HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2004 0505 CC REG ITEM 10AMINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSION
Moorpark, California March 24, 2004
A Special Joint Meeting of the City Council and the Planning
Commission of the City of Moorpark was held on March 24, 2004,
in the Community Center of said City located at 799 Moorpark
Avenue, Moorpark, California.
1. CALL TO ORDER:
Mayor Hunter called the City Council meeting to order at
7:08 p.m.
Chair Pozza called the Planning Commission to order at 7:08
p.m.
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:
Planning Commissioner Mark DiCecco, led the Pledge of
Allegiance.
3. ROLL CALL:
Councilmembers Present: Councilmembers Harper, Mikos,
Millhouse, Parvin, and Mayor
Hunter.
Planning Commissioners
Present:
Staff Present:
4. PUBLIC COMMENT:
None.
Commissioners DiCecco, Landis,
Lauletta, Peskay, and Chair Pozza.
Steven Kueny, City Manager; Hugh
Riley, Assistant City Manager;
Kenneth Gilbert, Public Works
Director; Barry Hogan, Community
Development Director; Cynthia
Borchard, Administrative Services
Dir ctor; Brad Miller, City
Engineer; Deborah Traffenstedt,
Assistant to City Manager /City
Clerk; and Maureen Benson, Deputy
Citv Clerk.
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Minutes of the City Council
and Planning Commission
Moorpark, California Page 2 March 24, 2004
S. PRESENTATION /ACTION /DISCUSSION:
A. Consider Priorities, Goals and Objectives for Fiscal
Year 2004/2005. Staff Recommendation: Consider and
discuss Goals and Objectives for FY 2004/2005.
Mr. Kueny recommended the Council and Planning
Commission focus on the portions of the staff report,
which affect the function of the Planning Commission,
beginning with Objectives of the Community Development
Department on stamped pages 26 -29, the Moorpark
Redevelopment Agency on stamped pages 34 -35, and then
any other areas of interest or concern.
Mr. Kueny stated Objectives B.11. and C.13. on stamped
page 26 have been completed.
Mayor Hunter stated Councilmembers and Planning
Commissioners should feel free to make comments or ask
questions as this is an informal meeting.
Mr. Kueny stated in regard to Objective D.8. on
stamped page 27, Council has given direction for items
for funding of TSM monies be incorporated into the
budget for formal action with $3 million dollars
having been generally directed and an additional $2
million dollars to become available in the next 3 -5
years.
In response to Chair Pozza, Mr. Hogan stated in regard
to Objective D.10., building permits are currently
part of a fee update to provide maps for viewing; and
in regard to Objective D.15., there is a potential
surcharge over certain costs on building permits to be
used to provide a fund for advanced planning items
such as a Traffic Model Update and for General Plan
Amendments.
Mr. Kueny stated Objectives F.6. and F.7. on stamped
page 27 have been completed; staff is optimistic
Objective F.8. on page 28 should be completed by the
end of June 2004; Objective G.4. on stamped page 27
and Objective G.11. on stamped page 28 are on hold
pending a decision on North Park; actions on
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Minutes of the City Council
and Planning Commission
Moorpark. California Paqe 3 March 24, 2004
amendments to entitlements on second dwelling units
and animal control amendments have been completed for
Objective G.16. on stamped page 28; however there are
a number of other items still pending.
In response to Mayor Hunter, Mr. Gilbert stated for
Objective G.9. on stamped page 28, the prognosis is
not good for reuse; the former Caltrans yard has been
transferred to the State of California Real Estate
Division and Caltrans no longer has any incentive to
deal with the property; there are on -site
environmental issues associated with the property; the
State has other priorities due to the budget crisis;
and the City will need to keep up pressure to move
this item along.
In response to Chair Pozza, Mr. Gilbert stated he did
not have specifics on the environmental issues.
In response to Councilmember Mikos, Mr. Gilbert stated
if the State decided to market this commercially zoned
property the City would be given right-of- first-
refusal.
In response to Mayor Hunter's recommendation to apply
pressure to move this project forward to allow the
City to purchase the property or have the State
dispose of it appropriately, Mr. Kueny stated it will
be moved to a higher priority.
Mr. Kueny concluded his remarks on the Community
Development portion of the staff report, stating
Objective G.17. on stamped page 28 has been completed.
