like to call this meeting to order.
So, let's start with roll call.
>> Council member Walter
>> present.
>> Council member Husco here. Council
member Flynn
>> present.
>> Vice Mayor Huy.
>> Mayor Taylor
>> present.
>> We have a quorum.
>> Thank you. All right. The next item on
the agenda is oral communication. So,
this is an opportunity for the public to
speak on anything that's not on
tonight's agenda. So, if you're here to
speak to the Hawthornes, this is not the
time. But if there's anything else you
want to speak to that's not the
Hawthorne, this is the time. So, does
anybody have any oral communications for
the council?
All right. So, with that, I will close
oral communications and move to the
regular agenda.
So, Sarah, you have a staff report?
» Yes. Good evening, town council. So I'm
Sarah Kors, planning building director
for the town of Prol Valley. I have a
brief present walkthrough. You just give
me one second to share my screen.
» Perfect. Thank you. So, I'm here to
provide information and receive
direction on the potential future town
work plan for the Hawthorne's area plan.
So, I wanted to orient everyone to the
area that we're talking about. We're
talking about the Hawthorne's area,
which is generally on the eastern side
of the town of Portulla Valley.
Zooming in, this property is located
primarily near the intersection of
Portola Road and Alpine Road.
So, a bit of background on the
Hawthorne's area plan and property. In
2011, it was gifted to Mid Peninsula
Regional Open Space District or as we
call it, Midpen. In 2021, there was a
public access planning process that
began. It was essentially the initiation
of the Hawthorne's area plan. In June of
2023, there was a public access working
group formed that we know of as POG.
they were initiated to further
analyze or work through access related
to the site or the area. In October of
2024,
AUGs recommendations were presented at a
town council meeting here during a
feedback session. And then lastly, in
May of 2026, the Midpen board approved
the Hawthorne's area plan action table
and schematic parking designs as the
basis for the project description to
conduct SQA. So there are a few
different nuances related to the
schematic designs, but I just like to
point out the two that uh are the
primary designs that have been shown and
approved by the board. So in general,
the schematic designs include loop
trails as well as a parking lot near
Portal Road and Alpine Road. So some of
the designs or schematic designs include
access to the parking lot that's taken
from an existing driveway. And another
schematic design also shows access to
the parking lot taken from Portal Road
and Alpine Road near that intersection
plan that has been discussed. Um when we
talk about the Hawthorne's area plan,
when we consider the Hawthorne's area
plan as a project, as of right now, no
permit applications have been submitted
to the town. We are aware that Midpen is
looking to start the SQA environmental
review potentially 2027 and that the
town would be a SQA responsible agency
as well.
So we're primarily here tonight partly
because there have been a lot of
different questions as well as interest
related to Hawthorne's area and what is
potential work that could be done
related to uh this area and the work
that Midpen has been doing. So staff did
some initial look at what is work that
staff could do and we'll present four
just potential options that we initially
would like to present to you tonight and
have a discussion around those. And I'd
like to just point out that these are
just initial options. There would have
to be additional scope and budget
attached to these. So it's a high level
consideration of potential staff work
related to Hawthorne's area. So the
first one is looking at potential SQA
project engagement work. So this would
include retaining environmental
consultant to support staff and legal
counsel as well as commenting on the
notice of preparation and the draft or
final EIR.
The second thing related to this area
and potential work would be the open
space element and associated zoning
regulations. So, as of now, the town is
overdue for an update to the open space
element. And as part of the open space
element update, there could also be
additional rules and regulations to look
at, including adopting parking access or
grading standards along with that.
In addition to that, there could be an
option of a negotiated agreement with
Midpen. So, this could maybe be modeled
on the 1980 Windy Hill Limited
Development Agreement. And this
agreement could look at more
holistically studying parking across
Windy Hill as well as the Hawthorne's
area. So the midpen properties
and lastly there could be work related
to conservation easement enforcement. I
will point out that the town has no
standing to enforce the easement because
it's not through the town. But there
could be an opportunity where the
Peninsula Open Space Trust or PUS P post
sorry um could act or assign the rights.
Okay. So those are the four main options
when we're looking at that. Just want to
call out the budget considerations with
these actions. So right now there is no
budget currently assigned for work
related to the Hawthorne's area uh in
the 2026 to 2027 fiscal year. And
current work is limited uh you know
considering what staff is doing right
now. currently limited um until until
additional budget author authorization
is made and then based on tonight and
council direction staff will return with
the proposed scope of work budget and
staffing needs. Well, so the
consideration we're looking at is should
staff pursue one of the four work plan
areas and if there is consideration of
like a priority preference of these four
different areas that we discussed as
well
and that concludes my presentation.
Thank you.
>> Thank you Shar. Are there clarifying
questions for Sarah?
Anybody other side?
>> I do.
>> Okay, please go ahead.
>> Um can you clarify the SQUA um option?
Um
for example, [clears throat]
if we pursued that,
can we there are certain points in time
where the town can respond.
Um would we need a SQA consultant for
those or or is the town able to submit
comments without a a specific SQA
consultant.
>> Might also look to our town manager as
well to assist because I know she is
very wellversed in the SQA process. Um
but I believe there would be the ability
to hire a consultant. Um but I'll I'll
also have her provide a little bit more
context as well.
>> Yes. And with that, I also want to
introduce our legal counsel for this
item, Miss Mr. Bill Celigman.
Fun fact about him, we go way back to
the 90s. He's very esteemed. Um, our
recommendation is that we would need to
hire a consultant. This is a very
specialized SQA document, very
extensive, and the town would be best
served by having a skilled consultant to
assist us.
» Other questions, Rebecca?
» Great. Thank you, Judy. Yeah, I I think
we got to take a step up to like orient
me at least. Like this has been going on
for a long time. There are five steps.
We're at step number four. And I am a
little confused how one can get to this
point without our having input or
conversations. We have had participation
in meetings through the POG, but is this
pretty typical process to get all the
way to SQUA where frankly if we find out
we have issues
seems more costly. I'm curious about
where the process
who wants to take that [clears throat] I
would just clarify the process so far. I
mean it's been through MIDI pen pog and
some of the work that they've done those
have always been open meetings they do
have a board the schematic designs were
presented to the board so there's been
opportunity if you look at from an
individual community member perspective
to attend and provide feedback and then
there was also the 2024 presentation to
town council where there was an initial
presentation on the recommendations
which I believe started to point to the
uh development of the different
alternatives, but I have to go back to
that staff report specifically.
>> Right. My question is different. It's is
it typical that a town having a similar
project in it gets to this point without
having more substantive participation
directly? Is that pretty typical?
>> I would say it depends on the project
specifically. I would be unsure for this
type of project. Um I I you know
speaking from experience most of our
projects are single family homes or
smaller development like that and our
engagement really doesn't happen until
it becomes an actual application.
>> We encourage maybe pre-applications or
discussions with for example our
architectural and site control
commission but there and those you know
it's a different example. So I think
this is a very unique project and
circumstance for this town right now
>> for for us. I understand that. Although
we did have Windy Hill um a long time
ago now. Um All right.
I don't know if it's appropriate for me
to ask Mr. Seligman
since you have been in this space for a
while to comment on that.
» Assuming I'm answering the same
question. Yes.
How's this? Is that much better? Yeah, I
can hear myself now. Okay.
>> Uh yes. Uh you know, it it certainly
varies from uh community to community.
There's would be nothing to stop you
from a legal standpoint from having
input uh and engagement earlier in the
process. Um but you know, that depends
on resource allocation and the and uh
the nature of your relationship.
