HomeMy Public PortalAbout19810812 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Meeting 81-20
Augusf-"12, 1981
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
375 DISTEL CIRCLE,SUITE D-1,LOS ALTOS,CALIFORNIA 94022
(415) 965-4717
Special Meeting
Board of Directors
M I N U T E S
August 12 , 1981
I. ROLL CALL
Vice President Daniel Wendin called the meeting to order at 5 : 21 P.M.
in the Los Trancos Open Space Preserve parking lot for the purpose of
having an on-site tour of the three potential parking lot locations
for the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve with the members of the Palo
Alto Planning Commission.
Members Present: Katherine Duffy, Daniel Wendin, Barbara Green,
Nonette Hanko, Harry Turner. Richard Bishop arrived at 8 :45 P.M.
for the portion of the meeting held in the Palo Alto Council Chambers
Conference Room, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto.
Member Absent: Edward Shelley.
Personnel Present: Herbert Grench, Del Woods, Charlotte MacDonald,
and Jean Fiddes.
Palo Alto Planning Commissioners Present: Ellen Christensen, Constance
Heneke' Helene Wheeler, Jean McCown-Hawkes, Pat Cullen, and Michael
Cobb. Commissioner Fred Nichols was present at the portion of the
meeting held in the Council Chambers Conference Room.
Tour of the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve Potential Parking Lot
Locations
D. Wendin noted the meeting was an official meeting of the Board of
Directors of the District and a study session for the Palo Alto
Planning Commission. The group toured the three proposed parking
lot locations, G, Fl, and L, and evaluated in discussion each of the
sites against the various criteria tentatively adopted by the Board
of Directors at its meeting of July 22 , 1981.
Purusha Obluda, 31570 Page Mill Road, Los Altos Hills, expressed his
opposition to the building of a parking lot anywhere on the Monte
Bello Open Space Preserve and urged the group to determine whether
there was a need for an additional parking lot.
After evaluating each of the three sites, the Board recessed for a
dinner break at 6 :45 P.M.
Discussion of Potential Parking Lot Locations
The Board reconvened for the public meeting at 8 : 40 P.M. in the Palo
Alto Council Chambers Conference Room, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo,
Alto.
Herbert A Grench,General Manager
Board of Directors:Katherine Duffy,Barbara Green,Nonette G.Hanko,Richard S.Bishop,Edward G Shelley,Harry A.Turner,Daniel G Wendin
Mbeting 81-20 Page two
Robert Brown, Associate Planner for the City of Palo Alto, reviewed
the background relating to the selection of a parking lot location at
the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve for the Planning Commissioners.
Thomas Harrington, 4201 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, expressed his
opposition to parking lot L, stated he could support location F, or
G, and described a slightly different design which he felt might be
preferable for the F, parking lot.
Harry Hauessler, 1094 Highland Circle, Los Altos, expressed his
support for a parking lot on the south side of Monte Bello Road and
for having a separate entrance and exit into the lot as a safety
feature.
Larry Faber, 3127 David Avenue, Palo Alto, stated he supported having
a parking lot on the south side of Page Mill Road and expressed his
support for the Fl location.
Millie Scranton of Palo Alto, and a member of the Midneninsula Trails
Council, expressed her support for the Fl location.
Jack Sutorius, 2030 Waverly, Palo Alto, and a member of the Palo Alto
Architectural Review Board, stated he did not object to a parking area
in the location of the OK Corral, but if that location was not feasible,
he favored the F, location as amended by Mr. Harrington earlier in
the meeting. He stated it would be safer to have only one entrance
to the lot for safety exposure factors.
P. Obluda expressed his opposition to having a parking lot on the
Monte Bello side of Page Mill Road and his support for using the OK
Corral area for overflow parking.
The members of the Planning Commission informally expressed their
individual support for a parking lot in the general location of Fl
over areas G and L. They noted the following points should be con-
sidered when designing the parking lot: 1) keeping grading to a
minimum; 2) having a balance between cut and fill on the site;
3) having bus access to the parking lot; 4) addressing the issue of
one versus two entrances and noting the Commission would prefer one
entrance, but safety and engineering issues should determine the best
type of access arrangement; and 5) addressing the expansion capa-
bility of the site, noting that the landscape reserve should be
denoted with dotted lines and should show how many spaces and how
much cut and fill there would be in the reserve. The Commissioners
also requested the District address the subject of reasonable ex-
pansion limits in the area based on how much human intrusion the area
could take.
H. Grench responded that a long-term study of the carrying capacity
of the Preserve was needed, but that it did not seem feasible to have
such a study prepared prior to returning to the Planning Commission
for approval of a parking lot design.
Meeting 81-20 Page three
Commissioner Cobb stated the District should at least address, at
this time, the reasonable limit beyond which no further development
would occur in this particular location.
T. Harrington requested that the long-term plan for the area address
fire danger in the area.
D. Wendin summarized the District' s position on why additional parking
was needed for the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve and why the parking
lot should be located on the south side of Page Mill Road. He noted
safety and land use planning were primary concerns of the District.
He stated the Board had requested staff to schedule a presentation
with appropriate County officials on the possibility of providing
public transportation to the area and suggested the meeting be sche-
duled so as to allow members of the Planning Commission to attend.
L. Faber, M. Scranton, and Doni Hubbard, Acting Chairperson of the
Midpeninsula Trails Councilrequested that adequate space for the
parking of horsetrailers be taken into consideration when completing
the plans for the new parking lot.
N. Hanko and D. Wendin responded the District was committed to pro-
viding adequate parking space for horsetrailers in the area, but that
such parking would not be located in the new parking lot.
Motion: D. Wendin moved the Board direct staff to prepare a formal
proposal around the Fl location, taking into consideration
the points raised by the Palo Alto Planning Commissioners
tonight. R. Bishop seconded the motion.
Discussion: N. Hanko questioned whether the motion included
the F2 parking lot location previously described by Mr.
Harrington. D. Wendin stated the intent of his motion was
to allow staff enough flexibility to return to the Board
with the best possible parking lot design in the general
location of the Proposed Fl lot. R. Bishop stated he had
seconded the motion with tne understanding that F2 was one
of the alternatives the staff should consider when planning
the parking lot. D. Wendin noted that staff should return
to the Board with the proposed parking lot design for the
Board' s approval, after which the plan would be submitted
to the City of Palo Alto for consideration. N. Hanko
stated she would support the motion as long as F2 was in-
cluded in the F, location and as long as she had an under-
standing from staff they would continue to work with Mr.
Harrington in developing the parking lot plan. H. Grench
stated staff would get information from Mr. Harrington on
the plans he proposed for F2, and staff would then work with
the District' s architect in designing the plan, taking into
consideration Mr. Harrington' s input, as well as the other
points discussed during the meeting. He noted the plan
presented to the Board for approval in the future would not
necessarily be Mr. Harrington' s specific plan, but would be
the best staff and the architect could design. The motion
passed unanimously.
Meeting 81-20 Page four
IV. CLAIMS
Motion: B. Green moved the adoption of the revised claims, C-81-16 ,
dated August 12 , 1981. K. Duffy seconded the motion. The
motion passed unanimously, with N. Hanko abstaining from
voting on Claim 2380 to I .B.M.
V. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 9 :50 P.M.
Jean H. Fiddes
District Clerk
CORRECTIONS TO MINUTES OF
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. July 22, 1981
Motion: N. Hanko moved postponement of the approval of the July 22 ,
1931 minutes to the next Regular Meeting. E. Shelley seconded
the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
B. July 27 , 1921
Motion: B. Green moved the approval of the minutes of the July 27,
1981 Special Meeting. K. Duffy seconded the motion. The
motion passed unanimously.
C. August 12 , 1981
N_. _TTa_h-Ko requested paragraph five, page three, be changed by
inserting the word "necessarily" between "not" and "be" to
read: "N. Hanko and D. Wendin responded the District was
committed to providing adequate parking space for horse-
trailers in the area, but that such parking would not
necessarily be located in the new parking lot. "
Motion: K. Duffy moved the minutes of August 12, 1981 be approved as
amended. B. Green seconded the motion. The motion massed