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P&R 10-05-06 ~ CITY OF CUPEIQ"INO P ARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION CITY OF CUPERTINO REGULAR MEETING Thursday, October 5, 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: David Greenstein, Jeanne Bradford, Roger Peng, Margaret Goodrich, Derek Chen Staff present: Therese Ambrosi Smith - Director Don McCarthy - Recreation Supervisor Mike Bookspun - Administrative Assistant 4. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING A. Regular meeting of September 7, 2006 were unanimously approved. 5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Suzanne Becket spoke regarding Memorial Park. She lives next to the park, and a letter is circulating through the neighborhood regarding festivals. They all enjoy them, but some are so large, they don't feel the park can handle the traffic, noise, and disruption to the neighborhood. Some people feel discouraged when they call the City, and their voice is not heard. She is requesting Council and Commission consider other venues such as De Anza College or Civic Center for larger scale events. Commissioner Peng thanked Suzanne for her input and said staff could look into this. 6. NEW BUSINESS Take public comment on what amenities should replace the Sports Center Pool area and make a recommendation to City Council. Jeanne Bradford and Margaret Goodrich recused themselves due to their residence being in close proximity to the Sports Center. Don McCarthy gave a presentation giving background information as well as different options: The lease for use of the Cupertino Sports Center pool, with De Anza Cupertino Aquatics (DACA), expired on March 31, 2006. DACA continued to rent the facility month-to- month, through the end of July. July 3, 2006 staff released an RFP. The goal was to determine how much the private sector would pay for use of the Sports Center Pool. Interested parties were asked how much they would be willing to invest in facility improvements (a total of $600,000 needed). The best proposal required that the City invest $350k to make the pool renovation possible. The Proposals were rejected. Council has asked the Commission to gather input and make recommendations regarding use of the space to achieve a balance between service vs. revenue. After alternatives are considered and/or discussed for further evaluation, it will be possible to generate revenue/expenditure numbers for a select few alternatives. The current facility is 7,000 square feet, or 1/6 an acre, the proportions of a tennis court. The existing bathhouse on site is not ADA or code compliant. The utilities on site are tied to the sport center utilities. The five single-family homes (The Commons) closest to the pool area are buffered by tennis courts # 16, # 1 7, & # 18, and a sound wall. The pool is located on Stevens Creek Blvd., adjacent to the sports center entry. Staff presented six options that have been raised. They range from facilities that would compliment, enhance, or expand on existing Parks and Rec. Programs, and facilities that would allow for new Park and Rec. programs that aren't currently offered by the City: -A sauna and hot tub - a prior amenity that was lost when Sports Center was renovated. May be cost prohibitive. -Bark Park - Current classes exist at Memorial Park. Too small for traditional dog park, but would offer structured classes and dog agility aspects. This doesn't address the specific need expressed by residents to Council for a dog park. -Skate Park- Potential space for a skate park, memberships. Don gave background on prior push for a permanent skate park, but went with the portable in the end due to site challenges. -Full-length Multi-Use Sports Court - Basketball, street hockey, in-line skating are a few programs and leagues we could run, and move from school sites which we rent the space. -Gymnasium - Is the largest of ideas. Would require us to build it where court 1 is currently, and create another tennis court on the pool area. Would provide a variety of programs and would allow us to no longer rent school facilities. -Golf Driving Cage - Golf Pro, Jeff Perserchio believes he could accommodate 8 stalls and a putting area for golf lessons, which would then transfer to BBF. People have expressed need for a driving range, though this space is not full length. Some other ideas have been raised such as another community garden and playground tot-lot, but don't meet the council's request for a balance between service and revenue. Staff went over the potential pros and cons of each option. Staff made a recommendation to the Commission to take public comment on what amenities should replace the Sports Center Pool area and discuss those staff should evaluate further. Therese noted that staff did an extensive outreach mailer asking for ideas and attendance at the meeting, and none showed up. David G. Asked staff what type of surface material would be used for a sports court. DonM. Said some type of hard asphalt type surface, or a plastic or rubberized sports court surface. David Greenstein Asked if Teens requested a skate park right there? DonM. Replied that a skate park was a hot issue 5 years ago, but now is not being asked for in demand at this time. David G. Asked what the Stadium Court 1 is used for? DonM. Replied that it is mainly used due to the best lighting by members. The bleachers are nice to have, but the stadium has not been filled up by spectators for tournaments. Roger P Asked if there would be enough room for a gym. Therese S. Clarified the layout of where a gym could potentially go on the property. DonM Said that the potential size of a gym may be closer in size to a middle school sized gym like Kennedy, rather than a larger high school sized gym or fieldhouse. Therese S. Said we went through our files and found all the requests via email, etc. from the public and submitted to you. Roger P. Opened the floor for public comments. Ed Hirshfield He says he speaks for the members at the Sport Center and feels it is being