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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/14/1981M I N U T E S CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO TUESDAY, JULY 14, 1981 - 7:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, 990 PALM STREET SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA Roll Call Councilmembers Present: GlennaDeane Dovey, Ron Dunin, Mayor Melanie C. Billig Absent: Alan Bond, Allen Settle City Staff Present: Lee Walton, Administrative Officer; Pamela Voges, City Clerk; Henry Engen, Community Development Director; Terry Sanville, Senior Planner; Wayne Peterson, City Engineer; and D.F. Romero, Public Services Director 1. Reported Activities by Council Subcommittees: A. Council of Governments Councilwoman Dovey stated that the Council of Governments would be considering the issue of transferring two employees now working as staff members to COG from contract to full -time permanent County employees with appropriate benefits. Mayor Billig stated that at the Mayor's meeting, comments were made to indicate that COG was becoming just another layer of government. She felt that if the cities did their homework and they came prepared to the COG meetings, then COG would continue to be effective. Councilman Dunin was concerned that the state - submitted housing proposal would become a mandate for the cities to comply with. He opposed the County hiring of the two contract employees. Wayne Peterson, City Engineer, stated that the County Planning Director originally directed these two staff members. When the program was first started, it was decided to go contract so that if COG continued to grow, it could do so without the direct approval of each of the cities. B. C.C.C.J.C. Councilman Bond - No report. Councilman Bond absent. C. County Water Advisory Committee Mayor Billig stated that no meeting had taken place in the last month. D. North Coastal Transportation Councilman Settle - No report, Councilman Settle absent. E. Parking Committee Councilman Dunin stated he had been unable to attend and Wayne Peterson would report. Wayne Peterson, City Engineer, stated that the committee had been meeting on a regular basis. The committee was discussing changing proposed boundaries to possibly only include the C.C. zone, as much of those properties outside of the C.C. zone are already offices and have parking available. F. Whale Rock Committee Mayor Billig stated that the fishing program was dedicated on June 26th. At the meeting held after the dedication, the Commission approved the budget as sub- mitted to the City Council and as approved by the Council. She stated motions passed to allow for a new SAFE Annual Yield Study to be made. Until this Annual Yield Study is accepted, the Whale Rock Commission reaffirmed its position with regard to accepting the allotments that the Commission has used since 1974. This would give the Men's Colony an allotment of 411 acre feet. If in the future City Council Minutes July 14, 1981 - 7:00 p.m. Page Two the Men's Colony needs additional water, they must come to the Commission for approval and will also be required to pay for it. G. Zone 9 Councilman Dunin. Wayne Peterson, City Engineer, reported that in the past Zone 9 was concerned with basically cleaning up the creeks and last year they did some actual improvements. Two projects have been submitted for possible projects to do this spring: 1) Old garden creek south of Foothill Boulevard where there is an erosion problem; 2) Golf course to place the additional rip - rap. The C.C.C. will contribute the labor, Zone 9 the material. Ken Haggard, representing the Ad Hoc Committee for Good Balanced Transportation, presented a slide presentation and outlined it as he went through. He felt there were three primary aspects that had not been addressed by the Circulation Element: 1. Transportation was not related to land use. 2. Mode inconsistencies. 3. Lack of mitigation efforts. With regard to Item 1, transportation unrelated to land use, he felt that it is necessary to make a neighborhood cohesive. In order to do that, you have to take under consideration the size, facilities and residential scaled streets. With regard to mode inconsistencies, he showed by comparing 16 projects, in comparing this with the use of an automobile, bus, motorcycle, moped or bicycle, how the automobile used the most energy, parking spaces and noise by an over- whelmingly large margin. Don Cutler continued with the presentation and explained the potential for using alternative methods of transportation. He and Mr. Haggard had made studies regarding buses and bicycles. They would propose that the bus routes are fine as is, but if they were more convenient, it would increase ridership. They would like to see buses making stops every 15 minutes. Additionally, he would like to see a computer system to be established in the morning and in the evening, getting the working people and the students. He stated that nearly 50% of the people working downtown also park downtown; in fact, more than one - half of these people live within 3 miles from the downtown area. He felt that if this option were utilized, it could eliminate the need for the parking structure downtown. He continued that he felt the need for a comprehensive bicycle plan be estab- lished.. He felt it was a viable mode.of transportation, the city was'small enough, and because it had Cal Poly, it had the riders. He explained the three different bicycle paths available: a. Path to be used by the bicycles only. b. Separated bicycle paths. c. Unseparated bicycle paths. 