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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/21/1987 CITY COUNCIL TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS 26379 Fremont Road Los Altos Hills, California MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, January 21, 1987 cc: Reel 183 , Tr. II, Side I , 473-end, Tr. II, Side II , 001-156 Mayor van Tamelen called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 7: 35 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall . The Mayor noted that in the future the Council meetings would begin at 7:00 p.m. rather than 7: 30 p.m. A. ROLL CALL AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Present: Mayor van Tamelen and Councilmembers Dronkert, Plummer, Siegel and Tryon Absent: None Staff: City Manager George Scarborough, City Attorney Frank 41, Gillio, City Engineer Michael Enright, City Planner Nancy Lytle and City Clerk Pat Dowd Planning Comm: Marc Kaufman Press: Herb Muktarian, Los Altos Town Crier B. APPOINTMENT TO PATHWAYS, RECREATION AND PARKS COMMITTEE: MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Dronkert and passed unanimously to appoint Donald Druyanoff to the Pathways , Recreation and Parks Committee for a term of two years. C. CONSENT CALENDAR: Item Removed: C.S . (City Manager) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Dronkert and passed unanimously to approve the balance of the Consent Calendar, specifically: 1. Approval of Minutes: December 17, 1986 and January 7, 1987 2. Approval of Warrants: $43 , 319 . 62 3. Resolutions for Adoption: NOW a) Resolution #4-87 designating a portion of 'Matadero Creek Lane' as a no parking area b) Resolution #5-87 approving final parcel map for the Lands `. of Freeman, and accepting offer of dedication of Hilltop Drive (11871 Hilltop) c) Resolution #6-87 setting the time and place of hearing on the proposed final environmental impact report for the Adobe Creek Lodge and Country Club (Wednesday, February 4, 1987 - Council Chambers) 4. Actions of the Planning Commission: approved the following: a) LANDS OF STARK, FILE CUP #2-86, 13431 Wildcrest Drive, request for approval of conditional use permit for secondary dwelling unit above garage b) LANDS OF KOMO, FILE VAR #15-86 , 23225 Ravensbury Avenue, request for approval of variance to encroach into the westerly setback, and into the northerly setback for purposes of constructing a garage and storage area Item Removed: LANDS OF FINNEY, 11876 Murietta Lane, File VAR #11-86, grant appeal of the Planning Commission' s decision to deny without prejudice the variance request to encroach 11 ' into the westerly setback for construction of an addition to an existing residence, and to deny the site ` development permit for the proposed project ir The Town Planner referred to her staff report dated 1/16/87 which noted that at their 1/14/87 meeting the Planning Commission accepted the decision of the City Council to override their action and grant the appeal . The report also noted that the Council ' s action should in- clude the conditions for the site development permit as recommended by the City Engineer and the Pathways, Recreation and Parks Committee. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dronkert, seconded by Tryon and passed unanimously to grant the appeal of the Planning Commission' s decision to deny without prejudice the variance request to encroach 11 ' into the westerly setback for construction of an addition to an existing residence at 11876 Murietta Lane, and to deny the site devel- opment permit for the proposed project. In addition to granting the variance, the City Council approved a site development permit with the following conditions: 1) Drainage from the addition shall be directed to the 12" RCP, not the outfall , to the satisfaction of the City Engineer; and 2) A Type I path will be constructed along the Moody Road side and meandering through the trees, to the satisfaction of the City Engineer. D. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR: -2- E. REPORT FROM THE PLANNING COMISSION: Commissioner Kaufman reported that the following actions were taken at the 1/14/87 Planning Commission Meeting: 1) Lands of Stark, 13431 Wildcrest, request for approval of conditional use permit for secondary dwelling unit above garage, approved; 2) Lands of Komo, 23225 Ravensbury Avenue, request for approval of variance to encroach into the westerly setback and into the northerly setback for purposes of constructing a garage and storage area, approved; 3) Lands of Fin- ney, 11876 Murietta Lane, accepted the decision of the Council to grant the appeal for a variance and site development permit for an ad- dition to an existing residence; and 4) continued to their next meet- ing, January 28, 1987, the public hearing to consider the requirement for an environmental impact report and tentative map for the Lands of Bellucci, 26220 Moody Road, for an eleven lot subdivision, with the stipulation that this public hearing be heard after the