PC MINS 1977031740)
MINUTES
City of Rancho Palos Verdes
Planning CaTmission
Special Adjourned Meeting
March 17, 1977
The meeting was called to order at 7:34 p.m. in the City Council Chambers,
30942 Hawthorne Boulevard, by Chairperson Shaw.
PRESENT: Blue, Hughes, McTaggart, Shaw
Also present were Director of Planning Sharon Hightower and Associate Planners
Larry Davis and Gary Weber.
COASTAL SPECIFIC PLAN Mrs. Shaw explained the purpose of the
hearing and the procedures which will
be followed. She assured the audience
that there will be at least one more public hearing before the Commission, so that
those who preferred to more thoroughly review the document before commenting will
be able to do so.
Mr. Davis said the State requires the City to have a certified coastal
plan and that the proposed plan is a result of the continuation of the
study brought about by the adoption of the General Plan. He gave the
background of the study process beginning with a questionnaire sent to
all homeowners in 1975; the circulation of a workbook document; a work
session with the Commission and Council; staff meetings with homeowners'
associations on committed subregions; input from staff and Council on
uncommitted subregions; Planning Commission work sessions on the work-
book and subsequent recommendations to the City Council; and the
Council decisions differing from those recommendations. He said the
document reflects the feelings of the City Council. He listed the
major issues: re the land use plan, he described the locations and
proposals for each subregion and the existing General Plan designations;
he said a consultant was used to determine the stability of the land;
overlay districts were considered, as were trails and coastal access
points and agricultural usage.
The public hearing was declared open.
Jacki Bacharach, 5033 Rockvalley Road, League of Women's Voters, was
concerned about the lack of adequate notice and lack of time to read
the document, and felt the summary in the document was difficult to
find, there were no charts indicating what is current and proposed,
and did not feel there was any justification or increasing the density,*
Director Hightower said notice was published ten days prior to the
meeting, as required by law.
Ann Gustafson, 3282 Paseo del Mar, pointed out that there was not much
coastline left and was opposed to increasing the density in subregion
#1. She strongly pointed out that the words that made the City were
"Save Our Coastline."
Eleanor Wiedmann said she lived across the street from Mrs. Gustafson
and agreed with everything she said. She also reviewed her past
involvement with preserving the coastline.
Barbara Hein, 30116 Via Rivera, was opposed to the proposed 1000
increase in density and felt that the new information on energy re-
sources, the hazard areas, traffic and road capacity, etc., would
logically substantiate a decreased density instead.
R. M. Brockett, 3420 Palos Verdes Drive West, said he agreed with
Mrs. Gustafson and was particularly opposed to the clustering of
homes along the coastline.
Jon Ihde, 3542 Heroic Drive, pointed out that the reason this area is
attractive to the current homeowners is the open space.
Elza Cortes, president of the Miraleste
said that she and the other homeowners
remember receiving the questionnaire.
•
Hills Homeowners' Association,
in the association do not
Director Hightower explained that the questionnaire was in the City's
newsletter and was sent to all residents in September of 1975.
Mr. McTaggart said he thought using the newsletter was an excellent
means of reaching everyone, but that unfortunately'4r� it was probably
over -looked by many people.
Barbara Gleghorn, 28850 Crestridge Road, commended the Commission for
recommending one unit per acre and hoped they would again make the
same recommendation to the Council. She expressed concern about the
traffic density, objected to a stairway for beach access at Point
Vicente, and said she preferred agricultural instead of residential
along the coastline.
Klaus Schuegraf, 30331 Cartier, said the City is in existence because
people wished to protect and preserve the coastline, which is a
resource of limited supply. He felt planning should not be for the
maximum allowable, but rather the maximum protectable.
Joseph Clifford, 30907 Rue de la Pierre, suggested a press release
as well as the legal notice. He agreed with the previous speakers
and also felt the document should make distinction between access to
the shoreline and access to the bluff.
Jeane Burke, 2821 Via Segovia, Palos Verdes Estates, commended the
bike plan but expressed concern about the safety of children bicycling
along traffic congested feeder streets to get to bike trails, and said
a study shows there is more traffic generated from homes in the area
than any other area in the United States.
John Pollock, 23639 Hawthorne Boulevard, Torrance, representing Mrs.
Berry, said they cannot determine usable acreage for the development
of Mrs. Berry's property and wondered what effect the adoption of the
Coastal Plan would have on an application they submitted.
Director Hightower explained that it would have no effect if formal
application of a tract map is already made, but would have an effect
if it was adopted while the application was still in the EIR process.
RECESS
At 9:07 p.m. a brief recess was
called. The meeting reconvened
9:22 p.m. with the same
members present.
Tim Burrell, 4038 Exultant, said he was leery of the concept of a
density transfer system. He questioned the land use designation of
one unit per acre on a parcel he was interested in developing which
has no view corridors, is surrounded by multi -family or commercial,
lacks fire hazard areas, and has no vegetation, etc. while an area
of concern (subregion #1) has a designation of two units per acre. He
further questioned the 15 acre parcel between Porto Verde and the Bay
Club being changed from multiple (6 units per acre) to single family
(4 units per acre), as this is not a low profile area. He felt the
City should save the coastline by clustering where it is appropriate
and restricting development where it is necessary.
Mrs. Shaw reminded the audience that there will be at least one more
hearing and explained how to obtain a copy of the draft Coastal Plan.
As there were no other speakers, she temporarily closed the public
hearing.
RECESS At 9:47 p.m. a brief recess was
called. The meeting reconvened
at 9:55 p.m. with the same members
present.
P.C. MINUTES -2- 3-17-77
04>
Mr. Hughes asked about some missing figures in the text in Section
C-4, and Mr. Davis explained that those figures would be supplied
by EDAW prior to the final printing of the document.
Mrs. Shaw felt there was only a one -unit per acre existing home pattern
in part of the subregion #1 area and that testimony tonight was very
strong in that direction. She requested factual data concerning how
one unit per acre would preserve the area and how disruptive two
units per acre would be. She felt the natural habitat was important
as a reason to keep the density low, but asked the other commissioners
to look for more concrete reasons, such as the marine terrain in that
area. Re the stairway at Point Vicente, she felt a specific recommen-
dation from the Commission should be included, as the pools at that
point are very rich and should be protected.
Mr. Davis said that stairway was being proposed by the County Ion its
Phase 2 development. He also pointed out that the Coastal Commission
was very strong on coastal access.
The Commission felt access should be provided only where it is safe,
and that access could be provided to some of the bluff areas for
people to enjoy the view. Re the density in subregion #1, they
discussed the possibility of having it higher near the road and lower
near the cliffs, having overlay districts, and specific lot sizes.
COMMISSION REPORTS Mrs. Shaw signed the letter to the
City Council (which was approved
by the Commission at its last
meeting) respoAding to Marcia -Lynn Graham's letter.
ADJOURNMENT
P.C.MINUTES
At 10:15 p.m. it was moved,
seconded, and carried to ad3ourn
to Tuesday, March 22, 1977, at
7:30 p.m.
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3-17-77