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Home My WebLink About1980-07-21 City Council Summary MinutesCITY COUNCIL MINUTEs Regular Meeting July 21, 1930 ITEM Approval of Minutes June 23, 1980 and June 30, 1980 Oral Communications 1. Jeff Lewiso 1471 Arcedia P1ac��- 2. Michael Burden, Craig Hotel Consent Calendar - Referral Items Refusal Collection and Disposal Consent Calendar - Action Items Grant Funds Approval for Residential Conservation Alma Street Reconstruction - Aiar'd of Contract Advanced Wastewater Treatment Change Order 799 Alma Street - Site and Design Review Application Appointment of Two Planning Commissioners Public Hearing: Draft Plan for Residential Conservation Service Plan Public Hearing: Proposed Amendment to Land Use Map For Varian Site Public Hearing: Vacant Site, 1050 Arastradero Road, ftond- went of Land Use Map from Research/Office Park to Multiple Family Residential CITY aF PALO ALTO PAGE 051 051 052 052 052 053 0 5 3 053 054 0 5 5 073 32100 Page Mill Road -Site and Design Review Application Mid -Peninsula Regional Open Space District 0 8 3 Mortgage Revenue Bonds - Low and Moderate Inca lousing 0 8 4 Surplus School Sites - Re Ventura Acquisition 0 8 4 Proposed Changes to Visual Arts Jury Ordinance 0 8 7 Report of City Attorney re Cons er Protection Laws 0 8 8 Report of City Attorney re Sign Ordinance Exception 0 8 8 4040. El Camino Real - Exceptions to Nonconforming Use Termination - Application of Dr. Sydney Smith Request of Vice !Mayor. Sher re Property Adjacent to Grant!,. Ash Mini -Park 0 9 0 Request of Mayor Henderson and Councilmember Fazzino re Community Services In Lieu Pay is . 0 9 0 Adjournment 0 9 1 Q 5 0 7/21/80 July 21, 1980 Regular Meeting The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on thisdate at 7:45 p.m., in the Council Chambers, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Mayor Henderson presiding. PRESENT: Eyerly, Fazzino, Fletcher (arrived 7:55 p.m.), Henderson, Levy, Renzel, Sher, Witherspoon ABSENT: Brenner MINUTES OF JUNE 23, 1980 Councilmember Witherspoon referred to page 725, under the Finance and Public Works Committee recommendations and asked that the fourth paragraph be corrected to read: "Councilmember Witherspoon said she supported the motion: She thought 'sense' minutes for Committees helped Councilmembers understand issues discussed in committees and commissions. She thought having 'sense' minutes for Council was rather narcissistic and unnecessary --she supported the motion." Mayor Henderson referrea to page 713 and the first paragraph under the heading Central Valley Power Legal Statement. He asked that the last sentence read: "Mayor Henderson complimented the city staff, among them Senior Assistant City Attorney Don Raynor, Director of Utilities, Ed Aghjayan, and others who had worked so hard on this settlement." MOTION: Councilmember Witherspoon moved, seconded by Fazzino, approval of the June 23, 1980 minutes, as corrected. The ration passed unanimously, Councilmembers Brenner and Fletcher MINUTES OF JUNE 30 1980 Mayor Henderson noted that the June 30, 1980 meeting was a special meting to interview, in public, candidates for appointment to the Architectural Review Board to fill the unexpired term of Philip W. ending September 30, 1981. MOTION: Councilmember Renzel moved, seconded by Fazzino, approval the minutes of June 30, 1980. The motion passed unanimously, Councilors Brenner and Fletcher absent. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS absent, Vogt, 051 7/21/80 of Jeff Lewis, 1471 Arcadia Place, said he was a principal stockholder and general manager of a small Palo Alto firm which specializes and operated exclusively in the creation of rental housing sponsored by various FHA housing and urban development programs. He said he felt it was very important that Palo Alto provide an environment for rental housing in Palo Alto which would att'act private investment capital. Then in order to realize="iturns, rates would pay for costs of creating the rental housing such as building, capital costs and land. He said the City must work with industry to combine resources to reduce rental costs. He noted some of his firm's accomplishments in rental housing. 2. Michael Burden, a resident of Cva1g Hotel in Palo Alto, said that the Craig Hotel had recently increased its rental rate without having made any noticeable improvements to the quality of the living environment. The increase was about $5 a week. He noted that many people who live in the hotel are there at the taxpayer's expense and he felt thzt the City should be more involved in monitoring housing of this nature. CONSENT CALENDAR Mayor Henderson requested that the item concerning Proposed Changes to the Visual Arts Jury Ordinance be removed from the consent calendar. The following items remained on the Calendar. Referral REFUSE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL - REC NDED RATE AND SERVICE :i nance s omm ttea' Staff recommends that the Finance and Public Works Committee consider and return to Council with a recommendation to approve the proposed amendment to the contract with the Palo Alto Sanitation Company for the collection and transportation of refuse, to become effective September 1, 1980; and to approve the resolution amending the Refuse Fund schedules for the City of Palo Alto Utilities rates and charges for collections and disposal, to become effective September 1, 1980. Action COUNCIL APPROVAL OF GRANT FUNDS FOR RESTDEHTIAL CONSERVATION SERVICE PROGRAM Staff reelmmends that Council aethorize the Mayor to execute the CMUA/ City of Palo Alto agreement for grant funding of $15,000. AGtEENENT - RESIDENTIAL ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM California Municipal Utilities Association ALMA STREET RECONSTRUCTION - MARC OF d. :0 Staff recommends that Council approve the Budget Amendment Ordinance adding $150,000 to the funds authorized for this project; and that the Mayor be authorized to execute a construction contract with Raisch Construction Company in the mount of $1,218,229.75 for the reconstruction work and add alternatives 1 and 2. The total sum of the project, in- cluding change orders, is not to exceed the authorized amount of $1,350,000. ORDINANCE 3216 entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OrPALO ALTO AMENDING THE BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL. YEAR 1980-81 TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOk CAPITAL !IMPROVEMENT PROJECT NO 79-55 'ALMA STREET RECONSTRUCTION' AND TO DEFER CAPITAL. IMPROVEMENT PROJECT NO. 79-60 'AL /CHURCHILL INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS" AWARD OF CONTRACT - Raisch Construction any 052 7/21180 ADVANCED WASTEWATER TREATMENT Staff recommends that Council authorize the Mayor to execute a change order in the amount of $17,482 for the installation of a standby electric generator in the dual med i a section of the AWTF. CHANSE ORDER TO CONTRACT - Dan Caputo Company 799 ALMA STREET APPLICATTONW SITE AND DESIGN REVIEW The Planning Commission and the Architectural Review Board unanimously recommend approval of the application of Clark, Stromquist and Sandstrom for Site and Design Review for property located at 799 Alma Street. MOTION: Councilmember Renzel move, seconded by Levy, approval of the Consent Calendar. The motion passed unanimously, Councilmenber Brenner and Fletcher absent. APPOINTMENT OF TWO PLANNING COMMISSIONERS - u ��er� Mayor Henderson announced that this was the time and place for the appointment of two Planning Commissioners to fill terns August 1, 1980 - July 31, 1984. There were eleven applicants; Robert N. Beatie, Bill Boeger, Herb Borock, Robert L. Bowers, Ellen Lynne Christensen, Edward W Hannibal, Shirley Weinland Hentzel l , Jean McCown-Hawkes, John P. Melton, Eros Resmini, and Bernard Slomovitz. He said the vote will be taken on one seat at a time. Two seats are vacant as the terms of Jean McCown-Hawkes and Jay Mitchell expire July 30. Jay Mitchell has not reapplied. On the first ballot, Jean McCowfl-Hawkes was reappointed to the Planning Commission for a four year term, on the following vote: McC<rm-mess: Levy, Fletcher, Henderson, Renzel, Fazeino, Sher Melton: Witherspoon Beattie: Eyerly Ceuncile rrber Brenner absent. !Mayor Henderson congratulated Commissioner McCe tykes and expressed pleasure at having her on for another term, especially in light of her past service on the Planning Commission. He then called for the vote on the second open seat. Melton: Witherspoon, faazxino, Eyerly, Fletcher Christensen: Levy, Henderscn, Sher Borock: Renzel Coawrc1lmerber Brenner absent. 1 The City Clerk announced the results of the vote; Melton had four votes, Christensen had three, and Borock had one. A second vote was taken. i Corrected See pg. 161 9/8/80 Melton: Witherspoon, Fazzino, Eyerly Christensen: Levy, Reuzei, Henderson, Sher, Fletcher Councilmember Brenner absent. The City Clerk announced the results of the second ballot: Ellen Lynne Christensen had five votes, Melton had three votes. Ms. Christensen was appointed to the second seat on the Planning Commission for a four year term. Mayor Henderson asked if Mr. Christensen was in the audience and congratulated her. Mayor Henderson then extended his gratitude to all those who applied to the Planning Commission and explained that these decisions are always very difficult. He stated that the candidates were excellent. And again he expressed his appreciation of their interest and hoped that they would come back and apply for other positions in the City. PUBLIC HEARING: DRAFT PLAN TOMITERTM-CURRIVITTo SERVICE` PLOW (C1,111:351 :Or Mayor Alan Henderson opened the public hearing on Residential Conservation Service Program. Mayor Henderson said a national energy act signed into law on November 8, 1978 requires all gas and electric utilities over a certain size to develop a residential conservation service (RCS) program under Title 11 of the National Energy Conservation Policy Act. Intent of RCS program is for utilities to provide residential energy users with complete information on conservation and solar energy, and then to facilitate installation of appropriate measures. The U,S, Department of Energy issued final regulations for this program in November, 1979. This public hearing is intended to provide opportunity for public comment on the proposed utility program. Copies of the RCS plan proposed by the Palo Alto Utilities department were made available in the City Clerk's office, all libraries, and the utilities department on July 19, 1980. The notice cf this hearing and availability of reports was advertised in to al newspapers the same day. Upon Council approval of the draft plan for the RCS program, it must be submitted for approval by the U.S. Department of Energy. He i nv i ted the pub 1 fc and Council to comment on the RCS plan. No public cent. Ptayor Henderson declared the public hearing closed. He invited Council's comments. MOTION: Councilmember Witherspoon moved, seconded by Renzel, that approve the draft plan for the RCS program, with amendments deemed and that Council direct staff to complete all revision and forward to DOE expeditiously, along with evidence of the public hearing on draft plan. Mayor Henderson reminded Council that they do have the opportunity to modify the plan, or go to the state plan if something should come up been now and November. Council necessary, final report the Councilmember Levy asked if there was any significant difference in cost to the City between the Palo Alto plan that staff has developed and the state plan if Council were to adopt i t . Mark Harris, Utilities department, was sure there would be additional cost and -time, plus some requirements that are inconsistent with Polo Alto's 054 7/21/00 goals. The state plan was developed to cover just their own utilites, as well as municipal, and there are some aspects that are not consistent at this point. If the state were to grant Palo Alto the waivers it asked for, then the cost differential wouldn't be significant and staff could recommend at that point to be incorporated into the state wide plan. The motion passed on a unanimous vote, Councilmember Brenner absent. Mark Harris noted that when the Department of Energy reviewed the plan, they will evaluate it and probably find some major and minor items that are deficient. Examples of minor items could be clarification, wording that isn't understood correctly, wording they would like consistent with theirs. Staff would like permission to make those minor changes without having to come back to Council for approval. Council would be notified of any changes that would require new policy direction or substantial changes, those would be brought back to Council for approval. Councilmember Sher asked if staff would give Council sufficient notice before they actually made the changes, or if the request was to be able to make the changes without giving advance notice, Mark Harris stated that staff would like to be able to respond to those cosmetic changes, and would provide Council with notice, but they don't want to have Counci 1 approve a lot of minor changes Vice Mayor Sher asked that if utilities proposed to make changes, they give Council notice of what they are going to do, because past experience has proven that one man's cosmetic change is another`s plastic surgery. For staff's own protection, they should notify Council of intentions, and give Council the opportunity to agendize the change for discussion. MOTION: Councilmember Sher moved, seconded by Fazzino that staff be authorized to make "cosmetic" changes to the RCS plan after giving notice of same to Council. Motion passes on a unanimous vote, Cauncilrrember Brenner absent. PUBLIC HEARING: PROPOSED AMENDMENT L v CHR:355:0) Mayor Henderson stated that the Council had before it a resolution which would amend the comprehensive plan in line with the Planning Commission's recommendation. He asked Michael Cobb, representing the Planning Commission, if he had any comments to make. Mayor Henderson noted that there might be a need for some disqualifications to be made. Councilmember Witherspoon stated that since she had been employed by Stanford University within the last year, she had been advised by the City Attorney to abstain from this and the following items. Vice Mayor Sher said that since he is still employed by Stanford University, the City Attorney advised him not to participate on items 9 and 10 as the University owns the land to which these matters relate, . Mr. Cobb addressed the Council and asked their forgiveness for some of the length of his remarks, but he felt the issue deserved a deeper explanation than he would normally give. He stated that some time ago the Council gave the Commission an assignment to look at a number of sites for potential land use changes from industrial -commercial to multifamily/residential. These sites generally fell into three cat tgorles, he said; 1) those that were clearly unsuitable for housing, 2) those that were clearly appropriate for housing, and 3) those that presented 055 7/21/80 the Commission with a very difficult decision The Commission found some sites unsuitable and recommended accordingly to the Council. Likewise, the Commission found some sites suitable and carried those recommendations forward to the Council. That left the Commission with the difficult ones. The commission struggled with these and the most difficult are the two presented tonight. On the Varian site, Mr. Cobb continued, the Commission had faced a situation where, if they had recommended no change they would have en- couraged development which would further devastate an already out -of - balance housing picture; or, if they did recommend the change, the City would be visiting upon Varian an inequitable burden simply because they happen to be the last in line, so to speak. The commission also struggled with the question of how appropriate, if at all, industrial islands would be for housing development of any Lind. The Commission's five - to -one vote shows in recommending a change, a rather complex set of opinions. He said some of the cotmisioners felt the site was appropriate for housing, and others expressed varying degrees of reservation. Some commisioners were not bothered at all about the equity issue, others clearly were. At least one commissioner seemed to prefer a mixed use on the site, he said. Mr. Cobb continued by saying he felt all the commissioners were looking for some specific indication of actions which industry could and would take to address the housing issue. He said there was little response at that time, to the Commission's hope on this point. He said he was the one who offered to move a continuance to give additional time for a formulation of some industry recommendation for action on the housing issue. In an absence of a particular response, Mr, Cobb said he reluctantly joined the majority with expressed hope that by the time of the meeting that night, some specific action or suggestion would be forthcoming from Varian, or from anyone in the group. He felt the common ground on this issue for the Commission was a strong desire to get some specific action from industry to help the City deal with the larger issue of the jobs and housing imbalance. Mr. Cobb said he thought the Commission viewed the ultimate disposition of this site as secondary to that issue. Mayor Henderson asked if there were any questions from Councilmembers before he returned to the public. He also asked for comments from the staff. Mayor Henderson then explained that he had a number of cards on this issue anel that again he wanted to let the audience know the Council does have all of the minutes from the Planning Commission,and that they have received telephone calls and letters, and so forth, on this subject, and he asked the public not to be repetitious so these issues could be concluded that night. Norman Parker, 1533 Portola Rd., Woodside, President of Varian Associates, explained that he was there to discuss the proposed change in the Com- prehensive Plan as it pertains to Varian's partially developed site on Page Mill. He stated the legal aspects of the proposed change have been addressed separately to Council in a letter from Varian's attorney. !•.e wanted to hand in a copy of the letter from their attorney for the record, Then ne continued by saying he was there that evening to discuss the human aspect of the proposed change and some possible alternatives. 14r. Parker explained that he clearly understood the desire to provide more housing for individuals who work in Palo Alto. The inadequacy of housing is critical in California, and is particularly serious locally, primarily because Palo Alto is job rich, a condition which many cities envy, he said. Consideration is also being given to limiting the growth of industrial jobs, in Palo Alto. He recommended that this step be reviewed carefully and deliberately to be certain that it really is in the long range interests of the ccmmun d ty. Mr. Parker then pointed out that the. City's businesses, which created 066 7/21/80 the demand for more jobs, have also enabled Palo Alto's residents to enjoy one of the highest standards of city services in the nation. This is largely because of the taxes and utility revenues paid by these tusinesses. There is probably no other highly desirable residential community where the homeowner contributes such a small share of the city budget. Mr. Parker continued to say the plan further indicates that the manufacturing industry will contribute only a very small share of the increase in jobs in the community. And finally, the economic situation may not always be so robust in this area, particularly as long term industrial residents are approached to move their center of gravity elsewhere. Varian has been and continues to be supportive of efforts to provide additional housing, Mr. Parker said. He believes there are more attractive alternatives, however, than changing the land -use designation of Varian's headquarter site. He then described the site. It is an island in an industrial environment, a noisy area with intense traffic, it is not an ideal site. Of the heavily traveled streets listed in the draft comprehensive plan, only two streets are projected to have higher traffic levels, Bayshare and Junipero Serra. Varian's preliminary ayasurements of noise on the site indicate levels in excess of those bounaaey with Barron Park, where noise has been a serious problem to residents. Mixed industrial -residential use just can't be the best use Mr. Parker stated. As stated in the draft comprehensive plan, serious conflicts can arise between residential and adjacent non-residential activities, and Varian concurs. He said Varian has had a great deal of experience with the irritations which result. Varian believes that there are alternatives for providing additional housing that are more consistent with the long range development plans of the community. Mr. Parker continued, saying Varian made its first commitment to Palo Alto in 1951, when it occupied it's first building on El Camino and Hansen Way in 1952, there was vacant land all around and there were cows grazing in what is now Palo Alto Spare. He said that from the beginning Varian has sought to contribute tc the attractiveness of Palo Alto, choosing tne distinguished architect, Eric Mendelson, and Thomas Church for landscaping, There were no standard architectural requirements at the time, and Varian believes it contributed to establishment of the aesthetically pleasing standards of the industrial park. By 1959, more than twenty years ago, Varian had decided that the Palo Alto site would serve as the main plant and world headquarters for the company. The company acquired approximately seventy acres of contiguous land, essentially the property Varian has today, and developed a long range plan for its development. Mr. Parker said this plan has been public information and development in accordance with it has been completed with the exception of the headquarters, which has always been planned to occupy the acreage fronting on Page Mill. During the past decade, Varian has both restricted the rate of growth of its employment in the city and Joined with other unity leaders in the development of affordable housing. Mr. Parker said that in recent years the annual rate of growth of Varian employment in Palo Alto has been only three percent; while its rate of growth in other areas has been approximately five times as great. Varian does not intend to add additional manufacturing capacity in this area, beyond that which is already committed. It is growing as a company, however, and its headquarter's function is necessarily expanding. The administration building is overloaded, he said, and the company has been forced to scatter a number of headquarter's functions into leased facilities away from the main site. This has been a problem for Varian and it will continue to worsen with time If the company is not able to proceed with its plan. Mr. Parker explained that it is Varian's desire to construct a headquarters building to be available in 1982. The company has, after careful evaluation of four highly regarded architectural fins, selected Ehrlich -linger and prel tminar y design has been intttated. The cony feels to rezone 057 7/21/80 at this late date after so many years of planning and developing, would have to be considered precedent setting. No Palo Alto resident could feel secure in the zoning of his or her property or the area surrounding it. As Mr. Parker said, as he had indicated earlier, Varian is interested in continuing to support housing as it has in the past. Several alternatives are worthy of consideration, and Varian is prepared to work with the city in selecting one and developing an active plan to accomplish It. During the Planning Commission meeting Varian offered to provide less expensive financing and to work with the Palo Alto Housing Corporation as they are currently working with the Mid --Peninsula Coalition Housing Fund. During the past ten years, Varian, together with Hewlett-Packard and with support from banks and other institutions, has provided less expensive financing which has resalted in 15 million dollars worth of low cost housing on the peninsula. If Palo Alto is to go forward with housing, said Mr. Parker, Varian suggests an immediate program to analyze the Mayfield School site, or some other site selected by the city for suitability. Varian is confident that it can obtain the support of other local organizations and given good will on the part of all participants believes that a sound project could be launched. If HUD approval could be obtained as in the past, attractive, well built, low to moderate incow housing could result, As a second alternative, Mr. Parker stated Varian is prepared to investigate with developers, Stanford, and the city, the possibility of developing a sound and viable residential facility on its 2.09 acre property on El Camino. It is Varian's understanding that this is consistent with the city's plan for redeploying El Camino frontage property. Mr. Parker offered a third alternative, of possibly facilitating development of the Maximart site by freeing up the 68,000 Square feet of warehouse space which Varian occupies there. Potentially two problems can be solved with such a move. If Varian were to be permitted to build a barrier warehouse type structure along its property's interface with Barron Park, it could reduce parking lot noise and disturbances which has been a source of serious complaint in the past. The warehouse structure and headquarters building would not exceed the development allowed on the existing property. It should be recognized that whichever alternative is selected, it will require the cooperation and blessing of a number of organizations, including the city and Stanford. Varian believes, however, that working with the city 'taff and other knowledgeable parties to assist and evaluate these alternatives, can assist in selecting and developing an attractive site to provide additional housing in Palo Alto. Mr. Parker summarized, saying the Varian headquarters site is the last portion of an approximately 100 acre arm between Barron Park and California Avenue that was specifically annexed and zoned by the city for industrial use. The mining site is completely surrounded by industrial buildings, It represents the culmination of Varian's good faith for long term development of an aesthetically pleasing corporate headquarters location. Varian planned and built carefully as its growth and resources permitted and relies upon the city's actions at the time the property was annexed to the city for industrial use. If Varian is not permitted to proceed with this plan major f thancial and operational impact will result, Mr. Parker said. It is considered that there are more attractive alternatives to provide housing for Palo Alto. Varian is prepared to work with the city to make the chosen alternative a reality. Mr. Parker finished his statement by the nkinq the Council for listening. 058 7/21/80- -. Councilmember Eyerly asked Mr. Parker about the first Varian building, which he thought was built in 1953. Mr. Parker corrected him by stating it was 1952. Councilmember Eyerly wondered if he could give the council an approximate construction date for the other Varian complexes. Mr. Parker said he could not give the exact dates, but possibly one of the other gentlemen he was with could. He could say that the only addition in the last ten years was an addition onto building y, which is essentially in the far corner of the property. Varian does have a very small addition to the personnel facility being built at the present time to provide space for the credit union and for the supervisory -development function which is essentially obtaining. Councilmember Eyerly clarified that the point he was trying to bring out is that he thought Varian had corporate plan and he wanted to see whether its building program- tad gradually gone along on that scale. Buildings 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 were probably built two or three years apart. Mr. Parker explained that Varian went through an early phase in which development was very rapid, building #1 was in '52, as he mentioned, building #2 in '55, #3 in '58, #4 in '60 and there is no five. Building 17 was constructed in 1964 and he did not have a date for building 16. They were spread over the 1952 to 1964 period, roughly at three year intervals. Councilmember lmember Fletcher indicated her interest in the Maximart site and asked Mr. Parker to describe the acreage and what it consists of. In response, Mr. Parker asked for the slide to be put back on, and said he did not know the exact acreage, but that it is very large, He thought it was a site that everyone would be familiar with since it is discussed so extensively in the minutes of various meetings that he has read. Councilmember Fletcher asked if there are separate parties leasing the property at the present time. Mr. Parker said Varian has 68,000 square feet. Councilmember Fletcher asked if they all had varying on their leases. Mr. Parker concurred that this is true, al through he said he did not know for sure, but that he knew some leases were for as long as five years. Mrs. Fletcher asked if that was the longest and Mr. Parker replied that he has not talked with all the lessors. Mayor Henderson said that at the time he made the motion to direct the Planning Commission to consider the possible rezoning of undeveloped industrial parcels to residential he we: vet'y disappointed at Varian's response in that it sued quite vague and unsupportive of the housing picture or problem in Palo Alto. It was as though Varian really was not in a position to do much about it, and he said he could understand that the company isn't in the business of building houses, but he still had some concern as to the commitment toward the types of things Varian representatives have been talking about tonight. He said he knew they could not guarantee it because they cannot be certain that various bodies will pass whatever is designed, 4nd that the funds will be available and so forth; but that he at least felt the need for a sense of real coed tment on the part of Varian that they would join with the city and try to do something about the housing shortage, Mr. Parker in response said he was disappointed that Mayor Henderson had the impression that Varian was not supportive of housing because, as Mr. Parker thought he knew, Varian's Chai *an was instrumental in initiating one of the first housing organizations in gals area, and the company has been supportive ever since. He said Varian hos renewed their support to that organization on a number of occasions, and that they have supported in other ways. Mr. Parker felt the city should be sensitive to the fact that this is not a "one way street". Varian cannot get committed without a commitment. He said the company has learned through experience that is not a wise course, and that he could assure Council that Varian will 059 7/21/80 pursue with diligence whichever of the three courses that he has mentioned is selected. Mayor Henderson thanked Mr. Parker for his comments. Will Kranzthor, 880 North California Avenue, Palo Alto spoke of Varian Associates. He stated his purpose was to review the location of Varian's Page Mill site and discuss the site's noise problems and traffic problems. The Varian Page Mill site is surrounded by industries. Kodak has a three shift operation, he said, with extensive shipping and receiving operations on the second and third >hift. Varian administrative building and building 4 have second shift operations, and machining in building 4 close to the Page Mill site, and there is Hewlett Parkard's new corporate headquarters across the street and the new proposed segment building, again across Page Mill. Varian believes that residential noise problems may be more severe for the Page Mill site than for Barron Park, Mr. Kranzthor stated that the city council has received and listened to Barron Park noise complaints, and commissioned Earth Metrics to study Barron Park noise levels. The Earth Metrics report was issued June 22, 1979, and Kranzthor stated the council was aware of Varian's response to the Earth Metrics report, issued in March 1980. Varian has been aggressively pursuing a comprehensive noise program which is based on recommendations received from their noise consultants, Bulk, 8araneck, and Newman. Varian has taken noise measurements at five locations along its Barron Park boundaries and at nine locations along their Page Mill boundaries. These noise measurements show higher noise levels at Page Mill than at the Barron Park boundary, Mr. Kranzthor then presented a graph which shows the average of sound readings taken between July 8 and July 13 for five locations along Barron Park. In 1976 - 1977, Palo Alto studies of major street traffic report 30,300 daily trips past the Page Mill site. In 1979, Page Mill traffic included 340 truck shipments per day for Varian alone. Palo Alto comprehensive plan report, which Mr. Kranzthor refered to as being on the screen, projects a 42,000 daily trip level for the Page Mill site. This is higher, he said, than any traffic area except Bayshore and Junipero Serra. Present zoning light manufacturing permits residential use, if economic operational mixed use, noise and traffic problems could be overcome.Varian recommends that the City Council oot rezone the Page Mill property, he said . John Heldack, 2282 Sharon Road, Menlo Park, explained that he is a former resident of Palo Alto, and that he is Corporate Vice President of Varian. He stated he wanted to address three topics briefly, as they seem to be timely in view of the Mayor's question. What Varian has done to aid in providing housing on the peninsula, what Varian has done to control job growth in Palo Alto, and the proposed alternatives to rezoning to help housing, that Mr. Parker mentioned. Mr. Heldack then referred to some view graphs which are simply a duplication of a publication put out by the Mid -peninsula Citizens for Fair Housing. He said that Varian has been affiliated with that organization since its inception in 1970, as a non-profit developer of government assisted housing for low and moderate income families and seniors. Mid -peninsula Citizens for Fair Housing publication notes that the fund was originally financed by grants from Varian Associates, the Bank of America, and other banks. He asked them to note that Varian is the only industrial company mentioned there, although several construction companies are also mentioned, Dickman Construction, and Wheatley Jacobson. It furthers states, he said, that loans have been made available by Varian and Hewlett Packard. Participation in the management of MCHF has been by Ernest Hammond, a retired Corporate Vice President, and by Dr. Ginzton, who actually is one of the founding members of MCHF. Mr. Heldack continued by stating the fund has built a number of projects starting in 1971. San Veron Park in Mountain View, has received some commendations from the San Francisco Bny Area Council, It cost 5700,000,00 060 7/21/80 and 32 units were built, he :aid. Colorado Pare in Palo Alto was co- sponsored with the Palo Alto Housing Corporation, cost $1.2 million, date of occupancy was 1972 for 60 total units. Homestead Park in Sunnyvale cost approximately $5 million was occupied in 1973, with 222 total units. Aster Park in Sunnyvale, cost approximately $2.4 million, date of occupancy 1974 with 95 total units, Monta Vista Terrace in Mountain View has just been