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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-21-1980 City Council adjorned Minutes MINUTES SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: ~h~sda~, August 21, 1980, 7::30 p.m. PLACE: Saratoga City Council Chambers, 13777 FrUitvale Avenue, Saratoga, CA TYPE: Adjourned'Special Meeting AGENDA ACTION' I. ORGANIZATION A. ROLL CALL Mayor Callon, Councilmembers Clevenger, Jensen, Mallory, Watson - all present II. COMMUNICATIONS A. ORAL Ed Bolger, 13627 Vaquero Court, Mayor Callon responded that the action asked why the Parnas Corporatior of July 30~. was to ask the staff to public hearing was being heard prepare a resolution not granting the tonight, since he' th6ught it exemption; the resolution would be had been finati~ed. considered tonight. B. WRITTEN III o PUBLIC HEARINGS A. CONSIDERATION OF REQUESTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS SECTION 7 OF MEASURE "A," INTERIM RESTRICTIONS AS RELATED TO HARDSHIP CASES 1. Mr. and Mrs. Politi Planning Director reviewed the history (SDR-1259), Pike Road of this item, starting with tentative (Continued from 8/6/80) map approval on Septefaber 2, 1976; an extension; and final map approval on February 14, 1979. He noted that the 3.52-acre site is accessible from a minimum access road consisting-of a 20-foot right of Way with 18 feet of pavement. There is exis[ing access from Pike Road, ~nd.!~!. ~the.;/.~. applicant is required 6nly to widen and-overlay according to subdivision standards. The average slope of the site is approximately 24.9%, and the proposed building site is totally flat on top. The top is free of major vegetation, but there are some trees and natural ~ grass on the site which are to' be retained. The residence is to: be served by a septic tank in compliance with Santa Clara County Health Depart- ment requirements. Prior to the issuance of building permits, there is to be the minimum recognized water supply for fire flow. 2-8/21/80 AGENDA ACTION Director of Inspection Services reported that at the tentative map stage, the City Geologist found that the site was generally stable and required simply soils engineering and foundation engineering before develop- ment. The access road is in some distress, but is generally donsidered Stable. In response to a question from Councilmember J~nsen, Di'rector of Inspection Services said that a detailed soils investigation had not been conducted because the applicant has not applied 'for a building permit. He then discussed the procedures followed in granting building permits with conditions according to the results of geologic investigations. This application has gone through the normal sequence up to this point, and when grading and building permits are applied for, additional detailed soils engineering will be required. In response to Councilmember Jensen's question, Director of..Inspection Services explained how m~y'~e~idenCes were served by ~he access road; thi's lot is an existing lot of record, so the ordinance prohibiting subdivisions creating more than four lots on a private road does not apply. Councilmember Jensen requested that the City Geologist be present at the next meeting. The Public Hearing was opened'. Sandra Politi, 21075 Bankmill Land, spoke as the applicant. Councilmember Watson pointed out that density should not be a problem in this application. The PUbliC Hearing was continued to the second hearing on September 3. 2. Parnas Corporation (Tracts City Manager noted that this item had 6665 and 5928) (Cont'd been continued from the last meeting, from 7/30/80) when the Council had requested the attorney to draft a resolution denying a. Consideration of the request. Resolution No. Codncilmember Jensen expressed her concern regarding the possibility of a sewer line going through a .land slide area and asked that the hearing be continued until further information from Caltrans on'the subject was received. She also desired further information from Jim Burland and the AGENDA. · ACTION :,v.-"' "' Councilmember Clevenger-asked about the_-meahin9 o~ the City, Geologist'S' · . disclaimer. Director of Inspection Services explained that Mr, Cotton is a private, consultant under contra~t; he'.:thereforet:is not afforded the" immunities for ,~egal defense'which City employees have'. He slated that any consultant would use this type of disclaimer, but that every reasonable precaution has been taken to minimize risk. Councilmember Clevenger expressed concern about preserving the natural drainage system and natural creekside vegetation and asked about the 9round movement. Director of Inspection Services replied that the important thing, was for the structure to be separated from the movement. Councilmember Jensen stated her belief that not enough had been done to avoid Ehe poteptially movin9 areas. She also noted that it appeared the de veloper had agreed to put in concrete culverts to stabilize the mountains for the development itself rather than ~o,preVent",e~osio~ of~the,":c~eek~Y:~She also expressed her objection to e.~g~ne&r~n9 Sold,tionS:'~o~9~o~dgib hazards, preferring instead to avoi~ the hazards as she felt was intended by Measure ~. - Councilmember Mallory s~id he felt the Council should focus on making a decision on the resclution which had been drafted. Mayor Callon pointed out that the pre- vious council had cut out severely un- stable land from HCRD consideration so that it =could nOt.