PC 09-17-85 CITY 2 ,U -IN ram-410
10300 Torre Avenue, ::u_c.ertinc,Ca. 95014
Telephone : (408) 252-4C
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE PLANNING COM?' ISSION
HELD ON SEPTEMBER 17, 1985
SALUTE TO THE FLAG: 7 : 40 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Commissioners Present : Com. Mackenzie
Com. Adams
Corn, Szabo
Com. Sorensen
Chr. Claudy
Staff Present : Dir. of Plng. & Comty.Devel. Cowan
Assistant Planning Dir. Piasecki
Public Works Director Viskovitch
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
POSTPONEMENTS OR NEW AGENDA ITEMS
WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
CONSENT CALENDAR
ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT CALENDAR
PUBLIC HEARINGS: II
1. Applications 16-Z-85 and 32-U-85 of EL CAMMINO HOSPITAL
(CONTINUOUS CARE RETIREMENT CENTER) : PREZONING 326 + gross
acres from Santa Clara County A-20S (Agricultural) to City
of Cupertino P (Planned Development with Quasi-Public/
Institutional use intent ) , BQ (Quasi-Public Duildings) and
A (Agricultural) zoning districts; USE PERMIT to construct
and operate a continuous care retirement center and
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The Environmental Review Committee
recommends the granting of a Negative Declaration. The
subject property is located on the south side of Highway
280 beinning approximately 800 ft . west of Foothill Boule-
vard. First Hearing. Tentative City Council hearing date -
October 15, 1985. _
Chr. Claudy explained the process for the benefit of the
audience.
Mr. Cowan summarized the Staff Report . He presented the
zoning map, explaining the prezoning actions to be taken. He
explained the trade-off between intitutional use Pnd the
General Plan residential density; both of which would put
1,000 trips per day on the property, :He noted another
access in the area might be needed eventually, but not for
this project, Staff felt, and only 10% of the project traffic
1111 might be expected to use such a route, since most would be
travelling north on the freeways . He noted the Staff Report
did not reflect the card system that might be utilized on
St . Joseph' s Avenue . He also noted the Applicant ' s lack of
a definite landscaping plan and described the visual corridor
PC-475 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, SEPTEMBER 17, 1985
Page 2 to the ro ect and sug
gested� adding groves of trees to
soften the view from the freeuTay, hut added, that the
Applicant planned to shift some units to the lower end of
the site. In conclusion, he mentioned there were some
technical concerns, fairly easily resolved.
Chr. Claudy established Piary Knoll was not included in the
prezoning.
Com. Mackenzie enquired how the trips in the General Plan
had been arrived at .
Staff was unsure, but Mr. Viskovlitch assured there was no
restriction based on traffic from development of the Church
properties, since the streets could handle more.
Neilson Buchanan, Administrator of El Camino Hospital, gave
a brief introduction, explaining population trends, senior
citizen increases and dependency ratios, which would support
the construction of such a facility, which he described as
ideal for seniors in a large age, range with differing needs
to remain as independent as possible.
Harvey Hansen, El Camino Hospital, Continuous Care Retire-
ment Center Project Manager, described the hospital' s role
in meeting community needs; that die site represented a unique
opportunity to develop a campustype, efficient Continuous
Care Retirement facility in the1County. He listed meetings
with community and citizens groups and public entities and
spoke of receiving support from most surrounding cities and
t; this the City_ �, a.. to ro .nt from _ of Cupertino .
Ceorr e :i velich, Hardison, Komatsu, Ivellch and Tucker, San
Francisco, Architect on the project, presented a slide exhibit
.n the i- - i' - ri tI cs and a rt
c;:. s��,� c.^-�rac e s�._�� �.:3 , ccessea,e.?^c? aspects of . he
site plan and Il1us:i.ations of floor plans . He described
the architecture as strongly influenced by _ St . ' Joseph's._
seminary with tile roofs, stucco 'and wood balconies, but not
dominating the site or the seminary, and with lush landscaping
at the entrance to echo that at1the seminary. He advised the
view into the site would be softened with trees,as Staff suggested.
He described the units and the different services which made
the project self-contained, the electronically controlled
gate system and visitor parking sprinkled throughout the
project .
Questioned by Com. Sorensen, hel confirmed there was no
underground spring indicated.
Mr. Roy Lave presented the Traffic Report prepared by Louis
H. Larson, Inc . , Los Altos, with the help of slides showing
present and projected traffic fjlows on Cristo Rey and St .
Joseph' s Avenues, peak hour impacts and mitigating measures
that could be taken. He explained the methodology used;
that to verify this study other studies had been examined
and a number of such retirement centers had been studied and
two .had been counted. They had also studies the population
within a ten-mile radius to project where trips would occur.
� � I
PLANNING COM1MISSION MINUTES, SEPTEMBER 17, 1985 PC-475
4110 They felt the traffic on St . Joseph' s might be overestimated Page 3
because of the difficulty of the route for aged drivers, he
noted, also noting the estimated trips for the project
conformed to a nation-wide survey of retired Americans over
sixty-five. He conjectured that if the new access road was
added, little project traffic would use it unless the other
accesses were closed off. He observed the project would
close off St . Joseph' s to future development and that
traffic could be controlled by mitigating measures.