public hearing scheduled for that same date to consider certification of the final environmental impact report for the Adobe Creek Lodge and Country Club Conditional Use Permit application, 26220 Moody Road, 1, 750 mem- bership. F. PUBLIC HEARING: 1. LANDS OF BABAYAN, 12940 Atherton Court, appeal of Planning Commission' s decision to uphold the Site Development ( Committee' s decision (condition related to design, cost hr and location of wall) Mayor Pro Tem Tryon stepped down from consideration of this item. The Town Planner referred to her staff report dated 1/15/87 which out- lined the background information concerning the Babayan property at 12940 Atherton Court. In part the report noted that on 8/6/86 the City Council took actions requiring Mr. Babayan to pay a penalty fee and requesting the Site Development Committee to require appropriate mitigating measures related to the shifting of the Babayan residence. The Site Development Committee determined the mitigating measures should be a stucco wall and plantings. These decisions were appealed by the applicant to the Planning Commission. The Commission upheld the decisions and the applicant was now appealing at the Council level . John Hanna, 525 University Avenue, Palo Alto, applicant' s attorney, stated that he had hoped some sort of compromise could have been reached prior to the meeting. Failing that, however, he commented on two items which they found objectionable: the $3 ,500 penalty fee and the requirement of a 100' long, 6 'high stucco wall , ten feet from the property line. Mr. Hanna reported that, according to their records, the increase in the height was only 5" and the soils engineer had ad- vised them to move the house away from the steep slope on the proper- ty. Mr. Hanna further commented that his client had had permits on file and if there had been no violations he thought the penalty fees _3_ imposed were unwarranted. Mr. Hanna further noted inspections which had been made by both the Engineering Technician and the Building In- spector and which did not show any inconsistencies with the plans. In conclusion, Mr. Hanna stated that his client was willing to put the wall in but wanted to put it on his property line, not ten feet in and he would mitigate the impact by putting plantings on his side of the wall. The City Manager commented on the inspections made by staff members. He noted, in part, that when the staking is inspected there is a 10 ' offset from the grading so that there is room to work without affect- ing the stakes. Regarding the foundation, the building inspector checks to see that the foundation is correctly designed and poured. The inspections conducted on this property appeared to show con- formance with the plans. By the contractor' s own admission, the stakes had been relocated without advising the Town. The City Engineer and Town Planner commented on the height issue and rotation of the house. The internal height was increased 3 ' for pitch of roof. The approval of this required the use of backfill ; however, when the house was rotated in orientation the use of backfill was not possible resulting in a 2 1/2 ' height increase. The applicant never requested a modification of his special land use permit. Mr. Ray Sinsley, applicant' s builder, repeated his recollection of the inspections made by the Engineering Technician and his understanding of the use of backfill. Dronkert reiterated the actions taken by the Council on August 6, 1987 and asked if Mr. Hanna had indeed listened to the tape of that meet- ing. She noted that the Site Development process was very important in the Town and the applicant, by the admission of his own builder, had moved the location of the house without advising the Town. There were drastic actions that the Council could have taken at that time to cor- rect the violations. One action suggested was removal of the deck. However, the Council agreed at that time to impose the penalty fee and to refer the matter back to the Site Development Committee and to re- quest them to determine appropriate mitigating measures. In her opinion, the Committee had done their job and decided on the condi- tions. Plummer commented that although he had not been on the Council at the time of this discussion, he saw no reason to change the mitigating measures; the Town had been extremely tolerant and fair. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dronkert, seconded by Siegel and passed by the following roll call vote to deny the appeal of the Plan- ning Commission' s decision to uphold the Site Development Committee' s decisions regarding Lands of Babayan, 12940 Atherton Court. AYES: Mayor van Tamelen and Councilmembers Dronkert, Plummer and Siegel NOES: None ABSTAIN: Mayor Pro Tem Tryon -4- G. OLD BUSINESS: 1. Landscape Bond Policy - suggested implementation of policy regarding installation and maintenance of landscaping The City Manager referred to his 12/31/86 staff report which addressed the possibility of a two cash deposit system for landscaping. Basical- ly the first deposit would be for installation and the second would be for maintenance for a set period of time. If the landscaping was not done to the Town' s satisfaction, the Town would enter the property and install the landscaping using the bond monies to offset the costs. Re- lated issues addressed in the 12/31/86 report concern the Town' s ability to enter private property and the fact that if an owner does not want the landscaping there would really not be any measures the Town could take to keep it there. Council discussed the various issues before them concerning a landscape bond policy. Some points covered included the matter of going onto private property and the length and amount of bonds. It was noted that the amount of the bond should be sufficiently high to make it worthwhile to install and maintain one's landscaping properly. How- ever, to ensure that the funds obtained be used in an appropriate man- ner, the process should be addressed in such a way that it does not appear to be a penalty. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To instruct staff to return with a modified 1111/ landscape bond policy which addressed the concerns expressed by Coun- cil . 2. Lands of Haeckl , Blandor Way, request for extension to deadline for obtaining building permit Council had before them a request for an extension regarding Lands of Haeckl to obtain a building permit. The extension was requested due to the requirement for additional geotechnical information. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel , seconded by Tryon and passed unanimously to grant a two week extension to the February 3, 1987 deadline to obtain a building permit for Lands of Haeckl , Blandor Way. H. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Gilfoil Nuisance Complaint. (Complaint received concerning storage of certain vehicles on the property at 13470 Carillo Lane -- Ordinance #308) The City Manager referred to his staff report dated 1/16/87 which noted that the staff had investigated the complaint filed by Mr. Paul Borg and had determined that the storage of a sailboat, camper and airplane in the setback area at 13470 Carillo Lane appeared to fall ` subject to the Town' s Nuisance Ordinance. If the Council determined �r that a nuisance existed, they should direct the staff to give Mr. Gil- foil 30 day notice to correct the situation. -5- ( Mr. Paul Borg, 13452 Carillo Lane, stated that the condition still` ex- isted and had for almost a year. He submitted pictures substantiating this statement. In response to the question from Councilmember Siegel as to why this situation impacted Mr. Borg' s property, Mr. Borg replied that it looked like a junkyard. Mr. Borg agreed that there was another boat on the property under discussion but it was adequately screened and he had no complaints about it. When asked about another neighbor who had several vehicles on their property, Mr. Borg stated that that situation was further away and the visual impact was less; he had no complaints concerning that neighbor. Mr. Raymond Fenn, Jr. , 13428 Carillo Lane, concurred with Mr. Borg' s statements and further commented that any one of the items under dis- cussion on the property at 13470 Carillo Lane may not constitute a nuisance but all of them did make the property look like a junkyard. Mr. Oscar Buneman, 12655 La Cresta Drive, expressed concern about the definition of 'nuisance' and who determined what this definition was. He observed the property under discussion every day and personally felt it was rather attractive. Siegel expressed concern about the Town dealing with one property and not others. In response to this, Dronkert noted that a complaint had to be filed with the Town and a certification had to be made that the nuisance had been in place for a certain amount of time. Dronkert also requested that anyone involved in a nuisance complaint be provided Isw with a copy of the complete ordinance. In response to a request for clarification of the procedure, the City Attorney responded that if Council wished they could adopt the resolu- tion declaring that the conditions existing at 13470 Carillo Lane may constitute a public nuisance. The owner of the property would then be formally notified and given 30 days to correct the situation. If, at the end of that period of time, no action had been taken, the Council would then set a public hearing on the matter. The ultimate remedies to the situation would be to abate the nuisance or to file a mis- demeanor. The City Manager favored the latter as he had serious reservations about abatement, particularly of such vehicles as air- planes and boats in that they would have to be safely stored by the Town. Council did ask the City Attorney to amend the resolution before them to include the statement that the vehicles were located on the driveway of the residence and were not adequately screened. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel , seconded by Dronkert and passed unanimously to adopt Resolution #7-87 (as amended) declaring that the conditions that exist on the real property described as 13470 Carillo Lane, Los Altos Hills, California may constitute a public nuisance -6- ( 2. Report on Town Audit and Management Letter van Tamelen noted that she had received a verbal report from Lew Throop, Chairman of the Finance Committee, that they had no problems with the audit report. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Plummer and passed unanimously to accept the 1985-86 audit report prepared by C.G. Uhlenberg & Co. , based on the recommendations of the staff and Finance Committee. I. OTHER BUSINESS: 1. Reports from Standing Committees: a) Finance Committee - report on Town Audit, annual report to the City Council and report on request from the Grand Jury for comments on the 1985-86 Audit and Finance Committee Report on City/County Investments A report was not presented by the Finance Committee other than the verbal report referenced above concerning the audit report. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To direct the City Manager to send a response to the Grand Jury thanking them for sending the 1985-86 Audit and Finance kipr Committee Report on City/County Investments and to direct staff to review the report for compliance and to make any appropriate adjust- ments should they be necessary. It was further noted the 1985-86 Audit and Finance Committee Report on City/County Investments should be kept on file at Town Hall . 2. Reports from Ad Hoc Committees: a) Design Awards - report from the committee including procedure and guidelines for good design awards van Tamelen and Siegel presented their report dated 1/21/87 outlining their suggestions for procedures and guidelines for good design awards. After discussion, it was agreed the jury would be made up of each member of the Council and Planning Commission who wished to par- ticipate. It was further agreed that the name would be changed to awards for design. Pictures had been taken of several properties and the slide show would be put together in the near future. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To accept the report from the ad hoc committee on design awards dated 1/21/87. -7- J. STAFF REPORTS: 1. City Manager: a) Planting and Maintenance of Trees on Public and Private Property The City Manager referred to his 1/16/87 staff report which was in- formational at this time. He noted that when he had received the ad- ditional information on this subject from Coalinga, he would place the item on a Council agenda. 2. City Attorney: 3. City Clerk: Report on Council Correspondence dated 1/16/87 4. Council Reports: a) Mayor 1. ) Certificate of Appreciation to Kent McClannan van Tamelen reported that she had received a letter from Mrs. Young on St. Francis Drive commending a neighbor, Kent McClannon, who alerted her to the fact her roof was on fire and then proceeded to start to put it out while the Fire Department was being alerted. For his heroic 1111, actions, the Mayor announced she would be sending him a certificate of apppreciation. 2) Peninsula Division Meeting - January 29 van Tamelen reminded the Council that the Peninsula Division of the League of California Cities would be holding their quarterly meeting on January 29, 1987. Assemblyman Quackenbush was the speaker and she urged everyone who was interested to attend. 3) Letter concerning Purissima Road van Tamelen noted that the letter received from Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker concerning the road condition on Purissima had been referred to the Safety Committee for a recommendation. 4) Senior Awareness Day -- February 4 vanTamelen reminded the Council that Senior Awareness Day was schedul- ed for February 4 from 9 : 30 a.m. to 7: 30 p.m. at the Hillview Com- munity Center. Councilmembers were urged to drop by during that day and should call Grace Allison regarding scheduling. IMF -8- 5) Appointment to Traffic Authority van Tamelen reported that at the Mayor' s Conference on January 20, Brian O'Toole had been appointed to the Traffic Authority. The vote was quite close, however, and the Mayors present had many good things to say about Mayor Pro Tem Tryon and appreciated her interest in serv- ing on the Traffic Authority. Mayor Pro Tem Tryon thanked the Council for their kind words and support. b) Councilmembers 1) Bicentennial of the Constitution Tryon noted the Mayor had received a letter concerning the Bicenten- nial of the Constitution. It was agreed the City Clerk would contact the Commission for the Bicentennial of the Constitution and request copies of the small reproductions of the Constitution for distribution at Town Hall . K. EXECUTIVE SESSION - PERSONNEL: The City Council adjourned to an Executive Session for purposes of personnel at 10 :05 p.m. and reconvened at 11:00 p.m. L. ADJOURNMENT: 41, There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Coun- cil adjourned at 11:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Patricia Dowd, City Clerk -g-