The Pacifica City Council on Nov. 24 approved an amendment to the city’s on‑call planning services agreement with Good City Company to raise the contract ceiling and extend the agreement through June 30, 2027.

Community Development Director Samantha Updegrave told council the amendment would “adjust the cost ceiling and extend the agreement through 06/30/2027” and includes specific budgeted work for the current fiscal year. Vice Mayor Christine Bowles and other council members pressed staff for detail on how much of the work would be charged to the Housing Action Fund and whether the contract scope could be narrowed to accelerate objective design standards (ODS) work.

Updegrave said staff would audit the zoning ordinance, develop a timeline and design a community engagement strategy for citywide objective design standards, noting that work to date on recently rezoned housing element sites had already incorporated limited objective standards. City Manager Woodhouse clarified some planning services are reimbursable by applicants and said roughly $70,000 to $73,000 of the requested amount would be in addition to funds previously authorized from the housing action fund; he said council could instead direct staff to use the general fund unallocated balance for that portion.

Public commenter Mike Wallman urged caution, saying the city should not increase contract ceilings “by 800,000 plus dollars given the fiscal cliff we’re facing.” Council members discussed options to accelerate the ODS work, potentially reduce community engagement costs, or return with revised scope and funding. Vice Mayor Bowles moved approval; Mayor Beckmeyer seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

The council asked staff to return with clearer timelines and options to limit or accelerate engagement where appropriate. Next steps include staff and Good City Company preparing the detailed work plan and any budget allocations for the 2026–27 fiscal year to come back through the annual budget process.