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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-01-16 City Council Summary Minutes1 f .l, A G E 4 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 4 1 0 3 4 1 0 5 4 1 0 6 4 1 0 6 4 1 0 6 4 1 0 6 4 1 0 6 4 1 0 6 4 1. 0 6 4 1 0 6 4 1 0 6 4 1 0 6 4 1 0 9 4 1 0 9 4 1 1 2 ITEM Ural Communications Item #1; Resolution Eyer ly CIF)) COUNCIL MINUTES CITY OF MIC) ALTO Regular Meeting Monday, January 16, 1984 Appreciation to Fred S. Item #2, Resolution of Appreciation to Gary P. Fazzino item #3, Appointment of a Planning Commissioner to Fil l- the Unexpired Term of Jack Sutorius Ending July 31, 1986 Consent Calendar Referral Item,#4, Human Resource Allocations .,. Referral to Finance and Public. Works Committee Item #5, Suggested Revisions in Solar Loan Terms * Referral to Finance and Public Works Committee Item #6, Loan Program Referral to Finance and Public Works Committee Action Item #7, Gas Rate Increase Item #8, Contract for Legal Services Re Risk Management Program Agenda Changes, Additions and Deletions Item #9, Planning Commission Recommendation re Application of Timothy Trailer f ,. Preliminary Parcel Map for •Property Located at 570 Matader0 Item #10, l'U8L1C HEARING: Weed Abatement Program Item #11, PUBLIC HEARING: Ordinance re University Avenue Parking Assessment District Item #12, PUbLFC HEARING: . Planning Commission Recommendation for a New Ct 01 Strict Regulation Requiring Issuance of a Conditional Use Permit for Office Use Exceeding 15,001) Square Feet on any. Site ITEM P A G E item #13, PUBLIC REARM: Planning Commission. Recommendation for a Proposed New C.mprehensive Plan Program Relating to Development on City -Owned Lands in East Bayshore Area Item #14, Planning Commission Recommendation to approve, with amended conditirins, the Site and Design Review of the Proposed Water Tank in Foothills Park 4 1 2 0 4 1 2 1 Item #15, Amendment of Resale Controls Governing 4 1 2 7 Mortgage Revenue Bond Program Item #1b-, Request. of Counci lmember Bechtel re school Rally at lndepeadence High School, San Jose, on February 2, 1984 - Request for Co-sponsorship of ' Miss i On Possible" 4 1 2 8_ Item #11, Request of Councilmember Fletcher re 4 1 2 8 Assemblyman Sher - Hazardous Waste - Assembly 8i11 1362 Adjournment 4 1 2 8- 4 0 9 9 1/16/84 Regular Meeting Monday, January 16, 1984 fhe city Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this day in the Council Chambers at City Hal 1 , 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, at /:35 p.m. PRESENT: Bechtel, Cobb, Fletcher, Klein, Levy, Renzel-, Sutorius, Witherspoon, Woolley URAL CUMMUNICATIt3NS s None ITEM #1 RESOLUTION 0r APPRECIATION TO FRED S. EYERLY Mayor Klein $aid --he was ulad to be Mayor so he could present the Resolution -0'f Appreciation to Fred Eyerly and Gary Fazzino, who had served the City well. Fred Eyerly and Gary Fazzino did the City proud, and it was an honor for him to read the resolutions and present their awards. MOTION: Vice Mayor Levy moved, seconded by Cobb, to approve the Resolution of Appreciation to Fred S. Eyerly. RESOLUTION 6219 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF Tffr-mirm-lnr711.0 ALTO COMMENDING THE OUTSTANDING PUBLIC SERVICE OF FRED S. EYERLY AS COUNCILMEMBER AND AS MAYOR OF PALO ALTO" Mayor Klein said that Fred Eyerly served as Councilmember from July 1, 197b to December 31, 1983, and as Mayor from January 1, 1982 to December 31, 19151. He gave unselfishly of his time and talents to provide effective leadership on behalf of the total community. He represented the City of Palo Alto as delegate to the Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) from 19]5 to 1903, as its Chairman during 19S 0-81, . and at numerous state, regional, county, and local meetings. His efforts and contributions.enabled Palo Alto to continue to occupy a position of eminence in terms of the quality of services provided to its citizens. The City of Palo Alto recognized the meritorious service of Mr. Eyerly and commended hire. The City recorded its appreciation, and that of its citizens, for his service and contributions. Vice Mayor Levy said he was honored to serve on the Council with Mr.' Eyerly, and appreciated his dedication, sense of perspective for the community, and grace under fire. He and Councilmember Eyerly were in the minority and majority on a number of issues, and he found hire to be a man of honesty and integrity. The corn- rnunity was honored by his Service on the Council. Councilmemter Cobb said he stepped into the large shoes left by. Mr. Eyerly -as representative to the NCPA. The work he did for the community was something from. which Palo Alto would benefit for decades in the .future. He gave valuable and capable service; and POI) Altans, their children, and people from other communities -in the state would benefit from the work done by Mr. Eyerly in a~sig- n i f icant leadership role with the NCPA. Fred pursued the effort in depth, and he .thanked him for his service. Councilmember Witherspoon.- said even though the Eyerlys were mem- bers of the Community longer than her family, she did not get .to know Fred Eyerly until. the, worked together on- a referendum for a 4 1 mandatory housing rehabilitation ordinance in 1973 or 1974. Each rdn for Council in 1975, and she always believed. Fred Eyerly, especially when Eyerly's Hardware was open, was an invaluable source of community input. He spent hours in his store doing Council business or listening to citizens' complaints, and always had a feel for the community. On the Council, he represented the small businessman, which was an important voice luring Council deliberations. Fred Eyerly was a fair and a proactive Mayor, and she was grateful for his many hours of work as Mayor for the City of Palo Aitto. She joined Councilmember Cobb in commending Fred's work for the NCPA, which was incalculable. The City owed him a lot. Fred would be missed, and she joined with her colleagues in thanking him for his eight years of service. Coun;ilmember Bechtel said the Council would miss Fred Eyerly, and he was a good and fair Mayor. He spent a lot of time each morning at City Hall, which was time well spent. He communicated with other Councilmembers, and his work on the NCPA was excellent. She told him to keep up the good work, and knew that he would watch the. Council from the community and -keep them on their toes. Mayor Klein presented a plaque and other mementos of service !MOTION PASSEL) unanimously. Mr. Eyerly thanked the Mayor and members of the 1984-85 City Coun- cil for their flattering words and nicely written resolut?on, He appreciated the unanimous support of the resolution, because he had- not had• that honor many times from the Counci 1 . For the pub- lic record, he said his years of service were an exciting period in his life, and he found it enjoyable and challenging. He left with some remorse, but knew it was time for another phase in his life. He appreciated the City staff, and over the years found chern to be helpful, straightforward and generous of their time to help him make decisions on the Council. He could not say enough about the Council Appointed. Officers (CAD'S). The CAO's served the Council with expertise, were channels of communication with the staff,. and helped the Counci l make good things happen for Palo Alto. He appreciated good communication with all. members of the Council, and also with the predecessors of the City Councils on which he served. He found all Coeic; ;membe s to be hardworking and d iigent in their endeavors, and voted on issues as they saw fit. He appreciated the time they put into their endeavors. He would not foroet .the confidence of the public in_ electing him to serve on the City Council,. He appreciated their input, found it easy to talk to them, and they appreciated the effort regardless of how .he voted. Most importantly, i.e thanked his wife Moya who understood the demands --of Council life and the time commitment rf Councilmernbers.- That evening was the last time he would have an opportunity to speak, in the public arena for more than five minutes-, and he coinrented on some events since becoming a - Counc i 1- mernber: In 1975, his first year nan the Council, there was the traumatic SEIU strike, and the establishment of a good labor relationship with that union and others within the City. In 1976, the closing of all massage parlors early one morning fol- lowing the perseverance on the part of staff to enact the red- light abatement law was an exciting period. In 1975 -.and 197b, there \ were the land use measures adopted by the Comprehensive Plan acceptance. He believed the Council -'s impact on Stanford University for housing on its property to ease the burden on surr~ounding communities, and the enactment naf a housing types on rra jor_ constructions war _ a yita l_.._ step by the . Counci l and provided a lot of Ambhey for use in the: low and moderate pro- grams. The . ,krastra ,settieMe.nt removed an exposure of nearly $5U million -for the City, and -was a major decision for land use.. 4-1 O 1 1/1.6/84 In . 13/(a, tint City's budget was cut by approximately one rni 1 lion dollars, with the emphasis on cleaning out the fat, preceding the impacts of Proposition 13, which came a few years later. During the Proposition 13 cutbacks, the City arrived at a level of ser- vice that was now sustainable, and could continue as long as there was a continued realization about the source of revenues. During that time, or soon thereafter, a contingency reserve of about ten percent of the City's operating budget, was put into place, and the self-insurance program, with a healthy reserve, was instigated because of economy measures. Regarding utilities, he mentioned the successful rate suit against. Western Area Power Aduinistration (WAPA) back in the mid -1970s, which provided approximately $1.5 rni l l ion that became an electric uti l ity reserve and made long-range power planning possible, and helped the Solar and Conservation divisions with their programs. The acceptance _ of the Calaveras project and the geothermal proj- ects by t;e Council provided the City about 60 megawatts of power to be forthcoming in the years ahead and to take care of the City's growth needs -through the year Z003, when the WAPA contract expired; and there were protections in the WAPA contract against raids by other cities who envied the contracts signed in the early days. The settlement of the lawsuit with Santa Clara, PG&E and WAPA was important and ensured for Palo Alto a certain amount of power from WAPA. The acceptance of the Price Waterhouse report with the policy of a fair return on an investment for the electric utility was a major step. Regarding parks and a herita'e that was with Palo Alto for longer than he could remember, significant events included the Arastra dedication of most of the Arastra land for parkland and the dedi- cation of Uowntown Park North. The purchase of the Ternran proper- ty which could become a regional park west of El Camino, realized a long-time goal. The major improvements to Green Part and the further commitments, and -the settlement of lawsuits, or the win- ping of them, in the Foothills, made it possible for the Mid - Peninsula Reyionai Open Space Management District to acquire major properties in the upper foothills for open space into the Stevens Creek Reservoi r. 1 tie Stanford Hospital contract was reanalyzed, and the City and Stanford reached an understanding as to protection for the City and bed use in the hospital, and an agreement with the community physicians carte out of those endeavors. !luring the next two years, the Council would face many irnportant issues. ` The Stanford Hospital modernization would be back before the Council, and based on presentations in the past, he believed the plan would be supportable. At that time, he hoped the Council would realize the ability to appoint a board member to the Stanford Hospital ,Board to protect the contract with Stanford. An agreement should be reached with Stanford -regarding Stanford West. The noosing was -needed, and he did not believe there was large disagreement. There was some controversy as to -a binding agree- ment, but he believed Council could accomplish the same endeavors without the particular document. He said it was time for the Willow Road : T connection with El Camino; the issue _had been with the Ci-tv for a long time. The Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) of North bounty Was in trouble in terms of solid wasteolsposal, and he hoped the<Councii would pur- sue the matter until it. was dead. €f . it happened, the Council must nave staff follow up with other cities in the County in need Of a rapid solution to the problem_.- He hoped the . Counci 1 would restudy .the economy of thedredsing and use of spoils for lardfi l l in the yacht harbor. ` i(eyarding the auditor selection, he h -coed the Council would not bind its hands too tightly on that person's salary when . recruitiny someone to not only provide financial ad- vice and input, taut audit personnel. capably and without. conflict. The Uowntown Improvement District was - in trouble, but could be straightened out, and would be an asset to the downtown a red if it 4 1 Q 2 1/16/S4 were accomplished. Ile hoped the cable television mitigation prob- lems could be solved before tuu luny. When the Council was ready to look at ethe proposals, he hoped it would consider municipal ownership, remembering service and economy. Regurdin.y the gas utility, the Council set a policy to pursue a more viable source of supply, and he urged Council to push staff to continue the en- deavor. He urged the Council to protect the Preference clause in the Federal Power Acte by whatever means possible, remembering the City's enuagement in the Feather. River and Kings Pelicensing proj- ects, A resource plan would be returning to the Council for long- range power programs, and tney should be able to set policies in terms of whether the Council was interested in renewable resources or viable economic resources. The City might need those projects in ZOU3 when the WAPA contract expired because it might not be re- written economically. If the projects were viable, marketing should be no problem. €1e hoped Council would support the new parking mandate for above ground level .on building in the downtown area that evening, and approve the second reading. Within the next year, staff must bring forth a recommendation to enable those people who want to build above that level to make payments for taking care of the parking needs of the downtown area. When staff finished its inventory and presented a recommendation for a return on the investment of the electric utility,- Council could set rates so the electric utility would not try to balance the City cenerai operating budget, and allow some room to maneuver, and might con- sider a Capital IMprovernent Program of long duration, five to tern years, to underground wiring in town, which was long overdue in Palo Alto. Mr. Eger iy said he believed Council should be careful of the politics surrounding the rnayorstiip each year, and maintain good communication with each other and with staff. The Council should be fair to Stanford who was a valuable partner, but should be cautious in its dealings. The Council should avoid the political impacts of special interest groups when making decisions, and try to make decisions for the good of the City, decisions that they could stand on for the future. The Council should keep.. i n con- stant contact with the CAU's, through the personnel committee, and particularly through the Mayor. It was important to give the reins in command down through the large staff they supervised so they worked effic "ently and properly, so the Council knew what they did daily, and what the`;rr lives were al l about. He wished the Council well, good luck, and Godspeed. ITEM #Z RESOLUTION OF APPRECIATION TO GARY P. FAllINO MOTION: Counci lmember Cobb moved, seconded by Fletcher, approv- al of the Resolution of Appreciation to Gary P. Fazzino. RESOLUTION 6220 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CItY of PALE! ALTO COM$ENI31$G THE OUTSTANDING PUBLIC SERVICE OF GARY P. FAll1$O AS COUNCILMEMBER AND AS VICE MAYOR OF PALO ALTO" Mayor Klein said Gary Fazzino served as Councilmember from July 1, 1977 to December 31, 1983, as Vice Mayor from January 1 to June Z 1, 1983; as Chairperson of the Policy and Procedures Coirnmi ttee from July 1. .1.9)9. to June 30, 1980 and as Chairperson of the Finance and Public_Works Committee from December -1'980 to June'30, 1981. -He gave unselfishly of his time and talent; to provide effective leadership for the total- community, and represented Palo Alto at nuuier,ous state, regional and "local meetings. e His efforts and contributions enabled -Palo Alto to continue to occupy a posi- tion of erni nence i n terns of the qua"l i t,y of ser•vi ces provided to its citiiens. Tire .City of. Pa io Alto recognized his meritorious service and recorded itsenappreciatiOn and that of its citizens for his service rendered and his contributions to the Council He said the Council would miss -Gary Fazzino, but hoped to have him back' one day.- He always enjoyed serving with Gary on the Council, and it was a particular privilege fast him to sit- next to him and 4 1 0 3 I/16{84 1 1 near all the sports scores and=Palo Alto history. - lle believed Gary Fazzino was the- best informed person on. the Council with regard to the history of• the City of Palo Alto, and should be com- mended. Gary brauyht to his service on the Council a unique his- torical view, toyether with much energy and insight and an ability to argue persuasively. All in all, Gary Fazzino was a tremendous addition to the Council and would be missed. Councilm.ember Renzel said she and Gary Fazzino started their Palo Alto political_ .areers- almost together; he as an announcer for KZSU,• and she as a precinct walker and worker in the neigh -bore hoods. She eemernbered ta'k1ny with him about politics in front of Ellen Wyrnan's house one night after a meeting, and said Gary was not only more knowledgeable than anyone else about_ the history of Palo Alto, but also knew .about the politics of Palo Alto. He exemplified political skill and goodwill within the community. She enjoyed sitting next to him, but did .not get the baseball stories. She thanked him for his service. Councilmernber Witherspoon said when she first joined the Council, Gary Fazzino was a City employee, which was omitted from the reso- lution, and that liaison with the City employees served the Coun- cil. He had -an ability to tie those together, and she found his total recall of events and personalities valuable in getting cur- rent events into perspective, and often he was a liaison with other elements in the community. The Council would miss Gary Fazzino. She -hoped he kept good ties with Palo Alto and would return atter not too long a vacation in the Northwest. The Coun- cil looked forward to welcoming Gary and his wife, Janice, back some day. Vice Mayor Levy said along with Gary Fazzino's other accomplish- ments and contributions tci the City of Palo Alto, he served on the Horgan Relati3ns Commission prior to being elected to the City Council. All those elements, plus his historical perspective, brought an excellent sense of balanced judgment to everything he did, but it would take hirer one -acid -a -half to two years to get the Seattle Seahawks into the Super Bowl. After he did that, the Council would welcome his presence back in Palo Alto, and looked forward to many more years of contribution to the community. Councilmernber Cobb said Gary Fazzino was a dear friend of his and more than .irist a colleague. He first met Gary when Gary was about lb yei'rs old, and an active, teenage Republican. A lot of work on Gary's fir-st campaign took place at Councilmember Cobb's house, and he was happy_,, to be a part of the effort. It was somewhat poignant for' him to be there when Gary was going on to ether activities. Mayor Klein said it well, and he supported those remarks. Gary was bright and energetic and did much for the City. He would miss him as a friend and as a colleague, and hoped he would return soon. MOTION PASSED unanimously Mayor Klein presented a plaque and other mementos of service to Gary Fazzino. Mr. Fazzino said when a stalwart Nordic like Fred Eyerly said he was emotional, they could" imagine what happened when a French- Canadian- taiian got up. He associated his comments with those of Fred Eyerly, and said he would miss the City Council, .,,which was a wonderful . per edd> of his lile. His wife Janice best `descr"bed its importance to him when they were walking through Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia. She suggested their firstborn be Warned "Pa l d Alto" and the secundborn 'lye named "City_ Council Chambers." lie did not know if that would happen,.: but it .described his exhi.la.rating feelings about -his experience on the City Coon- ci 1. - S ince. he was an amateur student of Palo Al to history, he could imagine -the Palo Alto Weekly's first centennial edition in the.year '1U7.9. He was sure that Tim Clark's grandson would remem- ber the fact that no incumbents were endorsed in I983a and would 4-1 0 4 1/16/84 recall '.n -t; period of Palo Alto history as one of the great accom- plishments. They would recall a City Council with sensitivity and caring; a Council that actively involved members of the community, and brought great foresight in hiring and nurturing a tremendous .City staff. He could not say enough for the efforts of June Fleming, Bill Lancr, Diane Lee, Ann Tanner, and many others with whom he had worked over the past six years. Perhaps most impor- tantly, a Council would be recalled that was not blinded by ideol- ogy and who worked closely together and avoided many of the acri- monious feelings that dominated the community during the 1960's and 70's. The Council could look back on the past five or six years and feel good abo=ut the City's progress in the areas of City finance, energy supply, environment, land use, and other areas. Ruch more needed to be done, and he hoped that if nothing else, the Council would make a decision on cable TV before he returned in 191;5. He told Ccunci imember Renzel he could watch seven bas- ketball games at one time in the Northwest now that he had cable. He looked forward to returning in a couple of years, and felt good about leaving the City Council in the hands of outstanding new members such as Gail Woolley and Jack Sutorius. )-le felt good about the fact that Larry Klein and Le Levy were elected Mayor and Vice Mayor, respectively. The measure of any Council depended heavily upon the effectiveness of the Mayor to pull together the members of the Council, and he was fortunate to have worked with superior Mayors like Betsy Bechtel, Fred Eyerly, Alan Henderson, Scott Carey and Byron Sher. They all made tremendous contribu- tions to the community, but were not appreciated as much as some of the early Councilmembers, perhaps because the issues were not as emotional or as exciting. Even though the issues were complex and subtle, the Council made more of a commitment as other Coun- ci lmembers had in years past, and he again thanked them. fie looked forward to returning at the end of 1985, and promised Coun= ci !member Cobb that it would be at least two weeks after. the Coun- cil filing deadline. He looked forward to reading about the Coun- cil every week when he received his copy of the Palo Alto Weekly by husky. He wished the Council good luck. ITEM #3, APP 1NTMENT .9F A PLANNING COMMISSIONER TO FILL THE UNEX- PIRED TERM OF JACK SUTOR IUS ENDING JULY 31, 1986 Mayor Klein read the list of- applicants for Planning Commis- sioner: CHANDLER, Mark GREEN, William G. LEWIS, Thomas E. McMICHAEL, J. Richard MOSS, Robert i. UJAKIAN, Victor V. SAAL, Carol 1). SCHINK, Jonathan 1). SWAN, Wayne 1. taLSULES OF VOTING FOR PLANNING CCMM1SSIUNER Voting for Cheadler: Bechtel, Levy, Woolley, Renzei, Fletcher Voting -for 5 -chink: Sutorius, Witherspoon, Cobb, Klein City Clerk Inn Tanner announced _ that Mr. Chandler received five votes and was appointed Planning Commissioner. Mayor Klein congratulated. Mr. Chandler, and looked forward to his service on the Planning Commission. He knew it would be excels,. lent, -and that he would do the community proud. e He urged the other distinguish4 applicants to eaPply for other positions_ within the City, because it could arrays _.use the good services Of, its citizens, which was one of the City`s heat assets. 4 1 0 5 1/16/84 CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION: Vice Mayor Levy moved, seconded by Wolley, to approve Consent Calendar Items 4 - 8. Referral ITEM #4 HUMAN RESOURCE ALLOCATIONS - REFERRAL TO FINANCE AND PURL C WORKS COMMITTEE CMR:i28:4 ITEM #5 SU1(iESTEU REVISIONS IN SOLAR LOAN TERMS - REFERRAL TO B WORKS COMMITTEE (CMR IOU :4) ITLM #6, LOAN PROGRAM - REFERRAL TO FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS mR Action ITEM #7, GAS RATE INCREASE (CMR:122:4) Staff recommends that Council adopt the resolution confirming the action taken by the City Manager to increase gas rates approxi- mately 3.3 percent e fective January 1, 1984. RESOLUTION 6221 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF 1He CITY OF FALU ALTO AMENDING UTILITY RATE SCHEDULES G-1 AND G-50 AS A RESULT OF TRACKING PG&E GAS RATE CHANGES" 1TEM #t3, CUNTRACT FOR LL1iAL SERVICES RE RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AGREEMENT . - LEGAL SERV ICES, R£ LOSS CONTROL PRCCRAM Hoge, Fenton, Jones & Appel, Inc. MOTION PASSED unanimously. A LUDA CHANGES. AUDITIONS AND DELETIONS Counci llnember Bechtel added Item #I6, re a School Rally on February. 