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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-09-1974 City Council Minutes M~NUTES SARATOGA CItY COUNCIL TIME: TueSday, April 9, 1974 - 8:00 P.M. 'PLACE: Saratoga City Council~Chambers~ .13777 Fruitvale Ave., SaratOga, California 'TYPE: ~C/Kd~d~e~l~r Meeting I. ORGANIZATION A. ROLL CALL Present: Councilmen B~idges, Brigh~m, Diridon, Kraus and .Smith Absent: None. II. PUBLIC HEARING A. CONSIDERATION OF PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS RE: SARATOGA GENERAL PLAN AND SPHERE OF INFLUENCE PLAN Mayor Smith explained that this is a continuation of .the ~ '~=COuncii ~]e~ing last week with regard to the General Plan, and tonight's ~['~n~hl~ for the purpose of receiving commeBts from the public to-assist the Council in making a determination regarding each particular area in the proposed General Plan. The City Manager presented. written communications perti~en~ to this matter, as follows: 1) Nell B. Van Wi~kle,~Allen, Van Winkle & Ivey, 708 West 20th Street, Merc~d, Ca~ifornia,cRe: Area A of ~h'e..General Plan, particularly relating to the proposal ~o delete the Wardell Road extension to Old Oak Way, and ~lso Slope Conservation zoning. (Representing ~ Mr. and Mrs. Torre) 2) Curtis L. Coleman, ~ood& Richardson, 700 First National' Bank Bldg/, San Jose, representing Charles J. M~ridon,' expressing opposition to a slope density formula which Would yield a density of less than one unit per two acrea,~ and also, the proposed deletion of ~ardell Road .extension. · 3) A. Zettler Greely, ~hairman, Greater Prospect Hills Homeowners As§oqiation, 21192 Maria Lane, urging the Council to give greater status to ~he s~ope density flow Chart prepared by Williams & Mocine and to the refinements suggested by Mr. Weir at the previous General Plan meeting. ~he City Manager also indicated there was amemorandum to 6he Council from' himself concerning the question of the Slope Density Flow Chart. 'He stated that generally, the comments in thisTmemorandum .relate to whether or not this type of formula should be made a part of the General Plan or whether it should become a par~ of the Zoning or Subdivision Ordinance. He stated it was the opinion of the City Attorney this type of'formula sh6uld not be contained within the General Plan, but something like it should be articulated in the Zoning Ordinance. Furthermore,~hli~--~q~L~~~~i~'~'~ ~b~r~r~yision in the ordinance w~{~'~Q~ui'd~i=~rtR~"{~e~fo~[h~-~ [l~n~ir~'C~fssion and staff whereby they could use this formula as a basi's General Plan ~(Cont 'd.) for making determinations regarding the ~ize of .lots in var-ious zoning districts. He felt the Slope Conservation Formula would help to clarify the resolution adoptedby.the Plan~ng Commission and later adopted in the form of an ~rdinance by the City. Council pertaining to slope density. Meg Monroe of Willjams and Mocine then gave a brief presentation regarding the Sphere of Influence and the proposed objectives for this area. She explained that the aspects considered in developing the series of policies and objectives presented were bedroqk geology, public services~ slope and erosion, terrain, and land use. -' She explained that the Sphere of Influence Plan, like the General Plan, is divided into three sections: Environmental Resourse Management, Community Development, and Circulation. She indicated they are now aE a point in the Sphere of Influence Plan where the Planning Commission has examined the work and made a few'changes; however, by and large, the Consultant and Planning Commission have agreed on the objectives-and policies and~ there are no changes in the Consultantes recommendations. Mrs. Monroe then proceeded'to review Environmental Resource Management Objectives. With regard to No.'4, pertaining to extraction ~f minerals, Councilman Kraus felt a stronger-language should be included to reflect prohibiting extractxom except for unusual conditions. Councilman Diridon pointed out that there doesn,t seem t6 be any mention of historical and archeological ~andmarks; he!~j~{6~t~as noted under Policies, but not under Objectives,. and asked that this be added. A citizen in the audience asked if .there was"a~statement to cover cutting and grading of hill~ps"~.~ Mayor Smith advised that the language could be added to prohibit cutting of hillto'ps. There being no further comments in this section, Mrs. Monroe reviewed Community Development Objectives. There were no comments-on this section. Mrs. Monroe then reviewed the Circulation Objectives. Mayor Smith asked if the purpose of one objective, "tO allow access for County residents for a broad range of park, recreational, camp, and ~rail " was to resources~., affo!~ .t.~h.e/~pportunity for traffic from the County to get ~o Sanborne Park or{Sk~l. ine B6u~evard, or if this speaks Eo including other ma3or access roads in~h~ Sphere of.Influence?! Mrs. Monroe stated she didn't believe this proposed objective addresses itself to major roads, such as Big Basin Way. She explained that the poxnt concerning arterial access is provided in the event development becomes twice what is anticipated in this area. Mayor Smith expressed some concern about this objective, as did Councilman Kraus, who ~_n~d~that figures from the County Hillside Study indicate Big Basin Way as ~he only road in this area that seems to be in trouble. The Mayor indicated he would like to obtain figures from the the Monte Bello Ridge Study concerning proposed development in this area before making any committment concerning access roads~. This was agreeable to the other council memberS. The discussion then' pr6ceeded to the section on PoliCies. Mrs. Monroe reviewed the four recommended ~olicies under] Environmental Resource Management. and nhen asked if there were any comments~'concerning thesesrecommendations. Councilman Kraus commented that he is concerned about. No. 3 as it pertains to fault zones, and asked wha~ uses:'would be' c~hsi~ered-compatible. Mrs. Monroe replied that if, for example!, the guidelines.were followed in the San Andreas Fault zone, there could~he no more development in this area. - 2 - There beihg no further discussion of Environmental Resource Management Policies, the discussion proceeded to Community Development Policies. 'M!les Rankin, Realtor, inquired why'there is a need for expanding the criteria for different types ofdwerling units, referring to No. 4, and commented that it was his feeling~hing that has been said about the Sphere of InfluencetoC~j~has~6~ t~rd rural, low density, etc., and he was unable to underst~n'~ the i~CT~n of apartments and tgwnhouses under this~_oint. Mayor Smith explained that at the time of the first Santa Cruz Mountain Study th%~Whole idea of changing context came about.. It was felt that if the City does decide to go to cluster housing, it might make sense to go into townhouses~o.~'e~,!~pgethezr on Very large tracts of land. In this way the density' wourd be light,r and it would provide more utilization of land and avoid cutting of additiOnal.roads. Councilman Diridon asked if the concern wasn't really to accomplish [~ltiple- t e z yp~z~~~fS~ather than ~the apartment concept, and'commented that maybe 6hD~d"~'~t"'isn't the~ most logical in relation-to the zoning. Councilman Bridges felt the Council ~hould set down the criteria and some guidelines before getting into this ~ype of development Councilman ~aus commenced that the element in the Mountain Study was to keep development at a minimum and keep homes in one place, but~} acreage open around it. Miles Rankin commented that he fel.t the Council should realize that the County zoning and all of the la'nd inrthis area is single-family 2~acre zoning, and from 2~ acres it gets progressively larger because of the slopes~ ~' ~~~apartment" is. used, this changes the whole concept. A member o~ the audience commented that he felt when the Council is discussing things like this, they should address. themselves to a concept of total Community. He asked if the City is trying to promote a policy of single- familX residences or giving s~p~t't~~d~h~type-d~rl~s. ~ ~: a xss~ould be the tlm~en~a s~t por~cy ~s adop~ Mayor Smith pointed out that we ~oUl~ oBly be talking about development for approximately 2,000 people. He felt the County would probably favor single- family housing; however there is a demand for a~tached cluster housing ~ich Would be similar to a to~house, and this would give some range ih the housing. Mr G Ca . . rlson suggested~o.l~e{recons~t~Efect that it would expand the a~iteria ~Ff'[~ ~f~j~ll[~~{~H~n the density patterns for that specific area, and also to include various types of attach~ cluster housing to maximize open space. i%f.~th'i~ se6ti~'~ iJ~golng tOicontai~h~-~cr{~h~ felt it should be included have to be done by ordinance. The Mayor suggested this point be modified to include various types of attached cluster housing. This was acceptable to the Council. ~s. Monroe then outlined the Circulation Policies. - 3 - C~lneral Plan (Coni'd.) A citizen in the audience commented regarding No. 5, pertaining to bicycle lanes, stating that he didn't unders.tand the temporary use oftrails. 