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PC 03-21-69 CITY 0� CUPERTINO, State of California 10300 Tor�e Avenue, Cupertino, California 95014 Phone: 252-4505 C-10 80,000.4 MINUTES OF THE STUDY SESSION OF THE PLEINNING COMMISSION ; HELD MARCH 31, 1969 IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, � CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA ' � This �oint meeting of the City Council and the Planning Commission Call to order was called_to order at 7:35 p.m� by Mayor Noe1 who subsequently flag salute led the assemblage in the flag saluteo Councilmen present: Beaven, Dempster, Fitzgerald, Stokes, Noe�� � Planning Commissioners present: Hirshon, Buthenuth, Puetz, � Froli�h, Absent: Commissioner.Irwina Also present: City Attorney Anderson, City Manager Storm, City Clerk-Finance Di�°ecto� Ryder, Director of Public Works Yarborough, City Engineer Boyd, Senior Planner Laurin, Assistant Planner Eng, Re�ording Secretary Matzleym Mayor Noel advised the audience that this meeting had been called for the purpose of a,joint discussion of the City Council �nd the Planning Commi.s.sion o� poli�ies relating to the Foothill Boulevard area and methods of developing the hill areas within the City of Cupertinoe Further, that this was a public meeting, not a public hearing, and that certain business matters needed to be tran�acted by the City Council prior to the discussions of the matters at hand. After the conclusion of the business of t�he City Council, discussian general plan followed of poYicies for the General Plan for the Foothill Boul.evard discussions area and for hill developments within the Cupertino pY�nning areao Senior Planner Laurin presented a series of color slides of maps, demonstrating various coneepts for development of the Foothill Blvd area as well as the hills within the Cupertino planning areae Maps of the�Foothill Blvd area represented a study made about two Foothill years ago, indicating population prognosis, traffic prognosis, re- Boulevard quired publi� and quasi-public areas, and also a suggested community area center which:would not only be a shopping center bu�t also have civic, cultural and entertainment functions, would in�orporate vistas to- ward the hills, and would present an aesthetic and interes�ting facade toward the major thorofareso Mro Laurin said that conditians have changed as a result of subsequent rezonings and increase of density, and thafi the study would have to be updated� He suggested that the need for various municipal faciliities be computed for a maximum and a minimum population, the former assuming that all un- developed areas be zoned for high-density apartments, the latter that they be zoned �or single-family residential with 7500 sqo ft� Iotsa The following maps of the hill area were shown: Pnaps of grades Page 2 Minutes of the Planning Commission Mareh 31, 1969 PC-10 80,000.4 Maps of hill area (continued) �ps of a) A map indicating existing grades, less than 20%, between 20� g�ades and 50%, and over 50%, colored differently. Mr. Laurin pointed out that the Cupertino hill area is much steeper than most developed areas in Saratoga or Los Altos Hills. Very little area is under 20% grade; development on land steeper than 20% requires inconventional methods paying the utmost attention to erosion controle map of b) A reproduction of the recently completed map commissioned boundaries by the City, with existing buildings, present City limits and boundaries of County and City parks colored in schematic c) Four maps with schematic diagrams of development with Z500 development sq. ft, half-acre, acre and five-acre lots. According.to Mr� Laurin, standard tract development or even ha�f-acre lots would be ruinous to the terrain, conventional deuelop- ment of acre �ots with proper erosion control would be ex- pensive, and even five-acre lots may present problems-. Mr. Laurin cautioned against circumvention of minimum lo t_size by development of ridge tops with narrow lots extending. down the slopes, with most of the land inaccessible and not useable. cluster d) A fairly detailed map demonstrating the cluster principle principle with an overall density of one dwelling unit per gross acre. One-family homes on relatively small 1ots, tawn- houses or terrace houses would be concEntrated along a few roads where the terrain is less difficult, the rela- tively flat tops of hills and ridges preserved as public parks or common areas as they are the only areas useable for re- creation, and most steep hillsides untouched. map of e) A map, a profile and a perspective depicting a"planned city" planned city with 100,000 people where all.functions of the city would.be planned in advancee The suggested city wou�d have an auer- all density of four dwelling units per acre (excluding in- dustrial areas) but with high density in spots and about 90% of the area left opena An essential part of the con- cept is that the relatively flat tops of the ridges would be reserved for public parks, and that no buildings.would