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M08-18-10P a g e 1 MINUTES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING AUGUST 18, 2010 The Town Council of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Special Meeting on Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at 5:00 P.M. TOWN COUNCIL/PARKING AUTHORITY/REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 6:00 P.M. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Diane McNutt, Vice Mayor Joe Pirzynski, Council Member Steve Rice, Council Member Barbara Spector, and Council Member Mike Wasserman. Absent: None. CLOSED SESSION REPORT (Government Code Section 54957.6) Town Negotiators (Lead): Rumi Portillo, Human Resources Director/ Greg Larson, Town Manager Employee Organizations: Town Employees Association (TEA) American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees - Local No. 101 (AFSCME) Police Officers Association (POA) Confidential Employees Management Employees Mr. Martello stated that direction was given and no reportable action was taken. TOWN COUNCIL COUNCIL/TOWN MANAGER REPORTS Council Matters  There were no Council Matters for this meeting. Manager Matters  There were no Manager Matters for this meeting. P a g e 2 CONSENT ITEMS (TO BE ACTED UPON BY A SINGLE MOTION) 1. Accept 2009-10 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury Report "Cities Must Rein in Unsustainable Employee Costs" 2. Planned Development PD-08-004; and Environmental Impact Report EIR-09- 01; Property location: 15881 Linda Avenue and 15950 Stephenie Lane. Property Owner/Applicant: Mission Way Partner (Continued to 9/7/2010) MOTION: Motion by Vice Mayor Joe Pirzynski to approve Consent Items #1 and #2. Seconded by Council Member Mike Wasserman. VOTE: Motion passed unanimously. VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS  Open/Closed Verbal Communications TOWN COUNCIL 3. Consider adoption of Draft Los Gatos 2020 General Plan and Certification of the Environmental Impact Report on the Draft Los Gatos 2020 General Plan Update (Continued from 8/2/10 and 8/16/10) Staff report made by Wendie Rooney, Director of Community Development. ENV10 - Policy ENV-1.4 Council Comments  Commented that the intent is to keep off-road vehicles and bicycles on dedicated trails.  Consensus to direct staff to refine the wording. ENV-13 - Policy ENV-4.1 Council Comments  Commented that the word "shall" offers more protection over the word "should."  Commented that Policy 4.1 and Policy 4.5 seem to be the same. Ms. Rooney  Commented that staff's recommendation is to combine policies 4.1 and 4.5 to include both private developments and public projects. Council Comments  Consensus to combine the policies, refine wording, and keep the word "shall." P a g e 3 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued ENV-13 - Policy ENV-3.5 Council Comments  Expressed concerns that the policy reads as a very open-ended commitment to do a lot of planting, which might not be the intent. Mr. Capurso  Commented that the intent is not to make any commitment to a certain amount of planting, but only when development happens along riparian areas and hillsides and opportunities arise. Council Comments  Consensus to direct staff to refine the wording. ENV-14 - Policy ENV-4.8 Council comments  Commented that the wording is too restrictive regarding relocation of nests. Ms. Rooney  Commented that staff can define the policy even further by adding wording that lists different categories for endangered species and/or add to the end of the policy "unless an approved mitigation plan is implemented." Council Comments  Consensus to direct staff to add "mitigation plan" wording. ENV-21 - Policy ENV-6.1 Council Comments  Commented that the policy can be interpreted as all new development. Ms. Rooney  Commented that there are established standards for CEQA thresholds that the Town must comply with which would not affect all new development as interpreted. Council Comments  Requested clarification on the amount of time that the simplest type of project would be delayed. P a g e 4 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued Ms. Rooney  Clarified that the policy would be implemented once environmental analysis is being done and that a single-family home that’s not in the hillside with significant slope issues would not trigger this. ENV-21 - Policy ENV-6.2 Ms. Rooney  Clarified that if there is a project that generates significant traffic, an alternative would need to be looked at, such as shuttle systems, rideshare programs, etc. Mr. Martello  Suggested changing the wording under Policy 6.1 from "support” to “consider,” as it would make the policy more clear.  Suggested changing the wording under 6.2 to add "required consideration" whenever a CEQA analysis or an environmental review is involved, which would clarify the policy. Council Comments  Consensus to revise the wording as suggested by the Town Attorney. ENV-22 Policy ENV-6.8 Council Comments  Questioned if California Air Resources Board (CARB) were to change their standards do all Town construction vehicles need to meet those new standards. Ms. Jansen  Clarified that when CARB implements new standards they provide allowances for phasing in over time or grandfathering certain equipment. Council Comments  Expressed concerns about CARB and requested less specific language to be used such as “exemplified" instead of "required."  Commented that the goal of protecting air resources is a good goal, but questioned the direct reference to CARB. P a g e 5 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued Mr. Capurso  Suggested a more general guideline that complies with the State of California as accepted by the Department of Motor Vehicles which allows a percentage of the fleet to comply.  Commented that it would be acceptable to remove Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) and CARB if the Town complies with what is acceptable by the State. Ms. Jansen  Commented that construction emissions are one of the standards that the Town needs to look at.  Expressed concerns that the General Plan EIR is based on the policy that construction emission control needs to be consistent with Bay Area Air Quality Management District guidelines. Council Comments  Commented that the policy states every vehicle, not a percentage of the fleet.  Commented on eliminating the first sentence. Mr. Larson  Suggested that 6.8 be reworded "best available control measures including compliance with California Vehicle Standards shall be incorporated to reduce construction emissions." Council Comments  Consensus to revise Policy ENV-6.8 per the Town Manager’s suggestions. ENV-23 - Policy ENV-6.9 Council Comments  Expressed concerns about the need to specify a certain size for a construction management plan. Ms. Rooney  Commented on standard operating procedures relating to the policy. Council Comments  Suggested revising the wording for Section "c."  Consensus direction to add language under Section "c” similar to what was proposed by Mr. Larson in Policy 6.8. P a g e 6 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued ENV-29 - Policy 8.4 and 8.5 Council Comments  Questioned the wording on Policy 8.4 and if the Policies 8.4 and 8.5 are contradictory. Ms. Rooney  Suggested that if Council would like to leave the policies in the General Plan, then they should be combined and the language could be refined by staff. Council Comments  Commented that the word "encourage" should be used instead of "requiring."  Consensus to direct staff to combine and rephrase the wording. ENV-30 - Action ENV-8.3 Council Comments  Consensus to remove Action from the General Plan. ENV-31 Action ENV 9.2 Council Comments  Questioned if this is a feasible action.  Commented that the action is redundant with the goal.  Consensus to rephrase the wording and move recycling from HS to ENV. ENV-31 - Policy ENV-10.1 and 10.2 Council Comments  Commented that the word "maximize" is too open-ended.  Consensus to change the word to "encourage" and "improve" and to combine 10.1 and 10.2. ENV-33 - Policy ENV-10.6 and 10.7 Council Comments  Questioned if the Town is sacrificing excellence and design when using imperatives like "require.”  Suggested using "encourage" to replace "require" in both Policies 10.6 and 10.7.  Expressed concerns about changing the wording from "require."  Consensus to keep the word "require" in Policy 10.6 and to change "require” to "encourage" in Policy 10.7. ENV-33 - Action ENV-10.1 (b) Council Comments  Consensus to strike Policy 10.1 Section (b) from the General Plan. P a g e 7 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued ENV-34 - Action ENV-10.2 Council Comments  Suggested removing the Action item from the General Plan. Ms. Jansen  Commented that page two of the Desk Item is an important issue to consider. Council Comments  Consensus to change the wording according to SILVAR’s recommendation. ENV-36 - Action ENV-11.2 (a-e) Council Comments  Expressed concerns about Item (a) and the competing value s and where it might lead. Ms. Rooney  Suggested that language be added to ENV-11.2 (a) that will balance out other property-rights issues. Mr. Larson  Suggested to strike (a-g), but keep the action as the intention which is to amend the Town Code to establish regulations in addition to Title 24 that promote and require the conservation of energy in the areas of renewable energy sources.  Commented that the action would be to review the changes associated with the policy. Council Comments  Consensus to add language to ENV-11.2 (a) that will balance out other property- rights issues and to include direction as stated by Mr. Larson. HS-6 - Action HS-3.1 Council Comments  Expressed concerns about listing organizations by name.  Commented that if Council was to eliminate the organizational names, then they may want to add additional wording.  Questioned if "senior" and "youth" could be added.  Consensus to re-write the policy to replace the organizational names and to add additional wording that speaks of organizations "such as" to "youth programs." P a g e 8 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued HS-6 - Policy HS-3.1 and Action 3.2 and HS-7 - Action HS-3.3 Council Comments  Suggested striking Policy 3.2 from the General Plan.  