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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Min 2006-10-02 Seal Beach, California October 2, 2006 The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in adjourned session at 6:00 p.m. with Mayor Larson calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Larson Council members Antos, Levitt, Shanks, Ybaben I Also present: Mr. Bahorski, City Manager Mr. Barrow, City Attorney Chief Kirkpatrick, Police Department Mr. Crumby, Deputy City Engineer Mr. DaVeiga, Senior Planner Mrs. Devine, City Clerk APPROVAL OF AGENDA Antos moved, second by Ybaben, to approve the order of the agenda as presented. AYES: NOES: Antos, Larson, Levitt, Shanks, Ybaben None Motion carried ORAL COMMUNICATION Mayor Larson declared Oral Communications to be open. Speakers reqardinq Ordinance Number 1553: In-favor - Mr. John DeWitt, Electric Avenue; Mr. Tom Blackman, Beryl Cove Way; Ms. Gail Ayers, Central Way; Mr. Vie Grgas, Seal Beach; Ms. Melinda Howell, 17th Street; Ms. Barbara Barton, Ocean Avenue; Mr. Jim Caviola, Ocean Avenue; Mr. Mark Lapesco, Seal Beach; Mr. Mike Butte, I Central Way; Ms. Mitzi Morton, Seal Beach; Mr. Frank Angulos, 16th Street; Mr. Michael Beckage, Clipper Way. Opposed - Ms. Joyce Parque, Seal Beach; Mr. Michael Doss, Seal Beach; Mr. Jim Klisanin, 11th Street; Mr. Scott Hampshire, Corsair Drive; Mr. Bob Black, 12th Street; Mr. Tom Arthur, 15th Street; Ms. Mary Wright, Catalina Avenue; Mr. Steve Wright, Catalina Avenue; Mr. Eldon Alexander, 8th Street; Ms. Carolyn Alexander, 8th Street; Ms. Mary Lewis, 8th Street. There being no other speakers, Mayor Larson declared Oral Communications closed. Mayor Larson commented that he appreciated the dignified and polite way the audience conducted themselves during the proceedings. After an hour and twenty minutes of comments both for and against the proposed Ordinance Number 1553, Mayor Larson called for a recess at 7:20 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 7:30 p.m. CONTINUED BUSINESS ORDINANCE NUMBER 1553 I ZTA 06-1 I REDUCE ALLOWABLE HEIGHT FROM 35 FEET TO 25 FEET ON REAR HALF OF LOTS 37.5 FEET WIDE OR WIDER - RMD AND RHD ZONES - PLANNING DISTRICT 1 Councilman Antos read a statement in response to the memorandum he I received from Councilman Ybaben asking for clarification: First he listened to his constituents and the response of over 280 signatures on a petition asking to enact a 25 foot uniform height limit for all lot sizes and was asked to make a decision in favor of the public good and quality of life; believes that those who favor retaining the 3 stories have an economic interest; was asked to think of the public good and quality of life. Watched and attended the Planning Commission meetings to insure all viewpoints were given. Was contacted by former Council members asking him to respect the work they have done and maintain the integrity of Old Town as a small and quaint village. Reviewed the Supreme Court decisions on property takings and of the City's past actions on down- Page 2 - City Council 10-02-06 I zoning and feels confident that his decision to support the ordinance is not a taking any more than the down-zoning in the 1970's was a taking. The adoption of Ordinance Number 1553 would be in keeping with the General and Specific Plans - Old Town is the only area that has a height limit based on lot size. We cannot afford to delay in stopping the mansionization of Old Town area. Too many apartment buildings were the problem in the 70's but today we need the apartment buildings to maintain the texture of our community - low and affordable housing. A uniform zoning policy will allow residents to clearly understand what is allowed to be built and this will save staff time and money being sure the codes are implemented fairly. In response to the second question from Councilman Ybaben regarding rationale to change a long standing law that has presumably served the community well: Believes that when a long standing law benefits some and harms others - it is justification to change it; an overwhelming number of people request the law to be changed; and the law give privileges to some and not others. Councilman Levitt stated that his son was one of the applicants that is in the pipeline and would not be affected by his vote. Comments were made about having a small town atmosphere, this does not mean small houses - this is state of mind not state of houses. The choice to maintain a single story home should not deny others, high density does not occur from building 3 stories, and building a 2,500 or 3,000 square foot on a small lot would take more air space than building the same on a wider lot. I Councilman Ybaben indicated that he had watched the video tape of the September 25th Council meeting, read the staff report and the correspondence received regarding the public hearing. He explained that he had three ways to approach his vote: 1) Popular Vote - more residents of Old Town prefer the two story limit instead of the existing code. This is based on the concerns of mold, air flow, and blocking views; the other factor would be that this would threaten the character, charm, and feel of Old Town. Everyone agrees that they want Seal Beach to retain the feel we have and to be a different beach town that is not over built. We should have a real debt on how to preserve the character of the City and not just optimize the lots. This approach is not well thought out and is misguided. 2) Rational/Principle Vote - law on the books over thirty years and must not be a bad law if what the people want is to keep Seal Beach the way it is. There are some inherent contradictions and no logical discussion that says two stories are better than three stories for the long term out come of the City. There is a strong argument that can be made for the rational vote that would say this does not make any sense to change the law - it served us well and we want to keep what we have today. 