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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 02/22/1999Febniary 22, 1999 Vo1.32, Page 429 i lYiINUTES z OF A REGiTI.AIt 1V1<EETING 3 PETALUIVIA CITY COUNCIL a MOIVI9AY, FEBRUARY 2B, 1999 s ROLL CALL 7:00 p.~n. 6 Present: .Healy, Torliatt, Cader-Thompson, Hamilton, Maguire, ~ Mayor E. Clark Thompson s Absent: Vice Mayor David Keller 9 PLEIDGE OF ALLEGIANCE io Jerry Schwartz led.. the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. i i 1VIOlVIENT OF SI[,ENCE iz PUBLIC COlVIIVIENT 13 Paula Neese, 393A Sunnyslope Road -there is excess speed on Sunnyslope Road. She has is called the Police Department and was told a monitor would be put up. So far there has been is none. The location where Suncrest Road comes into Sunnyslope Road appears to her to be i6 dangerous due to excessive vehicle speed and visibility problems. Even the school buses ~~ speed. The construction people using Sunnyslope have been very responsive to is neighborhood requests to drive carefully. 19 Greg, Mitchell, 219 Baker :Street. - read a letter to City Manager Stouder regarding. his zo disappointment in the methods. and. attitudes the High School District personnel have. used in zi connection with their move of the High School Administration OffYCes to the old Hagstrom's zz grocery store on Douglas Street: Also, there is no bonding for this job. Planning has not z3 made them to :fulfill the requirements of the approvals. Vandalism at the old grocery store za building continues to occur. The vehicle connection between Baker Street and Douglas zs Street continues to be used by drivers. These things are a bad example for the school distract z6 to be setting. z7 Mayor Clark Thompson said the bond is in place as of today and the Certificate of zs Occupancy is now in place. z9 Sandra Shand, 6.1'7 North Webster Street - on behalf of Caroline Dlug-Hegwer, 62'1 North 3o Webster, she read a letter about drainage and street flooding as they relate to Bantam 31 Terrace. The $icycle Committee meets tomorrow and she hopes the outcome will meet 3z everyone's needs. Please keep the neighborhood notified. And for Sandra Shand's own 33 comments, she said that upper Western Avenue area has a flooding problem. The City 34 should ask the school to maintain the ditch near Petaluma Junior High. She is concerned 3s about drainage in west Petaluma, especially street flooding in her area. It was suggested by 36 Councilmember Pamela Torlatt that she attend the School District meeting at 6:00 p.m. 3'7 tomorrow night. 38 Geoff Cartwright, 56 Rocca Drive -Read from the Press Democrat about the .park that had 39 been planned for the Urban Separator area behind Cross Creek on Casa Grande Road and ao that the developer was willing to build the park offsite. A possible solution is right behind the Page 430, Vol. 32 February 22, 1999 i Linda del Mar subdivision where there is a piece of property which in the General Plan is a z proposed park. 3 He also .referred to a minor conditional, use permit for the reconstruction. widening of the. a Willow Brook Bridge at the Old Redwood Highway dated December, 1996, which states this s project was,identfied in °the-mitigation measure 'and previously evaluated in a Certified EIR 6 for the Redwood Business Park; which we know that EIR does not. On. page 32 of-the ~ budget Willow Brook Channel dated December; 1996; and in a paragraph entitled a `Relationship to Other Projects' - "although the; proposed project will protect lands east of 9 Highway :101, it will actually increase the flooding of the Petaluma River' significantly .in its io existing condition;:" The finalization of the financing 'switch; this- is 'the agenda, summary on ~i Willow Brook. Bridge Replacement. `.Highway Improvement IViay <18, 1998. We have. been iz discussing this for four .to six- months.: John Cheney stood here and asked you, when they plug 13 wily be placed in Willow Brook Creek. Also, he showed., a Certificate of Attendance .presented is by the North. Coast Builders Exchange and FEMA - building'in the flood plain. is Hank Flum, 1721 Stonehenge Way -.regarding the Animal .Shelter;.:he showed his suggested i6 plans:for improvements to the Animal Shelter- as an answer to their- needs lather than building, i~ anew facility. Regarding Heritage Homes -there is .supposed. to :be a detention, pond. there, is but when he asked a ..salesman for the subdivision, he was greeted with a blank look. Is there 19 a detention pond there? (The detention pond has been built off-site and' it .covers the needs of zo several projects.) zi 'Steve. Block - Petalumans for Sensible D.eYelopmen_t -- is there a stafl"report this. evening on zz Cross Creek: There being no staff report on Cross Creek and Mr.~ Block saying he did not z3 feel well, he left thee podium. za COgTNCIL COMIVIEIVT zs Councilm_ ember Jane Hamilton -wants the Animal Shelter Committee to respond. to Hank zs Flum's. z~ Councilmember Pamela Torliatt -received the City Manager report. of February :1-9 regarding zs Wilmar Sc}iooL: 'She would like to :know the potential capi~city at that school from. the z9 proposed Varnhagen project. when it happens. Stie has received a complaint from a 3o constituent th. at on Saturday evening. that `travelling northbound the:. traffic signal stayed `red' 31 for 12 minutes: 3z Councilmember Michael Healy -commented on the uniform and `high quality of the Public 33 Comments: He would like to have a report back in five weeks from.. the Police and Traffic 34 Engineer. on traffic on Sunnyslope Road and on the advisability •of adding estop signs: 3s Regarding the Bantam Terrace memorandum in the Friday letter, what has happened? He 36 asked Mr. Flum not to call. th_"e .development .Heritage 'Homes,, it pis now Landsdown. He 37 echoed Councilmember Jane Hamilton's ,:request on the Animal Shelter question.:He, would 3s consider a request to reconsideration. If we can get by with a more minor fix to the Animal 39 Shelter; that would be fine. ao Councilmember Janice Cader-Thompson -agrees- she.:mentioned that, Steve Charlie, of 104 ai 5th Street, has also -:,made some design recommendations for' the Animal Control Shelter. She az is concerned with the traffic. patterns in the. Kenilworth Junior I3igh area. The"re are parents 43 travelling in several directions, there are school buses,, and now there are- the San Franci'SCo as and Oakland airport buses using the area:. She asked if there could be some signage and/or as markings that could be put in place to clarify which the most ideal direction. of travel should . ~ti., February 22, 1999 Vo1.32, Page 431 i be. She noted there are local programs on `Dialogue on Race,' `Blacks for the Future,' and'. a a Gospel Hour on Schuman Lane this weekend. 3 Mayor E'. Clark Thompson -showed the Council. the publication California Coast and Oeean. a The latest edition of this magazine has a nice article on the City of Petaluma. Several more s copies of this issue have been requested of the publisher. 6 S®1yOIYIA M®~'TAily PARKWAY The City Council .considered possible action regarding the traffic circulation patterns for s Sonoma Mountain Parkway at East Madison Street. Staff was asked to prepare an access 9 and circulation analysis report for Sonoma Mountain Parkway. The primary study focus was io on the extension of the median .island across the intersection of East Madison Street and on ii the perceived impacfs to the surrounding neighborhoods. Traffic volume .counts in the iz neighborhood have been taken. Allan Tilton, Traffic Engineer, noted that all of the current 13 traffic volumes are within the design capability of the streets (under 2,000 cars per day). is There is no anticipated break in the threshold on any of the streets. Staff has also considered is road undulations. i6 Alternatives that were reviewed by staff are: i~ Full Access -unrestricted traffic movements at all full access intersections. is Full 1Vledian -extension of median islands through intersections onto Sonoma Mountain 19 Parkway except for~signalized arterial and collector street intersections (Rainier, Santa Rosa zo Junior College, Riesling,. Ely, and Maria) Access would be restricted to right-turns into and zi out of local neighborhood streets from Sonoma Mountain Parkway. zz 1Vgodified Access. (Staff' Recommendation) -construction of diversion islands limiting z3 crossing and left turn movements from local and neighborhood streets onto Sonoma za Mountain Parkway. Left turn movements would be permitted into local and neighborhood zs streets from Sonoma Mountain Parkway. z6 The opportunity to cross Sonoma. Mountain- Parkway would be barred by a median which z~ would be installed. (Readers: please understand that this is difficult to describe.) That median zs would be a sort of wavy line placed across the intersections on Sonoma Mountain Parkway z9 between the right side "of :the travel direction" of the `left. turn lane.' For instance, this would 3o allow a driver going towards the junior college on Sonoma Mountain Parkway to enter a left 31 turn pocket and either turn left onto a cross street, such as Chehalis for instance, or to make a 3z U-turn. The same ability would be allowed for traffic coming the other direction. on Sonoma 33 Mountain Parkway; the only difference would be that the .allowable left turn would be `toward 3a the hills. And the end result for a person travelling on a street that now crosses Sonoma 3s Mountain Parkway is that driver could not cross Sonoma Mountain Parkway and make aleft- 36 turn; only aright-turn would be allowed. 37 Councilmember Michael Healy asked if the residents in the area had been notified of this 3s proposal. Staff advised that those notified. were the persons who had attended the scoping 39 meetings :and those who had asked to be on the mailing list. Staff said about 18 persons ao attended the most recent meeting, and, for the most part, they live on Chehalis and East ai Madison Streets. The mailing went to 300 people. az The following persons spoke: Page 432, Vol. 32 February 22, 1999 i Arnold Kaye; 1645 Lauren Drive - he presented the city with ~ 150 signature petition .signed z by persons who are requesting there be no. restricted travel in tine area. - 3 Gerald Moore, 1629 East Madison, Street -supports the; `wavy median' across the a intersections. There are many families on the street who have excess vehicles: We have s attitude. problems, i:e: running top signs and red lights. They can't see oncorrung traffic, 6 because so many vehicles park. on the street. We need more stop .signs. ~ Richard Hillary, 1745 East Madison Street, - he has to back into his driveway so that hey can s see better when he leaves the house. We are looking for a compromise. He supports -the 9 Traffic engineer. io Craig Carroll, .1724. Chehalis Drive - he' has subrrutted a petition from 75 residents 'in his n neighborhood'. I=ie is concerned about Turtle Creek subdivision. and the nee;d.for` the -children iz from that subdivision to cross. Sonoma. Mountain Parkway to go on down to Bernard. 13 Eldredge.Schoof and Lucchesi Park..He is concerned about people' driving down his street to is the professional :offices. He supports a full median along Sonoma Mountain Parkway,. Kids is play on-the street sometimes. i6 Denise..Foster,.2l6 Wishkah Lane -there was a change from the original plan .for access to i~ Sonoma Mountain. Parkway from Turtle Creek subdivision that her neighborhood did not is know about. That .main ..entrance to the new subdivision could' have been made at mid'-block 19 rather than.. across .from Chehalis and from. East Madison. She is grateful there is no need. for zo a signal at 1Vliwok~ Manor: :If that changes, please let us know. Staff advised ,there is .not a zi signal warranted at either intersection. zz Kathy Witter, 1641 East Madison. -she talked. about pedestrian crossings.. Her reaction to z3 speed bumps is they are not a deterrent to speed. za The Council's comments follow: zs All members of-the Council expressed their frustration with the dilemma z6 Councilmember 1Viatt IVlagure - he is in support of full access. z~ Councilmember Pamela Torliatt -she read from. thee -Rainier Environmental Impact Report za and noted the trai~'ic counts with Rainier or without; Rainier (overcrossng' and highway z9 access ramps) show an insignificant difference. We need to le~ok at the need .for pedestrian 3o accesses along Sonoma Mountain Parkway for safety. 31 Councilmember Michael Healy - it is appropriate to try to keep non-local `traffic off of the 3z residential: streets. He is very .concerned that, taking the `recorrunended action would, prove to 33 add future traffic circulation problems in other locations. He is looking for more staff;and 34 Council thought. 'This may create asituation -where U=turns area `norm' on Sonoma 3s Mountain Parkway. Perhaps more stop signs.. on residential treets should be evaluated. 36 Take :another good look at Chehalis and Turtle :Creek` subdivision. Asked staff to. give a 37 ballpark idea of the traffic impact of the anticipated grocery stare next to SRJC. If there will 38 be 2 ingress and egress locations at Turtle Creek, would it be'possible to have left turn lanes 39 at 2 locations? ao Councilmember Janice Cader-Thompson: - is interested in looking at widening, the culvert ai over Washington Creek. at Sonoma Mountain. Parkway because at the intersection of E az Washington and Sonoma Mountain Parkway, E Washington is only one lane wide, and that February 22, 1999 Vo1.32, Page 433 1 lane .reduction from two lanes to one lane may cause traffic problems. The East Washington z westbound lane between Ely and.McDowell is deteriorating badly and should be improved. 3 Councilmember Jane Hamilton -doesn't see a solution in sight yet. She feels the streets a should be open and there should be access, but not here because of-Turtle Creek. She would s like to hear about a 4-way stop at Novak and Madison. 6 Councilmember Matt Maguire -how about a `no left turn' during. certain hours? What ~ percentage of drivers would pay attention to that direction? The simplest, cleanest, most s open configuration seems to have the least hazard. 9 Mayor E. Clark Thompson- the improvements to the intersection at Chehalis needs more io thought. i i All of the Councilmembers expressed their desire to have staff look at this again. No date iz was established for the next time this will appear on the agenda. i3 RECESS >1s45 to 8:56 p.m. 14 APPEAL - RE)1)WO~~ P~A~.A SHOPPIl~~i CENTER is Mr. Jerry Schwartz requested a continuance of the hearing because he has just retained 16 different counsel and would like to update h1m on the matter. Mr. McDevitt, representing the i7 applicant, spol{e'in opposition to the .delay. The item was originally on an earlier agenda and is every day's delay is costing money, he said. i9 It was the Council consensus to continue this item to the next regular meeting, March 1, zo 1999. Since the Council packet for the March 1 meeting has already been disseminated, City 2i Manager Fred Stouder advised there will be some agenda management in order to z2 accommodate .the request. Councilmember Pamela Torliatt requested that more information 23 on parcel size: and locations of the parcel lines. She also asked for information on the za reciprocal. easements and on the parcel ownership and the reference to management zs problems. z6 RES®. 99-45 NCS z~ G1tOVVTR_MANAGEIVIENT ®>sJEC'1cIVE5 FOR YEAR 2000 zs Resolution 99-45 NCS establishing growth management objectives for the year 2000. Acting i9 Planning Director Vin Smith noted the wording has been amended from the Year 1999 3o Objectives as follows: 3i 5. Pursuant to County median income, housing projects affordable to very low, low income 32 households, moderate income households and projects that are affordable to very low and' 33 low income seniors. This is a newly revised development objective from the previous year, 34 which just said "housing affordable to households earning 100% or less of the County median 3s income:" 'This change is to more closely define the meamng of the statement. 36 Councilmember Jane Hamilton -would like to add an objective saying `housing projects that 37 are pedestrian friendly and connected by bike path networks' so that that's stated up front 3s and nobody can say they weren't warned. We need to start building that into project 39 approvals at every opportunity so when they design a development they don't say they had ao no idea. Page 434, Vol. 32 February 22, 1999 i Mayor E. Clark Thompsgn - we could incorporate Mr. Healy's expression. of `neighborhood z friendly.' I have always .liked. that.. What does that mean, he r;~as asked. By definit_ ion, it is 3 housing that is in a neighborhood that is pedestrianfriendly. a Councilmember Pamela Torliatt -would like to add: `senior housing' because senior housing s had been dropped'in our past goals and it is still appropriate 6 Councilmember Michael Healy -the system eliminates certain types of residential hou_ sing ~ such as multi-family housingfor the;elderly and low and very'low`income units; and, if`that's s the case, he has. a hard time understanding the. development objective that ays low income is 9 preferred. Why is it preferred if'it is exempt? What am I missing-here? io Planning Director Vin Smith noted that because low-income or senior housing project is on a u development objective list, and such a project comes in to the Planning Department for iz processing, `it still does :not count. towards the year's development cap.~-_1Glarket apartments 13 would count towards the allocation pool, senior housing would not ~courit toward the is allocation pool. - is Councilmember :Matt Maguire -would the Council be willing to consider changing the i6 exemption froni " 30 units or less".to "1'S units .or less" with a certain phasing,. because of the r~ Urban Growth Boundary. That suggestion did not receive concurrence from the Council. is Vin Smith ..said. the allocation grant has reduced over the. last 3 years from just: over requests. i9 for 200'units down to requests for 52 units last year. Last year the totaLapplications were for zo 96 units. The one denied by the 'Council last year was the .Stonegate site, because the zi Council wanted to see a General :Plan amendment. first. This is well under the .growth zz management cap of 500 urns per year. z3 The .question was asked, ``If that is the amount of applicaticans that are :received, has the za system outlived'its usefulness?" zs Resolution 99-45 NCS establishing growth management allocation objectives. for the Year z6 2000 as amended with added wording --- °neighborhood and pedestrian friendly and z~ connecting to bike paths for a.network. 2s Ayes: Healy, Torliatt, Coder-Thompson, Hamilton, Maguire, z9 Mayor E. Clark Thompson 3o Nces: None 3 i Absent: Vice:Ivtayor David Keller 3z CLOSED 5ESSI®N 9:20. p.rn. 33 CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY.NEGOTIATOR.I'ursuant~to -Government. Code 3a §54956:8. Property: 4140 Lakeville Highway. City Negotiating. Agent: Fred Stouder. 35 Negotiating Parties: City of `Petaluma and .Gray. Under Negotiation: Price and Terms of 36 Payment or Both. 37 CONFERENCE WITH REAL. PROPERTY NEGOTIATOR;I'ursuant t'o Government Code 3s 54956.8. -Property: 150 Graylawn .Ave (2 parcels). (J. Cyril Johnson Investment Corp. et gal.) 39 and 91 Lakeville St. ,(Alan Brody et al.) City Negotiating .Agent: Hargis. Negotiating ao Parties: City of ,Petaluma and Property Owners. Under Negotiation; Price and Terms of at Payment or Both. az REPORT ON .CLOSED SESSION February 22, 1999 Vo1.32, Page 435 g There was nothing to report out of closed session. z ADJ®UfltN s At the meeting was adjourned. At 9:55 p.m. a s 6 7 s E. Clark ompson, Mayor v ATTEST: io ii 12 /I is Patricia E. Bernard, City Clerk