stand out against the skylinee Mr. Laurin said that there may be many objections against such development, but that on the other hand many people may appreciate the opportunity to live in the hills cTose to nature� The alternatives, extending urbanization in the valley to the southern bound- ary of the county, or sharply increased density in already built-up areas may no� be entirely advantageousa Mr. Laurin aYso mentioned the possibility of not developing the hill areas at all; if so, the land or at least the development rights must be acquired by public agencies in the near future. He emphasized that the presentation did not intend to favor any of the presented alternatives over another, Minutes of the Planning Commission Mar�h 31, 19�9 PC-10 Page 3 Planning Commission Ch�irman Frolich was confused as to the purpos-e Planning of the meeting and stated �hat ithe Planning sta�f had previously Commission been instrucieed by the Planning Commission to develop plans and comments methods to approa�h the development �f the hi11 areaso Also, that there are only two staff inembers in the P`lanning Department and that requests fo� additiona�. studies �nd submissions of reports would puf an extra burden on the already heavy workload of the Planning staff� There were audien�e comments relative to opposirion to high-rise audience structures, high-density developments, inadequacy of streets, comments necessary facilities, p�ecedents �et in �he Los Angeles area by the sliding of hills due to recent heavy rains, and adequate facilities for fire equipment to service the areao City Engineer Boyd emphasi�ed the fac:t that no road system is ever City adequa�e over a period of time as population �hanges and the need - Engi.neer for streets and improvemen�.� �:hange a�.ong with the population; comments however, tha� it was �he pu�pose of thi� evening's meeting that the staff be afforded.some guideYines by ithe Coun�il for the approa�hes tc� be taken tca ultim�Lely develop the hill �reas and accommoda�e a prDjected popula�i�ion increa�e ot an additional 100,000 people� Councilman Stokes took exception to Lhe statement made by the Council City Engineer that the population might b� �n �dditional 100,000 comments people and said that a p�pulation cauld only be as large as this City Council, o� any subsequent City �ouncil, would permite A. figure of 100,000 was, in Mr, S�okes' opinion, excessive and the�e was no data whi�h would.back up this projectiono Mre Stokes.also stated that the conversa�ions and diseussions were diverting from the actual purpose �f the joint meetingo In order to make a sound decision some�ime in the future, Mr� Stok.es felt that the staff consider the foTlowing items and make a report to �.he City Council and the Planning Commission before densities, variables and the like a�e de�ided upono He did not want the approa�h to be based on low ve�sus high density, and als� requested an esti- mate of the time for �ompletion and �o�ts fo� consultants, if they were n�eded� Councilman Stokes requested �;�nside�d�ion of the following concern problems: for prob- lems cited 1. Wate�; how will it get ro the are�, where will the pumps be insi�alled, e���° 2 o S torm d�ains ; how wi11 tfiey r�n out`� 3. Sanita�y sewers; has the Sdni�ary Disit�ict been con- ta�ted as �o �hei� �equirements and needs? 4. Soil�and geologi�al reports; have they been obfiained? Page 4 Minutes of Planning Commission March 31, 1969 PC-10 80,000.4 Problems cited by Councilman Stokes (continued) Problems 5. Al1 other utilities su�h as electricity and gas.; will there cited be underground or above ground installations? 6. Lot size; minimum and maximum? 7. Density? 8. Types of zoning; s�andard or otherwise? 9e Hillside Ordinance; are the present ordinanc.es adequate or do they need improvement for that very purpose? 10. Fire protection; is it adequate and should certain develop- ments be undertaken to prevent the spread of possible fires? 11> Horses; a problem now and what to do about them in those areas? 12. Flood control and water conservation in the area? 13. Height of the buildings; so that they don't project against the skylinea 14. Overall aasthetics; should H Control be required to decide on a11 structures, including residences? 15. Street design; they are not adequate now and certainly will not be adequate for the hill area because of the nature of the te�rain, with special emphasis on retaining or regaining the natural terrain and preventing scars. 16. Grading; and its ef�ect on erosion and aesthetics. In Mr. Stokes' opinion, present ordinances are inadequate for that purpose� 17. Re-planting; to regain the natural growth of the hillside areao 18. Limits of grading periods. 19� Ma�or street ci�culation; once the streets are designed will it be possible to feed the generating traffic effec- tively into existing streets? Comments Mr. Stokes stated that all these questions would need to be answered continued in depth before any direction can be given to the staff as to the method of approach to the various problemse Mr. Stokes maintained that this meeting was preliminary in nature and was not designed to find, and certainly not to give, answers at this time; however, he did want these things done in preparation for deciding upon direc- tives to give to the staff, Minutes of the Planning Commission Mar�h 31, 1969 PC-10 Page 5 Councilman Fitzgerald read a communication from the Planning Poliey comments by Committee whieh stated, in p«rt, that the "overall density of the councilmen hillside should be lower than �hat on �he Valley floor"o Councilman Stokes said that, since he had been the one to request the joint me�ting, his intentions had been to discu�s the items. necessary befo�e having the sta�f proceed with a master plan, or any plan, and then ha�e to constantly revise same be�ause of lack of prior planning and dire�tions� Mayor Noel concu��ed, stating that rhe problems needed to he iden- tified before �hey co�ld be decided upon through directions to the . staff. Tt was Mayor Noel�s opinion that aYl the staff needs to do is read the minutes of th�s meeting care�ully and get all the in- structions �hey need for a preliminary approach toward preparing a report to the City Coun�il and the Planning Commission as to how some of these pr6blems can be handled� Councilman Stokes mentioned that terms such as density are entirely � too broad and general and mean different things to different p.eoples Councilman Beaven �oncurred with his fellow Cauncilman and felt that the best way to �r�ive at � conclusive decision would be for the staff to prepare a report with two alternativES wherein two substantially different approaches might give the City Council a broader b�se of data background by which to make a decision.. Fur- ther, that the staff suggest a sequential time-table to which the� could adhere in the preparation of the various information to be assimilatedo For example, prepare one plan with a high-density, high-rise construction proposal and another with low density, residential single-f�mily type dwellings, all for the perusal and. subsequent adoption by both the Planning Commission and the City Council� Mr. Frank Purcell, a member of the audience, wond.ered about the further figure previa��ly mentioned as 100,000 additional peopl� within questions the City limits of Cupe�tinoe Mr� Purcell suggested �hat the and answers City Council might consider a closing, as it were, of the Cit�; in effect, a means by which, once a certain population figure is attained, the City sha11 be closed to all newcomerso Councilman Dempster, in replay to the last audience comment, stated tha� sueh a method was beyond comprehension as no one can assume to decide upon any plan as being ultimate, and that an attempt to keep people out of certain areas was, apart from not workable, un�onstituti�nal� City Engineer Bo�d s�a�ed that the 100,000 population figure had been suggested as p�ojected, but certainly not as a proven fact; however, statistics show �hat that m�ny people are going to embark upon this area within � given period of time� � In answer to questions posed by Planning Commission Chairman Frolich, City Attorney Anderson stated that anything that is be- ing proposed at the Planning Commission level o� the City Council Page 6 Minutes of the Planning Commission March 31, 1969 PC-11 80,000.4 level is sub�ec� to Public Hearings at which the citizens have the opportunity to make their views heard. Councilman Fitzgerald felt that the planning staff had sti11 not been given any real directive. Mayor Noel reiterated that the minutes of this meeting contained enough basic information for.the staff to be able to prepare some preliminary method of approach to various problems with a view toward the ultimate development of the foothill areasA movie of Mrs. Juanita McLaren showed a reel of movies taken of certain con- landslides structions now in existence in the areas under discussion which showed that the hills had had massive earth movement during the recent rainy season. She emphasized strongly the necessity far retaining measures and a definite need for H Control to rule upon not only the structures but the aesthetics of the constructions to be built. Mr. Earl Gregory, another member of the audience, said it was difficult to find substance for practical development. He ques- tioned the rights of property owners and stressed the economic burden placed on them for the retention of the natural state of the area. City Attorney Anderson answered the comments by outlining the laws which govern the policy-making bodies of all jurisdictions. He pointed out that the end result is a mixture of those desires and positions of all interested parties including experts in various fields, governmental entities, property owners and neighborso The meeting continued with conclusion of City Council business. Mayor Noel declared the meeting adjourned at 9:52 p.m. APPROVED: ����� �, � /s/ Donald A. Frolich Chairman ATTEST: PLANNING DEPARTMENT . ��cl�llz ���v,,�.►� Senior Planner