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MINUTES
SAN LORENZO VILLAGE HOMES ASSOCIATION
MEETING NO. 1082
July 17, 2003
The regular meeting of the San Lorenzo Village Homes Association Board of Directors was held Thursday,
July 17, 2003.
1.1 CALL TO ORDER -- President Kathie Ready called the meeting to order at 7:37 p.m.
1.2 SALUTE TO THE FLAG -- President Ready led the Board and the audience in the pledge of allegiance.
1.3 ROLL CALL -- Directors Kathie Ready, Jim Sherman, Pat Pebelier, Enrique Barboza were present and Director Peggy Sheridan was absent.
2.O MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING -- Director Sherman moved to approve the minutes from the June 19, 2003, meeting Number 1081. Director Barboza seconds the motion. The minutes are approved unanimously.
3.0 COMMENTS FROM PUBLIC AGENCIES
3.1 Alameda County Sheriff's Department -- Kevin Lewis reported on the crime statistics as follows:
Crime Statistics for San Lorenzo June 2003
Crime Number Change Location
Stolen Vehicles 4 -2 Lorenzo Ave, Paseo Del Rio, Paseo Grande, Hacienda
Attempted Stolen Vehicle 0 -3 n/a
Recovered Stolen Vehicle 1 -1 Via Viento
Residential Burglary 9 +5 Via Toyon (4), Channel, Via Vega, Via Lunado, Via Mariposa,
Via Rodriguez
Commercial Burglary 2 0 Grant (2)
Auto Burglary 11 +3 Hesperian (2), Via Arroyo (2), Via El Monte, Paseo Del
Campo (2), Keller, Grant, Lorenzo
Grand Theft 8 +3 Lorenzo Ave., Via Enrico, Via Annette, Via Honda, Via
Olinda, Via Segundo, Via Toledo, Via Vega
Graffiti 2 0 Via Del Rey, Via Sonya
Robbery 2 +1 Hesperian, Via Seco
Deputy Lewis reported that Technician Jason Hall is the new staff person from his department that will be temporarily assigned to San Lorenzo. Lewis noted that burglaries in our area are increasing. He stated that with the economy the way it is and people being out of work, his department is seeing an increase in theft in all their jurisdictions. He brought pamphlets on home security and said that he will be doing more bike patrols in San Lorenzo.Director Ready asked that the Sheriffs patrol the Community Church parking lot on Paseo Grande in back of the property on Via Del Prado. On several occasions residents have thought that someone was coming from that parking lot, hopping the fence and sleeping in the playhouse they have in the back yard. Lewis stated that they will increase patrols around the church and its parking lot during the evening hours. Resident Doug Henry from Via Alamitos asked the Sheriff's to patrol 16122 Via Alamitos which has had suspicious activity on an ongoing basis. He stated that he has reported the house to the Cop Shop before and they asked him to collect license numbers which he has. When he reported the numbers to the sheriffs they told him they could not use them. He stated that he understood that it does take awhile to build a case against a house that may or may not have drug activity however he is concerned with the recent thefts in the area and how they may be related to this house. Mr. Henry stated that in the past this house was a major problem for his neighborhood and ask that the deputies help by investigating what is going on with this particular residence. Deputy Lewis stated that he would help he and his neighbors and asked to meet with them after he finished with his report to get more details. Mr. Henry and some of his neighbors in attendance agreed to meet in the back conference room.
Resident Nancy Shelvy asked the Sheriff's to patrol the skateboard park. She stated that the children are very noisy at times and are often not wearing helmets.
Resident Barros asked again about the large signs near the Cop Shop and other areas in and around San Lorenzo that were promoting a band. Lewis stated that he had not heard what had happened about the signs but would check into this for Barros.
Director Sherman thanked the Sheriff's Department for catching the juveniles who shot out windows at Arroyo High School.
Lewis reported on the following upcoming events for the Cop Shop: National Night Out - Tuesday, August 5, 2003, at St. John's Church from 5-8 pm; New Citizens Academy - Sept 3, 2003 - a 10 week course educating citizens about law enforcement.; Annual Cop Shop BBQ - Saturday, September 6, 2003 at the Castro Valley Community Center.
3.2 CHP -- Officer Rob Tuazon reported the following statistics:
CHP Statistics for June 2003
Infraction San Lorenzo Total Unincorp. area Collisions 20 127 Tickets 459 2,114 Parking Tickets 29 164 Storage/Impounds 8 75 Recoveries 0 7 Total Warnings for Hayward Area CHP: 1254Officer Tuazon said that his department had extra patrols on Via Alamitos and did give some parking citations. He reported that Via Alamitos will be targeted as one of their "hot spot" areas for the next two months. They will be issuing both warnings and citations for parking violations.
3.3 Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker -- Staff member Kevin Dowling reported that there will be a Health Care Forum on Tuesday August 5th from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Marina Community Center in San Leandro. He also announced that on Monday, July 21, 2003 and Monday August 25, 2003 there will be meeting about the Specific Plan and the EIR.
