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Report regarding changing the Planning Commission meeting start time from 7:00 PM to 6:00 PM (Adena Friedman, Principal Planner and Tony Rozzi, Chief Planner)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Planning Commission provide feedback and direction to staff regarding an amendment to the South San Francisco Municipal Code Section 2.56.050 (Planning Commission Meetings) to change the meeting start time from 7:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
South San Francisco Municipal Code (SSFMC) Section 2.56.050 (Planning Commission, Meetings) establishes the meeting time, location, and related procedures for the Planning Commission. Currently, the Municipal Code states that the Planning Commission meetings are conducted on the first and third Thursdays of the month, at 7:00 PM.
The Planning Commission often has agendas containing multiple complex projects, each of which requires significant time for presentations, public comment, and Commission questions and deliberation. The recent zoning code update also changed the approval authority for high-density housing projects in growth areas (such as Downtown and the El Camino corridor) from the City Council to Planning Commission (with the opportunity for City Council to call projects for review), thus necessitating continued detailed deliberations, discussions, and opportunities for public comment at Planning Commission meetings. Planning Commission meetings can often last for several hours. In addition, recently adopted state law requires the City to complete review and action on residential development projects within five meetings, which further necessitates the need for the Planning Commission to consider and take action or make recommendation on projects within a limited number of hearings, which may make individual meetings longer.
City Council meetings, and the majority of other City board and commission meetings start at 6:00 PM (or earlier). Staff recommends that the Pl...
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