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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1979.03.14313 BURLINGAME, CALIEORNIA CITY COUNCIL STUDY MEETING March l-4 , 7979 PRESENT: COI'NCILMEMBERS AMSTRUP, BARTON, CROSBY, MANGINI , MARTIN STAFE: SCHWALM, COLEMAN, YOST, ARGYRES, WAGNER, FRICKE M a yor Amstrup convened a City Council Study Meeting in the Burlingame City Hatl Council Chambers at 8:05 p.m. on March 14, tg7g. He explained to the public atteniling the meeting the pur- pose of the ;tudy meeting is for council study and discussion of items on the agenda, and that is is not a meeting for public participation except at Council's express invitation for comments' He noted that a communj-cation from the Tri-County Apartment Association had announced there woul-d be public input at the study meeting. That statement was in error. 1. PROHIBITING DOGS IN ANY CITY PARK The Park and Recreatj-on Commission requested Council consider an ordinance prohibiting dogs in City parks because the two most re- cent ordininces for control of defecation are not enforceable' Principally in Washington and Ray Park animal defecation inter- feres with-sports programs and with gardening equipment' The recommendation is bas6d on the assumption that any dog in a park, whether leashed or not, wi]1 defecate, and enforcement of the ordinances requires observation, whereas banning all dogs. from parks could result in easier enforcement of the code provisj-ons' bouncil commented that prohibiting dogs in parks would merely move the problem to the streets, sidewalks and lawns. The City Manager ,"= hir""t.d to implement Council suggestions that the main entrances to the parks be posted with notices of the city ordinances relating to the leashed animals and removal of defecationi that advisor! notices be distributed by Park Department personnel to dog ownlrs when observed in the parks; and that a similar notice be printed in the next Recreation Department bullelin' 2. STUDY AND DISCUSSION OF FUTURE RENT CONTROLS Mayor Amstrup stateal councilmembers have received. extensive reports anl pubtications concerning rent control , and he assured those memblrs of the public pres6nt at the meeting that every communication received had been circulated to all the councilmembers ' councilman Mangini conmented on the economic conditions and pressures upon both rent6rs and property owners. History of rent control- in- dicates j-t is unsucceslfu1. He recommended a report to Council from a coalition of renters, property owners and real- estate people as a guiae to possible actj-on-. bouncilmembers Crosby and Barton concurred in the re-commendation. Councilman Martin did not object to the suggestion, but stated he felt city action would not be effective; thii county,/state action would be preferable. He considered the pro- blem more basic than dialogue betv/een landlord and tenant and re- lated to such things as baiic setup of income tax' He suggested working through l-egislators. MR. PHILLIP RAFELLO addressed council on beha]f of the county Housing coalition. He urged council to conduct a public hearing and stated the Housing Coaliiion is prepared to show that rent stabilization is a workable prospect and to show that many people, both young and old, are unable to afford increased rents they are being charged' MS. MADELINE O'CONNOR said that she \,ras present at the earlier dis- cussion of this matter and she recalled a cornmitment to a public hearing. on behalf of the renters she said they would be willing to meet ii dialogue, but the understanding was there would be a public 314 meeting to present their contention that rent controls can be made to work. MR. SUKHZIT CHAHAL, a resident of Burlingame who owns a fj-veunit piece of property, described the problems of a recentinvestor in rental property and the expenses of maintenancewhich resulted in a negative cash flow. He compared the costof ownership of a condominium with the lower cost of rental forthe same sized unit in Burlingame. His experience with rentcontrol in cj-ties throughout the world was that it was not satis-factory. MR. JULIAN GARROW of 1775 Marco PoIo said, though many areas in the East had problems, the problems existed before rent control , and that in the Town of lrvington, New Jersey, rent control had worked, giving a fair return to the owner and pro- tection to the renter. His experience was that legislation was required to provide leverage for tenants. MR. TIMOTHY HAYES of 1103 Paloma sympathized with theof tenants' long run economic outlook. prospects MR. BOB CARSAGE pointed out that Burl-ingame is a choiceidential area and rental costs necessarily reftect thatEe fe1t, however, there should be protection for senior res-fact. citizens. After discussion it i"ras the unanimous decision of Council thatthe question of rent control be submitted to a comnittee forreview and recommendation to Council. Mayor Amstrup requestedall persons interested in serving upon such a committee to sub-mit thein names and. addresses. RECESS Following the recess Mayor Amstrup announced that record.s in-dicate that a public meeting on the issue would be he1d, and thattherefore such a meeting for public expression to Council wouldbe announced and held following the meeting of the committee. 3. OLD LEGION HALL BUILDING Mr. Schwalm reported that rehabilitation of the old Legion HallBuilding is estimated to cost between $50,000 anal $60,000. Nofunds for this purpose are available. It idas his recommendationthat.publicj-ty through the newspapers be requested in an attemptto find an organization j-nterested in the refurbishing. Councit- man Mangini requested that a time limit of five months be set forthe submission of proposa.Is. 4. LARGER STUDY MEETING ROOM Mayor Amstrup reviewed past discussions on the desirabitity of alarger room for study meetj-ngs, lncluding the suggestion for useof the present Water Office. Councilman Martin pointed out thatthe Water Office would result in a long narrow room, and suggesteda combination of part of that space plus part of the Manager'sOffice anteroom. Council-man Mangini called attention to themeeting room in the basement of the Library. Another suggestion was the remodeling of council chambers to provide a study tablearea. Councilwoman Barton commented that the reason the studymeetings were moved to the council chambers in recent months wasthe nature of the discussions which drew large public attendance;therefore, it was her feeling that in any event the councit chambers would have been used. Mayor Amstrup reported that manycouncils conduct study meetings prior to regular sessions. Mayor Amstrup urged further consideration of possibilities which would assure more effective communication between councilmembers and staff at study sessions. 31s 5. RECLASS IFICATION IN THE RECREATION DEPARTMENT In response to Mr. wagner's request for reclass i fication of an employee in the Recreation Department to stenographer-clerk from receptionist-dupl icating machj-ne operator, Council re- quested that Mr. Schwalm and he determine a classification distinguishable from that of stenographer-c lerk for the employees at the Recreation Department whose duties inc]ude operation of the duplicating equipment, to avoid problems in future salary survey studies. 6. SERVICE CHARGES 7. OTHER Burlingame Plaza Service Road: Mayor Amstrup reported having @bout large trucks and rigs parked overnight and weekends on the service road at Ef Camino Real and Burlingame Plaza. In response to the suggestion of posting parkj-ng limits, Councilman Martin suggested an attempt to pro- vide parking space for such equipment at a less objectionable site. Staff was directed to investigate such an alternate parking area. 8. BAYF'RONT LAND USE AND DEVELOPMENT (Councilman Martin withdrew from participation in the meeting.) Mr. Yost revi-ewed previous council acti.on and staff reports and referred to the Progress Report of February L4, 19'79. With re- spect to traffic generations in the western, central and easterly sections of the Anza area, further testings of the co-efficients and consuftation t/ith Mr. Drachman resulted in the recornmendation for further improvements at the Coyote Point end. These involve the geometrics of coming off the freeway and looping to enter the Anza area, and a plan to provide a southbound entry to the freeway with a slip into the freeway from Humboldt north of Peninsula Avenue, similar to the slip at the eucalyptus grove for northbound freeway traffic. There j-s a recommendation for a second left turn lane in front of the Ramada Inn for northbound Airport Boulevard traffic turning left onto the f ree\"/ay. New calculations on the proposetl changes are expected from Mr. Drachman next week. It .is expected the proposed improvements to the plan witl test out to the D Leve1. The proposed changes are estimated to increase the cost of the road improvements from $I,500,000 to $2,000,000.placing about one block of 1 This will include the cost of dis- andowners on Humboldt Road. In response to Mayor AmstruP's question regarding proposed project rating-s, Mr. Yost explained that the suggestion is that the Planning Commiision act as a review board and prepare a report in the form of a recommendation which would go to Council for certification or modification. Mayor Amstrup and Councilwoman Barton questioned procedure when two projects are rated equally and the percentage ;Ilocation alIows for only one. Mr. Yost said he thought the Iikelihood of a tie between buildings of the same character is re- mote because of the many differing factors that would be involved in the evaluation. The point system will make it apparent to in- tended developers t hat criteria matter to the City and which matter the most. Councilwoman Barton questioned the percentage limj-tation on development. Mr. Yost responded that it was hoped the table would include a reserve fund which could be invaded for exceptional projects, and that unused portions of the quotas of previous years would also be available. The proposed six month review period is recommended because (1) it enables that time for the initial assessment and study, time to prepare the negative declaratj-on and Discussion of charges for services such as lock-outs, pumping and covering of roofs by the Fire Department and tree planting by the Park Department $ras deferred to a later meeting because Council did not have sufficient information, 316 get it and drawings started in circulation through the Clearing House and to get necessary work on the project completed beforeit comes before Council for evaluation; (2) it is felt the dev- eloper will have more definitive information as to deadline, and competj-tion will be generated for better quality projects; and (3) traffic build-up can be monitored more efficiently tonote significant increment. Mr. Yost stated that Mr. Kirkup is working on estimates for construction of the road work, and that work will be started as soon as possible. It is hoped that development charges will be ready for assessment in time for the Sea Breeze Plaza Project now before staff. Councilwoman Barton referred to Mr. David Keystonrs letter of March 14th. Mr. Yost said it would be studied by staff and comments submitted. Mr. Keyston conunented that the present. road capacity would permit a 50? to 60? buildout at the present time and he would take issue to the suggestion of a L4Z per year building quota. Mr. Yost caIled attention to a proposed pro- vision for adjustment to match the final road improvement con-struction. Mr. Keyston stated that his letter included an offerto advance sums against development charges to expedite road improvements so that everything except the parking lot anddrive-in theater may be developed as quickly as possible. Mr. Yost agreed that an aggressive road improvement program wouldsolve many problems in the Anza area. Mr. Kirkup could advise how quickly CalTrans will proceed if funds are available. Mayor Amstrup ca1led attention to the fact that he had been advised that the transfer station will not be completed untilnext June. He questioned its effect on the Cityrs plan to closethe dump in Dec. and upon plans for the Anza area. He suggestedthat after recei-pt of the Drachman report and the estimate oftime and cost for road improvements there be another meetj-ng ofCouncil to consider this land development. The meeting adjourned at 10:35 p.m. 6J*-7/-7L/zEvelyn/ H. Hill City Clerk IIfI I t I I I