Rocklin City Council discusses appeal for young Rocklin resident's future plaque

The Rocklin City Council had a "tough" discussion, said Councilmember David Bass, that lasted about an hour and a half about a two-plaque request appeal, at the June 13 City Council meeting. The request was submitted by Rocklin resident Barry Goodwin for his daughter, Julia. Julia Goodwin was a Rocklin resident who "lived here almost her entire life," Barry Goodwin said at the meeting. She played on the Roseville High School soccer team and "represented her city well." Julia Goodwin, 27, died May 17 from a car crash on Interstate-84 in Boise, Idaho. After a semi-truck allegedly drove over a curb and tipped over onto her vehicle on May 11, she was taken to the hospital and put on life support. Goodwin had to make the difficult decision to take her off life support and she was pronounced dead on May 17. To honor her, Goodwin submitted requests for two plaques, the first for a bench and the second a separate plaque, to read as follows: Line One: In Memory of Line Two: Julia Marie Goodwin Line Three: 1993-2021 Line One: She Defended These Goals Line Two: With Her Heart and Soul Line Three: May She "Substitute Out" In Peace Both requests were rejected, due to their verbiage going against the existing Rocklin Parks and Recreation Department's Tree and Bench Donation Policy. Goodwin submitted an appeal that was discussed at the June 13 City Council meeting. One of the reasons his request did not fit the policy was that it does not allow date ranges and must include the year that the plaque was approved. "Why would it matter what day we put the plaque in?" Rocklin Councilmember Jill Gayaldo asked rhetorically. Gayaldo appreciates the "consistency" of the policy "but maybe we could finesse this and allow some personal joy." Rocklin Councilmember Bill Halldin replied. "Date ranges are for tombstones, not for park benches," Halldin said. "I think there was a lot of thought and public input and we landed on the idea of not having date ranges because we didn't want these to be all about the lifespan that you would normally see in a cemetery." Halldin said he would be "perfectly fine" if applicants chose a single date, however, instead of the required year that the plaque was approved. "We have a policy. There can be flexibility relative to a year in allowing for the selection for a year," Rocklin Mayor Ken Broadway said, but the policy against date ranges "remains as it stays." Goodwin is concerned, however, that only one date would not give context about Julia Goodwin's life, such as her birth, death or how old she was when she died. Goodwin's initial application was also rejected because Rocklin Parks and Recreation staff said the second plaque was unnecessary. "I don't see how I could combine it into one plaque," Goodwin said. He wants to include the second plaque to display the soccer-related quote since the sport was important to his daughter. Gayaldo said she understood the quote's importance to Goodwin but encouraged him to see how he could "approach" only having a single plaque. Goodwin said, "Please, let me put a single bench at the end of that field so that this Sept. 19, her 30th birthday," Goodwin said, "I can sit on the bench on that field on my daughter's birthday." Broadway replied, "I can appreciate your desire to do this for your daughter and your love for your daughter is certainly clear. But we have the potential for 1,000 of these requests and everyone has a unique situation… which is why we put this process forward to meet your desire to remember your daughter but to also enable a process that allows us to remain consistent." The council continued the discussion of the appeal to the next meeting on June 27 so Vice-Mayor Greg Janda could provide his input. Janda was excused from the meeting. In other news A parcel part of the Wild Cat West subdivision located at Whitney Ranch Parkway and Ocelot Street was rezoned from a commercial to a residential parcel at the June 13 Rocklin City Council meeting. The 8.6-acre parcel is set to include about 80 single-family homes. The applicant intends on including electric for the homes, as opposed to gas. "An eight-foot-tall masonry wall along the north boundary with the future commercial development provides screening and noise attenuation," said Rocklin senior planner Dara Dungworth at the meeting. The parcel was approved alongside the Northwest Rocklin General Development Plan in 2004 and was originally intended as a commercial lot, according to the staff report. However, the city's 2012 General Plan Update allowed neighboring lots within the project to change to mixed-use but kept the commercial zoning. Neighboring properties, such as the Spring Valley Subdivision, Placer Creek Apartments and Wildcat East Subdivision were also approved for residential use. An environmental study and Mitigated Negative Declaration of environmental impacts were prepared for the Wildcat West Subdivision and the neighboring Whitney Ranch Parkway commercial project. According to the staff report, "The study found that the project could have significant impacts with regard to Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, GreenHouse Gas Emissions, Noise, Transportation/Traffic, and Tribal Cultural Resources; however, it was also able to identify mitigation measures that would reduce each of these potential impacts to a less than significant level." Mayor Broadway was concerned about potential traffic that the neighborhood could create. He said drivers could accidentally turn into the residential area on Street C, which is a temporary name, attempting to find the nearby businesses. Consideration for a permanent street name will be discussed at a later time. The applicant, Robert Parrish, replied to the concerns. "It's not just a circulation of access itself but it's serving a critical part of infrastructure," such as water systems and sewer lines, so it must remain open." Gayaldo asked the applicant, "Will there be a clear delineation so people will know 'don't go past this point, you're into the neighborhood?'" Parrish said the intent is to make it clear when someone is entering the neighborhood, rather than the commercial area. "What I gather, from what you've said, you feel that this works and that it enables for a potential effective use?" Broadway said. Parrish replied, "That is a very accurate conclusion. I stand very firmly that this is a very solid, sound design that accommodates the use of these three different entities. I feel at the end of the day, you will be pleased with its functionality and its appearance, and everything it offers to that community." The rezoning, Mitigated Negative Declaration of Environmental Impacts, and tentative map and designs were unanimously approved by the council.