HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-05-13 City Council Summary MinutesCITY
COUNCIL
Minutes
Regul ar Meeting
May 13, 1985
CITY
ALTO
ITEM PAGE
Oral Communications 5 7 1 6
Minutes of April 22, 1985 5 7 1 6
Item #1, Presentation of 1985 Solar Pal Awards 5 7 1 6
Consent Calendar 5 7 1 8
Referral 5 7 1 8
Item #2, Del of tte , Haskins & Sells Management 5 7 1 8
Letter
Action 5 7 1 8
Item #3, Hazardous Materials Storage Improvements 5 7 1 8
Item #4, Resolution Re Golden Eagles Women's Soccor 5 7 1 8
Cl ub
Item #5, Resolution in S !pport of KZSU Fund Raising 5 7 1 8
Campaign
Agenda Changes, Additions, and Deletions
Item #6, Planning Commission Recommendation Re Uses
of the Gamble Property, 1431 Waverley Street
Recess to Closed Session Re Employer/Employee 5 7 2 8
Relations
Item #7, Report from Council Legislative Committee 5 7 4 0
Item #8, Irrigation Improvements at Hoover, DeAnza, 5 7 4 3
and Ortega School Sites
Item t9, Approval to Proceed with P -C Zone Change 5 7 4 3
Holiday Inn. Expansion - Pacific Hotel Development
Venture
Adjournment: 12:46 a.m.
5 7 1 9
5 7 1.9
Regular Meeting
May 13, 1985
The City Council of the City of Palo Al to met on this date in the
Council Chambers, 250 Hami1 ton Avenue, at 7:43 p.m.
PRESENT: Bechtel , Cobb, Pletcher, Klein, Levy,
Renzel , Sutorius, Witherspoon Wool ley
Mayor Levy' announced that a Closed Session re Litigation, City of
Palo Alto v. Dillingham; and University Eiational Bank v. CTU-67
Pilo Alto and Employer/tmployer7erations pursuant to tovernment
Code Section 54956.9(a) was held at 7:15 p.m. in the Personnel
Conference Room.
Mayor Levy announced the need for a Closed Session re 'Employer/
Employee Relations pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a)
to be held during the Council recess.
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
1 . James Morley, 160 Waverl ey, submitted some pictures (which are
on file in the City Clerk's office) of the front of the
fireplace at 421 Everett, the property which was scheduled for
demolition. The tiles were rare classic, 1920 romantic
California scenes --a mission, Redwood trees, Live Oak, and
Yucca, and he did not want to see them demolished, He
believed the front of the fi repl ace could be removed
reasonably intact and be displayed in the publ is library,
Civic Center lobby or in the Senior Center.
2. Michael. Lee, 161 Hawthorne, re 421 Everett, said limited pub-
lic testimony showed near unanimous support for the preserva-
tion of 421 Everett as a community center and its retention as
a community managed park asset. He was concerned about pro-
ceeding with destruction of all buildings at the Downtown Park
North site, including dozens of irreplaceable established
plantings, fruit trees, exotic plants, existing recreational
amenities, and garden fences around the established community
gardens. The demolition would result in irreversible damage
to the proposed park site and irreplaceable loss of valuable
public assets. Restraint on demolition would not exclude or
prevent the City from roceed ing with the development of the
Downtown Park North schedule in August. The City needed to be,.
more ►incompromi sing in defending established fine environments
and human size historical scale.
MINUTES OE APRIL 22, 1985
Councilmember Renzel had the following correction
Page 5673, second paragraph from bottom sixth line, word *pick*
should be "axe."
Line 13, after word "to" should read , *a more un i form terrain.*
Line 14, after word "ofd' should read "a public land resource to
have...*
NOTIll3; Vice Mayor Cobb moved„ secea43# by X1eia, approwal of
tins Nf autos of April 22, 1315 as Corrected.
WWI PASSED swagiDrees1y.
ITEM #1 t PRESENT TION OF 1985 SOLAR PAL AWARDS (ENV 9) (CMR.286: 5)
Assistant City Manager June Fleming introduced Albert Keicher who
was a member of the 1985 Solar Pal Awards Committee.
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Albert Keleher spoke can bahal f of the Solar Pal Jury. He intro-
duced Trish Johnson who was another member of the 1985 Solar Pal
Awards Committee. The Solar Pal awards were sponsored by the
Solar and Conservation Program division of the Utilities
Department to promote and recognize important solar energy and
conservation projects in the residential and commercial sectors of
the community. The program was expanded to increase the awareness
of -students about the potential of solar energy as a future energy
option by sponsoring an essay contest in the Eniddl a and elementary
grades. He thanked the residents and business people who sub-
mitted projects .for° consideration. They provided a cross section
of solar applications and a challenge for the selection process.
He al so thanked the students who participated in the .essay contest.
and said they were impressed with the level of understanding of
solar technology and their uninhiuited view of potential future
applications of solar energy. The 1985 Solar Pal Awards Jury
recommended that the Residential Design award be presented to the
Reinbacher Residence project. The project utilized an existing
exterior space for the creation of a new passively solar heated
inter for living space while providing supplemental solar, space
heating to existing living areas and achieved a significant reduc-
tion in heating costs..
Mayor Levy presented Chris and Rudy Reinbacher s with the 1985
Solar Pal Award for Residential Solar Design.
Mr. Keicher said the Residential Solar Retrofit award was recom-
mended for the Mackiernan-C) ark residence. The project added a
passive solar sun space with a spa to a turn -of -the -century
residence. It provided space heating to previously poorly heated
living areas. The project included an active solar domestic hot
water system for both spa and regular household use. The resi-
dents also obtained a significant savings in energy.
Mayor Levy presented the 1985 Resi dents al Sol ar Retrofit award to
Mary Mackiernan and Robin Clark
Mr. Keleher said the Commercial Design award was recommended for
the Stanford Square downtown office building project. The owner/
developer of the project was Augustine Maxenain and the architect
was Tony Carrasco. Primary consideration was give; to energy con-
servation, and it incorporated mul ti -zoned space conditioning
systems reflecting glass to reduce interior heat loads and used
dayl fighting techniques to create the spaciousness in the interior
office areas.
Mayor Levy presented the award to Messrs. Maxernfn and Carrasco.
Mr. Keleher said the Awards Jury recommended the following stu-
dents for awards in the 1985 Solar Pal Essay Contest:
Middle School Award; Albert Chin, 8th Grade, Wilbur School
Elementary School Award: Parke Treadway, 6th Grade, Hoover School
Award of Merit: Henry Li, 6th Grade, Hoover School
Award ° of Merit : Ellen Pai k, 6th Grade, Hoover School
Mr. Keicher invited everyone to visit the.. projects on June 9, 1985
from 9:00, a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The Awards Jury thanked and recog-
nized . the professional support of Libby Dame and Rick McClure of
the City's Solar Program! division. They had provided a continuity
in a community -oriented program which was imperative for its
success. As citizen participants, their efforts were more produc-
tive because of their behind -the -scenes support
Mayor- Levy thanked Mr. Keicher, Trish, Johnson and Roy .Star°k for
being _ the committee members and judges for the Solar ' Pal awards.
Codncil+seenber Fletcher was pleated Council recognized- the various
efforts toefaros conservation going on in the community. She asked
that copies of the essays be pl aced inthe next Council packet.
CONSENT CALENDAR
MOTION: Vice Mayor Cobb moved, seconded by Klein, aEpprovai
the Consent Calendar.
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Referral
ITEM #2, DELOITTE HASKINS a SELLS MANAGEMENT LETTER (FIN 2-1)
((00:3-06:-51 - Re , to Finance A Public Works Committee
Action
ITEM #3, HAZARDOUS MATERIALS STORAGE IMPROVEMENTS (SAF 5)
tCi ; SO2: 5 )
Staff recommends that Council:
1. Authorize the Mayor to execute the agreement with the firm of
Emcon Associates in the amount of $124,417 for design and con-
tract administration services for Hazardous Materials Storage
Project; and
2. Authorize staff to execute change orders to the agreement of
up to $i9,OUO for modifications in the design due to unfore-
seen construction problems.
AGREEMENT PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING CONSULTANT SERVICES
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS STORAGE FACILITIES
CIP 84-23
EMCON Associates
ITEM #4,
1-3 )
RESOLUTION RE GOLDEN EAGLES
WOMEN'S SOCCER CLUB (PRE
RESOLUTION 6383 entitled 'RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF
THE CITY 'OF PALO ALTO RECOGNIZING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF
THE GOLDEN EAGLES WOMEN'S SOCCER CLUB AND RECOMMENDING
SUPPORT'
ITEM #5, RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF KZSU FUND RAISING CAMPAIGN
/PREP 7..1
RESOLUTION 6384 entitled 'RESOLUTION 4" THE COUNCIL OF
TtiE CITY OF PALO ALTO . IN SUPPORT OF KZSU' S FUND RAISING
CAMPAIGN'
MOTION P.*SSED unanimously, Witherspoon 'net participating.'
Mayor Levy presented the framed resolution to Max Ball of kZSU and
said that KZSU broadcast the .Monday night City Council meetings
since 1972 as well as election night results and other special
events. It was in .the unique position of relying solely upon
sponsorship from residents of Stanford, Palo Alto' and the
surrounding communities for its operation. KZSU was holding an
on -air fund raising caaapaIgn the week of May 11 to May 18, 1985 to
help offset station .maintenance and repair costs for the upcoming
year.-- The week's programing would feature special entertainment
events, es• well as public affairs news and sports cover age. The
Palo Alto City Council urged . that all citizens and businesses, in
_the City of Palo Alto . r'ecogni ?e; the excellent public service
.provided by radio station_KZSU and contribute to its supports
Mak_ Bali thanked- the Council.- He enjoyed commentating the
broadcast of the. Council seetings and it was _interesting to see
how the ,City worked
.Mayor.: -Levy- pre-sented the framed resolution to the Golden Eagles
Women.' s Socc ear Cl ob..: ° He 'said -it was , the_ first l ub-- of its, Kind on
the -peninsula. The. -_--Club originated in the " summer of 1983 , 'with
the --belief that 100-- women ' soccer players could strive for a.-
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higher level of performance. The Golden Eagles Women's Soccer
Cl ub brought national and international recognition to Pal o Al to
and the Bay Area. The world of women's athletics was an important
social and community function and the Golden Eagles Women's Soccer
Club won the California State Championship and would compete in
the National Amateur Women's Championship competition, May 16 to
May 20 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Club needed and would bene fi
from donations for their transporation, lodging, food and other
expenses. The Palo Alto City Council recognized the outstanding
accomplishments of the Palo Alto Golden Eagles Women's Soccer Club
and urged the citizens and businesses of the City of Palo Al to to
contribute to the support of their endeavors.
AGENDA CHANGES ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS
None.
ITEM #6, - PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION RE USES OF THE GABLE
PROPERTY ,1`WA LE -Y STREET (Continued from S/6/051 [PWWK 6-2-9)
.o:
Counc iimember Woolley asked about the public benefit of the Gamble
property if it was leased to the Garden Foundation. Last week
some speakers suggested it would be a good place to hold meetings
of the Palo Alto Historical Association or Neighbors Abroad. She
was a member of both organizations and estimated that a meeting
might attract about 75 people, Sne asked if that type of meeting
would be possible at the Gamble "property.
Real Property Administrator Jean Diaz responded that such a
meeting would probably not be possible. The rooms were not large
enough. The only facility that might be capable of handling 35
participants would be the main floor of the garage area in the
Carriage House .
Councilmember Woolley said as members of the audience spoke, she
would be -interested to hear what might be the unique contributions
as a public facility of the Gamble property if used as a garden
foundation. She realized a library, art gallery and cl asses were
proposed. No one addressed alternative No. 7, which spoke to
preserving the status quo and selling the house as -is wi th a deed
restriction as was done in the case of the "Squire House" so that
the property would stay intact.
•
Virginia Lee, 656' Lytton Avenue, said the Palo Alto Human
Relations Commission endorsed the concept of using a portion of
the Gamble property for the development of housing affordable to
seniors with low to moderate incomes. She hoped Council would
consider a mixed use of the property.
Dorothy Beckett, 1029 Ramona Street, spoke on behalf of the Lawn
Bowling Club. She lived in Palo AI to for 30 years and her husband
occupied their present home since 1920. They were bothmembers of
the Lawn Bowls Club and felt more consideration should have been
given for their Club to acquire a second green from the Gamble
Estate as they functioned at the present site for 52 years and
were good neighbors. A portion of the property could fit in with
the Garden Club. Last year, as presidents she tried_ to get
together with the Garden Club but was unable to do so. Their Club
was honored last year by being selected for the United States
Women's Championships for singles and pairs, which event was
opened by Mayor Klein, and supported by the .Directors of
Recreation and Parks and Open Space. During 1984, ._<7,368 people
played or watched bowling on their green. Ms. Gamble used to
watch the bowling and designed the first club pin, which bowl met-
bers exchanged with membersof other clubs as a token, of friend-
ship. Improvements to the Carriage House costing $200,000 seemed
t nl i ke 1y to '"leave the building looking as in Ms. Gamble's day and
the caretaker's cottage was already demo1 l shed . Changes had
al ready occurred. She suggested finding space for a second
bowl ing green. The Garden Club_ said it needed _:a tranquil
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atmosphere, which was a1 so the case for lawn bowling. The idea of
a parking lot with noisy cars and gas fumes was a terrible
thought. Apart from taking a much used playground area away, she
did not believe Ms. Gamble would have approved the parking lot
idea. If Council could not grant the Club a second green, she
urged that the existing area and the front gate not be destroyed
with an ugly parking lot as well as taking away a much used
children's playground .
Mary Bay, 226 Columbia, worked for the past six years with seniors
in a home delivery program. Through the program, she was aware of
the need in Palo Alto for housing seniors. She was al so a
gardener and found no controversy between housing on the lot and
the ability to incorporate a garden area. Nature, in its essence,
was not static and she suspected that people fn the Garden Club
had the expertise and imagination to incorporate another serene
setting while still allowing a serene setting for some of the
City`s seniors.
Laurie Stevenson, 31.91 Mackall Way, said her mother and father
lived in an apartment and were in their early 70's. Her mother
worked for four years for the City of New York before social secu-
rity began. Her father supported them both : and would retire
shortly. Her mother was dependent upon her father' s .social secu-
rity to ensure her benefl is . When he died, she woul cl have a hard
time without social security of her own and living on whatever
retirement funds he had remaining. She wanted her mother to live
near her so that she coul d help. It might even be that her
parents would require her help at some point should illness or
infirmity strike either of them. She and her husband did not have
the room nor the financial resources to do all of that, but
assisted housing in Palo Alto would alleviate the problem of
accessibility to their daily needs. If Ms. Gamble wanted to see
that seniors benefited from her land, she believed everyone could
understand that both the Garden Center and the senior housing
woul d fulfill that wi sh. Why children of peopl e who enabl ed them
to live as they did would consider senior housing as a blight in
their neighborhoods mysti fied her. Those people were not
strangers, they were their parents. WEy would they do less for
them than for their children. Just as parents would help their
chi l dren live near them, they should help their parents do the
same. They had earned care and consideration.
Wendy Brody, 710 Seale, was on the Garden Club Steering Committee
for the Garden Center. The Garden Club envisioned working
gardens, where peopl a could learn and do under the direction of a
head gardener . The cl asses were not cl asses otherwi se avail abl e
in Palo Alto; such things as pruning, composting plant selection
and care of plants. They also envisioned demonstration gardens
where people could see things labeled that did well in the area.
City staff spent many months arriving at a recommendation for a
garden center, and in six weeks were pressured into changing the
recommendation to a axed use. The public testimony at the
Planning Commission hearing showed overwhelming support for a
garden center on the entire property. The spokesperson for the
Palo Alto Housing Corporation (PAHC) said he would like to have
every avail abl a piece of l and for housing. Zhe agreed that
housing was an important element in City planning, but was not
sure that Palo Altar's wanted housing everaywhere. In terms of the
most appropriate use for the land, the Garden Club only asked for
the one parcel because it was the only property that offered the
unique opportunity to provide the public service to the entire
community -young and old, regardless of income, There was a corps
of volunteers from the Palo Alto Garden Club who offered their
talent and countless hours of time to spearhead that effort
because they believed it was what the community wanted. They were
not a private group asking for a handout of cheap space They
were _members of the community offering: to improve and :maintain.a
valuable, City asset and on ft offer the cultural ° recreation and
educational activities with: gardening as a central" theme`. That
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was not presently available in Palo Alto. Palo Al tares were con-
cerned about the paving over of the community and. the large scale
of some of the development. Much criticism occurred after the
buildings were al ready built. She did not want the same mistake
to be made on the Gamble property. The PAHC made fine efforts to
scale down their plates to a minimum, but the focal point of the
estate the Garden Club was trying to preserve was a 4,000 square
foot home. With regard to City planning, a garden center on the
Gamble property would help the City obtain many of the goals set
forth in its Comprehensive P1 an. Specifically, under the Housing
Policy, to maintain the general low density character of single
family residential areas, preserve older single family residences,
protect and enhance the qualities which made Palo Alto neighbor-
hoods desirable. Under other policies in the Comprehensive Plan,
provide parks of different sizes and types for diversity,
encourage privately sponsored community activities, and encourage
private preservation of historic and architecturally significant
buildings. She spoke on behalf of 26 other residents in the
audience who supported the garden center.
Marjorie Power, 838 Northampton, was a resident of Palo Alto since
1947 and a member of the Garden Club for 20 years. She submitted
a letter to the City Council (which is on file in the City Clerk's
office) stating that the Garden Club made many attempts to create
a garden center for the City. The Club was not a member of the
Garden Clubs of America, it was a cross section of citizens who
loved gardens and gardening. It was a small, independent garden
club of Palo Alto.. The primary purpose of the Club was to
encourage interest in gardening, horticulture, anti stic use of
flowers and plants, conservation of natural resources and all like
subjects, to educate the community in those subjects and to assi st
in the beautification of public areas in the City of Palo Al to and
elsewhere. Since 1924, the Garden Club annually gave books to the
Palo Alto Public Library; it did educational exhibits at garden
shows and Junior Museum; researched, updated and sold the book
The Trees of Palo Alto; maps of tree tours; tree tour walks in
parks and the Cul turiT Center; landscape architectural fees for
both City Hall and the Cultural Center; provided landscaped Red
Cross building and Crescent Park school; landscape planting at the
Duck Pond in the 8ayl ands; a garden tool shed for Stevenson House;
color spots of flowers throughout the City's streets; plantings
and patio furniture for the Palo Alto Senior Center; planting and
upkeep of Gamble gardens; and membershi p in 19 conservation
groups. Their members were involved in many other civic and
charitable groups. There were other locations for housing, but
there was no other location for a garden center. If Embarcadero
was opened to multiple housing, it was possible that eventually
all of Embarcadero would be an avenue of condominiums. Once gone,
the spot of green refreshment so essential to modern stressful
living would only be a memory. She asked, the City Council to live
up to its commitment of unbiased consideration of all issues and
consider the sincerity of the Garden Club's project.
Robert Catlin_ , 506 Embarcadero, faced the Gamble property, and
when his house was built in 1907, it was one of .about 15 houses on
the north side of Embarcadero and everything to the south was the
Seale farm._ What we S left of the Seale farm was the little corner
embodied by the bowl in§ green and the Gable property. He
believed 21 units was too large for the meager area of land and
probably not big enough in terms of the housing . needs of senior
citizens, and there were better sites elsewhere____ He was concerned
about the quality of life for the citizens who might live in the
senior housing complex if that was the decision of the Council
Traffic on Embarcadero was getting worse; it was noisy and there
ties little control of truck traffic and traffic speed. When the
Willow Road extension opened, he believed the situation would
worsen. He was told that the _ housing area would be :about 15 feet.
from the roadway itself. As " d result, "he preferred that the.
property remain status quo or that it be devoted . to garden use.
Diana Steeples; 3198 Ramona, appreciated the community's long hi s-
tory of cooperative and imaginative solutions auurig groups, and
found it sad that the Garden Club could not find an effective way
to work with other interests to combine their concepts with the
concept of housing. Given some of the problems alluded to by the
previous speaker, she believed cooperative planning to develop
garden apartments would compliment rather than harm the concept
proposed by the Garden Club. She was puzzled about the perspec-
tive that potential fenders for the foundation or corporations
capable of giving large sums of money would be "turned off" unless
the garden center occupied the whole site. Her experience was
that funding sources were excited by the opportunity of funding
projects where there was cooperative planning and more than one
organization involved to achieve benefits If the Council chose
not to have a garden center coexist with charming housing for
seniors, it should seek some wayto maximize the use and value of
the property and take active steps to find the other places to put
senior housing and see that it happened.
Peter taskovich, 751 Gallen Avenue, agreed that Embarcadero was
not the best place to have senior housing. He understood that
moderate income senior housing was a major need, and if Council
was serious about helping senior citizens, he believed it would be
better to sell the Gamble . property and use the proceeds to pur-
chase surplus school sites in South Palo Alto and provide senior
housing.
John Mock, 736 Barron Avenue, visited the Sunset Gardens and said
it was a showcase garder and served Sunset's purposes well with
pl ants from acrose the west, but it did not represent the sort of
thing one would. grow in one' s own garden. It was not a working
garden, but was rather oriented towards shoe,. He did not get an
opportunity to visit the Fiol i estate, but said tours of those
gardens were offered through June at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and
1 :30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and at every hal f hour 9:30 a.m.
to 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays. The cost was $6, which did not seem
like the type of garden center that served the purposes of the
seniors and many other people in the community. The proposed
garden center would provide a different experience --a quiet spot
to garden or relax, a mixed educ +tlonal experience to learn how to
garden or more about pl ants or the environment. It woul d al so
show plants as they were likely to . be found in the garden. He
visited the Gamble House garden last year and found many things he
decided to grow at home. He was al so concerned about high density
housing which would overshadow the garden center and radically
change the atmosphere.
