HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC 02-24-2026 Youtube and Zoom TranscriptWEBVTT
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Community Hall: and to the republic for which it stands, one nation,
under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all.
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Community Hall: Alright, City Clerk, may we please have a roll call?
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Community Hall: Commissioner Bombs? Present.
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Community Hall: Ireland's go.
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Community Hall: You have to tap it to wake it up.
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Community Hall: Commissioner Rao? Here. Vice Chair, Erica Zolstrom?
Present. All present.
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Community Hall: Thank you very much. We will move on to the approval of
the minutes. Do we have a motion?
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Community Hall: you know, prior to the motion, I believe there's some
corrections that
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Community Hall: Yes. So, I had… I had a quick correction, so the…
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Community Hall: Where is it? Hold on, let me pull it up. on page 12,
where it says Chair Kosulcharan conducted a non-binding straw poll to
support incorporating emergency response times into programmatic
recommendations.
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Community Hall: The minutes captured say that, there was a vote in favor
from Casolciuro and Linskog and Rao in favor, Scharf and Fong opposed,
and no abstentions. That is incorrect. I actually voted to oppose that,
straw poll, so if we can correct that, that would be great. Thank you.
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Community Hall: Okay, and we had additional corrections, I believe, on
item number…
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Community Hall: 3, it says, Chair, I've opened the public comment period.
We had transitioned the chair, so that should be the new chair.
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Community Hall: On item 3?
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Community Hall: And the motion as well… well, the motion's right.
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Community Hall: the opening is probably something you need to fix, and
then… On item number… 5…
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Community Hall: This is page, 5, I think.
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Community Hall: Yeah, so the motion by Commissioner Lynn Scott to revisit
the scoring system put less weight on school routes. I did not support
that motion. If you can change that, please.
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Community Hall: My motion was actually called out at the end, which was
to discard the criteria proposed and use the feedback provided at
Council.
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Community Hall: Thank you.
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Community Hall: City Crook, did you capture that?
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Community Hall: All right, so do we have a motion to approve the revised
minutes? So moved. Second.
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Community Hall: Alright.
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Community Hall: Great, thank you very much. Do we have any postponements?
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Community Hall: No postponements. Right, then we will move to the oral
communications portion of this meeting. City Clerk, how many comments do
we have?
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Community Hall: No hands raised on Zoom chair.
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Community Hall: Wow, okay, then we will move on to the public hearing. So
Agenda Item 2 is to consider a hillside exception for grading on slopes
exceeding 30% to create yard area, R1 exception for garage design, design
review for a new two-story residence, minor residential permits, tree
removal permit.
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Community Hall: For… This application And I won't read all the numbers.
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Community Hall: So, we'll now open the public hearing. Do we have a staff
report?
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Community Hall: Yes, thank you, Chair, members of the Planning
Commission. I just want to very briefly introduce Emmy Sugiyama, who will
have both of the public hearing items tonight. I don't really have much
more to say on this, so probably have a little preamble on the next item.
So, with that, I will turn it over to Emmy. Through the Chair, should we
do exported disclosures?
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Community Hall: Sure, Commissioner Rao, this sounds like a good time to
do that.
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Community Hall: All right, let's all due ex parte disclosures, starting
with Commissioner Fung.
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Community Hall: Nothing to reward.
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Community Hall: I did meet with a neighbor in the area and was given a
tour of the location.
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Community Hall: I have walked around the site on the back side.
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Community Hall: I walked around with a neighbor, too. I had no contact
with the property owner.
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Community Hall: I walked around it, but I haven't spoken to any of the
neighbors.
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Community Hall: Great, thank you very much. Okay, we'll go back to the
staff report.
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Community Hall: All right, thank you, Chair Solchiron and Commissioners,
good evening. I'll have, video
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Community Hall: Have my screen, there we go. Misukuyama planning staff
here today to discuss the request for a hillside exception and various
residential permits for a project on San Fernando Court.
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Community Hall: The subject property is located on San Fernando Court.
It's within the Monta Vista neighborhood and is adjacent to Blackberry
Farm Park. It is currently surrounded by other single-family residential
uses. It is within the R17.5 zoning district, and it currently has a
single-family residence on site.
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Community Hall: The application includes various residential permits to
allow for construction of a new two-story residence. These include a
design review permit for design consistency and massing considerations, a
minor residential permit for a rear-facing balcony, and an R1 exception
for a garage located in front of living space.
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Community Hall: The project also includes a request for a hillside
exception and tree removal to allow for a flat yard area.
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Community Hall: The hillside exception is to allow for grading of more
than 500 feet on slopes exceeding 30%, and the tree removals be
associated with that grading.
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Community Hall: It should also be noted that the design review, minor
residential, and tree removal permits are typically reviewed at a staff
level, but are being brought before the Commission tonight, due to their
connection with the two requested exceptions.
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Community Hall: This site plan outlines the proposed two-story residence,
with the first floor outlined in light green, and the second floor
outlined in dark green.
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Community Hall: As previously noted, this project requires a design
review permit to allow for a reduced second-story side setback, and a
larger second-to-first floor area ratio.
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Community Hall: Additionally, the applicant is also seeking a minor
residential permit for a proposed rear-facing balcony, which is shown
here in yellow.
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Community Hall: Design review projects are required to provide an
identifiable architectural style that is generally consistent with the
neighborhood pattern. To ensure that architectural design requirements
are met, staff refers projects to RRM, our third-party architectural
firm, for review.
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Community Hall: In this case, RRM provided a number of comments, many of
which were addressed by the applicant. However, the applicant's design
did not address comments related to providing a sloped roof and reducing
massing to match the neighborhood.
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Community Hall: The applicant also requests an R1 exception to allow for
the garage to be located in front of the living area. Staff supports this
request based on the lot's shape and topography, and the existing pattern
of garages in the neighborhood.
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Community Hall: Here you can see the residences on San Fernando Court,
with garages aligned with, or in front of living area, demarcated by the
yellow circles.
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Community Hall: That concludes…
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Community Hall: The summary for permits related to the residential
development. Staff is recommending approval of the minor residential and
R1 exception as proposed, and conditional approval of the design review
permit on the condition that the design be revised in accordance with
RRM's recommendations to decrease the building height and add sloped
roofs.
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Community Hall: As for the hillside exception and tree removal, to allow
for a greeting of a flat yard area, this site plan indicates the areas
where it sloped, or where the project is sloped more than 30%.
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Community Hall: That is in the light orange, and then the proposed
grading areas are in the dark orange.
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Community Hall: The red dots indicate the location of oak trees to be
removed to accommodate this grading, 4 of which are over 12 inches and
therefore are considered protected.
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Community Hall: And then the green dots indicate the location of oak
trees to be preserved on site.
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Community Hall: The applicant's initial proposal included grading most of
the rear yard. However, in working with staff, the applicant has proposed
a revised design, as shown here, to reduce the grading to an area bounded
by a 5-foot setback from the drip line of the large 36-inch oak tree on-
site and a 10-foot buffer from the rear property line.
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Community Hall: To accommodate grade drainage, and to provide an
additional buffer between the…
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Community Hall: proposed grading, and Blackberry Farm Park.
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Community Hall: Here you can see a view from Stevens Creek Trail to the
project site, indicating that the trees that will remain in orange and
the trees that exist between the property and the trail within the park
area. The trees in red shown here are to be removed.
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Community Hall: For the hillside exception and tree removal permit, staff
is recommending that to accommodate the rear yard area, your Commission
conditionally approve both of these permits to ensure that the setbacks
recommended by staff are maintained, and that retaining walls do not
exceed 5 feet in height. The revised design would also eliminate the need
to remove one of the five protected trees on site.
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Community Hall: And with that, staff recommends that your commission find
the project exempt from CEQA, conditionally approve the
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Community Hall: Design Review, Minor Res… or, sorry, design review,
hillside exception, and tree removal permit, and fully approve the R1
exception and minor residential permit, based on the draft resolutions.
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Community Hall: And then I believe that the applicant also has a
presentation.
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Community Hall: I could just, interrupt something I forgot to say at the
outset, is that unlike most of the residential projects that come before
the Commission, this is a fully discretionary project, so it is not
subject to the Housing Accountability Act or any of the other things that
often limit discretionary action on behalf of the Commission, so…
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Community Hall: You have, this is more how projects used to be, say, 10
years ago.
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Community Hall: Thank you very much, Emmy and Luke. Do we have any
questions for the staff from Commission before we move to the applicant
presentation?
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Community Hall: Commissioner Rao, go ahead.
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Community Hall: So… I see a number of variances between what is allowed
and what is proposed.
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Community Hall: And your staff is recommending approval.
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Community Hall: Could staff clarify why that is?
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Community Hall: Right, so the design review, I'll start kind of just with
that, is kind of a… an exception outlined by our code. It really is just
a process that you have to go through to reduce the setbacks en masse,
and we see it very often, to be honest. And so that one, we're not seeing
as
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Community Hall: something too far out of the ordinary. The R1 exception,
again, we do have a lot of neighborhoods where the garages are in front
of the living area. This is something that was more newly, imposed, and I
would say
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Community Hall: more strictly codified as we've done more updates to have
objective standards, and so we are potentially going to see more lots
like this that are confined that may need those R1 exceptions. And then
finally, for the hillside exception, this, I will say, is quite…
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Community Hall: new. I don't think that we've had something come through
like this in quite a while, at least not that I could find, and so that
is…
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Community Hall: again, written through our code, that if you do exceed
500 square feet of grading on 30% slopes in R1, then you do need a
hillside exception, and so, again, it's just the process that's outlined.
We're recommending approval, a conditional approval of that, with the
consideration given to, again, the setbacks and the modified design, but
without strict precedent.
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Community Hall: Thank you.
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Community Hall: Any other questions from the Commission?
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Community Hall: I did have one, if there are no others. The project is
listed to be in a liquefaction inundation slope instability hazard zone,
and I was curious what measures will be taken just to make sure that any
grading that does happen doesn't impact the blackberry farm below.
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Community Hall: Great, so the project provided a geotechnical report that
was peer-reviewed by one of the city's third-party geologists, and the
recommendations of that report must be incorporated within the structural
drawings to come, and any redesigns would also need to be re-reviewed by
the geologists to make sure that they wouldn't have those impacts.
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Community Hall: Okay, thank you. Actually, I did have one more question.
There is a note around replanting of removed trees, and that there's an
option that the applicant can actually pay an in-lieu fee if the
replanting of removed trees is not feasible. What are the scenarios in
which replanting a tree is not feasible?
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Community Hall: So, in this case, because there is other tree canopy
within the rear yard.
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Community Hall: the rest of the areas are rather confined, you may find
that planting the oak trees that we're recommending for planting, we may
not have enough space to accommodate all of those replantings on-site,
and for them to thrive and be healthy. So that's why we have that option,
is just to ensure that if the space is limited and we're asking for
larger trees, we do still collect a fee.
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Community Hall: To accommodate that elsewhere.
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Community Hall: Okay, thank you.
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Community Hall: Any other questions from Commission?
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Community Hall: Yeah, so on the… on the tree removal,
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Community Hall: I mean, I know we just approved a city work plan to
improve our city canopy and figure out, you know, how we… how we build up
our city canopy, considering that we have one of the lowest canopies of
all the cities in the… in Silicon Valley. How…
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Community Hall: is it just that we have no objective standards for that
yet, and that's why that's not a consideration, or, like…
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Community Hall: how are we okay with, approving so many trees being
removed? Right, the threshold for R1 tree removals is relatively low,
especially when they're in the 12 inch to 24 inch range, which these are.
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Community Hall: We basically require that the applicant show that they
will replant and or provide in-lieu fees for that, and that's the finding
in and of itself. So.
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Community Hall: But again, it's not a very high bar.
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Community Hall: Sorry, on that point…
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Community Hall: Is this to be considered R1 or RHS, given the sloping
where the trees are being removed? So this is zoned R1. We do for…
specifically for the grading in the rear yard that we're talking about,
and for the hillside exception itself, we are applying some RHS
standards. Not all of them, just some to that portion. So would that not
be the case for the tree removes?
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Community Hall: So, the property is still zoned R1, so the trees are
still on an R1 zoned property, so that finding would still be related to
the R1 zoning. I understand that they're in connection with the grading,
however, those could be removed under that same finding without the
grading occurring.
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Community Hall: So, can staff clarify what portions of the project would
be considered under RHS versus R1?
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Community Hall: So, again, it's not necessarily that we're changing the
zoning halfway through or anything like that, it's just that we pull over
some of the standards from RHS and apply them to this R1 zoned property,
and those include standards for things like the retaining wall height,
where we can make some additional considerations, also the materials
applied to those retaining walls. Really, it's more for specifically the
grading and retaining walls that we're looking at, those standards.
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Community Hall: And have you had any other similar project in the
neighborhood with the backside facing Blackberry Farm that…
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Community Hall: Would serve as a precedent for… comparison.
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Community Hall: Right, so a number of the neighboring residences do have
previous grading, however, that grading occurred prior to us having our
hillside exception requirements in place, so we don't have a precedent
for this type of discretionary review before you.
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Community Hall: Thank you.
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Community Hall: Sorry, one more question. What's the fire zone?
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Community Hall: That this house is in. That's a good question. I would
have to double check that. Can you let me know? Yeah. During this
meeting? Thanks.
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Community Hall: I did look it up, and I think there is no fire zone, but
please do confirm that. Do we have any other questions from Commission?
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Community Hall: Okay, then we'll move to the applicant presentation.
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Community Hall: Hello, my name's David, I don't really have too much of a
presentation. Emmy did a great job, thank you very much.
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Community Hall: I designed, the house.
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Community Hall: And work with the civil engineer to work on the site in
the backyard.
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Community Hall: the client came to me 3 years ago, and we… he was gonna
purchase the house, and he wanted to know if he could do a modern house,
because that's what he really wanted. And we had talked to planning, and
they said, yeah, we can go down that route.
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Community Hall: So we came up with some designs, gave to planning, and
we've gone down this route of figuring all of this out.
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Community Hall: Which seems… To be happy with planning, and my clients
happy with the house.
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Community Hall: And he also wanted to do the backyard, and I was like,
well, that's gonna be a little bit trickier.
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Community Hall: So we've been working a bunch with planning and public
works, on the backyard. Originally, we wanted… my client was hoping to go
all the way back to the property line. He wanted to have a sports court
and, you know, the whole thing, because the lot… there is no backyard.
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Community Hall: That seemed to be an issue, so we worked, with Public
Works Planning.
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Community Hall: And decided that if we could move the sports court area
back 10 feet from property line, that we could, one, save a tree, do
quite a bit less grading.
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Community Hall: and remove one of the originally proposed four retaining
walls in the back, now we're only proposing three to get to that grade.
So, less retaining walls, less visual impact.
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Community Hall: And…
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Community Hall: saving some trees. We also noticed that, originally back
in January, when we were supposed to have the first meeting, that we saw
some of the neighbors and people of the community were very concerned
about the trees, being removed. So we did
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Community Hall: By moving the retaining wall back, we are saving one of
the trees, which is a larger, more predominant tree, visual, from
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Community Hall: the Stevens Creek Trail below. And also, I'm not sure if
people…
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Community Hall: really realized it, but that property line is 30-
something feet back from that… if you're down at Stevens Creek, there's,
like, a retaining wall that's kind of a visual thing that you can see,
and then the properties kind of go up that steep hill.
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Community Hall: And the property line is actually about 30 feet back from
that retaining wall, and there's quite a few trees between
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Community Hall: the property line, that new 12-inch tree that we're
keeping, and that retaining wall down below. So the visual impact from
the…
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Community Hall: the actual creek will be very similar to what it is now.
We are… there were a couple trees that are going to be removed that you
will see that the canopy will
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Community Hall: Change a little bit.
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Community Hall: But… we're not gonna be having a house just open to
Stevens Creek.
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Community Hall: I heard some quick questions or comments about the
construction.
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Community Hall: So per Geotech report, we're going to be required to do a
pier and grade beam for retaining walls, house, everything. So the piers
will be drilled, the dirt will be removed to the top of the property, and
then removed off the property to somewhere else, so that we can't retain
dirt on the property.
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Community Hall: And my client was hoping to plant trees at the rear yard.
We have some space there, depending on canopy, of how it works.
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Community Hall: He would love to have trees there, just for privacy from
the creek trail.
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Community Hall: If not… Potentially on the side yard or in the front yard
to get some oak trees back.
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Community Hall: So that's gonna be the tricky one, as you had mentioned,
just based off of the existing canopy. The canopy there is pretty…
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Community Hall: Extensive.
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Community Hall: So that's all I got, pretty simple, and I'm here if you
guys have any questions about the project that you'd like to ask.
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Community Hall: Great, thank you very much. Do we have any questions from
the Commission?
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Community Hall: No questions?
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Community Hall: I have one question, but okay, go ahead, Commissioner
Rao.
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Community Hall: Maybe a question for both staff and the applicant. Was
the applicant made aware that a hearing would not be necessary if certain
design options were considered?
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Community Hall: Yes, but unfortunately, one of those, no matter what, we
couldn't do anything about.
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Community Hall: And that was the garage facing front. The lot's just too
narrow.
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Community Hall: there's… there's not much we could have done about that,
so we were going down this route anyways. Could staff clarify, was that
one exception enough to trigger
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Community Hall: A design review?
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Community Hall: Right, so that exception would be enough to have a
hearing before you all. The design review permit is separate, the R1
exception is what he's referring to. So that one exception of the garage
being
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Community Hall: further in front than allowed would trigger a hearing.
Right.
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Community Hall: Were there other alternatives that the applicant
considered to further reduce the deviation from the general plan?
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Community Hall: Regarding the garage, or the whole design? The whole
design.
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Community Hall: So that was a tricky one, because my client was very
adamant on a more modern design. So we were going down that route, no
matter what. Flat roof, parapet style.
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Community Hall: Roof overhangs in some areas, so very different style.
That was the route we were going.
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Community Hall: The garage, we'd played with a couple different options
when we found out about that, but it… just the way it's shaped, it's so
difficult to make that not…
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Community Hall: That would not work, unfortunately.
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Community Hall: And question for stuff. Is this the first of its kind in
a modern design in this area?
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Community Hall: Specifically by BlackBerry Farm.
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Community Hall: this close, I believe potentially it is, but I think in
other Monta Vista areas, we have had more modern designs. However, they
did incorporate the reduced massing and sloped roofing portions of it.
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Community Hall: And would this area be considered the Moda Vista Village?
No, it does not fall within that.
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Community Hall: Would we apply the entire Moda Vista as the basis for
comparison, or is there a more narrow comparison?
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Community Hall: I think directly in the neighborhood, there have been
more contemporary or modern aesthetic houses built there. However, I
don't know if many of them have flat roofs. I think that the majority of
them, again, do incorporate a sloped roof style, which is why we have
that recommendation for the condition. Thank you.
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Community Hall: I did want to follow up on that.
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Community Hall: Are there any projects we've approved that have been
allowed to move forward with all flat roofs?
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Community Hall: There are, in other portions of the city where we have
existing flat roofs, I'm thinking moreover on the Eichler kind of area,
and adjacent to that, where you see a little bit more of that flat roof
design, we do have the flat roof design being approved. It really depends
on the context of that specific neighborhood.
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Community Hall: Okay, thank you.
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Community Hall: Question for the applicant, I'm just curious, would you
consider, if sloped roofs were added to this home, would it still be
considered a modern design?
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Community Hall: I mean, of course, you can make a modern design with
sloped roof, yes. Would my client like that?
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Community Hall: No.
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Community Hall: Okay, thank you. Yep.
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Community Hall: Can I ask a clarifying question? So, you said the slope
roof… is the slope roof necessary with the reduced massing, or are those
two separate issues?
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Community Hall: Like, could you reduce the massing and keep the flat
roofs? Right, I don't know that that was fully considered by RRM, but I
think that for the most part, what we see is for flat roof design, we
need a significant amount of reduction. This would not result in a
significant amount of reduction, it would just be a smaller reduction
along with the sloped roof. So I think used in conjunction.
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Community Hall: Allows for somewhat of the height… some of the height to
be maintained.
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Community Hall: So… so the slope roof allows them to keep more massing,
in a way. Right, got it.
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Community Hall: Do we have any other questions for the applicant? No? All
right, thank you very much. We'll move on to public comments. City Clerk,
do we have any public comments? We have two speakers in person, and one
hand raised on Zoom. Our first speaker is Connie Cunningham, followed by
Rhoda Frye, followed by Peggy Griffin.
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Community Hall: Welcome, Connie.
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Community Hall: Good evening, Chair, Vice Chair, and Commissioners. My
name is Connie Cunningham. I'm Chair of the Housing Commission, speaking
for myself only. I'm also a member of the Santa Clara Valley Bird
Alliance, SCVBA, the Environmental Action Committee.
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Community Hall: The subject home is located directly above Blackberry
Farm Park Preserve, a nature preserve and a priceless gem in our city.
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Community Hall: I implore you, Vote no on hillside exception for grading.
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Community Hall: The house is clearly too large for the lot if the only
idea for a backyard is to bulldoze a hillside and build retaining walls
for its 59 degree slope.
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Community Hall: Perhaps this home could have a deck on pillars. This
would allow the oak trees to remain in place to provide habitat for
birds, other critters, and enjoyment for hundreds of Cupertino visitors.
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Community Hall: I also implore you to vote no on the tree removal permit
for the removal and replacement of protected native oak trees. The
applicant has been given the option of replanting with new trees, taking
years to mature, or paying a fee without replacing them.
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Community Hall: That is unacceptable.
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Community Hall: I strongly suggest also that you revise the design review
permit, delete the requirement that says, adding sloped Roof Elements. I
like the design as it is.
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Community Hall: There are other designs like this in Cupertino and in my
neighborhood. This subject location does not have meaningful comparisons
to make the applicant change his design.
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Community Hall: I am disappointed to see recommendations suggest that the
front of the applicant's proposed house be changed significantly to be in
sync with neighbors to the front.
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Community Hall: And that the city rules also require the applicant to
consider the neighbors next door.
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Community Hall: to him. However, no thought.
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Community Hall: Went into how the backyard of this home would impact
neighbors over the back fence.
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Community Hall: Cupertino residents enjoy Blackberry Farm Nature
Preserve. City residents understand its value.
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Community Hall: I often walk Stevens Creek Trail with a friend and with
my binoculars. There are red-tailed hawks, owls, pygmy nuthatches,
chestnut-backed chickadees, there are fish in Stevens Creek. There are
beautiful locations to picnic. I am disappointed.
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Community Hall: That after decades, there was this lack of sensitivity to
the preserve and its importance to the public.
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Community Hall: Deeply disappointed.
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Community Hall: This type of nature preserve does not exist in every
city.
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Community Hall: We are fortunate.
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Community Hall: Fortunate to have this priceless gem.
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Community Hall: We will lose it if we are not vigilant.
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Community Hall: Thank you for your time to speak.
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Community Hall: Thank you, Connie. Our next speaker is Rhoda Frye,
followed by Peggy Griffin. Welcome, Rhoda. Hi, good evening. Lots of
random comments, and speaking of random comments, you have comments on
this within the agenda and also outside of the agenda, from comments that
were
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Community Hall: provided previously. Among the ones that you should have
had within the agenda are a two-page letter from the, Santa Clara Valley,
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Community Hall: Bird Alliance, saying… that says, just say no, so I hope
you read that. I resubmitted it, because it wasn't in the agenda packet.
And, you know.
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Community Hall: Just from a high level, you're being asked to approve
something that the applicant has yet to submit.
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Community Hall: So… This mating is premature, and it should be deferred.
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Community Hall: I also found some other irregularities in the agenda. For
one thing, on the summary, it tells you that the trees are up to 18
inches wide, but then in the resolution, you're being asked to remove
trees that are up to 24 inches wide.
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Community Hall: And by the way, concurring with the preceding speaker, I
don't have an issue with a new home with a flat roof.
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Community Hall: And let's see what else I had. Yeah, so you all mentioned
how many protected trees would be removed, but what… how many unprotected
trees would be removed? It seems like it would be all…
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Community Hall: all scraped.
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Community Hall: And we have not been… we have not been provided what this
project would look like from the park. You know, walking through that
area, most homes seem to have decks instead of backyards. I hope you walk
the site. The summary should have stated the proximity to the park, the
trail, and the creek.
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Community Hall: When you look at the property from the park, those
retaining walls
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Community Hall: Probably with fencing on top of them, will look like a
solid wall because of the steep slopes, so you'd be looking up at it.
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Community Hall: Right? We need to get a visual on this stuff, right? The
property owner bought a tricky lot, no doubt. If they wanted a backyard,
they should have bought elsewhere. Please protect our park and, our
environment and our recreational values.
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Community Hall: please vote no. Yeah, I think I got all my ideas in, plus
you've got them in writing. I think this is a no-brainer. I have to say.
I'm really disappointed. I know that this agenda item was signed off by
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Community Hall: number of folks in the planning department, and I'm
baffled as to why
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Community Hall: And how that could have possibly happened. And it's
undermined… my general… trust in…
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Community Hall: in our professional staff, and I feel bad about saying
that, but, I think it needs to be said. Thank you.
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Community Hall: Thank you, Rhoda. Our next speaker is Peggy Griffin,
followed by Lisa Warren. Welcome, Peggy.
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Peggy Griffin: Good evening, planning commissioners and staff, I'm in
agreement with the previous speakers,
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Peggy Griffin: absolutely reject the hillside exception.
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Peggy Griffin: They're asking so that they could put a sports court Up.
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Peggy Griffin: Next to a reptarian corridor.
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Peggy Griffin: So, potentially, you're going to have, in addition to this
massive wall, you're going to have lights and sound.
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Peggy Griffin: I disagree with that. You need to respect your neighbors,
and one of the neighbors is Blackberry Farm. I'm also in support of
decreasing the mass and changing the slope
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Peggy Griffin: The reason for that is to decrease the mass. At least
that's what I…
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Peggy Griffin: got out of reading things. Also.
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Peggy Griffin: removing the trees, these are big trees, and like the
previous speakers say, it takes a long time, and I've seen trees removed,
and
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Peggy Griffin: They pay in lieu fees, and so it's still bare, or they put
a palm tree up where an oak tree stood.
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Peggy Griffin: So, if you are considering Tree removal and replacement.
Please, no in-lieu fees, and Comparable trees. Not palm trees.
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Peggy Griffin: The slope is significant. Let's see. Also, I agree that
before you do anything.
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Peggy Griffin: you should see, and the public should see, the view from
Blackberry Farm. What exactly is this going to look like?
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Peggy Griffin: Please vote no.
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Peggy Griffin: Thank you.
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Community Hall: Thank you, Peggy. We have no speakers in person, and no
hands raised on Zoom, Chair.
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Community Hall: Okay, thank you very much. Do we have any further
questions from the Commission?
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Community Hall: Commissioner Rao. Yes, so can you talk about the
significant effect
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Community Hall: when you're considering a categorical exemption on CEQA.
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Community Hall: Was this project deemed… to have any sort of significant
effects that would not allow for that CEQA exemption.
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Community Hall: Single-family homes are always categorically exempt.
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Community Hall: Sorry about that. Single-family homes are always presumed
to be categorically exempt. Within the last decade, even very large homes
on hillsides were the single-family homes. An example in Berkeley from
about 10 years ago.
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Community Hall: there was a major case where you had a home on a slope
with a 10-car subterranean garage, and that was found to be categorically
exempt after the city had initially wanted to do any IR.
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Community Hall: So, while you could possibly have visual impacts from the
public's view and environmental impact for a single-family home.
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Community Hall: that's gonna be an exempt project under CEQA. So, there's
still a lot of latitude in terms of discretion on what you do with the
permits.
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Community Hall: But a further CEQA analysis was not something we
considered.
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Community Hall: But is it fair to say that this is not just an R1, but it
is located next to a riparian corridor, and therefore there are unusual
circumstances here?
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Community Hall: It's a single-family lot that already has a single-family
home on it, and it would be getting replaced with a larger single-family
home.
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Community Hall: Are there exceptions defined for that?
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Community Hall: you have always the exceptions to exemptions under CEQA.
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Community Hall: Which would very much require unique circumstances, like
protected views from a public view shed, something like, say, a 17 Mile
Drive in Monterey.
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Community Hall: This site admittedly has a public interest in that it's
adjacent to a trail.
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Community Hall: But I don't think you could characterize it as unique
circumstances.
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Community Hall: So a significant effect is basically defined as a
categorical exemption that shall not be used for an activity where there
is a reasonable possibility that the activity will have a significant
effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances. Would that
qualify?
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Community Hall: I would say no.
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Community Hall: It's a single-family home replacing a single-family home
on a lot that has the existing slope. Specifically referring to the tree
removal and the grading.
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Community Hall: Tree removals alone would not trigger any type of a CEQA
analysis.
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Community Hall: We're not talking about heritage trees or trees that
would have special protection. So the tree removal permit is before you
tonight, but again, we wouldn't be doing a CEQA document for tree
removals on a lot like this.
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Community Hall: There is a cumulative impact, exception to…
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Community Hall: CEQA exemptions. Can you comment on whether this project
would set a precedent for the neighboring homes to go likewise and remove
trees and grade the hillside such that it leads to cumulative impact?
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Community Hall: You would look at cumulative impacts where you have
foreseeable future projects.
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Community Hall: There's no permit that's before us on any of those homes
that would lead us to have a cumulative impact.
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Community Hall: What would be the basis for when you would consider this?
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Community Hall: I'm not sure, I'd need a little more detail on what
you're asking.
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Community Hall: I mean, the project before you is as… I mean, describe.
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Community Hall: you have 5 actions. Two exceptions.
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Community Hall: 3 of the 5 actions wouldn't even normally be coming to
the Planning Commission.
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Community Hall: So, I mean, the… the CEQA discussion on single-family
homes, I think, is pretty well settled.
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Community Hall: there have been larger homes that have involved more
grading, and other areas in California found to be where the exemption is
appropriate.
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Community Hall: Okay.
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Community Hall: Thank you.
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Community Hall: Any other questions? If I… could I follow on on that?
Yes, absolutely. So I… just… just to maybe clarify, in terms of the
things that could have a CEQA effect, the grading, for instance, might
be, although
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Community Hall: In this case, that was viewed to not be an issue. Is
that… is that correct? That is correct. Clearly, the grading, I think,
jumps out as the issue associated with this project, and especially in
relation to BlackBerry Farm.
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Community Hall: So, to…
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Community Hall: to say this would be exempt from CEQA is not to say it
couldn't have a view impact or an impact from the public, as people have
spoken to. The proximity to the trail is certainly an issue.
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Community Hall: It's just not an issue that would be examined under CEQA
beyond an exemption.
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Community Hall: Great. Thank you.
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Community Hall: Quick.
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Community Hall: So, just to kind of wrap this up in a bow,
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Community Hall: We… we cannot deny the CEQA exemption, but we could deny
every single one of those other permit requests, correct?
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Community Hall: there would be the possibility, I guess, if you felt that
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Community Hall: this warranted more than the exemption didn't apply, you
could find that. And certainly the other five actions, as I said, these
are all discretionary. Right. So, so we could do those and more.
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Community Hall: we just can't question the CEQA exemption, but… but we
have a lot of latitude beyond that. Yeah, I'm just sort of offering my
advice on CEQA. It's pretty clear on… for single-family home
replacements, even for large homes, that involve grading. All right,
thank you.
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Community Hall: Was a plan set submitted for this project for
Commissioners to review?
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Community Hall: Do we have a detailed plan set?
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Community Hall: Yes.
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Community Hall: What was the comment from the member of the public that
the project is not yet
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Community Hall: complete for review. I thought there was a member of the
public that
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Community Hall: made a comment. I think that may have been taken from
context of previous agendizing of the item. As you know, this was placed
on the agenda and sent out a couple of times prior to this.
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Community Hall: And in the initial iteration, there were not updated
plans to reflect staff's conditions. However, the most updated plan set
that was sent to you and also included as part of this agenda
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Community Hall: Does show staff's recommendations included on those
plans. Thank you.
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Community Hall: I just had one follow-up question on the sloped roof. So,
if it was a flat roof, and you're saying that the massing needs to be
reduced, how much would the massing need to be reduced by?
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Community Hall: within the condition, we stipulate that it would need to
be reduced to fit within the first story building envelope. There's a
portion of it currently that does exceed that because it's taken from a
higher grade, so it would really just be about, I want to say, like, a
one-foot difference in the first story. Okay, thank you. And I have a
question for the applicant, again, sorry to make you come up.
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Community Hall: My question was just, from the applicant's… or from the
resident's standpoint who lives here, would they rather have a sloped
roof or a reduced flat roof?
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Community Hall: That, I would have to ask him, because we haven't really
gone over that, but he would really like to keep…
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Community Hall: a flat roof. He's been very adamant about it the entire
time, and we've kind of talked about this, because they've given us the
option, too. Hey, if you go sloped, we get rid of one of these, it's
going to be a lot easier to pass.
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Community Hall: And my client's like, let's go with flat, see what
happens, and he's just gonna push that as hard as he can. If it doesn't
work, then we'll…
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Community Hall: go back to a different route, and that's where he's at.
Okay, thank you. Yep.
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Community Hall: Do we have any other questions? Yeah, I had one… I have
one other. I'm curious,
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Community Hall: I don't… so there are actually many places…
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Community Hall: Please, go ahead. I'm sorry. Oh, you were talking to me?
No, no, I wasn't. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh. Sorry.
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Community Hall: So I… there are actually many places in town that are…
would be adjacent to, you know, Stevens Creek Trail, and, you know, the
other application tonight has some adjacency.
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Community Hall: I'm just curious.
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Community Hall: So first of all, I suspect that if… had there been an
objective standard for impact when you're adjacent to
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00:41:22.980 --> 00:41:31.740
Community Hall: you know, a public space, that it would have been called
out of the report already. So, even if there wasn't, I'm curious whether
there could be any comment on the kinds of…
298
00:41:32.130 --> 00:41:37.719
Community Hall: Tons of things that have been considered in the past,
with the understanding that
299
00:41:38.070 --> 00:41:43.359
Community Hall: That, you know, we are kind of focused on objective
standards.
