Attachment 4Potential New Strategic Priorities
ATTACHMENT 4
Ideas from the Mayor and/or Town Council Members
Update the Sustainability Plan: As mentioned in the staff report, this item is
recommended to be incorporated into the General Plan Update so as to not duplicate
effort
Additional Transportation Items
1. Transportation Demand Management Policy: The Council could direct the
preparation of a TDM Policy and identify TDM measures to be included as conditions
of approval for development applications.
2. Community Shuttle: Because a community shuttle is not a mitigation measure that
could be required of a single development application, this service may be
voluntarily offered by a developer/business. Staff could explore a shuttle concept in
light of the RYDE senior transportation pilot and future VTA service changes.
Streamline land use processes and update land use regulations affecting businesses:
This is a very broad topic and staff would appreciate specific items that need to be
addressed. Ideas that have come forward in previous discussions include modifying the
land uses that need a Conditional Use Permit, updating land use definitions, and
updating parking requirements.
Overall streamlining of land use processes: The Council may wish to request staff to
prepare flowchart and other materials to explain why certain applications follow
particular processes. With this information, the Council may want to consider
potentially modifying the appropriate deciding and appella te body for certain types of
applications in the interest of streamlining the review process.
Refresh Downtown with Physical Improvements: There is a wide spectrum of potential
improvements while retaining the historic character of Santa Cruz Avenue. The more
cost effective options include a parklet pilot, one way streets pilot, and increased
maintenance activities. Other options include exploring ways to widen sidewalks on
Santa Cruz Avenue or a completely new streetscape.
Add more Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Providers: PACE allows property
owners to fund improvements through loans repaid through their property tax
assessment. Specific providers are set up to do this and Los Gatos currently has one
provider authorized to provide this service. This item would add other providers to
residents. Staff would need to identify the companies that are eligible to serve Los
Gatos and communicate to providers who have approached the Town. A resolution to
add more providers would need to be considered by the Town Council.
Add more objective standards for housing developments: In response to new State
legislation, the Town Code or other documents could be modified to add quantifiable
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standards. While architectural elements do not lend themselves to objective standards,
the Council could identify specific issues that should b e addressed in standards (e.g.,
privacy from a second story). This could be a very staff intensive effort and the Council
should be as specific as possible as to the issues that need standards.
Annexations: If the Council makes proactive annexations a Strategic Priority, the
following would be the key steps in the process.
1. Staff meets with the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) staff to discuss
process, costs, eligible islands (that can be annexed without protest proceedings),
and time required for map and document preparation;
2. Meet with County Planning, and Roads and Airports staff;
3. Prepare a Frequently Asked Question document for citizens based on previous
annexation efforts;
4. Conduct a workshop(s) to have questions answered, using a wide range of
approaches to encourage participation (i.e., social media, mailers to property
owners, and posting in the newspaper);
5. Get direction from Council following public outreach (perhaps at a Study Session);
and
6. Schedule annexation hearings based on Council direction.
Wildlife Corridor Study: On December 5, 2017, the Town Council considered an
Ordinance Amendment for Wildlife Fences. At that meeting, the Council requested that
the matter be continued pending the Priority Setting discussion and requested tha t a
Wildlife Corridor Study be added to the list of potential new Priorities.
Based on staff’s initial exploration, a Wildlife Corridor Study would need to identify
specific habitat and/or other ecological objectives. Consultants would need to be hired
to collect data to determine if the Town’s current land use regulations are impe ding the
achievement of the ecological objectives. Depending upon the species of interest, the
consultants may request a multi-year study in order to understand wildlife movements
over time and space. If the Town Council is interested in this Study, it would be helpful
for the Council to identify the specific ecological objectives for this work. Then, staff will
prepare a budget, timeline, and options for consideration in February.
Emergency Preparedness: Emergency Preparedness is incorporated into the work plans
of the Town Manager’s Office and Police Department. It is multi -faceted and can
encompass a myriad of optional training and other resources to better prepare Town
staff and the community in the event of an emergency.
Recently, the Town Manager’s Office in conjunction with the Police Department
initiated a three phased training program for all identified Emergency Operations Center
(EOC) staff. The first phase of training was established to provide baseline trainings in
Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS), Incident Command System (ICS),
and National Incident Management System (NIMS). The first phase was completed
during the fall of 2017 and included multi-day trainings provided by the Santa Clara
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County Office of Emergency Services. The second phase of trainings is currently being
programmed for the winter/spring of 2018 and will focus on EOC section specific areas
of Management, Operations, Logistics, Finance and Administration, and Planning and
Intelligence. And lastly, phase three trainings will include live EOC section trainings and
an ultimate live mock full EOC activation.
Below are some additional options for emergency preparedness for Council
consideration, some of which are underway, as noted by *.
1. *Identify, coordinate and implement additional training opportunities by utilizing
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), California Office of Emergency
Services (Cal OES, and Santa Clara County Office of Emergency Services (OES)
facilitated exercises.
2. *Incorporate some EOC baseline training into the onboarding of new employees.
3. *Implement regularly scheduled scenario testing. Develop a training plan to activate
either section specific or entire EOC section scenario based trainings allowing staff to
acquire familiarity with duties and work together to better understand procedures.
4. *Incorporate standardized responses/plans/annexes to the Emergency Operations
Plan (EOP) for identified critical incidents and work with OES to develop County
protocols for all jurisdictions to respond to specific critical incidents or emergencies.
5. *Update and add to facility equipment capabilities by replacing outdated equipment
to increase procedural capabilities (identification is underway, funding for
equipment replacement is to be determined).
6. Standardize Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) activation and response
methods through a procedural and policy manual. Santa Clara County is currently
developing standardized CERT procedural orders to include recommended activation
response guidelines.
7. Identify funding for CERT that may be utilized to better equip current and future
Neighborhood Incident Command Post’s (NICP) and members, and provide
additional training opportunities for CERT leaders.
8. Begin to utilize CERT members at regularly scheduled trainings and special events to
enhance collaboration capabilities and provide members with the opportunity to
develop their procedures in controlled environments.
9. Leverage existing relationships with community service organizations for community
emergency preparedness trainings.
Senior Coordinator Position: This suggestion should be considered in the context of the
Town’s current arrangement with Los Gatos-Saratoga Community Education and
Recreation (LGS Recreation). Staff has also identified additional options for
consideration depending upon the desired outcome related to senior services. Council
is encouraged to clarify these desired outcomes and identify option(s) that should be
returned for the February discussion.
In January 2010, the Town entered into an agreement with LGS Recreation to transition
senior services to the organization and to provide additional leased space to LGS
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Recreation. The additional space allowed LGS Recreation the capability to expand
senior services well beyond those currently offered by the Town. At the time of the
transition, the Town had a single position dedicated to senior services, the Senior
Coordinator position, compared to a number of LGS Recreation staff positions dedicated
to senior services. Upon the retirement of the Senior Coordinator the following year the
position was eliminated.
Over the course of the intervening years, the Town has funded several organizations
which either provides direct case management services or referrals throu gh the Human
Services Community Grant Program. For FY 2016/2017 two grant recipients provide
some level of case management services or referrals. In addition to the grant program,
the Town provides two outward-facing senior resources comprised of the Police
Department’s C.A.R.E. program, a successful outreach and senior wellness check-in
service; and Library programs with senior focus, such as one-on-one computer and
technology assistance, book clubs, and home-bound reader services. Other existing
Library programs might be of interest to seniors, such as Paint Night, and the Town
could increase the promotion of these opportunities. The Library is currently developing
additional programming targeted toward seniors which will include Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programming, audio/visual production with an
emphasis on oral histories, and hobby interest group meetings coordinated in
partnership with LGS Recreation.
Priorities and/or alternatives pertaining to a new Senior Coordinator Position should be
considered in terms of the whether the desired service goal for the community is to
provide one of the following: case work/case management for seniors, expanding
community programming to seniors, or another desired outcome. It should be noted
that it is highly unlikely that a single full time (FT) staff member would be able to have
an impact in more than a single area. Bearing this in mind, it should be considered that
if the desired end goal is an inclusive or comprehensive model for senior service that
this would necessitate the creation of not just a position, but rather creating a
department or division.
