That's 15 seconds. So thanks for coming and attending the November 19th
desire review commission. Can we do a roll call please? Thank you chair. Commissioner Case? Here.
Commissioner Riley? Here. Vice chair Basting? Here. Chair Newsom? Here. All are present. We have a quorum.
Thank you. Next up is the consent calendar. Do we have anything to put on the consent calendar?
Staff has no recommendations. Okay, so we move on to public communications
In this portion of the meeting is reserved for comments that are not on the agenda
Under the Brown Act commissioners cannot act on items raised during public communications
But may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed request clarification
refer an item to staff
any public communications
Outside of this subject, which is the public hearing command
Okay, good. Um, I see there's a lot of people here. Oh
Something outside. Sorry
If you if you're gonna come up and speak on any subject
We're gonna need a yellow comment card and those are in the back right there. So
Fill them out. I see we have a few
So go ahead if you're gonna come up fill out your card, so we're ready when it's time for you to come up
You'll be called up in order. So I mean we're leading up to the public
public hearing here, so
Now I just want to have to ask
Have any of the commissioners had any ex parte communications?
About the projects on no
No, no, okay. Very good
so
now we're gonna open up the public hearing and
Looks like we have one item in the public hearing which is the Sunnyvale development
Does staff have a presentation?
Yes.
Looks like you do.
So why don't you go ahead, Gerardo?
So good evening, Design Review Commissioners.
My name is Gerardo Victoria.
I'm an assistant planner with the Community Development Department.
The project before you today is the Sunnyvale Single Family Residential Development located
at 1725 Sunnyvale Avenue.
So just some site context.
The general plan designation for this site that's right here outlined in yellow is Single
Family Medium, which allows three to six dwelling units per acre.
The zoning, which is located down here, is Residential 8, and it is surrounded by other
single family homes.
To the right, if you're standing on Sunnyvale Avenue, to the right is the Taiwanese Cultural
Center located right here.
The front picture is the front of the property, and the bottom picture right here, there's
a driveway on the right-hand side that comes down and this is taken on the
interior of the parcel where you see the single-family home accessory structures
here and on the front there's also an existing single-family residence. So the
project description is to demo two existing single-family residences and
accessory structures construct an eight lot subdivision with the private street
construct a five-foot land dedication fronting Sunnyvale Avenue. Eight two
story single-family homes, one of which will be an affordable unit. The project
has density bonus, which is requesting 14 waivers from the development standards,
new landscaping, a new bioretention area, two new two-foot concrete retaining walls
and a six-foot privacy fence or fences, removal of 35 trees, 11 of which are
are highly protected in Walnut Creek.
They include Valley Oaks and Black Walnuts.
The project was filed under SB 330 application
in June of 2025 and the development application,
which is before you today was filed in July of 2025.
So just a timeline of where we are.
We are here before you tonight for your input
at a study session for the major subdivision,
The design review, which includes the site layout,
the architecture, the landscaping,
the colors and materials, the density bonus,
the tree removals,
and the tree drip line encroachment permits.
The project will be scheduled at planning commission
for their consideration at a later date.
So under SB 330, city review is limited
if the project meets all the applicable standards,
which means it cannot be denied.
Density cannot be lowered without specific findings of health and safety impacts
It vests the ordinances city policies and standards when the pre-op was submitted which was
Submitted in June of 2025. The project is consistent with the city's objective standards and the city's design standards
So the density bonus requests so the base density of the site is three to six dwelling units per acre
the site is approximately 0.93 acres which equals a density of 5.58 so with
housing we always round up so the base density for this site is six units the
state density bonus law because they are proposing one home dedicated to low
income level that's a they're providing a 17 percent density bonus which allows
them an increase of 30 and a half percent so that's one point five two you
round up to two that gets them to the eight maximum single-family homes so
density bonus law allows relief from the regular development standards that would
physically preclude the housing development to be built the applicant as
stated on the previous slide is applying for 14 waivers the city is required to
The wave such standards unless it makes a specific finding that any such proposal would
have a specific adverse impact upon the health, safety or the physical environment.
