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Attachment 3 - January 12, 2022 Planning Commission Verbatim MinutesLOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A P P E A R A N C E S: Los Gatos Planning Commissioners: Kathryn Janoff, Chair Jeffrey Barnett Kylie Clark Melanie Hanssen Steve Raspe Reza Tavana Emily Thomas Town Manager: Laurel Prevetti Community Development Director: Joel Paulson Town Attorney: Robert Schultz Transcribed by: Vicki L. Blandin (619) 541-3405 ATTACHMENT 3 LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 P R O C E E D I N G S: CHAIR JANOFF: We now move on to the public hearing, Agenda Item #2, which is requesting approval for demolition of an existing single-family residence and construction of a new single-family residence to exceed floor area ratio standards with reduced front and side setbacks on nonconforming property zoned R:1D, located at 118 Olive Street. APN: 410-15-022. Architecture and Site Application: S-21-013. Property owners: Thomas and Meredith Reichert. Applicant: Jay Plett, Architect. I understand Mr. Mullin will be giving the Staff Report tonight. SEAN MULLIN: Thank you, Chair. Before you this evening is a request to demolish an existing residence and construct a new two-story residence. The subject property is nonconforming; the size being 3,680 square feet where 5,000 is required. The proposed two-story residence would be 1,677 square feet with a 299 square foot garage. The project also includes a partial 1,195 square foot basement that does not count towards the FAR. The Applicant is requesting approval to exceed the allowable FAR for the LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 property for reduced front and side yard setbacks, and for an exemption from the parking requirements. The Applicant proposes a contemporary two-story residence with traditional forms, natural materials, and neutral colors. The Town’s Consulting Architect reviewed the project and noted that the proposed residence had the potential to blend well with the immediate neighborhood. The Consulting Architect provided six recommendations for the project to increase its consistency with the Residential Design Guidelines and surrounding neighborhood. The Applicant responded through design changes and written justification as detailed in your Staff Report. As mentioned, the project would exceed the floor area by 9%, or 308 square feet. The Planning Commission may approve an FAR above what is allowed when making findings related to the consistency with the Residential Design Guidelines and compatibility with the surrounding properties. At the requested size the residence would be the third largest in terms of FAR and square footage in the immediate neighborhood. There are also four other homes in the immediate neighborhood that exceed their allowable FAR, LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 and the FAR of the proposed residence would rank in the middle of these homes. The project also proposes reduced front and rear setbacks on a nonconforming lot. Required setbacks on a nonconforming property, as well as other rules of the zone, may be modified under an Architecture and Site Application when findings can be made related to the proposal’s compatibility with the neighborhood. The proposed residence includes a front setback of 10 feet where 15 feet is required, and a left side setback of 3 feet where 5 feet is required. The Applicant has provided examples of homes along Olive Street with reduced front and side yard setbacks consistent with the proposed residence. Lastly, the Town Code requires that two off- street parking spaces be provided for a single-family residence. The code also allows for exemptions from these parking requirements when a property is found to not have adequate parking area. The subject property as mentioned is nonconforming as to size. The existing residence includes a single non- compliant parking space in the garage, and the proposed residence would include a one-car garage, meeting the required dimensions for a parking space, and would be LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 consistent with the neighborhood pattern of one-car garages. Based upon the analysis provided in your Staff Report, Staff recommends approval of the Architecture and Site Application subject to the recommended Conditions of Approval included in Exhibit 3. An addendum to your Staff Report has been distributed this evening, including a response to public comments prepared by the property owner, and additional public comment received after publishing of the Staff Report. This concludes Staff’s presentation and we are available to answer any questions. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you for that report, Mr. Mullin. Before I proceed with any questions of you, may I see a show of hands of Commissioners who have visited this property? Thank you very much. Now, do Commissioners have any questions for Mr. Mullin or Staff at this time? I don’t see any hands raised, so we will now open the public hearing and give the Applicant up to five minutes to address the Commission. JOEL PAULSON: Thank you. Whoever is going to be speaking on behalf of the Applicant, please raise your hand. It looks like I have a hand from Darren, but I don’t believe that’s the Applicant. Mr. Plett or the property LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 owner? Mr. Plett, you can unmute yourself and you have up to five minutes. JAY PLETT: Okay, thank you. Good evening, Commission members. I’m the project architect for this house. We designed this project with regard to the Town’s Residential Design Guidelines, consultation with Staff, and also the Consulting Architect. The neighborhood is in a state of transition with regard to young families moving in and homes being enlarged to accommodate them. From the inception of the project’s design we sought to design a home that blends in with the fabric of the neighborhood, neither the largest floor area nor the largest floor area ratio, but to all within the average of the four largest homes. The form of the home is consistent with traditional American design and closely resembles the form and mass of several neighboring houses. As a result of these efforts, Staff has recommended approval of the project. We also believe it is worthy of your approval. I’d like to allow the owners now to speak as well on behalf of the project. THOMAS REICHERT: Thanks, Jay. Also, thank you all for inviting us here to go through the project. It is also our first Commission meeting, so I know it sounds like LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 there are a few new Commission members, so welcome to you guys, but tonight is our very first meeting. We moved into the neighborhood about a year ago. I’m here with my wife, and grandma, who lives about seven minutes away, is watching the two kids at home. We love this neighborhood, and my wife grew up here, so we’re happy to be back here close to family. We are excited about the potential to expand this house to meet the demands of our family and continue to grow a long time here in the community, especially given some of the constraints that COVID has brought to us in our new environment. Oftentimes the kids have to be home from school or we have to work from home. These last two years have proven that a little extra space really can make a big difference in some mental wellbeing and home life balance. We chose to work with Jay. He designed a few houses in the neighborhood, including several on this exact block, he has his home office here in downtown Los Gatos, and he really helped us get a good sense from working with Jay that he has a good understanding of the context of the neighborhood, working with the Town, both Planning, Building, and Planning Commission over time, so that’s been a wonderful part of the process for us. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 One thing in particular about Jay that I really liked is that he helped us, as homeowners who have never done a project like this, get a good sense of understanding how to come to a very realistic type project when we have come to the table saying we wanted a very large house, or we want everything and have our cake and eat too, and right from the beginning Jay sort of brought us to reality and said, “Don’t submit that. You need to submit something that’s way more realistic,” to come in here. So, going through that process with Jay, and kudos also to Sean and his team, is the very first time that we went in for submittal. We started from the point of something that was already reasonable and fit and then were able to make very meaningful changes through the process that we were okay with from the beginning. I’ve been really happy with the process so far and just wanted to say thanks both to Jay and the neighbors who have helped us get to this point, so appreciate it. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you for the comments, and at this time do Commissioners have questions for the Applicant or homeowner? Commissioner Hanssen. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: Thank you for your comments and presentation. I wanted to ask about neighborhood outreach. I read everything that was in the LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Staff Report, and I read the Applicant’s letter in terms of talking about some of the neighbors that you knew and how you became friends with them, and then as I read on there was a letter signed by about eight neighbors opposing your project, so what I wanted to understand was what process you went through to do neighborhood outreach. Did you reach out to everyone, or just people that you knew, and then what did you discuss with them? Did you share your plans or did you just tell them about your project? This is for Mr. Reichert. THOMAS REICHERT: Thanks for the great question. In the first letter that I think you just referenced, it’s pretty difficult during this time of COVID—even this meeting itself is being hosted virtually—and we had just moved to the neighborhood, so we didn’t know a single person before we moved in. But to answer your question very directly, we didn’t reach out to everyone for a couple of reasons. One, we didn’t know anyone, so we reached out to quite a few people in our own personal comfort level during COVID. We were in pretty tight of a bubble. We lived with close family that had some potential issues, so the people that we did meet were actually really closely related to where the kids were going to school and people that we had LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 passed in the street. We didn’t go knocking door-to-door or anything like that. One part of the process that I would highlight is actually we erected the story poles significantly longer than they would need to be required. That’s a way for us to communicate our intentions and sort of freely let everyone know, not just the ten-day minimum. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: And then am I to understand the response that you gave was primarily to that letter and the objections that were raised by several neighbors? THOMAS REICHERT: I didn’t understand that question. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: You had given a response and we got it in the addendum yesterday, I guess it was, and it talked about some different points, and you had some drawings. Was that intended to interest the neighbors in opposition? THOMAS REICHERT: That’s correct. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: My final question and I’ll be done, Chair. You had two different drawings that your architect put up, and one was included in the addendum, which was where you had offered to basically take off that deck to the side? LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THOMAS REICHERT: Yeah. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: You had two versions, so you’re willing to do that, but we would probably want to keep it. Where do you stand on that? THOMAS REICHERT: That’s a great point. I understand we have three minutes at the end of public comment and I was hoping to talk about that a little bit based on if there are more potential comments, but yes, to talk to your point, we have a potential modified plan that might address some of the concerns that we brought up with more detail between understanding what that comment was and now, and we would be open to modify the plan in that way as a concession to I think the concern specifically was around privacy. So, yes, open to modify it in a way that allows them to maintain their privacy. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: Thank you for answering my questions. CHAIR JANOFF: I have one more follow up question regarding the long-term of the story poles. Did you receive any direct communication by mail, email, notes left on your doorstep, from your neighbors once those story poles went up? Or were the objections we saw in the Staff Report new to you? LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THOMAS REICHERT: Every single person who signed that letter I actually had never talked to before. Coincidentally, after that I talked to a few of them, reached out. Some I didn’t hear back from, but a couple of them I did; we talked about the project and shared plans directly. But to your point, we had not talked to a single person, not a note, not a phone call, not a come to the door to say anything. CHAIR JANOFF: All right, thank you for that. Any other questions of the Applicant at this time? Commissioner Barnett. COMMISSIONER BARNETT: I actually have five questions. I don’t want to monopolize the evening, but I wonder if we could get started on some of them anyway? My first question is as to the proposed deck, is that 2 feet or more above grade? The reason I ask is that the Residential Design Guidelines say that there need to be special setbacks under those circumstances. THOMAS REICHERT: Are you referring the deck in the back yard, or the one off of the master bedroom and off the garage? COMMISSIONER BARNETT: The back yard, not the terrace off the master bedroom. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THOMAS REICHERT: The proposed deck is under 2 feet, and actually it’s just a level walkout from the back door, so it’s not above 2 feet. COMMISSIONER BARNETT: Okay, thank you for that. If I might ask further, are there provisions made to protect the privacy of 120 Olive with respect to the window placement, size, and type? I couldn’t tell from the plan. THOMAS REICHERT: Great question. I think the terrace is probably the thing that impedes the biggest part of their privacy. In terms of windows, zero of the windows fact that direction and I that think goes a long way with the potential modification. The windows that are in the master bedroom that face towards 120 Olive are all clerestory, like you can’t see them when you’re walking, even on our side of the house; they’re just for light. COMMISSIONER BARNETT: Okay, thank you. If I might continue, the architect recommended the continuation of the stone on the front façade around the sides for continuity, and I understand that the owner rejected that, and I was wondering if you could comment further on that? THOMAS REICHERT: Maybe I misspoke when I said it. I agree with it, we should wrap the stone around the corner of the front, and I think that’s the way that Sean and Larry Cannon think, so yes, that’s in the intent. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 COMMISSIONER BARNETT: Thank you for the clarification. I noticed there’s a possible provision for an elevator for the car parking. I was wondering if that’s part of the intended project and if that would allow space for parking for a third vehicle? THOMAS REICHERT: That’s the intent. We’ve planned it with Jay so that would be possible. I think ultimately it will come down to a financial decision, like if it costs way too much money, then it will be very difficult for us to accommodate that additional parking spot. I really want it. I think it provides an additional off-view spot; I just really like the idea of having an extra car in the garage. COMMISSIONER BARNETT: I have a final question for Mr. Schultz. I know that you’ve commented previously about the issue of the law and the Town Code with respect to the right to a view, and I wonder for the record in this matter if you could repeat your advice on that point? ROBERT SCHULTZ: Thank you. Yes, our code does not address views whatsoever. I do know some jurisdictions that have adopted codes that do protect views, but unless it’s specifically set forth in the code and General Plan there is no right to a view. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 COMMISSIONER BARNETT: Thank you, those are my questions. CHAIR JANOFF: I do have one additional question for the architect, Mr. Plett. You refer to the house at 114 Olive as being similar in mass as 118 Olive. Can you tell me the height of 114 and the height of 118, please? JAY PLETT: 114 is about 20 feet, and then 118, we’re at 27 feet. CHAIR JANOFF: All right, thank you. Any other questions for the Applicant at this time? Commissioner Clark. COMMISSIONER CLARK: I have a few questions. First is you’re requesting a reduction of the front setback and I wanted to ask if it has been an option to reduce the back setback instead or if there was some wiggle room there, and if so, why you’re not reducing that? THOMAS REICHERT: The front setback, we are asking for that. We are by no means even at the 10 feet. The closest front setback, some are as low as 5 feet, so we shot to do that. It articulates the front elevation and the massing very well, and we also would like to preserve as much of the back yard as possible, because it’s such a small site, so the reasoning with that is a back yard, a play area for the kids. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 COMMISSIONER CLARK: Thank you. And something else I wanted to ask about was the suggestion by the architect to add trim, and it sounded like you are not going to do that. I wanted to first verify that that’s still the case, and then also ask to hear your reasoning. THOMAS REICHERT: Yes, the windows will be inset instead of having trim that would protrude on the building face. In lieu of that, the windows will be set in and recessed into the wall. COMMISSIONER CLARK: Okay, thank you. I have a follow up about the 120 Olive property. Something that struck me during the site visit was how close it seemed like the buildings would be together, and then how tall they would be. Are those neighbors supportive of this project, or do you know? THOMAS REICHERT: Commissioner Clark, the homeowner and the renter both are not in support, and I did reach out to both of them and unfortunately was unable to even talk to them. One of them had COVID and a trial case they were working on, and the other was unable to communicate outside of just both signing the letter, so no, we have not been able to communicate with either of the people at that location. I think in my response letter I offer what I think might be a good compromise, having the LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ability to talk to them was we’re not proposing anything that they don’t have. They have a 3-foot setback; we’d like a 3-foot setback. They have a two-story; we would like a two-story. Their two-story is the entire length of the home; we’re only proposing to have two-stories on a very short portion outside of the garage. COMMISSIONER CLARK: Got it. Thank you. JAY PLETT: If I could add to that, only the ground level is asking for the 3-foot setback. The second floor is a 5-foot setback as it exists right now. COMMISSIONER CLARK: Okay, got it. Thank you. One last question. Something that the neighbors brought up in that letter that they signed was the excavation that will be necessary for such a large basement, and I was wondering if that’s anything that you would ever consider eliminating or reducing because of how inconvenient it sounds like that could be? THOMAS REICHERT: Yes, obviously we’re not to that part of the building process yet, but one of the things we did is we already hired the soils engineer to let us know if it is possible to build on that site. We did that in advance, at risk, to better understand it with more perspective. He suggesting using a technique called “stitch LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 piering,” which allows us to do the entire construction on our side of the fence on the property line. COMMISSIONER CLARK: Thank you. Those are all my questions. CHAIR JANOFF: All right, thank you. I just want to remind the Commission, and especially our newer members, that we’ll know more if we hear from the members of the public how these particular concerns are articulated, and then the Applicant will have a chance to address those in his next session. Do we have any other questions from Commissioners? Commissioner Barnett. COMMISSIONER BARNETT: I had one follow up question. Is the height of the proposed residence lower than the height of 120 Olive Street? JAY PLETT: Thanks for that, Commissioner Barnett. Yes, the height of our proposed product is lower than both of the two heights of the western properties. COMMISSIONER BARNETT: I thought that’s how I read your material, but thank you for that. CHAIR JANOFF: Any other questions from Commissioners? I don’t see any hands raised, so at this time we will ask if any members of the public would like to speak on this item? LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 JOEL PAULSON: Next will be Shelli. Shelli, you can unmute yourself. SHELLI BAKER: Good evening to all and thanks for your time. I no longer live at 120 Olive Street, but in 2004 we did purchase that home for two reasons. Number one, it has a beautiful amount of natural light that streams through the entire home. Number two, there is a quite beautiful mountain view out of the master suite, which is the only second story part to this home, and it was probably done back in the forties. This home, by the way, is approximately 1,500 square feet total. We bought the home for those reasons, and this is also a reason why since 2012 it is easy to rent. People go in, this is a happy place. It’s bright, it’s sunny, it’s cozy, it’s cute, it’s open, and it’s very dated also inside. It’s an old house, but it’s very easy to rent. We moved up in the hills of Los Gatos, but our intentions are during retirement to move back to 120 Olive Street, so it’s not just like a rental property for us, although when you have a rental you also of course very much care about the value of the home, which I do. I looked very carefully at what was available early on, about a month ago. The shadow study scared me. I looked at it very carefully, watching the way the from mid- LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 December to June the light coming into the entry, kitchen, living room, dinning room, master bedroom, and our back yard will be completely in the shadow for most of the day, and December, January, February, March, these are the months where you need light more than anything, so that was exceptionally disturbing to me. The privacy of course, reducing a setback, it’s only a 5-foot setback to 3 feet. I just don’t understand. The house is enormous. I know there are other enormous houses, but these are the tiniest lots. That’s actually why we left, because we have three children and we’re like we better go get a house, a space, so they have a place, because it’s tiny. I just feel like reducing setbacks and putting the house closer to the street, and it’s already going to be very vertical, and exceeding the FAR, those are the reasons why I’m not in agreement with it. Even if I didn’t live right next door, I feel like 120 Olive will be imposed more than any other home directly on the street based on its proximity, but even if I lived down the street or around the corner, it’s something that I don’t think we should set a precedent for: let’s exceed the FAR, let’s reduce the setbacks front and side. That’s not my stance and never has been. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 21 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 If you visited the site, you can see that if that terrace does remain—I heard that that is now in question— but if that terrace does remain… CHAIR JANOFF: Ms. Baker, excuse me, I need to interrupt you. You’re time has expired. Thank you. Do any Commissioners have questions for Ms. Baker? Commissioner Hanssen. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: Thank you for sharing all of your concerns about the project. From your point of view, what would make this project acceptable? SHELLI BAKER: The bare minimum, I would say I would not reduce setbacks. The lots are 3,600 square feet, so why reduce setbacks on a home that is already exceeding the FAR? I wouldn’t even say exceed the FAR, because then the next house is going to exceed the FAR because this one did; it sets a precedent. It’s not the street for large houses. I know we have a few and that’s great, but not. It’s just not; they’re tiny. There’s no parking. We lived there for ten years, so we know what it’s like. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you. Commissioner Hanssen, has your question been answered? COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: Unless there was something else. What I was looking more for was a specific LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 22 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 suggestion. You said that if the setback is reduced, then that would be an issue, but I did want to follow up on that. The Applicant claimed that you also have a 3 foot setback, is that correct? SHELLI BAKER: No, I do not believe so. On one side, on the uphill side, there is a smaller setback. That’s because had a problem with the lot line. (Telephone rings.) Hold on. This is Darren Carroll as well, because he probably couldn’t unmute, so I can arrange if you would like to hear from Darren Carroll as well. CHAIR JANOFF: Ms. Baker, hang on. Let’s let Director Paulson manage the speakers and their sequence. Commissioner Hanssen, do you have any further questions? COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: No. CHAIR JANOFF: All right, thank you. Any other questions for Ms. Baker? I don’t see any hands raised, so thank you for your comments, Ms. Baker. Director Paulson, do we have any other speakers tonight? JOEL PAULSON: We do. The next speaker will be Mark. Mark, you can unmute yourself. MARK BOSKOVICH: Good evening, everyone. My name is Mark Boskovich. I live at 112 Olive Street. I live a couple of houses down from the Reicherts. I had the pleasure of spending time with their family, we have a LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 23 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 young family as well, and they’re a wonderful family and we love their design. We think it will just be a beautiful addition to this neighborhood. We see it as a huge upgrade and it’s going to raise the values of all the homes on this beautiful street. It has that Los Gatos touch thanks to a great Los Gatos architect in Jay Plett. I’ve been hearing a lot of comments about the setbacks, and I don't know if you’ve taken a really close look at this street, but the setbacks are all unorthodox in this area. My next-door neighbor’s setback from the front is probably 4-5 feet, and that’s just kind of the norm in this neighborhood, unorthodox setbacks, and so I don’t think it’s setting any kind of dangerous precedent. Most of the places in this area have different, unusual setbacks. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you for your comments, Mr. Boskovich. Any questions from Commissioners? I don’t see any hands raised. MARK BOSKOVICH: Can I make one more comment too? I just want to say that the Reicherts made a huge effort with some of the neighbors, including myself, to speak with us to make sure that we were okay with the plans. I think they did their best under some very difficult circumstances. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 24 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CHAIR JANOFF: All right, thank you for that addition. Director Paulson, do we have any other speakers who wish to address the Commission? JOEL PAULSON: We do. The next speaker will be Bonnie. Bonnie, if you unmute yourself, you have three minutes. BONNIE HURWITZ: Hi. Thank you very much for allowing me to speak. My name is Bonnie Hurwitz and I’m at 121 Olive Street; I’ve lived here for 18 years. Yes, it’s an eclectic neighborhood. The gentleman who just spoke before me is brand new to the neighborhood and I don’t think has as much experience living here; probably been here maybe two or three months. The reason that I’m speaking up is because we’ve already discussed at length the size of the proposed home, so I’m not going to belabor that again, but I do need to address the parking situation on this street. It is quite a narrow street with parking that alternates between one side and another, and to add additional parking that’s really outside the scope of what the norm should be is really going to be problematic. It’s already permit-only parking on this street, which means that when everybody has a car on the street, I personally had to go around the block and park around the corner from LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 where my home is, and that’s really problematic as far as I’m concerned. As regards the outreach portion of this, again, I’ve lived here for 18 years, and nobody came to talk to me at all, and I see that as a huge issue. Yes, we have a pandemic. Yes, I understand we don’t want to be up close and personal with people we don’t know, but there was no correspondence, no letter provided in my mailbox, which sits on the outside of my house. I was not approached in any fashion to address these new neighbors to explain what their position was on any of this, and to me it was quite a surprise. When I saw those poles go up, I was really shocked at the size of the proposed structure. Thank you very much. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you, Ms. Hurwitz. Do any Commissioners have questions at this time? Commissioner Raspe. COMMISSIONER RASPE: Thank you, Chair. Ms. Hurwitz, first of all, thank you for your comments and for taking the time to appear this evening. I wanted to ask you one question specifically with respect to parking. The materials that we were provided seem to indicate that there is a pattern of one-car garages in that LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 26 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 neighborhood, and that this project would fall into that norm or pattern. Do you find that to be an accurate statement, or do you have a different experience? BONNIE HURWITZ: I personally have an easement for my home. I don’t have a driveway that sits on Olive Street, I have an easement that is provided on Thurston, which is the street parallel to Olive Street, so I’m probably out of the norm, but having said that, most of the homes do have one-car garages, but also having said that, many of those homes are too small for cars. For example, on the one side of me there’s a home that is way too small. It would probably fit a car from 30-40 years ago, but that garage and many other garages on Olive Street do not fit conventional cars that are built today, which means people are parking on the street. And again, it’s permit-only parking and you get two spots and then that’s it. CHAIR JANOFF: Let me just interrupt you, Ms. Hurwitz. Commissioner Raspe, did you have your question answered? COMMISSIONER RASPE: My question has been answered. Thank you. CHAIR JANOFF: All right, thank you. I do have a follow up question. It’s my understanding that the current house has a nonconforming garage and a car doesn’t fit into LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 27 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 it, and that the proposed project would have a garage that a modern car would fit into. Does that not sound like it would contribute to easing some of the parking problems? BONNIE HURWITZ: Not from the size of the driveway, from what I recall seeing on the drawing, and I don’t have a drawing in front of me, but some of the homes on the street have longer driveways that can actually fit the additional car in the driveway itself, so that parking on the street is not impacted, but I thought with this short a driveway that wouldn’t be possible. CHAIR JANOFF: All right, thank you for your comments. Any other questions for Ms. Hurwitz. I don’t see any hands raised. Director Paulson, do we have anyone else wishing to speak on this item? JOEL PAULSON: Do you want me to try Darren one more time? We do have additional speakers, but I’m going to see if he can unmute himself. DARREN CARROLL: What I want to say is that several of the people that signed the letter with the eight signatures asked me to just relay the fact that their position hasn’t changed, they’re just unable to call in because of several reasons, including not being technically savvy, as I obviously should be in that category. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 But I’d also like point out there are a couple of other things that are not necessarily specific to the house, but to the notification process, and that is I don’t think the netting depicts the true setting of the house to the southeast corner. The architect’s summary and the signs on the property say that it is an addition, not a new construction, and that’s confusing and misleading. Several people walking the neighborhood have said, “Oh, they’re adding on.” I was like, “No, they’re building new.” So, I think the implications might be a little bit deceiving on that. Along with that, my main concerns are the setback requirements. I just feel they’re starting with a clean slate. There are no real mitigating circumstances that dictate a size reduction or a font reduction for setbacks on it. I know my house is a larger house in the neighborhood, but I didn’t ask for any of the building setback requirements on that and I was able to do a nice house, and I even have more restrictive setbacks than that one does. I’d just like to point out, Olive Street is probably the narrowest street with the smallest lots in the whole town, and when you turn onto Olive Street from San Benito or from Santa Cruz Avenue, the netting on that house LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 just eclipses everything around it, including pretty much mine. A nice house can be designed there, and I’m not denying anybody that possibility, but I just don’t see the need to build a house that’s almost 28 feet tall 10 feet from the property; it just is going to look like a lighthouse there. If they want to build that house, then meet the setbacks, that is my biggest concern. I’ve always been under the impression that there was some sort of a community benefit by building a house that you had to put into it, whether it was additional parking, or landscaping, or a privacy concern or something like that, and I just truly don’t see that. I see a big, huge house that’s making every attempt to manipulate every avenue to build a big house on a lot that truly doesn’t support it, and that’s why I’m asking that the Town, specifically you people tonight, do not support this. If I have extra time I’d like to address a couple of questions that were brought up earlier regarding notification to neighbors when the story poles went up. Is that okay? CHAIR JANOFF: Darren, it looks like your time is up, so you won’t be able to proceed, but I do want to ask Commissioners if you have questions for this speaker? Thank LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 you for your comments. We appreciate it. Commissioner Barnett, did you have a question? COMMISSIONER BARNETT: Yes, I do. Darren, can you tell me what the height of your residence is? DARREN CARROLL: Offhand, I can’t, but I’m going to guess. It’s tall, but my house is on a corner that has a 9-foot shift from end-to-end, so from the front of my house, which is on San Benito Avenue, it’s just a normal two-story house. If you walk around to the back of my property, there’s a walk-out basement, and that’s just fitting the topography, this is not where I had a flat lot to build with and I wanted to go that high. If you took all of my levels, three of them, I don’t exceed the 28 feet that that house is above grade, so what’s visible at my house from the front and back are substantially lower than that. I just have the benefit of being higher topographically than that property and the lot that it was very difficult to design a house for. COMMISSIONER BARNETT: I do understand your response and I appreciate it. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you, Commissioner, and thank you, Darren. At this time, I’ll ask Director Paulson if there are other speakers on this matter. JOEL PAULSON: Yes, the next speaker will be Lee. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 LEE QUINTANA: I have a few comments. One of them is on the history of the San Benito house that is included in the comparison table. I have two comments. One, if my memory serves me well, when I was on the Planning Commission that house was a very difficult decision, it was very controversial and it was a split- decision because of the fact that it does seem to be so big and it was feared that that would lead to a domino effect. The thing I would like to say is that this was originally proposed as a remodel. As remodels, they would not have had to fix the nonconforming setbacks to the side, but as a demo the Town says that you have to meet the requirements of the zone. In this case that means wider setbacks. However, there are provisions for exceptions for nonconforming residences, but this project is asking for four or five different exemptions, and each one may individually meet the findings, but cumulatively it may have a bigger impact. The other thing I wanted to mention is that it’s my understanding that granting an exception is not required. The Commission may grant an exception if they meet the findings necessary, but they’re not required to, and so I would ask you to very carefully consider what exceptions you actually give. The parking might be LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 reasonable in the sense that they are making the garage more conforming than it had been, but I also question shortening the driveway, and specifically the request for an exemption to the FAR. They’re using a cellar, and the Cellar Policy states that it should be in lieu of visible space; it doesn’t say that it counts towards the FAR, but it should help with a house being more consistent with the others in the neighborhood. The last thing I want to say is I do have a very personal feeling about Olive Street. I think it is one of the cutest streets in the Town; I really love that street because of all the small cottages that are there, and it’s changing so that that’s no longer its character. Thank you. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you, Lee. Any questions for the speaker? I don’t see any hands raised. Director Paulson, do we have anyone else wishing to speak on this topic? JOEL PAULSON: We do, and the next speaker will be Leslie. LESLIE GARRISON: Thank you, Director Paulson. Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Leslie Garrison; I own the property at 15 Ashler Avenue on the other side of the fence from Olive Street. I’ve lived here since 2016 with my family, and my son is currently in Cub Scouts with LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 33 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the Reicherts’ daughter, whom we’ve had the pleasure to meet and get to know very well as a direct result of being neighbors. Having just completed my own renovation on a historic property I have come to appreciate this process, so thank you for considering my comments. I find the Reichert proposal to be a tasteful plan. It’s in line with the neighborhood aesthetics and is likely to yield broader property value improvements for the wider neighborhood. As a full-time working parent with one child already in Los Gatos public schools and soon to have three in Los Gatos public schools, I can relate to some of the constraints and desires of the Reichert family. Given my stellar experience in this neighborhood—I love living here—I really encourage the Commissioners to reduce barriers to new families being able to buy and stay here in our beautiful walkable neighborhood, rather than create conditions that push families farther away. I really do understand and appreciate all comments being made tonight and I understand that reasonable minds can disagree on these details, but I really welcome neighbors to respectfully make efforts to do more with less space, and I express my support for this plan. Thank you for considering my input. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 34 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you, Ms. Garrison, for your comments. Any questions for the speaker? I don’t see any hands raised. Do we have anyone else wishing to speak? JOEL PAULSON: We do. The next speaker will be Marcus. MARCUS LAM: Hi, thank you for allowing me to speak. I’m at 114 Olive Street. Our house was recently remodeled right before the end of COVID. Jay Plett was our architect. My wife Celeste and I have been here since 2014, when this house was originally 800 square feet. Obviously, that’s not enough space to accommodate a growing family with two boys now; one is in school at Daves and the other is in preschool at Growing Footprint. To mirror the point made by the Ashler neighbor, we appreciate how nice this neighborhood is, but we also need to find ways to accommodate the changing demographics in this town with growing families trying to move in. My wife and I had a very difficult submission process for our remodel. We actually tried to do two stories as well, but because of the feedback from neighbors around us we were very discouraged from that and had to compromise with a different plan. We hope that with the Reicherts, having met them and gotten to know them very well, don’t also have to LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 35 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 compromise if they don’t have to, and we are very in support of their project. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you, Mr. Lam, for your comments. Do any Commissioners have questions for Mr. Lam? I don’t see any hands raised, so thank you for that. Director Paulson, do we have other speakers on this item? JOEL PAULSON: The next speaker will be Andrea. ANDREA GALATEA: Hi, everybody. My name is Andrea Galatea; I am actually the renter at 120 Olive and I just wanted to make a few comments. I live here with my three children, twin daughters and my son. Mr. Reichert was very, very nice to come over. I was very busy with some child stuff that I was doing, but I did want to make a comment, because I saw the orange stuff coming up about a month ago. The first thing that I wanted to say is when we rented—we moved from Saratoga—what drew me to this house was the character and charm of that small town feel, and I think that a large house like this, though I’m sure it would be very beautiful, probably belongs on a large property, because the aesthetics of it, though very pretty, takes away from the feel of the neighborhood and that quaintness of the neighborhood charm that we have here. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 36 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 As far as the setbacks, the other thing that drew me to this house was the light and all of the beautiful windows, and it is an old house, but that’s the charm that I like. The single pane windows. When I wake up and have my coffee in the morning in that little front area of the sunroom, what I love is the views and the light and being able to watch the sunrise, and I think that all I will see are walls of the neighboring home, and whether it’s me or somebody else, that’s what they will see. Also, the master bedroom, instead of looking out at a beautiful view, from my bed at night I can see the moon, and there’s a huge pine tree up off in the distance, and all that will be gone and it will darken the master bedroom, and so definitely the light in the home is going to be gone. CHAIR JANOFF: I’m sorry to interrupt you. Your time is up. Thank you for your comments. Do any Commissioners have questions for Andrea? I don’t see any hands raised. Thank you. Director Paulson, do we have any other speakers on this item? JOEL PAULSON: I don’t see any other hands raised at this time. Again, I see Mark, who already spoke, but let’s see if there’s another member of the household that wants to speak. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 37 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CHRISTY BOSKOVICH: This is Christy Boskovich; I’m Mark’s wife. Sorry, I was helping put the kids to bed. I just wanted to add in a note of how supportive we are of the Reicherts’ plan. They’re such a wonderful family in the community. We’ve really enjoyed getting to know them; they have a daughter at Daves and they’ve just been so wonderful and really have that community spirit of bringing everyone together, and I really just want to support more and more young families coming to our street. I just think that their plan is so tasteful; it’s very thoughtful. I thought it was such a smart idea to do the basement so that they could get a little more space so that when everyone is home in this COVID world they have that, but it’s not making the house super large. I think it’s going to look very tasteful, very beautiful, and really start to match the neighborhood, and we’re just so, so supportive and we really hope that they can build the house of their dreams and they can build this family and live here a really long time, and really just continue to contribute to the Los Gatos community. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you for your comments. Do any Commissioners have questions at this time? I don’t see any hands raised. Director Paulson, are there any other speakers on this matter? LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 38 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 JOEL PAULSON: There are not, so we go back to the Applicant. CHAIR JANOFF: All right, thank you for that. At this time we’ll invite the Applicant to come back to the Commission. You’ll have up to three minutes to address any of the comments made or provide any additional information. THOMAS REICHERT: I just want to thank everyone for participating, and I think it’s what Leslie said that resonates most in my head, that we can all communicate civilly and all have a good way of communicating and talking about it, so I appreciate everyone participating. I think I want to start with Andrea and Shelli at 120 Olive. They had some really good points, and one of the proposals that they talked about was a large focus on the light. When we look at the lighting study, the part of the house that they’re talking about, as Andrea mentioned, she has her morning coffee there, and actually that’s probably when I see her the most, give a wave or pass by, that part of the house is actually not proposed to change one bit. It’s not getting any closer to the front setback and they will not loose… The lighting study changes zero. We’re not going to be going up higher than the garage at that point. That’s not necessarily intentional; we didn’t know that that was a big part of potential concern, but in terms of LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 39 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the context and neighborhood plan, in fact they won’t be losing any light in that main living area. Their view won’t change at all. Then in terms of the back where the second story is, unfortunately we are proposing a second story right next to their second story, so I’m not sure what considerations we made; that’s kind of what we’re just asking for. It’s the second story right next to their second story. Jay, you got something? JAY PLETT: Yes. I’d just like to add that the statement was made that it’s 10 feet away and it’s 28 feet tall, and that’s not quite accurate. It’s 27 feet tall and the second story portion of the house has a 15-foot setback. The 10-foot setback only pertains to the first floor, but the second story has a conforming setback of 15 feet, which I believe is correct in that neighborhood. I would also differ with the perception. If you look at the house, if you look up from Santa Cruz Avenue, both 120 Olive and especially 546 Santa Cruz Avenue loom over our story poles, and by no means would our project be dominant; 546 Santa Cruz will still be well above the perceptible view of our project. Our driveway length will not be changing. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 40 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THOMAS REICHERT: Jay, I wanted to point that out. One of the concerns I heard was from the neighbor Bonnie. Sorry we haven’t met yet. I’m excited to potentially meet and sorry that that’s the circumstance. But the parking driveway, to Jay’s point, in addition to having the new conforming proposed garage, a full size car does fit in our current driveway and we are proposing no changes to that, so both of our cars would be parked onsite, on property, with the proposed plan. CHAIR JANOFF: Director Paulson, are you indicating that the time has expired? He is, so your time as expired, but if Commissioners have questions of the Applicant, now is the time to ask. Yes, Commissioner Tavana. COMMISSIONER TAVANA: Yes, thank you, Chair. Just one quick question. I can’t quite see it clearly in the drawings, but what is the length of the driveway as proposed? THOMAS REICHERT: I think Jay is going to probably measure it, like this scale. On the CRB and it fits without walking on any of the sidewalk, because the ticket person is vigilant about making sure that doesn’t happen, so it fits fully in the driveway. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 41 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 JAY PLETT: Yes, the existing driveway is 18 feet and will remain that way. CHAIR JANOFF: Just a follow up question on that. I’m looking at sheet C-3 and it indicates that the driveway is 17 feet, 4 inches. Mr. Plett, are you saying that the driveway is going to stay at 18 feet, or will it actually be at 17 feet, 4 inches? THOMAS REICHERT: There’s a slight variation between Jay’s measuring off the property line, but technically the City owns part of the driveway. That could be the variation of the measurement. The dirt and grass and part of the driveway are technically part of the City property on our easement. CHAIR JANOFF: But it sounds like that area is parkable, and so it probably adds a few inches to the 17 inches, 4 inches. THOMAS REICHERT: It’s not part of the sidewalk, correct. CHAIR JANOFF: Any other questions for the Applicant? I do have one, probably for the architect. It’s a little bit difficult to gather this, because your elevations don’t indicate what your plate heights are, but could you clarify what your ceiling heights are on each floor? LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 42 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 JAY PLETT: We have a 10 foot ceiling on the main level, and then on the upper level the plates heights vary. Let me go to the elevations here. The plate heights vary from 8 feet in the master bedroom, at the rear we have a plate of 7 feet, the master bathroom we are at 6 feet, 6 inches. CHAIR JANOFF: Let me make it a little easier. Is there a plate height on the second story that is over 8 feet? JAY PLETT: No. CHAIR JANOFF: And then the middle story, the living space, you say it has a 10 foot plate height, and then the basement level looks like it also has a 10-foot place height? JAY PLETT: No. Let me go to that sheet. It would be 9 feet in the basement. CHAIR JANOFF: And could I just clarify, is it your intention at a future date to include a lift and a lower level garage in that area? JAY PLETT: Yes. CHAIR JANOFF: And is there a requirement for a 9-foot plate height for a subterranean garage? LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 43 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 JAY PLETT: In a basement garage, I’ve done them before with a 9-foot basement. I don't know if we could go lower than that. CHAIR JANOFF: All right, thank you. Any other questions for the Applicant at this time? I don’t see any hands raised, so at this time we’ll close the public hearing on this item and ask if Commissioners have any questions of Staff, wish to comment on the application, introduce a motion, or anything else? Commissioner Hanssen. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: I’m going to go back to where I was asking a question earlier. My first reaction was there are a lot of neighbors who are supportive, and then when I saw the letter that was signed by eight neighbors opposing the project, several of whom have spoken tonight, but not all. I think we have a situation that needs to be addressed. But as far as the application itself, it seems to be a pretty well designed house. I think they’ve made a lot of effort to make it fit into the neighborhood, but on the other hand, they are asking for quite a few exceptions: the FAR, front and side setbacks, and also the parking. From my perspective I think that it really isn’t enough for them to answer some of these questions in the hearing tonight. I think that some additional work should be done with the LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 eight people that signed that letter to try to assuage some of their concerns. It may not be possible. We would hope that those people would be amenable to being cooperative and trying to come up with a compromise, but from my perspective I think that more work needs to be done with the neighbors in order for this to go through. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you, Commissioner Hanssen. Do any other Commissioners have comments or thoughts they’d like to share at this time? Let me ask a different question of the Commissioners. Do we have a position on the Commission where Commissioners are in favor of the proposal as submitted to us tonight? Commissioner Tavana, Commissioner Barnett, Commissioner Raspe. COMMISSIONER TAVANA: Sorry, Chair, if you don’t mind. I understand your concerns, Commissioner Hanssen, but I’m not entirely sure based on what I heard tonight what the chief concern was. Some of it was FAR, but it’s coming from neighbors whose own houses have exceeded the FAR. Height was brought up as an issue, but looking at sheet A- 1.1, Olive Street looking at the project, the height is actually rather in line with a lot of the houses in the immediate neighborhood, so I’m not sure what the chief concern was and what could possibly be addressed by going LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 45 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 back to the neighbors, so in general I am in support of this project tonight. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you, Commissioner Tavana. Any other Commissioners wish to speak? Yes, Commissioner Raspe. COMMISSIONER RASPE: I’ll join in Commissioner Tavana’s comments. I noted in the materials and in the comments tonight that the home in its height, setbacks, and FAR wouldn’t be unique if we were to grant the request as presented tonight. I thought the design is fairly thoughtful. My only concern in coming into the hearing was the parking, and that concern has been assuaged, as well as the privacy concern, and as I understand it from the opening comments, the redesign would largely take care of privacy concerns, so as presented I’m in favor of this project. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you for your comments. Commissioner Barnett. COMMISSIONER BARNETT: I’ll explain my reasoning as well. Residential Design Guidelines do put a lot of weight on neighborhood compatibility and character, but there’s also language in there about the inevitability of change and I think that this is a case where the neighborhood is in flux. I understand the desire of certain LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 46 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 of the neighbors to maintain the traditional architectural values that are in place, but I think as was mentioned with growing families, and frankly the value of lots and the opportunity to improve them to current standards, makes sense in this case, and I think that the exceptions have been addressed or are justifiable under the code. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you for your comments, Commissioner Barnett. Any other comments? Commissioner Thomas. COMMISSIONER THOMAS: I am a little bit on the fence with all of this. Coming into this I think that this is a nonconforming lot. It’s small, but reduced setbacks were not a huge problem as far as I was concerned. I was a little bit surprised to hear so many neighbors commenting on that and FAR, especially when so much of the neighborhood does exceed the FAR and does not have regular setbacks. So, from that perspective I don’t see a huge issue with approving the application. I do wonder though about the below grade square footage, is that really in lieu of above grade square footage? I understand the COVID situation, and being new to the neighborhood I completely understand, it just is unfortunate that it puts us in a position where we’re in LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 47 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 between two parties because of the situation. I know that part of our job is mediating, so I am interested to hear what suggestions Chair Janoff and Commissioner Hanssen have, because you’ve been doing this longer than the rest of us. CHAIR JANOFF: Commissioner Hanssen. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: I should clarify that my comments were more directed at a continuance than they were at denying the application. I think at the end of the day the application has merit, but I don’t feel like the proper due diligence has been done with the neighbors, and I recognize the complications of COVID, but we’ve seen so many other hearings in the last year-and-a-half where they managed to figure out a way to connect with the neighbors on Zoom or on a phone call or something like that, so I would feel better about approving this and the exceptions if that step had been done, and could be done as a follow up to this meeting, to at least go over the plans with the neighbors, and I think they’ll find that most of those concerns are actually addressed, but some of those neighbors didn’t even come and speak tonight, so I would be in favor of a continuance to give them time to speak to those other neighbors that are opposing, and that would be my recommendation. LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 48 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CHAIR JANOFF: I’ll add onto that. You’re correct, Commissioner Thomas, our job is in some cases to mediate, but it is not make a decision perhaps in a vacuum, so I think what Commissioners Raspe, Tavana, and Barnett are saying is it’s important, that this is a project that technically has many merits and it has the endorsement of the consulting architect, it helps the parking because of the driveway length and the conforming garage, so it’s helping in those respects. I don’t have an issue with the nonconforming setbacks; it seems to be standard in the neighborhood because these are exceptionally small lots, and how are you going to fit what you need to fit onto them without some exceptions, so I don’t have an issue with that. I did have a bit of an issue with height. It’s difficult for me to understand from the information we have from the architect. Story poles give you just sort of a basic data point, but we don’t have the kind of elevation renderings that we often get at the Planning Commission where we can really see the articulation of a design and you sort of get a little more perspective on where your mass is articulated, forward or backward, so you begin to see the impact it might have on some of the neighboring structures, and I think that’s important for us to see. I’m LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 49 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 in favor of the project as it is, but I think it would be very helpful, especially for the neighbors, to be able to see how the massing of the proposed project looks. It looks so flat from these illustrations that we have; it’s really difficult. Having said all that, I think it’s very important, especially in a neighborhood that’s this tight physically and emotionally, you’ve got a lot of friendships yet to come, for the Applicants to reach out to their neighbors, see if compromise can be made. It may be that that is not possible, but at least show that you’ve respected your neighbors and your neighborhood and get a little feedback from them. It may change the position of a window in the master bedroom so that your neighbor on that side doesn’t feel privacy has been infringed. I’m actually in favor of the project, as three Commissioners have noted, but I would like to see more outreach to the neighborhood to make this really a neighborhood-accepted project. I think having some harmony in the neighborhood rather than controversy is probably a good thing. I would be in favor of Commissioner Hanssen’s request for a continuance in order for the neighborhood outreach to be developed, and then we can hear whether that LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 outreach has resulted in any changes to the plan, large or small, at a continued meeting. CHAIR JANOFF: Commissioner Thomas, then I saw Commissioner Clark as well. Go ahead, Commissioner Thomas. COMMISSIONER THOMAS: Thank you. I agree with everything that was just said, Chair Janoff, and I also am in support of a continuance. I think that there are some cases where it might be difficult for the neighbors to articulate specific changes that they’re asking for, and if that’s the case and the Applicant can bring that to us, and we’ve been in support of the project thus far, and we don’t have any very specific feedback about changes, then I don’t see why we can’t move on with a continuance. I have really appreciated Mr. Plett’s ability to verbally communicate and answer many of the questions that we’ve had, but it was difficult in person at the site and on paper to really visualize with these visuals that we have. He was correcting us a couple of times, we were getting clarifications on things, and we spent a lot of time with these materials, so I think also getting some better renderings and having a better idea of what the mass and scale actually is on the property will hopefully allow LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 51 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the neighbors to come to agreement or feel more comfortable with the project moving forward. I just wanted to say that I’ve appreciated the clarifications tonight and I think that a few more things just need to be clarified and one last attempt to come to some agreement on a few things, so I’m in support of a continuance. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you, Commissioner Thomas. Commissioner Clark. COMMISSIONER CLARK: Thank you, Chair Janoff. Just a couple of additions to what was said. I do agree that the outreach was not done to the extent that it needs to be, and it honestly sounds like the Applicant wasn’t aware that it’s very important and normal to go door-to- door and actually talk to their neighbors, and so I do think it would be important to give them the opportunity to do that and to try to address those concerns with their neighbors, because it would be really sad to see relationships with neighbors hurt through this, and once the house goes up just there being resentment around that. I think it would be nice to give them some time, see if there’s anything that they’re able to explain to neighbors, and then also maybe there are some really minor changes LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 52 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 that they’d be able to make that would make other people feel a lot better. I agree it helps the parking situation, it was built with a lot of intention, and I like the design as it is, but I think that there should be more outreach before I’m comfortable approving it. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you for your comments, Commissioner Clark, and I did want to just clarify that when we recommend further outreach, it doesn’t need to be face-to-face. If the Applicant and neighbors are concerned regarding face-to-face communication given COVID, please make an attempt to provide phone numbers or emails, but it’s so much better to talk than do the emailing thing, so you could certainly distribute a flyer to your neighbors and say, “Please give us a call. We’d like to hear from you.” So again, it doesn’t have to be face-to-face. It can be if you want to have a street meeting; that might be interesting, but having said that, do I have any other comments from Commissioners? Commissioner Tavana. COMMISSIONER TAVANA: I have a concern about continuing this tonight and the fact that it could open up… I want to see if we can maybe limit the scope of the continuance just to neighborhood outreach as opposed to re- reviewing the whole entire project as a whole. I think that LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 53 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 would be unfair to the Applicants tonight. They came all this way to present to us, we’ve been discussing this for an hour-and-a-half, and we’ve just continued it for neighborhood outreach, which I do believe they did do. Folks that we did hear tonight are not part of the immediate neighborhood. So, is there a way we can just limit the scope of the continuance tonight is my question? CHAIR JANOFF: I think we can do that. Staff? JOEL PAULSON: You definitely can limit the scope to whatever is in motion. That doesn’t mean that that’s all that may get discussed, but I think that direction might be helpful just so folks know where the Commission is if that’s where they’re interested in going. CHAIR JANOFF: Commissioner Hanssen. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: What my intent was by suggesting this, and I’ll stop short of making the motion at the moment, was to limit the scope of this to simply extending the neighborhood outreach to at least the eight people that signed that letter, and anyone else that had written in, and anyone else that’s in the immediate neighborhood as we defined it by the Town Residential Design Guidelines if they haven’t already been spoken to. I’m not suggesting that they have to meet the requirements of those neighbors, but if there’s something LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 54 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 that’s reasonable… I’ll just give an example. If the neighbor says, “I don’t think houses should exceed FAR,” and there’s no harm that can be demonstrated because of it, that might not be a good feedback, that’s your opinion but it isn’t a harm that you’re experiencing, so what I would envision is having some dialogue, doesn’t have to be face- to-face, limited to the immediate neighborhood, and I’m assuming that all the people that signed that letter were in the immediate neighborhood. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you for that clarification. I would just like to add, for those who may not know, that the Residential Design Guidelines define “immediate neighborhood” as the two houses to the left and right of the property and the five houses across the street from the property, so those would be the primary outreach homes. I don’t recall whether the eight names on the letter were all on Olive or from other areas, so we would want the focus to be on those 2-2-5 houses in particular. I think it’s clear from the discussion tonight that the Commission is generally in favor of the project as provided but that we would like to see some renderings so that we can get a better understanding of it, and that those renderings may help neighbors better understand what they’re looking at over the story poles, and that we would LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 55 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 not be expecting wholesale design changes. These would be minor modifications that would help neighbors feel more comfortable with the design proposed. With that, Commissioner Barnett. COMMISSIONER BARNETT: Based on all the discussions that we’ve just heard, I would make a motion to continue this hearing for a period of 30 days or more to allow the Applicant to reach out to the neighborhood as has been described by Chair Janoff, and also that the additional elevations be provided; I think that would be helpful. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you for that motion. Do I have a second? Commissioner Hanssen. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: I second the motion. CHAIR JANOFF: Thank you for that. Any comments regarding the motion on the table? Director Paulson. JOEL PAULSON: I would just suggest that we do a date certain of February 9th. If they’re not ready then, then we can continue it to the next meeting. CHAIR JANOFF: Is that modification to the motion acceptable to the maker and the seconder of the motion? COMMISSIONER BARNETT: It is to me. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: (Makes thumbs up motion.) LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/12/2022 Item #2, 118 Olive Street 56 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CHAIR JANOFF: All right, with that then, I don’t see any hands raised to further discuss, so I’ll call the question. By roll call vote please indicate yes, no, or abstain. Commissioner Hanssen. COMMISSIONER HANSSEN: Yes. CHAIR JANOFF: Commissioner Tavana. COMMISSIONER TAVANA: Yes. CHAIR JANOFF: Commissioner Barnett. COMMISSIONER BARNETT: Yes. CHAIR JANOFF: Commissioner Thomas. COMMISSIONER THOMAS: Yes. CHAIR JANOFF: Commissioner Clark. COMMISSIONER CLARK: Yes. CHAIR JANOFF: And Commissioner Raspe. COMMISSIONER RASPE: Yes. CHAIR JANOFF: I vote yes as well, so the motion to continue this matter for 30 days or to a date certain as Director Paulson has provided is approved. Director Paulson, there are no appeal rights for a continuance, are there? JOEL PAULSON: That’s correct. There are not. CHAIR JANOFF: All right, thank you.