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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Min 2002-07-22 7-22-02 Seal Beach, California July 22, 2002 I The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular 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 Councilmembers Antos, Doane Absent: Councilmembers Campbell, Yost Councilmember Campbell arrived at 6:02 p.m. and Councilman Yost arrived at 6:10 p.m. Also present: Mr. Bahorski, City Manager Mr. Barrow, City Attorney Mr. Whittenberg, Director of Development Services Ms. Yeo, City Clerk I STUDY SESSION - NEWSRACK REGULATIONS The City Manager noted that the Council had been provided with maps of the various newsrack areas, the Development Services Director will provide a brief powerpoint presentation, then the City Attorney will review the preliminary draft of a newsrack ordinance. The Director of Development Services offered that this is an initial presentation as to how staff has looked at the newsrack issue throughout the City, some thoughts and suggestions, and a request for direction from the Council before bringing forth a final draft revised ordinance. The Director mentioned that there are a number of constitutional issues that need to be kept in mind when considering the regulation of news racks , this an area that has been extensively litigated throughout the country with a number of California and United States Supreme Court decisions that are relevant to the issue, major issues include that regulations need to be content neutral which means the publication sold from within the news rack can not be regulated, however the location, size, color, and design of the rack can be regulated, the exception to regulating the publication are provisions of State law that relate to harmful matter as defined in the Penal Code, that deals with the adult entertainment type of publications. He offered that in order to adopt regulations they must qualify as advancing a substantial governmental interest, regulations must be narrowly tailored to promote the substantial governmental interest, and there must be allowance for a reasonable number of locations for distribution of speech within the City. He noted too that this is an area that can become subject to major controversy and often the regulations that a city proposes are subject to litigation. The Director stated that currently the City regulates newsracks within the City through Chapter 11 of the Municipal Code, the Code is also currently being reviewed for revisions, in conjunction with that the Council requested staff to bring this issue forward as part of the revision process, he noted that the existing provisions were adopted in 1990 and at that time reflected the state of law based upon court decisions, over this period of time there have been new court decisions that impact portions of existing regulations to where they are no longer enforceable, and in looking at racks currently on the I 7-22-02 street it appears there has not been consistent enforcement. The Director offered that the first issue that needs to be dealt with is whether the Council desires to have staff look at changing the Code, it is an extensive process, involves considerable staff time, the office of the City Attorney firm, the estimate of costs have not been projected at this point however once the costs and time frame can be evaluated it will be provided to Council. The Development Services Director stated there are a number of actions that need to be looked at, the majority of those are related to issues such as does the City wish to own the racks themselves, in that case the City is then responsible for placement of the racks, has control of the design, appearance, and will be responsible for the maintenance of the racks, the opinion of staff is that is likely the best approach, it allows the City to clearly know what is out on the street, if one is not a City rack it is then obviously there without proper approvals therefore can be removed, staff would also recommend what may likely be called a lease fee to put the particular publications within the newsracks, that fee would be based on an amortization period to cover the acquisition costs of the racks, installation, amortization of expenses over a period of time, and funding replacement of the racks when that becomes necessary, that fee would be in addition to the regular business license fee, it is felt that the license fee will not necessarily generate excess fees to the City as that could tread on some constitutional issues and could pose questionable application. The Director noted that what is proposed for Council consideration is a certain size of rack for Main Street, a four rack length and a double rack height, that would provide eight racks in a single installation, that three of those eight rack installations be allowed on each side of each block on Main Street, that four racks be allowed on the north side of Ocean Avenue, both sides of Central and Electric, the south side of Pacific Coast Highway, between Main Street and the alleys in the commercial areas, that would allow a total maximum of one hundred ninety-two racks within the Main Street area, at present there are one hundred twenty-three existing racks on Main and the side streets, the thought is that the entire one hundred ninety-two would not be installed initially, only a number initially to provide whatever is necessary for those currently located on the Street, and if there are further requests in the future the City could install additional racks upon determination of where they should be placed. Clarification again was that the racks on Ocean, Central and Electric would be located no further than to the alleys. The Director displayed photos of existing racks along Main Street, all single racks, in long lines spread out down the street, there are between six, eight, up to eighteen racks in a location~ they are different colors, styles, he also displayed photos of the style of rack that staff is suggesting be installed, they compress the area where the racks would be located, provide a common design on the street, they are pedestal mounts that provide easier cleaning under and around the racks. If it is the desire of Council that staff proceed with this project, it will be necessary to do some detailed field mapping of current newsrack locations on Main Street and outside of Main Street, noted too that a suggestion of staff was also that there be one set of standards for the Main Street Specific Plan area, somewhat different standards for outside the Main Street area, explaining that the Specific Plan area is basically Main Street, the City Hall facility, the right-of-ways along Central and Electric up to the alleys, with Central connecting City Hall to the Specific Plan area. He noted I I I 7-22-02 I that once outside the Specific Plan area the issues are different from Main Street, there is not the heavy pedestrian traffic, diagonal parking along the curb frontages which causes ingress and egress issues, there are not the number of encroachments that there are presently along Main Street, also, the number of newsracks in other areas of the City are not as many as there are on Main Street, which is about seventy-five percent of all racks on public right-of-ways in the City. with regard to having different standards for the news rack locations other than Main Street, the suggestion was to look at a couple of design standards for the racks, for those racks it is not recommended that the City buy, install and maintain, for the areas outside of Main Street it was suggested that the City approve the design, location, then the purveyor of the publication would install the rack subject to the City's encroachment permit conditions, and would be required to maintain it, there would be a different license fee involved as the City would not be paying for the acquisition and amortization, it pays for the use of the public right-of-way, the detailed mapping would not only include Main Street, there would also be a survey of Pacific Coast Highway, Seal Beach Boulevard, Westminster Avenue, the main thoroughfares, and other areas that currently have newsracks within the public right-of-way. Councilman Doane inquired if there would be any control over newsracks in the private shopping centers, the response of the Director was that there would not, the only control would be that the publication would need to have a business license to operate in the City, the design, style, and location would be between the purveyor of the publication and the center. The Director stated that once the detailed maps are completed staff would bring back to Council a preliminary draft of regulations that would be more closely defined, the materials that the City Attorney will review is a good first step but until the areas are surveyed as to streets, curb openings, light poles, mail boxes, etc. there is no definite idea as to where the racks may be placed, at that point a series of workshops could commence with the impacted publications to receive their input and seek their concurrence and agreement with what the City is proposing to do, finalize the standards, then if necessary additional study sessions with the Council, and eventual adoption. With regard to a time frame, based upon the process outlined, it is anticipated that the process will take somewhere between six and fifteen months, a wide range of time in that staff has not as yet met with any of the publications, the proposals have not been finalized, and until the reaction of the publication purveyors is known it is difficult to pinpoint a time frame, the revenue is seen as being fairly limited to cost recovery for the acquisition, installation, maintenance and long term amortization of the cost of replacement. The Director described the aerial photos of the subject streets/areas, the general intent of the aerial maps is to show what areas that newsracks would not be permitted to be located based upon a rough first look at what is on the streets now, according to the draft ordinance news racks could not be located within a certain distance of a curb radius at a corner intersection, a certain distance away from driveway openings, red curbs, green curbs, distance from trees and tree wells, etc., the map gives a general idea of the areas along Main Street that would not be allow placement of a rack subject to staff doing a more detailed verification of actual locations. I I Councilman Yost recalled someone showing photos a few years back of news racks in Carmel that were wooden, somewhat more 7-22-02 aesthetically pleasing, it is believed it was a similar situation where there was a standard design and the publication leased the space, and asked if something more aesthetically pleasing been considered. The Director responded that the final design is not an issue that has really been talked about at this point, the only thing staff is trying to get concurrence on at this point is if the Council is comfortable with the concept of ganging the racks together, then they can be whatever design is desired, staff merely seeks direction as to whether the Council wants only single high racks, double stacked, single high takes up more room along the street, it would be well to know that when there are discussions with the publishers, offered too that he is familiar with the racks in Carmel, has seen others in Monterey and Santa Barbara where other architectural treatments have been applied so that from the street side it does not look like a newsrack, in fact you can not tell what it is, from the pedestrian side it is clear what it is. Councilmember Campbell asked if there is a problem with the newsracks, why are they being studied, to that Councilman Yost noted there have been complaints and the intent has been to do something about them for a long time. Councilman Antos asked if it is not true that everything within the public right-of-way requires a public works permit, with the exception of City facilities, the response was that there needs to be an encroachment permit to place something on the public right-of-way. Councilman Antos asked if any of the racks on Main Street currently have such permit, the Director responded that he was not aware of any of the recent racks having such permit, but it must be kept in mind that most of the racks have been in place for many years, he was not aware of when the requirement was approved to necessitate a permit for something on the sidewalk. Councilman Antos stated that every rack on Main Street is a public liability issue if the City has not granted an encroachment or public property permit whereby City staff has approved appropriate locations. Councilmember Campbell asked again why this is being looked into now, did something trigger this issue. The Manager agreed with the Council response that this is an ongoing problem, somewhat cyclical, also, since the Code is in the process of being reviewed and revised this would be an opportune time to make this change inasmuch as there are some problems with the Ordinance as it currently exists. Councilman Antos noted that the Specific Plan for Main Street talks about standardization of street furniture, the City has not taken the time to establish standards for benches, bicycle racks, also, the City is repairing sidewalks and placing pavers around the trees, therefore if this is not done now, as soon as there is a new sidewalk there is nothing to preclude, because of a lack of enforcement, someone from affixing something to the new sidewalk, so this is an opportune time. I I The City Attorney made reference to the preliminary draft of a revised newsrack ordinance contained in the agenda packet. The Attorney noted that "C" under Definitions reflects whether the news racks will be uniform, he pointed out that when Buena Park adopted their ordinance they specified the type of newsrack, if there is a direction from Council then at a later date models of news racks will be provided, single and double stacks, it will be up to the Council in terms of uniformity, yet there have been certain publications that have been displeased with uniformity, their firm has recently learned that there was a case about two weeks ago in Calis toga where a trial court threw out regulations including I 7-22-02 I uniform provisions, they are tracking that case to see if it was a big issue, in a case about a year ago the court threw out regulations because the proposal was for one or two racks and the court determined that to be too restrictive, again, their firm has come to the legal conclusion, although there is never freedom from doubt because it is an ever expanding area of law, that groupings of eight seem to be permissible restrictions on freedom of speech. Section IlB-3(6) relating to insurance was added, that will be reviewed by the Assistant City Manager and the City's Risk Manager to determine the appropriate level of insurance, same section, subsection (7) concerns the business license and includes a news rack permit under (7)(c), separate requirements, everyone who does business in the City is required to have a business license, this has been an issue in other cities, whether a news rack operator should have one license fee to do business in the City or should it be per newsrack, cities have done both, one large newspaper objected to the fee but did not actually go to court. As to the process of dealing with the newspapers, in Buena Park it was a lengthy process, proposed regulations were provided the newspapers, study sessions held, an ad hoc committee met with the papers, it eventually came to the point that all of the newspapers accepted the changes with the exception of one distributor who handles between thirty-five to fifty publications, he was opposed to uniform news racks because of the impact on him, Buena Park determined that they had received the best consensus they could, basically all of the major newspapers and publications accepted the regulations. Again with regard to the business license, it is a policy issue as to whether it is one for doing business in the City or per rack, that does not need to be decided at this time. The City Attorney referred to Section IlB-4, Placement Standards, and Section IlB-S, Concentration Standards, noted that they have been copied from the Buena Park ordinance and which have existed for many years, it was the Concentration Standards that were added, in meetings with the newspapers they said the concentration standards were fine but the placement was too restrictive, to that they were informed that those provisions have existed for years and they finally accepted them. Again in Buena Park the direction was that no matter the number of newsracks a publication had that there be assurance that they had the ability to continue to operate, even if the location needed to be moved. In reference to the maps, the City Attorney noted that they show the areas where the newsracks will not be allowed, examples would be twenty feet from a marked crosswalk, twenty feet of a curb return, etc., offered that the next step would be for staff to superimpose existing racks which will show who will need to move, and the very preliminary, tentative opinion of staff is that even with the restrictive Buena Park standards everyone who is on the Street now can remain. with regard to the Concentration Standards the City Attorney pointed out that Buena Park only allowed sixteen racks per block, their blocks are longer and have more space than in Seal Beach, here it was the preliminary consensus of staff that the regulations would still accomplish the uniformity and clutter issues, as well as address the safety concerns, the initial thought was that there could be three stacks per block which would be twenty- eight. He noted also that under Section IlB-S(c), it is not certain that it is feasible in Seal Beach, that is why an on- site survey needs to be done, it restricts a same publication from being within two hundred feet of another location of the same publication, again, in Buena Park they have a priority system whereby if a publication was at one location then they I I 7-22-02 would have a priority because they were legally established, that would likely not apply in Seal Beach as it is not known if any are legally established, who has permits and/or business licenses, that is an issue that also needs to be researched, the geography is also different in Buena Park, in the case of Seal Beach there may be a recommendation that some of the publications can be closer than two hundred feet, an opinion on that at this point would be premature. with regard to the groupings of eight, some of the larger newspapers wanted to have more than one rack in the grouping, Buena Park did that on a lottery basis, the preference there was to have eight separate publications at a single location, there is a possibility that there will places to put the racks that is consistent with safety concerns and traffic hazards and only six publications want that location and if an existing publication wants another rack in his opinion there would be no problem with that. In reference to Section IlB-7, Buena Park developed a transition program, when initially presented they were going to have uniform regulations in the entire city but that became unworkable so they developed a two-tiered system, in the entertainment corridor there were double decked racks of a particular model, then outside that corridor they could go to single racks if desired with less restrictions. I Councilman Antos stated he has looked at this, what is proposed at a maximum concentration is more news racks for the area