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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-02-05; Traffic Safety Commission; MinutesP MINUTES Meeting of : TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Time of Meeting: 3:OO p.m. Date of Meeting: February 5, 1990 Place of Meeting: City Council Chambers CALL To ORDER: Chairman Herring called the Meeting to order at 3:03 p.m. ROLL CAU: 1 Present: Commissioners Herring, Fuller, Melideo and Stachoviak. Absent: Commissioner O'Day. Staff Members Present: Bob Johnson, Traffic Engineer Mike Shirey, Asst. Civil Engineer I Police Officer Larry Moore 1 1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Minutes of the Meeting held January 8, 1990, were approved as presented. , ORAL COMMUNICATIONS: I Thelma Hayes, 580 Laguna Drive, addressed the Commission stating that next month will be the second anniversary of the Pedestrian Action Plan and she recommended this be an agenda item for the Traffic Safety Commission meeting. Mrs Hayes read from the recommendations of the Pedestrian Actio] Plan and felt there should be a review to see how Carlsbad is doing. Bob Johnson recommended this item be placed on the April agenda and the Commission concurred. OLD BUSINESS : Chairman Herring announced that the Commission was recognizing one of the Members who has been the Chairperson of the Traffic Safety Commission for the past year. He rea( a Resolution of Appreciation for Commissioner Melideo and presented the Resolution to her. Bob Johnson stated the Commission had discussed establishin! its own rules and procedures at the last meeting. He said he took that matter to the City Council and the Ordinance was introduced to change that section of the code to allow the Commission to adopt its own rules and procedures. This Ordinance will be adopted at the February 6 meeting and wil: be in effect in 30 days. He said he is marking up the Planning Commission rules and procedures and hopes to get that to the subcommittee consisting of Chairman Herring and Commissioner Stachoviak next week. NEW BUSINESS: A. Sidewalk Inventory Report - Request for comments and recommendations. Bob Johnson referred to the copy of the Sidewalk Inventory Report Draft copy contained in the packet. Herring Fuller Me 1 ideo Stachovial 3 ,h MINUTES February 5, 1990 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Page 2 COMMISSIONERS \ NEW BUSINESS: (Continued) Mr. Johnson said he would like the Commission to discuss this report and continue this matter for at least two months to enable staff to come up with a construction program. He said there is $200,000 available for sidewalk construction and they will take ranking. The first 19 sidewalk locations would represent approximately $200,000 of construction. Thc entire report represents a thirty million dollar construction program. He said that each year it is planned to put an amount in the C.I.P. to start building the missinc sidewalks. The developer requirements will not be satisfied, but if the sidewalks will not be built in the foreseeable future, then it should be included in the program. Mike Shirey, Assistant Civil Engineer, discussed how this report was formulated. He explained that additional personnel was hired and a field inventory of every street ir the City was made, with 289 locations of missing sidewalks or sidewalk links. Staff came up with an equation that is given in the report. Mr. Johnson explained that schools and school areas were given a high priority, and it does provide a way to compare one to the other. However, the sidewalks can be constructec in any order. Chairman Herring asked that a copy of this report be sent tc Thelma Hayes, who is the pedestrian representative in Carlsbad; also a copy should be supplied to Mario Monroy. Mr. Johnson said this report will be discussed by the Planning Commission. Chairman Herring said he would like consideration given to the church areas, as there are usually older citizens in those areas and some are in need of sidewalks. Commissioner Fuller expressed concern about the property owners adjacent to the proposed sidewalk construction, and asked how they could be brought into consideration. He felt those property owners who do not want sidewalks should get into the rating system. Mr. Johnson said when the construction program is recommended, that could be considered. The Commissioners commended staff on a well-written report and expressed the hope that it would be put into effect as soon as possible. In reply to Commission query, Mr. Johnson stated that the widening of Tamarack will be on next month's agenda. Staff has three alternatives for the Commission to study and make a recommendation. The design of the street should be complete by summer, with construction early next year. P MINUTES February 5, 1990 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Page 3 NEW BUSINESS: (Continued) Thelma Hayes, 480 Laguna, stated she felt some areas not listed need to be considered; for example, areas near medical and dental offices where people may arrive by publi transportation. Those people should be able to get safely from there to the particular service they are asking for. Second, in order to improve the use of public transportation, the bus company has given as a recommendation a safe walking