APPROVED MINUTES

SUNNYVALE CITY COUNCIL

MARCH 28,2006

The City Council of the City of Sunnyvale adjourned from a 5:00 p.m. Special Meeting pertaining to: Update of the Emergency Management Organization (EMO) Activities and Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) Training; and Personal Safety Assessment and Training and a 6:30 p.m. Special Meeting pertaining to: Board and Commission Interview (Special Recruitment for Planning Commission) and met in Regular Session in the City Council Chambers, 456 West Olive Avenue, Sunnyvale, California at 7:00 p.m., with Mayor Swegles presiding.

SALUTE TO THE FLAG

Mayor Swegles led the salute to the flag.

ROLL CALL

Mayor Swegles announced that Councilmember John Howe is on an excused absence.

PRESENT:	Mayor Swegles Vice Mayor Otto Lee Councilmember Dean J. Chu Councilmember Melinda Hamilton Councilmember Anthony Spitaleri Councilmember Christopher Moylan
ABSENT:	Councilmember John Howe (excused)
STAFF PRESENT:	Amy Chan, City Manager Robert Walker, Assistant City Manager David Kahn, City Attorney Robert Paternoster, Director of Community Development Andrew Miner, Principal Planner Deborah Barrow, Director of Libraries Steve Sloan, Supervising Librarian Coryn Campbell, Neighborhood Community Services Manager Katherine Bradshaw Chappelear, City Clerk

SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY 

Annual Fire Safety Poster Contest Awards Presentation Mayor Swegles thanked the Silicon Valley Kiwanis Club, Salvation Army, Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce and Ken Sawyer, Kuykendall’s Collision Repair, and Anchor Auto Body for sponsorship of this event.  Awards were given to the top three winners in each grade Kindergarten to 5th grade. Tim Johnson, Deputy Chief, Dean Discher, Public Safety Officer and Silicon Valley Kiwanis Club representatives joined the Mayor in presenting the awards for the 2006 Fire Safety Poster Contest.

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Dave Whittum announced the next Heritage District and Lowlanders Association Preservation Meeting will be held on Friday, April 7 at 7 p.m. at Murphy Park.   Councilmember Chu announced that on Friday, March 31, 2006 Cherry Chase Elementary School will hold a Walk-a-Thon from 1-6 p.m., which will include a garage and bake sale.  He stated the school will be collecting old tennis shoes for recycling in partnership with the Sunnyvale Recycling Program and Metro Sport of Cupertino.   Vice Mayor Lee announced the City is accepting applications for vacancies on the following Boards and Commissions: Arts Commission; Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee; Board of Building Code Appeals; Board of Library Trustees; Child Care Advisory Board; Heritage Preservation Commission; Parks and Recreation Commission; and Planning Commission.  General eligibility requirements include that candidates must be a Sunnyvale resident and registered as a voter in Sunnyvale; however, there are some exceptions for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and the Child Care Advisory Board (provided applicants meet criteria specific to that Committee or Board).  The Office of the City Clerk will host an Informational Meeting on Thursday, April 6 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Hall West Conference Room.  Application deadline is May 12, 2006 at 5 p.m.

CONSENT CALENDAR 

Vice Mayor Lee moved and Councilmember Hamilton seconded to approve the Consent Calendar as submitted.

Motion carried 6-0 (Councilmember Howe absent). 

1.A.		Approval of Information/Action Items – Council Directions to Staff
	Council approved as submitted.

Fiscal Items

1.B.	RTC  06-087	List of Claims and Bills Approved for Payment by the City Manager (List No. 291)
	Council approved as submitted.
1.C.	RTC  06-094	Consider Request from Emergency Housing Consortium LifeBuilders (EHC) to Amend the Loan Terms of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and City Housing Fund Loans on 183 Acalanes Drive.
	Council approved as submitted.

