RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AGENCY- H. MAVORGENES

Approve Amendment #1 to Contract with EMC/ADE to prepare an Elections Code 9111 report on the Strada Verde Initiative. Consider whether to direct staff to prepare of a report on the impacts of the proposed Strada Verde general plan amendment initiative measure pursuant to Elections Code section 9111; and Amending an existing contract with EMC Planning Group, Inc. and sub consultants Applied Development Economics, Inc. to prepare the report; and approve the expenditure of $79,837.50 from the application fee deposit for the Strada Verde Development Application.

SBC FILE NUMBER: 790

Elections Code section 9111 authorizes the Board of Supervisors to refer a proposed initiative measure to a county agency or agencies for a report on any or all of the following:

(1)  Its fiscal impact.

(2)  Its effect on the internal consistency of the county's general and specific plans, including the housing element, the consistency between planning and zoning, and the limitations on county actions under specified section of the Government Code related to planning.

(3) Its effect on the use of land, the impact on the availability and location of housing, and the ability of the county to meet its regional housing needs.

(4) Its impact on funding for infrastructure of all types, including, but not limited to, transportation, schools, parks, and open space. The report may also discuss whether the measure would be likely to result in increased infrastructure costs or savings, including the costs of infrastructure maintenance, to current residents and businesses.

(5)  Its impact on the community's ability to attract and retain business and employment.

(6)  Its impact on the uses of vacant parcels of land.

(7)  Its impact on agricultural lands, open space, traffic congestion,existing business districts, and developed areas designated for revitalization.

8)  Any other matters the board of supervisors requests to be in the report.

The Board may order the preparation of the report at any time during the circulation of the petition, which has already begun. The report must be presented to the Board of Supervisors within the time prescribed by the Board of Supervisors, but no later than 30 days after the county elections official certifies to the Board of Supervisors the sufficiency of the petition.

Preparation of a thorough, comprehensive and well-supported report is expected to take approximately 30 days. Due to the short time frame available to consider whether the Board wants to place this on the November 2020 ballot, the only viable option to prepare this report is to have the EMC/ADE team do it as an amendment to their current contract which is evaluating the PORC initiative.

An initiative is much like a legislative act. It is either approved by the BOS and made law or placed on the ballot. As the initiative has significant impacts, the Board typically, as the arm of the public, wants to make these decisions based on well-supported empirical information, much like an EIR for the environmental effects of a general plan amendment project.

1. The expenditure of funds for a study is a small amount to invest in providing the public and Board with the information required to make an informed decision.

2. Arguments for or Against an Initiative, if placed on the ballot can be based on the County’s investment in a Study, and provide both the opposition and the proponents with real data to deal with rather than unsupported emotional opinions.

Staff resources to prepare this type of Study are unavailable. Because time is very limited, an amendment to the current EMC/ADE contract for the analysis of the PORC initiative is the recommended approach.

The EMC/ADE team was selected through an RFP process as the most qualified and is capable of completing this assignment within the limited timeframe. The contract amendment amount of $79, 837.50 will be added to the $90, 637.25 for a total contact amount of $170,474.75.

The funding for this report will be provided from the current Development Application fee that the County has on deposit from Newport Pacific Group for this project.