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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/28/1993APPROVED Minutes of a Regular Meeting Town of Los Altos Hills PLANNING COMMISSION Wednesday, Council Cha cc: Cassettes 28,1993, 7:30 P.M. ,26379 Fremont Road 1. R01 r CALL AND IIEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Planning Commission meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Chairman Pahl, Commissioners Cheng, Ellinger, Schreiner, Sinunu & Stutz Absent: Commissioner Comiso Staff: Linda Niles, Town Planner; Lam Lonberger, Planning Secretary 2. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR Persons wishing to address the Commission on any subject not on the agenda are invited to do so now. Please note, however, that the Commission is not able to undertake extended discussion or take action tonight on non-agendized items. Such items will be referred to Staff or placed on the agenda for a future meeting. Commissioner Ellinger requested that the Eagle Scout Project be added as an urgency item to the Public Hearings. Motion seconded and passed by consensus to add the urgency item to the Public Hearings as item 5.4. 3. CONSENT CALENDAR Items appearing on the Consent Calendar are considered routine and will be adopted in one motion, except for any item removed for separate consideration elsewhere on the agenda. The Chairman will ask the Commission and the audience for requests to remove these items. None Planning Commission Minutes APPROVED April 28,1993 Page 2 ebr 4. REPORT FROM THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 21,1993 4.1 Planning Commission Representative was Commissioner Ellinger. In the previous Housing Element meeting, Commissioner Ellinger discussed the City Council meeting. Items discussed were consent calendar items and the Design Guideline Draft. Commissioner Ellinger felt that there were several items not addressed in the guideline; pathways, basements, fences and Jones' law, to name a few. Commissioner Ellinger had prepared a letter to the Council regarding basements which was in conjunction with Lands of Hall. In response to his letter, he received a letter from Council member Dauber explaining her thoughts regarding basements, what was legitimate and what was abusive, and asking questions about patios and the sunken excavated area around them that result in an amount. Commissioner Ellinger submitted a draft of a possible basement interpretation which will be discussed under New Business. 5. PUBLIC HEARINGS 5.1 LANDS OF RAFFETTO, 14380 Manuella Road; A request for a Site Development Permit for a Pool, Pool House, Tennis Court, Garage, Landscape and Driveway Relocation (continued from April 14, 1993 for a completed Landscape Plan). Ms. Niles stated there were a couple of questions that the Commission had regarding the designations on the map, the building setback line in particular. She had placed in the Commissioner's box a copy that shows the portion of the map that the Raffetto lot was on and also the Owner's Certificate wording which has no mention of restrictions, limitations or requirements for the Building Setback Line. The Staff could not find anything that said what was to conform to the building setback line. Additionally, they could not find any Conditions of Approval since this map was approved in 1954. Ms. Niles reviewed this with the City Attorney and all the easements mentioned in the Owner's Certificate that state "no structures of any kind" refer to the overhead easements for telephone lines, utility easements, and equestrian easement (5' path) that was always put on properties. The building setback line was not clearly defined as to what standards had to be met. It was the City Attorney's interpretation that the Town could apply the Town's standards . They interpreted the building setback line to mean the setback for buildings and structures, like the house, garage, pool house, cabana or any similar structure or a building, rather than things like tennis courts or pools. She suggested that the Raffettos may have information regarding how many other properties in the subdivision have complied with this interpretation of the setback line. Ms. Niles stated that one of the Commissioners did further research and found E information on the intent of the building setback line. Planning Commission Minutes APPROVED April 28, 1993 Page 3 4 Commissioner Schreiner stated that she had investigated the Pinecrest subdivision, #1286 dated 1954. She had concerns regarding this building setback and exactly what it meant. She had contacted Marjorie Evans, an attorney who lives on DeBell, who had the final subdivision report. Ms. Evans stated that at least half to two thirds of the lots in this subdivision have building setbacks varying from 75 ' to 100' and were put on specifically for sanitary purposes which Commissioner Schreiner assumed meant septic tanks and leach lines. The conditions read "that the setback lines are put on in accordance with the subdivision ordinances and setbacks are to be kept free and clear of all buildings and hard surfaces" which in this case would mean tennis courts, swimming pools, etc. She believed that the Raffettos were not on septic but on sewer so her question was, legally, do the Raffettos have to comply with the 75' setback since they are on sewers and able to comply with the current setback of 40'. The Commission discussed the 75' setback requirement and felt that if they had the information that this setback was required only for septic tanks, they should update where there were sewers and only require the standard 40' setback in front and 30' on sides and back. It was discussed whether