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CC 03-20-00 APPROVED MINUTES CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL Regular Meeting March 20, 2000 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE At 6:45 p.m. Mayor Station called the meeting to order in the Council Chambers, 10300 Torte Avenue, Cupertino, California, and led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL City Council members present: Mayor John Station, Vice-Mayor Sandra James, and Council members Don Bumett; Michael Chang, and Richard Lowenthal. Council members absent: None. Staff present: City Manager Don Brown, City Attorney Charles Kilian, Administrative Services Director Carol Atwood, Community Development Director Steve Piasecki, Parks and Recreation Director Steve Dowling, Public Information Officer Donna Krey; Public Works Director Bert Viskovich, Planner Michele Rodriguez, and City Clerk Kimberly Smith. CEREMONIAL MATTERS- PRESENTATIONS 1. Presentation by David Fong of a gift from Hsinchu City. Mr. Fong, co-chair of the Hsinchu City Friendship City association, presented a gift of hand-made crystal wine goblets and an art print to the mayor. Mr. Frank Jelinch, Ms. Mary Stone, and Ms. Pauletie Young were all members of the recent delegation to Hsinchu City in Taiwan. They each reported on their activities on the trip, and said they received a wonderful welcome. 2. Report from city committee or commission: Parks & Recreation Commission. Ms. Kris Wang, chairp¢ison of the commission, discussed their membership, accomplishments, and goals. POSTPONEMENTS Councihnember Bumett announced that he had withdrawn his appeal of itei~i No. 16 because the applicant has abandoned the request for an arch at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery, and will work with the city to improve signage on the roundabout. March 20, 2000 Cuper~no City Council Page WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS Mayor Statton said he had received a letter from Ms. Robin Haywood, and she had also turned in a request to speak under oral communications. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Ms. Lucia Wu, one of the volunteers working on the Moon Festival, said she hoped to grow the event into a large festival, including a parade, like the one that is held in San Francisco every year. It is not only a celebration, but it is a comfort and an opportunity to share the Chinese culture. Ms. Wu said she felt there has been some discrimination and requested open communication with the community leaders about why it is not supported. Shc said that thc City Council has been very supportive of the festival. James and Lowenthal said they had heard only positive comments about it. Lowenthal offered to meet with Ms. Wu to discuss the situation further. Ms. Robin Heywood said she was one of the lottery winners for the below-market-rate homes at Oak Valley. However, while she was going through the title company application process one of her pa~hiers decided not to enter into a long-tei~h contract. Although another individual is willing to participate, the selection committee has disqualified her. She asked for an opportunity. · - to complete the application process. Mr. Floyd Meyer, 1016 Westacres Drive, said he was still investigating a report about missing traffic tickets and he thinks there may be improprieties. He said if this has hurt any of his fellow citizens, they can contact him and he will look into the matter. Mr. Meyer asked for details about the redesign of the intersection near Klm, and said there is a terrible traffic burden on McClellan. Public Works Director Bert Viskovich said the only change would be to prevent Home Depot traffic from making a left turn and heading west into the neighborhood. CONSENT CALENDAR Chang moved to approve the items on the consent calendar as presented, with the exception of item Nos. 3 and 10. Burnett seconded and the motion carried 5-0. 4. Accounts payable: March 3 and March 10, Resolutions 00-085 and 00-086. 5. Payroll: March 3 and March 17, Resolutions 00-087 and 00-088. 6. Amendment of contract with the California Public Employees' Retirement System, Resolution 00-089. ._ 7. Recommendation from Telecommunications Commission for a public access grant. yarc~ 20, 2000 Cupe~no Gt~ Coanell P~,te ~ 8. Leadership Cupertino/Tomorrow's Leaders Today: alp-eeiiient bet-ween sponsors to share equally in liability, Resolution 00-090. 9. Authorizing execution of Cooperative A~reement 4-1816-C between city and state, relinquishing to Cupertino a portion of De Anza Boulevard, between Prospect and Rainbow, Resolution 00-091. 11. Consider request from Payvand School of the Iranian Federated Women's club for waiver of use fees in the amount of $150.00 for use of the Cupertino Room at the Quinlan Community Center. 12. Alcoholic beverage license application for Hilton Garden Inn Cupertino, 10741 N. Wolfe Road. 13. Accepting grant deed of real property from Pietm Serena Associates, LLC, a California Limited Liability Company, Resolution 00-096. 14. Acceptance of municipal improvements: I1 Sang Lee, 10091 Hillerest Road, APN 326- 16-012, Resolution 00-094. Vote Councilmembers Ayes: Bumett, Cbamg, James, Lowenthal, and Statton Noes: None. Absent: None. Abstain: None. ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR 3. Minutes: February 22 regular adjourned meeting and March 6 regular meeting. Lowenthal moved to approve the minutes as amended to correct names on page 7 of both sets of minutes. James seconded and the motion carded 5-0. 10. Designating permit parking along Hyannisport Drive between Fort Baker Drive and Linda Vista Drive, Resolution 00-092. Lowenthal said he was concerned that adding more permit parking areas would worsen the parking problems for students by forcing them into other neighborhoods. Public streets belong to all residents, and with the strained traffic situation at Monta Vista High School, this would encourage even more drop-offs, which doubles the number of vehicle trips. James said she was also not in favor of permit parking next to parks and schools. Burner agreed and said that any attempt to address the problem should be done citywide. Chang and Statton agreed a citywide review was needed. Marc/~ 20, 2000 Cupertino Cliy Council Page City Manager Don Brown said that since the neighbors had requested this permit parking by petition, it was noxff~ally a consent item and none of them were present to address council on changing the policy. Staffwas asked to prepare a map of all of the restricted parking areas in the city. Lowenthal moved to continue this item to the meeting of April 3. Public Works Director Bert Viskovich said that would be sufficient time to notify the residents by mail. Chang seconded and the motio~a carried 5-0. PUBLIC HEARINGS 15. Consideration of street name change from Sycamore Drive to Sycamore Court, Resolution 00-093. James moved to adopt the resolution. Bumett seconded and the motion carded 5-0. 16. Appeal by City Council m~uiber Don Burnett regarding 1-ASA-00, the Diocese of San Jose application requesting placement of an entrance archway to the Gate of Heaven Cemetery on the property. Under "Postponements", Bumett announced that he had withdrawn his appeal of item No. 16 because the applicant has abandoned the request for an arch at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery, and will work with the city to improve signage on the roundabout. 17. Amend Municipal Code to shift all single-family residential review to the Residential Design Review Committee and change the composition of the committee. Application 1- MCA-99. This item is Categorically Exempt and is recommended for approval, Ordinance 1844. A. Ordinance No. 1844, "An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Cupertino Amending Chaptei.- 2.32, 2.90, 16.28, 17.44, 19.28, 19.32, 19.36, 19.48, 19.56, 19.60, 19.80, 19.132, and 19.134 of the Cupertino Municipal Code to Shift Design Review to the Design Review Committee." Planner Michele Rodrigues reviewed the staffreport. She explained that there are currently two committees doing design review, the Residential Design Review Committee and the Design Review Subcommittee. The new composition would include two Planning Commissioners, so the Community Development Director position and the Architectural Advisor would work in an advisory capacity. Council would still receive reports about the activities of the new commission. She discussed the recommendations from staff and from the Planning Commission. The Commission felt there would be _ value in all five of them having an opportunity to review the projects, but staff felt that it would add both time and cost to the applicant. March 20, 2000 Cupertino Ci/y Council Page 5 Lowenthai said it seemed to be a good idea to have the items final at the committee level instead of requiring th~iii to go before thc Planning Commission, since there is a robust appeal process. Burnctt agreed, and said that some of the types of items that were previously final with the Director will now be going before the committee. James said she was in favor of consolidating the process and supported staff's recommendation. Rodriguez said that thc staff's recommendation was reflected in Exhibits 1-10 from the Jan 24 report and exhibits 5, 10, 11, and 12 from the March 20 packet. James moved to adopt staff's recommendation. Burnett seconded and thc motion carried 5-0. Rodrigues explained that Ordinance No. 1844 would be changed to include the amendment of Chapter 19.64. The City Clerk read the title of the ordinance. Burnett moved and James seconded to read the amended ordinance by title only, and that the City Clerk's reading would constitute the first reading thereof. Motion carried 5-0. 