Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-07-14 SC MINUTES10 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CHULA VISTA SAFETY COMMISSION July 14, 2005 Council Chambers 6:00 p.m. Public Services Building CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 6:00 p.m. Roll Call: Present: Chair White; Vice -Chair Perrett; Commissioners AI-Ghafry, Willett, Gove, and Lopez Absent: Commissioner Rosario Also present: Frank Rivera, Principal Civil Engineer Benjamin Guerrero, Jr., Engineering Technician Florence Picardal, Recording Secretary Lindsey Walters, Recording Secretary MSC (White/Gove) to excuse the absence of Commissioner Rosario (6-0-1). Rosario absent. 2. Pledge of Allegiance/Silent Prayer 3. Opening Statement • Opening statement read by Chair White. 4. Approval of Minutes for June 9, 2005 MSC (Gove/Perrett) to approve the minutes of June 9, 2005 as submitted. (6-0-1) Rosario absent. MEETING AGENDA 5. Oral Communications None. 6. Information Item — Proposed On -street Parking on Rancho Del Rev Parkway near Avamonte Way (continued) Staff received a letter addressed to the City Council from Mr. Oscar Polster, 696 Ayamonte Way regarding parking issues on Ayamonte Way apparently caused by the Aspire -Encore Condominium Complex. He reported that a large number of condominium residents are parking their vehicles along Ayamonte Way due to insufficient parking facilities in the condominium complex. He requested that the City re -stripe Rancho Del Rey Parkway to provide on street parking adjacent to the condominium complex. This item was presented at the May 12, 2005 Safety Commission meeting where the Commission decided to continue this item to a following meeting and directed staff to contact the Condominium Home Owners Association and to report back to the commission on the on-site parking within the complex. Principal Civil Engineer Rivera gave a brief presentation on the item, continued from last month's meeting. He recommends further continuation of this item until the next Commission Meeting, on August 11th, as the school is currently on summer break, and unavailable for comment. J' Safety Commission Minutes July 14, 2005 Page 2 Commission Discussion: None. MSC (White/Gove) to continue this item, until the Homeowner's Association and school are available. (6- 0-1, Rosario absent) 7. Request for Time -Limited Parking along Oleander Avenue (continued) City Staff received a letter from Ms. Catherine Gray, 1142 Oleander Avenue, concerning issues about on - street parking along Oleander Avenue, and requesting time-limited parking along the west side of Oleander Avenue in front of the single-family residences. Apparently, employees of Greg Rogers Elementary School consistently park their vehicles along Oleander Avenue in front of these homes, causing inconveniences to the residents. In addition, crossing mid -block to/from the school due to having parked on the west side of the street is illegal (per CVMC Section 21955). This item was presented for public hearing at the June 9, 2005 Safety Commission meeting and was continue for final consideration to tonight's meeting. Staff Recommendation: That the Safety Commission concurs with staffs recommendation to: 1. Implement certain measures for encouraging staff parking on the elementary school grounds and along the school's frontage on Oleander and Foxboro Avenues; and, 2. Take no action at this time with the request for time limited on -street parking along the west side of Oleander Avenue. Commission Discussion: Chair White had a few comments, as he was invited by staff to attend meeting with the principal of this school. Discussion was conducted on extending the existing three parking lots on the school property. Lot 1 cannot be extended, as it would interfere with a playground and ball field. The building adjacent to Oleander Avenue essentially is for special education. There are 35 more teachers than suitable parking spots, according to the school, and that has to be dealt with. They can put in 15 spots along Oleander, on the east side. That leaves a shortage of 20. The principal will ask the church, just to the north of East Naples, to essentially share that parking lot with the school. The school will not recommence until this coming Monday. Parking is fairly minimal during the school's break. Chair White was not in favor of extending parking lot 1. Principal Civil Engineer Rivera added that time-limited parking also affects the residents, and the enforceability of such a system would be quite difficult to carry out. Teachers parking on the west side of the street are encouraging jaywalking. These issues were discussed with Mr. Alvarado, the principal, and hopefully, this is a step in the right direction. Commissioner Willett feels carpooling should be brought up with the principal, as another option. Commissioner AI-Ghafry feels that teachers should be subject to jaywalking violations, and the principal needs to stress this to his teachers. Commissioner Gove asked whether or not the principal was intending to talk with his teachers on the issue. Apparently, the