HomeMy WebLinkAbout105-Staff Correspondence.pdf
NOTICE OF INCOMPLETE APPLICATION
April 9, 2009
Via US Mail
Alex Du Von
P.O. Box 321172
Los Gatos, CA 95032
RE: Application No. CUP09-0004; Use Permit for Daycare Facility at 20398 Blauer
Drive, Saratoga, California
Dear Mr. Du Von:
This letter is in regards to the application and plans submitted to the Planning
Division on March 18, 2009. Staff has reviewed the plans and is requesting the
below items for clarification. Prior to deeming your application complete, the
information noted below must be provided. Please provide the following:
Title Report Please submit to a current title report (dated within 90 days).
Letter of
Authorization
Please provide evidence showing the applicant to being the
owner of the property, or evidence that the applicant is duly
authorized agent of the owner.
Fire
Department
Fees
Please provide evidence of fees paid to the Saratoga Fire
Department.
Neighborhood
Outreach
Provide written documentation that all of the adjacent property
owners have reviewed the plans for the proposed project and
include their comments. A template has been attached for your
convenience (Attachment A).
Community Development Department
City of Saratoga
13777 Fruitvale Avenue
Saratoga, California 95070
Blauer Daycare Facility
Project Address: 20398 Blauer Drive
Application CUP09-0004; Use Permit for Daycare Facility
Page 2
Conditional
Use Permit
Findings
Please provide use permit findings per Section 15-55.070 of the City
Code. I have attached the City Conditional Use Permit requirements
(Attachment B).
Parking
Calculation
Though the site plans show the parking availability, staff is unable
to determine the required number of parking spaces for the
proposed use. Please provide us with that information.
Photos of Site Please provide photos of the proposed project site. Photos should
be from the exterior of all sides of the building.
Hours of
Operation
Please indicate on the plans the hours of operation for the
proposed use.
Number of
Employees
Please indicate on the plans the number of employees necessary
to operate the proposed use.
For additional information concerning the City of Saratoga’s code sections, please
refer to our web site www.saratoga.ca.us. Click on the Municipal Codes link and
use either the table of contents or the search engine to find specific sections.
Please note that it is always difficult to identify all issues at this stage of your application
and there may be additional information requested by the Planning Department or
other agencies during the review process. I will forward comments from other
departments when they are received. Please feel free to contact me at (408) 868-
1212 with any questions that you may have. Your assistance in processing these
comments is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Eric W. Lentz
Associate Planner
City of Saratoga
May 19, 2009
Alex Du Von
PO Box 321172
Los Gatos, CA 95032
RE: Notice of Required Traffic Study; 20398 Blauer Drive, Saratoga, California
Conditional Use Permit (CUP 09-0004)
Dear Alex Du Von:
As we discussed on the phone, your application for a daycare facility at 20398 Blauer Drive has
been reassigned to me. Given the potential traffic impacts associated with your proposal, a
Traffic Study is required to determine the number of students that can be accommodated given
existing parking and any potential traffic impacts resulting from the proposed daycare use.
Please submit a traffic study report conducted by a licensed traffic engineer (of your choosing).
The City of Saratoga’s consulting traffic engineer will then conduct a peer study of the report.
The peer study will require a $2,500 deposit. You will be refunded any amount remaining in the
peer study account following final planning approval and occupancy.
The traffic study should include Parking Generation, Trip Generation, Intersection Analysis,
On-Site Circulation Analysis, and Conclusions and Recommendations. Please also include a
Project Description including hours of operation, number of employees, number of classrooms,
number of students per classroom, maximum number of students allowed on site at any one time,
the number of parking spaces dedicated for the tenant space, and the number of parking spaces
shared with other uses in the shopping center.
Sincerely,
Cynthia McCormick
Assistant Planner, City of Saratoga Planning Division
CITY OF SARATOGA
13777 FRUITVALE AVENUE • SARATOGA, CALIFORNIA 95070
Please feel free to contact me at (408) 868-1230 with any questions that you may have.
Sincerely,
Cynthia McCormick
June 23, 2009
To: Alex Du Von
Re: Traffic Study
Dear Applicant:
Thank you for submitting the Traffic Study this morning. Staff has reviewed the Traffic Study and has
the following comments on the Traffic Study completed by Hexagon Transportation Consultants.
• Total Required Parking Spaces: The total required parking spaces must include those needed
for both employees and student drop-off. The submitted traffic study does not account for
employee parking. Please resubmit the traffic study to address this requirement.
• Employee Parking: The traffic study must include the number of parking spaces required for the
number of employees proposed. The City of Saratoga requires one (1) parking space for each
employee, including teachers and administrators of a day care center. Per the project description, the
project would require 10 spaces to accommodate the 10 proposed employees, leaving 4 spaces for
student drop-off parking. Based on the parking use rate provided by Hexagon, staff estimates that
the 4 available spaces would accommodate no more than an estimated 11 students.
• Shared Parking: The parking requirements may be satisfied by a common parking facility;
provided that the total number of spaces shall be not less than the sum of the individual
requirements, and provided further, that a contract between the parties setting forth the
agreement for joint use of a common parking facility is recorded in the office of the County
Recorder and a certified copy there is filed with the City. Should the applicant decide to pursue
this option, the traffic study must include a table showing all individual tenants (by name) in the
shopping center, their individual square footages, and their parking requirements per City Code
Section 15-35. Please note that the City of Saratoga requires one (1) parking space for each two
hundred square feet of floor area of office space. Assuming all tenants are office uses, an office
complex of 4,000 SF would require 20 spaces. Based on the parking use rate provided by Hexagon,
staff estimates that the 5 additional spaces would accommodate no more than an estimated 14
students. Should the applicant be able to acquire a lease of the 5 adjacent parking spaces and record
an agreement for joint use of parking, staff estimates that that the 9 shared spaces would
accommodate no more than estimated 26 students (this calculation allows one additional student
based on rounding).
• Street Parking: Street parking is not counted towards the required number of spaces.
CITY OF SARATOGA
13777 FRUITVALE AVENUE • SARATOGA, CALIFORNIA 95070
1
Cynthia McCormick
From:Cynthia McCormick
Sent:Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:58 PM
To:'alexduvon@yahoo.com'
Subject:RE: traffic study comments for day care center at 20398 Blauer Drive.
Dear Alex DuVon,
Thank you for submitting the traffic study this morning.
Please see attached regarding comments on the submitted traffic study for the day care center at 20398 Blauer Drive.
Once the traffic study has been updated with the attached requirements, I will forward the study to the City of
Saratoga’s traffic consultant for peer review and recommendations.
Please note that staff cannot schedule the public hearing until all requirements have been met and all recommendations
have been finalized by the City’s traffic consultant.
Sincerely,
Cindy McCormick
408‐868‐1230
Cc: Hexagon Traffic Consultants
1
Cynthia McCormick
From:Cynthia McCormick
Sent:Wednesday, June 24, 2009 3:45 PM
To:'Juliahashemieh'
Cc:'duvonalex@yahoo.com'
Subject:RE: traffic study comments for day care center at 20398 Blauer Drive.
Attachments:traffic study comments.pdf; incomplete letter (June).pdf; Incomplete Letter (April).pdf
Julia –
The Planning Director reviewed your application and has indicated that he would be happy to meet with
you once you do the following:
1) submit the items requested in April (see attached); and
2) submit notification forms for the other two neighbors and address all neighbor’s concerns (see
attached); and
3) propose a solution that meets the City’s parking requirements for day care centers (as discussed in
staff’s comments on the traffic study; also attached).
Cindy
408‐868‐1230
June 24, 2009
To: Alex Du Von (applicant)
CC: Julia Hashemieh
Re: Conditional Use Permit Application status
On April 9 2009, the City sent you a letter indicating that you would need to submit additional
information prior to deeming your application complete (see attachment). Staff has not yet received
the following items: Title Report, Neighborhood Outreach forms for two (2) of five (5) neighbors,
Conditional Use Permit Findings, Photos of Site, and Hours of Operation.
Please note that a “property profile” does not satisfy the requirement for a copy of the title report.
Please submit notification forms for 13035 Regan Lane (behind the property) and 12948 Saratoga-
Sunnyvale Road (across the street). To date, two neighbors have indicated concern with regard to
potential traffic issues. One neighbor also indicated concern regarding potential noise impacts.
The purpose of the City’s off-street parking regulations is to alleviate or prevent shortage of off-street
parking and insulate surrounding land uses from impact. The purpose of the traffic study is to review
potential traffic and parking issues. The traffic study may also help address neighbor concerns.
According to the traffic study (submitted on June 23rd), the property does not have enough parking
to accommodate the number of students proposed. This would potentially result in spillover traffic
into the adjacent shopping center and neighborhood.
After meeting with the Planning Director, staff recommends that you reduce the number of students
and/or the number of employees, in accordance with the available parking (14 spaces). As indicated
in previous correspondence, one parking space is needed for each employee, and 0.34 parking
spaces is needed for each student. Please be advised that the Community Development Department
does not encourage shared parking because it restricts the types of uses that the adjacent property
owner can accommodate, given the reduced parking available for their use.
The Planning Director would be happy to meet with you once you submit the items requested in
April, address the neighbor’s concerns, and propose a solution that meets the City’s parking
requirements for day care centers (as discussed in staff’s comments on the traffic study).
Please feel free to contact me at (408) 868-1230 with any questions that you may have.
