CC MINS 19750429 ADJ RANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL
Adjourned Regular Meeting
April 29, 1975
The meeting was called to order at 7:45 p.m. at the Palos Verdes Unified School
District Building, 30942 Hawthorne Boulevard. Following the Pledge of Allegiance
to the Flag, roll call was answered as follows:
PRESENT: Councilman Ken Dyda, Francis D. Ruth and Mayor Marilyn Ryan
ABSENT: Councilman Gunther Buerk and Robert Ryan
Councilman Buerk arrived at 7:55 p.m. and Councilman Ryan arrived
at 7:58 p.m. , and both were present for the remainder of the meeting.
Also present were City Manager Leonard G. Wood, Planning Director Sharon Hightower and
Planning Staff members Larry Davis and Gary Weber, Acting City Attorney Pat Coughlan,
Administrative Services Officer George Wunderlin, and Deputy City Clerk Dee Krebs.
DRAFT GENERAL PLAN The Planning Director said the purpose of the
PRESENTATION meeting was the presentation of the staff draft
(701) of the General Plan. Mrs. Hightower said the
Plan was divided into five elements; Natural
Environment, Socio/Cultural, Urban Environment, Land Use, and Implementation and Fiscal,
and added that the Draft had been designed to integrate the elements with the required
Environmental Impact Report. The Draft Plan was to be viewed as a working document and
would be revised during May and June. Mrs. Hightower said that inputs and suggestions
from the community were welcome and encouraged, and the greatest impact would be to have
written comments. Mrs. Hightower then introduced Mr. John Corrough and Mr. Jared Ikeda
of EDAW.
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT Mr. Corrough spoke on the Natural Environment
ELEMENT Element of the Plan, and stated that the concept
of natural environment in Rancho Palos Verdes
is one that needs to be treated uniquely; that open space planning needs to be antici-
patory, and policies for development on Peninsula should be balanced with retention of
open space.
Mr. Corrough and Mr. Ikeda then presented visual material in the form of slides while
they expanded on various areas of the Natural Environment Element including: climate,
air quality, slope analysis and slope stability, seacliff erosion, water system and
drainage, types of vegetation and marine life. Within the framework of the Natural
Environment, they discussed areas for consideration of public health and safety, and
preservation of natural resources including regulating development and use of land in
extreme and steep slope areas, prohibiting structures of a permanent nature in active
slide area, monitoring of seacliff erosion, and preservation of tide pool areas.
SOCIO/CULTURAL The Planning Director briefly commented on the
ELEMENT Socio/Cultural Element including the Paleon-
tological section; and within the Historical
section she stated that several physical structures have been identified, the primary
one being Pt. Vicente Lighthouse, and recommended its preservation as important to
the City. In the Archaeological section Mrs. Hightower said there are several sig-
nificant sites in the City. In the area of Social, Service and Cultural organizations,
she stated the concentration has been primarily on the need for facilities, and the
Social Services section approached on an interim policy basis. The Social Services
section calls for an assessment of the human and social needs of the community and
restates the goals of the Citizens' Goals Committee.
INFRASTRUCTURE Gary Weber of the Planning Staff discussed the
& SAFETY Infrastructure and Safety Element. Mr. Weber
defined the infrastructure as any system that
supports urban development and divided the infrastructure into four components: re-
sources systems, disposal recovery systems, communication systems, and locomotion
systems. The resources systems consist of water, electricity and gas; disposal re-
covery includes flood control, sewage facilities and solid waste disposal; communi-
cation systems include broadcast facilities such as radio, television and cable; com-
ponents of locomotion include vehicular systems, and public transportation and personal
conveyance networks.
Council 309 April 29', 1975
Mr. Weber said the City is well served in respect to the services provided by the
total infrastructure but based upon the Citizens' Goals report he recommended the
following policies: encourage energy conservation wherever possible, investigation
of alternative energy sources and systems, consideration given to which utilities
may be better handled by the City, and mitigation of the sometimes harsh look of
utilities.
Under vehicular systems Mr. Weber identified the categories of freeways and streets
(arterials, connectors and locals) and discussed the impact of the City's trans-
portation system on outlying areas. He said bikeways, walkways, and equestrian
trails are included under personal conveyance networks and provided a design of
a conceptual bikeway path which would link up with other areas in the South Bay.
He also presented a similar map showing conceptual walkways.
In discussing safety, Mr. Weber stated the primary goal is maximum protection of
life and property from man-made and natural hazards and proposed the development
of two primary policies: establishment of codes, ordinances and regulations
which would set stringent criteria for construction, landscaping and related
programs; preparation of emergency plans in event of any major disaster.
ACTIVITY AREAS Larry Davis of the Planning Staff said
the first task in the Housing area was to
select density ranges. Mr. Davis said the prime philosophy was the natural
sensitivity of the land. He stated that in some cases, due to the situation,
areas were permitted by adjoining uses to go to a higher density. Mr. Davis pre-
sented a map depicting areas where major residential activity will be taking place
under the Plan in its present state.
