Loading...
04-14-04 Minutes - GPCTOWN OF LOS GATOS 110 East Main Street, Los Gatos, CA 95030 (408) 354-6872 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- SUMMARY MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE GENERAL PLAN COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN OF LOS GATOS, APRIL 14, 2004 HELD IN THE TOWN COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CIVIC CENTER, 110 EAST MAIN STREET, LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- The meeting was called to order at 5:00 pm by Vice Chair Mark Sgarlato. ATTENDANCE Members present: Josh Bacigalupi, Barry Bakken, Michael Burke, Steve Glickman, Diane McNutt, Mark Sgarlato, Morris Trevithick Members Absent: Phil Micciche, Mark Weiner Staff present: Bud Lortz, Director of Community Development; Rachel Bacola, Planning Technician; Larry Cannon, Cannon Design Group VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS None ITEM 1 COMMERCIAL DESIGN GUIDELINES Larry Cannon said the LM district was well covered last time. He asked if the Committee members had reviewed the items in the memo that was sent out in advance of the meeting and asked if there were any comments. He started with two guideline documents, the Los Gatos Boulevard Plan and Los Gatos Boulevard Standards. He asked if the plan is still a vali d goal and where the Town wants to go. Steve Glickman asked if the facts on the ground are the same as they are now when the plan was prepared. He lives near the area being discussed. That area to the east side of Los Gatos Blvd is residential and perhaps just a little curious of the meaning of higher density uses of the north end to the existing uses at the south end. Are we addressing a valid image. Larry Cannon said the north end was to be devoted to destination uses with smaller uses like office at the south end. Barry Bakken said that perhaps the prior observation is based on the area around Gateway and Carlton being higher density. Mark Sgarlato said when he thinks of high density he thinks of Main Street and North Santa Cruz. Diane McNutt said her interpretation of high density meeting good Samaritan drive to Main street. If you that full length. If we had an Office depot for example, the appropriate place to put it would be at the north stretch of Los Gatos Blvd. as opposed to Highway 9. The whole continuum is residential and the other side is commercial. The size and scale goes down. She doesn't see how the fact that there is residential on either side of Los Gatos Blvd. factors in. There is residential on both sides of Los Gatos Blvd. Bud Lortz offered that the intent was that as you get further south you have residential abutting Los Gatos Blvd. As you get further north it becomes a six lane arterial. Maybe a better term would be intensity. Always the interface with residential is a prime concern. Further what they were discussing regarding auto dealers, is if there is going to an auto mall we would want to push them further south. Higher intensity uses at the north end need greater sensitivity to adjacent residential uses. Steve Glickman said Los Gatos Blvd is divided into two parts. The northern end is entirely commercial. From Blossom Hill Road down, it’s a different zone. Its not entirely residential, but other uses such as convalescent homes are not commercial. South of Route 9 is entirely residential. The question is whether we want to make a distinction between these areas. Larry Cannon said the question is how much to break down the scale when near residential. Bud Lortz suggested setting the North 40 area aside for now and focusing on the strip malls along Los Gatos Blvd. Mike Burke said he likes the concept over progressive higher to lower intensity use. He believes the demarcation mark is Shannon Road. Larry Cannon asked about a policy in the Los Gatos Blvd. Plan that says standardized building plans should be discouraged. Is that still valid. Themed architecture is another question. Should there be a policy to discourage the standardized building plans and corporate designs. Josh Bacigalupi said yes. Mike Burke said yes, with the exception of the auto dealerships. Bud Lortz said we have to try an strike a balance between a corporation that is trying to improve a property with the Town’s desire for the highest quality possible project. We might as a Town want to understand how corporate desires can be blended into our community character. Steve Glickman said he has struggled with whether to have a great deal of subjectivity or objectivity with design. People want to know what to expect. He asked if the Committee wants to try and define some planning and architectural guidelines for that strip recognizing that it is commercial, but with a good degree of direction involved so expectations are known. The parameters of the standards could state what is acceptable and what is not. Rules would be General Plan Committee Regular Meeting of April 14, 2004 Page 3 of 6 fairly prescriptive. Josh Bacigalupi said that corporate branding can be ok if driven by the Town as Bud mentioned. Diane McNutt agreed with the last two sets of comments. Standardized plans may be appropriate if tailored to fit the site. Make clear that it needs to fit into the community but allow flexibility for use on a case by case basis. Mike Burke said that there are some large corporate businesses in Aspen, and they fit in. They need to be tasteful and appropriate and are tailored to fit the Town standards. Josh Bacigalupi said he has seen businesses like McDonald’s done very tastefully, yet everyone knows it is there. The need for corporate branding does not mean it doesn’t have to fit it. Larry Cannon said he has reviewed a lot of fast food restaurants and they can be problematic. To get something more special the guidelines need to be specific as to what is wanted. Bud Lortz said that with design guidelines we try to use elements that are encouraged as opposed to what is not desirable. People will sometimes make more compromises to gain a shorter review time or process. If a project meets the standards, it can be approved at staff level. The Committee agreed with that concept. Steve Glickman said in terms of process, a mechanism is needed. Staff and the consulting architect can develop draft criteria. Bud Lortz said that a draft outline will be developed and brought back to the Committee. Larry Cannon said he will outline all of the major guidelines for each district and will bring it back for review. He expects that to be done in about four weeks. Morris Trevithick said in addition to guidelines, traffic patterns are important. Larry Cannon asked about theme restaurants such as Macaroni Grill that use the same style of architecture which may be attractive but are seen in a number of different locations, and whether that is appropriate for Los Gatos. Diane McNutt is not fond of formula architecture and would like to see things customized. Mike Burke said trademark buildings can be a problem if the original restaurant leaves and the building style does not work for other businesses. Single use architecture is not desirable. General Plan Committee Regular Meeting of April 14, 2004 Page 4 of 6 Steve Glickman asked if a name restaurant such as Outback Steakhouse or Armadillo Willy’s wanted to occupy the empty restaurant that is being used to hide parked cars (former Burger Pit) would we want it. Mike Burke said the some name restaurants would be desirable, but others might not be. We are talking about architecture, not use. Josh Bacigalupi said form follows image. He does not want to outlaw corporate businesses, but some may not be appropriate in the Downtown. Bud Lortz said historically the Town has been more concerned about businesses in the Central Business District versus Los Gatos Blvd. The Town requires a conditional use permit for restaurants. There are three types of restaurants, high quality, high turnover sit down, and fast food. A restaurant can move out and a new one can come in if it operates in the same manner. Its not a design review issue, but is pertinent to the discussion. Steve Glickman said if we want to encourage restaurants in areas that people can walk to, we might want to include some businesses that serve adjacent residential areas. Bud Lortz said that people may not walk the entire length of Los Gatos Blvd., but they may walk from their neighborhood to nearby restaurants and other businesses. Mike Burke said that is a really good point. We have to look at uses backing up to residential areas. Buildings should be inviting to the people in the neighborhood so they will want to wa lk to the businesses. Access is important as well as the back of the building. Larry Cannon asked about the auto dealers. Some are well designed and others are atrocious. Since the discussion will probably not be completed tonight, he asked if auto dealers should be left to the next meeting. Mark Sgarlato said that auto dealers are extremely important. It is hard to take them out of the picture as they are predominant along Los Gatos Blvd. Barry Bakken asked if auto dealers can be invited to speak to the group. Bud Lortz said yes. Mike Burke concurred with a statement from Steve Glickman on undesirable architecture. There haven’t been many remodels that look good. Cornerstone is a good example. Point to things that are liked. Josh Bacigalupi agreed. If he was designing something it is helpful to have criteria for what is wanted. He is a big fan of pictures for dos and don’ts, or things that are considered good and bad. Pictures can be used as a good starting place for discussion. General Plan Committee Regular Meeting of April 14, 2004 Page 5 of 6 Larry Cannon said even pad buildings should have a pitched roof on them. Is that something that is wanted. Josh Bacigalupi said that the term residential scale is wide open. Human scale is more understandable. Use a hierarchy of what is wanted. Diane McNutt said that photos of areas down the Boulevard would be helpful. Photos of various buildings would be easier to react to and would be more productive. Josh Bacigalupi agreed. Find some examples and possibly do some prototype sketches for the Committee to respond to. Mike Burke said that elements in photos or sketches that are desirable can be pulled out. Larry Cannon commented that the wording relating to residential is not desired. Barry Bakken said as a guideline, buildings should be more village like rather than box type. Larry Cannon said that “village” denotes small scale, things being broken down into smaller pieces, lots of detail. There is more complexity to it. Steve Glickman asked if village means look like a residence. Van Meter School looks somewhat residential. Larry Cannon said it may mean different things to each of us. It’s like Downtown, where you don’t want to see too much of the same thing. One way of talking about village is there is a lot of variety. Things are broken down, there are lots of smaller pieces. It doesn’t have to look like residential. Bud Lortz asked how people feel about Office Depot. Is it generally acceptable given its location and use, or does it miss the mark. We received a lot of compliments from people in Town who said for an Office Depot its good. Mike Burke said he doesn’t like stucco. Office Depot works because of the way the building is situated on the site. If the long side of the building faced the street it wouldn’t work. Bud Lortz said one of the things staff tried to do was to make it look like a store front. ITEM 2: APPROVAL OF MINUTES Morris Trevithick made a motion to approve the minutes of March 24, 2004 as submitted. The motion was seconded by Mike Burke and passed unanimously. General Plan Committee Regular Meeting of April 14, 2004 Page 6 of 6 ITEM 3: ELECTION OF CHAIR & VICE CHAIR Steve Glickman nominated Phil Micciche for Chair and the Committee unanimously agreed. Mark Sgarlato was selected as vice-chair. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 pm by Chair Mike Burke. The next meeting of the General Plan Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, May 26, 2004 at 5:00 pm. Prepared By: ___________________________ Suzanne Davis, Associate Planner N:\DEV\SUZANNE\GENPLAN\GPC\2004minutes\GPC-4-14-04.wpd