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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1996-10-30 Mayor Jack Drago Council: Joseph A. Fernekes Eugene R. Mullin --John R. Penna Robert Yee MINUTES City Council Municipal Services Building Community Room October 30, 1996 AGENDA ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETINO CALL TO ORDER: (Cassette No. 1) ROLL CALL: 1. Airport Boulevard Beautification Program. ACTION TAKEN ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING 7:07 p.m. Mayor Drago presiding. Council Present: Council Absent: Fernekes, Mullin, Penna, Yee and Drago. None. Director of Economic & Community Development Van Duyn related: the firm of MPA Design was present to go through their conceptual design for the beautification of Airport Blvd.; there are plans for medians, landscaping and proposed parking for Oyster Point-Butler, Butler-Chapman, Chapman- Linden, Linden-Armour, Armour-Pine, Pine-Cali- fornia, California-Lux, Lux-Miller and Miller- Grand; the purpose is to provide buffering between Airport Blvd. and the Freeway and major amenities to address the unsightliness of the activities of the street parking along the eastern part up against the Freeway on Airport; personal vehicles are being parked for parking and riding to the City; it is also an area for large trucks, trailers and taxis, none of which have any attractiveness to the corridor; staff hired professionals to look at the utility and the constraints of the landscaping because of the existing improvements - some seen and some underground; staff feels there are two alternatives; a specified tree list has been selected, with the help of Parks & Recreation and the Architect, that will not lift up the concrete or create additional maintenance; he will address the costs and alternatives to pay for the im- provements; etc. Mr. Michael Painter, President MPA Design, pre- sented a slide show of the proposed improvements: the idea is to define Airport Blvd. as a beautiful parkway quality area rather than a frontage road and create a new image for S.S.F.; tree specimens are Magnolia Grandiflora "Russet", Platinus 10/30/96 Page 1 AGENDA A~TION TAKEN 1. Airport Boulevard Beautification Program - Acerfolia "Columbia" (sycamore), Pyrus Calleryana "Columbia" (red maple) and Pyrus Calleryana "Chanticleer" (pear with white blossums); he de- scribed the colors, height, lack of maintenance and the fact that the roots will not break up the side- walks; some of the trees will have autumn colors similar to trees in the east; the trees will be planted 15 to 20 feet apart in the medians and in the sidewalks; parking schemes; the residential drive- ways will be considered in the plantings which will be from 30 to 50 feet apart; the plans are to remove 40 free parking spaces along the west side where semis park; there will be 60 degree parking with 18' stall space for turning between Butler and Armour with angled parking; establishing bike routes; shel- tered left turns; drawings show magnolia trees close- ly placed along the freeway side; there will be de- composed granite used for the medians; the least windy spot is Grand and Lux and the maple trees will do well there; the chanticleer has a red color in the summer and the sycamore gets an orange/brown color; on the freeway side, 80% of the trees will be evergreen; on the west side it will be reversed and 70% are deciduous; etc. Discussion followed: Councilman Yee asked, are the parking spaces marked on Airport Blvd.; the ones on the east side of the freeway are marked; is there stripping and is it individually marked; yes; if individually marked, there are bound to be certain areas that have dead space that Councilman Yee wants to take advantage of and make the area more interesting; he did not think there is enough room for the bike trail; he wanted the diagonal parking plans looked at by the City Engineer; Councilman Yee remembered there being diagonal parking in that area, which was removed, because the City could not get Federal funding and he did not want to go back to that same problem in funding unless the City Engineer says it can be done and stated there is a risk on money from FAU for there must be safety and they cannot back into the park- ing; Mr. Painter had worked with the police and engineering; the problem with bobtails parking at the entrance of the City; in order to close Butler there must be public hearings; originally the Coun- cil was going to do a small section and see how it looks; Mayor Drago suggested doing this as a pilot program in phases in two blocks; Councilman Yee suggested it would be more visible at Armour and then make the decision on parking in the interim; 10/30/96 Page 2 A~ENDA A~!~ TAKEN Airport Boulevard Beautification Program - 2. Cultural Arts in-lieu credit. 