El Sobrante Municipal Advisory Council
3769B San Pablo Dam Road, ES 94803 - Meetings 2nd Wednesday of each Month (7:00pm)
El Sobrante Library 4191 Appian Way, El Sobrante
Chair: Barbara Pendergrass, Vice-chair: Erica Peng, Secretary: Tom Owens, Treasurer: Hope Scott,
Members: Marilynne Mellander, Wendi Gosliner, Charles Marino, 1st Alt. Susan Swift
DRAFT: Minutes Mar 8, 2006
NOTE: El Sobrante Municipal Advisory Council" abbreviated as "ESMAC"
El Sobrante Valley Planning & Zoning Advisory Committee abbreviated as"P&Z"
Moved, Seconded, Passed abbreviated as M(aa),S,P-x,y,z
Moved, Seconded, Failed abbreviated as M(aa),S,F-x,y,z
where aa are initials of councilman making motion, x is votes for, y is votes against and z is abstentions
Meeting called to order at 6:05pm.
Present were Barbara Pendergrass, Erica Peng, Tom Owens, Marilynne Mellander, Wendi Gosliner, Hope Scott, Susan Swift. Absent was Charles Marino. Pledge lead by Marilynne Mellander.
Review of Bylaws
Consensus that Wendi Gosliner make our recommended changes, correct grammar and distribute in time for consideration at next regular meeting.
Take out Code of Ethics and have it as an addition attachment given out with bylaws but not part of them.
Chapter 1: Delete1.3 through 1.6 and renumber 1.7 to 1.3. Change authorized to created section 1.2.
Appendix A: A1.1 after will “represent as defined by board order 95-94”. Delete A.1.2 through A.1.6, leave A.1.7 and A.1.8 (renumber), delete rest. Move the definitions to 1.3 and delete Appendix A.
Chapter 2: Correct numbering. Change 2.3 to include ” as established in Board resolution 96-58,” and keep rest as clarification of language.
Chapter 3: Correct numbering. Correct punctuation. 3.9 strike ‘(4)’
Chapter 4: 4.1.B.8 Replace ‘cause’ with ‘prepare’, and strike to be prepared.
Strike all committees and include list of suggested committees. Retain 4.6.
Motion: Wendi Gosliner make changes as agreed upon and present document for next meeting on consent calendar. M(WG),S,P-7,0,0
Announcement: John Gioia will hold a reception, May 25th 5:30-7:30, for commission/advisory group members at John’s office. Still have an alternate member position open.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
PRESENTATIONS:
P1: Charles Ramsey (president WCCUSD), Wally Gordon (lead architect), Bill Savage (program director) and Terry Miller (design consultant) on design of De Anza High School rebuild. School will be in operation during construction. Three phases: 1) renovation of football field (synthetic field) (including bleachers) and soccer field including team facilities (with showers), 2) removal of gym, construction of temporary utilities plant, building of administration building and class room on creek side of former gym location, 3) removal of other old buildings and building of aquatic facility (design input requested – community pool (?), indoor/outdoor (?), dive tank (?) and any other ideas (?)), gym, multi-purpose field, and sports courts. Costs approximately $105 million. Will start June 2007 and last until 2009-2010. Includes no change in number of parking spots, separate parent drop off and bus turnouts, state of the performing arts building and technology. Design is for public areas to front Valley View with student areas set behind the public areas for greater security. North side building changed from a two story to two single story buildings, parking is now clustered near front. Change Morningside intersection to a four way (new entrance for campus parking).
Questions:
What is the material hauling route? Will use Valley View to Appian to freeway (possible coordination with EBMUD construction).
Any changes for access to unincorporated El Sobrante land (Indian country) behind De Anza? Should be no net change.
Pool facility open year round? Yes, with separate shower/locker facilities for public students. Scheduling of pool use would need management for shared use.
Who will be doing the landscaping? Jack Ripman(sp?) Associates of Berkeley. Will an educational program be incorporated? No teachers have been approached regarding this.
Will the district meet requirements of no net increase of runoff to creeks and clean up current outfalls to creek and may remove non native vegetation? Yes to runoff will grassy swales and detention basins and clean up of outfalls. No current plans for creek restoration but up for involvement with community groups. Need to balance use of creek for educational opportunities but discourage recreation student use because it’s hard to supervise.
Will there still be access from the back gate? Yes.
Will the soccer field be rehabbed also? Yes.
There was a short discussion regarding parking. Number of spaces will remain about the same and be sufficient for students/staff during the week and the public (pool, gym, performing arts) on evenings and weekends. A traffic analysis will be performed now that a conceptual design is in place.
Comment of support for a swim pool that has been promised for the valley (for 20-50 years now) was voiced.
What are the design parameters for the performing art building? It will include a 400-500 seat theater, facilities for band, chorus, dance drama, concession stands, ticket booth, class rooms.
Will the new building last longer than the 50 yrs of the current building? Designed for minimum 100 yrs but in truth as design parameters change as they did since 1955 there are no guarantees.
Will stadium include all track and field? Desire to have state of the art facilities to re-attract track and field, water polo and performing artists.
