MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - The Sept. 16 meeting of the Marysville City Council began with a swearing-in ceremony for Lt. Nelson Magana, Sgt. Matthew Thompson, and Officer Clayton Cardoza. Mayor Chris Branscum and the council thanked them for choosing to serve with the Marysville Police Department.

Camille Benner, director of family services for Habitat for Humanity Yuba/Sutter, presented an update about the organization’s upcoming Pine Street Project. Habitat for Humanity’s new initiative, the Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Rural Rally, focuses on bringing affordable homeownership opportunities to rural communities that are “often underserved and overlooked,” said Benner.

During the week of Oct. 26-31, Habitat will bring a team of volunteers to completely renovate the home located at 426 Pine St. in Marysville. Applications for the home will be accepted in November, with Habitat hoping to focus on ownership by very low-income applicants, including retired veterans, seniors, or those who have experienced homelessness. The new owners will be announced in December.

But during the renovation week for the Pine St. property, volunteers will also be taking their skills throughout that neighborhood in a “Brush with Kindness” effort, said Benner. Homes along that street will be offered exterior painting, tree trimming, debris removal, and general beautification at no cost to the residents.

Benner said Habitat is not requesting any funding from the city, but they are looking for partnership and support. The council had already identified Pine Street as a priority area for revitalization, so they were happy to support the project.

The council then revisited the city’s updated General Plan 2050, which includes a Downtown Specific Plan, Zoning Code Update, Historic Design Guidelines, and Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

The updated General Plan, which will guide development in Marysville through 2050, was already approved in April, but due to a procedural error in posting official notice of the changes, the item had to be brought back to council to ensure legal compliance.

Contract Planner Kathy Pease said there was a benefit to bringing the item back, since it provided an opportunity to extend the Downtown Specific Plan boundary to include the properties south of 4th Street and east of A Street to the Marysville Ring Levee.

Additionally, several properties will be rezoned from General Commercial, Light Industrial, and Neighborhood Apartments to Mixed Use-Neighborhood, which will encourage commercial development as well as higher density housing opportunities. Clarifications were added to allow existing non-conforming uses in the Medical Arts District, but with specifications that new or expanded non-conforming uses would require a use permit.

Mayor Branscum questioned why Yuba Park, a city-owned property located at East 10th Street and Yuba Street, was still zoned as Park/Open Space. He thought it was going to be rezoned to Commercial/Mixed-Use in order to streamline potential future development.

Consultant Matthew Gerken explained that there is language in the Downtown Specific Plan and the Final Environmental Impact Report that will streamline any future rezoning but leaving it as Park/Open Space for now would allow flexibility since any future use is still unknown.

Branscum said, “I thought there was a pretty clear discussion on making that property available for commercial or mixed-use immediately.” While he acknowledged that there are no immediate plans for the property, he said, “You guys didn’t get the message,” so he wondered “what else is amiss” in the updated documents.

Councilmember Stuart Gilchrist said he recalled discussions that any rezoning of city-owned parks would be done later with community input “when we’re ready to achieve that.”

Councilmember Brad Hudson agreed that he thought those zoning changes would be made later when a development agreement was in place.

Vice Mayor Bruce Buttacavoli worried that changing it to Commercial/Mixed-Use now could preclude other types of development such as industrial or manufacturing: “We have a lot more control over it if we leave it this way.”

City Manager Jim Schaad said “catalyst sites” were identified as areas for future development, and many were parks and green space. He said the Environmental Impact Report is the largest hurdle for redevelopment, and with that already finalized, those properties could easily be rezoned as needed.

Mayor Branscum said he wanted to see those properties rezoned as soon as possible: “I want to see momentum in that direction.”

Councilmember Hudson thanked the consultant team for their hard work on this project and made a motion to approve the General Plan updates as written.

Branscum suggested an amendment to that motion, agreeing to approve the General Plan updates now but adding a directive for staff to bring back the catalyst sites for rezoning consideration no later than November. With two competing motions, Councilmember Marjorie Rollins seconded Branscum’s motion, stating, “It’s always good to have additional information so we have a clear picture of what can be done in the future.”

The mayor’s motion passed 3-1, with Hudson dissenting and Gilchrist absent from the room during the vote.

The next meeting of the Marysville City Council is scheduled for Oct. 7.