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MINUTES
Cupertino City Council
Regular Adjourned Meeting
October 11, 1993
ROLL CALL
At 7:02 p.m., Vice-Mayor Goldman called the meeting to order in Conference Rooms C
and D of the Cupertino City Hall, located at 10300 Torre Avenue.
Council members present: Wally Dean, Marshall Goldman, Barbara Koppel, Lauralee
Sorensen. Council members absent: Mayor Nick Szabo. At 7:04 p.m., Mayor Szabo was
present.
Staff Present: City Manager Don Brown
City Clerk KimSmith
Public Works Director Bert Viskovich
Community Development Director Bob Cowan
City Attorney Charles Kilian
Planner II Tom Robillard
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
1. Applications 81,004.8 and 4-EA-93 - Amending Residential Hillside policies in the
municipal code. (Continued from meeting of September 20, 1993 and October 4,
1993.) Recommended action is to approve one of the following options:
Option 1:
(A) First reading of Ordinance No. ____: "An Ordinance of the City Council
of the City of Cupertino Amending Chapter 19.40, Residential Hillside
Zones (RHS), of the Cupertino Municipal Code." (Exhibit 1)
(B) First reading of Ordinance No. ____: "An Ordinance of the City Council
of the City of Cupertino Amending Chapter 19.08, Definitions; Chapter
19.28, Single Family Residential (R1) Zones; and Chapter 18.13, Hillside
Subdivisions, of the Cupertino Municipal Code." (Exhibit 2)
(C) Enact Urgency Ordinance No. ____, "An Ordinance of the City of
Cupertino Adopting an Interim Ordinance to Adopt an Exception
Procedure to Allow Property Owners of Hillside Lots to Submit Building
Plans for Lots Requiring An Exception in Accordance with the General
Plan, and Declaring the Urgency Thereof, and Taking Effect Immediately."
(Exhibit 3)
October 11, 1993 Minutes of the Cupertino City Council Page 2
Option 2:
(A) Enact Urgency Ordinance No. ____, "An Ordinance of the City of
Cupertino Amending Chapter 19.40, Residential Hillside Zones (RHS), of
the Cupertino Municipal Code, and Declaring the Urgency Thereof, and
Taking Effect Immediately." (Exhibit 4)
(B) Enact Urgency Ordinance No. ____: "An Ordinance of the City Council of
the City of Cupertino Amending Chapter 19.08, Definitions; Chapter
19.28, Single Family Residential (R1) Zones; and Chapter 18.13, Hillside
Subdivisions, of the Cupertino Municipal Code, and Declaring the Urgency
Thereof, and Taking Effect Immediately." (Exhibit 5)
Planner Tom Robillard reviewed the staff report and distributed a memorandum dated
October 11, 1993, titled "Changes to Ordinance Package Options."
Mr. Mike Akatiff, 2202 Lindy Lane, said that his project was one that was stuck in the
pipeline. He discussed the work that had been done on the project so far, and that
plans had been submitted to Planning and additional geological reports were required.
By August of 1993 his plans were completed and he had hoped to start construction in
mid-October. Mr. Akatiff said that his plans would not conform to the hillside
ordinance as proposed. He urged Council to adopt an urgency ordinance to address
the situation.
Mr. Barre Barnes, a resident of Cupertino, said that three of his four lots would not
conform to the proposed hillside ordinance. He said that last December Council had
directed staff to deal with those left in the pipeline, of which he was the only one, and
he had since paid for plans, engineering, soils, retaining walls, etc., and there had been
a variety of delays. He had recently received a letter from Council saying that one of
the lots was too steep. Mr. Barnes asked that an exception process be created.
The City Attorney noted that staff had not been directed to process Mr. Barnes' plans,
but rather his plans would not be affected by the moratorium that was in place at that
time and therefore could proceed. The Community Development Director noted that
Mr. Barnes could have proceeded with those plans until the General Plan changed, and
then his plans had to conform with the provisions of the new General Plan.
Mr. Larry Miller, 11835 Upland Way, referred to the date of November 15 which was
the proposed deadline for submitting completed plans. He said that he needed
additional time to work with the new buyers of the house he was building to construct
it within the new guidelines, since the current plans did not take into account the new
hillside policies. He requested that the exception period be extended to December 15,
and stated his preference was for Option 1.
The Community Development Director explained that their initial approach was to
recognize that people that already had plans in the door, and if the exception
October 11, 1993 Minutes of the Cupertino City Council Page 3
period was too long it would defeat the purpose of creating it. Mr. Miller stated
that he had incurred costs for the site plans and had been in negotiations, and he
requested that the filing period for the exception be longer than 30 days.
Mrs. Barbara West, 10670 Cordova Road, referred to the phrase "initial set of
completed building plans" and clarified that it mean the first set of completed
building plans, with the understanding that amendments could still be required after
staff review. She stated that she had recommended the 30-day filing deadline
because that is approximately when the hillside ordinance could have taken effect if
it were not adopted as an urgency ordinance. She asked that whatever date was
selected, it not be so far in the future as to undermine the intent of Policy
Statement No. 240 of the General Plan. Mrs. West said that some people may be
interpreting the documents as a build/no-build scenario, but it merely meant that
there were certain triggers that would require another review by the Planning
Commission. She expressed her support for Option 2 with the modifications
suggested by staff.
Mr. Phil Zeitmansaid that he was speaking on behalf of OAKS (Organization
Advocating Keeping St. Joseph's as Open Space) and they wished to support
option package No. 2. Mr. Zeitman said that personally he objected to the
environmental exception report because it showed insignificant impacts on traffic
and public schools. The Community Development Director explained that the
project addressed by this environmental impact statement was the ordinance itself,
and not a specific development project.
It was moved by Counc. Dean, seconded by Counc. Goldman, and passed
unanimously to approve Option No. 2 with the modifications contained in the
memorandum of October 11, 1993, which was distributed at the meeting.
The City Attorney clarified the term "complete set of plans" to mean one that the
Community Development Director feels he can act on under the law, and plans,
once completed, may be amended thereafter.
It was moved by Counc. Goldman, seconded by Counc. Koppel and passed
unanimously to adopt a Statement of Negative Declaration.
It was moved by Counc. Koppel, seconded by Counc. Goldman, and passed
unanimously that Ordinance No. 1634 be read by title only and the City Clerk's reading
would constitute the only reading thereof. The City Clerk read the title of the
ordinance. It was moved by Counc. Goldman, seconded by Counc. Koppel, and
passed unanimously to enact Ordinance No. 1634.
October 11, 1993 Minutes of the Cupertino City Council Page 4
It was moved by Counc. Koppel, seconded by Counc. Goldman, and passed
unanimously that Ordinance No. 1635 be read by title only and the City Clerk's reading
would constitute the only reading thereof. The City Clerk read the title of the
ordinance. It was moved by Counc. Koppel, seconded by Counc. Goldman, and
passed unanimously to enact Ordinance No. 1635.
NEW BUSINESS
2. Selection of date for the swearing-in ceremony for Council members.
Council concurred to schedule the swearing-in ceremony on Thursday, November
18, 1993, at 6:45 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT
At 7:40 p.m., the Council concurred to adjourn.
_______________________
Kim Marie Smith, City Clerk