Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1996.06.0349? BTJRLINGAME, CALIFORNIA June 3, 1996 CALL TO ORDER A duly noticed regular meeting of the Burlingame City Council was held on the above date in the City Hall Council Chambers. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Harrison. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG kd by Planning Commissioner Karen Key ROLL CALL COUNCIL PRESENT: COUNCIL ABSENT: HARRISON, JANNEY, KNIGHT, O'MAHONY, SPINELLI NONE MINUTES The minutes of the Regular Meeting of May 20, 1996 were approved unanimously CONTINUED HEARING - ORDINANCE 1543 REVISING REGULATIONS FOR THE M-l GIGHT INDUSTRIAL) DISTRICT - HEARING CONTINUED TO JULY 1. 1996 Mayor Harrison continued the hearing until July 1,1996. PUBLIC HEARING - APPEAL OF PLANNING COMMISSION'S DECISION ON FOUR SPECIAL PERMITS FOR A SECOND FLOOR ADDITION TO AN EXISTING GARAGE AT 835 WALNUT - RESOLUTION 35-96 APPROVING SAME Planner Dreger reviewed the City Planner's memo of May 24 which recommended council hold a public hearing and take action. Russell Jackson, applicant and property owner, is requesting to add a 240 SF second floor to his existing two car detached garage located in the rear 30 percent of his lot at 835 Walnut. The existing one story garage is 480 SF; with the new second story the structure would be 720 SF. The proposed second floor addition requires four special permits for total floor area (720 SF proposed, 600 is the maximum allowed); proposed plate height (13 feet, 8 inches where 10 feet is maximum allowed); proposed roof height (17 feet, 10 inches where 15 feet is maximum allowed); and use for the second floor as recreation area (recreation use in accessory structure requires special permit). The plans do not include toilet or shower facilities on either floor and there are no other accessory structures on site. The Planning Commission voted 3-2 to deny the request and in the absence of a quorum (4 votes) no action was taken. Mayor Harrison opened the public hearing. Russell Jackson, applicant, explained the height of the second floor roof line will only be 2 feet, 10 inches higher than the existing roof line; will not be a recreation room but will be a study area for his children, he has four children and the two older children need a quiet area for study; said the "storage walls" would not be used for storage but would be dead space; said all his neighbors approve. The hearing was closed. 493 Vice Mayor O'Mahony said she favored reversing the Planning Commission denial and supporting the request; she could see a need for more room for this family. She moved to approve the request with conditions listed in staff report by adoption of RESOLUTION 35-96. Seconded by Council- woman Knight who noted the Jacksons have been friends of hers for years and she had thought about abstaining from a vote for that reason but the applicants have approval of all neighbors and will be sensitive to building in the character of the neighborhood. The motion carried unanimously 5-0 on voice vote. PUBLIC HEARING - RESOLUTION 36-96 ORDERING THE DESTRUCTION OF NOXIOUS AND DANGEROUS WEEDS AND RUBBISH City Engineer reviewed the Public Works memo of May 24 which recommended council hold a public hearing and take action. Each year the city establishes the "weed and rubbish abatement program" by posting each property to be abated of weeds and rubbish. He had a list of the properties which had been posted. After hearing any protests, council should adopt this resolution ordering the destruction of weeds and removal of rubbish. Any properties which are not abated by the owner will be cleared by the city and the cost will constitute a lien on the property. Mayor Harrison opened the public hearing. There were no comments and the hearing was closed Vice Mayor O'Mahony moved adoption of RESOLUTION 36-96. Seconded by Councilwoman Janney and carried unanimously 5-0 on voice vote. PUBLIC COMMENTS - None. ANNUAL REVIEW OF AMUSEMENT PERMITS City Attorney reviewed his memo of May 10 which recommended council review all permits and determine if there are problem establishments. Two establishments in the Burlingame Avenue area are recommended for 90 day review. Moon McShane's at 269 Primrose has an above average amount of activity in the street area near the bar as well as assaults inside. More effective monitoring by the establishment appears to be in order. Tavern Grill at 1448 Burlingame Avenue has similar problems, necessitating special police activity. They have an added complication in that most of the problems occur on nights when they do not have entertainment. The police department also recommends some improvements or controls for several establishments which are on the one- year renewal list. Staff will see that these businesses are notified. Mayor Harrison asked for comments from Tavern Grill. Tim Harmon of San Francisco, owner of Tavern Grill, said their goal is to become a neighborhood spot; they have taken action to relieve the problems, instituted a dress code, a no tolerance policy, closed the Chapin entrance, have head-sets between doormen for beffer communication and are in process of changing the music. Councilwom- an Knight was proud to see Tavern Grill mentioned in the Chronicle but was surprised to see this staff report and the problems at the site; wondered if bartenders are serving intoxicated patrons and if they receive training. Harmon said yes and they have hired an extra doorman to help recognize potential problems. Vice Mayor O'Mahony said she had seen long lines outside the