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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-0105 REG MINROLL CALL INVOCATION APPROVAL OF MINUTES INTRODUCTIONS STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS PUBLIC HEARINGS: Albertson Annex. N. of 289 Clay St. MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL January 5, 1988 Mayor L. Gordon Medaris led the Pledge of Allegiance and called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. on the above date in the Council Chambers. Elerath, Reid, Williams, Acklin, Laws and Arnold were present. Reverend B.J. Holland gave the invocation. Acklin moved to approve the minutes of the executive session and regular meeting of December 15, 1987; Reid seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. Mayor Medaris introduced new City employees Steve Hall, Public Works Director, Jill Turner, Finance Director and Jim Watson, Hospital Administrator. Mayor Medaris gave his "State of the City" address recapping the City's major accomplishments for the past seven years. A copy is on file in the City Recorder's office. Planning Director John Fregonese gave the background of the proposed annexation and said it meets the necessary criteria for annexations. On a question from Reid regarding pedestrian access problems on Clay Street, Fregonese said the street will eventually be improved to full width with curb, gutter and paving, but for now a pedestrian access to Highway 66 could be constructed by filling the culvert in with granite. Reid asked if the developer could be required to share in paving costs when the development does not front on the subject street. Fregonese said yes, and mentioned the Cooper project on Granite Street. Acklin said in the future City should consider assessments on other than a front footage basis. Ron Grimes, 1060 Crater Lake Ave., Medford, is the architect for the project, and said his client is willing to pay a proportionate share of the street improvement and, has made every attempt to meet zoning requirements and criteria. On a question from Williams, Grimes said they would be amenable to filling in the culvert for temporary pedestrian access. Mayor Medaris opened the public hearing. Victor Abatino, 2045 E. Main St., said the project would create more traffic and congestion on Clay Street. Letters were read and placed on file from the following people who are opposed to the project: Loys and Shorty Taylor, 380 Clay St.; Eva M. Dunkel, 321 1/5/88 P. i R__eauJ. ar Meeting Ashland City Council 1/5/88 P. 2 PUBLIC HEARINGS: Albertson Annex. Appeal of P.A. 87- 144 Site Review 255 Grant St. (Continued) Clay Space 80; J. Wayne Cooper, 1615 Hill Rd., Ste. H, Novato, California, who owns a farm at 300 Clay Street. Acklin said there is pressure to annex land and provide places for houses to be built and moved to approve the annexation with two conditions; 1) that the County paint better white stripes down the center of Clay Street; and 2) the developer provide a temporary pedestrian access. Williams seconded the motion, and Staff was directed to bring an ordinance back to the next meeting. Arnold expressed concern about water shortages and felt the City should have a better water supply before taking more land into the City. Reid expressed interest in leaving the public hearing open until the Planning Commission had discussed the project. Laws said we haven't reached the limits of the water supply which can handle a 21,000-23,000 population. Mayor Medaris noted that the building moratorium on the south end of town had been lifted with the building of the reservoir on Tolman Creek Road. The previous motion passed on roll call vote as follows: Elerath, Reid and Arnold, NO; Williams, Acklin, and Laws, YES; Mayor Medaris broke the tie with a YES vote. Planning Director Fregonese said the Planning Commission vote on the site review for this project was split 4-4. He said the project met the criteria for site reviews, 21 units are permitted at this site, and the applicant had taken 10 feet off the height of the buildings in response to concerns from neighbors. On a question from Elerath, Fregonese said the project meets requirements for open space. Williams asked about parking bays and Allan Sandler said he will agree to the parking bays but had concerns about Planning Commission functions. Sandler said the City Attorney should brief the Commission on their duties and responsibilities. He felt they had tried to change the ordinance on-the-spot. Sandler then out- lined the economic impact the project would have on the community. Elerath said both Grant and Sheridan streets are under pavement cut moratorium and Sandler said the utility services are already stubbed in. Mayor Medaris opened the public hearing. Lewis Lanier, 282 Sheridan, expressed concern about obstruction of his view by the proposed project but said the height reduction alleviated that concern. Mr. Lanier was also concerned with traffic and parking problems. Bill Ligon, 447 Monte Vista, said 20-foot wide Sheridan Street is too narrow for an increase of possibly 40 cars, and the density should be lowered. 1/5/88 P. 2 R__ea~lar Meeting Ashland City Council 1/5/88 P. 3 PUBLIC HEARINGS: 255 Grant Street MAYOR'S APPOINT- MENTS (Continued) On a question from Reid as to Council's authority to require fewer units, Attorney Salter said they couldn't if the project meets all the requirements. Lorraine Bollong, 267 Sheridan, said more off-street parking is needed for the project, visibility turning onto N. Main is low, and pedestrian safety on Sheridan St. is a concern. Walt Harvey, 276 Grant, spoke about the heavy traffic on Grant Street from development at the top of hill and traffic from this project feeding onto Grant. He was also concerned about obstruction of his view. A letter was read from Brent Thompson, Planning Commissioner, explaining the Planning Commission's discussion on this proposal, and expressing a concern for the structure located on the property. A letter was also read from Greg Nichols, 289 Sheridan, opposing the proposed project. Harvey Davis, President of Main Street Development Co., said the house on the property had been given to someone who was going to move it to another location in Ashland, so it wouldn't be destroyed. He also said the land is zoned R-2, and the project would increase the tax base ten-fold. Bob Sullivan, 525 Sheridan St., said Sheridan is 20 feet wide at the bottom and grows to 60 feet wide at the top. The lot in question has been zoned R-2 forever and established criteria for development should be upheld. On a question from Arnold, Architect Dave Richardson, said the plan with the revised building heights should be called "Revised Grant St. Elevation". There being no further comment from the audience, the public hearing was closed. Reid said definition of "open space" should be nailed down, but felt developer made concessions to neighbors in lowering height of the buildings and agreeing to install parking bays. Acklin reminded Council of their reason for allowing balconies to be included in open space was to get away from box-like apartment buildings with no variety. Arnold said the Traffic Safety Commission is looking into the parking problem on Sheridan St. Elerath moved to grant the site review with inclusion of the "Revised Grant St. Elevation Plan" and maximum number of parking bays to be worked out with the Planning Department. Arnold seconded the motion which passed unanimously on a roll call vote. Mayor Medaris explained that the Citizens Planning Advisory Committee was not included in his appoint- ments because the positions have to be advertised, include representatives from geographic locations, and candidates need to be interviewed. The memo listing the various appointments was read and Laws moved to approve, Arnold seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. 1/5/88 P. 3 R__e~,,lar Meeting Ashland City Council 1/5/88 P. 4 MAYOR'S APPOINTMENTS: Liaison Appts. (Continued) Councilor Arnold asked that his request concerning Council liaison appointments be postponed until the next meeting. BUDGET COMMITTEE ELECTION Mayor Medaris noted that Emile Cloutier and Lee Howard's terms expired in 1987, as did Carroll Corliss' who did not wish to be re-appointed. He then commended Mr. Corliss for nine years of service on that Committee. Letters of application were received from Lee Howard, Emile Cloutier, Lois Wenker, Dee Selby and Andre Allen, and a letter of resignation from Richard Schultz. Councilor Reid nominated Andre Allen, Acklin nominated Lee Howard, Laws nominated Emile Cloutier, Councilor Williams nominated Lois Wenker and Arnold nominated Dee Selby. On roll call vote the following people were elected: Dee Selby, Lois Wenker, Emile Cloutier, and Lee Howard. COMMUNICATIONS, PETITIONS & REMONSTRANCES: Signing at Roca St. A memo was read from the Traffic Safety Commission & College Access requesting installation of a "Stop - Right Turn Road Permitted" sign at the intersection of Roca Street and the College access road. Laws moved to approve the request, Arnold seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. NEW & MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS: Monthly Financial Councilor Laws moved to approve the monthly financial Commentary commentary for the period ending November 30, 1987 and place it on file; Arnold seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. Audit Report F.Y. Ending 6-87 The minutes of the December 23, 1987 Audit Committee meeting were read. Williams moved to approve the Audit Report and Laws seconded the motion. Williams would like to review the Audit Committee's function and look at some recommendations the Council received from Jack Nicholson. Acklin and Reid agreed. On voice vote the motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC FORUM: Mayor Medaris opened the public forum section of the meeting. There being no response from the audience the public forum was closed. ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS & CONT~ACTS: Sign Ordinance First reading by title only of an ordinance amending Amendments the Sign Ordinance of the Land-use Title of the Ashland Municipal Code. Acklin moved to pass to second reading and Arnold seconded the motion. Elerath said his suggestion regarding signs for businesses that had closed was not included because sign content cannot be regulated. City Attorney Salter will look into this matter and report back. The motion passed unanimously on roll call vote. 1/5/88 P. 4 R__eauiar Meeting Ashland City Council 1/5/88 P. 5 ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS & CONTRACTS: (Continued) Water & Sewer Second reading by title only of an ordinance relative Connection Fees to water and sewer connection fees. Laws moved to adopt the ordinance, Arnold seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote. (Ref. Ord. ~2438) Bicycle Ordinance Amendments Second reading by title only of an ordinance amending the Bicycle Ordinance. Arnold moved for adoption, Acklin seconded the motion which passed on roll call vote, as follows: Elerath, NO; Reid, Williams, Acklin, Laws and Arnold, YES. (Ref. Ord. ~2439) Sign Permit Fees A resolution establishing sign permit fees was read and Acklin moved to adopt same. Williams seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote. (Ref. Reso. ~88-01) City Officials - Acquire Surplus Property A resolution was read designating city officials to acquire surplus State and Federal property. Williams moved to adopt the resolution, Laws seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote. (Ref. Reso. #88-03) Bicycle License Fees A resolution was read establishing bicycle license fees. Laws moved to adopt, Williams seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote. (Ref. Reso. ~88-02) Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday A resolution was read declaring Martin Luther King Jr's birthday as a City Holiday. (Proposed by Councilor Arnold) Arnold moved to adopt the resolution and Reid seconded the motion. Laws said this would be the only official holiday and he presented another resolution which designated all of the legal City holidays, including the one proposed. Williams said he salutes Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement but this will be the only person honored and should declare a constitution day instead. He is also concerned about the cost of City employees having that day off. Elerath said there is no actual celebration on that day and disagrees with the holiday idea. Connie Tillman, 1964 Mae Street, said it could be called Civil Rights day but hoped Council would not ignore it. Ted Holden, 107 Alida Street, said he is a teacher and hopes the City makes the day a holiday and the schools follow suit. Mayor Medaris said he honors Martin Luther King, Jr. but the Holiday would be costly to the City and should be left to collective bargaining within the City's unions. He further stated that if other City employees were granted this holiday, the Hospital employees would want the same. Arnold said his cost estimate to the City would be $3,150, and the Hospital Board is given authority to ~/5/88 P. 5 Regular Meeting Ashland City Council 1/5/88 P. 6 ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS & CONTRACTS: Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday (Continued) determine hospital policies by ordinance. Acklin said the decision is difficult but more is involved than the cost, and she felt King contributed much to civil rights. On roll call vote the motion passed as follows: Elerath and Williams, NO; Reid, Acklin, Laws and Arnold, YES. (Ref. Reso. ~88-04) Designate Official City Holidays Councilor Reid made a motion to place Councilor Law's resolution designating the official City holidays on the agenda, deleting the phrase "Parks and Recreation Commission", and Laws seconded the motion. The resolution was read and Arnold moved to adopt same. Acklin seconded the motion which passed on roll call vote as follows: Elerath, NO; Reid, Williams, Acklin, Laws and Arnold, YES. (Ref. Reso. ~88-05) General Fund Exp. Outside Agencies A resolution was read requesting an advisory vote at the May primary election concerning voter attitudes on general fund expenditures for outside agencies. (Proposed by Councilor Elerath) Elerath moved to adopt the resolution, Williams seconded the motion which failed on roll call vote as follows: Elerath and Williams, YES; Reid, Acklin, Laws and Arnold, NO. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business from the Council members, the meeting adjourned at 11:18 P.M. Nan E. Franklin City Recorder L. Gordon Medaris Mayor 1/5/88 P. 6