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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC 06-24-63 10;321 So. Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road 252-450~ C I T Y 0 F CUP E R TIN 0 Cupert~no, Call1'ornla MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION, JUNE.fi, 1963 Time: 8:00 P.M. Place: Board Room, Cupertino School District, 10300 Vista Drive I SALUTE TO THE FLAG II ROLL CALL: MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: June 10, 1963 Commissioners Present: Fitzgerald, Leonard, Rampy, Small, Snyder, Frolich Commissioners Absent: Adamo Staff Present: City Attorney, Assistant City Engineer, City Clerk MINUTES OF JUNE 10, 1963: Corrections Commissioner Leonard stated that the name of the Realtor, Mr. Van Vleck was misspelled, also the word'~larificatiorl' should be inserted for the word "edification" on page two, fourth line of first paragraph. All references to "Mr. Vleck" should be changed to "Mr. Van Vleck". Commissioner Frolich stated that on page 1, in corrections: Page 5, IV C should read:......."It was pointed out to the Commission that the applicant had been informed during the Use Permit hearing", not the rezoning. Page 3, bottom of page, vote on the "Amendment". Commissioner Small is shown as voting twice. Also at thé bottom of page 3: Commissioner Fro1ich asked the City Attorney if the most practical Solution in the case of a split vote would be to merely send the Council the application without a recommendation, stating only the facts. The City Attorney agreed to this solution. Commissioner Frolich wished the record to show that he had a part in stating the solution. Page 4: Top of page - The record should show that after two tries, the vote was 3-3 with one abstention. Also on Page 4: bottom of page, last sentence in paragraph before the last: "There will be single story buildings along Portal, with no buildings "greater" than two-story." instead of "higher" than two-story. Commissioner Frolich stated that the second paragraph at the top of Page 5 was confused and he questioned since it did not seem to say anything, that perhaps it should be deleted. After some dis- cussion between the Commissioners, it was decided that the paragraph should read: "The Stevens Creek side of this property in question, there is a strip of about 150 feet of existing R-3 which r\lnS through from Blaney to about 50 feet from Portal, that then abutts up against commercial zoning". Commissioner Frolich then asked the Commission whether the First Hearing was closed or continued on this application (Edwin C. Johnsen: Application 84-Z-63). It was decided that the First Hearing had been closed. Page 6: Thir<'l.pa1.'8.!"raph f:'.'om tov. fij~8t f:ent.p.JV8; "Chairman Frolich agreed, adJing~!lai; he c10esn I t always su1.J¡)(;~':i.be t.o the "thæory" instead of "fact"...... Commissioner Snyder moved, seconded by Commissioner Small that the Minutes of June 10, 1963 be approved as corrected. All in favor. III COMMUNICATIONS: A. Written: 1. Minutes of the County Planning Commission, June 5th 1963. 1 2. Agenda of County Planning Commission for June 19th, 1963. 3. Booklet on the State Development Plan, from the Dept. of Finance, State Office of Planning. 4. List of Subdivisions recorded in Santa 'Clara County for May, 1963. Moved by Commissioner Small, seconded by Commissioner Fitzgerald that the written correspondence be received and filed. All in favor. Chairman Frolich asked if there was anyone in the audience who wished to speak to the Commission. Mr. Paul Mariani, 10930 North Highway 9, Cupertino stePred for- ward and stated that he had received a communication regarding the company that was negotiating for the land which had come up for re- zoning some two months ago. He thanked the Commission for the confi- dence they had displayed in considering the applications. It turned out that the firm was Western Electric and that they had now purchased property in Sunnyvale. Mr. Mariani stated that he felt it was a very sad situation that Cupertino could not have had this fine company within its City limits. He stated that he had appeared at this meeting to make these comments in connection with the Excell application, which had been continued at the request of the applicant. He further stated that he was not protesting in any way to this application, merely giving this information to the Commission for what it was worth. Mr. Mariani then left the room. There was some discussion regarding the purpose of Mr. Mariani's statements, and Mr. Leonard observed that he felt that Mr. Mariani possibly might have intended to impart to the Commission that the land in question had other potential than was being requested and was in effect, asking the Commission to come up with the highest and best use for this land. Chairman Frolich mentioned that there will be a meeting on Thursday, July 11th to discuss the General Preliminary Plan at 8:00 P. M. in the Board Room. He invited the public to attend this meeting, stating that it will be to everyone's advantage to see what is being discussed in the planning of the City. Chairman Frolich also stated that the Commission was to meet with the County Planning Commission on Tuesday, June 27th, at 7:00 P.M. to discuss the Preliminary General Plan, and how it fits in with the County plans. At this point, Commissioner Fitzgerald mentioned that in looking over the correspondence, that there was still on the agenda the matter of the greenbelting of one acre of land. He asked if there hadn't been a letter to the Planning Commission of Santa Clara County in pro- test to this. The answer was yes, there had been. It was decided that the City Clerk should write another letter of protest, this time directing it to the Board of Supervisors. Moved by Commissioner Fitzgerald, seconded by Commissioner Snyder. All in favor. IV PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED: A. Edwin C. Johnsen: Application 8L[.-z-63 to rezone 8 acres from R-l:B-2 to R-24-H; 605' north of Stevens Creek Blvd. from Blaney to Portal. Second Hearing. Mr. Jolmsen st,s.t;:;cl. )'...:t:~".t tì.G t:"1e Jaöt mc~t1ng hp hA.d made arrange- ments to meet 1;11 th t.r'8 IcJ.~.8C:Jild GT'8enS Hr~'n!e()vr:ç::r~~ P",1ncclEt. tion 'GO dls··· cuss this project with them and answer any q:.'catioL:J tÌ1ey may have. That he had left the pictuI'e of the layout of the project with Mr. Alexander, the Association Pl'G:Jldent. However, due to graduations and other commitments, he had been unable to get together with the residents of Idlewild Greens. That he had learned from Mr. Alexander that some of the people had managed to stop by and take a look at the rendering and Mr. Alexander had given them some information about it. Commissioner Snyder stated that he saw many in the audience who had not attended the First Hearing and asked Mr. Johnsen to again give a brief outline of what was planned for the development of this land. 2 Mr. Johnsen briefly outlined the project, that there were eight acres :!.nvo1ved. That :!.nsteadof: the 16 unj.ts per acre, .which was allowed in the R-24-H Ordinance, they planned only 12 units per acre. The buildings were of Town-House type and would be sold off individual- ly. On the Portal Avenue side the units would be single-story facing the development across the street (Id1ewild Greens). The thinking being that these would fit in better with the other development. There would be much open green and some. recreation, including two swimming pools. Commissioner Leonard asked Mr. Johnsen if this development would be constructed in stages and if so, how long they estimated it would take to complete the project. Mr. Johnsen answered that it was esti- mated to take some three years to complete, that at least 8 units would be completed immediately. Chairman Frolich went to the audience for comment, asking that they be a brief as possible and try not to be repetitious in the interest of saving time. Mr. Charles Alexander, 10270 Portal Avenue, Cupertino, stated that he had attempted to give as much information to the residents of Idlewi1d Greens when they stopped by his home to look at the rendering, since they were unable to get together with Mr. Johnsen or one of his representatives. He further stated that it was the concensus of opinion that it would be a compliment to Cupertino, if it were to be placed at some other location than was proposed. That they were not opposed to multiple dwellings, but felt that this development would not fit in right next to an R-1 development. That they were not so much concerned about the original eight acres to be developed, but moreso about the adjoining acreage. Since the first eight would be in multiple, it would only be logical for the remaining acreage to be zoned multiple also, since no one would build