Outgoing council approves ordinances to meet housing mandates
The Solvang City Council installed its new lineup at its Monday, Dec. 9, meeting, but not before taking care of some important business starting during the previous meeting.
The outgoing council, which included Mayor Mark Infanti and at-large City Councilmember Robert Clarke, did second readings three zoning ordinances that had first reads in the previous meeting on Nov. 24. The ordinances, which would be adopted by title only, were brought forth to make the city code more in line with state law.
Many who spoke in public comment for the item had the same opinion: The ordinances and zoning changes have not been reviewed enough, and it would be better if the item was continued for more review.
“These changes are 370 pages long,” said Solvang resident Steve Martin. “Passing it all at once is bad government. Take the time to review it and do it right.”
Aaron Peterson, a Solvang resident and business owner who is also on the Planning Commission, agreed and said it is difficult to get public input heard.
“Without a workshop to discuss things, all we have is a three-minute block on Public Comment,” he said. “That’s not enough to get things conveyed.”
However, City Planning Manager Rafael Castillo, along with City Counsel Chelsea O’Sullivan, reiterated his recommendations of the previous meeting to pass the ordinances, and get the city more in line with state laws and mandates. Failure to do so would result in dire financial penalties, acording to Castillo.
“We need a starting point,” Castillo said. “We can go back and change it later.”
Councilmembers Claudia and Elizabeth Orona recused themselves from voting on the first ordinance, 24-377, Creating the Village Design District Overlay Zone (DD-1);Rezoning the Tourist Commercial (TRC) Zone to Village Mixed-use (VMU), among other things. Both said they lived within 500 feet of property affected by the changes.
In speaking on this, as with the previous meeting, councilmembers expressed frustration at not being able to understand the changes fully, but realizing action needs to be taken.
Clarke, who during his tenure on City Council has not been shy in his opinion on the state government and the difficulty of working within its guidelines, fired off a final salvo.
“We’re between a rock and a hard place,” he said. “We’re trying to do things that benefit the city, and the state works with a macro agenda.”
Clarke then turned toward the gallery, in effect telling the public at large, “The state doesn’t care about the cities’ concerns, and if you voted for the people in power who maintained this, shame on you!”
Infanti moved to adopt Ordinance 24-377 (Brown seconded) and the motioned passed 3-0.
The last two ordinances passed without much discussion.
Claudia Orona returned to the panel for Ordinance 24-376, which moved some zoning areas from Recreation to Open Space. Brown moved to adopt (Infanti seconded) and the motion passed 4-0.
Elizabeth Orona then returned for the last ordinance, 24-378, which repealed and replace Title 11 (zoning regulations) of the Solvang Municipal Code and the zoning map. Infanti moved to adopt the ordinance by title only (Clarke seconded) and the motion passes 5-0.
After that, Infanti adjourned for the last time as mayor, and a short recess was called for a reception in the lobby to celebrate the new council and Clarke, who was the only one actually departing from the council.
Brown, Infanti, and the Oronas returned for the adjourned meeting so the new City Council could be installed. Brown, moving up to the mayor’s seat; Infanti, moving from mayor to 1st District councilmember; and Claudia Orona, moving from at-large councilmember to District 2 councilmember; took the oath of office together, as delivered by City Clerk Annamarie Porter.
The new council took its seats, the first order of business was a presentation to Carey McKinnon, who is retiring as Solvang city librarian after 25 years.
After getting her proclamation, McKinnon took time to thank the council for their support of the library, and the people she worked with, and those she served.
“Ultimately, I just want to thank the community,” she said. “We have great readers in this town, and we’re getting more and more of them every day.”
During the City Manager’s report, City Manager Randy Murphy said that the 3rd District City Council seat vacated by Brown would be filled by appointment, and that they already have one application. Deadline for applications will be Jan. 3, and interviews with applicants are planned for Monday, Jan. 13.
Next was the selection for mayor pro tem and the council chose to nominate Claudia Orona for the position. Elizabeth Orona made the motion to approve the appointment and Infanti seconded. The mostion passed 5-0.
The final action for the night was appointing councilmembers to outside agencies and committees. Elizabeth Orona proposed that since all the councilmembers are people who’ve been on council the past two years, they should maintain continuity and remain in the same groups.
The appointments as followed:
SBCAG: Brown, C. Orona (alt.)
APCD: Brown, C. Orona (alt.)
California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (JPIA): No appointment, will probably be given to the District 3 appointee.
League of California Cities: Murphy, Brown (alt.)
EMA/GSA (groundwater stability): E. Orona, Infanti (alt.)
CCCE (energy): C. Orona, Infanti (alt.)
County Library Auxiliary Council
Council approved the appointments 4-0.
The City Council will next meet on Jan. 13, 2025, at 6:30 p.m.