If the goal is to provide case work/case management for seniors, it should be considered
that the Town would not only need to fund the FT position but would also need to
allocate funding to create the resource base and infrastructure for that individual to
function. Two approaches that would better leverage existing resources and
infrastructure dedicated to senior case management would be:
1. Provide funding to our existing partners at LGS Recreation to either help fund a
position in its organization or enable contract services, or
2. Contract with County services to provide a case worker that would hold public office
hours in an appropriate location at the Civic Center.
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If the goal is to provide additional programs for seniors in the community, several
opportunities exist that may or may not necessitate a FT staff member.
1. Provide funding to LGS Recreation in an amount that would either support a FT staff
member dedicated to programming, or to provide program funding or additional
grants to LGS Recreation with the intention of expanding existing senior
programming. As the defacto Senior Center in Los Gatos, the Adult Recreation
Center already has the resources to accommodate additional programming staff and
resources to implement programming.
2. Provide resources to Library to fund a staff person dedicated to developing senior
programming, or funding to modify or expand existing programming to better serve
seniors and create additional opportunities for intergenerational programming. In
the latter case, care must be taken by the Town to augment rather than compete
with services provided by LGS Recreation.
3. Allocate a smaller portion of funding this year to study where the gr eatest service
needs arise for seniors in the Town and/or to research alternative services model
deliveries that may not be reliant on dedicated staffing.
Ideas from the Community
Residential Parking Permits for Loma Alta and other residential streets: On April 4,
2017, Council repealed their March 8, 2017 decision to: a) discontinue the
Neighborhood Parking Plan process, b) maintain all existing parking permit areas, c)
expand and rename the eastside parking permit areas to the “High School” zone, and d)
absorb the current preferential parking pilots into the “High School” zone. The Council
also decided to continue the Alpine Avenue parking program, make permanent the
Whitney Avenue permit program, and place a freeze on the Neighborhood Parking
Permit Program until the next priority setting session.
Staff is looking to Council for direction on next steps for this program. Residents
continue to request permit parking in their neighborhoods, specifically in the area
surrounding the high school. Options for Council to consider include reconsidering the
comprehensive solution recommended by staff earlier in 2017, returning to a process of
reviewing requests for permit parking by individual street, or discontinuing any further
consideration for permit parking on residential streets.
Staff prefers a solution that retains as much consistency in regulation as possible across
the included streets. This enhances staff’s ability to manage the program and, more
importantly, reduces confusion for residents and visitors.
The outreach to the community to re-engage in this process will be a significant
undertaking for staff with those hours being carved out of already existing work
priorities. In addition, expanding the current program will create ongoing work
requirements for issuing permits, enforcing regulations, and managing t he program.
Consideration should be given to managing resident expectations for timing of permit
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issuance and responsiveness to requests, potentially through phasing the
implementation of one overall policy over time.
Modify the Town Code to increase the non-hillside fence height: In the event that the
Town Code ordinance addressing wildlife fences does not go forward, a community
member has requested taller fences in the non-hillside areas.
Modify the Town Code to increase the opportunities for temporary banner signs:
Several event organizers are concerned about the limited number of temporary banner
signs given the competition for these spaces. Town Code modifications could be
considered to increase these opportunities.
Modify the Floor Area Ratio requirements within the Hillside Development Standards
and Guidelines: Some community members are concerned about the large homes
proposed in the hillsides and have suggested a comprehensive look at several of the
existing standards (such as FAR requirements within the Least Restrictive Development
Area) to ensure that the Town is achieving its hillside objectives.
Ideas from Town Staff
Develop a Special Event Bicycle Valet Policy: Staff recommends the creation of a policy
that would require bicycle valets at all Special Events.
Develop a Winchester Boulevard Master Plan: This plan would include roadway
alignments, multi-modal elements, stormwater facilities, and landscaping to guide
future development and capital projects.
Establish an Open Space Vegetation Management Program: Develop a plan to manage
Town owned open space to reduce the risk from invasive plant species and fires while
maintaining the open space characteristics. This may include mechanical and chemical
weed and brush control along property lines, establishment of fire breaks, and strategic
removal of debris.