11-29-2023 Minutes - PC (PDF)
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
PLANNING COMMISSION
REPORT
MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
NOVEMBER 29, 2023
The Planning Commission of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a Special Meeting on
Wednesday, November 29, 2023, at 7:00 p.m.
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 7:00 PM
ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Jeffrey Barnett, Vice Chair Steve Raspe, Commissioner Susan Burnett,
Commissioner Melanie Hanssen, and Commissioner Kathryn Janoff.
Absent: Commissioner Emily Thomas.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
1. Draft Revised 2023-2031 Housing Element
General Plan Amendment Application GP-22-003
Location: Town-Wide
Project Planner: Erin Walters and Jocelyn Shoopman, Associate Planners
Consider and Make a Recommendation to the Town Council on the Draft Revised 2023-
2031 Housing Element.
Jocelyn Shoopman, Associate Planner, presented the staff report.
Opened Public Comment.
Lee Quintana
- I feel like I’m trying to read and make comments on a moving target, and a moving target
that is not even all visible at one time. As the attorney said, you can meet again before the
Town Council after receipt of the comments from HCD. I would think that’s what you
would want to do so you weren’t just making a decision to recommend approval of
something that you didn’t even know what it is. I don’t think the Housing Element
adequately addresses HCD’s comments. They indicate that even the site inventory isn’t
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approved yet, because they need the analysis from those other evaluations before they can
address that. They also commented on the lack of zoning for multiple-family distributed
evenly throughout the Town. One of the problems with the analysis is that it’s divided into
little pieces, each piece is answered and each piece compares it to the region and county,
but there is no point at which all of that information gets reaggregated and analyzed in a
totality, because there are contradictions within each of those different sections; that’s the
analysis that I think the State is looking for. What is the Town zoning that has impeded
achieving our goals in the Housing Element? The information is not specific enough.
Lee Fagot
- The work the Planning Commission is doing has been very difficult due to the dynamic
changes occurring. The Town staff, HCD, Planning Commission, and Town Council all use
different calendars for planning and I urge everyone use the same calendar. The November
15th Planning Commission meeting was informative, but the next day, without citizen or
Council review, the staff submitted the new draft with significant changes to HCD, so there
was no opportunity for public review. Now I have learned tonight that another submittal
was made yesterday. Ms. Quintana made very good points that there needs to be better
coordination between the Planning Commission, the Housing Element Advisory Board, and
Town staff. The Town Council gives the final review and direction, but the citizens need an
opportunity as well. Let’s work together better going forward.
Tony Alarcon
- Like many others have expressed, I sincerely don’t understand how this has taken so long,
and it feels as though there have been many errors, whether not keeping track of
consultants, the communication between departments, or perhaps trying to overachieve
and build too many units instead of simply complying with our RHNA numbers. I feel for
the Planning Commission, and I hope the citizens of this Town hear what I’ve said today
and consider that when voting for leadership in our Town. We need to streamline our
process and do better. Los Gatos needs to be a leader to other towns, and instead of
having these delays with citizens not knowing what is going on, and asking the Planning
Commission to approve a plan before they have received a letter of comments from HCD, is
not a valid approach.
Ron Meyer
- The way this process has evolved over the past 12 to 16 months has been a failure to
inform the public, a failure to manage the previous consultants in their three failed
attempts, and a waste of $180,000 of taxpayer money. I see a level of incompetence in
both the staff and the Planning Commission, because the Planning Commission has not
been taking the recommendations from the Housing Element Advisory Board, and the Los
Gatos Community Alliance seriously. The incompetence, lack of transparency, the
confusion, the mis-coordination, the oversight by the Town Council, and the usurping of
their power by Town staff and pieces of the Planning Commission is not favorable and not
even remotely the way this process should have been conducted. The citizens of Los Gatos
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deserve better. The Town Council has not been doing it’s job in terms of exercising their
oversight responsibilities over this process, and the citizens of Los Gatos will end up paying
for this.
Closed Public Comment.
Commissioners discussed the matter.
MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Janoff to recommend Town Council adoption
of the Draft Revised 2023-2031 Housing Element that was submitted to
them on November 28, 2023, and to adopt the resolution recommending
approval provided in Exhibit 6. Seconded by Vice Chair Raspe.
Commissioners discussed the matter.
VOTE: Motion passed 4-1, with Commissioner Burnett dissenting.
OTHER BUSINESS
None.
REPORT FROM THE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
None.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS/COMMISSION MATTERS
None.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:04 p.m.
This is to certify that the foregoing is a true
and correct copy of the minutes of the
November 29, 2023 meeting as approved by the
Planning Commission.
_____________________________
/s/ Vicki Blandin