PC 01-17-2017CITY OF CUPERTINO
10300 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014
CITY OF CUP ER TINO
SPECIAL PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
APPROVED MINUTES
6:45 P.M. JANUARY 17, 2017
CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
TUESDAY
The special Planning Commission meeting of January 17, 2017, was called to order at 6 :45 p.m. in the
Cupertino Council Chambers, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, CA. by Chairperson Alan Takahashi .
SALUTE TO THE FLAG
ROLL CALL
Commissioners Present: Chairperson:
Vice Chairperson:
Alan Takahashi
Margaret Gong
Winnie Lee
Don Sun
Commissioner:
Commissioner:
Commissioners Absent: Commissioner: Geoff Paulsen
Staff Present: Assistant Community Development Director:
Associate Planner:
Assistant City Attorney:
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Benjamin Fu
Gian Paolo Martire
Colleen Winchester
1. Minutes oftlte September 27, 2016 Planning Commission meeting: (no changes)
2. Minutes oftlte October 25, 2016 Planning Commission meeting:
• Chair Takahashi noted that on Page 6, line 2 "nit" should read "unit".
MOTION: Motion by Vice Chair Gong, second by Com. Lee, and unanimously carried 4-0-0
Com. Paulsen absent; to approve the September 27, 2016 Planning Commission
minutes as presented, and to approve the October 25, 2016 Planning Commission
minutes as amended.
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS: None
POSTPONEMENTS/REMOVAL FROM CALENDAR: None
WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS: None
CONSENT CALENDAR: None
PUBLIC HEARING
3. EXC-2014-15, TR-2014-70
(EA-2014-08)
Amy Cheng
Hillside Exception to allow construction of a new 3 ,2 02
sq. ft. single family residence on slopes greater than 30%;
Tree Removal Permit to allow removal and replacement of
Cupertino Planning Commission 2 January 17 , 201 7
22823 San Juan Rd. 6 specimen size Oak trees to facilitate the con struction of
the new residence ; Mitigated Negative Declaration is proposed.
Gian Paolo Martire, Associate Planner, presented the staff report:
• Reviewed the application for Residential Hillside Exception to a llow one single famil y residence to be
constructed on slopes greater than 30% and Tree Remova l Permit to allow removal and replacement of
6 Coast Live Oak trees as outlined in the staff report and overhead presentation. He reviewed the
project site, project background , and project data .
• He reviewed the background of the application relative to the project site, dating back to the approval
of a hillside exception and tree removal permit for a similarly designed residence on the property in
2009; discussed the residence and site plan description and exception for development on slopes greater
than 30% geological review, tree removal request and environmental assessment as outlined in the staff
report. To mitigate the trees being removed , the applicant will be required to plant twelve (12) 24 -inch
box Coast Live Oak trees consistent with the replacement requirements of the Protected Tree
Ordinance.
• Reviewed the mitigation measures added as conditions of approval in the following areas , to reduce the
potential environmental impacts of the project to less than significant levels: Air Quality , Biological
Resources, Geology and Soils, Cultural Resources and Temporary Noise Levels.
• Staff recommends that the Planning Commission adopt the determination for Mitigated Negative
Declaration and approve the Hillside Exception and Tree Removal Permit.
Gian Paolo Martire:
• Answered Commissioners questions regarding the proposed project, including those related to trees
and parking. Said that two of the tree remova ls were being driven by the deck and four being driven
by the house.
Chair Takahashi:
• Said the irony is they are trading trees for parking and cars in the most extreme scenario ; is the applicant
standing on the need for parking; i.e., he wants six spaces and is fine; or did the applicant ask if they
really needed him to have six pieces and the city is forcing the applicant to take out the two trees?
Gian Palo Martire:
• Said the latter was appropriate .
Chair Takahashi:
• Said it was unfortunate they would have to write an exception to the parking requirement in order to
save a tree.
Gian Palo Martire:
• Said they could add more trees as replacements beyond the twelve. Said that much of the neighborhood
required exceptions ; fewer of the homes were built prior to the ordinance being in place in the 70s and
80s but the more recent ones have required an exception.
Com. Sun:
• Said that assuming most of the neighborhood required exceptions already ; relative to the general rule ,
when can they appl y the general rules to the slope over 30%? If they grant exception to all , how can
they deal with that kind of situation overall?
Gian Palo Martire:
• Said it is something they have to evaluate against the design of the property, the usability of the lot,
number of parkin g s paces provided , trees removed vs . trees replanted and replaced ; those are all factors
Cupertino Planning Commission 3 January 17, 2017
that have to be considered when reviewing the applications , and whether they want to grant the
exception request or not.
Chair Takahashi:
• Said he assumed they wanted to set some standard, and because it requires more scrutiny and more
review, and obviously because it exceeds that, it requires environmental review as well as the Planning
Commission .
Gian Palo Martire:
• Said the geotechnical engineers looked at the retaining wall design; when they come in for building
permits , when approved they will have to submit engineering to support that; in the discussions from
the consulting engineers they also talked about how these retaining walls should be built. It is similar
to how the house shall be built also .
The applicant did not speak.
Chair Takahashi opened the public hearing.
David Russell, Cupertino resident:
• Said he agreed with Chair Takahashi's comment about the procedures allowing more scrutiny ; said it
is an odd neighborhood , everything is on a slope ; some of the houses similar to his were built in the 70s
when the rules differed about how they were built. There have been some houses nearly destroyed
from mudslides from houses that weren 't built properly back when there was El Nino.
• Said he supported what was transpiring; the trees will be replaced and there are only two vacant lots in
the entire Inspiration Heights area that he was aware of; one that the applicant is proposing to build on
and another derelict piece of property that began being built on Mercedes Road which appears to be a
mess where it is not being built on. Those are the only two remaining and he said it would be ideal to
continue with appropriate scrutiny for those two lots.
Chair Takahashi closed the public hearing.
Chair Takahashi:
• Referred to the issue trees vs. cars. Questioned if it possible in the future to somehow assess that trade
better especially if it is a case of the applicant having to stretch requirements or meet these requirements
and therefore increase the cost of the project; take out more hillside space for a deck to support three
cars and removal of two heritage trees? The city should somehow be able to assess that trade and be
able to understand the requirement for six cars; is there some level of exception that can be granted
without having it to be a big deal in the event that it is definitely making an impact on heritage trees?
This is again assuming the applicant isn 't desperate for six spaces ; would assume there is parking
regulations on San Juan from the standpoint of street parking and that is why we need six spaces , so
there is kind of a self-enforcing element with regard to compliance to street parking, and if that 's the
situation ifl were the landowner and never wanted to have six cars parked there and billed for six cars,
and I could picture two large trees that are not there anymore, I would rather have those trees. It may
be like moving mountains changing the Rl ordinance, but in this day and age it seems trying to do the
more green thing, that is something that should be discussed .
Com . Lee:
• Commented that presently many garages are being used as storage, and although people may have only
one car in the family , part of their garages may be full of junk or other things. Also keep in mind there
needs to be parking spaces for maintenance workers, service people who come to the house. There is
not a lot of yard to keep up , they need parking spots.
Cupertino Planning Commission 4 January 17 , 2017
MOTION: Motion by Vice Chair Gong, second by Com. Sun, and unanimously carried 4-0-0,
Com. Paulsen absent, to approve Application EXC-2014-15, TR-2014-70 (EA-2014-08).
OLD BUSINESS: None
NEW BUSINESS: None
REPORT OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION
Environmental Review Committee:
Housing Commission:
Economic Development Committee Meeting:
Mayor's Monthly Meeting With Commissioners:
Vice Chair Gong reported:
No meeting.
No meeting .
No meeting.
• The new Mayor's top priority is for the commissions to share each other's plans for the year and
collaborate among the commissions. Encouraged commissioners to attend each other 's meetings .
TIC:
• Putting together the cellular coverage map of the city by all providers ; hope to have ready by June 2018 .
Fine Arts:
• Reaching out to emerging and young artists and going to try to incentivize art teachers to encourage
youngsters to apply since they haven't had a lot ofapplications. Main Street public art is being reviewed
now; they have developed a checklist for the criteria of selecting public art. They plan to do an
American Idol-like event in Cupertino.
Library:
• Selected a new librarian. Pending issue now is meeting space; the library program room has been taken
over by other commissions and there is no space to house their programs . Parking is also a major issue .
Teen Commission:
• Sponsoring a Hack-A-Thon and would like all the commissions to pull their resources together and get
tech companies to do presentations and to sponsor events at the Hack-A-Thon on April 7 and 8 at
Quinlan Center. Contact the Teen Commission.
Public Safety:
• Doing an Education and Community Outreach, Burglary Prevention seminar; there is a rise in home
burglaries. Also presenting women 's self-defense class , looking to train the trainers to make more
classes available.
Bike and Ped:
• Working on a class for bike lanes , planned to come forth in the next 4 to 6 months.
Sustainability:
• Encouraging neighbor-to-neighbor communication and will showcase neighbors who have gone very
green , without identifying their homes to maintain their privacy.
Parks and Recreation:
Cupertino Planning Commission 5 January 17 , 2017
• Working on completing their master plan and they are re-evaluating a consulting company to execute
the master plan. They reported that ev ery city space is over-used except for the teen center; they want
to better examine how to better use the space.
Economic Development Committee:
• Meeting postponed until January .
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT:
• City Council will be holding interviews January 30 and 31 for upcoming commissioners; ceremony
will be held February 14 th.
ADJOURNMENT:
• The meeting was adjourned to the next Planning Commission meeting on February 14, 2017 beginning
at 6:45 p.m
Respectfully Submitted :
Approved as presented: February 14, 2017