Key
decisions regarding Yorba Linda's updated General Plan and completing
a controversial overhaul of the city's commissions and advisory
committees await action by the City Council.
The
city's revision of the state-required General Plan – often called a
constitution for land-use decisions at the local level – is close
to completion, with a citizens advisory committee scheduled to
finish work next month.
The
committee, with two members from each of the city's four commissions
and five at-large members plus alternates, has met since June 2012.
The plan was first adopted in 1971 and updated in 1993.
A
plan must include seven elements: land use, circulation, housing,
conservation, open space, noise and safety. Optional are urban
design, economic and fiscal development, capital improvements,
public facilities, air quality, energy, flood management, geothermal
resources and water
The
process, guided by city-hired consultants, allows cities to create a
plan reflecting a city's unique needs. The Planning Commission will
review the document before making a recommendation to the council.
Also
proceeding is council's 4-1 decision to align appointments to
commissions and committees with council elections cycles and hold
interviews to fill 29 positions, including some that had terms scheduled to run through 2017.
First
appointments, for the Planning Commission, came Jan. 17 and included
replacing two members. Karalee Watson, a six-year resident who has
served three years, received unanimous council support to continue.
Also
reappointed, with four votes each, were 29-year resident and seven-year
member Robert Lyons and 35-year resident and one-year member Robert
Pease. Dropped were 31-year resident and four-year member Jim
Nebel and 21-year resident and seven-year member James Wohlt.
New
appointees are 37-year resident J. Minton Brown, with four votes, and
33-year resident Dan Mole, with three votes. Nebel
received two votes and Wohlt one vote.
Brown
ran in the October recall election as a replacement for Craig Young,
although Brown opposed the recall. Young kept his seat, but Brown
beat Nancy Rikel, who fought for Young's recall, by 97 votes. Mole
chairs the Yorba Linda Water District's citizens advisory committee.
One
interesting aspect of the vote, especially for residents who follow
the permutations of local politics, was Councilman Mark Schwing's
vote for Jan Horton, one of 18 applicants for the posi-tions (two
withdrew before interviews) and a council member 2006-2010.
Schwing
opposed Horton's re-election bid in 2010, which she lost. Horton
opposed Schwing in his 2008 and 2012 wins, and she's been a strong
critic of Schwing and former council members Rikel and John Anderson.
Interviews
for 15 Parks and Recreation, Traffic and Library commissions seats
and nine land-scape committee slots are upcoming. General Plan committee
members will continue until their final report in March.