City Council — 2024-05-28

To order we have a quorum. Could we please have the roll call?

Yes mayor. Thank you. Everyone

commission reports tonight or presentation. So we will move right on to public communications Let's begin with David Marin and then Brian Aikens and then William Weirich

Just gonna take a moment to get my timer so I follow along Good evening Mayor Sticks, members of the Council, staff in the audience. I'm David Marin with the Ventura County Civic Alliance and in front of you have a copy of our 2023 State of the Region Report. We produced this at the Ventura County Civic Alliance which is a non-profit that's focused on issues in Ventura County. Regarding sustainability, quality of life. We look at issues from the economy, the environment and social equity. If you could flip to the inside back cover I'd like to just give a word of gratitude to our sponsors, our larger ones Community Foundation, the community college district You can see the other list of sponsors that we have in here Normally, I do a nice PowerPoint so if I look like I'm looking for my clicker It's just an old habit.

If you could flip to page eight, some highlights here and one of the very valuable things Mr Harvey I'll say is this report is designed for you a newcomer to our community who can learn about the trends in our region. Page 8 shows you demographics. The highlight here is that Ventura County is getting older. In 2000 we were an average age of 34.2. We're up to 38.7 in 2021 And the city of Ojai is actually at an average age of 50. So you are the oldest city. There's more information on here, but this is a long-term problem for this city.

I'll skip ahead to page 27. Just to point out on page 27 that our nonprofits, we have 10,000 nonprofits in Ventura County generating annual wages of almost half a billion dollars. So a large number of people are working in that industry. Quickly I'll show you page 37 is about the economy and this chart on 37 the top part is showing you the number of jobs The bottom is the salaries, and you can see that we're growing jobs in lower-paying industries. This is not necessarily a problem in Ojai but it's countywide. Just trying to attract those higher paying jobs is one of the important things in our community. Other comparisons are on page 41. You can see the taxable sales of every city in the county. Ojai was at $190 million in 2022 We release this report, by the way every two years and for the audience it's available for download at civicalliance.org Some other key things is most important takeaway is that our birth rate is declining in Ventura County It is a significant issue.

You may have seen Simi Valley has closed their birthing center, Santa Paula Hospital is looking at that. There's a chart on page 79 that just shows the steep decline. A lot of this is because it is so expensive for our young people to live here that they consider moving out of the area. They wait longer to have children. All of these things are a huge issue.

Much more in here and you don't have to read it start to finish. You can jump through. It's broken into beautiful categories

Thank you very much David. Next we have Brian Aikens then William Wyrick and then Amma Akigbo.

Mayor I'm sorry that should actually be item number four, thank you.

William Wyrick?

Hello, everyone. Three quick things I wanted to just comment on that have been bothering me and building up. Number one, you know a lot of people have been getting some very terse notifications from the Ventura County Fire District about fire clearance standards. And I think it's incumbent upon the city and the county government to be an example. Apply the same standards to ourselves in our respective governments Go along the Ventura County Bike Trail, the Ventura Bike Trail, Valley Bike Trail.

You'll see palm trees without fronds removed, dead fronds, big buildups. Something that the Ventura County Fire District specifically says to a private property owner you have to clear. It's now an ordinance. And anyway, so please let's have the bike trail and other items that are involving city property apply the standards that are being applied to private owners to the public lands. Number two we're a tree city. We celebrate Tree City always been a big supporter of that but I don't like to see is that when tree dies street trees die in the public right away they don't replace them At least we don't have a good program of replacing them.

And within three or four block walk of my house, I can count six tree pockets. Trees died no new trees some places we concrete in the tree pocket because I guess we have no plan of ever replacing it for Tree City let's celebrate it and let's practice it last but not least I was really moved by Councilperson Francina's comment about her life and her birthday on Facebook.

I know I'm not supposed to call out, but I was. It was poignant. And one phrase that stuck in my head was the simple dignity of being able to wash your lettuce in your own sink. That also should apply to our Grant for our homeless on house people. My understanding is that the design does not include plumbing Just has air conditioning and shelter. And I think dignity, this is supposed to be Dignity Moves, it's one of the sponsoring organizations.

I just think that's part of dignity is that people will be able to take care of themselves in their space that we're trying to provide them and I don't understand why with that kind of money May or may not have, I hope we end up getting it. That we appropriate proper dignity to the unhoused population by allowing them not have to get up in the middle of night and go outside to take care of things that might come up. So please consider that redesign. Thank you.

Honorable Mayor Betsy Sticks, esteemed members of the Ojai City Council, fellow citizens of our beloved Ojai, good evening. My name is Ama Okibo and I'm in 11th grade at Thatcher. I stand before you today with a heart filled with gratitude and mind brimming with hope for the future of our community. Mayor Sticks your visionary leadership in creating the Ojai Youth Council has opened a door for the voices of our young people to be heard.

Their ideas can be nurtured and their dreams can take flight. The Ojai Youth Council is a testament to the power of inclusivity, and the belief that every voice matters regardless of age, gender or identity. By providing a platform for our youth to engage in decision making processes that shape our city you have empowered them including myself to become active participants in the democratic process and activism for our collective future.

We cannot claim to be nurturing the leaders of tomorrow if we fail to listen to their voices today. So as you look ahead, I implore this esteemed council to consider establishing the Ojai Youth Council as a permanent fixture of our city's governance structure by passing a law that ensures the progression of this vital institution, we can guarantee the voices of young people will never be silenced and their perspectives will continue to enrich our discourse and guide our actions.

Another issue that demands our immediate attention is the potential of water scarcity in our region. As mentioned during my last speech, while we may not feel the effects today, the time to act is now. Water is a lifeblood of our community and we must be proactive in safeguarding this precious resource for generations to come. I urge this council to please prioritize water conservation efforts, explore sustainable water management practices and foster a culture of responsible water usage amongst our citizens. By taking a decisive action today we can ensure that our children and grandchildren will never know the hardships of water scarcity. Finally, I would like to address the issue of homelessness. A challenge that has touched my life personally and continues to plague cities across our nation.

During the summer of 2023 at Yale University in Connecticut, I witnessed firsthand the struggles of hardships faced by those who didn't have a permanent home. Homelessness is not a statistic. It is a human tragedy that demands a compassion and unwavering commitment to finding lasting solutions. I implore this council to keep homelessness at the forefront of your agenda To explore innovative approaches and to work tirelessly to provide support, resources and opportunity for those who find themselves without a roof over their heads. In closing I stand before you today as a voice of the youth, a champion for sustainable water management and an advocate for those who have fallen on hard times. Together we can build Ojai that is inclusive resilient and compassionate.

A city that serves as a beacon of hope for generations to come. Thank you for your time and your unwavering commitment to the betterment of our community.

Thank

you all.

We have one raised hand for general public comment, Mr. Larry Steingold. You may unmute and you have the floor.

Thank you very much. Good morning. Nice smile Rachel. The arts fair, the art in the park was wonderful and everybody should be congratulated Two suggestions, one that they have more garbage cans and then throughout the city because they were all overflowing. And that when it is picked up, they pick up all the trash because there are a few barrels that were emptied where there is stuff on the ground. So I certainly suggest or actually plead with you to have more trash cans around the city when we have these festivals and fairs because they fill up real quick The student council. Mayor, I think it's a great idea. I think it's wonderful and I think they're doing a great job.

How many of them are citizens of Ojai? Also in the same vein that you have one, I believe the city councilors, the other city councilors should have a City Council Student Committee Commission that includes students from their district And that would put them on par and would be different targets, different issues, different things. But they would be students of the city of Ojai.

And regarding the $12.7 million for Camp Ojai, that's what they are. They will be very nice cabins without plumbing. That is not dignity. That is a summer camp, okay? And just like with tents or with tough sheds without plumbing, they need plumbing. When you're a senior or you're old or however you want to be with children and it's two o'clock in the morning or 11 o'clock at night, you have to get up and hit the head, okay? You go wandering across the park, okay?

So I think we really need to rethink the design If they can do it at Mesa, we can do it for a lot less. $12.5 million or 2 million a year in expenses and then after that what's the plan to move Camp Ojai? Okay. That's what it's going to be. Is it going to be there for two years, five years, 10 years, 12 years? What is the plan? When does it go away? Is there, or is it gonna be there permanently? In which case the neighbors need to be involved because they just like the pickleball person will be affected and their values and their lifestyle and their peace of mind will be affected. So please have a plan to do something so it goes to a more permanent facility with plumbing. These people need dignity, they need help okay? And those that don't you know, so please do something along those lines thank you.

