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A P P E A R A N C E S:
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Los Gatos Planning Commissioners:
D. Michael Kane, Vice Chair Kendra Burch Charles Erekson Melanie Hanssen Matthew Hudes Tom O’Donnell
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Town Manager:
Laurel Prevetti
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Community Development Director:
Joel Paulson
Town Attorney:
Robert Schultz
Transcribed by:
Vicki L. Blandin (510) 337-1558
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ATTACHMENT 3 LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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P R O C E E D I N G S:
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VICE CHAIR KANE:
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We’ll move on to New Public
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Hearings, Item 3. The property is 341 Bella Vista Avenue,
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Subdivision Application M-12-103, Architecture and Site
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Application S-12-008, Negative Declaration ND-16-001.
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Requesting approval to merge two lots, construct a new
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single-family residence, and remove large protected tress
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on property zoned R-1:8. No significant environmental impacts have been identified and Mitigated Negative Declaration is recommended. This is property APN 529-23-015 and 529-23-016. The property owners are Jake Peters and Dan
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Ross. The Applicant is Dan Ross. Project planner is Marni 15
Moseley. 16
Ms. Moseley, will you give the Staff Report
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tonight? MARNI MOSELEY:
Of course. Good evening,
Commissioners. The site contains two legal nonconforming
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parcels. In 2011 and 2012 the Planning Commission
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considered a development proposal for the site, which
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included two multi-story residential units, an exception to
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the maximum permitted FAR for the property, and a variance
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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for driveway width. The Planning Commission denied those
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applications and the Town Council considered the
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applications on appeal in 2012. The Town Council upheld the
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Planning Commission’s decision based on the Planning Commission’s concerns regarding massing from the rear, size of the homes, and the FAR exception required, as well as
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safety for pedestrians on Bella Vista Avenue due to the 8 9 10 11
reduced driveway width. The Applicant submitted a new application in December of 2012 that includes a lot merger and
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construction of one single-family residence. The proposed
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residence has two levels of living floor area with a garage
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above. The proposed floor area does comply with Town Code
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limitations. The driveway is proposed to be constructed
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above the grade and at an angle to reduce the slope below
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15%, as required by the Hillside Development Standards and
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Guidelines. The lowest level is proposed to be cellar, it’s
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predominantly cellar, and is only exposed to the rear and the side patio. The proposed residence has a max height of 22’-9” and a stepped height of 33’, which is in compliance
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with the Hillside Development Standards and Guidelines. 23
There were several geotechnical investigations 24 25
that appear in several peer reviews of those reports, and
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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those are included in the initial study for the proposed
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developments, which is part of your packet.
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There are three significant tree removals, which are required as part of the project. Those trees do cover the majority of the site, and locating a building that wouldn’t impact one or more of those trees would most
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likely be infeasible on this site. 8 9 10 11
Staff has reviewed the project for compliance with Town Standards and Guidelines, and with the exception of the development on the slope greater than 30% and the
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limited retaining walls above 5’, the project is in
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compliance with the Hillside Development Standards and
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Guidelines and the relevant sections of the General Plan.
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Based on this analysis, Staff recommends the Planning
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Commission approve the proposed project, subject to the
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attached findings and conditions.
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This concludes Staff’s report. We are here if you have any questions. VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. Prior to questions,
have all the Commissioners had an opportunity to view the
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site? Are there any disclosures? Commissioner Hudes. 23
COMMISSIONER HUDES:
I had incidental
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conversation with neighbors while I was visiting, but I did not discuss the project.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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VICE CHAIR KANE:
And I, myself, visited the site
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and was given a tour of the location, the back trail, some
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balcony views, bedroom views, nothing consequential on the
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case. Any others? Thank you. Questions for Ms. Moseley. Commissioner O'Donnell.
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COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
Several letters, but one
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in particular, we received a letter from Lee Quintana, a multipage letter in which she raises a number of issues, and I’m wondering if you’ve had an opportunity to go over that letter?
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MARNI MOSELEY:
I have.
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COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
Could you give us some
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comments, because Ms. Quintana raises a number of issues
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and I’d just appreciate your comments.
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MARNI MOSELEY:
Could you clarify which ones you
would like me to speak on? COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
If you look at page two
of her letter, for example, she talks about story, cellar, and garage, and this is definitional. She talks about
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grading and foundation. She talks about additional 23
questions. Actually I’d like you to talk about all of those 24 25
things that she raises. You don’t have to spend a lot of
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time on any of them; some of them are more important than
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others.
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But she says, for example, “Is the lower level a cellar or a story? Can a story be a cellar? Are they mutually exclusive?” She raises some questions that I don’t think will take a long time for your answer, but I would
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like them to be answered. 8 9 10 11
MARNI MOSELEY:
Okay, I’ll do my best. Cellar
versus story are two separate items. The cellar is defined as relevant to the grade around it. The story has to do
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with the actual levels. This proposed project has two
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levels that are exposed at any given time. There is no
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three-story component that is exposed that does not include
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a cellar as part of it. The Town Code does define both of
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those and provides definitions for those, and they don’t
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necessarily work in collaboration with each other,
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unfortunately.
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COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
If it would help you, I
could just pull out some of the ones she asked. MARNI MOSELEY:
Sure.
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COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
For example, under
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Additional Questions she says, “Why is the setback line 24 25
along the east side measured from the edge of the pavement as opposed to the property line?”
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MARNI MOSELEY:
The required setback line, they
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may be providing a proposal as far as a visible
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representation of how far away from the physical right-of-
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way they’re providing, but the required setback line is from the property line, and it’s reduced so it’s actually only 12.5’ because of the slope differential. The Town Code
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does allow the 50% reduction in the front setback when the 8 9 10 11
slope is more than 10’. Or I’m stating it wrong. JOEL PAULSON:
When the elevation from street
level that within 50’ of the property is 10’ or more, you
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can reduce the front setback in half, so Town Code allows
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for that provision.
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MARNI MOSELEY:
I knew I was saying it wrong. I
couldn’t remember how far in the lot (inaudible).
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VICE CHAIR KANE:
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COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
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Commissioner Hanssen. I had a specific question
about the back setback. As you’re probably aware, there were quite a number of letters of opposition from the neighbors on Maggi Court—I hope I’m saying the name of the street right—and in the information in our packet it said
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something about the line of the house being 48’ from the 23
nearest resident, but then there’s a patio that goes behind 24 25
that, so I was just curious about what the actual setback
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was considering the patio that goes out the back as well as
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the edge of the building?
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MARNI MOSELEY:
The closest point of the
residence—that’s where we would measure the setback from— they do not provide me with a dimension from the patio down below. We don’t measure setbacks from patios, so they do
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not have that labeled, but from the closest point of the 8 9 10 11
residence to the property line is 23’-4”. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
So the edge of the house
before you go out to the patio is 23’?
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MARNI MOSELEY:
Correct.
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COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
Then I read through the
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consulting architect’s report and he didn’t have any major
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issues with the project, but he did mention one thing that
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caught my attention; it was the fact that the house is very
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dramatically different in terms of design, it being a
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modern architecture, than any other property, and I
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wondered if Staff thought there was any reason to consider that? The main reason he didn’t make an issue, if I read his comments correctly, is because you can’t view the
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property from Bella Vista itself very well, but all the 23
neighbors from the down neighborhood could see it very 24 25
well, and if you went through the neighborhood there are no
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other houses that are that kind of modern design, so I just
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wondered if Staff thought that was a concern at all?
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MARNI MOSELEY:
What I believe the consulting
architect actually mentioned was that the modern architecture lends itself well to development on the hillside, because a lot of time those roof forms mirror or
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mimic the hillside, and so a lot of times it actually 8 9 10 11 12 13
coincides better with our Hillside Development Standards and Guidelines rather than a more traditional architecture style where you’re going to have more ridges and peaks differently. The consulting architect did find that there is a
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variation of architectural styles out there, and I went
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back out there today and looked at them. The ones on this
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side of Bella Vista are quasi-modern. I mean, they aren’t
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really traditional architecture so much, so I think there
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is a variety out there and I think that is something that
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the consulting architect took into consideration, and Staff did as well. VICE CHAIR KANE:
Commissioner Burch.
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COMMISSIONER BURCH:
By any chance do you know,
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in some of the old soils studies that they did on the site, 24 25
did they take into consideration the use of heavy machinery on the site? As part of the project they’re going to be
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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driving four concrete footings with approximately 20’ piers
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into the soil, and that piece of equipment is very large.
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When you drive up there, you can see that the road just
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kind of wanders into the dirt. So I wasn’t sure, because it looks like some of the soil reports were done obviously a few years ago. Did they take into account using that type
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of heavy equipment and how that would potentially affect 8 9
the soils on the site? MARNI MOSELEY:
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Generally the Initial Study as
well as the geotechnical reports do look at the impacts of
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construction and the feasibility of those construction
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techniques for the site. Unfortunately, the geotechnical
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consultant is not present for tonight’s meeting, but the
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Applicant may be able to speak a little bit more to that
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too.
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COMMISSIONER BURCH: question with that?
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VICE CHAIR KANE:
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Can I ask a follow up
Yes.
COMMISSIONER BURCH:
Along with that, and looking
at the extremely heavy machinery that would be on that
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road, did they take into account the removal of trees, 23
particularly those trees in that area, with their erosion 24 25
control? MARNI MOSELEY:
Yes.
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COMMISSIONER BURCH:
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VICE CHAIR KANE:
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COMMISSIONER HUDES:
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Thank you.
Commissioner Hudes. My biggest concern with this
is the slope of the hillside that we’re dealing with, and I wonder if you can tell us is there anything in the code that talks about how steep is too steep? I know that in
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previous hearings there were comments made about is this a 8 9 10 11 12
buildable lot, or is this well suited for building on this lot at all? What are the Town’s standards with regard to the slope of a lot and building on it? MARNI MOSELEY:
There is no percentage of slope
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that is considered unbuildable. The Hillside Development
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Standards and Guidelines, I know that one of the neighbors
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mentioned, where it talks about hazardous on the sites.
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COMMISSIONER HUDES:
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MARNI MOSELEY:
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Page 16.
That’s where I was at, and I
didn’t find it. Page 23 of our Hillside Development Standards and Guidelines, sorry. It speaks to site-specific geologic and engineering investigations that are required, which were completed as part of this project, and then it
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talks about, “Construction shall be avoided in areas with 23
geologic hazards, for example, slope instability and 24 25
seismic hazards.” Those are really referring to areas that have been determined to actually have those hazards. Those
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hazards were not determined to be part of the makeup of
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this site. There are sites in town, some of them I’ve had
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to work on, where there are fault lines, and so the state
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mandates specific setbacks from those, and those are specific hazards that are really, I think, what this section of the Hillside Development Standards and
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Guidelines is trying to get at. 8 9 10 11
JOEL PAULSON:
I just offer also, on page 16 it
talks about hazardous sites with a 30% slope that I believe was referenced in one of the letters that you received
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today; that’s number six on page 16.