>> Okay. Thank you. That's helpful. And um
in terms of
the four options,
I mean the the general theme is I think
what input can the town have into the
project? Like like these are options
because I want to make sure we're
focused on what we're trying to solve
for. And to me, the negotiated agreement
presumes that is it really focused on
the parking only like that's an issue we
think we need to solve for and is it
focused on that or cuz to me there's
like SQA we might get into differences
of opinion on sufficiency open space we
can talk about regulation and zoning um
conservation easement I get the point on
it's we're not a party to it, but the
negotiated agreement kind of presumes
that there's something to negotiate. And
I'm a little confused what that ask is.
I think with that one, we're identifying
if if there's work there, an agreement
could be a solution depending on the
desire or approach with the town. I
think that's also what we're receiving
feedback on is what what is the
approach. But if there's
>> concern of parking or parking not being
studied holistically or looking at are
there alternatives that that could be an
approach from that lens is looking at an
agreement and there's been a similar one
done.
>> Great. So, so I if I think about it
right, you're we both want to comment on
if that's something to look at and then
we have the ability to inform you what
we think that ought to focus on now or
later. Like you're looking for both or
are we limited to commenting on parking?
>> I'm open to council's feedback on the
direction.
>> Super. Thank you. That's it.
>> Thank you, Mary.
» I'm fine. No questions. Great. Ellen,
» thank you for this presentation. Um, so
for clarification,
um, for the four areas of town work,
do we get to pick one? Do we get to pick
multiple? Like, and obviously they'd
cost more. Do we need to prioritize?
Like
» I mean the last slide there was kind of
the two options. it was which one do you
have a preference for to work on but
also is there a priority and I if we
can't come to a decision tonight I I
think the followup is doing additional
research on what would staff time be and
what would the budget be and then that
might provide clarity and something it
might be difficult to decide exactly the
budget but if we can have some general
idea of the interest of uh like what
council member Hasco brought up if if
the interest is the agreement related to
parking that we could consider what that
would look like. The open space element
is something the town should be doing
eventually anyways and it would probably
be good to also have a general idea of
staff time and cost for that too, but it
could also relate u to this area as
well. Um and do we have any obviously
SQUA probably being the most you know
consultant being the most expensive. Um
do we have any sense of what we think
would be more expensive versus less
expensive and uh you know as
you know we're in a deficit. We know
we're in a deficit um for open space
element and zoning regs versus
negotiated agreement.
I don't have an opinion at the moment
about the cost right now. So I I'm
unsure and that would be something we'd
have to look at.
>> Okay. Um, and if we were to prioritize
say negotiate agreement agreement based
on um, uh,
Council Member Hosco, um, we could still
down the road weigh in on the SQA, I'm
assuming, right?
Well, we can always weigh in on SQA. I
think what you're hearing us ask is
should we scope this quite robustly in
the sense of getting a consultant making
sure we have adequate funding for legal
review that would be a sort of you know
from a small medium large that's what
we're presenting tonight with those cons
with that added um support is like an a
large
something scaled back would be simpler
perhaps not um encompass all the
concerns that we've heard from the
community or may hear from council or
the planning commission ultimately um
but you could point us in a range of
options and I would emphasize that SQA
is the one where the the the work is
starting right we know that the that the
midpen board awarded the contract
selected a consultant staff met with
midpen staff this week and we were told
that um the process is moving along but
that they will not be issuing between
what is considered the first step in the
SQL process, which is a notice of
preparation until 2027.
But I would emphasize that if the town
has to go and retain a consultant, we
have to issue an RFP, select someone,
and probably get a contract to you. So,
it's a three or four month process. And
that assumes you want to allocate the
budget for it, too.
So some things may take longer to
onboard whereas an agreement that's I
mean and the other thing with an
agreement is it it requires the other
party obviously to engage. So you could say explore that but it may
not be viable depending on the other
party involved. So I I suggest that you
maybe look at prioritization here and
give us some guidance in terms of
robustness of it if you will because
they're not mutually exclusive. We just
need direction to
uh to allow Sarah and her team to focus
her efforts in the next month or two.
>> Great. Thanks. Okay. Other question. Um
in terms of the zoning open space
element and zoning rags, right? Um
obviously the Midpen Hawthorne site I
believe remind me I think it's um single
family residential zoning. Could you
give me the actual zoning?
So it was provided in the packet. I
would have to pull it up in the packet.
>> Okay.
>> It's residential estate. So
>> right,
>> the
conservation. Yeah. The zoning that is
in place is the is what was in place
when it was a owned by the Woods family
and residential.
>> Okay. And um if we were to open up the
open space element and we would then
update zoning for all open space I take it
that would depend on the process for the
open space element similar to how we're
going through the housing element. It's
an amendment but housing element you're
looking at the land use and zoning and
you know what does the town want and
what is the vision down to how is it
going to be implemented. So there could
be an opportunity to consider how the
Hawthorne's area fits within the overall
town's kind of land use and zoning.
>> Great. Okay, those are my questions.
Thank you.
>> Thank you, Helen.
>> So I think my questions were mostly
answered. Um I'm I guess I'm still
trying to understand a little bit like
on the SQA timeline the notice of
preparation starts in 2027
but I mean how long before there's
actually something for us to comment on
you know because you're saying a three
or four month process I guess I'm trying
to understand a little bit like when
does that process have to start if we
want to engage on SQA assuming that
midpen's not going to do anything till
2027. I mean, is that if we start in
January, by the time they get their
stuff together, we'll sort of dovetail,
or is it no, January 1, they're going to
dump something, and if we hadn't started
back in September or October, we're
behind the eightball. So, I'm trying to
understand that timing a little bit.
>> It's the latter. So, they they could
issue the NOP in January. They did not
provide a date. They just told us it
would be 2027. And yeah, we probably
need 3 to four months to get ramped up.
Now the notice of preparation is the
first stage where they say we're going
to be preparing an EIR. This is these
are the areas we're going to study. Do
you have any other things you want us to
study? And you and so sometimes that's
all a very preliminary exercise. We
perhaps could do it without a lot of
support. Um but it it could be an
important step in the town's process to
make sure that we assert what we want
them to consider in the EIR. So it's a
very each step in SQA is very important
and the first step is important. So
essentially we need direction now if you
want us to pursue the SQA option. There
may be other items that are less
timesensitive but an important thing to
note with our open space element and
land use regulations that can take a
long time as you as you've seen with the
housing element and the safety element.
Those those processes can take a long
time and we would definitely have to
hire consultants for those too.
>> Right. Okay. And then my next one does
lead into the open space element. Um,
so does open does an open space element
just deal with anything that's open
space in the town regardless of its
zoning or does it have to be zoned open
space for the open space element to
apply to it
>> because this is all this is all re right now. So
>> it applies to everything in the town
that's open space. And right now we
actually don't have a zoning that's open
space. We have an uh inconsistent
>> general plan and zoning. So the general
plan is what you would start with and we
do have properties that are designated
as open space. And I would suggest we
examine that designation and whether it
should be applied to other properties.
Um and then you would implement the
general plan through a zoning code. and
we would recommend that the they be
tightened up so that they're vertically
consistent because they're inconsistent
now which doesn't conform to state law.
Um but the open space element also deals
with other factors. Um it deals with
equity and um access to open space and
parks. So it's a pretty broad element.
>> I don't know if Bill has anything to
add.
>> No, nothing to add.
>> Thank you. And just like you're
suggesting there's a three or four month
potential um process time for SQA.
What do we think the process time is on
the open space element roughly? Are we
talking
>> to get a consultant to scope it and get
a consult on board or probably 3 to four
months?
>> Okay. And then the actual work is
another three or four months.
>> No, it's probably 12 to 18 months.
>> Okay. to do an element like that because
we also have to do SQA on our own land
use plans. So that could be a long time.
[clears throat]
» And so is it is it realistic that we'd
get an open space element done that
would apply to this project or would
this project be [clears throat] on a
faster timeline and we wouldn't get it
done before decisions were being made?
It's possible they line just just line
up.
>> The sequel process for midpen could be
about 12 months we think and then they
would submit their permit applications
to the town and that processing could be
I don't know 3 6 n months.
>> So then we're into 2028. So,
I would advise if we want to do that, we
should get some direction tonight so
that we can at least start putting
together like a scope of work and a
budget to come back to you. Um,
but ideally they line up,
>> okay,
>> and they're in effect,
>> okay,
>> for the project applications.
>> So, Helen would like to ask another
question, then I'll finish up mine.
>> Thank you.
Um for uh
number four or the um
in terms of doing a negotiated agreement
if the other party is willing to deal
with parking. Obviously we have parking
issues
in other places in town. Um
sorry. [laughter]
Um, so could is there should we
potentially separate the negotiated
agreement out with a parking management
plan before trying to negotiate
something
if that makes any sense. I mean
obviously our other sites with parking
issues are not part of the Hawthorne
situation.
um but to do some sort of comprehensive
parking plan so that then when we
negotiate we know what we're aiming for
if that makes sense.
I think that could be an option and that
I would assume could be part of that
work plan option when we're talking
about the NE negotiate agreement if
there's something you want us to look
into that it should include addressing a
parking management plan or other
elements and we can figure out what that
might look like and come back to you.
>> Great. Thank you.
>> All right. So then my last question
which is a follow up on the negotiated
agreement. Is it reasonable if we say I
mean to me a negotiate agreement is
always a good thing because you talk to
the other side and if they're willing to
talk to you and you work stuff out that
seems like always a better way than sort
of battling it out. Um
I guess my question is if we say oh
we're interested in negotiating
agreement will staff go and scope out
what the possible kinds of negotiated
agreements we might do are? Is that your
thinking? Okay. So, we're not trying to
figure out the terms of the negotiated
agreement in broad strokes. We're just
saying come back to us and tell us
different ways you might be able to
negotiate.
>> Yes. I think that would be the goal of
what could town's responsibility be in
this um to enter an agreement.
>> Okay. Great. All right.
>> I have [laughter]
follow.
>> Okay. Please go ahead Jude.
>> Okay. Uh two questions. One is do we
have to do the whole open space element
or could we look at regulations that are
most pointed and where I'm going with
this is we kind of have to be a little
bit of a strike force given our
budgetary constraints and I want to know
how to think about that. Uh clearly it's
better to do the whole nine yards for
consistency and to avoid waste I think.
But but if our time time is our enemy,
what would we be able to do that's still
profitable for us to be engaging in? And
the second question while you're at it
is
on the open space piece.
My understanding is that open space
funding is not available for looking at
the open space element and rags and
things like that. If you could confirm
that that would be helpful.
» Thank you for that question. the so the
timing and kind of taking out a piece I wouldn't really even consider it part
of like the open space element but if
I'm trying to think through if it would
be updates to maybe zoning or
regulations specifically if town council
has a priority to update certain regul
regulations for example I know we've
already discussed the need to update
objective design standards but maybe
just for single family homes so that's a
very specific kind of targeted approach
if that's the priority to update our
standards. And so with the other zoning,
I think there could be an option that
way. I I don't know what it look like
when you're considering the element and
other aspects. Um I I'd have to do more
research on if if there I don't think
you're asking there's a way to like
start the open space element but then
maybe fast forward and you're just
saying
>> but the the things that are possible for
adjusting open space regulations I'm not
sure exactly what they are but is there
a piece of just line item regulations
that we could consider instead of the
whole nine yards taking 15 plus months
>> I believe so I say, you know, if there's
direction in alignment with the general
plan and our overall plans and it's
implementing our current plans because
otherwise the updated open space element
then
>> regulations would be implementing the
new element.
>> Okay. Okay. I don't know that that's
practical. I just needed to know. And
then the the cost the funding for open
space element that's not eligible for
open space funds, right?
>> I don't believe so, but I I'll double
check.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> Thanks.
So my question actually is one of them
is a followup on um Judith Judith's
question. Um
when we consider the open space element
and more particularly the zoning
regulations um and you mentioned a bunch
in the um report things like could
develop parking lot standards, could
develop property access standards along
scenic corridors, across trails, along
major roadways. We could examine grading
standards. I'm also aware that we don't
have any kind of code written for
developments of of this type. You know,
we have it for municipal buildings. We
have a single family, multif family, but
we have nothing for a park or a open
space. We have no development
guidelines. So, if the town were to move
forward with that those types of
regulations, including a parking
management plan type of thing, would
that have an impact? Would would that
have an impact on this development?
Would we then be able to have a say on
this development or not?
>> The say would be ensuring that the
project complies with those regulations.
So, it would depend on the regulations
and what the town would adopt. So,
typically the regulations are, you know,
there's an opportunity for flexibility
potentially to accommodate different
development types. So I mean but if
there's standards that can be followed
that that would apply to that site.
>> So midpin would be required to
>> if if they were adopted before the
projects
got through the permitting process I
guess and just a very overall summary
>> and they would not be submitting until
after their squa correct.
>> Yes. So they're they're
>> presumably
>> they have they're on their own timeline
which yeah as we said SQL wouldn't start
until 2027
>> but we would need to have all those new
>> zoning codes and and regulations in
place before they submitted an
application for planning. Is that my
understanding correct?
>> Essentially yeah because it would you
know the application
would adhere to the current standards
>> and do you have any sense of a general
cost for a SQA expert what what that
would entail?
No,
>> I don't know. Off top my head.
>> Okay.
>> And then you had said you wanted us to
provide you with priorities um for what
staff would work on for the next couple
of months? Um, I'm assuming that kind of
maybe until the end of the year, but um,
I guess my question is what budget do we
have available and what kind of time are
you anticipating to be able that's
within our budget to be able to take on
this extra little project over the next
couple months? What do we have? I mean,
you have maybe a few hours here and
there. What What can actually be
accomplished? Is it just coming back
with scope and getting pricing for SQA
experts or what what exactly do do you
anticipate being able to accomplish in
the next few months before you know
before November per se?
>> It would be coming back with the scope
and budget and potential recommendations
that there would maybe be trade-offs but
we would do that full analysis of our
budget because we haven't done that yet
because there hasn't been direction
provided to staff. So if we have
direction, we can analyze what that
scope is for staff, what is the budget,
is it even feasible and let you guys
know what would be feasible, what is the
actual budget we can spend through that
this year or starting, you know,
January, I know, sorry, fiscal year is
um June to July, but that that would be
when we come back to you that we would
be able to have that specific
information hopefully numbers and have
more of that kind of level of
conversation. And do you feel that you
have staff um bandwidth to be able to
accomplish that in the next few months
that what you just defined just defining
scope and pricing?
I
>> mean this has been a request of town
council. So we'll make the time to do
this analysis but the other part of the
conversation is staff time to work on
what's decided. So that that would be
that conversation as well of what would
we be capable of doing or part of the
budget is would it would we need to hire
a consultant? Is there additional help
that we would need to do this or is
there trade-offs with other projects as
well?
>> Well, when you're talking about budget, and that's
going to be spent in the next four
months. Are you anticipating hiring
making a recommendation to hire a
consultant or you need a consultant in
order to scope it out? I a little
unclear where this when the money is
being spent. I'm not sure if I said that
the work would be done the next few
months. I I think
we need to identify what that work would
be come back. Maybe that would take some
time and then it would be aligning the
schedule of that work. I'm not sure if
it's related to the next few months.
>> Okay. Okay. And then I guess my last
question was just something that Darcy
had mentioned saying that or or maybe
you did that we have properties
designated at open space in the general
plan
and where I'm confused is those
properties are designated open space in
the general plan but they are not
there's no they're not zoned open space.
Is that my understanding? Is that how it
works or?
>> Yeah, there is a bit of a discrepancy of
what is visually shown on the plan
versus the zoning. Um, and and that can
happen, but we were just calling that
out that there really isn't specific
zoning for open space right now, even
though the general plan kind of calls it
out as a land use.
>> And we have no verbiage, if you will, or
no municipal code for open space. Is
that correct? or we already do have and
we just haven't put any properties into
it.
>> No, it doesn't exist right now. So, the
properties are current for the zoning.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Rebecca. All right. Um, so
let me close this section out. The only
thing I just want to make sure you guys
will investigate also on the open space
element whether we could fund it out of
the open space fund.
>> Okay. I I'm not looking for an answer.
I'm just looking for you to to research
the answer.
Yeah, I think we answered that that it
can't be taken out of the fund. Correct.
Okay. We'll look into it.
>> Yeah, I would ask you to look into it
because I know we talked about we can't
use it on midpen project because it's
not our project, but this is our
element. So, it might be different and
that's why I'm just asking you to
research it.
>> Perfect. Thank you. Yes, we will.
>> Yeah, I appreciate that. Okay, so I'm
going to close out the questions for
Sarah and I'm going to open it up for
public comment. Um, let me remind
everybody that you have three minutes.
There's a lot of people here. Um, and so
I'm going to hold everybody pretty
tightly to the three minutes. We've got
some cards. Yes.
>> Yes.
>> Okay.
>> So, why don't we start with the cards,
then I'll ask for people who are in the
room who didn't get a card, which is
fine. You don't have to worry about
getting a card. I'll I'll come back. Um,
and then I'll go online. So, with that,
>> yes, first is Robert Roberto Zera.
Thank you.
>> Welcome.
>> Thank you very much. Good evening,
members of the Portola Valley Town
Council and staff. I'm Robera Sare,
superintendent of Portola Valley School
District. I'm speaking you speaking with
you tonight on behalf of the PVSD board
families and students to express our
serious safety concerns regarding the
Midpen Hawthorne area access plan
proposals under consideration.
Simply put, the options currently on the
table are not acceptable to our district
because they directly compromise the
safety of our students of approximately
100 students who travel that route
daily.
As a school district, we are legally
required to ensure the safety of our
children traveling to and from school.
Operating in loco parentus, we carry
both a strict duty of care and a moral
responsibility to protect these students
every step of the way. As you may know,
PBSD and the town co-und the afternoon
crossing guard at Alpine and Pulla Road
and for that we thank you for that
partnership. Adding another crossing
guard is neither possible, practical,
nor economically feasible.
I have commissioned an ad hoc committee
of our schoolboard trustee to research
this topic extensively
and advocate directly on the behalf of
our students and the PBSD community.
Additionally, the district has consulted
with a land use attorney and I've
already shared their full legal report
with the town manager to review. We want
to solve this problem together.
The district is fully committed to
working in partnership with the town
council to protect Portola Valley's
children. As a side note, we always
strive to be good neighbors. One way we
actively support our community is by
opening the Cordom Madera parking lot on
weekends throughout the summer and after
school hours
for local trail users. That's an access
point that we believe renders a new
parking lot at Hawthorne's entirely
unnecessary.
Let's keep working together to find a
solution that puts the safety of our
children first. Thank you.
>> Next is Bob Bower.
>> Welcome, Bob.
>> Thank you. Uh, thank you, council
members. I'm Dr. Robert Bower. I'm a
trustee of the school board on the ad
hoc committee that superintendent has
started. I'm here for two reasons. to
tell you what our strategic intentions
are and to stress the critical need for
both of our agencies to take action now
to resolve it without the implementation
of options 9 or 10. As Superintendent
Zer said, we conservatively estimate
that 40% of the kids at CMS use the
Alpine Trail every day, 180 days a year.
That's 36,000
student transitions across what would be
a new road with traffic. That's
unacceptable to the school board and we
will take all necessary steps legally
and otherwise in which to make sure that
doesn't occur. Uh
the other thing I need to tell you is
that in your packet today as as I see
it, there has been FAQs provided to you
that seem to be identical to the ones
that came out from MIDI pen. Those FAQs
are incorrect at best and false in other
cases. For example, it says that the
school district was approached and asked
to provide parking for the Hawthorne's
property and that we declined. In fact,
the superintendent agreed to that kind
of a solution. Why the staff said that
in FAQs, I don't know. There are other
things in the FAQ also that I find to be
misleading at best. like it's saying
that continual interactions with the
town have been part of this and the
reason this is important is because they
claim in the FAQs that post has approved
the abregation frankly of the
conservation easement and I find that
highly unlikely especially if they
understood that there are 36,000 student
crossings that would be affected every
day 180 days of so I want to emphasize
to you today that we're prepared to use
our resources to enforce the confer
conservation easement which as you know
is being violated for both development
in the undeveloped portion of the
property, the removal of trees and the
grading. There's no reason at all for
them to be having option 9 or 10 as
being viable. And the only entity right
now that has appropriate legal standing
is post in which to do that. So this
also involves post as I must say. So one
thing that I'm asking for today is that
just like we formed a committee at our
meeting last Thursday on Hawthorne, I
would love for the town to choose two
members of the town council to be on a
Hawthorne's committee and for us to work
together like we did when Windy Hill
open space was in front of the town many
years ago. I've been in town over 50
years so I know when these things
happen. Let's do that again. when it
comes to Hawthornes. And the reason that
that's important is the town manager and
our superintendent are working
incredibly well together on this matter
and want to collaborate. Let's do the
same at the level of the elected
official of our two agencies and our two
agencies together are going to be
stronger. We are prepared to use our
legal resource and that'll be my final
point. We will pay for the lawyers
because we're prepared to pay for them
on our own. Wouldn't it be better if
those legal actions that we have that
you have in front of you from the
confidential memo that we shared with
Darcy wouldn't be better for us? So,
please consider forming a committee and
forming a joint agency task force with
the school district to address this
issue. Thank you.
» All right. I would say hold your
applause, but I guess just keep keep the
applause light. Um, who's next?
>> Next is Leslie Crease.
welcome.
>> Hi. Um, hello town council. I'm Wesley
Crease. Most of you know me. I live at
One Winter Creek. I'm one of your
neighbors. Um, and first of all, I'd
like to say I really appreciate
everything you do and I'm very grateful
for you. Um, my concern with the
Hawthores is a little bit higher level
since I didn't know where this was going
tonight. But there is a proverb. What's
once done can easily cannot easily be
undone. And once an action is taken, it
cannot easily be undone. Mid Peninsula
as an organization clearly understands
its charters and its goals taking from
well south of us through the peninsula
and around the bay. Hawthorne's is just
a stop between locations south of us and
onward to Windy Hill and then someday
Elm Miridora possibly to connect to
Thornwood then to Teague Hill, Parisma
Creek, Edgewood and on up the peninsula.
Depending on what happens with
Hawthornes, this could put a lot of
pressure on Portola Valley and our
roads, especially with our anticipated
influx of new housing and new neighbors
and the construction for that. We don't
want to overwhelm our roads with
traffic, threaten our ability um to
evacuate in case of emergency or just
enjoy a beautiful day in our town. So,
I'm asking you, my town council,
remember who you represent, and it's not
Midpen. Midpen is very good and very
well funded at representing itself. They
have skills.
um the folks who live here and will be
impacted every ba every day going
forward by the decisions the five of you
make. Um your job as I see it is to help
um us not to not to roll over for midpen
which is a concern of mine and a desire
to be friends with them. Um,
we need to protect the quality the
safety of our residents and the quality
of our life. Especially for those of us
who live near Hawthorne. If you live up
in Westridge or up in Los Tranos
possibly or in other parts of town, you
won't be as impacted, but if you live
near Hawthorne, the traffic is going to
have a big impact on you. So I am asking
you to go slowly and thoughtfully um and
perhaps in an evolutionary fashion
allowing midpen a minimal footprint um
both in terms of parking and other
aspects and then if things go well
perhaps consider growth down the road
because once something is done though
you can't undo it. So let's grow them
evol in an evolutionary fashion not all
at once. And again, I thank you and I
thank you all for running, too.
>> Thank you, Lesman.
>> All right, who's next?
>> Next is Lana Norris.
» Welcome.
>> Good evening.
Thank you for uh for this session and
this opportunity to talk to you folks.
Um, I submitted a letter and um, I'm
assuming that you've had an opportunity
to review it. So, I'm not going to go
over anything that's in that letter. Um,
I want to focus on once again the
conservation easement. I have been
spitting nickels about this conservation
easement problem for years,
literally years. You're well aware that
every time anyone asks Mid Pen to tell
us how specific proposals that they're
making comply with the easements
prohibitions, we don't get an answer.
That's been going on for years. The
frequently asked questions that were
just put out by Mid Pan this month
increased my concern because once again
there are non-answers. There are artful
evasions. There are misleading
statements and I'm going to say they
have to be intentional.
They are intentional
and that's wrong.
one. Okay. One problem, one inaccuracy,
I'm going to have to speak quickly
because the time is going is in their
frequently asked questions where they
say
uh that they have had something like 40
meetings etc outreach. They go into all
these examples of their outreaches etc.
And one of them, one of them was where
they say they met with Pollola Valley
Ranch residents in January of 2025.
Okay. I was president at that meeting in
January of 2025.
Pull it was at Pulla Valley Ranch. We
are the most directly affected group of
people because we are contiguous to the
Hawthors. We should have a huge voice in
what is happening there. At that
meeting, a group of us Pollola Valley
residents submitted questions in writing
to the Midpen representatives and we
asked for answers and I will give just a
couple of examples. Uh, we don't
understand why Midpen is planning for
such a large parking area. Please
explain. No answer. We asked is it and
Midpin's intention to use the Hawthorne
as a hub? No answer. Uh, the We talked
about the conferation easement. We asked
uh that it clearly violates the
easement. Has post or mid pen gotten a
legal opinion about that? No answer.
Those are just some of the answers we
didn't get. So I have a specific request
tonight and that is that the town use
its weight and in influence and bring it
to bear on mid pen and I would like the
town to take a stand in writing to Mid
Pen confronting them about their
violations of the easement. And by
violations I don't mean hostility but
that we want we expect and we're
entitled to these answers we've been
trying to get for years and years and
mid pen and post won't answer. And the
same letter, I would submit the same
letter should go to Post because Post
and Mid Pen have this symbiotic
relationship. And I'm going to call it
what it is. It's conclusion. It's a It's
>> Thank you. Thank you. I'm trying so
hard. Oh, I have 28 seconds. Oh, good.
>> Yeah. You're No, no, no. You're o you're
over. You're I'm gonna have to ask
>> Oh, I am. I'm sorry.
>> This is You're 30 seconds over, so I'm
gonna have to ask you this.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah. Do you have like one last comment
and then wrap it? Can you just wrap up?
>> Yeah, I'll wrap up really, really
quickly. Um,
Mo Post needs to know that its
reputation and even its fundraising are
at are being imperiled here. I used to
support Post. I supported them
financially. I supported them with with
my efforts. I told Post that I was done
with them after they refused to answer
any one of my questions about how the
easement violations could occur. Not one
answer. And so I'd like those to go to
post and to mid pan. Thank you.
>> Okay. Thank you very much.
>> Three minutes is tough.
>> I I hear you.
>> Necessary.
>> But we have a lot lot of people I think
they want to speak. So thank you.
» Yeah.
But but at the Supreme Court there are
few people that want to speak. Um who
who's next? Uh
>> next is Linda Olsen. Linda
» Veronica, could you say the next person
after Linda?
>> And then followed by Linda Brothers.
>> Okay, great. Thanks.
» Welcome.
>> Thank you. Welcome.
Good [clears throat] evening, everyone.
Um, my name is Linda Olsen and I live at
27 Valley Oak in Portola Valley Ranch.
Um, I have attended many Midpin meetings
concerning the Hawthorne's project and I
really feel that Midpin fell in love
with their plan and they had a difficult
time understanding concerns that were
raised.
Overall, I'm very concerned that the
Hawthorne's project is being
overdeveloped,
excuse me, for this 79 acre mini
boutique open space. I think for many
visitors, it will be a oneanddone visit.
It is just too small.
As husband said previously, the proposed
parking lot for 50 cars is ridiculous
and it should not be a hub for Windy
Hill. We believe that the proposed
parking lot violates the conservation
easement. may oppose connectors
to sweet springs due to to fire noise
and privacy issues. For Valley Ranch
does not employ rangers to monitor the
trails. We also oppose connectors to
Valley Oak. Valley Oak is a street with
a sidewalk. There is no Valley Oak
trail. To connect to Upper Los Tranos
Trail, you would have to walk in front
of 20 homes. This is a neighborhood, not
an open space. Finally, the Hawthorne's
project is distinct from other open
spaces and therefore should be
considered in a different way. It is
unique, a small property surrounded by
residential and commercial buildings.
As Leslie said, please be thoughtful as
you proceed with this project. Thank
you.
>> Thank you.
Who's after? Linda and And Linda, before
you start, can I get a sense how many
people in the room are still waiting to
speak? Not that you've spoken. So, one,
two, three, four. Okay. Um, and I've got
a couple online. I just I need to make
sure we get done in time so the council
can have some discussion. So, um, Linda,
please welcome.
>> You start the clock. Would you like me
to give you a minute or two on because I
think
>> No, indicate a lack of understanding.
>> We're going to start the clock. We're a little too tight.
>> Okay. I I know you have a lot to add,
but we're a little too tight tonight.
>> Well, there are some important points.
>> Yeah, I'm not going to waste my time.
Uh, as a chair of the planning
commission, I've been working with the
amazing new staff we have to make sure
that we're applying all of our land use
laws regularly and consistently across
the town. Part of that has been looking
for some of the um outstanding, if you
will,
in the sense of not dealt with um uh
conditional use permits. And not too
long ago, we came across the conditional
use permit for the Windy Hill parking
area on Ptorial Road. I did that in my
job as chair, and now what I'm about to
say, this permit has not yet come to the
commission. But uh once the uh once we
found the conditional use permit, I went
out to that parking lot with some
traffic experts and made a couple of
observations. I think these are of
direct interest to the Hawthorne's
project. And quite frankly, I think it's
work Midpin should have done. They have
a parking problem for sure at Wendy
Hill, but they have a peak problem. They
do not have a problem all day long. The
way you solve a peak problem is you
regulate the lot. Why? and it's not in
the permit that we have now. Are they
not having patrollers, people out there
patrolling it? Um, secondly, and that's
really only on the weekends. Uh, and I I
couldn't get more data, but I didn't in
the time available to me either run
cameras or drones. Um, the existing lot
is 48 spaces. It's it's it's described
as that with two spaces for handicap
parking. However, the area could easily
handle another 10 to 15, maybe even 20
additional spaces if it was set out
properly. It is a gravel lot. Um,
however, there are techniques available
for laying out parking areas, parking
spaces in a gravel lot. So, um,
obviously that solves part of the Windy
Hill parking problem, if you will.
Remember that Midpin has identified the
Hawthorne's project as part of their
Windy Hill preserve. So, it is pretty
obvious that they intend, and I think
they've said this in some of their
documents, for people to park there, a
walk along our town roads, either Alpine
or Portola, to enter their parks. Uh
they do have a sign directing overflow
traffic to uh the town center, but
again, they don't have anybody there
patrolling it. Uh so additionally,
Midpin owns the property immediately
available to that parking lot. There's a
overwide road that could easily be
modified. And that parking lot,
according to the experts I've talked to,
with very little problem, could be
revised to add uh 50 uh a total of 50
more spaces. Um
uh let's see, there's also existing
problems with the dust. I don't usually
write out my comments, but I want to
digress for just a second. I see the
time, Greg. Uh, I'm going to hold you to
it.
>> The uh I haven't gotten to the most
important part. I'm going to read you
part of the permit. Um,
now I've lost my train of thought. Thank
you very much. Uh, but anyway, the the
existing lot has some serious problems
with dust and I'm understanding that it
is also has problems with uh uh
robberies. So, the land use Linda, Linda, I'm Linda, we're 30 sec.
Linda, we're 30 seconds over. I've got
six people that want to talk and the
council needs to. So, what I would ask
is Linda,
>> Linda, what I would ask is, can you
could you send this in? Could you write
this up? Send it to us.
>> You've got it. I've already sent it to
you.
>> Okay. But I want to say is I found out
today, even though you don't want me to
say it, you can cut off the microphone
if you want, that the town has agreed
that we will now undertake the periodic
review uh set forth in this permit. And
hopefully this will be before the
planning commission very soon.
>> We'll look forward to it.
>> I could read that to you if I
>> Thank you. Who Who's next?
Can we can we just line up the next four
so that we can kind of get through it
quickly? Thank you. Just keep everybody
on tap so there's not even time.
>> Hi, I'm Carter War. Uh I'm on the
>> Y. Welcome, Carter.
>> Hi, I live at 260 Willerbrook Drive. I
I'm I'm here to, you know, help you
understand what I think the first step,
you know, should be, you know, rather
than hiring consultants is use, you
know, your your current legal, you know,
council to remind Midpen of what the
real process is in Porto Valley on
properties, you know, that are not zoned
for the use that they intend to use it
for. Uh the open space use is not an
allowed use, you know, in the RE zoning
district. there isn't any need, you
know, for the town to spend money on on
the open space element at this time. Uh
the town was originally, you know,
founded on the and didn't zone
properties, you know, for specific uses
uh to provide the town with the
opportunity to conditionally approve and
conditionally manage those properties
for special uses. It's a reason that,
you know, Midpen, you know, has, you
know, an open, you know, has a a
conditional use permit, you know, for
Windy Hill. Now, I don't think it's, you
know, prudent to spend money, you know,
on proactive work other than to remind
Midben, you know, that the town does
have the legal obligation to review, you
know, their use under the current
zoning,
uh, and to deal with that zoning unless
Medpan intends to change the zoning. And
at that point they can pay the bill you
know for the open space element and the
reasonzoning
uh use permit process gives the town the
opportunity you know to enforce the
conservation easement you know a andor
apply you know subjective you know
design criteria you know to protect you
know the the portions of the property
that I think we're all concerned about
you know including you know uh you know
the access ways uh and the uh the the
face of the hill that faces down towards
uh you know Alpine Road. There are
there's plenty in the existing zoning
ordinance, you know, to control this and
reminding them that that those
applications should be in in place, you
know, prior to them reviewing SQA. SQL
should be the last thing, you know, uh
and should be reviewed by the planning
commission, you know, rather than, you
know, having them do that in in a
in-house. They're just like any other
property owner in town. They shouldn't
be, you know, given any special
dispensation
uh unless they're going to provide
things to the town that, you know, were
not already being provided.
>> Thank you.
Welcome.
>> Thank you. I'm Charles Moroni, 25 Coyote
Hill. I sent you a note about some of
our previous work at Bola Valley Ranch.
Um, we originally opposed these issues
at the ranch, had over 200 people sign a
petition, over a 100 homes expressing
the same concerns you've heard tonight.
So, I'm not going to retalk those. Um,
but I will point out that at the last
midpen meeting, and I think Mr. Mayor,
you were there, um, they decided to go
ahead with SQA and part of the choice
that was given to the midpen board was,
oh, we can go to the town council and we
can negotiate some of these issues that
we're all discussing here tonight. And
they said, no, we're not going to do
that because we've done that once
before. something with the same property
I think in the um the historic area on
the other side. I'm not aware of it, but
they said, you know, we did that once.
We waste a lot of time. We're not going
to do this again. We're going to do SQA.
We're going to throw it over the
transom, let them chew on it, and then
they can get back to us. So, if you're
moving towards a negotiated settlement,
at least I think you need to keep that
in mind because I don't think there's
going to be negotiated settlement. Thank
you.
>> Great. Thank you. Who's next?
» Welcome.
>> Thank you, uh, town council. Um, I'm
going to speed ahead. I have my remarks
hopefully sent around. I want to throw
my support, my straw vote in favor of
the areas three and four, that's
engaging midpen and engaging post as
soon as we possibly can. to illustrate
why it is high time to ask post to join
us at the table. They have a legal
obligation to represent the terms of the
existing conservation easement. And to
bring home why, let's turn to the
midpen's frequently asked questions
number three on agenda page seven. The
question reads, does the conservation
easement need to be altered to implement
public access at the Hawthorne's
property? The answer is longer, but I
will dive into a couple of pieces.
Midpen's response draws from the
conservation ement section 6 I, where
the conservation easement states
construction of a limited staging area
around the perimeter of the improved
portion as necessary to facilitate
public access. Clear enough? Two
sentences later, Nidpen adds that their,
and this is quote, proposed parking lot
options are located along the perimeter
of the improved portion. That statement
is 1/2 true and one half not. As roughly
half the proposed lots 9 and 10 are
located in the unimproved portion, that
requires a correction for the record.
Secondly, the conservation easement was
explicit about what is permitted.
Quote, a staging area around the
perimeter of the improved portion,
though Midpen says, quote, the
conservation easement does not state
that the staging areas should be located
within the improved portion.
To understand this, context helps. I'm
referring now to this map as you all can
see out there. It's shows the improved
and unimproved portions of of the entire
parcel. The improved portion is 42 plus
acres. So around the perimeter of the
improved portion covers a substantial
circumference of the land area.
stretching that interpretation of what
around means and what permitted means to
justify that the easement actually
affords development opportunities in the
unimproved portion runs contrary to the
plain language of the easement. It's
going to be a challenge for post to
defend that position if as midpen has
represented them they are unwilling to
alter the conservation easement. We need
to make that point and to hear directly
from them. That is the lone specific
example my allocated time allows for. If
and when you want to call on me to get
more ideas, please do. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Right. Who's next? Let's keep moving.
» Hi, my name is Nona Cherryello and I'd
like to speak as an individual rather
than as a committee member tonight. I'd
like to make four recommendations.
One, stay focused on three priorities.
Public safety, environmental protection,
and public access. In that order, Mid
Pen keeps saying no public access
without parking. Portullah Valley needs
to say no parking without public safety
and environmental protection. That's it.
Two, evaluate legal means to challenge
Mid Pen's interpretation of the
Hawthorne's conservation easement. I
won't say more about that. It's already
been discussed.
Three, proactively evaluate conflicts
between the Hawthorne's area plan and
Portrola Valley ordinances.
The town should proactively calculate
the cut and fill of the parking
schematics.
To that number, add the cut and fill for
the Hawthorne's trails that will be
multi-use by hikers, dogs on leash,
equestrians, and bicycles.
With that constellation of users, the
standard is a trail width of 10 ft at
minimum, more if it is heavily used. If
Midpen doesn't think there will be
enough use to require a trail width of
10 to 14 ft, then there won't be enough
use to justify a parking lot with 50
spaces.
The amount of cut and fill can be
calculated now and it's a critical
number for compliance with both the
conservation easement and for Portoella
Valley's municipal code.
Four, don't get drowned by Mid Pen's
documentation.
The volume of documents about
Hawthorne's is daunting and it's conf
causing snafoos even for Midpen.
Midpen's written preface for the board's
review of the action plan stated that
the planning and natural resource
committee quote collectively reviewed
each section of the action table and
identified missing data needed
clarifications, typographic errors,
formatting problems, and numbering
issues to address. End quote. That
statement alone tells you that they know
they have a lot to sort out. They still
do. The action table that the board was
asked to approve and did approve stated
that the internal loop trail would be
multi-use whereas the maps show,
including the maps you just saw and the
maps that Sarah showed, those maps show
that instead the multi-use trail is the
primary loop trail.
My point is that sorting through MIDI
pen's mountain iterated documents needs
a lot of eyes. Town committees,
residents, and AI can help with that. We
have been studying the Hawthors for
seven years and we are not done yet.
Please call on us. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Anybody else in the
schoolhouse? All right, let me go to
Dave Cardinal.
Great. Hi, thanks. Um, first of all, I I
love the tool set presentation uh that
was given by the staff. I think those
are our tools and they're in our tool
box. And I think what you're
increasingly hearing tonight maybe is
that it's not time to pick a tool. Maybe
it's time to decide what we want. Um,
from what I can see roughly, there's
maybe four big issues. The size of the
parking lot, the location of the parking
lot having to do with retaining walls,
where the exit is, and whether there's a
trail connection, and maybe there's
more, but you know, if we knew what we
wanted on those four, I think we could
um go forward. And I dovetail that into
what Carter said, which is like him. I
don't think it's like fine, let's spend
four months making up our mind what we
want. It's not nothing's going to
happen. And I don't know that anything
we spend money on in the next four
months is going to change anything. So I
think we need to get our act together
and decide what's important to us. And
then we can figure out, can we
negotiate? Do we sue? Do we do squa? I
don't know. Whatever. But um until then,
if we don't know what we want, it's hard
to know how to get there. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
So, we have a Zoom user hand up. Maybe
Dana
» need to unmute.
>> Yes, it's Dana. Unmute, Dana. Yes. Hi.
>> We got you.
>> All right. Thank you. Um I I was glad to
see Linda Brothers in the audience
because Linda is a high-end squa
attorney and she's chair of the planning
commission. So, if anybody on the staff
needs to talk to a squa expert, talk to
Linda and it'll save us some money.
Number one. Um, and then for her uh her
comments, Windy Hill, I've been asking
the town for decades to have the cup of
the Windy Hill parking lot changed. They
could put another 15 cars in there. The
other point I really want to make and I
feel strongly about this is that the
open space element must is going to be
changed. There must be a committee of
residents. Unlike what happened with the
safety element, I think anytime we touch
our constitution, there needs to be a
committee of residents weighing in on it
all the time. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Rita, you're up next.
» Thank you for taking my comment. I think
it's important to review our current
ordinances. The planning commission
meeting for next week has already been
cancelled. You know, we have not had an
easy consistent relationship with MIDI
pen over this particular project and
it's costing our town our own rights.
Let's have the competent planning
commission review these materials so
that we can get back on tracks to our
rights for the continued enjoyment of
our beautiful town by its residents for
the reasons we chose this town over
others to live and raise our families.
You know, there's things that we can do.
We can have the planning commission
review the current situation. And two,
if needed, make a subgroup of residents
that have been holding the brain trust
of this issue cuz it seems that that's
the issue with mid pen. Uh there they
want to cry that we're inconsistent
because of staff changes and council
changes. But you know what? There's lots
of other people in our town, including
past council people and and past
employees that uh have held that brain
trust if uh the current people in church
uh cannot remember. and to use our
ordinances.
When I built my house, Pollola Valley
had no problem at all to remind me of
different laws and rules and current
ordinances. Let's hold the outside
organizations that are building in this
town to those same high levels so that
we can be safe, have low fire danger,
and be able to drive through our streets
safely.
and not have to look at glare from 50
cars when we're going to Robert's
Market. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you. All right. Anybody else in
the schoolhouse?
I don't see anybody else online, so I'm
going to close public comment. Thank you
all. Um all your public comments and
extremely useful. I'm I'm going to bring
it back to the council. We have 15
minutes. We have five council members.
Um so I think we have a choice here.
either people can be brief and we can
start staff on this process or we can
continue this site.
So, do people feel like they can be
brief? Because I think the goal here is
to give staff some initial input and we
can revisit this, but if you don't feel
like that's sufficient, then we could
continue it. So, can I just get a rough
sense for people feel like they can stay
in their three minutes?
Just a yes or a no just before we start.
If this is going to be one and done, I I
think I'm gonna It's coming back. If we
give you direction,
it's coming back. And at that point, we
can dive into nuance. It's we clearly
don't have time tonight
>> and and that's my expectation is we're
giving very highlevel direction to staff
tonight and then they're going to come
back and then we can start getting into
detail. But that that's the only reason
I would suggest that we could get it
done in the time. So
>> I would just suggest that we zoom
through all five of us and say what our
higher goal is first and then if there's
a little bit more time we can go into
kind of picking the whatever but
sticking with a really what is our goal?
>> And I would say that will take me more
time.
>> Okay. [laughter]
>> Well, um shall we give it a try versus?
All right. So let's give it a try. All
right. Who who would like to go first?
Um we now have like 12 minutes. Can we
set the timer, please?
>> Uh,
>> I'm sorry.
>> No, we're not.
>> What?
>> She wants to set the timer on us.
>> No, no, no, no. This the council doesn't
get a timer, but I'm just asking council
members to be respectful of the time.
>> So, yeah. No, it's that's fine. So, no,
we don't need a timer. So, who would
like to go first? May
>> I would like to go first because I gave
my time in the beginning.
>> I wanted to hear the public comment,
which was excellent and very much
appreciated. Uh I I think that
speed is of the essence with this and
I've been saying that for the last six
months. Uh I think that we have to get a
memorandum of understanding with bid pen
now and I think we can do that before
December. I don't think it has to be
expensive. Uh I don't think it has to
take a lot of staff time. I think um
that would be my first thing my first
point of action. Uh I think the
conservation easement enforcement is
something that all of the residents of
Warola Valley are going to be much more
effective than the town government is
going to be uh at uh at pressuring uh
post to honor its conservation easements
in the ways that we find are meaningful.
We as donors to uh the Peninsula Open
Space Trust trust that they will protect
their cover their their conservation
easements. It's not the duty of the town
council to to remind them of that duty.
So I would say strongly I support number
three. Um I am unaware of what the role
would be in that of for the town but I u
the structure that I would like to see
would involve one or two members from
the town council perhaps one member from
the one or two members from the school
board and one or two members from the uh
from the MOSD board or maybe just one.
Um, and uh, I'd like to see that get
started before the end of the year.
>> And just just to clarify, you're what
we're calling number three is some kind
of negotiated settlement.
>> It's called negotiated agreement between
the town and the midpen.
>> I just we talked about different I just
want to make sure we
>> Great. Okay. Who wants to be next? And
again, please try to keep it brief. You
have 10 minutes.
>> 10 minutes.
>> I'm happy to go last. Others can go.
Okay, Rebecca three.
>> Okay. Um, so I I was just going to just
state my goal and my goal is to
dramatically reduce the impact on the
site um in terms of the two per the two
immense parking lots and to find
alternatives for those park for the
parking if that's really the that seems
to be the biggest issue just eliminating
those two huge parking lots and finding
alternatives. I think there's a way to
study that. And so that would fall under
number two, the zoning regulations. Um,
and you know, I I think we can uh
present a way of of alternatives to
midpen for finding other parking. So
there's a lot of parking that could be
found. Um, I do think we need to keep a
positive relationship with Midpen. So, I
would be in favor of some type of
committee or group that would approach
and the staff as well that would
approach Midpin and try to come up with
some type of of potential settlement. I think it's,
you know, perhaps a fool's errand, but I
do think we need to continue
communication with them. Um,
let's see. Uh, conservation easement. I
think we should be sending a note to
post to get clarification on the
conservation easement. That's number
four. And then in terms of squa, I would
just want to know it have a very small
uh study to say whether or not that
would prove fruitful. If we can work
with the with the um school board to
help provide funding for that, then that
would be something also to pursue. So
I'm falling on all four unfortunately.
>> Great. Thank you, Ellen.
Um [clears throat]
so um similar to Rebecca actually um
reducing the impact of the parking while
keeping our kids safe and you know
pedestrians along that route. Um
so but I'm going to swap because I'm
going to say negotiated agreement with
Midpin by studying parking. Um, so I'm I'm putting number three first, but
I would like to see a parking study
done.
um like that would be a priority for me
so that we could actually point to it
when we are working with all parties
about what are what are our hopeful
solutions like what are possibilities
and we don't have that technical
analysis at this point. Um
along with you know along with parking
management often comes pedestrian
management as well because of the safety
around parking um that helps with uh
pedestrian
um
uh and pedestrian access. So, um, and
then I would, um, you know, I would love
to update our open space element with
our zoning regulations,
but my understanding,
um, Carter, respectfully,
is because it's another public agency
that is the property owner that they
have certain rights.
um kind of like when the school
district, you know, that they were able
to build without having to go through
our permitting process, right? Um so
it's, you know, that you, you know, the
school district needed an encroachment
permit when they, you know, crossed
public land to get to Alpine Road kind
of idea. And that's a sim a similar
situation that we're in. Um, so I'm
worried about going for the o, you know,
updating an open space element and
zoning rags and doing that all and then
not ha not it it won't make a difference
because it's a public agency who has
their own jurisdictional rights. Um
uh in terms of the conservation easement
enforcement again we don't have
jurisdictional
oversight because it's a public agency
and they have enforcement in terms of
post post and midpen have an ex you know
long history together of working
together and providing public access to their land. So um I'm I would you
know so scratching my head over that
one. I don't think we can really do much
unfortunately is I'm I'm just
pessimistic. Um but I do think that SQA
actually um I personally think that we
could weigh in and have comments and
that by law then they have to respond to
them. They can say that they have
responded to them and that they um don't
um and that they have met the spirit of
the law in their responses. Right? So,
um, and that's again why I would look at
the negotiated agreement to hopefully
find solutions for everyone, but and
first step to do a parking management so
that
um, know what we're aiming for when we
look at the options on the table with
parking management. Thank you,
>> Judith.
>> Sure. Um, clearly there's a lot of
community concern. The community is
engaged in this issue and it should be.
Um, we're a small town. this is a a
property that's near space that everyone
visits. Um I think given that level of
community concern, we ought to ask staff
for option number five, which is what conversation subcommittees
uh outreach to our current committees
can help us all understand
and pull together a more cohesive view
of this. It's hard to react peace meal
for me. Um, and I don't think tonight
like this isn't a oneanddone thing. This
is going to be a continual topic over
the next year, two years, three years.
And it you can't undo it, right? So, I I
do take that very seriously. But if
staff could come back and and think how
can we use cor committees and
commissions um the other random things
um that I'll just mention quickly um the
school districts offer to collaborate
that's a conversation. I don't quite
understand the proposal on around
attorneys fees sharing because we got to
have ours and our council. So that's a
thing to follow up on. I don't need the
answer now. Um,
I would deprioritize the conservation
easement based on everything I've heard.
Unless a miracle occurs and somebody has
standing here, uh, fool's errand is not
going to get us anywhere. Um,
do uh the cup idea with Windy Hill, if
that can be part of a more general
solution, I'd look at that. Um, it's
clearly scope creep, but it might be
relevant scope creep if we end up having
conversations that identify common
things we're solving for. and um you
know theou by the end of the year I
don't think that's achievable just bec
like I think that forming a committee to
have specific
like focus great but thinking we're
going to get to a negotiation we don't
even know the other party's willing to
negotiate and might suspect they aren't
is not really going to happen and I
wouldn't go into a negotiated agreement
until we know what we want through the
through this conversation so that's All
right.
>> Thank you. All right. I've asked
everybody to brief. I will be brief as
well. Um I would focus on public safety.
I think we should investigate um the
zoning and C cup CUP issues so that we
understand kind of, if you will, what
our rights are and what's how this is
likely to go down at the end. Um I'm in
favor of us forming a subcommittee. I
think having a subcommittee to council,
I proposed this before. I'm still in
favor of it. Um and I think we could
work with the school district. I think
we can also work with our various
committee town. Um once we gather all
that information then I think it might
be time to consider a negotiated
agreement but I I think at this point we
have no idea what we would be
negotiating. So I wouldn't have staff
put time into that now other than start
gathering information so we have
something to negotiate. Um so I I think
that's that's where I stand. So Sarah,
do you feel like you have enough
information to get you started or do you
want to schedule more time?
» Thank you for that feedback. Uh I think
there is a lot of different ideas on the
approach. I'm not sure if I hear a
priority per se. So it could warrant
additional conversation or another
option. I I don't want to help propose a
subcommittee, but if there's more
conversations on the side that need to
happen to then provide staff direction,
I don't know if that's like a
subcommittee task. Um, okay. I mean,
leave it to you guys if you would like
to discuss this more. Um,
>> yeah. No, I think you should get
started. I think you because I don't
think you heard us say you should go out
and hire SQA consultant immediately. I
don't think you heard us say you should
start working on open space element
immediately. Um, I didn't hear that from
any of the council members. So, I think
that those can come later. No,
>> I think Rebecca had it. And and I just
want to clarify, we should never be in a
SQL process without our own consultant
or a lawyer. Like, I do not want to get
into it. So, I would support that. Just
to be clear on that one piece, an open
space element.
I would get there, but I I'd like to
scope that out. Sorry.
>> Yep.
>> So, and I think conservation easement,
it was sort of mixed. Mary's comment was
more about, you know, donors probably
have more leverage with posts than we
do. Um, so, so I think you do have some
direction. Again, the point I was trying
to make is I think there's still a lot
of information you collect on what kind
of cup, you know, if they if they showed
up with all this done, what would what
would our next steps be? And right now,
I don't know what they are. I I don't
really what what it is that we could ask
of them. And what I'd hate to do, and
this is what I tried when I talked to
them, is I hate for us to get all the
way to the end of this process and then
for have this fail, which is what
happened when we were trying to do stuff
at the historic stuff because they kind
of pushed and then at the end we
couldn't make it work. And I think that
would be unfortunate and a lot of money
spent. But hopefully that's enough to
get you started. And if it's not, then
I'm sure the town manager would be happy
to schedule more time.
>> Great.
>> Can can I ask a process question? Is it
possible to go ahead and set up a
subcommittee to investigate the school's
offer and uh the school's offer?
>> Not tonight since it's not on the
agenda.
>> Okay.
>> Can I also ask is it possible to have
some sort of a preliminary kind of you
go through what we've said and then you
come back with your questions and we
schedule another sort of session like
this. you know, not do a full-on
scoping, but just kind of go through it
and kind of, I don't know, evaluate what
we've said and try to kind of come up
with more focused items that we could
consider or something as opposed to
coming back in two, three months with a
big huge scope and costing and all that.
>> I think that's maybe the general
question or what I've heard so far is to
do a bit more of that extra step. So
maybe it's not focusing on one but I
think I have a general idea related to
SQA especially opportunities with
agreement and then if there's a
potential cost associated we'll bring it
back or as much information as we can or
if I have additional questions I think
that makes sense but um given what I've
heard there there is some direction for
that.
>> Yeah and I think I hear a request to
bring back an item to form a
subcommittee. I think that subcommittee
could work with the school district,
work with any MOSD identified member and
probably has value looking at the
negotiated agree that is typically
>> something that a council subcommittee
might focus on.
>> Great. Thank you.
>> All right. So, with that, I'd like to
adjourn this meeting. I would accept a
motion.
>> I move to adjourn.
>> We have a second.
>> Second.
>> All in favor say I. I. All right. This
meeting is adjourned. Thank you.
701. We sort of closed it pretty close.