HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-02-27 City Council Summary Minutes
Regular Meeting February 27, 1995 1. Joint Meeting with Supervisor Dianne McKenna .......... 75-115 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ....................................... 75-116 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF DECEMBER 5 AND 7, 1994 .............. 75-116 1. Application for Approval of Phases I and II of Final Subdivision Maps for Property Located at 245 Lytton Avenue, the Former Times-Tribune site (Tract Nos. 8694 and 8695) ............................................. 75-116 2. Conference with City Attorney--Potential/Anticipated Litigation ............................................ 75-116 3. PUBLIC HEARING: The Comprehensive Plan Policies and Programs Document Prepared by the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee .................................... 75-117 4. Recommendations regarding Withdrawal of Initial Grant Application for COPS AHEAD Program .................... 75-127 5. Council Comments, Questions, and Announcements ........ 75-135 ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned to a Closed Session at 10:00 p.m ............................................. 75-135 FINAL ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 10:15 p.m. .... 75-136
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The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met in a Special Meeting on this date in the Council Conference Room at 5:25 p.m. PRESENT: Andersen (arrived at 5:30 p.m.), Fazzino, Huber, Kniss, McCown, Rosenbaum, Schneider, Simitian, Wheeler SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY 1. Joint Meeting with Supervisor Dianne McKenna ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Lynn Chiapella, 631 Colorado Avenue, spoke regarding the Arastradero Lake Dam meeting. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m.
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The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers at 7:00 p.m. PRESENT: Andersen, Fazzino, Huber, Kniss, McCown, Rosenbaum, Schneider, Simitian, Wheeler ORAL COMMUNICATIONS George Parry, 510 Barron Avenue, spoke regarding 3666 El Camino Real as the Corporation Yard for City subcontractors (letter on file in the City Clerk's Office). Edmund Power, 2254 Dartmouth Street, spoke regarding integrity (letter on file in the City Clerk's Office). Crystal Gamage, 1568 Channing Avenue, spoke regarding an invita-tion to the City Council to a birthday party to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the League of Women Voters and the suffrage movement. Richard Gruen, P. O. Box 2351, Palo Alto, spoke regarding the Greer Park Truck Depot (picture on file in the City Clerk's Office). Joseph Ciampi, 555 Waverley Street, spoke regarding acts of discrimination against him. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF DECEMBER 5 AND 7, 1994 MOTION: Vice Mayor Wheeler moved, seconded by Huber, to approve the Minutes of December 5, 1994, as corrected. MOTION PASSED 9-0. City Clerk Gloria Young removed the Minutes of December 7, 1994. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION: Vice Mayor Wheeler moved, seconded by Fazzino, to approve Consent Calendar Item No. 1. 1. Application for Approval of Phases I and II of Final Subdivi-sion Maps for Property Located at 245 Lytton Avenue, the Former Times-Tribune site (Tract Nos. 8694 and 8695) MOTION PASSED 9-0. CLOSED SESSION The item might occur during the recess or after the Regular Meeting. 2. Conference with City Attorney--Potential/Anticipated Litiga-tion Subject: Significant Exposure to Litigation
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Authority: Government Code ∋54956(b)(1) arising out of the San Francisco Symphony's demand to cease use of the phrase
"black & white ball" (Gov. Code ∋54956.9(b)(1) & (b)(3)(C). Public Comment None. PUBLIC HEARINGS 3. PUBLIC HEARING: The Comprehensive Plan Policies and Programs Document Prepared by the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Commit-tee. This document contains recommended policies and programs for guiding Palo Alto's future. The policies and programs are organized into six areas: Community Design, Governance and Community Services, Business and Economics, Housing, Transportation, and Natural Environment. The policies and programs will provide recommended policy direc-tion for preparation of the Draft Comprehensive Plan and Master Environmental Impact Report (EIR) during Phase III of the Comprehensive Plan Update TRANSPORTATION ELEMENT David Ross, representing the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee (CPAC) Transportation Subcommittee, said the members of the Transportation Subcommittee agreed that while autos would continue to be primary to meeting most transportation needs, good alter-natives would be increasingly critical to the economic, social, and environmental welfare. He referred to the staff comments on page 16 of the September 8, 1994, review draft that indicated support for that view "Without planning for shift from auto depen-dence, it can never occur, even for future generations. Small steps toward that seemingly impossible cultural shift can accumu-late. CPAC proposes a new `paradigm' for improving the public realm, envisioned and described partially in the 1976 Comp Plan, but more specifically and graphically in this set of recommenda-tions...Staff supports the CPAC policy and program changes, with exceptions as highlighted." CPAC wished to continue and strength-en Palo Alto's stated commitment to facilitate and guide the shift in transportation planning. The prudent investment in the changes would pay large returns for future generations. The Draft 4 policies and programs suggested ways to identify and implement methods of incorporating relative cost in individuals' transportation use choices. The suggestions were extremely controversial and in some cases had been recommended for deletion by the Planning Commission. TR-1.B1, TR-3.D, TR-5.A, TR-5.A1, TR-5.A3, TR-8.E, deserved thoughtful debate as elements of an overall strategy to introduce market-based concepts. The public transportation infrastructure, especially roadways and parking lots, suffered from a lack of balancing. Overcrowding the only current market-based strategy did have a useful if unpleasant regulating effect. Emerging technology would provide the means to measure individuals' use of roadway resources and to provide incentives for nonpeak consumption if desired. Similar strategies for balancing parking supply with demand were less difficult
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technologically but were just as controversial. Typical concerns about market-based solutions were that the roads had already been paid for and it would ruin a person's business which depended upon close free parking to survive. Solutions that provided advantages for the community as a whole would be challenging to identify and put in place. The automobile supporting infrastructure was relatively fixed. It would be difficult to increase the number of arterials in Palo Alto as traffic growth demanded it, but allowing existing roads and parking facilities to become completely choked would be unsatisfactory. Proactive planning would allow an incremental and affordable transition to the eventual incorpora-tion of demand pricing as a decision factor for auto users. Several policy and program suggestions addressed the mitigation of traffic impacts at both the centers and edges of residential neighborhoods. It was a controversial concept with the amount of controversy usually proportional to the specificity of suggestion. Calming meant slowing when the current problem was excessive speed; however, rapid transit of emergency vehicles was a real concern that had to be managed. Properly implemented traffic calming measures should discourage diversion of through traffic from collectors and arterials