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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981/03/09 - Minutes - Special March 9, 1981 CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Special Meetin~ 1. CALL TO ORDER. A special public hearing on the General Plan by the City Council was held in the Lion's Park Community Center, 9161 Base Line Road, on March 9, 1981. The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Mayor Phillip D. Schlosser who led in the flag salute. Present: Councilmen James C. Frost, Jon D. Mikels, Michael A. Palombo, Arthur H. Bridge, and Mayor Phillip D. Schlosser. Also present: City Manager Lauren M. Wasserman; Deputy City Attorney Robert Dougherty; Community Development Director Jack Lam; City Planner Barry Hogan; Senior Planner Tim Beddle; and City Engineer Lloyd Hubbs. 2. PRESENTATION OF GENERAL PLAN. (1) Mr. Lam presented an overview of the General Plan process. Councilman Frost suggested that the Planning Commissioners who were present be recognized and commended for the work they had put in on the General Plan. Those present were Peter Tolstoy and Jeffrey Sceranka. Mayor Schlosser introduced the Advisory Commissioners who were present and also commended them for their input into the General Plan process. Present were Ron Tannebaum, Sharon Romero, Mary Barlow, and Nachia Gracia. Councilman Palombo recommended, with Councilman Frost concurring, that Council should consider the Etiwanda area first. Councilman Frost said there was a brief announcement in Sunday's paper which indi- cated the order in which the Council would consider the items and that the Etiwanda area would probably be at the top of the list. He said there were a couple of reasons to do this. One, that one of the disadvantages in the Blayney Plan was that the Etiwanda Planning Area was almost totally ignored with the expectations of putting in considerable time on that area at a later date. One of the recommendations which has come out of the general plan process is the encouragement of the Specific Plan within the general Etiwanda community. There is merit in this, but also dis- advantages by delaying major decisions to a later date. He felt there were some basic decisions which needed to be made regarding Etiwanda which should not be de-' layed to a detailed specific plan process. Council concurred with the suggestions to discuss the Etiwanda area first. Mayor Schlosser then turned the meeting over to Mr. Lam. Mr. Lam stated that besides individual requests, there were a number of significant points raised during the public hearing process. The residents of Etiwanda wanted to be assured that in the area of planning the open character of Etiwanda would not be adversely affected. They also wanted to see that Etiwanda Avenue be preserved as much as possible to retain the rural character. If densities were to be increased in the planned communities area, then all effort should be made to divert traffic away from the core of the existing community. There was also a desire to maintain a more gra- dual transition of land uses into the heart of Etiwanda, and a desire to see some shifts in density. He stated that originally when the matter was discussed at the Planning Commission public hearings, the staff proposed a number of recommendations that they felt would address the particular needs of Etiwanda. Mr. Lam proceeded to go over each of the ten recommendations. He stated that the Planning Commission approved all but three of the items. Councilman Frost questioned whether it was appropriate to detail the location of schools and parks since it was possible that such a park or school may never be located on that piece of property. He felt the Planning Commission was too specific. Mr. Lam stated that the General Plan Land Use Map would have a note added as follows: City Council Minutes March 9, 1981 Page 2 "The sites shown as proposed schools are not now owned by the respective school district nor is the location site specific. The depiction of a school site is an indication of a projected future need that may be adjusted over time as the city and the school districts develop." Mr. Lam said the same is true regarding park sites. Mayor Schlosser directed those who w~shed to speak to Council to please fill out a form and submit it to staff. They would be called when their item came up. He announced that the Council would first go over each of the general plan modi- fications individually. ITEM A. Modify Victoria Street from Day Creek Boulevard to Etiwanda Avenue so that it does not continue east of Etiwanda Avenue, but instead intersects southerly with Base Line Road. Mayor Schlosser opened the meeting for public hearing. There being no response, the hearing was closed. Motion: Moved by Mikels, seconded by Bridge to approve Modification A as presented. Motion carried unanimously 5-0. ITEM B. Modify that medium density area between Day Creek Boulevard and Etiwanda Avenue south of Highland Avenue and west of the railway from medium density (5-14 du/ ac) to low-medium density (5-8 du/ac). Mayor Schlosser opened the meeting for public hearing. There being no response, the hearing was closed. Councilman Frost asked Mr. Lam if there could be adequate buffering with a R-1 zone up against an elevated railroad. Mr. Lam said there could. Mayor Schlosser stated that the lumber yard in the area was about the only one that used the railroad at this time and that probably the lumber yard would not be a permanent feature in the city. Councilman Bridge stated that the