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P&R 07-12-01 APPROVED MINUTES PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION CITY OF CUPERTINO SPECIAL MEETING THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2001 CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Jelinch called the regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission to order at 7 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL Commissioners present: Commissioners absent: Jeanne Bradford, Frank Jelinch, Kris Wang Roger Peng, Edye Stein, Staff present: Others: Therese Ambrosi Smith, Director, Julia Lamy, Recreation Supervisor, Christine Hanel, Recreation Supervisor, Peggy Ford, Recreation Coordinator, Beeny Sanders, Staff Assistant, Marie Preston, Administrative Secretary Jana Sokale, Environmental Plarmer and David Greenstein, Chairman of the Stevens Creek Trail Task Force CEREMONIAL MATTERS - PRESENTATIONS - None MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING 1. The minutes of May 3 and May 24 were unanimously accepted and approved. COMMUNICATIONS NOT ON THE AGENDA · ORAL - None · WRITTEN - None UNFINISHED BUSINESS 2. Stevens Creek Trail Task Force: Updates - David Greenstein reported that the Task Force continues to work on the development of the feasibility study, has been taking pubic comment, and has changed the process of compiling data that involved more neighborhood input. Study Areas A and B have been completed; Study Areas C and D (Linda Vista Park and Varian Park) have required more study and neighborhood input. Reports, minutes, agendas, maps are available on the City's website. A written FAQ will be mailed to the Linda Vista Park neighborhood with a follow-up meeting on September 19. For the most part, comments Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of July 12, 2001 Page 2 of 5 have been constructive and supportive. All alignments will be given a more refined review. In November, the project will be given to the Commission. Jana Sokale summarized the progress of the feasibility study. She displayed and discussed maps showing the study areas. She answered questions by the Commission relating to security, parking, property values, traffic, handicap access, privacy, trail use, pets, sensitive habitat areas, etc. Tour - Jana offered the Commission an opportunity of a tour of the Mountain View portion of the Stevens Creek Trail sometime in the fall. The staff will set this meeting up with the Commission and Jana Sokale. Public Comment Art Robertson, 2 ! 979 Oakdell Place, complained that the Oakdell Ranch Homeowners Association had not been contacted regarding the trail study. He stated he has concerns about increased parking as the neighborhood already experiences overflow-parking problems stemming from the Blue Pheasant Restaurant. He does not want foot traffic along the creek, along the south side of Stevens Creek Blvd. He is also concerned about accessing the vertical cliff, privacy, and property values. He asked that the Homeowner's Association be included in notices. Jay Tucker, 10364 Creston Drive, stated that he has concerns about the proposal, which he believes is betrayal of the public trust. He reported that a flood control zone had been created for the good of the homes, and now that it' s public land, there are plans to put a parkway in. The area, he stated, is for flood control, not for a parkway; this is an important point. He stated that the bridge at McClellan acts as a chokepoint for the water; it back-floods into the golf course and saves the homeowners. Anything that is done along the creek has the potential of causing drastic damage to homeowners along the creek. Joyce Sallan, 22116 Clearcreek Court, stated that her concerns are in the areas of privacy, safety, security, and encroachment on local habitat on animals, the creek, and forest. She also stated that the neighbors do not want the trail (Varian Spur). Theresa Horng, 22085 Clearwood Court, board member of the Oakdell Ranch Homeowners' Association, believes safety is a concern because the neighborhood will become more accessible; they currently deal with numerous parked cars and traffic due to the Blue Pheasant Restaurant business. The neighbors have met with the mayor regarding the parking, dumping of trash, and open displays of drunkenness issues. There are safety concerns about the trail coming by the elementary school and hikers getting hit by golf balls. She forwarded a copy of a petition for the file that states, "Petition to save our environment and property values of Stevens Creek Monta Vista Cupertino Neighborhood. And to stop the proposed creek trail from Stevens Creek trail to Varian Park." Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of July 12, 2001 Page 3 of 5 Reba Gibbons, 22086 Clearcreek Court, is opposed to the Varian Park trail spur. The neighborhood already suffers from the Blue Pheasant Restaurant business, transients, and cars. If the trail is opened up behind their houses, there will be unwanted people traffic, safety, and privacy issues. She also believes that the habitat will also be affected. Coastside Trail Case Study - Therese Ambrosi Smith presented photos of the Coastside Trail, on Highway 1 in the Half Moon Bay area, and detailed how the trail development parallels similar issues for the Stevens Creek Trail.. This portion of the Coastside Trail took 11 years to come to fruition. The whole trail is planned to run the length of California. She stated that a nonmotorized transportation system is a neighborhood amenity and a community's link to a larger trail system. She reported that the trail raised a lot of opposition initially, but now the community has fully embraced the trail as an amenity. Public Input Art Robertson, Jay Tucker, Robin Avandastein, Joyce Sallan reiterated their opposition to the Varian Park spur trail. MISCELLANEOUS - NO ACTION REQUIRED (taken out of order) Staff Oral Report - Youth and Teen Events: Christine Hanel introduced Beeny Sanders, Staff Assistant, and Peggy Ford, Recreation Coordinator, who both work at developing and assisting in youth and teen programs. Peggy Ford presented a video exhibiting the various programs, and distributed summer program descriptions and a list of youth and teen activities throughout the year. The video was well received by the Commission and they complimented staff with the excellent programming they provide. NEW BUSINESS (taken out of order) 4. A Play and Save public service announcement was presented with positive comments. RECESS UNFINISHED BUSINESS Review of the Memorial Park Special Events Policy - In their review of the proposed Memorial Park Special Events Policy at their July 2 meeting, the City Council asked the Commission to readdress two areas in the policy: · Should there be a limit of 13 special events in a 32-weekperiod? · What should the process be for reviewing special event requests? That portion of the City Council's meeting on this topic was replayed. Julia Lamy reported on an idea of moving some city-run events out of Memorial Park, i.e. Shakespeare, Cinema at Sundown, Art & Wine, Moon Festival, etc., providing new Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of July 12, 2001 Page 4 of 5 event opportunities at Memorial Park. Julia Lamy reported on the pros and cons of using three other venues within the city: De Anza College, City Center amphitheater, new civic center plaza and town center development. She reported that De Anza College charges a hefty fee, approximately $4,000, to use their facility. As an alternative, Parks and Recreation staff thought of approaching the City Council with a grant program for festivals that would like to be at De Anza College. These festivals could apply to the city for a grant, whereby we would pay the fees. At this time, the city is spending about $4,000 in its own resource money to support festivals that are in Memorial Park (staff and Sherifftime). A possible drawback to some festivals at De Anza College is that they do not allow any alcoholic beverage service. This would not work for the art and wine festival, but for festivals like the Moon Festival, it might work. There was no public comment. Commissioner comments: Commissioner Bradford was interested in investigating a possible grant program. She reported that she had reviewed the two Commission meetings that covered this topic and believes that the main issue may be the enforcement of parking by event organizers. She believes we should encourage events to come to the park and only in the event where we would have to manage overflow would we send them to other venues. She is in favor of the 3~week gap between large events, would like a limit/guidance to the number of large events. Commissioner Jelinch s~ated that there is a concern among the small event holders that they could not afford to have parking monitors or take care of the parking issues through expenditure funds. He would rather not refer to outside venues. Referring to other sites should only be a last resort. Limits are not needed, because limits say that an event could be turned away. Requests should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. He is in favor of grandfathering all the groups who are already using the park, but we would still need to monitor them. Commissioner Wang believes in keeping a 2-3 week gap between events throughout the year, both for the turf, as well as the community. Both the city and the event planners need to be mindful of the requirements of security and parking requirements. She is in favor of flexibility in the limit of events and in favor of diversity of events. Staff comments: Julia Lamy reported that once an event organizer did not follow the policies that the city had set forth. After the event, a committee was established with city representatives, neighborhood representative, and event organizers to review the issues. All worked together to mitigate for the following year. Ever since then, that event has been stellar. The parking monitor issue is a problem because the events assign volunteers to monitor parking, and if the volunteers do not show, there's not much to be done. She believes that Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of July 12, 2001 Page 5 of 5 within the city staff, these problems can be addressed and reported back to the Commission on what would be best served for the event next year instead of doing public hearings. Therese Ambrosi Smith asked the Commission if they wanted to be involved in the decision process on who gets selected to have a large event. The Commissioned agreed that staff was capable of making these decisions. The following actions were unanimously agreed to: ACTIONS a) b) Drop the 32-week constraint. Allow large festivals of 4,000 or more in projected attendance be separated by three weeks, with exceptions at the staff' s discretion, of each other to allow for appropriate turf maintenance. The application process for groups be in the hands of the director of Parks and Recreation and staff. The Commission will review the performance of each event as on ongoing process. MISCELLANEOUS - NO ACTION REQUIRED Legislative Update: - None Community Contacts: Commission Wang reported that there was going to be a pre-delegation from Brazil to visit with the Kung-Fu Club. They wanted to meet with officials. The Commissioners and staff said they would be meet with them, possibly at the Monta Vista Recreation Center for a reception. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m. The next meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission is scheduled for Thursday, August Respectfully submitted Approved at the August 2, 2001, regular meeting.