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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Agenda Packet 03062007 Study Session Attachment 6Attachment 6 Saratoga Planning Commission Minutes for January 24, 2007 Page 6 There are places roped off because the owner felt they were too dangerous for visitors to walk on. Large posts seem to have sagged. • Advised that she is not sure demolition by hand can be done inexpensively. • Said she prefers to leave the trees and allow a new owner to work on how best to plan contruction. • Added that a new owner may want to build closer to the front of the lot and further from the back hillside. • Said that because right now this is all speculative, she is not comfortable allowing this tree removal. • Stated that she is not seeing the difference in economic enjoyment to the current or future owner. • Said that because of topography, Tree Ordinance regulations and the fact that there are alternatives available, she supports staff's decision. • Stated that this is such a beautiful property with potential for a beautiful house. Motion: Upon motion of Commissioner Hlava, seconded by Commissioner Zhao, the Planning Commission denied an appeal and upheld the administrative decision denying a Tree Removal Permit for four mature oak trees on property located at 21070 Canyon View, by the following roll call vote: AYES: Hlava, Kundtz, Rodgers and Zhao NOES: None ABSENT: Cappello and Nagpal ABSTAIN: None Chair Rodgers advised Mr. Cunningham that he has the option to appeal this action to Council and/or she wished him good look with the sale of his property. *** PUBLIC HEARING - ITEM NO. 2 APPLICATION #07-082 (City Wide) Draft Land Use and Open Space/Conservation Elements of the Saratoga General Plan and Negative Declaration: The proposed project includes an update of the City's Land Use and Open Space/Conservation Elements of the Saratoga General Plan and Negative Declaration. These Elements establish City goals and policies related to the location, type, density and intensity of development in the City as well as the location of trails, open space and natural resource areas. Contract Planner Deborah Ungo-McCormick presented the staff report as follows: • Reminded that this General Plan Update to the City's Land Use and Open Space/Conservation Elements was most recently continued from a Study Session held on December 12, 2006. • Reported that for that Study Session a matrix of items for discussion was created. A third column was used to reflect changes resulting from the Study Session. • Advised that the changes from the Study Session were made accordingly. • Said that she and her associate, Jerry Haag, were available for any questions. Saratoga Planning Commission Minutes for January 24, 2007 Page 7 • Stated that staff is recommending moving this forward to Council for approval. Chair Rodgers said that the updates have been discussed at length at previous meetings. Commissioner Hlava said that she is unclear on the edits to page 14 (Community Facilities Sites). She pointed out that West Valley College is listed both under Community Faculties as well as Public Facilities. Contract Planner Deborah Ungo-McCormick said that repetitions could be eliminated. She added that schools are listed under Institutional and Public Facilities. Contract Planner Jerry Haas said that the term "i.e." could be replaced with "e.g." Commissioner Hlava suggested revising the order of language on the value statement. Chair Rodgers read out, "...residents value quality educational facilities, neighborhood parks for recreation, cultural opportunities and community involvement for all ages." Chair Rodgers opened the public hearing for Agenda Item No. 2. Ms. Cherie! Jensen: • Said that she has a number of comments. • Started with three comments about the Land Use Map (attachment 2): o The first is on page 5 of 54 (Historic Orchard/Library Site). She said that the Library is a Community Facility but the Orchard is Open Space/Managed Resource. o The second is on page 14 of 54. The housing development site depicted includes a commercial area fronting Saratoga -Sunnyvale Road. The commercial area should be designated Commercial -Retail to be accurate. o The third is regarding page 4 of 54 (The Belle Grove Area). The professional office space located on the southeast corner of Cox is currently designated as M-10 but should be designated Professional Office. • Pointed to page 7 of the Land Use Element draft, third paragraph, should read, "... no sites used or designated for industrial purposes." • Added that descriptions on page 7 are not correct and need to be changed. • Advised that Marshall Lane School has been left off page 8 listing of schools as well as the Cupertino School District. Commissioner Hlava said that it was decided to list only those schools physically located in Saratoga. Ms. Cheriel Jensen: • Pointed out that Marshall Lane is indeed located in Saratoga. • Added that mistakes and inconsistencies need to be corrected. • Stated disagreement with using the term "significant amount of" in relation to the amount of open space/parks available since the City does not even have half the parkland it should have. Saratoga Planning Commission Minutes for January 24, 2007 Page 8 Commissioner Hlava said that there is lots of adjacent open space available to Saratogans. Ms. Cheriel Jensen: • Said that the list of creeks does not include Vasona Creek, which meets Wildcat Creek. • Said that on page 11, some important Neighborhood Character issues have been left out including light, air space and privacy. • Stated that on page 12 building site coverage needs to be addressed at some point. Some homes are being built now that are too large for their neighborhoods. The current design standards are not strong enough to prevent that from happening. • Stressed the importance of prohibiting timber harvesting outright (page 15). Commissioner Hlava pointed to page 42 in the Open Space/Conservation Element draft where a policy says, "discourage logging to the maximum extent possible." Ms. Cheriel Jensen said logging should be prohibited outright. Chair Rodgers asked if logging is best handled under the Land Use or Open Space Element. City Attorney Phil Parkin said that logging is an activity that occurs on land but is not a Land Use Element issue. Ms. Cheriel Jensen said that she really appreciates her comments that have been incorporated into the draft. She mentioned that the level of activity allowed in Neighborhood Commercial designated areas might not be appropriate in the Village. Commissioner Hlava clarified that Neighborhood Commercial is a Zoning designation and Commercial Retail is a Land Use designation. Ms. Cherie) Jensen: • Said that allowing residential uses in a commercial zone makes sense in the Village but not elsewhere in the City's other commercial sites because there are so few such commercial sites. • Said that basement issues have not been integrated with issues of building height limitations. Chair Rodgers advised that a house's height is measured from average grade. Ms. Cheriel Jensen: • Said that the employment trends outlined on page 20 are based on projections by the State Department of Finance. They are so unrealistic and absurd. They don't really make sense and are not likely to come about since there is no land and it is expensive to live here. • Stated that the City should not have to amend its Land Use policies to accommodate their projections, as they don't make sense. • Brought up page 25 (Land Use Policy 2.3). She said that a decision should be made as to whether bed and breakfasts should be allowed in residential districts. If not, don't include the possibility of that in the General Plan. Saratoga Planning Commission Minutes for January 24, 2007 Page 9 Contract Planner Deborah Ungo-McCormick said that there are no recommended changes here and the language is existing language. Ms. Cheriel Jensen: • Stressed the need for consistency within the documents. • Raised the issue of the North Campus via page 26 (LU -4), suggesting that public uses should "keep the publicly owned land in Saratoga or trade for lands more appropriate but equal in acreage and seek to acquire more land for parks." • Said that 75 to 80 percent of the voters wanted to keep the North Campus. A policy is needed to protect City -owned property. • Said that on page 27 (LU -5.2), privacy does not appear here and should be added to the list. • Said that on Policy LU -5.3 development plans should be added. • Said that on Policy LU -5.4 privacy should be added. • Said that on page 28 LU -6.4 should include language that says, "development plans should include native trees." • Said page 29 LU 9.1 is an inconsistent policy. Commissioner Hlava asked why it is inconsistent. Ms. Cheriel Jensen: • Said that it is redundant to say what you cannot do. • Added that she just likes things to be really clear. • Cautioned that if there is an opening in a General Plan someone will find it and use it. • Mentioned LU 11.1, saying she is not sure the City wants to be consistent with the other districts/jurisdictions but rather more strong and firm and doing the right thing. She said that policy is really a mistake and doesn't' serve us. • Said that regarding the Conservation Element some discussion on creeks needs to be held to make sure creeks are not channelized. The current language is not strong enough to prevent creeks from channelization. • Thanked the Commission for hearing her comments and including many of the recommendations she had suggested at previous meetings. Chair Rodgers thanked Ms. Cheriel Jensen for her participation in the process. Ms. Meg Giberson: • Advised that she has some concerns and feels that perhaps another Study Session is in order to iron out the remaining issues since certain things still need to be addressed. • Said that she submitted something in writing that was mischaracterized by the staff response and said that she wants to submit more comments in writing. • Stated that she had asked that the Hillside Specific Plan areas that were added in 1994 be shown with more particularity in the documents. A very general description is in the document and the map but the map is not sufficiently clear so people can see if they fall in the area or not. Saratoga Planning Commission Minutes for January 24, 2007 Page 10 • Said that she would like to see the Conservation easements listed somewhere on a map or on a list in these documents. • Pointed out that there is some good protective language in the County Plan on grading and riparian corridors. • Reiterated her suggestion that another Study Session be held. • Submitted five pages of comments to staff. Chair Rodgers closed the public hearing for Agenda Item No. 2. Chair Rodgers asked staff to comment on Ms. Jensen's and Ms. Giberson's comments. Contract Planner Deborah Ungo-McCormick: • Reminded that the purpose of a General Plan is to set policy. • Said that background was added. • Stated that each Element is self-sufficient yet consistent. • Said that specific plans are incorporated by reference but their details are not included in the General Plan. The specific plans are separate documents. Maps identify the specific plan areas. • Reminded that any change to the General Plan has to go through a General Plan Amendment. • Reported that the City is in the process of updating maps incorporating the GIS system. • Added that the environmental document is also incorporated by reference. Contract Planner Jerry Haag said that the City is adopting Land Use and Open Space/Conservation Elements and not individual development projects. Environmental review is limited to the two Elements. Commissioner Hlava: • Said that Ms. Cherie) Jensen brought up a few things worth discussing. • Suggested that perhaps language could be added to the Open Space Element on page 40, Policy 9.1, that currently reads, "... retain water courses as much as possible." She suggested adding "...and prevent future channelization of creeks." Chair Rodgers said that one has to allow for natural changes to water courses. Commissioner Hlava said that it might be good to put this into the General Plan to prevent future channelization of creeks, however, what if someone comes in with a big water problem? Mr. Jerry Haas said that it is tough to make absolute projections and that the existing language is pretty clear while opening the door for extenuating circumstances. Commissioner Hlava agreed that she would not want to absolutely say one cannot do it but perhaps the text could read, "... and discourage future channelization of creeks." Commissioner Kundtz pointed out that only four of the seven Commissioners are here tonight. He said that he didn't know if another Study Session is in order and assured that Council Saratoga Planning Commission Minutes for January 24, 2007 Page 11 would not simply rubber stamp the Planning Commission recommendation without further discussion. He asked staff what procedure there is for people to get comments to Council. Director John Livingstone advised that a Study Session is planned for Council prior to its holding the final public hearing. Commissioner Zhao said that she did not think that hard language should be in the policy that leaves no flexibility. She said it is fine as proposed. Chair Rodgers agreed. Commissioner Hlava said that Cherie! Jensen also brought up two other things including adding a privacy issue to LU -5.2 and LU -5.4. She said she is concerned about adding such language. Contract Planner Jerry Haas said the question is how does one quantify/judge what is a privacy impact. The Design Review process is the appropriate place. He said he is leery of putting this issue into the General Plan because once it is there it would be something that is required to be looked at. Commissioner Hlava agreed that privacy is something already looked at with Design Review and may be better left to Design Review. Chair Rodgers said that LU -5 (Neighborhood Protection) is concerned with public safety hazards. Commissioner Hlava questioned whether light, air space and vegetation are things that should be added to the list of values. Chair Rodgers said that there is no Ordinance currently dealing with light and/or air space. This would be a major change. Commissioner Kundtz asked about the maps on pages 4, 5 and 14. Planner Therese Schmidt: • Explained that she prepared the maps. • Assured that staff can make the maps friendlier so they are clearer. • Stated that all issues on the maps have been met. Commissioner Zhao said that all schools should be incorporated. Chair Rodgers suggested using the reference in the Open Space Element. Contract Planner Deborah Ungo-McCormick said that instead of using the same list, they had referred to the Land Use Element. She assured that she would make sure language is checked out for consistency and accuracy. Saratoga Planning Commission Minutes for January 24, 2007 Page 12 Commissioner Zhao supported including the list from the Land Use Element in the Open Space/Conservation Element. Contract Planner Deborah Ungo-McCormick said that would be fine. Chair Rodgers asked if on page 8 it might make sense to state, "... significant land devoted to parks..." Commissioner Kundtz said that he agrees with the existing language and is comfortable with it. Contract Planner Jerry Haas asked if it is proposed to have a new Land Use designation of Neighborhood Commercial? Contract Planner Deborah Ungo-McCormick clarified that there is no recommendation of changes since zoning has specifics. Commissioner Kundtz said that Meg Giberson's suggestion for another Study Session would be well served by attending the Council Study Session. Motion: Upon motion of Commissioner Hlava, seconded by Commissioner Kundtz, the Planning Commission recommended adoption of a Negative Declaration for a General Plan Amendment to the Land Use and Open Space/Conservation Elements of the General Plan, by the following roll call vote: AYES: Hlava, Kundtz, Rodgers and Zhao NOES: None ABSENT: Cappello and Nagpal ABSTAIN: None Motion: Upon motion of Commissioner Hlava, seconded by Commissioner Zhao, the Planning Commission forwarded a recommendation of approval for a General Plan Amendment to the Land Use and Open Space/Conservation Elements of the General Plan, as modified, by the following roll call vote: AYES: Hlava, Kundtz, Rodgers and Zhao NOES: None ABSENT: Cappello and Nagpal ABSTAIN: None *** DIRECTOR'S ITEMS There were no Director's Items. Chair Rodgers asked Director Livingstone if there are any appeals pending.