Change coming in city planning officeLONG BEACH – Expect some personnel changes in the city of Long Beach.

Interim Community Development Director Michael Davolio has accepted a position in another city, but will continue to work part-time for several weeks for Long Beach.

The city council had high praise for Davolio, and in particular thanked him for his work on the city zoning code amendments.

“We need to compliment Michael Davolio, so you get an atta-boy,” said Council member Fred Cook.

“It was nice having a professional in planning,” added council member Mike Unruh.

Meanwhile, the search for a permanent replacement to fill the position of community development director continues.

In addition, Planning Commissioner Gene Ford has stepped down from the planning commission.

“It has been an honor and my pleasure to serve on the planning commission for Long Beach. Due to other time commitments, I must resign from my position, at this time. Thank you for this opportunity,” stated his short letter of resignation.

The contentious issue of sign regulations and amendments to the zoning code were also discussed. Most of the code revision recommendations have been forwarded to the city council for their review.

“The planning commission has put tons and tons of work into this and they’ve done a great job,” said Council member Gary Luethe of the amendments.

There will be a public hearing on those revisions on Feb. 16. However, the issue of sign regulations was specifically excluded so a sign task force could be appointed to study the subject.

“The issues were more complex than other zoning issues,” said Davolio. He suggested the task force be given a deadline of June of this year to complete the review. “I absolutely think it is doable in this time frame,” he said.

“They won’t be starting from scratch,” said Cook.

The council approved agenda bill AB 05-18, which authorizes Mayor Ken Ramsey to appoint a sign task force. The bill recommends the task force be a cross-section of the community, with one representative of Old Town business, one other business representative, two representatives from residential areas and one member of the planning commission to chair the group.

“They (sign regulations) never work unless they have a broad base of support from the community,” said Davolio.

Also passed was ordinance 792, a moratorium on the enforcement of zoning restrictions on currently operating vacation rentals in zones where they are, at the present, prohibited. During the review of the zoning codes, it was discovered that there were many technically illegal vacation rentals in Long Beach operating in areas where they are not allowed. The city council wanted more time to analyze the issue, based on the assumption that the violations are the result of ignorance of the zoning codes.

City Administrator Robert Strope told the council they had three options. One, they could do nothing, which he suggested was a bad idea. Two, they could enforce the regulations, shutting down the vacation rentals. The third option, which he recommended, was pass the moratorium, which would last until July 31, allowing the city time to hold public hearings on the issue and review the city’s comprehensive plan. The council took Strope’s recommendations, with Cook abstaining from the vote since he runs some vacation rentals in prohibited zones.

“We’ve come up with a way to legitimately dodge the bullet and buy us some time,” said Strope.

The final topic under consideration, and which generated the most discussion, was what to do about Long Beach’s trolley. The city has already received numerous requests for the use of the trolley this summer for events. However, initial repair estimates for the trolley are $4,000, and are not included in the city budget.

At first, the city council considered getting rid of the trolley.

“I don’t think the city of Long Beach should be in the trolley business,” said Unruh, sighting past problems and controversies associated with the trolley.

Council member Ralph Moore suggested selling it to another local agency for $1, the price the city paid for it. “Why are we keeping this and not supporting it,” he questioned.

Then Bob Andrew with the Long Beach Merchants’ Association got up and addressed the council. He suggested the trolley could be used to promote Long Beach. He suggested the trolley could be maintained by a variety of local organizations, each contributing to its upkeep. He also suggested advertising space could be sold to local businesses on the sides of the trolley.

“We have to take into consideration the value,” of the trolley, he said, both as a vehicle and a promotional tool. “It’s not as expensive as you think.” He pointed out that it would be far more expensive for the city to buy a replacement trolley than to fix this one. By the time Andrew sat down, the council had decided to do more research finding ways to keep the trolley and make it “pay for itself.” Davolio suggested the city come up with a business plan for the trolley.

“The trolley is a great opportunity for the community,” he said.

“I don’t want to see the trolley go,” said Leuthe.

Council member Gordon Zuern thanked Andrew for his input, commenting, “We probably would have sold it for $2, and doubled our money.”