potentially than there is now, so he would not see that anyone could claim they are deprived of the opportunity to place their publication, they may have to relocate somewhat to get the racks out of an area that the City Engineer has determined to be unsafe and poses a hazard for either traffic or pedestrians, other than that he would like to see staff move forward and work this ordinance.. into what is felt is appropriate for Main Street and outside that area, he has no strong feeling one way or the other to the business license versus the lease fee, it seems that on one hand if you have persons that are placing publications within newsracks within the City to have a business license to do that and then a lease or license for each rack that they are placing the publication in, that is appropriate as opposed to having a separate and distinct business license for every rack and separate lease for the same thing, that seems to be doubling, and whether it is on the Main Street area or other areas where private individuals will own the racks, the City could still through the license provision require whatever insurance, maintenance agreement, or whatever to assure that they do not turn into unsightly racks which poses a certain level of City liability, therefore it seems it can be handled either way. Councilman Doane stated there is a particular location on Main Street that he feels is not a good place for newsracks, that is in front of Cinnamon Productions in that they have a number of benches at the location to accommodate their customers, as well as the large City trash receptacles, and people who park in front of that location can not even get onto the sidewalk from their cars, there needs to be care given to where the newsracks are located, otherwise this was a good presentation and his feeling is that staff should move forward. Mayor Larson noted that this is a proposal with the preferences of staff, but all will be subject to negotiations with the publications, his only question is the charge on the racks that the City puts in, that they be the same whether it is a large newspaper or a small weekly throw-away, that the charge be the same.. . I I I I I 7-22-02 Yost moved, second by Doane, to direct the staff to proceed with the recommendations, and that other architectural styles be looked at. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried For the purpose of clarification, the City Attorney noted there appears to be agreement that there will be one set of regulations for Main Street, another for the rest of the City, that the City shall own the news racks at least for Main Street, that there shall be uniform design standards at least for Main Street, and it should be understood that the location standards will be the product of considerable negotiations, yet are desired. ADJOURNMENT It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council, to adjourn the workshop session at Approved: '- .1N 1-\. lAAt:JOV) /1 Mayor I Attest: Seal Beach, California July 22, 2002 The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular session at 7:00 p.m. with Mayor Larson calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Larson Councilmembers Antos, Campbell, Doane, Yost Absent: None Also present: Mr. Bahorski, City Manager Mr. Barrow, City Attorney Mr. Whittenberg, Director of Development Services Mr. Dancs, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Chief Sellers, Police Department Mr. Vukojevic, Deputy City Engineer Mr. Cummins, Associate Planner Ms. Yotsuya, Assistant City Manager Mr. Eagle, Public Works Department Mr. Bernard, Public Works Department Ms. Yeo, City Clerk 7-22-02 APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mayor Larson noted that Retired Fire Captain Belanger will not be present at this meeting therefore requested that the recognition of his years of service be held over until the next meeting. Councilmember Campbell requested that Items "R" and "W" be removed from the Consent Calendar for separate consideration, Councilman Antos requested that Item "T" be removed, and noted his abstention from voting on Item "U", the Council minutes. Campbell moved, second by Yost, to approve the order of the agenda as revised. I AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried ANOUNCEMENTS Councilmember Campbell offered a reminder that the City Council can not discuss issues brought forward by the public unless it is an item on the agenda, unfortunately members of the public viewing the meetings are not aware of that, sometimes there are statements made during the public comment period and since the Council does not respond it is presumed that the statements are true, that does everyone a disservice, however the process can not be changed. Councilmember Campbell noted the presence of a number of bicycle riders, they seem to have characterized the Council as being against their sport, which is not true, in fact there are two items on this agenda in support, the construction of the Seal Beach Boulevard bike lane south of westminster, the other is renewal of the License Agreement with Southern California Edison for the bike trail in the Edison right-of-way, noted also her understanding that two invitations have been extended to this group to meet with the City, they have been turned down both times, yet the invitation still stands. At the request of Councilmember Campbell the Director of Public Works extended an offer to the bike riders to make an appointment to meet with him, his staff, and the City's transportation and traffic engineer, to explain and discuss the 405 Freeway overpass crossing project. I PRESENTATIONS ORANGE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY - SENIOR MOBILITY PROGRAM Supervisor James Silva expressed his pleasure at having the opportunity to be present, noted that if one were to ask the residents of the community what the most important thing is in Seal Beach they would likely say the beach, however the community is fortunate to have the number of senior citizens it has residing in this City, the County too has always looked at the seniors as a valuable asset. The Supervisor noted that it is often difficult for the seniors to get around, with transportation the way it is all too often it is difficult for them to get to doctor appointments, visit friends, or go shopping, and at the Orange County Transportation Authority they have always worked towards solving the transportation problems of seniors, to that the Supervisor announced that under the OCTA Senior Mobility Program there is a reconditioned sixteen passenger plus one wheelchair space van that is being presented to City of Seal Beach for use by the senior residents, and presented the key to the van to Mayor Larson as well as a check in the amount of $42,000 to be used for operational purposes. Mayor Larson expressed appreciation on behalf of the Council and senior residents, stating the seniors will appreciate this award. Councilmember Campbell pointed out that with the demolishing of the Rossmoor Center the senior bus service ceased, this van will take its place, transport to the Bixby Center and the Rossmoor Center when it reopens. I I I I 7-22-02 RECOGNITION - STEVE STOCKETT - PUBLIC WORKS SUPERVISOR Mayor Larson recognized and commended Mr. Steve Stockett, Public Works Supervisor, for having devoted more than thirty years to the City of Seal Beach, and presented him with a commemorative Seal Beach plaque. The Director of Public Works presented Mr. Stockett with a golden shovel bearing the signatures of City employees and officials in recognition of Mr. Stockett's retirement. Councilmember Campbell noted that the seal statue on the pier, "Slick," is named after Steve "Slick" Stockett. Mr. Stockett expressed his appreciation to all. RECOGNITION - AL BELANGER - RETIRING FIRE CAPTAIN This item was held over until the next meeting. RETIRED SENIOR VOLUNTEERS - GRADUATING CLASS Mayor Larson referred to the Senior Volunteers as a very important part of the City, good people who work hard. Chief Sellers recognized the graduates of the 7th Senior Volunteer Academy, noted that since March of 1996 when the first Volunteer Academy was held the Senior Volunteers have served the City with over one hundred thirty thousand hours, at $14 per hour that would be a contribution of over $1.8 million. Chief Sellers introduced the Volunteer Coordinator, Corporal Kay Moulten, who assisted Chief Sellers and Mayor Larson in the introduction and presentation of diplomas to graduating Volunteers Louis Balonka, Joe Butler, Lela Donelley, Nita Landero, Joel Lowenstein, Bernhardt Moskalento, Mario Sada, Nancy Ramos, and Paul Yamaguchi. The Chief stated that he looks forward to many years of service from this graduating group, they have worked hard for the past eight to nine weeks, and extended appreciation to each. PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Larson declared Public Comments to be open. Mr. Rex Rix, Huntington Beach, stated that he wanted to make Seal Beach aware that American Airlines has said it is going to sue if they do not get more flight slots in order to make Long Beach Airport expand. As a point of history, he said Alaska Airlines sued in the past and the flights went from fifteen to forty-one per day, that is a two hundred seventy- three percent increase, at that percentage of forty-one flights there will be one hundred twelve flights, this effects Leisure World, College Park West, and yesterday he saw a flight over the Old Town area. Mr. Rix noted that Long Beach has adopted a resolution to support the flight caps and to keep the curfews, asked that Seal Beach take some action by adoption of resolutions or take this to a legal fight, anything to protect the quality of life, if any airline is given additional flights just because they threaten to sue then all of the airlines will get involved, and the prospect of an airline taking an airport to court is very troublesome. Mr. Dave Dunton, owner of Main Street Cycling, thanked Councilmember Campbell for her comments, stated he was present at the behest of the bicycle riders who have asked him to contact the Council, and explained that what they have heard is that the bicycle lanes are to be removed from Seal Beach Boulevard at the point that they cross over the 405 Freeway, the riders feel that is not safe, a mistake, if that were to take place he is certain that Seal Beach would lose the support of all of the cyclists in Southern California and additionally expose the City to liability. Mr. Dunton expressed appreciation for the offer to meet with the cyclists. 