Phebe Bush, 828 Northampton Drive, lived in Palo Alto for 35
years. After attending several meetings on the future of the
Gamble property and hearing presentations from both sides, she
believed each proposed project would benefit the citizens of Palo
Al to.. She suggested that Council take a broader look at the
entire community, rather than focusing exclusively on the Gamble
property. She asked if .it would be possible to think creatively
about alternatives available for one or other projects so that
both were not put on the same property. Trying to divide the use
of the_ Gamble piece would seriously compromise each project, If
the decision was for housing on the site, it eliminated the pos-
sibility of the garden center=- as proposed by the Garden Club. She
submitted that Council could approve both projects, but on separ-
ate properties. Since the Gamble estate offered a . mature garden
landscape, it was logical to use that for the garden center. Even
with the entire piece devoted to that use, it would be the smal-
lest garden center . in the area and minimal space for a compre-
hensive program. It Haight be the City's last chance for such a
project under the guidance of an established group. As for the
senior housing, it .seemed there were other locations which would
suit the tenants better and possibly provide many more units than
the Meager 21 proposed. She asked if alternative possibilities
were considered such ' as the City .proper'ty, on Park : Boulevard close
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to shopping and transportation. There was al so City property
behind the main library currently in use as community gardens
which might be used for housing units. Schools were quickly being
closed. The location of Hoover Elementary School would have been
ideal for senior housing. If the skating rink property exchange
wa s approved , she asked whether there woul d be space on that prop-
erty for apartments to serve seniors. Rather than be boxed into
an "either/or" situation, she hoped there could be some creative
thi nki rig on the part of the Council and City staff so that neither
would be compromised. If those thoughts were thoroughly explored,
she submitted they might offer a solution everyone could be happy
with. She opined that if there must be a choice between a garden
center on the Gamble property or the housing, the garden center
was the most appropriate use of the parcel.
Mary McCullough, 163? Emerson Street, said another possibility for
activities at the garden center would be intergenerational
gardening where seniors were. p the ire with students
and in sharing activities
es
of planting seedlings, cultivating gardens
harvest in food and flowers. A third grade class at Walter Hayes
School would like to participate in that program. Mountain View
had the program for the past two years and found that seniors and
the students gained much more than just gardening by just the
interaction with each other . For many older people in Palo Al to
who might be unable to go to the Gamble gardens, a program would
be designed for those in convalescent homes and senior resident
hospitals to enjoy gardening green things. Gamble garden volun-
teers would provide the advice and .suggestions and would help
those facil sties have their own garde n like at Stanford Hospital
Gardening helped ill people grow wel l . In nursing homes, horti.-
c ul cure could be a v al uabl a tool in hel ping people overcome
depression. Becoming responsible for a pl ant gave people the will
to go on. Recovering stroke victims used gardening to aid them in
regaining motor skills, and the garden center could be a catalyst
to all the other areas.
Lucy Corr ick, 656 Lytton, was president of the Residents'
Association at Lytton Gardens for two years, and .,found it to be a
challenging way to keep her mind active, and it provided a means
to help others and become aware of their needs. The people et
Lytton Gardens lived in an environment where social activities
were provided, friendships encouraged, and a concern for each
other was fostered. Rents did not soar out of reach and people
could live within a Iimited income with a sense of dignity and
eiell-being. They were grateful to have practically el iminated two
of the greatestconcerns of ,aging --financial. need and loneliness..
Her greatest sorrows were that there were not enough, places like
Lytton Gardens, Loneliness and insecurity were a terrible way to
end a life. .Everday people sought appl ications to reside at
Lytton Gardens and asked how long it wouldbe before they could
get : in if accepted. The answer was two and one-half to three
years. She urged Council to do what it could to provide similar
type housi ng for elderly people as it was badly needed
Anna Goldworth,. 890 fielding Drive, lived in Palo Alto for 28
years and supported a garden and senior housing on, the Gamble
proper ty
Lucy Smith.,. 450 Lowel I Avenue, was a 25 -year resident of Palo
Alto She submitted a letter to the City Counc 1 (which is on
file in the :City Clerk's office) in support Of a garden center on
the entire Gamble property She was proud of her volunteer pin
she received from the City of Palo Alto as a thank you for the
many hours she spent working in the Gamble garden. She hoped that
chance would continue.
Ma rc l a Yea to S• 1499 Caper, : was anti -Parking l
spas e. =
Tom Jordan, 474 Churchill Avenue, supported the garden center pro-
posal and said housing was a regional issue. The PAHC was a group
of people with a single purpose of providing housing. They did a
good job, but he believed Palo Alto did its share.
Tay Gallagher, 440 Melville, said Palo Alto's prime area amenities
were slowly being lost. Citizens were concerned that Palo Alto
was losing its character. The Planning Department tees concerned
about.. over°deeel opment in the downtown area and the residential
areas warranted the same concerns. If a multi -use project was
permitted on the Gambl a property, overdevel op:aent would occur.
The Comprehensive Plan clearly stated the importance of main-
taining the integrity rf R-1 zoning. Staff should be directed to
look at other Ci ty-owned or control l ed properties to accomplish
the: goals of :providing housing, i .e . the land at the corner of
Alma and Everett, or City l eased land on Mitchell Lane and the
Peninsul a Conservation Center on . Park Boul evard. Adding 21
housing units to the Gamble property would be an irreversible mis-
take. She urged Council support the Garden Club proposal which
would result in improvement and beautification of the site.
Bertha Montague, 487 Tyndall, spoke on behalf of the cooperative
group requesting affordable housing. The group resented being
treated as a "stupid group of old fuddle duddies with no good
taste, no aesthetic feelings, and the impl ied fact that they would
ruin the neighborhood." She supported the possibility of sharing
the Gamble property as Ms. Gamble stated in her will for housing
and the dignified use of the garden for the benefit of the resi-
dents of Palo Alto . The Senior Center was ready to provide its
help in the event of emergencies via van transporation, all social
services, and in the health department. She volunteered at the
Senior Center since it opened, and saw men and women without the
incomes to meet constant increases ,in rents and the general ri se
in the cost of necessities. Many lived in Palo Alto for years,
owned their homes and were forced to sell. The garden entre-
preneurs gave no thought to the possibility of "Future Shock" in
their pursuit of satisfying their egos and self-aggrandizement.
She lived like those people for many years, but business reverses
in the 1950's so. -called recession, followed by a heart attack,
which .killed ter husband 23 years ago, changed her contented
world . She had to sell her home and garden and hunt for a perma-
nent job in an effort to establish some type of income for her
later years. Upon coming to Palo Alto from Washington D.C., she
immediately became a volunteer at the Palo Alto Senior Center.
The first six years of her life in Palo Alto were fine, but the
last five years were a nightmare. She was caught with no means to
fight uncontrolled rents, faceless, corporate and landlord owners.
She urged Council consideration.
Joe Rol fe, 1360 Emerson Street, said the neighborhood al reedy had
many different uses. Me supported the staff recommendation which
included 21 units of senior housing, which was a small step in the
right' direction. The Garden Club's "all or nothing" attitude was
disturbing and uncharacteristic of Palo Alto traditions.
Ruth Morales, 386 Leland, resided in Palo Alto for 25 fears,
chaired : the Older Women's League of Palo Alto -Menlo ,Park, was a
social worker , in San Mateo County; ' and a member= , of the Adult
Protective Services. " She proposed the home on the Gamble property
be used as an of der adult shel ter for men and women in transition.
The Garble_ estate was only being looked at as a piece of property
witho'ut considering the heritage and the legacy of the gift. Ms
Gamble was, a single women and must have looked at herself and
asked ` where she would be if she did not have money, She would
have been in poor condition- as was the state of many women pres-
ently. If Ms. Gamble wanted to give the propert to..,.the Garden
Club she would have done so. The property was a legacy .of giving
to others less able that needed to be perpetuated, and° the City
needed to provide the leadership to develop , it. She supported
,:Plan 6 or PI an 7.
Tom Fiene, 342 Kellogg, said as they contemplated the critical
need for housing in Palo Al to and considered their personal
responsibilities, it was difficult to conceive of using land for.
anything other than housing. It :oust be remembered that there
were precedents for modifying the approach to land use for housing
in many circumstances. There was the •Palo Alto Comprehensive
Plan, which clearly stated as its main objective in planning for
housing needs to be the maintenance of the integrity of the
neighborhoods. There were special circumstances in which to
protect certain lands from housing and from all development such
as the Bayl ands and the green foothill s. He believed the Gamble
property, combined with the Garden Club offer, presented the same
type of special circumstance. There might not be many situations
where public usage took precedence over housing for land, but he
believed the Gamble property was one. .The PAHC was before the
Council in the past and . he hoped they would return in the future
to do their excellent work, but the Garden Club would not have the
opportunity to return. Now was the only chance for a community
garden center.
Priscilla Bates, 339 Kellogg, supported mixed use of the property
and was sorry there seemed to be no compromise plan. The housing
was necessary and unless Council was ready to name some other
specific site, they could not lose any opportunity for housing.
If the Garden Club did not want to share the property, she
preferred more housing on the property. She was concerned about
the plans for the garden center presenting an overuse of the
property.
Dick and Joan Van Gelder, 1520 Emerson Street, shared some slides
of the Gamble gardens. She was not a member of the Garden Club,
but used the .Gamble garden flowers rind mature trees to express her
passion for photography. A beautiful garden could be shared by
all. She supported the Gamble garden center.
Nancy Fiene, 342 Kellogg, urged that Council consider the issue as
being the most appropriate use for the particular property. The
Committee for a Community Garden Center offered Palo Alto a unique
opportunity at the Gamble property. She bel ieved the present City
Council would be remembered with gratitude if the community garden
center was established as Ms. Gamble' s legacy to Palo Al to.
Marde Ross, 1350 Forest, said the Garden Center proposal was well
thought out and fi scally ` sound . The Garden Cl ub' s need to ful ly
utilize the property made it impossible to blend with the multiple
housing usage. They were not comfortable being portrayed as
exclusive and-; selfish, when their motivation was to add a.": new
dimension to Palo Alto.` In spite of the portrayal , they could not
envision mixed use because the property was too small. If the
property were larger and was to be developed rather than restored,
perhaps a blending of uses ;could have occurred. The use plan
spoke far itself as it spilled over into current green space and
caused the garden center parking to intrude upon the gardens and
grounds they hoped to restore. The volunteer effort ahead was
extensive and they would need much community support to make its
successful If Council approved the garden center usage, she
hoped everyone would join as members of the garden center and use
the house and facilities for City events as well as private occa-
sions.
Mary Ann Young, 667 Tennyson, was consumed by housing in Palo
Alto. Every available residential site seemed to be subdivided by
developers. Palo Alto was saturated and its character was being
lost. Senior housing might , be needed, but the property was too
small. Cl osed school : sites were becoming available for housing
and she did not want the unique Gamble site to be reduced to
concrete and' stucco. She .urged that it: preserved for the Garden
Club. . Palo Altens were becoming=. increasingly disappointed- with
high density housing in Palo Al to. It was a rich source of income
for the developers, but a poor use of the environment.
Jill Willey, 668 Georgia Avenue, urged the mixed use plan for the
property. She hated to s e people, plants and gardens become
adversaries. Comments were made that the Gamble property should
be preserved as a reminder of a gracious past, and she suggested
that it be used to honor the City's gracious seniors with a nice
place to live in the community. She loved the idea of the cross -
generational use of the property for gardening. She suggested
that the 21 seniors who lived on the property might participate in
the development of that garden.