Sincerely,
Cynthia McCormick
CITY OF SARATOGA
13777 FRUITVALE AVENUE • SARATOGA, CALIFORNIA 95070
1
Cynthia McCormick
From:Cynthia McCormick
Sent:Tuesday, September 01, 2009 4:29 PM
To:'Juliahashemieh'
Subject:RE: day care center at 20398 Blauer Drive.
Attachments:traffic study.doc
Julia –
Before I can send the Hexagon report to our traffic consultant for peer review (and consideration of your proposal), we
need to collect the deposit and flat fees for their review. This deposit was requested in May (see attached). The letter
was originally addressed (and sent) to Alex Du Von who is still the primary applicant in our records.
I did not realize that the fees were not paid yet, but I think we may have put the fee collection on hold while you were
working with Hexagon. We will now need to collect the fees if you are moving forward without the survey from
Hexagon. The $2,500 deposit and $500 flat fee will need to be collected regardless of the survey.
Thanks for your time!
Cindy
408‐868‐1230
September 17, 2009
To: Alex Du Von (applicant)
CC: Julia Hashemieh
RE: Public Hearing for Conditional Use Permit
Dear Mr. Du Von and Ms. Hashemieh:
The above referenced project has been scheduled for a Site Visit and Public Hearing. Staff
recommends that you are present at both the site visit and public hearing to answer questions.
Please see the attachment regarding what to expect during the site visit and Public Hearing.
The Site Visit will occur at the subject property on Tuesday, October 13th between 3:30 and
5:00pm. The Public Hearing will commence the following day, Wednesday, October 14th
starting at 7:00 pm in the City Hall Theater, located at 13777 Fruitvale Avenue. The time the
item will be heard will depend on other projects on the agenda.
IMPORTANT:
1) Please update the plans to indicate the total number of employees and students you propose.
2) Currently, the plans do not show any play equipment. I have assumed that you will not have
play equipment in the front yard of the building. If you intend to put play equipment in the
front yard (which staff does not recommend), please indicate so on the plans and provide
details of the equipment (pictures and brochures with dimensions).
3) Please provide details (height, color, and materials) of the proposed fence, gate, and bridge.
Please provide me with the following no later than 2:00 pm Friday September 25th:
1 - Full size complete plan set; 24” x 36” (stapled / folded)
2 – Copies of the Site Plan and Floor Plan; 24” x 36” for display (loose rolled sheets)
15 - Reduced size complete plans sets; 11” x 17” (3-hole punched, stapled, z-folded)
The plans should include the items above concerning the number of employees and students,
clarification regarding the playground equipment, and details for the fence, gate, and bridge.
Please feel free to contact me at (408) 868-1230 with any questions that you may have.
Sincerely,
Cynthia McCormick
CITY OF SARATOGA
13777 FRUITVALE AVENUE • SARATOGA, CALIFORNIA 95070
1
Cynthia McCormick
From:Cynthia McCormick
Sent:Thursday, September 17, 2009 3:10 PM
To:'Juliahashemieh'; 'alexduvon@yahoo.com'
Subject:next steps
Attachments:Complete Letter.pdf; Planning Commission meeting info.pdf
Dear Mr. Du Von and Ms. Hashemieh:
As discussed in our meeting on Tuesday, the above referenced project has been scheduled for a Site Visit and
Public Hearing. Staff recommends that you are present at both the site visit and public hearing to answer
questions. Please see the attachment regarding what to expect during the site visit and Public Hearing.
The Site Visit will occur at the subject property on Tuesday, October 13th between 3:30 and 5:00pm. The
Public Hearing will commence the following day, Wednesday, October 14th starting at 7:00 pm in the City
Hall Theater, located at 13777 Fruitvale Avenue. The time the item will be heard will depend on other projects
on the agenda.
IMPORTANT:
1) Please update the plans to indicate the total number of employees and students you propose.
2) Currently, the plans do not show any play equipment. I have assumed that you will not have play
equipment in the front yard of the building. If you intend to put play equipment in the front yard (which
staff does not recommend), please indicate so on the plans and provide details of the equipment (pictures
and brochures with dimensions).
3) Please provide details (height, color, and materials) of the proposed fence, gate, and bridge.
Please provide me with the following no later than 2:00 pm Friday September 25th:
1 - Full size complete plan set; 24” x 36” (stapled / folded)
2 – Copies of the Site Plan and Floor Plan; 24” x 36” for display (loose rolled sheets)
15 - Reduced size complete plans sets; 11” x 17” (3-hole punched, stapled, z-folded)
The plans should include the items above concerning the number of employees and students, clarification
regarding the playground equipment, and details for the fence, gate, and bridge.
Please feel free to contact me at (408) 868-1230 with any questions that you may have.
Sincerely,
Cynthia McCormick