HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.01 Draft Min 10-24-2011 & 11-01-2011~~~~ Off' nU~~~
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DATE:
TO:
FROM:
STAFF REPORT
CITY COUNCIL
CITY CLERK
File # 610-10
November 15, 2011
Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
~~
Joni Pattillo, City Manager ° ~'
SUBJECT: Minutes of Special City Council Meeting of October 24, 2011 and Regular City
Council Meeting of November 1, 2011
Prepared by Caroline P. Soto, City Clerk
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City Council will consider the approval of the minutes of the Special City Council Meeting of
October 24, 2011 and Regular City Council Meeting of November 1, 2011.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
None.
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the minutes of the Special City Council Meeting of October 24, 2011, and Regular City
Council Meeting of November 1, 2011.
~~Fg r 7
Submitted By
City Clerk
DESCRIPTION:
~,r ,
Reviewed By
Assistant City Manager
The City Council will consider the approval of the minutes of the Special City Council Meeting of
October 24, 2011 and Regular City Council Meeting of November 1, 2011.
NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
None.
ATTACHMENTS: 1. Draft Minutes of the October 24, 2011 Special City Council Meeting
2. Draft Minutes of the November 1, 2011 Regular City Council Meeting
Page 1 of 1 ITEM NO. 4.1
DRAFT
Or' DU~~ j~ MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL
``, OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN
8Z
\~ . ~~/ SPECIAL MEETING OCTOBER 24, 2011
A special meeting of the Dublin City Council was held on Monday, October 24, 2011, in the
Regional Meeting Room of the Dublin Civic Center. The meeting was called to order at 5:30
p.m., by Mayor Sbranti.
_....i
ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Councilmembers Biddle, Hart, Swalwell, and Mayor Sbranti
ABSENT: Councilmember Hildenbrand
_....i
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 5:30 p.m.
The pledge of allegiance to the flag was recited by the City Council, Staff and those present.
_....i
1. Report from City Staff and the Urban Land Institute's Technical Assistance Panel
Regarding Proposed Ideas and Recommendations for the Downtown Dublin
Specific Plan Area.
Economic Development Director Linda Smith presented the Staff Report and advised
that, in June 2011, the City retained the services of the Urban Land Institute's Technical
Assistance Panel (TAP) to provide feedback on the recently adopted Downtown Dublin
Specific Plan. The study session would provide an opportunity for City Staff and the
TAP to present the reported findings and recommendations to the City Council.
Ms. Smith asked the City Council if they had any ideas or questions regarding the
presentation.
Cm. Biddle asked if Wi-Fi technology implementation could be implemented the length of
the commercial district along Dublin Boulevard.
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City Manager Pattillo responded that could be researched to include cost and other
options in the follow-up by Staff.
Mayor Sbranti asked the panel for recommendations about opportunities for the
northwest side of Village Parkway abutting Highway 680.
Mr. David Johnson, TAP member, stated that, in his experience, having mandatory street
front business entrances on a case by case scenario could assist with pedestrian
circulation.
Mr. Gerry Tierney, TAP member, stated that the parking codes would need to be
addressed.
Mr. Ron Golem, TAP member, stated that a long term approach could be a parking
structure that could be shared by various businesses.
Mayor Sbranti asked the panel how the 680 southbound freeway off-ramp and
pedestrian circulation on Golden Gate Drive and Amador Valley Boulevard could be
addressed in terms of safety concerns.
Mr. Patrick O'Keefe, TAP member, stated that may be an issue that could be addressed
with Caltrans in terms of signalization to ensure pedestrian safety.
Vm. Hart thanked the ULI panel for the informative study of the Downtown area.
Cm. Biddle stated the Transit Oriented District should be the focus and then the rest of
the Downtown plan would follow. He stated the importance of incorporating bikeways in
the streetscapes plan could be a challenge.
Mayor Sbranti stated his recommended areas of focus are parking and the potential for a
parking structure, and the incorporation of entertainment in the vicinity of the parking
structures to encourage pedestrian traffic.
Ms. Smith asked the ULI panel for their feedback regarding parking structures that were
City owned as opposed to those incorporated in development projects.
Patrick O'Keefe, TAP member, responded that approaching existing businesses with a
partnership concept could be proven to greatly benefit all surrounding businesses.
Ms. Smith summarized the City Council's areas of focus for the Downtown to include the
following: Analyze the potential for Wi-Fi on Dublin Boulevard for both the long term and
short term benefit; Village Parkway articulation; Address parking requirements, including
sharing of parking and review of existing codes specifically in the Village Parkway
District; Amador Plaza and St. Patrick's Way relating to freeway ramp exit and the
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possibility of lowering the speed limit; potential priority Infrastructure improvements on
Village Parkway and Dublin Boulevard; Prioritize the Transit Oriented District;
Incorporate bikeways into Dublin Boulevard streetscapes; Prioritize Golden Gate Drive
and the connection into Dublin Place; Review existing fees to encourage development
activity; Encourage pads along Dublin Blvd.; and Evaluate entertainment uses that could
take advantage of the BART parking garage. Ms. Smith stated that Staff would continue
to update City Council on activities that had occurred on the Downtown area.
City Manager Pattillo stated that all of the progress in the Downtown area was with
continuous engagement of the business community.
Mayor Sbranti thanked the ULI panel and Staff for their work on the study session.
OTHER BUSINESS Brief INFORMATION ONLY reports from Council and/or Staff,
including Committee Reports and Reports by Council related to meetings attended at
City expense (AB 1234)
None.
ADJOURNMENT
10.1
There being no further business to come before the City Council, the meeting was adjourned at
7:30 p.m. in memory of Staff Sgt. Sean Diamond and our fallen troops.
Minutes prepared by Dora A. Ramirez, Deputy City Clerk.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Deputy City Clerk
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Or' DU~~ j~ MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL
``, OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN
8Z
\~ . ~i/ REGULAR MEETING NOVEMBER 1, 2011
A regular meeting of the Dublin City Council was held on Tuesday, November 1, 2011, in the
City Council Chambers of the Dublin Civic Center. The meeting was called to order at 7:04:35
PM by Mayor Sbranti.
ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Councilmembers Biddle, Hart, Hildenbrand, Swalwell, and Mayor Sbranti
ABSENT:
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The pledge of allegiance to the flag was recited by the City Council, Staff and those present.
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Proclamations to Girl Scouts Gold Award Recipients
7:10:25 PM 3.1 (610-50)
The City Council presented proclamations to two Girl Scouts Gold Award recipients: Rachel
Reed and Charlette Tanner.
Recognition of Inside Dublin 2011 Participants
7:15:12 PM 3.2 (150-80)
Assistant City Manager Chris Foss presented the Staff Report and advised that the City Council
would recognize the Inside Dublin 2011 participants.
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The City Council recognized the participants.
_....i
Acceptance of Gifts from 2011 Dublin Community Golf Tournament Sponsors
7:25:05 PM 3.3 (150-70)
Recreation Supervisor Rich Jochner presented the Staff Report advised that the City Council
would receive a report on the donations made for the 2011 Dublin Community Golf Tournament
from Dublin businesses and organizations to support the City's Youth Fee Assistance Program.
On motion of Vm. Hart, seconded by Cm. Biddle and by unanimous vote, the City Council
recognized the sponsors and formally accepted the contributions.
Public Comments
7:07:52 PM 3.4
Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty stated he now represented the City of Dublin
through the recent redistricting and introduced himself to his new constituents.
Steve Lockhart, Dublin resident and President of Dublin Heritage Preservation Association,
thanked City Staff for the work done at the recent City Heritage events.
_...-r
RECESS
Mayor Sbranti called for a brief recess. The meeting reconvened with all City Councilmembers
present at 7:38 p. m.
_....i
CONSENT CALENDAR
7:38 p.m. Items 4.1 through 4.4
On motion of Cm. Hildenbrand, seconded by Cm. Swalwell and by unanimous vote, the City
Council took the following actions:
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Approved (4.1) Minutes of Regular Meeting of October 18, 2011;
Adopted (4.2 210-30)
RESOLUTION NO. 184 - 11
APPROVING THE APPLICATION FOR GRANT FUNDS FOR
THE URBAN GREENING GRANT PROGRAM UNDER THE SAFE DRINKING
WATER, WATER QUALITY AND SUPPLY, FLOOD CONTROL, RIVER AND COASTAL
PROTECTION BOND ACT OF 2006 (PROPOSITION 84)
Accepted (4.3 600-35) the improvements under Contract No. 11-07, 2010-2011 Annual Street
Overlay Program, with MCK Services, Inc., and authorized the release of retention after 35
days if there are no subcontractor claims.
Approved (4.4 300-40) Check Issuance Reports and Electronic Funds Transfers.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
Lincoln Sign Highway Proposal
7:38:53 PM 5.1 (800-30)
Heritage Center Director Elizabeth Isles presented the Staff Report and advised that the City
Council would receive a report on a request from the Dublin Historical Preservation Association
(DHPA) to install four historic "Lincoln Highway" signs at strategic locations on Dublin
Boulevard.
Cm. Hart asked if there was a sample of the sign being discussed.
Ms. Isles displayed a sample of the sign.
Steve Lockhart, President of Dublin Historical Preservation Association (DHPA), stated a
gentleman from the Lincoln Highway Association had spoken to the DHPA about the signs.
On motion of Vm. Hart, seconded by Cm. Hildenbrand and by unanimous vote, the City Council
approved the Lincoln Highway Sign Proposal.
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PUBLIC HEARINGS
Appeal of Planning Commission Denial of the All American
Label Site Development Review fora 4,456 Square Foot Addition to an Existing Building
7:44:13 PM 6.1 (410-30)
Mayor Sbranti opened the public hearing.
Principal Planner Kristi Bascom presented the Staff Report and advised that the City Council
would consider an appeal of the Planning Commission's denial of a Site Development Review
(SDR) Permit fora 4,456 square foot addition to an existing 23,994 square foot building at 6958
Sierra Court. The Proposed Project was determined to be inconsistent with the General Plan in
that the addition would cause the building to exceed the maximum floor area ratio (FAR)
established by the General Plan Business Park/Industrial land use category. This item was
continued from the October 4, 2011 City Council meeting.
City Attorney John Bakker stated this item was about what the General Plan required now. The
next item involved what the City Council might want the General Plan to entail. If the City
Council were to find tonight that the General Plan did establish a maximum FAR of .40, the
result should be that the appeal was denied because the property SDR project exceeded the
FAR. That did not mean in the future, if the General Plan was reviewed, the applicant could not
come back and seek approval of their project. He reiterated his opinion that the current
General Plan did establish a maximum FAR of .40. The reason for that was State law required
General Plan use designations establish a population density /building intensity standards and
that was the purpose for which the amendments were made in 1992, to clean up some General
Plan language that did not contain those General Plan building intensity and population
standards.
Cm. Swalwell asked if it was possible this evening, separate from the Planning Commission's
decision, and separate from the City Council directing Staff to initiate a General Plan
amendment study, to bump the FAR to .50. Was it possible to make an amendment tonight to
the General Plan for that area, and separately have Staff work on a study for that area and then
make the Planning Commission moot and not have to decide if they were right or wrong?
Mr. Bakker stated there were two issues with that. One was that, in order to do a General Plan
amendment, you have to follow a certain process. It had to go to the Planning Commission and
be noticed. Tonight, the City Council could not do a General Plan amendment. The City
Council could direct Staff to do a General Plan amendment. But even then, because the status
quo for many years had been an understanding that the maximum FAR was .40, the City at
least needed to look at an environmental review. There had to be an environmental baseline to
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start from. If the environmental baseline was .40 maximum FAR, then the City needed to do an
environmental review to go beyond .40 FAR and an environmental analysis had not been done.
Cm. Swalwell asked, if it was the will of the City Council to determine that this area should be
.50 FAR, and the City Council wanted to do that tonight, and separately wanted to study what
could be done to make it more industrial or research and development friendly -how could they
do that?
Mr. Bakker stated they could not do that tonight.
Mayor Sbranti stated it could not be done tonight because there had to be a legal process. The
process required it to go through the Planning Commission, and an environmental review
needed to be completed. If it were the direction that City Council provided Staff, then those
were the steps Staff would follow.
Mr. Bakker stated, in addition, it would have to be noticed.
Cm. Swalwell asked Mr. Bakker if the City Council could not interpret this evening that the FAR
was discretionary rather than mandatory. Or was it his opinion that it was mandatory but the
City Council could decide otherwise.
Mr. Bakker stated the Staff recommendation did include the ability for the City Council to
interpret it. If the City Council was going to interpret it, they were going to have to do so in a
way that worked around the fact that the City Attorney had offered an opinion that the FAR
maximum was .40. If the City Council provided direction that indicated how their interpretation
fit within State law, then Staff would bring back findings that supported that interpretation.
Guy Houston, applicant representative, stated he would like to hear Item 7.1 first to hear the
direction of the City Council. It was a key part of this discussion.
Cm. Swalwell made a motion to defer Item 6.1 and move onto Item 7.1. The motion died.
Mr. Houston stated the current General Plan was ambiguous. The current language was
confusing. There were other properties that exceeded the current FAR. There were
ramifications to property owners that had non-conforming properties on what could or could not
be done with these properties.
Ms. Bascom stated the City Council needed to disclose ex parte contacts.
City Attorney stated if the City Council wanted to defer the item until after hearing Item 7.1, they
would need to disclose the ex parte contacts and then re-open the public hearing to give the
public an opportunity to comment on the ex parte contacts.
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Mayor Sbranti stated there was a request to defer this item until after hearing Item 7.1.
Cm. Swalwell stated he did not have a problem with deferring this item.
Mayor Sbranti stated he was fine with deferring this item.
Vm. Hart stated he was not opposed to deferring the item, but there was a reason why he was
suggesting it. The City Council needed to be sure they were fair and objective in the discussion
of both items. He was not necessarily sure he would support the issue because he was
interested in the motive behind it.
Cm. Biddle stated he would rather do Item 6.1, but it did not matter.
At 8:05 p. m., by consensus, the City Council agreed to continue this item and move forward to
Item 7.1.
The item was brought back for discussion at 8:41 p. m.
Mr. Bakker stated what needed to be done was do the ex parte contact statements. If there
were any, then the public hearing needed to be re-opened to give the public the opportunity to
respond to those comments.
Cm. Swalwell disclosed that he received an email from the applicant through Guy Houston,
essentially exactly what had been passed out to the City Council today. The email was
received today.
Cm. Hildenbrand stated she received the same.
Mayor Sbranti stated he received the same. Also, he had conversations with Guy Houston as
well as one form of communication or another with every Planning Commissioner.
Vm. Hart stated he received the same packet of information from the applicant that the other
City Councilmembers received, as well as he toured the site. He had conversations with the
applicant, as well as Guy Houston who was representing the applicant.
Mayor Sbranti stated he has also spoken to the applicant, although not on this issue, several
months ago.
Cm. Swalwell stated the email was afollow-up of a conversation with Guy Houston.
Cm. Biddle stated he had the same contacts as Vm. Hart.
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Mayor Sbranti reopened the public hearing for any member of the public to address the City
Council on the ex parte contacts.
Mr. Houston stated he spoke to each City Councilmember about this issue at one time or
another. He also sent emails. He asked what the action was taken in regard to Item 7.1.
Mayor Sbranti stated the direction to Staff was to bring back information on a broader study that
would look at Sierra Court, Trinity, Dublin Boulevard, and all business park/industrial areas.
Mr. Houston stated, in regard to Item 6.1, he would ask to hold, until such a time that City
Council decided to have that study. They wanted to get the advantage of the latest information
the City Council would decide upon. Any other action would be detrimental to their cause.
Mr. Bakker stated, in regard to that request, the Zoning Ordinance said if the City Council did
not take an action on an appeal within the set time period, it affirmed the Planning Commission
decision. The appeal would be denied if the decision were delayed. If the applicant was
saying they were willing to withdraw their SDR application and they would resubmit it at the
point at which the General Plan amendment was completed, that might do the same thing, on a
practical basis. Otherwise, if the City Council did nothing, the result was the appeal would be
denied.
Mayor Sbranti stated he understood if the City Council did not make a decision, then the
Planning Commission decision was affirmed. The City Council could not continue an item -was
that correct?
Mr. Bakker stated there was no real process set up in the Code for dealing with that. It only
said the City Council was to either affirm or reverse the decision.
Cm. Swalwell asked about the timeline.
Mr. Bakker stated it was 75 days from the date the appeal was submitted.
Cm. Biddle stated the 75 days would be up on November 15.
Mr. Bakker stated, if he understood Mr. Houston correctly, they wanted to wait until the process
was done. They could get to the same place if the SDR application was withdrawn.
Vm. Hart stated he understood what was coming back in a few months was consideration for
submission as an initiative; not anything specifically about the General Plan or the specific
plan.
City Manager Pattillo stated what would come back in front of City Council would be more
description of a specific plan proposal, taking all the elements that were discussed today and
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doing a cost estimate associated with it. A specific plan would be more prescriptive from the
City Council. It could be anywhere from 12-18 months.
Vm. Hart stated they needed to proceed one way or another. They had an obligation to the
Planning Commission and the applicant. His concern was costs that the City would have to
bear. This specific action was in front of them.
Cm. Swalwell stated he disagreed with the City Attorney interpretation of the language. He
believed it was descriptive. He would move, in a moment, that the City Attorney prepare
findings to reverse the Planning Commission's actions. Not because he believed they were
wrong. He believed they appeared to be confused about what exactly that FAR requirement
was. He was not comfortable putting this into perpetuity and waiting for the City to fix this in the
future and leave all these properties as non-conforming. He would like to interpret the FAR to
be .50 for now, until the City made any General Plan amendments or completed any studies, as
so directed to Staff. It would send the wrong message if the City said those businesses were
out of compliance and they were not even in accord with what neighboring cities were doing.
He was more comfortable interpreting it, and make the findings and directing the City Attorney
to find the FAR at .50 for now and then allow the study to take place.
Mayor Sbranti asked about the implications, from a Staff's perspective, of a business that was
legally non-conforming. Second, was there anywhere else in the City that had as many non-
conforming uses as they were speaking of right now?
Ms. Bascom stated she did not know. In terms of legal, non-conforming, they could be legal,
non-conforming for so many reasons including: Not have enough parking spaces; a sign could
be larger than what the City would permit today; and building setbacks could be less than what
was permitted today under the City's standards now. Uses could be legal, non-conforming.
There were many reasons. They were hard to assess.
Mayor Sbranti stated, near West Dublin BART, if those businesses wanted to expand, they
might not be in conformance.
Ms. Bascom stated there was a difference between a legal, non-conforming use and a legal,
non-conforming structure. There could be legal, non-conforming uses that were not allowed
today, but the structure they were in could be perfectly conforming. The structure would be
able to be expanded.
Cm. Hildenbrand stated they vetted this out at the last meeting. There was a part of the City
Council that was tainted by another issue that was at hand with this building and they were two
separate issues. She was willing to consider looking at the FAR as descriptive in nature but
there were other issues at hand with this particular building. She was trying not to let that
influence her decision.
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Vm. Hart stated he had indicated he met with Mr. Houston, the applicant's representative and
the applicant. He had to look at this a couple of different ways. First, it had an impact on why
they were here. They were here, specifically, because the applicant built an illegal building. No
one in that area had filed for a General Plan amendment. The City would have to pay for it if
they initiated a General Plan study. The City Attorney specifically said it was something they
should not do. He was not interested in second guessing him in regard to what they should do.
The City had litigation relative to the building that was illegally built. It was not as easy as
trying to help this business man. The issue was did the Planning Commission follow the
general plan. Yes, they followed the Plan they had. The FAR was always a maximum .40. He
was not inclined to fix that problem when there was not a problem. The Planning Commission
did everything right, pursuant to the General Plan. Why were they, right now, debating and
arguing? He agreed it should be looked at He would like to take it out of context to find a
solution, but there were other mitigating factors and implications to the Building Code
violations, to all the different ordinances the applicant violated by building an illegally building.
He could not get past that. They needed to try to work with the applicant, but there were too
many factors that involved litigation. They had no choice but to affirm the Planning
Commission's decision.
Cm. Biddle stated what was approved in 2008 was an unenclosed structure suitable for
storage. The applicant went ahead and built an illegal structure. The solution was to convert
that building to an unenclosed structure suitable for storage. If the applicant cared to have it
enclosed, then they could pursue the General Plan amendment.
Vm. Hart stated he did not believe the applicant was able to go back to what was proposed in
2008.
Mayor Sbranti asked, if the City Council affirmed the Planning Commission decision, about the
next step.
Mr. Bakker stated, if the appeal were denied, the City Council would be finding that there was a
.40 FAR cap.
Mayor Sbranti asked what was the next step if the City Council were to follow Cm. Swalwell's
proposal.
Mr. Bakker stated, if the appeal were denied, the applicant's SDR application would be denied.
That would not preclude them later from submitting a new SDR application if at some point in
the future the General Plan were amended in a way that allowed them to build their structure.
Obviously, there was pending litigation concerning that structure. It may not be there forever.
At some point in the future they could apply for an SDR after the General Plan were amended.
Under Cm. Swalwell's suggestion, he would have to go back and prepare findings to reverse
the Planning Commission decision. Findings would be brought back to the City Council to
support an appeal to reverse the Planning Commission decision. What happened at the
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Planning Commission was, instead of reviewing the SDR application as an entire package,
Staff took it straight to the Planning Commission on a summary denial basis because they
found it was not consistent with the General Plan. Staff and the Planning Commission did not
do the full review they would ordinarily do. Therefore, the application would be remanded back
to the Planning Commission, and it would go back through the full review that would ordinarily
occur in the course of the SDR application. Staff would perform the environmental review, if
necessary. They would send it to all the departments and get feedback.
Vm. Hart asked about the specific implications of ruling against the Planning Commission.
Mr. Bakker stated it left them a scenario of uncertain FAR requirements in that business
park/industrial area. It was based on the standards set out in the parking standards and also
the landscaping standards. It left the City not understanding what the standards were in that
business park/industrial area. That was the concern or implication. Staff had always
understood the General Plan to have minimum and maximum density standards, both in the
residential and non-residential land use designations. If the City Council were to find that there
was not a minimum and a maximum in each of the land use categories and, in some cases,
there was an uncertain density range, that created an implication that Staff did not know what
the density standard was.
Vm. Hart asked if that would trigger an environmental review.
Mr. Bakker stated if it was an interpretation, it was hard to say that an environmental review
was required. He was going to have to go back and prepare the findings and sort through that
and decide if an environmental review was necessary. If it was, then they were not going to be
able to do it in the timeframe that it needed to be done in order to meet the requirements of the
appeal chapter of the Zoning Ordinance.
Cm. Hildenbrand stated she was passionate about the fact that this was illegally built and would
not be here if this was not illegally built. Could they address the fire issue separately, outside
of this?
Mr. Bakker stated the fire issue would be addressed separately outside of this in order to get
the structure approved/permitted. They were going to need to comply with the fire apparatus
access road requirements at some point.
Cm. Hildenbrand stated there was still an issue at hand here.
Mr. Bakker stated, if the City Council were looking for a constraint that would prevent them from
getting the structure legalized, the fire access road issue might end up being the issue that
prevented the project from being approved.
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Mayor Sbranti stated there were a lot of issues here: Building Codes, Health and Safety
Codes, Fire Codes and fire access, which are all separate from this. If he were just looking at
the language as it was written, Employee Density, was written into the code. He did not see
where any employer would fall within this concept of certain square feet per employee. There
was enough ambiguity he could see in the language, in looking at it differently than the
Planning Commission.
Cm. Swalwell made a motion to direct the City Attorney to prepare findings for the City Council
to reverse the Planning Commission's action and to find the language to be descriptive and set
at .50.
Vm. Hart stated he did not believe that could be done legally. He stated what you were doing
was arbitrarily changing the General Plan, in the sense of a motion that has not even been
noticed.
Mayor Sbranti stated there was a motion and a second.
Mr. Bakker stated the motion should not go quite as far as what Cm. Swalwell was suggesting.
The concern he had with the motion by Cm. Swalwell was establishing a cap at .50 FAR,
because the language in the General Plan asserted ambiguity was spoke about the FAR being
controlled by landscaping and parking.
Cm. Swalwell withdrew the motion, and moved to direct the City Attorney to prepare findings for
the City Council to reverse the Planning Commission's action and find the FAR requirement in
that area to be descriptive until the City Council took further action on an FAR.
Motion seconded by Cm. Hildenbrand.
Vm. Hart stated they were walking on very thin ice. It was unfair to Staff and the City's legal
counsel. It was the wrong thing to do. He would vote no.
Cm. Biddle stated he agreed. The fact was that they had been dealing with this since 2008.
What was built was not approved in 2008. What was built was illegal. It needed to be removed
or modified. He could not vote yes for this motion,.
Mayor Sbranti stated, if it was not illegal, it would not be before the City Council. The City
Attorney would come back to the City Council. He had a hard time relying on this code as it
was written and the FAR issue alone.
City Manager Pattillo stated they were going to have to re-visit Item 7.1. Right now, there was
nothing. If the City Council's decision was to move forward, right now, they were going to have
revisit Item 7.1.
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Cm. Hildenbrand asked if the City Council could put a moratorium on any buildings until the
time the City does the study?
Cm. Swalwell stated they could find it to be descriptive and also direct Staff, in the motion he
made, to come back with what the Mayor suggested on Item 7.1.
City Manager Pattillo stated it would take 12-18 months as it related to a specific plan.
Cm. Hildenbrand stated then it left the area as a question mark until that time.
Mayor Sbranti asked for clarification.
City Manager Pattillo stated right now, the way that it stood, with Item 7.1, the City Council
wanted to go with a more global specific plan. It did not address the issue at hand.
Mayor Sbranti stated if they were to vote on Cm. Swalwell's motion, and brought back Item 7.1,
they could then go with potentially Option 1 at that point because it would be the least costly
option. That way it took out the ambiguity. The City Council would have ruled that there was
ambiguity at the time of this appeal. How would that affect any of the non-conforming
properties? He wanted to get clarity. They could not afford to go 12-18 months with no
certainty. In other words, there was a potential to say there was some ambiguity here. So there
were some non-conforming uses. But they were going to tighten up those uses after the fact.
He did not want to spend $100,000 on just the .50 FAR and then look at this broader study for
this entire area. That just did not make any sense. He would rather look at the broader study.
He was assuming they could vote on the matter before them tonight, then take up Item 7.1, and
then say there had been some confusion. They were going to make sure there was no
confusion. They wanted to tighten up this language at least from this point until the study was
concluded. He did not want to have 18 months where there were questions. He did not want
the City Council's action to create those questions. In Staff's mind, it was clear. It was a 3-1
Planning Commission vote, it was not unanimous. He would like to vote on the issue, and then
go back to Item 7.1 and tighten it up until the study was done.
Mr. Bakker stated if they did that, on November 15t", Staff would bring back the findings which
would send the SDR back. Staff would start processing it. If the City Council went with Option
1, with Item 7.1, which was to actually clean up the language and clarify that it was a .40
maximum FAR, by the time the SDR application got back, the General Plan Amendment would
probably be completed and the project would have to be denied, if it ever went back to the
Planning Commission. He wanted to make sure the City Council understood that.
Cm. Swalwell stated he disagreed. What the City Council was directing the City Attorney do,
whether it was agreed upon by the City Attorney or not, was that they believed it was
descriptive. They wanted findings to express that and once those finding were made, any future
applications that came forward would be taken on a case-by-case basis with a descriptive
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interpretation. Once the City established what the FAR was, that would change again.
Regardless of this applicant who they all had strong feelings about, if other applicants who
were non-conforming right now came forward and wanted to expand, they were saying the City
would analyze it as being descriptive language, as far as FAR. That was what he understood.
Mr. Bakker stated that was what he understood Cm. Swalwell's original motion to be, but when
the suggestion was made that Staff bring back Option 1 from Item 7.1, that was actually
establishing a cap at .40 FAR.
Cm. Hildenbrand stated she was not in agreement with leaving this ambiguous for Staff for 18
months. She was not comfortable with that at all. Could she see that this was ambiguous -
yes. But she did not want to leave it for Staff, anytime in those 18 month, that they came
forward and they wanted to build and they were non-conforming. Did the City Council have the
option to say there was no building it until they had an answer to that question? They had to
give Staff some sort of direction. They could not say that everything was descriptive because
then everything would be subjective. They would not be able to do their jobs. They were stuck.
They did not have a good solution.
Vm. Hart stated they did have a solution. Based on what Staff had been doing for a number of
years in the City, at a minimum, since 1992. They had tried to work with the applicant within
the confines of the current statute and the current ordinance. But they were going to do a
disservice to Staff, to the City's potential litigation, by voting against it.
Cm. Biddle stated the ambiguity was basically affirming the Planning Commission's resolution.
If the applicant was interested in keeping the enclosed structure, he should have followed the
normal process of going through the General Plan amendment. That was the way the City
operated.
Cm. Swalwell stated keeping it as descriptive meant that Staff was operating without any
guidelines. There were still guidelines. It would only say that they had more flexibility than
capping it at .40 FAR. Staff were the experts that had built excellent projects in the City.
Vm. Hart stated, yes, Staff were the experts. But now Cm. Swalwell was disagreeing with his
own comment.
Cm. Hildenbrand stated this allowed the applicant to hire someone to say that they disagreed
with the subjectivity and therefore, the City would have another problem. That was why she
wanted to find a solution that gave Staff assurance that they could do their job.
Cm. Swalwell stated why did they not direct the City Attorney to prepare findings to reverse the
Planning Commission's action because they believed it to be descriptive and then set a
moratorium on any future buildings. Anything that happened to this point was descriptive.
Anything, until they changed it, was on a moratorium. So this project, at least for the FAR,
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because he believed when it was built, was built with a descriptive mind set. They say fine.
This was descriptive.
Vm. Hart asked who's mindset.
Cm. Swalwell stated he was not taking this personally with the applicant.
Vm. Hart stated it had to be looked at.
Cm. Swalwell stated that for this project, they interpret it as descriptive and anything in the
future, there was a moratorium.
Mayor Sbranti asked if there was a moratorium, would that limit any property owner from doing
anything for a period of 18 months.
Mr. Bakker stated that moratorium that was included with the item simply said no development
over .40 FAR. But anything else that Staff previously understood was allowed would continue
to be allowed.
Cm. Swalwell moved that this project was descriptive, moratorium at .40 FAR for any future
projects.
Mr. Bakker stated these were separated into two separate items, so they would have to go back
to Item 7.1.
Mayor Sbranti stated he did not want to single out this one property.
Cm. Swalwell stated no other properties had pending projects. They were saying anything built
up until today was descriptive. It happened to be the case that it was only one property.
Mayor Sbranti stated they would take Item 7.1 in a minute.
City Manager Pattillo stated she would recommend they go back to Item 7.1 and decide how
they wanted to do the hybrid about the moratorium.
Cm. Swalwell stated he would make the motion with the understanding, and the promise that,
he would also move, on Item 7.1, a moratorium for future development. He felt it was cleaner to
get this out of the way now.
Cm. Swalwell made a motion to direct the City Attorney to prepare findings to reverse the
Planning Commission's action, interpret this action only, as descriptive. He withdrew this
motion.
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Cm. Swalwell made a motion to find this action only as a descriptive interpretation.
Mayor Sbranti stated he had a problem calling out this one issue. He did not like tying the
motion in to the Planning Commission.
On motion of Cm. Swalwell, seconded by Cm. Hildenbrand and by majority vote (Vm. Hart and
Cm. Biddle voting no), directed the City Attorney to prepare findings for the City Council to
reverse the Planning Commission's action.
The City Council returned to Item 7.1.
_....i
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Business Park/Industrial General Plan Amendment Study
8:06:11 PM 7.1 (420-30)
Principal Planner Kristi Bascom presented the Staff Report and advised that the City Council
would consider the initiation of a General Plan Amendment Study and accompanying Urgency
Ordinance (Development Moratorium) for either a portion of, or all properties in Dublin with a
Business Park/Industrial General Plan land use designation.
Vm. Hart asked if Staff considered the language confusing.
Ms. Bascom stated Staff had never interpreted the language as being confusing. It had always
been minimum and maximum FAR ratios, maximum of .40. There had never been a challenge
on it. There had never been any confusion there.
