Planners OK one proposal, send another back to DRC

By Nathan R. Huff

The Los Gatos Town Planning Commission on Feb. 9 gave thumbs up to one developer's six-lot subdivision plan, and thumbs down to another for his 14-lot plan.

Mark Robson, speaking on behalf of Santa Clara Development Company, presented a detailed plan of a 14-unit duplex development on Pollard Road, hoping the commission would approve a zone change increasing the residential density.

Instead, the commission sent the applicant back to the Development Review Committee (DRC), with instructions to delete at least one unit from the plans and provide more open space. The commission also stipulated that the DRC consider one neighbor's concern that the units were too close to their adjoining property.

The applicant agreed to submit the commission's instructions, but noted the requests undermined the developer's goal of creating affordable housing in a market of sky-high housing prices.

Robson said the company had reviewed a previous development application for the site, and had incorporated the Planning Department's comments into its own proposal. The proposed units face a central open area, which Robson said helps to create a sense of community as well as satisfying open-space concerns.

"We've worked to address the concerns that were raised, and have done that to a large degree," Robson said, noting that one unit had already been deleted from the original plans. "We're trying to create an environment with lasting value to the people there."

Commissioners were not impressed, and several criticized what they described as "inaccessible open space." Commissioner Leonard Pacheco, deriding the development's proposed name, said: "It's no longer 'Village on the Green,' it's 'village on the street.'"

Commissioner Sandy Decker, before making a motion to return the applicant to the DRC, said she also felt there was too much "hardscape." "I'm having a very difficult time ... finding enough to feel the community benefit is served," she said.

Union Avenue Property

Property owner Mark Tersini had better luck with the Planning Commission, receiving approval to subdivide his two-acre parcel into six lots. He intends to demolish the one existing home on the property, construct six new homes and improve a portion of the curbing and drainage on Union Avenue.

The commission wasted little time approving the application, spending what little discussion time there was on the fate of a covey of quail that currently resides on the property. Neighbors of the site had written a letter to the town asking them to consider the fate of the quail, and look at the possibility of creating a small park.

The applicant came prepared with his own biologist, who explained that the California quail is not an endangered or "threatened" species, and is, in fact, a popular hunting target. The biologist also said that there was a relatively high mortality rate for quail that are moved to a new site, and the best strategy would be to have them move on their own.

The commission asked that Tersini remove the brush before the bulldozers roll in, allowing the quail a chance to pick up shop and move. Tersini agreed.

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