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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - Business Council Committee - Meeting Date: 9/19/2019MINUTES BUSINESS COUNCIL COMMITTEE CITY HALL, CONFERENCE ROOM 2A 5850 WEST GLENDALE AVENUE GLENDALE, ARIZONA 85301 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2019 2:00 PM CALL TO ORDER The mig was called to order at 2 PM. ROLL CALL Committee members present: Vice Mayor Chairperson Joyce Clark, Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff, Vice Chairperson Bart Shea, Councilmember Ray Malnar, Yvonne Knaack, and Ricardo Toris. Committee members absent: Dale Adams and John Crow City staff present: Eric Fitzer (Development Services Director), Chris Anaradian (Assistant City Manager) Lisa Rastovsky-Collins (Interim Planning Administrator), Vicki Rios (Assistant City Manager), Lisette Camacho (Interim Budget & Finance Director), Robert Birr (Interim Tax & License Manager, Paul Lopez (Customer Service Manager). Presentation by Matthew Klyszeiko & Adam Pruett from Michael Baker International. CITIZEN COMMENTS There were no citizens present, so Vice Mayor Chairperson Clark did not call for citizen comments. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES A motion to approve the meeting minutes from September 20, 2018, October 18, 2018, June 20, 2019, and August 15, 2019, was made by Ms. Knaack and it was seconded by Councilmember Tolmachoff. All were in favor, and none opposed. ITRMS a. Presentation regarding the Zoning Code Rewrite - Michael Baker International Matthew Klyszeiko and Adam Pruett introduced the company and their zoning code experiences throughout Arizona and the rest of the country. Mr. Klyszeiko explained that the zoning codes are meant to be user-friendly and innovative, and he stated that the way Michael Baker International (MBI) does this is by assessment of city staff s concerns and needs. Once the annotated outline is formed, they will draft the code one module at a time, and during this process, MBI will be taking their modules to the committee to get feedback on other specific items. Mr. Klyszeiko then asked the committee if they had any questions or concerns. Councilmember Malnar asked if each section would be taken for public review one at a time, or would they be taken all at once to public review. Mr. Klyszeiko explained that they will break it into many modules, draft some of them, and then expose the public to two to three modules. Councilmember Malnar then asked how often would this occur, and Mr. Klyszeiko stated each module should be done in two to three months, and there are four total modules. Mr. Klyszeiko added that one of the modules will be about signage alone. Vice Mayor Chairperson Clark asked Mr. Klyszeiko about his scope of work, and Mr. Klyszeiko offered to provide documents which explain this in detail. Vice Mayor Chairperson Clark requested copies to be made, and then she asked what direction was given to Mr. Klyszeiko by senior management. Mr. Klyszeiko stated that the specific, initial feedback is typically to identify the process and determine how they should break up groups (e.g.: technical advisory groups, community outreach, business engagement). Vice Mayor Chairperson Clark asked Mr. Klyszeiko who the information will be gathered from. Mr. Klyszeiko stated that they've identified stakeholder groups such as large landowners, legal and planning communities, and development communities. Vice Mayor Chairperson Clark asked about the annotated outline, and suggested meeting once the annotated outline is done before the module creation has begun. Mr. Klyszeiko stated that this can be planned. Mr. Toris asked for confirmation in regards to the scope. Mr. Klyszeiko sated that the subdivision and landscaping ordinates will be rolled in and refined, but they won't be overhauled completely. Vice Mayor Chairperson Clark asked Ms. Rios if she would mind if the committee skipped ITEM B and moved directly into ITEM D on the agenda, since it related to the current discussion; Ms. Rios had no objection. d. Committee members' discussion and recommendations regarding City Code updates, deletions, revisions, and recommendations Vice Mayor Chairperson Clark asked the committee for any comments or suggestions in regards to the City Code updates. Mr. Toris encouraged simplification of the process of doing business in the city of Glendale, and Vice Chairperson Shea added the consistency of paperwork and elimination of confusion would be ideal. Vice Chairperson Shea also suggested going paperless with some processes. Ms. Knaack echoed Vice Chairperson Shea's comments and added that the process is not customer -friendly, and it should be made easier for developers. Councilmember Malnar added that the current interpretations of codes shouldn't be so different between city staff, business owners, and citizens. Ms. Knaack added that in regards to signage, there should be a balance between what is good