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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1991-01-16Mayor Jack Drago Council: Richard A. Haffey Gus Nicolopulos John R. Penna loberta Cerri Teglia AGENDA ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING CALL TO ORDER: (Cassette No. 1) ROLL CALL: Policy Direction on 1991-92 Budget. Orange Park Master Plan Imple- /ooG mentation. ~ 3. Westborough Common Greens. ~---:ouncilwoman Teglia arrived at 7:08 p.m. MINUTES City Council City Council Conference Room City Hall January 16, 1991 ACTION TAKEN ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING 7:05 p.m. Mayor Drago presiding. Council present: Council absent: Haffey, Nicolopulos, and Drago. Penna and Teglia. City Manager Armas stated that Items 1 and 2 related to the Budget and Orange Park and would not be discussed this evening, but would be rescheduled to 2/20/91. Director of Parks, Recreation & Community Services Jewell stated that this item dealt with West Park i & 2 and West Park 3 Maintenance Districts that were main- tenance districts that were created at the time the subdivisions were approved and developed in 1965 and 1966. He con- tinued, at that time a great deal of landscaping had been done and open space improvements were done in and around the homes in the subdivisions. He stated that the item before the Council dealt with two issues because of the age of the improvements done at that time there were infrastructure problems dealing with sidewalks, replacement and repair of handrails, lights, underground wiring, irrigation systems, and play equipment - which was different from mowing, weeding and the general day-to- day operations maintenance. He stated that the assessment fees were used to fund these improvements and were from the property owners within these districts. He stated that a public hearing had been held last May and Council had considered the appropriateness of levying an assessment rate to cover the cost to deal 1/16/91 Page i AGENDA ACTION TAKEN · Westborough - Continued. Councilman Penna arrived at 7:09 p.m. with the infrastructure rather than the day-to-day maintenance. He stated that it had been decided at that time that staff would work with some represen- tatives of those districts, and through a joint effort with the property owners, try to arrive at a better understanding of what it cost to operate those areas and in turn work with the property owners to arrive at a needed level of maintenance in those areas. He described: that $272,580 was esti- mated to repair lighting, handrails, play equipment, irrigation, sidewalks, and landscaping for West Park i & 2; $841,380 was needed for West Park 3 for similar repairs; annual maintenance costs were projected to be increased by $24,975 and $38,277 respectively; annual assessment needed to fund these increased costs was $29.00 per parcel for West Park i & 2 and $50.00 for West Park 3 with a ten year assessment; the districts were 25 years old, etc. Vice Mayor Nicolopulos questioned how the City could safeguard - that with the new assessment the districts would not fall into disrepair again, or was it antici- pated that more people would be hired to maintain the districts. Discussion followed: that the common greens were maintained by an outside contractor and the contract was up for renewal, but before that there was a need to determine what level of maintenance was needed; that Vice Mayor Nicolopulos' concerns had to be addressed in the bid proposal; that the assessments were handled through the tax roll by the County, and incorporated into the basic tax bill since Proposition 13; if the bill was not paid it became a lien on the property; establishing the Committee was Council's opportunity to see the level of maintenance and the level of capital improvements the committee would like to see in the neighborhood; Councilman Haffey felt this was an important aspect, 1/16/91 Page 2 AG E N D A A CT I O N TAK E N ~,~ ~C Westborough - Continued. E1 Camino Corridor Land Use Study. and he looked forward to committee input, etc. Further discussion followed: concerns voiced at the public hearing involved the increased assessment, the existing main- tenance, repairs, and suggestion of deeding the property back to the indivi- dual owners; Mayor Drago wanted the Director to put the committee together and try to get as much representation as possible from the parties involved; that Councilmembers Penna and Teglia would be Council liaison of the Committee; that there would be 15-20 members on the Committee and they would come back to the Council with a full recommendation for implementation by April of 1991; that the Council had until July of 1991~ that prior to advertising for interested people, how was staff going to educate the community on what this is all about so there is not misinformation, etc. Director of Economic & Community Development Costello related that the Council in December had asked staff to bring back a status report to the study session on what is happening on the E1 Camino Corrider in reference to the City's General and