18. Reconsideration of determination by the City Council on January 3 denying the appeal of Steven Hoffman and upholding the decision of the City Manager regarding use of city park facilities by the Cupertino Unified School District for commercial day care center operations, Resolution 00-095. Petition requesting reconsideration filed by Steven D. Hoffman. Continued from February 22. City Attorney Charles KJlian reviewed the materials in the pack~t, which included documents issued by the public works director regarding parking and traffic; a letter written by Mr. Kilian with a proposed resolution based upon the city council's previous decision and listing the findings that should be made if council decides to deny the petition for rehearing; responses specifically addressing Mr. Hoffxnan's letters; and two letters, not in the original packet, from the attorney of the Cupertino Union Elementary School District. Kilian said there were also materials distributed the last time this item was discussed which Council did not have to bring with them, but which had been available for review. Kilian said that there was aiso a videotape prepared by Mr. Hoffman that was ready to be shown. Statton said that he understood the videotape was over 20 minutes and he directed that the tape be shown in fast-forward mode. He asked for comments from the applicant. Mr. Hoffman said this is a difficult issue because it involves the day-care center use. He wanted to get mitigating measures in place because he is an adjoining property owner and feels he has been impacted. He said he felt he was forced into the discussion tonight, but it was not the appropriate forum for the issues he wanted to raise. There should have been an opportunity for the users of the park to speak at a hearing and have concerns addressed. Mr. Hoffman said one example of the impact on his property is the noise · areh 000 Cupertino City C ouneil Page 6 -- created by the 80 cars that pass between 5=7 p.m. in the evening. They create a distraction that can't be mitigated even by raising the fence around his back yard. Mr. Hoffman quoted section 13.04.030 of the Municipal Code that says that no person shall enter, be, or remain in any part of a building of the city unless it complies with all that regulations set forth in this chapter applicable to such park or building. He said the district has not complied. If council rejects his request for reconsideration, it sends a message that the complainant has the burden of establishing that something was wrong. Mr. Hoffman said he has been fighting this battle with the school district and for tho most part his proposals for mitigation have been rejected. He said his claim against the school involves the school's use of school property and non-school property. His suit against the city relates only to the district's use of non-school.property. Mr. Hoffrnan said the transcript of Chuck Corr's deposition confu'ms that when the buildings were put in place, the full intent of the district was to use the park parking lot. That was when the school district should have come to city for permission. Now it has been allowed and the municipal code ignored. Mr. Hoffinan discussed the responses by the city. In one case it indicates that the council relied on the testimony of the Public Works Director, including his most recent staff report. Mr. Hoffro. an said that Mr. Viskovich made only a visual survey, and Mr. Hoffinan's traffic survey was more comprehensive. He said the district's use of the parking lot was not de minimus but rather was ongoing. People using the park for the day-care use using are a multitude of times greater than any other park use combined. He said the city contends that the use of the Varian Park parking lot by some parents for pick up and delivery of children does not unreasonably adversely affect the availability of adequate parking for park activities. The number of people waiting for parking space in the evenings does not support this. The situation will only get worse as new housing is developed. Mr. Hoffman said that he has supplied the council with copies of the code sections that plainly say that someone who intends to use the park needs to submit an application. When that doesn't happen, the use of the park is illegal and creates a nuisance. Mr. Hoffman highlighted some of the other responses and findings, and then showed his videotape at fast-forward. He said thc film was shot from his study, although the traffic can be seen from every room in the house. He said there were virtually no park users on the day and evening when the film was shot. The evening portion of the videotape was from approximately $ p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. Mr. Hoffman said he was saddened.by the city's response, which was basically that he has the burden of proof to show that the district must comply with thc Municipal Code, and everything hc said in his letter was not relevant or was disregarded. If Council adopted the resolution as it now stands, anyonc can use the parking lot for any purpose without .March 20, 2000 Cupertino City Council Page 7 any application and without any approval in the city. Any adverse impact on the park or adjoining property owners is irrelevant until the city decides otherwise. He referred to a letter by Mr. Holly and said it has some proposals that may work. Mr. Marc Hynes, representing Mr. Hoffman, said that this is not an attempt to somehow engine? a special arrangement for his client. By virtue of the location of his house, he is uniquely affected by the operation of the day-care center in parking lot as described. There are a range of things that could be done to address the problem and prevent a request on the part of the neighbors for stricter parking. He asked that council uphold the appeal