Minutes 1977-05-31340
CITY COUNCIL
ARROYO GRANDE,. CALIFORNIA
MAY 3t, 1977
7:30 P.M.
The City Council met in regular adjourned meeting in Room 100 of .the
Arroyo Grande High School, with Mayor Pro Tem Millis presiding. Council
Members Spierling, Schlegel and Gallagher are present along with City Admini-
strator Butch and the City Clerk. Mayor de Leon is absent. Mayor Pro Tem
Millis led the Pledge of_Allegiance to our Flag.
TOWN MEETING FOR PUBLIC INPUT RE. FUTURE OF CITY
Mayor Pro Tem Millis made opening remarks, stating the purpose of the
meeting, .which is for the City Council to listen to the people's ideas for what
direction they would like to see the City go in the future, to include identi-
fication of problem areas and also possible solutions they might suggest. He
stated that at subsequent study sessions, the Council will discuss the concerns
brought forth at this and subsequent town meetings and Council action regarding
said concerns would be published. He requested that persons speaking state
their name and. residence address, after which Mayor Pro Tem Millis declared the
Town Meeting open for public comment.
The following persons were present and commented on various matters, as
summarized.
KEVIN. PENCE, Corralitos Canyon Road, Chairman of the "Community Pride"
Program of the Los Allegros 4-H Club, urged people to register to be eligible
to vote, and stated he had postcard registration forms available for anyone
wanting them.
IRENE ELLIOT, 1011 Huasna Road, discussed development of all available
open-space land in Santa Clara and her concern that this will happen here. She
suggested that some of the smaller agricultural parcels be purchased by the City
and made into small parks, providing said agricultural parcels are no longe r
economical to farm.
JIM SCRIVANI, 201 Whiteley Street, hears the problem is that farming is
being taxed on .the basis of potential use of land rather than existing use, which
he feels is unfair. He suggested the City buy farmland and rent it out to
farmers for farming to protect it. He asked what pressure could be put on who at
State and County levels, to prevent the building of housing lots all around the
City. He also stated that a traffic congestion problem is being created because
of the Lopez Recreational area and. what could be done to control this?
DOROTHY EGER, 383 Walnut, stated her confUSion with the recent agri-
cultural lands election. She stated her feeling that the "newcomers" to the City
have no right to say they want it to stay a quiet community. She then spoke
about a piece of property she had contemplated buying, but the front portion is
zoned "H-S".and the back part is "A-1", which parcel would do no one any good
because it hadn't been used for agricultural use in many years and is inacces-
sible; and the front part is too small to do anything-on. She felt this was
unfair to the owner of the land, to be told. he can't build on that `or change the
back portion to "H-S". She feels that each parcel of land needs to be analyzed
separately. The property owner of a half "H-S" and half "A-1" can't do anything
with it and so there is no improvement one way or the other for him or the
community. On .the other hand, a totally "A-1" parcel that is in harvest and is
being used and of value to the people should remain in that capacity. She was
also concerned about buying to where it is presumably "R-1", "R-2", and then all
of a sudden you see instead of one family with normally two cars coming out of a
garage,-overnight seeing twenty units go up and 40 cars coming out of the driveway.:.
She felt this was an unhappy situation. for-the whole neighborhood even though it's-
supposedly progress.
TOM RUNELS, 586 Valley Road, feels Councilman Spierling's proposal for a
Committee to study the agricultural land situation is valid. He agrees that each
parcel must be considered on its own merits. Some large parcels in the City are
farmable, productive lands, but they are also assessed with sewer and water district
assessments and they are part of the assessed value that make up the community.
