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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes-04-17-73-Adjourned MeetingMINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DOWNEY ADJOURNED MEETING APRIL 17, 1973 The City Council of the City of Downey held an Adjourned meeting at 7:00 p.m., April 17, 1973, in the Council Chambers of the Downey City Hall, Mayor Thomas H. Morton presiding. PRESENT: Councilmen: Joseph E. DiLoreto, Richard M,., Jennings, Walter S. Temple, Thomas H. Morton ABSENT: Councilmen: Donald H. Winton ALSO PRESENT: Charles W. Thompson, City Manager Donald B. Robison, Assistant City Manager William A. Goggin, Director of Planning Francis E. Carter, Assistant Director of Planning William T. Healy, Principle Planner Robert L. Shand, City Clerk PLANNING John K. Morris, Chairman COMMISSIONERS Jack F. Garland PRESENT: William G. Greene Robert Durkee ABSENT: George G. Glenn,, Vice -Chairman The Invocation was delivered by Councilman Walter Temple, followed by the Flag Salute led by City Manager Charles Thompson. Mayor Thomas Morton announced that this is an adjourned meeting of the City Council for the purpose of a joint meeting between the City Council and Planning Commission to discuss.the Environmental Resources Management Elements as follows': Open Space, Conserva- tion, and Scenic Highway. Planning Director William Goggin indicated there would be a presentation of the Planning Program Agenda by Planning Consultant, V.T.N., Mr. Keith Corrigal, for introduction on the open space, conservation,and scenic highway elements. Mr. Keith Corrigal reviewed the content of the Planning Program Agenda. He said the program in effect has two phases, and the current phase will culminate June 30th, having an adopted conservation and open space element of the General Plan, as well as the scenic highway element. Mr. Corrigal stated the Environmental Resources Element allows the City to incorporate at any time in the future all of the new State requirements as far as the City's General Plan is concerned; that V.T.N. will be working primarily on two elements -- conservation and open space, which are requirements imposed by the State. He said the conservation element deals primarily with natural resources, and he highlighted the areas applicable in Downey: Land and water reclamation; flood control; prevention of water pollution; and erosion control. Mr. Corrigal explained that the major portion of the study is devoted to the open space element, such as open space uses of land in the City, recreation lands, and ground water recharge. He said the approach is directed at determining after the analysis and planning what should be implemented in the City. Responding to questions by Councilman Jennings, Mr. Corrigal commented one of the State requirements is that existing ordinances be consistant with the overall General Plan, and the open space element requires an open space zoning ordinance. He said the goal is by September 30th to have an open space ordinance that can be put into the exist- ing ordinances, including overhaul of the existing, plus the new open space put together. Mr. Gary Heaslet, V.T.N. Consultant, said he would attempt to accomplish the following two points: What Council and V.T.N. are trying to find out in this exercise, and what is going to be accomplished. He mentioned three kinds of information are being established: First, to quantify what the City has in the way of open space in terms of land and conservation areas; second, to identify what the City policy is with regard to some of the land; and third, what are the external influences that affect the City's decisions. Mr. Heaslet proceeded to explain the mechanics of accomplishing the three points of information. He explained Parks Director James Ruth has provided an extensive analysis of the park and recreation needs of the City, which will be helpful in gathering information. Council Minutes 4/17173 -1- Mr. Heaslet commented the following categories are now being studied in the inventory stage of the program, and he referred to maps on display: Land use as it relates to conservation or open space. Publicly -owned land not for recreational use. Privately -owned open land, which includes all of the urban vacant land that has street access. Potential and desirable open space for protection of land that may have historical significance. Other public and quasi -public land held in ownership by the County, City, railroad, etc. Mr. Heaslet described the different studies that will be conducted, with a special study being made of the schools, inasmuch as schools represent land as well as informa- tion regarding the kind of recreational facilities that may be needed in the future. He said a report on these studies will be made available to the City and will be the basis for future decisions. Discussion followed. Mayor Thomas Morton asked about the State requirements for the June 30th date. Mr. Keith Corrigal explained the City must have a total plan on the Environmental Resources Management Element by that date. He said the next step will then be to go into a program basis. Councilman Richard Jennings, and Mr. Keith Corrigal discussed the necessity for Downey to conduct studies regarding flood control, even though the County is required to do the same. Councilman Joseph DiLoreto inquired if there are any sanctions for non-compliance with the State law. Mr. Corrigal replied that under the existing State law there are no sanctions, and he explained that the County has been named in citizen law suits for non- compliance. He commented there have been threats of holding back gas tax revenues or not funding new programs on the State or Federal level until a City complies with the requirements. Mr. Corrigal asked that the Councilmen indicate their feelings as to what their constituency considers to be a major issue regarding the conservation element and open space element. He further asked, pursuant to Staff request, that the Council appoint a citizens participation committee, -consisting of citizens that would be representative of a broad spectrum of the community. Mr.. .Corrigal stated after input has been received from the Council and the committee, V.T.N. would then formulate what it feels are reason- able policies and guidelines of the two elements and then submit its recommendations back to the Council for consideration as to which way to go in the next phase. Discussion followed regarding the number of people to be appointed to the committee. Mayor Thomas Morton commented that he wants citizen participation in this program. Mr. John Morris, Chairman of the Planning Commission, asked about the impact to Downey created by air pollution generated in other Cities. Mr. Corrigal replied that these situations are normally under someone else°s jurisdiction, namely, the Air Pollution Control District, Flood Control District, etc. He said V.T.N. is attempting to get together with these regional agencies to see if identification can be made of the major problem areas, and whether or not the problems can be solved has not been determined. Chairman Morris referred to the indication by the County of Los Angeles that two-thirds of the County is proposed for open space. He asked about the percentage of Downey that will be considered as a standard for open space. Chairman Morris further asked if a State standard or Federal standard for open space area has been set. Mr. Corrigal stated a standard has not been set, and he referred to problems that have occurred in the County of Los Angeles in designating such a large amount of land as permanent open space. He said in Downey approximately five percent of the land is open space. He said it is unlikely Downey would have a similar situation as the County, inasmuch as the emphasis will be on more intensive uses of the five percent of land that Downey has left, and the schools should be included. Mr. Corrigal named several Cities under contract to V.T.N., and he commented on some of the Cities that have the same problem as Downey, with most of the City totally urbanized. He said Downey will benefit from V.T.N.'s experience with these other Cities. Council Minutes 4/17/73 -2- Mr. Corrigal answered questions posed by members of the Planning Commission. He stated there are other elements that will be required in the near future, such as public safety, seismic safety, and noise. Mr. Corrigal asked that the City Council and Planning Commission submit their input in written form regarding community attitude on open space use within the next two or three weeks to either the City Manager or Planning Director so that V.T.N. might do an evaluation. He requested further that consideration be given to a future joint session. Mayor Thomas Morton suggested as a first course of action a Council input assignment committee, consisting of two members of the City Council and two members of the Planning - Commission for a group of four. Mayor Morton asked Councilman Richard Jennings and Walter Temple to serve on the initial study committee to bring something together by way of the requested assignment. Chairman John Morris asked Commissioners Jack Garland and William Greene to serve on behalf of the Planning Commission. Councilman Richard Jennings declined the committee assignment for personal reasons. Mayor Morton asked Council Joseph DiLoreto to serve with Councilman Temple, and Councilman DiLoreto indicated as a member of the Budget Committee, he will be actively involved with that committee. Mayor Morton stated either he or Councilman Donald Winton will serve with Councilman Temple, and he requested that Councilman Temple act as chairman of the committee. As a second course of action and in response to a request for an input citizens committee, Mayor Thomas Morton recommended the Council follow past practices with each Councilman selecting two representatives from his own district to serve on the committee. He suggested that each of the Planning Commissioners recommend an additional person to his Councilman so that the committee will be comprised of 15 people. It was noted by Mayor Morton that the selection may include representatives from different organizations in the City, but he requested that each district have some representation. He asked if there were any objections, and none were stated. Mr. Keith Corrigal said he would like the committee to be operational no later than two weeks from tonight (May 1st). Mr. Corrigal was asked to elaborate on the scope of activity for the citizens committee and the kind of "homework" to be done by the committee. He explained in gathering input, it is hoped the citizens will represent an overall attitude or prevail- ing thought of the community from a citizen's standpoint. He said it is hoped the citizens will express their feelings on the basic issues relative to conservation and open space in the City of Downey. Mr. Corrigal stated the assignment from both the Commission and the Council is identical and would be mainly a policy standpoint and guideline for future growth and development of the City and primarily related to what programs the Council and Commission consider should be coming up in the future years for the City of Downey. Discussion followed. Councilman Walter Temple asked if May 3rd could be tentatively set for the first night meeting of the citizens group and Mr. Corrigal. No objections were Stated. No date was set for a joint meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission. There being no further business to come before the City Council, the meeting was adjourned at 8.00 p.m. ROBERT L. SHAND, CITY CLERK Council Minutes 4/17/73 THOMAS H. MORTON, MAYOR ism