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HomeMy WebLinkAboutASAC Minutes 08-21-1974CITY OF CUPERTINO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA 1.0300 Torre Avenue, Cupertino Telephone: 2520450≥ MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE ARCHITECTURAL AND SITE APPROVAL COMMITTEE HELD ON AUGUST 21, 1974 IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, CITY HALL CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA SALUTE TO THE FLAG The meeting was called to order by Chairman Sallan at 7:15 P.M. ROLL CALL Members present: Dressler, Koenitzer, Weinstein (7:30) and Chairman Sallan Member absent: Rogers Staff Present: Associate Planner Cowan, Senior Planning Technician Toby "Kramer APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of July 3, 1974 Member Koenitzer will submit his corrections to the July 3rd Minutes to the July 3rd secretary. Chairman Sallan reserved the right to submit her corrections at a later date since she did not have them along with her. Moved by Member Koenitzer, seconded by Chairman Sallan to continue the approval of the minutes of July 3, 1974 to the next regular meeting. Motion carried, 4-0 POSTPONEMENTS: None WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS: None ORAL COMMUNICATIONS: None HC -1l5 Page 1 HC' -1.15 MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 21, 1974 REGULAR H -CONTROL MEETING OLD BUSINESS Chairman Sallan wanted to discuss a policy for future meeting time. Member Dressler said that after. Labor Day and until Christmas, if at all possible, he would like the meeting nights changed from Wednesdays to Thursdays because he will be teaching a course at San Jose State on Wednesday nights. Member Koenitzer was in favor of changing from September through June, but Chairman Sallan preferred to do this on a temporary basis at first. Mr. Will Lester, past Chairman of the Safety Commission, said that group quite frequently meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursday and this could cause problems for citizens wishing to attend both Safety Commission and H -Control meetings. After further discussion, the staff said they saw no problem in changing the meetings to Thursday nights. Moved by Member Dressler, seconded by Member Koenitzer that the Architectural and Site Approval Committee has agreed to meet on the 1st' and 3rd Thursday following the City Council. meetings each month -%`or a period of six months as a temporary measure as a conve_ai once to it:s members. Motion carried, 4•-0 'Member Koenitzer brought up the fact that a meeting should be. scheduled to discuss the data to be submitted by Mr. Coleman for landscaping of Saratoga• -Sunnyvale Road. He also said that a Sign Review Committee meeting is scheduled for September 11, 1974. ter discussion, Chairman Sallan -said. -the--Coiem_it -would meet with . Coleman at 7:30 P.M. on September 16, 1974. There followed a discussion on the composition of the Sign Review ;Committee. The Staff will be sending out a follow up letter on this. Chairman Sallan asked the Committee members to write down comments and =submit them to the staff regarding future discussion areas for the Agenda. (Chairman Sallan asked what happened to the plaque for Juanita McLaren. �Tha staff was requested to check on this. Chairman Sallan Said she would dike the Mayor to present this plaque to Mrs. McLaren. irman Sallan was not comfortable with the landscaping at both the 5_leberry and the Marie Callender restaurants. MINUTES OF THE. AUGUST 21, 1974 REGULAR H --CONTROL MEETING Chairman Sallan said the light standards of .the Big Boy Restaurant and Bank of America are supposed to be the same. Chairman Sallan said she would like to se.e the cobblestones in the mediam strip broken up and planter squares put in. Chairman Sallan requested the Committee think about whether developers -•should be required to put in one variety of trees along their frontages. Chairman Sallan'would like to reprioritize the Agenda. At 7:00 P.M. there should be discussion of City Business, after the informal reviews. At 7:30 P.M. the Public Hearings on applications' should begin and they should finish up Unfinished Business and New Business after 11:30 P.M. when the Public Hearings are closed. PUBLIC HEARINGS 1. Application HC -51,259.8 of Portal Plaza Shopping Center requesting approval of a landscaping plan for Phase I of the modification to the existing shopping center. Continued from H -Control meeting of August 7, 1974. The Senior Planning Technician said the applicant was requested to come back with a plan for mounding the landscaping along Stevens Creek Blvd. and Portal Avenue frontages. They have now removed. the junipers on Stevens Creek Blvd. and replaced that area.with mounding and taller shrubs to screen the parking lot. In order to save the existing trees they are proposing undulating mounding. A certain flat portion should be provided for future bicycle paths. Attorney James Miller, 352 South Murphy, Sunnyvale, said he was representing the applicant and the developer. They have decided since this is an important issue and the fact that they can salvage most of the existing irrigation and the existing trees, that they will do this. In order to properly maintain a mounding it should be reduced to 2'. Member Koenitzer said he liked the undulating mounding effect. This would leave 40' of 3' high mounding if you drop down to grade level around the trees. Mr. Miller advised it should be dropped down from 2' mounding to ground level of the trees. He said that 6' to 10' trees will be hand picked by the designer to be placed along Stevens Creek Blvd. Member Dressler said he subscribes to the 2' high mounds because the 3' mounds at McClellan Square appear to be pointed at the top. HC--1?