10/30/96 Page 3 staff feels both parking alternatives can accomplish the plan, meet the mandates of safety and the facili- ties that are consistent with the FAU funds; staff is fairly confident on the design and on their research that either alternative can be done; the trees will cost $900,000.00 and there will be additional costs for curb work and diagonal parking of $1,125,000; be- cause of the concrete involved, staff is suggesting it might be worthwhile to start at the Grand Avenue corridor and put in new medians as opposed to landscaping and that would have more impact for the streetscape; buying the trees in bulk and the Parks Dept. has a lead on buying the maple trees at a fairly good price; this will encompass 450-460 trees; there is a problem with medians and access to drive- ways; the cost will go up substantially, because Airport Blvd. is old and there is 5' of concrete that has to be jackhammered down, and that is not going to be easy or cheap; staff would only cut the con- crete to accommodate the tree; staff will prepare two blocks and proceed; that is a better solution than committing $2 million; staff has scheduled, for the next Council meeting, a resolution seeking authority to request a grant for beautification funds from the State; Councilman Yee has a concern, if you put medians in and block someone's driveway, then let's wait until after November; maybe hold neighbor- hood meetings; staff should go out and talk to the businesses and homeowners within the two block area; staff will start that Monday; if trees are purchased now the City will get a better rate; the maple trees are already in the ground and will keep, however, the company will only commit to the spring; etc. City Attorney Mattas stated this item related to an idea regarding translating some of the landscaping for an in-lieu fee. The purpose is to get direction to come back and look at the General Plan because that has language that needs revision to accomplish this through an ordinance he would write. He suggested creating a formula to calculate the required contribu- tions into the Cultural Arts Fund by multiplying the number of square feet as to which the landscaping requirement would be waived, by the average cost of installing landscaping per square foot. He stated the fee could be $7.00-8.00 up to $30.00 and staff can come back, if this is pursued by Council, or the alternative is have people provide the City with 30% of the landscaping, but that is time consuming and difficult to administer. A_ G_E_ N D A ACI!Q_N TAKEN Cultural Arts in-lieu credit - Continued 10/30/96 Page 4 $3 He needed to know if the Council was only looking at the area of east of 101, was looking at the ulti- mate use, was planning to use the money for fiscal improvements or use it for performance activities to sustain a theater; which is a legitimate City expen- diture but gets away from the rational. He stated the City has a clear authority to acquire landscaping and if the Council wants a mural or a statue that is still satisfying the esthetics. Mayor Drago stated that was not his thought. He stated the Commission was discussing this and need- ed a continuing source of money to improve the image, and were talking about developers fees and looking at a 12% fee after he left the meeting. The next morning he came up with the landscaping deal, knowing about Mission Road and the Salvation Army where the people could not get the parking because of the landscaping, so he felt this could be a win win situation. He brought dollars in because he felt it was going to cost a developer $10,000 for landscaping, however, if it was reduced by 30%, he could pick up parking and especially east of 101 where now the developers come in and plead hard- ship and get it free. This way we can get a separate fund for a sculpture. He is not so much on murals, but for a piece of art that the Commission can bene- fit from, as with Genentech and the Gateway. He stated the Commission was trying to design a water fall for Westborough, a rock water fall. He stated that talking about the performing arts scared him. Discussion followed: can the Council impose a separate fee for that purpose; yes, the Supreme Court in Seattle upheld the ability to do this which will be impacted by 218; Councilman Yee wanted a small fee that would not impact the developer; on what fee to charge; Councilman Yee suggested creating a fee that is acceptable to those paying the fee and have it go towards a master plan for Westborough or Junipero Serra so people know where the money is going by having a project; Councilman Mullin felt that any plan that deals with the reduction of landscaping needs to be sent to the Planning Commission for a recommendation; he is opposed to the reduction of the ten percent and the imposing of any more fees for we are trying to attract and hold businesses, not chase them away. .AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 2. Cultural Arts in-lieu credit - Continued. Vice Mayor Fernekes stated he was not adverse to charging a fee, but may want to allocate a number of dollars for this purpose; why not borrow the money and have a water fall in six months, rather than two years; build a line item into the Capital Improvement Budget and the Council does not have to charge a fee; Councilman Penna wanted to see what type of fee was going to be imposed before agreeing or disagreeing; this could be done in the redevelopment district; this is being done now with housing funds, but you have to show the relationship to the area; would like to see a total fee comparison for if someone develops here, they pay twice as much as San Bruno; Councilman Penna noted, at the last meeting the Building Div. wanted to raise fees 40% and if we are not doing a fee in one area - why do this one; etc. M/S Fernekes/Yee - To adjourn the meeting. Carried by unanimous voice vote. ADJOURNMENT: Time of adjournment was 8:57 p.m. ~SPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Barbara A. Battaya, City Clerk City of South San Francisco APPROVED. ?ty o/ Ja,~k I~r~goOu~h~aaYnO~ranci~/~/o The entries of this Council meeting show the action taken by the City Council to dispose of an item. Oral communica- tions, 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. 10/30/96 Page 5