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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-04-18 City Council Summary Minutes1 CITY COUNCIL MINUTEN CITY C>� Pill A&:TO Regular Meeting Monday, April 18, 1983 ITEM Ural Communications Minutes of January 24, 1983 Minutes of January 27, 1983 (Adjourned Meeting January 24, 1983) Minutes of March 16, 1983 PAGE 3 1. 4 6 3 1 4 6 3 1 4-6 3 1 4 7 Item #1, .Appointment of a Noonan Relations Commis- 3 1 4 7 sioner to. fil l the- Unexpired Term of Agnes C. Robinson Ending March 31, 1984 Item #2,' Resolution Recognizing the Outstanding 3 1 4 8 Accofnpl i shments • of the . pa l o Alto High School Academic - Uecath i an Team Consent Calendar 3 1 4 9 Action Item #3, Remittance Processing Agreement For Utility bill Receivables Item #4, Amendment to the Banking Services Agreement Item 45, Agreement with Peninsula Times Tribune and Palo Alto Weekly for legal and Display Advertising Item #6, Rinconada and Mitchell Park Pool Renovation C I P 82-4u) Item #7, Additional Authorization for the -Page Mill Road Stabilization Project 7 Change Order to .Con- tract with Spi r -;z orporatiotl 1*eii: #8, Cable Compromise Legislation Proposed by the National League of Cities and the Nafii-coal Cable Eelsvision Associat.ior; Agenda Changes,- Additions_.and De-letions -- 1-teon #9 Loan ,. Request from Friends of the W nter Club (Continued from 2/28/83) Item l#1u, Public 1#earin_9 Planning' Commission Kecolimienda .}tion re.' ilAp canton of arr^asco & Smith - for a Zone Change at -- Property Locaited at 4145--416,1 t 1 (:a M i no> Way ,I.t-ere Public Works CoOmittee -RRecornme;ndaition .Transient 0tcupanc r Tax 3 1 4 8 3 1 4 9 3 1 4 9 3 1 4 9 3 1. 4 9 3 1 4 9 3 1 5 U 3 1 5 0. 3 1 5 U !ELM PAGE Item 11, Public Hearing: Application of Architec- -- 3 1 8 -9 tural -Design Group fo`r a Zone Chanye at 401-419 Webster Street and bill. -608 Lytton Avenue Item #12, Public Hearing-: Application of the City 3 1 '8 9 of Palo Alto to Extend the (P) Pedestrian Shopping C,ombininy District Item ,#13, Finance and Pubi is Works Committee 3 1 9 0 Recommendation re Barron Park Revenue Bond Uefeasance Item #18, Mosquito Abatement Contracts with Santa- 3 1. 9 0 Clara County Item #19, Sewer Collection- System - Inflow/lnfil- 3 1 9 1 tration Study - Phase 111 Authorization Item #22, request of Mayor Bechtel re Resource 3 1 9 2 Center for Women - lUth Anniversary Adjournment 3 1 9 2 Regular Meeting -Monday, Apri 1, 18, 1983 The. City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date` in the Council Chambers.. at City Hall , 250 Hami 1ton- Avenue, at 7:40 p.m. 1 PRESENT: Bechtel, Cobb, Eyerly, Fazzino, Fletcher, Klein, Renzel, Witherspoon ABSENT: Levy Mayor Bechtel advised that many items were on the agenda, and that completion of it was not assured. A considerable amount of public comment was expected on some of the item's, and at 10:30 p.m.,- the Council would decide which items to discuss after 11:00 p.m. URAL COMMUNICATIONS 1. Gloria Brown, 176b Fulton' Street , said she attended the Coun- cil 'meeting in order to turn in the petitions which repree tented 2,000 citizens who wanted to preserve the Midtown com- Munity's businesses and services. She undertook the effort alone because sne did not have the time to organize a campaign since most of last month was spent dealing with her basement flooding, and the consequences of the storm. The petitions sat quietly on the counters of 15 Midtown businesses, and those who signed it represented a tip of the resident support for the Midtown business community. Hundreds of petitions were submitted by individual businesses and services, and she believed that there were 6,000 si.ynatures on the Century Liquors petition, 3,000 on the Winter Club's, 2,500 for the Veterinary Service, and others submitted on behalf of the dance studio and Willis Photo Lab. ce Without any campaign, 2,000 citizens asked to save an area which they believed to be of great benefit to the community The issues which brought about the 1968 zoning change no longer existed and the situa- tion and -sentiment were completely changed. She urged that the City Council place the Midtown area issue on the agenda for next week, April 25. It would be the Midtown's last chance to savee-several bus. nesses which were strongly support- ed by the community before they were forced to close on May 1. For those who deeply cared about the future of Midtown, she asked that the matter be agendized for April 25. Vice Mayor. Fazzino said he realized that it was not customary to respond during Oral Communications, 'but assured Ms. Brown that he and Councilmember Cobb intended to agendize an eitem for next week's agenda which related to her concerns. l` MALI F E S OF JANUARY 24, 1983 MUTION: lime Neyer-.Fazzino moved, seconded by Fletchere_, a :prov- a 1 of true 1471p0 es .of January 24 1983 as submitted MUT I QK FASSEO uneM elaus l y , - Levy absent MI'IUTES . OF JANUARY 27 1983 ADJOURNED MEETING OF JANUARY 24,, MOTION: -Y,ice Mayor Fazzino melted„ seconded by Fletcher, approv- al of the lilwutes of .January _,- 2`7, 1933 (adjourned -meeting of J4nuary 24, 2-983 )_ as submitted.` NOTION PASSEO"eaanimously, Levy absent. 3 1 4 6 4/18/83'-_ M1HU LS OF MAkCH 1b, 1983 Lounci lmeinber, Renzel submitted the following corrections: 1'aye: 13, second parayraph, third- line, change the remainder of the paragraph to' read: "Stanford ;plays a quasi -.governmental role with respect to the campus lands by providing roads, parking, uti I ities and a variety of things. She asked Whether Stanford had addressed its quasi-yovermmental role in providing housing, as opposed to its money making role as for example, in leasing the shopping center. " Pa a 1;;, .fourth paragraph, third line, change the line to read: an ord had built other projects which were housing purely for the " Page 14, fifth from the last paragraph, last line, add after - an ord earned $44,3O0" the following "and were desirous of my in Stanford West." liv- Faye ,13, sixth full paragraph, last line, change .the sentence to tea the "K" unit was four cars ---one for each bedroom." MOTION: Vice Mayor Fazzino moved, seconded by Fletcher, approval of the Minutes of March 16, 1983, as corrected. MOTION PASSEL) unanimously, Levy absent. ITEM #1, APPOINTMENT OF A HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSIONER TO FILL THE u - C. K11BANSUN 01111113 MRE(L,H Si -1984 Applications were received to fill the unexpired tern of Agnes C. Robinson, and the Council voted on the complete list. The first - person to receive five votes would be appointed. The following people -applied: ANISGUARU, HARRY ATKI NSON , DOROTHY -G. BARAZE , HARVEY A. L3IUDLECONL E, ARTHUR C. LITTER, ELAINE BARRETT NISItUE, J. RANDALL PARKINSON, WILLIAM J. RONDELL, THOMAS SIDLE, ALLAN C. VERNON, STEPHEN fR. WHITE, EDWARD S. FIRST ROUND OF VOTING City Clerk Ann Tanner announced the results of the first round of voting: VOTING FOR WHITE: Klein, Witherspoon YOUNG FUR RUNDELL: Cobb, Fazzino VOTING FOR SIDLE: Fletcher, Eyerly, Bechtel VOTING FOR VERNON: Renzel Mr. White received: two votes, Mr. Ror.del.l received two votes, Sidle received three votes, and Mr. Vernon received one vote. SECOND ROUND OF VOTING Ms. Tanner announced the results of the second round of voting: _ VUI1tru FOR SIDLE: Fletcher, Eyerly, Renzel, Fazzino, Bechtel VOTING FUR WHITE: Klein, Witherspoon 1 1 1 VUFING FOR kutiUELL: Cobb Mr. Sidle received five votes and was appointed. Mr. White received two votes and Mr. Rondeli'received one. Mayor Bechtel said that all applicants for the -Human Relations Commission were excellent and on behalf of the Council expressed appreciation for the interest - in serving to an important volunteer commission. She encouraged that applicants continue their efforts to seek appointment to the Planning Coninission or on other committees or commissions. She conyratulated Allan Sidle on his appointment. HEM #2, RESOLUTION RECUGNILINU THE OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF HE PM H1GH SC MOTION: Vice Mayor Fazzino moved, seconded by Klein, approval of the resolution recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of the Palo Alto High School Academic Decathlon team. RESOLUTION 6107 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF IHL cirrlIrnriuu ALTO RECOGNIZING THE OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMIC DECATHLON TEAM AND THE TREMENDOUS SUPPORT THEY RE- CEIVED FROM PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS" MOTION PASSED unanimously, Levy absent. Mayor Bechtel congratulated the -Palo Alto Decathlon tears and their teachers, and- introduced Scott Dinwiddie, William Northway, Tom Fiddaman, Simon Hawkins, Noya Tarnopolsky and Jim McDonnell —the members of the team --who won the Santa Clara County competition in November by finishinn-in first place. Many extra hours were spent in preparation for the national competition, taking tests in areas such as conversational skills, essay writing, formal speech, economics, English literature and grammar, fine arts, mathematics,` physical and biological sciences,, social sciences and a super quiz on The Housing Crisis." She commended their coaches, John Thompson and Shalah Wolfsohn, and other Palo Alto teachers who devoted a si yni f i ca nt amount of their own time. The Palo Alto Hiyh School Decathlon :`earn culminated their hard work and dedication by representing -the State of California and winning the second consecutive National Academic Decathlon_ Championship-, finisiriny first by -2,5UU points ahead of second place Ohio. The Palo Alto Hiyh School students won 23 gold, 3 silver -and 4 bronze individual medals in the national competition, and took .top honors in every aca1emic category. , The school, alternates, Melissa uinwiddie, Anne Corniny _and Jennifer Skvrnick were the top alternates of all the states who competed. ' The Palo Alto City r.ounci1 recognized the outstandiny accomplishments of= _the Palo Alto Hiyh School Academic. Uecathlon 'Team, in particular` its.. success i n winning the second,.- consecutive National Academic Uecath l on . `Charnpl on Ship', The Council further recognized `- -the tremendous contributions made by Palo Alto High School_.- teachers in preparitiy the students forn the. competition. The Council,- on oehalf of the people of Palo Alto,, expressed its congratulations to the Pala Alto High School Academic Decathlon- Team on its extraordinary accomplishments. C.UNSE€Il CALENDAR MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher moved, seconded by Fazzino, approval of Consent Calendar Items 3 through 8. Action ITEM r qs REMIfTANCE PROCESSING AGREEMENT OR UTILITY BILL Ab LLS ( R:ZZL: ) Staff recommends that •Council authorize the Mayor to .execute the remittance processing service agreement with National Data Corpo- ration for processing utility bill receivables. RECEIV- REMITTANCE PROCESSING SERVICES AGREEMENT National Data Corporation CISCO Division i(LM #4, AMENDMENT TO THE BANKING SERVICES AGREEMENT (CMR:236:3) Staff recommends that Council authorize the- Mayor to execute the amenanient to the banking services agreement with Crocker;. National bank. ITEM AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO AGREEMENT FOR BANKING SERVICES Crocker National Bank #5, AGREEMENT W1 H PENINSULA TIMES TRIBUNE AND PALO ALTO It i s recommended that the City Council accept the bids from both the Peninsula .Times Tribui3e.and Palo Alto Weekl and direct the City erg o en er in o agreemen s wi h ie Peninsula Times Tribune for -legal and display advertising not to exceed a total of 7 71M in the 1Z -month period from date of execution, and the Palo Alto Weekly for legal and display advertising not to exceed 7-5;t TtrTT tA-ie 12-month period from date of execution, AGREEMENT Peninsula Tres Tribune AGREEMENT Palo Alto Weekly FILM LM #b R I NCUNAUA AN) MITCHELL PARK POOL RENOVATION - CI P 82-40 Staff •recommends the following: That the Mayor be authorized to execute a construction con- tract with T & F Construction Co., Inc. in the amount of $b3,U0U; Z. That staff be authorized to execute change orders to the con- tract of up to $5,00U, AWARD OF CONSTRUCTION =CONTRACT T & F Construction ,I.TEM #7 AUDITiONAL AITHURILAIIUN FOR THE PAGE MILL ROAD Staff recommends that _ Counci 1 autliori ze Staff: to- execute :change._: orders of $.19 id1 to the rontrac„t Frith' Spi rz Corpor~anion .:(Contract No 4Z7U) for the Page 10 11 Road:Stabi 1 ization Project. 1 3 1-: 4 g.- 4/t8/b3 ITEM #8, CABLE COMPROMISE LEGISLATION PROPOSED BY THE NATIONAL insfuti AssuGIAt iolf Staff recommends that Council authorize the Mayor to write a let- ter to the Senate Commerce Committee and to other appropriate leg- islators stating Palo Alto's opposition to the proposed substitute leyislation. 1 1 MUTII�Ii PASSED. -unanimously, Klein not participating" on Item 151 Agreements With Peninsula Times Tribune and Palo Alto Weekly for Legal and Uisplay Advertising, Levy Absent. AGENDA CHAN( S, ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS Vice Mayor Ea zz i no sugyested that . it would be prudent for the Council to decide which items did not require action tonight so that the people in attendance would have an idea about which items_ the -Council must- deal with tonight. Mayor Bechtel responded that she planned to hear Items 9, 10 and 11, and if it was acceptabi.e to the Council, she planned to move item #15 forward. She believed that some of the items could be dealt with in two minutes. ITtLI1 #9 LOAN RE UEST FROM. FRIENDS OF THE WINTER CLUB Continued rom City Financial Planning Administrator Gordon Ford said that staff met with Marvin Lee of the Friends of the --Winter Club on numerous occasions since February 28, and the report was prepared with Mr. Lee's knowledge and some of the additions Mr. Lee requested. He believed all of the information was contained in the report, and was ready to answer any questions. Barbara Deearo, 164 Heather Lane, said that if anyone doubted the community -support for the value of ice skating to Palo Alto's children, -the last niyhts of the Winter Club's operation would have changed their opinion. The value of the club was clearly evidenced during the last week as many children and.. a couple of adults strove to pass their tests to earn badges as measures of their achievement. They were supportive of one another and it. was an excitiny experience to see. Community support was evidenced by the oversupply of people who participated in the final show, which necessitated its beinr held on two nights, and when people walked to. the Winter Club and stood- in the rain to watch the final show. The participants in the final Show ranged from a group of 80 younger children called "Nasserc ise" up to a group of about 10 add i is who- -ca l l ed themselves "The Dull Blades." When Duncan Wi l i iaraa set out to prove that outdoor ice skating in California. was feasible, he not only succeeded, but started a business that became a service to the community and a Palo Alto tradition. The Winter Club was a place for family recreation and a place for Palo Alto's young people to "hang out" without getting into trouble. It was a place_ where many children:_ had the opportunity to exper- ience success achi evement and self -worth as -they worked to earn their badges as oppoSod to sitting in -front of the television. Santa pa rents worried about where their children would "hang out" now, others worried_ about how . they could afford the additional time and money to ferry .their echildren to .other rinks, and most cn'i ldren`would have to yive up ice skating.' Recreation was impor- tant to the_ quality of lifeetin Palo Alto, and her tax dollars' were used to pay .for recreational programs in which her. family did not - participate. .She was. -sure that many skaters at the Winter:_ Club sere: -in the same ".position. Many people_ strained their budgets 'to dnd contributed to show their support. :Some of- those who`centri_buted no- longer had children skating at the Club, but bel:ieved it was important for Palo Alto's children to continue to have' the Winter Club available as a resource. She realized that the City. was under b'uayet constraints ' and' trying to avoid..any new 3 1 5 4/.18/83 projects at, the present time. However, the Council already voted em,ore money than was requested to pay a consultant for advice on cable television. `;he asked the Council to.consider the possibil- ity of pleasiny both segments of its constituents ---those who would like to stay horse' and watch television and those who would like to be out participating in a sport --by earmarking any moneys earned by the City through cable television to support outdoor ice skat- iny in _Palo Alto. The Friends of the Winter Club asked the Coun- cil to support thy continuance' of ice skating at _ its present site until long=range Mans could be implemented. The existing facil- ity could inexpensively meett' a community need, but once it was torn down, it would be gone forever. David Speer, 665 College Avenue, said he was, a member of the Friends of the Winter Club for the past one and one-half years, a Member of the Stanford. Ice Hockey and Skating Club, and currently -was Assistant Coach of the Stanford Ice Hockey team, He requested the Council to address the long-term problem -of a facility to bet- ter serve the skating interests of the -community as a whole, He suyyested that perhaps a form of partnership between the Friends of the Winter Club and the City could be established for a long- term capital project. He realized that a short-term solution was necessary, but for skating to continue in Palo Alto for a long tirine,' a new facility would benefit .more groups --figure skaters, curl iny, speed skaters, public skating and ice hockey. He saw the partnership as benefiting both the City and the community. It would provide the City with an oryani zat i on', to do the ground work fur the project and would provide the community groups with lever - aye in private fund raising efforts. The request did not ask the City to do ail the work --the Club wanted to do the work, but required City support for that type of measure. Carol Vesecky, d31 Marshall Drive, said she wrote a letter to the Council, which was contained in their, packets (and is on file in the City Clerk's Office), which included an excerpt from a novel and later television drama, "A Town Called Alice." The program was shown over a year ago on Masterpiece Theaters, and the excerpt emphasized that the core meaning of the drama was the memory of her childhood visits to an ice skating rink in South. Hampton, England. The young woman in her later life was a prisoner of war of the Japanese in Malaya during World War I I. when she and other women and children struggled to survive under conditions of dis- ease, filth, hunger and mosquito attack. ..The drama wa-s fiction, but much fiction was based on: fact. Ms. Vesecky also had a cher- ished memory -of an ice skating rink in her childhood located at a community.outdoor rink in Wisconsin. Coincidentally, it was the same rink. where Ouncan Williams and his family skated before mov- ing to Palo Alto, and the one whose community recreation spirit inspired him to bring it to Pal o Alto, "Bring something good out here from his former home in Wisconsin." She spent several years I i vinyabroad and in al l her travels, she had a . rock solid founda- tion of happy childhood memories on which to,base her adultelife's work. Many of those''memories were associated with the ice skating rink where she skated with her friends during the winter, and the Swimming beach where they swam in the summer. As a result of hav- ing lived in India, she --devoted much of her free time .to fund raisiny for organizations that promoted development and fought hunger in third ,world countries. This Was,the etime she allowed herself to become involved in a local issue. Although She had `-only been involved for the ,paste several weeks, she belie ed that Palo Alto could afford. the $40,000 per year or_ less At Would likely take to keep the rink going. Further,- she believed _that the $40,000 per year could be cut considerably by various measures including volunteer help. It , the Chi l.dren' s Theater could _-use Volunteer laber., -- so, .could the Friendship ..Pavill ion. Even if $40000 were to bean ongoing subs:idy,' it 'would be*ell invested 3 1 5 1 4/18/83 .and reap rewards many times over An the cherished memories of the future leaders that Palo Alto's young people were likely to he- cone, as- wel i as in their positive yrowth and social development. Keydrd my control of the ice rink next _yea.r, she suggested that a board be established to set up the rink's structure. It would have to be made up of those following types of people: 1 1. "Keenists' who that it worked because they w 2. People who co people could wise, the ci being such a Ms. Vesecky sai February that t raisiny effort ceived pledge pledged from -votes without make ice ska short and to Sain Sparck, skatiny in had a yene needed. existiny The chanc whereas t p ,ace--tn of skate action m Alto, b from be resourc suppor would put in real time and effort to �er,.sure either because they were _ skat.ers themse I yes or anted it possible for -others to skate; and uld work toyether. She believed that Palo Alto pull together and form a working group; other- tizens could stop conyratuiating themselves for n ideal community as was presently the case. d that with regard to Mayor Bechtel's suggestion in he Winter Club/Friendship Pavillion implement .fund s, she was as pleased' to- report that they had re - s which amounted to $5,435.50, and` nine children between 50 cents to $25. She urged the Council to further delay, to commit . the city of Palo Alto to tiny a part of its recreation program in both the g terms. 