CC MINS 19750426 ADJ RANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL
Adjourned Regular Meeting
April 26, 1975
The meeting was called to order at 8:00 a.m. at the City Offices, 30940 Hawthorne
Boulevard. Roll call was answered as follows:
PRESENT: Councilmen Gunther Buerk, Ken Dyda, Francis D. Ruth, Robert Ryan
and Mayor Marilyn Ryan
ABSENT: None
Also present were City Manager Leonard G. Wood, Planning Director Sharon Hightower,
Acting City Attorney Pat Coughlan, Administrative Services Officer George Wunderlin,
and Gary Weber and Larry Davis of the Planning staff.
COUNCIL BRIEFING ON Mayor Ryan opened the meeting and said the
THE DRAFT GENERAL PLAN format should begin with a presentation of
the Plan so that a discussion of content could
follow with identification of what the next
steps should be.
The Planning Director said the Draft General Plan was divided into five elements: namely,
the Natural Environment Element; the Socio/Cultural Element; the Urban Environment Element;
the Land Use Plan; and the Implementation and Fiscal Element. Mrs. Hightower added that
the Plan had been designed to integrate the elements of a general plan with the required
environmental impact report. She said that including the environmental and fiscal elements
was an attempt to add a new dimension to the Plan which most general plans do not have.
In response to a question regarding any obvious omissions in the Plan, Mrs. Hightower re-
plied that in the Land Use Plan certain areas would have to be looked at more closely, and
that the Fiscal section needed more work, plus some other areas.
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT ELEMENT Larry Davis presented background on the natural
environment of the Peninsula. He covered the
areas of the most feasible zones and regions
for development in relation to climate, topography, and geologic structure. He cited the
Environmental Resource Inventory and the Coastal Commission, using wall maps to illustrate.
Mr. Davis stated that the Coastal Commission had made a study of a sea cliff hazard re-
treat to be encompassed in the Plan. He covered the areas of mineral resources locations,
water systems, drainage and soil content, vegetation (grasslands) , agriculture, wildlife
and marine life in the area. He explained how the use of color on the maps showed what
areas were more critical and what areas less critical as the City grew and encroached into
these areas.
Mayor Ryan stated that most of the information in the Natural Environment Element was
background and she wanted to see some recommended policies for management of the environment
The Mayor referred to page 36. She said that policies dealing with the climate were not
included in this element.
There was some discussion of policies coming out in the Goals Report and State recommen-
dations for preserving the natural environment. Councilman Buerk suggested that all
policy statements be pulled out of the Plan, numbered and studied separately. Councilman
Dyda said he felt they were wading through a lot of data, and it seemed to him they should
know what the goals are that the community wants to achieve. The Planning Director answered
that all recommendations made by the Planning staff could eventually become policy. Council
man Dyda replied that, at the moment, the Plan was just a working document. He wanted to
see something concrete in reference to the City's plans for management of the environment.
Mr. Dyda suggested separating the two parts that had been discussed. He asked if there
was going to be an attempt to identify what goals the people of the City would be respon-
sible for. Planning Director said they could include some general goals that would
identify with each of the different sections.
SOCIO/CULTURAL ELEMENT Planning Director said the Socio/Cultural
Element had several components covering his-
torical resources, archaeological resources which, she said, are known to -be-in the areas
of Crest Road and the north side of Portuguese Bend. Mrs. Hightower said the archaeo-
logists from Dominguez Hills have identified sites in these areas, and it should be
decided whether they should be preserved, excavated or ignored. She went on to explain
the socio-economic profile and census data as to numbers of persons per household in the
City as compared to other cities on the Peninsula, and the proportionate incomes of these
families. Mrs. Hightower said the social services section has been approached as an
interim policy and restates the goals that were in the Goals Report. Commenting on the
Socio/Cultural Section, Mayor Ryan asked what the purpose was for having it: did it
identify history of present life styles and future. life styles? She said she was not
sure just what information the Plan should have in this area. Planning Director commented
that the study was an amalgamation of things. Councilman Buerk said the purpose of this
Council 306 April 26, 1975
section was to define the future role of the City in the social and cultural areas.
Then he asked why these two studies were put together, as they seemed to him to be
distinctive from one another.
URBAN ENVIRONMENT ELEMENT The next discussion encompassed activity areas
in the Urban Environment Element. Mr. Davis
said that one of the first things accomplished
was to look outside of the City and collect information for a general plan so problem areas
could be found and dealt with. The main problem was in the industrial areas but, due to
the fact this embodies research and manufacturing, it is not much of a problem. A lot of
problems are expected with the way the City boundaries are drawn he stated, and cited pos-
sible negative impact from a proposed commercial center at the northeast corner of Crest
Road and Hawthorne Boulevard and the problems caused by traffic loads being transferred
to Rancho Palos Verdes' street systems through Rolling Hills Estates. The San Pedro
area was mentioned as needing more accurate boundary definition. Councilman Buerk said
that, in the San Pedro area, all boundaries are not yet developed and that primary con-
cerns are Miraleste Drive, Ninth and Western Avenues. Mayor Ryan said the plans in
zoning were not always consistent.
Housing trends were discussed and the policies of retaining single-family dwellings,
with a review of past efforts not to alter the Peninsula's character. Councilman Dyda
asked if it was the purpose of the section to attempt to forecast the demand for new
trends in housing development. He said he thought this was a proper role for the General
Plan. He stated that they were trying to achieve a life style for the general element and
this would determine what the housing structure would be at some time. He stated that the
purpose of the study was to get away from servicing demand because demand is not consistent
with the goals of the City. Planning Director said they had changed the section drastically
and now had no projections in there. Mr. Dyda said it still sounded as though they had
to respond to a demand, and the purpose of the City was to create a community, not to meet
a demand.
