Documented by Jackie Schuster
Here’s what you need to know
- The Visalia City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance that will amend the Visalia Municipal code for special events.
- The council also held the second reading and adopted an ordinance that grants the Visalia Public Cemetery District’s request to change the zoning designation of 15 parcels from residential to quasi-public.
- The council authorized city staff to apply for $2.5 million in funding from the Encampment Resolution Program grant to receive operational funds for the Visalia Navigation Center and Majestic Gardens project.
Follow-up questions
- Council member Steve Nelsen said that since the group called Downtown Visalians, for which he is executive director, has worked with a previously implemented system since he took on his role, there is no conflict of interest in voting for municipal code amendments that will affect events hosted by the group. Was there a conflict of interest here?
Visalia City Council members
Liz Wynn, District One
Vice Mayor Brett Taylor, District Two
Mayor Brian Poochigian, District Three
Emmanuel Hernandez Soto, District Four
Steve Nelsen, District Five
The Scene
The Visalia City Council meeting started at 7 p.m. Council member Soto was the only member not in attendance.
Actions/Discussions/Public comment
- Poochigian presented Father Vartan from the Armenian Apostolic Church in Yettem with a plaque for being the longest-serving priest of the church. Yettem is a tiny town located 11 miles north of Visalia.
- Public comment
- Dr. Lucia Vazquez asked to pull item 8 from the consent calendar.
- Barry Kaplan said he appreciated that the city manager and staff had worked on some of the agenda formattings since the last meeting. He also asked that Nelsen recuse himself from the public hearing item because he is the executive director for Downtown Visalians and asked for the city attorney to explain why this isn’t a conflict of interest.
- Kaplan also said that with Measure N funding discussed at previous meetings, Nelsen has told Kaplan multiple times that he trusts the Measure N Oversight Committee members so he listens to whatever they say. Kaplan said that is a recipe for disaster. He said meetings aren’t broadcast, the committee is in a rush to get done and no minutes are recorded. He requested that at the next meeting, the council discuss why there have not been any minutes from the Measure N Oversight Committee meetings.
Consent calendar
- With item 8 pulled, Nelsen moved to approve the rest of the consent calendar items. The motion passed 4-0, with Soto absent.
- Item 8, second reading and adoption of an ordinance that approves the Visalia Public Cemetery District’s request to change the zoning designation of 15 parcels from residential to quasi-public
- Vazquez said she was surprised to see this item back up for discussion because she remembered at the last meeting (referring to the meeting held in May) people claimed that the properties owned by the Visalia Public Cemetery District were run like slums and she wanted to make sure the council was reminded of this.
- Nelsen moved to approve the second reading and adopt Ordinance 2023-04 for Change of Zone 2022-02. The motion passed unanimously.
- Regular item 1, public hearing and first reading of Ordinance 2023-12 which will amend Visalia Municipal Code, Section 12.48 for special events
- Poochgian asked Ken Richardson, the city attorney, if Nelsen was allowed to vote on this item and Richardson said yes.
- Tracy Robertshaw, the neighborhood preservation manager, said that during a council work session held in August she pointed out some areas in the Visalia Municipal Code chapter for special events that needed to be updated. She said throughout the ordinance, there are references to special events committees but there are no committees with appointed members. Robertshaw said that instead, city staff reviews requests as they come through.
- Section 12.48.075 creates a definition for long-standing downtown annual events that have a community or regional draw to downtown Visalia. This includes large outdoor events held on public areas near downtown Visalia that have been held in at least three of the last five years and regularly have about 1,000 attendees.
- This section will simplify the Good Neighbor Policy that event organizers have to follow. Qualifying downtown annual community events will no longer have to collect signatures from neighbors, but they must still provide other required documents like permits and proof that they properly advertised the event.
- The section for limitations on commercial events was reviewed because Robertshaw said almost all events that are held include commercial activity. Parts of the section requiring special event permits for events not held for strictly commercial reasons were deleted. The section is now focused more on requiring events to meet health and safety concerns.
- Another section was modified to allow denial of special events if the event interferes with municipal or public agency services.
- Some information about waivers for insurance requirements was removed. In place of that, staff created a form with the help of the city attorney’s office so that special events that do qualify for that waiver can access a link on the city attorney’s website.
