
Rob Moore
- Commented that this Element looks great overall, in one area there is some lacking
in affordability and access.
Amy
- Commented that this Element looks good, but would like to see the addition of
indicators or measurables (if appropriate) to show if we have made progress.
Jeff Suzuki
- Commented that this Element should state that we should have better housing
access.
Alicia Cinema Stereo
- Commented that as the outreach and social media coordinator for the Los Gatos
Anti-Racism Coalition she has received descriptions of many experiences that
minorities have had in Town, and these conversations have been very important for
making progress on the many issues in Town, but trust needs to be developed.
Closed Public Comment.
Committee discussed the matter and provided the following comments and direction:
- Add references to additional statistics available in the Background Report.
- Add mention of affordable housing in the introduction, and a reference to the
Housing Element.
- In the first paragraph, be specific about what kind of diversity the Town is looking to
increase: social; economic; and racial diversity.
- Revise definitions, where possible, to definitions used by other agencies, for
example the USEPA definition of Environmental Justice.
- Add mention of affordable housing under Goal RSEJ-1, possibly with an additional
policy.
- Add a policy to improve socio-economic status.
- RSEJ-1.5 - “Welcoming Town” should mention ability status.
- Add Ms. Pendleton’s comment about light pollution.
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- In Policy RSEJ-3.4, add “in land use decision processes” or similar language to clarify
the purpose, and reorder policies so that this one is the first under RSEJ-3.
- Implement comments from Ms. Pendleton regarding RSEJ-4 to include open
space/green space.
- Add references to related Life Long Learning and Public Facilities topics.
- Make sure that access to clean drinking water is covered by policies.
- In RSEJ-6.3, replace “brainstorm” with “promote” or “encourage.”
- Combine RSEJ-6.6 and 6.7, and remove specific reference to childcare to refocus
policy to meeting everyone’s needs for participation in meetings.
- In RSEJ-6.5, use “including” instead of “specifically.”
- Consider an implementation program to provide proactive outreach for Racial and
Social Justice in Town.
- Remove Implementation Programs O and P and replace them with a more general
implementation program as previously discussed.
2. Review and Discussion of the Initial Draft General Plan Introduction.
Jennifer Armer, Senior Planner, presented the staff report.
Open Public Comment.
Giulianna Pendleton
- Commented that the Guiding Principles could be better centered on the biotic
community, and language should be changed from the protection of “natural
resources” to the protection of “natural environment.”
Closed Public Comment.
Committee discussed the matter and provided the following comments and direction:
- Revise the Vision as described in Committee Member Janoff’s written comments,
except add “environmental,” so that it reads, “racial, social, and environmental
justice.” Also delete “best practices” and replace “health” with “well-being.”
- Implement recommended wording modifications to the “Protect Natural Resources”
Guiding Principle as recommended in written comments from Giulianna Pendleton.
- Re-order Guiding Principles to alphabetical order.
- Delete the word “downtown” from the “Community Vitality” Guiding Principle.
- Replace the word “Recognize” with the word “Value” in the “Inclusivity” Guiding
Principle.
- Revise language on page 1-2 for clarity.
- On pages 1-13 and 1-14 move definition of Goal and Policy before the figure.
- Revise definitions, where possible, to definitions used by other agencies, like OPR.
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- Under the description of implementation programs there should be clarification of
how the process works, and whether all implementation programs are expected to
be completed.
The next GPAC meeting will be on Thursday, April 15, 2021.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 10:42 p.m.
This is to certify that the foregoing is a true
and correct copy of the minutes of the
April 1, 2021 meeting as approved by the
General Plan Update Advisory Committee.
Joel Paulson, Director of Community Development