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VICE CHAIR KANE:
That’s where I was going to go,
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Mr. Paulson. On page 16, which I’d refer to you, or the 23,
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“Avoid hazardous building sites, building in areas with
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more than 30% slope, or areas containing the liquefiable
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soil bearing capacity (inaudible),” blah, blah, blah,
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“shall be avoided.” I’ve served on the Commission for a
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while and I’m passionate about the passionate Hillside Standards and Guidelines, and we normally do not support 30%; we’ve accepted that as a rule of thumb.
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Staff Report says this is an average of 53%, so 23
what that means is that another spot is 40%, this is 60%, 24 25
and another is 70%. I haven’t seen a project this steep before. Mr. Paulson may, but for members of the public, are
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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we losing the meaning on hillside when you make the obvious
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statement that there is no prohibitive slope, and I guess
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if I said 180% hanging from a rope, where do we… An average
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of 53%, I have no memory of anything like that before. How do we get around that, or how did you get around that? MARNI MOSELEY:
There are many examples on that
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side of Bella Vista where this type of construction 8 9 10 11
currently exists and has already been implemented on slopes very similar to this site. At the end of that number six it also says,
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“unless no alternative building site is available.” It says
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this is where generally an LRDA should include as far as we
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want to do what we can to reduce development on slopes over
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30%, but within those constraints where is the least
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impactful location on this site?
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VICE CHAIR KANE:
Let’s talk about LRDA. The
Hillside Guidelines goes at length to say find it. MARNI MOSELEY: VICE CHAIR KANE:
Mmm-hmm. Find the one spot where you can
build something and you’d be pretty much restricted to that
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by percentage of the footprint of the house. There’s no 23
LRDA on this site. 24 25
MARNI MOSELEY:
There is nothing that fits within
the 30% slope or as defined, but there is still what you
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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can look at and analyze and determine is the least
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impactful location on the site, but yes, there is nothing
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that technically conforms to the language within there.
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VICE CHAIR KANE:
Commissioner Hudes.
COMMISSIONER HUDES:
Following up on that point,
on page six of the report it says that, “As a result, the
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site does not contain any area that complies with the LRDA 8 9 10 11 12
requirements in the Hillside Development Standards and Guidelines. Does that preclude building on that site? MARNI MOSELEY:
No.
COMMISSIONER HUDES:
Explain to me why you can
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make the statement that there is no area that complies, and
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yet you can build on it.
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MARNI MOSELEY:
Rob, you want to weigh in a
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little bit on what that means to say that you can’t build
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on a site in town?
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ROBERT SCHULTZ:
There are many reasons why you
can find a lot is not buildable. Topography is one of them that you’re talking about right now, the slope. Our ordinance does not say what you’re looking for is for it to
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say if anything over 50% is non-buildable. That’s not what 23
the code section does; it provides you guidelines, and as 24 25
the sentence says, it’s to find the least obtrusive, or least obtrusive to the building site.
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There are many reasons why it can be unbuildable:
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flooding, it doesn’t fit the size of the lot, it doesn’t
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meet setbacks, it doesn’t have easements, or it doesn’t
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have access. We’ve always interpreted that LRDA requirement to be that’s what you’re looking for, and if it isn’t findable that doesn’t mean the lot just becomes
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unbuildable; and if it becomes unbuildable, then really if 8 9 10
that’s the interpretation, then we will have some issues regarding takings claims. VICE CHAIR KANE:
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It may not be unbuildable, but
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there may be restrictions with the size, the density, et
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cetera?
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ROBERT SCHULTZ:
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VICE CHAIR KANE:
Absolutely. And I’m concerned about, as
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always, giving it away. We give away 30%, we give away the
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LRDA, and where are we. This is an extreme case of trying
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to apply the hillside guidelines. I don’t think we’ve got
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into neighborhood compatibility yet and the words that talk about neighborhood compatibility, and again, the passion that goes with that. It seems to me that there’s room there
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to discuss privacy on neighborhood compatibility, and I 23
mean no disrespect, but there’s an elimination of privacy 24 25
on a number of the houses that I visited today, and is that
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neighborhood compatible? In fact, is this design
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neighborhood compatible?
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COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL: VICE CHAIR KANE:
(Inaudible).
Ah-hah. Why not?
COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL: VICE CHAIR KANE:
(Inaudible).
Oh. Well, thank you, Ms.
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Moseley. Anything else? Commissioner Hanssen. 8 9 10 11 12 13
COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
You mentioned there were
other properties that were set down the hill from Bella Vista. I saw one, I think it was 313 or similar address, but there are more than that? My second question is are there other parcels out
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there that are on that slope that we’re going to hear from
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in the future, or is this the last buildable possible lot
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that’s zoned for residential?
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MARNI MOSELEY:
There are some unique lots where
the roadway where Bella Vista went in split, some remnant pieces, and you see a 500 to 1,000 square foot sliver that’s owned by the person on the other side still, and you see the same kind of thing out on Glen Ridge, whether or
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not that was intentional, and is to the benefit of those 23
existing property owners; that’s what Glen Ridge owners 24 25
would say. I think there are two other little tiny ones, but a very different scenario.
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The other site along Bella Vista is the 331/333
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site. Actually, that’s a single-family residence with two
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secondary units on it. Then there’s one that is a little
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bit farther down, closer to Caldwell. When you look at it from downhill in the Maggi Court development, they look pretty close to each other, but they look further apart
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when you’re up on Bella Vista. 8
COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
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So those are ones that are
already built? MARNI MOSELEY:
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Correct.
COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
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There are two parcels. And
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then you’re saying there are or are not any vacant parcels
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right now? MARNI MOSELEY:
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situations on Bella Vista.
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There are no other similar
COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
That haven’t requested to
build yet? MARNI MOSELEY:
Correct.
COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: VICE CHAIR KANE:
Okay.
Commissioner O'Donnell.
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COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
I have a question for
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the Town Attorney. You alluded to the problem with deciding 24 25
a lot is non-buildable. I’m sure we’re going to hear more about that later, but I thought perhaps if we heard from
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you a little bit about… That in essence is a limitation we
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should be aware of, and I don’t think there’s a discussion
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of that, so if you could give us at least some indication
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of what that means. ROBERT SCHULTZ:
This, in my interpretation, is a
legal, buildable lot. When it was subdivided it became a
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legal lot. After that fact we have put restrictions on it 8 9 10 11
that you all talked about regarding the depth of the lot, sizes, and all of those things. Those in and of itself cannot then be determined to be unbuildable, and buildable
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has to go more towards the scientific and experts. I’ve
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seen buildable lots where there have been endangered
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species on it that protected the lot, or wetlands, or those
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issues that are more dealt with as a lot, as opposed to the
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issues that you’ve discussed are not unbuildable, but that
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does not mean this project automatically meets our criteria
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under a zoning.
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Those are all things that you need to talk about regarding compatibility and the protection of trees or anything else that you can discuss, but as far declaring
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this unbuildable because there are privacy issues, that 23
does not make a lot unbuildable because there are privacy 24 25
issues, if that helps.
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COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
The bottom line is I
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take it that if you decide it’s unbuildable notwithstanding
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the facts, you may have just bought the lot.
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ROBERT SCHULTZ:
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You definitely bought the lot.
COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
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VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you.
Other questions? One last
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comment, Ms. Moseley. 8
In our Hillside Guidelines we have a ledger, a
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map, of the hillsides, and I don’t need a camera focus on this. The green stuff is the hillsides. The big stuff is
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the hillsides. I know a hillside when I see a hillside. But
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there are two tiny little strips of green right in the
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middle of downtown just practically, two tiny little strips
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of green. I did not know that was hillside. Mr. Paulson had
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to educate me that that was indeed hillside. Do you think
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they were sending us a message when they designated those
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two little tiny strips of green and offered that there be
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some caution and conservation to those plots in the future?
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MARNI MOSELEY:
I think the direction was just
that that is a hillside environment and should be subject
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to the Hillside Development Standards and Guidelines. 23
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you very much. Other
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questions?
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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BARTON HECHTMAN:
representing the Applicant and I have turned in a card.
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I’m Bart Hechtman, I’ll be
Good evening, Vice Chair Kane and Members of the Commission. I’m Bart Hechtman with Matteoni O’Laughlin & Hechtman. I’m here representing Dan and Deborah Ross; they’re seated here to my left with their sons, Sam and
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George. 8 9 10 11
As you may know, the Rosses have lived in Los Gatos for the past 16 years and have been working on this home approval process for more than a decade. I want to
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thank you for your time this evening. I’ll start with and
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I’m going to end with the request that you adopt Staff’s
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recommendation for approval with the conditions attached to
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the Staff Report.
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Because there are new Planning Commissioners here
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since this last came to the Planning Commission, I wanted
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to provide some history. There is some in your Staff Report
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and I’ll try not to be too redundant, but there are currently two legal and buildable lots on Bella Vista Avenue, 339 and 341. Both lots have been determined by the
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Town to be legal lots and physically buildable. 23
The lots sit near the intersection of Highway 9 24 25
and 17, near medium-density attached townhomes on Maggi
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Court, a motel, and accommodation of single-family homes,
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condos, and duplexes on Bella Vista.
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In 2010 the Rosses applied for approval of two single-family homes, one on each of the two lots. This is a site plan from that time. By 2012 they had revised the plan many times, as shown on this next slide, and at that time
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it included a total square footage, including cellars, of 8 9 10 11
4,521 square feet and was recommended for approval by Town Planning and Town Engineering based on similar homes in the neighborhood.
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As Marni mentioned, the previous application was
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denied by the Planning Commission and by the Town Council,
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and that denial was based primarily on the fact that that
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application exceeded FAR, it required front and rear
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setback exceptions, it required a driveway length variance,
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and the Craftsman and Spanish style wasn’t an appropriate
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style for the hillside.
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The direction from the Council, Planning Commission, and the neighbors at that time was we want to see one lot, we want to see one home, we want a significant
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reduction in size, the house should be designed to fit the 23
hill, you need to move and lengthen the driveway, and no 24 25
variances.
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In direct response to the neighborhood, the
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Planning Commission, and the Town Council direction the
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Rosses are proposing a lot merger to create one legal
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10,155 square foot lot with one home and complying with all Town codes. The upper, lower, and cellar total area, total square footage, has been reduced from 4,521 square feet to
7
2,638 square feet. This new plan is reduced by 1,883 square 8 9 10 11
feet, or a 42% reduction, compared to the previous two-home application, and has one driveway and one garage. The proposal before you tonight complies with all
12
Town zoning codes. The plan is compliant; it meets FAR,
13
height, front setback, side setback, and rear setback
14
regulations. The proposed home complies with the Town
15
Zoning Code and requires no General Plan amendment, no
16
Zoning Code amendment, no Planned Development zoning, and
17
no variances. The proposed home has only a 14.6 FAR and lot
18
coverage of 13.4% on the 10,155 square foot lot.
19 20 21
The home was designed to minimize the need to use the rear yard and side yard to the north for decking and outside entertainment to minimize the impact to the
22
townhome neighbors. 23
It appears to be the largest lot, and the 24 25
driveway appears to be the longest driveway on the west downslope of Bella Vista.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
22
1
The two on-street parking spaces on Bella Vista
2
Avenue will remain, which will help with neighborhood
3
parking.