R-1 right next to multiple. That north of this property the School District has pur- chased land and intends building a school there. That there would be a traffic problem on Wheaton and Amherst. It would just not be good planning and the feeling is that it should be kept R-l. Mr. Robert Michaelsen, 10424 Horwich Drive, Cupertino,stated that this sort of thing had been going on now for three years. That landowners had come in with various types of zoning from light indus- trial to multiple around this subdivision and he wondered how long it would continued. They if the developers could come up with some reasonable answer to the problem of buffering and 8.lso the traffic problems that result, the property owners from Id1ewild Greens would be more than happy to cooperate, however, up until now, there had been little accomplished in this regard. The following residents of Idlewild Greens voiced their objec- tions to the proposed development and agreed with Mr. Alexander's statements: Mr. Bill Botsch (representing his brother and himself), 10198 and 10184 Portal Avenue, Cupertino Mr. Ed McGuire, 19776 Amherst Drive, Cupertino Mr. John Eng1ebrecht, 10142 Colby, Cupertino Mr. Bill Utterbach, 19777 Amherst Dr., Cupertino Mr. Bill Wrightson, 10142 Portal Ave., Cupertino Mr. Robert Peterson, 10371 Portal Avenue., Cupertino Mr. Herman Myer, 19787 Wheaton Dr., Cupertino Mrs. A. H. Hermsmeyer, 10450 Portal Dr., Cupertino There was considerably more discusslon in which many points were brought up as regards popule.tj,on groNth, limit"d area. to develop, tax base, etc. CommlSf;ion~¡~ :LC::ìl¡ard St2.tZ<l t.hat 0:'18' of ths most lm1Jo:¡:'t3.nt items to be com,lè:ersd is (;'18 p:C8fjee.lt difficul-::y of ~-.hç 0u.per-·c1Ì:lO School District. The amount of money it to.lœs to educate one child per school year is not realized from a sir.gle family development where there are three, four ar.d five children per house. By going to higher density, there are more taxes realized and this would help to alleviate an already drastic situation. Mrs. Juanita McClaren, a realtor, representing property owners on Portal Avenue stated that she had worked on this property with the school district and school architects. That there will only be one- half a street from the school property and the traffic generated from the acreage under discussion will be a problem. 3 Commissioner Snyder asked Mr. Johnsen, in view of what had been stated, had they considered other areas in the City which might be more compatible? Mr. Johnsen said that they felt this was a good lo- cation for this type of development. Mr. Johnsen stated that he does not consider these town houses apartments. They are single-family dwellings. They will be sold as such. He feels that the homeowners are not considering this development in the light that it should be considered. Commissioner Small stated that there have been many problems brought out at this meeting and wants more time to consider the appli- cation, and therefore moved that the Second Hearing be continued. Se- conded by Commissioner Rampy. AYES: Commissioners: NOES: Commissioners; ABSENT: Commissioners: Leonard, Rampy, Small, Snyder, Frolich Fitzgerald Adamo MOTION CARRIED: 5-1 - I Absent. Commissioner Fitzgerald excused himself from the meeting. Tim e: 9;50 P.M. B. R. Cali & Bro.: Appl. 24-U-63 for a Use Permit; gas station; northwest corner of Highway 9 and McClellan. Continued. Mr. Ed Leigh, represented the Texaco Company and read statis- tics as regards the number of cars and the need for a service station at this particular spot. There is to be a commercial development later on on the balance of this 7-1/2 acres, but that the station is needed now since there is only one between Stevens Creek Boulevard and Bollinger Road on the West side of Highway 9. Mr. Don Bandley, 21490 Columbus, Cupertino, stated that he was a representative for R. Cali and that Mr. Cali would like to proceed with this matter as soon as possible and would appreciate an answer tonight. Commissioner Leonard stated that the last application for a Use Permit to construct a gas station had met with a 3-0 vote with two abstentions from the Council. It was felt that they had given a great deal of serious thought to this application, that the caliber of the station was such that it would have set a precedence for any new stations coming into the City. This application was denied by