Plan to convert former campus to homes gets commission OK
Community of homes to form own water company
Formerly Guadalupe College
By Gloria I. Wang
After an exhausting four years of meetings with town staff and neighbors, things are looking up for developer Joe McCarthy. Los Gatos planning commissioners at last gave their thumbs-up to McCarthy's plan to demolish the former Guadalupe College and build, in its place, six single-family homes.
The Foster Road property will be divided into acres of open space and the homes, one of which will become McCarthy's residence.
The topic that dominated the May 9 planning commission meeting was a proposal to form a mutual water company for the McCarthy homes, instead of using the San Jose Water Company. Since no water mains currently run onto the site, the San Jose Water Company would need to use neighboring properties to pipe in water. McCarthy, however, said that, after multiple meetings, the owners of the properties in question did not grant his request for access.
Instead, McCarthy's team conferred with fire department staff and the water company, and realized that forming an independent water company was the best choice. Financed by the future homeowners and McCarthy, the mutual water company would function as a typical corporation, with a board of directors and the six homeowners acting as shareholders.
No differently from San Jose Water, the proposed company would pump hundreds of thousands of gallons of drinking and nonpotable water to residents from existing wells and storage tanks. "We're far in excess of what [the fire company] asked for," engineer Roy Nelson said. While typical fire hydrants pump 1,000 gallons per minute, Nelson said that the mutual water company hydrants would pump between 1,500 and 2,200 gallons per minute.
When the time comes, the water system will be designed to fit the necessary standards for operating a water company, and McCarthy will work with the fire department.
A clear community benefit of the mutual water company would be that other Foster Road residents would have access to the water supply in emergency situations. At past town public hearings, residents testified that there was minimal emergency water available, and that San Jose Water Company was difficult to work with. In a letter to the town dated April 26, Foster Road resident Alan Young wrote, "It is plain that San Jose Water has no expertise or interest in pumping water to hillside parcels."
Nelson said that, because the Foster Road residents were lower in elevation than the McCarthy homes, the residents would have higher water pressure and better flows than McCarthy residents.
Foster Road residents, many of whom had consistently showed up at past public hearings, voiced their support for McCarthy. David Rude said that McCarthy's vision and interest was to build a community in the hillsides, instead of building for profit. Rude pointed to the original plan, which was to develop 15 homes, and contrasted it with the present-day six-home proposal. "Mr. McCarthy has been waiting patiently all these years," Rude said.
McCarthy said that he did not want another continuance of the matter by planning commissioners. "I thought I'd answered every question and diligently pursued everything," he said.
Caroline Davies, a Glen Ridge Avenue resident, said that she was glad to see the demolition of Guadalupe College, which she called a "crumbling eyesore" and an "abandoned relic."
"Finally, a use compatible with the neighborhood, and with minimal traffic, is before you," Heidi Evers wrote to the planning commission on May 4. "Mr. McCarthy has met with Foster Road residents and satisfied us of his sincerity to become a responsible neighbor and developer."
Former Los Gatos Mayor Brent Ventura spoke of his opposition to the plan. Ventura was concerned with the open space, asking McCarthy to move his home farther down, so that more open space would be on the hillsides. Ventura said that the current open space was in close proximity with McCarthy's home. Ventura was also concerned that McCarthy's property could be further subdivided in the future.
McCarthy representative Terry Szewczyk countered by pointing out that over 50 percent of the land was dedicated to open space, and that there was screening between McCarthy's home and the space. In addition, the design of the homes' lots and an agreement with the town forbids landowners from subdividing the parcels in the future.
At the May 9 meeting, planning commissioners voted to approve the development, architecture and site applications. Commissioners also voted to recommend that town council approve General Plan and Hillside Specific Plan amendments, since McCarthy's proposal requires a zoning change. Town council will then vote to approve or deny the amendments.
Guadalupe College, built in the early 1960s, was only used for four years in its intended capacity of a training school for nuns. The next four decades brought proposals of turning it into a women's prison, a Bible college and a Taiwanese girls' business school. The college was also illegally used as a methamphetamine lab and for other shady activities, according to neighbors and police reports.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
