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All council members were present for the Wednesday, Feb. 15 City Council meeting. Open session started at 2:01 p.m. and ended at 5:08 p.m. Here's what you missed:
Much-needed General Plan Workshop has Council re-evaluating that a Feb 21st Approval May Be Too Soon.
The City held an essential workshop on Feb 15 regarding the General Plan Update known as Carson 2040, where the council pushed back the original Feb. 21 approval date to accommodate the concerns brought by a slew of public comments from various stakeholders and residents at the meeting. However, Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes did clarify that the City is on a time constraint to pass the Housing Element within the General Plan Update and suggested its completion for no later than March 21st.
The majority of public comments addressed three main concerns:
Eliminate Flex District designation and keep existing zones.
Cancel and remove all language attempting to prohibit trucking, truck yards, and truck containers. Such a prohibition could bottleneck the Nation’s supply chain and displace many of the working force in the City.
Allow more time for stakeholders and community outreach, and not hastily approve the project at the Feb 21 council meeting.
The workshop also identified other primary issues brought up by communities of interest throughout the process:
Legal Non-Conforming Uses. (Property and Business owners questioned what would happen to businesses which were legally established but suddenly become legal non-conforming under the 2040 General Plan).
Business Residential Mix-use. (Property owners believe residential use should not be allowed and current zone designation should remain the same, Light Industrial and Heavy Industrial).
Shell Property. (The property owner expressed concerns about allowing residential buildings and a park due to contamination of the site).
Economic Development Plan In-Sync with General Plan.
Insufficient Community Outreach.
Other Prohibited Uses.
For each concern, a list of recommendations was given for the Council to contemplate and make a decision at the next regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21. While no official action was taken during the meeting, the councilmembers made several suggestions during the meeting.
Mayor Pro Tem. Jawane Hilton advocated for eliminating the Flex district designation but Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes insisted on meeting with business partners to draw out language for Flex District that can be suitable for both parties.
Noting that the majority of comments came from stakeholders and business leaders, Mayor Davis-Holmes requested to survey residents to get a better idea on how they feel about rezoning. Councilmember Jim Dear suggested using the same survey company who oversaw the illegal firework survey.
Mayor Pro Tem. Jawane Hilton requested that the recently added prohibited-use language regarding truck yards, container yards, and other trucking activities be removed for the current zoning code. Even if the language were to be removed, conditional use permits would still be required for truck yards in heavy industrial (MH) zones, and for truck terminals in heavy and limited industrial zones.
Councilmember Cedric Hicks suggested removing Business Residential Mix Use designation but only if policies can be adopted to protect the residential area east of Main Street.
Councilmember Jim Dear verified that the Mobile Home Park Overlay District was included in the General Plan Update.
Despite the council agreeing that Feb 21st was too soon to adopt the City’s General Plan Update, they did concur that approval of the General Plan would not have to wait for the Economic Development Strategic Plan. Community Development Director Saied Naaseh claimed that the General Plan is consistent with the Economic Development Strategic Plan.
The workshop also included presentations on the General Plan Update’s Final Environmental Impact Report and the City’s Economic Development Strategy Plan.
Events:
City of Carson 55th Anniversary Celebration Community Planning Meetings. Volunteers needed - Every third Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m.
City of Carson 55th Anniversary Gala Ball - Feb 25, at the Carson Event Center
City of Carson 55th Anniversary Street Fair - Jul 29, on Carson Street
City of Carson 55th Anniversary Tour De Carson - Aug 12
Free Pet Wellness Clinic - Sunday, Mar. 26, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.