300
00:41:43.850 --> 00:42:02.530
Community Hall: Right, I think for the most part, in most projects, we
are trying to look at just objective standards. As Luke laid out, though,
this is a project where we can look at some of the more subjective
standards. That being said, there aren't any standards, really, for this
specific scenario, meaning grading adjacent to a trail and or a park.
301
00:42:02.830 --> 00:42:22.550
Community Hall: There are some policies, general plan policies, things
that we want to kind of be in alignment with, that would preserve views
from those locations, that would preserve the use of those, but again,
they're not explicit enough for us to say that we don't need an
interpretation by your commission as to how those are applied, and or…
302
00:42:22.560 --> 00:42:34.950
Community Hall: kind of how they would be applied in this case. Now, as
for past projects, again, we haven't had a hillside exception. I… at
least when I was doing research, it was 1998 that the last one of this
kind came forward.
303
00:42:34.950 --> 00:42:49.589
Community Hall: And even within that, they allowed for some re-ard
grading, but with an additional setback to the park to be considered. And
I would say for all the other residences nearby, they, for the most part,
they have tried to stick within the 5-foot
304
00:42:49.590 --> 00:43:03.459
Community Hall: retaining wall limitations, again, also with some
setbacks. Some of them do go up to the property line, but for the most
part, some setback. And then, as mentioned by one of the commenters here,
there are quite a few wooden decks that are being built out to the
property lines as well. Thank you, Em.
305
00:43:03.690 --> 00:43:08.139
Community Hall: Maybe… it's possible I missed it. Were there… were there,
306
00:43:09.060 --> 00:43:17.100
Community Hall: requirements or standards for the appearance of the
retaining wall? Retaining walls there? Right, there is one requirement,
it's,
307
00:43:17.360 --> 00:43:28.460
Community Hall: again, it's not objective, so it is one of the more
subjective portions of our code, and that is through our RHS ordinance,
and so that's a standard we pulled over from there. That is to ensure
that they're clad.
308
00:43:28.460 --> 00:43:46.160
Community Hall: To have either screening in front of them, or to ensure
that they're, you know, kind of a more pleasing material. And so, in this
case, we are recommending that the material be the same as the rock wall
that you see at the base of that trail, and then again, having the height
limit and screening from the vegetation.
309
00:43:46.160 --> 00:43:51.780
Community Hall: So you wouldn't be… so we… we wouldn't be surprised with,
you know, some sort of square concrete…
310
00:43:51.810 --> 00:43:56.020
Community Hall: Right. It wouldn't be like that. Yeah. Great. Thank you
very much.
311
00:43:57.090 --> 00:44:02.069
Community Hall: So on the retaining walls,
312
00:44:02.620 --> 00:44:11.120
Community Hall: when I looked at the property, it looked like there would
have to be fences on top of the retaining walls, is that true? Because
otherwise, somebody could walk right off and…
313
00:44:11.750 --> 00:44:25.699
Community Hall: fall down to the next level. Right, so in this case, and
also in some of the neighboring properties, they do kind of have these
ledges created by these retaining walls, and for the most part, you're
seeing railing go up, and that's about a 42-inch railing per our building
code.
314
00:44:25.700 --> 00:44:32.209
Community Hall: And so, for the most part, what you see is that is an
iron rail, so it's open, not too many of…
315
00:44:32.230 --> 00:44:38.140
Community Hall: those properties have any rear gates, because they are
looking for the views from… from that property. Okay, thank you.
316
00:44:39.830 --> 00:44:44.909
Community Hall: I want to go back to the comment from the member of the
public about the plan not being complete.
317
00:44:45.060 --> 00:44:55.150
Community Hall: I believe one of the conditions of approval is that there
are further revisions to the plan required, and then a final approval by
the Director of Community Development. Can you comment on why that is?
318
00:44:55.890 --> 00:45:00.670
Community Hall: Right, so some of the plans, not all of the plans have
been updated. There are certain,
319
00:45:00.670 --> 00:45:25.019
Community Hall: structural plans that haven't been reviewed by us for the
new design, so those would need to be looked at, the civil drawings, I
believe, as well. And then the landscaping plans weren't updated as part
of this to reflect, again, that new grading area. And then none of the
plans were updated to reflect staff's recommendation for the sloped roof
and reduced massing. Again, that's because the applicant is requesting
that the… Is it commonplace to bring a hearing for
320
00:45:25.020 --> 00:45:27.479
Community Hall: to… the Planning Commission, when that…
321
00:45:27.600 --> 00:45:29.560
Community Hall: Level of completeness is not yet.
322
00:45:30.360 --> 00:45:31.390
Community Hall: been achieved.
323
00:45:31.950 --> 00:45:47.539
Community Hall: I think for the most part, we try to have complete plan
sets when we try and work on that ahead of time, but I wouldn't say that
it's unheard of to have conditions that aren't yet met, so long as
they're clear conditions that we understand how they would impact the
project design.
324
00:45:47.600 --> 00:45:58.930
Community Hall: So, is it fair, then, to say that commissioners have
discretion to table this item until that is complete, and we see the
final, final plan, so that it doesn't have to go back for more revisions?
325
00:45:59.540 --> 00:46:06.939
Community Hall: The answer to that is yes. You do. Okay, I'd like to make
a motion to table this item until the plans are complete. Do I have a
second?
326
00:46:11.510 --> 00:46:26.869
Community Hall: My concern with that is I think that there are items…
there are components of this that we might want to address first, and so
we would be forcing this project to go to completion, and then having to
dial it back again.
327
00:46:27.550 --> 00:46:31.669
Community Hall: Or we could ask for a complete plan that we can review
and then give that feedback.
328
00:46:32.640 --> 00:46:38.660
Community Hall: So… gonna comment on this. From my perspective, the…
329
00:46:38.740 --> 00:46:44.249
Community Hall: The things that are up for discussion and vote are not
going to change.
330
00:46:44.250 --> 00:46:50.020
Community Hall: With the complete plans, so I think we have all the
information we need to vote on it today.
331
00:46:50.020 --> 00:47:05.739
Community Hall: And I… I don't… I think it does a disservice to… to the
owner, as well as the planning commission, as well as the community, if
we don't go ahead and vote on it today. I don't see how having the
complete plans will
332
00:47:06.090 --> 00:47:22.630
Community Hall: provide any new information, that will change anything
specific about the decisions we're being asked to make today? Chairman,
if I could interrupt, so there's a motion to table, and then we seek a
second, and there's no debate on this motion. Yes, do we have a second?
I'm not hearing we have a second.
333
00:47:23.610 --> 00:47:24.400
Community Hall: Okay.
334
00:47:24.560 --> 00:47:26.330
Community Hall: No second. Okay.
335
00:47:27.780 --> 00:47:38.839
Community Hall: Were there any other questions before we move to
comments? Yes, so there is the riparian corridor setback requirement.
What is the setback requirement? And the findings do not specify the
exact distance from the riparian corridor.
336
00:47:41.390 --> 00:47:48.250
Community Hall: I'm not sure that I'm aware of the riparian corridor
setback that you're referring to. Do you have a section or a policy that
I could
337
00:47:48.830 --> 00:47:50.420
Community Hall: Try and relate it to.
338
00:47:51.790 --> 00:47:54.889
Community Hall: I believe policy is 514528.
339
00:47:56.010 --> 00:47:58.340
Community Hall: Let's keep the questions going, we can come back to that.
340
00:48:01.020 --> 00:48:05.590
Community Hall: Any other questions? Yes? I do have one,
341
00:48:06.520 --> 00:48:11.329
Community Hall: I hate to do this while you're trying to look something
up, though. In response to…
342
00:48:11.710 --> 00:48:20.630
Community Hall: To one of the earlier questions, to Commissioner
Linskog's question, you had actually mentioned that the massing would
actually be larger if they
343
00:48:20.670 --> 00:48:38.959
Community Hall: if they had a slope and adopted the sloped elements that
you had seen them. Can you explain that to me? Right, I'll clarify that
it… we… we see it as a reduced mass, and that would not necessarily
increase the massing to have the sloped roof. Again, we would want to
decrease the height in conjunction with that to match, kind of, the
neighborhood.
344
00:48:38.960 --> 00:48:40.790
Community Hall: Pattern as it exists today.
345
00:48:41.630 --> 00:48:47.980
Community Hall: Okay, great. I think… I felt like I heard that
differently, when… the first time you mentioned that, that the…
346
00:48:47.980 --> 00:49:05.800
Community Hall: Apparent massing would be greater if it had the sloped
roof. Oh, I must have misspoken then. I apologize for that, but
generally, it would be reduced in our eyes with the sloped roof. Okay,
great. So, sorry, just to clarify, because, like, now I'm confused. So,
if… if they were to reduce the massing, but keep the flat roof.
347
00:49:06.230 --> 00:49:10.230
Community Hall: Option A, versus reduce the massing and add a sloping
roof.
348
00:49:10.410 --> 00:49:13.590
Community Hall: Which one gives them more mass?
349
00:49:14.300 --> 00:49:28.650
Community Hall: I don't know that it's that objective, to be honest. And
also, I'm not gonna say that I'm the expert on this. This is why we have
our third-party reviewers for these. That being said, my understanding is
that the recommendation is to have the sloped roof
350
00:49:28.650 --> 00:49:34.789
Community Hall: Again, to both match the neighborhood and reduce the
apparent mass of the building, and then also to reduce the height
351
00:49:34.790 --> 00:49:44.869
Community Hall: to reduce the overall mass. Now, if you're saying just
reducing the height, if that is good enough, I can't make a determination
on that, necessarily. Got it, thank you.
352
00:49:46.890 --> 00:49:51.000
Community Hall: All right, thank you. Commissioner Rao, were you able to
find the information?
353
00:49:51.800 --> 00:49:57.959
Community Hall: Let's not hold up this hearing for that. I do have a code
here, but I'd rather…
354
00:49:58.770 --> 00:50:04.530
Community Hall: you know, keep the hearing going. Okay, then we will move
on to comments. Any comments from the Commission?
355
00:50:09.000 --> 00:50:12.120
Community Hall: Commissioner Lenskogg, is that you wanting to speak, or…
356
00:50:12.390 --> 00:50:19.889
Community Hall: Sorry, I thought you were reaching. Okay. Who would like
to go first? Commissioner? Okay, Commissioner Sharp, or sorry, Vice
Chair.
357
00:50:20.900 --> 00:50:32.640
Community Hall: It's fine. So I kind of agree with the resident that
contacted me that I took the tour with, and I don't think the application
is complete. I would like to see
358
00:50:33.090 --> 00:50:38.930
Community Hall: the complete application, I don't want to be redesigning
the project up here on the dais.
359
00:50:39.100 --> 00:50:41.750
Community Hall: I want the complete project brought to us.
360
00:50:41.960 --> 00:50:46.460
Community Hall: I'm disappointed that the attachment that the resident
mentioned from the
361
00:50:46.610 --> 00:50:50.859
Community Hall: Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance was somehow not included
in the packet.
362
00:50:51.480 --> 00:50:57.299
Community Hall: And… The three retaining wall…
363
00:50:57.770 --> 00:51:01.060
Community Hall: the three walls are just not acceptable. I mean…
364
00:51:01.210 --> 00:51:07.880
Community Hall: It is true, you would… they would look like a single wall
if you're looking up from… up from the trail.
365
00:51:08.200 --> 00:51:15.549
Community Hall: And… You know, the applicant knew when they bought the
property of all these challenges,
366
00:51:15.730 --> 00:51:18.810
Community Hall: Other houses, they put in decks for backyards.
367
00:51:19.110 --> 00:51:22.050
Community Hall: And they haven't created these mass… these…
368
00:51:22.170 --> 00:51:26.039
Community Hall: Flat yards through massive grading and tree removal.
369
00:51:26.360 --> 00:51:29.979
Community Hall: Personally, I have no problem with the flat roof.
370
00:51:30.390 --> 00:51:38.259
Community Hall: And… The garage… prefer not to have the front-facing
garage, but, you know, that's something…
371
00:51:38.770 --> 00:51:45.050
Community Hall: That is not a terrible big deal, either, because all the
other houses have the front-facing garage.
372
00:51:45.410 --> 00:51:49.869
Community Hall: But, yeah, I would not support this project.
373
00:51:51.490 --> 00:51:53.239
Community Hall: Sorry, was that a motion, or…
374
00:51:53.570 --> 00:51:55.100
Community Hall: No, that was not a motion.
375
00:51:57.190 --> 00:51:58.140
Community Hall: Comments?
376
00:52:00.970 --> 00:52:02.589
Community Hall: Commissioner Fung? Sure.
377
00:52:02.740 --> 00:52:09.549
Community Hall: So, you know, in general, in general, I…
378
00:52:10.240 --> 00:52:16.349
Community Hall: We try to support the, the right of the landowner to do
the things which are permitted.
379
00:52:16.610 --> 00:52:23.139
Community Hall: in the, you know, you know, by the zoning.
380
00:52:23.170 --> 00:52:39.069
Community Hall: I think that, you know, the big questions for me really
were whether there were considerations that apply because of the
adjacency to blackberry farming. I think that that's not the case, and I
think that they have actually attempted to,
381
00:52:39.420 --> 00:52:44.050
Community Hall: You know, to address those, that concern.
382
00:52:44.420 --> 00:52:48.769
Community Hall: That concern in a reasonable manner, at least, you know,
within the standard of how
383
00:52:49.000 --> 00:52:52.570
Community Hall: Of how they, you know, how we should view the approval.
384
00:52:52.860 --> 00:52:55.720
Community Hall: There are a couple things where…
385
00:52:55.900 --> 00:53:02.209
Community Hall: you know, it's a little bit taller than, I would also
add,
386
00:53:02.380 --> 00:53:05.959
Community Hall: In conjunction with, Commissioner Schar's,
387
00:53:06.690 --> 00:53:11.170
Community Hall: comment, you know, I have no problem with a flat roof. I
think that if it's a flat roof.
388
00:53:11.480 --> 00:53:23.479
Community Hall: which does cause more massing, I'm glad that we're clear
on that. And it's a little bit… a little bit taller than what the
standard stands at, and I think that that's worthy of consideration about
whether,
389
00:53:23.680 --> 00:53:25.640
Community Hall: You know, whether that can be addressed.
390
00:53:27.610 --> 00:53:33.770
Community Hall: But other than that, you know, I didn't see an issue. I
don't have an issue with a garage, particularly because of the cul-de-
sac.
391
00:53:33.940 --> 00:53:38.299
Community Hall: Which I think was the big… for me at least, coming into
this one, that was probably one of the bigger ones.
392
00:53:38.410 --> 00:53:43.320
Community Hall: the bigger asks here. So, you know, I think I'm,
393
00:53:43.590 --> 00:53:56.410
Community Hall: In general, you know, my recommendation would be to
consider to try to address those places where it's a small amount out of
the, you know, where you're looking for a small exception, and otherwise,
I don't have a problem with this application.
394
00:53:58.700 --> 00:54:00.599
Community Hall: Comments? Commissioner Lenskog?
395
00:54:01.260 --> 00:54:08.239
Community Hall: Okay, so, yeah, I don't have a problem with the flat
roof, either. I think…
396
00:54:08.790 --> 00:54:14.049
Community Hall: I think if you're a homeowner, you should have the right
to build a modern home, if that's what you wish.
397
00:54:14.150 --> 00:54:24.799
Community Hall: I… I do think that reducing the massing, if it's a… if
it's a significant issue, can be achieved any which way the owner wants
to do it, whether they want to,
398
00:54:24.900 --> 00:54:31.899
Community Hall: Reduce the height of the flat roof by a foot, or, you
know, put in the slope-roofed elements.
399
00:54:31.920 --> 00:54:45.539
Community Hall: I'm fine either way. I am fine with the garage design,
fine with the design review permit for new-to-storey residents with
second-story site setbacks, as listed in the application.
400
00:54:45.650 --> 00:54:53.850
Community Hall: fine with the minor residential permit for a balcony. I
am not okay with the hillside exception, on the slope.
401
00:54:53.990 --> 00:55:11.689
Community Hall: this is, it's a riparian corridor, it's our… it's
Blackberry Farm, it's, it's… it's a major green lung for our city. We are
deficient in terms of our canopy as a city, and… and to… to then, you
know.
402
00:55:11.690 --> 00:55:26.999
Community Hall: we should be looking at putting more trees, especially
these are protected oak trees. The last thing we should be doing is
looking at, getting rid of trees. So… yeah, I mean, the owner knew this
when they bought this property,
403
00:55:27.840 --> 00:55:43.210
Community Hall: I mean, there's really to… to come… and they've seen the
neighboring homes, to come back now, and to… to want to just kind of
grade that, even with… with the setback, that… that they've agreed to,
it's… it's still…
404
00:55:43.210 --> 00:55:51.599
Community Hall: it's still excessive and unjustifiable in my book, and
same thing with all the tree removals. Anything over 12 inches.
405
00:55:51.600 --> 00:56:03.480
Community Hall: I would not agree to, any… the width of… of… diameter of,
12 inches and above, to create the flat yard areas. So,
406
00:56:04.380 --> 00:56:15.170
Community Hall: I mean, I'll wait to do the motions, but I would approve
the residential design stuff, but I would not approve the hillside
exception and the tree removal permit.
407
00:56:17.730 --> 00:56:19.679
Community Hall: Thank you. Any other comments?
408
00:56:20.680 --> 00:56:30.640
Community Hall: I think I have said my piece. I would not be supportive
of the project in general, because the plans are not complete. I would
not be supportive of the hillside grading, not be supportive of the train
mall.
409
00:56:31.010 --> 00:56:39.370
Community Hall: And in general, I think we need to be respectful of
Blackberry Farm. If you allow for these changes, it starts to creep
through the neighborhood, it affects the…
410
00:56:39.830 --> 00:56:45.590
Community Hall: The, possibility of the rest of the hills starting to
look at, grading and tree removals.
411
00:56:45.750 --> 00:56:50.339
Community Hall: I also think we need to apply the RHS a little bit
further than what we have.
412
00:56:50.630 --> 00:56:57.219
Community Hall: It's… it's, at this point, not something I'm comfortable
moving forward. I'm willing to reconsider if there's a…
413
00:56:57.490 --> 00:57:00.599
Community Hall: If there's a revised plan that would be brought to us
with changes.
414
00:57:01.780 --> 00:57:12.679
Community Hall: Okay, I will make my comment then. So, from my
standpoint, I very, I think I'm happy that the applicant is bringing this
forward, and it's great that they are choosing their home in Cupertino.
415
00:57:12.680 --> 00:57:24.199
Community Hall: I am fine with most of the home remodel elements. I don't
think that they impede upon BlackBerry Farm. I am a very frequent park
goer at McClellan Ranch Park, and so I'm quite familiar with
416
00:57:24.200 --> 00:57:49.019
Community Hall: the oasis that it is, the green space, and the feeling
that you have when you walk there is that you are in nature, because the
homes are really not very visible from it. I went back and I looked
again. It seemed like most of the homes in the area either had balconies
or, at most, a 5-foot retaining wall, but not anything more than that.
But I think to not let this applicant
417
00:57:49.020 --> 00:58:04.920
Community Hall: any form of yard, I think would be a little bit
unreasonable and also not characteristic with the neighborhood. That
said, I think that we set a really important precedent with the grading
work that we do here, and if we do have one home that is grading all the
way up to Blackberry Farm.
418
00:58:05.400 --> 00:58:27.370
Community Hall: who knows what other precedents we are then setting, and
then next thing you know, Blackberry Farm is an entirely different park
that feels more like a neighborhood rather than a nature oasis. So, you
know, from my standpoint, I would definitely deny the hillside exception
for grading. I think there's possibly a small amount of rear yard that
could make sense for this home, but probably not the 15 feet of retaining
wall that's currently proposed.
419
00:58:27.400 --> 00:58:38.499
Community Hall: Tree removal permit, same thing. I would not approve
that, especially if we are reducing the grading. You should be able to
keep a lot more of the trees on that property anyway.
420
00:58:38.790 --> 00:58:53.020
Community Hall: On the flat roof, I'm happy to hear that most of the
Commission is okay with that, because from my standpoint, when we have
architectural styles and we start to mix different elements of that, it
no longer becomes that architectural style. So I think…
421
00:58:53.020 --> 00:59:00.800
Community Hall: And some cities even have this as… as part of their
ordinance, is that you must be one architectural style, and I think for
this to be modern.
422
00:59:00.800 --> 00:59:05.950
Community Hall: should have a flat roof. I've seen other flat roofs in
Cupertino, so from my standpoint, I'm okay with that.
423
00:59:06.390 --> 00:59:08.789
Community Hall: So, those are my comments. Do we have a motion?
424
00:59:09.380 --> 00:59:19.920
Community Hall: I'll make a motion if I can get a second. I move to find
the project exempt from CEQA and approve the R1 exception for the garage
design, the design review permit for the
425
00:59:20.460 --> 00:59:34.900
Community Hall: Two-story residents with second-story site setbacks, a
minor residential permit for the balcony, but do not approve the hillside
exception or the tree removal permit, and do not require the staff-
recommended conditions that the applicant revise the design to reduce
their building mass.
426
00:59:37.520 --> 00:59:48.109
Community Hall: I'm sorry, can you repeat? So you would be denying the
hillside and tree removal, correct? Yes, and saying they don't require…
they don't need to, revise the design to reduce the building mass?
427
00:59:50.190 --> 00:59:51.230
Community Hall: I…
428
00:59:51.430 --> 00:59:57.860
Community Hall: Sorry, I don't… City Attorney, I don't know how we, is it
okay for me to clarify at this point, or do we need a seconder on the
motion?
429
00:59:59.760 --> 01:00:04.330
Community Hall: Excuse me, are we voting on all of these at once, or
shouldn't we be doing them individually?
430
01:00:09.060 --> 01:00:14.110
Community Hall: I recommend probably receiving a second, and then you can
make, suggest a friendly amendment.
431
01:00:16.400 --> 01:00:19.340
Community Hall: Do we have a second for the motion? I'll second it.
432
01:00:20.180 --> 01:00:20.920
Community Hall: Okay.
433
01:00:22.390 --> 01:00:41.370
Community Hall: From my standpoint, Commissioner Sharp, I'm fine with
voting on the entire thing. Are there specific components that you wanted
to pull out? No, so can you repeat your, motion? Sure. So the, move to
find the project exempt from CEQLA and conditionally approve the
434
01:00:41.530 --> 01:00:57.259
Community Hall: R1 exception for the garage design, the design review
permit for the two-story residence with second-story sites setbacks of
less than 15 feet, and the second to first floor area ratio exceeding
66%, and the minor residential permit for the balcony.
435
01:00:57.320 --> 01:01:05.839
Community Hall: But do not approve the hillside exception or the tree
removal permit for the removal and replacement of the oak trees.
436
01:01:06.020 --> 01:01:12.749
Community Hall: And also, do not require the staff recommended conditions
that the applicant revise the design to reduce the building mass.
437
01:01:15.500 --> 01:01:18.430
Community Hall: Okay, so we have a motion and a second, is that right?
438
01:01:18.740 --> 01:01:25.999
Community Hall: So, I don't see why we would take an allowed 66% second
to first floor area ratio to 81%.
439
01:01:26.630 --> 01:01:27.720
Community Hall: 81?
440
01:01:28.020 --> 01:01:29.300
Community Hall: Where'd you get 81?
441
01:01:30.030 --> 01:01:34.130
Community Hall: I think before we proceed, I think the chair wanted to
make a friendly amendment.
442
01:01:34.620 --> 01:01:44.270
Community Hall: That might be the most orderly place to go next. I
actually had a clarifying question for staff, on this. I… my
understanding was the…
443
01:01:44.560 --> 01:01:52.949
Community Hall: The staff was proposing for the building massing to be
reduced. Whether it was a flat or a sloped roof, it would still be
reduced, correct?
444
01:01:53.430 --> 01:01:55.780
Community Hall: Right, our condition is to…
445
01:01:55.950 --> 01:02:08.549
Community Hall: bring the building into compliance with one of our
building envelope requirements, and so that… that is the reduction that
you see, that one foot reduction that we discussed before. So if… if
you're striking both of those, that, I think, would be an exception as
well to our code.
446
01:02:08.750 --> 01:02:19.210
Community Hall: Okay, yes, that would have been my friendly amendment,
would be to have the flat roof in compliance with, you know, staff-
recommended building massing. I'll accept that.
447
01:02:21.630 --> 01:02:25.149
Community Hall: In the secondary, you said that as well? Yes, absolutely.
448
01:02:26.770 --> 01:02:31.129
Community Hall: And Commissioner Rao, you had comments? Yes, I go back to
this,
449
01:02:31.600 --> 01:02:35.420
Community Hall: Table of allowed versus proposed, and…
450
01:02:36.230 --> 01:02:41.430
Community Hall: This is a significant increase in what is proposed,
right? For second to first floor area ratio.
451
01:02:41.570 --> 01:02:44.770
Community Hall: I think the justification does not, to me.
452
01:02:45.270 --> 01:02:48.430
Community Hall: Makes sense. I mean, all it says is…
453
01:02:48.610 --> 01:02:58.589
Community Hall: a design review permit is required, but why would we
allow this? Why would we go from… I can understand if it is 66% to 68%,
why would you go from 66% to 81%? Right, I…
454
01:02:58.590 --> 01:03:19.629
Community Hall: I'll maybe reframe this as the 66% is not a limitation,
necessarily, but a threshold for when you would need to start doing an
architectural review. And the reason for that is we typically are wanting
to see tiering of the second floor, meaning that it's a little bit
smaller than the first floor, and when we don't see that, that's when we
want to make sure that it's following a design style, similar to this
one, the contemporary style.
455
01:03:19.630 --> 01:03:22.340
Community Hall: And that all of those kind of points are being met.
456
01:03:22.640 --> 01:03:37.569
Community Hall: Along the way. And so, again, this is more of it just
triggering the design review, it's just the threshold we have is the 66%.
It's not necessarily saying that you can't have more than that. At what
proposed threshold would it be unacceptable to staff? Would you allow
100%?
457
01:03:38.060 --> 01:03:39.629
Community Hall: I, I think that if we could…
458
01:03:39.930 --> 01:03:54.569
Community Hall: try and justify that. I feel like that is outside of the
norm, and definitely not something that we would usually consider. But
for the most part, I don't think that the 80% is, again, outside of the
norm that I see when I review these permits. Again, since they are
typically staff-level, I feel pretty comfortable saying that.
459
01:03:55.600 --> 01:04:09.650
Community Hall: Yeah, I think, as Emmy said, is it's really a threshold
that if you stay under 66%, you avoid the design review process
altogether. If you go above that, you now have gotten yourself into a
discretionary design review.
460
01:04:10.080 --> 01:04:29.560
Community Hall: So that's really the threshold. I don't know what the
maximum would be allowed, if there's ever been 100%. I don't know, but
this is not uncommon to exceed 66%. It's really the applicant's choice,
that if they want to go over that, they now go through a design review
process they otherwise wouldn't. Is 80% common?
461
01:04:30.230 --> 01:04:37.370
Community Hall: I think so. I'd have to really go back and look at it,
but that's just, you know, not much of an increase over 66.
462
01:04:37.550 --> 01:04:42.499
Community Hall: I think if somebody's going to want to go over, they're
going to go over by more than just 2 or 3%.
463
01:04:42.670 --> 01:04:48.080
Community Hall: Otherwise, I think they would avoid the process. And what
sort of visual impact does it have for the
464
01:04:48.610 --> 01:04:51.819
Community Hall: For the rare view seen from the BlackBerry farm.
465
01:04:53.580 --> 01:04:59.029
Community Hall: That's very difficult to say. I mean, this home is
sitting up on the top of the flat area.
466
01:04:59.250 --> 01:05:03.449
Community Hall: I'm not even sure what the distance is from the trail,
but it's quite a bit.
467
01:05:04.320 --> 01:05:10.029
Community Hall: So I think while the grading certainly has a potential
view impact, from the trail.
468
01:05:10.520 --> 01:05:17.359
Community Hall: the house itself and the second-story setback, I think
that would be minimal when viewed from the trail from Blackberry Farm.
469
01:05:17.730 --> 01:05:22.619
Community Hall: house is clearly going to be much bigger than the
existing home. It's probably 3 times the size.
470
01:05:24.230 --> 01:05:39.640
Community Hall: I'll just add to that that there is a 40… a nearly 40-
foot setback to the residence from the property line, and again, as the
applicant mentioned, there is still about 30 feet to where you have the
actual trail itself start, and so there's a pretty significant distance
between the two. However.
471
01:05:39.640 --> 01:05:49.229
Community Hall: There's also tree canopy that we see that's existing
there, again, that we've discussed as part of this, that we do expect to
screen majority of the view of the residents from that trail.
472
01:05:49.290 --> 01:05:54.629
Community Hall: So, does staff agree that there is a need to protect the
riparian corridor, given the
473
01:05:54.950 --> 01:06:00.999
Community Hall: Location of this property, and what… what considerations
has staff taken into account, given the…
474
01:06:01.160 --> 01:06:03.250
Community Hall: proximity to the riparian corridor.
475
01:06:05.900 --> 01:06:13.859
Community Hall: When you say protection to the Riparian corridor, I'm not
sure what exactly… Proximity to the Riparian corridor. But by
protections.
476
01:06:14.500 --> 01:06:16.830
Community Hall: What would you have in mind?
477
01:06:17.480 --> 01:06:21.780
Community Hall: what… Approvals have you denied?
478
01:06:21.970 --> 01:06:24.329
Community Hall: That you would otherwise have allowed in an R1.
479
01:06:25.710 --> 01:06:33.750
Community Hall: I don't know. Again, we're dealing with a pretty atypical
project. I have no direct experience in the city with anything like this.
480
01:06:34.450 --> 01:06:35.200
Community Hall: Thank you.
481
01:06:37.670 --> 01:06:39.280
Community Hall: That's true. So…
482
01:06:39.910 --> 01:06:50.999
Community Hall: You mentioned going from 66 to 81 was only a couple of a
couple of percent. Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying. I didn't
say a couple of percent. I said it's not…
483
01:06:51.320 --> 01:06:54.750
Community Hall: all that significant. If you… if you know
484
01:06:55.510 --> 01:07:04.950
Community Hall: You're gonna have to go through design review at 66%. I
think it would be unlikely for somebody to want to go through that
process at 68 or 69. Okay. They're probably going to exceed it by more.
485
01:07:05.170 --> 01:07:08.219
Community Hall: To want to go through the added cost and time.
486
01:07:12.580 --> 01:07:17.700
Community Hall: Alright, do we have any other comments on… this motion.
487
01:07:18.500 --> 01:07:21.800
Community Hall: Actually, I might… I might give one, just because I think
this…
488
01:07:22.020 --> 01:07:30.319
Community Hall: This issue was something that, that did come up in this
discussion, that perhaps for in the future there might be some
consideration of formulating
489
01:07:30.580 --> 01:07:37.899
Community Hall: Formulating, perhaps, recommendations for standards for
houses that are adjacent to
490
01:07:38.190 --> 01:07:40.549
Community Hall: You know, it's a kind of weird thing.
491
01:07:40.750 --> 01:07:47.270
Community Hall: I live near Hoover Park, but I don't think that that
warrants the same level of, you know, review.
492
01:07:47.390 --> 01:07:53.449
Community Hall: That, you know, that would be true at Blackberry Farm or,
you know, Stevens Creek Trail, that kind of thing.
493
01:07:53.660 --> 01:07:59.059
Community Hall: So, I think that I would just make that recommendation
that's something to consider in the future. Maybe that's…
494
01:07:59.260 --> 01:08:04.369
Community Hall: Maybe that's not something, you know, it's too
subjective, but probably worth considering.
495
01:08:07.620 --> 01:08:09.160
Community Hall: Any other comments?
496
01:08:10.090 --> 01:08:15.450
Community Hall: Nope, are we ready? Actually, I have one question for
staff. Sorry, okay.
497
01:08:15.770 --> 01:08:18.780
Community Hall: If we, you know, in this motion.
498
01:08:18.950 --> 01:08:28.900
Community Hall: we reject the hillside grading, then what is the next
step for the applicant? Would they return with a reduced grading plan, or
would they return with nothing at all? Like, how does that work?
499
01:08:30.399 --> 01:08:48.229
Community Hall: If you deny this application, that would be… my
assumption is the end of it, unless it's appealed. And so they could
resubmit for a new application with a revised design, or even with the
same design, and have it be re-heard by your commission, but again, that
application itself would be completed.
500
01:08:48.910 --> 01:09:08.090
Community Hall: Well, I meant for just specifically the hillside
component. So, that's specifically for the hillside exception. If you're
talking about alternative designs that may come about, there is still an
allowance for up to 500 square feet of grading on the 30% slope, so they
may come for a revised design with that. Discussions of decks have
501
01:09:08.130 --> 01:09:16.429
Community Hall: happened, so maybe that would be something that they come
back with. I'm not going to really speculate on what it would be, but
there are alternatives that could potentially be pursued. Thank you.
502
01:09:17.080 --> 01:09:18.520
Community Hall: Vice Chair, did you have a question?
503
01:09:18.840 --> 01:09:20.069
Community Hall: Work comment? Okay.
504
01:09:20.520 --> 01:09:26.789
Community Hall: Are we ready? I think we're ready to entertain a vote on
this? I don't see the seconded by in the, oh, there we go, okay.
505
01:09:27.990 --> 01:09:29.059
Community Hall: Are we boarding?
506
01:09:40.710 --> 01:09:44.420
Community Hall: Tracy? Oh, I thought it comes back. I hit it.
507
01:09:47.740 --> 01:09:52.389
Community Hall: The motion carries, with Vice Chair Sharp and
Commissioner Ryle voting no.
508
01:09:53.979 --> 01:10:02.219
Community Hall: Okay, thank you very much. Would anyone be interested in
a 5-minute break? Okay, we will take a 5-minute break before the next
agenda item. Thank you.
509
01:17:18.260 --> 01:17:18.960
Community Hall: Okay, sorry.
510
01:17:19.160 --> 01:17:20.430
Community Hall: This time I'll try to close it.
511
01:17:47.520 --> 01:17:48.700
Community Hall: Amazing.
512
01:17:53.490 --> 01:17:54.860
Community Hall: Alright.
513
01:18:18.720 --> 01:18:19.880
Community Hall: Excellent.
514
01:18:22.610 --> 01:18:24.219
Community Hall: Oh, sorry, I thought you were saying wait, okay.
515
01:18:24.720 --> 01:18:42.240
Community Hall: Thank you very much to the community for your patience.
We are now ready to move on to Agenda Item 3, which is to consider a
tentative map, architectural and site approval, and tree removal permit
for the construction of a 51-unit townhome condominium development on
Housing Element Priority Housing Sites 25 through 28 with Summerhill
Homes.
516
01:18:42.410 --> 01:18:58.479
Community Hall: The public hearing is now open, and do we have a staff
report? Yes, thank you, Chair. Just want to have a few comments on this.
You had just touched on it, though, that for people in attendance, this
is a housing element priority housing site.
517
01:18:58.510 --> 01:19:08.189
Community Hall: We know there was a lot of community interest in this
project. The site was put on the housing element in the summer of 2024.
518
01:19:08.610 --> 01:19:20.680
Community Hall: About a year later, this site had always been in a high
fire hazard zone, but a year after that, in 2025, it was reclassified as
a very high fire hazard zone site.
519
01:19:20.870 --> 01:19:34.299
Community Hall: Which the city in July of last year adopted the updated
fire maps and updated its building code so we would be compliant with the
change, which originated with CAL FIRE and state law. So…
520
01:19:34.500 --> 01:19:38.640
Community Hall: Those, I suspect, will be some of the competing comments
we get tonight.
521
01:19:39.020 --> 01:19:49.720
Community Hall: This project, unlike the last project we talked about,
being a multifamily project, is subject to density bonus, SB330, and a
lot of the
522
01:19:49.840 --> 01:20:06.539
Community Hall: typical housing laws that we have seen that have placed
more limitations on what discretionary bodies are able to do. So, with
that, I will turn the meat of the presentation over to Emmy. I do know
the developer and their team are here tonight as well, and we'll have a
presentation
523
01:20:06.720 --> 01:20:11.389
Community Hall: And we also have one representative from Santa Clara
County Fire.
524
01:20:11.520 --> 01:20:19.869
Community Hall: And, our team that prepared the CEQA document with David
J. Powers. So, we got quite a few people here actually in person.
525
01:20:20.220 --> 01:20:33.379
Community Hall: Thank you very much. Excuse me, I forgot to do ex parte
communications, so will you please do that disclosure now? We'll go left
to right, starting with Commissioner Lunskog. I met with the developers
who took me through the detail plans.
526
01:20:34.210 --> 01:20:36.090
Community Hall: I did not meet with the developer.
527
01:20:36.700 --> 01:20:41.509
Community Hall: I have met with the developer multiple times, as well as
the community members. Thank you.
528
01:20:42.090 --> 01:20:45.470
Community Hall: Likewise, met with the developer, met with the community
as well.
529
01:20:45.930 --> 01:20:49.820
Community Hall: And same for me. I met with the developers and have
spoken with people in the community.
530
01:20:50.550 --> 01:20:51.600
Community Hall: Alright, thank you.
531
01:20:57.590 --> 01:20:58.390
Community Hall: Okay.
532
01:20:58.540 --> 01:21:07.840
Community Hall: Thank you again, Chair Kasulcheron and Commissioners, Emi
Suyama, planning staff, here today, now to discuss the Summerhill Homes
request for a housing development project.
533
01:21:11.610 --> 01:21:25.259
Community Hall: This property is located on Linda Vista Drive. It's
within the Monta Vista neighborhood and adjacent to Deep Cliff Golf
Course. The property is zoned R3TH for medium-high density multifamily
with townhome allowances.
534
01:21:27.790 --> 01:21:44.380
Community Hall: The site currently has four single-family residences, one
on each parcel. The City received a preliminary application under Senate
Bill 330 in October of 2024, which vested the project standards to those
that were in place at the time that that application was submitted.
535
01:21:45.210 --> 01:21:58.910
Community Hall: Additionally, the project site was identified as a
priority housing site, sites number 25 through 28, and was rezoned for
medium-high density housing through the city's sixth cycle housing
element update.
536
01:22:01.980 --> 01:22:18.170
Community Hall: The project makes use of a number of state housing laws,
including the Housing Accountability Act, which acts as a limit to the
City's ability to deny or condition the project. Additionally, it
stipulates that the City cannot apply non-objective standards to a
housing development project.
537
01:22:18.520 --> 01:22:33.089
Community Hall: SB330, otherwise known as the Housing Crisis Act,
streamlines the permitting process, and as previously noted, it allows
the applicant to lock in or vest fees and standards that are in place at
the time that they submit an application.
538
01:22:33.520 --> 01:22:42.170
Community Hall: The project also makes use of the state's density bonus
law, which allows for additional units, waivers, concessions, and reduced
parking standards.
539
01:22:42.300 --> 01:22:49.159
Community Hall: For this project, the application… the applicant is only
proposing to make use of the allowed concessions and waivers.
540
01:22:50.410 --> 01:23:01.650
Community Hall: Finally, the City is subject to the requirements of the
No Net Loss Law under Senate Bill 166, which requires that the City
maintain a list of housing sites that can accommodate the required RENA.
541
01:23:02.000 --> 01:23:10.860
Community Hall: As noted in the staff report, the city is currently
unable to meet the required RENA with the sites identified, and is
working to identify additional sites for housing.
542
01:23:10.980 --> 01:23:20.509
Community Hall: The proposed, or the housing element, projected 84 units
being provided on this site. The project proposed 51, fewer than the
expected units.
543
01:23:20.970 --> 01:23:25.880
Community Hall: And will require that the City identify a new location
for the units to meet RENA.
544
01:23:27.960 --> 01:23:28.830
Community Hall: Okay.
545
01:23:29.300 --> 01:23:46.050
Community Hall: Here you can see an overview of the project's consistency
with typical development requirements. The project proposes to build at
the lowest allowed density for the site. The applicant has also increased
the side yard setbacks adjacent to neighboring residences, and the rear
setback adjacent to Deep Cliff Golf Course.
546
01:23:46.240 --> 01:23:52.730
Community Hall: Additionally, the applicant is utilizing state density
bonus law waivers to address some of these requirements.
547
01:23:53.010 --> 01:23:56.260
Community Hall: These waivers will be discussed in detail later in this
presentation.
548
01:23:59.830 --> 01:24:10.160
Community Hall: Okay, the project consists of 51 townhome-style
condominium units spread across 10 buildings, with 10 below market rate
units and 41 market rate units.
549
01:24:10.280 --> 01:24:21.220
Community Hall: There is a mix of 3 to 6 units per building, with each
building being 3 stories. The proposed units range from about 2,300
square feet to about 2,800 square feet.
550
01:24:22.840 --> 01:24:29.769
Community Hall: 50 new trees will be planted on-site, and 2 existing oak
trees along shared property lines will be protected in place.
551
01:24:30.560 --> 01:24:34.650
Community Hall: And then the project also includes a vesting tentative
map for condominium purposes.
552
01:24:37.580 --> 01:24:53.719
Community Hall: Here you can see the proposed site layout, with the 10
buildings oriented parallel to Linda Vista Drive, and the site divided by
Abulich Court, which is an existing public right-of-way. The proposed BMR
units are identified by the red dots, and it should also be noted that
each unit has a two-car garage.
553
01:24:58.420 --> 01:25:03.309
Community Hall: Here you can see a rendering of the proposed project,
showing a view of the buildings from Linda Vista Drive.
554
01:25:07.800 --> 01:25:27.049
Community Hall: The project has been found to be consistent with the
applicable objective standards of the City's General Plan, below market
rate housing manual, and municipal code, and the project includes one
concession under the density bonus law to waive the requirements for BMR
units to be comparable to market rate units in terms of the unit type.
555
01:25:28.830 --> 01:25:40.310
Community Hall: I'll note that concessions and waivers proposed under the
density bonus law can only be denied under specific circumstances,
including that they have an adverse impact on historic property, health,
or safety.
556
01:25:41.090 --> 01:25:59.329
Community Hall: In addition to this concession, the applicant is also
utilizing 5 density bonus waivers. For each of these waivers, the
applicant has noted that imposing the standards could potentially result
in the elimination of units, reduced floor areas, or substantial changes
to the design of the buildings, which is not consistent with the project
as proposed by the applicant.
557
01:26:01.760 --> 01:26:12.950
Community Hall: The first of the 5 waivers is to allow for a modification
of the required 12-foot street side setback along Evil Edge Court to
instead have a 3 foot 7 inch setback.
558
01:26:17.370 --> 01:26:28.630
Community Hall: The second waiver is to allow for a reduction of the
required 6-foot clearance for private open space. The applicant is
proposing varying dimensions, with the smallest dimension being 4.5 feet.
559
01:26:31.640 --> 01:26:42.170
Community Hall: The final three waivers would allow for an increase in
the height of the buildings, from the 30-foot maximum to a total of 40
feet 7 inches.
560
01:26:42.400 --> 01:26:51.789
Community Hall: On the high end, an increase to the maximum floor area
ratio from the allowed 85% to a 136% of the net lot area.
561
01:26:51.980 --> 01:26:59.299
Community Hall: And a reduction in the required size of parking spaces
from 9.5 by 20 feet to 9.5 by 18.5 feet.
562
01:27:01.500 --> 01:27:09.519
Community Hall: It should also be noted that for purposes of planning,
the maximum height is measured from the natural grade to the peak roof.
563
01:27:13.130 --> 01:27:19.760
Community Hall: And while not required as part of this planning
entitlement, the project will be required to provide public art following
project
564
01:27:20.040 --> 01:27:28.250
Community Hall: approval. At this time, the applicant is proposing to
provide a public art plaza in the southern corner of the Evilage Court
and Linda Vista intersection.
565
01:27:31.180 --> 01:27:34.540
Community Hall: Based on the site's characteristics, staff has
recommended
566
01:27:34.750 --> 01:27:40.990
Community Hall: is recommending, and the applicant has requested, payment
of the parkland in lieu fees consistent with the Quimby Act.
567
01:27:43.930 --> 01:27:58.899
Community Hall: The applicant is also proposing a pedestrian and bike
trail connection between the project site and Stevens Creek Trail. Should
it be approved, the applicant is requesting a credit towards park and
lieu fees for the cost of construction to connect up to $377,000.
568
01:28:02.310 --> 01:28:13.560
Community Hall: The project was also reviewed against the City's BMR
requirements, and staff found that the BMR units are generally comparable
in size to the market rate units, with BMR units being an average of
about 23
569
01:28:13.740 --> 01:28:18.339
Community Hall: 50, and the market rate units being about 2,700 square
feet.
570
01:28:22.990 --> 01:28:32.040
Community Hall: The project has been found to qualify for the statutory
exemption under the provisions of Assembly Bill 130. In the analysis for
this exemption, the third
571
01:28:32.130 --> 01:28:44.260
Community Hall: party reviewers of the city reviewed the environmental
reports that are listed here, and confirmed that the project would not
have significant effects on the environment, and meets the criteria for
the statutory exemption.
572
01:28:44.610 --> 01:28:53.250
Community Hall: The exemption outlined in AB130 also includes a number of
processing timelines, which require the City to make a decision on this
project by April 4th.
573
01:28:56.910 --> 01:29:04.580
Community Hall: As I previously noted, the site was included in the
housing element update, which increased the allowed density in July of
2024.
574
01:29:04.750 --> 01:29:12.350
Community Hall: Following the rezoning of the site, the applicant
submitted their SB330 preliminary application, vesting the standards that
were in place at that time.
575
01:29:12.890 --> 01:29:22.060
Community Hall: Approximately 4 months later, CAL FIRE hazard maps were
updated, which now indicate that the project site is in the very high
fire hazard severity zone.
576
01:29:22.490 --> 01:29:33.750
Community Hall: Consistent with the requirements for the EB130 exemption,
the project was reviewed under and found to be consistent with the
current standards for development within very high fire hazard severity
zones.
577
01:29:38.120 --> 01:29:57.950
Community Hall: The project has received a number of public inquiries and
comments throughout its review. As such, in addition to the surround… or
the standard noticing that would typically be sent to neighbors within
300 feet, the city sent mailed notices to an over 1,000 foot radius, and
provided electronic notifications to those who had signed up to receive
them.
578
01:29:58.290 --> 01:30:01.820
Community Hall: The majority of the public comments related to the
concerns
579
01:30:02.070 --> 01:30:10.049
Community Hall: With projects density, anticipated traffic impacts, and a
perceived increased risk for fire.
580
01:30:11.910 --> 01:30:20.719
Community Hall: And with that, staff recommends that you adopt the
resolutions to approve the permits. This is based on the revised
resolutions that were provided to you all.
581
01:30:20.830 --> 01:30:22.209
Community Hall: As a desk item
582
01:30:25.740 --> 01:30:30.240
Community Hall: And that concludes my presentation. Thank you very much.
Do we have any questions from the Commission?
583
01:30:30.460 --> 01:30:31.849
Community Hall: Commissioner Rao.
584
01:30:32.290 --> 01:30:39.340
Community Hall: Thank you. Is it possible to project Attachment 7 with
the AB130 exemption checklist?
585
01:30:40.850 --> 01:30:41.940
Community Hall: Yes, wonderful. Thank you.
586
01:30:44.700 --> 01:30:48.310
Community Hall: Any other questions from the Commission before we move on
to the applicant?
587
01:30:49.840 --> 01:31:00.079
Community Hall: Okay, then I think we're ready to move on to the
applicant presentation. Oh, we were taking questions, Osta? I, did
anyway. Yeah, we have a question and we're pulling it up now.
588
01:31:13.840 --> 01:31:14.670
Community Hall: Okay.
589
01:31:23.440 --> 01:31:26.029
Community Hall: Okay, thank you for your patience with that.
590
01:31:26.200 --> 01:31:30.249
Community Hall: And then if I could have video share my screen, thank
you.
591
01:31:30.370 --> 01:31:33.299
Community Hall: Thank you. If you might scroll down to the checklist…
592
01:31:38.020 --> 01:31:43.040
Community Hall: I guess we can zoom this, Debbie. I guess I can zoom
this. Is there any way you can zoom this?
593
01:31:44.890 --> 01:31:47.429
Community Hall: So, if you scroll down to the next page.
594
01:31:50.470 --> 01:31:55.269
Community Hall: Alright, so there's, number 5, I mean, item number 4. Can
you comment on…
595
01:31:57.460 --> 01:32:01.189
Community Hall: I guess it starts on the previous page, item number 4.
Okay. Yeah.
596
01:32:01.440 --> 01:32:05.820
Community Hall: So, which of these… Categories does the project meet?
597
01:32:06.020 --> 01:32:12.739
Community Hall: Are we saying the existing four single-family residences
qualified as an existing urban use?
598
01:32:16.330 --> 01:32:27.169
Community Hall: For this infill exemption, it's pretty similar to the
Class 32 categorical exemption we've had. Pretty much any urbanized area,
any incorporated city.
599
01:32:27.410 --> 01:32:30.990
Community Hall: is gonna meet the criteria for an infill development. So…
600
01:32:31.200 --> 01:32:45.029
Community Hall: this site is in a developed area, it has utilities. While
it's adjacent to a golf course and single-family homes, those are
development, so it would clearly meet the criteria. Okay, so it's the…
probably the last
601
01:32:45.030 --> 01:32:52.790
Community Hall: bullet on that page, at least 75% within a quarter mile
is open use. Correct, yes. Good, thank you. If you can scroll down a
little bit further.
602
01:32:54.460 --> 01:33:00.199
Community Hall: There's… yeah, right there. The project is consistent
with the existing general plan or zoning for the site.
603
01:33:00.350 --> 01:33:04.330
Community Hall: How should we understand the overlap between density
bonus waivers?
604
01:33:04.580 --> 01:33:07.200
Community Hall: And consistency with the general plan when the…
605
01:33:07.440 --> 01:33:16.080
Community Hall: proposed project seeks density bonus waivers, is that for
the purpose of this exemption, still considered consistent with the
general plan?
606
01:33:16.400 --> 01:33:24.650
Community Hall: That's correct. Density bonus, the waivers do not take
you out of, say, inconsistency with zoning or general plan.
607
01:33:26.210 --> 01:33:30.139
Community Hall: So you really… you're looking at the project. In this
case, you have a project that…
608
01:33:30.840 --> 01:33:37.689
Community Hall: is coming in with the R3TH zone. It is a townhome
development. It's within the 20 to 35 density range.
609
01:33:37.840 --> 01:33:44.559
Community Hall: And the density bonus waivers can't be used as a means to
say it's now inconsistent with the general plan or zoning.
610
01:33:46.090 --> 01:33:52.830
Community Hall: Okay, and… Is there… I don't know if Attorney Wu has any
guidance on this? Is this based on…
611
01:33:52.960 --> 01:34:00.380
Community Hall: Staff discretion and interpretation, or is there state
law that talks about how the overlap of density bonus waivers occurs with
612
01:34:00.770 --> 01:34:07.900
Community Hall: the AB130 exemption criteria. Yeah, I think Assistant
Director Connolly accurately described the status.
613
01:34:09.080 --> 01:34:12.210
Community Hall: Okay, so the, the state law itself?
614
01:34:12.480 --> 01:34:25.899
Community Hall: does not speak to this, does it? It does. Yeah, there is
a stipulation specifically in AB130, or in the Public Resources Code,
that states that we cannot use the waiver or concession or request
thereof to
615
01:34:26.040 --> 01:34:30.890
Community Hall: say that it's no longer consistent with our general plan
or zoning. Okay, thank you.
616
01:34:31.240 --> 01:34:37.989
Community Hall: There's the next item there, if you scroll down, I
believe it talks about the fire hazard severity zone.
617
01:34:38.880 --> 01:34:42.099
Community Hall: Is there a question here on that? Yeah, there it is,
number 7.
618
01:34:43.870 --> 01:34:53.139
Community Hall: So, just zoning in on the fire hazard severity zone, can
you comment on what the AB130 exemption criteria is? I understand your
619
01:34:53.340 --> 01:34:54.840
Community Hall: you're listing…
620
01:34:54.960 --> 01:35:04.559
Community Hall: a fire mitigation strategy that suffices? What… who makes
that determination? Is it planning, commission? Is it planning staff? Is
it the fire department?
621
01:35:05.650 --> 01:35:14.929
Community Hall: The CEQA determination is always going to be the city's
determination. We're the lead agency for CEQA, so we can't transfer that
away, but…
622
01:35:15.170 --> 01:35:23.190
Community Hall: This is in a very high fire hazard zone, which, under
AB130, is something that could disqualify you, except…
623
01:35:23.400 --> 01:35:30.140
Community Hall: If you read further on that, where it says, within a very
high fire hazard zone.
624
01:35:30.450 --> 01:35:42.920
Community Hall: This subparagraph does not apply to sites that have
adopted fire hazard mitigation measures pursuant to existing building
standards or state fire mitigation measures applicable to the
development, which this project does.
625
01:35:43.060 --> 01:35:48.649
Community Hall: So, that is where… Essentially, if you had a project
626
01:35:48.890 --> 01:35:54.499
Community Hall: That was in a very high fire hazard zone, and it was not
compliant with now the current
627
01:35:55.290 --> 01:36:01.689
Community Hall: Building standards that are required, say, for defensible
space or, you know, anti-combustible materials.
628
01:36:01.860 --> 01:36:04.569
Community Hall: then you would not be able to apply AB130.
629
01:36:04.770 --> 01:36:10.560
Community Hall: Since this project does… it is compliant, and AB130 would
be applicable.
630
01:36:12.230 --> 01:36:18.139
Community Hall: And specifically, I think if you scroll down, it talks
about how this mitigation is met, is that…
631
01:36:18.520 --> 01:36:19.949
Community Hall: Is it on the next page?
632
01:36:20.070 --> 01:36:26.719
Community Hall: Yes, they are correct. I think that goes to the top of
the next page. So it, yeah, it's like Chapter 7A of the building code.
633
01:36:26.850 --> 01:36:28.599
Community Hall: And so that…
634
01:36:29.980 --> 01:36:38.290
Community Hall: List that you have, which talks about the fire sprinklers
within 30 feet, and using fire-resistant material within 30 feet, and so
on.
635
01:36:39.060 --> 01:36:53.629
Community Hall: That matches the state law statutes and what would
satisfy that fire hazard mitigation? Yes, that would be with the current
standards for construction in a very high fire hazard zone. And again,
who makes the determination? Is it fire, or is it…
636
01:36:53.630 --> 01:37:05.539
Community Hall: Planning Commission, planning staff? We rely on County
Fire Review to make that determination, since they're the technical
experts in this area. Okay, and is there any written evidence submitted
by fire for this hearing?
637
01:37:05.760 --> 01:37:19.839
Community Hall: Well, we do have a representative here, and I know a memo
was submitted indicating their approval of the project as designed. So,
if I may, Chair, I think this section is reserved for questions from the
presentation to the Senate commissioners. Have any?
638
01:37:19.840 --> 01:37:28.559
Community Hall: some of these questions, I wonder whether it's more
appropriate for when we get to the discussion portion of this. Sounds
good. I will hold further questions. Thank you.
639
01:37:29.160 --> 01:37:32.999
Community Hall: Okay, thank you. Any other questions from the Commission
for staff?
640
01:37:34.820 --> 01:37:39.720
Community Hall: All right, I will withhold mine until after public
comment. May we have the applicant presentation, please?
641
01:37:55.160 --> 01:37:57.090
Community Hall: Good evening, Planning Commissioners.
642
01:37:57.340 --> 01:37:59.440
Community Hall: Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you.
643
01:37:59.650 --> 01:38:03.129
Community Hall: My name is Austin Lin, Development Manager for Summerhill
Homes.
644
01:38:03.610 --> 01:38:10.850
Community Hall: I'm joined tonight by Steve Bull, Vice President of
Development for the project, Kevin Ebrahimi, our Senior Vice President of
Development.
645
01:38:11.280 --> 01:38:18.170
Community Hall: Members of our design team, and our legal counsel, Margo
Bradish from Cox Castle, who will say a few words after me.
646
01:38:19.170 --> 01:38:30.359
Community Hall: We're excited to bring a thoughtfully designed housing
community to West Cupertino, which will create a rare opportunity for new
housing for families within walking distance of Cupertino's award-winning
schools.
647
01:38:31.350 --> 01:38:41.520
Community Hall: Before getting into the details, I'd like to sincerely
thank City staff for their collaboration throughout this process. In
particular, Emi Sugiyama, who has been exceptional to work with.
648
01:38:42.190 --> 01:38:53.170
Community Hall: We'd also like to thank Luke Conley from the Planning
Department, Jennifer Chu from the Public Works Department, as well as
Matthew McKenna and Kayla Flanagan from the Santa Clara County Fire
Department.
649
01:38:53.270 --> 01:38:54.549
Community Hall: Next slide, please.
650
01:38:56.230 --> 01:39:01.559
Community Hall: We are proposing to build 51 townhomes, which is the
minimum number of homes required for the site.
651
01:39:02.330 --> 01:39:11.720
Community Hall: The project consists exclusively of 4-bedroom townhome
units to accommodate families with floor areas ranging from 1,700 to
2,300 square feet.
652
01:39:11.860 --> 01:39:14.290
Community Hall: And each home will have a two-car garage.
653
01:39:15.100 --> 01:39:25.240
Community Hall: All the homes will be offered for sale, and the majority
will be for market rate homes, with 10 homes designated as below market
rate, and sold through the City's affordable housing program.
654
01:39:25.890 --> 01:39:34.920
Community Hall: In addition, the project includes two private amenity
spaces for the residents, featuring casual outdoor seating, as well as
public art.
655
01:39:35.690 --> 01:39:42.030
Community Hall: As Emmy mentioned, the Linda Vista site is designated as
a priority housing site in the city's housing element.
656
01:39:42.570 --> 01:39:48.370
Community Hall: Under current zoning, the project requires a density
range of 20 to 35 units per acre.
657
01:39:48.600 --> 01:39:54.790
Community Hall: Which equates to a unit count range of 51 to 87 units for
the 2.5 acre site.
658
01:39:55.660 --> 01:40:03.600
Community Hall: While state density bonus law could allow for up to 100
units, we are intentionally proposing the minimum allowable density of 51
units.
659
01:40:04.600 --> 01:40:14.330
Community Hall: For a brief history at the inclusion of the site into the
housing element, the draft housing element originally assigned a minimum
density of 30 units per acre to the site.
660
01:40:14.840 --> 01:40:27.529
Community Hall: The property owners formally objected to the 30 units per
acre designation and requested the minimum density for the site be
reduced to 20 units per acre, which the City Council voted to approve on
September 9th, 2022.
661
01:40:28.380 --> 01:40:37.639
Community Hall: The property owner requested a lower minimum density to
provide a choice for a better, well-thought-out integration of the
proposed development with the existing neighborhood.
662
01:40:37.780 --> 01:40:39.060
Community Hall: Next slide, please.
663
01:40:40.580 --> 01:40:49.159
Community Hall: To maintain the walkability of the neighborhood, the
homes along Lynn and Pista Drive all have front doors facing the street,
with the garages hidden behind the homes.
664
01:40:49.690 --> 01:41:01.549
Community Hall: Additionally, the homes have been oriented so that the
primary windows for the living areas and bedrooms face toward either
Linda Vista Drive or the golf course to minimize the privacy impact to
the neighbors.
665
01:41:01.930 --> 01:41:03.230
Community Hall: Next slide, please.
666
01:41:04.400 --> 01:41:23.820
Community Hall: In addition to standard fire sprinklers and non-
combustible roof tiles and siding, we have worked closely with the fire
department to add enhanced wildfire resiliency measures into the
product's design in compliance with applicable laws and in compliance
with AB130 very high fire hazard zone requirements.
667
01:41:25.030 --> 01:41:32.259
Community Hall: First, we are creating a defensible buffer by using non-
combustible landscaping within the first 5 feet around every building.
668
01:41:32.720 --> 01:41:39.089
Community Hall: For the structures themselves, all units will have fire-
rated eaves and ember-resistant vents and door openings.
669
01:41:39.400 --> 01:41:49.539
Community Hall: Additionally, the homes along the perimeter of the site
will have added sprinklers within all covered porches and decks, and
increased fire-resistant ratings for the exterior walls.
670
01:41:49.860 --> 01:41:51.120
Community Hall: Next slide, please.
671
01:41:52.680 --> 01:41:58.000
Community Hall: We submitted an SB330 preliminary application for the
project in October of 2024,
672
01:41:58.420 --> 01:42:10.080
Community Hall: Hosted two neighborhood meetings in November of 2024, one
with the immediate fence line neighbors, and another with a broader
neighborhood and community, and submitted a formal application in
December of 2024.
673
01:42:11.000 --> 01:42:21.880
Community Hall: After the application was deemed complete in March of
2025, we worked closely with city staff and the fire department through
multiple rounds of detailed reviews of the plans and technical reports.
674
01:42:22.740 --> 01:42:29.590
Community Hall: During this process, we applied the new Assembly Bill 130
CEQA exemption to the project in September of 2025.
675
01:42:30.590 --> 01:42:39.620
Community Hall: This past month, we met again with the immediate fence
line neighbors and hosted another large group community meeting with the
neighborhood to provide an update regarding the project.
676
01:42:40.070 --> 01:42:47.850
Community Hall: Although we are complying with the City's general plan,
zoning, and objective standards, we proactively engage with the
neighborhood.
677
01:42:48.380 --> 01:42:55.659
Community Hall: Based on this input, we increased the side setbacks from
6 feet to 10 feet along the northern and southern property line.
678
01:42:55.810 --> 01:43:05.199
Community Hall: Added privacy-enhancing design measures of landscaping
screening hedges along the northern and southern property lines, and
opaque third floor windows where appropriate.
679
01:43:05.530 --> 01:43:06.770
Community Hall: Next slide, please.
680
01:43:08.290 --> 01:43:12.329
Community Hall: The project will provide several important public
benefits for the community.
681
01:43:12.790 --> 01:43:26.879
Community Hall: First, the project will provide 51 new homes,
contributing to the city's RENA obligations for the sixth housing cycle,
and also gives families and aspiring first-time homebuyers a chance at
home ownership in Cupertino.
682
01:43:27.620 --> 01:43:35.939
Community Hall: Second, the city designation of the project site as a
priority housing site supports the city's goal of firmly furthering fair
housing.
683
01:43:36.300 --> 01:43:40.379
Community Hall: The project site is the only priority housing site within
this area of the city.
684
01:43:41.090 --> 01:43:45.700
Community Hall: Third, we're proposing to designate 10 of the units as
low-market rate units.
685
01:43:46.930 --> 01:44:06.420
Community Hall: Finally, the project will contribute approximately $2
million in park fees, $569,000 in school fees, and a surplus of $48,000
annually to the City's general fund from estimated property tax, sales
tax, and parcel transfer taxes as verified by the City's third-party
consultant.
686
01:44:06.590 --> 01:44:07.820
Community Hall: Next slide, please.
687
01:44:08.710 --> 01:44:13.680
Community Hall: At this time, we would like to have Margo Bradish, our
Land Use Council, say a few words.
688
01:44:16.750 --> 01:44:17.810
Community Hall: Thank you, Austin.
689
01:44:18.010 --> 01:44:31.129
Community Hall: Good evening, Commissioners. We did submit a letter in
advance, so I'll be brief tonight, but I did just want to present a quick
framework for your consideration of the project this evening. First of
all, I want to talk about timeline, and then about substance.
690
01:44:31.240 --> 01:44:46.769
Community Hall: From a timing standpoint, both the Permit Streamlining
Act and the Housing Accountability Act established three critical
deadlines for your project consideration. The first was the consistent…
excuse me, the completeness determination, which was issued by staff on
March 19th, 2025.
691
01:44:47.130 --> 01:44:57.189
Community Hall: 30 days later is the determination of consistency comment
deadline, which staff complied with, submitting comments on April 18th,
2025.
692
01:44:57.470 --> 01:45:11.429
Community Hall: And finally, and most importantly, is the deadline for
the city to make a decision on the project, which in this case is 30 days
after the completion of the AB130 process, subject to a one-time
extension, which was granted here.
693
01:45:11.620 --> 01:45:18.909
Community Hall: which brings the date to April 4th, as staff indicated,
for the City to take action on the project, or it will be deemed approved
by Operation of Law.
694
01:45:19.340 --> 01:45:39.030
Community Hall: In considering whether to approve the project, it's
important to note that the Housing Accountability Act places strict
limits on a city's ability to disapprove a housing project that complies
with objective standards. In particular, a city can only do so if there's
a preponderance of evidence, so that's more likely than not that the
695
01:45:39.030 --> 01:45:51.290
Community Hall: The project will have a specific adverse impact on health
and safety, defined in the health… excuse me, the Housing Accountability
Act to require a conflict with an objective, written public health and
safety standard.
696
01:45:51.560 --> 01:45:59.119
Community Hall: For this project, as noted in the staff report, the city
does not have an objective health and safety standard related to
evacuation routes.
697
01:45:59.470 --> 01:46:04.210
Community Hall: Let alone any policy that the project is inconsistent
with.
698
01:46:04.570 --> 01:46:14.610
Community Hall: In fact, as indicated in the staff report, the fire
department confirmed that the project complies with the fire code
requirements and the AB30 130 requirements for the
699
01:46:15.140 --> 01:46:30.019
Community Hall: severity zone that the project is located in. As a
result, as a matter of law, there is not a preponderance of evidence that
the project would have a specific and adverse impact on health and
safety, as indicated in the Housing Accountability Act, and therefore
there is not a reason
700
01:46:30.050 --> 01:46:38.579
Community Hall: Consistent with the Housing Accountability Act for the
City to disapprove the project. We encourage you to approve the project
and provide much-needed housing in your community. Thank you.
701
01:46:43.820 --> 01:46:48.110
Community Hall: All right, thank you very much. Do we have any questions
from the Commission for the applicant?
702
01:46:48.270 --> 01:46:49.220
Community Hall: Commissioner Rao.
703
01:46:49.740 --> 01:46:53.799
Community Hall: Yes, thank you to the applicant for your presentation.
704
01:46:54.110 --> 01:47:03.259
Community Hall: If you can talk a little bit about, you know, you've
probably done many, many projects out here. We've had a lot of feedback
around concerns of fire.
705
01:47:03.520 --> 01:47:07.160
Community Hall: Have there been any episodes of fire around your
development during, or…
706
01:47:07.580 --> 01:47:22.969
Community Hall: Right, after the development, do you have any episodes
involving fire and Summerhill Homes at the densities that we are looking
at? First, thank you for the opportunity to be here. My name is Kevin
Aberhini, I'm the Senior Vice President for Summerhill Homes. Steve Bull,
he's also the Vice President for the company.
707
01:47:23.030 --> 01:47:36.680
Community Hall: So, no, none of our projects that I'm aware of, I've been
with the company approximately 18 years, has had any fire issues.
Primarily, new construction requires much more advanced
708
01:47:36.850 --> 01:47:53.820
Community Hall: products. We typically try to do stucco as much as
possible, and have closed eaves, roof tiles, material that considerably
reduce chances of buildings catching on fire. And just to answer your
question, no, we haven't had any fires.
709
01:47:54.590 --> 01:48:06.160
Community Hall: And that is your experience in 18 years of development,
as you have seen, no episodes of fire involving Summerhill homes?
Certainly not, no, we haven't. Okay. Are you aware of any of your peers
that have
710
01:48:07.090 --> 01:48:18.389
Community Hall: And again, this is not a binding question, but just
anecdotally, are you aware of projects of this type running into fire
situations commonly? I'm not aware of townhome-style product like this.
711
01:48:18.740 --> 01:48:33.570
Community Hall: having fire issues, but I am aware of podium projects,
and our sister company does podium projects. From time to time, there's
more chances of podium projects catching on fire. Have you had any
projects in very high-severity fire zones?
712
01:48:36.380 --> 01:48:40.729
Community Hall: I believe… I'm not certain, but I believe our Moraga
project
713
01:48:40.990 --> 01:48:46.770
Community Hall: has, I don't know if the designation was called High Fire
Zone, but it was…
714
01:48:47.030 --> 01:48:51.820
Community Hall: Very similar to this, where we had to meet with the fire
department and do all the mitigation measures.
715
01:48:52.230 --> 01:49:04.210
Community Hall: And any episodes of insurance denials because of your
project? No. And we have met with insurance companies for this project,
and obviously we have several different insurance companies that will
insure the project.
716
01:49:04.850 --> 01:49:06.610
Community Hall: Thank you, that's my questions.
717
01:49:08.750 --> 01:49:09.990
Community Hall: Mr. Glenn.
718
01:49:11.330 --> 01:49:29.969
Community Hall: So I think I heard you say that you try to use stucco to
reduce fire risk, is that a true statement that you said? Yeah, so stucco
homes are much more resilient than wood siding homes for fire. Okay, so
this project is using stucco? It's all stucco, that's correct. Okay,
thank you.
719
01:49:31.840 --> 01:49:33.380
Community Hall: Commissioner Lenscott, go ahead.
720
01:49:33.490 --> 01:49:47.830
Community Hall: Yeah, can you… do you have any slides or presentations
just to outline all of the fire, resistance, infrastructure changes
you've made, like the roofing, the vents, the…
721
01:49:48.070 --> 01:49:52.140
Community Hall: the walls, yes, let's…
722
01:49:55.540 --> 01:49:58.059
Community Hall: So, what slide number is this? Awesome.
723
01:50:02.530 --> 01:50:09.420
Community Hall: I believe it's slide 4. It was one of the sheets that we
went over, but we can walk through. Okay, yeah, if you could walk us
through that, please.
724
01:50:11.120 --> 01:50:14.060
Community Hall: And I'll just ask that video share my screen.
725
01:50:18.600 --> 01:50:19.859
Community Hall: It's in our stature.
726
01:50:20.010 --> 01:50:28.249
Community Hall: Sure, again, Steve Bull, Summer Hill Homes, Vice
President of Development. So the upgrades we've made are, the non…
727
01:50:29.310 --> 01:50:38.090
Community Hall: The non-combustible landscape, extended a 5-foot
perimeter around the homes for what we call Zone 0.
728
01:50:39.360 --> 01:50:46.579
Community Hall: Also, added fire sprinkler heads within all the exterior
covered porches and decks within 30 feet of the property line.
729
01:50:48.040 --> 01:50:57.529
Community Hall: One-hour fire-resistant ratings for the exist… Excuse me,
the exterior wall elements and architectural projections surrounding…
within 30 feet of the property lines.
730
01:50:59.030 --> 01:51:04.419
Community Hall: Also, the fire-rated eaves, ember-resistant vents, and
door openings.
731
01:51:04.550 --> 01:51:12.100
Community Hall: So these are prescribed, elements that we had to
incorporate into the project due to AB130.
732
01:51:12.100 --> 01:51:28.379
Community Hall: And being in the, if I pronounce it correctly, woohoo.
Woo-ee, thank you, Hui. But in addition, for projects like this, we do
all stucco, we do, closed leaves eaves, roof tiles,
733
01:51:28.470 --> 01:51:38.050
Community Hall: things that we know as builders are protective measures.
What kind of roof tiles? Concrete roof tiles. And they're fire-retardant?
They are, yeah, they're…
734
01:51:38.150 --> 01:51:39.819
Community Hall: They're rated for…
735
01:51:40.470 --> 01:51:55.559
Community Hall: I don't know. Non-combustible. Non-combustible, so
they're… that's what they're for. So has anybody from the fire department
reviewed these and offered any suggestions for, or did they say, this
looks good, or did they offer any suggestions for making it even more
fire, resistant?
736
01:51:55.560 --> 01:52:04.830
Community Hall: So, the complete plan set has been reviewed by the fire
department and was approved by the fire department. There were no
additional suggestions from the fire department.
737
01:52:05.060 --> 01:52:14.949
Community Hall: Than what we have provided. Obviously, what you're seeing
now is the finished product, so we went through several iterations, and
the final iteration is this, to be compliant.
738
01:52:16.410 --> 01:52:19.870
Community Hall: Great. I have one more question, or I can wait if…
739
01:52:20.160 --> 01:52:28.969
Community Hall: Okay, so my next question is about the height difference
between the adjacent single-family homes and this.
740
01:52:28.970 --> 01:52:41.649
Community Hall: Can you talk about that? Have you done anything to try
and address that high difference, and to address the privacy concerns of
the residents? Yes, of course. Well, sure.
741
01:52:42.070 --> 01:52:54.260
Community Hall: Yes, a couple things. We are at the eaves of our homes 30
feet, so what we've done is we've altered the roof, or formed the roof to
have hips, or sort of a flat level area.
742
01:52:54.650 --> 01:53:03.329
Community Hall: Adjacent to the edge, and then it kind of slopes up over
the course of 20 feet plus before it gets to that full height, just to
minimize the height adjacent.
743
01:53:03.440 --> 01:53:12.809
Community Hall: Also, on those third floor windows, again, the homes
primarily live to the front and back, facing Linda Vista and also the
golf course. But there are some
744
01:53:12.810 --> 01:53:23.459
Community Hall: secondary windows on the side, elevation, facing
neighbors. So what we've done on the third floor, was we've sort of
obscured those, or frosted them over so it can't be seen out of.
745
01:53:23.660 --> 01:53:33.529
Community Hall: Then finally, we added a landscape hedge along the fence.
It should grow up at maturity 10 to 12 feet high to help add a little bit
more privacy.
746
01:53:33.630 --> 01:53:46.310
Community Hall: Okay, so just to be clear, so you said… so it maxes out
at 30 feet, you said? Yeah, so the elevation of the home, the side yard,
from the grade to the eve is 30 feet.
747
01:53:46.430 --> 01:53:53.559
Community Hall: And then, a lot of times, we wind up having a gable
element for the roof, which adds height, but in these cases, we…
748
01:53:53.740 --> 01:54:00.710
Community Hall: We, designed the homes to have, hips, which means at 30
feet.
749
01:54:00.790 --> 01:54:15.919
Community Hall: they'll go up at an angle towards the center of the
building, so at all times that you're looking at, it's the 30 feet, and
then the roofline goes away from you. And I think Steve mentioned the
other thing that we tried to do is there was a minimum of 6-foot
750
01:54:16.020 --> 01:54:35.900
Community Hall: setback, and we worked with staff to reduce the setback
on average court, and increase the setbacks from 6 to 10, and at some
locations, 11 foot. So those are the things that we worked on
incorporating to… Great, and I think you mentioned something about
privacy screening as well for trees? Yes, there are…
751
01:54:35.950 --> 01:54:39.600
Community Hall: I don't know if they're called trees, they're shrubs that
grow…
752
01:54:39.740 --> 01:54:48.680
Community Hall: We have several that we have suggested, some grow between
10 to 12 to 15 feet, and we have some other suggestions that can go as
high as 20 feet.
753
01:54:49.240 --> 01:55:01.800
Community Hall: That would fit in that 10-foot setback. Yes, but those
are shrubs, not really… I wouldn't call them trees. Okay, but… so, sorry,
what was the highest height they could go? They could go as high as 20
feet. 20 feet. Okay, thank you.
754
01:55:03.320 --> 01:55:13.390
Community Hall: I just wanted to clarify, I did not see anywhere in the
documents what class rating the fireproofing materials are. Are they
Class A, or Class B, or just anything?
755
01:55:15.480 --> 01:55:18.289
Community Hall: Yeah, Jennifer, do you have any…
756
01:55:25.070 --> 01:55:31.390
Community Hall: Good evening, Commissioners. Jennifer Master with SDG
Architects. Are you speaking of the roof, specifically?
757
01:55:31.750 --> 01:55:46.260
Community Hall: I was thinking about the roof, actually. I mean, if there
are other materials that apply… So, I think it's just the roof. Okay. I
mean, when you say a class reading, it's usually the roof? Yes. I believe
they're a… I can double check and, like… Okay, thank you. Yeah.
758
01:55:46.480 --> 01:55:55.190
Community Hall: Concrete roof tiles. Correct. Clay, concrete roof tiles
that are non-combustible. Okay, thank you, because that was not specified
in the vesting tentative map, so thank you.
759
01:55:56.850 --> 01:56:03.219
Community Hall: Can either staff or the applicant comment on, is this
going to be following the 2025 building codes?
760
01:56:03.970 --> 01:56:12.249
Community Hall: Yes. Oh, sorry. Okay, so this is going to be subject to
the 2025 Building Code, and the 2025 Building Code has been upgraded to
761
01:56:12.480 --> 01:56:26.939
Community Hall: deal with the very high severity and high severity fire
hazard zones and the upgraded… That is correct. The building permits for
this have not been filed yet, so they'll be subject to the current code.
And so, can staff briefly touch on what sort of,
762
01:56:27.920 --> 01:56:31.440
Community Hall: Again, very briefly touch on what sort of improvements
763
01:56:31.980 --> 01:56:44.729
Community Hall: come in because of those changes, very briefly. Not being
the building official, I'm not going to venture out of my lane. And I
will let the applicant comment if they have been following the upgraded
building codes.
764
01:56:46.560 --> 01:56:49.959
Community Hall: So we do have a Director Fu at the back, if you'd like to
join.
765
01:56:51.480 --> 01:56:58.460
Community Hall: So, from an architecture standpoint, there's not… No,
just from a 2025 building code and fire safety.
766
01:56:58.620 --> 01:57:07.250
Community Hall: So, fire safety-wise, all the requirements that we are
meeting, that we just went over again,
767
01:57:07.410 --> 01:57:23.500
Community Hall: we will meet those, and that's 2025 code-based. As far as
other updates in regards to fire safety, there really isn't. It's that
one code section. Is this maybe your first project with the 2025 building
codes?
768
01:57:23.500 --> 01:57:36.290
Community Hall: Our office has submitted other projects. Okay. I don't
know if we've had one in a very high fire safety zone, though, but we're
aware of all the measures that need to be taken. Is this the first
project with upgraded
769
01:57:36.350 --> 01:57:40.960
Community Hall: Building codes that reflect the new fire severity
guidelines from the state.
770
01:57:41.270 --> 01:57:44.319
Community Hall: Probably so. Okay. But…
771
01:57:44.490 --> 01:57:57.870
Community Hall: I'll just add, we've done a lot of projects in WUI areas
within the Bay Area, not specifically for Summerhill, but for other
developers, so we are aware of what needs to be done and detailed in the
set to comply.
772
01:57:58.180 --> 01:58:04.460
Community Hall: And I would say I have, built in a high fire hazard zone,
and I've complied with all of these measures.
773
01:58:04.680 --> 01:58:13.110
Community Hall: So, is it fair to say these new codes, given the state
guidelines and what the city had to incorporate for fire severity.
774
01:58:13.550 --> 01:58:21.040
Community Hall: considerations, the… the… Construction at this site is
going to be of a significantly more…
775
01:58:21.510 --> 01:58:37.499
Community Hall: fire-aware quality compared to your past projects? Is
that a fair statement? Absolutely. When you compare this to our Stevens
Creek project that we had before the Commission several months back, all
of the things that we're talking about are additional things that are
being incorporated. Okay.
776
01:58:38.340 --> 01:58:48.540
Community Hall: I guess if there's one thing to note, too, the fire and
building code compliance is really not optional. It's… you… you have to
comply with them. It doesn't have the flexibility, say, of planning
regulations.
777
01:58:49.850 --> 01:59:09.170
Community Hall: Okay, if we have any very quick questions, I'd like to
take them, and then we can move to public comments. I do have a few more.
But, you know, it's 8.45, and I think the public has been waiting here
for 2 hours, so I would like to give them the opportunity to speak. So,
anyone have quick questions? I have a quick question for staff. Okay, in
looking at the plans.
778
01:59:09.520 --> 01:59:16.340
Community Hall: And looking at the International Fire Code, IFC Appendix
D105, I noticed several
779
01:59:16.450 --> 01:59:23.379
Community Hall: areas where the plans don't comply, so how are they
getting waivers to not comply with D105?
780
01:59:23.810 --> 01:59:31.500
Community Hall: I mean, the fire department can't just say, oh, don't
bother. I mean, what is the procedure to get out of this?
781
01:59:35.490 --> 01:59:45.899
Community Hall: So, these plans were reviewed by our fire department, and
we have a representative here who maybe can touch on specifics. Yeah,
that was not my question, but anyway. Okay, thank you. Okay.
782
01:59:46.750 --> 01:59:53.459
Community Hall: Sorry, Commissioner Schott, did you want the fire
department to comment? Because we do have a representative here. No, I'm
asking the staff
783
01:59:54.040 --> 01:59:58.489
Community Hall: why they are allowed to not meet D105.
784
01:59:58.940 --> 02:00:08.300
Community Hall: I don't need the fire department to tell me what's in
D105, it's perfectly clear. I'm just indicating I don't know what that
is, so I would need them to respond to that. Okay, thank you anyway.
785
02:00:08.770 --> 02:00:14.600
Community Hall: City Attorney, would it be acceptable to have public
comment and then have the fire department answer questions?
786
02:00:17.260 --> 02:00:18.809
Community Hall: Yes. Okay.
787
02:00:18.930 --> 02:00:35.330
Community Hall: Let's move to public comment, then. Actually, I have one
other… Oh, I'm sorry. One other simple one while you're up here. So, I
did want to confirm, it is actually in the report, the appliances here
are all electric in this building. That is correct. There's no natural
gas in this area, and I believe
788
02:00:35.330 --> 02:00:45.139
Community Hall: When we… when we discussed this, you said you were also
undergrounding the current, that is correct. All the electric lines
fronting the project are… is being undergrounded. Great, thank you.
789
02:00:45.260 --> 02:00:46.129
Community Hall: Thank you.
790
02:00:46.660 --> 02:00:55.179
Community Hall: Thank you very much. So, yeah, City Clerk, how many
public comments do we have? We have 17 speakers in person, and no hands
raised on Zoom, Chair.
791
02:00:55.640 --> 02:01:01.310
Community Hall: Okay, so it should be acceptable to allow everyone to
speak the full 3 minutes? Okay, great.
792
02:01:02.090 --> 02:01:13.710
Community Hall: Okay, our first speaker is David Yang, followed by Dur
Chang Kao, Frank Swanson, and Alice Lin, followed by Harvey Wooseng Jr.
Welcome, David, and video, if you could please share my screen?
793
02:01:21.140 --> 02:01:23.180
Community Hall: I do have a presentation.
794
02:01:25.660 --> 02:01:38.239
Community Hall: Okay, go ahead. Thank you. Good evening, Planning
Commissioners, and as well as planning staff. There are really two 30-
foot standards that are going to govern this project.
795
02:01:38.610 --> 02:01:41.680
Community Hall: As well as justify the legitimacy.
796
02:01:41.850 --> 02:01:44.110
Community Hall: Of the proposal before you tonight.
797
02:01:44.600 --> 02:01:46.900
Community Hall: Let's go to the next slide, please.
798
02:01:47.410 --> 02:02:01.049
Community Hall: The first is D105. Some of it has already been discussed,
and I actually want to thank Mr. Ibrahimi, the Senior VP at Summerhill,
for acknowledging, just 10 minutes ago, that from the Great Plain.
799
02:02:01.140 --> 02:02:20.479
Community Hall: to the eave of the roof, that it is, in fact, 30 feet,
because maybe I won't even have to present this slide. But there's a very
clear, requirement here that from the… from the grade plane to the
highest point of the roof, you guys can read it, I don't need to quote
it, that if it's over 30 feet.
800
02:02:20.730 --> 02:02:30.309
Community Hall: that it triggers what's called an aerial access apparatus
requirement. And what that will require is that the roads
801
02:02:30.610 --> 02:02:45.130
Community Hall: inside Evelage Court get expanded from 20 feet, as
proposed, to 26 feet. So we're not just talking about minutiae, we're not
talking about a nuance, this is a bright line rule, and it…
802
02:02:45.660 --> 02:02:50.439
Community Hall: Addresses squarely the geometry of the entire project.
803
02:02:50.910 --> 02:02:59.160
Community Hall: Okay? And so, to quote the attorney, it's more likely
than not, based on this drawing that was provided to me from FIRE,
804
02:02:59.500 --> 02:03:18.910
Community Hall: that something is amiss. I encourage everybody to take a
look at it. The code defines the measurement. It's not a preference, it's
not a planning staff opinion of what is reasonable, and you cannot just
defer to fire. You have a responsibility here, the planning staff has a
responsibility to review it.
805
02:03:19.110 --> 02:03:20.419
Community Hall: Next slide, please.
806
02:03:21.180 --> 02:03:28.060
Community Hall: Okay, the second… 30-foot standard, which governs this
project, is a horizontal setback.
807
02:03:28.260 --> 02:03:40.539
Community Hall: We talked about density bonus waivers and height waivers
not, not necessarily conflicting with the general plan. That's… that's
actually correct. However.
808
02:03:40.640 --> 02:03:43.720
Community Hall: AB130 says that there's a 30-foot
809
02:03:44.060 --> 02:03:52.049
Community Hall: I'm sorry, there's a 30-foot setback that has to take
place, and they've reduced that down to 10 feet.
810
02:03:52.350 --> 02:03:57.049
Community Hall: That can only happen if you have have,
811
02:03:57.380 --> 02:04:03.249
Community Hall: Equivalent fire mitigating standards, equivalent to the
existing standards.
812
02:04:04.490 --> 02:04:10.170
Community Hall: So, essentially, if you read the AB30 memo, they have
waived
813
02:04:10.650 --> 02:04:21.569
Community Hall: they have proved compliance with the existing standard by
waiving it, okay? And, what's… what the actual requirement is, is that
you need an equivalence finding.
814
02:04:21.860 --> 02:04:24.939
Community Hall: Okay? To make it exactly the same.
815
02:04:25.380 --> 02:04:28.370
Community Hall: From a risk standpoint, as it would have been.
816
02:04:29.630 --> 02:04:39.560
Community Hall: Had you not reduced the setback. Thank you, David, that
is your time. Our next speaker is Sir Chang Kao, Frank Swanson, and Alice
Lin, followed by Harvey Wu Sang, Jr.
817
02:04:43.990 --> 02:04:54.190
Community Hall: Okay, good evening, Commissioners. My name's Duchen Cao,
and… So, we are the residents of the Linda Vista corridor.
818
02:04:54.360 --> 02:04:58.430
Community Hall: As you can see on our second slides, if you can move to
the second slides.
819
02:04:58.740 --> 02:05:05.730
Community Hall: The core issue is a fundamental shift in the safety data,
okay? The parcel was rezoned, R3, based on 2007.
820
02:05:05.880 --> 02:05:17.510
Community Hall: the fire map. However, in March 2025, CAL FIRE updated a
fundamental change. That is a fundamental change of the safety baseline,
okay? We are now in a high-risk environment, and we're the spread.
821
02:05:17.910 --> 02:05:28.730
Community Hall: at the rate of the 200 acre in 20 minutes. This is the
sovereign data that we, we learned from Pacific Palisade Fire.
822
02:05:29.320 --> 02:05:36.279
Community Hall: Okay? So, in this new reality, the 30 minutes evacuation
window isn't a goal.
823
02:05:36.560 --> 02:05:38.900
Community Hall: It is a survival requirement.
824
02:05:40.210 --> 02:05:52.460
Community Hall: Having said that, the developer report from… developer's
report on the Hazegon Transport, transportation consultant suggests that
the project… Ed, if you can move to slides 5,
825
02:05:53.390 --> 02:05:57.849
Community Hall: Slides… Yeah, 5, okay?
826
02:05:58.320 --> 02:06:06.719
Community Hall: 5, number 5, okay? It's less than the, destined, has less
than 1 second of the delay to our road.
827
02:06:07.020 --> 02:06:08.560
Community Hall: No, the next slides.
828
02:06:09.120 --> 02:06:14.770
Community Hall: But to look at the data on the slide's fine, Haskell's
model
829
02:06:15.570 --> 02:06:21.789
Community Hall: They only provide a Tuesday morning commute with
additional 30 cars per hour.
830
02:06:22.410 --> 02:06:23.230
Community Hall: Okay?
831
02:06:23.650 --> 02:06:33.229
Community Hall: In the wildfire, we are facing the emergency surge of the
250 vehicle attempting to exit a single access spine, Linda Vista Drive.
832
02:06:33.660 --> 02:06:42.139
Community Hall: in 30 minutes, again, the critical 30 minutes.
Furthermore, the developed study ignored what happened when power goes
out.
833
02:06:42.970 --> 02:06:47.209
Community Hall: In a disaster, all intersections default to four-way
stops.
834
02:06:47.440 --> 02:06:51.100
Community Hall: This has dropped our road capacity another 50%.
835
02:06:51.300 --> 02:06:55.349
Community Hall: Okay? There's a critical factor that developed complete
omitted.
836
02:06:56.860 --> 02:06:59.330
Community Hall: So, if you can go to slides 3,
837
02:06:59.710 --> 02:07:03.030
Community Hall: Using the standard traffic engineering principle.
838
02:07:03.370 --> 02:07:16.200
Community Hall: Okay? I'm an engineer, so I love numbers. I provide all
the detailed number for the model. Using this, the, the principle, we
model a utilization ratio for the project as shown in the slide 3. The R3
density
839
02:07:16.550 --> 02:07:24.419
Community Hall: push our road to 110% of the capacity. So what I mean? In
the engineering, a ratio over 100%
840
02:07:24.730 --> 02:07:26.549
Community Hall: Means assistant failure.
841
02:07:26.940 --> 02:07:32.809
Community Hall: It creates a standing queue, where your car arrives
faster than the intersection can process them.
842
02:07:32.940 --> 02:07:34.770
Community Hall: This is just another traffic jam.
843
02:07:35.260 --> 02:07:40.360
Community Hall: The model says it's 45 plus minutes of queuing delay.
844
02:07:40.650 --> 02:07:48.590
Community Hall: Plus, I think about coming out from the average court.
You got a 51 units cart, one to kind of the,
845
02:07:49.440 --> 02:08:03.820
Community Hall: merging into the visa. This is too narrow… this is a
narrow room. This creates another 28 minutes of the merging bottle. The
result is a total order to safety time of 90-plus minutes.
846
02:08:04.620 --> 02:08:11.489
Community Hall: Okay? So you are asking 155 families to wait more than an
hour and 30 minutes
847
02:08:11.810 --> 02:08:13.510
Community Hall: In the tunnel of fire.
848
02:08:13.870 --> 02:08:17.490
Community Hall: is an objective, Condifiable hazard.
849
02:08:17.760 --> 02:08:19.629
Community Hall: to human life.
850
02:08:20.890 --> 02:08:22.169
Community Hall: So, in summary.
851
02:08:22.420 --> 02:08:31.890
Community Hall: Under the SB333, the city must deny the proposal if there
is specific adverse impact on public safety.
852
02:08:32.250 --> 02:08:35.250
Community Hall: We urge the Commission to reject the proposal.
853
02:08:35.430 --> 02:08:45.600
Community Hall: And instead, instead, consider a low-density alternative
to maintain a safe Utilization ratio below 50%.
854
02:08:45.890 --> 02:08:49.069
Community Hall: Our model provides mathematical proof.
855
02:08:49.920 --> 02:09:04.639
Community Hall: of this impact, we strongly suggest you direct the
developer to consult with a reputable Wi-Fi evaluation expert for a
comprehensive, cumulative corridor study of evacuation.
856
02:09:04.830 --> 02:09:14.379
Community Hall: We must keep the evacuation window within the critical 30
minutes safety threshold. Please do not, please do not approve this
project.
857
02:09:14.650 --> 02:09:18.860
Community Hall: Logically and mathematically guarantee a bottleneck.
858
02:09:18.960 --> 02:09:22.960
Community Hall: During our neighborhood's most desperate hour.
859
02:09:23.070 --> 02:09:24.299
Community Hall: Thank you very much.
860
02:09:28.560 --> 02:09:35.060
Community Hall: Thank you. Our next speaker is Harvey Wu-Seng Jr,
followed by Al Spencer, followed by Patrick Sweeney.
861
02:09:36.650 --> 02:09:38.510
Community Hall: It's Henry, not Harvey.
862
02:09:38.720 --> 02:09:43.629
Community Hall: And do you have my slides, or shall I present them?
863
02:09:43.810 --> 02:09:45.739
Community Hall: Yes, we have your slides.
864
02:09:45.840 --> 02:09:46.700
Community Hall: Okay.
865
02:09:48.610 --> 02:09:49.749
Community Hall: Can you display them?
866
02:09:52.390 --> 02:09:53.750
Community Hall: Okay, great.
867
02:09:54.840 --> 02:10:05.549
Community Hall: So, my name is Henry Tsang, I'm a resident of 38 years,
and I'm also working with a group of volunteers as an ad hoc resident
wildfire committee. Next slide, please.
868
02:10:07.970 --> 02:10:26.360
Community Hall: The, the groups that are represented in that are shown in
red on this map, and they're primarily HOAs and other housing units. We
are conducting surveys, we're doing tours, we're going around inspection,
we're writing a report on the issues, as well as doing an educational
series. Next slide, please.
869
02:10:27.760 --> 02:10:30.719
Community Hall: We've seen this. Let's go to the next slide already.
870
02:10:31.980 --> 02:10:44.479
Community Hall: The, main thing that we're looking about is the red zone,
the fact it's a very high danger zone. The Stevens Creek Trail that is
directly next to this represents, actually, the wildfire to urban
interface.
871
02:10:44.480 --> 02:10:52.979
Community Hall: And as many of you may know, about 20 years ago, Linda
Vista Park had a wildfire event with, you know.
872
02:10:52.980 --> 02:11:06.829
Community Hall: red dropping stuff and helicopters and all that type of
thing. And the fact that it's a multiplex, it defines a very heavy fuel
load, that is problematic for radiant heat on our neighboring houses.
873
02:11:06.960 --> 02:11:11.410
Community Hall: And, because of that, we worry about a domino effect. So,
next slide, please.
874
02:11:13.270 --> 02:11:31.520
Community Hall: Just to show you what the Stevens Creek Trail looked like
about 2 weeks ago, there's a fairly significant, fuel burden along that
trail that's very dangerous, and this is right at the end of where the
canyon is going to blow embers, so we have a very high probability event
there. Next slide, please.
875
02:11:32.460 --> 02:11:35.840
Community Hall: So, for recommendations, we would like to see all of the
876
02:11:35.920 --> 02:11:50.180
Community Hall: Decks and balconies made of Class A rated materials, not
just that they be having sprinklers, that also the CCNRs for the AHOA
forbid violations by the owners of Zone 0 and Zone 1 restrictions.
877
02:11:50.180 --> 02:11:56.079
Community Hall: And that we have a minimum provision for fire department
access to the sides of approximately 20 feet.
878
02:11:56.140 --> 02:12:14.750
Community Hall: Also, all of the fences and walls should be built out of
Class A materials, and that we will see where they have no flat roofs,
but gutters, valleys, and everything with ember proofing. In addition to
the doors being wildfire safe, we'd like to see all of the windows to be
wildfire safe.
879
02:12:14.840 --> 02:12:28.689
Community Hall: And that the HOA consider providing, for fuel reduction
and maintenance along that Stevens Creek Trail, and that any building
heights that are higher than what the existing ladder trucks can handle
880
02:12:28.690 --> 02:12:39.139
Community Hall: that the HOA provides for fire equipment, or compatible
and compatible buildings, or another solution of some sort, such as
phone. Thank you very much.
881
02:12:40.430 --> 02:12:48.180
Community Hall: Thank you, Henry. Our next speaker is Al Spencer,
followed by Patrick Sweeney, followed by Keith Craft. Welcome, Al.
882
02:12:54.170 --> 02:13:00.490
Community Hall: I just have a couple of comments. Looking at this thing,
the existing neighborhood
883
02:13:00.960 --> 02:13:04.839
Community Hall: Contains a lot of 3-bedroom, single-story homes.
884
02:13:05.230 --> 02:13:11.260
Community Hall: It seems to me that we ought to be including a lot of 3-
bedrooms home in this development.
885
02:13:11.860 --> 02:13:18.839
Community Hall: Quite possibly, if we put them on the ends next to
adjacent buildings, you could lower the height in that area with it.
886
02:13:19.550 --> 02:13:25.900
Community Hall: The second thing is that with this many units and this
many bedrooms, I expect there to be
887
02:13:26.600 --> 02:13:31.319
Community Hall: At least 100 children in this neighborhood that want a
place to play.
888
02:13:32.130 --> 02:13:38.200
Community Hall: I don't see it in this development. I think the Planning
Commission should find a way
889
02:13:38.800 --> 02:13:43.440
Community Hall: to provide recreation for these kids. I think there's
going to be a problem there.
890
02:13:44.110 --> 02:13:48.710
Community Hall: The third thing is… At my end of the street.
891
02:13:48.980 --> 02:13:53.160
Community Hall: Fills up with cars when anybody… any single home has a
party.
892
02:13:54.280 --> 02:13:57.650
Community Hall: Where are the people that are visiting these people gonna
park?
893
02:13:58.200 --> 02:14:00.860
Community Hall: We need to make sure there's adequate provision.
894
02:14:01.040 --> 02:14:01.780
Community Hall: For that.
895
02:14:02.510 --> 02:14:03.460
Community Hall: Thank you.
896
02:14:04.950 --> 02:14:11.619
Community Hall: Thank you, Al. Our next speaker is Patrick Sweeney,
followed by Keith Kraft, followed by Jennifer Griffin. Welcome, Patrick.
897
02:14:19.900 --> 02:14:22.390
Community Hall: Thank you for the opportunity to speak.
898
02:14:22.990 --> 02:14:26.619
Community Hall: I don't want to get into the facts of my previous
899
02:14:26.860 --> 02:14:29.829
Community Hall: speakers, but I do have some experience.
900
02:14:30.060 --> 02:14:34.599
Community Hall: on, On the, fire resistance.
901
02:14:35.110 --> 02:14:40.380
Community Hall: My brother-in-law lives in Forest Ranch. My… Sister along
with him.
902
02:14:40.490 --> 02:14:45.740
Community Hall: Forest Ranch was a victim of the park fire this past
fall.
903
02:14:45.930 --> 02:15:01.269
Community Hall: The park fire started in Bidwell Park in Chico, and
worked its way up a canyon. There was plenty of time for my brother-in-
law to evacuate, and he decided to
904
02:15:01.400 --> 02:15:03.679
Community Hall: Stick it out as long as he could.
905
02:15:03.960 --> 02:15:17.830
Community Hall: His house was fire-safe. He had a defensible perimeter,
more than double of what is required. A single-family home with probably
50 feet between the homes.
906
02:15:18.040 --> 02:15:25.970
Community Hall: The fire was so hot, it melted his, windows in the back,
it,
907
02:15:26.520 --> 02:15:32.620
Community Hall: It would have burned. He does have… he had a generator
with a sprinkler running 24 hours.
908
02:15:32.840 --> 02:15:42.290
Community Hall: And, it didn't help. The only thing that saved the home
was that there was time for fire crews from various areas
909
02:15:42.450 --> 02:15:47.900
Community Hall: a fire crew, from San Luis Obispo saved their home.
910
02:15:48.080 --> 02:15:54.270
Community Hall: By just, coming in the front door, and it made a mess,
but they saved the home.
911
02:15:55.300 --> 02:16:04.920
Community Hall: And, in this development, a gated community of about 20-
plus homes, 3 homes burned, the fire crews couldn't save them all.
912
02:16:05.020 --> 02:16:17.880
Community Hall: So I just wanted to point out that being defensible with
non-combustible materials won't make any difference in a high-density
development. Thank you.
913
02:16:19.990 --> 02:16:26.899
Community Hall: Thank you, Patrick. Our next speaker is Keith Kraft,
followed by Jennifer Griffin, followed by PK. Welcome, Keith.
914
02:16:31.020 --> 02:16:41.519
Community Hall: This is my first Planning Commission meeting. I want to
say thank you for your service. I can see your responsibilities are huge,
and your decisions are not easy to make.
915
02:16:42.639 --> 02:16:46.149
Community Hall: Can you see this overhand?
916
02:16:47.469 --> 02:16:58.550
Community Hall: Yes, we can see it. Okay. I think most of you know the
old Sesame Street jingle. One of these things is not like the others. One
of these things just doesn't belong.
917
02:16:58.790 --> 02:17:09.140
Community Hall: I'm sure you can identify the anomaly in this picture.
This proposed complex does not belong in a single-family residential
neighborhood.
918
02:17:09.260 --> 02:17:18.869
Community Hall: Especially not in one that is already severely impacted,
with limited access from only two directions, the north and the east.
919
02:17:18.980 --> 02:17:25.890
Community Hall: And impacted by heavily By heavy traffic generated by
three residential schools.
920
02:17:26.639 --> 02:17:29.829
Community Hall: Zoning laws exist for a reason.
921
02:17:30.730 --> 02:17:32.190
Community Hall: Compatibility.
922
02:17:32.590 --> 02:17:39.219
Community Hall: The principle of zoning compatibility was established by
the U.S. Supreme Court in 1926.
923
02:17:39.860 --> 02:17:59.509
Community Hall: It is the backbone of American land use law, built on the
idea that like uses belong together. The Court explicitly upheld the
right of municipalities to separate incompatible land uses in order to
protect the character.
924
02:17:59.650 --> 02:18:07.189
Community Hall: design, health… Safety, and welfare of residential
neighborhoods.
925
02:18:07.959 --> 02:18:11.339
Community Hall: Justice Sutherland put it perfectly.
926
02:18:11.770 --> 02:18:16.940
Community Hall: Paraphrasing here, the right thing in the wrong place is
a nuisance.
927
02:18:17.660 --> 02:18:21.880
Community Hall: Like a pig in the parlor instead of in the barnyard.
