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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/13/2005CITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 13, 2005 CALL TO ORDER: Chair Pincher called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. in the South Coast Air Quality Manage ment/Government Center Hearing Board Room, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, California 91755. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Commissioner Virginkar led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Present: Chair Pincher, Vice Chairman Torng and Commissioners Morris and Virginkar. Commissioner Shah was excused. Also Present: David Liu, Director of Public Works; Jim DeStefano, Assistant City Manager; Fred Alamolhoda, Senior Engineer; Kimberly Molina, Assistant Engineer; Sharon Gomez, Senior Management Analyst and Debbie Gonzales, Administrative Assistant. I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A. Minutes of regular meeting of November 9, 2004. C/Morris moved, VC/Torng seconded, to approve the November 9, 2004 minutes as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Morris, Virginkar, VC/Torng, NOES:COMMISSIONERS: Kohne/Pincher ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: Shah II. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Marilyn Walker, Triune Family Services, said that in her opinion, traffic in and around the schools caused major traffic problems for the City and safety concerns for the children. Her company offered door-to-door service for children between their home and school and felt that the City might want to utilize her services to relieve traffic congestion and provide a safe environment for the transportation of the students. Ill. CONSENT CALENDAR: None 1V. ITEMS FROM STAFF: A. Traffic Enforcement Update — Received and filed on the following items: 1 . Citations: December 2004 2. Collisions: December 2004 3. Future Deployment of the Radar Trailer JANUARY 13, 2005 PAGE 2 V. OLD BUSINESS: None VI. NEW BUSINESS: None VII. STATUS OF PREVIOUS ACTION ITEMS: None VIII. ITEMS FROM COMMISSIONERS: T&T COMMISSION VC/Torng expressed to Marilyn Walker that her traffic concerns would be considered during the Neighborhood Traffic Management Study. Today he noticed the new "No Right Turn on Red" sign/message board at the Diamond Bar Center and he felt it was very effective. DPW/Liu explained that the sign lights only when there is a potential conflict from the opposing traffic. VC/Torng asked about the effectiveness of the speed hump on Leyland Drive because a resident complained to him that people were still speeding through the area and the resident felt the height of the speed hump was insufficient to deter speeding vehicles. DPW/Liu explained that in accordance with the program staff continues to collect data for review on a three to six month basis following installation. Staff also works with the Sheriff's Department on a regular basis with respect to enforcement. The City follows stringent criteria for speed hump heights and they may not exceed a height Of 2 and 5/8 inches. IX. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: A. NTMP Meetings of January 6 and 11, 2005 with residents in District 1 SE/ Alamolhoda reported that 13 residents, M/Chang and MPT/O'Connor attended the January 6, 2005 meeting. In turn residents presented their comments in written format and those comments were forwarded to the City's consultant for review and evaluation. Approximately 20 residents and MPT/O'Connor attended the January 11, 2005 meeting. Follow up meetings will be scheduled to address the comments and questions. C/Virginkar suggested the consultant prepare recommendations for two or three streets, determine in which area the attendees reside and address only those particular areas. C/Morris liked Sgt. Biasnek's presentation at the January 11, 2005 meeting. The consultant's presentation would have helped if it had addressed Sunset Crossing Road from point of origin to Golden Springs Drive instead of Sylvan Glen Road. He felt strongly that entry point improvements could be done in lieu of major fixes. For example, one speaker talked about a center divider with mature trees and a sign with an arrow directing traffic to Diamond Bar Blvd. to discourage traffic from turning right unless they had specific business inside the neighborhood. JANUARY 13, 2005 PAGE 3 T&T COMMISSION Chair/Pincher said she sat next to a gentleman during the State Of The City Meeting this morning who said he did not attend the neighborhood meeting because he felt there was no problem on his street and liked it the way it was. C/Morris felt that the City should pay attention to the silent majority that was happy with their current situations and quantify requests for improvement when considering use of the City's dollars. C/Virginkar liked the idea of bulges close to stop signs to force speeding drivers to slow down. SE/Alamolhoda stated that staff continues to learn from the neighborhood meetings, and that it would be more fiscally responsible to consider only the areas about which the City receives complaints. B. Caltrans 57/60 Freeway Construction Project. SE/Alamolhoda reported that the project was on schedule and there were no major mudslides on the construction site. Completion of the project is anticipated for June 2006. C/Morris asked if the City could initiate a request for a connection for the S westbound to the SR57 northbound through Assembly Member Huff. R60 PWD/Liu stated that the property at the off -ramp belongs to JCC and that ACM/DeStefano was working with the property owner to determine whether a transfer to Caltrans was possible. Ultimately, the City would prefer to have the State of California link that missing segment to alleviate traffic. ACM/DeStefano spoke about his involvement in the process. He said that the purpose of the acquisition was to bring the property into the City's jurisdiction, look to landscape the base of the property as well as the hill and to consider the property as the potential missing link between the westbound SR 60 and the northbound SR 57. Certain property issues have led the City to shy away from acquisition. However, possible acquisition via Caltrans would be considered for its future use. PWD/Liu stated that the MTA, Diamond Bar and the City of Industry have initiated a feasibility study for the 57/60 corridor, the purpose of which is to consider a long- term solution. JANUARY 13, 20p5 SAGE -t T&T COMMISSION C. ACE Brea Canyon Road Grade Separation Project. DPW/Liu reported that portions of Washington Street and Currier Road would be depressed as they intersect with Brea Canyon Road. As a result, a bridge would be constructed to carry railroad traffic over the depressed Brea Canyon Road. Construction is slated to commence October 2005 and continue