Renew authorization for remote (teleconference/videoconference) meetings pursuant to Assembly Bill 361 on the basis that (a) the COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency is ongoing, and (b) meeting in person would present imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees. 

That the Planning Commission renew authorization for remote (teleconference/videoconference) meetings pursuant to Assembly Bill 361 by finding that:
A.  The COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency is ongoing; and
B.  Meeting in person would present imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees.

The recommended action is required by Assembly Bill (AB) 361 to continue meeting remotely during a declared state of emergency. The Planning Commission has been meeting remotely pursuant to AB 361 since October 14, 2021, and before that under the Governor's emergency orders. AB 361 amended the Brown Act to add simplified procedures that make it easier to hold remote meetings during a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor, as per Government Code Section 54953(e) (a local emergency is insufficient).  To meet remotely during a proclaimed emergency, the legislative body must find either of the following circumstances is present: (a) state or local officials continue to impose or recommend measures to promote social distancing; or (b) as a result of the declared emergency, the legislative body finds by majority vote that meeting in person would present imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees.

The Planning Commission has relied on the social distancing recommendations of the County Health Officer in adopting AB 361 findings and the subsequent actions taken by the Board of Supervisors to meet remotely. However, the Yolo County Health Officer is no longer requiring or making affirmative recommendaitons regarding social distancing and the Planning Commission must therefore consider the "imminent risks" finding to continue meeting remotely. Therefore, considering recent actions taken by the Board of Supervisors to continue meeting remotely, staff provides the following for the Commission's consideration:

• Like most facilities throughout the County, the Board Chambers were not designed to ensure that attendees remain six feet apart to reduce the possibility of infection with the virus that causes COVID-19;
• Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Planning Commission meetings would sometimes attract significant attendance so that community members and staff would be in close proximity for up to four hours; and
• Holding in-person meetings encourages community members to come to County facilities to participate in local government, some of them likely being at high risk for serious illness from COVID-19 and/or living with someone who is high risk.

Staff believe the Planning Commission can appropriately make the findings necessary to allow continued implementation of AB 361. In the future, there may be ways to reduce the risks mentioned above through the implementation of technological improvements to allow hybrid meetings with limited in-person attendance, assuming that such improvements reduce in-person attendance enough to allow social distancing. If such improvements become available in the Board Chambers in the near future, the Commission could appropriately reconsider the "imminent risk" finding and commence hybrid meetings, which may include Commissioners and Planning staff attending in-person and other staff and members of the public choosing to participate remotely for the sake of convenience.  A continued decline in community case rates could also support revisiting the "imminent risk" finding in the near future.

This staff report was prepared in line with a report presented to the Board of Supervisors by the Office of the County Counsel at their April 12th, 2022, meeting.

Any person who is dissatisfied with the decisions of this Planning Commission may appeal to the Board of Supervisors by filing with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors within fifteen (15) days from the date of the action. A written notice of appeal specifying the grounds for appeal and an appeal fee immediately payable to the Clerk of the Board must be submitted at the time of filing. The Board of Supervisors may sustain, modify, or overrule this decision.