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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-01-17 City Council Summary MinutesO CITY COUNCIL MIE1UT€S CITY aF PALO ALIO Regular Meeting Monday, January 17, 1983 ITEM P AG E Ural Communications Consent Calendar Referra 1 None Action Item f#1, Funding from California Arts Council for Cultural Center Creation Location Project 2 8 5 5 2 8 5 5 2 8 5 5 2 8 5 5 2 8 5 5 Agenda .Changes, Additions and-iDeletions 2 8 -5 5 Item #5, 'Retirement of Series A (Barron Park) Electric and Gas Revenue Bonds/Funding Calaveras Project Construction Interest Costs - Item #3, Report from the Tree Task Force Item 04, Human. Relations Commission re Age Dis- crimination in kentai Housing Adjournment Final Adjournment 2 8 5 6 2 8 5 6 2 8 6 2 8 65 9 2 8 6 9 Regular Meeting Monday, January 17, 1983 Tile city Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers at City Ha 1 l , 25U Hamilton Avenue, at .7:30 p.m. PRESENT: Bechtel. Cobb, Eyerly, Fazzino, Fletcher, Klein, Renzel (arrived at 8:30 p.m.) ABSENT: Levy, Witherspoon ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 1. Harrison G. Otis, 909 N. California Avenue, a 54. year resident of _Palo Alto,, said he appreciated the City because it worked together as a community. He believed that open space was important for the community, and that a buffer zone was essen- tial to ensure that overbuilding would not occur. Property must be acquired under the Naylor Act to connect that buffer zone to the community. He offered his help in attempting to maintain and save the City's open space and playground areas. He had attended the meeting at Fremont Hills and supervised soccer games were in progress during its course. Palo Alto must try and acquire the surplus school sites in any ways pos- sible, or attempt to forestall any irrational developments which might take place and remove those sites permanently. He believed the City must plan now in order to have playgrounds for, the future children. CUt4SENT CALENDAR Mayor Bechtel advised that Item #2, Carpeting City Facilities, was to be dropped from the agenda and agendized later at the request of City Manager Bill Laner. MOTION: 'Vice Mayor Fazzino moved, seconded by Cobb, approval of the Consent Calendar as amended. Action ITEM #1, FUNDING FROM CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL FOR CULTURAL CENTER Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the Resolution accepting the Cal if_or•nia Arts Counci l Grant_, AC -2662 of $2,385 for the "Creation Location" program. RESOLUTION 6088 entitled °RESOLUTION OF THE, COUNCIL OF crlT uF MO ALTO ACCEPTING GRANT FROM CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL FOR CREATION LOCATION PROJECT OF THE PALO ALTO CULTURAL CENTER' ' MOTION PASSED unanimously, Levy, Witherspoon, Renzel - absent. AGENDA CIHANGES AUDITIONS AND UEL EI I UNS MOTION. lice Mayor _Fazzino moved, seconded by Klein., to bring El ,forward Item tb, Retirement of Series A (Barron Park) ectric .and. Gas Revenue Bowls, for action. MOTION PASSED unanimously, Levy, Renzel, Witherspoon absent. 1 1 ITEM #5 RETIREMENT OF SERIES A BARRON PARK ELECTRIC AND GAS MOTION: Counci Imeraber Cobb moved, seconded by Klein, that the Retirement vf Series A (Barron Park) Electric and Gas Revet►ae Bonds/Fundin9 Calaveras Project Construction Interest Costs. be referred to the Finance and Public Works Committee.. Councilmember Eyerly said he had no problem referring the matter to Committee, but that ;n recomwending the bonding statements for; the purchase of Barron Park Electric-, the Bond Counsel limited any further bonding to some decree, --which meant that the City would have to find some other way to get out of that contingency. It could be handled, but he could not believe that anyone would think that the City would not do any more bonding for 20. years. He asked that the bond counsel be .questioned by the Finance and Pub - lit Works (F&PW) Committee. MOTION PASSED unanimously, Levy, Renze1, Witherspoon absent. ITEM #3, REPORT FROM ThE TREE TASK FORCE (CMR:131:3) Chairman of the Palo Alto .Tree Advisory Task Force (PATATF) Larry Booth introduced Alan Reid, Albert Wilson, and Gary Nauman. He said that other members of the task force not in attendance at tonight`s Council meeting included Joyce Duckstad, Nancy Hardesty, Jean Jones, Erica Prince and Joseph Williamson. The PATATF pre- pared a draft comprehensive Palo Alto Street Tree Management Plan copies of which were made available.to all Councilmembers. A Tree Management Plan was also referred to as an Urban Reforestation Plan. The procedure for developing the plan included three public meetings, in three different Palo Alto locations scheduled for Sunday, February 6, 20 and 27, 1983. The 30 minute slide show would be narrated, followed by a public question and answer period. Input derived from the scheduled public meetings would be integrated into the plan, and the final plan would be presented to the City Council by the target date of May le 1983. The PATATF was formed on -July 13, 1981 to act as a forum for public input toward the establishment of goals and policies of a Tree Manage- ment Plan. On February I, 1982, a staff Arborist, David Sandage, was hired to coordinate the process. The process to prepare a comprehensive document was implemented by twice -a -month meetings held between the eight appointed members and the two City staff personnel. With the goal of expanding the Council's understanding of the Street. Tree Management Plan and receiving Council's encour- agement and 'endorsement, he called upon the City Arborist, David Sandage. Mr.. Sandage said his presentation --would be divided into five chap- ters and would explain .the goal5, maintenance and renewal plan for the City's trees. The first chapter provided general background information,. Palo Alto was 'named after its landmark redwood tree (El Palo Alto) and the City had enjoyed the benefits of° thousands of streets trees since its beginning.