Zoning Plans for the area. She stated that she had sent the report to all property owners in the area. She stated that the General Plan designa- tion for the area was commercial and had a policy encouraging residential on the vacant parcels along E1Camino Real, and also had a policy discouraging the BART station along Mission Road on the S.F. Water Co. property - which is the current proposed site. She continued, in terms of the zoning described in the report in the area marked Planned Commercial, resi- dential uses were allowed with a use permit. She stated that two developments were critical to the area and had been deve- loped prior to the current information 1/16/91 Page 3 A G E N D A A C T I 0 N T A K E N t~ :<~'~ ~t~ - 74. E1 Camino Corrider Land Use Study - Continued. being available: 1) the BART extension and the potential location of the BART station; 2) the Hickey B~vd. Extension. She stated that the report had the current plans for the station at Chestnut, including a connection of Arroyo and Oak, the bus turn out along E1 Camino Real and the parking access to Mission Road upon which BART was doing more detailed studies that were forth- coming - in July 1991, a draft form with a decision later in 1991 about the align- ment and location of the station. She further described her staff report: there would be an EIR; mitigation was a serious issue in protecting neigh- borhoods; and whether this was the pre- ferable location; talks with BART people and the consultants from MTC working on the study about moving the BART station and perhaps an alternative location further north closer to the Hickey Blvd. Extension which would make a difference in terms of going underground and a ver- tical alignment; the land use impacts; the people were proceeding ahead with the station, and felt that if the Council wanted to propose an alternative station location it would need to be done in July when the draft EIR comes out, and be part of the City's comments showing that there were advantages; before the City made that determination additional information was needed. She stated that the second issue was the Hickey Blvd. Extension that would be coming before the Council at the next regular meeting for approval of a con- sultant for environmental and engineering documents to make the connection between Mission and E1Camino, and there were land use impacts. She stated that other things going on in the area were: the E1Camino Real Assessment District; there were no Caltrain plans for E1Camino Real in terms of improvements; in terms of land use there was a lot of vacant land in the 1/16/91 Page 4 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN E1Camino - Continued. area; a new Cheveys restaurant in the Winston Manor Shopping Center; discussion by Kaiser Hospital for possible expan- sion; concern that had raised this issue for the Council was the proposal for a 96 unit condominium project at 1400 E1 Camino Real at the Garden Center site, and whether multi-family residential is the best use for that site; that an application had been received for that site and it had been returned to the applicant as being incomplete; there had been an application for a jiffy lube and car wash at the corner of El Camino Real and Hickey Blvd. which was also returned as incomplete; no new applications had been submitted pending Council action; that the BART station, BART extension, and the Hickey Blvd. improvements could make some of this land more feasible for commercial development and some for multi-family residential; need for two phase approach for an area plan, 1) General Plan for the specific area that would be a preferable decision about an alternate BART station and it being finished by July 1991, 2) second phase in 6 - 8 months to develop an area plan and environmental document for May 1991; staff would be the lead, and there would be outside consultants on the land use economics and the traffic; the budget; citizen involvement; whether the Council wanted to put limitations on the develop- ment of this area plan; State Law allows an urgency ordinance to limit development for minor additions and modifications to existing facilities; advantage of ordi- nance is that Council can do the planning without current permits; disadvantage is that people are delayed on their pro- jects; permits could be reviewed on a case by case basis and direction given to staff to look for any impacts to the BART station or Hickey improvements; that it was 145 acres with much vacant and under utilized land, etc. Mayor Drago commented on the excellence of the staff report. 