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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJULY 22,2002 I I I 0110- :5 0 012-72bz,. (' 44:0150 CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS ARE TAPE RECORDED AND ON FILE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK ROLL CALL 1. 1NTERv1EWS' .APPOINTMENTS T01l-iE PLANNING COMMISSIQ\J DI~o- sO ~f MINUTES CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING July 22, 2002 The Arcadia City Council met in an Adjourned Regular Meeting on Monday, July 22, 2002 at 3:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers Conference Room for the purpose of conducting interviews/appointments to the Planning Commission. PRESENT: ABSENT: Councilmembers Chang, Kovacic, Segal, Wuo and Marshall None AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION None. The Council conducted interviews of the following applicants for the three vacant positions on the Planning Commission. Mary DouQhertv. former Arcadia School Board Member, stated in part that she is a person with creative ideas. fair and impartial and willing to study and learn. Enjoys listening to people and will try to address their concerns without jumping to any conclusions. In her opinion there is a need for affordable housing in Arcadia and this issue should be on the City Councii's priority list. She was strongly against the development of the Anoakia properly and felt that this was a detriment to the City, but that is gone now and it is time to move on. With regard to signage she felt that it should be very clear from the signs that this is an English speaking community, and the use of any other language other than English should be reduced. She would favor a rail station in Arcadia, also a local transportation system that would transport people to the various locations from the station. Her three specific areas of concerns included: affordable housing; lack of parking in the Redevelopment area and development of the Live Oak area. David Holt. an investment advisor - money manager, has lived in Arcadia for many yearS', always taking advantage of what the City has to offer. Now that he is retired and has time, feels that it is payback time... He is a Certified Dispute Resolution professional (Mediation/Arbitration) with a national and regional Stock Exchange, Los Angeles District Attorney and Los Angeles County Bar Association. Mr. Holt believes the Planning Commission is part of a dispute resolution process and is based on some prospect of reaching a fair agreement between parties, the City and the taxpayers. Mr. Holt feels that new homes should be compatible with the rest of the neighborhood. He is not biased, however, building codes have to be taken into consideration. He is comfortable with Arcadia's building standards. He does not have any problem with commercial signs. Frank Hsu, an ArchitecUProject Manager, a managing Design Consultant for the City of Los Angeles. Mr. Hsu thinks Arcadia is a great family oriented community. He fell, with all the demographic changes and the growing population in the City, affordable housing is very much needed. Mr. Hsu believes that the Planning Commission should oversee development of the 1 7/22/02 44:0151 areas that do not have Architectural Design Review. Some homeowners purchased their properties in south Arcadia because there was not an ADR. He does not think that the I Planning Commission should dictate the architectural style of certain buildings, however, they should set a guideline and encourage designers to provide design that is compatible with the surrounding areas. He believes that revisiting the design elevation could minimize the over powering effect of buildings. He is in favor of maintaining consistency in the neighborhood and the Floor Area Ratio (FAR). Mr. Hsu was employed with the City of Monterey Park when they started building more condominiums without having an overall master plan. In his opinion the problems that they have today are due to lack of overall planning. He felt that master plans are beneficial for the City and It is good to have an overall picture of what the City is capable of or can accommodate before making any more expansions. James Kelly. Director of Regulatory Compliance, Southern California Edison Company, stated that working with the Santa Anita Village Homeowners' Association and a member of the Architectural Review Board has enabled him to deal with a certain project that was not suitable for the area as presented. However, ARB members actually worked with the homeowners and developers in a sensitive way in response to their needs and it became one of the nicest homes built in that area. He believes that Architectural Review Boards and Homeowners' Associations can work as powerful tools for the citizens. He felt that having Homeowners' Associations and ARB's would be beneficial for the southern part of Arcadia as well, but that has to be decided by the people and the City cannot mandate this issue. Mr. Kelly has frequently appeared before a number of state and federal agencies in his job capacity and is not aware of any pending litigation between the City and any environmental agency. He strongly supports the FAR (Floor Area Ratio), he believes it enables the City to maintain a sense of community in terms of proportion and scale. With regard to commercial signs and the City's sign ordinance Mr. Kelly felt that in order to build a sense of community with a City like Arcadia with its rapidly changing demographics, is to try to seek a solution in balancing and I serving the need of new residents as well as old. He thinks there should be a way to allow both English and Chinese languages to be displayed. His area of concerns included setbacks and secondary residences in back yards. Ram Kumar, Kumar