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Design Review Committee interviews highlight need for landscape expertise; committee delays appointment until March review
Summary
Candidates argued for different skill sets during DRC interviews; staff said the committee has lacked landscape-architecture expertise, and the Appointments Committee voted 3-0 to delay filling the vacancy until a March citywide review of council advisory groups.
Committee members interviewed two applicants for a single vacancy on the Design Review Committee (DRC) and then voted to delay filling the seat until City Council completes a planned March review of council advisory groups.
Staff had earlier outlined the DRC’s typical composition — two architects, a landscape architect, a builder/general contractor and a person of general interest — and told the committee it has been missing landscape-architecture expertise since July. "Landscaping and architecture go hand in hand," the community development assistant director (Amira Hamfonze) told the committee, and staff cited MWELO (drought-tolerant landscaping) requirements as one area where that expertise matters.
Applicant Jeremy Ireland, introduced by staff, argued the committee also needs a building professional and said his development experience — including a recent Midtown project he described as "building literally a garden" — gives him practical insight into construction and permitting. Ireland said he sometimes clashed with past planning staff during approvals but emphasized that, as a board member, he would "bracket" his personal projects and represent the city's interests.
Eric Berg, a local landscape architect and principal at Pacific Coast Land Design, said the DRC’s role has shifted toward early, big-picture influence on projects rather than enforcement of fine details. "It's about understanding the context of the situation," Berg said, arguing that constructive, alternative-driven feedback is more useful than simply saying "this is bad." He described experience presenting to the DRC and preferring to offer solutions as part of critique.
After discussion about the committee-of-committees review slated for March, one committee member moved to delay appointment so the citywide advisory-group recommendations could be applied; another member seconded the motion. The committee approved the motion on a 3-0 roll-call vote and asked staff to notify both applicants and to retain their applications on file until council action.
The committee also noted timing constraints for interviews and recruitment: applicants were given eight minutes to respond to questions, and staff said the water commission non-professional recruitment will reopen after no qualified non-professional candidates were identified.