Mr. Kueny stated for the Moorpark Redevelopment Agency
on stamped page 34 Objective B.9., the site has been
acquired; staff is developing initial plans including
the closing of Magnolia Street to expand the park area
consistent with the goals of the Downtown Specific
Plan; and in a few months the preliminary drawings
will come to Council
Mr. Kueny stated on stamped page 34 for Objective
B.12., the Agency recently awarded the contract to
prepare the agreement for the 2005 -2009 Five -Year
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Minutes of the City Council
and Planning Commission
Moorpark, California Page 4 March 24, 2004
Implementation Plan Upgrade, which should return to
Council within the next nine to twelve months.
In response to Mayor Hunter, Mr. Riley stated staff is
working with the Moorpark Chamber of Commerce as an
independent project on Objective D.2. on stamped page
34; the City has been working with the Economic
Development Committee on a contract to publish the
marketing brochure; and the Moorpark Chamber of
Commerce just recently published their new directory.
In response to Councilmember Mikos, Mr. Riley stated
the committee will be meeting again in early April
with plans for the City's marketing brochure to
possibly come to Council in May 2004.
In response to Councilmember Parvin, Mr. Riley stated
the Chamber directory pages related to City
information are reviewed by City staff prior to
publication.
In response to Commissioner Landis, Mr. Kueny stated
there has been no focus on Objective B.3. on stamped
page 34 regarding the installation of landscaping and
downtown identification signs at the entrances to High
Street, as the Council placed this on the back burner
two years ago.
In response to Councilmember Parvin, Mr. Kueny stated
there has been slow progress on entrance signage for
the City, which may improve next fiscal year; signage
for service clubs is usually kept separate from city
monument signs, as demonstrated in the service club
signage at the corner of Madera Road and Los Angeles
Avenue in the City of Simi Valley.
Councilmember Parvin commented on the City of Thousand
Oaks' emphasis on signage in recent time; and Mr.
Kueny identified the south side of U.S. Highway 101 at
Moorpark Road as a good example of this emphasis.
In response to Mayor Hunter, Mr. Kueny stated staff
will verify if gas tax TDA monies could be used for
this type of signage; but questioned whether this
would be the best use of that type of funding.
Itll.:
Minutes of the City Council
and Planning Commission
Moorpark, California Page 5 March 24, 2004
In response to Mayor Hunter's request for an update on
the fire station, Mr. Riley stated the construction is
ahead of schedule and a grand opening is planned for
May 12, 2004. He commented on the added feature of
old -time fold -back garage doors in place of roll -up
doors. Councilmember Mikos stated the grand opening
will take place at 6:00 p.m. on May 12, 2004.
In response to Mayor Hunter's request for an update on
the new police facility, Mr. Riley stated footings for
the perimeter walls are being poured; two- thirds of
the grading for the building is completed; good
progress is being made even though there have been six
weather - related delay days; and final completion
should be in early April 2005.
In response to Mayor Hunter's request for an update on
the North Park project, Mr. Hogan stated the Planning
Commission has been reviewing the project over the
past six months; response to comments on the
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) has been completed;
the EIR section on traffic was re- circulated and
response to those comments has taken place; 28 or more
Planning Commission recommended changes have been made
after review of the entire Specific Plan, with most,
if not all, agreed to by the developer; the last
Planning Commission public hearing on this item was
continued to April 6, 2004; and the Commission is
coming close to putting together their recommendation
to the City Council.
In response to Councilmember Parvin, Mr. Hogan stated
staff has had meetings with the Ventura County Fire
Protection District in regard to increasing the
distance of fuel modification zones, especially in
regard to requests made by Serenata Homeowners
Association to increase their buffer area; the North
Park Homeowners Association, not the individual
property owner, will be responsible for maintaining
the fuel modification areas for the North Park
project; in some locations of high risk, 200 -feet will
be the required clearance rather than the normal 100 -
feet; and discussions have taken place regarding the
various buffer zone distances used in San Diego. Mr.
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Minutes of the City Council
and Planning Commission
Moorpark, California
Hogan stated an
modification zone
the next month.
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March 24, 2004
In -Box report concerning the fuel
will be presented to Council within
Councilmember Parvin recommended staff include in the
quarterly City Newsletter and Recreation Guide, a
reminder to residents of the type of plantings to be
avoided in high risk fire zones; and cited the trees,
which burned during the recent Simi -Fire at the Villa
Del Arroyo Mobile Home Park as an example of what not
to plant.
Councilmember Mikos recommended the new Landscape
Guidelines for the City include a list of fire
resistant plantings.
In response to Councilmember Mikos, Mr. Hogan stated
there has bee no work on Objective G.23. on stamped
page 28 regarding the preparation of a Specific Plan
for the Virginia Colony area.
In response to Councilmember Mikos, Mr. Hogan stated
for Objective G.25 on stamped page 29, the City will
be able to report on the inventory of natural open
space properties owned by the City and other entities
once Phase 1 of the City's GIS project is completed;
and by the end of the fiscal year will be able to
include the parcel base purchased from the County.
In response to Commissioner Lauletta, Mr. Kueny stated
in regard to Objective A. 2. on stamped page 24, an
update to the City's new website will be previewed in
April after the Council's review.
In response to Commissioner Lauletta, Mr. Riley stated
there will be a specific section of the website
devoted to businesses with a one -way crosslink to the
Moorpark Chamber of Commerce website.
In response to Commissioner Peskay, Mr. Kueny stated
the creation of a Master Calendar was referred by
Council to the Budget and Finance Committee and will
be returning to Council in a report on April 21, 2004;
and in regard to Objective A. 3. on stamped page 9,
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Minutes of the City Council
and Planning Commission
Moorpark, California Page 7 March 24, 2004
there are legal restrictions on what programs can be
replayed on the City Government Channel.
In response to Commissioner Peskay, Mr. Riley stated
in regard to Top Ten Priority 5. on stamped page 8, he
is a member of a project development committee, which
meets with Caltrans, and they are studying the
construction of a permanent truck scale facility west
of the City; a number of design options have been
presented to Caltrans; and most of the millions of
dollars in cost for the project will come from the
acquisition of property to widen the roadway.
Councilmember Millhouse stated the construction of a
permanent truck scale is at the top of the priority
list in Ventura County; and siting of the project has
been delayed due to the lawsuit brought by the City of
Somis for the lack of an Environmental Impact Report;
and this delay has impacted the determination of how
many lanes will be required.
In response to Mayor Hunter, Councilmember Millhouse
stated it is safe to assume the lanes will be in an
east /west direction and in approximately the same
location.
Mayor Hunter stated he would like to compliment the
Planning Commission on their level of analysis in
looking at the North Park project over the past six
months; he has watched some of the meetings on
television and is impressed with the level of detail
used to look at the many different components; and the
community has been well served by a job well done.
Commissioner DiCecco stated the Planning Commission
could not have conducted their review without the
support of the Community Development Department.
In response to Councilmember Harper, Mr. Kueny stated
in regard to Top Ten Priority 9. on stamped page 8,
eighteen months ago preliminary work was done to study
the acquisition of available open space outside the
City limits and that a report will be brought to
Council.
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Minutes of the City Council
and Planning Commission
Moorpark, California Page 8 March 24, 2004
Councilmember Harper stated consideration should be
given to acquiring the remnant piece of property
created by the County's new road traversing the
greenbelt area, which would be an excellent place to
put a City park outside the City limits as its size
would preclude development.
Councilmember Mikos stated the feasibility of
developing a trail system along the Arroyo has already
been established; and she recommends noting in Top Ten
Priority 9 on stamped page 8, what has been
accomplished and what is still needed for the trail
system. She invited the Commission to comment on the
Top Ten Priorities.
Chair Pozza stated he understands the reason for the
delay in Top Ten Priority 3. on stamped page 8 due to
the size of the North Park project and its impacts; he
recommended it be kept as high as possible on the list
of priorities, as with all General Plan changes there
is a relationship to the Circulation Elements; the
City is doing the right thing to develop the City in
an organized fashion and continue to keep up with all
of the Circulation Elements; and it is important to
figure out the hot issue of the truck scale facility
in Top Ten Priority 5. on stamped page 8.
Commissioner Lauletta stated Top Ten Priority 4., the
widening of Los Angeles Avenue is crucial for the
City; in Top Ten Priority 8. on stamped page 8,
increasing the City's General Fund revenue by
attracting businesses should be considered essential
for a city trying to preserve quality of life; and
that is why he is keen on the City's website
identifying programs attractive to businesses.
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Minutes of the City Council
and Planning Commission
Moorpark, California Page 9 March 24, 2004
6. ADJOURNMENT:
Mayor Hunter adjourned the City Council meeting at 7:45
p.m.
Chair Pozza adjourned the Planning Commission Meeting at
7:45 p.m.
Scott Pozza, Chair
Patrick Hunter, Mayor
ATTEST:
Deborah S. Traffenstedt
City Clerk
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