928
02:18:23.389 --> 02:18:34.090
Community Hall: Courts have upheld these principles time and time again.
We don't need another legal battle to prove what is already well
established.
929
02:18:34.209 --> 02:18:41.669
Community Hall: We simply need to do the right thing, restore zoning of
this property to what it was and what it should be.
930
02:18:42.760 --> 02:18:49.909
Community Hall: Find another area to build 40 homes, or a 40-unit
complex, somewhere appropriate.
931
02:18:50.020 --> 02:18:55.550
Community Hall: But don't put a multi-unit complex in a single-family
residential zone.
932
02:18:55.860 --> 02:19:03.669
Community Hall: And use this property for what it is suited for, a small
development of roughly 10 single-family homes.
933
02:19:04.059 --> 02:19:05.110
Community Hall: Thank you.
934
02:19:06.209 --> 02:19:10.469
Community Hall: I do want to point out that, I attended
935
02:19:10.650 --> 02:19:14.480
Community Hall: All the meetings that were held by,
936
02:19:15.750 --> 02:19:23.280
Community Hall: these gentlemen here. And basically, they just said,
you're stuck with this. So while they engaged the public, they just…
937
02:19:23.480 --> 02:19:37.880
Community Hall: weren't making any concessions. We… nobody… everybody was
objecting to 51 homes in this small parcel, but they just basically said,
this is… it's going to be this way. They also said that all the homes
were going to have two driveway… two…
938
02:19:37.969 --> 02:19:48.960
Community Hall: garages, but there are no driveways. I did a poll in our
neighborhood. The average number of cars that end up in a garage is 1.
939
02:19:48.960 --> 02:20:00.860
Community Hall: And the average number of cars is more than that. Thank
you, Key. Okay, thank you very much for your time. Our next speaker is
Jennifer Griffin, followed by PK, followed by Aman Yazdi. Welcome,
Jennifer.
940
02:20:07.250 --> 02:20:26.480
Community Hall: Good evening, Planning Commission. I'm glad that you all
are having this meeting. I'm glad to hear, from Summerhill speaking and
from the neighbors. This is a very important area, important project. My
husband grew up in Monta Vista, attended Monta Vista High School, and I
believe it was Kennedy.
941
02:20:26.590 --> 02:20:38.020
Community Hall: And one of the remarks about this area is there's, like,
one way in and one way out. And I respect the fact that the fire
department
942
02:20:38.270 --> 02:20:44.959
Community Hall: has made suggestions about this. I was aware that it had
been put into a high-fire zone.
943
02:20:45.170 --> 02:20:48.440
Community Hall: area last summer, and…
944
02:20:48.680 --> 02:20:59.120
Community Hall: I don't know if you all were aware, within the last two
years, there were sections of Los Altos that were almost under mandatory
evacuation from wildfire.
945
02:20:59.250 --> 02:21:11.499
Community Hall: I know someone who lives in that area near my church. I
would… I'm appreciative that this project has a very nice… I like the
Spanish style, it's…
946
02:21:11.680 --> 02:21:26.349
Community Hall: very, very refreshing from some of the other things that
could have been planned in here. I am a bit worried about the density.
I'm worried about evacuation routes. When the fire comes down, you just
have to remember Lahaina.
947
02:21:26.600 --> 02:21:36.480
Community Hall: We have a family member that lost a house in the Pacific
Palisades, and I know someone whose house was completely gone, in the CZU
fire.
948
02:21:36.600 --> 02:21:39.760
Community Hall: The lot is stripped, empty, it's already sold.
949
02:21:39.930 --> 02:21:44.069
Community Hall: I just wanted to make a statement that
950
02:21:44.830 --> 02:21:48.669
Community Hall: Assemblymember David Alvarez from San Diego.
951
02:21:48.810 --> 02:21:56.200
Community Hall: has already submitted AB2433, last week to get the bill
in.
952
02:21:56.580 --> 02:22:06.579
Community Hall: For the, 2026 Legislative session, and this bill is going
to make major changes to the housing density
953
02:22:06.780 --> 02:22:13.689
Community Hall: I'm sorry, the, may not… he's calling it the Affordable
954
02:22:14.040 --> 02:22:17.510
Community Hall: Homes Bonus Program, and it would be changing
955
02:22:17.760 --> 02:22:23.079
Community Hall: the bonus density completely. I would like to have
956
02:22:23.370 --> 02:22:33.550
Community Hall: Assurances that this project will not be subject to this
new law if it passes and comes into play.
957
02:22:33.580 --> 02:22:46.330
Community Hall: in January of 2027, because they are using Florida area
ratio now, they are completely changing the density bonus. It is,
958
02:22:46.660 --> 02:22:54.290
Community Hall: it's spaghetti code, basically, like SB79. So, I would
like some assurances that if this project
959
02:22:54.720 --> 02:22:59.660
Community Hall: Goes through, that they are… That they will stay with the
current
960
02:22:59.980 --> 02:23:07.870
Community Hall: SB3… I'm sorry, the density bonus, and not go with Mr.
Alvarez's new bill. Thank you.
961
02:23:08.630 --> 02:23:16.520
Community Hall: Thank you, Jennifer. Our next speaker is PK, followed by
Amin Yazdi, followed by Mark Fantosi. Welcome, PK. Thank you.
962
02:23:16.590 --> 02:23:34.900
Community Hall: Good evening, Planning Commission, Emmy and Luke. Thank
you for meeting with us several times, and our neighbors here, as well as
our summer health colleagues. I live on Baxley Court, so for those who
have not been to my home, I would like all of you to come and see what
it's going to feel like
963
02:23:35.870 --> 02:23:43.810
Community Hall: 10 feet from my fence is going to be 3-story building,
overlooking our bedroom, overlooking our family room.
964
02:23:43.950 --> 02:23:48.130
Community Hall: What we are asking is that 10 feet needs to go further.
965
02:23:48.160 --> 02:24:07.270
Community Hall: And three-story needs to come down. There's really
possibility to reduce the number of square footage per home and get what
they're looking for, but there is no reason for us to have three-story
building right next to my fence. And what was… what I was also told is
between that three-story
966
02:24:07.520 --> 02:24:26.530
Community Hall: tall wall, and our fence, there cannot be any trees,
because there is only 10 feet, and fire insurance won't let them plant
anything. So I think we really need to be cognizant of the fact that this
is going to be reducing our privacy, it's going to be impacting our
safety.
967
02:24:26.840 --> 02:24:37.500
Community Hall: And we request… I'm requesting that it reduced be two-
story instead of three-story, and the setback be increased back to what
was expected in the past. Thank you.
968
02:24:39.600 --> 02:24:47.330
Community Hall: Thank you, PK. Our next speaker is Amin Yazdi, followed
by Mark Fantosi, followed by Vakram Saxim. Welcome, Amin.
969
02:24:48.420 --> 02:24:55.690
Community Hall: Actually, we're gonna use our… Okay. He's gonna use my
time. Okay, thank you.
970
02:24:56.140 --> 02:24:58.010
Community Hall: Alright, you know, I don't need anything.
971
02:24:58.230 --> 02:25:08.650
Community Hall: My name is Mark Fantasi, and I submitted a written
communication which evaluated the project against the general plan.
972
02:25:08.850 --> 02:25:18.200
Community Hall: and other life safety concerns at the airport. And I want
to just basically summarize those, as quickly as possible with the
limited time we have.
973
02:25:18.340 --> 02:25:23.750
Community Hall: First, a project exceeds the 30-foot height limit by
about 10 foot at 7 inches.
974
02:25:23.810 --> 02:25:43.740
Community Hall: And this is in conflict with the Cupertino Municipal Code
and the General Plan, which only allows buildings taller than 30 feet in…
on arteries or major collectors. Linda Vista is not an arterial
connector. Second, the project reduces the 12-foot street setback
975
02:25:43.760 --> 02:25:47.139
Community Hall: on Evulage Court to as little as 3 foot 7 inches.
976
02:25:47.340 --> 02:25:58.629
Community Hall: That's a reduction of about 8 feet. These are not small
adjustments, these are major encroachments into required safety buffers
and violates the Cupertino Municipal Code.
977
02:25:58.750 --> 02:26:02.790
Community Hall: Third, the project exceeds the allowable FAR ratio.
978
02:26:03.280 --> 02:26:05.790
Community Hall: With the proposed 136%.
979
02:26:06.200 --> 02:26:14.280
Community Hall: over 50% of the objective limit. That's a dramatic
intensification of bulk and massing that no neighborhood planned
envisioned.
980
02:26:14.740 --> 02:26:29.660
Community Hall: Fourth, the private open space dimension falls below the
required 6-foot minimum, with patios smaller than 4 foot 6 inches,
violating the Cupertino Municipal Code. Parking stalls are also
undersized at 18 foot 6,
981
02:26:29.920 --> 02:26:32.849
Community Hall: Which require 20-foot minimums.
982
02:26:33.020 --> 02:26:38.260
Community Hall: These are all objective standards, not subjective ones,
and they are not being met.
983
02:26:38.720 --> 02:26:44.950
Community Hall: Fifth, as your own staff report confirms, the site is now
in a very high fazzard…
984
02:26:45.280 --> 02:26:59.070
Community Hall: fire hazards severity zone, yet no evacuation study was
required. The city has no adopted evacuation standards, and emergency
access with such narrow setbacks has been demonstrate… has not been
demonstrated.
985
02:26:59.280 --> 02:27:11.099
Community Hall: Approving a 40-foot-tall, 51-unit project in a very high
fire hazard safety zone without evacuation analysis is not consistent
with the City's general plan safety policies.
986
02:27:11.330 --> 02:27:24.489
Community Hall: Finally, the staff's reliance on AB130 CEQA exemption is
unsupported by substantial evidence. That exemption only applies if a
project meets all applicable fire hazard and safety standards.
987
02:27:24.660 --> 02:27:29.510
Community Hall: The record does not demonstrate that, especially given
the lack of evacuation analysis.
988
02:27:30.420 --> 02:27:41.680
Community Hall: In summary, this project fails to meet multiple objective
zoning standards and conflicts with the general plan, and lacks the
required life safety evidence for a CEQA exemption.
989
02:27:42.440 --> 02:27:59.179
Community Hall: Now, to put the following into some perspective, I'm an
engineer, a registered civil engineer in California, and although I
didn't have time to include my review of the transportation study,
environmental study, and the biological study.
990
02:27:59.400 --> 02:28:13.679
Community Hall: I found significant errors and omissions in each of those
reports, to the extent too much to explain here tonight in limited time,
but I'm more than happy to meet with planning and go over those, those
documents in detail with what I found out.
991
02:28:15.660 --> 02:28:29.969
Community Hall: Furthermore, there was… there was no reporting on fire
flow demands and effect on the existing fire systems. There was no
drainage study by converting the existing permeable material to nearly
90% impermeable.
992
02:28:30.380 --> 02:28:35.870
Community Hall: The bioretention is only designed to handle 85 percentile
of a 24-hour rain event.
993
02:28:36.040 --> 02:28:49.949
Community Hall: This is 3 quarter to 1 inch of rain in a 24-hour period.
Based on… on the past… last two storms, we've had 2 inches of rain in a
24-hour period. So that… that water's got to go somewhere. It's going to
go on the storm.
994
02:28:50.700 --> 02:29:00.690
Community Hall: I respectfully urge the Commission to deny the project as
proposed or require a substantial redesign that complies with our… Thank
you, that is your time.
995
02:29:00.870 --> 02:29:02.669
Community Hall: I thought we had two people.
996
02:29:02.770 --> 02:29:05.680
Community Hall: Okay, so you had 4 minutes. Oh, okay.
997
02:29:10.130 --> 02:29:11.859
Community Hall: It's 2 minutes per person.
998
02:29:18.890 --> 02:29:36.920
Community Hall: I'm gonna start. Commissioner, I'm a resident of Linda
vessel Bride. Since the housing element was adopted, there has been a
material change in the safety conditions. As the city notice, this area
has been designated as a very high fire hazard safety zone.
999
02:29:37.080 --> 02:29:42.800
Community Hall: at the wildlife-urban interface. This is a chain fact,
but the Commission must weigh in.
1000
02:29:43.220 --> 02:29:45.010
Community Hall: My two asks.
1001
02:29:45.110 --> 02:29:49.689
Community Hall: Please do not find this project exempt from CEQA under
AB130.
1002
02:29:49.850 --> 02:30:04.819
Community Hall: The statute explicitly excludes sites in a very higher
fire hazard safety zone, and this site should not be exempt from CEQA.
And the second one is place all fire safety communications in public
records before the Commission votes.
1003
02:30:05.370 --> 02:30:08.719
Community Hall: Every exception, everywhere, signed and cited.
1004
02:30:08.850 --> 02:30:09.670
Community Hall: Why?
1005
02:30:10.770 --> 02:30:18.540
Community Hall: The residents have submitted how California Car Code is
being applied by the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District.
1006
02:30:19.360 --> 02:30:27.489
Community Hall: Sacramento makes the laws which govern our state, and the
interpretation of the local fire district carries weight.
1007
02:30:28.530 --> 02:30:41.939
Community Hall: These guidelines meant to apply to all developments, and
to not apply them in a very fire… very high fire hazard safety zone would
be an abdication of your responsibility to the citizens and residents of
Cupertino.
1008
02:30:43.230 --> 02:30:57.870
Community Hall: The couple of things. First thing is, as interpreted by
Sacramento Fire District, any complex which has more than 39 units,
multifamily, requires two exit roads. This one has 51, and it has only 1.
1009
02:30:58.000 --> 02:31:02.920
Community Hall: The second part is aerial access requirement for fire
safety.
1010
02:31:03.270 --> 02:31:09.639
Community Hall: fire engines often use aerial ladders to go up to the
third floor.
1011
02:31:09.820 --> 02:31:14.249
Community Hall: And the requirement, as clearly stated, is if the
building is about 30 feet.
1012
02:31:14.790 --> 02:31:25.460
Community Hall: We know that the buildings are going up to 40 feet, and
why those requirements are not being enforced in a very high fire resort
zone is beyond my… I cannot understand why.
1013
02:31:26.720 --> 02:31:45.650
Community Hall: The third part is we did some analysis on whether 10-foot
setbacks are good enough for even manual ladders, and even they are not
enough. You need about 10 to 12 foot of space for a fireman to be able to
operate a manual ladder and go up to the third story, and even that's not
met by that.
1014
02:31:45.650 --> 02:31:55.100
Community Hall: All those findings have been shared and written comments,
and it would be prudent for the Commission to go through all those things
before you make any determination of this.
1015
02:31:55.500 --> 02:32:01.280
Community Hall: I think the other aspect is, Sacramento wants us to build
housing.
1016
02:32:01.410 --> 02:32:09.750
Community Hall: But they don't say that you have to destroy all setbacks
and build 2,700 square foot townhomes to meet affordable housing
requirements.
1017
02:32:10.100 --> 02:32:22.469
Community Hall: If these townhomes are reduced to 1500 square foot, we
can meet the 30-foot setback requirements required by code, and there is
no reason why the city should jeopardize our safety just because some
developer or something has to maximize the profits.
1018
02:32:22.530 --> 02:32:31.079
Community Hall: Thank you, that is your time. Our next speaker is Craig
Cummings, followed by Serenevas Ravvondra, followed by Rhoda Fry.
Welcome, Craig.
1019
02:32:35.680 --> 02:32:44.120
Community Hall: Good evening, I'm Craig Cummings. I live on Baxley Court.
I've lived there about 25 years. It's right around the corner from the
proposed development.
1020
02:32:44.320 --> 02:33:00.189
Community Hall: We've heard a lot of concerns, tonight, and I'm not going
to try to get into any of the details of any of those. I just want to
note that this project's been fraught with difficulties right back to the
beginning with the housing element and the approval of the… or the change
of the… of the…
1021
02:33:00.740 --> 02:33:19.349
Community Hall: the zoning, which seemed to happen without sufficient
public, notification. But that's water under the bridge, you can't do
anything about that. That's gone, I suppose. But what we can do is
address the concerns that we've got. Things like the, the fires in the
Palisades, I was reminded of,
1022
02:33:19.350 --> 02:33:23.609
Community Hall: Santana Row, when that burned, when it was all just under
construction.
1023
02:33:23.610 --> 02:33:40.300
Community Hall: We talked about the, Linda Vista fire of 2007, and a
photographer had given these, given me these pictures. And, just a
reminder that fire danger in our neighborhood is real. This is right over
my back fence, so this is something that can be very real.
1024
02:33:40.340 --> 02:33:54.389
Community Hall: So, my request is that you listen to all the concerns
that have been brought out here, and clear them all before you push this
thing forward, and make sure we know what we're doing, because there's
some real high danger here. That's all I ask, thank you. One more
picture.
1025
02:33:58.720 --> 02:34:07.309
Community Hall: Our next speaker is Srinivas Raghdvendra, followed by
Rhoda Frye, followed by Dan Marshall. Welcome, Srinivas.
1026
02:34:07.690 --> 02:34:19.360
Community Hall: Thank you, Commissioners, thank you for your service. I
have a very simple ask of you. You know, I have not… I do not understand
SECA, do not understand R1 versus R3. I understand
1027
02:34:19.450 --> 02:34:39.120
Community Hall: wildfire. I understand what happened in Palisades. I
understand that, you know, innocent people who were having their daily
life got affected. It was affected because, you know, urban planning
broke down in those places. Though there, the excuse was they did not
anticipate such wildfires.
1028
02:34:39.230 --> 02:34:48.470
Community Hall: We are now… Seeing unprecedented things that never
happened before. Wildfires the scale never seen before.
1029
02:34:48.620 --> 02:34:53.760
Community Hall: Juxtaposed with these new laws about housing density.
1030
02:34:53.940 --> 02:34:58.069
Community Hall: So people who made this housing density probably have not
understood
1031
02:34:58.220 --> 02:35:00.320
Community Hall: The risk that we, folks, take.
1032
02:35:00.500 --> 02:35:05.880
Community Hall: You know, I also live on Backstreet Code, I also saw that
The, the, the airplane…
1033
02:35:06.130 --> 02:35:10.799
Community Hall: dump fire retardant just behind our back door, just
behind our backdrops. These are real…
1034
02:35:11.620 --> 02:35:19.660
Community Hall: problems. These are not hypothetical problems. We have 3
schools in our neighborhood. At 2 p.m, you can't take a bike through
that, leave it on a car.
1035
02:35:20.020 --> 02:35:26.029
Community Hall: So, if at 2 p.m. you have a wildfire, imagine the
evacuation backlog.
1036
02:35:26.280 --> 02:35:36.420
Community Hall: So here's what I ask a few folks. I know you're bound by
legal advice, you're bound by staff advice, but I want to make the point
to you that these are untested theories.
1037
02:35:37.360 --> 02:35:47.959
Community Hall: In the sense that I do not know of a case that's been
litigated where high-density housing, high-density areas were forced to
have
1038
02:35:48.330 --> 02:35:50.349
Community Hall: let me say it differently. High…
1039
02:35:50.420 --> 02:36:00.810
Community Hall: hazard… high fire hazard areas were forced to also have
high-density housing. This almost seems so absurd on the face of it. I
can't imagine any judiciary
1040
02:36:00.810 --> 02:36:11.800
Community Hall: any judge support that? So I… I asked a few of the
following. I'm going beyond what my fellow is… I'm asking you to go
beyond and be ready for… for, you know.
1041
02:36:12.020 --> 02:36:22.550
Community Hall: A legal battle, if necessary, because a lot of other
communities would cheer us on and support us on, because what's out there
is absurd.
1042
02:36:22.840 --> 02:36:28.679
Community Hall: You cannot have high-density housing in a high fire
hazard zone.
1043
02:36:28.910 --> 02:36:33.539
Community Hall: There's nothing that, you know, people in Sacramento say
they can make it right.
1044
02:36:33.620 --> 02:36:53.229
Community Hall: You heard Supreme Court opine on this a long time ago,
that you cannot do stupid things. That's the law of the country, that
nothing can override that. So, I ask of you, A, please push back and say
no to this. These are nice gentlemen, nice people, but they do not
understand, they don't live where we live. You're nice people, but you
don't live where we live.
1045
02:36:53.260 --> 02:36:56.650
Community Hall: We live with the threat of a wildfire in our backyard.
1046
02:36:56.910 --> 02:37:00.700
Community Hall: And that is something you need to internalize, and so I
ask a few.
1047
02:37:00.720 --> 02:37:07.409
Community Hall: Please push back on this, and if this becomes a matter of
litigation, we'll support you, we'll blaze
1048
02:37:07.410 --> 02:37:23.499
Community Hall: new trial here that the rest of Cupertino, the rest of
the country will do. Thank you very much. Thank you, that is your time.
Our next speaker is Rhoda Frye, followed by Dan Marshall, followed by
Connie Cunningham. Welcome, Rhoda. Hi, I feel a little bit challenged,
following all of this
1049
02:37:23.710 --> 02:37:26.210
Community Hall: Compelling testimony this evening.
1050
02:37:26.500 --> 02:37:28.840
Community Hall: You know, in hindsight.
1051
02:37:29.250 --> 02:37:34.909
Community Hall: If we… if the state had come in with where we are with
the fire at this point.
1052
02:37:35.970 --> 02:37:40.069
Community Hall: Would… would… would our housing element have come out
different?
1053
02:37:41.250 --> 02:37:52.490
Community Hall: And I also… wonder about CEQA. I don't see how this
project could possibly be
1054
02:37:52.860 --> 02:38:04.209
Community Hall: exempt from CEQA, and that seems… that is the overriding
issue, because everything that you're asked to vote on tonight is
predicated on CEQA exemption.
1055
02:38:05.130 --> 02:38:10.909
Community Hall: So… If it's possible that it isn't exempt from CEQA,
then…
1056
02:38:11.350 --> 02:38:14.070
Community Hall: You don't have anything to vote on tonight.
1057
02:38:14.330 --> 02:38:22.410
Community Hall: So I'm wondering… I wonder about that. I wonder about how
those individual homes, those new homes, could possibly get
1058
02:38:22.950 --> 02:38:24.320
Community Hall: home insurance.
1059
02:38:24.680 --> 02:38:25.700
Community Hall: You know, there's…
1060
02:38:25.730 --> 02:38:35.290
Community Hall: homes that are already built where people just can't
afford their home insurance now. As a mitigation, if this project were to
move forward.
1061
02:38:35.290 --> 02:38:53.330
Community Hall: I think that they should look into rock wool for their,
for their, insulation assemblies. It's essentially… rock wool is kind of
like what those fire logs are made out of in your… in fake fire logs for
fireplaces, they don't burn.
1062
02:38:53.430 --> 02:38:55.210
Community Hall: So that would… that would help.
1063
02:38:55.710 --> 02:39:01.489
Community Hall: You know, you're… Your job is… is to protect
1064
02:39:01.860 --> 02:39:06.279
Community Hall: The residents, but also to protect the city.
1065
02:39:06.550 --> 02:39:13.200
Community Hall: And… I've seen the… I've seen the school traffic, I've
lived through it. I don't live…
1066
02:39:13.310 --> 02:39:24.349
Community Hall: I'm not a neighbor of that… that property, by the way, so
I'm not… it's sort of not exactly in my backyard. I've seen the traffic,
I've been in the traffic on McClellan.
1067
02:39:24.620 --> 02:39:28.379
Community Hall: It's… it's… with the schools, it's… it's quite daunting.
1068
02:39:28.550 --> 02:39:29.780
Community Hall: And,
1069
02:39:31.390 --> 02:39:37.379
Community Hall: We need to make sure that we're doing due diligence on
this, because if it gets built and there's issues.
1070
02:39:37.870 --> 02:39:40.519
Community Hall: And you've heard a compelling number of them.
1071
02:39:41.320 --> 02:39:43.640
Community Hall: Then the city is liable.
1072
02:39:44.410 --> 02:39:47.520
Community Hall: And I, you know, I want the city to spend money on
1073
02:39:48.300 --> 02:39:57.779
Community Hall: Parks, and things that make our lives great, and rather
than lawsuits, and of course, having the potential of loss of life in our
community.
1074
02:39:57.920 --> 02:39:58.920
Community Hall: Thank you.
1075
02:40:00.580 --> 02:40:06.620
Community Hall: Thank you, Rhoda. Our next speaker is Dan Marshall,
followed by Connie Cunningham, followed by Lynn Y.
1076
02:40:08.090 --> 02:40:09.340
Community Hall: Welcome, Dan.
1077
02:40:21.950 --> 02:40:30.190
Community Hall: Okay, moving on to the next speaker, Connie Cunningham,
followed by Lynn Ye, followed by Lisa Warren. Welcome, Connie.
1078
02:40:31.890 --> 02:40:47.600
Community Hall: Good evening, Chair and Commissioners. My name is Connie
Cunningham, and I am on the Housing Commission, but speaking for myself
only this evening, I do support this,
1079
02:40:48.130 --> 02:40:57.720
Community Hall: housing development. I never take fire lightly, so it's
not that I haven't heard all of the issues that the people are concerned
about.
1080
02:40:57.860 --> 02:41:11.070
Community Hall: I'm particularly supportive because this housing element
is a priority site for the city, and it went through many iterations. I
was involved in discussions of that.
1081
02:41:11.480 --> 02:41:20.829
Community Hall: I… I think it's a great site. It's close to schools, bike
trails, and it allows more families to move into Cupertino.
1082
02:41:21.960 --> 02:41:26.640
Community Hall: It will help our local schools as well, by increasing the
taxes here.
1083
02:41:28.110 --> 02:41:35.659
Community Hall: It is urban area, and so it's infill. So that is one of
the big reasons I support it. It eliminates sprawl.
1084
02:41:36.860 --> 02:41:39.829
Community Hall: It includes below-market rate ohms.
1085
02:41:40.960 --> 02:41:48.039
Community Hall: For sale homes, and that's great, because there are not a
lot of for-sale homes in the below market rate.
1086
02:41:48.280 --> 02:42:01.190
Community Hall: Category. I know about Summerhill Homes, and I think they
can work with the city to answer the questions that are being raised by
the
1087
02:42:01.320 --> 02:42:05.540
Community Hall: Citizens, and again, Nothing scares me worse than fire,
so I…
1088
02:42:06.080 --> 02:42:13.719
Community Hall: not, at all dismissing the issues, but I think that the
city planners can work with the… with the,
1089
02:42:14.600 --> 02:42:22.920
Community Hall: Summer Hill homes to answer those questions and build a
livable, walkable apartment, I mean, complex. Thank you.
1090
02:42:23.410 --> 02:42:30.619
Community Hall: Thank you, Connie. Our next speaker is Lynn Wythe,
followed by Lisa Warren, followed by Nicholas Cow. Welcome, Lynn.
1091
02:42:35.040 --> 02:42:36.290
Lin Y: Hello, can you hear me?
1092
02:42:37.780 --> 02:42:39.059
Community Hall: Yes, we can hear you.
1093
02:42:39.510 --> 02:42:40.380
Lin Y: Thank you.
1094
02:42:40.710 --> 02:42:47.029
Lin Y: So, I'm a resident of the neighborhood. First of all, I think this
land, this partial, should be developed.
1095
02:42:47.860 --> 02:42:53.140
Lin Y: Based on what it is, like, semi-abandoned for decades, it doesn't
really fit with the neighborhood.
1096
02:42:53.510 --> 02:42:58.110
Lin Y: But in the meantime, how the plan is drafted right now.
1097
02:42:58.220 --> 02:43:00.799
Lin Y: It's also not fit with the neighborhood.
1098
02:43:01.630 --> 02:43:07.830
Lin Y: I think what's really lacking on this whole thing is the
transparency to the neighborhood, to the entire community.
1099
02:43:08.300 --> 02:43:20.580
Lin Y: When we first heard about this thing, we say, oh, we are building
high-density homes, it was a surprise, because we've been thinking this
one, again, abandoned by, you know, for several decades.
1100
02:43:20.980 --> 02:43:23.890
Lin Y: is a R1 zoning.
1101
02:43:24.100 --> 02:43:28.869
Lin Y: That, you know, if one day develop, should be the same as the
conjunction neighborhood.
1102
02:43:29.760 --> 02:43:35.740
Lin Y: But what was surprising is, when we heard about this development,
probably… Two years back?
1103
02:43:36.210 --> 02:43:39.649
Lin Y: And we were told that the zoning change was already done.
1104
02:43:40.180 --> 02:43:50.480
Lin Y: So this is after the fact, that, oh, it's already moving to the
second stage, while even the first stage, there's a big lack of
transparency to us, the neighbors.
1105
02:43:50.740 --> 02:44:06.550
Lin Y: And later on, I learned that, you know, there was hearings, there
was some notice sent over to the residents, but many of us living right
around this neighborhood, none of us got any notifications. There was no
signages posted on the parcel.
1106
02:44:06.870 --> 02:44:12.699
Lin Y: And also, it seems like there was, like, say, 20,000 letters sent
out to some other…
1107
02:44:12.860 --> 02:44:24.740
Lin Y: Cupertino resident areas. I guess one of the transparency I'm
looking for is, when this big zoning change happens, what is the
requirement, and what is the typical practice?
1108
02:44:25.100 --> 02:44:30.999
Lin Y: If none of us, you know, Direct neighborhood is even notified
There may be something missing.
1109
02:44:31.720 --> 02:44:42.269
Lin Y: I also heard from other people that in those letters that people
did get notified, there was only partial numbers. There was no map, there
was no even address.
1110
02:44:42.550 --> 02:44:47.129
Lin Y: So I'd like to ask everybody here, who know your own home partial
number?
1111
02:44:47.840 --> 02:44:53.999
Lin Y: Not to mention your neighbors. So there's definitely something
missing, even from the Step 1, the zoning change.
1112
02:44:55.310 --> 02:44:57.780
Lin Y: The other thing I'm trying to say is,
1113
02:44:58.370 --> 02:45:02.230
Lin Y: Try to check on the site, try to check on the neighborhood.
1114
02:45:02.330 --> 02:45:07.099
Lin Y: It takes forever to get out of the neighborhood around 8 AM in the
morning.
1115
02:45:07.200 --> 02:45:09.900
Lin Y: Around 2PM to 4pm in the afternoon.
1116
02:45:10.390 --> 02:45:21.510
Lin Y: Here, we have a lot of kids, a lot of, you know, senior people,
working parents, everybody. You know, we need to get out of this place to
do regular things. And not to mention the fire, you know, there is this…
1117
02:45:21.620 --> 02:45:26.569
Lin Y: Many people have mentioned, even on a regular day, it's taking
forever to get out of this place.
1118
02:45:26.760 --> 02:45:31.590
Lin Y: So I'm trying to see if we can do a simulation. Just put, you
know, 51 tenths.
1119
02:45:32.290 --> 02:45:40.659
Lin Y: plus, you know, 100 cars in this site, and see what's gonna
happen. Do a simulation for a few weeks, and then come back with a better
proposal.
1120
02:45:41.460 --> 02:45:45.859
Lin Y: That's my ask. I urge the committee to deny this proposal.
1121
02:45:47.280 --> 02:45:55.369
Community Hall: Thank you, Lynn. That is your time. Our next speaker is
Lisa Warren, followed by Nicholas Cow, followed by Luis Maronte. Welcome,
Lisa.
1122
02:46:05.460 --> 02:46:08.070
Lisa Warren: There we go, took the… can you hear me?
1123
02:46:09.180 --> 02:46:10.360
Community Hall: Yes, we can hear you.
1124
02:46:10.360 --> 02:46:14.430
Lisa Warren: Okay, it took a while for the unmute button to show up. So…
1125
02:46:14.670 --> 02:46:23.930
Lisa Warren: I've heard a lot of, so I don't live in the area. In fact, I
live probably as far away as I can from where it is, or as anyone can.
1126
02:46:24.080 --> 02:46:25.900
Lisa Warren: And still be in the city?
1127
02:46:26.350 --> 02:46:28.959
Lisa Warren: But I feel for these neighbors, I'm…
1128
02:46:29.210 --> 02:46:35.869
Lisa Warren: Pleased that they all have varying arguments for why this is
not good, and there hasn't been a lot of repetition.
1129
02:46:36.290 --> 02:46:55.890
Lisa Warren: I… I love the phrase, untested theories, from one speaker,
because that, in my mind, is what all the state laws is all about, and
has been. And they build on each other. And, oh, we forgot to do this,
which will mess things up even more, so we'll just add it to the next
bill.
1130
02:46:56.000 --> 02:47:00.089
Lisa Warren: So the city really doesn't have the control we all want them
to have.
1131
02:47:01.420 --> 02:47:05.859
Lisa Warren: And we all… because I don't live there, I hope
1132
02:47:06.170 --> 02:47:10.610
Lisa Warren: That when there's something happening elsewhere in the city.
1133
02:47:10.900 --> 02:47:16.570
Lisa Warren: Everyone sticks up for their city, not just their
neighborhood. We all need to pull together
1134
02:47:16.910 --> 02:47:34.190
Lisa Warren: And feel the pain, whatever it is, and however it relates to
the neighborhood that these things are going into. And just remember, we
are supposed to be a community, and we should care about other people's
neighborhoods. There's been some of that going on, but sometimes people
are so busy, you can't keep track of it all.
1135
02:47:34.190 --> 02:47:40.349
Lisa Warren: But it's painful, and this… staff can't do everything they
want to do.
1136
02:47:40.630 --> 02:47:47.130
Lisa Warren: And we need to really pay attention to who we vote for at
the state level. Really pay attention.
1137
02:47:47.890 --> 02:47:52.030
Lisa Warren: And spend money, spend time supporting who you think is
going to do the right thing.
1138
02:47:52.860 --> 02:47:58.540
Lisa Warren: I… I want… and by the way, below market rate.
1139
02:47:59.230 --> 02:48:05.629
Lisa Warren: That's a joke. In ways. I mean, it's a good idea, but that's
not affordable.
1140
02:48:07.000 --> 02:48:09.310
Lisa Warren: In many, many, many, many cases.
