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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1989-03-15Mayor Roberta Cerri Teglia Council: Mark N. Addiego Jack Drago Richard A. Halley Gus Nicolopulos AGENDA ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING CALL TO ORDER: (Cassette No. 1) ROLL CALL: 1. Interview of Personnel Board Applicants. CLOSED SESSION ® Closed Session for the discussion of personnel matters, labor relations, property negotiations and litigation. RECALL TO ORDER: CALL TO ORDER: Joint Meeting with the Parking Place Commission at 8:00 p.m. to discuss items of mutual concern. ~ MINUTES City Council City Council Conference Room City Hal 1 March 15, 1989 ACTION TAKEN ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING 6:40 p.m. Mayor Teglia presiding. Council present: Council absent: Addiego, Drago, Nicolopulos, and Teglia. Halley. City Clerk Battaya stated that Vice Mayor Halley had informed her office that due to his work schedule he would be late in arriving at the meeting. Council interviewed the following Personnel Board applicants: Marilyn Rossi, Jack Stuart, David Anderson, Janet Saunders. It was noted that Mr. Samir Habash did not appear at the meeting for an interview. CLOSED SESSION Mayor Teglia called a Closed Session at 7:48 p.m. for the purpose of a discussion of potential property acquisition, the property completed being on Miller and Cypress Ave., and potential acquisition of property on the corner of Grand and Cypress. Mayor Teglia recalled the meeting to order at 8:04 p.m., all Council present with the exception of Councilman Halley, and stated that no action had been taken. Parking Place Commissioners: Commissioners present: De Tomasi, Maltoni, and Chairman Wel ker. Commissioners absent: None. City Manager Armas stated that the Council Subcommittee would provide intro- ductory comments. 3/15/89 Page i AGENDA ACTION TAKEN Joint Meeting - Continued. Councilman Addiego stated that he would like to set the stage on how the Council had become involved in this project, when up to this point it had been in the pur- view of the Parking District. He stated that some time ago Councilman Nicolopulos was able to entice the real estate deve- loper of a major retailer to look at our downtown situation for his business needs. He stated that some of the things the real estate person told Councilman Nicolopulos had led to conversations bet- ween Councilman Nicolopulos and himself; and ultimately more discussions at the Council level. He continued, it was realized that in looking at the lot at Miller and Cypress, intended for a parking lot, a component was missing in the downtown. He stated that a Subcommittee was formed of he and Councilman Nicolopulos to look at some possibilities, which had been developed into this proposal. He stated that the City needs two things: anchor tenants to advertise and make the whole scheme more viable, and a parking structure. Councilman Nicolopulos agreed, and stated that this was a dream which was not in cement. He stated that the Council needed to give up the archaic way of looking at things in order to attract business into the area. City Manager Armas stated that the preli- minary components would be discussed without action being taken. He stated that staff would bring forth an overview of the project by staff, with assumptions presented on its financial feasibility. He stated that the project was in the neighborhood of $5,000,000, that could be done by the City or through a private venture after a great deal of careful analysis and research was done. Deputy City Manager/City Engineer Wong presented engineering renderings of the project (a copy of the staff report is on file in the Clerk's Office). 3/15/89 Page 2 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN Joint Meeting - Continued. (Cassette No. 2) He described the project in detail: a structure with commercial use on the street floor with two floors or decks of parking above in the Merriam block of Grand Avenue; street parking in the parking lot behind it; Cypress Ave. to continue through underneath the struc- ture; lighting and ventilation for the building; the circulation into the struc- ture is by way of Cypress or Fourth Lane; a left turn at ground level could be made on Miller and Fourth; that architectural designs would be compatible with the downtown; that there was 22,000 sq. ft. of commercial space on the first level that could be one or more businesses; that the height would be that of the Sun Dial and the Merriam Buildings; Cypress would go through with parking on the right side and diagonal parking at the end; construction estimates were a mixed use of both commercial and parking with 281 stalls; that the estimate for design, construction administration, and engin- eering was $3,900,000; that a cost of $900,000 for land acquisition was inclu- ded; that the cost per stall was $20,000. Director of Finance Marx described the assumptions developed on the financial feasibility for the Parking Place Commission FY 89-90 - FY 93-94; income and expenses; adding the garage and including both metered spaces and commer- cial