HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-10-11 City Council Summary Minutes Special Meeting October 11, 1994 1. Study Session re Selection of Council Priorities for Fiscal Year 1995-96 ................................... 73-464 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ....................................... 73-466 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF AUGUST 8 AND SEPTEMBER 12, 1994 ..... 73-466 1. Contract between the City of Palo Alto and Raisch Company for 1994 Inert Solids Recycling Project ....... 73-466 2. Approval of Palo Alto Peace Officers' Association Memorandum of Agreement and Compensation Plan ........ 73-466 3. Ordinance 4238 entitled "Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending Section 18.08.040 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code (the Zoning Map) to Change the Classification of Property Known as 400 Emerson Street from CD-C(P) to PC .................................... 73-467 4. Conference with City Attorney--Potential Initiation of Litigation ............................................ 73-467 5. Consultant Agreement between the City of Palo Alto and Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey for Consultant Services for the City's Capital Improvement Projects ........... 73-467 6. Implementation of the Economic Resources Plan ......... 73-468 7. Council Comments, Questions, and Announcements ........ 73-483 ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. to a Closed Session ............................................... 73-484 FINAL ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m. ..... 73-484
10/11/94 73-463
The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Conference Room at 6:05 p.m. PRESENT: Andersen, Fazzino, Huber (arrived at 6:25 p.m.), Kniss, McCown, Rosenbaum, Schneider, Simitian (arrived at 6:20 p.m.), Wheeler ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. SPECIAL MEETINGS 1. Study Session re Selection of Council Priorities for Fiscal Year 1995-96 SYNOPSIS STUDY SESSION RE SELECTION OF COUNCIL PRIORITIES FOR FISCAL YEAR 1995-96 Mayor Kniss reviewed the purpose of selecting annual Council priorities and suggested that the Council discuss the items which had received the greatest number of points as a result of the individual scoring Council Members had done. It was agreed that the Comprehensive Plan was a logical priority because the City was heavily involved in the process. Discussion focused on whether the emphasis during 1995-96 should be placed on adoption or implementation. The priority should acknowledge the time schedule already in place for the Comprehensive Plan process. A further point of discussion was the importance of Council's accepting responsibility for making choices about the content of the Comprehensive Plan and articulating those choices. The discussion shifted to the manner in which the Families, Youth and Community priority should be defined. The emphasis should be placed on youth in general, not just youth at risk. The question of how the City could support and strengthen the families in the community was raised. It was agreed that a focus for the priority must be found. The City could not be expected to solve broad societal problems but should find a niche where it could be successful, e.g., an activity which could have a significant impact on youth and families in the community. It was suggested that the Human Relations Commission could assist staff in refining the scope of the priority. As a third priority, the City's Infrastructure was favored. Acknowledging the potential costs associated with that priority, it was agreed that the emphasis in 1995-96 would be on developing a long range plan for financing the infrastructure maintenance and improvement needs within the General Fund, comparable to the long range planning which had previously been done for the utilities infrastructure. Further discussion centered on Palo Alto's economic future and viability as an additional priority. The momentum underway should be continued and would be incorporated within the efforts associated with the Comprehensive Plan and the City's infrastruc-
10/11/94 73-464
ture priorities. The study session concluded with a request that staff refine the scope of the three priorities to reflect the suggestions put forth by Council and return to Council for formal approval. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
10/11/94 73-465
Regular Meeting October 11, 1994 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers at 7:27 p.m. PRESENT: Andersen, Fazzino, Huber, Kniss, McCown, Rosenbaum (arrived at 7:30 p.m.), Schneider, Simitian, Wheeler ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Edmund Power, 2254 Dartmouth Street, spoke regarding civic responsibility (letter on file in the City Clerk's Office). Michael Litfin, Assistant Director, the Children's Theatre, introduced a group of children who sang happy birthday to the Mayor. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF AUGUST 8 AND SEPTEMBER 12, 1994 MOTION: Vice Mayor Simitian moved, seconded by Wheeler, to approve the Minutes of August 8, 1994, as submitted. MOTION PASSED 8-0-1, Andersen "abstaining." MOTION: Vice Mayor Simitian moved, seconded by Wheeler, to approve the Minutes of September 12, 1994, as submitted. MOTION PASSED 9-0. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION: Council Member Fazzino moved, seconded by Schneider, to approve Consent Calendar Item Nos. 1 - 3. 1. Contract between the City of Palo Alto and Raisch Company for 1994 Inert Solids Recycling Project; change orders not to exceed $9,000 2. Approval of Palo Alto Peace Officers' Association Memorandum of Agreement and Compensation Plan Resolution 7360 entitled "Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending Section 1601 of the Merit System Rules and Regulations Regarding the Memorandum of Agreement Between the City of Palo Alto and the Palo Alto Peace Officers' Association" Resolution 7361 entitled "Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Adopting a Compensation Plan for Police Non-Management Personnel and Rescinding Resolution No. 7344" 3. Ordinance 4238 entitled "Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending Section 18.08.040 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code (the Zoning Map) to Change the Classification
10/11/94 73-466
of Property Known as 400 Emerson Street from CD-C(P) to PC" (1st Reading 9/19/94, PASSED 9-0) MOTION PASSED 9-0. CLOSED SESSION The item may occur during the recess or after the Regular Meeting. 4. Conference with City Attorney--Potential Initiation of Litigation Subject: Potential initiation of litigation on one separate matter
Authority: Government Code ∋54956.9(c) Public comment None. ORDINANCES 5. Consultant Agreement between the City of Palo Alto and Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey for Consultant Services for the City's Capital Improvement Projects City Manager June Fleming said staff could not find another city that did the same type of project proposed that evening; however, it was an appropriate action because there were comments from Council, various boards, and commissions and concern in the community that staff needed to pay more attention to the public realm. Staff could bring to Council a much improved Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) if it had some assistance as the projects developed. She emphasized that it was not a way to circumvent any other board or commission involvement but a way to assist staff in better integrating projects and paying attention to details for which staff did not have the expertise. Manager of Planning Projects Jim Gilliland had led the project and prepared the staff report (CMR:460:94). Council Member Schneider asked about the increased number of com-plaints from the community perceived as having negative impacts on the public realm. Ms. Fleming said staff had heard from the community that it did not pay sufficient detail to project designs that came out of the Utilities Department and the Public Works Department, such as undergrounding, painting a building, or putting on a roof. Staff often heard that projects were not coordinated well, did not preserve the quality and the aesthetic value of what was already in the community, and that staff was more concerned about the engineering aspect. The Public Art Commission (PAC) and other groups had made it clear that sometimes it was the color of paint or the way the paint was applied. Complaints were heard quite often when work was in the foothills.