1141
02:48:09.610 --> 02:48:13.039
Lisa Warren: I would like the developer to confirm that
1142
02:48:13.900 --> 02:48:17.480
Lisa Warren: Or the city to confirm that this will be required.
1143
02:48:18.300 --> 02:48:22.059
Lisa Warren: The 10-foot setbacks and the shrubs being planted.
1144
02:48:24.160 --> 02:48:31.530
Lisa Warren: they're… those can be planted, they can grow, then they can
die, da-da-da. Are these 10-foot spaces that…
1145
02:48:31.710 --> 02:48:35.030
Lisa Warren: Setbacks where the shrubs are going to be.
1146
02:48:35.550 --> 02:48:40.500
Lisa Warren: In yards of some of these dwellings, or are they in open…
1147
02:48:40.770 --> 02:48:53.980
Lisa Warren: shared space, who needs to maintain those so that they grow
the way they are supposed to, and that they don't die, they don't get cut
by a gardener? If it's not the developer taking care of that space.
1148
02:48:53.980 --> 02:49:01.159
Lisa Warren: That has to be written in clearly to whoever buys the units
that are hosting the trees. So I think that…
1149
02:49:01.370 --> 02:49:07.789
Lisa Warren: I would appreciate hearing what that… expectation is. Thank
you.
1150
02:49:09.570 --> 02:49:15.120
Community Hall: Thank you, Lisa. Our next speaker is Nicholas Cow,
followed by Luis Marante. Welcome, Nicholas.
1151
02:49:15.990 --> 02:49:29.779
Nicholas Kau: Hi, I'm a resident on Linda Vista Drive as well, and I want
to thank the gentleman before me that spoke about, you know, fitting
things where they don't belong. Looking over the proposal, I noticed so
many waivers given to the developmental housing
1152
02:49:29.940 --> 02:49:43.350
Nicholas Kau: almost seems to me like you're trying to jam a square block
into a circular hole. For instance, not to sound like a broken record or
anything, but talking about, you know, the 30-foot setbacks and why we
can't do that. What is the issue, then, with
1153
02:49:43.510 --> 02:49:51.359
Nicholas Kau: not building 2,700 square foot lots. You know, reducing
that and following the law,
1154
02:49:51.700 --> 02:49:57.290
Nicholas Kau: Why are we made so many concessions just for this
development property?
1155
02:49:58.900 --> 02:49:59.760
Nicholas Kau: Thank you.
1156
02:50:03.120 --> 02:50:07.579
Community Hall: Thank you, Nicholas. And our next speaker is Luis
Marante. Welcome, Louis.
1157
02:50:29.960 --> 02:50:33.129
Louis Mirante: Can you… are you able to hear me? Has my time started?
1158
02:50:33.850 --> 02:50:35.070
Community Hall: Yes, we can hear you.
1159
02:50:35.560 --> 02:50:36.200
Louis Mirante: Wonderful.
1160
02:50:37.160 --> 02:50:45.940
Louis Mirante: Thanks for allowing me to speak tonight. My name is Luis
Marante. I'm the Senior Vice President of Public Policy for the Bay Area
Council, and I focus on our housing policy.
1161
02:50:46.130 --> 02:50:51.739
Louis Mirante: I'm here to express our strong support for the proposed
housing project on Linda Vista Drive.
1162
02:50:51.920 --> 02:51:03.739
Louis Mirante: As you all know, the Bay Area is in the midst of an
unprecedented housing shortage that continues to drive up costs, deepen
inequities, and make the Bay Area a worse place to live.
1163
02:51:03.740 --> 02:51:14.669
Louis Mirante: It threatens our region's long-term economic
competitiveness, but projects like this one are exactly the kind of
thoughtful, community-serving investments cities can be and should be
making.
1164
02:51:14.680 --> 02:51:17.270
Louis Mirante: To resolve and assuage that problem.
1165
02:51:17.540 --> 02:51:29.549
Louis Mirante: You may have read in the news recently that the median
home… I'm sorry, the median age of the… of a first-time home buyer in the
United States just became 40 years old.
1166
02:51:29.620 --> 02:51:42.899
Louis Mirante: for the first time. That is the oldest median age for a
first-time home buyer in American history, and it's symptomatic of the
high cost of housing in California and across the country.
1167
02:51:43.190 --> 02:51:45.960
Louis Mirante: That projects like this are intended to solve.
1168
02:51:46.120 --> 02:51:57.990
Louis Mirante: This project would deliver 51 townhome-style condominium
units, which are the starter home of the future, and they include family-
sized 4-bedroom floor plates, among others.
1169
02:51:58.080 --> 02:52:12.760
Louis Mirante: Home ownership-oriented housing at this scale is
increasingly rare in today's market, particularly in high-opportunity
areas like Cupertino. If we want teachers, engineers, nurses, and young
families to be able to put down roots here, we need more opportunities
like this.
1170
02:52:12.970 --> 02:52:24.570
Louis Mirante: The people who are going to live in these houses often
already work in our communities, and this will give them an opportunity
to spend more time with their families and be more well-rooted in the
communities they already serve.
1171
02:52:25.160 --> 02:52:43.919
Louis Mirante: This project also delivers meaningful fiscal and civic
benefits, approximately $2.2 million of park fees, about $570,000 in
school impact fees, and estimated $50,000 in annual net benefit to the
city's general fund, along with the commitment to incorporate public art
along the frontage.
1172
02:52:44.270 --> 02:52:54.269
Louis Mirante: In short, this is a well-designed project that advances
your housing element goals, supports your regional housing needs
allocation, and provides tangible community benefits.
1173
02:52:54.330 --> 02:53:04.630
Louis Mirante: I urge you to approve the Linda Vista Drive project and
make an important step towards addressing our housing crisis while
expanding homeownership opportunities in the Bay Area. Thanks for your
time and consideration.
1174
02:53:05.670 --> 02:53:10.229
Community Hall: Thank you, Louis. We have no speaker cards in person, and
no hands raised on Zoom, Chair.
1175
02:53:10.400 --> 02:53:12.750
Community Hall: Thank you very much, City Clerk.
1176
02:53:12.880 --> 02:53:18.240
Community Hall: Now we have an opportunity for the applicant to respond
to public comments. Thank you.
1177
02:53:19.420 --> 02:53:33.070
Community Hall: Thank you again. Yeah, there are just a few items that I
wanted to address. I think there was a question in respect to how the
shrubs will be maintained. So, the shrubs are, going to be landscaped
within the common
1178
02:53:33.540 --> 02:53:41.720
Community Hall: Open space within the development along the two property
lines, and they are going to be maintained by the
1179
02:53:41.910 --> 02:53:53.349
Community Hall: HOAs, landscape company, and the CCNRs will stipulate
that the project is responsible to maintain
1180
02:53:53.740 --> 02:54:00.509
Community Hall: the shrub buffer landscaping in perpetuity for the
project. I hope that addresses that question.
1181
02:54:00.860 --> 02:54:07.089
Community Hall: I guess, Emmy, could you bring up the slides?
1182
02:54:08.020 --> 02:54:15.369
Community Hall: I want to address the D105, I believe that was the
question. It's at the end of the presentation.
1183
02:54:22.960 --> 02:54:24.050
Community Hall: Yeah, perfect.
1184
02:54:24.690 --> 02:54:25.410
Community Hall: Perfect.
1185
02:54:25.850 --> 02:54:33.919
Community Hall: So, I believe this was the question in respect to the
height, the 30-foot height.
1186
02:54:34.120 --> 02:54:43.079
Community Hall: This is common in almost every development that we do in
the Bay Area. This is the same detail that was used for
1187
02:54:43.210 --> 02:54:45.129
Community Hall: the Stevens Creek Project.
1188
02:54:45.270 --> 02:54:46.950
Community Hall: The…
1189
02:54:47.200 --> 02:55:05.339
Community Hall: dimension from the eve to the grade is 29 and 9 and 3
quarters of an inch. So it's below the 30-foot threshold. That's what the
fire departments ask you to do, to comply with their requirements. That's
what is being proposed for this project.
1190
02:55:05.810 --> 02:55:08.979
Community Hall: We did meet several times with the fire department.
1191
02:55:09.500 --> 02:55:14.820
Community Hall: to, have this approved. Again, this is very common
amongst
1192
02:55:14.970 --> 02:55:21.820
Community Hall: all of our projects to standard detail. Okay, so that was
that question regarding the 105.
1193
02:55:22.310 --> 02:55:36.959
Community Hall: Do you want to address the 30-foot? Sure. Yeah, I think
one of the community members mentioned sort of a 30-foot setback. I just
want to mention the governing codes that are part of AB130, there's three
of them.
1194
02:55:37.400 --> 02:55:40.550
Community Hall: 4290, 4291.
1195
02:55:40.830 --> 02:55:43.980
Community Hall: And Chapter 7A of the Building Code.
1196
02:55:44.410 --> 02:55:50.220
Community Hall: Those have numerous cross-references, and it took us a
while to get down to this one.
1197
02:55:50.370 --> 02:55:55.280
Community Hall: So bear with me, and I'm happy to send this information,
because it's going to be a long code citation.
1198
02:55:55.680 --> 02:56:01.510
Community Hall: It's California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Division
1.5,
1199
02:56:01.690 --> 02:56:07.940
Community Hall: Chapter 7, Subchapter 2, Article 5. You don't have to… I
can send that to anyone.
1200
02:56:08.990 --> 02:56:18.659
Community Hall: What that is, is that's the 30-foot horizontal setback to
the property line. It actually has a second component to the center line
of the street, which we are in compliance with.
1201
02:56:18.970 --> 02:56:25.110
Community Hall: But that's Section A of that code. Section B Continues
and says.
1202
02:56:25.580 --> 02:56:35.060
Community Hall: If there are, I'm gonna paraphrase a little bit, because
the code citation basically says if there are various constraints, such
as density.
1203
02:56:35.540 --> 02:56:38.469
Community Hall: There may be a reduction in this setback.
1204
02:56:38.920 --> 02:56:55.059
Community Hall: And I'm gonna loosely paraphrase, if you can, demonstrate
or have a number of features, one of which is the, non-combustible
materials within 5 feet of the homes, which we comply with, that's what
we call also known as Zone Zero.
1205
02:56:55.450 --> 02:56:59.970
Community Hall: There are some other measures that are really intended
to,
1206
02:57:00.490 --> 02:57:06.000
Community Hall: Mitigate or prevent structure to spreading a fire from
structure to structure.
1207
02:57:06.350 --> 02:57:22.459
Community Hall: So, what we did was we added… that's where we added the
exterior, fire sprinklers, to the exterior balconies, and we increased
the ratings of the exterior walls, to 1-hour ratings. Those were the
mitigation measures, and those were,
1208
02:57:22.950 --> 02:57:27.979
Community Hall: Sort of summarized in what's called an alternate
materials in compliance with this code.
1209
02:57:27.990 --> 02:57:43.550
Community Hall: that the fire department reviewed and approved. So I
think those are part of the application documents. So those are, in
essence, prescribed mitigation measures within the code to comply with
that section, and that was reviewed by staff and the fire department.
1210
02:57:43.780 --> 02:57:55.470
Community Hall: Okay, so I'm going to continue, and obviously I can come
back to any questions that you have. So one of the reasons we had the
neighborhood meetings, we were required to have one, we elected to have
two, wasn't
1211
02:57:55.730 --> 02:58:07.069
Community Hall: to tell the neighbors, this is… this is just what it is,
and you don't have a choice. Essentially, we wanted to meet with the
neighborhood to not only hear them, but also to…
1212
02:58:07.330 --> 02:58:19.450
Community Hall: explain what the project is, and answer any questions
outside of this kind of a forum, so they had the opportunity to ask where
we could go into detail and answer the questions. So I just wanted to
say.
1213
02:58:19.730 --> 02:58:24.170
Community Hall: the rationale why we had two neighborhood meetings.
1214
02:58:25.900 --> 02:58:36.509
Community Hall: Let's see, you want to address the, one-way head? Oh,
yeah, and again, I don't pretend to know these neighborhood streets like
any of the folks in this room.
1215
02:58:36.570 --> 02:58:47.640
Community Hall: Mr. Drew Chang was kind enough, actually, to share his
study with me in advance, and had a little bit of an email exchange, and
I said… I just kind of asked the question. I think the point was that
1216
02:58:47.760 --> 02:58:50.910
Community Hall: He said Linda Vista Drive was the only way out.
1217
02:58:51.040 --> 02:59:01.579
Community Hall: Just my simple looking at a map, it just looked like
there were other ways out as well, such as Hyannis Port, Columbus, and
Terrace.
1218
02:59:01.580 --> 02:59:21.450
Community Hall: which go down to Bubb Road, which seems to lead to, I
think, Rainbow, which gets over the highway or the tracks. I think
there's another way… Bubb Road, or to McClellan, which goes over, and it
continued on to Bubb Road over Stevens Creek. So, those were just what I
saw in my simple look at the math. I don't pretend to know all the back
roads of this neighborhood like the folks here.
1219
02:59:26.270 --> 02:59:29.350
Community Hall: So, there were a lot of comments regarding
1220
02:59:29.620 --> 02:59:49.310
Community Hall: the reports that were generated for this project, whether
it was civil reports or, architectural details. What I can say is all of
our reports were provided by professional consultants on our part, but
then they go to staff, staff reviews them, comments.
1221
02:59:49.710 --> 03:00:03.330
Community Hall: And after they've reviewed them, they send them to a
third-party consultant outside of the city to plancheck. We spent 14
months having all of the reports that were generated for this project be
third-party reviewed.
1222
03:00:04.400 --> 03:00:16.560
Community Hall: not only by staff, but by outside consultants that staff
had hired. Obviously, we paid for that, but, what I… what I would say is
it's… it's very easy to stand up here and say, well, this is Sybil…
1223
03:00:16.640 --> 03:00:32.019
Community Hall: flow rate doesn't work, or in my opinion, you know, I
have experience in this, and I don't think the report analyzes this
correctly. I think that would be valid if we submitted reports.
1224
03:00:32.030 --> 03:00:41.430
Community Hall: And you had to take the reports based on our assertion,
but that's not the case. Everything has been third-party reviewed. I just
wanted to point that out.
1225
03:00:43.950 --> 03:01:03.160
Community Hall: Okay, there was a, there was a comment that the project
is required to have two access points, so that's not the code, the fire
code. If you're over 100 units, you're required to provide two access
points. I've had many projects where I've been up to 90 units, and
1226
03:01:03.160 --> 03:01:13.130
Community Hall: We've been required to only provide one access point.
Over 100 units, you have to provide the two dual access points. I just
finished a project in Los Gatas, 155 units.
1227
03:01:13.400 --> 03:01:18.190
Community Hall: we were required to provide 2 access points, because it's
over 100 units, that's just a fire code.
1228
03:01:26.590 --> 03:01:31.830
Community Hall: I think there was a couple comments, and I'm not sure if
the,
1229
03:01:32.050 --> 03:01:36.780
Community Hall: The… the person who made the comment was aware that Damn.
1230
03:01:37.130 --> 03:01:44.270
Community Hall: The waivers that were requested on this project were
requested in order to make the project work.
1231
03:01:44.430 --> 03:01:53.880
Community Hall: These projects subsidize a considerable amount of
affordable housing, and to make that work, the state has allowed
1232
03:01:54.250 --> 03:01:59.150
Community Hall: Waivers and concessions to be applied in order for a
whole project to be
1233
03:01:59.360 --> 03:02:12.709
Community Hall: To be feasible. So, that's why those waivers and
concessions, when applied, still provide the project to be consistent
with the objective standards that the city has.
1234
03:02:13.380 --> 03:02:27.330
Community Hall: I think that's all I had. Did I skip anything that… I
wasn't sure if you wanted to mention, sort of, the distribution housing
element. Yeah, please, if you could do that, then… Yeah, and this
predates us, of course, but I think, as Austin mentioned in the
introduction,
1235
03:02:27.580 --> 03:02:36.299
Community Hall: This house is… this one is the only, housing element site
in this sort of quadrant of the city, and I think, it was just to sort of
distribute
1236
03:02:36.610 --> 03:02:46.010
Community Hall: the, I guess, housing element sites throughout the city,
and that's… that's all I wanted to say, and I think the code is
affirmatively furthering Fair Action.
1237
03:02:46.180 --> 03:02:57.070
Community Hall: Firmly Furthering Fair Housing, sorry. Thank you. And
that's why the density is what it is. And I think Margo wanted to make
one additional comment on this.
1238
03:03:02.810 --> 03:03:22.060
Community Hall: Hi, I just wanted to touch on three quick points. One, as
staff correctly pointed out, is that the use of concessions and waivers
under the density bonus as a matter of state law does not render a
project inconsistent with objective standards, so that is established in
state law. The city does not have discretion.
1239
03:03:22.100 --> 03:03:40.430
Community Hall: Around that. The second is, on the CEQA question, in
terms of whether the project complies with the requirements for high fire
hazard severity zones under that CEQA exemption. There are specific
objective standards that are laid out by reference to SB35 and other
state housing law.
1240
03:03:40.430 --> 03:03:48.520
Community Hall: that projects have to meet, and in this case, as
indicated on your… I think it's page 8 of your staff report, the fire
department did,
1241
03:03:48.520 --> 03:04:01.700
Community Hall: make a finding that the project has demonstrated
consistency with all of those requirements. So the SQL requirement is
met, and there is evidence in the record to that effect. And then the
last was just to reiterate the point I made earlier about,
1242
03:04:01.920 --> 03:04:05.929
Community Hall: the… What it means to have a,
1243
03:04:06.080 --> 03:04:10.439
Community Hall: specific adverse impact on health and safety under the
Housing Accountability Act.
1244
03:04:10.450 --> 03:04:25.830
Community Hall: I didn't have time before, but I'm just going to quickly
read you the language, which requires a significant, quantifiable,
direct, and unavoidable impact based upon objective, identified, written
public health and safety standards, policies, or conditions.
1245
03:04:25.830 --> 03:04:42.889
Community Hall: as they existed on the date of the preliminary
application. And again, on page 8 of your staff report, staff indicates,
and I'm just reading here, the city does not have any adopted objective
standards pertaining to evacuation in the event of a major fire or other
environmental emergency. So.
1246
03:04:42.890 --> 03:04:46.790
Community Hall: By definition, you don't have a standard against which
you can
1247
03:04:46.940 --> 03:04:58.630
Community Hall: measure, emergency evacuation compliance, and therefore,
under the Housing Accountability Act, you do not have a health and safety
basis based on emergency access that would justify disapproval.
1248
03:04:58.960 --> 03:05:06.510
Community Hall: So, just wanted to clarify those points. I know the lot
can be complicated, and it's a lot you guys are going to learn quickly.
I'm happy to answer any questions.
1249
03:05:09.330 --> 03:05:24.379
Community Hall: Great, thank you very much to the applicant for answering
so many of the community questions. It definitely saves us a little bit
of time. So I… the public hearing portion of this is now closed, and I'll
bring this back to the Commission for questions. Who would like to start?
Actually, were you gonna have the…
1250
03:05:24.500 --> 03:05:25.989
Community Hall: Fire department speak?
1251
03:05:26.360 --> 03:05:35.120
Community Hall: I think that… I'm not sure whether that was how we, how
we do that. We do have a representative here, so, I mean, I…
1252
03:05:35.780 --> 03:05:52.779
Community Hall: I would think if they could consolidate FIRE questions,
sort of answer them as a whole, I think some have been touched on, but it
might be more efficient to do that. Sorry, through the chair, could you
reopen the public hearing so we may hear from FIR, but also if
commissioners have questions or follow-up questions?
1253
03:05:53.420 --> 03:05:56.709
Community Hall: Okay, reopening public hearing for, the fire.
1254
03:05:56.950 --> 03:06:03.709
Community Hall: Marshall to come up. Thank you. His name is Brad Fox, by
the way, sorry about not making that clear. Thank you.
1255
03:06:11.540 --> 03:06:22.450
Community Hall: Good evening, thank you, Commission. My name is Brad Fox.
I'm the Assistant Fire Marshal with County Fire. I don't have a
presentation for you tonight, so I'm happy to answer any questions that
you have.
1256
03:06:22.600 --> 03:06:37.850
Community Hall: But I don't have a presentation as… as it relates to the
public hearing. Is the City Clerk able to put up, the member of the
public slide? I believe it was David Yan, who had a slide on the D105.
Are we able to put up that slide, please?
1257
03:06:44.910 --> 03:06:47.999
Community Hall: And while the slide is coming up, I believe there were
some…
1258
03:06:48.480 --> 03:06:52.579
Community Hall: mails that the member of the public sent with the
Planning Commission copied that
1259
03:06:52.860 --> 03:06:57.449
Community Hall: Indicated there was an error in the classification of the
height.
1260
03:06:57.680 --> 03:07:00.720
Community Hall: If you may wish to comment on that, or…
1261
03:07:00.820 --> 03:07:12.580
Community Hall: add anything? I can… I can clear that up. There were,
members of the community that were asking us if the project was complying
with the requirement for aerial act…
1262
03:07:13.020 --> 03:07:22.649
Community Hall: Aerial access… aerial apparatus access, sorry. Let me
back up a step and explain why that requirement exists. So…
1263
03:07:22.860 --> 03:07:25.029
Community Hall: If,
1264
03:07:25.590 --> 03:07:34.730
Community Hall: We want to make sure that we can access the roofs of
buildings, obviously for ventilation and other operational,
1265
03:07:34.840 --> 03:07:52.520
Community Hall: procedures. So, we do that through one of two ways,
either with a ground ladder, or with the ladder on an aerial apparatus.
And so, the ground ladders that we carry, which are similar to fire
departments across the country, are 35 feet long.
1266
03:07:52.700 --> 03:07:58.950
Community Hall: So that's where you see that requirement come from of…
1267
03:07:58.950 --> 03:08:12.789
Community Hall: measuring 30 feet to the east. So, if we can, get a
ground ladder to the roof and access the roof that way, then we don't
need to use an aerial apparatus. So that's the…
1268
03:08:12.790 --> 03:08:25.800
Community Hall: what we're testing against to see if we need aerial
apparatus access. And so, the community asked about this, requirement,
and if it was met.
1269
03:08:25.940 --> 03:08:30.500
Community Hall: And, I personally responded, and I…
1270
03:08:30.870 --> 03:08:37.660
Community Hall: apologize, because I don't think I did myself any favors.
I… responded,
1271
03:08:37.670 --> 03:08:55.770
Community Hall: With that dimension that's shown in that slide of 29 foot
1 and 3 quarters. And an astute member of the community correctly pointed
out that, hey, this is measuring to the top of the slab, not to the grade
plane, as the code requires.
1272
03:08:55.770 --> 03:09:06.040
Community Hall: But thankfully, my plan reviewers are more detail-
oriented than I am, and they did correctly review the project, and so…
1273
03:09:06.040 --> 03:09:12.989
Community Hall: What that detail doesn't show is that the proposed grade
plane is 8 inches lower than the top of slab.
1274
03:09:12.990 --> 03:09:21.329
Community Hall: So if you add 8 inches to that dimension, the total
dimension from the EV to the grade plane
1275
03:09:21.340 --> 03:09:28.730
Community Hall: is 29 feet 9 and 3 quarters inches, so it is still under
the 30-foot threshold.
1276
03:09:32.590 --> 03:09:40.149
Community Hall: And that 8-inch dimension, that is consistent among all
of the proposed 10 buildings.
1277
03:09:41.100 --> 03:09:48.979
Community Hall: Could you comment on other fire reviews that you have had
for projects, I assume, that we have had in Cupertino? I know the
applicant has one more.
1278
03:09:49.260 --> 03:09:52.660
Community Hall: And there have been a few other on Stevens Creek, if you
are able to
1279
03:09:52.850 --> 03:09:56.040
Community Hall: If you're able to comment on whether Aerial apparatus
1280
03:09:56.730 --> 03:10:00.729
Community Hall: Access is any different in this project versus any of the
others you've reviewed?
1281
03:10:01.070 --> 03:10:14.710
Community Hall: at similar, we measure… we measure for the requirement
the same from project to project, so there would be no variation in the
way that we, look at that requirement. I don't recall, I think I do…
1282
03:10:14.790 --> 03:10:27.409
Community Hall: know the project that you're talking about off of Stevens
Creek. Those are also townhomes. I don't recall off the top of my head if
those met the requirement or not, but, we do…
1283
03:10:27.500 --> 03:10:30.970
Community Hall: Measure in the same way every time, consistently.
1284
03:10:31.230 --> 03:10:36.890
Community Hall: And in terms of access road width, can you talk about Is
this project any different?
1285
03:10:37.080 --> 03:10:39.680
Community Hall: In the access road width compared to…
1286
03:10:40.850 --> 03:10:54.069
Community Hall: what you would require for a comparable project in… No,
again, that's consistent, and it really depends on this requirement for
aerial apparatus access. As was pointed out earlier.
1287
03:10:54.070 --> 03:11:01.710
Community Hall: Our standard road width requirement, if aerial access is
not required, is 20 feet.
1288
03:11:01.910 --> 03:11:11.080
Community Hall: If aerial access is required, that winds out to 26 feet,
because there are outriggers that go out. And,
1289
03:11:11.200 --> 03:11:24.189
Community Hall: the aerial access… the aerial apparatus takes up more
width, and we still want traffic and other apparatus to be able to pass.
So it's either 20 feet or 26 feet, depending on this requirement.
1290
03:11:24.830 --> 03:11:25.810
Community Hall: Thank you.
1291
03:11:28.280 --> 03:11:33.510
Community Hall: I wonder if I could. Oh, sorry, go ahead. So I'm curious,
1292
03:11:34.170 --> 03:11:44.869
Community Hall: Have you participated in other evaluations of projects,
proposed projects, in high fire danger zones?
1293
03:11:45.010 --> 03:11:51.900
Community Hall: Recently, Or is this… is this unusual? I guess maybe
that's really what the question I'm asking.
1294
03:11:52.490 --> 03:12:01.029
Community Hall: in… Cupertino, none come to mind, but in some of the
other jurisdictions that we serve, we…
1295
03:12:01.630 --> 03:12:09.330
Community Hall: Have several… Sb330 projects that have been proposed in,
1296
03:12:09.920 --> 03:12:16.180
Community Hall: In various fire hazard severity zones, including very
high fire hazard severity.
1297
03:12:17.510 --> 03:12:18.220
Community Hall: And…
1298
03:12:18.370 --> 03:12:33.609
Community Hall: Are the… it sounds like the standards are very consistent
for your evaluation. Is that… is that true in this case as well? The
kinds of mitigations, are they similar in this project to your
experiences with some of these others?
1299
03:12:34.770 --> 03:12:51.979
Community Hall: as it relates to compliance with the fire code, or with
public resource code 4290, which is the code that very high fire hazard
severity zones are subject to, yes, our reviews are consistent. Great.
Thank you.
1300
03:12:54.580 --> 03:12:57.660
Community Hall: Hi there. Quick question about the…
1301
03:12:57.690 --> 03:13:17.549
Community Hall: we talked about potentially putting screening bushes or
trees in that 10-foot, space. So, like, closer to the fence, obviously.
Is that, does that pass fire code? Is that allowed based on the fire
code, or is that… is that creating a risk for those homes?
1302
03:13:19.410 --> 03:13:22.790
Community Hall: Yeah, when we talk about defensible space,
1303
03:13:23.720 --> 03:13:42.139
Community Hall: currently and historically, we have talked about Zone 1
and Zone 2, and Zone 1 has historically been from 0 feet to 30 feet, and
Zone 2 is 30 feet to 100 feet. And so the… the newer
1304
03:13:42.180 --> 03:13:54.589
Community Hall: Zone that the state proposed that the governor issued an
executive order for last year was for a zone 0, which, most people have
heard about now, and that's really for that first 0 to 5.
1305
03:13:54.630 --> 03:14:06.489
Community Hall: Those new Zone Zero requirements were supposed to be
sorted out by the beginning of this year, of January 2026. Unfortunately,
that got…
1306
03:14:06.570 --> 03:14:25.450
Community Hall: delayed, and so we don't have clear guidance yet from the
state on what those Zone Zero requirements will be, so I can't speak to,
you know, in the future, if there are bushes and shrubs that are within
what we will call that Zone 0.
1307
03:14:25.620 --> 03:14:36.820
Community Hall: I don't know at this time if those would be compliant
with future regulations. As it is today, talking about Zone 1,
1308
03:14:36.940 --> 03:14:41.630
Community Hall: You can have, vegetation within that…
1309
03:14:41.740 --> 03:14:47.150
Community Hall: Area that you're talking about, 0 to 10 feet between the
building and the… and the property line.
1310
03:14:50.230 --> 03:15:06.419
Community Hall: I had two questions coming from the community, actually.
One is, are you able to access all of the windows via ground ladder?
Because I'm aware that some areas of the property have bioretention zones
that may impede setting down the ladder properly.
1311
03:15:09.910 --> 03:15:21.840
Community Hall: I believe a ladder pad exhibit was submitted to us for
review, and we did review and approve that ladder pad exhibit, and
1312
03:15:21.950 --> 03:15:27.850
Community Hall: For the type of construction of this house.
1313
03:15:29.880 --> 03:15:30.680
Community Hall: Jeez.
1314
03:15:31.020 --> 03:15:36.689
Community Hall: Products, emergency escape and rescue windows are
required.
1315
03:15:37.290 --> 03:15:46.450
Community Hall: So that's the threshold that we look at for being able to
ladder. Okay, thank you. And then my second question is, are the
mitigations
1316
03:15:46.700 --> 03:15:59.520
Community Hall: in the 30-foot setback waiver, so mostly around materials
and, like, one-hour fire-rated walls. Are these equivalent to a 30-foot
setback? And if they are, do you have research or analysis that you could
share with the public?
1317
03:16:00.340 --> 03:16:01.140
Community Hall: Okay.
1318
03:16:01.290 --> 03:16:08.419
Community Hall: So, on the 30-foot setback, I think the applicant stole a
little bit of my thunder because they referenced the…
1319
03:16:08.530 --> 03:16:12.479
Community Hall: the section in, Title 14.
1320
03:16:12.590 --> 03:16:14.460
Community Hall: And… so…
1321
03:16:14.740 --> 03:16:28.070
Community Hall: the base code does allow for, exceptions to that base
requirement of 30 feet, and it lists off a bunch of examples, as the
applicant said. In addition to that.
1322
03:16:28.180 --> 03:16:34.530
Community Hall: If you look at PRC 4290, Public Resource Code 4290,
1323
03:16:34.530 --> 03:16:49.220
Community Hall: In the beginning of that administrative section of code,
it's section 1270.07, there's a… that outlines the exceptions to the
standards, and there is a…
1324
03:16:49.360 --> 03:16:58.070
Community Hall: clear process for an applicant applying for an exception
to a particular standard. And,
1325
03:16:58.300 --> 03:17:04.249
Community Hall: That is the process that we followed for granting this
exception.
1326
03:17:04.620 --> 03:17:21.570
Community Hall: Right, oh, sorry, go. Yep, sorry, I'm getting… I'm
getting your… your question. So, what the… the… the charge of that
section is to provide the same practical effect as these regulations
towards providing defensible space. So.
1327
03:17:21.700 --> 03:17:28.700
Community Hall: the burden is on the applicant to prove that they're
providing the same practical effect. So the approach that
1328
03:17:28.760 --> 03:17:42.779
Community Hall: The applicant took towards mitigation was a combination
of both passive and active fire protection, through hardening of the
structure and additional sprinkler protection.
1329
03:17:44.220 --> 03:17:59.820
Community Hall: In addition to the defensible space through vegetation
management that they cited. So, when we look at adding, passive fire
protection, I think that is well documented as a basis in both the…
1330
03:17:59.830 --> 03:18:11.679
Community Hall: building and residential codes, because if we just look
at the California Building Code or the California Residential Code, as
structures get closer to property lines, and normally that's less than 5
feet.
1331
03:18:11.740 --> 03:18:26.010
Community Hall: the building code or the residential code starts to
require ratings of exterior walls or projections or penetrations. So, I
think that
1332
03:18:26.200 --> 03:18:37.469
Community Hall: the mitigation is well-rooted in what we already have
established in other building codes. And so… and I also want to clarify
that
1333
03:18:37.820 --> 03:18:50.189
Community Hall: these are mitigations, and the exception process is
clearly outlined, and so this is not considered a waiver. We don't issue
any waivers to the requirements.
1334
03:18:50.720 --> 03:19:05.749
Community Hall: Thank you. So, you know, as you could hear tonight,
there's a lot of concern from the public as this area has sustained fires
before. How do we ensure that the combination of mitigation measures
selected by the applicant are equivalent to 30 feet?
1335
03:19:07.930 --> 03:19:09.760
Community Hall: Like, what if they're equivalent to 10 feet?
1336
03:19:11.050 --> 03:19:16.720
Community Hall: Right, good question.
1337
03:19:17.900 --> 03:19:19.000
Community Hall: So…
1338
03:19:31.810 --> 03:19:34.060
Community Hall: I'm trying to think of,
1339
03:19:39.160 --> 03:19:50.759
Community Hall: And that's okay, if you don't have an immediate answer, I
mean, we can have some other commissioners ask questions and get back to
you as well. Yeah, if you give me a moment to think about that one, I'll
try to get back to it. Okay, thank you.
1340
03:19:53.990 --> 03:19:58.560
Community Hall: Hi, so I was reading, Section D05.1,
1341
03:19:59.270 --> 03:20:05.530
Community Hall: about the highest roof service… roof surface exceeding 30
feet. And I keep hearing…
1342
03:20:05.950 --> 03:20:14.199
Community Hall: oh, don't worry, the eaves are slightly less than 30
feet, but that's not what that standard says. That standard says
1343
03:20:14.450 --> 03:20:19.599
Community Hall: The highest roof service shall be determined by the
measurement to the eave of a pitched roof, which this is.
1344
03:20:19.870 --> 03:20:25.699
Community Hall: or the intersection of the roof to the exterior wall. So
what is the height
1345
03:20:26.220 --> 03:20:29.819
Community Hall: From the ground plane to the intersection
1346
03:20:30.630 --> 03:20:36.120
Community Hall: with the roof of the exterior wall, I never heard that
mentioned, because the…
1347
03:20:36.320 --> 03:20:40.550
Community Hall: the eave tilts down, right? I mean, you could make an
eave tilt down.
1348
03:20:40.790 --> 03:20:46.619
Community Hall: You know, multiple feet in order to get that height less
than 30 feet, but you can't really…
1349
03:20:46.790 --> 03:20:57.139
Community Hall: reduce the height of the exterior wall where it touches
the roof. So I'm just wondering, and if you don't know, it's fine. Maybe
the applicant knows what the height
1350
03:20:57.310 --> 03:21:02.730
Community Hall: Of the exterior wall from the ground plane, To the roof
is.
1351
03:21:03.860 --> 03:21:09.889
Community Hall: So if the applicant can answer that, how many feet is
that? Is it more than 30? Is it less than 30?
1352
03:21:10.610 --> 03:21:19.010
Community Hall: And I'll just say before the applicant answers, again,
we're looking to make sure that we can get that 35-foot ground ladder
1353
03:21:19.070 --> 03:21:31.069
Community Hall: onto the roof so we can get on top of the roof. So, in
the sloped roof detail that we… that this product has, we would be…
1354
03:21:31.100 --> 03:21:45.120
Community Hall: putting a ladder up to the Eve. Yeah, I understand the
motivation, yeah. Yeah, I understand that. I'm just wondering if this is
actually meeting D105.1 or not. Yeah, it does meet at the…
1355
03:21:45.440 --> 03:21:47.070
Community Hall: We are 29…
1356
03:21:47.320 --> 03:21:59.689
Community Hall: 9 and 3 quarters, it's the same. To that location that
you're talking about. To the eave? No, to the… it's both. They're one and
the same, they're equivalent. So the eave does not tilt down at all, is
what you're saying?
1357
03:22:00.260 --> 03:22:04.719
Community Hall: Yeah. It was explained to me by one of your staff
members.
1358
03:22:04.990 --> 03:22:09.189
Community Hall: So what we're describing, Is the wall in the intersection
1359
03:22:09.640 --> 03:22:11.549
Community Hall: With the roof coming down. Right.
1360
03:22:11.940 --> 03:22:16.360
Community Hall: So, the reason is you want that structural integrity of
that point.
1361
03:22:16.970 --> 03:22:23.689
Community Hall: And so, yes, the eve, as my architect explains to me, and
that point are roughly the same.
1362
03:22:24.020 --> 03:22:43.800
Community Hall: same height, so we get the same measurement to that 29,
9, and 3 quarters. Okay, so the eave does not tilt down at all from the…
It's tilted down, but it's, like… But less than 1 inch. Very short
horizontal distance, so yes, I'll defer to my architect, but… Oh, so what
is that horizontal distance? Because I didn't see it in the plans.
1363
03:22:46.480 --> 03:22:47.250
Community Hall: generally.
1364
03:22:54.550 --> 03:22:58.079
Community Hall: The eaves on this project extend about 12 inches out.
1365
03:22:58.200 --> 03:23:08.680
Community Hall: And with the roof slope, there's a slight… it's about a
3-inch different… er… it's a 3-inch… sorry. So the… the E… 4 and 12 roof.
1366
03:23:09.200 --> 03:23:16.410
Community Hall: Let me… can I come and show you a section? It kind of
shows… Yeah, yeah, just a drawing to show that the…
1367
03:23:17.020 --> 03:23:20.489
Community Hall: Eve is not.
1368
03:23:23.220 --> 03:23:28.029
Community Hall: More than, like, 1 inch below the… Top of the exterior
wall.
1369
03:23:30.740 --> 03:23:34.000
Community Hall: Oh, are we able to put it on the screen? Thank you.
1370
03:23:43.960 --> 03:23:51.599
Community Hall: So, this location right here, Is… is… I know it's tiny,
probably hard to tell, but were the EVE…
1371
03:23:53.020 --> 03:23:55.189
Community Hall: It projects out the foot.
1372
03:23:56.580 --> 03:24:02.529
Community Hall: And the wall plane And the eave… or, I'm sorry, the roof.
1373
03:24:02.820 --> 03:24:07.230
Community Hall: Where it meets the wall, it's, like, a half inch
difference between the two.
1374
03:24:08.550 --> 03:24:13.089
Community Hall: Okay, so what is… Great, so what is that total distance,
then?
1375
03:24:13.870 --> 03:24:19.190
Community Hall: 29… 9, or 29, 10, and a quarter?
1376
03:24:20.250 --> 03:24:33.040
Community Hall: 29, 9, and 3 quarters, versus the eave height of… So the
eave would be 29.9 and 3 quarters, and the intersection at the wall and
the roof would be approximately 29.10 and a quarter.
1377
03:24:34.230 --> 03:24:36.549
Community Hall: Okay, thank you.
1378
03:24:38.650 --> 03:24:39.980
Community Hall: Through the chair, yeah.
1379
03:24:41.110 --> 03:24:47.410
Community Hall: So I had questions for the applicant and for fire while
we have fire up there. Maybe I'll start with fire first.
1380
03:24:47.900 --> 03:25:03.959
Community Hall: Have there been any best practices that fire has put in
place for active projects under construction, you know, Ember petrols
during the phase of actual, you know, dry lumber during construction? Do
you guys go out and do some petrols, or any other best practices that
fire has
1381
03:25:04.170 --> 03:25:06.700
Community Hall: Learned from, and put in place.
1382
03:25:10.170 --> 03:25:13.579
Community Hall: So there is a section,
1383
03:25:13.750 --> 03:25:29.689
Community Hall: in the California Fire Code that the city adopts, and
actually we make a few amendments to that section. I believe it's Chapter
33 of the Fire Code that outlines, safety during… fire safety during
construction.
1384
03:25:29.690 --> 03:25:42.529
Community Hall: And so, I don't recall, what the threshold of the square
footage is that requires it, but I believe this project would qualify
that during the building permit application, they would have to submit
1385
03:25:42.530 --> 03:25:47.220
Community Hall: a fire safety construction plan, so they would outline
1386
03:25:47.320 --> 03:26:06.169
Community Hall: Details like, how they would provide access roads for us
during construction, where they would stage different, building
materials, how they provide, water for us during construction, and we
would
1387
03:26:06.180 --> 03:26:12.170
Community Hall: would review their, site safety construction plan, and,
1388
03:26:12.300 --> 03:26:22.719
Community Hall: with approval of that, then the applicant would follow
that during construction. And is that something that FHI reviews, or is
that building and planning, or both, or…
1389
03:26:23.460 --> 03:26:24.849
Community Hall: Question to staff.
1390
03:26:27.220 --> 03:26:35.810
Community Hall: Fire safety plan. If you can pardon me for a second, I
was looking for a charger, my computer was… Yeah, the question was, is
there a fire safety plan that
1391
03:26:36.060 --> 03:27:00.080
Community Hall: is, part of building or planning reviews? Yes. Building
is obviously even more involved post-approvement of the project, and
would be reviewing essentially everything fire would be reviewing as
well. And is that a condition of approval, or is that something that you
can comment on, whether it should be a condition of approval, or anything
like that? Generally, those are all code required, so things that are
part of the law wouldn't need to be conditions.
1392
03:27:00.870 --> 03:27:08.720
Community Hall: I'm not familiar with all 80 of the conditions that are
already attached to this resolution, but very often things related to
building permits
1393
03:27:09.100 --> 03:27:20.099
Community Hall: are not restated as conditions of approval, because
they're not… there's no flexibility. You need to get a building permit.
Okay, sounds good. Thank you. Any other best practices? Any thermal
monitoring that you're aware of? I know.
1394
03:27:20.770 --> 03:27:34.760
Community Hall: And again, that's an open question to the applicant as
well, if you're aware of thermal monitoring on these sites during
construction. Generally, our construction team handles that. It's usually
part of the process they go through with the building department, so…
Thank you.
1395
03:27:35.000 --> 03:27:41.430
Community Hall: It's not something that I'm aware of to discuss. If you
might speak into the mic? So generally, that's something that our
construction team
1396
03:27:41.540 --> 03:27:56.079
Community Hall: handles with the building department, so it's not really
something I have information here to pass on. So, I guess, open question
to staff and fire and the applicant. Has thermal monitoring been a
condition of approval from either fire or the building code, or…
1397
03:27:57.010 --> 03:27:58.700
Community Hall: thermal monitoring? Yeah.
1398
03:27:59.770 --> 03:28:01.259
Community Hall: Yeah, not that I'm aware of.
1399
03:28:01.760 --> 03:28:09.389
Community Hall: I… are you asking, like, during hot work operations, like
welding on site? Yeah, any kind of…
1400
03:28:10.130 --> 03:28:17.129
Community Hall: Mechanisms that would monitor for heat sources that may
expose the property to
1401
03:28:17.710 --> 03:28:30.449
Community Hall: There is no requirement that I'm aware of in any of our
projects. Okay, and then just to reconfirm with the applicant, all of the
roofs are Fire A… I mean, Class A fire retardant roofs.
1402
03:28:30.680 --> 03:28:39.999
Community Hall: And the building is stuccoed, so that is a fire-retardant
siding. That's correct. Has staff had a chance to comment on whether
Baxley Court is all forms with stucco?
1403
03:28:40.250 --> 03:28:44.549
Community Hall: Are there any non-streco homes on Baxley, or should we
ask the residents that?
1404
03:28:45.180 --> 03:28:47.329
Community Hall: No, no review was conducted. Okay, alright.
1405
03:28:47.790 --> 03:28:53.150
Community Hall: So, at this point, I'm not really seeing any further
fire-related questions. I don't have anything else, yeah.
1406
03:28:56.420 --> 03:29:05.959
Community Hall: This is for both the applicant and the fire person. If…
can we put up, Mr. Henry Tsang's last slide, his recommendations?
1407
03:29:08.300 --> 03:29:11.699
Community Hall: And as you… as you do that, I did want to point
1408
03:29:11.950 --> 03:29:16.480
Community Hall: You know, we work with the fire department, planning, and
building.
1409
03:29:16.670 --> 03:29:32.199
Community Hall: We believe that the plans were reviewed and were
consistent with the height from the grade to the eve, but if there was
ever a comment that you're not, we would just simply drop the roofline by
an inch or two, whatever was required, but in this case, as they were
reviewed.
1410
03:29:32.200 --> 03:29:41.269
Community Hall: We were deemed consistent, but again, if at any point
something came up that it wasn't, at times during building plan check
review.
1411
03:29:41.990 --> 03:29:56.800
Community Hall: questions like this… I don't believe this one, but
questions come up, and we just simply comply with what the requirement
is. Something like this would be just to drop the plate height by an inch
or two in working drives. That's great, we appreciate your flexibility.
1412
03:29:57.080 --> 03:30:03.440
Community Hall: Can… there's something in front of that slide. Oh, there
we go. So,
1413
03:30:03.700 --> 03:30:09.730
Community Hall: Can we… can we ask the gentleman to come back up to the
podium for… yes, please?
1414
03:30:15.170 --> 03:30:19.799
Community Hall: able to engage the public. Are we… am I able to ask him a
question?
1415
03:30:23.670 --> 03:30:26.069
Community Hall: I'd defer that to the chair.
1416
03:30:28.000 --> 03:30:32.120
Community Hall: Yeah, let's make this quick, please. Okay. Yes, thank
you.
1417
03:30:32.200 --> 03:30:39.529
Community Hall: I know you said you worked with a bunch of HOAs,
1418
03:30:39.530 --> 03:30:55.420
Community Hall: How did you come up with these recommendations? Are they,
like, are they vetted by a fire department? These are not vetted by a
fire department. We were looking through the literature and talking to
various different groups. As you know that, for, my house is in a yellow
zone.
1419
03:30:55.420 --> 03:31:08.440
Community Hall: So we're looking at things by what do we need to do to
ensure safety, given what happened in the LA. So while a Class B material
a lot of times can be used for decks now, that's probably going to change
to a Class A very, very soon.
1420
03:31:08.490 --> 03:31:26.919
Community Hall: So this is kind of your… your research. We're looking at
where things are going. I'm not trying to say don't build these things,
I'm just trying to say what additional things can we do to make them
safe? Got it. Also, things like the Zone 1, you know, the privacy bushes.
You know, in Zone 1, you're supposed to have everything up 10 feet, so…
1421
03:31:27.090 --> 03:31:36.079
Community Hall: I don't know how that's gonna work. Thank you. Is that
it? Yep. So, looking at this list, is there anything, sorry, Miss…
1422
03:31:36.540 --> 03:31:44.029
Community Hall: Fire Chief Fox? How do I address you? I'm not sure.
That's fine. Or Brad. Brad.
1423
03:31:46.290 --> 03:32:00.390
Community Hall: Do you see anything here that you think would improve the
fire safety of these… of this development? Yeah, so there are certainly
undead, undead decks and balconies.
1424
03:32:01.150 --> 03:32:18.290
Community Hall: Yeah, certainly on the decks and balconies, we follow
what the requirements are fire hazard zone, so that there's… there's
stringent requirements, and that's how the decks and balconies are built.
So are they classy? I don't know what those requirements are. Maybe,
Jennifer, you may be able to…
1425
03:32:19.640 --> 03:32:20.330
Community Hall: Interesting.
1426
03:32:20.870 --> 03:32:37.150
Community Hall: I'm sorry? Okay, she's checking on that. Okay. As far as
the HOA monitoring the… all the open space areas, they do that. That's…
that's, written in the CCNRs that the management company is responsible
to make sure that all the shrubs and the trees
1427
03:32:37.150 --> 03:32:41.839
Community Hall: are, trimmed so that we do have that fire safety.
1428
03:32:42.230 --> 03:32:49.790
Community Hall: We talked about the access? Yeah, sure. As far as the
access, that… really, the site access has already been reviewed by the
fire department as the… Right.
1429
03:32:49.900 --> 03:33:00.580
Community Hall: Fences and privacy walls shall be Class A material…
they're not Class A materials. They're not required to be Class A
materials. But would it help, is the question.
1430
03:33:00.660 --> 03:33:15.419
Community Hall: It may, but again, it's not a standard or required. Yeah,
I understand it's not the minimum required, I'm just asking if it would
strengthen the fire resistance of the paper. I think anything that you
make Class A would strengthen. Okay, alright. No flat.
1431
03:33:15.440 --> 03:33:29.370
Community Hall: I think it means roofs. Roofs, yeah. We don't have any
flat roofs. Gutters are protected by amber proofing? Yes, they are. Okay.
Windows and doors should be wildfire safe, yes, they are. They're dual
pane with one glass that's tempered, that's required.
1432
03:33:29.440 --> 03:33:42.470
Community Hall: HOA provides fuel reduction and maintenance along the
street, so the HOA will provide fuel reduction and maintenance on its
private property. We can't… DRE wouldn't allow us for them to do outside
work off their property.
1433
03:33:42.470 --> 03:33:49.729
Community Hall: And building heights below what existing ladder trucks
can cover. Yeah, we talked about that. That's been covered. Okay. Thank
you. Thank you.
1434
03:33:50.320 --> 03:33:55.140
Community Hall: Through the chair, I'd like to switch focus a little bit.
I have a different question for…
1435
03:33:55.320 --> 03:33:58.740
Community Hall: maybe staff and the applicant. I'm looking at Google
Maps, and
1436
03:34:00.010 --> 03:34:03.129
Community Hall: It is a question that'll come back to the far topic, but…
1437
03:34:03.370 --> 03:34:09.069
Community Hall: I'm looking at a Google map in Evelidge Court. Is that a
city-owned public right-of-way?
1438
03:34:09.240 --> 03:34:19.549
Community Hall: Yes, I believe since 1969 it was dedicated, but not
improved. Okay, and I'm looking at Google Map, and Evelich Court is
actually a two…
1439
03:34:20.250 --> 03:34:25.950
Community Hall: 2… egress, ingress into the parcel. So there's a northern
side.
1440
03:34:26.110 --> 03:34:30.490
Community Hall: by the Coptino Hills Swim and Racket, and then there's
the…
1441
03:34:30.780 --> 03:34:37.799
Community Hall: the, egress in the middle of the parcel, I guess, which
is what the… Proposed project shows.
1442
03:34:37.930 --> 03:34:50.270
Community Hall: Is that your understanding? The village court that is the
city right-of-way is literally just the cul-de-sac that goes in, pretty
much what you're seeing on the site plan. That's what was dedicated, not
the…
1443
03:34:50.930 --> 03:34:59.219
Community Hall: the sort of… it looks like a U-shape on Google, where it
cuts to the north and then comes back out. There's only the one entry
point that goes into the site.
1444
03:34:59.850 --> 03:35:08.250
Community Hall: So we're seeing… what we're seeing on a Google Map with
the average egress at 2 points out of the parcel is inaccurate?
1445
03:35:08.780 --> 03:35:15.310
Community Hall: Yeah, I'm uncertain where Google got that, because it was
just dedicated as a cul-de-sac, really, one way in and out.
1446
03:35:15.810 --> 03:35:26.109
Community Hall: I think it's fair to say that the development as proposed
is taking what was dedicated and improving it. Are there any attachments
from staff that would confirm that?
1447
03:35:28.610 --> 03:35:34.060
Community Hall: None in tonight's presentation, but we did look into this
as we went through the housing element.
1448
03:35:34.830 --> 03:35:39.280
Community Hall: I… I would want to make sure is that a public right-of-
way at
1449
03:35:39.540 --> 03:35:47.140
Community Hall: I understand you're saying there may not be an egress
there, but is that a public right-of-way in that northern part of the
parcel? No, there's no public right-of-way there.
1450
03:35:49.920 --> 03:35:51.449
Community Hall: Okay, so there's no…
1451
03:35:52.170 --> 03:36:00.140
Community Hall: vacation required? No, we're not going to be going
through that process again anytime soon on this.
1452
03:36:00.240 --> 03:36:12.249
Community Hall: I can't really explain why Google shows it the way it
does, but the dedication for the street, again, goes back to 1969, and it
was just kind of a classic cul-de-sac. Okay.
1453
03:36:12.730 --> 03:36:16.930
Community Hall: I'd like to segue to a different line of questioning. Are
we able to do that?
1454
03:36:17.460 --> 03:36:18.780
Community Hall: Okay, thank you.
1455
03:36:19.240 --> 03:36:30.829
Community Hall: I had one more question for the fire marshal. Thank you
for your patience. So, were you able to come to an answer on the
mitigations and whether they cumulatively bring us back to 30 feet?
1456
03:36:32.220 --> 03:36:35.849
Community Hall: And or, you know, research around that would be really
helpful.
1457
03:36:38.020 --> 03:36:48.500
Community Hall: Yeah, so again, using the building and residential codes
as a reference based on the type of construction for these homes,
1458
03:36:48.700 --> 03:37:06.970
Community Hall: a one-hour exterior is consistent with what is required
for, going down all the way to a zero lot line, essentially. So the
proposal by the applicant would be consistent with that. In addition to
1459
03:37:07.050 --> 03:37:15.440
Community Hall: All of the other, home hardening features that were
already mentioned that are required under
1460
03:37:15.590 --> 03:37:23.140
Community Hall: what was formerly Chapter 7A, now it's in the Wildland
Urban Interface Code. So we…
1461
03:37:23.470 --> 03:37:25.860
Community Hall: Feel that,
1462
03:37:26.130 --> 03:37:39.080
Community Hall: in combination with both passive and active fire
protection, and all of the WUI requirements, that the structures are
resilient to,
1463
03:37:39.920 --> 03:37:41.170
Community Hall: to Wildfire.
1464
03:37:41.470 --> 03:37:46.030
Community Hall: Okay, thank you. Is there research around that that is
publicly available?
1465
03:37:47.110 --> 03:37:52.410
Community Hall: The, you know, the zero feet… For a one-hour rated wall.
1466
03:37:53.180 --> 03:37:56.100
Community Hall: So, I am,
1467
03:37:56.370 --> 03:38:11.600
Community Hall: You can look at the building code or residential code,
and there's specific sections in there that specify when you have to rate
the walls, based on separation from property line and based on the type
of construction.
1468
03:38:13.010 --> 03:38:13.740
Community Hall: Okay.
1469
03:38:13.920 --> 03:38:14.960
Community Hall: Alright, thank you.
1470
03:38:16.800 --> 03:38:22.560
Community Hall: All right, Commissioner Rao, you wanted to… Yeah, I'd
like to segue out of the fire discussion into a different topic really
quickly.
1471
03:38:23.040 --> 03:38:26.989
Community Hall: Is there any sort of,
1472
03:38:27.310 --> 03:38:33.890
Community Hall: understanding about the egress through the Cupertino
Hills, is that an option? Has staff looked at that?
1473
03:38:35.120 --> 03:38:38.899
Community Hall: You were referring to the trail connection that was
offered?
1474
03:38:40.290 --> 03:38:45.650
Community Hall: Well, emergency egress would need to be… Automotive?
1475
03:38:48.360 --> 03:38:57.780
Community Hall: I'm not familiar with the emergency egress on this. I
don't know if that's something you could speak to, or if that would be… I
realize Brad just sat down.
1476
03:38:58.470 --> 03:39:01.639
Community Hall: Okay. Okay, very good. We won't have Brad come back.
1477
03:39:02.970 --> 03:39:07.629
Community Hall: I'm gonna segue to a different part here. So, have the
tribal consultations occurred?
1478
03:39:08.470 --> 03:39:11.489
Community Hall: Yes, they have occurred. Any feedback or anything else?
1479
03:39:12.140 --> 03:39:13.060
Community Hall: Defer to you.
1480
03:39:14.110 --> 03:39:29.810
Community Hall: So, we had consultation with one of the local tribes, and
they indicated that they did have some concerns relating to monitoring as
well as education of the workers regarding the sensitive cultural
resources that may not be on site.
1481
03:39:29.810 --> 03:39:43.149
Community Hall: However, we were not able to come to a decision on the
wording of certain conditions to reflect that prior to the end of that
consultation period, and so the standard language, which does include
requirements for monitoring
1482
03:39:43.150 --> 03:39:55.660
Community Hall: during project construction, was included as part of this
resolution that you have. And then the city also does have requirements
for education of workers prior to commencement of any work on the site.
1483
03:39:56.000 --> 03:40:00.980
Community Hall: So, does the AP130 deadline extend if the tribal
consultation is still pending?
1484
03:40:02.180 --> 03:40:12.859
Community Hall: So, the tribal consultation isn't pending because the
consultation period ended. AB130 outlines very specific deadlines that
they would also need to meet when participating in consultation.
1485
03:40:12.940 --> 03:40:24.810
Community Hall: And as that has concluded, we then move on to the kind of
approval and or decision-making process for that. Yeah, and so I just
want to clarify, so the tribes themselves get 60 days, is that right?
1486
03:40:25.710 --> 03:40:32.629
Community Hall: Right, so they get, they get a 45-day consultation period
with a 15-day extension. And when did their notification start?
1487
03:40:33.420 --> 03:40:38.389
Community Hall: I would have to look back at my notes to check when that
also… When did the tribal consultation end?
1488
03:40:39.050 --> 03:40:46.239
Community Hall: I believe it ended… in… January? I'm trying to think back
here, yeah, early January.
1489
03:40:47.340 --> 03:40:50.749
Community Hall: Either January 4th or 6th, if I'm remembering correctly.
1490
03:40:52.530 --> 03:41:01.599
Community Hall: Okay, switching to a different… January 6th. Just to
confirm, January 6th was it, when the period ended? When the tribal
consultation ended, with no feedback.
1491
03:41:03.440 --> 03:41:09.460
Community Hall: Well, I think we had the feedback. Again, with no, with
no decided upon or agreed to conditions. Okay, thank you.
1492
03:41:09.640 --> 03:41:13.740
Community Hall: And then… Has there been any incomplete
1493
03:41:13.900 --> 03:41:19.640
Community Hall: notifications to the applicant so far on the application?
Has anything… Is that any…
1494
03:41:20.210 --> 03:41:24.469
Community Hall: So, the… the project was reviewed for its completeness,
meaning it… it's…
1495
03:41:24.650 --> 03:41:40.779
Community Hall: had provided all of the items listed on our application,
and that happened within the first 30 days of us receiving the
application. We then reviewed a second submission that did address all of
the items that are on our application checklist, and then it moved into a
consistency review.
1496
03:41:40.810 --> 03:41:45.250
Community Hall: And that identifies the objective standards within our
general plan.
1497
03:41:45.530 --> 03:42:04.079
Community Hall: BMR housing manual, as well as our zoning code that
applied to the project, and so we went through multiple rounds of review
for that, and by the end of it, we found that the project was consistent,
and I believe that that matrix that we used to identify all those
objective standards was included as, I want to say, attachment… So staff
have not had any
1498
03:42:04.080 --> 03:42:06.169
Community Hall: Application incompleteness in this.
1499
03:42:06.350 --> 03:42:15.860
Community Hall: project. So again, the… it was determined incomplete when
it first came in, but then they provided all the information to make it a
complete application. Has the application been materially revised?
1500
03:42:17.110 --> 03:42:24.030
Community Hall: Has there been a material… Revision of the application
that would reopen the AB130 window.
1501
03:42:24.520 --> 03:42:27.009
Community Hall: Oh, so not, not from when we…
1502
03:42:27.140 --> 03:42:32.439
Community Hall: assessed the project under the AB130 criteria. No, no
changes have been made.
1503
03:42:33.830 --> 03:42:34.640
Community Hall: Okay.
1504
03:42:34.840 --> 03:42:39.079
Community Hall: So, at this point, what… so April 4th is the deadline
for…
1505
03:42:39.350 --> 03:42:48.800
Community Hall: approval, and this goes to City Council on… March 17th.
Okay, and so… Effectively, we are looking at
1506
03:42:49.320 --> 03:42:54.490
Community Hall: Either we are done with Planning Commission today, or
we're gonna have to have special meetings if…
1507
03:42:54.650 --> 03:42:58.720
Community Hall: If it came to that, if we needed another hearing for
Planning Commission, is that fair?
1508
03:42:59.470 --> 03:43:05.409
Community Hall: That would be fair, because I believe that's the last
regular City Council meeting prior to April 4th. Okay.
1509
03:43:06.970 --> 03:43:08.729
Community Hall: I'll pause there, yield my time.
1510
03:43:09.400 --> 03:43:18.639
Community Hall: Okay, are there any other questions for either the fire
marshal or the applicant? Oh, yeah, I have one. Yeah, I'm looking at the
CEQA exemption memo.
1511
03:43:18.930 --> 03:43:22.180
Community Hall: And it says, to accommodate the design of the project.
1512
03:43:22.690 --> 03:43:33.029
Community Hall: The project received approval of alternative means or
methods from the fire department to reduce the 30-foot setback from
adjacent buildings.
1513
03:43:33.200 --> 03:43:34.780
Community Hall: Is there a document?
1514
03:43:35.530 --> 03:43:38.449
Community Hall: That says what those mitigation measures were.
1515
03:43:39.530 --> 03:43:50.990
Community Hall: Do we have it in front of us? There was an approved
alternative means and methods request, and Brad can speak to the
specifics of that, but it does outline how they were able to meet all of
those requirements.
1516
03:43:51.450 --> 03:43:56.419
Community Hall: Okay, so that's in our packet, right? That's not included
within the packet, but it can be provided.
1517
03:43:57.360 --> 03:44:02.120
Community Hall: So, why do we not see it? I mean, it seems pretty
important.
1518
03:44:02.510 --> 03:44:04.489
Community Hall: I mean, why was it not included?
1519
03:44:04.990 --> 03:44:09.039
Community Hall: It just wasn't included, unfortunately, but I definitely
can hand that over to you.
1520
03:44:10.090 --> 03:44:13.829
Community Hall: Right, but we're supposed to vote on this tonight, right?
1521
03:44:14.930 --> 03:44:16.490
Community Hall: Okay, thank you.
1522
03:44:17.710 --> 03:44:19.140
Community Hall: It is in the packet.
1523
03:44:19.700 --> 03:44:36.620
Community Hall: Yeah, I thought there was a page in the restricted plan
set, but I don't know if that's the same thing as what you're referring
to? That's the same information, it just wasn't included in the agenda
packet as a separate attachment. It is part of the plan set, so the
information is there.
1524
03:44:36.930 --> 03:44:41.549
Community Hall: So the public did not see it then, right? Okay.
1525
03:44:41.820 --> 03:44:44.140
Community Hall: Sorry. Thanks.
1526
03:44:46.460 --> 03:44:52.790
Community Hall: Yeah, this is… this is a summary of the measures we've
been… a summary of the measures we've been describing. It's…
1527
03:44:53.660 --> 03:44:57.859
Community Hall: in the plan set, I think that was posted, on the city
website.
1528
03:45:01.440 --> 03:45:07.449
Community Hall: It's okay. We can't read that small print here anyway, so
it's fine.
1529
03:45:07.820 --> 03:45:09.349
Community Hall: Fine. Okay.
1530
03:45:09.470 --> 03:45:10.900
Community Hall: Yeah, Commissioner Lenscogg?
1531
03:45:11.320 --> 03:45:14.430
Community Hall: Okay, so,
1532
03:45:15.090 --> 03:45:25.730
Community Hall: The trail that you have offered, could that be considered
a secondary evacuation route? Not really. I mean, that is a pedestrian
bicycle,
1533
03:45:26.470 --> 03:45:42.900
Community Hall: access to the trail, and we're not really offering it. I
think what happened is, in some of our meetings with the neighborhood,
there were several people that expressed interest. It's not an objective
standard by the city to provide it, it's not part of the plans.
1534
03:45:42.900 --> 03:45:48.320
Community Hall: they said, can you please talk to staff to see whether
there's interest? They had interest. We said.
1535
03:45:48.320 --> 03:46:05.659
Community Hall: Sure, we'll have that discussion. We talked with staff.
Staff said, if you want, draw an exhibit, show us what you think would be
done. We do the exhibit, we work with staff, and at all times, we're
neutral on this. We're not advocating for it.
1536
03:46:05.660 --> 03:46:08.330
Community Hall: And we're not saying no, we're just saying if the city
1537
03:46:08.330 --> 03:46:21.710
Community Hall: chooses to have that connectivity, we're more than happy
to include it in our plan sets. We would need to get reimbursed for the
cost. Staff said, well, we need to know what the cost is, so we went out
there and did some initial bids, and
1538
03:46:21.710 --> 03:46:39.709
Community Hall: the dollar amounts in there, so that's really for bicycle
and pedestrian access, not any other… it's not really for evacuation. No,
I understand it's not for evacuation, and I know it doesn't legally
qualify as evacuation, but I did look up, you know, what qualifies as an
evacuation route, and a secondary evacuation route can be a pedestrian
route.
1539
03:46:39.710 --> 03:46:48.240
Community Hall: So it could be used as an evacuation route, even though
it doesn't, you know, it's not legally required or qualified as such. Is
that correct?
1540
03:46:48.600 --> 03:47:07.799
Community Hall: I can't… Okay, now I get it. I can't say it's… Sure.
Because it needs to… there needs to be set standards for it to be called
that. I get it, I get it. But again, we're… we're open to whatever the
city decides that they want to do with that. Okay, awesome. Second
question. So, looking at the… the plans, right,
1541
03:47:08.250 --> 03:47:25.710
Community Hall: would you be open to the five houses that are on the
south side? Not necessarily the end one, but the other five, making those
two-story homes? Sure, so we've had long discussions. The neighbors have,
every time we've met, asked for that, and we understand
1542
03:47:26.220 --> 03:47:37.679
Community Hall: Why they're asking for it. Frankly, the project with a
20% affordable housing needs to be subsidized with a certain amount of
square footage to make the project feasible.
1543
03:47:38.230 --> 03:47:55.959
Community Hall: if… if it could be feasible without reducing the site…
with reducing the size to two stories, we would have done that. We looked
at it many times. We're not able to do that. So they do need to stay as
three stories. Even if you reduce some of the BMRs above the… on the
north side?
1544
03:47:56.780 --> 03:48:11.710
Community Hall: You mean if we didn't have BMR units? Well, if you… if
you basically just shifted the count of BMRs from the north side to maybe
doing a row of BMRs on the… on the south edge. It… it doesn't change the
pro forma for the project.
1545
03:48:12.250 --> 03:48:21.890
Community Hall: I'm sorry, why doesn't it… you're moving BMRs, right? By
moving the BMRs from one location of the site to another, it won't change
1546
03:48:21.960 --> 03:48:38.889
Community Hall: you're still going to have to provide… the BMRs are,
like, I believe around $500,000 or so. You're still going to have to
provide the BMR units, the number of the BMR units. So, that doesn't
change the equation for the feasibility of the project. They're smaller.
So I guess I'm not sure I understand that.
1547
03:48:38.890 --> 03:48:56.050
Community Hall: So, if you still provide the same number of BMRs, right,
but, instead of having some of them on the north side, or kind of north-
ish side, right, in the middle there, if you put a row of them on the
south edge, and make them, you know.
1548
03:48:56.250 --> 03:49:15.320
Community Hall: even less expensive BMRs, because now you go to two-
story, right? We've had, you know, we've had a development, or a couple
of developments that we've talked to where they have agreed to that,
because they said that it actually benefits them to have a mix of
different prices, price, you know, for the units that they're offering.
1549
03:49:15.430 --> 03:49:18.250
Community Hall: It's not a lot, it's 5.
1550
03:49:18.350 --> 03:49:26.770
Community Hall: You know, you guys are doing a lot of building in our
area. You're gonna be a partner with us in our city for many decades to
come.
1551
03:49:26.790 --> 03:49:39.899
Community Hall: Is this something that you would be willing to consider
as a, you know, as a good faith to show your relationship with the city
long-term? So the BMR units, you're gonna wind up with one- and two-
bedroom BMR units? That's fine.
1552
03:49:40.140 --> 03:49:57.309
Community Hall: Yeah, I, so first… There is a demand for that, too. Yeah.
Potentially, yes. You're substantially dropping the price of the BMR
units when you remove bedrooms. So now you go from a $500,000 BMR unit to
potentially a $250,000 BMR unit.
1553
03:49:57.410 --> 03:50:05.040
Community Hall: We've looked… bedroom counts do matter on how BMRs get
priced. We have looked whether you can reduce the…
1554
03:50:05.440 --> 03:50:08.560
Community Hall: The bedroom count, and what…
1555
03:50:08.560 --> 03:50:27.579
Community Hall: impact that would have on the financial feasibility of a
project, it still has a huge impact. So, just going to a two-bedroom BMR
unit, I know the score footage is less, the sales price drops so
substantially, you're gonna… even 5 units, you're gonna still have a…
you're still gonna have a head on a project that's not feasible.
1556
03:50:27.790 --> 03:50:38.120
Community Hall: So, I understand the ask. We've looked at many different
ways. What can we do with the BMRs, and what can we do with the site to
see if we can reduce the square footage on the for-sale side.
1557
03:50:38.330 --> 03:50:41.830
Community Hall: By removing the score footage on the for sale side.
1558
03:50:42.050 --> 03:50:47.139
Community Hall: Because the for-sale market rate sales price is so much
more
1559
03:50:47.350 --> 03:51:07.660
Community Hall: than the BMR, so every square footage that you remove
from the for sale site has a much bigger impact than what you're doing.
So the other option would be you keep your BMR at 3 stories, like you
have right now, but you… but the BMR units, if I understand correctly,
are 17 feet wide instead of the 21 feet wide that your regular units are,
right? So that would give another 4 feet…
1560
03:51:07.660 --> 03:51:16.699
Community Hall: of buffer space, if you put BMR units on the south edge,
would you be willing to do that? So, I think that was a question that we
were asked earlier. We did look at it.
1561
03:51:16.720 --> 03:51:20.790
Community Hall: you can't fit those… if you move a BMR unit that's…
1562
03:51:20.820 --> 03:51:25.489
Community Hall: Smaller to the other side, and you moved a two-car garage
1563
03:51:25.550 --> 03:51:39.649
Community Hall: to the other side of the cul-de-sac, they won't fit, and
Steve can probably address that better than I can, but we've looked at
whether you can flip it. You won't be able to put the two-car garage on
the other side and still make the setbacks, because of the amount of
1564
03:51:39.770 --> 03:51:46.879
Community Hall: With that you're adding. Right, so this is the exact
scenario that I had gone through with the developer, and thank you for
1565
03:51:47.060 --> 03:51:50.379
Community Hall: entertaining my many scenarios that I've asked you,
1566
03:51:50.940 --> 03:52:10.339
Community Hall: as I mentioned in our conversation, the north side
setback next to the tennis courts is less critical to the community. It's
not facing anybody's home, and so, you know, if we were to do that swap
of the smaller unit on the north with the larger unit on the south, and
eat into the setback that's next to the tennis court.
1567
03:52:10.500 --> 03:52:14.689
Community Hall: There is no loss of money in this project for you.
1568
03:52:14.740 --> 03:52:31.170
Community Hall: So, I think that's what we're both asking, is can this be
done? Through the chair, if I may, if I may comment on that, I believe
there are units on the northern side, which is one of the members of the
public there, and I also believe, having used the Cupertino Hills
swimming racket, thanks to some of the members of the public here, I used
the facility.
1569
03:52:31.170 --> 03:52:36.270
Community Hall: There is a swimming pool there, and there's a number of
members of the community that regularly use the swimming pool.
1570
03:52:36.270 --> 03:52:48.900
Community Hall: So there is, in fact, a privacy issue on the northern
side, because those homes will be looking right into the swimming pool,
and the community is going to be in the swimming pool there, so it just
needs to be… That's one component of it. I would also say, by pushing
1571
03:52:48.980 --> 03:52:53.110
Community Hall: By putting the two-story house, you're going to reduce…
so…
1572
03:52:53.400 --> 03:53:11.110
Community Hall: that setback that we have on both sides also have all of
the bioretention areas. You can't reduce it down to the 4 foot or the 5
foot that you're looking for, because the bioretention has to stay on
both sides of the project. Yeah, I wasn't trying to reduce the setback.
Well, if you introduce it
1573
03:53:11.180 --> 03:53:15.040
Community Hall: I've looked at it, that's because we've been asked that
question. Yeah.
1574
03:53:15.230 --> 03:53:24.880
Community Hall: by not only planning commissioners, but also neighbors.
If you move the side-by-side garage to the other side and bring the
tandem to this side.
1575
03:53:25.370 --> 03:53:28.180
Community Hall: The amount of setback that you'll have
1576
03:53:29.660 --> 03:53:47.509
Community Hall: on the side-by-side garage where it's been added, it
reduces the setback to the fence to a point where you can't use that as
the bioretention that you need for that portion of the site. So you're
reducing it so much where it's, it's not just…
1577
03:53:47.510 --> 03:53:54.629
Community Hall: that you're reducing it from 10 feet to 4 feet or 5 feet.
You're removing the ability to do that bioretention on that side yard.
1578
03:53:55.020 --> 03:54:12.009
Community Hall: So, it's hard to try to explain to engineering-wise, what
the impact is, but we have looked at it. It just… it was a good
suggestion the first time that we got it looked at, and it couldn't flip
the units. Through the chair, if I may?
1579
03:54:12.820 --> 03:54:14.100
Community Hall: Yes.
1580
03:54:14.400 --> 03:54:21.479
Community Hall: A question to start. If this property or project were to
add an ADU, what is the setback for ADUs?
1581
03:54:24.900 --> 03:54:27.379
Community Hall: You can go to 4 feet of a property line.
1582
03:54:27.490 --> 03:54:28.160
Community Hall: Okay.
1583
03:54:28.480 --> 03:54:35.749
Community Hall: And so, if this project were to do 20 DU per acre using a
combination of single-family home and
1584
03:54:35.870 --> 03:54:39.579
Community Hall: ADUs, is that considered a down zone for R3TH?
1585
03:54:40.820 --> 03:54:50.460
Community Hall: I'm gonna stick to the project we have at hand tonight on
the agenda. Yes, I'm trying to walk through the members of the public's
questions that we had, just for completeness of the
1586
03:54:50.610 --> 03:54:57.370
Community Hall: of the hearing, there is… maybe… let me rephrase the
question. State law prohibits downzoning, is that correct?
1587
03:54:58.250 --> 03:55:03.769
Community Hall: State law prohibits downzoning if there's not a
simultaneous upzoning somewhere else.
1588
03:55:04.320 --> 03:55:11.779
Community Hall: Simultaneous upzoning would mean applicant has to agree
to a down zone on a vested application, is that correct?
1589
03:55:12.260 --> 03:55:23.359
Community Hall: That would be the other complication here, though, is
they have a vested application. Okay. So that locks the standards in at
the time the application was submitted. So just to clarify here.
1590
03:55:23.620 --> 03:55:37.699
Community Hall: We have a state law that prohibits downzoning unless you
do an upzoning at the same time at another location, which would still
require the current parcel owner and applicant to consent to that.
1591
03:55:37.810 --> 03:55:38.819
Community Hall: Is that fair?
1592
03:55:39.390 --> 03:55:55.080
Community Hall: Yes, given that there's an existing vested application,
yes. Would the applicant care to comment on any constraints you might
have in doing that, or is that something that you've considered? Yeah, at
this point, the property owner or Summerhill are not entertaining
changing the project as proposed.
1593
03:55:56.130 --> 03:56:00.309
Community Hall: Is that a decision the applicant makes, or is that a
decision the partial owner makes?
1594
03:56:00.950 --> 03:56:10.210
Community Hall: at this point… at this point, both the property owner and
Summer Hill are not changing the proposed project as it's been submitted.
1595
03:56:10.360 --> 03:56:12.000
Community Hall: So,
1596
03:56:12.240 --> 03:56:19.659
Community Hall: I think your question is, would we consider doing that?
And now, no, we're not considering changing what we have proposed. Okay,
thank you.
1597
03:56:20.810 --> 03:56:26.850
Community Hall: And a final question on the, on the units here. So, do
ADUs count as units?
1598
03:56:29.530 --> 03:56:39.739
Community Hall: depends how you look at it. We get credit for them when
they're built as counting towards our arena, but they don't count towards
the density of a project. I see. Thank you, that's an important
clarification, thank you.
1599
03:56:40.810 --> 03:56:45.670
Community Hall: Sorry, City Attorney, as we approach 11, do we need to
have a vote to extend, or does it matter?
1600
03:56:46.470 --> 03:56:55.730
Community Hall: Yeah, that was a good question. The rules for the Council
Precision Man don't apply here, so it's up to your discretion, but just
give them the layout, or ask me one of them, but
1601
03:56:55.870 --> 03:56:59.949
Community Hall: a cap on… Time at this point for each of the
commissioners?
1602
03:57:00.430 --> 03:57:12.609
Community Hall: Yes, so quick questions left from anybody, Vice Chair.
One quick question, because I recall the developers using a waiver or
concession to make the
1603
03:57:13.000 --> 03:57:14.730
Community Hall: BMR units.
1604
03:57:14.980 --> 03:57:26.959
Community Hall: different than the market rate, which is fine, but then
when the staff mentioned the BMR units are comparable to the market rate
units, so I just wonder which… which of those statements is true.
1605
03:57:27.210 --> 03:57:37.100
Community Hall: Right, so the concession is actually for a mix of types.
Usually we would ask, because this has four different types of units
being proposed, that the BMR units be each of the four.
1606
03:57:37.100 --> 03:57:52.399
Community Hall: they are providing just one type of unit, one design, one
layout, basically, but the sizes of the units are comparable, and that's
what we're comparing through that. Oh, I… because I thought they said the
BMR units were smaller, so I must… They are… they are smaller, but we're
still within the…
1607
03:57:52.400 --> 03:58:00.660
Community Hall: again, comparable is kind of… Okay, so comparable… Yeah.
They're comparable, but smaller, okay. Right, thank you.
1608
03:58:02.230 --> 03:58:09.110
Community Hall: Quick question through the chair. So, I'm looking at the
table on page 18, I think, of the staff report.
1609
03:58:09.440 --> 03:58:12.460
Community Hall: Is it correct that this further reduces our…
1610
03:58:13.050 --> 03:58:18.469
Community Hall: Lower income units by 31 plus 8, 39.
1611
03:58:19.260 --> 03:58:23.880
Community Hall: Yes, if you're looking at what the housing element
anticipated, you…
1612
03:58:24.380 --> 03:58:28.190
Community Hall: The estimate was 84 total units, and…
1613
03:58:29.540 --> 03:58:47.969
Community Hall: Let me look what we had… 31 low and 18 moderate. How do
we arrive at those projections? Because I'm assuming the applicant had a
preliminary app that was about ready to go, given the May zoning versus
October preliminary application. How did their projections get so far
off? No, these are worked out
1614
03:58:48.330 --> 03:58:54.310
Community Hall: with staff and HCD, and this was well in advance. I don't
know when we finally landed on those numbers, but it…
1615
03:58:54.410 --> 03:58:56.910
Community Hall: 2023, 2024, sometime.
1616
03:58:58.170 --> 03:58:59.289
Community Hall: Okay, thank you.
1617
03:58:59.520 --> 03:59:01.040
Community Hall: No further questions, thank you.
1618
03:59:01.500 --> 03:59:03.750
Community Hall: Any other questions from the Commission?
1619
03:59:05.220 --> 03:59:11.409
Community Hall: All right, the public hearing is actually closed now.
Let's move on to comments from the Commission.
1620
03:59:12.280 --> 03:59:19.879
Community Hall: Yeah, I'm happy to quickly wrap this up. I think we have
exhausted what we've been able to go through here. We have talked through
the fire scenarios.
1621
03:59:20.130 --> 03:59:23.529
Community Hall: I believe FIR finds the project to be compliant.
1622
03:59:24.190 --> 03:59:27.839
Community Hall: We have talked through The track record of fires, and…
1623
03:59:28.250 --> 03:59:41.010
Community Hall: appears like Summerhill has a track record of safety with
the projects that they've had, and they will continue to look for
measures and best practices between what they're doing and what the fire
department requires and what staff require for a fire safety plan.
1624
03:59:41.140 --> 03:59:42.949
Community Hall: To meet those requirements.
1625
03:59:43.220 --> 03:59:47.069
Community Hall: We have talked through the best practices for
1626
03:59:47.550 --> 03:59:53.340
Community Hall: privacy, and I don't have a good sense of whether the
neighborhood really wants sprees and hedges, because I keep
1627
03:59:53.940 --> 03:59:58.299
Community Hall: Hearing the ask is for setback and two floor, which…
1628
03:59:58.920 --> 04:00:03.530
Community Hall: we have discussed at length. I do not see an ask for
privacy edges.
1629
04:00:03.670 --> 04:00:10.770
Community Hall: But I'm willing to… Put a motion that amends the
conditions of approval to consider, including privacy hedges.
1630
04:00:11.240 --> 04:00:14.179
Community Hall: If commissioners want to support that and let the…
1631
04:00:14.690 --> 04:00:18.019
Community Hall: Applicant work that with the community and staff, if
that's something…
1632
04:00:18.230 --> 04:00:29.519
Community Hall: And then finally, I believe there is a condition in the
Mooney Code that limits the passage of trucks during school hours, and so
I'd like to just ask that we amend the
1633
04:00:29.710 --> 04:00:38.380
Community Hall: Staff recommendation to include The, hours of restriction
for trucks to be 7.30 to 9.30,
1634
04:00:38.490 --> 04:00:40.939
Community Hall: And 2 to 4 p.m, per the Money Code.
1635
04:00:41.050 --> 04:00:45.249
Community Hall: on streets that… about the project, specifically
McClellan.
1636
04:00:46.120 --> 04:00:47.430
Community Hall: Set a Tennesaw.
1637
04:00:47.980 --> 04:00:49.939
Community Hall: Linda, Mr. Highness Port.
1638
04:00:50.600 --> 04:00:54.770
Community Hall: With that, I'd like to move that motion, if I have a
second.
1639
04:00:59.980 --> 04:01:01.110
Community Hall: No seconds.
1640
04:01:01.590 --> 04:01:08.490
Community Hall: I'll second it. I'll second it for the purposes of
discussion. Any further comments from… Commission?
1641
04:01:11.610 --> 04:01:16.269
Community Hall: Yeah, I don't know if it's from the amendment or what,
but I would prefer…
1642
04:01:16.780 --> 04:01:21.880
Community Hall: that we don't waive the park in Luffy in order to get the
connection to…
1643
04:01:22.220 --> 04:01:28.820
Community Hall: Stevens Creek Trail, just because I think they would put
that in anyway. I will accept the trendy amendment.
1644
04:01:29.860 --> 04:01:32.000
Community Hall: Would the seconder accept the friendly amendment?
1645
04:01:35.500 --> 04:01:46.380
Community Hall: I'm not sure, because there is probably an additional
cost incurred upon the developer. Would Commissioner Scharf second the
motion, if I accepted your friendly amendment?
1646
04:01:47.210 --> 04:01:49.970
Community Hall: Sure. Okay, we have a motion and a second.
1647
04:01:50.600 --> 04:01:59.209
Community Hall: Can you clarify what you mean by you think they're gonna
build it anyway? Right, I mean, if you look at the parcel, it's a big
benefit to the residents of those
1648
04:01:59.450 --> 04:02:07.160
Community Hall: 51 units, it's a big selling point, and yet they're
asking for this huge amount.
1649
04:02:07.400 --> 04:02:12.179
Community Hall: reduction in the park in Luffy's, and I… I don't… I don't
like that idea.
1650
04:02:14.070 --> 04:02:16.450
Community Hall: So, just so the record is clear,
1651
04:02:16.770 --> 04:02:28.410
Community Hall: Commissioner Rob, perhaps you can withdraw your motion,
and rescind your motion, and then make a new one, and then Chair Sharp
can second it, because right now, the pending motion is seconded by the
Chair.
1652
04:02:30.300 --> 04:02:37.820
Community Hall: I see, so I would resend the original motion, I would
make a new motion, that…
1653
04:02:38.190 --> 04:02:41.729
Community Hall: Moves the staff recommendation with the following
amendments.
1654
04:02:41.970 --> 04:02:44.910
Community Hall: We will not waive the parking lot fee.
1655
04:02:46.070 --> 04:02:48.760
Community Hall: As a second condition of approval.
1656
04:02:49.280 --> 04:02:53.029
Community Hall: The hours of operation for trucks shall be limited.
1657
04:02:53.150 --> 04:02:58.499
Community Hall: to not operate during 7.30 to 9.30 and 2 to 4 p.m, as per
the Monique code.
1658
04:02:59.070 --> 04:03:05.870
Community Hall: for the streets surrounding the project, namely Linda
Vista Drive, Highness Port, Bob?
1659
04:03:06.400 --> 04:03:07.510
Community Hall: And McClellan?
1660
04:03:08.920 --> 04:03:10.190
Community Hall: And there was one more.
1661
04:03:12.530 --> 04:03:19.260
Community Hall: And a consideration to include privacy shrubs if the
applicant and the residents find that to be amenable.
1662
04:03:19.720 --> 04:03:21.010
Community Hall: Those are the three.
1663
04:03:21.370 --> 04:03:22.430
Community Hall: conditions.
1664
04:03:23.350 --> 04:03:25.770
Community Hall: Commissioner Schroff, do you approve? What do you second?
1665
04:03:25.950 --> 04:03:28.820
Community Hall: Sure, I'll second it. Weissharf, I'm sorry.
1666
04:03:29.280 --> 04:03:31.009
Community Hall: Yes, I still second it.
1667
04:03:32.910 --> 04:03:35.210
Community Hall: Can I ask a clarifying question?
1668
04:03:35.340 --> 04:03:37.770
Community Hall: So, to the developer.
1669
04:03:38.000 --> 04:03:50.630
Community Hall: What are your thoughts on if we don't approve the… the
waiver of the indoor park fees up to $370,000 for the trail access? Yeah,
we would not be building that trail. We…
1670
04:03:50.630 --> 04:03:58.360
Community Hall: That's not part of the project. Can you speak in the mic,
please? Yeah. We would not be building that trail if the city does not
want to…
1671
04:03:58.450 --> 04:04:00.590
Community Hall: Pay for the construction of it.
1672
04:04:00.680 --> 04:04:14.020
Community Hall: You know, there's a good portion of our company that
believes that trail is non-beneficial to the project for the amount of
people that are going to be going in and out of the project, so they
would prefer not to have it.
1673
04:04:14.290 --> 04:04:18.999
Community Hall: But I stood here and said we want to be neutral because
we want to provide what
1674
04:04:19.500 --> 04:04:38.880
Community Hall: planning commissioners and council members would want to
have for their city, but we would not want it for the expense of that
trail, because we don't believe that's beneficial for the project.
Through the chair, I have a little experience in this space, in that in
the neighborhood I am in, we have a trail that egresses through my
neighborhood, and we have had a number of burglaries where burglars will
1675
04:04:38.970 --> 04:04:45.639
Community Hall: Ingress and egress through those exit points, and that's
been a source of constant nuisance for the neighborhood.
1676
04:04:45.860 --> 04:04:58.249
Community Hall: And so, just want to point out that these routes can be
pathways for buglars to get in and out, just a public safety aspect to
consider as well. Thank you. It's public safety, and it does become a
nuisance for that neighborhood.
1677
04:04:58.250 --> 04:05:15.299
Community Hall: So again, we don't want to build it, but we're just
trying to be accommodating. We certainly couldn't build it with the
project as proposed and pay for it. So will there be a fence that
prevents access to the trail from… Yeah, there's our plans, so there's an
exhibit for the trail, but
1678
04:05:15.350 --> 04:05:23.420
Community Hall: Which is separate from our plans, but our plans shows a
continuous open view fencing at the back of the project.
1679
04:05:23.610 --> 04:05:30.959
Community Hall: I see. Seems like it's the same as the… So, I'll just
point… Right, I think we had the same discussion on that one, yeah.
1680
04:05:32.420 --> 04:05:38.310
Community Hall: Sorry, what was that? I was just saying, I believe we had
the same discussion on the Fontana project, yeah.
1681
04:05:38.490 --> 04:05:42.840
Community Hall: So, I'm just gonna point out a couple of things. One is,
1682
04:05:43.180 --> 04:06:01.960
Community Hall: the residents of Cupertino over and over and over again
keep saying that connectivity to trails is really important to them.
That's one of the highest, points of agreement in all the city surveys
that are done. If… also, if you look at,
1683
04:06:02.030 --> 04:06:20.329
Community Hall: the best, best practices for city planning, having a
access to nature within a 5-minute walk is considered optimal in city
planning. It's the 330-300 rule, so having access to nature within 300
meters, which is about a 5-minute walk.
1684
04:06:20.410 --> 04:06:28.209
Community Hall: I do think this would be beneficial to the neighborhood,
especially since this would be public access, so…
1685
04:06:28.340 --> 04:06:33.060
Community Hall: I am a strong supporter of this,
1686
04:06:33.430 --> 04:06:44.179
Community Hall: And I… I think this is something we should invest in,
because we're not going to get the chance to do this again. So… it's…
it's… and if it's at cost, it's… it seems like a… and I've…
1687
04:06:44.450 --> 04:06:55.160
Community Hall: I've spent a lot of time looking at trail costs. I know
this is a very reasonable cost as it goes, so I would suggest a friendly
amendment to include, the trail.
1688
04:06:55.310 --> 04:06:58.059
Community Hall: In, in this, in the motion.
1689
04:07:01.070 --> 04:07:07.820
Community Hall: through the chair, I would not be able to accept that for
the reasons of public safety, but also the fact that the
1690
04:07:08.080 --> 04:07:19.279
Community Hall: City is facing fiscal constraints, and a waiver of
parking lot fees is significant at this point. Finally, the public has
access to the trail through Linda Vista Park, I believe, as well as
1691
04:07:19.390 --> 04:07:26.610
Community Hall: ample access to parkland through Linda Vista Park, so I
really am hesitant for all of those reasons, and particularly public
safety, because I think
1692
04:07:26.770 --> 04:07:35.560
Community Hall: we ought to be very conscious of, you know, these new
developments tend to be more prone to burglaries. They look at people
that are newly moved in as sort of
1693
04:07:35.810 --> 04:07:53.049
Community Hall: less on the guard, and just a lot of cases where new
projects tend to get burglarized, or the homes around new projects get
burglarized, so this isn't just the Evelich Court project itself, but the
homes on Linda Western Drive need to maintain public safety, and we just
want to keep public safety in mind, so I would not accept that. Thank
you.
1694
04:07:53.610 --> 04:08:09.830
Community Hall: So I'll just point out that the homes along all the
trails in the city have no safety issues, that there's no data to show
that there's been any increase in burglaries or any kind of safety issues
along Ragnar Creek Trail, for example, which is the highest traffic trail
in the city.
1695
04:08:09.830 --> 04:08:18.319
Community Hall: So, I don't think there's any data to back up the safety
issue. Commissioner Linskop, may I suggest, perhaps, you want to make a
substitute motion?
1696
04:08:20.320 --> 04:08:31.210
Community Hall: Okay, I'll make a substitute motion to, accept the staff.
Well, basically everything, Commissioner Rao said, but also include the
trail.
1697
04:08:32.250 --> 04:08:33.300
Community Hall: I'll second it.
1698
04:08:35.580 --> 04:08:38.960
Community Hall: Alright, did we have any further comments from
Commission?
1699
04:08:39.250 --> 04:08:43.790
Community Hall: I will go ahead and comment. From my end, I…
1700
04:08:43.850 --> 04:08:50.730
Community Hall: I thank the community for coming tonight. I think you
have every right to be frustrated about this. I, you know.
1701
04:08:50.740 --> 04:09:11.650
Community Hall: the applicant knows how many times I've asked how this
project could be redone, and it's… it's very disappointing to me that we
were not able to give more setback or lower buildings, and, you know, I
take the decisions that we make here on Planning Commission very
seriously, and in order to be able to reject a setback waiver, I have to
be able to prove that it is
1702
04:09:11.650 --> 04:09:24.219
Community Hall: detrimental to public safety or public health somehow.
And while I could technically just reject something and send it to
Council without giving them, you know, any good reason, I'm just putting
the burden of proof on them. And so.
1703
04:09:24.220 --> 04:09:30.839
Community Hall: It's… it's just very difficult for me to make any… I have
no findings, showing that we are hurting
1704
04:09:30.840 --> 04:09:33.759
Community Hall: Public health at the moment, and so,
1705
04:09:33.760 --> 04:09:48.699
Community Hall: But it is disappointing. I think. I fully agree, this
doesn't fit with the neighborhood. The zoning does not fit. It should not
have been R3, and, you know, the commissioners that sit here, there's
little we could have done about it.
1706
04:09:49.670 --> 04:09:50.740
Community Hall: So…
1707
04:09:50.770 --> 04:10:02.639
Community Hall: you know, I think we're in the difficult place of having
no legal choice. We have done our best to answer the questions that have
come to us, and
1708
04:10:02.640 --> 04:10:08.679
Community Hall: The answers consistently seem to be that, everything is
in compliance with
1709
04:10:08.680 --> 04:10:25.009
Community Hall: fire and, you know, city is deferring to the fire
department to make the rulings that they can… they do think that this
development is defensible in the event of a fire. And, you know, as we
are not fire experts, we must also defer to that.
1710
04:10:25.060 --> 04:10:36.779
Community Hall: ruling. So, I have disappointment, but this is… this is
where I'm at. Thank you. Commissioner Rao. So, through the chair, we are
now voting on a substitute motion that
1711
04:10:37.680 --> 04:10:41.489
Community Hall: Yes, what would waive parking low fees?
1712
04:10:41.840 --> 04:10:43.110
Community Hall: I had a no vote.
1713
04:10:43.860 --> 04:10:50.380
Community Hall: Or… fail the substitute motion, effectively, we would go
back to the original motion on the table. Thank you.
1714
04:10:52.830 --> 04:10:55.869
Community Hall: Are we ready to vote, or are there any further comments?
1715
04:10:57.130 --> 04:11:01.659
Community Hall: This is just on the… on this particular amendment, right?
1716
04:11:01.860 --> 04:11:17.710
Community Hall: Yes. I mean, I have a summary comment as well. Okay, go
ahead. Go ahead with that, yeah, okay. I think that, you know, coming
into this, it was clear that the… whether the fire issues are addressed
were… whether the fire issues were going to be addressed appropriately, I
feel.
1717
04:11:17.880 --> 04:11:27.249
Community Hall: Comfortable that they… they have been to the standards to
which… to which you, you know, you could ask… you know, the community can
ask… can hold you to to… to, resolve this issue.
1718
04:11:28.290 --> 04:11:34.629
Community Hall: I think that, I think that there's been thought in the
design
1719
04:11:34.780 --> 04:11:54.289
Community Hall: you know, with regard to the setback issue, there's been
thought to design about how the, you know, the frosted windows and the
direction that they face kind of addresses the problem of people staring
into other people's homes. I think it didn't address the height that the
people on the south side
1720
04:11:54.320 --> 04:12:02.940
Community Hall: would see, so I would encourage you to just try to be
creative there. Short of necessarily taking a floor out, you know, is
there a way you can modify
1721
04:12:03.060 --> 04:12:04.900
Community Hall: The profile of the building.
1722
04:12:05.080 --> 04:12:13.499
Community Hall: So that it's… so that it doesn't seem as tall on that
side. I don't think that's… I think that's the only place where that's an
issue, where there's a very short setback.
1723
04:12:13.950 --> 04:12:16.670
Community Hall: One area I was surprised to,
1724
04:12:16.840 --> 04:12:20.159
Community Hall: There was one mention about the school districts,
1725
04:12:20.480 --> 04:12:27.419
Community Hall: There was one mention in there about the, you know, about
some of the revenues that would come to the schools, and I think that's
good.
1726
04:12:27.550 --> 04:12:32.599
Community Hall: You know, I was a very active parent. My son went to
Regnard, which would…
1727
04:12:32.870 --> 04:12:39.420
Community Hall: not be in… not be in this zone. I think… I think this
particular… kids who were living here at that time would have went to
Lincoln.
1728
04:12:39.590 --> 04:12:59.130
Community Hall: But, went to a Ragnard Kennedy in Monta Vista. You know,
Ragnar just closed because… because nobody can afford to live in our
community anymore that has kids. And, you know, I think that this
actually helps. At the time, there was a new, relatively new… when… when
he was young, there was a relatively new,
1729
04:13:00.450 --> 04:13:01.939
Community Hall: developmental.
1730
04:13:02.450 --> 04:13:04.019
Community Hall: project of Murano.
1731
04:13:04.160 --> 04:13:12.430
Community Hall: That's kind of… it's more toward the center, you know,
right off Danza Boulevard, but actually, I remember spending a lot of
time going there with, you know, to…
1732
04:13:12.460 --> 04:13:24.509
Community Hall: to visit with him, you know, to take him over to visit
with his friends. I think that there's a very good chance that your place
will be like that for this part of the community, and I think that that,
that is something that's a plus.
1733
04:13:24.720 --> 04:13:35.959
Community Hall: something not to forget. You know, that's one way… one
way to support the schools is by making an environment where it's more
possible for there to be families. I think this actually addresses that
pretty well.
1734
04:13:36.150 --> 04:13:51.960
Community Hall: I would actually say, though, please reach out. You know,
I think in my earlier term on the Planning Commission, it would have been
unusual for somebody not to talk about, you know, their discussions they
had with the districts. I would encourage you to reach out to them.
1735
04:13:52.230 --> 04:13:59.799
Community Hall: To understand the ways that, you know, are there things
that may not cost you anything that actually help,
1736
04:14:00.070 --> 04:14:04.099
Community Hall: Help the way that, the schools operate.
1737
04:14:04.190 --> 04:14:20.490
Community Hall: the fact that… the fact that a project like this could be
built is actually a windfall, you know, because of the way Prop 13 works.
This will really be a huge windfall for the district. So, you know, that
may be sufficient for, you know, they would be thankful for that. There
were, of course, a lot of discussions when people were building
apartments.
1738
04:14:20.490 --> 04:14:33.230
Community Hall: It's not your business, but when people are building
apartments, you know, whether they would be paying parcel taxes, and you
know, this automatically kind of solves that problem. So I think there's
a lot of pluses, a lot of community pluses.
1739
04:14:33.280 --> 04:14:43.059
Community Hall: you know, the fact that these are new places, that
they'll be efficient and, efficient and safe. I think those are all, you
know, all pluses, and
1740
04:14:43.600 --> 04:14:46.680
Community Hall: you know, so I… I'm supportive of the… I'm supportive of
the project.
1741
04:14:46.950 --> 04:14:47.730
Community Hall: Thank you.
1742
04:14:49.810 --> 04:14:56.860
Community Hall: Okay, thank you. Any more comments? Can the chair clarify
again what the yes vote would mean and the no vote?
1743
04:14:59.640 --> 04:15:12.179
Community Hall: So, I believe we're voting on your substitute motion,
correct? So, yes, the yes vote would mean that you would want… the only
difference between that and your motion, which… So, yes vote would waive
parking lot fees?
1744
04:15:12.310 --> 04:15:18.400
Community Hall: Yes, would have the trail connection, but would also
include the…
1745
04:15:18.440 --> 04:15:34.950
Community Hall: hours of restriction for construction from 7.30 to 9.30
and 2 to 4 p.m, right? That is in both motions. That's in both motions.
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So the only difference is we are voting on a motion
that waives parking fees. Right, and the privacy hedges would also still
be included. Everything else is the same.
1746
04:15:40.780 --> 04:15:41.600
Community Hall: Unbelievable.
1747
04:15:41.930 --> 04:15:43.650
Community Hall: Are we voting? Revoting?
1748
04:16:10.350 --> 04:16:14.680
Community Hall: The motion carries, with Commissioner Rao and Vice Chair
Sharp voting no.
1749
04:16:18.240 --> 04:16:22.490
Community Hall: Alright, thank you very much. We will now move on to…
1750
04:16:22.870 --> 04:16:25.949
Community Hall: Do we have any old business? Or new business?
1751
04:16:26.700 --> 04:16:29.519
Community Hall: None. Any staff and commission reports?
1752
04:16:34.720 --> 04:16:43.849
Community Hall: Staff does not have any report other than to say the next
meeting will be on March 9th. If there's any members of the public that
normally attend, that is on a Monday.
1753
04:16:43.950 --> 04:16:47.730
Community Hall: There is a Planning Commission academy that
1754
04:16:47.880 --> 04:16:53.720
Community Hall: Most of the commissioners are going to, so that date was
moved, and we will be discussing the…
1755
04:16:54.440 --> 04:17:04.699
Community Hall: the annual general plan update that goes to Sacramento on
April 1st, so this is more informational, but that item will be going.
1756
04:17:05.860 --> 04:17:08.799
Community Hall: And now I am blanking on the second item that we have.
1757
04:17:09.400 --> 04:17:24.899
Community Hall: What about the housing element, inventory, the net… no
net loss makeup? That is not going… that is going to City Council next
week, though, on the 3rd. So it would not come to Planning Commission? We
are planning to come to Planning Commission on that. We just don't have a
date certain on that yet.
1758
04:17:26.550 --> 04:17:28.970
Community Hall: And any update on harvest properties here?
1759
04:17:29.300 --> 04:17:34.570
Community Hall: Harvest Properties should be coming to the subsequent
meeting on March 24th.
1760
04:17:35.610 --> 04:17:45.449
Community Hall: And I understand Eden Properties, or Eden Housing, is
that Eden? That is doing the teacher housing? Eden is doing the teacher
housing site just north of Valco.
1761
04:17:45.470 --> 04:17:59.409
Community Hall: they volunteered to do a study session for the City
Council, even though the permit for that project will only come to the
Planning Commission as the final decision-making body, because it is… if
it's 100%, I believe it is 100% affordable.
1762
04:17:59.550 --> 04:18:02.749
Community Hall: to different income categories.
1763
04:18:04.300 --> 04:18:07.579
Community Hall: Great. Well, thank you very much. Any future agenda
setting?
1764
04:18:08.540 --> 04:18:11.000
Community Hall: No? Then the meeting is adjourned.