HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1996.12.16BIJRLINGAME, CALIFORNIA
December L6, 1996
CALL TO ORDER
A duly noticed regular meeting of the Burlingame City Council was held on the above date in the
City HalI Council Chambers. The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. by Mayor O'Mahony
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Mayor O'Mahony noted this is City Attorney Jerry Coleman's last meeting before he retires. She
asked Jerry to lead the pledge.
ROLL CALL
COUNCIL PRESENT:
COUNCIL ABSENT:
HARRISON, JANNEY, KNIGHT, O'MAHONY, SPINELLI
NONE
MINUTES
The minutes of the Special Meeting of November 27 , 1996 were unanimously approved and the
minutes of the Regular Meeting of December 2, 1996 were unanimously approved after an addition
byCouncilwomanKnightonpage4,thirdparagraphafterthefirstsentence''@
wanted to remind council that Broadway is an entrance to the city and that any signage should
reflect that. "
City Manager introduced special counsel David Skinner who reviewed the memo of December 9
which recommended council hold a public hearing and take action. In November, the city received
a solicitation from real estate representative of Shell Oil to make an offer to purchase the property at
1490 Burlingame Avenue. This is the former site of a Shell service station. A1l improvements have
been cleared from the site and subsurface contamination has been remediated. On December 2 the
city submitted a sealed bid for purchase of the property and on December 5 the city submitted
another offer of $989,400 as required by eminent domain law. If council finds that the public
interest and necessity require the acquisition of the Shell site, it may adopt a Resolution. He read
findings required for this action. Four affirmative votes are required for adoption. The City
Planner had prepared a memo dated December 6 which stated that the use of the now vacant lot as a
parking lot is Categorically Exempt under CEQA.
Mayor O'Mahony opened the public hearing. There were no comments and the hearing was closed.
Councilman Harrison moved adoption of RESOLUTION 97-96 Directing the Filing of Eminent
Domain Proceedings with findings. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Janney. Council-
woman Knight asked if Shell had responded to our offer, asked about use and design for the site.
Staff responded. The motion carried unanimously, 5-0 on roll call vote.
89
PUBLIC HEARING - ACOUISITION OF 1490 BURLINGAME AVENUE - RESOLUTION 97-96
DETERMINING THE PUBLIC INTEREST AND NECESSITY REOUIRE THE ACOUISITION
OF CERTAIN LAND AND DIRECTING THE FILING OF EMINENT DOMAIN PROCEEDINGS
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Senator Quentin Kopp wished council a Merry Christmas and asked if council had any ideas for new
legislation. He briefly reviewed State budget issues. Councilman Harrison asked if Kopp could
help with the matter of Caltrans' proposed removal of trees on El Camino. Kopp said he could talk
to Caltrans but perhaps the city should take over maintenance of the trees. Mayor O'Mahony asked
Senator Kopp for his assistance in putting the BART tail track somewhere else besides Burlingame.
Kopp recommended council members meet with BART since this is a local issue which needs a
local solution. Councilwoman Knight asked about Caltrain funding. Kopp noted BART is a matter
for MTC and that he did not have a vote on MTC; said $35 million in funding for Caltrain is still
available and these funds should be used by the JPB. Senator Kopp then left the meeting.
