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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/04/1979City Council Minutes June 4, 1979 - 12:10 p.m. Page 2 been ample opportunity to make a final decision on issuance of the permit. He stated that the city had never had any experience with an event of this magni- tude in its history; in fact, the largest group the city had ever had to deal with was approximately 300 -400 people. He felt there were several conditions which would have to be met with such as: 1) the number of persons attending the event would be limited to the theoretical capacity of the park; 2) suffi- cient insurance be provided to protect the city from any lawsuits that might result from the rally; 3) an adequate bond be posted to insure the cleanup and ' restoration of the park; 4) additional sanitation facilities be provided off - site but not in adjoining residential neighborhoods. The city had not established specific guidelines as to park capacity however, Laguna Lake had_a potential use area of about 35 acres or approximately 8,000 persons. The Abalone Alliance indicated an expected turnout of from 15,000- 25,000, however, he felt it could go as high as 30,000. By general consensus, the City Council agreed to hear from the Abalone Alliance. Pam Metcalf, representing Abalone Alliance, spoke in support of several concerns brought up by the Council. She stated that the rally would be an orderly demon- stration opposing the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant operating license. She felt.that although many big name entertainers would be on the program that the tone of the day would not be a rock concert but rather a political rally. They had already gotten approval from the Health Department to have at least 50 chem- ical toilets brought in, there would be hundreds of trained peace keepers to keep constant vigile over the crowds, the sound system would also be used to remind people to use the trash bins that would be available (they had already made arrangements with the San Luis Garbage Company and the Recycling Center), nurses would be available and a full time parking oordinator was working to get parking lots available so that people could be bused or shuttled to the rally site. San Luis Transportation had already donated a bus for use that date. They were pushing to get people to take the bus, car pool, etc., in an effort to keep the cars to a minimum. ' She continued that recent rallies had been held in San Francisco (approximately 35,000 persons) and Washington, D.C. (100,000 persons) and there had been no serious problems as the people behaved in an orderly way and she could not forsee any difference with this rally. She stressed that the people she felt would be attracted would'be anti - nuclear persons, not rock groups. No drugs or alcohol would be allowed and this would be strictly enforced. There would be food booths around. - — Councilman Jorgensen stated he was impressed with the efforts put forth by the group to get their program going. He was well aware of their attempts to get county property, namely E1 Chorro Park, which would be more desirable from both the city's point of view and the Abalone Alliance, however, he was concerned that the Laguna Lake Park was simply not able to handle the amount of people that this rally would attract. Councilman Bond agreed with Councilman Jorgensen's comments and stated that the crowd at the rally would be equivalent with the entire city's population which he felt was simply too much for the Laguna Lake Park to handle adequately. As time'was drawing near he hoped the Council could give some direction to the group today so that they would have an opportunity to look elsewhere if the Laguna site was denied. He still favored the E1 Chorro Park site. Upon question; Jim Stockton, Director of Parks & Recreation, stated that he had only received the permit application late Friday afternoon and had only made preliminary findings at this time as to whether the Abalone Alliance could meet the necessary conditions still to be established. He stated he could make a full report to the Council by Friday noon. By general consensus, the City Council continued the matter to Friday, June 8, 1979, at 12:10 p.m., for report from the Park and Recreation Director. 2. The City Council considered a memo from the Planning Commission forward- ing without recommendation a request from the Old Town Neighborhood Association that the City initiate a rezoning from R -3 to R -2 of that property on both sides of Pismo Street from Beach Street to Broad Street.. City Council Minutes June 4, 1979 - 12:10 p.m. Page 3 Penny Rappa, President of Old Town Neighborhood Association, submitted a letter to the Planning Commission asking that they initiate rezoning both sides of Pismo Street from Beach Street to Broad Street. She continued that this request was caused by the proposed use of 649 Pismo Street by Sigma Kappa Sorority. She continued that during the hearings on the proposed sorority use of 649 Pismo Street, many of the neighbors objected to this more dense use of the land as they viewed their neighborhood as a single family use and not multiple use area. Therefore, she asked that in the interest of "Neighborhood Compatibility" that the city initiate the rezoning from R -3 (multiple high dwelling) to R- 2'(medium density) land use. Henry Engen, stated that the Planning Commission did not view the letter from O.T.N.A. as a formal rezoning request but just a communication and therefore referred it on to the City Council without recommendation, leaving it up to the Council whether to accept the request and initiate the rezoning or not. He stated that'the staff recommended that somebody should initiate rezoning to R -2 for immediate consideration with a General Plan change to be made in September. He concluded that R -2 was always the staff's recommendation but that the Council, during the General Plan Land Use Hearing, left it at R -3. Penny Rappa and Peg Pinard, representing the Old Town Neighborhood Association, spoke in support of their request for the city to initiate the rezoning of Pismo Street. It was their feeling that this proposal by their association was to preserve the integrity of the older developed areas of the city. Finally, Ms. Rappa stated she felt that O.T.N.A. was a semi - official arm of the city government in preserving neighborhoods and that on that basis the City Council should initiate the rezoning waiving all fees, etc. The City Council discussed the request of the O.T.N.A. in light of other groups in the city actively requesting zoning changes. While the majority of the Council did not object to holding a public hearing or changing the zone from R -3 to R -2, the majority was not sure if it were proper for the City Council to do so. On motion of Councilman Jorgensen, seconded by Councilwoman Billig, that the City Council initiate a rezoning from R -3 to R -2 of both sides of Pismo Street between Beach Street and Broad Street. Motion lost on the.fol- lowing roll call vote: AYES: Councilmembers Billig and Jorgensen - NOES: Councilmembers Bond, Dunin and Mayor Cooper. 3. The City Council reviewed the following Assembly and Senate bills affecting the cities of California: Council Bill No. Subject Action SB 174 Makes $35 million available over three years to Support cities for urban park funding. AB 227 Bailout reserve language cleanup. Support . SB 246 Limitation`s on' -fees and charges. Oppose SB 462 Preemption of city control of sign boards & other signs Oppose AB 699 Rate of Regulation of CATV Oppose SB 705 Initiation and funding of County =wide HRC's Support AB 853 Vested rights for land developers N/A SB 858 League sponsored, employee /employer relations Support SB 888 Compulsory and binding arbitration Oppose AB 1167 Inverse condemnation apportionment of damage Support AB 1233 City election by district based on racial percentage• N/A AB 1519 State project appeal board Oppose AB 1802 City recall procedure N/A ACR 51 Task force on city government fiscal information Support , Action on each taken by consensus vote. City Clerk was directed to notify legis- lative representatives of Council action on pending bills. 4. There being no further business to come before the Council, Mayor Cooper adjourned the meeting at 1:45 p.m., to 4:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 5, 1979. Approved by Council on 7/3/79 Fitzpatrick, City Clerk