TOWN COUNCIL

MINUTES

CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Gram called the regular meeting of the Tiburon Town Council to order at 7:40 p.m.on Wednesday, November 6, 2002, in Town Council Chambers, 1505 Tiburon Boulevard, Tiburon, California.

ROLL CALL

PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Berger, Fredericks, Gram, Thompson

ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Slavitz

PRESENT: EX OFFICIO: Town Manager McIntyre, Town Attorney Danforth, Director of Community Development Anderson, Chief of Police Odetto, Director of Administrative Services McVeigh, Town Clerk Crane Iacopi

CLOSED SESSION

CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – EXISTING LITIGATION

(Section 54956.9(a))

Howard Zack, Diane Zack v. MERA and Town of Tiburon

CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – ANTICIPATED LITIGATION

(Section 54956.9(b)(3)(C)

Claimant: UDI-Tetrad

ANNOUNCEMENT OF ACTION TAKEN IN CLOSED SESSION, IF ANY

Mayor Gram said that no final action was taken on the matters discussed.

ORAL COMMUNICATIONS

None.

1) Approval of Town Council Minutes - October 16, 2002

2) Recommendation by Director of Administrative Services – Accept September 2002 Town Investment Summary

3) Recommendation by Town Attorney – Request to join Amicus Briefs

a) San Jose Christian College v. City of Morgan Hill

b) City of Long Beach v. State of California Dept. of Industrial Relations

c) Robert Shiell v. County of Los Angeles (County of Los Angeles Petition for Supreme Court Review)

4) Report and Recommendation by Director of Community Development - Results of 2001 Downtown Parking Survey

Councilmember Thompson said that once again the survey showed that parking had not been adversely impacted as a result of the construction of the Town Hall and Library in the downtown location. He also said it was appropriate to adopt the recommendation of Staff and discontinue the surveys at this point in time.

5) Recommendation by Director of Community Development – Accept Future Annexation Agreement

a) 3499 Paradise Drive (Kopstein) – AP No.58-032-05 & 14

MOTION: To adopt Consent Calendar Items 1 through 5, above.

Moved: Berger, seconded by Thompson

Vote: AYES: Unanimous

ABSENT: Slavitz

6) Recommendation by Director of Community Development – Update of Town of Tiburon’s Local CEQA Guidelines

Director of Community Development Anderson said that the Town’s local guidelines were last updated in 1991. He said that the update would supplement, clarify and amplify existing processes and procedures and were not intended to replace the State CEQA Guidelines.

Councilmember Berger asked whether it would be helpful to cross-reference the State’s guidelines in the local guidelines; Director Anderson replied that this in fact was the case and he cited an exampled in the new document.

Councilmember Fredericks asked what had been changed to reflect the trend in recent court cases to meet specific timelines in which to certify EIR’s and negative declarations, once projects were deemed "complete." Director Anderson said that in the past the Town’s processes had allowed a "slow start" which tended to "balloon out" at the end of the timeline, and he stated that the proposed changes to the guidelines would rectify that situation.

Mayor Gram asked for public comment; there was none.

MOTION: To adopt Staff’s recommendation to rescind the old and adopt the new local CEQA guidelines.

Moved: Thompson, seconded by Fredericks

Vote: AYES: Unanimous

ABSENT: Slavitz

7) Recommendation by Chief of Police – County-wide Prohibition on Personal Watercraft

Chief of Police Odetto gave the report, noting that the County-wide ban had been upheld by the State Court of Appeals. He said that individual cities and towns with shorelines were now being asked by the Board of Supervisors to adopt similar ordinances.

Odetto said that Tiburon had 12 miles of waterways it would have to police; he said it would be difficult to enforce such an ordinance due to lack of watercraft and police personnel. The cost of buying a boat would be between $50,000 and $90,000, according to Odetto, but there would be other costs, as well. He said that there was no public dock in Tiburon from which to launch; no storage facility for seized vessels; and that the cost of adding two police officers would bring the total cost to around $180,000.

The Chief of Police stated that such costs might be shared with the neighboring communities of Belvedere, Mill Valley, Corte Madera, Larkspur, and Sausalito, if there was interest in doing so.

Chief Odetto said that the agencies most able to enforce the ban because they had the appropriate equipment were the United States Coast Guard, the Marin County Sheriff’s Department, and the San Rafael Policy Department, all of whom currently had vessels. However, he said it would be difficult for these agencies to offer local assistance and he recommended that the Council not adopt such a ban in Tiburon at this time.

Councilmember Thompson gave some background on the ban. He said that the Richardson Bay Regional Agency ("RBRA"), on which he served as Tiburon’s representative, had received numerous complaints about the noisy watercraft which were also disruptive to marine habitat. He said that the RBRA had looked into banning jet skis close to shore, and the idea had subsequently been picked up by the County who went forward with the adoption of an ordinance to ban the watercraft in County waters. Thompson said that it would simply make no sense for the County to have such a ban if the affected towns and cities did not also adopt a similar ban. He said that uniformity was needed or the idea should be dropped altogether.

With regard to the issue of enforcement, Councilmember Thompson said that it was never intended to be burdensome to or enforced by individual cities and towns; he suggested instead that the RBRA might engage in enforcement in the Southern Marin area.

Councilmember Fredericks asked about a letter from San Anselmo Councilmember Peter Kilkus, which stated, in part, that the first person who received a citation for violation of the ordinance would be able to challenge the ordinance.