2. Circulation Element Terry Sanville, Senior Planner, stated that during the first quarter of 1980 and again in January through June, 1981, the Planning Commission reviewed the Draft Circulation Element. Public hearing on June 3, 1981, the Commission terminated its review of the Element and the Draft Environmental Impact.Report. The Commission has forwarded the Draft Circulation Element, its EIR and all comments and recommendations to the City Council. He then outlined the history and background of the Circulation Element Plan. 1. In 1976 the Planning Commission studied a new Circulation Element that was part of the 1977 General Plan package. This summary element was for- warded to the City Council along with 10 other elements. The staff recommended that before the Council adopted the Circulation Element, additional traffic' studies should be undertaken. The Council authorized the staff to hire a con- sultant to study the proposals made in the Draft Circulation Element, mostly street projects. City Council Minutes July 14, 1981 - 7:00 p.m. Page Three 2. The city hired Wilbur Smith to analyze the city's street system and make specific recommendations for changes. This report came in May of 1979. The report included specific recommendations for changing the community street system. It did not address other types of transportation in any detail. 3. The Planning staff prepared a Draft Circulation Element which was published in September, 1979. The Element contained a section on streets, the in -town bus system, the regional bus system, traffic management, ride sharing, bicycles, truck transportation, air transportation, and rail transportation. Many of the street projects listed in the Draft Element were also recommended by the traffic consultant. 4. The city hired Larry Seeman to prepare a draft and final EIR. The EIR focuses on the environmental consequences of the 17 major street projects listed in the Draft-Element. The draft EIR was published in January, 1980, and a 45 -day public review period was set. During the public review process, the Community Development Department received a lengthy critique of the draft EIR from Dave Romero, Public Services Director. The city staff, with help from the EIR consultant, prepared written responses to Mr. Romero's comments. These were published in June, 1981. 5. The Planning Commission held its final meeting to discuss the Cir- culation Element on June 3rd, 1981. The Commission felt that since the membership would probably be changing as of July 1, 1981, it was appropriate to forward the Element, along with all recommendations and comments to date, to the City Council. The Circulation Element could be sent back to the Commission with policy directions for further work if the Council felt it was necessary. The Planning Commission reviewed a Discussion Guide prepared by staff. The Discussion Guide outlined all of the major concerns identified by the public and the Commission. The Planning Commission completed the specific recommendations for about half of the items listed in the Discussion Guide. The Commission did not resolve the issues relating to the parts of the Draft Element that talk about streets, truck, rail, or air transportation. He continued that two areas of possible heavy criticism would be: 1) the Santa Barbara street /Santa Rosa street connection; 2) the Transportation Work Program. He urged the Council to set several forthcoming study sessions to resolve the key issues and make recommendations and suggested that the Council use the Planning Commission and staff report as outlined. The staff would then make changes and if the EIR needed to be redone, they would do so and then hold public hearings. Mayor Billig stated that tonight's meeting was for the primary purpose of re- ceiving public input and that the Council would make no decisions tonight. Nancy Culver, representing bikers in her neighborhood, stated that more people were turning from motor driven vehicles to bikes and that the city-should support alternative modes of transportation. She would especially support the use of separated bike lanes. Walter Rogers, San Luis Obispo, stated that in the present Circulation Element, there were several modes of transportation outlined. He felt there needed to be a balanced form of transportation and until all projects had been outlined and relationships identified, the city should not go forth. All of these issues should be addressed prior to any projects.being started. He also continued that truck transportation should be addressed. He felt that ' with more rigid signing for the truckers, it would avoid their taking the wrong off - ramps. Ken Haggard stated that they had also prepared several studies on noise ratings. He showed how the noise level could be dropped considerably by using berm walls on several of the main streets. Councilwoman Dovey questioned whether the separated bike paths could also be used for pedestrian use. Ken Haggard answered that they could, as well as mopeds, they would be far safer on the paths as opposed to on the streets. City Council Minutes July 14, 1981 - 7:00 p.m. Page Four Peg Pinard felt that the Circulation Element was still very lacking. She felt it should outline where the city wants its traffic to go. It addresses only how much the streets can handle, not the desirability. She was concerned that neighborhoods become involved. She does not feel the plan recognizes land use. She would like to see traffic and accessibility where the streets are, not in the neighborhoods. She cannot support funneling traffic down Buchon Street. This is a neighborhood district and should be treated as such. Circulation and zoning can destroy it. Why should their neighborhood be destroyed by new neighborhoods not even built yet? She feels the freeway should be looked at more closely for utilization, as the State maintains it, as opposed to using city streets. Wayne Williams, Treasurer of the San Luis Obispo Bicycling Club, stated that one item agreed upon by the club members was that there is some connotation to discourage the use of the automobile in the downtown area. Club members would encourage people to use other modes of transportation, but they do not feel that the automobile should be discouraged or obstruct its use in the downtown area. They would oppose separated bikeways. They feel this is much more dangerous than a path striped on the street. Penny Rappa, Broad Street, addressed the truck route issue. She felt a good analysis must be made for the mass transportation system. She hoped the Council would address the Right of Way Plan line on Broad street with regard to truckers. Don Smith felt the plan should put more emphasis on car pooling. He felt we are subsidizing the bus system; however, if we were to give more incentive to car pooling, this could be made a viable use. Dave Romero, Public Services Director, stated that he still had several problems with the Circulation Element as presented. He felt that it was extremely con- fusing to have three documents in which to follow. He stated that motorists are interested in getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible. He felt this is a real philosophy issue which needs to be addressed. Do we wish to widen streets and put the traffic on the main thoroughfares or spread them out on all the little streets? Wayne Peterson, City Engineer, stated he had written a four page memo on the philosophy of the Circulation Plan questioning what the Council wanted the neighborhoods to look like and what were their goals. He urged that before the Council gets into the nuts and bolts, they would address the basic philosophy so that the Community Development Department and Engineering can work together. He agreed with Mr. Williams and would oppose separated bike paths, as he also felt they were too dangerous. He would support street striping instead. He also could not support additional routes for the bus system, as he felt that although it was a good idea, the city simply did not have the money to support it. He would encourage car pooling by providing parking incentives in the downtown area. Terry Sanville, Senior Planner, stated that he would like to get a concise idea from the Council before trying to combine those thoughts with the Planning Commission ideas on the original draft. Henry Engen, Community Development Director, stated it would be simpler if the Land Use issue was addressed first, with regard to using the freeway as an arterial street. He felt that CalTrans would strongly oppose this. He would like to get policy calls /from the Council. A a Mayor Billig asked the Council to develop a philosophy and decide how they intend to implement it. She would like the Council to focus on pages 31 - 34 of the report. She felt this is an important planning tool and that the Council needed to decide how it will affect the city say 20 years down the line. She would hope that after receiving tonight's public input, the Council could develop clear direction for staff. Councilman Dunin asked that any public who had concerns check with staff before their next meeting. 1 1 City Council Minutes July 14, 1981 - 7:00 p.m. Page Five There being no further business to come before the City Council, Mayor Billig adjourned the meeting at 9:40 p.m. to Tuesday, July 21st, 1981, 7:00 p.m. Pamela Voges, Acting City Clerk APPROVED BY COUNCIL ONr «. 'I C�s�crC�r y✓ 8/4/81 By Olivia Grande, Recording Secretary M I N U T E S REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO TUESDAY, JULY 21, 1981 - 7:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, 990 PALM STREET Invocation by Rev. Dan Krume, Reis Church Roll Call Councilmembers Present: Alan Bond, GlennaDeane Dovey, Ron Dunin, Allen Settle and Melanie C. Billig Absent: None City Staff Present: Lee Walton, Administrative Officer; Pam Voges, City Clerk; Henry Engen, Community Development Director; Wayne Peterson, City Engineer; Rudy Muravez, Finance Director; Geoff Grote, Legal Assistant; Jim Stockton, Parks Director; Roger Neuman, Police Chief; Dave Romero, Public Services Director Consent Items C -1. Council Minutes. On motion of Councilman Dunin, seconded by Councilman Settle, the following Council minutes were approved as amended: June 16, 1981 - 7:00 p.m. June 17, 1981 - 12:10 p.m. June 19, 1981 - 12:10 p.m. June 22, 1981 - 12:10 p.m. June 23, 1981 - 12:10 p.m. July 6, 1981 - 12:10 p.m. July 7, 1981 - 7:00 p.m. July 10, 1981 - 1:30 p.m. Motion carried, all ayes. C -2. Appropriations Limit for 1981 -1982 Council considered establishing the appropriations limit for fiscal year 1981 -1982. On motion of Councilman Settle, seconded by Councilman Bond, the following reso- lution was introduced: Resolution No. 4548 (1981 Series) a resolution of the City Council, of the City of San Luis Obispo adopting the appropriations limit for the 1981 -1982 fiscal year pursuant to the California Constitution and Government Code. Passed and adopted on the following roll call vote: