PC 06-13-06
CITY OF CUPERTINO
10300 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014
CITY OF CUPERTINO PLANNING COMMISSION
AMENDED MINUTES
6:45 P.M. June 13, 2006 TUESDAY
CUPERTINO COMMUNITY HALL
The Planning Commission Study Session of June 13, 2006 was called to order at 6:45 p.m. in the
Cupertino Community Hall, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, California, by Chairperson Marty
Miller.
SALUTE TO THE FLAG
ROLL CALL
Commissioners present:
Chairperson:
Vice Chairperson:
Commissioner:
Commissioner:
Marty Miller
Lisa Giefer
Cary Chien
Taghi Saadati
Absent:
Commissioner:
Gilbert Wong
Staff present:
City Planner:
Senior Planner:
Asst. Public Works Director
Assistant City Attorney:
Ciddy Wordell
Colin Jung
Glen Goepfert
Eileen Murray
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Approval of May 23, 2006 Planning Commission minutes:
Note: Item 3 of the May 23rd minutes were verbatim text. The following corrections were made:
Page 7:
. Vice Chair Giefer, Delete"..." and insert "see the slide"
Page 7:
. And other pages - All references to "Janna Soquel" change to read "Janice
Soquel"
Page 22:
. 2nd last bullet from the end of page: Delete ", one" the word" one" after the
comma. It should read" On the current plan there is a light weight vehicle" the
comma and one should be struck.
Page 30:
. third last line of page: Delete"..." and insert "plans are"
Cupertino Planning Commission
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June 13, 2006
Page 31:
. 2nd reference to Vice Chair Giefer: 3rd bullet: Delete "along" and insert "a long"
. Delete" ..." and insert "use the path there;"
. 6th paragraph: "Vice Chair Giefer" should read "Janice Soquel"
Page 34:
. 3rd bullet from bottom: Delete "without" and insert ''with up"
Page 35:
. 8th bullet: Delete "did"
. Add "pollutant" after "and"
. 10th bullet: Delete"..." and add "oil leaking from cars"
. Replace "Female" with "Janice Soquel"
. 14th bullet: Delete "So the area of the slope" and replace with "Sloped area"
. 15th bullet: Delete"..." and replace with "swales"
Page 36:
. first line: Delete "proposed removed trees?"
. 1 oth bullet: Delete"..." Replace with "compliance"
Page 37:
. Reference to Theresa Smith; "..." denotes 'unfinished sentences by the speaker
. 8th bullet: Insert "on" after "elaborate"; Insert "affected" after "spots"
Page 48:
. Vice Chair Giefer, 2nd bullet, the second last line: "screen" should read
"screening fences".
. Last bullet: 2nd line: Delete"..." and insert "replaced with Sprouted Acorns is
not appropriate"
Page 49:
. 2nd bullet, Replace "and" with "in"
. 3rd bullet: "ripple??" should read "ripple pools"
. 3rd bullet: Remove "??"
. 4th bullet: should read "Safe Route To School"
. 4th bullet: Remove "??" after "Walton"
. 4th bullet from bottom: Delete "golf (end of tape Side A, loss of some words)" and
insert "the golf course than the"
Page 50:
. 1st line: After ''would'' add the word "like"
Page 62:
. Com. Chien, first line: Delete" ...because the Commissioners may not live in
Cupertino" and insert "that although the Commissioners may not live in the
area where the project is under consideration."
Motion: Motion by Vice Chair Giefer, second by Com. Chien, to approve the
May 23, 2006 minutes as amended. (Vote: 4-0-0; Com. Wong absent.)
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June 13, 2006
WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS: None
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS: None
1.
TM-2006-06
Roger Higdon
Jauch residence
10760 S. Stelling Rd
Tentative Map to subdivide a 1.83 acre parcel into one 0.69
parcel and one 1.14 acre remainder parcel.
Planning Commission decision final unless
appealed
Colin Jung, Senior Planner, presented the staff report:
. Reviewed the application for a tentative map to subdivide a 1.83 acre parcel into one .069
acre parcel and one 1.14 acre remainder parcel in a R 16 zoning district, as outlined in the
staff report.
. Reviewed the background of the application and noted that an overhead utility easement was
required.
. Staff's recommends approval of the tentative map with a covenant on the property protecting
all trees ten plus inches in diameter, excluding fruit trees, subject to the city tree removal
procedures per the model resolution.
Colin Jung:
. In response to Vice Chair Giefer's question about the rationale for the property not being
subdivided similar to that shown on the map, he said the subdivider would respond, but the
owner would stipulate certain percentages that would remain with one parcel and a certain
percentage of property remaining with the other parcel.
. Said the intent was to keep the existing house and a certain amount of land around it.
Ciddy Wordell, City Planner:
. Commented that it was proposed early in the process, and they removed it from consideration
because of their own estate purposes.
. Staff felt that they did not create something that would preclude a reasonable subdivision in
the future; and that they could still create additional lots that would not be a difficult
configuration.
Vice Chair Giefer:
. Asked staff to explain what the subdivision potential would be for parcel A and parcel B, and
the future subdivision.
Colin Jung:
. According the General Plan if they were to subdivide it with the intent of maximizing their
yield they could subdivide it to a maximum of nine lots, between both parcels as long as there
was not a change of ownership. In the configuration shown, they would achieve six lots.
Vice Chair Giefer:
. Asked that if at a later time they wanted to subdivide further and develop, would
undergrounding not be required as part of the new development.
. Asked why they had not received the tree list in advance with the subdivision request.
Colin Jung:
. Said the requirement for electrical would take place now; however, they are not proposing
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June 13, 2006
redevelopment at this time. At the time, they would be required to relinquish overhead
utilities and they would be undergrounding them.
. Relative to the tree list, he said there was no intention of removing trees; staff felt that the
condition was appropriate in stating a requirement for protection of all the trees over a certain
diameter with the exception of fruit bearing trees. He said he looked at the site and the trees
on site were mostly redwoods and Monterey Pines.
. He said that recording of the trees was made a requirement of approval, but would verify it.
. Said the zoning is RI-6, with most of the lots being more than 6,000 square feet.
. Said staff was not concerned about the unusual lot split configuration; they felt it could be
reasonably subdivided although not to its maximum potential.
Roger Higdon, Creegan and D'Angelo Civil Engineers:
. Emphasized that part of the two lot subdivision is strictly for estate purposes; there will be no
physical changes on the property as part of the subdivision; it is simply filing the map. There
are no plans to proceed with anything other than the two-lot parcel map.
. Mrs. Jauch has requested to keep expenses at a minimum that she be assisted in her needs.
. He said the conditions were acceptable.
Chair Miller opened the public hearing.
Jennifer Griffin, Rancho Rinconada resident:
. Said that looking down the road, one looks at estate planning and it is better to try to keep the
lots closer to the size of the lots in the existing area for purposes of continuity in the city.
. She said she hoped that the two daughters would keep the two lots intact.
. Said she was concerned about the loss of larger parcels in Cupertino, and hoped that in the
future there will be a minimum lot size that can be split down. It would be ideal to keep them
above 6,000 square feet if that is what the other parcels in the area are.
Chair Miller closed the public hearing.
Com. Saadati and Vice Chair Giefer:
. Said they supported staffs recommendation.
Com. Chien:
. Did not comment.
Motion:
Motion by Com. Saadati, second by Com. Chien to approve Application
TM-2006-06 (Vote: 4-0-0; Com. Wong absent)
2. U-2006-04, ASA-2006-09,
TM-2006-05, Z-2006-03,
EA-2006-07; Frankie Law
(Law and Chow residence)
20055 & 20065 De Palma Ln
Use Permit and Architectural and Site Review
for four new two-story single-familyresidences
ranging from 2,290 square feet to 2,650 square
feet. Tentative map to subdivide .65-acre
parcel into four parcels ranging from
approximately 6,260 to 6,810 square feet.
Rezoning of an existing 65-acre parcel from
R2-4.5 (Residential Duplex 4,500 square feet
Minimum parcel size) to P(Residential) (Planned
Residential Development) Postponed from the
May 9, 2006 Planning Commission meeting.