'Mayor Smith advised this would mean .temporary only until permanent 'separated pathways are provided. Mrs. Monroe then began the review ~f' the geographic '~reas in the Sphere of Influence, as follows: Area- R This area is c~ose to Bohlman Road, .and the slopes are very st~ept It is located near a rift zone. The ste~pslopes and lack..of services make this area impossible for d~velopment Area T This is next toArea R,'adjacen6 to Bohlman Road. This area in in the Urban Service Area,..and there is capacity for 20'residential units. In the~ area adjacent to this, but not included in the Urban Service Area, there is allowance for an additional 9 to *18 units. She advised that in another area adjacent to Bohlman there could~ be placed an additional 24 units which might be clustered. Area U Area·U talks about development of approximately 3 to 6 total sites, some of which have already been developed. !It is the consultan~!s recommendation these remaining sites 'should be developed, provided they meet the necessary criteria for development in this are'a. Area V The consultant ha~ recommenhed l:~to 2 units'in this area. Area W - -I : , -. This area in on the 6th~r-~ide of t~e 'fault !zone. There are ~ areas here which could accommodate 17 units if ithey were clustered. Area Xis across the fault zone, and'l unit could be accommodated here. Area Y Area Y could carry ~ to 6 units, and~ the~e are presently approximately 5 already developeq in this area. Area ~ '-": 7: :-'~ .~2 -Z ~h{~ area now has 2 ;un'itB~;.~and it h~s a capacity fo~ 2 to 3 ,units. Mrs. Honroe stated that Areas X, ¥/LND ~ are affected by a ver~ unsuitable soil condition. A citizen asked' the consultant representative to further describe Area Mrs. ~onroestated t~is:area is not :within the Clty limits and is very close to Cupertino,.within portions of Older [anch and Se~en ~prlngs Ranch. Councilman Diridon asked Mrs° ~0nroe if'~he could run.through a hypothetic process for determining the.de~sitie~ 'as indicated for tbese areas. Mrs. MonrOe proceeded ~o give a hypothetigal'example of how ~he 'chart is followed, uslng the area on ~ohtman ~oad in ~he 12~ban Service Area. General Plan (Conrad.) Mayor Smith indicated that the discussion would now move ~nto the General Plan.' He asked for an~ comments from the audience. 'Mr. N..Perry Moerdyke, at'~orney and owner of the Painless Parker Ranch property, indicated he would like tO file with the City a letter in response to the ~aterial being presented to-the City Council in connection with the General Plan. Mr. Moerdyke proceeded to read the letter, which, in summary, requested (a).an 'opinion from the Ci. ty Attorney that the City had, and continues to have, the legal right ~.o delay consideration of the application to rezone, or (b) a policy statement by the Council to the effect that irrespective of any final decision with respect to the revised General Plan and resulting ordinances and criterf~a, the application will be judged on the ordinances, criteria and the Generali Plan as such existed at the date of~the application. Mayor Smith indicated this is the ffrst time the Council has seen this piece of correspondence and advised that i!t would be referred to the City Attorney, and he would prepare an answers. for the next regular meeting Curtxs Coleman, Attorney for~;Charles Mar~don~who_owns property ~n-the ~tT_'_Ed. en ~ea. l~ea,_'A) ;~ [e'~tifl~dL t~'~"~r. M~rfdo'n' purghaseh 't~is'land in 1982, and at that time fits.was 'z~d .R~l~40,.000.' 'He in,dicated that the property is now within!the proposed iSl'ope ConserVationsZone. Mr. C61eman stated that he felt the word which i,s scaring the owners at this time is' "minimum", referring tq ~6b~mi._n'i~Um~ d~,n'~,~_ty ~uireme~t of 1 unit per 10' acres, which would be completely' unacceptable tolMr. Maridon. Mr. Coleman suggested the sl~ope conservation formula be revised to allow development of this 'property at a de'nsity not less than 1 unit per 2 acres. It was also his feeling the General .Plan should be kept "gederal" and the proposed slope density formula should not be included within the Plan, but included in the Zoning Ordinance. Judge Hall addressed th~ Council and affirmed the fact that there is a great concern regarding the environment, ecology and scenic background in this area(Mt. Eden - Area A). Judge~ Hall indicated that he felt this ~cenic ~_rang~_~ is in very serious jeopardy~.a~dl~his jeopardy is being appeased by the delay in developing this property in an orderly way, such as what the Blackwell organization is proposing. Judge Hall stated that a small fraction of his property-at the end of Wardell Road is included in this proposed Blackwell Homes development. He further state~ he has no desire to see this develop- ment as he would like this.:property ~to remain in its original state; however, he realizes this is impossible. Jud'ge Hall indicated that property like this is fast bedoming a-"no man's land" -- there has been the threat of fire, there is no way tO police the area, .etc. because of the lack of access.i!. Judge Hall indicated hisS. property is' presently~6~der theWil~liamson Act, primarily for 'the purpose of lessening the tax burden, sihce the County has assessed this laBd as being. prime development land. In conclusion, he stated he did not feel the Council should design the General Plan with such burdensome r~gUl~ti6ns~so as to restrict economical development in this ar~a. Mr..Charles Guichard, Wardell-Road, indicated it was his feeling the whole concept the City is advancing here iS the development of theVillage~ which would require t or 2 southern accesses from the Blackwell development; there- fore, it was his.feeling Wardell RoaH would seem to be the most logical access, rather than Comer Drive. Mr. Guichard stated ,he~is' requesting a&cess for th/s whole area; however, he also has a personal i~t~s'f in!~wanting 7access to his private roadway. - 5 - General Plan (Cont'd.) Ernest Barco then addressed the CoUncil and presented a letter which he had written to the Planning Commission on the subject of "trails". He indicated that even though the letter refers~pecifically to the General Plan, the Planning Commission did not includeTmuch of this in their discussions. Col. Barco stated that even though he wr6te this letter, he is inclined to agree with them as he doesn't feel this is the!kind of thing that should be in the General Plan. He indicated that'two areas he ~L~ especially like to touch on this evening are . . 1) When trails are to be created in the future, notify all property ~w~ef~ ~within 500 feet of t~e proposed trail for the entire length of the trail,.and hold a public hearing with appropr'iate prior noti= fication to all points. 2) Indicated' that we do need a Code and a way of enforcing same~'7~ Col. Barco stateU'h~fs~}ngt Opp0se~ to the trai~ sy~Eem as such; h~ i~'7only. concerned with the way it is 'mpl m~nte . x e d Recess and Reconveyne ~ - . .' . · The he~ing continued regarding the~General Plan. Clark Bassett, 18892 Twain Court, indicated he is the owner of property on Crisp Avenue and Granite. Court, within Area G, and he Would like to endorse the recommendation of the Planning Commission relative to development in this area, known as the Sobey-Quito Area.~ He indicated ~e would specifically like to express his satisfaction with item 2, under G,'~ pertaining to providing of adequate access to arterials in.new developme~nts and prevention of through-traffic on local access streets. Mr. Bassett stated he would interpret this to mean an avoidance of Crisp Avenue from a heavily travelled thoroughfare such as that which exists between Quite and Fruitvale onto Allendale. Rather, he stated he would hope.this would have inlmind for Crisp Avenue a "loop" type of road, such as Sobey, to provide access 'to and from Fruitvale Avenue and other arterials, but a~oids therisk-of an'other heavily travelled thoroughfare. With regard to this point, Mayor Smi!th commented that in the former General Plan there is a broken line connectfng Sobey Road and Fruitvale, and there was discussion around the area Mr. Bassett has mentioned,'but he could not recall if the Planning Commission arrived at any determination on this area. Stan Marshall, Planning CommisSioner!, commented that on the original map it shows a continuation of Crisp Avenue to Sobey Road, and the consensus of the Planning Commission was'that this not be allowed to become a major thoroughfare. Mr. Marshall furthe~ stated that it was the Commission's recommendation that the General Plan treat the dotted line on the map as.connecting streets which "1oo s" are circuitous route connections or . p . Mr. Ross Conklin, Superintendent, Odd Fellows Hom~ of California, stated he would endorse Mr. Bassett's commentsi with regard to Cri~p Ave. and stated they do not want a connecting road on Crisp to Sobey, except as it might serve the area for ingress and e~ress. Mr. Conklin further commented regarding No. 1, Area G, and stated this doesn't recognize the institutional aspect of the Odd Fellow's property.' Mr. Conklin stated that this iand now has a 20-acre park, which include~ living for approxi- ' mately 310 aged persons. ~A~di~ionall~f~er~ i~'~ 'licensed nursing home on the premise~. He further indica[ed"tha[!the ~dd'F~fi~w~ a~e beginning to think about~I~idi~g~'a more modern concept of retirement housing at a low cost. Mr. Conklin indicated hewould like to see.this sentence amended to recognize the institutional quality of the Odd. Fellows in Area G. He stated that he thinks the Odd Fellows wil~l be bringing plans to the Council for. using this unique and low-cost housingfor'retirement people in?th~"order.and in the community. Mr. Conklin advised that. there had been previous plans to develop - 6 - General Plan (Cont'd. this property in a different manner; however, the Grand Lodge has recommended that they'take advantageof the oppprtunity to Use this land for.retirement housing. Miles Rankin indicated he would lik~ to suggest that item No. 12 be ddded on Page 1 under Community Development, to state that architectural design review be extended to include all commercial developments in the City. Mayor Smith indicated this would be~ noted and consideration given at the nex't City