CCMIN080189 - Laserfiche WebLink

215 shareholder in Land Planning Consultants, Inc., which is under contract with the School District as well as other districts to provide consultancy services in school site acquisitions, sales of similar sites, and other related services. He explained that before working on the annexation, they studied several previous annexation efforts and talked to neighboring property owners about their concerns in the area. He pointed out that the people are tired of piecemeal annexations and want solutions to their traffic, sewer and water problems. At the same time, they are concerned about preserving their rural lifestyle and the possible change in use once the area is annexed. They want the City to recognize the significance of their property as a buffer area between Mission Park and Ventana Hills. He stated that the School District owns 42 acres within the annexation area. It has designated approximately 10 acres as a possible future elementary school site, leaving about 30 acres of surplus. Rather than simply sell this surplus portion, the School District decided to work with Land Planning Consultants and the residents of the area to address their concerns and problems. Out of these efforts came the draft specific plan. Although the major issues have been considered in the plan, it needs the input of City staff and neighboring property owners before it could be finalized and adopted. He then explained that the boundary of the properties proposed for annexation was designed to create a logical cohesive annexation lot which would not create islands but a natural dividing line which would protect the Happy Valley loop from piecemeal annexation requests in the future. Unfortunately, a few of the property owners within the proposed area are opposed to annexation. They do not see any benefits to annexation, which, they believe, would create the possibility of additional homes and traffic near their properties. Much effort has been directed to balance these impacts against the benefits sought by those for annexation, and a reasonable solution could be worked out before the Specific Plan is finalized. He emphasized that the people want and deserve a definitive plan assuring only certain uses and roadway patterns in their area and proposed the adoption of Option 2, which would give them time to finalize the Specific Plan with the City staff and neighboring property owners while the annexation process moves forward. Mr. Gary VanWegen, 488 Sycamore Road, Co-President of the Alisal Improvement Club, explained the Club's involvement in the formulation of the Specific Plan. He indicated that the residents are most concerned about preserving their rural atmosphere and minimizing traffic on Sycamore Road, and concluded that it would be better to have a design plan with built-in zoning projections that could maintain their rural environment than be subjected to advancing track homes that would certainly be coming in from all directions. He stated that Option 2 was compatible with the existing neighborhood and recommended meetings with City staff to help resolve remaining issues to finalize the Specific Plan. -6- 8-1-89