distance up to 400 feet, and Mrs. Hayes would like to see that given some weight to encourage the use of public transportation. Mrs. Hayes continued, stating that she felt schools should be given the number one priority, and doesn't want any to b missed because of a lower priority. She said she thought Laguna Drive was the second street in the priority ratings, and now she sees it is at the end of the list. She asked staff to go through the priority ratings as to how that street was rated. Mrs. Hayes said that some of the houses on Tamarack are so close to the new right-of-way, that those people will not want the street and sidewalk that close to their houses or garages and driveways. Mr. Johnson said there are a number of ways to provide weighing factors; it is a difficult problem and he stressed again that there will be a lot of judgment as to which segment gets built where, and it will not be in chronological order. He said that some school areas might have a lower priority due to certain other areas having higher speeds and a safety problem, which is more critical. The Traffic Safety Commission approved the Sidewalk Inventory Report in concept and instructed staff to take into consideration the comments by the Commissioners and ths public and provide a revision of the report. B. Park Drive - Request to establish a NO PARKING zone on the lagoon side. Bob Johnson gave the staff presentation as included in the packet, using a transparency to show the street and slides of the area to show the dirt area and public right-of-way toward the lagoon and the view from above the street. Mr. Johnson stated that several sections of the Municipal Code are a very important factor in this matter; as a portion of Park Drive qualifies as a residential district with a 25 mile per hour speed limit. The remaining subject portion of Park Drive has a prima facie speed limit of 35 miles per hour and is posted. Curb, gutter and sidewalk improvements have been constructec along the northerly portion of Park Drive. The lagoon side of the roadway has not been improved, however, and a wide dirt area is available in most locations for off-street parking. Herring Fuller Melideo Stachovial \ c MINUTES February 5, 1990 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMI SSION Page 4 COMMISSIONERS \ NEW BUSINESS: (continued) Section 10.40.075 of the Carlsbad Municipal Code restricts heavy-duty commercial vehicles from parking for more than three hours in any residential district. If an area does not qualify as a residential district per the California Vehicle Code, then CMC Section 10.40.010(a) restricts the vehicle to a maximum parking duration of 72 hours. Mr. Johnson stated that a portion of Park Drive does not qualify as a residential district and the Police Department cannot monitor a truck for three-hour violations. He added that staff gets requests constantly from citizens wanting restrictions for different types of vehicles, and those requests are referred back to the homeowners associations, if there is one. Without CC&R's, it is very difficult to get compliance. Mr. Johnson said this truck does not constitute a danger or hazard to the motoring public. He said the Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee discussed this matter at length, but felt this was not a traffic safety matter and that no restrictions were necessary. Chairman Herring opened the public testimony period at 3:56 p.m. Marlene Bacon, 4809 Vigilant Way, the citizen making the request, addressed the Commission, showing a picture board to the Commissioners. She asked the Traffic Safety Commission to clean up Park Drive to restore the natural beauty of the lagoon and remove the truck blight by establishing a working ordinance. She said she did not want a "NO PARKING" sign, but wanted an ordinance that works and would prevent this on Park Drive--whatever it takes. People park there and walk to the lagoon, so "NO PARKING" would not be the solution. There is only one Park Drive and one lagoon and the City needs to protect and preserve this. People change the oil in their cars in that area and a church van has parked there since 1986. Ms. Bacon showed the size of the 18-wheeler truck and said she wanted the truck removed. Chuck Daugherty, 4860 Park Drive, stated he lives in the single-family development where there is curb-side parking on the north side of the lagoon where their houses are and dirt on the other side of the road. There are 15 houses along there, and most of them utilize that dirt area to par1 cars--especially when they have visitors. He felt it would be a disservice to the people along Park Drive to have that declared "NO PARKING" for their vehicles. He said the church van does move and on weekends there are a number of cars parked by the tennis courts. Mr. Daugherty said the lagoon is beautiful and he is more concerned about the four-wheelers and dirt bikers than the parking. Paul Revelle, 4821 Flying Cloud Way, stated he realized the Commission was concerned with safety issues first and environmental matters second, but he said he did feel there is a safety concern with the parking of a rig the size of this commercial vehicle. He said that there are joggers in the morning on Park Drive, and they have to either go out into the street at that point or on the other side of the truck out of sight of the traffic. MINUTES February 5, 1990 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Page 5 NEW BUSINESS: (Continued) Mr. Revelle stated there are no bike lanes on Park Drive from Kelly through the Bristol Cove area, and ride in the street. He felt that riding past the van was dangerous and could cause an accident. Mr. Revelle mentioned the approved projects that are to be built in that area, and with that additional traffic on Par Drive, he felt there was a problem with vehicles of this size parking there. He said he was not urging a "NO PARKING" area, but restrictions of some type to prevent vehicles of this size parking there for long and sustained times. He said that aesthetics could be considered, as the are not precluded by law. Lori Sisson, 4849 Flying Cloud Way, stated she drove the notorious truck and comes home three to five days a month. She said she was home for a longer time in December, but that was not the usual schedule. Ms. Sisson said she had tried to explain to Ms. Bacon that she lived there, also, and makes house payments on a home that she only sees three to five days a month. She said if anyone could find anothe place for her to park her truck, she would be happy to do that. Ms. Sisson stated that she usually parks well off of the pavement, and Ms. Bacon can see the lagoon over her truck. Ms. Sisson stated that she was aware of the impending development in that area and that she would not be able to park there much longer. She expressed concern over the fac that there is no place in Carlsbad for trucks to park. Donald Wilber, 4777 Flying Cloud Way, representing the Laguna Del Mar Homeowners Association, stated they were neutral in this matter, but he felt this large a vehicle does not belong in that area. The roadway is narrow in tha area and there are no lights on Park. Mr. Wilber said therl are bus stops on both sides of the street and the bus stops on the street, which creates a safety hazard. He said that as construction in the area gets heavier, the safety factor will become worse. He mentioned that there are school children walking in that area, and the density is coming fo. that area. Even though it may not qualify as a residential district legally, it is a residential area and will be a district very soon. Mr. Wilber felt the parking of the 18 wheeler in that area creates a traffic safety problem for the lagoon, and he recommended limiting parking along that area. Commissioner Fuller asked Mr. Wilber to be specific about the limiting of parking, and he replied that is a bottlenec: there and would want whatever was necessary to restrict parking below Neblina, if that would remove the safety problem. Since no one else wished to speak on this matter, Chairman Herring closed the public testimony portion at 4:26 p.m. Commission discussion centered on the fact that the developments that are forthcoming there are counting on street parking for visitors. MINUTES February 5, 1990 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Page 6 COMMISSION NEW BUSINESS: (Continued) Bob Johnson said that the new developments will be required to provide parking as required by the zoning, but that if there are several parties going on at the same time, they will need on-street parking. Commissioner Fuller commented about the people using the lagoon who park in that area, and they will need that on- street parking when the developments are in place. He said that he did not want to take an action here that would contradict what the Planning Commission was assuming with regard to on-street parking for lagoon users, etc. He further said that the people should recognize that what is there now will change radically over the next few years. Mr. Fuller said this is a short-term problem, and in the long run it will not exist. He said that Ms. Sisson's use of the area for her truck is insignificant. The Traffic Safety Commission approved the Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee recommendation that the request for "NO PARKING" zone on Park Drive be denied. In addition, there is no recommendation to change CMC Section 10.40.075 to modify the California Vehicle Code residence district criteria to one of subjective interpretation of a residencE area. C. National Child Passencrer Safety Awareness Week - Information item. Bob Johnson referred to the material in the packet regardir National Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week, which is February 11 - 17, 1990. He said that a Proclamation will IC read at Council Meeting tomorrow night, and the information included in the packet was sent to the elementary schools i the City and the day care centers. Mr. Johnson said it was hoped that this material would be reproduced and distribute to the children to take home. REPORT FROM TRAFFIC SAFETY CO"ISSI0NERS: Commissioner Melideo reported that the potholes are still a the corner of Tamarack and Jefferson. Mr. Johnson said he would see that a work order is issued for that. REPORT FROM TRAFFIC ENGINEER: Bob Johnson announced the March Meeting would be March 5, 1990. By proper motion, the Meeting of February 5, 1990, was adjourned at 4:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Harkiett Babbitt Minutes Clerk Herring Fuller Me1 ideo Stachovia