Mayor Sbranti asked about the employee density which involved square feet per employee. He
asked how it was factored into the discussion, in terms of any kind of analysis.
Ms. Bascom stated the City used the FAR in terms of assessing the building intensity and
density of the site. State law and the 1992 General Plan amendments required that land use
intensity be contained in the General Plan. That could be described as a floor area ratio in
terms of overall development intensity. It could be described as how many residential units per
acre. How many persons per household? How many employees in any given building size?
When they were looking at overall development intensity, there was no verification of how many
employees were in a building of a certain size. The size of the building gave a sense of what
type of business could there, how many employees could be there and the overall development
intensity of any given site.
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Mayor Sbranti stated Staff typically looked at the first part of the specifics, the FAR, but did not
typically look at the employee density.
Ms. Bascom stated Staff used the FAR as being able to understand the overall development
intensity that was allowed at a site. In the business park/industrial land use category, there
were a wide range of different types of uses: manufacturing, warehousing, light industrial,
research and development. All of those had very different employee generation. That was not
something the City regulated from a Planning perspective. When Staff was looking at a
development application, the floor area ratio was a very real, measurable tool that Staff could
use to understand if a site was being developed too intensively or not.
Ms. Bascom continued with the Staff Report.
Mayor Sbranti asked if, in regard to alternatives, the cost associated with each included the
environmental review.
Ms. Bascom stated yes.
Mayor Sbranti asked if the City would have to establish a moratorium to move forward with any
of the options in the Staff Report.
Mr. Bakker stated there did not have to be a moratorium established.
Vm. Hart asked about the net gain in reference to what the benefit would be to the property
owners.
Ms. Bascom stated the benefit to the property owners would be part of the analysis and the
study. Right now, there were properties in the business park/industrial land use category that
had FARs on the ground today of .17 and some were .57, so it would be assessing what would
be allowed today under today's maximum FAR, .40. They would be studying what the square
footage difference would be between .40 and .50. That would let the City know how much
additional development potential each property would have. That would be the benefit in terms
of possible additional square footage, as well as Staff taking a look at additional uses that might
be permitted in the area. There were properties there that could benefit from not only from
having more development potential, but also a wider range of allowable uses on their property.
Vm. Hart asked if anyone had applied for the amendment other than this applicant.
Ms. Bascom stated no. There had been no development applications for properties in this land
use designation that she could remember. There had been a number of Conditional Use
Permits (CUP), but nothing to expand properties or to increase the development potential of the
properties.
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Ms. Bascom continued with the Staff Report.
Vm. Hart asked, who would pay for the study.
Ms. Bascom stated there was no application in for the General Plan amendment study, so the
cost would be borne by the City unless the City Council directed otherwise.
Ms. Bascom continued with the Staff Report.
Cm. Swalwell asked, if the City Council could find that although the City Attorney did not
believe that there was discretion, could the City Council determine the requirement was
descriptive and make the urgency ordinance at .50 maximum FAR until the General Plan
amendment study was completed.
Mr. Bakker stated this would still require an environmental review. As it stood, Staff had always
interpreted it as a .40 FAR cap. If the City were to adopt a moratorium up to .50 FAR, at least
arguably, you were increasing the General Plan standard. The policy could face challenges in
not complying with the General Plan statute.
Cm. Swalwell stated it would be the City Council's respective disagreement with Staff's
interpretation.
Cm. Biddle stated it had been pointed out earlier that in the western part of town there were
basically three areas that were in this zoning. Those three were all built-out, basically.
Ms. Bascom stated she could not think of any vacant properties in those. They all had some
type of structure on them.
Cm. Biddle stated, on the east side of the City, there was still the industrial park area. There
was no planning in that area at all.
Ms. Bascom stated right now there was a land use designation that allowed industrial lands to
be up to .35 FAR. To go up to .50 FAR, they would need approval of the City Council and it
would be restricted to warehouse use. No one had taken advantage of that option yet. That
would also entail plan development zoning that allowed one use, warehouse.
Mayor Sbranti stated he would like to take a look at this area, Dublin Boulevard from Village
Parkway to Dougherty Road, as part of a specific plan. He did not know what the full cost
implications would be. Maybe there had not been requests on FAR, but there had been
conditional use permit requests. He wanted to take a look at the older areas and what was the
plan. He knew it was not one of these five options and not something that could be decided
tonight.
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Cm. Biddle stated what Mayor Sbranti was talking about was not a General Plan amendment,
but a study.
Mayor Sbranti stated it was more of a specific plan. This General Plan amendment issue
needed to be addressed. This started with an appeal and a focus on one business, but maybe
the City just needed to study this area. He asked if this was something that would have to be
decided as part of Strategic Initiatives. He asked if it was something that had to be done
tonight.
City Manager Pattillo stated what she heard was this would be looked at on a macro level, the
Dublin Boulevard spine in particular. Staff would bring something back for City Council
consideration. Staff would put cost associated with the initiative discussion, as well as the
parameters. It would happen in late winter or early spring.
Cm. Swalwell stated he believed this was an investment in the City's future. The potential for
diversity of jobs in that area was great. Having that as a tool to recruit employers in the area
would benefit the City. He was interested in it.
Cm. Biddle stated the areas in the west part of Dublin were built-out. The areas in the east did
not have any interest shown. The City did not have an applicant at this time to do anything. To
proceed with Options 2, 3 and 4 was to solve a problem that did not exist. With the normal
process, if an applicant came forward to make a request, then they would go through the study
process. The City should stick with Option 1 and clean up the language. Proceeding with any
of the other three options to spend $100,000 did not make sense to him at this time.
Cm. Swalwell asked Mayor Sbranti if he was proposing to scrap this.
Mayor Sbranti stated, yes that was one option. He wanted to do a broader study. One option
was to take a broader look at all these issues beyond FAR, in terms of a specific plan study and
a General Plan amendment study.
Cm. Biddle stated they could not vote on that tonight.
City Manager Pattillo stated what was in front of the City Council was Item 6.1, a decision to
either uphold the Planning Commission decision or deny it. The recommendation by the
applicant was to hear this item as if it were to be a trigger point to the discussion on Item 6.1.
That was why this was taken out of order. This new proposal was to take a look at a specific
plan that would be brought back for City Council consideration in late winter or early spring,
with costing implications.
Mayor Sbranti stated these two items were related but were really two different things. They
could make a decision on which option they wanted for this item, but still get information back
on the broader piece.
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City Manager Pattillo stated they were here to discuss Item 6.1, the appeal. The subsequent
action was to find out what it would take to bring them into conformance.
Cm. Swalwell asked why would the City start this process and then start the Mayor's requested
process which would have overlap of this process. Why not just do it all at once?