Mr. Davis said pressures are being created on the City because everyone wants to live on
the coast, but they realize the role of the City is not to try to meet the demand because
the coastal areas would be ruined by .trying to supply the demand. Mr. Dyda suggested re-
moving the word "demand" and using some words that would reflect the aspirations and
desires of the City.
Councilman Ruth asked how the Plan would provide different housing for different groups.
The Planning Director mentioned they would go through a reverse process and look to the
state guidelines. The City Attorney said there was no way to provide low income housing
in the City. The City Attorney said that the challenge would come from the NAACP saying
that there was failure on the part of the City to provide low income housing. There was
then discussion about the Jersey coastline and how similar housing problems were met. The
City Attorney said the best way to approach the problem is to keep the City open and rural
so that all groups of people would have access to it. Discussion followed on the range
of housing available, and the Mayor asked if they didn't have to consider whether the
zoning might be discriminatory. Mr. Buerk mentioned there are more than 200 families in
the low income bracket. The discussion went on to include talk of how many dwelling units
per acre could be permitted and the mitigating measures of low density and high density
areas and the vacant land available in Portuguese Bend.
There followed lengthy discussions encompassing commercial activities, institutional
activities and recreational activities. Mr. Davis said the section on impact controls
was considered primarily because they wanted to strengthen the use of the natural climate
as a way of air conditioning. The percentage of air conditioners in existing structures
is low, he said, although it increases in Rolling Hills and the Miraleste area. Mr.
Davis stated that using the wind pattern to cool housing in the summer without placing a
heavy load on mechanical units is a considered goal.
Mr. Davis went into the discussion of expanding Golden Cove and Peninsula Center for
commercial use. He said there was some concern about obstruction of view as a result
of expanding these and other commercial areas.
RECREATIONAL The next discussion was on recreational and
ACTIVITY parks development. Mr. Davis said further study
was needed and they would have to deal directly
with the community.
Mayor Ryan said this was one of the most significant parts of the Plan: to go about getting
the dedication of land for recreational areas. In the discussion, there was some confusion
as to the difference between "passive" and "active" recreation.
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY The next section discussed was on agricultural
activity, particularly concerning the vacant land
south of Palos Verdes Drive South being leased to farmers rather than being developed for
Council 307 April 26, 1975
more housing. The City Attorney said that holding the land for farming purposes might
invite lawsuits.
INFRASTRUCTURE & Gary Weber spoke concerning the subject of
SAFETY infrastructure and safety and stated the goal
is to serve all the residents adequately while
maintaining the character of the environment and social characteristics of the Peninsula.
He divided the section into four systems: communications, locomotion (vehicular and non-
vehicular movement) , energy, and sanitation. He said the community is well served by all
the public facilities, but Portuguese Bend has inadequate water pressure which could result
in a fire hazard. Mr. Weber said no problems were encountered in serving the hill with
natural gas and electricity nor were there problems with flood control and sanitation
except for Portuguese Bend area. Mayor Ryan said there should be a policy for conser-
vation of water because a problem could arise out of increase consumption because of
the rise in population. Suggestions were made for saving energy because there was an
interest not only for reducing the demand but preventing increased demand for what is
already there. The conclusion was the Plan should include recommendations for conser-
vation of energy. A brief discussion ensued on the subject of restricting use of energy
and costs affecting different groups of individuals. Mr. Weber went on to describe the
component dealing primarily with telephone and cable television saying the City was well
served in this area. He cited the Goals Report and the concerns mentioned in regard to
locomotion systems--vehicular, public transportation systems, and personal conveyance
systems. Mr. Weber added that, currently, the City was well served by all the roads and
did not have a problem with traffic flow. He mentioned there were no freeways and none
planned. , .-
The following additional sections were discussed briefly: traffic, future freeways,
public transportation, and walkways, bikeways, and equestrian trails. Safety section
included discussion encompassing: protection from man-made structures, flood control,
fire hazarads, slide areas, and seismic safety. The existing safety measures and services
were stated as: fire department, ambulance service, police department, flood control
program, hospitals, paramedic and emergency care; and civil defense units. Discussion
of the sensory section covered noise elimination and preservation of views. Land use
plan discussion included: general breakdown of density ranges, population projections,
and natural environment.
Meetings were scheduled as follows: first public hearing, April 29; second public hearing,
week of May 5; work sessions for Council, week of May 12; first work session on May 3 -
land use with total Council participation; Council's sub-committee reports, May 10;
completion of first draft and addendum, May 17; final Council input, May 20.
It was agreed the Plan was to be divided into sections and an addendum to the present
document prepared, as follows: 1) socio-cultural and sensory - Mayor Ryan, Tom Bandy,
and Larry Davis; 2) safety - Councilman Ruth and Gary Weber; 3) fiscal - Councilman Dyda
and Leonard Wood; 4) infrastructure and natural environment - Councilman Buerk, Gary
Weber, and Sharon Hightower; 5) land use - total Council; 6) activity - Councilman Ryan
and Larry Davis.
There was a decision to send notices out in writing to persons already in possesion of
copies of the Plan at the time that addenda was available so that those who wanted it
could request a copy. It was suggested to send copies of the Plan to councilmen of
neighboring cities and to register names and addresses of people receiving copies of
the Plan.
11/ 4 - ,9
,�2_,.MAY
LEONARD G. WOOD, CITY CLERK AND
EX OFFICIO CLERK OF THE COUNCIL
By ,,
/
Council 308 April 26, 1975