MINUTES OJAI CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING 6:00 P.M. MAY 24, 2016 COUNCIL CHAMBERS, OJAI CITY HALL 401 S. VENTURA STREET — OJAI, CA ROLL CALL Mayor Blatz called the regular meeting of the Ojai City Council to order on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of Ojai City Hall, 401 S. Ventura St., Ojai, California. On the call of the roll the following Council Members reported present: Paul Blatz, Randy Haney, Severo Lara, Betsy Clapp, and William Weirick. Also present were: Interim City Manager Steve McClary, City Attorney Matthew Summers, and Records Manager Cheryl Shaw. ABSENCES - None PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Council Member Haney. DISCUSSION ITEMS 1. Ad-Hoc Cultural Resources Committee Report and Direction on Next Steps Receive a report from the Ad-Hoc Cultural Resources RECOMMENDATION: Committee and provide direction to staff and the Ad-Hoc Committee on next steps, including: • General Plan Interpretation: Direction on interpretation of the City's General Plan application as it relates to Cultural Resources under the existing Conservation Element, specifically do the General Plan's Conservation Element's cultural resources provisions apply to all permits involving earth-disturbing activity or only to discretionary permits? • Conditioning of Permits: Direction on the conditioning of permits issued by the City. The Committee would like the City Council to consider policy that would allow nondiscretionary (ministerial) permits to be elevated on a case-by-case basis to allow conditions to be added to a permit to avoid or mitigate potential impacts to cultural resources. • Policy on Unanticipated Discovery: The Committee is recommending direction to the Committee to develop a draft policy governing the unanticipated discovery of cultural resources. Interim City Manager Steve McClary presented the administrative which outlined the formation of the Cultural Resources Committee, the General Plan Interpretation, the Conditioning of Permits and the Committee's recommendations regarding unanticipated discoveries of the presence of cultural resources. He stated the Committee was looking for direction from Council on interpretation of the City's General Plan application as it related to Cultural Resources under the existing Conservation Element, direction on the conditioning of permits issued by the City and that the Committee was making

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recommendations for a draft policy governing the unanticipated discovery of cultural resources. Dawn Thieding, Cultural Resources Committee member, stated that she felt that the public was somewhat misinformed about the requirements as it pertains to cultural resources that are contained in the City's General Plan. In the past 19 months the Committee started the process about the processes that should be in place in order to conserve Ojai's natural resources. In the past, although there have been parcels that have been flagged as cultural resource sites, there is no City policy on how to deal with the conservation of these resources. She urged the City Council to affirm the City's General Plan and direct the city attorney to allow ministerial permits on a case by case basis. She further requested that the Council provide direction on policy issues related to unanticipated discovery of cultural resources. John Foster, Senior Archeologist with Greenwood and Associates, and Cultural Resources Committee member, thanked the Council Members Lara and Haney for their participation on the Committee. He stated that the Ojai Valley has an abundance of natural resources and is one of the oldest archeological areas. He urged the Council to preserve this important link to the community's past as these resources are non renewable and once lost will be lost forever. Pat Tumamait, Cultural Resources Committee member, stated that ancestral and cultural resources are important to preserve heritage and the community has made efforts for years to try to develop policies in the City for preservation. He urged the Council to pass rules and policies to preserve Ojai's natural resources. Craig Beam, attorney and Cultural Resources Committee member, stated that although the City is subject to CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) there is flexibility under CEQA for the City to determine what it will treat as discretionary and non discretionary. The issue of whether the General Plan applies is not a question of whether or not the project is subject to CEQA or not. If the City is going to take action with respect to its General Plan then the City has to treat that action as a discretionary action under CEQA. He also stated he was very proud of being part of the Committee as it has taken a sensitive resource that became known and has developed policies. Cultural resources are protected by the General Plan and should remain protected. Mayor pro tern Weirick clarified that CEQA is state law which does not pre-empt a city's General Plan as adopted by the constitution of an individual cit, but that General Plan consistency could include some specific findings for exceptions. Mr. Beam agreed stating that under another CEQA another option the City has is to elevate permits for certain areas or based upon certain preliminary research unless there existed a statutory exemption. Alasdair Coyne addressed Council stating that the City's desperately needs a simple fact sheet to distribute to the public regarding cultural resources. He feels direction from City staff is confusing and often not consistent. He further stated that the city of Ojai is unique in its Chumash archeology and urged the Council to act to protect natural resources

