Exhibit 5 - Project Description and Letter of JustificationDecember 10, 2025
VIA ELECTRONIC SUBMITTAL THROUGH TOWN OF LOS GATOS PORTAL
Planning Division
Town of Los Gatos
110 E. Main St. Los Gatos, CA 95030
Attn: Erin Walters
ewalters@LosGatosCA.gov
RE: Development Applications at 178 Twin Oaks Drive (APN 532-16-006) in the Town of Los Gatos
Architecture and Site Applications S-24-023 through 034
Subdivision Application M-24-013
Dear Erin:
This letter serves as the final revised Project Description and Letter of Justification for the Surrey
Farms project in conjunction with the resubmittal and in accordance with comments received from
the various Town departments.
The proposed project consists of a new subdivision with a private road accessing 12 total units with
9 single family homes and 3 detached row house units on a portion of an existing approximately
17.9-acre parcel (“Project”) on Twin Oaks Drive in the Town. The property is currently zoned as
Resource Conservation and was previously subject to a Williamson Act contract which has
terminated as of January 2025. This is a SB330 project subject to the robust protections of the
Housing Accountability Act and the Builder’s Remedy and there are no zoning or land use changes
proposed. The project proposes grading and tree removal to accommodate the development. The
homes will range in size from +/- 5,775 SF to +/- 6,170 SF and the townhomes will be +/- 1,630 SF.
Of the Project’s 12 units, 9 will be market-rate and 3 (25%) will be affordable to lower-income
households at the “low” income designated level. The project exceeds the Town of Los Gatos Below
Market Price program as established by Ordinance 2313 as the project is only required to provide
for 10% of the units to be designated as affordable for projects between 5 units to 20 units. The
project provides for 25% affordable designated units for 3 of the 12 total units. These units will be
for sale at the “low” income affordability level. The only deviation from the Below Market Price
Housing Program and Guidelines, as established by Resolution 2020-040, is section III A regarding
unit size. While these units are smaller in size and different in design, they provide for a well-
balanced integration of affordability into this neighborhood in a first-class manner.
Please note that we are attempting to comply with the various development standard documents
and guidelines the Town would ordinarily apply to the project, however, we remind the Town that
pursuant to the Builder’s Remedy the Project is not required to comply with the general plan land
use or zoning standards referenced in these guidelines and checklists. That said, we have designed
the Project in such a way so that it harmonizes with the Town’s development standards as much as
possible and is a seamless integration into the surrounding neighborhoods.
Pursuant to the request of Town Staff, this project has been divided into twelve individual
applications, one per lot. As such, the totality of the requested deviations from existing
development standards appears high. However, individually each housing site has strived to
comply with the standards that would exist in what would be the appropriate zoning for each site as
EXHIBIT 5
much as possible. Since the property is not being rezoned, we have done our best to project what
would be appropriate zoning and development standards and adhere to them as much as possible
to deliver a harmonious extension of the existing Surrey Farms neighborhood. Of the 12 lots, only 4
lots,( 7, 8, 9, & 10) would likely have been zoned HR if a zone change were pursued. The balance of
the lots would likely have been R-1. Please keep this in mind when reviewing the development
standards and deviations we have applied to each lot in the lot matrices. Included in this submittal
are twelve matrices, one for each lot, that detail deviations from the aforementioned development
standard documents as well as designations in both the matrix and the individual comment
response letters where incentives, concessions, or waivers are being requested.
To briefly summarize, the project is requesting four incentives under State Density Bonus Law, the
Builder’s Remedy, and pursuant to Gov. Code 65589.5(h)(6)(C). The project wide incentives we
have implemented are electing not to erect story poles as required by the Town’s Story Pole and
Netting Policy, not including sidewalks as required by the Hillside Design requirements, not
including open space as required by Open Space, Parks, and Recreation Element of the 2040
General Plan and the Hillside Specific Plan, and not including a public trail as required by the
Hillside Design requirements. Those elements would drastically exceed the project budget and
preclude its development at the proposed density. We also believe our design to be very
harmonious with the surrounding neighborhoods without those elements and specifically
sidewalks would be out of place. Across the 12 lots we have enumerated 153 waivers from the
development standards as outlined in the matrices provided. There are at most 16 waivers
requested and as few as 9 on any given lot. Many of the waivers are the same, just applied to each
of the lots so there is redundancy. With regards to the specific Town comments regarding grading,
home orientation, architectural design & massing, open space easements, trails, on-site parking
requirements, etc. that are generally found in the Hillside Design Guidelines & Standards, any
deviations from these are detailed in the matrices, and otherwise are justified under the
aforementioned protections under State Housing law in order to make the project feasible. Please
refer to the letter from Travis Brooks at Miller Star Regalia outlining these protections and
referencing the applicable legal provisions that cover these items in question.
The following sections further characterize the intent of the development to deliver a first-class
neighborhood as originally envisioned by Bob Dodge decades ago.
BACKGROUND
In the early 1950s, Bob Dodge put together the Surrey Farms neighborhood development. The first
phases were developed and exist today. In 1956, he hired a civil engineer to begin the planning of a
final phase and laid out 14 lots on the land where we propose today’s neighborhood (this project).
Bob decided to pursue other opportunities and the land was put into the Williamson Act until its
termination in January of 2025. Bob’s children (Tom, Linda, and Larry) are excited to finally finish
the remaining phase of a decades long first-class neighborhood development that has served the
Los Gatos community well. The Dodge family are truly generational stakeholders in the community.
They could have pursued hundreds of units at the property and abused current state housing laws,
but instead chose to deliver a tasteful luxury home neighborhood in keeping with their father’s
original vision and out of respect for the existing neighborhood.
NEIGHBORHOOD LOTTING PLAN AND ROADWAY DESIGN
This latest iteration of the project has a single private road extending from Twin Oaks drive into the
project culminating in a cul-de-sac. Emergency access is provided by a connection to Brooke Acres
Drive. Lot 10 is a single lot accessed from Cerro Vista Court. The project took the roadway design
into consideration from many neighborhood comments received in connection with the 2018
project that objected to a through connection from Cerro Vista Court to Twin Oaks Drive as it would
create impacts to neighbors by headlights shining directly into existing homes in the evening as
cars drove downhill from Cerro Vista to Twin Oaks. As such, we have designed most home sites to
be on the lower area of the property to avoid headlight impacts and preserve the upper hillside
views. The previous layout had 4 homes planned for the upper hillside where we now have only a
single lot, Lot 10. Lots 7, 8, 9, & 10 have large back yards extending into the hillsides preserving
them with an open space look. The private road does not propose sidewalks or street lighting.
Street lighting poses similar objections as to previously described. In order to maintain a rural and
luxury feel, the lots have been deisgined to minimize unnecessary impervious features such as
sidelwaks and to maintain a harmonious look with similar hillside neighborhoods. The inclusion of
sidelwaks would not only feel out of place but also be to costly and preclude development of the
project at the proposed density, Therefore, an exception under builder’s remedy, waiver, or
incentive under state density bonus law is the justification in addition to the aforementioned design
reasoning.
ARCHTIECTURE
Surrey Farms is a subdivision of 17.55 acres of land which includes sloped hillside towards the east
and flatter portions of land at the toe of the slope towards the west (+/- 3 acres of <10% slope) and
adjacent to R-1:10 residential neighborhood. The proposed neighborhood is served by a cul-de-sac
road which aligns with the slope transition between the flatter western areas of the site and the
eastern hillside.
Lots 1, 2 and 3 are adjacent to residential neighborhoods towards the south and are screened from
view with substantial trees and vegetation. They are located adjacent to a drainage easement at the
lower elevations of the overall site. Their footprints are more compact, and they are designed as
two-story homes whose primary massing is broken down with several secondary roof forms.
Lots 4,5 and 6 are adjacent to residential development west of the site which is zoned R1:10 and
the proposed homes on those lots are mostly one-story massing with a very limited second floor
over one wing of the house and less than 20% of its overall footprint. The materials and colors
palettes for these homes are carefully chosen to blend with the natural environment and be
consistent with the ‘California Ranch’ and “Mediterranean’ styles that are prevalent in the
neighborhood.
The proposed ’hillside’ homes on Lots 7-10 are generally on slopes of +/-20%, and the homes are
placed on ‘terraced pads’ approximately 40’ wide stepping with the hillside and oriented parallel to
the contours. This minimizes the impact on the hillside and allows the homes to fit into the
topography. The homesites are placed away from exiting ridgelines, trees and natural features, a
riparian corridor exists between lots 7 and 8. The design of the hillside homes terrace with the slope
and have primary roof forms that parallel the contours. Stone is integrated into the lower level of the
home providing a base that blends with the hill. Colors and materials were carefully chosen to be
darker in tone and more natural patinas that blend with the surrounding natural landscape. Where
retaining walls are necessary they will be stepped according to the principles outlined in the Los
Gatos Hillside Development Standards and Guidelines.
UTILITES AND WATER TREATMENT
The subdivision is designed with a private road and all utilities have been confirmed with capacity
to extend to each lot. The lots will collectively own the private street with each lot containing a
portion of the street thereon. CC&Rs have been established providing governance and a
maintenance agreement for the street and stormwater treatment areas. The treatment areas are
generally located within a lot or shared across two lots.
ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY
An Environmental Impact Report was prepared for this project in 2018. Although the EIR was never
certified, the information was utilized and updated for the 2025 Initial Study/Mitigated Negative
Declaration that has been prepared for the proposed project. The project has been designed to not
impact the ephemeral swale present in the middle of the site and also avoids any impacts to Ross
Creek. All other categories have been evaluated and where necessary mitigations have been
identified. The site has been designed with care and is a harmonious extension of the Surrey Farms
neighborhood with very low density and little impact to the existing property.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Not only will the project deliver new homes for the market, but three of the homes are designated
affordable and will be some of the first newly delivered affordable product available in Los Gatos in
years. This furthers the Town’s goal of delivering affordable housing in conformance with the
Housing Element and General Plan. The homes have been designed in a very tasteful way to fit
beautifully in the neighborhood and provide an option for ownership supported by the Town’s
affordable housing policies.
We thank Town Staff and the consultant team for their diligent and careful work to help refine the
project as proposed today. We look forward to answering any and all questions and provide details
at the Public Hearings to help enable the swift approval of the project, as revived and submitted in
December of 2023 and deemed complete in March 2025.
Thank you,
Jim Foley
Principal/Broker-Owner
(408) 813-7490
DRE # 01841825