railroad was proposed to be a potential means of transportation in the future. Motion: Moved by Palombo, seconded by Bridge to approve Modification B as presented. Motion carried unanimously 5-0. ITEM C. Modify that high density area north of Base Line between Day Creek Boulevard and Etiwanda Avenue so that the western portion is reduced from high density (25-30 du/ac) to medium-high (15-24 du/ac) and the eastern portion from high density to medium density (5-14 du/ac). Mayor Schlosser opened the meeting for public hearing. There being no response, the hearing was closed. Motion: Moved by Bridge, seconded by Palombo to approve Modification C as presented. Motion carried by the following vote: AYES: Mikels, Palombo, Bridge, and Schlosser. NOES: None. ABSENT: None. ABSTAINED: Frost. (see note after item D). ITEM D. Modify that high density area south of Base Line Avenue between Day Creek Boulevard and Etiwanda Avenue so that the eastern half of that high density area is reduced from high density (25-30 du/ac) to medium density (5-14 du/ac). Mayor Schlosser opened the meeting for public hearing. There being no response, the hearing was clo~ed. Motion: Moved )y Mikels, seconded by Palombo to approve Modification D as presented. Motion carried ~nanimously 5-0. City Council Minutes March 9, 1981 Page 3 NOTE: Councilman Frost said he was a little slow and technically did not cast his vote on Item C. He made a motion that Council reconsider the motion and have the Planning Commission take another look at that item Thursday night and have a recommendation back for March 16. Councilman Bridge said he would rather have the discussion now. The City Attorney said that if three members of the City Council wished to reopen the matter, they could do so. Mayor Schlosser called for a second on the motion. For a lack of a second, the motion failed. Councilman Frost re- quested abstention from Item C. ITEM E. Modify that medium density area south of Base Line north of Church and between the Edison easements from medium density (5-14 du/ac) to high density (25-30 du/ac). Councilman Mikels asked how many acres were involved. Staff said there were approximately 50 to 60 acres. Mayor Schlosser opened the meeting for public hearing. Speaking were: * Gary Frye, William Lyon Company, 9613 Arrow Highway. He requested that Council continue action on the item for one week. He said they were anticipating making some changes in their planned community. * Ron Tannebaum also requested that the item be tabled. Motion: Moved by Bridge, seconded by Mikels to continue the item. Motion carried unanimously 5-0. ITEM F. Modify the easterly one-half of that medium density area west of the Ro- chester tract and south of Church Street from medium density (5-14 du/ac) to low med- ium (5-8 du/ac) except for that portion fronting Foothill Boulevard. Mayor Schlosser opened the meeting for public hearing. * Ralph Lewis, representing Terra Vista, spoke in opposition to any changes. He said the Planning Commission felt the staff proposed reductions in density were excessive. He said, in their opinion, if they had the higher density, they could give a better looking development than what was on the east side. He felt that the Commission's decision not to decrease the density was a reasonable com- promise. He asked that Council concur with the Planning Commission's recommendation. Councilman Frost asked staff for some comments regarding the circulation at that intersection. Mr. Lam said that traffic was not a consideration; there would not be any problems with internal circulation. He said the modification proposal by staff was basically to provide additional transition between an existing single family tract and to allow a tiering of land use densities. Motion: Moved by Bridge, seconded by Palombo to approve Modification F as presented. Motion carried unanimously 5-0. ITEM G. Moved the park designation west of the Rochester tract from Church Street to Rochester. Council asked Mr. Lam what was the difference. Mr. Lam stated the Planning Commission asked the same questions. He said it was not a significant change. Councilman Mikels said that this was one of those areas where there will be a general designation which will be marked with an asterisk. The park designation may very well be placed where it is presently. He said at this point it really doesn't make that much difference. Mr. Hogan stated this was moved to provide additional buffering to the Rochester tract. However, it might move around, depending upon availability of funds and timing of development. This is not significant one way or the other. Mayor Schlosser opened the meeting for public hearing. There being no response, the hearing was closed. City Council Minutes March 9, 1981 Page 4 Motion: Moved by Frost, seconded by Bridge to approve M~dification G as presented. Motion carried unanimously 5-0. Mayor Schlosser called a recess at 8:30 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 8:40 p.m with all members of the Council and staff present. ITEM H. Urge the County to move foreward on the Foothills Specific Plan in order to properly plan the area north of Etiwanda. Urse close cooperation with the city. Mayor Schlosser opened the meeting for public hearing. There being no response, the hearing was closed. Motion: Moved by Mikels, seconded by Palombo to approve Modification H as presented. Motion carried unanimously 5-0. ITEM I. Encourase a specific plan to be done after the adoption of the General Plan for Etiwanda area east of the Victoria Planned Community to the northerly and easterly city limits down to Foothill Boulevard. This specific plan to have direct interface with the Foothills Specific Plan and participation by the Etiwanda community. Plan to identify appropriate locations of additional street, traffic diversion from northern sphere, design elements, service requirements, envirco~ental constraints, and more specific land use assignments. Mr. Lam said there was a great deal of discussion concerning the location of a neighborhood shopping center and other such services in the Etiwanda area. He said people from Etiwanda area felt it would be best to have much more detailed dis- cussion of these kinds of issues before the Planning Commission and City Council made a decision for that part of Etiwanda. The recommendation is that the City Council do a Specific Plan for that part of the Etiwanda planning area. Councilman Mikels stated that clear indications should be given to the property owners in the area as to just what the impact of that decision would be. He said some may interpret this as a prolonging of the decision making with regard to land use designations. He was in favor with the concept of the Specific Plan, but felt that in terms of not considering land use designations at this time pending a Specific Plan might be misleading. Motion: Moved by Frost, seconded by Palombo to concur with the Planning Commission's recommendation that the Specific Plan be done and to direct staff to provide Council with recommendations regarding the scope of the work. Mayor Schlosser opened the meeting for public hearing. There being no response, the hearing was closed. Motion carried unanimously 5-0. ITEM J. Modify that medium density between Rochester Avenue and Day Creek Boule- vard on the west and east, and Victoria Avenue and Base Line Avenue on the north and south to low-medium adjacent to Rochester~ and medium-hish adjacent to Day Creek. Councilman Bridge asked why the Planning Commission did not accept the staff's recommendation. Mr. Lam said the Planning Commission felt there was adequate buffering with the changes to the east so that the area would not pose a significant impact on the Etiwanda area. City Council Minutes March 9, 1981 Page 5 Councilman Frost asked about the lumber yard. Mr. Lam stated that even with the John Blayney plan the lumber yard was a legal non-conforming use since it was there prior to the establishing of any land uses under the city's jurisdiction. Councilman Frost asked also about the future of the Base Line right-of-way. Mr. Hubbs said there was a specific plan adopted by the County which follows approxi- mately the alignment shown on the map. He said there had been some confusion regarding this because the existing road is not on the exact alignment of the future road and to improve it would have created some extremely difficult problems. Improvements along Base Line were waived for that protion because it would have been difficult to put in the ultimate improvements. Mayor Schlosser opened the meeting for public hearing. Speaking were: * Dr. Karnavy Vichien. Her property was located at the lower southerly portion just south of the lumber yard. She said everyone feels the lumber yard will eventually be phased out. On the east side of her property is the flood control. She felt this was not a good area for single family homes. She felt a commercial designation would be more appropriate. There being no further response, the mayor closed the public hearing. Motion: Moved by Palombo to approve the staff's recommendation. For lack of a second the motion failed. Motion: Moved by Bridge, seconded by Frost to table this in order to see a better a better chart depicting the streets as they are and a breakdown of property, and to bring this back at the next hearing. Motion carried unanimously 5-0. Mr. Lam said this concluded the material requested by the City Council. There were a number of individuals present who have requests to discuss particular items in the Etiwanda area. * Mr. R. Kleinman, 2500 N. Euclid Avenue, Upland. Wanted to talk specifically about the freeway corridor as it hinges upon the southeasterly portion of Etiwanda. He said the parcels were bounded on one s%de by the 1-15 freeway, the railway tracks and by East Avenue). This was ma~ter planned neighborhood commercial, but at the last moment the Planning Commission decided to leave this area low density pending a specific plan for Etiwanda. He was in favor of the specific plan, but he didn't feel that anyone would want to build a house in this location. He said the other parcel was immediately south of the new high school location, bounded by 1-15, the railroad tracks, and East Avenue. It was also zoned for low density, and he did not feel this represented the proper land use for this property. He requested that the City Council not make any decisions on this parcel until the Etiwanda specific plan has been worked on to a greater extent. * Mrs. A. Kleinman, 2500 N. Euclid Avenue, Upland, requested that the City Council direct themselves to the freeway development in particular. Mr. Hogan said the Planning Commission decided that to indicate com~ercial in the Etiwanda area in any other areas other than the particular site on which there was already an approved plan for, would impinge a future specific plan by encouraging commercial development at this time. This would allow maximum flexibility for development to occur before a specific plan is complete. Councilman Frost encouraged Council to take a look at this intersection. He said the map was very deceptive. Councilman Mikels stated that the fewer designations which are made at this time the better until after the development of the Specific Plan when they might change. He suggested that Council table this item and for staff to come back with a basic policy for land use designations for the Etiwanda Specific Plan area instead of discussing individual requests now. City Council MinL~tes March 9, 1981 Page 6 Councilman Frost disagreed. He felt the specific plan was a prolongation of the process. He said he could not see that the specific plan could be completed in less than six months. Mr. Lam said this was correct. To be a reality, it would have to be considered during the budget process. Completion of the specific plan would be during this next fiscal year. If Council adopts this plan by May, then we would be operating under this until a specific plan were adopted. Councilman Frost said in the meantime if someone asks questions, we need to re- spond to it. Therefore, he felt these decisions should be made during this process. Motion: Moved by Palombo, seconded by Mikels to table this item until next Monday evening, and direct staff to come back with some basic policies for the specific plan area of Etiwanda for consideration. Motion carried by the following vote: AYES: Mikels, Plaombo, Bridge, Schlosser. NOES: Frost. * James Thompson, 6742 Coral Court. Request for consideration of raising density designation for property located at 19th Street and 1-15 Freeway. It presently has a low density designation. Originally they had requested a commercial designation with the Planning Commission, but were changing and asking for a density of 5-14 units per acre. Councilman Frost asked what offramps would he propose people take if one wanted to go southbound off the 1-15. Mr. Thompson described the course. Councilman Frost said that people probably would go to East Avenue and down to Base Line instead of making a triangular loop by going to Cherry in order to go south on 1-15. Mr. Thompson said that because of this location of the school and the physical layout, it would seem more sensible to designate this 5-14 du/ac. Council concurred to maintain the Planning Commission designation of low density. * Lois Hamblin, Mesa Realty, 9310 Base Line. Mayor Schlosser called her name. There being no response, the Council moved on to the next request. * Andrew Barmakian, 9375 Archibald, Suite 101. Mr. Barmakian said he wanted to discuss a decision made by the Planning Commission for the northwest corner of Etiwanda and Base Line. However, he felt that this should be tabled for now to be discussed at a future time, but before the adoption of the General Plan. Council concurred with the request. Mayor Schlosser asked if anyone else wished to speak to the Etiwanda issue. There being no response, the Mayor closed the public hearing on the Etiwanda issue and opened the discussion for the Planned Communities. * Don Vaverka, 25550 Alesna Drive. He requested rezoning from office to medium density 5-14 du/ac for the area north of Foothill, east of Rochester. He stated that with an office type designation, there would have to be at least two sidewalk cuts made on Foothill, but with a residential development it could eliminate any cuts which would eliminate any left-hand traffic turns on Foothill. He requested that Council take action this evening. Mr. Hogan stated that the Planning Commission had two choices: either make this 5-8 du/ac and provide a similar type buffering that had been discussed with the Rochester tract, or to retain it as office. After considering both land uses, they felt the office designation was more appropriate. Council concurred with the Planning Commission's recommendation to retain the existing designation. Mayor Schlosser called at recess at 10:00 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 10:15 p.m. with all members of Council and staff present. City Council Minutes March 9, 1981 Page 7 * Shopp.~qg_~.~er_a.t..Bjs~ ~ne and..Have~. Councilman Mikels said the Planning Commission took action to remove the tri- angular portion out of the planned community. It was his feeling that land uses in a piece of property of that importance and significance should be a part of the planned community. He disagreed with the majority opinion of the Planning Commission on this issue and recommended that Council reinsert that portion back into the planned community. Motion: Moved by Mikels, seconded by Frost to reinsert the triangular portion back into the Terra Vista planned community area. Councilman Frost asked staff for the Planning Commission's rationale on that removal. Mr. Hogan said the majority of the Planning Commissioners felt the flood control channel made a definite physical barrier. On the other side of the issue, the minority felt that the logical entrance to the planned community occurred at Base Line and Haven and what occurred at Base Line and Haven would relate directly to what would occur through transition across Deer Creek. Mayor Schlosser opened the meeting for public hearing. Speaking were: * Bruce Chitiea stated that he supported the motion which Council made. * Ron Tannebaum stated he also supported the motion. * Ralph Lewis, Terra Vista, said he was against the motion. He felt there was a definite physical barrier by Deer Creek. In addition, the Commission took into account his desire to get building. He said the issue was not the shopping center, but they have filed maps on 500 lots in that triangle. He felt the Commission felt they had been unjustly held up from having those maps processed while there was a misunderstanding by the city of what OPR intended. * Vickie Chapman, 7056 Valinda, a homeowner who was in favor of having a shopping center at that location. She would like to have a shopping center closer so she could walk and not have to cross any major streets. * Grace Massey, 10659 Mango, associated with Walker and Lee. She said she sells Lewis Homes and her buyers were in favor of the shopping center. There being no further public input, Mayor Schlosser closed the public hearing. Mr. Lam said there were two issues before Council: one, to place the portion back into the planned community; the other, do we show a shopping center at that location. Councilman Mikels said that if the portion is placed back into the planned community that we wait submittal of the map and text from Lewis Homes to consider the property as a whole. To presuppose land use designations before the text has been submitted would be putting the cart before the horse. Mayor Schlosser said that Council should tell Mr. Lewis whether he could or could not have a shopping center at that location tonight. He did not feel we should avoid this. Councilman Frost said it comes back to where we were with Victoria. Should we design a general plan and have the planned community conform to it within reason or do it the other way around. Councilman Frost called for the question. Motion carried unanimously 5-0 to place the triangular portion back into the planned community. Mayor Schlosser opened the meeting for hearing on whether to have a shopping center at Base Line and Haven. Council discussed the locations of other shopping centers in the City. Mayor Schlosser asked the other Councilmen if they wanted a shopping center at every one mile interval on Base Line. Councilman Palombo stated that the business community had been discussing this City Council Minutes March 9, 1981 Page 8 recently. They felt there was not room to support another shopping center at this time. He felt the business community would suffer from this action. Councilman Bridge said that it was easy to draw concepts. Until he saw a formal application for the processing of a plan for Terra Vista, he could not place much confidence in a conceptual drawing. He said as far as this location for a shopping center he had not changed his opinion from a year agaon when he made the motion that one be denied on the south corner of Base Line. He said he feels that the shopping center should be an integral part of the planned community. Motion: Moved by Mikels, seconded by Bridge that a shopping center located at Base Line and Haven is not an appropriate location. Mayor Schlosser opened the meeting for public hearing. * Jerry Dickerim, president of B.D. Commercial Properties. They had been selected by Lewis to master plan and develop a shopping center at Base Line and Haven. He said he concurred with the recommendation that if Council was to study the entire Terra Vista project at one time including the 100 acres, then they should not render any kind of a negative decision on this site without seeing the entire planned development at one time. * Ralph Lewis said that major desirable tenants have told them this was the best corner left in the city for a shopping center. He did not feel that tenants would be willing to go inside Terra Vista. * John Withers, Lewis Homes, presented a written statement for the record by Pamela Tolin of 10428 Mangrove Street. She had to leave early. Statement was "I am visually handicapped, therefore cannot drive. The center would benefit myself and other non-drivers. The mobile home area on the corner has a majority of retired persons who do not drive. The homes surrounding this area have many one car families who could also benefit. * Stanley Butt said his home will be behind the proposed shopping center and expressed favor of the shopping center where the Lewis Company proposed to put it. * Bob Schultz, Wat Commercial Properties, Inc. They were developing the shopping center at Highland and Haven. They were present to clear up questions regarding their project. They were in the precise plan approval with approximately 100 square feet of phase one of their development. He said contrary to rumors, they were not putting in a Mervyns or any such tenant. They were putting in a market and a drug store. They were negotiating with Lucky's and expected to have a signed lease within 90 days. * Bruce Chitiea stated that he was against the shopping center at this time. * Ron Tannebaum stated that this was not the best location for the community. There being no further response, the Mayor closed the public hearing. Motion: Motion carried unanimously 5-0 to indicate to the applicant that Council did not approve a shopping center at the Base Line and Haven location. Mayor Schlosser called a recess at 11:20 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 11:25 p.m. with all members of Council and staff present. City Council Minutes March 9, 1981 Page 9 Mr. Lam presented the things which would be discussed at the next hearing, March 16. - Continued items from the Etiwanda area. - Items from Cucamonga and Alta Loma area that were not heard this evening. - Specific Plan policy for land use designation. Motion: Moved by Palombo, seconded by Mikels to adjourn the hearing. Motion carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 11:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Beverly Authelet Deputy City Clerk