Key to the success of Arcata’s Gateway Area Plan is the quick and certain approval of all projects that meet the standards of the Gateway Code. The current draft has new Gateway buildings up to 37 feet tall – that’s three-stories, generally – being seen only by the Zoning Administrator. This one person would have complete authority to approve new projects. There would be no public hearings for these approvals.
In my view, this one-person no-hearing closed-door approach is not the way to go.
For buildings above 37 feet, review and approval would be handled by the Planning Commission. There is full notice to the public of the hearing, and the public can deliver written and oral comments.
I’d like that Planning Commission involvement to extend to all new Gateway construction.
This article explains the components of Ministerial Review, and why it’s important for the Planning Commission and the public to see every project as it’s being approved.
For more on this and other Gateway topics, including form-based code consultant Ben Noble’s 15-minute presentation on Ministerial Review, see Ministerial Review in the Gateway Area Plan – selected articles.
Components of Ministerial Review
Zoning Administrator Review: The “Zoning Administrator” in Arcata is our Community Development Director, David Loya.
Planning Commission Review: City Staff, the Planning Commissioners, and the public would all be looking at and evaluating each project. If the development meets the “Objective Standards” (see below) then, by State law, it has to be approved. There could be suggestions to improve the project – suggestions the developer might see as beneficial to the building’s tenants and while still being cost-effective. Over the years, we’ve seen Planning Commission suggestions become incorporated into projects again and again. Zoning Administrator review alone does not do this.
Objective Standards and By-Right Approval: Arcata has developed the standards for what we want to see for housing development — in the General Plan and the Land Use Code for most of Arcata and in the Gateway Zoning Code (form-based code) for the Gateway area. For the Gateway area, if a new housing project comes up for approval and it meets the requirements, then the project must – on a “By-Right” basis — be approved. The codes are supposed to be “objective” in the sense that they are carefully spelled out, but in reality there is almost always room for interpretation. There also can be flexibility and concessions and trade-offs – that is all part of the approval process.
Discretionary review and Streamlining: These days if a project meets the codified standards then it must be approved quickly. Just a few years back, local planning commissions had “discretionary” review power on new projects. A planning commission could require alterations to a project, and developers couldn’t predict the eventual cost of a project or even if the project would be approved at all. To promote new housing, the State legislature passed a series of bills aimed at “streamlining” development.
Planning Commission review is best
Ministerial review does not have to mean single-person Zoning Administrator review. Bringing new projects to the Planning Commission still means certainty that the projects will be approved. If it’s a good project, it will sail right through. As one example, Julian Berg’s Valley East apartments took only 31 minutes to be approved.
Review of the Ministerial review process. Every two years or so, the Planning Commission will look at the codes and standards. They will analyze what has worked and what has not. How have the approved buildings fit into our vision of the housing we want to see? And the Commission can then change the codes and standards accordingly.
Objective Standards and the form-based code are new to Arcata. By having the Planning Commission look at all Gateway projects, they will see how developers are using the Gateway Code – right as the projects are brought to them.
It is crucial that the Planning Commission see and be involved with the review and approval for all Gateway development, including the two-story and three-story Gateway projects. This way they can see for themselves how the process is working for Arcata. Let’s have Planning Commission review for at least the first five years, while we see what projects are submitted and cam evaluate the success of what’s been built.
There is no downside to having projects be seen by the Planning Commission. There are only upsides – large upsides. The projects, assuming they meet City standards, will be approved. The question is: Can they be improved – and the answer is yes.
Keep in mind that this is not a potentially adversarial process between the developer and the Commission, such as what may have occurred in the past. The Planning Commissioners can make suggestions that are better for all of us, and these may be at little or no extra cost to the developer. The Commissioners can add their experience and wisdom to the project. And there’d be no chance of something inadvertently slipping by a one-person Zoning Administrator approval.
A beneficial solution
With the combined consideration of the Community Development Director and staff, plus the seven Planning Commissioners, plus input from the public — all contributing in their ways — then improvements to the Gateway housing projects are inevitable.