Planning Commission Regular Meeting

Okay I'm calling the meeting of the Planning Commission on June 17th 2026 at 6 p.m.. To order Could we have a roll

Make a motion to accept.

I will second that motion.

Could we have a roll call, Sherry? Hanson?

Yes.

Stewart? Yes. Rice-Schmidt? Abstain. Murphy? Yes

Disclosure of site visits and ex parte contacts at this time. Bruce?

None.

I went out to this site at 923 East Ojai Avenue and walked the site.

I met with the owner of the 923 Bryant property in the context of a meeting with Chamber of Commerce. Thank

you, and I have also walked the site. I have had no ex parte contacts Okay, moving on. We now have the concept review CR 26-003. Provide comments regarding a request for his own change and it and a DRP

So this would be the time for Commissioner Stewart to recuse himself.

Yes Thank you at this time I'll recuse myself as I have a hospitality business down the street, and I would prefer to not comment on the topic Thank you

Thank you chair and commissioners, this is a concept review regarding a request for the construction of a new hotel development Seconds There we go. The development is called Wildflower and it includes two or excuse me, six two story and to one story standalone hotel units located on a vacant land, vacant part of the land, some vacant land at the southeast corner of East Ojai Avenue in Bryant Street specifically located at 923 East Ojai Avenue.

The request includes a general plan land use designation amendment from commercial manufacturing to general commercial to be consistent with the existing General Commercial Zone Designation also to merge three existing vacant legal vacant lots into one parcel and Also to consider design review permit As a concept review, the Planning Commission is being asked to provide the applicant with comments and feedback regarding the project and provide an opportunity for public comment. Once I've finished with my presentation, the applicant also has a presentation of their own Although I have just a few slides. I do have a lot to say because it is a large development with a lot of different aspects They also have a PowerPoint so I'm again, I'm going to try to be as straightforward and as brief as possible while giving you that the background So the project is described by the applicant As an eight unit key all Landscape hotel and micro resort key all refers to facilities where guests are provided keyless access the site is in the general commercial zone as I've already stated and has a general plan land use designation of commercial manufacturing and this site is currently includes three separate legal lots The primary purpose of areas that are designated as commercial manufacturing in the general plan is to provide for a broad range of manufacturing and commercial uses that are complementary to one another.

Typical uses include light manufacturing, commercial sales and services that are in support of light manufacturing, and warehouse and distribution facilities. Current zone designation is for general commercial which is applied to areas appropriate for a range of community and tourists serving retail and service land uses and typical Uses include general retail and a host of other personal services, but also including hotels and motels the The municipal code includes that the C-1 zone district is consistent with the general plan land use designation of general commercial.

The general commercial land use designation provides for general shopping and commercial service needs, and includes highway and tourist appropriate uses, and specifically includes hotels. Change from general plan in the general plan land-use designation from commercial manufacturing to General Commercial would be required so that the zone and the land use designations support one another and In following the intent of the general plan.

I Know I have this up here is that I guess we could still be sitting here. So the project includes development over three separate legal parcels, the Director of Community Development has determined that the parcels are required to be merged as part of the project. I'm using the word merge loosely it's just eliminating lot lines. The process to create one parcel has yet to be determined however the end goal is for there to be one parcel The method for achieving this is going to be determined through the city engineer and City Attorney and staff prior to it coming back to the Planning Commission for discretionary permit review and recommendation to City Council or Determination depending on where it where the final determination lands.

Mm-hmm The applicant is requesting approval of a design review permit For the eight hotel units as well as full site development including a common area landscaping and required parking The design review standards in the municipal code by which all projects must be evaluated And as you've heard this for all DRPs Is includes context and that new structures should employ materials colors textures styles building mass and scale that are compatible with the architectural character and form of the surrounding area Continuity with the streetscape with regard to setbacks scale with regard to height transition between neighboring parcels or neighboring buildings, excuse me and and architecture that piques interest as opposed to monotonous forms or elevations.

The site is proposed to be bordered by a four-feet high perimeter fence along the north, and a portion of the northwest and northeast property lines. A six feet high perimeter wall is proposed along portions of the south property line A common area with a movie wall is proposed adjacent to East Ojai Avenue, and a pedestrian entrance is proposed at the northwest corner of the site adjacent to a trellis enclosed gathering area.

The movie screen is not really visible on this slide, however it will be when you see the applicant's slides. There are 11 parking spaces that are proposed at the south end of the site and the southeast corner of the site adjacent to the parking includes a cupboard enclosed storage and trash enclosure. The applicant has included the landscape plan, and it's designed as a xeriscaped nature-immersed environment that honors Ojai's native ecology. Let's see if we have—oops!

You're going to see that on his plans. The plant palette emphasizes drought-tolerant species, including wildflowers, regionally appropriate shrubs and select edible fruit. The shared common yard features natural grass maintained through a sand based hydroponics system that captures and recycles stormwater for efficient irrigation creating a resilient low water landscape.

The site development includes an outdoor communal spa, cold plunge and sauna. And a common area with movies screen that I've mentioned previously. Each hotel unit includes a full kitchen and bathrooms and a private patio that's enclosed by a six foot enclosure. Additionally each private patio has a heat pump and tankless water heater. The building materials include vertical wood planks Shiplap fiber cement siding and corrugated metal roofing. The vertical cement board and wood siding is in a Dakota Woods green and Glacier gray with corrugated roofing in burnished slate.

The exterior doors and windows are bronze and Dakota woods green, and the fence material throughout the property is proposed to be a horizontal wood fencing in the color of hazelnut. The site is within the northern edge of the Bryant Industrial Area Plan, the Thoroughfare Corridor Overlay District, and the East Ojai Avenue Design Guidelines area. Regarding the Bryant Industrial Area Plan, many planning improvements to Bryant Street Identified in the plan have previously been completed. However, the city engineer will be preparing conditions of approval for this project for remaining required improvements to Bryant Street with curb gutter sidewalks and That are adjacent to the project frontage Described in the traffic study and pursuant to the municipal code The project is also located in the city's thoroughfare corridor overlay design area The project does not take access directly from Ojai Avenue therefore the design and operation of the project driveway on because it has the access on Bryant Street, it's exempt from the the thoroughfare corridor overlay design area requirements The project site is located in the East Ojai Avenue Design Guidelines area and pursuant to these guidelines, the development is to be less dense than the downtown area west of Park Road creating and maintaining a feeling of openness.

One purpose is for the protection of views to the surrounding hillsides that are North East and south of the property The guidelines encourage development that incorporates plazas Courtyards and other outdoor pedestrian spaces into their site plans these areas are additionally encouraged to be visible or linked with To the street by a clear circulation element such as an open passage or covered arcade The guidelines provide that the use of low fences and walls to screen and separate functions Provide a decorative A decorative type of orientation and that they create areas for landscaping as a unique feature found throughout the community. And the use of rock work to create distinctive walls and planters is strongly encouraged within the East Ojai Avenue guidelines.

The guidelines also include that the height of the walls should be kept as low as possible while performing their intended security or screening functions. Additionally, wall materials and colors should be consistent with the architectural theme of the main buildings on the site. The guidelines indicate that building proportions with horizontal emphasis are desired over those with more vertical proportions that exaggerate overall building height.

The nine parking spaces that are proposed at the south side of the project Fulfill the requirement because the requirement There are 11 parking spaces. Sorry provided but there are nine required And the proposal includes the key all Aspect therefore additional parking is not required for a property manager There was a traffic analysis that was prepared to assess the potential traffic and vehicle miles traveled in relation to this development, and the traffic analysis includes or concludes rather that the project does not exceed thresholds adopted by the city.

In order to assure that there are appropriate utilities for the project we require submittal of Letters will serve letters or availability letters at the time of submittal and those have been Submitted as part of this project for or from rather casitas municipal water district and also the Ojai Valley sanitary district Applicant describes as I've already stated the landscape as xeriscape nature immersed environment that honors the Ojai native ecology while evaluating or excuse me elevating wildflowers experiential Mission, the landscaping includes drought tolerant species including wild wild flowers and edible fruit as already described the Ultimately the project will be conditioned that all lighting provisions comply with the municipal code as the landscaping.

There's a covered trash enclosure and storage area next to the proposed parking spaces, as already indicated, and the trash enclosure will be conditioned to comply with Specifications that are required to be complied by the city Through the county of Ventura The project is going to be subject to public arts the Public Arts Ordinance That requires the inclusion of public art and the art must be located in an area visible to the general public from the nearest public right-of-way for a minimum of eight hours per working day, and this will be a condition of approval for the project And the applicant will be encouraged to contact public artists and an art consultant as soon as possible.

So lastly, there's a section in the code, Section 10-2.1802B of the code that the final decision on the project will be made by the highest level of review authority So the general plan amendment will require final determination to be made by the City Council therefore the design review permit as well as whatever the process is for the merging of the three part parcels will be a recommendation by the Planning Commission to the City Council and The project analysis will include evaluating consistency with the municipal code the general plan the Bryan Street industrial area plan the thoroughfare corridor overlay district and the East Ojai Avenue design design guidelines So with that I've described as much as I can with about the project to you and We have the applicant here with his own presentation that I will be manning for him Thank you.

Mr. Mitchell? Sorry, I thought I did that.

Would you like to introduce yourself

sir? Sure, sure. Nate Mitchell. Blow Street Ventures is my company Project Wildflower is the name of this What ends up being my California dream at the end of the day This is something that has been a vision that I've had for almost 15 years I finally found a place that I could do it and then the timing in my life Created the opportunity for me to do it. I'm really excited to see the turnout here, there's this small town feel of Ojai that I actually fell in love with when I first came to visit and that was in 2000 I think 21 or 22 right around the pandemic.

And my first impression, it remains the same. I love it up here. I brought some friends up recently they fell in love and so this opportunity for me is what I hope to be my love story with Ojai.

Where's Flo Street Holdings located?

I'm based in Los Angeles. I'm originally from Pittsburgh, just give you a quick backstory. I kind of introduced myself to the Planning Commission in early May background. Originally from Pittsburgh, I moved out here in 2018 to take a role with Live Nation Entertainment doing concert venue development before the pandemic hit and then Previous to that, I did some institutional shopping mall redevelopment. And this kind of gravitation into experiential hospitality was really this convergence of my life experiences where at Live Nation, I was in the business of creating non-duplicatable life experiences. It was a job that I didn't know that existed.

And then my previous experience prior to business school, I did a community development fellowship in New Orleans where I really got immersed into neighborhood development. And so as I kind of progressed my career and had some vision in a particular approach to development, Flow Street Ventures and Flow Street Holdings is an embodiment of that. So this is the catalyst project that hopefully I can put all my creative vision into something that both fits within the neighborhood character of Ojai but stands out as well.

Thank you.

Perfect, we can just quick overview just the idea of wildflower. It's really a play on words with what I call my daughter. We're avid hikers and when we would go out she would be the one kind of meandering right on the edge of the mountain Picking wildflowers and she has a very free spirit. And so It literally just was a project file name when I first named it and then it kind of stuck and then it kind Of stuck with the ecology of Ojai, and and I just kind of said wildflower fits And so that's kind of the origin story of how I came up with Willow The site itself is Really intended to be that anchor and I would say maybe the missing anchor of the east end as it transitions into the town center area. It's on the hard corner of East Ojai and Bryan Street, it's just under a half acre so it's a really tight site and so Planning exercises, I should have included the slide where I had 30 different versions of the site plan trying to make something that would work, would fit in with the design guidelines and hopefully fit kind of the character of the neighborhood.

And so there was an upfront priority to prioritize open space just from the guest experience This beautiful natural environment is the really redeeming character and draw why most of you probably moved here, and why people want to come to visit. So I wanted to prioritize that. And then kind of getting into the fundamentals of the site itself. You know it's zone C1 so hotel is a permitted use.

There's little clarification on the land-use designation of commercial manufacturing Technically that is the the land use designation but a couple layers deep into the land-use code. There's actually East over East East oh, I Designed concept kind of overlay that actually encourages service oriented and tourist oriented Uses and specifically names hotel as an approved use. And so it's it's not necessarily a required in my humble opinion general plan amendment because it is identified specifically in the land use element as an intended use of that area and then to be encouraging that type of development along Ojai Avenue in this kind of bracketed area around Montgomery on to you know down past Soule. And so knowing that on the front end kind of was the impetus for me Go ahead and move forward with acquiring the land, and then obviously creating the vision of Willow.

