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Mr. Dolan said it varies significantly but thought ten to fifteen years was a reasonable average. <br /> Vice-Mayor Pentin pointed to several of the city's Specific Plan areas that are not yet complete — North <br /> Sycamore (22 years), Happy Valley (16 years), Vineyard Avenue Corridor (15 years) and Bernal (14 <br /> years). He said it is clear from these examples that the data contained within the plan remains relevant <br /> and tracks with development of the area over the years. Option 3, however, would require as much as <br /> 75% of the data to be refreshed. <br /> Councilmember Narum asked whether there are other priorities of greater importance to the city to <br /> which staff could redirect its attention if Option 3 were selected. <br /> Mr. Fialho said this project is a City Council Priority and resources have been allocated with that in <br /> mind. This does not mean that there are not other outstanding priorities that staff is unable address <br /> because resources have been dedicated here. Were this project to go away, staff could perhaps be <br /> redirected towards the Downtown Specific Plan update that has been on hold for several years or even <br /> the smaller Specific Plan and Economic Development Plan for the Johnson Drive area. <br /> Councilmember Brown clarified that the current General Plan runs from 2005 to 2025, which leaves <br /> considerable time within which to address the east side. She acknowledged that most of the cost of this <br /> project is being borne by the developers but noted that this does not account for the investment of time <br /> by city staff. She asked what the cost has been in terms of staff time to date and what the Council can <br /> expect it to be upon completion of the project. <br /> Mr. Dolan could not say specifically as most staff splits their time between long range planning such as <br /> this and more current planning like development review. He estimated that he and Ms. Stern allocate <br /> approximately 50% of their time to long range planning and another member of staff allocates <br /> approximately 20%, though not all long range planning efforts relate to this project. <br /> Councilmember Brown thought staffs estimation that 75% of the EIR could require revisiting if the <br /> process were stopped now was based on some fairly significant assumptions. <br /> Mr. Dolan explained that the data would simply be stale after eight years. <br /> Mayor Thorne requested clarification on how growth management applies to the east side. Specifically, <br /> he asked how staff determined an annual cap of 238 units when the city's RHNA obligation is zero. <br /> Mr. Fialho explained that growth management addresses both zoning and the annual allocation of <br /> permits, the latter of which serves as a new sort of housing cap. To ensure a metered and more <br /> reasonable growth for the city the Growth Management Ordinance divides the total RHNA assignment, <br /> not the outstanding obligation, for a planning period by the number of plan years. For this period this <br /> equals approximately 240 building permits per year. Assuming the city were to continue moving forward <br /> with the east side, it has to be mindful of how to properly allocate permits across this area as well as <br /> the rest of the city in order to make it financially feasible to construct. <br /> Councilmember Brown asked how the city would address a 350-unit project when only 240 permits are <br /> available per year. <br /> Mr. Fialho explained first that the current program does not take effect until July 2014. In order to <br /> accommodate the recent rezoning with only a year and a half remaining in the plan cycle, there was an <br /> acknowledgement that those projects which received approvals prior to July 2014 are eligible to move <br /> forward exempt from growth management. For those projects coming forward after July 2014 and <br /> exceeding the annual permit allocation, the ordinance allows for permits to be borrowed from future <br /> years and applied to the year in which it is being requested. <br /> City Council Minutes Page 6 of 12 March 4, 2014 <br />