-5 Page 3 i ge 4 Has Doi, 1331 Miller Avenue, San Jose, the landscape architect said that after the comments of the last meeting he has eliminated the 3' high shrubs and included a taller variety. The Associate Planner cautioned that there could be a safety problem if the shrubs are too high. __ ChairmanSallan said this _crime prevent ion Chairman Sallan said there appears to be some irregularity on the setting of the plants in the drawing. Mr. Doi answered that they vary from 0' to 7' apart. They will make a dense screen. Directly behind the Liquid Amber, existing trees, he was advised to put something besides the 18" high ground cover by the Liquid Amber trees. Mr. Doi said there is beauty in the deciduous trees without leaves and if you put too many evergreens there you will lose the affect. After further discussion, Mr. Doi said he would add the requested shrubs. Chairman Sallan said she would like to have the extra plants along Portal Avenue as well as Stevens Creek Blvd. Mr. Doi said that from aesthetic standpoint this would be monotonous. Member Koenitzer agreed. Ch.airr_Yar! Sallan asked for comments from the audience. There were none. loved by Member Dressler , seconded by Member Koenitzer to close the public hearings. Motion carried, 4-0 Moved by Member Koenitzer, seconded by Member Dressler. to recommend to the City Council approval of application HC -51,259.8 for the landscaping as proposed in Exhibit C, first revision with the condition that the mound be reduced to 2' in height and shaped so as to not impair the growth of the existing trees along Stevens Creek Blvd. All shrubs on Stevens Creek Blvd. and Portal Avenue shall be 5 gallon size and all trees shall be 15 gallon. size as stated in the landscaping guidelines, resolution number 34. .YES: Members Dressler, Koenitzer, Weinstein, Chairman Sallan FOES: None LBSENT: Member Rogers Motion carried, 4-0 MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 21 , 1974 REGULAR 11 -CONTROL MEETING 2. Application HC -51,075.40 of Vallco Park, Ltd., requesting approval of site, architecture, grading and conceptual land- scaping for the regional shopping center located southerly of and adjacent to Freeway 280 at its intersection with Wolfe Road, extending southerly on the westerly side of Wolfe Road from said Freeway to Stevens Creek Boulevard and extending southerly from said Freeway on the easterly side of Wolfe Road to Vallco Park Way. Continued from H --Control meeting of August 9, 1974. Member Koen.itzer'asked for a 2 minute recess to retrieve his things from the car. Member Weinstein questioned whether it would be wise to review the entire shopping center plan at this meeting since the configuration and the location of the shopping center may be changed considerably. The Associate Planner said this question was discussed at the City Council meeting on the 19th. The City Attorney ruled that the H -Control process should proceed but the issue should -stop at the City Council level until after the November vote. Mr. Walter Ward said the City Council did adopt a petition to put the Vallco Park. Regional Shopping Center on the -ballot in November. The Use Permit -is not revoked- but is rather- suspended_. at the Council level. is said the City Council passed a. Minute Order that H -Control should hear this application. The Vallco attorneys have instructed him not to yield to other applications as they have done in the past but rather to get on with the business at hand. Recess was called at 8:22 P.M. Meeting reconvened at 8:31 P.M. The Associate Planner said he wrote a letter to Vallco Park asking for additional data and answers to questions of this Committee. The Committee has received these data. One question is the relationship of this project with the City and County bike path routes. He then went over the bike path routes maps on the bulletin board. The bike path system being proposed by the shop- ping center is basically for the center. He stated that putting bike paths along Wolfe Road would encourage bicycle traffic there and the problem is the overpass over Freeway 280. Member Koeritzer wondered if there were some way to get bicycles over the Freeway with a separate bicycle/pedestrian. overcrossing. The Associate Planner stated something like this is planned at Mary Avenue. He further stated that the Tantau cvercrossing will be designed to include a bike path. There is possibility of linking Blaney AvenuE to the shopping center via