City Manager Pattillo stated absolutely. What that meant was all the options were moot, and
not accept any of those.
Cm Biddle stated they could go ahead with Option 1 because it had no implications to the
Mayor's proposal.
Cm. Hildenbrand stated if they were going to study something and possibly allow for some
changes in the area, and they went ahead and did this, they would be contradicting themselves
even before they studied it. She liked the idea at a broader level. She agreed with the Mayor
at looking at it as a whole.
Vm. Hart stated no one would argue that they could look at it and study the area. But was there
a problem here? Were they addressing a problem that was not there? The area needed to be
evaluated and surveyed but he was not sure it was feasible, at the City's cost. They could look
at it in the big picture of the City's Initiatives and how to proceed and reference it. He would be
leery of spending $109,000 for something that had not been a problem for a number of years in
the City. They needed to address the one applicant issue, if it was feasible, and then ask Staff
to consider it in the Initiative process. He was not interested in spending $109,000 for a study
that might not have any impact on the City in five to ten years.
Mayor Sbranti stated he would argue that there was an issue because there had been so many
Conditional Use Permits requests over the years. There were grants Staff could look into in
terms of costs.
City Manager Pattillo stated, if direction was to do that at the Initiatives Session, Staff would
come back and clarify with the City Council the expectations.
Cm. Biddle stated he saw no reason to go ahead with Options 2, 3, 4 or 5, if they were going to
go ahead with a broader picture.
Mayor Sbranti stated he believed they were not going with any of the options.
Vm. Hart stated he was not opposed to going with Option 1 if the issue was that they needed to
clean up some of the language in the General Plan.
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City Manager Pattillo stated it was a recognition that it was confusing for the applicant. It was
not Staff's confusion. This was a new feature, and enhancement being brought up by the
Mayor, a Specific Plan that was bigger than Sierra Court; looking at all the business
park/industrial properties. The clarification was not something needed by Staff, but in order to
get the feedback that brought up this issue, it was one of the options for consideration. But the
City Council was not obligated to go with any of these.
By consensus, the City Council decided to do nothing.
By consensus, the City Council returned to Item 6.1
At 9:25, the City Council took up this item again.
Mayor Sbranti asked Cm. Hildenbrand what the moratorium would look like.
Cm. Hildenbrand stated it gave Staff the opportunity, during the time they were studying the
broader perspective of a General Plan in that area, to use that number if there was any type of
development coming in. It gave them something to work with, rather than something that was
ambiguous in nature. Staff could not do their job that way. It was not how City planners
planned projects.
Mayor Sbranti asked how that would work from a Staff perspective. What would that look like?
City Manager Pattillo stated they would use the .40 maximum FAR as the ceiling.
Mayor Sbranti stated that would be the Staff interpretation.
Vm. Hart stated this was not the way to do City business. They had heard it from the City
Attorney. He was not inclined to vote for any of the options right now because they had not
done the right thing with Item 6.1. He was very concerned with moving forward on something
now that would just continue to muddy the water.
Cm Hildenbrand made the motion to adopt an urgency ordinance making findings and
establishing a moratorium on the development of any property with a business park/industrial
general plan land use designation in excess of a .40 FAR pending the completion of a specific
plan.
Cm. Swalwell asked, if they moved this moratorium now, had they now directed the City
Attorney, under Item 6.1, to reject the Planning Commission's findings. Once the City Council's
sets this moratorium, did it reinitiate the applicant's process through the Planning Commission
and now they were going to be interpreting it at the .40 FAR?
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Mr. Bakker stated what would happen was the application would be remanded back down to the
Planning Commission. Presumably, throughout the entire time period that the application was
pending, the moratorium would be in effect. It would create a cap at .40 FAR so the Planning
Commission would not be able to approve the project. However, once the General Plan
amendment was done, the project could be approved. It would create a scenario where the
application was being processed but it was not going to be able to be approved.
Cm. Swalwell asked if any action would be taken by the Planning Commission before the study
was done.
Mr. Bakker stated they would not be able to approve it, but the City would continue to process it
but they were not going to take it to approval because the applicant would not be in a position
to demand that they do it and they would not be in a position to present it because it was not
ready.
Vm. Hart stated it was not fair to the applicant. He would want to see the City work with the
applicant as much as possible but now they would not be able to because the FAR was still the
same as before. The applicant could not proceed. Now they were talking 12-18 months.
Cm. Hildenbrand stated the applicant had already proceeded.
Vm. Hart stated the City had pending litigation. The applicant still did not know what was going
on. He was not in favor of supporting this. He wanted to figure out a resolution to this problem,
the right way, with that applicant, with the City Staff, with the fire code and fix the problem
rather than not solve anything.
Cm. Hildenbrand stated there was a motion on the floor, and she called for a vote.
Mayor Sbranti restated that he seconded the motion.
Vm. Hart asked to reconfirm the motion on the floor.
Cm. Hildenbrand stated the motion on the floor was to adopt an urgency ordinance making
findings and adopting a moratorium on projects that would result in a floor area ratio greater
than .40 FAR and any property with a general plan land use designation for business
park/industrial.
Vm. Hart asked if she was authorizing the expenditure of $109,440.
Mayor Sbranti stated that was not accurate because that would come back later.
City Manager Pattillo stated it would come back.
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Mayor Sbranti stated it kept a holding pattern at least for now until they could get the study
done which was really his broader goals were overall.
Cm. Biddle asked about the time frame for the study.
City Manager Pattillo stated it had not been established. She was giving them a range. They
could not compare it to the Downtown Specific Plan because there had been other
complications, but it could take anywhere from 12-18 months.
Vm. Hart asked what would happen if someone came in with a .49 FAR application.
Cm. Hildenbrand stated the City could not do anything during that time.
Mr. Bakker stated they would accept the application, presumably, and process it but, again it
could not be approved because there was a moratorium.
Mayor Sbranti stated that would be the same case as it currently was Staff's interpretation. In
reality, there was not much of a difference. It would have been denied before, and it would be
denied now. The only difference was it was not completely denied. It was just in a holding
pattern waiting for the General Plan study.
Cm. Biddle asked if the building would sit empty for all that time frame.
Mr. Bakker stated pursuant to the court order, he did not know if it was empty, but the court
order indicated it was supposed to be vacated.
Cm. Swalwell stated he was voting against this because he believed the language should be
descriptive. He did not like what this did to businesses or the applicant. He would vote no.
On motion of Cm. Hildenbrand, seconded by Mayor Sbranti and by a majority vote (Vm. Hart
and Cm. Swalwell voting no), the City Council adopted
URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 13 - 11
MAKING FINDINGS AND ADOPTING A MORATORIUM ON PROJECTS THAT WOULD
RESULT IN A FLOOR AREA RATION GREATER THAN .04 FAR AND ANY PROPERTY
WITH A GENERAL PLAN LAND USE DESIGNATION FOR BUSINESS PARK/INDUSTRIAL
_....i
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Amendment to the
City of Dublin/County of Alameda Agreement regarding the Enforcement of
Conditions of Approval for the East Countv Hall of Justice (Alameda Countv Courthouse)
9:34:24 PM 7.2 (600-40)
Cm. Hildenbrand left the dais and the meeting at 9:35 pm
Principal Planner Kristi Bascom presented the Staff Report and advised that the East County
Hall of Justice (ECHOJ) Site Development Review approval was granted by the City Council on
December 15, 2009. The Conditions of Approval and associated City/County Agreement state
that the approval is valid for twenty-four (24) months. The County was moving forward with the
construction of the project, but would not be underway before the SDR approval expires on
December 15, 2011. The County was requesting an eighteen (18) month extension, which
necessitates an amendment to the City/County Agreement.
Cm. Swalwell stated he was an Alameda County employee, for the record.
Vm. Hart stated he was also an Alameda County employee. But he asked, as a resident, about
the delay.
David Savellano, Alameda County representative, stated during the geotechnical survey, they
discovered pipes under the site that contained hazardous materials and now needed to remove
them. They were in bridging design and were 75% complete. The project would go out for
approval in January of 2012.
Ms. Donna Linton, Deputy Alameda County Administrator, stated other activities were taking
place. The Board of Supervisors supported the project. The new scheduled completion date
would be May 2014.
On motion of Vm. Hart, seconded by Cm. Swalwell and by unanimous vote (Cm. Hildenbrand
absent), the City Council adopted
RESOLUTION NO. 185 - 11
APPROVING AN AMENDMENT TO THE CITY/COUNTY AGREEMENT REGARDING THE
ENFORCEMENT OF CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL FOR THE EAST COUNTY HALL OF
JUSTICE (ALAMEDA COUNTY COURTHOUSE), PA 02-030
_,,,,,.~
City Manager Pattillo asked if the City Council would like to move two items from tonight's
agenda to the November 15, 2011 City Council meeting.
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By consensus, the City Council moved Items 8.1 and 8.2 to the November 15, 2011 City
Council meeting.
RECESS
9:47:59 PM
Mayor Sbranti called for a brief recess. The meeting reconvened with all City Councilmembers
(Cm. Hildenbrand having left the meeting earlier) present at 9:56:14 PM.
Draft Food and Wine Festival Event Plan
9:56:35 PM 7.3 (950-40)
Recreation Coordinator Stephanie Mein presented the Staff Report and advised that the City
Council would receive a report on a Draft Food and Wine Festival Event Plan for September of
2012 at Emerald Glen Park, which would replace the discontinued Day on the Glen Festival.
The City Council suggested extending the ending time of the event.
On motion of Cm. Biddle, seconded by Vm. Hart and by unanimous vote (Cm. Hildenbrand
absent), the City Council approved the Food and Wine Festival.
_....i
Update on the First Year of the City's Website
10:17:05 PM 7.4 (150-30)
Economic Development Director/Public Information Officer Linda Smith presented the Staff
Report and advised that, in September 2010, the City launched its new website -
www.dublin.ca.gov. Staff would make a presentation on the success of the new website to the
City Council.
The City Council received the presentation.
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DRAFT
NEW BUSINESS
Semi-Public Facilities
8.1 (420-30)
By consensus, this item was moved to the November 15, 2011 City Council meeting.
Update on Small Business Activities and
Partnership Opportunities with the Dublin Chamber of Commerce
8.2 (470-50)
By consensus, this item was moved to the November 15, 2011 City Council meeting.
_.....r
Report on Proposed StopWaste.Org
Mandatory Recycling and Single-use Ban Ordinances
10:36:16 PM 8.3 (810-60)
Assistant to the City Manager Roger Bradley presented the Staff Report and advised that the
City Council would receive a report on two proposed Countywide ordinances being prepared by
the Alameda County Waste Management Authority (StopWaste.org). The first ordinance would
place a mandate on businesses and multi-family dwellings to recycle all recyclable and
compostable materials, and prohibit them from placing such materials in a garbage container.
The second ordinance would ban single-use bags from being used within the County and
require that businesses begin charging their customers a fee for giving out reusable bags.
City Council received the report and discussed the potential impacts of said ordinances on the
City of Dublin.
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DRAFT
Appointments to Citizens/Organization of the Year Ad-Hoc Committee
10:52:02 PM 8.4 (610-50)
Mayor Sbranti advised that each year, the City of Dublin recognized a citizen, young citizen and
organization of the year at its Volunteer Recognition Event. As part of this process, an Ad Hoc
Committee comprised of two Dublin City Councilmembers was needed to perform duties
including arranging for impartial judging and selection of winners. The City Council would
consider appointment of two City Councilmembers to the Ad Hoc Committee.
On motion of Mayor Sbranti, seconded by Vm. Hart and by unanimous vote (Cm.Hildenbrand
absent), the City Council confirmed the appointment of Councilmember Biddle and
Councilmember Swalwell to the Citizens/Organization of the Year Ad Hoc Committee.
_....i
OTHER BUSINESS Brief INFORMATION ONLY reports from Council and/or Staff,
including Committee Reports and Reports by Council related to meetings attended at
City expense (AB 1234)
~n~~~~~n Pna
Cm. Biddle stated he attended the Chamber of Commerce Mixer, the Harvest Festival, a City
Council Special meeting on October 24, the Chamber of Commerce bus tour, and a Waste
Management meeting.
Vm. Hart stated he had nothing to report.
Cm. Swalwell stated he attended the Harvest Festival.
Mayor Sbranti stated he attended the Chamber of Commerce Mixer, the Harvest Festival, a City
Council Special meeting on October 24, the Chamber of Commerce bus tour, and the IGATE
Mayor's Advisory Committee meeting. He asked Staff to agendize a discussion, between now
and December 16, on the Alameda County Transportation Commission's (ACTC) ten year
strategic expenditure plan. It would be voted on by ACTC on December 16, 2011.
City Manager Pattillo stated it would be on the November 15, 2011 City Council agenda.
ADJOURNMENT
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10.1
There being no further business to come before the City Council, the meeting was adjourned at
10:59:12 PM in memory of Staff Sgt. Sean Diamond and our fallen troops.
Minutes prepared by Caroline P. Soto, City Clerk.
Mayor
ATTEST:
City Clerk
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