City Manager's Blog

Council Meeting Date: May 18, 2022
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/TownOfAtherton/featured
Details of each item can be found via the links to Staff Reports within the narrative.

The City Council met for the May Meeting on Wednesday, May 18 at 6 pm via Hybrid - (Zoom and In-Person) pursuant to the Governor's Executive Order. Following the Roll Call the Council began moving through the Agenda beginning with Presentations. The Council presented a Proclamation for Mental Health Awareness Month. Following presentations, the Council moved to Public Comments.

Following Public Comments, the Council moved to the City Manager's Report (~6:12 pm). The City Manager's Report is typically prepared monthly as part of the City Council's Regular Agenda. In addition to current reports from the City Manager, it typically includes departmental updates on the various happenings around Town such as reports from Administration, Community Services, Planning, Police, and Public Works. Staff answered questions related to Mental Health First Aid Training and public safety enforcement activity.  

Following the City Manager's Report, the Council moved to the Consent Agenda consisting of Items 7 through 14 (~6:16 pm). Items on the Consent Agenda are considered routine in nature and are generally considered in one motion and adopted by a single vote of the Council. Included in this month's Consent Agenda were bills and claims, minutes, approval of the Goals Report, 2nd Reading and Adoption of the Historic Building Preservation Ordinance, acceptance of the Treasurer's Report, award of contract for slurry projects, approval of the SB-1 Road Maintenance Resolution and Certification of the Continuing COVID-19 Emergency.  Following brief comment related to the Treasurer's Report, the Council approved all items on the Consent Agenda. 

Next was Public Hearings.
 
Public Hearings are typically held for Ordinances, Budget Adoption, Fee Adoption, and Land Use approvals. There was no Public Hearings on the May Agenda.

Next up was the Regular Agenda (~6:18pm).

Item No. 15 was approval of the Park and Recreation Outdoor Facilities Memorial and Donation Policy for Holbrook Palmer Park. Following a staff report and public comment, the Council discussed issues related to monuments for trees, plaques, and monetary donations. Minor changes were made to eliminate the option for recycled plastic benches, changing "shall" to "may" under monetary donations, and investigating the opportunity for a separate recognition project, such as the naming of bricks. Following discussion, the Council approved the Policy as amended.

The last item on the Agenda was Item No. 16, Discussion and Final Direction on Housing Element Strategies (~6:45 pm). Following a staff report and public comment, the Council discussed issues related to the specific densities for proposed overlay areas. The Council removed the proposed overlay zone for properties on Marsh Road, reduced the density for proposed overlay zones for properties along Bay/Ringwood to 6 units per acre, and reduced the proposed overlay zone for 23 Oakwood to 10 units per acre. The Council discussed the potential to add additional properties to the overlay zoning list (170 Atherton Avenue, vacant lot at the corner of Santiago and Valparaiso, and the property at the corner of Alameda de las Pulgas and Polhemus). Following discussion, the Council opted not to include these properties at this time. The Council also discussed conformance to the Council's stated policy objectives for selection of properties for proposed overlays, impacts on local infrastructure, feasibility review, objective design standards and the creation of specific setback and development criteria for the overlay zoning. Following discussion, the Council directed staff to amend the housing strategies as discussed and submit the draft Housing Element for its 30-day noticing period. 

Following brief Council Reports and final Public Comment, having cleared the entire Agenda, at approximately 8:29 pm, that as they say - was a wrap!

Thanks for reading!
 
 George Rodericks
 City Manager
Town of Atherton
grodericks@ci.atherton.ca.us

Setup A Meeting with Me