10-29-2025 - PC Minutes Special
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
PLANNING COMMISSION
REPORT
MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
OCTOBER 29, 2025
The Planning Commission of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Special Meeting on
Wednesday, October 29, 2025, at 7:00 p.m.
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 7:00 PM
ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Emily Thomas, Vice Chair Kendra Burch, Commissioner Jeffrey Barnett,
Commissioner Susan Burnett, Commissioner Steve Raspe, Commissioner Joseph Sordi,
Commissioner Rob Stump.
Absent: None.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
- Anonymous Member of the Public commented on safety issues, community diversity, and
political protests.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
1. North Forty Phase 2
Architecture and Site Application S-23-031
Subdivision Application M-23-005
APNs 424-07-009, -052, -053, -081, -094, -095, -115, and -116
Applicant: Grosvenor Property Americas c/o Steve Buster
Property Owner: Yuki Farms LLC
Project Planner: Jocelyn Shoopman
Consider a request to construct a mixed-use residential development (450 units), a
Vesting Tentative Map, site improvements requiring a Grading Permit, and removal of
large protected trees under Senate Bill 330 (SB 330) on property zoned North Forty
Specific Plan:Housing Element Overlay Zone. Located at 14859, 14917, 14925, and
16392 Los Gatos Boulevard; 16250, 16260, and 16270 Burton Road; and Assessor Parcel
Number 424-07-116. Additional environmental review is not necessary pursuant to
CEQA Guidelines Section 15183: Projects Consistent with a Community Plan, General
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MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF OCTOBER 29, 2025
Plan, or zoning since the proposed project’s environmental impacts were adequately
addressed in the 2040 General Plan EIR, as applicable.
Joel Paulson, Community Development Director, presented the first portion of the staff report.
Gabrielle Whelan, Town Attorney, presented the second portion of the staff report.
Opened Public Comment.
Steve Buster (Applicant)
- I will spend the majority of my time talking about the heavy infrastructure lift for this site
as it relates to delivery of affordable housing. Phase 2 of the project consists of 68 units in a
100 percent affordable building, to be built by Eden Housing; 127 townhomes; and 255
multi-family rental units, including ten affordable. We are in full compliance with the
Housing Element, CEQA, and State Density Bonus Law. The best way to ensure the
affordable housing is built is to reduce restrictions and let us build the infrastructure to
ensure that we can deliver a finished, fully served pad to Eden as soon as possible. The
Town’s current proposal that affordable be built concurrently with the market rate units is
infeasible. We need a minimum of 127 homes in order to finance the completion of the
backbone infrastructure and then deliver the pad to Eden. Our proposal to the Town gives
you ample security, and gives us ample incentive to complete the remainder of the units.
Number one, only 28 percent of the units can get a Certificate of Occupancy before Eden
gets financed; and number two, we will commit to completing all of the infrastructure to
serve and deliver pads for affordable housing and the multi-family rental building. If the
multi-family building starts before Eden starts, we will provide for the affordable units
there until Eden can.
Katherine Mancuso
- My name is Katherine Mancuso; I live on Mulberry Drive in Los Gatos. My son is very high
functioning and has been lucky enough to find affordable housing for individuals like
himself with some intellectual delay and disabilities, but it's in Santa Clara. Some of the
units in this project are specifically designated for adults with intellectual disabilities, and
there has been some conversation about dispersing them throughout the entire North
Forty. The way it works in a lot of these developments is it’s all one unit, and that allows
them to provide services to individuals. They have a social worker and housing people
onsite, all in one place. The hard thing for us as parents is my son is going to outlive my
husband and I, and figuring out his independence and ability to thrive weighs heavy on us. I
encourage you to move this forward as quickly as possible, and also encourage you to
understand the need.
Ali Sapirman
- My name is Ali Sapirman, and I’m speaking on behalf of the Housing Action Coalition in
support of the North Forty Phase 2 project, which turns 15.5 acres of underused land into a
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MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF OCTOBER 29, 2025
community with 450 homes, shops, and open space, which include 77 affordable homes,
1.25 acres donated to Eden Housing, and a fully affordable building with 67 additional
homes for families earning 60 percent of area median income. In order to meet its state
Regional Housing Needs Allocation, Los Gatos has to plan for 1,993 new homes by 2031,
and 847 of those must be affordable for lower- and middle-income households. The North
Forty project makes real progress towards that goal. This project delivers gentle density;
it’s not a high-rise and it fits well into the existing neighborhoods.
Noa Sklar
- I actually do not like this project at all, the whole North Forty Phase 1 and Phase 2, and I
disagree, the high-rise does not fit in the Los Gatos atmosphere. My daughter Romi is
neurodivergent. She grew up in Los Gatos and graduated college, and she’s applying for a
masters. She wants to be independent, but where is she going to live? We want her nearby.
She grew up here, and everything that she’s familiar with is here. Please, since we’re
already building this, allocate enough units, much more than what you’re offering, for kids
like my daughter, and there are tons of kids like her, neurodivergent, on the spectrum,
living here.
Romy Sklar
- I am 23 years old and I’ve lived in Los Gatos my whole life, and I love living in Los Gatos. I
have a lot of friends in Los Gatos, good memories, my gym, extracurricular activities, and
my family. I am neurodivergent, and I faced some obstacles in school like academics, slow
processing, but I never let that stop me. I have a lot of friends on the spectrum and other
neurodiverse conditions who live in Los Gatos too, and they also want to be independent.
They still want to live in Los Gatos, like me. Another thing is I can’t afford going far; it’s
expensive. My neurodivergent friends also can’t afford it, so please allocate for us
neurodivergent individuals to live independently in Los Gatos.
Dennise Jauregui
- I am the Executive Director of Housing Choices, and I strongly support the North Forty
Phase 2 project. North Forty Phase 2 will provide much needed affordable housing, with
approximately 25 percent of the units designated for individuals with intellectual and
developmental disabilities. The lack of access to affordable housing is the number one
reason adults with developmental disabilities are unable to move out of the family home
and are at greater risk of homelessness when their aging parents and caregivers are no
longer able to care for them. Housing Choices is also a proud partner with Eden Housing, a
respected housing developer leading in inclusive, affordable housing developments.
Inclusive projects like North Forty Phase 2 reflect a community where people of all abilities
and backgrounds have the opportunity to thrive, and I urge you to approve this
development.
Gia Pham
- I’m the Communications Coordinator at Housing Choices. 1) Los Gatos now has a Certified
Housing Element, so trying to use a brief period of noncompliance to undo the current
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MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF OCTOBER 29, 2025
certification misunderstands the law. 2) The Town adopted the Housing Element Overlay
Zone and the Housing Element was later certified, giving us that 30-unit density, not 20.
The law requires honoring adopted zoning used to satisfy the RHNA. 3) There are
arguments about Builder's Remedy math, but we’re not using Builder's Remedy right now.
4) There is something that says, “The rejected Site Inventory can’t be relied on.” No, once
the HCD certifies a Housing Element and zoning is adopted, the Site Inventory is settled.
There are comments arguing HCD to confirm matters that are already settled by law. The
project delivers exactly what the current Housing Element envisions and is a major
opportunity for Los Gatos to advance its affordable housing goals. 25 percent of the
affordable units will be reserved for people with developmental disabilities, one of the few
opportunities for young adults with disabilities to live independently in Los Gatos.
Jennifer Lucas
- I’m the Manager of the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities Central Coast
Office. We cover seven counties, including Santa Clara. The Council is an independent state
agency that works to ensure that people with developmental disabilities are included in all
aspects of their community and afforded the same rights as everyone. I strongly support
the North Forty Phase 2 project. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities
face barriers in housing, because affordable housing options are virtually nonexistent, so
the vast majority of people continue to live with their aging parents. The North Forty Phase
2 project offers a real, local solution that fulfills the Town’s approved Housing Element;
meets state density requirements; creates a pad-ready site for Eden Housing to move
forward efficiently when the approvals are granted; provides housing choices; and is a
vendor of San Andreas Regional Center to provide the needed support to those with
developmental disabilities who move in.
(INTERMISSION)
Eric Phillips (Applicant)
- The staff presentation brought up a point relative to cumulative impacts, and I wanted to
point out that the Town’s environmental checklist, the Initial Study that the Town
prepared, did look at cumulative impacts. The factors for reopening CEQA process that
Commissioner Stump talked about could involve new cumulative impacts, one of the
factors that the Town’s Initial Study looked at and concluded that that this development
would not result in a significant contribution to cumulative impacts; bearing in mind that
the General Plan EIR already analyzed the potential for developing 3,738 new units and the
cumulative impact has already been thoroughly analyzed in a full EIR. Also, relate that to
the fact that the traffic analysis includes specific projects as was discussed, and as Director
Paulson mentioned, that traffic analysis directly feeds into the noise analysis, the air quality
analysis, the health risk analysis, and the greenhouse gas emissions analysis that was used
as the basis for the Town’s environmental study, so those cumulative impacts have been
looked at here.
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MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF OCTOBER 29, 2025
Closed Public Comment.
Commissioners discussed the matter.
MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Barnett to recommend Town Council approval
of each of the requests and applications that are noticed and detailed in
Exhibit 22 on page 21 of the staff report.
Town Attorney Whelen requested the motion be amended to place the portion of the motion
regarding developmentally disabled residents at the end of Condition of Approval 4, with the
Applicant agreeing to commit to 25 percent of the units in the 100 percent affordable building
on Lot 19 would have a preference for developmentally disabled residents.
The maker of the motion accepted the amendment to the motion.
Seconded by Commissioner Burch.
Commissioner Burch requested the motion be amended to include language that no large
vehicles shall idle on Los Gatos Boulevard or Lark Avenue; all construction activities are
limited to the construction site; there shall be no large vehicles on any residential street
surrounding the project; and any street work at night adjacent to residential areas shall have
proper noticing.
The maker of the motion accepted the amendment to the motion.
Town Attorney Whelen requested Commissioner Burch define the term “large vehicle.”
Commissioner Burch suggested her motion could be amended to say, “Any vehicles related to
the construction activities are not to idle on Lark Avenue or Los Gatos Boulevard,” without
utilizing the word “large.”
Town Engineer Gary Heap suggested the motion include language stating, “No use of Los
Gatos Boulevard for hauling of materials, storage of materials, or idling of trucks without
prior authorization of Public Works Department.”
The maker of the motion accepted the amendment to the motion.
Chair Thomas requested the motion be amended to include language stating that the
perimeter open space and street trees shall be natives. Some of the trees that would be
appropriate would be Foothill Pine, Western Red Bud, Bay Laurel, Black Cottonwood, Box
Elder, Big Leaf Maple, Holly Leaf Cherry, California Buckeye, Blue Oak, Black Oak, Valley Oak,
and Canyon Live Oak.
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MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF OCTOBER 29, 2025
The maker of the motion accepted the amendment to the motion.
Commissioners discussed the matter.
VOTE: Motion passed 5-2 with Commissioners Stump and Burnett dissenting.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 10:56 p.m.
This is to certify that the foregoing is a true
and correct copy of the minutes of the
Special October 29, 2025 meeting as approved by the
Planning Commission.
_____________________________
/s/ Vicki Blandin