Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Summerhill makes concessions

By Clarence Cromwell

Summerhill Homes is busy this summer squaring away its housing-development proposal in preparation for its next presentation to the Planning Commission.

Although few details remain, they're time-consuming details that will probably delay a Planning Commission hearing at least into the fall, project manager Elaine Breeze said.

In the meantime, opponents are working just as hard to stonewall the project.

Summerhill's consultants are already working on the environmental review and a traffic study for the project. If the environmental consultant decides that a full environmental impact report is needed, the Planning Commission hearing will be delayed another six months.

Summerhill faces two more meetings with town advisory committees. On July 9, the General Plan Committee will decide whether the project complies with the town's General Plan and whether a zone change from agricultural to hillside residential would be appropriate. After that, Summerhill's project is to be reviewed by the Parks Commission.

Summerhill has made a few minor changes to the project in the course of winding through meetings of the town's various advisory bodies. The Historic Preservation Committee asked for--and received--a commitment to preserve a house and a barn on the property.

The developer will build a permanent historic agricultural display with interpretive exhibits, explaining how the historic orchard at the Blossom Hill Road site used to operate and the history of the Heintz and Ayala families. The display will include historical photos.

"There are only a few people who know what happened there and who Mr. Heintz was," Breeze said.

In a bow to neighbors' concerns, Breeze said, Summerhill expanded the proposed orchardlike park at the front of the property, making it about 70 feet wide. She said plans for careful landscaping along the orchard strip were dropped because neighbors prefer fruit trees and native grass, which would leave the property looking approximately as it does now.

Despite the changes, neighbors of the property continue to fight against it. Last month they handed the town a petition with more than 1,000 signatures, calling for refusal of the project.

Al Jones, a leading opponent of the project, said his group is also testing alternative uses for the site, some better than others. Members have proposed turning the site into a riding stable or a new home for the Claravale Dairy, neither of which Jones would expect to work financially, he said. The best bet is currently a plan to get the University of California, the property's owner, to turn the land over to its own agricultural research department, which has a lab in Los Gatos. That would violate UC's agreement to let Summerhill develop the land.

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