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Community Council Meeting Minutes

March 12th, 2008

PIERPONT COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 11, 2008

Chairman John Whitman called the meeting to order at 707PM.

POLICE REPORT
There was no report.

TREASURERS REPORT
Rosemary Icardo reported the following:

Beginning Balance 2/2/08                $1,486.15

Deposit 2/19/08                              100.00

Statement Balance 2/29/08                1,586.15

Deposit 3/03/08                             150.00

Current Balance on Hand         $1,736.15

VACATION RENTAL COMMITTEE
Joy Berger

The Vacation Rental Committee met and discussed options for
getting information out to the Pierpont community regarding those
renting out their property on a short-term basis and not having
registered with the city.  It is important that we report those
properties that appear to be short-term rentals so that they are in
compliance with the new city regulations.  Any concerns or questions
should be directed to Janie Dunn in the City Treasurers Office.  Her
direct line is 658-4773.
As of this date twenty properties have completed the permit
process and four are pending.  All advertising short-term vacation
rentals on the internet have been notified that they need to comply
with city regulations.
At the beginning of the process to control short-term vacation
rentals, fifty properties were identified as running these businesses.
Some have called Janie Dunn and opted out but there are still many
that are not in compliance.  As Spring Break begins, it should become
apparent where those properties are operating.
John Whitman added that the city is not collecting the
Transient Occupancy Tax.  He wrote a letter to the City Attorney on
the 3rd of December, 2007 regarding the TOT and the Mello-Roos.  On
January 4th some members of the PCC met with the city attorney and he
was to report back on the issue.  To date there has been no response.

NEIGHBORHOOD IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE
John Whitman

Anastasi filed their HAP.  The city had some questions and
wanted some changes made to it. The new version has not yet been
turned in.

1105 Seaward.  This project is moving forward.

In an area that is part of the Mid-Town Community Council, but
is adjacent to us where the El Torrito Restaurant was located, a hotel
of four stories has been proposed.  The impact to our neighborhood for
traffic, beach use, etc. will be significant and a meeting with the
leaders of the Mid-Town Community Council will be scheduled.

BEACH COMMITTEE
Rosemary Icardo
Rosemary went to the Lifeguard trials on Sunday and observed
the difficult and rigorous testing and training the lifeguards must
pass.  Twenty returning lifeguards passed the tests and all but two of
the new applicants did also.
State Parks has decided that the lifeguard towers will be
placed at Greenock Lane and at the end of Seaward with a mobile unit
operating in between those two towers.
Rosemary will participate in two ride along days to observe
the lifeguards in action.  She will be able to report to us what
constitutes a “contact”, a “save” etc.

SAND MANAGEMENT PLAN AS PROPOSED BY THE CITY

Scott Carlson, Vice-chair and Rosemary Icardo reported on the
city’s proposed SMP.  The meeting was held on the 5th of March where
the proposal was presented to the community.  At the City Council
meeting on March 10th the proposal was presented by staff to the
council and they recommended that it be accepted.
There was a great deal of anger and frustration on the part of
the Pierpont residents at the meeting where biologists, Coastal
Commission representatives and others offered up their plan on the 4th
of March.  No one spoke in support of it.  With the financial burden
falling on those that live at the front of the beach the unfairness of
the plan was well expressed.
At the City Council meeting on the 10th of March, the decision
was made to table the proposal until more information could be
gathered regarding the ownership of Shore Drive, the legal
responsibility of the city for Shore Drive, liability issues
concerning private citizens having work done on public property and a
host of related issues.
Taking into consideration everything expressed at the March
10th Council Meeting, the PCC Board presented the following draft
“Consensus on Pierpont Beach Strategy” for discussion:

PIERPONT COMMUNITY COUNCIL
CONSENSUS ON PIERPONT BEACH STRATEGY
March 2008

Community concern has been building along with sand on Pierpont Beach
since 1999 when the City changed strategy to manage sand accumulation.
Pierpont Community Council (PCC) consensus is for the City to
prioritize more general fund investment going forward in fiscal year
2008-2009 to address community concerns by adopting the following
public policy solutions. Further, as the closest Pierpont Beach
stewards, the PCC seeks greater opportunity and formal standing to
engage responsibly in collaborative stakeholder process that ends only
with overwhelming community support for an effective long-term sand
management plan for the mutually valued public recreation area.
Accordingly, the PCC requests that the City Council authorize the
following actions:

1. ADOPT STAFF RECOMMENDATION FOR “LIFEGUARD” SERVICE: We appreciate
the City and State Parks listening to PCC feedback from the 2007 pilot
and adjusting their recommended approach accordingly. The City Council
should approve the lifeguard plan as recommended to enable lifeguard
service in summer of 2008 (i.e., Towers at end of Greenock Lane &
Seaward Avenue; mobile lifeguard service in front of Pierpont
Elementary School).

2. MODIFY STAFF RECOMMENDATION FOR “BEACH CLEANING” SERVICE:
Stakeholders use Pierpont Beach consistent with, and more frequently
than, stakeholders using State Beach. The City Council should
authorize action to make the use level designation consistent between
Pierpont and State Beach by changing Pierpont Beach from use Level 2
(moderate) to use Level 1 (high). Maintenance frequencies would then
match community expectations. While seeking approval for Level 1
designation, the City Council should subsidize State Parks cost as
necessary to provide the highest maintenance frequency of “beach
cleaning” service allowed for Pierpont Beach under Level 2
designation.

3. MODIFY STAFF RECOMMENDATION FOR “SAND ON PUBLIC STREET” SERVICE:
Sand continues to accumulate on 21 Pierpont streets in relation to how
effectively stakeholders collectively manage sand on Pierpont Beach.
Lacking an effective stakeholder plan since 1999, the City’s cost for
sand removal increases annually. City staff identified “Service Level
C” as the maintenance frequency that best matched the public’s
expectations for safe access to the City/State-operated Pierpont
Beach. The City Council should ensure safe access for the public by
restoring public access fixtures to their original state and
allocating funding as necessary to deliver “Service Level C.” Going
forward, such annual City cost for sand removal could return to
inflation-adjusted-1999 funding levels by implementing an effective
sand management plan.

4. MODIFY STAFF RECOMMENDATION FOR “MOVING FORWARD” WITH THE PROPOSED
SAND MANAGEMENT PLAN (SMP): The SMP proposed by City, State Parks, and
Coastal Commission stakeholders lacks funding to improve sand
management effectiveness. Also it attempts to relieve urgent concerns
of a few affected stakeholders by committing all others to a five-year
approach that lacks Pierpont community support. Instead, the City
should fund collaborative action in fiscal year 2008-09 that: (a)
delivers short-term relief to affected beachfront homeowners within
the narrowest scope allowed by environmental restrictions; and (b)
delivers long-term relief through a broader stakeholder process
whereby all responsible stewards of Pierpont Beach transform the SMP
into a comprehensive solution that enjoys widespread community
support, manages sand effectively, identifies realistic funding
sources, and delivers long-term relief for implementation starting in
fiscal year 2009-10.

Discussed:
Item 1.  We are in complete agreement with the City regarding
the lifeguard issue.

Item 2.  We request a modification to this part of the
proposal raising the use level to Level 1, the same as the public
portion of the beach between the pier and San Pedro.  Based on data
received from the lifeguard reports of last summer, we know that beach
usage in our area was equal to if not more than the usage in the
public park portion.

Item 3.  The City is 100% responsible for the maintenance of
our streets just as they are responsible for Main Street or Thompson
Blvd.  The City bears the responsibility to provide safe access from a
public street to points of entry to a public beach.  With a
comprehensive plan for dune management these costs would be vastly
reduced.  As it stands now, Public Works can clear stairs, streets and
drains on one day and have newly blown sand return to the same stairs,
streets and drains the very next day.

Item 4.  It is imperative that the urgent needs of those
homeowners identified as being in imminent danger of damage to their
homes be de-coupled from the city’s currently proposed Sand Management
Plan.
The balance of the City’s SMP needs to be reviewed with more
involvement from the Pierpont community.  Wider participation in the
process will bring wider acceptance of the process and the outcome
from those most effected.

Upon motion duly made and seconded, members unanimously
adopted the following resolution: The members (approx. 30)
participating in the March 11, 2008 general PCC meeting adopt this
draft “Consensus on Pierpont Beach Strategy.”
Participants discussed the expectation that the PCC
Board would now distribute the draft “Consensus Pierpont Beach
Strategy” to the larger community and seek revision and/or additional
support until such time as it represented majority opinion of the
Pierpont Community Council. The PCC Board seeks to have developed a
final consensus on Pierpont State Beach strategy in time for the April
14th City Council meeting when the Council intends to again address
its “Pierpont Beach Maintenance and Operation Strategy.” Please review
the draft consensus document carefully and reply to any PCC Board
member with revision requests. If you support it as written, you don’t
need to do anything further to express that support at this time.

NEW BUSINESS

Meeting Venue

Carmel Whitman reported that she had contacted the Marriott Hotel on
Harbor about moving our meetings.  They were willing to provide us a
room for their cost, $75 per meeting.  We might not always be in the
same room and there is the possibility, if they are extremely busy,
that we might not be able to meet on the second Tuesday of the month.
Meeting in our own neighborhood and supporting a local business is in
keeping with what the PCC stands for and we are hopeful that a more
local venue will bring more participants to the meetings.
Trace made a motion that we move our meetings to the Marriott.
The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Trace offered $300,
left over from the lifeguard fundraiser, for PCC costs associated with
the meeting space and several members offered to sponsor a meeting.

The next PCC meeting will be held at the Marriott Hotel on
April 8th at 7PM.

City Website information:

Joy Berger suggested that anyone interested in understanding the
city’s budgetary process visit the city website and go to Budget 101.

The meeting was adjourned at 820PM

Carmel Whitman, PCC Secretary

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