CC 11-23-92
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CITY OF CUPERTINO
10300 TORRE AVENUE, CUPERTINO, CA 95014
TELEPHONE: (408) 252-4505
CC-848B
MINUTES OF TIlE ADJOURNED REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD
ON NOVEMBER 23, 1992. COUNCIL CHAMBER, CITY HALL.
10300 TORRE AVENUE, CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA
CALL TO ORDER
At 6:47 p,m., Mayor Szabo called the meeting to order.
ROLLCALL
Counc. Present:
Dean. Goldman. Koppel, Sorensen, Mayor Szabo
Staff Present:
City Manager Brown
Deputy City Clerk Wolfe
Director of Public Works Viskovich
Director of Community Development Cowan
City Planner Wordell
City Attorney Kilian
Planner II Gil
Associate Planner lung
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Ann Anger, President, Monta Vista Improvement Association. said Council has spent a
lot of time on City identity. Ms. Anger talked about the open house the mcrcbants in
Saratoga hold the day after Thanksgiving and said she wishes Cupertino would do
something like that.
PUBUC HEARING
I, Consideration of a comprehensive amendment of the Cupertino General
Plan, including land use, housing. transportation. open space preservation.
public safety, conservation and noise clements. Emphasis will be placed
on City identity, housing mitigation mineral resources and Monta Vista.
Remaining topics include Inspiration Heights, joint hillside planning and
review of General Plan Amendment document Staff requests Council set
a date to which the public hearing may be continued.
By consensus Council set future General Plan hearings as follows:
MINUTES OF 11IE NOVEMBER 23, 1992, ADJOURNED REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEE11NO
Þ «)c-848B)
December 2 Inspiration Heights and joint hillside planning
December 7 Retail housing mitigation; final general plan document (prior to
(regular mtg.) EIR), including text and policies and implement&tion priorities
Mayor Szabo announced that Council would try to complete retail housing mitigation on
December 2.
Mayor Szabo explained the format of the meeting: stdf report, public input. Council
discussion and decision.
A. HOUSING MITIGATION
Planner II Gil presented the staff report and exhibits. She stated that other cities'
programs had been taken into account before the recommendation of 15% BMR
req..:;rement Ms. Gil prese.lted the recommendations from the Affordable Housing
Committee and the Planning Commission.
Mayor Szabo explained to the audience what housing mitigation is and what BMR stands
for. He said the Council has considered housing mitigation of office development and
w!1I consider rewl at a later date.
Nancy Burnett commented that the loss of rental shown in the exhibit wasn't really a loss
as it could be written off on income tax.
Steven Haze, 11681 San Juan Road, asked about the threshold - was it 6 or 7 units? He
was told it is at the 7th unit.
Floyd Meyer responded to Ms. Burnett's statement and said that you wí1l stí1l suffer a
loss. He said the City is trying to provide affordable housing but it would cost $25,000-
50,000 m City fees for each hOlose built He said if they want to encourage housing. they
might waive fees.
Mayor Szabo clarified that park dedication fees would be waived on affordable housing.
Staff answered questions regarding the sliding scale used to detennine the in-lieu fee for
development of fewer than ï units.
Mayor Szabo stated he has a problem with the scale - people building more expensive
houses would pay a smaller percentage than those building multiple units,
City Attorney Kilian said the concept needs more refining. One of his concerns is when
the fees would be collected. This is one of the details to be worked out. He said he
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MINUTES OF 1HE NOVEMBER 23, 1992, ADJOURNED REGULAR CITY COUNCß. MEETING
(CC-I4IB)
COIIIiders these impact fees and to the degree that you treat properties as being required
to be mitigated. you should treat them in a way that fairly represents the impact that they
have.
Counc. Goldman stated the opinion that if affordable housing is built it will mOlt likely
be in multi-family rather than single>-family projects. Multi-family projects also have an
opportunity to increase density by 25% if the project is for affordable housing.
It was moved by Counc. Goldman and seconded by Counc. Sorensen to accept Planning
Commission recommendations amended as follows:
Require every residential development to participate in the BMR program at a
rate of 3% of the gras¡¡ sales price of each unit developed as in lieu fees for 4 to 6
units, I to 3 units to be exempt; 7 or more must provide unit(s) unless it can be
proven to be economically infeasible. Waive park dedication fee on BMR units.
Counc. Sorensen described the efforts of the County General Plan Advisory
Committee regarding housing.
Mayor Szabo stated that the 1982 BMR plan was a failure because it imposed fees
on high density housing which may be more affordable.
Counc. Dean asked if a developer could build a 200 sq. ft. unit as the affordable
unit in a development of larger units. Staff informed him that a standard would
be set that would preclude this. Counc. Dean was also informed that the 15%
figure was used because it would help us generate our fair share housing. Over
50"10 of cities with BMR programs used a figure of 15-30% to meet their fair
share needs. The thirty year affordable period was used because HUD bas
experienced problems; they are losing affordable units after 20 years.
Counc. Sorensen refened to the letter received from the Cupertino Unicn School
District regarding impact fees. Mayor Szabo said schools can impose fees and we
need clarification regarding this letter,
Counc. Koppel asked about using the same fee across the board rather than the
sliding scale,
Staff informed Council that all units had been taken into account when
calculating the total in-lieu fees. Mayor Szabo stated the opinion that unless we
subject single>-family units to the fee we won't get near the state requirement
It was moved by Mayor Szabo and seconded by Counc. Koppel to amend the
motion to include all development at a 2% in-lieu fee,
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MINUTES OF TIlE NOVEMBER n. 1992. ADJOURNED REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
(CC-I4IB)
Mr. Kilian said there must be a reasonable relationship between the fee and the
impact being mitigated. He said the motion Ie&ves open when the fee would be
charged.
