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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-20-1996 City Council Minutes MINUTES SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Wednesday, March 20, 1996 7:30 p.m. PLACE: Civic Theater, 13777 Fruitvale Ave. TYPE: Regular Meeting 6:30 in Administration conference Room, 13777 Fruitvale Avenue Closed session pursuant to GC Section 54957.6 for the purpose of: CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR Agency negotiator: Harry R. Peacock Employee organization: Saratoga Employees Association; Saratoga Managers Organization ,a~d Closed Session for the purpose of: CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL-ANTICIPATED LITIGATION Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 54956.9 in one case. Pledge of Allegiance - Led by Councilmember Wolfe. 1. ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. Councilmembers Burger, Moran, Tucker, Wolfe and Mayor Jacobs were present. Staff present: City Manager Peacock, City Attorney Riback, Public Works Director Perlin, Associate Planner White and Recreation Director Pisani. 2. CEREMONIAL ITEMS A. Resolutlons commending outgoing Public Safety Commissioners Mayor Jacobs announced that the resolutions honored Cathy Gaskell, Ken Johnson and John Kolstad. MORAN/TUCKER TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION COMMENDING OUTGOING PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSIONERS. PASSED 5-0. B. Resolution appointing new Public Safety Commissioners BURGER/MORAN TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 96-14 APPOINTING ROSEMARY DIPPEL, BELINDA HEERWAGEN, FRANK LEMMON AND LARRY SHEN TO THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION. PASSED 5-0. "' C. ndmlni~tr~ti0n of Oat~ of Office to new Commissioners ~0r Ja'cobs administered the Oath of Office ~o the new Coml~lssloners.' 3. REPORT OF CITY CLERK ON POSTING OF AGENDA City Manager Peacock announced that pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on March 15. 4. COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMISSIONS AND THE PUBLIC A. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Bill Clark, 19404 Shubert Drive, reported that a "Yes on G" sign had been taken from his yard and that his wife had seen the person who took it. He said he hoped the City w~s not removing political signs from private property. City Manager Peacock described the criteria used by City employees in judging whether a sign was in the public right of way. He said if the sign on Mr. Clark's property did not intrude into the sidewalk or street, it would not be removed by City employees. In addition, the truck described by Mr. Clark was not one owned by the City. City Councll Minutes 2 March 20, 1996 Councilmembers Wolfe and Burger and City Manager Peacock said that political signs disappear regularly. Mayor. Jacobs stated that the City does not condone the practice. Mr. Clark said he had contacted the Sheriff. B. COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMISSIONS - None. C. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS - None. 5. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Previously-Discussed Items - None. B. New Items 1) Planning Commission Actions, 3/13 - Note and file. City Manager Peacock noted a correction to Item 3 on page 2. The last sentence should read, "(cont. to 3/27/96 to adopt Resolutions of Denial ) ." 2) Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes, 2/5 - Note and file. 3) Public Safety Commission Minutes, 12/11; 1/6 - Note and file. 4) School Resource Officer Minutes, 1/16 - Note and file. 5) City Financial Reports for February: a) Treasurer's Report - Receive and file. b) Investment Report - Receive and file. c) Financial Report - Receive and file. 6) Approval of check Register 7) Resolution 95-30.10 transferring $115,000 from contingency to Capital Projects to install Signal at Scotland and Saratoga Avenue and making other transfers 8) Final Map Approval for Tr. 8821 (9 lots at 20851 Saratoga Hills Rd. ) (Trlnity= Place/Nelson Gardens) TUCKER/MORAN MOVED TO APPROVE CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS 5B I THROUGH 8. PASSED C. CLAIMS AGAINST THE CITY claim of Fan in connection with landslide damage . City Manager Peacock stated that the recommendation from staff and the City's claims adjuster is to deny the claim. BURGER/TUCKER MOVED TO DENY THE CLAIM. PASSED 5-0. Mayor Jacobs moved the agenda to Item 7. 7. OLD BUSINESS - None. 8. NEW BUSINESS A. Oral Communications (continued) and instructions to staff regarding actions on current oral communications - None. B. Resolution increasing Salary Range for Part-time Temporary Employees Recreation Director Pisani presented the staff report. In answer to Councilmember Tucker's questions, she said they are counting on the increased revenues to cover the additional cost plus overhead, such as city Council Minutes 3 March 20, 1996 camp brochures, secretaries to register people and the recreation supervisor's time. Council is not being asked to take money from the General Fund to cover the increased costs. Following discussion, it was agreed that this would be discussed at the budget meeting on Tuesday, March 26. Councilmembers requested staff to provide information on how this proposal would fit into the budget, including areas to be cut and those where revenue will increase. City Manager Peacock said this information is called a "decision package" and staff would provide it to Councilmembers by the end of the week. C. Ordinance Amending the City Code relating to Nuisance Abatement Procedure (first reading) City Attorney Riback reviewed the staff report which described the two procedures currently in the City's code and the emergency abatement procedure contained in the proposed amendment. MORAN/BURNER MOVED TO INTRODUCE THE ORDINANCE BY TITLE ONLY, WAIVING FURTHER READING. PASSED 5-0. D. Memo Authorizing Publicity for Upcoming Hearings - Kolotouros and Anderson Appeals City Manager Peacock said these hearings are scheduled for April 3. He described the nature of the appeals. WOLFE/TUCKER MOVED TO APPROVE THE PUBLICITY AS RECOMMENDED. PASSED 5- 9. ROUTINE MATTERS A. Approval of Minutes - 3/6; 3/12 MORAN/BURGER MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF MARCH 6 AND MARCH 12 AND PRESENTED. PASSED 5-0. 10. CITY COUNCIL ITEMS A. Agenda items for joint meeting with Chamber of commerce April 9 1) Signs in store windows 2) Time for submittal of agenda items City Manager Peacock said that the Chamber of Commerce has asked that the joint portion of the meeting start at 7: 30 p.m. Heritage Commission interviews will begin at 7:00 p.m. Mayor Jacobs announced that he would not be present at that meeting. City Manager Peacock said he thought Council would want to discuss the Chamber of Commerce contract at that meeting. ' At 8:02 p.m., Mayor Jacobs returned the agenda to Item 6. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Ordinance rescinding Landmark Status for 20600 Lomita Ave. (Hannah Mccarty House) (first reading and introduction) Robert Peepari, Chair, Heritage Preservation Commission, reviewed the report from the Commission. He said the Commission approved the drawings as they were submitted by a 3-2 vote. Following this approval, he reviewed the plans again and prepared the list of reasons for rescinding the landmark designation contained in tonight's report. In addition to those reasons, he said. the floor area of the existing house has been increased by 150%. He felt personally that the change should have been denied because of the scope and because it could not meet the Commission's criteria. Denial by the Heritage Commission would have fulfilled its purpose which is to safeguard the heritage of the City by providing protection of irreplaceable heritage resources. City Council Minutes 4 March 20, 1996 Following discussion regarding Heritage Preservation Commission review criteria and scope of authority, City Attorney Riback stated that in practice it is true that owners of properties designated as heritage have the right to sa9 they do not want the designation. The Ordinance is somewhat complex and a little difficult to interpret, but in practice that is the case and he understood that is the policy. Property owners have the right to tear the house down and build a new house but then they are required to meet the current setbacks. Associate Planner White said that he is the secretary of the Heritage Preservation Commission. He described the review process and summarized the actions taken by the Commission. Subsequent to the approval the owner came to the Planning Department and said once they began to open up walls, they realized they were not going to be able to save a lot of the existing house. Consequently the foundation and the front porch is all that remains of the original house. He said he thought the applicant wanted to save the house. Otherwise he could have just said he was going to demolish it. It did go back through the approval process. Regarding trying to keep as much of the original house as possible, Associate Planner White said there had been a concerted effort to use the design of the existing house for the addition, but it was still acknowledged that it would be a brand new house surrounding the older house. Recreating the exact construction techniques of the old house is impossible, but the resulting house will be similar in architecture. He said they have never been asked to remove landmark status and in addition, no alteration this extreme has ever been proposed to a landmark property. There are 22 landmark properties in the city. Mr. Peepari clarified why the reasons for removing the heritage designation had not been discussed by the Commission at the time of their original review. Commission members received the drawings at the meeting and had a very short time to review them. He said he has talked to Mr. White about making changes in the process, asking him to include a reduced set of plans in Commissioners' packets so they can see them before meetings. Mayor Jacobs opened the public hearing at '8:27 p.m. Jill Hunter, 20606 Lomita Avenue, said she had come to give a eulogy for the Hannah McCarty house. She said Saratoga used to be called McCartyville. When her family moved to Saratoga they were thrilled that they had a bit of heritage in their front yard. They studied the history of the City and learned to love its heritage and speak with pride to their east coast family that this City had a marvelous history that they all shared. Six months ago she approached the Planning Department and was told that only an add on was planned and that the oaks would be spared. Two months later, late on a Friday, bulldozers arrived and tore the house down leaving only the front porch intact. She was told that there was dry rot and a faulty foundation. She said that didn't make sense because the previous owners had spent quite a bit of money fixing these problems, and all over the country people renovate and restore their old homes. The trees that were supposedly spared had concrete poured on their roots. The front porch is now only a few boards, certainly not a historical landmark. She said she watched last Saturday as the Cunningham house, built in 1882 on SaratOga Avenue, was being burned down by the Fire Department