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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/04/1999 Minutes of a Regular Meeting November 4, 1999 �I Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Regular Meeting Thursday,November 4 , 1999, 6:00 P.M. Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Mayor Dauber called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Dauber and Councilmembers Casey, Finn, Johnson and Siegel Absent: None Staff: City Manager Mark Miller, City Attorney Sandy Sloan, Planning Director Curtis Williams, Public Works Manager Jim Rasp and City Clerk Pat Dowd • Press: Leslie Martin, Los Altos Town Crier MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Casey and passed unanimously to add the following two items to the agenda as urgency items: 5.4 Discussion of the Santa Clara County Planning Commission's hearing on the Kennedy Property 6.3 Discussion and actions related to Councilmember Bill Siegel's resignation 2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS 3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT The Planning Director reported on the following items from the 10/27/99 Planning Commission Meeting: Lands of Richardson and Wilson, 11950 Rhus Ridge Drive: request for a site development permit for a second story addition, a detached garage and remodel—approved; Lands of Lauer, 11993 Magdalena Avenue: request for a site development permit for a new two- story residence and attached garage—approved; Lands of Ditzler, 27040 Dezahara Way: request for a site development permit for a new second story addition—approved; Lands of Finn, 12000 November 4, 1999 Regular City Council Meeting 1 Finn Lane: request to amend an approved site development permit and variance for construction of a schoolhouse,to allow grading of terraces and retaining walls—denied; and Lands of Gagnard, 12020 Kate Drive: request for a site development permit for a new residence with attached garage and cabana—approved. Casey appealed the denial of Lands of Finn. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR Items Removed: 4.4 (Dauber) and 4.10 (City Manager) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Finn and passed unanimously to approve the balance of the Consent Calendar, specifically: 4.1 Approved Minutes: October 7, 1999 (Regular Meeting) October 21, 1999 (Special Meeting) October 21, 1999 (Regular Meeting) 4.2 Approved Warrants: $864,134.71 (9/29/99— 10/27/99) 4.3 Awarded Certificate of Appreciation: Ingrid Jackson MacDonald, Community Relations Committee 4.5 Accepted grant of right of way, Lands of Kamangar, 24300 Summerhill Lane— Reso#62-99 4.6 Accepted grant of conservation easement, Lands of Garrett, 27161 Moody Road— Reso #-63-99 4.7 Accepted grant of right of way, Lands of Garrett, 27161 Moody Road—Reso#64-99 4.8 Accepted grant of conservation easement, Lands of Patmore and Zarcone, 27960 Central Drive—Reso #65-99 4.9 Approved contract with San Jose Conservation Corps to provide labor for the maintenance of streets—Reso#66-99 Items Removed: 4.4 Accepted grant of pathway easement, Lands of Logan, 14250 Berry Hill Lane— Reso# Dauber pointed out that this path was very close to the tree that had been placed in memory of Brenda Butner. She asked that the tree be fenced as added protection at least until the tree got larger. November 4, 1999 Regular City Council Meeting 2 MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Johnson and passed • unanimously to adopt Resolution#67-99 accepting grant of pathway easement, Lands of Logan, 14259 Berry Hill Lane 4.10 Approval of conservation easement, Lands of Olcott, 12950 Brendel Drive— Reso # The City Manager asked that this item be removed from the agenda as additional information was needed. Council concurred. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 5.1 Adoption of Ordinance amending Chapter 10-1.702(k) of the Zoning Code with regard to development of secondary dwelling units MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to adopt Ordinance#403 amending Chapter 10-1.702(k) of the Zoning Code with regard to development of secondary dwelling units 5.2 Adoption of Ordinance amending Sections 10-1.1109, 10-2.1313(b) and 10-2.1313(c) of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code regarding appeals from decisions of the Planning Commission and Staff Committee • MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Casey and passed unanimously to adopt Ordinance#404 amending Sections 10-1.1109, 10-2.1313(b) and 10- 2.1313(c) of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code regarding appeals from decisions of the Planning Commission and Staff Committee. 5.3 Approval of draft newsletter article from the Council on the Millennium MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously to thank Johnson for writing the letter from the Council to be included in the December Newsletter on the Millennium. 5.4 Discussion and Actions Related to Councilmember Bill Siegel's Resignation The City Attorney presented various options for Council's consideration in view of Councilmember Siegel's resignation from the Council due to his move out of Town. She noted that when the resignation was received, Council could appoint someone to fill the unexpired term ending in November, 2000 or could call a Special Election to fill the seat. Council discussed the pros and cons of appointing or calling a special election. A special election would cost approximately$3,000 since the Town would be consolidating with the March Primary Election. November 4, 1999 Regular City Council Meeting 3 Dauber felt that it was unreasonable to ask a candidate to have to run for election twice in one year. Since the Council did not know exactly when Councilmember Siegel would be leaving,the Council could just wait until he knew for sure and then they could appoint someone when he did leave. Betsy Bertram, 11854 Page Mill Road, did not support a March Special Election. She believed this was too tight a time frame for needed campaign fundraising and the election should not be based on which candidate had access to more money. Janet Vitu, 13828 Moon Lane, supported a March Special Election as she believed the voters should decide. Millie Gallo, 25720 La Lanne Court, did not support a March Special Election as she thought it was too rushed and not fair to the candidates. Councilmember Siegel submitted his letter of resignation effective immediately. Councilmember Siegel stepped down from the Council. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to adopt Resolution#68-99 ordering and calling a Special Municipal Election to be consolidated with the General Election on March 7, 2000 for the purpose of electing a City Councilmeinber, and ordering the election consolidated with the regularly established election to be held on the same date. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to adopt Ordinance#405 as an urgency ordinance of the City Council of the Town of Los Altos Hills amending the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code by adding Article 3 (City Council Vacancies)to Chapter 1 (City Council) of Title 2 (Administration)to establish a procedure for filling City Council vacancies. Council noted that Councilmember Siegel could be appointed to fill this vacancy until the results of the March Special Election were certified or until such time as his move out of Town was finalized. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Casey and passed unanimously to adopt Resolution#69-99 appointing Bill Siegel to fill a vacant City Council Seat. 6. NEW BUSINESS 6.1 Review of annual update of Emergency Handbook—Abbreviated Guide MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber,seconded by Casey and passed unanimously to approve the annual update of the Emergency Handbook with the following is November 4, 1999 Regular City Council Meeting 4 changes in addition to those stated in the City Clerk's memo dated 10/28/99: page 6: Primary EOC is Heritage House, not Town Hall;page 7: change City Manager to Mark Miller and change Captain Bob Wilson to Captain Jeff Miles;page 23, add email for Council and Town Hall, add Ola Balogun to staff, change contact at Westwind from Kelly to LeeAnne; and on page 24,change the contact at PG&E from Judith Burrill to Pam Stevens. 6.2 Recommendation for appointment to the Los Altos Hills County Fire District Commission(Board Member Siegel's term expires January 1, 2000) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Dauber.and passed unanimously to recommended Councilmember Johnson be appointed to the Los Altos Hills County Fire District Commission. 6.3 Discussion of Santa Clara County Planning Commission Hearing on Lands of Kennedy Dauber reported that she had attended the November 4`h public hearing by the Santa Clara County Planning Commission on the appeal of the Lands of Kennedy request for a detached secondary dwelling. The Council at their 9/2/99 meeting had agreed to appeal the County's approval of this permit for the Lands of Kennedy specifically relating to the pathway easement issue. In addition to Dauber,the Planning Director, members of the Pathways Recreation and Parks Committee and Sid and Doni Hubbard attended the meeting. In addition the City Attorney • had submitted a letter supporting the Town's position that the pathway easement required as a condition of development on the previous owners of the Lands of Kennedy but never given to the Town should apply to the Kennedys. At their November 4t'meeting the County Planning Commission had denied the appeal and approved the project by a 5-1 vote. Dauber raised the issue now to determine if Council wished to appeal the Commission's decision to the Board of Supervisors. She further noted that Supervisor Simitian had offered to look into this issue and to let the Council know if he believed there was any hope of requiring and obtaining this pathway easement now. Johnson stated that he did not believe the nexus was there and the appeal would be rejected by the Board. However, he did think we should try. Casey and Finn did not support pursuing this matter. Casey noted that the Merrills (the previous owners of the Kennedy property)had wanted to annex to the Town but the Town had not pursued this. She did not believe it was right to not want the property in the Town but to want to control what was done with it. Siegel believed the amount of new development on the Kennedy property warranted such a path easement and the Town should appeal. Dauber suggested moving forward based on the information received from Supervisor Simitian's office. If he believed there was hope,then the appeal should be filed. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Dauber and passed by the following roll call vote to file an appeal with the Board of Supervisors' Office on the County Planning Commission's decision on the Lands of Kennedy, asking for denial of the Kennedy application for a secondary dwelling, depending on the direction received from Supervisor Simitian's office. • November 4, 1999 Regular City Council Meeting 5 AYES: Mayor Dauber and Councilmembers Johnson and Siegel NOES: Mayor Pro Tem Finn and Councilmember Casey 7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES 8. STAFF REPORTS 8.1 City Manager 8.1.1 Report on impact on applicants by requiring outside plan check The City Manager reported that for approximately 76% of the applicants the turnaround time was less than four weeks and for approximately 70%the turnaround time was two weeks. 8.1.2 Report on Town Hall Building Committee The City Manager reported that the Town Hall Building Committee had met on Wednesday, November 3`d. The consensus was to save Council Chambers if possible and to build a new Town Hall. The committee agreed to meet again in two weeks. It was further agreed to hire Robert Stoecker of Stoecker and Northway to attend one or two committee meetings to give architectural guidance. Casey also asked for costs to fix Town Hall as an option not just to • rebuild it. Michael Scott, 27856 Black Mountain Road, commented favorably on his experiences with the firm of Stoecker and Northway. Sharyn Brown, Chairman of the Environmental Design and Protection Committee, asked where they should be planting their native plant display at Town Hall. They had an idea of where they wanted to plant but were concerned that if major changes were made at Town Hall the new plantings would have to be moved. It was agreed that, since these decisions could take some time, the committee should go ahead and plant as long as they were not in an area that would be disturbed. Diane Barrager, Co-Chairman of the Pathways Recreation and Parks Committee, suggested that recreational opportunities be considered during this review of the Town Hall buildings. In an effort to make more of a community Town Hall, she suggested such things as bocce ball, horseshoes,play stations and/or picnic tables. 8.2 City Attorney 8.2.1 Report on Board of Supervisors Decision on LAFCO The City Attorney reported that the Board of Supervisors had defeated LAFCO's proposal for an indemnification agreement on CEQA matters. At the 9/16/99 Council Meeting, Council had authorized the City Attorney to send a letter stating the Town's opposition to this proposal. November 4, 1999 Regular City Council Meeting 6 8.3 City Clerk 8.3.1 Report on Council Correspondence Dauber referred to the letter from Mr. and Mrs. In lin on easements. She asked the Ci Attorney g City Y to prepare a staff report and then Council would agendize this matter for discussion. 9. COUNCIL-INITIATED ITEMS 9.1 Suggestion to cancel the regular Council Meeting scheduled for November 18'h and schedule a Joint Meeting of the Council and Planning Commission for 6:00 p.m. on that day(Mayor Dauber) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Johnson and passed by the following roll call vote to cancel the Regular City Council Meeting scheduled for November 18';,to schedule a Special Meeting on that date at 5:00 p.m. to hear the public hearing on the appeal of the Lands of Finn denial; and to schedule a Joint Meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission for November 18t`to begin at 6:00 p.m. AYES: Mayor Dauber and Councilmembers Casey, Johnson and Siegel NOES: None ABSTAIN: Mayor Pro Tem Finn • 9.2 Discussion of appropriate findings for color board condition requirements (Councilmember Casey) Casey noted that all homes were being considered `visible' and were being required to abide by the color board. She did not agree that this was what was meant by the color board policy when it was approved. It was supposed to apply to highly visible homes. Johnson commented that he considered homes `highly visible' that had no landscaping. The Planning Commission should then apply the color board. It was agreed that this issue would be discussed at the joint meeting on the 18 h. Betsy Bertram, 11854 Page Mill Road,noted that the color board only applied to new homes and to major remodels. She did not think this was equitable as older homes could paint their homes any color they wanted. 