Exhibit 6 - Letter of Justification, Received July 16, 2024Letter of Justification
Dear members of the Community Development Department,
I am writing to request a variance for the fence we have built on our property located at 108
Westchester Drive, Los Gatos, CA – 95032. Our house is situated on a corner lot within a
cul-de-sac, which presents unique challenges regarding fencing and visibility.
When we constructed our fence, we followed the example set by most corner homes in our
neighborhood, unaware of any specific regulations that applied (Photos of similar fences in
the neighborhood are at the end of this letter). In doing so, we ensured that we did not
fence the corner of the intersection, leaving more than 40 feet for visibility. Our fence abuts
the street next to the cul-de-sac, where there is not a lot of traffic, which we believed would
not pose any issues. [Pic1, Pic2]
Pic1: More than 40 ft from the corner intersection
EXHIBIT 6
Letter of Justification
Pic 2: Turn from Westchester Dr to Adrian Pl
Our fence abuts the street next to a cul-de-sac, an area with minimal traffic. When we
purchased the house, the side yard was littered with glass pieces and other kinds of trash,
as the property was completely accessible on that side. We felt it was necessary to cover
this area to ensure the safety of our family, particularly our two young boys, aged 7 and 3.
Our primary concern is providing a secure and clean environment for our children to play.
Our current backyard is less than 8% of our total lot size and only 14 feet wide. It is
adjacent to our neighbor’s side yard, with their house just 5 feet from our fence. In addition
to this, our neighbor's house is at an elevation and our shared fence is effectively about 9 -
10 ft, followed closely by their house, blocking a lot of sunlight in our backyard. This leaves
us with very limited safe and private area for our children to play, as most of our usable
land is in the front and side yards. [Pic 3, Pic 4, Pic 5]
Letter of Justification
Pic 3: Picture depicting how narrow our backyard
Letter of Justification
Pic 4: Height of the fence adjacent to the neighbor and proximity to their house
Letter of Justification
Pic 5: Aerial view showing the backyard width
We have poured our hearts and our life savings into buying this home, where we want to
raise our kids and live for the rest of our lives. We feel very fortunate to be a part of this
neighborhood and want to create beautiful memories in our new home. Watching our kids
play in our yard will be a core memory, and we request your kind consideration of our
unique circumstances. Lowering the fence height would compromise our privacy and the
safety of our children, making that area unusable in all practical aspects.
We are committed to finding a solution and are willing to work with the city on any
remediation. Some thoughts we have had involve:
1. Creating a Driveway view area (triangular area) to aide better visibility
2. Exploring if we can safely shift our driveway entrance to provide more sidewalk visibility
We kindly request your understanding and approval of our variance request to maintain the
current fence height with any workable modifications, ensuring a secure and private
environment for our family as well as the safety of our neighborhood.
Letter of Justification
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Deepak Pandey
108 Westchester Drive
Los Gatos, CA - 95032
pandey.c.deepak@gmail.com
4088939083
PS: Some similar fences in our neighborhood:
Letter of Justification
Letter of Justification