Town investigating developer for possible hillside violations

By Nathan R. Huff

The town attorney's office is investigating what appears to be serious illegal grading work in the Los Gatos hillside between Shannon and Blossom Hill roads.

High Sierra Associates, an Auburn-based land developer with offices in Los Gatos, has been ordered to stop all work on the 40-plus acres of hillside property after the town discovered possible grading violations.

An engineering permit for grading had been issued to High Sierra in late May, but the permit allowed only for "light brush clearing to facilitate surveying the site." High Sierra intends to build 21 homes on the property, but no formal application has been submitted.

Senior engineering inspector George Garcia, who said the restrictions on grading were repeated to the developer once in writing and twice verbally, red-tagged the property. Garcia said that, rather than just clearing the old roads on the site, High Sierra had apparently bulldozed several new roads and crossed a seasonal creek with a large Caterpillar. The company had been told not to use large equipment.

High Sierra Associates' Los Gatos representative Ronald Krumbach said the company was meeting with the town to address the issue. "One of the things we were permitted to do was go in there and brush up the property and create some fire breaks," Krumbach said. "Evidently, we did a little too much, according to the town." He added that the company was attempting to find out whether the potential violation was an "honest oversight."

If the town attorney determines it wasn't an honest mistake, High Sierra could face misdemeanor criminal charges in addition to any fines levied through the building enforcement department of the town, which run $500 a day.

However, things could be even more serious for High Sierra if other agencies become involved. "The town has authority over its own grading," town attorney Orry Korb said, "but the fact they did anything that could effect water quality would be the purview of the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB)." Fines levied by the RWQCB for disturbing a waterway can total $10,000 a day. Over the past four years, the state arm of the federal EPA has levied over $1,000,000 in fines.

Finally, the town has also notified the Department of Fish and Game, which has the option of doing its own investigation. Any potentially illegal act that affects a riparian corridor falls under that department's jurisdiction. It has the power to levy hefty fines and require extensive permitting for further work.

Right now, however, the town is only pursuing its own investigation. Korb said parks and public works personnel will document exactly what has been done on the site and report back to him. While Korb's office mulls over any possible disciplinary actions, High Sierra will have to work with parks and public works to mitigate any damage already done.

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