for businesses and what is aesthetically pleasing for the city. Vice Mayor Chairperson Clark added that being competitive with surrounding communities would be ideal as well. Vice Mayor Chairperson Clark also suggested cross - training plumbers, electricians, and soil inspectors in an effort to make inspections finish quickly, but Mr. Klyszeiko noted that suggestions as such are more so about inconsistency between technically -trained specialists and their comprehension of the codes. Mr. Klyszeiko ended the discussion by stating all comments will be taken into consideration when rewriting the Zoning Codes. b. Presentation by Vicki Rios, Assistant City Manager Ms. Rios provided a presentation on updated information since the last meeting. Ms. Camacho began the presentation with mentioning the House Bill 2757 (The Wayfair Bill) was passed and adopted as law on August 27, 2019. This bill affects any business that does not have a physical presence within the city, so it applies to digital goods and online services. Councilmember Malnar asked if this business license change is being interpreted this way everywhere or if only some cities were not following it. Ms. Rios explained it's difficult to say K who is moving in this direction, but these statistics will be available when the committee reconvenes to review these changes in a few months. There is another bill that passed on May 14, 2018. This allows cities to require mobile vendors to have background checks and fingerprinting. The city of Glendale does require this already, and the revenue for food vendor licenses is only $3,500 per year. Councilmember Malnar asked if fingerprint clearances and background checks would go away completely for mobile vendors; Ms. Camacho explained that wouldn't happen; however, instead of forcing mobile vendors to get a license for every city they work in, it is suggested that mobile vendors only need to do the background check and fingerprinting process once in the neighboring cities in order to be allowed to work in Glendale. After some discussion of mobile vendor concerns, Mr. Birr added to the presentation of proposed business license changes. He began with possible exemptions from business licensing, which were city, state, and federal government entities, taxis and other driving services, childcare and babysitting, real estate agents, and residential rentals over 28 consecutive days, home-based educational system (tutoring, swimming, or music lessons). This code should reflect that they are still required to have a TPT license, but they do not have to specifically have a city license for Glendale. Mr. Birr continued that City Staff proposes for licensed inspections within the city and a prorated waiver of fees. In addition, city staff proposes that they should state the due dates of the license fees, specify that a postmark is not a proper indication of payment being sent on time, allow for a change in business location at no cost, and state that at the license will not be renewed if the business fails to follow other codes and ordinances. Ms. Rios concluded with the next steps will be to draft these code changes and collect information on the financial effects of these changes. c. Presentation by Chris Anaradian, Assistant City Manager Mr. Anaradian began with reminding the committee of the three ways to codify a better future for a city (people, processes, and technology) because all of these have been addressed in the meeting today. Mr. Anaradian also added that something else was mentioned during the meeting, which was why do the big projects get special treatment while the others suffer? In Mr. Anaradian's observation, this was done often in Glendale with an economical development strategy in mind. He also posed the question: how can this process be stopped? Mr. Anaradian suggested that having great codes and even better people working for the city will create strong project management. The plan is to have six people to work on project management to make these processes easier. After further discussion, Vice Mayor Chairperson Clark questioned why there is not a sense of urgency in regards to making changes, and Mr. Anaradian explained that the urgency is there, but the ability to make changes occur quickly is difficult due to the bureaucratic process and the fact that there are 1,800 city employees in Glendale. OTHER BUSINESS No other business was discussed. STAFF REPORT No staff reports were discussed. COMMITTEE COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS There were no committee comments or suggestions made. i3 NEXT MEETING The meetings are suspended until appropriate data and drafts have been collected by the city staff, so the next meeting is tentatively in early December. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Knaack made a motion to adjourn the meeting, and Vice Chairperson Bart Shea seconded. The meeting adjourned at approximately 3:34 PM. Sherry Crapser, Recording Secretary 0