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Item 2 - Exhibit 10- Public Comments received prior to 10 a.m., Tuesday, June 9, 2020EXHIBIT 10 Liz & Bill Crites 100 Cardinal Lane Los Gatos, CA 95032 May 18, 2020 TO: Town of Los Gatos - Development Review Committee RE: May 19, 2020 DRC Meeting Subject: Public Comment re 146 Robin Way Architecture and Site Application S-19-043. APN 532-12-015 Dear Members of the Town of Los Gatos, Development Review Committee, We are writing to ask that you NOT approve the application, in its current form, for the residence at 146 Robin Way. Those of us who live on Stonybrook, Cardinal and Robin consider ourselves very fortunate to live together in such a picturesque, cohesive and cooperative neighborhood, and we hope to ﬁnd an amicable solution to the home needed for a wonderful family. However, we must object to this application for the following reasons: 1.The proposed increase in square footage is too big for the lot. The current home is just under 2200 sq. ft. The plans are to increase the size to approximately 4800 sq. ft. This is more than doubling the size. The lot size is just around 1/3 of an acre. There are only 4 other homes in this neighborhood with 5 bedrooms (proposed in the plan). Two of them (105 Stonybrook and 126 Robin) have just over 1/2 acre lots, with only 4564 sq. ft and 3967 sq. ft respectively). The third 5 bedroom home, at 120 Cardinal Lane is on .36 of an acre, but has only 2500 sq.ft. The 4th, at 120 Stonybrook, on .28 acres, has a basement. Proportionally this proposal is far too oversized in look and feel for this neighborhood. 2.The height is simply too tall. The height of the proposed home would dwarf some of the other homes on the street and take away views of the hills and trees from several of the homes, as well. While the total height may be just within the limits, it does not ﬁt with the overall feel of the neighborhood. 3.The style is not in line with the current Ranch style permeating the neighborhood. There have been at least a dozen remodels within the last couple of decades in our neighborhood but all of them have maintained an exterior style that still ﬁts well, esthetically, with the long standing and original ranch style this neighborhood was built with. This proposed modern exterior simply doesn’t ﬁt. We hope there is another solution for Leila and Mehrdad to meet the needs of their family, perhaps a basement that would not cause the home to be so oversized both in total square footage and height, and a slightly more traditional facade keeping in line with the look and feel of this much loved neighborhood. Finally, I would like to sit in on the Zoom meeting as an observer. Thank you for your time. Respectfully, Liz & Bill Crites Lora Lee and James Zaky 140 Robin Way Los Gatos, Ca. 95032 Dear Members of the Development Review Committee, At the first DRC Meeting on May 19th, my husband represented our concerns about the 146 Robin Way Architecture and Site Application. I am now compelled to speak up also as I want to ensure you each have full visibility as to what has transpired since we last met. As the next-door neighbor who will be directly impacted by this Proposal, we hope you take this vote seriously as for us it will forever impact our views, our sense of privacy and our neighborhood charm. During the 20 years we have lived in the Stonybrook Subdivision, we have seen a number of homes including ours be remodeled and updated. Since many of you may not be familiar with our Subdivision, my husband is sending you photos of the upgraded California ranch style homes in the immediate area that we would like you to share in today’s Zoom Room. You will each discover that every single home that has been upgraded did so with a visible commitment to the Design Elements that are outlined in the Town of Los Gatos 2020 Plan which states that, “New structures, remodels, and landscapes, and hardscapes shall be designed to harmonize and blend with the scale and rhythm of the neighborhood”. The Application that you are reviewing today does not meet this Requirement. When we were last together at the DRC, all of you unanimously agreed that you would neither deny nor approve this proposed Architecture and Site Application in order to see if the Architect could work with the homeowners who would be directly impacted to propose changes that would address the concerns escalated by the neighbors. We assumed that the Committee and more importantly the Architect and Applicant Homeowners would read our letters and listen to our concerns. Since that Forum, we learned that relative to the Homeowners this was not the case. When we met with the Architect at the Homeowner’s Property, he presented the proposed changes which included: 12” inch drop in elevation height, change in the color of the metal industrial roof which they have softened by adjusting the color from black to brown, and an extended roof line to cover the top edge of the stone portion of the façade only. Although it had not been made apparent to us, we learned that their Landscaping Plan which includes the removal of the two tall, very large and very mature trees which today provide the only sense of privacy we have in our backyard. We don’t want to wait another 10 years for new trees to mature so that we once again have privacy yet this has not been sufficiently addressed. My husband documented our concerns for the Committee and also sent Mehrdad and Leila a personal letter indicating how much we appreciate them as neighbors yet feel very concerned by the impact of their construction to our lives. My husband will no longer see the sky and trees from his office windows and our guest room. Instead, there is no longer a view but rather a metal industrial roof. We addressed concerns over the selected architecture, scale, and design. Unfortunately, we assumed that they would read our letter and would do something to specifically address our issues. In preparation for our conversation today, they met with the neighbors in groups to present their proposed adjustments. When the Architect closed by asking if they had now met our concerns we were shocked as the minor adjustments did not even scratch the surface. My husband looked directly at Leila and Mehrdad and asked, “Did either of you even read our personal letter from May 13th or the Documents and Photos I submitted to the DRC?” My husband would like you to show the photos that he has taken from our windows to show you the dramatic impact of your new metal roof and stucco hardscape relative to the views that we enjoy today. You are now completely blocking our views of any trees, sky or sunlight?” Leila just looked and my husband and responded to his question by shaking her head “No”. For neighbors who led us to believe how much they cared, it was amazing to discover that they proposed changes without even taking the time to understand nor address our concerns in a meaningful way. We find it very disappointing that they have not taken the time to demonstrate that they understand the concerns of the immediate neighbors in the Subdivision who will be directly impacted. They don’t have an appreciation for why we want to retain our views; our privacy, and uphold our property value. I strongly urge you to deny this Application and with that I will turn it over to the next Speaker. Thanks for your time. Liz & Bill Crites 100 Cardinal Lane Los Gatos, CA 95032 TO: Town of Los Gatos - Development Review Committee RE: June 9, 2020 DRC Meeting Subject: Public Comment re 146 Robin Way Architecture and Site Application S-19-043. APN 532-12-015 Dear Members of the Town of Los Gatos, Development Review Committee, We are writing to ask that you NOT approve the application, in its current form, for the residence at 146 Robin Way. This is our second letter stating our disapproval of the current plans. The ﬁrst was submitted to the May 19th DRC meeting. Our main concern is that the facade of the home is simply too modern to blend in with the rest of the homes in our Stonybrook neighborhood. While we appreciate that the homeowners set up driveway meetings with groups of opposing neighbors and the architect, to review the changes they had made since the May 19th mtg, and answer any questions, we feel the style changes are negligible. In fact, after looking at the original drawings and the new drawings for some time, I had to ask the architect to point out the changes as they were not at all clear to see. We hear the architect when he says this is a Transitional Style and not a Modern Style home design, however, in comparison to the other homes is this neighborhood we argue it is quite a bit more modern that the rest. We feel very strongly that the homes in this charming and tight knit neighborhood should remain in the style that is currently existing in order it to maintain its much sought after appeal. Approving this modern home would most certainly set a precedent for the approval of even more modern style homes to come with the next request. The homeowners delivered to us their May 19 letter to the DRC on June 6. It states only 5 neighbors, out of 32 homes have objected in writing. While that is true, there are at least 5-7 more who object to the modern style but have not put their objections into writing. In addition, 4 of the homes (3 direct neighbors of the applicant) are currently being rented and not owner occupied. I urge the DCR, who I understand are not residents of Los Gatos, to ﬁnd more than the one neighbor sited in this letter, who feels the “houses are tired-looking”. There are approximately 12 fo the 32 homeowners in the Stonybrook neighborhood who have owned and lived here for at least 25 years, some nearing 40 years. Additional owners who have bought into the area within the last 20 years, and as recent as the last 4 years, have all remodeled and kept well within a ranch style that ﬁts seemlessly into the esthetic of the existing homes. We simply do not believe this home, as currently designed, will do the same. I will be sitting in on and would like to speak at the Zoom meeting on June 9, at 10am. Respectfully submitted, Liz & Bill Crites This Page Intentionally Left Blank