Consulting Services, TrafficJTransportation Planning and Engineering. The goal of the Planning Commission should be to assist in establishing and achieving a vision for development in Arcadia. It is the role of Planning Commissioners to look at the City's vision and see how a particular case meets that vision. Currently there are no laws on the book and the City's vision Is not clearly identified to reflect "mansionization", therefore, there is nothing the Planning Commission can do to prohibit this issue. Mr. Kumar strongly believes that the signs have to be in English. He felt that Floor Area Ratio (FAR) does not give the City the kind of standards to either allow or not allow "mansionization". If Arcadians call Arcadia a community of homes, then most of our homes sould be similar in character. There cannot be a sl11all 650 sq. fl. home on one end and a 15,000 sq. fl. home on the other end of the same block. He felt architectural controls are important in order to set the language for development of buildings. Mr. Kumar expressed his support of the Gold Line. Promoting the Gold Line through Arcadia will reduce traffic on the 210 freeway. Without expanding the traffic and transportation capacity the City cannot grow. Craiq Lucas, 853 Balboa Drive, long-term resident of Arcadia; legal education included land- use law; community-wide experience; training and experience in legal analysis interpretation; knowledge and history of City's planning and development; rebuilt home through architectural review and the City buiiding department; service on the Village Association, Architectural Review Board. I 2 7/22/02 ,'....~/'),"~" ~. ,. "~,' "...,...... II" 44:0152 I Mr. Lucas sees as the objectives and goals of the advisory commission: To provide competent review of land use and development proposals for compatibility with the City General Plan, zoning regulations; to provide input to City Council concerning land use and development proposals and to undertake such tasks as directed by the City Council. Mr. Lucas listed special qualities as objectivity, impartiality, experience, and sense of confiicts, knowledge of community, and depth of awareness to emerging economic and development factors existing in the community. Gordon Maddock, 45 Christina Street, President of Baldwin Real Estate Services, thirty years of residential land development and new home sales; seven years as land surveyor and civil . engineer designer; twenty years activity with the California Association of Realtors Land Use, Environmental and Legislative Committee. Mr. Maddock sees as the objectives and goals of this advisory Planning Commission: To analyze proposed projects for compliance with zoning, building and general plan guidelines and forward recommendations to the City Council. Review existing and new regulations and recommend change to the City Council. Mr. Maddock would value architectural review throughout the City. He would bring to the Planning Commission years of knowledge in real estate, building, development and sales and has worked with City staff and is familiar with City processes. With respect to the sign age, he does not mind if Chinese characters are on the signs. I Lila MorQan, 904 West Huntington Drive, No.8, public relations with Kress-Morgan and Associates. Ms. Morgan stated in part that she has had extensive experience within public relations and has worked as a business manager for a contractor. She is not aware of any signs in the City that bother her. Has lived in Arcadia since 1988. Ms. Morgan expressed concern that homes being built do not have yards. She likes the small town feeling of Arcadia and she is proud of this City, although, she is against large buildings on little lots. Former Executive Vice-President/General Manager of the Hawthorne Chamber of Commerce. Has extensive background in managing, negotiating, consulting and fund raising. Her career includes journalism, business development, product promotion and public/media relations, as well as a public relations consultant. Jack Tsao, 1147 Altura Terrace, City of Los Angeles Chief Planning and Research Analyst. The Planning Commission considers the Generai Plan and specific plan amendments, zone changes, and major subdivisions, the goal is to keep the General Plan or Master Plan current and consistent with zoning codes. The special quality that Mr. Tsao feels that he can bring to the Arcadia Planning Commission: compassion for the well-being of the community; vision for the future of the community; . objectives for the benefit of the community; dedication for the harmony of the community; and accountability for the prosperity of the community; are some of his vision and characteristics that he will diligently and willingly bring forward to this Planning Commission and the community at-large. Pujie ZhenQ, 1201 Ewell Lane, consultant, engineering with Dream Ware Technologies, Inc. stated his background in corporate governance, consulting, information technology, literature and exercise, qualifies him for the selected commission. I Mr. Zheng, sees as the objectives and goals of the advisory commission as service to the community and to increase the quality of life for all residents in Arcadia and understand concerns and problems and working out win-win solutions. These are the special qualities that he can bring to the Planning Commission. 3 7/22/02 ADJOURNMENT (PLig..lst6,2002) ATTEST: "/ Jl 44:0153 At 8:30 p.m. the Adjourned Regular Meeting of the Arcadia City Council ADJOURNED to Tuesday August 6, 2002 at 7:00 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers for a Regular Meeting to conduct the business of the City Council and any Closed Session necessary to discuss personnel, litigation matters and evaluation of properties. '.. 4 7/22/02 / I I I