Attachment 8 - May 18, 2017 Town Council Policy Committee Action MinutesTOWN OF LOS GATOS
TOWN COUNCIL
POLICY COMMITTEE
MEETING DATE: 05/25/2017
ITEM NO: 1
MINUTES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING
MAY 18, 2017
The Town Council Policy Committee of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Regular Meeting on
Thursday, May 18, 2017, at 8:30 a.m.
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER
ROLL CALL
Members Present: Marico Sayoc, Marcia Jensen
Staff Present: Laurel Prevetti, Rob Schultz, Arn Andrews, Joel Paulson, Shelayne Hammack, Sally
Zarnowitz, Jocelyn Puga, Azhar Kahn
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS (Members of the public may address the Committee on any matter
that is not listed on the agenda. Unless additional time is authorized by the Committee, remarks shall be
limited to three minutes.)
None
OTHER BUSINESS (Up to three minutes may be allotted to each speaker on any of the following
items.)
1. Approval of the April 20, 2017 Council Policy Committee Draft Minutes
Unanimously approved
2. Review and discuss Section B. of Chapter II. (Constraints Analysis and Site Selection) of the
Hillside Development Standards and Guidelines (HDS&G) and provide direction to staff for
next steps
Public comment was heard from Fred Sahadi, David Wilson, and David Weissman regarding
trees with sparse canopy being included in the visibility analysis.
The Committee stated that the intent of the visibility analysis was to determine if the
proposed construction would be visible or not. This is important because the Town cares
about its ridgelines, natural landscape, and green hillsides. The Committee also identified
that the purpose of updating the visibility analysis methodology was to provide a simple and
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 • 408-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov ATTAOE MEIT 8
PAGE 2 OF 2
SUBJECT: MINUTES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING OF
MAY 18, 2017
dear approach that would be easy to implement, enforce, and understand by the staff,
applicant, and community.
The Committee agreed that it is unclear on how to define "sparse." Instead, the Committee
directed that trees in poor condition (as determined by the Arborist Report) would not be
included as screening in the visibility analysis.
Public comment was heard from Fred Sahadi, David Wilson, Lee Quintana, and David
Weissman regarding adding language about measurable distance from a viewing platform.
The Committee recognized that the existing Guidelines give the Community Development
Director the ability to decide if another location is necessary. In addition, the Committee
directed: change the term "viewing platform" to "viewing area"; indicate the viewing areas
on the map by shading; and include the 500-foot language suggested on page 2 of
Attachment 2.
Public comment was heard from David Wilson and David Weissman regarding whether only
native and on -site trees should be included in the visibility analysis.
The Committee directed staff to include language that trees on the hillside, whether or not
they are native, non-native, on -site, or off -site, provide screening and should be part of the
visibility analysis.
The Committee also requested that staff obtain information from other jurisdictions about
potential permit conditions regarding deed restrictions/covenants for tree maintenance on -
and off -site tree maintenance. These sample conditions could be part of the modifications
to the Guidelines.
The Committee directed staff to make the appropriate changes and bring another draft
back to the Committee.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 9:48 a.m.
Prepared by:
SHELAYNE HAMMACK, Management Analyst
N:\MGR\AdminWorkFiles\Council Committee - POLICY\2017\Approved Minutes\05-18-17 Minutes Final.docx 9/26/2017 1:53 PM