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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-13-12 Minutes City of Saratoga H ERITAGE P RESERVATION C OMMISSION MINUTES Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 / 8:30 A.M. Place: Administrative Conference Room – 13777 Fruitvale Avenue Type: Regular Meeting – Please meet in the parking lot behind City Hall at 8:30 A.M. Staff will provide transportation to the site visit under New Business and reconvene in the Administration Conference Room by approximately 9:00 A.M. Place: Regular Meeting – Administrative Conference Room 1. Routine Organization A. Roll Call Present: Heid, Shah, Conrado, Cappello, Marra Absent: Gomersall, Marchetti Staff: Senior Planner Christopher Riordan and City Arborist Kate Bear Guest: Neeraj Gupta (applicant for 15095 Fruitvale Avenue) B. Approval of minutes from February 14, 2012 meeting – Approved 5-0 C. Posting of Agenda – Pursuant to Government Code Section 54954.2, the agenda was posted on March 8, 2012. – Agenda properly posted D. Oral & Written Communication - Any member of the public may address the Commission about any matter not on the agenda for this meeting for up to three minutes. Commissioners may not comment on the matter but may choose to place the topic on a future agenda. - None E. Oral Communications –Instruction to staff regarding actions on current Oral Communications. Commission Conrado asked staff when the HPC would have the opportunity to review the Saratoga Water Tanks that were discussed during the February meeting. Senior Planner Christopher Riordan responded that he was in the process of contacting the appropriate property owners of the water tanks and would schedule site visits for a later meeting. 2. New Business A. 15095 Fruitvale Avenue (“Fair Oaks”) – Review of an application by Anisha Gupta (property owner) for Historic Landmark designation. – Commissioner Heid moved to approve. Commissioner Marra Second. Commissioner Marra stated that the project met criteria C & D. Commissioner Shah stated that the project also was consistent with criteria G. Approved 5-0. 3. Old Business A. Heritage Trees Discussion – Continue discussion of HPC selection of possible Heritage Trees. Commission Discussed. Commissioner Marra asked City Arborist Bear to link the Heritage Tree Application to the City’s website. City Arborist Bear stated that it was her presumption that trees will already be protected and that she would not consider those that are not already protected by ordinance; for a tree to be a heritage tree it should be “great and big” with excellent health and is something distinctive – the Blaney pine would be an example. Commissioner Marra stated that he thought that the Japanese trees near the Community Center should be protected. Commissioner Conrado stated that he thought the Heritage Orchard trees were protected. City Arborist Bear stated that there were no additional funds in the City budget to provide care to trees. Commissioner Conrado stated that he believed that once there was a list of potential trees that they could be done in sequential order. Commissioner Marra stated that he would like to see the list of all heritage trees on the City’s web page. Commissioner Conrado stated that a potential process could be is that staff brings a report to the meeting, the HPC reviews the tree, and there would be a vote at the next meeting. City Arborist Bear stated that permission from the property owner is required. Commissioner Heid asked City Arborist Bear if tree requirements were transferrable and City Arborist Bear stated that that the requirements would be transferable one owner to the next. Commissioner Conrado stated that he would prepare the paperwork for the Blaney Plaza pine; staff did not need to prepare reports because a copy of the application and staff’s recommendation would suffice; and that a suggested process is that the applicant could submit the heritage tree application, the City Arborist could review it and make a recommendation, staff could scan the documents and email them each Commissioner, HPC members would visit the trees on their own time, staff could agendize the tree for HPC to review and make a recommendation; and that the list of heritage trees could be brought to City Council once per year. Commissioner Heid stated his opinion that the Heritage Orchard was an example of how Santa Clara Valley once looked. Commissioner Shah stated that she would like to see the HPC review the Secretary of the Interior Standards for training purposes. Commissioner Conrado stated that the HPC should focus on City Code and not some other criteria. B. Properties on Inventory – HPC to discuss process of adding new properties to the existing Heritage Inventory. Commission Discussed. Commissioner Marra stated that he thought the Commissioners should take a photograph of the property and bring to the Commission meeting. Commissioner Conrado agreed that he thought that the Commissioners should take a photo of the property, do the necessary research, and staff would place the item on the agenda for HPC discussion, and that each Commissioner would drive by the property on their own so that they were prepared to discuss the property during the meeting. Commissioner Heid stated that he would recuse himself from the discussion of any potential new inventory properties if he had been involved with them. 4. Adjournment – Meeting was adjourned at 10:05 A.M. Adjourn to 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 10, 2012, Administrative Conference Room, 13777 Fruitvale Avenue.