No more raised hands on Zoom, Mayor.

Thank you Larry. All right we will move on to the consent calendar is there a motion to

approve? Actually I want to pull an item. Item D.

Which one?

Item D from the Consent

Calendar. Anyone else like to pull anything? Is there a motion to approve everything except D?

I'll move

to approve everything. Second?

Yes.

All in favor? Aye. Mayor Pro Tem?

So item D is the minutes from Tuesday the 14th and I've had a lot of questions about what happened that night vis-a-vis our closed session, not the content of the closed session but those in attendance. And I would like the minutes to reflect this would be at item 7. Wait

where are you?

So on the minutes item seven from the May 14th minutes

okay

Um, after the

finally goes to six. It

looks like it's on page seven

session. Okay, got it?

Yeah. Okay. So um, after the recitation of the government code provision, add the statement City Attorney Summers stated that staff staff recommends That as the claimant Councilmember rule should recuse from the matter. I'd like to add that statement at that point and then after. And then following that. The statement, the following were present in closed session. Mayor Sticks, Mayor Pro Tem Whitman present remotely via telewebinar and council members Rule Lang and Francina also present in the closed session City Manager Harvey and City Attorney Summers.

So those would be my proposed additions to the minutes

Would it be appropriate to add that the council did not object to Councilmember Ruhl being present? If we're going to state what the staff recommended, wouldn't it likewise be appropriate to say that it was up to the council and we did not object to her being present is my recollection.

I don't think that's an accurate statement.

Can I add one thing? So I actually asked that question and that's when our city attorney responded with that response

And the fact that the council accepted all five being present in closed session is inherent in the listing of all five were present in closed session. I think that would meet that need.

I think it would, but I think that what Councilmember Francina is pointing out that this is a direct statement towards council member rule not agreeing with staff. So I think that it is also appropriate to say that ultimately because I think you could infer But I think people who don't know the process, don't necessarily infer in that way. So I would say for clarity, there's no reason not to put that there. It doesn't in any way minimize anything else that has been said. And I am perfectly in agreement with Council Member Whitman's statement that, you know, that I chose not to recuse myself. That was obvious and true as was the fact that this council did not take a vote to recuse me.

So, you know, I'd say be complete if you're gonna change the minutes.

So my response to that would be that there was so Councilman Francina raised the issue of whether everybody agreed that she could that councilmember rule could attend and then I think The city manager said, you know, let's leave that discussion for closed session. But there was no discussion in closed session about whether she should be present or not.

Well,

but

let's just remind to go through the chair of

council member. So that's for that reason I think one sentence just as you stated that it was inherent in the fact that that no Council members objected to her being there. So however you said it was perfect the word inherent I

The issue is is the difference between the council as a body and no council members That's the problem we having here. So if the frame is Add the point that I had stated that staff recommended that the as the claimant Councilman rule recused then the following were present in closed session The council majority did not object to Councilman rules presence that would I think cover it

Yeah, thank you. Anything that was happened in closed session should stay in closed session unless I am incorrect in assuming that. That is

correct. Just a reminder if we could just one at a time. Are you finished?

I'm just saying, you know, Council Member Whitman, I don't know why you are bringing this up. I mean it is petty and it is vindictive and it is stupid

I'm going to ask to keep it on a policy and not make it personal. Excuse me, excuse me. I'm speaking if you could not interrupt and if you could not refrain from name-calling that would be wonderful. Mayor Pro Tem?

So the problem with adding the comment nobody objected is that that is saying what happened in closed session I mean, it was just never discussed. So to suggest that there was no objection, I think that this language that I've proposed simply saying who is present and people can infer whatever they want from who is present.

So do we need a motion to include? OK, do you want to make a motion, Mayor Pro Tempore?

Yeah, I would suggest we think we've debated the matter. Take a

vote.

