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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/07/1997 (2)Minutes of a Regular Meeting (w May 7,1997 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Meeting Wednesday, May 7,1997,6:00 P.M. Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Hubbard called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 6:05 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Hubbard and Councilmembers Dauber, Johnson and Siegel Absent: Mayor Pro Tem Casey Staff: City Manager/City Engineer Jeff Peterson, City Attorney Sandy Sloan, Planning Director Curtis Williams and City Clerk Pat Dowd Press: Clyde Noel, Los Altos Town Crier 2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS 3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT The Planning Director reported that the following items were discussed at the 4/23/97 Planning Commission Meeting: Lands of Solloway, 11471 Page Mill Road: request to determine the future proposed width of Buena Vista Drive - approved; Lands of Rosenbaum, 10560 Blandor Way: request for a site development permit for a new residence, pool and spa - continued; Lands of Wythe & Vim, 13824 Moon Lane, Lots 2 and 3: requests for site development permits - continued. The Planning Director also reported on the 4/30/97 Planning Commission Meeting: Lands of Zhu & Xu, 12580 Miraloma Way: request for a Site Development Permit for a new residence - approved; Lands of Wythe & Vitu, 13824 Moon Lane, Lots 2 and 3: requests for site development permits - continued; Lands of Ahrens, 12791 W. Sunset Drive: request for a Site Development Permit for a major addition and remodel; and Lands of LaJoie,12025 Adobe Creek Lodge Road: request for a site development permit for a new residence, secondary dwelling unit, pool and spa - approved. Ordinance amendments on non- conforming structures and pavement in setbacks will be brought to Council at the June 4" meeting and other ordinance amendments were continued for discussion by the full Planning Commission. On the subject of landscape screening, it was agreed the Commission would review it when the project was framed. The Planning Director also noted that the Commission had cancelled their 8/13/97 meeting. Siegel suggested that Council consider changing the Planning Commission to five members instead of seven. He believed it would be easier to get a quorum with fewer members. It was agreed that this recommendation would be agendized for the June 4' meeting and at that time a report on attendance at Planning Commission meetings would be available. 1 May 7, 1997 Regular City Council Meeting 4. CONSENT CALENDAR *r' Items Removed: 4.1 - Regular Meeting Minutes (Dauber) and 4.5 (Dauber) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Siegel and passed unanimously by all members present to approve the balance of the Consent Calendar, specifically: 4.1 Approved Minutes: April 16, 1997 (Adjourned Regular Meeting) 4.2 Reviewed Warrants: $116,443.87(4/16/97) $120.282.66 (4/30/97) 4.3 Awarded Certificate of Appreciation: William Smith, Technology Improvement Committee 4.4 Accepted Grant of Road Right of Way, Lands of Hsia, 26685 Purissima Road — Reso # 17-97 4.6 Approved request for authorization to advertise for competitive bids for a new small dump truck for the Public Works Department Items Removed: 4.1 Approval of Minutes: April 16, 1997 (Regular Meeting) `, MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously by all members present to approve the minutes of the April 16, 1997 Regular City Council Meeting with the following correction: Page 5, Item 9.3 should read: "Dauber asked for clarification of the City Attorney's memo on campaign contributions. The City Attorney responded that the Fair Political Practices Commission has advised that no commission member should make campaign contributions to any Councilmember who has voted on that commission member's appointment. The exception would be if the Councilmember has neither received contributions of more than $1,000 nor made expenditures of more than $1,000 in a calendar year." 4.5 Adoption of Policy Regarding Secondary Dwellings and Accessory Structures Dauber expressed concerns about the policy before them for adoption and asked several questions including, what was the purpose of the secondary dwelling ordinance?; what does the policy say exactly?; what was the Council trying to prohibit?; and what will the restriction say? She was particularly concerned because according to this policy the size was restricted only if 220 was installed. She believed this issue should he further discussed by the Council subcommittee. Councilmembers discussed the pros and cons of the policy before them and what the deed restriction would accomplish. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously by all members present to continue this item and to request the City May 7, 1997 Regular City Council Meeting Attorney to provide a sample of the deed restriction and further to ask the Planning Director to provide a report on situations in Town that resulted in the need for this policy and whether or not such a deed restriction would help the situation. It was further agreed that the wording in the first policy statement would be changed as follows: second sentence " .......so that it is not used as a `secondary dwelling'." 