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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/24/2000 BAKERSFIELD ~ [~1_) ~ Randy Rowles,.Chair Alan Tandy, City Manager David Couch Staff: John W. Stinson Mike Maggard AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Meeting of Monday, April 24, 2000 4:00 p.m. City Hall - Council Chamber 1. ROLL CALL Call to Order at 4:00 p.m. Present: Councilmembers: Randy Rowles, Chair; David Couch; and Mike Maggard 2. ADOPT MARCH 22, 2000 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted. 3. PRESENTATIONS None 4. PUBLIC STATEMENTS None 5. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. Review and Committee recommendation regarding Shellabarger Road access - Rojas Kem County Road Director Craig Pope discussed the concerns by residents on Shellabarger Road about the difficulty getting out on to Calloway Road. He suggested a temporary solution of putting in a temporary (sub-standard) opening at Pepita and Shellabarger, until their separation of grade project is completed and a stop light is installed on Calloway, which will take several months. There were concerns expressed regarding a sub-standard road and increased liability. He also spoke about proposals the County is looking at, one is the possibility of a road from Shellabarger down to Brimhall on the extension of Verdugo, and another possibility would be extending Madetta through to Palm, but each would be expensive requiring right-of-way acquisition and stop lights. ooo FILE COPY URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Monday, April 24, 2000 Page -2- Doug and Joan Burton, Shellabarger Road, spoke in opposition to opening Shellabarger Road at Pepita Way. Karen Cox, Shellabarger Road, spoke regarding the dangers of turning left from Shellabarger and left on to Shellabarger and in favor of opening Shellabarger Road at Pepita Way. Leonard Cook, Shellabarger Road, spoke in opposition to opening Shellabarger Road at Pepita Way. Sharon Spanke, owner of Heartland Homes, spoke in opposition to opening Shellabarger Road at Pepita Way. Janet Carter, Shellabarger Road, spOke in opposition to opening Shellabarger Road at Pepita Way. Norma Dixon, Cilantro Avenue, spoke in opposition to opening Shellabarger at Pepita Way. Michael Fanucchi, Shellabarger Road, stated the way Shellabarger Road is today is unacceptable, but if the decision is to keep the road closed, there is a need for a cul de sac to be built so people can turn around and to provide Mr. Cook a way to exit his property. Stuart Baugher, Lucille Avenue, spoke in opposition to opening Shellabarger at Pepita Way and the need for the County to put another road through to Shellabarger, preferably to Brimhall. He provided a binder of materials, which is available in the City Manager's office. Copies will be made upon request. Wallace Bedford spoke regarding their possible purchase of property on Verdugo, which includes the five acre parcel where right-of-way will be needed if Verdugo were extended to Brimhall Road. The Committee expressed concerns about traffic turning around in residents' yards because the street is narrow and the need to address this as soon as possible. Committee member Couch, after discussion with Mr. Pope, stated he would like to encourage the County to connect Shellabarger Road with Brimhall and with Palm in whatever manner is easiest, most effective, whether that be Marietta or Verdugo, and if possible, during construction of the grade separation project at Calloway to consider making the connection of Palm to Shellabarger a top pdofity. He would also like to ask the County to look at the five acre parcel that may be needed to put the road through. He stated that ultimately Shellabarger and Pepita should probably connect.. After discussion, the Committee directed staff to meet with County staff and explore what options are available to put roads through to Shellabarger and if possible, how the timing can be achieved with the separation of grade project scheduled at Calloway. Staff was directed to bring this information to the June 5th Urban Development Committee meeting. URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Monday, April 24, 2000 Page -3- B. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding Downtown Business and Property Owners' Vision effort -- possible formation of a Business Improvement District (This item heard first.) Herman Ruddell stated there is interest by some members in the Downtown Business Association (DBA) regarding forming a property based business improvement district to generate revenue for capital improvements such as permanent parking assets, solid waste management for installing garbage compactors, and such things as streetscape maintenance. Since there is not full support among all the downtown businesses and property owners, the DBA will need to market this idea to convince its membership and non-member businesses in the area of the benefits. The City Attorney's office has provided them with information and they would like to work with City staff on details of how a district can be formed. John Sarad asked how the amount of an assessment is determined. City Attorney Bart Thiltgen explained assessments and how they are based upon the benefit that the property will receive. He further explained the different types of districts and the voting requirements under Proposition 218. By local statute, the City would have to form the district and be responsible for the collection, either through business license taxes or assessments on property taxes. Cathy Butler, from the Downtown Business Association, spoke about their interest in a shuttle or trolley service for the downtown. She said the DBA would like to explore the possibility of working through the Charrette process to create a vision on paper to interest the downtown property owners in order to raise the level of support to form a district. Committee Chair Randy Rowles agreed with her request and stated his preference would be that the Charrette process be used to come up with such a beautiful picture that the market forces in the downtown would react positively to solve the problem. 6. NEW BUSINESS A. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding "bunker" type buildings in the Downtown Business District- Hardisty Development Services Director Jack Hardisty stated this item was referred to this Committee by Council due to concems about bunker-type buildings in the downtown. It is getting popular with banks and telecommunication type businesses to construct buildings like large boxes with no windows in the front, only doors, due to riots, graffiti and vandalism. There is concern that this might become a little more widespread creating a canyon effect with too many walls. Urban design holds that a certain openness at the pedestrian level is conducive to a healthy office and retail environment setting. An architectural standard could be adopted that would be applicable for all buildings constructed in the downtown area or commercial areas that would maintain a degree of openness at the pedestrian level. This would not determine the style of architecture, but there would be a degree of architectural review when the plans come in as they would be checked for doors, windows, and openness with retail space relevant to URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Monday, April 24, 2000 Page -4- the pedestrian environment. Telecommunications, as an entity, is preempted by Federal Government rules and regulations and any standard would have to be consistent with these rights. The Committee expressed that they would like to find something that is fair and non-intrusive to what property owners are trying to accomplish and let the free market determine what is to be built whenever possible. The Committee directed staff to continue to investigate to see what other cities are doing to maintain openness and bring information back to the Committee at a future time whenever staff has something to report. 7. COMMITTEE COMMENTS The Committee directed staff to bring the leaf blower issue back to the June 5th Committee meeting with an update on the progress of State legislation. 8. ADJOURNMENT Adjourned at 6:22 p.m. cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council Attendance: Staff: Assistant City Manager John Stinson, City Attorney Bart Thiltgen, Development Services Director Jack Hardisty, Economic Development Director Jake Wager, Fire Chief Ron Fraze, Public Works Civil Engineer Marian Shaw and Public Works Traffic Engineer. S:John\UrbanDev\U DOOapr24Summary.wpd