Draft Mins 04.11.18
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
PLANNING COMMISSION
REPORT
MEETING DATE: 04/25/2018
ITEM NO: 1
DRAFT
MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
APRIL 11, 2018
The Planning Commission of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Regular Meeting on
Wednesday, April 11, 2018, at 7:00 p.m.
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 7:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Present: Chair D. Michael Kane, Commissioner Mary Badame, Commissioner Kendra Burch,
Commissioner Melanie Hanssen, Commissioner Kathryn Janoff, and Commissioner Tom
O’Donnell
Absent: Vice Chair Matthew Hudes
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Commissioner Badame led the Pledge of Allegiance. The audience was invited to participate.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS/COMMISSION MATTERS
Conceptual Development Advisory Committee
Commissioner Badame
- CDAC met 4/11/18 and discussed 16940 Roberts Road.
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
CONSENT ITEMS (TO BE ACTED UPON BY A SINGLE MOTION)
1. Approval of Minutes – March 28, 2018
MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Badame to approve adoption of the Consent
Calendar. Seconded by Commissioner Burch.
VOTE: Motion passed unanimously.
PAGE 2 OF 6
MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF APRIL 11, 2018
PUBLIC HEARINGS
2. 16666 Topping Way
Architecture and Site Application S-17-011
APN 532-09-018
Property Owner: Arthur Lin
Applicant: Dennis Norton Design
Project Planner: Sean Mullin
Requesting approval for demolition of an existing single-family residence and
construction of a single-family residence on property zoned R-1:8. Continued from
March 14, 2018.
Sean Mullin, Associate Planner, presented the staff report.
Opened Public Comment.
Arthur Lin
- He is the property owner, his architect has worked with the Town’s consulting architect on
three issues shown in Exhibit 25: roof form complexities, design sensitivity to the
surrounding neighborhood, and window treatments. They lowered the entry from 13 feet
tall to 11 feet. The two pop-out windows are meant to hide the garage, and they will put
another pop-out on the right side to balance it. They prefer to keep the window treatments
simple.
Kathyn Derby
- She lives next door to the subject site. She liked the original two-story design, because all
around her neighborhood, including Marchmont and Topping Way, everyone is going to
two stories, and the original design was appropriate for the size of the lot. She is happy to
see people come in and put money into the neighborhood, because Topping Way was a
mess.
Daniel Mohr
- He also lives next door to the subject site and agrees with everything his wife, Ms. Derby,
had stated. He is tired of the house next door not moving forward, because it is blight on
the neighborhood, and it is frustrating.
Arthur Lin
- His lot is the biggest in the entire neighborhood, including Marchmont, but the person
behind his lot has issues and is still not happy, even though they reduced the home from a
two-story to a one-story.
Closed Public Comment.
PAGE 3 OF 6
MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF APRIL 11, 2018
Commissioners discussed the matter.
MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Burch to approve an Architecture and Site
Application for 16666 Topping Way, subject to the following
amendments: The highest point of the garage roof shall match the home
structure behind it, so it is one single roof line; the porch columns shall be
one which has been deemed appropriate for the neighborhood by the
Town’s consulting architect; trim shall be put around the windows to
enhance them, and projecting sills shall be encouraged; and the two pop-
outs shall match in size. Seconded by Commissioner O’Donnell.
Chair Kane requested the motion be amended to include that the motion’s three bullets be
subject to the Community Development Director’s approval.
The maker of the motion accepted the amendment to the motion.
The seconder accepted the amendment to the motion.
Commissioners discussed the matter.
VOTE: Motion passed unanimously.
3. 221 Almendra Avenue
Zone Change Application Z-17-001
APN 510-14-044
Property Owner: Joey McCarthy
Applicant: Bess Wiersema
Project Planner: Ryan Safty
Requesting approval of a zone change from O:LHP (Office with a Landmark and Historic
Preservation Overlay) to R-1D:LHP (Single-Family Residential Downtown with a
Landmark and Historic Presentation Overlay).
Ryan Safty, Associate Planner, presented the staff report.
Opened Public Comment.
PAGE 4 OF 6
MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF APRIL 11, 2018
Bess Wiersema
- They intend to return the project to its residential use from its current commercial
designation. They intend to redevelop the property in the near future.
Dean Turkal
- He asked whether if the zone is changed, it would affect any noise or traffic ordinances for
the businesses in the area.
Closed Public Comment.
Commissioners discussed the matter.
MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Badame to approve a Zone Change for 221
Almendra Avenue. Seconded by Commissioner Burch.
VOTE: Motion passed unanimously.
4. 248 Jared Lane
Architecture and Site Application S-16-054
APN 532-34-071
Property Owner/Applicant: Sam Pan
Project Planner: Sean Mullin
Requesting approval for construction of a new single-family residence and removal of
large protected trees on vacant property zoned HR-1.
Sean Mullin, Associate Planner, presented the staff report.
Opened Public Comment.
Steve Yang
- The Town’s consulting architect deemed the Spanish design appropriate in terms of bulk,
materials, and the ability to blend into the surroundings. The LRDA is 6,000 square feet, but
with a 20-foot side setback there is only about 3,000 square feet available for the actual
house, which why they have built 32 percent outside the LRDA. The driveway slope is
higher than 15 percent but meets the Fire Department’s standards. The house is
approximately 2,800 square feet in size, which is compatible with the neighborhood.
PAGE 5 OF 6
MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF APRIL 11, 2018
Ralph Houp
- His back yard would look up at the garage. He asked that the applicant be allowed to
situate the house deep into the ground so he would not see as much of it, especially as the
trees would be removed. He is not able to see the story poles, b ecause they are behind the
trees, and asked if there is a way he could see what the view would be without the trees.
Annajean Anderson
- Uplift Family Services, which is on the south side of the subject property, is concerned that
the proposed house would look directly down onto their property. They have 20 kids on
the property 24/7, and their privacy would be impacted. She agreed with Mr. Houp in
hoping the applicant would be able to build deeply into the ground.
Allen Rudolph
- He lives on the property immediately north of the subject site. During construction of their
northern neighbor’s home there was a great deal of traffic, with people parking on Jared
Lane and creating hazardous situations; it should be conditioned that no cars be allowed to
park there. Jared Lane will serve three families, so there must be absolute ingress and
egress in case of an emergency to get people out and emergency vehicles in.
Mary Martin
- She would get a full view of the proposed house and is very concerned about scale,
because 33 percent of it is outside the LRDA, and the number of trees that are being cut
down. She said the house sounds massive, and they cannot see the story poles because of
the trees.
Michael McDonough
- He lives immediately next to the proposed site. The applicant has been eager to work with
them and be a good neighbor. He has received quite a bit of questions from the community
as to where the signage is located, so no one can see the signs. He did not get a notice of
the meeting, even though he is a direct neighbor. During the rains last year there was
serious flooding coming down through the streams that got into his yard.
Ninh Le
- He is the project civil engineer. The garage is located in the cut sections of the hillside. It
will be difficult to see from the west side, especially from a lower elevation, because of the
retaining walls. The site would have three retention ponds that can accommodate a ten-
year flood at the bottom, and he has designed a swale along the south frontage to capture
any water coming down. They will require the contractor to post signage that construction
parking is not allowed on Jared Lane during construction. The project proposes removal of
trees on the west side, but there are quite a few trees left near the property border on the
left side also.
Closed Public Comment.
PAGE 6 OF 6
MINUTES OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF APRIL 11, 2018
Commissioners discussed the matter.
MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Badame to continue the public hearing for 248
Jared Lane to the meeting of May 23, 2018. Seconded by Chair Kane.
VOTE: Motion passed unanimously.
OTHER BUSINESS
5. Report from the Director of Community Development
Joel Paulson, Director of Community Development
• Town Council met 4/3/18; reconsidered the Alberto Way project and continued it to the
meeting of May 1, 2018; and rescinded the Alcoholic Beverage Policy.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 9:38 p.m.
This is to certify that the foregoing is a true
and correct copy of the minutes of the
April 11, 2018 meeting as approved by the
Planning Commission.
_____________________________
/s/ Vicki Blandin