Com. Mackenzie established that traffic manuals supported
the trips per day figure used and that the traffic peak for
the facility would be offset 1 hour frame the City peak.
Mr. Viskovitch explained that the project traffic during
City peak time was added to the City peak to obtain new
estimated peak figures.
Com. Adams established that the recreational use traffic
had not been taken into account .
Chr. Claudy estimated that the 1,000 trips per day projected
was at least one-third too low, based on the number of units
Mr. Lave explained the handbook figures were an average of
all care, and thstfor the more independent units, the trip
generation could be lower.
Chr. Claudy felt the independent group might generate more®
trips. He observed that the 335 independent units in this
project added up to 1,000 trips per day projected for the
whole, and thl: the 175 units of skilled care did not seem
to have been included. He was disturbed daily trips seemed
to have been underestimated by 500.
Mr. Larsen said the 3 trips per independent unit included
visitors and workers and was comparable with Sequoias, one
of the facilities counted.
Com. Mackenzie noted this facility was half again as large
as Sequoias and would therefore generate 1,500 trips he thou: ht.
Chr. Claudy established with Mr. Ivelich the independent
units would be mostly 2-bedroom, but 85/90a would be
occupied by one person probably.
Mr. Lave quoted a Caltrans study indicating that even with a
variation in parameters, there was a very stable number of
trips per unit.
The Commission considered the effect and necessity of the
traffic light .
Mr. Viskovitch stated that Foothill Boulevard would not be
backed-up beyond Highway 280, and that the light was
necessary to interrupt traffic to enable entry from side str ets .
Mr. Hansen, summarizing, pointed out the community need,
beneficial use of the site, satisfaction of City guidelines,
and broad community support received, with the only objectio.
PC-475 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, SEPTEMBER 17, 1985
•
Page 4 being traffic . He confirmed there would be a van service, as411
had been discussed by the Commission and Mr. Lave earlier, and
did not believe the rreject would Henerate sufficient traffic
to create problems . He felt it could not be expected that a
new access road be put in, when it , would h .z1y. -lightly used by
the prciect .
Fr. Michael J. Mitchell, representing the Roman Catholic Diocese
of San Jose, mentioned a technical flaw in the cemetery material
presented in the Staff Report, and confirmed there was no spring
in the area. He confirmed that 400 acres of their land had
-previously been sold to the Mid-Peninsula Open Space District
in the interests of the public, and stated that this project
was viewed in the same manner, as a responsible use of their
land, which otherwise was projected for luxury housing which
they would have difficulty in justifying. He relayed their
pleasure that thshospital had approached them and that this
would employ the Church assetsfor a broader range of people. •
Questioned by Commissioners, Fr. , Mitchell confirmed their
student population had been stable, and that they did not
foresee a major change, but thatj they could expand within
their existing buildings and had had many more students there
in past years than were projected 'for future years.
Margaret Harami, President, Cupertino/Sunnyvale Chapter of
the League of Women Voters, read a statement in support of the
project and presented a copy to the Commission.
111
argaret Sherrill, West Valley, !supported the project, and
felt _:s „_::e c.�-::cunitie s had run out of and and could not
build such a facility, she would' ;:ate to see this opportunity
pass . She thought traffic problems should be viewed in
re at on to human needs, f ee I n; the retirement rro ect would
not create such problems, since residents would dispc?n.se
or make light use of their cars, and, with few driving friends,
would have few visitors . She co,rui:ended the City and the
hospital for their dedication and depth of study, and expressed
pleasure that El Camino Hospital was also to consider lower
income persons in a future project .
Diane Mooney, representing the League of Women Voters, Los Altos/
Mountain View Chapter, supported the Cupertino/Sunnyvale Chapter
and urged consideration of the facts that the need for
appropriate senior housing was well documented, it was in
short supply and seniors did no need large yards and houses.
Heather Jane Washman, second grader, 1054 St . Joseph' s Avenue,
said she was scared by lots of cars going by when she was
walking to school.
FREAK 9: 50 - 10 : 00 P .M.
Dennis Wood, 1191 St . Charles Court, Los Altos was concerned
St . Joseph' s Avenue was even now being used for more than
residential purposes. There were two schools in the area, and
it would impact him and his children to have even more traffic 410
6,000
teh.was enough,
said. He felt cars per day on St . Joseph' s � ,
and more would ruin the character of the neighborhood.
•
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, SEPTEMBER 17, 1965 PC-475
Donna Pronko, 230 Hawthorne Avenue, Los Altos supported Page 5
the tt t as she WC,71:EC1 at anbthsr hospital and eelcl
saw difficulties in findin,; this type of accommodation, she
said. She relayed her willingness to live across the street
from such a project, even though she was a parent and lived
on one of the busiest streets in Los Altos.
