HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 12Los Altos Hills Open Space Committee
Minutes of September 12, 2006
(Actions Items Printed in Bold)
Present: Roger Spreen, Chair, Nancy Couperus, Mary Davey, Karen Lemes,
Alice Sakamoto, Jean Struthers, Sue Welch
Guests: Bruce Askari, Libby Lucas, Councilman Mike O’Malley
Regrets: Patty Ciesla, Barbara Mordo
Staff: None
1. Call to Order
Roger Spreen called the meeting to order at 8:40 am. The minutes of the previous
meeting were approved as written. Roger welcomed Karen Lemes back to the OSC.
2. Introductions/Presentations/Guests
Bruce Askari, the developer who is constructing a bridge over Deer Creek on the
Ruth Morrison property, and Libby Lucas, a member of the Adobe Creek Collaborative,
were introduced.
3. Ongoing
Wildlife Corridor Project:
The importance of the riparian areas for wildlife was discussed, as was the need to
develop a riparian corridor policy for the Town. Sue Welch will be sending Michele
Korpos additional information on the creeks identified on the Santa Clara Valley
Water District map. The OSC agreed that all of the named creeks on the SCVWD map
need to be included as areas critical to the flow of wildlife throughout the Town.
Sue produced an excellent paper on riparian corridors, which she is working on for
the General Plan update.
General Plan Update:
Councilman Mike O’Malley explained the process of updating the elements of the
General Plan and who was involved in updating the Land Use Element – Conservation
& Open Space Elements.
Roger had proposed that members of the OSC go through the draft that was provided
by Mike at the last meeting to make sure that the issues of importance to the OSC were
all included. Nancy passed out a sheet which listed the items not mentioned in the draft.
Among these: “voluntary” conservation easements, monitoring, wildlife movement,
resource management, heritage tree protection.
Karen commented that there was little mention of water resource management. There
is a definite need to preserve water which is being lost in run-off from lawns. This is
becoming an increasingly important issue because Purissima Hills Water District reports
that LAH is 30% over its allotment. Another aspect of this is protecting the water table.
Karen agreed to write up a short paragraph on water resource management.
Sue asked Nancy to include under Section 22 – “herbicides and other toxic materials.”
Sue also identified additional creeks that need to be included in the list of creeks. She
will submit additional information on the importance of riparian corridors.
The next General Plan Committee meeting will take place on Wednesday, September
27th at noon. Nancy will attend.
Eucalyptus Eradication & Replacement:
At the last OSC meeting Roger said that he would do some research on how to deal
with eucalyptus, once it was cut down – in other words, how to prevent resprouting.
Roger passed out an information sheet entitled Eucalyptus Eradication & Replacement,
which described how Oakland and Berkeley were handling this problem. Roger asked
committee members for advice on other kinds of replacement trees. Bays, oaks, and big
leaf maple were recommended. Karen suggested giving seedlings to people who remove
eucalyptus, similar to what Portola Valley is now doing. Alice expressed concern about
habitat loss for raptors with eucalyptus removal. Roger will revise the information
sheet to include some of the recommended replacement trees.
Crozier-Hogle Conservation Easement:
Nancy reported that the Town had reviewed the amended conservation easement and
made additional revisions. It has been given back to Bill Devine, the lawyer representing
the Hogle estate. Debbie Pedro would like Roger and Nancy to review the document
before it goes to the Council.
Byrne Preserve Master Plan/Restoration:
The erosion gully in Byrne Preserve was discussed. Henry Louie had informed Roger
that the Town’s solution to the erosion was to extend a pipe through the area. Karen
Lemes reported back to the Committee that she had had her son look at the area and he
had suggested an alternative. Karen’s son is knowledgeable about permaculture
(ecological engineering) which “aims to create sustainable habitats by following nature’s
patterns.” Karen’s son recommended removing existing drainpipe, filling in the gully,
and creating vegetative drainage swales.
Karen and Roger will request a meeting with Town Engineer, Henry Louie, to
discuss the above – before the Town has gone too far along with its engineering plans.
Karen also reminded the Committee about the IPM workshop on November 14th and
that we want to be sure that Town staff attend.
.
4. New Business
O’Keefe Parcel Review:
At a recent goal-setting meeting, the Council identified soccer fields and an associated
play area as one of their main interests. The O’Keefe property was suggested as the
possible location. The staff prepared a presentation on O’Keefe, though it reminded
Council that this was an open space preserve (passive use only) protected by the Open
Space Initiative. A referendum would be required to change the land use designation to
Recreation.
Nancy suggested that the Santa Clara Valley Water District might have an interest in
this property for an upstream retention pond. Libby Lucas said that this is a prime
watershed interface and that clearly there was good ground water in the area next to
Adobe Creek which touches the corner of O’Keefe. Purissima Creek also flows along the
front of the O’Keefe property. Nancy asked the OSC if Libby could mention the
possibility of the O’Keefe property becoming a possible mitigation site to the SCVWD.
There was consensus to do this.
Morrison Subdivision:
Roger summarized the Ruth Morrison project. Ruth is a long-time Hills resident, who
is in the process of building a bridge and road that will connect a sewer line coming down
Elena Road, across Purissima through her 12-acre property and extending uphill to La
Cresta. The bridge is a very large structure over Deer Creek and is under construction.
Because the property is now being subdivided, the OSC has been asked to weigh in on
three proposed open space easement areas: one along the creek at the lower portion of the
property, and two on the sloped upper portions.
Roger, Nancy, Planner Leslie Hopper, and Ruth Morrison met with Bruce Askari, the
developer of the sewer project, at the site. After looking at the upper portion of the
property where the open space easements were proposed, Roger and Nancy concluded
that these easements would not be very useful because they would be “islands” in an area
of steep terrain. Instead Roger and Nancy felt that the critically sensitive creek area
should be protected and the minimum 25 foot setback from top of bank extended to
include all the riparian vegetation on both sides of the creek.
On the side of the creek closest to Purissima are mature trees, one of which is a large
and majestic oak. Roger said that he would follow up with Leslie to make sure that
she understood the importance of preserving the entire creek area. Bruce Askari did
not object to Roger’s comments, stating that he did not intend to alter the creek. In fact,
he had made sure to construct the bridge so as not to interfere with the creek.
There was another concern, however, about water overflowing existing small drains
on the Morrison property next to the driveway which is coming off of Elena from
development. The drainage problem needs to be addressed in order to prevent erosion
and Roger agreed to include this recommendation in the OSC comments to staff.
There was agreement that the drainage requires an engineered solution that will be
consistent with a natural creek environment.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 am.
Next meeting – October 10th - 8:30 am