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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 2004 0324 CC SPCMINUTES 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: Commissioners DiCecco, Landis, Lauletta, Peskay, and Chair Pozza. Staff Present: Steven Kueny, City Manager; Hugh Riley, Assistant City Manager; Kenneth Gilbert, Public Works Director; Barry Hogan, Community Development Director; Cynthia Borchard, Administrative Services Director; Brad Miller, City Engineer; Deborah Traffenstedt, Assistant to City Manager /City Clerk; and Maureen Benson, Deputy City Clerk. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT: None. 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 Minutes of the City Council and Planning Commission Moorpark, California Page 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 Minutes of the City Council and Planning Commission Moorpark, California Paae 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. 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. Minutes of the City Council and Planning Commission Moorpark, California Page 6 March 24, 2004 Hogan stated an In -Box report concerning the fuel modification zone will be presented to Council within the next month. 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, 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. 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. 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. ATTEST: Deborah S. Traffenste City Clerk