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Attachment 05CAMARGO & ASSCFIATES ARCHITECTS May 28th, 2017 Town Council of Los Gatos Attn. Jennifer Armer, Associate Planner 110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA. 95030 RE: The Elk's Homes Planning Commission Approval Applicant Response 105 Newell Avenue Los Gatos, CA. Esteemed Council Members, It has been over 3 years since our initial CDAC meeting. At that time, we presented a condominium housing solution and a 5 lot subdivision development option for the Elks Lodge property. As was strongly recommended by the CDAC committee members, we have reached out to the residents of the neighborhood to listen to their concerns and wishes for the development of our project. Our proposed planned development zoning request and architectural design homes are for 4 single family residences, with a shared private street and a fire turn around, and stepped landscaped retaining walls along Newell Avenue. Our design intent and project approach is that our development adheres as much as possible to the requirements for the current designated R-1:12 zoning, the Town's Design Guidelines and the pertinent requirements of the Hillside Standards. As the Planning Commission recognized, this in -fill property is a "very difficult site". The property is to be converted from a fraternal organization use to a 4 lot single family residential planned development. The property currently includes the now, very undesirable Elks Lodge Building with its vast asphalt paved parking area and its driveway access right on its prominent street corner, a 14.4 percent average slope, a cut bank along Newhall Avenue, as well as a. raised 12' town -owned 150' long retaining wall above Winchester Blvd. We have worked with 5 different assigned planners, 4 Public Works engineers, two consulting firms preparing our Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration, have had continuous neighborhood interface, 6 tech reviews and two planning commission meetings. After our initial planning commission meeting and with the guidance of Jennifer Armer and engineering staff we re -designed the homes reducing their combined square footage by approximately 2300 sq. ft. and eliminated most all other concerns brought up at the public hearing. As a point of reference, we had full neighborhood support at our initial planning Commission meeting. ATTACHMENT 5 Not having as of yet received in writing the planning commissioners' conditions for approval, we reviewed our notes from the meeting and our review of the video for the meeting and concluded the following: We understand at this time that the remaining conditions set forth by the Planning Commission are only two as follows: 1. Homes on Lot 1 and Lot 4 are to be reduced in size so as to be under the FAR calculation based on slope reduction calculated from each lot's slope with finish grades. 2. During the closed discussion it was put forth that Lot 1 should be restricted to one story. As we understood it, both of the above conditions were proposed in order to achieve homes more compatible to the neighborhood primarily in terms of scale. Our position still remains that our proposed homes are indeed compatible with the immediate neighborhood. The immediate neighbors recognize their neighborhood as being in transition. Built in the early sixties the homes in the neighborhood will most likely be remodeled or re -built in the next 10 to 15 years. Many of these homes, as some already have, will be increased in size as most are currently way below their allowable FAR. They will most likely be in the in the 3000 + square foot range as our proposed homes. The previous staff neighborhood analysis was based on the 8 surrounding parcels from the neighborhood which we feel are very limited in demonstrating neighborhood compatibility as it is now and in the future . A more complete neighborhood compatibility analysis should include all homes on Newell, Newell Court, Elena Way, Brocastle, La Montangne Ct., La Rinconada and Golf Links Dr. Street all range in lots from 10,890 ( at 179 La Montagne Ct. with a 4,046 sq. ft. home, .27 FAR) to a 20,473 sq. ft.( at 148 Newell Ave., with a 4,510 sq. ft. home, .47 FAR) To illustrate a better compatibility analysis as an example we should look at the neighboring properties in terms of their maximum allowable FAR and not their current FAR. For example, not yet remodeled but adjacent to our parcel is the two story colonial at 3,016 sq. ft. on an 11,761 ft. lot which, with no slope reduction, its FAR would allow a maximum house of 3, 480 sq. ft. with FAR of .29, which indicates that our homes are very much compatible with this adjacent property. In response to Condition number 1 above please consider the following: We are proposing to be able to build all 4 homes of approximately the same size for several reasons as follows: All 4 homes will share the common private street costs as well as those of the landscaped retaining walls on Lots 1 and 4 along Newell Avenue. Even though all lots are very close in overall size, Lot 1 and 4 are penalized by having the existing retained slope bank along Newell which will be shared as landscape area in common with all four lots. There was significant discussion that the planning commissioners did not want to venture into calculating the FAR in a different manner as it would set some sort of precedent. Being that we are a PD zoned development with a very difficult site based on the above mentioned existing conditions our suggested FAR calculation is best suited to size all four homes closer in size. Our proposed FAR calculation for or PD application uses the entire parcel that is being subdivided to provide an average slope reduction. Each parcel's area is then assigned the reduction based on its parcel area. Original proposed FAR calculation uses the slope of each lot and then uses the average slope of each individual lot to determine its FAR. Our FAR calculation method provides homes that are more compatible in size to each other from 3,218 to 3,758_sq. ft as opposed to homes ranging from 2,876 to 4,230 sq. ft. using the FAR by individual lot calculation. Our FAR method allowable totals for the four parcels are 14,348 sq. ft. compared to other method of 14,250 sq. ft. total. We are using for our four homes square footage totals 14,169 sq. ft. or less than maximum allowable in either case. It is worth noting, the entire project parcel is subject to the Hillside Design guidelines because it exceeds 10 percent average slope. Our proposed FAR calculation method all four lots adhere to the slope reduction based on the entire parcel slope. The original proposed FAR calculation method separates one lot as not having to adhere to the Hillside Design guidelines since, in its final graded form, has less than 10% slope. Another way to get all the home sites to have more equal FAR is to do a very intricate lot lines which would be configured as an example to have Lot 4 own a great deal of the private road in front of lot 2, henceforth providing higher FAR for Lot 4. A mess to achieve by town's current method. Condition 2 above was suggested and right before closing of the meeting as a means to reduce bulk on the corner of the project. No real thought or discussion was given to this mayor design suggestion turn into condition of approval. Architecturally the home on Lot 4 should be 2 story as proposed as follows: Although currently poles on the site show as quite tall and imposing the final grades due by the stepped retaining walls will set the two story home back and on the ground. It will have all the benefit of the landscape walls we are providing to screen the homes in both directions. The massing of the homes on Lots 1 and Lots 3 are much higher than the home on Lot 4 which viewed within the development and from Newell it would seem out of place from the other 3 homes. Sticking apart like a sore thumb. We only house a bedroom bath and stairway on the upstairs. This upstairs is mostly hugged by the hip roof below to give it just enough mass to be of scale and proportion to the other homes. A big mistake to have that home be a single story. In summation, we listened to the neighbors and feel that our proposed Planned Development Project meets as much as it is possible the intents of the Zoning Code, the General Plan, the Residential Design Guidelines, and applicable Hillside Standards given the difficulty of the site. Compatibility with the existing neighborhood homes is achieved if viewed including a broader range of the neighborhood homes and the understanding that it is a neighborhood in transition in the near future. If you have any questions regarding the above, please do not hesitate to call. Sincerely, / / Maurice Camargo A.I.A.