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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/09/1970Pledge ' Roll Call Present: City Staff 1 MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA NOVEMBER 9, 1970 - 7:30 P. M. CITY HALL Councilmen Blake, Graham, Miller, Spring and Mayor Schwartz Present: J. H. Fitzpatrick, City Clerk; R, D. Miller, Administrative Officer; H. Johnson, City Attorney; J. .Stockton, Recreation Supervisor; D. F. Romero, City Engineer; E. P. Thompson, Water Director Planning Commission Present: John Evans, Marvin Dee, John C. Brown, Herbert Franklin, Laverne Schneider, Francis McNamara The City Council and Planning Commission met in joint session to discuss problems of mutual concern. 1. The City Council and Planning Commission.discussed the best use of the ser- vices of a planning consultant to be retained by the Planning Commission in accordance with budgetary provisions made by the City Council., It was the Council's feeling during the 1970/71 budget preparation.that it might be to the Planning Commission's advantage to retain a planning consultant to make special studies which were needed by the Planning Commission and which the Planning staff had been too busy with other work-to complete. The League of Women Voters presented a letter urging that-the City Council and Planning-Commission proceed post haste with the retaining of a planning consul- tant so that the necessary studies required for adequate housing in San Luis Obispo might proceed. The League of.Women Voters' letter continued that the program for community improvements was being.held.up due to the lack of neces- sary studies needed for analysis and for application of Federal.support to the program and the League of Women Voters urged the Council to proceed with these planning matters. Bert Franklin, Planning Commissioner, felt that the greatest need was for the .updating of the general plan for advance planning and a rewrite of a new zoning ordinance for the City by consolidating all. the changes made into a -more workable document. Chairman Evans of the Planning Commission agreed that one of the most important documents needed by the Planning Commission was an.updated. zoning ordinance that would be easier to handle by the Commission. He continued he originally felt . what was needed was an addition-ato.the Planning Department staff but after attending several conferences, particularly the League,of California Cities Conference, he agreed that the job could best-be handled by a consultant. Councilman Blake felt that.the City had excellent.results in the hiring.of plan- ' ning consultants in the past and felt'there were many good individuals.who would be most happy to do the City's work. Mayor Schwartz felt the general plan review was in-good shape as the Planning Commission had been keeping on top of it but.he felt the main need was a complete rewrite of the zoning ordinance in order to give the Planning Commission and City Council better tools to work with. Councilman Spring wondered what the City would get from a consultant for $6,000. City Council Minutes November 9, 1970 Page 2 Mayor Schwartz explained he felt the updating of the zoning ordinance particularly in the mobile home regulations, the light industry zones, the.planned development section and the regulations for heavy commercial and mixed zones were a definite need and felt that a consultant could bring vast experience from other•.areas to make the necessary recommendations to the City Council. Chairman Evans of.the Planning Commission did not feel that $6,000 would be enough to get the job done. Mayor Schwartz felt that once the Planning Commission and City Council had out- lined what they wanted done by the consultant, they could then ask several consultants to appear before the Planning Commission /City Council committee and they could then see what the job would cost. Councilman Miller was opposed to the hiring of a planning consultant as he-felt the City'Council and Planning.Commission.should hire local people to do the leg work and then have.the City Council make the final decision on the ordinance. He-was opposed to bringing in a so- called out of town expert. Councilman Graham felt there were many areas in the development of a City where a consultant would.be a great help to the Planning Commission. Councilman Miller felt that:the City Council could make whatever decisions were necessary for the proper growth of the.City. R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer, commented on the addition of staff to the Planning Department as follows: If.you hired a consultant, you could specify that certain work be performed within a definite time limit. After that, the con- sultant could be dismissed. If permanent staff were added, the cost would go on and on, and there was no assurance,particularly based on past experience, that the new staff.could isolate-themselves and get the desired-work done. Further- more, it was doubtful that staff would bring to the City the breadth of experience that a good consultant would. Chairman Evans favored the retaining of a consultant for