run very well by the Parks and Recreation staff. He thinks the alternative of building a gym is not affordable. He said the tennis players are working hard with the City to improve the lighting. "The number of tennis courts since 1990 has not increased even though the population of Cupertino has doubled." Most of the members are tennis players and he was surprised a new tennis court is not an alternative in the discussion. He said he is for different ideas except a skate park due to lack of supervision and lack of demand and feels the least expensive approach and one that makes the most sense is a tennis court. David G. Looked at public comments and thinks the list is representative of what the community wants and agrees that a tennis court is an option that's not listed. Since the number of requests is limited given the popularity of the facility, he said we didn't get enough feedback. "The dog agility course may be favored by some in the community, but doesn't make sense to put dogs there. It's not the right fit. The sauna and hot tub would make sense in context of the sports center, but the layout doesn't because you'd have to walk across the parking lot to get there, so it's not feasible. The golf facility, gym, multi-purpose court, and skate park all are linked to the facility. The most controversial is the skate park. A teen center would fit with a skate park, but would like to hear more feedback. Golf is interesting, makes sense to have a short driving range, but wouldn't you want to be right next to a golf course? This fits in with the sports center though. Sports Court, I know we have a lot of requests for this, maybe this is a higher probability due to the financial aspects of this, and would fit with the facility as long as it's not loud and raucous. The gym is wonderful idea and jives with a sports center, but looks long term. Our decisions will be formulate out of community input. There are good choices, and when we get more feedback, we'll be able to make a better decision. Please give us feedback if you're out there watching." Therese S Clarified that the reason why tennis is not an option is because Council said they wanted to see a different activity. Derek C. "I used to be a member of the Sports Center and enjoyed the facility. I play tennis and played in high school, and have also utilized the swimming pool. A family with kids could use the pool. To be complete, it needs a swimming pool. Whatever decision is made, should be a part of the membership." "$350K is not a lot of money compared with the other projects and doesn't seem like too much money.' Therese S. Clarified that the total cost was $600K, and the highest amount a swim school was willing to commit was $250K, meaning the City would then be spending $350K in tax money to subsidize a business that a swim school would use. Also noted Sutton, DACA, and YMCA are all spending their own money to renovate their pool and wouldn't be fair to underwrite those costs for a private business. Derek C. "A suggestion would be to renovate for $600K, and include swim lessons as a Park and Rec. activity and generate revenue from that." DonM. Noted not included is the cost of an enclosure, at a cost of $1 00 to $170K to cover the pool. "Our program, a learn-to-swim at the high schools during the summer, is operated at a zero cost to the City, and would be very expensive to transfer the cost to the City." Therese S. "We use the High School districts water during the summer, operating at a good price and good program. Those interested in competitive swimming go to DACA or De Anza getting top instruction and larger pools. A 21 x 47' foot pool is too small." Derek C. "If we raised memberships, how many members do we have?" DonM. "Around 1,100 members, when you look in the paper, you'll see $19/mo. specials, so we have to be competitive. The problem with raising the prices is membership will drop. This is a publicly owned hybrid facility that is compared with private facilities. We've raised fees, tried initiation fees, and it didn't work, and council said we could go back to the old system." Roger P. "We would like to draw more public comments. Also a "ballpark" cost analysis." Therese S. "Is it reasonable to narrow the list down, and then provide more detailed info." David G. "How much would a narrow lap pool cost?" Therese S. Said staff will look into the costs associated with this idea. David G. MOTION to add a lap pool, and keep skate park, sports court, gym, and golf facility on the list for analysis, and request dollar numbers from staff to make a better judgment. Motion carried unanimously. Ed Hirshfield Mentioned that he came here on the behalf of the 300 tennis club members. David G. "I would like to give the public outside the sports Center a chance to respond because they're part of the larger public, not that we didn't see you, but we have to represent them. " 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Clarification of the recommendation made at the September 7 meeting regarding the Blue Pheasant. David Greenstein recused himself. Realizing that two motions were made during the September 7 Commission Meeting, which did not fully address the question, and also was not clearly explained, it seems to have caused confusion. Therese gave background information on the Blue Pheasant Issue. She then clarified that a yes or no recommendation to amend the Municipal Code would be recommended by staff, without any conditions attached. The Commission made a MOTION for reconsideration to restate and clarify the intent of the Sept. 7 recommendations. Motion carried unanimously. The Commission made a MOTION to amend the Municipal Code to allow the Blue Pheasant to apply for a Conditional Use Permit. Motion failed 2-1. The recommendation to City Council is to deny the application of the Blue Pheasant to apply for a Conditional Use Permit. 8. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Peng adjourned the meeting at _8:20 Respectfully submitted, Mike Bookspun, Administrative Assistant p.m.