2, 1984. Councilmember Fletcher added item #17, re Council commendation of Assemblyman Sher on his accomplishments on the bill for Under- ground Storage Tanks. ITEM #9, PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION RE APPLICATION OF Ml) H -TKTTLkR FOR APRELIMINARY PARCEL MAP f0 DrVIDr O E PAEE INTO TWO W1 c C-' . ONS TOR PROPERTY cucgreTwrim—romunnwinmir (Continued from 12/19/83J Counci lmember Cobb said he to a conflict of interest. would not participate in the item due Councilmesnb-6r Woolley asked if any neighbors in the audience would speak to the future development -of the property, and whether two moderate sized -_louses would be . more satisfactory, or whether a single-family residence was preferred with the addition of a cot- tage, which was possible given the unusually large lot and the area zoning. Mayor Klein -pointed out that` tt was not a formal public hearing 1 tem.. Richard C. Pla>L.one, 601 Chimalus Orlve, asked interested neigh- bors in the audience to stand, and --commented that those people represented onl a portion of the -people who were coming. Tonight was the third tine the neighbors: spoke on the issue. in reviewing the matter since --the Planning Commission's .action, the neigh- borhood still believed their position was not eased.. Three -- 4 1 0 6 1/16/84 quarters of his presentative related to the property next door -- !AU Maladeru. Basically', if oerinission was given to the neighbor, it should be- given to them. Slides and walking the- property clearly demonstrated that the. lot alongside was split and was the greatest advertisement -for not allowing the substandard lot to occur. Jack Schenk, 525 University Avenue, represented the applicant, Tim 'railer. A map the area showed the existing houses and the configuration of the properties. The application was a request to subdivide an.existing 18,000 square foot parcel into two lots. based on the way the ordinance said lot areas shtruld be calcu- lated, boot parcels would far exceed the minimum 6,000 square foot standard. pee to the configuration of the property and its size, it was necessary for them to file an application for an exception. they provided staff with an exhibit illustrating how two houses could be placed on the total property and conform to all setback standards. It was necessary to discuss the exceptions mentioned by Mr. Moss. the property due south at 580 Matadero made a re- quest for an exception for a depth and access requirement, and findings were made to support that request. 0n the Edwards prop- erty to the north, exceptions were also requested to reduce the minimum lot area, the lot frontage, and the access, which applica- tion was denies primarily because there was inadequate area in either of the two parcels propose'. Their request was to create two parcels, one additional for the area,: which were consistent with the size of the parcels in the area. He showed the frontage and area of properties surrounding their property, and both par- eels conformed with the Comprehensive. Flan requirement for minimum lot area., It was necessary to talk about the exceptions that were granted. The exceptions they were requesting were consistent with the exceptions granted, and it was necessary to note that the City Council made findings in support of those requests. l inn Trailer, the applicant, 310 Tennyson, ,ryas a Palo Alto resident for 12 years. Richard Placone did not like him much now, but they served together on the Community Development Block Grant Committee years earlier and got along well, They voted on important issues at that time together, and it was a disappointment to Mr. Trailer that they had not communicated better over -the past few years. He found out Mr. Placone was mad at him in a letter to the editor in the Palo Alto Times Tribune. Mr. Trailer said he had owned the property or many years, Lanford Financial Company was not in- volved, never was, and never would be. There appeared to be con- fusion because the company was involved in real estate brokerage in town. There were ongoing concerns in terms of maintenance of the property over the years, and for the last three years,'he at- tempted to get the Santa Clara Valley Water District to do somne- tniny about the creek and the problems related to the bridge. Something was finally done when the bridge fell in. They were lucky no one was seriously injured because the bridge literally collapsed, and after it fell, it took about nine months to restore utilities. They imposed on the neighbors for water, so the person 1 i viny there .did not have to leave, and the neighbors were sup- portive in thateffort. It was like a "no good deed goes unpun- ished" syndrome, because he believed the Water District was nege liyent in how it handled the matter. There was some refuse on the property, and it was an ongoing problem with tenants who lived there because the tenant was responsible to maintain the property according to the lease, but wi en he checked, it was not done. The neighbors disliked it, and rightfully so. They had legitimate complaints, and he Would see, if something could be done in the future. lie' did not know what the future.held for the property and its condition. The house was at .a point where ft was tired and won out._ The cottage was built in 1923 as a little country cot- tage; they tried to maintain it, and; the _interior: was ,.still reasonable and nice, but it wasetdiftfcUlt to maintat_n wood shingles and a 'limited foundation: Any effort toward restoration or additions to'the struct°sire would be difficult to' justify', and one way or another, he ;_believed the -status quo would have to change, There would either have tp be a lew, large house, a .lot 4 !. 0.7 1/1,6/84 split, or a cottage. fhe property could not he maintained as is tor more than trio next couple of years, and to that end, tr.are were a number of possibilities. He believed the community would be best served by two sma l ler houses within the affordability of more folks in town. A large house would have to sell for a large price tag, and although two small houses would be expensive, they would be affordable by young professionals in town. He was will- ing to request a continuance to meet with the neighbors to try and come up with some solutions in terms of setback requirements to be recorded with the deed to solve the concerns about where the buildings sat on the property. He believed they could deal with the rear yard setbacks, but did not know what could be done with the sideyard setbacks, elevations, etc. He would. give it a shot, and if the neighbors said "no," the Council could make a final decision on what to do with the property. Their staff was profes- sional, and Jack Schenk was an Assistant Planning Director from Los Gatos, the Planning Coordinator in Santa Cruz, and had high credentials and sensitivity for the use of land, Roger Kohlker was Head Architect who did many additions cr his own around town, Many knew him as a highly qualified, sensitive person. If the status of the property was to change, they should try to make it an opportunity to use the creative abilities of those who could work out the best solution for the property. MOTION: - Counciimember Fletcher moved, seconded by Woolley, to continue the item. Councilmernber Fletcher asked if the continuance date could be left open. Mayor Klein asked Counci lrneinber Fletcher if she wanted input from staff about whether a continuance was appropriate. Counci lntember Fletcher preferred to wait for the applicant to return to the Council when he was ready, if appropriate. City Attorney,Diane Lee asked if the motion was to postpone in- definitely. A motion to. continue or postpone did so for a certain time, or there could be an indefinite postponement. Mayor Klein believed a motion to "postpone indefinitely" was regarded as a natural way to kill things. f:ity Manager Hill Zaner suggested that a date be chosen. Mayor Klein believed the Council should specify a date, and the matter codld be continued at the discretion of staff if things were not ready to return to the Council at that time. Councilnicmber Fletcher was open for staff: to suggest an appropri- ate date. Mr. Zaner said the preliminary agendas suggested either February 6 or Z7, 19184 would be light enough to take an additional item. Counc-ilmerrber Fletcher chose February 27, 1984. MOTION RESTATED: IO CUNTINUf THE ITEM TO FEBRUARY 27, 1984. Counci lrneriiber Ke.nzel said although} it was legitimate for an apps s- cant to speak with the neighbors to try and resolve Some of the problems, the configuration was unacceptable to her. By sup porting the continuance, she did not want to suggest that the type of configuration proposed was_ac;ceptable to her. She did not know where that left the rest of the Council or where the motion might 90. She had no objection to the applicant trying to one more time to make resolution among the residents, but did not want to- sUf- gest to the public that a Caunci.l continuance meant it was favor ably inclined toward the proposed solution. -She was in a dilemma because s.he preferred to see the Council be clean and say it was 4 1 G 8 1/16/84 unacceptable, and let the applicant come forward with a different solution at d different time. She believed it put the entire Council in an awkward position procedurally. If the Council con- tinued the matter, it told the public and the developer that there was potential for the same subdivisir.. The Council could not totally control what happened on lots once they were divided regardless of whether setbacks or whatever were established, and was admonished in the fairly recent past riot to try to attach that type of condition to subdivisions. If the item were continued, she was concerned about the Council's exact latitude or conditions un a subdivision. MOTION PASSED unanimously, Cobb "not participating." Counci lmember Renzel said a rhetorical question was asked to the public about whether they preferred two medium-sized houses or a large and a small one. She did not think that presented all the options --cottage zoning was a conditional use, and not necessarily given. The public needed to evaluate all options. ITEM #1U, PUBLIC HEARING: WEEK ABATEMENT PROGRAM (CMR:111:4) Mayor Klein said that evening was public hearing on Resolution 6207 sauce, He asked the record to show given in the time, manner and form Palo Alto Municipal Code. He asked any written objections. City Clerk Ann Tanner said no. the time and place set for a declaring weeds to be a nui- tnat notice of the hearing was provided in -Chapter 808 of the the City Clerk if she received Mayor Klein asked if any member of the public wished to speak on the matter. Receiving none, he declared -the putil i c meeting closed. He asked -the record to show that no persons appeared or files written against -the ect obj t �„_ .,�ufrs34 i.he weed abatement proceedings, and that any resolution passed by the Council on the matter would reflect that finding. He requested a motion to adopt a resolution overruling objections and ordering the weed nuisance abatement. MOTION: Councf lmember Renzel moved, seconded by Fletcher, adopt the Weed Abatement Program, RESOLUTION b2'2 entitled 'RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF FRI CT1'Y OF PACO ALTO ORDERING WEED NUISANCE ABATE[I' Councilr:iember= Menzel said she was flagged down on the street that day by a person who was terrorized by a Palo Alto Weekly article, that said herbicides would be spread all over their yard. For the record, she clarified that the ordinance was regularly passed for the past 13 or 14 years. It enabled the Fire Department to iden- tify fire hazards, and notify property owners to eli inate those hazards. MOTION PASSED unanimously. ITEM #11 PUBLIC HEARING: A CCMR:1 4:4f nd Reading) ontinue ORDINANCE RE UNIVERSITY AVENUE PARKING tom Mayor Klein said he was unable tn.participate on the item due to a conflict of interest, and deferred to Vice Mayor Levy -to chair the item. Vice Mayor levy asked Commissioner Northway to comment on the Planning C mmission recommendations.. C-orrmissi.oner Nortnway said: the Planning Commission -minutes accur- ately covered the findings of the Commission. The Commission was split on a 4-e vote with he and former Comm s.si-oner Sutarius disc senting. They `believed the process of the ordinance was short 4 1 0 9 1/16/84 aril did not provide adequate time to study the impact of the ordi- nance. it was a complex problem, and to come up with a quick solution troubled hire as a designer and as a planner. There was a major parking problem downtown, and he believed the sunset provi- sion clause in the ordinance would give the impetus to the forces downtown to be unleashed and give some creative solutions to the complex problem. Uirector of Planning and Community Environment Ken Schreiber noted for the record with regard to the Council's concern about adequate public involvement, that notices were :►exit to 1,300 ad- dresses, using the Utility mailing lists, and attached to the staff report that went out at the end of ,December. Staff received less than a half -dozen inquiries from the 1,300 notices. Councilmember Cobb asked for clarification that next year there would be a Comprehensive Plan review, and the Downtown Study. Before the calendar year ended, he anticipated that Council would have new ordinances in place, and he asked if the Council would have to adopt specific new language, or whether it would hap en as a natural course of changing the Comprehensive Plan. City Attorney Diane Lee said during the effective period of the ordinance, if Council adopted other legislation, the old legisla- tion would be repealed as a part of it. Councilmernher Cobb asked for clarification that if the time schedule was not as optimistic as hoped, oa.nd it took 13 months instead of 11, the Council would - have the ability to extend the ordinance. City Attorney Diane Lee said yes. Vice Mayor Levy declared the public hearing open. Jasmine Stockard, 59U Center Drive, was born and raised in Palo Alto, and for the past three years, worked in downtown Palo Alto. She did not have a parking permit, and had to move her car approx- imately bU times per month, or about two to four times a day. She needed ner car a lot during