Yeah. And actually passes down to West because it'll make it easier for him, but I'll read it. This statement added following the recitation to the code section City Attorney Summers stated that staff recommends that as the claimant council member rule should recuse from the matter The following were present in closed session. Mayor Sticks, Mayor Pro Tem Whitman present remotely via telewebinar council members Rule Lang and Francina also present in closed session city manager Harvey and City Attorney Summers.

OK so that's your motion. Is there a second for that motion? I'll second it. OK roll call please Weston

Excuse me. Second Council Member Lange.

Excuse me, Mayor? I would like to make a substitute motion. Okay. That we include because we do not want to disclose what happened in closed session that we add to that minutes that no action was taken by the City Council to have council member Rule recuse herself during open session.

During closed session? Closed session,

yes sorry closed session. So that's your motion is there a second

for that motion? Okay roll call please Weston

you might want to read the whole

to add to the minutes of the May 14th regular meeting of the City Council for item seven that no action was taken by the full council to have Council Member Ruhl recuse herself.

And I understood the motion included the rest of what Mayor Pro Tem Whitman was adding or just your statement?

No as I said I have no problem with Council Member Whitman's statement

So the substitute motion then is the two pieces together.

It's the two pieces together, that is correct.

Thank you. Like I just stated on top of Councilmember Whitman's original motion with the language provided. Roll call. Councilmember Francina?

Well I'll vote yes if it includes that statement yeah

Motion passes 4 to 1.

May I ask, I hate to draw this ordeal out but if you didn't accept it, you accepted it but you didn't vote for it is that correct?

I didn't accept then or accept now that somebody who has a financial interest in the decision attends a closed session. We

really can't discuss this because it's not on the agenda, so we

should... Yeah, the minutes is the item. I think the minutes action was taken. If I could just

clarify for Councilmember Francina, it wasn't a friendly amendment. It was a substitute motion so it added to his motion so he did not want to vote yes on the addition to his motion even though his motion remained but it wasn't a friendly amendment so he didn't have to accept it

May I may I state for the record that I feel that Your emotion does not add to a feeling of goodwill and friendliness amongst council members

it adds Okay, so I'll respond in the comment and say then it adds to transparency of what has occurred because many members of the public We're wondering why somebody who's making a financial claim is then attending the meeting in which the financial claim is discussed confidentially with council.

And I did receive that same question from several people, so let's move on to the public hearing this item. We had previously approved the

wrestling consent calendar.

Okay, let's move on to the public hearing This is item number two City Council approval of Planning Commission recommendation for approval of a design review permit for the expansion of the Lavender Inn We have staff report

So before we do the staff report The projects architect is my brother and I have no financial interest in his business. He has no financial interest in me, but I don't want anyone to be concerned at all with the fact that he's my brother, that there could be some type of connection or whatever and so I'm going to recuse from this matter and I'm gonna do what the code section says you're supposed to do when there's a recusal and I'm gonna leave

Okay. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Through the mayor? Yep. Could I just make a statement? I appreciate Councilman Whitman recusing himself because what we don't have here... We have a code of conduct which talks only about financial interests but we don't have a code of ethics that talks about how we can support family members or others so I appreciate him recusing himself and understanding that it is a matter of ethics and not a matter of conduct where there is financial There is financial benefit one way or the other. And this council has spoken many times of bringing forward a code of ethics that will speak to that, and yet we have yet to do that. So I applaud Councilmember Whitman for understanding that distinction.

And just a note to the public, Councilmember Lange and I are with our city attorney working on a Code of Conduct, we're calling it, and I think that's coming at the next meeting perhaps?

That is in process. This would be a preview of future agenda items. We have to sort out exactly which meeting it's scheduled for, but yes we had a good discussion the other day with Mayor Sixth, Councilmember Lange, myself and the new Assistant City Attorney Taylor Anderson who has got among other things a background for many years in ethics and public meeting management and commission management.

And among other hats was general counsel for the Long Beach City of Long Beach Ethics Commission. Her expertise is coming to the table, and the first step of that, a preview of an email you'll get, is one five-by-one meetings with each council member to talk about what they'd like to see in the Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics. So that's in process. Precise date to return is TBD depending on those meetings but that is in process.

Thank you, Mr. Summers.

