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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/01/1988 L CITY COUNCIL TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS 26379 Fremont Road Los Altos Hills , California MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, June 1 , 1988 cc: Reel 193 , Tr. I , Side I , 288-end; Tr. I , Side II , 001-368 Mayor Tryon called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 7: 20 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall . A. ROLL CALL AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Present: Mayor Tryon and Councilmembers Casey, Johnson, Siegel and van Tamelen Absent: None Staff: City Manager George Scarborough, City Attorney Frank Gillio, Planning Director Sally Lyn Zeff, Engineering Consultant Sam Nash (Wilsey & Ham) and City Clerk Pat Dowd Planning Comm: Marc Kaufman B. INTERVIEW FOR PLANNING COMMISSION: Council had received a letter from Laurie Graham requesting an interview for Planning Commission at this meeting as she would be out of Town on the 15th of June. Laurie Graham, 11630 Jessica Lane, addresssed the Council concerning her interest in serving on the Planning Commission. She stated that she had attended several of the meetings and had the time and energy to devote to this commission. She stated she was a strong advocate of single family zoning and while she thought the Town' s ordinances were good, she also thought they needed clarification. Mrs. Graham thought the Planning Commission should be more responsive and responsible. There should be less appeals of actions of the Planning Commission coming to the City Council . The Town ' s image within the Town was very important. C. CONSENT CALENDAR: Items Removed: C .2 - 5/18/88 minutes (van Tamelen) ; C .5 .c) (Siegel ) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel , seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to approve the balance of the Consent Calendar, specifically: 1. Approval of Minutes : May 16 , 1988 (Adjourned Regular Meeting) and May 26 , 1988 (Adjourned Regular Meeting) 2. Approval of Warrants : $12, 576 . 61 (May 31, 1988) $76, 110 . 55 (June 1 , 1988) 3 . Monthly Financial Report: Informational Item 4. Request from Los Altos Fire Department for Council authorization to remove fire hazards on certain properties within the Town (5/20/88 list received from Los Altos Fire Department - on file at Town Hall) 5. Resolutions for Adoption: a) Resolution #54-88 authorizing and approving entering into a reimbursement agreement with Lands of Cochran, Gerth Lane, 416119 for the construction of a sanitary sewer b) Resolution #55-88 setting the time and place of the meeting to consider a proposed amendment to the Solid Waste Manage- ment Plan for Santa Clara County to rename the Southwest Region, providing continued access to Guadalupe Mines Land- fill , and providing for annual reporting regarding waste reduction to achieve 25% goal by 1995 . 6 . Actions of the Planning Commission: approved the following: a) LANDS OF DAWSON, FILE CUP #8-88 , 13875 Mir Mirou Drive , conditional use permit for a 576 square foot secondary dwelling unit (cabana) Items Removed: 1. Approval of Minutes: May 18 , 1988 MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by van Tamelen, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to approve the minutes of the May 18 , 1988 meeting with the following correction: page 9 , Item 2 , first motion should read: ' . . . . request to construct a fence as explained to the Council in the conservation . . . . L 2- 6/1/88 C. CONSENT CALENDAR: (continued) : 2. Resolution # encouraging voluntary water conservation Siegel suggested it might be better to postpone consideration of this resolution until more information was available on exactly what would be expected of the residents regarding water conservation. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To continue consideration of this resolution to the next Council Meeting. D. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR: John Stefanki, 26901 Beatrice Lane, referred to his letter dated 5/31/88 in which he requested a reduction for his building fees. It was agreed this matter would be placed on the next Council agenda for consideration. Shari Emling, 11853 Murietta, stated that she was speaking for her family and the Zurbriggens on Murietta Lane. There had recently been a fire on the Bellucci property and they were quite concerned about the safety issue. Mrs. Emling noted that there were buildings on the Bellucci property which did not have permits, were in disrepair and were not up to the Town ' s codes. Mrs. Emling asked that this situation be investigated by the Town. It was agreed that the staff would 411110 prepare a report on this matter for the next Council meeting. E. REPORT FROM THE PLANNING COMMISSION: Commissioner Kaufman reported that on 5/25/88 the Planning Commission had held a study session on proposed zoning ordinance amendments. At their regular Planning Commission Meeting on the 25th, the following items were discussed: 1) Lands of Wubbels, La Paloma Road - fence approved; 2) Lands of Dawson, Mir Mirou - conditional use permit approved; 3) Lands of Sarraf, Hilltop - approved site development permit for new residence. F. PUBLIC HEARING: 1 . LANDS OF FRIAS, 28333 Christopher' s Lane, appeal of Site Develop- ment Committee and Planning Commission decisions regarding site development permit for a new residence Council had before them the recommendation from staff that they uphold the decision of the Site Development Committee and Planning Commission to grant a Site Development Permit and continue to impose the original conditions. 3- 6/1/88 F . PUBLIC HEARING: (continued) : Mr. Peter Berman, 28307 Christophers Lane, explained why he had appealed the decisions of the Site Development Committee and Planning Commission concerning the development plans for this lot. He stated his concerns related to drainage and visual impact. Mr. Oscar Sobel , 28266 Christophers Lane and Mr. Paul Hogan, 2255 Page Mill Road, supported Mr . Berman' s comments. The residents all commented that they did not believe the proposed house was appropriate to the neighborhood. Mr. Paul Nowack, applicant ' s engineer, commented on the drainage issue and noted the impact the interceptors would have on the amount of drainage. Mr . Bruce Fukuji, Carrasco & Associates, noted that his clients had incorporated all of the conditions of approval , had met all the requirements of the maximum development area and maximum floor area, were two feet under the maximum height allowed and had done a visibility analysis. He further commented that there were a lot of trees on the property which would mitigate the visual impact on the neighbors. Siegel and van Tamelen both commented that currently the ordinances do not protect neighborhoods. Siegel noted that an overlay area had been 41111/ discussed at one time for the Three Forks area but there was not enough interest to follow through on the concept. Tryon cited concerns about drainage and visual impact but stated that the ordinances could not be changed neighborhood by neighborhood. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Johnson and passed by the following roll call vote to deny the appeal of the Site Development Committee and Planning Commission' s decisions regarding site development permit for a new residence at 28333 Christophers Lane. AYES: Mayor Tryon and Councilmemers Casey, Johnson and Siegel NOES: Councilmember van Tamelen G. OLD BUSINESS : 1. Request for encroachment permit, Berry Hill Subdivision, Gerard Development Corporation Loren Nelson, Gerard Development , explained that this item had been continued from an earlier Council meeting pending a decision as to who would be responsible for the maintenance of the masonry wall . He noted that the owners of lots 1-6 had recorded a cost sharing agreement for the wall . Mr. Nelson further noted that the wall had no lights nor wording on it; it was simply an architectural design. 9- 6/1/88 G. OLD BUSINESS: (continued) : Marc Kaufman, Planning Commissioner, commented on the policy regarding structures (i .e. monuments) versus rural atmosphere and noted that ordinarily this issue would be addressed by staff or Site Development. Casey commented that the wall was not out of character with the neighborhood and all of the residents in the subdivision had signed a statement agreeing to the wall . van Tamelen stated that visual openness was called for in the General Plan and it was a principle of the Town that rights-of-ways be protected. It was noted that the policy of monuments in rights-of-ways should be referred to the Planning Director and Planning Commission. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Johnson and passed by the following roll call vote to adopt Resolution #56-88 approving and authorizing execution of an encroachment permit agreement between the Town of Los Altos Hills and Ralph Mele, Aline Mele, Gerard and Lamber, Inc. , Robert W. Duncan, Sharon L. Seversen, Bala Manian, Tasneem Manian, Chris L. Carneghi, and Lauryn Carneghi. AYES: Mayor Tryon and Councilmembers Casey and Johnson NOES: Councilmembers Siegel and van Tamelen 2. Report on recommendation for stop signs at Arastradero and 41/ Purissima MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by van Tamelen and passed unanimously to authorize Wilsey & Ham to conduct appropriate analysis of traffic and speed at the intersection of Arastradero and Purissima and to provide a report and recommendation regarding the proposal to make the intersection multi-stop, at a cost not to exceed $1 , 000. 3. Pedestrian Safety Options at Bullis School Marc Kaufman, 14100 Donelson, stated that while he thought there was a problem for children crossing for about an hour in the morning and in the afternoon, he did not think it warranted a stop sign which would be in place all the time. Ruth Buneman, Chairman - Safety Committee, noted that this matter had been discussed at their last meeting and it was noted during that meeting that three schools in Los Altos use temporary stop signs (sign weighted in a tire rim) which seemed to be a good solution. Mona Armistead, Health & Safety Chairman - Bullis PTA, commented again on the speed of the traffic and noted the cars just don' t stop at the crosswalk. Mrs . Armistead also noted that the children used the school and the grounds practically all day so it was not just an issue of brief periods of time in the morning and afternoon. L 5- 6/1/88 G. OLD BUSINESS : (continued) : L Shari Emling, 11853 Murietta, commented that Pinewood School had stop sign and so should Bullis . She also suggested a stop sign like the one at Foothill College (the pipe is in place and someone just has to put the sign in when they want it up) . William Downey, 14330 DeBell , stated that he did not think the subject should be studied to death. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by van Tamelen and passed unanimously to authorize Wilsey & Ham to perform the work necessary to provide a traffic engineer' s recommendation on appropriate actions to improve pedestrian safety in the vicinity of Bullis School at a cost not to exceed $500. 4 . Future Actions Relative to Cable TV Council had before them the 6/1/88 report prepared by the City Manager which included options available to the Council concerning cable tv. One option was to execute an agreement with Sun Country Cable and the other option of proceeding with negotiations with Video Engineering and after the negotiations were completed, comparing the two draft negotiated agreements and awarding a franchise to one or both of the companies. In addition to this report, the City Manager also provided Council with a report listing a chronology of events related to cable tv and information on the Town ' s liability. The City Attorney stated that Council could not award a franchise agreement at this time for the following two reasons : 1) it was necessary to first adopt a procedural ordinance for providing operational rules during the life of a cable tv franchise; and 2) the item on the agenda does not state an award of franchise agreement and it would have to be added on as an urgency item if Council wished to do that. MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Moved by Johnson and seconded by Casey to instruct the City Manager to enter into direct negotiations with Video Engineering to develop a contract for a cable tv franchise; to instruct the City Attorney to draw up an appropriate procedural ordinance for providing operational rules during the life of a franchise; and to grant a franchise to Sun Country Cable, Inc. based on their proposed contract. Johnson stated that he felt the subject had been discussed long enough and that now there was sufficient information on the issue to make a decision. Siegel commented that he was concerned that the discussion taking place was not a public hearing and he also commented on the formula for cost sharing the difficulty of administering a reimbursement agreement. 0 6- 6/1/88 G. OLD BUSINESS: (continued) : far Lyn Simpson and David Kinley, Sun Country Cable, commented on the cost sharing proposal and reimbursement agreement. It was noted that within 90 days of the award of the franchise agreement, a letter would be sent out to certain neighborhoods . If 80% were interested then the costs would be defined. Every two or three years , they would go through the process again of sending out the letters . Casey commented on her support of the proposal from Sun Country Cable. She mentioned the strength of their management team, their financial strength, the technical standards in their proposed franchise agreement and their reputation for good follow up service. Casey also noted their franchise fees would be l-esz. Tryon gave an overview of the discussions and meetings held on the subject of cable tv and stated she was against any further delays. Tryon also stated that in her opinion the residents of the Town and Sun Country Cable had been unfairly treated. She thanked Sun Country for their patience, stated that public hearings and study sessions had been held on the issue and thought the discussions now with Video Engineering were simply a delaying tactic . van Tamelen stated that she was aware this issue had taken a long time but she was still quite concerned about the underground areas. She referred to recommendations by staff and a member of the Ad Hoc Cable TV Committee that a decision on the matter be deferred for a month and stated that she agreed with this 4111, recommendation. *more (AME[IDED BY COUNCIL 6/15/88) Shari Emling, 11853 Murietta Lane, commented that personally she was not at all interested in cable tv; however, the issue had been discussed at length and it seemed to her that Council had other issues to deal with and the Town had better places to spend than on consultant fees related to cable tv. William Downey, 14330 DeBell Drive , suggested that the matter had been reviewed enough and a decision should be made. Carmella Saviano, resident, stated that there was no perfect agreement and the smallest details of the proposals could be discussed forever. George Beers , Ad Hoc Cable TV Committee, suggested that Council keep the option of negotiating with Video Engineering. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Casey and passed by the following roll call vote to amend the motion on the floor as follows : To instruct the City Attorney to draw up an appropriate procedural ordinance for providing operational rules during the life of a franchise and to declare the Council ' s intent to grant a franchise to Sun Country Cable, Inc. , based on their proposed contract dated April 5 , 1988 and including all the comments made by the Council during the discussion at the 6/1/88 City Council Meeting, as per the tape of the meeting. 7- 6/1/88 41110 G. OLD BUSINESS: (continued) : AYES: Mayor Tryon and Councilmembers Casey and Johnson NOES: Councilmembers Siegel and van Tamelen 5. Ordinance # ordering its General Municipal Election to be held on the same day as the day of school district elections (November - odd-numbered years) Council further discussed the pros and cons of changing the election date. Casey supported June even because she did not want the Town' s election to get lost in the large November elections. Tryon actually supported November even but would agree with changing the election to June even and Johnson supported changing to June even. van Tamelen stated that she thought it would be better to have the election at the same time Los Altos /had their election. *amlimmy other local cities (AMMEED BY COUNCIL 6/15/88) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to waive further reading of ordinance. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Johnson and passed by the following roll call vote to introduce ordinance ordering its General Municipal Election to be held on the same day as the 41/ Statewide Direct Primary Election (June - even) AYES: Mayor Tryon and Councilmember Casey and Johnson NOES: Councilmembers Siegel and van Tamelen H. NEW BUSINESS: 1 . Consideration of authorization to negotiate for long term disposal capacity MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel , seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to authorize the City Manager to sign the Letter of Intent and to negotiate a final contract with Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) consistent with the terms and conditions in the Letter of Intent and to authorize the City Manager to negotiate an agreement to terminate the Mountain View Landfill contract under the terms described in the 5/26/88 report prepared by the City Manager and on file at Town Hall . 2. Notification of setting of annual sewer service charge for fiscal year 1988-89 , Los Altos Sewer Basin MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to accept the calculation of sanitary sewer service charge as prepared by the City of Los Altos . The annual charge per unit for 1988-89 is $217. 57 or $18 . 13/month. C111, 8- 6/1/88 I . OTHER BUSINESS: 1. Reports from Standing Committees : a) Roads and Drainage Committee - Annual Report Mr. William Downey, Chairman - Roads and Drainage Committee, was present to answer any questions about the annual report from their committee. Council thanked Mr. Downey for the report and it was agreed that Mayor Tryon and the City Manager would meet with Mr. Downey to go through the report in more detail with him. 2. Reports from Ad Hoc Committees: a) Zoning Sub-Committee Meeting on Zoning Ordinance Definition of Development Area PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To defer consideration of this item to the next meeting. J. STAFF REPORTS: 1. City Manager: a) Modification to Town Landscape Requirements because of the drought �I PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To direct the City Attorney to prepare a resolution extending the time required for landscape planting by six months and reducing the required landscape deposit to no more than $500 during the same period (unless an exceptional circumstance was determined by the Site Development Committee) . 2. City Attorney: 3. City Clerk: Report on Council Correspondence dated 5/27/88 van Tamelen asked for the status of the letters from the residents on Three Forks Lane concerning tree and shrub restoration and of the letter from Mr. Collins concerning the dog attack on his llamas. It was noted that a letter had been sent to Mr. von Huene on Three Forks Lane and discussions were underway to address the attack on the llamas. 4. Council Business: a) Mayor 1) Support of League of California Cities ' position t on no and low property tax legislation 9- 6/1/88 J. STAFF REPORTS (continued) : PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To support the League of California Cities ' position on no and low property tax legislation, specifically a) supporting the continuation of the property tax transfer for 'no and low property tax cities ' as intended by SB 709 ; b) supporting county efforts to obtain technical cleanup amendments to SB 709 regarding the trial court funding provisions of the bill , c) supporting additional funding for countries that would be adversely affected by the property tax transfer provisions of SB 709 in order to mitigate county concerns over this isssue; and, if c) is not feasible, supporting county-by- county negotiated solutions to mitigate the impact of the property tax transfer, particularly in the ' high impact ' counties. 2) Country Way/Page Mili Page Mill outside striped Tryon inquired whether or not/Country Way could be sLsipped and the City Manager responded that it could. marm BY COUNCIL 6/15/88) 3) Joint Workshops Dates will be set at the next Council Meeting for a joint workshop with the Council and the General Plan Steering Committee and for a joint workshop with the Council , Planning Commission and staff ( late July) . 4) Santa Clara County Faire Tryon commented that if anyone had any recommendations for nomination of a resident for salute at the Faire to let her know. 5) San Jose Symphony Tryon stated that she had received a letter from the Symphony asking if she knew of anyone who wished to serve on the Symphony' s Board. If anyone was interested, she asked that they let her know. 6) Environmental Design and Protection Committee Tryon reminded Council that with the last set of minutes from the Environmental Design and Protection Committee, they had attached a letter recommending Town purchase of land for parks, open space, etc. The Mayor asked Council for any comments they might have on this recommendation. b) Councilmembers 1) Appointment of alternates to General Plan Steering Committee -10- 6/1/88 ( J. STAFF REPORTS (continued) : MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by van Tamelen and passed unanimously to appoint Mrs . Edwina Comiso and Mrs. Joanne Vidinsky to the General Plan Steering Committee as alternates. 2) Appointments to Joint Awards Committee MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by van Tamelen and passed unanimously to appoint Councilmember Toni Casey to the Joint Awards Committee. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by van Tamelen and passed unanimously to appoint Shari Emling to the Joint Awards Committee. An application had also been received from Mrs. Patricia Lynch on Lomita Linda and it was agreed that a letter would be sent to Mrs. Lynch thanking her for her interest and noting that her application would be kept on file for future openings. 3) Appointment to Zoning Sub-Committee MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to appoint Toni Casey to the Zoning Sub-Committee and to further schedule a meeting of this sub-committee for 3 : 30 p.m. on Friday, June 10 , 1988 . 4) Design Awards It was agreed to continue this item to the next meeting and to not take any further action on this project until Council had discussed it. 5) Discussion of turf blocks: whether to count them 100% or 60/40% The Planning Director stated that if Council wished to change this to 60/40% it would require an ordinance change. It was agreed a staff report would be prepared on this matter for future Council consideration. 6) Siegel : Shriver Nuisance Complaint Siegel commented that the owner had put up a fence on his property and had corrected the above situation and suggested it would be appropriate to send the owner a letter thanking him for his attention to this matter. It was agreed the City Manager would send a letter. L -11- 6/1/88 i J. STAFF REPORTS: (continued) : 7) van Tamelen: Ravensbury - east of Magdalena van Tamelen commented that the above mentioned area was quite dangerous - drop off, few reflectors . Staff responded that they would correct the situation. 8) van Tamelen: Summerhill and Magdalena van Tamelen inquired who was grading at Summerhill and Magdalena. Staff responded that they would check the records and let her know. K. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Council adjourned at 11: 00 p.m. to a Regular Meeting at 7 : 00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15 , 1988. Respectfully submitted, Patricia Dowd, City Clerk L -12- 6/1/68