principal went out and personally counted the spaces. MSC (White/AI-Ghafry) to continue item until next month's meeting (6-0-1, Rosario absent) • 0 4 • 0, t• Safety Commission Minutes July 14, 2005 8. All -Way Stop at the intersection of First Avenue and Kearney Street Page 3 At the request of St. John's Episcopal Church/School, staff has studied the location of First Avenue and Kearney Street as a potential All -Way -Stop control candidate. There are specific issues of importance at this vicinity such as: the safety of students and parents parking on the east side of First Avenue and crossing mid -block to/from the School; traffic congestion during school drop-off and dismissal times, and vehicle speeding. Principal Civil Engineer Rivera gave a brief presentation. Staff has a street improvement project to add the sidewalk that's missing along the east side of the street, scheduled for later this fiscal year. Additionally, staff is currently working with a resident off of Country Club Drive. The school has a request in for an exit only driveway onto Country Club Drive, west of 1St Avenue. At this time, the school property along the street, the frontage is not large enough for this driveway. Staff is working to revise property line to see if there are improvements we can make that will ultimately help out the school. Staff Recommendation: That the Safety Commission concur with staffs recommendation to install an all -way stop control at the intersection of First Avenue and Kearney Street. Public hearing opened. The following spoke in opposition to staff's recommendation: 1. Dick Reynolds, 128 Sierra Way, Chula Vista 2. Michael Schnor, 730 First Avenue, Chula Vista Public hearing closed. Commission Discussion: Commissioner Gove asked for clarification as to why St. John's School is asking for the stop sign. The combination of the school frontage, and the topography is creating a situation where the profile of First Avenue is best dealt with by an all -way stop. Commissioner AI-Ghafry feels that the major problem lies with the parents, that they don't help the situation in the method they pick up their children in the afternoon. The all -way stop might help one area while exacerbating another. Commissioner Gove has conducted fire inspections at that particular school in the past, and has noticed a lot of double-parking during drop off in the morning. Red curb the front and pick up the children in the parking lot in the back, which Commissioner Willett also agreed was an excellent solution. Commissioner Perrett wondered if the safety patrol had the ability to stop traffic without a stop sign. Principal Civil Engineer Rivera answered that they would utilize stop paddles in order to stop the traffic. Engineering Technician Guerrero pointed out that the future CIP project should encourage people to cross. He concurred that there should be people (i.e. Safety Patrol) out there helping the students to cross. Chair White points out that the only people who came to voice their opinions are those that are against the installation of an all -way stop. It doesn't seem that the school considers it to be a big issue, as they are absent from these proceedings. Safety Commission Minutes July 14, 2005 Page 4 MSC (White/AI-Ghafry) the commission did not concur with staffs recommendation (6-0-1, Rosario absent) MSC (Willett/White) (6-0-1, Rosario absent) to consider the following alternatives: 1. Flashing Beacon 2. Red Curb 3. School Safety Patrol 4. Police Enforcement 9. Action Summary Update/Staff Comments Principal Civil Engineer Rivera updated the Commission on the following items from past Safety Commission Meetings. March 10, 2005 Decrease Speed Limit on Moss Street from Industrial to Broadway: Safety Commission concurred with staff to decrease speed limit, and installation has been completed. April 14, 2005 Decrease Speed Limit on D Street from Third to Second: Safety Commission concurred with staff to decrease the speed limit to 25mph. This item will be rescheduled after the July City Council Meeting. June 9, 2005 All -Way Stop at Main and Jacqua Street: Installed additional signage and removed parking in the vicinity of intersection. 10. Potential Safety Commission Agenda Item • Request for time-limited parking on East Palomar Street near Santa Cora Avenue 11. Staff Comments Introduction of Principal Civil Engineer Frank Rivera. He was previously part of Traffic Engineering until 1996, at which time; Principal Civil Engineer Nuhaily took over direction of that group. He has been with the Engineering Department for 21 years. Introduction of Engineering Technician Benjamin Guerrero, Jr. He was an intern in Land Development four years ago, and has just recently returned to a permanent position with the Engineering Department. 12. Commissioner Comments Commissioner Gove will be on vacation during the August 11 meeting of Safety Commission. Adjournment at 6:47 P.M. to the next regularly scheduled meeting of August 11, 2005. J:/Engineer/SAFETY/071405 MIN.doc Respectfully submitted, An* 4140*0 Lindsey Walters, Recording Secretary 0