Council Meeting. Mr. Rankin commented that he felt attention should be given to item 6, Page 7, Area C (Blue Hills), 'in~d~c~eariy-defi~iAg'~e Us~br this site (east side of Saratoga-Sunnyvale between the south'ar~ Pacific tracks and Cox. Avenue)i, rather than-just Speci£ying "P.D." He further-stated he disliked seeing anything in a document so loose that it can be interpreted in a number of ways. Mr. Rankin indicated that on Page 9~ item 4, there is discussion about two parcels on Saratoga Avenue between Bucknall and Cox Avenues'being developed in PD(Residential), and again there is loose terminology in using "PD". He felt that it is important to the City to determine how~much commercial property and w~er~ thisdommercial property is going in this area. The Mayor ~ that'the consultantitry to include some language in the General Plan ~o give some indight to what is meant by "PD"(Residential). There was a comment' regarding item 6, page 2, pertaining to the trails and pathways.maps-- there.wa~ a~suggest{on that'~tem 13f page 5, be dropped so it wouldjnot pre-empt the action taken at the pubiic hearings. Mr. John M. Weir,= ehalrma~ for' Greae~r Arguello ~omeowqers Association commented.regarding the City Manage~'s memorandum, dated April 8, 1974, in which he states the C~ty Attorney ~as~very strongly indicated that the proposed slope conservation development'formula should not appear in the General Plan. The Cit9 At[orhey had further indicjted [~at ehe logical ;~' place for such a formula'would be in Section 10.6 of Ordinance.NS-5, the Zoning Ordinance. Mr.'Weir stated ~hat~he.A~gu~llo Qo~eown~rs Association is askin~ that proper criteria"jb~I ~ncluded in zoning ordinances ratheri>than guidelines to be evaluated on an application by application debate between the Planhing Commission and the developer/general public. Therefore, they are proposing the ~ording,in' the actionsplan not establish guidelines, but.direct the Planning Commission to adopt ordinances implementing the criteria and flow chart. ~ The City Manager explained to.Mr. Weir that the above memorandum wasn't specifically written'foward Mr. Weir]~s letter; rather it was for the purpose of relating .that the .concept for~'a~y",pa~tlieular 7~se, whether it b~ a flow chart, slope density curve, etc., be adopted as a part of the General Plan and a more precise statement would be included in the Zoning Ordinance to support the General Plan. Mr. Crowther, also representing Arguello Homeowners Associatiop,.9ommented that item-3, Area A, states that the school property may be ~esidentially developed; however in'referring to the existing City ordinances, i.e., Section 10.1, Ordinance. NS-5, it states very clearly that' where the average grade of any single lot excedds 10%,~ the parcel shall be developed according to the hillside criteria. Mr. Crowther pointed out that the school property (Fremont School) does have slopes 'in! exess of 10% and is apparently erroneously .zoned as R-l-15,000. He indicated they would like to see a statement in the General Plan under item 3 'tb'~correct this existing zoning. General Plan (Conrad.) Mr. Weir stated that the map shows' slope conservation zone, and it barely cuts off the cornerof the sdhool property. They are. asking that paragraph 1 specifically say tha~ "all undeveloped,land in' area A be included in the Slope Conservation Zone",.and'this'would include the school property. Mayor_Smith~advlsed that the 'specific recommendations'and changes ~te~ this - l~__._.z~ eJenin~ wou~_h~r'befo~e th~ Cohndil~for conSideratfon at its next regular 'III. ~S~ELLANEOUS~ITEMS - -~ __ .... ~... ' .. The Mayor advised ~hat~f(~h~ recently been brought to his attention a .. proposed increase in Greyhound.fare~. He indicated that there is presently a 2.7% differential in fares between the trip ticket ~rom San Jose to San Francisco and the'fare be'tween Saratoga and San Francisco. He further advised that'the present commuter rate is $33.55, and this is not in line with. the-single-~rip rate of $4.88.~ Mayor Smith indicated that Dr. Bissell has reque. sted the Council go on record expressing it~ :support for-uniformity with the single-line run and the City Manager represent the City~in its testimony. The,.City Manager advised he would b~ unable to do this on the requested. date; however, he would' send a representative from the City. It was then moved by'Councilman Diridona~d seconded by Councilman Bridges that the City authorize Sending a representative to testify before the Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco regarding the inequity of this variance in ~ates and oppose any immediate future increase. The motion was carried. IV. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Mayor Smith and seconded by Councilman Bridges the meetxng be adjourned. The motion was carried. Respectfully submitted, Ro - 8 -