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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/17/2002 Minutes of a Regular Meeting January 17, 2002 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Regular Meeting Thursday, January 17, 2002, 6:00 P.M. Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Casey called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 6:05 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Casey and Councilmembers Cheng,Fenwick,Finn and O'Malley Absent: None Staff: City Manager Maureen Cassingham, City Attorney Sandy Sloan, Planning Director Carl Cahill, City Engineer/Director of Public Works Mintze Cheng and City Clerk Pat Dowd • Press: Liz Cloutman,Los Altos Town Crier 2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS 3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT The Planning Director reported on the following actions from the 1/10/02 Planning Commission Meeting: Proposed options for modifying Town height and setback ordinances to promote architectural diversity and adjustable setbacks for larger or taller homes — continued; Lands of Carse, 27125 Taaffe Road: request to amend the Pathway Element Master Path Plan of the General Plan — recommended approval; and Lands of California Department of Transportation-Metro PCS, 2350 Old Page Mill Road: request for a site development permit and a conditional use permit for the placement of three flush-mount antennas with a seven foot extension on an existing pole and the placement of equipment within an existing telecommunication facility— recommended approval. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR Items Removed: 4.1 (Fenwick) and 4.7 (O'Malley) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Finn, seconded by O'Malley and passed unanimously to approve the balance of the consent calendar, specifically: January 17, 2002 Regular City Council Meeting 1 i 4.2 Approved Warrants: $409,631.66 (12/17/01 - 1/8/02) 4.3 Issued Proclamation: Honoring the 50th Anniversary of Boy Scout Troop 33 of Los Altos 4.4 Adopted Resolution establishing standing committees and adopting general and special rules pertaining thereto—Reso#7-02 4.5 Approved agreement with Skyhawks Sports Academy— Reso#8-02 4.6 Approved extension of the Santa Clara County Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Service Authority for another ten years—Reso#9-02 4.8 Approved agreement with Ross Recreation Equipment for Purissima Road Playing Fields Playground Equipment -- Reso#10-02 Items Removed: 4.1 Approval of Minutes: January 3, 2002 MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Fenwick, seconded by O'Malley and passed unanimously to approve the minutes of the January 3, 2002 • City Council Meeting with the following corrections: page 6 k) should read: "A Joint Meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission was conducted on Thursday, December 6th at 6:00 p.m. This meeting was a Study Session to review planning issues." and page 7, first motion: change `delete Section 20 (annual meetings with committees)' to `delete Section 4C (meetings with committee chairmen)'. 4.7 Acceptance of Orchard Hill Lane and Vogue Court as public streets Reso# O'Malley asked for clarification of this issue, specifically on the condition of the streets. Staff noted that there was significant deferred maintenance needed. Finn referred to the Town's policy that in order to accept streets as public they must either be up to Town standards or brought up to Town standards before acceptance. He believed this could be a precedent setting ruling. The City Attorney noted that there was sufficient documentation of the Town's intent to accept these streets. Specifically a resolution was adopted in 1963 accepting street and drainage improvements for Tracts 3280, 3248 and 3445. This resolution shows that that Council intended to accept the improvements and assume the maintenance responsibility. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by O'Malley, seconded by Finn and passed unanimously to adopt Resolution #11-02 accepting Orchard Hill Lane and Vogue Court as public streets. January 17, 2002 Regular City Council Meeting 2 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 5.1 Update on Mayor's Goals 1) Break ground for a new Town Hall funded by resident donations. This project was on target. Schematic plans had been approved by the City Council and renderings would be available by the end of January, 2002 to assist with the fundraising efforts. 2) Complete the building and planning fee study and revise fees in accordance with State law. This project was also on target. Maximus, the consultant conducting the fee study, will submit a draft of the study by the end of January 2002 for consideration by Council with the mid-year budget. 3) Implement a Resident Customer Satisfaction Survey Program. Casey noted that this survey was in place and she was pleased with the responses received to date. She asked staff to continue providing copies of returned surveys to Council with each Council packet. 4) Complete an analysis of all Town codes, policies and ordinances for consistency,relevance and conformance with the General Plan. The Planning Commission will be reviewing the Municipal Code and Policy Review Committee's report on conservation easements at their 2/14/02 Meeting. The Committee will report on fences and driveways at the February 7, 2002 Council Meeting. 5) Have broadband internet access available to all residents This project is on target. PacBell is still scheduled to complete Project Pronto, their Town-wide DSL project, by the end of the first quarter 2002. Some delay has been experienced with the County in the San Antonio Hills area but progress is being made. 6) Adopt and implement a town pathway policy which includes a specific five- year program for the new construction of along side the road paths and a plan which improves the maintenance and materials of current town pathways. This goal was being discussed at tonight's meeting under items 5.4 and 6.1. January 17, 2002 Regular City Council Meeting 3 7) Complete the review of setbacks and height limits and revise town ordinances accordingly. Subsequent to the completion of the Planning Commission's review, these ordinances will be presented to Council in February 2002 or early March 2002. Council will also confer with staff to decide if a Town-wide mailing will be done. 8) Continue to explore alternatives to underground all utilities in Los Altos Hills. O'Malley stated that he believed this project needed a full marketing effort, including detailed notices to residences explaining the options and possibly including follow up phone calls. It was agreed he and Mayor Pro Tem Fenwick would work with the City Manager and City Attorney on draft notices and this issue would be agendized for the 2/7/02 Council Meeting for review. 9) Adopt a plan for the highest and best use of town property for all town residents. (Los Altos Hills owns 27 parcels totaling 168.04 acres of unused and/or underutilized property.) This issue was on the agenda under item 5.5 for discussion. 10) Approve a five-year capital spending budget to assure the infrastructure of the Town is sound. Completed An additional goal was added: 11)Joint Meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission A Joint Meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission was conducted on Thursday, December 6t'. This meeting was a Study Session to review planning issues. Casey added another goal as follows: 12) Data Base Update—Emergency Emails The City Manager noted that the City Clerk was working with the Town's computer consultant on the implementation of this emergency notification procedure. 5.2 Lands of Perrell, 26411 Eshner Court and 26300 Silent Hills Lane a) Request to vacate a sanitary sewer easement and dedicate a new sanitary sewer easement—Resolutions# January 17, 2002 Regular City Council Meeting 4 i MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Finn, seconded by Cheng and passed unanimously to adopt Resolution #12-02 to vacate summarily the sanitary sewer easement on Lands of Perrell and adopt Resolution#13-02 accepting grant of sanitary sewer easement on Lands of Perrell. b) Request to vacate a pathway easement—Reso # Charles Perrell, applicant, stated that he believed their request was unique and would not open doors to vacating other pathways. He outlined his reasons for the request to vacate the pathway easement. First the path was not necessary and was never used. Second, convenient alternatives existed. Third, currently the path was a deadend and there was no public easement. Fourth, it was a privacy/security issue for his family. Fifth, regarding the concerns expressed by Mr. Spohr, there was screening (trees) at the end of the property which would block any house in that location. Sixth, relocation of the path was not viable. Seventh, his property was covered with extensive easements. Eighth, several neighbors agreed with vacating the path including the Hortons and Tom LeFevre. Mrs. Perrell, applicant, stated that if this path was moved they would then have paths on three sides of their property. Nancy Ewald, Co-Chairman—Pathways Committee, gave a brief history noting that in 1989 the Eshner subdivision included an existing pathway but it was not • constructed at that time. When the LeFevre subdivision was done, one of the conditions of approval was a ten foot path easement on Lot 2. At their 8/27/01 meeting the Pathways Committee recommended in part that the vacation of the pathway easement be granted with the granting of a pathway easement and construction of a new pathway. The new path will be located along the south and west property lines. This path will connect through the gate (to be removed) to connect to the existing pathway that comes off Julietta Lane. Ms. Ewald further commented that she did not think the relocation of this path would be a privacy/security issue for the applicants. Ginger Summit, Co-Chairman — Pathways Committee, stated that the applicant had met with the Pathways Committee and had indicated that he supported paths. She also noted that he had stated that he wanted a lot line adjustment but he had not stated that that he did not want to relocate the path. In response to a comment that the path had not been used, Ms. Summit stated that this was due to the fact that it had been gated. Les Earnest, 12769 Dianne Drive, noted that this path was a type 2B path which had been created a decade ago and used for many years until the gate was locked. He noted that he had walked this path a number of times before the gate was locked. He further stated that the path was called for by the Master Path Plan and nothing had changed during the years. If Council abandoned this path, they were not in compliance with the General Plan. January 17, 2002 Regular City Council Meeting 5 Anthony Spohr, 27340 Julietta Lane, stated that this pathway easement was in the Master Path Plan and if abandoned or moved there should be some critical reasons. The applicant simply wanted to build his house across this easement but there were two other building sites on this property. Mr. Spohr stated that moving this path would have a negative economic impact on his property. Gary Cleary, 26410 Silent Hills Lane, commented that they used the Silent Hills Lane/Eshner Court path often but they were concerned in part about the vacation of the pathway under discussion because it was unclear if the applicant planned to subdivide this property. DuBose Montgomery, 27464 Altamont, supported vacating this pathway noting that there was already an off road path on the property. Nancy Couperus, 13680 Page Mill Road, stated that this path had a financial value. It was a link in the pathway system and a public asset. Sandy Humphries, 26238 Fremont, suggested a compromise. This path was used by wildlife and could be dedicated as a wild life corridor easement. Scott Vanderlip, 13851 Fremont Pines, expressed concern about the vacation of this path. He believed it was a change to the Master Path Plan and should require a public hearing. He also believed the Council should uphold the General Plan. • Beverly Bryant, 27060 Appaloosa, noted that the path under discussion had been gated and therefore could not be used. Fenwick did not believe the Council should be in the business of vacating pathway easements. He wanted to see what the applicant planned to do with the property. He also did not see a problem with the pathway easement and needed to be given a better reason for vacating it than what they had seen at this meeting. Finn supported vacating this easement. He believed it was clear the applicant wanted to build in the location of the current pathway easement. Finn also noted the restrictions on this land because of the several easements on the property. O'Malley understood why the applicant did not want this path to go through his property but he believed consideration should be given to relocation of the pathway easement. Casey believed it would be unfair to relocate this pathway as it would result in paths on three sides of this property. Cheng believed the other paths in the area were sufficient. However, she was concerned about the neighbor's view (Spohrs at 27340 Julietta) issue and wanted to be sure that when the house on this property came in for site development approval the neighbor's view corridor was protected. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Finn, seconded by Cheng and passed by the following roll call vote to adopt Resolution #14-02 to vacate summarily the pedestrian an equestrian trail easement on Lands of Perrell. January 17, 2002 Regular City Council Meeting 6 AYES: Mayor Casey and Councilmembers Cheng and Finn NOES: Mayor Pro Tem Fenwick and Councilmember O'Malley 5.3 Approval of updated abbreviated guide for the Town's Emergency Handbook This item was continued until review of the Disaster Council Code Section was completed. 5.4 Report on initial phase of existing pathway mapping The City Engineer showed two maps to the Council. One was the existing path map and one was the pathway easement map. She was still receiving input on this path project and planned to bring a report back at the February 21" Council Meeting. At that time an overlay of both maps could be shown. Ginger Summit, Co-Chairman-Pathways Committee, noted that she had met with the City Engineer and was very impressed with this project. However, she further noted that the records were incomplete and easements were mislabeled and not put on maps. She commented that a sub-committee of the Pathways Committee was walking the paths on a regular basis and reporting the conditions of the paths to the Public Works Manager. • 5.5 Report on Town-owned Property The City Engineer presented her report on the 27 parcels of Town-owned lands totaling approximately 168 acres. Of these parcels, Town Hall, Heritage House, the Little League Fields and O'Keefe properties had site restrictions. 