for about two years to November 2007. As a result of the construction, Brea Canyon Road will be closed to the public with limited access to the Metrolink Park and Ride lot. D. Diamond Bar Village Project (Southeast corner of Grand Avenue/Golden Springs Drive). ACM/DeStefano reported on the economic situation in the City, and how the City determined it would react to changing conditions at the state level and ultimately position itself within the region. As a result staff worked with developers to determine what types of development would be appropriate to generate the type of development the City would need and how the City should determine what future opportunities were available for development. In addition, the City has lost major revenue sales tax producers and the depth of the City's financial resources is limited and dependent upon the state for subventions that are subject to removal. At this time, the City is concerned with increasing its sales tax revenue through development and has worked to move such projects forward during the past two years. In 2004, the City Council approved the project at Golden Springs Drive and Grand Avenue. He explained the history of the area and outlined the proposed development that would include residential (due to commence June 2005), a major anchor and related business improvements as well as adjacent street improvements with signalization (commencing April 2005). The retail portion results in an anchor store of about 130,000 square feet along with restaurant and ancillary retail. The third component was the proposed expansion of the church. However, the church elected to postpone future development plans except for a parking area adjacent to the anchor retail building to replace the churches current parking spaces. C/Morris asked if the condominium/town home development would be a high-end development. ACM/DeStefano responded that the development was divided into two components, one a traditional Townhome product with units of 1,400 to 2,500 square feet selling in the price range of $5504600,000.00 and the balance of the project going to a small lot single-family home development of 1,400 to 2,800 square feet with an estimated selling price of $600-$700,000.00. C/Morris asked about the City's plan for the Diamond Bar Honda property, changes at the Diamond Bar Country Hills Towne Center and the Kmart Center. ACM/DeStefano explained that when the City loses the Honda Dealership in early 2006 to the City of industry, Diamond Bar hoped to preside over the property's destiny. The City of Industry wants to purchase the property, not necessarily good news for Diamond Bar. Cities can purchase land outside of their own jurisdiction, (i.e. the purchase of Tres Hermanos 30 years ago.) Industry wants the property as part of its larger development and staff is working with elected officials and staff of JANUARY 13, 2005 PAGE S T&T COMMISSION Industry to persuade them not to acquire the property; or, should they acquire the property, enter into an agreement with the City of Diamond Bar allowing Diamond Bar to turn it into another retailer that would generate tax revenue to the Cit Ideally, Diamond Bar would prefer that the property be demolished and turned into a hotel/restaurant opportunity, a significant tax generator. Kmart is a major work in progress. The current property owner plans new development on the site that hinges on the outcome of the Sears acquisition of Kmart. At this moment the outcome is undetermined. Staff is working with the property owner toward a new development on the site. One year ago MCC Capital Purchased Towne Center. The owner recently announced that he would move forward witch development in a new direction and now plans to focus the center toward an Asian orientation. MCC has a Letter of Intent with a market owner who will operate an upscale, high-end Chinese grocery store. With that anchor in place other business will follow and the center will be re -skinned and landscaped accordingly. Chair/Pincher asked if Auto Club and the theater would remain at the center. ACM/DeStefano responded that tenants such as Rite-Aid would remain until their lease expired. Auto Club owns its parcel and would likely remain at the center. The property owner said he would close the theater in January for major repair and seek a viable operator or close the theater and look for an alternative business. C/Virginkar thanked ACM/DeStefano and said it was very helpful to have a bigger Picture about what was happening around the City. He wondered why the pro-story t at Grand Avenue and Golden Springs Drive would not have multi -story parking lots. ACM/DeStefano responded that the principle reason was cost. A multi -story parking lot can cost upward of $20,000 for each parking space and the development intensity does not warrant buildingu could be feasible or the Kmart property and/or the gol course propertly p. A multi-level duertotucture the Possibility of a more intense development. VC/Torng asked if residents were concerned about having a Home Depot in the City and AGM/DeStefano said that some were concerned. Home Depot told Diamond Bar that its store would be similar to the Brea outlet and not to the City of Industry store. ACM/DeStefano indicated to VC/Torng that in his opinion, Target was the lead candidate for the Diamond Bar anchor. Chair/Pincher asked if Montefino residents would be able to walk from their homes to the new shopping center and ACM/DeStefano responded probably not because the slope was too steep. C/Morris offered economical reasons that a Target might be preferable to a Home Depot. ACM/DeStefano stated he would be happy to meet with the Commission upon request. He voiced his appreciation for the Public Works staff that assists the Commission and other staff members to implement all capital improvement JANUARY 13, 2005 PAGE 6 T&T COMMISSION I Programs and process all of the private development projects for the City. DPW/Liu is an outstanding department manager and ACM/DeStefano is thankful for David's presence and for his staff's performance. AE/Molina reported that SBC is laying conduit along Golden Springs Drive and Grand Avenue in an attempt to increase the telecommunication bandwidth for OTC, a company in the Gateway Center. As a result, traffic along Golden Springs Drive will be affected by lane closures. Verizon is conducting a three-week project on Diamond Bar Blvd, a similar project for a different company located at 1400 Montefino Avenue. X. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE CITY EVENTS — as agendized. XIL FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: ADJOURNMENT: With no further business to come before the Traffic and Transportation Commission, Chair/Pincher adjourned the meeting at 8:34 p.m. Respectfully, avid G. Liu, Secretary Attest: Chair Liana Pincher