To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Vincent Smith, Community Development Director
Prepared By: Michael Walker, Senior Planner
TITLE:
Title
Agreement with Lisa Wise Consulting, Inc. for Consultant Services related to the Zoning Ordinance/Municipal Code Update
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Authorize the Community Development Director to execute on behalf of the City an agreement with Lisa Wise Consulting, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $693,557 to provide consultant services for the Zoning Ordinance/Municipal Code Update.
Body
DISCUSSION:
The City adopted its existing Zoning Ordinance (Napa Municipal Code Title 17) approximately 21 years ago (2003) to implement the 1998 Envision Napa General Plan. Following adoption of the Napa 2040 General Plan in October 2022, the City began implementing the General Plan by adopting an Interim Zoning Ordinance in April 2023.The City is now undertaking a comprehensive update to the Zoning Ordinance to implement the Goals and Policies of the 2040 General Plan and to comply with recent changes in State Law. In addition, amendments to Title 16, Subdivision, and other sections of the Napa Municipal Code may be necessary for consistency with updates to Title 17, Zoning.
In November 2023 the City published a Request for Proposals (RFP) through December 22, 2023. The City received six proposals from qualified planning firms. Each firm assembled multi-disciplinary teams to address the objectives outlined in the RFP, the associated CEQA approach, and other desired components. The top three teams were interviewed and Lisa Wise Consulting, Inc. was identified as the best qualified firm for the Zoning Ordinance/Municipal Code Update based on the team’s experience and proposed scope of work and budget. Lisa Wise Consulting has teamed with Stantec to prepare the associated environmental review in compliance with CEQA.
The Consultant Team, along with City Staff, will guide the process including public outreach, technical review, and preparation of the Zoning Ordinance, Zoning Map, and Objective Design Standards.
The anticipated timeframe to complete the scope of work and obtain approvals is 18 to 24 months. The proposed budget for the scope of work is $693,557.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
Funds for the Zoning Ordinance/Municipal Code Update were already budgeted and this action simply utilizes already appropriated funds and will have no impact on the Geneal Fund. The Capital Improvement Program budget for FY 23/24 and 24-25, adopted June 20, 2023, included expenditure of $750,000 for the Zoning Ordinance Update (40ZCMC23) in 2023.
CEQA:
The Community Development Director has determined that the Recommended Action described in this Agenda Report is not a project (pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378) since it does not result in a physical change in the environment. However, the Recommended Action is part of a larger project that will be subject to environmental review in accordance with CEQA at the earliest feasible time prior to approval consistent with CEQA Guidelines Sections 15004 and 15352. The larger project is the Zoning Ordinance Update and staff plans to bring back a CEQA analysis of that project to Council prior to adoption of the Zoning Ordinance.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
None.
NOTIFICATION:
None.