- Early citizens planted the 'trees treat the people lived. among today,, and the. , task force was required to ' see, that legacy . protected-, improved and renewed for the present and the future. Palo Alto's urban forest was unlike .a natural forest The original Land around El Palo Alto was sparse- ly wooded, -open grassland -with a scattering: -of oak trees._ The early residents of Palo Alto, coming from the. east and mid west, -brought a variety of eastern amerlcan - and European` trees. Over 100 different spedies of trees -from all over the world were planted tn. Pa.lo Alto.. - Trees.. were beautiful 'and the aesthetic benefit wets , so obvious it was sometimes, passed over by scientific analysis. Trees filled everjones' 'Oyes with the beauty' of nature and filled the physical environment with life, and Were a . direct link to, peoples'most fundamental roots. Trees were peoples.' earliest shelters and still protected people frome climatic extremes. Summer heat was modulated by the evaporation of water from leaves, and trees shaded walls, roofs and pavements thereby modified temperatures. Seasonal winds were raised over rooftops by a solid canopy of fol iaye, and the "rain that weathered houses washed away top soil and caused flash flooding was defused by the trees and could then be absorbed by the soil.. Regarding the environmental benefits, everyone realized that trees released oxygen, but not everyone realized that the roots of those giant plants drew moisture up from underground reservoirs humidifying the dry summer climate, and along with the -composting leaves and twigs kept the soil alive and useful. Trees provided habitat for pests and predators so that people might live in a natural balance of nature. They reduced glare and screened and softened the views of the buildings and freeways. Earlier residents planted for fruit and for the enjoyment of exotic species. • The second chapter._ described the existing conditions and --some problems which might occur. Many of the existing trees :were planted in_ a relatively short period of time as Palo Alto was developed. A variety of fast growing species made up the early plantings in ,subdivisions built in the:ss 920's. Federal projects in 1932 and 1933 planted about 30,000 sycamores and magnolias. - Another 20-,000 trees were planted soon after ?94a', making approxi- mately 6U,UO0 trees planted in a 40 year period from 1920 to 1960. one source of concern for the future was that those trees might decline as rapidly as they were planted, creating a large-scale replacement job. However, observation had revealed that the declining period was more gradual than the planting period because different species of trees lived different lengths of time and because each trees vigor varied according to soil type and site quality. An even aged forest was defined as a group of trees all the same age. The monoculture was a group . of trees al 1 the same species. There were many streets that were planted at the same time with the same species, such as the oaks on Charleston. Sig- nificant numbers of those trees were beginning to decline within a short period of time. -Because they were all even aged, more of them were susceptible to the pests and diseases that attacked trees when their vigor•slowed down. That could result in the loss of trees in a large area. Inappropriate species selection was an interrelated condition to those just described. Specific charac- teristics were observed about many of the tree species chosen in the earlier days. Trees -_,.that looked like excellent choices in th- i r native environments became significant problems when planted in Palo Alto. For example, a Modesto Ash oh Lewis, was a fine shade tree with .dry interior but became blighted by_ a leaf fungus every spring in Palo Alto's more humid coastal region. The Camphor, was a hearty and attractive evergreen tree from the Mediterranean area, like those ---found on Embarcadero, ,developed curb cracking roots in the _City's heavy clay soils. Many non- native species, such. as birch would not tolerate the heavy alka- line clay soils that covered much of Palo Ai t:o. ' _Other conditions_ existed where trees had outgrown their space and required expen- - sive. regular pruning to keep them safe, such as: the elms on M dd efield under high voltage lines sandsthe -Italian Stone Pines on San Antonio that spread out beyond the planting area into. truck lanes, and trees that dropped staining .or foul smelling fruit on the sidewalks-, such -as the berries, -on the fruit bearing Ginkgo. Those conditions had grown, along with .the trees, to cause' exces- sive. maintenance costs;,: hazards and nuisances for the public. Cha-peer: three described the. goals formulated by the task force. The development -of the. previously described conditions were not unnoticed, Local residents who were knowledyea.ble about —trees had voiced. con,cern to .the Ctty _about the potential problems they could the potential problems they could see developing. The City Coun- ci 1 responded by creating the Palo. Alto Tree Task Force, a commit- tee of local residents with expertise in landscape architectural, horticulture and related subjects , and directed -them to create a street tree management plan. The committee, . with the hel p of the City tree maintenance staff, defined certain goals and guidelines as part of the management plan. The following goals were set for the benefit of the City as a whole without losing the perspective of individual residents. 1, Tree Canopy Density.; The first question the committee ad- dressed was how many trees were needed and what density of tree canopies should cover the City to fulfill the goal of providiny enouyn shelter . and shade without excluding all sun - 1 i yht.. A minimum- level of 50 percent was chosen and higher percentages were encouraged. :That meant that each block_ on both sides of the street should have at least 50 percent of the street area, or right of way, covered with tree foliage. The minimum goal of 50 percent ..coverage was close to the den- sity -on Hawthorne Street. 2. Solar Access. In order to .allow sunlight to warm houses dur- ing the winter, it was decided that only deciduous tree spe- cies would be planted _along south facing property lines along the street. By avoiding evergreen trees with winter foliage, passive solar hearing would be encouraged. 3. Species Selection. The third goal was how to match the appro- priate tree type to the planting site. The task force decided that the existing species list of authorized street trees should be updated to include the latest information available about trees. A planting guide was created to describe the characteristics of the trees on the list. The guide would be used by the City staff to choose the best species for each situation. 4. Replacement Criteria. The matter of deciding when a tree needed replacement .was_ examined and .guidel ines were estab- lished. The task force decided to bring those goals and the tree plan to the pubs is in public neetings to ascertain their ideas about the subject, and to allow them to have a voice in shaping the character of their own streets. The task force wanted to continue to educate and involve the people with their trees to help keep the trees in good condition. Regard- i nc the even. aged monoculture, '.the entire stand of birches on Bryant were dying at the same time because they were all the same age -and species. The :goal was to . provide a constant -50 percent ctaverage in the public ri ght of way. He showed a sketch of a typical even aged monoculture planting, or a planting of a the same species of tree all the same age. By replacing the trees in three stages of ten years apart , a rotation of the -trees could be created a few at a time rather then all at once. The present generation of least desirable trees were removed and the second 'generation- started. The third generation would bet started ten . yearse later, and the fourth would be started ten year s .after that. In that ways the even age planting was replaced with a variety of -ages. In actual practice, the life span _would also be varied, by plant-. ing -more, than one species. That could -easily be done where the trees were young enough so- that Aheree was plenty - of time to start one or two more generations before the original group died. That would mean:- same healthy trees -would_ have-, to be replaced. Trees ;causing the -hig,he:st :maintenance costs would be replaced. first, and the .other ones .would --be replaced later. 'F -or exauaale, 'he showed some._short lived purrs; on EdgeWood that would :ha Ate; to be replaced in. tlrne to -.star.t the. new trees before the entire -road ,died_. Howev.erv.--the ..long-lived .syca- mores''would, decline slowly enough -to-- del;ay their replacement until they Were past their best years._ fixing -species of trees on the, street would .also help spread- out the replacement' out the replacement schedule and add diversity to the urban forest. That diversity. would also .help protect the street from the sudden loss of all trees since different species could be chosen that would resist certain pests and diseases. The second_ element ,of the replacement plan encompassed. mono- cul tures and related to the other elements as well. Tree species would b.e selected using the 'fol1owing criteria. Species would be chosen whose size, shape and growth habit fit the site. Health' and vigor, soil tolerance and disease resistance would be matched to existing site conditions, and ornamental characteristics --seasonal color or other distin- guishing features --would be taken into consideration. Where trees were causing an unreasonable amount of damage to side- walks or: streets, two alternatives were possible. first, small trees could be chosen for replacement species; or, second., a larger planting site might be constructed behind the sidewalk by curbing the sidewalk over against the curb around the tree. That might be done several times on blocks with narrow, two foot planting strips between the sidewalk and curb if the homeowners agreed. In newer developments, the side- walks were usually located next to the curb. That design effectively accommodated tree roots. The roots of the tree did not have to pass through the sidewalk to reach their source of water in the lawn area. That arrangement reduced or eliminated damage to pavement and uti 1 iti es. There would be three sizes of trees on most streets. The first, Class A, large trees where there were no high voltage lines overhead and at least three feet of open soil for roots, such as the tulips on Charming. The second, Class 8, were for large but shorter trees, such as Camphors on Lmbarcadero. Those sites had the three foot soil space, but had high voltage wires overhead and would be limited to spreading types of trees that would not grow much over 40 feet in height. The third size, Class C, would be for small accent trees that would provide more ornamental beauty than overhead canopy, but could grow in small planting areas. The renewal plan must address the cri- teria for tree replacement, making the decision to remove a tree was often controversial --people got attached to their old trees many of which were older than they were. On the other hand, some trees caused their owners eo much trouble and expense, they wished to remove them. Trees would be removed according to following criteria: 1) when they were public safety hazards;. 2) when they caused excessive maintenance costs; and 3) when they were in poor condition. Long-lived trees might be replaced at the onset of visible stress while short-lived trees; might be replaced .at regular intervals to provide continuous replacement scheduling, That was needed to provide ongoing coverage of the public right of way. Included in the renewal plan was the concept of heritage trees. They would like to create a special class of City trees- called "Heritage Trees", which, because of their history, location or unique character, would be preserved as long` as' possible.. Their status would be authorized by a special group or tree committee of, citizens and staff who were knowledgeable about trees. 'The committee right also recognize notable trees on private property if enough people were interested iri having that done. Santa ,Clara County had such a list of heritage trees, three of which were located in Palo Alto. 5. implementation. The first step was to identify the problem areas' and situations and prioritize them. He presented an illustration of Palo Alto's soul 'profile which showed that near San Francisquito Creek there- were deposits :of alluvial top soil which: would support _ large trees and keep them :in -good condition. Farther south, the basin soil was poorly drained, heavy clay. The heavy clay 'soils inhibited the growth of 2 8 5 9 1./17/,83 certain. species of trees and caused damaging surface root growth in others,. Alkaline soils near the Bayshore were dif- ficult for most tree species. He showed a map which outlined the soil types, and superimposed a City street district map over it to identify the problem areas. Some of the districts needed immediate replanting of vacant tree sites and replace- ment of old hazardous trees. Others would need periodic re- placement at intervals of five, ten or more' years.- Before work began -'in t:he first tree maintenance area, a series of thi nys must occur. a) The City tree staff would inventory the areas trees by district to identify specific hazards and vacancies and to outline future replacement schedules and species choices. The type of tree and site description,- including the size, presence of overhead :wires and underground utilities, would also be recorded. A permanent record. would be made and kept in a file for easy access. That file would con- tain an ongoing description of each tree's condition and the history of work completed. The residents of the district would be notified by mail of the choices of tree species 'available for the block. inclosed _in the letter would be a ballot to be returned to the Committee with the choice. In that way, residents would have a direct voice in choosing the character of their street. The choices offered would be -carefully selected to imclude only those species that would match the soil type, planting space and overhead space on the street. After the final species were selected, the re- sults of the tree election would be mailed back to the residents, and a neighborhood meeting would be scheduled to find out if there were any further questions. Many streets had high voltage lines on one side, and tall, and short tree species might be combined. Where there were no overhead nigh voltage lines, the same large trees might be used on both sides. The major tree_. species would be dis- tributed- in, the district in _an alternating block pattern to allow some uniformity of design while providing the species diversity needed to prevent overdependence on any one species. Regarding how the new- plan would affect the maintenance of existing trees and the care of newly planted trees, there were two ways to schedule service. The most efficient method was routine preventive maintenance. When an area was inven- toried, the trees would be placed on a one, three and five year inspection Schedule dependent -upon their needs. -Whole blocks or areas -might need_ to be scheduled at the same time which would make the job more -efficient. The other way to get service was by citizen request. Unexpected conditions, such as the recent storms, did arise where Work -was needed, and any request for service would be inspected. The -work _could then be pri.oritized. e Ur-gent,e hazardous conditions would be taken care- of immediately_e regular raairitenance .would be schedule -d -along with other needs in the area.- The, trees_ condition would .be updated with'`each inspection .or service and the- next. inspection would be sched-uled.- Monitoring insect :, po ul at:i on,s at the early stages of their development .often allowed steps to 'tie taken to prevent a serious. build up. of . plant pets before chemicals were `'needed.. a By educati n.g the public to recognlz.e a healthy natural level of insect population, a=`; balance of predatory -insects - .versus. pest insects, a better -bal nce- could be made. In keeps-ng. Kith the desire for a 'healthy tree e_n.vironmerrt ,and a'n ssffit:ient main. tenance aperat-ion., At Blade sense- to educate interested .ryesi- dents about; their trees. The people op thew blocks, saw the -_trees every day, and if :,,they :- knew what to look ..:fors they could "alert --.the City :staff to a: probl..em at an:early stage-. That was especially true for. the planting and care of young trees and for monitoring certain insects or disease imbal- ances„ By asking the residents to water young trees, the trees would receive personal care and closer supervision. The tree caretaker could call when a_ tree needed resteking, prun- ing or seemed to be in •trouble. Neighborhood groups or hors :e - owner associations might with to take a more active -roll in the replanting and care of their trees. The committee wanted to promote a sense of community by encouraging . neighbors to yet involved in more ceremonious occasions like Arbor Day or a group effort such as replanting a creeks i de or undeveloped park. The committee's plan was a step forward in tree management. By using computerized records and scheduling, a tremendous quantity of information -could be managed, and the whole plan organized to a degree which _had not been previously possible. In that way, the City- could preserve what it inherited for future generations, it could improve the quality of the present environment and the ser- vice to its citizens. Mayor Bechtel thanked Mr. Sandage for the excellent presentation. She asked for clarification about the dates on which the presenta- tion would be repeated for the public. Mr. Sandage responded that the presentations would be made on February 6 at the Lucie Stern Center, on February 20 at Mitchell Park and February ?7 at Gunn High School. Mayor Bechtel said that Councilmember Levy asked her to convey his appreciation for the excellent job which was done on the draft report of the tree plan and thanked all of the members of the com- mittee and staff members who helped with its preparation. Councilmember Eyerly said it was apparent that the task force was a good one and had good advice from the City's Arborist. He was pleased with the draft report and with the move being made toward preserving the valuable City trees. Vice Mayor Fazzino echoed the cements already made. When the matter returned to the Council, he would ' be particularly interest- ed in are ongoing mechanism for`- the management of the entire system,. which Was presented tonight. He wanted to see Some form of cone ' i need citizen involvement given the :outstanding plan that was prepared as a result. Further, he suggested that some plan for the ongoing maintenance Of trees be inc uded in the budget, and urged the committee or the Public Works Department to come up with a plan `specifically relates to the recomrnendations< of the City Tree Task Force and advise how the program could be managed on an annual basis. He was interested in how education and involvement could be handled to ensure the fullest amount of public paeticipa- tion and decision making. He believed the report was outstanding,- and was pleased with the progress made by the committee. Councilmember Cobb_ sai-d the report was well done and that the pro- gram .was exciting. He asked if the program ►; 'aid get underway in -a time frame short enough -to keep the urban .forest of Palo Alto. Mr. Sandage responded that it could be done and that the situation was not that alarming. There were many urban species, the condi- tions varied_ enough and it was the time to begin replanting. A lot of the trees lived 'longer than originally believed, and the short term species were located in single areas._ that could be easily: handled. Counci lme{ ber Cobb said that regarding public education on , it _ oc- curred to him that a great deal of the work already:;;done could be made available to the ppbl is in terms of their own property and what could be planted and ,the maintenance involved. He hoped 2 8 6 1 1/17/83 RENAL HUOSING ICA:1 :3 that as the public education process continued, a way would be found to make that information -available to people so that when the trees were replaced, the City could take advantage of the all work which was done. Mayor Bechtel said she was: struck by the fact that all of the pre- sentations were scheduled for Sunday afternoons, and._she asked if. evening meetings could be scheduled at City Hall, for example, if the attendance levels on Sundays were not very high. Mr. Sandag said it was possible.to schedule evening meetings. Mayor Bechtel asked regarding the budget, implications for assur- ances, that those responsible for drafting the budget would in- - clude a set amount for the purchase and planting of trees. .=ur- ther, the Committee should set a goal regarding how many trees should be planted each year, including the minimum and maximum numbers. Director of Parks and Recreation Larry White'said that a _six year forecast, which was prepared based on a small tree survey provided for twelve areas in the first six years. It would cost an average of $30,400 per area. The plan at that rate would take 14 years to go all -the way around once, and the average cost per year would be about $61,000. This year`s request was for $38,000 plus $1,200 for postage. Mayor Bechtel appreciated the reasons for wanting to involve the neiyhborhood in the selection of the tree, but asked if there was a way to expedite the process since it was so cumbersome and could potentially cost a fair amount of money. Mr. Sandage said it would be good to have the process less cumber- somo, and that it could perhaps be worked out at the public meet- ings. Mayor Bechtel said she understood that at this point the Council was hearing the draft report and would not take any a tion, but would hear the final report in May. City Manager Bill Zaner said that was correct. Mayor Bechtel thanked the Committee for its .presentation. NO ACTION TAKEN. ITEM #4, HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION RE AGE DISCRIMINATION IN City Attorney Diane Lee said that in early October, 1982, the Council referred the matter of age :discrimination in rental hous- ing to the City. Attorney's office with instructions- to work with.: the Human Relations Commission (HRC) ``to -develop an ordinance. Several issues were before the Commission, i.`e.-, What sort of criminal -penaltie s should be recommended, what should the age be for seniors ,and how should civil damages :be dealt wit,h., The issues *WO discussed' by the Cornmissi'ow, and the ordinance con- tained _recormendations that the penalty be an infraction, that there be; no cap on civil damages and :that the aye for senior adults ,be 62 years. Most of . the -tither provisions in the ordinance_, were 'contained-° - in the Country or.dlnance which was used as. the framework to begin consideration of age discrimination ,n rental housing. Joe Podolsky, Chairperson a: the HNC, commented that one of the difference's between the ordinance drafted by the City Attorney and the County ordinance was the inclusion of paragraph "G," which dealt with the mecha.rrism of, landlords to evade the County „ordi- nance and the Wolfson decision- by including occupancy "rulings,"' and density rego""t menu: to supplant the ct hild situation. It . was 2`8 6 2 1/17/83 clear to the Commission that the inclusion of the additional sec- tion of the ordinance -was desirable and completed the intent of the oriyinai resolution. Counci lnieinber Cobb- asked why "person" as ,defined in Section 9.70.U20(d) was so broad. Ms. Lee responded that a landlord coulr; be an individual , firm, partnership, Joint venture, association corporation, state or trust., Those kinds of persons or entities might be engaged in conduct that the ordinance sought to prohibit. Cauncilmernber Cobb said that Section 9.70.030(g) spoke of limiting occupancies to fewer than two persons and he was confused as he tried to put the two together. Ms, Lee suggested that the the word "person" as used in Section 9-.70.030(g) could be changed to say "natural persons." Counci lmember Eyerly asked what it meant to make criminal actions under the ordinance an "infraction." Ms. Lee said that as was contained in the report from-- City Attorney to the HRC, dated November 5, 1932, the distinction be- tween an "infraction and "misdemeanor" was essentially the amount of the fine which could be levied. In the case of an infraction,: the fines were substantially less even for _repeated violations. Further, the potential for imprisonment would not exist with respect to an infraction. She believed that no jury trial would be provided with an infraction because there would .be no loss of liberty, whereas a misdemeanor would provide the.option of a jury trial to the defendant. Counci Irnember Eyerly was confused- about Section 9.70.030(9) and asked if a four person (father, mother and two children) family could rent a three bedroom home. Ms. Lee responded that unless there were problems with respect to the size of the unit, a three bedroom home would have to be rented to four people, but' an occupancy limitation could not be estab- lished which would only rent to one person per bedroom. Co.uncilmember Fletcher said that 9.70.040(c) stated that nothing contained in this chapter shall apply to or be construed "to apply to any housing accommodation occupied 'by the owner." She asked whether "accommodation" could mean a fourplex'and the owner lived in one unit. Ms. Lee said it had to be the same dwelling unit. Ernie Harper, 3961 Bibbits Drive, represented .the "City Affairs _- Committee" of the Palo Alto Youth Council. He said the committee reviewed "the ordinance and presented it to the youth Council. -The -.Youth-Council :voted to endorse the ordinance, and recommended that the criminal , penalties be removed because there was a good chance that the- crinrrtnal cases -.:might not be heard as quickly as they should be ..because of the pressures on _the courts and that the time and resources might by getter spent_Oby pursuing Civil' darn ages. The Youth Council, recommended treat` the funding proposed for the "criminal penalty" portions of the ordinance be used to . pro- vide additional services and investigative resources in the pur- suit -of civil damages. CUUNCIL iLMSEii Itt.NLLL ARK1.VEtl AT 8;3O p.'m. Richard koe, _ 720 Kendrll - Avenue,, Fisecut"Ye Ui rectos' . 9f Mid-„ Peninsula Citizens for Fair Housing (MCFH), expressed his appre_, ciation to:the Council for recognizing -the existence-, of discrimi- nartion,ayainst families with children and..,the_:in,jury to those dis- criminated -a.galnst as well a.s to the community as a whole. He 1 1 2'8 6 3 1/17/83 1 1 spoke on behalf of the board of Directors and staff..of MCFH in wholeheartedly supporting the ordinance. A major problem with fair housing lay rs was -that there was so little- enforcement capa city. The burden for seeking redress when someone was discrimi- nated against generally rested with the individual Seeking legal action through a private :attorney, and sometimes with the assis- tance of --private fair housing groups l-ik. MCFH. He pointed out that when the Wolfson decision was made in February, it was hoped that the Oepar rner af Fair Employment and Housing would start to investigate those kinds of discriminations. However, it was con- cluded that they lacked sufficient resources to -undertake those investigations. It was further hoped that the Wolfson decision would put an end to that form of discribinatiO7777Wever, the experience was not so. There had been compliance. by many land-. lords, but the experience of MCFH said ----it was still a major prob- i err - and there were significant numbers of families being denied housing because of the presence of children. In 1981., pre - Wolfson, 20 complaints were received in the total service area of Malt, 43 of Which were from Palo Alto. In 1982, post Wolfson, 350 total complaints were received --65 of Which were fromT—Alto. Oftentimes, unreasonable occupancy limits were set by landlords, the most common_of _which was limiting rentals to one person per bedroom. That specific practice a as utilized in more than half of the cofpiaints received. He used the example of one couple that rented a two bedroom apartment for four years. The wife became preunant and the -couple was advised by the management of a pol icy which limited the number of tenants to one person per bedroom. Because they were expecting a third person, trey would be required to rent an apartment with three bedrooms. Another case, a couple with one small -child put their name on a waiting list for an apartment. They received a call from the apartment advising them that a three bedroom apartment was available. Iipon ascertaining that another child was expected, they were told that they would be required to seek housing in a .four bed room- apartment. He did not believe it was unreasonable for the proposed ordinance to include that it would be illegal to have a more restrictive occupancy lim- itation than two persons per bedroom. The August issue of the magazine published by the Tr -County Apartment Association Owners contained a lot of material regarding Wolfson and was very crea- tive and he l ptu,l. The President -of the r�T 'unty Association had some observations and he shared a quotation as follows: "With the State Supreme Court ruling regarding discrimination against fami- lies with children, it is imperative to have written policies lim- iting the numbers of people -when they live in a given size apart- ment Al that, is your,. wish. Remember the policy must be reasonable and apply equally to all persons. For example, a studio might be limited to one person; a one bedroom unit to two people; two .bed room -units to three or four persons. The number, however, must be reasonable. Any unreasonable restrictions, such as two persons to a two or three bedroom apartment, could easily be, considered an attempt to circumvent existing law." He suggested that the President of -Tri-County would not feel the proposed ordinance was unreasonable. eHe urged that the Council enact the ordinance as presented. Irene Sampson, League of` -Women -Voters (LWV) of Palo Alto, said that the LWV supported the proposed ordinance to prohibit dis- crimi.nation against families with minor children because discriMi.-._ Elation. --against children, had the effect of excluding valuable_. potentiai - City residents --often_ single parents. Al 1. Hpersons . should have an equal opportunity to obtain rental housing.. in the_. City of Palo Alto, and_ it was appropriate for the City to .tore steps to. prohibit that type of discrimination in Pa -lo `Alto. The LWV u"rged that -the -Council pass . the ordinance as.proposed and fund .: en f ortemeet for -the remainder^ of the ..budget-, year Such - _an- ord i -nonce without- funding- for public education and-docuientation would be almost; mean1ngless. Jerome Strom, resided at 13057 La Cresta Urive, Los Altos but owned a home in Barron Nark. Ile was concerned- about Section 9.70.030(y), which required essentially that a four bedroom small house in Barron Park be rented to eight people. Specifically, if eight adults applied to rent his house, he would be obligated to rent to those people d5 opposed to having the option to choose a family who might also apply, but not be as well qualified finan- cially. Further, if he were to rent to eight adults, the home had a two car garage and no parking available on the street. He believed the ordinance should be changed to reflect a more equi- table distribution of bedroom space to the number of people actu- ally to rent the house. Parking was a critical matter in Palo Alto, and that section could further compound the problem in a residential district. Harrison_ Otis, 909 N. California, said he welcomed the young people in Palo Alto, but believed that the City' must face the responsibility of the homeowners with $200,000 plus invested in their homes. lhe-rights of the homeowners and owners of apartment b'.;ildings should also be taken into consideration. Mayor Bechtel asked the City Attorney for comments regarding the problems of a criminal penalty in addition to a civil penalty, and the- questions raised about Section 9.70.030(g). Ms. Lee said that she understood from those cities most active in dealing with effective ordinances, that criminal penalties were the biggest lever available in order to achieve compliance. Civil remedies for individuals required the availability of private attorneys or attorneys who would take the -matter on a contingency fee basis. Regarding the court calendars, she believed the civil calendars were a lot slower than the criminal calendar because criminal cases were required to be brought to trial within a cer- tain number of•: days of arraignment or else the case would be dis- missed. Section 9.70.030(g) was intended to speak to those land- lords with policies of renting to a certain number of people per bedroom. If an occupancy limitation was established, it could not be established for less than two people per bedroom. Councilmember Renzel-asked if a landlord could set some other lim- itations such as no more than three or four automobiles at the premises. Ms. Lee said if the limitation was based on some other factor -- such as vehicles per dwelling, unit --that was a different issue. Councilmember.Renzel said that since the limit was incorporated in an ordinance regarding age discrimination in housing specifically related to families with children, could an eight.adult household be left open to complain when a .four bedroom house was not rented to them. Ms. Lee said that if an occupancy l mitation was established, it must be neutral with respect to age. `The ordinance Was intended to remove discrimination on the basis of age. Inverse - discrimina-ti on would be a problem if an ordinance: were created' that favored 'families with children. She did not believe that: 'Section 9.70.030(g) should take a position -regarding. how many ,people were cniidren. A position- could: be taken, ahowevet, with respect to cars .or .persons e1 igihle to drive because it was not an invidious classification, but. rationally related to traffic or parking prob- lems. Counci lmember Cobb clarified that the way the ordinance was cur- rently written in Section 9.70.030(g), it did not randate that a landlord must rent to eight adults, but rather that }a landlord may not refuse four adults should they show up and wish to ` rent that home. 2. 