Also I just wanted to add just to refresh everyone's memory that the FPCC has very specific guidelines and rules ethics protocols that we follow on this Council that relate to specifically financial interests and policies with financial interests in mind. Thank You councilmember

okay Mr. Community Development Director thank you for your patience

All right, thank you for that intro. Okay so Lucas Sybert Community Development Director for the City of Ojai for anybody watching online. I'm gonna give kind of just like a setting of the table for tonight's discussion and then I have Mark Whitman who is here who is going to go through about seven or eight slides tonight and kinda go into some of the detail regarding the project. So the project itself is 214 East Matilija It is the Lavender Inn. The Lavender Inn currently has nine units, and it is a historic landmark number 14 which was referred to as a Nordhoff School brick house.

And then there's proposed modifications to the site which were reviewed by the Historic Preservation Commission at their March 14th meeting. That had a positive recommendation that then moved forward to the planning commission. So, the planning commission then reviewed this matter at their April 17th meeting and also gave a positive recommendation with this proposal that you have before you tonight for consideration.

The proposal itself is broken up into about five or six points. I'll go through them very briefly It's talking about and proposing a remodel and adaptive reuse of the existing office building On an adjacent parcel to add two additional hotel units that is really kind of towards and leaning towards the front of the of the site itself facing Matilija It also includes the proposal of the installation of three modular structures which will be brought on site. That adds two hotel units in total, bringing the total from nine to twelve while that sounds like it should be nine to thirteen. One of those units is actually really broken up into one larger unit with a pass-through door.

It also includes a shipping container that will be used to house an open bar. That open bar will be used as a part of and in conjunction with a proposed swimming pool, and then that swimming pool is also going to need a bath equipment structure for the hotel guests. In terms of the proposal we have tonight, there's a lot of basic technical pieces. Planning tools I call them which include a lot line adjustment plan development permit conditional use permit and Last but not least a design review permit all those are clumped together in the toolbox That is the planning related tools that this body is reviewing and considering tonight they include Well the lot line adjustment is taking two lots, merging them into one.

The plan development permit is taking setbacks and looking for reductions in those setbacks to kind of maximize the space. In addition to that we're, the applicant is proposing a reduction in the parking from 15 to 14 spaces as the project sits right now there's nine spaces on site so they're actually looking at going from 9 to 14. And then last but not least is the Conditional Use Permit. So that Conditional Use Permit is to allow for the outdoor activities, which is a pretty technical piece, but the outdoor activities also include the pool as well as that bar area that I mentioned earlier.

So with that, staff is requesting that the City Council consider adoption of the resolution which is attachment A to this staff report. Which includes the design review permit, the plan development permit, the conditional use permit, a lot line adjustment and then it's subject to those conditions which are baked into the resolution. I know Mark Whitman he is here as well to kind of go into the project itself. I'm kinda just laying the foundation for that.

Your cue, Mark.

Thank you Lucas for a nice introduction there It's good to be here members of the City Council and staff thank you for Having seen this project tonight I'm here representing the mark and Kathy Hartley the owners of the property of the Lavender Inn And they are proposing This development mostly is just to make the property more economically feasible. It's a small, nine units is pretty minimal for operating an inn with managers and staff. And they could run this project with the same amount of staff as they currently have. And so it's trying to maximize the value of their property.

Another note that I'd like to point out is the traffic study with the removal of the office building and replacement of the four or five units, it's actually a decrease in traffic from what the existing traffic. So we're actually reducing traffic by making this proposal according to traffic engineers But also, we just think it's going to be a great improvement to the community and whole. It's going to be a nice project. I'd like to describe that to you.

We're going to go into more detail on that. So I'm going to go ahead and open it up for questions. It's going to be about the same cost, but it's just the amount of time of construction. So they're concerned about their guests, but it's also the impact on the community that will cut the construction time down significantly by six months or so. And so that's the incentive for doing the modulars. And the added swimming pool is kind of a standard feature for hotel motels these days, if people want to lounge by the swimming pool.

The little container unit which is mostly hidden behind everything backs up to the property. Half of it's being used or two-thirds of it is being used as storage. It's replacing an existing storage shed that backs up to the property now which will be demolishing And then we're going to convert the other third into a little outdoor bar. It's kind of, you know, kind of a trendy hip idea that you see a lot these days with people converting their containers and so anyway I'd like to walk you through the rest of the slides.

