[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Welcome to the City of Bakersfield Planning Commission meeting. This television broadcast is brought to you by the local cable companies, the county of Kerna, and the city of Bakersfield. You can watch the rebroadcast of this meeting Saturday at 700 p.m. and Sunday at 10:00 a.m. The agenda for this meeting can be downloaded at www.bakersfieldcity. us. Preciding over this evening's meeting, Chair Adam Strickland. It is my pleasure to call to order the September 4th, 2025 planning commission meeting. Madame clerk, will you please call the role? >> Chair Strickland >> here. >> Vice Chair Bidd, >> Commissioner Brent Oliver >> here. >> Commissioner Kedar >> here. >> Commissioner Core >> here. >> Commissioner Martin >> here. >> Commissioner Neil. >> Madame Clerk, next item, please. >> Pledge of Allegiance. >> Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you for attending tonight's planning commission meeting. This commission provides an opportunity for public participation in the development processes throughout the city of Bakersfield. The planning commission considers a wide variety of projects, including subdivision maps, zone changes, and more. When applications are received, the city planning division analyzes the request. Planning staff will present the facts about the project along with their recommendation to the planning commission who will approve the item or make a recommendation as appropriate. Madame clerk, next item, please. >> Public statements. >> Public statements are now received at different times depending on the item. I will call on madame clerk to call for the public statements at appropriate time. So, please listen carefully for the correct time to speak. >> Non-aggenda item 3A, public statements. Does anyone in the audience wish to address the commission tonight regarding items not listed on the agenda? If so, please come forward and state your name. >> Agenda item 3B, public statements. >> Does anyone in the audience wish to address the commission on regarding items listed on tonight's agenda? If you are here for a non-consent public hearing item 6A, now is not the time to speak. You will be given an opportunity to speak at a later time. Seeing none, madame clerk, next item, please. >> Agenda item four, consent calendar items. >> All matters listed under the consent items do not require a public hearing and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of set items unless staff or commissioner requests specific items to be discussed andor removed for separate action. May I get a motion approving consent item 4 A? So move. >> May I get a second? Second. >> All right. Commissioner Morton's the first second by Commissioner Neil. Um commissioners, please cast your vote. Motion passes with Vice Chair Bidd absent and with Commissioner Keer abstaining. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. Next item, please. >> Agenda item five. There are no there are no consent calendar public hearing items. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. Next item, please. >> Agenda item six, non-consent public hearing items. >> Now is the time for non-consent public hearing items. Before we begin, I would like to explain how this hearing will be conducted. Staff will first give a report. Then those in favor of the project will be allowed to speak. Those in opposition to the project will be able to speak after all those in favor have spoken. Each side will be given five minutes to provide rebuttal comments. Individual speakers may ask questions during their statements, but the questions will not be answered until the public hearing item is closed. Written comments may be given to the clerk who will provide copies to the commission. Please be respectful to others participating in the hearing by not repeating the remarks of previous speakers and presenting any new comments or thoughts in a concise and clear way. Staff, will you please provide just with your staff report? Chair Strickland, planning commissioners, and members of the public, I am pleased to bring to your commission's review for decision tonight the six cycle Bixsville housing element update for the planning period 2023 to 2031. The housing element update has been a long-term project that the city staff has been working on for nearly three years in partnership with Ringcon Consultants who are here tonight to assist in presenting the updated housing element. Commissioners, in addition to the staff report packet you received, you should have received a memo transmitting two public comment letters received from the Sierra Club. With that, I will introduce Miss Brena Weatherbe, Ringong Consultants and Development Service Director Phil Burns to give tonight's housing element presentation. Commissioners, um, I just want to take a couple minutes and talk about this long journey because I I think many people may not be aware that this this started back in October 2021 with a contract going to city council, then a kickoff meeting uh with city staff and Rencon back in April of 2022. So, it's been a long journey along with four reviews by um state HCD and really want to stop and start by thanking a few people. Uh so I've met with several of the planning commissioners over the last week to talk about this uh kind of a voluminous document. It's about 540 pages or so. Um the RCON team, Cassander Gail, Delacosta, Renault Weatherbe, and several others. City staff, Ro Nino, really special thanks to Jose Fernandez. He was one of our staffers that spent many, many hours on this. uh Miss Jenny Buyers, her team, Jason Kedar, and her other her staff members that worked on just several programs for this this this plan. Um past city staff, Chris Bole, Paul Johnson, our uh good partners in this process. We had the leadership council for just accountability, uh Sandra Presencia, Emmy, Emma Delarosa, and others in their team. Uh home builders association, Dave Damowski, Kern Housing Authority, Steven Pel, Herumanity, Ron White. We had several CBOS helped with this. Uh the Greenfield walk-in group, the downtown business association. Uh this one I'm gonna mess up. Vision compress compress. Um Bigger Senior Center, Lily Parker. And we're just excited to finally be back in front of this this commission. And that I'll hand it over to Brena for the presentation. >> Thank you. Good evening, Commissioner Strickland. Commissioners, again, my name is Brena Weatherbe. I'm with Rencon Consultants, and we have been working on this housing element for the past few years and excited to present it to you tonight. So, we'll start tonight with a presentation outline that you see here on your screen. We're going to talk about the housing element, do a little overview of what's contained in a housing element, why we do a housing element, uh, and then get into some of the specifics, the things like, uh, what is actually in the housing element, what is RENA, what's the site inventory, and then dive into the housing plan, which is really the meat of the housing element. Finally, we'll ask for a recommendation uh from the planning commission uh for adoption of the housing element. So, first let's start with an overview of housing elements. A housing element is a required element of the general plan. It is one of the 12 elements of Bakersfield's general plan. Now, unlike other elements, the housing element is required by state law to be updated every eight years. The statutory deadline for certification of this housing element was January 31st, 2023, and the time period covered extends to 2031. A housing element is essentially a plan for projected housing needs. So you take a look at what the the city is facing in terms of how many units they have to prepare for and how are they going to prepare for any future residential development as well as preservation and rehabilitation. A housing co element covers these main themes that you'll see here on your screen. So it identifies current and future housing needs. This includes ensuring adequate housing for current and future residents. It identifies opportunities and barriers to housing production. Now, these are the potential constraints or roadblocks to housing production. Things like they can be governmental, non-governmental. Uh is housing fair for all? Uh a housing element also establishes an action plan to meet housing needs. Again, I mentioned this is really the meat of the housing element. It's the identification of actions that