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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/06/1993*A. Minutes of a Regular Meeting January 6, 1993 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Meeting Wednesday, January 6, 1993, 6:00 P.M. Council Chambers 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Tryon called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 6:05 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Tryon and Councilmembers Dauber, Hubbard, Johnson and Siegel Absent: None Staff: City Manager Les M. Jones, II, City Attorney Sandy Sloan, Director of Public Works Jeff Peterson, Town Planner Linda Niles and City Clerk Pat Dowd Press: Mike Bazeley, Los Altos Town Crier 2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS 3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT 4. CLOSED SESSION: (PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54956.8 This closed session was moved to later in the meeting. 5. CONSENT CALENDAR Items Removed: Item 5.2 (Tryon) and 5.3 (Johnson) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously to approve the balance of the Consent Calendar, specifically: 1 January 6, 1993 Regular City Council Meeting 5.1 Approved Minutes: December 16, 1992 5.4 Approved the revised criteria for nomination and selection of awardees -- Joint Volunteer Awards Committee 5.5 Approved Reappointments to the Northwest District Flood Control Zone Advisory Committee: Jeff Peterson, Representative and William Siegel, Alternate Items Removed: 5.2 Approval of Warrants: $72,912.59 (12/21/92) Tryon questioned the $4,800 payment to Rick Ettinger as reimbursement for emergency equipment. She wanted to be sure this was not a policy problem. Tryon further questioned the payment to Watertechnics and asked how much was left in this contract. Regarding the emergency equipment, the City Manager responded that $4,800 had been received from Purissima Water District for this equipment. The money was deposited with the Town and Mr. Ellinger was reimbursed after he purchased the equipment for the Town. On the subject of Watertechnics, the City Manager reported that they had nearly completed this particular phase of their contract but the Town would be talking to them about the data base system. Hubbard asked for a demonstration of what computer capabilities Watertechnics had provided and it was agreed staff would arrange such a demonstration. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Tryon and passed unanimously to approve the warrants: $72,912.59 (12/21/92). 5.3 Request for waiver of $21.00 subscription fee for 1993 City Council Agendas from Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Council agreed to discuss this under Council Initiated Items. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 7. NEW BUSINESS 7.1 Address Changes on Moon Lane Council had before them a report from the Town Planner which included a request from the Los Altos Fire Department that addresses for residences accessing on Moon January 6, 1993 Regular City Council Meeting L Lane from Page Mill be changed to Moon Lane addresses to provide for more efficient and timely emergency responses. Tryon also mentioned a report she had received from the Los Altos Fire Department which listed several other streets on which residents lived but used other street names for their addresses. The following was the list received from the Fire Department: Westridge uses Briones, Red Rock Road uses Central Drive, Jarvis uses Page Mill Road, Old Page Mill Lane uses Page Mill Road, Lupine Road uses Page Mill Road, Sherlock Road uses Moody Court, Chaparral uses Moody Road, Canyon Roa uses Moody Road, North Fork Lane uses Three Forks Lane, Three Forks Lane uses Page Mill Road, Via Ventana uses Page Mill Road, Robleda Road uses Elena and Sherlock Road and Court uses Moody Road. Council discussed the notification process involved in the public hearings on changing certain addresses in the Town for safety purposes. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: It was agreed that the entire list of proposed address changes as submitted by the Los Altos Fire Department including Moon Lane would be scheduled for public hearings by the City Council. It was further agreed that approximately 20 homes would be scheduled at one time for public hearing with the i Page Mill area to be agendized first. 8. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB -COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES 8.1 Report from Sub -Committee on Quarry Hills Project (oral report) It was noted that the agreement between the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and John Vidovich had been completed for the purchase by the MROSP of 280 acres of land from Mr. Vidovich for open space. The sub -committee further reported that a meeting was scheduled for January 7th at the County Planning Commission to discuss Mr. Vidovich's request for a General Plan Amendment. The County's staff report was strongly opposed to this request as they believed it would be a dangerous precedent setting action for the County to take. Siegel, Dauber and the Town Planner planned to attend this meeting with Siegel and Dauber addressing the Commission against this application. No comments would be made on the Environmental Impact Report although the Town planned to reserve the right to make additional conditions at a later time. It was noted that representatives of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District did not plan to attend the meeting on the 7th but it was understood that they January 6, 1993 Regular City Council Meeting supported Mr. Vidovich's request as part of the contract that they had with him. Tryon clarified her position on annexation stating that if there was to be a residential subdivision she belived it should be in the Town. However, she was not in favor of annexation per se. John Vidovich, DeAnza Properties, addressed the Council on the subject of the quarry and his discussions with the sub -committee. He stated that the sub- committee expressed an interest in a pre -annexation agreement rather than a tentative map. This was not acceptable to him. He wanted to get a tentative map then he would annex. Mr. Vidovich further commented that he would not be able to de -annex if he could not get a map. Tryon pointed out that Mr. Vidovich seemed to have misunderstood. The sub- committee wanted to work with him on issues of mutual interest. Siegel commented on the discussion of an agreement with Mr. Vidovich which would address such issues as Hale Creek. He also mentioned that the reclamation plan needed to be addressed. Dauber suggested that perhaps the agreement could contain an escape clause. Council agreed that the sub -committee would meet on this issue after the County Planning Commission had held its meeting on the 7th. 8.2 Report from Sub -Committee on Solid Waste (oral report) The City Manager reported that he had just received additional information from Jon Angin at the Los Altos Garbage Company and a meeting of the sub -committee would be held in the near future to discuss this material. He further noted that the outstanding issue of the old agreement still needed to be addressed. The City Manager recommended an audit of the existing agreement and the preparation of a memorandum of understanding while the new agreement is being discussed. Siegel recommended that the memorandum of understanding state that the Town could raise rates and Tryon suggested scheduling an adjourned regular meeting of the Council for 5:00 p.m. on January 20th to discuss solid waste issues. It should be made clear that this was a study session and not the public hearing on this issue. 8.3 Report from Sub -Committee on Residential Guidelines Handbook (oral report) Dauber reported that the committee was making excellent progress on the residential guidelines handbook project and a public hearing was tentatively scheduled for February 18th. January 6, 1993 Regular City Council Meeting 9. STAFF REPORTS 9.1 City Manager 9.1.1 Park and Ride Property - Caltrans The City Manager reported that an appraisal amount of $209500 had been made on the park and ride property and unless Caltrans heard from the Town we had a continued interest in the property. Siegel expressed his concern that the Town must only have a certain amount of time to respond and he asked that staff be sure this time limit was met. 9.1.2 Status of Projects Tryon noted that she would like to complete the following prior to the end of her term as Mayor: status of goals and objectives, revised final budget, audit and City Manager review. Hubbard commented that he believed the Manager's review should be scheduled annually. The City Manager reported that the final budget should be available in the near future. 9.2 City Attorney �W 9.3 City Clerk 9.3.1 Report on Council Correspondence Tryon asked about the status of the letter from Joan Moeller concerning her neighbor's fence and was advised that staff was handling this matter. Tryon also asked about the letter from Karen Lemes concerning dogs running loose in the Town and it was agreed she would work with the City Manager on a response to this letter. 9.4 Town Planner 9.4.1 Housing Element The Town Planner reported that in response to the Town's request for an extension of time to complete the Housing Element, the Attorney General had responded that they did not agree with an extension and wanted all the housing elements by the end of July. The Town will be getting this decision in writing from the State. She did ask if they would accept an incomplete draft if the housing element was not completed by the end of July. The Town Planner was advised that the State would January 6, 1993 Regular City Council Meeting respond to this request in writing and as soon as she heard from them she would let Council know of their decision. The Planning Commission was proceeding with their meetings on the housing element and Council should have a draft housing element from the Commission by the end of February. During their discussions they had found that it was difficult to detemine the number of rentals in the Town. A student had been hired and had completed the project of incorporating the 1990 census information into the housing element document. 10. COUNCIL -INITIATED ITEMS 10.1 Status of Griffin House Preservation (Mayor Tryon) Tryon stated that she did not want to see the Griffin House further damaged. The College made it sound so expensive to fix that they were not doing anything to the house at all even though $55,000 had been raised to repair it. Siegel was concerned about the issue of priorities on the part of the college district. In light of these days of fewer funds, should they be spending money on the preservation of an historical house. Dan Alexander, member - Historical Society, did not understand how the Board of Trustees could fail to maintain the Griffin House. He believed the college should have a long range commitment to keeping the Griffin House. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: The Mayor will meet with the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Foothill-DeAnza College District to discuss the Griffin House and the importance to the Town of saving it. 10.2 Turf -block Driveways (Councilmember Dauber) Council had before them a proposal from Dauber which would require that essential outdoor surfaces be counted as 100% coverage regardless of material. Council had various suggestions regarding this including the following: holding back 500 square feet for future development, ratio of living area to outdoor area, turf block counted 50% if an applicant had an account with the Town or a 10% reserve with original building permit. It was agreed staff would look into these suggestions and report back to Council. 10.3 Appointment of Councilmember to Adobe Creek Committee PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To appoint Councilmember Dauber and Jean Struthers, member of the Environmental Design and Protection Committee, to the Adobe Creek Committee. January 6, 1993 Regular City Council Meeting 10.4 Tree Removal Hubbard reported that Jean Struthers had mentioned the Town crew had cut down trees in Town which she did not believe were dead. The Director of Public Works commented that the crew had made a judgement call on the health of the trees and had determined that they needed to be removed. The City Manager reported that in the future before trees were removed a memo would be sent to Council and the Environmental Design and Protection Committee. Tryon asked that the "crew status" be agendized in the near future. 10.5 Page Mill Road - Creek Clearing Dauber noted that after the creek clearing on Page Mill Road a eucalyptus branch remained near Country Way which needed to be removed. 10.6 Town Publications Memo Dauber referred to the memo she had written on Town publications. In addition to the issue of renaming the newsletter which needed to be brought to Council for approval, she also suggested updates for the Town Handbook be included in the newsletters. Johnson, as liaison to the Community Relations Committee, noted that he would pass these comments along and Dauber also mentioned that she planned to attend the Community Relations Committee scheduled for the 12th of January. On the subject of the handbook, Tryon noted that the Council needed to see the draft of the handbook for comment and review. 10.7 National League of Cities Tryon reported that she was Chair of the League of California Cities Public Safety Committee and this committee worked closely with the National League of Cities. However, since the Town was not a member of the National League of Cities, it could not be included in these meetings. She asked if Council would consider joining the National League of Cities and noted that membership was being offered at this time at a discount rate. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Siegel and passed by the following roll call vote to approve joining the National League of Cities at a cost of $362.50. AYES: Mayor Tryon and Councilmembers Hubbard, Johson and Siegel NOES: Councilmember Dauber January 6, 1993 Regular City Council Meeting kW 10.8 Town Hall Staff Johnson stated that he wanted to take the opportunity to thank staff for a job well done. 10.9 Request for waiver of $21.00 subscription fee for 1993 City Council Agendas from Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Tryon and passed unanimously to remove this item from the agenda as, according to the Government Code, this agency was entitled to receive the Town agendas at no cost. It was further agreed that the Town would request copies of their agendas. 10.10 Meeting with Pathways Recreation and Parks Committee/Mid-Year Budget Review Siegel suggested and Council concurred that a 5:00 p.m. Adjourned Regular Meeting of the City Council be scheduled for February 3rd to discuss with the Pathways Recreation and Parks Committee their projects, goals and expectations. Art Mendoza, Maintenance Supervisor, would be asked to attend. It was further noted that a 5:00 p.m. Adjourned Regular Meeting would be scheduled for February 20th to discuss the mid -year budget review. 11. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR Dr. Howard Martin, 11666 Dawson Drive, reported to the Council that there was still no water in Hale Creek and further explained why the bypass as stated in the reclamation plan would provide only 20% of the water. He noted that Mr. Vidovich stated this issue was addressed in the reclamation plan and the reclamation plan stated that it was addressed in the environmental impact report. Dr. Martin commented on the sewer issue being the responsibility of the Town and also expressed his hope that the Town would continue to preserve the Juan Prado Mesa Preserve. Mr. Sun, 12444 Robleda Road, addressed the Council on an armed robbery which had taken place at his home on December 23rd. He was extremely concerned about this and wanted to know what steps could be taken to help prevent this from ever happening again. Measures were discussed such as increased sheriffs patrol activity, additional lighting around homes, community watch networks and alarms. Tryon stated that response times to incidents and sheriffs patrol times were very important. She further suggested a neighborhood emergency network meeting and Dauber suggested a video which her neighborhood had seen on security measures. January 6, 1993 Regular City Council Meeting It was agreed that Barbara Vetterlein, Chairman of the Safety Committee, would be `,, contacted to meet with Mr. Sun on the implementation of these suggestions. 12. PUBLIC HEARINGS 12.1 Request for a Site Development Permit for a new residence, pool and spa, Lands of Viso, 28620 Matadero Creek Court Bob Owen, applicant's contractor, explained that Mr. Viso wanted to build a home that was in total conformance with the Town's ordinances. It was a split level home and had been moved back and shifted on the lot as far as possible. In addition as many of the trees had been kept as possible. They would be submitting the landscape plan at a later date but for now were using the development coverage they were allowed. Dauber stated that she wanted to see a house that was not going to be coming back for a variance. If the grass block failed on this project and they had to pave the driveway, they would be over the allowed development area. If this happened Dauber asked if the owner would remove the swimming pool? She believed that there was a certain amount of outdoor paving that a home needed. Dauber further commented that she believed grass block should be counted as 100% development area in case it failed. She noted that a 1988 policy stated that grass block would be counted 100% but since then the interpretation of this policy had changed because the materials used were different. She thought the policy should stand as adopted. The Town Planner explained that the grass block products used today were different in that they did not need as much compacting. There was an amount of credit as stated on the spread sheet for amount of permeability. Tryon stated that adequate outdoor living area was important and the way this house was planned there was no development area remaining. There were terraces that led out to the dirt rather than steps. This project was at its limits and she asked if this had been adequately planned through the site development process. Tryon noted that no one objected to the house itself but it was too close to the development limits and not well planned. Hubbard commented that if the grass block was counted 100% there would be no incentive to using it and he liked it used in projects. Johnson asked if the steps off the terraces could be worked out with staff and without going over the development area would Council consider approving this project at this time. On the other hand if staff could not work it out with the developer then the applicant would have to come back to the Council. Siegel asked if the policy of reserving a certain amount of development for future owners had been considered. Staff responded that it had not been specifically addressed but guidelines had been presented. January 6, 1993 Regular City Council Meeting MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Tryon and passed by the following roll call vote to direct the applicant, Mr. Viso, and his contractor, Bob Owen, to work with staff on resolving the outdoor living area problem for the new residence, pool and spa at 28620 Matadero Creek Court; to reach solutions on the issues raised by the City Council at this meeting; and to agendize this matter for the Consent Calendar on the January 20th Council Meeting. AYES: Mayor Tryon and Councilmembers Dauber, Johnson and Siegel NOES: Councilmember Hubbard Hubbard stated that he had a high level of confidence in the staff and he believed it should be left to them to work with the applicant and that the matter not be brought back to the Council. 13. CLOSED SESSION: (PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54956.8 The City Council adjourned to a Closed Session at 9:40 p.m. and reconvened at 10:00 p.m. 13. ADJOURNMENT ` There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Council Ar Meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Re ectfully submitted, /submitted, Patricia Dowd& City Clerk The minutes of the January 6, 1993 City Council Meeting were approved at the February 3, 1993 Regular City Council meeting. January 6, 1993 Regular City Council Meeting 10