4 5 6
The plan fully complies with the Town Cellar Policy, which the Town not only allows but encourages, and this design does not require, nor are the Rosses
7
requesting, any variances. 8 9 10 11
Locating the house to the south end of the property reduces interface with the adjacent townhouses and allows the use of existing mature trees to screen the one
12
townhouse to the west. They were able to achieve greater
13
than the required 20’ setback, with the rear setback of
14
23’-4” at the north corner and 36’-4” at the south corner.
15
This also allowed them to locate the driveway in a safer
16
location, away from the curve on Bella Vista Avenue, and to
17
meet the 15% driveway slope requirement.
18 19 20 21
Privacy was a significant issue back in 2010 and 2012, and Vice Chair Kane, it still is and I expect we’ll hear that, but there are significant privacy measures taken related to this design. Per the HDSG compliance checklist,
22
page 4, Section B, the outdoor activity area has been moved 23
away from neighbors, quiet areas, and bedrooms; second 24 25
story windows have been minimized and oriented away from neighbors; one small deck at the back of the home is less
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
23
1
than 6’ deep and designed to block downward views from
2
inside the home; landscaping is used to screen views to
3
neighbors and existing vegetation will be removed; the
4 5 6
garage will block sound and light from vehicles, as recommended by section G-1-G; and patios to the south near Highway 9 are oriented away from the neighbors.
7
Page 4, Section E, states three-story elevations 8 9 10 11
are prohibited. The house itself is not three stories. The garage is angled so one corner at the rear at 4’-9” is visible; this minimizes the appearance of the three-story
12
elevation. Now, not that the garage is not required. The
13
Rosses think it is preferable for sound, light, and
14
appearance benefits, and the neighbors on Bella Vista
15
prefer it, but it could be replaced with a carport.
16
All existing trees to the north will remain; 25
17
of the 28 trees will be preserved onsite. Only three trees
18
will be removed. The two trees in the building footprint
19 20 21
require removal and are allowed to be removed in conformance with Town Code, as noted in your Staff Report. The Rosses will work with the Town Arborist and their
22
neighbors to plant additional trees per the landscape plan 23
and Town Code, and will provide the right amount of 24 25
screening.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
For the purposes of the Least Restrictive
2
Development Area, the LRDA, the home is sited on the most
3
appropriate area within the building envelope and the area
4 5 6
farthest from the neighboring properties. Given the site and slope greater than 30%, the home is in the least impactful location, as noted in your Staff Report.
7
The house is not visible from viewing platforms. 8 9 10 11
It sits lower than existing tree heights and won’t block views of the Los Gatos hillside or create new shade pattern.
12
The drainage plan meets Town Code.
13
Natural wood exterior finish will blend with the
14
natural environment with an earth tone roof.
15
Existing mature trees will screen the townhome
16
neighbors. Additional trees and shrubs will be added per
17
Town Code. Existing trees to the north and south of the
18
house will remain. The olive tree between the home and the
19 20 21
Maggi Court home will remain. After meeting with neighbors on Bella Vista the Rosses agree to plant trees that will screen the power lines. The oak tree near the power pole
22
will remain. 23
The window type and locations are sensitive to 24 25
privacy. The overhang is modest and the home is stepped with the slope. They’re using horizontal and vertical
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
25
1
building components. A minimalist style minimizes bulk,
2
mass, and volume of the house. No perimeter fencing is
3
proposed unless needed for privacy. The house has been
4 5 6
moved farthest from adjacent property and the natural features will be preserved on more than 86% of the lot. The house is designed to the hill with a design that’s common
7
to hillside sites in Los Gatos and other places. 8 9 10 11
Let’s look at the compatibility. Here’s the home setting. It’s a context here. The neighbors on Bella Vista are made up of one- and two-story single-family homes,
12
duplexes, houses with back yards, cottages, apartments,
13
condominiums, and flag lots. The proposed lot is the
14
largest lot on the west side of Bella Vista and one of the
15
largest on the street. It has one of the lowest FARs and
16
lot coverage on the street.
17 18 19 20 21
The townhouses on Maggi Court immediate adjacent are medium-density residential, three stories, 35’ tall, attached, they’re 7’ apart with 1,650 square feet of living area, 5,500 square foot garages on 1,307 square foot lots. That FAR equals 126%.
22
Mature trees obscure views from the deck and 23
patio, and the high-quality minimal style minimizes impacts 24 25
on the neighbors.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
Let’s see, I’m going to move to the end. The
2
Rosses have been respectful to their neighbors and the
3
Town, and the proposed home takes into consideration public
4 5 6
comments made by neighbors, Town Council and Planning Commission. We’re proposing a single home on a single merged lot with significant reductions in square footage
7
and a design that is sensitive to the privacy concerns. We 8 9 10 11
appreciate your concern, ask that you concur with Staff’s recommendation, and approve the home. I’d like to close with something that I do hope
12
we can all agree on tonight, and that is Go Warriors! Thank
13
you. I’m available to answer any questions.
14
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Well, that wasn’t fair. This is
15
minor, but you mentioned no impact on shade, or something
16
to that affect. I was there this morning at 9:30 and the
17
sun was coming up on Bella Vista and I think two of the
18
houses would be blacked out by the new structure. How would
19 20 21
I merge that with what you said about no shade impact? BARTON HECHTMAN:
There’s a shade study that is
part of the plan set that’s been submitted that shows that
22
the profile of the house is lower than the trees, so you 23
would have seen at that hour homes being shaded by trees, 24 25
and that shade pattern would continue.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Not being clear. I stood on the
2
patio of a house below it and the house was between the sun
3
and me. I moved to the left and right and there was the
4 5 6
sun. I’m sure the shade study is accurate. I’m just telling you my experience this morning of the house was between the sun and me.
7
BARTON HECHTMAN:
And there was no tree between
8 9 10 11 12 13
you and the sun is what you’re telling me, I think. VICE CHAIR KANE:
A number of trees, but the
sunlight came through them. Commissioner Hudes, did you have your hand up? COMMISSIONER HUDES:
Yes, I did. Thank you, and I
14
particularly appreciate your presentation addressing the
15
concerns that were raised by the Council in the previous
16
application.
17 18 19 20 21
In reading the Staff Report, it said the application did not address the concerns of the Commission as it related to the FAR, and I think I heard some specifics on that. The house size, I think I heard some specifics on that. But the third point I didn’t hear about,
22
and that is massing from the rear. By approximately what 23
percentage, or how much, has the massing from the rear been 24 25
reduced in this application, or has it at all?
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1 2
DAN ROSS: total length.
3 4 5 6
It went from 110’ at the back to 68’
BARTON HECHTMAN:
This is Dan Ross.
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Mr. Ross, thank you.
COMMISSIONER HUDES:
Yes, thank you. I guess I
would be looking at massing in terms of area, not just
7
height or width, but what is the area of that back wall, 8 9
that back mass, if you will? DAN ROSS:
10 11
home? BARTON HECHTMAN:
12 13
COMMISSIONER HUDES:
BARTON HECHTMAN:
(To Mr. Ross) Do we have that
figure?
18 19
The length times width
expressed in square footage.
16 17
You’re talking about a square
footage?
14 15
You mean the length of the back of the
DAN ROSS:
The length of the house is 68’, and
the depth of the house is 20’.
20
COMMISSIONER HUDES:
21
DAN ROSS:
And the height?
The height at the north corner is 22’-
22
1”. 23
COMMISSIONER HUDES:
And is that consistent
24 25
across the back?
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
DAN ROSS:
It’s a good question. We just had a
2
survey done on March 18th that verified the previous
3
engineer’s topography survey, and I have it with me. It’s
4 5 6
22’-1” at the north, and it’s 17’-6” at the south corner, from the current grade. COMMISSIONER HUDES: Something I would appreciate
7
understanding is how that concern of the Council was in 8 9 10 11 12
fact addressed. Is it more, less, and if it is less, how much less? Maybe it can’t be answered tonight, but that’s something I would need to understand. BARTON HECHTMAN:
I don’t think we can give you
13
two numbers tonight, which is clearly what your question
14
goes to, other than to indicate a couple of things.
15
One, the reduction of the square footage, which
16
has been discussed tonight, is not all in depth. Some part
17
of it is a reduction of the linear function, if you will,
18
looking from downhill.
19 20 21
The other aspects of massing of course are the visible massing, so a less wide house in trees will have less of it seen.
22
The third aspect is articulation. You always hear 23
people say break up the massing with articulation, and that 24 25
is addressed, I think, in the architectural plan. COMMISSIONER HUDES:
Thank you.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
VICE CHAIR KANE:
2
COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
3 4 5 6
Commissioner Hanssen. Thank you for your
presentation, and I appreciate that you went through and addressed all the points that came up from the previous hearing. My question is this. There were a lot of comments
7
made about modifications that were made to the new house 8 9 10 11
design that would address the concerns of the neighbors. Based on the number of opposition letters we received from the neighbors, I was curious to what extent the Applicant
12
or anyone representing them has actually sat down and met
13
with the neighbors and shared these plans with them to see
14
if you can mitigate some of their concerns? I saw that our
15
Town Staff did address all the letters and said whether
16
they agreed or not, but especially since this Applicant is
17
saying that they want to live in the house, I would think
18
they would want to make their neighbors as happy as
19 20 21
possible and I don’t see any evidence of meetings, so I would like to hear about that. BARTON HECHTMAN:
It is a good question, and
22
unfortunately it’s one of the things I cut as I noticed I 23
was running out of time, so let me answer it. The Rosses 24 25
notified the neighbors of their plans in the past, and have done so again and offered to meet with any neighbor to
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
31
1
review the plans. Each time the Rosses have interacted with
2
a neighbor they have expressed openness and a willingness
3
to meet, and none have contacted Mr. Ross, except Mr.
4 5 6
Coughlin across the street. They had a good discussion. Mr. Coughlin wanted to retain the garage and asked that the Rosses plant some additional trees on the property, which
7
they’re willing to do. So invitations have been extended, 8 9 10 11
just not accepted, other than by Mr. Coughlin. DAN ROSS:
It’s in the Letter of Justification
that’s in your file that we’ve had meetings since 2008.
12
I’ve had the same email address and same phone number since
13
2008. There is one neighbor who has stated to me that he’s
14
the representative of the Maggi Court group and anything
15
would go through him, and I reached out and left a message
16
for him. I did not receive a phone call back from him. I
17
left notes on porches and did not hear back from anybody,
18
and none of the other residents disagreed with his
19 20 21
statement that he would be the representative for the neighborhood. In our meeting in 2008, there was no two-way dialogue. It was a 90-minute meeting of them basically
22
saying why we shouldn’t be doing anything on this site, and 23
there was not an openness to have a two-way conversation. 24 25
COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
I appreciate that, but as
you probably have observed, there’s quite a number of
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
32
1
letters of opposition, so that presents a real dilemma that
2
there are this many people opposed to the project and there
3
is no dialogue happening to resolve the (inaudible).
4 5
DAN ROSS:
I’ve reached out and there’s been no
effort on anyone’s part to come and have dialogue.