Contracts

1.D.	RTC  06-083	Award of Bid No. F0501-47 for the Rehabilitation of the Borregas Avenue Sanitary Sewer
	Council approved as submitted.
1.E.	RTC  06-086	Award of Bid No. F0501-45 for the Application of Slurry Seal on Streets throughout the City
	Council approved as submitted.

Other Items

1.F.	RTC  06-080	Respond to request of Santa Clara Valley Water District and Santa Clara County for support of California State Assembly Bill 2435 (Santa Clara County Flood Protection and Clean Water Accountability Act) to amend the enabling act of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, Chapter 1405 of the Statutes of 1951
	Council approved as submitted.
1.G.	RTC  06-081	Ratification of Council Intergovernmental Committee Appointment
	Council approved as submitted.
1.H.	ORDINANCE No. 2803-06	Adoption of Ordinance No. 2803-06 Amending the Precise Zoning Plan, Zoning Districts Map, to Rezone Certain Property Located at 563 Alberta Avenue from R-2 (Low-Medium Density Residential) to R-2/PD (Low-Medium Density Residential/Planned Development) Zoning District
	Council approved as submitted.
1.I.	ORDINANCE No. 2802-06	Adoption of Ordinance No. 2802-06 Amending Various Provisions of Title 19 of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code, the Zoning Code, related to Places of Assembly
	Council approved as submitted.

STAFF RESPONSES TO PRIOR PUBLIC COMMENTS

None

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Mayor Swegles opened Public Comments.

Eric Huang, and Maggie Wu spoke about a secret death camp in China where approximately 6,000 people have been detained.

Sam Hirbod spoke about gas stations and the City ordinance that states service stations can only sell snacks through vending machines.  Mr. Hirbod would like a variance on the ordinance to allow the gas stations to sell snacks.

Tap Merrick spoke in favor of the City working to save Peterson Field.

At the conclusion of the fifteen-minute time limit, Mayor Swegles closed Public Comments and announced that remaining individuals who had submitted Speaker Cards would have an opportunity to speak during the the continuation of Public Comments following the Public Hearing/General Business portion of the agenda.

PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS

2.	RTC 06-093	Extension of Moratorium on Places of Assembly in the Commercial/Industrial Zoning Districts and Amusement/Recreation Uses in Industrial Zoning Districts
	Andrew Miner, Principal Planner, presented the staff report.   Mayor Swegles opened the Public Hearing at 7:41 p.m.   Ben Stern, Dionex Corporation, stated their opposition to the proposed overlay zoning and requested that the Place of Assembly (POA) zoning be in residential or on the fringe of the residential area, not in Research and Development parks (which is where Dionex is located).  He stated that High-Density residential as an overlay would keep in line with POA use.   Mr. Stern stated that if the City proceeds with the POA as proposed by the Planning Department, Dionex could be forced to move from Sunnyvale.   Councilmember Hamilton clarified with Mr. Stern that what the Council was considering was extending the moratorium which would protect Places of Assembly from moving into the Industrial areas until Council makes a decision on rezoning.  Mr. Stern confirmed that Dionex is in favor of the moratorium extension.   Councilmember Chu confirmed with Mr. Stern that Dionex is asking that as part of the study that high-density residential or high-density office such as along Mathilda be considered for this evaluation.     Councilmember Chu confirmed that the conclusion of the study will be ready within three months and Mr. Stern restated his request for inclusion of high-density buildings as part of the study.   City Manager Amy Chan stated that staff will call Mr. Stern to further explain the process and approach of the study issue process.   Harriet Rowe stated she supports the moratorium.   No one else wished to speak and Mayor Swegles closed the Public Hearing at 7:49 p.m.   Councilmember Hamilton asked why the moratorium would not be extended for another three months until the zoning study was completed.   Director Paternoster stated that at the meeting of March 21, Council adopted an Ordinance that will go into effect on April 27, 2006 which prohibits Places of Assembly in Industrial Areas (unless there is an overlay); therefore, the moratorium does not need to be in effect.   Councilmember Moylan moved and Councilmember Chu seconded to approve Alternative No. 1:  Extend the Urgency Interim Zoning Ordinance until April 27, 2006, and amend it to apply only to Places of Assembly and Recreation uses in the M-S and M-3 Zoning Districts. Councilmember Hamilton made a friendly amendment to direct staff (within the timeframe of April 27 to when the study issue comes back to Council) that staff keeps potential applicants informed of the study issue process and timeline.   Councilmember Moylan and Chu accepted the friendly amendment.   City Clerk read the title of the Ordinance into the record.   Motion carried 6-0 (Councilmember Howe absent).
3.	RTC 06-082	Status Report on the Services and City Subsidy of Sc[i]3  -  the Sunnyvale Center for Innovations, Invention and Ideas – A partnership between the City of Sunnyvale and the United States Patent and Trademark Office
	Deborah Barrow, Director of Libraries presented the staff report.   Vice Mayor Lee asked about the actual implementation in terms of transitioning the services to Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL).  Director Barrow stated that the library is currently a PTDL and ending the current service with Sc[i]3 would be a matter of determining when staff would set an ending date depending on Council’s decision to determine the next steps. Councilmember Chu asked how many PTDL Libraries exist in the United States.  Steve Sloan, Supervising Librarian, stated there are 84 with five in California.  The next  closest PTDL to Sunnyvale is San Francisco.   Councilmember Chu asked if the library would continue to use the Sc[i]3 name and Director Barrow stated that it may not be something the City would continue to use as Sc[i]3 is the actual partnership name.   Mayor Swegles opened the Public Hearing at 7:59 p.m.   Mikio Ishimaru, a patent attorney, member of the Sc[i]3 advisory committee and member of the Sc[i]3 foundation, stated that he was instrumental (per Councilmember Howe’s request) in spearheading the effort to try and maintain Sc[i]3.  He  would like to see Sc[i]3 continue but it does require a great deal of funding, and for that reason he  supported the staff recommendation.   Mr. Ishimaru stated they raised about $40,000 in commitments but ran into problems since they did not know what would be required.  He stated that the United States Patent Office said not to do anything, but have not responded with any assistance or direction for over a year.   Vice Mayor Lee asked if they plan to use the money raised to offer classes. Mr. Ishimaru stated they need to go back to the contributors to see what they would like done with the money.  He stated that every member of the board seems to want something different so it is hard to come to a decision on how to best use the collected money.     Mr. Ishimaru recommended that the Library investigate the possibility of continuing courses and offered his services to assist.   No one else wised to speak and Mayor Swegles closed the Public Hearing at 8:07 p.m.   Councilmember Chu asked Director Barrow to quantify the amount of savings by discontinuing the Sc[i]3 partnership since it was not listed in the Staff Recommendation, Alternative No. 1.  Director Barrow anticipated that the estimated savings would be $132,000 and based on factors such as the number of classes offered and if there were enough attendees for the classes.   Vice Mayor Lee asked when the CIty would stop paying the $30,000 subscription fee.  Librarian Sloan stated that if services were to end on June 30, 2006, the City would still need to pay $15,000.   Mayor Swegles asked if Council were to end the partnership earlier than June 30, 2006, what would be the savings. Director Barrow stated that staff would need approximately three months, which is why the end date is June 30, 2006.  However, at Council’s direction, staff could move forward as quickly as possible and possibly would be able to end services sooner with some potential savings.   Vice Mayor Lee moved and Councilmember Chu seconded to approve Alternative No. 1:  Discontinue Sc[i]3  Partnership Services as of June 30, 2006, but remain a Patent and Trademark Depository Library, and increase ongoing Operating Costs in the amount of $5,000 beginning in FY 2006/2007.   Councilmember Chu offered a friendly a friendly amendment to have the motion read:  approve Alternative No. 1:  Discontinue Sc[i]3  Partnership Services as of June 30, 2006 at an estimated cost savings of $132,000, but remain a Patent and Trademark Depository Library, and increase ongoing Operating Costs in the amount of $5,000 Beginning in FY 2006/2007.   City Manager Chan stated that the cost was not included in Council’s 20-year plan;  therefore; there was not an anticipated expense.   Councilmember Chu stated he still wanted the motion to read as he submitted.   Vice Mayor Lee accepted the friendly amendment and offered his own friendly amendment to advise the library to consider offering training courses on a cost-neutral basis.  Councilmember Chu accepted Vice Mayor Lee’s friendly amendment.   Mayor Swegles made a friendly amendment to correct a date certain (June 30, 2006) to discontinue Sc[i]3  partnership services to read: to discontinue as soon as possible on or before June 30, 2006.  Vice Mayor Lee and Councilmember Chu accepted the friendly amendment.   Councilmember Moylan wished to highlight that the staff recommendation is also the unanimous recommendation of the Library Board of Trustees.   Motion carried 6-0 (Councilmember Howe absent).
4.	RTC 06-075	Study Issue: Zoning Land for Service Uses
	Andrew Miner, Principal Planner, presented the staff report.   Councilmember Moylan stated he did not see the Planning Commission minutes included in the packet, and asked what their decision had been.  Principal Planner Miner stated that there were five members present at the meeting and they were unanimous in their decision to approve the staff recommendation with modification to Attachment E to amend the use tables to prohibit “Public utility service center” in all commercial zones except the proposed revised C-4 zone.   Mayor Swegles asked for clarification that staff is just starting the study issue and not actually imposing the ordinance.  Director Paternoster verified that the staff report is the study issue and that the action being recommended is that staff will initiate the zoning process and does not commit to any zoning at all.  He stated if it is approved, staff will limit the zoning to the areas designated in the report and will contact all the property owners as well as property owners in surrounding areas. There will be a Public Hearing process before the Planning Commission and the City Council.  Director Paternoster further stated that if the rezoning should be approved, it will occur sometime in the future after an Environmental Review and Public Notice, but the study issue has been completed.   Principal Planner Miner stated there is an action that is part of the staff recommendation, which would introduce a new ordinance that would modify uses listed in the Service Commercial (C-4) zoning district and provide a new definition for Service Commercial.   Mayor Swegles verified with staff that property owners would still have an opportunity to give objections, input and recommendations by appearing before the Planning Commission and City Council, or staff may not recommend an area for rezoning after receiving citizen input.   Mayor Swegles opened the Public Hearing at 8:32 p.m.   David Whittum stated the Evelyn C-4/PD (Planned Development Combining District) is very important to Sunnyvale’s future and urged Council to consider the Noise Element of the General Plan when reviewing this area.    No one else wished to speak and Mayor Swegles closed the Public Hearing at 8:35 p.m.   Councilmember Spitaleri moved and Councilmember Moylan seconded to approve Alternative No. 1:  Take two actions:   A.  Introduce an ordinance (Attachment F) that modifies uses listed in the Service Commercial (C-4) Zoning District and provides a new definition for Service Commercial. B.  Initiate rezoning study for properties identified in Attachment B.   City Clerk Chappelear read the title of the Ordinance into the record.   Motion carried 6-0 (Councilmember Howe absent).
5.	RTC 06-092	Study Issue: Zoning Tools to Encourage the Development of Ownership Housing
	Mayor Swegles presented the staff recommendation requesting that this item be continued to the Council meeting of April 11, 2006.  Staff was unable to complete the report in time for the Planning Commission meeting.   Vice Mayor Lee stated he wished to verify the date that this will return to Council for consideration.  City Manager Chan stated that the Planning Commission met last night but were unable to consider this item; therefore the new continuance date is May 9, 2006.   Mayor Swegles opened the Public Hearing at 8:40 p.m.  No one wished to speak and Mayor Swegles closed the Public Hearing at 8:41 p.m.   Vice Mayor Lee moved and Councilmember Hamilton seconded to approve continuance of this item to the May 9, 2006 Council Meeting.   Motion carried 6-0 (Councilmember Howe absent).
6.	RTC 06-090	Explore Community Support for Community Events (Study Issue)
	Coryn Campbell, Neighborhood Community Services Manager, presented the staff report.   Mayor Swegles opened the Public Hearing at 8:43 p.m.   Suzi Blackman, representing the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce, spoke in favor of the proposed draft Council Policy on Special Events.   Mayor Swegles asked Ms. Blackman if she participated in the discussion of sponsorships fdor community events and she stated she did not.   No one else wished to speak and Mayor Swegles closed the Public Hearing at 8:44 p.m.   Councilmember Spitaleri moved and Vice-Mayor Lee seconded to approve staff recommendation Alternative No. 1:  Approve the draft Council policy on Special Events which: Consolidates and clarifies the City’s special event policies; Encourages private sponsorship of events in alignment with Council policy from organizations inside and outside the community; Identifies the manner in which the City supports events conducted by other organizations; Enables private sector support for City-owned events through increased use of sponsorships; Encourages the City to explore participating in the formation of community associations, or other non-profit entities, to support of manage community events.   Motion carried 6-0 (Councilmember Howe absent).
7.	ORDINANCE RTC 06-084	Introduction of an Ordinance Amending Section 18.12.130 of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code Relating to Monuments in Subdivisions
	David Kahn, City Attorney, presented the staff report.   Mayor Swegles opened the Public Hearing at 8:49 p.m.  No one wished to speak and Mayor Swegles closed the Public Hearing at 8:50 p.m.   Vice Mayor Lee moved and Councilmember Chu seconded to approve staff recommendation Alterative No. 1: Introduce and waive the reading of text of Ordinance amending Sunnyvale Municipal Code section 18.12.130.   City Clerk Chappelear read the title of the Ordinance into the record.   Motion carried 6-0 (Councilmember Howe absent)
8.	ORDINANCE RTC 06-085	Introduction of an Ordinance Amending Section 18.20.260 of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code Relating to Final or Parcel Map – Improvement Security to Conform with Recently Enacted State Law
	David Kahn, City Attorney, presented the staff report.   Mayor Swegles opened the Public Hearing at 8:52 p.m.  No one wished to speak and Mayor Swegles closed the Public Hearing at 8:53 p.m.   Councilmember Moylan moved and Councilmember Spitaleri seconded to approve staff recommendation Alternative No. 1:  Introduce and waive reading of text of ordinance amending Sunnyvale Municipal Code Section 18.20.260.   City Clerk Chappelear read the title of the Ordinance into the record.

PUBLIC COMMENTS CONTINUED

Mayor Swegles re-opened Public Comments.

Qian Zhang and Clare Lee spoke about the secret death camp in China (for those who practice Falun Gong) where approximately 6,000 people are detained.

David Whittum stated he provided a petition to Council regarding the need for ADA compliant access requirements on the entire north side of the Sunnyvale train station (between Mathilda and Sunnyvale Avenue).

NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS

COUNCIL:	None
STAFF:	None

INFORMATION ONLY ITEMS – Received and Filed

• Tentative Council Meeting Agenda Calendar • RTC 06-091 Opportunity for Council to Appeal Decision of the Planning Commission of March 13, 2006 and Administrative Hearing of March 15, 2006 • Study Session Summary – Status Update on SMaRT Station Operations Request for Proposal Scheduled for Release in June 2006 – March 21, 2006

ADJOURNMENT - In honor of former California Senator Al Alquist, Mayor Swegles, Vice Mayor Lee, Councilmember Spitaleri, and Councilmember Chu spoke of his important work for the community and surrounding area, and expressed their condolences to his family.  Mayor Swegles announced that there will be a special memorial ceremony on Sunday, April 2 at 3 p.m. at Cathedral of Faith in San Jose.

Mayor Swegles called for a moment of silence.

Mayor Swegles adjourned the Council Meeting at 9:10 p.m. in honor of former California Senator Al Alquist.  

Katherine Bradshaw Chappelear

City Clerk