21 acres were restricted to open space and 35 acres had no restrictions. Deeds had been received on all the properties and staff was waiting for receipt of some of the title reports. Concerning the O'Keefe property,the Town received this 8.12 acres from Caltrans in the 1970s when Caltrans completed the 280 corridor. The deed to this property shows a reversion clause if the property was not maintained for open space. A letter had been sent to Caltrans requesting recision of that restriction. No response had been received to date. Concerning the Westwind Barn property,the title report should be in hand the end of January. The City Engineer noted that some of the properties were not desirable from a general development point of view but might be of value to the neighbors. Carol Gottlieb, 24290 Summerhill, stated that the question should be asked what purpose did the land serve before it was sold. Dot Schreiner, 14301 Saddle Mountain Drive, questioned whether Town-owned land could be sold to the neighboring properties without offering it to everyone. January 17, 2002 Regular City Council Meeting 7 Dave Cote, 24970 O'Keefe, referred to the Town-owned land on O'Keefe and noted that when they bought their property they were told this was open space land. He asked for clarification of what was being discussed. Council thanked the City Engineer for this status report and noted that no decisions on these properties were being made at this time. They were gathering information and considering options that would be of benefit to the Town. 6. NEW BUSINESS 6.1 Report from DuBose Montgomery on Materials and Maintenance for Town Pathways Mr. Montgomery outlined his report dated 11/28/01 on materials and maintenance for Town pathways. He stated that he met with representatives from other towns and districts to find out how they dealt with their paths. He noted that there was a wide variety of pathway surfaces depending on slope, traffic patterns, locale, etc. He believed flexibility was the key. While uniformity in path materials was a good idea along reasonably contiguous sections of path it was not needed throughout Town. The surface options included asphalt, `quarter to dust' (a mixture of crushed rock from 1/4" in diameter down to dust particles), concrete and asphalt/rubber mixture. Mr. Montgomery also noted that there were funds available for path construction, mostly if the paths encouraged bike use,thus reducing air pollution. In conclusion, • Mr. Montgomery recommended that Council give staff the flexibility to implement different pathway surfaces, suggest some locations where they might be tried and monitor the successes of these surfaces in terms of user acceptance and total cost of ownership over the next few years. Nancy Ewald, Co-Chairman — Pathways Committee, commented on the different surfaces and questioned what everyone wanted the Town to look like. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To send this report to staff and to direct staff to bring their analysis of the report back to Council. 7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES 8. STAFF REPORTS 8.1 City Manager 8.1.1 Report on unauthorized import material at Sayer property on O'Keefe next to Knight property on Vista Serena • January 17, 2002 Regular City Council Meeting 8 Staff reported that they had contacted Mr. Sayar's soil engineer, Mr. Tang, and he had brought in old photos and a previous design plan indicating Mr. Sayar's property had been restored to similar condition prior to the import of material. Staff also stated that as of 1/10/02 they considered this issue to be substantially abated. Mr. Sayar, 25391 O'Keefe Lane, reiterated that they had submitted receipts to the City Engineer proving that they had rented equipment to have the dirt removed in December. George Knight, 15421 Vista Serena, acknowledged that the equipment removing the dirt was on Mr. Sayar's property. However, he showed a picture of his property and neighboring hillside which he said showed that there was now a ramp/road on Mr. Sayar's property which had not been there when they moved in a few years ago. Mr. Knight wanted this issue looked into by staff and resolved. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: Council directed staff to continue review of this situation and to report back at the next Council Meeting. 8.1.2 Report on Staff Workload The Planning Director reported that fiscal years 1999 and 2000 were exceptional in terms of site development permit issuance volume for new homes. However, so far in fiscal year 2001 the number of new home approvals was more consistent with • years prior to 1999 - 2000. In addition the number of building permits issued for new homes so far in fiscal year 2001 was more than for the same period for 1999- 2000. The Planning Department was also involved in a number of special projects including annexation requests, subdivisions, code complaints, General Plan Updates and Code amendments. 8.2 City Attorney 8.2.1 Report on rewording of agenda item "Presentations from the Floor" The City Attorney stated that the `Presentations from the Floor' item on the agenda had been rewritten as follows: Persons wishing to address the Council on any subject not on the agenda may do so now. Please note, however, the Council is not able to undertake extended discussion or action tonight on items not on the agenda. The City Attorney also noted that the Brown Act required that members of the public must be allowed to comment on any matter before or during deliberations on that matter. 8.3 City Clerk 8.3.1 Report on Council Correspondence January 17, 2002 Regular City Council Meeting 9 9. COUNCIL-INITIATED ITEMS 9.1 Quarry Hills Subdivision(Councilmember Cheng) Cheng reported that she had been made aware of vandalism occurring at the Quarry Hill subdivision on homes that were under construction. She noted that the owners had called the Sheriffs Office but she wanted Council and staff to be aware of this situation. Casey commented that the Quarry Hills Subdivision had a very active homeowners association and she suggested that they get together and bring a recommended solution for this problem back to the Council for consideration. 10. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR Jan Fenwick, member of the Purissima Hills Water District Board, commented on the Board's policy regarding new telecommunications equipment on their lands. It was the Board's policy that these requests had to be concurred with by the neighbors. In the case of Nextel on Matadero Creek, which the Board had recently denied, she noted the neighbors were not in support of this request. Nancy Ewald, 26131 Altadena, invited Mayor Casey to join her for a walk/horseback ride of the Town's off-road paths. Firooz Ghaffori, 27020 Purissima, thanked everyone for the excellent job done on the Purissima Sewer Project. 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS 11.1 Request for approval of a conditional use permit for the installation of telecommunications equipment on an existing water tank and approval of a negative declaration, Lands of Purissima Hills Water District/Nextel Communications, 28535 Matadero Creek Lane This public hearing was cancelled as the applicant had withdrawn their request. 11.2 Introduction of Ordinances amending Zoning Code with regard to required covered parking for new residential construction (Section 10- 1.601 of the Zoning Code) and with regard to new carport construction (Section 10-1.233 of the Zoning Code) (FIRST READINGS) Dot Schreiner, 14301 Saddle Mountain Drive, supported the ordinances before Council but did suggest clarification of the wording `covered parking spaces'. Councilmembers unanimously stated their support of these ordinance amendments. The changes included requiring that a minimum of two of the four parking spaces • required for new residential development be covered parking spaces and also requiring new carport structures to be included in floor area tabulations. January 17, 2002 Regular City Council Meeting 10 MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by O'Malley, seconded by Finn and passed unanimously to introduce an ordinance amending Section 10-1.223 (floor area) of Title 10 (Zoning and Site Development) of Chapter 1 (Zoning) of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code and an ordinance amending Section 10-1.601 of the Zoning Code with regard to residential off-street parking. 12. CLOSED SESSION: PERSONNEL: PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54957: PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: City Manager The City Council adjourned to a Closed Session regarding personnel at 8:25 p.m. and reconvened at 8:45 p.m. 12A. REPORT OUT OF CLOSED SESSION Council returned to open session to report, if necessary, any actions taken. No actions were taken. 13. ADJOURNMENT There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Council Meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Res ectfully submitted, Patricia Dowd City Clerk The minutes of the January 17, 2002 Regular City Council Meeting were approved at the February 7, 2002 Regular City Council Meeting. i i • January 17, 2002 Regular City Council Meeting 11