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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1992.02.19BI,RI,INGAI.IE, CAIJIFORNIA February 19, 19 92 CALL TO ORDER A duly noticed regular neeting of the Burlingame City Council washeld on the above date in the City Hall Council- Charnbers. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.n. by l{ayor Frank Pagliaro. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG Pledge was Led by Attorney ceorge Corey. ROLL CALL COI,NCIL PRESENT: HARRTSON, KNIGIIT, LEII{BI , OIMAHONY, PAGLIARO COIJNCIL ABSENT: NONE MINUTES The minutes unanimous 1y of the Regular Meetingr of February 3, l-992 were approved on motion of Harrison, second otl,lahony. CITIZENS PRESENT REGARDING FREEWAY SOUNDWALL I"layor Pagliaro acknowledged the presence of residents from theRollins Road area who had signed a petition requesting extensj-onof the 101 Free!,ray soundwall to Toyon. He explai,ned the sound-wall- is not a city project and r^/e cannot control this Stateproject; the State engineers held public hearings in the city twoyears ago concerning the location of the wal,l- and council rnembers and many citizens urged extension to Toyon at that hearing; theState did conduct more noise tests at the urging of residents,but the area did not meet the State criteria; he wel-comed any connents from those present. A resident of Larkspur Drive $rondered about the criteria the State used to determine where tostop; council- said the resident coul-d qet that information fronthe State; resident noted the soundwall is now being extended south from Peninsula Avenue and some of those buildings are notolder than the freeway. Council urged the citizens to get in touch with their State representatives, especially Senator Kopp who is chairnan of the Transportation Corarnittee, to express theirconcerns. There lras discussi.on of possible auxiliary lanes onthe freeway which would resutt in extension of the wal1 adjacent. one resident objected to extending the waII, if it is built theliving area of her house would face a blank walI. The Mayorsaid staff would forward the petition to Senator Kopp and otherlegislators. PUBLIC HEARING - REVI EI4I OF NEGATIVE DECLARATION AND FOUR SPECIAL PERI'{ITS TO CONSTRUCT AN AUTO STORAGE LOT FOR ALAMO RENT-A-CAR AT 1380 BAYSHORE HIGHWAY - RESOLUTI ON 15-92 APPROVING SAME City Planner reviewed her memo of February LO, 1992 which recom- mended council hold a public hearing and take action. DKbert Associates and George Corey, attorney for Alamo Rent-A-Car, are requesting a negative declaration and four special, permits in order to demolish the Amfac Hotel and develop the 4.4 acre siteat 1380 Bayshore as an auto storage facility to be used inconjunction with the Alamo facility at 1470 Bayshore/778 Burlway. The only access to both sites is from Burlway Road; no cars will- be rented fron the 1380 Bayshore site, the sole use wilf be auto storage for rental fleet cars. The project requires four specialpermits: (1) to expand a car rental use, (2) for 26 percent land- scaping in the 100 foot shoreline band where 40 percent j-s required in the bayfront design guidelines, (3) for 0 percent landscaping within the parking area where 10 percent is required, and (4) for 11 percent landscaping outside the LoO foot shoreline band where 15 percent is required in the bayfront design guide- lines. The applicants state that this site wiII be operated 24 334 335 hours a day, seven days a week only as a storage facitity for 785rental cars. There will be no employees assigned to the site,nor will enployees park on this site or cars be rented frorn thissite. The site is not proposed to be merged with the other twoparcels owned by DKbert and ALamo. The Planning Commission approved this request at its neeting of January 27, t992. CityPlanner responded to council questions; condition requiring nocar maintenance on this site; neaning of interin use, car rentalparking is a transitional use of the property but no limit has been set on the use; concern about Iow percentage of Iandscapingbeing provided; applicant is using the site at the present timefor storing cars and they do not have a perrnit. Mayor Pagliaro noted he had ca1led this issue before council- forreview because of his concern that the landscaping would not hidethe 700 cars on the site; he then opened the public hearing. George Corey, attorney for Alamo, presented a drawlng of the siteto better il-lustrate what the landscaping would look like;originally they had planned for using the two driveways on Bayshore but the Planninq Cornmission required they close thosedriveways and extend the tandscaping all the way across to screenthe site frorn traffic; there would be vines planted to gror^, overthe fence and hide the cars; the present Alamo facility isbeautifully landscaped and naintained and everyone will be gladto get rid of the danaged Amfac hotel on the site; DKbert and Alamo are the same people, one is a partnership and the other acorporation; they hope to cl-ose the sale for this property next b/eek; DKbert will own all the adjacent property except the Fisherman Restaurant site and the Shell gas station; they want to own all the property in order to make better use of this prineproperty, but until then they wilL use for car rental business.In response to council questions, Corey said the landscaping will be rnaintained like the present facility; council noted A1amo wonthe city beautification award for landscaping; some council menbers felt a higher bern in the Landscaping area would betterhide the cars, wondered how long it would take the vines to coverfence. A representative of the landscape architect said higher mounds could be installed, but would increase costs, type of vine has not been determined yet, canrt say how long it would take toqrow vines. Mayor Pagliaro said the applicants say this proposedproject is an interirn use but they can't teI1 how long thisinterim use wi1L 1ast, nor can they teII how long it will takefor the vines to cover the fencel it would be better to place berrns with mature trees for screening. corey said there wasalready a great deal of landscaping for this use,. he thought theapplicants would approve higher berns if council nade it a condi-tion but he would have to confer with then. A lady in the audience said council shoul,d worry about the dead trees and grarbage on Burlingame Avenue, rather than how fast vines willgrow in the bayfront area. Mayor Pagliaro closed the public hearing. councilman Lenbi said he is always asked about what the city isgoing to do with the darnaged, deserted Anfac Hotel; it is an eyesore and a constant reminder of the earthquake; he thanked Alamo for planning to rid the city of the Anf ac,. Alano has won a$/ards for landscapingi he is rnuch impressed with the organi-zation and the cornbined purpose of the project and removal ofhotel; some type bush or hedge along with the existing bernsnight better screen the site; using the hotel site for carstorage is not a good return on investment, he felt the organiza-tion would expedite another use as soon as possible; he felt theproject was visually aesthetic and he was happy to approve it. Councilman Harrison concurred, as liaison to the chamber he alsohears concern about the Amfac Hote1 sitei he moved to uphold thePlanning commission approval of a negative declaration andspecial pernits with conditions and findings. Seconded by Councilwornan o tMahony. 336 Councilwoman Knight cornmented she was also pleased to see the Anfac Hotel dernolished but visitors to our city donrt hlant to see a parking 1ot either; the applicants cannot define interim; she was not confortable with the reduced landscaping and would reluctantly vote for it. Councilwoman orMahony was confident that Alarno would do a fine job; approving this project with conditions will give us much more than qre have now; it opens the bayshore access by adding another perpendicular accessi itts an improvement over what we see nohr; we depend heavily on tourj.sts and dontt need to rernind then of earthquakes. Councilman L,enbi suggested they coutd plant bushes at top of berms; corey agreed that could be done. Mayor Pagliaro agreed getting rid of Arnfac would be good, but reptacing it with 785 autos is not goodr' if the applicant would put three foot berms v/ith bushes he could vote for it, but for aesthetic reasons he vould vote against it. Councilman Lenbi noted if they put in nore berms they hrould lose the existing mature trees. The notion carried 4-1, on a roll cal-1 vote, Mayor Pagliaro voting no. PUBL]C HEARING - SECOND READING ORDINANCE 14 53 REGARDING CONSIN,IPTION OF ALCOHOL City l"Ianager reviewed the City Attorneyrs memo of January 2l- which recommended council adopt this ordinance to bring our code in line with recent court decisions regarding alcohol; state law totally regulates possession of alcohol, although consunption is open to local controf; the effect is that a city cannot cite a person for having a container of a1coho1, open or closed, but can cite him when he consumes an alcohol-ic beverage on our streets or parks; it also controls consumption of alcohol, on private proper- ty open to the public without the o$rnerrs permission. Mayor Pagrliaro opened the public hearing. There being no com- ments, the hearing was closed. councilwoman o'Mahony moved adoption of ORDfNANCE 1453. seconded by Councilman Lembi, carried unanimously by ro11 call vote. PUBLIC HEARING - SECOND READING - ORDTNANCE TOWING OF VEH]CLES FROM PRIVATE PROPERTY 7454 REGARDING city Manager reviewed the city Attorneyrs nemo of January 22, 1992 which recommended council- adopt this ordinance to update our code; after discussion with the Police Department we have decided that an amendment referring to Vehicle code 