6
BART HECHTMAN:
Your point is well taken. It’s a
7
frustration on this side that we couldn’t have that 8 9 10 11
dialogue. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: VICE CHAIR KANE:
Okay.
Other questions? Given that
12
you’re aware of some opposition to the project, how could
13
you propose to mitigate it, if at all? It goes to quality
14
of life of the folks at the bottom of the hill. They have
15
issues with feelings about safety, and the geotech person
16
is not here tonight. Is that our geotech person or the
17
Applicant’s geotech person? You’re the geotech person?
18 19 20 21
BART HECHTMAN:
No, the geotech person you were
wondering about would the Ross’s geotech, Upp Geotechnology, who is not present tonight, but we do have a letter from them.
22
If the safety issue you’re talking about is 23
landslide potential, nobody has actually said that, but is 24 25
that the geotech safety issue you’re concerned about? VICE CHAIR KANE:
Yes.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
BART HECHTMAN:
Okay. We do have a letter that
2
was just prepared this afternoon, which we have copies that
3
we can distribute, but I can tell you generally it
4 5 6
concludes that based on their study—and as your Planning Staff mentioned, there have been a dozen geotech studies of this property over the years—but based on those studies,
7
I’ll just read a sentence here: “We judge the risk for deep 8 9 10 11
seated landsliding to occur at this site is negligible,” but then they state that, “The slope stability will be improved by the construction of the proposed home for the
12
following reasons,” and they state three reasons. Again,
13
I’ll distribute this letter. The first is as a part of the construction you’re
14 15
going to be removing what they call the non-supportive
16
colluvium, so some of the least stable soil is going away,
17
being excavated for the home.
18 19 20
Second, the basement and house retaining walls will support the remaining colluvium and undocumented fill on the slope uphill of the home.
21
Finally, these retaining wall back drains reduce
22
the potential for water pressure to build up within the 23
colluvium, in the soil, and fill around the house 24 25
footprint.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
So we do have a geotechnical response indicating
2
not only is the current risk negligible, but also you
3
reduce the risk of a landslide affecting those downhill by
4
constructing this house.
5 6
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Pardon me, one second. Do we
have those letters?
7
BART HECHTMAN:
No, we just…
8
VICE CHAIR KANE:
9 10 11
I’m seeing Commissioners shake
their heads. You know that Commissioner Hudes and myself are not geotech people, but I’m concerned about that slope,
12
and that’s the very kind of thing we probably need, not to
13
mention the neighbors who have a fear of the project and
14
fear of the unknown. If you’ve got the known, we need to
15
know it.
16
BART HECHTMAN:
You also have the known, just not
17
in this format. You have the geotechnical reports that
18
reach these conclusions. This is sort of a summary of an
19 20 21
explanation, because there appear to be with the neighbors a lingering concern. But you have the data and the conclusions in the reports that are already part of the
22
record. 23
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. And by the way,
24 25
thank you for an excellent report. Commissioner Hudes.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
COMMISSIONER HUDES:
I did have some questions
2
about that report. Would you be willing to allow us to
3
speak with the geotechnical engineer at some point?
4
BART HECHTMAN:
5 6
Certainly.
COMMISSIONER HUDES:
Thank you. That would be
very helpful, I think.
7
BART HECHTMAN:
Just to clarify, are you
8 9 10 11
referring to in the context of a Planning Commission hearing, or to have Staff dialogue directly with the geotech? COMMISSIONER HUDES:
12
From my perspective, I have
13
questions that as a Commissioner I would like to ask of the
14
engineer.
15
BART HECHTMAN:
16
VICE CHAIR KANE:
All right. Other questions for the
17
Applicant? Seeing none, thank you.
18
BART HECHTMAN:
19 20 21
Thank you. I’m going to give the
copies to your Planning Staff to distribute the letter I just referenced. VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you very much. Before we
22
go to the public testimony portion of the public hearing, 23
I’m going to yield to a request that we take a short ten24 25
minute break, and we’ll be right back. (INTERMISSION)
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Can we take our seats? We’ve
2
had a discussion during the break on at least one of the
3
Commissioners’ concerns about the value of additional
4 5 6
information, especially as concerns geotech, and thank you for your letter, Mr. Hechtman; that was very helpful. It’s our opinion that it would be prudent to get the additional
7
information to learn more about the safety of the hillside, 8 9 10 11
for which reason the hearing will be continued to a date certain, however, given that you are all here, with the knowledge that when we continue the case you’ll be able to
12
speak again, the question is whether or not you would want
13
to speak tonight, and you have an option to do that. So
14
I’ll go through the cards. Anyone who wants to speak
15
certainly can. Anyone who wants to hold their powder till
16
be meet again, you can do so. At the end of that hearing
17
the Applicant will get five minutes tonight for rebuttal,
18
and so on in the future.
19 20 21
Counselor, did you have a comment? ROBERT SCHULTZ:
No, I think that described the
situation. It’s either that, or we can go through the whole
22
period and close the public comment and determine whether 23
you want to make a decision tonight, but it certainly seems 24 25
not only the question about the geotechnical, but there was also about the bulk and mass that I don’t believe can be
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
37
1
answered tonight, and there might be other things that you
2
do after the public comment that I’m sure the Applicant
3
would want to know what questions need to be answered
4
before he could get to the next hearing.
5 6
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. Commissioner
O'Donnell.
7
COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
I just want the record
8 9 10
to be clear too. This was not a conversation among all of the Planning Commissioners? ROBERT SCHULTZ:
11
Yes.
COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
12
It was not a decision
13
made by the Planning Commissioners. The Chair was concerned
14
about this, as I understand it, did discuss it with the
15
Town Attorney. One or two of us was more involved in this,
16
at no time majority involved. So in essence it’s a decision
17
of the Chair, one I respect, but I want the record to
18
reflect this was not a decision of the Planning Commission.
19
VICE CHAIR KANE:
20
ROBERT SCHULTZ:
21
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Quite right. Yes. So going forward, I’ll call a
22
card, you can come speak or you can just wave at me, and 23
know that we will be having the hearing continued to a date 24 25
certain. Any idea when that might be? Two weeks, four weeks?
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
JOEL PAULSON:
We’ll have to wait until the
2
Commission begins deliberation so we know how many
3
questions we have and what kind of information we’re
4 5 6
looking for. VICE CHAIR KANE: ROBERT SCHULTZ:
All right, thank you. Since certainly there will be
7
additional information that will come out from the 8 9 10 11
Applicant and you’ll be able to speak about it, what we’re hoping would occur is that if you had the same comments tonight, then the next meeting you wouldn’t repeat those
12
exact same comments, in order to keep the public hearing
13
going and let us do our business. So as the Chair uses the
14
word, if you want to “hold your powder,” if you want to
15
keep your comments and wait for the next meeting, you can
16
do that, or you can speak tonight. In any event, if you
17
want to do it at both, you will be able to.
18 19 20 21
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Given that we’re seeking
additional information, that additional information needs to be shared with the public. That may cause the same speaker to want to say something different. Mary Ann Lown.
22
You’d like to speak? Then you certainly should. Am I first? 23
Yes, you are first. 24 25
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
MARY ANN LOWN:
Hello, my name is Mary Ann Lown
2
and I live at 156 Maggi Court with my husband Ken, and
3
we’ve lived there for ten years.
4 5 6
I’m going to try to be very brief, because many of the things that you’ve addressed are things that I’m very concerned about, which is the geological safety.
7
I want to also mention that our complex is very 8 9 10 11
peaceful and quiet and private, and I say this because there have been statements made by some unknown person that has said that there’s no privacy, because we can hear each
12
other. “People can hear each other, and people can view us
13
from Bella Vista.” In fact, I want to say we do have
14
privacy and we do have quiet. We can hear crickets at night
15
and doves cooing by the day. There are occasional planes
16
going over, but that’s normal.
17 18 19 20 21
My home is particularly private, as it has a high retaining wall in our back yard, because it’s on the highest level at the peak of where those homes are, and because of that I’m very concerned about that retaining wall moving into our home when there’s earth movement and
22
stuff going on. I wanted to refer to the same thing you 23
did, which was page 12 of the Hillside Development 24 25
Standards and Guidelines, the geological hazards, but that’s already been mentioned.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
I also wanted to mention that we have a path
2
that’s used by our residents to access Bella Vista in the
3
back. Children come and go from school on that path, and I
4 5
have major concerns about falling objects from the construction that could harm someone.
6
I’m also very concerned about removing the old
7
oak trees, an important green tree canopy, because that’s 8 9
going to add to erosion and soil. The bulk and mass of the home will be unsightly
10 11
and intrusive to our privacy and peace due to people
12
hanging out on those balconies, and just to mention that we
13
have small back yards, we sit out there, it’s quiet.
14
Hearing voices and noise from up there will be intrusive. Please take our requests seriously and deny this
15 16
project.
17 18 19 20 21
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. Questions for the
speaker? COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
Would you be willing to
meet with the Applicant to discuss your concerns to see if they could mitigate them?
22
MARY ANN LOWN:
Sure, if he’d be willing to.
23
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. Other questions?
24 25
Thank you very much. Natalia Stulskaya.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
41
1
NATALIA STULSKAYA:
Hello, my name is Natalia
2
Stulskaya and I live at 152 Maggi Court. My house is down
3
the hill from the proposed property, 341 Bella Vista
4 5
Avenue, and I’ve lived there with my family for ten years now.
6
We are extremely concerned about the proposed
7
development in the area that has an excessively large 8 9 10
structure, removal of the large landmark trees, safety, and also noise of the construction. After reviewing all the plans I believe that the
11 12
proposed structure is excessively large. Given a slope that
13
averages at 53° and homes below the proposed construction,
14
it has a larger than necessary footprint. Also, it includes 1,156 square feet of space that
15 16
is classified as a cellar. This cellar space is a living
17
space, the bedrooms and bathrooms. I did some simple
18
calculations. The previously proposed plan had 20% of 481
19 20 21
square feet out of 2,319 square feet of overall footage classified as a cellar. This new plan has 44% of a space that is conveniently labeled as a cellar, so unless we call
22
it a winery, I don’t see how it’s a house with 44% of the 23
cellar. 24 25
It’s because of this unreasonable desire to put an approximately 2,700 square feet house on a very steep
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
42
1
slope that our neighborhood has to suffer a large
2
construction project, and also take the unnecessary risk of
3
removing the trees, effectively ruining our beautiful
4
hillside that we have today.
5 6
The guidelines suggest that removal of trees and shrubs shall be minimized to the extent visible. I do not
7
believe that this is what is being proposed by the plan. 8 9 10 11
Instead, we have the plan that suggests removing the three biggest trees to the amount necessary to accommodate a larger building. I’ve walked on Bella Vista every day for the past
12 13
ten years. In the morning my kids walk to school, and on
14
the weekends we walk to the farmers market, we walk to the
15
library. On that same street we have examples where houses
16
were built on the flat lots and they do have trees that
17
were saved. For example—I’ve printed out that map—there is
18
an example on 210 Caldwell Avenue and also 142 New York
19 20 21
Avenue, so it’s basically the same neighborhood, same street, and these are recently built houses, 2012 and 2014, and trees were saved.
22
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. You need to wrap up.
23
NATALIA STULSKAYA:
Okay, thanks.
24
VICE CHAIR KANE:
25
Thank you very much. Debra
Chin.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
DEBRA CHIN:
Hi, good evening, Commissioners. My
2
name is Debra Chin and I live at 154 Maggi Court in the
3
Bella Vista townhomes.
4 5 6
We as neighbors, and you as Commissioners rely on the Applicant to provide factual information to help us make a fair determination on the impact of the project.
7
Although the Applicant claims that his current plans for 8 9 10 11
the site are fully compliant, there are several issues that I’d like to call to the attention of the Commissioners. First is the three-story elevation. I’m
12
presenting an exhibit here that shows the Town’s response
13
to my email dated March 22nd responding to the Mitigated
14
Negative Declaration. Comment D-2 states, “The Town does
15
not concur that the project violates the Hillside
16
Development Standards and Guidelines. The Town does concur
17
that the proposed home is 3,139 square feet and three
18
stories.” As clearly shown on page 36, also excerpted here,
19 20 21
three story elevations are prohibited. So what’s changed? Has the standard changed, or has it been an exception made for this proposed plan?
22
The cellar. We’ve talked a little bit about the 23
Cellar and Attic Policy. It was adopted with the intent to 24 25
reduce the bulk, mass and scale of new homes. Putting the bedrooms in the cellar actually runs contrary to the intent
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
of this policy, as it adds additional bulk and mass from
2
the rear side facing the neighboring townhomes.
3 4 5 6
Continuing on the bulk and mass comment, instead of following direction given by the Town Council to reduce the mass significantly, the Applicant has increased the size of this single home so that it’s now 46% larger than
7
the prior plans and 53% larger than the average homes on 8 9 10 11
the west side of Bella Vista, and this is taken from an exhibit that was submitted by the Applicant as comparable homes. Lastly, the rear patio retaining wall. Granting
12 13
an exception to the Hillside Standards for a rear patio
14
retaining wall is not warranted since the bedrooms can be
15
placed on the main level, removing a requirement for egress
16
to a patio from the cellar. This patio actually negatively
17
impacts the neighbors on Maggi Court to the benefit of the
18
Applicant.
19 20 21
I respectfully ask that for all parties concerned the Planning Commission gives the Applicant clear direction to comply with the Hillside Standards and Guidelines. Thank
22
you. 23
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Questions for the speaker?
24 25
Commissioner Hanssen.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
I have the same question I
2
asked earlier. Would you be willing to meet with the
3
Applicant to come up with a design that could mitigate your
4 5 6
concerns? DEBRA CHIN:
Well, I actually want to make a
comment, because there was something submitted in a
7
document that called me out by name in terms of saying that 8 9 10 11
I did not disagree that we had a spokesperson. I did not disagree or agree, because I was never asked the question. I was given a notice under my doormat three days before the
12
hearing, a comments are required. I’m home every day, all
13
day, I work from home, so I don’t believe that there is a
14
sincere desire to meet with us to address our concerns.
15
COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
But supposing that there
16
was, you would be willing to talk about that, to come up
17
with something? Because at the end of the day the Applicant
18
has a right to build on their property, it’s just a
19 20 21
question of what it is, but you would be willing to if they were willing on their side? DEBRA CHIN:
Yeah, and I want to say that I’m
22
willing to meet, but I’m not qualified or interested in 23
designing a home, because I just don’t know how to do that. 24 25
I just know that it should be compliant.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
I probably misspoke. What
2
I meant to say is if you have concern X, that they could
3
say we’ll change this to address it.
4 5 6
DEBRA CHIN:
Sure, if the changes are to meet
these concerns, I’m willing to listen to them. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
Thank you.
7
VICE CHAIR KANE:
I need to put this in the form
8 9 10 11
of a question, so it’s do you know. Do you know that it would appear to many people that the basement is a first floor, however, it meets the legal definition of a
12
basement, and whether the language is inadequate or is
13
being maximized in the advantage of the Applicant, the fact
14
is it’s a basement, so we’re stuck with that? I just want
15
to share that, because I think it’s important. I know what
16
it looks like, but it’s a lawful basement.
17 18 19 20 21
DEBRA CHIN: I guess I’m not debating the definition of a basement. My comment was around the three stories. The Town did reply to my letter acknowledging it was three stories. VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. Pat Tillman. Again,
22
we have the option of speaking or waiting. 23
PAT TILLMAN:
My name is Pat Tillman; I live at
24 25
150 Maggi Court. I live with Mary Badame, who is normally
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
the chairperson here. Everyone here knows that, but in case
2
somebody doesn’t.
3 4 5 6
In any case, Mr. Ross said that I represented to him that I represent this group. I’ve never said that. I’ve tried never to imply that. He came over to our house. He sat down and I asked him a lot of questions, and he gave
7
evasive answers. His initial presentation, whenever that 8 9 10 11
was, back in 2012, was very misleading. This presentation, I believe, is very misleading. You can’t get the right facts out of here, and I don’t
12
believe Town planners have assisted us. I can’t find
13
comments in that report that address the community; they’re
14
all comments about Dan Ross and what he wants. I can give
15
you examples.
16
Well, let me use the comparison. The Overlook
17
project is coming up next, so that’s on the agenda. In the
18
Planning Department’s report, in the Background section, it
19 20 21
says, “The project is being forwarded to the Planning Commission, because neighborhood concerns regarding mass, height, privacy and neighborhood compatibility could not be
22
resolved.” That’s on page three. Then it goes on to say, 23
“Recommendation: Staff recommends denial of the 24 25
Architecture and Site Application based on the height and
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
mass of the residence in comparison with those in the
2
immediate area.” That’s on page ten.
3 4 5 6
Now, I suspect that everyone here has seen the Overlook project. This has no comparison with that, and Planning addressed the privacy, bulk and mass, and the height, all the things that the neighborhood is concerned
7
about. The whole purpose of this process is to protect the 8 9 10 11
neighborhood, not to assist the developer. What we have in our packet is in the same section, Background. Here’s what the Applicant says, and
12
goes on for three-quarters of a page of what Dan Ross
13
wants. That’s it. There’s no comment in there about our
14
privacy, bulk and mass, intrusion, any of the stuff that
15
we’ve been complaining about for five or six years. And in
16
the Recommendations, they don’t have any except these are
17
the findings we want you to make, which are the legal
18
findings. I mean, talk about getting some help from the
19 20 21
Planning Department; I’d really like some. I sent in three letters. I hope you got the last one, it was sent Monday morning at 8:38. I sent in three
22
letters. We have my first letter going back four years ago, 23
then the General Plan and Hillside Standards and Guidelines 24 25
violations, and the last, an unbelievable number of them,
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
and four years worth of warnings to these people, and we’re
2
in the same (inaudible).
3 4 5
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you, Mr. Tillman, and
thank you for all your letters and hard work. Questions for the speaker?
6
PAT TILLMAN:
I would appreciate some.
7
VICE CHAIR KANE:
I have one. In your letter you
8 9 10 11
make a number of statements that the matter is going to be continued, maybe you’d want to rethink them or substantiate them. On page two you talk about cut and fill and reference
12
pages in the Hillside Guidelines and say both were
13
exceeded.
14
PAT TILLMAN:
Yes.
15
VICE CHAIR KANE:
I don’t see that. I wish you
16
would elaborate. Not now, but if you could get back to us
17
in writing, and get back to us as soon as you could in
18
writing.
19 20 21
PAT TILLMAN:
No, I did. It’s in that letter.
VICE CHAIR KANE:
I think I started reading this
this afternoon.
22
PAT TILLMAN:
It’s in that letter. It’s Figure 9
23
in the Mitigated Negative Declaration. 24 25
VICE CHAIR KANE:
The driveway and parking you
are saying exceeds 15% slope, in adequate line of site.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
PAT TILLMAN:
2
VICE CHAIR KANE:
3 4 5 6
Yes. Tell us more about that,
because I can’t find it. To say that such-and-such is the way it is, I just wish you could substantiate it. I think it’s a good letter. It needs to be… PAT TILLMAN:
I can. I can do it now.
7
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Well, Denzel Washington said,
8 9 10 11 12
“Talk to me like I’m a six year old.” Make it black and white and clear. And number eight, “Building height exceeds the 28’ max.” Now, Staff said that’s not the case.
13
PAT TILLMAN:
Go figure.
14
VICE CHAIR KANE:
So those are three things that
15
if you want to substantiate them, it would be helpful.
16
Other questions for the speaker?
17
PAT TILLMAN:
18 19 20 21
But may I ask a question myself?
Because those three items should have been directly addressed. The conclusion has been addressed, but the specifics have not been supplied. VICE CHAIR KANE:
Yeah, for whatever reason I
22
didn’t get it, so I’m asking you to help me. 23
PAT TILLMAN:
No, no, no, I supplied the
24 25
specifics. I meant the Applicant has not supplied those specifics. You shouldn’t be allowed to walk up to this
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
panel and say that parking driveway has less than a 15%
2
grade, or whatever. It’s far more than that.
3
VICE CHAIR KANE:
4
PAT TILLMAN:
5 6
Thank you, Mr. Tillman.
Thank you.
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Erin Johnson, you have the
option.
7
ERIN JOHNSON:
Hi. My name is Erin Johnson and I
8 9 10 11 12
live at 150 Maggi Court. In addition to being a current resident I was also born and raised in this town, so that makes 32 years. Last week I fractured part of my foot. On Friday
13
I worked for home, and for extra comfort I curled up into
14
my mom’s bed. That bed is located in the master bedroom
15
facing the cliff that the Applicant is pushing for the
16
fifth time to build upon. In bed I felt at peace. The 53%
17
slope is an open kind of rural space covered in greenery
18
and beautiful trees, and one tree in particular is a 150-
19 20 21
year-old oak that the Applicant previously expressed to save. Now it could very well be destroyed. Not necessarily. Anyhow, my peace was disrupted at the thought of
22
having a house towering over me, a house peering in and 23
over mine, all because the Applicant expects the Town to 24 25
make exceptions. I can literally throw a stone from our back patio to Bella Vista Avenue.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
Speaking of throwing things, plans show that the
2
development’s kitchen will align with our master bedroom.
3
Perhaps I can get tossed a pancake or two for some
4 5 6
breakfast in bed. The Hillside Development Standards are in place for a good reason. Rules are rules. This is the fifth
7
hearing in five years. We meet again because the Applicant 8 9 10 11
insists on building a bloated house on a cliff; in fact, this time around the application has increased in mass and scale. There is an absolute disregard for rules and
12
guidelines here, and I ask you to please shut down this
13
project once and for all. Please deny it and uphold the
14
standards of our town.
15 16
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. Questions for the
speaker? Commissioner Hudes.
17
COMMISSIONER HUDES:
18
ERIN JOHNSON:
19 20 21
You refer to an oak tree.
A Coastal oak.
COMMISSIONER HUDES:
Are you familiar with the
diagram, which is page 33 or the arborist’s report, and could you point that tree out on that diagram? My question
22
would be is that one of the three that the Applicant is now 23
saying will be removed? 24 25
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
ERIN JOHNSON:
It is one of the three that he is
2
saying will now be removed, but in previous plans it was
3
going to be saved.
4 5 6
COMMISSIONER HUDES:
Can you show us which one
that is? The one that’s right in the middle of the house or… Number two? And that’s within the footprint of the
7
house, is that correct? Okay, thank you. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Other questions for the
speaker? Thank you very much. ERIN JOHNSON:
Thank you.
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Nicholas Williamson. You have
the option go/no go. NICHOLAS WILLIAMSON:
Good evening, ladies and
15
gentlemen. I’m Nicholas Williamson; I live in 148 Maggi
16
Court, which is directly below the project site.
17 18 19 20 21
I must say I’m very grateful that you want to take some more time to look at the geotechnical, because that was a big concern of us; we do live immediately below. I mean the building overhangs us, so we are very concerned about what might happen. And it’s not just landslide, it’s
22
shaking as well, because anything could shake off the 23
building and it comes from a much greater height than even 24 25
our house. We’re so close to this that we are concerned, so I’m grateful for that.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
I’m a bit concerned that we have to move the
2
hearing, because I travel a lot on business and I’m afraid
3
I might miss the next one, so I have to see when that is.
4 5 6
One thing I want to pick up on is when I read the documents Staff implied this was not a hillside of great concern. I welcome that you look at this as a proper
7
hillside. It is, and the attitude that it’s not a great 8 9 10 11
concern allows creep. It allows creep and erosion of the standards that we want to apply to all of our hillsides, so it’s very, very important that we uphold the principles and
12
the hillside law in all of these decisions, and not abuse
13
that law.
14
When Mr. Ross bought this land it came with some
15
pretty severe constraints, and they’re obvious to see. You
16
already commented on the slope, the proximity of the
17
neighbors, it’s very narrow from the road to the bottom,
18
and there are geotechnical concerns. There are some very,
19 20 21
very significant constraints which are not buried in the code, they’re not buried in the law; they’re obvious to see with your eyes. Mr. Ross may have acquired a right to
22
build, which was granted in 1938, but that doesn’t mean 23
it’s possible to build on that land in 2016. 24 25
I think that we have to apply the hillside law very, very strictly, and this proposal does breach the
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
hillside law in multiple places. I won’t go into detail
2
right now unless you ask me the question.
3 4 5 6
I would like to point out the net lot deduction on the slope averaging 53% is woefully in adequate; I could go into more detail on that. This house is bigger than previously was planned for the site of 341, much bigger. I
7
think at one point they were talking about an FAR of 700’ 8 9 10 11
or 800’, and suddenly we’re like double that on the same plot. It’s amazing. That’s about all probably I’ll go into detail
12
today. I’m really grateful that you uphold the law and
13
thank you for your time to visit.
14 15 16
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. Questions for the
speaker? Commissioner Hanssen. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
Based on your comments I
17
don't know if drew the correct conclusion, but it sounded
18
to me like you didn’t think it was feasible to build
19 20 21
anything on that property. Can you envision a residential unit that would work? NICHOLAS WILLIAMSON:
Honestly, when I look at
22
it, I don’t think it’s feasible to build. I think it’s been 23
noted before that it’s virtually unbuildable. I think there 24 25
are people waiting to see whether something is possible. Constraints change over time, and so I don't know. I look
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
at it, I don’t think it’s feasible, and I think that was
2
obvious to anybody looking at it and anybody deciding to
3
buy it.
4 5 6
COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
Supposing that this does
go forward though, would you be willing to work with the Applicant to address some of your concerns?
7
NICHOLAS WILLIAMSON:
I think Ms. Chin said it
8 9 10 11
quite correctly. We want the building or whatever is going to be there to be compliant and to obey every part of the law, but we’re not experts in designing the house. I’d
12
obviously prefer nothing was built, but of course I will
13
listen to designs just the same as we’re here tonight, and
14
my neighbors, I’m newer than them to the development,
15
they’ve been along before. I’m here tonight because I’ve
16
come to listen; I’ve come to learn more.
17 18 19 20 21
I did reach out to Staff for a dialogue; unfortunately they didn’t respond to me. I am listening, but I do think this is really difficult, and if you’ve seen the site, I’m the house that’s not actually mentioned as being adjacent, but I’m right underneath it, and I don’t
22
like going away on business and knowing there might be 23
something. 24 25
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you, Mr. Williamson.
COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
Thank you.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
NICHOLAS WILLIAMSON:
2
VICE CHAIR KANE:
3
KEN LOWN:
4 5 6
Thank you very much.
Ken Lown.
Hi, my name is Ken Lown; I live at 156
Maggi Court. I had a little speech I’d written down, but it touches on a lot of the topics that have already been talked about, so I don’t really want to cover those again.
7
I do want to say one thing about mass and scale 8 9 10 11
and the comment about reduction of mass and scale relative to the combined size of two homes in the previous proposal, and now there’s one home. If I go to Nick, who spoke, his
12
back yard, which we were at the other night, the effect of
13
the story poles are just visceral, because the mass and
14
scale is not distance; it’s sitting within I think 45’. I
15
don't know; this room is maybe a little smaller than 45’ in
16
distance. And that was just the story poles, so I’m
17
imagining what an actual structure would look like to the
18
residents down at Maggi Court when it’s there.
19 20 21
The other thing I do want to touch on, and I don’t think anybody has brought up, is what happens during construction. I don’t actually know how much the Planning
22
Commission considers the impact of construction, but there 23
were some comments in the negative (inaudible) about the 24 25
levels of noise that would be generated, and talked about numbers like 85 dBA and numbers that might extend a little
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
bit beyond that. Eighty-five dBA is the level that OSHA
2
sets as requiring hearing protection for extended
3
durations, and of course during construction it will be
4 5 6
extended duration. Several of the residents down on Maggi Court work from home, and several of the residents have school children. During construction working from home will
7
become, I believe, nearly impossible. The distraction, the 8 9 10 11
annoyance, the inability to have conference calls, and the inability of the kids to focus and concentrate on the school days. I don't know if the construction will happen
12
on the weekends or Saturdays, so that’s a concern to me as
13
a resident.
14
The one other thing I did want to touch on is I
15
was one of the folks that have written a letter, and after
16
I wrote the letter I found out that at least one of the
17
things I stated in it was incorrect in that current fire
18
codes require residential sprinklers.
19 20 21
But I’m still curious about what the fire plan would be if something were to happen at that residence, at that structure, because the only place they could attack it
22
from would be from Bella Vista, which is the top of that 23
slope, and they’d probably lay out 1-1½” to 2-2½” hoses at 24 25
about 300 gallons a minute, and this would all come running down that hill.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
VICE CHAIR KANE:
2
KEN LOWN:
3
VICE CHAIR KANE:
4
Any questions? Questions for the speaker?
Thank you. Forrest Straight.
5 6
Thank you, sir.
FORREST STRAIGHT:
Forrest Straight, 146 Maggi
Court.
7
You may or may not consider me an expert witness, 8 9 10 11
and I’d be happy to give you my education afterwards, but bulk and mass. This particular drawing and proposal is larger than the last one above. When you add the total
12
square footage, 3,200 square feet, and add all the decks,
13
you’re looking at a footprint of about 4,000 square feet.
14
It’s bigger than the last structure, but in
15
addition to that, it’s about 10’ closer. The drawings show
16
it at 50’ from house; it’s closer to 40’. Measurement to
17
the back wall from where you’re sitting is about the
18
distance that this place would be from my house. Look up
19 20 21
six stories high, because that’s how big… If you’ve been there and been to my house, it’s six floors above me. I mean it’s massive. I don't know what degree it is, if it’s
22
80°; it’s almost vertical. 23
Cellar. What happens is the hillside is 30°. The 24 25
drawings behind you, if you take a protractor you’ll find that the angle I think on the drawing on the right is at
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
28°. What we know, what many people have said in your stack
2
of paperwork, from the bottom of the hill it’s 53°. The
3
reciprocal of that, 90° less 53° is 37°. The angle from the
4 5 6
top is 37°. I took instruments, I checked it. It’s very close to 53°. I took instruments on top of the hill. Very close to 37°.
7
This is a scale drawing; it shows the road above. 8 9 10 11
What happens is the little box at 74’, that represents the cellar. At 28° you see that it’s a cellar, but at 37° degrees my drawing shows that it’s not a cellar. The 37°
12
ends up on this scale drawing of my house down near the
13
base of my house, which is exactly what it is. If you take
14
the 28° in your drawings, it shows that the slope would
15
come right in the middle of my house. Incorrect. It’s not a
16
cellar.
17 18 19 20 21
In regard to the geotechnical, the property as far as Santa Clara County is concerned is in a hazard zone for fault rupture, landslide, and liquefaction. What happens is we have these big, huge trees, 65’ wingspan, pi r squared, you’ve got about 10,000 square feet of trees
22
with a deep root and a massive structure of roots. When you 23
take that out, you destabilize the hill. You take that out, 24 25
you take a big gouge of dirt out, you add tons and tons of concrete, and what you end up…
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1 2 3 4 5 6
I’d be happy to keep going on if you like, to continue on the geotechnical. VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you very much. Questions
for the speaker? Commissioner Hudes. COMMISSIONER HUDES:
Just rudimentary geometry
here. You’re showing degrees. I believe that the reports
7
that I’ve read are expressing the slope as rise over run in 8 9 10 11
a ratio percentage. How does that relate to what you’re showing here? FORREST STRAIGHT:
Most of the reports that you
12
have are always in degrees, 53° from the bottom, 37° from
13
the top, although I don’t think 37° is mentioned that
14
often. But if you take a protractor, put it on the drawing
15
behind you, you’ll find that the drawing is at 28°. If you
16
put the drawing at 10° the house is under earth. But at
17
28°, it’s a deception.
18 19 20 21
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. Other questions for
the speaker? Thank you, sir. Tim Coughlin. TIM COUGHLIN:
My name is Tim Coughlin; I’m at
320 Bella Vista, directly across from the subject property.
22
I did talk to Dan Ross. I asked him to come to 23
meet with me; I wanted to see the plans and I wanted to see 24 25
what he had proposed for the site. He did come out and we discussed it to my satisfaction.
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
Just for your review, this is the hillside; this
2
is a blowup of the hillside. You can see that the
3
designation hillside is this little area there, so this is
4 5 6
a hillside development. I submitted a letter that you have in your packet. There’s a picture in there that shows the property from our vantage point in our house, and I took up
7
this issue with Dan. I said, “If you’re going to take these 8 9 10 11
oak trees out, how will you mitigate that?” and he promised that he’d put some more trees in somewhere. I don’t find that satisfactory, so I actually
12
started digging into the hillside plan and I found there’s
13
something called “intent.” Now, his arborist report says
14
he’ll be taking out seven protected trees, and Tree 1 and
15
Tree 2 are these huge, beautiful oak trees; those will be
16
the ones that are in the drip line of the house. In the
17
Intent section it says, “This division is adopted because
18
the Town of Los Gatos is forested by many native and non-
19 20 21
native trees and contains individual trees of great beauty. The health and welfare of the citizens of the Town require that these trees be saved in order to preserve the scenic
22
beauty of the Town, prevent erosion,” et cetera. And that’s 23
Section 29.10.0950. 24 25
Then there’s a section called Standards of Review. The Standards of Review are intended to serve as
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1
criteria for evaluating tree removal requests, and there
2
are seven guidelines; you probably have these. I’m an
3
amateur at this and I’m just looking at some of these
4 5 6
things that I was able to dig up, and one of the exceptions that’s made for one of the decisions you can make in allowing a tree to be removed is if it covers 25% of
7
proposed building envelope, and his plan does show that 8 9 10 11
it’s going to cover 26% of the envelope, but this says very specifically, “except for properties located within hillsides.” So this binding of 25% really doesn’t apply
12
here, and I would like to see this house worked within the
13
existing trees. VICE CHAIR KANE:
14 15
Thank you, sir. Jeff Saunders.
