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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1994-10-26 Mayor Joseph A. Fernekes Council: Jack Drago John R. Penna '--Roberta Cerri Teglia Robert Yee CALL TO ORDER: ROLL CALL: AGENDA (Cassette No. 1) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: INVOCATION: PRESENTATIONS [GENDA REVIEW REPORT OF THE CITY MANAGER ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 7:46 p.m. 10/26/94 Page 1 MINUTES City Council Municipal Services Building Community Room October 26, 1994 1 8'8 ACTION TAKEN Mayor Fernekes presiding. Council Present: Drago, Penna, Teglia, Yee and Fernekes. Council Absent: None. The Pledge was recited. Rev. Johnson, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, gave the invocation. PRESENTATIONS AGENDA REVIEW Acting City Manager Martel stated there were no changes to the Agenda. REPORT OF THE CITY MANAGER Acting City Manager Martel stated she had nothing to report. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Mr. Ted Brown, 125 Sycamore, stated for the last few months he has been trying to extend a six foot high fence from the backyard to the sidewalk and towards the driveway and garage. He stated in the back area there is a three foot high chain link fence, he wanted to extend it to six feet and the City says he can't do it. He has vehicles and equipment in the yard, which he wanted to screen. They have a friend with a doberman, who is not vicious, but he lies in wait and people walk by and he scares them. He is afraid that someone will walk by, be scared by the doberman, have a heart attack and die. This is why he wants to erect the six foot fence and the City says he can't do it. AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ORAL COMMUNICATIONS He stated there are 25 other incidents in Mayfair where people have six foot fences, some have been up a long while and some a short while. If they can have them - why can't he. Interim Director of Economic & Community Devel- opment Beyer stated there is a requirement, on a corner, for a fence to be no higher than three feet and, if there are others in the same area, code en- forcement can check it out. Mr. Brown stated there is a sign post that is part of his fence and where the wooden fence extends that chain link is over 50 feet from the sign post and the corner. The other fences in Mayfair must be in compliance, because there is not a traffic problem. He reiterated: it extends from the corner of the house to the sidewalk, to the other side of the drive- way and back to the corner of the garage. Mayor Fernekes asked the Interim Director of Eco- nomic & Community Development to talk to Mr. Brown and report back to Council. Mayor Fernekes stated he had a copy of a letter from Mr. Brown and in the letter he was told the Mayor of this fair City put him on the list. Howev- er, he was contacted by one resident about compli- ance issues not addressed and one of those was Mr. Brown's fence. To make sure the Mayor was com- fortable, he went out with the Code Enforcement Officer to view if the complaint was correct and true and the Code Enforcement Officer was doing her job. He stated that diapers were thrown over the fence, there were cars illegally parked in front and it was not a case of singling out Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown stated that the other problems listed in the complaint have, for the most part, been taken care of. The only thing he has a problem with is the height of the fence. He questioned if all of the other violators in Mayfair Village have been noti- fied. Mayor Fernekes stated he had a letter from the School Board President in reference to the last Council meeting during which it was decided to have a joint meeting with the School District con- cerning the JPA. He stated the President recom- 10/26/94 Page 2 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 190 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMUNITY FORUM CONSENT CALENDAR Motion to approve Minutes of the Regular Meeting of 9/14/94, Special Meeting of 9/21/94 and Adjourned Regular Meeting of 9/21/94. 2. Motion to confirm expense claims of 10/26/94. o Resolution transferring $45,000 from the Common Greens funds to the West Park 1, 2 & 3 Parks and Parkways Maintenance District Renovation. ~ A RESOLUTION APPROVING BUDGET AMENDMENT CIP 95-2 TO THE 1994-1995 CAP- ITAL IMPROVEMENT BUDGET - WEST PARK 1, 2 & 3 PARKS AND PARKWAYS MAINTENANCE DISTRICT RENOVATION Motion to accept the emergency trunk sewer and storm drain line repair of Conrad Court Project as complete and Resolution authorizing $29,702 from the Sewer Enterprise Fund to close the Project. ,~g'0 A RESOLUTION APPROVING BUDGET AMENDMENT CIP 95-3 TO THE 1994-1995 CAP- ITAL IMPROVEMENT BUDGET - EMERGENCY TRUNK SEWER AND STORM DRAIN LINE RE- PAIR - CONRAD COURT ORAL COMMUNICATIONS mended two dates, one was on November 3rd at 4:00 p.m. and the other November 10th at 7 p.m. He stated that one Councilmember cannot meet at the 7 p.m. time and it is difficult for him to attend the 4:00 p.m. meeting. Discussion followed: to choose a date convenient for all to attend; Councilwoman Teglia wanted it to be an evening meeting so members of the public could attend; the Mayor would convey time preferences to the Board for a joint meeting, however, the School Board wants it to be at their location and not be televised; the last joint meeting had been on City premises; etc. COMMUNITY FORUM No one chose to speak. CONSENT CALENDAR Approved. Removed from the Agenda for discussion by Coun- cilman Penna. RESOLUTION NO. 131-94 RESOLUTION NO. 132-94 10/26/94 Page 3 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN CONSENT CALENDAR · Motion to accept the Vehicle Exhaust Extraction ~a-O System at Fire Stations 2, 3, 4 and Central as com- plete in accordance with the plans and specifications. 