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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/20/1999 Minutes of a Regular Meeting g May 20, 1999 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Regular Meeting Thursday, May 20, 1999, 6:00 P.M. Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL,AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Pro Tem Dauber called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 6:10 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall Present: Mayor Pro Tem Dauber and Councilmembers Casey, Finn, Siegel Absent: Mayor Johnson Staff: City Manager/City Engineer Jeff Peterson, City Attorney Sandy Sloan, Planning Director Curtis Williams, Public Works Manager Jim Rasp, Finance Director Carol Ferrell and Acting City Clerk Ruth Swanson Mayor Pro Tem Dauber requested adding an urgency item to the Consent Calendar. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Finn, and passed • unanimously to add the following item to the Consent Calendar as an urgency item: authorization for the Mayor to issue a proclamation congratulating Mr. Noble Miller on his elevation to the rank of Eagle Scout. 2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS Rick Ellinger, 28520 Matadero Creek, announced the formation of Hills 2000, an organization of residents whose goals included the preservation of rural lifestyles, improving communications between the residents and Town officials, and encouraging leadership. Actions include hosting educational forums, maintenance of rural lifestyles, and creating a newsletter and website (hills2000.org.) Casey applauded the committee. 3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT The Planning Director reported that the following applications were heard at the May 12, 1999, Planning Commission meeting: Lands of Seufferlein, 13737 Wildflower Lane—applicant made changes recommended by Planning Commission and application was approved; Lands of Green Earth—a proposal for a new 7,273 sq. ft. residence at the end of Moody Court—Planning Commission had concerns about the location of the structure close to the side setback and the driveway, and the location did not allow for additional landscape screening. The Planning Commission continued the project for redesign to look at ways to relocate the house away from the adjacent property and adjust the driveway alignment to lessen the impact—continued for at least two weeks; Lands of Garrett on Moody Road involving tear down of existing house and May 20, 1999 1 Regular City Counci Meeting request for new 4,900 sq. ft. residence—involved variance request for carport which would encroach into rear setback.- approved variance and project; Draft ordinance for fast track enhancements. Planning Commission discussed issues and will make specific recommendations at next Wednesday's meeting. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Siegel, and passed unanimously by all members present to approve the Consent Calendar, with Mayor Pro Tem Dauber abstaining from item 4.1: 4.1 Approved Minutes: May 6, 1999 4.2 Approved Warrants: $123,336.34 (4/21/99 -- 5/11/99) 4.3 Approved request for authorization to advertise for competitive bids for a new 5 CY dump truck for the Public Works Department 4.4 Authorized Mayor to issue proclamation congratulating Mr. Nobel Miller on his elevation to the rank of Eagle Scout 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 5.1 Maintenance of trees, shrubs and plants located in the public right-of-way The Public Works Manager said there was a concern with regard to the cost of maintaining trees • in public rights of way. The matter was discussed with staff, and a change in the current policy is recommended. The proposal would ask the property owner to pay the first$5,000 of the maintenance cost and the Town would pay the reminder. It was also recommended that if a cost sharing plan is approved,that the plan be applied to Mr. Soren Johnson at 11600 Golden Hill Court,who was directed to perform removal and trimming on six large eucalyptus trees adjacent to his property on La Paloma Road. He was in contact with Mr. Johnson who objected to the $5,000 but was willing to pay $3,000. Betsy Bertram, 11854 Page Mill Road, said her neighbor has large eucalyptus trees on Page Mill Road and was financially incapable of paying $5,000. The Town should not tell homeowners they have to take down trees without providing assistance. She pointed out that the proportion of cost of removing trees was different based on the size of the tree and suggested that a percentage be used, such as the homeowner pays 25% and the Town pays 75%. The Town could use the chipper to recycle the trees. Dot Schreiner, 14301 Saddle Mountain Drive, was concerned about the policy,noting that there are trees and shrubs in the rights of way throughout the Town. She said the trees currently in the road rights of way were planted by the present or previous homeowners, and her concern was that the proposal would use taxpayers money to maintain and remove trees or shrubs that were planted by residents. She did not want to see a blanket policy that would cover the whole town. Casey said the Public Works Manager suggested the policy would be used when the Town determined trees should be removed due to safety. Siegel said the proposed policy did not change the current policy but takes care of extreme cases. Casey said if the Town was determined that trees in the road rights of way which were not planted by the residents were considered a public safety issue,the Town should be responsible. Finn said it was a compromise for residents to pay the first$5,000. May 20, 1999 2 Regular City Counci Meeting The City Manager said the current cost is 100%to the property owner, and the policy tries to split the difference. Sloan said the Town has done significantly less than other Towns in trying to reduce the liability in the event trees fell. Betsy Bertram said the Town requires planting of large trees to hide houses, and the Town has responsibility in some instances to help. The City Attorney said the City Manager, Public Works Manager, and Attorney's Office would prepare an ordinance. Casey questioned the wording in the second recommendation"deemed necessary to be removed." Rasp said the wording should be"maintained"rather than "removed." The Council requested that staff draft an ordinance and continue the item to the next meeting. 