Architectural firm set to consult on design issues
By Gloria I. Wang
A recent Los Gatos Town Council decision may cause applicants for a hillside home or commercial building to face an additional $1,500 in fees. That's because these are the applicants most likely to need architectural critique as part of the application process.
In three to six months, the town's newly approved architectural consultant will take over design review for certain projects that come before the town. For those projects, the applicant will be required to pay a deposit fee of some $1,500 for the consultant's costs.
The town council, at its Jan. 7 meeting, agreed to hire Cannon Design Group as the primary consultant and Mark Srebnik Architect as the secondary consultant. The consultant will work on the technical aspects of an application and determine if the design is acceptable to the town.
According to Director of Community Development Bud Lortz, the consultant will try to eliminate the need for multiple continuances at the town's planning commission, as has been customary when commissioners are unsatisfied with design elements of an application. Instead, most of the design problems will be resolved before commissioners review a project, and the commissioners will work on other issues.
"The planning commission will start to focus on the public review process rather than the technical architectural review," Lortz said. The commission will be able to place conditions on a project based on what the public says, while taking into consideration the consultant's suggestions.
"We cannot have applicants just blow through the planning process, the design process, because they think the planning commission will be ... an easier audience," Lortz said.
Lortz said there would be a three-month "parallel process" in which the planning commission will function as it has been, but the consultant will work with town staff and learn more about the town. All new applicants in that period will have to pay for the architectural critique, estimated at $1,500.
The consultant would function as town staff, putting aside all personal opinions and basing decisions on the town's General Plan, Lortz said. In the agreements with both Cannon and Srebnik, a section titled "Conflict of Interest" asks the consultants not to work on any other projects in the town.
Larry Cannon, representing Cannon Design Group, gave a short introduction to council members. Cannon, who is based in Sausalito, has worked with an extensive group of cities and downtowns on design guidelines and master plans. Because he serves as the peer review architect for Cupertino and Sunnyvale and has a project in Morgan Hill, Cannon assured the council that he would be in the town often.
"My intent here is to become a member of the family," Cannon said.
Srebnik, a Los Altos architect, is a backup consultant and will do design reviews when Cannon is unable to.
"You are the answer to an awful lot of recommendations and ideas and hopes that we have in this town," Vice Mayor Sandy Decker told Cannon. Decker said, however, that a six-month parallel process might be necessary if three months proved insufficient.
Lortz replied that the town could review the consultant's performance at an April study session and decide if an additional three months was necessary.
Mayor Randy Attaway expressed some concern with the consultant's impact on the planning commission, wondering if the design reviews would restrict the commission's actions or ability to follow the public's suggestions.
At the same time, Councilman Joe Pirzynski said he wanted to make sure the process would not be "minimally effective" and that it would have "teeth."
Lortz assured the council that planning staff would work on the wording of a resolution outlining the consultants' role and would bring the resolution back to the council for final approval.
In August, the town began to search for a firm to act as the architectural consultant. Seven firms submitted proposals; out of those, three were invited to do a "practical exercise," Lortz said. From the exercise, Cannon was chosen because of its experience and response to the exercise.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
