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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 03/28/1977MINUTES OF MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA, MARCH '2 8, 19 7 7 ADJOURNED MEETING An Adjourned Meeting of t4a Petaluma City Council was called to order by 'Mayor Helen Putnam at the :hour of 4;:00 p.m. ROLL'CALL Pres'eht: Cou- ncilmen Brunner, Cavanagh, Hilligoss, and Perry. Absent: Councilman Har.berson and Mayor Putnam. Prior to discussing the business of the meeting, Mayor Putnam made the following announcements: AWARD OF HONOR -- Mayor Putnam advised the City of Petaluma has received AMERICAN INSTITUTE the award of honor from the American Institute of OF PLANNERS Planners, Northern Section., for the City's Environmen- tal Des' -ign Plan. City Manager Robert Meyer, Community Development and Services Coordinator Frank Gray, Councilman Hilligoss and she attended the Awards Presentation at the northern California Section, Friday evening, March 25, 1977. In addition, Mayor Putnam advised the City has also.been awarded the highest honor at the State level,.and the presentation will be made April 7, 1977. AIR DISASTER-- Mayor Putnam expressed the concern of the Council and SANTA CRUZ the community regarding the air disaster which had DE TENERIFE, occurred Sunday, March 27, in the Canary Islands. Mrs. CANARY ISLANDS Putnam advised the City's Planning Commissioner, Mervin ! S. 'Waters, was one of those who was very seriously injured; and at this time, no' repoxt,has been received regarding Mrs. Waters. in addition, a former City. Manager of San Jose, Mr. Campbell, a resident of the Sebastopol area who has served on the Advisory Committee for.Western Cities Magazine, was lost in the disaster. MOTION TO CHANGE Mayor Putnam .indicated there were a number of people in AGENDA ORDER the audience who were interested in Agenda Item #4, spe - cifically SB 4, the Beverage Container Reuse and Recycling Act, and asked for Council's approval to have the matter advanced on the agenda. A motion was made by Councilman :Cavanagh, seconded. by Councilman Perry, ap- proving the change in the Agenda order. Motion carried unanimously. LEGISLATION AFFECTING CITIES SB '4 Councilman Cavanagh reported,, in'response to the dis- c:is:sion held by the Council the previous week, copies of SB 4 had been requested from Sacramento.. He informed the Council Asssistant City Manager David Breninger has done some research on the bill. Mr. Bren -inger stated the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on April 18. The City is waiting for a copy of the analysis done by A. Alan Post, which will not be available until the early' part of April. If the Council is to take action on the matter, it needs to be forwarded before April,18. Mayor Putnam indicated the Council would like to hear : from those who are in favor of the bill and those in opposition ao .it, and asked for speakers from both sides. She also advised the' Council would not be taking action at this meeting, but would schedule it:for the meeting of April 11. The opponents and proponents would be advised of the time. V 71' a Mr. Breninger gave a brief resume of the bill which is ,parallel to the Oregon law on recycling bottles and container- contain- fng,be6r, and soft drinks. When purchased from any retailer,, the retailer has to be the redeeming center, or there is an option of having a recycling center in an area Supporters of the bill feel it is an attempt to reduce of .certain,types of beverage cans and bottles. Supporters also feel it would reduce the" use of energy, raw materials, and the cost to the consumer.. The opposing side,. the Grocer's Association and Retailers, is concerned about the cost factor in having to handle the recycled items. Mayor Putnam indicated the Council would like to hear : from those who are in favor of the bill and those in opposition ao .it, and asked for speakers from both sides. She also advised the' Council would not be taking action at this meeting, but would schedule it:for the meeting of April 11. The opponents and proponents would be advised of the time. V 71' a March 28, 19 yl, � SB 4 (Continued) advise the Council that the main proponent for attend th&-meeting,and would be happy to make Joan Dickerson, representing Senator Peter Behr, a co- author of the bill,, spoke to the Council. She advised she was not.speaking.in favor of the bill,.only to Senator Behr is a co- author. As a. author', he is not the bill:. He advised .S'enator ;Rain'''s office asked her to advise the Council a representative..from his office a presentation to the Council if they •so des.red'. Speaking;n opposition to SB 4 was Mr. Jim.Gaultney of;,Hagstrom's Market. Mr. Gaultney.fel,t