the day, and had to wait anywhere from one minute to 27 minutes in -order to find a parking space. She knew many 'people had not attended the Council meeting, and was disappointed. Parking was a serious problem in Palo Alto, and she believed the reason was because nothing was done for so long. Now, when someone had a certain amount of space in downtown Palo Alto --perhaps 3,000 to 4,000 square feet --they were responsible for several parking spaces, which was costly. It would be diffi- cult for people with small amounts of square footage in the down- town to develop the lanai because it would be costly for the park- ing. The problem was ongoing for a long time, and was at its lowest point. She worried about her town, because especially during the holiday season or any time wh2n it might be a. prime' time for people to go out, parking was outrageous. it did not ;natter whether it was during the day or in.. the evening, no time was better, except the early hours of the morning. She advocated the most stringent reguiations. for parking. Vice Mayor-- Levy declared the public hearing closed having no fdrtber requests to speak. MUTI0N: Counci:member Kennel moved, seconded by Witherspoon, adoption of the ordinance re_ University Parking Assessment District UKOINA$CE 3602 entitled ."ORDINANCE .UF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY O PALS AMENDING CHAPTER 113.83 OF THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO OFF-STREET PARKING. AND LOADING REGULATIONS IN A SPECIFIED AREA OF DOWNTOWN PALO ALTO' (1st Reading 11/19/83, PASSED 6-1, Fazzino "no,' Eyerly, Klein "not Participating") 4 1 1 0 1/16/84 Councill'ileober Henze' did not believe the ordinance did everything needed to be done about parking downtown, but it was an interim measure and provided some assurance that the problem would not get worse during the period during which the Council .would hopefully pass a more permanent resolution to the problem. Councilmember Bechtel said the purpose of the ordinance was to help alleviate the parking problem, or at least make sure it did not yet worse in the interim. She assured the -public that the Council was as concerned as they were about the shortage of park- ing downtown. Councilmember Sutorius hoped the matter would not be made the sub- ject of his maiden comments, but Commissioner Northway appropri- ately summarized his reactions as a Planning Commissioner When the Commission reviewed the proposal. He was pleased that the Coun- cil, in its review, and through the course of the public opinion and contributions, made certain modifications and revisions which helped in the acceptance of the ordinance. In particular, he was pleased to see the sunset clause that was incorporated. The mem- ber of the public who spoke that evening correctly identified that a significant portion of the difficulty of. the ordinance would fall on the small property owner. There was a'natural inclination to think that the burden of the ordinance would most impact the barge property owner, but his analysis showed that it would work greater. hardship on the small property owner, who the City hoped to encourage to stay in the downtown area. He hoped the efforts of the Commission, the public, and the Council in addressing the downtown situation in the coming years would provide a parking process that would be satisfactory to all and would not create a burden on the property owner or the small retailer that could hurt the vitality of the downtown area. Counci#member Renzel said that with regard to small properties downtown, she believed there were few vacant small parcels down- town, and those developed were unaffected by the ordinance. They could continue to operate, and were not required to add parking or anything else. It should be recognized that only a small number of parcels were put into a position of financial hardship by the ordinance, and that those developed were economic at that point in time. Vice Mayor Levy said he understood that exceptions were allowed for a construction' required for safety purposes. He asked about the prospects of a seismic ordinance, and how it would fit into the possibility. Ms. Lee said she understood that the present proposal for a seis- mic ordinance was one that would --allow-permissive, not manda- tery, work to be done. She suggested that if Council.wished to have an incentive for that, and make an exception for it under the ordinance, staff should be directed toe present language to that effect when it returned to Council with the Seisn,rc ordinance. If Council gave that direction, staff would do it as the ordinance went through the Policy and Procedures (P&P) -Committee and to the Council. Vice Mayer Levy asked for Clarification that Council include in the ordinance the handling of exceptions that would be cre ted'by a Seismic ordinance. Ms. Lee said is Council wanted any potential seismic ordinance: to fall under that exception, staff should be directed to include It in the future ordinance rather than the present one. Staff had not yet developed the ordinance, ..did. not know .what_: for.ri: #t would ,take, and could consider how -_to handle exceptions when dealing with :the actual seismic ordinance they would bring to ;Council. It should be made as a separate motion,; 4 1 1 1 1/16/84 Vice Mayor Levy commented that there was a eur:set c1aJ.hse to the ordinance for a period of one year. He clarified that personally he did not consider the ordinance to necessarily be a precedent for whatever happened after further consideration and study of the parking matter, and that the ordinance was a satisfactory way of handling the problem. He respected the sunset clause, and wanted to maintain full flexibility to consider it anew after further input from staff and the public. MOTION PASSED unanimously, Klein "not participating." MOTION: Vice Mayor Levy moved, seconded by Sutorius, to direct staff, at such a time as the Seismic Hazard Ordinance is returned to Council, to incorporate exception procedure relative to the Parking Assessment District ordinance (No. 3502). MOTION PASSED unanimously, 7-0, Fletcher and Klein not partici- pating." Councilrnember Renzel commented that Council would have an oppor- tunity to discuss the details of such a procedure when it was before the Council. ITEM #12, PUBLIC HEARING: PLAN 6INU COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION FOR A s"Ci EG N N qU R G ISSUANCE F A CTINDI T I ONAC USE }n P U r CE -US ExClrLDING 15,000 5 UARE FEET UN ANY SITE Nayor Klein said that by a vote of 4-1, the Planning Commission recommended that the Council adopt a new CN District regulation that required issuance of a conditional use permit for office use exceeding I5,WUU square feet on any site. Counci lwember Cobb referred to the letter received from Mr. Moss, and asked staff to comment on the last paragraph of his letter on page 1, and the first paragraph on page 2. As a result of the way the ordinance was worded, the issue was whether the result might be near all office development. He asked staff about the worst case situation with respect to office versus norioff i ce uses with the ordinance as written. He noted on the table on the last page of the staff.report, that the critical size was from 5,000 to Iu,UUU square feet, which was where the majority of parcels fell. If ne understood the comments correctly, the City could wind up w ith a heavy concentration of office use as opposed to what he tseiieved was intended for the CN district. He asked for com- ments . Manager Planning Projects George Zimmerman said under the present regulations the City could end up with a large concentration of offices, with all retail phased opt as office use came in, pro- ✓ ided they met the present siee limitations. If they stayed as permitted uses, individual office use could only occupy 2,500 square feet, or a collection of office uses served by a common entry could go up to b,0110 square feet. In earlier study: sessions w ith the Planning Commission, a land use survey was done of El Camino down to Matadero-Creek, including the CS and CN zone areas. lfe differences in use were shown by site area, not floor area, between-I97d, when the new zoning ordinance went into effect, and the summer of 19k3. In terns of the change of office uses within the total area of El Camino, there was a decline in site area in office uses in the- CN_ zone areas. He believed there were three CN zone areas on El Camino, and the totd 1, amount of site area showed a sl iglu increase of 1,000 square feet, from about 66',000 square feet to 07,000 square feet. ie date, there had not been an avalanche in change of use from retas l to office, but there -=were other constraints on changes in use --namely, parking requirements, etc. Counci lmember Bechtel did not want , to argue the point, but not seeing something one day did nots necessarily mean it would not happen.. 4 .1 1 2 1j16/$4: Mt-. Zimmerman said that was true. Counci l'nember Bechtel said that as with cottages, staff did not expect anyone'to build 2,200 square foot size cottages. If the Council adopted a percentage, as opposed to a square foot maximum, the percentage would result in a series of nonconforming uses because there were existing offices. She asked what would happen, and how many existing offices .were in the CN zone that might become nonconforming with a 15 or 20 percent cut off. Mr. Zimmerman said that would necessitate another staff survey to determine the existing amount of floor area in office use for each pa_rcel in the CN zone districts. Even if Council directed staff to prepare a grandfather clause, if such a regulation were imple- mented, staff would still have to make the survey to determine which existing sites exceeded the percentage limit and would become nonconforming. Counci lmernber Bechtel said that as presently written, the ordi- nance ha;i a limitation, which was shown on page two of the staff report to be up to 2,500 square feet per individual business, and up to b,00U square feet for a combination of offices served by a common entry, and therefore, there could be separate entries and a series of offices all on the sane site. Mr. Zimmerman agreed in theory that there could be a number of entries. if the amount of floor area in office use served by each of the common, entries did not exceed 5,000 square feet, they could conceivably go above the threshold being recommended, which would be a maximum of 15,000 square feet as permitted use. Beyond that, they would have to apply for a conditional use permit. Counci linember Witherspoon said Council was faced with an array of possibilities. She suggested Council focus back on the fact that they intended to not replace retail with all office use. She agreed with Councilmember Bechtel that,just because offices were r.ot then replacing retail, there were several ways in the mill to restrict office use downtown and on California Avenue by parking or some other requirement. She wanted to accommodate a certain amount of professional office use that was compatible with the CN zone and receptive to neighborhood patronage, such as professional of f i ces. She could see where it would be more efficient to con- struct d building all for dentists that could share a lab, waiting room and other things. She was not opposed to that as long as it was not a large building. She believed 15,000 square feet was a large number, and was curious to know where it came from. Mr. Limmerman said a building could only go to 15,000 square feet if all other zoning requirements were met. In other words, all off-street parking requirements would have to be met, and the site area would have to be at least a minimum 15,000 square feet t•c.ause of. . the exiting floor area ratio of 1:1. Councilme€izber Witherspoon said Mr. Moss suggested that perhaps the most -, effective and fair gray would be to make. it a conditional use triygered by a percentage rather than an absolute square footage, or a minimum threshhold of square footage.H In other words, they would not have to worry about a grandfather clause, if it was a conditional use permit, to exceed maybe 30 -percent i n office use, or 10,000 square feet in office use in an existing building. One would just come in and go through the motions of getting a condi- tional use permit unless it was grossly abused. She asked if there would be any problems with that. Mr. Linirneriaan said that would be a possibility-. ale believed Mr. - Moss recommended there be a flat prohibition of office uses that exceeded a fixed percentage. 4 1 1 3 1/16/$4 Councihuernber Witherspoon said she realized that, but believed some of his arguments had a point. She wanted to touch base on the conditional use permit. Administratively, it would be an easier way to go about it than grandfathering in a whole lot of existing office uses, which could be technically office or retail, dependent on whether it was a sales office or a distribu- torship for some kind of gadget. Mr. Zimmerman said that was true. Vice Mayor Levy said he was not clear as to what staff considered to be the minimum practical size for offices --500, 700, or 1,500 square feet. If the Council were to establish a minimum level, he asked what staff would recommend. Mr. Zimmerman said he could only go back to the original CN district regulations where to protect the overall scale of devel- opment, and assure it was more or less neighborhood -serving, cer- tain thresholds were established for certain uses. For office uses, the maximum permitted floor area was 2,500 square feet, which appeared to be a_ reasonable size. If the Council believed it should be somewhat smaller, that would be alright. Staff was concerned that on some smaller parcels, if there were such a restrictive provision, it would prohibit all office uses from locating on certain small parcels, and as pointed out by Council member Witherspoon, certain office uses were neighborhood sere ving. Vice Mayor Levy said if one had a small parcel, and the Council established a percentage usage so that on a 5,000 square foot parcel, 15 percent could be developed for office use, or 750 square feet, would it be possible to develop the remainder of the property in an economically viable way if one put up a few hundred ,square feet of office. Chief .Planning Official Bruce Freeland believed it was unlikely that people would .want developments for 4,200 square feet of retail space and 700 feet of office. If the City had a percentage that so limited the size of the office, a developer of new prop- erty would not want to. bother with the offices. They • would just not get offices in the CU district, -and that would be a shame. He believed there were many other uses allowed in . the CN district that might be detrimental` -to the neighborhood. Certain restaurant uses might be intensive. He believed if- the City went the per- centage route, it should not be such a low percentage, as to -make it• not worthwhile to bother with offices. Councilmerber Renzel said she was getting a mixed signal, and clarified that the City presently had a 2,500 square foot maximum in the C4 zone per parcel for offices. Mr. Freeland said At was per individual establishment. In other words, if it was a 5,000 square foot lot, -there could be two 2,500 square foot office units in a building. Counci lmember Menzel clarified that staff said if the Council set a percentage that was too low, a parcel would not develop any office at all, presumably they would develop'something else that was compatible with the CN zoning, and she did not understand what was so.awful about- that. If someone wanted to build offices, there were zones where offices could he built. Within the CN zones, there were parcels where fairly _substantial offices could- oe built. Mr. Freeland was concerned about the assumption that offices per `se were a use .to be discouraged in the neighborhood commercial district. There were many offices that_were neighborhood serving. A dental office was mentioned, which was a good example -of -the kind - of use that was nice to have near residential areas. By the sabre token, -some classes of permitted uses might be less desirable. 4 1 1 4- 1/1-6/84 1 than some neighborhood serving offices. He understood and agreed with controlling offices, and not allowing large office complexes, which were out of character with the neighborhood, to occur, but saw nothing inherently wrong with offices.. He was concerned about a regulation that would so restrict them that the Council might as well ban them from CN districts. Offices had a place in the dis- trict. Counci lniember Renzel said al l uses in the CM district were required to provide- parking in accordance with the ordinance. That fact would come into play, regardless of whether it was a restaurant, office building, or a retail store. It was a little different from the assessment district situation, where office space substantially impacted the parking situation, Mr. Freeland pointed out that office buildings were generally quiet in the evenings, and generally had their activity 'luring the tine when many people were away from home. Councilmernber Rerrzel asked if conditional use permits were appealable. Mr. Liminernian said yes. Planning Commissioner John Northway said he had a sense of deja vu when listening to the discussion, because it was similar to the one at --tile Planning Commission. The Commission was also inter- ested in the percentage approach gut, after listening to staff, it looked as though it•would be a difficult concept to enforce in any kind of equitable- way. For that reason, the Commission returned to the staff recommendation. The idea was enticing, but they could not find a practical way of nicking it work in their dis- cussions. Councilmember• Woolley said the Council appeared interested in the percentage because they wanted to have more control. She asked staff how the absolute figure of 15,000 square feet was arrived at, and if it was possible to reduce it and thereby reduce the threshold to get greater control. Mr. Lirnuerinan said the 1t,000 -square feet- figure was derived from looking at other maximum restrictions for other permitted commer- cial uses in the CN district. It •appeared to be a reasonable figure, but was not set in concrete. If the Council wanted to lower it to 10,000, or even b,0OC square feet, it was a possibili- ty. Mayor Klein declared tee public hearing open. Herbert Leman, 4b4 west -Charleston Road, was happy that the Plan- ning Commission and Planning staff decided the neighborhood com- mercial zone was a viable zone that needed. some restriction on office uses. Those were things he said during the whole,period they worried about. the Armax property development in the neighbor- hood commercial zone on Charleston/Meadow. .Flee. was also glad to hear that members of the City Council were concerned about limit- ing office uses, not• only,: on .the larger properties such as the Armax property (where the 1b .000 square foot number originated), but also on smaller properties There had to be a way to elimi- nate the amount of off ices that went in so that . one did not have an office zone rather than a neighborhood -commercial zone. He believed the only way to accomplish .th -t was with a percentage. Another problem with the fixed number, as'originally proposed, was that it tended_ to encourage people, if they awanted to -put in offices., ate divide a barge property into small properties. He did not know whether -that was permi tt ed, but with a- fixed percentage, he'believed there was,nd-advantage--to haying a bigger or a smaller plot --there was the same percentage. of office space. A limit was heeded because office. -_space appeared to yield the greatest profit. 4 1 1 5 1/16/04 Jon Parsons, '43 Maclane, addressed the Council as president of the Palo Alto Civic League. At the last meeting of the Steering Committee the issue was considered and it was unanimously resolved that the following be read to the City Council: "The Steering Committee of the Palo Alto Civic league has reviewed the Planning Commission and City staff recommendations concerning the CN or neighborhood commercial district. Revising the CN zone affords an excellent opportunity for the City to reduce intensification while improving neighborhood amenities. By imposing reasonable restric- tions on CN office uses, the original purpose of the CN zone can be achieved (quoting from the Palo Alto Municipal Code) '...to achieve and maintain neighborhood shopping areas, primarily accom- modating...uses of moderate size, serving the immediate neighbor- hood.' The Steering Committee agreed with the Planning Commission recommendation that restrictions be enacted to limit the amount of office space available in the CN district. Rather than set an absolute square, foot limitation, as suggested by the City staff, the Steering Committee advocates a modest percent limitation. Under this plan, no more than a certain percent of the lot area could be developed into office space. We feel this approach would not only work to curtail office development, with its accompanying problems of traffic and housing, but would also encourage mixed use development. The Steering Committee requests that the allowed percentage be meaningfully small and effective. We do not feel sufficiently informed to suggest an exact figure at this time. This might best be determined in light of the ne i ghborhood' s need for local serving businesses and the deteriorating jobs/housing lrirbalance." bob Moss, 401.11 Orrme, represented the Barron Park Association. Page 2, paragraph 2, of his letter to the Council where he re- ferred to a 15 percent office use which would permit up to 1,500 square feet of office use on the nine smallest lots on El Camino the words "all but" 'should be inserted before "nine smallest..." it would only allow 750 square feet on the lots under 5,000 square feet. In the spirit of compromise, he suggested they could allow 15 percent or 1,500 square feet, whichever was greater, and that would include the nine small parcels on El Camino. To address the staff's concern, if yo', :made a smell office, you would not get development of small offices on sites. That was already the case. Henshel Realty, near the Flamingo Motel, was a small real estate office. He was in it, and doubted that it was even 350 or 400 square feet, plus a few auxiliary rooms in the back for mechanical equipment. That adjoined, e d was part of the same structure, as a beauty parlor. There was a small food store in the same struc- ture, and adjacent to it was the Taco Ti o. Regarding. grandfather- ing in nonconforming uses, he was aware of only one ' bui lding in a ll of the CN zones, and one lot that would become nonconforming if the Council adopted the percentage restriction. The building was the dental/medical office building adjacent to Safeway on Middlefield. It d d_.not have to be grandfathered in because there was a provision for allowing it under the Carey amendment. A 'determination could be made that even -though it was a nanconforrrre ing use, it was a compatible, consistent nonconforming use. Nothing special would have to be done to accommodate it Another concern was the veterinary clinic, and _whether it could have located in the CN zone as an office use. Animal uses were sepa- rate, were not office -uses, and would be .allowed in the CN zone. He reminded the Council that the Emergency Clinic asked to be allowed to establish "a CN zone:along Page Mi l l Road, and were denied, because they were going to put an office- in the back of :the property and wanted to be allowed office use. The Council was coricenned _that if that was allowed, the entire site could -be turned into -offices. Under his proposal, the veterinary clinic could have gone in, and the amount of office use added to the site would have been restricted, and the emergency clinic would °have benefited; He did not understand the Planning- Commission's con- cern about administering a percentage. If one looked at the floor area ratio, which was in alt the commercial and industrial zones, it was a percentage -4 00 percent-, 2©0 -percent, or 300 percent of 4 1 1 b 1/16/84 the lot size, and it seemed to have no trouble with administra- tion. Further, percentage was neetral and neither encouraged, nor discouraged, lot splits or combinations. He did not want to do‘ anything that would change lot lines in and. of itself. On the other hand, he clearly demonstrated that a square footage limita- tion could encouraye splitting of the larger lots. It WAS unfair to expect al l zoning administrators to be sainto. The City needed a simple, easily understood and administered ordinance, and the percentage limitation did that. Planning Commissioner Christensen was right when she said she could not imagine a 15,000 square foot office building that would be neighborhood serving, which was the concern of the Barron Park Association and other neighborhood associations, In terms of -the neighborhood Serving uses, he believed 1,500 square feet would give a large enough office to serve the local area. He asked the Council to consider 1,500 square feet --it was a lot of space, but if the Council was worried that was not biy enough, there was a number of larger lots that would accommodate larger offices. It was important that the Council adopt a percentage limitation. Fifteen percent was not' set in concrete as the best or worst case,:but he believed the low percentage limit was something for which to strive. On the peo- centage figure, he was a moderate on the Barron Park Association Board, and proposed 15 to 20 percent. The other Board members believed 10 percent was more than enough, and they reluctantly went for 15 percent. He recommended that Council go with a modest percentage limitation. If there must be an exception, the Council could say that up to 15 percent was a permitted use, and between 15 and 25 percent, was a conditional use, which should satisfy everybody. They could live with that, and he believed it would be acceptable to the community, the developers, and people who would use the services. Millie Davis, 344 Tennessee Lane, asked the Council to vote against the proposal to require issuance of a conditional use per - ,nit for office uses exceeding 15,000 square feet on site in the neighborhood commercial district. Under the proposal, sites could be developed as 100.percent offices up to that maximum of 15,000 square feet. A public opinion survey showed that residents were concerned about the continued construction of offices in the City. The Charleston/Meadow Association conducted a survey the previous year in regard to the proposal to build a high density office/ retail/condominium development on James Road on E 1 Camino Way almost 100 residents completed a questionnaire, and indicated their first choice for the site was for all nousi ng. A close second Was housing and retail. Offices were listed as the last choice by almost all residents who responded. Offices were the highest job generating use of land there was, and continued _office construction worsened the jobs/housing imbalance and increased traffic in a city that already experienced close to maximum con- gestion at intersections. She believed more of a limitation on offices in the neighborhood commercial zone was needed than was in the proposal. Perhaps a conditional use permit should be required for all offices proposed in that zone, and/or the percentage limi- tation that was suggested in order to encourage either all hous- ing, or housing plus small amounts of retail: with a limited.number of neighborhood type offices in the neighborhood.commercial zone. Mayor Klein declared the ,.public hearing closed having no further requests from the public to speak. COUNCIL RECESSED FROM 9:3U .m. TO 9:45 em. Councilmember Cobb had trouble with the recommendation as pre- sented to the Council. He believed that with so many of. the prop- erties Jailing into the 5,000 to 10,000 square foot range, the potential for building a :tot of_ office space-, even though there - was no _historical precedent for it, sti l 1. existed. The fact that It nad not happened already dig not mean it could hot happen in th:e future. He worried about the unintended consequences of the: Council `s actions, so he believed th,e item should he continued and 4 1 1 7 1/16/134 sofa od k to scoff with instructions., to set some kind of a lower limit for the smaller lots consistent with the discussions. He wanted to see further discussion before he tried to put a number on it. He noted he did not like to see the -Council tinkering with numbers because it was a good way to get bad answers. It was better to let the professionals do it and return to the Council with something that would work as long the Council's objectives were understood. His. objective was to put a specific limit on the smaller properties so they could not get too much office development --consistent with that evening's discussions. He also wanted to see some kind of an upper lirn;t, and he believed 15,000 square feet might be too large. There were many parcels where it could be done, and he was concerned that they would get too much office space, and he wanted the upper limit also refined. He wanted to see the grandfathering issue defined more clearly, so he knew what would, and would not, be grand4athered. He was inter- ested in the possibility of defining more clearly the conditions for granting the use permits so that one could fold in the idea of neiyhborhood survey as one of the primary conditions for granting the use permit. Since it was already a CN zone, it might not be necessary. ltilUT1UN: Councilmember Cobb .moved, seconded by Renzel, to con- tinue the item for the purpose of referring to staff to set speci- fic flat percentage limits on construction of office space and upper limits within 15,`000 square feet, and grandfatheri;ng in existing office spaces. Mr. Limmerrnan asked if the limit would be for permitted uses or for a flat upper limit. Councilmernber Cobb said he believed it should be a flat upper limit. He was reluctant to give staff specific numbers because at was dangerous for the Council to start playing with numbers without really knowing what it meant. He preferred to see the professionals come back and recommend something specific and work- able to the Council. Vice Mayor Levy basically endorsed Counci lmernber Cobb's proposal. He had trouble with a flat percentage figure across the board, - because the smaller pieces of property would get into a defacto undevelopable situation --at least undevelopable for office spaces. It could be developed for other CN uses, but for a 5,000 or 6,000 square lot, if the percentage figure was 20 percent, or 15 or 10 percent, it might be too small because of the mixed use concept they aiscussed where development might be unlikely because it was too bulky to develop a small office and then. some other use as well. He agreed the 15,000 square foot figure was too high, and suggested, in addition to the percentage figure, that staff con- sider a flat sduar°e footage figure. He did not know what "tinker- ing with the numbers" meant in this case, but believed if they had d number in the range of 5,0U0 square feet as an absolute: number for the maximum, it would enable developers of smaller parcels to develop their. parcels, yet ill terms of the total amount of office space that could be actomrrnodated in the CN, it would be reduced dramatically. The City did not want the kind of offices that Mayfield Mall was becoming —they wanted neighborhood serving offices. If you had a 10,000, 12,000 or 15,000 square foot situa- tion, it would probably attract outside cases. If the maximum was kept down . low, it :would not do that. As he understood Council - member Cobbs motion, it- talker about a percentage of l i €ni tat l on, ,And n.e asked for clarification. Mayor Klein said .he understood a percentage limitation was pro- posed with ,square foot maximums. In other words, one., percent with a maximum of 20 feet. AMEMOIENT: Mite Mayor Levy moved to allow staff the flexibility to also have a minimum square footage figure. 4 1 1 8 1/16/84 Mayor Klein said the amendment also asked staff to return to Council with a minimum square footage figure. Vice Mayor Levy clarified he was not asking that staff return to the Council, but that they be free to consider a minimum square foot figure for smaller parcels. mayor Klein clarified when Vice Mayor Levy said staff had the flexibility to come back, he moved the status quo because .staff could always recommend it to the Council. The question was whether he wanted to propose an amendment that would require staff to return with some figure. Vice Mayor Levy said he understood Counciinen;ber Cobb's motion required staff to return with a percentage figure, and he did not want to limit them to that alone. AMENDMENT FAILED FOR LACK OF SECOND Counci lmember Witherspoon said page 2 of the staff report pointed out there were already severe restrictions as to each individual office place in the ordinance, and the Council was considering an addition to that. She.urged her colleagues to realize staff was putting all of that on top of the 2,500 square foot individual office, or 5,000 square foot for shared Offices criteriat If she. understood Councilrnember Cobb's approach correctly, the 'possible combination of a cei 1 ing plus a percentage was the way to go. In any case, the Council was setting limitations that would trigger the request for a conditional use permit. She did not believe it had to be so complicated. If the ordinance did not suit the individual property owner, or if he wanted a few more offices, and had a good reason and could make a good selling joy as to why it should be permitted on a certain site in a certain zone, she assumed it would be considered. Council was not absolutely for- biddiny offices. Whatever Council asked staff to return with should be as simple as possible to alleviate having to consider every single office use in the CN zone, and not give a signal to the community the Council would approve large developments where it would be feasible, but not particularly desirable from the Council's point of view or their policy point of view, in the CN zone. According to her map, the_CN zone, especially along El Camino, had a lot -of service commercial adjacent to it. As she understood it, the office use ratio was 2:1, so if someone wanted to develop offices along El Camino, they would be smarter to find a CS site rather than CN zoning, which was what they were encour- aying. She urged staff when they returned to make -.the whole thing as simple as possible, even -if they could somehow roll it all together, changing the existing 2,500 square feet formula. To cover the grandfatfering clause, it would be easiest to use the condi t i ona l use permit,, because it was already in existence. They would apply for the conditional use permit, and there would not be the grandfather problem. 'As she understood it, the City would have control if the conditional use permit were violated. She believed that was appropriate, whereas with the grandtathering, the City had no handle on it. . Councilmember Bechtel hoped the motion would allow the staff con-. siderable flexibility because she was concerned wtth the straight percentage, because she believedthe percentage for the small par- cels might be too restrictive,. and was too permissive for the large parcelat For tnat reason, she supported the portion of the motion that had a maxi.rnum size. She believed Mr. Muss' .suggestion that lb percent, or 1,500 square feet, whichever was greater, was one -way to go. Another way would be a 5,000 square faot-.-naximum instead of the 15.UU0 maximum proposed by -staff. She assumed by the motion Council was not tying the staff's hands. If 'a strong argument, could be made slightly beyond the limits of the motion, it Would-be acceptable. `. 4 1 1- 9 1/16/84 AMENDMENT: Mayor Klein proved, seconded try Bechtel, to direct staff to provide not only a percentage figure but also a lower allowable limit. Mayor Klein clarified that the limit should be something along the lines of 15 percent or a minimum of 1,500 square feet, without being married to those particular numbers. He was not suggesting. numbers, but used it as an example. Foi'owing Councilmember Cobb's motion, Council would look to staff for recommendations as to the actual figures. Mayor Klein said the City Clerk requested that he not often have amendments, but rather have the language accepted by the maker of the motion. He would try to follow that procedure, but would vote on the amendments even if the maker and second of the motion were agreeable to inclusion a.f language. AMENDMENT PASSED unanimously. Councilmember Sutorius asked for clarification of the motion as amended and the commentary about latitudes to staff. He hoped everyone understood that the staff were professionals, and would return meeting the request of the motion, and with any elaboration they deemed appropriate in their professional expertise. The maker of the main motion properly expressed a reservation about tinkering with numbers, or suggesting limitations on staff's capa- bilities as far as what they recommended to the Council on the subject. He wanted assurances that among the adverse conse- quences, there was not something that would impair the potential for mixed use situations and affordable housing development oppor- tunities. Mayor Klein said the motion before the Council would continue the -item and request staff to return to the Council with recommenda- tions that would provide a percentage figure on the office space allowable in the EN zone; that the lower limit would be expressed in terms of percentages and square feet; and the upper limit expressed in terms of square feet, and would contain a grandfather clause for existing office uses in the CN zone. MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED unanimously. ITEM trig PUBLIC HEARING: PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION . FOR A PROPUSLU NEW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN PROGRAM REL 1NG D L i I -0 li 1 U N BA S OR R A Vice Mayor Levy understood the proposal related to the expansion. of City facilities, and he asked if that included development of the new s service , or just the expansion f services, v eA at73 i V� of existing ones. Mr. Freeland said it would be both --any projects of the City that would increase traffic potential would be looked at in terms of the public benefit versus the traffic generated. Mayor Klein declared the public hearing open. Receiving no requests from the public to speak, he declared the public hearing closed. Counci member Renzel .said she concurred with the proposed policy program for a transportation section of the Comprehensive Plan. MOT I ON i Councilmember Renzel moved, seconded by Cobb, to' adopt the new Comprehensive Plan Program k9A and find no significant effect an the envi roiment. RESOLUTION 6223 entitled °RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF PALO ALTO AMENDING THE PALO ALTO COMPREHENSIVE PLAN WITH REGARD TO DEVELOPMENT ON CITY -OWNED LANDS IN THE EAST BAYSHORE AREA" 4 1 2 0 1/16/84 Cuunci1nember Renzel believed it was important for the Council to apply the same criterion to the City as applied to private devel- opers. MUTTON PASSED unanimously ITEM #14, AMEND U CUND I IONS, THE SITE AND DESIGN REV I Eli OF THE PRUPUSI:1l WATER TANK 1t kOUTHILLS PARK Mr. Freeland said there was a question about the tree selection around the water tank, and Jerry Lawrence and David Sandage of the Parks i;epartment were present and could address the matter. The question was in regard to the type of trees to be planted around the water tank. During the Planning Commission hearing, there was a suggestion to plant other than the originally recommended Coast Live Oaks, PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE, WITH Open Space Supervisor, Foothills Park, Jerry Lawrence said there was a policy in Foothills Park to plant vegetation since 1969. He understood there was some concern about the oak trees being too slow growing, and they would not screen the tanks in a reasonable perioe of time. They found the trees grew fairly quickly, and expected the trees would screen the tank within six or seven years, which was comparable to most of the other trees they put in there. Counci lmernber Witherspoon asked if the material for the tanks would be the best they could get in terms of earthquake safety, and that it would take a severe earthquake to erupt the tank. She understood from the staff report the tank would be steel built with as strong earthquake standards as they could get. Chief Engineer, Water -Gas -Sewer, Ray Remmel said that was why trees had to be added to screen it. They could not put a tank of the size required on the existing site,- and it would be on un- stable soil. ' The soil consultant recommended it be moved- up to the site now chosen, depressed five feet to counterbalance the earth removal, an reestablish the tank at that point, Councilurernber Witherspoon asked about the cost information. Mr. Remmel said the cost of the tank was approximately $116,000. Councilmember Renzel asked if there was an intent }u .Ds.e some shrubbery to screen, or if trees only were to be used. Site be- lieved it might be desirable, in the shorter term, to get shrub- bery in that did not require the depth of root system of trees and which might offer an interim ability to screen. Mr. Lawrence said that Live Oaks grew fairly close to the ground as the limbs extended down to the ground, and he believed they would du the job as well as shrubs. Countilmember Renzel said she was somewhat Concerned about the greenstone formation that vas underneath the property, and whether Live Oaks would be successful, Mr. Lawrence said they planned to dig holes and put in some top soi 1 . They had one-Rand--a-half feet of topsoil at the shallowest, and up to three or four feet.