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P&R 03-02-06 . . . . ""\ ..~..\~_. . .. CUPERJINO P ARKS AND RECREA nON COMMISSION CITY OF CUPERTINO REGULAR MEETING THURSDA Y, MARCH 2,2006 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Peng called the regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission to order at 7 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. ROLL CALL Commissioners present: Staff present: David Greenstein, Jeanne Bradford, Rod Brown, Roger Peng Therese Ambrosi Smith, Director 4. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING A. Regular meeting of February 2, 2006 ACTION: The minutes of February 2, 2006, were accepted as written. 5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Sixteen (12 Cupertino residents, 4 nonresidents) people spoke to the Commission regarding the situation with DYSL and the Force. The main comments and concerns were: . The Force club is taking over the DYSL and forcing all players to join the Force and pay high fees. . The Force may be generating over $1 million in fees per year even though they are a non-profit organization. . The Force is dictating policy to the entire league. . The Force's by-laws are unavailable and policies are changed at will. . The Force is monopolizing the fields and permitting the best fields for its own use. . The Force is elbowing out volunteer coaches in favor of paid coaches. . The Force is limiting choices and opportunities for non-Force teams. . Nonresident teams who pay the fees to join the Force can use the fields rather than the residents who pay the taxes for the fields. . Amend rules to allow fair access to fields for small, local-based teams so they can practice and play in Cupertino. . . Officially define "organization" in the field-use policy in such a way as to give non-Force teams the status to apply for field permits. Chairman Peng thanked the speakers for their input. At this time, Commissioner Bradford requested that the agenda be reordered to take up Item 7B, Staff Oral Reports, to continue the discussion on DYSL. Chairman Peng agreed to this request, and the discussion continued. 7. MISCELLANEOUS - NO ACTION REQUIRED B. Staff Oral Reports a. Commissioner Bradford asked Linda, who spoke during Oral Communications, to explain how DYSL is organized. Linda explained that CYSA is the parent organization for DYSL and that CYSA has northern and southern divisions. Cupertino is part of the northern division. Commissioner Bradford then asked how teams interested in being "independent" would fit into this scheme. Linda deferred the question to Pedro Cortopassi, another speaker heard during Oral Communications. Mr. Cortopassi said that the state organization governs the local leagues through the district. CYSA North is subdivided into nine districts. Cupertino is in District 2, one of the largest districts. District 2 is further subdivided into local leagues, which includes the DYSL. If there is an area that is not in the jurisdiction of a local league, a group can petition the state organization to form a new league. However in the Cupertino area, it would be almost impossible to form a new league because league boundaries overlap. An option would be to create a small organization that is composed of independent teams in the DYSL under the Force umbrella. Commissioner Bradford asked Mr. Cortopassi if, based on the current by-laws of the CYSA, a league could be formed to compete in their jurisdiction. He stated that it could not. Director Smith gave a brief history of the DYSL issue. She stated that August 2004 was the last time this issue was addressed. The City began collecting field- use fees in January 2005. When field-use fees began to be collected, City Council directed that Cupertino residents get a break. This made it necessary to look at team rosters and determine residency. In 2004, it was discovered that DYSL had 32 percent residency, which was in violation of the City's policy requiring them to have at least 51 percent residents. It became apparent that a large number of children would be displaced if the City adhered to the 51 percent residency requirement. City Council decided to remove the residency requirement and establish a fee structure based on priority. Volunteer-coached teams get a break whether they are resident or nonresident. The nonresident teams that receive professional coaching pay the highest fees. Director Smith went on to say that most surrounding cities do require 51 percent residency. When City Council decided to do away with the residency requirement, it allowed the Force to cast a broader net and recruit nonresident players. In order to make money, the Force needs the best players on its teams to continue to attract other talented players. Director Smith believes that the Force probably has less than the 32 percent residency it had in 2004 but has not verified whether that is true. In Director Smith's opinion, the members of the Force organization are responsible for controlling what goes on in the club, and she is not sure how the City would control the Force. She does feel, however, that eliminating the residency requirement may have contributed the current situation. Director Smith suggested putting this issue on the agenda for April and notifying interested parties on both sides. After hearing both sides of the issue, the Commission could recommend to City Council that the policy be amended. Director Smith would like to hear more testimony on the idea of a team being recognized as an organization in order to apply for field permits. She did not understand how a team could compete if it was not part of a league. If the non-Force teams want to play recreationally and not competitively, they could join A YSO. Director Smith pointed out that even though DYSL has internal problems, they are getting a large number of players onto the fields. She is concerned that issuing field permits to individual teams will result in displacing players on the fields. Currently, the organization holds the permits and several teams are able to practice on a field at one time. Chairman Peng agreed that the item should be on the agenda for the next meeting so the Commission can hear from both sides on the issue and do their own internal investigation. Commissioners Bradford, Brown, and Greenstein believe that the issue is worth looking into. Commissioners Bradford and Brown were present during the August 2004 meeting when parents of DYSL were very upset with the City for enforcing the residency requirement. Commissioner Bradford said City cannot control the DYSL rules, but the Commission can help parents get Cupertino kids back on Cupertino fields. Commissioner Greenstein said that the Commission does need to hear both sides of the issue but is there for Cupertino residents first. Director Smith asked if going back to 51 percent residency would fix the problem or would it ruin the teams. Pedro Cortopassi explained that it would be difficult to maintain competitive teams and a high level of Cupertino residency. Because the recreational league is small (approximately 120 players) and the competitive league is large (approximately 800 players), the competitive league needs players from outside Cupertino to maintain its competitive edge. This has created an inverted pyramid. Mr. Cortopassi said ideally the recreational league should be large and interested players from the recreational league would advance to the competitive league. Item 6, New Business, was taken up next in agenda order. . 