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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/15/1997`r Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Meeting Wednesday, January 15,1997, 6:00 P.M. Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road Minutes of a Regular Meeting January 15, 1997 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Hubbard called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Hubbard and Councilmembers Casey, Dauber, Johnson and Siegel Absent: None Staff: City Manager/City Engineer Jeff Peterson, City Attorney Sandy Sloan, Planning Director Curtis Williams, Public Works Manager Ed Taylor, Assistant Engineer Sheryl Proft and City Clerk Pat Dowd ,` Press: Clyde Noel, Los Altos Town Crier 2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS 2.1 Tay Brandon -- Veterans Memorial of Los Altos Jay Brandon, Vice President of the Veterans Memorial Association, gave background on the proposed memorial honoring all veterans. The memorial would be designed by a professional who would be chosen by a competitive process from over 100 artists. The project would be funded by popular subscriptions and was budgeted to cost approximately $100,000. The dedication date was planned for July 4, 1998 and the proposed location was Shoup Park. This site had been selected because they wanted a quiet, contemplative place where one could peacefully visit the memorial rather than one of higher visibility and more traffic. Bill Henderson, Veterans Memorial Association, mentioned the support they had so far received which included in part George Schultz, Admiral Stockdale, all Veteran Organizations and the Mayors of both Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. Council thanked Mr. Brandon and Mr. Henderson for their presentation and stated their support for the Veterans Memorial Project. Regular City Council Meeting January 15, 1997 3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT The Planning Director reported on the January 8, 1997 Planning Commission Meeting at which the following actions were taken: Lands of Dorrian. 13113 Byrd Lane - approved request for a site development permit for a second story addition over the garage; Lands of Windy Hill, 27210 Ohlone Lane - approved request for a site development permit for a new residence; Cellular One on Purissima and Viscaino Roads - approved renewal of a conditional use permit for an existing communications facility; and Lands of Caltrans at 2350 Page Mill Road - recommended approval of request for a Site Development Permit, Conditional Use Permit and Negative Declaration for the construction and operation of a wireless communication facility with the placement of a 60 foot high wireless communications pole and antennas, and adjacent equipment for co -location of the following: a) Sprint Spectrum; b) Cellular One; and c) Pacific Bell Mobile Services. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR Items Removed: 4.8 and 4.9 (Siegel) and 4.11 (Dauber) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Casey and passed unanimously to approve the balance of the Consent Calendar, specifically: 4.1 Approved Minutes: 4.2 Approved Warrants: December 4,1996 $ 88,186.76 (11/27/96) $279,017.87 (12/16/96) $156,617.21 (12/31/96) 4.3 Approved lot merger, Lands of Brockway, 25515 and 25525 Bledsoe Court — Lots 3 and 4 of Tract 8721 4.4 Accepted Grant of Sanitary Sewer Easement and Vacated Existing Sanitary Sewer Easement, Lands of Codispoti and Schroeder, 14545 Manuella Road -- Resolutions #1-97 and #2-97 4.5 Approved request for certification of a mitigated negative declaration and approved amendment No. 7 to agreement for sewage transportation, treatment and disposal between the Town of Los Altos Hills and the City of Palo Alto -- Resolution #3-97 4.6 Pavement Management System, Results of 1995-96 Survey of Streets -- accepted report Regular City Council Meeting January 15, 1997 %we 4.7 Issued Proclamation: James Lenihan -- Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors -- Retirement 4.10 FY 96-97 Goals and Objectives, Second Quarter Status — accepted this report with compliments on its preparation to the City Manager Items Removed: 4.8 Approval of subdivision improvement agreement, Lands of Lindy Properties, Parcel Map 679 M 46 & 47 -- Resolution # Siegel asked if the neighbor had knowledge of this agreement as it was for a large sum of money. He also inquired if this agreement would be recorded and become part of the title report. The City Attorney responded that the neighbor was in concurrence with the agreement and that it would be recorded. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Casey and passed unanimously to adopt Resolution #4-97 approving the subdivision reimbursement agreement related to the Deer Creek Subdivision of Lands of Lindy Properties. 4.9 Pavement Management and Storm Drain Improvement Project FY95-96, Town Project 96-6; Recommendation for approval of additional budget for the inspection services of Wilsey and Ham Siegel raised the issue of whether the Capital Improvement Budget was on the right schedule. He thought such projects as pavement management would be more logically done in August rather than October. The City Manager agreed to look into this issue. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to approve an additional budget of $11,000 for the inspection services of Wilsey and Ham for the Pavement Management and Storm Drain Improvement Project FY95-96. 