Town Attorney Danforth concurred, stating that the challenge to the County ordinance had been a "facial challenge" and that the potential still existed for actual challenges to the ban due to the alleged "vagueness" of certain sections of the ordinance. However, she said if the Town did not enforce the ban, it could not be challenged.

Councilmember Thompson reiterated that the County ordinance was now in effect and that it would certainly fail unless everyone signed on; he said that it would fail in any event due to the obvious boundary issues [between Council and local waters].

Mayor Gram opened the public hearing.

John Sanford, 60 Pine Terrace, adjacent to the multi-use path that runs along Richardson Bay, said that there was a need for such an ordinance and a simple method of enforcement. He said that he saw jet skies launched from Blackie’s Pasture and that the police could patrol the land and launch points rather than buy a boat. He said that he had seen jet skiers on the Tiburon waterfront harassing boats and in the Audubon Society sanctuary harassing waterfowl. He also suggested that the police might "deputize" a few yacht club members for additional enforcement.

Charles Harris, 85 Seafirth Road, seconded Mr. Sanford’s remarks. He said that jet skiers did "donuts" under his deck and harassed harbor seals and migratory birds in the Seafirth cove, which he said was also a violation of the Marin Mammal Protection Act.

Mr. Harris said that the Town’s adoption of an ordinance banning jet skies would "send a strong signal" and create a united front county-wide which would eliminate the vagueness issue. He said that many ordinances were not enforced but that a uniform approach and a "united front" was needed to address this problem.

Another resident of Paradise Drive supported the above statements and said that the jet skis came from Paradise Cay into the calm waters near Old Landing Road and disturbed the wildlife.

He presented some photographs of jet skis and harbor seals in the water to the Council to illustrate his point. He also said that there was no need for the police to buy a boat and suggested buying a jet ski instead.

Walter Sanford, 49 Seafirth Place, agreed with the above commentary, and said that jet skis in Town waters were "definitely a problem" but that the reason the police did not have a list of complaints was that people knew there was no ordinance against them (jet skis). He agreed that violators of the ban should be apprehended on shore and that it was important that the Town join with the County on this issue.

Helen Muirhead, 4200 Paradise Drive, said that she had written a letter to the Ark, but not to the police, about the jet ski problem, and that she had seen other letters there, as well. She said that unlike boats, jet skis "don’t go away" and that the noise was a "continual irritation." Ms. Muirhead said that she supported the Town adopting an ordinance banning jet skis in Town waters.

Mayor Gram closed the public hearing.

Councilmember Berger said that he echoed the sentiments of the above residents, and that he too was disturbed by the sound because he lived uphill in an "acoustic bowl." Berger said that even if the Town did not enforce the ban, adopting an ordinance would reserve the Town’s right to do so in the future.

Councilmember Fredericks said that the Town should explore the possibility of working with other municipalities if the ordinance was adopted. She said that not every violator need be apprehended; that catching one would be enough to send a signal to the community at large.

Councilmember Thompson said that the RBRA had held hearings on the matter and had taken extensive public comment which to the recommended ban. He said that he, too, had seen violations by jet skiers of the Audubon Society waters, and that they sought out such calm waters which were often protected areas for wildlife.

Thompson said that the Town should study its [water] borders more carefully to determine the actual extent of the enforcement area, but that it would be better to focus on the shoreline areas. He said that an unintended result of adopting the ban would be to force the County to look more carefully at Southern Marin and the problem of "derelict vessels" in this area.

Mayor Gram asked whether adoption of the ordinance could be conditioned upon other cities’ adoption. Town Attorney Danforth said no, that the Council could not delegate its police powers in that manner. However, she said that an ordinance could be created to "sunset" or not go into effect for a certain time to determine future actions by other agencies.

  Mayor Gram said that he agreed that enforcement of such an ordinance should take place on land and that he was not in favor of banding together (to share costs) with other cities. He said he would not support spending money on a boat.

Town Attorney Danforth said that the Town’s ordinance could be worded to add the "putting in" and "putting out" of personal watercraft as a violation. She also suggested that language could be added which would authorize the County to enforce the ban in local waters.

Council directed Staff to return with a proposed ordinance incorporating modifications pertaining to Tiburon.

COUNCIL, COMMISSION AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

Councilmember Fredericks gave a brief summary of the highlights of the recent LAFCO Sphere of Influence meeting. She said that the suggestion had been made regarding "clear boundaries" and service areas, an example of the former being the Belvedere/Tiburon border (e.g. the Boardwalk Market is in Belvedere, while other shops on the Boardwalk are in Tiburon).

She said that the Strawberry area had been discussed, one of the points being that "north" Strawberry was not part of the area that had always defined itself as a community and therefore it might make sense to consider annexation of that area. Fredericks also said that there had been discussion about whether certain areas of Paradise Drive would annex to the Town in order to avoid development, without Paradise Drive itself. She said it might be defined as an "urban service area."

Fredericks also said she had attended a Congestion Management Agency meeting in which a letter from a resident pertaining to inaccurate or inconsistent ferry and feeder bus schedules was discussed.

Town Manager McIntyre confirmed the dates of the remaining Council meetings for 2002, and the proposed reorganization of the Town Council on December 4, 2002.

WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS

Town Council Weekly Digest – October 18, 2002

Town Council Weekly Digest – October 25, 2002

Town Attorney Danforth asked for authorization to join an amicus brief, Item No. 5, in support of the City of Sacramento. Council unanimously concurred.

There being no further business before the Town Council of the Town of Tiburon, Mayor Gram adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m., sine die.

s/

TOM GRAM, MAYOR

 

ATTEST:

DIANE CRANE IACOPI, TOWN CLERK