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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/20/2017 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Thursday, April 20, 2017 Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, California Mayor Waldeck called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. CALL TO ORDER(6:00 P.M.) A. Roll Call Present: Mayor Waldeck,Vice Mayor Radford, Councilmember Corrigan, Councilmember Spreen, Councilmember Wu Absent: None Staff: City Manager Carl Cahill, City Attorney Steve Mattas, Planning Director Suzanne Avila, Senior Engineer Tina Tseng, Administrative Services Director Pak Lin, Senior Planner Marni Moseley, City Clerk Deborah Padovan B. Pledge of Allegiance L AGENDA REVIEW There were no changes to the agenda. 2. PRESENTATIONS AND APPOINTMENTS A. Introduction by George Hurst I of the Newest CERT Members and the Administration of Oath to the CERT Volunteers Los Altos Hills County Fire District Emergency Preparedness Coordinator George Hurst introduced the newest Los Altos Hills CERT members. City Clerk Deborah Padovan administered the oath of office to the CERT members. B. Invitation by Marc Sidel to Attend Hidden Villa's Behind the Scenes Event on Sunday, May 7, 2017 1 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 20,2017 Marc Sidel, Hidden Villa, thanked the Council for continuing to invest in Hidden Villa, as the annual community grants received by the Town is truly appreciated. He invited the Council for a Behind the Scenes tour of Hidden Villa and Japanese Cultural Day on Sunday, May 7, 2017. C. Annual Report of the Pathways Committee Ann Duwe, Chair of the Los Altos Hills Pathways Committee, presented the annual report of the committee. Council asked questions of Ms. Duwe. No action was taken. D. Annual Report of the Environmental Initiatives Committee Raj Reddy, Chair of the Los Altos Hills Environmental Initiatives Committee, presented the annual report of the committee. Council asked questions of Mr. Reddy. No action was taken. E. Westwind Community Barn Report Presented by Victoria Dye Equestrian Victoria Dye presented a report on the financials of Westwind Community Barn. Council asked questions of Ms. Dye and received her responses. No action was taken. F. Reappointment to the Environmental Initiatives Committee City Clerk Padovan presented the reappointment request of Aileen Lee to the Environmental Initiatives Committee. Peter Evans, Los Altos Hills, said that Aileen is a worldwide recognized thought leader in environmental policy and the committee is lucky to have her. MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Councilmember Spreen moved to reappoint Aileen Lee to the Environmental Initiatives Committee for a second., four-year term. The motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Radford. Motion Carried 5 to 0: AYES: Mayor Waldeck, Vice Mayor Radford, Councilmember Corrigan, Councilmember Spreen, Councilmember Wu NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None 2 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 20,2017 G. Reappointment to the Community Relations Committee City Clerk Padovan presented the reappointment request of Nena Price to the Community Relations Committee. MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Councilmember Corrigan moved to reappoint Nena Price to the Community Relations Committee for a second, four- year term. The motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Radford. Motion Carried 5 to 0: AYES: Mayor Waldeck, Vice Mayor Radford, Councilmember Corrigan, Councilmember Spreen, Councilmember Wu NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None 3. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR Persons wishing to address the Council on any subject not on the agenda may do so now. Please complete a Speaker Card located on the back table of the Council Chambers and submit it to the City Clerk. Comments are limited to two (2) minutes per speaker. California law prohibits the Council from acting on items that do not appear on the agenda. Under a Resolution previously adopted by the Council, such items can be referred to staff for appropriate action, which may include placement on the next available agenda. Kjell Karlsson, Los Altos Hills, thanked the Los Altos Hills maintenance crew for the fantastic job they did cleaning up after the storm of April 6, 2017. Councilmember Corrigan pointed out that Building Technician Austin Hancock also worked alongside the maintenance crew on a Saturday to assist in the cleanup. Captain Rich Urena, Santa Clara County Sheriffs Office, explained that all of the sheriff officers are now wearing body cams and demonstrated the use. Apurva Chandra, Los Altos Hills, spoke about auxiliary dwelling units, also known as in-law units. Mayor Waldeck asked the City Manager if staff was aware of the topic and if any action was needed. The City Manager responded and said the Town is aware of the law. Planning Director Suzanne Avila said she believes the Town ordinances are in agreement. Pat Ley, Los Altos Hills, said she has received an email informing her of focus groups organized to express views on the working habits of town staff. She asked, "have you 3 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 20,2017 given any consideration whatsoever to the anger and frustration and indignation that people so commented on, are going to wreak havoc in what you consider a happy family staff?" 4. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Vice Mayor Radford moved to approve the CONSENT CALENDAR, with the exception of item 4.G, specifically. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Spreen. - Motion Carried 5 to 0: AYES: Mayor Waldeck, Vice Mayor Radford, Councilmember Corrigan, Councilmember Spreen, Councilmember Wu NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None A. Approval of Special Meeting Minutes: City Council Meeting- March 8, 2017 I B. Approval of Special Meeting Minutes: City Council Meeting- March 23, 2017 C. Review of Disbursements: February 1, 2017 - February 28, 2017 $462,499.00 D. Review of Disbursements: March 1, 2017 -March 31, 2017 $897,791.00 E.• Resolution 14-17 Approving the Purchase of Three Art Pieces for $27,690 and Increasing the Special Donation Expenditure Budget by $30,000 to Purchase and Install Art Pieces (Staff: P. Lin) F. Adoption of Ordinance 569 (Second Reading) Amending Title 10, Chapter 2, Article 4, of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code, Restrictions During Rainy (Wet Season) (Staff: A Chen) H. Resolution 15-17 Accepting the Grant of an Open Space Easement on the Lands of Gera; 12345 Gigli Court; File#51-15-TM-IS-ND (Staff: S. Avila) G. Resolution Awarding of Contract for the 2017 Sanitary Sewer Repair and Replacement Project to C2R Engineering, Inc. (Staff: T. Tseng) Councilmember Corrigan questioned the budget allocation. 4 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 20,2017 Senior Engineer Tina Tseng provided an explanation on the budget allocation for the project. Council discussion ensued. MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Vice Mayor Radford moved to adopt Resolution 16-17 awarding the contract for the 2017 sanitary sewer repair and replacement project to C2R Engineering in the amount of$792,820.50; approve a contingency fund of$79,280, authorize the Public Works Director to approve potential contract change orders within said fund and authorize the City Manager to execute contracts with consulting/inspection firms in an amount not to exceed $131,200. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Spreen. Motion Carried 5 to 0: AYES: Mayor Waldeck, Vice Mayor Radford, Councilmember Corrigan, Councilmember Spreen, Councilmember Wu NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None 5. ONGOING BUSINESS A. Consider Adoption of a Resolution Initiating a Reorganization (Annexation) of an Inhabited Area Designated as Mora Glen Drive No. 2, Approximately 106 Acres Located on Eastbrook Avenue, Eastbrook Court, Mora Drive, Mora Glen Drive, Mora Heights Way, Partridge Lane and Terry Way; File #86-17-MISC (Staff: S. Avila) Planning Director Suzanne Avila presented the staff report. Council discussion ensued. Shetal Divatia, Los Altos Hills, asked that the Council address existing roadways before spending more for annexation. Carey Trost, Unincorporated Santa Clara County, spoke in opposition to the annexation. Council discussion ensued. No action was taken. B. Consideration of Regulations for Short Term Rentals and Provide Direction to 5 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 20,2017 Staff(Staff: M. Moseley) Senior Planner Marni Moseley presented the staff report. Peter Evans, Los Altos Hills, spoke about owner occupied properties and believed owners should be able to do what they want with their property. Scott Vanderlip, Los Altos Hills, recommended that the Town approach this slowly and understand issues from all sides. Angela Sanders, Los Altos Hills, questioned the liability on a private street if someone gets hurt due to a short-term rental. Wendie Ward, Los Altos Hills, suggested the Town move as quickly as possible as these short-term rentals are exploding. BM Happ, Los Altos Hills, spoke about an unpleasant experience of a short-term rental near him. Bonnie Badertscher, Los Altos Hills, spoke against short-term rentals. Roxann Happ,Los Altos Hills, stated her opposition to short-term rentals. Pat Lang, Los Altos Hills, said she likes living here because it is nice, quiet and rural. She was not in support of short term rentals. Mansour Moussavian, Los Altos Hills, shared a negative experience of a short- term rental near him. Nils Anguist, Los Altos Hills, suggested enforcement of short-term rentals based on days and how many times a year. Council discussion ensued. Councilmember Wu said her goal is to keep Los Altos Hills as the number one place to live and to keep the integrity of the neighborhood. We do not want to disrupt the peace and ambiance. Short-term rentals are disruptive and said we need have a way to effectively control them. City Manager Cahill said that the Town does have regulations on the books that can address some of the symptoms of the rentals. Since this is a land use matter, he requested the Council provide direction to staff and the Planning Commission to suggest rules that can be enforced. Vice Mayor Radford said that if a developer is in town and never takes residence and simply uses the property as a rental, he believes it should be shut down as it is a commercial enterprise. He recognized that owners rent out second units and if an 6 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 20,2017 owner is going to travel for three months and they want to put it up on Airbnb to offset travel costs, that is appropriate. He was mostly concerned about developers using properties as a commercial enterprise and said "that needs to stop immediately." Councilmember Corrigan concurs that the problem it is snowballing. She was in support of sending it the Planning Commission with very specific guidelines. There should be clear understanding of owner occupied vs. non-owner occupied permissions; the number of nights, the number of people as well as number of times per year. Furthermore, it is the intention of the Town to enforce no parties, no events, complying with all parking, noise ordinances and no shuttle rentals to obfuscate what may be occurring at an evening event. She said it was not her intention to deny individual homeowners the right to do what they wish with their own home, but it is her intention to deny a land owner to misuse their property to the detriment of neighbors. She later added that there needs to be a notification component to address neighbor concerns. Councilmember Wu stated that neighborhood complaints should weigh heavily for investigation. Councilmember Spreen said that he sees a few things; we have to protect individuals from nuisance situations; whatever is done, it has to be administrable. Meaning, what is the minimum number of rules that would allow the program to run itself. He wanted to allow responsible rentals. Having an onsite owner is key and onsite should be defined legally,but he envisions that the owner either has to be onsite or if renting the entire property, owner contact information needs to be made available to neighbors. Anyone the Town finds who is not registered, we have to come up with some "teeth for enforcement". DIRECTION: Return this item to the Planning Commission to review the issue and bring it back as soon as possible with a recommendation and proposal of regulations for the Council to review. Councilmember Corrigan added that the Planning Commission should be given sufficient time, perhaps 90 days, for them to make a recommendation to craft an ordinance for the Council to discuss. Meeting went into Recess at 8:47 p.m. Meeting Reconvened at 8:52 p.m. C. Discussion of Potentially Updating the Private to Public Road Policy (Added at the Request of Mayor Waldeck) Mayor Waldeck presented the item. Thomas Brunner, Los Altos Hills, presented a proposal on behalf of the residents of Byrne Park Lane and Deer Springs Way. He requested that the council add an agenda item at a future meeting to accept Deer Springs Way and Byrne Park Lane into the public road system of Los Altos Hills. 7 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 20,2017 Council discussion ensued. Walt Wood, Los Altos Hills, said the Town has a vested interest in this road due to the water storage at the end of Byrne Park Road. DIRECTION: The City Manager shall draft a broad policy amendment to allow the Council to make exceptions. In addition, staff shall return with resolutions accepting these two roads, Byrne Park Lane and Deer Springs Way, into the Town's public road system. Allan Epstein, Los Altos Hills, provided an explanation about the private roads in Town. 6. NEW BUSINESS A. Resolution Awarding a Contract to a Vendor to Provide a Scope of Service and Project Management to Update the Audio/Video System in the Council Chambers (Staff: D. Padovan) Councilmember Spreen said he discussed this item with the City Clerk and he has a number of questions relating to the needs of the audio/video system in the chambers. He suggested a short term subcommittee be formed to craft a request for proposals of what audio/video tasks need to occur in the Council Chambers. Councilmember Wu said she has ideas and would be happy to serve on the subcommittee. DIRECTION: Form an ad hoc committee consisting of Councilmembers Spreen and Wu to review the audio/video system in the Council Chambers. 7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES A. Recommendation by the Environmental Design and Protection Committee to Extend the Criteria for the Removal of Heritage Oaks to other Tree Species and Consolidate the Town's Current Tree Regulations into a Comprehensive Tree Protection Ordinance Carol Gottlieb presented the recommendation of the Environmental Design and Protection Committee. She requested approval from the Council for funds for the services of an arborist. Council discussion ensued. , At this point, the Council considered a motion to extend the meeting past 10:00 p.m. 8 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 20,2017 MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Councilmember Corrigan moved to extend the meeting past 10 p.m. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Spreen. Motion Carried 5 to 0: AYES: Mayor Waldeck, Vice Mayor Radford, Councilmember Corrigan., Councilmember Spreen, Councilmember Wu NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Council discussion ensued regarding tree preservation. Nancy Couperus, Los Altos Hills, said the committee fully supports this proposal. She pointed out that we are the only town in this area that doesn't protect trees other than oaks. Pat Lang, Los Altos Hills, said one of her neighbor's clear cut cedar trees that were 60 feet tall and "it looks horrid." Jitze Couperus, Los Altos Hills, said all surrounding towns have more stringent requirements for tree removal than we do and the word is out for developers. Planning Director Avila stated an arborist would give staff advice on what trees should be protected. Councilmember Corrigan stated her opposition to the motion. MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Vice Mayor Radford moved to authorize spending up to $10,000 for an arborist to work with the staff and committee and provide recommendations regarding potentially updating the tree protection ordinance. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Spreen. Motion Carried: 3-0-1 AYES: Mayor Waldeck, Vice Mayor Radford, Councilmember Spreen NOES: Councilmember Corrigan ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: Councilmember Wu 9 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 20,2017 B. • Public Art Committee Presentation Requesting Placement of the Three Sculptures Accepted by the City Council in November 2016 and an Update on the Completion of the Sculpture Known as "Blue" Councilmember Radford presented the report on the placement of public art. MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Councilmember Corrigan moved to approve the sighting of the art sculptures,but remain committed to using our current standards for signage and naming art work. The motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Radford. Motion Carried 5 to 0: AYES: Mayor Waldeck, Vice Mayor Radford, Councilmember Corrigan, Councilmember Spreen, Councilmember Wu NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Vice Mayor Radford stated that we will be proceeding with the art work placement and directed the City Manager provide the art committee with our standard bronze plaques for the proper wording. 8. STAFF REPORTS A. City Manager-No report. B. City Attorney—No report. C. City Clerk City Clerk Padovan announced that the Coyote Forum was being held on Thursday, April 27, 2017 and Brown Act training for committee members was occurring on Thursday, May 11, 2017. D. Planning Director Planning Director Avila stated that a representative for Traklt, the Town's new building permit software, will be here next week to start to the transition. E. Administrative Services Director- No report. 10 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 20,2017 F. Public Works Director—No report. 9. COUNCIL INITIATED ITEMS A. Consideration and Possible Action to Remove the VTA Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Appointment from the Charter of the Pathways Committee and Include, when Appropriate, in the Annual Council Appointments (Councilmember Spreen) Councilmember Spreen presented the item and suggested amending the Pathways Committee charter to remove any reference to that appointee position and have it as part of the Council's annual appointment process. MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Councilmember Spreen moved to amend the standing committee resolution removing from the Pathways Committee charter any reference to that appointed position(VTA BPAC) and have the appointment to the VTA BPAC as part of the Council's annual appointment process when necessary. The motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Radford. Motion Carried 5 to 0: AYES: Mayor Waldeck, Vice Mayor Radford, Councilmember Corrigan, Councilmember Spreen, Councilmember Wu NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None B. Consideration and Possible Action to Form an Information Technology Committee to Review Technology Utilized by the Town (Councilmember Wu) Councilmember Wu presented the item. MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Councilmember Wu moved to form a Technology Committee to Review Technology to improve the Town's technology. The motion was seconded by Mayor Waldeck. The motion failed due to lack of a second. Council discussion ensued and included discussion about the focus of the committee and suggested working with staff determine the needs of technology. 11 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 20,2017 The Council requested that Councilmember Wu return with a more refined,targeted charter. Vice Mayor Waldeck withdrew his second on the motion on the floor. 10. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 10:47 p.m. Respectfully submitted, • 1010Ldg'('/-- Deborah Padovan City Clerk The minutes of the April 20, 2017 regular City Council meeting were approved as presented at the May 18, 2017 regular City Council meeting. 12 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 20,2017