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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/07/2001 Minutes of a Regular Meeting June 7, 2001 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Regular Meeting Thursday, June 7, 2001,.6:00 P.M. Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Finn called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 6:10 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Finn and Councilmembers Casey, Cheng, Fenwick and O'Malley Absent: None Staff: City Manager Maureen Cassingham, City Attorney Sandy Sloan, Planning Director Carl Cahill, Public Works Manager ® Jim Rasp, Administrative Services Director Carol Ferrell and City Clerk Pat Dowd Press: Liz Cloutman, Los Altos Town Crier LB CLOSED SESSION: CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL — GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54956.9(b) — SIGNIFICANT EXPOSURE TO LITIGATION — UNKNOWN NUMBER OF CASES AND GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54956.9 - DISCUSSION OF PARTICULAR FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES SET OUT IN KEN OLCOTT'S LETTER OF MAY 29, 2001 REGARDING SANITARY SEWER REIMBURSEMENT AGREEMENTS 1.0 REPORT OUT OF CLOSED SESSION The City Council adjourned to a Closed Session regarding litigation at 6:10 p.m. and reconvened at 6:30 p.m. Council returned to open session to report, if necessary, any actions taken. No actions were taken. 2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS 3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT June 7, 2001 Regular City Council Meeting 1 • The Planning Director reported that the following items were discussed at the 5/24/01 Planning Commission Meeting: Lands of Wadhwani, 26170 Fremont Road—approved request for a site development permit for a new residence and a secondary dwelling; and recommended approval of an ordinance amendment to the Town's Zoning Code with regard to the basement definition(Section 10- 1.208) and review of the negative declaration and initial study. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR Items Removed: 4.1 — May 17th minutes (Fenwick), 4.6 (Fenwick) and 4.11 (City Manager) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Fenwick, seconded by Cheng and passed unanimously to approve the balance of the Consent Calendar, specifically: 4.1 Approved Minutes: May 18, 2001 (Special Meeting) May 19, 2001 (Special Meeting) 4.2 Approved Warrants: $344,774.66 (5/9/01 —5/31/01) 4.3 Awarded Certificates of Appreciation: Judy Simon,Environmental • Design&Protection Comm.; Members of the LUF Comm: (Lot Unit Factor) --Jim Abraham, Carl Clement, Charlene Geers, Ron Haley, John Harpootlian and Dot Schreiner 4.4 Accepted dedication of right of way adjacent to Fremont Road and Campo Vista Lane on Lands of Campbell and Ligeti—Reso #33-01 4.5 Approved agreement with Drummond Buckley, BayPlan Consulting for contract planning services—Reso#34-01 4.7 Approved agreement for conservation easement between the Town of Los Altos Hills and Lands of Chan—Reso #35-01 4.8 Rejected Claim: International Disposal Corporation of California 4.9 Accepted grant of sanitary sewer easement on the Lands of Beese, 12827 La Cresta Drive - Reso #36-01 June 7, 2001 Regular City Council Meeting 2 4.10 Accepted grant of sanitary sewer easement on the Lands of Morrison, 27641 Purissima Road—Reso #37-01 4.12 Adopted resolution setting the time and place of a public hearing to consider all objections or protests to the proposed adoption of sewer service charges for the Palo Alto and Los Altos Sewer Basins --Reso #38-01 Items Removed: 4.1 Approval of Minutes: May 17, 2001 (Regular Meeting) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Fenwick, seconded by Cheng and passed unanimously to approve the minutes of the May 17, 2001 Regular City Council Meeting with the following correction: page 5, second paragraph `i.e.' should be `e.g.'. 4.6 Approval of agreement with Aleuron Systems for computer consulting services—Reso# Fenwick noted that this contract included website update services. He questioned whether the Council should undertake a separate contract specifically for website design and update. • MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Fenwick, seconded by Cheng and passed unanimously to adopt Resolution #39-01 approving an agreement with Alueron Systems for computer consulting services and to direct staff to research other vendors specifically for website design and update. 4.11 Acceptance of a grant of sanitary sewer easement on the Lands of Avary, 12857 La Cresta Drive—Reso #_ The City Manager asked that this item be removed from the Consent Calendar as the documents had not been signed by the applicant. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To delete Item 4.11 from the Consent Calendar. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 5.1 Adoption of Ordinance amending Sections 10-1.5020 and 10- 1.5030 of the Town's Zoning Code with regard to the amount of allowable development area and floor area(SECOND READING) Dot Schreiner, 14301 Saddle Mountain Road, referred to earlier reports prepared on this issue specifically the tables done by John Harpootlian. She believed the recommended ordinance unfairly put the burden to provide open space on certain lot owners. June 7, 2001 Regular City Council Meeting 3 MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey,' seconded by Fenwick and passed by the following roll call vote to adopt Ordinance #412 amending Sections 10-1.5020 and 10-1.5030 of the Zoning Code with regard to allowable development area and floor area. AYES: Mayor Finn and Councilmembers Casey and Fenwick NOES: Councilmembers Cheng and O'Malley Cheng and O'Malley restated their support of the Planning Commission's recommendations on this issue and noted that the Town Survey results indicated residents were happy with the current ordinances. 5.2 Approval of policy, procedure and guidelines for Sanitary Sewer Reimbursement Agreements Ken Olcott, 12950 Brendel Drive, stated that future upstream users was his issue and he did not agree with the following statement in the proposed policy: (10) The property owner may, at the property owner's option, extend the gravity sanitary sewer main past the owner's property to include additional properties into the reimbursement agreement service area. Allan Epstein, 23828 Ravensbury, did not believe that the proposed policy achieved the objective of fairness. He suggested that better mechanisms were available and recommended that this issue be continued for further consideration. Casey commented that it was important that the Council establish a policy on this issue to avoid future confusion regarding these agreements. She farther noted however that discussion could continue on this matter and if thought appropriate the policy could be modified in the future. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Fenwick, seconded by O'Malley and passed unanimously to adopt the policy, procedures and guidelines for sanitary sewer reimbursement agreements as set forth in the Public Works Manager's staff report dated 6/7/O1(on file at Town Hall). 6. NEW BUSINESS 6.1 Request for Mayor to send letter stating Town's opposition to SB910 (concerning housing elements and. proposed penalties for non-validity) Staff reported that Town had updated its General Plan Housing Element in 1998 and it was certified by the State Department of Housing and Community i June 7, 2001 Regular City Council Meeting 4 Development. The Town had made considerable progress in implementing its Housing Element goals and objectives. The Town would prefer to continue working within the existing legal framework of State laws that require the regular update of housing elements and the timely implementation thereof without the threat of additional punitive and coercive measures as embodied by SB910. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Cheng and passed unanimously to authorize the Mayor to send a letter to Assemblymember Simitian stating the Town's opposition to SB910. 6.2 Approval of Request for Proposals for consulting services for development fee analysis MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Cheng and passed unanimously to authorize staff to proceed with a request for proposals for consulting services for a development fee analysis. 6.3 Request for proposals to provide engineering services to the Town of Los Altos Hills PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To authorize the City Manager to prepare and distribute a request for proposals to provide engineering services to the Town • and to negotiate an agreement extension with Wilsey Ham to provide engineering services until a firm to provide these services has been selected. (Staff indicated this request for proposals would be ready for Council review at their July 19th meeting.) 6.4 Council decision on whether or not to authorize a local retail store the use of the Town's logo The City Manager reported that it had come to staff's attention that a local retailer was selling certain items of clothing with the Town's logo on them. Since the Town had a trademark on their logo, the retailer had been advised to stop selling these items until Council had decided how they wanted to handle this matter. Council discussed this issue and agreed that the logo had been tastefully done on the items listed and they thought the retailer should be allowed to proceed. Allan Epstein, 23838 Ravensbury, commented that the Town should receive royalties (@ 10%) on such sales. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Fenwick, seconded by Casey and passed unanimously to authorize Dennis Rich to use the Town's logo on the following items: baseball caps,t-shirts, sweatshirts and polo shirts. June 7, 2001 Regular City Council Meeting 5 S 7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES 7.1 Finance Committee 7.1.1 Request that the Finance and Investment Committees be combined Council had received the recommendation from the Chairman of the Finance Committee that the Finance and Investment Committees be combined as the most effective way to address the financial issues of the Town. This recommendation was unanimous from both committees. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Fenwick and passed unanimously to combine the Finance and Investment Committees into one committee. 7.2 Library Commission Cheng reported that she had attended a meeting of the Santa Clara County Joint Powers Authority Board earlier in the day. She reported that they discussed a proposed revision to the JPA agreement which would allow the JPA Board to establish a Mello Roos District and place a tax levy question on a future ballot. This revision was being discussed as the current assessment partially offsetting library property tax losses will end in 2005. The revision once adopted by the JPA Board will be brought to the City Councils and Board of Supervisors for ratification. 7.3 Investment Committee Finn reported that he had attended a meeting of the Investment Committee and they would be making a recommendation to the Council in the near future for enhancements to the Town's portfolio. The suggestion to combine with the Finance Committee was also discussed. 7.4 Finance Committee Casey reported that she had attended a recent meeting of the Finance Committee. She noted that this was a dynamic, exciting committee that was examining new approaches regarding the financial issues of the Town. 8. STAFF REPORTS 8.1 City Manager June 7, 2001 Regular City Council Meeting 6 • The City Manager reported that proposals had been received for the Town Hall Project and copies had been distributed to Council. She asked for Council's input on when they wanted to interview. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: Council agreed to hold a Special Meeting on Friday, June 22nd at 9:00 a.m. to conduct interviews for the Town Hall Project and to have lunch afterwards. In addition they asked the City Manager to proceed with reference checks and also asked for staff input on their impressions of the proposals. 8.2 City Attorney 8.3 City Clerk 8.3.1 Report on Council Correspondence 9. COUNCIL-INITIATED ITEMS 9.1 Request for authorization to attend the League of California Cities Annual Conference September 12-15, 2001, Sacramento 9.2 Request for authorization to attend the Mayors and Councilmembers Executive Forum, July 25-27, 2001, Monterey • MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Finn, seconded by Casey and passed unanimously to authorize attendance at both of these conferences by any Councilmembers who wished to attend. 10. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR Edward Boscacci, BKF Engineers, noted that currently the Town had an ordinance restricting basements in floodplains. This restriction was based on FEMA regulations which last year had been changed by FEMA. Mr. Boscacci requested Council to change their ordinance to reflect this new FEMA position. It was agreed this issue would be sent to staff for review. 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS 11.1 Request for a right of way vacation for a portion of Stonebrook Drive near Laura Court, Lands of Lyons and Wiesler, 28012 Laura Court—Reso# Bruce McLeod, applicant's designer, stated that he was available if anyone had any questions. June 7, 2001 Regular City Council Meeting 7 • MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Cheng and passed unanimously to adopt Resolution #40-01 declaring the intention to vacate a portion of the public easement for right of way on Stonebrook Drive. A public hearing will be scheduled for the July 19th City Council Meeting. 11.2 Request for a tentative map to subdivide a 12.60 acre parcel into six lots and consideration of a proposed negative declaration, Lands of Huang, 27580 Arastradero Road Fenwick stepped down from consideration of this item due to a possible conflict of interest. Sophia Huang, applicant, presented a letter to the Council which included their comments about the proposed conditions of approval. First they did not agree with the condition requiring a ten foot path easement along the property line of Lot 6 adjacent to 280. They believed this encroached on the privacy of the residents on Lot 6 and would duplicate a parallel path on the other side of 280. They also did not agree that a traffic study needed to be done. Ms. Huang believed this was part of the negative declaration process at which time it was determined to have no impact. Concerning the driveway issue, they had discussed alternatives and found they could provide a more direct driveway to • lot 2 and lessen its proximity to the lot 3 building site. This would however require about 280 feet of driveway to exceed 15% slope. Mark Helton, Giuliani & Kull, distributed plans showing the revised driveway and noted that the 20% slope had been approved by the Fire Department. Mr. Mills, 14414 Saddle Moutain Drive, expressed their concerns about their view protection. They were in a direct line of site from Lot 2 and asked Council to ensure that their view would be protected. Ginger Summit, representing the Pathways Committee, did not agree that the proposed path easement was redundant. In her opinion this closed a loop that was in the Master Path Plan. Jan and Bob Fenwick, 28011 Elena Road, referred to the easements on their property and noted that the proposed path easement on the Huang property connected to theirs and made their easements useable. They did note that it could be a five foot path because of the terrain. Ken Olcott, member of the Pathways Committee, stated that he personally was an opponent of off road paths but he could support this one. He believed that since it was a new subdivision the concerns of off road paths could be mitigated. June 7, 2001 Regular City Council Meeting 8 Dot Schreiner, 14301 Saddle Mountain, expressed concern about the traffic resulting from the subdivision and supported the traffic study. She also was concerned about protection of views and recommended lowering lot 2. Concerning the driveway, which she felt was quite visible, Mrs. Schreiner urged caution about the lighting. She did not want it to look like a runway. O'Malley supported the new driveway approach, a traffic study and a five foot path easement. Casey concurred with O'Malley except for the path easement. She believed a path was already there. Cheng also supported the new driveway approach and a traffic study. On the path issue she believed off road paths should be up to the residents. Concerning the protection of views issue, Council agreed that this was best taken up at the site development permit stage. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Cheng and passed by the following roll call vote to approve the following concerning Lands of Huang, 27580 Arastradero Road: adopt the Mitigated Negative Declaration and the Mitigation Monitoring Program; approve the findings required by Section 66474 of the Subdivision Map Act for the approval of the tentative map as stated in Attachment 2 of the 6/7/01 staff report; and approve the tentative map for a six lot subdivision subject to the conditions of approval as recommended by the Planning Commission with the following amendments: 1) delete #3 stating `the applicant shall grant a ten foot pathway easement on lot 6 abutting 280 for construction and maintenance to • the satisfaction of the City Engineer'; 2) delete #19a stating `The highest point of the ridge of any structure located on lot 2 shall not exceed the finished first floor elevation of the existing residence located to the west (Mills residence).'; and 3) approve the alternative driveway plan as submitted by the applicants and as approved by the Planning Director and the Fire Department. AYES: Mayor Finn and Councilmembers Casey and Cheng NOES: Councilmember O'Malley ABSTAIN: Councilmember Fenwick O'Malley stated that he could not support the deletion of the path.easement. 11.3 Introduction of ordinance amendment to the Town's.Zoning Code with regard to the basement definition (Section 10-1.208) and review of the negative declaration and initial study (FIRST READING) Valerie Lauterbach, 25712 Elena, noted that they were in the process of getting their project underway and urged Council to make a decision one way or the other so they could proceed. Craig Lund, 13 826 Templeton, supported not having basement areas count as • development or floor area. June 7, 2001 Regular City Council Meeting 9 Allan Epstein, 23828 Ravensbury, commented that there were other issues raised during earlier discussions on this basement issue which were not addressed in this proposed ordinance. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Fenwick, seconded by O'Malley and passed unanimously to waive further reading, to adopt the negative declaration and initial study and to introduce the following ordinance amendment to Section 10-1.208 of the Zoning Code for definition of basement: `Basement shall mean a floor level directly under a building which is wholly underground on at least three sides, or at least 75% of its perimeter length and having its entire height measured from its floor to its ceiling below the adjoining grade. That side of the basement not wholly underground shall not be located on any side of a lot abutting one side of a road. Basements, including cellars and bunkers, which are not located within the footprint of the building above, may be permitted by the Planning Commission when it finds that such structures do not encroach in setbacks, are a minimum of 18 inches below natural grade, are wholly underground except for required exiting, lighting and ventilation and are counted as development area except when placed under a surface already counted as development area.' 13. ADJOURNMENT There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Council • Meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Patricia Dowd City Clerk The minutes of the June 7, 2001 Regular City Council Meeting were approved at the June 21, 2001 Regular City Council Meeting. June 7, 2001 Regular City Council Meeting 10