5.1 Review of Policy for Acceptance of Private Roads as Public Roads The City Manager reported that the Town had received several requests from residents on private streets asking that the Town accept their streets as public. At this time staff needed direction from the Council on this issue. There were several options including: 1) continue to abide by the current policy for acceptance of dead-end or cul de sac private streets by requiring that proper dedications and street repairs be completed by the residents prior to acceptance of the street by the Town; 2) accept private streets which have been previously dedicated, but rejected by the Town and that have unanimous resident support on the street, without requiring further dedications and repairs to be completed by the residents; 3) accept all private streets as public, whether or not the were previously dedicated, which have full support of the residents on the street, without requiring the necessary street repairs to be accomplished in advance; and 4) some combination of these options. The City Manager addressed the cost issue involved in maintaining the roads. As an example, he referred to Almaden Court which included twenty one properties and was in fairly good condition. To bring this road up to Town standards the cost would be y. approximately $75,000. Council discussed the various options. Hubbard emphasized the cost impact. There was a huge cost to maintaining the roads and no source of revenue to do so. Siegel referred to the need for legal documents. This too was an enormous task and quite expensive and there was always the problem of what to do it one resident refused to make the road public. Councilmembers discussed those streets dedicated but rejected and asked for clarification of why this had occurred. The road standards were also commented on as well as the liability issues. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: Council supported the current policy of acceptance of dead-end or cul de sac private streets by requiring that proper dedications and street repairs be completed by the residents prior to acceptance of the street by the Town; 6. NEW BUSINESS 7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES. SUB -COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES 7.1 Report on noise from commercial jet overflights—Councilmember Dauber Council had before them a letter from Marjorie Evans on the issue of increased noise from commercial jets and several historical documents supporting the Town's designation as a noise sensitive area. Ms. Evans also provided a draft of a letter to Mr. May 7, 1997 Regular City Council Meeting Tom Barclay, Air Traffic Manager, Federal Aviation Administration, Bay TRACON, L who manages flight rules. The recommendation before Council was for the Mayor to %W send this letter to Mr. Barclay with the goal of stopping the increased noise from commercial flights. Marjorie Evans, 14511 DeBell Drive, gave a brief summary of this matter which seemed to become an issue for the Town about every ten years. She strongly supported bringing it to the attention of those in charge so that they would be reminded of the Town's history as related to noise from commercial jets and would be agreeable to correcting it at this time. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously by all members present to agree that the Mayor would send the letter to Mr. Barclay on the issue of increased noise in the Town from commercial flights. Council thanked Ms. Evans for her work on this project. 8. STAFF REPORTS 8.1 City Manager 8.1.1 Quarry Project The City Manager reported that Mr. V idovich's priority appeared to be with his residence rather than the subdivision. Submittals on the subdivision in the fall and again in January were incomplete but now a submittal was with Engineering. It was noted that the building permit for the house could not be pulled until the conditions of the subdivision were met. 8.1.2 Rogez Subdivision The City Manager noted that the storm drain agreement with the Rogez had been signed. 8.1.3 Solid Waste The City Manager commented that a meeting with the Solid Waste Subcommittee was scheduled for 5/8/97 and there was a July V deadline to get the issues resolved. 8.1.4 Abode Creek Hillside The City Manager noted that a request had been received from the Pathway Committee for the Adobe Creek Hillside path to be graded for the pathway walk scheduled for June 7'". The City Manager reported that due to previous commitments staff was unable to get this project done by June 7' and if contracted out it would be more than $5,000. Although the path could not be graded, he noted that it was passable. Dauber commented that Les Earnest, the Chairman of the Pathways Committee, and his son had done an enormous amount of work on the path themselves and she really believed this path should be graded for the walk. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously by all members present to add the following item to the agenda as an urgency item: authorization for the City Manager to enter into a contract not to exceed $10,000 to grade the entire length of the Adobe Creek Hillside path. May 7, 1997 Regular City Council Meeting MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously by all members present to authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract not to exceed $10,000 to grade the entire length of the Adobe Creek Hillside path 8.2 City Attorney 8.2.1 Request from Pathways Committee The City Attorney noted that she had received a request from the Pathways Committee requesting guidance on pathway planning for private roads. She asked Council if they wanted her to respond to the committee. Council confirmed that the City Attorney should respond. 8.3 City Clerk 8.3.1 Report on Council Correspondence PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To include committee correspondence on the Report on Council Correspondence. It was also agreed that the Mayor would send letters to the following: thank you letters to Chris Metcalfe and Marjorie Evans and letters to Rosemarie Lien and Ray Egan noting that they would receive agendas when their issues were before Council for discussion. Dauber would send a letter to the Santa Clara Valley Water District. 9. COUNCIL -INITIATED ITEMS 9.1 San Antonio Hills Dauber noted that she had heard there was interest again on the part of the San Antonio Hills Association to annex to the Town. In response to her inquiry, staff noted that they had not been approached on this matter. 9.2 Path Walk - June 7, 1997 Dauber noted that a request had been received from the Pathway Committee to use the Town Land at Rhus Ridge for additional parking for the path walk. It was agreed that this was a difficult request as the neighbors had expressed concerns about others using this parking. It was agreed that this request would not be granted and the participants could either park at Foothill College or Hidden Villa. 9.3 Housing Element Siegel asked the status of the Housing Element. The Planning Director responded that the subcommittee would be meeting next week to make final comments on the draft prepared by the consultant and it would then go to the Planning Commission for public hearing. 9.4 Santa Clara County Cities Association - Legislative Task Force May 7, 1997 Regular City Council Meeting Johnson reported that the Cities Association was assuming an important role as a `► legislative task force. Representatives from State Legislators' offices such as Byron Sher, Jim Cunneen and Bill Lockyer had been attending the Cities Association's meetings and bringing the County's concerns back to Sacramento. 9.5 Volunteer Awards Committee Johnson noted that there were vacancies on the Volunteer Awards Committee and he asked that Council think about possible appointees and schedule this item for the June 4' meeting. The suggestion was also made that the terns be changed from two to four years, with two new appointees each year and three reappointed members. This would provide for better continuity on the committee. It was noted that this change would need to be approved by both the Los Altos and the Los Altos Hills Councils. 9.6 Pathway In -Lieu Fees Dauber recommended that the Pathways Committee recommendation on in -lieu fees be reviewed by the Planning Director and the City Attorney and brought to Council for discussion. 9.7 Town Codes Dauber commented that she thought the sample code prepared by Book Publishing was in an excellent format. However, she found searching the code on the computer to be quite frustrating. It was noted this issue would be brought back to the Council at their next meeting for a decision. 10. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS 11.1 Resolution requesting the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to redirect $100,000 of the Town of Los Altos Hills' Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Funds to the City of Los Altos for allocation to eligible projects and services. — Reso # Siegel concurred with this recommendation but noted that other cities might also have programs for affordable housing. The Planning Director responded that funds to projects in other cities could be routed through Los Altos. In addition he noted that funds allocated for social service agencies were capped by CDBG regulations. The Planning Director also commented that after the first year review of this arrangement with Los Altos, it was hoped that a longer term agreement would be arranged. Dauber believed the Town's residents should be served too and urged the Town to maintain influence on the decision making process for these funds. Siegel inquired about the $50,000 being allocated for low income loans for residents. Since it did not appear that any requests were forthcoming for this money, he recommended these funds be included with the CDBG funds. The Planning Director responded that there was a Countywide Loan Program available to residents. In view of this the $50,000 would be included with the CDBG funds next year. `• May 7, 1997 Regular City Council Meeting MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously by all members present to adopt Resolution # 18-97 requesting the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to redirect $100,000 of the Town of Los Altos Hills' Community Development Block Grant Funds to the City of Los Altos 11.2 Request for a change to the final map to revise the building setbacks to meet current Town standards — Certificate of Correction, Tract No. 1286A, Lands of Shukov, 14440 De Bell Drive MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Siegel and passed unanimously by all members present to approve the request for a change to the final map to revise the building setbacks to meet current Town standards - Certificate of Correction, Tract No. 1286A, Lands of Shukov, 1440 DeBell Drive 11.3 Request for a site development permit for a new residence, pool and spa and modification of condition of map approval limiting floor area, Lands of Breetwor, 12681 Miraloma Way Council had received a request from the Pathway Recreation and Parks Committee that the path on Miraloma be a type IIB path. The condition as it now read left the determination of whether this should be a type IIB path or a native path to the Engineering Staff and the Pathways Committee. The City Engineer noted however that he believed it would be tight getting a type IIB path in and recommended a native path. Cheryl Breetwor, applicant, stated that she supported the pathway system but thought it should make some sense. She did not believe the path should be in the middle of the property nor through the front yard. She concurred with the native path recommendation. Dick Holm, applicant's architect, commented on the ditch and the placement of the path. He also noted that a native path could be larger than a type IIB path. Katy Stella, member - Pathways Recreation and Parks Committee, explained the committee's recommendation for a type IIB path. They believed that paths should be separate from the road and since this was a multi -use path, it should go on the other side of the ditch. Horses prefer to be off the street. Although type IIB paths were not on all properties, they believed it was important to obtain them along the way. Dauber stated for the record that this lot was given special consideration when this subdivision was approved. It is an acre lot with a long, narrow piece but the subdivision ordinance requires a lot to contain a full acre within a 350' building circle. She further commented on the pathway request and supported a type IIB path on the opposite side of the drainage swale. This was a major route to St. Nicholas School and it should be as safe as possible. Hubbard, Johnson and Siegel believed the type IIB path to be intrusive and supported a native path. Dauber suggested this was precedent setting to state that a path 35' from the house was intrusive. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Johnson and passed by the following roll call vote to approve the request for a site development permit for a new residence, pool and spa and modification of condition of map approval limiting floor area, Lands of Breetwor, 12681 Miraloma Way with the following changes to the conditions of approval: To amend Condition #10 to state that in addition err May 7, 1997 Regular City Council Meeting to the floor area being increased by 202 square feet, the development area would be decreased by the same amount and to further amend Condition #10 by deleting the phrase "and that any further expansion requires Town approval"; and to amend condition #10 to require a native path. AYES: Mayor Hubbard and Councilmembers Johnson and Siegel NOES: Councilmember Dauber ABSENT: Mayor Pro Tem Casey Dauber stated that she voted no on this project because she believed the path should be a type IIB on the other side of the drainage swale. 11.4 Request from Sprint Spectrum for a site development permit, conditional use permit and a negative declaration for the placement of two (2) 17 foot high PCS poles and antennas and adjacent equipment cabinets, Lands of Purissima Hills Water District, 12863 La Cresta Drive (behind 12869 La Cresta Drive) Heintz Lumpp, representing Sprint Spectrum, thanked Council for their support during these applications and commented that he was available to answer any questions. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously by all members present to approve the request from Sprint Spectrum for a site development permit, conditional use permit and a negative declaration for the placement of two (2) 17 foot high PCS poles and antennas and adjacent equipment cabinets, Lands of Purissima Hills Water District, 12863 La Cresta Drive (behind 12869 La Cresta Drive) 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Council Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Patricia Dowd City Clerk The minutes of the May 7, 1997 Regular City Council Meeting were approved at the May 21, 1997 City Council Meeting. `r May 7, 1997 Regular City Council Meeting