Welcome to our weekly digest on public meetings and agenda items worth your attention in the coming week. This guide is part of our mission to provide everyday Riversiders like you with the information to speak up on the issues you care about.
City Council
City Council will meet in closed and open sessions on Tuesday, July 15, at 1 p.m., 3:00 p.m., and 6:15 p.m. (agenda). The agenda includes:
- Considering awarding a $1.53 million contract that would resurface 1.56 miles of streets in Wards 5 and 6 and construct 24 sidewalk ramps citywide, funded primarily through federal Community Development Block Grant funds.
- Reviewing the final report on the Envision Riverside 2025 Strategic Plan as the City prepares to transition to goals established under the upcoming General Plan 2050.
- Reviewing the City's third quarter financial projections that show a projected $211,978 General Fund surplus, with a proposed $500,000 transfer to support the Fairmount Lake Dredging project.
- Conducting three required public hearings to approve annual assessments for street lighting and landscape maintenance districts and placing liens on properties with unpaid code enforcement costs, with rates remaining unchanged for citywide street lighting ($31.44), increasing slightly for Sycamore Highlands ($114.69) and Riverwalk ($365.52) landscape districts, and recovering $300,111 in unpaid property cleanup costs through tax liens.
- Considering modification of the Hawthorne House City Landmark, a historic Monroe Street home on the California Baptist University campus, designation to authorize the removal of a eucalyptus tree due to safety concerns.
- Considering landmark designations for City Hall and the Boyd Residence (4649 Ninth St.) that would recognize their architectural significance.
- Revisiting retail cannabis business regulations that would prohibit stores in Downtown and Midtown areas and require a 1,000-foot separation between cannabis businesses and parks and schools.
Board of Public Utilities
The Board of Public Utilities meets on Monday, July 14, at 6:30 p.m. (agenda) for a public hearing on the Utility's 2025 Public Health Goals report that identifies seven drinking water constituents exceeding non-enforceable health goals while meeting all regulatory standards and a review of a greenhouse gas emissions inventory that identifies transportation (57%) and energy usage (38%) as Riverside's primary emission sources to inform the City's 2050 General Plan Update and Climate Action Plan development.
Safety, Wellness, and Youth Committee
The Safety, Wellness, and Youth Committee (Councilmembers Perry, Conder, and Mill) meets on Wednesday, July 16, at 1 p.m. (agenda) to consider regulations that would require property owners to pay for emergency response costs at dangerous buildings and for repeated false alarms.
Planning Commission
The Planning Commission meets on Thursday, July 17, at 9 a.m. (agenda) to review a proposal to expand Woodcrest Christian School that would add 74,921 square feet of new facilities, increase enrollment capacity by 204 students, and implement traffic circulation improvements to minimize neighborhood impacts.
Economic Development Committee
The Economic Development Committee (Councilmembers Robillard, Cervantes, and Hemenway) meets on Thursday, July 17, at 3 p.m. (agenda) to preview a proposed Building Plan Check Self-Certification Program that would allow qualified architects and engineers to certify their own building plans for smaller residential and commercial projects, reducing permit approval times from weeks to days.
