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1998 03 24 CC Minutes^2 I LA QUINTA CITY COUNCIL MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING March 24, 1998 Special meeting of the La Quinta City Council was called to order at the hour of 1:30 p.m. by Mayor Pena. PRESENT: Council Members Henderson, Perkins, Sniff, Mayor Pena ABSENT: Council Member Adolph PUBLIC COMMENT None CONFIRMATION OF AGENDA Confirmed STUDY SESSION 1. DISCUSSION OF CULTURAL MASTER PLAN. Mr. Weiss, Assistant City Manager, advised that the Council authorized the Cultural Commission in 1 996 to prepare a Cultural Master Plan CM P) and, after soliciting community input through various meetings and workshops as well as a survey, the Commission has developed the proposed CMP and has routed it to various City Boards, Commissions, and other cultural organizations for review and feedback. The Cultural Commission has recommended the CMP be approved and incorporated into the new Cultural Resources Element of the City's General Plan at an approximate cost of $3,000. Mayor Pena noted that everyone has received a copy of Council Member Adolph's comments. Council Member Sniff was concerned about the legal ramifications of adding the CMP to the General Plan becau*e of its compelling language. He also wasn't sure that the City has enough funds to carry out the goals of the plan within the undetermined timeframe. He asked the City Attorney about possible legal difficulties such as a requirement to implement the plan if it's incorporated into the General Plan and if so, how and at what cost. He also wished to know how compelling the items are legally. He felt the goals are probably desirable, but could potentially put the City in legal ieopardy. Ms., Honeywell, City Attorney, felt the primary concern is the incorporation of the CMP into the General Plan because all planning approvals must be BIB] 05-12-1998-U01 02:07:51PM-U01 ADMIN-U01 CCMIN-U02 03-U02 24-U02 1998-U02 ^2 I City Council Minutes 2 March 24, 1 998 consistent with the General Plan and, although it has cultural aspects, the General Plan tends to be much broader brush-stroke- type goals and the CMP is more detailed. It could become another area of potential environmental attack for new developments to deal with. Changing the language to reflect broad- brushed desires as opposed to mandates, would keep it from being used to find projects inconsistent with the General Plan. In response to Mayor Pena, Ms. Honeywell confirmed that it doesn't have to be incorporated into the General Plan. It could be adopted as a stand-alone policy. The only legal issue then is that it's not always clear in the document whether the Commission would need specific authority from Council in any given year as to what their budget is and what they are to focus on. She also confirmed that it could be renamed as the Cultural Work Plan for 1998. Council Member Henderson asked how the community at large deals with a section of the General Plan that is desirable" and Ms. Honeywell advised that it depends on how strongly it's written. Council Member Henderson was concerned about calling it a policy document. Ms. Honeywell advised that there's no specific legal requirement for the City to have a CMP and as a policy, it would carry some legal ramifications, but not the same mandatory requirement like land uses that must be consistent with the General Plan. In response to Mayor Pena, Ms. Honeywell advised that as a work plan, it would be less of a legal concern because it would be the Commission's vision rather than being characterized as the Council's plan for the City. The Council would then decide what portions of the plan they want to fund. Council Member Sniff supported encouraging some of the goals, but not legally mandating them and agreed with renaming it as a work plan. There's multiple risks with the CMP that he's not ready to accept on behalf of the City. Council Member Perkins didn't agree with everything in the CMP, but felt it could be worked with. In response to Council Member Perkins, Ms. Honeywell advised that the General Plan, which is the City's overall, comprehensive plan for future development, includes all of the elements such as planning, traffic, air quality, noise, etc., that Council looks to as the City develops. Staff has been looking to include more of the cultural aspects as well. The CMP could be a part of the General Plan and she felt it's appropriate to have at least some general vision guidelines for how the City wants to develop in those areas. Changing it once it's BIB] 05-12-1998-U01 02:07:51PM-U01 ADMIN-U01 CCMIN-U02 03-U02 24-U02 1998-U02 ^2 a City Council Minutes 3 March 24, 1 998 incorporated into the General Plan would require a General Plan Amendment and the City is limited to four General Plan Amendments a year. Instead of having a separate policy document, it could be set out in the General Plan that the City is going to adopt cultural guidelines and those guidelines would then become a document similar to the zoning code and would not require a General Plan Amendment to change. Council Member Perkins wished to have some flexibility in modifying* the CMP and yet have it be a part of the General Plan, perhaps referring to it as a subsequent document. Council Member Sniff felt a certain amount of vagueness would help. Council Member Henderson didn't feel that the document was intended to hamstring the community. In response