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Item 01 - Draft Mins 08.10.16DRAFT MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING AUGUST 10, 2016 The Planning Commission of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Regular Meeting on Wednesday, August 10, 2016, at 7:00 pm. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Chair Badame called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. ROLL CALL Present: Chair Mary Badame, Vice Chair D. Michael Kane, Commissioner Kendra Burch, Commissioner Charles Erekson, Commissioner Melanie Hanssen, Commissioner Matthew Hudes Absent: Commissioner Tom O’Donnell PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioner Hanssen led the Pledge of Allegiance. The audience was invited to participate. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS Desk Item for Items 2 and 3. REQUESTED CONTINUANCES None. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS Conceptual Development Advisory Committee Chair Badame - The 8/10/16 CDAC meeting considered two matters: - 16212 Los Gatos Boulevard - 16100 Greenridge Terrace VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS (AUDIENCE) None. CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Approval of Minutes – July 12, 2016, July 13, 2016, and July 27, 2016 MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Hudes to approve adoption of the Consent Calendar. Seconded by Vice Chair Kane. VOTE: Motion passed 6-0. PUBLIC HEARINGS 2. 477 Wraight Avenue Architecture and Site Application S-16-001 APN 529-06-025 Property Owner/Applicant: Sammy and Celeste Kassai Project Planner: Jennifer Armer Page 2 of 8 Planning Commission Minutes August 10, 2016 Requesting approval for a technical demolition, second story addition to an existing single- family residence, and request to reduce the rear setback for an accessory structure on property zoned R-1D. Chair Badame opened the public hearing. Vice Chair Kane indicated that he would recuse himself from participating in the public hearing, because his residence is within 500 feet of the subject property. Jennifer Armer, Associate Planner, presented the staff report. Commission members asked questions of staff. Celeste Kassai - Commented that they need more room, because their family is expanding. They love the neighborhood, and were careful in their design to preserve its character and to fit in with the street. Sammy Kassai - Commented that their neighborhood is in transition, with young families moving in that need more room than the mostly single-story homes can provide; he has seen many additions in the neighborhood. Wraight Avenue is only a block long, with 40% of the homes two stories. They have adhered to the residential guidelines, such as setting back the second story to reduce the overall mass and make it appear as a one-and-a-half story home. Commission members asked questions of Mr. Kassai. Commission members asked questions of staff. Michael LoMonaco - Commented that he has lived in the neighborhood almost 20 years and works in real estate. There is a need in the neighborhood for two story homes. The Kassais have worked hard to ensure the neighbors are respected. The second story being set back benefits the neighborhood, because it does not appear as a bulky two-story home right on the street. Chair Badame closed the public input portion of the hearing and returned to the Commission for deliberation. MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Burch to approve Architecture and Site Application S-16-001 subject to the conditions of approval as noted in Exhibit 3 of the staff report dated August 10, 2016, and the development plans in Exhibit 10. The required findings were made as noted in Exhibit 2 of the staff report dated August 10, 2016. Seconded by Commissioner Hudes. Commission members discussed the matter. VOTE: Motion passed 3-2 with Chair Badame and Commissioner Erekson opposing Community Development Director Joel Paulson cited the appeal rights. Page 3 of 8 Planning Commission Minutes August 10, 2016 3. 401 to 409 Alberto Way Architecture and Site Application S-15-056 Conditional Use Permit Application U-15-009 Environmental Impact Report EIR-16-001 APN 529-23-018 Property Owner: CWA Realty Applicant: Shane Arters, LP Acquisitions, LLC Project Planner: Jennifer Armer Requesting approval to demolish three existing office buildings and construct two new two- story office buildings with underground parking on property zoned CH. It has been determined that this matter may have a significant impact on the environment and an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) has been prepared as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Chair Badame indicated that she would recuse herself from participating in the public hearing, because her residence is within 500 feet of the subject property. Vice Chair Kane returned to the hearing. Vice Chair Kane opened the public hearing. Jennifer Armer, Associate Planner, presented the staff report. Commission members asked questions of staff. Shane Arters - Commented that they are considered a responsible developer that builds beautiful, sustainable, and practical buildings. Their developments are proven to strengthen existing businesses and support local merchants. Their company does not look for exceptions; it just follows the rules. Randy Lamb - Commented that given the office environment of the future this is an ideal site, because it has great access to transportation and is within a mile of downtown Los Gatos. There is a tremendous amount interest in Class A office, which is all they build, because they believe that is the future. They create pedestrian and bicycle friendly transit corridors. Commission members asked questions of Mr. Lamb. Christie Corbisiero - Commented that she is concerned about the growth and the mass, because it is a quiet dead-end street that has elderly residents and children. Growth is not appropriate for this property. Her windows look at the building, and the story poles are higher than her two-story building and are massive. She is also concerned about the growth of the Town. Thomas Dunn - Commented that his property is in front of the subject site. The story poles show that the building will block his view of the mountains, trees, and the sunset. They retired to their condo complex because it is it quiet, beautiful, and full of trees. The proposed building is too tall and crammed into the lot to the max. Mark Rogge - Commented that he has worked in municipal management over 30 years. There is a balance issue, because the Town wants to maintain its important charm, however, having the Page 4 of 8 Planning Commission Minutes August 10, 2016 development there would bring jobs into the neighborhood, so people could avoid a long commute. He liked that the parking would be underground. Raymond Toney - Commented that he is concerned about safety. Alberto Way is a funnel for all the housing developments and homes in the area going to Los Gatos-Saratoga Boulevard. The proposed development has a 390-space parking garage and only one way in and out, which is bad enough, but during an earthquake or disaster it could be a disaster. John Mittelstet - Commented that he is the president of the homeowners association at Los Gatos Commons. He is not concerned about traffic during construction as long as that construction it is completed in the promised 14 months. Additional traffic could impact residents of the Commons in trying to get out during the morning rush hour. Commission members asked questions of Mr. Mittelstet. Susan Cahn - Commented that she works from home and would be severely impacted by construction noise. The traffic to and from the parking garage would be a safety issue for the many children in the area. Additional traffic would lead to congestion in the downtown and people will stop going there. Jennifer Liebthal - Commented that the building is immense in height and square footage and would block her view. The magnitude of the building is much too large for the neighborhood. If the building is approved, they may end up with a company such as Google that close to the downtown. Commission members asked questions of Ms. Liebthal. Richard Vaccarello - Commented that the mass and size of the development, and the amount of people in cars that will be coming in and out of a road with one access, is way to large. The applicant’s statements about working with the residents are false. When he asked Mr. Lamb, “Why don’t you work with the residents to get this thing passed? I’m all in favor of it working, but I have a problem with the mass,” Mr. Lamb said, “I don’t care, and I don’t give a damn about the residents, and I’m going to build it anyway.” Melanie Kemp - Commented that she is concerned with size, mass, and traffic. One major reason the large commercial Alberto Oaks project proposed for the end of the street was rejected was because there is very small ingress/egress there, and this project has even higher density than that project. The building is not in keeping with the neighborhood and will cast a huge shadow on the entire street. Lewis Darrow - Commented that he manages a similar project with underground parking. When they excavated and poured the parking lot, they had over 300 dump truck loads going in and out of the site, destroying the street, and generating dust. This site has no circulation for that number of trucks to get out. Commission members asked questions of Mr. Darrow. Marietta Riney - Commented that the proposed project does not comply with the Los Gatos Building and Planning Department’s stated goal of helping to, “Ensure the health, safety and welfare of its citizens and Page 5 of 8 Planning Commission Minutes August 10, 2016 property owners.” The detrimental impact this development will have on all residents of Los Gatos, and specifically the Alberto Way residents, has largely been downplayed. Bob Burke - Commented that the proposed development does not conform to the 2020 General Plan’s sections on vision, land use, community design, and transportation. The applicant’s assumptions regarding transportation are selected to minimize the apparent impact on traffic in the area. The traffic report submitted by the applicant contains many errors and omissions. Commission members asked questions of Mr. Burke. Loretta Fowler - Commented that she resides in the Los Gatos Commons senior condos. She and the majority of her fellow tenants oppose the project, because it would introduce 390 cars into the Alberto Way cul de sac, increasing air pollution in the neighborhood. The mitigations supported by the EIR are not adequate to deal with the health problems 390 cars would bring. Pat Lynch - Commented that she is the owner and property manager/leasing agent for the subject property and has been on the site for 30 years. Their current buildings were intended to be a shopping center and are not conducive to office use. The offices are chopped up into small and noncontiguous spaces, with 50-year-old infrastructure. The buildings are not ADA compliant, and there is no way to make them ADA compliant. Ben Roxborough - Commented that the development is incongruent with the Town’s General Plan. The streets in the development do not discourage through-traffic. There are also significant discrepancies with respect to solar access for residents of 420 Alberto Way. Commission members asked questions of Mr. Roxborough. Kathryn Azad - Commented that she lives across the street from the subject site and would lose her view if the proposed structures were built. She is concerned that construction would block traffic from getting in and out of her complex, as has happened with prior construction. It would be impossible for emergency vehicles to get in with no through traffic. Roman Rufanov - Commented that he has small children, and the only way for children to go to school is along Alberto Way and to the traffic light at the corner of Highway 9. W ith cars going through every 15 seconds it would be impossible for them to get to school, and Alberto Way does not have any other way out for children. Paul Gundotra - Commented that he agreed with most comments from those opposing the project, but he believes that town staff has already agreed to go ahead with the project despite the amount of community opposition. He asked if anyone would allow the construction if their parents lived there, and would they want that much traffic on a street with only one way out? Tim Lynch - Commented that he is the facility manager of the current buildings. People and kids come across the property frequently, despite no trespassing signs. If people are worried about their kids’ safety, they’re not very safe right now. With respect to traffic, he has been going in and out of those buildings for over 25 years and had only one incident where he could not get in due to an accident at the crossroads. He has never had to wait longer than one or two car lengths to get out. Page 6 of 8 Planning Commission Minutes August 10, 2016 Commission members asked questions of Mr. Lynch. Sherry Burke - Commented that she lives directly across from the subject site. She opposes the proposed development, because the increase in square footage from the existing buildings to the proposed buildings is massive; the proposed buildings will be out of character with the neighborhood and small town; and the proposed buildings will not be set back from the street, as the current buildings are. Commission members asked questions of Ms. Burke. Paulette Sato - Commented that she lives across the street from the subject site. She does not believe Mr. Lamb’s assertion that he is conscientious and has listened to the residents. The proposed buildings are much higher than the current buildings, and are daunting for such a small street. Sergey Melnik - Commented that he is concerned about the study that was done a few years back, because then they did not have the new restaurant and medical facility, which added to the traffic numbers. People working in the proposed buildings can apply to send their children to Los Gatos schools based on working in Los Gatos. Jean Paul Meunier - Commented that there is a traffic light for people coming from either Highway 17 or downtown Los Gatos that want to turn left on Alberto Way, and traffic coming down Highway 9 is stopped to allow them to turn left. With the addition of 390 cars trying to turn left during the morning rush hour, a stop sign will be needed to avoid collisions between people trying to exit and people turning left into the parking lot. Commission members asked questions of Mr. Meunier. Debra Chin - Commented that the Planning Commission should deny the application, because of the mass and scale, traffic, and safety. A car recently hit her neighbor, an experienced biker, and the potential for such accidents will be exacerbated by additional traffic. During the weekends the highway backs up on both sides of the street; with this development it will be the same during the weekdays. Randy Lamb - Commented that there would not be 390 people coming and going during the rush hours. At Van Den Hout - Commented that their calculations for how many cars will be generated by the site are based on actual traffic surveys. It will be 139 additional vehicles in the morning that will turn on Alberto Way and turn into the parking garage, one about every 25 seconds. Queuing into the parking garage would not be a problem, because there would only be one car a minute that those vehicles would have to yield to. Dan Kirby - Commented that he is the project architect. In response to comments by staff and residents, they redesigned the prominent corners of the building that faces Alberto Way and reduced them in height, the overall square footage of the building was reduced by over 1,000 square feet, the second floor plate was pulled back, and they created balconies at those corners. Also, they created some relief on the façade to reduce the overall bulk and mass of the buildings. Page 7 of 8 Planning Commission Minutes August 10, 2016 Shane Arters - Commented that due to the Complete Streets initiative that Los Gatos has, they are voluntarily putting in a bike box to create visibility and safety for cyclists that want to go out of Alberto Way and use the cycle routes. Alicia Guerra - Commented that suggestions that impacts were not fully evaluated or that there were new impacts that hadn’t been addressed were all based on analysis contained in the very thorough EIR and analysis that the town staff and consultant conducted. Impacts such as air quality, health and safety, emergency access, pedestrian and traffic access, and freeways were identified, found to be less than significant, and mitigated. There were no new significant impacts addressed. Commission members asked questions of Mr. Van Den Hout, Mr. Lamb, Mr. Arters, and Mr. Kirby. Commission members asked questions of staff. Vice Chair Kane closed the public input portion of the hearing. Commission members asked questions of staff. Commission members discussed the matter. MOTION: Motion by Vice Chair Kane to continue the public hearing for 401 to 409 Alberto Way to the meeting of August 24, 2016. Seconded by Commissioner Erekson. VOTE: Motion passed 5-0. Chair Badame returned to the hearing. Commission members asked questions of staff. OTHER BUSINESS 4. Report from Community Development Director, Joel Paulson • Town Council met 8/2/16; considered and denied the Overlook appeal; heard and accepted recommendations from the Planned Development Study Committee, which will be forwarded back to the Planning Commission. • Town Council met 8/9/16; began consideration of the North 40 development applications, and continued the deliberations to the 8/11/16 meeting. • Town Council met 8/11/16; continued consideration of the North 40 development applications and continued the deliberations to the 8/16/16 meeting. 5. Commission Matters None. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 11:24 pm. Page 8 of 8 Planning Commission Minutes August 10, 2016 TOWN OF LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION Wednesday, August 10, 2016 ___________________________________________ Mary Badame, Chair APPROVED AS TO FORM AND ATTEST: _____________________________ Joel Paulson Community Development Director