01 (1) - Laserfiche WebLink

Brad Hirst said he represents Dr. William Yee and they have an application in for 6 lots down from 17 lots and a vesting tentative map for 14 lots. They filed an application in May 2007 but have not had a public hearing yet. He believes looking at development on a case-by-case basis is best, discussed three flat properties where he believes no building should occur and said critical is geotechnical consideration, as this is why regulations are contained in the Health and Safety Element. He said in 1968, 670 feet was the highest elevation of a house in Castlewood Country Club served with water and many numbers are arbitrarily based. He encouraged the Council to follow staff's recommendation and get expert information prior to putting any Initiative on the ballot. Kay Ayala said the Initiative has qualified for the ballot and this Council has three options-1) adopt it, 2) put it on the ballot, and 3) put it out fora 30-day study. She fully intends for the Initiative to be on the ballot and if the City wanted to do its own hillside ordinance, the City would need to do an EIR and not make it to the November ballot. She read from the Initiative exactly what it does, said Oak Grove jumped ahead of two other developments and fast tracked and discussed her opinions on the project. Scott Raty, Chamber of Commerce, said not only was Oak Grove four years in the process, there are more conditions of approval for the project than were conditioned on the Hacienda Business Park, felt there were great current neighborhoods that could serve as not one-size-fits- all examples, asked the Council to put the Initiative on the ballot, believed it is challenging and complicated and it makes sense to look at the history of what has been done in the past. He read page 3 of the staff report regarding developer dedications for open space, bond measures, corporate personal donations, federal and state funding programs, and felt if we are to achieve permanent open space, it must be through examples like Oak Grove. He believes staff should pursue Option C for 30 days and decide whether there should be two measures or one measure on the ballot. Mayor Hosterman closed public comment. Break: Council took a 4-minute break and thereafter, Mayor Hosterman reconvened the meeting. Councilmember McGovern questioned if there were definitions of "slope" in the General Plan and could there be definitions of a "ridgeline." Mr. Iserson said the definition of slope is in the Land Use Element and ridgeline could be added. Councilmember Cook-Kallio questioned if the definition of a slope describes where it starts and ends, and Mr. Iserson said it was more like a mathematical definition. Councilmember McGovern said the definition is for 100% slope and this does not mean definitions could also be included to identify things in Item 20. Councilmember Sullivan said there has been comments about 10 units being exempt, and he questioned did that mean if there was a project more than 10 units, they could reduce it to 10 and build on top of a hilltop. Mr. Iserson said if any project has less than 10 units, they could, but there are other regulations in the General Plan, a PUD process would define conditions and necessarily could condition where the homes are built. Councilmember Sullivan said he objects to the process, does not believe it mirrors public processes followed in the past. Mayor Hosterman said her intent was to allow Councilmembers who felt they had difficulty in separating the issues to make comments on both issues simultaneously. City Council Minutes 9 May 20, 2008