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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/05/1994Minutes of a Regular Meeting October 5, 1994 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Meeting Wednesday, October 5, 1994, 6:00 P.M. Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Dauber called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 6:05 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Dauber and Councilmembers Hubbard, Johnson, Siegel and Tryon Absent: None Staff: City Manager Les M. Jones, Il, City Attorney Sandy Sloan, Director of Public Works Jeff Peterson, Planning Director ( Linda Niles, Financial Consultant Janice Bohman and City Clerk Pat Dowd Press: Jan Shaw, Los Altos Town Crier 2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS 3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT (Commissioner Gottlieb) Gottlieb concurred that the condition addressing pool barriers (Lands of Kim) would be amended to reflect current State Law. She also acknowledged Siegel's recommendation that site analysis meetings conducted by the Planning Commission be noticed to the neighbors -- not according to public hearing noticing requirements but rather as a matter of courtesy to the neighbors. 3.1 URGENCY ITEM MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Tryon and passed unanimously to add the following urgency item to the agenda: Rescheduling of October 19, 1994 City Council Meeting ` October 5, 1994 Council noted that only three Councilmembers would be present at the October 19th �Ir Regular City Council Meeting. However, four would be available on Monday, the 17th if they chose to reschedule. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to change the October 19th City Council Meeting to October 17th. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR Items Removed: 4.1 (Dauber) and 4.3a) (Dauber) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously to approve the Consent Calendar, specifically: 4.2 Approved Warrants: $82,642.55 (9/16/94) $51,648.61 (9/30/94) 4.3 Decided Not To Review the following Planning Commission Actions at Its Meeting on September 14,1994: 4.3b Lands of Farrand, 25731 Deerfield Drive: approved request for a Conditional Development Permit for a minor addition and remodel and a variance to exceed allowable maximum development area and maximum floor area 4.3c Lands of Kim, 12005 Finn Lane: approved request for a Site Development Permit for a new residence and pool and a variance to grade over property lines (lots 5 and 6) and amendment to the tentative map for the Finn Subdivision to modify a condition regarding a side setback for Lot 5 4.3d Lands of Finn, 12001 Finn Lane: approved request for approval of a grading plan for Lot 6 in the Finn Subdivision 4.4 Accepted dedication for street right of way along Fremont Road; accepted dedication for street right of way along Burke Road; Lands of Twombly, 13621 Burke Road -- Reso #73-94 and #74-94 4.5 Issued Statement of Support for Measure A relating to Library Funding -- Reso 475-94 4.6 Approved modification of the Town's Salary Schedule -- Reso #76-94 V 4.7 Approved Council Policy on Correspondence October 5, 1994 4.8 Issued Proclamation: 83rd Anniversary of the Founding of the Republic of China -- October 10, 1994 4.9 Rejected bids for Lupine Road Pathway Project, 1994 Items Removed: 4.1 Approval of Minutes: September 21, 1994 MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Tryon and passed unanimously to approve the minutes of the September 21, 1994 City Council Meeting with the following correction: page 6, Item 9.2 change "term limits" to "length of terms". 4.3a Lands of Chan, 14295 Saddle Mountain Drive: approved request for a Site Development Permit for a new residence Council decided to review the request for a Site Development Permit for a new residence, Lands of Chan, 14295 Saddle Mountain Drive. John Komo, 23225 Ravensbury, asked for clarification of this review process. Stephen Chan, applicant, asked for the reason behind this review and was advised that Council had an option to review any application that came to them from the Planning Commission. Mr. Chan stated that he wished his application to be heard at the October 17, 1994 City Council Meeting. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 6. NEW BUSINESS 6.1 Los Altos Mediation Program Ken Kaye, representing the Los Altos Mediation Program, referred to the letter prepared by Les Kaye outlining the Mediation Program. He noted that mediation was a win/win situation. Participants arrived at mutually agreeable resolutions to problems and the costly and time consuming legal process was avoided. Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Palo Alto as well as the Counties of Santa Clara and San Mateo all had mediation programs. Mr. Kaye commented that the mediation process usually took about two weeks and was run by trained volunteers. He further commented that they had sufficient funds to run the program for one year. At the end of that period of time, the program would be evaluated and a request for funding would be made at that time. This year there was no financial contribution being requested from the Town. October 5, 1994 Council asked that the literature on this program reflect that it served both the communities of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills and also requested that the information on this program be included in the Town Handbook. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to endorse the concept of the Los Altos Mediation Program, to encourage Los Altos Hills residents to participate, and to offer the use of the Heritage House or any other Town facility for the mediation sessions. 6.2 Study Session on Capital Improvement Budget PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To delete the driveway roughening project for 95 in the General Fund Projects ($9,000), and to further direct that staff continue to keep a list of such driveways and focus on driveway standards during 94-95. Siegel noted his concerns about easement problems on certain projects. He suggested a separate project for easement acquisitions to cover the legal costs. It was agreed that the City Manager would bring a proposal on this issue (i.e. possibly funding this out of the engineering operational budget) back to the Council at a later date. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Tryon and passed unanimously to add $10,000 to the Miscellaneous Pathway Capital Project for the McCullough pathway easement over the sewer easement (total length of the path). MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously to delete the $50,000 Edith Park Capital Project. Siegel commented that the Town Hall Improvements Project was a major one and he believed it made sense to allocate a certain amount of funds toward this project on an annual basis so that when the time came to actually undertake and complete this project, the funds would be in place. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously to transfer $50,000 from the General Services Fund to the Town Hall Improvements Capital Project for 94-95. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To delete the General Fund Loan as a source of funding for both the Storm Drain Management and Pavement Management Projects. Concerning the Pavement Management Project, Dauber noted that the cost for this project for 94-95 was $500,000. She inquired at this cost per year, how many years would it take to get the Town to a point of reasonable annual expenses rather than October 5, 1994 such major costs. The Director of Public Works responded it would be approximately five years. The Director of Public Works then explained the Pavement Management Project commenting on the surveying and prioritization of streets. He also commented that if the streets were allowed to break down, it ultimately would cost the Town more to fix them. In response to an inquiry from Siegel as to when Council would know which streets were on the list for this year, the Director of Public Works noted this information should be available about February. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To delete the specific reference to Moon Lane from the Storm Drain Improvements 95 Capital Project. On the subject of the El Monte Median, Council did not believe this needed to include the installation of an irrigation system. Council suggested not removing the piping already in place and possibly using crushed rock. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To delete the $15,000 for the El Monte Median Project, with the notation that the beautification of this median was a high priority but one which could be accomplished by the crew. Les Earnest, Chairman of the Pathways Recreation and Parks Committee, referred to the bicycle path at Old Page Mill Road and Christophers' Lane and noted that he would be bringing information to the next Council Meeting on a grant application for this project. Council thanked staff for a well done capital improvements budget and noted the public hearing on this budget was scheduled for the next Council Meeting. 7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB -COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES 7.1 Development Area Subcommittee Report One of the issues discussed by the subcommittee was an exemption to the post -1988 maximum development area calculation allowing certain unusually sloped lots to exclude portions of the lot from the slope calculations. Dauber raised the fairness factor. She believed if a lot could be subdivided and the flat portion of the lot could stand alone as a buildable lot, then this lot should be used to factor the the maximum development area. Siegel commented that when a person bought a lot they knew what the development restrictions were. He also believed the present maximum development area allowed was quite generous and all this modification would do would be to increase development. Siegel thought this was a very complicated procedure for what was not a frequent occurrence. Johnson agreed with Siegel noting that procedures were in place for dealing with unique lots (i.e. variances). Hubbard thought this had been an oversight when the ordinance was October 5, 1994 ` amended in 1988. It appeared to penalize residents who had more land. Tryon suggested framing this issue in a positive way by asking if the Town wanted to obtain more land in conservation easements. It was agreed that the Planning Director would work with the Council subcommittee on this issue, addressing the impact on maximum development areas, options and complexity. The second issue addressed by the subcommittee concerned permeable materials. The committee discussed allowing 50% credit in the following two situations: to encourage the use of a permeable material which still looked like development and a semi -permeable material which did not look like development. Council discussed the definition of development (i.e. tennis courts, structures, paved surfaces, etc.) and those areas that did not look like development but were (i.e. a driveway leading up to a garage looked like development but on the side of the garage it would not necessarily appear to be development.) What materials should be given credit and which should not were discussed as well as a limit of 2,000 square feet per lot for credit for such development area using permeable materials. Siegel commented on this permeable tennis court material and commented that the material used was not significant -- it still looked like a tennis court. He further noted that this issue was raised only when a resident was at the maximum limits of his allowed development area. He did not believe the Town should be in the position of exceeding allowed development area. kw Jim Muscarella, 14965 Page Mill Road, referred to his lot and a neighbors which were exactly alike but the allowed development areas were quite different. He raised the fairness issue and commented that the appearance of development was subjective. He urged the Council to pursue their review of this ordinance toward a consistent, fair determination of development area. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To send the recommendations made in the Development Area Subcommittee Report (based on the July 13, 1994 subcommittee meeting) back to the subcommittee for further review and bring a report back to Council at a later date. 8. STAFF REPORTS 8.1 City Manager 8.2 City Attorney 8.2.1 Packard Application October 5, 1994 The City Attorney reported that a General Plan amendment was needed for the Packard application and an environmental impact report would be required rather than a negative declaration. The applicant had agreed with this decision. 8.3 City Clerk 5.3.1 Report on Council Correspondence dated 9/29/94 Tryon asked if the Mayor's letter concerning the Packard proposal could be amended to reflect that this was still very much an open issue and under preliminary discussion. Dauber concurred and asked for Tryon's comments. Concerning the letter on Robleda and Elena and request for crosswalks, Council requested staff to review and if they believed crosswalks were warranted, to proceed with their installation. On the La Paloma issue of speeding, it was agreed the City Manager would request the Sheriff's deputies to increase enforcement in this area. 9. COUNCIL -INITIATED ITEMS 9.1 Request for authorization to send letters concerning the Urban Streams Restoration Program and the Household Hazardous Waste and Source Reduction Elements (Mayor Dauber) PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To authorize the Mayor to send letters concerning the Urban Streams Restoration Program and the Household Hazardous Waste and Source Reduction Elements with the notation that the letter concerning the Urban Streams Restoration Program should be sent to the Director of the Department of Water Resources and the letter on the Household Hazardous Waste and Source Reduction Elements should emphasize that smaller residential cities should have different regulations imposed on them than cities such as Los Angeles. 9.2 List of Council Subcommittees (Mayor Dauber) Dauber noted that Council had received a list of Council subcommittees including their charges and membership. She asked that Council make any corrections to this list and return them to the City Clerk who will prepare a final description of each subcommittee for the Town records. 10. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS October 5. 1994 kar 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Council Meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m. to an Adjourned Regular Meeting on Monday, October 17, 1994 at 6:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Patricia Dowd City Clerk The minutes of the October 5, 1994 City Council Meeting were approved at the October 17, 1994 Adjourned Regular City Council Meeting. October 5, 1994