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June 13, 2006
Tentative City Council date: July 5, 2006
Colin Jung presented the staff report:
. He reviewed the application to rezone the property from its current zoning of R2-4.25 to a
planned residential as stated in the staff report.
. Discussed the Site Design, Architecture and Setbacks, Project Floor Area Ratio (FAR) as
outlined in the staff report.
. One of the conditions of approval, is to provide R 1 style privacy landscaping. He illustrated
the area for plantings to block the views into the adjacent neighbors' rear and side yards.
. Staff is supporting a higher FAR for these houses on an average basis based on the fact that
the range of FAR for the adjacent houses is also slightly higher. Staff recommends that it be
forwarded to the City Council.
. Staff recommends that the Planning Commission recommend to the City Council approval of
the negative declaration, the rezoning, use permit, architectural site approval and tentative
map.
. In response to Com. Saadati's questions, he said that the neighbors in the 1000 foot radius
were notified. He said one person stated objection to the project because he felt a duplex
would be more appropriate.
. Said the height of the duplexes was under 30 feet.
. The intent of the privacy screening is for the screening to be there within three years.
. Relative to mitigating the impact of the windows, he said the intention is to provide the
privacy landscaping for the houses themselves, which is the typical solution followed for all
Rl style development.
. He illustrated samples of the material boards showing the flooring materials.
. Said that they permitted fireplaces to extrude from the building envelope, as they are
considered an accessory feature and are not subject to the restrictions placed on the building
wall.
Vice Chair Giefer:
. Commented that information in the packet was difficult to understand as the elevations did
not include direction and there was no way to determine which side of the houses would be
looking into a neighboring development because we had no directional orientation.
Colin Jung:
. Referred to the site plan and discussed the elevations and setbacks for the proposed project.
. Relative to the benefits or a planned subdivision versus Rl, he said that this particular
development could not be done with Rl development as they are private driveways and not
public streets, and the lot is deeper.
Vice Chair Giefer:
. She questioned why the city did not want to continue DePalma as a public street and have
less single family residence coming off DePalma?
Staff:
. Said that DePalma Lane is a private street, not a public street and the access is much too
narrow for public street standards.
. Said they did not want to lose any units. If duplexes were allowed, it would allow four units;
and they wanted to retain that number.
Cupertino Planning Commission
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June 13, 2006
Vice Chair Giefer:
. Questioned the reason there were no notice boards or story poles erected for the proposed
project.
Ciddy Wordell:
. Responded that only Rl had been posted in the past.
Colin Jung:
. Said that the four lot subdivisions go to the City Council and do not stop at the Planning
Commission because of the rezoning. The rezoning has to go to the City Council for
approval and it stipulates in the municipal code that it there are a number of concurrent
applications running together, they are presented together and the final decision maker makes
the decision on the entire package.
. Said that the City Council deleted the Regnart Canyon Trail from the General Plan. The
intent was to attempt to provide and improve access, not only for the SCVWD but something
that the residents can use that is an improvement rather than the lack of improvements seen
there.
Su Law, applicant:
. Said that they were building the home for the family to reside in, and not as a spec home for
sale. They chose the community to live in and wanted their children to attend the schools in
Cupertino.
Chair Miller opened the public hearing.
Jennifer Griffin, Rancho Rinconada resident, asked that the following questions be
answered:
. Relative to DePalma being a private road, what is the difference between a private road and a
public road in Cupertino?
. How did this area end up being designated planned community development? Is it because
there were duplexes adjacent to the property? Does that mean that all the single family homes
on DePalma could become four lot planned development community? Is this just the
DePalma area?
. Was that the intent of the owners of this area and how is DePalma maintained?
. Is there a homeowners association?
. Is the road in front of Regnart Creek part of DePalma and do other homes use this frontage
ways to enter their property?
. How far from the Regnart banks could you have a home?
. When you are taking two single family homes, what is the precedent for having a new road
go down the middle of a property line that normally had been two separate properties? It is
odd for the area; all DePalma appears to be a mystery spot in the middle of Cupertino.
. How and why is this happening in here and could those private homes that are on the right
hand side of this complex go into the same type of property?
Chair Miller closed the public hearing.
Colin Jung:
. The area between Rodriguez Avenue and Regnart Creek, between City Hall and Blaney
Avenue was designated in the General Plan with a slightly higher residential density than
what would be found in the single family neighborhood. The planned residential density was
Cupertino Planning Commission
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June 13, 2006
5 to 10 dwelling units to the gross acre, and was designed to accommodate a slightly higher
density housing. It would allow for a wider variety of housing types which could have
included a duplex, a small lot single family development, or planned residential development.
All the single family developments in this area, not only the DePalma Drive lots, but as well
as those on Rodriguez Avenue were all planned unit development single family homes on
narrow private driveways.
. With the exception of course of the duplexes which front directly onto Rodriguez Avenue.
DePalma Lane is a planned single family residential development. The reason the street is
private because it is too narrow to be a public street. The property lines run to the center line
of the street itself.
. He explained the difference between a private and a public designation, noting that it was
private because it did not meet public street standards relative to width. A public street is 60
feet wide from edge to edge of the sidewalk, which the city would maintain. In this particular
case because it is a private street, the road is maintained by the property owners that use it
and front on that property.
. The properties shown were there before the single family DePalma Lane properties and when
the lot was sold off for a single-family house, they obtained an easement for their own
properties that would allow them to access the private street.
Vice Chair Giefer:
. Said parts of the project were acceptable and some were not.
. She said she did not have a problem with the subdivision which had Rl-like features. The
existing homes on DePalma, particularly 20025, and 20030 which had F ARs over 50%,
which because of their size, appeared to be cavernous.
. Nos. 20035 and 20035 with 50% or lower FARs were acceptable as they has green space
around them.
. Said she was uncomfortable with the applicant's request to allow them to replicate it; and also
uncomfortable with the ASA portion of the application. She said she did not like having the
private drive that meets another private drive to take them to their garages, as access becomes
quite limited in that type of situation.
. Said that although the fire department likely signed off, she was not comfortable with it. She
said she would rather see it developed as a high quality townhome development similar to the
one to the west, which includes open space in it and the use of high quality materials. The
density would be higher, yet how it is stepped back from the creek and also from the adjacent
neighbors, results in a more open feel than the proposed project.
. Said if the applicant returned with smaller houses, she would support the ASA, the zoning
and everything else requested.
. She said the present project presents a very cavernous area; even though it is not highly
visible, she said she was not comfortable with it.
. She said she would prefer townhouses that are designed for that density.
. She said she would not support the present application.
Com. Chien:
. Said he thought it was a good project, however, he did not agree with Vice Chair Giefer in
terms oftownhomes being a better project.
. He said in these days they are seeking opportunities to minimize the density in the city to
preserve neighborhoods that have single family characteristics. This one has many types of
characteristics but is what the property owner has chosen to do and it appears to be a good
project.
Cupertino Planning Commission
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June 13, 2006
Com. Saadati:
. He said he supported staffs recommendation but would like to see more follow up on the
adjacent neighbor, the single family home. A special notice was sent to them regarding the
privacy impacts so they could voice their opinions to the City Council before the project is
built. He said it would be helpful if the applicant approached the neighbor to see ifhe agreed
with the proposal.
Colin Jung Jung:
. Said the project received three times the legal noticing than was standard, and he was
surprised that they did not receive many comments other than the one from the out of town
property owner.
Com. Saadati;
. Said he appreciated extending the noticing to 3,000 feet, but was concerned with the
properties adjacent to the proposed development; and asked that another notice be sent to
those two. (Staff said they would do so).
Frankie Law:
. Said a meeting was held with the neighborhood and the residents of DePalma Lane to inform
them what was being done. They support the project.
. He said they assured the residents that whatever the neighborhood needed, they would take
care of it.
Chair Miller:
. Said he felt it was a good project; it is zoned as higher density and the applicant could have
come in with a far more intense project.
. Relative to Vice Chair Giefer's comments about it being cavernous, he said it may be a result
of the narrow road, but the applicant has kept the height of the buildings well under the
maximum that an Rl allows.