8 .6 5 -1/17/83 i Ms. Lee said that was correct. Counci1memb or Cobb said the purpose of the ordinance was to pre- vent discrimination on the basis of age, and specifically with respect to minor children. All sections of the ordinance, except 9.70.030(g), related specifically to the question of minor child- ren. That one section was not specific in terms of how the number of rooms related to mi nor children. He did not believe anyone was concerned about the question of having two children per bedroom, but rather the possibility .of having a number of adults per bed- room. He believed that item (g) should focus more on the subject of discrimination against families with children so as to avoid the unintended consequences of having serious crowding problems when a number of adults tried to take advantage of an ordinance not written for their purpose. He believed the Council should legally attempt to avoid that type of consequence and still achieve the purpose of the ordinance as a whole. Bob Moss, 4010 Orme, said he supported the concept of the ordi- nance, but was concerned about the issue of reverse discrimina tion. He believed that to a certain extent people could be re- quired to rent to people with chi l dren as opposed to adults only because if a large number of unrelated adults were to rent a house which would create traffic or parking problems, the owner of the house would have a legitimate reason for refusing those people. He believed it would be permissible and legal for someone to say "no, I would prefer to rent to chi 1dren." Further, the neighbor- hood could complain on the basis of not enough covered parking, onstreet and offstreet parking for a large number of adults. Final 1y, the thrust of the ordinance must be to prevent di scrirni - nation against children- -not to prevent discrimination against the number of people in a bedroom per se. It was possible to put children and two adults into a two bedroom house. He hoped that the ordinance would be adopted, and that minor flaws could be addressed by onstreet parking, offstreet parking or the Uniform Housing Code. Ms. Lee said that inverse discrimination was only committed by governments.. If an ordinance were passed which in some way dis- criminated against adults invidiously, the City could potentially violate a civil rights ordinance. An individual landlord was probably not in the same position and could decline to rent to adults. In passing an ordinance as a goveremental entity, the City must be careful to draw up ordinances which constitutionally recognize equal protection. MOTION: Councilmember Klein proved, seconded by Fazzino, introduce the ordinance for first reading. ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING entitled °ORDINANCE OF THE ALTO ADDING CHAPTER 9.70 TO THE PALO ALTO'NUNICIPAL CODE PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST FAMILIES WITH MINOR CHILDREN IN THE RENTAL LEASING OF CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL .PROPERTY ° Councilmember Klein said he was pleased to have the ordinatce before the Counci i . He had been concerned about this discrimina- tion problem for the two years he had been on the Council, and believed it was a poor society that would discriminate against Its own future by allowing the controllers of the housing community to discriminate against children, only to end up with a community with few children. Action must be taken to allow children to reside in apartments and other types ,of housing in the community. He believed that. Section 9.70.030(0, - or something similar., was essential to ensure that the Wolfson decision was not circum- vented. He understood that nothing.. contained in subsection (g) required a landlord to have a policy one way or the other with' regard to the number of people per bedroom. That paragraph was intended to cover the situation where a landlord did have a policy. If landlord did have a policy( the ordinance stated 2.8 6 6 1/11/93 As Corrected 4/04/$3 that the policy could be no more restrictive than two persons per bedroom. If a person did not want to rent to -eight adults, ° there were other grounds for refusing to rent to them, such as insuffi cient parking. Subparagraph (g)° was designed only to counteract those few landlords _setting up a numerical test to get them back to the pare -Wolfson situation, and he did not believe ,it was harsh or created anima us situations, Ile suggested that the ordinance be approved as submitted. Counci l member Fletcher was also pleased to see the ordinance, but thought it was sad that it was necessary. Jt was difficult enough to rent without children, without being faced with an additional barrier. She spoke about the situation when a divorced person did not have the child or children living with them, but occasionally had them visit. Those people had been barred from doing so by threats from' -the landlord of eviction. Children were part of the population and she -hoped the ordinance would put a little dent in the large decline of the young population. She realized that the ordinance would not cure the entire problem because the cost of housing also entered into it, but urged that the Councilmembers approve the ordinance as s-ubrnitted.. She thanked the HRC, Mr. Roe and City Attorney Diane Lee for their hard work on the ordinance. Cquncilmember Renzel said she concurred with Councilmembers Fletcher and Klein. She believed that the ordinance was long overdue considering the magnitude of the problem particularly to single parents who .had a tremendous problem finding housing any- way. She agreed with Counci l member K1 ei n with respect to Section 9.70.030(g). Mayor Bechtel said it was fascinating to her that the objections heard tonight were not with respect to .children, but rather to large numbers of adults, and the concern Was for the numbers of automobiles rather than the wear and tear on _the housing units. That indicated to her that Palo Alto was concerned and cared ablaut the number of children in the community. As pointed out by Mr. R`oe, since the Wolfson decision last year, 355 complaints had been received by MC —of which were in Palo Alto alone. She was reassured by Ms. Lee's comments that other ;weans `were available to landlords in the event of insufficient parking so that a four bed- room home on a cul-de-sac could be limited as to the number. of people She would support the motion. Vice Mayor Fazzino strongly supported the ordinance and would oppose any recommendations to weaken it. At a time when the City spent so much timez closing school sites, it was incredible to him that any type of age discrimination could be allowed to occur. He noted an interest ` in the HRC minutes of taking on the' condomi ni um issue, which he believed should be explored and discussed. He had some lingering _concerns about the language contained in Section 9.70.030(g).. He understood the concept, but was not.clear as to whether the language accomplished the Potent of the HRC and City Attorney. He thought it would, help 1f the City Attorney. could provide the Council With - brief .rep,ort before the second reading about the other mechanisms available to the City to prevent .the s i tuot i runs presented by Mr. Strom. He would support the motion. Counci l member Cobb. asked, if the `Council would `see a report dealing with the gtest.ions of parking,.