So these are the 14 requested waivers.
I'm just going to call out a couple of them.
So the minimum lot size in the residential aid zone is 8,000 square feet.
They are proposing 4,100 square feet.
The minimum front yard setback in the residential eight zone is 20 feet.
They are proposing a minimum front yard setback of four feet.
I'm going to stop right there because in the staff report, I incorrectly noted that three
foot front yard setback, it is actually four feet.
So I just want to bring that up to clarify.
So this is the existing site plan.
You see here, there's one single family home here.
There's another one right here.
There's an accessory structure located here, here and here, and then there's one over here.
So this is their proposed site plan, an eight lot subdivision with a private street with
a hammerhead, excuse me, a hammerhead turn between lots seven and eight.
This is the new bioretention area with a five foot dedication located here.
It calls out for a six foot fence on top of two foot retaining walls in certain parts
of the property here and over here.
It calls out a six foot fences all along here
to the rear and to the side over here.
The property is sloped from front to back.
I believe it starts right around this area
and it just slopes upward.
The floor plans for this proposed project
are all the same, three bedrooms,
two and a half baths with an ADU.
There are two design patterns.
The first one is a transitional design.
I'm just gonna call out a couple of design features.
So this one has a gable roof
with a white snowboard and batten siding right here.
It also calls out for white snow smooth coat stucco.
Glass sectional garage doors with a foam trim.
And of course, the light sconces.
I have trouble saying that, sconces.
The second is the Plan 1 Bay Area, calls for a hip roof, evergreen fog horizontal siding
located here, and evergreen smooth coat stucco along the bottom.
I should point out the left elevation drawing on here calls for bullet windows to the rear
of this single family residence, which would be adjacent, which would be on lot 8.
So this is the floor plan.
The floor plan calls for entries right here with the two-car garage right here.
This is where the ADU is going to be located on the first floor, and this is the kitchen.
There is an option to have an additional bedroom that would take the place of the ADU in the
same location if they chose.
This is the second floor plan, the second-story floor plan, with a master bedroom here, bedroom
here, and a bedroom here.
So the landscape details, the project calls for new landscape in a new bioretention area
right here, 20 new trees, 24-inch box trees consisting of vine maples, western red buds,
and water gum trees.
The water gum trees are outlined in the green circles.
So this is the first through four lots, and then this is the last four lots back here.
So the tree removal, they call out for removing of 35 trees, eight of which have been approved
for removal by the City Arborist due to poor health. So all the red trees are
scheduled to be removed. The circles with the yellow stars are highly protected
trees in Walnut Creek and the six trees that are remaining on the site are in
good health and they're remaining. This one is a highly protected. I believe it's
a valley oak. So staff anticipates using the infill exemption for CEQA as the
project is consistent with the general plan designation and all applicable
general plan policies. The proposed development occurs within the city limits
and is less than five acres. The project site has no value as a habitat for
endangered rare or threatened species. Approval of the project would not result
in any significant effects relating to traffic, noise, air quality, or
water quality and the site can be adequately served by all required
utilities and public services. So the summary of requests staff is asking the
design review commission to review and comment on the following topics for
consideration of the major subdivision the design review the site layout
architecture landscaping colored materials the density bonus and the tree
removal permit and tree drip line encroachment permit staff is available
for any questions or comments the applicants are also available any
Any questions, folks?
I would like some more information on the ADU aspect of this development, sort of what
went into that idea and where those I what what does sort of the proposed purpose of
those spaces?
Okay.
Are they to be rented, family, just kind of what what the thinking was?
I could defer that to the applicant.
Okay.
Does the applicant have a presentation?
Just ask me.
I mean, we got to go through the comments.
Okay.
Anybody else?
I mean, I got one.
So about the trees.
So you're mentioning that all those protected trees
are coming out.
How is that allowed, just for the edification of the audience
here, I mean, why is this developer
allowed to remove highly protected trees in Walnut Creek?
So according to our tree ordinance with the development,
if the development is going to be physically precluded
due to certain trees and they're getting density bonus,
then they can be removed by this commission.
I can further on that.
Okay.
Our preservation of trees on private property ordinance
has a two step process.
And the first step is where trees are evaluated
by the city arborist with a set of criteria.
And the criteria is mostly about,
it's all about the health of the trees
and the situation that the trees are in.
And if they're not in great shape,
well, let me just say if they're in great shape
and they're a part of a grove or they're, you know,
they're natives or whatever,
you can't make a recommendation to remove them.
And when that happens, it goes to the next step,
or on the contrary, he can approve a tree removal permit
if they don't pass that criteria.
The next step would be to, becomes a planning issue.
And that would go, if it's a tree removal on its own,
it would go to the zoning administrator
or the highest proving body for that project.
In this case, it's gonna be a planning commission.
Now the planning commission has a different set of criteria
to evaluate the removal request.
And it's based on the development of the land.
You know, the tree health and the species
and the environment that it's in as part of it.
But it's mostly more about the development aspect of it and and if if the development can be achieved
Without the removal of the trees and that's and that's what the decision is based on at that second level
So like for us
We're not the ultimate body that decides whether those trees stay or go we just make a recommendation
What we think right there's been there's been situations where there's say one big giant valley oak and the tree is just way cool
It's situated on a lot where you probably design around it. Yeah, that's when that's when you know, you'd say no
But that's just a situation
That's an example of a project that this body has had not with these members, but but this body has had in the past
Yeah, yeah
I've been on the receiving end to that
Actually, so so and I mean if you look at the number of trees here, I mean, I think
It'd be hard to do accomplish it without it. But that's a Planning Commission issue and then you know health safety and physical environment
So, I mean, I know I mean we'll get we're gonna get other comments, but I mean just just traffic
I mean did they do did they do a traffic report or they're required to do a traffic report for the impact on this on the neighborhood
The project has been routed to our traffic division and they're meeting all the standards
So they are meeting the standards and it's not required to have a traffic report
Okay, also it was routed to fire and fires email to back to staff in August of this year was
They are meeting the standards
For the private street and access to the lot. I just asked those questions because I know they're going to come up from this audience
so
Figured we'd answer in advance. Okay, so then with that said
Let's move on to public comment, right?
Oh, yeah, the applicant does the applicant have a we have questions for the applicant is the applicant here. Yes
Okay. Do we have questions for the applicant?
well my question of the
Purpose of the ad use the intended purpose of the ad use up in any parking issues with that. Okay
Hi, my name is Doug Cummins with dollar group architecture the so the purpose for the ADUs was just to provide another level of
housing type in the city for the potential home buyers to to use as you know, either rental income units or
You know boomerang kids like myself. I'd live with my parents after college, you know
Things like that or families coming in to do that. It's not going to be sold as a separate unit apart from the house
so so the end goal of that is really the homeowner can decide that's why you have that optional fourth bedroom unit there also is
That they want to keep that adu separate for for any type of use that they prefer
And are there specific parking spaces? I know that there are guest parking spaces within the project, but
Would those adu spaces then be using the guest parking spaces?
So they would still they could still use the because they're not sold as a separate unit if they were sold as a separate unit
Then we'd have a different parking parking calculation that we'd have to do for those units to provide
Parking for those a to use as a separate unit
Can we see the map that shows the additional parking spaces on it?
Oh, so they're parallel along that fence, but the city's parking requirement you don't need to park
I just wanted to sort of have us all be on the same page with that.
All right, thank you.
You're welcome.
Thank you.
Anything else for the applicant?
All right.
So then we're going to go ahead and start public comment.
So they're going to call out your name and come up again if you haven't turned in a card
and you want to talk, turn in your card.
That's fine.
That's fine.
That's totally fine.
Yeah.
So just, whoever wants, you're not holding any cards there at your own?
No.
Okay.
So just maybe just come up, people with cards come up, and you're going to have two minutes
to talk, right?
You got two minutes.
Okay.
Please introduce yourself.
Hi.
My name is Jillick D'Mancy and I have grown up and lived at my house at 1689 Suncrest
Court, which backs up to the existing project.
seen a lot of changes on Sunnyvale Avenue during that time. I beg to differ
with section D about traffic patterns. We already have a lot of traffic down
Sunnyvale with people parking their cars overnight on the street, so I think the
density of the project will really affect traffic even further. So that's
one concern. Physical concerns, of course I'm concerned about removal of all
the trees that takes away all the privacy for those of us on Suncrest
Court that back up to the project and since the houses will be two-story
although they have bullet windows for privacy we don't and so you know
everybody will be looking into our backyard and it's not just one house
it's two houses and then a quarter of a house on each side because I've looked
at the plants. Also concerned about the wildlife we do have an owl there are so
many squirrels in those trees and I know it is a project and that happens but I'm
just wondering what happens to all the wildlife that's out there. In addition
the six-foot fence I'm concerned about I know I believe we could have a seven
foot fence around the perimeter and since we're going to be having two-story
homes behind us it would help to have a little bit of privacy since we're taking
away the landscaping in this project from it and just a general concern we
have dogs so what happens when the fence comes down and how quickly will
that happen it's a logistical thing for us in the entire time that I have lived
there we've never had a project on Sunnyvale that's as dense as this so
So thank you for listening.
Thank you.
Next.
Jill's husband.
And again, we have lived there for quite some time.
She grew up in the place.
And I think I speak for all of our neighbors
here that we are vehemently opposed to such density.
Eight houses in a spot that only had two before.
Tearing down dozens of trees, provide shelter, landscaping,
And a two-story high project is completely blocking off
our view of the lovely East Bay Hills.
As the fog rolls in, we won't be able to see anything.
They're going to be viewing us from their second-story house.
Two stories and eight units is way too much.
And I think all of us would agree.
I'll let them speak for their own mind,
but it is just way too much.
Three houses, four at the most, single story would be acceptable.
And I'm not opposed to progress and rebuilding.
But eight houses, two stories, they're just trying to throw
in housing units that are not appropriate for our area.
I would like the commissioners, commission.
Thank you for listening to me.
And please listen to the rest of my neighbors.
They are, they have much to say also, much more than I do.
But eight units at two stories is way too much.
Additionally, tearing down the trees, beautiful trees,
black oaks, black walnuts.
As my wife said, they're providing housing to,
or habitat, I should say, to owls, squirrels, raccoons,
awesome and thank you for listening to me. Thank you. Next up. Hello, my name is
Jason Bowman. I live at 1715, the property directly adjacent on Sunnyvale. So four of
these units will be overlooking my yard. I have some concerns with the overall
density of the gaps between them and the overall light from the from the west
given that they've also applied for a slight high exemption as well. Two
stories only 11 feet of setback overlooking my pool, my house it just
feels like it's super dense and I'm sure the the back lots have similar
concerns. It's just it's significantly more dense than any of the other
properties in the area. The properties across the street are also more dense
than the properties we have, I don't want to be a NIMBY person like we do need development
and the law is ripe for that, but it seems like they're trying to squeeze as much as
they can to get extra exemptions, six properties would be more reasonable, four properties
would be even better, but it just, I do have privacy concerns, I won't take the full two
minutes.
Thank you.
Thanks for your time.
Next up.
Hi, thanks for taking our feedback.
My name's Laura Cottrell.
I live at 1687 Suncrest Court.
So I am in the back, and I will have two houses as of now
facing us.
So adding on to the privacy and the shock of it, actually,
There's so much foliage that is shared foliage along the fence
line.
And with the development, all that will go.
So not only will we have the houses leaning over us,
we don't we won't have that foliage screen anymore
because it's it's all kind of blended along the fence line.
I hear owls every night in those oak trees.
And it's shocking to me that we're going to take out all the trees except the palm tree.
The oak trees are majestic. It would be great if they could build around it,
even saving one of the big healthy ones. The other thing is the ADUs that you brought up.
One thing we talked about was like Amazon delivery coming and going garbage, whatever.
It's just going to increase traffic parking, but they eight units is really shocking for our department or neighbor.
I think that's it. Thank you. Next up. Anybody else?
Thank you for hearing us. My name is Amanda Welch.
My parents are the original owners. We live at 1691 Suncrest Court.
I now own the house. I'm really appalled and so against this
Because of the trees
They say it's eight units
But technically if that last house takes that ADU and makes it a rental that makes it nine as it is
I've watched Suncrest court change. I've watched Sunnyvale Avenue get busier and busier the city
Has not allowed people to come off the freeway onto Sunnyvale Avenue. It still happens every day
Pedestrians they don't stop for the pedestrians. This is going to cause more traffic on
Sunnyvale and who really who really parks in their garage. I have four vehicles
I have one vehicle in my garage, but who really honestly parks their vehicles in a garage
Which tells me that not only is that parking in and take up. They're also going to start parking again on Sunnyvale
It's already
completely busy
there's abandoned vehicles on Sunnyvale Avenue that no one seems to
enforce and it's
besides the trees that
11 trees that are
majestic and
Highly what do you call it?
Just to remove them is just it's very sad and sickening and I'm very disgusted by it
And if you all allow this to happen eight houses on a two family
Property is just ridiculous because that ad you will make it nine
And I'm just beside it because not only does my neighbor have to deal with the for Jason
And I have to deal with two because my backyard backs to his house, which means they'll be
looking not only in his yard, but mine, but thank you.
Thank you.
Anybody else?
Hello, my name is Shuotiao.
I live in 1715 Sunnyvale Avenue, so direct next to the 1712 Avenue.
So I was really surprised and shocked to see the development plan.
Eight units just a lot.
When I first moved to Walnut Creek, I really enjoyed how quiet the neighborhood is, and
also the nature, the trees.
When I met with the previous owner, Dennis, he welcomed me to the neighborhood and he
showed me the great trees in our neighborhood.
So with this plan, I'm really concerned about privacy, given that I will have four houses
directly next to my property.
And I'm shocked about how many exceptions the developers have applied, especially the
setback to the fence.
So instead of 15 feet, it's like 11 feet.
So I'll have those houses also close to my fence.
And I'm concerned about the fence is only six feet.
So as you mentioned, the lot is going to be higher going back.
So they will have a direct view of my fence.
And I will have four houses looking into my pool.
I don't feel comfortable and safe in my home anymore.
I think that will have a very, very negative impact
on my mental health.
I work from home.
I need a quiet environment.
Besides the traffic study, I'm also
curious about how much noise is going to be.
So it's eight houses, but with the ADU, it could be 16 houses.
Each house have two or four people.
So you'll have 16 times four.
That's 64 people.
So instead of having only two people living next to me,
now I have 64.
So I'm just so shocked.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Do we have anybody else who wants to talk?
Hello.
Thank you for taking our concerns and feedback seriously.
My name is Martin.
I'm a neighbor also to this development.
And yeah, I have several concerns, definitely,
on the high variance, the traffic
that this is going to create.
Again, we're talking about 64 people, potentially
16 independent units.
Another thing is, yet they may not
be able to sell them today based on the law
that it is currently in place.
But who knows, maybe in five years or 10 years
or however long, whether the laws change,
maybe those units could be sold individually.
Other things, I'm looking at all the variances
on the setbacks, the rear and the side setbacks,
and obviously none of these are meeting the fire,
the standard fire requirements.
So I'm wondering what's being done
to actually mitigate that.
And the other thing is traffic, more cars,
We're talking, yes, someone already mentioned Sanibel is extremely busy as it connects right
into the freeway.
There's no bumpers or nothing of that sort to actually prevent people from speeding.
There's routinely races on that street, not that it's this development problem, but we're
adding more traffic.
There's routine accidents.
And yeah, fire danger, obviously the trees, that's pretty wild because as a homeowner
I had to go through that process to get trees removed from my property, and it was a hell
of a lot more difficult, and yeah, and somehow my permit was only covered four trees, so
I had to apply for a permit twice.
Anyway, point being, there's just a lot of variances that are being granted here.
Thank you.
do we have anybody else with cards my name's Hillary Heibel and I live on Maggie
Lane which is directly behind this development we're an infill
development so can't say a lot against it except for there's some things with
regards to design I'm here at a lobby for tree number 14 it's the highest tree
it was called out in the report is creating a very nice canopy why do all
All of these, all the sides of the houses have windows, if you look at our street, one
side of our house does not have windows, it makes it very private.
Even though we're right next to each other, but we're not as close as these guys are,
why aren't they townhomes or condos?
Why do they have to be single family homes?
And the other thing is the fences, six feet, that's me.
I mean, can we go eight, especially maybe on the backside here?
I don't know what the elevation is with regards to Maggie.
But if one is higher, like a lot of these people have said,
you're going to be looking directly into somebody's yard.
And that's just not super nice.
And then private road
is that that is correct.
To me, that's opening up a big can of worms.
Our street has a lot of issues with parking.
People get very protective of their parking.
And if you're on a private road, you can't call anybody.
You're going to have to deal with it on your own.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Anybody else have a speaker card?
Want to talk?
Good evening, everybody.
My name is Dave Dunning, and I live on Maggi Lane.
My property is on the right-hand corner here.
And what nobody has mentioned tonight, either as far as
that we're pulling out a lot of trees okay.
But also along my property line
and all the way down the east property line,
we have 15 foot, 20 foot, 25 foot bushes
that give complete privacy to all these neighbors here.
Nobody's talked about those coming out
and they are being taken out.
So where I am at the highest elevation,
everything's gonna be taken away
and my privacy will be gone completely.
I'd also like to mention that our homes on Maggie Lane,
we're on a raised foundation,
which means we're two feet off the ground
to begin with in a crawl space.
Two feet off the ground looking over a six foot fence,
we just see everything, it's pointless.
We definitely need a much higher fence
because we're just gonna be looking straight into the windows
of the people who are now gonna be 14 feet,
11 feet from our homes.
I think it's a little bit ridiculous.
So I don't wanna reiterate
on what everybody has spoken about tonight,
but I do wanna say that I am totally in agreement
with what they have said.
Thank you, and I appreciate if you could put it in writing
that we will get higher fences.
I did meet with the developer,
and I thought we'd already agree that we'll be higher fences,
so I'm really a little shocked to see
that we're still showing six foot up there.
Thank you.
Thanks for your time.
Anybody else?
Last call.
Okay, so we have 10 minutes possibly for rebuttal.
Does the applicant want to make a rebuttal?
the applicant want to make a rebuttal to any of these comments? I have a couple
things I would love a little more information on so if that could be
considered in the rebuttal that'd be great. A little clarity on the fence
height would be good because when I look at the details it looks like it's a
six-foot fence on top of a two-foot retaining wall so maybe understanding
that height and its relationship to the neighbors would be helpful. Maybe a little
discussion about the window design at the rear of the plan so we can
understand the visibility would be helpful. It's hard for me on my arborist
report to see which one is tree 14 so maybe a little conversation about that
I think it's in the road so that would be tricky but wouldn't mind hearing about
it and is there any plan for parking regulation? Those are my I'd like a
a little more info if it's possible. Yeah. Come on up. Thanks for those. Hello, Doug
Cummins again with Donald Group Architecture. So for for the windows, let's start with that one.
So specifically, one of the comments was privacy for lot eight. So we did move that house further
away from the lot line to help provide a little bit greater privacy to that neighbor. And then
And also along that side of the house, we're going to put in bullet windows at the stairs.
So there's really no visibility as you go through the plan itself.
You're walking through the staircase.
You're not stopping anywhere to look into that side yard.
And then also the rear of the homes, the second floor is set back in 50%, 60% of the home.