the city would take to address identified needs and constraints. And finally, a housing element updates city practices and regulations to reflect new state laws. Uh, keeping up with the everchanging legislative landscape can be challenging. Uh, but that is something that the housing element aims to do. Now, this is a look at the Bakersfield housing element update process. Uh, as Mr. Burns mentioned, we started this project back in 2023. Uh, the first submitt to uh, HCD to the state was in 2023, and since then there have been four HCD reviews. Each HCD review has also required public review before submitting the housing element back to the state. The city received conditional approval in August 2025, meaning that the housing element meets statutory requirements. All that remains at this point is adoption of the housing element to receive certification. There's a lot on this slide. Uh, but there's a lot to talk about when it comes to outreach and engagement that has been completed for the housing element. I'm I'm not going to jump into everything because there is so much. But I think the important thing to recognize here is that state law requires meaningful outreach and engagement throughout the housing element process. Since engagement related to the housing element was combined with engagement related to the general plan update in some cases, quite a bit has been done over the past few years. In addition to the required public review periods that I mentioned before, the city conducted outreach in a variety of ways. Uh materials were disseminated in English, Spanish, and Punjabi. There was public noticing in various newsletters, uh regular posts on social media, broadcasts on local public access television, email blasts, and flyers that were developed in English and Spanish. There were also 64 outreach events that were conducted. Uh they focused on different things. Affordable housing strategy. Um there was an informational city council meeting. Uh there was an introduction to the general plan workshop series. Uh and then there were also virtual opportunities. Surveys reached over 4,500 members of the community and there were conversations with over 20 interested parties and stakeholders in the community. That's a lot. I'll just take the time to note that this is the most extensive engagement plan that we have worked on um during our time working on six cycle housing elements. Um and it really shows I think it's a plan that uh was able to incorporate a lot of the uh conversations and the information that was uh provided. So now let's talk a little bit about Bakerfield Bakersfield's housing element. The housing element includes two chapters. First, the introduction. This chapter details the purpose, scope, and organization of the housing element, and it sets the stage for the city's plans. Second, the housing plan. This chapter details the city's goals, policies, and actions to meet housing needs. These are the actions that the city will take to address current and future housing needs, constraints, and to address fair housing issues. There are also six appendices that are included in the housing element. A summary of public outreach, a housing needs assessment, housing constraints assessment, uh a chapter called AFH, which stands for affirmatively furthering fair housing, housing resources, and also a review of accomplishments or progress uh from the fifth cycle. Now, there's a lot of numbers on this slide. This slide details the regional housing needs allocation or RENA. It's something we talk a lot about when it comes to housing elements. Reena is the quantified number of units that the city must plan for or accommodate through the housing element and through reszoning or zoning. In some cases, the city's arena for this cycle was determined by the state and by Kern Cog. And Bakersfield's sixth cycle arena is high 37,461 units, slightly higher than the fifth cycle arena of 36,290 units. Units are distributed into four income categories when a city receives their arena. Each income category represents a percentage of the area median income. You'll see those uh listed up uh towards the top of the screen there. There are currently approximately 125,143 residential units in Bakersfield. So, it's important to note that full buildout of the arena would increase Bakersfield's housing stock by 30%. When developing a housing element, Arena can be met through a variety of ways. First, we take a look at what we'll call reena credits. So, those are units that are currently in the development pipeline. Uh we also do a projection of uh developed ADU units, taking a look at ADU units that have been previously constructed and trying to project how many units will be constructed on an annual basis going forward. Following those two actions, uh if if more Reena remains, then we start taking a look at sites that have appropriate residential zoning, sites that are need to be reszoned to accommodate additional residential zoning. And then uh finally, areas that are anticipated to be annexed into the city that would support housing. As shown on the graph, through careful planning efforts, the city was able to accommodate the reena for all income categories in the six cycle housing element. Now, these next few maps showcase uh the the sites that are included in the site inventory. So, sites that have been identified for uh future residential housing development. I should clarify that by saying sites that can accommodate future residential housing development. So for purposes of the site inventory, the city was divided into five areas. Central Bakersfield includes Bakersfield's downtown as well as the future highspeed rail station. Uh this area can accommodate approximately 9% of the arena on 346 sites. The majority of units are lower income in higher density zones downtown.4 140 sites were reszoned to support higher density and sites are also clustered within a half mile of the planned highspeed rail station along Chester Avenue and near the intersection of Baker and Kentucky streets. This is a look at northeast Bakersfield. Uh it extends eastward along State Route 178 and encompasses two distinct neighborhoods. College Heights, Rio Bravo. This area can accommodate approximately 31% of the city's arena on 126 sites. Sites are mostly large, vacant, and zoned for low density. 25 sites uh were identified that could support higher density. This is a look at Northwest Bakersfield. It's primarily residential and commercial area. uh consists of Riverl Lakes Ranch and Bakersfield Commons. This area can accommodate approximately 20% of the arena on 44 sites. 25 sites were reszoned to support high density. This is southeast Bakersfield. Contains the Martin Luther King and Cottonwood communities. Can accommodate approximately 24% of the arena on 146 sites. 58 sites were reszoned to support high density. And finally, Southwest Bakersfield, home to uh Cal State University Bakersfield, major office and shopping districts like the park at the Riverwalk uh and residential neighborhoods 7 Oaks, Stockdale, and Westming can. This area can accommodate approximately 15% of the arena on 85 sites. 35 sites were reszoned to support high density. I want to talk a little bit about the housing plan. The housing plan details the goals, policies, and implementation program to support housing development, rehabilitation preservation and administration. The housing plan addresses a number of things including public comments, housing needs, governmental constraints, and fair housing issues. effective programs from the previous h housing element have been retained uh and in some cases have been updated to reflect uh this new plan. A couple important notes. The city does not build the housing that the that's being planned for. Uh they're reliant on the development industry to construct that housing. And city and property owners are not required to build or finance the housing just because their sites are identified in the site inventory. In the housing plan, there are implementation programs. These follow six main themes. Uh theme one, preserving, conserving, and improving existing housing. It's a couple of programs there. Theme two, assisting in the development of affordable housing. You'll see three programs there. Uh theme three is providing adequate housing sites. Number of programs there. Theme four removing constraints on housing development with two programs there. Theme five housing for persons with special needs. And