Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/02/2007 - PB&R CommissionJANUARY 2, 2007 APPROVED PB &R COMMISSION MINUTES CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH Parks, Beaches ft Recreation Commission Regular Meeting January 2, 2007 - 7pm Convened 7:09pm ROLL CALL Present: Debra Allen Tim Brown Bill Garrett Phillip Lugar Marie Marston Greg Ruzicka Cristine Trapp Staff: Wes Morgan, RSS Director Mark Harmon, General Services Director Andrea McGuire, Recreation Superintendent Dan Sereno, Parks It Tree Superintendent Sean Levin, Recreation Manager PUBLIC COMMENTS None CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Minutes of the December 5, 2006 regular meeting. Waive reading of subject minutes, approve as written and order filed. 2. Item removed by member of the public 3. Recreation It Senior Services Activity Report. Receive /file monthly Activity Report for activities and upcoming projects. 4. Bench Donation Request. Approve donation of bench in memory of Newport Beach Police Department Captain Rich Hamilton to be located at Bob Henry Park by the Hamilton Family. Motion by Commissioner Ruzicka to accept items 1, 2 and 4 the Consent Calendar. Motion carried by acclamation. 2. Park and Operations Division Activity Report. Jan Vandersloot complimented staff for their stewardship of City trees and in particular the relatively low number of tree removals but noted that he is concerned about the claim related tree removals and wonders if there is something that can be done on that as a pro active preventative way. He noticed that the City has done extensive root pruning of 838 trees since July 2004 and said that the City is above the curve as far as root pruning and asked if that could be part of the claim process before trees are actually removed. He also noted that the reforestation requests within the vew communities are beginning to taper off as the majority of the trees that have been problematic have been replaced. He hoped to see less of that in the future but expect that there will still be a lot of trees that Will be reforested for view considerations. Commissioner Ruzicka stated that over the years that the Commission and Mr. Vandersloot have gone from an adversarial to a collegial relationship. Chair Garrett asked Superintendent Sereno if had any comments regarding the root pruning. Superintendent Sereno thanked Mr. Vandersloot for his comments and stated that claim removals are on a case by case issue and that they are evaluated separately and if the tree caused the problem Parks, Beaches fx Recreation Commission Regular Meeting January 2, 2007 - 7pm Page 2 that a good example would be of a claim that was settled and the tree remained and root barrier were installed. Motion by Commissioner Ruzicka to accept items 2 of the Consent Calendar. Motion carried by acclamation. 5. Tree Donation Request - Director Harmon stated that that at its regular meeting on December 5, 2006, the Commission requested that the item be continued because of its location at CdM State Beach small grass area. He noted that staff had placed a orange cone at the location to allow commissioners the opportunity to inspect the proposed donation site and review tree species selection and that the location is behind the cliff area (which is over 48 feet) and so the tree would have to grown in excess of 50 feet before it would be visible to those homes in CdM. Director Harmon stated that staff's recommendation stays the same and recommends approval of the donation and noted that the tree really believes that it fits because of that gap in that space. Commissioner Trapp stated that she had walked down the stairs and noted that the Monterey Pine would be planted at an elevation of at least five feet higher then the one that has had some problems so she suggested that right next to that location are some Pine trees and believes that those wont ever be a height issue and that the same type of tree could be continued in that same area. Superintendent Sereno stated that the majority of the trees are Torrey Pines and that there are two Pinus Pinea trees and that the reason the Monterey Pine was recommended is because ultimately if you review the horticulture reference that the Italian Stone Pine can reach a height of 80 feet in optimum condition and the Torrey Pines can reach 60 feet tall but that none of them have reached the height and that the Stone Pines are younger as well. He reiterated that the trees will never reach a height of 50 feet as staff will maintain them below that height. He went on to say that there are not very many Torrey Pines in the City and it gave them the chance to plant one here. Commissioner Ruzicka reiterated that it would never be a problem until 2030 anyway. Commissioner Marston stated that she is ok with the tree selection but noted that it is close to a drainage area. Superintend Sereno stated that it would be planted far enough away that it would not be a problem. Discussion ensued regarding planting some shrubberies around those big rocks around the drainage area. Chair Garrett opened the public discussion Jan Vandersloot stated that he concurred with staffs recommendation of the Torrey Pine because it is a native tree. Parks, Beaches £t Recreation Commission Regular Meeting January 2, 2007 - 7pm Page 3 Motion by Commissioner Ruzicka to approve the donation of a 24" Torrey Pine tree by Monique Faure to be planted at CdM State Beach. Motion carried by acclamation. 