SB 4 would not solve the li -tter "problem. It would create a health. problem and -would also be contrary to the- Sonoma County Health laws. In addition it would cause additional expense for not only retailers, but con -' sumers as well. It would require most markets to build extra storage space and hire extra. security personnel.. In addition, it would create an expense for the wholesaler, as they would need additional trucks. He urged the 'Council.to pass a resolution in opposition to the bill and :so advise the legislators :,. Mr. Ralph Pelton also spoke in opposition to the bill, and advised the. tatives at the meeting today included'' Mr. Dave Hinton of the Safeway Store,.Mr. Bill Jonas of Roger Wilco, ,Mr. R cklRodriguez from Albert:son's, Mr. Robert Hartley, Lucky Stores, Mr. 'Wayne Ellis,, Carl''s Market, and Mr. Stanley F. Johnson, President of the Bay Area Groc'er`s Association. Mayor Putnam asked the City Clerk to advise, the above people of the time when the matter would be discussed on April 11. Mr. Ralph Peltoft submitted,a letter,addressed to him.by Owens Illinois Company, San Mateo, California, regarding SB 4,, as well as from the United Brewer's Association, Inc., San Francisco, California, The letters are on file with the City Clerk,. FINANCIAL REVIEW= A report dated March 28, 1977,, entitled Financial VARIOUS CITY FUNDS Review:, prepared :by City Finance Officer John L.. Scharer, submitted and - filed. Mr. Scharer outlined the �l9 anticipated revenues and expenditures, as well as fixed charges over which the � Cb City has, no direct control. These include unemployment insurance.,, retirement, health insurance., liability insurance and utility costs, all of which will increase during fiscal year 1977 -78 The total projected increase. is $242,308, or approximately $.24 on the "tax rate. Mr. Scharer then.proceeded to review the exhibits attached to his memorandum on, the general fund,, revenue sharing funds, the reserve for acquisition and improvement, and the gas tax funds. In speaking of the anticipated increase in revenues of 5.2 %,, Mr.. Scharer indi- cated this was estimated on an 8 .9% increase in property tax revenue at the current $1.30 tax rate,. and a 6 - 7. increase in sales tax. City Manager Robert Meyer advised thel 8.9% is not attributed to, an increase in assessed valuation, . but to:new buildings. Mr.. Scharer indicated the nor'thwest.quadrant o,f the City had been reassessed the prior year. The Assessor had worked in,the downtown business district recently, and it is anticipated an approximate 15% to 18% increase will be assessed. Mr. Scharer then reviewed, the revenue sharing funds. The unde-signated revenue, sharing fund balance as of March 28.-, 1977, is $1.70,602.42. The balance is realized from projects that will not' be istarted this fiscal year, that are no longer 'required,, or- balances from completed projects. Mr_.. Scharer indicated additional requests have been made for undesignated revenue sharing funds which include, 1) loan to redevelopment request of the PCDC, $30.0,000', 2) aerial photography, request of Planning and Engineering, $14,,0.00; and 3.) purchase of land for expansion of Corpor- ration Yard, $35,000; or, a total of $349,;000. City Manager Robert Meyer advised of these thr:ee:projects the City Council, . either acting' as the Petaluma Community Development •Commis-s ion. or 'the ,City Council, had ,discussed the loan for redevelopment, and the purchase o land for the 'expansion of the Corporation Yard. The new item.included is, the aerial photography` reque'sted by the Planning and Engineering Dep'artments,. Mr. Scharer indicated both Planning Director Ronald. Hall and City Engineer ,'David Young felt a need for the.proj :ect. Mr. Roy Smith,..Planning Technician, indict- ted.t'he last aerial photography study had been done about five years ago. The new study would include areas developed since that time, as well as areas °which,are anticipated.for. development within the near :future. March 28, 1977 1 FINANCIAL REVIEW -- City Engineer David Young also indicated his department VARIOUS CITY FUNDS would benefit from `the fly over and photographing, (Continued) especially on East.'Washington Street. This would serve as a good, public relations tool when dealing with the citizens on the street when the widening 1 , project is discussed with them. The proposed widening plans would be drawn.on the Photograph to show the store owners and resident's where their lots are.now and what effect the widening of East Washing -ton Street would'. have. Mr. Young also indicated he felt the Plan - ning Department would benefit by ;having the periphery.of the City photographed, including,the Denman Flat area and the area northwest of Denman. City Manager Robert Meyer also indicated,the City has never had a complete fly over of the General Plan area. Mr. Young indicated it is excellent information to have at a very reasonable cost, as it would save many manhours of work in both Planning and Engineering Departments. Planning Director Ronald Hall also stated, in their site design studies.; they take information from the aerial photographs and are able to provide a good service to the general public. The next item to be dis;cus.sed wa_s the loan to the Redevelopment Agency for the acquisition of land, planning and engineering for parking lots in the downtown area. Mr. Scharer ind- icated the `loan'would be paid.ba'ck from tax increment funds and a commitment from AB 103 funds from the Downtown Improvement Committee. Mr. Scharer indicated it was his intention when the funds were repaid to main- tain them in a revenue sha- r-;ing account to provide for ongoing programs, probably in the social services field. Councilman Cavanagh.expressed some concern . regarding funds to complete the marina and golf course projects for which the Council had allocated money for feasibility studies. Mr. Scharer advised the funds intended to be used at this time are from prior year's entitlements; and under the revenue sharing guidelines, these monies must be spent within two years after receipt. In-order to complete the marina and golf course projects,, it would take more funds than would be available through revenue sharing funds. Revenue sharing funds cannot be accumulated and the only funds being considered at this time are those which have not been spent out of the City's.previous entitlement or which had a balance. City Manager Robert Meyer stated he had been directed by the Council.to negotiate for the land for expansion of the Keller Street Parking Lot and would need to have some decision from the Coun- cil in order to move ahead. At the conclusion of this discussion, a motion was made by Councilman Hilli- goss, seconded by Mayor Putnam, to approve the expenditure of '$14,000 for aerial photography (reques.t of Planning and Engineering. Departments) and the purchase of land for expansion of the Corporation Yard in the amount of $35,000. Motion carried unanimously. Some further discussion was held regarding the loan to the Petaluma Community Development Commission. City Robert Meyer. pointed out any funds ex- pended from the $2.00,000 would have to be at the direction of the Petaluma Community Development Commission. Councilman Cavanagh indicated he was ready to vote on the matter, but hefelt it should have been listed.as an agenda item. Vice- Mayor'Brunner stated: he felt the $300,,000 intended for the downtown parking improvements might be better spent in the area.of. social services. He also indicated he felt the business community.has not..shown.the incentive necessary to improve the downtown. parking. ' A motion was made by Mayor Putnam, seconded by Councilman Hilligoss, to approve a loan of $200,000 to the Petaluma Community Development Commission. Motion carried by 4 affirmative, 1 negative., and 2 absentee. votes. Vice -Mayor Brunner voted "no". A motion was then made by Councilman Hilligoss-, seconded by Councilman Perry, to transfer the funds for the loan to the Redevelopment Agency, the aerial photography, and the land for expansion the.Cor.poration Yard in the follow - ing,manner: From.undesignated revenue sharing funds, $170,.602,; from Fund No. 9630, Administration, $10 „000; Fund No;. 9631, Iritra -City Bus Service, $48,368; Fund No. 3635, CAL /OSHA, $15,000.; and, Fund No. 3:649, Floating Docks, $5,030, for a total of $'249,.000.. Motion was carried by 4 affirmative, 1 negative, and 2 absentee votes. Mr. Scharer then briefly discussed the gas ,tax funds and the - reserve for'acqui- sition and improvements. He indicated in the.res;erve for acquisition fund, there had been a request for $342.,381, and it is anticipated by June 30, $111,495 would be spent. Mr. Scharer. stated he would come back to the Council and ask them to set new priorities for these funds. March 28, 1977 FINANCIAL REVIEW -- In discussing the gas funds, Mr. Scharer advised the • VARIOUS `CITY FUNDS gas tax is still $..07 per gallon. He does not foresee (Continued) any change in it; however, the cost of street repair and construction is continually rising. City"Manager Robert Meyer a °sked the Council to give consideration to Projects 9622 and 9623, which would be Phase. I and Phase II of the McDowell 'Boulevard.Design. He indicated the matter would be brought back before the Council at the next meeting for their approval. Mr. Scharer advised the Petaluma Boulevard North/ Lakeville. - Project is maintained in the fund, even though parking still creates a problem with this intersection. The extension of Caulf1e'1d Lane is antici- pated to go out to bid sometime by the end ,of April. STATUS ,REPORT -- Community Development and Services Coordinator Frank SANTA F.E- POMEROY Gray advised the City has been negotiating to purchase PROPERTY ten acres of land.'f'rom Santa Fe- Pomeroy with an option on the "remaining 20 acres. This. would involve a trade off of land for ,a portion of the McNear Peninsula. Some dif`ficult'y has,arisen, however, with,.the trade of the land' -, because `the State Land' Commission and the State of California have to have very detailed appraisal, reports before they will authorize the expenditure of their funds. The City is now working with the non - profit corporation, the Trust for.Public Lands, which might be 'of some benefit in purchasing -the land, holding, it, then reselling it or p'ar . in the land trade. Mr. Gray advised at this point, the staff needs some direc- tion from the. Council whether or not.'the,y would like to continue to pursue the acquis:t =ion, of the additional 20. acres. The trust would hold 'the land in option for the City. The City could not purchase it at this time because of State requirements. The only' cost which would be incurred by the City to deal with the trust would be an administrative cost,. No agreement has been made as of this date. Mr. Gray was advised to proceed with.the negotiations, especially to acquire the 8.3 acres needed for the expansion of the..Corporation Yard. SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS City Manager, Robert Meyer informed the Council of the IN ADVANCE following events or meetings. Dedic'ation.of E1 Camino Mission Bell The dedication of. the.b'ell is scheduled for March 30, 1977, in Central Park at 4:00 p.m. Zone'2A Advisory Committee Meeting The Zone 2'A Advisory Committee. of: the Sonoma Count` y Flood Control Meeting would be held Thursday, March 31, in the Petaluma ,City Hall. Councilman Cavanagh had requested if the Council has other ideas regarding the priorities, to contact . 'him. If no other priorities a -re suggested, Mr Cavanagh indicated the "I" Street and the Wilson Street projects would'be'listed as the No. 1 and 2 priorities. Schedule for Hearings -- Proposed Hospital Mr,. Meyer indicated the Planning Commission will hold two public hearings regarding the draft E;:.I.R. for the.new hospital which is proposed to "'be built on North McDowell Boulevard. 'The Council is invited to attend the hearings to observe•, and the matter would be before the Council on April 25. Corps of Engineers- - Continu Dredging;, San, Pablo Bay and Petaluma River:. Mr. Meyer advised, the Corps of Engineers has scheduled- four public, : hearings in regard to the dredging where the river crosses San.P,a'blo Bay, and to continue the dredging up the Petaluma River. Councilman Cavanagh.. indicated.there is approximately $$00,000 budgeted for the project, with $215,000 to be spent during the next year. \S ` Bicentennial.Tim& Capsule Mr. Meyer advised this ceremony would be held at I( _ the Petaluma Public Library, April 12. Assistant City Manager David Breninger indicated the American Legion.and the Bicentennial Committee had selected April vv -12 as the date, because this was the date in 1858.when,,the City was first in- corporated.. Mr. Meyer asked members of the Council to prepare a brief resume and submit a picture to be included in the binder to be placed in the time capsule. Mr. Breninger was not sure of the time of` the. ceremony, but it would be 7:00 or 7:30 p.. -m. The time capsule is to be opened -in the year 207,5, one year before the Nation''s.T.ricentennial., in.order for any committee which may be ' formed at that time tor a Tricentennial celebration;,.A know what actually happened in the City;n the Bicentennial year. March-28, 1977 �J REVIEW OF PROPOSED The proposed amendments to the Sign Section of the AMENDMENTS TO SIGN Petaluma Zoning Ordinance, Section-21-204, prepared by ORDINANCE the Planning:D'epartment and submitted by Planning Director Ronald F.. Hall, February 4, 1977, submitted and filed; staff rep dated'F:ebruary ., from the .Planning Department to the Planning Commission, regarding'the proposed Sign Ordinance Amendment and the E.I.Q. Evaluation, submitted and filed. V5_74 City Manager Robert Meyer':indicated. the section on Page 11, No. XIII, Non -. Conforming Signs, in his opinion, needs some clarification. He felt illegal signs which are presently erected in the City may be "'grandfathered" in under the terms of the proposed ordinance, and from,an administrative point of view, it would be difficult to refuse signs for new businesses for non - conforming . signs if the others 'are permitted to remain. Mr. Meyer also stated he felt the Council should be aware of the fact that additional funds may be necessary in order to provide some enforcement of the*Sign Ordinance. Planning Director Ronald Hall indicated he did not feel it was the Planning Commission's intent to forgive any illegal signs that were installed. Under the new ordinance, there may some cases of legal., non - conforming signs being permitted; however, any sign which had been erected.without a building permit would be an illegal sign.and would not conform under the new ordinance. Mr. Hall also stated when he first came to work for the City, letters had been sent out to business establishments regarding the abatement of certain signs. The Planning Department has a record of legitimate signs' as well as a record of illegal signs. Community Development and Services Coordinator Frank Gray advised the Planning Department had taken approximately 3,800 photographs in the major business districts:, commercial areas, and industrial areas of various signs. Residential areas were not included. The Department was aware of the signs that have been erected and those which have been taken down. Mr. Hall stated any sign that was .in violation at the time the letters were sent out would still be in violation under the terms of the new ordinance, and would remain illegal until such time as a permit was issued for the sign. Mayor Putnam indicated since there was some confusion, even at the Council level and staff level, she felt, perhaps the language in the ordinance should be more clearly expressed:. Some discussion was then held on the matter of enforcing the sign ordinance. Mr. Gray advised the Chief Building Inspector at the present time is acting as Zoning Administrator for the abatement of signs ;:however,. in order to- .properly enforce an ordinance, he suggested the addition of an enforcement officer to work with the signs, as well as the business'licenses, which is another area where the City lacks enforcement. The sign area requirements were then reviewed by Mr. Hall. The proposed ordi- nance would permit one square foot of sign area.for every linear foot of build- ing frontage. Mr. Hall indicated this is comparable t,o the Novato Sign Ordi- nance. By means of the viewfoil, he indicated a comparison of the size of the sign to the area of the building.. Mr. Hall also advised the sign area could be broken up to be placed at different. locations on a building as long as not more than three permanent signs would be visible from any one vantage point. Vice -Mayor Brunner indicated he was not opposed to the present sign ordinance, but he did have a desire to eliminate the abatement procedure and permit all non - conforming signs to be permitted until a change'of use, then require any new signs to conform to the ordinance. He was opposed to making any new ordi- nance more lenient in the area of permitting signs to be erected. Mr. Hall indicated the Sign Ordinance, as ,proposed, is restrictive up to 100 square feet. The signs for smaller buildings would be more restrictive; however, on larger buildings, it would be more lenient.. Basically, the new ordinance provides for four major changes: Non- Conforming Uses, Area Requirements, Low Profile Free - Standing Signs:, -and a provision for Violation and Abatement. Mr. Fred Schram, Manager of the Petaluma Area Chamber. of Commerce, stated the reason the committee was formed was to prevent a major lawsuit being filed against the City because of the amortization problem with the signs. The Chamber of Commerce had received many calls from property owners and merchants regarding the abatement requirement, and.they wanted to prevent any lawsuits being filed. March 28, 1.977 REVIEW OF PROPOSED,. Mr. Bill Jonas also spoke to the Council stating he had AMENDMENTS TO SIGN worked on the Committee :and one of the. reasons for the ORDINANCE grandfather clause which was recommended was to try to (Continued) rid the City of some of the deteriorating signs, but to go about it in an equitable way. After some discussion regarding_ r..eplacing signs which now exist and testing the ordinance by' referring various cases to the City .Attorney City Manager Robert Meyer suggested the 'Council extendt the time for abatement,, and he would have an ordinance prepared for their review at the.next, Council meeting, to extend the amortization time to July 1, 1977. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business. to ;come.b:ef:or.e.the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m. to an executive session, Wednesday, March 30, 1977-, at 7:30 p.m. Mayo r Attest'.: Dep :ty City Clerk