the flood control channel. HC -x-115 Page 5 HG -I 1.5 Paue 6 MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 21, 1974 REGULAR 11 -CONTROL MEETING Member Dressler said we have had requests from residents in Santa Clara for. sidewa.lks through Vallco Park so they could walk to the stores. The Conunittee was informed, the Director of Public Works was writing a letter to the residents of the area. IThe Associate Planner said this Committee has approved the design and o cat of -t-he- ound- ____ ---- ti©n--of _.y. The wall along the Freeway has been deferred for additional acoustical !data. The siting, design, materials and grading of the Bullock's development have been approved by this Committee. JMr. Ralph Butterfield, of Wurster, Bernardi and Emmonds, said he would like to discuss the design of the shops, grading, parking and the con- ceptual landscape plan. !Chairman Salian said the major concern of -this Committee is the design of the development as it appears from the public streets. jMr. Butterfield said basic materials -are precast, warm tone concrete, !wood, and. brick. There is a 4' overhang that goes around the entire building. The. soffit is resawn redwood. The bronze annodized aluminum window frames will have solar glass. The service corridor has had i� indows added. j'hl have. dalineated significant points of activity such i _ . _ r_,� and main d r points t'" z much higher i g)-er ceilings. s, They i s5 l.v�ir�.. y.�_t-Q C i,�:� �.�i Z1� entry ��� �: t�1.:1 ...� i..l�ll 1"rl�i.. .11 ll�rol�� �,el._.` .g♦ • 'Chef j have 1 €s't-tidied the grading in the a"i `a of Penrieys end Ita\'e` lowered it -' P from 5.">! to a m2xi�sim of c TLC7 hav = created a combination ramp cud '/. .1"c. e. e.. .r a 1 sty'e nf7 .}. y r... +.r,i •1i u enter �i Penneys i ��.irtr3y to a \.L":3) a 3 coninon �'rC'.<. r.a.ii +�. C you n_E'r either E.t°.12_jS icr the �iall. There is a grade differential of 21' from Freeway 280 to ;the highest point of ..Penneys and 14from Wolfe Road. Mr. Butterfield j said .'that previously they had a balanced cut and fill. It: now appears ;there may be some carryout..of soil, which means trucks will have to clove ;throug. certain areas. Mr. Butterfield said the service area will be under the shops and shield-ed Ifrom Wolfe Road. Chairman Sallan said she is not as concerned about elevated buildings as she -in about the profile she sees wh.er, she looks at the Penneys elevation. She will look at cars 10' above theFreeway l eve?.. " She is very concerned about elevated parking. 4r. Michael Painter, of Fainter and Associates, said the problem at Sears 1s cioubl r�w -)f dsh t-rPr✓s is c -r a 9'%- "a1upE_ and. then --the made aas - .-- �stablished on the parking 1ot:. The retaining wall probably looked on :he plan like a curb, oir. Pa:i.nte.r said a row of redtaood trees 1.2' apart is along the Freeway. kie believes that ineorperatil:.g shrubs with the trees should be planted on the berns - nd slopes. 1 MINUTES QE THE. AUGUST 2i., 1974 REGULAR H -CONTROL MEETING Chairman Sallan asked why this parking lot can't be dug in the way Hewlett Packard, atHomesteadand Wolfe, has been done. Mr. Butterfield said they want upper and lower levels of parking. Chairman Sallan said her main concern is to not see the parking lot from Wolfe Road. Mr. Painter illustrated how he could accomp- lish this -- with a retaining wall, a 2:1 slope, then a 30" retain- ing wall dropping down to the parking lot. They have used this approach for California Casualty on Alameda de Las Pulgas in San Mateo. It has been very effective. Member Koenitzer' believes the 75.4 percent ratio is conservative over what we should have. If we find the Drachman System is not working it can always be restripped. He sees the main problem with the Drachman System as enforcement. Chairman Sallan believes the 10% reduction in parking can be used for additional landscaping Mr. Butterfield said 9' is the standard width for parking spaces in the industry. Cupertino's ordinance calls for 9' 5". Chairman. Sallan said she has observed that a lot of the Sears.parki-ng -lot. is never used. Mr. Ward said that at Christmas the Sears is 2/3's to 3/4's filled. Penney's is concerned that we are not allowing enough parking spaces. Member Koenitzer said a 9' 6" parking space is necessary for a tall person to get in and out of his car. Mr. Painter noted that in some parking lots in San Jose the spaces are 8' 3" to 8' 6". Sears has 9' wide spaces. The total landscape area, excluding Sears, is 1.0.5 acres (equivalent to two neighborhood parks). The 36' of landscaping is the tightest landscaping back to the first row of cars. The increase in landscaping is basically wider areas of landscaping. The ring road now has 50' rather than 10' of land- scaping and 50% more green area with that same amount of reduction of asphalt. The landscaped areas will be raised to help screen the cars. There is now a wooden trellis with benches and white wisteria growing on it to break the parking lots in half. On the 4 Phase Systems side the planting has been increased from 5' to 20'. Within the center the ring road, between. the outer row of. parking, there is a typical 25' of landscaping. We now have a lot of smaller groupings of parking areas. The 9' wide bicycle path goes from Stevens Creek Blvd. to Amherst, turns, and follows the back of the residents, drops down to the tunnel area under Wolfe Road, and comes back to Cupertino. Member Koenitzer's only real objection is the addition of 20' of landscaping to the area by 4 Phase Systems. On the west side it could provide more protection for the residents. RC -115 Page 7 iC li JNUTES CF THE AUGUST 21, 1974 REGULAR 11- CONTROL MEETING -Chairman Sallan's preference was for more greenery along Wolfe Road behind the double row of trees. The least area of concern to her was near 4 Phase Systems. She is concerned that going south of the overcrossing on the west side as you approach the building, the parking is very close to Wolfe Road. She would be in favor of decreasing the landscaping and bicycle paths width in other areas in order to achieve more landscaping along _Wolfe Road in this area. Member Dressler asked if it would be possible to get more landscaping around Sears it we went to 9wide parking stalls. Mr. Butterfield said they could not represent Sears without permission. Mr. Ward added that Sears wants to be a good neighbor. They are waiting to see what happens to the rest of the center. They have already agreed to replace their lights. Member Dressler said he would like to see something done all the way around Sears. Chairman Sallan believes that integration of the Sears landscaping is just as important as the rest of the shopping center. She believes the frontages along Stevens Creek Blvd. and Wolfe Road should be included in these landscape plans. Mr. Ward said he would speak with the Sears people about this. There was considerable discussion on how to handle the balance of the Agenda. Mr. Ward said he would. be willing to yield the balance of the Vallco Park review to a special meeting. Mr. Jim LeDeit, representing the Garner property, suggested that since September 4th is going to be an expanded Agenda, that the Cenfmictee have an Adjourned meeting on, say, August 29th. Mr. John Sobrato appealed to the Committee to hear the Westfield and the Sobratc applicat_on as soon as possible. Member Weinstein said the landscaping concept for the shopping center was quite acceptable. He would like to pursue the 9' wide parking spaces if this would result in significant landscaping expansion. At this point he is, not sure how much additional greenery will be gained through the implementation of the Drachman System. Further, he questions whether or not it will work. Member Weinstein also wished to pursue the "outdoor area". There could even be some shops around this. He would like to see 1the applicants proposal for this at the next meeting. The third story of the Penneys building has been eliminated, which is great. He could not find any -other major aspects of this proposal that he couldn't live with. The overall_ architecture is all right as long as the penthouse is eliminated and the outdoor area is integrated with the mall, etc., and not Iset off by itself. Member Dressler said tie has a tough time relating to the brick color. He felt it was too dark for such a large building and would like to see some color halfway between the proposed brick and the slumpstone color. He said he was in favor of the shopping .center but- as a Comnitte 1iember he can't go out and support it. Further, Member Dressler is concerned about the red terracotta of the Sears roof. It was acknowledged that it would be difficult to change this, at this point. MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 21, 1974 REGULAR H -CONTROL MEETING Member Koenitzer was concerned about the penthouse on the Penneys store, which houses the air cosdi.tioning units. He would prefer to see this on top of the automotive wing rather than the top of the main building. Member Koenitzer said one concern for down- stream landscaping is what is going to go underneath the trees that is higher than the grass. Chairman Sallan was concerned with the grading and how it affects the concealing of the automobiles. Wolfe Road should be more of a visual relief, including the Sears site. The western parameter needs heavy buffering. Member Dressler said careful consideration should be given to the roof of these buildings because if Vallco Park builds the towers, they will look down on these roofs. Chairman Sallan suggested trees be placed on the roof. Moved by Member Koenitzer, seconded by Member Dressler to continue application HC -51,075.40 to an Adjourned meeting August 29, 1974 at 7:30 P.M., in the Library Conference Room. Motion carried, 4-0 Chairman Sallan announced the balance of the Agenda not covered at this meeting will lead off the September 4th meeting. ADJOURNMENT Moved by Member Koenitzer, seconded by Member Dressler to adjourn this meeting at 1145 P.M. to August 29, 1974 at 7:30 P.M. in the Library Conference Room. Motion carried, 4-0 APPROVED: Is/ C. Nancy Sallan C. Nancy Sallan, Chairwoman ATTEST: Is/ Wm. E. Ryder Wm. E. Ryder, City Clerk HC -115 Page 9