HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1966.04.06373
Burlingane, Californi.r
Aprtl 6, 1966
CAIJL TO ONDER
A regularly edjournad rc.ting of the Burl inga[e City Council, fron its
regrular neeting of April 4, L966, ras called to order at 8140 p.n., -ltayor Crosblt in the Chalr.
PLEDGE OT AI,LEGIAIICE
At uoral fron the Chair, aU ln the Council Chanber aro3e and gave the
Pl€dge of Nlegiance to the Flag.
Preaent - counci lDen s Crostry-Diedc rlch een-ceorge-Johnron-l{artin.
tbrent - Councllnen s fonc
APPEAL RB: VARIAIICES ALPEA LAIID CIXPAIIY
FROIIT SEBBACKS IX l,l.ILLS BSTAIE NO. 25
Iayor CrosbtT announced that thl. waa the tilla and place edrcdulcd to
contlnue a public hearing on an action of the Planning c@ission lrcr-uitting variances to the Alpha Land copany to egtebligh lega than
Iegal front setbacks in !ri11! Estate No. 25, appealed tl!2 Council on an
inltiative notion.
Itre Chalr refcrr€d to tttr. Itlctttillan, Attorney, rcpresentlng the Alpha
IJand C@pany's intercsts.
t{r. ltct{illan stated t}rat at the conclusion of the initial hearing, the
ilpha Land Coopany was requested to confer with t{olte c@pany (original
engincers of the tract) to deter lne the square footage of driv€rray
propcrties aff.cted and to sulnit a wrltten prolroaal, that a legal
description hag becn furnishod the City Englnecr but a written proposal
haa becn withheld and the reason therefor to be explainedr that the
Alpha Land coqrany is willing to aasurc the financial obligation to
purchase trees ln five gallon @ntainera and to place UreE on fifteen
foot centeree that nonutnentB will be placed to establirh boundaries
betueen city and prlvato propertles and if Council ao reguires, a low
fence shall bc installed along the city's grcen belt arear that thc
lot8 rrerc purchaaed by the Alpha Land C@pany at a coat of 92.0O per
aquaae foot and basing th.t figura on the legal descriptions sulmitted,
totaling just over 1,OO0 aquare feet, an offer of $2,OOO.OO ig aubroitted
to Council in returrr for that portion of the driveway eaaeoenta that are
encroaching upon property of the City.
}tr. Ucltillan, in conclu.ion, stated that the City has not boen aeriouely
harined by the encroadlnont .nd the corrcction of an inadvertent error
should not be conaider.d in teri[s of a "pen.lty" to the Npha Land Conpany.
Requesting c@enta fr@ nenber8 of the City's Btaff, the City Planner
advised that the issue has been explored by all meana i that it is
practl.cally agreed by all parties concerned that very littlc would
be realized \l renoving the asphalt ftrom the driveuay areaa iurd re-
setting the proper prop€rty linee; a nistake occurred and t*l ile the
Alpha Land coEpany ahould have exerciaed clearer j udg[ent in aelecting
houac deeigns to acc@date the property, it is thc ormera stro shall
be greater inconvenienccd in the avent the driverays are removed.
ROI.,I, CALI,
SEARING
il-?4
fhe city Planner Btated that in his opinion, any auggestion of the
city Belling any portion of the property in this area should be dis-
couraged and urged that the enti.re forty foot green belt area be
retained by the City; that if all succeeding property orrn€ra were
alerted to the situation it would be helpful and that the exi.sting
problem ghould be resolved in the most appropriate nanner.
In replying to the Chair's inquiry concerning the legal deacription
filed thie evening by the Alpha Land Cofiopany, the City Engineer
advieed that an addition of the s idewalk encroacluront area of the
properties totalled 1,189 aquare feet.
In a brief diacussion on the selection of and the place!0ent of euitable
tnonrrDent markers, Council concurred with the recomendation of Council-
man }tart in that the material be of concrete, rather than of iron pipe
and installed flush with the ground.
Councilman ceorge, initiating Council discussion, referred to the
$I5,OOO.OO he previously proposed as an equitable price to compenaate
for the error and provide the affected ornera with property frontages,
stating that in the interin period, be has conferred uith menbers
of the City's staff and haa peraonally visited the properties, tlrat
in his opinion. the advicable solution would be to (I) grant to the
property c,rrnera a recorded easenent, deaignating an area eufficient
to provide a front yard of fifteen feet, to (2) perolt the paved
drivaay areas to reoain; and (3) ttrat the Alpha Land Conpany reimburce
the City in the arount of $7,50O.OO, in additioa to the purchace of
and the planting of trees.
Counciluan ceorge stated that his recorendation would glve asauranceto the owners that their propertie3 shall be protected and cmpenaate
the City for the errori that should the use of the property be abused
by the illegal parking of cara, a fence r,ould be erected to aeparate
City and private property.
On the latter point and in reply to Council, the City Planner advieedthat ea3ementa can be written with conditions eetting f,orth aparticular usage.
lltre City Attorney c.onfimed that it is poasible to grant an eaaenent
but cited problena that nay occur if conditiong are not clc.rly
defined r that 'setbach lines run fro prolrerty lot lines" ard that
unless the prolrcrty ir sold, aetbacks will not be eraged by tha
granting of eaaetnenta.
The City Attorney advised that yith reapect to front setbacke, approval
of the varianceg in thig instance muld be nore appropriate, eith
eaaenent8 granted to driveway eide setbacks.
The City Attorney recomended that the City not incurnber its f,ee titleto the forty foot etrlp, observing that the lbutting ownera are
assur€d of conplet€ protection by the City cont iJruing to preaerve its
title to the "green balt" area.
CouncilD.n ttartin 8uhittcd eeveral suggeations for considerations(1) grant peruieaion to the property ormera to latrdscape in the front
setback areag without benefit of eaaeDent: thc policy rrould not create
legal coplicatione and (2) require the construction of a physical
barrier along the driveway linea to prohibit the parking of cars.
In replying to councilnan Diederictraen's inqulries, counciLnanr ceorge6tatd that his propoaal did not iDtend to dedicate property but merelyto provide a gultable frontage for landgcaping purpotee.
it /:)
Councilman ltartin stated that the propoaal of Councilnan ceorge wouldpetmit a private uae of public land sl,thout proper payrnent to the City
and in his opinion, punative danagea are in orderi that he Euld not
obJect granting perniaaion to the property amer to landacapc the
area but he would vote ncgatively on the proposal itself.
Quectloned by the Chair on altern.te proposals, Councihan tt{artin stated
that he uould auggest Urat the city Attorney be directed to in8titute
an action requlring the hooea [oved and relocated to confotiE with
setbadc require0ents.
Counciban Dicderidrsen expressd the opinion that a coproise vaajuatifled aod that the offer arbcitted by the applicant was a reagonable
one.
A Dtion waa thereafter introduced by Councihan Diederidrsen to accept
the offer of the Alpha Land conpany. Councilnan ilohnaon, in seconding
the notion, stated that the Alpha L,and copany ahould not b€ penalized
and that the circumrtance waa not unique in the City.
On thr questlon, !tt. I.fcuiuan repeated his offer, stating that the
iesue is one of "hardahip" and as such should be reeolved \l approving
variances .
The Park SuperlntondGnt, at the request of the Chair, estinated a coat
of approxlmately S32O.OO for the trro year period that rrill be necesaary
to maintain the neU tree rcplaceDents.
Councilman ceorge's rec@endation that a lorr fence be erected to
protGet the green belt area of the City and to e8t.bli3h a property
line narker betueen private and city property was briefly diacugged.
l,tr. l,tcuillan advlsed of the property owtler3 opposition and his atatenent
wae confirned by llra. Iore C. Rosei, one of the prop€rty owners within
the eubject area. counciban George thereafter c.onceded in deference
to the protests.
Mvised by the city Attorney tlrat the appeal of Council frou ttrc
deciglon of the Planning couission rendered the variancea ineffective,
councilman Diederichgen re-atated hie notion:
That council approve the application of the Alpha Land Corpanypetitioning for variancea to allorr less than the legal fifteen foot
front setbadcs on five properties ln [il].s Estate No. 25 upon the
follorring conditiona s
l. I'hat the City replace at the expense of the applicant those
trees that can proparly be located i that the trees, purchased in five
gallon clntainera at a colt of 91o.0o each. be planted and stal(ed by
the Park Department, and that the City be reinbureed for tree Daintenance
servicee in the .rnount of $320.00;
2. trhat the applicant install concr€te monurents flush with
the ground at the front property corners of eactr dwelling at th€ comon
boundary between city and private proper.ty;
3. I'hat the applicant pay to the City the aur of $2.OOO.0O to
conpenrate sald City for additiona to the drivevay encroaclrnents; and
4. I'hat tho applicant prepare tlre proper docunenta deacribing
the eaaeoents and euhit to Council for execution and recorclation.
the Eotion was seconded { Counciloan irohnson and a noll Call vote
recorded as folloyc c
Aye! 3 Counci.lncn : Crosblr-Diederich8en-ceorge-Johnaon.
tloer ! Councilnen r ttartln.
376
RECESS
A recesa rras declared by the Chair at 10:25 p.n.
CAI.,L TIO ORDER
:Itre neeting reconvend at l0:3O p.n.
C!I{I{I'NICATIONS
1. PROGRESS RBPOntr WATER QUAtIry @NTROL IOA8D
A comunication frm the city llanager, dated April 6, 1966, advised
that !tr. arohn.fenka has conferred with ttr. [urphy of the t{ater Orality
Control Board explaining the delay in the suhiagion of the City'a
progrreaa report, due April 15, 1966.
!tr. Jer*s indicated that the Control Board i8 nainly concerned rith
the final report to be nade available to the Councll on llay 1.
A progrels report prepared for i.uned iate subnis8ion to th€ lilater
Qual ity control Board, was referred to Council for action.
Councilman tlartin noved that in accordance with Resolution No. 701
of the water Quality Boad, a progrosa report be suhitted as follows:
" (1) fhat the Consulting Engineer, lll. ilohn ilenk's report waa
unavoidably delayed, and (2) fhat said report will be subulitted to
Council by l,tay 1, 1966, and (3) rrhat 8aid report will be revieued
by the Council ther€after, and (4) Appropriate action wlll be taken
in conforoity lrith the reguirementa of the Resolution No. 701."
The notlon rrag sacsrded hllz Councilnan George and unanirou8ly adopted.
ADiIOI,RNIITENT
llhere being no further burinass, the neeting rraa regularly adjourned
at 11:45 p.r.
Respectfully suhitted,
BERBERf K. WEIITE, CITT CLERI(
APPROVED:
WIITIJIN| aI. CROSBIr, IIATOR