onto residential streets. Another goal of traffic calming was to smooth out the flow of traffic, minimize rapid acceleration, breaking. and idling of vehicles. Palo Alto was moving forward with plans to acquire low emission vehicles for certain uses which demonstrated a commitment to cleaner fuel where feasible. The Transportation Subcommittee suggested that the commitment be incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan (the Plan), e.g., TR-1.H3, TR-2.A and related programs, and TR-2.B. The Planning Commission had suggested those programs be deleted. A general but strong commitment to encourage investment in alternate fuel infrastructure should be considered so that technology advances could be incorporated into future programs. The Transportation Subcommittee thanked the Planning Commission and City staff. Much of the work remained to craft a coherent and usable plan, but progress would not have been possible without the dedication of the City staff. The Transportation Subcommittee looked forward to working with the Council to define the plan and explain its purpose to the commu-nity. Planning Commissioner Victor Ojakian said the Planning Commission was in most cases in agreement with CPAC and in some cases it modified the plan. The Planning Commission disagreed with CPAC on certain programs that cost too much to implement and decided to delete the programs and wait and see whether it resurfaced again under Phase III, the Implementation Section. The costs for the items, e.g., ad programs, a kiosk, re-engineering ideas to reduce speed, and adding police resources to increase enforcement of certain rules, might be better defined at that time. The Planning Commission felt some of the ideas were inflexible such as a cap on Downtown parking and closing off University Avenue between Cowper and Emerson at least once a month. The Planning Commission believed some items were not advantageous to the public and appeared to be impractical such as market-based concepts and increased fees and/or reducing roads to lesser lanes. Middlefield Road might be the exception which could possibly be reduced to
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less than four lanes. Director of Planning and Community Environment Ken Schreiber said the November 7, 1994, staff report (CMR:496:94) transmitted City staff's overall comments on Board and Commission recommendations and the February 27, 1995, staff report (CMR:153:95) supplemented the staff's comments. Chief Transportation Official Marvin Overway referred to several areas that were highlighted in the February 17, 1995, staff report (CMR:153:95) which included: 1) the role of market-based pricing strategies; 2) the need to enhance and facilitate walking and bicycling facilities and environments for those modes of travel; 3) the importance of a funding source for a local transit system if that recommendation were pursued; 4) the role for new transit service in Palo Alto such as a light rail transit; 5) the impor-tance of CalTrain and cross street grade separation that would affect Palo Alto's future; 6) a major consideration of the proposed reduction and through travel lanes on three important arterial streets; and 7) the major cost implications of the recommendations. Douglas Moran, 790 Matadero Avenue, said Barron Park Association (BPA) was a very different neighborhood and it wanted to avoid programs that broadly addressed problems in specific neighbor-hoods. BPA was satisfied with the current state of the residential streets but was concerned about the arterials adjacent to the neighborhood. BPA was also concerned about measures that would decrease the utility or attractiveness of Arastradero. The revitalization of the business district along South El Camino Real was vitally important. BPA supported the general program of bikeways and pedestrian paths and the shuttle. The health of the neighborhood business district was important for traffic and for the viability of public transit (letter on file in the City Clerk's Office). Tony Badger, 381 Hawthorne Avenue, said during the Plan public scoping process, citizens identified traffic as their main concern. The entire Downtown commercial development bounded by Alma Street and Middlefield Road and Lytton to Forest Avenue was 2.2 million square feet, and the City had great problems dealing with the traffic it generated. The Sand Hill development would give the City 4 million square feet of new development. According to City studies, the use of bicycles had declined by a factor of two over the prior ten years as alternative transportation. He suggested that air quality and danger of collision by increased traffic was the reason. He believed there was an inverse relationship between the number of cars on the road and bicycle use. The City could not meet the citizens' main concern with the direction it was now headed. Mary Jane Wolf, PTA Traffic Safety Representative, Ohlone Elemen-tary School, 745 San Carlos Court, referred to a report that was developed by an ad hoc committee of the City/School Traffic Safety Committee that surveyed almost 400 parents of elementary and middle school children. The survey showed that 45 percent of the
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parents drove their children alone to school three or more days per week. A majority of the parents were interested in an alternative form of transportation. She asked the Council to consider the report when drafting the final Plan and the safety of the children's commute to school. She urged the Council to support one of the major goals of the Plan to reduce single-occupancy vehicles (letter/report on file in the City Clerk's Office). Council Member Andersen said Ohlone and Hoover Elementary Schools were in remote residential areas, and he asked the percentage for those schools. Ms. Wolf said the percentage could be provided at a later date. Kathleen Foote Durham, 2039 Dartmouth Street, said the PTA Council and the 15 PTAs at the individual school sites had endorsed the Safer School Commute Resolution. She urged the Council to endorse the vision statement, principles, objectives, and goals of CPAC's draft transportation section. Without shifting away from auto dependency, efforts to improve traffic safety for children on their way to and from school would not address the safety issues. The highest priority of citywide transportation planning was safety (letter on file in the City Clerk's Office). Council Member Fazzino said the Council would discuss the Police Department's and Transportation Division's recommendations on traffic safety at its March 27, 1995, City Council meeting, and he asked that a copy of the report be sent to the City/School Traffic Safety Committee. Bill Petersen, 228 Fulton Street, said TR-3.B1 had an unqualified statement to extend Sand Hill Road to El Camino Real. He urged the Council to qualify that statement. As written, it would be interpreted by Stanford University as an entitlement to do what it wanted on Sand Hill Road. He submitted as evidence Stanford's application for a 4 million square-foot addition in the Sand Hill project and its incomplete input to the Environmental Impact Report (EIR). During the Plan procedure, an innovative way was suggested to bring more traffic into Stanford Shopping Center to facilitate increased sales tax revenues, i.e., the extension of Campus Drive West over Observatory Hill and a new Alpine Road which would provide double the capacity and would solve the major problem of outward commute from Stanford. The suggestion would continue to be ignored by Stanford if the Council did not require that significant citizen input be included as part of the exten-sion of Sand Hill Road. The Sand Hill Road extension would bring significant amounts of new traffic into the City, and he said if the Council approved the staff recommendation, it would be a vote to increase the traffic into Palo Alto. Joseph Violette, 95 Crescent Drive, said CPAC had many good remedial recommendations for calming and smoothing the traffic. He said the Transportation Section did not match the development plans of the City and that there was no master traffic plan for the City. The City needed to look at major additional connections
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to the Dumbarton Bridge and more utilization of Highway 280 (letter on file in the City Clerk's Office). Margaret Feuer, 1310 University Avenue, said one of the most attainable solutions to current traffic congestion in the neigh-borhoods was the creation of residential arterials suggested on page 10 of the Transportation Element. The Crescent Park Neigh-borhood Association (CPNA) urged the Council to implement the creation of residential arterials. University Avenue provided the most immediate opportunity to achieve the goals of residential arterial and it was the arterial most in need of the policy. A residential arterial was an arterial which was redesigned through calming devices, e.g., median strips, bumpouts, planters, pro-tected bike lanes, architecturally pleasing one-lane entrances, and more red lights timed at 25 miles per hour. Residential arterials would demonstrate that the City cared about its resi-dents and expected visitors and commuters to participate in that caring. The CPNA began discussion two years prior with Mr. Overway about the possibility of planted median strips along University Avenue. The advantages of the strips far surpassed the disadvantages. Staff noted on pages 10 and 10A that median strips would improve the aesthetics and physical environment for all users and reduce nonpermeable surface. In addition, staff stated that residential arterials needed traffic calming devices such as median strips and other "changes in roadway conditions" in order to accomplish the Police Department goal of making "drivers feel unsafe driving at excess of the posted speed limits." University Avenue was the shortest arterial and would be the logical test case for the cost of median strips. Planted median strips and other calming devices were priorities of the University Avenue residents. Residential arterials needed to be recognized as parts of the neighborhoods. Those amenities would compensate for the fact that the residential neighborhoods bore the brunt of Palo Alto's traffic on the arterials and would bear the brunt of much of the development in other areas of the Plan. Harlan Pinto, 1845 University Avenue, referred to Goal TR-3.F, "Review Palo Alto's through truck routes and GVW limits to consider: differences between Palo Alto and neighboring jurisdic-tions; the environmental and economic effects of current 7-ton limit vs. 3-ton; two levels of GVW limits (e.g., 3-ton general, 7-ton on Oregon Expressway); minor, if any revisions to through routes for heavy trucks)" on page 10 of the Draft Plan, specifically to support the need for residential arterial street categories and to incorporate a 3-ton truck limit on the residen-tial arterials. It would improve the safety and protect the quality of life for the residents who lived along and used the streets. Trucks were a greater physical hazard to pedestrians, bicycles, and other motorists. Large trucks were a major source of air and noise pollution which compromised the quality of life on the street. The problem on University Avenue had been docu-mented by City staff. In a 12-hour survey, 27 percent of the trucks were over the present 7-ton limit on residential streets. Older communities needed to adopt residential arterials to maintain the character of the community as the City experienced greater development. A major truck route, Willow Road, was
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changed to 3 tons in July 1992, and the CPNA had collected signatures to petition the Council to lower the limit on Univer-sity Avenue. CPNA believed the vision embodied by the 3-ton truck limit program and residential arterials would provide safer and quieter residential arterials. It was appropriate to support those goals in the Plan. Herb Borock, 2731 Byron Street, said the land use policies and programs that the Council had tentatively adopted in the Business and Economics and Housing Sections of the Draft Plan would need transportation programs and policies to make them work. The draft Transportation Section was a fantasy document that would not make the programs and policies work for the land use elements. The City needed workable transportation systems in place prior to the intensification of land use development that was called for in the previous two elements or the standards of acceptable transpor-tation systems would have to continue to change. He said TR-1.J2, "Evaluate and test a Marguerite-type local transit shuttle system. Implement consistent, frequent shuttles in both directions around a city-wide loop, with stops at or near schools, community centers and commercial destinations. Design for a maximum wait of 12 minutes. Collaborate with other local jurisdictions as appropriate (e.g., Stanford)," spoke about a 12-minute shuttle time, but the consultant said for a shuttle to make sense would need a 5-minute headway. A 12-minute waiting time would be a 24-minute headway. The language should be restored regarding Sand Hill Road to the current Program 19 regarding a connection to Alma Street which was a Council policy. It would be a mistake to have Oregon Expressway as a truck route. The direct route should be from Sand Hill Road to Dumbarton Bridge through Willow Road in Menlo Park. Andy Coe, Director of Community Relations, Stanford University, applauded and supported the direction outlined in the opening vision statement, general principles, and transportation objec-tives. It was a direction that called for the reduction of the reliance on the automobile and encouragement of alternative means of travel and movement. The vision statement, general principles, and objectives were similar to the direction and language of Stanford's recently completed 1995 Transit Plan that outlined programs and plans for the future years. Forty-five percent of Stanford's employees came to work by means other than the single-occupancy vehicle. Stanford had already been able to meet the 13 requirements set by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) regulations for 1997. Stanford recognized it had achieved impressive results, but it felt it needed to be even more aggressive and creative in its efforts to promote a more well balanced transportation system. Stanford looked forward to working with Palo Alto to achieve common goals and objectives in that important arena. Stanford favored the staff comments that encouraged the development of a Marguerite-type local transit system to circulate throughout the City. Stanford was currently working on expanding the Marguerite shuttle system and looked forward to working with the City on joint projects in that area. He said Stanford looked forward to working with the City in the establishment of shuttle service between the Stanford Shopping
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Center and Downtown and transit centers as well as shuttle service between the major employment centers and business districts. Stanford believed consideration should be given to the proposed new policy that would allow the Council to approve a project based on its overall benefit regardless of traffic impacts at adjacent intersections. It would make it easier to consider the true effects of mixed use development and housing near transportation and employment centers. Stanford welcomed the inclusion of and offered its support for TR-3.B, "Participate in design and implementation of a comprehensive solution to traffic circulation problems near Stanford Shopping and Medical Centers" that called for a comprehensive solution to traffic circulation problems near Stanford Shopping and Medical Centers. Stanford felt the proposed extension of Sand Hill Road and other proposed circulation improvements would assist Palo Alto in fulfilling that policy. Stanford looked forward to the discussion on transportation and to further opportunities to work with the Council and the residents on that important public policy arena in the future. Cathie Lehrberg, 1085 University Avenue, said the Transportation Section contained many high ideals and goals, but it did little to address traffic problems that were currently in the City and problems that would be created if the development suggested in the other areas of the Plan were allowed. There was no time line for the implementation of the Transportation Section ideas, and the suggestions needed to be working effectively before further development was allowed. Development carried a high price in terms of traffic, and many residents were not willing to put up with increased traffic intrusions into their lives. Traffic was the problem in Palo Alto and the jammed arterials that spilled over onto quiet streets. The people who lived along an arterial were not considered neighbors or residents or a neighborhood as defined by CPAC. Neighbors were pitted against one another in an effort to move traffic off their own street. The City refused to recognize that growth without traffic enforcement, a new creative auto route, and real incentives for non-auto use was impossible. Goal TR-1.I which stated "improve access to Palo Alto's regional destination with minimum impacts on the community" was meaningless without more. The shuttle ideas were not new and were discussed in the previous Comprehensive Plan. There were programs in place for commuters, but Stanford University and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation had not been held to Transportation Demand Management goals for shoppers and patients. She asked whether resources had been committed to residential arterials. Mitigations had to be funded and implemented as a requirement to development. Open space was not an acceptable mitigation to the people who lived in the fumes created by growth in the flatlands. Development benefited the whole City, but the price was being paid by a few residents. Rosemarie Beeley, 1530 University Avenue, spoke regarding the emphasis on children's safety, and she encouraged the Council to read the report prepared by the ad hoc committee. One area not emphasized in the report was high school traffic safety. There was a need for more education and incentives for high school age children to use alternatives to cars. She wanted the City to
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encourage the schools and the transit companies to work together and route and serve the areas during school commute times. She believed that TR-1.H4, "Work towards integrating public school commuting into local transit system," and TR-5.A4, "Work with PAUSD to evaluate charging for student parking" were directed toward integrating public school commuting into local transit and incentives to walk, bicycle, or carpool addressed those consid-erations. Steve Geiger, 780 Embarcadero Road, supported the reduction of the number of travel lanes on Embarcadero Road. The Friends of Embarcadero Association had come before the Council the previous year and had had two meetings with the Police Department and Transportation Division on the subject of excessive speed and truck weight. It became apparent from the discussion that the only effective way to solve the problems was to make structural changes to the road. Unfortunately, Embarcadero Road was too inviting for speeding and heavy trucks to shorten their trips between Highway 101 and Stanford University. Very visible and "feedable" structural changes were needed since the Police Depart-ment did not have the staff to catch the speeders and weight violators. The reduction of the number of lanes and providing bike and left-hand turn lanes and vegetation would make the street more attractive and would be one way to achieve traffic calming on Embarcadero Road. Judith Kemper, 326 Addison Street, supported the return of Homer and Channing Avenues from one-way streets to two-way streets. She liked the language that supported calming of traffic throughout residential neighborhoods and the City and encouraged bicycle and pedestrian traffic. She was opposed to the expansion of Sand Hill and Quarry Roads because it could not be done without a major impact to traffic through the residential neighborhoods north and south of University Avenue. She urged the use of the language "evaluate or consider" when referencing the extension of the roads rather than approval language in the Plan. The extensions would impact the neighborhoods south of University Avenue and plans for that neighborhood would not be addressed in the Plan. She opposed the restriction for the development of a project if it violated or reduced the traffic level at one intersection to an unacceptable level. She suggested that the Plan be available on the Internet. Council Member Kniss asked the City Manager to look into the possibility of placing the Plan on the Internet. Nancy Denson, 1068 University Avenue, associated with the comments made by the representatives of the CPNA. The neighborhood was terribly concerned about the traffic on University Avenue. She urged the Council to support the citizens. Bob Moss, 4010 Orme Street, spoke on behalf of the Community Association of Neighborhoods (CAN) (letter on file in the City Clerk's Office). CAN recommended an additional policy under TR-1 which noted the conflicts between the reduction of traffic in single-occupancy cars and new commercial and residential develop-ments which mitigated against reducing traffic in single-occupancy
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cars. CAN opposed a recommendation for a new Policy L on page 6 and recommended rewording Goal TR-2, "Minimize negative impacts of transportation on neighborhoods (e.g., noise, air pollution and excessive through traffic)" on page 7 to read "protect neighbor-hoods against the negative impacts." CAN opposed Program TR-2.C5, "Reduce neighborhood street width and widen planting strips between the street and the sidewalk as appropriate when street changes are made," on page 8. The streets were already sufficiently narrow. CAN supported the staff proposal for TR-2.C6, "Change the first sentence to read: `Make new and replace-ment curbs vertical where desired by residents or the neighbor-hood.'" The present version would violate the recently adopted Barron Park street guidelines. CAN opposed Program TR-3.B1, "Extend Sand Hill Road to El Camino," since putting it in the Plan before the EIR had been seen could be considered an entitlement. It also opposed TR-3.C2, "Discourage/reduce curb cuts in front of businesses and encourage parking in the rear accessed by side streets before and after the shopping areas (e.g., Middlefield, Charleston, El Camino Real)," which was not appropriate for most of the neighborhood areas. CAN suggested that Policy TR-3.F delete the commercial traffic on Oregon Expressway. CAN proposed a new Policy TR-5.A, "Control parking in neighborhoods adjacent to commercial districts." CAN generally supported the overwhelming number of policies, programs, and goals in the Plan and the actions taken by CPAC and the Planning Commission. Emily Renzel, 1056 Forest Avenue, provided detailed comments on the Transportation Section (letter on file in the City Clerk's Of-fice). She said the overall thrust of the Transportation Section to discourage auto use and encourage alternative transportation solutions was good. The major problem was the Council's action in the Business and Economics Section and the Housing Section was inconsistent with the overall desire to have less traffic and parking intrusion into neighborhoods. She said that new Policy L was vague and dangerous. Traffic was a major problem in Palo Alto and should never be ignored. Program TR-2.C3, "Evaluate smooth traffic flow in neighborhood commercial areas by reducing through traffic lanes and trading the area for improved turning, land-scaping and bicycle paths," might be too broad and should be narrowed to reflect the realistic possibilities. She suggested it was premature to presume that Sand Hill Road extension to El Camino Real would provide a "comprehensive solution to traffic circulation and problems near Stanford Shopping Center and Medical Center," which would not be known until there was environmental review. She suggested Policy TR-3.F be reinstated. She cautioned that pay parking fee deterrents and the rainbow program would probably have a direct affect of driving commute parking deeper into nearby residential neighborhoods. She urged the Council to add on page 18a the suggested programs and staff comments dated November 3, 1994. She also suggested a requirement that the island on El Camino Way be faced inward to El Camino Way and not have access onto El Camino Real. Lynn Chiapella, 631 Colorado Avenue, referred to page 1 and suggested that the last sentence under General Principles, "This Plan also supports slowing of traffic in neighborhoods while
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maintaining access through the grids of the neighborhoods who live in them," should be the primary purpose. TR-2.C on page 7 should read "slow traffic to the speed limit" not "to within 5 mph of the speed limit." She referred to TR-3.D, "Keep all streets open unless there is a demonstrated safety or overwhelming through traffic problem and there are no acceptable alternative solu-tions," and said there were neighborhood streets that had 80 percent through traffic, e.g., Olive and Pepper. She referred to TR-5.A, "Move towards pay parking in business districts and shopping areas (including controlled parking in the surrounding neighborhoods)" and proposed that there be free parking for the first hour and paid parking for the second and third hours. She suggested that TR-5.B2, "In the downtown area, new development should not increase the total parking deficit beyond 1,600 spaces," be reinstated. She said TR-6 should address the needs of the children, and she believed the bike lanes should be analyzed to determine where children rode. She supported moving TR-6.A6, "Make auto lanes narrower and re-allocate space to bicycles on the street and pedestrians, except where a safety problem is created or already exists," to an "A." She supported the idea of if a project impacted a major intersection, it should be evaluated, not discarded because it only impacted one major intersection. David Squires, 642 Bryson Avenue, said the residents of the Midtown area were concerned about pedestrian safety, maintaining the throughput of traffic on Middlefield Road in the Midtown area, and minimizing the traffic overflow onto side streets. Goal TR-4, "Maintain or improve safety of streets and intersections for pedestrians, bicycle and motor vehicles," would improve safety and would put pedestrians first. He encouraged the Council to walk in the Midtown area and examine the condition of the sidewalks and curb cuts. There was a lot that could be done to improve pedestrian safety in the area, specifically TR-3.C2, which would be positive improvement. He was concerned about the reduction of the peak speed of traffic, and TR-4.C3, "Increase enforcement of traffic violations that compromise pedestrian safety," could help to deal with that concern. He wanted to see better enforcement of the crosswalk in front the of the Co-op. The throughput had to be maintained or improved and a left-turn lane or using bicycle lanes as a right-turn lane might help. He did not see a policy that maintained the throughput on arterials such as Middlefield Road which would take pressure off the side streets. Perhaps a right-turn lane could be added from northbound Middlefield Road onto Oregon Expressway. Jocelyn Baum, 909 Hamilton Avenue, had suggested about 10 years prior to study the possibility of a trolley-type Downtown trans-portation so that the parking and the money used to solve parking problems would be diminished, the economy would be boosted, and seniors would have a way to shop (article on file in the City Clerk's Office). Nothing had been done in Palo Alto, but other cities had moved forward with the idea. She hoped the Council would consider the possibility of that type of enjoyable vehicular transportation in the Downtown. Carol Munch, 1125 Hamilton Avenue, commended the people who put
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together the Transportation Section. There were combined old and new ideas that were interesting and innovative. She proposed that an additional objective be added to the third point under Transportation Objectives on page 1 to "require fully-funded traffic plans to protect the residential arterials and surrounding residential neighborhoods as a precondition to further development." She opposed Policy L on page 6, and she supported the 3-ton truck limits on the residential arterials. MOTION TO CONTINUE: Mayor Simitian moved, seconded by Wheeler, to continue the City Council's review of the Transportation Section of the Comprehensive Plan to the Monday, March 13, 1995, City Council Meeting. MOTION TO CONTINUE PASSED 9-0. RECESS: 8:55 P.M. - 9:10 P.M. REPORTS OF OFFICIALS 4. Recommendations regarding Withdrawal of Initial Grant Appli-cation for COPS AHEAD Program City Manager June Fleming re-emphasized that the matter was a withdrawal request because the City's original request was interpreted as a tentative application. Since that time, staff had analyzed the application and requirements. Police Chief Chris Durkin said the Violent Crimes Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 provided an opportunity to apply for grant funding through a program called Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Accelerated Hiring, Education, and Development (AHEAD). Staff expressed an interest in the COPS AHEAD grant funding to the City Manager and requested a formal application to obtain a full understanding of the grant requirements and condi-tions. After receipt of the grant application, staff had deter-mined that the City had been authorized grant funding to hire two police officers pending submittal and acceptance of the final application. The grant funding was limited to a maximum of $75,000 per officer payable over a 3-year period, and the City would be obligated to pay the balance of the officers' salaries and benefits during the same 3-year period, e.g., after 3 years, the City would have paid approximately $300,000 in salaries and benefits while only receiving $150,000. After the 3-year grant period, the City had an obligation to maintain the same staffing levels at an approximate cost of $150,000 to $200,000 beginning with the fourth year. He did not support continuation of the grant application process because it cost approximately $78,000 to recruit, hire, train, equip, and provide salary and benefits for a police officer. Although the grant was structured to cover a maximum of 75 percent of an officer's salary and benefits, actually the grant barely covered the City's first year expenditures for each officer. The grant funding would not include other expenses associated with some programs and costs. The management of a grant could consume from 0.8 to 0.25 per hour of a manager's time, and based on the existing workload, he
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preferred the managers' time be spent seeking solutions to problems. The positions funded by the grant would be restricted to specific community policing elements and could not be used for other general crime prevention program activities. He would not recommend pursuit of the grant funding at the present time because it was limited to police officer funding only. He believed the City had adequate police officer staffing levels to address the existing crime situation. He would recommend the City pursue a COPS AHEAD grant or a similar grant that authorized expenditures to hire civilian or non-sworn police officers because he believed adding police officers was not always the correct solution. He believed the City provided specific and direct response by police officers that acts of violent crime required. There were many activities that could be performed by non-police officers in other sections of the community who had the ability to address some root causes of crime. Vice Mayor Wheeler clarified one of the requirements of the grant was that the City would need to hire two additional police officers which would bring the staffing level up to 54 police officers and that the City would need to retain that staffing level for an unknown period of time. Mr. Durkin said that was correct. Vice Mayor Wheeler clarified after the funding stopped, the City would not be able to eliminate the two police officers if there were budget difficulties. Mr. Durkin said the City had a good faith obligation after three years to continue the same staffing level which was above the existing staffing level and to continue the community policing effort as originally designed. Vice Mayor Wheeler said the Council had previously discussed its desire to be more involved in the community policing effort within the Police Department. There were certain neighborhoods in the City that were particularly interested in having a community policing presence. She asked whether the existing staffing could accomplish that level of service in the neighborhoods that expressed an interest and still keep up with their present workloads. Mr. Durkin said yes. Community policing was meant to address areas where there were significant problems. Community policing was not a program but a way to link the police officers with the community. Expectations were created for both the police officers and the community to resolve any problems. Larger cities that had major problems had a need for community policing efforts that went beyond traditional police activities. Council Member McCown asked whether the staff understood when it submitted the request that the program would add people. She always believed the COPS AHEAD program was President Clinton's desire to add 100,000 more police officers.
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Mr. Durkin said all the conditions of the program were not clear. The one-page document spoke about 75 percent funding. The City Attorney's Office researched the grant after authorization was received to move forward. Council Member McCown clarified staff would have preferred to use the funding for some other aspect of the Police Department rather than increase the size of the police force. Mr. Durkin said that was correct. The City could do a lot more if the funding had more flexibility. Ms. Fleming emphasized that it had been difficult during the entire process to obtain the specific details of information to understand what the City's commitment would be. The initial response was a one-page document, and additional information could be obtained until that document was completed and submitted. Community policing was a philosophy supported by the staff. The City Attorney's Office assisted in the interpretation of the complete document, and telephone calls had been made directly to Washington, D.C., to clearly understand the requirements of the program. City Attorney Ariel Calonne said the requirements were called interim guidelines. The United States Department of Justice regulations came out January 18, 1995, and there were approximately 40 pages of requirements. Council Member Fazzino referred to pages 4 and 5 of the staff report (CMR:144:95) under Current Community Policing Efforts and asked whether sworn police officers handled the community policing in each of the example cases shown. He asked the role of the sworn police officer in the community policing area and whether the Police Department supported the idea that sworn police offi-cers should be at the forefront of community policing. Mr. Durkin said sworn police officers were involved in each of the examples shown. A sworn police officer was the first person contacted by someone reporting a crime. Police officers on patrol often did not have time to perform other duties. Police officers would have time as part of community policing, but he believed other personnel were needed to assist in the effort. Council Member Fazzino clarified the Police Department did not have a problem with the requirement to have two additional sworn police officers handling community policing but was concerned with the additional resources necessary to assist the officers. Mr. Durkin said that was correct. Council Member Fazzino said it appeared that the current community policing programs were successful. He asked whether the Council and the City should seriously consider increasing those programs. Assistant Police Chief Lynne Johnson said community policing was not a program. Community policing was a philosophy and a complete
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change in the way business was done in the Police Department. The impetus behind the philosophy was to change the traditional way of thinking by community members, citizens, and the Police Department that the Police Department would fix the problem. A partnership was formed so that the members of the community became a part of the problem solvers along with the Police Department. The Police Department's plan was to ensure that every employee, both sworn and non-sworn, adopted that philosophy. Council Member Fazzino said there were still serious concerns regarding the Ventura area, i.e., gang activity and other problems associated with that particular area. He said the Police Depart-ment and the citizens of that area deserved tremendous credit for the progress made over the last several years, but he sensed the problems were not solved and that there continued to be challenges related specifically to that area that needed to be addressed through the community policing philosophy. Mr. Durkin said there were still ongoing efforts in that area by the Police Department and many departments of the City. Council Member Fazzino was very enthusiastic about President Clinton's program and was disillusioned that cities such as Palo Alto had to turn it down. He said if the City had an interest in pursuing or increasing its efforts of community policing and infusing the Police Department and the community to an even greater degree with the philosophy of community policing, the City would be better off to deal with it through the budget process. The budget process would be a better option than accepting the grant. Mr. Durkin agreed. Ms. Fleming also agreed. She said the approach taken in terms of positive alternatives for youth and adopting the community policing philosophy had been extremely beneficial. The City wanted to expand that philosophy, but the grant would not offer that opportunity since it required the hiring of police officers. The City was trying to resolve the problems in other ways. Council Member Fazzino asked if the City wanted a long-term commitment to community policing but wanted to see more activity in the area of traffic enforcement, whether staff could convince him and members of the public that the proper approach would not be to enact the plan, reallocate some of the current staff activity to traffic enforcement, and focus additional staff efforts on community policing. He asked whether the City could accept the grant and then reallocate current staffing resources to support other important police programs. Mr. Durkin said the grant could not be used for traffic enforce-ment. He looked at the entire budgetary process and how many police officers and staff were needed to accomplish the tasks. He believed the current staffing was adequate. He was not certain the grant was in the City's best interest when all the other parts were factored in.
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Mr. Calonne said the regulations defined "supplanting" which was the scheme described by Council Member Fazzino. Council Member Fazzino appreciated the City Manager's and the City Attorney's significant concerns regarding the regulations, but from a political point of view, he asked whether it was possible for the Mayor to work with the local member of Congress and eliminate or reduce the inappropriate and overly difficult regulations offered by the U.S. Department of Justice to achieve the City's goals and the goals President Clinton wanted to accomplish when he proposed the legislation. Ms. Fleming said staff was not satisfied with the written regula-tions and had talked to everyone they could in terms of inter-preting the intent of the flexibility. Staff had not been successful, and Palo Alto was not the only city that had hoped the grant funding could be used differently. Other cities had rejected the funding for similar reasons. If the Mayor could change the intent, interpretation, and implementation of the grant funding, there was a number of cities that would be very pleased. Mr. Calonne said the regulations stated no waivers would be allowed. The political issue was the extent to which the federal government could intrude on a local issue. Council Member Fazzino clarified staff did not believe that the City could address its concerns about the inflexible regulations through the political process in addition to the regulatory process. Mr. Durkin said that was correct. He understood there were efforts in progress to change the Crime Bill and utilize the block grant process. Council Member Kniss clarified staff did not believe it would help to put any political pressure on the federal government even though the communities that needed it the most could afford it the least. Ms. Fleming did not want to comment on the staff's work or the decisions behind the recommendations that were made in other cities. She did not have any information about other cities' budget process, financial future, or political decision's. She did not believe the City of Palo Alto should make that commitment. Council Member Kniss was outraged that the City had to turn down a grant that not only had been offered but also had been celebrated throughout the Nation. Ms. Fleming said staff was also disappointed. Staff thought it would be a good opportunity. Some cities in the United States took advantage of the grant funding due to the difference in salary levels as compared to salary levels in cities such as Palo Alto.
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Council Member Huber clarified the staff would not have submitted the preliminary application if it had known about the inflexibil-ity of the regulations. Mr. Durkin said that was correct. Mr. Calonne said there was a comment deadline of March 6, 1995, on the regulations, and it would be appropriate for the Mayor to send a letter expressing the problems that it created for the City. Council Member Andersen agreed that a letter should be written that expressed why the grant funding was not workable. He asked whether the regulations would allow the City to transfer the funding to another community. Mr. Calonne said the money stayed in the state. Mr. Durkin said a city would have to apply through a different grant. COPS AHEAD was for communities with a population of 50,000 or larger. Council Member Andersen asked whether other cities had responded in the same manner to the grant. Mr. Durkin said the response was mixed. The cities that had pursued the grant were the ones with significant law enforcement problems in the community which could not be addressed by the existing staff. Council Member Schneider asked whether another community that was more needy would not receive the funding if the City pursued the grant. Mr. Durkin said there were criteria that had to be met. Mr. Calonne said the document indicated the money would stay in the state. Mayor Simitian clarified that part of the problem was the rela-tively high cost of salaries and benefits that the City paid its police officers. The program would work quite well where there was a substantially lower cost because it covered up to 75 percent of the cost of the police officers and their benefits with a maximum of $75,000 per police officer. The City would have a 33 percent cost sharing based on its cost over a 3-year period. He said there appeared to be ambiguity regarding the City's obligation to continue the program in the future. There was a suggestion in the staff report (CMR:144:95) that the expectation was that it was in perpetuity, but there was no language that stated the rules. Staff thought 5 years was a reasonable expectation about longer term. The City might spend a consid-erable amount of money for the program which might or might not work after 3 years, but for 3 years the City would receive $150,000, spend $300,000, have the opportunity to add two police officers, and put community policing in practice to see if it worked. That was a more appealing prospect. He asked whether the
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regulations stated that after three years the City could indicate it did not want to continue the program. Ms. Johnson had spoken with representatives in Washington, D.C., about the program who explained that the intent of the money was for seed money to either enhance or assist agencies to begin community policing efforts and institute that philosophy with their agencies. The intent was after the three-year period, the agencies would continue in the community policing efforts. There was no clear time period, but the representatives indicated that the intent was the police officers would be maintained in perpetuity. Mr. Calonne said the applications could be granted conditionally and specific monitoring requirements were defined on specific grants. The application requirement was that a city had to specify plans for the assumption of a progressively larger share of the cost in the course of time looking toward the continuation of the increased hiring level under state or local sources of funding following conclusion of federal support. The City would have to make a good faith commitment to describe a plan under which the City would seek state or local funding to continue the program beyond the three years. Mayor Simitian had not heard either from the City Attorney nor the staff what would prohibit the City from taking part in the program for three years. If the program were successful and had value, the City would shift funding to the General Fund; but if at the end of three years, the City came to the conclusion that it did not feel the program merited continued support from the General Fund, the City could drop out of the program. Mr. Durkin said at that point, it would turn into a budget decision rather than a staffing decision. There would probably be significant linkage to what had occurred the prior three years. The City might have a clearer picture about its obligation at that time, and there would be goals and accomplishments which would be part of the budget process. Mayor Simitian had not heard anyone describe that evening any element of the legislation or the regulations which prohibited the City from not continuing the program after three years. Mr. Calonne said the City could indicate it had a plan to attempt to find funding from the state for the fourth year and if the City could not find that funding, it would be grounds for discontinuing the program. The document was designed to create permanent increases in staffing levels. The application looked for a plan to accomplish that goal. The application would either be rejected if that criteria were followed or the City could be exposed to whatever federal oversight there might be. There appeared that quite a lot of monitoring would go along with the application. The application had to describe the City's long-term plan for maintaining the force, and the long-term plan seemed inconsistent with unannounced intention to revisit it in three years.
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Ms. Johnson had asked the representatives in Washington, D.C. what would happen if at the end of three years the City chose to use the funds to fund things other than two police officer positions. The representatives responded that unless the City was faced with a major disaster, e.g., earthquake or a major financial burden, it would be prohibitive under the agreement the City would enter by applying for the application. MOTION: Council Member McCown moved, seconded by Schneider, to withdraw the original application for grant funding for the COPS AHEAD program. Council Member Fazzino opposed the motion which was not directed at the City's outstanding Police Department leadership. He appreciated the staff's frustration with the application. He felt the intent of the legislation proposed by President Clinton represented several very laudable goals, particularly to establish anti-crime programs that focused on the prevention of crime, and he wanted the program to succeed. He appreciated Palo Alto's historic commitment to community policing and agreed that there needed to be more of a philosophy and a program, and he believed strongly the Police Department would increase its community policing efforts in the City. Because the program had been so successful, there was an ongoing need for community policing, particularly in the Ventura area, and he wanted more resources devoted to that area. The regulations appeared to be overly inflexible and the City Attorney's and City Manager's concerns about the regulations and bureaucracy involved were legitimate; but he believed it was possible to approach it at a different political level and try to convince, along with other cities, the Administration to convince the U.S. Department of Justice that the regulations needed to be far more flexible if indeed the goals of the legislation were to be achieved. Staff had presented the worst case scenario, and he recognized that if the U.S. Department of Justice followed through on the regulations it released in January 1995, the program would not work for Palo Alto. He preferred the City submit a plan now and indicate that it was the City's hope that the U.S. Department of Justice and other relevant members of the Administration would implement the program on a more flexible basis thereby allowing Palo Alto and other cities to implement the plan along the lines suggested by Palo Alto. He was troubled that staff was unable to answer the question of what kind of long-range commitment the City had to make for the program, and because the question had not been answered, he believed there was a possibility that the U.S. Department of Justice could be con-vinced to be more flexible in implementation of the program. Council Member Kniss opposed the motion because she was extremely disappointed about what seemed to be a promising program. She was also troubled about what would happen to the City with both state and federal funding if it did not fight harder for the funding. Council Member McCown said the staff had told the Council that it did not want to increase the number of positions or increase its budget to accomplish the level of service that the community wanted which was a momentous occasion. The staff report
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(CMR:144:95) and the staff comments heard that evening clearly indicated that staff felt it could accomplish the same principles that the program sought to achieve with the existing level of staff. She gave staff great credit for making that commitment to the Council and the community and declining what might seem to be an attractive source of funding when the long-term implications of that were negative for the community. Council Member Andersen said it was refreshing to have the Police Chief indicate that staff was adequate to meet the programs and philosophy that the Council had asked the Police Department to provide. He would oppose the motion if he believed the program would serve the community well. Mayor Simitian was concerned that the discussion about the adequacy of staffing at 52 or 54 was based on the usual criteria the City used to measure, e.g., response time. The premise of community-based policing was not about how the City could respond more quickly or effectively to a certain number of calls but how to make sure there were fewer calls for the long term. The issue that was difficult to quantify was the effectiveness of community-based policing on the reduction of the number of calls. The Council's decision had nothing to do with the number of people who spoke or did not speak on a particular issue. The Council was obliged to listen to the public and incorporate their thinking into its actions, but either the Council supported the positions that the staff brought to the Council or it did not. He felt comfortable making a decision either way on those judgments regardless of the number of people who were in the Council Chambers. He supported the motion because staff clearly indicated to the Council that the City would be expected to continue the program long term. He was not prepared to take $150,000 in federal money and spend more than $1 million over 8 years. The language shared by the City Attorney that "waivers were not allowed" was most compelling. He could not support the program if the City had to make a long-term commitment and a major expendi-ture of dollars regardless of the success or potential lack of success of the program and if waivers were not allowed. MOTION PASSED 7-2 Fazzino, Kniss "no." Council Member Andersen hoped a letter would be written by the Mayor that described the City's frustration with the legislation. Council Member Kniss said comments were heard during the panhan-dling discussions about the difference that police patrol made in the Downtown. She asked the Police Department to report to the Council on its long-term plans regarding that issue. COUNCIL MATTERS 5. Council Comments, Questions, and Announcements Mayor Simitian asked that the City Council convene the February 28, 1995, City Council Meeting at Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center, 2775 Embarcadero Road.
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Mayor Simitian read an article from the Sunday, February 26, 1995, San Jose Mercury News regarding an evening of dinner and dance at the Black and White Ball in San Jose. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned to a Closed Session at 10:00 p.m. The City Council met in a Closed Session to discuss matters involving potential/anticipated litigation as described in Agenda Item No. 2. Mayor Simitian announced that no action was taken on Agenda Item No. 2. FINAL ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 10:15 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.
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