Draft Mins 06.28.17
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
PLANNING COMMISSION
REPORT
MEETING DATE: 06/28/2017 ITEM NO: 1
DRAFT
MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
JUNE 28, 2017
The Planning Commission of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Regular Meeting on
Wednesday, June 28, 2017, at 7:00 p.m.
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 7:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Tom O'Donnell, Vice Chair D. Michael Kane, Commissioner Mary Badame,
Commissioner Melanie Hanssen, Commissioner Matthew Hudes, and Commissioner Kathryn
Janoff.
Absent: Commissioner Kendra Burch
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Chair O’Donnell led the Pledge of Allegiance. The audience was invited to participate.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS/COMMISSION MATTERS
Historic Preservation Committee
Commissioner Hudes
- HPC met 6/28/17; considered two matters:
• 115 University Avenue
• 198 Broadway
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
Sandy Decker
- Requested that the Town Attorney clarify the confusion and misinformation circulating in
the community regarding the action taken by the Town Council on 6/27/17 with respect to
the North 40 law suit ruling.
CONSENT ITEMS (TO BE ACTED UPON BY A SINGLE MOTION)
1. Approval of Minutes – June 14, 2017
MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Badame to approve adoption of the Consent
Calendar. Seconded by Commissioner Hudes.
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VOTE: Motion passed unanimously
PUBLIC HEARINGS
2. 17½ N. Santa Cruz Avenue
Conditional Use Permit Application U-17-003
APN 510-44-077
Property Owner: La Canada Investments, LLC
Applicant: Dan Cuschieri, Cuschieri Horton Architects
Project Planner: Sally Zarnowitz
Requesting approval for a formula retail business (J. McLaughlin) on property zoned C-
2:LHP. Continued from 6/14/17.
Sally Zarnowitz, Planning Manager, presented the staff report.
Opened Public Comment.
Deirdre Ann Ziruk
- She is Vice President of Stores for J. McLaughlin. Each store is custom designed with its
location in mind; no two stores are alike. They have community events in their stores and
take pride in being part of each community.
Closed Public Comment.
Commissioners discussed the matter.
MOTION: Motion by Vice Chair Kane to approve a Conditional Use Permit for 17½
N. Santa Cruz Avenue. Seconded by Commissioner Badame.
VOTE: Motion passed unanimously.
3. Town Code Amendment Regarding Cellars
Town Code Amendment Application A-17-001
Applicant: Town of Los Gatos
Project Planner: Erin Walters
Consider amendments to Chapter 29 (Zoning Regulations) of the Town Code regarding
cellars. Continued from 5/24/2017.
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Opened Public Comment.
Brad McCurdy
- A letter from 24 local architects and builders was submitted to the Planning Commission
and sums up the consensus of the local design community.
Jennifer Kretschmer
- She is a local architect. The floor area ratios are much lower in some Los Gatos
neighborhoods than their neighboring communities. New property and home owners want
all available strategies to maximize floor area, comply with the town, and get the size home
they want.
Noel Cross
- He is a local architect who assisted, along with other architects, in writing the Hillside
Development Standards and Guidelines in 2002; it has worked well since then and is
relatively easy to work with. Architects fear unintended consequences. The 341 Bella Vista
project is not a solvable project, and the currently proposed version of the Ordinance will
not solve it.
Bess Wiersema
- She is a local architect. The cellar issue has served to bring the architectural community
together to say something is terribly wrong. The issue is with bulk and mass and not the
Cellar Policy, which is a scapegoat for bulk and mass. If the square footage cannot be seen,
it should not count. The current policy is fair, and square footage and FAR in hillsides is
penalized by other means. It is important to engage local professionals to work with Los
Gatos to create a viable policy.
Tom Sloan
- He is a local architect. It would be a shocker to have square footage that doesn’t count
suddenly count, and it would have a blowback. When building on a hillside, the level floors
will naturally project out, because they can’t keep stepping the house to the contours of
the hillside or there would be no accessibility. Counting things that cannot be seen could
lead to regulation of things inside homes that are hidden from view and have no impact.
Nick Williamson
- He supports the proposed amendments, which are clear and simple to apply and would
make for more compatible homes. Currently the floor area ratio is a numbers game,
whereas this amendment makes the FAR a measure of the expected size of the building. He
agreed that bulk and mass are a different issue, and that steeply sloped properties can
have bulk and mass issues regardless of the cellar.
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Anthony Badame
- The Planning Commission’s charge is to define the basement appropriately and it should be
done quantitatively, for example, feet above grade, not qualitatively, like livable space. He
advocated forming a special committee composed of local residents, building professionals,
and town representatives to collectively rewrite the Cellar policy.
Louie Lou
- He is a local architect. The idea of counting all the floor area, regardless of whether it is
daylighted or not, is a bad idea that penalizes people for trying to hide square footage. It
would encourage people to put more square footage above ground when the purpose of
changing the Cellar Policy is to reduce the bulk and mass.
Gary Kohlsaat
- He is a local architect. He also assisted in drafting the Hillside Development Standards and
Guidelines in 2002. Architects work with the Ordinance all the time and he is not aware of
many problems they have faced in Los Gatos with houses that comply with the Hillside
Development Standards and Guidelines; it works very well. He does not know of any
jurisdiction that would count any area that is below grade, including Saratoga.
Jaclyn Greenmyer
- She works for Mr. Kohlsaat. Every local jurisdiction she is familiar with has a rule that allows
for hidden basements that do not count as square footage; Los Gatos would be the only
one that does not. When clients look for properties and find out about the rules and how
much square footage they are allowed, they will not build in Los Gatos.
Sandy Decker
- She was a charter member of the committee that put together the Cellar Policy. The reason
for the policy was to stop huge homes in the hillsides by allowing square footage to be put
underground. It was never intended to allow a home that had already met the 6,000 –
square foot level to then add more square footage below.
Angelia Doerner
- It is so important to document what is happening during the Cellar Policy proceedings so
future citizens understand what the intent was. She was disappointed the Cellar Policy
Committee meetings were not transcribed. She suggested a study session so the public
could be present and involved.
Michael Davis
- He is a local architect. As a group, the only thing the local architects agreed upon is that the
current Cellar Policy works, because the Planning Commission has the Hillside Development
Standards and Guidelines and the reduction in square footage allowed because of the slope
reduction, limiting the size of homes put on these lots.
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Shannon Susick
- The Basement and Cellar Policy needs modification and clarification, and they should be
combined with the hillsides separate. In the flats two-story homes impact neighbors
adversely, and adding a cellar or basement gives them additional living space, and that
works. In the hillsides, the basement is a full floor, has an impact on views, and is included
in the FAR, as it should be.
Melanie Kemp
- She has been in real estate for 41 years and has seen the definition of cellar and basement
stretched beyond recognition. There should be a difference between a hillside situation
and the flats. She disagreed with one architect’s comment that basement space
construction is expensive, so people will put the square footage above ground instead,
saying that basement construction is not even half the cost of building something above
grade, which is cost prohibitive.
David Zicovich
- He disagreed with Ms. Kemp and said below grade square footage is considerably more
expensive than above grade. The local architects do not represent themselves, they
represent their clients, and most clients that build in this Town already live in this Town
and are moving up.
Closed Public Comment.
Commissioners discussed the matter.
MOTION: Motion by Vice Chair Kane to approve forwarding Draft Town Code
Amendment Application A-17-001 to the Town Council with
recommendation for adoption and to rescind the Cellar Policy. Seconded
by Commissioner Badame.
Commissioners discussed the matter.
Commissioner Janoff requested the motion be amended: Section 29.10.020, Definitions, to
replace, “That entire floor counts as gross floor area,” with, “That area of any elevation
where the building height exceeds 4 feet above existing or finished grade shall be included in
the floor area ratio calculation.”
The maker of the motion accepted the amendment to the motion.
The seconder did not accept the amendment to the motion.
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The maker of the motion withdrew the motion.
MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Hanssen to approve forwarding Draft Town
Code Amendment Application A-17-001 to the Town Council with a
recommendation to consider the amendments to Chapter 29 of the Town
Code regarding cellars that were made, with the exception of the specific
language that governs counted square footage when there is a daylighted
basement, to only count what is visible, as in the current policy, and that
Council consider techniques to incentivize reduction of bulk and mass.
Seconded by Commissioner Hudes.
Commissioner Hudes requested that the motion be amended: Page 2 of Exhibit 10, Item 2,
“Below grade footage is permitted only once,” the term “once” should be clarified to refer to
locations rather than time.
The maker of the motion accepted the amendment to the motion.
The seconder accepted the amendment to the motion.
Commissioner Hudes requested that the motion be amended: Item 5, add the language,
“…including circumstances such as size, shape, topography, location, or surroundings,” to
allow the Planning Commission discretion if there is another factor that causes them to have
a reason to make an exception.
The maker of the motion accepted the amendment to the motion.
The seconder accepted the amendment to the motion.
Commissioner Janoff requested the motion be amended: Item 5, eliminate the words,
“extenuating or exceptional circumstance.”
The maker of the motion accepted the amendment to the motion.
The seconder of the motion did not accept the amendment to the motion.
The maker of the motion rescinded her acceptance of the amendment to the motion.
VOTE: Motion passed 4-2.
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OTHER BUSINESS
4. Report from the Director of Community Development
Joel Paulson, Director of Community Development
• The Planning Commission will hear modifications of the Fence, Hedges, and Walls
section of the Zoning Code at the meeting of July 26, 2017; Zoning Code amendments
for Secondary Dwelling units will also be heard at a future meeting.
• The Policy Committee is working on changes to the Hillside Visibility Analysis
methodology, which will go the Town Council.
• The Planned Development Study Committee recommendations will be carried forward
to the Town Council.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 9:37 p.m.
TOWN OF LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION
June 28, 2017
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_____________________________
Joel Paulson
Community Development Director
Prepared by
_____________________________
/s/ Vicki Blandin