spaces; free parking garage above commercial space; total garage without commercial space; status quo; metered garage and commercial space; revenue com- parisons of the various assumptions; debt service for the various assumptions. City Manager Armas presented financial graphs on the parking structure financial feasibility status, and explained in detail the financing tools that could be employed by the involvement of the Parking District, Redevelopment Agency and City - or a joint partnership of public and private development where the risk was distributed accordingly. He stated that it was important to retain a firm that specializes in this type of 3/15/89 Page 3 Joint Meeting - Continued. thing, and advise the City on the viabi- lity of the assumptions made and appropriate financing. He stated that the information from the firm would go to the Parking Place Commission for review and recommendation. Parking Place Commissioner Chairman Welker questioned if this was a work project to show the feasibility of a $5,000,000 project. He expressed concern that the Commission had been given an edifice that had never been brought up before. Councilman Addiego stated that a portion of the Council had gone to the corner of that property, and looked over towards Grand Avenue and realized that the City was property owner of another portion. He stated that they started recognizing the potential, however, this did not mean that this was the best edifice because the Commission could come up with another. Mayor Teglia stated that Chairman Welker's question appeared to be - is this a site specific project or are other sites still up for consideration. Chairman Welker stated that the EIR called for 800 new parking spaces, and stated that this was a good start but was not where it was needed. He stated that he would hate to think that they were going to tie up all of their energies and money in an area that was not necessarily the most prominent area. He stated that the Commission had been trying for two and a half years to get financing for the parking structures needed. Mayor Teglia stated that the Commission would have the opportunity to recommend other ideas to the Council after their review process. Discussion followed: that the Commission had been given a directive, that the Council did not want parking on Grand 3/15/89 Page 4 Joint Meeting - Continued. Ave., that this structure was not on the street, but above and behind Grand Ave. Councilman Nicolopulos stated that this concept was a projection to enhance the downtown, but it did not preclude con- siderations of others. He stated that the Council was trying to entice the people working across the freeway into the downtown area, and all Commission input would be welcomed. Councilman Drago stated that a few months ago he had been the swing vote against paving a lot for 32-35 spaces when some day the area would have to be expanded, so why spend $50,000 of the taxpayers money on an interim basis. He felt enthused by structures like this and what it might bring into the area, and felt it was incumbent for the Commission to see that the City has the capability to put a structure like this up. He felt that the Commission would support the concept regardless of the location. Mayor Teglia stated that with that in that vein, there was still consideration of the back lot originally acquired for the purpose of turning it into a lot, and then this discussion had come into play. She stated that if in fact the Commission finds, and can make findings that the Council can accept, that something can be done somewhere else in a larger magnitu- de; and also for an interim period of x- number of years that lot should be paved, it would be considered. Chairman Welker stated that the concern was that the Commission's immediate needs down there were more timely, more necessary at this time for the 30 spaces than the 200 spaces. He stated that the material had been received by the Commission yesterday, and there had not been an opportunity for review or discussion. He questioned if there were plans to change the zoning or demographics of the residential areas due to the magnitude of 3/15/89 Page 5 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN r -2. Joint Meeting - Continued. the project. Senior Planner Christians stated that there had been discussion about looking at the zoning in Irish town, but there had not been proposals to change the zoning in the downtown area. City Manager Armas stated that the Council had on its agenda last week a recommendation that must have a general plan amendment involving downtown that the Planning Commission had looked at and forwarded to Council. He continued, one component simply had a study to pursue as to whether the medium density that exists at the moment for Irish Town should be changed to high density, and without making a recommendation the Planning Commission had said: 1) it should be studied; 2) bef6re any changes for recommendations are made there needed to be clear notice to the residents, and the residents consulted. Chairman Welker stated that the Commission had discussed that and did not think that as a business area that you could depend on the continuity of busi- ness that will be provided by transits coming to Grand Ave. Mayor Teglia stated that she hoped that when the Planning Commission began doing its work that this Commission would have a meeting to discuss sustaining busi- nesses and the parking before the Merchants, Chamber of Commerce, and PIBC were brought into the process. She stated that there were other alter- natives to the financing, such as private participation, and the Council wanted to see a full range of alternatives deve- loped by a consultant. Discussion followed: looking at what other cities had done to effect public parking structures, and marketing commer- cial spaces; Councilman Drago suggested that businesses be allowed to purchase stalls; the time frame for completion of 3/15/89 Page 6 Joint Meeting - Continued. the project; that the Commission needed the Cypress lot developed right now; that it would take two to three months for the bid process on the Cypress lot; that before the Council acted on the parking structure it needed to be assured that it was viable; that the cost for an outside person to do the analysis was approxima- tely $10,000; securing a tenant with a major advertising program to entice other businesses into the downtown; the current produce and wholesale uses in the down- town; that other locations should be looked at, etc. Mayor Teglia stated that this meeting was for the purpose of a study session, however, in that members of the public were present they would be allowed to speak. Mrs. Lorraine Kehoe, 306 Almateo Lane, Woodside, stated that she had property in Half Moon Bay, and when the town had been developed and beautified, she felt that parking was an issue to be addressed when the businesses came into town. She felt that South San Francisco should be beautified because it was going to be big like San Francisco, and she wanted to hang on to her property and be a party to the event. Paula Canny, Esq., 1450 Chapen Ave., Burlingame, stated that she represented the Kehoes and Benedettis who owned the property located at 200-202 Grand Avenue. She questioned if this proposal was site specific. Mayor Teglia stated that it had not been determined, but the analysis could be applied to any site. Ms. Canny questioned if the Council would refer this for an economic analysis because of the revenues involved without having a specific site in mind or wasn't really the referral to analysis presumed on this site. 3/15/89 Page 7 ® Joint Meeting - Continued. She stated that the Kehoes had worked with the Revitalization Agency for the past year to attempt to improve the pro- perty, and she did not feel that her clients objected to improving the City. She stated that she was astonished at the work that went into the preliminary plan without consultation with her Clients, the Parking Place Commission, the Revitalization Agency. She stated that relative to the discussion of the inten- tion to utilize this property - to take her clients property and be constitu- tionally permissible, the Council had to establish: 1) that the taking was for a public use; and 2) that they would be justly compensated. She stated that what had been presented here, in her opinion, wouldn't fall under public use, and the City would have a difficult road in trying to take the property by eminent domain. She stated that her clients had sold an adjacent lot to the City, and one of the concerns at that time was that the City would not do anything relative to the one remaining property which holds the States Tavern, because that was the first piece of property that Mr. Benedetti ever purchased in this City. She stated that the property was also the source of income for four elderly people. She thought the contract for the sale was under threat of eminent domain, and the property has been used for a private per- son by being rented to So. City Ford for two years. Mayor Teglia stated that she did not believe that the Council had any knowledge of the presumed motive for the City purchase. She stated that she did not believe that the Council had ever directed or authorized any kind of such representation which she wanted clearly stated on the record at this time. She stated that with reference to the lot the City purchased for a parking lot some months ago, the City had gone out to bid and in light of some new ideas the City 3/15/89 Page 8 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN Joint Meeting - Continued. held back from accepting a bid because the Council felt there might be a larger public use of that property. She stated that the Council fully intended to have the property acquired in public use, whether it is going to be paved as a single lot or part of a larger plan to best serve the public. She stated that one of the things the study would pursue was alternatives for public/private participation. Ms. Canny stated that she would do everything within her power for her clients to protect their rights against whatever action the City should take, if the City should take an action. Mr. John Penna, 435 Grand Ave., stated that the Benedettis had been