1/16/91 Page 5 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 14. E1Camino - Continued. Vice Mayor Nicolopulos stated that BART's implementation plans were for 1998, and the City's work would not be done until the year 2000. He questioned impacts from the delay on bills. Associate Planner Cordes stated that the planning would be done within the next six months to a year - they will select a referral, which is the routing and the alignment they will pursue. He stated that the construction would take to the year 2000. Vice Mayor Nicolopulos stated that staff and MTC had a profitable meeting that had gone well, and questioned how the discussion went in reference to undergrounding the station. Director of Economic & Community Development Costello stated that the gist of the meeting had centered on alter- native sites for the station and that had been summarized in the report. City Manager Armas stated that the EIR is an evaluation of what the alignment will look like, and will examine the below grade, at grade, and an elevated grade. Councilman Haffey stated that it had been a clear preference of this and the City Council that the BART improvements and extension would be underground through the City. He stated that his concern with this particular study and with the development in the area - as we choose whether that station is north of Chestnut Ave. or where it was going to be located further south as originally planned. He continued, which one is most advantageous to the City and to BART to accommodate the fact that we want it underground -- that it won't be at grade or above grade; which one is the preferred alternative remembering that the number one goal is to have BART underground. Discussion followed: that BART would be funded in part by Federal monies; and as 1/16/91 Page 6 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ~. E1Camino - Continued. Federal monies shrink, the economics of a project would be looked at; looking at development opportunities that BART might be able to participate in, and use that revenue as an offset to the cost of the undergrounding; that parking was a criti- cal issue in that area; grade separation was also a critical concern, and Councilwoman Teglia wanted it researched; whether changing the location would hamper the service. Mr. Dave Calver, MTC Project Manager, discussed: that by moving the station further north to the general vicinity of Hickey B~vd. we can take the station down 20' below the grade line and not detract from the operational efficiency of BART; the station north of Chestnut is still going to be below grade line in order to deal with the vertical grade crossing; it would be more expensive to go farther north, etc. Discussion followed: the staff report dealt with the alternative northern sta- tion, however, Councilman Haffey had not heard of it prior to the report; Mayor Drago had initiated it because Arroyo Dr. was one of the most traveled intersec- tions in the city, and he had suggested the station being moved closer to Hickey Blvd. in light of the extension; Councilman Haffey was concerned that this would make the project more expensive and jeopardize it being undergrounded in S.S.F.; other alternatives; there were two plans for the Hickey Blvd. Extension; that the Council recently had opted to come south of Macy's and E1Camino High; that BART was staying within the S.P. right-of-way; grades; open trenches or boxing it in, and the relevant costs; a depressed trench was cheaper to build; perceived environmental impacts of being in an open environment or fully enclosed; the depressed trench was cheaper; noise with the different alternatives; concern over proximity of the line to Orange Park and a residential community; there would be an 8' fence; City did not want barbed 1/16/91 Page 7 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN E1Camino - Continued. (Cassette No. 2) wire fences; what would the BART coffers get back to pay for the station; if the City wanted to look at another location it would be their responsibility to undertake, and BART would not undertake the cost of the study; the traffic impacts on a Chestnut station, etc. M/S Haffey/Teglia - To proceed with an area plan described in the staff report, and have staff prepare an urgency ordi- nance for Council consideration at a future date that the property owners could speak to that would temporarily limit development in the area until such time as we can appropriately study it. Mayor Drago questioned if the Council could make Motions and Seconds and vote at a study session. City Manager Armas stated that what Council was doing this evening was to give staff direction, and they would have to put it on a regular agenda for formal action. Councilman Penna stated that it was only 20 acres that could be developed in the area - not 145 acres. Director of Economic & Community Development Costello stated that the council could have staff redefine the area. She stated that they had made it larger because of the questions on rede- velopment on vacant under utilized property. Consensus of Council - To place this on the agenda of the first meeting in February as an urgency ordinance. Councilwoman Teglia stated that she would not be in attendance at the meeting of 2/13/91. M/S Haffey/Penna - To adjourn the meeting. Carried by unanimous voice vote. 1/16/91 Page 8 A6ENDA ACTION TAKEN · ~ADJOURNMENT: Time of adjournment was 8:39 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, City of South San Francisco ~APPROVED/~I //~ackD~r ' // 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. 1/16/91 Page 9