Rich Quadri, city's former Park Director; Irv Amstrup, 2708 Trousdale; Tom Guman, 1540
Columbus; Glenn Mendelson, l8l2 Barriolhet; Karen Key, l4l2 Drake; Mike knnon, 1128
Hamilton; Gloria Barton, 734 Winchester; Nancy McGovern, l8L2 Hunt; Bob Johnson, 1133
Killarney; Susan Ruggeri Hubbard, 103 Fey; Daren Schofield, 1152 Oxford; Lois Ferry, 1328El
Camino; Ernie Hills; Will McGowan, Beautification chairman; Jerry Martinez; Jeff Carter, 1720
Adeline; Frank Erickson of Daly City, bus driver; Frank Pagliaro, 1602 Chapin; Marilyn Short,
historical Society; Martha Benson, commissioner; Richard Davis; all spoke regarding BART and/or
the Caltrans proposed tree removal on El Camino; urged council to do what it can to prevent
removal of too many trees on El Camino; city will incur costs for fighting crime brought here by
BART; BART is a danger to children and elderly with additional traffic on Trousdale; schools are
concerned; BurlingamePlaza merchants are concerned; trees make our city unique; write legislators;
BART is expensive and disruptive to our city; Caltrans should put ribbon around every tree they
plan to remove; spoke of past history of El Camino and trees; thought State had designated trees as
heritage area; would like see the mayor on the board of the COST organization fighting BART;
about experience as a SF police officer and crime on BART; Elm trees can make a comeback with
new disease resistant species; reach compromise with Caltrans; difficulty seeing when exiting her
property because of the trees which caused her to have an accident; thought some trees need to be
removed; drainage needs to be improved; city should be responsible; glad El Camino is only four
lanes, hated to see it widened; takes train every day and it is fine, no need to replace with BART;
his wife is Samtrans driver who was injured by tree falling on her bus; trees are dangerous,
Eucalyptus are not strong trees and have shallow roots; presented a book outlining the Heritage Tree
program for Burlingame trees; agreed some trees might need removing; Caltrans has "ruIe" about
sightlines at intersections; if BART comes Samtrans will pay fare box short falls; if Millbrae is so
enamored with BART, let BART stop there; let Caltrans remove trees on case by case basis;
regarding BART, supports to airport not to our city; lives in San Mateo but loves the trees; should
work on the safety issue; will gather all information regarding history of the trees from Historical
Society and give it to city; 1300 block of El Camino is an accident waiting to happen; some
speakers thanked Mayor O'Mahony, Councilwoman Knight and Vice Mayor Spinelli for opposing
BART. Mayor O'Mahony informed the audience that council would do its best to save our trees.
She appreciated everyone coming to speak during this busy season.
CALTRANS PLAN TO REMOVE 115 TREES ALONG EL CAMINO REAL
City Manager reviewed his memo of December 10 which informed council that staff has met with
representatives of Caltrans concerning their plans to remove, over a three-year period, 115 trees
along El Camino Real for traffic safety purposes. This would be about 25 percent of the 450 trees
on El Camino. Staff has requested that Caltrans hold a public forum on this project. Staff will
December 16, 1996 90 Burlingame City Council
continue meeting with Caltrans; problem is we don't have jurisdiction over El Camino which is a
state highway.
Councilman Harrison said he would like to see Rich Quadri work with Caltrans on this issue. Vice
Mayor Spinelli agreed we need to work with Caltrans; asked about any way to delay their action.
City Attorney responded and spoke about the safety issue. Councilwoman Knight noted trees along
the train track in north of city would also be removed by BART; feared State planned to widen El
Camino; people should slow down and enjoy the trees. Councilwoman Janney urged we work with
Caltrans, pursue all avenues discussed by people tonight; do all we can to preserve trees which are
signature of our city. Mayor O'Mahony would like a committee of our city aborist and Caltrans to
work on this plan; look into lighting on El Camino; let Caltrans know how we feel about trees;
would like to know number of claims city received regarding trees and number of traffic accidents
on El Camino; agreed Quadri should be involved.
Mayor O'Mahony called a recess at 8:37 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 8:50 p.m. with all
council members present.
PARKING MITIGATION FOR PROPOSED EXPANSION OF DOUBLETREE HOTEL. 835
AIRPORT
City Planner reviewed her memo of December 10 which recommended council give conceptual
approval for the applicant to lease a portion of the landfill site to mitigate required parking for an
addition to the hotel. Doubletree Hotel is proposing to add a wing to the hotel with 87 rooms. The
addition would be placed on existing parking. The applicant has suggested they would be willing to
expand the planned parking area on the landfill by about 100 spaces which could be used jointly by
the hotel and the city park planned for the landfill site.
Councilman Harrison said the city had given another hotel such a parking arrangement years ago.
Councilwoman Knight asked about the plans and staff responded, noting this just conceptual.
Vice Mayor Spinelli moved to approve the concept. Seconded by Councilman Harrison and carried
unanimously.
CONTINUED DISCUSSION OF ''NEIGHBORHOOD COMPATIBILITY' AS A CONSIDER-
ATION IN ZONING ADMINISTRATION - INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE 1565 LIMITING
ZONES. AND ADDING FINDINGS FOR USE PERMITS AND VARIANCES
City Planner reviewed her memo of December 10 which recommended council review the revisions
to the proposed ordinance and determine if they are responsive to council direction given at the
December 2, L996 meeting. If only minor changes are needed, the ordinance can be introduced at
this meeting and the public hearing would be held on January 6, 1997. At the December 2 meeting,
council suggested that demolition permit provisions include multiple family developments, that
findings for variances and use permits in all residential zones should include neighborhood
compatibility criteria, that when the size of the development exceeds 55 percent of the size of the lot
it should be flagged for review, and that notices for reviews including remodeling of certain size
should be to neighbors within 200 feet of the site using a minor modification type process.
