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Mixed-use project on Farley goes back to drawing board
By Nathan R. Huff
Planning commissioners sent a mixed-use project off Winchester Boulevard back to the drawing board on Dec. 5, asking the applicant to make a number of changes aimed at lessening the impact of the project.
By a 5-1 vote, commissioners told developer Bill Errico to reduce the size of the commercial building and move the residential component of the plan farther away from neighboring residences. The commission also asked for a guarantee that the research and development building would house fewer than the 200 employees its size could theoretically accommodate.
The project, located on Farley Road, would include a two-story R&D building and six one-bedroom units. Three of the units would house local teachers--an arrangement the commission wanted more details on--two would be offered to employees of the adjoining R&D facility, and one would be a below-market-unit.
The project has already appeared before the commission twice, once in August and again on Oct. 25. At the Oct. 25 meeting the commission continued the application to allow the town traffic engineer to conduct a study to answer neighborhood concerns. The commission also raised the possibility of piggybacking on a Safe Routes to School Program grant the town council is pursuing.
According to the town's traffic engineer, the proposed project would generate approximately five trips through the Daves Avenue/Winchester Boulevard intersection during peak hours. Based on those figures, the town traffic engineer concluded that the project would not create a pedestrian safety hazard at the intersection that serves Daves Avenue School.
"This report has been received and clearly indicates that the problem at Daves Avenue is an existing problem," project designer Rodger Griffin said. Griffin went on to add that while the project would not significantly affect traffic, the developer was offering an additional $25,000 to the required fees to help defray any extra traffic mitigation measures at the nearby intersection.
Neighbors, however, took issue with the traffic engineer's math and asked that the commission delay approval until some sort of plan was in place. "We do not support this planned development based on the fact that we want a traffic study completed properly... a plan in place and funding in place," neighbor Doug McNeil said.
Other neighbors expressed concerns about the number of residential units. Patti Silva, who lives directly behind the proposed project, said neighbors were more comfortable with the three units originally proposed by the developer.
But Griffin said the six-unit option provided more affordable housing, something the commission had said it wanted. "It seems like in our efforts to follow all the direction and all we heard at the first planning commission meeting, we're in a Catch- 22," Griffin said. He added that the actual building area of the six-units was 200 square feet smaller than the three-unit plan.
Commissioners spent more time debating the location of the units than the number. The majority of commissioners wanted Errico to increase the rear setback to create a larger buffer between the small apartments and the neighbors on Pleasant View Avenue. Some commissioners, including Jim Lyon, who voted against the motion, also questioned whether creating a residential development in the back of a commercial property was appropriate at all.
"While I know the town needs affordable housing," Lyon said, "I have a real issue with these residents being shoved in the back, down a rather tight commercial street and treated like second class citizens, tucked in back where there's no tie to the rest of the community." Lyon voted against the continuance, saying he did not believe the redesign was headed in the right direction.
Commissioner Suzanne Müller said she believed that by changing the size of the R&D building, not only would the traffic and parking impact be lessened, the residential units would be less isolated. "One way to accomplish a lot of these goals is greatly reducing the size of the R&D buildings," Müller said, "so that everything can be moved toward Farley Road and more open space can be provided."
Commissioners also asked Errico to consider integrating the residential units into the R&D building, creating a truly mixed-use project. The developer is set to return to the commission on March 14.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
