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CC - 01-13-87i D ATE...... ash MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING ROSEMEAD CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 13, 1987 AT 8:00 P.M. The Regular Meeting of the Rosemead City Council was called to order by Mayor Imperial at 8:05 p. m., in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 8838 E. Valley Blvd., Rosemead, California. The Pledge to the Flag was'led by Councilman Taylor. The Invocation was delivered by Reverend Paul Bengtson. ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS: Present: Councilmen Bruesch, Cleveland, Taylor and Mayor Imperial Absent: None APPROVAL OF MINUTES: DECEMBER 9, 1986 - REGULAR MEETING Councilman Bruesch stated that on page #2 there was a state- ment that he had made that needs to be clarified and requested that this statement be corrected. Dolores Weidemann from the audience requested a correction in the minutes on a statement that she made at the last meeting. Mayor Imperial stated that although this is not the normal procedure, he would allow her to come forward and requested her name and address. Dolores Weideman, 8504 Turpin Street, Rosemead,stated that she wanted the spelling of her name to be changed from "Delores" to "Dolores" and she wanted the minutes to show that she was con- cerned over the zone change and not opposed and on page 3 her neighbors name was mis-spelled. Councilman Taylor requested that the minutes be deferred to the next meeting. There being no objection, it was so ordered. PROCLAMATIONS: Delfina De Anda, Jim Baltazar & Nancy Paige Mayor Imperial presented a proclamation to Delfina De Anda, who is a very thoughtful and kind resident of this City. Mrs. De Anda had presented a huge, beautiful cake to the Council and the employeesjust prior to Christmas. She had bakedl:and beautified it with the Seal of the City and the inscription of "TO THE CITY COUNCIL and THANKS FOR A JOB WELL DONE" on it. Mrs. De Anda accepted the proclamation and thanked the City Council on behalf of her family and herself. Mayor Imperial presented a Resolution of Commendation to Deputy Jim Baltazar, who has been serving Rosemead as a Team Leader with the responsibility of coordinating the efforts of the Sheriff's Patrol personnel with the needs of this community. He has done an outstanding job in relating to the people of Rosemead and has ini- tiated the Neighborhood Watch Program and ensuring its development to the fine program that it is now, and he has always been available, helpful and hard-working. Deputy Baltazar has accepted re-assign- ment to a position as Volunteer Coordinator, and also the responsi- bility of training the patrol work, new personnel and reserve forces. Mayor Imperial stated that Deputy Baltazar will be sincerely missed and that he has definitely been an asset to the City of Rosemead. Councilman Bruesch added his sentiments by stating that he felt that the residents of Rosemead are not.only losing a good lia- son person but they are losing a good friend. CM 1-13-87 Page H1 } Mayor Imperial presented another Resolution to Nancy Paige, Senior Librarian in charge of the Rosemead Library since 1980, and commended her on her gentle authority and people appreciating manner with patrons of all ages. Nancy Paige has accepted a pro- motion to Diamond Bar Library in a continuing career advance pro- gram in her chosen profession. The Council expressed their regret that she was leaving her library post in the City of Rosemead; how- ever, wished her the very best.in her new position. Nancy Paige expressed her appreciation for the Resolution and stated that it was a'great pleasure to get to know all the City Council and that they were the greatest. To the City Staff she expressed her appreciation for the helpfulness and friendli- ness. Mayor Imperial stated that Nancy Paige would be missed and wished her well at the new Library-that she-will be. in charge of. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS A. Juan Nunez, 2702 N. Del Mar, inquired about. the measure that will be on the Ballot for the Special Municipal Election in March which relates to the increase in the.Transieht..Occupancy . Tax for the Motels and Hotels in the City..of Rosemead. He wanted to know if the measure would require a 2/3.vote or a'majority vote in order to pass. Robert Kress, City Attorney, stated that the Transient Occu- pancy Tax which will be on the March 3rd Ballot will require a simple majority in order to pass and stated that in his legal opinion that he did not believe that this could be considered a special tax. B. Barbara Cerna, 2655 N. Pine Street, resident in site "I" expressed her concern regarding the fact that her home is in one of the sites that are being considered for the new high school and she did not want to lose her home and have to move again. Mayor Imperial stated that the City Council has gone on record by way of a Resolution and vocally that they are vehemently opposed to any high school site within the City of Rosemead. He added that if he had anything to do with the decision of the site to be used, there would not be one house taken in the City of Rosemead, and he stated that the City Council is prepared to take action legally if that is necessary in order to do everything possible to stop that high school from being built in Rosemead. The Board does not seem to want to listen either to the people or another elected body, and he felt that the Council was prepared to do whatever is necessary to stop them from acquiring any of the homes in Rosemead. Councilman Bruesch wanted..to.assure the people that he and his collegues on the City Council are not paying mere lip-service to the support of their case, and he personally pledged that where there is no conflict with City Council Meetings, he would be at all hearings of the EIR, personally meet with legislators in Sac- ramento, and to speak with people in regards to allocations and do whatever is legally possible for the City to do. He commented that he not only disliked the fact that all the sites that had been selected had been in Rosemead, but also the process in which one site was selected which.was in a matter or 5 or 6 weeks. He pledged that he would let everyone know that this is wrong from one end of the State to the other. Councilman Cleveland agreed with the other Councilmen and has been in opposition to having the high school in Rosemead for the entire time these discussions have been going on, and will go along with the others in seeing that it doesn't happen here. Councilman Taylor stated that he has attended many of the Alhambra School Board Meetings, and from the beginning it was only a matter of procedure. No matter what suggestions were made and whatever input was made by the residents, the Board did not seriously consider any of them. He commented that there are now a chain of events that must take place and the EIR is the final major document that must be prepared, under State Law, and when CM 1-13-87 Page #2 Taylor continues: that document comes out, then there would be a legal basis to challenge the decision. He added that it could be challenged on moral grounds; however, until it is in writing it would only be general accusations. He stated that once the EIR is filed then it can be challenged item by item. Mayor Imperial stated that the Council has gone on record opposing the selection of a site in Rosemead during their meetings, and he is on record telling the School District that "It will be a cold day in Hell before they take a house in Rosemead, and we will fight them with every ounce of strength and effort we have. They can be sure of one thing, that they will have one Hell of a battle". Robert Kress, City Attorney, stated that there has been some sort of a rumor circulating that there is some sort of a statute of limitations of 30 days, and a lawsuit needs to be filed. He stated that he knew of nothing at this point, that has such a sta- tute of limitations; however, there is a 30 day statute in which to challenge an EIR, but the EIR has not been prepared as yet. Estelle Holtz stated that there.were.questions that had been directed to Mr.Fuertes and of the City Attorney. First is there such a thing as a Writ of Mandamus and would this give the people a better chance if the suit was filed before the 30 days run out? Second, question asked was if the homeowners would have a better chance with that judge if action is taken now before thousands and thousands are spent on environmental studies? Robert Kress, City Attorney, stated that he had spoken to Mr. Fuertes this afternoon as well. Jim Smith, Garvey Boardmember, stated that Mr. Fuertes had told him that the judge would be more likely to listen if a Writ of Mandate was filed and that the sooner you file the better chance you would have depending on what is being filed for. He added that the Writ of Mandate would be for the abuse of their discretion. Robert Kress, City Attorney, stated that in his opinion, there is not a case at this time. He stated that the Board has taken some action that this Council and most of the audience disagrees with. These are political decisions and they have to be followed up with EIR's and paperwork. The State Administrative Agencies that are proposing to fund this school have to make decisions. He added that the most important thing that can be done to save their homes would be to get a very good eminent doma-in .lawyer..who..i ill- jack the price of this project sky-high and perhaps stop it. He stated that his recommendation to the Council is that the City should participate in the EIR process. He suggested to the Council that they authorize the Traffic Engineer to make what studies are necessary so that there will be written evidence so that he can testify during those hearings. To authorize whatever other City department would be involved in re- viewing the types of environmental issues that would be considered as part of the environmental process. This process is.a public process which alleged experts come up with whatever environmental effects of the project, and the public is entitled to the draft EIR and are entitled to file rebuttals and responses and ask ques- tions at every stage. He stated that the Board,at this time, has selected three sites and may in fact turn out to be a charade in terms of site selection; however, he did not feel that the judge could be convinced that the Board has thus far acted in a way that the judge would give an order that no homes in Rosemead would be taken. He stated that some lawyers may advise you differently and take your money, but the only relief that a judge could give the residents at this point would be that the judge would tell the Board to go back and do the selection of the site right. Realistically, the Board will not be able to please anyone with a school selection as there will always be a body of people who are going to be unhappy. Councilman Taylor inquired of Jim Smith if the Attorney that the Garvey School Board hired stated that there should be an action filed within 30 days. CM 1-13-87 Page #13 Jim Smith, Garvey School Boardmember, stated that the Attorney stated that before the State spends a lot of money on the EIR, and if you are going to attack it from the aspect that they have abused their responsibility in picking the sites, then action should be filed as soon as possible. He stated that the sooner it is done, and the less money is spent the more likely the judge would listen. Councilman Taylor requested to hear what this Attorney, Mr. Fuertes told the City Attorney. Robert Kress, City Attorney, stated that he found a note in his box this afternoon;, asking two questions, "Is there any kind of restraining order or lawsuit that will have to be taken before 30 days from the day that the 3 sites were selected? He was told that.the source of this was that Attorney. He talked to him and his associate and cannot understand where this 30 day limitation got started. Robert Kress said that there is a 30 day statute of limitation to file an action attacking an EIR once it is pre- pared. He stated that he did discuss in general terms what has been done with Mr. Fuertes and his associate, and both were surprised and did not indicate that anything should be done at this time. Councilman Bruesch inquired of Jim Smith if the Garvey School Board is as adament as the Council is in opposition of a high school in Rosemead. Jim Smith stated that he was adament as ever; however, the major- ity does not have a lot of hope in getting the attorney to file suit to try to stop the process. Councilman Bruesch stated that those who have gone through the EIR process before and know what they are looking for,will be' looking for those issues that are in the EIR that will prevent a high school from being built in a particular neighborhood. It has to be shown that the environmental impact of a high school on this community cannot be mitigated, and this is the point that has to be brought across, and he added that if the State Allocation Board does hot feel that all the questions in the EIR -were addressed-by the school board and the entire process was not adequate, they will not give the money. Jim Smith suggested to the Council and to the City Attorney that if there is anything that needs to be done, it should be done now and not wait until it is too late. Mayor Imperial assured Mr. Smith that Mr. Kress does realize the importance of this item to.the City Council and that not one of them want to see one home lost. Mrs. Cerna stated that site I is right across the street from the Auto Auction which has a traffic problem already and the other issue that could be brought up is the fact that Monterey Park wants the high school and questioned why they don't consider a site there. Mayor Imperial stated that the Alhambra School Board does not want to hear the people or the Council and he felt that a show-down was going to be necessary. He urged anyone who had information or suggestions that might help should pass it on to Estelle Holtz and she will pass it on to the City Council. Carlo Penial inquired if there was a chance that the site was already picked and just not told anyone,and stated that there has been a great deal of activity by their home in Site A, such as mark- ings in the street. He commented that the other sites do not seem to have this type of markings. Mayor Imperial stated that the chances are good that they might have, but it cannot be proved. Eduardo Cruz stated that he heard that the Council were at the School Board Meetings and inquired why the people whose homes are on the sites being considered were not notified of these meetings. He stated that his parents did not find out about the meeting until the night of the meeting. He felt that the Council should notify those involved ahead of time, and he had to go to work and he missed the meeting•although he had wanted to go, but it was too late. CM 1-13-87 Pg.k4 Councilman Bruesch stated that the Site I had been proposed by a member of the Garvey School Board approximately in early October, and the Council was not aware of it until later in October. He did state that the neighborhood was leafleted at the time of the meeting and was told at that time that Site I was under consideration. He questioned why Site I was being considered when it had only been discussed in a very cursory way while all the other sites had been discussed for up to 18 months. The Council was not aware of the consideraton of that site any sooner than most of the people there. Mayor Imperial stated that the City has done everything possible since the inception of this catastrophe, to stop this project, get'-,the Alhambra Board to listen, and they have been impossible. Ruben Chavira, 2724 Kelburn, inquired if from this date on a little more information and detail could be forwarded to the resi- dents. Mayor Imperial stated that whatever the City knows about will be transmitted out there. The City is not in the position or have the authority to give notice of the Board's hearings, and it is the responsibility of the Alhambra School Board to contact those who are living in sites being considered. Councilman Bruesch stated that he felt that the most direct route in getting information would be to call the Alhambra School Board Office and telling them that your home is in a particular site and you want to have information regarding its status. Robert Kress, City Attorney, suggested that each person send a letter to the Alhambra School Board, certified mail, return re- ceipt requested, demanding that you be placed on a mailing list for any future meetings that would be cons iderifig-t he, -s,' a high school. He added that then there would be a record of having done that and there would be a receipt, and then they would have to respond. Mayor Imperial suggested a step further by writing letters to the legislators, State Senator Montoya,the State Board of Edu- cation and the State Board of Allocations. lady: Thanked everyone for their support. She stated that there were 596 homes involved in sites A, B, and I, and she wanted to find out the total amounts of people involved in this matter. She wanted an up-dated census on how many children, adults and how many of those are senior citizens, and also requested from the City of Rosemead to hire a professional person to work with these resi- dents in acquiring this census. She felt that a leader would be necessary and also from the.point of credibility. Mayor Imperial stated that he felt that the City has two strong leaders in Estelle Holtz and Holly Knapp and are experienced in getting things done in this City, and as far as the legality of expending public funds for such a use he felt that the Attorney should respond to that question. Councilman Taylor stated that the school board has statistics on every school child in the entire district, and as far as census reports are concerned on every person within the City, that informa- t_i_on is readily available at the City and ' at the School District. Someone needs only to ask the right questions, preferably in written form, and if the correct answer is not given, then that would go into the EIR that you were misinformed. He added that credibility is what it is going to come down to as far as the EIR, was it factual or was it not. Councilman Bruesch stated that the exact figures were handed to the Council, gathered by Monterey Park residents, and received from Mr. Jim Smith. He added that he was sure that the City Staff would be available to help retrieve that information. Mayor Imperial questioned the City Attorney regarding the expen- diture of public funds for something like this. CM 1-13-87 Page X15 Robert Kress, City Attorney, stated that, as far as the expenditure of public funds, you have already pledge the assis- tance of the City Staff and the City Attorney to assist in what ways possible to stop this project;however, he would not recom- mend the hiring or funding of a special person because he did not feel that was necessary and as several Councilmembers have indicated that there is a wealth of information out there. He felt that some- thing like this has to be a volunteer effort and it would be foolish to rely on a paid organizer. He also felt that a better job can be done by someone who lives in the area and knows it, than someone from the outside. He added that no action would be taken and this was a discussion, and he stated that the new Brown Act which took effect on January 1, 1987, tells the Council that they may not take action on any items that are not on the printed Agenda. It is re- quired by law to post Agendas 72 hours in advance and the Council is not able to take action on any item that is not on the Agenda unless there is a finding of an emergency or a finding that the particular matter arose after the posting of the Agenda. He remarked that it would be incumbent upon anyone who wanted any action to be considered to, the City Manager should be notified of a proposed action and why it should be placed on the Agenda. Boyd Mitchell, 9027 Garrett, stated that he felt that the EIR's should not be.allowed to go through because he did not feel that the three individual sites could be picked apart enough to stop all three sites from being selected. He felt that at least one of those sites would be passed through the EIR, and he felt that it would be more advantageous for us to strike right now and to try to block them from doing the EIR's,than forcing them to open up the site selection process again. Frank G. Tripepi, City Manager, stated that it becomes very difficult to stop the School Board from preparing an EIR when that is the document that is now required by State Law. In other words you are going to ask a judge to keep them from following the law, and he felt that there was no basis on which to do that. He added that the EIR needs to be issued and then there will be all sorts of avenues to attack from a legal standpoint. Robert Kress, City Attorney, stated that he would welcome any other attorney to discuss this with and all those he has spoken with can see that there is anything that can be done right now. He stated that there is simply no way, based upon the facts as they stand now, that a judge would issue an injunction or a Writ of Mandate or any of the other possible forms of relief.. He added that the EIR process is critical and everyone should be look- ing at participating in the process. It can be attacked at the Administrative stage when the Board is actually considering it and . if no participation takes place, then you may be prohibited from attacking certain elements in Court. This means you have to address your concerns to that Board, ;you cannot take.the easy way out and just say that those people are not going to listen.: Mr. Mitchell commented then that it would be up to the indi- vidual to find out when the EIR hearings are taking place. Councilman Taylor stated that a certified, return receipt requested letter has to be sent to the School Board requesting notification, and then it would be up to the Board to explain it to the judge why people were not notified, or why information was withheld from the residents. He stated that the School Board will have to explain every single thing in it and everything that they did not put in it. All of the sites in Monterey Park will be subjected to every single question, that will be asked of the three sites that were selected in Rosemead. He felt that it was a good idea to go to them with the different statistics, such as there are 5000 more children in Monterey Park and would be at fault for not including that information in the EIR. Councilman Bruesch stated that he had figures which are attain- able at the census bureau, and it states in 1980, Alhambra, 5-17yrs. olds, 10A00, in 1986, 11,900, Monterey Park,, 1200 growth,..and in Rosemead 600 growth. This shows that the growth in student popula- tion is double in Alhambra and Monterey Park than it is in South Rosemead. CM 1-13-87 Page H6 Mr. Boyd Mitchell expressed his appreciation to the City Council and stated that he was 1000 behind them. Holly Knapp, 8367 E. Whitmore St., inquired if action could not be taken at the next Council Meeting to secede from the Garvey School District, the Alhambra High School District, and the E1 Monte Union High School District and form a Rose- mead School District bounded by the city limits. Councilman Taylor stated that would be jumping from the pan to the fire and a new high school would be needed in Rosemead as-the one here is already full.' Mayor Imperial agreed with Holly Knapp in that the research could be done to find out what it would require to secede, and check into Rosemead High School to see what would be necessary to expand, and this would alleviate Rosemead from the responsibility of students coming from E1 Monte to Rosemead. Holly Knapp remarked that this may not be something that will be done; however, it could be placed in the newspapers and it is something that can be done without waiting for the preparation of the EIR's. Dolores Weidemann, 8504 Turpin St., stated that there is an addition to the High School that will.be completed in 1990.for the the E1 Monte Union High School District, and. cautioned Holly Knapp that she not be locked into something. Mayor Imperial stated that he wanted to know how many Rosemead students are-leaving the City and going outside to go to school and how many students from outside the City are coming into Rosemead. Dolores Weidemann stated that the guidance department of the District could give that information. Robert Kress, City Attorney, advised everyone to remember that the School Boardmembers are elected and this high school situation is going to be a lengthy process, and the next school board election is less than 2 years away. He added that all the lawsuits and ideas about secession can be considered; however, the simplest way to stop this thing is to elect different people to the Board that share your views. He urged that no one.lose sight of that idea, and stated that if everyone went out and convinced a few people to vote in that elec- tion, it could very well make a difference in the outcome of that election. Mayor Imperial stated that he feltthat was an important option although the opportunity was lost at the last election. He stated that now the people from Monterey Park are also angry along with those from Rosemead, and the more angry people there are the better. If those people who are responsible for this situation can be voted out of office, the project can be stopped. Mrs. Cerna inquired if petitions could be prepared for the residents to sign in opposition to the high school sites in Rosemead. Mayor Imperial stated that the City Clerk will be happy to help any one who needs guidance in preparing a petition for circulation. II. PUBLIC.HEARING TO CONSIDER ZONE CHANGE REQUESTED FROM R-1 AND R-3 TO PLANNED DEVELOPMENT (P-D) ZONE AT 8740 MISSION DRIVE (VERBATIM) Taylor: Mr. Mayor, I would ask that we go ahead and open it because I know that people are here tonight and they have waited around and it should not be a wasted trip. Let's let them talk on it. Imperial: We'll open the Public Hearing and anyone wishing to speak on this item; please get up and be sworn in. Raise your right hand to be sworn in. Clerk: Do you swear that the statements that you are about to make are the truth, the whole truth, so help you God? Yes. CM 1-13-87 Page #7 0 • Imperial: I am concerned with everyone speaking their piece, but in the interest of time, it is. ten o'clock right now, and.so we can get the folks out of here and back in their homes as expediently as possible. If you would like,you can request that someone speak for you, a spokesman for the group.. Would you state your name and address please? Richardson: My name is Lupe Richardson, I am here tonight with Mike Richardson, Linda Richardson. We are representing the Richard- son family and tonight we are here to speak on behalf of our father, James A. Richardson, regarding his property located 8470 E. Mission Drive, in the City of Rosemead. Those who know the Richardson fam- ily can appreciate how difficult it is for us to appear before the Council tonight. We are not public speakers, however, we felt that we should shed some light on our current predicament. Six months ago Dad open escrow on the sale of his property, and through con- tinued delays, and between changes in tax laws, we have lost an interest accumulated of more than $50,000. That's $50,000, gentle- men, have been lost to the Richardson family already in this trans- action. And as of today, escrow has not closed on this property. We don't want to bring personal items to the Council for public scrutiny, but we.feel that you should be aware that at this time our medical expenses exceed $3,500 per month over and above what our insurances cover. That is $3,500 a month. In the last ten months, $35,000. We estimate $50,000 in the next ten months. The precarious health of these family members, Grandmother May and our Dad, are being aggravated by the emotional, physical and financial steming from these repeated delays. Current family budget projec- tions indicate that we will have only enough funds to cover these medical expenses for another 4 months. So at the end of the 5th month, do we say, well Dad, Grandma, are you going to die so that we can bury you while we can still afford it or are we going.to make you a ward of the courts, the State. We don't know. O.K. We don't know. We are not businessmen. But we do know that the Richardson family is not out to, make a fast buck at. the expense of our neighbors. GoIuInt9 records will.cor`raborate that our family has.always been,civic minded.--W proud to donate land throughout- the San-Gatiriel Valley, but times being what they are. and this being the only parcel of lanct that we have left, we don't have that.luxury any more, to donate. We feel that our request will allow our family to exercise its right for a speedy sale is not an unreasonable request, and deserves immediate consideration from the Council. No buyer would want to purchase this size of property, if it would not be developed into a profitable endeavor. The initial action for postponement was prompted by the concern that it would not be aesthetically compat- ible. There are several developers that have shown an interest in building on our land. Is it not better to sell and build upon the land rather than to let it sit indefinitely and possibly develop into a blighted area of the City? As pointed out in a recent letter by adjoining homeowners to the Richardson property, we are not opposed to the sale of said property, nor the construction of single family homes. For the sale of said property is like the death of a family member, the nostalgia, uniqueness, charm of the barn and most of all the sense of history that was brought to our City from the pioneer days. The joy this property has been to us is difficult to express.' You can imagine how hard it must be for me, for us to express. For us, the joy that once was the Richardson Ranch is gone. With Dad's and Grandma Mae's diminishing health, the increasing medical costs, the anxiety involved with the continuous delays with the sale of our land and our personal property, have marred the tranquil pace of the Richardson household. Our pain and sorrow may have obscurred our business acumen or our legal judgement, but it has not blinded us to what is fair and just. You have prolonged our emotional and mental anguish long enough. Therefore, we urge you, grant us you utmost consideration for a quick resolution on this matter. Remove further obstacles and allow our family to die with dignity. That is all we have left. Although this presentation, yes, is based and focuses on the emotional, and you have already heard emotional pleas for an hour and a half, this being.one more., We simply feel that this development will benefit the community, especially the surrounding neighbors. Permit us therefore, to report to the remaining family members, our Dad, on the positive action that you will take here to- night. Thank you. CM 1-13-87 Page #8 0 Mayor: Anyone else wishing to speak in favor of this project? Rose Wong: I am Rose Wong. I am the developer of the project at 8470. One of the purposes of speaking here is that other than looking for .a profit, we want to build this development because we believe in supplying affordable housing, which is now very unaffordable for the.middle-class working couples and families. I have a copy of a page from the L. A. Times, Sunday Real Estate Section. Page 1 gives us some figures on the sta- tistics. There would be two voters per household that would not be able to buy a home, and housing has become a key among young voters. There are 3400 parents with children under 18 who will be wondering if their children will ever be able to buy a home. We feel the P-D development which still offers independent homes with private yards is the best solution for affordable housing. We have received negative responses from some of the neighbors, to cut down the density: We feel that the more you cut down the density of this project, the more the prices will have to go up and.that defeats.our purpose of supplying houses at this price range. I know owning a home is a great American dream,.and we always hope that there will be more youngsters in this community who can-make:their dreams come true. We can only do that with your help. Thank you. Mayor: Anyone else wishing to speak in favor of this project? Your name please. Al Direnzi: My name is Al Direnzi with L & D Engineering. We are the Engineering Firm representing the applicant. Address is 106 West Lime Avenue, Suite #205, Monrovia, California. There are some specific concerns and questions that were discussed with some neighbors at two neighborhood meetings and I would like to go over some of those concerns and what has been done to address those concerns. Mayor: Sir, as a point of information, those were neighborhood meetings, were you invited to those? Direnzi: Yes, I was at one of them and the Architect was at the other. Mayor: And both times by invitation. Direnzi: Yes. The owner of lot 25, 8503 Turpin, was concerned about the deteriorating condition of the wood fence that was originally constructed with the subdivision. We informed them that a block wall was going to be built along the entire perimeter of the project. That satisfied that concern. The owner of lot 24, which is 8504 Turpin, objected to the any use of Turpin for the access of any kind including the emergency vehicular access that we had proposed. We have made some internal modifications to the lay- out. We have.eliminated a unit to provide enough room for an ap- proved Fire Department turn-around, and this will eliminate the. emergency vehicle access to Turpin. We have also provided for a children's play area because.of the increased area of the deletion of the unit. The:owner of lot 4, which is 4515 Halkett,' adjacent to our southerly boundaries.was concerned with our original proposal to remove 60% of the storm water that ran through the property on to his, an existing condition. We have informed them that the project is going capture 100% of the run-off as required by'the City Engineer. He is satisfied with that new drainage concept. The owner of one of the'lots down at Halkett cul-de-sac was concerned with leaves and other debris piling up at the.cul-de-sac and plugging up the storm drain facility for the sub-division to the east of ours. We informed them that we would be installing a debris gate that would mitigate part of the problem; however, that problem is created within the sub- division and it is not something that is going to be further impacted by our project. We suggested to them that perhaps, the owners of the subdivision could get the City to establish some sort of a main- tenance program during the winter months, because the drainage facility is a City-owned storm drain. There seems to be a lot of debris that causes this choked up problem and there are access covers for maintenance and this might be the solution for that problem. The conditions of approval 'as approved by the Planning Commission are all acceptable to the applicant, including the dis- charge of the pump discharge to Earle for this project. CM 1-13-87 Page #9 i 0 Direnzi continues: If people from the audience or any of the members of the Council have any questions, I would like to come back up to address those questions. Thank you. Neil Eskuri: Gentlemen, my name is Neil Eskuri. I represent the Architectural firm hired by the applicant. We have studied this project for about 6 months. We have looked at the current zoning and it has been quite a problem to design a desirable project here with the current zoning so we had a meeting with the planning staff and we decided the best way to go was to change the zoning from R-3 to P-D. This way we could put affordable single family homes and satisfy all of the City's requirements. We have studied the best lay-outs. This is a unique piece of land because of the shape. The location is just great. I know people who would like to buy a home there, but due to current economics it the prices go more than $180,000 with additional school taxes and various financial factors it would be very, very difficult to afford. So we are cut- ting out one of the units, and I would like to make a suggestion that we make an amendment to the conditions of approval which the applicant is in favor of and add the additional items that are the concerns of the neighbors. I was invited to some of the meetings and I listened to some of their concerns and I diligently worked hard to set satisfy these. By providing a nice decorative block wall on the property line; by adding additional landscaping, it not only helps the neighbors, but it helps the new homes so that they will have something pleasant to look at. We have a little over 5 parking spaces per unit. The houses range from 1470 to 1800 square feet, so they have a good variety. We would like to create a custom design subdivision here with different exterior elevations for each home. We want a desirable project that will be compatible and increase the value of the neighborhood and the surrounding neighborhoods-. If there are any questions, I would be glad to answer ...I have some additional drawings here that might show..... Taylor: Mr. Mayor. A point of information, I have heard comment twice on the value of the homes and affordable housing. What is the price range that you are looking at. Eskuri: We are hoping to have a price range from $150,000 to $180,000. It will increase every time we have to change the density and the price can go up $4,000 or $5,000. It may not seem like a lot but when you figure all the other elements in there.... Taylor: You also mentioned five parking spaces per unit. Eskuri: There are two covered spaces, two spaces in front of the garage and there are additional spaces along the street. The street is designed at 32 feet, County standards, and you are per- mitted to park on one side of the street. Taylor: I have looked at the map. The way it shows here and I counted up the twenty parking spaces or such guest parking, two per unit.... Eskuri: -In the garage and two in front of the garage door. Taylor: So that is what you are saying, then could be two in.front of the unit, two in the garage plus 20 guest parking. That explains where all the cars are going to park. That amazes me that we would... Eskuri:. If it is necessary at a certain time, holiday seasons it could be possible. We were concerned about ...the neighbors concern was parking and the density and the block wall, the rain water drainage and the childrens playing in the street and sidewalks. We are working hard to accommodate these. This doesn't show are new modification.that I would like you to review. We have taken out one of the units near the back there. We have put in a larger turn-around. I would like to show that to you and we are going to provide a children's play area. We would like this to be changed to a planned development which means that we have C C & R's. Of course, you know all.the conditions of approval. Yes, on the east side where Turpin intersects the Richardson property..that is part of the Richardson property from the end of the Cul-de-sac to the property line. The initial thinking a long time ago that some day that would stem through and have 4 or 5 houses in the back portion of that lot. CM 1-13-87 Page #10 0 0 Eskuri continues: That portion of that lot. That is the current R-1 zoning and the front part is currently R-3. We don't feel that is good zoning and we understand that there are problems there. and it just wouldn't be good for anyone. We propose to make it all P-D. Simply it and have nice single family homes. It is a good . solution and the Planning Staff worked with us and they concur and the Planning Commission feels it~,is a good development and we would like to satisfy the concerns of the neighbors so everyone, hopefully, everyone can be happy about it. Mayor: Any questions, Gentlemen, at this point? Thank you. Is there anyone else who wants to speak in favor of this project? If not, then we will ...I'll request anyone who wishes against the project. There is no one who wants to speak against.this project. Is there anyone who wants to say any more on this project? Dolores Weidemann: I am Dolores Weidemann, 8504 Turpin, City of Rosemead. I wanted to clarify for my own thinking. Isn't the procedure open hearing, then discussion and then rebuttal? Cause I thought ...I have not been well the last couple of days so please be patient with me with my throat. I would like.to express my appre- ciation.to you gentlemen, the City Council, for granting the request for the postponement for a Zone Change. Also, to all the City em- ployees,that I have dealt with, equal appreciation to you for your time, your courtesy and your professionalism. You have been most kind and generous. Also at this time, I would like to comment on my request to have an overhead projector so that we could share in the discussions. I thank you. It'is very important to me before I go on with my statement, and I am requesting, and I am guilty of this also when I am not familiar with something, I request that people.please listen to me very carefully as I do not appreciate being misquoted. Also I would like to know, and I did clarify it with one of the City Councilmembers at the break that there would be ample time to rebuttal. I won't read that statement right now. I this time, I would like to reiterate that I am not opposed to the selling of the property at 8470 Mission Drive or the redevelop- ment of single dwelling homes. I am not going to comment at this time regarding projects at 8470 Mission Drive as I feel that con- cerns may be met and some of them were stated. My following state- ment I feel is a valid and an appropriate one and do not want it to be misinterpreted as petty, catty or irrelavant; however, I would appreciate your patience as I bring you up.to date since the last Council Meeting. A number of communications have taken place. On a Sunday, one late evening, December 11th, if I am correct on the date of the Sunday following our last City Council Meeting, Developer, Mrs. Rose Wong came unannounced to my.home to see me. At this time she requested if I would form a meeting of.neighbors so the future projects could be explained. I told the developer that I would not speak for the neighbors, but that I would put a notice out to them. This I did. I have tried my best to keep you people abreast with all communications, and this is one thing here that you don't have. I was contacted by most neighbors that it was not adequate notice and with the holidays", they and myself had plans for the Saturday in question, December 27th at 10:00 a.m., that Mrs. Wong had requested the courtesy. On December.25th at 3:00 p. m., I contacted the developer and said to her that the meeting was being cancelled due to the above reasons stated. I was away for the week-end. Upon arriving home, I found the note from Mrs. Wong saying that she had rescheduled the meeting as planned by going door to door posting.a sign on my front door saying where meeting would be held. Come Monday, I had a number of neighbors, mainly my immediate neighbor, Mr. Larry Ellis approach me..or call me by phone quite upset at some of the data that was given to them regarding the project which created new concerns. Monday evening when I arrived home from work at my home was a two pound box of See's Candy from Mrs. Wong expressing would I please contact her archi- tect. Per Mrs. Wong's request once again I contacted her architect. To be fair and to give the developer the benefit of the doubt and to hear both sides since I was not present at her meeting. Tuesday morning extremely early I received a phone call from the developer, Mrs. Wong. At this time, I did tell her she had upset some neigh- bors, first for having the meeting without them, second with new concerns regarding the basin at the end of the cul-de-sac. CM 1-13-87 Page #11 • 0 Weidemann continues: Mr. Ellis', my neighbor, contacted me and asked me if I would put together or.have a meeting with neighbors to express concerns that they had learned from Mrs. Wong's meet ing. I once again.prepared a short statement scheduling a meeting for last Sunday, January 11th at 7:00 p.m., at my residence. Last