10/11/94 73-467
Council Member Huber recalled the Urban Design Committee discus-sions that dealt with street or sidewalk treatments and asked whether the item would be integrated into the discussions. Ms. Fleming had discussed with Director of Public Works Glenn Roberts the concerns from people who said the sidewalks looked like a patchwork quilt. Staff would address the fact that the sidewalks were different colors. Council Member Rosenbaum asked whether Mountain View and Sunnyvale did the job without using a design consultant. Ms. Fleming said Mountain View had different requirements. Mr. Roberts had spoken with the Public Works staff in Mountain View about their projects, which tended to be a bit more elaborate than Palo Alto's. Mountain View did not use consultant assistance, but it might have more expertise on staff. Palo Alto did not have that expertise, and additional staff could not be added. Council Member Rosenbaum asked whether Mountain View's staff had the expertise or whether its staff did something more than what Palo Alto's staff did. Director of Public Works Glenn Roberts said Mountain View utilized consultant assistance project by project, e.g., the downtown Castro Street project, which utilized significant amounts of consultant resources. Palo Alto's approach was proactive on the front end development of the entire CIP to help staff make sure urban design elements were included in projects and that staff had budgeted the cost of those features. He believed the difference was in the development of the entire CIP up front rather than on a project-by-project basis. MOTION: Council Member Fazzino moved, seconded by Schneider, to approve: 1) the consultant agreement with Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey to provide design consulting services for Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects, for an amount not to exceed $40,000 for the time period November 17, 1994, through November 30, 1995; 2) the Budget Amendment Ordinance in the amount of $40,000, half from the Electric Rate Stabilization Reserve and half from the General Fund Budget Stabilization Reserve; and 3) the waiver of City Policy and Procedure 1-10, which requires consultant services in excess of $25,000 to be referred to Council standing committees prior to consultant selection. Ordinance 4239 entitled "Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending the Budget for the Fiscal Year 1994-95 to Provide an Additional Appropriation for Consultant Design Services on Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Projects" MOTION PASSED 9-0. REPORTS OF OFFICIALS 6. Implementation of the Economic Resources Plan
10/11/94 73-468
Manager of Economic Resources Planning Carol Jansen said the staff report (CMR:464:94) was a one-year implementation program for the Economic Resources Planning. Staff efforts would be in four areas: 1) finalizing the Economic Resources Plan (ERP) for public distribution; 2) exploring the financing mechanisms to fund the design, improvement, and ongoing maintenance of the City's Downtown street furniture; 3) City initiation to plan for and assist Stanford University in recruiting a major hotel with conferencing facilities to Palo Alto that would involve three steps: a) preparation of alternative policy memorandum for Council consideration that addressed housing issues in a comprehensive fashion, which staff anticipated would be brought to Council on November 3, 1994, prior to Council consideration of or in conjunction with Planning Commission and Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee (CPAC) recommendations regarding the Housing Element; b) preparation of a massing model study to identify the design alternatives available to the City to accommodate a major hotel with conferencing facilities at the Page Mill Road/El Camino Real site; and c) identification of the alternative planning, zoning, and development review processes available to the City in proceeding with the necessary land use change from high density residential to hotel on the site; and 4) initiation of a joint City Attorney/City Manager's Office study to conduct a comprehen-sive review of all the City's ordinances and policies that related to development, including boards, commissions, City Council approval processes, and the exploration of alternative methods for community input. Council Member Andersen asked whether there was a decision not to include other commercial areas in the community and to concentrate exclusively on the City's Downtown for design, improvement, and ongoing maintenance of its street furniture, paving, parking lot, and signage. Ms. Jansen said the focus on the Downtown was due primarily to the issue frequently raised by the community as being a particular problem area. Downtown had more street furniture and, therefore, more infrastructure replacement needs than other commercial areas. The financing mechanism was of particular interest because the previous improvements had no mechanism for ongoing maintenance or replacement. The existing stock had aged and needed to be replaced. Ms. Fleming said the implementation program was a one-year plan. Staff did not believe it could accomplish more than one area in a year, so the worst area was given first priority. Council Member Fazzino clarified the Council was not being asked to approve a hotel for that site. Ms. Jansen said that was correct. The Council would have an opportunity to choose whether to proceed or not with each step. Council Member Fazzino asked, if staff became aware of a signifi-cant interest by a major hotel chain to locate a hotel in Palo
10/11/94 73-469
Alto, whether staff then would work with the hotel chain to develop a proposal and then bring that proposal to Council prior to any formal application for a project. Ms. Jansen said a number of hoteliers expressed interest in building a hotel on Page Mill Road/El Camino Real. Staff intended to bring forward a series of pieces of information which would lead up to the final process for pre-zoning the parcel. It was Stanford University's intent to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for hotel development on the site that reflected ultimately the hotel program. Staff would work with industry so that it was hotel industry based. There had to be an economic reality to the proposal. Stanford intended to move forward with an RFP and present the proposal to the City. Council Member Fazzino asked how staff would handle interested hoteliers if they did not want to deal with Stanford University or the RFP completion and asked staff for information and assessment of whether or not it was a plausible alternative. Ms. Jansen said staff had already indicated to the hoteliers that it had no Council authorization to proceed with a hotel, and it would take a series of action by Council to move forward. Ms. Fleming understood Council's concern. Hoteliers had asked for information, but nothing serious had materialized. Council should proceed with the recommendation; then