the Council. The reasons given by the Council for denial were that there were already too many stations in the City. The Commission was at a loss as to what the policy was with regard to gas stations and it was a question of whether to judge the station, not by its own merits, but by whose property was involved. Also should they send the Cali application on up to the Council with the previous application for the Shell Station, stating take one, take them both. Commissioner Snyder stated that in view of what had happened with the previous application that it seemed that this application too was to be an integral part of a larger commercial development and it would seem that it does not meet with stated policy. It is therefore rather confusing as to what to do. Chairman Frolich added that the Commission, when it sent the other application on to the Council with its recommendation for approval, felt that they h::1(1 l'eally set a :Ügh standard for other potential stations to live u) to., ard it wsu ð..:mied. Ho~,Jevers he did feel the.t with no. plans fO)ê~he prOpGS0(j::Olnl¡J¡":'cj.al ,-l¡"v¡ol':J"¡Jr¡¡cnt e,'en in the works, that p00s~bly this ôpplication fer a (;:;8 Permit was a bit premature. Mr. Fred Chez, also representing Cali, stated that thei"e is no station from Stevens Creek Blvd. clear to Bollinger Road. That a person traveling south on Highway 9, must go all the way to Prospect Road before finding a station. All the other stations were on the east side of Highway 9, making it a traffic hazard for a person to make a left-hand turn to cross over to a station. Commissioner Leonard stated that he feels the City Council and Planning Commission should get together on a policy. That the Council 4 mhould come up with good solid reasons for turning down the last ser- vice station. Feels that the opposing Councilman should be gotten to come up with some reasonable answers as to why they opposed the station. Mr. Bandley stated that he relt the Cali application should be judged on its own merit and not in c.onjunction with any other applica- tion. Mr. Leo Bernard, 20556 McClellan stated that there are now five gas stations from Stevens Creek Blvd. to Bollinger Road on the east side and was opposed to another station be constructed on Highway 9. Commissioner Snyder moved that the Public Hearing be closed. Seconded by Councilman Small. All in favor. Commissioner Snyder moved that Whereas the proposed application is not presently an integral part of a comprehensive commercial de- velopment,and Whereas, the commission has received protests from neighboring homeowners. Now,Therefore, let it be resolved that the Commission recommend denial of this application to the City Council. Seconded by Commissioner Leonard. AYES: Commissioners: Leonard, Rampy, Snyder, Frolich NOES: Commissioners: Small ABSENT: Commissioners: Adamo ABSTAIN.: Commissioners: Fitzgerald MOTION CARRIED: 4-1 - 1 Absent, 1 Abstaining. Commissioner Fitzgerald returned to his chair: 10:30 P.M. C. Donald A. Excell: Appl. 85-Z-63 to rezone 7.69 acres from A-2:B-4 to R-3-H; 395' west of Highway 9, 450' south of Homestead Road. First Hearing. Tentative Map Appl. (25-TM-63) 20 lots. The applicant requested a two week delay on his application. Moved by Commissioner Snyder, seconded by Commissioner Rampy that this application be delayed for two weeks. All in favor. D. Douglas H. Freeborn: App1. 32-V-63 for a Variance to allow a rear ya¡'d of 14'6" where ordinance requires 20'; 10416 Cherry Tree Lane. Mr. Freeborn represented himself and explained that he would like to have a screened-in porch added onto his home in the rear yard, but due to the ordinance could only build a very small one, and was asking for permission to extend out further into his yard. He was asked if he had consulted his neighbors about this project. He said that the one house on one side of his was unoccupied, that the neighbor·on the other side was not in opposition to his plans. And the neighbor in the rear had also been contacted and was not opposed to his plan. At this point, Mr. Gerald Evenmeyer, 10431 Prunetree Drive, Cupertino stated that he was one of Mr. Freeborn's neighbors and had not been consulted. After some discussion it was ascertained that in posting the property, the City Clerk had to place three notices and he had posted the vacant prope¡oty next door to the Free'bol'n' s house and Mr. Evenmeyer's property was in back of that house. There- fore Mr. Evenmeyer withdrew his protest, since his property was not directly effected. Hi"'" Freeborn waG r'pa:~h:~3tcd t(J t:;.j.i1g jn 8.. sign~c? dtJ.ternsnt fI~om both neighbors involvcod Ðta'clng tLeir ag:ceemen.