finally, theme six equal housing opportunities for all persons. There are consequences for those who do not adopt and obtain a compliant housing element. If the city fails to adopt a compliant housing element, they could face a number of consequences, including loss of eligibility for state grants, loans, and initiatives, enforcement, and penalties by the Attorney General and HCD's new accountability and enforcement unit, and the Housing Accountability Act, aka Builder Remedy, uh, could be in effect, meaning that developers could bypass local zoning and general plan requirements if the city's housing element is not in substantial compliance with state law. With that, we would recommend that the city council adopt the proposed 2023 to 2031 housing element and approve the related general plan amendment with associated notice of exemption per the California Environmental Quality Act. >> Thank you so much, Miss Weatherby. All right. The uh the public hearing is now open. Is there anyone who wishes to speak in favor of the project? If so, please step to the microphone, identify yourself, and proceed. Seeing none, is there anyone who wishes to speak in opposition to the project? If so, please step forward to the microphone, identify yourself, and proceed. All right. Good evening everyone. My name is Emma Dear Rosa and I'm the uh a policy manager with Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability and I really appreciated um Mr. Burns mentioning everyone who u the city has worked with. It's definitely been a huge undertaking and I don't I don't mean to um you know in me speaking during the opposition section of this housing element I don't mean to disregard all of all of the hard work that went into it. Um we just want to raise a few um additional points that I think were not mentioned during the meeting. I'm sorry during the presentation. Um so we have been following the housing element process from the very beginning. Um and there's been a number of residents who have engaged throughout the last few years alongside a leadership council, alongside other community organizations and at these workshops that uh were mentioned earlier. And I do agree that the um plan itself I think is reflective of what residents have asked for. I will say though that some of the commitments as the actions a lot of those are written in a way where if there isn't any political will we will not see a difference in the implementation of the housing programs. We won't see a difference in affordability. We won't see a reduction in um homelessness populations. We won't see an increase in um affordable housing developments. And so it's not only you know staff who has a role in this. It's also your role. It's also the city council's role and um your role to ensure that these programs um actually take place will be extremely important and I really want to emphas emphasize that because um city staff have put in a lot of great work into this and without your support we will not see a difference and so we really want to ensure that y'all are are um supporting the great efforts that they've made. Um, however, I do want to mention that in addition to adoption of the housing element, HCD is currently still reviewing the reszones that uh were requested. That was I know it was mentioned in your staff report. Um, and however, they do need to approve those before finding the housing element in um compliance. Um and um as the city moves towards implementation of the housing element, want to remind that the community engagement and participation isn't just during the development of the housing element. It's also throughout the implementation. So we encourage um staff and you know everyone else to please continue to work with us, continue to work with the organizations that were mentioned and with residents. I'm also want to flag that um M MLK community initiative was also part of this um this process and the um Bakersfield Singer um housing development um the um tenant union was also part of engaging through the engaging in this housing element and um last also want to mention that there's a few timelines in the housing element that uh perhaps were not updated there um specifically there's action 2.2 2 5.5 and action 5.8 that have deadlines that were um that are meant to be that were meant to be completed January of 2020 2025. So it's not clear at this moment whether those um deadlines have been met or um maybe we need to go back and change those deadlines to make sure that they're done adequately. And um once the housing element is adopted, something that wasn't mentioned is that every year there needs to be an annual progress report. I'm sorry if you did mention it. I just did I blanked. Um but the annual progress report will be coming before you coming before the city council. That is a requirement by um housing law and um it needs to be considered at an annual meeting by the legislative body and it must describe the progress made and that progress needs to encompass the housing element program implementation. Uh also how far we've met the reena. It is true that the city does not build housing. However, it is your responsibility to facilitate the development of that housing. And if the programs that have been adopted are not doing what they're meant to be doing, then that's when we need to revisit, right? And I do appreciate staff's um incorporation of a annual review of how efficient programs um will or how efficient programs are to build that housing. But I also again encourage you all as the planning commission um and in your own respective roles to consider how well we are meeting the REUK. A lot of times what ends up happening is we see more um high income or moderate income housing, you know, moving forward because obviously the market drives that, but we see less and less uh permits coming in before you for approval for affordable housing. So if that's the case, if you notice that pattern, I welcome you and encourage you to please ask the questions, why are we not seeing it? What can we do to improve our facilitation of affordable housing? Um, and lastly, just again want to thank everyone and appreciate um the uh city's um city staff's willingness to work with us and read all of our long letters and um yeah, thanks everyone. >> Thank you, Miss De Rosa. >> Hi, my name is Wendell Wesley Jr. Um we just don't simply have enough affordable housing, period. We haven't in a very very long time and we can't continue at this rate. We also really need to work on our infrastructure because as we grow traffic is going to get very very congested and it already is in a lot of areas. If any of you drive up and down Ming uh between H and uh Chester, you will see that there's always a backup at the turn lane. You got a big cement island. Take it out so we can accommodate more cars and have less backup into the lanes that are moving forward going east and west. It only makes sense. We really need to work on our infrastructure. If we want to build more homes and not have such a traffic nightmare, we really need to start building a light rail. California Avenue, Traction Avenue partially are good areas where we can start because you have a convention center there, you have a Marriott there, and going east, you have a a lot of land that could accommodate affordable housing. along with light rail stops. A lot of people at low incomes don't even have vehicles. I'm very fortunate. I have a vehicle. But someday someone might tell me, "Sorry, sir, you can't drive no more." Then what? How am I going to get around? Especially on a fixed income. Uber. Can't afford Uber. I have to rely on family. Oh, my family's in the Bay Area. Okay. So, there's a lot of people here that are just really don't really have enough support, you know, and if you're paying rent and we're at 10% a year increase, can't afford that. Okay. So, we really need affordable housing. You know, our senior community is only going to continue to grow as people age. So, we're going to have more people on the street because we can't afford housing because that's what's happening. We said we didn't want to be like LA. Well, just keep raising the prices of homes. You ever see a balloon go up in the air, eventually it pops. Okay, that's what's happening. You know, we've had homes that we've built that's been sitting for three years. The the sale of homes have slowed over the last three years because they're too high. Yeah, someone's going to buy them eventually, but they're