staff could state Council's position. Staff would inform Council if Stanford University had an RFP and whether there were interested hoteliers. Council Member Fazzino clarified staff would leave the formal RFP process for hotel recruitment to Stanford University and staff would provide information regarding the City's policies. Ms. Jansen said that was correct. Council Member Fazzino asked why the study was limited to Page Mill Road/El Camino Real since the need for a major hotel was citywide. Ms. Jansen agreed it was a citywide issue. However, the hotel program generally spoke about a 300- to 350-room, full-service hotel, which meant retail and restaurant uses and 20,000 square feet of conferencing facilities. Building massing would not be appropriate for many areas of the City, particularly those adjacent to residential areas. A rebuilding could occur, such as at the Rickey's Hyatt 16-acre site, but it was not seen as cost-effective, or a building massing could occur that would take only a portion of the site, which might not be as feasible. There were not many sites in the community that could support a hotel of that nature when all the parameters were looked at. The best feature of that particular location was that it was not adjacent to residential areas. Council Member Fazzino clarified staff saw it as the most feasible site for a major hotel conferencing facility development.
10/11/94 73-470
Ms. Jansen said that was correct. All of the inquiries had been for that location. City Attorney Ariel Calonne understood the draft of the Comprehen-sive Plan had the location identified and that was the reason for the reference to pre-zoning. The Comprehensive Plan would deal with environmental issues appropriately, and the steps would be part of any environmental analysis. The Council should keep its options open until that was done. Council Member Andersen referred to the second to the last para-graph, on page 5 of the staff report (CMR:464:94), which said the hotel served as a mutual interest to both the City and Stanford University. The last sentence indicated "...City motivation and ability to proceed on a hotel pre-zoning effort may be higher than the University's at this time." He asked whether staff was concerned about the willingness of Stanford University to move assertively if Council should give a positive signal on that regard. Ms. Jansen said no. She believed the University's reluctance at the moment was to be in front of an issue when they were in front of other issues, such as Sand Hill Road, the Stanford West housing project, and the Comprehensive Plan update in which there was a number of unknown policy issues to be ultimately resolved by the Council. Also, the motivation from a revenue perspective was higher for the City than it might be for Stanford University. The financing for hotels and the land value were still not in the same place as for other commercial uses. Stanford University was a willing participant and would actively pursue an RFP if the City took the initial steps to show that Council policy direction was in that place. Council Member Wheeler referred to the ERP and said there was a series of suggested programs that could be implemented which related to the Downtown area. She asked why staff had chosen that series of programs as an emphasis in the first year's implementa-tion. Ms. Jansen said staff believed it was an important issue. She was a regular participant at Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce meetings, a frequent participant at the Downtown Marketing Committee meetings, and a listener to most of Council discussions. At the top of the list on many people's agenda was the condition of sidewalk paving, street furniture, and newspaper racks. The infrastructure in the Downtown looked very poor. There were striking contrasts to other communities such as Monterey, Santa Barbara, and Carmel that had similar downtowns. Staff believed the substantial effort spent in the Downtown would be worthwhile. A land use survey was being done in the Downtown to look at change of use from 1986 forward. It was not as large of a time commitment and was not listed as a major point. There were other issues in the Downtown that would be addressed. Council Member Wheeler clarified that among the issues listed,
10/11/94 73-471
Downtown was definitely a priority for the City and for the mer-chants. Ms. Jansen said yes. There were other issues, but staff did not have data to be able to speak about them yet. Much of what was happening in the Downtown was very positive, but the physical appearance was not as positive as it should be to reflect a healthy downtown environment. Council Member Wheeler said there would be potential loss of a significant number of housing units that the City had counted on for a number of years to satisfy its housing goals if the zoning designation were changed on that site. She asked whether there would be anything in the policy memorandum coming forth to Council in November 1994 that would identify alternative sites within the City which could be used to replace the number of lost units if the property were rezoned. Ms. Jansen said yes. The policy memorandum would be jointly prepared by Economic Resources Planning and the Planning Depart-ment. Discussions had been held with the Director of Planning and Community Environment, the Assistant City Manager, the City Attorney, and others in the organization about the effort that would be twofold: 1) a look at how the City could achieve more housing with a different policy direction and 2) what other sites were available for housing that could be considered in conjunction with that. Staff had difficulty with the density designation of the RM-40 on the site. Many times sites were not built at that density, e.g., Fry's Electronics at RM-30. Council Member Wheeler agreed. Ms. Jansen believed there was a dramatic downward shift in the market to single-family attached or single-family look-alike. For example, the Hyatt Cabana was currently proposed at 10 units to the acre. Council Member Wheeler said the staff report (CMR:464:94) mentioned the tenuous nature of one of the other large existing hotel facilities in the City. She asked whether the consultant's report would address the potential impacts of constructing a brand new 350-room facility at the Page Mill Road/El Camino Real location. Ms. Jansen said staff dealt with the Hyatt Corporation at the time of the proposed Hyatt Cabana closure and hired two consultants, a hotel specialist and a residential specialist, to analyze the highest and best use of both sites and some of the factors that related to room count. They found and other hoteliers confirmed that the City was very much under-roomed. That was quite evident during the World Cup 1994 soccer games. The City had a very high occupancy in hotels that were new or recently rehabilitated. That was not true of the older hotel stock. Therefore, staff's expectations were that a new hotel facility would have little effect on existing hotels if built right away. The new hotel would supply the Stanford Research Park tenants and other sectors