4.11 Pavement Management and Storm Drain Improvement Project FY95-96, Town Project 96-6; recommendation for Approval of Change Order No. 2 -- Resolution # Dauber had asked to see the plans specifically as they related to the islands. `i Regular City Council Meeting January 15, 1997 �. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously to adopt Resolution #5-97 approving change order No. 2 to the contract for the construction of the Pavement Management and Storm Drain Improvement Project FY95-96 with C.F. Archibald Paving. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 5.1 Approval of contract for Financial Software System and Associated Resources -- Reso # Council discussed the staffing request and the location of this staff person. They also inquired about the number of days allowed for training and were advised that the contract allowed for eighteen days total. Council further thanked staff, the Finance Committee and the Technology Improvement Committee for their assistance with this project. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously to adopt Resolution #6-97 approving and authorizing execution of a software license and support agreement between the Town and BI -TECH Software, Inc. 6. NEW BUSINESS 6.1 Expiration of term on the Los Altos Library Commission PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To direct the City Clerk to advertise this vacancy and to contact Mr. Weissman to see if he would stay on the Commission until a replacement is appointed. 6.2 Appeal of interpretation of required floodproofing and/or request for variance to allow substantial improvement of the existing residence at Lands of Coffman, 25280 Cantata Way Mr. Coffman, applicant, explained that the finished floor elevation of the existing structure was above the base flood elevation as established by the Santa Clara Valley Water District and this was in conformance with the Town's Codes and the National Flood Insurance Program. However, the Town's Floodplain Administrator had stated that the floor elevation must be at least 12 inches above the base flood elevation. Mr. Coffman stated that they were appealing this decision because of hardship to his family. They would have to tear down the existing home and start all over and this was financially not possible. i� Regular City Council Meeting January 15, 1997 Council discussed the findings before them. Dauber did not believe cost was an �kw appropriate finding but noted that resiting of the home was not possible because of the existing septic system. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously to uphold the Floodplain Administrator's (City Engineer's) interpretation of required floodproofing and approve the request for a variance at 25280 Cantata Way to allow substantial improvement without raising the finished floor elevation to 12 inches above the I% base flood elevation, subject to the findings in Attachment B, with the additional finding stating that it would be difficult to relocate the house because of the location of the existing septic system. 7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB -COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES 7.1 Pathways Recreation and Parks Committee 7.1.1 Proposed Amendments to the Master Path Plan Les Earnest, Chairman - Pathways Recreation and Parks Committee, presented proposed amendments to the Master Path Plan. He did note however that since he had prepared these recommendations, the committee had met and made some changes. Council discussed the proposed amendments, the noticing process, the size of the area to be reviewed at one time, the issue of paths on private roads, roadside paths and the appropriate timing for Council input. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To establish a subcommittee of Johnson and Siegel to review and make a recommendation on the process involving the proposed amendments to the Master Path Plan and to report back to the Council with a proposed policy. Staff support on this subcommittee would be Ed Taylor, Public Works Manager. 0 8.1 City Manager 8.1.1 Joint Meeting The City Manager reminded Council that a Joint Meeting with the Planning Commission had been scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on January 29th. Regular City Council Meeting January 15, 1997 8.1.2 Page Mill Road The City Manager reported that part of Page Mill Road was being threatened with the rains. The road was still intact but part of the embankmant was being washed away. He would be meeting with the consultant at the site the next day to assess the situation. 8.1.3 Park and Ride -- Arastradero and Page Mill The City Manager noted that some correspondence had been received against using the Park and Ride as one of the locations for the Town's clean up days. With Council's concurrence. he would notify those writing that since such sites were difficult to find and the clean up days occurred only four times a year, no changes would be made. Dauber did not believe that the Town needed to provide parking for football games and bike rides. Council concurred. 8.1.4 Pavement Management The City Manager reported that the paving project on Moody and Magdalena had been postponed due to the rain and had been rescheduled for next Monday. 8.1.5 Santa Clara County City Managers' Association Council congratulated the City Manager on being elected President of the Santa Clara County City Managers' Association. 