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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/12/1970Pledge Roll Call Present: City Staff Present: MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA October 12, 1970 - 7:30 P.M. City Hall Emmons Blake, Myron Graham, Arthur F. Spring, Donald Q: Miller, kendeth E. Schwartz R. D. Young, Planning Director; R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer; J. H. Fitzpatrick, City Clerk; J. Stockton, Park and Recreation Supervisor; D. F. Romero, City Engineer 1. Mayor Schwartz explained that the 1970 County Development Association con- ference would be held on November 11, 1970 at Cal Poly. The conference would give cities and communities in the County of San Luis Obispo an opportunity to present their aims and goals for their future development with the theme of the conference to be "Tomorrow as.We See It Today ". The subject of aims and goals of the various cities and communities was picked by the representatives ' to the CDA for the guidance of the CDA for their 1970/71 program. As a starting point for a presentation by the City, Mayor Schwartz presented for the Counci-l's in- formation his letter of November 17, 1969 to John Evans, Chairman of the Planning Commission, listing what he felt were the City's goals. The Mayor continued that the original CDA program was to encourage and fostor the development of industry in the County but over the years, the CDA had branched out into the field of tourist promotion; therefore, the purpose of the conference was to attempt to bring to the directors and members of the CDA the aims and goals of the various areas of the County whether they were tourism, industry or recreation. Using his letter of November 17, 1969 as a start ing point,.he hoped that the Council could make some type of .statement of what it would -like San Luis Obispo to be. Councilman Spring felt that San Luis Obispo should support a tourist program. Councilman Blake felt that the goals developed in the letter to the Planning Commission and staff were excellent and agreed that tourism was a good source of revenue for the community but at this time he was disappointed that the advertising committee had not been allowed to continue its promotional activities. Councilman Graham disagreed with Councilman Blake's comment regarding advertising which he felt was poorly done as the City's advertising program had been used to advertise the County. He felt that the CDA should advertise the County areas and that the City tax money would be used to advertise the City and encourage payrolls to come to San Luis Obispo. He felt that the City advertising to date had only been to the benefit of the surrounding communities. Councilman Miller congratulated the Mayor on his letter of November 17, 1969 and concurred with the six conclusions arrived at in the letter. He agreed that the County should improve its recreational development and suggested that the City and County should develop trails throughout the County for horses and bicycles in order to attract visitors who enjoyed this type of recreation. He also felt that the City and County should encourage and exploit the growth of the excellent medical and health facilities in the City of San Luis Obispo. He also felt that the City should encourage elderly people tosettle in San Luis Obispo because of the weather and medical facilities, but felt that if many retired people did arrive then some sort of public transportation for their use would be needed. 1 1 4 City Council Minutes October 12, 1970 Page 2 Mayor Schwartz stated that he hoped the City Council would come up with some guidelines for the future of San Luis Obispo in order to advise the CDA in their future programs. He felt also that the priorities listed by him were still adequate, such as (1) trade and services development; (2) recreation and tourism; and (3) industrial development. He felt that one might not be any more important than any other but the City should concentrate on improving each phase. He asked the City Council if it could accept his letter of November 17, 1969 as a general guide for future development of San Luis Obispo and if he might make the presen- tation on behalf of the City. On motion of Councilman Blake, seconded by Councilman Graham, that the City Council accept the Mayor's letter of November 17, 1969, as a guide for presentation to the CDA conference to be presented by the Mayor. Motion carried. Mayor Schwartz invited all Council membe.rs and City staff members to attend the November 11 County Development Association conference at Cal Poly. 2. Communication from D. F. Romero, City Engineer, listing priorities for im- proving unpaved but travelled City streets and listing the improvements needed to bring them up to standard. He listed forty -two (42) streets within the City and recommended to the City Council that no City street funds be used to improve these streets but that assessment districts be formed where public interest showed a desire to participate. R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer, reported.to the City Council that past City policy had been that for street improvements, a minimum of 60% sign up of property owners was required prior to expending any funds by the City for the districts and that the City normally contributed 10% to existing unpaved streets. Mayor Schwartz suggested that rather than attempting to form a district involv- ing all forty -two streets, the staff try to get an informal feeling for streets number three through twelve and see if the property owners are interested in..a special assessment district. On motion of Councilman Miller, seconded by Councilman Blake, that the City Engineer try to get property owner reactions for priorities number three through twelve for possible formation of an assessment district. Motion carried. 