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Electronic Arts will be a much greater traffic problem than this project ever dreamed of. The children are an important issue to all the Council Members. I concur with Council Member Claire that the legal issue is going to be a major cost that will have to be borne by all of Redwood City, and it is something that we can't incur at this time." Viee Mayor Ruskin said, "This is a very unpleasant vote to have to take. I have come to the conclusion that there was a general feeling from the participants that there would probably be something in the way of a nursery or a storage facility, and I have heard staff talk about the fact that they did not realize during the downturn of the economy that there could be an upturn, and that someday there might actually be an office building built. I think that is an inexcusable lack of foresight, especially among staff dedicated to planning and those others who are involved in the process. So I feel even more strongly than in the first session that the City made an error in the way it dealt with this issue. We are here in a difficult situation to address this after serious errors have been made. This points out that we need to act differently in the future, that we need to really take seriously that however we zone an area, we need to be prepared for its maximum build out. We need now to look at every section ofthe City, and reexamine the zoning with that in mind. It is essential that we did the moratorium on the "TP" land to avoid a disaster and he trusts that the Mayor explained that I was casting a vote for Redwood City at another meeting, otherwise, I would never have been late to this meeting because this vote is as important to me as it is to anyone else here. It is very tempting to vote 'no' on this proposal, because I am not happy with building commercial out there. It is a tempting vote but it wouldn't be a serious or responsible vote because I am convinced that no court would disallow Mr. Keech's right to build. I think that the legal situation for us is that Mr. Keech would be given by any court the permission to continue and to build on the site.... I am glad that I was one of the people who voted to introduce the moratorium because in effect, it moved the developer to compromise and to do something less egregious than building a 4-story office building and in actuality that was the intention. The only vote I can take which is a fully responsible vote is to vote 'yes' for the compromise. Also, I am not making a blanket condemnation of the vision of the Planning Commission and the staff. I was making a statement about this particular situation in which I think it would have been wisest to have created a new zoning for what everyone had hoped would occur there. I think it could have been done and would have been the best course of action." Couneil Member Claire stated, "I want to respond to Vice Mayor Ruskin's remarks. I am sure he did not mean it quite this way, but there seemed to be an irnplication that staff did not have the foresight in 1993 to see what might develop tonight. I disagree with that. Staff laid out all the proposals and scenarios in 1993. Not once during those proceedings did they suggest that nothing would be built on there except a nursery. The individuals that made that decision were very fine citizens of our community that are on the Planning Commission. They went through lengthy public hearings and spent a lot of their voluntary time to make that decision. If you want to say that those seven members of that Planning Commission were not visionary enough, then I would disagree. They are very visionary people and they are very concerned about our community. I fully disagree with the statement that staff did not have the vision because staff did have the vision. They pointed ADJOURNED REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTE BOOK NO. 56 DECEMBER 18,1997 MINUTES Page No. 122 PAGE 17