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CC 12-06-2022 Oral_Written_Late CommunicationsCC 12-6-2022 Written Communications Oral Communications From:Peggy Griffin To:Gian Martire Cc:City Council; City Clerk Subject:Marina - use of Coastal Live Oak dangerous for pedestrians Date:Wednesday, December 7, 2022 12:10:55 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Hi Gian, I don’t know who to send this to so I’m hoping that you can send this onto whomever deals with the landscaping for Marina on the City side. I love Coastal Live Oaks but only in the proper place. You see them all over Rancho San Antonio. The way they grow, their branches naturally go down so as they grow, their branches can poke pedestrians in the eye. There are several planted in the median in front of Lawson Middle School and they are dangerous if you are not paying attention. Also, if they are kept along the sidewalk then they need to be pruned a minimum of every 6-months but the city’s procedure is to only prune every 8 years! When a tree is planted in the wrong place for the way it grows it becomes a gardener’s maintenance nightmare. REQUEST: Please find an equally big tree, maybe another type of oak, that has a better growing habit for a heavily used pedestrian walkway. Thank you, Peggy Griffin From:Connie-Comcast Swim5am To:Cunningham Connie; City Clerk; City Council Subject:2022-12-6 City Council Oral Communications Date:Tuesday, December 6, 2022 7:47:20 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Please add these comments to the Written Record. Thank you. Connie ****************************************** 2022-12-06 Oral Communications, Biodiversity is plunging, here and worldwide. Good evening, Mayor Paul, Vice-Mayor Chao, and Councilmembers: My name is Connie Cunningham. Resident 34 years On November 15, I spoke to you about Plunging Biodiversity worldwide. Biodiversity is all the different kinds of life you'll find in one area—like the Bay Area. All the variety of animals, birds, plants, butterflies, bees, bacteria work together in an intricate web, to maintain balance and support life. SJ Mercury reported today that beginning Thursday in Montreal the United Nations will hold their biodiversity summit. A study by the One Earth Journal was quoted, that governments “have not yet succeeded in bending the curve on biodiversity decline.” Scientists have proposed six areas for action: One area is greater involvement of local communities. https://enewspaper.mercurynews.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx? pubname=&pubid=704bc66e-2c99-475b-83aa-c7f296287203 Cupertino has begun progress to these goals. Three elements of note. Bird Safe Design and Dark Skies Ordinance was passed by Council in 2021. It addresses two environmental issues that help protect biodiversity. Reduce use of glass. Reduce light pollution. The Parks and Rec Master Plan states that Nature received the most and strongest support of the priority goals for the parks and recreation system. Cupertino’s Climate Action Plan 2.0 has a guiding principle to establish climate adaptation measures such as …. protecting biodiversity…. From a joint letter from six environmental groups: “In summer 2014, Cupertino completed an eighteen-million-dollar, six-year project to construct a multi-use trail along the creek corridor, to restore Stevens Creek in Blackberry Farm and the Stocklmeir property, and to restore habitat and open space along the creek…” Cupertino has an unusual City Work Plan 2022 item for analyzing the future needs of Blackberry Farm Golf Course. It is based upon former Council discussions in 2014 and 2015. There are two options in the report. Option B is to restore nature to 16 acres of City land. Thousands of people voiced their response to surveys and other outreach. Over half were in favor of restoring nature. That our Council thought in such terms is testament to the values of this community. What can City Council continue to do? Three things 1. Add to your checklist a new question about biodiversity and California Bay Area native trees for every land use issue that comes before you. 2. Advocates of nature will speak to you. Listen to them. Hear them. Biodiversity is critical to human life. 3. When this action item for Blackberry Farm comes to Council: Approve restoring nature, Option B. From Connie's iPhone Thank You for listening! Scan the QR Code to see our survey. Please do our survey so we can see your thoughts about our prototype Scan this QR Code to see a video about our prototype. Questions? Contact us at 52286fll@gmail.com CC 12-6-2022 Item No. 12 Blackberry Farm Pool Improvements Written Communications From:John Kehoe To:City Clerk; City Council Subject:2022-12-6 City Council Oral Communications, Blackberry Farm Golf Course Option B Date:Wednesday, December 7, 2022 9:24:23 AM Attachments:Blackberry Farm Golf Course - Option B_2022.12.03.docx CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. 2022-12-6 City Council Oral Communications, Blackberry Farm Golf Course Option B Please add these comments to the Written Record. (The Word document of same is attached below.) Thank you, John Kehoe Thank you, Council members, for this opportunity. My name is John Kehoe and I describe myself as a naturalist and citizen scientist. With this brief address I hope to inform this Council regarding your decisions on the Blackberry Farm Golf Course. Please choose Option B! The water savings listed in the Comparative Costs table are stunning. Option A reveals that the golf course requires significant water and more funding in order to remain operational. Water is a precious resource. Drought is an ongoing concern here in California and with our statewide habit of overpumping groundwater we are depleting our aquifers. Climate forecast models indicate that our recent rains are not indicative of an end to the drought. With our water tables dropping, freshwater availability will become marginal. The entire SF Bay Area has been identified as one of the nation’s water scarcity hotspots (Miller et al, p. 305). This scarcity will inevitably lead to political and legal conflicts, especially when we account for our increasing population density. Habitat enhancements are desperately needed now and this Council’s decisions will have countless long- term benefits. With Option B, local folks will be able to share the increased beauty and wonder of our enhanced natural world right here in Cupertino. Imagine the possibilities! This approach might be accomplished by reaching-out to our local non-profit organizations and open space agencies. Also, implement an “Adopt-a-Park” feature within the city government and harbor a new era of neighborhood participation. By expanding wildlife habitat, we can foster a new wave of local parks stewardship where everyone can experience the beauty of our natural world. Volunteer opportunities could open where students participate in outdoors workshops as they learn about the fascinating life cycles of our birds, bees and small terrestrial and aquatic critters. I have six years’ volunteering experience at Ulistac Natural Area in the City of Santa Clara. I began there in 2015 and later joined their nonprofit, UNAREP. The most recent restoration grant at Ulistac was funded in the Spring of 2016 and through numerous work sessions we planted several hundred native plants. It is amazing to see what an old golf course can become. I applaud the City’s efforts in expanding natural areas in this era of rapidly-built high-density housing at the expense of the depletion of biodiversity. This Council’s legacy would withstand the test of time for the greater good. John Kehoe Citations and references: Miller, G. T., & Spoolman, S. (2021). Living in the environment. Cengage Learning. UNAREP: Ulistac Natural Area Restoration and Education Project, ulistac.org Santa Clara Valley Water District 2016 grant for Ulistac: https://www.valleywater.org/news-events/news-releases/board-approves-grants-11-wildlife-habitat- restoration-projects Blackberry Farm Golf Course Feasibility Study, https://engagecupertino.org/bbfgolfcourse CC 12-06-2022 Item No. 13 Consider directing staff to prepare a City Ordinance to govern the permitting of small cellular facilities within the public right of way Written Communications From:Venkat Ranganathan To:City Council; City Clerk Subject:Re item 13 discussion Date:Tuesday, December 6, 2022 6:57:47 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Hi My name is Venkat Ranganathan. I am a res ident of Cupertino for more than 12 years and in bay area for nearly 3 decades. I understand and appreciate that we need infrastructure enhancements to keep pace with technological advances. I am happy that the city is considering changes to the earlier draft ordinance in terms of distance between towers and considerations for locations in residential, areas. In my case, we have a cell tower less than 25 ft from our master bedroom. As we know and also provided in the presentation, the RF exposure is a function of the square of the distance. Occupied structures like bedrooms should be considered in formulating regulations. I bought equipment's worth $500 to measure the rf exposure 200ft from an active tower on De Anza and McLellan and the devices showed unsafe levels. I have submitted them before. So my request is that the sites already approved like the one my house be reevaluated and moved to something that is not close to dwelling structures but still acceptable in range for the carriers Thanks Venkat Get Outlook for Android CC 12-06-2022 Future Agenda Items Mayor Paul's Written Communication I would like to ask for a second for staff to return to Council with recoiTimendations regarding shelter solutions for the unhoused . In particular, I would like staff to return for a study session asking for input from Council on the factors affecting whether the City of Cupertino should declare a shelter crisis under Government Code Section 8698.2. This study session would also include this and other options the City has to ensure the creation of temporary shelters, and the funding for ongoing supportive services for the people in these temporary shelters, for up to 80 individual units within our City. State Government Code Section 8698.2 allows for funding opportunities in this regard if a jurisdiction declares a shelter crisis. With regard to the number of units at a location, there may turn out to be a different optimal number, and that should certainly be one focus of the study session, but from what I have learned, a number around 80 units might optimize the cost efficiencies with respect to ongoing supportive services. I am specifically asking for an examination on shelters that are individualized so that people have a sense of safety and are more likely to accept the shelter option when presented with one. My hope is that by socializing and integrating these units within a given area, we create an example for how to ap.proach the issue, one that can be examined and replicated by other jurisdictions such that the scope of the housing crisis on its most stark and real terms can be diminished and eventually eliminated . I I I CC 12/6/22 Future Agenda Items Mayor Paul's written comments