So it's actually going to come back pretty far as you see on that rear elevation on the
left-hand side there's just a little bullet window or transom window we call
it at the top there and then there's two windows there which are required for
for fire egress into that bedroom so we have to have egress windows per code for
that bedroom so we tried to limit that's why we push that bedroom back to get you
know a little bit greater separation there which would be greater than 20
feet from the standard setback at the rear for for that home. For the heights,
also we're not asking for any height variance on this where per the city
standards on the overall heights that were allowed on the home and then we
looked at where this hip roof has a little bit lower pitch so where this home
is placed having sight lines off of that kind of bring the house down a little
more. The gable just in the design of that home, that one you know it might feel a little bit taller
but this one kind of helps break that down so we put those at the ends to kind of help break down
that mass when it gets to the neighbors as well on that side. Sorry, I know I'm missing a couple
things. Fence Heights. Fence Heights. We have our civil engineer come up top up Fence Heights.
Good evening, Justin Joseph, CBG civil engineers. I can speak a little bit more to the retaining
wall height. So we have a separate grading plan. Effectively, like you said, there's a six foot
wood fence, which is on top of a retaining wall, which is roughly about two to three feet.
So effectively, we actually sit lower than the neighboring properties, about two to three feet,
kind of on the adjacent residential side and on the church side, that's where about a foot,
foot and a half above. So, generally speaking, it'll be the two to three feet
of the retaining wall and the six foot wood fence on top of that for most of
the residential areas. Great. So, let me, for everybody's education, let's explain
that. So, if the new development is two feet under the existing, that means the
existing out, the neighbors will be looking out at an eight foot, eight
eight foot, two foot of wall and then six foot of fence.
But from the other side, from the new development side,
it's a six foot fence, right?
It would be, since we're lower,
they'd be seeing the bottom of the retaining wall,
which is the two feet,
and then the six feet would be the exposed height.
So it'd be six feet for the neighbors on the higher property
and then the new development would be the full eight feet
because they would see both the wall and the fence on top.
Okay.
answer your question did did they get all your in did you get everything
answered um tree 14 do you know anything about that anyone other than it's in the
road we can't reopen public comment sorry I'm sorry Phil my mic was on yes
public comments are closed. Hi. Annika Carpenter with Ripley Design Group, the
landscape architect. And tree 14 is in the in close to the center of the road
across from lot 8. Correct. So if you pull down from that and it is down not
that one but it's below that one that one is actually tree 14 to the right
there it doesn't yeah it's so it's pretty much in line with the backing out
of the driveway. So. Unlaudite. Unlaudite. Can we maybe go look at the new plan for a
second to kind of approximate where that is? So it's basically around there by the
turnaround. Yeah. And the trunk is under the asphalt. Yeah. I have a question on that note a
bit. Are you guys done with your rebuttal? Yeah. We're closing the public hearing
Then the public hearing is closed.
Commissioner Riley, did you have something
you wanted to just add a question?
And a question for the landscape,
regarding the landscape plan.
Is that allowed to bring up the landscape architect again?
Yeah, is that allowed?
Yeah.
I mean, come on up.
And this could be a very rudimentary question,
so forgive me for that.
My question is, the layout of the development on the site,
with the driveway being along the cultural center,
is there, does that have to do with grading,
why the project was laid out in that manner,
as opposed to, let's say, flipped?
Yeah, I would have to differ to the civil engineer.
Okay, I'm just curious, oftentimes,
it has to do with grading or something like that,
but I thought that in light of this tree discussion,
might be something to discuss. Sure. Thank you. So to answer the question on
the driveway location, I think you just hit it on the head. It's due to grading
kind of like Gerardo mentioned. There's actually fall across the site. It's
higher at the back of the site, drains towards Sunnyvale, but in terms of left
to right on the existing residential it drains across to the church side. So in
doing so we need to keep the pads higher to drain to the street and that matches
the historic drainage path. If we were to flip it that would cause all the flow
to funnel which would not be following the historic drainage path which is
part of our requirements. Thank you that's what I assumed but I thought it
would be to bring it on. Thank you. Okay do you see so some of the the list of
the waivers number 15 is for the maximum height of a two-story home to be 25 feet
and it looks like on the plan it's 27-ish. So I can answer that. So the height
requirement in the residential aid zone is 25 feet you can go an additional 4
feet if you provide a roof pitch of 312 or greater they are providing a roof
pitch of 412 which then gives them the additional what is it two or three feet
so they're meeting the height requirement. Okay thank you for
clarifying that. Okay so with with that happen the next thing to talk about is
commissioner comments right so let's let's go and get into it. You wanna start?
