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04. Draft Minutes 10-18-05 MINUTES CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL Regular Meeting October 18, 2005 CUPEIQ1NO ROLL CALL City Council members present: Mayor Patrick Kwok, Vice-Mayor Richard Lowenthal, and Council members, Sandra James, Dolly Sandoval, and Kris Wang. Council members absent: none. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Kwok called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m. in the Community Hall Council Chamber, 10350 Torre Avenue, and led the Pledge of Allegiance. PUBLIC COMMENTS REGARDING CLOSED SESSION - None CLOSED SESSION - None CEREMONIAL MATTERS - PRESENTATIONS I. Presentation by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department regarding its Special Operations Group. (No documentation in packet). The City Manager said that the Sheriff's Department would make this presentation at a later date. POSTPONEMENTS Item Nos. 8 and 10 were continued to November 1. Item No. 11 was continued to December 6. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS Written communications - The City Clerk announced that the following items were distributed to the City Council members: · Item No.8, a letter trom Cathy Helgerson requesting a continuance · Item No.9, a colored map of the Vallco Fashion park titled "Campus Plan" · Item No. 16, a chart showing the General Fund budget 4-1 October 18,2005 City Council Minutes Page 2 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Tilman Sporkert, resident, spoke about the Gate of Heaven appeal and said he was in favor of the Planning Commission decision to not allow vertical gravestones. He complained that the matter has been continued again, since it has been six months since it was first heard at the Planning Commission. Aaron Grossman, Executive Director of the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail, said he was representing the Audubon Society. He provided the City Council members with an information packet about Wildlife Education Day this Saturday. James McClure, resident, thanked Council member Dolly Sandoval for understanding and insisting at the last meeting that people who wished to discuss the Regnart Creek Trail had a right to be heard, but although they waited patiently, they were not given that opportunity. He talked about the potential hazards of the trail and the liability that the City would face. A resident of Cupertino (no name given) said that he been given permission to keep his handicapped-modified cars in the setback when his driveway was redone, and was promised that permission would be grand fathered in when his property was annexed to Cupertino. However, a neighbor has complained, and the City of Cupertino does not allow handicapped parking spaces in residential areas. The City Manager said that he and the City Attorney would contact the speaker to see if they can accommodate his needs. Julia Miyakawa spoke about the Cupertino Tournament of Bands, thanked City staff for their support in getting the street barriers in place. She also thanked the Council members who attended. Ed Puccinelli, resident, commended the City Council for postponing some items on the agenda, and said that action should be taken as a matter of course when there are important issues to be decided. Dennis Whittaker asked everyone to remember the troops and their families who have made sacrifices on behalf of all of us, and that we should not take them for granted. Rusty Britt talked about the Rotary Club-sponsored debate on Measures A, B and C. She said that the measures would fix the system that the Council has failed to fix. CONSENT CALENDAR Lowenthal/Sandoval moved and seconded to approve the items on the Consent Calendar as recommended. Vote: Ayes: James, Kwok, Lowenthal, Sandoval, and Wang. Noes: None. Absent: None. 2. Approve the minutes trom the September 20 City Council meeting. 4-~ October 18, 2005 City Council Minutes Page 3 3. Adopt resolutions accepting Accounts Payable for September 30 and October 7, Resolution Nos. 05-170 and 05-171. 4. Adopt a resolution accepting Payroll for October 7, Resolution No. 05-172. 5. Adopt resolutions approving Improvement agreements: a) Cupertino Estate LLC, a California Limited Liability Company, 10030 Hillcrest Road for retaining wall, driveway approach, sidewalk, and storm drain, Resolution No. 05-173 b) Lynn Ching, 10264 Lockwood Drive, APN 342-14-037 for grading, driveway approach, sidewalk, curb and gutter, storm drain, and street tree Resolution No. 05-174 6. Accept municipal improvements for streetlight, street tree, driveway approach, curb and gutter, and sidewalk for Cupertino Construction (Chih-Herig Wei and Jeng-Rong Shaw), 21089 Greenleaf Drive, APN 326-08-031. (No documentation in packet). Mayor Kwok re-ordered the agenda to consider continuances on items 8, II, and 10 next. 8. Consider an appeal of the Planning Commission's approval of Application No. TM-2004-05, Wayne Aozasa (CA Water Service), located on Greenleaf Dr., APN 326-33-107. (This item was continued ITom October 4): (a) Tentative Map to subdivide a .95-acre parcel into four lots ranging ITom approximately 6,430 square feet to 8,880 square feet, plus a remainder of 11,500 square feet Shawn Hefuer, representing the California Water Service Company, said that the engineer's report was complete, and he hoped to proceed with this item tonight. The City Attorney recommended that the Council grant a continuance, since the appellant has requested a continuance several days ago and provided lengthy documentation in support of that request. Mr. Hefuer concurred to continue the item. James/Lowenthal moved and seconded to continue this item to November I. The motion carried 5-0. 11. Consider Scenic Circle access to the Stevens Creek Corridor Park. JameslWang moved and seconded to continue this item to December 6. The motion carried 5-0. 4-3 October 18, 2005 City Council Minutes Page 4 PUBLIC HEARINGS 7. General Plan update. Application Nos. GPA-2004-01 and EA-2004-17. City of Cupertino. CityWide. (This item was continued ITOm the meeting of October 4), Community Development Director Steve Piasecki said that tonight Council would be looking at the remaining hot topics and any additional ones. He said that Council's goal would be to finish the General Plan discussion, vote for final approval, and review the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) at the November 15 meeting. He and City Planner Ciddy Wordell reviewed the staff report and the development allocation areas. Alan Chamorro, representing Grosvenor, the owner of Results Way Corporate Park, talked about the housing allocation for the Bubb Road area. He said that they invested in the property knowing that they had the option to convert it to office or residential space. He asked Council to support staff's recommendation to leave the allocations for the Bubb Road area and not move them into the general pool. Phil Mader, ITOm Taylor Woodrow, said that they have a project on Bubb Road that they have been working on for a year and a half. He said that the application has been filed with the City and they hoped to bring it before Council in January. He asked that the 150 allocations remain on Bubb Road, as staff is recommending, in order to continue with their project. Ed Shaffer, an attorney representing Taylor Woodrow, said the 1993 General Plan authorized 150 units for this area and nothing has changed since then to warrant eliminating those units. He urged Council to keep the allocation in the Bubb Road pool. Mike Bullock said that someone stated that cash out would be a human resource disaster. He asked where the examples are of its failure. He read an article about the positive experiences of cash out, and he asked Council to craft a reasonable policy and to trust in any future Councils that might consider cash out. Myron Crawford, representing Berg and Berg Developers, said that they have properties on Bubb Road. He said that if Council continues to encourage a low- rise industrial development then there's no incentive to go back and intensify and redevelop the properties. He said that other cities are moving toward more intensity. He said he agrees with 45-60 feet for 2-3 stories, which is what is needed to properly build. He also asked Council to incorporate a 45-60 percent Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for 2-3 stories into the General Plan. Jennifer Griffin asked why Vallco North and South are the only areas targeted in the General Plan for heights of 60 feet, and said that the residents have made it clear that they don't want buildings that high. She said that all these projects L(-L{ October 18, 2005 City Council Minutes Page 5 would have students attending Cupertino High School, and she asked that Council protect the high schools by not allowing additional housing. Michael Pyle said he shared the concerns about schools in his neighborhood, including Collins School, which is full. He said he was concerned about the housing allocation in the Vallco area and the impact on schools, traffic, and quality of life. He said that once that area is developed with housing, Cupertino will have lost its ability to do something else with that large piece of land. He said the Planning Commission recommended studying the area first and encouraged Council to do some long-range planning. Michael Foulkes, President of the Chamber of Commerce, said that the Chamber supports housing allocation in the City because of the housing imbalance and the need for a place for workers to live. However, the City needs to preserve the commercial corridors, North Vallco, De Anza, and Bubb Road. The Chamber's concern is the conversions taking commercial offline and replacing it with housing. The General Plan has never set boundaries to preserve any areas as a commercial center. Regarding Economic Development for major employers, he said the Chamber supports the flexibility of 60 feet for mixed and non-mixed-use. He said that office is important, but it's difficult to determine what the fiscal benefit is. He said that the Chamber supports the idea that public art should be voluntary. Beverley Bryant, Executive Director of the Homebuilders Association of California, southern division, encouraged Council to look at the height of housing and flexibility. She said it lets councils of the future make decisions about where to place housing and industrial uses. She encouraged flexibility with height and said that limiting buildings to 45 feet is probably a mistake. Regarding industriallresidential conversion, she said that it's important to let future councils and citizens decide as the City grows. Regarding fire sprinklers, she said her association is convinced that what is in Cupertino today is adequate. Dennis Whittaker said he is concerned about the future of Cupertino. He asked what Council is doing about the retail and commercial space; why so much is being converted rrom commercial to residential; expressed concern about crowding in the schools as a result of more housing, as well as the additional 3,600 cars in the Vallco area; said that the area needs more parks; that the inrrastructure should be put in place first; that the Cypress Hotel is usually only half-full; and the Council should emphasize affordable housing like studios and one bedrooms. Rahul V. said he is opposed to recent allocation of housing because of the impact to the schools. Regarding height, he said he met with residents in area, and all were against increased height. He urged Council to increase the commercial uses, especially in the Vallco Mall, instead of increasing housing. 4-5' October 18, 2005 City Council Minutes Page 6 Pam Hershey said she thought there was supposed to be a park in the complex at Blaney and Stevens Creek Blvd. where the Quizno's is. Norm Hackford asked what it means when the developers or building owners of commercial buildings say that the buildings are functionally obsolete. He said that he has worked in functionally obsolete buildings, and that they don't need to be torn down; the City will need the buildings in the future. He said that 3-4 years ago, a petition was signed by many residents who were not in favor of the Crossroads streetscape plan. He said that the plan is referenced in the General Plan, and was modified in March 2004, and it's identical. He said that this plan should not be included in the General Plan. He also asked if it was helping the housing balance to transfer commercial square footage to housing. Community Development Director Steve Piasecki commented that the streetscape discussion was tabled at the request of the City Council. He said Council isn't deciding on the details now, only that at some point the plan will be adopted. Ed Puccinelli had concerns about Vall co and the noise coming rrom there. He asked Council to have lower height limitations at Vallco west of Wolf Road, and take steps that will eliminate traffic and noise. Phil Mahoney said that he is the owner of a few obsolete buildings, and explained that a 2005 market doesn't want them. He said that they weren't torn down earlier because of the dot.com business, but that in a normal development process those buildings would have been razed. He said the buildings need to be torn down, but it is expensive and the drive and demand to replace them isn't there. Regarding commercial, he said that without the additional housing Vallco won't get the trips it needs. He suggested looking into conversions to housing that wouldn't impact the school system. Stanley Tseng said that it was interesting that there was a lot of anti-growth sentiment in Cupertino. He said his opinion is that growth vs. antigrowth is a fairness issue; those who oppose growth are most likely those that live in Cupertino and enjoy their standard of living, and those who want more growth are those who want to live in Cupertino, but can't because of the high cost of liying. He commented that those who have been living here for a while bought their house inexpensively with low taxes, but that now the property cost is extremely high. He asked if it was fair to those who want to live in Cupertino to add growth restrictions. Steven Scharf said that Cupertino should be building highly desirable, low- density housing that doesn't impact the schools. He urged people to talk to teachers regarding overcrowding in the schools, not just administrators. He said that high-density housing will generate portables in the schools, which become permanent because the school districts don't have money to build what is needed. He said it's true that there are fewer students per housing unit in high density, and L(-~ October 18,2005 City Council Minutes Page 7 more units are being built, therefore impacting the schools. He was concerned about traffic with bicyclists and pedestrians with high-density housing. Mayor Kwok closed the public hearing, and Council members reviewed the onscreen summary chart of topics. Items in green had already been reviewed and straw votes taken. Lowenthal/James moved and seconded to allow 1,429 hotel rooms. The motion carried 5-0. James/Lowenthal moved and seconded to keep the current General Plan number of 94 residential units (remaining out of the original 100) allocated for Bubb Road. The motion carried 3-2, with Patrick Kwok and Kris Wang voting no. James/Sandoval moved and seconded to allocate 600 additional residential units for Vallco Park South. Lowenthal offered a friendly amendment to allow 400 additional residential units. James and Sandoval accepted the amendment. The motion carried 4-1, with Council member Kris Wang voting no. Lowenthal/James moved and seconded to allow 300 additional residential units at Vallco Park North. Motion carried 5-0. Steve Piasecki said that the next step is the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on November 15, and then the City Council can affirm its prior straw votes and take a final vote on the General Plan. Council was in recess rrom 9:48 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. 10. Consider Application No. M-2005-02, Dan Ikeda (PSS Ventures, LLC), 20415 Via Paviso, APN 315-01-213 through 222, regarding a modification of a use permit (8U-94) to convert a 140-unit apartment project (Aviare) to for-sale residential condominiums. (In light of the length of the agenda, Mayor K wok has suggested that this item be continued to the next meeting). James/Lowenthal moved and seconded to continue this item to November 11. The motion carried 5-0. 9. Consider Application No. DA-2005-02, Mike Rohde (Vallco Shopping Center), 10123 N. Wolfe Rd., APN 316-20-064, regarding a Vallco Development Agreement Extension (5-year extension to 2011). Mike Rohde, representing Vallco Fashion Park, asked the Council to extend the development agreement. He reviewed the shopping center's history of previous ownership. He said the current owners are Cupertino residents, with the vision, drive and passion to make Vallco succeed. He discussed the progress they have made so far, including structural work to support the new movie theater. He said L(~ Î October 18,2005 City Council Minutes Page 8 the department stores want to see the extension of the development agreement before they sign the Redevelopment Agency agreements. The following speakers were opposed to an extension of the development agreement. Their comments included: they were opposed to the proposal for a 5- or 6-story parking garage and the impact it would have on the nearby residential neighborhood; there would be more traffic congestion; there would be a negative impact on the schools; the study about the impact on schools rrom single family homes versus condos is incorrect, and more hard data is needed about those impacts; more community input is needed; the Vallco owners should meet with the neighbors; and the City Council should not rush to a vote before the November election; why is additional parking needed when the current lots aren't full; additional building should not be permitted on the west side of Wolfe Road because it's too close to neighborhoods; all the growth should not be focused in the Vallco area; and instead of extending the development agreement, it should be re-written to reflect current economic realities. Carol Bunn Danny Luk Marcia Alicea Rahul V Michael Pyle Jennifer Griffin Nelson D'Souza Shilpa Jahe Dennis Whittaker Patty Chi Bei Shen Sywe Michael Chang (by letter) Tom Hugunin Steven Scharf Homer Tong Kent Vincent said he thought that Vallco had nothing to do with Measures A, B, or C and asked why there was such urgency to act on this matter before the election. Community Development Director Steve Piasecki explained that the height measure defines two different areas around Vallco, the Wolf Road Commercial District and the Vallco Park area, which would have a height limit of 45 feet. The two areas overlap, so it is not clear as to which provision would apply and if buildings over 45 feet would be allowed on the east side of Wolfe. The Vallco owners realized that this discrepancy may prevent them rrom building some of their vested elements, so they came to Council for a clarification. City Attorney Charles Kilian said that this conflict was created in the drafting of the measures, and Vallco needs to have it clarified that the measures would .not impact their ability to construct the hotel, which is well along in the process. Michael Foulkes, representing the Chamber of Commerce, spoke in favor of extending the development agreement. He said that Santana Row in San Jose is an example of what the right kind of redevelopment can do, and a revitalized l(-j October 18, 2005 City Council Minutes Page 9 shopping center here in Cupertino can help to create viable parks and other benefits to the community. Xing Huang showed a petition which had been signed by about 60 people who opposed the extension of the development agreement, in particular the parking garage and the condominiums. He said they would like to see Vallco be successful, but not at the expense of neighborhoods. Tom Hugunin, representing his mother who lives on Wheaton Drive, said that at Christmas the parking would overflow into the neighborhood. He urged Council to take its time on a new Development Agreement and think of options such as a lesser extension, modify it, or work on a general Vallco Development Agreement on whole area. Mayor Kwok closed the public hearing at 11:14 p.m. Emily Chen spoke first as a Cupertino resident, and said that the residents choose to live here because of the quality of life; it is very important to maintain that, but the community's prosperity is lacking. She then spoke as a representative of Vallco International LLC, and discussed the plans for Vallco and how making that a vital retail center would benefit the community. She asked the City Council not to change the rules in the middle of the game. Mike Rohde said that their original meetings with the neighbors focused on the 18 households on the other side of the wall rrom Vallco, and they have not yet sent out a community meeting notice for the 500-foot radius, but they could certainly do so. Lowenthal/James moved and seconded to: I. Extend the development agreement for a period of 3 years, to 2009 2. Require a hotel designation on the subdivided site 3. Require a use permit approval for any garage over 2 stories at the location north of Macy's 4. Require a use permit approval for any hotel site (other than the one at the Rose Bowl site, which is a vested right) 5. Require the developer to get input rrom the neighbors before approaching the Planning Commission and City Council on the issues related to the height and design of the parking structure Sandoval offered a friendly amendment, which was accepted, so that a use permit was required for any garage over 3 stories. The motion carried 4-1, with Patrick Kwok voting no. Wang/James moved and seconded to amend the ordinance to extend the development agreement to 2009 instead of 20 II; make the other changes L(-1 October 18, 2005 City Council Minutes Page 10 discussed during the meeting; and read the ordinance by title only, with the City Clerk's reading constituting the first reading thereof. The motion carried 4-1, with Patrick Kwok voting no. 12. Receive a report on commissions and committees with terms expiring January 15, 2005, select an application deadline date of December 23, and interview dates of January 9 and 10,2006; and extend the expiration of commissions rrom January 15 to January 30 beginning in 2006. JameslWang moved and seconded to continue this item to November 1,2005. The motion carried 5-0. 13. Receive the resignation rrom Technology, Information, and Communications Commissioner Charlon McIntosh, and initiate the process to fill the unscheduled vacancy. James/Wang moved and seconded to continue this item to November 1,2005. The motion carried 5-0. 14. Consider canceling the meeting of December 20, 2005. (No documentation in packet). James/Wang moved and seconded to continue this item to November I, 2005. The motion carried 5-0. ORDINANCES - None STAFF REPORTS 15. Receive a report on events/festival waivers. JameslWang moved and seconded to continue this item to November 1,2005. The motion carried 5-0. 16. Receive a status report on General Fund Revenue and Expenditures. (No documentation in packet). JameslWang moved and seconded to continue this item to November I, 2005. The motion carried 5-0. COUNCIL REPORTS - None 4-(0 October 18, 2005 City Council Minutes Page II ADJOURNMENT At 12:25 a.m., the meeting was adjourned. Kimberly Smith, City Clerk For more information: Staff reports, backup materials, and items distributed at the meeting are available for review at the City Clerk's Office, 777-3223, and also on the Internet at www.cupertino.org.Click on Agendas & Minutes/ City Council/ Packets. Most Council meetings are shown live on Cable Channel 26, and are available at your convenience rrorn our web site. Visit www.cupertino.organdclickon Watch Meetings. Videotapes are available at the Cupertino Library, or may be purchased rrom the Cupertino City Channel, 777-2364. L¡-¡ J