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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/17/98 BAKERSFIELD CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE MEMORANDUM April 17, 1998 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL FROM: ALAN TANDY, CITY MANAGER /~'~/_.,.y SUBJECT: GENERAL INFORMATION 1. A status report on the expenditure of the Destec funds is enclosed. There is an approximate balance of $54,000 left from the original $500,000. Per our agreement with Destec, all monies must be spent by December 1, 1999. Those remaining funds will be allocated to replacement of equipment and improvement of play areas at University Park. 2. An update on a Council referral on the possibility of changing the bike path plans (referred to the Planning Commission) is enclosed. 3. For your information, we will be trying to recruit a restaurant / bar operation for the immediate vicinity of the arena. The business would prosper, and it's essential to the overall redevelopment effort. 4. Bids are actively being taken on the Federal Building - we do not know when the process will be final yet. 5. We are in the process of taking applications and, ultimately, selecting a new fire chief. I hope to wind that up by mid-May. AT:rs cc: Department Heads Pamela McCarthy, City Clerk Trudy Slater, Administrative Analyst TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Stan Ford, Director of Recreation and Parks DATE: April 15, 1998 SUBJECT: Status of Destec Funds The Kem County Soccer Foundation group has expended their allotted monies of $130,000 on the construction of lighting four soccer fields at their soccer complex near Hart Park last year. We have just received copies of the billing receipts for the Highland High School stadium lighting project which amounted to $230,000. Staffhas scheduled to tour the stadium project to verify that the work was actually completed and we do not anticipate any problems. Once this verification is completed we will be fowarding approval to have the Kern High School District paid in the amount of $230,000. The balance $140,000 was to be spent at Siemon and University Parks. Improvements of security lighting, signs, trees have been made at University Park. New sand vollyball courts, signs and a new concrete basketball was added at Siemon. We are waiting for the wet weather to go away so the resurfacing of the tennis courts at Siemon can be completed. A contracter has already been hired to do the work. At this point we have about $54,000 left in the Destec fund. Staff is projecting to replace all the old and outdated playground equipment and bring the park play areas into state and federal ADA compliance at University Park. The Destec agreement states that the entire amount of $500,000 must be expended by December 1,1999 or the balance reverts back to Destec. This deadline will be met. Please let me know if you have any further questions. APR I 5 1998 C~.TY IVtANA,.,GER'S CFFtC O MEMORANDUM April 15, lgg8 ALAN TANDY, CITY MANAGER TO: FROM: JACK HARDISTY, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIREC SUBJECT: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON BIKE PATH REFERRAL FROM COUNCIL (REFERRAL NO. WF001779) HISTORY I. On September 18, 1997, the Planning Commission approved Tentative Tract 5881, a 209 lot single family residential subdivision located south of Stockdale Highway, east of Allen Road. Conditions of approval required the following improvements on the south side of Stockdale Highway. a) 3-foot bike lane. b) 5-1/2-foot sidewalk next to curb c) 10-foot wide landscaping behind sidewalk d) 12-foot wide bike path behind landscaping e) 3-foot wide landscaping from bike path to wall Items b-e above were required pursuant to the original General Plan Amendment/Zone Change (GPNZC P96-0286) for the area. Item "a" above is a requirement of the Circulation Element of the general plan and represents a Class II bike lane. The subdivision is required to be consistent with the general plan requirements listed above. In addition, the subdivision is to recognize a 40-foot "open space" area between proposed lots and the Cross Valley Canal. The previous owner, Castle and Cooke, included a 100- foot wide open space buffer along the Cross Valley Canal with its GPNZC application to change the prope ,rty from an agricultural to residential designation and removethe property from the Kern River Plan Element. The 100-foot buffer was a result of an agreement between Castle and Cooke and the Kern River Public Access Committee (KRPAC). At the Council hearing for the GPNZC, Castle and Cooke, with agreement from the KRPAC submitted a proposal to reduce the 100-foot wide open space area to 40 feet, and provide a 30-foot wide parkway along Stockdale Highway with included items b-e above. These design elements were incorporated into the GPNZC conditions of approval as mentioned above. In the interest of public safety and community welfare, the Planning Commission also attached conditions for a masonry wall to separate the subdivision from the open space, as well as maintenance and access restrictions on the open space. __ I 6 1999 Alan Tandy April 15, 1998 Page 2 II. The applicant appealed the Planning Commission conditions to the October 22, 1997 Council hearing. The applicant's appeal included requests to: o Deletion of the requirement for a bike lane along Stockdale Highway. ° Deletion of the requirement for a masonry wall separating the open space from the subdivision. o Elimination of maintenance responsibilities for the open space area. At the October 22 hearing, the Council referred several items back to staff for rewrite and clarification. Staff was to provide more background, detailed responses to the applicant's statements regarding legal issues such as State Map Act references and the City's opinion regarding the private Castle & Cooke/KRPAC agreement. Council requested staff review the possibility of trading 3-foot of the 12-foot bike path for the 3-foot wide bike lane. Council requested that the wall requirement between the subdivision and open space be replaced with a standard wood fence with tree landscaping on the open space side of the fence. III. These items were brought back to the Council at their November 5, 1997, meeting. At that meeting Council approved the subdivision with several changes to conditions which included deletion of the wall requirement between the subdivision and the open space and a requirement for a wood fence with tree landscaping on the open space side of the fence. The condition regarding the requirement for a bike lane and 12-foot wide multi-purpose trail was left intact because it was determined a general plan amendment/zone change would be required to change this requirement. The motion included a referral of the bike path width reduction to the Planning Commission for general plan hearing consideration in December 1997. The applicant had applied for a GPNZC to remove the open space requirement and agreed to request a reduction of the multi-purpose trail from 12 feet to 9 feet as a part of that application to be heard in December. IV. On December 4, 1997, the applicant withdrew his request for general plan amendment, which included deletion of the open space area and reduction in the 12-foot bike path width to 9 feet. No reasons for the withdrawl were given. CURRENT STATUS In conversations with the applicant, the developer may be considering a change in the development scheme for this area. Evidently there are thoughts of replacing the residential subdivision with a church use, private school use and mini-storage use. These uses would require their own public hearings and approvals. No applications have been submitted at this time but that may explain the withdrawl of the general plan amendment. JM:pjt m\mat4-14