7-22-02 Mr. Jeff Hathcock, President of the Southeast Civic Light Opera, reported that they have taken over the theater at the Joint Forces Training Base, they have been rehabilitating the theater and their first production will be next month, Star Spangled Country, a musical salute to patriotism, a portion of the ticket sales to go to the military morale program, in the fall the official program will open with Music Man, they will do a total of about eight to ten shows a year, the Guild has been in existence eight years, they have a wonderful childrens and adult program. Mr. Hathcock presented the Council with a press packet, asked that the Council let others know that the Theatre exists, and invited their attendance at their performances. Councilmember Campbell noted that the opening scene from the movie Patton, standing in front of the American Flag, was filmed on the Base stage. Ms. Marie Mungo stated she is a forty-three year resident of Rossmoor, now retired, she rides her bicycle over the Freeway bridge, she does all of her errands by bicycle to Seal Beach even to Newport Beach, her feeling is that with the bicycle lane she is safe, if the lane were not there she feels that the cars will speed, it will be dangerous, since she no longer drives a car she just drives her bicycle, and expressed hope that the bike lane will remain. Mayor Larson stated there has obviously been a misunderstanding, staff felt they had offered to communicate and meet with the organized bicycle people, somehow also felt that offer was rejected, and stated that the City wants to meet with them so that everyone knows the facts and do not assume something that may not happen, nonetheless their attendance was appreciated. I Mr. Roger West, Electric Avenue, thirty-five year resident, stated he wants the installation of parking meters on Main Street in Old Town expedited, he has been before City Council's for some twenty years urging that this be done, every other community from Oregon to the Mexican border has meters, now with the City budget situation to delay this further would be irresponsible, the need is obvious, ultimately inevitable, it needs to be done now. Ms. Joyce parque, 6th Street, said she could talk about the Redevelopment Agency for five minutes, the deficit spending, pending tax increases, parking meters, which she is against, just because other cities have them does not mean Seal Beach has to have them, there are bad parking meters already, she could talk about the bike trail that was put in on Seal Beach Boulevard, a number of people were upset with it. It was also brought to her attention that there was a pine tree and a coral tree that was dying, she came to City Hall to talk to the Public Works Director, he is the one that put together the book of $41 million of things that are needed in the City, she asked why, when the area was dug up, sprinklers were not put in the area of the trees at Ocean/ Electric/Seal Beach Boulevard, she got no return call from him, but did hear from a member of the Public Works staff, sprinklers and some grass would have made things simple, but now someone needs to turn the water on and off. . The Council needs to think things through to the end result before voting, there have been meters at the beach for at least a year, maybe two, not used, people want to blame it on bad weather, there are bad meters on Main Street, that can not be blamed on weather. Ms. parque said she was told today that there is no part time help to care for the park above the beach, it needs to be cleaned, she understands too that someone started a fire near a palm tree, there needs to be someone to clean things up. I I Ms. Kim Masoner, Chamber President and Ocean Avenue resident, announced upcoming events for the summer season, the sixth Music On Main concert series, each will be the best free I I I 7-22-02 entertainment around, the first of the series held last week with an attendance of over three hundred people, the concerts will be each Wednesday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Central Avenue, the stores on Main Street will stay open later during the concert series, a sandcastle workshop is scheduled for the upcoming Saturday, lessons on building sand castles, the monthly beach cleanup commences at noon the same day, the beach cleanups have been conducted consistently on the fourth Saturday of each month since October, 2000, and she can proudly say a noticeable difference can be seen on the beach, the Sandcastle Festival will be held September 7 and 8, the Arts and Crafts Fair will be held at the same time and celebrates their twenty-fifth year, the Fair features artists displaying hand made or painted art so as to not compete with Main Street businesses, the sand castles will be completed on Saturday and available for viewing on Saturday and Sunday, the event is also focused around educating the children about the environmental three R's, reduce, reuse, and recycle, in a fun way, the Contest raises money to benefit the Save Our Beach campaign and water quality along the Southern California coastline. There being no further comments, Mayor Larson declared Public Comments to be closed. COUNCIL ITEMS APPOINTMENT - ARCHAEOLOGICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE DISTRICT ONE Councilman Antos nominated Dr. Keith Dixon as the District One appointee to the Archaeological Advisory Committee and described in detail Dr. Dixon's extensive background, experiences, and affiliations, and moved for approval of the appointment. Councilman Yost seconded the motion. It was pointed out that members of this Committee are not required to be residents of Seal Beach. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried RESOLUTION NUMBER 5036 - CREATING AD HOC GENERAL PLAN/LOCAL COASTAL PLAN CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE - APPOINTMENTS . The Director of Development Services made reference to the request of the Council at the last meeting that the City Attorney determine the acceptability of members of the Environmental Quality Control Board and Planning Commission serving on this Committee inasmuch as those bodies will eventually be reviewing environmental documents and drafts of the General Plan and Local Coastal Plan. He reported the City Attorney did research the Charter finding that there are no prohibitions, therefore it is possible for a member of the Council, Commission, and EQCB to serve on the Committee with each of those bodies making the appointment, the Resolution having been revised to reflect that. Campbell moved, second by Yost, to adopt Resolution Number 5036 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA, CREATING AN AD HOC GENERAL PLAN/ LOCAL COASTAL PLAN CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE." By unanimous consent, full reading of Resolution Number 5036 was waived. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried With regard to appointments to the Ad Hoc Committee, Councilmember Campbell stated she had none at this time, Councilman Yost appointed Mr. Gordon Shanks, a member of the Planning Commission and held over the second appointment, and Councilman Antos noted that he had made his appointments in conjunction with the regular board and commission appointments, Mr. John Regnier and Mr. Joe Ribal, as well as 7-22-02 alternates Mr. Dave Evans and Ms. Barbara Barton, these appointments were approved by Council, if the other members of the Council choose to make appointments of alternates it would be appropriate that they do so. He also mentioned that since there will be a member of the Council on the Committee he offered to serve in the capacity of a voting member or an ex-officio member if it is determined that the Council appointee can not vote, he has a planning background and was involved in most of the Elements to the current General Plan and Local Coastal Plan, the members of the Council agreed to Councilman Antos serving as the Council appointee. Councilman Doane appointed Mr. Mike Levitt as the District Five appointee as well as Mr. Phil Ladner, also a member of the Planning Commission. Concern was expressed with a potential conflict with the appointment of a third member of the Planning Commission, confirmed by the city Attorney, at which time Councilman Doane withdrew the nomination of Mr. Ladner and appointed Mr. Rallie Rallis to the Committee. Mayor Larson appointed Ms. Ruth Harrison and Mr. Tom Pontac. Councilmember Campbell noted having inquired as to when the Planning Commission was going to make an appointment, if the Commission does not intend to choose Dr. Hood she intended to appoint him as one of her two appointees. The City Attorney offered that with the two Planning Commission nominations the Council could reconsider the Resolution to reflect that the Planning Commission would not have the power to appoint a third member from the Commission. It was clarified that Planning Commissioners Shanks and Hood had been appointed. I Yost moved, second by Antos, to reconsider Resolution Number 5036. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried I The City Attorney suggested the deletion of the Planning Commission from Section Two of the Resolution. Yost moved, second by Antos, to approve the revised language of Resolution Number 5036. Mayor Larson clarified that that would not include a second appointee by the EQCB. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried Councilman Doane suggested that the Environmental Quality Control Board make their own appointments. The City Attorney posed options that the EQCB make two appointments or the EQCB make one appointment and the Council make a second appointment. Yost moved, second by Antos, that the Environmental Quality Control Board make two appointments from that body. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried Councilmember Campbell mentioned that the Council has made appointment of two members of the Planning Commission, their background is known and they will work well, if the EQCB is allowed to make two appointments that takes away the ability of the Council to make two appointments. Councilman Doane countered that the EQCB knows its membership and they should have the ability to appoint the thirteenth member, argument was again made that that takes away an appointment by a member of the Council. I The City Attorney offered that based upon the motion adopted the language of Section 2 is that the Council shall appoint I I I 7-22-02 one member to the Committee, the EQCB shall appoint two members to the Committee, if it is felt that needs to be revised again there could be another motion to reconsider, or if the EQCB does not actually make the two appointments this could be revisited once again. Confidence was expressed with regard to the EQCB making the two appointments. Mayor Larson clarified that each person named shall be a member of the Ad Hoc Committee including Councilmember Antos. Announcement was made of the names of the appointments made thus far, also clarified that Councilmembers Campbell and Yost each have a remaining appointment, and after some discussion it was determined that nine appointments had been made. Councilman Antos noted a listing of workshops, his presumption is that they would be with the consultant, he would imagine that the staff and committee would likely need to meet more than the four workshops proposed, the response of staff was that the schedule was proposed by the consultant in their scope of work. CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEMS "H" thru "W" Doane moved, second by Campbell, to approve the recommended action for items on the Consent Calendar as presented, except for Items "R, S, T, U, and W", removed for separate consideration. H. Approved the waiver in full of all ordinances and resolutions and that consent to the waiver of reading shall be deemed to be given by all Councilmembers after reading of the title unless specific request is made at that time for the reading of such ordinance or resolution. I. Approved regular demands numbered 38236 through 38469 in the amount of $655,442.22, payroll demands numbered 16247 through 16498, and 927723 in the amount of $212,474.22, and authorized warrants to be drawn on the Treasury for same. J. Received and filed the Monthly Investment Report for May, 2002. K. Bids were received until July 16, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. for Project 50058, Seal Beach Catch Basin Filters, Phase II, at which time they were publicly opened by the City Clerk as follows: Asbury Environmental Services United Storm Water, Inc. Service First $ 54,397.20 $ 70,460.00 $189,077.00 L. Awarded the contract for installation and maintenance of Phase II filters for the City's storm drain catch basins to the lowest responsible bidder, Asbury Environmental Services, in the amount of $54,397.20, and authorized the City Manager to execute said agreement on behalf of the City. Bids were received until July 17, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. for Project Number 50025, Seal Beach Boulevard Bike Lane and Storm Drain, at which time they-were publicly opened by the City Clerk as follows: 7-22-02 Southland Construction Terra Pacific, Inc. SDR Engineering, Inc. Matthew and Stewart Co., Inc. Palp, Inc., dba Excel Paving Mike Bubalo Construction Co. Inc. Zondiros corporation $178,800.00 $192,000.00 $217,600.00 $237,228.00 $264,740.00 $286,618.00 $520,000.00 I Awarded the contract for construction of the Seal Beach Boulevard Bike Lane and Storm Drain Project south of Westminster Avenue to the lowest responsible bidder, Southland Corporation, in the amount of $174,800.00, and authorized the City Manager to execute said agreement on behalf of the City. M. Bids were received until July 17, 2002 at 10:30 a.m. for project Number 49885, Marina Drive Sanitary Sewer Improvements, at which time they were publicly opened by the City Clerk as follows: Mladen Grbavac Construction Co. Matthew and Stewart Co., Inc. Zondiros Corporation Mike prlich and Sons, Inc. Palp, Inc., dba Excel Paving $198,920.00 $273,635.50 $304,580.00 $347,650.00 $356,527.50 Awarded the bid for Project Number 49885, the construction of Marina Drive Sanitary Sewer Improvements, to Mladen Grbavac Construction Company, the lowest responsible bidder, in the amount of $198,920,00 and authorized the City Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the City. I N. Received and filed the Monthly Investment Report for June, 2002. O. Adopted Resolution Number 5038 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH DECLARING WORK TO BE COMPLETED AS TO PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR PROJECT #49675, ANNUAL CONCRETE REHABILITATION ENTERED INTO BETWEEN J. CARDENAS CONSTRUCTION, INC. AND THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH." By unanimous consent, full reading of Resolution Number 5038 was waived. Adopted Resolution Number 5039 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH DECLARING WORK TO BE COMPLETED AS TO PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR PROJECT #49673, ANNUAL PAVEMENT REHABILITATION, ENTERED INTO BETWEEN ELITE BOBCAT SERVICE, INC. AND THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH." By unanimous consent, full reading of Resolution Number 5039 was waived. . P. I Q. Adopted Resolution Number 5040 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH APPROVING THE SUBMITTAL OF SEAL BEACH BOULEVARD - SEGMENT III & IV IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS TO THE ORANGE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY FOR FUNDING UNDER THE ARTERIAL HIGHWAY REHABILITATION PROGRAM." By unanimous consent, full reading of Resolution Number 5040 was waived. I I I 7-22-02 V. Adopted Ordinance Number 1486 entitled "AN ORD~NANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA, CALLING AND GIVING NOTICE OF THE HOLDING OF A SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE HELD IN THE CITY ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5th, 2002, CONSOLIDATED WITH THE STATEWIDE GENERAL ELECTION FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUBMISSION OF A PROPOSED ORDINANCE AND A CHARTER AMENDMENT;" Adopted Resolution Number 5042 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA, REQUESTING THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE COUNTY OF ORANGE TO CONSOLIDATE A SPECIAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 5th, 2002 WITH THE STATEWIDE GENERAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON THAT DATE PURSUANT TO SECTION 10403 OF THE CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS CODE;" Adopted Resolution Number 5043 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA, SETTING PRIORITIES FOR FILING WRITTEN ARGUMENTS REGARDING CITY MEASURES, AND DIRECTING THE CITY ATTORNEY TO PREPARE IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS OF SAID MEASURE;" and Adopted Resolution Number 5044 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA, PROVIDING FOR THE FILING OF REBUTTAL ARGUMENTS FOR CITY MEASURES SUBMITTED AT THE NOVEMBER 5th, 2002 SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION." AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM "R" - ENCROACHMENT PERMIT - 101 MAIN STREET - WATSON Councilmember Campbell noted this is a request for an Encroachment Permit at 101 Main Street for a proposed four foot overhang onto the public right-of-way. .Councilmember Campbell she wanted this to be publicly discussed so that no one can come back to the City and claim this is a grant of a special privilege or setting a precedent, on this date she inquired about encroachment permits, how many are there, who has them, are there any balconies, is this balcony over the street, sidewalk or private property. Councilman Doane noted there is a balcony across from 101 Main Street. The Director of Public Works explained that the balconies for 101 Main Street are actually over the property of the owner, those would not require an encroachment permit but go through the normal building permit process, this particular application is for an overhang of four feet. He noted that a survey was done of Main Street and found that there are about twenty- nine cloth overhangs, twenty-one structural overhangs, one sign and about two balconies that encroach the public right- of-way, there is a data base that goes back about eight to nine years and it was found there are no permits for any of those on record however permits could have been issued prior to. He noted that the City Engineer can normally issue permits at his discretion in the public right-of-way, yet the decision was to bring this to Council as it is also an aesthetic outlook in encroaching the public right-of-way, and mentioned that a representative of the applicant was 7-22-02 present to answer any questions of the Council, however staff has no problem with the request and would recommend its approval. Councilmember Campbell indicated a motion to approve the issuance of the requested encroachment permit. Councilman Yost asked if this increases the seating area inside the building. The Director of Public Works suggested that that question be posed to the representative of the applicant. Mr. Robert McCone stated he was the representative of Watson and Associates for the property located at 101 Main Street, explained that there is no extra leaseable space being developed as a result of the overhang or the balcony, there will be no seating on the balcony, it is for aesthetic purposes to enhance the architectural treatments of the building. Councilman Yost made reference to the area directly beneath the proposed balcony off of Ocean which is essentially a seating area that would then have a roof over the top, will that then become additional inside seating area for Cold Stone, with the balcony it could then be enclosed for more usable space. The response of Mr. McCone was that that space is not being enclosed, there will be a space between the glass partition, and he did not know the height between the wall and the balcony. The Director of Development Services explained that with regard to the enclosed area along the Ocean Avenue frontage that is adjacent to the sidewalk, ColdStone has been made aware that before they can use that for customers they would need to come to the City for a conditional use permit, they have not done that therefore at this point they have no authority for people to use that area while eating their ice cream, staff continues to observe that area on a regular basis, to the knowledge of staff ColdS tone has been good in keeping people from using that area. To the question as to how they could build that area without a CUP, the Director explained that a permit can be issued to build a wall, the question was then posed if they could obtain an encroachment permit to put a roof over the top. To that the Director stated that in looking at the design, the encroachment permit does not apply to the balcony on the Ocean Avenue side because it does not project past the property line onto the public right-of-way as he understands the drawing, the only encroachment is the sign band along Main Street. Councilman" Yost recalled considerable discussion relating to the renovation of the building in the 100 block of Main Street, and asked if there was recollection of the issues involved in that encroachment. The Director said he would need to review that meeting for specifics, however as the City Engineer has indicated there are a number of structures along Main Street that have encroachments that have been there for years, BJ's Pizza is an example of having a structure out over the sidewalk with posts down into the ground, that was there in 1989 and how long before that is not known, there may be encroachments that predated the City even adopting a zoning ordinance, there are some that need to obtain permits for awnings and things, the City Engineer is working on an encroachment policy that will deal with some of those issues, as to the building in the 100 block recollection is that there was concern with people being on the balconies of the residential units and possible something being thrown onto pedestrians, to that a comment was made that it is believed the balconies were modified from their original request to prevent such instance, another comment was that the width of the balconies in that case were reduced in size. Councilman Yost asked why this matter is before the Council rather than the Planning Commission. The Director of Public Works stated again that normally all matters within the public right-of-way are at the discretion of the City Engineer, the Engineer is authorized to issue such permits. The Public Works Director I I I I I I , ':' ~" 7-22-02 explained that since there are no permits for any of these types of structures for which there are current records or through the data base going back eight to nine years, and given there will be a Main Street Encroachment Permit Policy on the next Council agenda for encroachments in the area however they are at Street level such as benches, street furniture, etc. from a liability standpoint, this was brought to the Council because since staff has not been permitting such things, or have not been permitted on record, this is to inform the Council that such things are now actually being permitted. Councilman Yost said he would feel more comfortable if this were to go through the Planning Commission, which is more within their jurisdiction, it is within the jurisdiction of the Council to develop a policy but it is felt the permits would be more aptly dealt with through the Planning Commission, then if an unfavorable decision to the applicant is reached it is then appealable to the Council. The Development Services Director explained that the purview of the Planning Commission basically ends at the property line between public and private property, the Planning Commission does not consider anything that happens in the public right-of-way. Councilman Yost countered that this is attached to a private building on a piece of property and it is part of the architectural feature of that private building. Councilman Antos noted that there are some structures over Main Street that actually came before the Council and received approval, that was between the years of 1972 and 1983, he could provide staff with those addresses, specifically Main and Electric, properties developed by Quinn and Jones, two different individuals, there are permanent overhangs over the sidewalk, there are a number of them that have received approvals. Councilman Doane again reminded that the four story structure in the 100 block also came before the Council. To initial motion by Councilmember Campbell to authorize the City Engineer to issue an encroachment permit to Watson and Associates for a proposed four foot overhang onto the public right-of-way at 101 Main Street, Councilman Doane seconded that motion. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson Yost Motion carried Councilman Yost asked if the other members of the Council would mind if this were to be sent through the Planning Commission or have the encroachment permit policy go through the Planning Commission. Councilmember Campbell noted that staff had explained that the purview of the Commission ends at the property line. The City Attorney suggested that possibly this could be discussed during the time of considering the Encroachment Policy. ITEM "s" - AGREEMENT / RESOLUTION NUMBER 5041 - BEVERLY MANOR BIKE TRAIL EDISON LICENSE It was determined that this item had not been removed for separate consideration. Larson moved, second by Yost, to approve the renewal of the License Agreement with the Southern California Edison Company for the City's bicycle trail located within the Edison right-of-way, authorized the City Manager to execute said renewal License Agreement, and adopted Resolution Number 5041 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA, AUTHORIZNG A BUDGET AMENDMENT, NO. 03-01, FOR THE BEVERLY MANOR BIKE TRAIL SCE LICENSE AGREEMENT." By unanimous consent, full reading of Resolution Number 5041 was waived. 7-22-02 AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried ITEM "T" - PARKING METER SERVICE AGREEMENT AMENDMENT - CITY OF LONG BEACH Councilman Antos noted that this is a parking meter service agreement with the City of Long Beach for the existing meters that are primarily in the Main Street and Electric Avenue lots, some of the meters do not work, and inquired if it is known how much money is coming from these meters and if there is enough money to replace the meters that do not work, his understanding is that the manufacturers do not service the meters, some of them run fast, there is a liability if someone receives a citation, he is aware of one meter that is clicking one minute every fifty seconds, that is twenty-five minutes for thirty minutes worth of money. The City Manager recalled that Councilman Antos had raised this issue before the Parking Committee, staff did look into it, the City of Long Beach is recommending that if it is known which meters are running fast they will calibrate that meter, they also said it is difficult and very time consuming to calibrate all of the meters, yet they will test identified meters, they do check the batteries and the jams, with regard to replacing meters, that is something that is going to be looked into, there will likely be an answer to that question when the meters on Main Street are addressed. Doane moved, second by Campbell, to approve the amendment to the Parking Meter Service Agreement between the City of Long Beach and City of Seal Beach for an additional one year period commencing February 1, 2002 and terminating January 31, 2003. I AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried I ITEM "U" - COUNCIL MINUTES Larson moved, second by Yost, to approve the minutes of the regular adjourned and regular meetings of April 8,2002. AYES: NOES: ABSTAIN: Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Antos Motion carried ITEM "W" - AWARD OF BID - PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT REHABILITATION PROJECT NUMBER 50093 Bids were received until July 16, 2002 at 10:30 a.m. for Project Number 50093, Parks Play Equipment, Fiscal Year 2001/2002, at which time they were publicly opened by the City Clerk as follows: Ortco, Inc. Little Tikes Commercial Play .Systems Ryco Construction, Inc. $230, 97l. 00 $244,661.29 $326,623.00 Councilmember Campbell noted that this is something good coming to the City, and inquired as to the schedule for the project. The Deputy City Engineer explained that as soon as their references, insurance, etc. is checked the equipment can be ordered, receipt of the equipment should be four to six weeks, it is anticipated that by October everything should be implemented. To the children of Seal Beach, Councilmember Campbell stated the equipment is coming. I Campbell moved, second by Doane, to award the contract for the Playground Equipment Rehabilitation Project at Edison Park, Heather Park, Marina Park, and the Beach Tot Lot, Project Number 50093, to the lowest responsible bidder, Ortco, Inc., in the amount of $230,971.00, and authorized I I I 7-22-02 the City Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the City. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried APPEAL - CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT NUMBER 02-12 - PROFESSIONAL OFFICE - 218-1/2 MAIN STREET - HOME LOAN ONLINE Mayor Larson declared the public hearing open to consider an appeal of Planning Commission denial of Conditional Use Permit No. 02-12; a request to operate a professional office on the ground floor at 218-1/2 Main Street, (Home Loan Online). The City Clerk certified that notice of the public hearing had been advertised as required by law, and reported no communications received either for or against this matter. The Associate Planner presented the staff report, explained that the request of the applicant was to operate a professional office use on the ground flood at 218-1/2 Main Street, on May 22nd the Planning Commission heard the application for the CUP and denied the request by a unanimous vote, the primary focus of discussion was whether a professional office use was appropriate within the scope of the Main Street Specific Plan on the ground floor, on Main Street a professional office use is allowed by right on the second floor however requires a CUP on the first floor, the Commission felt it was not an appropriate use for a first floor location fronting Main Street and felt that the vision had been to keep that area as a retail and commercial corridor. The Associate noted that the business is currently open at this location, the City had previously issued a business license to Home Loan Online to do business at a different location, with the business license renewal notices the applicant then informed the City that the business had moved to its current location on Main Street, at that time the applicant was informed that he would need a Conditional Use Permit to continue operation at this location, he made application, it went before the Commission and was denied. He mentioned also that within the appeal application the business wants to be considered a financial institution rather than a professional office for purposes of the Zoning Code, the Zoning Code allows a financial institution by right in the Main Street Specific Plan however staff defines what the applicant does at the site to be a professional office, there is no specific definition in the zoning Code for a financial institution yet does define professional office as 'offices maintained and used as a place of business conducted by persons engaged in activity consisting principally of services to persons as distinguished from the handling of commodities', to that the staff determinatton was that the term professional office would be what one would think of as an office use as compared to a commercial use where a product would be sold to a customer passing by. with regard to the appeal fees, the Associate explained that the fees collected by the City pays for the cost incurred in filing the application which includes staff time, staff report preparation, mailing of notices, etc. The Associate reviewed the options for Council consideration. Mayor Larson invited members of the public wishing to speak to this item to come to the microphone and identify themselves for the record. Mr. Matt Murphree, Seal Beach resident and 15th Street homeowner, stated their company was started two years ago, operating from his residence at the time, they obtained their license from the State, as the business grew it was decided that additional space was needed, locations in other general areas were looked at, the Main Street location was then determined to be an appropriate space, at that time they approached the City, explained that 7-22-02 /- i they wanted to move the business, made reference to the original business license on Seal Way, they inquired as to the process or form to change a business address, they were informed that there was no process, the request of the City was to merely write down the address and phone number of where the business was to be, thereafter they signed a lease that began in February of 2000. understanding the need to change the address for the business license they reapplied, as they were told they had to do; that is what triggered the application eventually going before the Planning Commission. Mr. Murphree pointed out that they are in business as a mortgage lender, they deal with clients on a daily basis in terms of the federal and State requirements, they felt they had done everything possible to be in compliance with Seal Beach, they were unaware that because of changing addresses that they had to go through a Planning Commission process, they have spent a year and a half developing their business, people know them by their advertising, people come from off the street to ask questions relating to real estate matters, etc., their business has developed a home on Main Street. Mr. Murphree acknowledged the amounts of information that was provided him by the Planning Department, upon reading the Specific Plan it is felt that they actually may qualify to be located on Main Street, their company is a mortgage lender, they provide a service to the public which is different from a bank and from what the City considers they are which is a mortgage professional or mortgage broker, in the lending industry there are three entities of lend, banks, mortgage brokers, which is a third party type service that takes the borrower's information and takes it to the banks, in between is the mortgage lender, they provide services different from the banks and mortgage brokers, they actually service and fund loans for mortgage brokers and fund loans that banks will not fund, in terms of the nitch in the market place for the mortgage lender, because as a banker by definition they provide services that banks and brokers create for the community such as FHA loans, VA loans to veterans, loans to State employees, loans to California State teachers, mortgage lenders fulfill the nitch that banks and brokers do not fill, his belief is that the Specific Plan can not address what their business is, it makes a statement that financial institutions can exist on Main Street, it has a definition for professional services, which would be correct for a mortgage broker, financial institutions are thought of as a bank however. Mr. Murphree explained that mortgage lenders are regulated under the Department of Corporations, are licensed to lend money and to service loans, therefore when they make a loan they use their own money, lend it to people, sell the loan to the. secondary market, and service the loans for a period of time, thus there is a product and a service. Mr. Murphree stated again that they did everything they thought was correct to stay in compliance with the City, his hope is that the Council can find room for their business in Seal Beach. I I Councilman Antos inquired if the Department of Corporations is different than the Department of Real Estate, the response was that it is, the further question was whether the Department of Corporations covers any other type of financial institutions in California. Mr. Murphree said he believed the definition between a Department of Real Estate entity and a financial institution is the licensing in the State, under the Professional Code, thought to be series 10000, would be a mortgage broker, Home Loan Online is under financial institution Code 5000 which also includes banks and savings and loans in terms of the laws and regulations that they must operate under to lend money. Mayor Larson noted that the Department of Corporations authorized and issued a license I I I I 7-22-02 to Community Lending, Inc. doing business as E-Mac Lending, the fictitious of business name was done in the name of Home Loan Online and Creative Capital Group, Inc., the other licenses from the City state realtors, which is Creative Capital Group, and inquired if they are all the same group. Mr. Murphree said what happened early in the 2000 process was that Home Loan Online became a dba of Creative Capital, shortly after he received a notice assigning Home Loan Online as a dba of Community Lending, which is the lending partner under which Home Loan Online operates under their umbrella of legal services, h~man resources, and which gives the lender status. The Mayor said he would not ask how they obtained a business license in a residential unit. Ms. Margaret Murphy, owner of the property at 218 Main Street, stated she has lived in or owned property in Seal Beach since 1969, she and her deceased husband built this building in 1977, since the passing of her husband in 1983 this property has become her retirement income, by the City of Seal Beach restricting the type of business she can rent to reduces the tenant pool therefore effectively jeopardizing the rental rates. Ms. Murphy stated that when she and her husband were involved in the Seal Beach Specific Plan in the 1970's and early 1980's the issues were the color of buildings, signage, textured or non-textured sidewalks, planting, and benches. She noted that Mr. and Mrs. Murphree have bought a home and are raising a family in this community and should be entitled to have their business here. She also mentioned having compiled a list of businesses from Pacific Coast Highway to Ocean Avenue, to the best of her knowledge it is accurate, she