6. Request by Newport Beach Little League. Recreation Manager Sean Levin stated that staff recommends that the Commission approve the request by Newport Beach Little League (NBLL) to install a batting cage between fields 1 and 2 at Bonita Canyon Sports Park. He went on to say that demands for field use continues to rise with increased pressure on the inventory of the available fields and that this will provide increased practice opportunities for teams and provide three teams to practice at the same time while increasing the use of the field by 33%. He went on to say that Recreation staff met with Parks and Maintenance and NBLL to select the best location. Staff has notified the public that live within 500 feet of the location by postcard of this meeting and noted that NBLL will be responsible for all associated costs and that the two trees in the location would be replaced with a different type of tree within the park. Chair Garret opened the public discussion. Keith Banning, NBLL stated that they had raised the money a couple of years ago but that this batting cage would be extremely helpful with team practice and will free up soccer fields for their use and urged approval by the Commission. Jan Vandersloot encouraged staff to transplant those existing trees to another location. Chair Garret closed the public discussion. Discussion ensued regarding the nets for the batting cages and was assured by NBLL that they would be responsible for those. Motion by Commissioner Ruzicka to approve the installation of a batting cage between fields 1 li 2 at Bonita Canyon Sports Park with all costs covered by NBLL. Motion carried by acclamation. 8. Review of the Newport Center Park Development Plan. Director Morgan stated that at the December 12 City Council meeting to bring back the Newport Center project and would be discussed again that the January 23 meeting. He went on to say that at that meeting they would review the complete plan and specifications would be seeking approval to go on as planned. He stated that as the discussion moved forward the Council asked for some consideration for soccer fields. He noted that staff has moved forward and has provided information to all with a 6 year plan of the development of the site. He stated that it is up to the Commission as to a motion of how to advise the City Council. He stated that staff are the facilitators and in fairness to all, that it is staff's intention to study the soccer field component as requested by City Council. He went on to say that that these minutes would be provided as part of the Public Works staff report to Council. Commissioner Allen stated that she had walked the site and reviewed the pictures but noted that if this site were to be a soccer field that it would require a lot of grading off the top and a lot of fill at the bottom to flatten the site out because it now has a 70 -80 feet grade from the library to the crest of the hill and would lose the view if it was to be flattened. Director Morgan agreed. Commissioner Brown agreed that there does seem to be enough room if it were to graded to place a soccer field but was concerned that the Commission has tried to use active parks as multiple use Parks, Beaches Ft Recreation Commission Regular Meeting January 2, 2007 - 7pm Page 4 facilities and does not believe that there would be room enough for a soccer field and three Little League fields and does that address the shortage of fields within the City. Director Morgan agreed. Director Morgan stated that he does not want to get into design of the park or ruling out specific activities but that screening and fencing would be required to have a multiple use field. He stated that City Council has specifically asked staff to look at a soccer field. Recreation Manager Levin stated that the site is a parcel of land located north of the Newport Beach Library and south of San Miguel. He reviewed the pictures of the site with the Commission. Chair Garret opened the public discussion. Tom Moulson noted that those were great photographs and that the Commission should get a sense of what a lovely passive park it could be and always imagined that this location would be that. He stated that the City has a Teflon City Council that has trouble sticking to its decision and was concerned that he had to keep coming back to discuss the issue over and over again when he believed that it had been decided. He noted that there are many other people that could not make it tonight that believe that Newport Center Park should only be used as a passive park not a sports field. He urged the Commission to convey to City Council that many people do object to this change in direction. Jan Vandersloot stated that this location has always been categorized as a passive park. He stated that the community has been working on this park for over 10 years with that assumption and that it is time to have closure and recommended that the Commission urge the Council to approve Newport Center Park as a passive park. Bernie Svalstad stated that in March 2005 he was the chair of a committee tasked to raise $1.2 M for this park site with at least 16 people on the committee and City staff and no one ever mentioned anything about this site being used as an active park. He stated that since then because of procrastinations and problems that a $600,000 donation was lost and noted that if something does not happen soon that he believes that will be lost also. He stated that the park estimates have risen from $1.2 M to $2.2M and possibly more and that costs continue to go up as procrastination continues. He went on to say that the City has spent a lot of money on plans as they changed and so urged the Commission to recommend to City Council that Newport Center Park be used as a passive park. MaryAnn Soden stated that this park should only be a passive park and that there is no synergy between the library and the possibility of a soccer field and would undermine what is a jewel in the community. She went on to say that a soccer field would not be very useful to the Newport Center community and that the money should be raised to make it a beautiful passive park. Hugh Logan from Seaview Community and stated that when this item came before the City Council it was between a City Hall and a park and the Council spoke unequivocally that it would be a park site and the sense of that meeting was that it would be a passive park. He stated that there should be a balance between natural, active and passive parks. He stated that because of the unique view and vista from this location is perfect as a passive park. It would be nice to have more active parks but this location would be difficult to make it a multi sports site. He stated that since 2000 this park has always been a passive park. He urged the Commission to convey to the Council that it remain a passive park. Parks, Beaches ft Recreation Commission Regular Meeting January 2, 2007 - 7pm Page 5 Chair Garret closed the Dublic discussion. Commissioner Trapp stated that traffic and parking is an issue now and noted that anything such as an active park would make that even worse. Commissioner Lugar stated that after reading the City Council minutes he was astounded that there would be such a plan to make it an active park after all this time. Commissioner Brown added that whenever possible that active parks should be located in neighborhoods. He noted that he is still excited about the amphitheater to be used by the library as a readers' theater which is part of the plan for that location. Motion by Commissioner Allen to urge approval by City Council to move forward as soon as possible to develop the Newport Center Park site as a passive park. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Chair Garrett thanked staff for bringing this to the Commission in such a short time span. COMMITTEE REPORTS - Parks- Will look forward to meeting to get the Newport Center Park going and following that the committee will be actively working on Sunset Ridge, MarinaPark and Newport Coast Park but hopes that there will be money allocated by City Council to move forward on Newport Center Park sooner then later. Chair Garrett asked about MarinaPark. Director Morgan stated that Council has reviewed a concept plan and included that in the October 3 packet. He noted that it would address a variety of needs in the community but the project has its own timeline because of the residents that still live there and such. He did not that Council will be scheduling a meeting with the Commission to discuss park priorities sometime soon. RSS- Nothing to report. Budeet- Director Morgan stated that a committee meeting will be set for the middle of March with a meeting. AD - Hoc —Youth Snorts Liaison - Nothing to report — Community Services Award - Superintendent McGuire stated that staff had received a submission from the OASIS Travel Group and a one for Hannah Dean. Chair Garrett stated that he sees no problem with awarding two awards on the same night. Superintendent McGuire stated that we have not done the formal recommendation of these submissions yet - which will be brought forward at the next meeting. Discussion ensued regarding the criteria for nominations. Commission directed staff to agendize the criteria for nominations of a Community Service Award and the nominations for approval at the next meeting. Other —Santa Ana River Vision Plan- Commissioner Lugar asked to be removed from that Committee. Chair Garrett asked to be listed as an alternate. — Memorial Committee- Director Morgan stated that Council Member Curry is setting up a meeting. DIRECTOR'S COMMENTS - • Director Morgan - Nothing to report. • Director Harmon - Thanked the Commission for the Facility Inspections and that it was a bit help to Maintenance Division. Parks, Beaches Et Recreation Commission Regular Meeting January 2, 2007 - 7pm Page 6 FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS The following are new or ongoing items to be discussed: • Fire pit discussion on safety and to regulate what is burned • Discussion of possible implementation of Parks ft Rec Foundation. • Community Service Award Criteria ADJOURNMENT. 8:17pm Submitted by D Teri Craig, Adm' sistan