6. NEW BUSINESS A. Presentation by Gary Chao, Community Development Department, Toll Brothers project - Council Action and request that the Commission be apprised of changes to the plan. Gary Chao stated that the Toll Brothers project was referred to the Commission by City Council from their February 7, 2006, meeting. The project is being built on 26 acres, bounded by Tantau to the east, Stevens Creek to the south, the new Rose Bowl and Menlo Equities projects to the west, and partially 280 to the north. Both the Council and the Commission have reviewed past designs of this site plan. The first design proposed in 2004 had only a 1.4 acre site for this park. The general direction was fewer units, more commercial, and more park. In the site plan presented to you in September of 2005, the park was a sliver of 3.5 acres. The general consensus from the Planning Commission, the Park Commission, and Director Smith was that we wanted a more rectangular park to better facilitate the types of programs that could be presented at this site. At their February 7 meeting, City Council stated they would like a contiguous 3.5 acre park. The plan that was submitted to City Council included a park that was approximately 2.79 acres, plus a panhandle portion that is about .7 acres. The Council's direction was that they would rather have a full 3.5 acre park, south of West Terrace along Stevens Creek. Because the size of the park is being increased, the size of the West Terrace project must be decreased. Toll Brothers has revised their site design to allow for a larger park south of West Terrace. Now they are proposing a 3.5 acre rectangular park, plus a 50-foot sliver for passive use. From staffs perspective, this allows more flexibility for future programming. Commission will be asked to design the park at a later stage, but City Council would like to hear the Commission's comments at their March 21, 2006, meeting. Commissioner Greenstein asked what kind of park City Council wants this to be. Director Smith responded that the only direction City Council has given so far is that they do not want it to be an athletic field. It will be a great place to view the fireworks on July 4th, possibly with a concert backdrop. It is important that the trees be planted in such a way that they don't obstruct the view. The park will be a little larger and deeper than Library Field but in a location similar to Cali Mill Plaza, so there will be traffic noise to contend with. The park has a lot of potential, and it would be worth it to have some community visioning. Commissioner Bradford asked if there would be a tot lot or something similar. Director Smith said it is up to us to decide what the park will be. There will be a lot of entry-level housing, which will attract young families. Gary Chao added that this is the portion of the public park that Toll Brothers is presenting to the City, fully improved. There is quite a bit of open space and opportunities for more intimate, private areas, which could be used for tot lots. In the part of the project called The Villas, there is going to be a community room and some open space. There will be courtyards for the residents. After Council approves the zoning, the detailed landscaping plan will come back to you for comments and suggestions. Commissioner Bradford requested that the existing neighbors be asked to share their ideas about the park since it is a neighborhood park for them as well. Director Smith said we would get the mailing list. Commissioner Greenstein said it was important to know where the senior housing would be located in order to plan the park space accordingly, and that in addition to getting input from the existing community, it is important to look at what the new members of the community might want. Gary Chao explained the current plan calls for a total of 380 units, with 80 of them being for seniors. The senior housing was placed in the northern most area of the parcel since it is a more secure location, and it does have its own area for the seniors to use. The park being planned is meant not only for the residents of the Toll Brothers project, but for the public as well. Commissioner Peng asked Gary Chao to talk about the areas surrounding the park. Gary said Stevens Creek is to the south, across the street is mixed residential and commercial, and the Rancho neighborhood is south of that. A Menlo Equities project that is currently under construction and mostly residential, with some mixed-use commercial, will immediately benefit from the park. The Council has also approved a Rose Bowl condominium mixed-use project. North of the site it is predominantly industrial office space. Commission Brown asked for clarification on the Council's "no sports fields" comment. Gary Chao explained that a sports field would take up most of the area. The possibility of something smaller, such as a basketball court, was mentioned as being desirable. Jo Price, a representative from Toll Brothers, said that they have worked diligently with the City, the community, and staff, to design a park with many different elements to meet the requirements of the City with many benefits for the community. Council asked that the active and passive uses be combined into a continuous 3.5-acre park. Community meetings will be held to ask for input; and in the future, Toll Brothers will be working with the City and the Commission to design the park. At this time, opening the creek is not part of the plan; however, Toll Brothers is being asked to contribute funds to a potential future trail along Calabasas Creek and link with other projects in the future. Public art will be proposed and reviewed at the architectural site as part of the landscaping site review. Council and Planning Commission want elaborate gateway artwork at Tantau since this is the east entrance into Cupertino. There . will be a detailed landscaping plan that will be reviewed by Parks and Recreation Commission and the Arts Commission. Commissioner Peng asked if the Commission was receiving this information for their awareness or a recommendation. Director Smith explained that because the plan had been changed, the Commission needed to know about it. The visioning would include noticing those who will be most affected by it, but information will be on agendas and the City's web site for everyone to access. 7. MISCELLANEOUS - NO ACTION REQUIRED A. Written Communications: None B. Staff Oral Reports: a. This item was taken out of order to continue the discussion ofthe DYSL situation from Oral Communications. See pages 1-3. b. Director Smith announced that Marie Miller, the Parks and Recreation Department Administrative Assistant for over five years, will be retiring May 17; however, for medical reasons she will no longer be working. Marie had brain surgery and will start treatment soon. A new Department Administrative Assistant will be hired to take over her duties. C. Commissioner Community Contacts: None 8. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Peng adjourned the meeting at 8:50 p.m. p ctfully submitted, e Ie Irwin Melanie Irwin, Senior Office Assistant