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Decision is final: Habitat home will be on Charles Street
By Gloria I. Wang
The final decision has been made: a two-story, three-bedroom, two-bathroom Habitat for Humanity home will be constructed on Charles Street, despite objections from the neighborhood.
Los Gatos architect Gary Schloh tried to appeal the already-approved project, saying the 1,254-square-foot structure was too large for the small, pie-shaped lot.
According to Schloh, a one-story house was more suitable for the space and more compatible with the neighborhood. Schloh showed the Los Gatos Town Council his own sketch for a 700-square-foot, two-bedroom house at its March 4 meeting. Schloh's design included parking spaces on the property, instead of the U-shaped driveway that Habitat proposed. Schloh said the council should overturn the Jan. 9 Los Gatos Planning Commission approval on the basis that the council had received "new information"--his proposed design.
Schloh did not dispute the assertions that a Habitat house would benefit the town. "How I'm looking at this project is not who we're housing. It's the town's [building] standards that were not upheld," Schloh said.
Representatives of Silicon Valley Habitat for Humanity, however, said such a small house did not fit in with the organization's goals.
Habitat's building committee chairman Bruce Henry said there were 19 Habitat homes in the county; of them, 17 were two-story and 17 had four bedrooms, while the remaining two had three bedrooms. Also, Henry said, Habitat for Humanity International recommended building no smaller than a three-bedroom home.
Mary Hughes, building committee member, reminded the council that the intersecting Bella Vista Avenue had many two-story homes, and that Habitat's proposed design would fit in with the surrounding environment.
The problem with Schloh's design, Hughes said, was that the largest family that could occupy the home would be a two-parent, two-child family. And if the children were of the opposite sex, the family would quickly outgrow the house because of a county regulation that does not allow children of opposite sexes and more than 6 years old to share a room.
"Habitat families generally, or overwhelmingly, stay in their homes. They don't move," Hughes said.
A single parent with two children of the same gender could live in Schloh's proposed house, but that would considerably cut down on the applicant pool, Hughes said.
Hughes also said the previous design's U-shaped driveway provided for easy-in, easy-out vehicular access. Schloh's more T-shaped option was more difficult for car entry and exit, since the entire lot was so small.
"Habitat gets odd pieces of property. That's what the cities give us," Hughes said.
Councilman Joe Pirzynski said he agreed with Hughes' comment that the two-story proposal did fit in with Bella Vista properties. Pirzynski mentioned that Schloh's new design did not constitute new information.
"Our practice in the past has been not to honor that 11th-hour revision," said Councilman Steve Blanton. Reducing the home to 700 square feet would make the property "nearly unworkable, if not completely unworkable," Blanton said.
Councilman Steve Glickman added that the town held different standards for affordable housing units than for other kinds of housing.
Among those who opposed the project was Bella Vista resident Tim Coughlin. According to Coughlin, the neighbors weren't informed of the application until October, the first time the planning commission held a public hearing on the house.
"What happened is, the town purchased the property, and of course then, how could you not go ahead?" Coughlin said. "It was already a done deal before the neighbors were given any opportunity for input. We're supportive of Habitat. That is not the issue. The issue here is the process. How did it get this far?"
Coughlin said he preferred Schloh's one-story design, but the neighbors were "resigned to having a house there."
When Pirzynski made the motion to uphold the planning commission's approval, however, he said there had been sufficient notice to the neighborhood.
According to Silicon Valley Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Bill Arnopp, the structure will house a family that either currently lives in Los Gatos or with a parent who works in town. One of the qualifications for candidates is that the family's total income must be 30 to 50 percent of the median income of $87,600 in Santa Clara County, says Arnopp.
As few as three and as many as six people will live in the house, since county regulations permit no more than two children of the same sex to share a room. Once built, the home will be sold to the family with 30-year, no-interest payments at no profit to Habitat.
Vice Mayor Sandy Decker emphasized to Arnopp the need to find Los Gatos teachers or police officers to occupy the home with their families, which Arnopp acknowledged.
The League of Women Voters supported additional low-income housing in Los Gatos, said league representative Dale Hill.
"A small town is one which is a balanced community in which a wide variety of residents can live and work," Hill said. "We are in danger of losing this, as our success in being charming has escalated housing costs to the point where Los Gatos is in danger of becoming an affluent enclave, rather than a real town."
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