6. NEW BUSINESS 6.1 Approval of Investment Policy The Finance Director reported that the proposed investment policy provided guidelines which were not provided for in the former policy, and the Finance Committee recommended the Town continue to invest in LAIF. Siegel referred to Section 2.0 of the Investment Policy which stated"Management responsibility for the investment program is hereby delegated to the City Manager..."which gave the Manager the authority to change the policy. He did not like complete delegation to the City Manager. • Casey suggested adding that any change from current policy would go to the Council for approval. Dauber said the decision rests with the City Council with advice from the Finance Committee, and the City Manager carries out the decisions. Casey asked whether the Town approved all the Eligible Securities and Criteria listed under Section 6.0 of the Investment Policy. The Finance Director said the current policy allows for the same securities, but all money is in LAIF. The current policy would allow money in other accounts. The proposed policy allows for guidance and further restrictions. The City Manager said the Finance Committee recommended that all money remain in LAIF. Dave Struthers,Finance Committee Chair, said the Finance Committee was not ready to recommend changing how the Town invests its money. There is no cost to leave it in LAIF. There was discussion at the Finance Committee about investing money in longer term places,but without further investigation,the Committee did not recommend that. Casey said she would like an analysis of the different rates of Eligible Securities listed in Section 6.0 from the Finance Committee. Finn suggested the Town evaluate and build a policy around the possibility that the yield curve would change. The policy should reflect a more active economy. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Casey, and passed unanimously to approve the investment policy with a change to Section 2.0 that the management investment strategy would be approved by the Council with advice from the Finance Committee to look into a long-range policy that evaluates the eligible securities listed in Section 6.0. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Finn, and passed unanimously,to leave money in LAIF. • 6.2 Presentation by Safety Committee on Neighborhood Coordinators Program May 20, 1999 3 Regular City Counci Meeting Safety Committee Member Michael Duffy said he volunteered to revitalize the program that was started about ten years ago. Using an overhead projector,he reviewed timelines, requests for funds and identified areas that could cause problems. Goals were to provide a framework to give guidance to neighborhoods and encourage mutual support and cooperation. Some neighborhoods were found to be in good shape as far as phone trees and emergency information. The concept was valid that neighborhoods should be able to support each other. Recommendations included that the Safety Committee sponsor the program,provide Neighborhood Support Committee (NSC), and a budget with one half-time employee to keep the emergency network going. Casey was reluctant to use staff time and money. Dauber asked for an outline of responsibilities of the staff person, which would identify tasks and time consumption. Casey suggested surveying residents. Duffy said the objective was to create goals for the next three years and get volunteers involved. Casey said the program would require more input from diverse residents and suggested using the Town newsletter to get information to the residents and gain input. Duffy suggested Foothill College be used as a resource with the intent to develop a summer program where students walk the neighborhoods and collect data for the Safety Committee. The information would be compiled and sent to the neighborhood coordinators. Dauber questioned the use of Foothill students,noting that most residents would rather give information to a neighbor than a student. She suggested considering budgeting money for mailings. Duffy said he would come back to the Council with a questionnaire to be sent to the residents. Dauber suggested scheduling a joint meeting of the Council and Safety Committee. 6.3 Discussion of Town Hall Buildings Inspection Report • The City Manager provided an update on the Town Hall Inspection Report, noting that the roofs of Town Hall and the Chambers were in need of repair, and the buildings were found to have termite damage and were in need of structural repair. He said the Town would have to invest major repair money in Town Hall or increase the priority of replacement of Town Hall. The Seismic Safety Act of 1986 required that Town Hall be engineered to certain minimum structural standards for public buildings to be used for disaster relief. Town Hall is not seismically designed which means it would not be good for the Emergency Operations Center, and the building does not meet ADA requirements. Casey said many items in the report are critical and asked to see a list of those items on a chart with appropriate repair costs. 