By Clarence Cromwell
A Home Depot store at the Lark Avenue Yuki walnut orchard? It seemed like a good idea to developer Ed Gallagher. So he asked around and heard that Linda Lubeck was the councilmember most likely to support the plan.
But after Lubeck visited several Home Depot sites on Gallagher's recommendation, she gave him two thumbs down. That was enough to discourage Gallagher, who then backed out of proposed meetings with Town Manager David Knapp and Planning Director Lee Bowman, telling them the plan was off.
Although the proposal never got off the ground, it raised the specter of the Office Depot that many in the community opposed on the grounds that a big-box retailer was inappropriate for Los Gatos. After heated battles and significant modifications in the original design, the town did approve Office Depot.
A plan for the Yuki orchard at Lark Avenue and Los Gatos Boulevard that did get off the ground was a proposal for 40 condos. Neighbors at a Planning Commission public hearing on Feb. 12, however, voiced concerns about traffic and aesthetics, and the commission told the applicant to come back with a scaled-down development of fewer than 25 units.
On the subject of Home Depot, Lubeck stated that even if it were possible to build an architecturally acceptable store, it would simply be too big. She visited some of the company's nicer Bay Area buildings on the way to and from a ski trip two weekends ago and came back dead set against allowing anything that big in town, she said.
The typical Home Depot store ranges between 105,000 and 120,000 square feet, a company spokesperson said. Home Depot sells all the basics for home improvement projects, from lumber to tools.
When Lubeck talked to contacts in the town, she said, a big-box retailer didn't seem popular. She doesn't think residents would support a retail outlet larger than about 30,000 square feet, she added.
Lubeck said Home Depot has been courting the property owner for a long time, but has had trouble convincing the town and the owner that Home Depot is the right use for the site.
Other councilmembers said they'd expect little public support for a big-box retailer in that part of town.
Joanne Benjamin wondered aloud whether a Home Depot would last long, citing recent newspaper articles about the decline of big-box retailers.
"I think the last thing you want to see is big vacant buildings," Benjamin said. She said she would prefer to see something that will complement what exists in the town and that will last.
Randy Attaway said the council made a commitment not to put big-box retailers on the Yuki property. Residents appeared concerned about the prospect when the area's zoning was last reviewed in connection with the construction of Highway 85, Attaway explained.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, March 12, 1997.
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