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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3.1 SupplementalJAN 0 5 2010 TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS TO: Town of Los Altos Hills Planning Commission and Staff FROM: Nat and Jan Gorham, 28016 Laura Ct., Los Altos Hills, CA RE: Lands of Nashashibi, 28008 Laura Ct., Los Altos Hills, CA; File # 1 14-09-ZP-SD-GD January 5, 2010 Dear Planning Commission and Staff, Before we get to the specifics of our comments, we'd like to thank Debbie Pedro and Richard Chiu. Debbie was kind enough, over the holiday, to spend some time with us to review the applicant's project, and was then even kinder to come out with Richard Chiu to walk the property and talk a few minutes more. We thank them both; they represented the Town very well. My wife and I have been immediate neighbors of this property for 33 years. As such, we welcome any new property owners to Los Altos Hills, and in this case, the Nashashibi family. In the spirit of making any new development an improvement to the Town and its residents, we would like to express some comments to the Planning Commission prior to the January 7 hearing, and hope they will be included in everyone's packet. We apologize for not being able to attend personally, but we had planned for several months to be out of town on this date. However, we will be back on January 10, and available for any discussion on these comments, and we thank again both staff and the Planning Commission for hearing us out. Here are our thoughts: First, our 33 years of residence at our property have afforded us the fairly unique perspective of seeing gigantic changes in our part of Los Altos Hills, from 20 years of serious quarry activity, to nearly 15 years of the Quarry Lakes non-stop residential development. During the vigorous and often hostile debate that took place more than a decade ago to secure the Town of Los Altos Hills' approval, we were approached by Quarry Lakes developer John Vidovich/DeAnza Properties to see if we could support his development plan. tly One of the main reasons we chose to support the development was simple and straightforward; we realized that we would, in fact, be absorbed into the Town of Los Altos Hills — whether we liked it or not — when the Town granted its approval for any new development, and that, at least, John and his family's firm, DeAnza Properties, was the first developer with whom the Town of Los Altos Hills had entered into discussions who actually had the wherewithal to start and complete the project (previous developers/proposals lacked quality and financial clout ... in short, big hat, no cattle. And DeAnza's proposal sure as heck beat one of the crazy ideas then being kicked around ... that the quarry would become a landfill!). The other reason for our support was the fact that John and DeAnza promised that our home and the two other existing homes at what was then Stonebrook Road (since renamed Laura Court in the Quarry Hills Development ... please see the Town's original legal maps and the host of evolving maps as Quarry Hills progressed) would legally be included in the Quarry Hills development, and therefore would receive four utility/infrastructure upgrades exactly like the other approximately 20 new homes in the proposed development: A) natural gas supplied by PG&E ... which we received about three years later ... but we did receive it; B) hook-up to the Los Altos sewer system ... which we also received, after paying our fee; C) an underground storm sewer, which would be included as part of the entire underground system which takes the massive amount of storm water which spills from the surrounding canyons and hills (as in Hale Dry Creek) into the Quarry Hills development and fills the lake ... an excellent promise which, to this date, has never been delivered (though we still believe it would be an excellent idea for all concerned); and D) underground electrical utilities like the rest of the development... this also has never been provided. Eventually (and quite upset), we contacted John to inquire about the progress of points."C" and "D" (above). Regarding the underground storm sewer hook-up, John and his project engineer, Jim Sisk told us that they had instead enlarged Hale Dry Creek 200-300%, so they could put our storm water in it (this is the aboveground and subterranean water that drains from the hills on our property and large portions of the applicant's property). The promise of putting our electrical utilities underground was simply ignored. We protested more than once and still feel that both of these unfulfilled promises would be an improvement for the Town. Now it's 2010, and after ten to 12 years of living through Quarry Hills' heavy major construction... constant trucks, workers, equipment, garbage, port -a -johns, etc ... plus a complete street and address change (Fed Ex told us three times we didn't exist, LIPS four times, plus who knows what else never got delivered!) ....here comes a new developer with a project that requires a tremendous amount of earth moving and heavy equipment, all of r which will use the small section of Laura Court which was put in when we were legally included in the Quarry Hills development/ Town of Los Altos Hills, for the three then - existing homes ... a section of road which was hastily designed and poorly executed to begin with (without the promised underground storm sewer or underground electrical utilities). With this application, an opportunity affords itself to make these improvements for the Town, the immediate neighborhood, and the applicants. First, as mentioned, a project of this earth -moving magnitude (literally) will necessarily generate an enormous amount of construction traffic, which will inevitably and seriously damage the short portion of Laura Court which extends from the cul-de-sac to the end of the Nashashibis' driveway. In granting its approval for this project, we would ask the Town to make sure that the new developers restore the road when their project is completed, and during this process, contribute two improvements to the immediate vicinity: A) install a storm drain (rather than the collection /dispersal tank as planned) along this portion of the redone Laura Court, into which each of .the three pre-existing properties could connect into the Quarry Hills storm drain system which performs the extremely important job of