4099 Laguna, also supported the continuance of ice Palo Alto. He was pleased to see that the staff report ral statement of support, but now specific action was He said it would be much less costly to preserve the acility on Middlefield than to build a new facility. e of establishing a new ice rink at .this time was low he infrastructure of the Middlefield operation was in e physical plant, the instructors and a large collection rs of al l ages. He urged the Council to take whatever iyht be necessary to allow ice skating to continue in Palo ut to take that action now to keep the closed Winter Club i ny -demol i shed, and to preserve the excellent recreational e which served all age groups of the City,: and was widely ted. Steve Gardner, 1870 Middlefield Road, said the Friends of the Winter Club tried not to deluye the Council with speakers, but believed it was necessary to reiterate some points which had been wade in prior meetings to show the' broad base of support which existed for outdoor ice skating in Palo Alto. Outdoor ice skating was unique-- to -Palo Alto, and served recreational` skaters of all ayes --senior citizens, families, teens and small children. It also served serious skaters —those who were teaching and learning for professional work --and could serve specialty skating groups and many. other organizations. Further, the facility could be used more broadly with a-`--range—of activites in the spring and summer. Still, the focus was on the children of Palo Alto --the ones who benefited most: by. the facility. Children were the major users, and through lessons and parties, _actually were the' major sources of income. Most;importantly, they would be most affected if the current facility were permanently closed; They „might not be able to get: transportation the extra miles to an ice skating rink at another -location, and their prime skating time was limited, to after scnool and before dinner. The present location was_ within reach of chi tdre.n throughout the City by SamTrans-and: getting them there did not requi re a superhuman effort on the part of the . parents. It was pointed out in the February 28 meeting of the City Coo,ncil that maintaining-.farily-oriented ice skating Anilajo - A_l to, ,re+qui red, solutions to both tne'- short, and long-term problems. The shirt=term meant :thee continuance of, operations at the current site' while. the search for an economic - long-term_. solution was . pur--. sued. Ifea pa rtnersh,i p of the City and all ' the interested groups could be established, they requested a_ twofold commitment : from the:- 1 1. To commit a subsidy of $]. per skater in the short—term not to exceed two years; and 2. To begin work on the. long -.term solutions•immediately._ ,lack Morton, 2343 Webster Street, was an accountant and a member of :the Trust for Community Skating. During the past two -weeks, the Council had again been made aware of the public support, for recreational ice skating. Over 300 individuals and fa -nil lies had made contributions and requested the Council -' to consider making ice skating a permanent part of the. City's recreation program. Those peoples' commitment -to community skating was not n - just a desire to preserve a recreational program which like AYSO had wide parenta 1. support or e4hich was second only to Rinconada in publ ic_ usage. The program was unique because it provided a community program, The :Winter Club provided an environment in which - fam- ilies with other ind?vidual s, could meet and skate together as neiyhbors. The continuance, of the unique program was threatened by a number of almost overwhelming obstacles. The facility was scheduled for demolition on April 30 as required by the terms of the lease. Should demolition be deferred, .future lease of the facility was tied by the landlord to consideration by the, City of their zoning of the Shei 1 Service Station. Mr.:` -W;11 Tams required that.,. plans for liquidation of. his equipment and inventory be finalized within the next ten days. The Trustee's believed that the first step towards a solution of the difficulties was already undertaken. Mr. Wi 11 iam:; agreed to place the demolition costs in escrow. The Trustees of the Trust for Community Ice Skating took the second step by not only undertaking to again show the commun- ity's support, but have collected sufficient funds which could be used to assure Mr. Wi 11 iarrms the liquidation value far the skates and .equipment, which were indispensable to the continuation of the proyrau . Additionally, they would submit to the Council a report on -the cohesiveness and financial viability of community ice skat- iny, including a specific operating plan for the coining season. The front of the report contained a two sentence correspondence from the "Y" which arrived too late for the correlation process that was done by volunteers. The third step in resolving the dif- ficulties requi 'ed Council action. It would require that staff be authorized to immediately' stuffy the zoning question and initiate the proper discussions with Mr. Peery. Preliminary discussions had been undertaken, but community members were in no position to represent the City. At its .February 28 meeting, the Council set certain conditions before it would..agree to further consideration of the `con ti nuance of ice skating, in Palo Alto. The Trust for Community Ice Skating bel ieved that those conditions were f€il- f i 1 rede and now it was time for the Council to clearly demonstrate its commitment to the community. _He deferred to Lynn Winkle to male the proposal Counci lrnember Klein asked for an explanation of the connection between the Trost for Community eIce Skating in Palo Alto and the Friends of the Winter Club. Mr. Morton responded that the Trust was an independent community based organization. He suspected that if anything related them to the Friends of the Winter Club, it was the anxiousness to ensure that the facility not be demolished prematurely. There was no direct connection between ,the Trust and, the Friends; in fact, the Trust had undertaken, complete separationand independence. Lynn Winkle, 3347 St Michael Court, also represented the Trust for Community lce Skating in Palo Alto, and said that the last time thecommunity skating issue was presented, the Council made _it cl-ear that any proposal's, for -.the- .continuance of skat,in9 in Palo Al to needed- to be supported by Comprehensive and coherent informar tion_ regarding the proposed, operation of such a; skating facility. 1 1 .The Trustees of the Trust for Community Skating believed that con- tinuing skating- in Palo Alto was a dual project; _and under very 'tight time constraints and -a few. obstacles, prepared a proposal both from an historic and projected viewpoint. She presented a document which contained a detailed analysis of the previous recreational engineering operation at the Winter Club and their proposal for the continuation of ice skating In the City. She asked the Council to note that the appended YMCA letter was not with the rest of the supporting documents because it was a new item and was not received in time to be colleted with the rest of the package. She believed the package would merit further study. A tremendous amount of time and effort was put:into it and the Trust hoped it answered many of the questions raised by the Coun- cil previously. She deferred to Marilyn Eaton- whose mail, respon- sibility was to coordinate fund raising efforts, and who would present supporting information regarding the Trust. Marilyn Eaton, 690 Hermosa Way, Menlo Park, said she was raised in Palo,Alto, and was employed in Palo Alto by the Winter Club for the past 12 years. Two weeks ago, the Trust set a goal to try and show the Council the widespread community support for the Winter Club and for continued ice skating in Palo Alto. The goal was to raise $10,000, which would be done in trust in cash. This morn- ing, the goal had been exceeded and $11,025 raised, and this even- ing, it had risen to $11,550, all of which money was in cash, in a trust fund, for use as needed to maintain any facility that would continue in ice skating. Other ideas, in terms of fund raising, could be implemented in the future if the City decided to assist in the maintenance of a short or long-term skating facility. Those ideas included skate-a-thons, if a rink existed in which that could occur, and in fund raising with some of the corpora- tions which could possibly match grants with the amount already raised through contributions. The support was there, and only a small portion had been tapped. About 800 families were at the Winter Club, and they had !attempted to reach only a small portion. They used as much manpower as possible, but two weeks was a lim- ited amount of time. She believed that as they progressed, they could easily gain a lot more money from those who had not yet been contacted. Some of the foregoing information was listed in their report on pages 18, 19 and 24. -The only addition was the figure of $11,550. Councilmember Cobb said that the Council heard about another fund raising effort earlier which indicated that the sum of $5,000 had been rasled, and Ms. Eaton spoke in terms of in excess of $10,000. He asked if those moneys were different, which would suggest a total of about $15,000. Ms. Easton said she believed the moneys were different. A few might have contributed to both, but the money raised by the Friendship Pavillion was•in terms of pledges, and the money raised by the Trust was in cash. The bottom portion of their fund rais- ing item contained a letter to the City Council, and this morning, about 2.78 had been turned in with -signatures from people who had contributed funds, and an additional 46 were turned in tonight. Rick McMichael, 79 Crescent Drive, represented the. Trust. for Com- munity Ice Skating, and said he worked with Jack Morton in dis- cussing the situation of the existing lease with Dick Peery. He was available to answer any questions the Council might have. He supported Council efforts to. support the group, and believed that a temporary solution would be to use the existing facility until a long-term solution could be found. Dave Thornton, Associate Executive Director of the Palo Alto: YMCA, said that whereas the YMCA in its official capacity through its Board of Di rectora had not Considered its relationship to the pos, sibility of the continuance of -community skating in its- present location, there was a. lot of interest on the part of its staff and members that the YMCA might have some relationship in the future should it continue. Alan Bell, 2125 Emerson, said that a survey of the Winter Club's users was done to find out how many people who used the Winter Club were from the Palo Alto area. There were several categories of members, the first of which included people who bought tickets, took lessons and just paid their $7 to skate. It was found that 76 percent of those members came from the Palo Alto or Stanford area, which percentage was higher than most other activities. Mr. Morton tried to impress the importance of the Trust on the Council. The Trust was in a dilemma --it could not go forward with any negotiations without some demonstration of the City's willing- ness to see what it could do to make the facility survive. Mr. Williams had already arranged for the sale of much of his equip- ment, which would have begun last Saturday. Those sales were deferred for one week, and it was important for the Council to provide some demonstration of its: position on the i;►sue. Councilor ember Cobb said there appeared to be two very interested and energetic groups of people interested and concerned about sav- ing the ice skating facility. He asked if those two groups could work together to multiply the efforts. Mr. Morton said there were rro problem on the part of the Trust about joint efforts, The problem was not seen as lying on one side of the barrier, but rather on that side of the barrier. The future was out of their hands. They believed they had done every- thing humanly possible to ensure that Council had enough informa- tion to make some choices, and that the future was up to the City. Steve Gardner, 1870 Middlefield, said the Friendship Paviliion would welcome that opportunity. Mayor Bechtel said she was very impressed with the work done by both organizations and was overwhelmed by the amount of informa- tion presented. She realized that everything was done with volun- teer labor and was impressed that over $11,000 was raised in less than two weeks' time. She was concerned that the Council was fre- quently told that it was up to them" to solve a problem, and pointed out that the land on which the Winter Club was locate was not owned by the City of Palo Alto, but rather a private individ- ual. According to the, information received, Mr. Peery believed he needed a zoning change or something concerning another piece of property --not the Winter Club's location itself. An item which appeared on the agenda several months ago requested a continuance on the amortization period for the Shell Station. She asked the City Attorney to elaborate on the situation. City Attorney Diane Lee said that the only procedure available at this point would be a rezoning. Some Correspondence had suggested. temporary rezoning, but no such thing existed in Palo Alto. More- over, the suggestion of a "use variance" also did not exist in Palo Alto. The City's variances were not for uses, but for devel- opment standards —setbacks, height, etc. Rezoning was the only applicable procedure, and if approved, would not be temporary. Mayor Bechtel clarified that if the property were rezoned, it would be forever and would run with the land --not the facility. A member of the public suggested that the zoning :issue be referred to staff. She believed it/should be referred to the Council, who were the pol icymakers on zoning. She was not willing to tie the Winter Club to a zoning issue --the property was already zoned multiple family housing and the Winter Club could remain in that l ocatl on if the members of the Trust were able to _ work out an arrangement with Mr. Peery. She believed that in the goodness of PSr. Peery's heart and for the' benefit of the community, _ that arrangement could be worked out, Councilmember ryerly believed that Mayor Bechtel raised__ the points he was yo.ing to make. -The proposal indicated that, Mr. Peery was attempting to put the responsibility for the benefit of the Winter Club on the Council, but he reminded Mr. Peery and the supporters for community ice skating that the Council addressed an extension of the amortization period for the Shell Station, to which Mr. Peery was attempting to tie the Winter Club. That extension was not sucCessfulst If the Counci 1 were to support a rezoning study, he asked. how. long, it would take to be returned. Director of Planning and Community Environment Ken Schreiber said that, if the referral was made to the Planning Commission, it would take approximately four weeks to get it to the Commission, another week at the minimum to yet it back to the Council,- and if an ordi- nance was successfu 1 ,: it would require a second reading, and alto- gether it would take between 11-12 weeks. Councilmember Eyerly said it appeared to him that the supporters of community ice skating needed to speak with Mr. Peery to obtain a short-term usage agreement for the present Winter Club faci 1 i ties, without having it to the Shell Station. In terms of the demolition, it would be necessary to have that . requirement released by Mr. Williams for at least the time it takes the Coun- t ci l to consider the matter. Councilrnember Fletcher reiterated that the zoning went with the land and not the use, and that any rezoning would not be tempo- ra ry. The Director of Planning also described a procedure by which the study regarding rezoning would take place. Rezoning the property would not guarantee that the property owner would retain its status quo use. It could be used for any commercial use if it was rezoned commercial, or it could be sold and the new owner could put the location to .some other .use. There was no guarantee by the zoning action itself that the Winter Club would be `2ro- Tected. An arrangement would have to be worked out between the Winter Club and the property owner. If the information received by the Council tonight was correct, presently the owner had no plans to demolish the station, and it would remain _ a boarded up faci 1 ity in 1983.. Once the Winter Club was demolished, the lot would remain vacant until 1993. She, suggested that the owner might want to gain:a nominal income by negotiating an agreement for the Winter Club to remain in its present location for at least the time being. She could not see any advantage in having the lot remain vacant. She did not believe that the rezoning issue -itsel f would solve the. problem. Counci lmember Cobb -said there had been ample testimony as to the tremendous public support to continue outdoor ice skating in Palo Alto. He was the one who' attempted to extend the gas station's amortization district, with the hope that it would ultimately serve the ends of the Winter Club, and a good planning end. The attempt was unsuccessful and he dot.bt.ed - that it hwould change in the. future The question was what the,_ City_` could dog. The City coula: _support .the -$175000 loan request -which was the specific agenda„ i.terrr before the Counci J , but he _ eras unsure .about whether thettheCouncill could act upon that .tonight. The City could Tai so take .some action to maintain the economic incentives ' for the landlord,• which:bas -.ically required the Council to -rezone-the property- in :perpetuity, which. he did not=be1_ eve_ was :who t- the landlord `wanted. The City could- support a proposal to sub.sid-ize $1 Per skater; or. find son ther mechanism by which: to make. some_ kind of ---City tom - Mit ent - to -support-..the skating .p.rogr�arn,; ope_ rationally. and/or otherwise, He' torn iraded -that--thRe Joan request ° itself _was u_nsup:- portable because. rt' raas niRot econoi cally and -operatiornally..sound and did .not meet the-- tests rthe Council.. had. for Joan _requests of, ' that size .. or. any. other si e. lkezon;i ng. -was -a diff process wwhi ch _,opened up owner problems - of a',. perraane.nt-re.zonl ng. The sub- S:idy of $1 per skat er. , did not provide the -kind -of 'operational: - detail the Cit,f needed to provide support. The -:fourth' al-ternative for,some, other kind.- of City support was a policy ..decision_ -which he did not believe was before the Council . He believed it was clear that some type of signal was necessary from the Council in order to keep the program alive. Further, it was also clear that if the structure -was torn down and if the ice skating equipment was sold, there would be no ice skating in the short-term over the next few years, and therefore, none in the long-term. Somehow, the City had to find `a `short-term fix which he believed was'something like two. year's while the community supporters pursued some 'kind of an operationally and economically feasible long-term solution. He urged ;his col l eayues to find soine way to indicate to the people that the door was still open and that the City would try to find some way to reasonably help to keep the program alive. One possi- bility might be a referral to the Policy and Procedures (P&P) Com- mittee to develop a policy that the City would support the program by some reasonable mechanism. Another might be.to ask staff to cone up with some kind of matching grant proposal that would still put the bulk of the burden on the supporters, but would indicate that if they could do so much, the City could do something too, which might in turn be enough to keep it going. Mr. Morton indi- cated that the YMCA was interested and exploring the possibility of a future relationship between the YMCA; and such a facility. He believed that prospect was exciting and gave him hope that there really was a solution out there. He urged that some way be found to keep the door open, however slightly, tonight in order to ensure that the energy of the'audience continued. He asked the City Attorney if the Council was in a position to do any more than act on the loan request tonight. City Attorney Diane Lee said she did not believe so except to give direction to staff to -yo in a direction as su`yyested by Council- member Cobb, i ;e. , explore a permanent site for ice skating, enter into an ayreement to provide some kind of support whether it be financial or otherwise, or to make some type of funding available to a particular group. Staff could be directed to study any of the foreyoiny. Council,nember Cobb clarified that the direction could be in the context of tonight`.s agenda item. Ms. Lee said yes. Counci lmennber Klein said he was impressed by the amount of people whip turned out and by the report issued by the Trust. for Community Skating, which appeared to be.well done. He hoped something could be worked out with the information provided to enable the project to move forward. The Council did not have the power to mandate that ice skating continue in Palo Alto. The landlord. would have. to be dealt with and he did not believe the City should be in- volved because two pr°ivate.interests were'involved and the City should not bargain away zoning decisions for leases. He realized that sounded. harsh, but zoning decisions had to be madeon the basis of the City Charters :Which stated that the good of the net yhbor.hood and things of that -_rla ture must be considered in the same way -that other zonirag,,matters were heard. .Zoning decisions were not .bargained for ,honey or other considerations.: He was con- cerned -when -people asked the Cooncil- to. enter into negotiations with Mr. Peery whereby the: City would--trade.,a zoning decision in ex -change for a favorable lease, He felt good about the report . before the Council , but way st,i l l concerned that= -a--..formal , written proposal had not been received ;.iron Mr, Peery. The : Counci I 1144 heard ;alot-about wrriat tlr, Peery said to this group or that, but he was:bothered that Mr. Peery had not -.stepped forward and spoken for hi. se_.f or: put something- in writing to" anyone-.. Mr, --Peery -was a key-; player --it was his land. the situa or+ was _ such that_. Mr. Peer; should., enter -into a tease for the use of °the property. He did not_,• necessarily_ want him:. to be the C,i-t,y:'s benefactor* -but as he sa r it , the property was not going . anywhere-- for -awhile -because tie a artitation on Chuck Thompsons property- another key por- tion - of that 'land --did not run . uut- .fors , another eight: years-. He urged -_Mr.-.. Peery to enter : into a lease --for "whatever period —seemed 1 1 1 1 1 reasonable. It appeared that a couple of years would be the mini- mum in order to get the organization going and search for a long term solution.