site, wondered if this incited trouble; upset by obnoxious behavior of patrons who drink too much; hoped the owners could improve the reports. Councilman Spinelli noted in some cases council has required problem businesses to hire off-duty police officers. Councilwoman Janney said it appeared they had completely different type of clientele for dinner. Harmon said regarding the long line outside, they cannot let more people inside than allowed by law; also noted the police encourage them to call for 49 4 service with any problems; reviewed costs of hiring off-duty police and requirement to hire two officers; they will have no tolerance for drunks. There was no representative from Moon McShane's at the meeting. Councilwoman Knight noted that Grandview Restaurant was out of business; also expressed concern that injuries at Mr. K's were being reported days later to avoid being recorded. Councilman Spinelli said such injuries should be reported to police immediately. Police Chief stated the police would look into delayed reports. Councilwoman Janney moved approval of staff recommendations on renewing Amusement Permits: 90 day review for Tavern Grill and Moon McShane's and one year review for all others. Seconded by Vice Mayor O'Mahony and carried unanimously. CANCELLATION OF JUNE 17 REGULAR MEETING City Manager reviewed his memo of May 22 which recommended council consider canceling the June 17 regular meeting because two council members would be absent. The next regular meeting would be July l, 1996. Vice Mayor O'Mahony moved cancellation of the June 17 meeting. Seconded by Councilwoman Janney and carried unanimously. LOTS - URGENCY ORDINANCE 1544 A MORATORIUM ON BUILDING PERMITS AND DEMOLITION PERMITS FOR SUBSTANDARD LOTS City Attorney reviewed the City Planner's memo of May 24 which recommended council discuss and give staff direction. At the last meeting council discussed the problem of neighborhood impact caused by developments on "resurrected" lots. Scattered throughout the residential areas of the city are developed parcels of land which consist of more than one lot but are developed with one house. Today, when that house is removed, the old lot lines come back. Therefore what appears to be one lot can become two or three legally buildable lots when the house is removed. Often these old lots do not meet today's minimum lot size or dimensions for the area where they are located. Council may want to consider one of several alternatives: 1) require a conditional use permit for all new construction on substandard lots; this approach could be modified to require a conditional use permit for not meeting any one of the dimensional requirements; or to require a conditional use permit only when the demolition of an existing structure causes more than one lot to resurrect or where existing multiple lots in the same ownership are developed independently; 2) adopt a "neighborhood compatibility" ordinance; this is basically design review; 3) require merger of all lots which have been informally combined by a structure which crosses property lot lines; state legislation addressing lot mergers makes this action at the local level illegal at this time; or 4) revise floor area ratio standard so that less can be built on any lot; presently the FAR will allow 32 percent plus 1500 SF for an interior lot and 32 percent plus 1200 SF for corner lots; in many cases this is more house than was originally built in the neighborhood; the amount of FAR could be adjusted to the various areas of the city based on lot size. If council feels this is an area which it would like to act on immediately, staff would suggest a moratorium on all new construction on substandard lots. A moratorium would allow council to study the issue and adopt a suitable ordinance. The moratorium would be for 45 days and council must hold a public hearing to extend the ordinance before the end of the 45 days which would be the July 15 meeting. He noted adoption of an urgency ordinance requires a 415 approval vote. 495 Mayor Harrison asked what was meant by "old lots. " City Attorney said those lots are 40 to 50 years old and subdivided before the city had minimum lot size requirements. Mayor Harrison asked if there were any public comments regarding this issue. Curt Steil of Redwood Clty said he is the owner of the property at 2500 Poppy; before he purchased the property the city told him that the propefty was three buildable lots; feels this proposed ordinance is targeted at his property; he met with some of the neighbors this weekend and showed them plans for the project, they would write him letters of support for the project; he did not think it fair to set his project back 45 days. Mayor Harrison told about an earlier problem with a builder who built several very large homes on small lots; hundreds of residents complained to council about that and new single-family residential rules regarding mass were developed and implemented. Steil said those concerns are now addressed by the FAR rules. Mr. O'Connor, neighbor of the Poppy site, said right now he is looking at a "dump site" with the house demolished; he felt Steil's plans would improve the neighborhood; discussed lot size requirements. There were no other public comments. Vice Mayor O'Mahony said at the last meeting she had urged an urgency ordinance be brought to this meeting because of damage done to a neighborhood by a previous builder a few years ago; residents are frightened by density of such a project and we need to take immediate steps; some project will have to be first with such