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Minutes - 01-09-13 - PCPlanning Commission Minutes Page 1 January 9, 2013 DRAFT TOWN OF LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING ACTION MINUTES TOWN COUNCIL CHAMBERS 110 E. MAIN STREET WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2013 Acting Chair Charles Erekson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Acting Chair Charles Erekson, Commissioner John Bourgeois, Commissioner Kendra Burch, Commissioner Thomas O'Donnell, Commissioner Marico Sayoc, Commissioner Margaret Smith, and Commissioner Joanne Talesfore. Absent: None Others: Town Attorney Judith Propp, Acting Assistant Community Development Director Sandy Baily, Acting Principal Planner Joel Paulson, Associate Planner Marni Moseley, and Recording Secretary Linda Rowlett. Acting Chair Charles Erekson welcomed Commissioner Kendra Burch to her first meeting as a Planning Commissioner. Commissioner Kendra Burch thanked the Commissioners and noted that she looked forward to working with them over the next four years. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Commissioner Kendra Burch. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF DECEMBER 12, 2012 Motion by Commissioner Marico Sayoc and seconded by Commissioner Joanne Talesfore to approve meeting minutes of December 12, 2012. Motion carried 6-0 with Commissioner Kendra Burch abstaining. Commissioner Kendra Burch abstained from voting on the minutes of December 12 because she was not present at the meeting and had not reviewed the meeting materials. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS - NONE Planning Commission Minutes Page 2 January 9, 2013 REQUESTED CONTINUANCES - NONE SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS - NONE VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS (AUDIENCE) - NONE CONSENT CALENDAR - NONE CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS - NONE NEW PUBLIC HEARINGS 1. 16785 Placer Oaks Road - Architecture and Site Application S-12-062. Requesting approval to demolish an existing single-family residence and to construct a new single family residence on property zoned R-1:8. APN 529-15-068. PROPERTY OWNER: Hao Zhong. APPLICANT: Allen Nikitin. PROJECT PLANNER: Marni Moseley. Acting Chair Charles Erekson opened the public hearing. Associate Planner Marni Moseley presented the staff report. Chair John Bourgeois  Asked if staff could expand why this application came to the Planning Commission.  Asked if the applicant followed the direction of the Town's Consulting Architect. Associate Planner Marni Moseley  Commented that staff has a policy, per previous direction from the Planning Commission and Town Council, that it not approve the largest residence based on size or FAR (Floor Area Ratio) in a neighborhood. There were other concerns regarding the massing of the residence and how well the recommendations of the Town's Consulting Architect were incorporated into the design.  Commented that in regards to the size of the house, the applicant did their best to follow the direction from the consultant and the staff report reflects that result. There were areas that staff believed were not completely addressed but since the staff was recommending a remand to the Development Review Committee (DRC), it did not ask the applicant to make additional modifications. The consultant has not reviewed the revised set of plans. Commissioner Joanne Talesfore  Asked about the height of the homes across the street.  Asked if the applicant incorporated all of the consultant's recommendations. Associate Planner Marni Moseley  Commented that homes across the street are 26 to 28 feet in height.  Commented that the applicant will speak to their compliance with the consultant's recommendations. Planning Commission Minutes Page 3 January 9, 2013 Commissioner Margaret Smith  Asked if this is a three-car garage. Associate Planner Marni Moseley  Commented this is a two-car garage from the street with a tandem space in the back so the applicant is calling it a three-car garage. The depth of the garage would not meet the Town's requirement for a three-car garage, so staff is qualifying it as a two-car garage with additional square footage. Commissioner Thomas O'Donnell  Confirmed that there are two letters with the staff report supporting the application.  Asked if the applicant did not want to address the consultant's concerns about the two blank walls. Associate Planner Marni Moseley  Commented that no specific direction is listed by the consultant regarding the two blank walls. Commissioner Kendra Burch  Asked if both of the two large trees in the front of the house will be removed. Associate Planner Marni Moseley  Commented that they will be removing the 18-inch Cedar, along with the Oak tree and Elm tree adjacent to the front of the property. Allen Nikitin, (Architect) Applicant, gave a presentation on the proposed project and passed out a document to the Planning Commission. Commissioner Margaret Smith  Asked about the screening on the right side between the house and the parking lot. Allen Nikitin  Commented that additional screening is being added in that area. The height is not as tall as the screening that is there now but they can work towards putting something in that is of similar height. Commissioner Thomas O'Donnell  Asked if the architect suggested something to make the two walls less imposing.  