-et.c' , before the second reading of the ordinance. Ms Lee said yes. 1 1 1/17/83:: AMENDMENT: Councilmember Cobb moved, seconded by-Fazzino, that the first sentence in Section 9.70.030(g) be amended as follows:_ '(g) Limit occupancies to fewer than two natural persons per bedroom, where the effect -of such a limitet on s to deny,or otherwise make unavailable housing accommodations to those ersons ecause o t o oten a errancy o a m _nor c or chi- ren un ess tat number exceeds the maximum allowed under the superficial floor space' rebut rements of the Uniform Hans ling Code." Councilmember Klein said he was not enthusiastic about the parking standard because the ordinance was intended to set up standards by which people could not discriminate, but did not provide a list of reasons by which people could make decisions to choose one tenant over_another. Tenants were not given automatic rights to apartments, and landlords had discretion in -terms of credit and parking, etc. He opposed the amendment because he feared the result wou.id make it difficult for families with children, who felt they were being discriminated against on the basis of limita- tions on occupancy per bedroom;, to establish their case. He believed the amendment substantially weakened the paragraph and people could get off on some fine points about the effect of such a limitation. It would add to the burdens of judges to decide the matter and would not accomplish anything. Councilmember Eyerly asked Ms. Lee for comments about the word "effect" with regard to policing the ordinance. Ms. Lee said she understood Councilmember Klein's concerns. She believed there would be some difficulty enforcing the section because proving something like "effect," which was a subjective standard, might be more difficult than establishing the strict numerical occupancy that a landlord would establish. Councilmember Fazzino said he did not intend to add any additional restrictions or issues to the ordinance. He believed the ordi- nance should remain exclusively with the issue of age. He clari- fied that he wanted to be aware of what other mechanisms were available to handle concerns that landlords and homeowners might have. He believed Councilmember Cobb's amendment Was good and its strength was in the fact that it clearly planted the intent of the ordinance with the age issue and nothing else. To the degree that it could be emphasized in the language, the better the ordinance's possibility of success. He would support the amendment. Councilmember Fletcher suggested that the amendments be made before the second reading. Ms. Lee strongly. suggested that the concept of "natural" person be used to modify subsection (g) only. With respect to the -assign- ment to develop other. ways of achieving,.. the .purpose, the llmita- t i on on second reading might prevent! the Council - :from considering some of the other -.options. AMENDMEN1 FAILED by a vote of 2-5, Cobb, Fazzino voting 'aye, Levy, Witherspoon absent. AMAIN MOTION PASSED ;unanimously, L sy, Witherspoon absent. MOTION: Councilmember Klein moved, seconded by Rentel`, approval of the budget amendment ordinance. ORDINANCE 3407 entitled 'ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF 0 ALTO AMENDING THE MIDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR i9*2j-R3 TO PROVIDE AN ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION FOR A. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM/COMMUIITY''OEYELOP- MENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM NO. N2-52 'FAIR NOOSING SERVICES" MOTION PASSED unanimously, Levy, Witherspoon absent. Counciirnember Fletcher said she became aware of the discrimination in condominiums at a time when she was going through a new devel- opment for her own interest. The CC&R's contained a clause that no units would be sold to families with children. She was shocked because she did not think that type of discrimination occurred in anything other than rentals. MCF li ascertained that a number of condominiums had that prohibition. HOTIO1: Councf lmember Renzel moved, seconded by . fazzino, that the Woman Relations Commission consider the issue of discrimina- tion on the basis of age in condominiums, and return to the Coun- cil with a recommendation. Ms. Lee commented that the case of O'Connor v.. Villa a Green Homeowners Association was decided in May, �19&L, by the Court of ppea s. a case eld that city' regulations were; preempted in for sale condominium housing. The case was graruted a hearing before the California Supreme Court, and -she suggested that she report to the HRi: on the decision when received. That might be an appropriate ,time for the Commission to begin their work because if the case was not decided favorably, their work would :have been begun for naught. MOTION PASSED unanimously, Levy, Witherspoon absent. AUJOURNMENT Council adjourned to Executive Session regarding Litigation at 9:15 p.m. FINAL AUJOURNMENT Final adjournment at 9:20 p.m. ATTE:.f: City Clerk APPROVED: i CITY COUNCI L M1NUTEs CITY o� MR) ALTO) Regular' fleeting Monday, January 24, 1983 ITEM P A -G E Oral Communications :2 8 7 1 Approval of Minutes of November 8, 1943 2 8 7.2 Consent Calendar Referral 2 8 7 2 Action 2 8 7 2 Item #1, Modifications to Chlorine Building 2 8 7 2 Item #2, Resolution re Gas Rate Increase 2 8 7 2 Item #3, Ordinance re Utility District 2 8 7 2 No. 24, 2nd Reading Item #4, Ordinance re College Terrace Multi pl a Family Land Use Study, 2nd Reading Item #5, Recruitment Services for Position of Director of Utilities Item #6, Legal Services for Utilities Departmeftt Item #7, Public Hearing: Planning Commission Recommendation re Application of City of Palo Alto for Amendment to the Terman Specific Flan, and for Preliminary Parcel flap to Divide One Parcel into Two for Property at 655 Arastradero Road 2 8 7 3 2 87 3 2 8 7 3 2- 8 7 3 Item #8, Human Relations Commission re 2.8 7 3 Human Services Resource Allocation Plan Item #9, Downtown Business Improvement Area Item #10, Northern California Power Agency/ Pacific Gas and, _Electric Interconnection Agreement Item #11, Request of City Manager Director of. Utilities Position re 2 8 7 8 2 8 9 2 2 8 9 3