week after that I contacted the architect for the property in que~5- tion as requested Mrs. Wong, the developer. Neil, the name of the architect, he asked me to address him that way, assured me and showed us... assured me on the phone and showed us our requests have been granted for a solid block wall. We are most appreciative of this. During our phone conversation, Neil and myself with new information that he gave me over my phone, I invited him, the architect to attend our meeting for Sunday. I felt that it was very valid the rest of the neighbors share in his interpretation of changes. At the meeting at my home there was approximately 17 to 20 neighbors, the architect was very impressed with the attendance and kept repeating this to me. How nice to have neighbors so con- cerned. Which brings me to the purpose stated above. It concerns me and disturbs me greatly the tactless, lack of professionalism, ill-mannered, arrogance of Mrs. Wong and her sister realtor, Nina Kuo to first show up at a meeting that they were not invited to, definitely over-stepped their boundaries, second to be insulting to me and my guests, third to be intimidating and tell my guests in my private home that she wanted all the names and phone numbers. My christian.and moral values extended them the courtesy of staying in my home for approximatly 12 hours. X the end of this time, I thanked the three persons, other than neighbors for coming, and expressed that we had business to attend to and would like to get on with our scheduled meeting. Mayor: Point of information. Did you at any point in time ask them to leave. Weidemann: As tactfully as I could. That is in my statement. to attend and would like to get on.with our scheduled meeting. I just kept.reiterating this. I mentioned this approximately five times. I also said to Mrs. Wong that I thought she was being very. rude three times, taking down peoples names and phone numbers. After the third time, she said what am I doing wrong? I told Mrs. Wong that she was very aware of what she was doing. Still at this point there was no stopping her and her sister. They went to families... families in my home, expressing that she gave them the wall that they had requested and would they come Tuesday,tonight to the City Council Meeting and support her project. At this point,. I would like to extend the courtesy to Neil, who was very profes- sional and courteous and answered any immediate question and offered the maps. In fact the map that you people gave me. That has also has disappeared a lot of things have disappeared. And I told him that I would see to it that he would get them back, and then he knew his role, when to exit. So I am not...this is not pertaining to him. Repeated tactfully to please leave, that we had a meeting to conduct which was to no avail. I had to close our meeting and to boot all my neighbors left, but one family or two families and Mrs: Wong and her sister preceded to stay. I want you people to be very aware of what you are dealing with. Not to mention that it was as frightening as Hell to see what was taking place, right in my own home: Last night as she went door to door as people shared with me, and maybe it is best I don't know for their sakes, the developer, Rose Wong and Nina Kuo. We have been able to enlighten you.gentlemen, and City employees concerns of said project. I would appreciate it, if you would share with the residence and the audience tonight, no matter.how many different investors purchase property, Rose Wong or whoever; since you have heard from your fellow residence of Rosemead for who you represent and was elected for your seat on City Council to protect us we would have gotten our block walland cul-de-sac in 'tact. My immediate concerns after the discussion, I will have a rebuttal. We have consummed a tremendous amount of data from the packet given to me Friday night, to be truthful, it is over- whelming for the novice lay.person. It takes;.you need time to digest it all. And once again thank you, and I will come back. CM 1-13-87 Page #12 Mayor: Mrs. Weidemann, one point, we have heard what your feelings are about the developer and the real estate person, but what are feelings about the project.now? Weidemann: I stated that at the beginning of the meeting. I am not opposed to the selling of the property. I am not opposed to the single dwelling homes. After I hear all of the discussions and-that concerns are met and some of them have been met, I knew that prior to Sundays meeting, I will, maybe not read the state- ment or I feel, in order to meet the valid concerns that we have they are going to have to take more than one home out. You people have the statement, a copy of the statement that I read from the first presentation. I also took it to Jim Richardson because I told him that.I did not want to be misquoted. Jim told me.at that time that he has a retainer, $25,000 or something, that if they back out, I forget the exact dollar price. I know there is Medi- care, I have elderly people.also that could take care of a lot of this. I am just saying that we are not opposed to selling of the property. We are not opposed to single dwelling homes. O.K.? It concerns me-certain valid concerns. Taylor: Mr. Mayor. Mayor: Mr. Taylor. Taylor: Mrs: Weidemann, in discussing this particular item, you now have the floor, and we must know what your concerns are so that when we.are discussing it, we don't discuss it and then several months later everyone brings up their concerns. Will you please tell us your concerns? Mayor: I have real concerns why you think that more than one house should be eliminated and Mr. Kress wanted to ask a question. Weidemann: Why more than one house should be eliminated? Kress: No, I wanted to clarify our hearing procedures. They provide that the applicant and those in favor.speak first, then those who are opposed, and the only rebuttal is the applicants. That is because the applicant has the burden of proof in proving their case and-we can't go back and forth and get a little bit of the case out. So.... Weidemann: I appreciate that. That;s fine. I just wanted to know what and.when it is appropriate.. I will probably sit down and forget ha-lf of this stuff. O.K. When I.... I want to stand corrected, you said something about my feelings about the developer. It is nothing personal. If I meet in the street or meet her in the community or Monterey Park, it'is not that I am not going to say hello or that I dislike her or that I would have bad vibes or,;ugly kind of connotations. Mayor: My reason for that, Mrs. Weidemann, is that you said that they had handled themselves unprofessionally. Which would be your feelings and that was what I projected..- Weidemann: Yes, definitely.. They were not-invited.to-my meeting and I extended them the courtesy to stay and then I did not appreciate that at all. O.K. I am going to start out to say that I don't know who is here to speak tonight because we could not go,off and conduct our meeting. I close the meeting. I only got the concerns of a few of the neighbors, one neighbor. I don't know if O.K. Mrs. Rose Wong and realtor,- her'-sister, Nina Kuo are opportunits who stand to make a healthy profit at the cost of the Rosemead residents. Listen carefully, this we feel that we can handle, only if plans and specifics are guaranteed present homeowners surrounding this development property. And as you said some of them have been met. The 60 foot turn-around for the Fire Department. We made contact.with the Fire Department. We did make contact with them asking them to be present. Probably you all know about the safety over-flow. Because all we are doing is giving.the problem to someone else and so there will be a rebuttal about it on Earle. The sidewalks,the curbs, I feel that we have a moral obligation and responsibility to the youth and it begins at home. We don't introduce the children from their front door to the street. O.K. Cause you are going to have problems some time with accidents. CM 1-13-87 Page #13 Weidemann continues: The parking. We are talking about a minimum of 23 cars with two parking spaces per home, plus the 20 on the parking area. I believe, and I have faith in you people that you would have considered a block wall there. Because you see how on Mission the property line is.... the public parking is so close to our property line that accidents do occur, people step on the accel- lerater.at the wrong time and they will be in my living room, Mr. Ong's childrens bedrooms and his bedroom and bathroom & other resi- dents along the property line. I mean that this does happen. For- tunately on Mission there is a big frontage, you know...I am just... They have granted us the block wall and we are appreciative of that. Fire. I have discussed a lot about the Fire. If the place should catch on fire, the tract, it is my feeling that my home would be much safer if 10 ten homes burn versus 13. I am well aware, like I stated to them when they were at my meeting, like in Malibu, it is the nature of God. I have seen it where all the-'homes have burned down but one. Or visa-versa, it burns everything right up but the bush. I am talking about Beechwood Drive and Paradise Cove. It is where people are wiped out, everything but one home. And so I know that one house could burn over there and then can jump to mine. I have a 100% shake roof and it is 17 years old and hoping in the near future I could do whatever you do to it. To varnish it or.. not varnish, but the proper protection on it. The drainage is a big concern with me, the sewage. I also would like to refer to the minutes on page #4 of the last City Council meeting and that is the 13 homes planned for this development and I am quoting Mr. Taylor,.I hope he is correct because he is in construction, "the 13 homes planned for this development and the lots will be 2,546 to 2,970 sq. feet. He remarked that the General Plan calls for this site to-be.R-l with a 5,000 sq. ft. requirement. Also Councilman Taylor stated that he was not opposed to 9 or 10 homes and this would fit in with the R-1 requirements stated above. Well he didn't say "stated above", but that is what it summarizes to. However, to crowd in these homes as much as possible and then sell them for a profit was not something that he would want for the neigh- bors and the City. I don't know if his views have changed or where he stands after studying the, packets. Mayor Imperial indicated that he had a problem with any home that was built with no yard with the possibility that some child having to play in the street. Since then we have been informed that each home, property will have 15 feet backyard.. Thank you. And that was since Sunday night at our meeting. Is that correct? That wasn't stated at that time. Councilman Bruesch stated that one his main concerns was the drain- age and he wanted to make sure that it would not be necessary to sandbag the, streets for the next. 50 or 60 years. He suggested there. should be a definite.plan for drainage on these lots before it is brought back for the Council's consideration. Which I am sure that you people have done your homework and studies. I have heard lots of rumors regarding the last paragraph on page 4 prior to No. C., and I may be wrong, I believe the moratorium was just for 30 days til this meeting. Councilman Taylor requested that a mora- moratorium limiting permits on.M ssion.Drive be.placed on the next Agenda for study. This will stop building until it is acted upon. If I remember correctly, listened correctly, I think you people did say it was for 30 days until this meeting so you people would have time for study, but I could be wrong. Well, when I address, you Gentlemen, I came.to the City Planning Meeting, and I am also planning to come to this next one because I have been reading in the Rosemead Independent. It is constructive criticism, please, do not think that I am being cruel. I am only being...' helping you to being aware of things. I may not know the proper procedure but when I see.what took place at Monday nights City Council meeting frightened me also I mean not City Council, but City Planning. O.K.? Several gentlemen had very valid concerns. It was interest- ing to watch the body language, the eye contact, questions, within a few minutes after a brief discussion of 15 or 20 minutes, I don't know how long they discussed, these.good, valid concerns they all voted... well, they had two votes. 1 think one was three yes's and one.no and then it was four yes's and they approved it. This gentle- man was there. It just, you know, I have contacted Mr. & Mrs. Neil Van Fossen and they were gracious enough to maps out of the maps Mr. Chicots gave me. I don't have any more. I don't know what happened to them. They disappeared from my home. I think that my closing statement I have already read. I would appreciate,it if the above concern would be considered and approved with two to three fewer homes built. The developer could walk away with the same amount of profit, build a better quality home and charge more money. Page #14 Weidemann continues: I would like to close saying that I do not lose my values or soul for my selfish reasons only. I have tried to be considerate of all persons requested and concerns for me. Please, please do not let residential motels be built. It is important that sidewalks be there and curbs. I am sure that there is some data ...of the drainage and curbs... Taylor: Mr. Mayor.. Mayor: Mr. Taylor, question to Mrs. Weidemann again, I didn't get any specific objection.to the project. Weidemann: No. It is just to meet the valid concerned needs which unless we went back to the drawing board and met some of them. Taylor: Which ones did he not meet? Weidemann: Were the sidewalks mentioned? Taylor: No. Weidemann: The curbs. The 60 foot turn-around for the Fire De- partment was met. I.am the novice and I don't know I am not the engineer. I just don't want any problems later. Like I had in my first statement. O.K. We don't want to be left with the residue and.the problems. Taylor: I think that there is a good faith effort being made.on everyone's part to make sure that nothing is missed. So now is the opportunity, if there is a problem and sidewalks -..could be a problem. We also have people who apply to this City to the Plan- ning Commission and such where we continuously have waivers by the homeowners that lived in their homes for many years. And it is throughout the City. They do not want sidewalks. The City Code requires new sidewalks be put in front of every home after $5000 or it is $7000-$10,000 worth of improvement. The residence are asked if it is...Well, it is not as expensive as the $10,000 improvement but it could be $800 or $1500. But they are continually asking that they not be put in. if they'.are not on.the street by a majority that is already in. Weidemann The main fareway Taylor: I think I have stated in the past that on-the main thorough- fares or busy highways or to schools and such we do require the side- walks where there is heavy traffic. So your concern is noted, side- walks, but I want you to understand that it is not a mandatory type thing. Weidemann: Yes, I do understand and I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Taylor: Are there any other specifics? Weidemann: Well, my one neighbor had stated that people have a minimum of two.cars and there could be a possibility, I can remember when we had five cars. My neighbor across the street has five cars. They have a Mr. & Mrs. vehicle. They have a family van. They have three girls in college and they each have vehicles. And that is another thing, Mr. Rubel, did you... are you going to give back that property that you came to my home on my lunch-hour and saw that one of their parking spaces would be...you did discuss that with them. Another very, very important fact. My neighbor called me one even- ing when he asked me to have the meeting and said Dolores, I took my little man-made stick or whatever it is, my surveyor stick and walked, and you are going to lose one of your parking spaces on your property on your driveway. I said, what do you mean I am going to lose it? He-said, well, you notice that everybody has that button. I guess that is the proper term. And I said, well, I don't have one. So the best thing to do is to get the expert here, and I called Mr. Rubel and he was gracious and kind enough to come. I took my lunch-hour and got permission from my.principal, and came and you know he held tape firm and he kept measuring and remeasuring and remeasuring and Mr. Ellis was out there, and sure enough there is a problem, but it isn't me that is going to lose it. It is Mr. & Mrs. Ong who bought there home under false pretenses. Chi 1-13=87 Page #15 • 0 Weidemann continues: And that goes to show you poor planning when our project was developed. That goes to show you right there. So we have to be careful. Taylor: -That is if the driveway is put in there, the emergency driveway. Weidemann: Yes. Taylor: With.the wall that doesn't happen. Weidemann: Yes, that is correct. You have the drainage and the sewage and all that kind of stuff. You know I am sure that Norm has gone back to the table and re-looked. I think that everyone has tried to be conscientious to our concerns and tried to be as fair, or are going to be as fair as they can, and that is all we are asking of you. Mayor: Thank you. Weidemann: Thank you Mr. Ellis: Can I say something? Mayor: Sure. Ellis: I am Larry Ellis. I live at 8512 Turpin Street. I think that I am the only one that Mrs. Rose Wong didn't contact. When this project was brought to my attention, my main concern was,-no access to Turpin, and a continuous six foot masonry wall built on the property line and no water drainage problems for Turpin and Halkett Streets. We have an exceptional nice neighborhood and neighbors and we want it left that way. Just the way it is, and if these conditions are met, this project has my approval. With this project approved with our conditions met we will know what to expect. If it is turned down, the unknown possibilities could be anything. Remember this valuable property is not going to lie empty for very long. Someone will eventually build something there. Thank you.. Taylor: Mr. Ellis. Point of clarification., you had contacted me.' You called me on the phone and we had a short discussion and you had, asked me a couple of questions and I would.like it clari- fied now,--that if I had ever worked for Mrs. Wong or done any building whatsoever. I said that I would prefer that we meet at this City Council Meeting and this is one reason that I have re- iterated this for over 12 years. That if someone calls and has a question, I don't mind answering that, but anything to do with something of this nature, or that is on the Agenda, as I told you, it is. best to meet with this entire body and everyone in the same room and there is no misunderstanding. There is no misconceptions about what is being said. Everyone has a chance to ask someone else. On a one to one basis, it could be a disaster. And I learned that when I first got on the Council. I as accused of..you don't understand, that was not what was said, so that hasn't happened... That was my reason that I wanted everyone here. That is my policy. Mrs..Wong had called and asked that I call her. Mrs. Wong is hear- ing now why I don't want-to discuss things. If it is a public matter it is going to be discussed here publicly. Mrs. Weidemann had called, I didn't return-her call. So when you had.called, you seemed a little bit upset about that I didn't want to talk to any- body, and you had asked had I worked for Mrs. Wong or of anything of that nature. Ellis: I wasn't implying anything.. Taylor: Well, when you asked the question, and I am answering it now. And Mrs. Wong I am going to ask her. If we have ever had any business dealings at all. Mrs. Wong: No. Not ever. Ellis: Well, you are in the building business and I thought it was possible that you might have. CM 1-13-87 Page #16 Taylor: That's why we discuss it here, and it and it is cleared.up. That is all there is to is stated, you and your neighbors or any other know, they didn't hear it. That is why I have I just wanted to tell you that for your advant Mr. Mayor. Ellis: Good process.. Mayor: Anyone else wish to speak? is on the record it, but unless it issue, they don't that policy. So age. That is all, Taylor: Mr. Mayor, there were ...and again, there were five people who stood up over there as far as wanting to talk, and...don't ever be shy or intimidated and such. It is your turn to talk. If you want to talk, talk. Baracchini: I'll make a restatement. My name is Dan Baracchini, 4515 Halckett... Mayor:, 4515 what sir? Baracchini': 4515 Halckett. Ta loq Your name sir? a acchini: First name is Dan Last name is Baracchini. Taylor: Thank you. Baracchini: My property is just south of this development, but it is kiddy-corner. First I would like to thank the City Council and I.would like to thank the members of the Planning Commission. Going back to last September, I have gone to the Planning Commis- sion members, I think four times, and they have been very helpful in supplying information to me on the project. My main concern is the drainage because the property does have a sheet flow problem and my concern has been relayed to the Engineers and the Architects and the developer, and I believe that they have alleviated my con- cern by stating that they do intend to provide drainage that would not allow any sheet flow upon the adjacent property. So if that in, fact is the way the development will be planned, I am-.happy with that. I.also was concerned about the property line having the block wall and I mentioned my concern at the meeting of December 27th to the Architect and the Engineer and to the developer and at that time, they were very much in favor of the block wall. They seemed to have met that demand, or that concern. The concern about Turpin being opened for emergency traffic was one that I thought was going to be tough to do away with because of Fire Department requirements. I was happy to find out that in fact will not occur, and that there will be an improvement there because of the block wall. The.devel- opment of the property, the 12 homes, providing the additional play area is a positive point because these.homes will have children in them and they will need places to play. It would be nice if it would be economically feasible to put 8 homes in there or 9 homes, but I think the selling price as it is now stated at $180,000 Wong: $150,000 to $160,000. Barracchini: Yes, the $160,000 starts to get a little high for that area of Rosemead. If it were to go to 8 homes, the economical feasibility would be to price these homes out of the market. I think we are in a situation where we have to accept the best pos- sible alternative and if these particular concerns are met, the concerns that have been presented, I think that the homeowners that are primarily affected would be happy with the development. Mayor: You have made some very good points. Anyone else wishing to speak on this item? Your name and address please. Rolando Ong: My naive-is Rolando Ong and I live at 8503 Turpin St. I am the owner of lot 25. Well, I hope the Council will bear with me and I hope that they will understand. Among the neighbors living in the area, my family and I should be most.concerned since my pro- perty is located just a few feet away to the Planned Development. Well, upon learning about this development,the primary concern I have in mind deals with the possibility of opening Turpin Street, and the hassle we are going to have during construction time. Because Turpin Street is our main thoroughfare going to and coming from work. This is where most of the time we park are cars, and CM 1-13-87 Page #17 Ong continues: also the construction of a complete fence could divide the property line. Now, this worry, or the worry from these concerns were cleared, when Mrs. Wong and her company went to the meeting that Mrs. Weidemann is talking about and made clear to us that Turpin Street will not be touched at all. The street will remain as planned in tact, and they are going to build a complete fence all the way to the border. Mayor: Block Wall? Ong: Block Wall. So with this intention,an exception made by the developer, I want to put on record that this exception they will do just in case this project will be approved. Because I know that we can rely on their statement probably and this development will improve and beautify the community. That's all, Mr. Mayor, thank you. Mayor: Any further comment on this? Alright, the developer has a chance for a rebuttal on any comment that was made at this point. Brief rebuttal and after that we will close the Public Hearing. Wong: I want to explain a little bit about the neighborhood meet- ing and the accusations by Mrs. Weidemann. My purpose in going to these neighborhood meetings and calling up the neighbors was just to understand what they want. I am very concerned with what they want.. Because I know they are going to live there, and I don't want them to feel that I came in just for a profit. I also got very emotionally involved.which I shouldn't as a businessman or a businesswoman with Mr. Richardsons family. I know Mr. Richard- son has three cancer surgeries and he is going to leave this world in a very short time. I feel that I want to do something for him. Not only about the development, but the moratorium ordered. Because I know that he needs the money and his mother needs the money. That is why I go out of my way-This to me is not a business venture any more. I say this is something very personal and it is getting to me. That is one of the reasons why I go to the neighborhood. meeting.twice to keep contacting with the neighbors. I tried to do and compromise whatever they want. Mayor: Let me ask you a question Mrs. Wong. Wong: Yes. Mayor: If'you were having some kind of.a function at your house, wouldn't you expect the people to be invited? Wong: Well, I had no intention of barging in that day.... Mayor: If you were asked to leave, would you leave gratiously or would you Wong: I was not...the neighbors want me to be there-most of the neighbors were at that meeting, they can speak for me'. I will say that after they had the neighborhood meeting, I was told to leave and I wanted to leave, but we could not leave because we lend that plan to Mrs. Weidemann to explain to her neighbors. We were told by the Architect to wait for the meeting to end to pick up the plans and go home, and deliver it back to his office the next day. That is why we stayed. So we did not hang around after conference start, we go to the living room.and wait. Mayor: Alright. Is that the end of your rebuttal? Wong: About the drainage problem, maybe the architect and my engineer wants to talk about it.to explain it. Whatever they want. Taylor: Mr. Mayor. How long have you been involved with the development or building like this? Wong: You mean my experience? Taylor.: Yes. Wong: This is my first time, and I own properties, but they are mostly apartments and shopping centers. This is my first building experience. CM 1-13-87 Page #18 • • Taylor: I have got to ask you some questions.that may seem personal, but there are some things that I have to get straightened out in my mind about certain things that have happened here. This is.your first project. Have you been involved with others, that have done these projects in the past? Wong: No. Taylor: Mrs. Kuo is your sister? Wong: Yes. Taylor: How long has she been in real estate? Wong: She has been in real estate for many years, but we have never worked together. Taylor: May I ask you your age? Wong: I am 30. Taylor: And your sister's age? Wong: I think she is 39 to 40. Taylor: She has•been in real estate how many years approximately? Wong: I think more than 10. Taylor: I am just curious about practices that go on as far as understanding the processes of hearings like this. When matters are brought before these bodies or Councils and such, the procedures that should be followed and certain things that should not be done. So that was the reason for some of those questions there. I still don't have the answer in my mind, but I had to ask to get some background information on procedures that have been handled. Had a couple of other questions, but I guess we need your architect to answer those. That is all I have of Mrs. Wong, Mr. Mayor. Mayor: Alright, thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak.before we close the public hearing? Taylor: I have some questions of the architect. The drainage. The discussion was that it is going to go west now to Earle Street. Eskuri: Yes, sir. They have acquired an easement so that they can either do it by gravity or pump the water out. Taylor: That puzzles me. Why would the pump be needed,because it seems to me that water drains southeast and all of a sudden you are going northwest. Mayor: I believe Mr. Taylor, that that was asked for at the request of the staff. Was that correct Norm? Taylor: But it goes back to the question that the residents had con- cerns about pump failure and who is going to be responsible. The CC & R's...it gets back to the fact, that who is going to.enforce those? Who is going to assess the collections on twelve different homeowners if the pump fails. Does everybody understand that to begin with? And what if they don't pay? Does the City have the authority in those CC & R's to go in and change the pump and put a lien on all the properties, a tax lien? Those are the things that we have to get resolved. We just can't come into the meeting and say this is what we will do, and find out it is pretty expensive and we'll just pass it on to the homeowners, and when they buy it that is when they find out. So those kinds of things, we have to get answers for, we don't have them tonight. Direnzi: I would like to address that question for you. Taylor: Go ahead. Direnzi: The CC & R's normally have provisions in them to give the homeowners association the right to take care of these repairs and assess the homeowners involved and even to place liens on the homes,. of owners that do not pay a special assessment. Page #19 Direnzi continues: If the City wants to see the specific language of that in the CC & R's, that could be provided for the examination by the City Attorney. If Councilman Taylor feels that even that is not sufficient, some additional language could be inserted to give the City the right to do that if the homeowners association fails to do it. Taylor: I think what we are up against is, if the homeowners do not.... it is the people on the south.-end of the project that will suffer..Of'your 12 houses and such, 8 to 10.on.the`north won't`.even know it. Everything would be going south and the surrounding neighborhood and such, it becomes their problem.if the pumps don't function and such. Then what.happens to the good faith of the resi- dents and the City, Commissions at large. Direnzi: O.K. Well, the ...that is the whole purpose of having a homeowners association, though. And the board of directors of an association is normally empowered to take care,of these items, generally, without a vote of the homeowners. Some specific items usually do re- quire a vote of the homeowners and in that case it is usually a majority vote that empowers the board of directors to take care of these things. Taylor: Mr. Mayor. Point of information. This gets down to some of this puzzling portions. How many developments have we had re- cently that we can recall, that are single family homes? I am not talking about condominiums, town houses, or air-rights or air-space or any of that. I am trying to recall how many R-1 family homes, tracts or developments where we have CC & R's for single family homes'. Kress: Several. Where there is a common driveway. Taylor: The common driveway. I know we have done those. Mayor: I think four or five, Mr. Taylor. The City Manager can answer that.. Taylor: But a flag lot you cannot sell the property off as R-1 residence. They remain under one ownership. We are kind of... Mr. Chicots is shaking his head. Chicots: Flag Lots could be individual homes. Taylor: They can be square footage-wise. What happens on a 11,000 sq. foot lot? How many homes can be built on there? Chicots: Depending on the Zoning. Taylor: If it-is zoned'R-1. Chicots: Probably two in a flag lot zoning. Taylor: Flag lot. 5,000 for the first one and 3,000... Chicots: 6,000 for the first one and 5000 for each additional. Taylor: If they sell them. Chicots: If you are going to develop a.flag lot development, you are talking about lots only Taylor: I am talking about putting on additional housing in back of your lot that is not for sale. Chicots: You mean like several units on one lot? Taylor: Yes, what is the requirement. Chicots: It just meets the standard for drainage. Taylor: What is the square footage to build an additional home behind an R-1? Chicots: One for every 6,000 sq. ft. CM 1-13-87 Page #20 A Taylor: Are you sure? Are you sure what you are saying? Chicots: You are talking about.... Taylor: I am talking about flag lot deep ordinance. Chicots: Deep Lot and Flag Lot are two different subjects. Taylor: O.K. What is a Flag Lot? Chicots: O.K. A Flag Lot is a parcel of land that is subdivided land that is owned by different owners. Taylor: O.K. What is a Deep Lot? Chicots: A Deep Lot is a.piece of property that is subdivided, not subdivided but, is divided for design purposes but is under one ownership. Taylor: Does this qualify for Deep Lot or Flag Lot? Chicots: It doesn't qualify for either. Taylor: What would it qualify for? Chicots: This is something similar to single lot line or,zero lot line standards. It has single family development standards plus it has the CC & R's to take care of the common areas. Taylor: O.K. Mr. Mayor, I know that we have developed a lot of Deep Lots in the City, and correct me if I am wrong, but it is 6,000 square feet for the first residence and is it 3,000 for the second? And I think you can put two on an R-1 or R-2? Chicots: A maximum of three. Taylor: A maximum of a three, and what I am puzzled here is that we are getting down to 2500 and 2970 sq. ft. We are putting in the small lots and we are circumventing the 5,000 or 6,000 sq. ft. requirement. That is what I find upsetting about it and if we do it for this property, then it is not fair to say, to the other property owners and such. We are setting a precedent that this is what we are going to do. We are going to downgrade all of the requirements. If you have enough property and you have got a large piece,. we eliminate the standards for you. If you only have a small lot, Flag Lot you can only put three on it, we are going to hold you to the requirements. And that is why it has got to go back to this Council. What are we going to do as far as development of these big lots, or these deep lots. Direnzi: Can I clarify that? What we are talking about is not a large lot that is all zoned R-1. Taylor: I understand that. You have an R-3 and an R-1. Direnzi: We are not asking for a total R-1 lot to be changed to P-D. Now the City's P-D requirements.allow lot sizes as small as 2000 or 2200 square feet. That is what:your existing P-D zone a1= lows. We are asking that instead of developing-an apartment pro- ject in front of this property and five or six homes in the rear, which would definitely require using Turpin for access to those single family homes. Access which is legally available, we are asking to rezone the entire property to provide a density that would be less than what is available under the current zoning. And that is where this piece of property is unique in that situa- tion. Because it does not have a single zone over the entire pro- perty. Mayor: Is that all Mr. Taylor? Taylor: Yes, that is fine. Thank you Mr. Mayor. Mayor: If there is no.further comment, thank you sir, at this point we will close the public hearing. The Public Hearing is now closed. Gentlemen.... CM 1-13-87 Page #21 C 0 Taylor: Well, Mr. Mayor, I think we all know this is a very sticky situation here. I would like to hear from the City Attorney as far as the voting options that each councilmember has. Do they have a right to vote "yes" "no" or must.they "abstain"? Bruesch: Mr. Chairman... Taylor: Excuse me, Mr. Kress.. Mayor: We would like to hear from Mr. Kress first, Mr. Bruesch. Kress: Well, I think it is only fair to disclose what we are talking about and some people in the audience may know.about it and some people may not. Mrs. Kuo who is not here this evening, met individually with three members of the City Council seeking their approval on the project, and at the time of those meetings, she tendered a check to each of those members of the Council. We, the Council has come forward and discussed that with the City At- torney and the City Manager, we have asked the District Attorney to investigate this matter. It is unclear at this time, who is involved. Whether Mrs. Kuo was acting on her own-those matters will come to light. Each member of the Council has either rejected or returned the check that was tendered. Each of those members has indicated to me that they feel at this point that the process has been tainted and that while the project itself may have some merit and has had staff approval, recommendation for approval, and Planning Commission support, at this point these kinds of tactics simply cannot be tolerated. And it is my understanding, Mr. Mayor those members of the Council who were approached, and that is every- one except Mr. Taylor, who I believe did not return telephone calls but he can indicate what his own status is. I believe each of those members of the Council who were.approached by Mrs. Kuo have indi- cated a desire to abstain from voting on this project at this time. You also have on your Agenda an Item III-C, the proposed moratorium which was requested by Councilman Taylor at the last meeting. For clarification, this was prepared, It has not been in effect for the past 30 days. It is up for action this evening. It is proposed for action this evening. It was prepared for a moratorium for a 45 day period and that period was chosen because that is the maxi- mum allowed by State Law without a Public Hearing. It can be re- newed for additional lengths of time after a Public Hearing. So if you chose to enact a moratorium on the issuance of permits within the specified area, that would be in effect for 45 days, at which time a Public Hearing would be held before this body, you can change the scope of the moratorium.,,-.You can extend the moratorium. All of the options would be there, but again, to . answer the question put, it is my understanding that three members of the Council wish to abstain on this matter and that would leave one person only, obviously, if that person, Councilmember, wanted to take action there would be no second and thus no action possible. on this matter. I don't know again, whether-the applicant and those others involved were aware of this. They may wish to voluntarily re- quest a continuance of this matter until there can be a cooling off period. I don't know. That is my understanding of the facts that transpired. Taylor Mr'. Mayor. Mayor: Mr. Taylor. Taylor: Right now, my problem is with the City Zoning and or:. Building Code requirements, and I didn't realize, I have to ad- mit that the comment was made that we are down to 2200-sq. ft. I think it is a disaster for the City. We talk about what is happening in Monterey Park, the overcrowding and the high density housing and such, and I think this moratorium, as far as imposing that, we need to seriously get back to the.Planning Commission because we can see what is happening. This plan is not as bad as it might be, but I am really concerned about when we start, as the plan'shows over there, when you start crowding the units in, three and four bedrooms and the park, that is referred to is a good token, but how many kids can play in one lot when you have got, I believe.. I am going to say half and half, how many CM 1-13-87 Page #22 • Taylor: How many three bedrooms? Six? Eskurii seven. Taylor: How many four bedrooms? Eskuri: Five. Taylor: So you've got five times four, twenty and seven times three is twenty-one. You've got...I am not saying that they are going to be filled, but you have got a potential of 40 bedrooms and if they have twenty children running around and'such...:It is not your problem, as far as the density goes, but it becomes the City's problem and it becomes the School's problems, it~becomes a safety problem. It is not your project that is causing the City problems but that is why it has got to go back to the Planning Commission. We have to take a serious look at what we are actually doing. Personally, I have to admit, I would like that project over condo- miniums or townhouses or apartments. We are down to the point now, what can we actually do about it? I think there is any action that we can take tonight. We can vote on this action or we can continue it for two weeks. Mayor: My problem and my concerns are yours, the very same as yours, as far as crowding is concerned. We should be ;able to look at places like Monterey Park and see what has- happened to, them and determine at this point that we don't want it to happen here. I think that is what we have striven to do. It is common knowledge that I won't vote for apartment, a condominium. I would vote for single family homes so everything should be.in proper per- spective and not close together. Otherwise, what have we gained but basically the same thing as we would with a condominium or an apartment. Secondly, I would like to go on with the fact that:I don't really feel that I can vote on this project at this time, based upon what has happened. Sunday morning I was approached. A lady parked across the street from my house and walked up the driveway and I looked and I said "no" it can't be, and I got in my car and started to move off and she was at my car window by that time. :Mrs. Kuo said she was determined to talk to me and I was hard to get a hold of. And I said yes, I move around town pretty fast, and that.'_I am going to meet a member of staff con- cerning the Vietnam Memorial, and this was the only time that I could meet with him and she was welcome to go along and I could talk to her afterwards. Which I did. During this conversation, I relayed to her that I thought it was pretty brassy that she would seek me out at my house and how did she found out where. I was. She told me how she found out where I was, after I told her I wouldn't have conversation with her unless she told.me. I have an unlisted number and I think that I deserve, like any one else the privacy of my home. I was concerned with that plus the fact that during this conversation, I was offered a check and I said "no thank you I don't need the check" and she said it was to help you with your campaign. I said I am not running now. I don't run for another year from April. She asked me three or four different times there. I said "no thank you I.don.'t need your check" and she said I would like to help, and I said if you want to help when the time comes, when I run again, and if you want to give me some physical help for a fund raiser, maybe I would consider that, but at this point, I don't need your money. At this point,I have seen some pretty. brassy things in my time on the Council and this was brassy, no doubt brassy. I just wondered what I am dealing with here and whether I can in good conscience vote on the project regardless of how good it is. If the people who are perpretating this project, do this kind of an act, I really would have a,-,problem from doing anything but abstaining tonight because of the.fact that she mentioned to me that it was not a bribe, but.the fact remains that the money was offered to me and that goes without saying. I couldn't in'.' good conscience vote on this project. Bruesch: Mr. Mayor. Mayor: Mr. Bruesch: CM 1-13-87 Page #23 s 0 Bruesch: Referring back to Mr. Taylor's comments about deep lots, flag lots and so-forth. In the very near future we'71-have:before'_ ' us'a new zoning ordinance which for about three months, I have gone over tooth and nail. I have noticed the zoning ordinance does have a bit more restrictive ideas about lot size.' In fact we don't have a Flag Lot ordinance any more, if I am not mistaken. One of the things I do notice in.the Planned Development, I think the idea of Planned