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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-03-09 City Council Summary MinutesRegular Meeting March 9, 1981 Item Oral Communication Minutes of December 15, And December 22, 1980 Consent Calendar Result of Golf Course Study - Refer to Finance and Public Works Committee Amendment to Golf course: Coffee Shop Lease to extend the termination of Notice Procedures Palo Alto Avenue/Ei Camino Real Traffic Signal Improvements Alma Street Widening at Embarcadero Road.- Award of Agreement for Consulting Services Resolution re Underground Utility Assesmment District No. 20 Ordinance re change of classification of property known as 403 Alma Street from P -F to CC Planning Commission Recommendation re Modifica- tion of the City's Public Hearing Notice Pro- cedures City Employee Car Pool Program Request of CounGilmembers Bechtel and Levy re Encforcement of Overnight Parking Report of Counciimembers Levy and Fazzino re Visit tb Washington D.C. for NLC Adjournment Final Adjournment Page 6 9 9 6 9 9 6 9 9 7 0 0 0 0 7 0 7 0 0 7 0 0 7 0 1 7 0 1 7 0 .6 7 0 9 7 1 2 7 1 3 7 1 3 - 6 9. 8 3/9/8.1 Regular Meeting Monday, March 9, 1981 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Councilchambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Avenue, at 7:35 p.m., Vice -Mayor Fletcher presiding. PRESENT: Bechtel, Eyerly, Fazzino, Fletcher, Klein, Levy, Renzel, Witherspoon (arrived at 7:36 p.m.) ABSENT: Henderson ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 1. Mary Macur, 1520 Willow, spoke about intimidation of Oak Creek residents by Oak Creek Apartments to force the residents to vote for condominium cc.nversion. She stated that in July, 1980 she received ,a termination of tenancy notice from Oak Creek Apartments as a result of her complaints. She felt that this was an example to the other residents at Oak Creek of what could happen if they complained of the conversion. She felt that this was a method of intimidating the residents to vote for condominium conversion. 2. Milly Davis, 34.4 Tennessee Lane, read a letter to the Council from the Palo Alto Neighborhood Coalition Steering Committed regarding the handling of February 4 and March 4 correspondance to the Council from the Neighborhood Coalition. WELCOME TO COUNCILMEMBER KLEIN (appointed February 23, 1981 Vice -Mayor Fletcher welcomed Larry Klein to the City Council and wished him success as a member of the Council. MINUTES OF DECEMBER 15 1980 Councilmember Fazzino requested that on page 495, last paragraph on the page, third line from the bottom, "..upon the communities program with Stanford.", read instead ",-..upon the humanities program at Stanford.", aid that the second from the last line read "priorities" instead of "themes He:also wanted it noted that en page 510 where he stated "...he could, for instance, -invite .:18 friends to move in with him...", that this was a hypothetical statement, and he had no intentions of doing - :to. -- Counci lmeraber Bechtel reouested that on page 49,7, second paragraph, fourth line, '! tSA" read instead "HSA". MOTION: Vice -Mayor Flethcer moved, seconded. by Fazzino, that Council approve as corrected the mi nutes of December 15, 1980. The motion passed unanimously. MINUTES OF.t[ MBER 22 1980 MOTION: Vice -Mayor Fletchermove';, seconded ,by Fazzino,--that the Council approve the minutes of :December 22, 1980. The motion passed unanimously CONSENT CALENDAR- ., Counci lrhemberKlein said that as an attorney iri' private practice, he represented Mr. Kramer on the item regarding the Golf Course Coffee Shop, so he 'woul d hot be voting on it. He also asked that the City Employee Car Pool Program be removed from.. the Consent Calendar. 6 9.9 3/9/81 1 e Referral Items RESULTS OF GOLF COURSE STUDY - R : WbRKS CUMMI t (tt (CPR: 186: r ) Councilmember Levy commented on the results of Cool f Course Study, without removing it from the Consent Calendar. He stated that the consultant study did not contain specific data as to the operational costs of the golf course, or recommendations as to greens fees. It was his understanding that when the study was presented to the Finance and Public Works Committee that the consultant's would be present to discuss these elements. Staff recommends that the Municipal Golf Course Management and Operations Stud:' along with _staff recommendations be referred to the Finance and Public Works Committee for review at it's April 14, 1981 meeting. Action Items 'AMENDMENT TO GOLF COURSE COFFEE 7117T A !ION OF Ndi icL I'kUCLUURLS ZMR:178:i1 Staff recommends the Council authorize the Mayor to execute the lease amendment of the Golf Course Coffee Shop, extending the deadline for City notice of termination to April 30, 1981. PAL(i ALTO AVENUE/EL CAMINO REAL Staff recommends that Council: R: 1 75:1 ) 1. Authorize staff to notify CaiTrans that Palo Alto agrees to contribute $13,600 toward this prc;ject, and to request that CalTrans proceed with the development of final plans and a cooperative cost sharing agreement. 2. Approve the expenditure of $13,600 in Capital Improvement- Fund monies for this project ALMA STREET WIDENING AT i,. - D O F u c VICES (CMR:1/6:1) It is recommended that Council authorize the Mayor to execute the agreement with Ruth & Going, Inc. for engineering services. AGREEMENT - PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT SERVICES FEASIBILITY AND DESIGN —ALMA BRIDGE WIDENING (Ruth & Going, Inc.) RESOLUTION RE UNDERGROUND CT_ HQ. 20 It is recommended that Counci ► approve resolution allowing for the issuance of a single bond to finance improvements related to the Underground Utility District No 20 . (Crescent Park I) . 7 0 0 3/9/81 RESOLUTION 5885 entitled "A RESOLUTION At LADING REITITTION NO. 5874 ENTITLED "A RESOLUTION DETERMINING UNPAID ASSESSMENTS AND PROVIDING FOR ISSUANCE OF BONDS - UNDERGROUND UTILITIES CONVERSION UNDERGROUND UTILITY ASSESSMENT DISTRICT NO. 20. ORDINANCE RE CHANGE OF L 5 ERTY kNO WT AS 4O? ALMA "S=TROM econ ea Ong ORDINANCE 3268 entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING SECTION 18.08.040 OF THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE (THE ZONING MAP) TO CHANGE THE CLASSIFICATION OF PROPERTY KNOWN AS 403 ALMA STREET FROM P -F TO CC" MOTION: Councilmember Fazzino moved, seconded by Levy, that Council approve the Consent Calendar. MOTION PASSED: The motion passed on a unanimous vote, Councilmember Klein abstaining from Golf Course Study and amendment of Golf Course Coffee shop lease items, Mayor Henderson absent. PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION RE MODIFICATION OF THE CITY'S PUBLIC HEARING ( ontinue rom Correction See Pg. 826 5/11/81 Robert Brown, Environmental Assessment Planner, said that the increases which are detailed in -the staff report only pertain to use permits, variances, zone changes, subdivisions, parcel maps, and non -conforming use assessment. This would_not include Architectural Review Board applications and Site -Design applications for which the Planning Department currently does' not mail notices. Councilmember Renzel had a question pertaining to Page 1, Section 2c(4) regarding typopgraphical or publishing errors. She wondered if this did not include typographical errors on the list that is given to the Planning Department by an - applicant. She felt that if this was so, that it would be inviting erroneous addresses. Roy Abrams, City Attorney, stated that this referred to the publication itself. However, if 'this situation were to occur, Subsection b would speak to that issue, and a typographical error would not invalidate the action taken. He said that the good faith section was necessary- to protect the City from .any errors that might occur. Councilmember Renzel expressed concern towards this matter, because she felt that if a developer knew of individuals who were unfavorable towards a development, he could give an erroneous address, preventing individuals,from knowing about the meeting: Mr. Abrams said that it was his understanding that there would be cross checking with: ut,il it•ies .billings so that this situation does not occur. Bob" Brown said that Mr. Abrams was correct, and that by using the computer utility files, they would be able to pick up additional- labels.This way, utility users in the area of. concern would be sent .notices. Councilmember Bechtel asked if an ordinance regarding the increase of $55.00 to the fees would be coming later. 7 0 1 3/9/81 Mr. Abrams said that there was no need for an additional ordinance,all that needed to be changed was the Municipal Fee Schedule. Bob Moss, 4010 0 rme Street, said that the problem of public notice of variances and zoning changes has been present for many years. He felt that the modifi'atior in the ordinance was in the right direction, but that additional modifications could be made in a couple of areas: 1) large streets - the current 300 foot notice area excluOes many peop1 who' would be affeced, 2) Section 2b - he would like to see "...constitute a good faith.." changed to "..prevent the City from proceeding...", 3) Section 6 - he would like to see the sentence "...the'Council may, at its option, give notice..." changed to, "...the Council shall give notice.:.", 4) Section 7 He would like to add "And all occupants of such property, when theoccupant is rot the owner." Joyce Anderson, 3081 Magnolia, wanted to cite areas of concern under the notification process. Under the old ordinance, variance and conditional use permits required nitifi.ation of occupants. She had never found a case where the applicant actually did this despite the fact that it was required. It appeared to her that this was being omitted from the proposed ordinance, but staff says that it will be done. She felt that if the applicants did not notify occupants when notification was required by the ordinance, that they surely wouldn't if that stipulation was deleted from the ordinance- She recalled the case of the Midas Muffler Building at the corner of El Camino and Arastradero. The Planning Commission and staff discussed at length how this building was ever passed. She felt that the problem could be traced to the notification which stated that the use was "automotive service". Had a more complete description been included in the notice, and had staff and the applicant complied with the ordinance, there wouldn't have been a problem. Ms. Anderson referred to the phrase in the new ordinance "typographical or publishing errors," and said this addition was not recommended by the Planning Commission or the staff, -e.nd did not understand whyit was included. She recommended removal of this statement, and instead include that all permits and/or approval shall become null and void without full compliance of the ordinance. Councilmember Renzel asked for clarification of the exact areas of the ordinance which she was recommending be changed Ms. Anderson said that those areas were: Section 4a(1) "...time and place of such hearing, and the purpose thereof..." had been deleted from the old ordinance; Section 2(b) - of the old ordinance stated that the applicant would notify occupants, and the new ordinance did not include this. Doris Bosch, 474 W. Charleston, spoke regarding variance notifications- She read a letter pertaining to this issue. Vice -Mayor Fletcher asked staff to respond to some of`the concerns raised by the public. Bob Brown said that he would speak directly to the Midas Muffler application. The comments from the public were corre:.t, there was a great deficiency in the notice given to adjacent occupants. This is one reason they were suggesting the changes iti the ordinance. The actual physical structure of tnti building was not applied for -by the use permit. These details were unknown to Midas Muffler at the time of the mse ,permit which was grante4 prior to plans being submitted to ,the Architectural Review Board. Councilmember Fazzino said that he thought the general direction of theordinance was good. Additionally he thought the suggestions made at ,the meeting were -good, and should be incorporated.' He felt that the Midas Muffler issue was a perfect example .of how the City and the citizens could get burned from lack of< notification. 7 0 2 3/9/81 :1. Councilmember Fazzino continued to say that he felt in Section 4a(1) that the first paragraph read, "Notice of the time and place, and the purpose thereof..." be added. It was his understanding that in Section 2(b) that,"....occupants of said property..." was already in the language. He also felt that the proposal with regard to "detailed description", was a good one, and should be included. Roy Abrams stated that should this language be added, it would have to be added in several sections. He said that in providing the notices, w=gat one has to do is strike a balance. If "detailed description" was to be added, one would constantly argue about what was detailed and what was not. This would put the -City in the position -of being subject to attack because of failure to provide a detailed description for three years after a decision was made. The intent of -the ordinance was to take care of the obvious and detrimental aspects of the notice procedure, insofar as the people who should be notified were not getting them. Councilmember Fazzino asked under the present law, what kind of description went to the neighbors, and how the property would be described. He used Midas Mu;rler.as an example. Mr.Brown stated that under CS zone, conditional uses include automotive services, and that the use permit notification went out stating that the use permit.was for automotive service. Mr. Abrams said the explanation was that at the time that application was proposed, the notification process for use permits was separated from Architectural Review. He felt that this was another problem that might be addressed - combining the application processes. This was different than what they were discussing tonight. He stated that the notice itself was in the control of the City, rather than the developer. Councilmember Fazzino expressed a desire to come up with some rules with which the City can notify residents about,. the basic elements of proposal. He asked if this would be possible to do in th.e'final ordinance. Ken Schreiber, Assistant Director of Planning, said that usually this information is not available. The exception to this is variances, and variance notices already indicate such. elements. There is not a uniform base cf information, except what is being applied for, i.e. a use. The variance and use permit section could be amended with wording that would include .a brief description of the permit request. Mr. Abrams said that if the Council wished they could adopt, either by motion or resolution, certain policies }:,p guide staff in what it would wish to see in the application. His concern was that if it was added to the ordinance, and inadverta.ntly it was left out by the City, they would have a three year perted to ride out in which the decision could be challenged. Councilmember. Fazzi.,no suggested that Planning Commission look at -the issue and.; come back with recommended alternatives. MOTION: Councilmember Fazzino moved, seconded by Fletcher -that Council approve the Planning Commission recommendation as amended. ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING THE ZONING_ CODE (TITLE 18) AND THE SUBDIVISION CODE (TITLE 21) OF THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL. CODE REGARDING THE GIVING OF NOTIC, FOR PLANNING DEPARTMENT APPLICATIONS (1st reading), Councilmember Klein suggested that they could get around the problem that Mr. Abrams was raising by making the language more` discretionary. 7 0 3 3/9/81 Mr. Brown said that he understood the first portion of Councilmember Fazzino's amendment was pertaining to Section 4(a)(1), and he thought that this amendment was included in Section 4(b)(2) which dictates what the public notices will contain. Councilmember Fazzino said that he understood (1) to relate specifically to the local newspaper. He wanted ;his language to be incorporated into newspaper publications of public hearings. Councilmember Fazz,ino said that Section 4, paragraph (1) would include notice of the time, .place, purpose thereof, conforming with the language in 7aragr.ph 2, Section 2(c)(2) to read "time, place, purpose of the hearing, including a brief description of the permit. request." Councilmember Eyerly spoke to Councilmember Fazzino's amendment to Section 4(a)(1). He felt that this subject- was already covered in Section 4(2)(b), and therefore the amendment was superfulous. - Mr. Schreiber said that Councilmember Eyerly was correct. Th€. a are two type of notices required: newspaper notices, and mailed notices. The language that Councilmember Eyerly was referring to applied to both types of notices. Vice -Mayor Fletcher said that they would vote on the first part of the motion; to add to,Section 4(a)(1), notice of time and place of such hearing, and the purpose thereof. Councilmember Fazzino said that he liked the addition, and that it would make the requirements very clear. FIRST PART OF MOTION FAILED: The motion failed on a 4-4 vote. AYES: Fazzino, Fletcher, Levy, Witherspoon NOES: Bechtel, Eyerly, Klein, Renzel ABSENT: Henderson SECOND PART OF THE MOTION: To add a brief, description of the purpose of the application. MOTION PASSED: The motion passed on a unanimous vote, Henderson absent. Councilmember Bechtel said that she had heard a lot of speakers saying they wanted the section "...typographical and/or publishing errors...", deleted, and also they requested that all applicants be notified. She supported their intent, but expressed concern about possible court cases. She felt that the computer mailings would be reaching a lot of people who were not reached previously. If a year from now the City was still having trouble with notification, then would be the time to add a, section as Ms. Anderson was requesting. She felt that it was good to keep in the language as a safety valve.. Vice -Mayor Fletcher`teIt' it was important to take into consideration the single family homeowner who wants to add., room and wants a variance o#''Aw . to three 'feet. As ill example of overkill, she referred to the Greenhouse 'Condomi ni ums where there is a wall separating the condominiums from, residential area.' An individual in the residential area wanted to, add a room on to her home, and in order, to do so, she was required\to sent out an additional 225 notices due to the presence of the condominiums. She felt that this type of situation would'occur More frequently as the radius of people to be notified' increases. MOTION: Cbunci lmember Fletcher moved, that in the case of multi -fang y zones falling .within the 200 foot radius of an R-1 zone, where a resident is applying for a minor variance, the applicant may request an exemptionfrom notification of such property. 7 0 4 3/9/81. The motion died for lack of a second. Councilmember Levy asked if Vice -Mayor Fletcher was concerned about the cost. Vice -Mayor Fletcher felt it was an issue of expense and time for such a minor item. Councilmember Levy felt that the cost was minor, approximately $25.00, in a case where the total amount of money involved runs into several thousand dollars-. Councilmember Renzel said she had previously raised concern over typographical errors in addresses. Since staff has Correction assured Council that they would be using utilities computer See Pg. 826 list which is up-to-date and accurate, the combined with the. 5/11/81 applicant's list, she felt woul - be sufficient. If Council finds that people are still not being notified, then she would be ready to delete this language from the ordinance. Councilmember Bechtel felt that the suggestion to delete notification when there was a major road needed to be discussed. .She proposed increasing the notification area when there is a ma;,;ir road. There are places where people live further than 300 feet from the major road, but they use that road as a major route. Mr. Schreiber replied that the first step would involve defining what major roads are, particularly what streets. He hoped that this kind of a provision would not be included in the ordinance for a number of reasons: the notification process should be relatively uniform and simple to avoid increased number and diversity of applications and stipulations involved. MOTION: Councilmember Bechtel moved that the notification area be increased for El Camino and Oregon Expressway to include properties directly across from the applicants parcel., within 100 feet. The motion died for lack of a second. MOTION PASSED: The motion passed on a unanimous vote, Mayor Henderson absent. MOTION: Councilmember Fazzino moved, seconded by Renzel that Council approve the budget ordinance amending the budget for the fiscal year 1980-81 to provide funding for changes in public hearing notice procedures. ORDINANCE 3269 entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE CO3)NCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING THE BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1980-81 TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR CHANGES IN PLANNING DIVISION'S PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE PROCEDURES. The motion passedon a unanimous vote, Mayor Henderson absent. Mr, Schreiber spoke to two other Planning Commission recommendations: -, one which related more: =to policy than ordinance and another .which related to the increase in fees which would be an amendment to the Municipal Fee Schedule. MOTION: Cou�nci lmember Renzel move, seconded by Fazzino that Council app`r`ove the. remaining Planning Commission recommendations, including fee changes. 7-- 0 5 5/9/81 The motion passed on a unanimous vote, Mayor Henderson absent. CITY EMPLOYEE CAR POOL PROGRAM Councilmember Klein questioned the staff recommendation that this program be put under the City's health insurance program, and secondly he'questioned the charge per mile of City employee's pa-ticipati.ng in the program. He was concerned about- the exposure the City would have under the insurance program, and he asked for more detail as to why staff recommended that this be put under the health insurance program, and why the staff did not feel that it would be costly. Ted Noguchi, Director of Transportation, said that there were two parts to the insurance: liability and worker's compensation. Staff had computed the liability cost to be .02C per person per mile. The worker's compensation worked out to .01f per person per mile. When these figures were added in to the cost per mile for operating a vehicle the total cost gets quite high. The City pool cars are not small cars and for this reason they look at the average mileage of the vehicles•in cost per mile per person. Staff looked at these costs and compared them with a program that is already in existence in Bellevue, Washington.'_ In Bellevue, they are doing exactly what staff is proposing'here. Councilmember Klein questioned the discrepancy between the figure in the staff report of .12d per mile, and Jim Zurcher's figure of .21C per mile on item #9. Nor. Noguchi thought the reimbursement rate was .211 per mile. This program would be taking advantage of the bulk purchase of gasoline. Bill Zaner, City Manager, said that the fleet of cars -n question is not uniform. -It depends upon the use to which you are going to put the car. Obviously in a pool situation you need a car that is capable of carrying a pool of p,eople..,., The mileage rate on a car that could be used as a pool car i; different than the mileage on a sn 1:l car or a police car. As far as the insurance policy, the cost of adding in worker's. compensation and liability was computed. This cost was added to the cost of the program. Staff found that in this case, it made more sense for the employees -to drive their own cars, or they simply wouldn't participate in the program. To the extent that the Council wants to participate ;-- this program, and have `=the employees ---leave their cars at home, ytu have to provide some kind of incentive. in effect this is what they would-be doing...subsidizing the employees by encouraging the employee to leave his own ear at home by giving him a better rate for using the City vehicles. Councilmember Klein stilL had questions as to the -.12f per -mile rate o n the staff report. Mr. Noguchi replied that consideration was given to the cost of gas, and oil, and that consideration was not given to the depreciation, of the car. If --one was to tali --about reimbursement for use- of employee's cars, they would have to consider in depreciation. Councilmember Eyerly asked if staff could give Council an idea of whatthe program might cost the City per year in r,N at i on - to the $2,100..00 per year they,woul`d save as mentioned in the staff report. 7 .0 6 3/9/81 1 1 Mr. Noguchi said that they figured a two person pool, assuming a 30 mile per day round trip would be approximately $530.00 per person per year. The liability and worker's compensation would cost $234.00 per person per year. Councilmember Levy said he was concerned about the cost. Mr. Noguchi said that if the worker's compensation and ] iabl ity were added into the figure that the program would cost the .City per person per year, that figure would be offset by the amount of money that would be brought in by additional parking permits. Councilmember Levy said that up to now, it was automatically assumed that carpooling is a benefit. Now Council was finding out that the incremental cost of the program would be higher than the individual driving his own car. He felt this was dismaying. The advantage would be fewer vehicles coming into the City and fewer parking spaces occupied, but he felt that this number would not be so significant, because they were talking about a maximum of five pool cars. He wondered if what they were doing was advantageous, and questioned the cost per mile figure. He was ready to endorse the program, realizing that there would be benefits outside of the direct costs, but he felt that they should knew what those direct costs are. At this time, Council could go ahead and evaluate the other intangibles. He recommended instead of billing the driving coordinator on a set fee, they do the billing on a basis which recompenses to the City it's out-of-pocket costs. MOTION: Councilmember Levy moved, seconded by Klein., that Council table the item for several weeks until staff has total data as to what the costs are. Mr. Zaner said thet staff recognizes that this prograaa would be more expensive than the employee driving his own car, the advantage comes in benefits such as less cars, less pollution, and parking spaces freed up. Dollar for dollar, this program is a subsidy. Councilmember Bechtel had some question regarding Exhibit A of the ordinance. She did not understand how it could be possible for an individual to drive his/ter own car for less than 2.44 per mile, which is the figure quoted for the charge per person per mile for a 5 -person carpool. Mr, Noguchi said that she was referring to. charge per person per mile. This figure is not the same as per, vehicle mile. Councilmember Bechtel understood this, but did not understand how it would be less expensive for an individual to drive his own car by himself. She, did not think that this was corre t. If one got more people in their carpool, it would definitely cost less,__ She felt that part of knowing how much a program is going to cost, is not knowing all of the variables until the prograM is actually utilized. Councilmember Witherspoon felt that if the Council did not accept this pilot project, they would be fcolish. She did not think that the City would e out any money. The participants would be reimbursing the City .124 per mile. She urged the Council to go ahead and approve the program in the spirit of trying to set an example. 7 0 7 3/9/81 Councilmember Eyerly agreed that the Council should go ahead, as, this is a pilot program. He wondered if 2 -person carpools should be_allowed, and if staff shouldn't raise their charge per person per mile somewhat. He asked if staff had enough inventory as to who would use the carpool to know where they stood using the figures in Exhibit 'A of the -ordinance. Mr. Noguchi said that one of the problems was level of interest. Initially 23 people indicated interest, As the program was developed more, the interest diminished rapidly, especially when staff started talking about requiring at least a 3 -person pool. At this point, staff thought that the only. thing that would attract employees was a 2 -person pool. Councilmember Eyerly understood what Mr. Noguchi was and supported the motion. He hoped that once the program was started, that staff would have an open mind as far as changing the rate that is charged the riders. They would be able to. better see what the cost of the program is going to be at this time. Councilmember Klein stated that his comments had been in the spirit of making the program work. He didn't think that they were doing themselves any favor by setting up a pilot program that didn't have all of the cost data there. If private employers were to be encouraged t.o implement such programs themselves, they would have to know just what such a program costs. Councilmember Levy felt that it was best to have the data in front of them, and that for this purpose, it would be beneficial to wait two weeks. Councilmember Renzel said that she was supportive of carpooling. She also felt that they should wait two weeks until they had all the data before them before they embark on the program. Vice -Mayor Fletcher felt that once gas lines started again, and when the price of gasoline climbed to $2..00 per gallon, that there would be increased interest in carpooling. MOTION FAILED: The- motion ;to continue the carpooling item for two weeks failed on the following vote: AYES: Fletcher. Klein, Levy, Renzel NOES. Bechtel, Eyerly, Fazzino, Witherspoon ABSENT: Henderson MOTION: Counci lmember,Withersjoon moved, seconded by Eyerly, that Council approve stff recommendations that 1) find that the proposed pool car/carpool program will have no significant environmental effect; 2) approve the attached pool car/carpool agreement; and 3), author•-i ze staff to institute the pool car/carpool program immediately. AMENDMENT TO MOTION: Councilmember Levy moved that Item 3(h.) of the ordinance be amended to read, " City shall bill the driver/coordinators ..every four weeks based on the averagz. miles/day that the carpool is operated, a acordi rig tO a fee schedule to be established b:r; the appropriate City official in a manner that will return the approximate incremental vehicle cost incurred by this program. The amendment to the motion faileddue. to lack of a second. MOTION PASSED: The motion to..adOOt the program passed on a unanimous vote, Henderson absent 7 0 8: 3/9/81 REQUEST OF COUNCILMEMBERS tECHTEL AND LEVY RE ENFORCE - Rua OF OVERNIGHT PARKING Councilmember Bechtel said Councilmember Levy and herself were concerned about appearance of neighborhoods, crime prevention, and street sweeping. problems. She said that the Council had received numerous letters and phone calls from citizens regarding thee;: issues. She was suggesting that the matter of overnight parking be referred to the Policy and Procedures Committee. She felt that the ordinance should not be limited to the existing ordinance and that variations thereof would be appropriate. Councilmember Witherspoon asked if the existing ordinance required that individuals obtain permits or else be cited for overnight parkins. Jim Zurcher, Chief of Police, said that was correct, but the ordinance was enforced in a limited sense: they do not write citations. If there was a complaint about a parked car, or the police thought that a car had been parked in the same space for an excessive amount of time, they consulted with the people in charge of housing the vehicle. Councilmemher Witherspoon said that she understood this was because there wasn't the resources available for citing. Mr. Zurcher said that approximately four years ago Council decided to strike the resources, but did not rescind the ordinance. Since that time, the police have handled it on a non -citation, negotiated basis. Councilmember Levy said that the main expense in enforcing the ordinance is the item of $52,000 for police officers to investigate permit applications. He asked fit . Zurcher to describe what is involved in this process. Mr. Zurcher said that if a resident wants to park their vehicle on the street overnight, he or she must have a permit to do so.. The inquiries that an officer would make for, such a request would be; nearby available parking, number of cars owned by the applicant, etc. He thought that there was approximately 6,000 permits looked at annually. While in the past a'n offider's time has been spent investigating this, he felt that . there were, some alternatives.. Janet Rulifson, 3785 El Centro, read a letter from Palo Alto Neighborhood Coalition. The Coalition voted unanimously to support the Palo Alto Overnight Parking Ordinance for the fallowing- reasons: 1) crime, 2) safety, 3) -vandalism, 4) abandoned cars, 5) convenience, 6) aesthetics. Concerning the cost of enforcement, she felt that there were solutions. Suggestions were as follows: ]) Raise permit and citation fees., 2) Make the permit system work easily, 3) Enter into a partnership with, the people of Palo Alto. Bob Moss, 4010 Orme, quoted from the 1976-77 Budget, page 131 (police services), "Service levels in the police department will remain essentially the same in 1976-77 as in the current year. Staffing levels within the department will changedue to a decrease of`six regular positions. It is anticipated that this reduction in staffing will not impact service levels for tie department." He said that at no time during the budget hearing was it mentioned that the overnight parking ordinance will not be enforced' due to a lack of manpower. He commented on the figures in the overnight cost analysis. He at one time applied for a permit, and it took the officer approximately four minutes to issue him th.e permit. He felt 7 0 9 3/9/81 the figure quoted for revenues from the permits was incorrect. He felt, as he did in 1976, that the ordinance should be enforced as it is a tool that the citizens of Palo Alto can use to clean up junked vehicles. Joyce Anderson, .381 Magnolia Drive, referred to the statement in the staff report that said in the past 12 months, only -5 complaints have been received regarding overnight parking. She found this hard to believe because she and her husband arone have complained at least that many times. The response to their compiaints.has been that there is not an ordinance pertaining to overnight parking. Often there is_a huge semi parked on their street. Her husband asked an officer to take care of the rig, and received the response that there was nothing wrong with the semi being parked where it was. She noted that the semi was in 'violation of four parts of the ordinance; 1) parked overnight, 2) parked more than 72 hours, 3) commercial vehicle oversized for a residential street, 4) repairing vehicle on the street.— She urged Council to provide the Police Department and Treasurer's Office with the necessary funds to,restore and enforce the permit program. She•suggested the permit fee be increased to at least $6.00 per month, she thought this might be an incentive' for residents to get rid of inoperable vehicles, and to reduce the_number of vehicles owned to only those that are necessary. She also encouraged the City to become part of the State abatement program, which would bring in addition«1 revenues. This together with increased fees would allow the program to pay for itself. Eugene O'Sullivan, 1547 Dana, said that he was the President of the Palo Alto Civic League. He said that it is the' position of the Civic League that the overnight parking ordinance should be' enforced, and not be repealed. The League supports the ordinance, and feels enforcement of it benefits the community. The annual projected cost quoted in the staff report of $68,000, figures to be slightly more than $1.00 per.head of the population of the City of Palo Alto. He felt that the $2.00 fine could be increased to $5.00 which would create more revenue. He reminded Council that there was no public demand not to enforce the ordinance at the time the discontinuance was started. He was asking, for the Civic League, that Council do not accept the staff recommendation, but that they provide funds to the necessary departments to see that the ordinance is enforced as it was designed to be enforced. Clara Sharpies, 777 La Para, said -that she read in the staff report that five complaints was ail the police had. received this year; she felt she was:one person who had made five complaints, and she knew that her neighbors had made more than five. Next to her residence there is a split lot with two small rentals and six cars, two of which are commercial _vehicles. She felt that this was dangerous for her children who had to cross the street to go to school. They have to cross behind the trucks that are. parkedAn front of„her. house. She was recommending that overnight . parking be enforced and that citations be issued at more han $5x00. Herb Borock, 3401 Ross Road, spoke to Exhibit A, the cost analysis. He said that the expense°figure., which is a majority of th.e total , expenses is not_ variable.;= _ate said that the $52,950 cost would not be -something that would_ occur every year. He referred to the section regarding fines collected, he felt that ' an increase . In the fires should -be reflected i on the income side. 7 1 0 3/9/81. Manny Gernand, Sant) Claea Valley, spoke to freedom of the press and freedom of speech. Don Price, 960 Addison Avenue, said that he and his family had desparate problems.regardi=ng overnight parking in their neighborhood, and that they, as well as the other people at the Council tweeting, needed help from the City Counc41. John Redstrom Jr.., 251 Churchill Avenue, felt that the current problem is ore that existed at least two years ago in front of hip home. One person in his area owns five cars. He had a letter from the City Manager dated April 1980, stating that the problem 'lad been taken care of, and the vehicle in concern had been moved. He said the vehicle was moved around the corner for a short time, but the car is there again. He felt that a requirement of the permit should be that the vehicle have a current registrat;on. MOTION: Councilmember Bechtal moved, seconded by Levy that the enforcement of overnight parking ordinance be referred to Committee to be studied. Councilmember levy felt the key issue was that there was a great public concern about enforcement of the ordinance. He felt the ordinance should be enforced, but was questioning the cost. He felt there were things that could be done to make the ordinance less costly; 1) raise the citation fee, 2) raise the permit fee, 3) he didn't feel it was necessary that a police officer give the applications out, or that the applications be investigated quite so thoroughly, and that renewals need riot be investigated at all. Councilmember Renzel said that the main issue was policy, and the monetary aspect was secondary, therefore, she supported referral to the Pol icy and Procedures Committee. Councilmember Witherspoon said she felt the question -has how the City would financially implement the ordinance. Councilmember Eyerly suppo ted referral to the Policy and Procedures Committee. He said that he felt the major feeling of the community was that by enforcing this ordinance, a lot of vehicles would be removed from the street. He hoped that the Police Department would provide the Committee with statistics regarding the number -,of vehicles that would actually be removed from the streets, and also information pertaining to safety on narrow streets. He also wanted information from the Police Department on how they are handling telephone calls and complaints from citizens. Councilmember Fazzino said his specific concern was how to deal with the street -sweeping problem in the downtown area and how it relates to the overnight parking. SUBSTITUTE. MOTION: Councilmember Fazzino moved,- seconded by Witherspoon that Council. refer the subject Of enforcement of overnight parking to the Finance and Public Works Committee. Councilmember Bechtel felt that other ideas should be explored as well. Counci lm ember Eyerly felt that it was i rperative that the subject go' -to the Policy and Procedures Committee first to explore the policy.related questions.. The Finance and Public. Works Committee would.be wrapped up in__finances. 7 1 1 3/9/81 MOTIOal PASSED: The motion passed on a 5-3 vote. AYES: Bechtel, Fazzino, Fletcher, Levy, Witherspoon NOES: Eyerly, Klein, Renzel ABSENT: Henderson REPORT OF CO.UNCILMEMBERS LEVY AND TAZZ INU RE VISIT TO, WASHINGTON 0.a. FOR M..0 Councilmember Levy said that himself, Councilmember Fazzino, and Mayor Henderson attended the Annual Conference of the National League of Cities last week in.Washington D.C. They attended a number of workshops and general meetings including a talk by President Reagan. . He said he attendedaan all day workshop on Energy and. the Environment:, and that Councilmember Fazzino and himself attended a workshop on Cable T.V. He felt the objectives of this administration were four -fold. The key issues are deregulation, budget deductions, tax cuts, and an increase in`defense. He didn't wish to comment on deregulation, except that in. the workshops there was broad support for concept of, deregulation and the general concept of budn,et reduction. He said that'it was the Presiaent's desire to combine a number of the programs that are being administered_ by the state or local government into one program, and to reduce the size of that program by approximatley 20%, leaving the implementation of that program up to the local government. The intent was not to kill programs, but for programs to operate on significantly smaller budgets. The programs that are most likely to be tri.rnmed back are those programs that are exclusive to an individual jurisdiction; e.g., programs pertaining to housing and transportation as compared to programs pertaining to wastewater. Councilmember Levy then spoke to the Cable T.V. issue, saying that this ---was a concern of almost every city. He said that SB 2827 was introduced into the senate last year at the end of the senate session. This bill would have deregulatedCATV from the federal level to the local level. This would have invalidated existing provisions of existing franchise -agreements.- It was.. his opinion that if the federal government was going to lessen the regulation of Cable T.V., then it would be the responsibility of local government to regulate where needed. Councilmember Fazzino felt that President Reagan's message was Correction very, ,1,ong on inspiration and very short on specifics. He said See Pg826 that Reagan received the most applause for his.cammenas about vii/et bilingual education. He felt that Reagan was a very effective communicator, andhe made it very clear that special interest groups,, including cities, would not stand' in the way of his economic recovery progra'i...they all have to suffer. After speaking to members of Congress, and their staff, it. was Councilmember Fazzino's impression that the majority of Congress fs standing _-behind Reagan, except for one wing of the_ Democratic ,Party, Which is Aostly in the House of - Represent.atives. Councilmember Fazzino continued to say that the concept of additional city control of federal dollars has gained great acceptance. We will be seeing fewer " dollars at the local level, but at the same time will be seeing fewer regulations and regulators. He felt the areas where the. City of 'Palo Alto, would feel the most impact are theareas of transportation, CDBG funding. and landbanking... He felt that the larger cities would suffer more than Palo Alto due to their increased dependence on Federal- funds. 7 1 2 3/9/81 1 Concerning Cable T.V., Councilmember Fazzino felt that if the City. of Palo Alto offered this service, public notification problems might be solved. Ore channel could be exclusively devoted to public notification with all kinds of descriptive words and phrases about what the project involved. He felt that Congress would hold back on their deregulation fever. He attributed his theory to the influence of Congressman Tim Worth of Boulder, Colorado, who is head of the. Telecommunications Subcommittee in the House. Boulder has experienced some of the same problems as Palo. Alto concerning the issue of CATV, and Councilmember Fazzino felt that Worth would be sympathetic to cities. It was his feeling that the House wot.1 d not go along with deregulation. Vice -Mayor Fletcher thanked,Councilmembers Levy and Fazzino for their report. ADJOURNMENT The Council meeting adjourned at 10:10 p.m. to Executive Session re Personnel. FINAL ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10:45 p.m. ATTEST: APPROVE: City Cl er l'/ Mayor