22658 ar,d 22658.2 would avoid inconsistency with state lawr' the amendment makes two other changes, it eliminates a provision whj-ch a1lows private property owners to move unwanted vehicles to the public street and repeals a provision rnaking violations a misdemeanor (this is mentioned elsewhere in the code). Mayor PagLiaro opened the public hearing. There being no com- nents, the hearing was closed. Councilman Harrison moved adoption of oRDINANCE 1454. Seconded by Councilman Lembi, carried unaninously on ro11 call vote. BUILDING DTVISION CONSULTANT REPORT City Manager reviewed his rnerno of February 5, L992 with the attached consultant John canestro's report reviewing the building inspection division. He reconnended council accept the report and direct staff to inplement the recommendations in the report over the next six months. At the end of that period, a follow-up report will be made to council. Staff intends to retain John canestro on an hourly basis to assist in training and technical assistance as needed. He noted both he and the Pub1ic Works Director have seen improvement in the past five months and he was confident we can continue to improve, but the nature of the permit process $rill continue to generate some level of conpfaint. 337 Mayor Pagliaro asked for any conments from the public. Larry Lyons of the Burlingame office center and chairman of the officeBuilding Council, said their group was founded in part because of problems hrith the building department; a 1ot of people did notput their complaints in writing for the consultant to review; hefelt the report weak in the real issues which are lack of leader-ship and administrative directioni employees need nore training,- he supported recommendations beginning on page 7; something he heard from everyone is the poor attitude in the department; hesaid there are Lots of good people out there looking for jobs andthe city could find better qualified people. Mayor Pagliaro explained to the audience that council had re-ceived this report a nonth aqo and reviewed it extensively at alengthy closed session, then it was distributed to city officials and to the public. The consultant will return in six months tosee if the department is going in the right direction. Council- members all expressed their hope that employees in that depart- ment would continue to improve I councj,l had heard lots of com-pLaints in the past two years and that is why the consultant washired; we must make the public know we are there to help thern; wewant to make our building department the best in the County. Councilman Harrison asked that the Director of public Worksdevelop performance objectives for each person in that depart-rnent. Councilrnan Lenbi suggested an eval-uatj.on post card to handout at counter and be mailed back $/ith comments fron customers.Councilman Harrison moved to accept the report. Seconded by Council,sronan O tl"lahony . AIi Aldparvar, junior engineer in public works department,objected to a recommendation in the report regarding a change ina clerj-cal position. Anthony Boutte, plan checker in buildingdepartrnent, revj-ewed his qualif icati-ons, the care he takes inchecking plans and the irnportance of public safety in adrninister-ing the code. Councilman Lembi pointed out the report is speak-ing to issue of the departnentts attitude; he reviewed some ofthe cornplaints he had received; the need to be a team player; need for cornmunication within the departnent. Bob Brosrn, plan checker in building department, pointed out the building depart-nent enployees had met wj.th the consultant and he hoped councilcould consider thelr viewpoints; Councilwoman Knight said shevrould like to receive staff comments regarding that meeting. Council told the audience it is up to the City Manager and staffto implernent reconmendations in the report, that is not councilrsjob. The rnotion to accept the report was unanimously passed. Mayor Pagliaro ca11ed for a recess at 9:10 p.m. The neeting reconvened at 9322 p.n. with all council present. coMMrssr ON APPOINTMENT AND PPLICANTS Mayor Pagliaro stated he and Councilman Lenbi had interviewedrecently for Park and Recreation Cornmission and with a recentresignation Councilman Lernbi nominated Thomas Nyhan to the vacantposition. Noninations were cLosed and Nyhan was unanimously conf irrned. Mayor Pagliaro asked the City Manager to arrangej.nterviews for the Beautification, Planninq and Traffic, Sifety,Parking Commissions. JOINT MTL RAE / BI]RLTNGAME TAS FORCE FOR COOPERATI VE SERVICE city Manager reviewed his merno of February 7 hrhich recommendedcouncil authorize staff to meet with Millbrae staff concerningpossible cooperative fire, Elils and disaster services. Councj.I- hroman Knight cornmented she woul,d not like to see Burlinganesuffer any reduction in the caliber of service it enjoys at thepresent time. Council unanirnously approved the task force study. SELECTTON OF AUDITOR Finance Director's memo of February 4 recommended council eitheraccept the proposal- from KPITIG Peat Marwick to extend our current 338 contract for another three years, or direct staff to seek propos- als from other qualified firms. councilwoman otMahony recommend- ed council continue rrJith Peat Marwick, they are farniliar vrith the city operations and have done a wonderful job. Council discussed how long the city has contracted with Peat Marvrick and the cost of this new contracti staff was satisfied the cost was conparable with other f irrns. Councilwornan otMahony moved to accept thethree year extension e/ith KPMG Peat Marlrick, Seconded by Coun- cilman Harrison. Councilwoman Knight asked about doing a compar- ison of costs with other firms and advisability of continuing with same firm. The notion carried unanirnousJ-y by voice vote. RESOLUTION L7-92 - APPROV]NG AGREEMENT FOR PHASED RECONSTRUCTION PI,ANS FOR MAIN LIBRARY city ltanager revie$red his memo of February 12 v/ith City Librar- ianrs report attached which recomrnended council review the additional information provided by the architect and structural engineer outliningr why they recommend reptacing the library stacks as opposed to seismic retrofitting; the najor reason is retrofitting would cost 65 to 80 percent of the removal,/repl-ace- ment cost vithout providing for handicapped access, fire suppres- sion and functional organization; it would also reduce book storage capacj.ty 20-30 percent and limit expansion options. After some discussion, councilvroman Knight moved approval of the contract with Ripley Associates in the amount of $37,200. Seconded by Councilwoman orI"lahony, carried unanimously. CONSENT CALENDAR Regarding (c) Mayor Pagliaro r,ranted to be sure the applicant for the bicycle race naned the city as additional- insured on a $1rnillion policy, city Manager confirmed they would provide such i,nsurance. Regarding (e) the Mayor questioned a large amount of money spent on automobiles in another city, he would like to see city dea}ers used if possible. Regarding councilwoman orl,lahonyrsquestion about (b) Public Works Di.rector explained this 2 nilliongallons per day was reclaimed $/ater from the treatment pIant. a RESOLUTION 18-92 suREs - cP 119 AWARDING CONTRACT FOR RECYCLING ENCLO- Public Worksr memo of February 13 recommended council awardthis contract to Ace Fence company of Fresno in the amountof $8,569.80 for five chain link fence enclosures for recy-cling bins in various city parking lots for use by city restaurants and bars. b AGREEMENT PLAN -CP Public Worksr memo of February 11 recommended council ap- prove an agreement with Stetson engineers; in 1986 the city prepared an Urban hlater Management Plan as required by State lawr' new tegislation requires the city to update every five years and prepare a neb/ ?later Shortage Contingency P1an. The cost of preparation of these plans by Stetson is esti- nated to be $14,405; cost can be financed by water rates. c SPECIAL EVENT PERI'{IT FOR BICYCLE RACE oN JUNE 28 City l"Ianagerts memo of February Lo recommended counciL approve this request from Gene condon $rith the Peninsula VeLo Bicycle club for a race in downtown Burlingame on Sunday, June 28, !992 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.n. Thj-s event has been held successfully in Burlingane for the past three years with few complaints. PPROVAL OF OUT-OF-S AT city I'lanager and Pub1ic works Director memo of January 30 recommended council approve attendance at an AwwA (Anerican RESOLUTION L9-92 - APPROVING SERVICE WATER MANAGEMENT AND WATER SHORTAGE FOR URBAN 120 d 339 Water Works Association) conference in June at Vancouver BCfor Larry Nelsonr. in october 1992 AWWA will hold its fu11conference in Burlingame and Larry Nelson is the Host Chair-nan; they expect 1,500-1,800 people to regj_ster and thiswill bring in around $2O,OOO revenue to the city. e. $,ARRANTS AND PAYROLL Finance Director recommended payment of Warrants lgT39 -19655, duly audited, in the amount of $1,32O,797.79 andPayrol] Checks 44001 - 45146 for the month of January 1992in the amount of $1,697,398.91. Councilman Harrison moved approval of the Consent Calendar. Seconded by Councilwoman OrMahony, carried unanimously. COI]NCIL CO TTEE REPORTS NEW BU SINES S TSM: Councilman Harrison reported on a Traffic System Managenent Committee meeting; they are atternpting to have C/CAG assigned asthe lead agency for TSM for the county. Legislative committee: Council-lroman Knight told about a recentneeting at which AB 2067 was discussed, it was passed by the Assemb1y, this bill r^riIl not a1low Police management to questionofficers. Council asked for a letter in opposition be sent to Assembl)rman Floyd, its author; Pol-ice Chief asked council- send itto State Senators because is has not been voted in Senate yet. SB 267, Kopp, e/as also discussed; this bill would repeal salestax on magazine subscriptions. Airport Roundtable: Councj.Lnronan OtMahony said discussion wasabout possible passenger surcharge; if adopted the airport wouldhave to comply with federal noj-se standards. She also distribut-ed a report about BARTs extension to the airport. Mayor Pagliaro scheduled publof variance for a restaurant agenda be kept light for the hearings on the Business Imprthe districts discussed. hearing on March 2 for an appeal ]-249-A Broadv/ay. He asked therj.1 O meeting at which the publ j.c ement Distri-cts are to be held and Lc at Ap ov IJRGENCY INTERIM ORDINANCE 1455 - PROHIBITING TSSUANCE OF PERI{ITS FOR CERTAT OUTDOOR LIGHTING Council-woman Knight had received a reguest from a lady for helpin prohibiting what appears to be a spotlight placed near theroof peak on an addition to a nej-ghbor's homei this light wouldshine into her home. councilhroman Knight felt strongly cityshould adopt an urgency ordinance until outdoor J.ighting such asthis is evaluated. Other council mernbers had also heard frornthis lady. city Planner noted this light is not shown on theplans so the applicants must anend their building pernit. Staffreviewed present light standards for both residentlal ana commer-cial projects. Acting City Attorney Natatie West reviewed Government Code 65858 which allows council to adopt an urgencyordinance prohibiting any uses inconsistent with I zoning-propos-al being considered; council will be discussing mass and futX atan upcoming neeting and lighting could be a factor in mass andbulk and privacyr. an interim urgency ordinance can be adopted for45 day period, it can be extended by holding a public heaiing andpublishing notice prior to the end of the 45 day period. Thewording of this urgency ordinance would prohibit any perrnits forcertain outdoor lighting placed over 9 foot above an exit landingor for any other exterior lightinq installed so that the cone oflight and/or glare from the light would extend, onto the adjacentproperty. Council noted a public hearing would be scheduled forthe March 15 neeting to extend this urgency ordinance. a b c d e Councilman Harrison moved adoption of URGENCY INTERIM ORDINANCE1455. Seconded by Councilwoman Knight, carried unanimously 5-0by ro11 call vote. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Commission Minutes: Civil Service, January a4i Beautifica-tion, February 6; Planning, February 20, L992. Department Reports: Treasurerrs Report, January 3L, L992;Police, January L992. Letter from C. vanNiekerken, 7O9 Linden, regarding rear areaof stores at corner of Oak Grove and Carolan. Council ask staff write the property owner about this complaint. Several letters from Burlingame Avenue business otrnersobjecting to formation business improvement district. Letter from R. Rosenberger, 1l-09 Dufferin, regarding neigh- borhood neglect and decay. f. Petition signed by over 70 residents regarding soundwall. g. Notice of minor modification at L6L2 McDonald Way. h.Letter from Carlyle Ne1son, 215 Chapin Lane, regarding leafblowers. i. Hillside construction perrnit for 25L7 Hayward Drive. FROM THE FLOOR Tom Bowen, 956 Laguna and owner of a business on BurlingameAvenue, complained about condition of Burlingame Avenue; thereare dead trees and the planter boxes need work; the streetcleaner misses angles near the planter boxesl perhaps thereshould be no parking certain days so the streets can be cleanedbetter; the fire site partition looks awfu1. Staff reviewed citypolicy for trees damaged by freeze, some are coming back and willbe trimmed; there is no planting going on now because of drought;street is swept every day by street sweeper but the sweepercannot reach the angles by plantersl street is hand swept period-ica1ly; council discussed no parking on a certain day might behelpful; sidewalk partition in front of fire site limits wheel-chair access; staff noted difficulty of reaching property ownerof fire site; Chanber of Commerce could arrange for schoolchildren to paint a mural on fire partition if they could getpermission. Councilwoman Knight suggested a notice to Burlingame Avenue businesses to inforrn them of the problem and the programfor trees and sweeping. councirnan Lembi said it was armostinpossible to get street swept on Highland, days the car dearersare parked everywhere and nights the apartment residents areeverywhere. Staff said that hand posting for no parking for aday for street cleaning might be appropriate. Staff noted sweeping schedule is published i-n Recreation bu11etin. CLOSED SESSION Mayor Pagliaro adjourned the meeting to a closed session onproperty acquisition at l-0:28 p.m. Council authorized City Manager to make an offer on the property currently available forsale at 1133 Chula Vista for future Broadway parking. ADJOT'RNMENT The meeting was regularly adjourned at 11-:t-O p .m . MalfatCity Clerk 340 (