At its regular meeting Thursday, the Benicia Planning Commission heard a report back from the subcommittee charged with evaluating personal service uses in the industrial park. The commission also acknowledged the addition of one new commission member, Daina Dravieks Apple, and two additions to city staff, namely Assistant Planner Adrian Lopez and Interim Principal Planner Ann Welsh, the temporary succesor to Amy Million who left in September for a new job in Dublin.
Community Development Department Director Christina Ratcliff introduced the discussion item on the agenda and noted agenda attachments by the subcommittee and city staff. The subcommittee, consisting of Commissioners George Oakes, Sr. and Elizabeth Radtke, gathered information and conducted interviews, then broke down their results into five identified issues and nine recommended discussion points.
Oakes began the discussion by outlining the purpose of the evaluation. Uses are currently being requested by industrial park owners and tenants that are not compatible with current zoning, he stated, so the subcommittee gathered specific data and interviewed select members of the industrial park community, with the aim of establishing common goals and finding avenues for granting any of the requests that might be made possible by re-examining and possibly amending current zoning ordinances, or by any other means.
Oakes reported that the majority of positive comments businesses shared about the Industrial Park regarded the location, accessibility to major transit and otherwise being an enjoyable and convenient place to work; and having a good amount of available space.
The more negative comments most often heard, he reported, involved safety concerns; the available spaces being either too small or too far away for existing businesses to use for expansion; and concerns about plans for the 500-plus acre undeveloped parcel located along Lake Herman Road.
The subcommittee also found that the Benicia Industrial Park Association (BIPA) was well-involved and responsive to member concerns, but that it did not represent a majority of the businesses located in the park – not that it was misrepresenting or overlooking any particular concerns, only that it lacked a fully representative membership.
Other concerns heard during the subcommittee interviews included the sense that city staff was primarily focused on the needs of potential future park businesses and perhaps not focused enough on meeting the current and future needs of existing businesses there. The over-arching issue paralleling that concern was the need for improved internet access for all industrial park businesses.
Radtke added that another major asset of the park was its working port, and that the safety concerns expressed by multiple business owners included for example small children being dropped off and picked up for dance classes in the same parking lot with heavy equipment traffic.
Radtke pointed out other concerns heard during the evaluation process, including the mix of owners and renters and the corresponding allotment of parking space, and a lack of definition regarding how the lower arsenal area ties in and compares with the rest of the park.
Planning Commission Chair Donald Dean suggested the commission identify some items that could be at the top of the list, items on which the commission could conceivably make some timely progress.
Oakes suggested four items for that list: 1) An examination of General Plan zoning; 2) A collateral consideration with similar issues facing the Historic Preservation Review Commission; 3) Establishing a mechanism for feedback after any commission action; and 4) Gathering and quantifying unmet needs.
Ratcliff reminded the commission that its purview was limited to land use, zoning and general plan authority, but economic development “not so much,” that being more of the city council’s domain.
Oakes’ reference to the gathering and quantifying of unmet needs for example, she pointed out, seems to be more of an economic development issue and may even be something that the city has already resolved.

Further information
Planning Commission agendas, agenda attachments, meeting minutes and video transcripts are available online at the city of Benicia’s website at ci.benicia.ca.us or by request at City Hall, 250 East L St., or by calling the city clerk’s office at 746-4200.
The public is welcome and encouraged to attend Planning Commission meetings, which are held on the second Thursday of each month in the commission room at City Hall. Agendas are generally available a few days prior to each meeting.

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