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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinal Minutes January 25FinalPWCMinutes_10-0125 2/12/20 1 Los Altos Hills Pathway Committee FINAL Minutes of Meeting January 25, 2010 1. ADMINISTRATIVE Chairman Nick Dunckel called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM Members present: Anna Brunzell, Courtenay Corrigan, Nick Dunckel, Ann Duwe, Eileen Gibbons, Bill Silver, Bob Stutz, Chris Vargas, Sue Welch Members absent: Tim Warner Associate Members present: Nancy Ginzton LAH Council Members present: Breene Kerr, Ginger Summit Members of the public present: David Berman, 26074 Mulberry Lane Jayarah Bhat, 12921 Tripoli Court Al Markland, 25750 Josefa Lane Sal Caruso, 12921 Tripoli Court Rod Incerpi, 24500 Voorhees Drive The agenda was approved after being modified to defer the presentation of Nick Pegueros until the next meeting due to his illness. 2. NEW BUSINESS A. Communications from the floor i. VTA Projects. City Council Liaison to the PWC, Breene Kerr reported that City Council member, Rich Larsen is now a board member of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and met with the VTA director and others to discuss outstanding projects in LAH (e.g., completion of the EL Monte-Foothill College pathway. The Town will be actively seeking funding for regional pathway projects. ii. San Jose Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee. Nancy Ginzton reported with regret that she must resign as PWC representative to the VTA committee. The PWC thanked Nancy for her many years of dedicated service to the Pathways Committee. A new liaison is needed for this committee which meets on one Wednesday of each month in San Jose and helps make decisions about countywide transportation projects that involve pedestrians, bicycles, and/or trails. B. The following properties were reviewed for pathway recommendations: i. 26074 Mulberry Lane (Lands of Berman). The reason for pathway review is construction of a new residence. The lot has frontage on both Mulberry and Manuella. Mulberry is a private cul-de-sac off the west side of Manuella serving only five lots; hence a pathway is not needed there. Manuella is designated as a two-sided road requiring paths on both sides (partly because of its proximity to Bullis School). The owner expressed concerns that the mulberry trees along Manuella might be damaged if a pathway were required. There appears to be a pathway there already. The development maps show that both the exiting path and the mulberry trees are in the Manuella road right-of-way. The Miranda- Manuella loop is heavily traveled by both pedestrians and car and Manuella is wide enough to accommodate paths on both sides. Ann Duwe moved that the homeowners at 26074 Mulberry Lane restore the path along Manuella to IIB standards. Sue Welch seconded. No path is required on Mulberry. The vote was 8 in favor and one abstention. FinalPWCMinutes_10-0125 2/12/20 2 ii. 12921 Tripoli Court (Lands of Bhat). The reason for pathway review is a major remodel. Tripoli Court is a private cul-de-sac off Altamont Road that serves less than eight lots and has no off-road pathway. Hence no pathway is required. The homeowner, Javaron Bhat, and the project architect were present. Anna Brunzell moved that the Town ask for a pathway in-lieu fee from the owners of 12921 Tripoli Court. Ann Duwe seconded. The motion passed unanimously. iii. 25750 Josefa Lane (Lands of Pedersen ). PWC reviewed this property at the meeting on September 28, 2009. At that time the PWC requested that the Town ask for a pathway easement along Josefa but that the homeowners not be required to construct a path. However, the town engineers pointed out that the 60-ft wide right-of-way of the street included space for a future pathway, so that no easement was necessary. Given that the road is little used and that space exists beside the road for pedestrians and horses in the chance that a vehicle does drive by, the PWC favored obtaining an in-lieu fee rather than requesting a pathway. Ann Duwe moved that the Town request an in-lieu fee for this property because the road is walkable. Anna Brunzell seconded the motion. The motion passed 8 to 0 with Ann Duwe abstaining. iv. 25400 Voorhees Drive subdivision (Lands of Incerpi). The reason for pathway review is a two-lot subdivision. Chairman Dunckel introduced the discussion by pointing out that although an off-road path from Voorhees Drive would create a useful connector between two parts of the town, a path in this location is not on the current Master Path Plan (MPP). Further, Voorhees Drive is a private road and at the time of the last revision of the MPP, many neighbors protested the possibility of a pathway off Voorhees. A discussion followed as to the possibilities open to the PWC in this matter. Vargas suggested that the PWC not act on the current subdivision but instead re-consider the issue both during the current process of revising the Master Path Plan and when either of the lots comes up for site development. Vargas moved that the PWC not make a pathway recommendation at this time and that the PWC not request an in-lieu fee at this time but instead 1) mark this as an area for further study when the Master Path Plan is revised; and 2) to review this property for pathway recommendations when either of the two subdivided properties comes up for site renewal. The motion was seconded by Corrigan and passed 7 to 1 with Bill Silver recusing himself. v. 13833 Campo Vista (Lands of Scott). The reason for pathway review is reconstruction. The lot is at the end of Campo Vista Lane, a cul-de-sac off Fremont that serves eight or nine properties. Off-road paths in good condition are already present along two sides of the property (i.e., the east and south sides). These paths form important connections between Bullis School and the surrounding neighborhoods. Courtenay Corrigan moved that the PWC recommend no further action at this time because pathways in good condition are already present on two sides of the property. Anna Brunzell seconded. The motion passed unanimously. vi. 12252 Menalto Drive (Lands of Parivash). The reason for pathway review is construction of a new residence. Menalto is a cul-de-sac off Altamont that serves nine properties and has no off-road pathway. This property has very little frontage on the cul-de-sac on which a path could be built. Courtenay Corrigan moved that the Town request an in- lieu fee for