to establish the proper form whereby council would review the issue and require a parking study and allow thc type of public input and imposition of raitigating measures which would alleviate some of the problems Mr. Hoffman has suffered. Mr. Dennis Ward represented the Central YMCA. He said the matter is currently litigated in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County. He noted that references to the day- care center as a commercial operation are incorrect, since this is a non-profit operation. He said he would object to any reconsideration based on Mr. Hoffrnan's characterization of thc activities of the day-care center because they are misleading, particularly as it relates to the use of the park and parking. Ms. Liz Gallegos, Executive Director of the Northwest YMCA said she agreed that he issues raised by Mr. Hof~m-~an at this time are different than those currently going through the YMCA and the school district. She said they did not discuss the parking issues with Mr. Hoffxnan in the times they have met. She noted that there is a licensing limit to the child care facilities. Although there may be growth projections for the other side of Foothill Boulevard, they would need a different facility because this center is nearly at its licensing capacity for childcare. Kilian said it is important that council review the findings on page 18o19 of the packet because those would be the basis of either denial or non-denial. He commented on the videotape provided by Mr. Hoffinan, and said that one would have expected a tape that would show a tremendous number of problems in the parking lot. Kilian said he has seen the tape before, that in the morning hours there is absolutely no problem, there are spaces at all times for parking. In the evening it appears that on occasion a driver must wait a minute, then a parking place is found simply because of turnover of cars. Kilian said this use does not require any special permits by either the YMCA or the Cupertino union school district simply because these are parents using the parking lot at the park. Had there been a gas station or restaurant down the road, the city would not require those businesses to get a special parking permit if some of their patrons decided to use the parking facilities at the park. On that basis, the finding says that the Cupertino Union School District doesn't have to seek a permit. This does not preclude the council from requiring a special permit at a later time if there is an intensity of use of the parking such as would affect the ability of park users to park at that location. But at this point the decision is council's as to whether such a point has been reached. · March ~0, ~000 Cupertino City Council Page Burnott said he agr~d with Kilian that the impact of the cars coming in appears to be transitory. Park users would still have an opportunity to park th~'~. Chang agreed. The videotape showed they weg able to find parking spa~es, esp~ially in the morning. In evening there was a constant flow of parking, which is a situation would be found in many parts of the community. He also felt that the City Attorney adequately addressed the allegations that the city did not hold hearings as required by the code. James said that the videotape did not sway her opinion about the impact on the parking spaces. She was in favor of shared facilities between public agoncies, because it is a wise use of unlimited funds. Statton said the videotape actually spoke against all the points raised by Mr. Hoffman, and he believed it was a de minimum use. He said the entire histo~¢ of this project ,fi'om the initial request to dedicate a slice of public land to offset the woes in the property owner, really undercut the property owner's arguments. James moved to adopt Resolution No. 00-095. Burnett seconded and the motion carried 5-0. PLANNING APPLICATIONS - None UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None NEW BUSINESS 19. Offer from Apple Computer to provide cash amount to be used for community programs or facilities, including artwork, in lieu of installation of artwork on the Apple campus. Community Development Director Steve Piasecki reviewed the staff report and the recommendations by the Fine Arts Commission. Mr. Bob Hecox, Director of Real Estate for Apple Computer, said their original use permit specified $100,000 for public art. He said that still seemed fair, since that was what they would probably have spent to replace the art on the campus. Apple would not maintain any off-campus art. Chang said he felt the $100,000 was about right for an in-lien fee. Also, the city should make the ultimate decision on what to do with the art, possibly to be used on the Four Seasons pwject. He said they should look to the fine arts commission for recommendations and then it should come back to the council because there is quite a lot of public feeling about public art. · March 20, 2000 Cupertino Cily Council Page James agreed with Chang that $100,00 is the right amount and that the city can use it well. Public art can be many different things. She said she thought it would be shortsighted to exclude Apple from participating because they could help the city make a good decision on what to do with the money. Hecox said it was their initiai thought that in addition to the money, there might be ways they could do some things for the community because of their access to technology. Lowenthal said he thought it was good to have Apple participate, although the city council should control the use of the art. He thought the $100,000 amount was acceptable, and said that he would like to see the fine arts commission in an advisory role help/nE council consolidate proposals. Bumett thought they should accept the in-lieu fee only for art, and he felt it was very generous offer considering that Apple was giving the city flexibility. Statton said he would also like to see Apple participate in the process, though not have the controlling decision, because any time a company participates in the community it is a positive thing. He noted that Apple is meeting a commitment they made ten years ago, so it is not exactly a donation to the community, although he would like to see the company make more donations to the community. James moved to accept an in-lieu amount of $100,000 to be used for fine arts or other community programs. The location and how those funds will be spent will include the collaboration of Apple Computer, but the final decision will be made by the City Council. The Fine Arts Commission will serve in an advisory wle to help Council consolidate the proposals. Chang seconded and the motion carried 5-0. 20. Authorizing selection of steering committee for new Cupertino library building. Public Works Director Bert Viskovich reviewed the staff report. Bumett moved to approve the member list recommended in thc staffreport, and directed staffto develop a list of other nominees for the community representative positions. The approved member list included: Council members Michael Chang and Sandra James Planning Commissioner Charles Corr Neighborhood Representative Dowthy Stow Youth Sports Representative: Bob Joyce (CYSA Soccer) Friends of the Cupertino Library: Jean Gallup ,March 20, 2000 Cupert/no City Council Page "-- Library Coro_rnissioncr: to be selected by thc coramission Community-at-large members: to be appointed by City Council Santa Clara County Library staff: Mary-Ann Wallace and Julie Famsworth Public Works staff: Ca~--en Lynaugh, Bob Rizzo, and Bert Viskovich 21. Development criteria for convcrting commercial land use to office land use. Community Development Director Piasecki summarized the staff report. Bumctt discussed his letter regarding the conversion policy, and stated that the type of conversion he wished to promote was specifically from office to housing. Chang asked if they could deal with the Santa Barbara Grill site as a specific case because they do not have frontage on a major road and he thought it had affected their business. He said he wasn't sure council was ready to consider a policy for the city as a whole. The present policy seemed to be working and he would very cautious about either transferring or allowing different uses than the policy now allows. He hoped there were provisions that would allow them to treat the Santa Barbara Grill on an exception basis. Piasecki said if council feels this case is unique, staff could evaluate it in that context. Lowenthal referred to the criteria for initiating a general plan amendment and said he thought the council has to find that it benefits the city as a whole, not just the applicant. Piasecki that was correct, and he thought they had made that finding because they had initiated thc process in November. Burner objected and said he had earlier expressed his desire that this be converted to housing, which could be built there even as a mixed use without any change to the general plan. When he wanted to debate the issue at that time, staff said council was only allowing the process to go forward and it could be debated when it came back to them. Statton said he thought the Santa Barbara Grill was an appropriate topic for another evening and another agenda item. Piasecki referred to the recommended criteria for transfer of development rights. They included evaluation of the following items: fiscal impacts, especialty if square footage would be moved from the commercial pool allocation; housing and traffic impacts; urban design issues and how the development blended with the street and neighboring buildings; public amenities such as open space, fountains, and public plazas; and the corporate citizenship interface with the community. He explained that the intent was to encourage exemplary, high quality developments that do a lot for the community. For example, as Burnett had suggested, there could be on-site housing to offset some of the housing impacts in that particular location. The housing committee thought mixed use _ housing could go on this site as well as just about any other site. He said the Planning Commission is reviewing the Development Intensity Manual that talks about transferring · March 20, 2000 Cupert/no City Council Page 11 development fight and credits. What was being considered tonight could be folded into that manual and become city policy. Piasecld said that the general plan is