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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-04-19 City Council Summary Minutes1 .CITY COUNCIL MINUTES ITEM Oral Communications Minutes of March 15, 1982 CITY O: PALO ALTO Regular Meeting Monday, Apri 1 19, 1982 Resolutions Recognizing Accomplishments of the Palo Alto High School Girls' Soccer Team Resolution Congratulating the City of Oaxaca, Mexico on the Occasion of its Anniversar=y Celebration Oaxaca, /(xaca, ` 5 0 t h 1 8 8 1 1 8 8 1 1 8;8 2 1 8 8 2 Consent Calendar 1 8 8 2 .Referral 1 8.8 3 Action 1 8 8 3 Ordinance re ITT Property Dedication 1 8 8 3 Approval of the 1982-83 Budget for the South Bay Dischargers Authority 1 8 8 3 Amendments to the Weatheri zati on Loan Program 1 8 8 3 Final Subdivision Map, 1327-1335 Alma Street 1 8 8 3 Final Subdivision Map 4250 E1 Camino Real 1 i3 8 3 Final Subdivision Map, 542-55O Everett Street 1 8 8 3 Planning Commission Recommendation re Application of Virgil Carter Architects for Site & Desi gn Review Agenda, Ghang.es, Additions & Deletions Evergreen Park Nei ghborhaod Traffic Study Public Hearing: Planning Commission Recommendation re Application of Carl Carl sett, Inc. to Modify PC Zone at 1766 Eu barcadero Road Publ i cHeari ng: Planning Commission Recommendation re Application of Raiser Construction Company, Inc., to Modify PC Eli stri ct 2592 at 690 San Antonio Road Public hearing: Planning Commission Recommendation re Amendments to -the Zoning Ordinance Finance and Public Works Committee reTerman Property Consultant Contract Award 1 8 8 3 1 8 8 3 1 8 8 4 1 8 8 4 1 8 8 6 8 8 8. ITEM Ordinance re Zoning and Subdivision Code Changes (2nd Reading) Planning Department Assignments Lease of Property -- Community Crime Resistance Program Request of Councilmember Fazzino re Decathlon Team Cancel April 26, 1982 Council Meeting Request of Counci]members Fletcher and Klein re Nuclear Freeze (movie) Adjournment 1 8 9 6 1 8 9 7 1 8 9 8 1 8 9 9 1 8 9 9 1 8 9 9 1 9 1 4 1 8 8 0 ,4/19/82 Regular Meeting Monday, April 19, 1982 The Ci ty Counci 1 of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Aveue, at 7:35 p.m. PRESENT: Bechtel, Cobb (arrived at 7:43 p.m.), Eyerly, Fazzi no, Fletcher, Klein, Levy, Renzel , Witherspoon ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 1. Sally Siegel, 4290 Ponce Drive, urged that when the City Counci 1 adopted a resolution recognizing the accomplishments of the Palo Alto High School Student Decathalon Team, that the dedication of their teachers also be recognized. 2, John Lovas, 650 Coleridge, was concerned about the proce- dures and implications of a motion to table. He commented that a motion to table was undebatabi e, and could not be used to avoid addressing a given issue. He urged that the City Council exercise caution when employing that device. Mayor Eyerly pointed out that procedures governing a motion to table were addressed in the Administrative Code. 3. Louis Fein, 1540 0ak Creek Drive, Palo Alto, said that David Blumenthal had requested a status report on the Oak Creek Condominium Conversion from Mr. l.aner. He felt that the response from Mr. Zaner was inadequate and contained misinfor- mation that the tentative subdivision map Was valid until June of 1983. 4. Bob Moss, 4010 0rrne, said that the Planning Commi,ssi on was presently considering Conprehensi.v z Plan revi si obis. He reported that he had submitted several recommendations which included Transportation Program 19 and changes to Willow Road, and Housing Policy 7 --that 2, 3, and 4 bedroom develop -- merits be encouraged and that studios and one bedroom develop- ments be discouraged. Staff had commented that studies and ore bedrooms .were needed for "the elderly, and thereby would free Op some single,family. residences. He thought the theory was. Appalling, and felt that housing for families should be encouraged also. He recommended that the Planning Commission be urged to do something for families with children. City Manager Bi 1 1 Zaner -responded to Mr. Fein's comments, and said that while the ,information provided in -the status report might not have been new, it was the .only information available for public - dissemination. He said that under the State Subdivision Map --Art, the tentative subdivision map was good until June, 1,983. MINUTES OF MARCH 15. 1982 Vice Mayor Bechtel had the following 'correction.: Page 1769, lines" 21 and 22, "Kip Lipper" was misspelled. Councilmember Witherspoon had the following correction: Page 1773, third paragraph, line 2, should be "from 'demand/response' to a,.prescheduled." Counci lmember Cobb had the following corrections: Page 1771, last paragraph, first line, word "ground," 'this area." Page 1772, first.paragraph, last line, word "grading," should be "gradient." Councilmember Fletcher submitted the foil -owing correction: Pale 1782, sixth.. paragraph, first sentence, third line, "site" should be "sight." MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher moved, seconded by Cobb, approval of the Minutes of March 15, 1982, as corrected. MOTION PASSED unanimously. RESOLUTION RECOGNiZING ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL .FIRIS" TENNIS TEAT MOTION: Councilmember Levy moved, seconded by Renzei , approval of the Resolution. RESOLUTIOt0 6019 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO RECOGNIZING THE OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE 1981-82 PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' TENNIS TEAM" MOTION PASSED unanimously. Councilmember Levy presented the framed resolution to Coach Keith Clark. Mr. Clark accepted the Resolution and thanked the City Council. RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING ACCOMPLISH OF PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' SITC CI i' 1TA M MOTION: Councilmember Fazzino moved, seconded by Levy, approval of the resolution. RESOLUTION 6020 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO RECOGNIZING THE OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE 1981-82 PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' SOCCER TEAM" MOTION PASSED unanimously. Ron Ski l l i corn, Head Coach, accepted the Resolution on behalf of the team and thanked the City Council. He introduced Shelia Jack who was named to the McDonald Ali American Team for her out- standing contribution. RESOLUTION. CONGRATULATING THE CITY OF OAXACA, OAXACA, MEXICO ON 5 MOTION: Mayor Eyerly moved, seconded by- Renzel-, approval of the Resolution. RESOLUTION 6021 entitled "RESOLUTION- -OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO CONGRATULATING THE CITY OF OAXACA, OAXACA, MEXICO,- Ott THE OCCASION -.OP ITS 450TH ANNIVERSARY, CELEBRATION" MOTION -PASSED unanimously. .CONSENT CALENDAR Mayor Eyerly removed Item.4, Ordinance re Amendments to Zoning and Subdivision Codes at the request of a member of the public. MOTION: Mayor Eyerly moved, seconded by Fletcher, approval Of Consent Calendar as amended, r .Referral None Action ORDINANCE RE ITT PROPERTY, DEDICATION Staff recommends approval of the Park Dedication Ordinance, and that naming of the dedicated park area, "John Fletcher Byxbee Recreation Area Addition," be referred to the Finance and Public Works Committee. ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING CHAPTER 22.08 (PARK DEDICATIONS) OF THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE ADDING SECTION 22.08.340 (JOHN FLETCHER BYX3EE RECREATION AREA ADDITION" APPROVAL OF THE 1982-83 BUDGET FOR THE SOUTH BAY DISCHARGERS Staff recommends that the Council adopt the resolution approving the proposed 1982-83 budget of the South Bay Dischargers Authority. RESOLUTION 6022 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO APPROVING THE 1982-83 ADMINISTRATIVE BUDGET OF THE SOUTH BAY DISCHARGERS AUTHORITY" AMENDMENTS TO THE WEATHERIZATION LOAN PROGRAM (CMR:221:2) Staff recommends that. 'Council take the following actions Lo implement the proposed program changes: 1. Approve an increase i, the insulation loan interest rate from eight to ten percent to be effecti ve for contracts signed on or after July 1, 1982; 2.. Authorize an increase in the maximum weatheri nation. loan from $550 to $625. FINAL SUBDIVISION MAP, 1327-1335 ALMA STREET (CMR:229:2) Staff recommends that the City Council approve the final map. FINAL SUBDIVISION MAP - 4250 EL CAMINO REAL (CMR:228.:2) Staff recommends that the City Council approve the final map. FINAL SUBDIVISION MAPj 542-550 EVERETT STREET (CMR:221:2) Staff recommends that -the City Council approve the final map. PLANNING COMMISSION BY A VOTE OF b YES 1 ABSTAIN RECOMMENDS MOTION_ PAS'SEO un.animously, with Pryor Ey.erly voting "no," on Item #8, Final Spbdivlsion Map, 1327-1335 Algra Street. AGENDA CHANGES, -ADD1 T.IONS APiD ,DELETIONS MOTION: Counci lmember ' Cobb moved, seconded by Fazzi no to bring Item #16, Evergreen Park -Neighborhood Traffic .Study, forward for, referral to the Policy and Procedures (P&P) Committee. 1-8 8 3 4/11182 MOTION PASSED unanimously. EVERGREEN PARK NEIGHBORHOOD TRAFFIC STUDY (CMR:203:2) MOTION: Councilmember Cobb moved, seconded by Fazzino, to. refer Item #16, Evergreen Park Neighborhood Traffic Study to Policy and Procedures (P&P) Committee for consideration with material from Neighborhood Study Group and staff to work with Neighborhood Study Group before .it goes to Committee to reach mutually agreeable solution. MOTION PASSED unanimously. City Manager Bill Zaner requested that an urgency item, Lease of property for the Community Crime Resistance Program, be added to the Agenda as Item 17-A, and read the following statement into the record: "The Office of Criminal Justice Crime Resistance Grant Award, which was approved by Council or: March 8, 1982, calls for the one-year 1 ease of real property at a cost not to exceed Ten Thousand and Twenty Dollars ($10,020) to accommodate this program. A space was located, and a lease approved bps the lessor on April 9, 1982. The City Attorney's office has advised that the previous Council approval of the grant award did not directly authorize the City Manager to approve the lease, and that City Counci 1 approval is necessary. This opinion was not received in time to put this matter en the agenda for tonight's meeting. The grant award requires that the site be obtained and the program be in opera- tion by the end of Aprils 1982. The next Council meeting, after tonight, is net scheduled until May 3, 1982. Therefore, in order to comply with the grant award, this lease is recommended to be introduced as an urgent matter for City Council action as provided for in the Palo Alto Municipal Code, Section 2.04.050(b)" Councilmer ber Fazzino added an item to be considered at the end of the agenda to request .staff to prepare a resolution congratulating the Palo Alto High School Decathalon team regarding their cfampi enshi p. PUBLIC HEARING: PLANNING APP ..Vet TJ i Cla11011711M OFF iU MUU COMMISSION UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS Planning Commission Chairperson Jean McCown-Hawkes commented that the applicant made a request that certain conditions which were previously required for the PC zone be waived. The P1 anni nj Commission declined to waive the conditions except for Condition No. 1, which rel eted to a wooden, fence to be constructed in place of a chain link fence in the interior of the site. She said the Planning Commission felt that condition would be unnecessary at the present time. Mayor Eyerly asked why the conditions which were imposed on the PC zone at 1166 Embarcadero previously had not been carried out by the owner of the property. Director of Planning and Community Environment Ken Schreiber responded that in researching the subject Planned Community zone, staff cause upon the fact that some of the conditions on the earlier PC had not been complied with, which was due to an oversight in the plan processing permit issuance proce3s. Staff was setting pp procedures to ensure that that would not happen again' with any Planned Community zone. He said that in the subject case, staff put `"in language to the effect that use and -occupancy permits, would not be granted until all conditions were complied with. MOTION: Counci-lmember Fazzino moved, seconded by Cobb, to adopt the Planning Commission recommendation to approve the proposed amendments to Planning Community District Number 2365, specifi- cally the addition of a third car dealership, expansion of the used car building, conversion of the museum building for auto parts and service, the revised parking plan and the elimination of a previous condition for a wooden fence between the museum- and paint/body shop buildings and find that these modifications are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and will. not have a sig- nificant impact on the environment, with the following conditions: (1) Customer parking spaces shal 1 be designated by pavement _ si gn- age; (2) Rear perimeter landscaping shall be completed prior to issuance of a use and occupancy permit for t'ne new car sales addi- tion and museum conversion; (a) Fenci n!; along Faber P1 ace shall be installed between the paint/body shop and rear property line rri or to issuance of a use and occupancy permit for the -new car sales addition and museum conversion and shall_ be view -obscuring; (4) Al 1 required -parking spaces shal 1 be striped prior to issuance of the use and occupancy permit; (5) The addition to the used car sales building shall have a minimum floor elevation of 7.5 feet above mean sea level; (6) The museum building upon conversion to auto parts and service use shall be fire sprinklered; (7) A drain-, age plan shall be approved by the City Engineer prior to issuance of a building permit; (8) The circulation plan proposed, including directional arrows painted on the pavement and si gnage, shall be i mpl efaented prior to issuance of a use and occupancy permit; (9) The interior parking lot landscaping shall be improved as proposed with additional trees, ground cover, and irrigation prior to issu- ance of a use and occupancy permit. ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING PC ORDINANCE NO. 2365 APPLYING TO PROPERTY KNOWN AS 1766 ENBARCACERO ROAD" Counci lmember Renzel said she would vote against the moti on. She said that the subject Planned Community zone had been a problem in terms of enforcement from the outset. Its adjacent property was illegally filled as part of the first approval and was subse- quently approved for other developments; there were- illegal roof signs for many years which were finally removed; landscaping was requi red to screen the parking in front, and it took many years to accomplish even minor ..landscaping; and then the plan had to be changed because the first plan had not been done properly. She said that the Bayi ands Master Plan had policies to reduce urban intrusions into the Baylands and prevent any further intrusions. The subject PC zone was granted with trade offs at tine ..time it was granted, the use had already been extended, and despite that, six conditions which were imposed -still had not been complied with after great .promises to do so. She felt that until good faith implementation of the zone as it now .exists was seen, it was inappropriateto- ncreaset the intensity of use for the site. Councilmember. Cobb asked if the applicant had agreed to all the conditions as recommended by the Planning Commission. Zoning Administrator Robert M. Brown responded that the applicant did not object to fulfilling all the condition which were out- lined. . 