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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-03-1988 Planning Commission Minutes CITY OF SARATOGA .PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT DATE: Tuesday, May .~ 1988 - 7:30 p.m. PLACE: Community Center Arts & Crafts Room, 19655 Allendale Ave. TYPE: Committee-of-the-Whole Roll Call - Present: Commissioners Guch, Burger, Tucker, Kolstad, j Harris Absent: Commissioner Siegfried Staff: Planning Director Hsia, Planners Adar, welge. I. ITEMS OF DISCUSSION A. DR-86-068 - Kelly-Gordon, 19313 Lisa Marie Ct. The developer intends to modify the rooflines over the garage, since the approved roof creates structural problems. The applicant wishes to change the two gable roofs to one larger gable. The modification will not exceed the building height limit. In addition, the applicant will remove the dormer over the garage. The Commissioners agreed that the modifications were acceptable. B. DR-87-157 - Foley, 18929 Monte Vista The' project was continued from the 4/13/88 Planning Commission meeting'. Planner Tsvia Adar presented the main concerns the Planning. 'Commission had in regard to the proposed home which are as 'follows: 'the drai=nage from the lot, and how it will impact the adjacent lots; the excessive grading of 2,300 cu. yds.; the access to the lot from the south and.the location of the barricade which is meant to ensure that no through traffic will be allowed on the private portion of Monte =Vista. Planner Adar mentioned that the direction of access to the lot from the south, and the relocation of the barricade was approved by the Planning Commission for the subdivision and was then appealed to the City Council by the neighbor. However, the Council upheld the Planning Commission decision. Chairperson Guch explained that she had discussed the issues with the City Engineer. The proposed drainage satisfied the City Engineer and will cause no problems or impacts on other lots. Since the access direction and .the barricade were approved for the subdivision, the only 'remaining issue is the excessive grading. Mr. Foley explained that he reduced the grading to 1,400 cu. yds. by elevating the home 1 foot from the ground. Susan Guch mentioned that moving the barricade may allow small vehicles to cross through. Mr. Foley explained that he is proposing a 12" wall which will stop the traffic. He also proposed landscaping at 'the northern side of the barricade to screen the ~C~. l~r. Foley added that the drainage will 1 Committee-of-the-Whole 5/3/88 not be disturbed by the barricade. Jan Harris suggested an extension of the 12" wall further south to'ensure it was an adequate barrier. Mr. Foley agreed and added that a gate' will allow emergency access. The.Fire Department will have the key to the gate. A neighbor was still concerned that the drainage will worsen the already bad flooding situation on her lot. Mr. Foley explained that the water from his property will be drained properly and will no~ affect her property. The water will drain to a valley gutter which is big enough to accomodate any amount of water. In response to the concern regarding the grading, Mr. Foley compared the grading 'that is.proposed on his property to that on other .lots in the City, specifically, a lot on Blue Gum Ct. Susan Guch asked Mr. Foley about the large level lawn area and why it is necessary. Mr. Foley .answered that the two reasons are: to gain a large lawn area and to solve the drainage problem on the lot and direct the water away from the house. John Kolstad was not convinced that 1,400 cu. yds. is appropriate and appears, in his opinion, too excessive. Although he was pleased with the appearance of the home, he would still like to check with the City Engineer on what amount of grading is reasonable. Karen Tucker felt that the landscaping proposed should include evergreen bushes and trees. A neighbor expressed concern regarding the timing of relocation. of the barricade. He requested that the existing barricade, or some other barrier, remain in place until after the construction is completed and the new barricade is in place. The Commissioners required a condition which will require installation of a barrier before the old barricade will be allowed to be removed. Jan Harris required a substantial review, from the planning staff, of the plans in regard to all the issues to make sure that they have been addressed. Yuchuek Hsia' asked the Planning Commission to make a policy decision in regard to the amount of grading. Ann Marie Burger stated' that she is not concerned with the drainage issue or with the amount of grading that is proposed. Susan Guch'felt that the drainage issue was addressed and the appli'cant was sensitive to the 'barricade problem and had proposed appropriate solutions. However, she is still concerned with regard to the amount of grading and feels that the propo'sed design is more appropriate for a' level lot and not a hillside lot. Mr. Foley explained that 2 Committee-o f-t'he-Whol e 5/3/88 even on a flat lot, 400-500 cu. yds. of earth movement may be necessary. Just for a swimming pool, 500 cu. yds. may be .. required. Jan Harris asked the staff to make comparisons with grading on other lots. She also felt that the grading.is a major concern. C. DR-87-128 - Modrich, 14261 Springer Ave. This project was continued from the 4/13/88 Planning Commission meeting. Planner Adar explained' that the Planning Commission had .directed the applicant to redesign the home to address three major issues: 1) privacy impact caused by'the proposed second story deck, 2) the impact on daylight due to the 26' height and 3) the large size of the home relative to the lot size. Mr. Modrich'did not present new plans, however, he said that he is seeking direction.from the Planning Commission. He. is willing to remove the upper story decks and to bring the height of the home down to 22.5' by using a slab floor instead of raised floor. Removal of the decks will eliminate some of the floor area of the home. John Kolstad inquired about the pitch of the roof and asked if it could be lowered. A neighbor felt that the 22.5' height is too high and will impact the light throughlhis kitchen window. John Kolstad felt that the high portion of the home is too long and will impact the adjacent home. Landscaping should be required along the north and west elevations. Karen Tucker felt that the changes in setbackS, as proposed, contribute to a reduction in the bulk of.the home and she would like that to be maintained. She is satisfied with the proposed reductions. Mrs. Modrich proposed to reduce the height of the rear portion of the home if necessary. There was a concensus that all the.Commissioners would like to see.. a reduction in height to.21' and reduction in floor area to 2,600 sq. ft. up t0 2,800 sq. ft. maximum. The Commissioners would like to keep the variety in roofline and add vegetation along the north elevation. Karen Tucker suggested horizontal siding to reduce the bulk. D. DR-87-029 - Rosenberg, 14134 Dorene Ct. Design review of the home was approved at the 6/8/87 Planning Commission meeting. 'The applicant requests a change in the approved colors from mauve and cream to dusty olive and verdure. The Committee agreed the ne~.~ condors were acceptable. 3 Committee-of-the-Whole 5/3/88 E. Review of preliminary draft of Air Quality Section of Conservation Element Planning Director Hsia gave an introduction, stating that the Air Quality Section had been prepared .at the City Council's. request. His 'intention was for the Commissioners to go over the draft'tonight, suggesting changes. or corrections if necessary. Review of the revised document would then be scheduled for the regular meeting on June' 22nd, and the May '17th study session as well if the Commissioners felt it was necessary. Planner Welge proceeded to go over the draft section by section. None of the Commissioners present had any concern about the organization of the document, nor with the first. section outlining the purpose and goal of the Air Quality Section. The Commissioners also. seemed to agree that the section on "Atmosphere Air Pollution Potential" was adequate; no changes were recommended. With regard to the section on "Air Pollution Potential Related to Emissions"., Commissioner Tucker noted a correction to be made to Table 1 on pg. 6; the California Standard for ozone has been changed from 0.10 ppm to 0.09 ppm. Planner Welge agreed to make the. change. Under the next section entitled "Monitoring Air Quality," there was some discussion .about .Figure 4 which shows the location of BAAQMD's 'ambient air monitoring stations. Commissioner Guch asked why the first two letters of each place name were capitalized. Planner Welge stated that they were abbreviations used by BAAQMD, and were not important for our purposes. As. such, the type will be changed. Commissioner Kolstad asked where exactly the Los Gatos station is located and expressed concern that the location relative to the freeway.may influence readings. Planner Welge provided the information and explained that because ozone is a regional pollutant dependent on atmospheric conditions, high concentrations are not. necessarily associated with heavily travelled roadways. The high ozone readings taken at the Los Gatos station are more likely due to the topographical and atmospheric conditions there, rather than the station's proximity to the freeway. With regard' to Table 3. on pg. 11, Commissioner Tucker suggested that, if available, 1987 data should be included. Information on peak levels would also be useful. For Table 4 on pg. 112, Commissioner Kolstad suggested that a chart · showing the decline in peak levels would help illustrate the I. trends. The.other Commissioners agreed. Commissioner Guch suggested that a sentence or two be added to clarify that the s~ntion in Sar~=toq~ w~s temperary and is no longer in 4 Committee-of-the-Whole 5/3/88 existence. Concensus was reached that a footnote to the table would be appropriate. Also, Commissionier Tucker requested that the most recent data available be included,' up to 1987 if possible. Planner Welge agreed to add more recent data. Planner Welge summarized the "Air Quality Planning and Regulation" section, stating that it is uncertain at this time whether or not EPA will impose sanctions on non- attainment areas. The Bay Area is one such area that could be penalized if the sanctions authorized under the 1977 amendments to the Clean Air Act are enforced. Commissioner Tucker understood that some action was to be taken by August, 1988. Planner Welge agreed to update the information as it becomes available for the final draft of the document. The next section of the report covers "Air Quality Issues in Saratoga." With regard to the .future West Valley Freeway, Commissioner Tucker felt that the .language was somewhat misleading in that the. studies she had seen did not show that CO levels would actually decrease. She asked if staff had consulted a document on air quality impacts of the proposed freeway that was prepared by Caltrans. Planner Welge stated that she was unfamiliar with that particular document but would check into it to see if it contained more specific air quality information than what was contained in the Final EIR for the freeway. She also indicated that the section would be reworded to reflect that CO levels will not decrease in the future per se, but rather will be relatively less in some areas than what they otherwise would be if the freeway were not built. Overall, CO levels will increase as traffic levels increase'in the future. Commissioner Guch also pointed out that the reference to the Barton-Aschman study should be rephrased, since the study did not address air quality directly, 'but rather assumptions about air quality were being made based on traffic volume data. With regard to the "Goal, Policies, and'.Implementation Measures" section, Commissioner Burger asked for clarification on the relationship of this new document to the existing General Plan. Planning Director Hsia explained that the new Air Quality Section would replace the old text, and the new goal and policies would be added to the end of the existing Conservation Goals section. The Commissioners agreed that this would be fine. With regard to C0.8.4 (Imp), Commissioner Guch suggested that the words "continue to" be deleted since they were somewhat misleading, implying that the City had been aggressively enforcing existing air quality regulations, which was not the case. The other Commissioners agreed. 5 Committee-of-the-Whole 5/3/88 The concensus of the Commissioners present was that another study session on this item was not necessary, since the changes to be made are relatively minor. Overall, they were' ' satisfied with the document and agreed it should be scheduled for public hearing at the regular meeting on June ~ 22, 1988. II. ADJOURNMENT 6