the Planning Commission had the authority to change the setback requirements. Ms. Niles stated that the City Attorney felt it was not inappropriate to apply the Town's standards to this project and with Commissioner Schreiner's finding, the City Attorney may feel even stronger regarding this opinion. Ms. Niles will look into this further, however, she stated that the application before them met the standards for the lot. OPENED PUBLIC HEARING Mike Raffetto, 14380 Manuella Road, applicant, discussed the project and plantings. He stated that currently they are on septic, however, they plan to connect to sewer. He asked the Commission for approval of the project with the added condition regarding connecting to sewer. Commissioner Ellinger asked Mr. Raffetto if the setback requirements were changed, abandoning the 75' restriction, would he be redesigning this project and resubmitting a different design. He answered no. Chairman Pahl stated that one of the concerns was that some of his neighbors have tennis courts and chain link fences that go up 6' to 7' and are relatively close to Manuella and Fremont. He had asked Mr. Shaw what would be the effect if they were to drop the tennis court by 18" to 24" and use the graded dirt to form a mound or berm around the tennis court so you would not need as high a chain link fence to meet the 6' request. Mr. Raffetto stated that if you consider the elevation of the basic residence as it stands now, the intent of the design was to lower the court 18" across the front. V Planning Commission Minutes APPROVED April 28, 1993 Page 4 Peter Shaw, Landscape Architect, stated that he was confident the trees would screen the court and you would not see the black vinyl chain link fence. CLOSED PUBLIC HEARING Commissioner Schreiner felt that the project was a very chopped up configuration. She would prefer to see the project clustered rather than spread out. Commissioner Stutz would like to see a vine on the fence by the tennis court. She was concerned with the size of trees and felt that they were not fast growers. She would like to request a few more evergreen trees. She also felt that it would be good to connect some of the structures. Chairman Pahl stated that they do not have architectural reviews and he felt that they did not have the right to impose their view of this development with regard to configuration and placement of the project. Ms. Niles stated that the way the plan was drawn, it appears spread out, however, there is actually 10' from the garage and the cabana, 7' to 7 1/2' between the cabana and the pool, only 25' from the tennis court fence to the edge of the cabana deck and a maximum of 28' from the future expansion of the house to the garage. She felt that it i may be that those areas are not as large as they appear on the Site Plan and they will not appear to be as stretched out all over the project. Commissioner Ellinger stated that he was not troubled by the layout. He did question how this project would look like in winter. He could not tell if this was mitigated all year round or mitigated only spring, summer and fall. He would like to see this look good year round. Chairman Pahl requested a green or black vinyl on fencing. MOTION SECOND AND PASSED: Motion by Commissioner Ellinger and seconded by Commissioner Cheng to approve the application with a condition requiring connection to sewer, black or dark green vinyl coating on all fencing and planting around the tennis court fencing on street side. AYES: Chairman Pahl, Commissioners Simmu, Stutz, Cheng & Ellinger NOES: Commissioner Schreiner ABSENT: Commissioner Comiso This item will appear on the City Council consent calendar for May 5,1993 N Planning Commission Minutes April 28, 1993 Page 5 APPROVED 5.2 LANDS OF REDDY, 11011 Magdalena Road; A request for a Site Development Permit for a New Residence and Swimming Pool (continued from February 24, March 24 and Planning Commission Site Analysis of April 14,1993). Ms. Niles stated that she had nothing further to add to the Staff Report. OPENED PUBLIC HEARING Mr. Sena Reddy, 11011 Magdalena Road, applicant, wanted to thank the Commission for their participation at the Site Analysis meeting and felt they have incorporated their recommendations that were made and have resubmitted plans. He was available for questions. Commissioner Schreiner asked how much grading was eliminated and what was the length of the eaves. Bill Kull, Giuliani and Kull, Inc., 20431 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, stated that they eliminated 300 yards of cut and export because of the relocation of the wall. The length of the eaves will be 2'. i CLOSED PUBLIC HEARING Commissioner Sinunu felt that there was no further discussion needed. MOTION SECONDED AND PASSED: Motion by Commissioner Sinunu and seconded by Commissioner Cheng to approve with recommended Conditions of Approval. AYES: Chairman Pahl, Commissioners Ellinger, Schreiner, Simmu, Stutz & Cheng NOES: None ABSENT: Commissioner Comiso This item will appear on the City Council consent calendar for May 5,1993 5.3 LANDS OF FLING, 12585 Miraloma Way; A request for a Site Development Permit for a New Residence. Commissioner Cheng stepped down from the hearing due to close proximity to the project. Ms. Niles introduced this item stating that the proposal was for the demolition of an existing one story residence and construction of a new two story single family dwelling unit. The house is proposed to be sited in the same location as the existing one story Planning Commission Minutes APPROVED April 28, 1993 Page 6 single family home. The building footprint is proposed to be expanded out towards the east and up