Exhibit 9 - Letter of Justification for reduced setbacksT.H.I.S. DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT P.O.Box 1518, Los Gatos, CA 95031
Tel: 408.354.1863 Fax: 408.350.1823
REQUEST FOR REDUCED SETBACKS AT 16705 HILOW ROAD
REDUCED FRONT SETBACK (25 ft reduced to 16 ft)
When this neighborhood was created, it was done so in an unusual manner – with primary
Roadways and secondary Alleyways. This can be seen from the Subdivision maps which created
the underlying subdivision and introduced the concept of “Building, Air and Light” Setbacks of 25
feet at the front of each property, but only 8ft Building/Air/Light setbacks along the Alleyways.
Hilow Road is one of the Alleyways, and as such properties facing Hilow (in this general
neighborhood) are dramatically closer to the street than is usual. On the NEIGHBORHOOD CONTEXT
PLAN and NEIGHBORHOOD SETBACK COMPARISON shown on Plan Sheet SC1.0 you can see that the
setbacks to Hilow Road are all in the neighborhood of 6 -12-15 ft. It should be noted that the
physical roadway
We are requesting that the new home to be built at 16705 Hilow Road be granted the same
setback as the neighboring homes, so as not to create a neighborhood anomaly – which would
look ridiculous in this context. It should be noted that the neighboring home at 16500 Marchmont
Drive has never faced Marchmont – but rather faces Hilow Road also – so they have requested a
new address of 16701 Hilow Road, which will make the addresses make more sense.
REDUCED SIDE SETBACKS (8ft REDUCED TO 6ft)
This property is a 5,000 sq ft lot in a neighborhood of larger (10,000 sq ft) parcels and with a legal
non-conforming width of 54 ft (60 ft Zoning minimum). As such it is appropriate to consider a
reduced side setback for this property. In similar situations in other parts of the Town a 5 ft side
setback is common, however we have chosen to keep it as a 6 ft setback as we feel that we have
created a design that works well in this situation.
Again – this is an unusual location when considering ‘frontage’ and ‘side setbacks’ in that there are
no other homes that ‘front’ directly on Hilow Road within 3 blocks. The only home that truly fronts
on Hilow Road in a similar manner, is the neighboring home to the North – which is undergoing a
significant remodel. When completed, it will have a neighboring address of 16701 Hilow Road and
a corresponding side setback of 4ft (less than the 6ft proposed).
It is in this context that I feel that this home should be judged. A new home that is designed to
conform to the neighborhood pattern in an unusual streetscape, but which will work well as it is
designed.
It should be noted that this parcel was created using SB9, and the side setback available could be
4ft, rather than the 6ft we have elected to use in this instance.
Thank you
Tony Jeans
EXHIBIT 9
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