driven by traffic concerns to a large degree. That has restricted square footage, the location, and the type of land use that will occur in various areas. Staff is finding that individual properties are seeking flexibility, and there seeii-ts to be a need for criteria to use when evaluating those cases. City Manager Don Brown said Cupertino's tax structure is unique, in that Cupertino is a low property tax city so office development doesn't provide much revenue for the city. However, there is a potentially significant gain for property owners by going from a retail or commercial use to an office use, especially in today's economy. He said there was very little fiscal gain to the city of that kind of transfer, and there is the potential of exacerbation of problems including peak hour traffic and the housing shortage. Chang said perhaps the policy should not encourage conversion of land use from commercial or retail to office, but if it is to be allowed it would be governed by these criteria. Lowenthal said the city has been very traffic-driven in the past, but he would like to have the flexibility to move the numbers around and these criteria could help accomplish that. Bumett said the city council may initiate a general plan amendment when it benefits the community as a whole, and that was what he wanted to see happen. lames said that they need to look at the overall view of whether to reallocate and how to accomplish that. She liked the seven suggested parameters and the flexibility, and with Burnett that there is a housing problem. Statton said Cupertino is effectively built out, and any projects that come before council will receive a great deal of scrutiny. He liked the seven criteria but felt they should be expanded. He also thought it was appropriate for council to look at the general plan as a whole at some point, because they had been using numbers that were historically handed to them and it was time for a fresh look at them. Piasecki said staff needed direction that the seven criteria would be folded into the discussion about the development intensity manual so it could ultimately become part of city policy. Mr. lohn Shelton, 701 Harvard Avenue, representing the Santa Barbara Grill Group, thanked staff for bringing this subject to the forefront. He agreed that currently there is a housing crisis that must be addressed. He suggested adding two more criteria to the list, which would be some consideration of a small versus large, insignificant impact versus significant impact) and consideration of the uniqueness of site characteristics. Mr. · March 000 Cupertino City Council Page Sh¢lton said he did not think housing would work on the Santa Barbara Grill site and council needed to take into account the unique site characteristics and size. They know it will be a gateway project, and they want to do a job of which everyone will be proud. Mr. David Wheeler, Cupertino CPA, said he could understand staff's concerns, and they are asking .for some criteria that should be evaluated. Mr. Charles Newman, 10050 North Wolfe Road, Vallco Financial Center, said there were two issues before council: Should there be the ability to transfer credits, and reasonable criteria to consider if they are considering a transfer. He said they must be reasonable and flexible, and he agreed with the additional two criteria suggested by Mr. Shelton. He said he hoped they would pass this on to the Planning Commission so the project now before them could be dealt with through the criteria as established. Bumett said he still had concerns. He thought that when each project comes in, the developers should be asked how the change would benefit the community. His preference would be to direct the staff to be very discriminating and to not bring projects forward without some clear description of what the advantage to the community might be in t¢~cc, s of the seven criteria that are listed for any given change, and what the fiscal and housing implications would be. -- Chang said the criteria looked fine but he did not want to give people the mistaken impression that this council was encouraging people to do this. He thought the preamble to the criteria should be that if the council would consider such a situation, these would be the criteria that would be considered. Lowenthal agreed that wording to that effect should be addecl. Piasecki said he understood that council would like these criteria to be folded into the Development Intensity Manual with the suggested preambles and qualifications. Council would have a chance to look at that language again at a later time. 22. Letter f~om Councilmember Bumett regarding housing densities. Bumett summarized his letter and said ABAG will be allotting 500 more units to Cupertino. He said ABAG is not seeking to provide enough units to solve the housing problem in the Bay Area, only about 50%, so that the extent of the extent of the housing problem is severe. He thought it was appropriate to direct staffto follow the general plan requirements, which encourages high density. That requires good design and careful integration into the community, but there are creative things that can be done to make it more