his clients for several years, and had learned yesterday and were very upset about what Ms. Canny had related. He stated that they had no intention of selling the pro- perty, and were further upset by the thought of having it taken away from them by the City. He stated that a better location for a parking structure was between City Hall and the Library, underground, which was in a viable part of the community. Mayor Teglia suggested that Mr. Penna bring that idea to the Parking Place Commission for discussion. She questioned if Mr. Penna was aware of any representations made to his client regarding the safety of their remaining property - if in fact they dealt with the City on the first property. Mr. Penna stated that it had been speci- fically mentioned to him by City Manager Lewis, that his clients would not be jeopardizing their other property. He stated that the family, after specific conversations with Mark Lewis, assuring them that their property would never be touched on the other side, and assuring them that by giving up this property the 3/15/89 Page 9 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN Joint Meeting - Continued. City would definitely be developing it as a parking lot; and it would be a benefit to their property as well. Mayor Teglia suggested that Mr. Penna give copies of any notes taken during these discussions with Mr. Lewis to the City. Mr. Robert Giorgi stated that he was a local merchant on Baden Ave., and had always thought that the Council did not want a parking structure on Grand Avenue - rather to encourage retail businesses. He stated that he did not agree in tearing down old buildings which added to the historical nature of the street, and replace them with parking structures. He spoke of a study by the Merchants Assn. in 1987 that had identified the problem in the area as that of image, and then to improve the parking. He stated that he was amazed at this pro- posal, when the Commission had a plan for lot 5, 3, 8, 10, and the Cypress and Miller lots which were perfect lots to put structures on. He stated that he was on the Revitalization Committee, and questioned what the Kehoes were supposed to do with their project for revitalization, which was about to be approved by the Committee. Mayor Teglia stated that her feeling would be to hold those funds for them. Discussion followed: that this was a two fold structure that could be done with or without the parking authority; that along with stimulation of the area, went parking, and this $5,000,000 project would not alleviate that problem; that a meeting had to be held with the merchants of the area whose livelihood would be affected; the Council was giving this proposal to the Commission for them to analyze and present recommendations at a future meeting, etc. 3/15/89 Page 10 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 2. Joint Meeting - Continued. (Cassette No. 3) Mr. Kehoe stated that he was a former member of the San Mateo City Council, and had solicited bids for the beautifi- cation of his property - now he was con- cerned about the Council withholding the revitalization funds and keeping the pro- ject in limbo. He stated that the family was very concerned and wanted reassurance that they could go ahead with the project. Mr. Dennis Rosaia, D&M Liquors, stated that he was currently on the Revitalization Committee, and a former Parking Place Commissioner, and was fami- lar with the problems being discussed tonight. He stated that the plan had merit, however, it was not set in concrete and there may be ways to effect it without tearing down the Kehoe building. Parking Place Commissioner Maltoni stated that the Commission was not against rede- velopment, however, there had not been time to digest the information, and hoped that there would be public hearings on the project. Mr. Dell'Angela complimented the Council and staff for a thorough job of research on the proposal. He stated that he had heard concerns over the land use decisions being made down- town, and the Council should look closely at the uses occurring, i.e., wholesale businesses in the area, which he felt was not compatible to the area. He stated that his client, South City Ford, would welcome a private commercial parking structure being built here or in another location. Mrs. Kehoe stated that the City should concentrate on a larger structure to really address the parking needs. M/S De Tomasi/Maltoni - To adjourn the Parking Place Commission meeting. 3/15/89 Page 11 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ADJOURNMENT: Carried by unanimous voice vote. M/S Addie§o/Drago - To adjourn the Council meeting. Carried by unanimous voice vote. Time of adjournment was 10:05 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Barbara A. Battaya, City C<~rk City of South San Francisco The entries of this Council meeting show the action taken by the City Council to dispose of an item. Oral communications, arguments, and comments are recorded on tape. The tape and documents related to the items are on file in the Office of the City Clerk and are available for inspection, review and copying. 3/15/89 Page 12