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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/20/2001 BAKERS'FIELD Alan Tandy, City Manager Sue Benham Staff: John W. Stinson Mike Maggard AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING Monday, August 20, 2001, 1:00 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room - City Hall 1. ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 1:05 p.m. Present: Councilmembers David Couch, Chair; Sue Benham; and Mike Maggard 2. ADOPT JULY 9, 2001 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted. 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS 4. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding dust control and proposed ordinance changes - Stinson Assistant City Manager John Stinson reported the Development Streamlining Task Force (Task Force) and other interested parties have been meeting on the dust control issue. At the last meeting it was suggested a change be made to the City ordinance regarding weed abatement to provide for mowing rather than discing of land in residential and other areas, which might be affected by blowing dust. The proposed change to the ordinance would clarify the authority of the Fire Chief through Code Enforcement to require the mowing of vegetation as opposed to discing in certain types of soil conditions where discing may cause a dust problem. This would not be required Citywide, but on a case- by-case basis depending on the time of the year and nature of the soil type. This ordinance would not address agricultural operations as the City is precluded by State Law from regulating agriculture. The Task Force will continue to meet on other aspects of dust control regarding grading and other types of work. The proposed changes to the weed abatement ordinance would only affect properties after Code Enforcement deems there is a fire hazard and is issuing an order to abate the ADOlXI'ED AS SUBI~ ON S~ER 17, 2001 URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Monday, August 20, 2001 Page -2- weeds. When the order is issued, the Fire Chief through Code Enforcement would have the authority to require mowing instead' of discing in order to mitigate dust. Staff recommended the change to the ordinance since the City in its efforts to abate weeds for fire control purposes, should not be creating dust problems. If property owners on their own decide to disc weeds, this ordinance would not regulate that activity. Attorney Frank Gordon spoke regarding information that was discussed at the Task Force meetings and expressed the changes to the weed abatement ordinance are not strong enough as it only applies to plowing/mowing when the City is ordering weed abatement. He suggested for open land, other than agriculture regulated by State Law and construction sites regulated by the Air Pollution Control District, it be made a public nuisance to disturb land in excess of one or two acres. Mr. Gordon gave the Committee copies of an ordinance he had drafted. Roger Paulson, DVM, spoke and showed snapshots of dust damage to the roof and swimming pool at his home. He suggested checking v~ith the Cities of Albuquerque, Dallas, Las Vegas and Phoenix who have had chronic dust problems for copies of their ordinances on dust control. He expressed that the Task Force meetings on dust control should have included technical expertise, people from the medical and environmental community, and provided written materials on erosion control and particulate matter. The Committee discussed the role of the Air Pollution Control District having to do with stationary sources and most of those limited to commercial activities/enterprises, which affect the development community, but currently limited on agricultural properties. Development standards are already in place through the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District for permitting and enforcement authority and Ag Rules are in place for agriculture. This leaves the City with a very narrow margin of control and much of what is being requested of the City to control, by statute, is not under the City's area of regulation. Committee member Maggard explained because the City's role is very narrow with control only over lands not covered by State Law (agriculture) or development under the control of the Air Pollution Control Board leaving only open land and private property, it would be hard to conceive of an activity that would generate enough dust to warrant the City creating a law to tell someone you cannot disturb dirt on your property. The Urban Development Committee unanimously took the follow action: Directed staff to call the Air Pollution Control District for information to be discussed at the Task Force regarding when developers purchase land, which is still being farmed and considered agriculture, who has jurisdiction over dust control; Referred the issue on the distances from developed residences for properties to be mowed - one-quarter or one-half mile - to the Task Force; URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Monday, August 20, 2001 Page -3- Encouraged Dr. Paulson to invite people from the medical and environmental community to the next Task Force meeting; Referred the draft ordinance provided by Mr. Gordon to the Task Force; and Directed staff to call the cities, suggested by Dr. Paulson, to obtain copies of any ordinances they have on dust control. The Committee unanimously approved the changes to the weed abatement ordinance and directed staff to forward the ordinance to the City Council for first reading. 5, NEW BUSINESS A. South Valley Bicycle Coalition presentation John Lotze and Ron Jones, South Valley Bicycle Coalition, gave a presentation on "Projects to Improve Facilities for Bicyclists in Bakersfield" in order to inform the Committee about some of the projects they are working toward and to gain support. Project 1. Increasing signal timing at key intersections to accommodate average bicyclists. Currently many major intersection signals are timed at very short intervals and are difficult for bicyclists, especially children and novice bicyclist, to get across in time, especially left turns. They are currently working with city traffic engineers to study the problem. Project 2. Placing high-visibility signs alerting motorists to the presence of pedestrians and bicyclists at key locations. These signs have been approved by Caltrans. Caltrans has installed one such sign on 24th Street. They would like the City to install more, particularly around schools and on routes commonly used by bicyclists. Public works staff has been working with them. Project 3. Working on better, safer Kern River bike path access at the intersection of Truxtun and Mohawk. Public Works staff explained this intersection is not completed and will not have a green signal light on Mohawk going north across Truxtun until Mohawk crosses. There are timing issues as Truxtun Avenue is so heavily traveled. The current signal is not designed for traffic moving north. When the Bike Path entrance was built, it was deliberately planned that bicyclists would need to walk their bikes across Truxtun Avenue until Mohawk crosses and then there will be a signal light. The pedestrian crossing seems to be working safely. URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Monday, August 20, 2001 Page -4- Project 4. Ensuring bicycle access on Hageman Road to and from the north downtown area when Hageman is extended across Freeway 99. This is a future Caltrans project. From an engineering standpoint, staff explained this would be complicated as there will be on-ramps that bicyclists would 'have to cross. During the design phase, Public Works staff will have more information. It was brought up when public utilities are working on roadway pavement, they leave the bike lanes in rough condition. Assistant Public Works Director Jack LaRochelle explained we have an agreement with the utilities and if the City receives complaints, we can call the utilities and have them maintain their patches. The Committee thanked the Bicycle Coalition representatives for the excellent presentation. Public Works staff shared contact phone numbers. B, Discussion and Committee direction to staff regarding joint meeting of the Urban Development and Planning Commission Committees Committee Chair Couch explained he referred this as he would like to have more information, perhaps minority reports, on why some Commissioners are not in support of general plan amendments and zone changes when there is a split vote by the Planning Commission members. The Urban Development Committee gave staff possible dates of September 10th, 17th or October 1st at 1:00 p.m. for a joint meeting. The Planning Commission Committee members are Boyle, Tragish and McGinnis. Planning staff will confirm a date. 6. COMMITTEE COMMENTS 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 2:50 p.m. Attendance - staff: City Manager Alan Tandy; Assistant City Manager John W. Stinson; City Attorney Bart Thiltgen; Assistant Public Works Director Jack LaRochelle; Development Services Director Jack Hardisty; Deputy City Attorney Andrew Thomson; Public Works Traffic Engineer Steve Walker; and Building Director Dennis Fidler. Others: Frank Gordon, Attorney at Law; John Lotze, South Valley Bicycle Coalition; Ron Jones, Kern County Superintendent of Schools/South Valley Bicycle Coalition; Brian Todd, BIA of Kern County; Fred Porter, Porter-Robinson Engineering; James Burger, reporter, The Bakersfield Californian and Roger Paulson, DVM. cc: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers S:~JOHN\Urban Dev2001\ud01aug20summary.wpd