continuously refilling the lake (we believe this is the best and most economical solution for all concerned, not least of whom is the Fire Department, for which the lake is an immensely important resource should serious wildfires ever threaten the Town); and B) use the opportunity post- Nashashibis' reconstruction of the small Laura Court section to also bury the unsightly and often failing electrical utility lines just like the rest of the development and as originally promised ... again, we believe, a winning solution for the Town, the neighborhood and the applicant. Finally, we hate to see heritage oaks taken down anywhere. We were assured by the new developers that one of the two oaks being removed is not the magnificent old oak that stands at the edge of their property that adjoins our property on the top of the hill (which we have trimmed and cared for, absent an actual neighbor, during the last 15 years), and would be extremely upset if that promise is not kept. In any event, we would regret the loss of any heritage oaks anywhere, and hope that the Town has carefully evaluated this request to make sure there is no other viable solution. As mentioned, we will be back in town on January 10, 2010. Please feel free to drop by if that would be helpful. Our phone number is 650-917-0362 should you wish to chat or schedule an on-site visit. Sincerely, Nat and Jan Gorham k ' RECEIVED Regional 0penSpace I Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District January 5, 2010 TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS Debbie Pedro Planning Director Town of Los Altos Hills 26379 Fremont Road Los Altos Hills, CA 94022 Re: 28008 Laura Court, Site Development Permit request: File #114-09-ZP-SD-GD Dear Debbie Pedro, On behalf of Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (District), I would like to submit the following comments regarding the residential development project proposed at 28008 Laura Court, in the vicinity of Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve. The District owns and manages approximately 57,000 acres of open space land on the San Francisco Bay Peninsula, including Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve, which is located within 300 feet south of the proposed project site. The District's mission is: To acquire and preserve a regional greenbelt of open space land in perpetuity; protect and restore the natural environment; and provide opportunities for ecologically sensitive public enjoyment and education. Given this mission, the District has the following concerns: Aesthetics and Open Space Given that the property is visible from the Chamise Trail within the Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve, the proposed residential development may potentially impact visual resources as seen from the Preserve by recreational users. The selection of exterior color schemes, materials, and landscaping elements for the proposed residential development should reflect the natural surroundings of the area. Earth tone exterior colors and the use of native vegetation are preferred, and highly reflective surfaces should be avoided. Vegetation Removal and Replacement The plan calls for the removal of 17 trees from the project site, including two heritage oak trees (Tree #6 and #27). Steps should be taken to ensure that the existing heritage oak trees that are not scheduled for removal be protected from potential impacts associated with construction activities on the project site. Trees that are removed or negatively impacted during the construction process should be replaced at the recommended replacement ratio. Though it is not known if the trees or vegetation on the 330 Distel Circle Los Altos, CA 94022 1 , 65o.691.1200 I -- 650.691.0485 1 www.openspace.org site are hosts or carriers of known plant diseases, attention is needed during the removal process to reduce the potential risk to the surrounding environment. In order to minimize the potential spread of Sudden Oak Death Syndrome (SODS) and other pathogens during the removal process of vegetation from the project site, all vegetative material approved for removal should be transported to an approved waste disposal site within the same county. SODS materials cannot be moved outside of regulated areas without a Compliance Agreement from the appropriate County Agricultural Commissioner. All vegetation removal should follow the "Sanitation Methods to Avoid Pathogen Spread" adopted by the California Oak Mortality Task Force, available on the internet at http://nature.berkeley.edu/comtf/litml/sanitation reducing spread.html. Vegetation Screening The District recommends the planting of native vegetation in the area surrounding the proposed residence to screen views of the home from visitors hiking in the adjacent Preserve. Because the proposed development would already be screened to the west by existing vegetation, the placement of new vegetation for screening purposes should be located in the southern area of the project site. Vegetation in the southern area of the project site would screen the southern building facade, uncovered parking area, and vehicle turn around associated with the proposed project from views by visitors on District lands. Because of the close proximity of the project site to surrounding open space lands, new vegetation should be carefully selected, ensuring that the species are locally native and pose minimal fire hazard. The District further recommends that any new plantings be arranged in a natural and clustered arrangement to prevent a "manicured" and unnatural look that is characteristic of linear row plantings. Future Trail Connection The District should be contacted if the planned future trail connection, shown on the Site Plan at the south-west corner of the property, will connect to District lands. Any trail development that may affect District lands should be reviewed by District staff to ensure that these future trails will not adversely impact the surrounding environment, present hazardous conditions for trail users, or impact the use and management of District lands. We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the proposed development. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Zachary Alexander at (650) 691-1200, or . zalexander@openspace.org Sincerely, 0 Ana Ruiz, AI Planning Manager Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District cc: MROSD Board of Directors