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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-26-1996 City Council Minutes MINUTES SAI~,TO~n~'.CITY COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, September 26, 1995 - 7:00 p.m. PLACE: City Hall Administration Meeting Room, 13777 Fruitvale Ave. TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting 1. Roll Call Council Members Present-Mayor Jacobs, Vice Mayor Moran, C0uncilmembers Burger, Tucker and Wolfe. Staff Present-City Manager Peacock, Community Development Director Curtis. 2. Report of City Clerk on Posting of Agenda The City Clerk reported that pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on September 22. The notice of adjournment from the September 20 Council meeting was properly posted on September 21. Item not on the Agenda - Calvin Hammack, 15440 Quito Road, requested time on the agenda to bring to the City Council~s attention his concerns regarding a concrete retaining wall being installed on San Tomas Aquino Creek by one of his neighbors. Council agreed to place the matter on the agenda. Mr. Hemmack indicated that he objects to the type of wall being placed on the banks of the creek. He feels that there are alternative materials which should be used instead of concrete. He indicated that he has brought his concern to the attention of the staff. Mayor Jacobs indicated that because this item was not on the published~ agenda the City Council can take no action but asked Mr. Hammack to continue to express his concerns so the Council could have the staff investigate and have a report agendized for the Council to consider at a future meeting. Mr. Hammack continued that as a neighbor he felt he should have been notified of his neighborts intentions, that the City should not allow this kind of retaining wall and that the Department of Fish and Game and the Santa Clara Valley Water District do not appear to be concerned about how this retaining wall will look when it is completed. He stated that he thought the City staff had issued a permit without a plan view of the construction and where it was to be located. He feels that competent people did not review the plan. Mayor Jacobs asks Mr. Hammack to submit his material to the staff and for the City Manager to order a report on Mr. Hammackts concerns. The Community Development Director indicated that the staff has issued a stop work order on the construction of the wall pending submittal of plans by the Water District engineers and that he will meet with Mr. Hammack in the field and that work will not recommence until Mr. Hammack~s concerns are resolved. He agrees that concrete is not the preferred material in terms of aesthetics. Staff will prepare a report on the problems cited by Mr. Hammack and place it on a future regular or adjourned meeting for Council discussion. 3. Review of Kennel Ordinance The City Manager reviewed the history of the animal control ordinance as it relates to the keeping of dogs and cats and the provisions relating to licensing of private kennels. He also reviewed the provisions of the zoning ordinance relating to the keeping of animals in the City's agricultural zone and various residential zones. He indicated that the current ordinance does not call for notification or hearing when considering an application for a private kennel license, nor did the previous ordinance~ which was administered through the County Health Department when the County was still providing animal control services on a county wide basis. Several members of the public commented on the ordinance. The comments City Council Minutes 2 september 26, 1995 -.. include the followinglpoints: - The ordinance should require notification of the neighbors. - Perhaps consideration of allowing private kennels should be restricted to areas of the City which contain only very large lots. - Most residents would dislike having a kennel anywhere near their home. - One residentts property borders another on three sides and the neighbor has not kept faith and have knownthey were breakingthe law by having more thanthe allowed nuxlber of dogs for three years. The dogs start barking between 6 and 7 AM on the weekends. He can not let his dog out into his backyard be cause of the barking of this neighbor's dogs. Neighbors should[ not have to have a neighbor put in a kennel-no one expects that will happen to'them when they buy their home. The City should strictly enforce the law, not help the person find a way around it. Citations should be written and then the options should be explained. - The ordinance should consider the size of the property, the neighbors sh0uld be notified and the intent of the applicant should be considered. - The Council should be careful about creating too many rules. After considerable discussion by the Council the staff was instructed to prepare a change to the ordinance which would require notification of neighbors, an administrative hearing before the City Manager, and the establishment of a graduated fine system for repeat offenders if the City Attorney finds that a graduated fine system is legally permissible. 4. Review of Draft Parking Ordinance The Community Development Director reviewed the work and the studies which have been undertaken by staff and reviewed by the Planning' Commission in considering the recommendation of the Commission that parking demand and need in shopping centers would best be handled through the Use Permit process rather than changing the basic parking ratio standards which currently exi~t. The Use Permit process would apply to all commercial districts except the C-H District which is restricted to Saratoga Village. The Council discussed whether this approach would create more complications for commercial propert~ owners and tenants than simply redefining the parking ratio standard for shopping centers based upon their size. Staff was instructed to study the sizes of and tenant mix in the City*s several shopping centers and to have an in-depth discussion of parking with the Planning Commission at the next joint meeting in February. Mayor Jacobs called a 10 minute recess at 8:45 PM. The Council returned to its adjourned session at 8:55 PM with all members of the Council present. S. Legal Advertising Radius Notifieation The Community Development Director reports that the Planning Commission*s recommendation on this matter is to retain the current 500 foot radius notice rather than reduce it to the statutorily-required 300 feet. He reported that the Commission felt that keeping the 500 foot radius is good public relations for the City and that, to cover the added cost, application fees could be increased by $35 each based upon and. average number of applications at the rate of 150 per year. Councilmember Tucker inquired whether switching to post card notification would not keep costs within the budget and at the same time allow for a continuation of t~e 500 foot radius notification policy, and at the same time post the property as is done in Santa Cruz County. Mr. Curtis replied that the staff has been looking at a post card alternative, but that the current vendor which provides this service to the City is not equipped to use post cards. If the Council wishes to consider such an option then at least one alternative vendor City Council Minutes · 3 September 26# '1995 would have to'be identified or-the staff-~would have to consider its ability to provide the service internally. The Council asked Mr. Curtis to prepare a notice sign so they could see what one looks like and how much it would cost to prepare. The Council was undecided as to whether to consider the post card option, as it might limit the information in the notice and increase calls and questions to staff to get adequate information on an upcoming hearing. ~Councilmember Moran indicated that she feels the Commission has made a well considered recommendation, and she agrees that the use of the postcard might mean the information contained in the notice is less than adequate. It was the consensus of the council to proceed to hearing on the 300 foot radius ordinance with the hearing to be set for November 1st. Staff was requested to continue to explore the post card approach and provide further information to the Council at some future undetermined date. 6. Updating of 1995Meetings Master Calendar The Council approved the joint meeting with the two school boards on October 10th with the four agenda items as proposed. The City Manager was requested to have the engineering staff provide an opinion as to the effectiveness of the new traffic circulation pattern at Redwood Middle School to present at the meeting. The Council approved changing the date for the next joint meeting with the Library Commission to January 9, 1996. The Council agreed to cancel the second regular meeting in December, which would be December 20th because of the holiday season. The Council then discussed the next Town Hall meeting which will focus on Youth and which is set for October 14th. Vice Mayor Moran and Councilmember Tucker are to prepare the agenda. The City Manager was instructed to have a list of all the people and organizations currently invited to the meeting and to make certain that representatives from the Sheriff's Office, the School Resources Officer, the Recreation staff, the Teen Counseling Center, and the members of the Youth Commission are invited. 7. Self-Evaluation of Previous Meeting The Council indicated it would prefer to have claims against the city groupedif the recommended action is the same rather than having to act on each one individually. The City Manager indicated he would so instruct the Deputy City Clerk after. confirming with this City Attorney that such an approach is acceptable. Council discussed its preference to having all communications from the Commissions and Committees to appear under the Communications from the Public and Commissions portion of the agenda rather than later in the evening. The City Manager indicated he would so instruct the Deputy City Clerk. The Council indicated that it was disappointed in the quality of the report on the kennel ordinance which was delivered on Monday. The City Manager indicated he had already conveyed his concerns to the Community Development Director. Mr. Curtis agreed that the effort was short of the mark and that this will be discussed with the staff. 8. Agency Assignment Reports Councilmember Tucker reported the following relating to the West Valley Sanitation District-that a new sewer project was underway on Montpere Way and that there had been a recent trunk line sewer failure in the Neale's Hollow area which has now been repaired. Vice Mayor Moran reported that at the last Cities Association meeting the main topic of discussion was the effort to privatize the Federal Central Valley Water Project. City Council Minutes · September 26, X995 Councilmember Wolfe reported that a member of the Planning Commission is circulating the initiative petition on the general plan. Councilmember Tucker requested that the City Manager notify all Commissions not to take a position on the general plan initiative petition. Mayor Jacobs handed out his proposed list of agency assignments and asked the councilmembers to let him know if they wish him to make any changes in their proposed assignments. The assignments will be finalized and adopted at the October 10th adjourned session. Councilmember .Wolfe reported the following relating to the Saratoga Business Development Council-that ~e new directional signs will be going up at various locations around the city in about 6 weeks and that interviews for consultants will take place next Monday and he needs a Council volunteer to participate. Councilmember Tucker was selected to participate in the interviews. 9. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 9:50 PM. Respectfully submitted, Harry R. Peacock City Manager