CC Resolution No. 4729 , ~ ~
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A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COU:~CIL OF THE CITY OF CLTEP.TINO
REQUESTING APYROVAL FROM THE STATE OF C~ILIFOR'vIA OFFICE
OF PLANNINC AND RESEARCH, A ONE YEAR E:{TESSIOS OF TIME
TO COMPLETE THE NOISE, SEISPfLC SAFETY, PUBLIC SAFETY, AND
SCENIC HICHWAYS GENERAL PLAN ~LE'`~ENTS
WHEREAS, the City of Cupertino Planning Coff.mission and City Council
have conducted over 200 hearings beginning in 1972 and ending in February, 1978
regarding General Plan Land Use Elements involvin~ a 1,000,000+ sq. ft. regional
shopping center, a 150 acre mixed land use plan, a 50 acre mixed use Town Center
development, a Flood Plain Management Plan, and 9,300 acre Hillside Plan; and
WHEREAS, said General Plan Amendments were labeled "Land Use Element
Amendments, said amendments have actually incorporated other General Plan Element
considerations rela[ed to circulation, housing, open soace, seismic safety, public
' safety (fire and flood risk) and scenic highways; and
WHEREAS, [he City Planning Commission is currently conducting public hearings
to consider a comprehensive, intzrnally consistent General Plan comprising all
nine elements and several permissive elements; and
WHEREAS, the City of Cupertino has held a public hearing regarding said request
for extension, giving all interested persons the opportunity to be heard; and
WHEREAS, the City of Cupertino is not involved in litigation concerning or
related to the completeness or adequacy of its Ceneral Plan;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council hereby request approval
of a one year extension of time to complete a Comprehensive plan incorporating
the content requirements for each of the nine manda[ed elements.
The required attachments for completion of the General Plan Element extension
request are hereby described in Exhibit A, attached.
PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting oi' the City Council of the Ci[y of
Cupertino this 19th day of June , 1978, by the folloving vote:
Vote Members of the City Council
AYES• Meyers, Sparks, .Iackson
NOES: None
ABSENT: 0'Keefe, Rogers
ABSTAIN: None ~
APPROVED:
, , ino
ATTEST:
City Clerk
• E:~I I B I T n •
ATTACH:fE\T IN SUPPORT OF REnUEST FOR E\TE:vSiO:~
OF TIPiE FOR COMPLETION OF GENERAL PLAN ELE`1E~TS
1. Reason Whv the Seismic Safetv, Noise, Public Safetv, and Scenic
, Hi~hwavs Element have not been Adopted.
i The City of Cuper[ino Planning Commission and City Council have been faced
with diverse and complex General Plan Land Use issues during Che past four
years including:
. An evaluation of physical, social and economic impacts
! of a 1,020,000 sq. ft. regional shopping center.
i
~ . A 150 acre, multiple ocmership, multiple land use, planned
' development.
. A Flood Plain Management Plan designed to preserve a natural
stream bed and attendant wa[er percolation capabilities.
. A hillside plan encompassing 14 square miles and incorporating a
complex slope density formula to regulate land use intensit} based
upon slope steepness.
. A,joint City/County specific plan for a large, established County
island located in [he City's Urban Service Area.
The hearings for the above listed planning efforts scanned six years and involved
over 200 separa[e public hearings.
Although the above planning efforts primarily involved Land Use Element
revisions, each plan review included an analysis of the relationship of
land use to housing demand and supply at various price levels, af public
safety considerations related [o flood, seismic and fire risks, and to
fiscal impac[ analysis. The Land Use Element revisions additionally incorporated
a detailed analysis of the relationship of land use intensity to traffic capacity
of major stree[ network and private and public utilities.
The staff time and public hearing time allocated to the above planning effort
precluded the City from adopting separate Noise, Seismic Safety, Public
Safety and Scenic Highways Elements. However, as indicated above, the
planning objectives embodied in the incompleted elements were considered in
the above referenced "land use" element revisions.
2. Existing and Proposed Policies and Procedures [o Ensure that Development and
, Other PlanninR Related Requests Will be Evaluated Consistent wi[h Existing
and PendinR Elements.
a. Seismic Safety
The City re[ained William Cotton and Associates, a Consulting Engineering
Geologist, to aesist the comnunity in the preparation of its Seismic
Safety Elemen[. Mr. Cotton has prepared a background report which includes
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a seisaic na~ards :aan. Said ^ap idencifies cne degree of ~eologic and
soils investigative ~aork required for a develooment request for each
, hazard zone category. The map is currently used by staff to guide new
development, including building perr.iits.
The City has an established procedure whereby William Cotton and Associaces
prepares a scope of work for each development application requiring a
geologic investigation. The applicant subsequently retains a private
engineering geologis[ to prepare a geological report. William Cotton and
Associates revievs each report and makes appropriate recommendations prior
to City approval of an application for development. The procedure is used
for all developme~t requests including building permits.
' The geologic procedure outlined above is embodied in [he City's Hillside
General Plan.
b. Public Safety
In addition to the geologic procedure, the City has adopted a Uniform
Fire Code and a"Fire Hazards Area Map" in conjunction with its General
Plan Land Use Element review. The map was prepared based upon consultation
with the County Fire N.arshall, the Central Fire Distxict (local fire
protection agency) and the State Division of Forestry.
The City's Hillside Subdivision Ordinance requires secondary fire access
roads for hillside development and adequate vater systems to provide needed
"fire flows". The secondary road and wa[er system requirements have been
imposed on all hillside developments approved subsequent [o the Hillside
Plan adoption.
The Stevens Creek Flood Plain Plan describes the "100-year" flood plain
for Stevens Creek. The plan contains land use policy prohibi[ing urban
development in the floodway and provides a development transfer system
for owners of residentially designated land within the floodway. The
plan further ensures [hat current private recreation uses in the floodway
caruiot be converted to urban use. The City has additionally acquired 21
acres of land in the floodway based upon the Open Space Element objective
(recently imposed funding limitations may require amendment of the Open
Space Acquisicion Plan). Three residential developments have been reviewed
and approved based upon Flood Plain Plan policy.
In 1971, the City of Cupertino adopted an emergency plan establishing an
organization to deal with na[ural and man-made disasters and emerRency
conditions. The City participates in yearly emergency simulation drills
sponsored and administered by the County Office of Emergency Preparedness.
The Emergency Planning Program will be incorporated in[o [he Public Safety
Element.
c. Noise Element
In 1974 and 1975, two volunteer management grovps from Lockheed Corporation
conducted an extensive noise survey for the community. The survey consisted
of a continuous 24-hour noise measurement reading for 24 locations. The
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City 1s curzently compiling the noise survey work with Cal Trans da:a
:or [he freeuay system and various independen[ noise reports filed for
private develooment orojects.
The City requires acoustical evaluacions for all residential developments
located on a"select street" or proposed to be loca[ed adjacent to a
commercial or industrial facility. Conversely, all non-residen[ial
development applications are required [o provide an acoustical report if
the project is proposed to be located adjacent to or in close prwcimity
to a residential development. The City utilizes the California Administrative
Code Title 25 Noise Level Standards for all residential developments
including detached residen[ial developments. Noise at[enuation design
[echniques and materials are utilized to ensure that [he internal and
external living environments are in compliance with the Title 25 requirement.
Noise attenuation solu[ions are proposed by acoustical consultants on a
case-by-case basis.
d. Scenic HiQhwavs
City of Cupertino's Open Space, Conservation and Recreation Element describes
roadways aelec[ed for inclusion into the Scenic Highways Element; hovever,
the Open Space Element does not contain standards and programs [o pro[ec[
scenic corridors.
The City's Land Use Element to the General Plan contains a policy requiring a
cons[ant landscape setback on North De Anza Boulevard and S[evens Creek
Boulevard~ [he City's major arterials. The City retained a landscape
archi[ec[ to prepare precise plans vhich are currently being implemented
[hrough private development. The Ceneral Plan contains policies pro-
hibiting or severely limiting curb cuts on major boulevards so as to
protect the integrity of che landscaped setback and to increase traffic-
carrying efficiency of the roadways. The City's landscaping beautifica[ion
program [ogether vith the sign program and anti-curb cut program will be
consolidated into the Scenic Highways Element segmen[ for [he urbanized
por[ion of the co~unity. Appropriate se[backs and programs to preserve
particularly important view corridors from rural roadways will be
established in conjunction with the adoption of the Scenic Highvays Element.
3. General Plan BudRet
The Planning Department is utilizing a team approach for its General Plan
program. The team consiste of five professionals and one non-paid intern.
The ~ob ti[le, and proposed [ime allocation for each person is listed below:
Job Title Hours Available Per Week Beginning April, 1978
Director of Planninq b Development S
Assis[ant Planning Director 25
(Projec[ Coordina[or)
Associate Planner 4
Assistant Planner ~ 12
Assistant Planner (Federal Funding) 17
Intern 12
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The proposed advanced planninK budget for tiscal year 1978/79 is 82,630.
Approximately 50~ of the advanced budget or S40,000 wi11 be allocated to
complete the General Plan.
Approximately 54,500 is allocated for consulcants. The money will be utilized
as follows (money carried over from 1977/78 budget year).
Transportation Consultant 53,000
Acoustical Consultant 1,500
4. Work ProRram
The four incomplete General Plan Elements will be adopted concurrently in
conjunction with the teview and update of the City's five completed mandatory
elements and five permissive elements (Recreation, Urhan Design, Public
Facilities, Historical, and Social/Economic). The General Plan revision has
been labeled "General Plan Consolidation Program". The program has [wo
main objec[ives.
a. Achieve in[ernal consistency and external consistency with governmental
agencies that directly influence Cupertino citizens.
b. Develop a strong, realistic implementation program which includes an
ongoing review mechanism to enable local decisionmaker to "[est" his
or her decision relative to General Plan consistency.
Because of the extensive General Plan work accomplished to date including a
two year broad based Co~unity Goals Committee effort, the data collection
and community needs assessment phases of the General Plan Consolidation
phase is nearly complete. As mentioned earlier, even the data collection
for the incomplete Seismic Safety, Noise and Public Safety Element work is
complete.
Staff is currently finalizing the Data Base by upda[ing the needs assessment
for housing and updating traffic volume figures on major streets and reassessing
traffic generators by zone in order to update computer program used to estimate
future lane demand for street system.
' Last year the Planning Co~ission adopted a policy of limiting the second
monthiy mee~ing to advanced planning projects. The Covmiission meeting
schedule and the staff manpower alloca[ion described in Section 3 above
will enable the City staff to complete a first draft plan by the last of
August or first of September, 1978. It is anticipated that the Planning
Co~ission and City Council Will require three to five months of review time;
thus, the Comprehensive Plan will be adopted in December, 1978 or January, 1979.
A General Plan outline and schedule is attached labeled Appendix A.
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