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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/3/2015Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Special Meeting Minutes Wednesday, June 03, 2015 Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, California CALL TO ORDER (9:00 A.M.) Mayor Corrigan called the meeting to order at 9:03 a.m. A. Roll Call Present: Mayor Corrigan, Mayor Pro Tem Harpootlian, Councilmember Larsen, Councilmember Radford, Councilmember Waldeck (Participated via teleconference from the Marriott Fontecruz Sevilla, Seville Spain) Absent: None Staff: City Manager Carl Cahill, City Attorney Steve Mattas, Planning Director Suzanne Avila, Public Works Director/City Engineer Richard Chiu, City Clerk Deborah Padovan B. Pledge of Allegiance 1. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Consideration of an Interim Urgency Ordinance of the City Council of the Town of Los Altos Hills Making Findings and Establishing a Moratorium on the Issuance or Approval of Conditional Development Permits, Variances and Site Development Permits for Constrained Lots (Staff: S. Avila) City Attorney Mattas explained that the moratorium that is before the Council for consideration does apply to all constrained lots and there are some constrained lots that are within 500 feet of Mayor Pro Tem Harpootlian' s property, but those lots are larger than a half -acre, but have a LUF of less than .5. Because the moratorium as it is now drafted and presented applies to those lots, Mayor Pro Tem Harpootlian should abstain now. Mayor Pro Tem Harpootlian recused himself and stepped down from the dais. Planning Director Suzanne Avila presented the staff report. Council discussion ensued. City Council Special Meeting Minutes June 3, 2015 Gina Jackman, Los Altos Hills, requested that their property be judged on its own merits and exempted from any proposed moratorium. Doug Rimer, Los Altos Hills, spoke in support of the moratorium. Weegie Caughlin, Los Altos Hills, expressed her support for the moratorium for the purpose of determining better applications to the LUF on a half -acre or less. Scott Stotler, Los Altos, urged the Council to consider that one acre lots could have a LUF of less than .5 due to extenuating circumstances, such as a steep slope. Gregory Fretz, Unincorporated Santa Clara County, supported the moratorium in order to take time to address maintaining the rules that keep Los Altos Hills unique. Erik Garfinkel, Los Altos Hills, owns the property on Fremont Road and is one of the projects currently before the Planning Commission. He requested exemption from the moratorium. Lisa Ingham, Los Altos Hills, requested an exemption from the moratorium. Sonya Welch, Los Altos Hills, spoke on behalf of the property owners of 25531 Fremont, a project currently in progress, and reminded the Council of various legal theories that should be considered. Christina Lee, Los Altos Hills, supported the objectives of the moratorium, but a general moratorium may be ignoring certain aspects of a particular project that benefits the community. As an example, the house on Fremont Road should be exempted. Karen Kehlet, Los Altos Hills, spoke in support of the moratorium and the ad hoc committee. Aboolhassan Zoroufy, Los Altos Hills, requested that he be allowed time to finish a remodel currently in progress. Esther John, Los Altos Hills, spoke in support of the moratorium. David Kehlet, Los Altos Hills, spoke in support of a moratorium. Junaid Quarshi, Los Altos Hills, did not support a moratorium. Malika Junaid, Los Altos Hills, did not support a moratorium. Jay Sutaria, Los Altos Hills, said that a moratorium appears to be an extreme response to a small number of specific, proposed projects. City Council Special Meeting Minutes June 3, 2015 Bob Kamangar, Los Altos Hills, was not in support of the moratorium. Sebastian Thrun, Los Altos Hills, believes this an issue of civil rights and was not in favor of the moratorium. Enrique Klein, Los Altos Hills, spoke in favor of the moratorium. Barton Hechtman, San Jose, representing Forrest Linebarger who is out of the country. He stated that he believes the moratorium is unnecessary. Maram Jalil, Los Altos Hills, was not in support of the moratorium. Jim Abraham, Los Altos Hills, spoke about modifying the ideas so it applies to LUF of .5 and less. Bridget Morgan, Los Altos Hills, said she supports the moratorium and the ad hoc committee to evaluate the 2001 rules to make sure they are sufficient to protect neighborhoods. Ex Parte Communication. Councilmember Waldeck said that he has reviewed the public emails received on this topic and has spoken with Jim Abraham in the past; Councilmembers Larsen and Radford said they both received and read the public emails; Mayor Corrigan disclosed that she met with the Deerfield homeowners, Gina and Oscar, during her office hours on Monday, June 1, received multiple emails from various sources, and met with residents on both sides of the issue during her regular office hours. Continued Council discussion ensued. The Council determined that LUF was not part of the discussion; the moratorium would apply only to lot size. City Attorney Mattas clarified for the record that the decision that the Council makes regarding what type of ordinance to consider, should not be guided by whether another councilmember could participate. MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Councilmember Radford moved that any further consideration of a moratorium today apply to only lots with a half -acre or less. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Larsen. Motion Carried 4-0-1. AYES: Councilmember Larsen, Councilmember Radford, Councilmember Waldeck, Mayor Corrigan NOES: None ABSENT: None 3 City Council Special Meeting Minutes June 3, 2015 RECUSE: Mayor Pro Tem Harpootlian Council recess at 10:10 a.m. Council reconvened to Open Session at 10:18 a.m. Mayor Pro Tem Harpootlian returned to the dais. Ex Parte Communication. Mayor Pro Tem Harpootlian said that he participated in a meeting with the Mayor on Monday, June 1, and spoke with the homeowner on Deerfield and has received many emails that have been provided to the Council. Further Council discussion ensued. City Attorney Mattas reminded the Council that any current applications may come before the City Council, either directly or on appeal, and advised against expressing any final positions. Council recess at 10:50 a.m. Council reconvened to Open Session at 10:55 a.m. MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Councilmember Larsen moved to adopt an interim urgency ordinance for Los Altos Hills making findings and establishing a moratorium on the issuance or approval of conditional development permits, (460 variances and site development permits for small constrained lots; removing the words in the third recital on the second page "and have a LUF of less than .5 due to small lot size" and on the fourth recital on the second page, delete "with a LUF of less than .5". The motion was seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Harpootlian. Requiring a 4/5ths vote for passage, the Motion Failed 3-2. AYES: Councilmember Larsen, Councilmember Waldeck, Mayor Pro Tem Harpootlian NOES: Councilmember Radford, Mayor Corrigan ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None 2. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 11:06 a.m. 0q City Council Special Meeting Minutes June 3, 2015 Respectfully submitted, Deborah Padovan City Clerk The minutes of the June 3, 2015 special City Council meeting were approved as presented at the June 18, 2015 regular City Council meeting. City Council Special Meeting Minutes June 3, 2015