I always start. You guys are the worst. That's okay. I'm ready. But thank you. You are not the worst.
So I feel as though the architecture and the landscape and the grading and all
are fine. My trouble is with the site design which is something that we're
really limited in our ability to have any barriers again. So I don't love the
trees being removed. I hate the habitat being removed. I understand it's a higher
density which is difficult to adapt to in a neighborhood that's primarily
single-family homes that aren't this tall. I think of the site plan that is
Proposed that we have minimal impact on the design that's been done is is good. I like the architecture. I think that the
You know consideration for the site grading and stuff is appropriate
Yeah, it's just unfortunate that it is zoned the way it is so
Couple of things I don't know how much we can
My understanding is we are making suggestion that we'll then go to the Planning Commission correct, so
When I look at the site layout and the landscape plan and the fencing
It seems to me that it would go a long way if we could have that
those fences that face the residential neighborhoods to sort of
Be as high as they can be without seeming like barricades
So if that could be discussed and if possibly the developer could sort of confirm work with the neighbors more to kind of come to a clear resolution on that fence height, I think that would be very helpful.
The fence height would be seven feet then, so you could do a perimeter fence of seven feet.
And the second thing is in looking at the trees and the landscape plan, I too really
appreciate the habitat of the creatures that live around me as well as the borrowed view,
which is what you all are enjoying.
If there could be any way that the trees planted on the perimeter could be species of stately
size within, while also protecting the structures, they are going to be planted behind some of
the like, just looking like the loris, the, the bays max out at 30 feet, but I know that
they're very slow growing trees.
So if there could be any look at getting as much canopy as possible around the perimeter,
I think that that would make for good neighbors.
That's my comments.
I had a question comment which was brought up
by one of the neighbors, which is most probably that it's
zoned single-family residential.
Most of us would prefer that these
were either duets or townhouses so
that we didn't have to take out all of the trees
and remove all that habitat.
But and I also want to echo what Commissioner Case said,
which is that we have very limited ability
to do things based on the current state laws that
require some of these things like this density bonus.
So we appreciate very much all of your input
and your thought and your thoughtfulness
about your comments about this.
We echo them, as you hear, and we're all
concerned about the same things.
I would recommend that the applicant indicate
that this fence is seven feet, which
is the maximum allowable, on their plans in the future
so that there isn't confusion about that.
And I think you guys covered the other stuff,
and Phil's questions covered a lot of it.
I try so I mean first to echo what others have said I mean our hands are
tied here so on these types of projects the density density density bonus
projects we have no no say over things that this commission has had has had it
well I'm hearing out here that that might be the case so you know I'd say
when this project goes to the Planning Commission I'd say the applicant better
have an answer for that, about how that would be mitigated. Those are my comments.
Thank you all for your comments. I wish we could do more. Mr. Secretary, do you
want to try to summarize that? Thank you. Well, I've heard a lot of comments, a lot
of echoing. It seems that the really that the takeaways are the increased
fence height, the perimeter fence height anyway is seven feet and to increase the
canopy around the perimeter again and maybe some larger trees. Do they come in
at 24's? Yes. They're all at 24's. I know you, I'll look to Commissioner Case, I
know you don't get a whole lot more if you do a 36 inch box tree because they
grows slower? Is that typically the case? You might have a greater trunk when you
put it in and it's the thought is that if it's a smaller box it initially is
smaller but it may adapt and grow more quickly but if it's a bigger box it's
bigger on day one and it may hypothetically grow slower but as my
fellow Commissioner mentioned maybe we select species that are faster growing
that could be part of the criteria which means you're not going to get oak trees
just saying that a lot. So there was a lot of concern about the trees existing
trees so can replacement trees then take a look at the mix possibly some 36 inch
trees for the appropriate species