6. Motion to approve the First Quarter Performance Report for the San Mateo County Convention and Visitors Bureau activities and City disbursement of funds. 2. Motion to confirm expense claims of 10/26/94. CONSENT CALENDAR Accepted. Accepted. M/S Yee/Teglia - To approve the Consent Calendar with the exception of Item No. 2. Carried by unanimous voice vote. Councilman Penna questioned the expense claims for the City Attorney's Office Acting City Manager Martel explained: it was due to the extended status of the Interim City Attorney's contract past 7/1/94; adjustments were made to the contract; includes expenses for the first half of September; etc. Councilman Penna stated the Council did not agree to pay membership dues. City Attorney Mattas stated the expenses were for line items, such as updating State codes, as he would maintain a bare bones resources library. Councilman Penna questioned a San Mateo Times expense of $702.00. City Clerk Battaya stated the business license ordi- nance needed to be published three separate times with the legal ad being 1/8 of a page. She received permission from the City Attorney to publish the legal ad in the San Marco Times, in that the newspa- per of general circulation for this City is the Enter- prise Journal, which is only printed twice a week. She alerted Assistant City Attorney Nave some three months previous that a resolution should be adopted changing the newspaper of general circulation, in that there is not a paper published in S.S.F., howev- er, as of this date, nothing has been done. Councilman Penna questioned the Giants' tickets refunds. 10/26/94 Page 4 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 2. Motion - Continued. PUBLIC HEARINGS Public Hearing - V-94-322 (Adolfo Mora) - Appeal of Planning Commission decision to deny a variance to allow a detached garage structure (construction almost complete) with less than the required 20 foot drive- way apron, encroachments into the side and rear setbacks and exceeding the maximum height and size requirements for an accessory structure in the R-2 Medium Density Residential Zone District at 726 Grand Avenue; Conduct Public Hearing; Motion to deny the appeal and uphold the decision of the Plan- ning Commission - continued from the 10/12/94 meeting. Acting City Manager stated money was collected for those tickets. M/S Penna/Yee - To confirm expense claims of 10/26/94 in the amount of $2,121,907.11. Carried by unanimous voice vote. PUBLIC HEARINGS Mayor Fernekes opened the Public Hearing. Chief Planner Solomon stated staff was recom- mending that the Council deny the appeal because they were unable to make the findings required for the variance. Mr. Adolfo Mora stated he was owner of the prop- erty at 726 Grand Avenue and his appeal was to see if he can get the permit for the garage. He apolo- gized for the big mistake of constructing without a permit but he would like to know if the Council will let him get the permit to finish the project. He explained: it was dangerous to drive out of the garage in its prior condition; he began construction; Planning told him to move the walls five feet in; every time he goes to Planning they ask for different plans and different walls and have not issued him a permit; he provided 60 copies, as requested, of each set of plans; Planning was not cooperating with him and that was why he was here; he felt this would improve the neighborhood; people have thrown a lot of debris on his property that he is cleaning up; etc. Councilman Drago stated he visited Mr. Mora's property and his only question was whether this was a garage or living quarters. He asked if the small cupola in front was designed with a window to make it look better or was it done for living quarters. Mr. Mora stated it was to get light inside because the other garage was inadequate and he had designed it to look the same as the structure of the house, because, if he made a square shelf, it would not look nice. Mayor Fernekes stated there was a letter on Mr. Mora's behalf that says you need the garage to be 20 ft. wide as it is too narrow and asked Mr. Mora to explain. 10/26/94 Page 5 AGENDA AC!!QN TAKEN PUBLIC HEARINGS Public Hearing - Continued. 193 PUBLIC HEARINGS Mr. Mora stated the previous garage was 19 by 20 feet and that can hardly fit his cars, one being a 1959 Corvette that is parked outside and the paintis coming off because of the elements on the fiber- glass. He needed the space to store his cars, lawn mower and tools and to work on his cars and he was only asking for two or three more feet. Discussion followed: when Mr. Mora decided to do this work did anyone at City Hall say he needed a permit; Mr. Mora told Mike in the Building Divi- sion he was just going to remodel his garage but it came to the point the garage had too much dry rot and he decided to do the work himself; Mr. Mora made a big mistake in not asking for a permit, how- ever, he was told he could remodel without a permit if he kept one wall; the reconstruction went well beyond dry rot work; the old foundation is still inside the new walls; etc. Mayor Fernekes closed the Public Hearing. Councilman Drago stated Mr. Mora tried to improve what he has and improve the neighborhood, if he did nothing we would have a piece of garbage. He went down to view it and Mr. Mora admitted he made an error in judgment and he can see why Mr. Mora wanted to take care of the dry rot. Mr. Mora tried to apply for a permit through the Planning Commission. The Commission denied it by only four votes and he did not understand why it was not carried over for the full Commission when the neighborhood supported it. He came to the meeting in favor of this variance, because, at no time, was Mr. Mora told to remove that building. Discussion followed: they were talking about a building 120 sq. ft. larger than the one he had; if there was fire damage to the building Mr. Mora could repair it as it had been; if a nonconforming structure was lost through fire, wind or earthquake it could be rebuilt as it was; there was a petition from the surrounding neighborhood in support of Mr. Mora's beautifying his property and the neighbor- hood; Councilman Drago supports the appeal and felt it was a judgment call, because the man was not trying to circumvent our laws; Councilwoman Teglia felt there is a problem with garages on property lines on the lanes, where the owner wants to expand 10/26/94 Page 6 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN PUBLIC HEARINGS 7. Public Hearing - Continued. 10/26/94 Page 7 194 PUBLIC HEARINGS the garages, because they are too small, but they do not have setbacks and to provide parking would take up the whole backyard with the setbacks; she did not mind assisting Mr. Mora but it has to be the same for everyone; you cannot say we feel sorry for you and then the next person doesn't get the same con- sideration; she wanted Council direction for some sort of a proposal for allowing people in the older part of town to either renovate their parking struc- tures that are non-conforming or put in carports to maintain their backyards; Councilman Drago agreed but felt that was an issue in itself; tonight the Coun- cil has a situation where this man tore down a build- ing rather than tearing down walls and circumvented existing Codes; Councilwoman Teglia felt, if the rules were relaxed, more people would come in for permits; the nonconforming garages will only ac- commodate a small car and, if the Council allows owners to enlarge their garages, it will take cars off the street; Councilman Penna felt Mr. Mora did try to comply with the law by going to the Building Division for advice and was told he could make repairs; Mr. Mora started to make the repairs and what turned him around was that the entire structure had to be enlarged because there are very little setbacks in the alleys, which curtail improvements to property; this is also a home that is a historic re- source and the unique structure was originally a barn and later converted to a garage; that is why they are trying to improve it and the Council should work with Mr. Mora to comply with the Codes of Health and Safety; it should be that the architecture of the garage complements the house; Mr. Mora is only proposing three feet more and Councilman Penna was in support of the variance; Vice Mayor Yee felt the question was whether the Council is willing to change the law; he felt, if there was a reason to have a variance, it needed to be justified - not based on feelings or emotions but the facts; Vice Mayor Yee did not have a problem unless the neigh- borhood had complaints and there were none; the garage faces the lane but, if that is a condition, it could be turned away from the lane; Mr. Mora's plan called for a door on the side of the garage and, if that was the case, Vice Mayor Yee did not have a problem with the additional three feet; Vice Mayor Yee questioned why the structure could not be cut down to 12 ft.; Vice Mayor Yee suggested cutting down the structure to 12 ft. and require the side AGENDA ACTION TAKEN PUBLIC HEARINGS 7. Public Hearing - Continued. LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS o Motion to waive reading and introduce an ordinance amending the Gateway Redevelopment Plan. ~l~ AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO AP- PROVING AMENDMENTS TO THE GATEWAY REDEVELOPMENT PLAN PURSUANT TO THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT LAW OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA PUBLIC HEARINGS entry; Councilwoman Teglia pointed out that, with a garage door opener, Mr. Mora did not need the 20 ft.; etc. Chief Planner Solomon suggested: there are unusual features of the site that create a hardship that prevent the property from enjoying the same development right as adjoining properties, i.e., you may find that the existence of the trees would prohibit the owner from building a conforming structure. Discussion followed: how would two feet affect the architecture; would it be a flat roof, if so, Coun- cilman Drago did not feel it was an asset to Tudor architecture; height limitations only affect 15' acces- sory structures affecting privacy on adjacent prop- erty owners; let's require it to have the pitch of the existing roof and match the front house; leave it up to in-house architect and not the Design Review Board; etc. Motion by Vice Mayor Yee - To uphold the appeal and approve the variance. Consensus of Council - To direct staff to develop the following conditions of approval and findings upholding the appeal and approving the variance on the grounds that the location of trees in the backyard and the historical nature of the dwelling unit and garage are appropriate physical characteristics of the property to approve the variance application. LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS Councilman Penna left the podium, due to a conflict of interest. City Clerk Battaya read the title of the ordinance in its entirety. M/S Yee/Teglia - To waive reading and introduce the ordinance. Discussion followed: will this affect funding and place it in jeopardy; it limits time for new bonding; the E! Camino corridor has problems with debt. Carried by majority voice vote, Councilman Penna did not participate or take part in the vote. 10/26/94 Page 8 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS ~. Motion to waive reading and introduce an ordinance amending the Gateway Redevelopment Plan..5-153 S b-7 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO AP- PROVING AMENDMENTS TO THE EL CAMINO CORRIDOR REDEVELOPMENT PLAN PURSU- ANT TO THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT LAW OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA .0. Motion to waive reading and introduce an ordinance amending the Shearwater Redevelopment Plan. 5-]fi'~ AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO AP- PROVING AMENDMENTS TO THE SHEARWATER REDEVELOPMENT PLAN PUR- SUANT TO THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOP- MENT LAW OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 11. Motion to waive reading and introduce an ordinance amending the Downtown Central Redevelopment 5~ Plan. ,ff I/o'~ AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO AP- PROVING AMENDMENTS TO THE DOWN- TOWN/CENTRAL REDEVELOPMENT PLAN PURSUANT TO THE COMMUNITY REDEVEL- OPMENT LAW OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS Councilwoman Teglia also left the podium, due to a conflict of interest. City Clerk Battaya read the title of the ordinance in its entirety. Discussion followed: it is assumed the debt will be paid off before the 40 year time period; an analysis was extended out over the entire period and it was assumed the debt can be retired; the $23 million obligation had been planned to be stretched over 35 years; debt can be incurred for 20 years but the City has 40 years to pay it off; the pay off will come from the tax increment; staff must look at the finan- cial report and see how many years to pay off the bond; etc. M/S Yee/Drago - to waive reading and introduce the ordinance. Carried by majority voice vote, Councilmembers Penna and Teglia did not participate nor vote on the item. Councilwoman Teglia returned to the podium. City Clerk Battaya read the title of the ordinance in its entirety. M/S Teglia/Drago - To waive reading and intro- duce the ordinance. Carried by majority voice vote, Councilman Penna did not participate nor take part in the vote on the item. Councilwoman Teglia left the podium. City Clerk Battaya read the title of the ordinance in its entirety. M/S Drago/Yee - To waive reading and introduce the ordinance. Carried by majority voice vote, Councilmembers Penna and Teglia did not participate nor take part in the vote on the item. 10/26/94 Page 9 AQENDA AC!!QN TAKEN 197 .rEMS FROM COUNCIL GOOD AND WELFARE CLOSED SESSION 12. Closed Session: pursuant to GC54957.6, to meet with its designated representatives - Acting City Manager, Director of Personnel, City Attorney and IEDA Rep- resentative Craig Jory on labor negotiations and the employee organizations are AFSCME, Police, Fire, Operating Engineers, Management and Confidential Group and City Manager; pursuant to GC 54956.8, regarding negotiations with Jesus Armas for sale of 368 COnmur Street and the instructions to the negoti- ator will concern price, terms of payment and/or both; pursuant to GC 54956.8, for a conference with the City's real property negotiator regarding property acquisition of the lot at Baden and Linden Avenues. RECALL TO ORDER: A RESOLUTION APPROVING A TEMPORARY SALARY AND BENEFIT INCREASE FOR THE ACTING CITY MANAGER to.~o ~230 ADJOURNMENT: Councilmembers Penna and Teglia returned to the podium. ITEMS FROM COUNCIL No one chose to speak. GOOD AND WELFARE No one chose to speak. CLOSED SESSION Council adjourned to a Closed Session at 9:16 p.m. to discuss the items noticed on the Agenda. Mayor Fernekes recalled the meeting to order at 10:25 p.m., all Council was present, no action was taken. Mayor Fernekes stated the resolution on the Acting City Manager's salary had come up in the Closed Session and asked for Council action. M/S Teglia/Yee - To adopt the Resolution. RESOLUTION NO. 133-94 Carried by unanimous voice vote. M/S Teglia/Drago - To adjourn the meeting. Carried by unanimous voice vote. Time of adjournment was 10:30 p.m. 10/26/94 Page 10 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 198 RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, _~. ~/~~Z~City~ Barbara A. Battaya, City of South San Francisco APPROVED. ~C~o~2uth Sa ' 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. 10/26/94 Page 11