- He ,favored some support from the City to see that -such a lease was effected and carried aut, The zoning of Mr. Peery'.s property would have to stared-, more or less,_on its own. There were several approaches which could be `taken to solve the. problems. For example, if Mr. Peery applied to the city with a "planned community" proposal for his site, he might --get some of the flexibility he desired for his property e A variety of things could:be done, and he believed the Council was moving in the right direction. It was late in the game, but in line with the comments made by-Councilmember Cobb,; more time was needed. The Council should follow the staff re -commendation and_reject the idea of the $175,000 loan, but staff should be directed to continue to work along those .lines outlined tonight to see if another proposal might be developed within the next couple of weeks, specifically to include something in writing from Mr. Peery which would enable the City to move forward. He hoped that a solution could be found that would keep outdoor ice skating in Palo Alto in existence at its present site. MOTION: Councilmember Klein moved, seconded by Cobb, as follows: 1. Accept the staff recommendation to deny the'ioan request for $175,000; 2. Direct staff to evaluate the report submitted from the Trust for Community Skating and work with that organization to develop a program that would keep outdoor public ice skating at its present .site for a reasonable time (2 years); and 3. That Mr. Peery be requested to cove forward with written pro- posal as to lease on property for the Council to. evaluate. Councilmember Witherspoon said the subject had been before the Council for about two years, and tonight was the first time she could remember seeing a ground swell that could go somewhere to provide a long-term solution to ice skating in Palo Alto. She went to the Winter Club when her children skated there, but was not wedded to that site as the only place for ice skating in Palo Alto. Personally, she preferred to find a larger facility as a long-term solution, and had always hoped that something would become of the Baylands site on which the City had an option. She asked if that option expired or whether it was terminated. City Manager Bill Zaner said the option had not expired. Councilmember Witherspoon believed that the Baylands site was an available long-term alternative. There were many alternatives, but many were inappropriate for initiation by the Council. It was incumbent upon the citi zens' to make most of those al tcrnati ves happen, and then return to the Council with a proposal in line, with that suggested by Councilmember Klein. Councilmember Renzel concurred with much of . what had been said by her colleagues. She was opposed to reviewing the zoning for the site since it was long in coming to be residential On the other hand, she did not object to recreational uses on a residential site and felt strongly that the Winter Club was a valuable asset to the community. The. Friends of the Winter Club were advised that the Council was not in a position to deal:, with any -rezoning rapidly, and some.. Councilmembers including herself were; disin- clined to rezone to commercial. The ?and was zoned residential, and she urged those, who wished to .keep the Winter- Club,in opera- tion to look at dealing with Mr. Peery to rent his development: rights . on the Shell property and pons# bl y but some _mobile. homes there. Mobile homeswere permitted An a multi -family zone, the use would be temporary,_ arld it would not be expensive to do. It provide some significant tax benefits to people who might wish to invest in such a possibility and further would provide Mr. Peery with a rent sufficient to keep him in his proper role as a fidu- ciary for the trust he operated in owning that property. She believed that possibility should be considered and was fully with- in the powers of the people •who worked on behalf of the Winter Club. She said she briefly ran it by staff, and it was possible to put two to three units there and possibly provide the only new truly affordable housing in Palo Alto. Councilmember Eyerly said he hoped Mr.. Peery was listening and understood the Council's suggestions. He asked Councilmember Klein if he intended to include in his motion, the staff recommen- dation that any subsidy to continue operations be denied as well as the loan request for $175,000, and the request for a ticket bsi dy. Councilmember Klein said he left those items out because the pro- posal from the Friendship Pavillion for a $1 subsidy per ticket was not on the agenda, and he did not feel it was necessary to respond to it. Further, he was not ready to take a position on precise financing, and did not want to rule out City participation nor did he want to make a decision. For example, the report from the Trust for Skating ran approkimately 50 pages, was just re- ceived and the Council had not yet had the opportunity to comment on it. Before making any decision along those lines, he believed the Council should have an opportunity to read the report and the public should have the chance to comment. Councilmember Eyerly said that the Trust for Community Skating did not ask for any subsidy which was why he thought the other group's request should be addressed. He agreed that the issue was not before the Council tonight. Vice Mayor Fazzino said he was still disappointed about the Coun- cil's unwillingness to consider continuing the amortization period on the Shell Station as a way to keep the ice skating facility: open. Further, he was concerned that the present boarded up nature of the Shell Station was a sign of the things to come on Middlefield Road unless the Council faced the reality of the pre- sent usage in that area. He hoped that the development of the Trust would be a major step towards saving ice skating in Palo Alto wherever the location. He believed that some incorporation of ice skating within the City's recreational program could occur --perhaps a variant of the subsidy program --but also believed that for the most part, the potential success of any ice skating facility had to come from the ideas of the private sector, the neighborhood and citizens, and those ideas were contained in the report received tonight. He reiterated Councilmember Klein's com- ments that it was unfortunate that the Council had not yet had an opportunity to review that report, but believed the Council wanted to "skate the final blue line" in order to allow the ice skating facility to remain open in Palo Alto. Not much time was left, and it was important that the Friendship Pavilion and the Trust group work together, and with City staff, for the " next few weeks to develop an idea which could make the proposal work in the short- term at least. Counti lrtiember Cobb said: he was encouraged by the fact that the;=.. door appeared to ` be open. He asked if . the necessity to make a Council policy decision and = its referral to the P&P Committee' would have to be agendi zed separately. Ms. Lee clarified that the Council could not take action on thing other than what was an the agenda. Councilmember Cobb said that the normal course in which to make a ,,_policy decision would take a long time, and he hoped that the actiuns the Council took tonight and those subsequently taken by the various groups= in the' audience, would keep the .bulldozer from any- the door for as long as possible. He believed the policy decision should be ayendized-, and following disposition of the Motion be- fore the Counci 1 , he would attempt to refer the matter to the P&P Committee to consider the various aspects of how the City should be involved in the possibility of --outdoor ice skating becoming a part. of Palo Al recreational program if at al 1. _That would at least open up the longer issue if. it was necessary_ for the _Council to make that kind of policy decision. 1 1 Mayor Bechtel stressed that in .her opinion, the Council could not ti.e a decision of the Winter Club to' the zoning of an adjacent parcel and that the issue must be totally separated. Second, she applauded the work which was done so far by the members of the community, the Trust and those who were active with the Friendship Pavil1ion. The motion before the .Councii directed staff to evalu- ate the report, but the burden Should still be upon members of the comr;runity to work with -the landlord and continue their efforts to work with Mr. Williams to ensure that the present facility not be dernol fished. Stuff --was only being asked to make a review and get back to the Council. She believed the Council was leaving the consideration open for City support of ice skating. MOTION PASSED unanimously, Levy absent. MOTION: Councilmember Cobb moved, seconded by Fazzino, to refer to the Policy and Procedures (P&P) Committee, the question of incorporation of recreational ice skating into the City's recrea- tional program. Councilmember Cobb said he debated whether. the motion should be referred to the Finance and Public Works (F&PW) Committee because the question of some type of matching grant or other form of rea- sonable and affordable subsidy could be involved. He supported that concept if it could be kept under control. He believed that an underlying pol icy issue existed and it was about time to get on with it. Although he appreciated the response from the audience on the motion, assuming it passed, the citzenS' groups would have a lot of -work to do to keep the bulldozer away from the door. The process would. take longer than the time\left before the demolition was scheduled to occur, bute it was necessary in order to move towards a longer term "fix." He agreed with Mayor Bechtel that a lot of work was left to be done to keep the structure in operation u`nti l a long-term solution could be reached..-, Councilmember Fletcher said she believed the motion was premature. The matter was referred, to staff to work with the proponents of the building, and she 'envisioned staff returning to the Council with an evaluation and possible alternative actions to be taken. She believed that would be the appropriate time for the Council to make referrals to the P&P Committee. If the Committee were to receive the item now, it would not have much to work with. AMENDMENT: Mayor Bechtel : moved, seconded by Witherspoon, that the, issue of tie --incorporation of recreational ice skating into -- the City`s- progra. be referred to staff. Mayor Bechtel' said_ that a policy could `not be -made: unless the council knew what the implications were. e. When the report was received, it could then be referred to the appropriate committee. (:ounci #gnember_ Witherspoon said she agreed= -with Councilmember Fletcher that. staff was asked to work with the community.. -_ She believed.- that ..the concept should be explored e in the ` total -context--not as a separate -item. - .- Vice Mayor Fazzino bel ieved that a step would be saved by sending the entire...is'aUe to the Roi,icy Committee. There, staff could report on tts specific data and recommendations about the possible incorporation of ice skating in .`the recreational budget and the policy committee, could make a recommendation at that time to the 3 1 6 0 4/18/83 entire Council. If staff was asked to do it, it would take a couple of months, and would come back to the Council to . be referred to the P&P Committee which could take another _six or seven months. He bel ieved that was far too long, and suggested that the issue be immediately sent to the P&P Committee. Staff would have a direction to prepare a report for the P&P Conrnritter and the item could then return to the Council in a couple 01 months. Councilmember Cobb said he concurred with Vice Mayor Fazzino. The rnatter had been thrashed around for so long and he was anxious to yet on with it. He requested that the referral be voted on first if possible, and if that failed, lie would support ,the other motion. Counci lrnember Eyerly said he believed that the public should help itself, and that the motion and amendment before the Council would give some people the_ idea that the City and the: "Great White Father" wau)d esolve everything. That hope was false, and he believed the Council needed to go with the first Motion, see what Mr. Peery did, and analyze that information when it was returned. Then, if_the Council desired to set some policy for a longer range. goal, it would be more proper. Cvuncilmember Fletcher said she was nut clear on the assignment to staff. Mayor Bechtel clarified that it was to determine the implications of incorporating ice skating into the City's recreational pro- grams. Mr. Laner said he 'understood that •the motion would direct staff to do an analysis on the implications o'e including ice skating in the. City's regular recreation budget. AMENDMENT PASSED by a vote of 5-3, Eyerly, Fazzino, Renzel vot- ing aria,' Levy absent.., MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED by a vote, of 5-3,- Fletcher, Eyerly, Menzel voting 'ono,` Levy absent. Councilmember Cobb said he supported the amendment and motion because he did not want to lose the 'whole gage. He ' sti 1 l hoped the rnatter would be referred to the P&P Committee as early as pos- s.ible in order to get on with some kind of decision. If the motion as amended was the necessary first step, he supported it. Gouncilnrernber Renzel said she did not support the motion because she wanted to see the matter go to Committee directly, not because Vie was against the idea. Mayor _Bechtel said the Council was actually debating a procedural issue, and she believed the ultimate effect -"would be the same ---it would tome back and be referred to `the appropriate committee. She thanked the members of the public who appeared on the ,issue and for the work which was done on behalf of the entire 'community. RECESS FROM 9:10 p.m. TO 9:25. P.m.,,f jj1101jrli PUBLTC HEARING: PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION RE -it j iti ffi 1- crit 2U"Nt :WtAlfuL Ar }xuP 1T Planning Commissioner Pat Cullen; said the item was the first application for a Planned Community District. under the _City1s new program: 7-A i'n the Comprehensive Plan. The program .would allow consideration of the PC zone for more than the zoned number of. units provided` that the additional residential.- units were afford- able under ar assured mechanism. Program =7 A also contained 'three restrictions built in, . at listed' on page 13 of the a December 30, 1941, staff report. The buildi.ng size should be limited to that 1 1 established by the standard zoning. The site development stan- dards of the PC yenera l ly should adhere to those of .the prior zone in that traffic and off -site parkiny would not adversely impact the surrounding areas e In other words, the building zoning enve- lope under the PC should be the same as the zoning envelope -under the regular zoning. The commission held three; meetings on the application and the ARB held four. As the project went frurn one meeting to the next, several modifications were made by the devel- operi in an attempt to respond to the public, the commission and the AR8 concerns. At the final Planning -Commission meeting, a majority of the members of the Commission believed that the basic finding of the public benefit to be gained --a required finding for PC's under the code --and the acquisition of affordable'units had been reduced by one-third, from 16 to 11, which was not sufficient to offset the impacts of the project. The requirements of Program 7-A were not met in the opinion of the commission —specifically, site coveraye of 58 percent proposed as compared with 5U. percent in the CN portion of the project, and ;IU percent -in the multiple faimii ly portion. The 'height of the commercial component was One. - third more than that allowed under the CN zoning --38 feet versus 2b feet, and there ` was concern about the coErspatibil ity with the surroundiny land use. Finally, the commission had serious reser- vations about how the parking_ would work since the project re- ceived a 20 percent reduction as a mixed use, and 37_ of those reiilai ni ny spaces avere shared with the commercial users. The corn - mission bel ieved the design of the project was creative and inno- vative and that the developer was sincere in his wish to provide some affordable housing, but the site was carrying too much devel- opment as proposed. Commissioners Northway and Sutorius did not share. that view and believed that the gain of affordable units for the City's housing supply balanced out the other considerations. The commission voted 4-2 to oppose .the project. Mayor t3echtel declared the public hearing open, She urged each speaker to be concise and to -try and not repeat one another. Joe Ercolani, 4040 Ash, concluded that the Planning Commission acted wisely in denying the requested rezoning at El Camino Way and James Road. The cry in the City was for more housing and not more jobs, and the project in its present form did not adequately address the need for housing over jobs. Further, in their present:.. form the fi yures on office space, parking and traffic were another example Af unfair taxation, in terms of increased poise, traffic and parking to the nearby residents. The Charleston Meadows neighborhood, like Evergreen Park, was being asked to subsidize a commercial project by :turning their residential streets into access routes and parking lots. He hoped the Council concurred with the decision made by the Planning Commission. Tire; Serry, 4217 Kellar Lane, Apt. 7, resided in the area of the proposed project. He attended the meeting to encourage support for the Stanford Plaza. As a young couple, he and his wife pre- ferred to own a home rather than rent an ::apartment in Palo: Alto. The proposal -:would :provide affordable housing to people like he and his wifea-young professionals just starting out. He _had lived i n P410: Alto for three years and. hail become accustomed to the area., local shops and vendors, -4nd preferred to continue ---to reside here. Stanford Plaza would benefit not only.- the --aesthetics of the location 4 but 41so first-time condominium buyers in-Pa.lo Alto. Mr. Agustin Rosas Maxe'nin, President, ARMAX- :Corporation the developer, presented the plan for Stanford Plaza. Stanford -Plaza was a plasmdd mixed use building project proposed. for the site at 4145-4161 El Camino. Way. It combined- 65 residential units and Z3,4UU square feet "oVc,orxmercial -: space with.the :intent of provid- ing affordable-housing:_that world be subsidized by the commercial portion. Stanford Plaza was unique and important_ because it would take land zoned primarily for , commercial use and build more residential units. '.The maximum development of commercial .space under. the existing zoning allowed 49,55U square feet and only 20 residential units, which would be more profitable for the devel- over. He realized _that many were concerned with the jobs/ housing imbalance: Stanford Plaza's commercial area expected to generate approximately 112 jobs as' compared with 243 jobs if the site were developed to the maximum 49,550 square feet allowed under the cur- rent_ zoning regulations. Further, the 'Stanford Plaza project would provide attractive and afffrdahle residences for the people of Palo Alto in the median income bracket. The affordable units would be priced for purchase by persons earning between 120 to 150 percent of the County median income, four units under the City below -market -rate program would be priced for famil ies ' earning. between BU to 91) percent of the County median income, and the mar- ket rate units would be less expensive than the -market —rate rate units on the previously approved Cox project The jobs/housing imbal--- ance was -most cr`etical in the middle income range. The concept of the Stanford Plaza started in September, 1982, and through many meetings with ARMAX, Palo Alto Housing Corporation, the neighbor- hood and City staff, Stanford Plaza was refined and proposed to tire Planning Commission in January, 193. At that time, 69 resi- dential units were proposed, four of which were belos-market-rate, 16 affordable, and 49 market rate, with 24,500 square feet of com- mercial space. After some refinements and another meeting with the Palo Alto Housing Corporation, the Planning. Commission unani- mously approved a Stanford Plaza with 68 units, four below -market - rate, 15 affordable and 49 market rate with 24,500 square feet of commercial. The Architectural Review Board reviewed the project and requested several design changes. In response to the ARB and the neighborhood concerns, ARMAX changed the following: To better integrate Stanford Plaza in relation to the surrounding buildings, the density was reduced by taking out. three units from the third story, the commercial office space was also reduced by 1,000 square feet, and in response to the neighborhood concerns atout the possible noise from the location of the spa,- the spa was relo- cated away from 'the bordering neighborhood residences. Because traffic congestion was a major concern in the community, the dri veway vas switched -..from dames 'Road to El Camino Way to reduce the flow of traffic on the residential street, which resulted in the loss of one unit. With that revision, the ARB gave its unani- muus approval. The Planning Commission did -nut like the reduction of .four affordable units, and on a split vote, disapproved the ARB revised project. ARMAX requested that the ARB :and Planning Cam- mission.rneet jointly to resolve _the differences, but the commis- sion believed that moving the project-- to the City Council was a better idea. ARMAX hoped the Council could reconcile the differ- ences so that the opportunity to provide affordable housing in Palo Alto was not lost. He deferred to Tony Carrasco,:one of the architects, to explain_ the design concept of Stanford Plaza. Tony Carrasco, Carrasto & Smith, 4216 Darlington Court, said he - was delighted when Mr. Ma-xemin -asked hint to design a project that would lower the costs and selling prices on the El . Camino Way site because they had similar ideas with ;regard to increasing the• sup- ply of housing for people Apethe middle i-ncomes. He presentee some slides in order to illustrate the overall intensity of the project .and how it integrated within .a mixed use-. elle believed the proposal was properly a mixed use project, whi zoning allowed_' a height Of 35 feet. The "project s chtepped back towards the r'esiden' tial , zone and was in fact lower than,_ what would normally be _per mitte t,._- The proposal was worked out_ through the -.Planning Comm is- s io i .;:compromises as<; wel _l as_ w th the neighborhood.. Mrs . Watson' suorrsitted a letter` to.-the ouncil'Andicating her_ support for the project. The .devel oper° tie! eved that the. of f-i';+ce bui l.d in9 provided :a tiutfer .f rig tihe.� heavy impact _.pf., E:l _,'Ca_ mino 'and: prov..ide"d a suit- axle buffer,'.for. tne-residential parts of" the.projee.t.