Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF AMENDMENT NO. 4 TO THE AGREEMENT WITH DYETT & BHATIA, URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNERS TO COMPLETE THE COMPREHENSIVE GENERAL PLAN AND ZONING CODE UPDATES (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
In June 2017, the City entered into an agreement with Dyett & Bhatia, Urban & Regional Planners to provide planning services to perform a comprehensive update to the City’s General Plan and Zoning Code, (Exhibit 1). Staff is recommending City Council approve Amendment No. 4 increasing the contract by $235,500.00 from $1,672,164.00 to $1,907,664.00, (Exhibit 2). The proposed work will be implemented in one phase.
The proposal is to add services to the Agreement related to: (1) additional hearings and environmental review for the Housing Element; (2) preparation of an Environmental Justice element of the General Plan as required by Senate Bill 1000; (3) updating the information in the Existing Conditions Report for inclusion in the General Plan EIR and the General Plan; (4) including policies in the General Plan that will be helpful for the City to compete for grants; and (5) completion of additional tasks related to the comprehensive Zoning Code update, including CEQA review, objective standards per SB 35, an updated Zoning Map, and additional Planning Commission and City Council meetings/hearings.
The Amendment would also provide for (i) an additional 12 months to complete the services, which additional time is needed due to unforeseen complications such as City staff shortages and changes in relevant laws having resulted in delays which are beyond the control and without the fault or negligence of Consultant or City, (ii) an inflationary adjustment, and (iii) correction of a typo in the Agreement’s Schedule of Compensation.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
TAKE the following actions:
1. APPROVE Amendment No. 4 to the agreement with Dyett & Bhatia, Urban and Regional Planners to complete the City’s comprehensive General Plan and Zoning Code Updates extending the contract for 12 months from June 30, 2022 through June 30, 2023 and increasing the contract amount by $235,500.00 from $1,672,164.00 to a not-to-exceed amount of $1,907,664.00; AND
2. AUTHORIZE the Mayor to execute the agreements following approval as to Form by the City Attorney.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE any other action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
The City and Consultant entered into an Agreement for Contractual Services dated June 6, 2017 (“Agreement”) to help the City Update the General Plan and the Zoning Ordinance. The original Carson General Plan Update (Carson 2040) scope of work did not contemplate the following deliverables that are needed to bring the project to a successful completion:
Housing Element Hearings
The original Housing Element scope assumed one meeting each with the Planning Commission and the City Council prior to sending the draft to HCD for review and assumed that hearings for the element would be held in conjunction with the General Plan. However, because of strict State Housing Element timeline, separate hearings were held for the Housing Element.
Housing Element Environmental Review
The original Housing Element scope anticipated that the General Plan EIR would cover the Housing Element. However, given the strict State timeline for the Housing Element, a separate Negative Declaration was prepared for the Housing Element.
Environmental Justice Element
The Environmental Justice Element State requirement was not in effect when the General Plan Scope of Work was prepared thus necessitating an updated scope to include the drafting of the Environmental Justice Element.
Update of Existing Conditions Report
The Existing Conditions Report was published in May 2018. The original scope of work had assumed that this information would be carried through to the Environmental Impact Report. However, given the passage of time, much of this information needed to be updated.
Complete Streets Funding Support
The consulting team has prepared a scope to include policies in the General Plan that will be helpful for the City to compete for regional and State grants.
Additional Zoning Tasks
The original scope included the preparation of the City’s Zoning Code Update. City staff has requested additional tasks including CEQA review for Zoning Code and Mobile Homes Parks Ordinance; Objective standards for Multifamily Residential and Mixed-Use Development; Zoning Map; and Additional Planning Commission and City Council Meetings.
Adjustment for Inflation
The existing contract specifies that compensation for work occurring after three years of contract execution would be adjusted for inflation. This only applies to work that remains to be done.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
The scope of work for original contract did not include the additional services in this amendment. The cost to complete the scope of work for amendment No. 4 is $235,500 and the total contract amount is $1,907,664. Funds for these services are budgeted in the Planning contracts account 101-70-780-290-6004.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Agreement with Dyett & Bhatia, Urban and Regional Planners (pgs. 4-95)
2. Amendment No. 4 to Agreement with Dyett & Bhatia, Urban Regional Planners (pgs. 96-109)
Prepared by: Alvie Betancourt, Planning Manager/Brent Gesch, Principal Administrative Analyst/Saied Naaseh, Community Development Director