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05-12-21 Minutes - PC 110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832 www.losgatosca.gov TOWN OF LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MAY 12, 2021 The Planning Commission of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Regular Meeting on Wednesday, May 12, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. This meeting was conducted utilizing teleconferencing and electronic means consistent with State of California Executive Order N-29-20 dated March 17, 2020, regarding the COVID19 pandemic and was conducted via Zoom. All planning commissioners and staff participated from remote locations and all voting was conducted via roll call vote. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 7:00 P.M. ROLL CALL Present: Chair Kathryn Janoff , Vice Chair Kendra Burch, Commissioner Jeffrey Barnett, Commissioner Melanie Hanssen, Commissioner Jeffrey Suzuki, and Commissioner Reza Tavana Absent: Commissioner Emily Thomas VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS Giulianna Pendleton: - She is the environmental advocacy assistant for the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society. She attended and engaged in recent General Plan Update Advisory Committee meetings, especially concerning bird safe design and dark sky. She advocated adding a policy statement and goal to address creating a bird safe design and dark sky ordinance in Los Gatos and is excited that the GPAC agreed to add those policies to the draft General Plan. CONSENT ITEMS (TO BE ACTED UPON BY A SINGLE MOTION) 1. Approval of Minutes – April 28, 2021 MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Hanssen to approve adoption of the Consent Calendar. Seconded by Commissioner Burch. VOTE: Motion passed unanimously. PAGE 2 OF 5 MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF MAY 12, 2021 PUBLIC HEARINGS 2. 140 Arroyo Grande Way Architecture and Site Application S-20-013 APN 424-23-048 Property Owners/Applicant: Yogesh Jhamb and Hema Jhamb Project Planner: Sean Mullin Requesting approval for demolition of an existing single-family residence and construction of a new single-family residence on property zoned R-1:8. Sean Mullin, Associate Planner, presented the staff report. Opened Public Comment. Yogesh and Hema Jhamb, Applicant: - They have updated their plan based on Planning Commission feedback during their last hearing. They reduced the mass and bulk of the house, updated the design and pitch of the roof to lower the height by almost six feet, simplified the roof forms, replaced the gable garage roof with a hip roof, removed the roof dormer, lowered the eaves by one foot, and addressed privacy by lowering windows by one foot. The home is now lower in height than two homes (115 La Cienega Ct and 143 Arroyo Grande Way) in the immediate neighborhood. Although the home is taller than the current home the maximum height is only reached on a small portion of the site elevation. As soon as the suns comes over the trees it visible on top of the new home and would not block the sunlight. An eco -smart garden in the front yard would have drought-resistant plants and shrubs. They have done neighborhood outreach and most neighbors support the project. Mark Hellmer, 147 Las Astas Drive: - They support the joint letter with the adjacent neighbors that has been submitted, including the recommended solutions. They can see the story poles from each bedroom in their three-bedroom home. The proposed home would block their views, as well as the views from their back yard. It appears the proposed windows would be higher than the height of the current windows and it would present a privacy concern for them. The applicant has stated his home is two feet higher than theirs, but upon measuring, it is only 13.5 inches higher. The applicants’ plan for a nine-month construction phase is overly optimistic and he expects it to be at least a year. He offered to meet with the applicants but they never responded. Ian and Charlene Land, 124 Arroyo Grande Way: - They live next door to the subject site. While they support the applicant's desire for a more comfortable and larger home, it would be at a high cost for themselves and the adjacent neighbors and they continue to have concerns. Their two key requests are sky view and PAGE 3 OF 5 MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF MAY 12, 2021 privacy. They only had a little bit of sky view to begin with and now they have a lot less, if any. The windows of the proposed home would be one foot, four inches above a seven- foot fence, which is not trivial because the applicants would be able to look into their home. They are very concerned that the story poles are not clear because they show a 12- foot roof that seems the same height as a 16-foot peak and they believe incorrect measurements on the previous drawings were used to measure the story poles; and their 14-foot Clerestory window seems way above the applicant's 16-foot story poles. Ramya and Murali Rasipuram: - They support the applicants’ desires for their home, but their main concerns are privacy and sky views. They agreed with the comments presented in the common neighbors ’ letter. It would be good if the applicants and their architect could arrange a common talk with all the neighbors to explain the dimensions of the proposed home and to resolve the common concerns. Joe Feng: - The windows of the proposed home would look into his home . He asked the applicant to lower their eave line and the windows one foot, which would solve most of his concerns. Yogesh and Hema Jhamb, Applicant - The story poles were surveyed and certified, so he does not believe they are wrong. The angle from which a photo is taken can make it seem that they match the roof of the F eng's home next door. They have tried their best to select de sign elements that are consistent with the neighborhood or enhance the neighborhood in certain respects. While their initial design did have some elements that did not adhere to the Los Gatos design guidelines, they have addressed those inconsistencies by incorporating the Planning Commission and Town Architect's suggestions. They have made every effort to address their neighbors' concerns. Closed Public Comment. Commissioners discussed the matter. MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Burch to approve an Architecture and Site Application for 140 Arroyo Grande Way subject to additional conditions of approval that: all bathroom windows shall have opaque glass or film; dust shall be kept to a minimum by utilizing the required construction Best Management Practices; mature trees shall be planted to screen for privacy; and the applicant shall work with staff to review option s for reducing the home by one foot, if possible, but if not possible it shall not be a condition of approval. Seconded by Commissioner Hanssen. Chair Janoff requested the motion be amended to include a condition of approval that mature trees shall be planted in such a way as not to block the neighboring Japanese garden PAGE 4 OF 5 MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF MAY 12, 2021 and the applicant shall work with the owners of the gard en to ensure the trees are positioned appropriately. The Maker of the Motion accepted the amendment to the motion. The Seconder of the Motion accepted the amendment to the motion. VOTE: Motion passed unanimously. OTHER BUSINESS REPORT FROM THE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Joel Paulson, Director of Community Development • The Town has brought in a consultant to assist with its objective standards work and will be asking for a subcommittee of the Planning Commission to work with staff and the consultant as they prepare documents for public review. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS/COMMISSION MATTERS General Plan Advisory Committee Commissioner Hanssen - GPAC held its 35th and final meeting on May 6, 2021 and reviewed the entire draft General Plan document. The document will be updated to reflect recommended changes that can be implemented into the public review draft of the General Plan, which will go out in June 2021, and then will proceed through the rest of the process, which includes the Environmental Impact Report, review by the Planning Commission probably in autumn 2021, and then approval by the Town Council. Historic Preservation Committee Commissioner Suzuki - HPC met April 28, 2021; considered four items: o 206 Glen Ridge Avenue o 9 and 11 Montebello Way o 104 Wilder Avenue o 202 University Avenue Conceptual Development Advisory Committee Commissioner Barnett - The CDAC May 12, 2021 meeting was cancelled. PAGE 5 OF 5 MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF MAY 12, 2021 ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. This is to certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the May 12, 2021 meeting as approved by the Planning Commission. _____________________________ /s/ Vicki Blandin