- Flo vehicle nor pedestrian traffic- would `rove, Into ,Tennessee: Lane --or - be -able td 96:from-. the project into Tennessee; i..an;e because of. the fence conditions. ' The- project could pot be: =seen .:from Tennessee . Lane 1 1 1 because of heavy landscaping. The concept provided a small court- yard which went around to the larger courtyard, where a larger central plaza was located. It was hoped that the courtyards around the four unit clusters would encourage children to play under their parent's supervision as well as stimulate a sense of community within those four units. The setbacks were all larger than what would normally be required. The most controversial issue appeared to' be the site coverage. From the start, the developer worked with staff and everyone involved to have a.:build- ing which attempted t.o have open space in locations which would be most usable to the residents. The site coverage totaled 51 per- cent, and if the total amount of square footage in the project was used to.'build a three-story box, only 42 percent of the site would be covered, while the zoning allowed 45 percent, which was the overall average. The building height in all cases measured 35 feet to the middle point of the roof. The office building went up to 38 feet to that point, and normally, a mechanical screen was allowed. It was hoped that three feet would cover the unsightly tubes and things like that, but the applicant would reduce the three feet to make the project conform exactlyto every letter of the law. With regard to parking, the new section of the project was devoted to commercial, a section which was devoted to residen- tial, and a place in between which went between commercial during the day and residential in the evenings. The idea of reducing the total number of parking spaces came from the fact that after 5:00 p.m., there would not be anyone in the entire area. A few people eight work overtime, and the whole section could then be used for spillover visitor parking for the residents. A case could be made for approximately 40 percent of the deferred parking because many more people would be out of the commercial in the evening and the entire parking garage would be left vacant. Taking a more conser- vative approach, the developer went for 20 percent. There was an even number of residential and office parking and as the propor- tion of residential to commercial became more even, the reduction in the parking should be greater. He summarized that the project met both the letter of Program 7-A as well as the intent except for the coverage issue, which he hoped the Council would leave more flexible in order to assure less "boxy" looking buildings. Mr. Maxemin said he understood that the City Council must be con- cerned with balancing the public objectives of providing more affordable housing with the impacts on the neighborhood, and their project attempted to do so. No project could satisfy all con- cerns, but he believed that Stanford Plaza provided the highest benefit for all citizens of Palo Alto with a minor negative impact on the neighborhood. The adjustments to existing zoning were essential to the viability of the project. He was available to answer any specific concerns of°the City Council. ARMAX was eager for Stanford Plaza to succeed and remained open to any Council suggestions for 'approving the project. They were frustrated by the twists and turns in the City consideration of the project. They wanted to contribute to the City's objectives for- more affordable housing and had proceeded in good faith. .He requested City Council assistance in resolving the impasse and hoped Palo Alto would not lose the opportunity for a project which addressed the most pressing .needs of the City. The losers would be the people of the City of Palo. Alto who sought affordable housing. Inez Brennan, 4144 Wilkie Way, said she strongly and whole- heartedly supported the decision of the Planning Commission to reject the project. Her investigation revealed that in the area of Wilkie Way and Cl Camino, from Maybel l and Los Robles, there were 14 restaurants. One _block further north on El Camino was the location of Disco 80, and she understood from the security guard on duty in '.the parking: lot that they attracted between 700 to 1,000 patrons each night. All, of the parking overflowed onto El "Camino Way . and sometimes the parking was bumper -to -bumper. 3 1 6'4 4/18/83 As Corrected 7/11/83 Alice Williams, 454 Tennessee Lane, said that the Council packets were full of information about the proposed Et Camino Way/James Road project. Having .waded through it al 1 she was sure the Coune cil was well advised_ of all the basic facts and figures involved. By now, the Council, had heard the- outcry from the residents who were neighbors to the parcel of land and the other, adjoining developable land along El Camino, and had received, the petition which was signed by the neighbors during the first weeks of the process. She pointed out that the petition was far from complete because the residents were given little notice when the issue was up before the -Planning Commission. The signatures represented the thoughtful concern on the part of each individual regarding the future of their neighborhood. -The addresses of .the signatories reflected that the neighborhood was truly represented. She be- lieved that for the existence of the project to be justified, it needed to contribute something to its surroundings and the life around it. The neighbors were advised that the 'project was pro- posed, as it pertained to the pre -existing -environment, because it. would improve the property values of the neighborhood. The resi- dents of Charleston Meadows failed to see how increased noise levels, traffic --an estimated 900 trips per day through the neigh- borhood --parking problems, and the visual intrusion of five three- story buildings packed together on a small parcel of land would enhance the quality of life, the physical setting or even the property values of the -neighborhood. -During the course of the issue, the developer accused the neighboring residents of being elitists wanting to keep others with a _lower income out of their community. She pointed out that her neighborhood coexisted for years with a large Latino community on the property with a high level of give and take. To her knowledge, no comment or complaint was ever directed to the City from her neighborhood regarding the activities and noise levels of that very populated community. Many of the residents in her neighborhood defended that community when Mr. Bill Cox was beginning his move to develop the property, and the neighbors resented the implication that they were against housing for the poor. Regarding the economically disadvantaged, the "affordability" of the "affordable" units the developer pro- posed, and the cost per square foot of those units versus the cur- rent value per square foot of the R-1 homes which currently exist- ed next to the land, taking one of the lowest price units at 682 square feet and dividing it into the total cost of $98,000, they arrived at $143 per square foot. Within the last etwo months, a bank appraiser visited her neighborhood and advised that current ly, a remodeled`Eichler with approximately 1,800 square feet would sell for around $180,000, which amounted to $.100 per square foot versus $143 per square foot for the "affordable" units_ in the pro- posed project and included the land on which it sat. She did not want the people to kid themselves into thinking that the project was low -cost housing --it was only small housing. The reality was that the last true low cost housing in Palo Alto vanished the day 30 low fhcome families were evicted from the property and their homes were gutted and boarded up.., eThe residents believed it was only fair -for the developer and the City, to. meet them hal f gay, that the spirit of the zoning be adhered to even in a PC district,. that the residents be provided the local retail and services set forth under cur=rent zoning -and thati the density allowed be com- patible with the neighboring areas. Oleg Sherby, 112-- Eni rson Street; ,said. he had resided at his cur- rent address for 25 :years - and was a professor at Stanford lini ver- sity in: the field of Engineering. He favored the Stanford Plaza project.- Many young people had gone to Stanford and after gradua- ting attempted to find a place to live only to find Al impossible, and had left the area; as .d result. A reasonably priced. home, in this day and age, ---meant- about $130,000 to $150,000 or slightly more. He saw .the project as a good 'plan for `a clearly commercial area to provide housing for young people. Or, Herbert U. Leman, 4b4 W. Charleston Road, President of the. Charleston Meadows neighborhood Association, clarified that the opinions expressed in his letter of April 12, 1933, which is on file in the City Clerk -'s office, were the results of several meet_. i nes crf the Cite r1 eston Meadows Nei yhborhuod Association and their petition drive. The- City was presented a petition which was signed by 145 people, whose signatures were collected' by a canvass of -- the neighborhood.. Volunteers went to the neighborhood hooves and asked for opinions on the project, and the vast majority were against the (levelopment at the time. The people with whom the volunteers spoke believes that the development was not in the spirit of the original zoning. After spending so many years try- i- to design the neighborhood commercial zone on £l Camino Way, the proposed development essentially threw out the entire concept end made a dense commercia 1 development which did riot supply any services to the neighborhood. itself. The people believed that the project would worsten the job/housing -imbalance. The developer stated that about 120 jobs would be produced along with 65 resi- dential units --clearly more jobs than units. -In order to achieve affordable housing to Palo Alto, the demand for housing would have to be lessened so that all Palo eAlto_ units could become more affordable with time, which required a reduction in the number of new jobs to come into the City. :The proposed -level oopment would provide a few below -market -rate units while increasing the number of jobs-, thereby makieg the derrmand for housing worse as a result. if the desire of the ---City Council was to have more housing then the area as originally suggested by the Charleston Meadows neigh- borhood should be zoned residential. An extremely dense develop- ment with a lot of commercial use in order to achieve a few units s1iyhtiy below the market value appeared to be the wrong way to accomplish more dousing in Palo Alto. The neighborhood commercial zone was presently being studied by the City to determine its viability and whether it: could really function. He urged that the Council wait for the resu i is of that study to see whether the neighborhood commercial zone was viable. The peoples concensus was that the project could not be saved with a few changes. The concept was wrong from the beyinni ng-- there was 1 ittle or no retai i or services ' for the neighborhood, the project was too dense, and the housi fie units were too small to be attractive to anyone. He encouraged the Council to uphold the recommendation of the Planning Corgi:mission and deny the project. Sam Spa rck, 4099 Laguna, spoke as the Chairman of the: Barron Park Association Board of Directors. The board was on record in oppo- sition -to the project and he desired to reiterate that opposition. Thee project was. too dense and massive for the site, its presence would ayyravete traffic in the area, the parking was, insufficient, it was 'incompatible with the adjacent residential properties and did not contribute positively to the jobs/housing imbalance. He asked the. Council to listen to the neighbors and the neighborhood associations, confirm the decision of the Planning Commission and vote to deny the application. Calvin F. Gunn, 2345 Yale Street, currently resided in Los Altos, but was born and raised in Pals Alto, Several of his children were born in 1'a.lo Alto, but as adults, were-- unable to live here, and 1 ived in apartments in Redwoo ,. City and: Mountain View. His secreta ee quit a few weeks ago, because it was too exaust i ng to Uri ve two and one-half ehqueSe per .dray to work ,and be forded -to live 1r► Sa;n Jose. The fact that someone, posed as the representative of a democratic group (which 'group actually caucussed as ea special interest group) stood .before' the Counc i i. and said that-preopl a we're against jobs and housing, _made hi4 angry. That statement was-. obscene in ';is opi riion. lige was born in -Pa I o T19,30, and a traffic A , Wee unkno . . wn- then=; He walked everywhere- "when he was yuuny, and did not know' chat, a- tar was. He believed., that those t uses were = €aoree eemffoteeb l e', =but , that times had changed. _ People had to work to feed thel r faini l ie and _ needed housing.. Palo Alto was one of the most ,.progressive communi ties _ in the country and had addressed' the problem philosophically. He knew nothing about_ the 1 detdi is of the project, but believed that phi losphical ly, Palo Alto should keep_ faith with the step At .had taken. A •developer who spent a lot of time and money should not be told to start ayain and- still be expected to come up with affordable housing. Loch time plans were revised and delays occurred, project costs would escalate. He believed that process was hypocritical Florence LaRiviere, 4b3 Tennessee Lane, had lived in her house since it was built 31 years ago. She said she was offended by the statements of the previous speaker, and left almost speechless. Her children were also brought up in Palo Alto, and one was sti_1 l in the area as a professional woman :librarian. There was no way her daughter 'could afford --on a $37,000 salary --$10,000 down and $1,UOU per month for one of the 11 proposed affordable units. The Planning Commission and—ARB studied the project and concluded that the basic requirements :for a PC zone were not met-. She believed that Ms. Cullen succinctly pointed out that setback and height requirements -of underlying zoning;..were not adhered to which negated its submission under Program 7-A. Very small ()nits for people earning $37,000 to $43,000 per year did -not Meet the hopes,. which everyone shared, of affordable `housing, .and the spirit of the CM zone was violated by the establishment of two, three-=story buildings of houses that would attract regional office buildings. Uuriny the puolic hearing, the people were given four reasons for supportiny the project. 1. The project was aesthetically 0 -easing. People had different ideas of beauty, but multi -story, red brick buildings seemed out of character with both the nearby commercial structures and with the neighboring flat redwood houses. 2. Low cost housing was provided. It was already discussed that 68? square feet of condominiums at $98,000 was comparable roughly to 1,360 square feet at $140,000, if smallness meant affordability, would it have to be subsidized by office space.. 3. The people were told that with the current zoning, they. could get 'something worse, and that almost appeared _.to be a threat at times. It was true that current zoning would allow a maxi- mum of 49,b50 square feet of commercial office space along with 2i} condominiums. Parking _would necessitate a second underground parking level , 'and at the ARB meeting, staff stated that it was not likely to be fina'ncially feasible.e The lesser of two ei l s theory.. was a poor 'orre on which to base land use decisions. Perhaps all of the zoning in the area should be reconsidered now. 4, The people were told that the developer had at -ready spe-:t lots of money, which was also not a valid reason for approval. No one wanted developers to have financial problems, but land use policies -should be made by planners --not efinanciers. She commented that Josepn Esherich, Chairman of the. U.C. Berkeley --Architecture Uepartwent, was asked.by .the San Francisco Chronicle in January what he thought` was wrong wit e s on7 resporRded that the human objectives of their work were being superseded by material measures- profit: ;The tendency today was t[ 'take the short-Lirm view, end designs were. -.,for point -of -sale appeal-. I./rice sold, no one cared..- Today, :,an:.architect s design had become More remote from the , person who.`would actually use it. One did not deal with residents, but rather _a fin_anc�ial manager, d books an budgets. if the- market really told'1al1- that. -one` needed to know -about- life, that, kind of management was perfectly _okay . but._ the wor la'r was not' that perfect.,_, She asked the Counci.l :-.to bear in mind that the land abutting the proposed project to -the.. south ail the way to Charleston 10a -d wa_s ---ripe = for_, devel opient The pot.entia i -.- . far' another PC- developreent .:in :that lo.cat.ion- shook - the. -confidence of the public in -the entire zoning.,`process, -and the 3 ,1 6 7 4/18103_ Pianniriy Uepartirient had no detailed predictions about the impacts of the urdrly possible developments in that area. Palo Alto was; famous for its preservation of residential 'neighborhoods, and she lived _in a congenial, pleasant neighborhood, which was especially vulnerable and worthy of Council protection. She concluded by saying that Frances Beenner loved their neighborhood. Her eyroup possessed Frances brenner's certificate of councilpersonship and moped that someday sometfiny would be named there for her. 1 1 dorm. Weyant, l 736 Uak_: Creek Uri ve, Apt. #403, sa id , he was a senior research associate at Stanford and considered himself to be rela- tively young and professional.' He could bleed all over the table about the problem that he and thousands' of people like him faced in Palo Alto of finding atfordable housing. Even if jobs were availaule, new people could not afford to live in the area. He opined ,that the issue was one of progress versus no progress, and whetier to pursue innovative solutions to pressing problems. When he was about ten years old he lived on the east coast, and -re- called that someone -:wanted to build three blocks Worth of houses on the field where he played ball. The neighborhood and the children were very upset, but , tkie project went ahead. Then he had to walk five blocks to play bail An a park instead of two blocks to the former field; Ten years later, he realized that about hal f his friends from school, half hise team mates, the captain of the Penn State Football team and ultimately the mayor and several counci lrernbers came from those three blocks of houses. He sup- ported progress and more housing in the area, and not maintaining the monopoly rignts of those who lived adjacent to the prime piece of property. Telber Gustafson, 40 Colleye Avenue, Apt. 8, said he strongly favored the project 'because for the past three years following graduation from Stanford, he had lived .in Palo Alto. Many people believed that attendance at the University signified wealth. That was not true --it instilled earnings potential.. Many students bor- rowed money to go chrouyh Stanford, and l i ke many others, he st i l l owed money. He believed that made him a representative of young professionals who came to the area and wished -.to stay. Early on, he elected to pay a higher than usual percentage of his salary as a renter. He supported the project because he rented and did not own, and the tax laws doubly compounded the problem because many tax write-offs or depreciation, were now allowed to a renter. There was an increasing exodus of !the young professionals who helped to make Palo Alto the technical leader it was nationwide. The proposed project offered a_ unique opportunity for those young professionals to _ cor„e from outside the City to study and effec- tively call Palo Alto home. He believed that the. general opinion of the` people in the area --more particularly the president of Charleston Meadows --was to reduce jobs and not increase housing, or to close the door on others.- That position would be under- standable i.n a declining area in the mid west where. people were leaving anyway, but the people who came to Palo Alto and Who wanted to _continue to ,crake the City a leader dn the country, did not agree with that position and believed that the main Obstacle was housing. Kichard Leza, 4191-Briarwood Way, said the fact that the project lacked -support was a myth. He was from the Preen- -Meadows and Charleston Meadows area an!: hao a ;lot of neighbors and friends there. There was a lot of support —for the project, and the peti- tion reminded him of a recent election in .Palo Alto where ther^ee- wa S considered to' be a lot of opposition to ,tile pro ,errt n ‘a l ifornia, Avenue' :from Cox, and .the --election overwheiminly . indi cated 15 percent support for" the project. epie oppos:i ti on for the proposed' prOj:ect sounded like the sage th tog. -- Regard ln_g` tine: -,myth -' that the units_ wer ica7Offloung professional couples i ved _i n the Stan ford townhouses_ with one chi l'd. and only 800 to 65U "square feet , and appeared tv _ do quite :: well_,_ a believed =the project was uriiigue and .balanced between. housng and jobs. : :The jobs could' not", be -kept out, the building of office space- would 3 1 6-6 4/18/83:. create new jobs. Palo Alto was becomine a financial unit, and to create office space and jobs without housing, would cause a prob- lem. Making the entire project commercial was not the answer, it had to -be balanced. It was a myth that people wanted commercial_ space of 45,000 square feet for.. 20 units--the people wanted a balance and would rather see 23,000 square feet of commercial and 6.5 units where they could afford to buy. It was said that the real ---costs were those of displaciny people when low cost housing a I ready existed in that location. Today, if :one *anted to buy e house which cost $160,000, the payments would be -abort $1,500 per month. ---He and his wife both worked,, which was the only way one .could afford housing. He did not believe that projects could be built or purchased for- W50,00U to $80,000, because it cost between $14U,0U0 _ and $180,000 for housing and it took two incomes to afford any of them. Hilly udvis, ' 344 Tennessee Lane,_ read a letter from _Lynn Chapella, who resided in the Midtown area 1t 631 Colorado Avenue, which stated that she was concerned that the intent of the Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan was being subverted by developers who ayreed to build condominiums with the underlying motive of devel- op.iny Iarye commerciai` projects. In general, these projects worsened the jobs/housing imbalance by creating. More jobs than l iviny units. Neighoorhood traffic and parking studies were oehind schedule while coninerc,ial projects which exacerbated the problem continued to proliferate. She hoped that the City staff, Planniny Commission, Architectural Review Board and City Council would veto projects which worsened the jobs/housing imbalance or severely impacted a neighborhood. Regarding what would happen if the project was denied, and whether the results would be better or worse than if it was approved, it the project_ was denied and the developer -applied to build a high density commercial project, the City could refuse its approval. Any project which required sub- division map approval required Council approval. Further, the citizens could always file an appeal ' for Council review of any project. The Council could deny approval on. the grounds of detri- mental environmental impact, change the zone to a lower density or issue a moratorium on office development. Any undesirable new proposals could be denied. However, it was unlikely that anyone would propose to Duild- to the maximum commercial allowed with..the existing -zone of 49,'SbU square feet, and only 20 housing units oecause of the parking requirements. To provide almost 209 park- ing spaces which would be necessitated by that project, would require two levels of underyround parkin!, which costs would make the proposal unlikely. . She believed that denial of the project would result in a more desirable project for the site. She asked how the development would affect the jobs/ housing balance. The only meaningful measure of the overall housing impact was the need housiny provided; that eis., the housing gain in excess of the demand --for housiny being created: by the jobs. City staff esti- mated that t -he ARMAX project would create eabout 117 jobs with only 65 small housing units. Consequently, it would worsen the jobs/ housiny imbalance thus nullifying the claim that the few so-called affordable units resulted in a beneficial ,Mousing contribution by the project.. At least two -of the Planning Commissioners gave. the worsening of tine. jobs/housing imbalance" as -one of the ,reasons they -voted against the application. Comparing the project with a theo- retical - worst -case of develO'ing toe the maximum allowed by the. existing' -zone ,on the site -,--490 550- square feet of commercial and 20 housing units., which was not likely to` be proposed and, could.. be ✓ efused by the- Counc i 1 was not'a valid way to measure the actual --effe-c*_ on the-- jabs/housing imbalance, The actual effect -_was a e worsening of .the jobs/housing imbalance.;-'- She pointed Out that -at , . .cone Planning_ Commission meeting, the Palo Alto Housirng Corporation. .