11-12-03 Minutes - GPCTOWN OF LOS GATOS
110 East Main Street, Los Gatos, CA 95030 (408) 354-6872
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SUMMARY MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE GENERAL PLAN
COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN OF LOS GATOS, NOVEMBER 12, 2003 HELD IN THE
TOWN COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CIVIC CENTER, 110 EAST MAIN STREET, LOS GATOS,
CALIFORNIA.
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The meeting called to order at 5:05 pm by Acting Chair Sandy Decker.
ATTENDANCE
Members present: Josh Bacigalupi, Joe Pirzynski, Sandy Decker, Jo Zientek, Mark Sgarlato, Phil
Micciche, Lee Quintana
Excused Absences: Mike Burke, Mark Weiner
Staff present: Bud, Tom, Suzanne, Marty, Larry Cannon
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
None
ITEM 1 PERSONAL SERVICE BUSINESSES
Bud Lortz introduced the item, stating that based on the memo, staff would like input from the
Committee as to whether the data is sufficient to move forward, or is there a need to provide
additional information.
Marty Woodworth explained some of the measures that will be considered, noting that other
cities have been surveyed and the Town may be able to use information already gathered by
other communities. He asked the Committee for input as to whether the work plan is adequate
to develop regulations, or if more detailed information is needed.
Phil Micciche asked the purpose of the regulations. Bud Lortz explained that through comments
from members of the community and Council members, the Downtown seems to have reached
the saturation point with personal service businesses (e.g. spas, hair and nail salons). A similar
issue came up in 1983 with office uses. The Town has seen a significant increase in these types
of businesses over the past three years. The question for the Town is whether to create an
incentive such as allowing personal service businesses on the second floor as a permitted use and
requiring a use permit when at the street level. Retail is being displaced by personal service
businesses (PSB’s).
Jo Zientek asked if the PSB’s are moving into retail spaces. Bud Lortz said that yes, recent
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Regular Meeting of November 12, 2003
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businesses are doing this. In addition, there is no regulation on the number of employees within
a salon. For example, a hair salon may rent stations out and suddenly there are eight stylists
working out of the same location and there is an impact on parking and traffic. A definition is
needed, and how to regulate it as a community. Right now there is a moratorium and while that
is in place, no new personal service businesses can come into the Downtown.
Mark Sgarlato commented out that some communities have a lot more vacant space and would
let PSB’s in to fill the vacancies.
Lee Quintana asked about office space on the ground floor. Bud said that offices are not
allowed unless an existing office does out and a new one replaces it.
Sandy Decker asked the Committee to review what is already offered and provide comments.
She asked staff for input on what has been done to date.
Bud Lortz explained that the Downtown area, south of Los Gatos-Saratoga Road, is the area in
question. The locations of existing PSB’s will be mapped so the concentration can be seen.
Alternatives to be considered will be developed for the Commission and Council.
Josh Bacigalupi clarified the length of the moratorium (it expires in 10 months). He asked what
the next steps are. Bud Lortz said that once regulations are adopted the moratorium would be
lifted.
Sandy Decker asked if we would be looking to make things iron clad. Perhaps use a percentage
of available space in the CBD. She suggested allowing up to a specified amount of square feet
for PSB’s. In order to regulate properly, it is going to be hard using only a number of
businesses.
Bud Lortz said there is a saturation concern and the Town needs to determine the mechanism to
deal with that. Establishing the saturation level creates a threshold. Location is also a factor
and that is what a conditional use permit (CUP) evaluates. Staff can tell how much retail is in
the parking assessment district, but not the C2 zone.
Joe Pirzynski said this is driven by a Council decision. In terms of the Council enacting the
moratorium, it was based on the number of PSB’s in the Downtown. There are anywhere
between 49 and 62 currently in the C2. The issues for the Council majority is given the
numerical and anecdotal analysis, the Town has reached the saturation point. Questions relative
to square footage, how other communities regulate and what experts say is healthy aren’t the
issue. The question is whether we want to extend the statistical analysis to support the decision.
What is important is do we all agree that there is a saturation, and what can we glean from the
staff information to gain control. Restrictions on parking are less than required for other uses,
and that may not be appropriate. He requires no more information that has already been
provided by staff.
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Regular Meeting of November 12, 2003
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Phil Micciche asked if we are lumping all personal service businesses into one cat egory. For
example, there may be too many hair salons, but there are not too many cleaners. He feels we
should go by the numbers and not allow any additional businesses. There is enough information
to make that call.
Josh Bacigalupi agrees with the moratorium at this point. It’s a good idea to step back and take
a look at it, and perhaps parking restrictions need to be addressed. He would like to be as
specific about the uses that are an issue as possible. He wondered what the sales tax differences
are between retail and personal services.
Joe Pirzynski said that personal service businesses take away space for retail, and the Town gets
30% of its operating budget from retail.
Marty Woodworth said that it takes away from the overall draw to the Downtown when there is
an overwhelming number of a particular type of business.
Joe Pirzynski said the intent ti to maintain the fabric, the mix of uses. The Town is a full service
community and doesn’t want to specialize in PSB’s.
Sandy Decker said a similar approach that was done for office uses on the ground floor could be
used.
Lee Quintana said there is enough data. Comparisons from other citieis may not be that helpful
as the character is not the same. She asked what the total number of businesses in Town is.
She would like to see a cap on the number, and reduction through attrition and allowing on
second floors without a CUP. She agrees with Phil’s comment about defining the types of
businesses. Concentration on blocks could be considered.
Mark Sgarlato said he would like to keep it as general as possible.
Jo Zientek said how other cities manage the process would be useful; how it has been
administered and received.
ITEM 2 COMMERCIAL DESIGN GUIDELINES
Bud Lortz introduced Larry Cannon, the Town’s Architectural Consultant, who will be assisting
the Town in preparation of the Commercial Design Guidelines. It will be helpful in guiding
applicants when he has been involved in preparing the document.
Larry Cannon said that he has worked on many different design guidelines. He passed some
sample documents around for the Committee to review. He made a Power Point Presentation to
the group.
C2 Zone: there is a lot of diversity. Art Deco, 20th Century contemporary, institutional
buildings, small scale individual buildings, auto oriented buildings, suburban style, conversion
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Regular Meeting of November 12, 2003
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from residential to commercial. Building type and style. He feels it is useful to break it into
geographic areas. He has divided the Downtown into three areas - the C2A, C2 south and C1.
Joe Pirzynski noted that Forbes Mill Steakhouse took a building that was not previously a
contributor and made it one.
Larry Cannon noted some of the main characteristics on the C2A area including buildings to the
street, two story buildings, mostly wood storefronts and doors, human quality landscaping. East
Main Street has a lot of the same characteristics although there are more co rner elements on
buildings. Predominant signage is on windows. There are a few places where the relationship
of signs to architecture is not well done. Non-traditional building types increase as you move
north. Back alley area off parking lots should be addressed (trash enclosures, etc.). There is
more variety of setbacks and building forms closer to Los Gatos-Saratoga Road.
C2 south of Downtown has a different building treatment.
C1 district is held together by the street trees and landscaping. Quite a diversity in building
types and scale. Auto-oriented centers, new centers that aren’t, individual buildings/businesses,
two-story office buildings. Problems include buildings over parking, parking conflicts with
pedestrian ways, sign quality.
LM district has everything. There is not direction in this area and the issue is whether the Town
wants to establish that. New industrial commercial character on Campo di Bocce is good.
Variable front facades with no common approach. Building height and landscape transitions
don’t always work well together.
C1 district interface: includes just about every type of sign, visible walls.
Los Gatos Blvd.: Vision is not that clear and he would like input on that. Older small scale
centers, newer larger scale centers (Cornerstone), old strip centers (Lou’s Coffee Shop),
residential scale and form offices, contemporary scale and form offices, commercial pad
buildings, fast food restaurants, gas stations. First 15 feet is important - how setbacks are
treated and the form of buildings. Signs are not as obtrusive on Los Gatos Blvd. Auto
dealerships are a special category that include older architectural styles. Issues include visual
fragmentation, relatively large signs, auto dealer/residential interface. Variations in bulkheads
might be looked at. He showed a Honda prototype that was proposed in Dublin. A BMW
dealership in Mountain View provides a good example.
