Attachment 3 - March 30, 2016 Desk Item & Exhibits 24-25Planning Commission Staff Report -Page 2
North 40 Phase l /S-13-090/M-13-014
March 30, 2016
REMARKS:
10 . October 14 and November 11 , 2015 CDAC Minutes (seven
pages)
11. Response to CDAC comments received February 8, 2016 (13
pages)
12. January 27 , 2016 Historic Preservatio n Committee Minutes
(five pages)
13. Consulting Architect Report received December 18 , 2015
(six pages)
14. Response to Consulting Architect Report received February
8, 2016 (three pages),
15 . Consulting Architect memo receiv ed March 21 , 2016 (six
pages)
16. ConsultingArborist report received October 14, 2013 (33
pages)
17 . State Density Bonus Law -Government Code Section 65915-
65918 (14 pages)
18 . Density Bonus Ordinance and Program Guidelines -
Ordinance 2209 (21 pages)
19 . Letter from Barbara Kautz, received March 10, 2016 ( 16
pages)
20 . Town 's BMP Program and Guidelines -Ordinance 2181 (19
pages)
21 . Public comment received through 11 :00 a.m., Thursday,
March 24, 2016
Previously received with Addendum Report:
22. Updated letter from Barbara Kautz received March 25, 2016
(five pages)
23. Comments received from 11:01 a .m. on March 24, 2016 to
11 :00 a.m . on March 28 , 2016
Received with Desk Item Report:
24. Residential Density Exhibit (one page), received March 30,
2016
25. Comments received from 11 :01 a.m. on March 28 , 2016 to
11 :00 a.m. on March 30, 2016
The applicant has submitted an exhibit to show the residential den sity of the proposed
development (Exhibit 24). As discussed within the staff report , the Town's Housing Element
requires a minimum of 13 .5 acres of the North Forty Specific Plan Area to be developed at a
minimum of20 units/acre in order to meet the Town's Regional Housing Need Allocation
(RHNA) numbers. The exhibit was prepared to assist the Commission in its deliberations.
M arni M ose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
gloria ellos <glomarie38@gmail.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 11:27 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I can not believe we are making homes for more people with more cars to drive on Los Gatos Blvd. It seems
insanity. G. Ellis
1
Marni Moseley
From:
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To:
Subject:
Ms Moseley,
Nilesh Parate <nparate@hotmail.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 11:46 AM
Marni Moseley; nparate@hotmail.com
comment on North 40 from a resident of los gatos
As a resident of Los Gatos for 12+ years, I have seen how Los Gatos Blvd has become so crowded with traffic
over the years.
It already takes us two to three times as much time stuck in traffic on LG Blvd than it used to j ust a few years
ago.
The North 40 development would further impact traffic tremendously ... no amount of mitigation will help .
This affects quality of life for everyone who lives or works in Los Gatos .
This development will ruin orchards and add chaos in our lives-the only beneficiary is the property
developer!
We love our beautiful town. PLEASE let Los Gatos remain Los Gatos!
Best Regards,
Nilesh Parate
16570 Shady View Lane
Los Gatos, CA 95032
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
To the Planning Commission:
BS Nissen <bsnissen@gmail.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 11:51 AM
Marni Moseley
North Forty issue Wednesday March 30
My husband and I have lived in the town of Los Gatos since 1963 which means we have experienced growth of
our beautiful area for 53 years.
The recent seemingly uncontrolled building of homes crammed onto lots such as Blue Bird Lane and Laurel
Mews has contributed to overcrowded schools and many traffic problems .
We propose a 5 year moratorium on all building until we can fix the problems we've created.
We propose we bring back school busses to reduce the traffic issues around Van Meter and Blossom Hill
Schools especially.
Included in all of this would be to hold off any development of the North Forty which looms as a nightmare to
problems at hand.
Please stop this malignant grown pattern and listen to those who moved here to get away from exactly what's
happening here.
Respectfully,
Burr and Susan Nissen
103 Cardinal Lane
Los Gatos 95032
1
Marni Moseley
From:
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Subject:
africe@comcast.net
Monday, March 28, 2016 12:39 PM
Marni Moseley
NO on NoFo development proposal
My husband and I are i ndicating our support for a NO vote on the proposal for NoFo as being presented. Too much in
too little = O.
Thanks .
Ann and Fred Rice
123 Cleland Ave .
Los Gatos, CA 95030
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent
To:
Subject:
Ms. Mosley
Planning Commission:
Susan Kankel <susankankel@comcast.net>
Monday, March 28, 2016 12:50 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Application
Re : March 30 North 40 Application Hearing:
The present proposal is far too much for the 20 acre parcel designated .
The latest traffic report on the application stated that there would 4,000 trips daily FROM the development; this does
not include traffic INTO the development.
For this reason alone, the proposal must be drastically reduced.
The present proposal is far too dense and overbuilt for the 20 acres in the application.
It does not allow for enough open space nor any view of our surrounding hills, The guiding principles set forth by the
Town are being Ignored.
The density and mass of the proposal are more reasons for the proposal to be drastically reduced .
The development is not spread over the entire parcel of 40-plus acres , but is crammed into the 20 acres adjacent to Los
Gatos at already overcrowded and overtaxed intersections.
Please take your time and get it right.
Do what is best for the Town, not the developer, just as was done with the proposal at Shannon Road and Los Gatos
Boulevard.
Let's shoot for Maximum Open Space and Minimum New Development.
Sincerely,
Susan Kankel
99 Reservoir Road
1
M arni Moseley
From:
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To:
Subject:
Hello Ms. Moseley,
Elaine M <emcknyc@googlemail.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 12:52 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 -Don't Let It Happen
I have been a resident of Los Gatos for 25 years now. I have loved living in this town for almost all of those
years. It's charm and small town feel have always made me feel like I am on vacation.
The last 3-4 years have changed that all together. The increase in housing developments and shopping plazas
have made this town a small city without the infrastructure to handle it. The cookie cutter housing
developments make me feel like I am on a Hollywood set; perhaps the Stepford Wives. The traffic and lack of
parking downtown no longer make ~t appealing for me to shop, dine or contribute to the local economy. The
increase of garbage on the streets and overflowing bins are yet additional symptoms of a town that has gotten
too big. My biggest concern is for the school system . One of the reasons I purchased my home in Los Gatos
and not outside of the town was because the school reputation helped keep the housing prices at a considerable
value. We have updated some of the schools and have increased the tax.es to do so ... in addition to the other
public services needed . How will we keep up with the increased population demand and maintain quality of
education and life in general?
The North 40 is not something that Los Gatos can absorb. We are oversubscribed with houses and people. Our
merchants suffer, our residents suffer and our children will suffer.
I travel for business and will not be able to make it to the meeting on Wednesday. Please take my feedback into
consideration and a NO VOTE.
Elaine McKiernan
71 Mariposa A venue
1
M arn i M ose ley
From:
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To:
Subject:
To Whom This May Concern ,
Carolyn Moore < moore_carolyn@yahoo.com >
Monday, March 28 , 2016 12 :56 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Concerns
I have been researching the North 40 Project and have even come down to the
Town Hall and checked out the model of the project.
My concerns are many, however, my biggest concerns are the added congestion
that this new project would bring to our already SUPER congested roadways
and surrounding streets here in Los Gatos. I live here on the Northern side
of Los Gatos and to get from our house to downtown Los Gatos can take
upwards of 30 minutes at times of high traffic. It is also crazy traffic to
leave the Los Gatos Blvd/Los Gatos Almaden Rd area and head to 17 North
during morning commute and even the return trip home . I cannot imagine
adding the extra housing and commercial businesses that the N 40 would bring
and the impact of the traffic. I guess what I imagine is gridlock!
Second, I know that our schools are at max capacity. Adding the extra
housing without increasing space for additional students is going to impact
our schools here in Los Gatos and result in greater impaction and
overcrowding!!
Could th is project be something that is re-tho ught? Phased in? l am already
feeling the negative affect this project is having within just my
neighborhood and can't help but think that it would be to the Town's
advantage to take a second look and revisit this immense project!!
I can only hope our opinions are heard and the major and even minor issues
are addressed!
Thank you for your time,
Carolyn Moore
1
Marni Moseley
From:
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Subject:
Hi Marni,
Sarah Cope <sjgrigg1124@gmail.com>
Monday, March 28, 2016 12:57 PM
Marni Moseley
The North 40
I had a chance to review the plans for the North 40 and while aspects of the proposal are appealing, it doesn't
seem that family friendly. It feels very dense without a lot of green space. It would be wonderful to include a
park (or several small parks) in the plan. An all-inclusive park like the Magical Bridge Playground in Palo Alto
(http://www.magicalbridge.org/) would be ideal!
Pedestrian bridges crossing both Los Gato s Boulevard and Lark would be helpful. That intersection is already
very heavy and a bit dicey at times, especially crossing over the right-hand turn lane from Lark onto Los Gatos
Boulevard.
Good luck with the project as it moves forward ,
Sarah Cope
16220 Roseleaf Lane
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
Terri Oppelt (T.0 .) Preis ing < preising@stanford.edu >
Monday, March 28, 2016 1:23 PM
To: Marni Moseley
Subject: North 40 Project
Dear Planning Commission Board Members,
As a resident of Los Gatos for the last 8 years, I have been dismayed to see the overwhelming growth in traffic in our town. I
live just off of North Los Gatos Boulevard and the gridlock during rush hours and all day on the weekends is a hazard for
everyone, whether driving, on foot or on a bicycle .
My children graduated from Los Gatos high school in 2010 and 2012 and attended college out of state. They have been
shocked at the Increase in traffic in Los Gatos on their visits home.
My commute from the 85/17 interchange to Lark Avenue and southbound Los Gatos boulevard has doubled over the years,
with bumper to bumper traffic a g iven . The North 40 will add congestion to an already straining traffic infrastructure, and will
make gridlock even worse on the weekends .
The story poles brought home to me that it would be impossible for the current plan to maintain t he open green space and
trees that we love in Los Gatos and frankly, moved here for. The re will be no "agrarian feel".
This is another over-developed project which will have an adverse Impact on our traffic, schools, and rapidly disappearing
small town ambience . The only beneficiary is the developer, not the residents of Los Gatos. Please "put the brakes" on this ill-
conceived development.
Best,
TO
Terri Oppelt ("TO") Preising, MaEd, JD
Program Associate
Stanford Prevention Research Center Education Programs (H4A and CHPR)
Stanford Women & Sex Differences in Medicine Center (WSDM)
Medical School Office Building (MSOB), 1265 Welch Rd., X3C30, Stanford, CA 94305, MC
5411 Directions: http://goo.gl/9sv6nX
1
Marni Mose ley
Fr om:
Sent
To:
Subject:
Jeff Benjamin <jeff@facilitron.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 1:44 PM
Marni Moseley
REJECT North 40 Appl i cation
Los Gatos Planning Commission
I strongly urge you to REJECT the Phase 1 planning application for the North 40 Specific Plan development
that will be presented at your special meeting on March 30, 2016 . Unfortunately I will not be able to attend this
Wednesday's meeting, but wanted to voice my opinion in hopes that the Planning Commission will do right and
reject this plan .
The proposed plan will negatively impact our traffic, our schools, our environment and our overall town in a
significant way. More specifically, in my opinion, this application is in direct contrast with the Approved
Guiding Principles for the site:
1). Required Guiding Principle #1: The North 40 wi ll look and feel l ike Los Gatos.
l11is application is nothing like Los Gatos-it's density, look and feel do not exist, nor does it fit with any
existing development in Los Gatos.
2). Required Guiding Principle #2: The North 40 will embrace hillside views, trees, and open space.
The applicant's building heights and short setbacks of the proposed development significantly obstructs the
views of both the East San Jose foothills to the North and the Santa Cruz Mountains to the South. This is
obvious from the story poles. Additionally, the amount of open space is woefully inadequate. Under the town's
guidelines, I would expect to see lot s of "green" spaces, in addition to "open play" fields and other children's
play areas and walking trails . Contrarily, the appli cati on shows pavement for parking lots and sidewalks
bordered w ith minimum landscaping.
3). Required Guiding Principle #3: The North 40 will address the Town's residential and/or commercial unmet
needs.
I significantly question the Town's needs for additional housing and/or commercial needs considering that our
school's are already overcrowded, and our existing commercial properties have significant vacancies. The
town's needs for affordable housing and senior housing can be debated, but if found to be a necessity, should be
directly addressed and required within the application (and not loosely referred to).
4). Required Guiding Principle #4: The North 40 will minimize or mitigate impacts on the Town's
infrastructure and community services.
The existing appbcation directly contradicts this required guideline. Traffic on Lark A venue is already severe,
so the impacts on any development along Lark avenue will only continue to impact the area negatively. Our
school's are already overcrowded and constrained-this application will only add to the stress of the existing
problem . This application doesn't provide any additional community benefit in tenns of green spaces and/or
public use spaces, therefore existing community services will continued to be taxed at a greater rate.
In summary, I'm opposed to this application and hope that the Planning Commission and Town Council will
only consider applications that address the Guiding Principles that so many people have spent countless hours to
establish. We are a special town and a special community, we should take the time to d o things right and not
rush into accepting overdevelopment that don't match our Town's wants and needs.
Thank you-
1
Jeff Benjamin
2
M a rni M oseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hi Marni.
Joe Falk <jfalkmb@aol.com >
Monday, M arch 28 , 2016 2:49 PM
Marni M oseley
North 40
I'm writing to you with regard to the North 40 development plans being cons idered.
As a 20 year res ident of Los Gatos, I'm very concerned about what the proposed development will do to our
town and obj ect to the current plan .
My family moved into Los Gatos because we were looking for a quiet and safe environment along with great
schools. Having grown up in a big city, Los Gatos was a great refuge from all the traffi c and chaos we wanted
to leave behind. What we've seen over the past 20 years is a never ending desire to keep developing every
open field, and former car dealerships. Now it's the North 40. As you know all the development to-date, has
only added congestion on our roads and crowded classes in our schools. Now you 're looking to develop the
North 40 which will only exacerbate the problem. With the current plans and additional proposed projects,
Los Gatos will be as congested as any major city. It seems as though the "elected" town council doesn 't care
about its residents and their primary reason for living here, and is only focused on increasing taxes and
supporting every developers w i ldest dreams to maximi ze profits. These developers don't live here and
couldn't care about the impact of thei r proposal. I assume that you and the othe r members of the board do
live in town . But your decisions over the past 20 years would lead one to believe that you don't.
You and the board hold a very trusted posi tion in shap ing our town . We expect that your decisions will be
based on sound judgment and a concern fo r the those of us who love living here. Allowing over development
t o contin ue, w i ll r u in our town.
We're coun t ing on you to do the right thing and not allow this development to go forwa r d under the current
proposal.
Sincerely,
Joe Falk
16885 Place r Oaks Rd .
1
M arni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Attachments:
Sam Rushing <sam@rushing.nightmare.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 2:53 PM
Marn i Moseley
north 40 support
sig natu re .asc
I own a home near Houge Park, which probably means you're supposed to ignore me.
Just wanted to drop a note that not everyone here is opposed to lowering the cost of housing in the area.
-Sam
1
Marni Moseley
From: Shannon Susick <ssusick@comcast.net >
Monday, March 28, 2016 3:00 PM Sent:
To: Marni Moseley
Subject: Application to develop the North 40
Hi Marni,
Please convey to the Planning Commission that the application as submitted and to be heard on Wednesday March 301h
should either be denied or not heard until all studies are complete including the traffic studies and full installation of the
story poles. No specific timeline was established in the North 40 Specific plan .
In add ition, the information on the Town's website as I previously wrote you , i s m i sleading with drawing of the
developer's plans on the Town's North 40 Specific Plan site. There needs to be absolute transparency regarding the
application and the Town 's Specific Plan and separation so that no conflict of interest arises .
I would also like to remind the Commission that in addition to a lack of any timeline, the North 40 Specific plan did not
set forth a specific footprint, floorplan or layout for any proposed development and that the Planning Commission has
the utmost authority and discretion in all those matters. The guidelines in the specific plan are just that and they are
Maximum development standards; the project doesn't have to be built as rendered on the application . The .Planning
Commission is obligated to follow the vision statement in the Specific Plan at a minimum and as always are stewards of
our Town.
Regarding the application to be heard a partial l ist of issues :
a. The exceptions requested by the developer are beyond the guidelines of the North 40 Specific plan and should
not be approved ; including height, tandem parking, historical buildings.
b. The current application is for only 20 acres ; half of the North 40 Specific plan . If only 20 acres is to be developed
then revisiting the entire plan is appropriate.
c. The application doesn 't adhere to the minimal standards (the Vision statements for the Specific plan).
d. The application appears to place all of the housing i n the Lark District-" phase I" and is too intense, without
articulation, in grids or rows, blocking views and in too close of proximity to Highway 17 and Lark avenue.
i. The amount of housi ng and the impact on traffic, schools and the environment is adverse .
ii. The removal of all established trees and installing (new, young and significantly shorter) trees is not well
addressed nor is their maintenance.
e . The Below Market senior housing is located entirely about the garage without integration into the development
and above a market place that will most likely not serve their needs; I couldn't find any documents for needed
transportation for the seniors, parking , etc.
f. All of the historical buildings appear to be moved or located i n the North District , which at present is not
included in the application and may not be built?
g. The removal of the entire orchard to create 30-45 ft. high buildings is excessive .
h. The open space includes parking strips and other areas that are not green and is insufficient.
At the minimum the Planning Commission should be granted a ser ies of study sessions to truly rev iew this application
and the hearing process should not continue until all story poles are up and all studies are in.
Suggest ions for this applicati on would be to:
1
1. Increase open and green space, decrease the number of housing units and commercial space; the North 40
specific Plan provides MAXIMUMS for construction.
2. Phase any development in 1-5 acre phases with studies completed after each phase.
3. Include a community school, perhaps on 2 locations within the development
4 . Continue to search for a foundation or group that will purchase the space for other needs including:
a. Working historical orchard such as Arden Park, Emma Prusch or Hidden Villa -this could also be a satellite
campus o r center for school ch i ldren all over the bay area
b. Community Center or park (regional or otherwise)
c. Charter or other school for the Los Gatos School District
Thank you so much for your time & consideration.
Shannon Susick
(~08) 316-9559
2
M a rn i M ose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Dear Ms. Moseley,
Tom Lackovic <tom@lackovicandassociates.com>
Monday, March 28, 2016 3:02 PM
Marni Moseley
Colette
North 40 Specific Plan
As you move forward on the implementation of the North 40 specific plan please make every effort to reflect fairly on all
the numerous interests' involved, among them:
* Legal obligations and requirements of the Town of Los Gatos.
* Community interests and 'quality of life' issues for residents.
* Protecting the property rights of the landowners.
* Enabling a commercial developer to earn a reasonable rate of return on investment.
As a 55 year local resident I have experienced the growth and development of the Town and on balance I think the
elected officials and town staff can be commended for their efforts.
Please use this historical perspective as your guide as you and staff make your decisions.
Regards, Tom Lackovic
Sent from my iPad
1
Marni M ose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Erin Waterman <erin_desantis@yahoo.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 3:05 PM
Marni Moseley
mom
North 40
My husband I are against the North 40 project. The story poles are incredibly distracting and only show a small glimpse
into the optics of the change that would follow. Planning commission, once you go down the rabbit hole there is no
going back! You are on the brink of ruining this unique town and it's honestly disgusting!!
I'll be at the meeting this week!
-Erin & Alex Waterman
LG Residents 1998
Sent from my iPhone
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
To whom it may concern:
Monica Stoner <monicarstoner@gmail.com >
Monday, March 28 , 2016 3:07 PM
Marni Moseley
Opposing North 40 development
I am a resident of Los Gatos whose children attend Los Gatos schools. l oppose the North 40 development
because we already have too many students enrolled at Fisher middle school. Adding more homes in the district
will reduce the quality of our children's education. Please stop development until more school fac iliti es are
added.
Monica Stoner
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hi Marni,
Len Floyd <lennyfloyd@yahoo.com>
Monday, March 28, 2016 3:18 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I am writing you to encourage you to not proceed with the development plan of the North 40.
I have lived in this beautiful town since 1970. I have seen the effects of growth. Some have been beneficial and others
not so . Right now we are living at a moment in time when our decision concerning the development of the North 40
needs to be stopped .
We all can see the effects of increased traffic on Lark Ave and Los Gatos Blvd. This increased traffic has changed our lives
and makes going anywhere in that part of town very difficult. I can easily imagine the consequences of even more
traffic, beginning with construction and ending with a daily horrible traffic situation right here in our town .
By choosing to continue to develop the North 40, we are going down the road of very sure consequences. Yes, we know
traffic will increase and other obvious changes will occur.
We know the stress of daily commuters will increase and many other traffic issues will emerge that we may not be
considering right now.
What is to gain if we develop this area into a very unpleasant place to live in or visit?
My hope is that there is a way to keep the North 40 an open space. Yes, improvements can make a town a better place,
but there is a limit when balancing development and the stress caused by too much development. So, I encourage you
to stop the development of the North 40 until such a time when a plan can be made that will be beneficial to all citizens
of Los Gatos; a plan that will increase the quality of life, not detract from it as the current North 40's plan does.
Len Floyd
Los Gatos
Sent from my iPad
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject
Lisa Cross <lisa .cross@me.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 3:18 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Concerns
I would like to express my concerns regarding the North 40 development. I live on Farley Rd which is in the
unincorporated part of Los Gatos in the Manor. I always felt as though my voice didn't count as a non-Town
resident and is yet another reason why I wish we were all annexed ... but that's besides the point. I have two
kids at Blossom Hill Elementary. My husband grew up in Los Gatos and attended Blossom Hill, Fisher, and
LGHS. We moved back to Los Gatos eight years ago for the schools and the wonderful fee l of the town . I am a
stay-at-home mom and end up spending a majority of my time in Los Gatos .
In just the past eight years, I have experienced some very noticeable changes especially with respect to
traffic. It takes me at least twice as long to get from my home to Winchester/Lark as it did only a couple of
years ago. I am trying the alternative routes (University, N . Santa Cruz, vs. Los Gatos Blvd.) to try to get
around the current "mess" and traffic delays around Lark and Los Gatos Blvd. I wonder how many other
people are doing the same thing? Was University Ave. and Santa Cruz Ave. built to withstand the additional
traffic that it will likely experience by others trying to avoid Lark?
I have even greater concerns for the impact that North 40 will have on my children's education through the
public school system here. Fisher and Los Gatos High School are already quite large (with respect to# of
kids). How are these schools going to handle the additional students that will be residing in these 320 homes
that are proposed to be built? ls there space for these kids there? I have not heard of any potential solutions to
this. I have heard that it is not the Town Council's concerns, it is for the school district to work out (not sure if
that is accurate info ... it seems asinine). Have the demographics of Los Gatos, itself been used to come up
with the estimates of how many kids per household would likely move into North 40? Los Gatos is a very
family friendly town. Like me, people move here or move back here for the schools and the town feel. I would
guess that the # of kids per household would be higher than the national or state average.
I urge the Town Council to try to preserve what makes Los Gatos so special.
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hanan Arafeh <hharafeh@gmail.com>
Monday, March 28, 2016 3:20 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40, NO please
We're already crowded on Blossom hill Road, Los Gatos Blvd, Lark Avenue, 880 from that are~ and 85 .
Not to mention that they didn't include a school in the plan!!!
Elementary Middle and High School are already over crowded. They went from having 16-18 kids in KG to
having 24-26 in one classroom, which is sad for one teacher to handle. Won't mention Fisher crowded
classrooms or the high school hallways.
Please say NO
Thanks for hearing our voices
Hanan Arafeh
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Bill Posada <bill@cainterpreters.com>
Monday, March 28, 2016 3:59 PM
Marni Moseley
Subject: North 40 plan sucks.
Dear Planning Dept.,
As I drive by the story poles I see this enormous development and I can envision its negative impact on our
community. These are a few of my concerns :
Buildings too high which block the view of the mountains that we love .
There are too many buildings, too many people, too much traffic, too high of impact to our schools, just to name a few
of the negative aspects. There are planned 300+ condos on 20 acres, I recommend 30 house on 20 acres.
This project should be re-evaluated to be more in-line with the town that we have today.
Bill Posada , CEO
California Interpreters Network
a division of Posada Vocational Services, Inc.
2130 The Alameda
San Jose, Ca 95126
Phone: (408) 261-9500 x2 05
Fax General: (408) 261-6999
Fax Lien/Collection: (408) 516-9889
www.cainterpreters.com
"Assisting California injured workers for 24 years, since 1992"
1
Marni M ose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Marni
tulepete@verizon.net
Monday, March 28, 2016 4:00 PM
Marni Moseley
north 40
We are so disappointed that we can.t make the meeting on Wednesday but
want you to know how desperate we feel about the North 40 problem .. We
are both elderly Los Gatos citizens who grew up here and cannot understand
what has happened to our old town . The whole project is unbelievable and
again must surely be due to complete and utter GREED plus ignorance of all
the results that will come. Please know that we both are utterly against this
project!
Gay and George Payne
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To :
Subject:
Pauline Abate <pabate2002@yahoo.com>
Monday, March 28, 2016 4:20 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
Please DO NOT APPROVE the developer's plan for one of the last large parcels in our town! As 50+ year residents of Los
Gatos, we have first hand experience with the growth of our town and see how taxed our infrastructure currently is.
There is no way that the town can handle development of this magnitude.
Sincerely,
Ed and Pauline Abate
Sent from my iPad
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M a rn i Mose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Good afternoon Marni ,
Richard Sellen <richard.sellen@gmail.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 4:26 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Concerns
I am a resident of Los Gatos who lives near the proposed North 40 site and I wish to bring up some concerns I
have regarding the proposal. One of the requirements that the builder is supposed to abide by is that it is to
resemble "Los Gatos". However, based on all renditions I have seen nothing could be farther from the truth.
This is a rather large, dense project that does not resemble the quaintness that Los Gatos portrays in the least bit.
Additionally, the North 40 is supposed to minimize or mitigate impacts on the town infrastructure, schools, and
community services . How is this possible? How I see it, the town infrastructure is struggling as it is (before an
addition of 320 residences). In regards to the schools, our school system is having issues as well with
overcrowding and I can't see how adding these units can be justified. Not to mention the huge traffic
implications that we will all face along Los Gatos Blvd and Lark Ave. I truly believe that the way this
development is designed and proposed that it will have HUGE impacts on our quality oflife for the foreseeable
future. I hope these concerns are taken into account. I, like many others, am not against the development of the
land but I feel that it needs to fit with the demands and needs of our town . ·
Thank you for your time,
Richard Sellen
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hi Marni,
Debbiesroberts < debbiesroberts@yahoo.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 4 :29 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 meeting
I agree! Has the California Transportation Commission(cata .ca .gov) been involved with the decision making process for
this development?
Will be at the meeting
Deb Roberts
Sent from my iPad
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M a rn i M ose ley
From:
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To:
Subject:
Dear Ms. Moseley,
Maxi ne Granadino < itisapigsty@comcast.net >
Monday, March 28, 2016 4 :34 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 (what else?!)
I write to you to express my concern regarding the development of the North 40 parcel. My concerns are on two
fronts. Fi rst , where on earth are all those potential new students going to be housed? Our schools have grown so much
in the 26 years we have lived here, and not only are bursting at the seams already, but have lost the lovely community
feel due t o huge enrollment numbers. Secondly , I si ncerely doubt that Los Gatos Blvd . can handle the massive traffic
increases that the currer:it proposal would ensure. I don't know if you ever have cause to be on the Boulevard anywhere
near rush hour, but it is a bit of a nightmare. Are these concerns being considered?
Thank you for taking the time to listen to my concerns .
Maxine Granadino
1
Marni Moseley
From:
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To:
Subject:
Ms. Moseley,
H. Dale Bracey <dalebracey@mac.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 4:39 PM
Marni Moseley
Development of L G's North 40
As a Los Gatos resident of only 9 years, I have seen the natural impact of traffic congestion and have factored in many
hours of the day NOT to run errands or drive to avoid traffic snarls on the primary streets of our town.
The initial plans that have been approved for maximum development of the North 40 are a deep concern to me.
Already I expect congestion and frustrated drivers most of the day on Los Gatos Blvd . from Lark Avenue to Hwy. 85
ramps . With the concentration of health care facilities on Samaritan Drive and more being constructed on Los Gatos
Blvd . this area will continue to grow more accident prone and congested WITHOUT any development of the North 40.
Adding in high-density housing and significant commercial development will surely aggravate the congestion .
This is certainly not wise planning, and once constructed will alter the character of Los Gatos forever. I urge you and the
Town Council to reject any large scale development in the North 40. The eventual impact would also savage home
values as Los Gatos becomes just another difficult, congested, and unappealing city.
Dale Bracey
117 Fancher Ct. #21
Los Gatos, CA
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
Alison Huber <aliestackroom @earthlink.net >
Monday, March 28, 2016 4:52 PM
To: Marni Moseley
Subject: Input on the North 40 development
Dear Plann i ng Commiss ion ,
I have lived here in this area all my life. I grew up in Saratoga and lived in the same house til I was 26 . I stayed in the
immediate area . My husband and I bought a house in Los Gatos in 2004 in the Vasona area . I'm 53 now and have
watched the bay area change over all of these years . I've seen a lot of poor decision s regarding bu ilding and
development all the way to Sacramento. I've never been a fan of development. It seems like any concern regarding
resource s and infrastructure required to support such development, ALWAYS takes a backseat. Bringing up anything
about the wate r shortage would be taboo, And paving an orchard for a group of new homes is not really infrastructure
that benefits any of the rest of us . We are all i mpacted in a NEGATIVE way including:
more traffic
more noise
horrible architecture
crumbling roads
overcrowded classrooms in the schools
more crime
a police department spread more thin
a visual lack a open space as a buffer zone
My husband and I obviously appreciate good schools in the area. However, we are usually miffed at the fact that the
schools conti nue to ask for more money regarding keeping the schools at a high level acaaemically, at election time.
Additionally, the fact that you seem so cav alier about building so many homes during this current water crunch i s
beyond me . There will never be enough water in this state to support all of it's occupants who conti nue to swarm to this
area. We've definitely done our part in conservation, but, cutting back further so another thousand people or so can
move in???? NO WAY!
I was at the meetings for all of the major projects in Los Gatos for quite sometime, all the way back to the housing
development on Hicks and Shannon . I was really impressed that Los Gatos had made Greenbriar totally scale back what
they initially wanted . My horse was on that property before the homes were built. That was definitely something I could
live with and actually think it was a really good compromise.
Since then, other than the two developments that Robson built further down Los Gatos Blvd, I feel like you are
responsible for of the end of quaint Los Gatos as we know it. It's just another slap in the face for all of us who moved
here to get away from something that looked like the El Camino Real running thru Santa Clara . It's a big mish -mash of
bad architecture and r i diculous traffic.
I attended the city meetings and neighborhood meetings and watched the Netflix project get off without a hitch . I was
so angry when the developer implied there were just a few people in Los Gatos that didn't want that project. The
Los Gatos city government had complete disregard for the EIR and chose square footage and allowable height values of
their own .
1
Let me finish by say ing that as much as this area has changed , I can always go on my walks around the neighborhood by
Montalvo, and hang out in the places in Los Gatos that still feel safe and familiar. You are completely ruining that, and it
won't look familiar for long. Do what's right. Scale this outrageous project way back, and make massive improvements
to the character that this development totally lacks . It doesn't look like anything in Los Gatos.
Sincerely,
Alison Huber
2
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Dear Ms. Moseley,
Nicole Dennon <ndennon@gmail.com>
Monday, March 28, 2016 4:58 PM
Marni Moseley
Despars Amy
I am writing to you with concerns about the North 40 development. This development appears to be far too big for our
little community. It will change the character of our TOWN, negatively impact our already crowed schools and create a
traffic problem. It is my opinion that the developers are cashing in on the good name of Los Gatos, leaving it a less
desirable place to live and raise our children.
We depend on our Town Council to protect our town from large developers that come in with the sole intent to make
money. We want our Town Council to wisely craft and direct the growth of the this town to protect the lifestyle of its
existing residences.
I think that 330 residential units is far to many for Los Gatos. While there will be some improvements to Lark Ave ., there
does not seem to be a complete developed plan for Los Gatos Blvd. A plan that aesthetically extends the charm of our
town, addresses pedestrian and motor traffic and is paid for by the developers. I am also concerned about how close
the development is to the existing streets and the enforcement of height restrictions.
I plead to you to protect the uniqueness of our community. We are a dying breed. Please vote no on the current
application.
Respectfully,
Nicole Dennon
ndennon@gamil.com
206-229-8692
1
M a rni M ose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Judy long <judymlong@comcast.net>
Monday, March 28, 2016 5:01 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I am a Los Gatos residence and live on La Ri nconada Dr. Driving on lark ave is already bottled necked! Why would we
add more traffic? Please represent us against this project.
Thank you,
Judy Long
Sent from my iPhone
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To :
Subject:
Dear Ms. Mosley,
Pat Blair <Patrbla ir@msn .com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 5:10 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I live near Winchester and lark and so my life has been hugely affected by the traffic surrounding the Netflix
development. I am therefore immensely concerned about what will happen when all those new buildings are
filled and they are up and running. Compound that with the addition of hundreds of additiona l cars coming
and going to the North 40. I fear we will be at a stand still. I want affordable housing and senior units, but I
don 't want grid lock trying to get on or off Winchester and lark Avenues, which is happening already. Please
do a really thorough traffic study in the area at peak hours. I want to see many more swaths of trees and
green space than I see indicated on the model downtown. Having a few small shops or cafe for the North 40
locals to walk to might be okay, but I really don't think we should do that without somehow making life for
our downtown merchants easier and more attractive.
Sincerely,
Patricia Blair
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Ms Moseley,
Avery Kaufman <avery.kaufman@gm ail.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 5:13 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
As a resident of Los Gatos for 9+ years , I have seen how Los Gatos Blvd has become so crowded with traffic over the
years .
It already takes us two to three times as much time stuck in traffic on LG Blvd than it used to just a few years ago .
The North 40 development would further impact traffic tremendously ... no amount of mitigation will help .
This affects quality of life for everyone who lives or works in Los Gatos.
This development w ill ru in orchards and add chaos in our lives--the only benefici ary is the property developer!
We love our beautiful town. PLEASE let Los Gatos remain Los Gatos !
Yours Truly,
Avery Kaufman
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hi ,
The Kims <3h_ki m@sbcgloba l.net >
Monday, March 28, 2016 5:2 6 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 development
I am a resident of Los Gatos and communing through Lark entra nce to Hwy 17 everyday. I object the proposed development plan on
North 40 . Has the city considered any plan to improve traffic in Lark/Los Gatos Blvd? The traffic has been getting lately and building
a new housing will aggravate the problem . School is another thing .
I heard LG school is getting crowded and adding such large development won't help provide quality education for kids.
-Hyon Kim
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Subject:
jeff.harlan@yahoo.com
Monday, March 28, 2016 5:54 PM
Marni Moseley
Ka ren Harlan; Marilyn Harla n; Ken Harlan; Cynthia Gillette; Michael Gillette
Proposed North 40 Development
I'm writing in hope that the current development proposal for the North 40 will be flatly rejected. I plan
to attend
the meeting this Wednesday, and in case I am not able to speak these are my thoughts.
First , I'd like to express my sincere thanks for not letting the developer get away with avoiding the
story poles.
I was shocked by the density and height of the build ings outlined .
It's obvious the developer thinks we're a bunch of chumps . Far from 'enriching the quality of life for
all Los Gatos residents' this plan enriches only the developer.
This plan tramples our vision for these 42 acres and blatantly ignores our guiding principles .
-In no way does the proposal look and feel like Los Gatos
-Instead of embracing hillside views, trees and open space this blocks views, destroys trees and
eliminates open space
-Little is done to meet the low to very low income housing requirement placed on our town
-The proposal maximizes impact on schools, infrastructure and services
While I'm strongly opposed to the state forcing our town to promote development at the very least
something
of this scale should do much more toward fulfilling our requ ired low to very low income housing
requirements.
The fact that the developer put maximum allowable number of residential units for the entire site on
the 20 acres
inside the Los Gatos School District portion betrays their plan to maximize profit. This is completely
unacceptable.
I'd suggest the following :
-Maximum allowable height for any residential structure 25'
-Reduce the number of residential units for phase 1 by at least 50%
-Bring the proportions of low to very low housing un its up above our forced allotment
Please don't let the greed of this developer negatively impact our town . Their vision is clearly only
profit
and not the interest of those of us who love living here .
Thank you!
1
Jeff, Karen , Avery and Will Harlan
354 Bella Vista Ave
2
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Marni Moseley,
Mei Wei <mwei9@yahoo.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 6:23 PM
Marni Moseley
Concerns for North 40 Specific Plan Area on Wednesday (March 30th) TPlanning
Commission Meeting
As a residence in Los Gatos town for 20 years, I am very concerned about this Phase 1 plan that is going to be
discussed in this Wednesday's meeting.
My main concern is on the last item of Vision and Guiding Principles. With 20o+ residential units, it will have a
huge impact on our 4 elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. Just take a look at Fisher
Middle School, it has a nice open space, a good number of students in each classroom today, but after adding
200+ kids (or more) how can our one and only middle school keeps this kind of good quality anymore. The
traffic is already bad today, if you are traveling on Los Gatos Blvd around Fisher Middle and Van Meter
schools during the school starts and ends time, the traffic is terribly slow. Also between 4-6pm, most of time, it
can only allow one car to get on to Los Gatos Blvd from Kennedy Road per green light!! It becomes such a
headache when trying to get to places during those time every weekday!
Please don't approve this plan.
Thanks,
Mei Wei
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
To Whom it May Concern:
Kristiann Monti < kristiannm@comcast.net >
Monday, March 28, 2016 6:31 PM
Marn i Moseley
North 40 Planning Commission
I wish to request that the plans up for review for the the North 40 project be denied as submitted. Please send them
back for review with the following considerations in mind:
Each of our schools is overcrowded. Additional housing of this proportion will only make this matter worse . It is well
know that property values in our town are tied to our schools. As the student population continues to expand , the
quality of education value will not be able to keep up and thus home values will drop.
Los Gatos Blvd is already congested during all four seasons . I shud der to think of what any new housing and commercial
business traffic will do to the East side of town during the summers and peak start/stop times of school.
Entering/exiting highways 85 and 17 during commute hours will be a nightmare. Is traffic the lasting impression Los
Gatos wants to offer visitors to our town? Is this the lifestyle Los Gatos wants to offer its citizens?
I ask you please , to reconsider the plans on a much smaller scale. Perhaps with less housing, more open space, shorter
building heights so as to not block our beautiful views of the mountains. A new school and community center with a
gymnasium for sports and performances would be wonderful fo r all to enjoy.
Sincerely,
Kristiann Monti
Sent from my iPad
1
Marni Mose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Planning commission :
ran kehl <rkehl@aol.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 6:31 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 plan
As residents of the Town of Los Gatos we wish to add our disapproval of the NOrth 40 plan under consideration.
Th i s development is certainly a large change from the current town . Also there is the consideration of traffic and the
impact on the schools. In fact we live on the corner of Loma Alta and Cross Way and have to pay for the privilege of
resident parking on Cross Way as the high school is unable to accommodate the parking needs of the current amount of
students .
My belief is that all development should primarily meet the needs of the current residents and not the desires of the
developers. They don't have to live with the changes they create as they are gone tomorrow. The current plan i s a much
higher usage and much different than any existing centers .
Thanks for the conside ration
Ron and Mabel Kehl
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent
To:
Subject:
MWeb <mweb@timandmarina.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 6:45 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I have lived in Los Gatos for almost twenty years and this is a place where I call home, regardless of whether it is a city or
a town . I 'm not sure how important this is as long as we can maintain the sense of commun ity and charm we do have
here.
What I would like to see happen at the North 40 is 100% commercial rather than a combination of residential and
commercial. Companies like Netflix and Roku draw people to work in LG . I do not know where these employees live, but
if they live in Mt View, Palo Alto area, they actually have the reverse commute. This will help ease the traffic on Highway
85 going North wh ich is at a standstill at certain times in the morning.
If we are going to put homes along with commercial on the North 40, then I am concerned having all 300+ homes be in
the LGSD. Our roads during school and commute times are already impacted and having more residents is goi ng to
further put a huge burden on our existing infrastructure. To counterbalance this , the homes by Guadalupe need to be
rezoned for the Union or San Jose School District. Also, more infrastructure, like VT A on 85 going up to Mt View, Palo
Alto area need to be put i n place to support the extra commuters and ease the commute for current commuters to
companies in these areas. Start with a multi-use line where it goes North in weekday mornings and South on weekday
afternoons .
Thank you for reading this email.
Sincerely,
Marina Barnes
1
M arni M osele y
From:
Sent:
To :
Subject:
Dear Marni:
Pau l Charell <paulcharell @yahoo.com >
Monday, M arch 28, 2016 6:46 PM
Ma rni Moseley
Negative i mpact of current applicati on for North 40 developmwnt
I would like to voice my strong opposition to the current development plan . I believe that the
proposed residential and commercial development will completely grid lock the whole Lark-Los Gatos
Blvd -National-85 area . I live on Lester Lane and so I need to cross this area any time I want to
access 17 north or south and 85 north or south . There are already extended delays and backups
between 7 AM and 10 AM and then again starting around 3 :30 PM until afte r 6 PM . The impact from
the additional traffic from the current development plan will have a terrible affect on myself and all of
us in the neighborhood.
Please do not let the current development plan proceed without a detailed assessment of the traffic
impact and and fully developed plan to mitigate it.
Thank you
Paul Charell
166 Lester Lane
Los Gatos CA 95032
(408) 358-2464
1
M ar ni M ose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
To Whom It May Concern ,
Tiffany Papageorge <tiffany@papageorge.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 6:51 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
As I have heard about this proposed plan to the North 40 for a few years now I have been astounded that this could
even be considered. It has been more astounding given the current surge of high density housing on virtually no
property. Our schools are bursting and our teachers, principals, and Super Intendant are trying to keep our high
standards with over crowded classrooms. Our traffic has become infuriati ng over the past few years . We moved into Los
Gatos in 2007 and it has become far worse since then. The other day it took me over 30 minutes to get from my home
on Kennedy Road to downtown. I know that the North 40 represents revenue but I beg the council to reth ink this. I also
realize that the developer has their reasons (all monetary) for this to go through. All I see when I see the endless orange
tape that serves to show us all the outline of this proposed development is GREED . We don't need more box stores. We
don't need more "stuff". We don't need more impacted homes. Our environment is suffering already. We need more
open space . More places for our kids to play sports . More nature. Seriously, we cannot get back what we are so
shamelessly and unconsciously g iving away. For what? Money? Revenue? Let's say No! Let's say NO to this development
that is only going to hurt our town and lessen the beauty of what is left of Los Gatos. Our schools are wonderful...but
how long can they be without someone in the town council protecting them ? Everyone I speak to is so upset about the
North 40. I haven't come across one person who wants it or feels we need it. When do we, as people who live here, have
a voice against this sort of development that doesn't serve us, our children, or the next generations. Please protect what
we have here! Please protect our town! You were voted in to do so . How about we all vote on what we want for Los
Gatos. How about we all decide as a democracy what is best for our town and our families.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please do the right thing.
Sincerely,
Tiffany Papageorge
1
M arni M ose ley
Fro m:
Sent
To:
Ian MacSweerl <macsween27@gmail.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 6:53 PM
Marni Moseley
Subject: Fwd : North 40
----------Forwarded message----------
From: Ian M acSween <macsween27 @gmail.com >
Date: Mon, Mar 28 , 2016 at 6:48 PM
Subject: North 40
To : Mmoseeley@losgato sca.gov
Marni,
As a Los Gatos resident I wanted to register my concerns about the North 40 dev elopment. The density and
height of the d evelopment as evidenced by the story poles makes for something way too dense and too high and
does not meet the four guiding principles that the City set out that developers are required to follow,
There needs to be a reset in what this dev elopment i s to look and feel like.
Regards
Ian MacSween
166 10 Ferris Ave, Lo s Gatos
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miki yannoni <mikiwayl@aol.com>
Monday, March 28, 2.016 6:57 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I am writing to you to let you know we are opposed to the North 40 development. Our schools are at capacity
and can not handle any more students. I have two daughters at Blossom Hill and each year the class size has
increased which makes the teachers jobs even more difficult. The students can not get one on one attention with
these class sizes. Parents already do a ton of fundraising to keep music, art, and many other activities that every
child should receive. We can only do so much. Besides the class sizes the roads can not handle more traffic. If
you have ever tried to drive down lark at rush hour, it is impossible. My husband is a fire fighter and he has
said it impacts their response time because the fire trucks and ambulances can not get around all the cars. What
if it were your child or parent who needed to be rushed to Good Sam during rush hour traffic. They might not
make it in time. Are you willing to put lives on the line for this development?
Why are they putting all the homes in the Los Gatos School District and all the tax generating commercial
buildings in the Campbell district? Shouldn 't the town use the empty buildings we already have before we
build new ones? There has to be a better way, but the North 40 is not one of them.
Thanks for your time,
Miki Y annoni
Los Gatos resident
1
I
LOS GATOS UNION SCH OOL DISTRICT
NOTICE OF WRITTEN FINDINGS FOR OVERCROWDI N
APRIL 17, 2015
.. Our schools· have a well-desen·ed reputat ion.for qualify academic programs. B.
facilities have aged lo the point that they are affecting teaching and learning. ·· (:
F -bnportant Information About }vfe'1sure B, 2001)
Furthennore, in 2009 Los Gatos residents approved a $30 .9 million local bond m
additional bond measure was needed to accommodate increasing student enrollm
additional classrooms and school facilities to avoid overcrowding, and at the sarn
class-size to the Los Gatos community standards.
For over a decade, the District has experienced increased student enrollment all tJ
maintaining its reputation of excellence with limited resources. Quality schools n
neighborhoods. It is a fact that the resale value of homes in the Los Gat os commt
affected by the quality of schools. Increasing enrollment at any of our five school
number -will impact the District's facility needs and wiJJ disrupt the educational
quality for current and future students .
The California Department of Education ("CDE") recommended guidelines for a•
elementary and middle school site are noted below:
Table 1: LOS GATOS UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT ST ATE OF FACILITIES -
Source: Attac/1me11t B -Office of Public Sc/tool Construction Application, 4113.
CDE CDE Overcrowde
School Site Current Recommended Current Recommended Acreage
Acreaee Acreage Enrollment Enrollment +/.
Blossom Hill 10.59 l J .85 675 616 1.26
Daves 8.49 10.09 575 489 1.60
Lexini!ton s.oo 2.89 165 298 -2.l I
Van Meter 8.50 IJ.77 671 491 3 .27
Fisher 23.13 26.37 1,235 1,103 3.24
NET OVERCROWDING ACREAGE/ENROL LM ENT 7.26 acres
As depicted in Table 1, our school facilities are overcrowded to the point that they
teaching and learn ing in the 21 51 century. In fact, the additiona l 324 students warra
land needed to build a new school, specifically 7.26 acres . Facilities and continuec
modernization are needed to ensure a quality and competitive learning environme1
s tudents. For example, ou r classrooms are inadequate for today·s instruct ion. We I
classroom facility space for scie nce labs , literacy centers, music and art classroom
when we adiu~t ::lncl m:'lk~ rl11C' wit h wh~t Wt" h:lvP -{)11r r::lf Pt~ri:l<: ~nri m11hinHrnrH
2
Marni Mose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Mr. Mosley,
Sooky Yi <sooky_yi@hotmail.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 7:00 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 concerns
It has been brought to my attention that there are more than 200 housing units for the proposed site. I am
greatly concerned as the impact it will have on current schools as well as traffic.
I am also terrified at the possibility of it ruining the "feel" of las gatos. The potential use of that space needs to
address the views and that lark exit sets the precedence for the feel of the town .
I implore you to reconsider the current proposal.
Don't ruin our town .
Sincerely,
Sooky Yi
Kennedy North, Los Gatos
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hi Marni ,
Karin Napier <karinn@iarchive.com>
Monday, March 28, 2016 7:45 PM
Marni Moseley
Objection to the North 40 project
I am not able to be there for the meeting this week, but I'd like to just go on record that I strongly oppose the
north 40 and the density and height of all these structures and the impact to driving and our community much
less the schools and all the other things that we look at as a town verses the city will now be gone.
I'd like to know how I can get more involved to let you know bow imperative it is that this not happen.
Thank you so much,
Karin
650 400 5281
1
M arni M ose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Su bject:
Kathleen Willey <lucysfamily@me.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 8:12 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 concerns for March 30, 2016 meeting
Dear members of the comm ission, my husband and I moved into this charming town of Los Gatos 5 1/2 years ago with
our young boys. The main reasons we chose Los Gatos was for the small town feel, being able to walk and bike to school
and downtown , and to educate our children in excellent schools. Therefore, my biggest concerns about the North 40
development are how it will impact the safety of our children and how it will impact the schools.
We currently walk or bike to Blossom Hill School every day. Our neighbor hood, w ith no sidewalks, is already a cu t
through for Los Gatos high school kids and for cars trying to avoid the overcrowded Los Gatos Boulevard . Safe routes to
school has been really trying to get people out of their cars and onto their feet to avoid hazardous traffic cond itions at
the schools. With the added population and cars that 320 homes in the first phase will bring, I fear people w i ll be
unwilling to do this, creating additional pollution and dangerous conditions around our schools. More people will be
looking for alternative routes through neighborhoods to get downtown and to the beach. We all witnessed this when
the popular app Waze directed people through precious, quiet neighborhoods this past summer. People who's only
con cern is to get to their destination faster, not watching out for playing children in a familiar neighborhood.
Additionally, getting to the Lo s Gatos tra i ls of Vasona from East Los Gatos will become even more dangerous for bikers
and walkers trying to navigate their way through the bottleneck traffic of Lark, Blossom Hill and Highway 9 this
deve lopment will create.
Also, how can a proposal for 320 homes be approved w hen the current Los Gatos schools are already over crowded? I
see no plan in this cu r rent proposal for a new school. Even one bedroom homes that are des igned for 2 people will find
ways to accommodate ch i ldren in thei r homes to be in our school system .
Pleas e cons i der requiring this proposal t o spread the 320 homes i nto the additional phases in d ifferent school d istricts t o
avoid overly impacting our schools.
As a Mom and a t ax paying Los Gatos reside nt, I urge the town to not let the greed of developers compromise the safety
and education of our children.
Thank you.
Kathleen Willey
135 Card i nal Lane
Los Gatos, Ca . 95032
408-421-0745
Sent from my i Pad -Apologi es for the typos !
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Ms Mosley:
Chuck Rawlings <chuckrawlings@gmail.com>
Monday, March 28, 2016 8:51 PM
Marni Moseley
Caution on North 40; low income housing needs
It is very hard for me to see the usefulness to the public interest of the proposed development plans under
consideration this week by the Planning Commission for the Los Gatos "North 40."
Not only has the modest village of Los Gatos been heavily impacted by the Silicon Valley technology boom and
new developments already in place, but the real developmental and human needs crisis in Los Gatos is that low
income and, yes, moderate income families, are being driven out. The diversity that has characterized Los
Gatos, and is a value all of us should prize for humane and diverse neighborhoods everywhere, is the real need
of the town; not large scale, expensive condos and shopping centers. We have become a village of affluence:
flashy convertibles, upscale restaurants and multi-million dollar homes. The people who clerk our stores, serve
our tables, police our streets, clean our homes, care for our lawns, are being forced by a community increasingly
careless, whose future plans guarantee that at eventide they will live in fringe quarters an increasing gulf far
away. Let's turn a new page in Los Gatos, reflect on our values and dream a better town for everyone.
Charles W. Rawlings
117 Fancher Ct #20
Los Gatos, CA 95030
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Ms. Moseley,
Tara Moseley <taradmoseley@yahoo.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 9:00 PM
Marni .Moseley
North 40
I'm writing to you to express concern regarding the development of the North 40 project.
The proposed development is massive and does not fit in with our small Town feel. The developer
has proposed a plan with a maximum amount of units, which does not benefit our small Town.
The traffic in our Town is already at its limit. We cannot afford more growth without changes to
our existing roads and better traffic management. Los Gatos Boulevard is already highly impacted
by our Town residents on week days just trying to get from one end of Town to the other before
and after school hours, which is currently a huge pain point. The development proposed does not
promote walking and biking to restaurants and stores, but promotes yet more driving. We
cannot accommodate more cars from the north end of Town traveling on Winchester and Los
Gatos Boulevard streets. Downtown parking is already stressed and will only discourage shop -
goers if more traffic is funneled downtown.
Instead, I would be open to a development plan that promotes maximum walking and biking for
residents to include : a grocery store, a skate park and playground, restaurants, coffee shops, a
school.
Please reject the current development plan, and instead offer a plan that will fit in well with our
existing small Town that promotes walking and biking to the fullest.
Best,
Tara Moseley
Los Gatos Resident
1
On Mar 28, 2016, at 4:05 PM, Florence and Ha] Reily <reilvf1orence@gmail.com> wrote:
We are writing to express our total opposition to the unthinkable magnitude of the above
mentioned development. It is unbelievable that this project has progressed to the point of "story
poles!" My wife and I have been residents of Los Gatos for 50 years. Please terminate the
progression of this project now!
H . H. ReiJy, M.D.
Florence E. Reily
16244 Kennedy Road,
Los Gatos, CA 95032
Sent from my iPad
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Ms. Moseley:
lgclarx@aol.com
Monday, March 28, 2016 9:09 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Proposed Development
Unfortunately we will be out of town for Wednesday's meeting on the proposed North 40 development plan, so we want to
express our opposition to the current plan to you personally.
Focusing only on the first of the town's "guiding principles" for the development, i.e. that the development must "look and
feel like Los Gatos," it is apparent that the proposal plainly does not look and feel like ANY existing Los Gatos
neighborhood. The planning commission can go neighborhood by neighborhood through the town and NOWHERE is
there any residential area with three and even four story buildings, or as many two story buildings, or that is in any
way represented by the current proposal. Rather, most neighborhoods comprise single story, single family
dwellings. Even densely built areas of Los Gatos, such as the Alberto Way area and the area behind Courtside , do not
come close to having the big city-like structures of the size and height proposed for North 40.
The visual impression of the development -as outlined by the story poles -is of a section of the town with more and taller
buildings than even downtown Los Gatos itself. So much for observance of the principle that the proposed development
must look and feel like Los Gatos as a whole!
While the development will no doubt have some good hillside views -at least for the residents on the top floors -this will
not be a universal experience; the tall buildings will obscure the views of most residents . Nor will the development cater
for any of Los Gatos' unmet residential or commercial needs -like the need for another high school. It will only serve to
make Los Gatos more of a dormitory town for Silicon Valley -at the cost of destroying the town's charm, congesting its
roads and schools , and generally making the town a less pleasant place for its residents to live. So the other gu iding
principles are unmet too.
The developer needs to be told to come up with a proposal that comprises primarily single story, single family dwellings,
limiting multi-unit and two story buildings (with no three or four story buildings) to fringe zones proximate to non-residential
areas such as the lots adjoining Los Gatos Boulevard and possibly Lark Avenue -just as the Alberto Way development is
tucked away in a semi-commercial environment. It is time to stop developers coming to the town to make a quick buck,
then leaving the local residents to put up with the consequences of their greed.
Sincerely,
Rene' and Stuart Clark
103 Noble Court, Los Gatos, CA 95032
1
From: rani hublou <ranihublou@gmail.com>
Date: March 29, 2016 at 6 :52 :54 AM GMT+4
To: <bspector@losgatosca.gov>
Subject: Vote against the North 40 expansion
Until after the town fixes the already overcrowded roads, parking lots and schools .
Enraged at the poor infrastructure in the town as is.
30 year resident -watching my family's quality of life deteriorate with irresponsible
town management.
Rani
Hublou
P hone: 408-335-9135
E mail: ranihublou@gmail.com
On Mar 29, 2016, at 4:29 AM, Thom Weatherford <t.weatherford@veri zon .n et> wrote:
Your Honor, I understand that phase l of the abo v e development will be reviewed for approval
at the upcoming town council meeting. I have been a technology executive in the Valley,
including currently serving on several public company boards for the past 26 years. For the past
I 8 of those years, my wife and I have had the privilege of living in Los Gatos, our beautiful
community by the mountains. We always make an effort to first support our local businesses as
well as the city's services . This proposed development will strain our schools, roads , and way of
life. As you already know , the traffic situation is becoming critical and the quality of education
will suffer. Neighborhood side streets are already being used as shortcuts due to the traffic on
Los Gatos Blvd, Santa Cruz, and University. While I support progess and business development,
this plan is an overkill. We do not need another Santana Row or to become another Santa Clara
where there is no soul. If Los Gatos becomes over developed, the consequences, while may
be unintended, will be bad for all.
I ask that you and our council members, not disapprove this plan but significantly reduce the
proposed dwellings and commercial space of the two phases to a more reasonable level, a level
that can be adequately absorbed by our town while keeping with the current culture of our
community. I find it hard to believe that any additional tax revenue gained will offset the
increased infrastructure costs required to adequately serve this proposed development.
Thank you very much.
Clifton Weatherford
16488 Eugenia Way
Los Gatos
Sent from AOL Mobi le Mai l
Get the new AOL app; mail.mobil e.aol.com
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Regarding the North 40
Kay Maurer <kayloan@aol.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 9:23 PM
Marni Moseley
North Forty
After viewing the scaled model of this development and story poles, one thing stands out to me. It does not look anything
like Los Gatos, but more like it's own separate "city".
When I first was made aware of this coming development years ago I was not in favor of it. However a neighbor of mine
had a color brochure that made this look pretty nice, and as part of the Boomer generation, I must say the thought of the
smaller "senior Living" development to be included seemed to really make sense as those of own who own larger family
homes now and would like to sell and continue to own and live in LG would be looking for just a development when the
time comes. Imagine my shock when I see how few of these units are now included in this LARGE development, and that
these units seem to be the ones that are "rentals". Wow, do I feel duped.
The impact of all of the homes being built in the LG south side part of the design, which is not fair at all. It should be split
evenly. And the height limits should be kept to 2 story homes as are found in a town. This development is groups of
Large Buildings like office complexes. More like the Urban feel of the commercial and residential units built at the old
Ford location are, in my opinion, not only ugly but have no place in our quaint and definitely UN URBAN town. Why that
style and design were approved is a mystery to me.
I also was attracted to the pictures of all the mature trees and open spaces , but they seem to have disappeared in this
final model as well. Where is ANY amount of OPEN SPACE. Lim the commercial space to smaller stores, decrease the
home sizes to smaller units built with individual charming and cottage style or 2 story townhomes, and increase green
spaces. Be sure that trees planted are mature, not the little baby trees around Philz coffee development that will take
years to ever offer any charm to the area.
The "unmet needs" this development was going to address were defined as : senior housing, housing for millennials, and
housing for "empty-nesters". These categories were chosen specifically so as to limit the impact on Los Gatos schools.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Stop allowing URBAN design to come to LG . Keep the charm. Don't be bought by developers , or pushed by special
i nterest groups.
Many of us are wondering why we have to keep adding more and more homes to an already overcrowded town. Why
does the state dictate how many new homes have to be added? I have not heard a good clear explanation of this, or
what happens if LG does not comply. Can they wipe us off of the map? Will we not get "gov't funds" or something? What
are the pros and cons? Can this be addressed either at the meeting on March 30th. or in a letter to the residents and
have it posted on Next Door?
In closing, I want to thank the current members of the Planning Commissions and Town Council for their work on our
behalf, and hope you will listen to the community as you work on th is and future projects around the town. We need you
to keep Los Gatos Great... .and depend on you to be proactive in looking at the unintended consequences of approving
projects in our town .The current story poles and model of the north 40 development tell the true story ... and it is.not a good
one for us who live and work here either.
Sincerely,
Kay Maurer
112 Stacia St
Los Gatos, CA
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Terry McBriarty <tmcbriarty@gmail.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 9:25 PM
Marni Moseley
tmcbriarty.1560f@m.evernote.com Evernote Upload
North 40
I live at 15075 Garden Hill Drive in Los Gatos and therefore commute on Lark Avenue several times a day. I drive
my children to and from school and run errands. I walk my dog. Any time I leave my neighborhood I have to use
Lark Avenue . The idea of having my views of hilltops replaced by buildings is against everything that is living in a
small town is about. Please don't destroy our views . My husband often questions why we left Saratoga to come to
Los Gatos when we are stuck in traffic and cannot get to our own house on weekends ; When we cannot go to
downtown Los Gatos. We have watched our little elementary school grow from 400 to almost 700 students in the 6
years my son has attended . What was I thinking? I was thinking that Los Gatos wasn't that different from
Saratoga . Just down Highway 9. I was thinking that the Town Council and the Planning Commission would protect
the interests of those who live in town and not those who come here to make money. I was thinking that Los Gatos
was a wonderful community with lots of young families for my children to grow up in. But every year since we
moved from Saratoga in 2009 the streets have become more and more crowded.
Certainly there are geographical issues that make Los Gatos different from Saratoga with it being a gateway to the
beach cities but sometimes I question the sanity of that decision when I attempt to leave my house or when I hear all
the angry honking, sirens of an ambulance, or yet another car crash coming from Lark. It has gotten so much worse
just over the last few years. An accident takes place at our Garden Hill and Lark intersection at least once a week . I
don 't know how serious the accident's are. I've never seen a body or an ambulance, except for the one death a few
years ago. So I guess no one much cares . The impact of all of this construction on our day to day lives is just
awful. The construction on the roads bring the traffic to a standstill for hours and days on end . You try to remember
where it is and when to go around and avoid it. If you forget then you get stuck and you are late to pick up your kid
at school. The tears that has caused.
Anyone who actually believes the developers line about the reason the residences are all in the LGUSD district is
to "integrate into the existing neighborhood" I have a bridge to sell you . Do you see any kids running across Lark to
play together? The North 40 will be it's own neighborhood . The kids there will play with each other. There will be
kids, lots of them . There was a family at our school with 3 children in the district from a 2 bedroom apartment
another right now from a 1 bedroom . Don 't try to sell us a line about marketing 2 m illion dollar condos to empty
nesters and millennials -any housing will impact schools , its only a question of deg rees. The more bedrooms the
more impact.
Thanks for the $$ for the schools -this should be legally required by developers instead of the joke fees that you are
required to pay that will barely fund portables on land already owned by the district. Unfortunately with a middle
school projected to be at 1,500 students we already need to build an entirely new campus somewhere in Los Gatos
and the projected cost for that is 50 million dollars! A different plan should split the residences between the
Campbell Union and LGUSD school d istricts , giving LGUSD some much needed income and less of the students
which we don 't need or want. The residences should be built over time to lessen the impact on schools.
There also shouldn 't be any outlet onto Lark from the North 40 -Lark is completely overloaded with stoplights and
stop and go already. People run the stop lights all the time whether on purpose or on accident. I cannot count how
many times I have nearly been hit by someone distracted and running a red light. When the light turns green at
Garden Hill Lark one does not proc eed, one waits looks right and left and then proceeds if no one is running the light
in either direction. Perhaps some signs about fines for blocking the intersection would be helpful. During rush hour
it is often difficult for me to make the left turn into my neighborhood as the intersection is blocked by people who just
sure they can make it off of 17 onto LG Blvd but instead end up in the middle of the intersection leaving little to no
room for me to get into Garden Hill in the something like 20 seconds allowed. More than once I have had do wait for
the ne xt light cycle because of people breaking the law.
1
The additional intersection/signal that is being proposed would also be impacted by the people exiting Northbound
17 with only a Yield Sign who currently cause a serious safety issue to pedestrians and bicyclists going towards
Winchester Blvd who are not readily visible to motorist who are mostly speeding up to "beat" oncoming motorists
anyways and not focusing on the possibility of oncoming pedestrians or cyclists who are actually quite common on
Lark . I have seen several cyclists and pedestrians have to jump back after nearly being hit by cars because if the
ca rs to "yield" they only do it once they are already in the crosswalk. Yielding to a pedestrian is of little help if you
have already hit them. As the schools are trying to encourage more and more kids to "walk and roll" to school it
seems that the town would work more proactively with CalTrans to make these problem intersections as safe as
possible before someone is seriously hurt o r killed. It's really a shame the town can 't be more proactive . And while
I think many appreciate Classic Car Wash they need to have an employee trained in directing traffic and if the lot is
at capacity they need to wave traffic on or have some kind of "come back later" sign rather than have people
blocking traffic and causing a safety hazard at various times during the day. I don't think having one employee
doing this throughout the day should be too much to ask given how often they are causing a traffic hazard . These
are all things that can and should be done now to help the traffic issues that are c urrent and ongoing . Things are
only going to get exponentially worse when we have round the clock constru ction on one of the main arteries in Lo s
Gatos.
2
Marni Mosel ey
From: Karen Aidi <karenaidi@gmail.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 9:27 PM
Marni Moseley
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
DSparrer@community-newspapers.com; letters@mercurynews.com; Mo Aidi
North 40 Project
Dear Ms. Mosley,
I oppose the North 40 project in its current form (see http://www.losgatosca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/16090).
Here are some of my specific objections :
1. The Phase I project is overly dense with both retail and housing--this needs to be scaled back
significantly--based on *unbiased* traffic studies. It is already nearly impossible to get onto Los Gatos
Blvd. from any intersection point: Lark A venue, Blossom Hill, Shannon Road, Kennedy Road, Filmer,
Harding Avenue, etc. at peak traffic times in the morning (school rush) or in the late afternoon/evening,
particularly between 5:00 p.m to 7 :00 p.m. (work rush). This development feels . very lopsided as one of
the entrances into the town of Los Gatos and it does not look or feel anything like downtown or the rest
of Los Gatos and will only make the traffic more unbearable than it already is.
2. It does not embrace hillside views with its boxy, modem-looking, rectilinear lines (see the 5-Plex
clusters). The garages are particularly unattractive. The houses and retail buildings have no character.
Instead they feel cold. If you want to have a mix of housing and residential areas , why don't you look at
Santana Row and North Santa Cruz A venue for some inspiration? The 35 feet tall buildings are
excessively high and do not embrace the hillside views, trees, and open space.
3. The use ofredwoods and pine trees is highly irresponsible and in very poor taste (see the perimeter tree
section). To encourage the planting of such giants with no concern over how b ig they grow (to at least
80 feet in 60 years) or what damage they can cause particularly in drought-stricken California makes no
sense at all. Have you noticed how many sickly and stressed redwood and pine trees there are in Los
Gatos already? Redwood trees belong on the California coast only. We are likely to continue having
droughts in cycles followed by heavy rains. I do like the idea of heritage fruit trees (plum, apricot, and
cherry) as a nod to our past (this our last remaining orchard in Los Gatos) with a mixture of California
natives (oak trees , bay leaflaurels), the vineyards (a nod to our winemaking past), and the drought-
tolerant plants (lavender, sage, rosemary, and strawberry ground cover).
4. There is not enough open space.
5. It is a landlocked area with no access to Lark A venue or Highway 17. This is going to create problems
with one entrance and exit.
With this project, we lose our small-town charm forever. There's a lack of whimsy and fun. It's hard to see how
this project benefits Los Gatos in its current form except with the possibility of adding some affordable senior
housing. As the Town Council, you need to take the long view on this project.
Karen P. Aidi
16734 Marchmont Drive
Los Gatos, CA 95032
(408) 358-14 26
1
From: Angel Dabadghav <frmabuv@gmail.com>
Subject: North 40
Date: March 26, 2016 at 8:55:35 PM PDT
To: Mmoseley@losgatosca.gov
Cc: Frmabuv <frmabuv@gmail.com>
To Whom It May Concern,
Please, please, please .. think about what is happening to our last open space in Los Gatos. As
many of my neighbors, I moved to Los Gatos because it felt like home. I am from a small town,
and I immediately fell in love with Los Gatos. I have been raising my two children here, I have
went through a divorce here, I have had breast cancer here .. and I also work for the school
district here in Los Gatos. I honestly hardly ever leave Los Gatos, and that is because it makes
me and thousands of other residents happy to hang out in our cool, small, intimate town. : )
So please consider enhancing our town with the North 40 expansion, not making it look like
Santana Row. We need a community pool, we need a Community Center, we need a place for
people to enjoy themselves and have fun. We are the only town that I know of, (and I have done
my homework when it comes to this) that does not have a town Community Center and a town
pool. We pay thousands .. and thousands of dollars in taxes, and we should have a Community
Center, a New Senior Center,
HALF as many houses that are being proposed. I work for the Raymond J . Fisher Middle
School. . .I moved here because of the schools. NOW .. I can hardly drive to school due to so
much traffic. The small classroom size that we as (Parents I LGEF) work so har9 to keep small
just keeps getting bigger, and bigger. The two recent sub-divisions were ridiculous, So many
houses are crammed into that square block that it is embarrassing. We call it toy town. That
many houses in one spot should have never, ever been approved. You live here too ... Why
would you want us to change the feel of Los Gatos? Please think about why YOU moved here,
and if you have kids growing up here. My son is a senior at LG, and everyday he says to me,
"Mom, I love our town .. we are really lucky to live here ." I am a single Mom, already struggling
to keep my house and the life that I love, so please consider not allowing more building, more
crowding, and more congestion to come to our very special Los Gatos.
Sincerely,
Angelique P . Dabadghav
180 Maricopa Dr.
Los Gatos, CA
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Leesa Gidaro <leesa.gidaro@gmail.com>
Monday, March 28, 2016 9:44 PM
Marni Moseley
Leesa Gidaro
I oppose North 40 Development Proposal
I am writing to let you know my position to the current proposal for North 40 development. This proposal as it
stands currently does not meet the North 40 Specific Plan in the following ways:
* The project does not look and feel like Los Gatos
*The project blocks views to the trees
*The project lacks sufficient and proper Open Space
*The project will have a negative impact upon our town's already stretched (to the point of breaking)
infrastructure
While this project has been in the making for many years, the traffic in Los Gatos over the past 9 months bas
become unsustainable. It's time for the town to begin working on our infrastructure issues (traffic congestion,
danger to pedestrians and cyclists, over crowded schools and stretched resources) before continuing more
development.
Please use our tax dollars to fix the issues in our town before it's completely ruined .
Sincerely,
Leesa Gidaro
I 00 Cref:field Heights
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Resident since 1996
Leesa Gidaro
Cell: 408 605-0075
1
M a rn i M ose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hello Marni,
Christine Clevenger <ckclev@yahoo.com >
Monday, March 28, 2016 9:41 PM
Marni Moseley
Concerns about the North 40 plans
I was surprised to see how tall the story poles are for the North 40 land and how much is proposed to be built there .
read more details about it on-line and, quite frankly, was shocked to hear that 320 units are planned! Wow. That's a huge
number of new families that would be moving into an a lready crowded urban area .
I am strongly opposed to so many units being built there. I am also opposed to how tall the structure are proposed to be.
I would be okay with developing the property, .but not with such an incredible density that's not in keeping with t he rest of
the town . IF the developer were instead to do single-family homes that were mostly single story homes, that would be
much more reasonable .
I hope that the City will consider the views of existing residents who already pay a lot of money in taxes that d irectly
benefit the c ity and our schools and not approve such a drastic development plan, where the only one who would gain is
the developer. The city and its residents would lose, big time.
Thank you ,
Christine Clevenger on Kennedy Rd .
1
On Mar 28, 2016, at 7:59 PM, Bonnie Payne <bonnieapayne@comcast.net> wrote:
Dear Vice Mayor Sayoc,
I am distressed that the town is considering the development proposal for the North 40. I
cannot see any way that it conforms to the Guiding Principles for this area, and I cannot see any
way that it respects the concerns of the current citizens of our town. Already driving around town
on a weekend is almost impossible due to Southbound 17 traffic. And if the story poles are any
indication, the proposed development is incredibly dense. And do we really want a shopping
mall in Los Gatos? I don't.
I urge you to unequivocally reject this proposal.
Thank you for your attention.
Bonnie Payne
On Mar 28, 2016, at 7:59 PM, Bonnie Payne <bonnieapavne@comcast.net> wrote:
Dear Vice Mayor Sayoc,
I am distressed that the town is considering the development proposal for the North 40. I
cannot see any way that it conforms to the Guiding Principles for this area, and I cannot see any
way that it respects the concerns of the current citizens of our town. Already driving around town
on a weekend is almost impossible due to Southbound 17 traffic. ~d if the story poles are any
indication, the proposed development is incredibly dense. And do we really want a shopping
mall in Los Gatos? I don't.
I urge you to unequivocally reject this proposal.
Thank you for your attention.
Bonnie Payne
On Mar 28 , 2016, at 5:28 PM, Thom Weatherford <t.weathe rford@verizon.net> wro te :
Your Honor, I understand that phase 1 of the above development will be reviewed for appro v al
at the upcoming town council meeting. I have been a technology executive in the Valley,
including currently serving on several public company boards for the past 26 years. For the past
18 of those years, my wife and I have had the privilege of living in Los Gatos, our beautiful
community by the mountains. We always make an effort to first support our local businesses as
well as the city's services. This proposed development will strain our schools, roads, and way of
life. As you already know, the traffic situation is becoming critical and the quality of education
will suffer. Neighborhood side streets are already being used as shortcuts due to the traffic on
Los Gatos Blvd, Santa Cruz, and University. While I support progess and business development,
this p lan is an overJcill. We do not need another Santana Row or to become another Santa Clara
where there is no soul. If Los Gatos becomes over developed, the consequences, while may
be unintended, will be bad for all .
M arni M ose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
steve.reyes@comcast.net
Monday, March 28, 2016 10:02 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I was very sad to see the orange tape outlining the proposed North 40 constructions. The on-line
talking points for North 40 construction boiled down to money for the town and the developers. The
job of the town government is to serve its community and the community does not want this over
development for the sake of money, we can do without. The town can tighten its belt just like the rest
of us and so can the schools.
I use this road to get to work every day and adding more housing is only going to make my life more
difficult to get to work and come back home. I am surprised that anyone would consider this
development so close to Good Sam and the congestion it will cause. Not to mention the negative
impact it will have on the kids in school who will have to cope with over crowding.
Change is sometime unavoidable, and I can tell that the allure of the money is to great to stop this
project. However, we can scale down the project to reduce the impact to 100 residence, lets show the
kids of Los Gatos that its not always about the money. Please help with this proposal, thanks.
Steven Reyes
Los Gatos Resident [the little town in silicon valley]
1
M arni M osel ey
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Dear Ms. Mosley,
Anne -Marie White <amwhite24@comcast.net>
Monday, March 28, 20 16 10:26 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
We will be attending the meeting on Wednesday evening to show our concern over the North 40 proposed plan. As
residents of Los Gatos for 16 years we have seen quite a few changes that have altered the feel of our town. We can
only imagine how people living here even longer must feel. Just in the past few years we have seen Los Gatos Blvd.
being taken over by high density housing and a ridiculous amount of traffic. To add the density of the proposed plan
would very irresponsible of our town planners and council .
It is our understanding that the children living in the North 40 will be attending Van Meter Elementary and then of
course Fisher and LGHS. These schools are already feeling the impact of our town's increasing population. To add that
much housing i n our community with no consideration for our schools will hurt this town immensely. We moved here
like many other families to be in the LGSUSD. As the overcrowding continues, the level of education will go down and
Los Gatos will not be a "go to" town for families willing to pay for their kids to be in the district.
We know that this land will be developed but we urge you to please take a stand and not approve this project as is. To
see such a monstrous development while approaching our town will completely change what Los Gatos is all about.
Best regards,
Anne-Marie and Michael White
1
Marni Moseley
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Dear Ms. Moseley,
Hastings, Tom <Tom.Hastings@Avnet.com>
Monday, March 28, 2016 10:30 PM
Marni Moseley
Amy Despars (amydespars@hotmail.co m)
North 40, have we lost our friggin mind? no on t he app lication
I have lived in Lo s Gatos since 1969. I love new development that make sense, and scales in an appropriate size, for our
town. This is our town. It is our job to preserve it correctly, for future generations.
If you think 320 new homes into the schoo l district is a good thing that won't jeopardize the quality of ou r classrooms,
move forward and vote yes .
If you think thi s won't negatively affect the traffic in our town, especially on LG Blvd and Lark and Winche ster, then vote
yes ....
If you think adding another SOOK+ of retail space i n <20 acres is a good thing, then vote yes .
If this application does pass, then please guarantee me that LG Blvd and Bascom, will be widened to 4 lanes from Good
Sam to the LG Po st Office . LG Blvd will become a snarled mess . I simply can understand why this is a discu ssion, for this
reason alone . I can handle blocked mountain v iews ... but totally impacted traffic? People move away from that, not to
it. Good Grief.
I will sell my house and move to An chor age if this application goes through. This is crazy, this is not Lo s Gatos, and no
bi g deal such as the one proposed , will ever catch the spirit and loo k and fee l, of Los Gatos .
Anchorage is cold, please let me stay. Thi s is not the right thing for LG right now, or ever. Most know this, we just need
courageous people like you to state the obvious.
Respe ctfully,
Tom Hastings
Hollycrest Drive
408 .309.3547
1
M arni Mosel ey
Fro m :
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cwtripp@comcast.net
Monday, March 28 , 2016 11:21 PM
Marni Moseley
North Forty Project
Hi, I'm opposed to the project , it has many issues.
1. Traffic: LG blvd and Samaritan is already over-crowded . Add more? I took my Dad who had a
heart attack in 1983 to Good Sam in five minutes, faster than 911. Now? Even an ambulance couldn't
make it in time. I've lived here 55 years , and never seen as much traffic as we have lately. I
remember when Lark Ave. didn't even go through .
2 . Density. Those huge story poles with buildings to be built, blocking out the skyline and looming
right up against the borders. If I wanted to live in a dense housing area , I'd move to Fremont, but now
Fremont is moving here. It will be like driving in the North Bay, not Los Gatos .
3 . Schools. Many people have mentioned how it will over-crowd the schools.
4. Big city feel. Does every old orchard have to be paved over with another Santana Row? Does Los
Gatos need or want this?
Sincerely,
Charles Tripp
Oak Ridge Way, Los Gatos.
1
Marni Moseley
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Dear Ms. Moseley and Council,
Mitzi Anderson <mitziand@aol.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 12:12 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Development Comments
We have one shot to get the North 40 Development right, otherwise it will be a blight on our town for decades to come .
The currently proposed project lacks any concern or understanding for our town character and the North 40 guidelines.
The development should l)maximize open space and views to maintain the agrarian feel of the land 2)resemble the
town architecture instead of introducing the typical Silicon Valley, cheap, urban design, 3)have the least impact to traffic
and schools. The current proposal offers nothing to our town, but a sellout to developers.
Let's take our time, adhere to our guidelines, and get this right. I urge the council to reject all aspects of th is application
and send the developers back to the drawing board. Los Gatos deserves better. We must expect the best to preserve our
town.
Sincerely,
Mitzi Anderson
Los Gatos, CA
Sent from my iPad
1
M arni M ose l ey
Fr om:
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Subject:
To M . Moseley,
judystanley@comcast.net
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 1:00 AM
Marni Moseley
NORTH 40
This proposed North 40 is projected to be a massive , dense, overbuilt project that doesn't look or feel
like Los Gatos. AS PROPOSED AT THIS TIME , THE NORTH 40 WILL BE A MASSIVE , DENSE ,
OVERBUILT PROJECT THAT DOES NOT LOOK OR FEEL LIKE LOS GATOS .
The views will be obscured by a 35 foot wall of attached multi-unit housing . THE NORTH 40 WILL
NOT EMBRACE HILLSIDE VIEWS , TREES AND OPEN SPACE.
Los Gatos does not need any more commercia l buildings, and housing . The North 40 will create an
adverse impact on our already overcrowded streets and town? We are at the maximum now with
some development unfinished . THE NORTH 40 WILL NOT ADDRESS THE TOWNS RESIDENTIAL
AND OR COMMERCIAL UNMET NEEDS
Our infrastructure is crumbling and many other community services go unmet without adding 270-320
housing units and 435,000 SQ FT of new commercial space. THE NORTH 40 WILL NOT MINIMIZE
OR MITIGATE IMPACTS ON TOWN INFRASTRUCTURE, SCHOOLS, AND OTHER COMMUNITY
SERVICES .
We do not want a developer to chose what benefits h im the most for the NORTH 40 . We as
residents of the town want what will benefits out town , and that is not what is currently planned.
There should be more open space at the NORTH 40, such as small parcels , retention of histo ri c
buildings , orchards, a community school , a community center, a place where the people of our town
and guests to our town can say this is really what Los Gatos is . This expresses how ou r town should
feel and look .
I have lived in Los Gatos, s ince 1970. For the first time since living here , i have actually thought
about selling my beautiful house that i love so much, because our town is turning into something that
is not the town I love any longer. So many of my friends have moved away because they are tired of
the overgrowth of our town, and ho w its losing the beautiful charm it is known for. Its sad to think
about and I hope the town reconsiders what th is developer is idealizing for the north 40 .
Judy Stanley
Judy's Buck les -Jewelry fo r You r W aist %0D%0Awww.j udybuckles.com%0D %0A771-5560
1
M arn i M ose ley
Fr om:
Sent:
Suzanne Cochran <smb.cochran@gmail.com >
Tuesday, March 29 , 2016 7:00 AM
To: Marni Moseley
Cc: Clark Cochran
Subject: Concerns with current North 40 Proposal
Hi Marni,
We have major issues and concerns with the current North 40 proposal submitted by the applicant.
Concerns :
-Too massive, dense and overbuilt for the space .
-Not in keeping with the look and feel of Los Gatos character
-Developer is focused on "Maximum" development and not the character of our town.
-Current plan will impact views, trees and open spaces
-Green space in inadequate based on scale of property
-Will have negative impact on already crowed schools, town infrastructure and other community services
-Have maximized development
-Minimum open space
-Impact on traffic
Recommendations
-Phased approach with smaller parcels
-Add more open space
-Add community school
-Add community center
-Make sure the community is the pri ority, not the developers requested development as is .
Summary -we are not oppose to developing the space, just the size and scale of current proposal and NO benefits to the
community or town of Los Gatos.
Regards,
Suzanne and Clark Cochran
60 Rogers Road
Los Gatos
408-607-7172
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
PRISCILLA RYLAND <rylandpj@gmail.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 7:01 AM
To: Marni Moseley
Subject: North 40
Dear Marni,
I am writing to let you know my position to the current proposal for North 40 development. This proposal as it stands currently does
not meet the North 40 Specific Plan in the following ways:
* The project does not look and feel like Los Gatos
* The project blocks views to the trees
* The project lacks sufficient and proper Open Space
* The project will have a negative impact upon our town's already stretched (to the point of breaking) infrastructure
While this project has been in the making for many years, the traffic in Los Gatos over the past 9 months has become
unsustainable. It's time for the town to begin working on our infrastructure issues (traffic congestion, danger to pedestrians and
cyclists, over crowded schools and stretched resources) before continuing more developme nt.
Please use our tax dollars to fix the issues in our town before it's completely ruined.
Sincerely,
Priscilla Ryland
131 Wilder Ave
Los Gatos, CA 95030
408 865 1265
1
Marni Moseley
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Hello,
Julia Burg <juliaburg@gmail.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 7:34 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Development Feedback
My name is Julia Burg and I have been a resident of Los Gatos for the past 9 years. I have 2 kids who attend
Van Meter Elementary. My husband grew up in Los Gatos and his family has lived in the area for over 35
years.
I am writing about the North 40 Development. The current design is well .... awful. I am horrified by it. I really,
really, really hope the town council does not approve it. It is an awful , greedy use of that space and a horrible
legacy for the Town of Los Gatos.
We have a real .opportunity here to look towards the future and use this space in a way that benefits the town for
generations --think sustainable, think green, think walkable, think beautiful. Approving this plan doesn't
accomplish ANY of that. All it does is line the pockets of the developers and leave an awful (and unforgivable)
legacy for the Town Council.
We need a plan with more green space, a school, and less dense housing. We need something that fits the
beauty and aesthetic of the town. The current plan could be plopped in any dumpy city in California. It doesn't
accomplish ANY of the approved goals of the Town Council. It will drastically overcrowd our already
overcrowded schools and make Los Gatos a much less desirable place to live.
I strongly urge you to reject this plan. There is a huge fortune to be made here --why not partner with an award
winning architect on a plan that the city can be proud of? Something that the entire country can look to as an
example of a green, walkable, beautiful development. Not the garbage that has been presented.
PLEASE REJECT THIS PLAN!
Thank you,
Julia Burg
1
Marni Moseley
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Subject
Ms. Moseley,
Susie Vosky <s usie.vosky@gmail.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 8:31 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40
We came to Los Gatos from Sunnyvale to raise our children in a beautiful place, filled with greenery and
serenity. That was 16 years ago .
Los Gatos is now feeling like old Sunnyvale-the one we left. Concrete, traffic, strip malls, and high density
housing is not what we signed up for. We are stiU paying and continuing to pay our monthly mortgage for the
Los Gatos dream.
I urge you to reject the current plan for the North 40. Please minimize development. It's too much. The height
and scope of the residential units and commercial units is completely turning my stomach.
Please understand that living in Silicon Valley is stressful enough and this impactful development will
definitely increase the stress for the people of Los Gatos.
Did you consider the impact on the schools? The infrastructure? The traffic? Yikes. Please reject this
proposal.
Thank you for your consideration.
Susie and Dmitry Vosky
15970 Longwood Dr.
Los Gatos
1
Marni Mosel ey
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Cc :
Subject:
Hello Ms. Moseley,
Whitney Holton <4holtons@gmail.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 8:40 AM
Marni Moseley
Dean Holton
North 40
This email is to express concern regarding the North 40 Development. I understand that the application is thus
unapproved. I feel that this should be very closely monitored and I am in favor of a phasing in approach that would
allow the city to see impact before scaling up to the full development process. My concern is for the traffic alone in the
area of the North 40. It is already nearly impossible to get through the area on a typical weekend without havi ng to sit
in bumper to bumper traffic. There is always the concern that emergency vehicles won't be able to get through the
massive congestion that already exists in that area. Holiday and summer weekends find the street traffic even more
unbearable. If the North 40 is committed to having the Los Gatos "feel" then they are definitely making traffic the new
comfort zone for our residents. In addition, the impact to our schools with all 320 homes being within the school
boundaries is also a concern. Our schools are already bursting at the seams and with the teacher shortage that is also
occurri ng in the state of California, we will be at risk of beginning to provide sub-par educational experiences . As it is
now, parents are being asked to supplement the budget to give teachers what they need and provide high quality
programs for the students. As a school administrator myself, I know that more kids in schools equals more challenges
and less opportunity to build community and truly know all of the students. Research definitely supports this viewpoint.
My family has lived in Los Gatos for the last 80 years and we have always been so proud of our quaint, safe and
charming town. As that town becomes a big city, I am less enamored with its' charm and less hopeful that it is a place
my kids will want to come back to after college . Please consider a phasing approach to this development and be aware
of the concerns and pleas from the community to try to keep our town from growi ng into a commercial mecca where
merchant capital is what matters more than open space , safe schools and a close knit community.
I am strongly against this development but know that since it has already been approved, we now must express concern
over the path it will take in being built. Thank you for listening to my concern and the concern of so many other
res idents.
Regards,
Whitney Mesa-Holton
1
M arni M ose ley
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Hello
Lisa Duflock <lcduflock@yahoo.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 8:48 AM
Marni Moseley
Planned north 40
My name is Lisa Duflock and I am emailing you regarding the new development at the North 40. The town is already
inundated with commercial space and we do not need any more. Also our schools and streets are filled to capacity and
we do not need to increase the burdens on infrastructure with additional housing. We moved here because we loved
the town. However the character of Los Gatos is fast changing with all this increased development and it needs to stop.
Thanks for your t i me and attention,
Lisa Duflock
led
1
Marni Moseley
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Colette Lackovic <cql3@verizon.net>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 8:55 AM
Marni Moseley
Development of North 40
Please make your decisions on development that will be in the best interests of the residents of Los Gatos.
Colette Lackovic
Marni Mose ley
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T o:
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Dear Ms. Moseley,
Frederick Berkowitz <fberk@icloud .com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 9:05 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Proposal
I am writing to express my opposition to the current developers plan for the North 40.
Because of apps like WAZ.E , traffic through Los Gatos, particularly on Los Gatos Blvd., has become an
inconvenience. The increased commercial and residential traffic generated by the North 40 development
would become unbearable.
The 340+ proposed new housing units would impact our schools irreparably. It is clear that all of the
housing units in the developers plan are in Los Gatos because of the school district. It is well documented
that homes in the Los Gatos school districts (k-8 and high school) command a greater sales price than
comparable homes in neighboring districts. Adding all of these units will add hundreds of children that the
collective school infrastructure is not designed to accommodate -this will result in the degradation of our
schools and in turn, housing values .
I am unable to attend the meeting this Wednesday evening , but hope my vo ice will be heard .
Sincerely,
Fred Berkowitz
1
Marni Moseley
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Hello,
Jeff King <jking@godaddy.com >
Tuesday, March 29 , 2016 9:22 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40
While I'm sad to see the orchards and openspace go I understand and have reconciled that we can 't stop all
development as much as I'd love to.
What I find outrageous is the housing plan. It's just unacceptable that all the housing is on the LG side of the line. This
only helps the developer and hurts our town. The density, tax implications and the impact on our schools just can't be
justified.
The school systems are bursting already, traffic is horrific and I can't understand how this clearly one sided part of the
plan would be approved . If we can't stop this altogether, please ensure that the density is reduced or spread out to
other parts of the development.
Jeff King
Littlefield Ln
Los Gatos.
1
Marni Moseley
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Dear Ms. Moseley,
James Konsevich <jimkonsevich@mac.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 9:36 AM
Marni Moseley
Developing the North 40 is not a good idea!
I live near Houge Park. Last week when I was waiting for a green light on White Oaks A venue to tum onto
Bascom A venue the traffic on Bascom was backed up bumper to bumper as far as I could see in both directions.
How is developing the North 40 going to help this traffic problem?
My wife and I used to eat dinner in Los Gatos three or four times a week with the commuters using Waze to
avoid the traffic jams on Hwy 17 and Hwy 85 it is not worth the hassle of driving in the traffic on Lark, Los
Gatos Blvd., University, etc. Los Gatos Blvd. necking down to 4 lanes between Hwy 85 and Lark is a real
bottleneck. Once the North 40 is developed we will not be able to go to Los Gatos at any time.
If we wanted to live in a place like Los Angeles we would have.
Yours truly,
Jim
James Konsevich
jimkonsevich@mac.com
1
Marni Moseley
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Cc:
Subject:
Bina Roy Desai <binaroydesai @yahoo.com >
Tuesday, March 29 , 2016 9:35 AM
BSpector; Marni Moseley
Marico Sayoc ; Marcia Jensen; Rob Rennie; Steven Leonardis
North 40
Dear LG Town Mayor, Council, & Planning,
My husband and I are deeply disappointed that the town of LG is still considering the
North 40 project after all of the opposition in the past few years.
-The design and massive size of the project does not look like our "town" of LG
-Your decision would take business away from the very entrepreneurs who help sustain
this town and tax dollars.
-Our schools are already impacted. Why has the developer chosen to put all 320 homes
onto the LGSD side of North 40?
-Making a left turn onto LG Blvd is already challenging during traffic hours
-Our kids are already on guard while biking to school w/ so many cars on LG Blvd/Main
St. .
-Why are we not focused more on how we can improve the schooling system in LG,
rather than adding more families, traffic, and pollution?
-Impacts of this need to be addressed at every stage, not just at phase 1
-Tax dollars brought in by a massive project like this should not be the ultimate priority
here, and that's what it clearly looks like .
We hope you will listen to all of our fellow citizens tomorrow night and reconsider.
Thank you,
Raj & Bina Desairv
1
Marni Moseley
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To:
Subject:
Ms. Marni Moseley,
Amy Grespan <curlyarm@yahoo.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 9:49 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40
As a Los Gatos resident and parent of 3 children in the Los Gatos Schools I am very concerned about the development of the
North 40. The developers plans are unclear and nonspecific . How are they planning to:
1. keep the feel of Los Gatos ·
2. embrace the hillside views, trees, and open spaces
3. address the impact of crowding and traffic that already exits in that area
4. minimize the impact of the already OVERCROWDED SCHOOLS!!!!
How is the developer looking out for the town's best interest????
Thank you for your time and consideration on this very important issue.
AmyGrespan
1
Marni Moseley
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\
Bruce MacNaughton <bruceamacnaughton@gmail.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 10:08 AM
Marni Moseley
Comments on the North 40
I recently moved from New Mexico to Los Gatos . In my 80+ years, I have lived in many other places in the USA.
In the 50's, Dallas, TX allowed developing the northern portion of the city for merchandisers and office space .. The downtown was
devastated. Only in the last 10 years has the downtown started recovering.
1n the 60's, Bartlesvile, OK allowed development of the east side of town. This caused a major division in the town. You either belonged to
one side of the subject or the other. Again, the old downtown was devastated .
In the 70's, Tulsa, OK allowed major development of commercial space outside the downtown area. This time there was a period of
disruption. The various businesses started moving back to the downtown area after many of the old downtown buildings were razed and new
construction took its place.
Why doesn't the Planning Commission adhere to thefr stated 4 guiding principles? Have these guiding principles been reduced to writing so
that everyone is working with the same guidelines?
Why doesn't the Planning Commission determine what first made Los Gatos such a pleasant town to live in? It would seem to me that the
Planning Commission would continue those practices without catering to any one or more special interest groups.
Since Los Gatos cannot be everything to everybody over the long haul, shouldn't Los Gatos do its planning for its present residents?
The recently issued Los Gatos Union School District's budget identified some upcoming problems which the proposed North 40
Development seems to contribute to.
As a Registered Professional Engineer, 1 have noticed that the local building codes don't seem to require firewalls in the new apartment
construction around town. Also, the lack of egress to safety from these apartments appears to be limited in the case of a fire.
Respectfully submitted,
Bruce A. MacNaughton
1
Marni Moseley
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Cc:
Subject:
Dear Mrs. Moseley,
Tim Christ <tchrist@mac .com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 10:15 AM
Marni Moseley
dsparrer@community-newspapers.com; letters@mercurynews.com
LG North 40
I feel compelled to add my voice to the North 40 discussion . The children in our community are at significant risk on a
daily basis. Nothing can be more important.
It seems that at some point in the last few years Los Gatos lost control of it's growth, and, as has been evidenced by the
severe traffic issues last summer, and the ongoing daily traffic and parking issues that have existed for years, it seems
the town council and planning commission are somehow unaware of the urgency ofthese issues.
Have any of these members tried to drive anywhere near the High School or Middle School on a weekday? Maybe a
field trip is in order.
Adding any additional housing units in our community is completely irresponsible. The focus should be on a plan to
reduce congestion and increase safety.
The current High School traffic is a significant safety issue on a daily basis . If you haven't witnessed a near miss situation
of a walking, riding, or driving student, you haven't been near the High School in the last 2 years.
The school has sent out notifications to all the students about parking restrictions, and the Town Council recently had to
approve parking restrictions on Alpine Avenue . This is not going to keep kids from driving to school, but will have them
parking and walking from farther away and in more unsafe locations.
This community needs a reduction in housing in the area, not an increase, and a serious investigation of transportation
alternatives.
The number of students in an already overcrowded school, and the quality of education and therefore ratings of our
great schools is an additional issue.
Citizen safety, student safety, has to come before development.
Thank you for your time,
Tim Christ
408 -823-3463
Marni Moseley
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Ms. Moseley,
Molly Rhine <m .rhine@comcast.net>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 10:50 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40
As a 27 year resident of Los Gatos, I am writing you to encourage you to use the best judgment you can in the potential
development of Los Gatos in the North 40.
Our Town has suffered from some very ugly and crowded development (The Robson homes and that horrific "dome"
on the Chipotle building, to name just a couple .)
The feel, look, and attraction of Los Gatos will be lost if the North 40 doesn't get it r ight.
Think beautiful, sparse, and lovely, NOT crowded, tacky, and "just another pretty town that sold out."
Respectfully,
Molly Rhine
140 Belcrest Drive
Los Gatos, CA 95032
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
Karen McQuade <K McQuade@montalvoarts.org >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 11:09 AM
To: Marni Moseley
Subject: Please, please save our town. VOTE NO -North 40.
Dear Marni and the rest of the Town Council.
Please follow your conscience and do what's best for the longevity of Los Gatos . VOTE NO! We cannot afford the
increased traffic, school crowding and disruption to the Look and Feel of true Los Gatos . Hold back the greed that has
taken over our town.
Los Gatos resident-199 Kimble Ave . Karen McQuade
Karen McQuade
Volunteer Program Coordinator
Montalvo Arts Center
15400 Montalvo Road, PO Box 158
Saratoga, CA 95071
408.961.5828
km cquade@montalvoarts .org
Montalvo is a member-supported non-profit organization dedicated to the arts. Jo in us today!
Com i ng to Montalvo in April:
April 2: Family Tinkering Workshop I April 6: Glen & Les Charles I April 8: Lavay Smith & Her
Red Hot Skillet Lickers I April 10: Jake Shimabukuro I April 11: Relevancy: Project-Based
Learning Through the Arts I April 14: Makana I April 15: The Swingles I April 16: Floral
Design: Spring Branches & Buds I April 16: Un-Masked: Mask Salon & Open Studio with We
Players I April 17: The Saint Michael Trio: Delineating Brahms I April 22 : Nellie McKay I April
24 : Armistead Maupin I April 27: Johnny Clegg Band I April 30: The Capitol Steps I Tours of
the historic Villa available by appointment
Project Space Gallery: James Gouldthorpe's Particles: A Painting in Ten Chapters on view
through May 29
Membe rship I News letter I @montalvoarts
1
From: Kay Enriquez [mailto:kay .b.enriguez@qmail.com]
Sent: Monday, March 28, 2016 4:55 PM
To: Council
Subject: North 40 Concerns
I am emailing my Town Council (since public comment is closed) and telling you that I
believe the core premise of the North 40 millennial/senior living (Santana Row style)
development should not be taken at face value . People pay a 40% premium to live in
Los Gatos because of the schools, not for a retirement home or millennial bachelor pad.
I hope to attend the Town Council meeting April 14 at ?pm . In case I can not make the
meeting , I would like to be heard saying the premise of the North 40 is deeply flawed. I
would like to ask you to demand proper mitigation of traffic , schools and other
downsides of this Santana Row disaster that turns our wonderful town into another
city.
M
ake the developers pay to mitigate this looming disaster or tell them to come back with a
new site plan . No approval should be given until the LG USO Board of Trustees declares
that the developers have mitigated the impact to our awesome schools.
Thank you,
-Kay Enriquez
Marni Moseley
From:
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To:
Subject:
Dear Marni ,
Nicolette Kelly <lgnicolette@gmail.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 11:28 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40
rm very concerned about the current North 40 proposal.
I . The y projec t area already suffers from heavy traffic. M y husband had a medical em ergenc y a year ago and the ambulance got stuck
in grid lock on Lark Avenue. There was bterally no way to get through. Luckily bis c ase was not life threatening . This new projec t
w ill add to the intense traffic.
2 . The developer is using averages to get the project passed. I'm concerned with how many 3 b edrooms are in
the development. It's my understanding there are studios, 1, 2, and 3 bedrooms." Averaging 1.9 bedrooms and
1500 SF ". When Laurel Mews was being developed it was advertised at cottage homes of approx 2200 SF .. .in
actuality only the row on LG Blvd were this _size. The rest were significantly larger. . .it's very misleading.
I'm hopeful the planning commission and town council understands they could have done better on the past
developments and should not continue down the path o f high density in a town with limited infrastructure.
Sincerely,
Nicolette Kelly
224 Loma Alta Ave
Nicolette Kelly
1
M arni M osel ey
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Ms. Moseley,
donna wallerstein <violetwall@hotmail.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 11:49 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Development
We are writing to express our concerns about the development of the North 40 site. As I am driving to and
from work each day on Highway 17, the outline of the project is easily visible and quite enormous. The Los
Gatos school system cannot accommodate the scope of that development. The town council has already
permitted far too much housing to be built into the very small footprint of our town. We are at risk of crossing
the line from suburban to urban. We don't have sufficient funding to adequately support expansion of the
school system and there is literally no room to grow the high school or further expand Fisher Middle
School. Where are we going to fit all these extra children? We are already at high capacity in our classrooms
and have inadequate resources to adequately educate the children that are in the school now. Our school
district is woefully behind in areas that we took for granted in our school district on the East Coast . There is
essentially no fine arts education in the lower grades and children in Los Gatos have very limited musical
instruction prior to 6th grade. Our test scores and other measures of academic excellence are always less than
Saratoga and we consistently see that the National Merit Finalists come from Saratoga and not Los Gatos High
School. Overbuilding housing without providing for an increase in traffic and enrollment at our local schools is
a recipe for disaster . It would be a wiser course of action to relocate the high school to the North 40 site and
build a campus with updated facilities and room to grow for the future.
Sincerely,
Donna and Robert Wallerstein
16557 Marchmont Drive
Los Gatos, CA 95032
1
M arni Mose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Marni,
Jean Leeming <jean@cjleeming.com >
Tuesday, March 29 , 2016 11:53 AM
Marni Moseley
STOP THE NORTH 40 !!
As a 14 year resident of Los Gatos (on Hernandez Ave) I am shocked and so disappointed that the town counc il of our
beautiful town would possibly allow this monstrosity to be built and so negatively effect our wonderful town. Traffic,
residents, schools, parking -everythi ng will take a toll and the site polls show just how much it will vi sually impact the area as
well. I couldn't believe it took me 40 m i nut es to d r ive from Hamilton Ex it on 17 south to Los Gatos exit, and I had a LOT OF
TIME In traffic to look at those story polls and realize what a disgrace it is for the Town Council -elected officially in charge of
protecting and caring for our town -t o accept and allow this to change our town forever.
Please add my voice to the extraordinary number of residents in our town who OPPOSE this development.
Thank you .
Jean Leeming
234 Hernandez Ave
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hello Marni,
Debbie Ledesma <dledesma@montalvoarts.org>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 11:51 AM
Marni Moseley
LG North 40 "NO"
My husband and I have raised our family and lived in Los Gatos for 20 years and have seen the congestion on
streets increase 1 Ox! Summer traffic, morning commute and school traffic on the Blvd. is not what we need
more ofl Enough, is enough!
Keep our town for our community!!
Thank you,
Debbie
1
Marni Mose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Charles Leeming <charlie@cjleeming .com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 11:56 AM
Marni Moseley
NO to the NORTH 40
Please add my voice to the resounding shouts of our citizens to say NO to the North 40 development .
The horrible impact on our environment, traffic, schools and town overall is exactly why our Town Council needs to STOP this
development from taking place. Once it is approved, it will change Los Gatos forever.
As a 14-year resident raising a fam ily with my wife and three children, we greatly opposed this development.
Respectfully,
Charlie Leeming
234 Hernandez Ave
Los Gatos
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hello Marni,
bnkjohnsonl@verizon.net
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 11:58 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Development
I'm Kathy Johnson living on Benedict Lane in Los Gatos. We have lived in Los Gatos for 33 years. I was born in Santa
Clara Valley and have lived here all of my 57 years . I have seen huge changes everywhere around the valley during my
lifetime.
I would like to see the North 40 developed for the people of Los Gatos to enjoy. We do not need any more homes. We
do not need any more businesses . We do not need any more structures that will block out the views of our beautiful
mountains, trees and valley. For instance, the eyesore on the corner of Los Gatos Blvd. and Blossom Hill Rd. The big
bronze dome that is useless and blocks the view of the mountains.
I would like to see a community center, maybe a park in the North 40. Also, the Youth and Adult Recreation Centers
moved from Main Street to the North 40 with enough parking for people taking classes. I have been taking classes from
the Parks and Recreation since we moved here. Up until several years ago, parking has not been an issue. Now? I take
a painting class on Monday mornings at the Youth Recreation center. There are about 10 adults in the class . In the
second room is a Salsa dance class with about 20 adults . And in the third room there is a Mommy and me class
with several more adults. The Youth parking lot holds about 10 cars . All the parking around the Recreation Centers is 90
minutes. Our painting class is 3 hours long , so halfway through the class we have to go out and try to find an
open parking space and move our cars. The High School students, even though they know they are not supposed to park
in our lot, still do.
Please keep Los Gatos the beautiful little town that it has been , and is still.
Thank you for listening.
Kathy Johnson
1
On Mar 29, 2016, at 4:29 AM, Thom Weatherford <t.weatherford@ verizon .net> wrote:
Your Honor, I understand that phase 1 of the above dev elopment will be reviewed for approval
at the upcoming town council meeting. I have been a technology executive in the Valley,
including currently serving on several public company boards for the past 26 years. For the past
18 of those years, my wife and I have had the privilege of living in Los Gatos, our beautiful
community by the mountains. We always make an effort to first support our local businesses as
well as the city's services. This proposed development will strain our schools, roads, and way of
life. As you already know, the traffic situation is becoming critical and the quality of education
will suffer. Neighborhood side streets are already being used as shortcuts due to the traffic on
Los Gatos Blvd, Santa Cruz, and University. While I support progess and business development,
this plan is an overkill. We do not need another Santana Row or to become another Santa Clara
where there is no soul. If Los Gatos becomes over developed, the consequences,while may
be unintended, will be bad for all.
I ask that you and our council members, not disapprove this p lan but significantly reduce the
proposed dwellings and commercial space of the two phases to a more reasonable level , a level
that can be adequately absorbed by our town while keeping with the current culture of our
community. I find it hard to believe that any additional tax revenue gained will offset the
increased infrastructure costs required to adequately serve this proposed development.
Thank you v ery much.
Clifton Weatherford
16488 Eugenia Way
Los Gatos
5-ent from AOL Mobi le Mail
Get the new AOL ;;pp: mai l.mob ile.aol.com
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Laurie < laurie.pollock@comcast.net>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 12:16 PM
BSpector; Marica Sayoc; Marcia Jensen; Rob Rennie; Steven Leonardis; Marni Moseley
North 40
I am sure you are all being inundated with emails regarding North 40 so I will be brief.
Our schools and roads can not handle any further growth! Do any of you have children in school? Have you driven to any
of the schools at drop off or pick up time, it is impossible!! The town keeps growing because of our great schools but
there have been zero solutions to alleviate the traffic congestion that we citizens encounter daily.
Our schools can not handle any more growth. Our administration spends more time trying to tackle growth issues which
takes their time and focus away from our children learning! Before we approve any further growth this town needs to
plan ahead to tackle parking and the current traffic problems we have daily. How can you approve further growth
without dealing with the issues we have at hand that will only further impact our town in a VERY negative way .
Thank You,
Laurie Pollock
1
Marni M oseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Mrs Moseley
Silvia Stracey <straceyfamily@aol.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 12:19 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
As s citizen of los Gatos for the last 15 years we would please ask the town to reject the proposed North 40
development. 270new housing units????Our schools are crowded to the top ... Los Gatos High and Fisher Middles Schoo l
are at capacity and we already have parking issues and traffic issues for the current students. Living of
Winchester/Wimbledon the traffic is becoming a nightmare with the new Netflix construction etc... Now the town is
thinking of adding more housing and retail space .. where shall all the traffic go and how much more crowded shall our
classrooms and schools get? This is getting ridiculous ....
This is a town not a city ... please keep it this way Silvia And Robin Stracey
185 La Montagne Court
Los Gatos
1
M arni M osel ey
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Ms. Moseley,
David Zirl <dzirl@comcast.net >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 1:14 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
My family resides at 16357 Hilow Road in Los Gatos and our three children attend Blossom Hill
Elementary School, Fisher Middle School and Los Gatos High School. We shop in Los Gatos, we eat
out in Los Gatos, we use facilities in Los Gatos like the JCC and enjoy the parks, beautiful mountains
and hills and the outdoors .
We also drive in Los Gatos to pick up at schools , to go shopping, to eat out and to use the
facilities. The biggest issues we face as a community are the overcrowding of all of our school and
the overcrowding of our roads. Adding 320 new homes and the hundreds of students who'll be living
there, will add even more strain to our schools and offer very little, if any, relief as the financial impact
of adding the new homes will not make up for the financial and physica l impact on the schools .
Compounding this, is the impact on traffic that these 320 new homes AND the hundreds of thousands
of square feet of new shopping and dining will have on our already overcrowded roads. The traffic
associated with school pick-ups backs-up from the High School on Los Gatos Boulevard to past
Whole Foods . The traffic on Lark backs up well past the JCC on Oka Road and well past University
Avenue. These two examples don't even take into account the Santa Cruz traffic that builds up all
summer and on all weekends .
While we understand the developer's desire to maximize their profits by building in as densely a
manner as possible AND understand the town's desire to satisfy State and county regulations on
affordable housing, we don't understand the rush and urgency to add to the overcrowding schools
and roads, without any plans to truly mitigate these problems AND without regards to the overall site
specific plans and the town's own vision and direction .
We therefore ask the town council to slow down the process and to spend time to truly understand
the impacts and ramifications before making decisions that cannot be undone and that will negatively
impacnhe Town of Los Gatos for generations.
Thank you
David and Lisa Zirl
1
On Mar 29, 2016, at 1 :28 PM, Joanne Walsh <joannepwalsh@ gmail.com> wrote :
Dear Ms Sayoc:
We have lived in Los Gatos, on South Kennedy Road, for over 36 years, and we feel very
fortunate to have enjoyed the beautiful Town of Los Gatos. Therefore, we are concerned about
the proposed plans for the North 40, plans which will d isastrously affect the streets and schools
on the Town's east side.
Los Gatos Boulevard is already subject to traffic jams, due to Highway 17 snarls and to the hours
of the three schools near it. The proposed housing plan that puts all the residences in the North
40 at the Lark A venue end of the land really threatens to bring Los Gatos Boulevard to a
continual crawl.
In addition, the plan promises to overload our schools, which are currently jammed.
We know that the North 40 has to be developed, but the present plan has many faults. We have
understood over the years that the Town has desired to make Los Gatos Boulevard the "gateway"
to Los Gatos. However, as the story poles indicate, the buildings will come right up to the street
lines and block the views both into and out of Los Gatos. Rather than beautiful, the "gateway"
will be crowded, citified, and very busy.
Please demand that the developers respect the needs of Los Gatans for a graceful , beautiful
entryway to the Town, free of great traffic snarls and ugly sight-lines. And please study closely
the impact of the project on Lark-Los Gatos Blvd traffic.
The present plan is NOT the right plan.
Sincere} y yours,
Hugh and Joanne Walsh
16301 South Kennedy Road
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Ms Moseley:
Joanne Walsh <joannepwalsh@gmail.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 1:36 PM
Marni Moseley
The North 40
We have lived in Los Gatos, on South Kennedy Road, for over 36 years, and we feel very fortunate to have
enjoyed the beautiful Town of Los Gatos. Therefore, we are concerned about the proposed plans for the North
40, plans which will disastrously affect the streets and schools on the Town's east side.
Los Gatos Boulevard is already subject to traffic jams, due to Highway 17 snarls and to the hours of the three
schools near it. The proposed housing plan that puts all the residences in the North 40 at the Lark Avenue end
of the land really threatens to bring Los Gatos Boulevard to a continual crawl.
In addition, the plan promises to overload our schools, which are currently jammed.
We know that the North 40 has to be developed, but the present plan has many faults. We have understood
over the years that the Town has desired to make Los Gatos Boulevard the "gateway" to Los Gatos. However,
as the story poles indicate, the buildings will come right up to the street lines and block the views both into and
out of Los Gatos . Rather than beautiful, the "gateway" will be crowded, citified, and very busy.
Please demand that the developers respect the needs of Los Gatans for a graceful , beautiful entryway to the
Town, free of great traffic snarls and ugly sight-lines . And please study closely the impact of the project on
Lark-Los Gatos Blvd traffic.
The present plan is NOT the right plan.
Sincerely yours,
Hugh and Joanne Walsh
16301 South Kennedy Road
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Colleen Monsef
March 29,2016
Small town service, community stewardship, future focus
Stewardship is an ethic that embodies the responsible planning and
management of resources. The concepts of stewardship can be applied to the
environment and nature, economics, health, property, information, etc., a s
defined by Wikipedia.
Below are my questions and comments that need to be addressed and
answered. More quantifiable answers need to be provided before a project of
this scope can be approved by Los Gatos and those appointed as the town
stewards.
1. The North 40 will look and feel like Los Gatos.
With consideration and understanding of needing to meet the
affordable housing as out lined by the government, the density and
height and lack of green/open space and paved (ie parking) do not look
or feel like the small town that Los Gatos has been and would like to
continue to be. (twenty units per acre as per gov. outline)
The plans do not retain the historical orchard/open space feel of the
current community.
2. The North 40 will embrace hillside views, trees, and open space.
Views will be obstructed 35 foot wall of attached multi-unit housing.
The developer's proposal for green space is inadequate.
3. The North 40 will address the Town's residential and/or commercial unmet
needs.
Will all of the 320 residences meet the multiple family development
affordable to lower income households in light of state and federal and
local financing programs. Will these all be completed first and sold/rented
before any other development can continue?
Do we really need any more commercial development at this time?
4 . The North 40 will minimize or mitigate impacts on town infrastructure,
schools, and other community services.
Coll e en Mon sef
March 29,2016
Why is the development planning choosing to place all of the 320
residences on the Los Gatos School District side of the North 40 property?
If these are all affordable/low income housing, where will the money come
from to offset the difference in property tax come from to support roads,
schools, and emergency services? Where will the business taxes go to from
the "other" side of the property development? What is the federal funding
penalty (road, school and city federal funding) if these affordable housing
units are not completed on the government schedule?
What impact will traffic from this development have on emergency
services of Los Gatos? Of special interest is the added traffic for a major
hospital across the street and emergency access to the hospital at all hours.
How will ambulance and fire response be affected by this huge
development? What is the current staffing and what staffing needs to be
added to accommodate this change?
How will commuter traffic off and on HW 17 and HW 85 impact traffic in
this area? Both interstate on and off ramps are less than a half a mile from
this project. Do we have data yet on the impact from the now yet
completed Nettlix project and its traffic impact on Winchester /Lark and
Los Gatos Blvd.? Not to mention the Oka road project also earmarked by
the city.
What is the town of Los Gatos' current ratio of law enforcement to citizens?
Are our policing and safety needs currently met? How are we planning to
scale law enforcement and emergency response services for this size of
development and who will pay for it? Not to mention fire, paramedic and
ambulance service. And do these services need to be scaled and money
secured before the projects can be approved?
The town lacks data on the Netflix developments. This impact is yet to
determined. The town lacks the data from the housing and multi use
developments on Bluebird and one on Los Gatos Blvd and Roberts Road as
well as the development on the corner of Blossom Hill and LG Blvd .) Until
there is quantifiable data of the final impact of these and many other
developments we cannot approve any further development.
Traffic needs to be addressed by the city. Almost all of our schools are on
two lane roads and all receive neighbor complaints of gridlock and parking.
Co llee n Monsef
Mar ch 29,2 01 6
What is the town doing to address this current problem that is getting
worse each year? How in good faith can we begin new large projects
without first addressing our major road planning, safety a nd parking
issues?
The town of Los Gatos has strong schools that are desirable. But they a r e
already impacted. The schools are struggling to keep up with the continued
addition of students and t he requirements needed to support them and
fulfilling current bond measures and looking for future bond measures.
How is the city supporting our schools in their charter before we begin
adding more students, drivers, and cars?
The schools job is to educate our population not react to poor town
planning and approval. It is not schools job to solve post mortem poor town
planning messes. I feel for our school administrators. Education of our
children is their job not fighting about overcrowding, no parking, after
school activities and lighted fields voted on by the tax payers of this town.
Town Development should be held accountable to say NO MORE UNTIL WE
KNOW MORE .
Should size and phasing be reduced and impacts assessed after each phase?
The town of Los Gatos is not prepared for the size and scope of this project or
any other at this time. It is time that our town spends our t i me fixing and
improving our current town NEEDS.
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M arni Moseley
From:
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To:
Subject:
susan buxton <ssbuxton@yahoo.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 2:07 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Application
Dea r Ms. Moseley and Plann ing Commissioners ,
Please deny the developers initial application for development of the North 40 property. It does not
address the Vision and Guiding Principles set forth in the North 40 Specific Plan .
The Specific Plan was written to provide guidelines for the development of the entire 40+ acres.
Phasing was never recommended by the Citizen's Advisory Committee, but was introduced by the
developer. Please deny their highly dense Phase 1 proposal and instead work to develop the area as
one unit. One plan would more clearly show the impact on our schools, the Town infrastructure , and
the environment, and hopefully provide opportunities to develop solutions . In other words, as stated in
the North 40 Specific Plan, ''The intent of this Specific Plan is to provide a comprehensive framework
in which development can occur in a planned, logical fashion rather than a piecemeal approach ... This
comprehensive approach will help to create a unified new neighborhood for Los Gatos residents to
enjoy and will better serve North Los Gatos residents , employees, and businesses."
Please consider delaying any development until the entire 44 acres of land are available for
development and then approve an application for the entire area . It can be built in phases , but a
comprehensive design and layout approach will ensure that the the Vision Statement and Guiding
Principles will be followed .
Sincerely,
Bob and Susan Buxton
Los Gatos Residents
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Planning
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 2:24 PM
Marni Moseley
FW: disappointed with the town of Los Gatos I north 40
From: Aileen Kay Braga [mailto:aileen@saratogarim .com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2016 2:21 PM
To: Planning
Subject: disappointed with the town of Los Gatos / north 40
To whom it may concern,
My husband and I have been residence of Los Gatos since we were children. We own a home in Los Gatos near Fisher
middle school. Both of our children grew up attended the schools in Los Gatos, one if which is still attending Los Gatos
High school.
We feel Los Gatos town members have lost sight of what Los Gatos has in its favor; charm, not over population our city
and schools. By approving the North 40 project, the number of houses and lack of additional schools along with no
attention to the traffic conditions, causes us to wonder what happen to our community leaders. I am thinking the
members do not have kids in the school systems anymore and have not needed to be on the streets during school traffic
hours . We can only assume people are only looking at the revenue.
Education needs to be the highest priority for our kids. Having a small town environment in our schools has been one of
the attractive selling features Los Gatos. We were told the addition of the houses near Fisher Middle school would have
no or little impact to the schools or traffic. Clearly, that is not the case . The traffic has greatly increased and the
construction continues at Los Gatos High School to make room for the increasing school population. Bigger schools is not
what we need for our kids .
We are strongly against the number of houses to put into this property. There needs to also be consideration of adding
another school on the property.
~Aileen Braga
1
To ; the Town of Los Gatos Planning Commission March 29t h 2016
Re ; North 40 phase 1
Dear Los Gatos Planning Commission,
Now that the story poles have been erected we can see the absurdity of the height and denseness of
the Grosvenor/Summerhill project and how it most certainly does not "seamlessly blend into the fabric"
of Los Gatos.
The 51 foot height is not only an exception to the town's commercial height limit (which will be clearly
visible from highway 17) but as seen in the attached photos taken from inside the project, obstruct the
views of the mountains from within the very project that is supposed to protect and enjoy those same
views. The fallacy in the developer's plans to gain additional height is that somehow the sloping grade
is faulty and measurements should be taken from the 2 story buildings along Los Gatos Blvd and
extrapolated all the way across the whole of the orchard, when in fact the curr ent and hi storical grade is
the natural gradient sloping towards the creek, as evidenced by the Yuki property on Oka Road. These
buildings should be stepped down in height along the perimeter where the project is contiguous to Lark,
Los Gatos Blvd and highway 17.
The projected increased traffic count of an additional 3800 car s per day on Phase 1, while not
acceptable even at current levels of use, can only be a guess because there is zero traffic coming in and
out of the orchard today. The notion that only 180 new car trips in the AM and 200 in the PM will be
generated by some 300+ new (residential) housing units cannot be accurate, and has been clearly paid
for by the developer.
While I have no objections to any property owner selling or developing his property as is the case with
the Yuki family, this project at its current scale will only add to the gridlock we are now witnessing all
across Los Gatos because of large scale developments like the Albright Way project, which I may add,
was flipped by the developer once entitlements were granted by the town.
Bear in mind that Phase 1 is only one half of the total project with the second half bringing all the more
attendant traffic and infrastructure problems. By setting a new precedent on height and mass along Los
Gatos Blvd the town invites a further loss of quality of life for us and our children .
Respectfully,~
JM Whalen, Los Gatos, Ca
Mary C. Martin
254 Vista del Monte • Los Gatos, CA 95030 • 408 .354.8878 • mbrence @ co~\!~~~'tED
March 29 , 2016 MAR 2 9 2016
Dear Ms. Moseley: TOWN OF LOS GATO S
PLAf\!i~ING DIVISION
Contemplating the proposed North 40 project, I'm reminded again, as I have been so many times
in the past few years, of Aesop's fable of the goose that laid the golden egg. Cramming into Los
Gatos so much high-density housing and so many stores (as the proposed project is likely to do)
is gradually causing this town to lose much of what makes it such an attractive place to live and
visit. For example:
Pastoral hillside views: The story poles at the project demonstrate that we would be in
for another bunch of tall buildings that obstruct our views, especially a parking garage
that's over 35 feet tall.
Charming, unique stores: While there are still many locally owned businesses, our
downtown is increasingly filled with chain stores that make it resemble a shopping mall.
We don't need more.
Excellent schools: If this project goes through without the developer having to build a
school , it will be at the expense of our children and the Los Gatos taxpayers. How could
we even contemplate adding 320 housing units-in addition to all the other densely
populated recent developments in town-that wil1 cram more kids into schools that are
already overcrowded?
Open space: One of the charms of Los Gatos is its vestiges of days gone by, such as the
walnut orchard on the North 40, and a sense of breathing room. Do we really need to
build on every scrap ofland that is currently vacant?
Easy pace of life: "One word: TRAFFIC. It is already nightmarish trying to drive around
here during the school rush hour or the work rush hour or anytime in the summer. What
measures would be taken to ameliorate the effects of the North 40 development?
I am also worried about the effect of such a large development on our infrastructure-roads,
sewers, and water usage, especially if all those apartments were not individually metered.
In short, I ask you and the Planning Commission and Town Council to make sure that any
project on the North 40 will conform to the character of the town we all love. That means leaving
plenty of open space, providing a new school, keeping the profile low, and figuring out
beforehand how to minimize the impact on present residents and businesses. We need to
remember Aesop 's admonition that those who short-sightedly destroy something in hopes of a
big payoff may soon have nothing left.
Sincerely,
Mary Martin
69 Ellenwood Ave.
Los Gatos, CA 95030
March 30, 2016
MAR 2 Q 2015
TOWN OF LOS G.'\-:-OS
PLANN!i\G D!'JIS!ON
Subject: North 40 Phase 1---Item 2 on 3/30/2016 Planning Commission Agenda
Dear Commissioners,
We have studied the plans for development of the "North 40" and are opposed to approval of those
plans for the following general reasons and many more specific ones:
1. Housing is too dense with entrances and garages too close to the street Tandem
garages are likely to cause traffic problems or use of half the garage for storage and
parking of a second car elsewhere. Three story buildings are too high for a residential
area and do not "look and feel like Los Gatos."
2. Parking is insufficient and poo r ly located . Some units have only one garage. That would
often mean parking an extra car elsewhere. Senior housing allots only ~ space per unit
when most people in the facility would have a car.
3. Open space is insufficient. The emphasis on dogs is incompatible with the closely
packed design of the housing units. There is play space for dogs but not children.
4. We need affordable housing for residents like teachers and hospital/medical clinic staff.
The proposed "affordable senior" housing facility does not provide the level of
services/amenities needed by older /handicapped seniors. It appears that the senior
option was chosen largely because it requires Jess parking. A percentage of regular
units should be "affordable" for moderate income residents.
5. Density is too great for the traffic situation in that area of Los Gatos. Traffic on Los Gatos
Boulevard is heavy already. An additional 500 or more cars adds to congestion and
impedes access to Good Samaritan Hospital and other medical facilities in that area.
Highway 85 is already overcrowded for long periods at the morning and evening
commute hours. There are often long waits at the metering lights.
The general concept of combining living space and neighborhood commercial is a good one.
However, the execution of the concept in this case is too dense for Los Gatos. Please do not
approve this plan. The number of units needs to be reduced. More parking and open space are
needed. Affordable housing should be for everyone not just seniors.
Sincerely,
Peter Siemens Diane Siemens
Los Gatos Planning Commission
110 E. Main Street
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Ladies and Gentlemen;
RECEV D
MAR •. g zoio
I urge you to REJECT the Phase 1 planning application for the North 40 Specific Plan development that
you will be considering at your special meeting on March 30, 2016.
Yo u should oppose this application because :
1. The housing density is excessive.
It was my understanding that the initial specific plan documents suggested lower residential
housing density for the area near Lark Avenue, with higher densities suggested for the area near
Highway 85. That idea is simply common sense and consistent with surrounding single-family,
larger lot neighborhoods. However, the application before you (as well as the story poles)
seems to ignore this. The application proposes high density housing, with almost of all of the
housing units allowed for the entire North 40 closest to Lark Avenue on the application's 20
acres ..
2. Traffic impacts and the new street entrance onto Lark Ave . is wrong.
I was shocked to see that the project continues to feature d i rect entry and exit onto Lark
Avenue. The traffic on Lark Avenue is currently very heavy. This new street will significantly
exacerbate Lark Avenue's current (bad) traffic problem. If this access is deemed essential for
public safety reasons , then perhaps it should be restricted via a gate for use only by emergency
vehicles . If it's absolutely critical for overall traffic circulation, then it warrants very serious
study, and probably some expensive public works improvements. It's important to note that
decreasing the housing density in this area would diminish the need for this street.
3. The first phase is much too large.
The first phase of development of the North 40 should not done on such a gigantic scale . Rather
it should be a "pilot phase" of a much smaller scope . If the project were phased in smaller
increments, the Town could take the "lessons learned" from the initial phase, and apply them to
later phases . The overall vision and master plan is kept in place, but want the flexi bility to
adjust, tweak and tune subsequent phases based on prior experience and the changing
environment. This approach also gives extra time to measure and analyze the incremental
traffic impacts, determine the proper amount of additional housing appropriate for later phases,
and assess the needed street and road improvements (e .g., access entrances onto Los Gatos
Boulevard). Therefore, instead of one huge Phase I, please demand smaller phases. To me and
many other residents, this is the most prudent, reasonable, and responsible approach .
4 . The proposal ignores key environmental elements of the initial specific plan.
a. The building heights and placements obstruct our view shed .
This building heights and short setbacks of the proposed development sign ificantly obstructs
the views of both the East San Jose foothills to the North and the Santa Cruz Mountains to
the South. This is obvious from the story poles.
b. The amount of open space is woefully inadequate.
For a project of this magnitude, I expected to find lots of "green", plus soccer fields,
children's play areas, and walking trails that might be enjoyed by the general public. Instead
I see only pavement for parking lots, sidewalks bordered with token landscaping, and some
private residential patios and balconies. The North 40 development must do better.
5. The project's overall density, design, and "attractiveness" are inconsistent with our Town's
unique character.
In my opinion, this is the primary reason I and so many Los Gatans oppose this development
proposal. The developer's renderings show closely spaced, multi-story buildings more typical of
San Jose, Campbell, and Cupertino, and not Los Gatos. Where in Los Gatos is there a
development that resembles this proposal? I feel, like many residents, that if built as proposed,
the project will be detrimental to the Town overall and negatively affect the current residents'
quality of life.
While I sincerely appreciate the time and efforts of all the council members, planning
commissioners, staff, and citizenry who participated in the North 40's early visioning and review
activities, I feel strongly that you should "go slow "with this project. Take your time to listen to the
public, articulate your thoughts, and guide the developer toward a more optimal solution. It's likely
to take multiple iterations and many months, but in the end it will be worth it. This is probably the
largest development opportunity ever in Los Gatos. Please don't rush this development. It's
imperative that we get it right.
Very truly yours,
Joanne Benjamin
109 Worcester Loop
Los Gatos, CA 95030
408-836-7266
Joanne.benjamin@verizon.net
From: Joanne Walsh <joannepwalsh@ gmail .com>
Date: March 29, 2016 at 1 :27:42 PM PDT
To: BSpector <bspec tor@ losgatosca.gov>
Subject: The North 40
Dear Ms Spector:
We have ljved in Los Gatos, on South Kennedy Road, for over 36 years, and we feel very
fortunate to have enjoyed the beautiful Town of Los Gatos. Therefore, we are concerned about
the proposed plans for the North 40, plans which will disastrously affect the streets and schools
on the Town's east side.
Los Gatos Boulevard is already subject to traffic jams, due to Highway 17 snarls and to the hours
of the three schools near it. The proposed housing plan that puts all the residences in the North
40 at the Lark Avenue end of the land really threatens to bring Los Gatos Boulevard to a
continual crawl.
In addition, the plan promises to overload our schools, which are currently jammed.
We know that the North 40 has to be developed, but the present plan has many faults. We have
understood over the years that the Town has desired to make Los Gatos Boulevard the "gateway"
to Los Gatos. However, as the story poles indicate, the buildings will come right up to the street
lines and block the views both into and out of Los Gatos. Rather than beautiful, the "gateway"
will be crowded, citified, and very busy.
Please demand that the developers respect the needs of Los Gatans for a graceful, beautiful
entryway to the Town, free of great traffic snarls and ugly sight-lines. And please study closely
the impact of the project on Lark-Los Gatos Blvd traffic.
The present plan is NOT the right plan.
Sincerely yours,
Hugh and Joanne Walsh
16301 South Kennedy Road
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hello Ms. Moseley,
Cheri Lozoya <clozoya@lgusd.k12.ca.us >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 3:20 PM
Marni Moseley
Stop and Rethink the
I am a teacher at Blossom Hill School and have lived and worked in this wonderful community of Los Gatos
for over 20 years.
I am frustrated and sad that our town council approved the North 40 Specific Plan in June 2015. The North 40
will have long term, negative effects on the town of Los Gatos, the roads, schools, traffic and most of all the
wonderful people who live here and call Los Gatos home.
I am asking you to rethink your position when you hear the first application tomorrow night on March 30 about
specific development. Please listen to the community and their expertise and knowledge about the negative
impact The North 40 will create. The North 40 Specific Plan approved by the Town Council i s the very
maximum that can be built on that site. The North 40 doesn't have to be built that way. The developer with the
current application has chosen what benefits him the most, not necessarily our town.
Please be mindful of all the people that live and work in Los Gatos who have been to meetings, wrote emails
and passed out flyers expressing their deepest concern of this development on our town when you make any and
all decisions going forward.
Thank you.
Cheri Lozoya
1
Marni Moseley
From:
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To:
Subject:
Marny,
Robert Gore <robertgore@aol.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 3:24 PM
Marni Moseley
Schools and North 40
There seems to be wide spread confusion regarding the North 40 proposals and its immediate and long term impacts on
the Los Gatos schools.
Should the North 40 properties create a few hundred new students, which is very likely, where are they going to attend
elementary, middle, and high school?
How much money will it cost to build the additional classrooms needed? I have heard the cost to do this could easily
exceed $50 million dollars, and this North 40 developer has offered to pay only $6 or $7 million? Is this acceptable to
anyone, other than the developer?
The elected officials of this town have a responsibility to the citizens that they are elected to serve, and to protect the
schools from irresponsible developing. NO approval of even a single building of North 40 should be allowed to proceed
unless the school situation is honestly and openly debated, with a realistic school impact report, using a realistic
estimate of the number of new students, and a realistic cost estimate to build more classrooms, in all grades, to educate
all of these new students.
Those in the 2016 planning department will be remembered, by name, for either doing the right thing now and pushing
back on irresponsible developing, or they will be remembered for doing the wrong thing and creating a decades long
mess that the town is left to clean up. Please be remembered for the former.
Robert Gore
Sent from my iPhone
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hi ,
Shannon Connelly <shannon@sancopipelines.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 3 :3 2 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I was born and raised in our beautiful small town of Los Gatos. I moved back "home" five years ago and I'm raising my
own family here . When I grew up our population was 20,000. I moved back to raise my family in this so called "small
town". Obviously our current population exceeded the 20,000 years back, but I beg you .... please do not let it grow
more!!! I am fearful we will lose our town .... The traffic and congestion is already horrible!!! I personally have been
terribly impacted by the Netflix addition and the new campus is not even open! Our streets, schools & current shop
owners can 't handle it.
Please, please, PLEASE DO NOT let North 40 happen!!!
Thank you,
Shannon Connelly
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
dancers2@aol.com
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 3:46 PM
Marni Moseley
RE : The discussion of a new development to be placed on the North 40 in Los Gatos by
the Planning Commission on March 30th, 2016
Dear Marni Mosely,
I have been a citizen in the Town of Los Gatos for over 45 years
and a native Californian born and raised in Saratoga growin g up
mainly in Cupertino and was
there when all the Apricot, Prune Orchards and Strawberry fields
started to disappear for the new tract homes around the mid
1950s. I even remember having a large Walnut ranch across the
street from where we lived being removed in the mid
1960s to make room for a new tract of homes,
next door to Garden Gate Village off Stelling Rd,
Cupertino. So I have seen plenty of ranch lands
be destroyed to make way for progress, but I
guess at that time it was a necessity, especially in
the 50s not being so long after WWII they needed
housing for the Gl's and their families. However,
today, I don't feel this is the case with the 40 acres
they intend to use for homes/business in our Town. We are so
overcrowded right now with people, automobiles and certainly
cannot afford to put forth more water for these new
residences and businesses. Due to the major
shortage of water we are constantly reminded
of... and which so many of us are trying hard to
1
conserve. How can the planning commission
even begin to address the possibility of adding
many new homes, more businesses (to take away
from the downtown Los Gatos businesses and the
other businesses on Los Gatos Blvd?).
We certainly don't need more traffic, anyone who ever drives on
some of our main streets in town from Los Gatos Blvd. to
Main St. to Santa Cruz Ave., to Saratoga-Los
Gatos Rd. can
tell you most weekdays from 8 am 7 p.m at night these roads are
always busy, and weekends are are even worse. So bringing in
more people is not the answer.
Please, if this 40 acres need to be re-developed keep a part of the
acreage for a heritage orchard and or some historical
buildings, a community school or community center could be in
addition, and leave the rest as open space.
Thank You.
Sincerely,
Adrienne Zimmerman
2
Marni Moseley
From:
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To:
Subject:
Ruth Seifert <rtsmlp58@me.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 3:49 PM
Marni Moseley
North Forty
My name is Ruth Seifert, I have lived in Los Gatos most of my life and worked hard to be able to make my home here for
my family. The small town feel and country charm was always apparent. Over building on the last forty acres of country
atmosphere does not serve the people of our lovely town. Please keep any development to the minimum allowed. We
already suffer from traffic problems daily in this area. My neighborhood, Live Oak Manner is quite close to the future
building site and I don't believe this plan will benefit the residents at my side of town .
Sincerely,
Ruth Seifert
Sent from my iPhone
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Hi Ms. Moseley,
Eddie McMorrow <emcmorrow@gmail.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 3:57 PM
Marni Moseley
Nadia Oskolkoff
North 40
I 'm writing to you so that I can express my opposition to the proposed project at North 40. I believe the story
poles show that the project is too tall and dense for our town.
As I drive home on state 17 towards Lark Ave our green mountain village town of Los Gatos will be obscured
by a too-tall development blocking the surrounding hillside. I don't think our town should follow similar
housing in San Jose, Sunnyvale and Milpitas which takes away the small town character we have come to love.
Please do not move forward with this project proposal.
Thank you
-Eddie McMorrow
16345 Los Gatos Blvd Unit 19
Los Gatos CA 95033
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hello Marni,
Linda Tasner-Rutt <troylindarutt@yahoo.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 3:59 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
It is incredibly discouraging to see the planned development with the Orange Poles on the North 40. One of
the reasons I pay a fortune to live in Los Gatos is due the great school ratings. I am already seeing over
crowding at Blossom Hill and Fisher.
There is not nearly enough highway lanes to provide for the congestion that will ensue. Lark is already jam
packed and on Fridays in the summer, it talces me 20 minutes to go 1/2 mile .
Is this the quality of life we want to pursue? Is this what you want to pursue?
Do we want to look like another cement city?
This is the last great undeveloped piece of land in Los Gatos and walnut orchard in the valley . What we do
need is more sports fields and green places for kids.
The impact on our town, our traffic, our environment, and our schools is monumental whether you live
directly in the neighborhood or not.
The density is unprecedented; the height blocks our views and creates a concrete barrier.
We as citizens of the town should maintain the beauty we live in and cherish. I hope that the town will
reconsider
No building should be driven by the town unless it is compliance with the State Housing Element Law or
some other component of the General Plan. How can we possibly think it is ok to count housing units toward
our allocation that don't fit the income distribution requirements?
I hope you will consider the people who live in and Love Los Gatos. Let's please keep this town special.
linda
1
M a rni M ose ley
From:
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Subject:
Hello Madam,
Randie Wann <miranda.wann@gmail.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 4:25 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I urge you and the others responsible to the citizens of Los Gatos to reconsider the current plans to develop the North
40.
At the least, traffic studies must be done to dertermine the impact of such a large development will have on an area that
already has terribly heavy traffic most of the day. Please consider that the value of the quality of life of those already
living in Los Gatos may outweigh the desire of developers to make more residences and commercial buildings.
Thank you for taking my concerns into consideration.
Randie Wann
Los Gatos resident who drives to De Anza Community College every day on the roads that will be negatively impacted by
increased traffic if the current plan to develop the North 40 passes.
Sent on the wings of doves
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Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Desiree Hedberg <desiree@uberink.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 4:30 PM
Marni Moseley
Impact of North 40 on Traffic
As a mountain resident, we're already struggling with the gobs of traffic on HWY 17, especially at the Lark and Santa
Cruz exits. It slows down every morning between the two exits on the way North, and is literally crawling for at least 2
hours in the evenings Southbound, not to mention on the weekends: it's nuts! I'm sure the new proposal is lovely, but
how does it impact traffic? And what plans does the developer have, or the Town Council have of mitigating the impact
on traffic? Hwy 17 just cannot take that many more people coming in and out.
Thank you,
Desiree Hedberg, M.A.
Outer Zayante Road, Los Gatos, CA 95033
1
Marni Moseley
From:
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To:
Subject:
Nancy Moss <nancy@qcamfg.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 4:37 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 opposition
Please vote NO on the development of the north 40 project.
1. A project of this magnitude does not look or feel like Los Gatos.
2. The gateway views to our town are completely obliterated.
3. We are already beyond gridlock on our streets.
4. We do not have the infrastructure to support the business and resident ial traffic for a project this big .
Thank you for your consideration,
Nancy Moss
21495 Aldercroft heights road
Los Gatos, CA
498.608.8851
Sent from my iPhone
1
M arni M oseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Jeff Okubo <jeffokubo@gmail.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 4:45 PM
Marni Moseley
Move non-sen ior housing to the north end of North 40
We have two kids at Van Meter. The school is already bursting at the seams . There i s no more room for more
kids at Van Meter, Fisher, or LGHS . There is no more room on LG Blvd for more cars. We're packed!
Can we force Grosvenor to build the non-senior housing on the North (non-LGUSD) side of the property? What
needs to happen to force this change in plans? How can the residents of Los Gatos help?
1
From: Van Le [vanle1 2003@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2016 4:56 PM
To: BSpector
Subject: North 40 project
Dear Mayor Barbara,
I am writing you this email because I am unable to make it to the hearing on Wednesday evening
re North 40 project development. I want to let you know that I am against this project. I believe
that the traffic in our small town is already congested and we do not need another 320 homes. I
believe that our class room size will not be able to take in more students.
Thank you and I appreciate all your help to not have North 40 project happen.
Van
16168 Blossom Hill Rd
Los Gatos
Sent from my iPhone
Marni Moseley
From:
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To:
Subject:
Dear Ms . Moseley,
Laurie Prestine <l prestine@yahoo.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 5:11 PM
Marni Moseley
Not approve -North 40 application
I would like to let the town of Los Gatos know that I do not approve of the current developer
application/proposal for the Los Gatos North 40.
In my opinion, the developer has not met with the approved guidelines set forth in the North 40 Specific
Plan.
My solution would be for the applicant to resubmit a proposal using the North 40 Specific Plan rules as a
guideline.
Best regards,
Laurie Prestine
25 year resident of Los Gatos/Monte Sereno
15300 Via Palomino
1
On Mar 29, 2016, at 5:20 PM, Babette Goldstein Ito <babettegoldstein@yahoo.com> wrote:
Our family has lived in Los Gatos for over 10 years and have children in Van Meter. We
own our property. Pis let your conscience guide you when thinking about the North 40. We
already cannot move more than 5 mph in Los Gatos during peak driving times. Our children
are in overcrowded classrooms as it is . We have to fund the school to keep decent
standards up . Life in Los Gatos has 100% changed in 10 years with all development and
traffic. Pis find it in your hearts to reduce the scale of this project.
The 320 living units will likely be ALL families w children and likely less people who will
contribute money to the school fund as we do. The traffic will be horrendous -worse than
now.
PLEASE reduce the scale of this program -put more green space in it, reduce the # of
units or give them a school of their own -this is really, really bad for the future of Los Gatos.
I am amazed it has gotten this far but underestimated power of developer money. PLEASE
scale it down and make it more in line w Los Gatos Town feel.
Babette and Doug Ito
Worcester Loop , Los Gatos
Mar ni Moseley
From:
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Subject:
Dear Ms. Moseley,
Jeff Des Jarlais <jeffdj@gmail.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 5:27 PM
Marni Moseley
Los Gatos res ident comments on North 40 Pending Plan Application
I would like to submit my comments on the pending applicati on for the North 40 Phase I (Specific Plan Phase I
Revised Plans as it is named on the Town's website), in advance of the Planning Commission's Special Meeting
on March 30.
I live in Los Gatos on Longridge Road near Hollycrest Drive, a few blocks from the North 40. I married into a
multi-generational Los Gatos family, and I share their concerns about two issues that this proposed development
will impact, primarily:
-the increase in traffic
-the increased burden on schools
In light of the Town Council Vision I Guiding Principle to "Minimize or mitigate impacts on the Town's
infrastructure, schools and other community services", I would like to ask that you and the Planning
Commission consider the impact that a development of this size will have on my famil y and all of our
nei ghbors. Therefore:
We ask that the overall size of the development be reduced in order to minimize the impact on traffic in th e
area and in our schools . B y reducing the size of the residential and commercial areas in the North 40 Phase I,
we can also add more trees and open space in the North 40, meeting another of the Town Council's guiding
principles.
Another guiding principle is to "look and feel" like Los Gatos. To that end, look at existing neighborhoods in
Los Gatos and count the number ofresidential units; the count in the North 40 should "look and feel " the
same. In our estimation, this application is far more dense than what the r est of Los Gatos looks and f eels like -
and with that would come a high cost in terms of traffic and impact on our schools.
Also, even though the residential units are designed to not have school-age occupants, we know that families
with children will move in. It's impossible to know how many will move in, so to best minimize the impact, the
number of residential units should be reduced.
Thank you,
Jeff Des Jarlais
1
Marni Moseley
From:
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Subject:
Dear Ms. Moseley,
Suzanne Seibert <sseibertl@mac.com >
Tuesday, March 29 , 2016 5:35 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
The proposal for the North 40 over development makes me sick to my stomach .
Reading through the EIR, it is obvious that the current residents of this section of Los Gatos are not being considered .
The impact report mitigations, resolutions and favorable findings are based upon studies that are years old.
Several concerns are stated to be mitigated by monetary restitutions, which will not resolve the original concerns or flat
out disregarded with the statement "the impact would be less than significant".
In reading the comments by Berliner and Cohen , I see that several of the conditions and requests of the city have been
disregarded, that they've requested the EIR be "updated" to accommodate the developer and the commission has
complied . These updates include several of the "mitigations" that would reduce environmental impact to "less than
significant", i.e. the additional traffic lanes, widening Burton Rd ., the length of the sound barrier, asking for taller
buildings (high density housing), the perimeter buffer (requested to be vegetative and declined by the builder), I could
site many more examples where the EIR was amended per the developer's interest and request.
This little corner of Los Gatos is already significantly over built and the town continues to allow more development. The
addition of the Netflix complex (Albright Way) has tripled the traffic on Winchester Blvd and Lark Ave (I know, I live
behind Courtside and experience the horrendous traffic every day). Adding 320 more families (x 2 commuters each) to
the already over capacity roads giving access to SR 85 and HWY 17, not to mention the workers commuting into the
435,000 sq ft . of reta i l space nor the shoppers that will be attracted to it, is cri mina l. Adding bike lanes and other TOM
suggestions will NOT mitigate the issue .
We don't need more housing and strip malls in this area, we don't need more traffic on Lark Ave. Just because this part
of Los Gatos isn 't downtown, doesn't mean the city shou ld continue to allow it to be destroyed in the name of the
almighty tax dollar!
Please, stop the madness!
Suzanne Seibert
Lancewood Place, Los Gatos
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Los Gatos Planner,
Vanja Josifovski <vanjajosifovski@gmail.com >
Tu es day, March 29, 2016 5:59 PM
Marni Moseley
opposition to the N40 development
I would like to express my strong opp osition to the N 40 development. The developer should include a school and a highway exi t at minimum
for such big development app roval.
Sincerely,
Vanja Josifovski
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Marni Moseley
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Marni:
arlene hamacher < arlenehamacher@gmail.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 6:14 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I do not envy your position! I am sure you are hearing at full roar the discontent and disapproval of the
proposed developers plan of North 40 from many i n town . Many, many years ago I went to a few
meetings on the proposal town plan and the North 40 was always something so far away.
Mike and I would like to express our disapproval of this proposed development. We have lived in Los
Gatos for over 27 years . We love our town, raised our children here and would love to stay here. While we
are not anti-growth, we certainly feel every spare piece of land has been bought up and allowed to be
developed. We did not settle here years ago so we cou ld live in a city, with city traffic, major parking
issues and noise. We, like hundreds of others loved the sense of community and the "get away from it all"
feel the town used to have . That feeling has rapidly diminished .
With development a forgone conclus ion, we would propose dialing this project way back. Parcel out
smaller pieces, see how the impact affects traffic and LG infrastructure. Without widening any roads how
can Lark Ave and Los Gatos Blvd. handle the possible 10,000 to 20,000 visitors this development could
attract if allowed to go forward? Add the impact of the new Netflix headquarters, Stanford and Sutter
Health and our roads will be more of a parking lot than it already are.
Does this project align w ith the general plan and guiding principles? I think not. How can a project this
size have minimal impact on the town infrastructure, schools and community services?
It seems impossible. Again , dial back the amount of retail allowed to be bui lt or better yet let's see who
wants to come in there. We certainly have enough grocery stores, restaurants, nail and hair salons. I
would not endorse a mini mall or a Santana Row . Too crowded and too noisy.
As far as the as the town's unmet residential and commercial needs? What is the determ i nation we lack
commercial space? Is there enough affordable housing? Why does all the housing appear to be in one
space? Is that so the other 369, 000 square feet can be developed into retail alone? Spread the housing
out. Sprinkle in retai l if it is absolutely necessary and make the housing so the elderly can afford them .
Increase the green space to a maxi mum allowance, not the minimum. Although the town does not run the
schools, insist a school be built on the property or property be found to build. Money offered to the district
coffers will not give the desperately needed space our children need .
Please pass along our strong disapproval of this proposed project, Marni.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Arlene and Michael Hamacher
16906 Mitchell Ave .
Los Gatos 95032
1
Arlene Hamacher Events
408-205-7954
2
Marni Moseley
Fro m :
Sent:
To:
Subj e ct:
Dear M . Moseley:
M Nicolai <mnicolai408@ g mail.com >
Tues d ay, March 29, 2016 6:31 PM
Marni Moseley
AGAINST North 40 Development Plan 2016
I have been a resident in Los Gatos since 2001 . It was a quaint and charming town with nice people who were
polite and civil.
Since Netflix has moved in and built that monstrosity and due to the face that they do not have immediate
freeway access to 85 , all traffic gets routed through town on Lark Avenue. They drive aggressively and it has
been a dangerous place for pedestrians to cross the street and children never mind the rudeness that comes with
peopl e frustrated by being in traffic.
Needless to say, Netflix only hires Asian and Indian imports on temporary visas and refuses to hire US citizens.
So the only jobs they have created thus far are foreigners seeking US residency. This in no way helps our
economy, our communities and local residents.
Offering housing to the foreigners who take away jobs from US citizens and California natives is offensive at
best. If Los Gatos Town Planning wants to preserve what little is left from our community, then allowing others
in who do not appreciate nor respect our community and do nothing to integrate into our way oflife, including
not even being able to speak English, will be the last nail in the coffin of American societies as we knew it.
The North 40 enormous development will not only ruin our town, but offers no jobs and increases more
congestion so we will never be able to access hwy's 1 7 nor 85 due the the bottleneck that we already face .
Compounded by the fact that on the weekends of HWY 17 to Santa Cruz, it's a mess and generally stopped both
on Saturday and Sunday for the beach goers.
I appreciate your attention to this matter and ask that you consider my vote as a NO to North 40 in Los Gatos.
With kind regards ,
Monique Nicolai
mnicolai408@gmail .com
1
M arn i M ose ley
From:
Sent :
To:
Subject:
Hello Ms. Moseley,
Susan Elletson Jamieson <susanelletson@gma i l.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 6:44 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I am writing to express my concern against the proposed North 40 project. Very simply put, our town, our residents, our
tax-paying citizens cannot and should not absorb the burden of additional traffic. We are currently so impacted, as
evidenced of the summer beach traffic, the numbers of crossing guards needed simply to get our children across the
street in the morning, the amount of time that it takes to drive across town -we are a bubble ready t o burst. Why push
the limits and create something that can not be undone? At what point does the town win, when it's residents have to
find alternate routes to travel to avoid an area that is already back-logged. Please consider these issues when evaluating
the North 40 proposal.
Kind regards,
Sue Jamieson
285 Marchmont Drive
Los Gatos, CA 95032
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Ms. Moseley,
amygibsonbooks@yahoo.com
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 6 :58 PM
Marni Moseley
Please reconsider the North 40 plan -reject as currently proposed
ram writing to express my utter dismay at the North 40 development project as proposed. Not o nly is it overly dense, not in keeping
with the character of the town, lacking in open space. and bound to vastly increase traffic and negatively impact town infrastructure ,
but the proposed project appears to adhere to non e of the g uiding principles the Town has l aid o ut:
The NortJ1 40 will look and feel like Los Gatos.
T he s to ry p o les s how an ent ir e ly differ ent s tory: a d e nse. three-sto ry wa ll of a tt ache d buildings, w ith ne ither cha nn no r adeq uate o pen
space. lfall the proposed ho us ing will be cra mmed into 22 ac res, ha lf th e p a rcel, th e d evelopment is far more d e nse than typi cal Los
Gatos neighborhood s.
The North 40 w ill embrace hillside views, trees and open space.
The three-story w a ll o f attach ed multiple-unit housing bl ock s s uc h views. The proposed proj ect preser ve s non e o f the heritage o rcha rd .
As our e le me ntary-a ged children learn o n sch ool field trips, Campbe ll's o rchards are gone forever , lost to d evelo pment; it would b e a
s hame no t to preserve e ven a s m a ll p ortion of Lo s Gatos hi sto ry, a neighb o ri ng Saratoga has d o ne .
T he North 40 will address the Town 's residential and/or commercial unmet needs.
As I understand it, it does nothing to alleviate the town 's burden of complying with the State Housi ng E lement Law regarding lower -
income ho using, unde r which the town is required to meet the following allocation of 6 19 ho mes:
• 20 I very lo w in c ome ho us ing (0 -50 % of a vera ge me di an in come (AMI))
• 11 2 low income ho us ing (50-80% o f AMI)
• 13 2 mode rate in come ho us i ng (8 1-120% of A MI)
• 174 ab ove rnoderat e income h ous ing (1 2 0 %+ of AM1 )
Since AMI in our regio n is$ I 0 4 ,000, a nd no dwe lling in th e d evelo pme nt is a ffordable to res ide nts w ith inc o mes less th a n 120% o f
AMI, th e proposed m ere ly proj ect s erves to e nri c h the developers at th e exp e nse o f the Town . (M y thanks to Tim Cane pa o f the Los
G at os M a in neigh bo rh ood fo r providing these number~.)
If affo rd a bl e hous ing proj ec ts are required , th e T own s ho uld lo ok into the attracti ve , tho ughtfull y-des ig ned inter-ge ne ratio nal
commu nities b e ing created b y Mid Pe n Ho us ing, wh ic h are an asset to the urro unding ne ig hbo rh oods. Attractively-desig ned seni o r
ho us in g . built around o pe n green s p ace, is a felt n eed in o ur conun unity.
The North 40 will minimize or mitigate impacts on town infrastructure, schools, and other community s ervices.
Any 2 -3 bedroo m units are bound to attra ct fam ilies to the L os Gato U nion chool D i trict, whi c h is stre rc h ed to capacity. As it is.
La rk Ave. a nd Lo Gatos Bl vd . a re already g ridlocked at key times of day. T he add ition o f 270-320 ho us in g un its (onl y SO of w hi ch
1
are afforda ble seni or ho usi ng) wi ll make th e one-lane route down Los Gatos Blvd. to th e high schoo l next to impossib le to navigate .
Found ed in th e 1800s, ou r to wn does not ha ve an adequ ate transportati on infras trn c ture to s uppo rt it s current res id ents during the
school year. And in th e s ummer mo nths, we have seen how beach tra ffi c routed thro ugh town c reates a dan gero us and un te nable
s ituation, where resi dent s a nd e mergency ve hi cles canno t reach downtown ne ighborh oods. T he pro po ed project wo ul d c rea te a
s imil ar tra ffi c ni ghtma re year-round.
As 1 see it, th e c urre nt projec t m ee ts next to none o f th e Town's requ ire me nts, whi le creatin g unre lenting tra ffi c and mass ive lo ng-
te nn proble ms. 1 reali ze how di fficult reaching a n agreeme nt mus t be, bu t th e proj ect ai; proposed is a d isaster in the making,
d estroying qua lity of life i n Los G atos for genera ti o ns to come. T hi s is a once-in-a-life time d evelo pm ent wi thin the T own of Los
Ga tos. For th e sake of o ur sc hools , o ur famil ies, a nd our seni ors, it is cr iti cal we get it rig ht.
S incere ly,
Amy G ibson
By Day, by Night
A 20 1 5 Bank Street of Education Best Books of Year selecti on
All a uthor proceeds b en efit T he Gl obal Orphan Proj ect
2
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Aaron Lepold <alepold@gmail.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 7:05 PM
Marni Moseley
Council
North 40 concerns
We've recently reviewed the plans and other material posted at losgatosnorth40.com and have some concerns that we
think are relevant to the discussions taking place at the planning commission and city council.
Our concerns center on the impact of this massive development, which is out of character with the lower density,
suburban atmosphere which has made our town such a desirable place to live. Zoning regulations exist to protect quality
of life in the surrounding neighborhoods and the agricultural zoning on the Yuki property has had minimal impact. As part
of the plan to rezone this parcel into residential and commercial, it is unclear to us how the likely impact is going to be
mitigated .
Our schools are already at capacity and the influx of several hundred new students from the 270-365 housing units will
exacerbate the problem, especially with many traveling down an already congested Los Gatos Blvd to and from existing
schools. We read the developer's assertion that these residential units will not attract families with school age children,
but we find this claim ridiculous . Many people already do and will live in a two bedroom unit both for affordability reasons
and in order to get their children into Los Gatos schools.
Traffic congestion is another factor. Both Los Gatos Blvd and Lark Avenue are already gridlocked at various times of the
day and the addition of hundreds of cars belonging to new residents and commercial customers coming from and going to
this small corner of our town will make an unpleasant situation wors~.
In summary, we believe that the infrastructure required to support a project of this scope is not adequately reflected in the
current plan and the imagined impact and mitigation is currently being minimized by the developers for obvious
reasons. We understand that the town general plan allows for some development to take place in the North Forty, but we
request that the planning commission and town council take a closer, more realistic view of this ambitious project and
scale it down to supportable proportions. We need lower density and more green space that is more in character with the
surrounding area. In addition, the developers need to bear the cost of any infrastructure required for the long term viability
of this project that maintains our quality of life. Once built, this project cannot be undone.
Please help us to preserve the charm and beauty of our town.
Sincerely,
Robin and Aaron Lepold
116 Calfhill Court, Los Gatos
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
Georgia Crowder <gcrowder12@yahoo.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 7:06 PM
To: Marni Moseley
Subject: North 40 Project
To Marni Moseley & Planning Commission Members,
I'm sorry that I cannot attend the meeting Wednesday night. I had an opportunity to view the project & meet with
Developers from SummerHill Homes on a Thursday morning. They answered all of our questions & openness to the
public is appreciated.
I agree with the plan for 60 under market value homes for seniors. I understand that this is a state mandate & needs to
progress as soon as possible . "The Market" sounds like a creative idea too
My major concern is the remaining 260
Housing units.
1. Traffic congestion : It appears that there are only two access points to enter & exit the entire development. One on
Los Gatos Blvd. entering the Market. The other entrance on Lark Avenue, i s a much bigger problem.
The traffic between LG Blvd . and Winchester Blvd. and access to Hwy. 17 off ramp will be Impossible . It's already slow .
2. School overcrowding & added traffic since a school is not included in the plan.
I understand that the developers are not responsible for building a school on this site .
Further, I understand that they donated
12 million dollars to the Town. Perhaps to use toward building a school?? Apparently it can be used for any purpose, not
necessarily at the North 40 project. I understand that there are two school districts involved, and the town is
responsible for resolving this issue.
So, my concern is that infrastructure, Traffic,
Lark Ave . issues, school issues .... Are all details that need to be resolved before the project can be a success . I realize
that this plan has been on t h e table for ye ars and yet glaring problems are not resolved.
My suggestion is that you build the 60 units for low income seniors & build the Market complex. And stop & resolve
these issues befo re moving forward on he remaining 260 units Thank you Mrs Georgia Crowder Los Gatos resident since
1971.
Sent from my iPhone
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
C. Mcintyre <cmcmcintyre@yahoo.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 7:12 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
As residents of Los Gatos, we would like to strongly urge those of you who have the future of our town in your hands to please take your
responsibility seriously. The North 40 Specific Plan as represented by the story poles and the developer's model clearly do not adhere to your
4 Guiding Principles . Please DO NOT approve.
!. The density of the project in no way feels like Los Gatos. It is massive and overbuilt and d oes not represent the feel of o ur town. Traffic
problems on Los Gatos Blvd . and Lark Avenue exist now, a huge safety issue for our fire, police & emergency services without the addition of
the density of this proposed plan.
2. The project Is a far crv from embracing hillside views and open space. What other area in Los Gatos does this complement? Densely built
three story buildings and far too little open space, not ok.
3. The Town's residential & commercial unmet needs are overstated in this first portion of the project. Do not build to what has been deemed
as maximum "needs".
4. Does this North 40 plan minimize or mitigate impacts on town infrastructure, schools, and community services? More people to serve. How
can our Town & our schools be capable of handling extreme growth with the recent & pending projects? Too many housing units here and
why all on this portion of North 40?
We have supported and loved this town for over 40 years and would like to know that future plans take into consideration the best of decisions
for Los Gatos residents and f uture generations to come. This plan is not it.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Carolyn & Phil Mcintyre
March 29, 2016
1
Marni Mose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Chris <cspotterS@hotmail.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 7:14 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Plan and excess housing development within the LG School District
I am writing to voice my opposition in the strongest manner to the North 40 plan for overbuilding of
residential housing units within the LG School District side. It unfair and unjust to expect the LG School
District to take all these new students who will move into North 40 housing. This will result in overcrowded
classrooms in the LG schools and further compromise our public education in the Town . Despite the extra
donations we've made to the public schools, we have seen our children's experience at Fisher MS and LGHS
suffer in quality already due to extra housing developed on Los Gatos Blvd, and our students now deserve
better.
If any plan goes forward to overbuild residential housing units within the LG School District North 40 side, we
will stage protests at the building site, write letters to the local biogs and newspapers, and stop supporting
anyone now on the Planning Commission and Town Council.
Sincerely -Christopher Potter, 20 year resident at 33 Tait Ave, Los Gatos
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
Tina Goodman <tinagoodman@me.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 7:15 PM
To: Marni Moseley
Subject: North 40 project
Dear Ms. or Mr. Mosley,
Is there a way the town of Los Gatos or the land owner can sell or donate the fruit trees ??
Here are 2 links. The first one is a video, the second one is the website.
https://www.facebook.com/toolito .fr/videos/l 138941066127812/
http://dutchmantruckspade.com/
Thank yo u ,
Tina
Thumbs flying over my iPhone.
Please excuse auto corrections and typos ! !
l
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Becky Yoder <becky_SS@yahoo.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 7:19 PM
Marni Moseley
Outraged by the North40 proposal
I am outraged by what I am seeing among that sea of poles and orange netting on the North 40
property. The traffic in Los Gatos is already horrendous . Traffic on Highway 17 going both ways
through Los Gatos is just about unbearable as it is. The numbers from the "traffic study" is a joke.
I've lived in Los Gatos my entire 60 years and it is heartbreaking to see what has happened to Los
Gatos. This plan will be the final nail in the coffin of the death of Los Gatos as a beautiful, delightful
town. It's a ruined mess and is only getting worse .
Becky Yoder
Los Gatos, CA
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject
Barry Phillips <barryphillips07@gmail.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 7:47 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
My name is Barry Phillips. I live at 120 Amanda Lane in Los Gatos. This is a letter of opposition to the
proposed plan for the North 40 as the plan does not adhere to the four guiding principles:
1. The North 40 will look and feel like Los Gatos.
It looks like nothing in Los Gatos, especially in East Los Gatos where it is. It looks like Santana Row. It is
almost as bad as the recent application where Artisan Wine Depot is located .
I was forced to have my house design approved when we remodeled as were many people in the
town. Everyone had to abide by making their homes fit in. How come there is even a consideration for anyone
not to have to also abide?
2. The North 40 will embrace hillside views, trees, and open space.
Really? It is the exact opposite of this. It is a Santana Row part 2, not anything like Los Gatos, Palo Alto, Los
Altos, etc.
3. The North 40 will address the Town's residential and/or commercial unmet needs.
Our schools are busting at the seams. How does this fit the residential needs? You already approved the area
where Philz is located which was formerly commercial and someone slipped in too many houses. Plus there are
the other new housing areas along Los Gatos Blvd. Why do we need more residences when no new schools
where included with the approval of these housing projects? As far as commercial, why don't we use all the
empty space along Los Gatos Blvd where we would actually get some tax revenue?
4 . The North 40 will minimize or mitigate impacts on town infrastructure, schools, and other community
services.
This is the absolute biggest joke of all. You have already approved way too much housing for our schools. Our
school district is what keeps out housing prices up. This will kill the housing prices of everyone in Los Gatos.
Why are all the housing units in the LG school district and all the revenue producing businesses not in Los
Gatos? This is the absolute opposite of what is best for Los Gatos.
We cannot expand out schools any more. We need new schools. Why don't you approve a charter school for
this area? The worst part of this is to propose a senior center to try and influence that population. Its
despicable.
As a Naval Academy graduate and veteran, I swore to protect my country and I did. You all wanted the roles
you are in and you should be protecting this down. Please do not let the town of Los Gatos down .
Thank you for your time.
1
Marni M ose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
March 29, 2016
Eileen Werner <ewerner4@gmail.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 7:58 PM
Marni Moseley
N. 40 Development in Los Gatos
Att: Los Gatos Planning Commission Members
Los Gatos Town Council Members
c/o Marni Moseley
Re: N. 40 Development
I am writing to recommend the following implementation for the N. 40 Specific Plan:
1) Reduce the housing footprint at the N. 40 but increase the commercial space . The Town of Los Gatos will benefit
from commercial space whereas the housing element will further exacerbate the Los Gatos school system with
increasing student enrollment AND congestion/traffic. The quid pro quo approach whereby the developer purchases
two acres in Los Gatos for an elementary school in exchange for maximum housing numbers is a failed proposition;
there is no adequate space in which to build an elementary school.
2) Create an actual transportation plan inside the N. 40 that isn't just for vehicles but addresses moving people away
from their vehicles and into alternative transportation. Widening Los Gatos Blvd . is not a transportation plan .
3) Build a pedestrian bridge to actually connect the Town of Los Gatos to roads and bike paths. Lark Avenue is wholly
unrealistic to move people besides vehicles.
4) Reduce the size and scope of the development. The existi ng story poles with orange netting are a Behemoth to Los
Gatos, not a Gateway to Los Gatos .
Thank you .
Eileen Werner
Resident of Los Gatos
1
M arni M oseley
From:
Sent:
To :
Subject:
Marni,
Jennifer jones <Jen2005@verizon.net >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 8:05 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I wa s born and raised in Lo s Gatos and so I have been here for 44 years along with my parents. We had a family owned
health food store that is now a bicycle shop and we have seen this town change a lot throughout the years and my
family and I do not want to see the North 40 get approved . The traffic congestion is horrible as is and adding that many
more people and bus i nesse s to our small quaint town is going to cause huge issues. Our streets and freeway j u st can 't
accommodate this. It will be a huge mistake.
Please, don't approve this. My mom doesn't have email so please consider this 2 votes NO .
Thank you,
Je nnifer Jones
Sent from my iPad
l
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
captsteven@aol.com
Tuesday, March 29 , 2016 8:18 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 proposal
I am writing in response to the proposed North 40 plan. The current plan does not fit into the needs of the Town for the
following reasons.
1. The amount of residential units is to large. The town services are all ready stretched and adding this many homes
further stretches these resources (streets, fire response , police, schools, ETC.)
2 . The area around this proposed development is already jammed with traffic during peak traffic hours. Adding an
additional 300+ cars is insane.
3. Why is the town of Los Gatos want to become another "big city" with high density housing units?
4. Please make the developer put a school on this development if they want to help with the schools. There proposing to
donate 2 acres for a school is not obtainable.
This developer will build this massive project, collect there money, and leave this collection of buildings for us to look
at for 50+ years. Please reduce its footprint !
Thank you ,
Steven Werner
Town Resident
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Jenelle Phillips <jenellep.email@gmail.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 8:23 PM
Marni Moseley
The North 40 -Pis protect us
My name is Jenelle Phillips. I live at J 20 Amanda Lane in Los Gatos. I will not be able to be at the meeting tomorrow night, so
wanted to send in my opinion, which is whatever is approved should fit in with the guiding principles.
1. The North 40 will look and feel like Los Gatos.
The current model and story poles do not look anything like Los Gatos. Drive down any street with houses in Los Gatos and that is
what this should look like. It should not look like Santana Row. Every remodel in the town has been forced to look like Los
Gatos. Every new housing project should also follow the same rules, even if it means less money for the developers as they cannot
cram as many homes into one area that would make them maximum profit.
2. The North 40 will embrace hillside views, trees, and open space.
Once again, it looks like Santana Row, not any location in East Los Gatos
3. The North 40 will address the Town's residential and/or commercial unmet needs .
We have plenty of housing with what has already been approved. We are lacking in the school space to support the everything that
has been built. There should no other housing projects approved until new schools are built
4 . The North 40 will minimize or mitigate impacts on town infrastructure, schools, and other community services.
Our schools and roads cannot take as much housing as the developer wants to cram in there . All the residential in the North 40 should
not be on the LGUSD side and all the revenue producing commercial should not be outside Los Gatos. It is the worst possible
situation for our town.
Please protect our schools, our housing prices, and our town. Don't protect the developers and make them rich at the expense of all of
u s.
Thank you for your time.
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
NO NO NO!!!
Sent from my iPhone
Louise Nemirov <louisenemirov@yahoo.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 8:24 PM
Marni Moseley
Los Gatos North 40
1
M arni M ose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Maureen Hardiman < maureenhardiman@yahoo.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 8:29 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I am a 30 year LG resident and have seen our beautiful town become like most others .... A good thing going, going .... but
hopefully not gone yet. I live a stone 's throw from lg Blvd and the corridor that runs by the north 40. It is a traffic
nightmare ... We all get nowhere in a hurry. Approving the requested housing development/shopping would be a sin .
How about a beautiful open park or commun ity center -someplace for teens? Los Gatos is so beautiful ... We are ruining
it one development at a time ... Let's put the brakes on , PLEASE ..
Thank you for representing the interests of your towns people.
Respectfully,
Maureen Hardiman
149 Hollycrest Drive
Sent from my iPhone
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Marni Moseley
From:
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Subject:
To whom it may concern :
Jamie Furnia <jamie.fumia@gmail.com>
Tuesday , March 29 , 2016 8 :30 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 proposal
I am writing today because I am very upset/confused by the current proposal for the north 40.
I g r ew up in Los Gatos, went to van meter, fisher and graduated from Los Gatos high in 1995. After college and living in
San Francisco for over 12 years, my husband and I decided to move back 3 years ago with our two small children. While
we loved living in San Franc isco we found ourselves missing the quaint, kind, peaceful life we both were given growing
up in Los Gatos. Our families are still here and the idea that we co uld raise our kids here, surrounded by family, strong
schools and such a great community was a no brainier.
And I am not going to lie , it's been wonderful. I'm proud to be born and raised here, even though it has changed. My kids
are happy and moving has been everything we could have asked for. BUT, I will say over the last year or so I find myself
constantly frustrated by the traffic in thi s town . I live off of college ave and it takes me 20-25 minutes to drive my son to
van meter in the morning. A drive that normally takes 5. I also cannot leave my house most weekends during the
summer because I can 't get home. The traffic is literally stopped from college all the way to blossom hill road . So yes I
can get to the grocery store but I can't get home. My parents who live by whole foods literally can't come to my house.
Everywhere I look plots of land are being developed, four houses crammed into a space that should be one . That is
i nsane II!
When we moved back I immediately started hearing rumblings of the North 40. Yes it was a long time coming, yes it's
annoying that people are complaining now when it's been going on for years but for me it was new .... and I just don't
understand . I'm not naive, I know that while yes it would be gorgeous to keep an orchard there and not build a thing on
it, its that's not the time we are in. It will be developed and I get that. What I don't get is why on earth is the town ok
with over 300 homes being built on the Los Gatos side. Why? Why not half on Los Gatos half on Campbell? Why high
density? Why does it sound like a good idea to build an insane amount of retail and housing in a spot that already is a
traffic disaster. And by adding all of this retail aren't we in reality just going to up the amount of housing the government
i s going to require us to provide. I was told the state has mandated LG to add 600 homes to meet job to housing ratios.
So do these 300 houses even count if we 're in fact adding more jobs. I'd like to trust the town and the people who have
worked so hard for years to get this development thru but my gut does not understand. When I first saw the poles I felt
sick . Like how is this happening and why?? Isn't there a way to develop in a smaller way, high quality not high density???
My number one concern at this moment, while maybe selfish, is schools. While our schools are great, they are impacted
and it's near impossible to imagine them taking on any more without flailing. And I keep hearing that the north 40 is not
housing for families it's for retired people and young people so it won't really effect schools but that's not reality. Reality
i s that families will live wherever if it means getti ng their kids into good schools. And I get that, I have kids and if needed
I'd do it.
I guess in th is moment I'm just hoping for intelligent, thoughtful decisions by the town council. Don 't ruin this town . I get
the need for development, revenue for the town etc. But isn't there a better way? Isn 't there a compromise? I'm scared
that if this is done wrong there is no turning back.
I am planning on attending the meeting tomorrow and simply hoping to come away with a better understanding. Maybe
I'm missing something, but right now I honestly don't get how anyone is okay with the current plan.
1
Thank you for your time!
Jam i e Furnia
Sent from my iPhone
2
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Laura Rodriguez <lauraj.rodriguez@gmail.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 8:33 PM
Marni Moseley
No North 40
Please no North 40. This is my official vote in hope of no North 40.
Thank you,
~Laura
Sent from my iPhone
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Jennifer Lambert <jen.lambert@me.com >
Tuesday, March 29 , 2016 8:48 PM
Marni Moseley
No to North 40
Please don't allow the "North 40 project" to come in and change the landscape of our little town. We live in Los Gatos
because it's a charming town and it is already over-populated and incredibly busy. Have you tried driving down Santa
Cruz Avenue at Barn lately? Have you been on Los Gatos-Saratoga Road at Spm?
The horrendous orange story poles outline a major change in our community for the worse. Have you driven on highway
17 to see what it looks like? I can't believe i t .
I have lived here for 16 years and have enjoyed the sweet pace of this town. I'm afraid adding that type of project to the
Boulevard is going to be a destructive move for our community. Please don't succumb to bully developers. Stand up for
the town. Stand up for the community you're meant to protect. Believe in it.
Thank you!
-Jennifer Lambert
Mom to two young children whom I hope can appreciate the small town feel for an infinite amount of years to come ...
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Ms. Moseley,
Monica < moenonoke@yahoo.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 8:49 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I am unable to attend the meeting tomorrow but wanted to voice a few of my concerns
about the North 40 project. I 've read information on the North 40 website and find it
extremely hard t o believe that the impact on the Los Gatos schools will be "minimal". We all
know that the number one reason families move to Los Gatos is because of the schools.
Even if the houses are 1 or 2 bedrooms (and I know there will be some 3 bedroom
residences as well), families will flock there just for the schools. There needs to be another
school built, our classrooms are already getting larger and larger each school year. I see the
impact of it on the teachers and of course, on the students as well. I'm speaking as a
mother of 2 children that attend Blossom Hill Elementary. The second concern is traffic. We
live at the end of Oka Rd. Already, if we have to go somewhere during the evening
commute, we are waiting on Oka Rd to turn on to Lark Ave at LEAST 4-5 light cycles. Even
when the light is green, the traffic is so backed up on Lark, there is nowhere to go. Also, it's
not a matter of if but WHEN t here is a significant earthquake, there is only one way out of
Oka Rd. When there is an emergency or an evacuation, I cannot imagine the panic and
chaos that will ensue from people trying to get out of our little neighborhood. I hope you
will consider these points and talk more with the community at length about this. The
whole idea of it is extremely troubling for me and reeks of greed with no concern to the
people that have been living here for y ears and years. Thank you for your time .
Monica Park
16431 Mozart Way
Los Gatos, CA 95032
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
RON CANARIO <racanario@sbcglobal.net>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 8:59 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
Hi Marni -1 have a few questions regarding the Los Gatos North Forty. I have called you a few times in the past week, but we
seem to be playing phone tag, so let me try to ask my questions by email.
ls the maximum height of the buildings 3 stories?
The :fluorescent mesh on the landscape indicates the height of the structures. Did the developer erect the mesh voluntarily, or
was it required by the City of Los Gatos?
I live in San Jose; the city officials here have a VERY high priority to increase housing density in the area to meet the expected
needs of the future. The characteristics of one and two story quiet residential neighborhoods, which lie adjacent to urban village
developments, are being radically changed by the massive structures being proposed there. I believe (if l 'm not mistaken) that
the density in Saratoga has been fairly constant over the preceding decades, and probably will remain so in the future. I was
wondering if you could give me some idea how Los Gatos City officials plan to address the population increase expected in the
Bay Area. I am considering moving to a city with a less crowded environment.
Thanks, 1 appreciate your time,
Ron Canario
racanario@sbcglobal.net
1
M arni M oseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc :
Subject:
Hello Ms. Moseley,
Paul Papageorge <paulpapa@me.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 9:10 PM
Marni Moseley
Tiffany Papageorge
Against the North 40 development
I'm a resident of Los Gatos livi ng on Kennedy Rd with my wife and three children.
I want to make sure I contacted you ahead of tomo r row's Planning Commission Meeting and let you know that I am
against the proposed developer's plan for the Los Gatos North 40.
This plan will negatively impact Los Gatos in many ways:
1. Traffic congestion nightmare. This is already a problem . This development would make it unbearable.
2. Class sizes in our schools . We pay a lot in property tax to be in this school distr ict and to have the class sizes we have.
This will make it much worse 3. Negative impact to v iews. The view driving into Los Gatos will be ruined.
4 . Los Gatos is blessed with a beautiful downtown . Towns without such beautiful downtowns have to try to create a
downtown-like hub to compensate-by building such a deve lopment. Th is plan is i ncompatible with the very strength of
Los Gatos and what we love about our town.
5. Height and density of the development seems to me to be unprecedented and unacceptable .
If this is approved, I will do everything I ca n do to get every city official voted out of office. This p la n is the wrong plan for
Los Gatos. Please do not support it .
Thank you for listening.
Paul Papageorge
408-656-5119
1
M arni M ose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Jolie Veltmann <jlv@veltmannlawgroup.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 9:13 PM
Marni Moseley; DSparrer@community-newpaper.com; letters@mercurynews.com
opposition to North 40
I am a resident of Los Gatos, (LG"), and I live at 403 Los Gatos Boulevard . I suffer the traffic nightmare everyday on Los
Gatos Boulevard ("LGB") from Lark to downtown Los Gatos . On more than one occasion, I have called the city while
sitting in bumper to bumper traffic at a virtual standstill. It can take Yi hour to travel a few blocks. When calling the
city, I was never able to talk to a person who has any interest or responsibility regarding traffic. I have left my name , but
have never received a return phone call from anyone. '
To add to the traffic congestion, recently beach traffic has been routed through LG by the popular GPS app WAZE . The
city has been unsuccessful in resolving this traffic issue and actually put up an unattractive sign reading, "Beach traffic
should use the freeway." This, of course , could never be enforced, and it was ignored by beach going drivers. To my
knowledge, no further efforts have been taken by the city to resolve this traffic issue.
LG is a small older town with a small older town infrastructure. For example, in some places, LGB is a one lane road
each way that cannot be expended to more lanes. In fact, it was just recently that the city narrowed parts of LGB from
two lanes each way to one . This bottleneck phenomenon has exacerbated our already extreme traffic jams. Either
the city experts could not forecast that this would occur, or they did not care about the inconvenience that all residents
living in LG now experience . LG's infrastructure cannot withstand the development proposed by North 40.
It is inherently unfair for the developer to take advantage and the city to approve development of the natural acreage at
issue . There is no way for the city and its residents to recoup what would be given up. There is no way that in exchange
for giving up this open orchard space that the developer can help improve the traffic congestion. The developer gets it
all. The Planning Commission must consider the best interests of the residents of LG -not the best interest of the
developer. There should be no reason the planning commiss ion would approve the urban sprawl and the next link this
development adds in a march toward meeting San Jose .
Jolie Veltmann
Veltmann Law Group
j lv@veltmannlawgroup.com
(619) 885.7385 (cell)
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Jilllan Ramsey <jillianrenae2@icloud.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 9:18 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I am writing regarding the development of the North forty.
Three generations of my family have grown up in Los Gatos. It was such a lovely place to grow up for all of us. We have
all since moved out of Los Gatos as it has become more and more crowded, and traffic became worse .
I have to say, I am sad for the residents that will be around to see this development happen. Los Gatos residents are
already overcrowded .
I am also a former resident of Bennett way located in the North forty. Leaving my street and pulling onto Los Gatos
Blvd. was always very challenging. Even before development that stretch of Los Gatos Blvd. has too much traffic. I can
only imagine what it will be like with any homes and businesses added to that section.
In the end, I would really like to see Los Gatos take care of the residents it already has rather than meet the needs of
residents it doesn't have yet. I hope you will listen to and give careful consideration to what the current residence are
asking for.
Thanks for your time.
Warmly,
Jill Seabock
Sent from my iPhone
1
On Mar 29, 2016, at 9:23 PM, Tamara Bodner <tbodner@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Vice-Mayor Marico-
My name is Tamara Bodner and I am a resident of the town of Los Gatos. My sons are 10 and 8
and attend Blossom Hill. I am writing to you to please not a approve the North 40. Some of my
reasons include but are not limited to th issues surrounding the increase in traffic not only around
the proposed area but all the entrances to Los Gatos. It is already a challenge with the beach
traffic on weekends and 85 during the week. I do not want to imagine what a project this size
will do. Our family in Los Altos already refuses to meet us in Los Gatos for dinner because of
the bottlenecks to our home. Second our schools. Fisher Jr and Los Gatos are already huge! The
campuses can nQt support more children nor can the roads to get to the schools. With so many
new homes, the increase in students only will add to the competitiveness for sports, music and
classes. Our high school will become like a college. Lastly, we move to Los Gatos for its small
town feel. This project will make LG an extension of San Jose. Not exactly why people move
here. We are already difficult to commute to and from, this project will only make our town less
attractive for well paid executives.
Thanks,
Tamara
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Dear Ms. Moseley,
Brooks Allen < brooks.allen@stanfordalumni.org >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 9:57 PM
Marni Moseley
roneeta_guha@yahoo .com
North 40 Development
My family and I live at 108 Arroyo Grande Way, just off of Lark Avenue, in Los Gatos. We have been residents of the
town since 2003. Our two children attend Blossom Hill Elementary School. I'm writing this evening because as much as
we have been hesitant to engage in the contentious debates around the North 40 development, after studying the
issues and proposal, we have grown very concerned . Unfortunately, due to work commitments, we cannot attend the
meeting tomorrow night.
We strongly urge town staff, the Planning Commission and the City Council to require developers to adopt a phased
approach that appropriately adheres to the Specific Plan .
With r egard to the requirements of the Specific Plan, the story poles clearly demonstrate that the proposed
development would not embrace hillside v i ews, trees, and open space . Moreover, the proposal does not m i tigate or
minimize impacts on town infrastructure and schools. Speaking as someone who faces very dangerous situations and
unrelenting traffic when turning onto and off of Lark Avenue every day, the traffic plans appear inadequate . We need
mitigation measures to address current conditions. Expansion that will bring substantial n umbers of new drivers will
make the dangerous situation even worse. Finally, based on my experience as a parent and having served on the school
district's facilities p lanning committee, I can attest to the fact that our schools are al ready very crowded, with extremely
limited options for new construction. New students will not bring add itional funding to the schools because we are a
basic aid district. Despite any history, the fact is that at this point, any development proposal that includes hundreds of
new homes without providing land and funding for constructing a new school cannot be said to mitigate or minimize
i mpacts on schools i n Los Gatos Union Schoo l District.
In my caree r, I have served as an assistant city attorney, and I empathize with the situation you and town staff are in.
Please ensure that the developers adhere to the Specific Plan and appropriately min i mize and mitigate the impacts on
our roads, t raffic, views, and most important ly, our schools and children .
Thank you for your service.
Sincerely,
Brooks Allen
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Marni,
Sbrady6000 <sbrady6000@aol.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 9:59 PM
Marn i Moseley
North 40
I am a third generation Los Gatos resident. My children are the third generation to graduate from Los Gatos Schools and
may or may not be the forth generation to call Los Gatos their home in adulthood. I have seen this town grow to a point
where it has lost a good deal of its charm to development, overcrowding, traffic and I get it. More and more people wish to
move to the Bay Area and there is more pressure on politicians to allow high density growth. The recent development at
Los Gatos Boulevard and Roberts Road is an example of that and it has added to traffic and to our already over crowded
schools . Now there is a similar development being planned across the street at Shannon Road and most assuredly with
the same outcome, more traffic and an additional burden on our schools. I'll bet there are studies that indicate the
development at Los Gatos Boulevard and Shannon Road will not impact traffic or our schools but we all know better.
I know the owner of the North 40 property wants to make money through the sale of the property and the developer wants
to make as much money as possible by seeking the highest density and the most commercial space. I'm sure the
developer will show studies that have been performed demonstrating that the area can handle the proposed growth and
their planned improvements will mitigate traffic problems and school overcrowding but again, we all know better. I urge the
Town Council Members and the Los Gatos Planning Commission to do what is right for the Town of Los Gatos. Do not put
money in the hands of a few by allowing the North 40 to be populated with high density housing and commercial
development that will surely have a negative impact on our town infrastructure, schools, community services and most
importantly the character of the Town of Los Gatos.
Thank you ,
Scott and Vasyla Brady
16780 Chirco Drive
Los Gatos, CA 95032
1
Marni Mosel ey
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hello Marni1
Vi Nguyen <vi07nguyen@gmail.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 10:06 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I'd like to let you know that I oppose the plan of North 40 that will attract more traffic in our neighborhood .
Furthermore, Los Gatos has the natural beauty of orchard and green belt area . So, if the developer wants to build
residential apartments along Los Gatos Blvd and Lark, it will degrade of its inheritance beauty.
Last summer 2015, lots of traffic came to LG Blvd for Santa Cruz; and if the North 40 is approved, it will make it worse!
I hope you will help us to stop this project and protect our natural beauty Los Gatos .
Yours sincerely,
Victoria Nguyen
Sent from my iPad
1
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I ntentional/y
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Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Amy Despars <amydespars@hotmail.com>
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 10:25 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40
To the Members of the Town of Los Gatos Planning Commission,
I am writing to you because you are the stewards of our wonderful town. You hold the future of our
charming town in the palms of your hands. You can either keep Los Gatos wonderful, charming, historic,
family friendly-a true community. A place where people will want to come and retire or come and raise their
families because of the schools, the resources, the history, the supportive community we live in. OR you can
choose to tum it into a small town that resembles a developers dream come true. A mini-city with a lot of
houses and buildings crammed onto small lots just so the developer can fill his pockets at our expense. A place
with a lot of traffic and and even more fiustrated people who will want to move away because they are tired of
it taking 30 minutes to get from one side of town to the next. We voted for you to make decisions that will
enhance our community not jeopardize our town's infrastructure, schools, and community
services. Please listen to the people of this UNIQUE town and do not feel YOU owe the developers
anything. WE LIVE HERE! WE LOVE THIS TOWN! WE HA VE A COMMITMENT TO MAKING
IT THE BEST IT CAN BE. AS DO EACH OF YOU!
With that said, I am asking that you take look at the Vision Statement for the North 40. Do you really
believe ...
*The North 40 will look and feel like Los Gatos? I have seen the photos and will have to disagree with this
statement. Los Gatos is charming, historical, welcoming. The development is massive with too many things
shoved into a small space. Spread the development out throughout the 40 acres. Where is the historical aspect
of this development? The streets should be widened, the vineyard enlarged, and the homes should be charming
to represent our history! JUST BECAUSE THE APPLICANT IS ASKING FOR THE MAXIMUM
DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS DOES NOT MEAN YOU HA VE TO ACCEPT THE APPLICATION. I
ENCOURAGE YOU TO USE THE MINIMUM REQUIRED STANDARDS.
*The North 40 will embrace the hillside views, trees, and open space? Did you know you can see the story
poles from the dog park in Campbell? How is it ok to tear out an orchard yet we make it impossible for
someone to tear out at tree that is uprooting a sidewalk or foundation? On top of that the North 40 open space
should be vast areas of open space, not small patches of greenery scattered throughout a development. The
developer needs to spread everything out and THIS ENTIRE DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE PHASED IN
AND RE-EVALUATED AFTER EACH PHASE IS BUILT. NOTHING NEW SHOULD BE BUILT UNTIL
PHASE 1 HAS BEEN COMPLETELY DEVELOPED AND ALL RESIDENTS AND COMMERCIAL
BUILDINGS HA VE BEEN LIVED IN OR OPEN FOR AT LEAST A YEAR. AFTER ONE YEAR A NEW
TRAFFIC STUDY AND EIR SHOULD BE DONE BEFORE APPROVING THE NEXT PHASE .
*The North 40 will address the Town's residential/and or commercial needs? I understand that the state is
requiring housing but do we need to put it all in one place? We all know there are a lot of undeveloped lots
though out Los Gatos. Just drive around Alpine and Foster Road and look at all of the undeveloped
land . LOOK AT ALL OF THE LOTS WHERE PEOPLE ARE TEARING DOWN ONE HOME AND
BUILDING TWO OR THREE. TAKE A MORE IN-DEPTH LOOK AT OUR RHNA
REQUIREMENTS. WE HA VE THE NEXT 8 YEARS TO FILL OUR HOUSING
REQUIREMENT. WHY DO IT ALL AT ONCE?Do we really have commercial needs. I never have to
leave Los Gatos. Everything we need is here. What are our commercial needs?
*The North 40 will minimize or mitigate impacts on town infrastructure, schools, and other community
services? Our schools are bursting. Put houses in the Campbell School District and the Los Gatos School
District and spread everything out. The town can 't even take care of our roads and parks as is, so how do we
1
expect the North 40 to be monitored and taken care of? Our streets can not handle any more traffic. I have
watched EMERGENCY VEHICLES GET TRAPPED IN TRAFFIC, as I have been trapped in traffic.
The application as submitted and to be heard on Wednesday March 30 ~ should either be denied or not heard
until all studies are complete including the traffic studies and full installation of the story poles. The little
orange flags do not represent how massive the building will be. Not that the orange netting is a fair
representation but at least it stands out and is a better visual.
No specific timeline was established in the North 40 Specific plan so I ENCOURAGE YOU TO TAKE
YOUR TIME AND LOOK INTO EVERY ASPECT OF THIS PROJECT AND MAKE SURE IT WILL
FULLY "celebrate our history, agricultural heritage, hillside views, and small town character. It is
respectful of precious community resources and offers unique attributes that enrich the quality of life of
all of our residents." -Vision Statement
Thank you for your time, energy, and commitment to the Town of Los Gatos.
Amy Despars
267 Longridge Rd.
2
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Ms. Mosley,
Erin Kasenchak <ekasenchak@yahoo.com >
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 11:16 PM
Marni Moseley
North 40 concern
I'm writing to voice my extreme concern and dissatisfaction over the North 40 project. I am unable to attend tomorrow's
meeting due to travel, but l feel it's important that all residents express their thoughts about this project for our town . I
expressed my reservations and dissatisfaction with this project before it was approved and feel that l need to reiterate my
concerns, as l was deeply disappointed that the council approved the plan last June.
Now that the story poles have gone up , the true impact has become visual and is even worse than I feared . And this is
just phase 1? The height of the project is something that will change the landscape of our small , wonderful
town. Additionally the scope will greatly impact traffic in this already very congested area. I don 't see how, according to
the Vision statement, the North 40 will minimize or mitigate the impact to our infrastructure . I know that the North 40 plans
to address traffic, but l adding another light onto LG Blvd and an extra turn lane on Lark and LG will not make much
difference. Lark and LG Blvd already need extra lanes with our current traffic so adding an additional lane with the extra
cars and traffic this project is likely to bring does not feel sufficient. The traffic around 85, Good Samaritan and LG Blvd is
also quite impacted . Again, this project will just add to it. Additionally, how long will these traffic improvements take from
completion to end? I can't imagine what the situation will be like while the construction will be taking place.
The Vision statement for North 40 states it will celebrate hillside views and our small town character, but over 300
residential units and potentially 501 ,000 foot of commercial/retail space does not align with "small town
character". Additionally, the story poles showing the impact actually will block hillside views and not celebrate them.
suppose those living at North 40 will like their hillside views, but the rest of Los Gatos residents will lose views to
bu il d ings. I don't believe we have unmet residential needs that this project needs to address.
My husband and I were born and raised in the Bay Area and moved specifically to Los Gatos over 20 years ago because
of the charm and unique aspect this town had compared the hustle and bustle of the rest of Silicon Valley. We knew this
would be a wonderful place to raise our family in an amazi ng small town feel with a great community. I'm very, very
concerned that the size and scope of this project will forever change the feel of Los Gatos from the wonderful small town
and community to just another Santana Row or big city feel.
I firmly believe that what this town needs is open space, parks and sports fields for our youth and fam ilies, not additional
housing. I understand that those do not generate revenue for a town but it's what we need .
I urge you and all members of our town council to revise th is des ign and lessen the p roposed intensity/scope of the
project. If you've read Town not City's facebook page, you'll see the overwhelming comments and concerns from fellow
citizens about this project. Please I urge you to keep our town just that, a small town .
A very concerned citizen -
Erin Kasenchak
********************•**
Erin Kasenchak
ekasenchak@yahoo .com
1
To the Los Gatos town council:
RECEIVED
MAR 3 0 2016
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
PLANNING DIVISION
I am unable to attend the March 30 meeting where you will be discussing "the north 40" and its potential
development, but I am hoping this letter will suffice to put my two cents' worth into the discussion.
I moved to Los Gatos with my husband and four children in 1962 and have enjoyed living here ever since. One
thing that has always appealed to me was the commitment to the small town atmosphere. ·But in recent years, that
commitment seems to have taken a back seat to revenue generating construction. For example, the lovely small
town look ofLos Gatos Boulevard between the comers of Roberts Road and Caldwell Avenue has been totally
destroyed by the co nstruction of multiple enormous houses with almost no space between them. And now anothe r
of these atrocities is planned for the comer of Shannon Road and Los Gatos Boulevard. To top it off, there is NO
public street parking in those areas.
If you have looked at the orange webbing across from the Lark A venue car wash, you can see the frightening
prospect of the planned development there. That will overpower the entire area and forever change the open feel
that we so appreciate.
So I am begging you please, please, PLEASE do NOT go forward with this east coast urban development!!! We do
not need it. We do not want it.
The best thing to do with the north 40 would be to tum it into open parks. There could be a regular town park, a dog
park, a skateboard park and plenty of open space with parking and rest rooms. This is the ONLY open space left
available for our town, and I beg you not to destroy it
If you do go ahead with this boondoggle development, future generations will condemn you for your lack of
foresight and your money grubbing. The only possible reason for wanting th.is deve lopment is money. But what
you gain today in income, you will more than lose in the long term by the too-high cost.
Thank you.
Marilyn Keeney
16601 Ferris Avenue
Los Gatos CA 95032
4978-356-9322
P . S. I would appreciate getting some feedback from this to let me know you got this letter and read it. Thank you.
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Alexander L Clemm <ludwig@clemm.org>
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 12:16 AM
Joel Paulson; Marni Moseley
'Sigrid Clemm'
Subject: Concerns about North 40
Ri,
I live in the Blossom Manor on Cherry Blossom Lane and was forwarded an email (attached below) that
this is the right email address to voice concerns to regarding North 40.
To me, it appears that North 40 has many downside and virtually no upsides for Los Gatos residents:
Quality of life suffers. Los Gatos becomes a less desirable place to live. Property values go down,
resulting in additional fmancial loss to residents.
The only upside is to the developers, but why should it be at our expense?
The proposal does not address population I overcrowding of Los Gatos H igh School and Fisher
Middle School, and is IMHO overly optimistic in stating the number of students would only
increase slightly. At the end of the day, the schools will be overcrowded, education will suffer,
scores will go down, and all of us may be asked to support some bond measure I tax increase to
pay for amends.
The project needs to present a realistic plan b ow it will pay for needed expansion of LGHS and
Fisher Middle, including ongoing added operational expenses.
Traffic. I am sure many have raised these concerns.
A lesser concern, but still worth mentioning: Water conversation. In the Blossom Manor we are
being asked to let our yards die because we are in a drought. Development of North 40 will
compound the situation, and will likely result in further cutbacks. Many of the cutbacks may be
one-sided, because free standing homes with individual water meters, different from the
multiresidential units on North 40. We have all shown that we are willing to cut back if there is a
real need, but not just so we can develop more. With giant projects like North 40 being developed,
how can anyone take calls for future conversation serious?
In summary, the situation presents itself like this:
No upside for the residents of the town
Many down sides.
The only upsides appear to be the developers who stand to make a killing. But why should they be
allowed to do so at everybody else's expense? I ask you to not approve the plan, respectively make
significant amends to make sure the concerns are addressed appropriately.
Thank you and kind regards
l
---Alex Clemm
From: Sylvie Roussel <SRoussel@ lo s gatosca.gov>
Date: March 18 , 2016 at 4:43:29 PM PDT
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: North 40Phase1-Upcoming Planning Commission Public Hearing
The Planning Commission is conducting a public hearing regarding the proposed Phase I planning applications
for the North 40 Specific Plan area at a Special Meeting on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the
Town Council Chambers at 110 E. Main Street.
Planning applications for the Phase 1 development of the southerly portion of the North 40 Specific Plan area
propose 320 residential units (of which are 50 affordable senior units), approximately 66,000 square feet of
commercial uses (including a market hall), and on-site and off-site transportation and infrastructure
improvements. The adopted North 40 Specific Plan and the proposed Phase 1 development plans are available
for review online at http ://www.losgatosca.gov/N40SP and in the Community Development Department at 110
E. Main Street, Los Gatos , CA 95030. A scale model is located in the Town Council Chambers Lobby and is
available for viewing throughout the public hearing process . Story poles are being installed to provide a visual
representation of the majority of the Phase 1 proposal and to invite public involvement in the application review
process. The Planning Commission makes a recommendation to the Town Council who is the final deciding
body on the planning applications.
The public is welcome to participate in the Planning Commission public hearing by providing verbal testimony
at the meeting and/or by submitting written comments by 11 a .m . on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Written
comments should be sent to Marni Moseley in the Community Development Department (I 10 East Main Street,
Los Gatos CA 95030) or emailed to MMoseley@losgatosca.gov.
Sylvie Roussel
Community Development Department I Town of Los Gatos
110 East Main Street I Los Gatos, CA 95030
408.354.6857 work I 408.354.7593 fax
srou ssel@losga tosca.gov
www .losgatosca.gov
Community Development Counter Hours: 8 :ooAM -i:oo PM, Mo nday -Friday
Please note the upcoming Town closure: M ~y 301 2016 -Memorial Day
2
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Chris Cowan <chrislcowan@yahoo .com>
Wednesday, March 30 , 2016 1:55 AM
Marni Moseley
Comments for North 40 Public Hearing
Town of Los Gatos Planning Commission,
Traffic is already a disaster on Lark Ave and the roads that feed into it. Traffic is already a disaster before the Albright
development is even half-way complete, and before the North 40 development is even started. Drivers are already
frustrated with traffic and making dangerous maneuvers to shave seconds from their commute time. Now is the t i me for
the Planning Commission to take acti on to require additional traffic mitigation and prevent permanent congestion in
Uptown Los Gatos.
I live off Oka Road , and the only route out of my neighborhood requires that I pass through Lark Ave. During average
evening commute traffi c (4 -6PM), my family regularly has to wait 5-10+ minutes (sometimes up to 30 minutes) to simp ly
turn from Oka Road onto Lark Ave .
Traffic congestion has a negative impact on quality-of-life and property values for residents of Los Gatos. Traffic is a
problem that can be avoided with sufficient planning and commitment. However, Town staff, leadership, and elected
officials do not currently enforce sufficiently rigorous requirements for new development projects related to traffic Level of
Service. Current Level of Service criteria specifies that Lo s Gatos residents should expect service rated D or better (on an
A-F scale), corresponding to "noticeable congestion, longer delays, and unfavorable signal progression". I am confident
that you would find very few residents of Los Gatos who would be satisfied to know that Town leadership has allowed
over-development and under-mitigation resulti ng in D-rated traffic congestion.
Traffic congestion associated with large developments in North Lo s Gatos is permanent, and traffic problems should be
addressed in advance of any additional development progress. Traffic problems should be resolved before the Planning
Commission recommends that any development proceeds on the North 40 site, because it is too late to make sign ificant
and detailed adjustments by the time the decision is presented to the Town Council.
I ask the Planning Commission to raise the bar for traffic level of service criteria used in planning deve lopments. Los Gatos
residents who live near the North 40 will be impacted by new traffic, and deserve at minimum C-rated traffic Levels of
Service , corresponding to "stable flow, fa ir signal progression, and a significant number of vehicles stopped at signals".
I also ask the Planning Commission to reject any potential suggestion by Town staff (as previously done) that unmitigated
traffic problems could be ignored and abdicated to CALTRANS .
Thank you for your consideration ,
Chris Cowan1 Lo s Gatos Resident
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Marni Moseley
From:
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Cc :
Subject:
James Lyon <jim@lyonfamily.tv >
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 2:47 AM
Marni Moseley
Kathy Romero; Mimi Lyon
North 40 Development Proposal
Ms. Mosley-I apologize for the late submission -please include as a desk item for the Planning Commission.
Dear Planning Commissioners,
As a former Commissioner and Commission Chair, I understand the challenge that lies before you . The proposed project
on the North 40 is massive in scale for the Town of Los Gatos. Fortunately, you have a Specific Plan to guide you . The
goals of the plan are as follows:
? The North 40 will look and feel like Los Gatos.
? The North 40 will embrace hillside views, trees, and open space .
? The North 40 will address the Town's residential and/or commercial unmet needs.
? The North 40 will minimize or mitigate impacts on town infrastructure, schools, and other community services
This proposal submitted by Grosvenor, Eden and Summerhill does not even come close to meeting these goals.
Goal 1 -The North 40 will look and feel like Los Gatos.
First, the intensity of development proposed in the Lark and Transition zones is at a level higher than that of the entire
specific plan . This does not look and feel like Los Gatos. Specifically, the maximum number of housing units as stated
in the Specific Plan for the entire scope of the plan is 270 (Section 2.5.1 and 2.7 .3b). The applicant has submitted 320
units for just the southern two zones -claiming a density. Do not let the letter from their lawyer put you off, this
project must comply with the specific plan. This proposal is not Los Gatos. Goal not met!
Goal 2 -The North 40 will embrace hillside views, trees, and open space.
Given that all massive buildings proposed are tightly clustered and at the 35' height limit and 150-200' long elevations,
there are no hillside views -you would have to stand on the corner of Lark and Los Gatos Boulevard to get a hillside
view. Further, asking for a waiver to almost 50' for the low income bu i lding creates more destruction of view
shed . Finally, the open space calculation is a farce -us ing every small square foot of planter around a parking lot does
not equate to open space . Goal not met!
Goal 3 -The North 40 will address the Town's residential and/or commercial unmet needs.
Given that the applicant chose to focus in loading the two zones with residential, though the mix is good, the intensity is
far too high. Further, the limited commercial space in the development proposal does to address the commercial unmet
needs. Goal not met!
Goal 4 -The North 40 will minimize or mitigate impacts on town infrastructure, schools, and other community
services
1
The proposed 320 residential units put undue impact on town infrastructure -specifically the overcrowded and
underfunded schools. Why has the applicant loaded more that the maximum residential into the southern
zones? Because they are within the boundaries of the Los Gatos School district, thus fetching a higher price l What
about a true park, ball field or other community benefit. Goal not met!
I will not go on into further specifics, as I know you all have reviewed the Specific Plan details, the Staff report and all the
letters of concern on the project.
My recommendation to you is to outright deny the application. Do not send the applicant back to staff and give
guidance -this just allows the developer to wear down the Town staff. Send a clear message that this level of
development will not be tolerated in the Town of Los Gatos. There is a Specific Plan -developers need to follow it.
Regards,
James Lyon
239 Johnson Ave
2
Marni Moseley
From:
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To:
Cc:
Subject:
Planner Marni Moseley,
bill99cmt@aol.com
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 7:37 AM
Marni Moseley
debora hacosta@altamicrotec.com
Re: North 40 Development on 3/30/16 Plann ing Commission Agenda
Please add th is email to the communications to the Planning Commission re: the North 40 topic in the Subject line.
Dear Los Gatos Planning Commission and Planning Staff,
I am not able to attend the 3/30 meeting and instead , send this email .
I have lived in Los Gatos for over 50 years and just in the last 15 years I have experienced significantly longer travel times
within the Town ; ie, a trip to my bank would have taken 5 minutes and now it is 10 to 15 minutes during a similar time of
day. Other travel times in Los Gatos have similarly increased and yet whenever I have read or heard about a
development, the consultants of the developer indicate that there will be no measureable or no significant effect on
traffic. How can it be then that travel times have increased 100 to 200%? Clearly, these consultants are not being
candid .
I've reviewed the North 40 development proposal and found it to contain too high a building density and building heights
that are too tall .
Further, it seems that the majority of the demos planned for the North 40 should not be granted. There is an issue with
Sec 29.10.09030(e) Item 3 given the property owner CAN MAINTAIN the structures as they exist. Some of the
structures have challenges that ind icate a demo but the majority are in good condition that at most require some deferred
maintenance to be performed .
To demo or not to demo is a m inor issue, the big problems with the development are the North 40 development density
and heights, the North 40 plan has a density and average height that is taller and more dense than adjacent areas, a
comparable Los Gatos neighborhood , and the Town in general.
Planning Commissioners, please reject the current plan and suggest that the density should be reduced to levels that are
typical of the Town. If the density is reduced, the heights would typically go down as well.
If the North 40 development is not scaled back, then the Town will be a party to the tak ing of the other Los Gatos property
owners' value due to a change in the character of our Town and a reduction in our property values and more importantly a
reduction in the quality of life. Please do not allow this project to proceed as proposed, residents of Los Gatos , want to
live in our Town, not a copy of LA.
Thank you,
Bill Kraus
Kimble Ave
Los Gatos
On Mar 30, 2016, at 7:38 AM, Terry Rinehart <tlrinehart@comcast.net> wrote:
Please put a stop to the build up of the North 40. 320 homes and the traffic would be terrible for
our town. The impact on the schools would be huge. Being able to drive on LG Blvd would be
impossible at any time of day.
Put in a senior living community instead. We need something for our seniors with apartments,
assisted living and memory care. A senior community would severely limit the number of cars
and have no impact on our schools. It is the correct solution.
Please stop the North 40! !
Terry and Bob Rinehart
35 year LG residents
M arni M ose ley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Annie Magnee <annemagnee@me.com >
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 7 :45 AM
Marni Moseley
Just say NO
I would like to give my two cents about the undeveloped piece of land called the North 40.
There impact to the towns traffic and schools will have a big impact. This intersection at Lark as of now is already a
nightmare.
We don't need anymore commercial space . The last time I looked there are several buildings open for lease now.
I would love to attend tonight's meeting, but I am unable.
I vote NO .
I live in the Manor for 15 years and I would hate to see this b ig development.
Annie
1
Marni Moseley
From:
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Subject:
Dear Ms. Mmoseley,
Erika Hizy <hizyerika08@hotmail.com>
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 7:48 AM
Marni Moseley
Preserve the integrity of Los Gatos!
As a native Northern Californian of 60 years, I am taking my retirement to the state of Washington. No lack
of water there, affordable housing, breathtaking views and a way of life reminiscent of yesteryears. The last
thing Santa Clara County needs is another development site!
The orchards have all, but, disappeared to make room for the European-like feel of Santana Row, with its
million dollar balconies, so few can afford. Apple is hiring tens of thousands(?) of new employees who
will need to learn to share the limited availability of water. Where does it all end? California is already home
to 40 million people, almost one tenth of the entire U.S . population, which feeds 10 percent of the nation's
mouths. Why are we talking growth when the roads are already perilously dangerous (i.e . Hwy 17), especially
when it rains . Without the rain, we would be even more desperate for water. Shasta Dam is filled for NOW.
We hope and pray that the drought is almost over, but we know that we will probably need to purchase water
from our northern neighbors, if we don't build another dam or recycle enough water to fill the thirst of the
entire state .
And , I haven't even mentioned the drastic r ise in crime! All over Santa Clara County, since 2012, the effect
of the passage of police pension reform has been devastating! As a teacher in SSJ, I have witnessed the
DISTRESS on my students faces every time we deal with, yet, another lockdown. If I'm not mistaken, a number
of years back, this city held the honor of being the SAFEST city in the United States. We are losing our best and
brightest, most highly trained civil servants, who educate and protect the citizens of this county. My heart is
grieving for a glimpse of the California I grew up in.
Let the RESIDENTS of Los Gatos grant North 40 as an orchard or community garden for all who live, drive,
or work in the area .
Regards,
Erika Hizy
Good Sam HOA
San Jose, CA
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hi Ms. Moseley,
Molly Sauter <sauter_ca@comcast.net >
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 8:37 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Phase I Application
I am writing to address my concerns regarding the North 40 Phase I Application currently under review by the Los Gatos
Planning Commission .
One of the guidelines of the North 40 Spec ific Plan is that the development meet the "unmet residential needs ". The
North 40 Specific Plan spec ifically identifies these unmet residential needs as: Senior housing, affordable housing and
housing cate r ing to young adults and "empty nesters".
Unfortunately, the specific criteria regarding sq. footage for what would be considered "housing catering to young
adults and empty nesters", does not appear to be specified in the North 40 Specific Plan . There are some general
guidelines in the document that identify th is housing as "smaller units" for married couples without kids, more people
living alone and more single parents and "affordable housing".
I do not believe that the North 40 Application currently under review meets the unmet residential needs identified in
the North 40 Specific Plan. Only 50 of the 364 units proposed are identified as senior and affordable housing, which is
only about 16%. While it is very difficult to sort through the entire document to identify exactly how many of the units
would be considered as "catering to young adults and empty nesters", it appears that the great majority of the proposed
units are more than 1,500 sq . feet and based upon the price per sq . ft of housing in Los Gatos, would likely not cater to
young adults and empty nesters simply based upon the guidelines of "smaller unit" and "affordable" It looks like there
are a tremendous number of units in the proposed plan that would certainly not be attractive to young adults and
empty nesters simply based upon the sq . footage of the units. I would guess that no more than 25% of the entire
development would actually be designed to meet the unmet residenti al needs of Los Gatos.
I would like to see the developers expla i n in detail how they believe that the proposed development meets the unmet
residential needs identified in the North 40 Specific Plan . I would like for the developers to identify each unit that they
believe would be considered as "catering to young adu lts and empty nesters" in relation to the sq . footage of the unit,
number of bedrooms, and the anticipated sale price of each unit. I would like to see the Town also pl ace some specific
parameters on these same elements so that the Town can really determine whether or not the proposed development
will meet the unmet residential needs of Los Gatos .
Another guideline specified in the North 40 Specific Plan is to minimize or mitigate impacts on the town infrastructure,
schools and other community series. The North 40 Application currently under review places virtually all of the
residential development in the Los Gatos School District. I am sure that the majority of complaints from the residents of
Los Gatos regarding the North 40 Development Plan are the increa sed traffic and the impact on the schools. Obviously,
the easiest way for the Planning Commission and the Town Council to address the concerns of the r esidents of LG is to
require the developer to spread the residential development out equally over the entire 40 acres. This will mitigate the
impact on the traffic and the school s. I strongly feel that the Planning Commission and the Town Council would not be
following the guidelines of the North 40 Specific Plan if they allow the developer to put all the residential housing in the
Los Gatos school district.
Regards,
1
Molly Sauter
16385 Peacock Ln .
Los Gatos
2
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hi,
Paul Jaramillo <lgpj@yahoo.com >
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 8:53 AM
Marni Moseley
131 Olive Street
I am a 3rd generation Los Gatos native. I think it is self evident that the North Forty development will
be detrimental to Los Gatos. Our schools are our crown jewel as can be seen with the price
difference in homes right next to each other separated by only a school boundary. Why would you
risk the over crowding of our most precious asset. I don't see how this development will benefit
anybody in this community except to make a profit for the developer. I urge you to reject this plan as it
stands for the benefit of the entire community rather than the profit of the developer.
Paul Jaramillo
131 Olive street
Los Gatos,Ca
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To :
Subjed:
Diana Pleasant <dgpleasant@earthlink.net >
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 8:55 AM
Marni Moseley; Marko Sayoc; Marcia Jensen; BSpector; Steven Leonardis; Rob Rennie;
Laurel Prevetti
North 40
For years I have been following the progress of the North 40 project both in the newspaper and at town council
meetings. You have not heard from me, because I was in general agreement with the progress of the
project. An incredible amount of effort has gone into this, and I appreciate the careful and thoughtful process. I
did submit emails to the "send message" page of the North 40 website with various questions, but never
received a response.
Like numerous town residents, I have been holding out for the possibility that the plan would offer a viable
option for downsizing seniors who seek multi-generational single floor residences in Los Gatos near
downtown. 1 was encouraged with the plan I downloaded from the North 40 website on 4.29.14 which
presented a variety of spacious one floor "move down" and "empty nester" condominiums in Area C.
At the February 23 , 2016 town open house I spoke with Sean Southwick of the Dahlin group who was a
representative for the North 40 project. I was surprised to hear that the one-floor "empty nester" and "move
down condominium" facet of the development (formerly known as Area C and now referred to on the North 40
website as Area C and D) was eliminated because of its height and replaced with multi-story Row-houses and
Condominiums. Unfortunately, this is no longer the development that was previously presented, as multi-story
townhouse units are not conducive to seniors.
Although the North 40 website h ttp ://losgatosnorth40.com/the-vision/ states it offers "high-end
condominiums for empty nesters," in actuality the only single floor offerings left are small senior affordable
housing apartments . Tiris is very disappointing, as our seniors were looking forward to remaining in Los Gatos
by transitioning into the residences described as "high-end condominiums." Tiris sector of our population has
been overlooked in the revised plan. Is it too late to remedy thi s?
On another subject, it is wonderful that the development team reached an agreement with the Los Gatos Union
School District , offering funds and/or land to the district. Los Gatos High School is pictured on
the http://losgatosnor th40.com/gen eral-fag page. Has there been any discussion on the impact of the
development to Los Gatos High School (in the Los Gatos Saratoga Union High School District)? The High
School is already at capacity.
Thank you for considering my thoughts and input on the subject. We are indeed fortunate to have dedicated and
smart citizens serving our town .
Diana Pleasant J'
<dgpleasant@earthlink.net>
814 Bicknell Road
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Sigrid Clemm <sigridclemm@yahoo.com >
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 8:57 AM
Subject:
Alexander L Clemm; Marni Moseley; Joel Paulson
Re : Concerns about North 40
I agree. This is a v ery bad deal for our town. T he project should be renegotiated to benefit Los Gatos residents ,
not be detrimental.
Sigrid Clemm (on Cher ry Blossom in the Manor)
On Mar 30, 2 016, at 12 : 15 AM , "Alexander L Cl emm" <ludwi g@clemm.org> wrote:
Hi,
I live in the Blossom Manor on Cherry Blossom Lane and was forwarded an email
(attached below) that this is the right email address to voice concerns to regarding North
40.
To me, it appears that North 40 has many downside and virtually no upsides for Los Gatos
residents:
Quality of life suffers. Los Gatos becomes a less desirable place to live. Property values go
down, resulting in additional financial loss to residents.
The only upside is to the developers, but why should it be at our expense?
The proposal does not address population I overcrowding of Los Gatos High School
and Fisher Middle School, and is IMHO overly optimistic in stating the number of
students would only increase slightly. At the end of the day , the schools will be
overcrowded, education will suffer, scores will go down, and all of us may be asked
to support some bond measure I tax increase to pay for amends.
The project needs to present a realistic plan how it will pay for needed expansion of
LGHS and F isher Middle, including ongoing added operational expenses.
T r affic. J am sure many have raised these concerns.
A lesser concern, but still worth mentioning: Water conversation. In the Blossom
Manor we are being asked to let our yards die because we are in a
drought. Development of North 40 will compound the situation, and will likely
result in further cutbacks. Many of the cutbacks may be one-sided, because free
standing homes with individual water meters, different from the multiresidential
units on North 40. We have all shown that we are willing to cut back if there is a
real need, but not just so we can develop more. With giant projects like North 40
being developed, how can anyone take calls for future conversation serious?
In summary, the situation presents itself like this:
No upside for the r esidents of the town
1
Many down sides.
The only upsides appear to be the developers who stand to make a killing. But why should
they be allowed to do so at everybody else's expense? I ask you to not approve the plan,
respectively make significant amends t o make sure the concerns are addressed
appropriately.
Thank you and kind regards
---AJex Clemm
From: Sylvie Roussel <S Ro ussel@ los ga tosca .gov>
Date: March 18 , 2016 at 4 :43 :29 PM PDT
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: North 40 Phase I-Upcoming Planning Commission Public Hearing
The Planning Commission is conducting a public hearing regarding the proposed Phase I
planning applications for the North 40 Specific Plan area at a Special Meeting on Wednesday,
March 30, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers at 110 E. Main Street.
Planning applications for the Phase 1 development of the southerly portion of the North 40
Specific Plan area propose 320 residential units (of which are 50 affordable senior units),
approximately 66 ,000 square feet of commercial uses (including a market hall), and on-site and
off-site transportation and infrastructure improvements. The adopted North 40 Specific Plan and
the proposed Phase 1 development plans are available for review online at
http://www.losgatosca.gov/N40SP and in the Community Development Department at 11 0 E.
Main Street, Los Gatos, CA 95030. A scale model is located in the Town Council Chambers
Lobby and is available for viewing throughout the public hearing process. Story poles are being
installed to provide a visual representation of the majority of the Phase 1 proposal and to invite
public involvement in the application re view process. The Planning Commission makes a
recommendation to the Town Council who is the final deciding body on the planning
applications.
The public is welcome to participate in the Planning Commission public hearing by providing
verbal testimony at the meeting and/or by submitting written comments by 11 a .m. on
Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Written comments should be sent to Marni Moseley in the
Community Development Department (110 East Main Street, Los Gatos CA 95030) or emailed
to MMoseley@losgatosca.gov.
Sylvie Roussel
Community Development Department I Town of Los Gatos
110 East Main Street I Los Gatos, CA 95030
408.354.6857 work I 408.354.7593 fax
2
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Ms. Moseley,
MacSween Family <macsweensinca@aol.com >
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 9:07 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Proposal Before Planning Commission
I would like to thank you, all of the Los Gatos City Staff, the Planning Commissioners and the Town Council members
past and present who have spent countless hours on this project. It Is a large and complex project. I have been following
this process since the spring of 2014 when I first heard about the work being done on creating a new Specific Plan for the
area known as the North 40. I can 't begin to address all the complexities , but wanted to express my overall concerns .
Guiding Principles:
Look and Feel of Los Gatos -This is really such a subjective guiding principal. Despite the developers Including on
every page of the proposal that the development will look and feel like Los Gatos, the renderings on line look nothing like
anywhere else in Los Gatos. Just because they say it, does not make it so. The only 3 story homes that I can think of in
Los Gatos are The Terraces a retiremenUsenior living complex. The height of the row houses and density do not look or
feel like anything in Los Gatos.
Embrace Hillside Views, Trees and Open Spaces -With the story poles and netting up, you can see that the view of
Los Gatos as you drive southbound on Highway 17 will be of a row house wall. This is what will greet anyone coming into
Los Gatos. It will look like any other overdeveloped area in Fremont, San Jose or Cupertino. Los Gatos is a special
place, we should not look like other over developed cities . We have the advantage of the Santa Cruz Mountains as the
back drop for our town and that view will be blighted by the height of the new development. Also , it appears from the
renderings that the open space the developers contend is included in the project is still spread out in the form alongside of
walkways that are necessary ingress/egress from the proposed buildings and the dividers in the parking lots . There is no
real significant open space . This is especially noticeable along the alleys of row homes which if they are anything like the
developments in Milpitas will feel like concrete canyons looming over the heads of pedestrians .
Addressing the Town's residential and/or commercial unmet needs -I agree with the senior housing element. I do
not believe that the supposed targeted millennial will have a spare million dollars to spend on a 3 story row home. If the
developer is truly courting the millennial to our town, then they could propose 2 story condos/row homes that are more
reasonable in price and have the effect of reducing the height of the row homes.
Minimize and mitigate impacts on town infrastructure -My largest concern (apart from schools which is legally not a
consideration of the Town) is about traffic and congestion in our town. Because of the beauty of being nestled at the base
of the Santa Cruz Mountains, we are also restricted by those mountai ns . There is no where to build another major access
road to Los Gatos and through the mounta ins to Santa Cruz. Despite accepting the EIR last year, there have since been
huge traffic issues that are out of the control of the Planning Commission and Town Council. They are a reality and the
full development of the North 40 will only compound the problem . This was not addressed in the EIR because it passed
before all the traffic issues erupted last summer. We cannot put our heads in the sand and say that the EIR was accepted
so the development can go forward . I th ink some serious consideration should be given to reviewing the affect of the
traffic last summer on the new development. Otherwise we are going to be in utter gridlock on weekends . During the
worst of the traffic, we could barely get to the grocery store and did not consider venturing downtown except on foot or
across to the other side of Highway 17.
With the story poles and netting in place , I feel physically ill about the seemingly unstoppable changes coming to the town
I love. This development as proposed by the developers will change the face of Los Gatos forever. I strongly urge you
and the Planning Commissioners to reject the plan as proposed and instruct the applicants to reduce the housing height
and density to preserve look and feel of Los Gatos which would also have the effect of reducing the additional traffic such
density will cause. I agree with Council members Barabara Spector and Steve Leonardis that the Specific Plan should not
have been passed. However since it has , we need to be very careful to not let the developers railroad us into a
permanent situation we can never change.
Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia M. Damesyn
1
16610 Ferris Ave .
Los Gatos, CA 95032
2
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Susan Freiman <srfreiman@gmail.com>
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 9:11 AM
Marni Moseley
Subject: N 40 Application
Hello & thank you for all your bard work,
My family & I plan to attend tonight's 7 pm mtg to show our opposition to the proposed development.
I have 2 suggestions that I plan to bring up in a comment card, both concerning the impacted schools. Both
these ideas arose from reading Dr. Abbati's impact report to the town last year.
1) Ideally, an elementary school would be included in the development plans for those 40 acres. If that can't be
done, then a school bus to Lexington Elementary would solve both that school's underutilized status & alleviate
everyone's concern at Van Meter.
2) Fisher will still have to accept these N40 students. To create new space for them , I propose moving all the
current LGUSD office on Roberts Rd to a site on the N40. This would free up some badly needed space for the
middle school to expand.
Looking forward to participating tonight,
Susan Freiman
Co-lead Project Cornerstone @ L VM
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent
To:
Subject:
Roselli , Robert-P62140 <Robert.Roselli@gd -ms.com>
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 9:27 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40 Planning Input
To whom it may concern in the Los Gatos Town Planning Commission,
I just wanted to take a minute to express my views about the proposed development in the North 40. As a longtime
resident (since 1994), Los Gatos is a place where I love to live, it's my home, it's where my two children were born and
go to school, and it is my refuge when I return home each evening . Truthfully, I don't see many areas of the way this
town is set up that needs improvement. So when it comes to new developments, I'd like to see them fit in with the
current look and feel of Los Gatos.
The story poles I've seen on the land bordered by Lark and Los Gatos Blvd do not indicate a continuation of idyllic Los
Gatos town life. They tell a story of 3 story monstrosities of densely packed housing and commercial buildings like a
Santana Row? Why would any resident of Los Gatos want this? The overwhelming answer is that they don't. The only
one who wants this is the developers; they know that the more buildings that can be packed into that property the more
money they will make. A project like this, as indicated by the story poles is better suited for San Jose, not at the
Northern gateway to Los Gatos.
My house is in a neighborhood not far from the North 40. The homes in the area were built in the late 1950's and the
lots are small (my lot is 7,000 sq . ft .), but the neighborhoods are nice and they come with a sense of community. Several
years ago we wanted to remodel the home and we were considering adding a second story . The architect warned us
that it would be difficult to get approval for that second story because there were no other homes in the area with a
second story. At the time, I didn't quite understand what the issue was, but I respected it and we went with a remodel
plan that expanded the home on a single story level. Years later, I get what the town planning commission was trying to
ach i eve . They were trying to maintain the character of life in Los Gatos and make sure I didn't build some big ugly thing
that didn't fit in with the neighborhood.
Now the Town Planning Comm ission has some decisions to make . What the developers are currently proposing is a
"big, ugly thing", and it definitely does not fit in with the neighborhood or Los Gatos. Please make the right decisi ons
and significantly curtail the North 40 development. If you use my lot size as a gauge, you could fit 124 single family
homes in the 20 acres of Phase 1 w ithout any consideration for land lost for streets, so 80 single family homes and a
park sounds about right for the first 20 acres to me.
Regards,
Robert Roselli
247 Carlester Drive
Los Gatos , CA 95032
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Fishers <maefisher@aol.com >
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 9:31 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40
State law requires each city and county to adopt a general plan containing at least seven mandatory elements including
housing. Unlike the other general plan elements, the housing element, required to be updated ever y five to si x years , is
subject to detailed statutory requirements and mandatory review by a State agency, the California Department of Housing
and Community Development (Department). Housing elements have been mandatory portions of local general plans
since 1969. This reflects the statutory recognition that housing is a matter of statewide importance and cooperation
between government and the private sector is critical to attainment of the State's housing goals. The availability of an
adequate supply of housing affordable to workers, families , and seniors is critical to the State 's long-term economic
compet itiveness and the quality of life for all Californians.
Housing element law requires local governments to adequately plan to meet their exist ing and projected housing needs
including their share of the regional housing need. Housing element law is the State's primary market-based strategy to
increase housing supply, affordability and choice . The law recognizes that in order for the private sector to adequately
address housing needs and demand, local governments must adopt land-use plans and regulatory schemes that provide
opportunities for, and do not unduly constrain , housing development.
The housing element process begins with the Departm ent allocating a region's share of the statewide housing need to the
appropriate Councils of Governments (COG) based on Department of Finance population projections and regional
population forecasts used in preparing regional transportation plans. The COG develops a Regional Housing Need Plan
(RHNP) allocating the region 's share of the statewide need to the cities and counties within the region . The RHNP is
req uired to promote the following objectives to:
(1) Increase the housing supply and the mix of housing types, tenure, and affordability in all cities and counties within the
region in an equitable manner;
(2) Promote infill development and socioeconomic equity, the protection of environmental and agricultural resources, and
the encouragement of efficient development patterns; and
(3) Promote an improved intraregional relationship between jobs and housing.
Housing element law recognizes the most critical decisions regarding housing development occur at the local level within
the context of the periodically updated general plan. The housing element component of the general plan requi res local
governments to balance the need for growth, includ ing the need for additional housing, against other competing local
interests .
The Council of Governments or (COG) Los Gatos belongs to is known as ABAG (Association of Bay Area Governments)
is the body that produces the Los Gatos housing requirements. Our Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA)
requirement over the next 8 years is as follows:
201 units of Very Low Income housing (0%-50% of Average Med ian Income (AMI)), 112 units of Low i ncome housing
(51 %-80% of AMI), 132 Moderate Income housing (81 %-120% of AMI) and 174 units of Above Moderate Income housing
(120%+ of AMI) for a total of 619 homes.
Given that the Average Median Income in the ABAG region is $104,000, 201 of the 619 homes need to be accessible to
people with incomes of $52,000 or less , 112 need to be accessible to people with incomes of $83,200 or less, and 132
need to be accessible to people with incomes of $124,800 or less . And that is the AMI for home owners! The AMI for
renters is only $52,000.
The units being built at the North 40 do not fit this distribution. Of the 331 units proposed in Phase 1, only 60 are in the
500-800 sq ft range, which in Los Gatos might fall into the Low to Moderate AMI ranges above ($124,800 or less). The
remain ing 271 are 1300-2200 sq ft range, which are going to certainly be in the Above Moderate affordability.
That means homes built in the North 40 might satisfy 234 units of our housing requ irement (174 un its of Above Moderate
Income and 60 Units of Moderate income housing), all at the high end prices of the housing allocation . The remaining
units cannot possibly count in our allocation unless we are bend ing the rules .
This development doesn 't satisfy the state housing element requirements, so I think the project needs more consideration .
We really need to decide as a town how we are going to meet the state mandates, or even if it is feasible to meet the state
mandates. It's a big challenge for the town council , as well as for the people of the town and it needs to be addressed
openly and honestly.
No building should be driven by the town unless it is compliance with the State Housing Element Law or some other
component of the General Plan . How can we po ssibly think it is ok to count housing units toward our allocation that don 't
fit the income distribution requirements?
Bruce & Mary Fisher
Los Gatos
2
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Barbara Keller < barbara_keller@verizon.net>
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 9:33 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40
Please do not approve over development of this space. More open space is needed not over building contributing to
more traffic gridlock not to mention impact on schools.
WHAT commercial need is currently unmet?
Where will all the cars go that belong to 270-320 more housing units?
Please "plan" with common sense.
Thank you, Barbara Keller
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent
To:
Subject:
marnetteatkinson@comcast.net
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 9:34 AM
Marni Moseley; DSparrer@community-newspapers.com; letters@mercurynews.com
Los Gatos North 40
We would like to voice our opinion -NO to the current Los Gatos North 40 project. Unfortunately, we
will not be able to attend tonight's meeting but would like our voice heard . The current plans will
1. Not look and feel like Los Gatos
2. Does not embrace hillside views, trees, and open space
3. Does not address the Town's residential and/or commercial needs
4 . Will not minimize or mitigate the impact on town infrastructure, schools and other community
services.
We feel that this town needs another school and fields to support the various recreational
activities . The current plan will completely obstruct the views of the hills -it is soo sad to see the
poles on this property!!!! I am shocked that the owner and developer would even consider the current
set of plans . A school and recreational fields with open space should be built and leased back to the
town if they want to truly meet the needs of the town . We do not need any more housing. Traffic will
be severely impacted with this current plan. We already have gridlock on the main roads through
town on a daily basis.
THIS PLAN SHOULD BE DENIED!!!!
Mamette and Jim Atkinson
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Alice Perry <radmim i@ aol.com >
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 9:48 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I have not heard one good thing about this current application . It is way over the top and the impact w ill be impossible to
deal with. The abundance of health related offices on Los Gatos Boulevard is already overwhelming . A BIG NO NO NO
to this project. Alice Perry
1
Marni Moseley
From: Melissa Cullinan <Melissa@hunterproperties.com >
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 9:50 AM Sent:
To: Marni Moseley
Cc: Melissa Cullinan
Subject: North 40 concerns
Importance: High
I'm proud to say I live in Los Gatos and have been a resident for 27 years!
I live off Los Gatos Blvd. My commute to/ from work depending on WAZE traffic is either Hwy 17 or 85, so the
development of the North 40 is a big concern of mine.
3 big concerns are density of residential units, traffic and schools.
• RESIDENTIAL: The proposed 320 units are a concern as it will impact our streets & schools. Therefore, I would
like to see fewer residential units.
• TRAFFIC : With the Netflix traffic already having impacted our streets--Winchester, Lark and South Bascom. By
adding the North 40, this will be a bigger nightmare. I would like to propose adding a Hwy 85 southbound
entrance off Winchester to help the traffic flow and increase the traffic lanes on Lark and South Bascom Ave.
• SCHOOLS : The Los Gatos Schools -elementary, middle school and high schools are at their limits with no more
land to add more classrooms . What are the plans to accommodate these new children? Build more schools? At
whose cost?
As much as we would like to see a mini Santana Row with cute boutique shops I know that is not realistic. While I don't
want BIG BOX retail (i.e. Target, ULTA, Marshalls, etc) either I know this would ADD a lot of sale tax revenue that will
help subsidize our (new) schools and streets improvements {Hwy 85 southbound off Winchester), etc.
Thank you,
Melissa Cullinan
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Hello Marni,
Donald Prolo <donaldprolo@gmail.com>
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 10:08 AM
Marni Moseley
North 40
I am just about finished building my house at 134 Loma Alta in Los Gatos and spent over a year working with my
neighbors and the Town of Los Gatos to get my plans approved through planning back in 2014. I have recently seen the
story poles erected for the North 40 development as I travel along hwy 17 and in my opinion this development is not an
improvement to the Town of Los Gatos . Los Gatos Blvd , hwy 17 near Los Gatos and other surrounding streets are
already congested with traffic and this project will only worsen the current situation. Additionally the size of the
development is out of scale compared to other structures seen along the hwy 17 Landscape . It seems to me to be the
product of Investors trying to maximize their return and not something that benefits the town i n its current design.
Unfortunately I did not become aware of this project until I saw the story poles, but I hope it's not too late for me to
voice my opinion .
Thank you,
Donald Prolo
(408) 891-4053
Sent from my iPhone
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject
Dear Ms. Moseley,
Kristin Dillehay < kristin.dillehay@verizon.net>
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 10:43 AM
Marni Moseley
Objection to current North 40 developer plan
I am a resident of the Blossom Manor neighborhood. I have two primary concerns with the current plan under
consideration by the North 40 developer.
My first concern relates to the proposed housing element and its impact on our schools and streets. I understand
that the North 40 Specific Plan, which was approved in June 2015, covered the entire 44-acres that comprise the
North 40. I also understand that the housing element of the Specific Plan permits a maximum of270 housing
units (plus 50 more) attached and non-attached or apartments, plus 50 units of affordable senior housing, over
the entire 44 acres .
I have two children who have grown up in Los Gatos public schools: a sophomore at WHS and a 5th grader at
Blossom Hill. I have watched class sizes increase every year my children have been in school. I have also
served as president of the Blossom Hjll Home & School Club, which raises roughly $300,000 each year to help
provide Blossom Hill teachers and students with the resources they needed to be successful in teaching and
learning, because schools in Los Gatos are seriously underfunded. I cannot imagine how many new students the
developer's proposed housing would bring to Los Gatos. These students would flood our already overcrowded
and underfunded schools, and they would bring traffic in the town of Los Gatos to a standstill. ls it not possible
to spread the proposed housing over both phases of the North 40 development? Can the developer include a
school in its plans? Is it fair to burden existing Los Gatos schools with all the new students this housing will
bring?
My second concern relates to the look and feel of Los Gatos. I understand that one of the guiding principals for
the North 40 Specific Plan is that any development look and feel like Los Gatos. In my opinion, while some
new commercial business on this side of town would be a welcome addition, this sort of massive, dense,
overbuilt proposal does not "look and feel like Los Gatos." Rather, it begins to look and feel like Santana Row.
Please don't allow this to happen to my town.
Kristin Dillehay
kristin.dillehay@verizon.net
1
M arni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Melody Lewis <mj.lewis@comcast.net >
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 10:49 AM
Marni Moseley
NO ON LARK/LG BLVD PROJECT
How could you even consider this disgusting project? As a 37 yea r resident of Los Gatos, AND a resident in this area of
your plan, ENOUGH! You know the traffic impact will be gridlock. What is the matter with you on the planning
commission? Have you lost your minds to even consider this? Politics do not get to destroy our town!
NO NO NO to this insane plan.
Melody Lewis
Sent from my iPhone
1
Marni Moseley
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Dear Ms. Moseley,
Dana Saich <danasaich@me.com >
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 10:52 AM
Marni Moseley
Opposed to North 40 development
As current residents of Los Gatos and parents in the Los Gatos School District, we are strongly opposed to the North 40
development project. Our town is overpopulated. It takes 20 minutes to travel to our local schools during peak hours
because it is so congested on Los Gatos Blvd . By building more housing, we are pushing local peop le out because our
town is losing its desirability due to overcrowding. The schools will be overpopulated as well. There are not enough
resources to accommodate this growth. Please keep Los Gatos charming to us native residents and stop the progress of
this monstrous development. The space would be better served for the residents as a sporting complex to meet the
needs of our families in Los Gatos.
Sincerely,
Dana Saich (teacher, parent)
Sent from my iPad
1
Marni Moseley
From: Markene Smith <markene@comcast.net>
Wednesday, March 30 , 2016 10:56 AM
Marni Moseley
Sent:
To:
Subject: North 40 Development Application
Dear Ms. Moseley,
Neither Gerald Grosvenor nor the marketing and development people he hired to promote the current N40
application lives or works here. Those developers will never be impacted by their project's homogenous
urbanization, pollution, and gridlock .
The Town of Los Gatos should require Grosvenor to modify its Phase I Application, in order to comply with the
N40 Specific Plan . Application should include:
? Public (not private) streets
? Wider pedestrian walkways
? Larger greenbelt areas
? Public park and playground
? Larger community garden area, with individual raised-bed garden plots available to every unit that has ·
no yard space to grow food or other plants.
? Single-family detached homes
? Community center
To mitigate traffic and transportation issues, Town should require:
? Developer to fund100% of traffic improvements, because CalTrans cannot provide matching funds, due
to greatly decreased gas-tax revenues .
? Developer to fund 100% of VT A extension of Light Rail to Vasona Station, with an additional station at
Town-owned property at Southeast corner of Winchester Blvd and Lark Avenue, to serve the N40 and
surrounding neighborhoods. Los Gatos has been waiting for a Light Rail extension for more than a
decade , and this developer has the funds to make it possible .
Los Gatos is one of Santa Clara County's oldest communities. The Town began in 1868, when 100 acres of a
Mexican rancho was selected as a Town site. The Town's first 100 acres were gradually developed over a
period of 150 years.
While we do not expect the development of the town's last large piece of undeveloped property to take 150
years, we are at a critical moment. The public saw Phase I renditions and mock-ups for the first time just this
month.
Thank you for taking the t ime and effort to ensure that North 40 development meets the needs of current and
future residents.
Markene Smith
markene@comcast.net
201 Drakes Bay Avenue
Los Gatos, CA 95032
(408) 356-2613
1
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From: Babette Goldstein Ito [babetteqoldstein@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2016 5 :20 PM
To: BSpector; Marice Sayoc ; Marcia Jensen ; Steven Leonardis; Rob Rennie
Subject: No on North 40 Project -Reduce the scale or cancel altogether
Our famil y ha s li ved in Los Gatos for over I 0 years and hav e children in Yan Meter. We own our
prope11 y . Pi s le t yo ur conscience guide you when thinking about the North 40. We already cannot
m ove more than 5 mph in Los Gatos during peak driving times. Our children arc in overcrowded
c lassroom s as it is. We have t o fund the school to keep decent standards up . Life in Lo s Gatos has
I 00% changed in I 0 years with all deve lopment and traflie . Pi s find it in yo ur h ea1ts to reduce the
sca le of thi s project.
The 320 li v in g units wi ll likel y be ALL families w c hildren a nd likel y less people who w i ll
contribute m o ney to the schoo l fund as we do . T he traffic will be hoJTendous -worse than now .
PLEASE reduce the sca le of this program -put more g ree n space in it , reduce the # of units o r give
them a school of their own -thi s is re a ll y . really bad for the future of Los Gatos. J am amazed it has
go nen thi s far hut underestimated power of develo p e r money. PLEA SE scale it down and m ake it
more in line w Los Gatos Town fee l.
Babette a nd Do ug lto
Worcester Loop , Lo s Gatos
> From : Terry Rinehart [tlrinehart@comcast.net]
>Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2016 7:33 AM
>To: BSpector
>Subject : Stop the North 40
>
>As a concerned LG res ident I strongly urge you to stop the North 40 development. The traffic alone is
reason enough, but the impact on our schools is huge .
>
>How about a senior living community? Not as many drivers, no school age children! We need a new,
good senior living community in LG. We need apartments, assisted living and memory care . It makes
perfect sense. Open space and a decent place for our again population.
>
> Please stop 320 new homes.
>
>Terry and Robert Rinehart
> LG resident for 35 years
>