Burlingame City Council 9t December 16,1996
Councilman Harrison said he preferred to exclude multi-family development having to meet criteria
of neighborhood compatibility for all variances and conditional use permits, particularly those
having nothing to do with new construction. Mayor O'Mahony agreed it was difficult to evaluate
multi-family alongside single family. Vice Mayor Spinelli had looked at all the boxy apartments on
El Camino and wanted some way to have the new buildings add to the visual appearance of the
neighborhood to make it more pleasing. Councilman Harrison suggested comparing multi-family
with other multi-family sites in an area.
Consensus was that Plan A as shown in the ordinance for neighborhood compatibility as drafted for
introduction was preferable; 55 percent structure of lot area seemed to address concerns about
review for neighborhood compatibility for development in residential districts being too restrictive;
in general demolition should be delayed until building permits are issued for all residential uses,
proposed exceptions are appropriate.
Councilman Harrison moved to introduce ORDINANCE 1565 with changes as discussed for a
hearing on January 22, 1997. Seconded by Councilwoman Janney and carried unanimously.
CONSENT CALENDAR
a. RESOLUTION ACCEPTING COMPLETION OF DONNELLY PARKING LOT - CP 9509
Public Works memo of December 11 recommended council accept this job as completed by
Bortolotto & Company in the amount of $77,636.34.
b. LABOR AGREEMENT WITH BURLINGAME ASSOCIATION OF MIDDLE MANAGERS
City Manager's memo of December 3 recommended council approve a 5 year labor agree-
ment with BAMM for a 2.5 percent salary increase in the first year, "2 percent at 55' PERS
retirement plan in the second year, and CPI salary increases in the third, fourth and fifth
years.
c WARRANTS AND PAYROLL
Finance Director recommended approval of Warrants Number 47057 - 47507, duly audited,
in the amount of $1,621,242.42 and Payroll Checks 91034 - 92114 for the month of
November 1996 in the amount of $1,783,148.50.
Councilman Harrison moved approval of the Consent Calendar. Seconded by Councilwoman Janney
and carried unanimously.
Councilman Harrison stated he had another meeting to attend and left the meeting at 9:05 p.m.
Vice Mayor Spinelli reported on the Airport Roundtable. Mayor O'Mahony complimented staff,
particularly Tricia Pinney, on the wonderful Tree Lighting event which is becoming a city tradition.
OLD BUSINESS - None.
December 16, 1996 92 Burlingame City Council
COUNCIL COMMITTEE REPORTS
a
b
NEW BUSINESS
Mayor O'Mahony scheduled three public hearings on January 6, 1997 for appeals of the Planning
Commission decisions regarding (1) car storage at 1860 Rollins Road, (2) an antenna exception at
625 Burlingame Avenue; and (3) conditional use permits for three new homes at 2502, 2504, and
2506 Poppy Drive.
Vice Mayor Spinelli asked if council could consider making the Ralston parking lot a free lot after
our new parking meters are installed. Mayor O'Mahony asked this issue be considered at the goal
session in January.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Commission Minutes: Senior, November 2l; Broadway BID, October 8 and November 12;
Civil Service, November 18; Library Board, September, October and November; Planning,
December 9, 1996.
Department Reports: Building, November 1996; Police, October 1996:' Treasurer, Novem-
ber 30, 1996.
c Letter from Joe Putnam regarding unloading of cars from car carriers on Bayswater Avenue.
Mayor O'Mahony will respond to this letter
d. lrtter from Mark Peterson regarding activity on Burlingame Avenue at night and weekends.
ADJOURNMENT IN MEMORY OF KATHRYN MCLINDEN
Mayor O'Mahony noted with sadness the death of Kathryn Mclinden, long time resident and
mother of city worker Rich Mclinden. After a moment of silence, the meeting was adjourned in
her memory at 9:15 p.m.
Judith A. Malfatti
City Clerk
Burlingame City Council 93 December 16,1996