Eleanor Kane, 10427 Vista Knoll Drive, Cupertino, said the
concern of the Cristo Rey area residents was just as legiti•-l-
mate as the St . Joseph' s residents and wanted equal
consideration. She was impressed by the project and the
architecture, but felt they would take the brunt of traffic
and construction, though they already faced major problems
of the dangerous stretch of Foothill Expressway there, the
high number of cement trucks and also had a school in their
neighborhood. On the issue of the light, they realized it
was necessary, but wanted to see the whole picture in terms
of back-ups, noise, and blocking of Vista Knoll traffic .
Questioned by Com. Sorensen, Ms. Kane said she had seen
children and adults trying to cross Foothill, and that
residents were aware of the construction noise at the
cemetery, adding that due to a cement strike it had been
quieter recently, but normally there were 900 trucks a day
travelling to the cement plant and back.
James Dozier, 972 St . Joseph' s Avenue, Los Altos noted that
410 streets fed onto St . Joseph' s from the whole area, and that ,
before H ,.;h-'iay 280 had been constructed, l ary Knoll was
y
a ..ztret of that name that wac C1 C SF-c_ off,
,
and C.r:Lsto .le;' 7:as th_e..' put in to serve Mary Knoll. 7e ack. -
avabdt,g4 that Ct . Joseph ' s had more students at one time, but f?f
the (lid not have Ci.'_'s In those days, and now there tr.ae a
treendous amount of traffic, he said. He disaCreed ' It'
r. Lave ' s presentation, feeling there would be a tremendous
impact, especially since the front yard setbacks on St .
Joseph' s were 25 feet . He did not want to see St . Joseph' s
Avenue extended out to Stevens Creek Boulevard, and felt
there should be another entrance to the area, since it
seemed Mary Knoll and St . Joseph' s Seminary would not stay.
Hernig von Morze, St . Joseph' s Avenue, endorsed the comments
of Mr. Wood and listed his perception of omissions from the
Traffic Report; that there was no indication what the
future increases would be; 1,000 cars was probably an
understatement; the engineering impact only had been measure.
(as opposed to the human impact) ; the impact on children •
walking to schools and school bus stops had not been •
measured.
Harold Coltman, 27390 Deer Springs, Los Altos Hills, a
twenty-year area resident, who had previously lived near
Los Altos High School had never been concerned about safety
41/ there, even though there was as heavy or heavier traffic
load, having trained his children appropriately, he said.
He felt the proposal was an appropriate and necessary use
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PC-475 PLANNING. COMTdISSION 11INUTBS, SEPTEMBER 17', 19`85 h 7 L
Page 6 of the land ax1d felt St.:'Joseph's residents were overlooking
the fact it was a public street, and also that residents 4id
not clearly thought.,out".the, alternatiyes:�'oF .1/2 ac:re'resi- r
dential .lots-and,'the".traffic ".that would •;bring .(he',Lestim"04
his own neighbors generated' 8/10, trips -per day) t�he�ucZ
that seniors in this �ineorae bracket would spend much``of+5their;,`' `;;"::.:
time travelling, and at least 25% would not be in 're'sidence,�
at any giver. time, he felt.. : .
Graham Kuhns, 1201 St'. Joseph's Avenue complimented .the. hcast)ital
on their worthy use of the land, worthy: project ,and business
opportunity, but felt senior drivera would find, St. Joseph' s.'.. .
more attractive than the expressway or greeways 'and` so has. +. :
concerned about children, considering the slower reactions of
senior drivers. He was pleased about the Van' schedule :and"the
gate, and hoped that would be used Aor emergency veh1cles :only,.`;: `
or at least that a visible counter be installed.
Wayne Shannon, Spokesman for LA ROAR disagreed. with`a :previous-
remark by Ms. Pronko that El Camino Hospital had accommodated'
the residents of St. Joseph'a Avenue. He said they did :not . .
want to challenge the project, but asked the Commission'to-
think ahead 5-20 years to what would happan, that.' .St. Joseph's;
Avenue might possible at some time be joined to .Stevens :Creek; '
Boulevard, especially since he had heard from nary Knoll;rbat'
their land would be for sale for development , if the ri,zhti offer
came along.
Chr. Claudy observed that opposition seemed to be .only..,to :the
access. He thanked the audience for being considerate. , ,
MOTION: Com. 2-U 8, to continue to SeptemberA25,i1985, toons lheZheard
and 32 5 P
first on the Agenda at that time.
SECOND: Com. Adams' 4-0
VOTE: Passed
(Chr. Claudy abstaining, since he could not attend)
10OTION: Com. Szabo, to initiate a Hearing on prezoning
of the Pacific Gas & Electric sub-station and the
Southern Pacific right of way.
SECOND: Com. Sorensen 5-0
VOTE: Passed
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
r'
NEW BUSINESS
REPORT OF. PLANNING CorL14ISSION {
REPORT OF PLAN?:ING DIRECTOR,
The Meeting was adjourned at 10:40 p.m. until September 18,
1985 at 7:00 p.m.
q" t' APPROVED:
TESTED
;AT ',.;
„ x"
Ash
7,7
hn Claudy
City Clerk Chairperson
r