sitting. We're seeing homes being broken into that haven't even finished being built yet. Okay? And then we got abandoned buildings because the economy is slowed so bad because of variety of things. And the best way to fix it is just create jobs. Big project light rail. How many jobs can we get out of that? What will that do for our economy here? Because people that work these projects, they're living here temporarily or permanently and they could afford to maybe buy a home for the first time. We need more projects. We need more jobs, especially if you're going to keep jacking up the prices, but the reality is, you know, it's good to have balance, okay? But we really don't have balance here. And our streets show it. And the more crowded these streets get with homelessness and people with depression that lead to drug addictions and alcoholism and all these things, the more crime we're going to have. And DUI is not the best way to support your town. Yeah, we want them off the street, but we can do better with more industry in our town to have more measure in dollars and um those are very important dollars. We're not getting them like we used to be. Okay, we need to at some point in time take a serious look at why we are slowing down in the job market. I know businesses are having a tough time right now because of tariffs. Okay. So, we need to get creative on our end. Let's create some more businesses so we can get more income flowing this way. Create a floor affordable housing to the point to where people actually have money in their pocket to save and invest. That's how we're going to grow our economy. And as far as builders go, I know Castle and Cook are not going to build these homes. So, look for me in the future. I will be partnering with somebody and we will be building true affordable homes. And I hope you approve these homes. They will be magnificent. And don't hang us up on little technicalities like, "Oh, it's a shipping container." We've all seen the videos. Uh take a look at these homes. Go into them. They're going to be really affordable. And um because of that and other things, we'll have safer streets. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Wesley. >> Good evening. I am Empress Noto Zikilo and I do want to commend Bill Burns and Jenny Buyers. we've worked with them and also Daniel Kedar. Um it is a pleasure to come before you this evening. I have some concern about high density. You can't just put homes put people on top of people where the areas are already problematic. It brings more crime, more unwellness. And I note that in the southeast you said you identified sites for 58 that could accommodate and support 58 sites that could support high density and I have been looking at that. I live in the southeast. I grew up in the southeast and I advocate for the southeast and I know that there are programs that we've been working on TCC prosperity neighborhoods and I know that we are working hard and I what I what I have determined is that our population has grown so much faster than we have been ready for. So, we're scrambling to try to meet those obligations. We cannot just start building and stacking people on top of people. when I returned here in 2010 and I was over in the senior uh complex off of California N and O and M and I was doing outreach and I saw going in there where people look like they were living in little cubby holes and I said dear God I don't want to live like this none of you want to live that way either. I'm seeing the new things, the new buildings that are coming up over on Baker. We have the Renaissance now. We have the ones across the street. I live right on that area. I can walk Baker and we know what's happening out there. And we're talking about revitalizing that area and bringing it back. and we want that. But we must take care of what is already there. Don't just throw up buildings to meet your obligations to get your funding, especially in the areas that have been long underserved and neglected. Don't do that. And I will I will be 80 this month. And I've seen a lot and I know that I probably got maybe another 20 years. We don't know. But uh as long as I can speak and be a voice, I will fight against that. I was on I was part of Soore and last week or the week before where we had a Zoom and I brought up the issue again about high densiness and the crime and the unwwellness. And I know we've lived in those areas. We've lived that and someone said, "Oh, no. It doesn't happen. It doesn't cause that." That's not true. That's not true. So, I'm asking you, think very clearly, very hard. Think what would you want for yourself? How would you want to live? Would you want to be stacked on top of each other? I don't think so. I spoke with the young people at Renaissance about a week ago and they were talking about things that they would like to have that would have been nice to have a pool. I say yes cuz it was so hot. It's been hot. We know that. But we already are seeing problems there. We're monitoring that. So, we're already seeing problems when you have too many people Think very very seriously. What would you want for your family? How would you want to live? Don't create more crime where we're already dealing with it. More unwwellness, more disease. Think about it. >> Thank you. All right. I was just Is there anyone else who would like to speak in opposition? Seeing none and since there was no in support, we do not have a rebuttal phase. So I Oh, >> Chair Strickland, you have um you skipped the section where you asked the commission. >> Oh, I knew that. Yeah, I knew that. Thanks. Good catch. Uh does any commissioner have any questions for the public on this item? Remember, this is not the time to express any opinions on the matter. It is only time to ask questions. >> Commissioner Kater, >> hi. I said a quick question. Um, the first speaker, I I'm sorry, I don't remember your name. >> Emma. >> Emma. Emma. Yes. Emmed asked, uh, I always appreciate when members of the public bring specific questions and I want to make sure they're answered in the appropriate time. So, there was, um, question regarding timelines on item 2.2, to 5.5 and 5.8 uh which are various elements of the um the draft 231 housing element. I was just wondering if staff or um or ringcon would be able to provide responses. >> Commissioner Gator um item 2.2 or action 2.2 is a deadline related to code enforcement activity um by December 2025. We actually hired a consultant uh through willan a uh um code enforcement officer to do nothing but look at housing. They looked at over 123 units and part of the units there's about 40 units tied to our ADU uh plan that we're going through uh trying to legalize so much of those ADUs. So we have done the assessment. We are working with the property owners where we can. There are some existing programs that uh Miss Buyers has and her team for some of the units, but the others like the ADUs we're still working on. And that would be part of our next uh APR. We would talk about those that where they identified them and where we were able to rehab them. But the the uh kind of worship piece is that one's done. um the uh 5.5 action item that actually is by January 2026 and that's to assess student housing and we will meet that deadline for sure. Um the uh number 5.8 there and that's also will be part of our next APR. Um Miss Buyers verified that we do have a uh list of the funding. There's not a official report and we'll work on getting that out so that the public can get that to that list. But if someone was to call today um that that has been completed. >> Thank you. I appreciate your responses. >> Thank you, Commissioner Kater, Commissioner Morton. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um I have a question for um for Rencon. You mentioned that 4,500 residents had been surveyed and I was just curious if you could elaborate on what they were uh surveyed on and if we could get a copy of of the survey itself and and what the general results were. >> Commissioner Martin, I believe that there were multiple surveys that were conducted. Um, the city does have copies of those survey questions that were asked. We have copies of all of the responses that were provided, so we can provide those to you at a at a later date. >> Yeah, that'd be great. Yeah, I'd like to have that in staff. Thank you, Phil. And thank you. It was very thorough presentation. Thank you. >> Any Yeah. Uh, Commissioner Neil. Um, this question is for the staff. Um, there are actually a lot of deadlines that have already passed beyond what uh, Miss Emma mentioned. I noted that in my review. I spent a lot of time with this document. Thank you for printing it out for me. Um there's a lot and um I' I'd like to know if staff can actually um update us on all of those deadlines that have already passed. Um and then my other um question was I noticed um in the report when looking at the various demographics uh and um certain characteristics like income and employment um that impact affordability of housing. I noticed that African-American people at are at the very bottom earning 40,000 per household per year when um the highest earners were Asian-Americans earning around 84 per household per year double and were both 7% of Bakersfield and everybody else was kind of in the middle. I had a question though because I didn't see anywhere in the report where race was correlated to low income or very low income and that was a big gap for me. And so my question for staff is um can we um get a report um or can someone provide some data on what is exactly the demographic of those very very of the very low income and the low income. Um because there are and and then the followup is what targets can you set in place for those demographics that are identified because there's a lot of different groups that are identified as having special needs in the report. And I don't know why we're not seeing race. Um if there's a correlation between race and very low income, why that's not why isn't that straight out called out? because my hunch is that it is, but I have to kind of guess on the data. So, I'm asking, is there a correlation between race specifically with African-Americans because the report said they were 40 40 the lowest earners in the city and very low income? I I need an answer to that question. either now if you have it or later. >> Commissioner Neil, we'll have to get you back get back to you on the data for that specific item and we will bring that back to a a future. >> Yes. And I'd like to see very low income as a specific uh we I'll talk about it later, but follow-up question. If if if a pattern there is identified, is staff willing to try to put some action items in place to try to address the needs of those very lowincome earners? Specifically, >> Commissioner Neil, right now we have this housing element in front of you with numerous numerous actions. I I I it would be difficult to add a specific action item for that right now. Um knowing all the other actions and knowing that there are specific actions to address housing for individuals of that um income level, not for specific uh groups. So I I think it's covered. It's just not broke into specific race groups. And and I and I would hesitate on us going down that that that hole because I think you you then start segregating the the the uh funding and ability for housing. And I don't know how you actually do that. You're you're you're trying to create housing projects and housing units for for everyone. So I I we can get you the the data. Yeah. >> But I I really wouldn't recommend trying to do an action to to to narrow that down. I think it makes it more difficult to provide that housing. Well, you're working with community organizations, right, in the development of this report and organizing uh and and engaging. And so the question is if you see a correlation in the data that is showing you where the gaps are and the people that are falling into the gaps, is there something that the city can commit to looking at or doing? neighborhoods. >> If the data shows a a specific group that needs more assistance than others, like there's callouts now for like farm labor workers. So, there are already some other groups. There's also other projects like the prosperity neighborhoods where you're focusing on a area that may have more of one demographic than the other. So there are some some programs that are addressing this and this may be something that we have to dig into a little more have some time and one of our items we have to do with this housing element is we have to reassess at that mid level at before 20 the end of 2027. So we may have to dig into this more and by then come back with not only what the data looks like but what are eligible programs and what we can we do. >> Okay. So thank you for that. Um and so my specific ask would be um for the data on who makes up the very low um income. What that the a breakdown of who makes up is it female? Is it female? Is it black, white, um, Latino? What exactly is it? What's the age group? What's that demographic? I I want to I want to know more about it. >> We will dig into that for you for sure. Um, you may want to look at the appendix D, the the um affirmatively uh furthering fair housing because that section really digs into that deep. >> I looked through it. >> We will we will also go back and and dig. >> I looked through it. I didn't see what I'm looking for. >> Thank you. I I just had I had more of a comment. I just had one question going on the scheduling uh that was brought up twice, but just as a a high level question. If approved tonight, then it goes to city council. Generally speaking, does staff expect to hit the deadlines that are in here for things like I'll just grab a random one. Uh action 57, submit applications for funding for development applications. If that gets approved on the current timeline, we anticipate that the city still has time to hit all those deadlines or generally hit those deadlines within this. >> The short answer is yes. We actually we've we've lost funding because we don't have an approved housing element. So I I think Miss Buyers has actually turned in some applications for other funding uh earlier was last week I believe. Um so we we're constantly trying to find funding to to meet our goals here. >> Thank you Mr. Burns. And then Commissioner Kater >> I just thought in the question time I think it'd be helpful. Um, I just had a question contextualizing this housing element in context to the larger policies surrounding housing because I think you know when we all began m I don't think because it's not the time to give comments but when we began meeting at the beginning of this process you know the line the city does not provide housing we are just facilitating the accommodation for housing. Um, I just have a kind of before we move into comment and action, a contextualizing question. if staff could just provide, you know, a few statements regarding the context of this document and what it set sets us out as a city to do independent of this document and really what this document is committing to versus because to me this is not resulting it seems like this is not resulting in 37,000 additional units of housing, but it is hopefully setting us on a lens and a path towards the ability to provide 37,000 and change units of housing. So I just think I just think it'd be helpful to understand the context of this document relative to the actions that can be undertaken once this document is in place. Does that make sense? >> I don't know if there >> could you restate the question maybe concisely because that'll >> Yeah, I guess my question is just understanding the action taken tonight which is approving this housing element. What are what is the city like like what is done and then what is work that is still meant to be done if that makes sense. >> Commissioner Kater so by adopting the housing element that would certify through HCD and then that would allow like Miss Jenny Buyer said is allow for some grant uh at least uh be able to get approval for those grants. But this is one element of the general plan and it does set the policy for uh density but the general plan land use element will be the one that you know determines that density but we are looking at the plan on how the density in the city of Vegas so how it's going to develop um the number of dwelling units uh low income I mean not low income well now it's also low income with market rate but so it's just a overall development policy See, >> so is it accurate to state it's it's a step in the process. So a lot of these actions that we're seeing are things that will require additional actions, but this allows us to move on to that next step. Is that kind of accurate, >> Commissioner Kar? Yes. It's really setting the goals, those policies, and those programs to hopefully get us to that point knowing that we have to do other implementation. You know, we have to actually act on these programs. Um, we did zoning changes and we know we still need to do some more work on some of our zoning ordinances to to make residential development easier because that's really I think this sets the the goals and the policies that we we as a community want to provide these housings for our our residents. >> That was actually my last question was the reasonzoning came up in the HC HCD letter that was provided as an attachment kind of that was one of the most prolific items at this point. Have all the resonings, where are we at with regard to the resonings that have been pushed through the last couple years? >> All the resonings have been completed. Um, we have submitted our list of resonings to HCD and we're waiting for comment. So, basically, um, when we received our notice back from HCD in our last review, they wanted, you know, our our approval from city council and also a copy of all of our res. So, we've we've committed to the the first half. We just need to get this piece across the the table. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner Kar. Seeing no further commissioner comment and tenatively thinking that it's okay to advance, I will now close the public hearing on this item and return it to commission for comment and action. Commissioner Neil. All right. Um, I want to thank the city for their work on this. I sat in one of the workshops, I think probably about a year or two ago, um, when this was being planned, and this did come before commission previously. Um, I I have two comments, um, that are three that are really kind of overarching comments on this. Of obviously, we need to um, pass this housing element tonight so that we can move forward. Um, but I didn't want to do so without raising my comments. The first time this came before commission, we were told that we couldn't make a change because we needed to submit it to to HCD and then if we made any changes to it at that time that we would delay the process and we were already late, right? Um, and so that went forward. Um, and then, um, what I'm noticing is, and I know that, um, um, it was said by staff that this has actually been the most engaged process for housing element, but when I look at some of the numbers on here um, and and how they um, compared to our population, I question that. And the reason why I asked specifically for um facts about um the very low income and we need to know those demographics cuz we need to know who to target to get engaged. We need to know who to target when we have funding. We need to know what organizations in our community to connect to to actually make these things put the funding with the energies of the community to actually change these numbers. So, it's important to identify um who is beneath the numbers, the people beneath the numbers. That's very important. Um and I love what Empress said, the human aspect of it. When you're thinking about planning this, think about your own family and where you want them to be, but also think about people you love and um their demographics and um where where they fit into this plan. Um, and for me personally, it was very very hard to see the numbers that I saw in this report and not to see any efforts to try to address um the gap uh in in the report. I looked at appendix D page five and 15 talk about race that don't talk about that. Um, and so you can look at that. Um, but my overarching comment is that I felt like there was a lot of uh hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up and rushing in in it. I know it took a few years, but we started behind. We started in January of 2023, right? It was due in January of 2023. That's what I heard. And we started, so we're already two years into this 8-year cycle. Still trying to rush it through and keep our funding. I would like to know if other cities do it differently. Do they get out ahead of it before the 8-year period that it represents? Do they start the process for planning for that next housing um element cycle ahead of time or are they kind of like we are and someone described it as just kind of scrambling because we've grown so much and uh now we're trying to figure out how to how to design a plan to meet these numbers but we're mid plan and we don't even have updates on everything in the plan that has already deadlines that have passed that was pointed out. I noticed that too. So, there's a lot of of of issues with timing uh in here. And that really stood out to me um because we all show up at work on time because we want to get paid, right? We all we we we all show up at events on time because we wanted to actually to participate. for me the timing and being kind of behind uh on the timing like consistently. I don't know if this happens in other cities or if it's unique to our city, but I think a lot of effort should be spent on catching up on where we are now in this current plan and then also thinking about how we can plan ahead for the next cycle so that we're not mid cycle approving a plan years behind the due date. And the other thing is um because when we do that we don't get to do as much engagement because I would like when it came to commission to have had more time to engage with it directly with the staff on it. So this is this is what I'm saying. So the timing is a is a is a big thing. I also felt like a lot of the action items were um like we're going to do 10 over the course of the next eight years. we're going to, you know, there were some numbers that I was like eight for, you know, I I'm not even going to turn to them for some of the action items, but they were minuscule compared to the need. Um, and so I saw that and it really hit me. And then you pair that with the timing of all of this and I'm just wondering how and the and the light language on action items. We will support, we will encourage, we will um that language. It wasn't affirmative like it was very soft and left a lot of room. And I loved uh Emma's comment about that. If there's no political will in the room, this document is so broad and wide open that there's no measurable things or not enough to really tie the city to in terms of accomplishments on this plan. Um so that was my other comment is um uh firming firming we're not going to make any changes to it. we need to pass it. But just thinking about when we plan the next plan, uh how do we firm up the language around our initiatives so that they're not so loosey goosey in terms of the goals? Um and um I had one other comment. Yes. Um, I know that HCD wants a progress report every year, but seeing that we're already behind the ball on this 8-year cycle, there's deadlines that have passed that we have no information on at this time. I would like to actually get more feedback from staff on a on a on a shorter intervals on the housing element. How can we plan to monitor this more like on a quarterly basis versus waiting for the annual progress report which might be late? You know what I'm saying? Because judging at how we're going. How can we um earmark time to have consistent check-ins on this plan and how it's going and really allow the commission and council to engage with staff so that if we need to make adjustments along the way, we're not waiting a year or two or in this instance what two and a half years into the cycle. So that those are my comments. Um, it read very well. There was a lot of missing information that I would have liked to seen. Um, but I appreciate staff's ef staff's uh, efforts. I can tell that this took it took a lot of time to read through and I know it took a lot of time to write because that's what I do. I write. I write every day. So, I just want to thank you. It was well written. Um, and um, and that's it. Those are my comments. >> Thank you, Commissioner Neil. I don't think there was any staff response. >> Okay. Uh, Commissioner Brent Oliver. >> Thank you. I just want to say that um I'm honored to be a part of this planning commission. I I really take my appointment seriously and and I know that Commissioner Neil does too and I appreciate all your hard work and all your comments and I'm going to learn a lot from you. Um, part of my comments were a little bit contradictory to to your comments and I and I apologize for that. I do I really completely respect you. Um, to Empress's comment, I will totally agree with you that density is not the answer. I unfortunately our state has defined and I am completely against this that density equals affordability and it's a complete in my opinion it is not an answer. Um I believe that the answer isn't even found really in this document here. I think it needs to be thought of outside the box by a lot of business people who and a lot of other regulators that have created such high regulation on code requirements and um you know restrictions on whether or not you can have gas appliances and you know things like that. It's a it's at a bigger scale than what what we have. I think that we need a lot of you mentioned having a lot of political um oh what was the word I loved the way you put it or Miss Delar Roa said that um that political will you know so so I love your engagement I'm listening to all of you I unfortunately don't also agree that that I I feel like Miss Neil is hoping that it's the city's job to um help build these spaces. And I just don't know that I even agree with that. And I I I question I I really would hope that it becomes more of the nonprofit's jobs and the city can help us um help those um organizations and the other community members to to do the job and not put such a burden on our city. I think it's almost unfortunate that the state has required this um level of commitment. Um I actually like that the document is written with a little wiggle room for that reason for the reason that I do think people are going to step up. I love Mr. Wesley's idea about containers. I am all for that. I am absolutely for thinking outside the box and finding affordable solutions. Um, I drove some of the neighborhoods this weekend and I really really was like shocked at how many empty lots are actually out there and I'm like, why why aren't we just why isn't some, you know, developer going in there and throwing a couple houses up, you know? Um, so I I really hope that you are successful at your plan and I thank you for doing that. Um, anyway, those are just my comments. Um, and I appreciate you all listening. >> Thank you, Commissioner Brent Oliver. Commissioner Martin. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, so first I want to say um I agree with Commissioner Neil on the the points of where we kind of and we've talked I know I've talked about this before where sometimes it feels like there's a big rush where we have to do you know we have to do this and you know we're already years behind but at the same time you know and uh Empress I agreed with your points too of you know high density is not just the answer and I think part of the problem is government gets involved olved and says, you know, we have to build these things. That's not government's role. Our role should be to try to implement the best regulations we can, but to allow people to build and allow growth. You know, in 200 I was just kind of looking while we're up here. Um, in August of 2020, the average home cost here in Bakersville was 224,000. In July 2025 by Redfin, that's 406,000. That's an 81% increase. And so, and also 36% of the folks who are buying these homes are coming from from out of Bakersfield, right? 60 roughly 60% are already in the metro Bakersfield area. And why is that? Because that, you know, average housing cost in LA County, right? 889,000. So, we're seeing a lot of growth and a lot of movement to our community. But we have to be very conscientious about how we do that. And the problem is so similar states in California the average from beginning to planning to building a home the average is about 24 months. In some of the coastal cities it's more. I know Commissioner Brandt Oliver you build houses. You understand this? And so why is that? In other states like Texas and Oklahoma it's about 9 months from beginning to end. And that's not our planning uh that's not our planning department's fault. We're dealing with SQU. We're dealing with ERS. we're dealing with other things. And so the problem is the state of California that's now in a panic to say we've got to start doing this no matter what it takes for high density and we got to do this is the same state government that has put all these regulations that's made it very hard and very expensive mind you for people to buy homes of every socioeconomic class. And so it has really put a burden on those and now all of a sudden it's well we're 37,000 behind. We need to pass this. we have to get this done. But we we should have thought about that through all of the regulatory process. So I agree with Commissioner Bran Oliver in that it is not government's role to say we have to get these houses and we have to build them and it's our responsibility. The builders and the free market and private industry will help with that. No, we can guide through regulations and I hope and pray that this state will allow us to speed up the process to reduce the cost. Now, I'm not convinced of that right now. And I sure hope at the same time, just like we had something come before this commission a few weeks ago where they're putting smaller lots and people are upset and so on and so forth. So, I hope we do this thoughtfully. I hope we plan this that we aren't just throwing high density in and saying, "Well, we got our job done now because we've been years behind because of regulation, overregulation, uh, and strangulation by the state government." So I hope that we can do this in a thoughtful way, but I do not think the high density solution is that answer. I think we have to do it more thoughtfully. So I wish we did have more time to come back on this. I understand that there is a housing crisis, but how we got here was through overregulation and I hope that uh private industry will continue to step up and continue to build. Um, but there are quite a few problems that I have with this plan as it sits. Understanding we need funding, understanding all of these things. The state has once again put strangulations on us and I hope our community doesn't suffer for that in the long run. So that's my comments, Mr. Chairman. >> Thank you, Commissioner Morton. Commissioner Kater, >> thank you. I was going to ask if I could reference a few slides in the presentation if that's possible. Is it pulled up possible to pull up? I was hoping if we could go to um the slide that compared our our current Reena cycle six numbers to the numbers of 20 of the cycle five versus the actuals. Um I think it might be the next one. Maybe the next one. This one. No, one more. Yes. Okay. I think um I just wanted to hover over this to kind of start is that I think what I think is really interesting is we look at our needs allocation of what we were set out to do in our fifth cycle at 36,290 units. Uh we look at what was actually permitted through the time of 2018 to 2023 and we and to me what we see is a largely an academic exercise. You know, hell, fire didn't rain down brimstone. We didn't lose, we didn't cease to exist as a city. We did not come anywhere near our objective. And so to me, as we look at this tonight, um I would just challenge uh my fellow commissioners, challenge the city that what we're looking at really is a commitment to be more fluent in planning processes to align ourselves with state standards. And I think to me the ask to city staff is that we look at these annual check-ins as an opportunity to learn how we are becoming more competitive as a city in a state. How we're going after money for those vulnerable populations. how this document has allowed us to be fluent in a way that we were not currently because I think what you notice we did not meet our housing objectives overall, but we also provided very few affordable units in that mix. And so to me, um, having had the opportunity to hear about the housing element many times now on this commission, um, you know, I think it, um, we pay a price for not understanding the context of where we live and what is asked of us, you know, and so I'd be cur I'd be interested as we look at these annual reports to to learn how the city is leveraging a compliant housing element to really go after these targets and these action items. Be it identifying vulnerable populations that have specialized that where specialized sources of funding exist and we are now competitive in a way that we were not ways that we can through I mean I think the southeast strong initiative was mentioned the TCC how we can do better grassroots engagements to understand the full spectrum of our community not see us as we were in the 50s or 60s as is very small digestible but the the place that we all live and experience every day and so I think to me um a lot of these coming through