- They, would dig holes approximately four feet deep and four :feet wide, plant the trees, and pit in top soil. Counci imernrer. Renzel understood ..the holes would. penetrate the greenstone. layer. and go down to some :other$" more permeable sot 1 . , 1 f a bucket was made in the greenstone, the- oak ,tree -s_ woul d ,surely not make ;it. 4 12 1 1/16/84 Arborist David 5andaye said that soil tests on the holes showed there were _several feet of loose, weathered greenstone that was oxydized. He believed the drainage would be all right from the planting sites. They were adding the topsoil to accelerate growth. There were many Live Oaks there already within 30 or 40 feet of.. the site; they were healthy, and he did not believe there would be much toxic effect from the greenstone; Mr, rternmel added that the immediate screening was needed for the house immediately across PAge Mill Road. There were some vigorous young Live Oaks along the fence there, and if several more were planted, it would go quite rapidly. There was probably five to six feet of soil there, and it w.s right on top, adjacent to the tank, where the sell amount was s :i.ewhat shallow. •Kenneth Kaye, 11100 Page Mall Road, lived in the immediate neigh- borhood of the proposed location of the water tank. The residents in the neighborhood first received word in the Saturday afternoon - mail that the project was underway, and received word midday that there would be a meeting that 'evening and that there was a proj- ect. He and his wife were present to urge the Council to not approve the tank. They lived in the particular area because they appreciated the beauty of Foothills Park and the surrounding foot- hills and open space area. Because of its beauty, thousands of Palo Al tans came up through Page Mill Road all through the year to avdi1 themselves of the area. For the same reason, Page Mill Road was designated a scenic route. They believed they were friends ana neighbors of the Park, and served as a lookout for fires and vandalism, From time to time they reported to the rangers con- cerns relative to those activities. Because Page Mill Road was designated a scenic road, when they built their house they were required to have a greater setback than normal so their house would not be visible from the road. It seemed to him that the construction of the tank was contrary to that concept and designa- tion. the tank was 33 feet in diameter, 24 feet high (1.9 of which would be above grade), and held 15U thousand gallons, or two -and -- a -half times the present capacity of the two small tanks that were inconspicuously hidden in the hills at a somewhat lower location. He asked if the tank was necessarye They only learned of it that day, and did nut know of the preceding work.. He believed there were some alternatives —there was, storage further up in the hi l 1 s of approximately one million gallons capacity: which he understood was grossly underutilized. Within about one hundred yards of the proposed location, Purissima Hills Water District had a tank of 150 thousand gallons capacity... He,. understood that Purissima Hills! supply -could be used for the `:-purposes of the particular project. He did not know whether those trade-offs were Made, bute in respect for the beauty of the area, and for the cost-effective operation of Palo Alto government; one of the alternatives should be considered. Mr. kemmel said the Puri.ssima Hills tank was approximately 100 yards tram the proposed tank, but was 500,000 gallons, and much laryer than the one contemplated for Palo Alto. The utilization of the tank was for the :Purissima liI ,.ls Water District 'an entire Iy separate entity _ from the. district the proposed 'tank would serve --Foothills l'ark down to the -subdivision of the Hewlett prop- erty, the Lee property and future subdivision that ;sight occur on_ the lower reaches of Trapper Ri dge. There were about one , dozen homes : tl*ere, and about three. additional ones along Los. Tranc.os creek., The areas were not compatible--thhey .basically had two dif- ferent systems, and there -was no interchange there. Mickey isernstein,, 10920_ Page -Mi I l: Road was -- also a neighbor of.- Foothi l ls. Park, He chaTstl-zed the Coundi l and. Planning -Commission for -providing about L4 hours tv address something .that would ::have a major impact On his neighborhood. He was disap :opted that when he askede park officials the previous _summer about the seismic studies being made on. the hill and what was taking place up them-, they —were evasive. He did not believe that was conducive to a 4 1 2 2 1/16/84 yood neiyhhor relationship between the residents and the City. He drew particular attention to Ole fire danger that was created to them on Page Mill Road due to the large amount oar traffic involved and ti'e human access to Foothi l l Park, and Palo Alto's lack of responsibility in addressing it„ He knew that some brush clear- ing, etc. was done, but the Palo Alto Fire Department would con- firm that al l the fire hydrants along Page Mill Road were serviced by the Purissima District. He suyyested they talk with the Purissima District about it, because at the highest peak of fire danger, the Purissima District was heavily taxed. Three times duriny the past year the tank went down to five feet. He wanted the Council to know that if a fire occurred in Foothills Park and Purissima could not put the fire out because it had no water, the City of Palo Alto would be responsible for any damage done to per- sonal property if the fire skipped the road and went into Moody Canyon. For that reason, he believed Council should reconsider snaking a decision on the issue that evening until they discussed the matter with the Purissima District to find adequate fire pro- tection in the Moody Canyon area, particularly if a fire should start in Foothills Park. A couple of hundred yards of pipe and a reciprocal agreement between the two water districts would not only show good faith on the part of they City of Palo Alto, i t would also protect its, and its neighbors interests there. He was a resident for the past lb years, and his house was situated in such a way that he would look directly at the water tank. He knew the meadow well, it was a focal point of has home. It was a love- ly meadow, and to think it would be disgraced by a water tank was a real affront to the tranquility and beauty the City of. Palo Alto had in mina when they put the park in place. He asked the Council to take 3D ,days to give the residents time to prepare good argu- ments as to why the Council should consider another location. Mr. Rernniel. said as far as water supply and the protection of the Foothills was -concerned, Palo Alto had five million gallons of water all stored in the foothills. The majority of it was i n the reservoir, and in the Park itself. There was a one million gallon reservoir, and up on the top of Montebello ridge was another one - and -a -half million gallons. That was all put up by the City of Palo Alto. Transmission meant to bring the water down where available. They could get tremendous supplies of water for fire protection up there. There were hydrants at the gate of Foothills Park, another down at the Lee house, a number of them along the ridge, the Boronda reservoir down to the Hewlett property, several of them up Wild Horse Canyon,. at the Park reservoir, the upper yate to the Park Shotgun Bend, Dow reservoir, two between there and Montebello Ridge Road, an additional Audrant up near the Heron's property on Montebello Ridge Road and ` a hydrant at Nontebel to reservoir. He believed the City did an outstanding .,fob in providing water in the Foothills. Envi ronmenta l Specialist Phy l I i s Potter responded to the .question of whether the City would come if there was a fire on their prop erties. She spoke with Chief Wall of the Palo Alto Fire Depart- . ment who said when fires .,-occurred close to the _ ji uri sdi ct i ona 1 lines, both departments responded. If there was -a fire in one of the homes right across Page Mill Road, the Palo Alto Fire Depart- ment would most likely respond. It had a rapid response time because of the location of Foothills Park. Mr. Remme l said a hydrant would be established at the reservoir for use .by the Fire Department. Mayor Klein asked if staff wanted to respond to the question of not' ..c to the neighbors in the area. Mr. -Freeland said site And. design applications did not normally have the direct public mail notice to property owners within a certain radius. It -was -not like as zoning hearing. -At ethe -.4 1..2 3 1/16/84 Planning Commission level, the Commission was concerned because of the potential sensitivity, and as a result, it asked staff to make a direct mail prior to the City Council meeting, which was done. That was why the notice was short --it was a notice above and beyond what would normally be given in a site and design applica- tion, and was done at the request of the Planning Commission. 1 1 Lynn Smith Bernstein, 10920 Page Mill Road, said she .was concerned about the visual aspects of the tank. It was about 20 feet high --almost as large as the Council Chambers -•and was being put in a meadow on a hill. She asked for clarification that Live Oak trees could grow in seven years to cover it. She would be looking down on it, aind would see the full 33 feet diameter, with or with- out trees. She doubted the trees would cover it within seven years. She would have to see a map, but knew for a fact that some of those fire hydrants were serviced by Purissima Water District, notably the one by their house, and there was not another one. That tank was down to five feet-, and they had no water at their house that summer three different times, all lasting from two to four days, which meant thrr fire hydrant had.