Next slide please This, Mara kind of hit on it. This really is a labor of love again I've had this vision for like 15 years it started in New Orleans kind of stepping back into my approach as a neighborhood developer. I came up with a recipe for placemaking that I called at the time and it was people places and reciprocity. It's one part people one part place and two parts reciprocity The reciprocity part is programming and participation. And it takes an inspired mind to create an environment that hopefully willing participants will come and enjoy, you know, and really elevate the experience collectively. And I got really excited about the idea of communitas. It's kind of a group flow statement. Eight cabins get filled up with people. They're all coming out here intentionally either rest, relaxation, rejuvenation but they get to have this shared experience and each individual person's experience elevates that next person's and collectively they have a great time.

And so that's kind of the embodiment of what I was trying to drive at with the landscaping It's intended to be lush and plush. I call it moment-making design where if you could look at something, a sculptural element, a blue agave plant, an orange tree, you know something that would catch your eye unique wildflower we can tell the story about its origin the connection to the region and those are special moments and they matter to me they matter to me when I go You know someplace that has kind of leaned into experiential hospitality particularly and there's a story to be told there The units themselves. The intention is that it's kind of really designed for the modern traveler I have two kids It's very hard to go and book a hotel room you get two queen beds.

The kids are jumping on the bed You can reach up and touch the ceiling low-volume ceilings. You feel like you're in a sardine can and so the idea of these lofted suites Creates some separation from the living area and in the bedrooms. The indoor-outdoor experience is intentionally designed to have the patio and connectivity into the great room, but it's really the experience that you're missing in Ojai.

This is a place to relax and let down. It's not transactional you shouldn't come here and just be in the hotel room, and you got to be out of it because You can't you're kind of contained within the four walls And so this is a place that hopefully embodies what I believe that I feel when I come up here Which is essential of relaxation if you move the next slide And so again, I've multiple iterations but I tried to lean into just the basic site conditions. I have an existing access easement off of Bryan Street so it's natural location to put the parking in the back and then I wanted to create As much open area as I could and kind of preserve that character. So currently there's about 70 feet of frontage, of open space with a four-foot fence so there's some visibility into the courtyard.

The courtyard itself, the programming aspect this view here was really the initial vision of a living wall It's kind of morphed into an example activation of a movie wall and that really was after a conversation that I had with the planning team in, I think November. We were explaining the project kind of saying hey are there elements that would be interesting to the community? And they said oh you know that's something that's kind of missing when people come in here is there anything that they you know the community could participate in and I was like well Had this idea and it's really centered on like silent disco and you would have headphones on so there wouldn't be any sound projection And we could have an outdoor movie. And I and so that was an application of just the backdrop of the living wall Which was really a method to screen the broad side of that unit because it's kind of boring I thought about a mural but again, this is kind of a landscape oriented hotel.

So the idea of having a Living wall was was really the original vision and then it kind of transformed into a boulder garden So on left and right field, there's kind of boulders in the middle of sand. So you got some different materials And so it becomes kind of a dynamic area But the backdrop is obviously the green and flowerful living wall And so that's an element just want to kind of highlight on if you can move the next slide This is really just showing the Approachability of Willow The units are intentionally designed in clusters So there's some breaks in between so you can kind of see, you know through the project obviously at the you know at a Walker's view. You can kind of see into the yard and that open space is maintained go to the next slide Now this is an important slide for me because I think right now on that hard corner, which is really a critical corner at the gateway to the town center, is a vacant parcel.

And then you have some really dynamic uses. You've got Light and Space to the west, you've got the Ojai Pub, you've got Vickie's Thrift Shop, Garden Temple which is a great store and then Izakaya Moon Phenomenal Sushi next to me is Rise Ojai and so they have the hair salon there and what I think is going to be kind of a ghost kitchen for the old restaurant on the corner What's missing is Something in that on that hard corner that ties everything together And so the idea in the land-use element of talking about having an anchor for This corridor the transition into the gateway of downtown. I thought this would be a great anchor for that and so The scale of Wildflower, it's really one and a half stories. It's really not even two the total clear heights 22 feet in C1 zoning in this particular area 35 feet is the max height so it was intentionally built to a lower scale because again I was trying to fit in with the neighborhood The second floor is really just a five-foot knee wall and then it has a pitch roof, the gable roof.

And so the...and then the color scheme itself I wrestled with this for too long but in the design guidelines it talks about that kind of an earth tone color palette and so the idea here is there's more of a modern mountain design And then the idea is that it kind of blends in with the background. So you mix in with the olive trees which are missing, that will remain along Ojai and then there's some new trees along Bryant Street and a sidewalk.

The color scheme, the dark olive, the burnished slate wood, the lighter...it's kind of like a driftwood Plank panel that kind of surrounds the the glass wall Those are natural elements that when you're in nature, that's kind of what you see So the idea was that I could deliver something. That's obviously new But it will look like hopefully to some degree that it's always been there so the scale of it even just a simple structure or the gabled roof and It's kind of barn-like. There are some examples of caravan outposts that have their original building and has a metal roof, very simple structure. There is the diagonal in the back next to the landscape group, the same thing.

And knowing that there is some rich architecture down in the town center area And then it's a little bit more eclectic on this end. I was trying to do something that wasn't so over the top from an architectural standpoint, but again it would look like that it's kind of always been there and then the compliment would obviously be in some rich landscaping to add to the flavor there.

Then going back to the land use element of this The CM is an interesting kind of definition of what goes into CM, and it really states that there are broad uses that are complementary. And then there's another layer about the specific interest in clarification of what is intended to be on this frontage corridor really of these parcels that just align on Ojai. And in hotels specifically called out there and then on the complimentary side of things Hotel is really a asset class that is complementary to most other assets Asset classes and so and then you look at kind of what's to the immediate immediately adjacent to me as a hair salon Next to that was a restaurant. They're both under the CM they're both under c1 zoning and So kind of going back to what really would be more of an administrative cleanup on that general plan amendment to shift it to general commercial It's really reflective already in the land-use element if that's what it was intended to be and now it's more of a cleanup item than A requirement to do it because I'm changing the use to something that it wasn't supposed to be.

I just wanted to highlight that Go the next slide This is an example of really the shared common yard. Again, the introduction of the movie wall was really it was an evolution of the vision of what's possible. I had an experience where my son plays Little League baseball and we had a community night down in the field and we watch Rookie of the Year and the whole league came out and watched this outdoor movie It was fantastic. It reminded me, I'm from a small town north of Pittsburgh and we used to go to the drive-in movie theater and it's there something about being out in the element experiencing a movie that's different obviously with you know other guests and family members and friends and I really enjoy the experience and so that's just one example of why I had an open lawn So the guest experience people could have some space to do things if they wanted to hold yoga out in the yard, they could do that.

And then the wellness in the fire pit area you know I think a reason why people come to Ojai and more importantly What you really need to do that in my phase of life and most people they need to treat themselves to some Relaxation and rejuvenation. And so integrating the wellness components here were important, and I think it'll Lend well to a great guest experience But hopefully what you're trying to get out of a weekend or a couple days stay here That you can really pour into the wellness aspect of things go to the next slide Yeah, same thing. I wanted to zoom in on here one of my favorite movies Sandlot again this is a more representative of what the experience is intended to be or an example of it if you notice there's some headphones on the folks that are sitting in the yard if you've ever been to a like a rooftop cinema club experience they Bluetooth into you know private headphones so there's no sound transmission And I thought that was important and that's kind of the intention.

If that was going to be an activation, it would be in that kind of format versus blasting speakers and creating some environmental noise. So that's just an example and again zeroing in on what's possible with open space and what could obviously lend to a great guest experience. Then it also lends into the idea and the mission that I'm trying to achieve here It's moment-making design.

My kind of tagline is that we live life to reminisce and make moments worth remembering, and that's kind of how I live my life. I think if you can engage in something in all the busyness of your life, engage in experience that you remember—and hopefully it's a positive one—you should try to stack as many of those as you can. Life is challenging. There are all kinds of twists and turns And so for this next phase of my life and career, that's what I want to do. And so that's kind of the mantra of Wildflower and there will be more to come on that side of things.

Oh, we've talked about the units a little bit. This is just kind of an as-built example of what it could look like. You can see the full height glass. It's kind of leaning into biophilic design principles so you have an indoor outdoor experience. You have the great room experience so there's some volume and Even though these units are small, they're relatively large for a hotel room and it has the dynamic experience of a great room with the seating area, the separated bedroom, the dramatic ceilings. And it lends itself to a great indoor-outdoor experience with the full glass wall.

Again that's intentioned. Kind of goes back to you know, my experience now as a two-time dad and how we travel And then just in general the experience that you expect and particularly on a quality side Hopefully these units would match the quality of the community And obviously it's world renowned here. And so that was the intention of really pouring into the units in that regard Go to the next slide And to wrap it up, I'm excited to be here.

This is a part of my listening tour. I wanted to add this context now but I'm so excited to hear from the community and I'm excited to hear from the Planning Commission. We've been engaged with the planning staff for quite some time and been trying to shape the vision and hopefully match you know kind of OHAI and deliver a project that really fits in and so Excited about the feedback. I would love to understand if there's you know opportunities where I can engage the community more I'm an open book again This is this is my California dream and I'm excited to share it with you So as questions come up, I'm happy to answer them And if this is a you know, hopefully we can have productive conversation around it Thank you. Thank you very much

Thank You mr. Mitchell Okay, at this time we'll take comments from the audience. I have cards from Anita Cram.

Good evening everyone. So we do not need a new posh boutique hotel in Ojai. Please do not give away our important land in the industrial zone to a developer from LA that has a vision that's not our vision, but a financial mode as well. It is very important to keep zoned industrial for a balanced economy and our community It's the only one we have. Our City Council has prioritized small business development within our town, they understand that we are overly reliant on tourism and that focus comes at a significant cost to the community and the resilience of our economy remember COVID Yeah, when that happened tourism was gone for a long time. We didn't have much to back up to cover that tourism blackout.

The boutique hotel rooms are more like apartments or condos they have full kitchens and are set up for longer stay six of them have two stories These are not, this is not a typical hotel. The traffic study is severely flawed data from 2023 was used we all know that traffic in our valley is much worse than in 2023 at times you can only get down the street five days out of the week And the other problem with the traffic study is, is that we all know people who are in service industry cannot afford to live here. So saying that two trips during AM peak and three trips during PM peak is way, way off because people are going to be commuting in and out to work at this place. It just doesn't work because we need the jobs that this industrial zone is zoned to have versus something that is a service industry that isn't going to contribute Significantly to the betterment of the people who live here in the community.

So, please there are you know and when I look at those pictures. There's a lot of lights for our dark skies ordinance. The wellness angle is already here in Ojai, that's what Ojai is. People already come here for everything that was outlined in the vision here tonight and a lot of this that's offered at this will be in direct competition with existing small businesses it's not going to support them and it's not going to support the community It's gonna support the people who own the property and are running the hotel So please deny this project. Ojai is not the place for it. We are already a wellness place. I mean, you know, this has been happening since the 1920's, you know? And the further we go into this tourism bubble, the further we get away from that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Anita. Tara Jeffrey.

Hi there, I just wanted to. I think I have some questions about the traffic study and so is it? Does it mean that they're going onto Bryant Street? And they're not going to be on Ojai Avenue? Is that what the traffic study is saying?

So this is a concept review and it's an opportunity to give the applicant feedback to what you saw tonight. OK,

I said, OK, so I'm concerned about the housing that's going to go in on South Bryant Street if this project goes in. It's going to be a nightmare for our already really bad traffic problem. I think the scale of this looks doesn't look anything like Ojai at all I'm wondering if do you live here? Okay, I mean I guess that's not a problem but it just feels like It doesn't really benefit the community. I know it's a person can do whatever they want with their property But if you want to fit into the vision of what Ojai is which it sounds like you really do I don't really see that this is this is at all and Especially the architectures these look like tutors and People are absolutely going to drive into town and make multiple multiple trips into town which is going to impact our traffic Which is already a nightmare.

