06 Attachment 2 - January 8, 2020 Planning Commission Verbatim MinutesLOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION 1/8/2020
Item #2, 15365 Santella Court
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A P P E A R A N C E S:
Los Gatos Planning
Commissioners:
Matthew Hudes, Chair
Melanie Hanssen, Vice Chair
Mary Badame
Jeffrey Barnett
Kendra Burch
Kathryn Janoff
Reza Tavana
Town Manager: Laurel Prevetti
Community Development
Director:
Joel Paulson
Town Attorney: Robert Schultz
Transcribed by: Vicki L. Blandin
(619) 541-3405
ATTACHMENT 2
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P R O C E E D I N G S:
CHAIR HUDES: We now move to the public hearings
portion of our agenda and consider Item 2, which is
Architecture and Site Application S-18-052. Project
location: 15365 Santella Court. Applicant: Hari Sripadanna.
Property owners: Christian and Hellen Olgaard. Project
planner is Erin Walters. Requesting approval for
construction of a new single-family residence and removal
of large protected trees on a vacant property zoned HR-
2½:PD. APN 527-09-036.
May I have a show of hands from Commissioners who
visited the property under consideration? Any disclosures
from Commissioners on this item?
I understand Ms. Walters is ill and I understand
that, Ms. Zarnowitz, you'll be giving the Staff Report this
evening.
SALLY ZARNOWITZ: Yes, thank you. This is an
Architecture and Site Application to construct a new 5,840
square foot, two-story residence in the Highland Planned
Development on a vacant lot there. Before you this evening
also is a revised fence plan; you might want to note that
it was just handed out today so it's at the dais for you.
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The reason the application is before the Planning
Commission is to allow additional consideration of the
hillside home, which is the largest in terms of square
footage in the Highlands PD, although not in the immediate
area, and also approached a threshold for a visible home in
the Hillside Development Standards and Guidelines. The
project does conform to the Standards and Guidelines and
Staff is recommending approval this evening with conditions
included in Exhibit 3.
That concludes Staff's report and we are here to
answer any questions.
CHAIR HUDES: Okay, thank you. Are there any
questions of Staff from the Commissioners? I had one
question, if I may? Is the LRDA applicable and is the
proposed northern siting, which is an alternative I believe
to what was in the development plan, consistent with the
LRDA?
SALLY ZARNOWITZ: It is consistent with the LRDA,
and it is applicable.
CHAIR HUDES: Okay, great. Thank you. And those
are the only Staff questions I have, so I'm going to invite
the Applicant to come forward. The Applicant will have five
minutes to present the project and then the Applicant will
also have an additional three minutes after we've heard
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from the public. Please just state your name for the record
and if you haven't submitted a card… I think actually we do
have cards now. Thank you.
HARI SRIPADANNA: Good evening, my name is Hari
Sripadanna and I'm the architect for this project.
Planning Commissioners, Planning Staff, audience,
it's an honor to present this design to you guys. All of
you have seen the site and I'm sure if you agree with me
it's such a beautiful site and it's an honor to design a
home on such a property.
As I think about this project three things come
to my mind, which is the wishes and needs of a homeowner
that they want to have in a house, that they envision
themselves living in a sustainable net zero green designed
home.
The Planning Commission and the Planning
Department and the Staff, they're obviously concerned with
the requirements that the design met and that it's a good
neighbor and fit within the hillside community well and met
all the design standards, and the Arts and Crafts efforts
of the architect who wants to create a sustainable home and
a beautiful design for the community, and sometimes these
are all at cross purposes, but for this particular project
we are really fortunate with our clients and the Staff that
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I worked from the very beginning. It took us about two
years to design this home and I really enjoyed working with
every one of you here. It was a good, seamless
collaboration that allowed us to create this project.
I know there is little time. If I run out of time
I will conclude the project at the end of the project
conclusion.
As you can see, this is the terrain of the whole
entire hillside and the Town as you can see the contours.
As you can see, these are the flatter parts of the Town and
at the Short Road and the Blossom Hill Road the Town rises
quite dramatically, and as the geological portions push
these mountains up the wind and the rain erode it down so
that you can see these rolling, gentle formations that made
the terrain possible, which became the formula for the
design of a sloping and level, sloping and level sort of a
terrain. And you can see the blue lines, which became also
important for our visibility analysis, and after the site
slopes down it raises up gently and then dramatically falls
down.