to Mayor Pena, Mr. Weiss advised that the survey referred to in Goal #1 was written and used by the Commission last year to solicit community input. Council Member Henderson didn't feel the Commission expected to implement the plan itself, nor the City, but perhaps other organizations that may want to participate. She felt if the City was going to use the results of the surveys, evaluations, and projections outlined in the goals, that they should be City- sponsored to insure their thoroughness and she liked the idea of turning it into a work plan. Mayor Pena viewed it as a wish list from which they could decide which items are reasonable and he felt some of the items could be done with other community groups such as promoting the arts in the schools with the School District. He was concerned about trying to debate the development fee and setting certain financial responsibilities on the City or the developers. Council Member Sniff questioned who would carry out some of the items listed in Sections 2.3 and 2.4 and where the funding would come from. He felt some of the things listed are mandating which could be an enormous risk to the City if it fails to follow through. Council Member Perkins felt accessibility" is the key in Section 2.4 letting the community know what art and cultural programs are accessible. BIB] 05-12-1998-U01 02:07:51PM-U01 ADMIN-U01 CCMIN-U02 03-U02 24-U02 1998-U02 ^2 a City Council Minutes 4 March 24, 1 998 Council Member Sniff suggested setting this aside and asking the Commission to come back with a more generic and somewhat simplified document that wouldn't be legally compelling, indicating desirability rather than mandating. Council Member Henderson suggested the possibility of the consultant, who is currently working on the General Plan update, getting with the Commission to devise a generic cultural statement. Mayor Rena felt the draft document is comprehensive enough for the consultant to draw from without the Commission having to redo it. Council Member Sniff suggested the City Attorney and appropriate City staff participate if there's a meeting between the consultant and the Commission. Mayor Rena wasn't convinced that the document should be a part of the General Plan because of the potential legal liabilities involved. He wished to see copies of other cities cultural plans and any surveys that may be available. Kathryn Hull, Chairman of the Cultural Commission, read a section of the General Plan referring to the provision of adequate cultural facilities, programs, and activities which they feel will be enhanced by the CMP. She advised that they purposefully detailed the CMP to educate everyone and agreed that the next step would be to make the statements more general. However, she cautioned about rewriting the document so vague that it becomes weakened and unenforceable. Mayor Rena noted that enforce" is one of the terms Council is concerned with. Ms. Hull felt that cultural development should be enforced as much as all of the other development standards in the City. She advised that some of the items in the plan are already being provided, such as accessibility which is provided by the Community Services Department. Time lines will have to be established and it may take up to 10 years to accomplish some of the items. They plan to work with all of the community groups to carry out the plan. Susan Benay, member of the Cultural Commission, advised that other cities' cultural plans have been similarly structured and incorporated into their general plans. She viewed the document more as a visionary spearhead to inspire, encourage, and support the expansion of the arts and cultural aspects of the City and didn't see themselves, nor the City, assuming the financial liability of producing the actions of the plan. They feel there are yet unidentified and undeveloped resources in the community that can carry out the actions of the plan. BIB] 05-12-1998-U01 02:07:51PM-U01 ADMIN-U01 CCMIN-U02 03-U02 24-U02 1998-U02 ^2 a City Council Minutes 5 March 24, 1 998 John Detlie, member of the Cultural Commission, commented on the cultural center in Thousand Oaks and questioned if the proposed site for the La Quinta Arts Foundation facility, which is adjacent to the church on Washington Street, should be the cultural center for the City. Judy Vossler, member of the Cultural Commission, hoped that the Commission would be given an opportunity to review the cultural portion of.the General Plan. She didn't agree with making the document enforceable" and incorporating it into the General Plan. She felt it should be a broad, mission-type statement that is rather benign and supported having a working document that includes cultural plan" in the name one that people can read to find out what the City is all about. Honey Atkins, member of the Cultural Commission, felt the intent was for the CMP to be implemented by the various cultural groups, not the City and she advised that she supported taking the specifics out of the document and making it more vague. Mayor Pena believed the Council was in favor of a less-specific cultural work plan and felt it might be appropriate to refer it back to the Commission to make it more generalized. Ms. Vossler was concerned that it wouldn't be read by the general public if it's placed in the General Plan and asked what else it could be called to get ongoing distribution. Council Member Henderson was opposed to making it a part of the General Plan and she didn't like calling it a policy, but she felt as a work plan," that it wouldn't be read by the public. She suggested calling it the Cultural Vision Statement. Ms. Honeywell felt it should be made clear in the beginning of the document that it's an overall community plan intended to inspire and create participation from all levels of the community, making it clear that the community is responsible for achieving the goals, rather than being directed toward the Council. Council Member Sniff suggested taking the compelling language out of the document and including the disclaimer language suggested by the City Attorney. Council Member Perkins felt the physical layout of the City makes La Quinta the best place in the valley to have a cultural plan. In regard to the La Quinta Arts Foundation possibly locating near the church, he didn't see anything that would BIB] 05-12-1998-U01 02:07:51PM-U01 ADMIN-U01 CCMIN-U02 03-U02 24-U02 1998-U02 ^2 I City Council Minutes 6 March 24, 1998 preclude the City from having some type of cultural activity at the Civic Center because they would be close enough to enhance each other. He agreed that the document should be sent back to the Commission for revision and supported keeping cultural" in the name. Ms. Hull asked for direction regarding how the document should be redrafted and if it should include a timeline. Mayor Pena felt it should be rewritten as a vision statement with steps on how to attain that vision. He wasn't convinced that it should be included in the General Plan, except for a generic statement in the Cultural Resource Plan. Council Member Henderson didn't feel a timeline should be included until the revisions have been made and, although, she liked calling it a vision statement, she didn't agree with asking the Commission to work back through it as such because they've already done that. Ms. Hull was concerned that no one will feel responsible if the document is too generic. Council Member Henderson felt from the generic statement that we can work on the next step. Council Member Perkins felt the document should be somewhat stronger in encouraging the involvement of other cultural groups. Ms. Benay asked how the proactive statements should be included in the vision statement. Mayor Pena felt that's where the Commission should develop workshops and planning sessions. Ms. Vossler felt the Commission could be the catalyst in getting the plan moving if they have the authorization to hold workshops, etc., but they wrote the document not knowing if they would have that ability. Ms. Honeywell suggested they draft a broad vision statement as well as a more specific work plan from which they could select items to focus on during the next year. Then they could present their list to Council, along with the budget needed to accomplish it, and Council could authorize the programs that they are comfortable with. BIB] 05-12-1998-U01 02:07:51PM-U01 ADMIN-U01 CCMIN-U02 03-U02 24-U02 1998-U02 ^2 I City Council Minutes 7 March 24, 1 998 Ms. Vossler felt many of the items could be done in partnership with other cultural groups, such as surveys and assessments that the La Quinta Arts Foundation will most likely have to do and could share with them. With a broad vision statement, each of the categories become mini mission statements and could be softened with suggestions" for the various groups to follow through on. Council Member Sniff felt a comprehensive statement should be placed in the General Plan regarding the cultural aspects of the City, staying away from specifics. He didn't feel that it would be necessary to completely change the document, but rather change the title and don't include it in the General Plan or a policy statement. He suggested calling it a cultural plan and vision for the City as prepared by the Cultural Commission. He felt there's no reason the Commission can't continue to work from it and present a list of priorities and budget each year for Council to approve. He felt if the document is placed in the proper context, that it's not a risk factor. Ms. Atkins felt it would help to know which portions of the plan Council doesn't like. Council Member Henderson advised that she was concerned about the financial involvement of the development community in Section 5.3. She was also concerned about the youth education portion of the document and, with the exception of encouragement, suggested they look to the School District to provide that responsibility. Ms. Hull asked about the advocacy role of the Commission and Council Member Henderson felt it would be an issue that would come before Council. Council Member Henderson felt the Commission deserves to hear approval from Council on their vision statement. Council Member Perkins felt the Commission should be authorized to schedule workshops and invite various groups, including the schools, to see what reaction is received. Discussion concluded with no action being taken. MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS' ITEMS None BIB] 05-12-1998-U01 02:07:51PM-U01 ADMIN-U01 CCMIN-U02 03-U02 24-U02 1998-U02 ^2 a City Council Minutes 8 March 24, 1 998 There being no further business, it was moved by Council Members Sniff/Henderson to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. SAUNDRA L. JUHOLA, City Clerk City of La Quinta, California BIB] 05-12-1998-U01 02:07:51PM-U01 ADMIN-U01 CCMIN-U02 03-U02 24-U02 1998-U02