So that's that's what I have to say. Thank you. Thank You Tara Vicki Carlton burn

So one thing that comes up frequently in the general plan, both for the county and the city is this idea of quality of life. And this is directly from Ohio's city government website. And it refers to the changes to the general plan And I'll quote, this exciting initiative and update to the city's general plan will result in a new long-range planning document that will aim to improve the quality of life for all residents.

Protect what is unique and special about Ojai and address challenges of tomorrow. I want to know how this is going to improve the quality of life for Ojai. I have been in Ojai for 33 years and I can tell you, and no offense to the applicant but if you've been here you know that we feel many of us feel like we are absolutely overrun by tourism it's gotten worse and worse and worse. We don't need another tourist serving business Before voting I would ask yourself how this does improve the quality of life for Ojai residents. It's been, I've been dismayed at how many decisions made by Ojai City government that take into account business owners who don't live here and tourists and not the residents. Those are your clientele, and your obligation is to The residents not tourists so before voting I would say ask yourself how this is an improve the quality of life for residences Residents and if you approve it the residents Not the business owners.

I think deserve an explanation of how you think this is going to improve quality of life

Thank you, Vicki. I just want to state at this time that we will not be voting tonight. This is a an opportunity for the applicant to get feedback from both the public and from the Planning Commission. So that would happen at a later date. OK, the next person is Bill Miley.

Hello. Postponing the general plan rezoning is the key to a better economic sustainability for our city. When the Bryan Industrial Park was established, the Planning Commission then and the City Council then must have considered all the land important to be rezoned commercial industrial That's all we have, as I understand it. We have a new economic study going on right now that will enter the general plan.

Let's not undercut it by allowing a motel to be built on manufacturing zone land now. We need to wait for the draft and what goes into the general plan. When the East Ojai Avenue was replanned a bunch of years ago, they needed commercial zoning. So they probably did an overlay of general commercial and included the Bryant Street corner. East End development is to be complementary for the whole town.

For individuals in households and families to afford to live here we need well-paying jobs and thriving businesses Motels primarily generate transit occupancy tax. We have plenty of that. Our general fund has $18 million in it. This year, TOT, 10%, brings in $8 million. A few years ago we passed Measure C which added 5% to the TOT, $4 million. 12 million of our 18 million are from TOT We don't need any more.

Our budget gets about $2.5 million in sales tax. Tourist lodging right now generates, as I said, 12 million. We are very fortunate for without tourists we wouldn't have much of a government. Nobody would get paid. Motels do not generate well-paying jobs. Wildfire may be small, like eight rooms. As I see this project, most of the economic benefits will go to the owners who likely do not live here.

What else will a city get in benefits? We're going to lose general manufacturing land. We don't generate more than that. Question, why hasn't the land been developed so far? Probably because it's overpriced or it's priced high My response, the owner should lower the price. In summary, losing a zone parcel in the Bryant Street Industrial Park is a loss for our city.

The project brings little economic benefit to our city. 30 seconds please. The workers are going to get low income job wages and will probably have to live out of town. The project does not bring well-paying jobs to Ojai. The best option would be to wait for our economic study to be completed, city council adds it to the general plan and see how that fits into our better jobs for individuals and families. Thank you.

Thank you Bill. Heidi Whitman?

Good evening. As you all know, good community planning is about planning for the current and future needs of our residents and the business community not some other communities but Ojai's. Many years ago a wise Planning Commission and City Council decided that Bryant Circle was the best and the only place to set aside land for commercial and manufacturing businesses Businesses that might be a little messy, might be a little noisy, might be a little smelly.

Businesses though that provide higher paying jobs. Jobs that are not service jobs, jobs that might actually help you afford to live in Ojai. Sadly, this project does not do that. I do agree with all the comments that have been heard. I think that because this project requires you at some point to make findings, I don't see how you can make a finding that we need more housekeeping jobs, we don't need more visitor services or motels and we certainly do not need any more traffic.

The traffic study does seem flawed to me. It didn't mention the traffic from projects that have already been approved but not built yet and I actually frankly wonder what staff has been telling the applicant about what's possible on this property? I'm hoping that you do not think it's a good idea to change the zoning or merge the lots I think that additionally some of these experiential spirit these experiential experiences Sound a lot like more people than what the number of hotel rooms actually would provide for guests.