cor.pleted, he said. This is a $5,8 million dollar privately financed 160 unit development for senior citizens adult, 62 years of age and older, with ten percent reserved for handicaps. The rent charged will be 25% of income frc'n all sources, he said. Mr. Heldack summarized by saying the "seed" financing that others and Varian furnished has resulted in five projects for a total of approximately i5 million dollars, and 559 units, housing 1,341 people. He asked the council to note, as Mr. Parker has said Varian is willing to make similar financial resources available to support additional housng. Mr. Heldack then addressed the issue of control of job growth in Palo Alto, and explained that he would not discuss each of his points in the interest of time, but Varian has made sixteen successive moves of people and operations in order to control job growth in Palo Alto. In some cases, they have moved small units which can be «prated, in other cases they have moved whole units, they have also leases1 son space; that has amounted to 1,473 people over the ten year period. Thet has allowed Varian to minimize the job growth on the Palo Alto site to slightly less than three percent a year. They do plan to transfer some 223 jobs back as they get their corporate headquarters and utilize these people who will be transferred into other buildings. Mr. Heldack referred to qtr. Parker's statement regarding the three alternatives that Varian has suggested. He said as he has already d i cussed the first one, he would like to move into the Maximart area of redevelopment. Varian was suggesting that they could give up the lease on Maximart and build a warehouse on the Palo Alto site. As Cr. Parker mentioned, there are 68,000 square feet that Varian has not leased. The advantages would be it would serve as a noise buffer for Barron Park residents, and facilitate redevelopment of the Maximart area, He said this subject was discussed in the Planning Commission meeting, there are a rimer of leases, and that is one of the problems. It would facilitate Varian's use of the warehouse, and it certainly would reduce transportation needs, he said. It does have a disadvantage to it - it does reduce parking area, However, as 0r. Parker mentioned, such a warehouse could be accommodated in the current phase zoning restrictions for the total site. Mr. Heldack stated the other alternative, which was to sell interest 'in the 2.9 acres on El Camino for residential development if economically sound, The El Camino alternative, he explained, has an area of 2,9 acres, is bounded by Carron Park and Stfckney's Restaurant, El Camino, Hansen Way, and of course the remaining parking area by building 1, currently used as a -parking lot for building 1 and 1 A. He said that the advantages are that it is not an island, it would adjoin a residential area. He guessed one could call it a peninsula. It has access to commercial establishments and is a good size for a demonstration project. The disadvantages, and some of the things that have bothered them in the past is that these residential units would be ad$"aceot to an industrial site and its associated problems. It does reduce the parking space available for Varian employees end the adjacent buildings. To summarize, Mr. Heldack said there is a need fora corporate headquarters to reduce Variant's administrative space problers. Varian has presented three alteratives that would facilitate lousing. One to assist and seek financing for other sites for the Palo Alto Housing Corporation, transfer the warehouse to the Palo Alto site, and apply a project on the industrial parking lot. Till of rezoningg Varian is prepared to work with the city on is prefered alternatives, he said. :- me. Heldack then thanked the council and stepped down. 0 5 1 7/21/80 Mrs. Fletcher asked Mr. Heldack hove many cars presently park on the site on E1 Camino. Mr. Heldack responded by saying he did not know the exact number. Then Mrs. Fletcher asked if there was an alternative if Varian did develop housing on that site. Mr. Heldack then answered that it would move these people into other parking areas. Mr. Parker added that it would displace approximately 200 parking spaces if they were to devote that site to housing. He said it would be an inconvenience for sure because looking at the parking areas available, drivers would have to move to the upper side of the El Cemirio building or up beyond that between the two buildings at the top cf the photo, !rs. Fletcher then asked if there was sufficient space to accomodate all those cars. Mr. Parker answered that the parking was not full today, so of those 200 spaces abcut half of them need to be accommodated He said it is his opinion that 1) they can be accommodated, and 2) the number of cars that they will have will continue to go down over a period of time. Councilmember Levy asked what the total employment of Varian is now. He clarified his question by asking the total in the industrial park. Some numbers cam out, the aoreed upon number was 4,037, which was the number given to the planning staff. Councilmember Levy then asked was what their estimate for occupancy of their headquarters building, and what would that add to their 4,037. Mr. Heldack responded that he believed that it was in the order of 300 to 350 people, making a total of 4,400. Councilmember Levy asked what is the maximum total number of employees that Varian could gainfully employ in the industrial park on the site. M.. Parker answered the question by stating it is his opinion that the density 07 their facilities wii' go down with time.He said if one does back a number of years, one would find employees working in wroth closer proximity than found today. Accommodations are improving with time. As a result he does not expect their density to increase. One should recognize that Varian has very small second and th"rd shifts, and if there were a significant change in population if ,.vuld be as a result of increasing those shifts. Again with the trend of society, he said, he theught that is highly unlikely. Mr. Joe Guitcrrez, with the firm of Ehrlich/Rominger, architect for the Varian world headquarters, announced that he has two exhibits that evening, the first being on the wall, and that Mr. Erlich would assist him with the presentation. He explained that what they were looking at was by no mans the final conclusion, it is only one of several ideas on the drawing board right new. He presented it only to illustrate some basic concepts of the consideration that they think is important. First of all, Gulterrez asked the Council to notice that the land use ratio is extremely generous. It indicates here that the westerly 8 h acres is only a portion of the total development. Then.* are about three acres on the eastern portion of the property, close to building 4, which included would give them a ten percent of land use ratio and a twenty percent floor area ratio. He also pointed out that Page Mill Road goes across the bottom of the exhibit, Hanover would be on the right and Hansen Way en the left. The parking area that the exhibit indicates reveals early program information that Ehrlich ringer has received from Varian, and shows that their approximate parking demands will diminish in the future. What the diagram shows, he said, is the possibility of putting a great deal of landscaping in areas where they would have parking reserved. He said they would resort to that only in an emergency, otherwise the landscaping development quad be consistent with the standards that have been established to the south by Hewlett Packard. Mr. uuiterrez continued by saying the very important consideration aside from land use is the relationships to the existing building. They have indicated there a very strong corridor from building 4 and 4 A to the 062 7'f7,121/80 new building 5. For various reasons both employee and visitor activity is going to be intense and it will interchange from building 4 to 5 depending on the activity. There is also some mail activi,i in building 4 which will be transported to building five. He then po;,ted out that shipping/receiving is kept very low key, building 4 A wil, continue to be the main receiving area for most of the major supplies. He felt that basically covered the exhibit and said Varian would expect by May or June or perhaps July of 1982, they would have a completed project. Councilmember Renzel wanted to confirm that the plan they were showing on the board is showing landscaping where some parking would ordinarily be required. (No verbal response was given.) Mr. J. R. Beck, Manager, Kodak Processing Laboratory, 925 Page Mill '?d,, explained that the plant is on the corner of Page Mill Road and Hansen Way. The Kodak site nearest the plant on Hansen Way, which is across from Yarian's proposed site, happens to be the location for their boilers, air compressors, refrigeration units and electrical transformers. This is the only area in their plan where they routinely require employees to wear ear protection against the noise. Kodak also has a loading dock on Hansen Way. Koda't's delivery vans and rail trucks bring work to their through that dock, and their trash is picked up there. There are about twenty daily trips to the dock on Hansen Way, mostly during the evening and early morning hours. Mr, Beck explained they have an entrance and exit for their employees from their parking lot on He nsen Way, and their employee parking lot has a 190 foot side along nansen Way. He said The Kodak plant is mainly a night operation. About 300 of their 500 people work the night shift, and because of their scattered shifts and lack of convenient bus 'sererice at those tint of day, most of the night employees arrive in separate cars. On a typical day, between 6:00 and 7:00 p.e., 42 people arrive. Between 8:00 and 9:00 three people arrive, between 10:00 and 11:00, 45 people arrive, between midnight and 1:00 a,m,, 41 p=;!,!, between 4:00 and 5:00 in the morning 2 people, and between 6:00 and 7:00, 72 cone in. Between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., 9 people leave, between midnight and 1:00, 114 people leave, between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m., 27 people leave, between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., 26 more leave, and between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. 33 leave. That adds up to about 514 vehicle movements during the night hours around the Kodak plant, and over 200 are around the midnight hour. He said it was his opinion that there will have to be considerable buffering from noise and lights to wake the property across from Kodak's plant on Hansen Way a desirable location for residents. Mr. Richard Kluzek, President of the Palo Alto Chamber of Coerce, referred to a two page letter that he had delivered to the City Clerk. He said he would try to abbreviate as much as possible to avoid duplication of what has been said. The Board of J i rectors of the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, he said, unanimously and most vigorously opposed the recommendation submitted to Council by the Planning Commission and supported by t`* Planning Department staff, which suggests a change of zoning for the eight plus acre parcel occupied by Varian Associates, and for the next item on the agenda, the six acre site on Arastradero Road. The Varian parcel history has been given to the council, he painted out. In its nearly thirty years, Varian has been located at this site. tt,has, along with other tenants of the park, developed a site in strict conformance with the exceptionally high standards consistently imposed by Stanford University and the city of Palo Alto, and cer?niniy in accordance with its own cheerfully.prepared master plan, 063 7/21/80 The Chamber feels denial to Varian Associates now, of the oppotunity to complete its master plan with the construction of its corporate headquarters facilities, would be a serious breach of faith, unnecessary inteeference in a long standing contractural relationship between tenants and landlords, and a most dangerous example, in their judgement, of spot zoning that is both detrimental to the integrity of Stanford Industrial Park and against a long held band of principles of intelligent '.and use alannino that has made Palo Alto into a most superior community. They wholeheartedly concur with the contention that this site is totally unsuitable for housing. It is surrounded by industrial activity, the noise level, as Mr. Beck described, is much higher during the night time hours than during the day. The complaints from Barron Park, have also been mentioned. The noise level at this site would be far more intense than the levels of noise which Barron Park residents have complained abut from their industrial neighbors over the last few years. Mr. Kluzek said that the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce feels the isolation of the Varian parcel and the Syntex parcel, as well, from other frequently used community facilities and the heavy volume of traffic on Page Mill Road couldmake these particular sites unsuitable for housing. He said they must question the declaration of the planning staff that housing at either of these sites would not have a negative environmental impact, yet prestr,ably research and office use would. It is Generally accepted fact that hoes will generate eight to ten trips daily, seven days a week. In contrast job trips generate only two to three trips a day during the work week. The traffic situation adjacent to the Varian site particularly presents a safety hazard to young children who ,sight reside in such a development. Also, they believe this concentrated, high density housing project in the midst of industrial plants, whould present special security problems. The Chamber thinks that the imposition of a multi -family housing development here will impose excessive development costs in order to achieve the level of sight and sound buffering that residents of such a development would demand. And they want to ask if the market cost of such a project would result in such accommodations being made with public assistance of any kind. Mr. Kluzek said the Chamber most strongly and respectively urges the City Council to reject this proposal to change the zoning on the Varian site. Allow this company its proper right and privilege to complete construction of its world headquarters facilities according to its own previously approved raster plan as the availability of funds and corporate circumstances best dictate. For similar and related reasons, they feel the notion that housing is appropriate on the Syntex site on Arastradero Road should also be rejected. Mr. Kluzek stated that he thought the point of their task force is in the next paragraph. Reading from the letter, he said, when the City of Pblo Alto clearly and officially establishes a specific goal for construction of additional housing units within the city limits defining rather precisely how many units are desired -- then they believe meaningful and reasonable decisions can be made as to where such housing can appropriately be located, and the proper degree of density required to achieve such goals at, a marketable price can be adopted -- with the supportive consensus of the entire community. Short of knowing the desired goal for additional horsing, the recommended redesignation of the Varian and Syntex sites, are unfortunate examples of the Planning Commission's determination to suggest additional housing -at -any -cost, even if it means condoning spot zoning and establishing a double standard for housing in the community. In other words, Mr. Kluzek said, they feel the objective comes first. To change the zoning of these sites now, would be extremely unfair to companies , that have major commitments and contributions ill Palo Alto. 064 7/21/80 John Breedlove, Stanford University, said he would like to briefly summarize comments which the Council and the Planning Commission have heard in the past, by either BM Massey or Phil Williams, as regards both this item and item following on the agenda. Stanford, as he thought they all knew is supportive of housing in the area. They are willing to move ahead and wild housing. Trey intend to start Peter Coutts project and the 800 unit institute and housing project as soon as possible. As the council knows, Stanford is actively considering other sites within or close to the city of Palo Alto, that together have the potential to produce thousands of housing units. Stanford also thinks housing can be done well for the sake of Palo Alto and of Stanford, but most importantly, for the sake of the residents who live there, They have indicated a willingness in the past to consider housing in locations, such as the industrial park; but only if it can be shown that such housing will meet good planning standards and not produce detrimental effects for either the residential or industrial lessees. In that regard, Stanford remains, concerned about the two sites on the agenda tonight. First of all, Stanford is not sure they are good housing sites. Particularly, the Varian site, as they have heard tonight, has noise, congestion and traffic problems and doesn't seem to Stanford to be a good housing site based on the information they have heard, or the standards which the City of Palo Alto applies to its other housing areas. In the case of the Arastradero site, while it may have more potential, at this point they are not convinced yet, that it would work well as a housing site, so they remain skeptical. He announced his second point as being their concern about the impact of this sort of spot zoning within an industrial park which is regarded internationally as ,one of the finest examples of a park of its type in the world. Primarily because of the character of its occupants and the excellent planning that has resulted from the cooperctive effort of the firms in the park, the city, and Stanford University. Mr. Breedlove gave his final point when he said their most important conccrn i s ab: at fair treatment for Stanford's tenants in the industrial park. Varian and others have planned the use of their site for many years. They too are citizens of Palo Alto, although they don't vote here, and they have contributed substantially to the well being of this city for many, many years. To deny them the right to complete their tong plan for growth in order to substitute a modest number of housing units of questionable quality seem to them just a little bit short sighted. He then thanked the council and sat down. Mr. W. J. Mc Croskey, 4158 Oak Hill Avenue, canted briefly on the Varian site. he sad that Varian is to be complimented for the quality of development over the years, and of course past city contributions. However on the other side of the coin, they also bring in a large share of traffic and the jobs overburden that is so obvious in Palo Alto today. He thought what was ' e 11yr important is what Palo Alto will be like five or ten years from now, and he hoped that's the viewpoint that they are taking as they judge this issue. He said he thinks that now and in the future them is a real need for more housing for the people who now work in Palo Alto, not for more jobs for the people who now live elsewhere. He thinks it is now time to be creative and courageous. Mayor Henderson asked if there was anyone else who wished to address the topic, and then said they will come back to the council. He said he would seek first anyone who would like to put the Planning Commissions: recomnendatton on the floor. 