3) Practical/Conservative Vote - we have to look out for our City in a broad sense. The first duty of the Council is to act on behalf of all the residents and protect them from financial harm. With respect to the current discussion Council cannot ignore an upcoming Proposition 90 on the November ballot. In the City Attorney's report it was stated that if this initiative is passed would make it significantly easier for property owners to seek compensation from cities for the economic impact of basic land use regulations - this means if Council waits to approve any regulation changes that some homeowners may interpret the changes as a limitation on them, they could bring an action against the City that would be costly to the entire City not just Old Town. Councilmembers not representing Old Town need to take into consideration what the financial impact could be because of the change in the zoning code that only affects Old Town. Councilman Ybaben concluded that he would recommend that Council approve the ordinance and continues to analyze and debate this issue to achieve the true goal of establishing architectural guidelines and this may include re-instating the three story limit. His final recommendation would be to extend the grace period to six months. I Councilman Shanks commented that building codes are not locked in steel, Seal Beach became a city in 1915, the first building code was not adopted until 1935, and the last major changes to the codes were in 1974. At Central and 5th Street six units will be built where the Seal Beach Inn and Gardens is being torn down Page - 3 City Council 10-02-06 and the City will be losing a real landmark, the Willard Hotel on 12th and Central was replaced with three units. We have a movement towards more box type homes being built; we want to limit them to 25' in height. Councilmembers in Districts One and Three represent Old Town and this area is in a state of flux and .80% of business takes place in Old Town and Main Street. The other Council District areas are frozen with not much change. In thirty years you will see more 25 foot high homes on 25 foot lots. Those of us that want to have a height limit want it to be consistent with the rest of the City, except Surfside. Councilman Shanks added that if Proposition 90 passes the courts will have to determine all the legalities and this will take several years, this is very complex - would this I mean that all zoning codes affecting property value would be frozen. It is difficult ' to have an architectural view type process, it becomes an individual step by step approval, and this is unmanageable. Stressing that the Council is elected to serve the entire City but should take into consideration how the Councilman responds to the issues in their district, they are more in touch with their constituents. This is not currently happening on this Council and should be brought back to mind. The City of Seal Beach should not be a city of boxes and this just adds to this idea. Mayor Larson stated that he made his comments at the last meeting but expressed his philosophy that he does not believe that majority rules - a democratic government is set up to protect the rights of the minorities. We are dealing with property rights and from the comments made at both meetings it is unclear whose property rights are more important. Cannot predict what the California voters will do regarding Proposition 90 - if it is passed it will do damage to all cities in the state. The proposition started out to protect a widow from losing her home to develop a Wal-Mart, but from there other provisions were added to make the proposition more complicated. Mayor Larson believes Council should be fair and the city will not be destroyed with three stories. The City Attorney answered Councilman Ybaben's question regarding how Prop I 90, if passed, would affect Seal Beach: The City will be in the same position as all the other cities where claims could be filed with regard to some kind of challenge based on the Constitution. During that period it does not state anything regarding what will happen if any type of regulation adopted by the City that is viewed by a resident to be damaging to their property rights could file a law suit. The City could incur litigation cost during that time. There have not been any propositions that have been passed by the voters that affected Seal Beach - charter city. In this particular case Proposition 90 will definitely affect all cities in the state including charter cities, there will be a period of uncertainty where law suits may be filed and the City will have to defend those law suits even if there were challenges filed. Councilman Ybaben asked Councilmen Antos and Shanks if they would be in favor of holding off passing the ordinance until a full study can be done to look at other approaches to preserve the City? Councilman Antos responded by stating he wants to deal with the ordinance at hand, would be willing to extend the grace period to six months, and would support submitting this issue back to staff and Planning Commission to review all the codes and bring recommendations to Council. Councilman Shanks answered that he would agree to the six month grace period but not with the way to approach the zoning code changes, it could only create more problems. Mayor Larson asked the City Attorney if there is any I word about any thing being ready to file directly to the Supreme Court if Prop 90 passes - answer: not aware of anything. Councilman Ybaben reiterated that he would like the Planning Commission to continue the discussion and study of possibly reinstating the three stories, if the ordinance is passed; would like to put rationale back into the debate and protect the City at the same time. Mayor Larson said that when mansionization first came up he felt it was just some neighbors that did not like the look of their neighbor's house. There were ordinances that already dealt with building houses - you can not tell other people how to build their houses - government should not tell people what to do. Page 4 - City Council 10-02-06 I Shanks moved, second by Antos, to approve as amended the introduction and first reading of Ordinance Number 1553 entitled "AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH AMENDING SECTIONS 28-701 AND 28-801 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH TO ALLOW 2 STORIES AND A MAXIMUM HEIGHT OF 25 FEET IN THE RESIDENTIAL MEDIUM DENSITY AND RESIDENTIAL HIGH DENSITY, DISTRICT 1 (ZONE TEXT AMENDMENT 06-1)". The City Attorney stated that section 3 would be amended to extend the Coastal Commission Concept Approval deadline date to May 31 st, 2007 and obtain a building permit no later than May 31 st, 2008, and read the title of the Ordinance for the record. By unanimous consent, full reading of Ordinance Number 1553 was waived. AYES: NOES: Antos, Shanks, Ybaben Larson, Levitt Motion carried ADJOURNMENT It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council, to adjourn the City Council meeting at 8:26 p.m. to Sunday, October 8th, 2006 at 4:00 p.m. ~)u. ~~/)V~L ity Clerk City of Seal Beach Approved: J)t1lv r ,Jr{O;8V'. Mayor I Att"j r1&,~ ~i City lerk I