for a second story. The Commission was provided a model of the project. The project was well within the allowed development area. The house is proposed with two stores above grade and a 633 sq. ft. basement area containing a media sound room, bar and bathroom which is included in the floor area calculations. An additional 772 sq. ft. is located more than 6' underground which is exempt from floor area calculations. The maximum height of the proposed structure from natural or finished grade is 25', and the overall lowest to highest height is 35'. The house has been designed to meet the ordinance standards for grading, height limits, basements, setbacks, MFA and MDA. The proposed two story residence is located well down hill from the three homes on the north and west of the site. Existing vegetation along the south east property boundary helps screen the proposed dwelling from this particular house. Additional planting may need to be required on the front slope of the house. The Town's geologist has reviewed the geotechnical study for the project and has recommended approval. The new dwelling will connect to sewer. The drainage and grading has been reviewed by the City Engineer. Final grading and drainage plans will be required to be submitted and approved by the City Engineer prior to issuance of any (� building permits. The Fire District had no additional conditions. The Pathway Committee recommended dedicating a 10' path easement along the southern boundary from the Lands of Cheng to Miraloma and then along Miraloma to Miraloma's northern boundary. This path will provide the missing link in a path that will connect Voorhees Drive and Summerhill Avenue. The path should be Type IIB and should be 5' and meander within the 10' easement. Materials used to include header boards and compacted Stevens Creek crushed fines. All plantings and sprinklers would be 5' away from the pathway. OPENED PUBLIC HEARING Ray Rooker, 25685 Fernhill Drive, architect, discussed the project stating that this was less than a one acre site cut in half by the cut and fill nature of the terrain. Their intent was to utilize a very small footprint so they could utilize as much of the site as possible. The footprint of the living space is approximately 3,000 sq. ft. with a three car garage and master bedroom in the attic space so they utilized a high pitch roof. David Gielow, 12595 Miraloma Way, neighbor, supports this project and would urge the Commission to approve. Commissioner Ellinger, when asking Mr. Gielow if there were any improvements he would suggest with regards to the project, was answered no. Planning Commission Minutes APPROVED April 28, 1993 Page 7 060 CLOSED PUBLIC HEARING Ms. Niles, in response to Commissioner Schreiner's question, stated that Carol Gottleib, Jeff Peterson and herself walked the site and it was their feeling that the planting on the south property line was actually inside the property line a little further and even strays off into the lot further so there is adequate room to accomplish the pathway between the trees and the property line which would be a native path. MOTION SECONDED AND PASSED: Motion by Commissioner Ellinger and seconded by Commissioner Schreiner to approve with the recommended Conditions of Approval. AYES: Chairman Pahl, Commissioners Stutz, Ellinger, Schreiner & Simmu NOES: None ABSTAIN: Commissioner Cheng ABSENT: Commissioner Comiso This item will appear on the City Council consent calendar for May 5, 1993. 5.4 URGENCY ITEM -Eagle Scout Project presented by Scott Ellinger (Request for display of historic farm equipment at Town Hall). Commissioner Ellinger stepped down from the hearing. Ms. Niles stated that this project was being undertaken by Scott Ellinger and some other scouts in the troop. He provided a plan for the Commission. This project has two phases; the first phase is the phase that the Boy Scouts are trying to accomplish themselves before they leave for college. This was the reason for placing it on the agenda as an urgency item. The Council reviewed this at their meeting of April 21, 1993 and Scott requested that the Council consider waiving the fees and deposits required for the project, which they did do. Scott also asked that the Council consider contributing the cost that would be required for the first phase to do the improvements for the fencing and the gravel underneath the farm equipment over by the Heritage House. The Council was unable to approve contributing the cost due to the current budget situation, however, suggested that Scott try to obtain contributions wherever he could. The direction from Council was that if Scott could show he was able to obtain the funding, that the project be routed through the Planning Commission because the second phase of the project being accomplished by the Historical Society was actually a shed for other equipment that they want to put on the site as well. That larger project does need to come through the Planning Commission; the farm equipment exhibit does not but since the projects are together, the Council wanted the Planning Commission to look at the site and see where both might be placed and make an appropriate decision on this one, understanding that the shed will return in the future. Planning Commission Minutes APPROVED April 28,1993 Page 8 OPENED PUBLIC HEARING Scott Ellinger, 28520 Matedero Creek Lane, discussed his phase of the project as shown on the plan as the shaded area. He further discussed the placement of the farm equipment, being careful not to place any item on the pathways. He felt that the farm equipment would compliment the Heritage House. Commissioner Stutz asked what plans did Scott have