10/11/94 73-472
of the community with service that they would not find elsewhere. The Hyatt Corporation was well aware of the proposal and was interested in receiving an RFP should Stanford University proceed after Council action. Council Member Wheeler asked whether staff had an estimate of cost for the consultant for the massing study. Ms. Jansen estimated the cost would be under $10,000. There were very sophisticated ways to do the study such as computerized models which superimposed a hotel project on a site. The study was not expensive. Council Member Wheeler referred to the analysis of the City's ordinances and policies related to development review. She understood there was an ongoing staff committee that was looking at permit processing and asked whether the efforts would either parallel or coincide with or conflict with what that committee was doing. Ms. Jansen said both were parallel and complementary. One was more external; the other was more internal. The permit streamlin-ing effort would be related to better internal permitting process-es. There would be questions about development review processes, but it was more internally related. The other effort was intended to look at what kinds of applications were made for what kinds of activities, where and how they went, what they meant in terms of the development review process, how they might be changed, and what some of the best practices were that might make them easier to deal with. Staff had scheduled a meeting to make sure all was in tandem. She did not anticipate a problem if both went on at the same. Mr. Calonne said the work outlined in the staff report (CMR:464:94) was quite exciting. There was an opportunity to remake the way the City looked at public decision making and to push due process standards that had been viewed as a constraint. That was what he heard out of the Governance Element of the Comprehensive Plan. Council Member Huber referred to Item 4 of the staff report (CMR:464:94) and the last sentence in the paragraph that read "...consultants will lie in the areas of land use law, planning and zoning administration, and customer oriented internal processing." The City normally contracted outside for consultants when it did not have the expertise. He asked why the City would contract outside since it had the expertise internally. Mr. Calonne was not totally committed to an outside contract. If staff believed that it would be strategically useful to hire people with different backgrounds, he wanted the opportunity to do that. Council Member Huber asked whether the item would return to the Council with an indication that it might be carried internally.
10/11/94 73-473
Mr. Calonne said the matter would determine what special expertise and different perspectives could be used, at least on the legal side. He could not comment on the planning or engineering elements of it. Council Member McCown asked whether Council was really deciding to recruit, etc. The program was broadly worded and talked about City initiation to plan for and assist Stanford University in recruiting a hotel. She was more comfortable with the specific elements proposed by staff that were more narrowly drawn. It was not an appropriate role for the City to be actively recruiting a hotel for the private property owner site. She asked whether the alternative policy memorandum about housing issues had been in progress for awhile, and if so, whether it was something CPAC had already been struggling with. Ms. Jansen said CPAC had been looking at similar issues. She had a number of discussions with CPAC Co-Chair Will Beckett on housing and El Camino Real issues. The primary thrust related to housing. The incentive based housing program was a different kind of thrust from the one in the past. The City said it currently had incentives, but much of the City's zoning regulations related to housing. Housing in commercial areas was almost prohibited. Council Member McCown clarified that on November 3, 1994, Council would receive a different set of analyses that had not been part of the work done by CPAC. Ms. Jansen replied yes. CPAC had presented proposed programs and policies to the Council. Staff would discuss tools; economic underpinnings of housing; the relationship among housing, land values, and commercial land values; and density issues. All of those things went beyond what was presently before the Council. Staff would indicate the numbers actually achieved in terms of housing under incentive based programs versus those that were achieved under standard zoning. Council Member McCown asked whether there was another analysis being done through Economic Resources Planning, why that was not in the CPAC process, and why that would be brought to Council in November 1994. Ms. Jansen had not had direct involvement with CPAC, but Mr. Schreiber had. Mr. Schreiber and she had been working together on the memorandum. She believed they were in concert with CPAC. Council Member McCown referred to Item 3c on page 2 of the staff report (CMR:464:94) and asked when the implementation steps regarding the identification of alternative processes to proceed on the hotel site would be brought to Council relative to when Council would review the Comprehensive Plan process. Ms. Jansen believed much depended on the feedback staff would receive on Items 3a and 3b. She anticipated the time period to return with what needed to be done in the area of Comprehensive
10/11/94 73-474
Plan change, zoning change, and process would be in late spring if 3a and 3b were completed and there was a concurrence to proceed further. Council Member McCown queried how that would be integrated with the Comprehensive Plan process while leaving it open until Council was able legally to make decisions about it. If the issues to be raised in the housing memo caused Council to give policy direction different from CPAC, an entire environmental review process would be needed before being finalized by Council. Ms. Jansen said Mr. Schreiber had been a participant in reviewing the implementation plan, and it was staff's intent that the implementation program would be in concert with the Comprehensive Plan update process. Vice Mayor Simitian clarified that staff would not take Council where it did not want to go without discussing it with the Council first. Council had a three- to four-year "courtship" of business, and at some point people would ask whether Council was serious or not. Staff was prepared to have some helpful discussions with the people who were interested in the issues, and if they presented something that staff believed merited Council's attention and possible action, staff would present it to the Council. Ms. Jansen said that was correct. Staff would give Council the next step at each stage so that Council would know where it would have to go in order to give staff further direction. She