7/23/2013 Council Preview – Dog Parks and Land Use

Pretty straightforward meeting this time.  I’m told that Mayor Spitaleri may be absent for this meeting, so I may get to run it.  And Councilmember Whittum is still phoning it in (so to speak – sorry Dave :-)), which will make for an interesting procedural dynamic.  We’ll see.

We start the evening with a joint study session with the Planning Commission.  I’m not positive, but I believe this involves the proposal to eliminate the requirement for a frontage road along Mathilda between Evelyn and El Camino.

The consent calendar has one additional item – a budget modification involving the building, planning, and housing divisions.  I’m going to chat about this one, because it caught me off-guard.  It’s a little surprising that this item has so many different components.  The building and planning proposal is to beef up staffing in response to the surge of permitting that has occurred.  The housing proposal is in response to an increase in CDBG money. It’s proposed to fully fund the outside groups that requested funding, plus some other changes, and there are a bunch.

Item 2 is an annual occurrence – putting utility non-payment fees and citations on the tax roll.

Item 3 is the big one – consideration of new dog parks.  This is the result of a whole lot of outreach to find out what dog owners want.  Staff is proposing to fund immediate improvements to the Las Palmas dog park, and staff is proposing the eventual addition of dog parks at Lakewood Park and Fair Oaks Park as part of the 20-year plan.  With the huge amount of park dedication money we’re going to be receiving, staff has developed a 20-year plan to revitalize every single Sunnyvale park, and Fair Oaks and Lakewood Village happen to be two of the first parks to undergo the process.  So staff is proposing that those two parks include a dog park component as part of the public input and revitalization.

Item 4 involves a possible ordinance governing permits within the Peery Park area.  We’re doing a Peery Park Specific Plan, which will potentially change the design guidelines and permitting requirements for developments in that area (generally between Mathilda, Mary, Maude, and 101).  But we’re already receiving permitting requests for that area, which may involve companies trying to sneak stuff in under the wire or other changes that may not match whatever we approve later for the PPSP.  So there was a request to draft an ordinance to temporarily increase the amount of Council and Planning Commission oversight until the PPSP is finished.

Item 5 has us looking at bike lanes on El Camino Real.  Staff is proposing adding bike lanes between Sunnyvale Avenue and Remington/Fair Oaks for now.

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7/23/2013 Council Preview – Dog Parks and Land Use — 6 Comments