Questioned if there is intent to expand a specific building which is being identified.  Commented that an expansion of a facility for youth activities may not be one of the issues that Council intends to address in this General Plan.  Suggested rewording Policy 3.2 to say "to work with local organizations to study the possibilities of expanding teen facilities to offer a larger variety of programing specific to different age groups." Mr. Larson  Commented that “support” in Policy 3.1 can certainly include financial support, facility support, parks use, and other support.  Commented that he would never view a General Plan policy as binding the Council’s annual financial and budget authority and responsibility. It does set direction for the budget, but does not require an expenditure of funds. Council Comments  Commented that in terms of the listing of organizations, the change that Council directed in Policy 3.1 is appropriate for some of the policies and actions.  Commented that a similar change could be done for 3.2.  Consensus to change the wording to policy 3.2 to include the direction stated under Council Comments. Ms. Rooney  Suggested combining these actions into participation on the needs assessment study. Mr. Larson  Suggested a partnership for the needs assessment study that would include the schools, Youth Commission, and faith based groups. Council Comments  Consensus to have the Town take the lead on the needs assessment with the schools, Youth Commission, and faith based groups. P a g e 9 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued HS-7 - Policy 4.1 Council Comments  Commented that the policy specifically references the Town established Youth Commission and what are the commission’s goals.  Commented that it is a two part goal: 1) To continue to work with the Youth Commission, and 2) Encourage community involvement of all youth.  Expressed concerns that the programs all address the second, but not the Youth Commission. Mr. Larson  Suggested to change Policy 4.1 to recognize Youth Commission goals as a policy statement in the General Plan.  Commented that Policies 4.1 and 4.2 might be blendable as the action supporting Policy 4.2, there may not be an action related 4.1. HS-7 - Policy HS-4.1 and HS-7 Action - HS-4.2 Council Comments  Suggested supplementing "volunteer opportunities" because it doesn’t reference youth.  Consensus to direct staff to change Policy 4.1 to recognize the Youth Commission’s role as a policy statement in the General Plan and to combine/blend Polices 4.1 and 4.2. Council Comments  Suggested combining Action 4.1 and 4.3 and rewording them.  Expressed concerns about the Town being involved with a career center for teens.  Consensus to remove the career portion of Action 4.3 and to add an action that would involve the Youth Commission with other commissions, because they are engaged and have some good comments to add to the other commissions.  Consensus to use these Actions as part of the needs assessment under goal HS-3. HS-8 Action HS-5.1, 5.3, and 5.6 Council Comments  Commented that the actions do not promote the goal and it is unclear how Action 5.1, 5.3, and 5.6 fits in with the Town’s responsibility.  Commented that Action 5.6 may be a goal without a purpose and suggested deleting it from the General Plan.  Commented that the action relating to internet use is most connected to the Town.  Suggested deleting the section entirely. P a g e 10 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued Ms. Rooney  Commented that there are cases where policies can be implemented through goals and not require actions. Council Comments  Consensus to delete Action 5.6 from the General Plan. Mr. Larson  Commented that the section can be revised as an action to support the youth friendly business program in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce and the Youth Commission. Council Comments  Consensus to recommend that the section be revised as an action to support the youth friendly business program. Mayor Diane McNutt called for a recess at 8:45 P.M. Meeting resumed at 8:55 P.M. HS-9 - Under Background Information Council Comments  Requested that a change be made to the definition of "senior" as 65 or older to 62 or older.  Consensus to make the change from 65 to 62 years of age for the definition of senior. HS-15 - Policy HS-7.2 Council Comments  Suggested that Council should add a policy to the youth section to promote programs for youth.  Consensus to add a policy to address youth programs in the youth section. HS-16 - Action HS-7.4 Council Comments  Questioned if the action could be removed since there are other organizations such as Council on Aging that take care of the senior resource directory.  Questioned if the document can be obtained by the communit y and where/how the community would access the information.  Consensus to allow Council on Aging or other organizations to do this service, but add an action that develops a better way to connect our seniors with resources in the community. P a g e 11 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued HS-16 - Policy HS-8.1 Council Comments  Suggested changing the wording from “the Town shall provide or support senior shuttle services” to “the Town shall encourage businesses and non -profits to provide services.”  Consensus to change the wording in Policy HS-8.1 to “the Town shall encourage businesses and non-profits to provide services.” HS-17 - Action HS-8.1 Council Comments  Questioned the need for a study requiring transportation at senior housing facilities when we already have a policy encouraging it.  Consensus to strike the action from General Plan. HS-17 Action 9.1 Council Comments  Questioned the need for this feasibility study.  Consensus to strike Action from General Plan. HS-17 - Action HS-9.1 Council Comments  Suggested that the wording be refined to identify incentives.  Consensus to reword the action to identify the incentives. HS-23 - Action HS-10.1 Council Comments  Questioned if the wording could be refined to add "residential" developments.  Consensus to refine the wording to add "residential" developments. HS-25 Policy 11.1 Council Comments  Suggested changing the wording to "technology resources" as opposed to "computers and other technologies."  Consensus to reword the policy as suggested. HS-27 - Policy HS-12.1 Council Comments  Consensus to revise the wording to change from "required" to "encouraged" and add "new commercial." HS-38 - Policy HS-17.2  Consensus to reword to remove "single-family" and "multi-family" and include "all construction." P a g e 12 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued HS-38 - Policy HS-17.5 Ms. Rooney  Commented that the Planning Commission recommended combining the policy and the action, eliminating the policy, and rewording as an action and to use the word "study" rather than "encourage." Mr. Larson  Suggested wording for the Action that could read: "determine the appropriate use of artificial turf." Council Comments  Suggested moving the Garbage and Recycling elements to Environmental instead of Human Services.  Consensus to move forward with the Planning Commission and staff direction and to move Garbage and Recycling to the Environmental element. HS-40 - Policy HS-18.1 Council Comments  Consensus to change the word "require" to "encourage." HS-40 - Policy HS-18.2  Consensus to leave the Policy as it is. HS-44 - Action HS-20.1  Consensus to reword the Action so it is similar to policy. HS-46 - Action HS-21.1  Consensus to remove the Action. Other Comments in Safety Council Comments  Questioned if it makes more sense to have Fire and Police in the Safety element rather than the Human Services element.  Suggested moving them back to the Safety element. Ms. Rooney  Clarified that Fire and Police used to be in the Safety element and there were only two polices referenced. Council Comments  Consensus to move Fire and Police to the Safety element of the General Plan. P a g e 13 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued Attachment 1 - Staff Recommended Changes CD-Policy 14.5 Council Comments  Suggested that the wording be changed to "staff require when appropriate, an environmental impact report" in place of "erring on the side of."  Expressed concerns about reducing the protection of the hillsides if the wording were changed.  Clarified that the wording should read: Staff should require when appropriate an environmental impact report or mitigated negative declaration for projects in the hillside area to ensure adequate consideration of potential environmental impacts associated with projects.  Expressed concerns about reducing the protection by adding "when appropriate" to the policy. Ms. Rooney  Clarified that in all cases an environmental impact report may not be required and would only be required when there are significant impacts that cannot be mitigated through a mitigated negative declaration.  Commented that the wording was changed to clarify the policy. Council Comments  Consensus to reword the policy to reflect Council’s suggestions. Page LU-14 Council Comments  Questioned if one can use the planned development overlay for all non- residential zones that a planned development would or could over-ride what the General Plan or zoning ordinances specify for the non-residential areas. Ms. Rooney  Commented that it is accepted practice to mix uses and this is making it clear that the planned development would allow, potentially, all the land uses identified in the Zoning Code. Mr. Martello  Commented that there is an ordinance that allows Council to make legislative actions for all zones.  Commented that the attachment is a reference in the General Plan that states the ordinance can be used. Council Comments  Commented that staff’s recommended revised language for LU14 and LU18 clarifies the items. P a g e 14 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued Mr. Martello  Clarified that this section is giving a clear reference in the General Plan to enable the Town to have an ordinance. VLR-6 Policy VLR-2.3 Council Comments  Questioned if "senior housing" could be kept in the policy.  