Asked about the consultant's suggestion of considering a reduction in the floor to ceiling heights, lowering the trim on the second level, and utilizing a second color to reduce the visual height of the structure.  Asked the applicant if he is unwilling to address staff's concerns regarding the two-story wall planes throughout. Planning Commission Minutes Page 4 January 9, 2013 Alan Nikitin  Commented that there was no exact direction for handling the walls.  Commented that the homeowner preferred the existing ceiling heights.  Commented that the trim on the second floor window sill line was lowered by about two feet with a two-tone color scheme.  Commented that the homeowner feels that the surrounding area justifies the house as it is designed. Commissioner Joanne Talesfore  Confirmed that the applicant is familiar with the Residential Design Guidelines (RDG).  Commented that the walls are very tall and right next door to a single story home.  Asked for comment on a redesign where the second story is set back.  Asked if they considered a cellar for the home to reduce the bulk of the house.  Asked the applicant if he believes they have complied with the consultant's seven recommendations. Alan Nikitin  Commented that with the substantial setback it is possible to buffer that wall with screening. If the second story is set back, he would have to use the remaining eight feet of the setback and be within eight feet of the neighbor on the lower floor.  Commented that a cellar was considered but discarded due to budgetary reasons.  Commented that recommendations 1-6 were incorporated in the redesign of the house and number 7 regarding the plate heights of the house was discussed earlier. Number 8 refers to a previous discussion when the tree was going to be taken down. Commissioner John Bourgeois  Commented that the house looks distinctly different from the other houses in the immediate neighborhood and asked about the formality of the house. Alan Nikitin  Commented that due to the location of the property, they are at the extreme end of the residential neighborhood and find it difficult to compare this design to any other neighborhood house. They border a huge parking lot and commercial building and there is mixed-use development across the street. To meet some of the challenges of this location, they have centered the house in the middle of the property and this is the design that they came up with. Commissioner Margaret Smith  Asked if the homeowner has given any consideration to fill in the open loft area. Alan Nikitin  Commented that they are in discussions about the vaulted space right now and would consider it. The homeowner wants to keep the square footage, but they are open to changing the outside shape of the house. Planning Commission Minutes Page 5 January 9, 2013 Alan Nikitin  Reiterated that they are willing to work on the design to handle the massing problems but the most important thing to the homeowner is keeping the square footage of the house. Acting Chair Charles Erekson closed the public input portion of the hearing and returned to the Commission for deliberations. Commissioner Thomas O'Donnell  Commented that he does not have a problem with the size of the house but he does with the bulk. He would ask that the bulk and mass be reduced because of the two, straight, bulky walls. Commissioner Marico Sayoc  Commented that the hope is for the applicant to design a house that fits the criteria that the Commission is looking for while maintaining the square footage. She feels that since this is the first home you see when entering that neighborhood, the bulk of the wall needs to be addressed to be more in keeping with the neighborhood. Motion by Commissioner Marico Sayoc and seconded by Commissioner Joanne Talesfore to remand Architecture and Site Application S-12-062 to the Development Review Committee for final action with the direction to redesign the residence to better integrate with the existing neighborhood taking into consideration the comments that have been made, particularly the Consulting Architect's recommendation #7. Motion carried 7-0. Commissioner Joanne Talesfore  Asked that the redesign be returned to the Commission as an informational item. CONTINUED OTHER BUSINESS - NONE NEW OTHER BUSINESS 2. Election of Planning Commission Chair and Vice Chair Motion by Commissioner Thomas O'Donnell and seconded by Commissioner John Bourgeois to elect Acting Chair Erekson as Chair for 2013. Motion carried 7-0. Motion by Acting Chair Charles Erekson and seconded by Commissioner Thomas O'Donnell to elect Commissioner Smith as Vice Chair for 2013. Motion carried 6-1 with Commissioner Joanne Talesfore dissenting. 3. Report from Director of Community Development - None Planning Commission Minutes Page 6 January 9, 2013 4. Commission Matters - None ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned at 7:46 p.m. TOWN OF LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION Wednesday, January 9, 2013 ___________________________________________ Charles Erekson, Acting Chair APPROVED AS TO FORM AND ATTEST: _____________________________ Joel Paulson Acting Principal Planner