- passes# out information regarding the mini`ruur income qualifications - to buy `one, o.f ,the;, i1 so -cal l.ed affordable units. She provided e ach €;ounci lmernber and the:City Clerk with a _copy of that infor.ma-- tion which -indicated that it would require an' --annual - income of .4i1,.UUU' to.-43,-0UU and rion,thly paymenl:s of $1_,009 to $=1;100 to 'buy, 3 1 6 9 4/18/83 1 i one of the 11 so-called. affordable units. The units were aimed at professionals and would not help those in the 'greatest need for hous i nag assistance. The other 54 market rate units would require significantly higher incomes. She believed that no city-wide net benefit existed to offset the detrimental environmental impact the proposal would have on the neiyhberhood. She urged that the Coun- cil deny the application and attempt to approve a project which would be beneficial both to the City as whole and to the neiyhbor- hoods. 1 1 3uo Moss, 401.0 Orme, wished to correct the minutes of the March 30, 1983 Planning Commission meeting. On page 12, when Commis- sioner Cullen Initially made her motion she had a fourth condition that there was not sufficient benefit by virtue of the amount of affordable housing provided on the site. Mr. Freeland asked that she withdraw the statement because any time housing occurred on anytniny other than a residential lot, there was some benefit.. He pointed out that the finding was not necessary because the fi nd- in9s were more than adequate to defeat the project. Although the statement was not included in the minutes, it was made. Regarding other proposed and past projects in the City, the next item on the agenda, Lytton Plaza, proposed units for single seniors. Those units were proposed to be 620 to 1,28U square feet. Comparing that with the so-called affordable units of 682 to 804 square feet supposedly for families or young couples, they were being given less than the seniors at Lytton Gardens 111. The "affordable" units would cost between $145 and $151 a square foot, the market rate units would cost between $175 and $190 per square foot if the developer did not raise the prices between now and when they were actually scut on the market, which could be done. By contrast, the Kinney project on Parking Lot Q proposed market rate units at $147 to $1bb units per square foot and those units were bigger -.-770 to 920 square feet. The "Redwoods" project on El Camino was a pure market rate development and would charge .between $160 and $180 per square foot. Those people who spoke about the units being afford- able did not know what they were tai king about.- He quoted from Sylvia Sernan of the Palo Alto Housing Corporation, "At 12 percent interest rates, the $116,000 units would not even be affordable to people earning 150 percent of the County median." Depending on family size, people would have to earn more -than $54,000 a year to affor-d those units, which did not serve the lower income people. A $98,000 unit, at 11 percent interest, would only be affordable to fami I ies of two [people earning $37,000 per year. Those figures were -provided in the Planning Commission minutes of January 5, 1983, pages 29-30. The statementoby Tony Carrasco about the com- nrercial buildings meeting the 35 foot allowable height limit in the CN zone was false. The only time one could build more than 25 feet in' a CN zone was when the third floor of the structure con- tained residentials. He referred to the minutes of the City Coun- cil neetinge of February 6, 1978, page 629. His letter of March 21, 1983, Attachment 0, quoted "...Ex -Mayor Carey and .his legis- lative history when hee put that into the zoning ordinance..." botn the legislative history and the_ zoning ordinance were clear -that the project -did not meet the . zoni ny envelope. . In order to adopt PC zone, three specific findings must be made, and since the application .was -under Proyram 7-A,- it must. meet the existing on -site zoni ny envelope. The.; proposed project failed all of the tests. On page -20, of the !January 5, 19113 Planning Commission minutes, Comm=issioner Wheel_.er. "raised the question about whether the project in general eMet the. underlying zoning enVelopea't Mr. Freeland stated " that it was a judgment call one the part- of the Commission. It was noted judgment`. tail --the specific .findings must -be made and there .most be a wil l ingness to defend these find- i nys An court i f eneceSsOrre. He Boric l tided by sayi_rg that when Abraham. Lincoln was aTyoung, lawyer, he .tried :a case which involved an adverse witness.'.- He fina.i-ly asked the ;witness how many legs,a dog would have if he ` cai_1ed the tail a -.,leg. The witness said five. -Lincoln said ` there -would-."only ,be -four because calling a_ tail a leg did not `make - i_G one. Saying that the project conformed to the- zoning -did not make At so. 3 1 7 0 4/18/83 Mayor Bechtel asked that the speakers make brief comments or the Counci 1 would --not have .the time to make a decision. Kirk Hansen., 1iSb University, Los Altos, was a professor of Busi- ness/government Relations at the Stanford Business School, and was particularly interested in the .creation of public incentives for private:businesses. Uuring the. past couple of weeks, he worked with Agustin Maxemin to try and. put together a package that would meet Council approval. He believed that the objective to create those incentives for private business people was an important part of what 'shoula be bone in the years ahead. The challenge to avoid the necessity for large government -subsidies and create incentives for private action appeared to be in line with the era of Proposi- tion 13 and private action. He opined th:;t a well designed ircen- tive wuuid include three characteristics as follows: 1. Be sufficient for the private party to implement the City's desires. That. was attempted by the creation of Program 7-A to encourage affordable housing units; 2. Be closely controlled 'in order to remain in the City's best interest; and 3. Would yuard against any windfall which might accrue to private businesses who made use of those incentives. He believed that some uncertainty still existed regarding the shape of Program 7-A, but it basically fulfilled the three basic objectives of creating incentives. At least one developer was willing to use the 7-1 structure to propose a project which created more housing. The creation of affordable housing, in both the units. officially designated "affordable" and in the market rate units which were priced lower than those proposed under the previous Cox project, indicated that the encouy'agement to create more affordable housing units was achieved at least with ono developer's interest. Further, the Council maintained the right to review each individual PC proposal and each, use of Program 7-1, and the concern that the project might indicate the City's will- ingness to create a broad set of .ones with great density in the same particular area was unfounded. Regarding windfalls for the private developer, it was clearly indicated that the developer: did not propose tce develop the land to its maximum potential profit for ARMAX or Mr. Maxemin, which achieved the City's objective to use the incentive without the windfall, in his opinion, The proj- ect's profit potential was significantly reduced by its structure, and was exactly what the City should have achieved. Clearly, there could be no incentive program without :an example in exis- tence. ,Having sought to create an incentive program, the City should seek the opportunity to create a project to carry out that objective. Every project would have to be considered carefully, and the Council would have to look at the individual projects before ,fi uring cut how they must be shaped to meet the public objectives -4 He urged that the Council seriously look at, the proj- ect and recognize the developer's willingness to work, with the City to. structure it in a way which Would meet the objectives of the nei ghbdrfood and the City. ,Given that willingness, --the City would be backing- away from a commitment, to the creation. of the incentive proyran and passing ,_up an ' opportunity -to make use of the willingness .of private. -business people to try and address public ubjecti ves if the -:project --was denied. Ff na 1 iy, reference Was cony tinually made regarding the ."affordability" of the,. units. He pointed out that in -previous testimony, Sylvia Seman :indicated that , the units compared fa v_ora b l y with the units being developed -by the Palo Alto :dousing .4orporation Despite the fact : thatt the "a-tfor'.d bl_e" units, were in a: price. -range --that appeared to be :hig►i, they were "affordable" giver, -`today's` housing structure-- in tfalO ►�l l:o, jie urged that -:the; Council.;; not back away from- its cornmi tment,_ to create. incentives far affordable housing and to 'find sbne -way Of ma* i ny tfe project `work. Denny Petrosian, 44J Ventura Avenue, said she _favored the project, but took offense at anyone who suggested that her neighbors who opposed the project were not sincere. In her opinion, only sub- sidized housing made sense on the land because she also had the memory of the ;3U farm Kies that were evicted. It was very painful tor many people in the ne,i yhborhood to see those people, who did not have cars to make traffic problems, have to go. The two pans presented --Cox and Stanford Plaza --appeared to be realistically possible given the current housing market in Palo ,Alto. She believed it Was important for the Council to Make a distinction between the two plans. She opined that - the project before_ the Council .represented the most significant breakthrough in housing to come along in a long time. The developer would make a profit on the development, but for the first time, a developer asked not how high a price could be realized for the units, but how low the prices could be, .Not only was the site and project reasonable for a PC, it was a lesson for Other developers_ to- build housing for that which the market could not bear rather than taking it for all it could. Erie zoniny and potential square footage of the. site allowed a Maximum of approximately two-thirds commercial and one- third residential. The proposed plan was approximately the re- verse with one-third commercial and. two-thirds residential. The commercial usage was half what it could be under the zoning. She preferred that the site have no coinnercial and be entirely resi- dential, but the market appeared not to permit that.. She urged that the Council not approve or deny the .particular project on the basis 'of its commercial square footage. That would not solve the severe probiem_,in Palo Alto of commercial expansion-. Commercial projects .would continue oto be approved and would continue to create jobs. She suggested that the council change the land use of every commercial, `office, industrial, etc., site which could possibly be appropriate for housing, rezone it accordingly and pass an ordinance similar to the condominium conversion ordinance which stated that housing may be built only within the price range of Palo Alto's lowest income employee population. At such time as ten percent of Palo Alto's housing was within range of that group, then higher priced housing would be allowed within the range of the next highest income, etc., until all of Palo Alto's housing was affordable to all of Palo Alto's employees. At that point, it would be appropriate to allow the construction of higher priced housing. Land prices would drop quickly to permit construction of those lower cost units .since that would be the only construction possible. She urged the Council .seriously explore that possibil -ity with the- City' Attorney. Whether the City could legislate that type of public benefit was unknown, but in the meantime,' she urged Council approval of --the p^upasr d innovative. project. uai i Woolley 1005 Mariposa, said Many -reasonable reasonable and thoughtful comments were heard from" both the neighbors and the community. She poi ntecle .out that the proposed units Would not only be afford- able for thy first buyer, but for successive buyers. it was one matter to build affordable_units, but was. quite another to ensure that they remained in the affordable stock'. The proposed unit`. wou l d because they would be under theaegis of the Palo Alto •Hous- ing Corporation and, treated much. like MIR -.units. She hoped the Cuunc i i.` could work out the details of the project in -a way that, the community could benefit from the 13 permanently affordable units without the extra 11 units having a significant_ impact on the neighbors. David Jeong, 4056 Park Boulevard, said Program 7-A of the Compre',-- hensive Plan was mentioned alt night, but the rest of the Plan was neglected. Four of the five major:Objectives of the plan ;.were to maintain the low dens ty in Palo Alto, slow. employment growth-, reduce traffic .and or`ange the characteristics .of_ El..Camino, Real.- People other th4n the Council read the City staff , -reports,,, and - the August 6, 1982, , staff report on employment intensification said, that new employment was running 5.9 percent above the .1980 est.i- mate. If the 5.9 percent increased every' two years, in- ten .years 3 1 --7 2 _:4A0le03 1 there would be 33 percent greater employment or well over 90,000 jobs in Palo Alto. During the formation of the Comprehensive Plan, he was president of the Ventura •Neighborhood Association. The City asked for input from the public to help develop the plan. Many hearings were held by the Planning Commission, and a meeting was held at the Ventura School. Many members of the Ventura Neighborhood, Barron Park and Charleston Meadows Associations attended the meetings and participated in the civic endeavor. Their aspirations were expressed for the development of Palo Alto and their neighborhoods, El Camino Way was determined to be an ideal location for the neighborhood commercial zone. He consid- ered the neighborhood commercial designation for the proposed site and the Comprehensive Plan to be a promise to the people. He believed that the majority of the people in the Ventura_ Nei.ghbor- hood. Association had remained steadfast in their desire for the neighborhood commercial zoning. The people of Palo Alto had. spoken. If there be no desire to heed input from the public, then why bother to ask. He believed the City must keep face with the people and deny the proposed zone change. . Kimberley Domino, 2101 Cornell Street, withdrew her speech in the interest of preserving time. Mayor Bechtel declared the public hearing closed. MAYOR BECHTEL RE ITEMS TO BE COMPLETED AFTER 11:00 .m. Mayor Bechtel said that 10:30 p.m., the hour at which the City Council decided which items would be taken up after 11:00 p.m., had past._ phe would move a continuance, and suggested that the public hearings on Items 111, Planning Commission recommendation re zone change application of Architectural Design Group, and a12, Planning Commission recommendation re application of the City of Palo Alto to extend the (P) Pedestrian Shopping Combining Dis- trict, be opened but only for the purposes of a continuance to the next meeting. She did not believe the Council could possibly com- plete the agenda tonight because approximately 20 people wished to address the Council on Item #15, regarding the Transient Occupancy Tax. CONTINUANCE OF # 14, 16, 17, 20 AND 21 NOTION TO CONTINUE: Mayor Bechtel roved, seconded by Fazzi no, that Items #14, F&PW recommendation re extension of the residen- tial conservation financing program; #16, Planning Commission recommendation re study of the Embarcadero Road/East Bayshore Area; #17, Planning Commission recommendation re South Peninsula Veterinary Emergency Clinic; #20, Foothills Park Erosion Control Project; and #21, Effect of Handicapped Requirements be con- tlnued. MOTION PASSED unanimously, Levy absent. Mayor Bechtel said that if anyone who was waiting.. for Items 14, 16, 17, 20 or 21 they would not be taken up this evening. The question was now whether Items 11 and 12 could be done, which she proposed only be done after Item 115. She asked if any legal problems existed with continuing items 11 and 12 for three weeks. City Attorney Diane Lee said there was no problem if they were continued to a date certain. City Manager Bill Zaner requested that staff be given a chance to ascertain` which dates would bebest to hear Items 11 and 124: Mayor Bechtel suggested that Item 110 be completed, . and that a deci sign. on Items 11 and 12 be made at that time. PETURN .TO ITEM`: 10, APPLICA_TIONOF CARRASCO & SMITH C.ouncilmember Cobb said he believed-- that the project before the Council was beautifully, designed and he complimented the arch 1 1 tect's skill and taste. Despite its aesthetic qualities, its density was high, there was a problem of compatibility with the neighborhood, potential parking spilled over into the neighborhood, traffic generation into the neighborhood, and some strong opposition from the people who already lived there because of those very impacts. When he considered a project such as the one proposed, he tried to weigh the larger community benefit against the feelings and concerns of the people who had to live with .it after it was built. He asked himself how he "would like to be its neighbor. On balance in the subject instance, he was on the side of the neighborhood. The City should, of course, continue to make every possible effort to provide reasonably priced housing in Palo _Alto. The net gain of 60 plus housing units was small compared to the demand for literally tens of. thousands of housing units that existed in Palo Alto. In order to meet that demand for housing, the City would have to build high density high-rises all over town, and no one was willing to accept that. The question was whether the proposed net gain was worth the impact on the larger neighborhood already there. He did not believe it was. The jobs/housing imbalance was already discussed, and by approving the project, the City would be making a negative contribution which did not appear to achieve some of the goals of the Comprehensive Plan. He had commented on parking_ so many times before, but reiterated that the parking problems in some areas of town .were already beyond the City's reach for a solution, and he did not want to contribute to creating that problem in other parts. of town. He supported the objectives of the developer --it was a tasteful and creative design --but its impact on the neighborhood was too much. MOTION: Counci lmeaeber Cobb moved, seconded by Renzel, to uphold Planning Commission recommendation for denial of the application for change of zone district to P -C, finding that: 1. The site is so situated, and the use or uses proposed for the site are of such characteristics that the application of gen- eral districts or combining districts will provide sufficient flexibility to allow the development of a suitable project as evidenced by the previous project approved for this site; 2. The proposed development of the site under the provisions of the PC planned community district will not result in public benefits not otherwise attainable by application of the regu- lations of general districts or combining districts in that the number of affordable housing u€ -its proposed- (eleven) are not sufficient to balance the detrimental effect of the bulk of the project; and 3. The uses and the site development regulations proposed are not consistent with the Palo Alto. Comprehensive Plan, and with existing and potential uses on adjoining sites or within the general vicinity- in that the project is not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan Program 7A since the total floor area and site coverage of the project and the height- of the com- mercial component exceeds that permitted under the present zoning. CounciImember Fletcher said she would reluctantly support the motion. There was an element of attractiveness in having a mixed use development especially if the - housing costs could be reduced because of the . commercial element. She was upset :; that more parking was required for retail than .for office uses because she understood that office uses took up most of the parking spaces downtown. She hoped that question would be .addresses at another time.time.' She did not'quite agree with the decision of the -ARIL to remove the parking garage access from James Way. The analysis completed by > the Transportation_ Division _ indicated that the entrance and exit :.from: El Camino Way would be awkward,' and was projected not to reduce trips. She believed she could -attest to that because she used James Way all the time even though her 3. 