Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Monte Sereno rejects Ridgecrest application

By Clarence Cromwell

The first time Robert Dobkin went to a Monte Sereno City Council meeting, nobody liked the blueprints for his 5,000-square-foot dream house.

It didn't tie into the style of other houses in the area, councilmembers said. Neighbors likewise objected to the house's trendy design and to its second story.

When Dobkin returned with new plans May 20, designed specifically to please councilmembers and neighbors, he thought they would give the high sign. He was in for a surprise.

Dobkin removed a cylindrical "rotunda" from the second story of the proposed house, reduced the imposing size by hiding some square footage in the basement, moved the structure further from the street, and proposed to set the entire house four feet lower to preserve neighbors' views.

But, once again, a score of neighbors lined up at the podium during last week's meeting to give the proposal a thrashing. And councilmembers found the house even "uglier" than before, they said.

Joel Gambord noted that, instead of stucco, the house is now mostly stucco with a splash of wood siding that the council asked for. And the council got the overhanging eaves it requested, but they were added to one part of the building and not to another part.

"When I saw the revised drawings over the weekend, I said, 'We've made it worse,' " Gambord recalled.

Councilmember Gordon Knight said the house hadn't been changed enough.

Gambord added that he'd be willing to give the architect another try.

Councilmember Dorothea Bamford, who objected to the second story as much as the style, said another revision would be pointless.

"I don't see much point in sending it back to the architect," Bamford said. "We did it once, and nothing much came of it."

Dobkin was noticeably irritated with the council. "I don't think it's fair to me to ask me to redesign it again without telling me what's going to pass the council," he said, raising his voice. "I want to stop spending money and build. I want a two-story house."

Moments later, the council denied the application, rather than send it back for redesign.

Dobkin wasn't sure what his next move would be, he said after the meeting, but he would consider three options: redesigning the house and submitting a new application, building a house for someone else on the lot or hiring an attorney to fight for the current design.

Dobkin said the city should have approved the project because the nearest neighbors supported it. Within the 300-foot radius where the city mails notices about the project, 15 families support his house and three oppose it, Dobkin said. He visited a majority of the neighbors in that area, but the supporters didn't show up at council meetings.

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