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Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Cultural Resources Committee member, stated that the Committee started the review project 19 months ago and feels there is a lack of education in the community regarding the City's General Plan. She also stated there had been a lot of disturbing and negative comments being made regarding cultural resources as the community does not understand what it means to be a cultural carrier. As a cultural carrier she has seen the desecration of remains. Although she feels the consultation process is going fairly smoothly, she does not want accusations that the cultural resources process is getting in the way of the permitting process. She urged the Council to get back to basics of what the City's General Plan means. PUBLIC SPEAKERS: Rosalie Zabilla addressed the Council stating that she has watched with growing alarm and concern about the cultural resources policies and how they are being implemented. She stated that the process has been anti-democratic and many citizens are angry as they feel that the City has implemented policies which have upended projects. She urged the Council to take a step back and start over and feels that the community can work together to preserve the best parts of the policy. Brian Aikens, Historic Preservation Commissioner, stated that he supported the efforts of the Cultural Resources Committee and is in support of preserving the city's history. He also expressed his gratitude to the Council. Sholom Joshua stated that he thinks of cultural resources as a type of regional time capsule and the cultural resources of Ojai include all of the community. These are not just resources but treasures that are specific to the Ojai Valley. Matt Jenkins stated he has been a general building contractor since 2006, and believes the City should honor the native people and feels the City's cultural resources are part of what makes Ojai magical. June Behar urged the Council to please support the recommendations of the Chumash tribe. Anita Hendricks stated that although she feels that the City should honor its native people. She also expressed concerned that a fried who had a leak at their home had delay issues in that it took the City 10 days to do an inspection before the problem could be fixed. Dale Hansen stated she felt the process regarding cultural resources should have been a more open for community input. Frank Arredondo, stated he does cultural resource management for Santa Barbara and feels that the recommendations of the Cultural Resources Committee are sound and will save developers money in the long run. He urged the Council to accept the Committee's recommendations. In response to a question from Council, Mr. Arredondo stated that Santa Barbara has cultural resource site maps which they use but the problem is that the maps do not capture everything.

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Amanda LaMae, Ojai, stated she recently attended an archeology conference and was shocked to learn how many resources are being lost. As an educator, she would like to see future discoveries here in Ojai. Council Member Lara expressed his thanks to everyone for coming and taking part in the discussion. He expressed agreement that if some ministerial permits are to be elevated to discretionary permits then the City should start drafting an ordinance to address this issue. He also stated that in response to the question about community involvement, the meetings of the Cultural Resources Committee are open to the public. Council Member Haney thanked the entire Cultural Resources Committee stating that although it seems to have taken a lot of time, that time has been necessary to correctly address the issue of cultural resources. The Committee's goal has been to draft good policy to protect the resources of the Valley, and the Committee recognizes the need for additional public input including input from contractors, real estate agents and homeowners and intends of having more community meetings. Mayor Blatz stated that due to the time, and as the Cultural Resources Committee could not move forward without additional Council input, he suggested continuing the meeting. Interim City Manager Steve McClary stated that the meeting could be continued to Tuesday, May 31, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. MOTION: It was moved by Mayor pro tem Weirick, seconded by Counbil Member Haney to adjourn the meeting to May 31, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. On roll call the vote was: Haney, Lara, Clapp, Weirick, Blatz AYES: None NOES: None ABSENT: ABSTAIN: None ADJOURNMENT At 7:04 the meeting was adjourned to May 31, 2016. ffully sub

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I Shaw, -cos Manager

Paul Blatz, Mayor