8.2 City Attorney 8.3 City Clerk 8.3.1 Report on Council Correspondence It was agreed that Dauber would contact Marjorie Evans for more information on her letter concerning airplane noise and the City Manager would write to Mrs. Buneman concerning use of the park and ride as a location for clean up days. The City Manager referred to the letter concerning the Fremont Hills Country Club and the condition of the horses and noted that their conditional use permit was coming up for review and the staff would ascertain that all of the conditions of this permit were being met. Regular City Council Meeting January 15, 1997 MA 9. COUNCIL -INITIATED ITEMS 9.1 Policy Decision on attendance by Councilmembers at Planning Commission Meetings (Mayor Hubbard) Johnson believed if Councilmembers wanted to attend they could but they definitely should not participate. Dauber thought it was an important learning experience and a rotation schedule should be followed. Casey and Hubbard did not believe there should be a schedule but Councilmembers should be encouraged to attend at least two Planning Commission Meetings a year. There was no policy decision made on this issue. 9.2 Policy Decision on soliciting applicant approval of conditions of approval prior to approving a project (Mayor Hubbard) Winston Lambert, 24700 Olive Tree Court, inquired what happened if a condition was imposed after the public hearing was closed. Dot Schreiner, Planning Commssioner, commented that the applicant always had the opportunity to speak even after the public hearing was closed. Council discussed whether the Planning Commission should ask if an applicant `► concurred with the proposed conditions; whether a project should be denied if conditions were changed and the issue of appeal fees. No policy change was made on these issues. 9.3 Uses of the Griffin House (Councilmember Dauber) Dauber noted that she had attended a meeting of the Foothill-DeAnza College Board at which possible uses for the Griffin House were under discussion. Dauber was bringing this to the Council to ascertain if they wished to state a preference. The five recommendations were: 1) meeting space for college, community and rental use combined with arts center; 2) retreat/ conference center for high-profile companies; 3) use of upstairs rooms by non-profit organizations; 4) museum/ art gallery; or 5) housing for homeless students. Council discussed in general the proposed uses. The Town had community development block grant funds available which possibly could be used for student housing. On the subject of a conference center, the issue of increased traffic to the Town was mentioned. It was further noted that such a center would need a use permit from the Town. Other uses mentioned involved a transitional home for use by Community Services Agency and a home for the physically disabled. The majority of the Regular City Council Meeting January 15, 1997 Councilmembers did not agree, however, that it was appropriate at this time to state a preference for the use of the Griffin House. 9.4 Appointments to the Santa Clara Valley Water Commission and the Northwest District Flood Control Zone Advisory Committee (Mayor Hubbard) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Casey and passed unanimously to request reappointment of Councilmember Dauber to the Santa Clara Valley Water Commission and the Northwest District Flood Control Zone Advisory Committee and to request appointment of Ed Taylor to the Northwest District Flood Control Zone Advisory Committee to replace Jeff Peterson. 10. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS 11.1 Pacific Bell Mobile Services, 26140 Duval Way (Lands of St. Luke's Chapel in the Hills): request for a site development permit, conditional use permit and negative declaration for placement of a 37 foot high PCS pole and antennas within the existing church steeple, and adjacent equipment box. The Planning Director gave a brief presentation of the existing and proposed antenna sites in the Town. Amy Stanton, applicant, showed Council a picture of St. Luke's Chapel and gave the dimensions of the equipment box as 28" deep by 69" high and 51" wide. Ms. Stanton also concurred with the staff report and proposed conditions of approval for this project. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to approve the request from Pacific Bell Mobile Services for a site development permit, conditional use permit and negative declaration for placement of a 37 foot high PCS pole and antennas within the existing church steeple, and adjacent equipment box at 26140 Duval Way (Lands of St. Luke's Chapel in the Hills), subject to the conditions of approval in Exhibit A and the findings in Exhibit B. 11.2 Lands of V idovich, Lot 11, Quarry Hills: request for a variance to allow maximum heights of 36 feet and 28 feet, where 35 feet and 27 feet, respectively, are the maximum permitted, for a new residence. Regular City Council Meeting January 15, 1997 Tom Boyd, applicant's architect, explained to the Council how the house had been redesigned in a manner which they believed was in accordance with the Town's Codes. With the large rooms and high ceilings they were pushing the height evelope so they requested a variance to go one foot below the great room. This had no affect on the outside of the home. As it turned out after reviewing the plans just today Mr. Boyd realized they could actually use another 6 - 8 ". Therefore, he asked if Council could consider this request for an additional 6-8" above ground. The City Attorney pointed out that this additional request could not be discussed by Council as it had not been included in the noticed public hearing. Dauber questioned the first finding which stated that the finding could be made because the property exceeded nine acres. She questioned how this could be enforced in the future (keeping the lot nine acres) and wanted any future owner to know about this condition by having it recorded. Casey did not think Council should even be discussing this issue. The request had no impact on the outside of the house. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Casey and passed by the following roll call vote to approve the request for a variance for the great room only to allow maximum heights of 36 feet and 28 feet, where 35 feet and 27 feet, respectively, were the maximum permitted, for a new residence based on the findings in Exhibit B. AYES: Mayor Hubbard and Councilmembers Casey, Johnson and Siegel NOES: Councilmember Dauber 11.3 Request for an amendment to the conditions of approval for a Site Development Permit for a secondary unit approved October 9,1996, Lands of Carsten, 13761 La Paloma Road The Planning Director's staff report included an outline of the issue before Council. The applicant was requesting deletion of the condition which required dedication of right of way which would reduce the lot to less than 1 acre. In conformance with the Town's road right of way policy, all arterial and collector streets (La Paloma was a collector) shall have a right of way width of sixty feet. Such parcels of less than one acre, however, were recognized as legal lots for development subject to certain planning limitations, and other properties in Town had been required to make such dedications of right of way. Lala Carsten, applicant, stated that she had purchased the lot 33 years ago in part because if was a one acre lot. In fact she had lived in Town prior to its incorporation and noted that the Town was incorporated to protect its one acre zoning. She questioned where this dedication of land might end. Furthermore, while she was not Regular City Council Meeting January 15, 1997 L planning to sell, realtors had advised her that if the lot was determined for whatever reason to be less than one acre, the property value would be reduced. Ms. Carsten further stated that she did not think the dedication request was at all reasonable as she could not imagine La Paloma ever being widened. Virgil Gualtieri,13613 Burke Road, commented that he had sold Ms. Carsten her lot and the comments about reduced property value were true. If it became a substandard lot, it would be worth less. Dot Schreiner, 14301 Saddle Mountain Drive, noted that she had lived in Town about thirteen years and they too had experienced reduction in lot size. All the residents had been treated equally and she believed if an exception were made the Town would have to go back and return all the dedications taken earlier. Ellen VanDorverk, applicant's mother, urged Council to favorably consider her daughter's request because she (Mrs. VanDorverk) was planning on living in the secondary dwelling. Casey saw no reason to require this dedication. La Paloma was not going to be widened and the openness of La Paloma was not affected. The Town could take an easement to address the drainage issues, if necessary. Casey believed this dedication was of no significant purpose to the Town but greatly affected the owner by its resulting in a non -conforming lot. Johnson could not imagine La Paloma ever being widened. He did not understand improving the lot by having a secondary dwelling which would at the same time reduce the property value. Hubbard was concerned about consistency. Deleting this condition for the dedication would not be consistent with the road right of way policy. However, possibly the Town could get an easement and not have to take the dedication, thus leaving the lot at one acre. Siegel referred to the drainage problems on La Paloma and the value of wide easements to enhance the openness of the Town. Other lots on La Paloma had dedicated a 30' half street. Dauber did not believe this dedication reduced the property value. The issue was one lot unit factor not one acre. She did not understand how this dedication could not be made when such dedications were required on cul-de-sacs. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Siegel and passed by the following roll call vote to deny the applicant's request to delete conditions of approval #10, 17 and 18 for a site development permit for a secondary dwelling unit at 13761 La Paloma Road. AYES: Mayor Hubbard and Councilmembers Dauber and Siegel NOES: Mayor Pro Tem Casey ABSTAIN: Councilmember Johnson Regular City Council Meeting January 15, 1997 10 l The City Council adjourned to a Closed Session at 10:45 p.m. and reconvened at 11:45 p.m. 12. CLOSED SESSION: REAL ESTATE NEGOTIATIONS: PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54956.8 -- Los Altos Hills and Purissima Hills Water District, 26375 Fremont Road, price and terms 13. CLOSED SESSION: REAL ESTATE NEGOTIATIONS: PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54956.8 -- CONSIDERATION OF ANTENNA SITE ON TOWN PROPERTY ON PURISSIMA ROAD FOR SPRINT SPECTRUM 14. CLOSED SESSION: PERSONNEL: PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54957.6 -- Public Employee Performance Evaluation - City Manager The Closed Session on Personnel was continued to the next Council Meeting. 15. ADJOURNMENT There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Council Meeting was adjourned at 11:45 p.m. in memory of Dan Danluck, son of Barbara and Tony Danluck, long-time residents of the Town. Respectfully submitted, Patricia Dowd City Clerk The minutes of the January 15, 1997 Regular City Council Meeting were approved at the February 5,1997 Regular City Council Meeting. �r Regular City Council Meeting January 15, 1997