Council Watch

Building guidelines will allow for larger home sizes

Planners cite 'neighborhood compatibility' as intent of decision

By Jessica Lyons

Voting that smaller is not always better, the Planning Commission recommended that the City Council move forward on a citywide design review for single-family homes.

By a 5-1 margin, the commission approved a detailed set of building guidelines for San Jose at the Oct. 13 meeting.

After listening to nearly two hours of public comment, primarily from local builders, architects and real estate agents, the commission approved a set of guidelines allowing for larger homes than planning staff originally recommended.

"The intent here is neighborhood compatibility," said commissioner James Zetterquist. "Smaller doesn't always mean more compatible."

In fact, according to the majority of the speakers, bigger is better.

"The FAR (floor-area-ratio) requirements proposed by staff are far too low for the city of San Jose," said Steve Hanleigh, a director of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors.

Willow Glen homeowner Dan Burns echoed Hanleigh's concern. "There are a large number of us who live in little bungalows that hope someday to be able to expand as our families grow," he said. "Big is not bad. That's just someone's viewpoint."

J. Michael Gonzales, president of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, was the only voice in support of planning staff's proposed design review.

The City Council will take action on the commission's proposal on Nov. 2.

The commission recommends establishing a maximum floor-area-ratio equal to .60 of the first 7,000 square feet of lot area, and reducing the allowable height of single-family homes to 30 feet and two stories. The 30-foot limit, however, would be extended to 35 feet in the following circumstances:

* lots in a flood plane;

* Victorian or other styles that characteristically have steeply pitched roofs;

* lots of 10,000 square feet or more;

* lots where the home has exceeded the city's required setback by 15 feet on all sides.

The commission also approved the following design guidelines which would trigger a design review:

* any new construction;

* any second-story addition;

* any remodels with a floor-area-ratio greater than .45 of the first 7,000 square feet;

* any house listed on the city's Historic Resources Inventory;

* a square-footage increase of 100 percent or more over the original house;

* removal of more than 50 percent of exterior walls.

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