. He said the applicant did a good job, and he supported the project.
Motion:
Motion by Com. Chien, second by Com. Saadati, to approve Application
EA-2006-09 (Vote: 3-1-0; Vice Chair Giefer no; Com. Wong absent)
Motion:
Motion by Com. Chien, second by Com. Saadati, to approve Application
EA-2006-05 (Vote: 3-1-0; Vice Chair Giefer no; Com. Wong absent)
Motion:
Motion by Com. Chien, second by Com. Saadati, to approve Application
EA-2006-03 (Vote: 3-1-0; Vice Chair Giefer no; Com. Wong absent)
Motion:
Motion by Com. Chien, second by Com. Saadati, to approve Application
EA-2006-04 (Vote: 3-1-0; Vice Chair Giefer no; Com. Wong absent)
3.
CP-2006-03 (EA-2006-41)
City of Cupertino
Citywide Location
General Plan Conformance of the Five Year Capital
Improvement Program.
Planning Commission decision final unless
Appealed
Colin Jung Jung presented the staff report:
. He reviewed the request for a General Plan review for the five year Capital Improvement
Cupertino Planning Commission
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June 13, 2006
Program(CIP) fiscal years starting July 1,2006-07 to 2010-11. He discussed individual
projects categorized that relate to the General Plan policies as outline in the staff report.
. Staff recommends that the Planning Commission find the CIP consistent with the General
Plan.
Com. Saadati:
. He asked if the Rancho Rinconada Street Study included sidewalks, curb and gutters as
Rancho does not have curb and gutters.
Glen Goepfert:
. Said that when Rancho Rinconada was annexed from the county it had county standard
streets which are wider and have long returns. He said that the plan is to look at what might
be done to the streets to improve the circulation in terms of neighborhood traffic, and bring
the scale down to what is used in a typical residential area, versus having roadways that
encourage speed.
Com. Saadati:
. Asked if the study is completed as the development occurs, would the developer provide
those improvements?
Glen Goepfert:
. He said it was an option, although since the current standards are throughout the
neighborhood, doing it piecemeal may be difficult. He said they have heard from the
neighborhood also that it is a problem and that is the reason for it being there.
. He reiterated that the matter before the Commission was to determine the consistency of the
five year CIP with the General Plan. The specifics can be addressed on June 20th when the
City Council hears the CIP as a whole.
. Said that staff has shown that as outlined in each case they are consistent with the General
Plan in different categories.
Com. Chien:
. Asked Mr. Giepfert to look into the fluttering noise emitting from the library roof.
Vice Chair Giefer:
. Referred to the Environmental Resources and Sustainability Section of the General Plan,
Section 5, Goal B, which is to reduce the use of non renewable energy resources. She said
there is a strategy to use alternative energy sources that are renewable as opposed to non
renewable; they are adding night time lighting in a baseball field, lighting at the tennis courts,
improved lighting at the library and are replacing the HV AC system at the Monte Vista Park
which hopefully will be more energy efficient than what is there today because it is a newer
unit.
. She said that the General Plan Task Force and General Plan has several policies and strategies
talking about using renewable energy and these things are going to increase the city's
dependents upon non-renewable energy.
. Said she did not see a mitigating factor in the CIP for that and found it to be inconsistent with
the General Plan. She asked for an explanation why they were not mitigating it.
Ciddy Wordell:
. Said it is difficult to imagine that every CIP item would have to meet that test. She said it
may be over a number of different actions that the City would take that would meet that test
Cupertino Planning Commission
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June 13, 2006
so that every item that came up would not be tested against that policy.
Vice Chair Giefer:
. There are a number of items that are going to increase the city's dependence on non-
renewable energy, whereas if they measured themselves against a green point system, they
could possibly make a net sum zero as they added more energy dependent resources.
. She said if they were able to reduce in another area by an equal amount, she would feel they
would be in conformance with the General Plan. Unless that is done, she did not feel
increasing lighting and other energy sources makes it consistent with the General Plan, with
the specific goals and strategies that are in there.
Glen Goepfert:
. Said, although he was not familiar with the designs of new lighting, he felt certain that new
standards would call for designing fixtures that would be more energy efficient.
Vice Chair Giefer:
. Said they would meet Title 24, which is more efficient but the General Plan policy is in
advance of Title 24.
Glen Goepfert:
. He said it does not specify how to meet that goal.
. He pointed out that most of the projects are categorically exempt under CEQA guidelines;
minor alterations of facilities are not subject to that kind of review.
Vice Chair Giefer:
. Asked how it played into the General Plan and which would prevail.
Glen Goepfert:
. Said he did not know the specifics of the design because it has not been completed. He said it
would likely improve upon the existing situation in terms of energy efficiency.
Vice Chair Giefer:
. She disagreed, noting that it was adding additional energy use if more lighting was added and
not changed out; adding softball stadium lighting was adding lighting fixtures, and adding
new lighting poles and fixtures to the tennis courts that were not there today was adding
additional energy use.
Colin Jung:
. Asked Mr. Goepfert to clarify two projects which may help mitigate some of Vice Chair
Giefer's concerns.
. He referred to the yellow and pedhead LED traffic signal upgrade
. Which is replacing a highly energy inefficient traffic light with a LED system which draws
less power.
Glen Goepfert:
. Said it was a good example of a current standard going from incandescence frying a tungsten
element to light emitting diodes (LED), cutting the energy down significantly.
. It is something Public Works pursued and is part ofa strategy that has been ongoing for
years. He said it was typical going from mercury vapor lamps to sodium vapor lamps, and is
one part of an effective strategy.
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June 13, 2006
Colin Jung:
. He referred to the Collins Elementary School zone beacon and lights project and asked if it
was similar to the one at Bubb Road near Kennedy Junior High, since the equipment at
Kennedty Middle School is solar power.
Glen Goepfert:
. He said yes, that it is a policy they have for many of their replacements. He said the one at
Collins would be solar powered also.
Vice Chair Giefer:
. Reiterated that she did not see a specific goal to reduce the dependency upon non-renewable
energy.
Glen Goepfert:
. Said that he did not feel the consistency with the General Plan called for reviewing each of
them and asking for a specific strategy on each 'one. If such were the case, one could go
through all of them and ask for proof on how they are consistent with the General Plan.
. If there is a specific idea on how the goal should be met, then ask staff to satisfy your idea of
how that goal should met.
. He said he felt they were consistent with the ways outlined by staff.
Vice Chair Giefer:
. On Pages 3-2 and 3-3 staff has outlined areas where they are consistent with the General
Plan. She said she expected to learn how they would meet that objective in the General Plan,
however, that it lacked that information.
. She concurred that until it is determined what is being implemented, one cannot presume to
know how to reduce the energy requirement. She said that it was an are that was overlooked.
Colin Jung:
. Suggested that the Planning Commission adopt a minute order notifying the City Council of
their concerns to take into account when deliberating the Capital Improvement Program.
. Said that the projects are categorically exempt according to CEQA; there are certain classes
of projects defined in CEQA as a generic category and ifit fits in that category, by nature of
the project itself it is exempt from environmental review.
. He referred to a question raised at an ERC meeting "if all these projects are by their very
nature categorically exempt from environmental review, why are you recommending a
Negative Declaration for the CIP as a whole?"
In the CEQA guidelines, there is a section that refers to all CEQA exemptions for these
classes ofprojects, such as those of the CIP, and says they are inapplicable when the
cumulative impact of successive projects of the same type, in the same place over time is
considered significant.
. He said in totality they found those significant cumulative impacts of the categorically
exempt projects and thus recommended a Negative Declaration which would have been the
appropriate action to take.
Chair Miller:
. Said he was also sensitive to the environmental concerns mentioned by Vice Chair Giefer.
. He said he saw an attempt to balance, particularly with moving to the LED's, which have
been around for eons, first being used large scale in lighting projects.
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June 13, 2006
. He commented that other projects are moving towards solar as well.
Vice Chair Giefer:
. Commented that sitting in many baseball stadiums recently and seeing glaring lights at night
was a drop in the bucket by comparison to what is being added.
Chair Miller opened the public hearing.
Jennifer Griffin, Rancho Rinconada resident:
. Said she was pleased to see the Rancho Rinconada Park acquisition at Sterling on the books.
. Many people in the neighborhood would like to see the piece of property become the first
official park in Rancho Rinconada.
. It has very wide streets and has rolled gutters and sidewalks, and has not had water runoff
issues. The entire area is graded.
. She expressed concern about the Rancho Rinconada Street Study and said she assumed it
meant only placement of raised dots across the street to slow down traffic.
. She commented that many of the residents like the wide streets, and it was the first
knowledge she had of the consideration of street narrowing in Rancho Rinconada.
. She pointed out that the neighborhood had a lot of through traffic, and had three schools in
the area. She questioned whether the developers would be using it to make larger homes in
the area.
. She said the street size is a great asset to the neighborhoods. Perhaps there is a need for
speed bumps to slow the traffic down or to try and get teenagers to slow down.
. She asked that the park be provided, and provide more information about the proposed street
study.
Chair Miller closed the public hearing.
Chair Miller asked staff to comment on the reason for considering a narrower street.
Glen Goepfert:
. Referred to an innovative idea on Rainbow Drive to the west of the highway, which has a
section that uses the existing right of way to meander the street, in an attempt to slow traffic
through the area.
. He said they heard from the neighborhood about the scale of the streets, speeding, and the
fact that the roads are large. The neighborhood would be involved before any changes were
made.
. He said that speed bumps and road bumps aren't always the appropriate solution for traffic
calming.
He said that there are some neighborhoods designed in one particular fashion that speed
bumps are placed everywhere.
Chair Miller:
. Asked if the streets were narrowed, what would happen to the property that was formerly
street.
Glen Goepfert:
. In certain areas it has been done, and in limited areas, the returns on the streets have been
narrowed to slow traffic.
Cupertino Planning Commission
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June 13, 2006
. In Monta Vista along Byrne on top of Granada, paint has been used to bring down some radii
or narrow the streetways.
. He referred to Rainbow Drive where the city still maintains the right of way; it is still public
right of way also. Any excess land would be kept as part of the public right of way.
Motion: Motion by Com. Saadati, second by Com. Chien to approve
Application CP-2006-03
Vice Chair Giefer:
. Asked if she would have support on sending a minute order to Council with regards to trying
to conform with the policy on page 5-4 of the General Plan, specifically goal B.
. She said she felt strongly that the additional improvements will actually be contrary to that
specific goal, and the Council should be aware that it is not consistent with that. She said she
would prefer to vote positively but in lieu of a minute order to Council, she would note no
because she felt strongly about it.
Com. Saadati:
. Said he supported Vice Chair Giefer's suggestion. He said that in his experience in project
management implementation, small projects aFe and interior work do not require
environment impact; however, if you do any roadwork, the environmental impact such as
noise and dust needs to be addressed. In the area of concern, they need to look into saving
energy as much as possible. Hopefully the funding will be there to support it.
Com. Chien:
. Said he supported the amended order.
Chair Miller:
. Said he supported it also.
(Vote: 4-0-0; Com. Wong absent)
Motion: Motion by Com. Saadati, second by Com. Chien to approve
Application EA-2006-14 (Vote: 4-0-0; Com. Wong absent)
Motion: Motion by Vice Chair Giefer, second by Com. Chien, to send a minute order to
City Council alerting them that CP-2006-03 and EA-2006-03 are not in
conformance with Section 5, Environmental Resources Sustainability, Page 5-4
of the General Plan specifically Goal B, strategy 1 and strategy 3; and that they
look at improving the energy usage in other areas to counteract the new energy
consumptions to be more consistent with those policies. (Vote: 4-0-0; Com.
Wong absent.)
OLD BUSINESS: None
REPORT OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION
Environmental Review Committee:
. Chair Miller reported that two ERC meetings were held since the last Planning Commission
meeting. The first meeting addressed the DePalma application and the second one addressed
the CIP.