Dowling said they have been getting complaints about the lack of detour signs for the LAVMA project on Lewelling and are trying to get the contractor to provide more signs and traffic control while the project is going on. He said that the next Unincorporated meeting on July 25th will have the Housing Element as well as the Draft Tree Ordinance on its agenda.
The meeting with Union Pacific Railroad about the tracks on Grant Ave. was cancelled and will be rescheduled in the near future. Dowling stated that the railroad wants to repair the tracks on Grant down past Bockman which are very hazardous. The businesses are refusing to close while the Railroad does its repairs and Supervisor Lai-Bitker's office has been trying to mediate the problem so that the work can be done.
The Administrator announced that she spoke with the Board regarding the portable basketball hoop problem in San Lorenzo. Some of the residents had called Lai-Bitker's office asking that the portable basketball hoops left in the sidewalk or road right-of-way not be pursued if the street is a court. The Administrator reported that the Board discussed this at their work session and were unanimously against allowing them to remain in this right-of-way for any street or court.
3.4 Public Comment -- Items not on the Agenda
Dr. Sanchez from the San Lorenzo Rotary announced the upcoming Flower and Wine Festival for San Lorenzo. The festival will run Saturday and Sunday, July 19 and 20th from 11 am to 6 pm. Sanchez also announced that they will be setting up some youth summer programs and are still working on securing a site for a Girl's and Boy's Club for San Lorenzo.
Sanchez also wanted the Association to endorse another carnival the Rotary is planning at the end of July. Director Sherman stated that the Board would need more information on the carnival prior to approving it. Director Ready stated that in the past their were neighbor complaints and issues related to parking and security. Ready said that Sanchez needs to give the Board more time so they can discuss it on the agenda and vote on the issue. She said that the Board supports the Rotary's efforts with its annual Wine and Flower festival, but cannot endorse a carnival at the end of July at this time.
4.0 FINANCIAL REPORT
4.1 Approval of June 2003 Expenditures and discussion of significant variances -- The Administrator stated that there were no significant variances. Director Sherman moved to approved the June 2003 expenditures including payroll, with a second from Director Pebelier. The motion was approved unanimously.
5.0 LIEN AND VIOLATION REPORT -- The Administrator reported that there have been 152 letters sent and seven (7) liens released since the June 2003 Board meeting.
June 2003 Violation Report
Number Violation Letters
1/19 Inoperable Vehicles in driveway 20
2/22 Recreational veh/trailer in driveway 17
6 Lack of Gen Maintenance 33
10 Lawn Height 47
11 Dead Trees 0
12 Overgrown Vegetation 2
13 Holiday Lights 7
15 Building Exterior 6
16 Dirt Accumulation 5
17 Attractive Nuisances 4
18 Lean/miss fence 1
20/7 Unpaved parking 3
21 Working on vehicles 1
23 Dogs/Cats more than 2,0
24 Barking dogs 1
25 Prohibited animals 0
26 Excess noise 1
27 No Home Business 1
28/99 Other/ comments 3
Total 152
6.0 ZONING AND VARIANCE ISSUES6.1 Variances approved/disapproved at the work session:
(A) 15748 Via Arroyo -- Carport and back yard fence (6 foot brick masonry) -- approved.
(B) 17800 Via Toledo -- Rebuilding addition with a 3 ft set back approved by county in 1965 -- approved.
(C) 15927 Via Corboba -- Driveway extension with pavement that would exceed maximum 50% at the upper end near the porch with 50% pavement at the lower end (near sidewalk) -- denied.
(D) 171 Via Linares -- Porch and handicap ramp/driveway extension -- approved.
(E) 1734 Via Redondo -- Back yard shed 48 x 24ft,15 feet in height-denied; owner asked to come back with other plans -- see ** below.
(F) 17407 Via La Jolla -- Replace existing front yard fence which is 6ft around entire house (6'6" of the fence would come off leading edge of house) -- The portion of fence coming out from leading edge of house was denied, the 6 ft fence in back and side yards was approved.
(G) 16014 Via Pinale -- Addition already constructed with 4'5" setback in one area with no windows --approved.
(H) 778 Via Acalanes -- Replace section of an existing side/front yard fence with a staggered redwood fence that would start from 6 ft then go to 5 ft and finally 3 ft. The 6 ft section would come out 8 ft from leading edge of house -- approved.
**Resident Lisa Ratto (homeowner of 1734 Redondo) had stated that her lot size is almost 1/3 of an acre. She showed pictures of the shed and stated that they have side access to this area. The shed would be professionally built and made of steel. It would be painted to match the house and would be used as a workshop. The Board discussed its shed policy with Ms. Ratto and noted that due to the size of her lot, she could increase the size to twice what they would normally allow which would be a 20 x 24 ft shed. The Board asked Ms. Ratto to talk with her shed company and come back with a maximum height for this size of be a steel building (20 x 24 ft). Ms. Ratto agreed to come back with additional plans.
Resident Howard Beckman asked that the actual approval and vote on these variances be done at the Board meeting. The Administrator stated that the votes at each of the Work Sessions are tentative and all the Work Sessions are open to the public. Any objections to the variances can be made at the Board meeting. She noted that discussion on these variances can be very lengthy, today it took almost two hours. Director Ready said that any residents can speak to the variances at the Board meeting. In the interest of time, the Board needs to keep its part of the discussion in the work session. and allow for comments and objections at each regular Board meeting.
Beckman said that although the Work Sessions are open to the public, they are not advertised and are often at a time when most people cannot attend. He would like to see a formal approval of the variances -- not the discussions -- at the Board meetings.
7.0 ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT
7.1 Informational items -- The Administrator announced that next Tuesday, July 22nd there will be a meeting about the Housing Element Plan. She urged residents to attend so they can be informed as to how this issue may affect San Lorenzo and its proposals for development.
8.0 OTHER BUSINESS
8.1 Presentation from Redevelopment Agency re: Property Improvement Grant (motion) -- The Administrator announced that Association has gotten approval for facade improvement through Alameda County Redevelopment. The Association was asked to sign an agreement related to the funds that will be received by the Redevelopment Agency. The Administrator was concerned with some of the wording in the document and would like to get the Association's Attorney involved to review the document prior to any signing of this agreement. (See attached document A.)
County redevelopment staff noted that changes were made to some redevelopment agreements within the past year. The current agreement that would be made with the Association would be that the agency would "loan" would be a loan interest at 3% and would be forgiven over a 10 year period. The agreement before the Board is being used by most redevelopment agencies now when helping to fund projects. The document provides safeguards that insure the money used is being used to maintain and upkeep the property for the original improvements it was funded for.
The Administrator said that she understands that the agreement would be similar to a grant program and that as long as the "borrower" follows the rules the agreement is fine. She understands the Redevelopment agencies are adding safeguards into their agreements so that anyone entering into that agreement is monitored on how they are using the money and maintaining the property they are using it for. This ensures not only maintenance of said property, but protection and preservation of property values for the surrounding neighborhoods.
The Administrator reiterated that she had no problem with these safeguards but that she is concerned with some of the wording in the agreement. She asked the Board if they had any objections to having the Association attorney review the document prior to taking it back to the Board at its August Board meeting.
The Board had no objections.
8.2 Annual Report from Little League, Rich Renteria, President -- Renteria was not present. The Administrator stated that she had asked the Little League to take care of the weeds via letter as well as via phone call and they promised to have them taken care of by this past Wednesday but nothing has been done. She will have Association staff cut the weeds and bill the Little League.
8.3 Audit for 2002-03 -- The Administrator said that every year the Association is required to have an audit. For the past 15 years they have generally used Levy and Company due to the company's expertise and its reasonable prices. The Association did get quotes from other auditors a few years ago and Levy and Company was still the most reasonable. She asked the Board whether they wanted her to send out for bids or to continue to use Levy and Company for the audit.
Director Sherman made a motion to use Levy and Company for 2002/03 audit. Director Pebelier seconds the motion. The motion carries unanimously.
9.0 PUBLIC COMMENT --
Resident Howard Beckman stated that as part of the county's General Plan they have included a "Housing Element Plan". This "Housing Element" would have new state requirements attached to it. These new requirements would include placing state supplemental housing in areas like San Lorenzo and Ashland, which in turn would shift the burden of this type of housing into a very small area while at the same time taking away potential commercial properties in these areas.
Resident Keith Barros encouraged residents to read the EIR for the Specific Plan. He noted that if residents see that this plan includes the relaxing of regulations or if there are issues that they feel have not been addressed or answered, they need to write about these issues. Barros noted that in the EIR itself it states that if "regional benefits outweigh the benefits of the community" the Board of Supervisors can approve the plan, even if it impacts the community in a negative way.
Barros also asked residents to come to the Wine and Flower Festival in San Lorenzo. He had written a song for the festival.
Director Ready also encouraged people to read the EIR carefully. She asked that if residents have problems with anything that they write to the county prior to the deadline for EIR responses.
10.0 COMMITTEE REPORTS
10.1 Airport Committees -- No report. There will be a meeting on July 24th with neighbors in San Lorenzo regarding the Hayward Airport. A representative from the FCC should be in attendance and it was suggested that someone from the Association Board attend as well.
10.2 Library Committee -- The Administrator announced that the committee elected Dorothy Partridge as its new chair. The previous President is moving out of the area. She also stated that at the last meeting the committee spoke about green belt improvements for the area.
11.0 COMMENTS FROM BOARD MEMBERS -- The President thanked all in attendance and encouraged residents to attend all the upcoming meetings about the Specific Plan for the San Lorenzo Village area.
12.0 ADJOURNMENT -- President Ready adjourned the meeting at 9:24 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Pat Pebelier
Secretary-Treasurer
Recorded & Transcribed By: Kathleen Harrigan, Sr. Admin. Assistant
Reviewed By: Nancy Van Huffel, Administrator, Kathie Ready, Board President