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