Benicia Planning Commission Thursday agreed with city staff that the hours in which construction can take place near homes are too generous.

But their recommendation to the City Council weren’t as restrictive as the staff had suggested.

The Commission endorsed permitted residential area construction hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

These would be effective in residential zoning districts, downtown mixed use districts and areas within 500 feet of residential zones or downtown mixed use district.

If the Council concurs, it would shrink some of the most liberal residential construction hours in Solano County. In both Benicia and Fairfield, building can take place from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

Both panels were reminded of those hours when some neighbors objected to a request to subdivide 1035 West K St. into four parcels. That change was approved by the Commission and upheld by the Council, but members of both expressed surprise that such work was allowed to take place so late.

Senior Planner Suzanne Thorsen said local contractors, including those who recently applied for business licenses, were mailed notification, and information on the possible change was available in the Community Development Department. Most expressed no objection, and the only letter her department received favored the shorter hours.

“We’ve done extensive outreach,” Community Development Director Christina Ratcliffe said. “The biggest reaction was a shrug.”

Thorsen said no other changes were recommended to the city code, and it wouldn’t affect other commercial or any industrial districts.

She said city employees had recommended new hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends, but Commissioner Elizabeth Radtke convinced the rest of the panel to expand on that suggestion to accommodate people who work full time and want to make their own repairs to their homes.

The new hours would resemble those of other Solano County cities, as well as some in Contra Costa County, and the Commission’s recommendation will be sent to the City Council for consideration.

The panel also reviewed its rules and procedures, a study initiated by Commissioner Steve Young in May.

Some of his concerns stemmed from a series of public hearings on the Draft Environmental Impact Report being written for the Valero-Crude-By-Rail use permit request that would allow railroad extension construction to let Valero Benicia Refinery receive crude oil by train, substituting those deliveries for an equal quantity it currently gets by transoceanic tanker ships.

Young said some of the requests’ matters are technical and complex, and might need more time for discussion, although public comment at those hearings caused those meetings to run late hours.

He asked whether speakers who don’t take their full allotted time, usually five minutes, could give their time to other speakers.

“We typically don’t do that, because it would be considered unfair,” City Attorney Heather McLaughlin said. “People can turn in written comments.”

Young asked if a person could speak at the lectern at different times on different topics during a single hearing, such as impacts of traffic, greenhouse gas and train car safety.

“No. Everyone gets one bite of the apple,” McLaughlin said. That’s because even when speakers are cued up to speak, it takes time for each one to prepare for his or her turn.

Young asked about conflicts of interest and a requirement for a panel member to leave the room. Saying a sofa outside the chamber is uncomfortable he asked whether he could sit in the audience.

McLaughlin said staff should make a conference room available, because it would allow the excused Commissioner to watch proceedings on television. But since Commissioners work together and get to know each other, they need to be out of the room where the decision is taking place.

“Some have strong personalities,” she said, suggesting that they could use facial expressions or body language in ways that could influence others.

Young said the Crude-By-Rail hearings didn’t allow the public to have a question and answer session. “People got frustrated,” he said.

McLaughlin said the Commission might follow the Council’s example, in which Mayor Elizabeth Patterson keeps notes on the questions, and later asks staff to provide answers all at one time. That procedure prevents violation of one of the rules that prevent public comment periods from becoming debates.

That doesn’t mean a Commissioner might not ask questions of a speaker, Ratcliffe said.

The speaker isn’t supposed to be interrupted, unless the person’s behavior is out of order, Chairperson Donald Dean added.

Young asked guidance about ex-parte conversations, those a panelist may have with members of the public outside of a public meeting. “There are lots of time people approach me to give opinions. Is that something I need to disclose?”

“If you remember, yes,” McLaughlin said, explaining that sometimes the comments are given far in advance of a matter appearing on a Commission agenda. It can matter who made the comment, too, she said.

It’s also “a matter of timing,” she said, when a Commissioner shares public information received outside of the panel’s public process. That information should be given to staff so it can be included in the Commission’s meeting packet, she said.

Specifically regarding last year’s lengthy DEIR hearings, Young reminded employees that many of the public comments strayed from the actual topic – evaluation of the document.

Many speakers instead told the Commission “Valero is good” or “Fossil fuels are going to kill us,” he said, asking how the panel can keep the public on topic.

McLaughlin said even if the panel tries to do that, members ultimately will have to hear what the audience says. A speaker may use extraneous comments as an introduction that leads to pertinent observations midway through the five-minute limit.
She said the Commission might shorten each speaker’s time, but that must be done at the beginning of a hearing so each speaker gets the same amount of time. “It’s not fair at 10:45 p.m. You must do it at the front.”

Provision for such limits are given in the city’s Open Government Ordinance, she said, and a meeting that has a shorter comment allotment must have an additional public comment time so the audience can speak about trimming their time to speak.
“We’d better leave it alone!” Young said.

Because the Commission’s procedures refer to “tape recordings,” and visual recordings now are digital and kept on DVDs, Ratcliffe concurred with the Commission that the wording needed updating.

Young noted that the Commission often asks a speaker to identify him or herself, and said speakers need to know it’s not a requirement to address the panel.

Commissioner George Oakes asked how items appear on the agenda, and Ratcliffe said usually that’s the job of city staff, who are guided by the panel’s priority list. McLaughlin said the timing also is governed by how quickly staff can research a topic and have it prepared for a meeting.

A few other housekeeping working changes also were suggested by the Commission, and Ratcliffe said a draft of the changes would be presented at a future meeting.

Young also asked that staff consider the Commissioners’ vacations and holidays when scheduling future hearings on the Crude-By-Rail environmental report, which is being rewritten and may be released Aug. 30 for a 45-day public review and comment period.

Cohen Grossman asked staff to respect Jewish holidays, particularly Sept. 14-15 and Sept. 22-23.

Young, recalling that the Council Chamber was filled and seating had to be provided in other parts of City Hall, asked staff to continue looking for a larger venue. If one can’t be found, he said, he asked that staff prevent the past situations of either all proponents or opponents of the project from getting most of the seats in the main chamber.

“We will look at that,” McLaughlin promised.