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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.17.91 Minutes Mayor Jack Drago Council: Richard A. Haffey Gus Nicolopulos John R. Penna Roberta Cerri Teglia M I NUT E S City Council Municipal Services Building Community Room April 17, 1991 AGE N D A ACT ION T A KEN ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING CALL TO ORDER: ROLL CALL: (Cassette No.1) 7:05 p.m. Mayor Drago presiding. Council present: Nicolopulos, Penna, and Drago. Council absent: Haffey, and Teglia. City Clerk Battaya related that Councilman Haffey had informed her offic that he was unable to attend tonight's meeting due to work obligations. City Manager Armas stated that Councilwoman Teglia had informed his office that she would not be in atten- dance at tonight's meeting. Planning Commissioners Present: Boblitt Mantegani, Warren, Zellmer, Matteucci. Planning Commissioners Absent: Wendler, and Chairman DeZordo. 1. Westborough/Gellert Urban Design Plan Guidelines. Mayor Drago stated that the urban design concept for this area had been discussed since 1987 when members of the Council h met with the Developer, but never had th community been involved until 1990. He related: problems with consultants that had led to their discharge; he had appointed a committee consisting of two members of the Council (himself and Vice Mayor Nicolopulos), two members of the Planning Commission (Commissioners DeZordo and Boblitt); looked at an urban design as a different approach; attempte to get the surrounding neighborhood involved in the process; ultimate goal was a quality development concept econo- mically feasible to the Developer, and acceptable to the community; David L. Gates & Consultants had been hired as th consultant; eight meetings had taken place over the past year involving the 4/17/91 Page 1 AGE N 0 A ACT ION T A KEN Planning Commission Chairman DeZordo Arrived. community at the Westborough Community Building; the meetings had dealt with architecture and land use; that there hal been a give and take in candid discussions that had led to the envi- sioning of a footprint of the area. Chairman OeZordo arrived at 7:25 p.m. He stated that Mr. Gates would walk through the proposal and open it up to questions, and have the Chief Planner outline the steps of the process should everyone concur on the direction; and comments from the Subcommittee. 1. Westborough/Gellert - Continued. He expressed concern that the Planning Commission had not received documen- tation for this meeting until this evening. He complimented staff on the excellent staff report. Mr. Gates presented a slide show and explained his written report: on the blueprint goals for the area; to create character and a memory. Discussion followed: that the communitJ had related their desires on a conceptua design for the area to the Developer; that the City would cooperate with the Developer; the Developer would still ha~ to submit plans and an EIR; that housin~ could make the area economically feasible; building a parking structure and making usable space about it; small shop concept with housing or office use; Commissioner Warren would have concerns on maintenance if there were to be pri- vate streets, and responsibility for landscaping because there was a mixed u~ of residential and commercial; she did not like carports and had recently wit- nessed where they had to be torn down il the Housing Authority; also concerned about massive residential structures an, felt the stairs at the sides of the buildings looked like fire escapes; tha' if the parking areas were visible from 4/17/91 Page 2 AGE N 0 A ACT ION T A KEN 1. Westborough/Gellert - Continued. the freeway, they would not be attrac- tive; that the two Bodies were only looking at the concept; that this would be coming back in the future to both Boards for adoption and a look at modifi. cations to the General Plan and the Zoning Ordinance; compliments to the Subcommittee on their work; the communit~ had said that housing was acceptable in the development; that perhaps other area~ of the City could be looked at in a like manner, such as the El Camino corrider; looking towards a master plan for an area rather than having piecemeal deve- lopment; Commissioner Boblitt expressed enjoyment in being a part of the process and complimented the work done by Mr. Gates and his staff; cited her concern over stabilization of the hill in any type of development; her concern over traffic when Sharp Park opens; she felt that housing was denser than it needed t( be; she was concerned over the water situation; Chairman OeZordo also expressed his appreciation in serving on the Subcommittee, and he wanted to see affordable housing in that development. Consensus by both Bodies - To move for- ward. 2. Land Use Policies. Commissioner Warren cited her concerns il watching Council meetings: Council voicing a lack of understanding of Planning Commission actions; she believel it to be a lack of communication; point in case was Commission action to address severe parking problems in residential areas, and had imposed more parking requirements which had been turned down by the Council; later the Council stated there was a problem parking on the street; a lack of expressing the rationa of Commission proposals; does the Counci want the commission to only do what they want - because that is the impression given. Commissioner Mantegani stated that when the Commission stated that any addition of 500 sq. ft. in a residential area had 4/17/91 Page 3 AGE N 0 A ACT ION T A KEN 2. Land Use Policies - Continued. to provide an additional parking space there had been a Council comment, "I don't understand where the Commission is coming from." , and then the Mayor had brought up the thing of not parking on the street. ~ Mayor Drago stated that the Commission had been asked if there should be more parking, and the Commission had said yes, and then had gone further. He stated that Councilman Penna had been the one to start the issue of residential parking. Director of Economic & Community Development Costello stated that the Commission had initiated and amendment because of their concern over a lack of parking for new additions and on-street parking. She continued, during the time that was being developed the Council had concerns over a different perspective. Commissioner Zellmer stated that the com- mission had talked about this two years