PROCLAMATION for Arbor Day on April 6th

Fullerton held its first Arbor Day in 1971. It was one of the first cities in Orange County to receive a Tree City USA designation from the National Arbor Day Foundation. In celebration of its 53rd anniversary, Fullerton strives to continue expanding and protecting its urban forest of 39,000 trees. Trees can be a solution to combating climate change by reducing the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water. Trees also cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce life, give oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife. Trees in our city increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, and beautify our community too. Wherever they are planted, trees are a source of joy and spiritual renewal.

The Arbor Day certificate was presented to Fullerton City Arborist Julio Jacobo by the City Council.

New Appointment to Transportation Commission

Mayor Pro Tem’s new Transportation and Circulation Commission appointment is Mr. David DeLeon. He will serve as a direct appointment to the term ending December 31st, 2024.

Councilmember Reports

Councilmember Dr. Ahmad Zahra: Zahra thanked everybody who came out to speak.

“First of all, I want to wish our Muslim community a blessed and happy Ramadan. I hope it brings peace to our communities and those suffering worldwide.” He wished the Iranian American community a happy Nowruz festival of light. He also wished everyone a Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.

He congratulated and thanked the museum center and all the staff, board members, and volunteers who hosted the Women’s Festival over the weekend. During the festival, he announced Fullerton’s District 5 Woman of the Year, Leanna Forcucci, president of the Fullerton Collaborative.

“She has done so much over the years for our community. The Fullerton Observer has posted a very nice article with the bio and a little more about Leanna in the Mid-March issue.”

Zahra further stated that he requested an update on street lighting and for this to be returned as a council update. He added, “We’ve got a budget study session coming up. So, I encourage our general public to come and attend those because part of it also allocates funds to different capital improvement projects, including roads. So please do participate. Those are important meetings. These are our taxpayer dollars that we are appropriating throughout the year for projects and investments in our community.”

Councilmember Bruce Whitaker: Whitaker had no report.

Councilmember Dr. Shana Charles: Charles wished everyone a happy Nowruz, Ramadan, and Easter and thanked all the public speakers.

“Councilmember Zahra and I had the honor of attending a wonderful Interfaith Iftar hosted in Fullerton for the entire Los Angeles and Southern California region. Folks from Los Angeles and San Diego and Congressman Mark Takano from Riverside came, and six different faiths were represented. It was remarkable that they all shared the stage in unity and peace. I would also like to thank our Planning Commissioner, Arif Mansuri, who put the event together. It was quite a moving celebration.”

“I know it’s important to bring things to our attention, and indeed, no one can pretend everything is perfect. So, I believe that the public service’s point is fixing issues, and I want to thank everybody for bringing up issues. I want to say that I think we would all agree on the tragedy [a man was killed by FPD after being shot by a less lethal projectile] that happened earlier this month. We in Fullerton have instituted so many reforms.”

“As I said, our Police Department has been very proactive and has implemented all the initiatives I care about as a progressive reformer. They get de-escalation training, they were using nonlethal weapons, and we do have a social worker program that hopefully is on that.”

“In this case, it wouldn’t apply because the person was already called in as being violent. “In those situations, that would be the reason for a police response, and there’s just a tragedy. There is an open community report that our Police Department puts together. I appreciate the transparency that we have. Anybody can go and view that footage. The body cams are for us to see. Even when all of these things are in place, things happen that we don’t want to happen. When you watch that, the police officers themselves immediately try to do life-saving. It wasn’t what they wanted to happen, and it was very clear from that video.”

“We also need to continue the conversation about how to avoid these kinds of tragedies in the future. This particular nonlethal weapon, in this case, did something that it wasn’t intended to do and shouldn’t have done. How can we prevent that in the future? But it needs to be a conversation, not people yelling at each other. We’re all on the same side about improving public safety, including our Police Department, which has partnered with us to implement these reforms.”

Mayor Pro Tem Fred Jung: Jung had no report.

Mayor Nicholas Dunlap: “The serious lighting issue is obviously important. It affects folks from all over the city. I’d like to have the opportunity to sit down with Noresco to review some of the highlights of the upcoming energy efficiency survey that will soon be released. In their report, they talked about some of the potential solar adaptations and modifications that can be made that might be more cost-effective, allowing us to take ownership and get some of those repairs done quicker. Public Works Director Bise, could you talk with them about some of those solutions before we get this back? That way, we have something we can potentially act on, if not budget for, for next year.”

Proposed Changes to the Mills Act Program

Background: The City Council approved the Mills Act in April 2020, and some guidelines were set. For instance, a property of $800,000 or less was qualified for the program, some inspection requirements, and some dates regarding submittals. Only two applications have been processed.

The original program set a cap of 10 applications per year. In year four, there were only two applications. Based on discussions with Fullerton Heritage and city staff observations, it was determined property owners had a lot of difficulties qualifying for the Mills Act program.

For instance, the cap $800,000 was determined to be on the low side because many properties in Fullerton are in the $1 million range. For example, the average home cost for single families last year was $1.3 million. Anaheim, the City of Orange, and Pasadena have no cap.

Staff had proposed to set a cap at $1.3 million, but the Planning Commission decided to remove the cap altogether.

An additional concern was the cost of the application. Many people stated their reservations about putting down $1500 and possibly not getting approved. Staff considered reducing the application fee and examined other cities’ cost ranges, which were found to be between $0 and $2600.

A final problem was the recurring inspection fee, which is set at $85 a year. The staff worked with Fullerton Heritage for some months to work out these impediments. They also clarified some of the language and removed some duplicative inspections.

The staff recommends that the application fee be reduced to a $1000. At this time, the staff wanted to thank Fullerton Heritage.

The staff recommended approval of the resolution. Additionally, the Planning Commission recommended approval for the same.

Passed unanimously.

Item 15: Short-Term Rentals Appeal Process Amendment

Community and Economic Development Directors Sunayana Thomas and Chris Schaefer were directed by the City Council to include an appeal process for short-term rental and replace language declaring the Planning Commission decision as final.

This would allow for due process and the right to appeal the Planning Commission’s decision at the City Council. It only refers to Municipal Code section 15.76, which is the current appeal process. That language read that all decisions made by the Planning Commission would be final.

The staff is seeking approval to amend this.

There was no public comment.

Dr. Charles: “When there’s another type of appeal for the Planning Commission process that we’ve seen before, we and residents have mentioned that it’s a $2000 fee when they’re appealing a decision in regards to a development or something of that sort, would there be a fee attached to this appeal process as well?”

Thomas: “Yes, it would be the same process.”

Mayor Dunlap: “This is an interesting one for me. I’ve been quite involved with staff on this because I initially supported short-term rentals when this came about. I’ve had an experience in my neighborhood, as I unfortunately have one across the street. However, I was also fortunate to see firsthand what the rollout would look like. When neighbors of mine got noticed, and the initial alert was that somebody was planning a short-term rental, they came to me and said they didn’t want this and asked what they should do. I walked them through the process, only to find out later that the staff had not been there. The staff involved in this are no longer with the city. But I point this out because, essentially, these folks followed the process for appeal only to have the appeal denied at face value without staff even coming out to look into their concerns. So, that was concerning to me. And then we’ve had many issues from the short-term rental. As a former planning commissioner, I know some things at the Planning Commission level are clear-cut and can be rubber-stamped. Other things, not so much. This allows people to appeal something they’re concerned about, especially when they feel their concerns were not heard. I looked back at this case, and of course, this would not be retroactive, so it would not apply to us because I saw firsthand what the neighborhood did and how it responded. You know what staff didn’t do and how staff responded. And so, I think realistically having another mechanism in place for, you know, for the public to be able to appeal is why I support expanding this to allow that.”

Dr. Zahra: “Any time we can improve the process to allow our community to have more say in any of these issues, it’s a good thing. So, I’m supportive of it. I’ll make the motion to approve.”

Mayor Pro Tem Jung: Did not turn on his microphone and could not be heard in chambers or on the recording.

Dr. Charles: “We’ve had public comments railing against the fact that they couldn’t appeal. I’ve seen the incredible pressure put on the Planning Commission with these issues, and planning commissioners have spoken to me about that. They wish there could be less pressure. This is an important safety valve, so it seems to me that we were elected to take the pressure, and the appeals process should be the same for that issue as it is for other things as well.”

Passed unanimously.

On the Agenda: April 02

The full agenda: https://fullerton.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. There is only one item and two reports. The agenda packet includes two PowerPoint presentations: 1) Orange County Power Authority (not very informative) and 2) Hunt Library update (mostly pictures). Item 8 considers a Coyote Management Plan. Management is mainly limited to reducing “attractants.” Little is suggested that would reduce the size of the coyote population or manage behavior. This item could generate discussion since some people have strong feelings about them.