said it depended on Council feedback. Vice Mayor Simitian believed all of the issues had value. He was prepared to let staff engage the public and the business community on the issues. Council Member Fazzino wanted to be sure there would never be a point where a decision was made without Council. Council Member Rosenbaum referred to the fiscal impact of the staff report (CMR:464:94) which said "Fiscal impact will be addressed in a forthcoming Budget Amendment Ordinance, tentatively scheduled for November 14, 1994." He asked how staff could ask Council to implement a program and then tell Council how much it would cost in a month. Ms. Jansen said the only fiscal impact was the staffing for the Economic Resources Planning which was her position, an assistant, and a half-time secretarial/technical assistant. There was only a six-month budget for Economic Resources Planning during budget adoption by Council. Economic Resources Planning would be out of existence in January 1995 unless that continued for the remainder of the fiscal year. Staff did not evaluate the dollars in terms of the generalized fiscal impacts, e.g., what it would mean if a hotel were recruited. Staff had not addressed the pros and cons of Economic Resources Planning in the proposal any more than staff did in the original document that the Council considered. Council Member Rosenbaum had the impression that the cost of consultants was being discussed when staff mentioned the forthcom-
10/11/94 73-475
ing Budget Amendment Ordinance (BAO). Ms. Jansen said the BAO was to continue the staffing for the Economic Resources Planning function for the remainder of the fiscal year. Council Member Rosenbaum believed the economic liability would depend completely on what Stanford University wanted to charge for the use of that land, assuming that a market analysis showed there was a demand for a 350-room hotel at the Page Mill Road/El Camino Real site. He referred to the model at Stanford when the City was asked to share in the expense of Sand Hill Road; he asked what would prevent Stanford University from coming to the City and offering to share some of the expected revenue the City anticipated receiving from having a hotel there, calling it a public/private partnership. Ms. Jansen said the issue had never been raised in all the discussions with Stanford University. She did not expect Stanford to say it expected to share in the revenues in order to offer that property for hotel use. There was the service component to the Stanford Research Park tenants and the community. Therefore, there was some interest in Stanford Research Park that went beyond the leasing arrangement. The lease cost would definitely be an issue in the future. She hoped and expected issues would be resolved. Susanne Shields, President, Midtown Merchants Association, and member of the Board of Directors of the Palo Alto Co-op Market, appreciated the emphasis placed during a study session both on infrastructure and economic vitality issues. She bought a house in Downtown Palo Alto in 1982 so she could walk to the Downtown area. She had become very familiar with the state of the street furniture there. She was amused by the comments that the street furniture on University Avenue was the worst in the City. Midtown had no street furniture. Midtown had sidewalks nine inches below grade, inadequate lighting, inadequate maintenance, and no public landscaping. Ms. Jansen had stated the infrastructure would not be addressed in the Midtown market analysis because it was not an economic issue, but Midtown considered it to be a relevant factor in economic vitality and in the merchants' ability to do business. Many residents in Midtown specifically raised those issues as factors making it unsafe and unpleasant for shopping in Midtown. She read a letter from the Co-op Board of Directors (on file in the City Clerk's Office). A letter from the Midtown Merchants Association (on file in the City Clerk's Office) was very similar but addressed broader issues of the fact that people had been doing business in Midtown since 1927. There was a certain amount of economic vitality in Midtown, but there were many problems--infrastructure was one of the major problems. Susan Frank, Executive Director, Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, 325 Forest Avenue, said the Chamber supported the staff recommen-dations. In many other cities in Santa Clara County (SCC), there was a full division devoted to Economic Resources Planning. The implementation plan was scaled down from the original ERP docu-
10/11/94 73-476
ment. She hoped many of the initiatives in the original ERP would not be lost from the discussions over the next couple of years, such as business retention as it related to regional economic development, specifically, Joint Venture Silicon Valley (JVSV). In fact, Council had funded JVSV's effort earlier in the year. She met with Connie Martinez, who was the Executive Director of Economic Development component of JVSV. She hoped that the City would be interested in the Chamber's efforts in that area. Many people would agree that the Chamber was increasingly becoming a more effective organization in the community and SCC. However, the Chamber could only be effective on economic development matters if the City were a partner with the Chamber. The Chamber supported each element of the implementation plan: 1) finalization of the ERP for public distribution: the Chamber felt it was very important that there be a formal piece that the Chamber could use for its business retention and attraction efforts; 2) exploration of financing mechanisms to fund Downtown improvements: while she recognized Ms. Shields' comments, the Chamber did not say it did not care about the other districts of Palo Alto by endorsing No. 2. In fact, the Chamber had spent the last year outreaching to other districts, specifically Midtown and El Camino Real and California Avenue. The Chamber viewed it as a one-year program, and to focus on the Downtown in the first year made a lot of sense. There was already a market study underway in Midtown that would look at mechanisms to fund improvements to that district; 3) the Chamber supported the active recruitment of a new hotel conference facility in the Stanford Research Park. The Chamber had been involved in that process through the Chamber's Economic Vitality Task Force. Not only was Palo Alto under-roomed but also businesses in the Stanford Research Park were taking their business elsewhere because there was not a facility. The City had hotels that provided the service, but they became filled up quickly. The proximity to the Research Park was also an issue; and 4) the comprehensive review of all the City's ordinances and policies related to development review was also a good idea. The cost was really a staffing cost. She would argue the revenue impacts of supporting the plan were unlimited, and she knew that the potential far exceeded any cost to the City. A facet to the plan not mentioned was an encouragement to the Council to continue its commitment of an Economic Resources Planning Department within the City and to the role Ms. Jansen played. Finally, given Council's recommendation of priorities earlier that evening, supporting the plan might actually help fund some of those priorities in the next year. She encouraged Council to support it. Jeffrey Vaillant, 3412 Hillview, represented the Stanford Research Park Forum group that was part of the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce. He said the Forum represented about 80 different businesses in the Research Park which occupied about 2.5 million square feet in property and represented close to 10,000 employees. He supported the ERP that was before Council that evening. He said there was a Stanford Master Plan that had been discussed at a Policy and Services Committee meeting the previous week, and that group's consensus was that it was an integral element in terms of the Comprehensive Plan. Therefore, he hoped the Council would
10/11/94 73-477
consider what the Stanford Master Plan envisioned for the Research Park and for its development along with the Comprehensive Plan which fit well with the ERP. He pointed out from the Comprehensive Plan Business and Economics draft dated September 8, 1994, that in terms of revenues for the general fund, overall about $3.3 million came from the Transient Occupancy Tax, which was an important source of revenue for a city. A portion of the $5.5 million of Utility Users Tax came out of the Research Park, and the sales tax associated with the Research Park directly was over $2 million. The Research Park was an integral economic vitality to the City itself. The hotel discussion at Page Mill Road/El Camino Real was essential to doing business there. If the City were serious about housing in Palo Alto, then more had to be done than accepting only 10 units to an acre when redeveloping the property. Units of 12, 14, or 18 to the acre should be tried if the Hyatt Palo Alto site were to be developed. Council should develop the housing density necessary to meet goals. He cautioned Council on Item 4 regarding the processes in the City. As Council went through the process of review and permit streamlining, partnership should be considered as an important element. He suggested the City take the energy and the enthusiasm of the business community and partner with the community to come up with a better product. He encouraged Council to move forward with the plan. Alisa Fong, representing Board of Realtors, 610 Cowper Street, said the Board of Realtors had gone on record on several occasions in support of the ERP. The importance to the City and the community of the ERP could not be underestimated. Businesses provided and generated revenues which helped pay for the services that contributed to the exceptional quality of life enjoyed in Palo Alto. The ERP represented a creative and welcome approach to generate more funds to provide for the services without raising fees and taxes. The key to any successful relationship was communication. There needed to be a strong commitment from the Council, the City Manager, the City departments, and the business community to communicate for the ERP to be successfully implemented or for aspects of the ERP to be examined. The business community had indicated it was willing to talk and to listen, and it hoped the City would embrace that spirit as well. It was hoped Council would provide Ms. Jansen with staff support and accessed information crucial to the success of the ERP. The matter became simply providing direction and setting priorities. Council should move forward with the plan. Elsie Begle, 1319 Bryant Street, said in the summer she visited San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Mountain View and saw how those cities had grown and achieved much without all the labor pains Palo Alto went through. They seemed to accomplish a great deal of public buildings that were economically and artistically very pleasing. Lockheed had a community breakfast meeting at which they unveiled some of their research. The auditorium was crowded. A hotel conference center was a marvelous use of that corner at Page Mill Road/El Camino Real for Lockheed and other companies' benefit and eventually for Palo Alto's. Sales tax provided revenue. People who stayed in hotels were not local residents, so money came from
10/11/94 73-478
outsiders which was great. She urged Council to accept the ERP and support the idea of a hotel. MOTION: Council Member Schneider moved, seconded by Fazzino, to approve the proposed implementation program of the recently adopted Economic Resources Plan (ERP). Council Member Schneider saw the ERP while she was chair of the Downtown Marketing Committee. She believed the ERP would become a very useful tool in the marketing of Palo Alto. She hoped other business advocacy groups in the City would take part in it and share the design and input of the final document. The idea of the hotel had been around for a long time. She was hopeful that it would come to fruition. The other exciting part of the ERP was streamlining the permit process for efficiency. She strongly supported the ERP. Council Member Rosenbaum referred to page 4 of the staff report (CMR:464:94) which said "An estimated cost of $25,000 for design and printing of the document is anticipated, and will be included in an upcoming budget amendment ordinance..." Staff had indicated earlier that the BAO was related only to personnel. He asked if $25,000 was a good estimate. Ms. Jansen said the median bid from the graphics designer who prepared the original document was about $22,600. Staff included the cost of designing and printing the document in the $25,000. Council Member Rosenbaum asked how many ERPs were proposed to be printed. Ms. Jansen believed the bid was on the basis of 5,000. Council Member Rosenbaum referred to page 19 of the ERP, Roman numeral item V, regarding the use of traditional economic develop-ment tools, etc. He recalled hearing comments from Council that item V.D, "Use of the City's credit rating for loan guarantees to accomplish ERP objective, such as 'incubator' space construction, new hotel financing, or neighborhood commercial redevelopment," and item V.F "Allowance of deferred tax payments for attracting targeted uses to the City, such as corporate sales operations," were ones that Council was very unlikely to approve. He was reluctant to put out 5,000 copies of the document which had items that the City Council would not ever approve and that he would never support. Mayor Kniss clarified it was the implementation of the ERP that was being discussed that evening. The ERP had already been adopted at another time. Mr. Calonne was not sure what the Council had previously approved. He assumed that Item 1 on page 4 of the staff report (CMR:464:94) contemplated more than just publishing the five major points. If so, then Council had a role in identifying what it wanted pub-lished.
10/11/94 73-479
Mayor Kniss recalled when Council approved the ERP in July 1994, Council discussed how the implementation would take place. She believed if Council revisited the wording, that might mean all the wording had to be revisited. Ms. Fleming recalled staff presented a draft ERP to Council, and the ERP was then referred to the Standing Committees. The Committees came back with comments. Council subsequently approved the document. What needed to be done was to publish in final what Council had before then. Council Member McCown did not believe Council "approved" the ERP but basically "accepted" the Plan. Council Member Rosenbaum spoke of an item that several Council Members were concerned about. She concurred with Council Member Rosenbaum's concern of whether Council needed to go through the ERP and look at it more closely if the ERP were going to be published as an adopted policy document. Mayor Kniss said clarification was needed as to whether Council accepted the ERP or whether it voted to approve the ERP. Council Member Fazzino recalled that Council approved the ERP and that several proposals which Council Member Rosenbaum put forward did not receive majority support. Council's intent was to actually approve an ERP based upon that kind of action, recommendations, alternatives being proposed before Council, and the fact that Council went through that process. Council was focusing on goals, and the ERP had a number of suggested ways in which those goals could be achieved. He believed that Council agreed to evaluate the implementation plan on an annual basis to determine whether or not Council felt comfortable with the specific vehicles or approaches being proposed under the broad set of goals approved in June or July 1994. He believed Council approved the plan and goals and agreed to review the specific plan components or alternatives as part of the implementation plan on a regular basis. Mr. Calonne said there was a substitute motion at the July 11, 1994, Council meeting by Council Member Rosenbaum that was unsuc-cessful. Council Member Wheeler for the Finance Committee moved approval of the staff's recommendations re the Economic Resources Plan to: 1) initiate a Business Outreach Program; 2) institute a business retention program with targeted assistance to major revenue-generating areas and uses in the City; 3) develop a program which would assist in expediting the City process for existing businesses desiring to expand within the community, and for targeted new businesses wishing to locate in Palo Alto; 4) actively participate in regional economic strategic efforts; and 5) consider, on a selective basis, the use of traditional economic development tools utilized across the State and nation to accom-plish specific economic goals. The Finance Committee's support was for the general program outline and was not to be construed as a free reign to implement every item in the ERP related to the five items. Further, that a caveat which indicated that support for the ERP neither implied nor precluded the use of zoning
10/11/94 73-480
changes or financial assistance to any proposed development as part of any particular effort. Ms. Fleming reminded Council that the five items in the motion were the plan which was part of the document. Mr. Calonne said the motion read that Council specifically refrain from giving "free reign to implement every item in the ERP." He did not believe Council had adopted the detail of the ERP. Council adopted the five major items but specifically avoided adopting the detail. He believed Council Member Rosenbaum's question was one that Council left open by the previous action. Whether Council wanted to deal with it that evening was up to Council. Mayor Kniss said if Council wished to revisit the ERP goals at the end of the document, then Council needed to move to do so. Otherwise, Council needed to proceed with how the Plan would be implemented. Council Member McCown understood the goal was to get wider distribution of 5,000 copies, which was the point of the issue that Council Member Rosenbaum raised. She asked whether there could be a first page that would describe what the Council's action actually had been. The language could say clearly that Council adopted the five main points and there was not a specific endorsement of any particular detailed strategies. The public would receive the benefit of all the background analysis in the ERP. The ERP then could move forward. She supported the idea of a wider distribution of the document, but she believed Council Member Rosenbaum's point was well taken and what Council actually acted on needed to be communicated clearly. Ms. Fleming clarified there were two options: 1) boldfaced Items 1 through 5 would be printed with language about ways in which they might be implemented while being clear on what Council's action had actually been; and 2) staff would prepare a draft, return to Council for Council's review before it was printed and distributed, and Council would discuss it at that time. It would be better to separate the issues that evening and let Council deal with the implementation. Staff would decide which course could be followed. Council Member McCown's suggestion could be followed without returning to Council. If staff decided that would not be a useful tool, staff would need more information and would return with the draft for Council review. MAKER AND SECONDER AGREED TO INCORPORATE INTO THE MOTION that staff be directed to either include an explanation of Council's action as a cover page to the Economic Resources Plan or that the proposed Economic Resources Plan that staff proposed to be published be returned to Council for its review prior to publica-tion. Council Member Rosenbaum said Council Member McCown's suggestion would eliminate his feeling that he had to "picket" the specific details.
10/11/94 73-481
Council Member Andersen said Council heard concerns from the merchants in the Midtown area that the infrastructure needed some attention. There was already a program in place in the form of a market analysis. He asked whether the market analysis and staff's effort in the process would accomplish the concerns that were expressed by Ms. Shields or whether it would be better if Council included an amendment to the motion to broaden it from just Downtown to Downtown and Midtown. Ms. Jansen said there was a difference between elective and mandatory infrastructure. Staff addressed the changes that needed to be made under a redevelopment or a rehabilitation scenario. Issues such as moving the storm drain might be raised in conjunc-tion with the analysis. The analysis would not address elective infrastructure issues such as redirecting traffic at Middlefield Road and Colorado Avenue or redefining the carrying capacity, size, or configuration of Middlefield Road, which had been discussed at length by CPAC. The issues were not policy directed by the City Council. However, if storm drain water had to be moved, that would be addressed. Midtown presently did not have street furniture or other kinds of issues that were faced in Downtown. Lighting standards, etc., would be addressed under the redevelopment scenario but not to any great extent. Midtown had some serious economic considerations that needed to be addressed first and foremost prior to any look at infrastructure needs. Council Member Andersen appreciated the comments and was not persuaded to proceed with an amendment based on the need for an examination of the Midtown analysis. He clarified that would be reviewed next month. Ms. Jansen said that was correct. Consultants were meeting the following day with all the Midtown property owners and tenants. There was a questionnaire that was distributed and would be completed. Council Member Andersen said one of the main issues heard when people thought about quality of life in Palo Alto was the school system. One of the things that was not sufficiently addressed was the extraordinary dependence the school system had on the property tax base of the community. He became very concerned when Council made decisions with regard to property tax and property assessment issues without also giving some consideration to the ripple effect that that had on one of the major forces that people were very supportive of with regard to the quality of life. The same people who said the City did not need a hotel because the community wanted to maintain the quality of life were the very same people who often said how important the Palo Alto school system was. He wanted to make sure there was a connection. He supported the motion and recognized Council Member Rosenbaum's concern. He believed the City's competitive position made it possible for Council to be selective. Council Member Wheeler had worked hard to get a recommendation out of the Finance Committee that reflected the various viewpoints.
10/11/94 73-482
She believed there was a number of viewpoints that existed among the larger body of the Council. It was not an easy issue, and not every member of the Council fully embraced each one of the points in the five major points. She believed that Council Member McCown's suggestion was a very good one that would give the public a better understanding of the nature of Council support. It was important for the entire Council to hear Ms. Jansen and the City Manager assure the Council on the night of the acceptance of the plan that none of the elements would be implemented without further discussion and action by the Council. They had held true and fast to that promise to Council as evidenced in the item received that evening. She endorsed each of the implementation recommendations that were there before Council that evening. It was a good start. Council Member Huber agreed that the document should be distributed even though Council had not adopted the specifics of it, but Council Member McCown's suggestion was excellent. It would alert those who received the document of exactly where Council was. Council Member Fazzino endorsed staff's efforts. He believed the staff had done an excellent job with the implementation plan, and it focused on the right issues. He was pleased there was emphasis on the issue of a hotel in the community. It was a significant need, and if the City were going to continue to maintain a healthy economic base, it was absolutely essential that there was adequate hotel and conferencing facilities. He would concur that it was one of the few sites where that could occur. Ms. Jansen had clarified the process and the fact that it did not connote approval. Council had the opportunity to review specifics to evaluate whether that site was appropriate for hotel and then work later with Stanford University to determine which hotel proprietor might occupy the site. He was troubled by comments that came from the Palo Alto Co-op Market for several reasons. He viewed the Downtown area as being a very vibrant and vital retail market and one which deserved support on the basis of local residents and families as well as the larger regional area. At the same time, he believed Council had moved forward in the past few months to begin addressing the very critical concerns Ms. Shields had legitimately put forth regarding the Midtown area. He believed the City had achieved some progress there that was moving along on a parallel path, and he did not want the City in a position of pitting one area against another in terms of resources. He believed the City could do everything it was trying to do under the aegis of the ERP. It was a good start, and he did want to applaud the staff for its efforts in bringing that item to Council that evening. Mayor Kniss said Council Member McCown's suggestion would add clarification to the ERP document. The ERP was in place, and Council was moving forward with it. It was a landmark type of item. She commended staff and was pleased to support it. MOTION PASSED 8-0, Simitian absent.
10/11/94 73-483
COUNCIL MATTERS 7. Council Comments, Questions, and Announcements Mayor Kniss reminded the Council of the Centennial Finale scheduled for Sunday, October 16, 1994, and announced that there would be a reception for the Albi, France, dignitaries prior to the October 17, 1994, City Council Meeting at 6:15 p.m. She also announced the Stanford graduates reunion to be held on the weekend. Council Member Andersen thanked the staff for the quick response to the candidate to remove the political signs on public property on Embarcadero Road. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. to a Closed Session. The City Council met in Closed Session to discuss matters involving potential initiation of litigation as described in Agenda Item No. 4. Mayor Kniss announced that no action was taken on Agenda Item No. 4. FINAL ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m. ATTEST: APPROVED: City Clerk Mayor NOTE: Sense minutes (synopsis) are prepared in accordance with Palo Alto Municipal Code Sections 2.04.200 (a) and (b). The City Council and Standing Committee meeting tapes are made solely for the purpose of facilitating the preparation of the minutes of the meetings. City Council and Standing Committee meeting tapes are recycled 90 days from the date of the meeting. The tapes are available for members of the public to listen to during regular office hours.
10/11/94 73-484