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Home My WebLink About07-30-1980 City Council Minutes MINUTES SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: ~e~ne~d~y[~i. Ju~y.!3.0~ 1980; 7:30 p.m. PLACE:City Council Chambers, 13777 F'ruitvale Avenue, Saratoga, Calif. TYPE: Special Meeting AGENDA ACTION I. ROLL~TCALEii~. Mayor Callon, Councilmembers Jensen, Clevenger, Mallory, Watson - all present. II. COMMUNICATIONS A. ORAL Vic Monia, 14665 Granite Way, presented letters from individuals opposed to ~ the move of the Post Office and asked' that the issue be reagendized. John Aird, 149~0 Vickery, spoke against the relocation of the Post Office and presented a petition to ~ that effect. Bill Clark, 19404 Shubert Drive, asked for assistance in having his building. plans accepted. B. WRITTEN III. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. PUBLIC HEARING ON THE WEST Director of Public Works reviewed thef VALLEY CORRIDOR history of the transportation corridor with respect to Saratoga and the'options available to the City. Mayor Callon read into the record communications from the following supporting the'corridor: Gil Decker,. President of ESL, Inc.; FMC; Memorex;. Lockheed Missiles and Space; Sylvania Systems; Hewlett Packard; Synetics; Ward, Brooktree Lane (Santa Cruz); Robert Vaines, Sunset Lane~ Soquel. She also ~ead' into the record state- ments opposing the corridor from the following: Joyce Hlava, Guava Court; John Brigham, Correga way; Michael Terresa, Saratoga. The Public HeSring was opened. Carol Machol, Ronnie Way, spoke against preserving the freeWay corridor, desiring that it be used as open space for other purposes. 2-7/36/80 AGENDA ACTION Joan Green, Goleta Avenue, spoke for use of the corridor for purposes other than automobile transit. J6hn Lambert of the Modern Transit Society, proposed that the corridor be used for light rail to be financed' 'through federal matching funds. Richard Tridale, an engineer from Campbell, spoke in support of light rail use of the corridor. Todd Wa~sh, 12759 PlymoUth Drive, spoke against freeway Use-of the corridor, as did Roger Clemens, Saratoga ~ · ·...~ ..... David Moyles, P~esident 'of theE1 Quito Park Homeowners Association, spoke in favor of. preservation-of the corridor .for mass transit. '~. ~ Russ Crowther ~ . Norada. Court, stated that; the freeway corrid6r~ between Cox ~nd Prospect is designated 'as. a. park system in the General P. ian, which would have to be ~h'anged 't~o. ~lioW other uses. He s~ggested light'.'rai~ use. Roy Cook, .12305 Candy Court, Prides Crossing, opposed the freeway .an.d supported light rail. A1 Spidike suggested that the' corridor be sold to put the land on the tax rolls and to preserve Saratoga's ~ural atmosphere'. Dr. Joseph Cle~enge~, 19337 Titus Court, a member of the CoUnty Transportation C. omm~ss~on, explained the conclusions of the Santa Clara ] Valley Corridor Evaluation Study completed in March, 1979. That study assumed that the WeS~ Valley ~ Corridor was .a highway corridor-and 2 not a developable rail corridor; 'it also assumed that simultaneous . development of rail ~nd highway. transportation in a corridor would not be cost beneficial because the two modes · compete. Ray Schnier, a resident of Prides Crossing, -recommended that the Council preserve the widest possible corridor. Shelly Williams. p_resente'd statistic~ showing a gre~t increase ih highray-~ traffic-andlspoke in favor of pre- ] serving the corridor. .~ '- 3-7/30/80 AGENDA ACTION Gaza Geray, a resident of Saratoga representing ~eneral Electri.c, urged that the Council preserve a wide enough corridor to make development possible in various modes of transportation. Roger Peltan, pre~ide~t~lof the Northwest Saratoga Homeowners Association, spoke against keeping the corrido~ .open.'~~' John Hung~rfor~, Old W~od Road~ representing ESL, Inc., spoke for preservation of the transportation corridor for commuters. Harry Kallshian, May6r of Los'Altos, recommended preservation of the right-of-way, as did Evan Baker, Obrad Drive, representing GTE/ Sylvania Systems, Western Division. Albert Schroter, Titus Court, recommended that all possible options be left open, as did Robert van der Toorren, HOrseShoe Dr'~ve~. Larry Birenbaum, 21221 Sullivan Way, spoke against light rail development. Rod Dir~don, of the Board of Supervisors, spoke against the use of the corridor for a freeway. tte recommended preserving as much width as possible in the corridor to provide for mass transportation. Charlie Huff, 12725 Miller Avenue, stated that the statistics were no longer valid and that fewer people than projected would be driving. Art Munk, Solaria Drive, spoke ih favor of light rail. Vic Monia, Granite Way, reaffirmed that his association opposes any use, of the corridor. Joan Bowl, a homeowner behind the freeway, spoke for closing the corridor completely and using it for residences. Jim Stuart, 19149 Allendale, spoke for use of the corridor for low density development. Dr. Clevenger spoke in favor of narrowing or preserving the corridor.. ..4-.7/30/80 'ACTION Dan Jorgensen, 19467 Brockton Lane, spoke in favor of reducing the corridor to 50' or less to accommddate light rail, bicycles, or pede~Lrians. Chester-Thuener, 19446 Brockton Lane,' spoke against a freeway. Shelley Williams, spoke in favor of preserving the corridor for a freeway. Peter Giles, representing the Santa Clara County Manufacturing Group, spoke supporting a transit-oriented= commute emphasis throughout'the vall'e~. Ray Schnier, spoke for preserving the corridor as a freeway for those inside as well as outside Saratoga. Richard Martin, 13981 Pike Roa~, spoke for preserving. the c.orridor as open space. Robert van der Toorren, Horseshoe Dr., spoke in favor of mass transportation. Ann Ango, a resident.of Cupertino,. spoke for using the corridor for subsidized and low-income housing. Charles Earley, Chateau..Drive, spoke in favo~ of preserving the corridor. Ms. Olmarch, a resident of Morgan HilT, spoke in support of the freew~y. Mayor Callon noted that she had received phone calls from Mrs. Emerson, 20900 Prospect Road, for preserving the corridor and James Stewart, 19729 Solano Drive, against the freeway. The Public Hearing was'closed. Councilmember Clevenger reviewed the options available to the City and expressed her belief that Saratoga could not justify preserving the' entire corridor if an expressway is not desired. Councilmember Watson spoke in favor of retaining only a 50' corridor for light rail to discourage motorized traffic. Councilmember Jensen reviewed the relationship between land use and transportation systems, pointing out the problems of heavy metal and carbon monoxide pollution tha't can occur with heavy freeway use in conjunction with undesirable growth. :. 5-7/30/80' ' AGENDA ACTION '- ~ Councilmember Mallory expressed-his continued opposition'to a freeway-and~ his interest in' other uses of the ~ corridor, He favored retaining the : land andcreating'the easements that. Supervisor Diridon suggested. Mayor Callon spoke against using the corridor for a freeway and in favor of preserving it, She expressed her' desire for Saratoga to retain control: over the use of the corridor}~.as well: as to investigate the possibility of~ forming a joint powers agreement with] · other'West Valley cities and the County. 'In addition~ she' streSsed"~~ 6h~Z'i~p0~tance~ofl retaining enough of' %he. c0fr~db~'tOlpr0~ide a~buffer of. f' more than'.fifty feet. ~ -:.: C0~neIlmembe~ Clevenger,'spoke in .;' '~favo~of preServing'only 50 feet of ~ the corridor 'to'p~clude a freeway. Councilme'mber Watson voiced his aareement with CounCilmember Cievenger~ cQ,mm, ents on preserving the corridor and having the assurance: o~ the'fifty feet.' JENSEN/CLEVE~GER MOVED.TO REAFFIRM THE INTENTION TO HAVE NO FREEWAY AND NO ROAD WAY IN THE CORRIDOR; TO '- RETAIN ONLY-50' AS ACONTINUOUS STRIP' WITH NO DECISION AS TO~HETHER 7L~GHT,"'i:RAILiS'~tS~i.;.ENDgRSE~!:"L%U~'~i!'7~ : WITH NON-MOTORIZED PEDESTRIAN PATHS : OR BICYCLE PATHS ENDORSED. PASSED 3-2 (CALLON, MALLORY OPPOSED). Councilmember Jensen discussed a number of possible land uses. in the corridor and the importance of land- scaping. Mayor Callon explained that she' opposed the motion because alfhough': she agreed with the intent not to allow a freeway or roadway, 50' does not give Saratoga enough options for use of the corridor. CounCilmember, Mallory'strongly opposed the 50-foot limitation because it would preclude very acceptable, creative uses in'the corridor, which would be consistent with his position against a freeway. ,6-7/30/80 AGENDA ACTION JENSEN/WATSON MOVED TO INDICATE THAT THE COUNCIL'S INTENTION IS.TO STUDY AND DESIGNATE LAND USES IN THE CORRIDOR'TO P~OVIDE SPECIFIC'USES WHERE APPROPRIATE AND THAT THIS BE DONE AS PART OF THE GENERAL PLAN REVIEW. PASSED 5-0. CALLON/WATSON MOVED THAT THE CITY' EXPRESS WILLINGNESS TO EXPLORE MEMBERSHIP IN A JOINT ~OWERS AGREE- MENT FOR THE LOCAL AUTHORITY ON THE TRANSIT CORRIDOR,_ONE CONDITION BEING THAT SARATOGA WOULD HAVE A VETO. PASSED 5-0. ., IV. ADJOURNMENT ADJOURNMENT - Respectfdlly'I~lubmitted, Grace E. COry Acting City Clerk'