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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinal Minutes August 23LOS ALTOS HILLS PATHWAY COMMITTEE MEETING Minutes of August 23, 2004 meeting MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER at 6:06 pm, 25890 Fremont Road, multipurpose room Present: Chris Vargas (CV), Chairman, Ginger Summit (GS), Vice Chairman, Richard Cassam (DC), Fred Fallah (FF), Charlene Geers (CG), Nancy Ginzton (NG), Secretary, Mike Kamangar (MK), DuBose Montgomery (DM) (late) Absent: Nancy Ewald (NE), Jorge Fernandes (JF), Bob Stutz (BS) Also present: Ad-hoc committee members: Dot Schreiner, Les Earnest and Carol Gottlieb. Residents: Bob Brenner and John O’Rourke APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion: to do Presentations from the floor and Recommendations on Properties before other items. Unanimous approval. APPROVAL OF MINUTES • June 14, 2003 meeting. Motion: to approve the minutes with 2 corrections: Pathway Public Hearing dates are 8/30, 31 and 9/1/04; and, invite Andy Colman, our VTA representative, to become an Associate Pathway Committee member. Unanimous approval. • June 28, 2003 meeting. Motion: to approve the minutes. Unanimous approval. COMMUNICATIONS Presentations from the floor: • Bob Brenner of Hilltop Dr. (D3.2a up arrow) will be unable to attend next week’s meetings and wanted to present input for his area; D3.1, D3.2a, b and D3.3. He had general questions about the Town pathway network: how paths were chosen, approved, constructed, how terrain problems were dealt with. CV talked of the 1981 Master Path Plan, the Pathway Element, guidelines and Council Resolutions; that path routes are currently being tweaked. Discussion: Bob B. has no problems with his driveway being used as a pathway; 12585 Miraloma may fence their property; 24500 Voorhees may be developed at some point. D3.3, Barley Hill along creek-bed leads to a steep hill; if the path could stay down on 24500 Voorhees, it would be more direct. 12580 Miraloma had a dirt path built on north boundary (Les). CV summarized: keep Barley Hill D3.3 section (north sides of 12410, 12169); D3.2a purple NE arrow workable, but N arrow on 12173 Hilltop driveway makes more sense. • John O’Rourke of La Cresta wanted to give the Pathway Committee a heads-up as to problems with path misuse near his home and attempts at resolution, so far unsuccessful. The La Cresta pathway has been used at late night as a lovers’ lane, and during the day for lunch breaks. Installed parking barriers have been removed; the Sheriff gets called late night calls. John has talked with Town staff, Dave Ross (Town Engineer), about ways to stop the parking without obstructing path use. There are plans for a permanent parking impediment about 400 ft long modeled on Stanford Avenue, 3 ft high posts, 12 ft on center with chains (padlocked for Water District access). When the problem is solved, he/they would like to plant oaks to make the area more attractive. As an alternative to posts, DM suggested the use of very large boulders; the problem is that they might be rolled. Meeting Schedule Next Pathway inspection walk: Sept. 25, 8:30am Next regular Pathway Committee meeting: Sept. 27, 6:00pm Day before the Planning Commission Master Path Plan Update (MPPU) hearings start Additional Master Pathway Plan meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 6:00 pm To review the hearings, location to be determined Between the Pathway MPPU meetings and the Planning Commission MPPU hearings Possible additional Master Pathway Plan meeting before the Planning Commission MPPU hearings; CV would not be present. . General discussion • Carol G: NE put in 2 articles for the Town Newsletter on Path Etiquette – do’s and don’ts. They managed to include the no parking on pathways information. Dot: the parking on pathways problem is enforced by complaints. By code it is illegal, but police have some discretion. Education is needed. Action: CV will place on path parking on the October Agenda. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES AND COUNCILMEMBERS Master Pathway Map Ad-hoc Committee update. Dot: working on making sure the Ad-hoc documentation kept within the group was internally complete; are looking at private roads which were offered/rejected whether they are public or private, mostly from 20 years ago; Dot/Les: there is a code conflict for roads offered; the issue is in front of council. Private roads never offered are private. Council Meeting and Planning Commission Meeting reports: Not done. County S1 Trail update (Cassam). Not done. NEW BUSINESS Election of Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary: • Chairperson. GS: Chris Vargas has been effective, good to have continuity, and to keep momentum going. Motion: to elect Chris Vargas Chairperson. Unanimous approval. • Vice-Chairperson. Motion: to elect Ginger Summit Vice-Chairperson. Unanimous approval. • Secretary. Discussion: NG does not want to continue in this position. Acknowledgement of time required. DC and MK unwilling to take on the position. CV suggested hiring someone to do the minutes at $20/hr; suggestions: Foothill student, CV will talk to Dean Warshawsky, Town Staff might know someone, Town Newsletter ad. Concerns expressed: the person not knowing the people, issues involved; making sure taking the minutes is a real commitment. Action: DM will call Foothill College Employment. Ginger willing to act as Secretary for 1 – 2 meetings, she will do the Sept. 7 meeting. Recommendation on properties: • 13331 Wildcrest Drive (Lands of Williams). [Note: his was reviewed and discussed at the May 24th meeting, with the owners present. However since it was not on the agenda, the vote needed to be postponed] Discussion: there is a path on the other side. Motion: to collect in lieu fee. Unanimous approval. • 27950 Roble Alto (Lands of Jacobson & Tabazadeh; Addition); Jacobson present. Motion: to restore IIB path along Roble Alto to satisfaction of City Engineer. Unanimous approval. • 28010 Elena Road (Lands of Grimes, Addition). Discussion: at corner of Elena and 280, on Master Path Plan. Those who had walked the property felt our Pathway recommendations not realistic in terms of terrain and privacy. B2.13b atop a steep bank, too intrusive, looking directly into residence below. Since B2.16 further along the freeway is red, suggested change: B2.13 a, b, c to red. Elena has good existing path. Motion: to collect in lieu fee. Unanimous approval. • 10435 Albertsworth Lane (lands of Wilson; Major Addition). Discussion: wide paved road, on the uphill sides of both Albertsworth and Magdalena; Magdalena has a path on the other side of the road. Les would like a separated path, using a berm; CV suggested striping as on Altos Way to mark a path area; Les thought that set a bad precedent; from experience, CV has found that one cannot put a berm in the road; NG/GS: because of the curve in Alberstworth and plant growth at the corner of Albertsworth and Magdalena, there is a visibility/safety issue which needs resolution; GS: the residence is on the uphill side of the road, and the preferred path would be an elevated one on the other side of the road. Motion: to collect in lieu fee; and request trim, removal of brush at corner of Albertsworth and Magdalena. Recommendation to put a path on the other side for safety reasons. Unanimous approval. • 13530 Fremont Road (Lands of Eshgi & Dorodian; New Residence); Eshgi and Architect present. Discussion: there are paths on Fremont and Burke on opposites side. Owner would prefer no additional paths required; landscaping problems for them and other constrained lots on their street. A long cul-de-sac with 6 or more houses requires a path on 1 side; Les: Fremont requires 2 sides; DM: this part of Fremont is low traffic, may make an exception and collect in lieu fees. Motion: to collect in lieu fee. Unanimous approval. • 12129 Oak Park Court (Lands of Tan & Lee; Site Development). Wide, paved path on next property; this property has 2 paved roads. The 1st is a paved sewer line about midway through the property; the 2nd is lower, paved about 1/3rd of the way across, and has the makings for a good bike path – potentially a portion of an El Monte to Magdalena bicycle route. Les believes the lower route too steep as shown on the map, and believes there is an additional easement on the property not shown on the map which would allow a more gradual descent; the Ad-hoc group will try to locate the easement. Several people thought the center of the lower path becomes a bog during wet weather/winter. DM: table the discussion; find out where easements are, ask the Chair to contact the owner to discuss easement locations/preferences; get estimates of costs of IIB and asphalt path construction. CV will have the owner contacted by Staff; the PC is interested in the El Monte to Magdalena connection. The property may come to site development; should alert Staff that the easement may not be correct. The PC does want a path. No motion made. Preparation for public meetings Aug. 30, 31, Sept. 1. [We will review the upcoming public meetings and discuss our message, presentation to the public, and the processes that ensure we document all public input.] Discussion: register people to speak; get number of people who want to speak; set a total time limit of X hours, set speaking limits of Y minutes; do the sections by path clusters, then do the leftovers (DM). 1st open session – people speak on concerns, 2nd our questions, rebuttals at the end. CV to: 1. Hire a professional minute taker (Town Clerk, Town Attorney clerk?) 2. Arrange to have the sessions tape-recorded, map references noted 3. Carl Cahill to create the path clusters Set up: 1. PC sits at table under projection screen, user of laser pointer 2. Ad-hoc committee will sit at another table with their documentation 3. Note-taker, tape recorder, user of laser pointer, references to the map noted What will happen: 1. CV will do a 15 minute PowerPoint presentation to address concerns before opening discussion; will do map review, discuss the beige roads, …, that the Ad-hoc group welcomes input (take documentation to their Friday session); unlike last time, will not be making decisions on recommendations at the sessions; invitation to the Sept. 7 review session; this is a chance to solicit information; here to work with people. 2. Register people to speak; need names and addresses for feedback 3. Count # of people to speak on each cluster; set total time (hours) and speaking times (minutes) 4. Start reviews (largest number of people/cluster to be done 1st) 5. Cluster open sessions; PC questions 6. Non-cluster open sessions; PC questions 7. Rebuttals at the end 8. Hearing review on Tuesday, Sept.7 – open to the public; if there is conflicting information, will go look at path, then get back to people 9. (The possibility of a 2nd Review session) 10. Decisions to John Chau, to make an updated MPP map which will go to the Planning Commission MPP hearings Designation of Anza Trail on Master Pathway Plan. [The 1996 Pathway Element Plan states that the Master Pathway Plan should designate the location of the De Anza Trail. Committee to decide if his designation needs to be complete as part of the current update process and public hearings.] Discussion: Les says it needs to connect Rancho San Antonio (Rhus Ridge) and Palo Alto’s Arastradero Preserve. Alternative routes have been presented in the past. Hidden Villa refused to be part of the route. DM: 2 years ago, it was suggested to go along roads: Moody, Elena, Purissima. There is the actual Anza Trail; there will be 3 recreational ones for: cars, hiker and equestrian, and bikes. There may or may not be monies involved. The Path Element says the trail should be shown. Discussed scenic versus roadside routes. The trail is said to be roadside through Palo Alto, Portola Valley and Woodside. Consensus picked roadside route. Considered routes connecting Rancho San Antonio to Arastradero Preserve: o Rhus Ridge, Byrne Park, Briones, Via Ventana, Page Mill o Rhus Ridge, Moody east, Elena north, Purissima north, Arastradero west o Rhus Ridge, Moody east, Elena north, Robleda, Purissima, Arastradero Motion: to designate the following route as the Anza Trail: Rhus Ridge, Moody east, Elena north, Robleda, Purissima, Arastradero, connecting to the designated point in Palo Alto’s Arastradero Preserve. Vote (7 – 0 – 1), motion passes. Topographical map of LAH pathways. [Patty Ciesla has produced an online, topographical map of our pathways system. Discussion of how this map might be used in the current, and future, issues concerning pathways planning.] NG has seen presentation and thought it a useful tool. FF also thought the program good. Action: invite Patty to meeting to give demonstration. UNFINISHED BUSINESS. Not done. • Impact fee. Not done • Topics for discussion with Engineering staff. Not done. Type IIB path materials, mailboxes and pathways, process to inspect completed paths REGULAR BUSINESS • Finance budget review. CV is waiting on Sarah for information. Not done. (CIP balance, Construction balance) • Capital Projects Update. CV is waiting on Dave Ross. Not done. • Community Event Support. The Westwind Barn hoedown is happening soon. The Pathway Committee has not sent a representative in the past; will not do it this year either. REQUESTS TOPICS FOR NEXT MONTH’S MEETING: 1. On-path parking. (see General Discussion, Path Etiquette) 2. Secretary. DM will call Foothill College Employment. 3. Invite Patty Ciesla to meeting to give demonstration of her topographical work. MPPU map modifications: Correction: A3.2b. Red Rock is not in current MPP; need to change the type of green line Correction: B3.21b. Green dotted line should be a red line south of B3.21a joining Suggested changes: B2.13a, b, c to red lines ADJOURNMENT at 9:29 pm.