HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1993.01.23150
BURLINGAI,IE, CALIFORNIA
January 23, 1991-
A duly noticed regular meeting of the Burlingarne City Council washeld on the above date in the City HaII Council Chambers. Themeeting was called to order at 7:31 p.n. by Mayor Gloria Barton.
CALL TO ORDER
PLEDGE OF ALLEG CE TO THE FLAG
L,ed by City Manager Dennis Argyres.
ROLL CALL
COI'NCIL PRESENT:
COIJNCIL ABSENT:
I',lINUTEs
BARTON, HARRISON, LEUBI, OTMAHONY, PAGLIARO
NONE
Minutes of the Regular l"Ieeting of January 7, L99L and theStudy/Goal Ueeting of ,fanuary L2, L99L were approved on motion ofCouncilnan Harrison. Seconded by Councilwonan OrMahony, carrj_edunanimously.
PUBLTC HEARING - SECOND REVIEW OF SIDEWAIJK ASSESSMENT FOR THE
GAUL RESID ENCE AT 1237 LAGI'NA VENUE - ASSESSMENT F ORGIVEN
PubLic Works Director reviewed his rnerno of January 1,5 which
recommended council hold a public hearing and take action. Atthe January 7, L991- meetinq, council decided to continue thehearing on Michael Gaults sidewalk assessment in the amount of
$477.48 untiL this meetingr in order to get further information onthe tining of the public notices sent to Gaul and the sidewalkjob's completion. The first notice was mailed in January 1990 tothe owner listed in city records. A return letter dated January30 indicated the property had changed hands in October of 1989.There is no record the first letter was then sent to the newolrner, I1r. Gaul-. A final notice was sent on February 1G, 1990 bycertif ied mail but was not p j.cked up by l.,Ir. Gaul until tlarch 21 ,1990, over four weeks later. The contract was awarded onFebruary 5 and the work sheets indicate the repairs to thesubject property was completed prior to March 27, LggO.
Since at the last neeting caul had questioned why sidewalk work
was being done in the area !,rhere councilmembers five after thecouncil decided to pay for sidewalk repairs, councilman Lenbiasked that the record show he had paid for sj-dewalk repairs madeat his hone.
Mayor Barton opened the public hearing.
I"Iichael Gaul reviewed that he had not received the notice untilafter the sidewaLk work had been donei if he had been aware ofthe need for sidewaLk repair, he woul-d have done the work hinselfsince he is a contractor; the Post Office on Stanton Road wherehe had to pick up the letter is only open five hours a day and it
was inpossible for either him or his wife to pick up the letter.
councilman Pagliaro asked if caul had received any notice byfirst class mail regarding the sidewalk project; Gaul said no, he
was fj-rst aware of the project when he picked up the certifiedIetter on March 21.
The hearing was closed.
Councilwoman OrMahony said since Gaul j-s a contractor and thesidewalk contract was awarded on February 4 and he r^rasnrt sent anotice until February 16, and didn't receive that notice until
March 21, she felt Gaul did not have a chance to respond and
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handle the matter hirnself ; the matter was made more conpJ,icated
because the previous owner had died.
Councilman Harrison moved to forgive the assessment for Michael
and Donna Gau1, 1,237 Laguna. Seconded by Councilwoman Or}Iahony,carried unanimously by rolL call vote.
PUBLIC HEARING - APPEAL FOR PARKING VARTANCE IN FRONT SETBACK AT
1617 CHAPIN AVENUE - RESOLUTION 9-91 - APPROVING SAI,TE
City Planner reviewed her memo of January 11 $/hich recommendedcouncil hold a public hearing and take action. Karl and DebbieBakhtiari are requesting a parking variance in order to retainparking use of a ten by twenty foot paved area in the front yard
setback at their single farnily house. Code prohibits parking
vehicles except in the drivenay area between the street and faceof the garage or other approved parking area. The proposedparking space is along the side of the garage in the front
setback, accessible from the driveway but not located in the
driveway between the property line and the face of the garage.Prior to a recent addition to this house, covered parking wasprovided by a carport at the side property line accessed by thepresent driveway. The rernodel included an attached two cargarage. Plans for the renodel checked by staff showed a paved
area in the front setback but did not note it was for parking.
The Planninq Conmission voted 4-2 to deny the request at its
meeting of December 10, 1990.
Councilman Pagliaro stated he wouLd abstain frour this discussion
and vote because the Bakhtiarits are his imrnediate neighbor.
Mayor Barton opened the public hearingr.
