ITEM 1

CITY OF BRENTWOOD
CITY COUNCIL AND REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING MINUTES
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2007
COUNCIL CHAMBER, 7:00 P.M.

CALL TO ORDER CITY COUNCIL/CALL TO ORDER PLANNING COMMISSION - 730 Third Street, Community Center (5:01 PM)

Roll Call
Present: Becnel; Brockman; Stonebarger; Taylor
Absent: Richey

1. Joint Workshop with City Council and Planning Commission regarding proposed land uses for Brentwood Boulevard Specific Plan. (H. Sword)

CC-PC-Workshop memo 2-27-07 Excluding Sciortino - PDF ALL - Rhodes
At 5:04 PM, Council Member Richey joined the City Council in the Community Center.

ADJOURN PLANNING COMMISSION/RECESS CITY COUNCIL (6:54 PM)

RECONVENE CITY COUNCIL/CONVENE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY - 734 Third Street, City Council Chamber (07:02 PM)

Roll Call
Present: Becnel; Brockman; Richey; Stonebarger; Taylor

PUBLIC COMMENTS (07:03 PM)

Lil Navarette and Rick Lemyre spoke regarding the Brentwood Regional Community Chest and thanked Council for their support of the community. The Community Chest provided food and toys for over 500 families and they recognized those who volunteered and thanked those who donated goods for the baskets.

Angel Stamoulnis-Nunez asked for the Neighborhood Improvement Committee agenda to be changed to allow the public to address the committee after all the items on the agenda had been discussed.

Steve Lopez expressed concerns about blight and said Antioch was getting tough regarding blight. Section 8 people were seen as part of the reason and that was not true. He felt the City needed to participate more and make the property owner accountable.

Council Member Brockman asked about Item 18.

City Attorney, Damien Brower, stated that staff would make a request to have the matter continued to the meeting of March 13, 2007. If Council supported staff’s request, any members of the public present to speak on Item 18, would be asked to come back to speak on March 13, 2007.

Director of Community Development, Howard Sword, requested that public hearing Item 18 be continued to March 13, 2007.

Motion: continue public hearing Item 18 to March 13, 2007.
Moved by Brockman, seconded by Becnel.

Council Member Becnel withdrew his second on the motion to continue the public hearing to March 13, 2007.

City Attorney, Damien Brower, said one of the options for Council was to open the public hearing, allow the public to speak, and continue the public hearing to March 13, 2007, to allow any one else the opportunity to speak on the matter. There were several residents who were told the item was being continued.

Mayor Taylor said he would like to have the public heard.

City Attorney, Damien Brower, said Council may continue with their Consent Calendar and Item 18 would come up as a matter of course and would allow the public hearing to be opened and allow the public to speak on the matter and continue the entire matter without closing the public hearing to March 13, 2007.

Council Member Brockman withdrew his motion to continue Item 18.

CONSENT CALENDAR (07:15 PM)

1. Approved minutes of the City Council/Redevelopment Agency meeting of February 13, 2007. (M. Wimberly)

2. Accepted the resignation of Jeff Altman and accept the vacancy created by Jeff Altman from the Brentwood Advisory Neighborhood Committee. (B. Richey/B. Gary).

3. Approved City of Brentwood Wellness Policy Guidelines. (C. Bronzan/P. Scherff/S. Barry)

4. PULLED FOR DISCUSSION - Approve 1) the re-appointments of Helen Myers, Barbara Guise, and Joe Trebino and the appointments of Wanda Groseclose and Bart Schneider to the Arts Commission for three-year terms expiring December 31, 2009; and 2) the recommendations related to future Commissioner interviews, appointment of City Council Art Commission liaison and alternate, future filling of Commission vacancies. (C. Bronzan/R. Burr-Siegel)

5. Authorized the City Manager to sign the Program Enrollment Form to allow the Parks and Recreation Department to enroll in the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) Energy Watch Program. (C. Bronzan/ K. Wahl)

6. Accepted the resignation of the Contra Costa County Advisory Council on Aging representative Anne Kelly and have staff advertise the vacancy. (Mayor R. Taylor)

7. Accepted the resignation of Park and Recreation Commissioner, Tom Jones, and direct the City Clerk to proceed to fill the vacancy. (C. Bronzan/K. De Silva)

8. Adopted Resolution 2007-27 approving the purchase of a replacement solid waste automated collection truck from Golden Gate Truck Center and authorizing the City Manager or her designee to execute a purchase order and necessary documents in an amount not to exceed $253,144. (B. Grewal/C. Ehlers/J. Carlson)

9. Adopted Resolution 2007-28 approving and authorizing submittal of a grant application to United States Tennis Association (USTA) in the amount of $2,000 and matching funds of $2,000 from the USTA Northern California District Office and authorizing the City Manager or her designee to execute and submit all documents which may be necessary for the grant. (C. Bronzan/P. Scherff)

10. Adopted Resolution 2007-29 accepting the work performed by R.A. Jones Construction for Bid Package #1 - Carpentry at 118 Oak Street for the 118 Oak Street Remodel, CIP Project No. 337-37130, and direct the City Clerk to file the Notice of Completion with the County Recorder. (H. Sword/R. Kidwell)

11. Adopted Resolution 2007-30 accepting the work performed by Steiny and Company, Inc., for the Sand Creek Road / Shady Willow Lane Traffic Signal, CIP Project No. 336-31650, and direct the City Clerk to file a Notice of Completion with the County Recorder. (B. Grewal/S. Kersevan)

12. Adopted Resolution 2007-31 accepting all public improvements for maintenance; accepting the Subdivision Maintenance Bond; and releasing the Subdivision Improvement Securities for Subdivision No. 8574, Sycamore Square, located south of Sycamore Avenue and north of Spruce Street, developed by Richmond American Homes. (B. Grewal/D. Galey)

13. Adopted Resolution 2007-32 accepting all public improvements for maintenance; accepting the Subdivision Maintenance Bond; and releasing the Subdivision Improvement Securities for Subdivision No. 8735, Arbor Village, located south of Sycamore Avenue and east of Brentwood Boulevard, developed by KB Home. (B. Grewal/D. Galey)

14. Adopted Resolution 2007-33 of Intention designating Francisco & Associates, Inc. as the Engineer of Work; directing the filing of an Engineer’s Report for the Consolidated Landscape & Lighting Assessment Districts and the Citywide Park Maintenance District No. 98-1; and approving and authorizing the City Manager to execute a Professional Services Agreement with Francisco & Associates, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $185,000, plus a 10% contingency of $18,500, for a total amount of $203,500, for Assessment Engineering Services. (B. Grewal/D. Galey)

15. Considered Resolutions to initiate proceedings for the formation of Randy Way Sewer Line Assessment District; and setting a date of April 24, 2007, for the Assessment District Formation Public Hearing. 1. Adopted Resolution 2007-34 declaring official intent to reimburse certain expenditures from proceeds of indebtedness. 2. Adopted Resolution 2007-35 declaring the intention to order improvements in Randy Way Sewer Line Assessment District, approving the proposed Boundary Map and appointing an Engineer of Work, Bond Counsel and Underwriter. 3. Adopted Resolution 2007-36 preliminarily approving the Engineer’s Report, setting the date of April 24, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. for Public Hearing of protest and providing for property owner assessment ballots for Randy Way Sewer Line Assessment District. (B. Grewal/D. Galey)

16. Adopted Resolution 2007-37 approving and authorizing submittal of a grant application to 100 Best Communities for $25,000 and authorizing the City Manager or her designee to execute and submit all necessary documents related to the grant. (C. Bronzan/P. Scherff)

17. Adopted Resolution 2007-38 approving and authorizing submittal of an application to the State of California, Department of Housing and Community Development Workforce Housing Reward Program and authorizing the City Manager to execute and submit all documents which may be necessary. (P. Ehler/H. Sword/K. Wahl)

CONSENT CALENDAR ACTIONS (07:15 PM)

Motion: Approve Consent Calendar Items 1 - 3, and 5 - 17 as recommended.
Moved by Brockman, seconded by Richey.
Vote: Motion carried 5-0.
Yes: Becnel; Brockman; Richey; Stonebarger; Taylor

4. Approve 1) the re-appointments of Helen Myers, Barbara Guise, and Joe Trebino and the appointments of Wanda Groseclose and Bart Schneider to the Arts Commission for three-year terms expiring December 31, 2009; and 2) the recommendations related to future Commissioner interviews, appointment of City Council Art Commission liaison and alternate, future filling of Commission vacancies. (C. Bronzan/R. Burr-Siegel)