Bob Moss, 4010 0rme, spoke as President of the Palo Alto Civic
League. He submitted a letter to the City Clerk (which is on file
in the City Cl erk' s Office) , and said the Civic League's Steering
Committee spent much time discussing the Gamble House property,
and supported the Garden Club proposal. The mixed use proposal
was not a viable prospect since the Garden Club clearly stated it
would not accept a mixed use and build a garden center. The Civic
League liked the idea of the garden center, the scented garden for
the blind and it would be provided by private subscr ? ption rather
than public funds. The high density housing for an R-1 neighbor
hood was totally inappropriate. The Civic League supported sub-
sidized housing whenever possible, but strongly supported the
Comprehensive Plan, the first principle of which was to protect
the existing R -I neighborhoods and their integrity. Ever if the
four -tenths of an acre were developed at twice the density all owed
by the zoning, there would only be five or six units -not the
twenty-one proposed. A net of 20 units for seniors, since one
unit would be used for a caretaker, would have no significant
impact on the need for senior housing in town. With a two and
one-half to three year backlog for Lytton Gardens, twenty units
would only reduce the backlog by a matter of days or weeks, but
would have a significant adverse impact on the character of the
R-1 neighborhood in which those units were built. Allowing the
Garden Club to use the site would not be an irreversible and per-
manent change in the character of the land, housing would. In
terms of option 7, selling the property and using the proceeds
elsewhere, there was presently money in the land bank which was
not being used to purchase any sites. If the property were sold,
the amount realized would depend upon whether it was sold as nine
developable lots or as a single unit. He hoped the issue would be
resolved with less acrimony than the Trojan War, which began with
a valuable gift being given to a group of people. "If you have
only two robes, spend one for bread and the other for a flower
for your soul."
Stephanie; Beach, 854 Clara Drive, supported the mixed housing and
garden center concept. Filling a bucket a drop at a time even-
tually got the job done if a big splash did not occur. She could
not imagine the Garden Club's being civic minded when it refused
to share public property. If the 200 Garden Club members refused
to go forward with the garden center and senior citizen housing,
she believed the community coul d fi nd at 1 east that number who
would enjoy the challenge of creating a community center blending
the needs of seniors, gardeners, artists and the community at
large.
Janet Owens, 863 Moreno, preferred 36 units of housing as origi-
nally proposed, but 21 was better than : zero. Many would benefit
from the housing. Many suggested . the housing be put somepl ace
else, and peopl e al ong Arastradero Road suggested the Terman
boast ng be put someplace else: City Councllmembers heard people
suggest the Palo Al to gardens. housing could be -put someplace :e1.se.
There was not a housing site where soneone : did not suggest the
housing be somepl ace else. The Gamble property- was someplace
else. If scattered low-cost housing was going to be upheld as a
principle of the Comprehensive Plan, there were- not many chances
'to do it sensitively without being next to a neighbor in a large
lot, . single -family neighborhood The Gamble property presented
that oppo r tun ty 4 . She did not see whys a good garden center; could
be established an `2.3 acres, but could .not_ be done .en 1.9 acres
If
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5 7;,2 ;0
5/13/85
that was the case, once the basic needs of seniors were met, they
were a flexible lot and almost nothing on the land next to them
would keep them from wanting them to live in the housing. The
seniors would be appreciative and cooperative with whatever use
was there.
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1
Sam Webster, 335 Lowell , had to get permission from Ms Gamble to
marry hi s wi fe. He al so had a movie of Ms . Gamble doing the
"Can -Can" in the gardens at 1130 Bryant. Ms . Gamble wanted to
give the responsibility to the City Council to decide what would
be good for all of Palo Alto seniors presently living in Palo
Alto. He represented the owners of four different unitsof income
housing and they all had Section 8 housing, but people placed 1n
the Section 8's were not Palo Al tams originally. They came from
all over the world, but mostly not from Palo Al to. If 20 or 21
units were put in, :the people might be from anywhere. In the
1930's when Ms, O'Hara started the Junior Museum, she got a lot of
opposition because people believed it would not go. He equated
the Garden Club the same way in a different context. The Garden
Club and garden center would be the sage as the Junior Museum was.
now --famous all over the world for what it did. He hoped the
senior housing would be taken care of soon outside of the Gamble
property, and that the Garden Club be given the opportunity in
Palo Alto.
Nancy Denson, 1068 University, supported a garden center on the
property. The Gamble property was perfect for the project; the
community support was available; and the financial resources were
avail able through membership dues. It, was a community project and
there would be fund raisers. She urged no resources be taken from
the youth, seniors or health programs that were so important to
the City. No program would lose any financial support. The
horticultural learning center would be completely self-supporting.
She requested a garden center for all Palo Al tans..
Robert Long, 345 Coleridge, said it was important that the integ-
rity. of the area be maintained and the intensity of high use, how-
ever noble the purpose, was inappropriate for the location.
Regarding open space, it wa.s a unique site with special features.
There were two gifts --one _fro Ms ,: Gamble and .the ``gift from
thousands of people and hours of time that would be contributed to
the opportunity. If the property were to be sold, he believed Ms.
Gamble would want the funds to be used for senior citizens. He
was among many hundreds of people in Palo Al to who did not bel ieve
the property should be sold, but that it should be used as a
garden center.
Bob Woods, 2065 Emerson, w, s a member of the Board of Directors of
the Palo Al to Housing Corporation. He only 1 ived in Palo Alto for
about a year and was reluctant to speak out on an issue that was
dividing old nalehbors and friends,. Hewas a member of the com-
munity and deeply cared about its success in an environment that
nurtured its citizens. He chose Palo Alto as a place to live
because of the wealth of services provided to the citizens. Parks
and libraries, security and sanitation services, day care and
transportation :iere readily available. He was appreciative of the
somewhat sheltered environment --of the City. He was pleased
Council was considering expanding its services and presently took
his two -year -old to the Gamble property and showed :her various
flowers an ran around in the open space. That portion of the
Gamble property Suitable for :-a garden should be used as such.
Further, there were deeper needs in Palo Alto than just a - garden.,
Their .elderly friends who :made, Palo Alto such an appealing spot-
for ,a young family to move into, deserved .;to the extent prac-
ticable, to be able to 1 ive in' the City. They, had a. chance to
build housing for about 25 senior .citizens. It was not a stabs-
ticel question :of how ; many. units would : be added to . the housing
stock- , it was` --a. question of -shelter; for someone i a . desperately
- it . When he took hi s chi l d --to .enjoy the Gamble gardens he -
wanted- to know it - was not at the -expense of someone'. s
Anne Sal dick, IJ00 Bryant, resided in Palo Alto for 14 ,years; and
it was the first she heard about the need for a garden center.
She suggested Cogswell Plaza as a garden center. It was in the
center of downtown and no parking would be needed. It seemed the
most appropriate use of the Gamble property was senior housing.
Housing for younger people would introduce more cars and noise.
One Councilmember bel ieved 21 or 36 units of housing on the Gamble.
property was a :piecemeal approach to a big problem that plagued
Palo Alto for many years. Some conflicts were resolved in pieces,
and it might be the pieces were given by destiny. She knew what
was done with those pieces were life's work.
Frances Husner, 411 Adobe Place, favored senior housing on the
Gamble property in a multi -use plan because she believed it would
benefit the people who deserved it. The people of . Palo Alto were
open-minded, and cared about people as well as the beauty and the
natural resources of the area. Regarding people from outside the
community who would move into the housing, she could name almost a
dozen people in the room who would benefit from a housing project
without a two-year waiting list. As of 10 days ago, she was one.
The home they rented changed hands and they had to move. They had
a home with rent well below market value and now within four weeks
they would move from Palo Alto. _ Though she worked for housing,
she now knew how "they fel t about looking for an affordable place
to . live. She enjoyed Palo Alto and hated to . see it split by
emotional fighting. It was a competition forthe property and she
asked where the humanity was.
Thomas Cunningham, 340 Churchill Avenue, favored low cost housing
and strong adherence to a good zoning ordinance. He urged that
the zoning ordinance not be changed without an overwhelming reason
to do so .
Carol Yanofsky, 725 Mayfield Avenue, Stanford, spoke on behal f of
the many seniors she counseled in housing at the Senior . Center.
She was asked to speak because they were unable to go out at night
and sit through long City Council meetings. It broke her heart
everyday to meet with so many seniors who 1 ived in the area for
a long time, contributed to it, volunteered at, the Senior Center
and various other community organizations and could no longer
afford to live in town. She said 600 seniors went to them over
the past three years, and 76 percent hud very low income, which
meant qual ified them for the housing proposed .for the Gamble prop-
erty. Most of the seniors were women and the rent increases In
Palo Alto forced then out. They were often distressed and needed
other types of counsel ing as well . Once housing was found, their
entire state changed. Many found housing at the Terman apartments
bunt by the P*MC and those seniors were different people now.
She urged .those seniors be given help to stay in Palo Alto..
Madeline Stein, 2301 Waverley Street, said regarding <the struc-
tures already on the Gamble property, there was not that much
space and there would have to be off -site parking if housing was
placed on the site. Housing ,.,on the site would infringe on the
adjacent open space. A realistic and doable garden center pre-
supposed a project o• first-class quel ity and not like a sl ice of
Ri nconeda Park with two or: three raised beds.. There would be
extensive beds, wide paths for wheelchairs, demonstration gardens,
rose beds and many other things. It was said many times that.
senior housing was the number one issue in Palo Alto. She dis-
agreed and opined there was not one social issue facing Palo Alto
which outweighed all others. She believed the number one priority
for Palo Alto was to retain the varied and balanced community. If
any ore group or issue was allowed to dominate all other concerns,
it endangered the .diversity which was Palo" Alto. s greatest
strength. She urged . acknowledgment of the unique _City property to
realize its highest and boast use There was'; only ;'one Gamble
property and she .urged it be preserved .:intact to allow a private
citizens group to tackle a difficult but doable Job of funding and:
creating a comm 1ty garden center to benefit everyone..,
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COUNCIL__ RECESSED TO CLOSED SESSION RE EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
FROM 9:30 p.m. TO 9:4J p.m.
Bill Brody, 710 Seale Avenue, submitted a letter to the City Clerk
(which is ;nn file 1n the City Clerk's office), supporting the
garden center use of the Gamble property.
Mayor Levy said one 1 etter the City received reflected hi s
feelings on the issue and quoted: "A determination of how the
property should be used was of considerable importance. The deci-
sion of the City Council would affect a central and established
area of Palo Alto not only for the present' but for years to come.
In a very real. sense, the decision wi11 be a measure of our
r al aces. .A mea sure of wrna t we want the City to be, a measure of
what we want to handdown to the future. What.. use of the property
would most faithfully fulfill the letter and spirit of is
Gamble°s will? What in both the short-term and the long-term
would be best for the City and its citizens? To answer such ques-
tions, the City sta ff has submitted a recommendation which
appeared as P1 an 4 in the staff report. That plan designated
space for a garden center as well as a center for the arts so
desired. In addition, the plan called for 21 senior housing units
to be built along Embarcadero Road accompanied by a 1O -car parking
area buffered .from the road by a small triangle of grass, shrubs
and trees. This multiple use of the property recogni zed Ms.
Gamble's suggestion that older citizen s would become benefici-
aries, hut it would be hard to imagine a more inappropriate site
for senior housing." Mayor Levy said the letter reflected his
dilemma in that the corarnunity would benefit from both housing and
community gardens. Rousing was a significant need and under nor-
mal circumstances housing would be given the highest priority.
Staff recommended that a sma1 1 minority of the site be devoted for
housing. He found that recommendation whol ely consl stent with
both the Comprehensive Plan and with past actions of the Council.
Many members of the commurl i ty differed , and while they eg reed that
housing was a definite community need, it was bel ieved that the
Garmbl a si te, because of its size, 1 ocation and configuration,
would lose most of its value for community gardens if forced to
accommodate every a modest amount of housing. - He wanted to honor
the wishes of those citizens who believed a way to accomplish both.
of the objectives could be handled. Staff's''' -r=ecommendation spoke
to 21 units of senior housing on site , and he proposed the City
look for an existing complex of small apartment units off -site
that would be inexpensably rehabilitated for seniors. In return
for - making the whole Gamble site available to the Garden
Foundation, the Garden Foundation would be asked to make a commit-
ment to the City that would enable the City to make the down pay-
ments of approximately 21 units somewhere in town in a way that
would make it affordable for raodeeate income seniors.
MOTION: Mayor Levy moved, seconded by Witherspoon, to adopt
Alternative - UN, N, Garden Center without .Arts Center uses in Car-
riage House, es preferred plan with findings that it will not have
a significant adverse effect on the environment; and staff to
negotiate a one-year Option,; Agreement provisional upon staff
working out with the Carden Club, Garden Foundation, and Palo Alto
Haul tag Corporation a plan to develop financing which would enable
21 BXR nits to be made available *sometime in the future."
Mayor` Levy clarified that the thrust of the motion called for a
commitment to provide funding: for housing sometime in the future.
He did not ,suggest the funding be provided in advance, but that
the commitment`: be made. The motion did not call for identifica-
tion of specific housing property at present.
Councilmember Bechtel asked if prior to the garden center being
able ; to do anything about the Gamble property, ' another piece of
property or an .equivalent- for 21 units would need to be acquired.
Mayor Levy clarified that it was not presently necessary to
identify specific properties or locations.
Councilrternber Bechtel supported housing projects and was a strong
advocate. There were 20 acres on the Terman property and all of
the housing that might have been built on the entire parcel was
shoved to one corner on five acres. The land was used well by
keeping the existing facilities, playing fields, swimming pool and
tennis courts. More housing was not put in the neighborhood than
would have been there anyway. On the Gamble property, Council was
asked to put 21 units on 2.31 acrer,R, which- was about four times as
much as wa s built on the Terman property. As part of the second
part of Mayor Levy's motion, he asked for :a commitment to support
housing somewhere other than the Gamble property. She shared the
need and desire for housing. butdid not believe Council needed to
tie it to a Garden CI ub commitment. It should be a commitment
from all citizens of Palo Al to. As one speaker said, Palo Alto
was fortunate to have two gifts-- the gift from Ms, Gamble and the
gi ft from the volunteers of the Garden Cl ub and member: of the
community who already donated about three years time in improving
the area and would continue to work to raise the money. It took a
real commitment to raise $500,000 for the property, and to request
that group alone to work in addition for housing somewhere el se --
whether it be a commitment of property or time she bel ieved to be
an unfair. burden. It made as much sense to her as requesting the
group to build an ice skating rink. She requested the motion be
divided for purposes of •voting. She would support the first part
of the motion. She bel ieved it tried to do too many things on one
site to have mixed use housing. She continued to support housing
throughout the community, but would not tie it t.o the Gamble prop-
erty project.
Coundilrernber Klein was unclear as to what happened if housing was
not accompli shed .
Mayor Levy said the availability of the Gamble site to the Garden
Foundation would be contingent upon a lease, and one of the
elements of the lease would be that over time funding would be
developed sufficient to enable the City to develop 21 bel ow-
market- rate senior units to be made available somewhere in the
community. The funding could be through a number of annul
payments extended over a prolonged period of time or through a
sum of money committed initially as a capital investment. He
envisioned the acquisition of a presently existing smal1 apartment
complex where the down payment would be such /coat the ongoing
rents coui d then be at bel ow -market -rate. He hoped the down
payment would be part of the "total fundrai sing of the Garden
ro andation. In Walnut Creek, the Garden Foundation raised about
$1,4 million for their Garden Club. In the case of Palo Alto, the
initial figures indicated $650,000 was the goal of the:. Garden
Foundation.
CoamncilMemoer Klein clarified, ,as an example, that the City might
find 21 units at $150,000 per unit, and that the Garden Foundation
would be looked to for a down payment.
Mayor Levy . said the most recent purchase by the PA HC was $70,000 ' .a
unit, and he ..expected houeing for seniors to be one roots
apartments and fairly small, and to be available at $70,000 or
perhaps less per unit,
Councilmeraber Klein asked for ease of discussion, .1f units were
found at $100,000 per unit and .,they assumed a 10 percent down
payment that was $10,000, would the Garden Club be looked to for
another $200,000F
Mayor Levy said perhaps. He said the -motion woul 4 not` be divided -_
for purposes of voting. ,As, he saw the motion, part A was contina
1 gent upon part B. ; If part B_. _was unaeceptabl e, he suggested the
t:toti motion be rejected.;
Councilmember Klein enthusiastically supported the first part of
the motion, but was sorry the motion confused the issue with a
"Trojan horse." The block was unique in the City and he found it
to be one of the most visually interesting and delightful places
in the entire community and it would be sad to detract from it.
Council had a unique opportunity for all citizens to be in touch
with the soil through the horticulture project. The site was
beautiful, and the City's. use coupled with the energy and vitality
of a dedicated group of velanteers to produce something more than
what they had today, was something he wanted preserved. A com-
munity was more than just providing housing for people, although
it was an important goal. There were other goals and tieing a
Councilmember and making land use decisions was constantly a
balancing act. The joy of Palo Alto was a balance and the tricky
task was that whomever served on the Council had to keep that
balance going. It would be a sad day to start doing away with
some of those things that could not be quantified, but which were
important to everyone's soul, and beauty was. Open space was a
concern, and equally important was preserving the internal open
space of the community --Tittle spaces within the community which
were a pleasure to the eye. In the past, Council was able to rely
on private open space; a certain amount of empty lots, but those
were gone as Palo Alto real estate became so valuable. Council
needed to try and preserve a visually beautiful parcel such as the
Gamble property. Ms. Gamble gave a nice gift to the City and a
gift should be looked at differently than if it had always been
City land and was bought with the taxpayer's money. The analogy
was sometimes one got a gift on their birthday or Christmas of
something beautiful, but one would not necessarily have gone out
and bought it for themself, but on the other hand, one did not
return it. It was kept, and he believed the City should keep the
Gamble property as close as possible to what it was. The Garden
Club proposal not only allowed that, but enhanced it. Housing was
needed, but the Gamble property was not the only site. The second
part of the motion implied that if housing was not put on the
Gamble site, there would not be any housing and the City would not
be responding to the needs of senior citizens. Palo Alto did much
for housing, far more than almost any other community in the Bay
Area. It built some 1,200 units of BMR housing scattered
throughout the community. Other housing would be done. The City
did not need a false bargain to enhance its commitment to housing.
The commitment was there through many City Councils over the past
ten years and was one with which the City would follow through.
It did not need to be done in every single place and at the
destruction of the visual beauty of the community. He found the
two uses to be incompatible. He did not believe the site was
appropriate for housing. He agreed with Planning : Commissioner
John !orthway that the site would be too crowded, and rather than
having one fine garden center, the City would end up with two
mediocre things. He believed the second part of the motion was
vague and illogical. He saw no connection between a garden center
and asking those volunteers to raise money for housing. As
pointed out by Councilmember Bechtel, it would be just as
illogical to ask the Garden Foundation proponents to raise money
for an ice skating rink. The City had a goal to support housing,
and he did not believe it needed to be enforced in the manner
proposed. He believed it would be referred , to in the legal
profession as a "poison pill* approach; that is ' a condition',
attached to something you knew people who supported it could not
swallow and, therefore, 1 t was sortof a means ' to try and be, in
favor of something but really being opposed _ to it at the same
time. He strongly believed it was an inappropriate way for
Council to go.
AMEsDMEMZ: Councilmember_ Klein moved, seconded by Sutories, to
delete the proposal to tie approval of II.B. to housing off -site .:
add delete provisions after aOrd 'agreement."
Councilmember Woolley said much speculation was done about Ms.
Gamble's intentions, but that- activity was not proven conclusive,
and Council should _ be guided by the Comprehensive 'Plan. Many
points in the Comprehensive Plan applied to the property, but the
most important were to "protect and enhance the qualities which
made Palo Alto's especially desirable," and "to encourage and par-
ticipate in low and moderate income housing programs financed by
other levels of government.4 Council should also be guided by the
fact that the property was a sizable resource. Its value could be
estimated in different ways dependent upon how it was sold, but
it would bring somewhere between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000.
Council needed to be as prudent with the resource as it was in
allocating the moneys of the General Fund. To her, that alterna-
tive which best satisfied those two important programs of the
Comprehensive Plan --protecting neighborhoods and participating in
low and moderate income housing --was Alternative 7, to which only
two o r three people spoke. Alternative 7 would sell the property
with a deed restriction that prevented any subdivision of the
property so that it would be as nearly like the status quo and
would pre.,er.ve the quality of the net ghbcrhood as it presently was
and the money could be used to support a housing project. She was
concerned about the paving over of the City's open space, and the
15,300 square feet of parking, which was more than seven times the
footprint of the Gamble house. Everyone would agree that Ms.
Gamble probably would not have chosen -parking among all the alter-
natives. Other concerns, which Alternative 7 eliminated, was the
traffic would be greatly increased by a garde_ n foundation. A sin-
gle family house would generate 70 trips per week whereas the
estimates for the Garden Foundation were about 1550 or 22 times as
much traffic, which would be a considerable impact. As
Commissioner Northway said, there was little doubt about the
success of the Garden Foundation. She was impressed with its
dedication and thoroughness, and chances were the project would be
too successful and actually make quite a change in the
neighborhood. Council needed to remember it was a major
investment for both the City and the Garden Foundation, and if i t
went through, it was important that i t be available to the public
and it be self- supporting, which meant a great change in how the
property was used. Alternative 7 would avoid those problems and
the City hat a good precedent. The Squire House was owned by the
City and it was sold to a private family as a single family
residence with an easement which meant the exterior could not be
changed and the property could not be subdivided, which worked out
well. She was aware that only a couple of people spoke on behalf
of that alternative. Her second choice was Alternative 4 which
included the housing because she believed it was important to
preserve the diversity of Palo Alto and not just for the 21 people
who would lived in the housing, but for everyone. The neighbor-
hoods were becoming more homogeneous than they were 20 years ago.
She agreed with the speakers who said Palo Alto could not provide
all the housing, but believed the City should concentrate on
trying to provide housing diversities, which meant providing it at
the low end of the scale as close as possible to below market.
Something was done, but the housing the it would bring for the
elderly so far was 24 units at Terman, 8 at Webster -Woad, 8 at
Colorado Park and 14 others for a total of 54 in the whole City.
Sylvia Seman had informed Council they could give preference to
those people who lived or worked in Palo Alto. The City was
permitted to give such preference that other developments in Palo
Alto did not wish to give. If the project were built by the PAHC,
the distinction would be made. In terms of Alternative 4, people
had roots too, and they were being pulled up by their roots and.
moved to someplace else, which needed to be Considered in the
Council's decision The Peninsula Conservation Center (PCC) site
on Park Boulevard was mentioned often as an alternative housing
site. It had the advantage of being near the Co-op, bit it had
the disadvantage of not being easily accessible to the Senior
Center or the. Clinic, whereas the Gamble site had the advantage of
beingnear both those ,fail hies The other problem with the PCC
site was that it was Occupied. Another site was the park at El
Camino, but the problem - there was that the lease was up in the
year 201.3 so that it was not a long -terra' site. The water tower
site on Alma Street was mentioned_ to her, but that was only
5 °7 3 2
5/13/85
A g71l,10
two -tenths of an acre and staff suggested the City would probably
be better off selling it and using the proceeds rather than trying
to build housing on the small site. RPgardi ng school sites and
whether the City could buy part of the school sites at a much
reduced rate under the Naylor Bill, it only applied if it remained
open space. The City had to pay full market value for any prop-
erty it used for housing. She did not believe the problem could
be brushed off by saying there were other places to build housing.