KarI Bakhtiari, applicant, presented a packet to each council
member with suggested findings for approval of his requestedvariance, and a Letter in support fron his archj-tect Robert Blunk
v/hich noted that one third of the 1ot i.s located in the front
setback because of the unusual triangular shape of the Iot. He
was concerned about having to park on the street if this varianceis not allowed; his house is located on a blind curve and parkingthere could be hazardous; tandem parking in his driveway would bevery inconvenient to his wife who has twin babies and another
snaLL child; he had a petition circulated by a neighbor and
signed by over 60 people in the neighborhood in support.
Ken Coverdell, BIue Sky Designs, the landscaper, spoke in favor;the pLans submitted did show the subject area as parking on onepage, but that page was somehow separated from the plans reviewedin the planningr department r' street parkinq would be a problen and
removal of the existing space would be a hardship; it is not astructure nor a storage space and would be screened by shrubs; he
urged approval. KarI Bakhtiari noted the hedge around the site
was killed by the recent freeze but they have ordered new
shrubberyi and they do park two cars in their garage.
Three neighbors spoke in favor; noting it woul-d not set aprecedent because this lot is unique shape; the owners have smaI1children and need parking off street; better to keep cars offstreet. A resident at 1,448 Vancouver, thought this an ideatsituation to get cars off street; his street is irnpacted bystreet parking.
Debbie Bakhtiari said this parking space was built for their van
which is too high and will not fit in the garage; because of thecurve of the street they need to keep cars off street.
Mayor Barton closed the public hearing.
councilman Lenbi had a similar car and has to park it outsidealsoi he agreed this is an unusual lot; he did not beLieveallowing thj.s variance would send a message that council al1ows
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parking in front setbacks; council passed an ord.inance to control
abuse of this type parking, but that is not the case here.
Councilwoman Ot}lahony asked when the paved area was installed,
she was concerned about cars being parked in the front setback;Bakhtiari said all paving was done at same tine, before they
moved into the site.
Mayor Barton objected to the petition which only gave oneal,ternative - park on the street - for this parking variancer. shenoted aII the foliage around the parking spot was dead, if the
hedge were fuII the car would not be seen; she wondered why thefour cars were shown in the driveway; she had a problem ingranting this, she could understand why the Planning Commissiondenied it.
Debbie Bakhtieri showed on a diagram how the cars were parked inthe garage and driveway; if the proposed space is not used theylrould have to back several cars in and out to use one of them;
she hoped for approval. Mayor Barton noted that the neighborsdon't object to the parking space.
Councilman Harrison moved approvaL of the parking variance with
two conditions in staff report and a third condition requiringthe foliage around the parking space be maintained to screen acar parked there. Seconded by CounciLnan Lemb j., carried
unanimously 4-0 on ro11 call vote, Councilman Pagliaroabstaining.
APPEAT., FOR HILLSIDE CONSTRUCTION PERMTT AND CREEK ENCLOSURE
PERMTT FOR A NEW RESIDENCE AT 2652 SIJMMIT DRIVE
City Planner reviewed her meno of January 10 lrhich recommendedcouncil hold a public hearing and take action. John Lee,archi.tect representing Tung Ling, property owner, is requesting ahil.lside area construction pernit and a creek encLosure pernit inorder to build a new seven bedroom, two story L2,33a square foot
home on a 1.58 acre vacant 1ot at 2652 Summit Drive. The twostory house will have a three car garage. In order to achieve a
15 percent sl,ope on the driveway, it must be located so that the
driveway crosses a portion of a creek on the site which is notpresently in a pipe (rnost of the creek on the sj.te is alreadyenclosed); they propose to extend the culvert 18 feet to buildthe driveway. The Planning Conmission approved these requests atits rneeting of December 10. Marion Zucca, 2628 sunmit, appealedthe decision as did Peter Davidson, 2694 Summit, with a petition
attached. City Planner noted that another petition was received
today fron Peter Davidson. Staff had suggested that Mr. Leeinstall poles to illustrate the location and heigrht of the
proposed hone; the poles lrere installed last week.
Mayor Barton opened the public hearing.
John Lee, architect representj.ng the property owner, displayed a
map of the property and surrounding 600 feet,' of the 155 homes inthat area displayed, two-thirds r^rere two story homesi of thepetition signers, half Lived in two story homes; he noted poles
were installed to show height and reach of the housei he showed
photos taken from some neighboring homes with lines drawn to showlocation of house r' he contended that the trees would be higher
than the house; the house would not obstruct distant views.