Mr. Davis briefly discussed the Commercial activity and went on to explain that the
Recreation approach was of an active-passive nature. He cited the development
of the Crestmont school site as one of an active nature primarily developed under
a master plan prepared by the community; and used examples of the County proposed
rifle range and Abalone Cove as those of a passive nature.
LAND USE Mr. Davis summarized the land use plan by
explaining the existing developed area is
4,878 acres and the City is proposing to develop additionally 1,953 acres in
various activities. He stated that the purpose of the land use plan was to bring
together in a general form all the factors in the various elements having a land
area requirement and these elements are: urban, mainly a collection ,of sites
that will impact views; socio/cultural, and natural.
IMPLEMENTATION & Mr. David L. Peterson, a consultant for the
FISCAL ELEMENT City, spoke on implementation of the Plan
and said that implementation is two-fold:
(a) regulation and (b) fiscal or expenditure decisions. He stated the formation of
policy regarding land use and the development of regulatory tools depend on a firm,
factual base, and that types of land use controls were contained within the Plan.
In the fiscal area, he said the City was not locked in at this point and one of
the options is to seek outside funding with monitoring capability within the City
to act as a filter to determine what funding is appropriate for City purposes.
He said the City is not heavily dependent upon the property tax. Other sources
mentioned were sales tax; the possibility of shifting to status of a Charter city
where other options become available such as utility taxation, taxation on ad-
missions to Marineland or similar facilities.
Mr. Peterson said that if the City is managed and developed well a quality en-
vironment can be created that is reflected in assessed value of properties. He
also mentioned payments for improvements could be done through mortgages or
homeowners' assessment payment.
AUDIENCE QUESTION - Mr. Ralph Jessup, Portuguese Bend area
PROPERTY TAX RATE resident, asked if the property tax rate of
.1825Q for every $100 assessed value, which
he quoted from a newspaper article, was sufficient to operate the City. The City
Manager replied that the City's first budget had a tax rate of .1846Q and that the
Council 310 April 29, 1975
City's service level is predicated presently on that tax rate. The City Manager said
the City can operate now and next year and subsequent years on that tax rate if the
City decides upon the same level of service. He pointed out that the property tax
represents 13% of the City's total revenue budget.
Councilman Dyda elaborated further saying that the fiscal part of the General Plan
is an attempt to provide the tools by which decisions made can be evaluated. He
talked about the process of development and modifying assumptions and, in so doing,
find the process by which the City can achieve goals without a tax burden.
RECESS At 10:00 p.m. a brief recess was called.
The meeting reconvened at 10:10 p.m.
with the same members present.
COMMUNITY COMMENTS The Mayor mentioned that in receiving comments
RE GENERAL PLAN from the audience, the Council would like to
hear about areas in which the residents
agreed as well as those where they did not agree.
LETTER FROM PALOS Mr. Mike Kochan, Assistant General Manager of
VERDES PROPERTIES Palos Verdes Properties, appeared before
Council and read a letter stating that Palos
Verdes Properties would vigorously oppose the City if it tried to prevent develop-
ment and reasonable economic use of property held by Palos Verdes Properties in order
to maintain open space areas for the general public without compensation.
Mr. John Pollock, attorney for Palos Verdes Properties, appeared before Council and
said the General Plan as presented was wholly unacceptable to Palos Verdes Properties
and urged Council consider the compromise offered by Palos Verdes Properties in the
form of the Gruen Associates proposal.
SINGLE FAMILY In response to a question from Councilman Ryan,
HOUSING City Attorney said he was not aware of any
case that upheld that single family housing
was unconstitutional.
AUDIENCE QUESTION - Curtis Goetze, 28813 Blythewood, said he
GENERAL PLAN COST thought the General Plan should outline the
proposed future from a standpoint of invest-
ments; what is it going to cost.
AUDIENCE QUESTION - Sherman Hutchison, 77 Headland Dr. , asked
ZONING whether his area was included in the one acre
zoning and Planning Director replied that the
existing gross density in the area of Headland Drive was one unit/acre.
AUDIENCE COMMENT Dave Alger, 30201 Oceanaire Dr. , complimented
11/ the staff and entire organization and said
he felt the Plan reflected the views of the various committees that were assembled
to provide input.
AUDIENCE COMMENT Betty Field, 10 Pomegranate Rd. , said the
general effect of Plan is what many worked for.
ADJOURNMENT At 10:40 p.m. , it was moved by Councilman Dyda,
seconded by Councilman Ryan, and carried to
adjourn the meeting to May 3, 8:00 a.m. , at the City Offices.
LEONARD G. WOOD, CITY CLERK AND
EX OFFICIO CLERK OF THE COUNCIL %c 6;
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By
Council 311 April 29, 1975