1 San Anselmo Council Approved Minutes
Regular Meeting
Town Council Chambers and via teleconference
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Call to Order: Optional Pledge of Allegiance
COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Steve Burdo, Mayor
Eileen Burke, Vice Mayor
Brian Colbert
Tarrell Kullaway
COUNCILMEMBERS VIA ZOOM: Alexis Fineman
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Dave Donery, Town Manager
Emily Longfellow, Assistant Town Attorney
Serge Avila, Town Clerk
Sean Condry, Public Works Director
Maddie O’Grady, Recreation Supervisor
Dannielle Mauk, Recreation Director
Mayor Burdo announced that Councilmember Fineman was attending the meeting remotely due to an illness as permitted by AB 2449.
A. Closed Session 6:00 PM
B. Mayor Burdo announced that item B.1 will be discussed in Closed Session Conference with Real Property Negotiators:
Government Code Section 54956.8
Property: APN 005-011-60 Agency Negotiator: Town Manager David Donery Negotiating Parties: Marin Open Space Trust; Mary Conversano Under negotiation: Price and Terms of Payment
Property: 404 San Francisco Blvd., San Anselmo Agency Negotiator: Town Manager, David Donery
Negotiating Parties: Michael Folk Under negotiation: Price and Terms of Payment C. Public Comment on Closed Session Items
Jonathan supported the first item on the Closed Session agenda. He urged the Council to take no action on the second item.
Mr. Renee Voss stated there are a lot of complicated issues pertaining to the second item.
Decisions should be made holistically and not in isolation.
Mr. Michael Anderson, San Francisco Boulevard, member of Sorich Park Area Residents (SPAR), stated the group recognizes the need for more housing. He referred to the second item and stated he opposed the proposal for 90 units- it is way out of scale for the neighborhood.
2 Mr. Mike Folk briefly discussed the proposal and stated there is an opportunity to provide the Town with the redevelopment of the Corporation Yard.
Council adjourned to the conference room to conduct its Closed Session.
Council reconvened in the Council Chambers.
Mayor Burdo Call to Order: Optional Pledge of Allegiance 7:00 PM Mayor Burdo reported there was no reportable action on the Closed Session items.
Open Time for Public Expression
Jonathan stated he attended the recent Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) meeting last week and stated there were no captions. He was concerned about teens and tweens on Class 2 e-bikes.
Council requests for future agenda items; Committee liaison reports; questions and comments to staff; miscellaneous items
Vice Mayor Burke reported she attended the BPAC meeting; the Reimagine Creek Park CAC meeting; “Live on the Avenue”; she would like to agendize the following two items: 1) Discussion on making the speed limit on all residential streets besides Butterfield, Sir Francis Drake, Center, and Red Hill 20 miles per hour; 2) Allowing residents who qualify for night-time parking permits to be able to purchase all day parking permits. It was the consensus of the Council to support request #1 and #2.
Councilmember Kullaway stated she attended the BPAC meeting.
Councilmember Colbert reported he attended “Live on the Avenue”; the Reimagine Creek Park meeting; the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) Ad Hoc Safe Routes to Schools meeting; the TAM Clean Expo; the Economic Development Committee (EDC) meeting; the Marin Transit meeting; took a tour of State Route 37.
Councilmember Fineman had no report.
Mayor Burdo reported he attended “Live on the Avenue”; the 10th Anniversary of Imagination Park; the “Schools Rule” Fundraiser; the Ross Valley School District meeting regarding the Fairfax/San Anselmo Children’s Center; the Ross Valley Fire Department Ceremony honoring First Responders.
Vice Mayor Burke reported this is “National Service Dog Month” and asked for the adoption of a resolution at the next meeting.
Mayor Burdo announced that item 2.2 has been continued to a future meeting.
Special Presentation
There were no Special Presentations.
1. Consent Agenda
1.1 Approve the Draft Minutes of the Town Council Meeting- August 22, 2023 3 1.2 Design Contract for 2024 Street Resurfacing Project
1.3 Response to the 2023 Grand Jury Report Entitled “Build More ADUs- An Rx to Increase Marin’s Housing Supply”
1.4 Notice of Completion of 2023 Street Resurfacing Project
1.5 Adopted Ordinance No. 1181 Amending the Town’s Green Building Regulations
1.6 Authorize the Mayor to Execute a Second Amendment to the Community Development Block Grant Cooperative Agreement
Mayor Burdo opened the meeting to public comments.
There were no comments.
Mayor Burdo closed the meeting to public comments.
M/s, Burke/Colbert, Motion to approve Consent Calendar items 1.1 through 1.4 and 1.6. by roll call vote:
AYES: Burke, Colbert, Fineman, Kullaway, Mayor Burdo
M/s, Kullaway/Colbert, Motion to approve Consent Calendar item 1.5. by roll call vote:
AYES: Colbert, Fineman, Kullaway, Mayor Burdo
ABSTAIN: Burke
3. Council Business Items
3.1 Receive an Update on the Traffic Calming Guidelines Discussion Public Works Director Condry presented the staff report. Staff answered questions from the Council regarding the August Speed Study; how projects can change based on communication with neighbors; if the Town can install speed humps and bulb outs if it is not allowed to lower the speed limits; what the 85th percentile study entails and how it is created; AB 43; the Traffic Calming Guidelines; if they can come up with a proactive process; projects that started at the neighborhood level; prioritization of projects.
Mayor Burdo opened the meeting to public comments.
Greg stated San Anselmo Avenue is a main artery that is heavily used. Cars fly down this street and he is concerned that an accident will happen.
A resident agreed with Greg. He is open to the idea of installing traffic calming measures.
Jessie stated San Anselmo Avenue is a residential street and he was concerned about the traffic counts. He supported a speed survey.
Ms. Heidi Ricktenstein, San Anselmo Avenue, agreed that there was a lot of speeding on this street.
Mayor Burdo closed the meeting to public comments.
4 Councilmember Kullaway supported pursuing speed cushions on San Anselmo Avenue. She wanted to simplify the six-step traffic calming policy and look at the streets systematically.
Vice Mayor Burke agreed with Councilmember Kullaway that they should identify the streets that have the biggest problems and address them as fast as possible. They should use every measure they can.
Councilmember Fineman supported installing more speed humps in neighborhoods since they are extremely effective. Neighborhoods could submit petitions. Enforcement is not as effective as engineering.
Councilmember Colbert stated conditions have changed and driving has gotten worse since the pandemic. Marin County’s infrastructure is second rate and substandard.
Mayor Burdo stated they need to figure out ways to address these issues on a triage basis. He supported installing speed humps on San Anselmo Avenue. He suggested the formation of a subcommittee to work with staff.
3.2 Consideration of the San Anselmo Town Hall Roof and HVAC Replacement Project Public Works Director Condry presented the staff report. Staff answered questions from the Council regarding the accuracy of the design engineer’s cost estimates; the five bids; the staff recommendations; the amount awarded for this project; the estimates for the other projects discussed; which of the other projects would experience further deterioration if delayed; where they would pull money from if they go forward with this project; Measure “J” Funds; if there is a way to get this project done at a lower cost; the Government Code 1417 option; if there are any other rebate incentives; amount allocated for the Building Bridge 2 site; if the Town could get a refund if a third party report has a fatal flaw.
Mayor Burdo opened the meeting to public comments.
There were no comments.
Mayor Burdo closed the meeting to public comments.
Vice Mayor Burke stated she would like to go ahead with this project. This is an example of the triage approach.
Councilmember Colbert stated they have been talking about this roof forever.
Councilmembers Kullaway, Fineman, and Mayor Burdo supported moving forward with the project.
M/s, Colbert/Burke, Motion to approve the low bid for the San Anselmo Town Hall Roof and HVAC Replacement Project by roll call vote:
AYES: Burke, Colbert, Fineman, Kullaway, Mayor Burdo
The Council took a 5-minute break at 9:05 p.m.
2. Public Hearings
2.1 Adopt and first reading of the Mural Ordinance and consideration of resolution adopting Public Mural Administrative Guidelines
5 Recreation Supervisor O’Grady presented the staff report. Staff answered questions from the Council regarding the restrictions on private murals; if there are any historic buildings in the C-2 Zoning District; provision regarding compensation for private property owners or tenants; murals that are “works in progress”; an explanation of the language “no words unless incidental to the art”; objective criteria for determining what is or is not “incidental”.
Mayor Burdo opened the Public Hearing.
Mr. Vita Florez asked the Council to reconsider the opportunity for words and text as images.
Graphic design elements include font and other graphic elements.
Mayor Burdo closed the Public Hearing.
Vice Mayor Burke stated she would not limit private murals to the non-primary facades of buildings- that is too restrictive. She would also remove the provision regarding compensation to property owners or tenants. The Town should not get involved with money exchanging hands. She commended staff on a great job!
Councilmember Kullaway stated she would like words to be ok, the downtown to be ok, would like them be taken down whenever the property owner wants. The panel should include other art professionals.
Councilmember Fineman supported the limit to the non-primary façade, the monetary exchange language, but is troubled by the text portion. There are ways to incorporate text into artwork.
Councilmember Colbert stated the text provision is too hard to parse and they should get rid of it. He does not care about the monetary compensation provision, does not see a need to involve other art professionals, and does not support the time limit.
Mayor Burdo stated the five year time limit was a bit too long and one year may be prudent.
They will be going down a million “rabbit holes” with respect to interpreting the elements of these policies. He favors the RFP and did not support the monetary compensation provision.
Assistant Town Attorney Longfellow suggested some alternative language with respect to the term limit for private murals. She noted it was the consensus of the Council to delete the compensation provision, delete the text incidental provision, and to delete the section that restricted it to primary façades. There were no changes to the public mural guidelines.
M/s, Burke/Kullaway, Motion to adopt an Ordinance of the Town Council of the Town of San Anselmo Amending Title 10, Planning and Zoning, Chapter 9, Signs, to allow Murals, adding new Chapter 21, Murals, to Title 10, Planning and Zoning, Governing Private and Public Murals and Making Associate CEQA Exemption Findings by roll call vote:
AYES: Burke, Colbert, Fineman, Kullaway, Mayor Burdo
M/s, Burke/Kullaway, Motion to approve the First Reading of the Ordinance Amendments, as amended, and Waive Future Readings in their entirety by roll call vote:
AYES: Burke, Colbert, Fineman, Kullaway, Mayor Burdo
M/s, Burke/Kullaway, Motion to adopt a Resolution approving Public Mural Program Guidelines by roll call vote:
AYES: Burke, Colbert, Fineman, Kullaway, Mayor Burdo
2.2 Appeal of staff determination of “Substantial Improvement” for proposed project at 22 Belle requiring compliance with FEMA and Town Floodplain regulations to raise habitable floor 6 level to 1-foot above Base Flood Elevation
Mayor Burdo stated this item has been continued to a future meeting.
M/s, Fineman/Burke, Motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:53 p.m.
AYES: Colbert, Fineman, Kullaway, Vice Mayor Burke, Mayor Burdo Respectfully submitted,
Toni DeFrancis, Recording Secretary