~ to t~y~ ¿ò.ðitlon t,~ the Freeborn house. Moved by Commissioner Fitzgerald, seconded by Commissioner Leonard that the hearing be continued. All in favor. E. Supermatic, Inc.: Appl. 25-U-63 for a Use Permit for an Automatic Food Vending Machine at appropriate loca- tions. Mr. Robert Mezzetti, represented the applicant. Attorney, 28 North First Street, San Jose, Chairman Fro1ich read the letter which 5 accompanied the application. Mr. Mezzetti stated that the machine would be placed in spots that would be easily accessible to people who needed items quickly and could not get to s~permarkets. That the applicant needed approval on whether or not these machines would be acceptable at all in Cuper- tino before they could definitely state where they would be placed. He further stated that they had received approval from San Jose, Campbell, the County of Santa Clara. Commissioner Snyder asked Mr. Mezzetti why they wanted to place them in Cupertino. Mr. Mezzetti stated that the applicant's business was in Cupertino and also that several people who had businesses in Cupertino wanted to have these machines on their property. Commissioner Leonard asked Mr. Mezzetti what would happen if the machine did not function properly. Mr. Mezzetti stated that they planned to have a maintenance crew for such things, that these machines would be serviced every 24 hours and maintained as regards the area around them. The question of the wording on the application arose, since it stated "several locations" instead of one specific location. The appl~cant was asked to amend his application to read a specific spot. Mr. ezzetti stated that they had wanted to submit their application originally in this manner, but had been advised to word it as shown. That they must first ascertain whether or not they will be able to put these machines anywhere in the City of Cupertino. After considerable discussion about the maintenance and opera- tion of these machines, it was recommended by the City Attorney to the Commission that the Santa Clara County Health Department be con- tacted and asked for a report on these machines, since they will be carrying perishable items. Mr. Ed Hickson, the applicant, stated that he had been in con- tact with the Health Department and that he had been informed that they could not express any opinions in writing on this machine until they had inspected one already installed. He had submitted to them pictures and plans of the machine, but that other than a verbal ap- proval, they would not go any further until they had a chance to inspect an installed machine. Moved by Commissloner Leonard to continue this application un- til July 8th and that the City Staff be requested to obtain a report from the Santa Clara County Health Department, and also that the applicant amend his application to state a specific location for the vending machine. Seconded by CommiSsioner Small. All in favor. F. Blaney Associates: Appl. 33-V-63 for a Variance to the Sign Ordinance to allow a sign 35' high where ordinance permits 20'; northeast corner of Blaney and Stevens Creek Road. Mr. Ralph DeBenedetto represented the applicant stating that the shopping center is suffering due to the fact that the sign cannot be seen by motorists until they are ri6ht on top of it. That if it were higher, they would at least be able to see it beyond the Shell Station sign across the street. After discussion as to whether the Sign Or'dinance should be reviewed with regal'd to the beight of signs, it was decided that the Commis:3ion should take a mjD1'.:~f; to go by this shopping center and revie1~ the r::it'lation f12fo::'f) m-okl:.'.g 2. decÜ:'.on,. Mr. Alfred Duvan stated that his wi'·", had a Ï'éiÚty business in this shopping center and hp.d run into thi3 problem of people driviTIg by without even realizing :it WilS there, and felt that a higher sign would help to relieve this situation. Moved by Commissioner Small, seconded by Commissioner Fitzgerald that this application be continued for two weeks until JUly 8th. AYES: Commissioners: Fitzgerald, Leonard, Rampy, Small, Snyder, Frolich None Adamo NOES: Commissioners: ABSENT: Commissioners: 6