HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 30 2018Los Altos Hills Pathway Committee - July 30th, 2018
Call to Order
1.Roll Call
1.Alisa Bredo (AB)
2.Nick Dunckel (ND)
3.Ann Duwe (AD)
4.Melissa Dyrdahl (MD)
5.Bob Elson (BE)
6.Bridget Morgan (BM)
7.Val Metcalfe (VM)
8.Rachelle Mirkin (RM)
9.Judy Nagy (JN)
10.Sonja Wilkerson (SW)
2.Associate Members
1.Eileen Gibbons (EG)
2.Susan Cretekos (SC)
3.Town Council
1.Roger Spreen
4.Staff
1.Jeremy Koch
2.Dylan Parker - New Assistant planner ( replacement for Marnie) He will be
handling the GIS System.
5.Members of the Public
1.Jay Sutaria - 13581 Wildcrest Dr
2.Brook and Cindy Eaton - 12791 W. Sunset
3.Anne DeGheest - 12133 Foothill Lane
4.Vaz Babayan - 12940 Atherton Ct.
5.Howard Lee - 12933 Atherton Ct.
6.Gene and Yuki Kita - 13303 Wildcrest Dr.
7.Kjell Karlsson
Agenda Review - PWC chair moved items 7b and 7c due to the number of members of the
public in attendance after Town updates and before item 6 presentations from the floor.
Ex Parte Communications - None
Town Staff Updates:
Jeremy -
Alan Chan is no longer a town staff member.
Final Minutes
27447 Edgerton Rd - A request for clarification about the 20ft easement request was
discussed. The tail of the property is completely in the road right of way. The town can’t ask
for a 20 ft easement as recommended by the PWC because the boundary of the property is
fully with in the road right of way on the sliver tail section. Town wanted to clarify, the 20 feet
easement was only for the lower tail section and was not intended for the upper section of
the property toward Black Mountain Road as 20 ft would be too close to the house. It was
confirmed by the PWC that the 20ft easement request as only of the lower section.
Gardener Bullis Update: The “Monster” Tree has been removed. They are currently working
on moving irrigation. Then will proceed building path. Lastly they will address enclosing the
large pipes next to the path. (8A agenda item)
In Lieu Fee vs pathway study is still in progress. A draft was created but is not ready for
review.
A historic pathway from Central and Buena Vista (Evan’s Property) is not truely a pathway.
It is a paved driveway outside of a pathway easement and was determined by staff to be
private property. All signage in the area has been removed.
Properties:
7b 12791 West Sunset - An unoffical historic pathway exists halfway on this property and
half on next door property. Currently, the home owner is submitting a project for a 499
square foot addition which does not require PWC review but would like to donate a 3ft
easement for about 210ft from the mailbox to the fence. A previous major project plan was
submitted back in 2009 during which the PWC had requested a pathway easement but the
project was withdrawn. BM feels the home owner (Mr. Eaton) is gifting an easement and the
home owner should not bear any expense to record this donation to the town. 4.1.6 of the
town code allows for a pathway donation. AD mentioned that this pathway connection is
quite an important route for evacuation safety and it is on the Master Path Plan. It was moved
by BM that the PWC recommends the town accept a 3ft pathway easement from end of the
fence to mailbox on West Sunset at not cost to the home owner. It was seconded by AD. The
motion to accept the easement at no cost to the homeowner was approved unanimously.
(AD, ND, BE, JN, AB, BM, VM, RM, MD, SW in favor)
7c Bob presented a proposal to create a native off road path connection from Robleda to La
Paloma using the two currently held easements and an existing completed pathway segment.
The section from La Paloma with stairs is already completed (seen in red on Bob’s map). See
Bob’s presentation. The proposal is to study what is needed to create a native path along the
currently held easements on two properties to connect to Robleda. Previously a pathway was
pursued in this area at a cost of around $600,000 using extensive retaining walls. Bob feels
this can be greatly reduced by following a more native route. Bob suggests the committee
recommend removal of the green line on Atherton Court on the approved MPP and the
dotted line section in the “unresolved issues” on the 2016 Master Path Plan Update after this
connection between La Paloma and Robleda is completed.
Gene Kita, the home owner at 13303 Wild Crest Lane (the property next to where native
path would connect to Robleda), is opposed to the proposal due to the privacy concerns.
The easement is not on his property but along the southern border of his property on his
neighbor’s property. He also has concerns that the connection to Robleda is very steep and
may change with time.
Lee family represented by Howard Lee -12933 Atherton Ct are opposed to proposal for
privacy and security concerns. A pathway in this area has been discussed six or seven times
over the 30 years in different configurations. Three of their bedrooms face the pathway. If a
pathway is pursued, he would like the pathway to be as far from their house as possible, and
as close to the creek as possible. He believes screening is required. He understood that the
town holds the easement for this pathway when he purchased his property 30 years ago.
Vaz Babayan at 12940 Atherton Ct has an easement on the property, has concerns about
privacy with his property and how his dogs would react to people on the path. There may be
a need for fencing.
The home owner Jay Sutaria at 13581 Wild Crest Way is supportive of this pathway
connection near Wild Crest Way. He would love to find a way to have this pathway
connection completed.
It was moved by MD to proceed with Bob’s six next steps (see presention) to provide the
information we need to determine whether an off road pathway from the La Paloma to
Robleda across the two currently held easements on 12933 and 12940 Atherton Ct is
feasable. BE seconded the motion. AD, ND, BE, JN, AB, VM, RM, MD in favor, BM and SW
vote no due to the privacy concerns stated by the home owners present. The motion passed.
6. Presentations from the Floor
1. EG says Bassett Lane story poles are up and the pathway markings are no
longer noticeable. She wanted to ensure that the pathway has been determined
and recorded even though the markings are no longer visible. BE mentioned
that he, Nick, Jeremy and the contractor clearly staked and taped the location
which was later voted for at a previous PWC meeting. It was supposed to be
recorded by the surveyors.
2. EG says Ann DeGheest, 12133 Foothill Lane, was in attendace but she had to
leave. She was here regarding a connection from the end of Black Mountain to
Elena. A key property on Elena Road has a new owner who may be supportive
of this connection. She is hoping town or the PWC could reach out to the new
owner to see if this connector would be possible. AD said she would reach out
to Ann to discuss how to proceed.
7a. 27240 Natoma Road - Pathway is on the opposite side. ND moved that we recommend
an in-lieu fee. BE seconded the motion. ( AD, ND, BE, JN, AB, BM, VM, RM, MD,
SW, unanimous in favor of in-leu fee).
Maintenance issue:
ND mentioned on Black Mountain Rd from Ursula to Edgerton straw was placed in the
wet season for erosion control but now in the dry season the straw is a slipping hazard
on this steep path. Jeremey will look into it.
7e PWC membership size
In previous years, the Pathway Committee had 9 members and then expanded to 11
members. The PWC chair would like to discuss if not filling the two open spaces on the
committee is preferred. The Charter says the PWC can have up to 11 members. AD
commented both can work well. It was possibly ramped up to due the big MPP update in
2015-2016. ND suggest not filling the position and try it for a while. EG highly recommend not
changing the charter.
There are a few options to consider.
1. Can ask Town Council to change charter to 9 members as maximum.
2. Can ask Town Council to not fill open positions for a specified period of time.
3. We can ask Town Council to fill the open positions.
RM as the outgoing PWC chair supports holding off on filling the positions. If projects expand
or it is determined we need more committee members to complete our tasks, we to go back
and ask council to consider filling the open slots. She also suggests having the Council to
look for specific qualifications or skills that are needed. SW agrees it is best to not change
the charter but diversity of opinions is important. She suggests trying it with 9 for a period of
time like 6 months. ND suggest not putting a time limit on this decision.
It was moved by ND to request to not fill the open positions until further notice and keep the
PWC at 9 members. The motion was seconded by MD. The motions was passed
unanimously. ( AD, ND, BE, JN, AB, BM, VM, RM, MD, SW, unanimous)
Review and Approval of Minutes from June 25th:
Clarify section about town council strongly objects to naming pathways. There was a
misunderstanding that town council thought the PWC was persuing naming pathways. MD
clarified that the PWC was not seeking naming pathways but trying to define clearly some
guidelines around the naming of pathways. There were also some small typo corrections. RM
moved to accept the minutes with the corrections suggested. MD seconded. AD and AB
abstain. All others (ND, MD, BE, BM, RM, VM, JN, SW) approve the minutes as corrected.
Meeting Reports:
SC mentioned that the last VTA meeting was canceled.
Agenda Items for Next Meeting:
Pathway naming and specifically how to handle the current request. AD suggests we put
the year old request to review the proposal for naming a path in honor of their parents on the
next agenda. RS suggests that the family may not want to pursue this naming request.
AD suggest the Magdalena to Fern Hill investigation be added to the next agenda.
Native Path design recommendations are ready for approval and will be presented and
voted upon at the next PWC meeting.
Marketing:
Our Town article will come out shortly. SW thanked everyone for helping with comments and
review.
Events:
Hoedown is coming up September 8th. SW, SC and maybe AB have volunteered to attend
and have a PWC table.
Huge thank you to Rachelle Mirkin as this is her last PWC meeting.
BE is going away for 3 weeks starting Friday so he may be out of communication during that
time.
Judy Nagy, PWC Secretary