1=7 4 4/18/83 driveway did not come out of there. It was a recognized shortcut to East Meadow, but would only be used by. those people going east. Councilmember Witherspoon said she would oppose the motion to deny the .P -C because she believed the project was imaginative and exciting. Ite was very dense, but among all of the dense projects seen by the Council lately, it was the most livable in her opinion. It was the first project she had seen in a long time that had what Tad .Cody always referred to as "the human scale." She took exception with the alleged jobs to housing imbalance she kept hearing about. That assumed that there was only one job holder per household in Palo Alto, which was untrue. She believed that the last statistic she had seen regarding jobs per household in Palo Alto, was 1.8 jobs, which indicated that the proposed project was approximately a wash in that regard. She also took exception with Councilmember Cobb's observation about the traffic impact. The project virtually fronted on Ei Camino, and like it or riot, El Camino was a busy thoroughfare. Further, the developer did his best to put the commercial part of the project in an area that shielded the residential from the impact of El Camino. She agreed with Councilmember Fletcher that it made more sense to have the garage access on James, but that issue was not .before the Council. She was concerned that the Comprehensive Plan, Council and Planning Commission had done lip service stating that the City desired to have the type of project proposed, but when they came to the City, fault was consistently found. She found the project to be imaginative and would support it if the motion were de- feated. Councilmember Renzel said she had held a strong concern for a long time about the overpotential of the City's zoning envelope in all zones. For many years, properties were not developed to the full capacity of the zone, and at ;the time the zoning ordinance was created for Palo Alto, there was a certain assumption that the development pattern would continue and the zones tended to be designed after the older zones. Now, the City was seeing fall development of the zoning envelope and very serious problems taxing the infrastructure, some of which were well outlined by Councilmember Cobb, problems with parking and traffic. Generally,. the citizens were concerned about the massiveness and density of development which was now occurring. She believed that any time the City was going to allow anyone to exceed what she considered to be excessive standards of the current zone, it should have a significant public benefit --not a significant private benefit. Many private individuals would like to live in Palo Alto, but not even those people who presently worked in Palo Alto could possibly do so, and those who just wanted to live in Palo Alto could not even be Considered. Public benefit meant providing for a diverse population, families with children, and people who really were disadvantaged in the marketplace. Those public benefits were not sufficiently found in the proposed project to compensate for an already excessive zoning capacity. She believed that the proposed projectnot only had the potential for an individual impact, but a _cumulative impact on the entire neighborhood by" the redevelopment Within the area. The Council must acknowledge and. face that fact,. and without evidence of some compelling public benefit, she could not support the project. Councilmember EYerly opposed the motion, and believed that the question before the Council tonight was one of priorities. The proposed project was the first attempt to use Program 7-A in the Comprehensive Plan. The program was a viable one, and voting against the proposed project would destroy that viability and the ability to have developers come in and offer some more afford- able housing. He reminded the Council that the project was to be built : on three different zones before itJ went to PC. The CM zone was a large section of that ground, and he believed there would be many more ramifications of ;traffic and noise pollution, etc., if that parcel of prope-rty were developed as was indicated in the zoning plan. Although he supported the idea Of housing mixed with commercial, if the motion on the floor was defeated, it did not mean he was happy with the exact proposal. The front build- ings for commercial, the top and middle floors to be used for office, and a mixture in the ground floor needed to be worked over by the Council, particularly if the extra height were allowed on the front buildings. He believed the- top floor should ,go to housing. If the motion failed, he had a number of questions with regard to the ordinance which was proposed in connection with the alternative. Vice Mayor Fazzino said that as he counted the votes, the issue would not pass for several reasons. He echoed Councilmetuber Cobb's comments with regard to the design of the project, and said that regardless of whether the project was appropriate for the site, one had to applaud its architectural design. In fact, he wished it was the design and density for the Stanford West project rather than the one which .was otherwise before the Coun- cil. The critical question was, whether affordable units and the benefits to the community would outweigh the negative: impacts on the adjoining neighborhood. There was no doubt in his mind that the project would have an impact on the neighborhood and he had wrestled with the degree of that impact over the weekend and through a number of visits. He continued to be concerned about the parking situation, which he believed was already a serious daily concern to local neighbors. If he had his druthers, he would argue that the issue should be continued for further dis- cussion by the Planning Commission to resolve some of the parking issues and the issues raised by Counci lmember Eyerly. The issue would clearly be defeated tonight and because of that, his vote would be in favor of the project. He recognized the many legit- imate concerns of the neighborhood, but also recognized the outstanding features of the project. He was persuaded to support the project because it offered the community affordable housing both through the BMR units being provided, and the 11 other units. Despite the almost unbelievable salary and housing prices being bandied about, he said there was no question in his mind that there was a large middle class market in town for the kind of units being offered in the project --units for people who were otherwise shut out of the market rate housing in the community. He echoed the comments made by John florthway at the Planning Commission meeting that when affordable housing was pro ided in the community without the benefit of public subsidy, it must be underwritten by commercial and office areas. For the most part, that was the case with the proposed project. Philosophically, he was concerned that the developer was given support by Council policies and earlier ARB and Planning Commission discussions for putting together thetype of project proposed. He could not find any logical or specific reasons why the proposal was defeated at the Planning Commission level He believed everyone shared the gut -level concern about the impacts,: but at the same time, was bothered that through a series of steps, the City Council, Plan- ning Commission` and ARB lead the developer and others to believe that a project such as the one proposed could succeed in the area. He was concerned about the City's lack of faith in its final deci- sion, The proposal conformed to the zoning in the area, and it was clear that the defeat of the':: project could lead to a worse proposal. That was not a good enough reason to support the project, but it was something to keep in mind. If the Council rejected the project, it was incumbent upon the City to look carefully at the policies again'regarding affordable housing-- Program 7 -A --and consider whether it was possible for any devel- oper to come in with that kind of proposal. He further °believed that it was important- to go back and consider changing the zoning in the area so that other developers were not lead down the *primrose: path"' believing that :their .Preject could go through. He believed that .Mould further address . the gut concerns of the' neigh- bors in the area about the impacts of such a proposal. Even though his vote _might be no more than- symbolic, he would vote against the Planning Commission _recommendation to deny' the P -C because there were some outstanding qualities in the project, particularly its affordable housing nature, and he - hoped that another project could be brought before the Council, in an area and form without as many negative impacts on the local community. Councilmember Fletcher suggested that Program 7-A in the Compre- hensive Plan be examined and perhaps reworded in order to better define its intent. She was not convinced that parking was the problem --she believed it was bulk and scale. She preferred to see a project like the one proposed, but somewhat scaled down. She asked if there was a way to' go --if the developer agreed to return with a revised design --instead of rejecting the project and for- cing the developer to start the process again. Director of Planning and Community Environment Ken Schreiber said the Council had that prerogative if the applicant agreed. If the project were referred back to the Planning Commission or the ARB, or the Planning Commission and the ARB for an in-depth review of the design, Vice Mayor Fazzino's comments regarding how far a developer had to go through a process before getting a decision, came immediately to mind. Logically, that action would be inter- preted as a clear message of the Council's sincere interest in approving the project if things could be rectified. If certain problems could be identified, the matter could be referred back to one or both .:bodies. Councilmember Fletcher asked the developer if he would agree to return to the Council with a scaled down project. Mr. liaxemin responded that they were committed to the project and had put a lot of effort into it. He was disappointed with the outcome, but happy that some Councilmembers recognized that there were more benefits than negatives with the project. He was wil- ling to return if the Council made a reasonable proposal or work was started with the City staff. He did not want to go along for months only to come back to the same situation, He was % 11ing to come back and work with City staff on a reasonable time frame, to work something out. That was his position from the beginning, and he believed that the City staff, Palo Alto Housing Corporation and Planning Commission would attest to the fact that the developers really tried to propose an acceptable project. Mr. Schreiber said that if the matter were continued, staff would need some clear direction from Council in terms of the issues to be looked at and what results were envisioned as appropriate. There was a multitude of designs to pursue, and it could be a long and frustrating process without some direction. SUBSTITUTE MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher moved that the matter be referred back to the Planning Commission. Mayor Bechtel said she did not mind referring the matter back to the Planning Commission, but did not want it to be done open ended. She believed that if the Council truly wanted the devel- oper to work with staff, the Commission and ARB to reduce the density or the amount of commercial space, specific < parameters would have to be set. The project was something like 23,500 com- mercial square feet, and 65 units, - If the Council was referring more to the Cox project which was 12,500 commercial square feet and 54 units, it needed to be more specific. SUBSTITUTE MOTION DIES FOR LACK OF SECOND. Councilmember Klein was concerned about referring the matter back t� the Planning -Commission and ARB because the process had taken far too long and he was somewhat embarrassed by the amount of time the developer was subjected, to in : headings. He realized that the project required careful review, but : was bothered by how long the proposed project was before the City's- review process. He asked about the City's::standards for requesting that a developer make changes and continuing the matter at the -Council level. 3, 1 7 7, 4/18/83 1 1 Mr. Schreiber said that the course of action was the Council's prerogative, and the time would relate to agendas has well as the developer's ability to respond tothe points. Councilmember Klein said he recalled that when the Council asked for --relatively minor changes, the matter was retained at the Council level and not referred back. Mr. Schreiber said that procedure had happened in the past. Counci l member Klein said he would go along with a continuance, but preferred that the matter be retained at the Council level unless dramatic changes occurred. The Planning Commission and ARB had already provided input, and referring the matter back to them would not be a good use of anyones time. Regarding the main motion, he would reluctantly support it. He debated the issue, as had Vice Mayor Fazzino, because the call would be a close one. He agreed with most of the comments made by Vice Mayor Fazzino except he came down a little bit on the other side of the line. The decision was a difficult one because anytime the required housing was built, .given the amount of available space in Palo Alto, some neighborhood would be impacted. It did not advance the decision process to say that housing was needed so move ahead. In order to solve the housing crisis, the neighborhoods would have to be sev- erely impacted and the trade-offs would be unfair. On the other hand, if the neighborhoods were never impacted, no housing would be built. The question then became one of degree --how much impact was worth the trade-off of obtaining the additional housing. Each project thus had to be carefully weighed on a case -by -case basis. He found that the impacts of the proposed project outweighed the benefits. He was particularly concerned that, as he read Policy 7-A of the Comprehensive Plan, the proposal went several steps further than what was intended. The policy referred to smaller units, but he believed it was clear that it was to be within the size building that would otherwise be applicable for that particu- lar zoning. That was not the case with the proposed project. Program .7-A was not designed to increase the size and bulk of the building --it was designed to put more units in the same size buildings. For that reason, he believed the proposed project was not a fair test of Program 7-A, and was an abuse of its intent. Further, he was concerned about the jobs/housing impact. When voting on the City Council, he consistently tried to maintain the theme that he would support nothing that worsened the jobs/ housing -imbalance. He recognized that the project provided housing where none might otherwise .be, but was concerned about the amount of office and commercial space. He came up with different results when he used Councilmember Witherspoon's figures and,,did not believe that there would be 1.8 job holders per unit given the small site of the "units. The City would put itself a little further in the hole by the number of, jobs created, as compared to the number of housing units offered, and he also preferred a reduction in the amount of office and commercial space. He did not believe Palo Alto needed more office space, and refused . to believe , that the only way to solve :the City's housing problem was to build more offices so as to : subsidize the price of housing units. In his opinion, that was not an acceptable way in -which to go. Additional office space in Palo Alto had all kinds of clear negative impacts which were.. not discussed since the focus was on the surrounding neighborhoods. Offices meant people traveling, ard Calvin Gunn spoke about his secretary having to travel from San Jose. That ° was true all over' Palo Alto, and traffic spread throughout the community .in a variety of ways. The project : was small, but Palo ,Alto had to draw the line. The City had been inundated by . the amount Of j;pbs rcreated--morethan its fair share. Jobs were necessary for the economy, -:bqt Palo Alto could' not tolerate the continued expansion of- its job base at its > current rate, and hi would not participate in making decisions that would aggravate _than situation. He believed the project had too much commercial, and if less commercial meant less subsidy : and higher priced housing units, he would, do with less of a subsidy. In his opinion, the project was savable.. Many projects around town were not aesthetically designed, and there were many alternatives for the site which would not require Council approval. When he thought of those factors, he urged the developer to try and make changes that could produce a majority of the Council who supported the project. He recognized how the developer worked with the neighborhood, and the thoughtful and constructive comments made by the neighorhood, and hoped an accommodation could be reached. He did not believe the results would please everyone, but with enough changes, he hoped I, could attract a majority of support. He concluded that he would support a motion to continue at the Council level. If that did not pass, he would vote to uphold the Planning Commission recommendation. Mayor Bechtel said she would support the main motion to oppose the project because she could not support the amount of commercial space and the project's density. She would support a motion . to continue the matter if the developer agreed to come back with a somewhat less dense project with less commercial or with some retail. . Councilmember Eyerly said that as he understood the project, the allowable housing under the old zone was what the developer pro -- posed for market rate housing, but the affordable housing units were above that. He was not sure that the developer ,was in a position to lower the density to the satisfaction of the neighbor- hood, and did not want him to think that the project would have no objections to the high density because of a continuance. He hoped that if the matter were continued, the Council would realize that to develop more housing in that area, the project would have to be more dense than what the neighborhood would like. Regarding the front building, he believed the project was wrong because there was so much office - space already on El Camino. With some of the space now designated for office being changed to housing, which was as much affordable housing as possible, the project might fly with the proposed density. When a developer brought housing down to the El Camino area, which was done several times -along E1 1`: Camino, it created dissension with the neighborhood. There was dissension in the Barron Park and Ventura neighborhoods in the past. Those developments were viable and the neighborhoods were not now upset with them. The proposed project had good .ideas and design, but in order to fly, it would have to have a decent density. If the Council continued the item and retained it at the Council level, he expected staff to look at changing some of the office complexes to housing and attempt to retain as much as possible in affording housing. The ground level on El Camino for commercial, with some mix of retail and office or service -type office with the rest of the building being for housing, was what the Council would like to see. With those comments, if Council - member Fletcher was in a position to make a motion for continua- tion, he would second, \. SUBSTITUTE NOTION TO CONTINUE. Councilmember' Fletcher moved, seconded by Eyerly, to continue,the item at the Council level to May 9, and staff to work with the developer in proposing a package which would be acceptable to the Council. Mr. Zaner was concerned that staff would come back with a revised project with as much public participation as tonight. The agendas to the next month were booked solid. and he could not see the item returning until early June. Mr. Maxemin said that date was too late.: Vice Mayor Fazzino-suggested that the project be put on the" agenda of May 9 with -the expectatiron that the Council might well need a special meeting meetingg to handle cable television and a " couple of other important issues, but that could be -:weighed next .week -"after plow. i ng through that agenda. He suggested that the project at least be -put on the .agenda for May S. i 1 Mr. Maxemin said that was fine. 1 1 1 Ms. Lee said that since the matter was being continued to a date certain, staff did not need to renotice the hearing. Everyone present was aware, and all of those who received notice should be aware that the matter would be heard on May 9. Mayor Bechtel said she hoped that members of the public would speak briefly at that hearing. Councilmember Renzel said she would oppose the continuance because she was concerned that it would not be possible to adjust the project to bring it into parameters which she believed were satis- factory. ,.She saw a project more on the order of the one already approved for the site. A lot of her concerns were well outlined by Councilmember Klein. Regarding the jobs/housing imbalance1 she believed that whenever a project failed to make a significant dent in the jobs/housing imbalance, it did not provide a housing benefit to the City. She believed it was necessary for the Council to see a significant ratio of housing to jobs --ideally with no jobs at all --and that was not likely with the proposed project. The affordability, question was still up in the air, and unless the units were truly affordable, she saw no point in having more of them. Those people who were advantaged in the marketplace had choices, and Palo Alto needed.a real contribution to the lower income scale in order to truly receive a benefit which would justify a change in density. Several Councilmembers spoke to the bulk and mass of the project, and she preferred to see more open space at the ground level and less bulky buildings. Councilmember Eyerly said that an ordinance was presented in the event the Council supported the PC zoning; He did not see any- thing with regard to deed restrictions on the affordable housing, and asked why it was not included. Zoning Administrator Bob Brown said the deed restrictions were discussed at the January 25, Planning Commission meeting. Sylvia Semen of the Palo Alto Housing Corporation indicated .that they would be dealt with by the Housing Corporation board and comeback through the subdivision process as part of the subdivision agree- ment. MOTION: PASSED by a vote of 6-2, Renzel , Cobb voting ''no, and Levy absent. MOTION TO BRING FORWARD ITEM #15, TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX MOTION: Councilmember Eyerly moved, seconded by Klein, to bring forward Item 115, Transient Occupancy Tax. COUNCIL RECESSED: FROM 11:33 .m. TO 11:35 .m., ITEM ;15, FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE F&PW RECOMMENDATION pp r - s 1 R ;: .. .w �. •, - i ti v [.s e . - Councilmember Klein said that the Finance and Public Works (F&PW) Committee recommended by a vote of 3-1, Councilmember Levy dis- senting, to increase the _transient occupancy tax from its present six percent to ten percent, effective May 1, 1983. The Committee believed that the City's sources of revenue were .shrinking and there were very few taxes over which the City haddirect control. Since Proposition 13, the City's control over property taxes were effectively eliminated and the same thing was true of sales tax. As the City's budget became tighter due to a variety of factors, the, Committee looked for alternative sources of revenue. The F&PW Committee concluded that the Transient Occupancy . Tax was . tie best source of revenue available to .the City, at the present`` time. Another factor in_the Committee's recommendation was the court decisions of last year ..which made it possible for. the City to adopt that, tax' increase without being required to have a two- thirds, vote of the elctorate., The Committee - considered the possibility of increasing the tax from six percent to .ten percent but only levy it at eight percent or some other number, and was advised by the City Attorney's office that given the state of present legislation and the court decisions, that would not be possible. If the City wanted the tax at ten percent, it must be levied 'at ten percent. The Committee recommended that the tax be effective May 1 because of the threat of legislation at the state level. A window was presently open, due to the' State Supreme Court's decision of last year, which could conceivably be closed at any time by an act of the legislature, and the Committee wanted the earliest possible effective date. After discussion with the offices of the City Controller and City Manager, the date was concluded to be. May 1. MOTION: ` Counciloae+aber Klein for the Finance and Public Works Committee moved approval of the staff recommendation t.o approve the ordinance increasing the Transient Occupancy Tax from six (6) percent to ten (10) percent effective Nay 1, 1983. 4ififffifibrolikentitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF 0 ALTO AMENDING SECTION 2.33.020 OF THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE TO INCREASE THE TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX FROM SIX PERCENT TO TEN PERCENT" Mayor Bechtel announced for the record that the Council received between 20 and 30 letters in opposition to the Transient Occupancy Tax, which were on file in the City Clerk's office, and urged those who wished to address the Council not to be repetitive. Erik Christensen, 4164 El Camino Real, was the owner of the Town House Motel , and said that since he and his wife came to Palo Alto 16 years ago and bought the Town House Motel, they had seen the ups and downs of the business. Because he had owned his little hotel for so many years, he was able to employ a 62 -year -old widow as a full time manager, a full time maid who supported most of her family with her income, and a younger man with five children who supported his family from whatever he made from the hotel. The past year was not a good year, the business went down and many businessmen who were the main part of their business, who used to come Sunday and Monday and stay for the week, only came in and stayed one or two days. Sometimes they only rented out seven or eight rooms on the weekends, which also occurred with the big hotels, and weekend rates were slashed by 50 percent in the hopes that a traveler might stop by. If the business went down any further, the result for many would be to lose their hotels, or the business owner's might be able to operate the "business themselves as it was before. The managers would have to leave, and he .won- dered where his 62 -year old widow manager;, would get a job. His hotel represented some problems on a small. scale, but he commented that if business went down further, the little people on the pay scale at the Hyatt Hotels, etc. would be the ones who suffered the ones who could not afford to lose anything. He believed that the Transient Occupancy Tax was, unfair even at six percent, but ten percent would chase a lot of Palo Alto's guests down the streets to Mountain View,, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara where the rates were four to six percent. He respectfully requested that the Council not raise the tax to ten percent and to leave it at six percent. Pete Mcel or.key, Attorney, #2 Palo Alto Square, representing the hotel industry, said having sat through the past four hours, he believed that with regard 'to each item` -on 'the agenda, the most impressive factor was the careful consideration of the impacts of an action on the people- -not just the neighborhoods.., He noticed that everything the Council did tonight was ._-:characterized by —the study of impacts. Yet, with regard to. the' Transient Occupancy Tax',- staff made no study of the impact` -on the hotel business in Palo Alto. The FAPW Committee, who ,-studied the issue, made no comments with regard to the . impact psi' the hotel business ,and tonight's action that would make a tax effective on May 1. As explained_ by_ Councilmember Klein, the tax was essentially to raise somewhere between $900,000 and $1,000,000 to partially defray expected expenses that were not yet certain. Roughly $400,000 of. the expected compensation from the tax was federal revenue sharing. He did not believe there was any evidence before the Council to indicate that Congress was not going to renew federal revenue sharing. Two items were cited in the staff study of March 17 --an $85,000 loss in State Subvention and a $64,000 in the Community Block Development Grant, which totaled about $150,000. The tax would raise nearly $1,000,000 against $150,000 that was being lost and if the state acted, a possible state subvention of another $400,000 and $400,000 of revenue sharing. He was struck that to pass an urgent tax which was in effect a 66 percent increase --from six percent to ten percent --was a hasty action to take based on speculation as to what might happen in the future. Regarding the impact on the hotel business, the next few minutes would be the only time a major industry of Palo Alto would have to present its case. His letter to the City Council, dated April 18, was completed in the last few hours of yesterday and this morning, because the hotel business did not receive notice of the proposed action until April 4, and had approximately two weeks to try and assemble and present the Council with the facts set forth in the letter. He noted that the top of page 2 described the hotel business in Palo Alto. Very little tourist business was done, and the occupancy was commonly the highest on weekdays, dropping to 50 percent or below on weekends, except for major Stanford football games, graduation and on those occasions when a major convention or a conference could be attracted, such as the Democratic State Convention, Republican State Convention and business conventions. Those hotels and motels essentially served as support facilities for Stanford University and the businesses of Palo Alto-- Hewlett Packard, Syntex, Stanford Linear Accelerator and primarily Stan- ford Hospital. He noted the competitive nature of the business, and commented that in order to competitively attract conventions and conferences on weekends when the occupancy dropped to 50 per- cent or below, the larger proprietors commonly offered up to 50 percent ..reduced rates for those periods, and cost competition with adjacent communities became a major factor. The areas of compe- tition to support Palo Alto and Stanford were essentially Menlo Park, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and possibly San Jose when tal king about the Silicon Valley area. Each of ` those five communities had a tax of six percent except for Mountain View's, which was four percent. Any competent study regarding the effects of the tax to a competitive business with the cities surrounding Palo Alto, should take into account what . might happen if Palo Alto's occupancy tax went up to ten percent. Two communities -- Belmont and Los Gatos --both of which were small with small hotels had gone up to a ten percent occupancy tax. He called Council's attention to page 2 of Exhibit B of his letter, which showed a study of the hotels and motels in the area in the past three years. He noted that the seven major hotels had roughly 70 per- cent of the total occupancy in the City. The occupancy gradually decreased and the vacancies had correspondingly increased from 107,760 in 1980, up to 111,214 in 1981,: and up, to 116,059 in 1982. As those vacancies increased and the occupancy rate decreased, the ultimate result was that the minority employees were laid off first. Palo Alto's hotel industry had approximately 61 percent of minority employees, and in a City which was famous for its atten- tion and sensitivity to minority employees, if .:occupancy went down ten percent, the maids and minorities_, were laid off, not the managers and accountants. There were some 17,000 additional hotel rooms --Palo Alto had 1,816 --and some 1..700_ hew units per year were planned over the next ten years in the -adjacent communities. The competition would increase and he submitted that the. Council should not rush into a staff recommendation that played ho part in and took no account of the Impact on the industry. ,The Chamber of Commerce estimates, based On national figures, were that for each dollar spent in a local hotel, two dollars were spent in local business, taxis and local service organizations in the; community. They were talking about a business ,of $24 ; million per year with. perhaps ;_another $48 million spent in the community which would now have to compete with a tax that was 60 percent (two-thirds) higher. than those of the adjacent communities. At the very least, he believed that type of an action by the Council would justify a study on the impact on the hotel industry. As he read the argu- ments that were made in the minutes of the F&PW Committee, they all related to speed and to the fear that the state legislature or Congress would do something. He did not believe, in fight of the other matters the Council had considered, that the proposed action should be taken so fast without some understanding of the industry and the impact of the tax. Mario Raddavero, 721 El Camino Real , said that most of the small restaurants in the area were owned by residents of Palo Alto, and they employed a large number of Palo Alto residents. A good per- centage of their customers were visitors who stayed in the hotels and motels, As occupancy went down, the restaurant sales also went down. If that happened, the restaurants would have to lay off some of the regular employee& and would not be able to hire young people in the summer as was always done. He believed that would have a very negative effect on Palo Alto residents, which was why he opposed the increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax. Ellen J. Milner, 3760 El Centro Street, gave the City Clerk a copy of letter to be distributed to the Councilmembers, and said she supported the speakers who protested the increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax. Hers was an individual point of view since she had been a 26 year owner/operator of motel property on El Camino Real, and was not a corporation or large partnership controlled by out- side capital. At a time when the City was on an upswing from a recent economic slump, it seemed obvious that the increase would reduce future business plus possibly drive off some from the past. She believed further that the tax was a gross inequity and was discriminatory in two ways. First, motel guests who paid the tax received no benefits --did not even have permission to enter Foothills Park. Second, the tax was not equally applied to all segments of the transient housing industry, i.e., a hospital or a transitional care facility. If a patient was in the hospital, one was considered to be in a transitional care facility before released to go home and was not required to pay. a Transient Occupancy Tax. Those people also were transients. She requested that the Council seriously and honestly consider the matter..:,., Daniel Rodriguez, 625 El Camino Real, said that regarding para- graph 4 of CMR:224:3 which indicated that the City of .Palo Alto would lose, between 1981 to 1983-84, nearly $150,000. Exhibit 8, page 2, indicated that the City of Palo Alto received an average of $100,000 more than the previous year without doing anything for the motel industry. He did not s.ee many items on the City's budget increase by $100,000 per year without the City putting a penny into a study. He cleared up the City Council's and many citizens' impressions that old `hotels were full all the time. That was not true --the' hotels were profitable three days per week, but for four days the hotels struggled with each other and were in competition with others. The: motel occupancy declined from 77.2 percent in 1980 to 76.5'percent in 1981, and 75.5 percent in 1982. Other cities in Santa Clara in 1981 and 1982 had increased occu- pancy., San Mateo County was below Palo Alto in occupancy in 1981 and in 1982 was equal to Palo Alto. The proposed tax would result in a handicap to Palo Alto hotels and motels and ultimately result i n' a •: loss of revenue to the ,City. Raymond Bean was called on to speak but was not present. Matt Morrow was called on to speak but was not present. Jack Hickling, 325 Alma Street, registered his opposition to the proposed room tax increase as a Palo Alto resident and as an employee of Hyatt Hotels,, Palo Alto. He believed that - the proposal most: have been generated with the impression that ',it. would be a relatively painless way to raise revenues which were 1 anticipated to be lost from other sources_. _ If that was the in�- tent, ample consideration was not given to the human cost of eMployees who Would be affected by the implementation of the tax increase,. If rates went up-, or if the aggregate of room rates including taxes went up in the area, it was not true that travel- ers coming to .the area .would not tae mindful of the difference. business travelers, who comprised the majority of business in the hotels, were able to count and were aware of the difference be-. tween a ten percent tax and a eix percent tax on rooms. In hi s judyment, those travelers would be _willing to change their accom- modation patterns from staying in the Palo Alto area to staying in cities farther south or immediately north where the rooming costs were less. .Hotel occupancy was a direct influence on hotel staff- ing, and the positions most directly affected would be those referred to as "occupancy sensitive," i.e., housekeepers, restau- rant employees, banquet staff, cleaning crew, etc. Better than 50 percent of the those employees were members of minority groups and would 'be most seriously affected by a loss of employment. He did not believe the ASsue was given adequate study regarding the effects in human terms on hotel employees, and although probably not intended, the effects would be disproportionately negative on minority yroups. That was an effect that a progressive city such as Palo Alto would not desire. 'He requested that the Council give the matter further consideration and that the proposal be rejected in favor of other sources of revenue. Charles Chien, 3981 Camino Heal, owned a small 35 unit motel, and stressed that if the tax increased from six to ten percent, the impacts would be worse on the small business owner rather than on the big hotels. People who stayed i n the small hotels did so because they could not afford to pay the high rates. If the tax was increased, the small motel owners losts any benefits and if those were lost, the motel could not be maintained. He did not see the Councilnembers wanted to see the little motels be forced out of business. The current occupancy. in the small hotels ranged between -60 percent and less. Ifr the tax increase was approved, their guests would go to the surrounding areas where the taxes were lower. He urged the Council to consider the seal 1-, hotel ;;:and motel owners and not increase the tax. tiichard Kluzek, President and Manager of the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, #2 Palo Alto _Square, said the Chamber was shocked, dis- _tressed and disappointed to receive a letter from Larry Moore on April 4 --dated March 30 --advising that the F&PW Committee had alread assed the staff recommendation to increase the local ransien ccupancy Tax from six percent to ten percent effective May 1, 1983, and that the matter would be before the Council on April 18. Last year's recommendation was -an increase to eight percent, effective on July 1, and the Chamber was shocked because the additional two percent would generate$500,000 more than from the original proposal and the effective: date was being advanced to May. Since more than LU motels 'and hotels -in Palo Alto. contained more than 1,6U0 "convention quality rooms," the.Chamber was dis- tressed - that none of those owners or ma.na gars were= notified of the City's intentions, and that no apparent: inquiry was done of the industry problems or concerns. _ Those: were_ ..the people with the intimate and expansive knowledge of the- _hospital ity industry and what effect such cost increases were -1 iisely to have on stheebuOe n€;ss.e Ih additton,;.many. smaller hotel"s =..that 'Served people of limited -means' would be impacted if the tax was. increased.. :The Chamber of Commerce was disappointed at the-_st4Ws lack of coin-- ecern..i n communi cat i n g <-any notice of _ the &PW Committee meeting to ,those affected so that :th-ey could hare: expressed their concerns. 3 he_ ._entire responsibil i:ty° :of --notifying the same group about, tonight's. meeting was .:left to.. ,. -the--C_h.amber.:-of Commerce ' Local. - at. .the eleventh hour. Loca l ., hotel s. : and ' motel s - were opposed tv the -increase by a substantial majority. The '-present tax level pro- duced about -$1...5 Million in- tax revenue to the C.ity's General Fund, and the grbup. requested that_ action on the matter,: be _del dyed for at least 60 to: 90.; days and referred -back to the Committee in in order for the industry to gather factual data on the subject and provide economic evidence regarding the impacts of any in- crease in the current rate. He emphasized that in most nei ghbor- iny cities containing meeting facilities -and a comparable supply of -quality roons similar to those of Palo Alto, a significant amount of the existing room tax was allocated to support a confer- ence and visitors _bureau. The hotel /motel group requested enough time_ -to complete its presentation on the subject and for thorough discussion with the City Council and staff before the Cpuncil took action to preclude the possibility of the concept not receiving a fair hearing. Counci linember Eyerly said he was sorry to hear that- the Chamber of Commerce did not -receive copies of the individual letters inviting therm to the FAPW Committee meeting. He did not know if -it it was the City's responsibility to notify the. Chambers but knew that the City published its agendas in the Peninsula Times Tribune On Sundays. Representatives of the C677771=7767777777=not attend Council meetings any more, and he wondered if the Council agendas. were followed by the Chamber. Mr. Kluzek said the Chaiirber of Commerce subscribed to the agendas, which were previously received on Fridays, but were now received on Mondays. Today's agenda was received today. Councilrnember Eyerly asked if .the Chamber of Commerce was aware that the matter would be addressed by the F&PW Committee after receiving the agenda on Monday. Mr. Ki uzek said no --it was learned about from the paper. Sam Weng, 4234 El Camino Real , was a small motel operator based near Mountain View, and was in a very price competitive market. Currently, Palo Alto absorbed a two percent .higher tax than was the case in Mountain View. The increase from six percent to ten percent would either reduce their occupancy rates substantially or come directly out of their income. The tax appeared to be unfair because the hardest .hit would be the small operators, and he, therefore, requested that the increase be opposed. G. haziyi_n, 3255 El Camino Real, said the Palo Alto Travelodge was a small motel. An article was published once in the paper that one could not find a room in Palo Alto. That statement was un- true, and if -;.a holiday fell during the week thereby curtailing business travel the week was shot and the small motel was left with Friday, Saturday.. and Sunday which already experienced a 40 to 5U percent occupancy. Travelers often asked if Palo Alto -Mad a parka and he road to say yes . but one had to be a resident of Pal o hlto to:: use. it, His business had been in Palo Alto for over 12. years, but he and ,his family could not use Foothills Park- because - his :family -was forced to move to Los Altos because they could not afford a house,. in Palo, Alto. A ten percent tax would cause each srna l l hotel owner°r to lose money and force reductions in staff. He _ spent .a JOI of money., upgrading his motel in the hope that this year's business would' be _better,- and the tax increase would drive - people away.. He hoped the Council would carefully .consider the. matter. Frank C. Marolda, 1121 E. Santa Clara Street, was President and Bus.i".ness Mana 9er of Local 19, the . Motel/Motes Restaurant Workers and Bartenders Union - AFL-CIO. His local union was the second largest union' in Santa Clara County. He also represented the Santa= Clara County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, which was com- prised of 110 unions. At tonight's meeting, the Santa Clara County._Central Labor Council passed a resolution in opposition -to_ the= proposed action. Their position was. clear --they were opposed to the F I'W Committee recommendation. He did not often agree with 'Paul McCloskey; but concurred wholeheartedly with all of 'his com- ments, tonight-. Some of\ the employers talked about bigness and smallness, _ arnd'' he represented the largest hotels in Palo Al to- Rickey's and the Hyatt douse which had a lot of employees. _He was Concerned that if the proposal passed, they' -would be faced with '3 1 8. 5 4/18/83 layoffs. No one knew better than he about the problems being experienced in the hotel/motel field 'especially in Santa Clara County. A hiring office existed where a lot. of people applied for work, but no jobs existed-. He urged that Palo Alto not echo what recently happened at the -Ford plant or the General Motors -plant. He also represented al.l the food workers at: the Ford plant and was sorry to say that he was having a.terribie time -trying to place some of those people. They ,could go on Unemployment compensation, but -what about their benefits like health and welfare, pension program, etc. Those benefit,, were lost, and if they.:were unem- ployed, they were on the rollls. of the state hopefully collecting Medicaid or Medicare. He urged that when .the Council voted this. evening, each member take the time to evaluate the action and how the little people would.be affected. He represented the li=ttle people --the minimum wage workers --and was concerned. The bottom line was to retain jobs in Palo Alto and build on thac--not to e l ininate the jobs at the expense of the people he represented. Hark Ala l son. 285 San Antonio Avenue, believed that Mr. McCloskey said it as well as anyone could. He believed it was a question of fairness, and pointed out that without any 'kind of study, the City could not be sure whether ten percent would increase the revenues. business could be reduced such that the actual increase in rev- enues would be reduced. Six percent might generate the most rev- enue, and it was only fair for the City to.look.into the matter further and give everyone concerned a chance to provide input into the final decision. Carl Oi trnore, 1835 Charming, said he was reponsi bl a for the man- agement of the Stanford Terrace with 80 rooms, and the Cardinal acroas the street with 64 rooms. After observing the Council's deliberations this evening on the two big issues not including the subject one, he was surprised at the lack of thought and consid- eration applied to the proposed increase. The 1,800 rooms' in Palo Alto, including the fine convention facilities offered at- Hyatt hickey's, were an asset of the City, and permitted it to host meetings of considerable magnitude should the City choose to do. .so. He 'suggested a more positive approach to the problem in terms - of improving weekend occupancy. Occupancy was good Tuesday through Thursday, but Friday through Monday was pretty grim. Around 90 to 95- percent of the occupancy was done dur-.ing the week, and he appreciated any help staff could provide to improve weekend occupancy. Each percentage increase in Idieepercentage of occu- pancy on the weekend would significantly increase the revenue to the City of Palo Alto without increasing the percentage in tax. He requested- that the hotel/motel business not be -looked at as a "quick fix" to the City's revenue problems without further study. Vice Mayor Fazzino said that given the lateness of the hour-, he would__;try and keep his comments brief. As Chairman of the F&PW. Comrnittee two years ago when the idea of an increased -Transient Uccupancy' lax was first submitted by staff, he believed thew' idea was lousy and believed that tonight's proposal was ,.another attempt at a "quick fix" revenue producer with little justification. It unfairly, penal ized -_one particular and almost legally defenseless S.ec7W-Ofi the co:rrimunity given its lack of protection.. under- Propo sition 13. .As indicated. by Mr. McCloskey, no impact`.statement of the tax upon the, hotel and motel btwners was prepared. The -only impact evaluated in the study, was that of the lass _ id state and, federal budget money for the city'. He was a_s concerned as the other. Counc tl'nembers about :the. 16 -Ss of revenue from the state - and.. federal governments and the nee o to develop -a fair., community state ` revenue alternative, but only as. long: as the: revenue pr�odoce,r did., not discr.imi:hate against: -one particular group. Palo- Alto Might well;='need a _community services tax' -along the l i-rtes_ of Hi l 5b0ro.ugh and other- communities which rwouid need to be approved by al -1 the voters and paid for by.al-1 _service user's. -At that point-, he- could support A:11(40 /motel- -tax as part of the package. -That would be far .more justifiable than the present proposal. He --'was not • surprised with the ease in which cities could tax commuters or hotel yuests, and as someone who traveled often and was subjected to outrageous taxes in some communities in thee country, he was particularly sensitive to the issue. He selected some hotels over others because of a reduced local tax. The hotel guests were not :the ones who would be primarily affected by the proposed tax, but rather the local hotel/motel owners. The City's motel/hotel own- ers were being put at a competitive disadvantage because in con- petiny communities the tax was .generally at or lower than Palo Alto's present level. The City should guard against the belief that Hotels : could handle the tax, which belief might be part of the lingering Holiday lnn ballot battle. The vast majority of hotels in Palo -Alto were not large complexes, but small business which had extreme difficulty. surviving the recession. He strongly encouraged his colleagues to defeat the unfair, discriminatory proposal and look towards a long-term revenue alternative which could be applied equitably. Regarding public -notice, though read- my the Agenda Digest might produce information about the Commit- tee hearings regardiny the issue, the history of the proposal did not present a pleasant picture regarding invited public involve- ment. He recalled that when he was Chairman of the F&PW Committee two years ayo the Committee was asked to prepare the issue for a public vote at that time without its appearance on the Committee agenda. It was buried as part of a bunch of budget items. Since that time, City staff or the Committee could have directed staff to go out with -a formal public notice regarding the impacts of the proposal on hotels and motels since there were a limited number in the community. That would have been the least the City could have done with regard to public notice. He strongly encouraged opposi- tion to the Committee recommendation and that it be sent back for further study. Counci lmernber Eyerly said the strong opposition to an increased hotel tax was obvious, but he had yet to hear support from a group threatened with a new tax. He was distressed that the Chamber of -Commerce and the' motel/hotel owners and , representatives- did not commence their political endeavors at the F&PW Committee Since he had received so many communications within the last week to ten days. He opined that the fears expressed tonight by the hotel industry were false because he could not believe that someone would yo to Santa Clara or elsewhere when they were in Palo Alto on business or whatever else, because of the difference in the hotel tax. If the tax increase was enacted as recommended by the FGPP Committee, he was wi 1 l ing to propose an amendment directing that a survey be conducted and at the end of one. year, hotel/ motel owners provide staff with sufficient date to weigh its impacts. Wnen Proposition 13 was enacted, the City's hands were tied because its budget was balanced by enacting 'a property tax, and every hotel /motel owner benefited by Proposition 13 and the cutback in taxes tremendously. No tax_ had' replaced .Proposition 13 in California which allowed any viable vay for the City to pick up that lost revenue. Palo Al to had struggled along for the past -three years without- that property tax money, and for the past two years, money was swept out of the Electric: Utility into reserves , and that situation was determined to be unhealthy, -and related -to the hotel /motel operating expenses s - wel l :as the tax-.., if the `City_ was going to continue to bala`rtce its budget by working out of the res4rves established by the:Electric Utility, it would cost the citizens more money in electricity, gate etc. . -He reminded the people in the motel/hotel industry that its basic services, -such - as fire and police, were provided by the 'City of Palo Alto.and if the City did not: find new revenue producers, it would not be in the position,.to offer., the_ levels of - service currently being exper- . i enced, and:: those -who - fol--1 owed the F$tPW Committee and -the b_ udg_et setting o :the Cooncii- over the past t.hree---years would know that. He would support the motion real -tiling -; that staff was :directed to search for new avenues pf revenues. He did not like- the proposed tax increase co.miny ahead . of . budget se.tti ng, but With the window open and with the threat of legislation to preclude its possibil- ity, the Council must go forward. He did want to look at the impacts of the tax at the end of one year, and suggested that the Chairman of the Committee inc=lude that amendment. 1 1 1 Mayor Bechtel concurred with Councilmember Eyerly's comments, and said that travelers must use Palo Alto streets to reach their hotel and motel, and if those streets had potholes, their ride would not be as comfortable. The amounts paid for utilities by hotel/motel owners for the operation of their businesses were half what might be paid if that business was operated in a city with PG&E utility rates, and she doubted that a major hotel chain, which operated in both Palo. Alto and a city with PG&E utilities, lowered :its rates in Palo Alto to compensate for that difference. She believed that the services provided by Palo Alto out of its General Fund for police and fire were essential and that the dif- ference of the four percent increase would not affect whether a hotel or motel guest decided to stay in Palo Alto or Mountain View. She supported the F&PW Committee recommendation. Councilmember Witherspoon also agreed with Mayor Bechtel and Coun- cilmember Eyerly. The Transient Occupancy Tax was enacted. in 1974, and the rate had not been increased since then. She be- lieved Palo Alto was the only city on the peninsula without a bus- iness tax, which was usually based on the percentage of all gross receipts --not just the rooms. If one operated in a city with a business tax --with which all competitors were faced, it would probably be the equivalent to or more than the proposed tax in- crease. She supported the suggestion that the tax increase be reviewed in one year, but hoped it would have little impact on the business owners and that it would ,make a. great deal of difference to the City. Councilmember Klein said that Palo Alto's utility rates were not only lower than the surrounding communities, they were the lowest in California, so that the City's hotel/motel owners had a sub- stantial advantage over its competitors with regard to utilities. He believed that Mr. McCloskey put words into the mouths of the Council which did not belong, and said t at the reasons for pro- posing the passage of the tax increase was not just the fear that the City might lose revenue sharing or other moneys from the state or federal government. That was just an example of the fiscal crunch being faced by the City from a variety of sources and in a variety of ways.- The., combination of things--tncreased cosies, in- ability to raise taxes 'in other areas, and a variety of declining revenues --lead to its proposal. No one liked raising taxes, but Palo Alto's reasons were several, not just the ones mentioned by Pete McCloskey. Regarding procedure, he echoed Councilmember Eyerly's remarks. Public input was welcomed at the City's budget meetings, but had not been received in the past, either from the Chamber of Commerce or from any other trade or organization. All meetings were publicized and listed in the paper, and he urged public input. That participation could provide citizens with.a greater appreciation of the City's costs. People did not request that services be cut, and in fact wanted them continued, but appeared to ; believe that the support money came out of thin air. Public input would be helpful and he welcomed anyone to attend the public meetings which would start in late May and continue every Tuesday arid Thursday throughout:= the month of June. AMENDMENT: Comecii*embers, Eyer1jO 10v*di- seconded by' 11etn, °that ,scarf. be directed --o 'report in one rear (during the 1984,85 budget process) regarding:the i.pacts of the increased Transient Occu- pansy_ Tax on the -local hotels ;and Hotel s Vice Mayor Fazz no- said he would oppose the amendment. For -a Council generally • quite;. concerned: eabouteecareful evaluation and data- gathering,` this was -the first --time .it was -asking for an ,impact statement after the fact• He did not. believe ev.e "that City staff or the F&PW Committee hadF,,done its homework. He believed that some form of community services tax was justified which would be paid by everyone in the community. The only reason the Trans- ient Occupancy Tax was enacted and others were not was because -it was the easiest political tax to get across the Council and approved. He continued to oppose the motion. Councilmember Witherspoon asked what figures Councilmember Eyerly wanted to include in the report, Councilmernber Eyerly clarified that the amendment spoke to the impacts of the increased four percent tax on the hotel industry. Councilmember Witherspoon asked for clarification that the report would include whether_ occupancy was increased. Councilmember Eyerly clarified that the ramifications of the increased tax would include the, occupancy rate and a number of other things. AMENDMENT : PASSED by a vote of 7-1, Fazzino voting *no," Levy absent. MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED by a vote of 7-1, Fazzino voting *no, Levy absent. ITEM #11, PUBLIC HEARING RE APPLICATION OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN YTTON AVENUE 1 C' ' Ryland Kelly, who represented Lytton Land Bank, the owners of the property, said he wanted the Council to conduct a full and careful examination of the project, but hoped that since the Planning Com- mission was unanimous in its approval of the project on two occa- sions, that the Council was provided with a basis for quickly dis- patching the matter. Mayor Bechtel said that some Councilmembers had questions regard- ing the amount of parking, etc. MOTION TO CONTINUE: Mayor Bechtel moved, seconded by Renzel, that the public hearing be opened, and that speakers address their comments to a continuance of the matter to May 9. Mayor Bechtel declared the public hearing open. Mr. Kelly commented that the issues of parking were discussed for hours at the Planning Commission level and resolved to everyone's satisfaction with conditions and amendments that caused a unani- mous vote. If new information or questions arose, and it was a new ball game in every event at the Council leeel, so be it. There being no further requests from the public to speak, Mayor Bechtel declared the public hearing closed. MOTION TO CONTINUE. PASSED by a vote of 6-2, Fazzino and Cobb voting "no,* Levy absent, ITEM #I2 PUBLIC HEARING RE APPLICATION OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO � P} PE1JE STR I mi sinrwp-rncaFrBI lid N T MOTION TO CONTINUE: Mayer Bechtel moved, -seconded 'toy Renzel, that the public bearing be opened, and that speakers address their cements to a continuance of the matter to April` -25.." Mayor Bechtel declared the pOblie hearing: open.. There \being no requests from the public to speak, She'declared the° public hearing closed. MOTION TO CONTINUE PASSED unanimously, Levy absent. 1 1 that some form of community services tax was justified which would be paid by everyone in the community. The only reason the Trans- ient Occupancy Tax was enacted and others were not was because it was the easiest political tax to get across the Council and approved. He continued to oppose the motion. Councilmember Witherspoon asked what figures Councilmember Eyerly wanted to include in the report. Councilmember Eyerly clarified that the amendment spoke to the impacts of the increased four percent tax on the hotel industry. Councilmember Witherspoon asked for clarification that the report would include whether occupancy was increased. Councilmember Eyerly clarified that the ramifications of the increased tax would include the occupancy rate and a number of other things. AMENDMENT PASSED by a vote of 1-1, Fazzino voting "no,* Levy absent. MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED by a vote of 7-1, Fazzino voting "no," Levy absent. ITEM #11, PUBLIC HEARING RE APPLICATION OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN Ryland Kelly, who represented Lytton Land Bank, the owners of the property, said he wanted the Council to conduct a full and careful examination of the project, but hoped that since the Planning Com- mission was unanimous in its approval of the project on two occa- sions, that the Council was provided with a basis for quickly dis- patching the matter. Mayor Bechtel said that some Councilmembers had questions regard- ing the amount of parking, etc. MOTION TO CONTINUE: Mayor Bechtel moved,_ Seconded by Renzel, that the public hearing be opened, and that speakers address their comments to a continuance of the matter to May 9. Mayor Bechtel declared the public hearing open. ir. Kelly commented that the issues of parking were discussed for hours at the Planning Commission level and resolved to everyone's satisfaction with conditions and amendments that caused a unani- mous vote. If new information or questions arose, and it was a new ball game i n :every event at -the. Council level, so be it. There being no -..further requests from the public to speak, Mayor Bechtel declared the public hearing closed. MOTION TO CONTINUE PASSED by a vote of 6-2,- Fazzino and Cobb voting 'no,". Levy absent. ITEM ¢i2, PUBLIC HEARING RE APPLICATION OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO. 1O NOTION TO CONTINUE: Playor Bechtel moved, seconded by Renzel, that the public -hearing be opened, and that :speakers address their. cowaIentsto a.: tantineance of the ratter to April' .:25. Mayor Bechtel ' declared the public hearing open. There being, no requests from the public to Speak, she declared the public hearing closed. MOTION.: TO CONTINUE PASSED unanimously, Levy, absent;' ITEM #13 FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS F&PW COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION •• • MOTION: Councilmember Klein for the Finance and Public Works Committee proved approval of the staff recommendation (CMR:106:3) as follows: 1 1 (a) That the implementation of the rate increase surcharge of 3 mill, be postponed until May 25, 1983 to coincide with the rate increase` being anticipated for May 25, 1983, and that staff be directed to include in •the resolution to be pre- sented to Council that the 3 mill surcharge be listed sep- arately and indicated clearly that it was to be added to the reserve as set forth in the staff recommendation; and (b) That it be credited to the reserve with interest income earned on its balances. Further, that the staff recommendation regarding the following procedure to defense the existing Series A (Barron Park) Electric and Gas Revenue Bonds be approved: 1. Concur in the strategy to have the: City purchase for its investment portfolio (and eventual destruction) any out- standing Series A bonds at market price, but i n no case for an amount exceeding 90 percent of par value; and 2. Defease any bonds not purchased for the ;!amity's portfolio through refunding issue incorporated into the cogeneration project financing. Councilmember Eyerly said that CMR:262:3 indicated that the three mill increase was to pay a portion of interest during construction of the Calaveras Hydroelectric Project, and further that the money would be credited to the Electric Fund System Improvement Reserve with interest income earned on its cash balances. He had problets if it was mixed with the Electric Fund System Improvement Reserve without specific accounting to spell out exactly how much money was collected on the three mills and the interest because the`'. Electric Fund System Improvement Reserve was used for other things` and the funds were comingled. The proposed tax was for an in- crease on rates design only and should not be comingled with other funds, and if the Calaveras Hydroelectric Project did not go on line, the money would have to be returned in rates. City Manager Bill Zaner assured the Council that staff intended, with the concurrence of City Controller Al Mitchell, to segregate the funds and keep .them totally isolated. . The three mills plus its interest would be identified in the reports and would remain identifiable at all times City Attorney Diane Lee pointed out for the record, that the legal position on the matter was that it was a rate increase --not a tax. MOTION PASSED unanimously, levy absent. ITEM X18, MOSQUITO ABATEMENT CONTRACTS WITH SANTA CLARA COUNTY MOTION: Vice . Mayor Fazzlno.. moved, seconded by Witherspoon, that the Mayor be authorized to execute the contracts with the Santa Clara Health Department for mosquito abatement services; and that the budget amendment ordinance in the amount of $37,200 be approved. CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT FI R MOSQUITO CONTROL. FOR STORM ®RAIN CATCH BASIN Santa' Clara County 3 1 9:0 4/18/83 MOTION CONTINUED CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT FOR MOSQUITO CONTROL FOR GENERAL SPRAYING Santa Clara County entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE ALTO AMENDING THE BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1982-83 TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR MOSQUITO ABATEMENT" MOTION PASSED unanimously, Levy absent. ITEM 119 SEWER COLLECTION SYSTEM - INFLOW/INFILTRATION STUDY CPPASE III AUTHOffIZI TJON (C1411:7_52:3) Mayor Bechtel said it was important to move ahead because the. study would be enhanced while stream flows were at their highest. MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher moved, seconded by Klein, approval of the staff recommendation to authorize the City Manager to instruct CH2M Hill to proceed immediately with PHASE III of, the I/I Study and that Council adopt the budget amendment ordinance in the amount of $113,000 to finance the completion of the I/ I Study during the current fiscal year. AGREEMENT CH2M Hill Engineers OF THE CITY OF PALO- . ALTOi tAMENDINGled I THE EBUDGETOF HEFORUNCIL THE FISCAL YEAR 1982-83 TO PROVIDE AN APPROPRIATION FOR PHASE III OF INFLOW/INFILTRATION STUDY IN THE SEWER UTILITY" Councilmember Renzel supported the motion and hoped the City would be able to solve its wet weather problems without running into compliance problems with water quality control. Steve Hayashi, Manager, Water Quality Control Plan and Water -Gas - Sewer Operations, said that relative to the compliance problem with the wet weather flows, the reason f.or proceeding with the study was to enable the City to come into compliance with its wet weather flows Currently, staff had no idea concerning the magni- tude of the problem, but the storms of the past winter provided an indication of the severity. Councilmember Renzel said she realized that the magnitude of the problem would have to be established before determining how to pay for it, but presumed the cost would be borne by the general tax- payers. Mr. Hayashi said that the improvements to the sewer utility would be borne by the general taxpayer. Councilmember Renzel said she was concerned because she served on the South Bay Dischargers Association, and it was concerned about maintaining water quality so as not to end up with a -super sewer. She hoped the City would be certain not to overtax its existing° sewer system with new developments to the .point that infiltration would bring the City out of compliance. Mr. Hayashi said that the elimination of infiltration and inflow would allow for further capacity in both dry and wet weather throughout the sewage system. Staff determined that the problems in the sewage system were of such magnitude that corrective action was immediately necessary, and the reason for proceeding with Phase,1!!. 3 1 9 1 4/18/83 As Corrected 7/11/83 MUTIUN PASSED unanimously, Levy absent. ITIM #[2 HE t1EST OF MAYOR, BECHTEL RE RESOURCE CENTER _ FUR WOMEN U MOTIUPI: Mayor"bechtel moved, seconded by Fletcher, that the City Clerk be directed to prepare a resolution recognizing the Resource Center for Women to be presented at the City Council meeting of April 25, 1983. 1 MOTION PASSED unanimously, Levy absents •Counci lmernber Renzel -said she would not be at next week's City Council -meeting, and on May 5, a -meeting scheduled to review the North -County -Solid Waste Authority problems and potential solutions. `She. urged everyone to attend. ADJOURNMENT Council adjourned at 1:00 a.m. ATTEST: APPROVED: