Item 03 - 16362 Hilow Rd - Desk Item & Exhibit 10TOWN OF LOS GATOS ITEM NO: 3
DESK ITEM PLANNING COMMISSION STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date: November 9, 2016
PREPARED BY:
APPLICATION NO.:
LOCATION:
PROPERTY OWNER
APPLICANT:
CONT ACT PERSON:
Susie Pineda, Contract Associate Planner
spi neda -mg@ losgatosca.gov
Architecture and Site Applicati on S-16-011
16362 Hilow Road (Located on the east side of Hil ow Road
south of Shannon Road)
Va ly Jalalian
Valy Jalalian
APPLICATION SUMMARY: Requesting approval to construct a new single-family residence
on property zoned R-1 :8. APN 532-04-082 .
EXHIBITS:
R EMA RKS:
Previously received with November 9, 2016 Staff Report:
1. Location map
2. Project Data Sheet (two pages)
3. Required Findings and Considerations (one page)
4. Recommended Conditions of Approval (eight pages)
5. September 20, 2016 Town Council meeting Minutes
6. Town Council Resolution 2016-49 (three pages)
7. Public Comments received by 11 :00 a .m ., Thursday,
November 3, 2016
8. Letter of Jus tification (two pages), received October 11 ,
2016
9. Development Plans (11 sheets), received October 11 , 2016
Received with this Desk Item:
10 . Public Comments received between 11 :01 a.m., Thursday,
November 3 , 2016 and 11 :00 a.m . Wednesday, November
9,2016
The attached public comments (Exhibit 10) were received after the distribution of the Staff
Report.
Planning Commission Staff Report -Page 2
16362 Hilow Road/S-16-011
November 9, 2016
~'-'"-"'------
Susie Pineda
Contract A ssociate Planner
JP :SP :sr
N:\D EV \PC R EPORTS\20 16\Hilow 16362 -remand -11-9-16 Desk .docx
I .Approved by:
Joel Paulson, AI CP
Co mmunity Deve lopment Director
Joel Paulson
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Lucille Weidman <laweidman@sbcglobal.net >
Tuesday, November 08, 2016 11:00 PM
Joel Paulson ; Susie Pineda M-Group
Proposed appli cation at 16326 Hilow Road
Dear Planning Commission Members and Staff:
Thank you for taking the time to read and consider my concerns for the house being proposed at 16362 Hilow Road. In
my opinion the house is too massive for the parcel of land that it will be occupying. If the project is allowed to go
through, as planned, it will set a precedent for other homes waiting in the pipeline to be built in the very near future in
the Hilow/Shannon neighborhood. Perhaps a positive precedent can be set by requiring the developer to design a more
modest sized home, perhaps a one-story home with cellar more in line with the look and feel of the neighborhood that
can then be replicated by future homes built in the Hilow/Shannon areas. Today young folks want huge two-story
homes not realizing that as they age and their children leave the nest, they will want to scale down to a one-story small
family home and still live in Los Gatos . Unfortunately by then many of the neighborhoods in Los Gatos will not meet
their need for a smaller home, fney will be few, if any left.
I am a resident of Los Gatos since 1958 so you can well imagine the tremendous changes to our town that I have seen.
know the Hilow/Shannon area rather well having had schoolmates who lived in the area for many years . It was always a
quiet neighborhood with small family homes and the small portion of Hilow Rd that approaches Marchmont was but
a little dirt roadway (a cut through one might say). Now we are dealing with the concept of "I can build a house bigger
than yours because nothing is stopping me" philosophy that is beginning to destroy the quiet charm of our
neighborhoods. Modest single family homes are being bought up by developers and builders who are creating "stucco
and wood" mega homes filling a parcel from stem to stern. In county owned Blossom Hill Manor many one-story homes
are being replaced with truly HUGE two-story homes that take up just about every bit of the property. Blossom Hill
Manor has changed dramatically over just the past ten years . What will it look like in another ten years? The homes are
huge and so are the price tags. We are losing our family "blue collar" neighborhoods where children played and
neighbors knew each other.
I have recently driven and walked through the Hilow area and to impose such a large two-story house on that modest
parcel of land would be the beginning of the end for this lovely neighborhood. If the house proposed in its present state
is allowed to go forward it will be the death knell for yet another charming Los Gatos ne ighborhood. We can't afford to
lose any more of our neighborhood identities. We are a small, charming, "countrified" community of neighborhoods
that should be cherished not destroyed with the "bigger" is "better" philosophy.
I am asking the Planning Commission Members to please uphold your original decision to deny the proposed application
at 16362 Hilow Road .
Respectfully,
Lucille Weidman
215 Carlester Drive
Los Gatos, CA 95032
EXHIBIT 1 0
1
Joel Paulson
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Sam Weidman <samweidman@sbcglobal.net>
Tuesday, November 08 , 2016 11:31 PM
Joel Paulson ; Susie Pineda M -Group; Laurel Prevetti
16362 Hilow Rd application
Dear Commission Members and Staff,
My name is Sam Weidman and I have lived in Los Gatos since 1946. In years past it seems that just about every person
running for any kind of office in Los Gatos would mention that they wanted to and would maintain the charm and
beauty of Los Gatos if they were elected or appointed to office. In the last ten years the "charm and beauty mantra"
apparently has worn thin and no longer is the catch phrase to win elections and it has become apparent in the huge
massive homes being built and the multitude of medical facilities emerging in the northern end of town. Neither the
large massive elaborate homes or the medical facilities add to the charm and beauty of the Town of Los Gatos, and
allowing the current application for 16362 Hilow to be approved as a two-story residence with cellar will be the
beginning of the end of the charm in the Hilow neighborhood.
Another concern I have for the building of this home at that location with a cellar is all the testimony I have seen
regarding the neighborhood is that everyone on the street has sump pumps to remove water from their properties
because of poor drainage, clay-like soil, and possibly high water table levels. The geologist for the project mentioned in
the September 20 Town Council appeal hearing that the water table was at 14 feet and the cellar would be 10 feet
deep. When was the level of the water table taken and was it an actual level taken by drilling? Was it taken most
recently after our five year drought? What is the estimated water table likely to be after several good rainy seasons and
the ground becomes saturated, especially with clay soil that absorbs slowly and drains slowly?
When I worked for GE back in the 1980's and we built a training facility on Little Orchard Street in San Jose, we needed
to dig a 20 foot diameter hole 80 feet into the ground and line it with concrete. We had had several years of very little
rain prior to the project and the water table was determined to be at 100 feet. We dug the hole and poured the
concrete liner during the summer of 1980. That winter we had some heavy rainfall and the water table rose above 80
feet and water started to leak into the vessel from underground. Obviously it wasn't water tight. We were able to fix
the leak and move on with the project. My point being, we have had five years of drought and the water table is at 14
feet. With heavy rains, and approximately 3600 square feet of roof area dumping water to the ground on that sight, the
water table is bound to rise, and with approximately 19,500 cubic feet of ground being occupied by the cellar, there will
be that much less volume for the rain to soak into before being pu shed out to the neighbors and pumped to the streets
by the anticipated installation of pumping and dispersal systems for the property.
Please uphold the denial of this application .
Respectfully,
Sam Weidman
215 Carlester Drive
Los Gatos, CA 95032
1
Joel Paulson
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Commissioners & Staff,
Sandy Jordan <sjo rdan@mitty.com >
Wednesday, Nove mber 09, 2016 10:19 AM
Joel Paulson
Pending Applications
Please uphold your original 6-1 decision to deny the proposed application at 16362 Hilow Road as it doesn't fit into the
immediate neighborhood or the nearest Town neighborhoods. In addition it impacts views, privacy and the Town's
infrastructure with its excessive bulk and mass and living space (including the cellar.) The developer has made no effort
to address the issues your commission raised in its decision in July, but instead has had his team focus on personal
attacks rather than the critical Los Gatos Residential Design Guidelines and Town Policies.
Please preserve one of the remaining "a ffordable" neighborhoods in Los Gatos and protect the immediate neighbors
from the encroachment of developer's whose only concern is their bottom line .
Sandy Jordan
AMHS Business Office
408 .342.4380
sjordan@mitty .com
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