As you can see, the same characteristics also
follow the property. This is Santella Court and that's the
north direction. The property slopes down quite
dramatically as you might have seen at the site when you
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visited today. It levels down somewhat in the middle with a
clearing and then levels again up at a higher level after
it raises a little bit, and then it slopes out to the
hillside.
The LRDA lines are one both sides and the site is
surrounded by dense, mature tree clusters and a steeper
slope that define the LRDA.
So, taking all these measures into consideration
we came up with this solution of massing, and as you can
see we picked up on this idea of the land terrain sloping
down and raising up and so did our masses as it sloped down
and rose up.
The brown areas that you see here are somewhat of
the level areas and cleared areas so that we could bring
our fire truck turnaround, which is required by the long
driveway because of the slope. And as the building rose up
we also pushed the masses towards the back so that you
could get the screening of the trees that are dense
clusters all around at the back.
But these are the two main criteria that came
about, and you can see this is how we came up with the
solution where the lower floor is set at the lower level
area and the upper floor is set at the higher level area
and we tucked all the massing in between these stairs that
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come into that idea, so the roof is a continuous form that
unified the building together so one doesn't know where the
first and second floors start and it appears like a smaller
design.
CHAIR HUDES: Thank you. There may be some
questions at this point, and then the public will speak,
then there may be opportunity for other questions as well.
Commissioners, any questions? I had two questions
about the Hillside Design Standards and Guidelines. The
first one, did you consider putting part, or a bigger part
I should say, of the residence below grade?
HARI SRIPADANNA: As you can see, we have put a
substantial amount of property that could be below grade.
What set us for the level of the grade is the maximum
height allowed already by cut and fill requirements of Los
Gatos, or the lower floor which is 4' cut into the ground
and that's set the level of the lower level, and the upper
level was set by the upper grade where the land rose up
again, and because of those two the building was already
set back into the ground as far as it could be, because it
will be exposed no matter which was, because the land
terrain slopes out quite dramatically after the site and
the LRDA is limited in the middle.
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CHAIR HUDES: So you were balancing the amount of
cut and fill with the elevation of the property?
HARI SRIPADANNA: We initially proposed another
two more feet to be set lower and then the Town reminded us
that you need to have at least only 4' cut but not more
than that at the garage entrance level.
CHAIR HUDES: I see. A second question about the
hillside design. I'm not as familiar with the materials
that you've used as compared to some other ones, so in what
way are these materials natural and consistent with the
hillside design?
HARI SRIPADANNA: Sure. I believe we have a
materials board that we have submitted. I would be happy if
you could circulate that between… So, these are like
(inaudible) tile, centered stone panels that are very
durable and very well finished and they're available in
different types of colors and textures, and these mimic
natural earth tones and textures that we picked, which is
similar to a rust color and a stone pattern, and these two
are the major panels that we see on the property. Anything
else is more of a dark bronze metal finish. And so all the
colors are very low LRV, including the retaining walls that
are exposed stained concrete.
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CHAIR HUDES: Okay, thank you. That's all I had.
Yes, Vice Chair Hanssen.
VICE CHAIR HANSSEN: I noticed that you are
applying for LEED certification. What level?
HARI SRIPADANNA: We hope to achieve LEED
Platinum, which is an audacious goal, but we have so far
met LEED Gold standards with our current points, and as we
proceed further along there are additional points that we
hope to secure and get to the Platinum, but we already
achieved LEED Gold.
VICE CHAIR HANSSEN: What are some of the
defining features that helped you get to LEED Gold level?
HARI SRIPADANNA: There are a variety of factors.
We are obviously using steel for the project, which is
going to be all recycled material. The concrete plaster is
going to have recyclable material in it as well. And the
amount of energy we are producing for this home and the
(inaudible) is so efficient that very little energy would
be consumed, so there are a lot of credits that we achieved
through that. And we have a live green roof as well as
permeable paving, which absorbs all the water, and as our
civil engineers will explain we are containing all the
water within the property itself so it goes back into the
ground and recharges the aquifer as naturally it would. We
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also have natural lighting, natural ventilation system, and
even the pool, We are designing the pool as an energy
battery that could take the heat from the home when it's
hot and cool the home when we need to, or vice-versa. We
are running the water underneath the solar panels to make
the solar panels even more efficient. So there are a
variety of factors.
VICE CHAIR HANSSEN: I thank you for that. If I
could ask one more question?
CHAIR HUDES: Sure.
VICE CHAIR HANSSEN: I did want to ask about the
trees. Obviously there is a tree report, but whenever we
have the new houses built in the hills there are usually a
lot of trees that have to come down, so I'm wondering if
you can comment about did you look at the best alternative
from the trees' perspective as well as trying to get LEED
Gold and get what your client wants?
HARI SRIPADANNA: Yes, because when you are
applying for LEED certification that's one thing that
obviously they will take credits out of you for the trees
we would cut, so it would be looked at very carefully, and
if you look at the driveway in the beginning, the reason it
turned is to save the cluster of trees that are here, and
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all the trees that we plan to remove, at least four of them
are not of good health.
The fire truck turnaround radius and the
driveway, we had to do a double wide so that the cars can
pass each other because the entrance is so narrow. They
took the majority of the trees. The house itself is so
slender and snakes around the property to avoid the trees
being cut, and so we did the most possible to reduce the
amount of trees to be cut, and we're replacing the trees
with 40 mature native California trees as well.
VICE CHAIR HANSSEN: Okay, thank you.
CHAIR HUDES: If I may ask a follow up, and maybe
you may want to answer this later, but I walked back on the
property again to take a look at specific trees and I'm
going to read the numbers of certain trees that I'd like
you to comment of whether they are being saved or could be
saved. #668, #669, #675, #690, and #691. And if you want
you can respond to that later, but I wanted to give you a
heads up on those and I could give you the list of those.
HARI SRIPADANNA: Okay, I would be happy to.
CHAIR HUDES: Thank you. Other questions? Yes,
Commissioner Barnett.
COMMISSIONER BARNETT: Am I correct that the
siding material is not reflective of light in your comment?
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HARI SRIPADANNA: Could you repeat the question
again?
COMMISSIONER BARNETT: The siding material that's
proposed is non-reflective?
HARI SRIPADANNA: The siding material? The
building material?
COMMISSIONER BARNETT: Yes.
HARI SRIPADANNA: Yeah, it's not. It's very low
LRV value.
COMMISSIONER BARNETT: It's not proposed to be
painted?
HARI SRIPADANNA: No, that's the permanent color
that would always be there.
CHAIR HUDES: Okay, thank you. I'm going to open
this to the public now. I have a few cards, and the first
one is David Weissman, and then Lee Quintana.
DAVID WEISSMAN: The plans show an outdoor
fireplace north of the proposed house and within 25' of the
LRDA line. Now, what could possibly go wrong with putting
an open fire source in the middle of an oak woodland under
a flammable tree canopy? In these times of climate change I
think an outdoor fireplace is a crazy idea and should be
prohibited in such a setting.
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Number two. In the visibility analysis from
Selinda Way the proposed house has a surface area with 24%
visibility. That's pretty close to the threshold of 24.5%.
How close, you might ask? Well, just an extra 20 square
feet close. But even so, I was surprised to see that in
their analysis the architect included as part of the total
surface area the ground-level deck on the east side of the
house that significantly juts out behind beyond the house's
outline. I guess that in this analysis with so little room
for error any way to increase the total surface area would
be important. This deck extension should not be counted as
part of the total surface area in such a calculation.
Otherwise, why not count a flag pole, an antenna, a
satellite dish, or two false chimneys that stick out and
have no contribution to the visibility of the structure?
This potential loophole just helps the developer.
But there's a bigger problem. On page L-3.0, the
Tree Plan, there are four trees that are listed as being
both removed and retained, so when it came time for the
visibility analysis we shouldn't be surprised that this
confusion carried over to that analysis, specifically Tree
#671 is used in the screening analysis on page 23 as
providing screening, when on page 27 the same tree is shown
as being removed. Now, I have no idea as to which way Tree
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#671 was used in the final calculation, but I submit that
this analysis needs to be redone because how can anyone
have confidence in the current numbers? Plus, it is almost
impossible… I will skip that.