the main reason that the person could bring new and fresh ideas to the community from experiments outside the City. The Planning Commission was asked to prepare the necessary items they wished covered by a consultant so a Planning-Commission/City Council committee could invite planning consultants to make presentations for the work. 2. The'City'Couricil ' And -- Planning7Commission discussed the recommendation of the Planning Commission to amend the zoning ordinance by adding a special "T" Mobile Home Park Zone.. R. Young, Planning Director, stated there was a need for a mobile home park zone to provide for accommodation of residential trailers in the City and further felt that mobile home parks or trailer courts should be.deleted as a permitted use in the R -4, R -H, R -0 and R =C districts. He continued that the proposed "T" zone provided for the development standards intended to insure that future mobile home parks would be compatible with adjacent development and the neighborhood in which they were located. He then reviewed briefly the various'conditions and requirements for mobile home park zones. Mayor Schwartz suggested that the Planning Commission /City Council take no action o1i the recommendedi' "T ".zone.pending the retaining of a consultant to review the entire zoning ordinance.. The City Council and Planning Commission then discussed the possibility of a separate mobile home park section in the zoning ordinance. Chairman Evans agreed with Mayor Schwartz that the matter should be continued so that the.planning consultant could look into it.. 1 1 City Council Minutes November 9, 1970 Page 3 3. The City Council and Planning Commission discussed the recommended amendment to the zoning ordinance to reduce area requirements for, condominiums from 36,000 square feet to 6,000 square feet. The Planning Commission stated that the reason for the request was that there were areas in the City with existing 6,000 square foot lots that could be developed with a small condominium but due to the present zoning requirements, it was impossible to do so. After discussion, the matter was set for public hearing by the City. Council for December 7,'1970. 4. The City Council and Planning Commission discussed the recommendation of the Commission to amend the zoning ordinance-.to.reduce side and.-rear yard setbacks in the R -3, R -4, $ -C, R -H and R= O'zones to allow major windows within five feet of the side and rear property lines when no buildings on adjoining lots were within five feet of the property line. The Planning'Commission-'s reason for this recommendation was in the high density zones.large.areas -of•land were unused due to the side setbacks required and it was the Commission's feeling-that if the setback were reduced'-to minimum either additional dwelling units would be pro - vided'or additional parking or open space would be provided the-tenants. The matter was referred to the Planning Director to rewrite and simplify the language. 5. The City Council and the Planning Commission discussed the letter from the Chairman of the Design Review.Board to the County Planning Director recommending that the County commence the necessary proceedings to amortize.all non - conforming advertising structures along Highway 101 from Cuesta to the northerly city limits. Chairman Evans stated that the Planning-Commission supported the efforts of the Design Review Board to see if many'of the billboards along 101 north of San Luis Obispo could be removed. The City Council authorized-the-Mayor to iirite.a letter:to the County Planning Director concurring in the request of. the Design Review Board. 6. The City Council and the Planning Commission discussed amending the Major Streets and Highways Plan regarding the South Street ro Woodbridge. connection. Chairman Evans stated that the Planning Commission had gone.on record-supporting alternate D, the South Street connection for Madonna Road through to Bishop Street. D. F. Romero, City Engineer, reviewed for the Planning Commission and City Council, the five alternates prepared by his office to handle the connection from 101 to Johnson Avenue via either South Street, Woodbridge Street or combinations thereof. He also presented cost estimates for the proposed construction and acquisition of the necessary right of way for each.route.. After discussion, it was moved by Councilman Blake, seconded':by Councilman Miller, that the City Council set a public hearing to amend the Streets and Highways Plan to accept plan D as recommended by-the Planning Commission. 7. Felton Ferrini, developer, appeared before the City Council presenting a tentative map of Tract No. 405 that he proposed to develop but'felt that before he could proceed there were several policy decisions he would need from the City Council. The following were presented by Felton Ferrini: a.) He requested .a variance from the-standard street section to allow a four foot sidewalk width rattier than the normal six feet., b.) He asked for variance from the usual City policy on the water system as-he would be required to run an eight in. cast.iron water main from the upper Ferrini Heights to Clover Street and the boundary of Tract 405. He requested that the City Council waive the acreage fee for water service on Tract 405 based primarily on his previous contributions to the City water system-in his other subdivisions.. He asked a waiver on 20.4 acres or $6,973. He stated that for this waiver he would trade the eight inch line from the nearest point of adequate service which was City Council Minutes November 9, 1970 Page 4 located on Oakridge Drive. He based his request on the fact of economic hardship as the subdivisions were becoming much more expensive to develop and the cost was prohibitive due to the high level of improvements required by the City. c.) ;He requested a variance from the requirement of paving or gunniting the drainage ditch through Tract.405 as the cost of $20 per foot for 600 feet .would prohibit the development.of the subdivision if it were necessary that he improve the drainage channel. d.) He also asked that the'City Council grant him the right to delete the tree requirement on each lot in Tract 405 and also relieve him of the need to deposit the $1.00 per foot for the City to plant the trees as there were approximately 8,000 lineal feet of frontage and.that requirement would be.a hardship and another item that would forestall the development of this tract.. , He continued that with the eliminations or variances requested, the lot cost would still be in the neighborhood of $8,500 and he did not feel there was a market for lots any higher in cost. e.) He requested that the-City Council,and Planning-Commission give him.con- sideration on zoning on his property adjacent to the Cal Poly property.when and if Cal Poly developed high-density apartments on their property._ He felt that he should receive some high.density zoning.on property adjacent to.the Cal Poly property if they developed three story high rise apartments as this would kill any development he would have for single family dwellings. He stated he was asking the City Council and Planning Commission for these . exceptions and variances on the basis.that.the new City subdivision requirements had made the cost of development of the off -site improvements completely out of line with potential selling cost. He.gave an example of the recently adopted street paving requirements, the larger pipe.sizes for water, the fact that.all water must now be in cast iron pipe, increased sidewalk requirements, etc. He continued that he felt the special request by him for.exceptions to City regulations would not harm the City but would allow the tract to be built and lots to be available for development and the only loss to the City would be the charges they would not collect. . . Mavor Schwartz did not feel that he could even answer,questions brought.up by Mr. Ferrini as it was the first time he had heard the proposal.and would need time to look into the effect and ramifications of the requested variances. H. Johnson, City Attorney, stated that there.was no way the Council could waive the water acreage charge fee without changing the existing ordinance dealing with the charges. Felton Ferrini did not care how.the City handled the matter of waiving the fee or he would pay the fee and the City could contribute money toward the water line.,. He continued that due to the high cost.of development-in San Luis Obispo, he must get these policy decisions now from the.Planning Commission and City Council because if he did not receive the exceptions, he-would not go along with the development of the tract due to the cost. Mayor Schwartz felt that the City Council should consider the request so that the Planning Commission could know and react to the five requests so they might proceed with the tract approval. The matter was continued for Council.discussion. 8. The City Council and Planning Commission discussed with the City staff the possible adoption of a flood plain zoning ordinance to prevent development..in any potential flood area such as the upper Laguna Lake area. The need for.such an ordinance was obvious to avoid permitting construction of residences, etc. in a potential flood situation and the-staff was requested to continue.its studies in cooperation with the County to alleviate flooding.problems. C 1 City Council Minutes November 9, 1970 Page 5 9. Councilman Spring reported on behalf of the -C ouncil.Christmas lighting committee (Councilmen Graham and..Spring) stating that they had .again met with representatives of the decorating company and Chamber of Commerce and that only three entrances would now be decorated: Marsh and Higuera, Santa Rosa and Walnut, and Monterey and.Andrews at a cost of $650.. On motion of Councilman Spring, seconded.by Councilman Blake, that the City Council accept the recommendation of the Committee.,for ,$650 for the three intersections plus the $750 previously allotted to the Chamber of Commerce for Christmas lighting.. Motion carried with.Counc£3man- Miller voting no. 10. On motion of Councilman Blake, seconded.by Councilman Graham, the meeting adjourned to 7:30 P.M. Thursday,.November 12, 1970. APPROVED: December 21, 1970 PATRICK, CITY CLERK