this process there is just I would ask that the city uh I think it's important that we have a compliant housing element. I would agree with Commissioner Neil where um some of the deadlines do feel like um as we learn and become more competent and more fluent that everything isn't done in crisis because that's one of the worst uh ways to make a decision uh in many aspects of life. But I and I also don't think that it's quite that simple. I mean this is a very complicated process. I just commend the staff for all the work, the back work, the conversations. Um, but I I do think um to me um I'm excited to where we've reached. I think that putting actions a clear action plan, a strategic plan of how we start to address housing is is a baseline step. It's a big effort to to get there, but it is a baseline step to then do better as a city. And I'm excited for annual updates that look at how we've leveraged this document to um to make the city of Bakersfield a better place. And um you know with that I did have the opportunity to meet with the planning staff um in preparation of this meeting. And I just think um that goes into I think um our public speaker Empress I mean the idea of um you know placem space making is I'm blessed I I feel blessed to be able to do it as a profession but I think it takes an understanding of the human condition the human experience and I think um planning documents can sometimes be a little bit dry a little cut and dry Um, I would argue I don't I don't know what you thought the president, but the first presentation I always comment that beautiful multif family project that's on the cover of the housing element is currently only permitted in like 0.5% of Bakersfield. And so we need to be cautious about what our zoning laws say versus what we ascribe to. Um, but I think people don't experience a city in numbers, in stats. They experience them in great spaces, great places. And I think um density can look like a thoughtful forplex. It can look like a thoughtful midrise. It can look like a neighborhood of very attractive uh single family homes. And I think um just seeing this document as sort of a guiding light towards a Bakersville that is more livable, that is more equitable, and um that we can all be very proud of and um put our best foot forward. and I just thank you for your work to getting us to this point today. So, >> thank you, Commissioner Kedar. One of the great things about going last is I get to just say ditto basically everyone who's spoken tonight, right? I think everyone's raised good points that I I agree with. I I I also would like to kind of go back to a couple slides here. Um, and I don't know the order. The one is the schedule of this housing element if you don't mind. I think it was like one of the very first slides there. So, I was lucky enough that I've gone through some of the public outreach on this. Um, I was at one of the Rencon attended presentations on it uh workshop last year. That's a lot of engagement coming from someone who's a consultant for a living. That's a lot of public engagement. And and the thing I struggle with in this side of the day is is to get 4,500 comments back or 4,00 engagements over this process is is is is a lot more than you think. Um I I do consultant work for municipalities throughout the US and they pay us and don't answer our questions and don't respond to us and they're paying us to ask the questions. So to get public comment on that and incorporate public comment and to continue outreach, you know, again, I think this is a really good effort and and I hate that we're kind of feeling pressured and under the gun and I don't want it to reflect on the process Rencon has gone through. I think it's just the process that's been created with this entire process is meant to put us how we are today. It is meant to create boundaries that are going to be very hard to push and then we're a little bit behind. We're under the gun, but I want to say I I really like a lot of the programs that are in here. And if we could just go to the slide, I think you start talking about um uh uh some of the programs for each of the sections, each of our five sections, you've got some examples of programs. The only real comment I have on the whole presentation is as we get into uh I think next forward and you've got like a after this after this, you go through examples of uh programs like the special needs programs that are in each section. Um, it's much further than I thought there. Uh, a little bit further. You actually start getting into there. The only comment I would have is I I'm still brighteyed enough to think that at home on YouTube there's 250 Bakersfields watching this and tonight they're going to get home from work and they're going to download the commission and they're going to watch it and then next week they're going to show up to uh, city council and be here. I'd really like to high level some of these in the presentations. I was fortunate enough to be able to read 600 pages of this between, you know, last week and today. I I don't think a lot of people are. So, I think if we're going to have public comment sections or at least public um opportunity, it would be a strength to talk about why is this really beneficial? Why is this really important for the HCD? Because I think right now it really comes off we're under the gun and we need to get this approved so we don't lose funding. But it's really we need to get this approved because some of these programs are really, really great programs that we should strive towards. We should strive to help fund low-income housing. We should strive to help provide safe and sanitary housing. I think these are great programs. I really love it. Great document. Um just maybe if if you don't mind kind of speak to some of these at the next time we do this update just to give an update. So that's all the comments I had. Again, thank you so much for both the city staff and Rencon for the work you've done. Uh, and all the other agencies and groups, but thank you so much. Um, and I, uh, think I will take a motion. I'd be happy to make a motion to, um, approve staff's recommendation. And, uh, I think the motion is to recommend um, this be provided to council for action. >> I I take that motion. That's good. I'll take that out of >> Miss King. Did I miss a few hundred words in that? Yeah. >> Just ignore it that it says city council. >> I didn't see nothing. >> Okay. Okay. I will recommend that the city Oh, I will will make a recommendation for the city council to consider adopting adopting the proposed 23-31 housing element and approve the rel related general plan amendments with associated notice of exemption per the California Environmental Quality Act. >> I'm going to ask that the second has to repeat the same thing though. >> I'm kidding. >> I will second the motion. >> Thank you, Commissioner Neil. Uh, we have a second from Commissioner Neil. The first was Commissioner Kar. Commissioners, cast your votes. >> Motion passes with Vice Chair Bidd absent and with Commissioner Martin voting no. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. Next item, please. Agenda item seven, communications. >> Does staff have any communication items? >> Chair Strickling, we have one item to report on. The next regular scheduled plan commission meeting is next two weeks, September 18th. Um, that is all I have to report. >> Thank you, sir. Madame clerk, next item, please. >> Agenda item eight, commissioner comments. Does any commissioner have any comments? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, next. Uh, sorry, I would I would jump the gun. Commissioner Martin. >> Yeah, I just want to say even though I I I did vote no, I want to thank um the consultant and the staff. I understand this process is incredibly lengthy and you're trying to navigate the state and all the different changes that happen all the time. And I I genuinely want to thank you very much for all the work that you guys have done on this. I understand it's navigating a lot and um like Mr. Chairman, I made it through I want to say about 400 pages. So you you you beat me. Um but I'm I'm learning a lot about it as well and um there was just a few reasons that I did, but thank you for your work on this. >> Thank you, Commissioner Martin. Seeing no others, Madame Clerk, next item, please. >> Agenda item nine, adjournment. The September 4th, 2025 planning commission meeting is adjourned at 6:51 p.m. do it. We don't do it. [Music]