in a training exercise. The developer who bought the property didn't want the house. She quoted from Willys Peck's "Saratoga's First Hundred Years" as follows: "A community that mushrooms into a city without conscience or regard for its historical antecedents too often is a community without character, a community which to its thousands of new inhabitants has nothing to distinguish it from others in which they have lived. But when a community can be seasoned with tradition the benefits extend far beyond the momentary interest for then there is identity and civic pride. Few California communities have more to offer in this regard than Saratoga in its beauty of setting and in the variety and 'color of its historic background Saratoga has been singularly fortunate." She said the school community is very proud of Saratoga School on Oak St. which is one of the few school buildings preserved as a school in this valley. She said their children have come City Council Minutes 5 March 20, 1996 to understand Saratoga's heritage because of their daily exposure to the past. She said she came to give this eulogy tonight for the Hannah McCarty House and Cunningham House, gone now but hopefully not forgotten. She urged Council to take a look at what Los Gatos and other historically minded cities have done to preserve their old homes for all to enjoy. She asked that they strengthen our ordinances to resemble those communities, and to give the Heritage Preservation Commission the clout it needs to preserve the past. She said she knew she spoke for many Saratogans when she said let's honor our past, let's honor our heritage. Jacobs closed the public hearing at 8:32 p.m. Moran thanked Ms. Hunter for her remarks and said she thought everyone wishes there was more they could do. She also thanked the Heritage Preservation Commission for their work. MORAN/TUCKER MOVED TO READ AND INTRODUCE THE ORDINANCE BY TITLE ONLY, WAIVING FURTHER READING. Councilmember Wolfe said that if we can point to a place that will remain with us in the future as the McCarty Place, even if it is not the old McCarty House, he thought it lends to the trail of history that Jill Hunter was taking about. He said around the country, because of age and deterioration, buildings have to be torn down but some identity of the old can be left. In this case they have left the pillars of the front porch and that is not insignificant. He said he understood what the Commission is talking about but thinks there is some integrity retained which merits keeping this as an historical preservation so that it can always be referred to it as the McCarty House. He said he was against approving the Heritage Preservation Commission's recommendation. Mayor Jacobs said one lesson to be learned is that there is a need for a better review process at Heritage Preservation Commission and Planning Commission levels. The Heritage Preservation Commission has undertaken some changes in their review procedure. They need as much information as possible as early as possible. He said the City cannot force people to keep old houses alive. The City's heritage properties are a limited resource. He said he hoped that at the next meeting with the Heritage Preservation Commission, Council can discuss whether or not the laws or traditions that are in place are sufficiently tight to protect the resources the City has. He said he would like to discuss this with staff at a policy development conference. He stated that he felt the recommendation of the Commission is warranted. MOTION PASSED 4-1, WOLFE VOTING NO. B. CDBG and Human Services Allocations for 1996-97 .- public Services.Assistant Reeve presented the Staff report and answered questions. City Manager Peacock clarified how the revolvingloanfund for housing rehabilitation works. People need to know this is available. It is a positive program that allows the City to preserve older housing. Public Services Assistant Reeve said the program is generally marketed to low income and seniors. She felt that they could .. do more marketing if staff's time was not so limited. Other cities have allocated part time assistance to attend luncheons, develop flyers etc. Mayor Jacobs opened the public hearing at 8:54 p.m. The following representatives spoke in support of their programs: · Elizabeth Auton, Emergency Housing Consortium · Pat Lake, 15330 Kittridge Road, Director of Administration for Teen Counseling · Jeanette McNeely, 4964 Englewood Drive, San Jose, Tri Aegis · Gerry Rodriguez, 2615 Zanker Road, San Jose, Ombudsman Program · Joan Lambert, 14030 Ewing Street, Inn Vision City Council Minutes 6 March 20, 1996 Mayor Jacobs closed the public hearing at 9:15 p.m. WOLFE/TUCKER MOVED TO APPROVE THE ALLOCATIONS FOR FY 1996/97 HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ACT FUNDS AND HUMAN SERVICES GRANT8 AS RECOMMENDED. PASSED 5-0 Mayor Jacobs moved the agenda to Item 10 B. 10. CITY COUNCIL ITEMS B. Other Burger conunended to council t~e annual report received from SASCC and thanked Norma Wiezel, who ~she said does an excellent job of representing the City at the County Council on Aging. Moran also thanked Norma Wiez~l. Councilmember Wolfe notified the City Manager that he will be gone for the Tuesday morning meeting. At 9:20 p.m., Mayor Jacobs adjourned to Tuesday, March 26, at 10:45 a.m in the Little Theater at Saratoga High School, 20300 Herriman Avenue, when the Council will meet with students during two sessions, 10:45 to 11:35 a.m. and 12:20 to 1:10 p.m.; and then to the next meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 26, at Administration Meeting Room, 13777 Fruitvale Avenue Respectfully submitted, Minutes Clerk