08 Attachment 22 - Letter from the Applicant, received October 15, 2020VIA E-MAIL
Marcia Jensen, Mayor
And Members of the Town Council
Town of Los Gatos
110 E. Main Street
Los Gatos, CA 95030
October 14, 2020
Re: Los Gatos North Forty; Request for Modification (S-20-012) to an Existing
Architecture and Site Application Approval (S-13-090)
Dear Ms. Jensen:
SummerHill Homes is pleased to be developing Phase I of the North Forty Project. One
component of the approved project is known as the Market Hall. It includes 20,761 square feet
of commercial space, 2,772 square feet of community room space and fifty affordable senior
housing units. When the project was originally approved it included 179 more parking spaces
than were required by the Town Zoning Code. The purpose of this parking was to serve future
phases of the project, but the original developer of this building choose not to proceed with the
project. There is no requirement in the specific plan or the conditions of approval for Phase I to
provide surplus parking for future phases of the project. We are proposing to eliminate the
basement floor of the parking structure. The Market Hall building is required to provide 74
commercial parking spaces and 50 residential parking spaces. With the proposed modification to
eliminate the basement of the parking structure there will be 126 commercial parking spaces and
50 residential parking spaces. This is a surplus of 52 commercial parking spaces.
The proposed modification is in compliance with the Town Zoning Code, but several comment
letters were provided to the Planning Commission questioning our summary of the required
parking and staff’s conclusion that the proposed modification was in compliance with the Town
Code. Ms. Barbara Dodson prepared three of these letters and we have provided responses to
each of them on September 17th, 21st and 23rd. In each of these responses we explained that the
required parking shown on Sheet 3.22 of the approved Architectural and Site plan set reflected
the parking that would be required based on a mix of uses that could be allowed by the specific
plan and the Town Zoning Code. In order to clarify what the required parking is today based on
the current Town Zoning Code we prepared “Exhibit A” and included it in each of our responses.
This table takes the square footage proposed for Market Hall and combines it with the gross
square footage identified on Sheet 3.22 of the approved A&S for the remainder of the Transition
ATTACHMENT 22
District. The result of this analysis shows that the Transition District would be required to
provide 273 parking spaces and is currently estimated to provide 319 spaces. This is a surplus of
46 parking spaces.
At the Planning Commission Hearing on September 28, 2020 Commissioner Hudes used the
same assumptions in Ms. Dodson’s letters from Sheet 3.22 to conclude that the project did not
meet the Towns parking requirements. We have prepared a separate letter in response to his
incorrect determination that the project does not meet the Towns parking requirements. As we
state in this letter and the letters that we prepared in response to Ms. Dodson, the correct
assessment of the required parking for the project is shown on Exhibit A.
The Town Attorney has provided direction to the Planning Commission that the modification
that we have proposed is subject to the requirements of the Housing Accountability Act and can
only be denied on the basis of objective standards. The modification that we are requesting is in
conformance with the Town Zoning Code, as verified by Staff, and denial of our request by the
Planning Commission was not based on objective standards.
We have attached a letter responding to the parking table provided by Commissioner Hudes at
the Hearing on September 28, 2020, which includes Exhibit A. Exhibit A has been review by
Town Staff and correctly summarizes the parking that is required for the North Forty Transition
District. With the proposed modification there will be a surplus of 52 parking spaces for the
Market Hall Building on Lot 27, and 46 surplus spaces for the Commercial Transition District.
Very Truly Yours,
SummerHill Homes
Michael Keaney
CC: Joel Paulson
VIA E-MAIL
Jocelyn Shoopman
Associate Planner
Town of Los Gatos
110 E. Main Street
Los Gatos, CA 95030
October 14, 2020
Re: Los Gatos North Forty; Request for Modification (S-20-012) to an Existing
Architecture and Site Application Approval (S-13-090)
Dear Ms. Shoopman:
At the Planning Commission hearing on September 28, 2020 Commissioner Hudes prepared a
table of what he determined were the parking requirements for Phase I of the North Forty Project
(S-13-090). This table is not correct and does not reflect the parking requirements from the
Town code for the project. This table, prepared by Commissioner Hudes, that was the basis for
his motion to deny the project, used the square footages and parking ratios from Sheet 3.22 of the
approved plans. The required parking shown on Sheet 3.22 reflected the parking that would be
required based on a mix of uses that could be allowed by the specific plan. SummerHill Homes
and Town Staff explained at the Planning Commission hearing and in writing, that the required
parking shown on Sheet 3.22, was based on a hypothetical land use program, and the 2017 code
requirement for parking. The table that Commissioner Hudes prepared includes a note
highlighted in yellow which states “Based on Downtown parking requirements as of 8/1/2017.”
These are not the current parking requirements, so the Table is not reflective of what is required
by the Town Code.
To correctly assess the parking required for any component of Phase I of the North Forty project
the gross commercial square footage in the proposed building permit and the land use that is
proposed need to be analyzed with the required parking per the current and applicable Town
Code. In the case of the Market Hall building, on lot 27, that information was provided in our
Letter of Justification on March 13, 2020. The Market Hall building is required to provide 74
commercial parking spaces and 50 residential parking spaces. With the proposed modification to
eliminate the basement of the parking structure, there will be 126 commercial parking spaces and
50 residential parking spaces. This is a surplus of 52 commercial parking spaces.
Several comments were provided to the Planning Commission that questioned the parking that
would be required for the commercial transition district. The modification that we have
requested does not propose any changes to the parking required for the remainder of the
commercial transition district, but in an effort to help respond to these questions SummerHill
Homes prepared a table that includes all of the required parking. This table, Exhibit A, was
provided to the Planning Commission on September 17, 2020. It was reviewed by staff and they
have confirmed that it correctly summarizes the parking required for the Transition District
based on the gross square footage and uses proposed from Sheet 3.22 of the approved plans and
what is required by the Town code. As shown on Exhibit A there are 273 parking spaces
required and 319 provided. This is a surplus of 46 parking spaces.
Very Truly Yours,
SummerHill Homes
Michael Keaney
CC: Joel Paulson
Commercial SF
Commercial Transition District Square Footage Affordable 1-Bedroom 2-Bedroom
Gross Commercial
Required Parking
1:300
Gross Community
Room
Square Footage
1:590
Affordable
Residential
Required Parking
0.5 per unit +
0.5 per unit
(guest)
1-Bedroom
Required Parking
1 per Unit +
0.5 per unit (guest)
1-Bedroom
Required
Parking
1 per Unit +
0.5 per unit
(guest) Subtotal
Proposed Parking
Provided
Market Hall
Gross Commercial SF 20,760 69 69
Gross Community Room SF 2,772 5 5
Affordable Residential 50 50 50
Subtotal 124 176
Building A1
Gross Commercial SF 11,438 38 38
1 Bedroom Residential 6 9 9
2 Bedroom Residential 4 10 10
Subtotal 57
Building A2
Gross Commercial SF 11,198 37 37
Building B2
Gross Commercial SF 5,745 19 19
Building C1
Gross Commercial SF 10,644 35 35
Subtotal: Building A1, A2, B2, C1 39,025 130 149 143
Transition District Total 62,557 50 6 4 199 5 50 9 10 273 319
Surplus 46
Square Footage Based on approved Building Permit and Minor Revisions Estimated with the Elimination of the Basement
Gross Commercial Square Footage Based on Column 18 on Sheet 3.22 of A&S Approved Plans
Unit Count Based on Column 1 on Sheet 3.22 of A&S Approved Plans
Notes:
Prepared By: Michael Keaney, SummerHill Homes
Date: September 14, 2020
1. The total in the Gross Commercial Required Parking column has one more parking space than required when adding up the column because when the decimals are aggregated and rounded off, it
results in one more parking space being required than there would be if each parcel is considered separately.
Transition District Parking Summary
Residential Units Required Parking
Exhibit A
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