~.U~d foY 'the cal- culation Of al, lowable dnits. This re- sulted in a reduction of possible building on the rand. Director of I~spec~ion S~rVices=, explained'that there wa~ indeed a pro- vision'under HCRD to remove areas designated as MDor MRF;:Or ~0% in, slopet from the 9ross area of the sub- " ] division for purposes of~l.ot~yie~d .: calculation~ but ~hat ~e~s,ure ~ does not use those terms. Measure ~ pro- ' r Vides for a slidin9 scale taking into account geologic hazards to calculate ~ ~lop'e de'nsity. If the Council or the Citizens ~dvisory Committee ~e.re to ': ' ' ' 4-8/21'/80- AGENDA ACTION ' remove PD or MS areas before lot yield calculation, the number of lots .. would be further,reduced. : . After further discussion, Willem :. Kohler, 21842 Via Regina, who said he was instrumental in the writing of · . Measure A, .c~nfirmed Councilmember Clevenger's belief that the density is calculated, then areas with geologic problems are removed. Steven Bernard, attorney for Parhas · Corporation, speaking to the question of concrete culverts, said that Parnas Corporation did not wish to build them and indeed was prepared to contribute $20,000 to the General Fund if that condition were eliminated. Concerning the question of avoidance of geologic hazard, he stated that those hazards had been avoided through engineering. He also explained the procedures that had been gone through to ar~ive at the figure of 29 lots and pointed out that this was the number that had been dealt with for four months. Russ Crowther, 20788 Norada Court, asked why the matter was being dis- cussed, since'heunderstood the ~=,'v~:;" Council ha~ d~nied the.Parnas request. Mayor Callon explained that the Council had previously directed staff to prepare a resolutioh denying the request, and the resolution was being considered t~night. Mr.. Crowther!spoke against the con--.':' cret~'qulveLt as being inconsistent with the Ge~era~P'lan. He also ex- ., pressed objectionSt0 engineering solq~ions ~o geologic. hazards. His : "fee~ing waF~ that the Measure A Commit- , tee should have !the.opportunity to set Standards for such solutions, as well as d~ter~ining~h~:'~ffe:c~igeologic',ha_z~rds :~outdjha?e.Lb~L:~ensity.~alcQlatiohs. Mr. Berna~d'~evieWed his involvement in this application and the Parnas Corporation's transactions, pointing out their good faith and cooperation. He cautioned against hea.rsay testimony, referring to an August 8,.1980, letter from James 7Berklahd,. County Geologist, to William Cotton. ,, Councilmember Jensen stated that i~ " the letter were to be read as evidence, the parties at issue should bepresent. Mayor Callon noted that the Council has no p6wer to insist that they be present. '518/21/80 AGENDA ACTION Mr~ Bernard commented on the letter, saying that all they C6hhci~'sr!concerns had been answered. He also referred to a letter from the Sewer District saying they did not expect problems from the sewer line. Mr. Bernard then expressed his belief that the admini- strative record did not support a denialof the exemption. Councilmember Jens~n asked if the tax- payers had been informed about future maintenance costs as well as construc- tion costs of the sewer line. Mr. Bernard said he understood it had been done. Councilmember Jensen noted that she had not been informed of the costs, nor of the engineering details; she asked to see them. Mr. Bernard ex- plained that Parnas Corporation was not prepared to submit further infor- mation tonight and that they wanted a decision tonight rather than ~ore meetings. Council~mDer. Ma'li0ry expressed his d~sire to make a decision now that a · ~. gr~at.d~l of testimony had beeh heard. ~ N~ck Nf6ho~s, Sahit~[Io~ DistriCt #4, asked whf·'CaltrAns was asked to comment - on the proposed sewer on matters other thanhow.it..would affect the highway~ Qouncilmember Jensen explained that the Council. has a responsibility to understand the~implications of putting a sewer line through the toe of a big landslide. Mayor Callon asked who negotiates a right-of-way for a sewerline from Caltrans. Mr. Nichols replied that his agency was responsible for that. Councilmember Watson said he was satisfied that the trac~ satisfied the hardship requirements. Ed Bulger, 13627 Decarro'COurt, spoke against granting the exemption, since he believed the Citizens Advisory Committee's recommendations were not being implemented.' Mayor Callon re- plied that the Citizens Advisory Com- mittee had also given the Council the prerogative to grant hardship exemptions The Public Hearing was closed. Mallory/watsoh moved not to accept Resolution 969 denying the hardship exemption.. Passed 5-0. 6-8/21/80 AGENDA ACTION Councilmember Mallory reviewed the changes the developer had made in his original plan and pointed out his cooperative attitude, especially with regard to circulation. He encouraged the.Councfl to negotiate an agreement whereby the homeowners could pay the cost of changes in the circulation plan. Leonard Barello, 14004 Quito Road, representing the Parnas.Corporation, stated that he.was willing to abide by the 32 lots if he were ~i~a ~!' ~b~ic road pattern to work with so that he could begin installation of the underground utilities immediately. Councilmember Mallory stated that the Council should give the Measure A Committee the fullest possible lati- tude todo their part within the spirit of the measure. At Councilmember Watson's request, Director of Inspection Service~ ex- plained the procedures enforced by his department to deal with unforseen problems through requiring modifica- tion to the engineering d~sign or pro- hibiting building on a lot. Mayor Callon stated her beliefs that the circulation p~*oble~'had been. handled by leaving to~the Measure A Committee the question of tying Toll- gate to Pierce Road and that. the density que~tiohshould hot De inter- preted any more st~i~tl~than the prb- ponents of Measure A had interpreted it. Callon/Watson moved, that ResolUtion 965 be adopted, ~ranting ~ hardship exemption to the Parnas Corporation with the understanding that the issues the Council'has delineated which must be met by the Measure A Committee will be left to.their discretion. Passed 4-1 (Jensen ~pposed). Special Counsel noted that the reso- lution granting the hardship exemption contained the Measure'A density limit in each tract, so that each was re- quired to meet that requirement separately; the two could not be averaged together. Councilmember Jensen explained that she was voting against the exemption because she did not wa~t to pre-empt the options of the Measure A Committee. She felt the.appligation did not · ' -7-8/21/80 AGENDA ACTIO~ <"" adequately'reduce geological~azard~ and that the. City would have unreason- able maintenance costs in the future as well as allowing struptures to be built in a hazardous area. Councilmember ~l~vengers~ated that in balancing a response'to the Voters · with a response to the facts as pre- sented, she had concluded that the exemption should be granted. IV. ADJOURNMENT ADJOURNmeNT Respectfully submitted, ~d~ E~rC-ory · Acting City Clerk