HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 9.A 06/20/2005CITY OF PETALUNIA, CALIFORNIA
AGENDA BILL
Aeenda Title: Introduction of an Ordinance Authorizing the City
Manager to Execute Grant Deeds to Transfer Fee Title Ownership
of City -Owned Open Space Parcels to the West Haven (formerly
Rocicridge Pointe) Homeowner's Association as Privately Owned
and Maintained Open Space Parcels in Perpetuity and Reserving All
Existing Public and Private Access, Utility, Roadway, Maintenance
and Constriction Easements.
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June 20, 2005
Meetine Date: June 20, 2005
Meetine Time: ❑ 3:00 PM
® 7:00 PM
Cateeory (check one): ❑ Consent Calendar ® Public Hearing ❑ New Business
❑ Unfinished Business ❑ Presentations
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Deaartment: Director:Y )Contact Person: Phone Number:
Community Mike Moorf(�'Mike Moore 707-778-4301
Development Curt Bates
Cost of Proposal: N/A
Amount Budeeted: N/A
Account Number: N/A
Name of Fund: N/A
Attachments to Aeenda Packet Item:
1) Approved Tentative Map for Rockridge Pointe Subdivision (to illustrate the location of the subject
open space parcels only)
2) Ordinance authorizing the City Manager to execute grant deeds.
Summary Statement:
In 2003, the City Council approved the Rockridge Pointe subdivision (now called West Haven) located at
the north end of Windsor Drive near its intersection with Western Avenue. Following the approval of all
project entitlements (Mitigated Negative Declaration, Prezoning to Planned Unit District, Vesting Tentative
Map, Final Map), the original applicant, Mardel LLC, sold the project to Christopherson Homes. As part of
the City's approval of the Rockridge/West Haven development, the applicant was required to dedicate
proposed open space on the site to the City of Petaluma and the County of Sonoma, respectively. In the
process of securing a permit from the U.S, Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS), as part of the required permit referral process, determined that the project site contained
endangered California Red -legged Frogs and related habitat. USFWS policy requires a third -party
conservator on sites where long-term endangered species habitat monitoring and mitigation are required.
Christopherson Homes chose Golden State Land Conservancy (GSLC), based in Ulciah, as the third -party
conservator. Because of GSLC's unwillingness to negotiate on the contents of a Resource Management
Plan and the conservation easement, we are recommending that fee title to the open space parcels with
designated Red -legged Frog habitat revert from the City to the West Haven Homeowners' Association in
order to shift any potential future liabilities directly to the HOA and GSLC.
Recommended Citv Council Action/Sueeested Motion:
Introduce the attached ordinance authorizing the City Manager to sign the grant deeds.
Reviewed by Admin. Svcs. Dir: Reviewed by City Attornev: Annroe# by City Manaeer:
a : 6 � (3 Date: Date:
Todav's Date: I Revision # and Date Revised: File Code:
June 9, 2005
CITY OF PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA
JUNE 20, 2005
AGENDA REPORT
FOR
INTRODUCTION OF AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO
EXECUTE GRANT DEEDS TO TRANSFER FEE TITLE OWNERSHIP OF CITY -
OWNED OPEN SPACE PARCELS TO THE WEST HAVEN (FORMERLY
ROCKRIDGE POINTE) HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION AS PRIVATELY OWNED
AND MAINTAINED OPEN SPACE PARCELS IN PERPETUITY AND RESERVING
ALL EXISTING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ACCESS, UTILITY, ROADWAY,
MAINTENANCE AND CONSTRUCTION EASEMENTS.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
In 2003, the City Council approved the Rockridge Pointe subdivision (now called West Haven)
located at the north end of Windsor Drive near its intersection with Western Avenue. Following
the approval of all project entitlements (Mitigated Negative Declaration, Prezoning to Planned
Unit District, Vesting Tentative Map, Final Map), the original applicant, Mardel LLC, sold the
project to Christopherson Homes. As part of the City's approval of the Roclmdge/West Haven
development, the applicant was required to dedicate proposed open space on the site to the City
of Petaluma and the County of Sonoma, respectively. In the process of securing a permit from
the U.S, Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), as part of the
required permit referral process, determined that the project site contained endangered California
Red -legged Frogs and related habitat. USFWS policy requires a third -party conservator on sites
where long-term endangered species habitat monitoring and mitigation are required.
Christopherson Homes chose Golden State Land Conservancy (GSLC), based in Ukiah, as the
third -party conservator. Because of GSLC's unwillingness to negotiate on the contents of a
Resource Management Plan and the conservation easement, we are recommending that fee title
to the open space parcels with designated Red -legged Frog habitat revert from the City to the
West Haven Homeowners' Association in order to shift any potential future liabilities directly to
the HOA and GSLC.
2. BACKGROUND:
In 2003, the City Council approved the Rockridge Pointe subdivision (now called West Haven)
located at the north end of Windsor Drive near its intersection with Western Avenue. Following
the approval of all project entitlements (Mitigated Negative Declaration, Prezoning to Planned
Unit District, Vesting Tentative Map, Final Map), the original applicant, Mardel LLC, sold the
project to Christopherson Homes. The City's Initial Study for the project had identified potential
wetlands on the site which required the developer to get approval of a Section 404 permit under
the federal Clean Water Act in order to fill the affected wetlands area as shown on the City -
approved plans. In the process of securing that permit from the U.S, Army Corps of Engineers,
the U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), as part of the required permit referral process,
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determined that the project site contained endangered California Red -legged Frogs and related
habitat. The City's Initial Study for the project, which included a site review for biological
resources, provided no indication of the presence of the California Red -legged Frog, nor did we
receive any comments on the Initial Study indicating the possibility of Red -legged Frogs on the
site.
As part of the City's approval of the Rockridge/West Haven development, the applicant was
required to dedicate proposed open space on the site to the City of Petaluma and the County of
Sonoma, respectively. A copy of the tentative map, showing the open space areas is attached.
Both the City and County accepted the dedication of these parcels as part of the approval of the
Roclaidge/West Haven final map in November, 2003. The parcel accepted by the County is to
become an extension of Helen Putnam County Regional Park. All of the parcels dedicated to the
City, except parcel "C", which will be a public park, are to remain as unimproved open space,
except for approved bike/pedestrian trails, public utility easements and the existing irrevocable
offer of dedication for roadway and utility purposes to serve any future development of the Cal
Water property. The public park site is not identified as habitat and is not subject to any
limitation of use.
Community Development was first advised of the presence of the California Red -legged Frog on
the property during discussions with representatives of Christopherson Homes last summer on
the status of their City grading permit. We were also advised for the first time of a USFWS
policy requiring a third -party conservator on sites where long-term endangered species habitat
monitoring and mitigation are required. In other words, the City (and the County) as the owner of
the open space parcels containing the Red -legged Frog habitat, could not, under this USFWS
policy, be responsible for insuring the long-term success of the identified habitat. That
responsibility had to be assigned to a third -party conservator by means of a conservation
easement granted by the City (as the property owner) to the designated conservator.
For the Rockridge/West Haven project, Christopherson Homes chose Golden State Land
Conservancy (GSLC), based in Ukiah, as the third -party conservator. In order to secure the
appropriate approvals from the Corps and USFWS, which would in turn allow Christopherson to
get their grading permit from the City, GSLC was responsible for preparing a Resource
Management Plan for the Red -legged Frog habitat and conservation easements that would grant
GSLC certain rights and authorities to carry out its responsibilities. These documents were then
presented to the City for review and would ultimately require approval by the City Council.
The documents were reviewed by the Community Development Director, the City's project
engineer, and the City Attorney. We had a number of comments and recommended changes that
were returned to GSLC and Christopherson. The principal concerns that we had with the
contents of the documents and passed along to GSLC and Christopherson were that the
documents did not do enough in our opinion:
1) To limit the responsibilities and the liability of the City as they relate to future issues that may
arise over the life of the conservation easement;
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2) To more clearly define the obligations of the Golden State Land Conservancy and the West
Haven Homeowners' Association; and
3) To insure that there is a potential on-going source of funding for long-term monitoring and
maintenance of the habitat.
When GSLC finally responded to our comments, they essentially removed all of the
recommended language that we had proposed without even attempting to discuss our concerns.
ALTERNATIVES:
Because of GSLC's apparent unwillingness to negotiate further on the contents of the Resource
Management Plan and the conservation easement, we were faced with a choice between two
outcomes: 1) accept the documents as proposed and recommend to the City Council that the City
Manager execute the conservation easement agreement as drafted by GSLC; or 2) recommend to
the City Council that fee title to the open space parcels with designated Red -legged Frog habitat
revert from the City to the West Haven Homeowners' Association in order to shift any potential
future liabilities directly to the HOA and GSLC.
In our view, the second choice is the better choice in terms of limiting the City's liability for any
future problems that may arise in the long-term management of the Red -legged Frog habitat.
The designated public pathways will still exist for the public benefit and the open space parcels
will still be required to remain as open space The only thing that would change would be the
underlying ownership of the property, all other applicable conditions of approval will continue to
apply to the development of the project. Christopherson Homes supports this change and has
been worldng cooperatively with the City to produce the necessary documents to bring to the
City Council.
4. FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
CONCLUSION:
There is a time factor in the consideration of this matter because Christopherson will begin
selling homes in West Haven in the next few months. Christopherson is now the sole
representative of the West Haven Homeowner's Association. Once 51% of the homes are sold,
the individual homeowners will then become the majority interest and could complicate any
further consideration of this issue if it is still unresolved.
6. OUTCOMES OR PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS THAT WILL IDENTIFY SUCCESS OR
COMPLETION:
N/A
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RECOMMENDATION:
Introduce the attached ordinance.
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ORDINANCE NO. N.S.C.
Introduced by Councilmember Seconded by Councilmember
ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE GRANT
DEEDS TO TRANSFER FEE TITLE OWNERSHIP OF CITY -OWNED OPEN
SPACE PARCELS TO THE WEST HAVEN (FORMERLY ROCKRIDGE
POINTE) HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION AS PRIVATELY OWNED AND
MAINTAINED OPEN SPACE PARCELS IN PERPETUITY AND RESERVING
ALL EXISTING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ACCESS, UTILITY, ROADWAY,
MAINTENANCE AND CONSTRUCTION EASEMENTS.
WHEREAS, in November 2003, the City of Petaluma accepted the dedication of
certain open space parcels as part of the approval of the Final Map for the West Haven
(formerly Rockridge Pointe) subdivision; and
WHEREAS, said parcels ("A", `B" and "D") were subsequently determined by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services as having habitat critical to the preservation of the
California Red -Legged Frog, a designated endangered species under the federal
Endangered Species Act; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that the ownership of these areas
should revert back to the fee title ownership of the West Haven Homeowners' Association
in order to protect the City from future liability and expenditures related to the maintenance
of the California Red -Legged Frog habitat (which is deemed to be appropriate
consideration); and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds and determines that the proposed transfer will
still result in the designated open space parcels remaining as open space in perpetuity and
that designated public access, utility, roadway, maintenance and construction easements
will be maintained and, therefore, the transfer of fee title ownership to the West Haven
Homeowner's Association does not represent a gift of public funds; and
WHEREAS, the Charter of the City of Petaluma requires that any transfer of City -
owned property be authorized by ordinance.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PETALUMA DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
Section 1: The City Manager is hereby authorized to execute grant deeds and any
other documents to transfer fee title ownership of City -owned open space parcels to the
West Haven (formerly Rockridge Pointe) Homeowner's Association as privately -owned
and maintained open space parcels in perpetuity and reserving all existing public and
private access, utility, roadway, maintenance and construction easements.
INTRODUCED and ordered Posted/Published this
ADOPTED this day of
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ATTEST:
day of
2005, by the following vote:
Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
City Clerk City Attorney