CITY OF LA HABRA HEIGHTS
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE LA HABRA HEIGHTS
CITY COUNCIL
OPENING CEREMONIES
1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER
Mayor Stan Carroll called the Special Meeting of the La Habra Heights City Council to order at 7:00 P. m. at the Community Center, 1245 N. Hacienda Road, La Habra Heights, California.
2. ROLL CALL
Those present: Mayor Stan Carroll, Mayor Pro Tem Ed Borrowe, Councilmember Bruce Douglas, Councilmember Fred Klein and Councilmember Tela Millsap. Also present City Manager John Hendrickson, Interim Community Development Director Sandra Massa-Lavitt, City Attorney Michael Colantuono and General Plan Consultant Marc Blodgett.
3. FLAG SALUTE
Norm Zezula led the flag salute.
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON MATTERS ON THE AGENDA
Bob Karman, Encanada – spoke regarding the hillsides valuable resource to the community.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
4. CONTINUE COUNCIL DISCUSSION REGARDING THE GENERAL PLAN
Mr. Blodgett stated we are concluding a very long tedious process; staff has been working on finalizing the General Plan Elements; it was presented to the Council last Friday; he apologized stating it was an over site of the consultant that copies were not made available for the public; once the text is finalized they will be working on the Final Environmental Impact Report; they are striving to finish the FEIR by 1-19-04 depending on what is discussed tonight.
Mr. Hendrickson stated the Plan given to the Council was made available to the public on Sunday.
Mayor Carroll asked the Council if they agreed tonightÕs meeting would last three hours.
Mayor Carroll asked the Council to forward to Mr. Blodgett minor typos.
Mayor Carroll stated they would start with the Preview Copy starting with the Air Quality Element.
Councilmember Douglas asked regarding definitions.
Mr. Blodgett stated they have not yet prepared a glossary.
Councilmember Douglas asked about references.
Mr. Blodgett stated the references are identified in the EIR and the EIR will be part of the General Plan Document; he stated once the Council gives staff the green light, we will be finalizing the graphics, the exhibits and staff will be doing clean up for preparing publication; within 24 hours of adoption the General Plan must be at City Hall for public review.
Councilmember Douglas asked regarding the CityÕs intent to reformat the housing element.
Mr. Blodgett stated the housing element is already adopted; he will simply be reformatting the document to put it in the same format as the rest of the General Plan. It will not be modified.
Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe asked if in the glossary would there be a definition of primary and significant.
Mr. Blodgett stated the glossary is not very extensive. The word significant has different definitions depending on the context. Given all the changes to the document they are revising the EIR and there are very specific thresholds to find. The EIR does a very good job of defining significant; the issues of primary views and secondary views will need to be flushed out at the ordinance state.
Mayor Carroll asked Mr. Colantuono to comment on the implementation plan.
Mr. Colantuono stated you clearly mean to adopt it and you mean to task your staff to implementing that plan; whether it is integral to the book or not is at some level an administrative issue, because the implementation plan will get dated more quickly than the General Plan; you can design it to be the last tab in the binder or you could design it to be a stand alone document; regardless of that administrative detail you will adopt it the same night you adopt the General Plan and it is going to be a policy statement of the Council and direction to your staff.
Councilmember Douglas asked if the implementation plan is adopted by separate resolution would it be a stand-alone document.
Mr. Colantuono stated yes.
Mayor Carroll asked regarding a glossary.
Mr. Colantuono stated his only concern is that it will need to start with some lawyer weasel words. He felt the glossary was helpful.
Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe asked to also discuss the Implementation Plan.
Air Quality Element
Councilmember Douglas stated there are minor format breaks that need to be corrected throughout the entire document.
Councilmember Millsap asked regarding Policy 19.
Mr. Hendrickson stated the original Policy 19 was moved to what is now Policy 9.
Councilmember Douglas asked regarding Policy 14.
Mr. Colantuono suggested changing the wording of ÒOil producing equipmentÓ to ÒOil field equipmentÓ.
Councilmember Douglas suggested the same change of wording to Noise Element Policy 5.
Noise Element
Councilmember Douglas asked regarding Table 6-2; #10 should refer to East or West Skyline.
Mr. Blodgett stated he felt it was West Skyline; but he would need to confirm that information.
Councilmember Klein asked for typo correction to Table 6-2 #6, should read Lawn mowers.
Safety Element
Councilmember Douglas asked staff to check the first italized paragraph on Page 5-1; the last sentence does not make sense.
Mr. Blodgett stated this was taken straight out of the General Plan Guidelines; he will double check the wording.
Councilmember Douglas asked for a correction to page 5-2, right column, first paragraph should read ÒThe aforementioned issues provide the basesÉÓ.
Councilmember Douglas asked for correction on Page 5-5, left column, line 4 should read, ÒÉefficiently contain floodwater.Ó
Councilmember Douglas asked for a correction on Page 5-6 Policy 34, remove the word attractants.
Circulation
Councilmember Douglas had a concern on Page 4-1 Issues & Policies regarding the wording Ònew roadwaysÓ.
Mr. Colantuono suggested it read line 2, Òlimitations associated with and constraints to the developmentÉÓ.
Councilmember Klein asked for a correction to Page 4-1 Policy 2; the words primary and by the residents were stricken.
It was the consensus of the City Council that the words Òby the residentsÓ had been struck.
Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe moved to eliminate the words Significant primary and start the sentence with Views. Councilmember Millsap seconded the motion.
Councilmember Klein preferred to leave the word Significant.
Mayor Carroll stated he was opposed to the motion.
Mayor Carroll called for the question. Vote: 2-3 Carroll, Douglas, Klein
Councilmember Klein moved to leave in significant and drop primary. Seconded by Councilmember Douglas. Vote: 4-1 Carroll.
Councilmember Douglas moved to remove Policy 3; he stated he wrote it and it no longer fits. Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe. Vote: 5-0.
Mr. Blodgett suggested changing the issue on Page 4-4 that read Transit and Paratransit Services to ÒAlternative TransportationÓ. It was the consensus to the City Council to accept this change.
Councilmember Douglas moved to add to Policy 65 on Page 4-8 so it would read ÒÉat the time of any significant expansion or remodeling or at the time of sale. ÒSeconded by Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe. Vote: 2-3 Carroll, Klein and Millsap.
Councilmember Douglas stated on Page 4-11, right column, paragraph last sentence is not true, recommended deleting the sentence. It was the consensus of the Council to delete this sentence.
Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe moved to have the wording Òas funding allowsÓ deleted from Policy 31 on Page 4-5. Seconded by Councilmember Douglas. Vote: 3-2 Carroll and Klein.
Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe asked to again flag Policy 40 until we have a definition of significant.
Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe moved to change Policy 55; he asked to add at the end of the policy to read, Ò Ésystems work properly and fire hydrant pressure is adequateÓ. Motion died for lack of a second.
Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe flagged Policy 71 for definition of significant.
Environmental Resource Management
Mayor Carroll opened the public hearing for comment.
John Beau, Casalero – asked when the exhibits would be ready; asked to have Sensitive Habitat defined in the glossary; Page 3-4, Policy 12 voiced concern regarding the word ridgelines in this policy; Policy 18 suggested changing the work actively to pursue; Policy 20 suggested changing Òmake every effortÓ to ÒBest effortsÓ.
Mr. Blodgett stated staff hoped to have the exhibits ready early next week.
Katie Martin, Reposado – spoke regarding ERME Policy 18 suggested changing the wording to acquire this land through grant money.
Mr. Blodgett suggested the following change; Page 3-1 first paragraph, line 7 should read, ÒThe Element also establishes a long-range planÉ.Ó It was the consensus of the Council to make this change.
Councilmember Douglas asked regarding Policy 7; felt the wording Òif necessaryÓ could be removed. It was the consensus of the Council to strike the word Òif necessaryÓ.
Mr. Blodgett suggested modifying Policy 9 and 10 to clarify the policies.
Mr. Colantuono suggested adding to Policy 10 the wording Òand to employ energy conservation design measuresÓ and then eliminate Policy 9.
It was the consensus of the Council to come back to Policy 9 & 10 and allow staff time to come up with something.
The City Council then came back to Policies 9 & 10.
Mr. Blodgett suggested Policy 9 read, ÒEncourage energy conservation measures in the design and construction of existing & new development, whether public or private, within the City.Ó Policy 10 would then read ÒEncourage resident in new development to participate in energy conservation programs that are available to the community.Ó It was the consensus of the Council to accept these policies as amended.
Mayor Carroll asked the Council if they were interested in deleting the word ÒactivelyÓ from Policy 18. It was the consensus of the Council to leave the policy as it was written.
Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe stated he liked GPAC Policy 12 better than this policy. Moved to have the policy changed to read ÒFuture hillside development shall be permitted only if it involves minimal adverse impacts on the environment and natural topography, and does not affect natural ridgelines more than necessary to allow a reasonably economically viable use of privately held land.Ó Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe moved to replace Policy 12 with the GPAC Policy. Seconded by Councilmember Douglas. Vote: 2-3 Carroll, Klein, Millsap
Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe flagged Policy 14 to discuss significant.
Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe moved to change Policy 34 to read ÒTake reasonable measures to preserve scenic views for all residentsÓ. Motion died for lack of a second.
Land Use
Mayor Carroll opened the item for public comment.
John Beau, Casalero – objected to Policy 5; asked to have the wording Òincluding ridgelinesÓ eliminated; Policy 24 & 25 and 26 asked the Council to settle on one term; Policy 39 corollary instructions should be included; Policy 52 asked the Council to clean up the words.
Katie Martin, Reposado – Policy 6 stated we should not limit the size of remodels; Policy 19 wants more thought put to this policy; Policy 31 didnÕt necessarily agree with this; Policy 6 wants the ridgeline removed; spoke regarding the survey.
Mayor Carroll asked staff to go over the potential engineering costs.
Ms. Massa-Lavitt stated Ms. Martin was referring to the site plan review process; generally the better architects come in to the City and talk to staff before they go out and draw up plans; many bring in preliminary site plans and come in to the office and ask questions; site plan review is an overview by all departments it is done early on in the process; site plan review would probably same the applicants money; she stated the code as it is right now treats all driveway coverage as impervious.
Councilmember Klein agreed with Mr. Beau on Policies 24, 25 and 26.
Mr. Colantuono stated they are not the same, you are dealing with three different cases; the site that has not been developed before, redeveloping an existing structure and a tear down and rebuild. Mr. Colantuono was instructed to look at these three policies and the Council will come back to them.
Councilmember Klein stated he has struggled with Land Use Policy 6; felt it was a little loose; wants the additional wording of ÒIt shall be the policy of the City to ensure the residential structures are appropriately scaled to the lot on which they are located by utilizing various proportional requirements such as setbacks, establishing proportional requirements based on total average slope, impervious coverage and grading quantities, structures shall not appear much larger and more massive than neighboring houses and shall be scaled massed and screened to accomplish this goalÓ.
Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe asked where the corollary instructions were that went with this policy.
Mayor Carroll stated we will bring this back at the meeting on January 29, 2004.
Councilmember Douglas asked to have the minutes for the meeting when this was discussed also be provided.
Mayor Carroll stated we have Ms. Massa-Lavitt memo of December 4, 2003, GPAC Notes from meeting of 12-4-03 dealing with the corollary instruction, review the minutes of the meeting before December 4, 2003, December 4, 2003, December 21 and the City Attorneys memo.
Mr. Blodgett advised the City Council they might not make their deadline of January 29, 2004.
Mayor Carroll stated the next hearing would be February 5, 2004 with the finalization of the document the middle of February.
Mr. Colantuono returned to Land Use Policies 24, 25 and 26. He suggested striking the words Òremodeling and rebuildingÓ from Policy 24. On Policy 25 he suggested simply saying site plan. On Policy 24 and 26 should say Òsignificant remodel and tear down / rebuildÓ. Policy 24 would read ÒRequire that permits for tear down / rebuilds or significant remodeling for non-conforming residential properties be subject to the same requirements as other structural remodeling permits, including adequate fire flow, cesspool or septic tank inspection, fire retarding sprinkler systems, etc.Ó Policy 25 should read ÒWhen a site plan fails to meetÉ.Ó Policy 26 should read ÒRequest for tear down / rebuilds or significant remodeling permits shallÉÓ
Mayor Carroll stated the Council would discuss further these three policies at the next meeting.
CONTINUED PUBLIC COMMENTS ON MATTERS ON THE AGENDA
John Beau, Casalero - spoke regarding auto collisions with wild life; asked the Council to keep this in mind in considering any animal crossings; suggested reducing the speed on Harbor Blvd.
Mayor Pro Tem Borrowe announced a SheriffÕs Community Academy starting on March 2nd; spoke regarding a Neighborhood Watch Program.
Mr. Hendrickson stated tonightÕs General Plan copy is available at City Hall, revisions should be out shortly; will try and get it on the Web site.
Mayor Carroll announced that the meeting of January 29th would be at 7:00 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT
Councilmember Klein moved at 10:00 p.m. to adjourn this meeting to January 29, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. Seconded by Councilmember Millsap seconded the motion. Vote: All Ayes.
ATTEST: