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MINUTES
SAN LORENZO VILLAGE HOMES ASSOCIATION
MEETING NO. 1097
August 19, 2004
The regular meeting of the San Lorenzo Village Homes Association Board of Directors was held Thursday,
August 19, 2004.
1.1 CALL TO ORDER -- President Kathie Ready called the meeting to order at 7:40 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, Peggy Sheridan were present. Director Patrick Ledesma was absent due to personal reasons. out of town.
2.O MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING
Director Sheridan moved to approve the minutes from the July 15, 2004, meetings Numbers 1096. Director Pebelier seconds the motion. The minutes are approved unanimously.
3.0 COMMENTS FROM PUBLIC AGENCIES
3.1 Alameda County Sheriff's Dept -- Sgt Berge gave statistics for the past month:
Statistics for July 2004, Alameda County Sheriff's Office
Crime Number Change from last month Affected Street
Stolen vehicles 3 -1 Via Annette, Via Perdido, Via Rivera
Attempted Stolen Vehicles 0 0
Recovered Stolen Vehicles 3 +1 Bockman/Hesperian, Via Valencia,
Via Chorro
Residential Burglary 5 -1 Paseo Del Campo (2), Channel St.,
Via Del Rey
Commercial Burglary 6 -1 Via Esperanza, Hesperian Blvd. (5)
Auto Burglary 7 +1 Lorenzo Ave, Via Anacapa, Via Catherine,
Via Corona, Via Descanso, Via Granada,
Via Matero
Grand Theft 4 -3 Hesperian, Via Alamitos, Via Esperanza,
Via Harriet
Graffiti 2 0 Via Arriba, Via Sonya
Robbery 1 +1 Hesperian
Berge reported that they recently arrested a man brandishing a firearm at the intersection of Hesperian and Paseo Grande. There was also an attempted burglary at Sam's Burgers and one robbery at the Bank of the West where $4600.00 was stolen. Berge also reported that a male Hispanic has been seen riding a black BMX bicycle and climbing fences -- he asked residents to be on the look out for this individual and to contact the sheriffs department if they see anyone fitting this description. He also noted that there was concern about enforcement of the street sweeping signs and the loss of the sheriff's technicians. Berge stated that the technicians never did issue the tickets. His department will work with the CHP to get enforcement.Director Ready wanted to know if the sheriff's had noticed the apartments on Blossom Way . She stated that they are selling drugs at the apartments and tearing apart cars in that area. Berge stated that he cannot go on record at this time with respect to those apartments but he would be willing to talk to her in person.
Resident Howard Beckman asked why Hesperian Blvd has had such an increase in robberies. There have been six in the past month. Berge stated that he would look into this and would report back.
3.2 CHP -- The Officer Schmeck from California Highway Patrol reported on the following statistics:
CHP Statistics for July 2004
Infraction San Lorenzo Total for Unincorp. area Collisions 21 106 Tickets 131 660 Parking Tickets 29 164 Storage/Impounds 5 48 Stolen Recoveries 0 17 Parking Complaints n/a n/a Total tickets for Hayward Area CHP: 844Schmeck also reported that there were a total of 24 DUI arrests in the unincorporated area in the past months.
He reported that effective April 1 they have become their own area office in Castro Valley and it is manned 24 hours per day. You should be able to reach them at the office or call 1-800-CALLCHP.
Director Ready said that the Association has been trying for years to keep big rig trucks out of the Mervyns parking lot and off of Via Arriba near Via Mercado. She noted that these trucks sometimes park there over the weekend and are not ticketed. Schmeck stated that he would check into the tickets and he noted that they he would address both this issue and the street sweeping tickets with Captain Mueller who is new to thier unit.
Resident Ann Marie Charlton on Via Hermosa stated that one of the houses on this street, 80 Via Hermosa has several inoperative vehicles in his driveway and on the street. She asked if the CHP could do something. Schmeck stated that they would go out and check out these vehicles and county zoning officer Bruce Babcock noted that he would also address the problem.
3.3 Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker -- Kevin Dowling said that he met with the resident on Via Alamitos who is concerned about the flooding issue on that street. Public Works staff person, Jim Chew is reviewing the area to see if they can help this resident. This resident was concerned with the new development proposed for San Lorenzo and had asked if this would exacerbate his situation and Chew had stated that it would not.
Dowling also reported that the Democratic party has rented the old Sanwa building on Via Mercado for its headquarters. He announced that he, the Administrator and the Board President would be meeting with PGE on September 2nd at 10 am to review the tree issue and the funds promised to San Lorenzo by PGE.