9.3 Discussion of color board requirements in Quarry Hills Project (Councilmember Casey) Casey did not think the Quarry Hills Subdivision should be subject to the color board. It was too limiting and these homes were not highly visible. Johnson did not agree that exceptions should be made for certain subdivisions. If the policy was going to be changed, it should be changed for everyone. Johnson further suggested leaving the condition on the color board in for now. If it is November 4, 1999 Regular City Council Meeting 7 was changed by the time the homes in the Quarry Hills Subdivision were ready for painting,the condition could be removed. The City Attorney suggested modifying the condition to state that if the Council changed the condition it would be deleted. It was agreed that this matter would be brought back to Council in January. 9.4 Santa Clara County Cities Association(Councilmember Johnson) Johnson noted that Mary Jane Franci, a former aide to Dianne McKenna, had recently been appointed Executive Director of the Santa Clara County Cities Association. 9.5 Designation of Brenda.Butner Memorial Tree as a Heritage Tree(Mayor Dauber) Dauber asked that Council designate the Brenda Butner Memorial Tree a Heritage Tree. She particularly noted that Brenda practically wrote the oak tree ordinances and had played a major role in the preservation of the Town's trees. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To,ask the Environmental Design and Protection Committee to take the necessary steps toward declaring the Brenda Butner Memorial Tree a Heritage Tree in the Town. 10. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR • Carol Gottlieb, 24290 Summerhill,thanked the Community Relations Committee and the Pathways Parks and Recreation Committee for the recent path walk and dedication of the Mary Stutz Pathway. It was a great event and Mrs. Gottlieb further thanked staff for the work done on the paths. She did suggest however that more work could be done on the peripheral paths. Johnson further suggested that the Mary Stutz bench needed to be lowered so that it could be used comfortably. The Public Works Manager stated that he would take care of this. Sharyn Brown, 27673 Lupine,raised the issue of garbage especially along Page Mill Road. She still supported putting in signs stating there was a$1,000 fine at the Park and Ride. She believed this could be done for a one year trial period to see if it helped. The Public Works Manager reported that a contract with the San Jose Conservation Corps. had been approved earlier in this meeting on the Consent Calendar. They would be doing some of this clean up and an article would be in the December Newsletter. Betsy Bertram, 11854 Page Mill Road, stated that she had attended the 10/27/99 Planning Commission Meeting at which time the work done without permit on the Lands of Finn was discussed. She noted that Commissioner Wong was the only Commissioner to approve this work being done and further noted that Mayor Pro Tem Finn had supported Commissioner Wong remaining on the Planning Commissioner. She asked if this was a conflict of interest. The City Attorney responded that it was not. • November 4, 1999 Regular City Council Meeting 8 Les Earnest, 12769 Dianne Drive,referred to the allegations of racism concerning Commissioner Wong. He noted that Council had selected Mr. Wong to serve on the Commission even though he had less experience that others who submitted applications for the position. Mr. Earnest further noted that the Council had supported Mr. Wong staying on the Commission in spite of his code violations and Commissioner Wong had supported Mayor Pro Tem Finn's code violations. Jay Freyensee addressed the Council concerning the restriping of Page Mill Road. He noted that he was an avid bicyclist and asked Council to not support this restriping which he thought was dangerous to bicyclists. He also noted that when the monitoring was done for this project, it was done at a time that was not validly indicative of bicycle traffic. Council noted that Caltrans was in charge of this project but they had discussed it at an earlier Council Meeting and had agreed to send the Bicycle Advisory Committee a letter requesting designation of Page Mill Road as a bicycle route. Council also agreed to ask Caltrans to do additional monitoring in the spring. 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further new or old business to discuss,the City Council Meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. s ectfully submitted, Patricia Dowd City Clerk The minutes of the November 4, 1999 Regular City Council Meeting were approved at the December 2, 1999 Regular City.Council Meeting. is November 4, 1999 Regular City Council Meeting 9