Property owner Joseph Quink wants to build a house four times its original size on Glenwood Avenue, and on June 9 the San Jose PlanningCommission gave him his wish.

The planning commission voted 4-3 to overturn the planning director's decision to deny a single-family-house permit. Quink will now be able to remodel his existing one-story, a 1,008-square-foot residence, into a two-story, 4,550-square-foot house.

Quink brought his appeal before the planning commission because of a disagreement between the city and the homeowner's request for a change in the residence's design and size.

Quink, a contractor, told the commissioners he is building the Spanish-style house with an inner courtyard as his personal home and that 11 of his neighbors supported the project.

The San Jose planning director's principal objection was that Quink was not willing to slope the second story of his home to reduce its massive look.

Quink said he would have stepped back the second story from the first if he had received the planning department's request on a more timely basis.

San Jose principal planner Carol Hamilton contended, however, that Quink's architect told the city that Quink was not willing to make any more changes to the project, so the permit request proceeded to the director's hearing. Hamilton also said that staff had told Quink's architect that the planning director was recommending denial one week before the permit was formally denied at the hearing.

But this information did not figure into the commissioners' final decision. And in an about-face, Quink's neighbor David Freeman, who had opposed the design at the April 21 San Jose planning director's hearing, now supports the project.

Freeman, who had previously stated his concerns about his property values being diminished with a house four times his home's size—970 square feet—at the prior meeting, said he and Quink had come to an agreement.

"Quink agreed to incur the expenses of adding cypress trees and a trellis," Freeman said. "So since he's willing to work with me, I'm willing to support him." Freeman is also planning to add a second story to his house.

Commissioners John Zamora and Jay James said Freeman's support and the number of large second-story residences on streets surrounding Glenwood Avenue were the reason they voted to overturn the planning director's decision.

Commissioner Jay James said, "I drove up and down the neighborhood, and in my opinion there are a lot of two- story homes."

However, not all the commissioners agreed, with several objecting to the design on the western side of the house, which is a 25-foot-tall wall that would extend 240 feet back.

"It would be a monster house," San Jose Planning Commissioner Bob Levy said. "It's excessive in size and needs a 5-foot setback on the second floor."

Quink said that removing 5 feet from the second story would make his hallway only 1.5 feet wide.

While Quink now has Freeman and some of the other residents' support, not all neighbors are happy with the project.

David Lehr, another resident on Glenwood Avenue, asked the commissioners to enforce the single-family-house design guidelines, which call for planners to review the single-family-house permit if the floor area ratio exceeds 45 percent.

Kathleen Keith, who lives on Mildred Avenue, also asked the commission to uphold the guidelines.

In order to overturn the planning director's denial, the commissioners were required to show findings that justified this action, according to San Jose Planning Department attorney Renée Gurza.

Commissioner Christopher Platten then read off a list of the guidelines, which he said were met.

After the meeting, Lehr said there appear to be different interpretations as to how to meet the guidelines and he added, "Why develop guidelines when they don't enforce them?"