Council questioned the number of people in the Ling fanily; Lee
said the Lings were in their 50s and had trro adult children, one
of rrhom is narried; they propose to have their children and
hopefully qrandchildren, living in that house with them as that
is Chinese tradition: council- asked if any other houses in the
area had the same square footagei !'rondered if a soil survey had
been done; Lee said when plans are approved they would have soil
survey done for the location of building pad, pool and retaining
wal1s; council rras concerned about the proposed 20 foot high
retaining walll council was concerned about loss of some of the
large trees on the site, some were not shown on the p1ans.
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charles Kavanaugh, civil engineer for the project, noted these
are just prelininary plans, when a plan is approved a more
cornplete plan with aI1 trees would be done, trees that must be
removed srould be replaced; Planning Comrnission had no problems
with the creek enclosure, nost of the creek is already encl-osed
on the siter' the Lehto home which was previously approved for the
site, was not allowed to enclose the creek because at that tine
the city had a moratorium on creek enclosures. Council asked why
the building was not placed further down in the canyonl Kavanaugh
said that would necessitate a long steep drivenay; council asked
length of the house, Lee responded 174 feet.
Speaking in opposition was John l,[oran, 2516 Sunmit; AIdo
Simonetti, 2535 Sunnit; Barry Brown, 2752 Summit; charles
Mahnken, 2514 sunnit; Joe carabaldi, 2620 Surnrnit; Marion Zucca,
2628 sunnit; Peter Davidson, 2594 Summit r' comments were about the
soil in the area being unstable thus causing concern about the 20
foot high retaining waII a short distance frorn the rear of sorne
homes on sunmit, want assurance that they would be reirnbursed for
ground failure; the two illustrative pol-es installed to mark the
ends of the structure were not of the proper height; concern
about the bulk of the building, it is not in character with homes
in the area, it is at least four tines larger than other hornes Itraffic would be increased and the driveway is located at a
dangerous curve; if this is a sinqle family dwelling, perhaps
city should further define a sinqLe family, is an elderly couplewith married children and grandchildren in the same house asingle fanily; conpared Lehto plan and Ling p1an, Lehto was 338feet altitude, Ling is 347; the poles instaLLed are only 17 feet
high, they should be 35 feet high; the view they have enjoyed forover 30 years vrould be lost; the Lehto horne was mostly one story
in height; driveway would be right next to Mrs. Zuccars home,traffic lrould disturb her; this project looks more like a hotel
than a home; the project would gain a vieh, at the expense oftheir view; Dtrs. zuccars home was recently appraised at $1nillion and that was based partly upon the privacy and view; asingle story one farnily hone would be more compatible with the
neighborhood,' the project j-s too massivel if the top story were
removed and placed in front of the structure, views would not beobstructed; location of driveway would be dangerous where itjoins the street.
llayor Barton closed the public hearing.
councilman Lenbi compl,imented John Lee who is an excellentarchitect, but he felt this project was totally out of character
with the area; he would like to see it redesigned.
councilwoman otlitahony asked if poles were placed there for the
Planning Commission; she said it helped to \.ra l-k on the property
and Look at the neighbors homes to see the markersi the canyon
view would be cut off cornpletely; would lose dozens of trees;soil stability and the retaining wall were a real concernlseriously doubt the qrall could withstand an earthquake; she
agreed Lee did a fine job but she $/ould like to see the project
located further down the lot.
council,nan Paqliaro agEeed erith o'Mahony, he noted sone of the
Lehto/Ling comparison drawings showed the Lehto horne located
farther down the hill; he thought if the Ling house were moved
farther dolrn the lot and reduced in height he would feel more
comfortable with it; code section 25.04 says a house should becharacter with the neighborhood,' this proposed house is almost
bigr as our Police Station.
Ln
as
counciLman Harrison agreed with others; if this house were
located lower on lot it would be better; council- is the guardian
of city neighborhoods and it must protect this neighborhood.llayor Barton said she would like to see preservation of
neighborhood character on a future study agenda; she wondered ifthe Planning Comrnission had seen the poles illustrating hrhere the
house would be located; she encouraged a1I future applicants toput up poles to help neighbors inagine a proposed project.
councilman Lembi moved to reverse the Planning Conmission and
deny the hillside area construction permit and the creek
enclosure pernit for the reasons council mentioned. Seconded by
Councilnan llarrison, carried 5-0 on ro11 call vote. city
Attorney said he would prepare a resolution for next neeting.
llayor Barton cal1ed for a recess at 10:00. The meeting
reconvened at 10:05 p.n. with al-I council members present.
SECOND READING - ORDINANCE ]-42A - ESTABLISHING STOP SIGN ON
MI]RCHISON DRIVE AT OGDEN D
Public works Director reviewed the meno of January 17 thich
reconmended council hold a public hearing and take action. In
November, council introduced an ordinance to establish this stop
sign in the eastbound direction as requested by l"Ii11s High school
and notification of the city of Millbrae since this intersection
is shared with that city. The city of Uillbrae has now approved
a stop sign in the westbound direction at this intersection on a
one year tenporary basis. The installation of the stop signs
would be coordinated with Millbrae.
l,[ayor Barton opened the pubtic hearing. There being no conments,
the hearing was closed.
councifnan Lembi noved adoption of ORDINANCE 742a. Seconded by
councilman llarrison, carried unanimously.
SECOND READING - ORDINANCE L429 - ESTABLISHING YIELD SIGNS ON
BELLEVI'E AT THE PRIMROSE ROAD ISLANDS
Director of Public Works reviewed his memo of December 18 which
recommended council adopt this ordinance as recolnmended by the
Traffic Cornmission and proposed by Councilman Pagliaro.
I,Iayor Barton opened the public hearing. There being no comments,
the hearing was closed,
Councilman Pagliaro moved adoption of ORDINANCE l-429. Seconded
by councilman Harrison, carried unanimously.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Councihnan Pagliaro questioned whether the street repair project(c) lrould include the sand and oil treatments; staff respondedno, this project is only patching and city has not used the oil
treatment in some years norr; Pagliaro also asked about sectionsof the (a) proposed massage ordinance, could city require
inforrnation about forrner work establishments and whether others
might have been arrested at those establishments. councilwoman
orMahony said this ordinance does not indicate sre need this sarne
inforuration if the owner is a corporation; concern all enployees
be subject to questions, staff said each nasseuse would have toget a permit in addition to the business; wondered if theapplication form has been revised. Staff will nake some
revisions and bring the proposed ordinance back to the next
rneeting for introduction. councilwoman o'Ilahony asked what would
happen to the city's tractors t ith the new agreement (d) with
Bl,!I i Director of Public works Director said the tractors would be
phased out of use, one would remain at the site to help movetrailers and one would be sold.
a. INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE - AMENDING MASSAGE AND BATHING
ESTABLT SHMENT REOUIREI'{ENTS ( CONTINUED )
continued until the next rneeting.
b
L54
INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE 1430 - AMENDING HOLIDAYS FOR
PT'RPOSE OF PARKING ENFORCEIIIENT TO ADD MARTIN LUTI{ER KING DAY
155
City Attorneyts memo of January 9 recommended council
introduce this ordinance to add l"Iartin Luther King Day, the
third Monday in January, as a parking enforcement holiday.
c. RESOLUTION 10-91 - AWARDING CONTRACT FOR 1990-91 STREET
PATCHING - cP 923
Public Works memo of January 16 recommended council award
this contract to G. Bortolotto company of Foster city in the
amount of $304,301.
d. RESOLUTIO 11-91 AMENDING CONTRACT FOR SLUDG IIAULTNG
Public works memo of January 16 reconmended council approve
an amendment to the agreement with BMI Biosystems tlanagement
International for sludgTe hauling. A final product of the
wastewater process is organic sludge which must be hauled
away and disposed of in an environrnentally safe manner. In
1984 the city entered into an agreement with BMI for the
haulinq and disposal. At that tirne the city had a tractor
and two trailers which were leased to BMI . Now the city's
two trailers are in need of replacement after ten years of
hauling sludge. This proposed amendrnent provides for
phasing out the leasing of trailers and provides for BMI to
provide their own large 30-yard trailers. This wil-I
increase the amount of sludge hauled per trip since the
city's trailers are only 2o-yards. The contract wiII be
extended to 1995 at a cost of $395.19 per load.
e RESOLUTION L2-9T - AUTHORIZfNG CONTRACT FOR DISPOSAL OF
CONTAIiIINATED SOIL - CP 52L
Public Works nemo of January l-6 recommended council approve
an agreement with Decon Environmental of Hayward in the
amount of $40,200 to dispose of approxinately 24o tons of
hydrocarbon contaminated soif that was excavated in street
areas fronting the three service stations at the corner of
Broadrray and California.
f DENIAL OF APPLICATION TO FILE T,ATE CLAIM OF CATHLEEN CAHILL
City Attorneyrs memo of January I recommended council deny
this request to file a late claim.
s ACHI.,IENT P AA 2620
Public works memo of January 16 recommended council approve
the overhej.ght gate, fence and supports in the right-of-way.
h. ENCROACHI,TENT PERMIT FOR FENCE AT 1431 COLT'MBUS AVENUE
J. RESOLT'TION 13-91 - ATITHORIZING AGREEI{ENT FOR REII,IBIJRSB,IENT
T'NDER SB 14 O F S FOR BROADWAY / CALIFORNfA ECT cP 521
Public Works memo of January 16 recommended council approve
a Master Agreement and Program supplement No. 001 for
reimbursement under sB 140 funds. The city can claim
reimbursenent for about $220,000.
Public Works nemo of January 15 recommended council approve
this request for a two to three foot high fence subject to
penalty fees for a building permit.
i. WARRANTS AND PAYROLL
Finance Director recomrnended approvaL of l{arrants 12732 -
L3171, duly audited, in the amount of $1,3\2,52L.95 an.d
Payrolf checks 33]-L2 - 33856 for the rnonth of Decenber 1990
in the amount of $1,033,410.11.
156
TSM: Councilman Harrison reported that the Transportationcommittee has approved a work plan with RIDES. HL also noted thenext RPC neeting will be its last.
C/CAG: Councilman Pagliaro said he and Councilnan Lernbi hadattended the C/CAG neeting; they have set meeting dates of everythird Thursdayr. it will be a slow moving cornrnittee and it hassone hard deadlines coning up.
Councilwoman O I }lahony moved approval of the Consent Calendar.Seconded by councilnan Harrison, carried unanimously by voicevote .
COUNCIL COUUITTEE REPORTS
HomeLess: Councilman Pagliaro wiLl, be attending a rneeting.
OLD BU S INESS
NEW BU S INESS
McKinley SchooL: Council asked about the McKinley Schoo1 trafficpattern, staff noted TSPC wiLf be reviewing this; some residentshave commented it is vorking weI1; wondered if parking on sitefor school staff had been discussed.
Fire Sprinklers: Council,man pagliaro asked that the Fire Chiefreport on need for retrofitting sprinkLers in restaurant kitchenswith residences over them and on Low many sj,tes in the city wouldbe affected.
58169: Councj-lman Harrison asked for a letter of support forthis bill to change the county charging for booking tles.Council concurred.
Comrnission Minutes: Traffic, Safety and parking, December13, 1990i Civil Service, Novenber 13; and planning, January
1_4 , L99L.
Oversize Trucks: Mayor Barton mentioned a letter recej-ved fromthe trucking industry; she said oversize trucks couLd ruinstreetsl Public Works Director said our two freeway interchangeswill not aIl,ow these trucks because they need a laiger turningradius, but they could access Burlingame through thi uillbraeinterchange.
ACXNOWLEDGEMENTS
1
2 Department Reports: Treasurerrs, December 31, 1990; FireReport, Decenber 1990; police, December 1990.
3. Letter frorn Burl-ingame School District with DeMarco letter.
FROM E FLOOR
Herb Strange hoped he could get direction fron council regarding
how many parking sta11s he needed on his property on Howaid;originally he was told he needed two and now he has been told heneeds one more parking space and must apply for a variancel he isunable to open his tea room untj.l this is settled and thevariance procedure witt take a couple months; this is a hardshipfor his new business.City Planner explained that Strange developed his business in twostages, first was the retail store which he opened before theholiday season; the tea room/eating establishment is the secondstage. The conmercial kitchen and seating area they are planningto install represents an intensification in use over the existinqretail use. The property had a two car garage in 1,960 and thatis the basis upon which the number of existing parking spaces isdeternined. The new eatingr establishment use requires twoadditionaL spaces. She said the variance wou1d normally take six
weeks but if Strange could bring plans j-n for review the next
157
day, staff could send public notices and set a hearing on thevariance for next Planning Comurissj.on neeting. Strante said whenhe bought the property there was no gJarage on site, if it wereassuned there was onl-y a one car garage he would not even need avariance.
Councilnan Harrison noted he wanted to assist businesses in thesedifficult tirnes. I.tith 18.7 percent vacancy rate in our businessdistrict and sales tax dropping off, it is more important toassist our business in a proactj-ve r^ray such as when they aregetting building pernits. After considerable discussion, councilasked Strange to get his plans in to planning Departnent the nextday in order to speed the process. It woul-d take at Least threeweeks to get a buiJ.ding perrnit in any case, so the twoapplications would be processed in piral1et.
ADJO ENT IN IIIEMORY OF RAY HOLLTNGSI,\'ORTH AND GLORT A ERSEN
Mayor Barton noted with regret the recent deaths of city buildinginspector, Ray Hollingsworth, and G1oria Andersen, Iong--tirneresident vrho !,/as active in service to the deaf . i,Iayor-Bartonasked for a moment of silence and then adjourned the rneeting at11:00 p.m. in their memory.
dith A. Malfatt
City Clerk