The Board noted that they wanted to hear from Daryl Gray or Lisa Lo about the status of a check cashing facility going into the Lorenzo Manor Shopping center. It would like to have the issue heard by the planning commission.
Director Pebelier also noted that Lo's property is not posted and that currently there are several cars parked with "for sale" signs in that lot as well as trailers.
3.4 Zoning Enforcement Report -- Bruce Babcock gave the following report (see attachment A). He explained how they deal with "inoperative" vehicles. If the vehicle is on the street they refer it to the CHP or the Sheriff. If on the property they send a notice to the owner and registered owner and give them 10 days to prove it is operable. If there is no response they give them 5 more days and if still no response, on the sixth day it is towed. The bill for the towing is applied to the property owner where the vehicle was towed.
Babcock stated with respect to banner signs for businesses. They can only have a banner sign for a grand opening or a closing event and they must get a permit for the banner.
Babcock reported that the resident on Via Sarita who has the pool covering has applied for a variance with Ronald Gee of the county. They will be either hearing the variance or reviewing the variance as it was not built to code. Once a homeowner applies for a variance all enforcement on the matter stops and then it goes to the Board of Zoning Adjustments (BZA).
Resident Steve Daly asked that Babcock visit his neighbors house at 16089 Via Alamitos. They are working on cars constantly and have debris in their back and side yards.
Director Ready asked what could be done about the oil underneath some of these cars. Babcock stated that the oil can be reported to the environmental health department under the clean water act.
3.5 Public Comment - Items not on the Agenda -- Howard Beckman reported that a woman fell on August 6th on Via Lacqua due to side walk disrepair. She broke several bones and Beckman is encouraging county officials to work on sidewalk repairs that are needed in areas of San Lorenzo.
Beckman also stated that he is concerned with information he recently found out about an inter-regional partnership plan that was proposed by the county which included San Lorenzo. This proposal was developed in 2002 without the San Lorenzo Homes Association or the residents knowledge. He would like this item on an upcoming agenda for the Homes Association so that it can be further discussed as to why this proposal was discussed without input from the community. Director Ready stated that she had also reviewed this document and was offended by the wording which noted that businesses are needed in San Lorenzo for a "low skilled work force".
The Administrator stated that she had reviewed some of the document and it looked to her to be a grant application writing which often will "over emphasize" the 'needs' for a particular area. Dowling stated that it in fact was a grant writing project and it was geared to provide more jobs in the San Joaquin Valley area and to create more housing for this area.
Beckman said that the document is not about grant writing and when reviewed is very insulting. The community was never consulted or informed. The proposal outlines high density housing on Bockman road right in the midst of our Specific Plan discussions. This is very offensive to the community and to those working so hard on the Specific Plan.
The Administrator noted that the item would be agendized for the October Board meeting so that more information can be obtained about the proposal.
Residents Ernie Delligatti and Keith Barros both stated that even if this was a grant application, no one in the community was informed or consulted about this proposal and this is very alarming.
4.0 FINANCIAL REPORT
4.1 Approval of July 2004 Expenditures and discussion of significant variances -- The Administrator reported that the Board and the membership will get an audit report in the next month. There was a significant variance in Insurance which will be addressed in that report.
Director Sheridan makes a motion to approve the July 2004 expenditures, including payroll, Director Pebelier seconds. The motion carries unanimously.
5.0 LIEN AND VIOLATION REPORT -- The Administrator reported that there have no liens have been released since the July Board meeting.
July 2004 Violation Report
Number Violation # of Letters 1/19 Inoperable Vehicles in driveway 35 2/22 Recreational veh/trailer in driveway 4 6 Lack of Gen Maintenance 6 10 Lawn Height 30 11 Dead Trees 0 12 Overgrown Vegetation 4 13 Holiday Lights 6 15 Building Exterior 3 16 Dirt Accumulation 10 17 Attractive Nuisances 2 18 Lean/miss fence 0 20/7 Unpaved parking 2 21 Working on vehicles 1 22/2 Recreational vehicle in driveway - 23 Dogs/Cats more than 2 0 24 Barking dogs 2 25 Prohibited animals 2 26 Excessive noise 0 27 No Home Business 0 28/99 Other/ comments 4 Total 1116.0 ZONING AND VARIANCE ISSUES
6.1 Variances approved/disapproved:
A. 1627 Via Sarita -- Back yard shed and status of pool covering. Shed was approved; the board denied the pool covering.
B. 16152 Paseo Del Campo -- The Board approved with some changes, which resident agreed to.
C. 17137 Via Segundo -- 4 ft vinyl fence to separate property. Denied 4 ft, approved 3 ft.
D. 1207 Via Los Trancos -- No plans submitted.
E. 15838 Via Marlin -- Landscaping and walkway. Board to review and approve only if not more than 50 % pavement/walkway.
F. 1924 Bockman -- Second story addition. Approved.
G. 16020 Paseo Largavista -- Second story addition. Approved.
H. 17411 Via Carmen -- Revisit shed. Will be carried over to next meeting.
I. 15895 Via Media -- Cloth carport in backyard. Denied.
Director Sherman made a motion to approve the variance decisions, Director Sheridan seconded, the motion carries unanimously.
7.0 ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT
7.1 EBMUD Groundwater Project -- The Administrator reported that they have reduced the size of the project considerably. The project started out being very large scale with 10 to 15 million gallons of water being generated down the pipeline per day. Now there will only be 1 million gallons per day. This has reduced the infrastructure activity and thus there is no need for a treatment plant and a pipeline on Grant Ave.
Resident John Partridge stated that the revised EIR should be done by the end of the year and there will be a public hearing about the EIR at that time. The public comment period for the EIR has also been extended to more than 45 days for response so that it is looking like a much better project than it was originally.
7.2 Grant and Washington Gas Station -- The Administrator stated that the owner came in and said they would start digging in September. He had to deal with the Alameda County Traffic Engineer and the issues that he had with respect to traffic delays and any other traffic problems the project might cause.
7.3 PG&E Update -- The Administrator noted that she and Dowling and President Ready would be meeting with PGE officials on September 2nd to discuss the monies promised for the damage to the trees.
She also announced that on September 14th there would be a candidates night held in the community hall for School Board Candidates which would start at 7 pm.
8.0 OTHER BUSINESS
8.1 Oro loma follow up with carts and reinforcement of plan -- The Administrator reported that she, the board president and resident John Partridge have met with Oro Loma and Waste Management on several occasions with respect to the pick up and placement of carts in San Lorenzo. They finally came to an agreement about writing a clarifying letter to educate residents where to put their carts. The letter will be published in Oro Loma's newsletter and in the Association newsletter.
8.2 Hearing Process for CC&Rs See attachment B. The Administrator stated that the process will be effective immediately unless there are objections. She noted that 80% of individuals do comply on the first or second letter. However for those who do not we will start this formal hearing process where the resident will be invited to come before the board to explain why it is they are in non-compliance. If they do not comply then they will be fined and taken to the attorney.
Director Pebelier makes a motion to approve the new CC&R process . Director Sheridan makes a second. The motion passes unanimously.
9.0 PUBLIC COMMENT
Resident Steve Kirk of 360 Via Coches stated that he was frustrated with his neighbor at 372 Via Coches who has had a van unregistered parked in his driveway for months. This house has constant 'comings and goings' and he thinks there may be drug activity. He stated that zoning said there was nothing they could do because the van started and can be moved. He said that from time to time it is hooked up to the inside of the house. Zoning stated that it cannot be hooked up to the house but since the vehicle can be moved, they would not tow it. The Administrator noted that staff has already sent letters and would be following up.
10.0 COMMITTEE REPORTS
10.1 Airport Committees -- Representative Ernie Delli Gatti had no report just gave the Administrator the minutes from the last noise meeting. He noted that the Oakland airport will be listening to a request to decrease the noise generating from that facility.
Director Pebelier asked what is happening with airplanes in San Lorenzo. At 11 to 11:30 pm there are jet noises and planes flying overhead much more than ever. Delligatti stated that he is working with Brent Shiner from the Hayward airport and believes that it continues to be the "life guard" flights that are causing the problems.
10.2 Library Committee -- Director Sheridan reported that the library committee had a consultant group come in an do visioning process which will look at the original needs assessment done for the library. This will review and detect if other things are needed for the library that were not addressed. There will be at least two community meetings that will be held to discuss this. She reported that $48,000 was paid out to the visioning consultant. All unincorporated areas served by this library will have a chance to give their input.
She stated that after they get information from these community meetings the item will be addressed at the Unincorporated meeting and then finally at the Board of Supervisors meeting where a final decision will be made.
11.0 COMMENTS FROM BOARD MEMBERS -- Director Ready thanked all who were in attendance and asked them to return next month.
12.0 ADJOURNMENT -- President Ready adjourned the meeting at 9:43 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Pat Pebelier
Secretary-Treasurer
Recorded & Transcribed By: Kathleen Harrigan, Sr. Admin. Assistant
Reviewed By: Nancy Van Huffel, Administrator and Kathie Ready, Board President