6.4 Public Works Department Maintenance Staffing Requirements The Public Works Director said one of the goals and objectives of the Public Works Department was looking at maintenance requirements for the infrastructure. The Maintenance Department requested an increase of two additional staff members. The report attempted to determine what work needed to be done as opposed to what work was presently performed and to quantify maintenance manpower needs. Staff agreed that there was more work than the present staff could accomplish. Casey wanted to see one full-time person to manage and be responsible for pathways. The Public Works Director said one full-time person would not be efficient because pathway work is not done during certain parts of the year. Siegel would like staff to be prepared to identify parts of work that could be contracted out: for example,tree trimming could be turned over to a contractor. He expressed concern about the extra cost that employees would bring to the budget _D May 20, 1999 4 Regular City Counci Meeting in terms of fringe benefits. Casey agreed that certain work could be contracted out, but she wanted to see someone who managed the work. Dauber suggested removing the "local streets" category and contact homeowners about taking care of their trees prior to Town crews taking care of the trees. 7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES 7.1 Community Relations Committee: Status report on Town Picnic -- May 23, 1999 Duffy Price said the Committee budgeted$4,000 for 500 people, and there will be 775 for dinner on Sunday. The Chairman of the Committee asked that the Town augment an additional $1,000. Council approved the request and thanked the Committee for their efforts. 8. STAFF REPORTS 8.1 City Manager The City Manager said the Environmental Design Committee was hoping to plant native plants around Town Hall and asked if Sandy knew the location. Sandy said the location was not determined until the Committee found out where the water was for the first year. Most of the plants are drought tolerant and native to the area. The City Manager reported that the Engineering Department applied for a grant of$13,000 for assessing the streets as part of the pavement management program. The grant was received, and • the Town has to use a specific consultant. He planned on including a couple of contracts on the next agenda: one with the County and one with ETA for pavement management money. The money must be spent for what was above and beyond what the Town's average spending was for one year. Casey asked about the status of the Packard Foundation meeting with residents. The City Manager said the meeting was planned for the second meeting in July. The Planning Director believed the Packards intended to contact the neighbors prior to the meeting. Dauber suggested the Town ask the Packards for a copy of what they planned to present to the neighbors. The City Manager will ask the Foundation to send the Council invitations to the neighborhood meeting. 8.2 City Attorney 8.3 City Clerk 8.3.1 Report on Council Correspondence Siegel discussed the project in the Measure A/B funding which was the Mountain View 85/101 Interchange project. The City of Mountain View wants cities to adopt a resolution requesting the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisor to designate the north route 85/101 Interchange Improvement Project as "High Priority"in Measures A and B. The City Manager said a resolution would be placed on the Consent Calendar at the next meeting. 9. COUNCIL-INITIATED ITEMS 9.1 Sister Cities Program (Mayor Pro Tem Dauber) May 20, 1999 5 Regular City Counci Meeting Dauber referred to the flyer in the packet, which mentioned Los Altos Hills as having special relationships with three cities in other countries, and noted that Bill Sun was on the Board of Directors. She would like to acknowledge the fact and asked that the City Clerk list Bill Sun as a representative on the organization. . 10. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR Fred Osterlund, 26238 W. Fremont Road, asked whether there was a loophole in the redevelopment process, noting property on Manuella where the older home was demolished and story poles were put up for one or two residences. He asked when a demolition permit is granted, if it allows the developer or new owner to defoliate the property. Two sides of the property were fully removed of trees,which made the property very visible. The Planning Director said staff does not generally require permits for removal of trees other than oak trees. Because of the extent of the clearing that was proposed on the property and knowledge of the pending demolition, a site development hearing was held. No neighbors objected. 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS 11.1 Request for a Site Development Permit for anew residence and for a variance to q P exceed allowable maximum development area, Lands of Burger, 25850 Westwind Way Finn reported that eight years ago, he was sued by one of the attorneys representing the applicant. The Town Attorney said there was no current conflict. • The Planning Director said the Planning Commission reviewed the project on April 14, 1999, which involved a proposed new residence. The primary issue of concern with staff and the Planning Commission was the variance request to exceed 5,000 sq. ft. of development area. Staff believed that the request of over 6,800 sq. ft. of development area was excessive and that the house as proposed was too bulky in a visible location. Staff recommended denial or approval with reduction in the size of the house to less than 3,500 sq. ft. and development area to less than 6,500 sq. ft. The Town received letters from neighbors in objection to the project. The Planning Commission voted 5-0 to deny. Finn asked what was the general procedure for other properties with similar constraints. The Planning Director provided an explanation of the categories of similar type lots and mentioned two specific properties: the Loughmiller project at 24309 La Loma Drive and the Malek project at 11972 Rhus Ridge Road. Both properties had higher lot unit factors with approved floor area of 3,814 sq. ft. and 3,535 sq. ft. and approved development area of 6,682 sq. ft. and 6,570 sq. ft. respectively. Casey said she had different numbers from Mr. Malek, which was 6,735 sq. ft. for the development area. Bill Burger, applicant, had hoped the Council would look at the MDA numbers as a policy so he would not have had to address the issue on an individual basis. He and his wife worked on the project for a year and a half and received opinions from four architects with regard to siting of the house. He believed that neighboring homes were similar or substantially larger in size. There were errors in the process. The report done by the Planning Department listed an MDA of 6,800 sq. ft., but his request was for 6,695 sq. ft. It was his desire to not ask for anything more than had been recommended by the Planning Director regarding the MDA. He directed his staff to work on achieving 6,500 sq. ft., which was the number recommended by the Planning • May 20, 1999 6 Regular City Counci Meeting • Department. He tried to meet the regulations, guidelines and spirit of the Town and met or exceeded all the setbacks, and the height was lower than the limit. He met with neighbors regarding their concerns. The house was located substantially downhill to insure he was not impacting the neighbor. The errors in the Planning Commission report placed negative views on his project. He felt the Planning Director made an honest effort for a trade off but did it on bad data. Burger was prepared to accept a smaller MDA number but asked for approval of the plan as presented with 6,695 sq. ft. The Planning Director explained the difference of 6,825 sq. ft. of development area which was reported to the Planning Commission and the 6,610 sq. ft. which was originally in the plans. From the first meeting with the architects,he had indicated that while 5,000 sq. ft. of development area may be prohibitive, 4,000 sq. ft. of floor area would be excessive. Appropriate numbers appeared to be in the area of 3,500 sq. ft. and 6,500 sq. ft. of floor area and development area respectively. He had suggested the applicant look at prior approvals and try to be consistent with numbers and designs of other projects that fit into the slopes. Tony Lagorio, 300 Third Street, Los Altos, attorney representing Rudolph Alfinito„ opposed the granting of the site development and variance. He pointed out that the ordinance specified that to justify the granting of a variance, hardship and special circumstances must be shown. He heard nothing to that fact. Under the Town's regulations, an application should be made that complies with ordinances, but this project does not comply. There are no other two-story homes in the area. The site development ordinance indicated the purpose was to ensure the site location configuration of structures was unobtrusive when viewed from off-site,that scenic views were retained, and ridgelines and hilltops were preserved. He suggested the applicant could redesign the house and shift it to the south. He presented photos of the property. He did not believe the • Council should use the variance to amend the existing ordinance, and the applicant should comply with the existing ordinance. Rudolph Alfinito, 25870 Westwind Way, said he enjoyed his home and the view. He opposed the variance and second story,noting that the proposed location would have an impact on his vista. On May 9, he met with Mr. Burger, discussed moving the structure 30-40 feet south, and Mr. Burger agreed to move his house to the south. Siegel said it was hard to overturn the recommendation of the planning staff and Planning Commission, and he did not intend to. Casey recommended approving the plan with a reduction to 6,500 sq. ft., which would bring the house in total compliance with other homes that had been approved with similar constraints. The ordinance allowed a 4,000 sq. ft. home. The neighbors, with the exception of Mr. Alfmito, approved the project. Finn was concerned that staff and the Planning Commission had incorrect information on the Loughmiller property. He said that Mr. Alfmito would not be able to see the house if significant landscape mitigation was required. He questioned whether the driveway could be 10' rather than 14'. The setbacks were significant from all sizes and greater than the ordinance required. Casey said the story poles were not visible and the photographs from Mr. Logario showed the property was heavily enclosed with mature vegetation. Siegel said the house would be visible from the vacant lot across the street. Dauber said she was open to a variance for the development area noting her concern that there was no outdoor living area. She was also concerned about the size of the house on the lot and added that there would eventually be a second house next to it. The house looked like a two- story and appeared larger than floor area number suggested. A 4,000 sq. ft., low profile house could be better designed to fit on the property. A smaller house with more outdoor living area would fit better. • May 20, 1999 7 Regular City Counci Meeting MOTION SECONDED AND FAILED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Finn, and failed by the following roll call vote to approve the home with a reduction in development area to 6,500 sq. ft., applicant to work with staff to come up with a plan, and landscaping mitigation be required to assure that the house is not visible from the Alfinito home AYES: Councilmembers Casey and Finn NOES: Mayor Pro Tem Dauber and Councilmember Siegel MOTION SECONDED AND PASSED: Moved by Casey seconded by Finn, and passed unanimously to continue the item to the next meeting in order for staff to verify the correct LUF number on the Loughmiller property and the correct development area on the Malek property. 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further new or old business to discuss,the City Council Meeting was adjourned at 9:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Ruth Swanson Acting City Clerk The minutes of the May 20, 1999 Regular City Council Meeting were approved at the July 1, 1999 Regular City Council Meeting. • i� May 20, 1999 8 Regular City Counci Meeting