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. . . . I . Vice Mayor Ruskin brought up the issue of the proposed Downtown Theater Project and described the project's potential for bringing prosperity to Redwood City, but also the - possibility of destroying the scale of the area. He said it was an absolute necessity for all of the people around the table to work together on this project, with clearly defined roles. Vice Mayor Ruskin suggested that this project be a test case of the three group's new working relationship, as it will be a critical project to the City. Assistant Director Vesgo asked what other priorities needed to be added. Council Members, Planning Commissioners and Architecture Advisory Committee Members brought up the issue of the Roosevelt Avenue Project, what went wrong and how to prevent a similar situation in the future. It was suggested that a mechanism be developed for the Planning Commission to get Council input early on about similar developments, although other Commissioners believed they needed to be independent. Discussion ensued on roles, overlapping responsibilities, communication, and how to develop a process whereby staff could tell developers about their chances of approval, including going directly to Council when general plan amendments are needed before too much work was done on the proposed project. They discussed the advantages and disadvantages of long range planning versus project by project development. Mayor Howard suggested choosing one project to develop long term plans that all three groups could work on, such as EI Camino Real. Assistant Director Vesgo asked the groups to list the priorities they wished to discuss tonight from among the concerns already listed. Items mentioned included: defining - roles, allowing more input by the Architectural Advisory Committee early on, communications, and clear policy statements from Council so everyone involved knew what the project would look like at its completion (long term planning coordination.) Council Member Claire said he did not want to see the Council set policy for the Planning Commission because policy was set in the General Plan. He said the Roosevelt Avenue project had first appeared a good one, and only when the project came to the Council did he realize that the proposed general plan amendment was inappropriate. Council Member Hartnett suggested that all the subjects discussed to this point could not be addressed at this Study Session and recommended that they focus on how the Planning Commission could be involved in long range planning. He suggested that the Council and Commission would have specific roles to play in the Downtown Theater Project and discussing it would be beneficial in terms of long range planning, but added that decisions needed to be made swiftly. The groups decided to discuss the process of how the Downtown Theater Project should be handled, but not the project itself. It was noted that most of the work that goes on is done by the staff and the developers, and a suggestion was made to appoint cross functional committees with representatives from the three groups to be part of the process from the beginning, and hold public meetings wþen pos~ible. - Adjourned Regular Meeting/Study Session MINUTE BOOK NO. 56 April 13,1998 Minutes Page No. 397 Page 11