Motion: Approve the re-appointments of Helen Myers, Barbara Guise, and Joe Trebino and the appointments of Wanda Groseclose and Bart Schneider to the Arts Commission for three-year terms expiring December 31, 2009; and 2) the recommendations related to future Commissioner interviews, appointment of City Council Art Commission liaison and alternate, future filling of Commission vacancies.
Moved by Stonebarger, seconded by Brockman.
Vote: Motion carried 5-0.
Yes: Brockman; Taylor; Becnel; Richey; Stonebarger

PUBLIC HEARINGS (07:17 PM)

18.Adopt a Resolution approving a Residential Growth Management Program (RGMP) application for the Ferro/Ronconi property, submitted by KB Homes, granting an allocation for 203 market rate residential units on approximately 42.23 acres, located at the northeast corner of Balfour Road and Griffith Lane (APN 012-130-006 and 012-130-007). (H. Sword/J. Zilm)

Planning Manager, Heidi Kline, presented a staff report and said the request of KB Homes was for a residential growth management allocation for the February cycle of the 2007 RGMP Program. The proposed project would have 211 units, with 203 units being market rate. The proposed project would need to come back before the Planning Commission and Council for a rezoning, tentative map approval and design review approval.

Council Member Richey asked about lot size and said he felt it was a departure from some of the lot sizes approved in the recent past.

Planning Manager, Heidi Kline, said the proposed lots would range from 4,700 to 8,800 square feet and the density was five dwelling units per acre, which was the maximum allowable per the General Plan density for the area. The General Plan allowed a developer to exceed the mid range and go up to the maximum as long as a sufficient amenity was provided. These were the maximum number of units that could be placed on the site. If the number of allocations were granted to KB Homes, if through the Planning process, the Council and or Planning Commission felt lot size, zoning, development standards or density were not appropriate, the developer could potentially receive less units.

Council Member Richey asked what measures had been taken to study the impact of the development on schools and traffic adjacent to the school. He asked about the low score through the RGMP process and what type of industry standard spoke to the amount of parkland that could go in per acre of development.

Planning Manager, Heidi Kline, said when the project came to Council for an environmental review a traffic study would be included. As far as the adequacy of schools, the City met with both school districts to review new developments. Infill projects were a challenge and it was difficult to receive points in some of the RGMP process categories. Points could be obtained by buying infrastructure through the Capital Improvement Program improvements. Three to five acres per 1,000 population was the range of density.

Director of Parks and Recreation, Craig Bronzan, said in past developments in the City, the standard was five acres per 1,000 population. He said the development of 203 to 211 units had approximately be 3 1/3 to 3 1/2 acre requirement. When there was an infill project, the option was to have the subdivision provide it within the development or it could be paid in the equivalency of full park fees, which allowed the City to develop parks. Adjacent to the location of the development, there was 17 Veteran’s Park and it was two blocks from McClarran Park. The developer offered to provide 1/2 acre of green space and there would not be a ball field, and the developer would pay full park fees to allow the City to develop the necessary acres and their willingness to place money in both McClarran and City Park, which he felt met the satisfaction for the requirement.

Council Member Richey asked about allowing half of the yearly RGMP allotment to go into one development.

Planning Manger, Heidi Kline, said the RGMP program allowed the allocation of half the units in the first cycle and half in the last.

Council Member Stonebarger spoke with regard to the mid range of density and asked about the number of points awarded in the RGMP.

Planning Manger, Heidi Kline, said it moved up every year and last year, it was 135. In prior years there was a more competitive development in the community and there were a number of projects that had come in above the threshold. There was not competition this time and the developer met the requirement.

Mayor Taylor opened the public hearing.

Yvonne Capps said she was concerned about the housing complexes, traffic and noise. She felt the noise level already exceeded residential levels. Adding the homes would bring extra cars and the soundwall was inadequate. She pointed out other soundwalls in the City and said practical changes had been made. The southwest part of the development sat three feet higher that the rest of the homes and she felt the same size wall would create an un-equal sound distribution and would increase noise. She believed it may take up to an 8-foot wall on the south side of Balfour Road to keep the sound balanced.

Lynette Torrez said she could not talk in the back yard or open a window with the existing traffic noise. If the project was approved, a soundwall should be put up and the speed limit should be dropped and a stop light created for Balfour Road and Hickory to reduce the speed.

Vivian Covington said she could not open the windows and there was gridlock to take her grandsons to school. It was noisy in 1995, but not like it is now and Balfour Road was nothing but noise and she felt there should be a soundwall.

Adrienne Bunker presented correspondence to Council and she asked what type of buyer would the homes get with 4,400 square foot lots. She felt investors would purchase the homes and make them rentals. With the normal flow of traffic, readings were between 65 to 68 decibels and trucks and were 75 to 78 decibels and 78 decibels were damaging to the ears. She was concerned about a soundwall being placed across Balfour Road and bouncing more sound off the wall toward her home.

Eric Witt had the same concerns as previous speakers and was concerned about noise and security with the addition of traffic and safety for pedestrians and children walking to school.

Jack Harrison said the development was putting a bunch of homes on a small piece of ground. Small homes would be used by investors for rentals. He asked why small homes were needed downtown.

Gordon Pywell asked about the plan and why it would be approved before it was defined.

Director of Community Development, Howard Sword, said the allotments were being made to meter the residential growth in the community. It would need to go through the design review, tentative map, environmental review, go before the Planning Commission and City Council before being approved.

Council Member Becnel said the idea of the Residential Growth Management Plan was to regulate the number of new homes per year. He explained the process of how a developer could obtain an allocation.

Mr. Pywell said he felt the process was backwards and asked why would the plan would be approved. There would be traffic placed across from the school and bringing in cookie cutters homes would bring blight in the future. He felt lots should 8,000 to 10,000 square feet.

An unidentified gentleman said Balfour Road was a freeway and a drag strip. There was a bus stop placed in his back yard and it should be somewhere else. He asked why Council would want to approve that many houses for a road as busy as Balfour Road and he felt it would just add to the number of people.

Mary Clayton said the homes would be packed in. Across the street, there were ten houses and 20 houses were proposed in the development. There were children and buses and she asked what would be done for the people as far as noise.

Tammy Munsen said she was concerned with schools. Her granddaughter was not able to go to the school in her district because it was too full. What would happen with all the children that would be moving there since the school could not house the children that already lived there. She was also concerned about the traffic on Balfour Road to Walnut Boulevard and Vasco Road.

Sharleen Millard said if the project was built, her view would be taken away. She did not believe all the homes would go there and she was concerned about traffic and people speeding. She asked if there was a way to stop the development.

Tammy Daton Nile said she was concerned with placing more people in the area when the traffic was already bad and she had concerns about pedestrians in the area. She asked when the houses went in, if there would be a light and crossing guard.

Mitzi Dashi asked if the allocation for the housing had been approved. The lots were really small and asked what the size of the homes would be that would be on the lots. He asked if Council was approving an allocation for 211 lots.

Jim Schmidt, KB Homes, said he was willing to meet with people, and show them what was in the plan, such as the size of houses, and wall height. The approximate size of the homes would be 1,145 sq feet to 3,200 square feet and prices in mid 500,000’s. The design would be done by a local architect and he could show residents the layouts.

Motion: continue the public hearing to March 13, 2007.
Moved by Brockman, seconded by Becnel.
Vote: Motion carried 5-0.
Yes: Becnel; Brockman; Richey; Stonebarger; Taylor

19. Adopt a Resolution approving a Mitigated Negative Declaration and waived first reading and introduced an Ordinance 840 (Rezone 06-14) to amend Planned Development (PD) 49 Zone, Subarea C to allow a minimum required setback of 15 feet from the Balfour Road right-of-way affecting approximately 3.35 acres located generally south of Balfour Road, east of John Muir Parkway, and west of Eagle Rock Avenue. The rezoning request proposed is part of the Vic Stewart’s restaurant and shopping center. (H. Sword/T. Nielsen)

Assistant Planner, Tim Neilsen, presented a staff report and said the Planning Commission had reviewed and approved the design for the site. The rezoning request was to amend the minimum required setback from Balfour Road in Subarea C within Planned Development-49 from 50 feet to 15 feet along the Balfour Road frontage. John Muir/Mt. Diablo indicated their support of the project, including the rezone. Planning Commission and staff recommended that Council introduce and waive first reading of the rezone Ordinance as proposed and approve the mitigated negative declaration. He referred to correspondence submitted by Joan Douglas and addressed an issue regarding legal disposal of restaurant waste.

A period of questions by Council and responses by staff ensued.

Mayor Taylor opened the public hearing.

The applicant, John Herrington, owner of Vic Stewart’s, said the restaurant would not survive under parked. He spoke about the current restaurant and parking lot in Walnut Creek and explained during the holiday season, Vic Stewart’s hired a valet service to park cars. He did not charge people and it was very successful. He stated he had worked with Ralph Straus, SDG Architects. The project had triple the parking of his other restaurant without even taking valet parking into consideration. The tenants in Building A did not all generate a lot of traffic and he was confident that he could operate the business without a problem. If there was ever a problem with parking he would go to John Muir and ask if he could rent spaces at night. He addressed the wastewaster issue and he wanted the restaurant to be sucessful.

Joan Douglas said this would be a sucessful project and she believed the 188 spaces were needed at a minimum. People would park at John Muir anyway and the she asked to be sure to accomodate parking during peak times. She asked Council to consider not placing parking spaces in isleways and she added Vic Stewart’s would be good for retail.

Ralph Strauss, SDG Architects, said he was the architect for the applicant and had worked with the site, which had good circulation and entry points from three locations. The restaurant would open for lunch and there could be a shared use ordinance or agreement. He spoke about shared ratio for parking and said the restaurant needed 110 spaces and there were 156 spaces on the site. Per shared parking, 90 spaces would be allocated to the restaurant and there would be 156 spaces available at peak time in the evening, when other uses on the site were closed. John Muir/Mt. Diablo asked to reduce the amount of commercial lease space on the site. The client had no desire to induce a parking issue on the site and if there was additional demand, there was a plan in place for valet.

Motion: close the public hearing.
Moved by Becnel, seconded by Richey.
Vote: Motion carried 5-0.
Yes: Becnel; Brockman; Richey; Stonebarger; Taylor

Council Member Richey commented that drainage was being sufficienty handled and asked to see the parking situation handled on the front end.

Council Member Stonebarger asked about yield on the valet spaces.

Mr. Herrington said the amount of space could be doubled or tripled.

Council Member Stonebarger said he believed it was in Vic Stewart’s best interest to provide as much adequate parking as possible and if the owner was willing to provide valet service on more than holidays and peak periods, he was willing to agree to reduced parking spaces.

Council Member Brockman believed parking should be handled ahead of time. John Muir had already stepped forward and he suggested working with John Muir for valet parking.

Mayor Taylor asked if Council should send the item back to the Planning Commission.

Council Member Becnel believed the parking issue could be dealt with up front. He was willing to approve the item with the condition that Vic Stewart’s work out an agreement with John Muir or surrounding businesses for use of 32 additional parking spaces.

Council Member Brockman was in support of an agreement for 32 additional parking spaces.

Planning Manager, Heidi Kline, said should Council wish to add a requirement that Vic Stewart's seek a parking agreement with any party, she recommended it could be added as a mitigation measure.

Council Member Brockman was in support of the Planning Manager's recommendation.

Council Member Richey still had traffic safety concerns and said a parking agreement needed to be reached.

Mayor Taylor did not want the restaurant to go out of business by making stringent restrictions.

Council Member Brockman said there he agreed that a lot of the retail space would be open at night, but it may not be and a reciprocal agreement was recommended.

Motion: to Adopt Resolution 2007-39 approving a Mitigated Negative Declaration and adding to the Mitigated Negative Declaration a mitigation item that the developer make a reasonable effort to pursue a reciprocal parking arrangement with someone of his choice in the near area for use for valet parking when necessary and overflow. The agreement for parking should include at least an additional 25 spaces.
Moved by Brockman, seconded by Stonebarger.
Vote: Motion carried 5-0.
Yes: Becnel; Brockman; Richey; Stonebarger; Taylor

Motion: introduce and waive first reading of Ordinance 840 (Rezone 06-14) to amend Planned Development (PD) 49 Zone, Subarea C to allow a minimum required setback of 15 feet from the Balfour Road right-of-way affecting approximately 3.35 acres located generally south of Balfour Road, east of John Muir Parkway, and west of Eagle Rock Avenue. The rezoning request proposed is part of the Vic Stewart’s restaurant and shopping center.
The City Clerk read the title of Ordinance 840.
Moved by Becnel, seconded by Brockman.
Vote: Motion carried 5-0.
Yes: Becnel; Brockman; Richey; Stonebarger; Taylor

INFORMATIONAL REPORTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS (08:43 PM)

Council Member Stonebarger spoke about his attendance at an Agricultural Enterprise meeting.

Mayor Taylor spoke about his attendance at Adams Elementary School.

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS - None (08:44 PM)

ADJOURNMENT (08:45 PM)

Motion: adjourn.
Moved by Becnel, seconded by Stonebarger.
Vote: Motion carried 5-0.
Yes: Becnel; Brockman; Richey; Stonebarger; Taylor

Respectfully submitted,

Cynthia Garcia, CMC
Assistant City Clerk