- The deposit requirement in Section 12.48.130 was removed. Instead of a deposit, applicants will be required to verify that the appropriate amount of trash receptacles, traffic control and staff, police and security have been rented or hired before the event permit is approved.
- A section was added to prevent events from having a monopoly on the streets or creating ongoing traffic flow problems. Repeat events that have these issues will be limited to being held 12 times a year.
- Poochigian said the council received many public comments through email and they read them all.
- Wynn said she doesn’t like anything that requires permanent street closures on a weekly basis for businesses, and that their business should be conducted elsewhere.
- Vazquez said that it doesn’t seem like the city is being fair with these updates. She said she knows a lot of work has been done on this, but events like the farmers market that serve the community every week have struggled and are having to jump through hoops. Vazquez said the farmers market is a commercial event, but these updates would limit their ability to hold the market for more than 12 weeks a year
- Kaplan told the council that it has been very dismissive of this item twice already. He said the public doesn’t understand why there isn’t a conflict of interest for Nelsen with this item and the council dismissed that, and it is dismissive when the council indicates how they are going to vote before the public can comment. He said regarding the farmers market, that what makes a city great is having a bunch of events that people can pop into. He said that having more permissive rules for longtime events isn’t going to help bring a diversity of lively events to the city. However, Kaplan said it doesn’t seem like the council should be limiting events like the farmers market to 12 weeks a year when this is in an agricultural area.
- Wynn said she isn’t against having a farmers market but against regularly closing streets to hold that event.
- Poochigian said staff has previously talked to farmers market organizers about other locations they could potentially use but they have stayed at their current location.
- Bill Kitchen from the Property Owners Association Board of Directors said he has read the ordinance and is in favor of it.
- Duane Rodriguez, president of Downtown Visalians, said he doesn’t know if the other people commenting have any stake in downtown Visalia but he is in favor of the ordinance.
- Janeen Robbins is a Hanford resident but owns two business properties on Main Street, and is vice president of the Downtown Visalians Board of Directors. She said as a merchant and property owner she loves the ordinance. She said that in the past there were events where Main Street was closed for 10 minutes before opening later, and she had people at her door wanting to know why the street was closed. Robbins said that allowing any street closures for an event should be beneficial to merchants and property owners. She said if events are closing streets and not even drawing many people, the city has to examine whether the closure is worth it. Robbins said events that are successful like the Wine Walk and Taste of Downtown don’t close any streets. She also said that she is fine with events hosted by the Fox Theater that close down Main Street in the afternoon because those events bring in lots of people who patronize her shop.
- Poochigian asked Richardson for an explanation of why Nelsen did not have recuse himself. Richardson said that when it comes to conflicts of interest it is up to each council member to decide whether to recuse themselves. He said he can give the council members private legal counsel but that he couldn’t share his legal advice and break confidentiality.
- Poochigian asked how the city will track if events have 1,000 attendees or not.
- Robertshaw said applicants are asked to provide the city with the average of attendees over the last few years.
- Nelsen asked if better phrasing would be “regional event’ because most of the large, successful events are regional and people from outside of Visalia attend. He said there were an estimated 10,000-30,000 people in attendance at the last Candy Cane Lane Parade, and it is easy to observe how many people come to a regional event versus a small event.
- Nelsen said, alluding to his role with Downtown Visalians, that he does not fill out the event packet and someone else handles communications for the event as well. He said the format they have been using dates back to before Nelsen was hired. He said Richardson was free to share his legal counsel with the public.
- Richardson declined to say anything because he doesn’t feel it is prudent.
- Taylor asked if the St. Patrick’s Day Parade wasn’t on the list of downtown annual events because it doesn’t hit 1,000 attendees, and Robertshaw said yes.
- Poochigian said he thinks using the phrase”regional events” is a good idea. He said as events grow the city should be promoting them, and it shouldn’t focus on counting heads.
- Taylor moved to introduce the first reading of the ordinance, amending the special events section of the Visalia Municipal Code. The motion passed unanimously.
With no closed session report, the meeting ended at 7:45 p.m. The next Visalia City Council meeting will be held on Dec. 18.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at fresnodocs@fresnoland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
