HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 1995 0104 CC REG ITEM 11HITE-A %
AGENDA REPORT
C = TY O F MOORPARK
TO: The Honorable City Council
FROM: Kenneth C. Gilbert, Director of Public Works
DATE: December 15, 1994 (Council Meeting 1 -4 -95)
SUBJECT: Consider Report Pertaining to the City Assuming the
Responsibility for the Maintenance of Parkway and Median
Landscaping on Tierra Rejada Road in the Mountain Meadows
Planned Community [PC -31
_
[WINZ;VAS:.,
This request approval of a list of prerequisites to the City
assuming the maintenance responsibilities for the parkway and
median landscaping on Tierra Rejada Road between the Edison
Easement (located west of Peach Hill Road) and the Tierra Rejada
Road bridge.
1. On September 14, 1994, the City Council considered this matter.
At that meeting the City Council stated its intent to ultimately
assume the maintenance of both the parkways and the medians on
Tierra Rejada Road within PC -3 subsequent to the resolution of
certain design and maintenance questions and /or problems. The
City Council directed that this matter be brought back to the
City Council within ninety (90) days.
2. On November 16, 1994, the City Council received and filed a
report from the Director of Community Development pertaining to
the Director's approval of MINOR MODIFICATION NO. 2 TO THE PC -3
SPECIFIC PLAN. That Minor Mod revised the landscaping design
for the parkways and median by replacing a number of trees with
shrubs. Where necessary, tree wells are to be modified to
better accommodate this change. The developer intends to
undertake and complete these landscape modifications by March 1,
1995.
3. The developer is in the process of undertaking repairs to the
street paving, curb /gutters and sidewalks on Tierra Rejada Road.
This work will be completed to the satisfaction of the Public
Works Director. In addition, the developer is to reimburse the
City for City costs for the construction of a Type II Slurry
Seal on this street.
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Tierra Rejada Road Landscaping
January 1995
Page 2
4. The maintenance of the landscaping on Tierra Rejada Road will be
funded by Assessment District 84 -2. In a separate report to the
City Council this date, it is recommended that the City Council
1) approval of the selection of the Assessment Engineer and 2)
adopt a Resolution initiating the assessment process for AD 84 -2
for FY 1995/96.
DISCUSSION
A. Landscape Maintenance Responsibilities
With some exceptions, the City of Moorpark provides for the
maintenance of the landscaping located in the parkways and the
medians on major arterial streets throughout the City. The cost
of this maintenance is funded by the assessments levied by
Assessment District 84 -2.
All of the City's median maintenance costs are funded by a
Citywide assessment. City costs for the maintenance of some
parkways are also funded by the Citywide assessment. In
addition, the cost of maintaining certain parkways is funded by
an assessment on the lots within a number of Zones of Benefit,
which are deemed to derived benefit from this parkway
landscaping. The parkway landscape maintenance funded by Zone
assessments includes a number of parkways on Tierra Rejada Road
including the following:
Zone
Tract
Developer
_ _ Tierra Rejada
Road
From
To
2
2865
Pacifica
East of Spring Rd,
2000 feet east of Peach
westerly
Hill Road
2
2865
Pardee
2000 feet east of
Peach Hill Road
Peach Hitl Road,
westerly
5
3019 /
Warmington
Peach Hill Road
Edison Easement
3525
westerly
B. Tierra Rejada Road (PC -3)
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Consistent with these past practices, on September 14, 1994, the
City Council stated its intent to ultimately accept the
maintenance responsibility for the parkway and median
landscaping on Tierra Rejada Road in PC -3.
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January 1995
Page 3
C. Street Repairs
In recent months staff and the developer, California Community
Builders (CCB) [formerly Urban West Communities (UWC)], have
been working to resolve a number of issues prerequisite to the
City's acceptance for maintenance of the hardscape (street and
sidewalks) on Tierra Rejada Road within PC -3. That process
includes a City project of the construction of Type II Slurry
Seal to the entire length of Tierra Rejada Road, including that
portion within PC -3. CCB has agreed to reimburse the City for
any of these project costs related to that portion of the work
performed within PC -3.
D. Landscaping Changes
CCB has recently received approval of a Minor Modification to
the Specific Plan for PC -3, which was required in order to
replace certain parkway trees with shrubbery plant material. In
addition, CCB and staff have been working together in an effort
to remove certain trees which were and /or could pose a
visibility problem for traffic on this street.
E. Block Walls
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The normal past practice in designing parkways along arterial
streets, has been to place the Tract perimeter block wall on the
adjacent residential lots. If this practice had been followed
in the design and construction of the parkways on Tierra Rejada
Road within PC -3, the existing block walls at the back of the
parkway would not have been placed on the parkway parcels
currently owned by CCB (formerly UWC). However, an initial
review of the Landscape Plans for these parkways, seems to
indicate that all or at least some of these block walls may be
located on the parkway parcels. If this initial observation is
correct, absent any corrective action these block walls would
become the responsibility of the City upon the conveyance to the
City of the parkway parcels presently owned by CCB. The
assumption of the responsibility for these block walls by the
City would have the potential of affecting Assessment District
(AD84 -2) costs and, therefore, the amount of the assessments to
be levied. Staff and CCB are working to clarify this matter.
The City Council is advised that a new Zone of Benefit
encompassing all of PC -3 would allow the City to serve as the
manager of an assessment district benefiting the same properties
which would be served by an active Mountain Meadows Master
Homeowners' Association. Under either scenario, costs for block
wall repairs would be passed on to the same clientele.
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January 1995
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F. Parkways at Moorpark High School.
The parkways on Tierra Rejada Road and Mountain Trail Street
along the frontage of Moorpark High School are not located
within the street right -of -way. In order for the City to assume
the maintenance of the sidewalks and landscaping in these
parkway areas, it will be necessary for the City to be granted
one or more easements conveying these improvements to the City.
It is recommended that a condition of accepting any such
easements be that the future maintenance of said improvements by
the City is accepted on the conditioned that the cost for same
shall be provided by a source other that the City's General Fund
(i.e. an assessment district),
G. Estimated Landscape Maintenance Costs
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An estimate of the annual cost
to maintain the
subject landscape
improvements is
as follows:
Utilities
Contract
Total
Parkways:
15,000
35,000
50,000
Medians:
7,000
18,000
25,000
Total:
$22,000
$53,000
$75,000
Staff is currently in the process of working with the
developer's landscape maintenance contractor to determine the
extent of the modifications, if' any, which could be made to
either the existing improvements or the past maintenance
practices, to effect a long -term reduction in the maintenance
costs. The issues being considered include the possible
introduction of drought tolerant plants and maintenance efforts
which may be unique requirements of the existing plant materials
(i. e. spraying).
In should be pointed out that the existing landscaping
improvements include fescue grass, a plant species which
requires a considerable amount of water. In that these
landscaping improvements are consistent with the requirements of
the approved landscape plan, the City can not require the
developer to undertake, at his cost, major changes to those
improvements. If the subject landscaping is to be substantially
modified to better implement water conservation measures, the
cost for this effort would probably have to be assumed by the
Maintenance Assessment District.
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H. Method of Spreading Costs
1. Medians: Consistent with past practices, it is recommended
that the landscape maintenance costs for all of the medians
on Tierra Rejada Road within PC -3 be added to the Citywide
landscape maintenance assessment.
2. Parkways: Maintenance costs for the parkways on Tierra
Rejada Road within PC -3 could be spread a number ways,
including the following:
a. all parkway costs to be added to the Citywide assessment;
b. all parkway costs to be spread to all of the properties
within PC -3 via the establishment of a new Zone of
Benefit;
c. the maintenance cost for the parkways located within each
Village of PC -3 (North Village, South Village and West
Ranch) to be spread to those respective areas via the
establishment of three new Zones of Benefit; and,
d. the specific maintenance cost for that portion of the
parkway locate within each Tract located along the north
and south sides of the Tierra Rejada Road corridor, to be
spread to only the lots within each of those Tracts via
the establishment of a number of new Zones of Benefit.
It is the recommendation of' staff that the Option "b" above
be used to spread parkway maintenance costs within PC -3.
This approach would be consistent with the intent of the
Master HOA described in the PC -3 Specific Plan. It would
also be consistent with past policies and practices of the
City Council to establish Zones of Benefit to fund arterial
parkway landscape maintenance costs in response to
development conditions of approval, when such maintenance was
not to be assumed by an adjac,'ent HOA.
I. Estimated Amount of Assessment,.
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An estimate of the amount of the annual assessment for each
single family residential lot, which would be necessary in order
to generate the revenues required to fund the costs described
above, is as follows:
Lots within All Other Lots
PC -3 (Zone 101_ Citywide Assessment
Parkways: 20.91 0
Medians: 2,90_ 2.90
Total: $23.81 $2.90
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J. Prerequisites to the Acceptance of Landscape Improvements
tr 182
The following is a recommended list of tasks which should be
undertaken and completed by CCB prior to the City accepting the
subject landscape maintenance-
1. complete all hardscape repairs (including curb & gutters,
sidewalks, pavement repairs and the City's slurry seal
project) and the acceptance of this street for maintenance by
the City;
2. complete all modifications to the landscaping, including the
full implementation of Minor Mod #2 and the complete
resolution of all traffic visibility problems;
3. design and construct any alterations to the irrigation
systems, controls, water supplies, etc. which may be required
in order to transfer to the City only those landscape
irrigation systems associated. with Tierra Rejada Road;
4. design and construct any other minor alterations to the
irrigation systems or landscaping deemed necessary by the
City to better facilitate the efficient and cost effective
maintenance of the subject landscaping;
5. transfer all required water and electrical services to the
City, said transfer to take place on or subsequent to July 1,
1995, subject to the completion of all of these prerequisites
tasks and the approval of the Public Works Director;
6. prepare any easement deeds required to convey to the City the
ownership of any water and /or electrical service laterals
which are not located within the street right -of -way;
7. prepare and execute (by CCB) deeds conveying to the City the
parkway parcels on Tierra Rejada Road;
8. prepare and have executed by the Moorpark Unified School
District, easement deeds conveying to the City the
maintenance responsibility for the sidewalks and parkway
landscaping on Mountain Trail Street and Tierra Rejada Road
along the frontage of Moorpark High School;
9. resolve the question of the present ownership (property owner
or Master Association) of the block walls separating the
parkways from private property,
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