According to Morrison’s memo, it is lawful to enact an ordinance that regulates the use of “jake bakes” however; the ordinance must first be submitted in complete draft form to the California Dept. of Transportation for approval prior to enactment and enforcement on any state highway.  Last night the City Council directed staff to create a draft ordinance that could be submitted to state authorities for approval, as well as, develop signage for the highways that directs truck drivers to not employ the use of the jake brake systems on their trucks.

Next was a reoccurring agenda item in regards to a rezone for a property located at 310 Marcucci and 319 South Avenue. To accommodate the existing land uses, reduced lot sizes, and deviations from the required setbacks, the applicants are requesting a rezone from the Commercial C-2 to Single Family Residential with a Planned Development (pd) overlay. Currently the single lot has two separate homes on it and the owner- applicants are re-applying to propose dividing one 8,100 sq. foot site into two parcels to allow for individual ownership of each residential structure. The first parcel, parcel A, is proposed to be 3,649 sq. feet while parcel B is proposed to be 4,453 sq. feet. The Planning Commission had previously taken public comment and recommended the City Council’s approval. After taking a considerable amount of public comment as well, the City Council then denied the lot split and rezone request finding that the proposed project was not consistent with the surrounding land uses. The issue returned to the Planning Commission on August 21st as the applicants, Susie Simmons and Eve Fenstermaker, modified their application to rezone Parcel A, which fronts South Avenue, to (R-1) zoning, thus being more compatible with the surrounding land uses. After more discussion surrounding the item the Planning Commission decided to recommend approval of the lot split and that the property be rezoned to the city council. As a result, the issue reappeared at the Jackson City Council meeting last night. Once again the public voiced concerns over the amount of parking available on site, the adequacy of access availability for emergency vehicles, and the issue of parking in an adjacent easement. Citizen Kathy DuBois commented that the council should just rezone the property for what it is- R2- 2 homes on one lot. After discussion the council ultimately decided to approve the split after determining that the parking issues could be controlled with some signage for no parking I the easement. The council also determined that there was adequate room for emergency vehicle access and resident parking. Council woman Marilyn Lewis expressed concerns regarding the timing of this change in zoning- expressing that perhaps any rezoning would be premature in light of the current update being conducted for the city’s general plan. Also of concern to Lewis was the creation of two substandard lots in the city. The City council voted to approve the split with Marilyn Lewis opposed.

The much awaited traffic workshop implementations appeared on last night’s Jackson City Council agenda. (City Manager Mike Daly offered a little background on the item.) At the August 14 th meeting a report was presented with a summary of the three Transportation Workshops that were conducted in May, June and July earlier this year. The City Council agreed with the direction provided from these workshops to begin planning the implementation of the “page 11” projects located with in the city limits and to work with ACTC on long-range planning efforts to address future traffic congestion issues facing Jackson. These options could include: additional bypass route research, planning measure such as right-of-way reservations in future subdivisions and alternative transportation development, including transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects. The 7 main projects were identified in a “Summary Explanation” prepared by ACTC executive director Charles Field. (Mike Daly said the two most popular projects that evolved out the 7 were the Sutter Street Extension and Mission Boulevard Extension, both of which are the furthest along in the planning process and would likely have the greatest impact on traffic circulation w/in Jackson. The other 5 included: Hwy. 88 and Court Street intersections improvements; Hwy. 49 and 88 intersection improvements; Hwy 88 Operation Safety Pedestrian Landscaping, which involves possibly constructing excel-decel lanes, shoulder widening and other various projects; Hwy. 88 & 49 Operational Safety Pedestrian & Landscaping Improvements which include much of the same for Hwy. 88; and finally widening Hwy. 49 to five lanes from French Bar to Broadway. The “Summary Explanation” also includes information regarding the funding issues associated with the seven projects in terms of the timing that may or may not be possible pending the outcome of Measure K the half cent sales tax measure which will appear on the Nov. ballot. The council decided last night to go with the recommendations of staff and was directed to begin working with the Amador County Transportation Commission to plan for projects. Also, staff was directed by the council to create a broad based advisory committee for long term projects- such as any bypass project, that would impact the city.