1 Mayor Eyerly declared the public hearing open. Receiving no requests to speak, he declared the °public hearing closed. MOTION PASSED by a vote of 8-_1. Renzel voting "no. 1'8 8 5 4/19182 PUBLIC HEARING: PLANNING COMMISSION UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS • • Planning Commission Chairperson Jean McCown -Hawker reported that the Planning Commission's principal concerns related to noise from loudspeakers, or pagir:g systems, on the site; the impact of light; and the need for landscaping to protect the adjoining residential property. She -said the Planning Commission was satisfied that all concerns were .addressed by the conditions,_ and the applicant agreed to _comply with all the conditions. She said the Architectural Review Board (ARB) also added conditions relating to the signage and some specific details on the lighting. Zoning Administrator Robert M. drown said that the applicant had submitted two minor changes to the plan. The first change invotved_ an existing chain link fence which 'ran across the Middlefield frontage of the property. He said the applicant pro- posed -to eliminate part of the fence and construct an additional five feet of fencing along the side property line= instead..- Fur- the.r, he said there was an exi,sti ng curb towards the rear of the property, which was adjacent to the condominium residences. The applicant requested that that curbing be allowed to remain because of the lush landscaping behind it rather than expanding the curbing which was indicated on the Planning Commission plans. He said the applicant believed that extending the curb would damage the roots of the existing landscaping. Counci lmember Witherspoon asked in light of Caunci lmember Renzel 's concerns on the previous questi on, and on the subj ect matter which had ten conditions, whether a use and occupancy permit would be issued before all the conditions had been fulfilled. Mr. Brown responded that a use and occupancy permit would not issued until all conditions had been complied with. Mayor Eyer-ly decl ared the public hearing open. Hoy Abrams, Attorney, 720 University, Palo Alto, represented Toyota of Palo Alto, and said that initially his client was pleased with the recommendations of the Planning Commission and ARB and concurred with all the conditi ons. He said that regarding the existing chain -,link fence, because new landscaping would be pu.t in, it was believed that that chain link fence should be removed, but that ae additional five feet should be put in to pro- tect the landscaping and to avoid, trespassers who might walk across the new landscaping or otherwise damage i t . He said there was also a chain link fence in the rear of the property which they believed should be removed. He 'said there was one landscape island which was to be constructed with ;the old„landscape island being removed. The applicant proposed th'..t that island be shorter because of the necessity for trucks to get around it. Regarding the landscaping in the rear, the Planning Commission concurred with the applicant in another area that the curbing not be broken out and additional landscaping put in because of the expense of breaking out the curb and the very little benefit to be achieved by putting in the new landscaping. He presented pictures of the landscaping being addressed to illustrate how dense the land- scaping was and show -why the Planning Commission felt that the curb need not be reset in the other area. _He asked the Council's consideration. Mayor Eyerly asked i f Mr. Abrams was speak the Planning Commission hay recommended. Mr. Abrams said he was not sure they should be characterized as changes from what was r.ecommendatede He said the applicant had not addressed the chain ,link' fence with the Planning Commission, ng to changes from what 1 8 8 b 4/19/82 and the Planning Commission had not addressed it with the appli- cant, but in creating the revisions to the Plan, it was felt that leaving it on the new landscape berm was aesthetically not appro- priate. He said the items he spoke to were things which had occurred after the Planning Commission meeting. With respect to the curbing, that matter was addressed at the Planning Cammi si son, but not in the area spoken to tonight. He said that area was overlooked by the applicant, but the applicant did not view the area as so significant to be determinative in the Council's eyes. If the Council preferred to have it remain as it was on the old plans, that was fine. He said the applicant was asking the Council's consideration because the landscaping was so dense in that area. Mayor Eyerly asked Mr. Brown and Ms. McCown-Hawkes for thei r thoughts on the suggestions presented. by.:Mr. Abrams. Ms. McCown-Hawkes, Planning Commission Chairperson, responded that she -soul d. not comment on the chain link fence, but commented that Mr. Abrams was correct that the 1 andscapi ng to the left of the landscaping at the top of the site plan was discussed tat length, and the. Commission desired to see increasingly dense landscaping placed in that area, but concurred that it did:hot make sense to requi re that the existing curbing be broken out and. extended, and that the planting of additional dense landscaping would address that problem. .She thought Mr. Abrams was correct in the sense that the reasoning ;would apply to the area he spoke of. She thought that if the landscaping in that area was equally dense al ready, it would not make sense to requi re the applicant to break the curbing and wi den the area out. Mr. Brown agreed with Ms. McCown-Hawkes . He said that site inspection revealed that the area referred to by Mr. Abrams was very lush, and he thought it was probably an adequate landscaping buffer currently. He said that with regard to the chain link fencing being removed, he thought that would be a positive change to the site. Mayor Eyerly declared the public hearing closed receiving no further requests to speak. MOTION: Vice Mayor Bechtel moved, < seconded by Klein, - to adopt the Planning Commission recommendation that the proposed amendment to Planned Community District Number 2592, and the elimination of PC District Number 1400, is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and will not have a significant impact on the environment and approve the application with the following conditions: (1) That refuse be stored only within the proposed refuse area; (2) That an on -site fire hydrant be provided by the applicant as requi-red by the Fire uepartment; (3) That the developer remove all abandoned driveways and repl ace with standard curb and gutter_ and that damaged driveway .curbing (such as at the- Middlefield entrance) be replaced; (4) That the developer furnish and plant additional street trees as required by the City Parks Department; (5) That an internal drainage plan be approved by the City Engineer prior to isseance of a building permit; (6) That the existing;; outdoor loud- speaker system be removed; (7) That noise levels comply with the Palo Alto Noise Ordinance at the rear property Tine; (8) That no service work be. performed outside of the service building; (9) That lighting adjacent to the ..rear property line abutting the residential development be turned: off by 9:00 p.m. each evening with the exception of the single`; fixture behind the service and. parts building which may be left on at night for security reasons; (10) That the existing identification signs -at the' P 1 ddl efi el d and. .S an Antonio entrances be removed prior to installation of the new ide_ nti fi catl,on and' monument signs. Also three changes suggested, by applicants: (1) chain link fence; (2) curb dine; and (3) planting -island. ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL or THE ZITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING PC ORDINANCE NO. 2592 APPLYING TO PROPERTY KNOWN AS 690 SAN ANTONIO AVENUE AND REPEALING PC ORDINANCE NO. 1400 APPLYING TO PROPERTY KNOWN AS 698 SAN ANTONIO AVENUE" ,.MOTION PASSED unanimously. PUBLIC HEARING: PLANNING COMMISSION UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS 'A or GROSS FL60' RE13u - Pl anni ng Commission Chairperson Jean McCown-Hawkes said that the Planning Commission considered the two items on three occasions each in order to achieve .a full ar+alysi s of the requests made by Tad Cody. Regarding the gross floor area change, in the end the Planning Commission agreed with the staff recommendation. Regarding the parking ramp, the Planning Commission differed from staff and recommended that the width be reduced from '20 feet to 18 feet. She pointed out that it only rel ated to ramps for parking structure; that is, either below grade or above grade structures where safety of ingress and egress for fire vehicles was not an issue because they were already limited in their ability to get access to that kind of a structure. She said that at the Commission's last meeting, Director of Transportation Ted Noguchi was present and indicated that he had no problem with the reduc- tion from 20 feet to 18 feet. The Planning Commission also wished to make At explicit that the 18 -foot width requirement would be a standard and not a gui del ine for the wi dth of a, ramp. In the past, the ordinance had spoken of the widths in terms of stan- dards, and _the Planning Commission understood . that the ARB fre- quently . had wanted to allow ramp widths of only 18 feet in those situations, but that in recent years, staff desired to take the guideline aspect .out and make it a. specific requi rernent or stan- dard. She said that in essence the Commission made a double recommendation as to width --that it be 18 feet, but that it be an actual standard and nut simply a guideline. Chief Planning Official Bruce Freel and commented that the vote was 6 yes, 0 no, 1 abstention on the item which dealt with gross floor area. On the question of driveway width, the vote of the Commission was unanimous. He said that there used to be a "net floor area" definition, and at the time it was changed over to "gross there was an adjustment i n - al 1 the parking requirements in the ordinance. If Council were to make any substantial changes to gross floor area which lead back toward a definition that would be net, the next step would be to go back and reconsider the parking requirements to go along with them. He said there were some hidden costs in the change which was requested by the public, Further, he said that wi th a substantial change i n„the definition of "gross floor area" beyond that which was recommended by' staff would . open rup ,some buildings,- which -Council thought were com- p l,etely bui i t out, for potential addi ti enee Counci member Renzel _ asked regarding the gross floor area what figure was used to . calculate the floor area rati o. Zoning Administrator Robert M. Brown responded that in calculating the gross floor area in the 1978 zoning ordinance, gross floor area was used --not net. Counci lmember Renzel ,clarified that under the new definition, i f there was a situation like in the downtown area that was a gross floor area ` ratio of three, but could be built up f)<ve -stories, two complete Parking level s'could be added,` and three floors of building and it: would still be considered a floor area -r^atio of three.- Therefore, the City did not have the benefit- of the buildings going' ie as they went up. 1 .8 8 8 --4 /19/82 Mr Freeland said that was correct. If someone chose to build above ground parking in the manner suggested by Councilmember Renzel, he thought it was a possibility. He said no such pro- posals had been seen. Councilmember Renzel said that the City currently included parking in the gross floor area definition. Mr. Freeland said that the building inspector had not been 'counting parking as gross floor area. He sai a the change was a technical one to come in line with the way the buildings had been treated. Councilmember Renzel said that regarding the Planning Commission's recommended change from 20 feet to 18 feet, she understood that was because the extra two feet could be used for landscaping. She asked if that was required anywhere in the ordinance. Mr. Freeland said no. He said it was a comment made by Commissioner Wert!". ly reflecting on some of the designs he had seen at the AR -3. tie said there was no requirement that the extra two feet go to landscaping. MOTION: Councilmember Renzel moved, seconded by -Cobb, to adopt Planning Commission and staff recommendations: (1) That defini- tion of "Gross Floor Area" meaning the total area of all floors of a building' measured to the outside surfaces of exterior•wall s, end including halls, stairways, elevator shafts, service and mechani - cal equipment rooms, basement, cellar or attic areas deemed e-,abl a by the building official. Parking facilities accessory to a permitted or conditional use and located on the same site is excluded from gross floor area calculations; and (2) that the 20 foot wide requirement remain in effect for all two-way uses of ramps for above or below ground garages; and (3) that the- time requirement for Planning Commission review of tentative subdivi- sion maps and _preliminary parcel maps not be changed. The Council finds that the proposed ordinance changes will not have a signifi- cant envi ronmental impact. -ORDINANCE FOR "FIRST READING entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE _COUNCIL OFe THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING THE ZONING CODE (TITLE 16) WITH REGARD TO THE DEFINITION OF GROSS FLOOR_ AREA AND. THE. REGULATION -OF RAMP WIDTHS" Mayor Eyerly declared the public hearing open. Tad Cody, Architect, 212 High Street, spoke to the gross floor area relationship, and asked that the Council reconsi der the recommendations of the Planning Commission from the building size point of view. He pointed out that the mechanical area, when a building under 20,000 square feet in a commercial area was being considered, had a significant impact in that if it could be placed in a basement area, it would relieve the upper story areas for other : uses particularly when trying to deal with an energy con- serving building. He said that same thing applied to wall mass for a building which was attempting to consider solar energy. One thing that conserved solar energy was a . storage in physi cal mass His experience had shown that for a building of under 20,000 ,square feet, if approximately a five percent increase in the floor area ratio could be used, it would recover for the building owner his commitment" in exterior wall area to doing just that. He sug- gested that the Council remand the issue to the Pl-anning Commission for consideration of buildings which were attempting to be passively solar. efficient, and for buildings which were ,under 20 000 square feet in size._ Regarding the driveway width issue, Mr. Cody said he thought that the recommended 18 foot width for a two-way drive was a very effective change from the 20 feet which was originally' proposed. He asked the Council to consider the issue of when a two-way driveway would be required. He proposed that a single width driveway oi` about 12 to 15 feet was plenty sufficient for garages which were small, He said there were a lot of underground -parking structures in Palo Alto which had a one-way driveway about 12 feet to 15 feet wide, and some of theca had been in operation for a long time. 'He agreed with Mr. Noguchi's concerns about the potentials for public safety, but the conditions where they might be a prob- lem were typically not the ones being dealt with. Ile invited the Council's reconsideration of the question of when the one-way driveway was really a problem. He thought the requirement made it very restrictive when faced with a 50 -foot wide parcel , which was typical for most of the Palo Alto area where the buildings were going to be developed for condominiums. If a 20 -foot wide driveway was committed, 40% of the site front would -have been. coma, teed for a drive. He believed there should he an exception for a downtown property owner in a commercial. di sti ct who was not required to have parking who wished to build 0 -parking garage and that he be relieved of those two-way access requirements and all the other demands for a relationship between standard and compact spaces. Mayor Eyerly decl ared the public hearing closed. AMENDMENT: Councilmember Klein moved, seconded by Witherspoon, to reinstate the 18 -foot standard width on (2). Counci lmeniber Fletcher said she thought the move was in the right direction. Traditionally, the City had cverpaved, and to go by traditional 'standards or by looking at what other cities were doing, the City should consider that the standards were adopted prior to the co-,upact car era. She said that in looking at the Toyota development, At was frustrating to see that the City had to go by the old standards not only in the driveway width, but in the isle widths when;,the entire development would probably only be occupied by small' cars. She said she discussed the issue with staff, and was told that it was affected by the minimum fire requirements. She suggested that the Fire Department take a look at the minimum standards to ascertain if they -were really neces- sary. Counci l':nember Fl etcher said thate the exclusion of mechani cal equipment areas from. the gross floor . area was addressed by the Planning Commission and it Was pointed out that equipment could easily be removed at some time after the approval . She said that the solar .installations were probably legitimate in many cases, but could be used as an excuse. She gave an_ example which was used at the Planning Commission where there was a solar installa- tion placed on the north side -of a building which WAS completely useless. She would support the'motion. Mayor Eyerly asked Mr. Noguchi to explain the 18 -foot vs. 20 -foot driveway widths as -it re] ates to the turning radius. Director of Transportation Ted Noguchi said that his staff had determined that 18 feet was still workable with respect to the turning radiu,s into a driveway. He said the problem became more pronounced as one went narrower in the driveway width, and he thought 18 feet was all staff could safely recommended without causing problems on,.the street itself Mayor Eyerly asked if the Fire Department concurred with that. Mr. Noguchi responded that it was not the Fire Department. He said the recommendation before the Council rel ated - to parking - structure, ramp -type driveways, and the Fire Department would not be involved. He said he had reviewed it with the Public Works Department and they were in agreement. Councilmember Renzel said she would oppose the amendment because she: felt that the areas `with narrow lot widths were . the areas with the most on -street parking. She thought a safety problem existed if someone was going out and someone was coming i n . She thought the extra two feet was an important margin, :and that it should he retained in the ordinance. AMENDMENT PASSED by a vote of 7-2, Renzel, Cobb voting "no." MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED unanimously. FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE RE TERMAN PROPERTY CONSULTANT rnien Counci lmember Witherspoon said that the .Finance and Public Works (F&PW) Committee concurred with the choice of Wilsey and Ham as the consultants, and asked Counci 1 to direct the staff to negoti - ate with them. She said the City Counci 1 needed to address the policy question of whether to appropriate the amount of money necessary to start the planning process two months ahead of the budget hearings, or wait and put the entire package together at the time of the budget when the capital costs, as well as the planning costs, would be brought to the Council by staff. She said staff made a strong pitch for going ahead with the planning study, but the Committee did not take a stand. She deferred to Mr. Zaner for his comments. City Manager Bill Zaner said that the Council could authorize staff to move ahead with the engineering work now, in which case staff would budget the balance of the project in the capital improvement program or the engineering work could be delayed _.in which case the total amount would be budgeted in the capital improvement program,' He said that if the engineer was not hired now, there would be some delay in the project. He reminded the Council that the City was obligated to have some improvements com- pleted at the time that the JCC was_ prepared to occupy the preen- i ses , and staff's objective was to -try and move the engineering along so that those objectives could be accomplished and the proj- ect built in time to meet the JCC time limits. Counci lmember Klein said that the City's obligation was to have some of the improvements completed within 30 days eaftee the JCC occupied theettee which was the -main reason for moving forward new. He said the last time the matter was "before the .Counci 1 , staff was asked the . status in the signing of the lease --by 'the JCC, and to date he had heard nothi._;g. He asked staff for an update on whether the JCC had _signed the lease, and the JCC's plans for -movi ng in. Real Property Administrator . Jean Di at. said he reviewed the status of the draft 'ease with the JCC today, and they had gone through the lease both at the local, level and at federation level -in San Francisco. _ He said JCC's attorneys hadprepared all of their com- ments and concerns and were ready to meet with .City staff in the next week or two. The JCC had reviewed the lease thoroughly, and, unless ;.there were some significant differences of opinion, the final specifics from here oo out should be fairly easy. Counci lmember Klein asked if the JCC was still planning to move in July 1. ,, Mr. Diaz said that was still JCC's intent, and, the person he spoke to today indicated that the strength of their concern had not diminished. The JCC had a real and practical need to move in to Terman as soon as possible. Councilmember Witherspoon said that at the last F&PW Committee meeting, the matter was discussed in the light of whether the JCC had agreed to the $240,000 payment in January, 1983. She said that one of the Committee's concerns was how the purchase of the Terman site would be financed. Mr. Diaz said that the outline of the 1 ease, which was approved by the City Council in June, called for a specific rental payment and started at around $140,000 per year and went up from that point. He said the JCC agreed to that, and that was not one of the nego- tiating items. He thought that given the passage of time, that might indicate some upward adjustment to that initial year's rent. Councilmember Levy . asked if any problem existed with the rental payments if the City was a little late in the first initial engi- neering constructions which had to be made. Mr. Diaz said that staff's intent was that once the JCC began con- struction, the obligation to pay rent would start. If the City was not ready and did not have enough information to allow the signing .of the lease by July 1, the rent would not start July 1. He said the rent did -not start until the lease was actually signed and in place. He said the only obligation at this point was the design and construction of the sound walls, and the ti meframe for that was 30 days from the commencement of . occupancy, which was expected to be around January if possession of the leased premises was taken on July 1. A six-month construction period has been anticipated. MOTION: Councilmember Levy moved, seconded by Eyerly, to refer the Consultant Agreement to Finance and Public Works (F&PW) Committee for contii derati on i n the capital improvement program. Assistant Director of Public Works George ilagdon presented an overview of how the consultant agreement was negotiated. He said the consultant would do the preliminary design of the area which was the responsibility of the City of Palo Alto, and concurrently would design the sound walls. He said another part of the agree- ment was a final design. A major decision point would be reached i n the area of July to August in accordance with the agreement, and at that point, the preliminary design would be completed, and the final design of the walls would be completed. He said that at that time Council could direct staff to 1) go out and construct the sound walls;. or go out and construct sound walls and any other elements which were contained in the final design. He said that would be dependent upon the cost estimate.: which 'would be estimated by the mister plan, which would be completed at that time. 2) Council to say to stop work on the project entirely. He said the consultant agreement was for a maximum amount of $245,000. The contract could be terminated at any time and just the services up to than point would be paid for. He said the way the agreement was worded gave the City the flexibility to have a c.nsultant in place within the July/August ti meframe, and if Council so directed, staff could proceed with the final design of any ele- ments contained in an . orange area. The City was not committed at this time to doing the final design until after, the July 15 date. Mayor Eyerly said he understood that the capital improvement pro- gram had gone : to: the printer and would be in the hands Of the F&PW Committee for consideration the month of May . and ; probably back to the Council for approval so that the operating budget could be addressed. That meant the Council could be finished with it by the end of May. ,He asked if staff had any comments with regard to the timing if it were back by June. Mr. Diaz said that wes still JCC's intent, and the person he spoke to today . indicated that the strength of their concern had not diminished. The JCC had a real and practical need to move i n to Terman as soon as possible. Councilmember Witherspoon said that at the last F&PW Committee meeting, the matter was discussed in the light of whether the JCC had agreed to the $240,000 payment in January, 1983. She said tha4 one of the Committee's concerns was how the purchase of the Terman site would be financed. Mr. Diaz said that the outline of the 1 ease, which was approved by the City. Council in June, called for a specific rental- payment and started at around $140,000 per year and went up from that point. He said the JCC agreed to that, and that was not one of the nego- tiating items. He thoughte that given the passage of time, that might indicate some upward_ adjustment to that initial year's rent. Councilmember Levy asked if any problem existed with the rental payments if the City was a little late in the first initial engi- neering constructions which had to be grade. Mr. 1)1az said that staff's intent was that once the JCC began con- struction, the obligation to pay rent would start. If the City was not ready and did not have enough information to allow the signing of the lease by July 1, the rent would not start July 1. He said the rent did not start unti 1 the lease was actually signed and in place. He said the only obligation at this point was the design and constructi o.n of the- sound walls, and the timeframe for that was 30 days from the commencement of occupancy, which was expected to be around January if possession of the leased premises was taken on July 1. A six-month construction period has been anticipated. MOTION: Councilmember Levy moved, seconded by Eyerly, to refer the Consultant Agreement to Finance and Public Works (F&PW) Committee for consideration in the capital improvement program. Assistant Director of Public Works George Bagdon presented an overview of how the consultant agreement was negotiated. He said the consultant would do the preliminary design of the area which was the responsibility of the City of Palo Alto, and concurrently would design the sound walls. He said another part of the agree- ment was a final design. A major decision point would be reached in the area of July to August in accordance with the agreement, and at that point, the preliminary design would be completed, and t. rre final design of the walls would be . completed. He said that at that time Council could direct staff, to 1) go out and construct the sound walls; . or go out and construct sound. walls and any other elements which were contained in the final design. He said that would be dependent upon the cost estimate ,which would be estimated by the raster plan, which would be completed at that time. 2) Council to say to stop work on the project entirely. He said the consultant agreement was ftr a maximum amount of $245,000. The contract could be terminated at any time and just the services up to that point would be paid for. He said the i ay - the agreement was:. worded gave the City the,. f1 exi bi l i ty to have a consultant in place within the July/August timeframe, and if Council _so directed, staff could proceed with the final design of any ele- ments contained in an orange area. Tne City was not committed . at this time to doing the final design until after the July 15 date. Mayor Eyerly said he understood that the capital improvement pro- gram„had gone to the printer and d would be in the hands of the F&P1,1 Committee for consideration the month of May and probably back to the Council for approval so that the operating budget could be addressed. That meant the Council could be finished with it by the .fed of May. He asked if staff had any comments with regard to the timing 0 it were back by June. 1 1 1 8 9 2 4/19/82 Mr._bagdon said that was discussed very carefully with.the consul- tant, and in order to have the sound walls constructed before the rainy season -starts, the design must be started in the next two weeks. Otherwise, the sound walls would have to wait until next year to be constructed. Councilmember Renee] said she felt that as long as the contract was cancellable, the City was not running a great risk by going forward. In terms of the cash flow for the entire overall proj- ect, she thought that since the City would end up paying the costs at some point, it was better to move forward now, get the project underway, get the JCC in place and the rent coming ire, and have the whole thing go forward. She would oppose the amendment. Counci lmember Witherspoon cl ari fi ed that the City's immediate need was to get the sound wall designed because the City's under- standing was that as soon as the JCC occupied the site, the sound wall must be in place. Mr. hagdon said that was correct, but that concurrently the Master Plan must be done in order to see where the sound wall was placed, etc. Councilmember Witherspoon said her concern was that the City had no lease with the JCC, and did not know when they would actually occupy, and At was unknown how long it would take JCC to do their own designing. Mr. Ui az said that the nature of the project was one where there were three different uses which were closely rel ated, He said the overall design, and how the JCC would design and phase their wt' rk, could be heavily influenced by the City`s overall design and how the City's phasing of the work would take place. lie. said it was important that a lot of the master planning and phasing work take place as soon as possible --not just for .the City's purpose, but for the overall plan to hold together. Therefore, it was more than .just the sound wall --the City needed information about planning and phasing. Bob Moss, 4010 Orme, member of the Terman Group, said he supported the general thrust of the staff recommendation that a consultant be selected and the Terman Plan be started at an early date. He observed that at no time during the discussion of the overall plan and its adoption by the Working Group was there ever any consid- eration given to an appropri ate ti me for the JCC to occupy the site. It was felt that when it -happened, it happened. One com- ment was that it was important to .start now in order for the JCC to have occupancy and specifically for the wall to be .built. He had no objections to that providing it did not increase the costs. He said if extra was being paid to get the job done now _ rather than later, he would like to see that balanced off against the added rents that the City would be getting. He said he would rather see the money spent on facilities for the City and programs than on consultant's fees. If, on the other than, the JCC would get earlier occupancy and the rent would be received quicker, it was fine. kegardi ng the : consultant doing a master plan for the entire site to include the relocation of the fields and tenni s courts, etc.. that was discussed at some length, and the Working Group was told that it would require a fairly high level of exper- tise to get the site adequately planned for recreation facilities. He was ;glad that was going to be done. In terms of landscaping the parking lots, street access, and Wing ten demolition, he hoped that the decision .had not already been made to demolish Wing . ten. He hoped that would be one thi dig the consultant examined because he wanted to see the Wing retained on the ,site as long as practi- cal. He thought that if it did not have to be done right 'away, it could be rented out and some income received from it. He said regarding the remodeling of Wing 20, Wing 30 was not mentioned. 1 8 9 3 4j19/82 The detailed contract contained a brief mention of the entire City space being looked at and designed, and he hoped the consultant would design or get some ideas for the use of Wing 30. He thought it all should be done as an entity. A comment in the detailed plan existed about putting the access road back as far as Wing 40. He said that except for the playing fields, there was no need for the access road to go back to Wing 40, and he was curious as to why it was being done at this time because the main reason for the access road was to service the housing. The housing was not likely to be built for several years, and the fields were not likely to be relocated for a while. He said that the stop light at Donald needed to be reconfigured, and his experience was that Cal Trans was very slow in doing anything with stop lights. Joe Hirsch, 4149 Georgia Avenue, supported the staff report, and opposed the motion to refer the matter back to the F&PW Committee. He said that the_ Terman project got its start about four years ago when the school board decided to close the Terman Middle School site. He thought the project itself gained momentum .in the past few years after the_ Council's decision to form the Terman Working Group, and great progress had been made since that time. He urged the Council to continue the progress by approving the report and funding the consultant's efforts. -He thought it was important that the fi nal master plan be completed to establish the final configuration for the site so that everything could be pulled together at the earliest possible time. He said the Terman Working Group had laid out the general configuration, but much more work was needed. He thought the consultant could pull it all together, and it was necessary to keep the ball moving forward. Mr. Zaner commented that the staff Terman working team was arranging to meet with the Terman Working Group to review pre- cisely what steps would be taken on the assumption that the Council would adopt the agreement. Director of Planning and Community Environment Ken Schreiber fol- lowed up on Mr. Bagdon's comments about the potential construction problems if the City did not move ahead expeditiously. He said that as a member of the Terman Working Group he had gone through more discussions of the wall th anehe would have imagined possible, and one thing which was clear was not only the importance of _tae wall, but the importance of the landscaped slope behind the wall. He said the wall was to be located very close to the top of a slope with vegetation, and i f the City was i nto construction dur-i ng the rainy season e with any rain at all , it would an extremely difficult, muddy construction process. If it was not constructed, the City could be into a required amendment of the Specific Plan, involving Commission and Council action to get the City out of a condition that it had imposed upon itself through the Specific Plan. he was concerned if the City had trouble moving ahead with `design and going into construction of the wall before the rains come. Counci lmember Klein said he would oppose the "motion. He was con- cerned that the JCC had been dragging its feet, which he thought was the cause of some of the 'difficulty for the. Council tonight. He thought the JCC had taken far more ' time than necessary to review and respond to the draft lease. He wanted the negotiations with regard to the lease to come to an end, and suggested that, a provision be added to the staff report that the JCC be informed that the negotiations . with regard to the lease be concluded by May 31, 1982. Counci lmember Levy asked ,how long it would take to build the wall once the designs were in. 1 8: 9.4.. 4/19/82 Mr. Bagdon said staff anticipated that the design would be com- pleted in July, it would go out to bid in mid -August, construction would start in September, and it would take a couple of months from there. He said that one delaying factor was that approval for the wall had to go through the Architectural Review. Board (ARB), and a vari ance may be necessary because of the height of the wall He said a lot of processes had to take place before the wall actually goes to construction. i Mr. Schreiber said that not only was the ARB design review pro- cess necessary, but the City had also committed to provide an opportunity for the neighbors along Pomona Avenue to review the design and prepare comments for the ARB. That would lengthen the public review process which had to occur after the design process and before construction. Councilmember Levy said he found himself in• a dilemma because he was looking at an expenditure of about --$2550,000, and an obligation of about $500,000 that the City was making without what he felt was the proper context, i.e., the capital improvement program. Given the fact that the City was in. a substanti al time bind and the fact_ that the wall was an important part of the obligations the City had made to the 'neighboring community, he would go along with the staff recommendation, and was willing to withdraw his motion to refer with reluctance. Mayor Eyerly said he had major concerns about a budget amendment for a capital improvement to the community in one section of town when the F&PW Comrni ttee would be looking at a capital improvement program of $1.5 to $2 million, and where the $250,000 for Terman fits into the priorities of the other recommendations. He thought the budget amendment locked the city into a certain amount of money for one area, and he was not sure it was the highest priority in the City, and that the F&PW Committee needed the ability to address the other requests. He realized that if the budget amendment was approved, and staff moved ahead with the. plans, staff would be back -in the capital improvement program with another $250,000 ---for improvements at Terman in the- fi rst year, which -would be $500,000 for Terman. He thought there would be about $1,000,000 of maintenance items in the City that would have to be done, which probably would not leave the City any flexi- bi l ity =,for other capital improvements. He said he would back off on the motion for referral and trusted that starting would not spell out that the Council was expected to support a further request for capital improvements at Terman unless considered to be that high on the priority list-. REFERRAL MOTION WITHDRAWN. Counci lmember Levy, with the approval of the second to the motion withdrew the referral motion. Vice Mayor Bechtel said she was convinced that the Council should go ahead at this time, .and concurred with Mayor Eyerly that she would .not be prepared to continually spend money at Terman unti 1 all the other projects for the rest of the City were looked at and priorities established. In this case, the obligation of building the sound wall Was necessary, and it was necessary to start the design and construction now. MOTION: Vice Mayor Bechtel moved, seconded by Cobb,;, approval of the budget amendment, and authorize the execution of the agreement with Wilsey and Ham. In addition, staff to, instruct the Jewish Community Center to complete the negotiations with the City of Palo Alto by May 31, 1.982. AGREEMENT Wilsey and Ham ORDINANCE 3344 entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING THE BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR. 1981-82 TO PROVIDE AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT NO. 81-85 'TERMAN SCHOOL SITE --CONSULTING DESIGN SERVICES'" MOTION PASSED unanimously. ORDINANCE RE AMENDMENTS TO 211221177-- ZOMING AND SUBDIVISION CODES 2nd Lou Fein, 1540 Oak Creek Drive, Palo Al to, referred the Counci 1 to Section 35, Page 7 of the proposed ordinance. He urged that the Council pass all sections of the City Attorney's April 19 revi- sions to the Zoning and Subdivision ordinances group 2, except Section 35--21.16.010,- He urged. that Section 35 be referred back to the City Attorney to ascertain the answer to whether the California State Subdivision Map Act, amended in 1981, to extend the subdivision map duration from. one year to two years was a retroactive Map act. For example;: if a preliminary map was approved in June, 1981, under the one-year provision in the Palo Alto Code thereby making June, 1982 the expiration date, does the new map enacted and put into effect after June, 1981 retroactively require that the preliminary. map approved in June, 1981 expire in June 1983. Hee said the answer to that question would determine whether the Oak Creek conversion would be allowed to die in June, 1982. The decision on retroactivity would determine whether the Oak Creek Conversion would be permitted to drag out for another year with the tenants suffering the blight of being kept in ignor- ance of what would happen during another year to them and to their homes. He said the City Manager's advice to the Council before it passed the ordinance that the Oak Creek approval extended to June, 1983 assumed, without justification in his opinion, that Section 35 would be passed and that the new map act was retroactive. He urged the Council to defer passage of section 35, and to refer the question of retroactivity to the City Attorney for further inves- tigation. City Attorney Diane Lee said that when the ordinance was before the Council for first reading, the particular .section was included in response to an amendment to the State Map Act. The City was requi red to include that secti on in order to be in conformance with the Map Act. She s si d that the particular section was a pro- cedural section as opposed to a substanti ve provision, and it was a general practice that procedural provisions were applied retro- acti vely as this one would be. She said the matter was _discussed with the State Office of Planning and Research, and they con- curred. Her opinion was that the provision would be retroactive, end.that the provision was required to be in the ordinance pur- suant to the State Subdivision Map Act. _MOTION: Counci lmember Klein moved, seconded by Fletcher, approval of the ordinance for second reading. ORDINANCE 3345 entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING THE ZONING CODE (TITLE 18) AND THE SUBDIVISION CODE (TITLE 21) IN REGARD TO DEFINI- TIONS, DISTRICT REGULATIONS, USE PERMITS, VARIANCES, APPEALS, ACTION UN AND AMENDMENTS TO TENTATIVE AND PRE- LIMINARY PARCEL MAPS, LOT LINE REMOVALS, ETC. (1st. Reading 4/5, as amended, Passed 8-0, Levy absent) 1 8 9, 6 4/19/82 Councilmember Renzel said she understood what Ms. Lee. had said, but was concerned about the case' of a condominium subdivision where many people were paying high rents in anticipation of being able to buy units, and thought they would be able to resolve i t i n a short period of time, but were now faced with a long wait and difficult decision. She asked whether there was any form of relief that could be taken ° by the City to assist those people. Ms. Lee said she would give the matter Ms. Renzel had raised con- sideration, and if something occurred to her, she would put an information item in the packet. MOTION PASSED unanimously. PLANNING DEPARTMENT ASSIGNMENTS City Manager Bi l i Zaner said that he and Mr. Schreiber had been trying to find a means by which they could even out the workload in the Planning Department. The recommended procedure would help to plan out the work in that Department more efficiently and make sure that the assignments with top priority given to them were of significance and that the Council was interested in them. Councilmember Renzel said that during her . tenure on the Planning Coinmi ssi a.n, the problem Often existed of a Planning Commissioner wanting to ask information from staff and not being able to request it because it was not a Council assignment. She asked in view o.f the new procedure to make assignments tentative until the Council recognized the scope and was assured that it was something it wanted to pursue, and how much -work it would be to permit the Planning Commission to also ask. for a tentative assignment which would go through the evaluation procedure for the Council to determine if it wanted staff to pursue the assignment. . She thought it might be a worthwhile procedure to enable the Planning Conimi.ssion to fulfill_ its role` as set forth in the Charter to do substantive planning for the Ci ty and to be able to initiative planning _concerns. Mr. Schreiber said that the Planning Commi ssi-on coul d, at any time, recommend to the Council that a certain work item be under- taken, If that was the case, and that item was going to the Council, staff would have time, between the Commission meeting and the Council meeti ng, to give the Council an indication of scope of work, time and impact on the workload. MOT1ON: Councilmember Renzel moved, seconded by Levy, to adopt the staff recommendation that (I) All Council assignments to staff involving Planning. .studies, analyses, etc. will be tentative assignments; (2) Upon receiving a tentative assi gnment, staff wi l -1 , within thirty days, return to the,,_ City Council with a writ- ten , description of the work to be done,- the time requi red to com- plete . the work, and the effects such an assignment will have on the completion of already existing assignments; (3) Council will review staff's description of the tentative assignment, make any changes or corrections it deems appropriate and wi l l determine at that time whether or not to make the assignment a final one (4) Council will establish a priority ranking_ for the new assignment so that staff will be able to divert apropriate resources to its completion. 1 1 Counci lmember Fazzi no said he thought the idea. was long overdue and one which should be applied to each department in the City. He was concerned that during the course of each year, the Planning Departments complained about how much was being dumped on them and he thought the gripe was legitimate. He said that in the past he had requested a clear demonstration of where the department was and --their needs..- He hoped that the Planning -Department would emphasize the issues when their --proposed budget appeared before the Finance and Public Works (F&PW) Committee, and that dollars could be allocated according to probable projects during the next fiscal year. Councilmember'Wi.therspoon commented that a number of the items had a peripheral planning purpose, but were not really in the Planning Department. She agreed with Ccuncilmember Fazzino's comments that priorities should be set for the coming year in order for Mr. Schreiber to know how to allocate his staff. She thought the Council should establish a process to assist the Planning Department in setting priorities. Counci lmernber Levy agreed with Counci lmember Witherspoon about priorities and said that sometimes Council priorities changed from when _ the assignment was fi rst made. He suggested that in the future when Council was given a workload report, that items be listed by "high priority," "medium priority," and "low priority in order for the Council to more readily establish the actual priorities.` Councilmember Cobb commented that as a former Planning Commissioner, he thought the idea was outstanding. He felt that Council should indicate whether an item was a high priority item or not. MOTION PASSED unanimously. LEASE OF PROPERTY - „COMMUNITY CRIME RESISTANCE PROGRAM Real Property Administrator Jean Di az commented that the lease was consistent with the Grant from the California State Office of Criminal Justice Planning (OCJP), and that all lease payments were paid for from the grant. There was no direct City expenditure involved. MOTION: Councilrnember Witherspoon moved, seconded by Fletcher, that the City Manager be authorized to sign the _ lease with Bill Stankovic and Alexander Stankovic. Co"nci lrnember Witherspoon asked Mr. Di az what the cross streets were on Bryan, and whether the location was close to City Hall. Mr. Diaz . responded that the location was right on the alley by "42nd Street," on Bryant, between Hamilton and University. - Counci lmember• Levy asked if space was not available in City Hall or another public building. Mr. Diaz said no. The program required on -street space where there was a lot of passerby traffic right .in front of the window. He sa;.d the location was intended to attract people who were walking by, and that direct storefront Street_ access was critical to the project. Counci lmember_ Levy commented that 520 Bryant was among the more expensive considerations and asked why the City was going for the higher bidder rather than the lower. Mr. Diaz responded that while the other locations considered were on the ground floor, they were all stuck way in back of the buildings or otherwise nor' suitable to meet the requirements of the program. In order to be effecti ;+e, the program needed direct access to the street. MOTION PASSED unanimously. 1 1 RE VEST OF COUNCILMEMBER FAllINO RE DECATHLON TEAM MOTION: Councilmember Fazzi no moved, seconded by Klein, that a resolution be prepared congratulating the Palo Alto Decathlon Team students and Teachers. MOTION PASSED unanimously. CANCEL APRIL 26, 1982 COUNCIL MEETING MOTION: Mayor Eyerly moved, seconded by Fazzino, that the City Council meeting of April 26, 1982 be canceled. MOTION PASSED unanimously. RECESS FROM 9:3U p.ni. to 9:40 p.m. RE UEST OF COUNCILMEMBERS FLETCHER AND KLEIN RE NUCLEAR FREEZE movie Councilmember Fletcher said that the first three paragraphs of the proposed resolution should read as follows: "VIEWING the conti nuous bui ld•-up of nuclear weapons with great al arm; `-CONCERNED that such a bui 1d• -up makes nucl ear war or accidents} explosion more likely; "RECOGNIZING that the current nuclear arsenals of the Soviet Union and the United States provide adequate deterrence against ,-attack from either side; " Counci lmember Fl etcher sal d there was a growl ng awareness in Pal o Alto of the danger everyone faced with the fri ghteni ng accel era -- ti on of the nucl ear arms race. She drew everyone` s attenti on to Exhibit "B" of the memorandum from she- ands, Counc i l member Klein entitled "Nuclear Weapons Locations in the United States." She pointed out that one nuclear base was Moffett Field. She said one incident had already occurred in which three nuclear weapons dropped off a forkl i ft at the base --one cracked open, and a clean-up crew had to be flown in from Alaska.:. She said no off i ci al s were noti fi ed of the -incident, which was' probably one of several, and the Navy di d not i ssue press releases on such mat- ters. She cal led Council.' s attenti on to Exhi bit "C, enti ti ed forni a Nucl ear Attack ill ast Areas," identi fi ed by the California Office of Emergency Services, which showed the high risk areas for nuclear attack. She said the covering letter explained that the targets were reviewed to el imi nate isolated military and industrial ,faci l i ti es considered to be of marginal si gni fi canoe. They were thehi gh ri sk areas offi ci ally recogni zed by the United States Department. of' Defense. She asked ' the Counci lmembers . to note the detonation dots_ at Menlo Park, which explosion would pulverize Stanford Hospital along with everything and everyone else from'. mi les around. The Sunnyvale Air Force Station cat Lockheed, right next to Moffett Field, was a central command center for : the U. S. Military Satellite Communications and Reconnaissance System--the areas first line of defense against'! incoming ,missiles —and no doubt a first target. She said the. map 1 showed the dots which signified a detonation point at Moffett Field; and, if a nuclear explosion occurred there, it would prob- ably cause the nuclear weapons stored there to explode. She could not imagine the likes of that explosion. She emphasized that the detonation points . en the map were not in Oklahoma, El Salvador, or in Viet Nam --they were in a City the Counci lmembers were respon- sible for protecting. If the Council chose to hide its head in the sand and proclaim Palo Alto's survival to be none of its busi- ness, it was clearly out of text not only with reality, but with the prevailing -community sentiment . She said that in al 1 of her years as a councilmember she had never seen such unanimity amongst Palo Alto citizens.- She said 55 letters were received urging the City Council to act with not one letter of dissent. At Satu-rday's town meeting. at City Hall Plaza 350 citizens voted unanimously that the Council should take action on the nuclear freeze. She said that if the Council chose to -hide lts head in the sand and f.ai 1 to take the leadership role being demanded by the people, the aroused citizens would taunt the Counci lmembers unti 1 it was done. Further, if the City Council chose to hide its head in the sand and tell the people that it would net act, that it was up to the citizens and the ducking of the one issue which united' the cities zens of Palo Alto as no issue had ever done before, right well \become the focal point of the next City Council election. She `e aid At was true that town meetings, in tiny towns in New England, toad taken action on the nuclear freeze, but Palo Alto --an incorporated city -with Councilmembers who were elected to respond t�? the concerns of those who ' el ected them, and. where those ,citi- zens - zens had asked the City Council to act, she referred the Council- n'ernbers to Exhibits "J " and "K," and said that City Councils, Boards of Supervisors in California and across the nation had already acted. She urged that Palo Al to, be added to the momentum. She said there was no action the citizens could take which would have the impact of an official vote of the City rCoencil. She said that tonight some parliamentary moves would be offered to pr\ecl ude the public from addressing the Council. After adjournment, the public was invited to address itself, and the people that attended the meeting tonight could not ask the Council to take action. The Palo Alto Council majority was presumptuous enough to decide that, the matter was inappropriate f€;r Counci 1 action. She said the public should have the opportunity to. argue the issue of the appropri ateness of a Counci 1 action before the decision was -made; otherwise, what was the purpose of an open City Council meeting. MOTION: Counci lmember_ Fletcher moved, seconded by Bechtel , that the public be permitted to Address -the Council -on Agenda Item 0,8, Request of Counci lmembers Fletcher and Klein re Nuclear Freeze (movie). Mayor Fyerly ruled that the motion was out of order in view that there was rib moti.on_. on the floor to be addressed by the public or the Council He said he would •'creed a motion : that would pute some- thing -on the floor to be addressed . by. the. Counci l MOTION Counci i'nember Fletcher moved that the public be permitted to address the resolution attached to the material on Agenda Item. X18, Request of Counci lmembers Fletcher a.s d Klein re Nuclear Freeze. Mayor Eyerly ruled ,that.: the motion was i rnpreper because nothing specific was put on the floor : to be addressed.-. MOTION:. reCouncilmemberfletchor moved that' the Chair ibe overruled, and that the motion -to allow the publ is to' speak on Agenda- _ Item #18, Peet est ofe Caunc:i lmembers F% etcher and Klein re Nuclear Freeze, be- uph.el d. Counci lmember Klein said he thought the Counci lmembers had seen the light, and he felt that the public would be heard. He said he would be shocked and disappointed if his colleagues were to fly in the face of the several -:,hundred people who -sat in the Council Chambers. SUBSTITUTE MOTION: Counci1member Fletcher moved, seconded by Klein, approval of the Resolution, and that the meeting be kept open. RESOLUTION 6023 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY -UF PALO ALTO SUPPORTING NUCLEAR WEAPONS FREEZE" 1 1 Counci1member Klein said he seconded the motion,_ but 'riot with pleasure. He seconded the motion out of fear, hope and moral obligation. He feared that the current generation may be. the last to be on the face of the earth, and hoped that the efforts shown tonight, and the grass roots movement spreading all across the. country, would gather more steam end have an effect_ on the Country's National Policy. He seconded the motion because he felt he would be less than a moral human bei ng if he did not do his 11 tt l e bit to help the world avoid the ultimate obscenity -- nuclear warfare. He did not believe that his action, or anyone el ses at the meeting, would change the world, but the world needed a lot of help, and with the Palo Alto City Council at least taking a step, the message would get across. In that sense, the actions would be worthwhile. He said everyone knew what a horror nuclear warfare would be, and no special expertise was needed to prove that nuclear warfare was unthi nkabl e. He said that some of his colleagues would argue that the issue was not a local one, and he found that argument difficult to fathom. . He agreed that there were many national issues that a City Council should not discuss. He said if someone had introduced a motion to discuss tax policy or the latest agricultural bill, he would be voting to table the issue. The nuclear issue was a question of survival for the com- muni ty; and, on such essenti al issues, i t was not only the Council 's right to discuss it, but i t was the Council 's obliga- ti on. He said that Palo Alto had considered a nuclear policy before, and it would be doubly hypocritical for the present Counci1members not to take some action. In the past, the City had adopted a series of civil defense issues which assumed that a nuclear war was survivable.. He said that went back to the early 1960 's and was re-enacted as late as 1979; It was i n the City of Palo Alto Erergency Plan, and most of that Plan was necessary and appropriate for the City. He said much of the Plan referred to nuclear warfare, and the measures that Palo Alto, as a City, should take. They were all based on the assumption that a nuclear war was survivable. He thought that was crazy and an 111 usi on. Palo Alto 's Emergency Plan still talked about the efficacy of fallout shelters. He said that if the motion tonight failed, he and Council memberFletcher planned to be back in two weeks with a moti on to rewrite the Emergency Plan to delete all references to the survivability -of nuclear warfare, and to pass that information on the the President, Governor, Secretary of Defense, etc. Counci lmeaber Klein said that since : it was said that a nuclear freeze was not an appropriate item for discussion by the City, Council, maybe it would be better to have some, sort of Town Hall meeting. He said that was not in keeping with Palo Alto's tradi- ti on, and that the City Council was the proper forum to focus : corn- muni ty attention. He said ,the community wanted the City Council to stand up', reflect the community's will, end take the only moral position av ai l aril a --to take the first steps back from the brink of a nucl ear abyss. He said:; the Mayor suggested that val uabl e Council and staff time should not be used on mitt ers such as the nuclear' freeze. , He sugge:,°_ted the contrary, and said that those citizens who .sat in the Council Chambers for 2-1/2 :,hours knew that there were many items which could havebeen deferred to hear what nn' felt was far more important;°._ lie said he world _gl redly sit:: in the Council Chambers every flight- for'. a week and' have the Council - members "go on record ih favor of a = nucl ear` freeze. We felt that i the past 36 plus years, the .World was lucky to have avoided` the nuclear Armageddon. ale did ; not knowhow much longer the World's luck would hold out which' was why he felt the Counci members should take the first .steps= -however., small and tentative they may be, 1 9 0 1 4/19/82 Corrected. 6/21/82 1 i 1 Counci 1 member Klein urged his colleagues to hear their citizens speak; and beyond that, he urged that they acttend take whatever small steps might be possible. He _paraphrased the prayer "1f not us, who --1 f not now, when." Mayor •Eyerly said he could appreciate the concerns , of Counci 1 - members Fletcher and Klein, but thought the issue was not whether the public and the Council had concerns regarding nuclear weapon expansion and whether a freeze should be enacted, but the:, pro- priety of Palo. Alto's municipal Council assuming a local leader- ship role in national and international issues. He said th:`.' in Palo Alto each Counci l membeer had the right to agendize any item; however, the Council decided what, if any,. action should be taken. Counci lmembers Fl etcher and Klein were within their ri ght.s to agendize the nuclear topic, but the Council must decide whether to support the request. He believed that issues which contained national and international ramifications should not be discussed by the Council. First, the public should realize the time demands of Council activities which consisted of the regular Monday night Council meeti ngs, standing committee assignments, li ai son work as assigned, special City assignments to groups that the City relates with, plus the reading and communications to support those duties and assignments He imagined that each of the-Counci1members spent considerably more time than the public .,real i zed, and it was not uncommon to spend 15-20 hours per week as a Cauncilmember on the assignments they accepted .when they were elected to the post ti on, and sal d the Mayor's position took about . 30-40 hours per week. If the Council agreed to address issues such as the nuclear freeze, the Council would need in depth information to make i ntel 1 i gent decisions. He said that an elected of fi ci al must study and consider all faci is of every issue`, and should not cast a vote lightly. He said that could become a horrendous task if national issues were to be considered. He did not believe that the Council should allow such a di l uti on of its energy or time, and the comments did not address the larger impacts on staff time to provide unbiased information on issues outside of .the City's jurisdiction. For those reasons, . and not wanting to set a prece- dent, he felt the issue should be removed. He Said the .issue could be removed by a successful motion to table. The newspaper stories as well as his memo contained in the packet, notified the Council and the public of his intention to do so. He said a motion _to tabs e would precl ude any further di scussi on; however, he did not wish to prevent discussion of the nuclear freeze. He appreciated that there were Counci 1 members with valid concerns about the issue, and that there were citizens who had waited throughout the enti re meeti ng to voice their concerns. He intended to make the Counci 1 Chambers avai 1 able to the public and Counci lmembers who wished to stay for .a discussion at the issue .on the nucl ear ..freeze, whi c,h would have to take place after Counci l adjournment if a motion to table was successful. He said that i f a di scussi on regarding the nuclear freeze octurred following adjournment of the Council, it would be necessary for the .Counci l - members to remove themselves from the seating arrangement in the Chambers, . and it would have to become a meeting of community dis- cussion -and concern. He deferred to City Attorney Diane Lee for any Brown Act concerns. City Attorney Diane Lee said that the Brown Act -requi red that the public's business be conducted in public. She said that if. a majority of the Council were present:- :at that meeti nq, notice :requirements. would have to be adhered to. She said that ei n this case, ,the spl'`ri t of the -Act- even tho:uglij there may techni cal viol ati on --would be coepl fed rwi th since the press was at the meeting,, and knew -about the subsequent informal meeting to occur` after the .adjournment. .She caut=ioned the Council that i f. the, Majoritystayed, a :provision 'of the Brown Act" required that if any action of the Counci-1 .was ,taken at the- informal meeting, that would constitute a ,ii sdemeanor, She- said -that if a majority of the members :,_Of the City., council made a, collective :commitment or„: proMi se or any te'ntati v comalitm rft or _posi ti ve.,: Ur negati ve 1. 9 0 2 4/19/82 1 decision or an actual ` vote by the majority of the Council woul d constitute taki ng action and woul d be a . viol ati on of the Brown Act which would subject the Councili+,embei s to misdemeanor penalties. Vice Mayor Bechtel said she wus glad that Mayor Eyer l y had not made a moti on to table, and when the moti on was made, she encour- aged her colleagues to vote against it. She said Counci1members Klein and Fletcher 'had stated the way she : felt about the issue. People came to the meeting to .ask the Council to take a position, and she believed' it was the Council's responsibility to do so. She noted that a number of cities throughout the State of California had al ready taken positions, as had Boards of Supervisors and i ndi vi dual Counci 1 members as well. Each city throughout California and throughout the country cummul ati vely woul d make a di fference as each person al together would . make . a difference. She had heard from some colleagues that they ,con- curred. and supported as individual s a nuclear freeze, but were reluctant as Counci lmembers to vote for it. She urged the Councilmembers to have the courage and vote as a Council for a nuci ear freeze. Councilmember Levy said he was saddened by the position in which he found himself. He was reminded of some of the movies he had seen of meetings which took place in the South on issues which he happened to agree with, but in the Southern community they did not agree with it. It was kind of an atmosphere he hoped died not. exist in Palo Alto. Personally, he supported a nuclear freeze, and as far as he knew, the community of Palo Alto strongly cup - ported a nuclear freeze. He -supported a principle which was rela- ted to the Council's integrity and what the Council should be involved with. He believed the Council should be _involved with local issues --issues with which the Council had jurisdiction. He said the issue of a nuclear freeze was far more important than the issues usually dealt with by the Palo Alto City Council. The Council was sometimes- asked to participate in social issues, financial issues, environmental issues, issues like abortion, and issues ,.on which each Counci lmember felt very strongly. He felt that to consider those issues with the integrity they deserved demanded a good deal of time, and to consider an issue super- ficially was to . consider it improperly. He felt that the princi- ple by which he had guided his life on the City Council dictated that he abstain from taking a position on a national issue of the subject nature. He felt the public should be listened to, and if Mayor Eyerly's course of action was followed, the meeting would be converted to a town meeting. Each person, as an individual, would be allowed to speak, and at the end of the meeting, a .position could be taken by vote and by petition, the national leaders could be addressed to implement a nuclear freeze. He said the petition would not only be signed by most of the City Council, ;i f not all, but would also be .:signed by many former Counci l members, and have a strong impact. He thought the 'impact would be strtonger than a unanimous vote of the City Council. He said th at - :i f a Council meeting was held, he would feel he had to abstain, and he thought ,a number of other "Councilmembers would feel the same way. Instead of, sending the message that shtruld be sent to the Natian and the Hation4's leaders, ,no message would be sent. He thought that was unfortunate, and that was why he preferred Mayor Eyerly's course of action. Counci lmernber Fazz i no said . he personally supported a nucl ear freeze. He shared the concerns of many people who had phoned, written and gone by his home about ; the frI ghteni ng nature of the arms race. He agreed : with the statements of Counci Members Fletcher : and Klein also. ` He believed, the City Council should make strong statements about issues which= involved local.;;government, and ,services provided by local gover;nment. - He was in: complete agreement with Counci.lmenrber, kleln'-s`. proposal to oppose the Admi ni strati:oni s Nuclear War Ci vi l ; Defense P1 eh which would involve the City `"government, -: while: raising , the possibility i n 1 eader' s minds that. _ a low -.scale' nuclear war was possi bl e. He 1 9 0 3 4/19/82 would support a conveyance by the. Council to elected officials of what occurred at the City Council meeting with regard to citizen support of the issue even if he personally opposed the Council's taking a stand itself on the issue. He did not believe that he possessed the necessary information to have the City Council formally support the Klein/Fl etcher proposal . He shared some of Mayor Eyerly and Councilmember Levy's concerns about the appropri- ateness of formal Council action. Everyone would have an oppor- tunity this year to elect a Congress which could alter legislative direction on nucl ear arms. He believed that was a more, appropri- ate forum for the issue, but he sti l 1 felt citizens should have their right to address the City Council even if he disagreed on a particular issue. He would oppose a motion to table and would allow the public to ,speak. Councilmember Renzel said that generally the Council could have difficulties getting into national issues. However, the particu- lar issue was a message representing the Palo Alto citizens and expressing concerns and asking that negotiations take place to halt the further testing, production and deployment of nuclear weapons. She said normally it might be thought that more informa- tion was needed to know how the Council should act, but knowing there was one million times the force of Hiroshima possible to turn loose was enough information. She would support the motion on the floor. Councilmember Cobb said he was prepared to vote in favor of a motion to table, and felt that Councilmember Levy's was correct. However, with what had happened tonight, and what had been; ;,i' by Councilmember Fletcher, the Council was involved in a national issue whether it liked it or not, and proof of his serious concern about the Council being involved in national issues was that it had been made an issue in . a City Council campaign next time around. He thought that was unfortunate because it would happen again and eventually people would be elected for the wrong reasons. Since the issue was broached, the emotion was present, and al though he thought Councilmember Levy was correct, and he was at the meeting prepared to support a motion to table, reluctantly he felt the public must be heard. Robbyn Kenyon, 197 Walter Hays Drive, said she represented more than 1,000 students at Palo Alto High School who were concerned and al armed about the threat that nuclear war posed to thei r future. She said the students believed that the use of nuclear weapons was unthinkable,, unacceptable, and immoral. The: students had collected more than 1,000 signatures of. Palo Alto High School students who agreed with - the following statement: "Dear Presi dent Reagan: We, .the youth of this Country, are deeply concerned about the threat of a nuclear holocaust. Vie ask that you immediately cease the additional development and production of our nuclear weapons, and move to meet per- 'sonal ly with the Soviet Premier to hasten -a mutually verifi- able reduction of both countries arsenal. We feel that with- out this reduction, our future is in jeopardy.; Therefore, we ask and plead with you to immediately take this action. We have also : reached out to 25 other high schools in the Bay Area who are coming to Palo' Alto High`. School this Wednesday night to bring their filled petitions. We hope to educate all students in Santa Clara County. This is a local issue because it is' a survival issue. We cannot afford to ignore it. It means life or `death.. for all of pis I _ believe it is the responsibility of everyone at this time to become edu- cated so I urge you to vi.ew the film, 'The Last Epidemic'_and join in the- education of the ci t1 zens of "Palo ::.Alto.. An informed public will give a mandate:. to o our ,government to work for peace rather than war." 1 Councilmember Fletcher suggested that - half of the film, "The Last. Epidemic" by the Physicians for Social Responsibility be shown at this time. Half of the film was shown. 1 Ms. Betty Carmel, 450 Loma Verde, said that the civic blessings which she and her family experienced in Palo Altowere too numer- ous to 1 i st , but were appreciated and testified to the Council's deep concern about their welfare. She thought it was logical for her to assume that the Council was also concerned that she not be targeted for extinction. She felt . the Council did have the obli- gation as her representatives to make certain insofar as possible that she had the blessing of life itself. For her part as a responsive citizen, she asked the City Council to approve, and give Council support of a bilateral nuclear weapons fees initia- tive. She said it was hard for her to imagine the Palo Alto City Council at some point down the line voting to merely offer to provide each 'citizen with a dugout, a door and three feet of dirt as was suggested by the infamous Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, T. K. Jones. Bill Busse, 935 Ramona Street, said it was encouraging to see that. a motion to table did not occur. He was reminded of what Albert Einstein said shortly after the bombs on Japan that "everything has changed, save our way of thinking about it." He said the citizens weve. asking the City Council to lend its support to a nationwide movement that would bring about a new sense of urgency, and creativity on the parts of the governments of the world. Creativity was lacking, and governments were thinking old, that someone could esc..ate and win. That can't be done. Jenny Friedland, 790 Center Drive, represented the Students for Social Responsibility of Palo Alto, and urged the City Council to support the Bilateral Arms freeze which was felt to be of vital importance and directly affected the future citizens of Palo Alto and the world. Tobias Baskin, 727 la Para Avenue, pointed out that in light of all the serious attention that the City Council gave to_ planning matters, and because the Council wished to keep Palo Alto attrac- tive and safe, keeping Palo Alto safe meant not only safe from faulty construction, etc., but safe from being blown up in a nucl ear holocaust. Scott Elrod, 291 Stanford Avenue, said his feelings were elo- quently expressed - in the film, "The Last Epidemic," and by Counci lmembers Fletcher and Klein. Ralph Whi taker, 4003 Scripps Avenue, asked for City Council sup- port of the Bilateral Nuclear Freeze as an expression of the sentiment and need. He was not interested in saving one piece of the world and seeing another piece of it go. When he expressed his feelings, he expressed them for all the countries of the world. CUUNCILMEMBEK WITHERSPOON LEFT AT .10:30 p,m, Stephen Burgess, 715 Everett, Chair of the Steering Committee for the Mid -Peninsula Freeze Campai g, , was concerned about the urgency of the situation. It . was. hard for people to address the effects of a nuclear war, and he =.urged the Palo Alto City Council to think about it. He said individual' support was. very important. but support of a City Council was more effective. He realized it was heed to make that decision, and' asked the Counci lmembers to.. try and push beyond that and join with others who were concerned over their own 'homes.. ,e Jim Wake, 244 kobin aoy. Menlo Park. said he was gratified that the City; Council saw fit to listen to the public and to consider the matter as a matter of public concern. He said people all over the country were taking a position and -letting it be, known that they had had enough of an arms race which had noend, and which could oily lead to disaster. Mr. Wake said that the risks of a nuclear war were known, and the only way to effectively turn the tablcs was to have everyone join together to make a statement which could be heard. Over 6,000 resi dents of California had made their statement in support of a nuclear freeze, as well as millions of people throughout the United States, and it was time for the Palo Alto City Council to make their statement He realized that some of the Counci l members believed in a nuclear freeze as individuals, but the individual feelings would not carry the same weight that a l egi s 1 ati ve body, representing the people, carried. He urged the City Council to use its voice as effectively as possible. Surdell Kietzmann, 1014 Moffett Circle, felt that the subject should -be expressed openly ' and with care, and not acted upon hastily. He said there were a lot of talented people in Palo Alto who could articulate all aspects of the question , because there were rises that people felt pro and con. Palo Alto was a place that could project the information to other cities and states throughout the Country. Norma Grench, 2828 South Court, represented the Church and Society Committee of the Fi rst Presbyterian Church of Palo Al to. ' She said that in November, 1981, the Session, which was the ruling body of the First Presbyterian Church, adopted a resolution in support of the Bilateral Nucl ear Weapons Freeze Initiative. The Committee urged the City Council to take a similar position in support of the freeze campaign. She said that in a recent service at their church, they were called upon to - remember the holocaust when 6,000,000 Jewish people were killed, and to remind themselves of the silence that allowed that to happen. The Committee urged the City Council to 'lot be silent on the issue. Scott Wing, 1330 Tasso Street, hoped that the amount of people in attendance at the Council meeting as well as their eloquence would flake their point. Mark Feinberg, 432 Lincoln, was a third year medical student at Stanford University, and represented the Steering Committee Of the local chapter of the Physi cans for Social Responsibility._ He said that as practioners and students of medicine, the Physicl ens for Social Responsibility felt it was their responsibility to inform the Palo Alto City Council of the nature and magnitude of the greatest threat to the health and well being of the community. They were concerned about the ever increasing likelihood of nuclear war, and in keeping with the\ recent resolution of the American Medical Association, they were compelled to inform the elected officials of the catastrophic consequences of such a threat. . He said his words could . only fare to capture the horror contained in such a vision, yet everyone must try to imagine that which strains and offends their imagination. In seeking remedies to nuclear war, informed members of the medical community believed that .such a .war, once begun, devastates all medical options and negates the meaning of cure. He said a focus on prevention was imperative. To remain silent on the issue was to risk betraying one's self, the community and :the country. He asked the ' Council to consider what the al terenati ves were to confronting such a last ,epidemic, and why should it be considered an issue of local con- - cern. He said that preparation for the aftermath of a nuclear war could be instituted such as the Crisis Relocation Plan; or the path of Bilateral Nuclear Arms, Reduction could be instituted nuclear weapons freeze could be employed as a fi rst step. He" said that the executive, board of the Physi-ci al s _ for Social Responsi- bility viewed the choices wf th „the scrutiny of considerable medi- cal expertise and severely criticized the assumpti ens - and formula- tions of the Crisis Relocation . P1a0n and strongly endorsed the nuclear weapons freeze. He said the Crisis Relocation P 1 an wars a pO en` by the Federal Emergency Management; Agency to evacuate high risk areas in the times of heightened international tensions for which the Reagan Admi ni strat on proposed to spend $4.2 billion over the next few years. He said that the cost to eliminate Small Pox from the world --a disease which killed over 2,000,000 'people per year --was $300 million. Mr. Feinberg said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had a number of unreal expectations. He. said the local community was expected to evacuate over the San Mateo Bridge to the ,east and the. Go1 de,n Cate Bridge, to Marin County in the north. He said the . Plan assumed maximal cooperation and minimal -panic, which was unlikely considering the traffic jams which existed over those bridges.. He said that Physicians for Social Responsibility PSR)- considered the. Plan absurd and dangerous, Further, the Plan assumed coopera- tion of the communities to receive the evacuees, which was unlikely cansi de.ri ng that Mari n County in agreeing 'with PSR had rejected civil defense planning. He could not see why the Pal o Alto City Council felt it was within their ,jurisdiction to agree to 'participate in the crisis relocation program when , they would not participate in 'endorsing a nuclear weapons freeze. He said the matter was a local concern because the Council accepted the responsibility for the provision of health care, water supply, sanitation, transport of electricity and civil defense, and the citizens of Palo Alto i_ooked to the City Council for those needs. The people of Palo Alto were Very concerned about preparations for nuclear war. He said to make no mistake --the area was indeed a target by anyone's definition as was eloquently presented to the Council by Councilmember Fletcher and Counciliaember Klein. He thought that if the Council considered it within its jurisdiction to participate Hn the Crisis Relocation P1 an --a fallaciously designed plan, and dangerous in its intent and repercussions, he thought it was within the Council's jurisdiction to .reject that proposal and endorse a nuclear weapons freeze. The Physicians for Soo -la] Responsibility urged that the Council endorse a nuclear weapons freeze. asaki He had a responsibility: to life; and could power not ask would be on no tike action, while r own actions. Fernando Vescia, M.D. , 1629 Edgewood Drive, said that ten years ago he sat before the Council. with respect to the Drug Abuse issue. He said he was a member of the Drug Abuse Task Force and spent a lot of time trying to do something about \ the druge abuse in Palo Alto, which only affected a small portion of the popula- tion. A nuclear war was not something that would only affect a few misguided people --it would affect everyone. He asked if the bomb were dropped in Los Angeles, would everyone feel better about i t . He pointed out that the bomb would not only affect' one area as in Hi roshima or Nagasaki-: He spoke of the. plague which existed in the Middle Ages, and said that one out of four persons died at, that time in Europe. He said the plague was uninvited and sent shudders throughout that part of the world, but the bomb would tie invited, and there was something which could be done. For example, mustard gas was used in World War 1, and it was decided that there were too many casualties and that mustard gas was an inhuman way to kill. By a tacit agreement, the civilized nat r ons of the world, as well as some of the uncivilized nations, decided that gas would not be used anymore. He said it could be done, and it worked. He said there were certain things which should be taboo, and nuclear wa^:, was one. He quoted Santayana, "and having lost sight of their aims, they doubled their efforts." 110, said he remembered when the Atomic No one asked him or any of his said deal - who knew what to do. Decisions of that _ , = edge, and they were making the decision. Lisa Tripp, 933 _Amarillo Avenue, -had circulated a petition amongst her. friends and had received 23 out of 26 -signatures. She said that if enough people spoke up,,, someone would have to listen. Bernard Young, 966. Amari bomb was dropped on . Nag countrymen whether the bomb should be dropped. sion was left to those nature could no longer be left in the hands of ignorant orinhuman people. He said people not take the position of' ignorance because those people in did not have enough knowl He said that when the deb was dropped, Palo Alto could the peopi a coming to i t for help were within its jurisdiction. lwihQn Weshi ngton was bombed, every city and community its own if they survived. He said at that point there wool d' be question of. jurisdiction. Pilo Alto should there was time, ::and he implored the Council to take responsibility for its Cl ty -and for thei the Karen Paulsen, 943 Bryant, said she was very frightened of a nucl ear war. She sai d that there was a uni versal consci ousness of taki ng responsibility for the mess the country was in. She felt the probl em exi sted because of everyone rel egati ng responsi bi1 ity and not doing something when something could have been done. She said that when the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors took a 'stand on the nuclear freeze, there was a calm in the room and everyone felt that something had been done. Perrin French, M.D., 1240 Waverl ey, said he worked at the Menlo Park Di vision of the Palo Alto Veteran's. Hospital . He said he had completed some research which indicated that over 70 percent of the audiences he addressed felt there was somewhat to great like- lihood of their own death occurring through a nuclear blast or fallout, The issue was of great concern to the majority of ci ti-- zens in Palo . Al to. He sai d a questionnaire he ci rcul ated amongst hi s audi ences contai red the questi on, "There dre causes worth fighting a nuclear war for." True/False. After seeing the film, "The Last Epidemic" the responses dropped to 15-2G' percent that there were causes worth a nuclear war. He felt the Council had a lot of statistical support in favor of a civil defense approach to a nuclear weapons freeze. He urged the Council to inform them- selves from other sources and see if they did not .arrive at the same r,oncl usi on as the majority of Pal o Alto ci ti zens. Dr. French said that through a group of physicians, International Physi ci ans for -the Preventi an eef Nucl ear War was founded about two years ago with the idea of getting together with the Russi ans because they, together with the United States, owned 98% of all nuclear weapons i n the world, and the Japanese because they had known nuclear war, and other countries to see if the issues could be discussed. He said the Russians sent Brezhnev's personal physi ci an, and the Deputy Mi ni ster of Health of Russi a - who 1 ead a delegation of 12 top Kremlin physicians. The conclusions were that nucl ear war was the ultimate holocaust and there was no civil defense measures to be taken against it. He said he had received clippings from Russian newspapers that said the same thing as the movi e---nucl ear war was the ul ti rate hol ocaust , and the ci vi l defense structure in Russia was not designed to withstand nuclear war with the United States. Nucl ear war. must be prevented at all costs. He said that was the ,message of the lay press in Russi a, which was the government press. He said that the Russian people were not bei ng prepared to fi ght and wi n a nuclear war. Jim Lyttle, 930 Roble Ridge, Palo Alto, said he agreed with Councilmember Renzel that more information was not needed about the issue. He hoped the Council would vote to represent the people of Palo Alto and endorse the nuclear freeze. Dale Ramont, 1140 Cowper Street, represented the Peace Task Force of the Ecumenical Outreach Coalition. He said the threat of the annihilation of the humanrace by means of a nuclear hol ocaust was the most fundamental issue and concern .before everyone as members of the human family. The Coalition urged that each member of the City Council support the resolution regarding the nuclear weapons freeze Charline Deutschman, 847 Moana Court, stated: said' t e issues were well Randy Frost, 2679 Alma Street, said he had been employed at Lockheed Research Facility in Palo Alto because he found Palo Alto to be a nice place to Jl ve. He said he had recently voluntarily terminated hi s employment at Lockheed because he could no longer continue to work. for :a -company that annually - spent over $800 million for nuclear weapons research. He asked the City Council how a 'community which fostered activities designed to develop more effective ways to destroy human lives remain a healthy _place to %_i ve. He urged the Council to,go on record `teat they did not want Palo ;``Al to to be a placeace 'where _weapons' research' was condoned, and a 'place where nuclear warfare was supported. 1 Sheila Chaffee, 183 Creekside Drive, said the Council had a political issue before the_ m on which they coul a vote "aye," or "no," but in no event could they abstain. She said the citizens of Palo Alto had given the City Council the authority to vote on their behalf. If . all tfe Councilmembers made a statement on behalf of the citizens, someone would have to listen. Professor Frank G. Spencer, 3969 Duncan, said he was 88 years old and was afraid he would only live as long as everyone else because everyone would be wiped out at the same time.'' 1 1 Mary Klein, 16(1 Lincoln, said she was a member of Citizens for Alternatives to Nuclear Energy (CANE). She said it was sad to feel in opposition to her own government. She urged the Council to reflect the strong opinion of the citizens of Palo Alto in sup- porting a nuclear freeze. Jim Standish, 628 Marion Avenue, said if he had the means to blow Palo Alto off the map, he did not think the Council would have to study the situation before stopping him. He said town meetings did not carry any weight in California, and the citizens of Palo Alto wanted its City Council to speak on their- behalf. Craig S. Ritchey, 1242 Greenwood, said he thought it was important to remember that the citizens were urging the Council to vote in favor of a symbolic movement to try and create a future for the children. He said the community had read the signs of the times and that it was time to move beyond violence as a means to resolve conflict, and to move beyond war as a means of resolving conflict. If that message was not lent, there would be no future. He urged the City Council to stand up and be counted on a critical issue of the times. Mortimer Markoff, 375 N. California Avenue, said he understood the concern -of some Councilmembers regarding pri eci pl e, but he sug- gested that it was necessary. to yield to the larger principle. He quoted John Dewey, an American philosopher, and .said, "that which is torn out of context is by definition insane." He suggested that the real possibility of ending human existence was the con- text, and it was a small. principle that would stand in the way of the Councilmembers going on record, and he urged support of the idea of a nucl ear freeze. James Herrick, 888 Robb Road, said that the Councilmembers had the opportunity to take a stand on a human issue, and everyone needed to stand up and be counted. Martin Dreyfuss, 3103 David Avenue, said that if a future of peace and tranquility were to be achieved, it was necessary to speak out now in favor of a bilateral nuclear freeze ` initiative. The initiative said that both superpowers must get their acts together and stop producing more weapons to endanger the security of every nook and cranny of the world. He said the choice no longer existed between peace and war --the choice was between peace and extinction. The City Council needed to speak with one voice to say that extinction was no choice, and that the way to a possi- bility of peace was a bilateral nuclear freeze. He urged the City Council to support the nuclear arms freeze and be part of the ground swell, grass roots, support here and abroad for taking a detour away from the road to Armageddon. Do+ugl as Vattern, 2611 Southedurt, urged. the City Council to adopt the bilateral nuclear freeze, with the understanding that it 'was the most critical issue of our time, and perhaps the most critical issue of anytime. He, said the founding fathers would be appalled to;. hear elected officials state that it was beyond their j urisdl c - ti on to deal with' matters that touched everyone, and as does the subject ,;issue. He sal d ,that was not the principle on -which ;chi s Country was founded —it was founded en the principle that - every individual spoke out, and -particularly elected officials at every level. 1 9 . ©° 9 4/19/82 Mr. Mattern said that attitude along with the general attitude of society which had allowed the arms race to continue for 35 years without any let up to the point of incomprehensible, overkill stockpiles. He emphasized that as bad as things were currently, if the arms race was riot stopped, it would be far worse in the years to come. The Reagan Administration's escalation program called for. $1.6 trillion to be spent in the next five years, which included $454 billion for 44 new weapon systems, including $180 bi 1 i i on for more nuclear weapons that would add 17,000 new hydro- gen warheads to the 30,000 already stockpiled. He said it- was doubtless that that escal ati on ' coui d be withstood; arms experts throughout the world stated that it must be stopped, and it must be stopped now. The situation was so bad that some of the archi- tects of the nuclear policy were changing their minds. He said that Admiral Hyman Ri ckover, the father of the nucl ear navy, testified before Congress and stated that the Country was over- arming itself. When asked .what the future held in light of .the present escalation, Ri ckover replied "we will probably destroy ourselves." Robert McNamara stated it was madness and it had to stop. He thought it was best expressed by .George Keenan, former Ambassador to the Soviet Union, who addressed all people who wanted to escalate the arms race and stated that "For the love of God, of your children, and of the civilization to which you belong, cease this madness. He said that was what the nucl ear freeze was all about --to cease the madness. City Councils such as Palo Alto must pass proposals to call for an immediate halt of the arras race --in short, a bilateral nuclear . freeze. L. Ars, 71 Morton, yielded to the eloquence of al 1 the speakers. Lars Bratt, 256 Kellogg Avenue, said he was not as optimistic as the Americans. He thought the Soviet Union would welcome a nuclear . arms freeze, but in the opinion of many people, World War III had already started. He did not believe the Russians wanted a nucl ear war, and said that Western Europe would have been con- quered a long time ago if it were not for America having its nuclear armament. He recalled when John F. Kennedy stopped the Russians from putting missiles in Cuba because at the time America was strong enough that the Russians would not have dared to place those missiles. He thought a series of incidents would occur in the future like Cuba where nuclear chicken would be played, and this time, Russia had a more preponderance of arms, and the United States would end up second best. Bob Mang, 1242 Byron Street, said that it Seemed to him that the police powers which gave city government its authority and respon- sibility for all things that came before it were very appropriate here because nuclear war was the health and safety issue of our time. Herb Borock, 3401 Ross Road, said he supported the nuclear freeze initiative, signed the petition, and would vote for it i;n November. He said that in the past, the Counci 1 had taken posi ti ons on statewide initiative petitions, and he supported Council - member Fletcher's' motion that the Council go on record in support of the ` nuclear freeze petition.: He said he had thought of four ways in which the Council could vete either yes or no. ,One, was to continue the item. If that happened, he would encourage two of his friends who had not already .spokento attend and speak at that meeting and would encourage everyone who had already spoken to do the same. He said the Council could try and be silent and not vote, but the Palo Alto Municipal Code, Section 2.04.150 .stated. that unless a Councf ]member stated that he was not voting, the silence shall be recorded as an affirmative vote. He - said the Political , Reform Act ` stated that if a conflict of interest existed," one could say the y ;were not voting for that reason, but a conflict of interest could 'only occur if there was a foreseeable material affect on that person which was different, from the affect on the public generally.-, . After seeing the film, he suggested that' the effect on everyone would be the same. He pointed out that a section of the Palo Alto Municipal Code stated that a Council - member must vote yes or no on something before them if no conflict of interest existed. He believed all Councilmembers must- record a yes or no vote on the issue. He urged Council support of the motion. 1 1 Jill Harris, Harker Street, said she recalled a book of the 1930's or 1940's entitled "Killers of the Dream," and the beginning of the book which stated that in growing up as a white child in the South, there was something there that was bigger than everything, and never talked about, called rasci sm. She said she had fel t that way about the nuclear issue for years, and it was never talked about. She was encouraged that it was beginning to be talked about because it was a mutual concern for everyone in the country. She appreciated the differences and reservations expressed by some of the Councilmembers because it was important to address everything so that people could move together and not be divided. The way people divided themselves was a mere image of what happened in war. She thought perhaps a sister city was needed in the USSR. Dick Roe, 72© Kendall Avenue, member of the Palo Alto Human Relations Commission (HRC), said that at a recent meeting the HRC voted unanimously to support the nuclear freeze, and to encourage the City Council to do the same. He said all the reasons for the decision had been stated, eloquently by the speakers. Regarding Council jurisdiction, the Council was not .being asked to estab- lish a policy of dealing regularly with national affairs, but rather to join with the citizens in considering one overwhelming issue, to be _ the citizens' voice, and to exercise their moral judgment and expression, He said it was important to him whether Councilmember could deal with the kinds of technical matters that a City Council must deal with, and everytime he voted, he tried to vote for someone with whom he felt a moral tone that cane through all the expressions of their individual positions. He urged Council support of the motion. Len Cornell, 420 Adobe Place, said that in the weeks ahead, the Council would find increased momentum and the Council ' s conscience would say that it was the voice of the nation, the fears .and hopes for tomorrow. He felt the Council would be haunted by the dilemma of giving lip service to personal convictions, but saying they had to follow the rules and the form, and forget the substance. John Cottingham, 461 Ferne, said he could understand some of the Councilmembers' reluctance to endorse a motion which . would put Palo Alto in the public record as a present part: of the national defense policy. He said it .was clear that the Council addressed issues very carefully and after much study and would be uncomfort- able to address an issue without a great deal of study. He thougi\t the Council's dilemma was at the heart of the nuclear. freeze issue; that is, can the public leave the issue of future life . to the experts., He said they lived _ in a very complex ` •i vi l i- zation and necessarily depended upon experts for leadership. He asked if the defense experts could -any longer be depended upon to protect the people from:,nucl ear war. If so he urged the Council - members to ask themselves who got the' -people in the position they were currently in. He asked the Councilmembers to pass the` motion: Joshua Goldstein, 1082 College Avenue, spoke directly to Council - members Fazzi no and _Levy regarding why the issue was a local one and why the ``Council should endorse it._ He said the fact ;:.must -. be faced that Palo Alto was a prime target in the event of nuclear, war. The health ; and welfare of the people who live in = Palo Alto wasdirectly affected by the ,issue. He .said the Council had acted in the past on many- issues whl;ch were of state, F natl onal and i nternati oval concern and which affected Pale Alto citizens. If the government in `Sacramento or Washington proposed legislation which would ;,affect the -citizens . of Palo Alto, the Council drafted 1 1 d response or position in order to affect the legislation. He spoke of the Med Fly problem and the fact that the State proposed to drop pesticides on the community. That was an appropriate issue for the Counci 1 to take a stand on, and he asked how it was appropri ate to take a staid when someone was going to drop pesti- cides on the community, but not appropriate when someone was going to drop a nuclear bomb. Mary McAfee, 865 Ames Avenue, said that if .the, Council as not concerned about the human race, then what about all the other races ear. the planet. Regarding whether the City Council was an appropriate forum for discussion of the issue, most citizens felt alienated from the pol i tc al process in the country and many of the issues in the country were decided in smoke -filled rooms and in the forum .of the grease palm. This was a chance for the people to participate in their government, and the City Council was the local citizens government. She quoted the prayer, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to changethe things I can; and the, wisdom to know the difference." Mayor Eyerly said he understood that it would take five affirma- tive votes of the eight Counci lmembers present to pass the resolu- tion. He deferred to City Attorney Diane Lee on the question of abstentions. City Attorney Diane Lee said that according to the Palo Alto Municipal Code, a resolution must be passed by a majority of the Council --not just those present --and requi red fi ve votes to pass. In terms of abstentions, she said the Municipal Code was clear that every member shall vote unless disqualified by cause accepted by vote, of the Council or by opinion of the City Attorney. Another section provided that no Counci lmember could be forced to vote. She said that under the Political Reform Act or any other conflict of interest legislation, the viability or action of the Council would be overruled if a Councilmember had a conflict of interest and voted --not if they chose not to vote even though a conflict did not exist, Mayor Eyerly commented that the input he had heard had not changed his feeling that the issue was an appropriate one for the City Council. He said everyone was concerned about the use of nuclear,_ but he did not feel the Council had enough information to make an affirmative or negative decision. He felt the Council was being asked to tie the Administration's hands regarding negotiations and he did not know whether that was wise because Counci lmembers did not have all the input. Counci lcnember Fazzino said he had arrived at the meeting as a personal supporter of a nuclear freeze, and a strong concern about the appropriateness of City Council action on the.. issue, and .was ready to adjourn to a special meeting. He said that the degree of community support of the issue was impressive, and that at the beginning of the week he did not realize the mainstream support for a bilateral freeze in Palo Alto. Ke -'appteci ated. the rational way _ in which the speakers dealt with the issue, and said the issue was a difficult one, but a very human issue which demanded commu- nication, reason and caring. He was upset , about the= earlier com- ment of a_ Counci lmember and the threat of the next City Council election hanging ovep certain City Counci lmembers' heads. H said that kind of grandstanding had been avoided in the past on the Council and he hoped it was not typical . of future -Council proce- dure. He hoped issues continued to be debated on ._their merits and not an petty' emotional i ss4 He said he wOuld support the main motion regarding the:. nucl ear freeze, resolution because it was con- sistent with _-his :: personal beliefs and because ofthe overWhel mmHg expressi on of the community =despite, his - personal reservations about the ._appropriateness of Counci i action on the issue. 1 9 1 2 4/1.9/82 Councilmember Cobb said that notwithstanding the events of the evening he would continue to resist the Council's entering into neti anal issues. He still felt strongly about the principle even though he had lost. He said it was too late to turn back on the issue, and although he preferred to stick with his principles and not parti ci pate in the vote, he felt it was too late for that also. He said that not one person had addressed the issue at the core of the nucl ear freeze. The horror of a nucl ear war was already known, but the warheads as described i n the movie were not one or two megatons --they were 20 to 50 megatons because the Russians had intentionally aimed terror weapons at our cities, and they were city killers intended for first strike kind of activity. He said that only one person touched on whether the freeze was more or less likely to bring both parties i nto ' some kind, of mean- ingful negotiations, and there was some possibility that the pub- lic movement, which he did support, could make such negotiations more difficult. No one had addressed that s because no one, including himself, knew whether it was the case. He said it was easy to vote against nuclear war because no one wanted a nuclear war. He was not sure what the vote would accomplish, but said the movement may_ encourage President Reagan to push harder than he might otherwise to get the other nuclear superpower into those meaningful negotiations. However, as long as a bilateral , veri fi- able freeze was advocated, it would take more than just the United States tc give any meaning to those two words. He said the vote was cl early safe and was somethi ng that had to be tri ed. Councilmember Cobb said that like everyone else, he . said he was against war, and wanted peace in this world for his family and his children. He did not want the people to fool themselves that ;dust because the people wanted to reduce -the ri sk, of nuclear war that it would necessarily be done because the Council passed a resolu- tion. He said that because it requi red two parties to make an agreement, he requested that a copy of the resolution be sent to the Soviet Embassies in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. with the request that it be forwarded to their national leaders. If Palo. Alto was going to have a foreign policy, it had better deal with both sides. He remi nded everyone that the di scussi on could never have happened in the country of that other power, and urged. everyone to be realistic about what could be accomplished. As he understood nucl ear weapons, a freeze at the:, present poi nt would probably be safe because there was a grim kind of parity that was sufficient to say that there would be no particular advantage to one si de or the other if nucl ear weapons were frozen at the cur- rent ? e%el Despite some harassi ng tel ephone cal 1 s, and hi s strong obj ecti ons to the Counci 1 getting i nvol ved i n nati onai issues, and his negative reaction to the kind of pressure created at the meeting, Counci lmember Cobb said: he would vote on the sub- stance of the issue. He said that tonight's discussion, convinced him that on thi s parti cul ar national issue, he must take . a stand. He -did not think the nuclear freeze would have the effect the people were hoping for --he wished it would, but he doubted it. He said it was worth a try, so long as i t was verifiable and bilat- eral. 5o long as those words were included in the resolution, and so long as it was: sent to the Soviet Embassies, he would support it. He would continue to resist national issues which came before the Council because they diverted the Council from the job they were elected to de. Counci lmember Levy said .he _would abstain on the issue. He said that it 'was a no -lose'- vote because he favored a nuclear freeze, and it . was clear that ' the Palo Alto City Council .would ,go on record as favoring the nuclear freeze. He held to a . principle that the integrity of the Council meant that it must involve itself with, the issues over which. it had direct control. He thought the debate had been - an excel 1 ent ' one andn one which he" thought did . credit to ail- the party ci pants in the community. If the issue of civil defense were brought up again, he would discuss" it and . take specific .direct action, but by abstaining, he did not mean to not stand up and be cOunted as an individual To stand up and be counted as a City Counci lmember i! n ` an . area not within province of the City Council , he - thought was unwise. Councilmember Fletcher thanked the Councilmembers for keeping an open mind in the face of what they thought they were going to do. She thanked everyone who attended the 'meeting and spoke. She added to her motion that the resolution also be sent to the Soviet Embassies ,i n Washington, D.C. and i n San Franc'i sco. `Mice Major Bechtel thanked everyone that attended the meeting. She said the citizens had shown that their presence, individually and collectively, madea difference. Councilmember Klein said he thought the meeting was one of the most remarkable demonstrations of the democratic process he had ever seen. He said it gave one hope, and showed that things could be done. Whether the resolution would carry forward and change the world no one knew. He thought it was worth the effort, and the only way to get there. MOTION PASSED by a vote of 6-0, Levy, Eyerly "abstaining," Witherspoon absent. ADJOURNMENT Council adjourned at 12:35 a.m. ATTEST: