Exhibit 10 - Applicant’s Response to Public Comments, dated February 18, 2021February 18, 2021
Hi Jocelyn,
Krislani and I have contacted the neighbor Jo clerk and had a telephone call with him, as per his
preference. We have had discussions with him earlier when the story pole came up, prior to his
outreach. As a follow-up I have had a number of text exchanges with him as well.
He first suggested that we consider building a single-story structure in place of our current plan and also
demolish the house in front which will be the future ADU as per our plan. This is an unreasonable ask on
his part.
We did discuss his formal comments and here are the key points that I would like to submit in response
to his outreach.
1.Grading: The existing grading is unchanged since I purchased the property in 2019. My previous
owners did not disclose any changes in grading either. If this was indeed a case of illegal grading, this
is something that should have been addressed at the time of the activity. I as the current owner
should not be liable for a code violation by a previous owner if it occurred. I have explained this to
my neighbor.
2.Overall height of the proposed structure. The height of the proposed structure is in compliance with
the Los Gatos town's codes and total height ordinance. We are 15" lower than our back
adjacent house's ridge at 296.8, 14333 Mulberry Dr., and also lower than the property on the
right adjoining lot at 17525 Wedgewood Ave. However, in the spirit of maintaining good neighborly
relations, we have consulted our civil architect and have offered to lower the overall height by 1
ft. to 264.5, but don't want to be to lower because at south property line the grade is at 265.0.
a.The Topo survey shows existing house finished floor and Garage at 262.59 with a condition
stucco line is buried into the ground 5".
b.The new 2019 Code Fin Grade shall be minimum 8" high below stucco line, sloping 5% away
from the foundation 5' to meet new Code, we have to raise the finished floor 12'' = 1' higher to
263.59 GRD.
c.Main house finished floor shall be higher at least 12" than its Garage finished floor.
d.Conclusion Main house finished floor needs to be at 264.5 GRD.
3.Privacy: We have already taken significant effort to mitigate left side neighbor privacy in our design,
per standard practice. The design guidelines section 3.11 section provides guidance that we have
followed.
a.We are aligned on putting opaque glass on the bathroom windows.
b.With the proposed reduction of the grade by 1 ft, the effective human eye level for the master
bedroom windows will be lower than previous. Our design also complies with the Los Gatos
design guidelines.
i.Windows should be placed to minimize views into the living spaces and yard spaces near
neighboring homes.
ii.When windows are needed and desired inside building walls, they should be modest in size
and not directly opposite windows on adjacent homes.
EXHIBIT 10
iii. We will add more screen trees before moving in, to provide a screen at least this level. See
sheet A1 and A14.
c. Landscaping may be used to mitigate privacy concerns so long as the landscaping does not deny
solar access to living spaces and actively used yard areas of neighboring homes. Our design also
complies with the Los Gatos design guidelines.
• Landscaping used for privacy screening purposes, should be of sufficient size and of an
appropriate species to provide such privacy within a two-year time frame.
• Trees should be twenty-four-inch box size.
• Shrubs used to promote privacy should be fifteen gallon in size and six feet minimum height
at planting.
• As a general rule, privacy landscaping should be placed with a cone-of-vision defined by a
thirty-degree angle from the side window jambs of second story windows.
a. The planned balcony is at 12' side setback which is beyond the recommended Town of Los Gatos
Design Guidelines which ask for 10' setback.
4. We will work with our Civil engineer and the town of Los Gatos to ensure proper drainage of rain
runoff. We will build a retaining wall about 20" high along the main house Left exterior wall. See
attachment.
Doing our conversations my neighbor added a new ask about the mass of the wall. I explained that the
architecture has been modified and these conditions were addressed. However, we are willing to add an
eye-brow roof on our left front and left side (attached)
Regards
Amrito
FRONT ELEVATIONSCALE 1/4"= 1'143009'-0"10'-0"
29'-9.5"1st F.F.1st T.P.2nd T.P. + 20'-0"+ 10'-0"2nd F.F. + 11'-0"265.50264.00FG(E) 263.00FG 263.17FG 263.001'-6"(E) 263.00123.752'-0"R.T. + 27'-3.5"FF 264.5016"G 2612'-6"5' away5% slope12'-0"Left set back4'-6"5'-0"(E) FENCEP.L.(E)Rtg W20" hA2% slope