an ordinance; she firmly believed in family rights to build but this is not such an issue with Steil; she urged there be no building permits allowed for two or more single family non-standard size "resurrected" lots; she urged that neighbors within 300 feet of any site be notified of any demolition plans; no demolition permits be allowed for such lots after June 3. She mentioned several other sites where homes have been recently demolished. Council needs to watch over our neighborhoods. She would like staff to evaluate any plans to determine if they are compatible with the neighborhood. City Attorney said some of these issues should be for study after adoption of the moratorium. Councilwoman Janney wondered what would happen to Steil's project; she was concerned about changing the rules in mid-game. City Attorney said Steil would not be able to get a building permit for 45 days, but nothing could be done about the demolition over the weekend; he noted plans for one house were submitted some time ago but no permits have been issued and plans for the other two homes were submitted today; the demolition permit was taken out last Friday and the home on the site was demolished over the weekend. Councilwoman Knight was concerned about changing the rules, but she also worried about someone trying to squeeze in a project before council took this action; she liked the concept of notifying neighbors about demoli- tions. Councilman Spinelli was upset that the demolition permit was taken out on Friday; he agreed with Vice Mayor O'Mahony. Mayor Harrison said Steil's project is for speculation, he is not building to live there; Mayor Harrison would support the moratorium. Vice Mayor O'Mahony moved adoption of URGENCY ORDINANCE 1544. Seconded by Councilman Spinelli. City Attorney clarified the moratorium would be for building permits for houses built on two or more single family "resurrected lots" and no demolition permits would be allowed for such lots which had a house on them on May 20, 1996. Councilwoman Janney asked about when 45 day period for moratorium began; staff noted the ordinance and study would start tonight and have to come back by July 15 regular meeting where council would take some action or drop the issue. The motion carried unanimously 5-0 on roll call vote. City Engineer reviewed the Public Works memo of May 24 which recommended council approve this permit with the conditions that the fence be located at least 5.5 feet from face of curb, and the fence sections next to the two driveways be lowered to three feet in height. The applicant is proposing to build a five foot high fence 3.5 feet behind the face of curb. There are no sidewalks in 49 6 the area at this time. Staff feels that a 5.5 foot strip fronting the street needs to be preserved for possible city sidewalk. There are two fences across the street that are 3 to 4 feet from face of curb; there are no permits on file for these fences. The proposed fence is next to the applicant's driveway and the neighbor's driveway and staff recommends the portions of the fence next to the driveways be lowered to 3 feet in height to provide for sight clearance. The owner disagrees with these two conditions to reduce height to three feet and move fence back 5.5 feet from curb. Jerry Hall, applicant and property owner, said he is a new resident; has a very small yard and wants to enclose it for safety; noted two other neighbors have similar fences; he proposed a compromise: to build the entire fence at a height of 3 feet, except for the central gate pilasters which would be 5 feet in height and to build the fence 4 feet behind the face of curb instead of 3.5 feet; he noted ADA says minimum width of a sidewalk was 4 feet; he agreed to the other conditions. City Engineer said the height of the fence was staff's main concern and agreed with changes Hall proposed. Councilwoman Janney moved to approve the permit as revised by the property owner. Seconded by Councilman Spinelli and carried unanimously. LIBRARY INTERNET TRIAL PERIOD City Librarian's memo of May 22 reviewed the three month trial period for public use of the Internet and the survey results completed by users. Council accepted the report. PAYMENT OF ARBITRAGE REBATE TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR 1991 CERTIFI- CATES OF PARTICIPATION (COP) ISSUE Finance Director's memo of May 28 informed council that federal law passed in the 1980's resulted in federal regulations on the use of bond proceeds interest earnings. The reserve fund was invested in a U.S. Treasury note which earned more interest than the crty had to pay to COP holders. This gain is known as "arbitrage" and must be paid to the federal government. Our trustee will be forwarding $30,800 to the IRS to meet this requirement. Prior to this federal legislation, these funds could have been used to reduce our sewer rate payers' debt service costs. Mayor Harrison asked that a letter be sent to Congressman Lantos and Senators Feinstein and Boxer about this cost to our citizens. CONSENT CALENDAR Regarding "c" parking of vehicles of excessive height, Councilwoman Knight said she was happy to see the change in city law. Regarding "e" she asked about whether this project included sidewalks on Rollins. Staff said that sidewalk project is in a back burner at the present time. Vice Mayor O'Mahony also asked about sidewalks on Rollins. INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE 1545 ADDING ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS TO THE BUILDING CODE City Attorney's memo of May 21 recommended council add further amendments to the building code which were omitted when the building code was adopted in January. a 497 b OF PARKS AND RECREATION AND COMBINING THE PARKS DEPARTMENT AND THE RECREATION DEPARTMENT City Manager's memo of May 23 recommended council introduce this ordinance to merge the Park and Recreations departments under a Director of Parks and Recreation and make other changes. The net savings from the reorgarization is approximately $25,000. c.INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE 1547 AMENDING REGULATION OF PARKING OF VEHICLES OF EXCESSIVE HEIGHT Public Works memo of May 22 recommended council introduce an ordinance to amend our parking code regarding vehicles of excess height. Our code currently prohibits parking vehicles over five feet in height from certain zones and the State vehicle code says six feet. This ordinance will change our code to conform with State code to prohibit vehicles over six feet in height from "vision safety zones." d. DENIAL OF CLAIM: MARY DEVITT City Attorney reconrmended denial of the claim of Mary Devitt for personal injury and vehicle damage from the eucalyptus tree which fell across California Drive. e.RESOLUTION 37-96 AWARDING 1996 STREET RESURFACING PROGRAM - CP 9518 Public Works memo of May 28 recommended council award this bid to G. Bortolotto & Company in the amount of $520,542. RESOLUTION 38-96 AUTHORIZING AGREEMENT FOR LANDFILL GROUNDWATER MONITORING SERVICES Public Works memo of May 28 recommended council approve an agreement with Harding Lawson Associates (HLA) in the amount of $59,897.60 for groundwater monitoring around the landfill as required by the RWQCB. RESOLUTION 39-96 AUTHORIZING AGREEMENT FOR LANDFILL GROUNDWATER LABORATORY TESTING SERVICES Public Works memo of May 28 recommended council approve an agreement with Pace Analytical Services for laboratory testing of groundwater from around the landfill for a fee of $17,986. RESOLUTION 40-96 AUTHORIZING AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT FOR INSPEC- TION SERVICES - EASTON CREEK IMPROVEMENTS. PHASE I - CP 8331 Public Works memo of May 29 recommended council approve an amendment to the agreement with C/REM Engineers in the amount of $32,5M for construction inspection and administration services in relation to this project. f. ('b h. Councilman Spinelli moved approval of the Consent Calendar. Seconded by Councilwoman lanney and carried unanimously. 498 COUNCIL COMMITTEE REPORTS Vice Mayor O'Mahony had attended the County Investment Committee meeting. Councilman Spinelli said our Wednesday study meeting conflicted with the Airport Roundtable meeting. Councilwoman Janney discussed the Council of Cities dinner. Mayor Harrison asked about SCA 36, the majority versus 213 vote requirement for new taxes. Councilwoman Knight told about heated discussions by city council representatives and a decision to go back to each city council for clear direction regarding SCA 36. The majority of council supported a simple majority vote, while Councilman Spinelli and Vice Mayor O'Mahony supported a 213 vote. Mayor Harrison said he attended a joint meeting of SamTrans, Airport and BART. OLD BUSINESS Councilwoman Knight told of concerns she heard about cable television rates and inquiries about whether we have started franchise talks; also concern about TCI litigation. She recommended an ethnic diversity program entitled "Color of Fear" for staff. She had spoken to the Acting Park & Recreation Director about a video on youth programs and wondered if council could see it. Council agreed to circulate it amongst members. Councilwoman Knight asked when the take-out food issue would be discussed by council; staff said probably at the July study meeting. She also expressed concern about the letter in the Chamber bulletin by its President, Carol Groom, regarding the Chamber writing letters of support for funding of BART; her understanding was the Chamber was supposed to be non-political but they are spending public funds sending letters of support for BART, an issue which council has been opposing; she would carefully consider granting the Chamber of Commerce public funds. NEW BUSINESS Mayor Harrison set an appeal hearing for July 1 for a special permit for auto repair at 1369 Rollins Road which was denied by the Planning Commission. Commission Minutes: Library Board, May 2l; Planning, May 28, 1996 Departrnent Reports: Police, March and April 1996. ktters from Gerald Hughes and Terry Huebner regarding parking of vans parked in the 700 block of California Drive. Mayor Harrison asked staff to send them a copy of the new ordinance. d. ktter from Gerald Weisl regarding the condition of the Broadway shopping area. Mayor Harrison said Weisl should be invited to a streetscape coflrmittee meeting. e. ktter from the County Manager regarding a possible ballot measure for library services f. lrtter from Alan Yu asking the city to continue the mid-day shuttle. g. Memo from the M-1 Committee regarding the revised M-l district regulations. a b c, 499 i I - CLOSED SESSION At 8:35 p.m. the Mayor adjourned the meeting to a Closed Session regarding labor negotiations with the Fire Fighters Association. The meeting reconvened at 8:55 p.m. ADJOURNMENT IN MEMORY OF EVELYN GRANT AND CLARE BASOUEZ Mayor Harrison noted with sadness the recent deaths of Evelyn Grant, former high school board trustee and Clare Basquez, whose husband Tony taught at local high schools and who owns Aida's Candies. After a moment of silence in their memory, the meeting was at 8:57 p.m. Judith A. Malfatti City Clerk