Comment on potential new taxes to support these facilities. It was noted that senior citizens are exempt from the parcel taxes. To keep and attract the best we need commitment and quality to engage the students. Other local communities have $150-$300 per year permanent parcel taxes compared to $75 you currently pay. Other communities are now using WCCUSD as a model for operations. Comment was made that supporting quality education not only benefits the people who have children but also the entire community.
What is the current enrollment and what is the planning for the future? Current enrollment is 1100 and planning is for 1200 to 1500.
Security for central campus is via a series of fences and gates.
There are future plans to bring various consults (landscape, pool, theater arts, food) before the ESMAC to keep the public informed.
P2: Patrick Roche, Chris Lau, John Grietzer and John Gioia presented a study on San Pablo Dam road and Appian Way (from El Portal to Valley View) traffic projections with and without the proposed couplet as described in the El Sobrante general plan. Gave synopsis of current plans (bypass couplet with 3 lanes in each direction and 2 connector roads between) with historical perspective. Recapped recent proposals (94803 Task force, Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) El Sobrante Redevelopment Project, Planning Charrettes). Analysis (by Dowling Assoc.) shows that the couplet will mainly benefit I80 commuters who would use Appian Way and the Dam Road as a bypass for that congested section of the freeway while giving little or no benefit for local residents (pulling traffic from the freeway through El Sobrante back to the freeway). Although traffic on Fitzgerald, Hilltop Drive and La Poloma would decrease. Chris Lowell presented model traffic data for current traffic, traffic in 2020 with no change on San Pablo Dam Road and traffic in 2020 with the recommended changes on San Pablo Dam Road (inclusion of a 12’ median as presented in DEIR El Sobrante Redevelopment Project). Data shows that the effect of the project will result in an increase of travel time (or a decrease in traffic speed) of 25%-50% greater than what would happen without the project. Staff recommends this to obtain goal of a more pedestrian friendly corridor without the expense of building couplet, proceed with the General Plan amendment to remove both the couplet and the widening of San Pablo Dan Road and also update the policies in the Land Use Element and improve the environment for the commercial corridor businesses. The residents need to come to an agreement for land use and types of improvements for this corridor in the near future.
Questions:
How long will it take for any changes to go into effect? Shortly, if moratoriums on certain types of development are used, but any change will have to have a series of public hearings before they can become permanent.
Are you asking the ESMAC to make recommendations to you on the proposed General Plan change that would incorporate the changes to the traffic plan? We are asking for a sense of direction after you digest this. The questions we’re hearing from property owners and developers are: “What’s going to happen with the San Pablo Dam Road and Appian Way? What are the policies going to be?” They need to know what the policies are going to be before they make an investment.
Once you have a general plan change, if people are unsure of the redevelopment proceeding they are going to hang back and wait on a conclusion about redevelopment, isn’t this an integral part of this decision? The discussions of redevelopment have been suspended. This is a separate issue. Land use is the more important issue to resolve. I would prefer to have an orderly development of this area rather than a mish mash.
Is it possible to understand what is responsible for the increase of traffic in 2020 from these studies and are there things we can do alleviate it? Mainly traffic is due to an increase in housing in the region and commuting to and from work. What’s driving congestion are certain elements of land use plan, residential development is relocated or significantly scaled back you see a significant decrease in traffic during peak hours. Future traffic analysis and EIR will have to be made so the Board can make decisions on future projects. We can develop that information from the model. The basic conflict is how do you get traffic to flow through efficiently yet also get traffic to stop at local businesses.
What standards are you using to evaluate effects of traffic? We’re using the existing general plan plus the background roads and the Contra Costa County Transportation Authority Countywide Travel Demand Model.
Can that model identify what is an appropriate threshold? Those are policies or standards established here in the Contra Costa Transportation Corridor Reaction Plan for this area and also through the review process where you have to establish a threshold of significance. There are standards established by the Contra Costa County Transportation Authority where a certain amount of congestion is tolerable.
Will there still be a plan for a local connector road from Hillcrest to Pitway? Clearly there is a need for a block to improve local traffic and should still be in the roadway plan. There will be a need to figure out how to do this and the general plan will not prevent this.
In order for a moratorium to be viable wont there need to be a plan approved by the board of supervisors? The moratorium would have to be approved by the board but the plan wouldn’t need to be complete if the board is careful how they do it.
When where the traffic studies done and do they take into account the differences between seasonal traffic tendencies? The studies where done in the summer but to account for differences in traffic for seasonal and time of day. Data was taken at peak hours and most likely when school was in session.
When your talking land use, are you concerning land along San Pablo Dam Road and Appian Way only? Yes.
When will the complete information for land use concerning block by block be available? Actually we are proposing to bring that back to the ESMAC with recommendations but ultimately that will be the responsibility of this community and ESMAC.
Isn’t that information necessary for us to make a decision on the roadway plan? There is a macro and a micro roadway issue, you can make a decision regarding the couplet and widening without a block by block land use plan. The block plan was a general approach not a finalized plan.
Hypothetically if the changes are made is there a time frame for the improvements of San Pablo Dam Road – Appian Way corridor? With the passage of Measure J, there is $100 million for improvements of this type so there is hope in spite of our track record. This shouldn’t affect EBMUD and WCCUSD improvements but maybe we can count on their help with this project.
There is no median planned for Appian Way.
Given our track record with giving suggestions that have been shot down by analyses is there more ability to get more intermediate analyses on our suggestions? Yes.
We are coming back, maybe next month, to focus your efforts on the “big picture” land use issue.
1. Approval of Minutes:
Motion: Move 3-8-2006 minutes approved as corrected (Terrance spelled with an “a”).
M(MM),S,P-7-0-0
2. Treasure's Report: Hope Scott reported $276.20 was in Treasury
4. Public Comment:
Supervisor John Gioia reported that a self-assessment for a resident sheriff deputy would be roughly $50-$75 per parcel ($160,000 total per year). Safety services allotment comes from 1% of property tax, sales tax, vehicle license fee and new development fees.
Request for copy of sheriffs budget and staffing allocations including jails was made and also a break down of what happens to ‘P6’ money from supervisors’ office. Hearing on supervisor’s budget is last Tuesday in April. Improvement has been made in getting sheriff to have vacancies split among unincorporated areas and contracted services instead of being borne solely by unincorporated areas.
May 31st El Sobrante Boys and Girls Club and El Sobrante Chamber of Commerce is hosting a community forum on crime.
No update on the Santa Rita Road Situation. A meeting has not been able to be set up yet.
Written crime report (Feb): several serious (felony) crimes, increase in auto crimes(theft, burglary) and vandalism (request for increased number of calls for suspicious circumstances).
Michelle Blackwood presented a written report on water levels in San Pablo Dam with regards to recent rains. Draft EIR for Dam renovation coming out May 10th. There will be 2 public meeting dates May16th (San Pablo Senior Center) and May 23rd (Olinda Elementary School) on the DEIR
4358 Santa Rita Road, Patty Cookson could not see junk cars from street on site inspection. Referred to vehicle abatement officer.
4277 Santa Rita, Patty Cookson saw cones used to block road, also referred to vehicle abatement officer. She will do a follow up inspection.
4355 Santa Rita Road, Patty Cookson opened a case on that problem.
4600 Hilltop (corner of Hilltop and La Poloma) is in worse shape that before.
Medical marijuana club was described.
Article on “swiss cheese park” was brought up.
“Big” garbage pickup has been changed from once in Jan- Jun and once in Jul- Dec to twice any time during
the year by appointment.
CONSENT ITEMS
CCI.1 Pulled for discussion by Marilyn Mellander.
CCI.2 Pulled for discussion by Marilyn Mellander.
SHORT DISCUSSION ITEMS
CCI.1Motion: move to reimburse Barbara Pendergrass for 2 expenditures. M(MM),S,P-7-0-0
CCI.2 The desire was to get a decision by June 1st, and to get on the Richmond City Council’s agenda as well as notify him who was there and what was said. Motion: move to send letter to Richmond City manager regarding auto-aid agreement. M(MM),S,P-7-0-0
SDI.1 We wish to stress need for park in El Sobrante other than the reading park and that the monies should be spent in El Sobrante. Amount of funds available ≈$500,000, will be confirmed before meeting. Need to solidify desires for areas before all “open space” disappears. Want to co-ordinate and collaborate with each other. Settled on tentative date of June 22nd at the library.
SDI.2 Section of San Pablo Dam Rd (≈0.7 mile) doesn’t have street lights. Complex in section has problems with drugs and shootings and other crimes along that section of road. Neighbor has installed cameras that have been vandalized. Speed of traffic and lack of lights has lead to rear end accidents. To get lights the neighborhood has to join a special lighting district that would have to be okayed by LAFCO. Unreported traffic accident reports for fender bender accidents means that they aren’t a matter of record. Fees are about $5000 per light. Public works doesn’t have the money to install them. Consensus that Marilyn looks into the matter and report back to ESMAC.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
DI.1 Request that addresses be included with Land Use Activity report.
DI.2 Land Use Sub Committee looked into ordinances and policies of other local areas (Rodeo, Kensington and Orinda). Worked on parameters (amount and type of work involved) that would trigger a review of applications by ESMAC. Working on dovetailing into plans to work on General Plan amendment. Next meeting April 25th 6:00-8:00 pm concerning process, procedure and guidelines for evaluating development applications. This is an information presentation only. It was restated that the subcommittee will come back to ESMAC for approval of any recommendations. The ESMAC will then forward the recommendation to the Board of Supervisors who will then vote on setting policy.
SUB COMMITTEE REPORTS
12.4 The ESMAC website has been upload to a temporary location (www.home.earthlink.net/~boysgames/ESMAC/index.htm) for evaluation. The problems concerning display on Windows OS has been noted and is being looked into.
OLD BUSINESS
13.1 No progress to be reported
NEW BUSINESS
14.1 Duplicate of CCI.2
AGENDA/SPEAKER FOR NEXT MEETING
From Community Development if staff is ready to present material.
Meeting adjourned at 10:15 PM
