Los Gatos Weekly-Times Courtside Club, neighbors agree on CUP conditions By Jeff Kearns Neighbors who had loudly protested the Courtside Club's application for a new conditional-use permit hammered out an agreement Oct. 12 that apparently leaves both sides happy. Carol Shultz, the Wimbledon Townhomes resident who led the charge against Courtside, reported to the Planning Commission Oct. 14 that she was dropping her protest because of the new conditions the club agreed to follow. "We really do want to be good neighbors and let Courtside go about its business of being a family-oriented club," she told the commission at the meeting. The news that the two sides had worked out their problems beforehand was undoubtedly a relief for the commissioners, who must referee fights between developers and angry neighbors at almost every meeting. Courtside's neighbors had been upset about issues surrounding noise, traffic and lighting at the club. Shultz said that the permit to serve alcoholic beverages was incidental to those concerns. "We have no problem with the alcohol if it doesn't impact our lifestyles," she said. Town staff signed off on the conditions prior to the meeting and recommended approval. On traffic, the new conditions block cars from exiting onto Wimbledon Place after 10 p.m. during special events. Courtside agreed to keep noise at the property line to the levels outlined in the town's noise ordinance, which ranges from 48 to 55 decibels. For outdoor events with amplified music and alcoholic beverage service, the conditions limit the club to 15 events per year, plus the annual party. Courtside also said it would turn out the lights on its tennis courts when the club closes, at 11 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends. Courtside's permit will be subject to a one-year review period. Campo di Bocce didn't resolve its dispute with neighbors as easily. The bocce ball facility at 565 University Ave. was approved in 1996 to operate a snack bar with seating for 70, but owner Tom Albanese said that he had increased his seating to 120 soon after opening in April 1997. Neighbors complained that they had counted up to 160 seats on some occasions. Albanese said that he wanted to upgrade his use permit to bring the 120 seats in line with town code. Re-opening his conditional-use permit would let the commission modify any of the terms. Additionally, town planners say that the snack bar that was originally approved is not, in fact, a snack bar at all, but rather a full-service restaurant, which complicates matters because Albanese wants to be approved as a restaurant with 120 seats. Neighbors have complained that the club's patrons take away residential parking on University, and that they are disturbed at night by loud--and occasionally drunken--customers leaving, but Albanese said the conflicts had been resolved. "We mitigated the issues by asking the employees to park in the leased parking areas," he said. Albanese added that he sometimes used a parking lot attendant during large events to direct traffic off the street, and he was considering making the position permanent. Albanese said that he would pay the hefty application fees for a variance on the parking situation and the accompanying traffic studies. Further complicating matters, customers currently use 30 parking spaces that are leased from two adjacent businesses, but because of the parking restrictions placed on restaurants, Albanese could lose his permit in the future if he loses the ability to park extra cars in the off-site lots. The commission voted to continue the hearing until Jan. 13 to allow Albanese time to finalize his application and for traffic engineers to do a traffic impact study on the restaurant use. While the application is pending, the town will not require Campo di Bocce to remove the additional 50 seats. The commission also continued a proposed office/retail complex from developer Bill Hirschman. It was the second time Hirschman's plans were put on hold. In August, the commission continued the project at 15089 Los Gatos Blvd. because it wanted input from the Town Council on how to handle the application, which is the first major development proposed for the area called the North Forty. The council told the commission to proceed with caution on the application, even though the North Forty Specific Plan is still being prepared. This time, the commission wanted a redesign. Hirschman, however, was thankful that the commission gave him specific direction on what changes it wanted on the project, namely: * Remove half the parking in front of the buildings and avoid a "strip mall" effect. * Leave that space open and consider the streetscape section of the Boulevard Plan. * Widen the space between the two buildings to encourage cars to use the parking lots in the rear of the complex. * Prohibit left turns both into and out of the project. Hirschman's application is set to come back to the Planning Commission on Dec. 9. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, October 21, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.