A statement defining the basic design principles at the start of the document is important. Other
elements that he would include are a statement of community expectations, a user friendly
document, design details and examples and good use of graphics.
Bud Lortz said that Larry Cannon in working with staff is a collaborative approach, and it has
been working well. What we are charged with by the Council is to develop design guidelines
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within the next six months. He mentioned the Akeena Solar business on University Avenue and
issues that stemmed from that application for unscreened solar panels. One of the issues to be
addressed is sustainability/energy conservation. It is a complicated task to develop a quality
document when it comes to that issue. It may end up being s stand alone document instead of
being incorporated into the design guideline document. He plans to invite a green
building/energy conservation expert to make a presentation to the Committee, and remaining
Council and Commission members. Rooftop screening is an element that needs to be addressed
- it is easier to address on new buildings than on retrofits or remodels. Another topic of
discussion will be signs. The area of the sign is not as important as the type of sign. The
approach the Town has taken for centers is to have a monument sign with the center name and
individual building signs for the various businesses within it. There is an opportunity through
the guidelines to clarify what the Town wants in different sub-areas or districts. We want to
discourage signs from including multiple tenants as opposed to a building or center name.
Window signs are also allowed, and some clarification on the allowed window coverage may be
needed.
A scope of work has been provided. He asked the Committee for input on anything glaring that
is missing. The CM zone and North 40 have been intentionally excluded.
Sandy Decker asked if a monthly meeting will be adequate. Bud Lortz said that bi-monthly
meetings will probably be needed.
Joe Pirzynski asked what other projects are on-line and Bud Lortz explained those. Staff does
have a very heavy workload of projects. The Commercial Design Guidelines is the top priority
after completion of the Hillside Development Standards & Guidelines.
Tom Williams said that each meeting will have an identified issue for discussion. Some topics
may take multiple meetings to get through. Staff anticipates that the next meeting will be on
December 10. Identification of issues was done by staff and Larry Cannon toge ther. Agreeing
on the substantive aspects of the outline is key and the blanks can be filled in as we go along.
Bud Lortz asked that Committee members make notes on any issues they see and bring those up
at the December 10 meeting.
Phil Micciche asked what areas are more prone to remodeling and where the focus should be
(priorities). Bud Lortz said that the document may be divided down by areas.
Larry Cannon commented that we will want to avoid repetition, and need to decide the way to go
up front.
Bud Lortz asked if the Committee would like to meet with groups such as the auto dealers, or if
staff should do that and provide reports to the Committee. Bringing them into the process early
enough is important, but need to have enough substance to have a useful conversation.
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Marty Woodworth said that we would like to provide incentive to auto dealers to upgrade.
Joe Pirzynski said Committee members should all be research proponents. Past history helps
with what has worked and what hasn’t. If the old Lyndon Hotel had not been demolished and
replaced by Lyndon Plaza center in the 1960's, think of what it could have looked like today.
Hot spots should be identified. The LM area is important to develop a plan for. The Los Gatos
Boulevard Plan did envision a grand boulevard. It also talks about transitioning down from
commercial to residential as you head south.
Bud Lortz agreed that we need to be respectful of the Los Gatos Boulevard Plan and the time and
energy that went into its preparation.
Tom Williams agreed that we don’t want to reinvent the wheel, but some clarification is needed.
Copies of existing commercial documents will be provided to Committee members.
Larry Cannon noted that the areas that are typically the most troubleso me when he performs
design review is the C1 zone and Los Gatos Blvd.
Lee Quintana asked if the intent is to incorporate the five documents into the new document
(yes).
Sandy Decker suggested that some topics be dealt with by sub-committee.
ITEM 3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Phil Micciche made a motion to approve the minutes of September 8, 2003 as presented. The
motion was seconded by Josh Bacigalupi and passed 6-0-1 (Lee Quintana abstained).
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 pm by Sandy Decker. The next regular meeting of the
General Plan Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, December 10, 2003.
Prepared By:
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Suzanne Davis, Associate Planner
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