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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-10-19 City Council (8)City of Palo Alto City Manager’s Report 12 TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL FROM: CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: CITY MANAGER DATE:OCTOBER 19, 1998 CMR:397:98 SUBJECT:STATUS REPORT ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION PUBLIC OUTREACH This is an informational report and no Council action is required. Although administrative matters are normally not agendized, staff has placed this item on the agenda in order to inform Council and provide it with an opportunity to ask questions regarding the aggressive timeline of public outreach associated with the adoption of the Permanent Historic Preservation Ordinance (PHPO) and completion of the Historic Inventory. BACKGROUND On August 3, 1998, the City Council approved a Budget Amendment Ordinance (Ordinance No. 4517; CMR:336:98) which included $50,000 to hire a public outreach consultant to help the City better seek input from, and communicate with, the public regarding the adoption of the PHPO. Given the range and intensity of public sentiment regarding the Interim Historic Preservation Ordinance (IHPO), it was determined that an increased focus on public outreach was necessary to develop and administer historic preservation policies and programs that will meet the public’s needs. DISCUSSION Staff developed a Request for Proposals (RFP) describing the City’s goals .and requirements in hiring a public outreach consultant for historic preservation. The RFP was sent to 34 potential bidders on August 11, 1998. Six firms responded to the RFP by the September 1 deadline. Four firms stated that the scope of work did not match their capabilities. Two fn’ms submitted proposals. A panel consisting of City staff and a community representative reviewed the proposals and interviewed both firms on September 8. One of the two firms, GCA Strategies, a San Francisco-based public affairs firm, was found to be uniquely qualified to meet the City’s needs as set forth in the RFP and interview process. The panel felt the City would be well served by GCA Strategies’ extensive experience in strategic communications in issues related to land use and planning. Staff met with the president of GCA Strategies on September 16 to begin the contract negotiation process. The contract was finalized in mid October and the consultants have recently begun work. CMR:397:98 Page 1 of 3 Attachment A describes the public outreach activities tentatively planned between now and the enactment of the PHPO on March 31, 1999. Working backward from the March 31 deadline for the expiration of the IHPO, staff identified the critical milestones in the adoption of the PHPO and completion of the Historic Inventory. Working with the consultant, staff endeavored to develop a schedule that maximized public outreach and input within the time constraints inherent in the City’s policy-making process. As Attachment A shows, one of the consultant’s first tasks will be to facilitate focus groups to seek feedback on the draft PHPO, which last received public comment at the March 23, 1998 City Council meeting. Since this time, the public has raised several issues regarding the City’s approach to historic preservation regulation. The public has communicated these issues to the City through letters, public testimony, conversations with staff and interviews conducted by the ombudsman hired by the City in mid August. Staffreview of the issues raised so far indicates the desirability of additional revisions to the PHPO before it is considered by Council for final adoption. Consequently, one or more focus groups, consisting of invited members of the public who have been actively engaged in the issue of the City’s historic preservation regulationS from a variety of perspectives will be convened. These individuals will be brought together to review the current draft of the PHPO. (As the Council has requested, the PHPO will be "translated" by the City Attorney into a "plain English" version to make discussion easier.) The focus groups will also be presented With a summary of the issues raised by the public to-date. The consultant will ask for feedback to this information and will facilitate discussion in order to identify any suggested changes to the draft PHPO. Staff will consider the suggestions raised during the focus groups, along with those made at various points in the process and the experience of other communities, and develop suggestions regarding a second draft PHPO. The draft PHPO is currently scheduled to be presented to Council on December 7, 1998. At this point, it is anticipated that the Council will conduct a public hearing and refer the matter to the Historic Resources Board (HRB) for review and recommendation. It is expected that the HRB will consider the draft PHPO during the course of two meetings, held in mid December to early January. The public outreach consultant will work to generate broad awareness of and reaction to the draft PHPO. The public will be notified of the release of the draft PHPO and will have the opportunity to participate in one or more workshops to review the draft and provide comment. The consultant will facilitate these workshops and summarize the input received. Staff will incorporate the comments made at the December 7 City Council Hearing, HRB meetings and public workshop(s) into a staff report and Final Draft PHPO as appropriate. This final draft is scheduled to be brought to Council for final review and adoption on February 15, 1999. The PHPO will then have a second reading on March 1 and will become effective on March 31. CMR:397:98 Page 2 of 3 Staff intends to release the Final Draft PHPO in the February 8 packet in order to provide extra week for public review. The consultant will use direct mail, press releases, the City’s website and/or other appropriate methods to promote as broadly as possible community awareness of the Final Draft PHPO and the schedule for its adoption. As described in Attachment A, the consultant will also develop public information materials to increase awareness and understanding of the completion of the City’s Historic Inventory. Staffrecognizes that the above timeline is extremely ambitious. It attempts to communicate a great deal of information and obtain meaningful feedback from the community within a very short period of time. In addition, there will be several challenges presented in the very timing of this schedule over the Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s holidays. However, staff has developed what it considers to be the best possible schedule for public outreach within the constraints of the March 31 expiration of the IHPO. Should, for any reason, the schedule for expiration of the IHPO be extended, additional public outreach activities would be possible. RESOURCE IMPACT There is no resource impact associated with this report.. The funding for the historic preservation public outreach consultant was approved on August 3, 1998 (Ordinance No. 4517; CMR:336:98). ATTACHMENTS Attachment A: Public Outreach Timeline PREPARED BY: Audrey Seymour, Senior Executive Assistant PROJECT COORDINATOR: ~. ~~_~t EMILY ~ON CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: JUNE City Manager cc:Neighborhood Associations Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce Palo Alto Historical Association Palo Alto/Stanford Heritage Palo Alto Board of Realtors John Paul Hanna Dames & Moore Origins Design Network Architectural Resources Group GCA Strategies CMR:397:98 Page 3 of 3 0