grouped some like stores to show comparison, there are approximately one hundred stores of which twelve are office types, this is not a large percentage, by approving the CUP request the City can rectify the mistake of the Planning Commission. Mr. Woody Woodruff, building and business owner on Main Street, noted the question relating to having a business from the applicant's home, to which he posed the question as to how many businesses are being run from homes right now that the City does not know about and they do not buy business licenses. When Home Loan Online moved to Main Street they did not try to hide it, they said they were a loan business and they are, they remodeled, their store front is clean, they have been good neighbors, they live in the community. Mr. Woodruff offered that this was a mistake of the City, but to come back a year and a half later and tell them they have to move would be punitive, also, there are businesses in the same area that even the Council has mentioned that are not what they said they would be, never abided by their CUP or have been the best neighbors, they are still here, have not been asked to leave. He said this was a mistake, there needs to be some kind of compromise, he understands the Main Street Specific Plan and why one would not want to have ground level offices, but it would also not be right to make Home Loan Online move. There being no further comments, Mayor Larson declared the public hearing closed. Councilman Doane made reference to the Seal Beach Physic business on Main Street, there is no product involved with that business, it is an office providing a service, it is somewhat disconcerting as to what kind of business can not be on Main street, in his opinion the Specific Plan is not all that clear, the problem may be the Specific Plan. Councilman Antos mentioned that recently there was a hair salon in the three hundred block of Main Street that went out of business, a non-retail business was allowed to utilize the property without going through the Conditional Use Permit process, be that as it may, it seems that based upon the information 7-22-02 that has been presented by the applicant his feeling is that it should have been handled through some type of clarification of ambiguity through the Planning Commission as the Commission made the determination that this was a financial institution, there was a time when those were looked at as only being banks, savings and loans, etc., things have evolved over time, if this is looked upon as a new type of financial institution, maybe nontraditional, he could understand why financial institutions are allowed on the first floor, the fact that they do wire transfers, transactions, and on-line does not make it any less a financial institution, there is a financial institution on Main Street already, his feeling is that On Line should be licensed and permitted to operate there, they are not regulated by the Department of Real Estate, if they are regulated by the same people that regulate financial institutions then they should be considered to be a financial institution as opposed to an office use, thus have the appeal granted. Councilman Doane noted that there are two real estate offices on Main Street, one is believed to have escrow services, there is a great similarity between the way that some of the existing permitted businesses on the ground floor operate that compare to this business. Councilman Antos agreed, if a real estate office is allowed to move in and occupy a ground floor of a building that was not previously a real estate office and without a CUP, whether of not they have an escrow office tied in, then something that is more on the financial institutional side should be allowed. Councilman Yost noted that Main Street is always a balance between resident serving and visiting serving businesses, that needs to be kept, the main thing is that it keeps the balance in the direction of resident serving businesses, given the facts he would have no problem with this matter. Councilmember Campbell said she does not see this as a bank, banks are offering a variety of services these days, the uses are all somewhat blending in, with regard to the list of business uses there are three that are offices, she has a concern with setting a precedent yet there are already two such uses, the District Four Planning Commissioner voted against the CUP because he felt it was not in keeping with the character and spirit of Main Street, with that she would have to agree, and would further have concerns with the three existing office uses as not being appropriate. Councilman Yost added that he would not want to classify this use as a financial institution and would sustain the decision of the Commission to classify this as a non-financial institution for the sake of the Main Street Specific Plan so that similar businesses would require a CUP, yet in this instance would sustain the appeal. I I Councilman Yost moved to sustain the appeal of the decision of the Planning Commission. Although hesitant to overturn a decision of the Planning Commission, Councilman Doane seconded the motion in this case. Councilman Antos inquired if part of the motion is to return the filing fee. Suggestion was that a vote be taken on the motion as stated first. Mayor Larson noted that this is still a small town, people have their own ideas, and not seeing objection the appeal must be acceptable. I AYES: NOES: Antos, Doane, Larson, Yost Campbell Motion carried The City Attorney announced that a resolution will be forthcoming consistent with the decision of the Council to overturn the decision of the Planning Commission. I I I 7-22-02 with regard to the reimbursement of the $500 appeal fee, Councilman Doane said he did not feel it should be Reimbursed as it is meant to cover processing costs, and so moved. Mayor Larson seconded the motion. AYES: NOES: Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost Antos Motion carried CITY ATTORNEY REPORT No report was presented. CITY MANAGER REPORT The City Manager announced that application had been submitted for three Proposition 13 grants, two of those have scored in the top ten, the final decision will be made on October 8th, and noted there were no other cities that scored as high as Seal Beach. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Yost commended the Orange County Sanitation District and the City's representative for the vote to not pursue the waiver, and reminded that Seal Beach was the first city in Southern California to adopt a resolution in opposition to the 301H Waiver and the District Board eventually adopted that position as well. A member of the audience asked if action on the appointments to the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority had been overlooked. It was acknowledged that it had been overlooked. ITEM "G" - CALIFORNIA JOINT POWERS INSURANCE AUTHORITY - APPOINTMENTS Yost moved, second by Campbell, to designate the Mayor as the representative and the Assistant City Manager as the alternate representative to the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement with the Authority. Mayor Larson mentioned that generally this involves a once a year meeting for the representative. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried CLOSED SESSION No Closed Session was held. ADJOURNMENT It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council, to adjourn the meeting until August 12th at 6:30 p.m. By unanimous consent, the meeting was adjourned at 8:41 p.m. Approved: ~l1V~' ~';oV\ Mayor 7-22-02 / 8-12-02 Attest: Seal Beach, California August 12, 2002 I The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular adjourned session at 6:30 p.m. with Mayor Larson calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Larson Councilmembers Antos, Campbell, Doane, Yost Absent: None Also present: Mr. Bahorski, City Manager Mr. Barrow, City Attorney Mr. Whittenberg, Director of Development Services Mr. Dancs, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Ms. Yeo, City Clerk COUNCIL STUDY SESSION The Director of Public Works explained that what is being presented is a proposed policy for Main Street encroachments, the Engineering Division is currently not issuing permits for encroachments into the public right-of-way but there may have been permits in past years on a non-regular basis, the intent is to create an area where there can be encroachments yet allow for safe access for pedestrians. He noted that staff is looking at about eight different issues, such as, where wil the encroachments be allowed, what type of encroachments will be allowed, how much will be charged for the application, will the City charge an appropriate rental fee for use of the public right-of-way by the private business, will temporary encroachments be allowed, will the City use proactive Code enforcement on encroachments such as temporary signs that are currently in the right-of-way under existing City Code, outdoor dining, and catilever projections over the public right-of-way. The Director mentioned that this process started with creating a location standard as a result of going through the ADA access guidelines, talking with the building official as to ingress and egress to buildings, staff looked at everything possible that could be a liability, that in order to create a safe travel walkway for pedestrians, an ADA walk zone is mentioned in the standard which is about five feet wide, that is what ADA calls for in order for two wheelchairs to pass each other, there is a twelve foot wide sidewalk therefore that leaves approximately seven feet for encroachments on either side, a three foot area remains open around a light pole, fire hydrant, any type of public works structure, that is for the purpose of maintenance, etc., a one and a half foot area is proposed for I I