Development is just this type of give and take that we see coming with the smaller lots and so forth and so on, but we need this, why not give that,up the number of lots, up the number of square feet in your thing. That is what your Planned Development is suppose to be. It is not supposed to be a develop- ment that comes in and say-h6re--,is-your development-papers and leave it. I'think this City Council and I'commend the Planning Commission too, as I have seen these Planned Development come in, there has been this type of give and take. There was this type of give and take in this development. I saw very asserted efforts on the part of the architect and the engineer in this development to make the needed changes, the wanted and desired changes. Even to upping the lot size a bit, and taking off one of the units and making the turn-around. I believe there was room for more of these type of agreements. I looked at the Richardsons family, and I see that they are in dire circumstances. I see that and I feel for them and I know what they are going through. I have been through very much the same situation.myself. But I too, have been compromised. I, too, have had my integrity questioned. I, too, have had somebody uninvited come to my house. I, too, have told that person that is not the way I operate and that is not the way a business will oper- ate in the City of Rosemead as long as I have anything to say about it. I am sorry if I come on strong about this, but this has been a tenant of my moral beliefs and political beliefs all of my life. A public official is not here to be bought. And any body who tries to do that with me in this City, may as well just pick up and pack up and go away because I will ,be.... Mrs. Wong you can tell your sister that I do not want to. see her at my home or on my street or any where near me from this point on. Mayor: Point of information, Mrs. Wong? Point of information. Mrs. Wong were you aware that your sister was out trying to pass out checks to the City Council? Wong: I want to answer with my attorney. Mayor: O.K. Because she and I wasn't aware that she had offered anybody-but-me a check which- I>turned'down at that time, but she would have offered all four of the City Council a check it she could have got to the fourth one,and'l..just wondered if. you were aware of what she was doing. And you say that you can't answer at this time. Wong: Not without my attorney. Mayor: O. K. Mr. Richardson. Richardson: On behalf of the Richardson family I would like to go on record as saying that action was not ours, with our know- ledge or anything like that. Mayor: Mr. Richardson, I am sure that never entered any member of the City Council's mind. The Richardson family has been well respected in this community and it would surprise the devil out of me if that were to be the case. I certainly have compassion for your situation, Mr. Richardson, but you can understand what the feelings of the City Council are at this point. Taylor: Mr. Mayor. Mayor: Mr. Taylor.. Taylor: The only recommendation that I can make tonight is that this be continued for two weeks. CM 1-13-87 Page #24 Lupe Richardson: Can we still put our land up for sale? Taylor: Yes, you can put your land up for sale. Was that your question? Mayor: Yes. Taylor: Your land could be sold at any time. That has nothing to do with.it, but there are other things that you,.were not aware of tonight and it does compromise an public agency as far as what this City Council ...what is the integrity of this Council? I have to give credit where credit is due, and the three Councilmembers, I think that the City ought to be proud that they were not bought off. That's the only way to put it. The thing about it and such, call it a campaign contribution, call it anything you want, but three days before the meeting that is not the way it is done. That is why I asked Mrs. Wong some of the background that was necessary. It is embarrassing. It hurts the Richardson family as far as what can we do. I would like to see something resolved. I want you to sell your property. I want it to be developed and such, and none of the residents, I don't have one thing listed here that they are objecting to. So the project as it stands, it is not so much the way it is being presented; the residents are in agreement to it. That is what is hard about it. The residents for the City of Rose- mead by and large are not in favor of high density housing. That is what the whole issue is. How much are we going to allow to be put on lots, and you have a unique lot right now. But what we are saying is that we are going to allow discretion and cut our require- ments in half, from 6,000 to 3,000. And it is true, maybe the code does allow that right now, but that is not really what the residents in the entire City your one parcel, next week we.will take another parcel and so it goes on week after week. Well, we know, this Council knows that by and large. the City does not want high density housing. And that is high density housing when you start cramping in 3,000 sq. ft. It is not condominiums or apartments, but it is narrowing down the lot sizes where there is just... just picture those houses where there is five cars surrounding each one of them. Sure at Christmas time, you can't just have just five guests. Somebody is going to lose their parking place and then it overflows onto the street. We have more of a problem than just approving this one project, it is a Citywide thing that we have to resolve. I am sorry that the moratorium has come at this time.or this particular project. But somewhere this Council has to draw a line and say well, when are we going to start. And that's where we are tonight, and that's all that I have Mr. Mayor, as far as the two weeks, let's bring it back with a little cooling off period and then see if ,you want to take another shot at it. Bruesch: Mr. Mayor. Mayor: Mr. Bruesch: Bruesch: Again I want to reiterate that I am in favor of the Planned Development Process and I think I made that'very clear. I think that in a situation as is facing us with other parcels in the City. A developer has a particular idea. A City Council has a particular philosophy. Right now, as the make-up of the City Council is now, we want to see open spaces. We want to see large lots. Maybe it is not quite what a developer wants, but there is a give and take process which can take place in a public meeting in the halls of the Council with the help of staff. You give a little, we give a little. We.know what your thinking pro- cess is and you know what our process of thinking is. That is what it should be, and up until Saturday that is what it was on this particular project. Mayor: Is that all Mr. Bruesch? Bruesch: Yes. Mayor: Mr. Cleveland. Cleveland: Mr. Mayor it has been my intention to vote for this project and I had fully made up my mind to vote for it, and had it not been for the mistake that Mrs. Kuo made, I certainly would have voted for this project tonight. But the method that they CM 1-13-87 Pg.#25 Cleveland continues: used in order,to induce me to cast a vote after I had already made up my mind, was not the kind of inducement that I would ever accept and I think that they should very definitely realize their mistake and make no future efforts to bribe the City Council of the City of Rosemead. Be- cause I won't take their money and I know that there is nobody else on the Council that would take it. But,it rather hurts me to see a project of this kind. go down the drain, because of some action by the developers and I sincerely hope that this meeting tonight will-reflect on all future developers in the City of Rose- mead..- who come_to'us_:wit h:an honest project, one that we can make a decission on and we might even go a little overboard and make a few exceptions, if your project is good.and if your efforts are honest. So don't ever bring me another project and hand me a check to pass it because it will never happen my life. Taylor: Mr. Mayor. Mayor: Mr.. Taylor. Taylor: Who is going to be hurt by the denial of the project? Mayor: I would say, first of all the Richardsons, because they have a very definite problem and I certainly have compassion with it, but they are going to be hurt it that is the case. I would say this might hurt the credibility of a lot of good people be- cause this shouldn't even have happened. I feel that there was a challenge to my integrity. So I am not happy with it. I just am happy for one thing that happened tonight, and I think it has been said loud and clear in this council chamber tonight. We can be talked to. We can be badgered, but we cannot be bought. And that's it. Taylor: Mr. Mayor, I am still in the awkward position of...do I personally have to say, no. Absolutely no more lots of this nature. It just happens to be the Richardson family are the victims of timing and circumstances in several ways. What happened to the financing of it, and what we as the Council are doing as far as revising the building codes and such. And I do feel uncomfortable in the situation. I think it is a pretty good project, and I have a hangup and I think that we need to make a decision, but not tonight. We can't, but at the next meeting, I would like something back on the Agenda, that we are going right back to the Planning. Commission with this moratorium and get.this corrected. If we compromise at 4000 sq. ft. on a Planned Development. But I don't think that a Planned Development should have the protection of jeopardizing our single family residences by saying O. K. we will let you go to 2200 sq. ft. But I don't feel comfortable penalizing the Richard- sons tonight because of what has happened and because of something that we have to do as a Council. So if we put it off for two weeks, what have we gained and what have we lost? Richardson: You are going to put it off? Taylor: Do you want a "no" tonight? You will get it. Don't get me wrong, but that is what we are actually saying. It is going to be "no" tonight. I am sorry Mr. Mayor. Mayor: Mr. Richardson. Richardson: My sister-in-law when she made her presentation earlier had indicated that the escrow had been cancelled with Mrs..Wong be- cause we have ...the Richardson family has not received a dime. My question is, if the same project is brought to you by the Richardson family and another developer, would it pass? That, is something that I would like to take back to the family and we are going to talk to an attorney tomorrow about ending our association with:... obviously the piece of property requires a similar type project. Mayor: The answer to that is what we said,tonight. Are we building blight?. Are these things too close? This is a determination that will have to be made: To give you a blanket answer and I think that the Council will concurr with this, to give you a blanket answer and say yes, you can put the same project on that same piece of property, I cannot give you that answer. That is a Council decision that will have to be discussed. As far as another developer, I cannot say to do it or not do it. I can just say that I am uncomfortable with the present situation. CM 1-13-87 Pg #26 ! 0 Bruesch: I will give you the same answer that I gave Mrs. Kuo. You know, again it is a give and take process. You jiggle a line here and we jiggle a line there. You give us a few more sq..ft. here and.we give you a few more sq. ft. there. We can't give you a flat out yes or no right now. I am uncomfortable with the small lot size. R-1 lot sizes under the new proposed zoning ordinance is going to be not 5000 but 6000 sq. ft. And there- fore, your lots here will be less than half of that size. What if they had..... put these houses in a R-1 Zone in 30 years, they would be in such non-compliance that you couldn't build on to the houses, garage or so forth. Who knows. Are we going to saddle people buying houses now, 20 or 25 years down the road with some- thing that they can not use or develop on their own. This is what we have to think about too. Taylor: Mr. Mayor. Point of information to what Mr. Bruesch is saying. His point is well-taken because in the southern part of the City, the County requirements, we have 25 ft. wide lots and people ...you think about it right now, 25 ft. why that is unheard of, but his point is, we are going down to 2500 sq. ft. for a house on the lot. What is the difference if it is 25 ft. wide by 100 ft. deep, 2500 sq. ft., and that's what a lot of the lots are. 25 ft. wide and 100 ft. deep. They are not buildable according to City standards and we will have a project here. If that was built, it would be here for 40 or 50 years. That is how long houses stay on an average. Go ahead Mr. Mayor. Mayor: I think we have run this thing around the clock a couple of times, gentlemen, what is your pleasure? Bruesch: I move that we table the public hearing and have it re- opened two weeks from now. Is that legal, Mr. Kress? Kress: Continue the matter for decision. The Public Hearing has been closed and the Council has indicated an unwillingness to vote at this time due to the circumstances. If no action is taken this matter would remain on the table and would be on the next agenda. Bruesch: Mr. Kress, a point of information. In defference to the Richardsons, at that time would the Mayor have the prerogative to reopen the Public Hearing. Mayor: There is no reason for a Public Hearing, Mr. Bruesch. We have already determined all the pros and cons here. I don't see any reason for a Public Hearing. Am I correct, Mr. City Attorney? Kress: Yes, the matter has been well aired and certainly the Council always has the opportunity to ask questions after the hearing is closed. All those persons who are interested in this matter who are still here at this late hour, are certainly invited to come and see what transpires -at .the_next meeting:' This `Council has never been one to close off input, but I agree with the Mayor that the matter has been well aired and there is no necessity for re- opening and continuing the hearing. Taylor: Mr. Mayor.. Mayor: Mrs. Weidemann, you have a brief comment? Weidemann: Correct me if I am wrong, but if there was not a new developer who it would be, wouldn't you have to extend them that courtesy of a public hearing. If there were valid-concerns,be it the residents or beat a new developer. I am being objective to this, listening to what is going on. I could see your statement if it were going back to Wong. Mayor: We have got a project that was basically alright and we know what your needs are. Weidemann: Oh,, I don't mean me, I mean the new developer. Mayor: We know what the needs are in in mind we can deal with anything that point. 0. K. Knowing what the needs can be informed, but to have a public reason for it. that area and with this would come forward at this are. I don't have a...You hearing, I don't see any CM 1-13-87 Page #27 Weidemann: Well, I was just concerned if it were a new developer. Mayor: We know now what has to be done. Weidemann: I also would like to take advantage of this opportunity and hope that Jim's son, Jim Richardson understands, that all we are:..: 'because I sensed some bad vibes when I came in because I felt that she was told negative things about me. I do not take it personally, because I am Linda's friend. You know you, yourself and your family, your children, your grandfather, who it was my pleasure to stay and take care of him and leave him home at seven at night and help him with his diabilities before he died. Mayor: I am sure that the Richardson family is aware... Weidemann:. Oh, they are aware.. All that we are asking is. to please;-have less'; homes built to meet all the concerns. Mayor: Thank you, Mrs. Weidemann. Taylor: Mayor, I'd ask that.... Eskuri: Can i say something? Mayor: Yes. Eskuri: I was quite shocked by what has transpired. I had no idea. My designs are based on the standards of the City and I would like.sto`talk over the standards if 'they have to be modified. I want to design my project to be the best I can. And that is the only way I work. I am totally surprised about this and shocked. I am totally against it. If my projects. can't go on their own merits, then I'm sunk. I do my best to do the best project. Mayor: Thank you. Direnzi: I am Al Direnzi,again; I wanted to go on record that I had no knowledge of this. It is very important to me to maintain my own integrity on how I do things. We have other projects in the City of Rosemead we are working on and we intend to do other projects. As from aside from this, I do want to say to the Council addressing the concerns of Councilman Taylor, if you don't like your codes the way they are, change them, and please don't make subjective disapprovals on codes that you don't like. It is very hard for us as Engineers and Architects to plan these projects. . Taylor: Did you understand my point, though? Is that what I said tonight? That we need to change this..it is a victim of circum- stances. That somewhere in a city of 14,000 homes there is going to be a cross point where somebody happens to be presenting a pro- ject. Enough is enough. Direnzi: I understand that, but you also need to keep in mind when you cut the project off in mid-stream, you are cutting off. the expenditure of a lot of money in engineering and architectural expenses. Taylor: Do you know what goes on in this City Hall every day? There is not a day in here that there are not projects going on. Not a single day. It is.nothing personal. It is not this pro- ject. Direnzi: All.I am saying is that we feel a lot of frustration from the planning point of view. If we don't have something solid that we can go on.... Taylor: Mr. Mayor. Mayor: Let me ask you a question-Do you think that the City would have put you through this if we realized that we had a problem there? We are consistently trying to up-grade this type of situations. We have just gone-.through our whole Zoning Ordinance. We are going to find problems, very definitely, even after we do that, but we are going to.correct them as we go along. That is the only answer that I can give you. I am going to tell you.very.definitely, there is no reason f'or,. this City to say o. k. we will fix it the next time, pg. or the time after that. We are going to catch it as it comes up and p28 do what we have to with it. We owe that to the people of this town. . • Councilman Taylor requested that this item be placed in the minutes verbatim and there will probably be some legal action taken anyway. There being no objection, it was so ordered. B. PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER THE ADOPTION OF AN ORDINANCE REQUIRING CERTAIN RESTAURANTS FEATURING PRIMARILY TAKE- OUT FOOT TO CLOSE FROM MIDNIGHT TO 5:00 A. M. The Mayor stated that the Public Hearing was now open and inquired if there was anyone who wanted to speak. Juan Nunez, 2702 Del Mar, stated that the reason for this ordinance was Tommy's and it is closed now and is under new manage- ment and inquired if the new management would have to follow new guidelines. Frank G. Tripepi, City Manager, stated that that property has been taken back by property owner of the Shopping Center, and will close every night at midnight. Juan Nunez inquired if that type of restaurant has to provide restroom facilities? Mayor Imperial stated that if it is a take-out restaurant it is not required to have restroom facilities. Jim Guerra, Building Official, stated that the current Build- ing Code of Rosemead does not require public restrooms and are re- quired for employees only; however, there is an appendix in the new up-coming code that will establish the guidelines for public facilities but at this time the-current`codes don't require a public bathroom. Juan Nunez stated that with Tommy's the lack of restrooms was very noticeable, and the people would use the entire neigh- borhood as a latrine. Frank G. Tripepi, City Manager, stated that the types of people who frequented Tommy's would not have. used restroom facilities even if they had them. Mayor Imperial stated that he agreed with Mr. Nunez in that if there is a business, there should be restroom facilities for the public available. Mayor Imperial inquired if anyone else wanted to speak on this item. No one came forward. The Mayor closed the Public Hearing. Robert Kress, City Attorney, stated that there was no action to be taken on this item. Councilman Bruesch stated that he would like to have the item kept on file. III. LEGISLATIVE A. RESOLUTION NO. 87-1 - CLAIMS & DEMANDS RESOLUTION NO. 87-1 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD ALLOWING CERTAIN CLAIMS & DEMANDS IN THE SUM OF $859,264.22 NUMBERED 10307-10328/00001-00053/1831 THROUGH 18475 MOTION BY COUNCILMAN TAYLOR, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN CLEVELAND that Resolution No. 87-1 be adopted. Vote resulted: UPON ROLL CALL ALL COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT VOTED AYE. The Mayor declared said motion duly carried and so ordered. Councilman Bruesch requested back-up information on Warrant Nos'. 0012, 0014, 0051, 00053, 10317 and 10318. CM 1-13-87 Page 1129 • 0 B. RESOLUTION NO. 87-2 - ORDERING THE CANVASS OF THE SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE MADE BY CITY CLERK RESOLUTION NO. 87-2 A RESOLUTION OF THE'CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD CALIFORNIA, ORDERING THE CANVASS OF THE SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 1987, BE MADE BY CITY CLERK MOTION BY COUNCILMAN TAYLOR, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN BRUESCH that Resolution No. 87-2 be adopted. Vote resulted: UPON ROLL CALL ALL COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT VOTED AYE. The Mayor declared said motion duly carried and so ordered. C. URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 593 - IMPOSING A MORATORIUM ON ISSUANCE OF BUILDING PERMITS FOR CERTAIN USES OF PRO-' PERTIES WITHIN SPECIFIED AREAS OF THE CITY AND DIRECT- ING PLANNING COMMISSION TO INITIATE A STUDY REGARDING PROPER ZONING ORDINANCE NO. 593 URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD IMPOSING A MORATORIUM ON ISSUANCE OF BUILDING PERMITS FOR CERTAIN USES OF PROPERTIES WITHIN SPECIFIED AREAS OF THE CITY AND DIRECTING THE PLANNING COMMISSION TO INITIATE A STUDY WITH RESPECT TO THE PROPER ZONING OF THE SUBJECT PROPERTIES MOTION BY COUNCILMAN BRUESCH, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN TAYLOR that Ordinance No. 593 be adopted. Vote resulted: UPON ROLL CALL ALL COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT VOTED AYE. The Mayor declared said motion duly carried and so ordered. Councilman Taylor requested that staff be directed to present a list of similar projects of this nature that are in this City now and this list to be prepared by the next Council Meeting. He stated that he felt that the General Plan shows the areas being discussed which are down zoned from high density to low density. There being no objection, it was so ordered. D. RESOLUTION NO. 87-3 - RESOLUTION OF INTENTION TO VACATE PORTION OF FALLING LEAF AVENUE (PARCEL MAP #15676) Councilman Taylor commented that the parcel map included in the packet does not show the project adequately, and inquired what was actually going to be on this parcel: Steve Wells, developer, stated that the proposed property is two separate lots and the preliminary site designs indicate that if that one foot was granted then four detached homes could be built on each of the two lots, with a total of eight homes. Councilman Taylor inquired what the size of the lots would be. Mr. Wells stated that would be 6000 sq. ft on the first lot and 3000 sq. ft. on each subsequent lot, which would be on the rear of the 6000 sq. ft. lot. Councilman Taylor stated that then by giving one foot off the front, then three homes could be put on the back instead of two. Mr. Wells stated that was correct. Councilman Bruesch inquired if.t.hese units would be apart- ments or.single units. Mr. Wells stated that they would be detached single residences with attached garages with private yards, and be primarily residential rental structures. family would CM 1-13-87 Page #30 RESOLUTION NO. 87-3 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD EXPRESSING ITS INTENTION TO VACATE A PORTION OF FALLING LEAF AVENUE MOTION BY COUNCILMAN TAYLOR, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN CLEVELAND that Resolution No. 87-3 be adopted. Vote resulted: UPON ROLL CALL ALL COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT VOTED AY E. The Mayor declared said motion duly carried and so ordered. Mr. &*Mrs. Daniel Gutierrez, owners of the property at 2316 Falling Leaf, requested the vacation of the one foot of land... Mayor Imperial stated that this had been acted upon. Robert Kress, City Attorney, stated that the Hearing has been set for February 10, 1987 and the Resolution of Intention has been adopted and the matter will be decided on February 10, 1987. Councilman Bruesch inquired of Mr. Rubel, if this street would still be a full width street with the one foot vacation. Mr. Rubel stated that it would be. IV. CONSENT. CALENDAR Councilman Taylor inquired about Item H and wondered if the City had a standard "Hold Harmless Agreement" with Willdan as.far as any Engineering and Services provided. He did not want the City to be named because it is on State property that is being dealt with. Councilman Bruesch stated that on Item H he would like a memo explaining an Air Space Lease. There being,no objection,it was so ordered. Councilman Taylor inquired about Item J and commented that in the past there have been thefts in City Hall, and inquired what was in the Bid Specs regarding theft liability. Frank G. Tripepi, City Manager, stated that they are re- quired by Law to be fully bonded, and that had been one of the problems with the low bidder who was not able to provide the. necessary bonding. Councilman:,Taylor inquired where it stated that it in the Contract.. Donald Wagner, Assistant City Manager, stated that it was on page 4 of the Bid Specs, Section 8.0. Councilman Taylor stated that he also had a question mark at Section 8.1 and inquired if 8;2 was the Section-regarding the Labor and Indemnity Bonds and if this is were thefts would be covered. He inquired if the company had submitted those bonds. Donald Wagner stated that they had. CC-A REQUEST AUTHORIZATION TO ATTEND 5TH ANNUAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PLANNING CONFERENCE IN SOLVANG, JANUARY 22-24, 1987. CC-B REQUEST AUTHORIZATION TO SOLICIT BIDS FOR ROSEMEAD HANDY- MAN PROGRAM/23RD BID PACKAGE CC-C REQUEST.AUTHORIZATION TO SOLICIT BIDS FOR DEFERRED LOAN PROGRAM/MACALUSO AT 4516 DELTA CC-D AWARD BID FOR HOME IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM/PINEIRA AT 8802 GUESS STREET CM 1-13-87 Page #31 CC-E APPROVAL OF 1987-88 BUDGET CALENDAR CC-F AUTHORIZATION REQUESTED TO ATTEND EMPLOYEES RELATIONS INSTITUTE.IN SAN FRANCISCO, FEBRUARY 26 & 27, 1987 CC-G AUTHORIZATION TO ATTEND ANNUAL CITY MANAGERS LEAGUE MEETING IN MONTEREY, FEBRUARY 18-20, 1987 CC-H MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING--SAN GABRIEL BLVD., OVER- CROSSING AT THE ROUTE 60 FREEWAY CC-I APPROVAL OF FINAL PARCEL MAP #17240/3037 PROSPECT CC-J APPROVAL OF CITY HALL BUILDING MAINTENANCE CONTRACT MOTION BY COUNCILMAN TAYLOR, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN CLEVELAND that the foregoing items on the Consent Calendar be approved. Vote resulted: UPON ROLL CALL ALL COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT VOTED AYE. The Mayor declared said motion duly carried and so ordered. V. MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION & ACTION A. SETTING A DATE FOR PLANNING COMMISSION INTERVIEWS Councilman Taylor stated that he would not have a problem with setting the date for the interviews for one of the alternate Tuesday nights. Mayor Imperial stated that February 3, 1987 at 7:00 p.m. would.be an appropriate night to have the Planning Commission. Interview Process. There being no objections, it was so ordered. B. AUTHORIZATION TO PROCEED WITH NOTIFICATION OF FALCON COMMUNICATION TO TAKE CORRECTIVE ACTION CONCERNING FRANCHISE VIOLATIONS Councilman Cleveland stated that this was merely requesting authorization to send the attached letter to them. Frank G.' Tripepi, City Manager, stated that was correct and this authorizes the City Attorney to sign the letter and to send it to Falcon. MOTION BY COUNCILMAN CLEVELAND, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN BRUESCH that authorization be granted to the City Attorney to sign the letter to Falcon and send it. Vote resulted: UPON ROLL CALL ALL COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT VOTED AYE. The Mayor declared said motion duly carried and so ordered. VII. MATTERS FROM OFFICIALS A. Councilman Taylor requested a copy of the report that was referred to in the We-Tip Program regarding the Senior Citizens. Mayor Imperial directed staff to do so. Councilman Bruesch commented that since the Budget Calendar had been approved, he wanted to remind staff of the request that he had made regarding an itemized list of the Emergency Appropria- tions, and also wanted to keep track of the current cost of the Sheriff's Department as opposed to an in-house Police Department. He wanted to see a cost comparison when the ..Sheriff's Contracts are being considered at Budget time. Mayor Imperial stated that surrounding Cities with Police Departments can be checked into in order to compare costs, and this will be presented to all the Councilmembers. There being no further action to be taken, the City Council Meeting was adjourned to January 27, 1987 at 8:00 p. m. APPROVED: City CVLerk ~~sy' CMPa1-1 1 ae3# 32