1. Calling the Roll. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Euille, and the City Clerk called the Roll; all the Members of City Council were present. NEW BUSINESS ITEM NO. 1: Mayor Euille wished everyone a happy holiday season. He said that for those looking for a gift to give, the gift of blood, which is the gift of life, is very important and right now there is a very critical need for blood. 2. Public Discussion Period. (a) Gerry Baldwin, 431 South Columbus Street, #301, asked the Police Department to have security guards tested every three months, as she had incident reports written against her and almost lost her home because of it, and all are false incidents. She said she got in touch with the Criminal Justice Service in Richmond and noted her letter and hoped Council would get back in touch with her. Mayor Euille referred the letter to the City Manager and asked the City Manager, Police Department and Legislative Affairs to get back to Council to see if there is something they can do to be responsible, and if it means developing legislation to the Legislators, they will attempt to do that also. (b) Julie Crenshaw, 816 Queen Street, spoke about the Monroe Avenue bridge and the decision that was made three years ago appears to have been made a little hastily. She said it was a shame the decision was made before a lot of the analysis and design was done, as a different decision would have been made. She asked if Council had the ability to stop this project and go back and look at it and see if they would do it the same way or would do it at all. She said Councilman Smedberg goes to a meeting in Virginia, Councilman Gaines goes to a meeting in the District of Columbia and Councilman Krupicka is on the Transportation Planning group, and it does not work, as there are three different people going to three different meetings. She asked Council to not make a huge mistake and then have to tear it up again. Ms. Crenshaw also said there is a need for Police presence at meetings other than Council meetings to calm things down, as the presence of a Police Officer makes a difference as to what people do. She said she is speaking to the Planning Commission and Board of Architecture Review meetings. (c) Boyd Walker, 922 Cameron Street, Upper King Street Preservation Group, spoke about the project at 1500 King Street where they think demolition permits have been issued for the 1600 property, the antique store, and demolition permits are probably soon to be issued on 1514 and 1516 King Street, and he said it is a shame to lose the buildings. He said there is a solution to ask the developer or City staff to do further research to make sure they are not removing something from King Street before they have established whether one of the other buildings, 1600, is a 100 year old building, and they believe 1514 and 1516 was created in 1913, or if they move the date from 100 year old buildings to 50 year old buildings to be part of an historic district. City Attorney Pessoa said there is no regulatory mechanism to deny the permits if they comply with the existing provisions of the Building Code for demolition. He said the City has not and Virginia law does not permit the City to delay issuance of a permit which is otherwise proper and ready for approval simply because of a contemplated change in the law. He said that in this circumstance, someone has gone through the process in good faith, the permits are ready to be issued, and there is a contemplated change in the law, and that is not appropriate under State law to try to retroactively apply the new law, should it be adopted. Director of Code Enforcement Dahlberg said the permit for 1600 has been issued, 1514 is still going through the administrative process and a couple of steps have to be done before the permit for 1514 can be issued, and they haven't received demolition permits for the other parts of the project. Mayor Euille asked the City Manager to get back to Council on the request for Police at other public meetings. REPORTS OF BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES ACTION CONSENT CALENDAR (3-5) Planning Commission 3. SPECIAL USE PERMIT #2005-0109 3676 KING STREET (Parcel Address: 3680 King Street) RESTAURANT Public Hearing and Consideration of a request for a special use permit to operate a restaurant; zoned CG/Commercial General. Applicant: Tea H. Kim PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: Recommend Approval 7-0 (A copy of the Planning Commission report dated December 6, 2005, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item. No. 3, 12/17/05, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) 4. SPECIAL USE PERMIT #2005-0112 25 SOUTH QUAKER LANE GLOBAL HEALTH NURSE TRAINING SERVICES Public Hearing and Consideration of a request for special use permit amendment to increase the number of students allowed at a nursing school; zoned CSL/Commercial Service Low. Applicant Mariatu K. Kargbo PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: Recommend Approval 7-0 (A copy of the Planning Commission report dated December 6, 2005, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item. No. 4, 12/17/05, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) 5. SPECIAL USE PERMIT #2005-0110 320 MONTGOMERY STREET RESTAURANT Public Hearing and Consideration of a request for a special use permit to operate a restaurant and a request for a parking reduction; zoned CRMU-X/Commercial Residential Mixed Use. Applicant: Philip D. McCombie PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: Recommend Approval 6-0 (A copy of the Planning Commission report dated December 6, 2005, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item. No. 5, 12/17/05, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) END OF ACTION CONSENT CALENDAR WHEREUPON, upon motion by Vice Mayor Pepper, seconded by Councilman Gaines and carried unanimously, City Council approved the action consent calendar, as follows: 3. City Council approved the Planning Commission recommendation. 4. City Council approved the Planning Commission recommendation. 5. City Council approved the Planning Commission recommendation. The voting was as follows: Pepper "aye" Krupicka "aye" Gaines "aye" Macdonald "aye" Euille "aye" Smedberg "aye" Woodson "aye" REPORTS OF BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES (continued) Planning Commission (continued) 6. SPECIAL USE PERMIT #2005-0114 301 LAVERNE AVENUE SUBSTANDARD LOT DEVELOPMENT Public Hearing and Consideration of a request for a special use permit to construct a single family dwelling on a substandard lot; zoned R-2-5/Residential. Applicant: Brett Rice by Duncan Blair, attorney (Deferred from 11/12/05) PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: Recommend Denial 7-0 (A copy of the Planning Commission report dated December 1, 2005, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item. No. 6, 12/17/05, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning Josephson made a presentation of the staff report and responded to questions of Council about building size and width, what size building could be built on the lot, and preservation of trees. The following persons participated in the public hearing on this item: (a) Duncan Blair, 524 King Street, attorney representing the applicant, spoke in favor of the special use permit and spoke about the trees being in the public right-of-way and not on the property, and the question regarding the trees is the question of sidewalk or no sidewalk. He spoke of the 4,200 square foot lot size and said it was classified in 1995 as a category two substandard lot. He said 80 percent of the lot remains uncovered, and he noted that the house has gone from 61 feet to 43 feet with the porch, and it will change the air and light, but will not interfere or unreasonably interfere with adequate supply of air and light. He said the FAR is .36, which is well below the maximum. Mr. Blair said the project exceeds the test for the process of determining whether the lots, which are discriminated against because they weren't built on, meet a certain criteria, as the project is substantially better than what was approved before. Mr. Blair answered questions from Council concerning the property being considered for open space as a pocket park and of the setbacks. (b) Allen Flanigan, 309 Laverne Avenue, spoke in favor of the Planning Commission vote to deny the application. (c) Melinda Douglas, 204 Laverne Avenue, urged Council to not grant a special use permit for this property. (d) Kathleen Henry, 213 Laverne Avenue, spoke in opposition to the special use permit. (e) Jack Williams, 211 Laverne Avenue, spoke in opposition to the special use permit. (f) Brett Rice, 301 Laverne Avenue, said the neighbors that are contiguous to the lot have all supported the special use permit and are all on record, except for Ms. Henry and the person diagonally, and he said he had the support of the Del Ray community as a whole. Mr. Blair, speaking again, said that Laura Durham had subsequent to September sent an email saying that Mr. Rice had requested that his property be taken off the open space list. WHEREUPON, upon motion by Councilman Macdonald, seconded by Vice Mayor Pepper and carried 4-3, City Council approved the Planning Commission recommendation for denial. The voting was as follows: Macdonald "aye" Gaines "aye" Pepper "aye" Krupicka "aye" Euille "no" Smedberg "no" Woodson "no" ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS Mayor Euille said he failed to mention at the beginning of the meeting that docket item #8 is not on the agenda for discussion, due to the fact that Council at the meeting December 13 voted to table the matter. Councilwoman Woodson said she was not at that meeting and asked what was done. Mayor Euille said there was a lengthy discussion and those present unanimously concurred that there was no interest in providing for a COLA adjustment at this time, nor adjusting the annual compensation of Councilmembers. 7. Public Hearing, Second Reading and Final Passage of an Ordinance to Establish Civil Penalties For the Violation of the City’s Storm and Ground Water Disposal Regulations. (#19, 12/13/05) (ROLL-CALL VOTE) (A copy of the informal memorandum explaining the ordinance is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 1 of Item No. 7, 12/17/05, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference. A copy of the ordinance referred to in the above item, of which each Member of Council received a copy not less than 24 hours before said introduction, is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of Council, marked Exhibit No. 2 of Item No. 7, 12/17/05, and is incorporated as part of this record by reference.) WHEREUPON, upon motion by Vice Mayor Pepper, seconded by Councilman Gaines and carried unanimously by roll-call vote, City Council passed the ordinance to establish civil penalties for the violation of the City's storm and ground water disposal regulations. The voting was as follows: Pepper "aye" Krupicka "aye" Gaines "aye" Macdonald "aye" Euille "aye" Smedberg "aye" Woodson "aye" The ordinance reads as follows: