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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 05/11/1966MINUTES OF MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL PETA:LUMA , CALIFORNIA May 11, 1966 : . Council Meeting Special meeting of the Council of the City of Petaluma called to, order by Mayor Helen Putnam at the hour of 4:30 o'clock p, m. AAttendance - Present: Councilmen.B.rainerd, Cavanagh, Jr., Colin, Joerger, Lipman and Mayor Putnam. t Absent: Councilman Battaglia. - Notice of the Call Notice of the Special Meeting called for May 11, 1966, the certificate of the City Clerk of the delivery of said notice and the consent of the members of the City Council to the holding of said meeting, submitted and filed. American Hotel The Mayor announced that the special meeting has been Property called- for the purpose of a report and discussion on the American Hotel property (located 133 Petaluma Blvd. North and in order to bring the Council up to date, the City A ttorney was asked to review the correspondence and contacts with the trustee - owners, H. M. & G. R. Leppo, regarding the condition of said property. City Attorney. Robert_ then proceeded with the following correspondence: 2/16./66 - Building Department list provided to Mr. Leppo of violations to. the Code in the American Hotel which were deemed'to. be hazardous. 2/,16/66 - Acknowledgement by Mr. Leppo of the non -con- forming condi "tions.. y r, 3/1,/66 _ - Building Inspector memo indicating that he made an inspection of the American Hotel, and in his opinion . the building s),unsafe and that the building was posted with a- sign "Unsafe- to . Occupy. 3/1/'66 - Director of Public Works & City Engineer David Young ,memo indicating that in his opinion the northeast corner of the :building may collapse, that it is a menace to pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk, and that it is not reasonably -safe for human occupancy. 3/3/66 - Director of Planning & Building Official Robert e Byrd letter. to Mr. - Leppo regarding City Engineer's in- spection, that the sidewalk was roped off and that correc- tive action be taken immediately. 3/4/66 - Acknowledgement of May 3rd letter by Mr. Leppo commenting on the condition of the building and indicating that a copy.of - his letter is being forwarded to the tenants of the hotel requesting' termination of occupancy by March 31, 1966. 3/8,/66 - Building Official Byrd's letter to Mr. Leppo in- dicating that the information contained in the architect's remodel drawings was insufficient and that engineered = plans would necessary. 3/T4/66 - Mr. Leppo's letter with Engineering Report from Walter F:. Adams -, RCE 3285, dated November 15, 1944 ' regarding the reconstruction of the southerly portion of the A me_rican Hotel building. 3/15/66 - Building Official Byrd's letter to Mr. Leppo in- dicating two courses of action to pursue - 1. Immediately begin corrections of the violations and 2. Proceed with demolition. 120 May 11, 1966 3/18/66 Acknowledgernent March 15th letter by Mr.' Leppo 'i°ndicating a copy of the 15th letter to be forwarded to each of the 3 tenants. 3/24/66 - Building Official Byrd's fetter to. the Ctty Attorney asking.him! of his interAbd action in the matter 4/11/66 Letter from Jenkel - Davidson indicating loca tion, of new premises. 4/13/66 - City A ttorney letter to Mr. Leppo requesting; conference with him .and City staff to attempt to, resolve the problem, and to obtain definite commitments as to courses of action. At this time Mr. Robert told of the meeting held on, April 20th. Nothing definite was concluded, but the indications were that Mr. Leppo was prepared to idemolish the building at some time in the future- providing the tenants could fi -nd adequate space. The three tenants- involved are - Singer .Sewing Machine Co., Mix N and Jenkel- David Since that meeting, Mr.. Robert added,,. additional hair line cracks have appeared and the City Engineer feels that. there is an obvious displace= ment of bricks and 'an increasing hazard. 5/6/66 - Memo (from Building Official Byrd to the! City Manager regardiiig the. additional hair line cracks and the advice of the City Attorney to place permanent barricades along the alleyway and to notify the three tenants of the increasing danger. 5/6/66 - Letters to Mix'N'Match, S nger,Sewing Machine Co. , and Jenkel - Davidson informing them of the dangerous condition and requesting them to take immediate steps' to relocate, with an additional request to acknowledge . receipt of said. letter :and that it is understood by' them that further occupancy is at their sole risk and responsi bi`lity.: (It was noted by Mr. Robert that these letters were -hand delivered.. ) Mr: Robert -stated that he received an acknowledgement, from Jenkel- Davidson, but not from the other two firms yet. 5/7,/66 - City Attorney Robert said he contacted. Mr. Leppo this date telling him of our concern regarding the. additional" hair .li=ne cracks, and displacement of bricks and' su;ggesttq to Yi m temporary bracing, of the structure or vacating the tenants immediately. In summarizing,, , Mr,. Robert pointed out,' the ,s,taff's concern of the possibility of the building coll=apsing because of the, obvious hazard. In addtti'on to-the staff' °s inspection :of the :structure, Mr. Robert added, the State Building Iiispecto,r made an inspection on Tuesday and orally confirmed the findings by our 'inspectors. A letter to this effect will be sent to us later this week: Building Official Byrd' stated that the State Inspector- is ekpected to take pictures of -the property to document as much of the evidence as possible. A copy of all, - orrespondence was submitted and filed: In answer to Councilman Jolerger, City Engineer David Young explained the condition of the building, from an engineering standpoint. y 1 _ May 11, 1966 -Following Mr,. Robert- s presentation of the action of the staff up to date, a general discussion was held to determine the best course to follow. Consideration was given to two procedures of ,abatement which were briefly explained by the City Attorney: 1. By court action declaring that the building is a h1lzard and should be abated. 2. By Building Code provision giving authority .to declare the building a nuisance and abate it at the cost of the owner. Mr. Robert recommended the court action procedure. The City Manager pointed out that this is the longer, but surer, method, and that it could take up to six months. In discussing abatement by the Building Code procedure, the City Attorney stated he was skeptical as to the effectiveness of the Code in regard to the collection of the abatement .costs. The meeting was then opened up for discussion from the floor. Fred Mattei, Floyd Wynne, Olive Simoni, Max Flohr and Ramey Chaney spoke on the matter, urging the Council to reach some solution to the problem because of the danger involved and the effect on the business community. Peggy Walchel of Mix.N'Match addressed the Council stating that Mr. Siegel is discussing terms for new preihises and that they are trying to move as quickly as possible. After listening to the staff's report and consideration of all the information and facts presented, the Council recognized the seriousness of the problem and determined thatt:the matter required action, whereupon following the recommenda- tion of the City Attorney, a motion was made by Councilman Colin, and seconded by Councilman Joe rger, to abate the building through court action procedure and at the same time give Mr. Leppo an opportunity fo do as much on a voluntary basis. _ Roll call on this motion was defeated by the following vote: Ayes': Councilmen Colin and Joe rger. Noes: Councilmen ,Brainerd, Cavanagh, Jr., Lipman, and Mayor Putnam. Absent: Councilman Battaglia. After further discussion on the implementation of the Building Code procedure, a motion was made by Councilman Lipman, and seconded by Councilman Cavanagh, Jr. , to use the Summary Abatement procedure as authorized by the Building Code and to proceed on a planned schedule. Roll call on this motion carried by 6 affirmative votes, 1 absentee. The staff was directed immediately to block off. the sidewalk and parking spaces in front of the American Hotel and alley- way with barricades securely-tied together, to paint two crosswalks - one north - and one south of the blocked cross- walk at the American Hotel, to post detour signs on the side- walk, and to go ahead with the abatement procedure. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned. Mayor A ttest: City er