Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Maxim asked to scale back and redesign their 30-unit proposal

Planning Commission says traffic report is incomplete

'Town sends mixed messages'

By Jeff Kearns

Planning commissioners told developers last week to redesign a proposed development near downtown, calling the project too dense and asking for a more complete traffic study for the area.

Maxim Investments wanted to put 30 homes at 330 University Avenue, but commissioners said the project would be too dense for the nearby historic district. Commissioner Nachison suggested a total of 10-15 units, but left the number of houses up to the developer.

Maxim's Bill Hirschman said he was getting mixed messages from the town.

"We're getting lousy direction here. This is the same commission that told us to come back last time with 54 or 60 units. We don't have any direction, and we don't know how to respond," he said after the 6-0 vote. (The seventh commissioner, Marcia Jensen, was absent.)

"The Planning Commission and the Town Council have reversed directions," Commis-sioner Kathryn Morgan said. "People have reached a point where they don't want high density at all. It's still a tradeoff; we just have to fight our way to a conclusion between neighbors who don't want to see any more traffic at all and a developer who has a right to develop his property." The four-acre site on the south side of Highway 9 is currently a small, open field surrounded by trees. The land slopes downward from University Avenue to Los Gatos Creek.

Maxim's architect is Southern California-based McLarand/Vasquez, whose credits include some projects at Disney's planned community in Celebration, Fla. Plans show a long driveway winding down through small clusters of homes. Maxim says the design would have a village-like feel, but some commissioners said that it would have the opposite effect, by turning the development into an enclave isolated from the surrounding neighborhood. Commissioners asked the architects to do a more compatible integration into the surrounding area.

Commissioners also requested a more complete traffic study. The study prepared for the project studied the intersections where University Avenue and N. Santa Cruz Avenue cross Highway 9, but did not look at other intersections in the Edelen neighborhood or University Avenue on the north side of Highway 9.

Plans include a redesigned approach to Highway 9 in front of the project. Because the proposed entrance for the project is about 200 yards south of the intersection, which is already crowded and sometimes blocked during peak times, Maxim proposed two redesigns of the intersection. Both include plans for dedicated left- and right-turn lanes, but cars making a left from University into the project could back traffic up into the intersection. Part of the intersection would also be widened.

Opinions were mixed among the few neighbors who showed up to address the project at the meeting. Judy Holcomb, who lives on Edelen Avenue, said she thought it was a good proposal that had too many units, and that she didn't want residents to access the development from her street.

"I watch rear-end accidents there weekly," said Paul Dubois, who works across the street.

Other neighbors said they opposed the project because it would tie up traffic on University Avenue and could potentially affect emergency vehicles coming from the nearby fire station.

An environmental study determined that, given appropriate mitigations, the project would not have a significant impact.

The project comes back to the Planning Commission on Aug. 26.

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