tolerable. The city needs to do this meet the needs of the greater community, and the creation of a viable, waikable downtown community will require a lot of people. Lowenthal said he would like to eliminate the words minimize or maximize related to density because the most important priority is that it is a quality project. He agreed with March 20, 2/)00 L'~upertlno City C~oune{1 Page Burner about density and said it could be good for the city if done in the right way. He suggested leaving the range as it is and judging each project on overall merit. Chang said that council had a good sense of the intensity that it felt comfortable with and seems to reach consensus on most projects. He said he didn't know if they needed the words minimize or maximize, and would prefer a moderate approach to this. Samcs said she agreed with Burnctt in many respccts. She believed that council had to address the issue of housing, and one way was to increase density by allowing higher buildings. There would be older developments ready for renovation, and density should increase there too. Also, there are retail developments to which housing could be added. Council needs to start looking for those opportunities as well as educating the community as to the advantages of increasing density. Statton said there is very little affordable housing available regardless of income. Historically people in the conununity have reacted adversely to proposals for denser housing, but that is slowly changing. He said the issue is how to accommodate the growth in this valley and provide affordable housing while retaining the suburban character of the community. He said in general they should try to make sure that the end result is a very livable, walkable community. Burnett said urbanists claim that what people are really afraid of is crowding, not density, and that has a lot to do with design. He said they have conducted preference surveys where they show people developments and the people will often find the most dense development the most attractive because it's well designed, so design really matters. Another aspect of housing is a tradeoffof unit size versus how many units are built. Statton noted that housing issues might be a good topic for the community congress planned for the fall. ORDINANCES - None. STAFF REPORTS City Manager Donald Brown reviewed the recommendations of the Legislative Review Committee. Burnett moved to approve the recommendations, and Lowenthal seconded. The motion carried 5-0. · Supported SB 1333 (Sher), extension of termination date for collection of abandoned vehicle fees. · Opposed AB 2188 (Baldwin) and SB 1377 (Haynes), sales tax free Internet. Supported AB 2412 (Migden), Intemet sales, nexus. · Supported allocation of $500 million per year of new money for preservation of city streets and county roads. 'March 20, 2/)00 Cupertino City Council Page COUNCIL REPORTS James said she spoke at a meeting of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group regarding Cupertino's affordable housing projects and the business-education link the City has with the Chamber of Commerce. She mentioned the opening for a new executive director for the Tomorrow's Leaders Today pwgram. She said the Economic Development Committee met last week and has been inviting representatives from some of the smaller and medium sized retail centers to assist them with upgrading and/or redeveloping. Representatives of the Marketplace attended the last meeting and the Oaks will be next. Chang said he attended the Leadership Cupertino meeting and said they have deepened their partnership with their other partners, UC Santa Cruz, the Chamber of Commerce, and De Anza College. Lowenthal said the Jacobs Group has taken a different direction lately, with a plan to make Vallco a more entertainment-oriented center. He mentioned a meeting with Ruben Delgado, president of the Classified Employees Association for FUHSD, and author of a letter in the Courier expressing frustration with the city over the below-market rate pro,ram. Lowenthal said he attended a controversial school board meeting where they discussed the fifth middle school site in the Cupertino school district. There's not enough money to build it, and until then there's going to be a lot of stress and controversy over this. Regarding economic development, he suggested the economic summit discuss the development of a retail plan. Lowenthal said he ran four mock city council meetings at Regnart elementary school, and attended the city's Student Week in Neighborhood Government (SWING) program. Burnett attended the ABAG board of directors meeting last week and said he was promoting SB 1629, which is a pedestrian and bicyclist bill of rights that requires that all road projects that are built in the future have sidewalks that accommodate pedestrians and provide sufficient space on the road for bicyclists.' Statton noted that he had thrown out the first pitch in the opening day ceremony for Cupertino Little League. CLOSED SESSION - None ADJOURNMENT 23. At 9:58 p.m. the meeting was adjourned to Friday, March 24, 9:30 a.m., City Hall, conference wom A, for a tour of podium-style apartments ' ~ ci%mbClere?k~mith