Thank you. Eleanor Leishman.
16
ELEANOR LEISHMAN:
Good evening, Commissioners,
17
my name is Eleanor Leishman. I live with my husband David
18
at 332 Bella Vista Avenue. We’re about two houses north of
19 20 21
the property at 341 Bella Vista on the east side of the street. I have many, many objections to this proposed
22
project, but tonight I’m simply going to speak about 23
traffic issues on Bella Vista and how this project would 24 25
impact them in a negative way.
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I know from being at past hearings with some of
2
you about this project, and also from listening to the 360
3
Bella Vista hearing recently, that many of you use the
4 5 6
street to ride bikes, or to walk, to ride, that you are sensitive and aware of the traffic history and the history of traffic safety problems on our street, so I won’t
7
belabor the fact. 8 9 10 11
I’d like to state that there have been ongoing problems and that we have a high volume of cars on our street; it’s a result in a sense of the overall traffic
12
increases in the Town, because of development, spillover
13
from Los Gatos Boulevard, students going to and from the
14
high school, their parents speeding back along our street;
15
it’s not just kids. A lot of people use our street for
16
recreation; children, cyclists, all kinds of people enjoy
17
our scenic and beautiful street.
18 19 20 21
The driveway of this property is going to slope up a hill and it’s going to cut into Bella Vista on a diagonal from the garage on a slope so that the drivers will back up the hill, if they’ve driven down the hill to
22
the garage they’ll be backing up. I believe that they won’t 23
have a clear line of sight until they hit the street, at 24 25
which point they’re going to be backing onto Bella Vista and into the line of southbound traffic, and if you’ve ever
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been on Bella Vista around 7:15 to 8:00 o’clock in the
2
morning you know that there’s a lot of traffic southbound,
3
some of it going very fast, some of it speeding up right
4 5 6
around the curve by this property. Once they get over the little speed bump by our house, they jet onto the bridge. I raise this as a concern that I hope you will
7
explore. I’m sure you’ve considered it already and you’ve 8 9 10 11 12
seen the plans. Any development on our street I think is going to impact us. It’s a fragile little old street; it was never designed for the amount of trucks and wide cars. Parking is going to be another problem, because
13
the spaces near the property are almost always full, and
14
they obscure the view further from around the bend.
15
I urge you to consider these parking and traffic
16
issues, along with all the others that you have on your
17
plate, and I thank you very much.
18 19 20 21
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. Questions for the
speaker? Thank you very much. Edgar Corral. Okay. I do not have any other speaker cards. I have one more coming. I have two more coming. You may start, and please give it to
22
Ms. Moseley. 23
SHANNON SUSICK:
I’m Shannon Susick, 16407 Shady
24 25
View Lane. A couple of things.
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As long as you’re going to be gathering more
2
information for the next hearing, I would recommend a new
3
arborist report, because I couldn’t match up the protected
4 5 6
trees that were being removed with what they displayed, and in addition, it appears that it’s pretty dated. It should be looked at again as far as the condition of the trees,
7
since we’ve had a pretty healthy winter rain. I come from 8 9 10 11
an environmentalist standpoint, so I look at those oak trees, and I look at that site, and I go oh my gosh. In regard to the Staff Report, which I thought
12
was lacking in some things. I think the comparable
13
addresses on the other side of the street that are in this
14
table are not appropriate; they’re on flat sides. The ones
15
that are on the same side of the street have similar slope.
16
And then that goes to the whole idea—and I’m
17
putting my appraiser’s hat on right now—of the FAR and
18
cellars and basements, and I’m going to the Town Code,
19 20 21
which defines cellar. We could look at the definition of cellar. “The room below ground level in a house, typically one used for storing wine or coal.” I don’t think we’re
22
storing coal anymore these days, but the idea of a cellar, 23
and the definition in our Town Code is, “An enclosed area 24 25
that does not extend more than 4’ above the existing or
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1
finished grade,” and that is in Section 29.10.020 in
2
Definitions.
3 4 5 6
This area in this plan looks more like a basement, because it is an enclosed area, and as defined here they, “shall be included in the floor area ratio calculation.” No one builds a home and puts bedrooms and
7
bathrooms in a cellar, and I think the Town really needs 8 9 10 11
to… I know it’s beyond your scope to change the definitions or to revise them, but I think that that needs
12
to be looked at. Because of that, the floor area ratio is
13
out of whack. It’s really a 2,600 square foot house, and
14
it’s showing as 1,278, or actually on this table as 1,463
15
and a FAR of .14.
16
The other issue with this table is the lot size
17
of 10,000 square feet. Yes, you’re going to merge that, and
18
technically it’s 10,000 square feet, but really what is the
19 20 21
utility? It’s not 10,000 square feet. You’re looking at something more like Laurel Mews. Then I want to also address the balance in the
22
neighborhood and just in general. I think when I see these 23
things come before you and there are so many people and 24 25
neighbors against a project and they come over and over again, that that should be considered.
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VICE CHAIR KANE:
2
SHANNON SUSICK:
3
VICE CHAIR KANE:
4 5 6
Thank you very much. Thanks. Any questions? Any questions for the speaker?
Seeing none, I thank you again. Janet Carmona. JANET CARMONA:
Hi, good evening. My name is
Janet Carmona and I reside at 160 Maggi Court.
7
I urge you to deny the proposed development at 8 9 10 11
341 Bella Vista Avenue for the following reasons: The architecture of this proposed development is completely out of context with the neighborhood. It looks
12
like shipping containers with windows stacked on top of one
13
another, especially in this image. There is nothing like
14
this on Bella Vista. It is not compatible with the
15
neighborhood and it is not in harmony with the natural
16
setting. Furthermore, this proposed development has three
17
elevations, and I know you’ve seen these already.
18 19 20 21
According to the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Initial Study prepared by the Town of Los Gatos Community Development Department, it states on page 32, Section 1-C, “Homes along the east side of Bella Vista
22
Avenue in the project vicinity are one and two stories, not 23
three. The Town of Los Gatos Hillside Standards prohibits 24 25
three-story elevations.”
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Also this home is simply too large. Removing one
2
residence does not make the other residence any less bulky,
3
which can be seen from impacted neighbors. I do not
4 5 6
understand why this proposed development is not smaller. A smaller development would have less impact on the hillside and at the same time reduce bulk and mass. According the
7
Town of Los Gatos Hillside Standards, page 36 states, 8 9 10 11
“Buildings shall be designed to minimize bulk, mass, and volume so as not to be prominently visible from a distance, or from the surrounding properties.” If you happen to have
12
visited Maggi Court, it would be evident that the bulk and
13
mass hanging from the hillside is immense. Commissioners, I request that you listen to all
14 15
of the neighborhood concerns and deny this application.
16
Thank you.
17 18 19 20 21
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Questions for the speaker? I
have one. You provided us with a letter, Ms. Carmona, and it says, “The proposed development exceeds the FAR.” As I said to Mr. Tillman, I’m led to believe it doesn’t, so I’d
22
need to know why in your opinion it does, unless you’re 23
including the cellar. 24 25
JANET CARMONA: VICE CHAIR KANE:
I am including the cellar. We can’t do that.
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1 2 3 4 5 6
JANET CARMONA:
There are bedrooms with
bathrooms. VICE CHAIR KANE:
It meets the definition of a
cellar currently. JANET CARMONA:
That’s unfortunate.
VICE CHAIR KANE:
I’m not saying it is or it
7
isn’t, I’m saying it meets the FAR according to those 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
calculations. JANET CARMONA:
I also noticed that the numbers
didn’t quite make sense. I could definitely speak about that next time. VICE CHAIR KANE:
All right, thank you very much.
Questions for the speaker? Thank you. Once again out of cards. If I in fact am out of
16
cards, the Applicant may re-approach and talk to us for
17
five minutes.
18 19 20 21
BARTON HECHTMAN:
Thank you, Vice Chair Kane and
members of the Commission. I don’t think it will take the full five minutes, and since it appears that it’s your will to continue this I’m going to save really any sort of
22
direct rebuttal for when we reconvene, other than to point 23
out one thing that I’m sure you know. 24 25
The whole purpose of this process that we’re engaged in is not to protect the neighborhood, it’s to
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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apply the law as written; federal, state, and your local
2
ordinances; and to do that in a way that recognizes the
3
property rights of property owners and balances to some
4 5 6
extent those rights with the compatibility issues of the neighbors, and so it’s really that balanced approach that is the hallmark of this process.
7
I also wanted to thank Commissioner Hanssen for 8 9 10 11
possibly breaking the meeting logjam. What we would like to do, and have a captive audience here to extend the invitation, is between now and the next Planning Commission
12
hearing when this is reset, we would like to have a meeting
13
here in a conference room at Town Hall. Ms. Moseley has
14
agreed to be present for that, although it’s not a town-led
15
meeting, so she’d be in the background. We’d like to do
16
that, where we have a forum and we can hear concerns and
17
talk about addressing those concerns. What I would suggest
18
is if perhaps Ms. Moseley would take a sign-up sheet and we
19 20 21
could notify everyone when Staff picks a date and time to propose, so we’d like to do that between now and the next meeting.
22
The other thing, I’d like really some guidance 23
for this interim period from the Commissioners. 24 25
Commissioner Hudes was kind enough to really very specifically identify a couple of things that we he wanted
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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to know about and so we can make sure at the next hearing
2
that we’re ready. For example, we will have a geotech here
3
and will have specific answers on that mass and bulk
4 5 6
calculation. If there are other answers that the Commissioners already know they want, voice them now. We’d like to hear them so that we make sure we’re ready.
7
Also at that hearing, since there’s interest in 8 9 10 11
hearing from the geotech, which is Upp Geotechnology, we also suggest the Town have present its own independent geotechnical consultant who reviewed the work done by the
12
Applicant’s consultant and their statement concluded, “In
13
summary, we conclude that from a geologic and geotechnical
14
engineering perspective the site is suitable for the
15
proposed residential development.” I think it’s important
16
that you have your own peer review in geotech at that
17
continued hearing, and we’d ask that. It’s my understanding
18
that the Applicant pays for that, and so it would be no
19 20
cost to the Town, because it’s part of the application process.
21
With that, I can answer any questions. Hopefully
22
you can tell all of us when our continued hearing date will 23
be. 24 25
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VICE CHAIR KANE:
We’ll get around to defining
2
the date certain. On your suggestion that we attempt to
3
facilitate a meeting, Counselor, any problem with that?
4 5 6
ROBERT SCHULTZ:
Well, we’re very limited in
space, so we’ll have to see if we can do that, but we really don’t have conference rooms. This building is used
7
almost every night; last night was Youth Commission, 8 9 10 11
tomorrow night there might be another meeting, local county meetings, so we’d have to look to see it from an administrative standpoint, but we can work to see if that’s
12
possible. Slow Rec has conference rooms too, so there might
13
be other places that could do it. No, we don’t have meeting
14
rooms at the library at all. Yeah, we can have meetings in
15
the foyer, but like I said, it is booked almost regularly,
16
but we can certainly take a look and see if we can
17
accommodate it.
18 19 20 21
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. Questions for the
speaker? Commissioner Hudes. COMMISSIONER HUDES:
Just to give a little more
guidance in terms of the kind of things that I would like
22
to discuss with the geotech engineer, and I think those are 23
questions I would probably also ask of the Town’s engineer, 24 25
and some of it was stated in the letter, but the questions are: How will this improve slope stability? Specifically
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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what aspects of the design? Will there be piers. What type?
2
Retaining wall? And I think we also heard with respect to
3
one of the residences nearby, would that impact their
4 5 6
retaining wall? So there are a series of questions about the stability of the slope, ultimately kind of leading up to the question that I have is: Will the hillside be more
7
stable with the house there, or as it is now? And we’re 8 9
looking at the entirety of that hillside. The other area I think would be valuable to
10 11
understand, there are other comments that were made or
12
raised in letter that I think are concerns about the slope
13
of the driveway, the restricted view coming out of the
14
driveway onto the street. So those are the kinds of things that were stated
15 16
tonight that I think would be helpful to get into a little
17
more depth.
18 19 20 21
BARTON HECHTMAN:
Thank you. Appreciate the
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Commissioner Burch.
comments.
COMMISSIONER BURCH:
To continue on some items
22
that we would like for next time, one of the speakers asked 23
if we looked at construction; actually that’s my specialty. 24 25
I’m going to ask for whomever you consulted with on C-3 to be present. I have a number of questions concerning the
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temporary access, the temporary grading that will need to
2
take place onsite, parking, traffic mitigation on Bella
3
Vista while you have…
4 5 6
There’s quite a bit of heavy machinery that’s going to be required, and I’m going to ask that the geotechnical engineer address those, particularly the fact
7
that you are driving five piles, as that typically has the 8 9 10 11
downward drive opposite effect on the stationary piece of equipment, which I assume is going to be placed on the street, so I’d like to see how that is going to be
12
addressed, along with the fact that that is a very narrow
13
street and I assume we’re going to have to have street
14
closures, how you plan to reroute traffic during that time.
15
Then probably on a lighter note, I just have to
16
compliment you. My children would have never sat here for
17
that long and that well.
18 19 20 21
BARTON HECHTMAN:
Commissioner Burch, just so I
get the notes straight, the C-3 person present? Sheet C-3. JOEL PAULSON:
Sheet C-3.
COMMISSIONER BURCH:
Sheet C-3, and it’s T.S.
22
Civil Engineering. 23
BARTON HECHTMAN:
Okay.
24 25
COMMISSIONER BURCH:
Normally a civil engineer
doesn’t necessarily create the construction plan, so that’s
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1
why I assume perhaps they consulted with someone, but
2
you’re on a very confined space with some very heavy
3
equipment that’s going to be required, so I know I’m going
4 5 6
to have a number of questions about how you’re going to plan that with the least amount of impact to the street and to the neighbors.
7
BARTON HECHTMAN:
Thank you for the
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
clarification. COMMISSIONER BURCH: VICE CHAIR KANE:
Sure.
Commissioner Hanssen.
COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
I actually had the same
questions as Commissioner Burch. VICE CHAIR KANE:
Okay. Guidance. What I’m
15
hearing from the neighbors, and that’s a primary concern,
16
is smaller, less imposing, less intimidating, less
17
violating of privacy. I’m not sure I know how you’d do
18
that, so the word “smaller” comes to my mind.
19 20 21
A former Planning Commissioner, Lee Quintana, has submitted a letter, and on page 3 of 8 she actually addresses a number of concerns that potentially I could
22
address or the neighbors could have similar concerns, but 23
she’s more specific and she does a better job of defining 24 25
the word smaller than I can, and it might be a good
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guideline to take a look at that, the section on redesign
2
and the section on modification to consider.
3 4 5 6
I have a question. When I visited the site, there’s a stone path between your property and the Maggi Court residents, and the question came up: Would this project in its construct or in its finality, because I
7
think some of this path goes over your property, cause the 8 9
path to be shut down?
10 11
BARTON HECHTMAN:
The answer from Mr. Ross is no,
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. I just need to get
it’s not.
12 13
that on the mike. There’s a gate that the children use and
14
they go up that way to Bella Vista and then go to school.
15
As far as you can tell, that pathway would continue to be
16
available to them?
17
BARTON HECHTMAN:
Yes, Mr. Ross says it would be.
18
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you very much. And as has
19 20 21
been mentioned on line of sight, I didn’t really think about it, but cars backing up at that slope would probably be on my mind next time we chat. I’m not sure how that
22
would be that safe. I’ll take another look at the property 23
and see if I could envision it better. Thank you very much. 24
Other questions? All right, seeing none, thank
25
you, sir.
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BARTON HECHTMAN:
Thank you.
2
VICE CHAIR KANE:
I’m going to close the public
3 4 5 6
hearing for this meeting and look to the Commissioners to try to specify, verbalize, what it is we want to do, and then to try to get a date on which we will do it. Commissioner Burch.
7
COMMISSIONER BURCH:
If I heard my fellow
8 9 10 11
commissioners it sounds like there’s quite a bit of information that we would still like to gather, so it sounds like we want to move this to a date certain. It
12
sounds like that date certain is going to require that the
13
Applicant have available their geotechnical and civil
14
engineers. The Town has its geotechnical engineer who will
15
review the documents, and hopefully arborist is available
16
for that also. Knowing that, I think we may need to maybe
17
look for a head nod from the Applicant on how long that’s
18
going to take for them to gather any of that information.
19 20 21
VICE CHAIR KANE:
When do we have available
dates? JOEL PAULSON:
We can look for the head nod.
22
Right now looking at the calendar on the wall, assuming 23
it’s going to take him maybe two to four weeks to pull that 24 25
information together, and then we have to prepare an
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1
additional Staff Report, May 25th is a suggestion I’d have,
2
and whether or not if that’s too short.
3 4 5 6
VICE CHAIR KANE:
I need a head nod on May 25th.
Yes. I’m reopening the public hearing. I can do that. BARTON HECHTMAN:
Thank you. If I understood the
direction of the Commission, they want people present to
7
provide information, which we will endeavor to provide. I 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
don't know that there is an additional Staff Report that is needed. We’ll bring the people here, they can answer your questions directly, so we were looking at May 11th. VICE CHAIR KANE:
Thank you. Commissioner Hudes,
would that satisfy your concerns? COMMISSIONER HUDES:
Yeah, whenever we can have
15
the opportunity to ask questions of the geotechnical and
16
receive information that we’ve requested tonight. It’s
17
really I think up to the Applicant as to whether they can
18
be ready in that time.
19 20 21
VICE CHAIR KANE:
You all would be satisfied with
Q&As as opposed to documents? Commissioner Hanssen. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN:
I know for me to get
22
comfortable I would need to know that the Applicant had met 23
with some of the residents to address their concerns, 24 25
because right now it’s a lot of negative, so I would have that on my list as well.
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1 2
VICE CHAIR KANE: Commissioner O'Donnell.
3 4 5 6 7
All right, thank you.
COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
Just for information, I
will not be here on the earlier date. As you know, on the 27th of April we have another meeting, and then the suggestion was perhaps the 11th, which is our regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting. After the 11th, the
8 9 10 11
next regularly scheduled meeting would be the 25th. My presence is not crucial, but I want to advise I will be out of the country on the 11th. JOEL PAULSON:
12
Through the Chair, I just look if
13
there are any other disclosures, if May 11th is not going to
14
work for any other Commissioners, then we may get to a
15
point where that’s not an option.
16
VICE CHAIR KANE:
17
COMMISSIONER BURCH:
18 19
I will also be out of the
country. Not with Commissioner O'Donnell. I will also be gone.
20 21
Commissioner Burch.
COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
Your husband will be
happy to hear that.
22
VICE CHAIR KANE:
So does that put us toward May
23
11th. 24 25
ROBERT SCHULTZ:
I would strongly suggest you do
not do the May 11th with two Commissioners (inaudible).
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1 2
VICE CHAIR KANE: 25th.
3
ROBERT SCHULTZ:
4
VICE CHAIR KANE:
5 6
I’m sorry, actually I meant May
So you should do the May 25th. Commissioner Erekson.
COMMISSIONER EREKSON:
Any of the dates are okay
with me, and when you’re finished discussing the dates, I
7
have another comment to make. 8
VICE CHAIR KANE:
9 10 11
So 25th going once. We need a
motion to continue this matter to a date certain of May 25th. COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
12
I’ll move that we
13
continue the matter until the 25th of May, at which time the
14
testimony will still be open; however, the purpose of the
15
meeting, initially at least, is to receive further evidence
16
from the Applicant as we have described. But I want to be
17
clear that the public will then also have a right to
18
comment.
19 20 21
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Do I have a second?
Commissioner Hudes. COMMISSIONER HUDES:
Second that motion.
22
VICE CHAIR KANE:
Comment, discussion?
23
Commissioner Erekson. 24 25
COMMISSIONER EREKSON:
While I would agree that
we wouldn’t need a lengthy Staff Report, I think for both
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1
the Commission and the public it would be important to
2
capture formally the direction coming from the Commission
3
so that both the Applicant has privy to that, and to give
4 5 6
the public heads up in adequate time so that they could prepare whatever kind of responses or be satisfied or however they would react to it, as opposed to just
7
depending upon what was said tonight and finding out on the 8 9
spot on May 25th. VICE CHAIR KANE:
10
Commissioner Hudes.
COMMISSIONER HUDES:
11
Yeah, I would urge the
12
Applicant to provide documents, such as the one we received
13
tonight, in advance, both for the Commission’s benefit and
14
the public. VICE CHAIR KANE:
15 16
okay with the maker of the motion and the seconder?
17 18 19 20 21
All right, thank you. Is that
COMMISSIONER O'DONNELL:
I absolutely agree,
because if the public is going to have any input, if they know something in advance it allows them to have the input if they show up and listen to it. It won’t be good for either side. It’s better to know what’s coming. On the
22
other hand, we’re not asking for extensive reports, but it 23
ought to be enough for a real heads up. 24
VICE CHAIR KANE:
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Mr. Paulson, can we get that
all done?
LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
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1 2 3 4
JOEL PAULSON:
We can get that all done. Now all
we have to do is call the question. VICE CHAIR KANE:
Let’s call the question and
vote. All in favor of the motion? It passes unanimously.
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LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 4/13/2016 Item #3, 341 Bella Vista Avenue
84