The parking in the front is existing. We're just kind of rearranging the spaces and removing the entry that's along the east side there, and it's making one driveway entrance into the property which will turn into the parking immediately to the right there, and then it's mostly the existing parking that we're maintaining on the rest of the project. The trash right now is in the back of the property, and it's kind of a dirt field behind the office building, and that's where the trash containers are now. So we're bringing that to the front of the property right behind the... I guess they call it a spa but it's like a little hairdressing building in the front right now.

That's what we're bringing the trash to. And then part of the pool in the back that we have a little bathroom structure as well. I didn't point out before, but it's a little pool house. Anyway, go to the next slide. And yeah, part of the project is to open up—it's kind of a breezeway. It seemed like it was an add-on to the old Lavender Inn which was called the Brick Schoolhouse at one point. I think it was like an old school that was built in 1880 or something like that. But anyway, there's a breezeway that we're gonna open up. So people from the side yard on the west side of the big beautiful lawn area that they have gatherings here but we're gonna open that breezeway up and so people can walk from the parking lot to and from the pool area.

They can walk back and forth without having to cut through the building. And so that's what we're describing in this slide. Next one, yeah. Here are the elevations. Again we're kind of trying to play off the Victorian farmhouse style of Lavender Inn but as we went through the historic commission and the standards are not to make it the same so it's a make it kind Blend in and be like that. So we have different materials on this structure, we have some boardenbat siding and some Ojai stone that we're bringing into the wainscote and some of the facades but overall it's got sort of that Victorian charm to it Next slide, yeah.

Yeah we have here the colors and materials as we pointed out before. We have boar and bat but it's kind of a gray on gray which is I think a very traditional color for the style. And then the Ojai stone.

Next

slide. Thank you. Part of the proposal is also to paint the existing lavender in the same colors, and so we went through the historic on reviewing this as well, and they had some recommendations for the type of paint but they liked the colors. But after the fire, they had a power wash in the building and it actually removed the color from the building. And they exposed this sort of muddy gray color that they want to go back and paint over.

Next slide. Bill Mallet is not here tonight, but he prepared the landscape plan. You know, Bill's worked a lot of native drought tolerant materials and he's very sensitive to our climate here. There are some really beautiful mature oaks that we're not gonna really be dealing with at all, but there was a mention. We still have to go through the public art program and so we were thinking to the front on the west side corner of the structure facing the street might be a good place for public art.

But we haven't made that proposal yet. All right, next slide. Oh yeah, and so we prepared this like walkthrough or three-dimensional visualization of the project so you can kind of see it using our technology. Today I have some really nifty 20 year olds in my office who are really into this and I'm very impressed. You know they kind of blow my hand renderings away when they see this but you really get a feeling for what it's like to live in the project The swimming pool and that outdoor bar, the container that we talked about.

And then each of the units have their private courtyards, a little backyard of those new units. They all have their own individual private courtyards. So that's the end of my presentation. If there's any questions I'm happy to answer anything.

Thank you so much Mark. Beautiful. Any questions? Council no any for Lucas. No Well, thank you so much. Hey the transit stop is beautiful. Thank you so much Yeah Okay, we'll go ahead and open the public hearing We have Brian Aikens

Hello there, Council. Brian Akins, Chair of the Historic Preservation Commission. As Mark alluded to this and Lucas reported, this is a landmark in the city when changes were being contemplated and being planned they did come to the historic preservation for Kind of an overview and update for us. We kind of get upset when people don't pay attention to us when they're working on a landmark, we drive by and go call Lucas or Mara first. So I do want to thank, we held two meetings in the first meeting, I do want to thank Mark and Kathy Hartley. And Mark who both came to our meeting answered all of our questions again, our role was purely as an advisory as a suggestion In the second meeting that came forward that they came with it was as Mark said on the paint colors and they went through the whole history.

Commissioner, HPC commissioner Sims is an aficionado on paint. She determined that the paint colors listed in these were not the most current paint color, name of that paint color. Things like that and talked about the texture of the paint and the glossy or non-glossy all the little things that are way over my head. And so, and Mark was at that meeting again. Mark Whitman was at that meeting.