back. Councilman Penna stated that he had askec the Commission to look at it without knowing the Commission was looking at it from a different viewpoint due to a lack of communication. Commissioner Matteucci reiterated the need for an open communication between the two bodies, but did not know how it could be resolved. Mayor Drago stated that he did not have I problem supporting unanimous votes from the Commission, however, if there was a minority vote he wanted to see better minutes made of the meeting because the minutes were not as complete as they should be because they were shortcutted. City Manager Armas stated that staff tried to convey Commission sentiment on matters to the Council and the minutes had tended to be a synopsis of the 4/17/91 Page 4 AGE N 0 A ACT ION T A KEN 2. Land Use Policies - Continued. meeting which he thought had been a deci- sion years ago because of resources. Councilman Penna suggested that the Chairman should directly contact the Mayor for better communications. Commissioner Zellmer questioned if the Commission was purely a reactive group. He stated that people make applications and the Commission reactst but are there things to be proactive about, to identify problems before they occur and plan for them or does the Commission wait for direction from staff or the Council. Mayor Drago stated that these joint meetings should be held once a year and that may be the platform to air these matters. Commissioner Mantegani suggested the Chairman write a letter to the Mayor when there was a problem on the Planning Commission level, instead of having to wait a year for a meeting. He also suggested there be more complete minutes written of Commission meetings. Mayor Drago agreed and also suggested phone calls. Commissioner Zellmer stated that he wanted to avoid any sense of lobbying. Vice Mayor Nicolopulos stated that one of his concerns was for applicants to presen new evidence to Council that had not been seen by the Commission. Discussion followed: how much flexibi- lity did staff have on open space with a developer; that a developer will give the City unusable space as they had in Stonegate, and more restrictions should be put on; don't like two-story; depends on what part of town they are to be erected; to know that there are benefits to the community and not all going to thE Developer; Commission looking for guidance on a backup on discipline for 4/17/91 Page 5 AGE N D A ------ ACT ION T A KEN 2. Land Use Policies - Continued. quality; Commission should put together a laundry list on what they wanted to see in a PUD; Councilman Penna wanted to look at cutting back on parking require- ments on 5-6 story buildings; Chief Planner said staff was developing a new set of policies to be approved and then to develop PUD, and Commission should look at defining policies to handle deve- lopment; Commissioner Zellmer felt they needed better designs that give amenities to the community; that a catalyst was Spruce and Grand and Blonden; concern over the la~k of regulations to allow the tommission to put further restrictions or PUD; pyramiding of preference by developer. Commissioner Matteucci questioned if he had a conflict of interest in that he owned property in the area of Item 3. City Attorney Haile stated that there was not a problem because no action would be taken, there would only be discussion. Chairman DeZordo stated that there was a lot to do in developing better design in the older neighborhoods. Councilman Penna stated that there was a problem of demographics, low income, low rents in the downtown, and there would not be any good developments unless you reverse blight. He stated that he had written a memo and had been criticized by the Historic Preservation Commission, and it seemed that each Agency wanted something different, and the City did n01 have money to buy a block. He stated that there was a problem getting quality merchants in the downtown area. Chairman DeZordo stated that they needed to look at neighborhoods surrounding the downtown. Discussion followed: Commissioner Matteucci was upset with alleyways coverl in graffiti; an example of high density was Willow and Grand; staff should work 4/17/91 Page 6 AGE N D A ACT ION T A KEN ~ up Commission views for the downtown for both residential and commercial and sub- mit to Council; limits on the size of residential buildings and establish new guidelines; making improvements to the home, that do not involve an additional bedroom, that is over 2,500 sq. ft. should be considered to not require an additional parking space; concern over multiple family homes coming out of a single family home by making it into a duplex; consider allowing granny units in full basements. 2. Land Use Policies - Continued. M/S Warren/Matteucci - To adjourn the Planning Commission meeting. Carried by unanimous voice vote. ADJOURNMENT: Time of adjournment was 7:30 p.m. 3. Review of letter to County regarding No. County Detention Facility. City Manager Armas spoke of the draft letter: the Supervisors meeting next Tuesday; that Daly City, Brisbane, Pacifica, San Bruno, and Millbrae were fighting to restore booking capability at Mission Road; seek analysis of opera- tions and levels of service; furnish information on what a 24 hour operation would cost; the issue of trying to restore it to its former level; this has cost the City $13,000 a month since January to transport to Redwood City; Bill 203 says it will stop 6/30/91, etc. Mayor Drago did not like the last sen- tence on the first page of the letter, because he did not believe that it would cost more to do it any other way which had been documented years before; so he did not believe anything should be said about efficiency. He stated that a judge he knew could not find the study from ten years ago that documented the efficiency of the pre-detention facility City Manager Armas stated that he would modify the last paragraph. M/S Penna/Nicolopulos - To adjourn the meeting to 4/24/91, 7:05 p.m., Municipal Services Building, Community Room, for 4/17/91 Page 7 AGE N 0 A ACT ION T A KEN the purpose of a Closed Session for labor negotiations. Carried by unanimous voice vote. ADJOURNMENT: Time of adjournment was 10:18 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, ~~/l~ Barbara A. Battaya, City Clerk City of South San Francisco APPROVED. Jack Drago, Mayor 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. 4/17/91 Page 8