Some people said the site plan was not good, but it was
preliminary and done without all the groups working together. The
key to whether it would be visually attractive was cooperation
among the various people who used it and the design. Several
people indicated- the site intensification was too great. If one
was speaking about density, the zoning allowed nine single family
houses, and if built to their fullest, which was what was
happening on the school sites, they would cover eight -tenths of are
acre. The senior housing would cover one -tenth of an acre. If
site Intensification meant activity, she believed the Garden
Foundation plan, through traffic and parking, probably meant much
more activity. Fortunately, the neighbors supported the activity.
She did not believe the senior housing would add appreciably to
the activity in the neighborhood. Council could not ignore the
need for housing, and she believed the location was reasonable
with some -cooperative effort in terms of planning. She agreed
that if the housing was something visually not palatable, and she
appreciated the efforts of the Garden Club people to set up the
foundation, then she agreed the housing could be located
elsewhere. She supported the second part of the motion because it
was time to get the ball rolling. It was not easy to find a site,
but if the foundation and the neighbors who supported the proposal
did not want to see the housing there but supported housing, and
among that group there were realtors and lawyers, if all those
people put their knowledge together, she believed a package could
result that would provide either a site or an existing unit that
might be converted. She wanted to see the Garden Center and
housing be accomplished somehow.
Councilmember Sutorius read a letter from Mary Gamble, "Dear
Members of the Council: As the widow of Laucelot Gamble, who was
the youngest of Elizabeth's brothers and brought up in her. house,
I write this letter. A garden center is what Elizabeth wished for
her estate --where senior citizens as well as all generations could
participate in educational programs and workshops --not just for a
few who could live there. Traffic, parking, etc. presented no
problems as far as a ... garden center...To know the estate is
preserved as a garden center, I applaud as i ::now my sister-in-law
would. Most Sincerely, Mary Gamble." The motion was unusual and
he appreciated the amendments He observed that the garden center
in Walnut Creek was five acres in size, which might account for
why funding of $1,000,000 was the approach that organization took
with the full blessing of the City. A part of the moneys included
State of California Environmental License. Plant Fund, $250,000;
City of Walnut Creek Gift of $45,180; and'a loan of $100,000. The
Palo Alto City Council was discussing the possibility that inter-
ested people who put their hearts into the process for ►ears ..
should go out and raise some unannounced amount of money for some
unannounced, unidentified group of apartments somewhere in Palo
Alto at some price, at some time. Councilmember Woolley cited
some figures as far as availability of senior housing, but a
modest count on his part was that there were at least 650 units
for senior housing in Palo Alto. He did not know how many occu-
pied each unit, but that was the count provided to him by staff.
Regarding proposal 11.8., many offered interpretations of what Ms.
Gamble had in mind when she made provisions for the gift to the
City, and whatever : plan or use was advocated, speakers had an
example, anecdote, association or an intuitive surmise on which to
base their beliefs about the rightness or wrongness of a particu-
lar plan. Staff consistently and correctly stated that the gift
was unrestricted, the Council was the discretionary authority, and
the reference to the benefit .:of older.. , citizens was only a
suggestion. Yet the moral imperative was otherwise as he saw it.
While he tried to give fair value to all representations of inter-
est, intent. or preference, there, were three expressions that
weighed most heavily in his decision -making.. First, was the
reflection of Ms. Gamble's life, preservation of the property as a
unit, and consistency with the neighborhood, second, was the let-
ter from Mary Gamble, Elizabeth Gamble's sister-in-law, and her
conclusion "to know that the estate was preserved as a garden_
center, 1 applaud as 1 know my sister-in-law would," and, third
was from Marie Green when she said "remember, this garden center
was started in 1900." He considered his fiduciary responsibility
and the financial consequences of Council action There was
appeal to subdivision in single family lots for market rate sales.
Divesting the proceeds and using the portfolio's annual interest
to support programs benefiting older persons would offset much of
the federal program moneys that would not be available in future
budgets. Providing some or all of the site for affordable senior
housing was not, in itself, an irresponsible financial subsidy,
but for him, fiduciary responsibility was not just measured in
quantitative terms. There was a qualitative accountability also.
Council was entrusted with property for the benefit of others.
The Gamble Estate was a physical asset which in its whole was much
more than a monetary source. Further, if Council could provide
the opportunity for restoration and enhancement of that asset at
little or no cost to the City, it took on value far exceeding any
figure it could be assigned today. Despite Palo Alto's 90 years,
it was a young City, yet already the vestages of its past were too
few. They must take advantage of the chance to assure future
generations would actively participate in their history --.not just
read about it. The citizens ranking the valuation criterion was
germane. Cost of improvements ranked eighth; cost of operations
ranked nineth; net revenue to the City ranked tenth. Land use and
housing considerations dominated much of the discussions and, like
his colleagues, he subscribed to Commissioner John Northway's fair
and perceptive evaluation of why the mixed use design potential
would not work at the site. At a larger site, or perhaps at a
vacant site, the concept was exciting and viable, but the existing
estate and park were violated if too much was manipulated no
matter how compatible the uses. The concepts of clustered housing
and density transfers were mentioned as a way to perceive the 21
units as not being an excessive densty. He favored the clustered
housing concept and density transfers. He supported them both in
prior discussions and would continue to support them, but under
those concepts, the allowable density was determined by the
underlying zoning of the total site. He referred to the Arastra
property discussions and how the underlying zoning of the property
lead to a concept that clustered housing could be considered from
a design standpoint on a small portion of the Arastra property,
but limited so that the total number of units on the entire
property was not in excess of one unit per 10 acres of the entire
Arastra property, When applied to the Gamble site of
approximately 1.00,000 square feet, 10 units in a cluster would be
the maximum. He agreed with the PAHC that making incremental
additions to affordable housing was a proper course and they did
well. The shortage of affordable housing did not occur overnight
and it would be abated overnight. Just as is in the case of
parking and traffic problems, the shortage of affordable housing
was . the cumulative result of incremental occurrences. The same.
applied to open space --particularly intercity open space. Each
incrementil loss was a community impoverishment and their
cumulative effects were a bitter _.legacy for future generations..
He supported the amendment, and the main motion.
Counci laember Witherspoon . said it was unfortunate that the audi-
ence was more restrained than the Council in their sarcasm. They,
were talking about $2,0®4,000 worth of gifted property, and her
role was to look at all aspects of how it could bebest used for
the - good of the City. After many hearings and co4gents from the
public, two worthy projects surfaced. The only problem ways they
did not appear to be compatible on , the same site. \ She
1
i
pointed out that the senior housing was financial s feasible only
because the land was virtually free. The garden center was really
asking Council for all of the $2,000,000 worth of property
including the three houses for a no;nieal rent if not for free. If
the Garden Club were to take over the whole site, Mayor Levy had
suggested a way: to ask them to participate in creating senior
housing elsewhere. She lioped that some of those who proposed the
foundation would be agreeable to working with the City in that
regard. Generally, the City gave an option to the parties
involved to -work out the details. It had been done with the
Veteran's Building and with the skating group. There was no
guarantee that_ all details could .bee worked out to everyone's
satisfaction, but it provided some breathing room and time to
examine, discuss and determine whether it might work out. drhe
proposal was reasonable, and she did not believe it went against
the neighborhood's desires for no housing. It addressed the need
to firm up what was available by way of alternative sites for
housing. The motion did not address a site, but rather a down
payment. She pointed out that most housing projects, private or
public, were financed, not paid' for in cash up front. She
believed the second part of the motion gave some breathing space
and a chance to work out the details. She would be happy to help
raise $300,000 if that was the decision as to what would 'be
necessary to provide 21 units of housing in lieu of their being on
the site so the Garden Foundation ,could have the whole thing to
themselves.
Councilrember Renzel said Council was faced with a difficult
choice. There was no question the City had a serious housing
problem, but Council was presented with a piece of land adjacent
to two parks, which provided City control of an entire City block
in the heart of the City.. She did not consider land a financial
asset or something to be cashed in with any kind of frivolity.
The City would own the land forever and it could not go back and
acquire it again There was a serious jobs -housing problem in the
community and the City would have to continue to provide housing
where possible, but the failure to deal with rampant job growth
would overwhelm any efforts made by the City on the housing end of
the equation. Council must deal with job growth even sooner than
it tried to catch up with the housing end of the problem. As
pointed out by Councilmember Bechtel, the City housing provided
elsewhere, especially where adjacent to R-1 properties, was either
zoned multi -family or was part of a significant parcel of land
where the usage did not constitute spot zoning. In the subject
instance, they were talking about a relatively small area where
specific zoning would constitute spot zoning and it was a diffi-
cult question for the Council to the extent it honored its
Comprehensive Plan and zoning. It was the Council's responsi-
bility to deal with housing issues and it was inappropriate to
shift that responsibility to an applicant with a particular pro-
posal. The City had housing resources for land banking and acqui-
sition of rental housing which she strongly supported. One of the
big problems was locating those units, but it was also inappropri-
ate to shift that responsibility. In terms oat, the cost issues,
currently the City had .rental income from the property to cover.
its operating costs, but those operating costs would be shifted to
presumably the _ garden center if they were chosen to have a proj-
ect. Whatever rental income was paid would also constitute finan-
cial savings to the City by way of taking over operating costs.
She supported a garden center at the site and believed the people
of Palo Alto regarded all public parks, particularly a site such
as the Gamble property, as their own. It belonged to everyone,:
and while there were significant private gardens, not everyone had.
private gardens and people were not free to roam in everyone
else's private gardens. Everyone, caul d enjoy the Gamble gardens.
Regarding the Garden Club proposal, she . was concerned about the
governance of the. foundation. It was important that the govern-
ance be through : a process which made _i t clearly a pubi is organiga-
Lion and she .%ranted to see the site park dedicated and d joined with
the other park dedicated parcels. She supported the amendment,
Vice Mayor Cobb said regardless of how each Councilmember voted,
those who voted for the Garden Club proposal were not opposed to
senior housing and neither were those who voted -for the mixed use
proposal against the beautification and improvement of Palo Alto's
amenities. All votes would be sincere for the best of Palo Alto.
He believed the Garden Club proposal would add a new jewel to Palo
Alto's crown --one that everyone could enjoy --especially seniors.
It would preserve the beauty of a wonderful spot in the community
and one he enjoyed for many years. The garden center proposal was
the one in most complete consonance with the spirit and intent of
Ms. Gamble's will. Obviously, the City badly needed affordable
housing for seniors and families, but it was illogical that every
available site be developed for that purpose or for any kind of
housing at all. If it did so follow, every school site, the
skating rink site, and every other bare piece of dirt in town
would be built to the highest conceivable density for housing. No
one wanted that and even if it were done, there would still be a
housing problem and it would still bear upon the seniors the most,
but meanwhile, those special things which made Palo Alto such a
nice place to live would have been lost. He opined that the like-
lihood of the City getting federal money for the project, at least
during the Reagan administration, was close to zero. He had dif-
ficulty understanding the argument that the site was a good one
for housing. It was not convenient to shopping. The nearest gro-
cery store was at Town & Country Village, a long hike across a
busy street and along an underpass, which was improper for
seniors, and there was no pharmacy nearby. He lived on the other
end of town and near Stevenson House, which was a good neighbor.
He did not see how anyone could oppose senior housing on the basis
of it being senior housing. Stevenson House worked so well
because it was close to a shopping center, grocery stores, phar-
macy and the other basic needs seniors had including a large park
and some community facilities. There were other excellent sites
for senior housing, and the conservation center was perhaps the
most ideal City -owned site. The conservation center was right
next to low cost shopping for groceries, pharmacies andwas next
to a mini -downtown. He could not imagine a more perfect site for
senior housing. The PAHC did a superb job for the community and
he almost always supported what they did. They deserved Council
commendation for what they did, and in particular they did a ser-
vice by re -sensitizing tl'e Council to the issue of senior housing
by bringing it to the fu: efront. He was forced to consider the
interests of the entire community in its long-term future, and it
was that set of considerations that brought him to the conclusion
to support the Garden Club proposal. He did not believe it was
proper to hang around their necks the extra burden of raising the
money for senior housing, which should be done by the City and the
community. He recommended the community pick an alternative site
for senior housing where more than the poor compromise of 21 units
could be gained, and as a united community, go forth and get that
housing, get it developed, and make a real contribution toward
solving the problem of senior housing.
Councilmember Fletcher was saddened an amicable agreement was not
arrived at to permit a modest amount of housing for seniors on the
site. She agonized over the decision and the original citizen
survey done in 1984 provided that wan arboretum: or special park is
clearly the favored use for the grounds." In 1985, there was
overwhelming community support for the garden center proposal. If
housing were approved on the site, it would only be the first step
in a long process to rezone the property every step of which would
result in considerable opposition to the multi -family proposal.
She was also bothered by the large amount of parking the joint use
would need on the site. The garden center would serve many people
including the elderly and handicapped many of whom lived in
multi -family complexes which lacked the opportuity for gardening.
She was a strong housing advocate and hated to _ pass up the
opportunity to get funding for housing --especially housing for.
seniors, but the - competition for the limited amount of funding was
fierce and Palo Alto to date did well _ In capturing federal funding
1
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and she congratulated the PAHC for les seeress. She was confident
there would be successes in the future. Palo Alto did not have a
monopoly on the need for senior housing. It was widespread so if
the senior housing on the Gamble property was not approved by the
City Council , the funds would not be lost. It would still be used
for needy seniors in other communities in Northern California.
She found the garden center proposal to be attractive; the
restoration of the gardens to their original splendor; the scented
areas specially designed for the blind, and the raised garden beds
for the handicapped to work from itt. their wheelchairs was a unique
opportunity not to be passed up. It would be en oasis for the
increasing number of condominium residents in Palo Alto who did
not have gardening opportunities where they lived including the
seniors who lived in the Housing Corporation's many below -market -
rate rental units. It would truly be a great asset to the City, a
public facility, and would serve a section of the community that
could greatly benefit. Regarding the proposal by Mayor Levy, she
concluded it was realistic and fair because it was hard to pass up
money raised by others. She thought about the fact that there
were not more than a dozen people who went to the Council about a
dozen years ago and persuaded the Council to eliminate low cost
housing on the block in Downtown Park North. Those people who
urged the Council to do that could now sit back and have the City
pay for what went in there. Over the years, it would cost
millions of dollars compared to what was being offered at the
Gamble House. She wanted to permit the examination of the issue
of the art _center. She did not know enough about the :pros and
cons of the art center and wanted to leave the option open.
Mayor Levy said although many spoke to the concept of putting
housing on - site there was no motion to that effect. The question
was working out a plan for housing on an alternate site. He sup-
ported that concept because he believed it was a good compromise
to enable the City to have two worthwhile developments Approving
the motion in its original state would not foreclose any other
action since it requested staff to work out a plan in consul tation
with the affected parties. If that plan was unacceptable to the
City or if a plan could not be worked out, Council still had the
alternatives to do anytbi ng el se it wi shed to do. Council was
trying to develop a compromise to allow it to have its cake and
eat it too.
Count ilmermber Bechtel asked whether the amendment included the
findings of no significant environmental impact as recommended by
staff as well as the lease option.
Mayor Levy said those findings were included.
Councilmember Bechtel said it was part of the original staff
recommendation that a lease needed to be negotiated with the
Garden Club and that Council would find that there would be no
significant adverse effect to the environment.
AMENDMENT PASSED by a vote of b-3, Woolley, Witherspoon, _ Levy
voting; 'no."
AMENDMENT: Caenci1mearber Klein moved, seconded by Cobb, that
the option agreement to be negotiated be for two years instead •f
ONO.:ped1ro
AMENDMENT PASSED unanimously.
Councilmember Klein said the option agreement required the
optionee satisfy all land use approvals, and since there was a lot
of talk by members, of the public about par°king spaces and whil e he
was not soaking any proposal for addit1onal language, he was not
committed to 51 parking _.spaces being the, appropriate amount and it
seemed .to be far too many. He hoped when they got down to the
details of the project, they could find. something : that would work
fore lot less parking spaces and asphalt `than'- that.
Ai EWOMEMT: Councilmember Fletcher roved that al'ernatives II.A
and 1l.B be considered for further action to return to the City
Comnc11.
Councilmember Fletcher said the amendment would leave open the
option for an art center, which she wanted examined by staff and
the Planning Commission for recommendation to the City Council.
AMENDMENT DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND
Councllmember Fletcher said paragraph 4 on page 2 of the staff
report, dated April 4, 1985, stated "in accordance with the
Council -adopted policy regarding leased use of City property staff
be directed to publish a notice of intent to award an option to
lease prior to returning to the Council with the Garden Center
option agreement." She believed the public process of inviting
proposals for use of the property negated the need for the step.
ANEMOiiEIIT: Coencllmeeber Fletcher moved, seconded by Klein,
that staff net be required to publish a notice of intent to award
an option to lease prior to returning to the Council with the
Garden Center option agreement.
Councilmember Witherspoon would be reluctant to support the amend-
ment because she did not want the precedent. The matter should .be
noticed and people should be aware of what was proposed to be
negotiated in the option. She hated to see it eliminated as part
of the process for public land.
Councilmember Renzel agreed with Councllmember Witherspoon. Even
though there was an extensive public process to get to that point,
it was clear there would undoubtedly be public input at the time
the lease option was returned to Council. The provision required
that notice of the intent be published prior to when it returned
to Council. She did not believe it was an onerous task and it
provided the public with notice of an important possible change in
the operation of a particular piece of public land.
AMENDMENT FAILED by a vote of 3-6, Bechtel, Fletcher, Klein
voting 'aye.'
Councilmember Renzel was concerned about the governance of the
board to which Council might be offering the : lease option. She
wanted to see the Bylaws or Charter for that group be referred to
the Policy and Procedures (PAP) Committee for recommendation to
the Council.
Mr. Diaz sensed if it was a Council position, it could easily be
made a condition of the option agreement that the bylaws be
reviewed and approved by the PAP Committee.
AMEMQMEMT: Councilmember hazel moved seconded by Fletcher,
that geeereaace (Wows aed/or Charter of the garden Center Board
receiving lease option for tfie Gamble prgperty) be referred to thee"
Policy and procedures (P&P) Committee for a recommiodation to
Csemcil re approval, aid this be a -condition of the lease. eptioa,
Councilmember Renzel said her intent was to ensure the facility
remain public and the public be invited - to participate in an
extensive way.
Counciieember Bechtel believed the main concern was the gardens
themselves be open to *embers of the public. She did not want to`
get into the " details of the bylaws, of the foundation of the
organization. She would not support the amendment.
Councils esber-:,Renzel believed the' governance of an organization
essential )fir running an . important piece of public property. was
important and it was important for the 'public to be able tp
participate in an open way.
Councilmember Klein said the amendment was reasonable and seemed
to be directly parallel to that experienced with the Cable Access
Organization. the process was not onerous, and while reading
bylaws was not fun, it was something that should be done.
Mayor Levy concurred. In essence, it would be a public project
and a public entity running it. Although technically it would be
a private entity, the bylaws should be reviewed by the City.
AMENDMENT PASSED bye vote of 8-1, Bechtel voting "no.'°
Councilmember Renzel said if a garden center was located on the
Gamble site, she preferred that it be park dedicated land to
preserve the property and to emphasize that it was a public
property for the enjoyment of all.
Mr. Diaz said if Council wanted to dedicate the property, staff
could return at the time that a plan was finalized and approved
through the option process. It would be premature to do it until
there was an approved plan.
Councilmember Woolley referred to page 1 of the April staff
report, in the last paragraph under Background where it spoke to
the Gamble property Capital Improvement Program account. She
checked with Mr. Diaz to see from where that money came, and he
responded about $20,000 came out of the City funds, which was set
up at the time the City received the property, and it was used to
make some renovations in order to make the house suitable for
rental. The other $40,000 presently to that account came as a
result of the rental of the property bringing in more money than
the maintenance of the property cost. The rental for the house
over the period of a year was about $25,000 and a gardener was
paid about $11,000 per year to help maintain the grounds so there
was a net balance of roughly $14,000 per year.
AMENDMENT: Councilmember Woolley moved, seconded by Fletcher,
that at the time the lease for Gamble Property is executed, the
balance remaining in the Gamble Property Capital Improvement Fund
be used to acquire or develop senior housing.
Councilmember Klein would not support the amendment because he
found it contrary to the way Council usually handled its fi nanciai e
matters. It might well be that he would be willing to support
that transfer at the time the lease was executed, but he failed to
see why Council should tie its hands now except perhaps as some
type of symbol that it still supported housing, He personally did
not believe that symbol .was needed because Council reiterated its.
support for housing over and over again in many different ways.
He was concerned the City might want to spend some of that money
as part of some ultimate development on the site. When all was
said and done, maybe the City would want to do something to
improve the site that was not really the Garden Foundation's
responsibility. If the Council wanted to indicate its support for
housing, there was the normal budgeting process and the money
could and should probably cone from the General Fund, CDBG funds
or something along those lines. He would not support the
amendment.
Vice Mayor Cobb. asked about the needs ,for that capi tel balance.
Mr. Diaz said the garden center proposal was• at no cost. to _the
City. They asked for some help in utility `expenses which -was not
possible. There was nothing specifically eidentified where City
fends would be required . for- the Garden Center proposal.
Vice Mayer Cobb -said CouncilmeMber Klein's currants were- accurate,
but he found - it somewhat i ersuasive as he looked back at- the . sense
of Mt Garb! e's w.1 l ie He observed. the' City also had l an -d bank
moneys and perhaps- some needed to be directedeto the patticu.l.ar,
use at some point in the future.
Councilmember Woolley said her amendment spoke to the balance
remaining in the fund, so if in the meantime during the year or
two it took to negotiate the option there was some use, the fund
could be used for it. It was important to make a concrete commit-
ment. Council did a lot oir talking about housing and the programs
existed in the Comprehensive Plan, but there was a lot of distance
between the talking, commitment and actual realization of the
housing. She believed it would be well for Council to take the
step with the funding which was generated from the housing.
Councilmember Bechtel said Councilmember Klein was right, it was a
token, but little tokens added up.. It was true that Council had
$1,7 million in its Combination Housing Mitigation and Land Bank
funds. It might be a symbolic vote, but it did not hurt.
Councilmember Klein said he was not referring to repairing the
roof during the two year interim, but rather projects Council
might want once the final designs were in, that were not things
the Garden Club wanted to do. He did not know what they might be,
but when the City went ..through a design, It ended up with some
things in it that no one anticipated at the start. It was things
of that nature he preferred to keep the City's options open for.
He was bothered that Council was going to vote on something that
was merely a token because it was a misleading signal. The money
was not really the issue on housing, it was getting the site and
to get going on it.
Councilmember Sutorius liked the amendment, but there was a pos-
sibility along the lines referred to by Councilmember Klein. In
the process of going through all of the necessary planning steps
and then the implementation activity associated with the garden
center site, there might be physical things that needed to be per-
formed associated with the Kellogg Parkette or Lawn Bowl and
those would not appropriately be included in the garden center
capital or operating cost processes and it would be an appropriate
consideration as far as any funds exiting in the Gamble account at
that time. He suggested withholding the action at that time.
Councilmember Renzel understood that the net balance would be com-
mitted to housing. She assumed that also meant any anticipated
City expenses associated with the site at the time a lease was
awarded.
`ouncilmember Woolley believed by the time � the lease was executed,
Council would know of any design plans.
Councilmember Renzel supported the amendment. The.. intent was
that funds remaining in the account after the necessary City
expenses would be devoted to housing, which was reasonable.
AMENDMENT PASSED by a vete of 7-2, Klein, Levy voting "no.*
Mayor Levy said while he welcomed the opportunity of a garden
center in Palo Alto and shared the positive feelings of those who
advocated it, he believed it was too important an asset in the
community not to be developed at least in part with housing either
on -site or off -site, Because housing was not connected to the
motion on the floor, he was constrained to vote against it.
MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED by a vote of 8-1, Levy voting "no;"
ITEM 07 REPORT FROM COUNCIL LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE (EEC 4-2)
MOTION: Cannellaeiher Fletcher, can behalf of the Council Legis-
lative Committee, moved ` to support ACA 7 (Mountjo,y), which pro-
hibited a political party or a party central committee frog
endorsing, supporting, ` or opposing a candidate for, nonpartisall
office.
5 7 4 0
5/13/85
Corrected
6117/85
Vice Mayor' Cobb said d; a former County party chairman fur six
years, at a time when they thought it was a good, idea to get
involved in local elections, looking back on it from the perspec-
tive of being a City Councilmember as he had as a nonpartisan,
what he thought was a good idea then, he did not believe was a
good idea at all now. He completely supported the motion and he
did not bel ieve the partie s bel onged in there.
MOTION PASSED ufauineusly.
Councilmember -Fletcher said the Legislative Committee voted 2-1
against the Cortese bill,. AB 1138, which would set up a committee
to study the makeup of the governance of the Transit District in
Santa Clara County. The majority of two opined that the legisla-
ture had no business meddling in local affairs. She believed that
since the original Cortese bill proposing the concept was intro-
duced, the Board of Supervisors suddenly set up their own study
committee and it was heavily biased in favor of the status quo..
The proposal in the legislature was for the legislative represen-
tatives representing the County to make the appointments to a com-
mittee to study the issue, so basically it was a question of
whether to approve that process or whether to go along with what
was happening locally.
MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher, on behalf of the Council Legis-
lative Committee, moved to oppose AB 1138 (Cortese) .
Councilmember Klein was concerned that AB 1138 usurped local
authority and if the Transportation 2000 Committee was going to be
biased and the Cortese appointed committee would be equally
biased, it would appear that the state legislature was not needed
to butt in and manage local government. If there was a problem
with the County Supervisors, they should vote in some new County
Supervisors.
Councilmember Bechtel supported the Cortese bill and would not
support the motion.
Councilmember Sueorius said the legislation declared an urgency
and was to take effect immediately. It required that the Director
of Transportation would assi st the committee in organizing and
conducting its meetings. He believed it was an unwarranted inter-
ference.
MOTION PASSED by a vote of 7-2, Fletcher, Bechtel voting
°no.'
Councilmember Fletcher said regarding the public utilities pric-
ing, °the :administration proposed to have utility pricing at cur-
rent market rates rather than at the rates built into the funding
necessary at the time of construction of the hydro projects.
MOTION; Coumcilneeier Fletcher, on behalf of the Council Legis-
lative Committee, moved that Council oppose -the proposal to rede-
fine federal pricing policies governing public utilities aed to
direct the Mayor to cosu#soicate the City's position accordingly to
its legislators end ethers as appropriate.
NOTION TO CONTINVE Mayor Levy loved, seconded by Senzel,.to con-
tinue the item until next week.
Assistant City Manager June Fleming said the report was provided
to Council that day because it was received _. -from Washington via
Federal Express that day.
Counciimeober Fletcher asked whether it would be harmful to wait a
week on the federal pricing pol icies governing public util hies.
Ms. 11 bel leved a week wound be all right.
Councilmember Fletcher said Council received .many communications
from the American Public Power Association on the issue and it
was clear that electric rates for Palo Alto would zoom "s,ky high"
under the proposal. It was inequitable because the interest rates
at the .time the power plants were built were far less than what
they were today and _ the City was to be charged according to what
the interest rate would be today if the power plants were being
bui 1 t today.
Vice Mayor Cobb was the City's Northern California Power Agency
(NCPA) representative, and already took a public position in oppo-
sition to the move. He agreed with Councilmember Fletcher that
the proposal was flatly unfair. A contract was made many years
ago when interest rates were low.
Councilmember Renzel said it was clear the proposal as made by the
administration to completely change the cost structure would be
costly to Palo Alto's utility customers; but, on the other hand,
the federal government was them, and 1t was an area where a com-
modity was being sold and it was something where Council must
fully understand the ramifications. If there was a strong move to
balance the budget, other programs to be cut would be social
security or some other important human resource. She wanted to
read the report and understand its ramifications because there
might be a compromise point to support.
Councilmember Klein was troubled by the motion because he did not
find the issue to be new or that which was not around before. The
theory was straightforward and Council had no control over where
the extra money would go. There was no one -for -one trade-off, and
it was unknown whether the extra month received by the federal
government would go to serve the mouths of the poor or whether it
would go to build one more missile. There were basic principles
involved and he would not support the motion to continue. The
Council knew the issue and the continuance motion sent the wrong
signal. Palo Alto believed the proposal was a "raw deal" and
improper.
Councilmember Sutorius opposed the continuance. It was too
important an issue to delay.
Mayor Levy said when the only item contained in the packet was a
rebuttal, he did not believe ; he would vote responsibly when he did
not have the actual item . before him. If everything was as he
heard it from his colleagues, he would have no problem voting.
NOTION TO CIMTilVE FAILED by a vote of 2-7, Levy, Stenzel vetise
°aye.°
Councilmember Sutorius said the three issues under discussion and
under contention involved the preference issue in 'original licens-
ing of hydro power; the' preference issue 1n, rei icensing of h. dro
power when the' initial -license expired; and the question of market
base pricings, which was the current_ issue being discussed. Ofthe
three issues, there was• no question in his mind. from the -stand..
point of impact on Palo, Alto, it was the market" base pricing con-
cept which had the most serious impacts. He urged his colleagues
to support the proposal . The action, was before the Council in one
for or another at various times and staff, who were the prates
sionat s in the arena, was consistent in their advice and ,comiunl_
cation to the Council
MOTION PASSE;_ eisaeiseeslys Levi, Refuel `eat p rticipatimg.0
ITEM #8, IRRIGATION IMPROVEMENTS AT HOOVER, DeANZA, AND ORTEGA
SCITOOL SITES E 8-2 I (CM: Zg2 5r
NOTION: Couucilmember Klein moved, seconded by Cobb, to adopt
the staff recommendations as follows:
1. Approve budget amendment for $95,200;
2. Authorize the Mayor to execute contract for $104,200; and
3. Authorize staff to execute change orders not to exceed
$16,500.
AWARD OF CONTRACT
Robert Quitman, Inc.
ORDINANCE 3617 entitled ."ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL .OF THE
CITY OF ` PALO ALTO AMENDING THE BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL
YEAR 1984-85 TO PROVIDE AN ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION FOR
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT .110. 84.05 'SURPLUS SCHOOL
SITES"
NOTION PASSED unanimously.
ITEM #9, APPROVAL TO PROCEED WITH P -C ZONE CHANGE - HOLIDAY INN
E(PANSI5 - PACIFIC OM DEVELOPMENT VEFTURE (I5LA 3-1) (CMR:300:5)
Real Property Administrator Jean Diaz said the City's lessee at
the Holiday Inn requested approval to proceed with a P -C amendment
for a hotel expansion in accordance with City policies, procedures
and the lease itself. Staff requested that it be ;directed to nego-
tiate a lease amendment to clean up certain provisions of the
existing lease. The utter was brought to the Council because the
City was the lessor of the property and it was not a normal P -C
project. It also represented a significant physical alteration and
it was important for the City Council to know at the beginning of
the process. It was an opportune time for the City. to negotiate'
some lease amendments and clean up some of the provisions of the
lease that were, no longer applicable. An action now by the Council
would not commit the City . to approve the P -C amendment when it
returned through the ful 1 process.
Cot+nc it member Witherspoon asked if the sales tax revenue was delib-
erately not included.
Mr. Diaz said the sales tax revenue was not estimated.
Councilrnernber Witherspoon believed it would add a considerable
amount to the City's revenue.
Mr. Diaz said it would likely add a considerable amount.
Cauncila►ember Fletcher asked if there:; was an urgency on the mat -
tern.
MOTION TO CONTINUE: Cosacilmember Fletcher moved= seconded by.
'teazel, ti coating. the Pol idap lit* _ Expansion, sod for staff to
determine a dato.
Counc#lde*ber-- !L -ein did not. understand why. Council had to approve
the appl icati_on.
Mr. • Diaz _said there was . not• a technical legal. requirement -for
Council to approve =the__ apps icatren, As .the lesso-r of the -
:prop-erty.,- 'staff believed it Wes:appropriate; for Council to give its
-cohaent 'for_, the ten -ant -to -begin with the process - for the I -C: amend -
sent and -14--direct staff to negotiate-. the lease am=endment
Mayor Levy asked if the natter was discretionary and if Council
was being requested to approve the matter before staff proceed!d.
Ms. Fleming ;aid there was no legal requirement. It was a discre-
tionary matter and Council could choose not -to respond.
Councilmember Klein would not support the motiefL to continue. He
preferred that Council take no action and let the applicant take
his chances -on -a-PLC 1 ike any- other applicant. He hadi no problem
authorizing staff to negotiate wnend +en ;;s to the lease.
MOTION TO CONTINUE FAILED by a vote of _ 2-1, Fletcher, Renaei
voting "ayet,►
NOTIO : Cooncilmesber Klein Mowed, seconded by hazel, that staff
bs attheri zed to negotiate appropriate amendments to the existing
sublease with Pacific 1 tel Yentiret.
John Mock, 736 Barron Avenue, said-- there was. -significant opposi-
tion to the Holiday' Inn when it was first proposed. He requested
that Council consider the effects of the expansion. He - had no
problem with the restaurant, but was concerned about the hotel-.
Councilmember Bechtel assured Mr. Mock that Council's motion
simply did some minor clean up of the existing lease and it in no
way gave support for any expansion plans.
Mayor Levy agreed that the motion called for no judgments by
Council about the possible P -C application.
*OTIOS PASSED unanimously.
AD,OUR4MEtT
Council adjourned at 12:45 a.m.
ATTEST:
APPROVED: