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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTC Minutes 2012-04-18TOWN COUNCIL MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor Fraser called the regular meeting of the Tiburon Town Council to order at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 2012, in Town Council Chambers, 1505 Tiburon Boulevard, Tiburon, California. ROLL CALL PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: PRESENT: EX OFFICIO: Collins, Doyle, Fraser, Fredericks, O'Donnell Town Manager Curran, Town Attorney Danforth, Director of Administrative Services Bigall, Director of Community Development Anderson, Director of Public Works/Town Engineer Nguyen, Police Chief Cronin, Town Clerk Crane Iacopi Prior to the regular meeting, at 7:15 p.m., the Council interviewed two applicants for the Building Code Appeals Board. INTERVIEWS (Vacancies on Building Code Appeals Board) • Jerry Thompson (Integrity Electric, Inc.) • Chuck Clemons (Energy Calc Co.) CLOSED SESSION ANNOUNCEMENT, IF ANY There was no closed session. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Janice Anderson-Gram and Judith Wilson, representing the Rotary Club, told the Council of a proposed plan to have a community picnic along Shoreline Park on the evening of May 27, 2012, which would coincide with the fireworks in the Bay commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge. They said the event would feature food from local restaurants, similar to the Friday Nights on Main event. Mayor Fraser asked if Rotary would be responsible for organizing the event and received an affirmative response. The Mayor recommended that the organizers return to the Council with more information for consideration by the Council at its next meeting. Town Council Minutes #08 -2012 April 18, 2012 Page 1 CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Town Council Minutes - Adopt minutes of April 4, 2012 regular meeting (Town Clerk Crane Iacopi) Councilmember Fredericks -submitted a clarification to her Town Council report on page 3. 2. Sustainable Communities Strategy - Authorize comment letter to Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) regarding the draft Jobs-Housing Connections Scenario document associated with the Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) process (Director of Community Development) Mayor Fraser thanked Councilmember Fredericks and Director Anderson for their extremely thorough job and analysis in preparing this letter, and for the thoughtful way they represented the Town in this matter. MOTION: To adopt Consent Calendar Item Nos. 1 and 2, as amended. Moved: Collins, seconded by Doyle Vote: AYES: Unanimous ACTION ITEMS 1. Appointments to Town Boards, Commissions or Committees - Consider appointments to the Building Code Appeals Board (Town Clerk Crane Iacopi) Town Clerk Crane Iacopi gave the report. She said that the Council had appointed a general contractor and a civil energy to the newly-formed Board, and that at tonight's meeting, the Council had interviewed an electrical engineer (Jerry Thompson) and a Title 24 energy specialist (Chuck Clemons). She said there were a total of seven seats on the board (five members and two alternate positions). The Town Clerk also stated that staff was preparing a disclosure policy per Council's direction. Vice Mayor O'Donnell said that both candidates would be good additions to the Board with qualifications in broad range of fields. MOTION: Moved: Vote: To appoint Jerry Thompson and Chuck Clemons to the Building Code Appeals Board. O'Donnell, seconded by Collins AYES: Unanimous Town Council Minutes #08 -2012 April 18, 2012 Page 2 2. Chapter 16A of Town Code, Regulation of Signs - Request for Council Direction regarding possible future amendments (Town Attorney Danforth/Director of Community Development Anderson) In his report, Director of Community Development Anderson listed a number of issues that had been raised during the appeal of the CVS sign. He noted that public agencies faced more than the usual number of constraints in reviewing sign applications due to constitutional protection of speech. He said that during the CVS sign controversy, it appeared that much of the public had assumed that the Town could apply the same level of aesthetic review to signs as was applied to design review applications. It cannot. Because the Town must measure its review in the context of first amendment (free speech), Anderson said that Town regulations must only allow clear, content-neutral standards and criteria and that the Town's current ordinance already contains many such criteria. Anderson said that if the Council wished to expand these regulations, it could do so. For instance, he said that the ordinance could be written to ban red signs, halo-lit signs, metal signs, and the like. But he said that taking this action might preclude signs similar to those that are currently considered very attractive (for example, the Tiburon Lodge's metal, halo-lit sign). Anderson also said that the Design Review Board had attempted to use the neighborhood compatibility factor in its review [using other signs in the area], but that would require the ordinance to specify an "area of compatibility." Moreover, compatibility would be difficult to achieve, given the diversity of signage in the downtown area. The Council's third option, according to the Director, was that the Town could mandate color, materials, lettering style, and so forth in its review. He said that the Town had historically avoided this type of regulation because it generally led to homogenous-looking signage. Director Anderson stated that this particular building had been problematic over the years with respect to signage, and that overall, the approved CVS sign compares favorably to previous signs on that property (DeLano's/IGA and the Cala/Bell Markets), but he said that staff could suggest specific changes to the sign regulations to address the size and number of signs on large buildings such as that on the CVS parcel. These suggestions weremore fully outlined on page four of the report: 1) to modify the definition of frontage; 2) to reduce the maximum number of signs allowed on a property; 3) to place a cap on a building's frontage; 4) to revise the sign illumination standards or limit the size of halo-lit signs; and 5) to use more prescriptive criteria in approving sign material, color, lettering and the like. Council asked questions of staff. Councilmember Fredericks asked whether CVS had sought an exception for its signage. Anderson said that CVS had sought an exception for additional sign area for the sign on the Tiburon Boulevard frontage, but the Town had not granted the exception. Town Council Minutes #08 -2012 April 18, 2012 Page 3 Councilmember Collins asked whether the concept of "free speech" applied to content and words, not color and size. Town Attorney Danforth said that while the Town could regulate color and size, the regulations must be sufficiently specific to avoid creating the opportunity to discriminate based on content. Councilmember Doyle commented that signs were by nature very subjective and that there were many opinions about their aesthetics. He said that the sign ordinance seemed adequate and he did not see the need to make any changes at this time. Vice Mayor O'Donnell asked for clarification of some of the Town's sign regulations, for instance, regulations of temporary signs and "banner" signs. Director Anderson said that the Town had "cracked down" on the ability to use temporary signs during the most recent sign ordinance update, but he noted that a new business was allowed to have a grand opening-type" [banner] sign of a limited size for up to 30 days total after opening. The Vice Mayor asked whether there was a prohibition on "For Sale" signs being sited on a property that was not for sale (i.e., posted off-site). Anderson said that temporary A-frame signs were also allowed off-site on Wednesdays and Sundays during certain hours, but that in-ground off-site for sale signs were not permitted. Councilmember Doyle asked whether Town staff received many complaints about signs. Director Anderson said that complaints were not highly numerous but that sign enforcement is an ongoing task for the planners on staff. Mayor Fraser asked whether an area of comparison might be defined as "close by". He also asked whether the tighter regulations in the staff report might be an issue if the Town came forward with new signage based on the recommendations of the downtown committee. Town Attorney Danforth said that the proposed changes were being offered but not necessarily recommended by staff. Director Anderson pointed out that the sign ordinance provisions did not apply to signs on Town land and public rights-of-way, which are governed by a separate Town Council resolution. Mayor Fraser opened the item for public comment. There was no public comment. Councilmember Fredericks asked if private property owners were in a better position to regulate signs than a public entity. Councilmember Collins said that in his experience representing shopping center owners, the private property owner can enforce sign programs beyond the limits of local city codes, but that cities can adopt "sign programs" for shopping centers. Town Attorney Danforth commented that unlike private property owners, the Town might run into the same issues in regulating sign programs than it did in regulating individual signs. Town Council Minutes #08 -2012 April 18, 2012 Page 4 Vice Mayor O'Donnell asked if this applied to commercial leases. Town Attorney Danforth said that the Town could, for instance, suggest a palette of colors for signage, if it chose to do so, but that it could not use subjective terms such as "garish" to regulate signs. Mayor Fraser said that there might be an opportunity in the future to consider adding a degree of cohesiveness and character to signage in the downtown area, in particular, as a result of marketing and branding ideas currently being considered by the downtown committee. Councilmember Fredericks said that it might be a good idea to wait until the committee had an opportunity to present its findings before making any changes to the ordinance. For now, she said she would recommend only making minor "tweaks" such as which frontages would qualify for sign placement, and the like. She also recommended changing the regulations to prohibit the consolidation of all square footage into the use of one very large sign on a property. Councilmember Collins said that there might be a law of unintended consequences in the regulations of aesthetics because aesthetic excellence is a judgment call. He noted that signs are a necessity for merchants to be able to sell their goods and products; he suggested looking at a few other, similar communities that might have addressed the issue of aesthetics or uniformity of signage in their downtown areas. He suggested not changing the current ordinance but doing this sort of research for the not too distance future. Vice Mayor O'Donnell agreed that signs needed to be effective; he concurred with the idea of looking at other small, seaside communities to see what they had done to address the issue of aesthetics. O'Donnell said that the Town had been through a long process to adopt its current ordinance and agreed that there was no need to make any changes right now. Councilmember Doyle agreed that no changes were necessary; he, too, said he would look forward to hearing from the downtown committee and hearing their thoughts on the matter. He agreed that merchants were dependent on signage. Mayor Fraser agreed with the suggestion to look at two or three other cities as examples. Town Attorney Danforth asked for clarification on the specifics of the desired types of regulation - sign illumination, lettering and the like. Councilmember Collins suggested reviewing the other ordinances to look for a little more control in these specific areas. Vice Mayor O'Donnell gave Santa Barbara as an example of tasteful downtown signage without illumination. Councilmember Fredericks said the outcome should focus on what was unique to Tiburon. Director Anderson said that staff would look at some other cities' ordinances but would not propose any changes to the existing Town ordinance at this time. Town Manager Curran said that the downtown committee (Marketing & Communications Task Force) would also discuss the matter and make its report to the Council in the near future. Item tabled. Town Council Minutes #08 -2012 April 18, 2012 Page 5 3. Ned's Way Recreation Building Project - Consider Award of Contract and related actions (Town Manager Curran) - continued from March 7 meeting Director of Public Works/Town Engineer reviewed the history of the project in the staff report. Town Manager Curran followed with a description of what had taken place since the last Council meeting. Curran said that at the March 7 Council meeting, the price associated with developing the site, $2.39 million, had given everyone pause. She said the Council had directed staff to go back and look at alternate sites, and to ask the City of Belvedere to consider an increase in its contribution to the project. She also said that Town staff had talked with Reed Union School District officials and although they had been responsive, she said that they were up against rising enrollment and could not make any sort of commitment for use of school property for a continuation of after-school programs. The Town Manager said that all sites had been explored since March 7 but no viable options had been realized. However, she said that the City of Belvedere had discussed the matter at its April 9 Council meeting and had appointed a subcommittee comprised of City Council members Sandra Donnell and John Telischak to meet with the Town's Ned Way subcommittee (Mayor Fraser and Vice Mayor O'Donnell). She said this process had yielded a tentative agreement which the entire Belvedere City Council had approved at a special meeting on Monday. She said the Belvedere City Council had agreed to contribute $250,000 toward the Ned's Way project, with a possible $50,000 to be used as a contingency fund. Curran said that these funds would be in addition to the $30,000 per year already promised by the City of Belvedere in its prior agreement with the Town. Curran said that the Town could still need to approve a budget amendment of $714,000 to move forward with the project, as the monies promised by the City of Belvedere would not be collected until the project was completed. Ms. Curran thanked the Belvedere Council for its open and wonderful attitude in approaching this problem, and for partnering with the Town to "achieve something wonderful for our peninsula. The Town Manager said that the Town would retain its prerogative for the use of the facility, and that it would reimburse the City of Belvedere a prorated amount if, during a 35-year period, that use should change. She said this was reasonable because the City did not own or control the building, and left future determination of its use to the Town of Tiburon. Curran said that staff recommended the Council consider approval of the a) budget amendment, b) award the contract for the project, c) approve the lease agreement and d) revised agreement with the City of Belvedere, or reject all bids and direct staff to work with the school district on a possible extension of providing space for the after-school programs. Councilmember Collins asked about the cost estimate and whether these numbers were final. Director Nguyen said that the preliminary design numbers were included, along with construction Town Council Minutes #08 -2012 April 18, 2012 Page 6 costs. He said that the way this cost would fluctuate would be if some sort of change orders were sought to the construction contract. He also said that variances in PG&E, MMWD and other utility pricing might possible. Collins asked about building permit fees. Town Manager Curran said that this cost was included; she noted that the Town would pay the fees and perform the inspections, and the like. Councilmember Collins asked whether piers would be required for the building, per the soils report. Director Nguyen said no, that either a pad or perimeter foundation were called for in the engineering specifications. Collins asked if staff was comfortable with the scope of the site work. Director Nguyen said that the project had been fully engineered and that the standard of care was adequate, in his opinion. Vice Mayor O'Donnell said that the engineering and site work is what had driven up the cost of the project. Town Manager Curran agreed, and noted the fact that utilities had to be brought to the site. Councilmember Doyle asked who would design the building. Director Nguyen said that the contract, Ghilotti Construction, would design it. He said that it was a "prefab" building that would be constructed in a warehouse with the Town's specifications and shipped to the site and assembled. He also noted that Ghilotti was the low bidder, out of six bidders, and the had said a conventional structure was more cost effective than a modular building, as originally envisioned. Councilmember Fredericks said she thought the $1.6 million bid included a contingency. Director Nguyen said that it did not. She asked if the $50,000 contingency from the City of Belvedere would only "kick in" after the Town had expended its 15% contingency fund. Town Manager Curran clarified that the Town would bill Belvedere for 24% of any contingency expenditure up to $50,000. Councilmember Collins suggested that the language in the agreement be changed in this regard. He said that he did not like the statement that the contingency would be paid based on a contract that was "in place at the time" of signature. Town Manager said that if change orders forced the Town to change the $1.68 million amount, Belvedere would be obligated to use its contingency funds toward this end. Town Attorney Danforth said that since there was no signed contract, the Town had used the amount of the low bid in drafting the agreement. However, she noted that Councilmember's Collins language change and a few other, minor changes that could be inserted prior to obtaining the final signatures on the agreement. Mayor Fraser turned the presentation over to Recreation Supervisor Dana Thor who introduced Jt. Recreation Committee members Jane Jacobs, Bob McCaskill and Jerry Riessen. Mr. Riessen Town Council Minutes #08 -2012 April 18, 2012 Page 7 gave a power point presentation in which he showed the current financial position of the committee and noted its improvement over the last few years. He said that the Angel Island Summer Camps now had waiting lists and that the fiscal year and ended with a profit. Mr. Riessen acknowledged the staff and said the programs had grown under the direction of Director Cathleen Andreucei who had done so much to bring the communities together. He said that compared with other communities of similar size, the Belvedere-Tiburon Joint Recreation was an unbelievable bargain. Mayor Fraser opened the hearing to the public. Kay Pellicciarini, Ned's Way, raised several issues that were of concern to the homeowners at Chandler's Gate. She said that the Town's letter regarding SCS had noted that many affordable housing sites in Tiburon were unstable and prone to landslides; she asked if this applied to the Ned's Way site. Director Nguyen said agreed with the statements in the letter that there were very few buildable areas but he said that 600 Ned's Way was not one of the sites prone to landslides which is why it had been selected for this project. He said that it was one of very few parcels that was buildable and that the Town was preparing it and making it better. Ms. Pellicciarini said that an easement over the Chandler's Gate property to the site had been voted down by a majority of homeowners because it was a non-revocable agreement. Since that time, she said that the Town Manager had offered a revocable two-year agreement. Mayor Fraser commented that talks were still underway but that he was optimistic that a suitable agreement could be reached. Ms. Pellicciarini mentioned a statement in a March 14 article in the Ark attributed to Vice Mayor O'Donnell that said he found the rejection of the easement by the Chandler's Gate homeowners to be unfavorable on a personal level. She said that statement had bothered the property owners because they had rights and paid high prices and taxes to live in that area. She also said the article said that Councilmember Collins had stated that the site was not a bona fide site for a community center because it was not accessible to senior citizens. She said that this made them wonder how advisable it was to build in that location. She said that one person had asked if the Police Department could be relocated and use the existing building for Jt. Recreation which was adjacent to the Reed School. There was no further public comment and Mayor Fraser closed the hearing. Vice Mayor O'Donnell spoke as a committee member and Council member. He said the committee had worked a long time on this project and that he was happy to be able to support the project as described in tonight's hearing. He said that it was fruitful to have taken a pause because certain issues had not been fully vetted and now they were. He said that all the issues had been addressed thoroughly, not in a cursory way. He said that the committee had explored many options either in the downtown area, or within the Reed School District boundaries. He said the Town Council Minutes #08 -2012 April 18, 2012 Page 8 search had been exhaustive and had taken into consideration both modular buildings and locations. O'Donnell said that the Ned's Way site was like buying a house; one expects to get one with a white picket fence but it doesn't always end up that way. Likewise, he said this site did not have everything, such as easy-access (which would be further explored), but he said it would be a wonderful facility and a great step forward for Jt. Recreation and both communities. He further noted that Mayor Fraser had proposed a possible change in governance of the [Jt. Rec] committee so he recommended that the subcommittee continue to meet to address these and any other issues. Vice Mayor O'Donnell said that the Ned's Way project would allow Jt. Recreation to continue its programs and operations and allow additional space for programming for the community. He said he was happy to have worked with the City of Belvedere to achieve this agreement and was thrilled to move forward. Councilmember Fredericks thanked Mayor Fraser and Vice Mayor O'Donnell for their hard work which would result in an enormous benefit to the Town. She gave them kudos for gaining the City of Belvedere's support. She agreed that the site presented some issues since it was not "walkable" but she said she appreciated that due diligence had been done in the review process. Fredericks said that the site would serve our school kids, families and seniors, and that this was the opportunity to make it happen. Councilmember Collins said that the $623 per square foot price tag still made him "cough" but he said the benefits would be extraordinary. He said in his thinking, the project was not a community center, per se, but that it was a bankable asset to the Town and that options would be open to the Town in the future. Collins said the project represented a significant boon to the health and welfare of the community and would be a significant Town asset. Collins asked for an annual report to be brought to the Council of the operating budget. Town Manager Curran said that the lease gave the Town the rights of audit. Collins said that was prudent but that annual reporting is what he was seeking. Mayor Fraser complimented Town staff, especially Director Nguyen, for all his work in keeping the project moving forward and obtaining contract extensions and the like. He thanked the Jt. Recreation Committee and staff, and said that Director Andreucci was a unique and valuable asset. He also thanked the Belvedere City Council for their willingness to create a great asset for both communities. It said it had been a pleasure to work with them on this project. Finally, the Mayor thanked Superintendent Steve Herzog and Reed Principal Nora Ho and the RUSD Board for their willingness to work with the Town on this process. Mayor Fraser said that he did recommend a change in governance of the Jt. Recreation Committee, to add two seats to be held by an elected official from Tiburon and one from Belvedere. He also said that his hope was that perhaps some day the Committee and its programs would be so successful as to allow a financial contribution toward the operation of the center. Town Council Minutes #08 -2012 April 18, 2012 Page 9 MOTION: To award the contract to Ghilotti Construction, as stated in the staff report. Moved: O'Donnell, seconded by Fredericks Vote: AYES: Unanimous MOTION: To authorize the budget amendment, as stated in the staff report. Moved: O'Donnell, seconded by Fredericks Vote: AYES: Unanimous MOTION: To approve the use agreement, as amended by Councilmember Collins. Moved: O'Donnell, seconded by Fredericks Vote: AYES: Unanimous MOTION: To approve the revised Supplemental Agreement, as amended. Moved: O'Donnell, seconded by Fredericks Vote: AYES: Unanimous PUBLIC HEARINGS 1. Construction and Demolition Ordinance - Consider amendments to Title rV, Chapter 13 (Building Regulations) of the Town Code to establish regulations and requirements for recycling of construction and demolition waste (Director of Community Development Anderson) - Introduction and first reading of ordinance Director Anderson gave a brief report, stating that the new ordinance would help the Town meet its zero waste reduction goals and would require two simple, one-page forms to be completed by contractors and project applicants. He said that there would be a 3% of the project valuation penalty for non-coinpliance, not to exceed $10, K Vice Mayor O'Donnell asked if the model ordinance had been vetted by contractors and the trades. Anderson said that it had; he noted that the City of Mill Valley has had such an ordinance in place for many years. He also noted that the Town has had a similar policy for construction and demolition recycling for over ten years. O'Donnell asked where the model ordinance had come from. Anderson said that it had originated at the Marin County Hazardous and Solid Waste Management JPA and had been adapted to fit into Tiburon's municipal code, but that the idea was to have a largely consistent ordinance across all of Marin's municipalities for uniformity of regulation. The Vice Mayor said that only one facility was listed for recycling on the sample form. Anderson said that the sample fonn did not reflect the large number of facilities that have been certified by the JPA to date, and that the Town would have a current list of all such facilities available in a Town Council Minutes #08 -2012 April 18, 2012 Page 10 hand-out. The Vice Mayor asked if the debris weights' projection was an industry standard. Director Anderson said that he believed that it had been derived from industry standards and averages. O'Donnell asked if any contractors had. encountered difficulties with complying with this ordinance. Anderson said not to his knowledge. Mayor Fraser asked if the ordinance would represent an increase in fees for contractors or property owners. Director Anderson said "no", but he noted that the recycling facilities do charge fees. He clarified that there would be no increased building permit fees at the Town level from the ordinance. Finally, Vice Mayor O'Donnell asked whether the recycling target might be raised in the Tiburon ordinance to achieve the waste reductions goals sooner than 2025. Director Anderson said that the goals in the ordinance had been established by the Marin County Hazardous & Solid Waste JPA. Councilmember Fredericks agreed that uniformity should be the standard. Mayor Fraser opened the public hearing. There was no public comment. Mayor Fraser closed the public hearing. MOTION: To read the ordinance by title only, and waive second reading in consideration of adoption at the next Council meeting. Moved: Collins, seconded by Fredericks Vote: AYES: Unanimous Mayor Fraser read, "An Ordinance of the Town Council of the Town of Tiburon adding Article VI to Title IV, Chapter 13 of the Tiburon Municipal Code by establishing Recycling and Diversion Requirements for Construction and Demolition Waste." MOTION: To pass first reading of the ordinance, as written. Moved: Collins, seconded by Fredericks Vote: AYES: Collins, Doyle, Fredericks, Fraser, O'Donnell TOWN COUNCIL REPORTS Councilmember Collins said that he had asked Town Manager Curran to bring forward to the Council a Letter of Intent to CalTrans for the relinquishment of a portion of Tiburon Boulevard. Town Manager Curran noted that staff could come back to the Council with a draft letter, but that staff would still move forward with an in depth analysis of the issue as requested by the Council at the Town Council/Staff retreat. Curran said that it was her understanding that the Town could withdraw from this process at any time, even if the CalTrans letter was sent. Councilmember Fredericks asked that information about any intended uses of the rights of way be included in the staff report, along with the analysis of paving costs and ongoing maintenance. Town Council Minutes #08 -2012 April 18, 2012 Page I1 Curran said that to her knowledge the Town Council was not contemplating specific uses at this time; Fredericks said that nevertheless, the relinquishment would represent a considerable cost to the Town and these issues should be addressed. Councilmember Collins agreed that the Council should be able to review all data regarding costs. TOWN MANAGER'S REPORT None. WEEKLY DIGESTS • Town Council Weekly Digest - April6, 2012 • Town Council Weekly Digest - April 13, 2012 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Town Council of the Town of Tiburon, Mayor Fraser adjourned the meeting at 9:40 p.m. in memory of the of the Ofive crewmembers of the Low Speed Chase who had lost their lives in the Farallon Islands b at' g accident, as well as the three who survived. b JIM fRA~StR. MAYOR ATTES DIANE CRANE IACQPI, TOWN CLERK Town Council Minutes #08 -2012 April 18, 2012 Page 12