3. D. F. Romero, City Engineer, presented alternative proposals for the develop- ment of Parking Lot.No. 12 with estimated cost. Councilman Spring felt that the lot would not be used and objected to the further spending of any public funds to develop this property. Councilman Blake agreed with Councilman Spring but felt since the City had spent the funds to buy the lot it should be improved and recommended that Plan A modified be adopted for development. .Mayor Schwartz felt use of the lot would improve due to the new developments brought about by the Mission Plaza .Phase I and II. He also felt that Plan.A modified should be accepted. Councilman Graham asked if daily parking were unseccessful could the lot be set' up for monthly rental as had been done in other parking lots. On motion of Councilman Graham, seconded by Mayor Schwartz, that the City Council accept Plan A modified and authorize preparation of plans and specifications. Motion carried with Counci_Imen Spring and Miller voting no. . 4. The following items were placed before the Council for discussion at the request of Councilman Donald Q. Miller. 4A. Discussion of dissolution of the Design Review Board. Councilman Miller felt that the Design Review Board was not an active committee and when an item was referred to the board, it took too long for the members to arrive at a recommendation or decision. One example he cited was a request that they look into a program for planting trees on the streets of a residential neighborhood and to date no report had been received. Z City Council Minutes October 12, 1970 Page 3 Councilman Graham felt the Design Review Board was an active committee and were meeting often enough to move ahead. He thought they were doing a good job and hoped that they would be continued by the Council. Mayor Schwartz briefed for the City Council the.purpose of the original appoint- ment of.the Design Review Board. He.stated that since being elected Mayor, he had worked closely with this Committee. The Committee was meeting twice a month and was doing an excellent job for.the City. He listed several of the projects accomplished or being worked on by that committee. He stated that he resented the criticism of a Council appointed committee as the various news media picked up this criticism without having all the facts and it did not encourage other citizens.to participate in City programs or projects. Councilman Miller stated at least one result of his criticism was the report that had just been presented by the Mayor. He felt if the Council was aware of what the committees were doing, they might be less subject to criticism. 4b. Councilman Miller brought to the Council's attention the matter of a recent FCC order for cable TV companies to carry service type programs on their cable and he hoped that the City Council would request time on the local cable for programming. H. Johnson, City Attorney, reported on the FCC order as follows: The deadline for Cable TV stations to initiate local programming has been extended from January 1, 1971 to April 1; 1971, according to information which has.been re= ceived by the City Attorney's office. Furthermore, the FCC order is vague as to what constitutes local programming (films appear to'qualify), and until the FCC guidelines are more firmly established it would be difficult to say how the order will affect the local cable TV operations. Councilman Miller also brought to the Council's attention.the matter of in- terruption.of service of programming on the educational channel from San Francisco so that certain baseball and football games could be shown to the citizens of San Luis Obispo. He felt there were enough sports presentations al.ready available without interrupting the one channel which presented programs of.an educational nature. Councilman Blake stated that the original cable franchise specifically was adopted with the condition that the City Council would not get into programing on the.cable but only into such areas as service, billing cost, etc'. Councilman Miller felt that the Council should request that the educational channel not be interrupted for sports events out of northern California. Councilman Spring felt that the City should not become involved. in programming or program content. Councilman Graham felt that the educational TV programs should not be inter- rupted for sports events unless they have been included in the logs for the period as many people subscribed to the educational channel programs and.then were un- able to see them due to interruptions. On motion of Councilman Blake, seconded by Councilman Spring, that the City Council reaffirm its policy that the City would not interfere in programming decisions on cable TV. Motion carried with Councilman Miller voting no. 4C. Councilman Miller felt that the City Council should review the open space program of the County as he did not feel that the supervisors were handling the program within the intent of the act. He felt that the action of the supervisors had shifted a.heavy tax burden from rural land owners to urban and city land owners.. He felt that due.to this - policy of the:supervisors, taxes on urban developments were increased. He further felt that because of the impact on cities and urban areas of the County, City representatives should be appointed as members of the committee. 0 City Council Minutes October 12, 1970 Page 4 Richard Willett, member of the Open Space Advisory Committee, agreed with the comments of Councilman Miller and stated that the program as adopted by the County of San Luis Obispo was not conforming to the original intent of the State legislation. He continued that if this program were carried out in its present direction, there would be a considerable impact onithe tax burden for City taxpayers due to.the shift from rural'to urban areas. He felt the impact would be most severely felt in the school districts in the County. He too suggested that representatives from the cities should . be included on the Open Space Committee: Joe Warnagieris, County Tax Assessor, stated that he agreed with the previous opinions although at this time the tax-shift from rural to urban-areas had been minimal due to the slow pace of the supervisors in implementing the act. He felt that the basic legislation to preserve prime lands was.good but that the impact of the tax 'shift could be disastrous to some school districts. He urged that the cities take action through their legislators to have the State pay in lieu taxes for any loss of taxes due to the agriculture preserves and also legislation to make funds available from the State from the new cattle tax which caused a tremendous loss of County revenue. Councilman Blake felt that the City should request that City representatives be place on the Open Space Advisory Committee. On motion of Councilman Miller, seconded by Councilman Graham, the following resolution was introduced. RESOLUTION NO. 2111,a resolution requesting addi= tional representation for incorporated cities on the County Open Space Advisory Committee. Passed and adopted on the following roll call vote: AYES: Emmons Blake, Myron Graham, Arthur F. Spring, Donald Q. Miller, Kenneth E. Schwartz NOES: None ABSENT: None On motion of Councilman Miller, seconded by Councilman Spring, that the City Council request the Mayor to represent the City at the October. 16 supervisors' meeting on open space to ask the supervisors to include (or add) at least two (2) members from the cities or urban areas to the committee. Motion carried. 4D. Councilman Miller asked the City Council to consider fostering a public transportation commission encompassing the City of San Luis Obispo and the surrounding areas. This public authority would plan, coordinate and build transportation facilities recognizing the inherent advantages of each mode of transportation as they related to the public convenience and necessity. Further, the City should invite and encourage the County and sister cities to join in the creation of this transportation commission. He continued that rather than discuss the matter at this time that the City Attorney be asked-'to contact federal agencies or review federal laws to see what programs were available to amke such a study and find out how large a region must be involved. On motion of Councilman Miller, seconded by Mayor Schwartz, that the City Council instruct the City Attorney to research what State and Federal laws are available to establish a public transportation commission. Motion carried with Councilman Blake voting no. ' 4E. Councilman Miller suggested that the City Council consider the purchase and development of land for housing in and around the City of San Luis Obispo. His plan suggested that the City purchase a large tract of land or several tracts, plan the land use, extend the necessary services and place the lots and utilities. After completion of the development by the City, the lots could be sold to private individuals at a fixed price for construction of'.:homes or blocks of lots could be sold to developers or contractors who would then build homes for sale. He urged that the City Council look into ways and means by which the City could finance - this program through the use of public funds. He then introduced Hal Bankston, real estate salesman who presented details of the proposal . City Council Minutes October 12, 1970 . Page 10 5 Hal Bankston stated that there was a real need in San Luis Obispo and the sur- rounding area for housing but the problem was not entirely local, it existed nation -wide. He felt that there was a need for housing with fewer refinements and lower standards but which provided adequate housing for the lower income citizens of the commun.i:ty.. He felt that the local problem in housing develop- ment were the lack of.reasonably priced lots, the high cost of development, restrictive zoning laws, high.cost of City requirements such.-as streets, curbs, gutters, sidewalks,.utilities,.etc: Further;-he felt that most houses being built in the City were being built to a high standard and quality for a very limited market. He felt that the City's inspection standars for construction were too rigid.. He felt that the City could purchase raw land in the area of San Luis Obipso, do the necessary subdividing including all improvements and then make the lots.available to individuals or developers at cost. He made this statement in the belief that the City could borrow money more cheaply than a private:party. He then gave development cost figures for a possible 600 dome development outside the City of San Luis Obispo: Councilman Graham stated that this approach was interesting.and hoped that the Council would not turn it down without further study. Councilman Miller urged the Council to pursue the subject.in an attempt to•en- courage housing development in the City of San Luis Obispo. He also asked the Council to have the City Attorney check to see if this approach was legal and to see if short term funds were available from State or Federal sources so that the program could be accomplished. Bill Vrooman, real estate appraiser, suggested that the Council, in order to control the purchase price on a City developed tract of land, lease the land to the developers and the City reap the advantage in the increases in value. He also felt that the City should look into the proposal as it ha& some interesting concepts. Bill Clark, 633 Funston Avenue, stated that he had just purchased a home but that if his City and County taxes increased any more, he would just have to let the house go and lose any benefits he had. He hoped that this proposed program of the City going into the development business would not raise his taxes to benefit someone else. Councilman Graham felt that the City staff should look into the proposal and bring back a report for further consideration. R. D. Miller.:asked the Council to realize that in attempting to get information from the Federal government on various programs, there were long delays usually. On motion of Councilman Miller, seconded by Councilman Graham, that the City Attorney be requested to. research this proposal and see what programs were available for its implementation and further see if.the program were legal. Motion carried. Further discussion items involving a flood plain zoning and water and sewer assessment districts for Los Osos Valley were continued to future study sessions. The meeting adjourned at 10:15 P.M. APPROVED: November 16, 1970 T RICK, CITY CLERK 1