0 b B 7/21/80 MOTION: Councilrnember Renzel moved, seconded by Fletcher, the Planning Commission recommendation to amend the Land Use Map for Varian site, Page Mill Road between Hansen and Hanover from Research/Office Park to Multiple Family Residential RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING THE PALO ALTO COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING LAPID USE MAP FOR VARIAN SITE, PAGE MILL ROAD. Councii ber Renzel commented that perhaps Mr. McCroskey had expressed her concerns in terms of long range planning for Palo Alto. She said they are really trying to solve some of the serious problems that the City has now and can expect in the future. It is very clear, she said, that there is an extreme shortage of housing in Palo Alto. Every new industrial development that is built will exasperate that problem. They know they are going to be loosing a lot of their rental housing stock through condominium conversion. There is no new rental stock being built, they will loose all their single family rentals as they come on the market because no one can afford to buy them as rentals, and they can only be bought for owner occupancy, Palo Alto is faced with in the not too distant future an extreme shortage of both rental housing and housing in general. Councilmember Renzel continued that the issue in not whether Varian has not been good neighboors to Palo Alto. She does not believe spot zoning is an issue, this is an area equivalent to two city blocks, and ;s quite capable of being created as a neighborhood of its own. They have many residential neighborhoods that are approximately that size, that are adjacent to commercial areas. Certainly, Stanford's own faculty housing is right across from the industrial park and also adjacent to industrial areas. She continued by saying she thinks that in terms of establishing a housing objective and then working from there to see how they can fill out the blanks, realistically they will have to see what is possible first. It seems to her :ghat is possible is looking at their existing zones and haw to deal with them. And from that point of view, they have to look at what they can do to solve the housing problem. Councilm ber Renzel said they won't be able to solve it completely, they know that, but they don't want it to get worse. She doesn't think it is good for the people who live here, and it is certainly is not good for the people who work here, nor is it good for the companies who are in Palo Alto now. One has only to look in the ads in the paper to know that there are four to five pages of help wanted ads for Palo Alto fires, and there is maybe half a colon of available housing for rent and maybe half a page at most of for sale housing in Palo Alto at any given time. It is very clear there is a thus contrast in the needs here in the community, so she would just urge her colleagues to think of this in tens of theldng term that all of their industries will suffer if they don't stop the problem now. And this whole matter came up as a result of a proposed moratorium on industrial development to deal with this larger regional problem of the jobs/housing imbalance, so she urged the Council to support the Planning Co& ision's recommendation. Mayor Henderson responded to wit he had heard so far. He said he felt some responsibility here because he was the One that Bade the motion concerns the referral to the Planning C ission of undeveloped parcels, so ne would like to state his position early on. Mayor Henderson said he thought he had some pretty good credentials as a supporter of new housing, especially affordable housing, and good credentials as an environmentalist. He has certainly expended significant efforts on these broad subjects. And now and then an item reaches the Council that causes him to make a decision that surprises those who know his basic -philosophy. He offered Mille Road as a prime example. He doesn't Corrected See pg. 161 9/8/80 066 7/21/% believe in building new bridges and new highways, but he considers it ridiculous to have a main traffic artery end up in a shopping center parking lot. The Varian situation is a similar situation. Of course he seeks and works for new housing, but he does not find this proprosal reasonable. Mayor Henderson continued by saying he would give Council a couple of his reasons, but he didn't want to repeat something they have already heard. First of all, he said, there was a little technicality problem. The motion that was made here at the council was to refer all undeveloped parcels to the Planning Commission for consideration for rezoning to housing. That is all undeveloped industrial parcels. The motion specifically exempted partially developed industrial property. This property is a partially developed property, and according to that motion, it shouldn't have even been included in the referral to the Planning Commission. There it is, and they have a positive recommendation for housing. Mayor Henderson said he has found this action would be inconsistent with other actions which have been taken in the industrial park. Council has allowed the development of Hewlett Packard's headquarters, Beckman is continuing development, Varian happens to be a year or two behind. It doesn't seem equitable to him, to prevent Varian from completing their development, especially since this has been planned for twenty years or more. Housing on this site would be the only residential development, that he knows of, in town that is not contiguous with another residential development. The Mayor said he thought it is a poor location for families; there is heavy traffic en three sides, a manufacturing plant on the fourth side, noise would be heard as expressed tonight. Eastman Kodak with three shifts across on street, Varian with two shifts behind the housing development. There is no guarantee of obtaining rental housing in this development, or low to moderate income housing. He doesn't think there is even a guarantee of any housing ii this is rezoned to residential. There is no way to force Varian then to develope that property as residential, it could be developed now, of course that way, if it were economically feasible for them. He can see the company just simply waiting it out, hoping that this action gets reversed et a later date and they can still build their headquarters, Council cannot force housing on the property. Basically, Mayor Henderson said, he just thinks it is a very poor location for housing. In taking this position, Mayor Henderson said he does want it to be known that he expects an acceptable for of housing assistance from Varian as mitigation for any headquarters development that is proposed. He feels very strongly that the council must have participation by all fibers of the industrial community, and he is looking toward the promises that have been made by Varian. He said he will vote in opposition to the motion before them, Councilmember Fletcher stated that she has mixed feelings about this site, and in reading the material she was fairly well persuaded that it is not the appropriate site. Then when she went to see it, she change° her meld, she said. It is bounded on three sides by roadways which in essence completely changes the picture when one compares it to Barron Park residences which back right into the property with Varian. The setbacks on those lots on Chiaralus Dr. are substandard, they are very, very close to the physical plants of Varian. And this particular 8 acre site is buffered on three sides by roadways, and the back has a small parking lot which is not a major loading dock or garbage pickup site. Councilmember Fletcher said admittedly traffic is heavy during the day, she was there on a weekend when she imagined that most of the people would be home. The one factor that she had not taken into account is that she wasn't there in the middle of the night and she didn't hear the cars come and go at Kodak, which might be quite disturbing. But she 06 7 7/21/80 said she would imagine that adequate setbacks from that end of the site could be made and that parking could be at that end to buffer the noise from the Kodak site. Kodak evidently isn't such a terrible neighbor when it comes to the other side of Kodak where from the minutes we read that a resident who 1 ivee 4K tha epertments- over f om cffices in Palo Alto Square was very heppy living there. The only complaint -there was from the patrons from the movie theatres late in the evening, which would not apply at the Varian site. Councilmember Fletcher said she wondered if at this point, with some good intentions expressed by Varian to provide alternate housing, it might not be advisable to delay action on this item until some definite plans come forth for alternate housing. She said that she would make a substitute motion to delay action on this matter until a firm commitment on alternate housing is presented to the council. SUBSTITUTE MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher moved, seconded by Renzel, to delay action on this matter until a fire commitment on alternative housing is presented to Council. Mayor Henderson explained that if the motion failed that Councilmember Renzel's motion would still stand. He said before he could even respond to the substitute motion, he first needs to hove a definition of "firm commitment". He asked if Councilmember Fletcher meant an act:al plan should be presented to the city. Councilmember Fletcher said she meant something more concrete than saying, "Well, we could develop housing on the El Camino parking lot site." If there was a written commitment that it was going to happen with the backing for it, such as there will be approximately so many units, and the price range will be approximately this and that. Or maybe the Maxirnart site, she would be very favorable to trying to look at that as a good alternate site for this particular one on Page Mill Road, if it is feasible; but with all the different tenants occupying those buildings it might be more of a wish than a practicality at this point. She is looking for more than just a promise that, "Oh, sure we can do it ", something as evidence that it is going to happen. Councilmember Eyerly said he felt he was going to agree with everything Councilmember Fletcher said until she made the substitute motion. He was glad to hear what she had to say. What both of them had to say concerning the property he thinks the community pretty well understands, and he certainly does, that it really is not a good site ft,r housing. It is surrounded by commercial, its got heavy noise pollution, traffic and night lighting and other problems. But when Councilmember Fletcher rade the motion to delay it, it seemed to him that she was not facing the issue square on. Either it is -suitable for housing or it isn't. So he said he cannot support'etting it hang there that the City might put housing zoning on the site if Varian doesn't do this or that, because he does not think that site would ever be suitable for housing in case they didn't do something. He thinks those things need to be isolated. Councilmember Eyerly continued, with saying he thinks the stake a corporate stricture like Varian has had in the City in their long term development of various pieces of property that they have leased from Stanford, it would be a very great inequity to rezone this land at this time, given their long range plans and their slot build out on it. He doesn't see how Council could possibly change the zoning at this late time. He does think that Varian has been very generous in conning forth at this meeting with suggestions for housing plans and the ways they might help in identifying and developing some actual sites. The sites they have suggested are very viable, maybe Mayfield might rot be available immediately in lieu of what the School District is saying, but certainly parts of the M$ximart area are available. Varian is Also offering their parking lot in front 0ti8 7/21/80 for some type of development. He thinks both of those are situations that could be analyzed. Councilmember Eyerly concluded by saying that he wouldn't support the original motion and recommendation to the Planning Commission and he cannot support Mrs. Fletcher's substitute motion the way it is structured because he does not think it faces the issue. Mayor Henderson said he felt it would be all right to respond to both motions at this time so they don't have to go around a couple times. Councilmember Levy responded by saying he would first speak to the substitute motion, and that he t o feels a little uncomfortable with that. He has had a lot of data, a lot of input from the Planning Commission about this particular site and he feels comfortable in discussing the Varian site and uncomfortable discussing a number of other sites. He thinks what they should look to here is the appropriate use of this site and not say that they will condone an inappropriate use based on development to take place elsewhere in the city. He suspects the Mayfield site is going to end up with housing, he suspects the Maximart site is going to end up with housing, he doesn't know about the 2 14 acrea parking lot site on El Camino, but he would welcome the opportunity to consider housing on that site; but he doesn't wish, at this time to say that it is just a quid pro quo. Councilmember Levy addressed himself to the Varian/Page Mill site. He said he has always felt that a community should have a proper balance between residential and industrial activities, and he believes that Palo Alto has such a balance now. Although he is concerned about traffic flow through the city, he thinks that the traffic congestion problem is maximal now and that any further development should definitely be tied to keeping traffic increases down ds much as possible. In the case of this particular property, it has long been zoned industrial, plans have been made based on that, as has been mentioned on a number of fronts, it is not an optimum site for housing. It is on a major traffic thorough fare, it is sureounded by industrial uses, and it is located at some distance from commercial services, schools and parks. And therefore, it should, in his belief remain zoned as is, unless the change to residential clearly benefits the community by reducing traffic and congestion, or developing some other positive elements for the city, and it is in this light that he has analyzed the recommended change in the comprehensive plan. And what he has been struck with, he said, is some new information that has been presented by staff in the July 17th memo to the council, and this is what is on page three of that memo. Where they discuss the number of vehicle trips per day, it is surprising data to hies, he said, and he began to read it. "A 100,000 square foot development,* would be approximately the Varian headquarters development, "would have about 400 employees and generate about 1,450 vehicle trips per day and about 240 trips during each peak period. Two hundred deelling units", which is what is recommended to be builtonthis site if le is rezoned residential, "would generate about 1,800 vehicle trips per day and about 250 trips during each peak period. The residential traffic assumptions are for a typical multiple family development. If many of the occupants worked in the immediate area and walked or bicycled to work, the number of peak hour trips would be reduced." Thus, he said, according to staff if they do rezone this to residential, they would produce 25% more vehicle trips per day. He said he had talked with staff about that today to get some further understanding of whether, in fact, this development$ which is in the center of the industrial park, could be considered typical. It is not likely to have a lot of children, for example, he said. He was told by Ken that 'Yes, this data is probably going to be typical for the occupants of this area," Mr. Levy them confirmed this statement with the staff. He said his other question relates to the impact public transportation, or • car ding, other that might be greater on a L.M. use or greater on a residential use, and the consensus or feeling there was that it 0 6 9 7/21/00 would probably have an equal effect on either use. A number of residential occupants would, of course! work in the immediate area, and residential trips are likely to be shorter trips totally than trips connected with the industrial uses. But as far as Palo Alto is concerned, the net impact is likely to be, as suggested by the staff, 25% more vehicle trips for a residential usage. The relatively isolated location of this area as a residential area might in fact necessitate more than the normal number of vehicle trips to transport children, to the extent that there are children in this area, and to obtain services, Councilmember Levy said he was persuaded, therefore, that it is in fact somewhat less than a stand-off as far as community wellbeing is concerned to make the proposed zoning change. He concluded by saying that the community would not be enhanced by a change of zoning, and may in fact somewhat regret it. Councilmember Fazzino said that since everyone had made their speech, he felt he should make a few cents. He said he would try to make them short since he feels that the Mayor, Councilmembers Levy and Eyerl fir, have indicated exactly where he is. He wanted to comment or congratulate the City Staff and the Planning Commission on the good job they have done in pursuing the possibility of housing on vacant industrial sites. The Council did ask for such a study es a result of a moratorium proposal five months ago. Even though he is going to vote against the Planning Commission's recommendation, he thinks Council has received a tremendous amount of good input, and they also are going through what he believes is a very important community debate on this entire matter. Yet, because of everyone's frustration over the jobs/housing imbalance, he thinks they have at times lost sight of greater issues and responsibilities in pursuit of the Holy Grail of housing. He said they will never solve the jo sjhousing imbalance in Palo Alto. He doubts the addition of 10,000 more units in this town would significantly reduce the imbalance, or provide many rrsore additional low to .moderate income alternatives for residents here. But what the City has done at times, he believes, is to potentially harm those amenities which have contributed to the quality of life here, both residential and industrial. Councilor Fazzino said they have supported and should support the many innovative µous i ng Corporation's approaches to provide some moderate income units, however, the Varian site is simply not a Good one for housing. Given the many, many evenings that he personally spent listening to the singly insolvable problems of the Barron Park neighbors who adjoin the industrial park, he can't believe that the tre ndous night time activity of �3 for example* wouldn't become a geeet insolvable problem itself. He is certain some innocent planners back in the 1950's thought the proposed location of the industrial park next to Barron Park wouldn't be a major problem. They were, unfortunately, very, very wrong. Traffic is another major problem in that area, Councilmember Fazzino said. He said he can imagine the Varian site neighbors conning to the Council in five orten years from now petitioning for a College Terrace type of barrier system to protect the neighborhood from the traffic which naturally flours from the industrial park. Well that is absolutely absurd given the tremendous amount of industrial area, and the importance of the industrial park to this tow. He said he is impressed by Varian's various attempts to locate new facilities outside of Palo Alto. Not only have they taken the initiative in locating new divisions outside the town, but the movement of 1,400 existing employees 1s an impressive achievement, one that he doubts any other company in the area could snatch. Three percent growth over the past four years is quite low given the development of the industrial park, or other industries in the park at that time. Varian's willingness to pursue the seed financing idea and 0 7 0 ?/21180 the possible establishment of housing at either Maximart or El Camino is a good example of their willingness to join with the city to bring about housing at more obvious sites Councilmember- Fazzino said the issue of greatest concern to him is one of trust. Varian purchased this property twenty five years ago with the intention of developing the eventual corporate headquarters here. Only because they are the last group on the block to come to the city with the request for a corporate headquarters, does the Council ask them to hold off. A tremendous amount of money has been extended, not only in planning for this site, but to develop other parts of the overall parcel with the knowledge that this site would indeed be used for the headquarters. The City has gone over three major comprehensive plans with discussions since 1952 and have preserved this site as light industrial. He believes that it is only good faith on the City's part to allow Varian to proceed with its plan of many years standing for a corporate headquarters, short of better reasons to rezone a site which two planning commissioners, even though they had voted for the motion to rezone, witted it was not optimum for housing. Councilcs er Fazzino concluded that he would oppose both motions. Councilmnber Fletcher responded by saying the reason she is taking this round about route is that she realizes that the site is not ideal, but that she thinks it is perfectly acceptable. She was also persuaded by the position of the Housing Corporation and she quoted from the minutes, "The Varian site is a nice flat site, it is accessible to public transportation, within walking distance from El Camino, and it is a rge enough to permit some handsome and attractive 1ardscape buffering from the neighbors and from traffic." As for interfering with the plan that Varian had, she sympathizes there too, that is another factor. On the other hand, when Corrected Council went over the land use map in connection with the company See pg 16 plans, they had numerous individuals come to these telling them that 9/8/8 their proposed rezoning would interfere with their individual plans. It was small business people who had plans, it was retired people who had invested pieces of property, and yet Council went ahead and they did the rezoning because they felt that was what was best for the city as a whole. She somehow feels just because Varian is a big corporation, this action isn't that much different from impacting all these various smaller individuals. Council ►r F''etcher continued by saying she was not really gung ho on this, t;g` ,olii'+_r sites would probably be preferable and that is where she is -.1;i k'jg for an alternate proposal, and that is why she has made an uTier t defer the action. Mayor Henderson pointed out that they did have before them the motion to delay the action until a first commitment for, housing is received from Varian. He then asked to vote on the board. SUBSTITUTE MOTION FAILED on a 4-2 vote. AYES: Fletcher , Renzel NOES: Eyer`#y, Henderson, Fazzino, Levy ABSENT: Brenner NOT PARTICIPATING: Sher, Witherspoon Mayor Henderson announced that they have come to the original motion to approve the Planning Commissions's recommendation to change the Comprehensive Plan to show that this property will be used for multiple family residential. Counc i limber Renzel said that she wouldn't be abor the issue cf suitability of this site for housing because she is.counting v)tes, she thinks there 07'1 7/21/80 was ample testimony at the planning commission that it was quite suitable, perhaps not ideal, but suitable. She said that if this motion fails, which seems likely at this point, she would be prepared to refer to the Planning Commission the possibility of requiring housing in conjunction with all new industrial development and have them pursue looking at ways to do that. She thinks perhaps in light of ail the testimony tonight, they should delete all references in Palo Alto's Comprehensive Plan to help clean and quiet the industrial process. MAIN MOTION FAILED on a 4-e vote AYES: Fletcher, Renzel NOES: Eyerly, Henderson, Fazzino, Levy ABSENT: Brenner NOT PARTICIPATING: Sher, Witherspoon MOTION: Councilmember Renzel moved, seconded by Fletcher to refer to the Planning Commission the matter of requiring housing in conjunction with all new commercial and industrial development. Councilmember Renzel explained such housing doesn't have to be on the site, it can be on or near the site. This was a policy which the Planning Commission sent forth to the Council in 1975 and it was modified to say "the City encourages", and obviously, that has not been successful. She said she thinks they should go back and look at the policy as it was presented in '15 Mayor Henderson noted that the motion was seconded by Mrs. Fletcher. He then asked Mr. Abrams if the motion is proper, if it were not an item of new business, and does making it now tie it to the Varian situation? Roy Abrams, City Attorney, answered that the motion was proper it does come out of this discussion, it is only a referral and prohibits final action from being taken tonight. It is a matter in which Mrs. Witherspoon and Mr. Sher could participate as well. Mayor Henderson said that he thought it was a great disservice to all the people that were there that night, that they should bring this up now and have a lengthy discussion on a very involved topic. He said he wished he could put it on the agenda for some other time. In fact he feels that the Planning Commission really has this under consideration as part of their job in updating the comprehensive plan. They may be coming to the Council with such a suggestion, he didn't know. Is this something that's already in the mill, or do they have to make a specific referral, he asked. Ken Schreiber, Assistant Director of Planning and Community Development, answered the concept of requiring housing with nonresidential developments has been picked up by the Planning Commission as part of its normal update process. They have looked at that concept in some depth and especially based on the impact of required housing, at least housing that would be of significant amount in connection with or on top of the permitted initial nonresidential expansion. Staff reed for the Arastradero Road area that the concept not be pursued. The Planning Commission has looked at that also, The staff's suggestion is, that while it is a interesting concept, and definitely a concept that could be workable in some places as based on the amount of vacant land left in Palo Alto and some of the street networks problems that they would have, it does not seem to be a concept that would be a feasible on a wide scale basis in this city. 072 7/21/& Councilmember Renzel then referred to the Planning Commission's discussion that related to requiring housing on the site, and she asked if there was any discussion of also requiring housing off -site. In other words, the policy as it was passed by the Plare.;g Commission five years ago was to require housing on or near the site and that left it open for providing housing off -site in conjunction with a new development. Mr. Schreiber answered that the Planning Commission's concern was that housing provided either on -site or nearby. Nearby was never really formally defined but it was meant to be in the general vicinity. The second concern waa that the housing would be provided on the nonresidential site. The feeling was that residentially designated sites were going to be developed anyway sometime in the future, if they hadn't already been. Given again those limitations and the lack of vacant land, and the impact ofthe traffic especially, housing development in conjunction with industrial or near industrial, on a wide scale basis, the concept was dropped. It was tabled last month, though it has not been completely disposed of, he said. Mayor Henderson stepped in at that point, and said that obviously Council was going to discuss the subject so they have to ask Mr. Sher and Mrs. Witherspoon to participate. This is the point, he said, where he had planned to take their usual recess and then come hack for the Arastradero property. He suggested that they take the recess and come back as a full council. Mayor Henderson said that there are a number of people here on item 16, Dr. Smith's application. He said that he thought they could see that if they do get to it, it would be very late. He said they would be back just as quickly as they possibly could. Tne Council recessed to Executive Session, 9:40 to 10:05 p.m. The Mayor called the Council back to order: with Vice Mayor Witherspoon participating. MOTION TO TABLE: Councilmember Eyerly moved, seconded by Councilmember Witherspoon, to table the referral to the Planning Commission regarding requiring housing in connection with new commercial and industrial development. Sher and The Mayor announced that the motion to table is nondebatable, and called for the vote. MOTION TO TABLE PASSED on a b .2 vote. AYES: Eyerly, Fletcher, Henderson, Fazzino, Levy, Witherspoon 140(5: Sher , Renzel ABSENT: Brenner PUBLIC HEARING: VACANT SITE, 1050 ARASTRADERO ROAD, AMENDMENT OF Councilors Sher and Witherspoon left the Chambers and did not parti- cipate in this item. due to conflict of interest. Mayor Henderson noted that Council has before it a resolution that would amend the Co rehens i ve Plan for the deve i opmen t of the City of Palo Alto amending the land use map for the vacant site at 1050 Arastradero Road. He then asked Mr. Cobb if he wanted to speak on this subject. 073 7/21/80 o ..L 1 i Michael Cobb, representing the Planning Commission, began by saying the Arastradero site was recommended to Council unanimously, he thinks the reason for that is that it differs from the Varian site in important ways. First, the equity issue was not present, nor was there any opposition expressed at that time by the property holder. Secondly, this site, unlike the Varian site is not an island, rather it is contiguous with other housing. There was opposition and some of it was based on the perceived lack of proper notice by both some of the Palo Alto and Los Altos Hill residents, maybe in particular, people from Los Altos Hills. The key point of discussion was the "L" strip which the Commission specifically protected by eliminating it from the land use designation change. This particular exception met a key demand that many of tne residents expressed at the Planning Commission meeting and was also a strongly held view of all the commissioners. Mayor Henderson declared the Public Hearing open and reiterated that the Council has all of the materials from the Planning Commission and received a number of letters and phone calls, and he asked the public, if they could, to make brief statements in favor of or in opposition to the Planning Commission's recommendation and really give Council an opportunity to speak to it tonight, rather than repeating all of the arguments that have been given before or reading the material they have submitted to the Council in the past. He urged theircooperation and said he hoped: the Council will move speedily toward some conclusion. Paul M. Borg, 13452 Carillo Lane, Los Altos Mills, said what the people have mentioned about night lights and stop lights, and everything else that applied to any other houses that would go into that section of six acres that they are considering. He said that as far as he is concerned, he is definitely against any twenty five units per acre there. He had built in that place over twenty years ago, and that the only mistake they had made, they built on the boundary between Los Altos Hills and Palo Alto. And that was one of the biggest mistakes they ever wade, he said. They fought Ampex over ten or fifteen years ago to a standstill, until Fairchild finally came in and started a building there, Why they ever picked Arastradero for an industrial park, he'll never know, with thousands of acres other places. And he said he would like to ask the Mayor if he had any idea why they picked that spot. Mayor Henderson responded that he did not know and that he could not go back and answer for a previous Council. Mr. Borg then concluded with the statement that was all he had to say at that time. Mr. Joseph Seiger of 27087 Old Truce Road, said that he was speaking for a rather large group of Palo Alto and Los Altos Hills residents. They have, since they received notice ofthis development, spent considerable time analyzing the situation. He is going to speak, for a lot of the people in the audience tonight, so he asked then to please bear with him. He said he was also going to touch on issues: that have never been raised in the consideration of the subject of hou: iri on the Arastradero site. Mt. Seiger said he, personally, by letter to the Planning Commission on the.19th of March requested notice of all hearings and other information relating to this site. lie has requested the same thing again on the second of May and the 19th of May and he has records of telephone conversations, two in April; and did not receive any notices until late May. He was never notified of the May 14th meeting. And as to the June 25th meeting, he was out of town on vacation, which he admitted was his problem. But they did come in and ask for more time to speak, so he said he is going to have to speak to some things tonight that have never been raised. He said that he thougnt is was improtant to briefly give the-.'',ouncil information about his background, so they can see where he is coming from. First of ail, he said, their group is in favor of housing. He personally is in favor of housing. He is currently involved in construction of housing, he has worked for two years for the Department for Housing and Urban Development, he has spent two years as an employee of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, and he has been involved in the housing in the Western Edition and in Hunter's Point and other housing projects throughout the city. For the past seven years he has been active as a real estate developer in the local area. And in that capacity he has spent considerable time working on housing for Palo Alto. Specifically he ilas been involved with Stanford, and working on provision of housing on a forty six acre parcel on Willow Road. He has been involved with Stanford in the work on the housing on Peter Coutts Hill and he is currently involved with Stanford marking on other sites, so he thinks he is familiar with the housing situation in Palo Alta. While he believes in housing, he also believes in good planning because he has seen too many poorly conceived projects end in problems for both the occupants and the town in which they are located. He said he would like to speak first to a procedural utter which he thinks affects the Council's consideration of the Arastradero site and then turn to some specific aspects of the site that he thinks are relevent. Their position on the procedural matter is that in order for the Council to consider an amendment to the comprehensive plan it is necessary for them to know at least the concept of the projectto be built on the site. And he thinks this is made very clear by CEQA regulations and the CEQA yuideilnes. Otherwise, there are no assumptions as to the intensity of uses as they effect the environment. They can't do an adequate envronmental assessment and the public has nothing to respond to because they have no basis to rake judgements. He has talked to many of his neighbors and they talk about whether they are apposed to housing or are they not opposed to housing. The answer is that they are not opposed to housing but there is a question of the density and then at a certain point, yes they do become opposed to housing because it impacts traffic and it impacts social services, etc. !lolly, this is not a problem because the developer brings in a project, the project shows its densities and uses, so these things are all known at the time that the consideration is mede by staff and the Planning Commission and by this council. In this case, not only is this not the case, but the applicant and the judge are one and the same, both the city of Palo Alto. If anything, this gives greater validity to their position that an EIR must be undertaken before a decision can be made to change the Comprehensive Plan. He asked then if he could state it in other tens. If a developer were to come before this Council and ask that the Comprehensive Plan be changed for the Arastradero site and say that he would tell theme later what kind of project he was going to put there and all that he w`uid tell them was that it was housing, would they permit that? Is it possible for the City to permit that as a matter of CEQA regulations? Would the develper developer be permitted to drake his own environmental assessment, and if so, how would the City be able to assess the impact of the proposed development without knowledge of the intensity? having dealt with the,procedural aspects, Mr. Seiger thought there were some peculiar aspects of tree Arastraaero site which haa to be taken into consideration when talking about housing. Arastradero Road has a single access, which would mean that the access would be a ce ngined driveway, with the site right next to it. Secondly, the access is approximately 300 feet from the intersection of Arastradero and Hillview, and feeds into Foothill. Both of these intersections are currently classified in the staff report as service level E for purposes of traffic. Service level E is considerable congestion, and one level below service level F, which is forced feuding through the intersection. Environmental assessment has no 075 //21/80 information for the public to be able to judge the condition of Arastradero, and Hillview, so they can't speak to that issue. The site has a 210 foot setback, if the L district is kept in force, which is the Planning Comnission's.recommendation. This effectively cuts off one-third of the site, which is approximately two acre,. "rhe site has an uphill slope of somewhere between a one and five foot rise. This is in the latter back half of the site which is outside of the 210 foot setback, and would be available for development. Lastly, the site is in a transition zone, and is surrounded by industrial development. The density figure of 25 units per acre, is the figure which staff used in the environmental assessment. This is the figure Mr. Seiger used in analyzing the factors which he previously mentioned. Staff also stated that a density figure less than 25 units per acre would make the development uneconomical for development. Mr. Seiger thought this was correct. Twenty-five units per acre, multiplied by six acres, gives one 150 units. Ore -hundred fifty units placed on the back four acres of the site translates into a density of between 35-37 units per acre. For this type of density to be possible, a structure, meaning three to four stories over a parking garage, would be required. Height limitations of 35-50 feet would limit the structure to four stories. Due to the 210 foot setback, this four story structure would sit ON an area sloping upward approximately 1-5 feet. This would result in the structure sitting up high on a hill, at the same time being surrounded by two story buildings. Taking into consideration the height of the structure, and the slope on which it would be built, the structure would have to be concrete in order for it to be anchored into the ground. This would be very expensive. Mr. Seiger continued. Staff concluded in the environmental .assessment, "...development a!nrg &rastradero road must recognize the visual impact to single family dwellings south of Arastradero Road. Residential use along the vacant parcel would not create a major visual obtrusion, given adequate setbacks, although retention of the i_ Strip, the 200 foot setback, would place the housing high on the site.*' Mr. Seiger disagreed with staff's conclusion considering that the structure would be 4-5 stories, surrounded by two-story structures. Councilmember Fazzino expressed concern over the degree of specificity that Mr. Seiger was using, particularly in regard to the height and density of the structure. He questioned whether Mr. Seiger concluded this of his own speculation and, if not, where he got this information. Mr. Seiger said he arrived at this using his real estate know how, which involved building several thousand units. He felt his calculations were accurate. Mayor Henderson stated that a specific density was not mentioned. Nobody was talking about a plan. Mr. Seiger questioned the ability of the Council l to assess the environmental impact of putting residential units on this parcel, if there is no plan. Councilmember Fazzino explained this was not a zoning plan, that it was a land use plan. Mr. Seiger understood this, but felt the residents had to have some idea of the density to be able to deal with traffic. Consequently, assump- tions must be made. The assumption that staff used was that if there were approximately 150 units, there would be around 1,350 automobile trips per day. On the other hand, if the parcel were used for office. purposes, there would be approximately 1,080 trips per day. Mr. Seiger-'s personal calculations took into consideration public trans- portation such as Cal Trans. As a result, he figured the number of trips for office traffic would be lower than what staff concluded. 076 7/21/80 These are the types of things that "`:-: Seiger felt must be known in order for one to understand the impact such a change in the Comprehen- sive Plan would have on Arastradero Road. The Palo Alto Municipal Code speaks of two parking spaces per unit if it is a two bedroom unit. That would be 300 parking spaces on the site. at 330 square feet per space, which is a common denominator for figuring parking spaces, not counting access roads but counting isles between spaces, that is roughly between two and eight acres to accommodate the parking spaces. What this shows is that the parking must be put down first, and put the housing above the parking. If this is the case, a three story building above a level of parking figures out to be a four story building. Mr. Seiger continued, saying that the present allowable zoning for office park will result, according to the staff's figuring, in 76,800 feet of office, if all done on one story, and approximately 60-80,000 square feet of parking. This is roughly 3-112 acres on one site, if all one story. If it were two stories, which is more likely than one story, then 2-1/2 acres in comparison with 3-1/2 acres would be utilized. In comparison, when talking about high density, Mr. Seiger felt staff was talking about a massive building, with height. He said he, and others, were opposed to a massive structure that would be incompatible with surrounding buildings and a density that would result in an impact on Arastradero, further causing the two lane road to reach a service level as conditioned. Mr. Seiger apologized for the length of his speech and explained he didn't come to antagonize, but to speak to some things which he felt needed to be said. The key physical aspect of the site, he felt, was the 210 foot setback which requires all the development to be on the back four acres. This, in turn, brings up the physical condition or the slope of the back four acres. He understood that in order for the development to be economical, this would have to be a high density parcel. Housing is fine, but what he and others were asking for was some sort of plan so that one could assess the impact of housing on the site. He urged Council to leave the zoning as it currently is, which not only allows for 76,000 square feet of office, but also 8-10 units of hour i g per acre. Mr. W. J. McCroskey, 4158 Oak Hill Avenue, felt that housing on the Arastradero site would be preferable to further industrial development, and could fulfill a real need, if certain conditions were met. The conditions he spoke of where proper design and landscaping, limitation to 80 units --1O0 maximum, and restriction to people who work in Palo Alto. He suggested that Council direct neighborhood residents to meet with the staff, Planning Commission, and developer to work out a plan which would be acceptable to everyone. Jay R. cliff, 4110 Old Trace Road, said neither he nor nis neighbors were contacted by the Planning Commission regarding this matter. He felt that, : as a consequence, there was not adcquate time for hinmself or Mr. Seiger to get a presentation together that would concisely present their views. He also felt that during the shay months was a bad time for such an item to come before the Council, as school was closed and many residents were on vacation. The residents of this same area recently underwent a change in connection with the Syntex expanison. At that time the residents worked with Syntex, Stanford, and the Panning Commission to arrlve*at a consensus of the future development of the area. This led him to believe that in repeating the situation, they would be left alone, or at least be contacted before the staff and Planning Commission recommendation went to Council. His request was that the reco ndation regarding the six acre parcel be voted down, and that the Planning Coa ission and staff be directed `to- work with the residents of that area. 077 7/21/80 Mike Steward, 13456 Mandoli Drive, said that earlier the topic of the widening of Arastradero Road was before this same Council. The Council voted the recommendation down, leaving Arastradero Road as is. At that time, it was made clear that Council would let the residents of the area krow of any ma{or issues which might be coming before them. Since then, this has not been followed through, causing individuals to lose trust. He asked Council to listen to the residents as they were concerned. He also wanted Council to remember the previous meetings of the Palo Alto Planning Commission and Council, and the Los Altos Planning Commission and Council. At that time, promises were made for industrial and office development, and there is now housing, manufacturing, and warehousing. He felt this was a break in trustand didn't want to see it happen again. Heinz Erzberger, Thendara Lane, felt that from past experience with low density industrial development that it led to continue to support this type of development. Development of this sort was more compatible with the neighbors in the area than a development with a density of 25 units per acre. Also, this high density development would have an impact on Arastradero Road traffic. If low cost housing were to go in on this site, those people living in this housing would not have easy access to services as there are no services which are located close by. In principle, the speaker was not opposed to housing, but felt high density housing would have a severe impact for the residents in that area. Diana S. Miller, 13435 Thendara Way, was very upset that Los Altos Hills residents were appearing before Palo Alto City Council asking than to provide services when Los Altos Hills has never done anything to provide such services as low and moderate income housing. She felt her town, Los Altos Hills, has never done anything but come to Palo Alto and tripe. What she doesn't like about Palo Alto is the way they have done Arastradero Road, making it difficult for the residents of that area to gain easy access to their homes. She complimented Palo Alto for attempting to meet the needs of the housing problem which are severe, at the same time asking them to work together with other jurisdictional groups. Mary Davy, 12645 La Cresta Drive, wanted to thank the City of Palo Alto and Stanford University for offering many of the jobs that people occupy who live in Los Altos Hills. She felt that many have benefitted from the economic success of the area, but at the same time suffered in the jobs/housing imbalance. She thanked Council for entertaining an innovative idea of changing industrial zoning to residential zoning. She thinks this will help the jobs/housing imbalance and benefit all. Shealsofelt informs of this issue because she not only received notices, but read the newspaper. Gary H. Heymann, 4159 Old Adobe Road, said his overriding concern for any city is its environmental integrity. Fran this standpoint, low density housing was more desirable to him than the consequences of continued industrial development. Me was speaking in favor of changing zoning from industrial to residential, as it would accomplishtwo major objectives: to reduce the land available for further industrial development and to increase the amount of available housing. He felt the considerations to be taken into account when changing the zoning were to limit the development density to 80-100 units, and occupancy should be limited to those employed in the industrial park or in Palo Alto. Adrienne Ol iff, 4110 Old Trace Road, felt that putting in *token' housing on a six acre parcel, with a 200 foot setback, would not do anyone good. She said that particular area was limited by no public schools or public transportation. Putting in the proposed housing would mean an increase of the number of vehicles tripe per day by the individual not working in the industrial park. She felt that it would 07'3 7/2020 be easy for Council to build in downtown Palo Alto, in the air rights of the parking lots, or to rezone under-utilized properties. This would not only help the housing problem, but would provide those people with public services within walking distance. Mayor Henderson asked if there was anyone else who wished to speak on this item. There being no one, Mayor Henderson announced the public hearing closed, and referred the matter back to Council for recommended action. Counci!nember Eyerly asked staff who the lessee was of this property on Arastradero Road. Ken Schreiber, Assistant Director of Planning and Community Environment, said he had talked to John Breedlove, Stanford University, that morning and that Syntex was going to lease the site, but as of that morning they had not actually signed the lease. Counci1nelnber Eyerly said that in all the discussions of this site by the Planning Commission, he felt the L zone was lightly touched on. He asked for clarification, and asked if the 210 feet of this L zone was exclusive of any easement. Ken Schreiber said the easement was part of the area and that it varied between 30 and 40 feet. Councilmember Eyerly understood this to be a depth of 170.180 feet, exclusive of any easere't, He asked for further explanation behind the staff recommendation of no zoning of housing in the L zone although they included this area in the total acreage. The only reason he could figure out was to preserve the 1. zone for the industrial park. He felt that it sounded as if staff was using the L zone to support the high density housing recd nendatiion, and he wasn't sure this way a viable way to go. Ken Schreiber explained that the L zone is a buffer strip. When staff looked at this buffer strip, they looked at if from Foothill Expressway all the way to Deer Creek Road, and found significant environmental problems in the section from Foothill to Hillview, and also in the section beyond Deer Creek Road. The section bewteen Hiliview and Deer Creek Road did not have the environmental impact, but to have development on one side of the L strip and an easement on the other would not be very easy. Given this information, and taking into consideration the nature of the buffer strip; staff felt it would be best to focus their attention to the rear of the site so that the L strip would be maintained all the way along Arastradero Road. Councilr er Renzel asked if the L strip could reasonably be applied to residential zoning as well as light manufacturing zone. Ken Schreiber said that it could*, and that staff indicated in the staff report, their interpretation of Planning Commission's recommendation was to designate the whole six acre parcel, 'multiple -family residential," with the exception of the 210 foot setback. The front part of the area could be designated as low density residential, with the L. The L concept would be retained and those structures could be built. Counci lme ber Renzel asked what was permissible in an L designation aside from landscaping. haphtali Knox, Director of Planning and Community Environment, said the permitted uses are landscaping, screen planting, and fences or walls adjoining the property line which say be requieed by the general district with which the L is combined. The purpose of the L zone is to 079 7/21/80 ensure the provision of landscape open space as a physical and visual separation between residential districts and intense commercial/ industrial uses and in selected locations where landscape buffers are desirable. Councilmember Renzel said that in other areas of the industrial park which border on Barron Park the L border also exists. There is parking in these areas, and she questioned whether parking was permitted in L zones. liaphtali Knox said parking was permitted. In 1978 there was a change in the zoning ordinance. Conditional uses were allowed with a use permit, and for non-commercial recreational activity and facilities conducted in the open, pedestrian, bicycle and equestrian pathways, or access roads, there is no provision for parking. It may be that there was provision for parking in the earlier Zoning Ordinance. MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher introduced the following resolution and moved, seconded by Councilmember Renzel, that Council approve the Planning Commission recommendation amending the Land Use Map for the vacant site, 1:150 Arastradero Road from Research/Office Park to Multiple Family Residential; and that any future developer work closely with the neighborhood of Los Altos Hills and Palo Alto, and that the Planning Commission consider limiting the housing being avilable to employees in the area. RESOLUTION NO. 5820 entitled RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL Of THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING THE PALO ALTO COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY F P.A 0 ALTO AMENDING LAND USE MAP FOR VACANT SITE, 1050 ARASTRADERO RAOD SECOND WITHDRAWN: Councilmember Fenzel withdrew her second of the ,motion. Councilmember Levy asked for the motion to be repeated. Councilmember Fletcher explained that it basically was the same recommendation which was contained in the staff report. The nature of the site is such that there is a hill in the back, and she didn't feel able to judge whether the housing would fit into the land without creating an adverse visual impact by building into the hill. She preferred to leave open the matter of the 200 foot strip. SURSTIN(E MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher introduced the following resolution and moved, seconded by Counc i lm ber Levy, that the Counc i l adopt the foliating resolutionand approve the Planning Commission recommendation mending the Land Use Map for the vacant site, 1050 Arastradero Road from Research/Office Park to lultiple Family Residential: RESOLUTION NO. 5820 entitled RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY 0F PALO ALTO AMENDING THE PALO ALTO COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR THE DEVELOP ENT OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING LAND USE MAP FOR VACANT SITE, 1050 ARASTRADERO ROAD AMENDMENT TO f4OTION: Councilmember Fletcher salved, seconded by Councilmember Fazzino, that any future developers of the site work closely with the neighborhoods of Palo Alto and Los Altos Hills on any development plans, early in the process. Councilmember Fauino said he was totally opposed to backing off at all with respect t, the 210 feet of landscaping. He is pleased that Stanford and the local industrial park fine have agreed to see this land 080 7/21/80 used for residential use. This means fewer jobs and more housing opportunities for Palo Alto workers. In a previous speech he rejected broad sale rezoning, but did not mean that Council should reject every opportunity that came along. he could not accept the noise and traffic concerns. Both will come in equal quantity with either industrial or residential. He asked Mr. Schreiber what size industrial development coula be placed on the parcel. Mr. Schreiber said the total square footage is 7,800 feet. Just slightly less than two acres of building. Councilmember Fazzino said he could appreciate the concerns about density. He felt this Council, more so than others, will not support a major size project which is totally offensive to the neighbors. He was responsive to the figures being proposed tonight with respect to acceptable density for that area. He was reminded the only issue before the Council tonight was a land use change and not a zoning proposal. He said he would very much like to see neighbors involved in the process of responding to any proposal and would support the inclusion of one or two community members in the area to be part of a group which includes City staff and any potential developers. Councilmenber Fazzino invited the City of Los Altos to join in an effort to provide housing. He supported the Planning Commission recommendation, considered it well thought out, and doubted the result wold be an offensive project. Counci lmemnber Renzel said she was reluctant to invade the landscape buffer strip. She questioned whether the buffer strip was a land use designation as well as a zoning designation, and if it had to be addressed tonight, other than by way of instruction to the Planning Commission. Ken Schreiber said that the L Strip was not on the land use plan reap, He felt that instruction to the Planning Commission is enough. Councilmember Renzel continued to say that she thought a density of approximately 100 units (no more) is in order and might be worth looking at. At the same time, she did not want to tie the Planning Commission to what zoning they might seek. The zoning regulations, as they exist, are stringent, and she felt they would provide their own limit, a limit that would be suitable to the neighbors. She also felt that industrial developments can cause as much or more problems as residential developments. As for the traffic problem, the traffic is from the industrial park as well, and is not localized. The problem involves through traffic as well. She was willing to support the amendment, but questioned the Council's authority to require the kind of interaction nt loner _ In the amendment considering that the parcel of land being discussed is privately owned. Roy Abrams, City Attorney, said the concept of the amendment would stand. as a request. Coon o er-bevy - thanked the people who spoke during the evening and found ttie speeches to be constructive. He felt there were basically two points being made. Onc was that residential use of the land is acceptable but density and design are critical. Secondly, Council should be very sensitive to, and work with the neighbors i", the design and development of any project to be put up. He flet the motion on the table addressed itself to both of then issues, whether on an official or unofficial basis. He said he would support, not necessary the L zone$but the Planning Commission recommendation. His reasoning was that eliminating the L zone gave them the chance to integrate the neighborhood more closely with the Arastradero neighborhood. Aso by eliminating the L zone, they would have the opportunity to use all six acres. He felt that 25 units per acre was too much if they were limited to four acres of actual development, and even if they were 081 7/21/80 limited to six acres. He quoted the multiple family residential definition from the Comprehensive Plan. He said he hoped that when this project came back before Council for specific zoning that it would be zoned for much less than 25 units per acre. Mayor Henderson strongly favored housing on the parcel and didn't see the need to go into detail regarding density. He assured those present that Council would have input from the residents in the area whether the developer followed their request or not. He disagreed regarding the elimination of the 210 foot strip. Aesthetically, that would be negative. AMENDMENT PASSED: The anoendment passed on a unanimous vote: AYES: Eyerly, Fazzino, Fletcher, Henderson, Levy, Renzel [TOES: None NOT PARTICIPATING: Sher, Witherspoon ABSENT: Brenner Counc i In nber Fletcher asked the City Attorney to comment on the proposed second motion regarding limiting the housing to employees of the area: Roy Abrams commented that it would be highly improbable from a legal standpoint that the City would be able to restrict the use of private land and the inhabitants in private structures. The housing would not be related to any particular industrial development where the City might be able to relate to the industrial projects need for housing AMENDMENT: Councilmemb er Renzel moved, seconded by Councilmember Fazzino, that Council uphold the planning Commission suggestion and include excepting the 210 foot strip along Arastradero Road, w -h ch would remain Research/office Park, to be used as a landscaped buffer. AMENDMENT FAILED: The Amendment failed on the following vote: AYES: Fazzino, Henderson, Renzel ALOES: Eyerly, Fletcher, Levy NOT PARTICIPATING: Sher, Witherspoon ABSENT: Brenner Mayor Henderson said that all six acres were now before Council to be rezoned for multiple -family residential. Councilmember Fletcher clarified that the intent of her motion was not to fill every acre up to the edge of the site. But from a visual planning point of view, if it is preferable to put the housing closer to the road, that is what she wanted to allow for. Counci limber Renzel said that since the - landscape_ strip is not really a sand use designetiun,°=Council could make the land use designation multiple -family residential,preserving as much of the landscape strip as possible. If they then went through a PC zone that was residential, they could utilize a portion of that in order to get a better project. Keen Schreiber stated that with any development, buffers can be required. He felt the lack of Council direction on this particular topic will create some confusion. One way to go would be the PC zone or the existing '°0" designation. Staff recommends thisto be retained with any multiple family residential zoning. Although the Planning Commission did not speak to the zoning classification, staff observed an implication of retaining the 'Om. 082 7/21/80 AMENDMENT: Councilemember Renzel moved, seconded by Fletcher, that Council recommend that whatever zone is applied for a "D'' designations be applied with specific intent of preserving as much of the 4." zone as possible. Councilmember Fazzino said that he would support the motion, but he would have a real problem supporting any specific development proposal which doesn't include protection of the 210 foot limit. Mayor Henderson said that he also would support the motion, but felt very strongly about preserving the 210 feet. MOTION PASSED: The motion passed on the following vote:. AYES: Eyerly, Fazzino, Fletcher, Henderson, Renzel NOES: Levy NOT PARTICIPATING: Sher, Witherspoon ABSENT: Brenner MAIN MOTION: The main motion to amend the Land Use Map to designate 1050 Arastradero Multiple -Family Residential, and as amended, passed on the following vote: AYES: Eyerly, Fazzino, Henderson, Levy, Renzel NOT PARTICIPATING: Sher, Witherspoon ABSENT: Brenner Mr. Schreiber had clarification for staff regarding the process which he felt quite important for the neighbors. The process in Palo Alto is normally the arner,dirent of a plan, followed by an amendment of the zoning, followed by a development. He wasn't clear if Council requested to direct the Planning Commission to recommend on the zoning of the site, including the "D" district (design, review), and if they wanted this done prior to the receipt of any development proposal. The process normally would be to, at this time, take up a zone change and then to consider the specific develop ent when a developer came to the City. MOTION: €.oun;ilmember Renzel moved, seconded by Henderson, that Council direct the Planning Commission to consider rezoning of this parcel. MOTION PASSED: The motion passed on a unanimous vote, 6-0. AYES: Eyerly, Fazzino, Fletcher, Henderson, Levy, Renzel NOES: None NOT PARTICIPATING: Sher, Witherspoon ABSENT: Brenner 32100 PAGE MILL ROAD -SITE AND IRTnirrinurinTriorlipm- • s MOTIOI. Councilmember Renzel moved, seconded by Fazzino, that Council uphold recommendation of Planning Commission and Architectural Review Board to approve the application of Mid -Peninsula Regional Open Space District for Site and Design Review of the trail, system for property located at 32100 Page Mill Road; and uphold the Planning Commission's recommendation to deny Parking Lot G (as clarified under New Business in the Planning Commission minutes of 6/26/80) MOTION TO CONTINUE: Councilmember Witherspoon moved, seconded by Renzel, to continue this item to meeting of August 11. 08 3 7/21/80 Councilmember Fazzino was concerned with the size of the agenda for the meeting, feeling that they were overloaded. He felt the meeting of July 28 should be rescheduled, and the remainder of the items on the agenda which have not been discused, could be discussed at that time. Mr. Schneider, Mid-Peninsual Regional Open Space District, has a presentation to bring before Counr41 regarding this item. He asked Council to reschedule not for the meeting of August 4, but August 11 due to the availability of the Board members of Mid -Peninsula Regional Open Space District. MOTION PASSED: The motion to continue to August 11 passed on a 6-a vote: AYES: Eyerly, Fazzino, Fletcher, Henderson, Renzel, Witherspoon NOES: Sher ABSTAIN: Levy ABSENT: Brenner MORTGAGE REVENUE BONDS C WrIAND TUDINATE I NOME HOUSING Counci lnember Levy root participating. NOTION: Couneilmember Eyerly moved, seconded by Fazzino that Council approve the staff recommendation and adopt the resolution to protect the City's rights to participate in the mortgage revenue bond program should NR 5741 be adopted. RESOLUTION 5821, entitled A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A SERIES OE BOND ISSUES TO FINANCE HOUSING FOR PERSONS AND FAMILIES OF LOW MD MODERATE INCOME AND APPOINTMENT BOND COUNSEL. Cauncilmember Renzel asked if Council was regarding this action as a means of keeping their options open, and if there would be a future opportunity if they chose not to pursue this route and voted in the negative. Mayor Henderson asked if there were time constraints on this item. Couecilee er Eyerly said that the time constraints were that there was federal legislation which will limit the amount of tax free bonds, such as these, that can be used. This resolution merely preserves Council's options to use the pairameters that are spelled out within the body of the resolution. MOTION PASSED: The motion passed unanimously, 7. AYES: Eyerly, Fazzino, Fletcher, Henderson, Renzel, Sher € i therspoon NOT PART1C1PATIJG: levy ABSENT: Brenner SURPLUS SCHOOL SITES - RE COUR 358:0) ) 8111 Zaner, City Manager, called Council's attention to a letter which was at the Council's places. It was from the school board requesting that Council delay placing a ballot measure re funding of school sites on the Nove er election. Coeincilmember Renzel said that it was her understanding that theschool district was not putt i ng forth adequate votes of resolutions of intent to sell. She asP'_Id lip-. Zaner if this included the Ventura site. 084 7/21/80 Mr. Zaner said this was oily on the Ventura site. The vote on Ventura was not adequate (three-t'P ths), but the vote on Terman was (four -fifths). Technically, at this time, the school board has not given notice that it wishes to sell Ventura school site. The City could still make their offer to purchase the school site. If the school board decides to accept the offer, they have to pass a resolution by four -fifths vote to sell, and then they will have to have a five -fifths vote to actually make the sale. Councilmember Renzel asked what this did with respect to Terman. She thought it would give Council 60 days to respond. Mr. Zaner said that Terman is legally for sale and that there is a December 1 deadline. He advised Council to request the school board to rescind that 60 day limit in view of the fact that Council would not be putting a bond measure on the ballot. MOTION: Mayor Henderson moved, seconded by Renzel, that Council authorize the staff to offer to pruchase the Ventura site in accordance with the Staff's recommended proposal. Councilmember Levy asked staff if he was correct in assuming the school board never gave their people the legal right to negotiate with the City. Bill Zaner said that was correct. Technically, school district personnel never had the authority to sell Ventura. Councilmember Levy said that if Council voted tonight to rake the offer to purchase Ventura, they would be making the offer to a body which would not be able to cope with the offer. Bill Zaner replied that if they voted in favor of the purchase, it would go before the school board, and the board would have to either accept the offer, reject it, or make a counteroffer. Legally, they have to obtain a four -fifths vote to adopt a resolution of intent to sell, and then a five -fifths vote to actually make the sale. Vice -Mayor Sher questioned why Council was doing this at this time. Normally, Council responds to actions by the school board declaring the sites surplus. It was his understanding that thi5 hasn't happened, yet staff wanted Council to go ahead with the offer. He felt the motive was that if the school board rejected the offer! it was staff's point of view that was the end of the topic, and they were going to stop working an it. 8i11 Zaner said that the information in the memorandum orandu to Council was compiled before they found out that, technically, Ventura was not for sale. Once this was found out, staff reviewed the recommendation and decided to make the recommendation regardless of the technical problem that exists. The purpose is to try to give the school district a bonified offer which they can respond to. Vitiations have gone on for approximately a year and one half and, in that time, the City has been unable to create much movement. Therefore, staff was trying to get the school board to move to a point sere they have a positive offer in front of them, and then in turn can respond back to the Coufci l . Vice -Mayor Sher said that this was a point which would have to be pursued. Denny Petrosian, 443 Ventura, said the clock is running on Ventura, and that there is good momentum, but if the ball is not carried forward, the City and the residents of the area will lose the site to development. She felt that what the City staff is doing is one of the finest examples of synergistic governmentirommunity efforts. 085 7/21/80 Joseph Hirsch, 4149 Georgia Avenue, said he was a member of the Terman Working Group. He was concerned that the Council was talking about taking independent action on the Ventura site, which might Jeopardize what the Terman Working Group is trying to do with the Terman site. He urged Council to view the two sites together to make sure the action they take on one will not preclude them from doing what they want to do with the other site. Bob Moss, 4010 Orme, felt the real problem was understanding what the school board was getting at. He said it was his opinon that the school board did not know what they were going to do with the sites, and wouldn't know until they were given a firm offer. David Jeong, 4056 Park, urged Council to go ahead and make their offer -to the school board, as negotiations have been going on for too long. Councilrnember Levy said he thought the school district was somewhat disoriented as to where they stood on the school site issue. The school board has never had a long range plan, evidenced by their piecemeal planning. He felt the City was being pressured into the same piecemeal planning. The City might end up with one school, or even two schools, but lose the benefit of a carefully considered City-wide plan. He thought it important to act in a way that the whole City is behind Council, and recognize the Council is acting in tie best interest of all neighborhoods. He didn't feel there was any need to take action on Ventura. What Council should do is suspend negotiations until the school board offers Ventura for sale. At that time, the City can bring out the package which has been negotiated, and seriously negotiate with the school district, with an offer on the table. SUBSTITUTE MOTION: Councilmember Levy moved that the Council suspend negotiations on the Ventura school site until such time as the school board offers Ventura for sale or lease. MOTION FARE(); The ration died due to lack of a second. Vice -Mayor Sher said he did not disagree with the staff recommendation to make an offer to the school district. He felt that when and if Council adopts this recommendation, it was important to be clear about the implications. The proposal has a deadline of August 26, at which time, if it has not been accepted by the school district, the proposal will be rescinded. he felt there was a good probability this is what would happen. He said there was an overtone of an ultimatum in the staff report which defeated the Council's purpose to acquire the school site.' In the long run, this proposal might bring the whole issue to a premature end. Mayor Henderson questioned the August 26 date. Mr. Zaner said there was nothing sacred about that date. He felt it gave the school board a reasonable amount of tine to analyze the proposal and see if it was acceptable. What is meant in the staff memo by the termination of staffactivity is that the staff would no longer initiate any further activity with the school district. The staff has spent a lot of time and effort on negotiations which have not beer very fruitful. Councilmember Renzel said that she wanted to see the Council purchase the Ventura school site, as it is a very critical facility in the community. Her concern lies with the disposition of Terman in the absence of a November ballot measure. - Councilmember Witherspoon felt that making an offer woul i pr d ce an answer from the school board which is essential. She was concerned that the buildings on the property are deteriorating rapidly, and perhaps an 086 7/21/00 action by the City would precipitate the school board going ahead and leasing the property. She wanted a long range plan, but felt it was hard to have a plan when one did not know what sites were going to be available. She felt that sooner or later this issue was going to demand a ballot measure and that Council ought to start planning for that, if not this fall, then next spring. Edel Young, 460 Ferne, member of the school board, said she did not vote for selling Terman or Ventura. She felt it might help Council if they understood her reasoning. Her preference is to lease the surplus sites rather than sell. This would produce an ongoing income, which the school district needs and will need for many years. At the sane time, leasing will keep the school district 4n ownership of the school sites, in case of any future need. The school district is in the process of making a long range plan, and she wants to wait until this plan from the district is completed, so they will know which school sites the PAUSD will need in the long ren. Councilmember Renzel said that in earlier talks about school sites, a provision regarding a buyback agreement was discussed and included in the purchase agreement. She wondered if this was something Ms. Young was open to looking at. Edel Young said, yes, that it was, but that she would still like to wait until after January to decide which of the sites would be sold, and which ones would be sold first. Councilmember Fazzino said his concern was regarding a long range plan. he would support the main motion although he didn't feel they were going to get much response from the school board. He would like to see the Citv!School Liaison Committee talk about some of the issues that Edel Y:ng has raised...why leasing is preferable to selling. Councilmember Levy discussed the staff's comments on the lease package. If a lease package is better for the school district, then it also might be better for the whole community. If the City leases, they will accrue a permanent value from the investment they make. MOTION PASSED: The motion authorizing the staff to offer to purchase the Ventura passed on a 7-1 vote: AYES: Eyerly, Fazzino, Fletcher, Henderson, Renzel, Sher, Witherspoon NOES: Levy ABSENT: Brenner PROPOSED CAS TO VISUAL - -- . :44:0) MOTION: Mayer Henderson waved, seconded by Fazzino, that Council adopt the two ordinances for first reading: ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY Of PALO ALTO AMENDING SECTION 2.18.070 (a) OF THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE AND ADDING SECTION 2.18.070 (d) REGARDING THE VISUAL ARTS JURY ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING SECTION 2.26.020 (b) C' THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL 000E AND ADDING SECTIONS 2.26.030 (10), (11), (12), and (13) REGARDING VISUAL ARTS IN PUBLIC PLACES 087 7/21/80 MOTION PASSED: The motion pass on a unanimous vote, 8-0: AYES: Eyerly, Fazzino, Fletcher, Henderson, Levy Menzel, Sher, Witherspoon NOES: None ABSENT: Brenner REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY RE CONSUMER PR TEC1"IWT Councilmember Fletcher asked that no action be taken on item pricing issue, which generated the City Attorney's report. She asked for the liberty to reagendize item pricing. At that time Council could refer to the City Attorney's report. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY RE sin o i MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher moved, seconded by Councilmember Levy, that Council approve the ordinance for the first reading, plus direct. the City Attorney to prepare Alternative A as an amendment: ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO ADDING SECTION 16.20.052 TO THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE TO SET FORTH AN EXCEPTION PROCEDURE FOR SIGNS Councilmember Renzel expressed concern in dealing with signs that are already under amortization. Councilmember Levy asked Mr. Abrams if there was to be an "or" between items 2 and 3 in Alternative A, so that any three of those items constitutes a finding which could represent an e+cception. Mr. Abrams said all three of the items were required. MOTION PASSED: The motion passed en a 7-1 vote: AYES: Eyerly, Fazzino, F fetcher, Henderson, Levy Sher, Witherspoon NOES: Renzel ABSENT: Brenner 4040 EL CAM INO REAL rrerPTPW i°GriDie.nifORMI PIG lATTERMTIZOF-AP'PLiCATTON F DR. SYDNEY KITH (C'MR:347 O) Mrs. Rosalie Price, 841 La Jennifer Way, urged Council to retain the El Camino Veterinary Hospital. She has been using the services offered by the hospital for seventeen years. Barbara Whittemore, 3883 El Centro Street, said she.gupportcd strongly the El Camino Veterinary Hospital John Waterhouse, 407 Hale Street, felt the El Camino Veterinary Hospital was needed at that location. He also stated that the tenants near the hospital had no objection. Clifford .hernick, 830 Menlo Avenue, Menlo Park, represented the Veterinary Hospital. The Hospital has complied with everything that it has been asked to do. It has worked out any problems with the Villa Vista Homeowners Association. Their first choice was that the application be granted for the life of the use of the building. If this was not possible, they were asking that the application be granted for at least 50 more years beyond the 1993 termination date. He felt that 088 7/21/80 the El Camino Hospital, due to its commitment to comply with the regulations, should be shown consideration. Sara Black, 783 Cereza Orive, said she was a teacher in the area since 1955, and that during those years, taught many animal care courses. She worked in cooperation with Palo Alto Baylands Interpretative Center and, throughout all of her work, has sought the advice of the veterinarians at the Hospital. She asked Council to let the El Camino Veterinary Hospital continue indefinitely, presenting a petition from the residents adjacent to the Hospital, further enforcing the idea that the hospital is not a nuisance to the neighbors. MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher moved, seconded by Mayor Henderson, that Council approve the recommendation of the Planning Commission to approve the application of Or. Sydney Smith for exceptions to nonconforming use termination provisions for property located at 4040 E1 Canino Real, and subject to the conditions listed in the staff report. Cnuncilmeanber Eyerly said he thought the Hospital was a great organization and well run. He did think that by making an exception tonight, Council was setting a precedent. he felt that if there was going to be an exception made, it ought to be made near the end of the use of non -conforming termination. The Hospital still has thirteen years until that date. Businesses change, as well as neighborhoods, and he felt the Council, thirteen years from nowt should he able to look at the Hospital and make their recommendation based upon how well the Hospital was being run at the time. Mayor Henderson asked if he was correct in assuming that Council couldn't set the condition; being established tonight if they simply let the non -conforming use to its regular time span. Ken Schreiber, Assistant Director of Planning, said that was correct. Councilmember Renzel then asked that if they did grant an extension, they could require conditions. Mr. Schreiber said that the Planning Commission recommendation was that the exception be granted, with conditions. The conditions are outlined in the staff report. Councilmember penzel continued to say that she would support an exzensinn of 6-i0 years, primarily allow the veterinarians _ _s__ . _� 3..... ,�� . �+�� i ay to a � E� �r�cer�n►ar�ans to finish their practice there, She expressed concern towards granting any exceptions toward the land use plan and zoning ordinance from the standpoint of incoipatability with the neighborhoods. She felt that in this case she would be able to support an extension of 10 years, but no more, Councilmember Fazzino noted the structure has teen there for 30-40 years and had been a conforming use in the County before Barron Park became a part of the City. He felt the steps that Or. Smith and his staff had taken to reduce the noise, etc., had been enthusiastically received by the neighbors. The lack of neighborhood opposition clearly indicated continued support of the facility. He did not want to see the Coonc i 1 blindly supporting the land use plan or zoning ordinance without some sensitivity toward extraordinary circumstances. He strongly supported the continuation of the use, indefinite, forty or fifty years. Councilmember Levy said he would like to see the use continued, but was concerned about seeing it continued in perpetuity. He thought that a proper length of time would be a total of forty years. This should give a reasonable pent of time to amortize the cost of soundproffing the building, etc. 083 7/21/80 SUBSTITUTE MOTION: Councilmember Levy moved, seconded by Councilmember Witherspoon, to approve the application of Or. Sydney Smith for exceptions to non -conforming use.termination provisions for the property located at 4040 El Camino for an additional 25 years beyond 1993. Vice -Mayor Sher questioned the July 20, 1978 date that was mentioned in the staff report. He asked if he was correct in thinking that anyone who wished an exception, was required to apply within two years after that. Ken Schreiber said that the rule was two years from receiving notice, and that most of the notices were mailed out at the end of August, 1978. He continued to say that the third apeat was filed that morning. Vice -Mayor Sher asked about the amendment that the Council made regarding the alternative approach to add years to the amortization period. The way the ordinance reads is that the Planning Commission can hold a hearing and either recommend an exception or a specified term of years for which the exception can be granted. Does the Planning Commission have to be involved in the procedure to consider the extension of time? Roy Abrams, City Attorney, said that this was a continued application. The Planning Commission had reviewed the matter; therefore it would not be necessary to refer the !natter back to the Planning Commission. This does not rule out that it could be a Council alternative. SUBSTITUTE ► OTION PASSED; The substitute motion passed 6-2. AYES: Fazzino, Fletcher, Henderson, Levy, Sher, Wi therspoon NOES: Eyerly, Renzel ABSENT: Brenner REST OF VICE MAYOR SHER ITTRtRANTTAN MINT -PARK MOTION: Vice -Mayor Sher moved, seconded by Councilmember Renzel, that the Council request eh Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to declare the Birch -Grant parcel surplus and that Council encourage the Board of Supervisors, through County Staff, to convene a meeting of potentially interested partiex (including the Palo Alto Housing Corporation and the Mid -peninsula Coalition Housing Fund) with objective of facilitating development and construction of affordable housing on the parcel. MOTION PASSER: The motion passed on a unanimous vote. AYES: Eyerly, Fazzino, Fletcher, Henderson, Levy, Renzel, Sher, Witherspoon NOES: None ABSENT: Brenner REQUEST OF MAYOR HENDDERSON AND coMiciii0BER ricaft40 .17710041TY gVICtS IN LIEU PAYMEPTS MOT I ON: Councilmember Fazzino, seconded by Mayor Henderson, that Community Services In -Lieu Payments be referred to staff for comment. Councilmember Refuel expressed concern over losing their housing in -lieu payments to some other kind of mitigation measures, but she is willing to hear what staff has to say on the measure. 090 7/271/80 Counciimember Witherspoon expressed concern over the amount of time staff had to put into this issue. Roy Abrams, City Attorney, said he thought that it would be a rather substantial af,sigrirrent from the perspective of the Attorney's office. In lieu of their present worklaod and personnel, they would not be able to respond to this issue for at least six months. Councilmembver Witherspoon thought this was a policy decision that should be discussed. She welcomed the opportunity to discuss the whole subject of the mitigating tax at a future time. She, therefore, was against referral, saying she thought it should be a Council agenda item, discussed at length. Roy Abrams said the concept of community services in -lieu payments is one that is being considered by other jurisdictions. This is a growing area of concern which would take substantial time to analyze. MOTION PASSED; The referral motion passed ona 7-1 vote: AYES: Cyerey, Fazzino, Fletcher, Henderson, Levy, Renze l , Sher NOES: Witherspoon ABSENT: Brenner ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Counci lmember Fazzino roved, seconded by Henderson, to adjourn. The motion passed on a unanimous vote, Brenner absent. The meeting adjourned at 12:35 a.m. AFFIRM: APPROVE; 091 1/21/80 yor