= no water. Had there been a fire, there. was a fire:response time of 15 minutes from Palo Attu. iin occasion, they had to tall the Police Department, had both Departments respond, then stand in the driveway for 45 minutes trying to understand which one should service their house. She did not know if that was true for the Fire Departments, but if there was a problem in the area, and the water tank, they wanted 30days to present something to the Council, Councilrnember Bechtel asked Ms. Bernstein if she lived within the city limits of Palo Alto, or whether they were in Los Altos Hills, or the County, Ms. Bernstein said her house was in the County --it was bordered by Palo Alto Upen Space district on. one_ side, Foothills Park• on another side, ana Los Altos Hi l 1 s- on another side. Councilmember Bechtel understood that Ms. Bernstein believed she was served by the Purissima Hills Water District. Ms. Bernstein said that was correct. Counrilmember Bechtel said she guessed the hydrants Mr. Remmel described were all higher up. She asked Mr. Remme :. If that .was the case --were they along Page Mill Road and up --closer to the Los Trancos and Montebello Open Space Reserve. Mr. Remmel said that was correct. There was.a .hydrant at the entrance to Foothills Park and one at Shotgun. Bend. The remainder were all higher and in the upper part. Counci lmember Bechtel said that ;.through the joint agreements with other fire districts, another District would. respond if it: could get there sooner. Mr. kemmel- said yes. The, hyrants were- used. interchangeablyr-, and the first one on the.: site would choose the hydrant which was available, regardless of who serviced them,. Mr. Lawrence said there ,eras a fire -station in:foothills :Park-_ in the summer which was manned by the Palo Alto Fir . Department, and was within a f_ew Minutesresponse .time as of : iast simmer. Councilmember Menzel said both Ms. Bernstein and the previous speakercommented that the: Purissima 1Ji_strict ,.appeared not to be able to protect them, yet they were conterned about :the: eApansion of the Palo Alto _system, which . she.did not understand.. She ,knew they wanted the item continued so they could, give farther input, but she was getting a mi xedl message from them. Ms, Mernstein believed Palo Alto and the Purissima Water District could jointly provide a project that would help the fire protec- tion issue. The. Purissima Water District was unable to supply their users with sufficient water during the summer. Those were issues they had not had the time to think about before that eve- ning's meeting. She believed they were issues that could have better answers for a slightly different site location. The site proposed was a completely open meadow. Slightly over and higher there was a covered hi i lside that would not block anyone's views and would be more h}dden. She had no idea about seismic studies, but possibly the ta:`rk could back up the Purissima Water system and create a good working relationship between two water districts in an area that did not have sufficient :eater. Councilmember Renzel asked staff to cohment on alternative sites that were considered. Mr. Remmel said staff investigated three different sites in the locale The current site was the one chosen by the seismic engi- 1 neer and the soils engineer as the best for the particular tank. It was the furthest from any existing landslides, and was proposed by the engineers and not by staff itself. Ms. Mernstein said it was also the most out in the open. Mr. 'kemmel said it was not the most out in the open. One of the alternatives was to put it out further~ westerly, into the meadow than it Was presently. They chose that site as near as possible to the existing trees so they could effectively screen it. Me was sure the job would be done effectively. Councilrnember Witherspoon commented everyone was concerned for a number of years about maintaining the supply of water for fire protection and other purposes in the -Foothills area, and staff responded to that l oat's ytandi ng Council concern. She believed no place in the Foothills was ideal for water tanks of the size pro- posed because of seismic and aesthetic reasons, and it was a fact of life in California that they had to store water in large amounts when there -- was a fire hazard such as that in the foot- hills. They would have to go ahead and hope they could get some native plants. She suggested some interim native shrubbery to block the impact of the tank until the trees grew. She believed the Council must go ahead with the project as soon as possible. NOTION: Cauncilmeaaber Witherspoon moved, seconded by Levy, to adopt the Planning Commission and Architectural Review Board recommendations that tie project will not have any significant adverse environmental impacts, and approval of the Site and Design application with the foHowing conditions: I. Roadways shall be graded to direct water in a lateral direc- tion across the slope; 2. All denuded areas shall be planted with erasion resistant vegetation including those areas that will no longer be in use such as the abandoned roadway and existing tank area; 3. Construction and siting of the tank shall follow the recommen- dations Outlined by the soil engineer; and 4. The south and eastern perimeter of the tank shall be planted with + 10 Coast Live Oaks trees. OkUINANCE FOR F, RST REAPING entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE UNC I L O 'lilt CI TT OF PALO ALTO APPROVING AND ADOPTING A PLAN FOR THE IMPROVEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF BLANCO RESERVOIR AT FOOTHILLS PARK' Councilmember Bechtel asked whether construction would.begin later in the spring if approval was given that evening because she was considering an amendment to continue the ,natter for one month and for staff to look further into whether alternative sites'might be available. Mr. Kemmel said staff proposed to begin construction as soon as possible in the spring. The enyineering and site work was done, and a continuance meant extensive delay and completely new engi- neering of a site, and would probably come next fiscal year. Councilmember Bechtel clarified that an alternative site would have to be reengineered, and the process started again. Mr. Rernmel said yes. Staff looked at three alternative sites in the area, and to his knowledge, no alternate site in the vicinity could. be properly screened. As they tended to get off that knoll, and: depart from the flatlands on top, there were areas with incipient slides. Landslides in the 'prehistoric past were referred to i' the 'geological report from the consultants', which was why the subject site, near the top of the knoll, was chosen. SUBSTITUTE MOTION: Councilmember Bechtel moved, seconded by Klein, to continue the item for one month, and that staff look further to see whether alternative sites might be available. City Manager Bi l 1 Zaner said the project had been scheduled for some time, extensive analysis was done, and as pointed out by Mr. Hemel, staff knew the options. The recommendation was the last i.n a set of options that were all undesirable. Staff did not want the foothills spoiled, but the necessity existed to replace the two existing tanks. Ke believed that 30 additional days -would not surface additional information, and recommended that Council move ahead with the project immediately. Councilmember Bechtel believed the substitute motion to continue aright be valid. The public was concerned because a water tank was large and permanent, and she agreed. The Council needed time to see whether alternatives existed, and in a month staff could pro- vide the various alternatives, and give the -Council and public time to see them. Councilmember Fletcher said staff clearly indicated that all the options were reviewed, and she did not see what would be gained by postponing the item for one month. Councilmember Renzel concurred with Councilmember Fletcher. She agreed that concern must be expressed about a large structure being put in an open area in the foothills , -but from the wording of the resolution and the staff recommendation, the City was Gom- €nitted to screen the structure no matter what ith took. The screening would take time. She was not convinced that Live Oak trees would survive.. but knew someth .would thrive. Si'ie`.'Con curred with (;ounci lmember . Fletcher that'.staff evaluated the alter- -natives to serve the needs in the area, an_ii believed the pro'posed location was the best from a seismi aiid other point- of view. She did not believe there were a-- lot of� "choi ce.s.. Mayor Klein said there right not .be a better site, but: sometimes the public's input. phovided. 'new .ideas. It ias"irr+port:nt.for City processes to be as :open as posts ibli~ ,` and the residents in the area should be given the opportunity to Consider alternatives and make pro€pdsa i s. He did not .believe a ones -T oath delay would harm the City's needs, and urged that the substitute` motion be supported. Councilmember Sutor-ius referred to the;:1a.is c+imment .about gi Yi ng the publ tc an opportunity to provide --an acceptable altfernative, and asked for Clarification -:about whe.thgr: publ t_ i`c inpu would be submitted at anytime during the iii days or at the -end of -the- 30 day . Period. He was :,concerned that' 11- public_ input Was not received prior to the end of the 30 days, staff might only have one additional alternative and believe al l possibilities were evaluated and that nothing better existed. He asked how well equipped staff would be to evaluate an alternative presented at the public hearing. Mayor Klein believed it would not make sense for an interested member of the public to appear before the Council in four or five weeks with an alternative not yet presented to staff. If a sub- stitute motion was passed, he hoped staff would arrange a public meeting within .a couple of weeks - at Foothills Park or somewhere in that neighborhood --where ideas could be explored and evaluated, and presented to Council in an appropriate staff report in advance of the Council meeting. He asked Councilmember Bechtel to -specify whether she meant four or five weeks from that evening. Councilmember Bechtel clarified she meant four or five weeks --30 days plus or minus. SUBSTITUTE MOTION FAtLEU by a vote of 3.6, Klein, Bechtel and Cobb voting "aye." Councilmember Witherspoon clarified that oak trees and any other native bushes such as toyon or acacia, which 'grew quickly, would be used_ as opposed to Monterey pines. MOTION PASSEL) by a vote of 8-1, Bechtel voting "no." IILM #1b, AMENIiMENT OF RESALE CONTROLS GOVERNING MORTGAGE REVENUE t' i • k 4 fUNU i'RU1iR, Councilmember Witherspoon was confused because in one place a one- third percent of a certain kind of index was mentioned, and in another two-thirds of a different index was discussed dependent upon available financing. She asked for clarification. Mr. Miller said the type of index was the key item that would be changed in the developer agreement amendment aed the amendment to the resale controls. Staff believed the index originally proposed was unworkable. When it was chosen, staff was unaware of some of its ramifications. The deed restrictions under the current ordi- nance for units financed with mortgage revenue bonds were not spe- cific enough, and staff believed it should be consistent with the i i+�: -_'ow Market Rate (LMR) program. The attempt was made to include VTi the 6MR deed restrictions, excepting the appreciation level, which was the only difference. Councilmeinher Witherspoon clarified that instead of one-third, it would be two-thirds. Mr. Miller said that was correct. NOTION: Councilmember Witherspoon moved, seconded by Woollty, approval of the amendment to' -the agreement which substitutes new Exhibit b (Deed Restrictions) to the City, County of Santa Clara, and Palo Alto Housing Corporation Developer Agreement; awd the ordinance amending Chapter 9.70. of the Polo Alto Municipal Code re Resale Controls Governing Mortgage Revenue Bond Program. AMENDMENT TO DEVELOPER AGREEMENT AMONG THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, CITY or PALO. ALTO, AND PALO ALTO HOUSING CORPORATION • ORDINANCE FOR s Wi Ao i NG entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE ALTO AMENDING CHAPTER 9.70 ON RESALE CONTROLS FOR UNITS ORIGINALLY FINANCE© WITH MORTGAGE REVENGE BONDS" NOTION PASSED unaniwonxiy. 1 I 4 1 2 7 1/16/84 ITEM #lb HE VEST OF COUNCILMEMbER iiLCri1LL RE SCHOOL RALLY AT DEPENDENCE HIGH SCHOOL SAN JOSE ON F 8RU 1RY 2, A0$2 - RE0 E Counci lrnember Bechtel said: School Board Member Carolyn Tucher advised her that on February 2, 1984 at Independence High School in San Jose there would be a school rally sponsored by the Palo. Alto Unified School District, San Jose Unified School District, and almost all the other unified school districts in the County, the Lea��are of Women Voter':`, AAUW, Santa Clara County branches of AAUW, and the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The City was being asked to list its name on the program as co-sponsors. A decision was needed by January 20. She received the information on January 13, and there was not sufficient time to put it on the agenda. She presented information regarding the goals of the rally, which was called "Mission Possible," and quoted that "California's mission, 'should they choose to accept it, was to regain its status as a national educational leader, to restore public education as a top priority for fundingee to rededicate themselves to providing excellence and opportunity for every child. "Unless we each do our part, public education in California will self-destruct in a very short time --so join "Mission Possible'" She believed it was appropriate. MOTION: Counci lrember Bechtel moved, seconded by Levy, to co-sponsor the 'Mission Possible" rally on February 2, 1984 NOTION PASSED unanimously. ITEM #17, REQUEST OF CUUNC1LMEMBEf FLETCHER RE ASSEMBLYMAN SHER HAZARDOUS WASE BILL 13b2 - Counci lrnernber Fletcher said the Council packets contained a letter from the League of California Cities, which was on' file in the ity Clerk's office, commending Assemblyman Sher for his work on AB 13b2, which "ensures local governments protection from leaks of underground tanks storing toxic chemicals. AB 1362 is one of the most significant environmental protection bills passed by the legislature in the last AO .years. .Assemblyman Sher managed to ensure a very strong environmental protection bill ma-ximi ing local government flexibility and overcoming opposition by- oil companies and other industrial groups by negotiating over 100 amendments to -the bill in the last two weeks of the legislative session." MOTION: Counci lmember Fletcher droved, -seconded by Kenzel : that the Mayor be directed to seud a 1 etter of commendation to Assemblyman Sher re AB 1363 MOTION PASSED unanimously. ADJOURNMENT Council adjourned at 1U:4o ATTEST: :rna 4 1 2 8 -1/16/84