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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/05/2000 Minutes of a Regular Meeting October 5, 2000 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Regular Meeting Thursday, October 5, 2000, 6:00 P.M. Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Mayor Finn called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Finn and Councilmembers Casey, Cheng and Dauber Absent: Councilmember Johnson Staff: Acting City Manager Bob Quinlan, City Attorney Sandy Sloan, Planning Director Carl Cahill, Public Works Manager Jim Rasp and City Clerk Pat Dowd Press: Shobha Rao, Los Altos Town Crier; Mark Shahinian, Palo Alto Daily 2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS 2.1 Appointments to Finance Committee and Parks and Recreation Committee Finn noted that several of the applicants for the Finance Committee were unable to attend this meeting and he suggested that these appointments be continued to the next meeting. Finn did ask if anyone present wanted to speak to the Council at this meeting they were welcome to do so. James Steiner, 14195 Wild Plum,noted that he had served on the Finance Committee for about eight years, six of which he served as Chairman. He would like to continue serving on the committee. He had an MBA in Finance and believed he had the experience to be a contributing member on the committee. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To continue appointments to the Finance Committee to the next Council Meeting and to agree that applications received by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 12th would be considered at the October 19th Council Meeting. If any were received after that deadline,they would be considered at a future Council Meeting. Council had received an application for the Parks and Recreation Committee from Lisa Dorrian. Presently there was one vacancy on this committee. October 5, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 1 Lisa Dorrian, 13113 Byrd Lane, addressed the Council concerning her interest in serving on the Parks and Recreation Committee. She noted that she had four children and she thought the programs being planned and offered by this committee were excellent not only for the children but also for the community. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously by all members present to appoint Lisa Dorrian to the Parks and Recreation Committee for a four year term. 3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT The Planning Director reported that at the 9/28/00 Planning Commission Meeting the following applications had been discussed: Lands of Porter, 12335 Stonebrook Court: request for a site development permit and variance for a new addition, two accessory structures, pool and hardscape and landscape - approved; Lands of Padmanabhan, 27531 Elena Road: request for a two lot subdivision and proposed mitigated negative declaration—recommended approval; and text amendment of Sections 10-1.242 and 10- 1.505(a), (c) and (e) of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code regarding setback lines [prohibing location of equipment within setbacks] —recommended approval. Casey commented that residents might be interested in attending the public hearing on the equipment in setbacks issue and suggested doing a town wide mailing. • Charlene Geers, 12742 Leander Drive, believed that this ordinance change could have an impact on the siting of a house. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To schedule a public hearing on this ordinance for the 12/7/00 Council Meeting and to direct the City Clerk to send out a Town-wide mailing. Council also asked the Planning Director to bring a draft of the public hearing notice to the next Council Meeting for approval. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Cheng and passed unanimously by all members present to approve the Consent Calendar, specifically: 4.1 Approved Minutes: September 21, 2000 (Special Meeting) September 21, 2000 (Regular Meeting) 4.2 Approved Warrants: $127,328.08 (9/14/00—9/26/00) 4.3 Approved grant of conservation easement, Lands of Olcott, 12950 Brendel Road—Reso #71-00 October 5, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 2 4.4 Approved grant of conservation easement, Lands of Rocchetti and Herdell, 27371 Moody Road—Reso#72-00 4.5 Accepted the traffic stripes and pavement marking project CIP99-00, Crisp Company—Reso#73-00 4.6 Accepted dedication of right of way, Lands of Davar, 26541 Purissima Road— Reso#74-00 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 5.1 Report on status of path between Voorhees and Miraloma Way Cheng stepped down from consideration of this item as this pathway discussion involved her property. The Public Works Manager referred to his staff report (on file at Town Hall) which outlined the history of this issue. In this report he noted that the maintenance department had never maintained a path between Voorhees and Miraloma although the Pathways Committee had advised him that people had used this path for years. The Public Works Manager also noted that the Town had a pathway easement in this location but not a pathway. He stated that when he was advised to construct a pathway in this easement he would follow the usual procedure which included notifying the affected property owners and surveying and staking the easement to determine if there were any encroachments into the easement. If there were encroachments, the Town would work with the property owners and route the pathway to minimize the impact of the encroachments or ask to have them removed. Addressing the issue of a permit for a tennis court on the Chengs' property in 1989, the Public Works Manager noted that a condition of approval stated that the pathway along the southerly border was to be cleared prior to release of the final building deposit. Since there were two pathway easements along the southerly border it was difficult to determine which pathway was being addressed. However the deposit was returned so the assumption was that'the condition had been met. The Public Works Manager had advised Mrs. Cheng that there was no code violation. He further advised her that the Town had a pathway easement and the right to use that portion of her property for a pathway but to date the Town had not exercised that property right. Les Earnest, 12769 Dianne Drive, stated that he disagreed with the Public Works Manager's report. Mr. Earnest referred to his memo which outlined the history of this path. According to this report in 1980 the Town of Los Altos Hills Master Path Plan showed a public pathway between the ends of Voorhees Drive and Miraloma Way and in 1982 the parcel map showed a ten foot pedestrian/equestrian easement along the • October 5, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 3 southern and eastern boundaries of the property that became 24595 Voorhees Drive. He also noted that in 1989 it was a condition of approval for the tennis court that the pathway along the southerly border be cleared prior to release of the final building deposit. Mr. Earnest stated that since approximately 1996 requests have been made by the Pathways Committee to the Town to open the path at this location but to date this has not been done. Emily Cheng, 24595 Voorhees Drive, stated that this had become a political issue and had also been raised during her last campaign. She reiterated that she and her husband had hired a contractor for their tennis court project, had believed all the conditions had been met and had received their final deposit. She further commented that Voorhees was a private road with eight homes on it. There were two homes with path easements. The remaining six did not as they had been there for a long time. The paths therefore were not connected. She referred to letters from long time residents on Voorhees, the Incerpis and the Traficantis, who both stated that they had lived on Voorhees for a long time and the easement on Chengs' property did not connect to anything as there was no path easement on their land. Council had also received a letter from Mr. Cheng, 24595 Voorhees Drive, supporting their position that there was no path on their property and a letter from Mr. and Mrs. Gottlieb, 24290 Summerhill, supporting the path connection between Miraloma and Voorhees. • Nancy Ewald, Co-Chairman of the Pathways Committee, suggested trimming the trees so that this easement could be used. She also commented as a resident that she had spoken with Father Thomas,head of St. Nicholas, and he was remaining neutral as to the use of this path by the school children. Harry Emerzian, Co-Chairman of the Pathway Committee, suggested having a surveyor come in to determine where the pathway easement was located. He believed this was a critical pathway and hoped everyone could work together on a resolution to this issue. Dauber stated that in 1989 a condition of approval was required as part of the tennis court application and the final building inspection was made by the building department. At the time there was little coordination between these two departments and certain conditions could be overlooked by the building department who was specifically looking at building requirements. The Town corrected this in 1995 by requiring a final check by planning to make sure all conditions of approval were met before giving final approvals and releasing deposits. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously by all members present to accept the Public Works Manager's staff report dated 9/27/00 on this issue. Council agreed that when the Town was ready to consider putting in this path it would be agendized for further discussion and the neighbors would be notified. October 5, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 4 S5.2 Discussion of meeting times for Town Committees PASSED BY CONSENSUS: Council agreed to continue this item to the next meeting at the request of the Chairman of the Safety Committee. 