10-27-16 Minutes - GPCMINUTES OF THE SPECIAL GENERAL PLAN COMMITTEE MEETING
OCTOBER 27, 2016
The General Plan Committee of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Special Meeting on Thursday,
October 27, 2016, at 6:00 pm.
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER
Town Manager Prevetti called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm.
ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Matthew Hudes, Vice Chair Marico Sayoc, Mayor Barbara Spector, Public
Representative Jeffrey Barnett, Planning Commissioner Charles Erekson, Planning
Commissioner Melanie Hanssen
Absent: Business Representative Todd Jarvis, Community and Senior Services Commissioner
Lisa Marshik
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS (AUDIENCE)
None.
1. Election of Chair and Vice Chair
MOTION: Motion by Vice Mayor Sayoc to nominate Commissioner Hudes for Chair.
Seconded by Mayor Spector.
VOTE: Motion passed 6-0.
MOTION: Motion by Chair Hudes to nominate Vice Mayor Sayoc for Vice Chair.
Seconded by Mayor Spector.
VOTE: Motion passed 6-0.
2. Approval of Minutes – October 28, 2015
MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Hanssen to approve the minutes from the
October 28, 2015 meeting, as amended.
Seconded by Vice Chair Sayoc.
VOTE: Motion passed 4-0 with Chair Hudes and Mayor Spector abstaining.
3. North 40 Specific Plan Amendments Addendum
Discuss the Town Council suggestions for potential changes to the North 40 Specific Plan.
Chair Hudes opened the public hearing.
Committee members asked questions of staff.
Committee members discussed the matter.
Edward Morimoto
- Commented that the North 40 Specific Plan is incredibly complex, with hundreds of decisions
made to create it, and any responsible amendment of it calls for full consideration of those
decisions. The housing component of the North 40 Specific Plan is a balanced and responsible
way for Los Gatos to shoulder its share of the solution to the Bay Area housing shortage.
Page 2 of 3
General Plan Committee Minutes October 27, 2016
Maria Ristow
- Commented that she doesn’t understand how the town can look at amendments to the North 40
Specific Plan at this point with the lawsuit looming, because they can’t even accept any
applications for the Northern District until the lawsuit is settled, so if they want to encourage
housing there, the only thing that makes sense at this point would be to increase the amount of
total housing.
Jan Olsen
- Commented that she would be directly impacted by the North 40 development. The North 40
project should be a green project with LEED certifications, alternative energy uses, pervious
pavement, low water uses, use of plants and trees for shade, and solar energy. She is concerned
about what the new Samaritan Drive project will do to the area’s traffic.
Sandy Decker
- Commented that the North 40 Specific Plan states “The Specific Plan standards and guidelines
supersede the existing Los Gatos Commercial Design Guidelines and development of the
Specific Plan area,” and she is confused, because unless the General Plan Committee is ready to
say where the Specific Plan does not meet General Plan requirements, why is the meeting being
held? If the Specific Plan does supersede General Plan requirements, the first meetings should
have been the Planning Commission.
Rod Teague
- Commented that moving forward he hopes whatever changes are made to the Specific Plan that
the Town will defer to the Vision Statement and Guiding Principles of the Specific Plan, because
that is the foundation and the Town’s goal. The Grosvenor application had a lot of row houses
and aspects that were in contrast to what Los Gatos is about, things like open space and housing
that conforms to the community.
Tom Spilsbury
- Commented that this project started out as the grand vision of the North 40, but it has been pared
down to the North 20, not what the Specific Plan stated, and jamming all the houses into 20 acres
is not what anybody wanted. The biggest issue is traffic, and it has not been solved yet.
Committee members asked questions of Mr. Spilsbury.
Woody Nedom
- Commented that the best way for the GPC to proceed is to determine how the proposed
development does not comply with the Specific Plan, such as it does not spread housing over the
full development, the units are too large, it does not meet the unmet needs of Los Gatos, it
doesn’t mitigate impact on schools, and it doesn’t reflect the Town of Los Gatos.
Diane Dreher
- Commented that she supports the Town Council’s suggestions for potential amendments to the
Specific Plan, specifically that housing be spread across all three districts; smaller, more
affordable units; and senior housing on the ground level.
Chair Hudes closed the public input portion of the hearing and returned to the Committee for
deliberation.
Committee members asked questions of staff.
Committee members discussed the matter.
Page 3 of 3
General Plan Committee Minutes October 27, 2016
4. Adjournment
Chair Hudes declared the meeting adjourned at 9:55 pm.
TOWN OF LOS GATOS GENERAL PLAN COMMITTEE
Wednesday, October 27, 2016
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_____________________________
/s/ Joel Paulson
Community Development Director