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2/12/2001MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROLLING HILLS, CALIFORNIA FEBRUARY 12, 2001 CALL TO ORDER A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Rolling Hills was called to order by Mayor Pernell at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 2 Portuguese Bend Road, Rolling Hills, California. ROLL CALL Councilmembers Present: Heinsheimer, Hill, Lay, Mayor Pro Tem Murdock and Mayor Pernell. Councilmembers Absent: None. Others Present: Craig R. Nealis, City Manager. Mike Jenkins, City Attorney. Nan Huang, Finance Director. Yolanta Schwartz, Principal Planner. Marilyn L. Kern, Deputy City Clerk. Captain Ed Hitchcock, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Lomita Station CONSENT CALENDAR Matters which may be acted upon by the City Council in a single motion. Any Councilmember may request removal of any item from the Consent Calendar causing it to be considered under Council Actions. a. Minutes -Regular Meeting of January 22, 2001. RECOMMENDATION: Approve as presented. b. Payment of Bills. RECOMMENDATION: Approve as presented. c. General Purpose Financial Statements dated June 30, 2000. RECOMMENDATION: Approve as presented. Mayor Pro Tem Murdock moved that the City Council approve the recommendations in the Consent Calendar. Councilmember Hill seconded. the motion which carried unanimously. PLANNING COMMISSION ITEMS None. TRAFFIC COMMISSION ITEMS CONSIDERATION OF A RECOMMENDATION FROM THE TRAFFIC COMMISSION REGARDING A REQUEST FROM THE PALOS VERDES WOMAN'S CLUB TO CONDUCT THEIR GARDEN TOUR. City Manager Nealis presented the staff report providing information regarding the request from the Palos Verdes Woman's Club to conduct a Garden Tour at 1 Crest Road East and 6 Middleridge Lane South and the Traffic Commission's action relative to this request. Hearing no discussion, Mayor Pernell called for a motion. Mayor Pro Tem Murdock moved that the City Council approve the recommendation of the Traffic Commission for the Palos Verdes Woman's Club to conduct a Garden Tour on Saturday, May 5, 2001. Councilmember Heinsheimer seconded the motion which carried unanimously. PUBLIC HEARINGS - CONTINUED CONSIDERATION OF A PROPOSED ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ROLLING HILLS TO ESTABLISH EXTERIOR LIGHTING STANDARDS AND AMEND TITLE 17 (ZONING) OF THE ROLLING HILLS MUNICIPAL CODE. (FIRST READING AND INTRODUCTION) City Manager Nealis presented the staff report providing background regarding the proposed ordinance and an explanation of the amendments requested by the City Council at their last meeting. Mayor Pernell opened the continued public hearing and called for testimony. Minutes City Council Meeting 02/12/01 -1- Councilmembers discussed the holiday lighting provision in the draft ordinance. Councilmember Heinsheimer commented on the allowance for holiday lighting to be permitted for a maximum of 30 days. Councilmembers discussed other holidays and events for which residents may use this type of lighting. Councilmember Heinsheimer suggested that the provision for holiday lighting be amended to read "temporary lighting is permitted for holidays and special events". Councilmembers concurred with this suggestion. Discussion ensued regarding the entry post lighting being permitted at the foot of a driveway provided that lighting is cast downward and does not spill onto the roadway. Councilmembers also discussed the number and types of bulbs that are sometimes contained in entry post light fixtures. Councilmember Lay expressed concern for the enforcement of provisions in the draft ordinance. Further discussion ensued regarding entry post lighting and Councilmembers concurred that entry post lighting should be permitted however, Paragraph 4 should contain that "bulbs used in such lighting shall be non -reflective and shall not exceed the wattage of a forty (40) watt incandescent light bulb to a maximum of 400 lumens, or their equivalent if non -incandescent lighting is used". Discussion then ensued regarding security lighting and provisions in the draft ordinance that indicate that they are permitted conjunction with a motion detector. Concerns were expressed about the amount of time that they should be allowed to remain "on" following activation. Mayor Pro Tem Murdock suggested that Paragraph 2 related to security lighting should be amended to read that "security lighting is permitted and in no event shall a security light be set to shine for longer than five minutes following activation". City Attorney Jenkins queried whether porch lights should be addressed as a security light. After discussion on types of lighting that could be attached to a house and entry way lighting, Councilmembers concurred that a provision should be added to the draft ordinance to cover porch and other entry way lighting. It was suggested that bulbs for these types of lights should meet the same criteria as the other lighting provisions in the draft ordinance. In response to Councilmember Heinsheimer, City Attorney Jenkins explained that Section 2, Paragraph D, was included in the draft ordinance in order to remove that statement from another section in the Municipal Code. Discussion ensued regarding enforcement of the provisions in the draft ordinance and whether existing lighting should be grandfathered. Councilmembers discussed various methods of educating residents about the provisions of the draft ordinance. Councilmember Hill expressed concern that if existing lighting were not grandfathered that residents may be reluctant to change their existing lighting on their properties due to cost and other factors. Further discussion ensued regarding the grandfathering of existing lighting. It was suggested that not all lighting would necessarily need to be removed, but that deactivation could represent compliance. City Attorney Jenkins suggested that a section could be added to the draft ordinance reflecting that grandfathering would not be permitted. He said that the section could reflect that rather than having residents tear down existing lighting fixtures that bulbs could be removed or they could be deactivated in some way to bring the property into compliance with the ordinance. Mayor Pernell excused himself from the meeting at 8:10 p.m. and turned the gavel over to Mayor Pro Tem Murdock. Further discussion ensued regarding the grandfathering of existing lighting. Councilmembers concurred that a section should be added to the draft ordinance that requires that all properties comply with the ordinance within in one year. In response to City Attorney Jenkins, Councilmembers concurred that the City Manager should determine if a property owner is in compliance with the ordinance. City Attorney Jenkins indicated that the City Manager's determination could be appealed to the Planning Commission. City Manager Nealis requested clarification on the ability for a resident to keep the fixture in a deactivated state and that this would constitute compliance with the ordinance. He compared this condition of compliance with tennis court lighting and how compliance would differ in these cases and that enforcement would be somewhat like enforcing the disturbing the peace provisions of the Municipal Code. Mr. Bertram Balch, 6 Hackamore Road, indicated that he feels that the proposed 5 minute time for security light activation is not long enough. He indicated that he will speak to the City Council further about the proposed ordinance at the next meeting. Minutes City Council Meeting 02/12/01 -2- Hearing no further discussion, Mayor Pro Tem Murdock continued the public hearing to the next regular meeting of the City Council to be held on Monday, February 26; 2001. Staff was directed to amend the draft ordinance for consideration of introduction at the next meeting as follows: amend the draft ordinance to reflect specifications for the maximum wattage or lumens permitted for entry post lighting, permitted lighting of porches and entryway with the same specifications for maximum wattage or lumens, and that there shall no longer be a specified period of time for illumination of holiday lighting. Staff was also directed to add language to the draft ordinance relating to required modifications of existing lighting fixtures to meet the requirements of this ordinance within one year of adoption of the ordinance with the City Manager to determine if substantial compliance has been met. CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED ORDINANCE NO. 285 OF THE CITY OF ROLLING HILLS REGARDING RETROACTIVE PERMITS AND AMEND TITLE 17 (ZONING) OF THE ROLLING HILLS MUNICIPAL CODE. THE PURPOSE OF THE ORDINANCE IS TO CODIFY AN EXISTING CITY POLICY REGARDING RETROACTIVE PERMITS FOR WHICH DISCRETIONARY PERMITS ARE REQUIRED BY THE ZONING ORDINANCE BUT NOT OBTAINED PRIOR TO COMMENCEMENT OF THE CONSTRUCTION. (SECOND READING AND ADOPTION) City Manager Nealis indicated that Ordinance No. 285 was introduced at the City Council meeting on January 22, 2001 and is presented this evening for second reading and adoption. Mayor Pro Tem Murdock opened the continued public hearing and called for testimony. Hearing none, she closed the public hearing and called for a motion. Councilmember Heinsheimer moved that the City Council waive further reading and adopt Ordinance No. 285. Councilmember Lay seconded the motion which carried unanimously. CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED ORDINANCE NO. 286 OF THE CITY OF ROLLING HILLS REGARDING GRADING AND AMEND TITLE 17 (ZONING) OF THE ROLLING HILLS MUNICIPAL CODE. THE PURPOSE OF THE ORDINANCE IS TO CODIFY AN EXISTING CITY POLICY REGARDING MAJOR MODIFICATION OF PREVIOUSLY APPROVED GRADING FOR WHICH DISCRETIONARY PERMITS ARE REQUIRED BY THE ZONING ORDINANCE. (SECOND READING AND ADOPTION) City Manager Nealis indicated that Ordinance No. 286 was introduced at the City Council meeting on January 22, 2001 and is presented this evening for second reading and adoption. Mayor Pro Tem Murdock opened the continued public hearing and called for testimony. Hearing none, she closed the public hearing and called for a motion. Councilmember Lay moved that the City Council waive further reading and adopt Ordinance No. 286. Councilmember Hill seconded the motion which carried unanimously. OLD BUSINESS None. NEW BUSINESS CONSIDERATION OF ASSIGNING AVAILABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) FUNDS. City Manager Nealis presented the staff report providing background regarding the City's previous allocation of CDBG funds and information regarding the requests from the City of Lomita and the City of Rancho Palos Verdes that Rolling Hills assign its CDBG funds toward projects in their cities. Mayor Pro Tem Murdock suggested that the City assign one half of its available CDBG Funds for the City of Lomita's .project and one half of its available CDBG Funds for the City of Rancho Palos Verdes' project. Hearing no further discussion, Mayor Pro Tem Murdock called for a motion. Councilmember Lay moved that the City of Rolling Hills assign one half of its available CDBG Funds to the City of Lomita and one half of its available CDBG Funds to the City of Rancho Palos Verdes. Councilmember Heinsheimer seconded the motion which carried unanimously. Staff was directed to return with resolutions memorializing this action. Minutes City Council Meeting 02/12/01 -3- OPEN AGENDA - APPROXIMATELY 8:00 P.M. - PUBLIC COMMENT WELCOME Mr. Bertram Balch, 6 Hackamore Road, queried as to whom he should address traffic issues. Mayor Pro Tem Murdock indicated that traffic issues are under the purview of the Traffic Commission. MATTERS FROM MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERATION OF ONSITE ENERGY GENERATION VIDEO TAPE. Councilmember Hill thanked City/RHCA Ad Hoc Subcommittee Members Tom Heinsheimer and Don Crocker for their efforts in obtaining an underground feasibility study for the City. He commented on the pros and cons and goals of undergrounding utilities. Councilmember Hill expressed concern regarding liability issues related to an underground project. He presented a video tape regarding an onsite energy generation technology. The video tape was viewed by those in attendance. Councilmember Hill commented on the cost comparison between other the types of energy generation technology and the costs for undergrounding utilities. He stated that there are a number of alternatives to energy generation and indicated that a Professor from Cal State LA would be glad to address the City Council on issues relating to power cells and kilowatt usage. Mayor Pro Tem Murdock thanked Councilmember Hill for the presentation and information. Mayor Pro Tem Murdock reported that Mayor Pernell would like to nominate Mr. Don Gales as an honoree at the Los Angeles County Commission on Aging Older American Recognition Day Luncheon Awards Ceremony. The City Council unanimously supported this nomination. MATTERS FROM STAFF None. MATTERS FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY City Attorney Mike Jenkins reported that a follow-up item related to the information that he presented to the City Council at their last meeting will be presented at the next City Council _ meeting. ADIOURNMENT Hearing no further business before the City Council, Mayor Pro Tem Murdock adjourned the meeting at 8:55 p.m. to the next regularly scheduled meeting of the City Council to be held on Monday, February 26, 2001 in the City Council Chambers, at City Hall, 2 Portuguese Bend Road, Rolling Hills, California. Approved, �i •. Mayor Minutes City Council Meeting 02/12/01 Respectfully submitted, Marilyn L. ern Deputy City Clerk -4-