He stated that if the citizens want to reduce the value of the farmland and put
it at the value. of 1960, some reimbursement will have to be made for the difference
in value, or say that all the property in the City has to be sold for what it was
worth in 1960. He has heard a tot of controversy saying the farmers are going to
get rich by selling their real estate, which may be true, but many of these people
have owned this property for _50 years. The farm people don't want to go out and
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CITY COUNCIL
ARROYO GRANDE, CALIFORNIA
MAY 31, 1977
PAGE 2
sell their land, but they are going to be forced to if the tax situation
continues to escalate. As far as an Ag Preserve goes, he pointed out that the
City has an Ag Preserve Program at the present time, but thought it might be
wise to reduce the term from ten years down to five year terms.
ART GRIEB, Trustee for real estate across the street from the school,
quoted taxes and how no Ag Preserve or row crops would make it economically
feasible to keep it in agriculture. Something has to be done with the land or
let the City or citizens pay for the difference of the price for which they
could sell it for development and keeping it in farming.
PEARL COLE, 137 W. Branch, reminded the people about the Agricultural
Study Committee that had done quite a bit of research and she hoped that if
another committee is set up, it will consider what was already studied by the
previous committee.
.PAUL HADDOX, 587 Valley Road, stated it doesn't do a person any good to
own valuable property unless he either sells it or borrows money on it. He
described property he owns which was just appraised, which is pasture land
mostly and a little farming land which appears to be worth a lot, but there is
no income. He stated that they say its the new people who want to save things,
but that the problem is caused by the. new people. If the new people didn't come
here we wouldn't have any of these problems. The taxes on a house and lot will
not begin to pay for the services for the people that live in them. If we have
a more dense population, the taxes are going to go up, and they'll also go'up if
we save our farmland. It has become a luxury to live here. Looking to the future,
he proposes that we not import any water from out of our watershed, then our
population will be limited by our water supply and that will help save the farm-
land.
ROBERT DEYEL, 812 Arcadia Drive, disagrees that problems are created by
all the new people that come here, stating he came here to replace a person who
died. He asked what about the younger people .who are going to have new ones that
come into the organization, are they going to be penalized because they were born?
NANCY CONROW, 338 Walnut Street, wanted to know what the City's. limit is
on putting apartments in. Does the City have any limits on the number of
apartments it will have~ion Elm Street and in the area? She thinks a line should
be drawn on how many can be built there.
MAYOR PRO TEM MILLIS interjected that that area is zoned for apartments.
MRS. CONROW didn't think for as many as there are now though, stating there
should be a limit.
BILL McCANN, 428 Tanner Land, discussed the water situation, agreeing that
the population growth must be tied in with the water supply. He stated there is
not as much water at Lopez as we think. He named various subdivisions being
developed in the City now, which will .create approximately 2200 new dwelling units,
either in the works or proposed. He stated the City has eontracted for approxi-
mately 2290 acre feet of water per year. .This yea r, he stated the City will use
somewhere between 1600-1700 acre feet of water, leaving approximately 650 .acre feet
in excess. He asked how many dwelling units can we have with the amount of water
we have left? Right now~he stated~Arroyo Grande is using a half an acre of ..water
for every family in .the City. Using those particular figures, he stated you find
we can only have approximately 1300, 1400, 1500 at the most new dwelling units
here in the City. He repeated that on the drawing board right now .we're talking
about 2200 more dwelling units and that doesn't even take into consideration the
300 or 400 acres of agricultural land that we have in the City that is not even
proposed for development at this time, but will sooner or later. He stated we
either have to control this other development to a certain .degree or start pump-
ing ground water and blending it with our Lopez water. He stated this creates
other problems such as for the farms, who rely on ground water for their irrigation.
He asked whether we are going to deplete their (farmers). water supply to supply
new developed residences. He stated~~the people of Arroyo Grande have been paying
a premium for their Lopez water just to take pure Lopez water and are therefore
paying twice as much. as Grover .City because Grover blends its water.. He stated
that if we continue with all this development, we're certainty going to have, to
start blending water. He suggested that before we go rezoning any more property,
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CITY COUNCIL
ARROYO GRANDE, CALIFORNIA
MAY 31, 1977
PAGE 3
let's find out how much property we already- have now in A.G. and its particular
zoning, and how many dwelling .units could actually be built at this time without
changing any zoning at .all. He thinks we'll find that we're getting pretty close
to the 1300, 1400 dwelling units right now without rezoning any property at all.
He suggested the City make a long, hard study of all the undeveloped property in
the City; what its present zoning is; how many dwelling units per acre is
allowed now and how many dwelling units could be built under our present zoning;
and that we have this information before we continue to rezone any other properties;
and take into consideration any large lots that would be capable of lot splits
into 2, 3 or more properties.
MORGAN MATHEWS, 838 Virginia Drive, disagreed with Mr. McCann regarding
our paying more for water than Grover City does. He stated our water supply is
geared for approximately 30,000 people; our sewer is already set up for 20,000.
We have 9400 people in Arroyo Grande, so naturally-we're paying twice as much
for water and sewer. He feels we should have slow and orderly growth until we
reach the 20,000 people mark so we fully utilize our sewer and water. After
that we have to take a long hard look whether we want to spend another $10 or
$20 million to improve our water or sewer situation. But until that point, we
have to pay for that water not being used. He stated he is no growth and always
has been, but he is also realistic and as long as you have unused land, water
and sewer, and as long as inflation is going to continue,. we have to have some
growth.in order to keep our taxes where they are today. If we went to a no
growth .situation tomorrow, he feels that in five years our taxes will be tripled.
We have to be realistic about the situation and how we can keep our older
people here, people who are on welfare, retired. We have to look to the whole
population and not just the few of us who can afford the inflation, higher
taxes and that sort of thing. We have so many people coming here who are retired.
PAUL REYNOLDS, Olive Lane, County, spoke regarding the City's water supply,
and th.e two opposing views just heard. He stated his understanding is that the
City is set up to supply 20,000 people with water from Lopez. He would like the
representatives to the water district to put some facts together between the two
sets of figures given by Mathews and McCann.
MADELEINE STEEL, 1598 Hillcrest, stated her understanding and apprecia-
tion of the format at this meeting, where the Council just listens, but stated
her hope that the questions she is hearing presernted by people, will be answered
at future meetings.
MAYOR PRO TEM MILLIS reiterated the purpose of the meetings and that
following the Town Meetings the Council will have study sessions and consider
taking action on the concerns.
CONRAD GRIEB, Arroyo Grande, felt the City should be built within its
limits and then take in more land, instead of jumping like done for Valley
Gardens, which he cJoesn't feel does the City any good. He said to build within
the City and then out. He stated it is not practical to farm smaller parcels
and the City should be careful about expanding outside.
IDA MAE GRIEB, Registered Voter of the County, connected with the Grieb
Estate in the City, stated her feeling that most of the people who objected to
the farmers are not looking at it in a stop the growth or no growth-area. She
feels they are just not wanting the fa~nmers to make a profit. She asked what if
the shoe were on the other foot? They pay taxes on their farmland and she felt
objectors have a selfish attitude.
LEE DEAN, 820 Eaton Drive, stated he was just here to learn and find out
what is developing in .this, his and his wife's adopted community. They are
impressed with the farm atmosphere community leading out to where they live
and they are desirous of having that rural atmosphere maintained if at all
possible. He appreciates being here.
MARIE CATTOIR, 195 Orchid Lane, read
is happy with the outspoken newcomers. She
etc., would be as refined to the extent the
newcomers. She feels legislation is necess~
water, etc., similar to what Pismo Beach is
sumption for the future should be clarified
a prepared statement indicating she
doesn't feel that Oak Park Acres,
plans are if it hadn't been for the
3ry for buildings to pay for sewer,
charging. She feels that water con-
and asked what happened to the salt
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CITY COUNCIL MAY 31, 1977
ARROYO GRANDE, CALIFORNIA PAGE 4
water intrusion which was the reason given for putting in Lopez Dam. Regarding
the Lawler Rezoning matter, she stated her fee ling that it'could have been
resolved if he (Lawler) had been allowed to handle it himself.. She had talked
to two Planners, with one admitting he had not viewed the site itself, only
having seen a map; and another Planner did not receive an agenda packet in time
for .sufficient study by the time the matter came up. She also felt that more
attention needs to be given to driveways and hillsides so no more Crown Hill or
Le-Point Street problems occur.
LEROY SARUWATARI, 512 Launa Lane, spoke regarding Councilman Spierling's
suggested .Agricultural Lands Study Committee, stating he would like to see such
a committee formed and that said committee start with the material gathered by
the previous Agricultural Lands Study Committee.
PAUL HADDOX, stated that looking from the trailer park (on Valley Road) is
really a nice view, but looking from below onto the tin buildings: looks bad,
without even trees around it.
TON RUNELS, spoke on the water matter. He stated that if the City used
alt its water supply, the farmer would be the first one to be restricted from
water use. He stated that Grover City, Pismo and Shell Beach, Oceano and Avila
all pull their water from the same A.G. water basin. The reason that Arroyo
Grande is paying a higher rate for water-is they contracted for more so the
Lopez Dam could be built. If A.G. hadn't contracted for more the dam wouldn't
have been built and we wouldn't have the water we have today. With the develop-
ment in the outlying areas in ,t he county, who are outside of the water district,
are pumping from the ground water basin and' sooner or later we will have to have
imported water or there won't be any coming from the faucets and none to irrigate
the crops. He stated you can have the best land in the world, but without water
you'll have nothing but a dust bowl.
CHRIS CURZON, 123 E. Branch, felt that the bike situation on Branch is
bad and suggested that more bike racks be placed at the City Park behind City
Halt and on the street, such as the one at the ice cream place. He suggested
maybe one rack could even take up just one parking space on the street.
JIM SCRIVANI, questioned the population. estimate of 20,000. He felt this
was close to the population of the South County. He stated that the other
cities will grow too and will want to contract for more water, so maybe we should be
looking forward to building another dam.
MORGAN MATHEWS, stated the South County right now is over 40,000. He
explained that the other cities undercontracted for Lopez Water and as mentioned,
if this City had not contracted for the excess, the dam would not have been built.
He said that until the City grows to the point of absorbing this excess water, it
will pay more for it than Grover City and Pismo Beach.
ART GRIEB, suggested making check dams along the creek and pumping it back
to upper Arroyo instead of letting it go into the ocean. He stated the line
could run along the creek without undergrounding.
JOANN BLASHAW, Tally Ho Road, wanted to know who a'"newcomer" is, she has
been here for four years; and further that we are paving the way for newcomers
with new apartments and she is concerned on the impact this has on the schools.
ALICE CARAS, Sierra Drive, also indicated her concern regarding the
school overcrowding problem, stating she gets a feeling of great crowding on
the schools.
MARY JANE MONTGOMERY, 533 Orchard, stated she is one of the "old timers"
and that she is awfully-sorry ..that about 25 years ago we just didn't lock the
door and say okay, this is it. She stated it was a beautiful community and
loves it, but that there is no way to stop growth here, but that we have to do
it well planned and with thinking.
PEARL COLE, reminded the people in the audience that most of the children
coming into the Lucia Mar Unified School ,District are coming from the outlying
areas and not from within the City of A.G. She stated that A.G.'s actual parti-
cipation in the elementary and high school is less and has been on the decrease,
so we have a problem now we have to work with not only within the City, but also
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PAGE 5
with the outlying communities where our
that when she moved into this community
child. She asked how many children have
She said not everyone is a newcomer and
children stay in the community.
problem comes from., She stated further
about 24 years ago, she brought one
they contributed to this community.
she would like to see some of the lovely
ELLEN JOHNSON, 163 So. Elm Street, stated she came here about 45 years ago.
She paid a thousand dollars for her 2+ acres at that time and the last appraisal
was a hundred thousand, so she is very much concerned about the increased property,
as it doesn't make any sense,. She spoke about the trees on Grand Avenue, feeling
they are not cared for very well and the wells are full of debris. She stated
the City planted Magnolia trees along South Elm and doesn't see how the City will
be able to take care of them if they don't take care of the ones on Grand Avenue.
Furthermore:,-she doesn't feel this is the time for beautification such as cleaning
the sidewalks with water and planting new trees, because of the water shortage.
ELLA HONEYCUTT, 560 Oak Hill, indicated her concern with the new develop-
ments and good top soil being buried. She felt a committee is needed to work
with the Council to set up some guidelines to preserve the top soil, such as was
done on Loomis .Heights, where Mr. Miller scraped the top soil off where street
grading was to be done, and put the top soil back on the land. She feels this
can stilt be done in La Barranca, stating it's a shame to put good top soil for
a road bed. She further felt that we have two monstrosities on Crown Hill with
29 more being planned and she would like to see a citizens group formed so that
wherever they are going to plan apartments, people from that area can review the
plans with the developers to make sure the development fits in. Other problems
she sees with the Crown Hill development is the height limit. She stated the
City also has drainage problems, some of which are caused from developments out-
side of the City. There are so many problems she stated, that she feels
citizens' advisory groups are needed to the Architectural Review Board and other
different committees, so we don't have all these problems. She felt the rest of
Crown Hilt should be changed back to "R-1" housing. She asked whether the old
houses would be taken down and apartments put up. She also stated that the
farmers should get first choice of water as he is the backbone of the community.
JOHN TAYLOR, 680 Valley Road, stated what he would like to see happen in
A.G. is to provide as much assistance and positive planning to maintain agri-
culture and what development that does need to be pl-aced, directed away from
the valley floor to the less desirable areas, such as north of Highway 101 near
where the County's Regional Government Center will be.
IRENE ELLIOTT, commented on the over-population of schools, stating that
in the Santa Clara area and other places that before the developers go in,
they have to provide land for schools and build the buildings and do things of
this kind before the development is accepted by the City Council. This is one
way, it seems to her, of having the people moving into an area also contribute
to the costs of the schools by making them provide the buildings.
GREG PATTERSON, Grover City, said he was. hoping to come to this meeting
and hear a lot of the agriculture people who are stuck with the land that they
can't pay for and speak. He would like to hear people discuss. having a choice
between supporting farmland and keeping it like this, or it's all going to
turn into Orange County. It's all going to fill up with housing so you're going
to have to do one thing or another and you have to decide it now, because five
years from now it will be too late.
MADELEINE STEELE, seconded Mrs. Montgomery's remarks in reference to
mistakes having been made in the past, but feels we should not dwell upon those,
but go ahead and see what we can do in the future to improve the situation.
She stated her feeling that the plan now being. considered by the Council for
fees from developers for the schools, in the amount of around $300 is jiust a
token fee, feeling it should be $5,000 as is charged in some other cities.
TOM RUNELS, said it doesn't matter how much we charge the developer, as
the. consumer will end up paying for it.
MARY JANE MONTGOMERY, agrees that the two places on Crown Hill are awful,
especially in front of the Pawling Historical House. She asked that something
be done about the rest of it.
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CITY COUNCIL MAY 31, 1977
ARROYO GRANDE, CALIFORNIA PAGE 6
B'ANN SMITH, 548 Crown Hill, spoke about the development occurring on
Crown Hill, indicating she is happy to hear others also stating their displeasure
with the units, pointint out she had been before the Council several times before
they went up. She clarified that there are not two but five units, with about
29 more units below that planned. She does. not see where there will be any
.parking. She doesn't feel these are garden apartments. She would like to see
stricter laws governing the "garden apartments" in this town. She feels the
development on Crown Hill will look like San Francisco and if she had wanted
to live in San Francisco, she would have.
CORA HIGDON, 183 Fair View Drive, stated her opposition to the Crown
Hill developments and the current Brighton Avenue development proposal.
JIM SCRIVANI, wishes to see a tree ordinance enacted, to prevent the
removal of trees such as is being done on Crown Hill.
ADMINISTRATOR BUTCH stated we do have a tree ordinance, but it does not
restrict tree removal on private property.
ART GRIEB, mentioned the tree removal on Fair Oaks Avenue.
KARL HOGAN, 1255 Poplar, made a suggestion in regard to trees. He said
you only have about a gallon to five gallon capacity around a tree and if you
buy a jet and stick it in three feet you can put in a specified amount in a
specified amount of time with no run off and it doesn't create extra grass grow-
ing on the surface and saves water. He also doesn't believe a community°should
be no growth to the point where you tell him that he can't move to this town,
or he'll find some way to get in because there really must be something good
about it. It really draws attention and he feels it's poor advertisement.
He also feels that if we tell a person that he can't put a mobile home on any-
thing less than 10 acres, if then a spot is picked to put them on, we can put
trees around them to help divide if off, but he himself doesn't claim the right
to tell a person the type of house he can live in either, although the new
apartments where they are up too high and these kinds of things should be
squared away for the vicinity of the town they're in and match in architecture.
ELLA HONEYCUTT, stated that the City has been growing at a 3i rate and
that if they keep this up, it keeps the local people employed and not pull in
outside labor. She also felt that things need to be worked out to help the
farmer, suggesting a 1t tax rate to help them, by paying the difference to him
between developable land and farmland. Thls is working in other areas.
MARY JANE MONTGOMERY, stated that things have changed so much in the
last few years and she wants what we had.
JEFF JOHNSON, 708 Sennett Avenue, sees no way to stop growth and stated
we need to define rural atmosphere first. The only way to keep open space, he
feels, is to keep housing dense.
KARL HOGAN, spoke in regard to 1~ acres and 5 acres limitations, and
pointed out that the larger the lot, the more parcels it can be split into in
the future, when population demands it. He felt that today we can get a more
orderly growth if its broken up into lot sizes for single family residences
and we'll have 5 to 6 families living on this acre of land now. But you can
have 50 families living on it in an apartment house, which is happening in his
neighborhood, which really gets to be over done. He is not against apartments
as such, but feels they should be scattered out more.
CONRAD GRIEB, recollected a story told him by his father of a conversa-
tion between Mr. Beckett and Mr. Hodges. Mr, Beckett had .said the growth is
going to be here, solid from Arroyo Grande to the ocean, that there's nothing
to stop it and its going to grow. And Mrs. Hodges always laughed at that,
saying it couldn't be, it couldn't be.
PAUL HADDOX, suggested that we allow small ag preserves--maybe three
acres.
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CITY COUNCIL
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"MAY 31, 1977
PAGE 7
ELLEN JOHNSON, stated her feeling that we seem to have a division of
people here--some want to grow and some don't. She said it was too bad for
those who don't want to progress that we can't provide a place for their
horse and buggy so they can stay there---that's the way they like it, that's
the way they remember it and evidently some of them still want it that way,
but the community is bound to grow and. doesn't see how you can possible stop
it. She doesn't understand what brings people here--no payroll, work, etc.
She felt it must be the climate and that it is a desirable community.
PEGGY PORTER, 413 .California Street, asked how many more town meetings
wilt be held before answers will be given to some of the remarks.
MAYOR PRO TEM MILLIS explained that a second Town Meeting will beheld
Wednesday, June 8th, at which time it will be determined if there is enough
interest to hold a third and maybe fourth Town Meeting if -the people so desire.
After the last town meeting, a study session will be held by the Council to
study a list of the compiled concerns and the public will be able to ask
questions and hopefully some actions will be taken on the concerns.
PEGGY PORTER, reviewed how a Chamber of Commerce sponsored Community°
Congress had been handled where concerns were discussed in groups and-she
hoped this would be done again, feeling a group to group basis would be more
feasible as the same questions may come up again and again at subsequent
Town Meetings.
PAUL REYNOLDS, stated he is impressed by a lot more common thinking
than he thought existed. He thinks the group is saying, as he has heard it,
that there is going to be growth and we might as well accept that, and°that''
that growth should be within some kind of bounds. Therefore, what we are
looking for the future of A.G. is to define those bounds. And that it seems
that what everyone is saying is that if we can't stop growth, make it quality
growth. There is a lot of thought about rural atmosphere and open spaces and
green land and it seems to him that the most important. open space is between
one kitchen window and another kitchen window. He said when we take our most
valuable asset of land and start building homes or apartments or condominiums
or garden, or whatever, and you put them one right next to the other with the
density concentrated in one area so that you have the open spaces whether they're
agricultural or .hillsides where somebody within those densely built places to
look out upon, what you're really building is slums. He thinks we should give
some real thought to using the land to the point of spreading out our dwelling
units, with some density whereby the character will be preserved withim these
areas that people are living as well as those outside. He feels there has
been some real poor quality development within the City, not only residential,
but commercial along Grand Avenue some of it.
BILL LANGWORTHY, Printz Road, County, hears shades Cif opinions on what
growth rate should be. How should it be attained? How many peop-le can our
water accommodate? He said we have to consider water in the size we will grow
to. No purpose is served, he said, in thinking about the past mistakes.
DOROTHY EGER, stated she was impressed with "quality building" term used,
but doesn't want the type of quality building done in Florida.
JEFF JOHNSON, stated we have to come up with a reasonable rate of growth,
not just the present water supply as a guideline, because desalinization of
water could become a fact and then there will be no limit. to the water supply.
ELLA HONEYCUTT, stated there is a geod book put out by the State of
California which tells what cities and counties are doing and there are some
really fantastic ideas.
PAUL HADDOX, stated he knows we can import water, desalt sea .water and
reclaim sewage, but d.oesn't think it's worth it.
FRED STEELE, 1598 Hillcrest, stated his concern is money. He stated the
City budget will be coming up .which will be $3.3 million grid roughly, if we
have 3300 households, that's $1,000 for each home, which looks like an awful lot
of money to be spent. He feels this is growth inducing and can't understand
it because many homes are only paying $700 taxes and still the City is going
ahead with spending $1,000 per each household. He hopes that everyone searches
out and watches every penny.
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CITY COUNCIL
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PAGE 8
MAYOR PRO TEM MILLIS pointed out that the City this year is anticipating
the receipt.. of about $400,000 in property tax. So if we divide the 3300 into
that, it comes out about $110 or $115 per household, not $1,000. He said the
$3.3 million represents money-that the City has received in federal government
Revenue Sharing money that has been saved up, etc. It's not alt property tax.
TOM. RUNELS, stated his feeling that one of the determining factors of
the growth rate will be the County Tax Assessor.
MORGAN MATHEWS, commented on Sales Tax and stated he would like to see
Arroyo Grande get to the point where they keep most of their sales tax dollar
at home. He stated most people spend it in San Luis Obispo or Santa Maria as
determined by a survey made in 1974. If we-had more retail sales support here,
it would help.
MAYOR PRO TEM MILLIS thanked the audience for coming tonight, fee ling
it was a worthwhile and constructive meeting. On behalf of the Council, he
thanked the people for their comments and assured them the comments would be
followed through on at study sessions. He also thanked the Lucia Mar Unified
School District and Arroyo Grande High School for allowing this meeting to be
held here. The next Town Meeting will be June 8th at 7:30 P.M. at the Ocean
View Elementary School.
ADJOURNMENT
On motion of Councilman Schlegel, seconded by Councilman Spierling and
unanimously carried, the meeting adjourned at 9:30 P.M. until 7:30 P.M. on
June 8, 1977 at the Ocean View Elementary School.
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
OR P TEM