regarding weed control and if he had looked at any other location that is not as near the Heritage House or in the area where the Town meetings and/or other social gatherings have been occupied by the public. Scott Ellinger, in answer to the first question, stated that his plan for weed control would be to lay down a layer of black plastic, covered with a crushed rock surface. In answer to the second question, he stated that he had looked at other areas which he felt would be obscure and felt that part of the intent of the project would be to make the equipment visible. They plan to put a rail fence around the farm equipment. Regarding funding, he had received a pledge for the ground cover and there had been an article in the Town Crier pointing out that there was funding still needed for the project. Further discussion ensued regarding placement of farm equipment, pathway easement, 4, delay in approval risking completion of the project and relocation of pathway. Another �r suggestion would be the construction of the pathway easement with the fencing going up, however, there would have to breaks in the fencing in the pathway easement until such time as the lot merger is completed. Ms. Niles stated that in order to approve this project this evening in view of this project obstructing the pathway easement, there would have to be a condition stating that the farm equipment display area be approved at this time and at such time as if the pathway easement is not changed and a pathway is required to be constructed, a new location would be required to be selected and constructed for the equipment. Linda Swan, 13190 Burke Road, President of the Historical Society, discussed the location, visibility and flat area of the proposed project. Rick Ellinger, 28520 Matedero Creek Lane, discussed the project, the urgency of construction before Scott and other scouts leave for college, delay in commencement of specific construction and even the decision of specifically where to put it but recommended to approve the concept and leave the decision of the specific placement to the Commission and Staff so the project could be started. Further discussion involved putting the farm equipment display fence and the farm equipment in the setback, desire to keep the two displays in the same approximate area, an appropriate area for the project and still have the use of the Heritage House for Planning Commission Minutes APPROVED April 28,1993 Page 9 4 Town functions. The City Engineer had located a map of the section in question and stated that it does not show a pathway easement, however, there is a drainage easement. He pointed out that this was Town property and Town property is public property and therefore does not need a public easement across public property. In light of this information and knowing that they will be merging these lots (Heritage House and Town Hall) there was probably another place that they could construct a native or a IIB path that would be appropriate. It was felt that there may be something that the City Engineer could design to accommodate the path users. Commissioner Stutz would not be in favor of the proposed area as shown. CLOSED PUBLIC HEARING MOTION SECONDED AND PASSED: Motion by Chairman Pahl and seconded by Commissioner Sinunu to approve the concept only of a fenced but open area around the Heritage House, the specific location to be discussed with Staff and the applicant's agent. This will be submitted to the Council and the actual location could be determined by Council at their May 5th meeting. The Commission will provide input to Staff which will be provided to the Council for the May 5th meeting. AYES: Chairman Pahl, Commissioners Schreiner, Sinunu, Stutz & Cheng NOES: None ABSTAIN: Commissioner Ellinger �I/ ABSENT: Commissioner Comiso Chairman Pahl stated that the applicant's representative will need to work with Staff regarding the location. 6.1 Basement Ordinance Commissioner Ellinger prepared a handout regarding basements ordinance. Chairman Pahl suggested before the information goes to Council that the City Attorney revise the document format. OLD BUSINESS 7.1 Discussion of the Housing Element of the General Plan will continue on May 12th at 6:00 p.m. 7.2 A schedule of the General Plan Elements was completed by the Planning Commission and will be placed on future agendas as of May 26,1993 agenda. kaw Planning Commission Minutes APPROVED April 28,1993 Page 10 8. APPROVAL OF THE MI=S OF APRIL 14 1993 MOTION SECONDED AND PASSED: Motion by Commissioner Schreiner, seconded by Commissioner Ellinger and passed by consensus to approve the Minutes of April 14, 1993. C4�lIi• t • u • � • u ► • u u • ,� • C 1 � 9.1 LANDS OF CARSE, 27125 Taaffe; A request for a Site Development Permit for a Landscape, Hardscape, Pool, Spa and Fence Plan. This application was approved with conditions and contingent on working out the pathway easement and improvement issues with the City Engineer and the Town. The Commission requested this item be pulled and noticed for public hearing for May 12, 1993. 9.2 LANDS OF DORAN, 24920 La Loma Court; A request for a Site Development Permit for a Landscape Plan. Approved with no changes to the plan but with a requirement that before the project is finaled that the dedication document be recorded and that a deposit be placed on the project for the clearing on the path that was required on the project. 40 9.3 LANDS OF HARRINGTON, 12100 Hilltop Drive; A request for a Site Development Permit for a Landscape Plan. Approved with the plantings as shown on the plan. 1 • 1LIu M The meeting was adjourned by consensus at 9:08 p.m. Respectfully submitted, LaniLonberger Planning Secretary