Number three. As Staff notes, as proposed the
project would create the largest home in terms of countable
square footage in the Highlands. The Applicant also notes
that the house was moved farther north than the location
indicated on the approved PD development plans. This is to
accommodate the required fire engine turnaround. The
Applicant then touted the proposed linear footprint as a
way to save more trees. If the Applicant really wanted to
save more trees, and specifically at least the three trees
on the north side of the property the Chair just asked
about, then they would have proposed a smaller house, a
strategy that is totally encouraged by the Hillside
Guidelines and should be part of this Commission's
decision.
CHAIR HUDES: Thank you. Any questions? Okay.
Thank you. Lee Quintana.
LEE QUINTANA: Lee Quintana, 5 Palm Avenue.
Compared to the project that you saw at your last Planning
Commission meeting for a hillside house this house is far
and away a better designed house for a hillside. My
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comments are going to be with the caveat that I did not
have the opportunity to go up and actually look at the
house itself or see the story poles or look at it from the
design areas of the Town. However, in my opinion it does
appear to be a house that is designed to fit into the
hillside and to follow the topography of the hillside, and
I believe that the below-grade area was used to set the
house into the hillside, not as many houses have been used
to both set the house into the hillside and expand the
square footage, thereby increasing the grading
considerably.
I do have questions about the trees looking at
the model and looking at the plans as to whether in fact it
does meet the 100' fire safety requirements.
I applaud the fact that it's a very sustainable
house. The Staff Report indicates that they're considering
water harvesting and grey water use but I think I heard the
architect say that those are included in the design, so I'm
not clear on that.
And I agree, the first thing that I looked at was
that the visibility is so close to the required that I just
wondered whether there was a way to reduce that visibility
somewhat by I think there's an area of the house that is
quite tall that has 15' or 16' height in the room, although
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the plans were not really clear on that, easy to read
anyway.
And as far as not being within the envelope of
the PD, if I remember correctly I was on the Commission at
that time and that was just to show that it was possible to
get a house on the site, it was not necessarily the only
place where the house could be set on the site.
The last thing I would like to say is that while
I agree it would be nice if the house was smaller, but it
is within the parameters of the Hillside Design Guidelines.
I have not seen the materials, so I don't have
any comments on that, but I think because of fire safety we
may have to get beyond just having natural materials.
CHAIR HUDES: Thank you. Would anyone else like
to speak on this project? Okay, I don't have any other
cards, so I would invite the Applicant back up for three
minutes.
HARI SRIPADANNA: Thank you. While he starts the
slide collection I would like to say that your Staff has
totally reviewed the tree analysis as well as the building
square footages and we have gone to extraordinary lengths
to verify with the arborist as well for the tree screening,
and all the trees that we show in the screening are what
they have been, and the observer who has commented on that,
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I would be happy to sit with him and go through the design.
The Staff has multiple times reviewed this tree protection
plan as well as screening areas and we are within allowable
area guidelines and we have made all the right calculations
that the Town has asked us to do so.
Next. You can see these are the two areas that
possibly the project would be seen and, going to the next
slide, this is the point I would really like to make to
everyone is what you see here is a terrain that rises up
before the property begins, so anybody who would be seeing
this property would be seeing it about a mile away, so all
the discussions we are having are only in abstract because
nobody would be traveling around the Town with a 300mm
lens.
So, if you go to the next slide. Same thing
happens with this situation. The terrain rises up
dramatically before the property begins, and this is a
Google section that's available for anybody to verify.
Keep going to the next slide. These are all the
trees that we have kept and we have tried very hard to keep
the other trees as well, but these trees require such a
large DBH area, the breast diameter range, that we would
not be able to keep these trees and help them survive, so
unfortunately we'd have to remove what we have to remove,
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but as the Commissioner pointed out, #669 is actually there
and we've preserved it. All these trees are accounted for
and the arborist has checked these trees and we have
verified the height canopy and the width of all of these
trees, and you can see the pictures of these trees that we
have documented and they are absolutely what we present in
the design.
Keep going. Next slide. And as you can see, these
two pictures are from the Blossom Hill area and these two
pictures are from Selinda Way area.
Go to the next slide, please. This is all the
screening that we have calculated for. Only a small portion
of this building would be seen with a 300mm camera.
Next slide, please. And so only a small portion
of the building would be seen with the dark materials that
nobody would be able to see because of very low LRA values
compared to these homes.
Next slide, please. And this is what you see with
the naked eye. Nobody would be able to see it closer than
that, and I would like to leave you with that impression,
because nobody walks around with a 300mm camera.
CHAIR HUDES: Thank you. There may be some
questions. Yes, Commissioner Janoff.
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COMMISSIONER JANOFF: Yes, thank you. You
mentioned in your earlier discussion that you were
replacing the trees removed with 40 additional trees. Can
you comment on slide #11, if you would go back two slides,
would we be seeing any of the 40 new trees in this view
that would represent more coverage?
HARI SRIPADANNA: Yes.
COMMISSIONER JANOFF: Can you point out where
they may be?
HARI SRIPADANNA: In this specific area we are
planting three mature trees, and a lot of trees that are
planted on the other side as well, but any more than that
on this side area is impossible because they're so dense,
and so even this coverage would be very much dramatically
reduced.
COMMISSIONER JANOFF: Just to follow up, please?
Could you be more specific with your pointer with respect
to the trees behind the house?
HARI SRIPADANNA: Mmm-hmm. Can you go back one
more slide out of the site plan? Yeah. One more. So, there
are trees that we are planting, three mature trees that we
are planting right here in this clear area, and there are
quite a lot of trees that are planted in this area as well,
but because this area is so dense we do not have… And then
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we are planting some trees in this area as well, so that's
the extent of what sunshine they can get.
COMMISSIONER JANOFF: So, what I'm getting at,
back to slide #11, which is a little bit easier to see, is
the impact of a structure relative to the skyline.
Oftentimes when we approach the hillside from these viewing
positions what you wind up seeing as you get closer to the
property isn't the elevation of the house but it's the
roofline that you see quite visibly above the tree line at
certain points. I'm probably on that line from Selinda to
your property so I'm well aware of what happens to the
skyline as these houses get sited at the very top. My
question again is could you be more specific with respect
to the highest elevations of the roof line behind it? Where
might some of your 40 mature trees be planted? If you could
show with the pointer, that would be helpful.
HARI SRIPADANNA: The trees that we are talking
about are planted in this area that will raise up high, and
these trees are all protected to increase the visibility of
the project, and all the discussion we're having right now
with the 15' height is this small portion of the roof that
projects out, which is only 5' higher. Otherwise, we're all
within the allowable area heights and this discussion we
wouldn't be even having because this wouldn't be considered
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a visible home, because the 18' height of the roof is
already applied to most of them. This small area of the
roof that comes up is the part that we were asking for the
visibility analysis.
COMMISSIONER JANOFF: And so just to clarify, I'm
looking at it from the Selinda viewing point, the general
direction.
HARI SRIPADANNA: This is the Selinda viewing
point, between these (inaudible).
COMMISSIONER JANOFF: And you're saying that the
40 additional trees you're planting are between the viewing
point and front elevation of the house, but not behind it?
HARI SRIPADANNA: Here as well.
COMMISSIONER JANOFF: There as well?
HARI SRIPADANNA: Yes, because we cannot put 40
trees in possibly.
COMMISSIONER JANOFF: I wouldn't think so.
HARI SRIPADANNA: Yeah.
COMMISSIONER JANOFF: Okay, thank you.
CHAIR HUDES: I had another question about the
trees, and I know we're getting specific down to the tree
number, but I approach these as a tree-by-tree basis, can
we save every tree?
HARI SRIPADANNA: Right.
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CHAIR HUDES: And so just to clarify it, you said
that #669 was preserved?
HARI SRIPADANNA: Yeah, this one.
CHAIR HUDES: Okay. And then Dr. Weissman asked
the question about #671. Is that being removed or
preserved? Because he pointed out that it's being counted
both as screening and as remove.
HARI SRIPADANNA: I would like to go back to the
slides and point to the slide.
CHAIR HUDES: Yeah, go ahead.
HARI SRIPADANNA: If you go back to the site plan
again. Any trees that we show in this area are the only
trees we have counted towards the screening, and the
pictures are clearly shown here of what they are. So, #671
is this particular tree, I believe. This is #670 and then
#671 is somewhere nearby, and we have not counted that in
the screening. It's possible if there's some typo, but…
CHAIR HUDES: Okay, so it is slated to be
removed?
HARI SRIPADANNA: Yes.
CHAIR HUDES: Okay, so that may have been an
error. Other questions? Yes, Commissioner Burch.
COMMISSIONER BURCH: Well, I guess to that point
then there are seven errors, because there are seven trees
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counted under trees to remain or trees to be removed. Most,
I think, are pretty clear that they would obviously have
been removed. I mean, they have to be removed to allow for
the driveway or the home. I think the questions we're
getting are when we are that razor thin to the percentage
allowable visibility one tree off could mean that you're
over on that. So, I would hope in good faith as you move
forward that you would double check these seven, and I'm
happy to list them off if you want me to and you make sure
that if you are looking at removing them that they do not
tip the balance of the percentage shown.
HARI SRIPADANNA: Absolutely.
COMMISSIONER BURCH: So, if you want a list of
those later, I'm sure we can provide it to you, but I think
it would be good for you to go back and double check that.
HARI SRIPADANNA: I will certainly do.
CHAIR HUDES: Great. Thank you. Other questions?
Commissioner Barnett.
COMMISSIONER BARNETT: I wonder if you have a
response to the comment concerning the fire safety with the
firepit?
HARI SRIPADANNA: We will be complying with all
the fire safety regulations and what's allowed by the Fire
Department and the Building Department for putting the
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fireplace outdoors, and that outdoor fireplace will have
all the safety measure that are required by the code, and
so that's one of the questions even the HOA has asked and
we have provided the documentation of that and they
approved that.
CHAIR HUDES: Okay. Other questions? I had a
question about the live roof, which is an interesting
feature and it sounds like it accomplishes a number of
objectives. My question about that is: Is there significant
maintenance required? And we know that this house is being
constructed for these clients and they will take care of it
as they put a lot into the design, but homes get sold
later. I'm not that familiar with this type of thing, but
how easy would that be for that to fall into disrepair and
become a fire hazard rather than a benefit?
HARI SRIPADANNA: I can say to you from my own
personal experience, my own house has a green roof and it
consists of not grass but succulent plants, and these
succulent plants actually stop the fire because they are so
thick with water that they actually are used and are meant
to be considered a fire retardant, and the Fire Department
actually approves them as one of the fire retardants.
The maintenance part, you would have to weed them
occasionally, and that's always the case with any green
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roof, but that weeding part is no different than mowing the
lawn; it's actually less because you probably have to weed
it every three months to six months and not every two
weeks.
CHAIR HUDES: Okay, thank you. I had another
question about the geothermal, and we haven't seen that
very much in other projects. How complex and how deep do
you have to go to get the geothermal effect I think of 60-
degrees Fahrenheit?
HARI SRIPADANNA: So, we have two ways of doing
geothermal. One would be doing a horizontal loop, which we
have allowed for the driveway; that would be a lot more
economical. But we are also looking at the possibility of
going down as we drill the piers, because we would be
drilling the piers at least 16' below ground. Some of
these, depending on the amount of energy needed, would need
to go 30-40' for them to get the amount of surface that
they would need to contact the earth, but both options are
possible.
CHAIR HUDES: I see. So, it's part of the normal
construction process you incorporate that in the piers?
HARI SRIPADANNA: Correct.
CHAIR HUDES: That's really interesting. Any
other questions? Okay, thank you. I will now close the
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public portion of the hearing and ask whether Commissioners
have any questions of Staff? Yes, Commissioner Badame.
COMMISSIONER BADAME: With respect to Dr.
Weissman's comments with the deck extension, does the
project meet our view analysis standards?
SALLY ZARNOWITZ: Our analysis is that it did. I
don't have a specific on the deck being part of that,
whether if the deck weren't there—that would have been a
question for the Applicant—but whether if the deck weren't
there something would have been behind it anyway, but our
analysis was that it did meet our standards for the view
analysis.
COMMISSIONER BADAME: Thank you.
CHAIR HUDES: Yes, Vice Chair Hanssen.
VICE CHAIR HANSSEN: Related to that question,
I'm trying to remember from the last time we went through
this, when we do a view analysis it's done by the
Applicant, correct? And then they have to show it to Staff?
SALLY ZARNOWITZ: That's correct.
VICE CHAIR HANSSEN: And that you check their
methodology?
SALLY ZARNOWITZ: That's correct, yes, so it
follows the guidelines for that as well.
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VICE CHAIR HANSSEN: Do we have any kind of
notion of like standard deviation of error, because it is
very close to the limit and so if there was an error in
calculation then it could put it over, but at the same time
we don't want to be holding applicants to a higher standard
than the one we put out there, so is it typical with these
kinds of things that there could be a range of error or are
we fairly confident that the numbers we've seen are
correct?
SALLY ZARNOWITZ: We were confident in these
numbers, so I guess it would be… Again, it's before the
Commission. If the Commission feels that it's too close to
the 24.5%, that's up to the Commission as well. We don't
know exactly. I don't think we have an exact number for the
margin of error as you're saying.
VICE CHAIR HANSSEN: But we do know they followed
the procedure that we've outlined?
SALLY ZARNOWITZ: That's correct.
VICE CHAIR HANSSEN: Thank you.
CHAIR HUDES: Other questions? Yes, Commissioner
Badame.
COMMISSIONER BADAME: So, again, if the Planning
Commission wasn't comfortable with the possible margin of
error but they're still within it the burden of proof is on
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the Applicant, so if we had an issue with it they would go
to Council and it's within the guidelines, so that's that?
Am I correct? Burden of proof is Applicant and (inaudible)?
SALLY ZARNOWITZ: Correct, and the plans are
conditions, the plans have to represent the project
accurately.
COMMISSIONER BADAME: Thank you.
SALLY ZARNOWITZ: I don't know if the attorney
has anything to add, but he seems to be nodding.
ROBERT SCHULTZ: I'm nodding, and I guess the
other issue was the tree issue. I mean, the Staff Report is
clear on I think it's page three or four that exactly the
trees that are going to be removed and you have conditions
that every tree will need a Tree Removal Permit, so those
are the ones that are coming out even though there seems to
be with one of the sheets clarification, but that shows
exactly the trees that are going to be removed within the
Staff Report and the conditions of approval.
COMMISSIONER BADAME: Thank you.
CHAIR HUDES: Vice Chair Hanssen.
VICE CHAIR HANSSEN: I should have asked this of
the Applicant, but since you've reviewed the (inaudible),
so the house is currently…the height is 22' where 25' is
allowed unless they're over the view, but I thought I heard
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him say that there's only a small portion of the roof that
was more than 18', because the mitigation would be if they
were over the view to make them be at 18', but I think what
I heard him say is most of the house is already at 18', is
that correct?
SALLY ZARNOWITZ: That is correct. There's that
kind of small piece that's at the top of the roof, it's
kind of like a bird's nest, or the sloping piece that's
slightly higher, that's the small portion that is over the
18'. Thank you.
VICE CHAIR HANSSEN: Thank you.
CHAIR HUDES: Okay, other questions or comments
or a motion, or how would we like to go next on this?
Commissioner Burch.
COMMISSIONER BURCH: I'll go ahead and start. I
want to compliment the design. While it's a more modern
design I think it's very sympathetic to the landscape and
the way the hillside slopes, which is exactly what I feel
like we keep reminding people that they're supposed to do.
I believe that the materials selected will make that
percentage that we are seeing that will be visible nearly
disappear. I do not think that we'll notice it very much at
all.
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I do think it's unfortunate when you are that
close that somebody wasn't more diligent on verifying the
trees to be removed or to remain, only because it does wind
up bringing a question in peoples' minds about that
percentage, however, as I looked at them and just mapped
them out they were clearly items that were sitting in the
middle of the home or the drive, so therefore they're not
to be remained and I do not think that they were probably
shown on any image illustrating the visibility.
I'm going to support the motion. Again, I think
the design is very sympathetic to the hillsides and I'm
extremely impressed with a home that is going for LEED
Platinum; that's very commendable and hopefully something
we see more of.
CHAIR HUDES: Commissioner Janoff.
COMMISSIONER JANOFF: I concur with Commissioner
Badame's comments and I would also like to say it's a rare
and pleasant experience to see a design come to us that
doesn't try to exceed the cut and fill standards and I
truly appreciate that, and I'm also happy to hear that the
plantings will include trees behind the house so that
continues to obscure the overall skyline of the hill.
I was a proponent of the modern structure that's
the neighboring property and I think it's nice to see
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another home come into that neighborhood that reflects a
more modern aesthetic, and I do think it's very, very
sympathetic to the hillside contours and so I will also be
supporting the motion.
CHAIR HUDES: We are lacking a second for the
motion. Do we have a second?
COMMISSIONER BURCH: I didn't make a motion.
CHAIR HUDES: Oh, I'm sorry.
COMMISSIONER BURCH: I was just saying I support
the application.
CHAIR HUDES: I'm way ahead of it.
COMMISSIONER BURCH: I wasn't so bold just yet.
CHAIR HUDES: Okay. Yes, Commissioner Barnett.
COMMISSIONER BARNETT: In my opinion, I'm
reviewing the materials, I thought that the application is
in total compliance with the Hillside Design Standards and
Guidelines and that there is particular merit in the
architectural design that's been noted. The sustainability
and the minimization of bulk and mass I think all are to be
complimented.
CHAIR HUDES: Vice Chair Hanssen.
VICE CHAIR HANSSEN: I agree with most of the
comments that have been made and I also wanted to commend
the Applicant. It's not very often that we see an
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application where they aren't wanting to violate some
aspect of our Hillside Standards and Guidelines or code and
that seems to be what we're here for, so I was really glad
to see that and I had to ask Staff why are we seeing this
again? But I think it is prudent for them to have the
additional review because the hillsides are that important
to the Town of Los Gatos and the view and all of those
things, so I'm glad that we had the opportunity to review
this.
But I think the design is great; the consulting
architect had no problem with it. It looks terrific. I
didn't totally understand the concept of fitting to the
slope of the land until the architect explained it, but I
think that's really awesome and I actually took several
classes for sustainability and I know all about LEED
certification and I think that's awesome and we hardly ever
see it for residences, so assuming there is a motion to
approve I'll be supporting it.
CHAIR HUDES: Commissioner Badame.
COMMISSIONER BADAME: The Planning Commission
doesn't have the expertise to refute the analysis, so I'm
going to go ahead and make a motion.
I move to approve Architecture and Site
Application S-18-053 requesting approval for construction
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of a new single-family residence and removal of large
protected trees on a vacant property zoned HR-2½. I can
make the required findings for CEQA. I can make the
findings for compliance with the Hillside Design Standards
and Guidelines. I can find that it's compliant with the
Hillside Specific Plan. I can make the finding that it's in
compliance with the approved Planned Development, and these
considerations were made in review of Architecture and Site
Application Section 29.20.150 of the Town Code.
CHAIR HUDES: Okay, thank you. Now do I have a
second? Commissioner Tavana.
COMMISSIONER TAVANA: I'll second that motion.
CHAIR HUDES: Further discussion? Yes,
Commissioner Barnett.
COMMISSIONER BARNETT: I'm a newbie, so forgive
me if I'm off course here, but the conditions of approval
need to be incorporated into the motion. Is that done
automatically?
ROBERT SCHULTZ: Yes, you can include those also.
That's a good point.
CHAIR HUDES: Thank you. So, Maker of the Motion,
is that included?
COMMISSIONER BADAME: Yes, I believe it's
automatically included.
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CHAIR HUDES: And seconder?
COMMISSIONER TAVANA: Second.
CHAIR HUDES: Very good. I will call the
question. All in favor? Opposed? Passes unanimously 7-0.
Are there appeal rights?
SALLY ZARNOWITZ: Yes, there are. The decision of
the Planning Commission is appealable within ten days to
the Town Council at the Clerk's Office and with fees paid.
CHAIR HUDES: Okay, thank you.