5.3 Report on drainage conditions around PG&E and Pacific Bell utility boxes at the LeFevre Subdivision Council had received a report from the Associate Engineer concerning the utility boxes on the LeFevre Subdivision and the impact on the Cleary's property which received utility services from these boxes. The conditions of approval for the LeFevre subdivision included utility service to the Cleary property and the Clearys were maintaining that their services had been interrupted in part due to runoff water near the utility boxes. At this time the Associate Engineer was in contact with PG&E and Pacific Bell to determine whose responsibility it was to correct the problems. The two year maintenance bond on the LeFevre Subdivision was still in effect. The City Manager also noted that once it is determined which agency was responsible that agency should also be responsible for repayment to the Clearys of false alarm charges incurred by faulty utility boxes. Dauber noted that in the past certain false alarm charges had been waived due to special circumstances and she suggested these false alarm charges might fall into such a category. • Gary Cleary, 26410 Silent Hills Lane, commented that he thought the situation was quite confusing. He had come to the Town on this issue because it was a condition of approval for the LeFevre Subdivision that these utilities be available to their home. At the time of approval of this subdivision this condition was being worked on but approval was given anyway without it being completed. He was willing to work with any and all involved agencies to get this problem resolved. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: Council agreed to continue this item until it was ascertained which agency was responsible. 5.4 Continued discussion of ownership of Almaden Court The Public Works Manager had submitted a report to the Council suggesting that the Council confirm the Town policy regarding acceptance of private streets as public streets which they adopted in 1997. Furthermore, the Public Works Manager recommended that Almaden Court be accepted by the Town as a public street when the street improvements were brought up to Town standards (per the Town policy). The report also included the information that there were 286 named streets in Town, 127 of which were private. Specifically concerning Almaden Court, it was noted that no maintenance had been done by Town staff on this court other than a chip seal which was mistakenly applied in 1989 not realizing that the court was private and also the repair of construction truck damage in 1992. October 5, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 5 Greg McCandless, 26777 Alamden Court, did not agree with the Public Works Manager's staff report. He reiterated his belief that the Town was responsible for the construction truck damage done in 1992 and the road had never been correctly repaired by the Town. He also referred to his letter to the Council dated 9/25/00 in which he outlined bid information he had obtained to have this road repaired. Casey believed the Town needed to uphold its policy on accepting private roads as public. She also noted that it had been the opinion of staff that Almaden Court had been repaired after the construction truck damage. Dauber referred to minutes of a 1987 Council Meeting at which time Council had directed staff to prepare the paperwork accepting a certain list of private roads as public. The first page of this list was missing but none of the roads had been accepted by the Town. While Dauber understood this was an expensive undertaking, she believed that the Town had an obligation to follow through on this Council direction from 1987. Cheng suggested that the whole picture of private/public streets be looked at as everyone paid taxes in the Town and had a right to road maintenance. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously by all members present to direct the Public Works Manager to look at the Town's goals for the coming year and to determine how the acceptance of certain private streets as public and the resulting costs would fit into these goals. They further • requested that this matter be brought back to them in three months. 6. NEW BUSINESS 7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES 7.1 Parks and Recreation Committee Cheng reported that she had attended the recent meeting of the Parks and Recreation Committee and they had toured the Town-owned lands as possible venues for recreational programs. 7.2 Finance Committee Dauber reported that she had attended the recent Finance Committee meeting and the discussion had taken place of the spending projections for the next several years and how this would affect the reserves. This discussion was a follow up to the recently approved capital improvement budget. 8. STAFF REPORTS • 8.1 City Manager October 5, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 6 • 8.2 City Attorney 8.3 City Clerk 8.3.1 Report on Council Correspondence Dauber referred to an email from David Stahl stating that he was resigning from the Pathways Committee. Not all Councilmembers received this email nor was a copy received at Town Hall. Casey stated that she was in communication with Mr. Stahl and this issue should be agendized for discussion at the next meeting. Dauber also referred to a letter sent to the Associate Engineer about the removal of oak trees on a property. The Planning Director reported that this was a code enforcement issue and the owner had been notified. 9. COUNCIL-INITIATED ITEMS 9.1 Letter written by Mayor to residents of the Town(Mayor Pro Tem Casey) Casey referred to the discussion at the last Council Meeting on the letter sent out by Mayor Finn to residents of the Town. Issues were raised at that time that the letter looked like a Town mailing and used the Town logo. She pointed out recent mailings she had received from politicians in office in support of or against issues coming up on the November ballot. She noted that these letters, as had Mayor Finn's, stated that they were `paid for by. . .. . ...thus making it clear they were not paid for by the taxpayers. 9.2 Cancellation of upcoming Council Meetings (Mayor Pro Tem Casey) Casey asked that at the next meeting Council decide whether to cancel the November 16, 2000 and December 21, 2000 Council Meetings. 9.3 Variance on Finn property for retaining wall (Councilmember Dauber) Dauber referred to the second meeting in February when Mayor Finn had received approval of a variance for his retaining wall which had been put in without permit. She noted that to date the conditions of this application had not been met and she urged that due diligence be applied to see that this project got completed. 10. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR Kay Essary, 25850 Vinedo Lane, introduced Boy Scout Troop #35 from St. Nicholas. The scouts were attending the Council Meeting as a step toward their next badge. Malcolm Clarke, 26135 Altadena, presented the Mayor with a t-shirt commemorating Walk to School Day which had taken place on October 4th. Mr. Clarke stated that it had • October 5, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 7 • been a huge success and they were hoping to continue doing it one day a week. In an effort to encourage walking to school he asked Council to complete and upgrade the Town paths approaching Bullis School; to ask the Sheriffs Department to put in speed limit signs; and to support off road paths as a good way for the children to get to school. Casey suggested that Mr. Clarke make a presentation to the Pathways Committee on this issue and she further suggested that Council agendize this matter after the first of the year and involve the Sheriffs Department at that meeting. Dauber recommended that Mr. Clarke contact the City of Los Altos for a possible path through Shoup Park/Redwood Grove to Fremont. Kim Cranston, 27080 Fremont Road, referred to a letter to the editor in the recent issue of the Town Crier from members of the Paths and Recreation Committee and he asked what role Councilmember Cheng had played in the formation of the present recreation programs in Town. Councilember Cheng replied that the need for recreation programs had been discussed during her earlier campaign. She had not realized at the time that parents were already organizing such programs and when they approached the Council for support it all fit together nicely. John Harpoothian and Scott Vanderlip, representing Hills 2000 —Friends of the Hills, a voluntary non-profit Los Altos Hills civic organization, announced that web-based streaming video and audio of the Los Altos Hills Council Meetings were now available on the Hills 2000 website (http://www.hills2000.org). Currently the September 21St meeting was available. Mr. Vanderlip displayed the meeting on his laptop and they explained the technical process. In addition a press release was being issued from the association on this accomplishment. Council thanked Mr. Harpoothian and Mr. Vanderlip for their presentation and suggested they contact staff and work with them on this project. In addition they were asked to keep track of the number of hits on this webpage feature. 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS 11.1 Request for a site development permit for a new residence with basement, pool, cabana, pool house with basement and garage with basement, Lands of Cleage, 26140 Rancho Manuella Lane Bob Flury,project architect,presented an overview of the project including photos of the site and proposed structures. He stated that the project had required no variances and fit in with the Town's ordinances. He addressed the use of mitigating landscaping and the external style of the home which fit in with the neighborhood. Mr. Flury included overviews of other properties in the neighborhood with their setbacks from the street highlighted. • October 5, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 8 • Mr. Hanna, applicant's attorney, explained why his applicant had appealed the Planning Commission's approval of the project when it had already been appealed by Mayor Pro Tem Casey. Mr. Hanna stated that Mr. Cleage had appealed because he specifically wanted the condition reviewed which had been imposed by the Planning Commission requiring that the garage be set back an additional fifteen feet from the front of the property in response to neighbor concerns. Mr. David Rynne, 26120 Rancho Manuella Lane, expressed two main concerns about this project. First he questioned the inclusion of three detached basement living spaces on this land. He believed this suggested the possibility of unrelated people living in these spaces. Mr. Rynne was also concerned about the location of the unattached six-car garage. The location of this garage not only blocked their view but isolated their home and destroyed their sense of community. Mrs. June Rynne, 26120 Rancho Manuella Lane, concurred with her husband's comments. She believed that even if extensive landscaping was planned for the garage that too would be a problem in that it would isolate them if they looked at a wall of trees. She believed there should be sensible development on this land which also protected the sense of community in the area. Nancy Ewald, 26131 Altadena Drive, noted that they lived below the proposed pool house and she was quite concerned about the drainage issue particularly as the pool house • included a basement area. She further noted that the basement areas had outdoor steps rather than indoor which suggested an inhabitable area. Mrs. Ewald also commented on the proposed use of non-reflective glass for the windows. While she had not exhausted all possibilities, she had made a few calls and was advised it was not available. Woody DeMayo, 26160 Rancho Manuella Lane, stated that he had been misled as to the location of the garage and the extensive use of basements. He concurred with the comments made by the Rynnes. He noted that while the location of the garage would impact them more than him, he also would not want to look at a wall of trees. Dieter Ewald, 26131 Altadena Drive, reiterated the comments made by his wife earlier on their concerns about drainage from the pool house. He also noted that the pool house was closer to their house than to the main house on the property. He hoped to see cooperative compromise on the part of all involved. Sandra Humphries, 26238 Fremont Road, noted that she had been invited into the Rynnes' home to see the impact of the garage and she concurred that the proposed location of the garage would totally block daylight into their home. Mr. Alastair Short, 26000 Rancho Manuella Lane, also believed that their sense of community was being impacted. He proposed a compromise of allowing the basement areas but requiring the applicant to shorten or move the garage to lessen its impact on the neighbors. October 5, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 9 • Bob Flury, project architect, noted that the drainage was not affected by the placement of basements. He also commented that non-reflective glass was available and the outside exits for basements was now a requirement of the Unified Building Code. Eric Cleage, applicant, stated that he had lived in Town for nine years and had been working on this project for three. His project complied with the Town's ordinances and they were planning to use effective landscaping for screening. Concerning basements, he was actually surprised that the Town was not encouraging them. No one could see the development underground and with land prices what they were Mr. Cleage believed more residents would want basement areas. Presently they were allowed in the code and in this area too he had completely complied with the Town's rules. Mr. Cleage stated that this had been an expensive and extensive project for he and his family and he did not believe that the neighbors should have final veto power over a project. He had tried to work with everyone toward a resolution of the issues. Toward that end he was willing to now offer a compromise whereby he would agree to remove the basement from the pool house; let the neighbors on each side of the garage area pick the landscaping for screening both on their property line and his; and move the garage ten feet further from the street thus making it a ninety foot setback. Cheng stated that this project complied with the Town's ordinances and included mitigating landscaping. Presently basements were allowed in the Town's Code so in this area the applicant also complied. She further noted it was a one story garage with an • eighty foot setback from the street. Cheng did think it was a nice gesture on the part of the applicant to be willing to move the garage another ten feet back. Casey stated that she had appealed this application because of the extensive use of basements. While she understood that basements were allowed in the Town's Code, she did not believe that anyone foresaw such an extensive use of them on a property. While she believed this issue needed to be addressed she also understood that Mr. Cleage should not be singled out at this time as he complied with the present codes. Casey also believed that the neighbors were being impacted by the location of the six-car garage and she recommended moving the garage back twenty-five feet to reduce substantially the impact on the neighbors. Dauber suggested that since the neighbors had offered a compromise, the applicant might be allowed to choose between the neighbors' proposal to move the garage back 22 feet and remove the basement from the pool house and Casey's proposal to allow the basement,but move the garage back 25 feet. Mr. Cleage, applicant, stated that he would prefer to keep the basement under the pool house and move the garage back twenty five feet. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously by all members present to approve the request for a site development permit for a new residence with basement, pool, cabana, pool house with basement and garage with basement, Lands of Cleage, 26140 Rancho Manuella Lane, subject to the conditions of approval as recommended by the Planning Commission with the amended • condition that the garage be moved back twenty five feet, not fifteen. October 5, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 10 • 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Council Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. in memory.of Jack Weissman, a resident of Los Altos Hills and former Town representative on the Los Altos Library Commission. Respectfully submitted, Patricia Dowd City Clerk The minutes of the October 5, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting were approved at the October 19, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting. • • October 5, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 11