Consensus to keep "senior housing" in the policy. VLR-9 - Action 5.2 Mr. Capurso  Commented that the action should be reworded to include "from Oka Road." Council Comments  Consensus to reword the policy. VLR-7 - Policy 3.6  Consensus to leave policy in the General Plan. VLR-3 Council Comments  Questioned if it would be reasonable to add the Los Gatos Creek Trail to the Map in VLR-3.  Consensus to direct staff to add the Los Gatos Creek Trail to the map. SAF-8 - Policy SAF-1.12 and Action SAF-1.3 Council Comments  Questioned if the word "maintain" should be eliminated. Ms. Rooney  Commented that SAF 1.12 could include maintaining and retaining depending on public and private owned buildings. Council Comments  Consensus to clarify the wording that refers to public and private buildings. SAF-1.3  Consensus to add "evaluate,” but leave out "conduct a study." SAF-11, under Goal SAF-2  Consensus to restate the goal in this section and to add policy for secondary emergency egress for houses in fire areas. P a g e 15 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued SAF-12, Under Goal SAF-3  Consensus to add action item about evacuation plans for high risks areas. SAF-16, under Goal SAF-4  Consensus to modify the goal to require major new development or redevelopment. Attachment 10 - Planning Commission Recommendations Council Comments  Consensus for all Planning Commission recommendations except for the following: First Bullet of Environment Sustainability: Suggested staff recommendations last page, 3rd bullet - strike "all" or "certain." Open Public Hearing Ms. Quintana  Commented that the proposed Planned Development language of interpreting whether a policy is mandatory or not leaves no real direction on land use policy in the General Plan, because there is no predictability by the resi dent reading the General Plan.  Commented that the whole purpose of the General Plan is to give clear direction. Closed Public Hearing Council Comments  Questioned if the Town has a potential traffic impact that cannot be mitigated.  Questioned if the Town would need to identify funding for Capital Improvement Projects to address the traffic impacts.  Questioned if the policy works in the other direction where the Town would be able to demand a reduction in the intensity of the project so that the traffic impacts would not reach level "F." P a g e 16 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued Ms. Jansen  Clarified that it is the Town’s policy that an individual project should not cause an intersection to drop below level "D."  Clarified that there is always cumulative development with surrounding communities.  Clarified that the Town would need to come up with funding for Capital Improvement projects or they would end up with traffic impacts that are not mitigated.  Commented that the General Plan does include parameters for Capital improvement projects and the surrounding intersections that would be affected by the traffic impacts. Mr. Capurso  Commented that with regards to capital projects, the Town does collect traffic mitigation fees and maintains funds for specific areas of Town.  Commented that the fee allows the Town to address impacts at a later time. Mr. Paulson  Clarified that as projects come through that trigger a traffic study, they are required to do one or more thing which would include: 1) Improve the existing intersection that would drop below level "D," and/or 2) Pay their share of future improvements which could happen if the project does not quite trigger the level D" traffic impacts, but the next project would.  Clarified that the traffic impact studies are triggered when there is more than 19 peak hour trips. Mr. Martello  Clarified that the Town may have a policy that addresses the traffic impact mitigation.  Clarified that from a legal standpoint “the last guy in” cannot pay the entire project costs, so there needs to be some other plans or a decrease in intensity in order to approve a project. Mr. Larson  Recommended that a motion be made to continue the adoption of the General Plan, certification of the Environmental Impact Report, and the adoption of the resolution and findings for the statement of over-riding the consideration to the meeting on September 20, 2010. P a g e 17 Public Hearing Item #3 – Continued MOTION: Motion by Vice Mayor Joe Pirzynski to continue the adoption of the General Plan, certification of the Environmental Impact Report, and the adoption of the resolution and findings for the statement of over-riding the consideration to the meeting on September 20, 2010. Seconded by Council Member Steve Rice. VOTE: Motion passed unanimously. Mayor Diane McNutt continued the General Plan update to September 20, 2010. OTHER BUSINESS  There was no Other Business scheduled for this meeting. ADJOURNMENT Attest: Jackie D. Rose, Clerk Administrator