this property. Bill Silver seconded and the motion passed unanimously. vii. 26045 Newbridge Drive (Lands of Kirk). The reason for pathway review is a major remodel. The property is at the end of the north fork of New Bridge Drive, a cul-de-sac off La Paloma Road. A well-maintained off-road pathway runs along the south side of FinalPWCMinutes_10-0125 2/12/20 3 the property connecting to Orchard Hill Lane and then to Robleda. This is part of the pathway system connecting Bullis School to surrounding neighborhoods. Development maps show a pathway easement on the property at this location. Courtenay Corrigan moved that the Town ask the owners of 26045 New Bridge Drive to maintain the existing pathway to its current standards. Eileen Gibbons seconded and the motion passed unanimously. C. Informal Discussion of Upgrade to Master Path Plan and Correction of Existing Maps Committee member Silver reported that he had compared the minutes from the Town Council meeting in March 2005 when the Master Path Plan for off-road pathways was last revised with a map printed by the Town in December 2009 which combines the March 2005 Council decisions with an earlier on-road pathway plan. Bill Silver concluded that the combined Plan accurately reflected the decisions of the Town Council in March 2005. Chairman Dunckel distributed a spreadsheet documenting some apparent discrepancies. The PWC reviewed these areas and made recommendations for correcting the map to make it reflect existing policy. [ND1]It was recommended that all red lines (pathways not on the MPP) be removed from the updated maps. Other recommendations were: i. Cul-de sacs. The PWC discussed whether or not to mark all cul-de-sacs that might eventually have roadside paths because they serve 8 or more lots. It was decided that it would be sufficient to add a note to the map legend stating that Town policy is that a roadside path is recommended for any cul-de-sac serving 8 or more lots. ii. Parts of Gerth Lane. The PWC will revisit this area next month. iii. 11990 Page Mill Road. The existing path should be added to the map. iv. Entrance to Fremont Hills Country Club. The PWC will look at this site next month. v. Byrne Park Lane to Artemis Ginzton trail. This existing path has been in use but is not on the MPP. The PWC will revisit this next month. vi. East Sunset Drive. This is a public road and should be shown in green on the map. vii. West Sunset Drive. This is a private road and should be left off the map. viii. Dawson Lane to Oak Knoll. This utility easement should be designated as a “future path” on the map; the Town does not currently hold a pathway easement. ix. Toyonita Road. This connector should be added to the map. x. Albertsworth Lane. Although this cul-de-sac serves 10 lots, it is sufficiently wide that no roadside path is needed. xi. Roads in newly annexed part of LAH. Action to be deferred. xii. Areas D3.9a and D3.9d (through new subdivision off Dawson). Routes should be adjusted to agree with recent recommendations. These discrepancies will be corrected and the updated map presented to City Council for approval in May. 3. OLD BUSINESS A. Re-review of Robleda – Atherton Ct. – La Paloma pathway. Chairman Dunckel gave an update on the proposed routes for this important connecting pathway (map on next page). The Robleda Trail Feasibility Study: Summary Report Draft dated 13 Jan 2010 was distributed electronically to PWC members prior to the meeting. At the meeting Chairman Dunckel briefly reviewed the report, noting that the banks were steep (over 50% in some places); a 25 ft (or possibly longer) bridge was required; 545 linear feet of retaining wall were required; the very steep slopes might continue to slide after construction; and the estimated cost of $423K was very high. It was understood that this trail was to be proposed to the Flood Control District for funding, but even if it were to be funded, the funding may not cover a large percentage of the costs. The PWC discussed other possibilities for the trail, including: FinalPWCMinutes_10-0125 2/12/20 4 1) A path along the North side of 12933 and then along the West side of 12940 to Atherton Ct. The owner of 12940 is quoted as expressing a willingness to donate this easement to the Town. Owners of properties 12911 and 12871 would be encouraged to trade the easements on their West sides for pathway easements on Atherton Ct. 2) A path along the West side of 12933 and the North side of 12911 to Atherton Ct. 3) A path along the West sides of 12933 and 12911 and then along the North side of 12871 to Atherton Ct 4) A straight path along the west sides of 12933, 12911, and 12871 to Robleda. The owner whose building crosses the existing pathway easement would be required to move it 5) Follow (4) above but request an easement from the owners of the properties west of those cited in (4) where necessary to bypass the building in the easement. It was noted that Atherton Ct. is a private road and that a majority of homeowners would have to agree to permit passage of foot traffic. The consensus of the PWC was that the estimated cost of construction was prohibitively high for this pathway and that other possibilities should be evaluated. There was also general agreement that the PWC should develop a single option to be presented to the neighbors. B. Update of CIP Projects. Chairman Dunckel reported that the Town is unlikely to be able to obtain the necessary easements along Arastradero to build a pathway all the way from Purissima to Fremont. There was general consensus that the Town should construct the portion between Purissima and La Cresta. C. Local School Earth Day Projects. Chris Vargas recommended that rather than planning another pathway clean-up this year, PWC volunteers contact principals at local schools and encourage them to develop their own projects. He recommended that Mayors Awards be offered for various project categories to encourage participation and recognize the FinalPWCMinutes_10-0125 2/12/20 5 participating schools. He will prepare a script for PWC volunteers to use for the next meeting. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of November 23, 2009 meeting were approved without amendments. Meeting was adjourned at 10:15 PM. 5. NEXT SCHEDULED MEETINGS Next pathway walk: Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 8:30 AM at Town Hall Next regular meeting: Monday, February 22, 2010 at 7:00 PM at Town Hall Respectfully submitted, Sue Welch January 30, 2010