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1951-09-18 Regular CC MinutesREGUIAR MEETING OF TH7 COUEGIL OP YT-1, CTTY OF ATANEDA HELD TUESDAY EVENING., SEPTEMBER 18, 7.. 1951 .. The meeting convened Pt 0:00 o'clock P. M. with President isborn presiding. ROHL CATT,:. The roll was ca11ed and Councilmen Anderon, Branscheid Sweeney and President Osborn, A) 11.011-ylnilyma,1 , ,1 - 0 p4-1-7,77MTPC!, 1. The mil=teAS of the regular mooting held September tranecribed. 1951, were arprove- as 2. From Alameda Tines-Star, stating it has been strongly in. favor of :liftin rent controls in Alameda - but now, in view of Rational Affairs and the recent action. of the Government in reinstating Eederal Rent Controlsin crcal defense houaing areas, it recommends the Council retain.. thecortrols but emphatically instruct the on Control Board to give the landlords a rental that will give ther1 . a fair return or their investment. It was ordered that this communication. be filed vi ith. the other correspondence por- tainin7 to the decontrol of rents. Aps, 17.177'1\7.)T0. 0. The ma ter was called up with regard to the continued public hearing on the question of Decontrol of Ret. Councilren Branscheid moved this natter Cl.: laid over to the next regular meeting of the Council. Ho stated his reason for so noving was that the Council has not had time to thoroughly look over the records in the matter - and also, that Councilman jo-es is not present this evening. The motion was seconded by Councilnan Swey, who ronto d out that the reason the Council did not have time to look over the trans- criPt was that the reporter went to work on the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference and could net get the material out in time. The metion was unanimously carried. The matter was presented concerning the continued. hearing en the appeal of Robert W. Towle, from the ruling of theCity Planning Board. The Clerk read a letter from the City Planning Board, addressed f the Council, recommending that the setback requirements for LT.12. Towle 's property, as well as adjacent commercially zoned properties be maintained. President Osborn Invited comments In the natter and. Mr. Towle appeared, stating he was still desirous of having this adjustment gran_tCd® He pointed out that, In his opinion, practica11y the only objection comes from one individual who owns property in the area, who seems to be of the opinion. that it will not be possible to con.- struet a building there that will be an asset to the neighborhood. Mr. Towle stated he felt such a bui1ding could be erected and It was his Idea to make such construc- tion and he could see no basis for any objection. on that score. Yr. George, Attorney, whe represents Messrs. Owen. White and Oliver Ebel, the latter being the owner of property lying immediately east of Mr. Towle 's lot, diagramed bis remarks or the blackboard. He reviewed the adertion of the Zoning Ordinance and ex- plained the Principle of adjustments and variances - stating that the standard set up by the Zoning Ordinance is that there must be a hardship or it must be shown to be impracticable to use the property before an adjust et or variance may be granted. Ho pointed out that Er. Reynold's Drug Store on the corner of Ninth Street and Santa. Clara Avenue was there before 1940 - which is the reason It is built out to the sidewalk. Er. George explained that :if it had been built subsequent to 1940, it would have been required to maintain the setback or have ai . adjustment granted. He spoke o the depreciation n value of the adjacent residential property and cited buI1d1n similar to that proposed. by Yr. Towle which have been erected all over the Citv and stated that they are a definite detraction not only to adjoining property but to the entire district. He concluded his remarks with the statement that there is no reason, under the Ordinance, why an adjustment of this kind should be granted, and offered the °Pinion that if this adjustment were allowed, the setback require- ments in all commercial districts mitht just as well be abolished. Councilman Anderson engaged n a discussion with Yr. George to develop his point that if Yr. Towle were allowed to build out to the property line, everybody in the block, residential property included, should be allowed to come out to the property line. At the request of Yr. Ge rge, a petition was filed, signed by several property owners in. the neighborhood - which petition requested that the Planning Board deny the application for the adjustment.