There are four main items of public interest on the regular calendar at the upcoming Aug. 18 Windsor Town Council meeting. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the Windsor Town Council chambers, though people can also attend via Zoom. Those attending in person are required to wear a mask.
To view the full council agenda, click here.
Police chief presents use-of-force report
As a result of the nationwide protests calling for police reform following George Floyd’s murder by Minneanappolis police officers in May 2020, the town council held two summer meetings to engage the community discussing the nature of policing in Windsor and reviewing use-of-force policies.
Following the meetings, the council directed staff to publicly conduct annual reporting on police activity and use-of-force to the town council; provide more frequent implicit bias and cultural diversity training for Windsor police officers; expand the use of the county’s mobile support team in response to calls involving emotional and/or mental distress; institute public reporting of Windsor-specific statistics on crime and use-of-force incidents, as well as related demographic information.
At the council meeting, Police Chief Michael Raasch will present the annual report regarding police activity and use-of-force.
Inclusionary Housing Ordinance
The council will discuss how to move forward with its inclusionary housing ordinance, which is expecting $2 million more in in-lieu fees from currently approved projects.
Windsor adopted an inclusionary housing ordinance in 2004, requiring new residential development projects of five or more units to allocate a percentage of units for affordable housing on site, ranging from 10% of units if they were very-low income to 20% of units for moderate-income households. After the ordinance failed to actually produce affordable units by 2009, it was re-evaluated by the town council in 2009, with the following additional stipulations:
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Eliminated exemptions for multi-family units so that both multi-family and single-family developments of five or more units were beholden to the ordinance
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Added an option for developers to make in-lieu payments towards the provision of off-site affordable housing projects rather than constructing them themselves
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Similar to the in-lieu fee, gave developers the option to donate land for other affordable housing projects to meet the requirement
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Permitted the option to build inclusionary units off-site on a case-by-case basis
Most developments have opted to pay the in-lieu fee, with the town collecting approximately $1.7 million, with an additional $2 million expected from currently approved projects. The town has used approximately $1.6 million to help fund three affordable housing projects: the 60-unit very-low and low-income Windsor Veterans Village set to be occupied at the end of this month; the 31-unit very-low and low-income rental housing project Heritage Park, for which the developer is securing capital and expected to submit a building permit application this fall; the 16-unit very-low and low-income Duncan Village project, originally sponsored by Habitat For Humanity but which may be taken over by Burbank Housing.
Closing the oil recycling program in favor of curbside scheme
Through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) expiring in 2022 with Zero Waste Sonoma, the town is reimbursed for the oil recycling costs. The town had allowed residents to recycle oil on a self-serve basis 24/7, however, the oil to be recycled often contained impurities, so in 2017 Windsor modified operations and the facility became a California State Certified Oil Recycling facility. The modifications limited recycling hours to town business hours, required customers to log their disposal and required a public works staff member observe the disposals.
Staff have noted that many of the users of the oil recycling facility are from out of town or else are businesses and recommend the council permanently close the facility and double down on a curbside program it operates in conjunction with Sonoma County Resource and Recovery (SCRR). The curbside program, implemented in 2017, allows the staff to observe certification requirements and has corresponded with a decrease in disposals at the Corp Yard.
The facility would close on Oct. 28, giving the town time to ramp up its public outreach over the curbside program and terminate its MOU with Zero Waste Sonoma.
Ordinance would allow parking on Third Street
The council is holding the first reading of an ordinance that would remove Third Street from the list of “No Parking Zones,” due to high demand for parking in the area, which has multi-family units. The area lacks visible red paint and signage to designated where parking is disallowed, and ticketing is frequent.
The ordinance is supported by the town traffic safety committee, including members of the public works and police departments.