Mayor Szabo said this would be defined by ordinance. Collection would occur at
the building permit stage.
Counc. Dean asked why we must implement the program when 80";" of the cities
in California aren't
Mayor Szabo said that all cities don't have an affordable housing problem.
In answer to questions from Counc. Goldman, Mr. Dean said he would not object
to the concept of affordable housing in Cupertino if the funds came from a
redevelopment agency or other source. He said there had been an announcement
recently that the state budget deficit would reach $9.5 billion and urged Council
to think about the cuts he thinks are inevitable.
Counc. Goídman said that if the land prices go down because jobs are leaving,
providing affordable housing won't place a burden on developers, If a P'''5'8ßl
was in place and a redevelopment agency was created sufficient to offset
mitigation policies, then we would reconsider mandatory policies. He stated he
doesn't care how we get affordable housing but we need to create a policy to do it
Counc. Dean said that the City needs to break even. He is sure the state will
come after us again. The main goal should be economic responsibility.
The amendment to the original motion passed with Council members Dean and
Sorensen dissenting. Cone. Sorensen said she had voted no because she felt it
would hurt the little homeowners.
The motion was passed with Council member Dean dissenting.
B. CITY IDENTITY - Building Heights
Associate Planner Jung presented the portion of the staff report detlling with
building heights and requested confirmation of the heights agreed to in concept at
previous meetings. Mr. Jung said that the width of the 45 ft. buffer will be
determined following additional study. In answer to questions, he said it would
be wider than 100 ft.
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Mi:IIUTES OF TIffi NOVEMBER 23. 1992. ADJOURNED REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MElITlNO
(CC-II4IB)
City Manager Brown suggested that the General Plan include buffering in
principle with details to be in a zoning ordinance or specific plan. Mr. lung said
that the plan presented tonight is a conceptual plan.
Coone. Koppel stated she would not want to see a building on the southeast
comer of the DcAnzalStevens Creek Boulevard intersection.
Mr. Brown again suggested keeping the direction general and not getting to that
level of detail in the General Plan.
Mr. lung said there is still some entitlement for housing in the Town Center area.
He asked for confirmation that the information as presented was what was
previously agreed to in concept.
Mayor Szabo opened the meeting for public input
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Phil Zeitman, 22907 Cricket Hill Road, had two concerns. He said if you stated
that a 120 ft. high building can be built on the comer of DcAnza and Stevens
Creek, someone will want to do it He asked for clarification from the last
meeting regarding CURB's prcfcn:ncc for 40 ft. building heights. He had
assumed that they were talking about industrial and office, not residential. I f the
limitation applies to residential that could be more than three stories. He asked
that Council reconsider the 45 ft. beig.l¡t Maybe it could be used on Wolfe Road
but not Stevens Creek Boulevard because of the residential behind it
Steven Haze said he concurred with Mr. Zeitman and Coone. Koppel regarding
the comer of DcAnza and Stevens Creek. In regard to Vallco, he agreed that
there should be a 45 ft. limit to be used against the 120 ft. maximum.
Herman Hijmans, Cupertino Chamber of Commerce, said tbe Chamber would
like the 45 ft. limit all along the core area to remain. It is a good limit to wolk
with. Mr. Hijmans said let the market dictate what will be built
Ann Anger said it is important that we have underground parlcing and asked if
Council has considered that.
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It was moved by Counc. Koppel, seconded by Coone. Dean and passed with
Counc. Goldman dissenting that the southeast comer of DcAnza Boulevard and
Stevens Creek Boulevard remain as is with the most immediate structure being
the twin towers. Mr. Goldman said his no vote reflected his opinion that it is
inappropriate at the General Plan level to do this because if we're that specific at
that comer, we should be specific all over
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MINUTES OF TIlE NOVEMBER 73, 1992. ADJOURNED REGULAR CIlY COUNCIL MEETING
(CC-I4IB)
Mayor Szabo suggested 45 ft. office buildings along Stevens Creek. 30 ft. if it's
residential.
Counc:. Goldman said 45 ft. gives flexibility in tenns of design. We want to limit
traffie and buffer the neighborhoods without limiting design options.
Mr. Zeitman stated that two stOties or 40 ft. on Stevens Creek Boulevard is
CURB's position.
Counc:. Goldman said that 40 ft. would allow three story commercial and up to
four stories of residential.
Mr. lung stated that the residential setback will be detennincd at the specifie plan
phase.
It was moved by Coune. Koppel, seconded by Coune. Deal1 and parled
unanimously that the height limit on Stevens Creek Boulevard between Stelling
and the easterly City limit be 30-45 ft. based on proximity to residential.
Mr. lung presented a staff p.oposal that heights along Stevens Creek Boulevard
and Tantau be greater that 45 ft. because that height limits densities that might be
pa 0 >u<>Cd by the companies.
City Manager Brown observed that there arc limited parcels companies can use to
fulfill th'lir housing mitigation and they arc in the area being discussed.
It was moved by Coune. Koppel, scoonded by Coune. Sorensen and passed with
Council mcmbeΠGoldman and Dean dissenting to set the height in the Vallco
Parle: area at 60 ft. for the exterior up to J 20 ft. in the interior.
Mr. lung presented General Plan policy proposals and requested revicw and
preliminary action. He said these policies would help elarify building height.
requirements. He showed examples whCle the height of the equipment penthouse
on buildings varied.
Phil Zeitman said he assumed that when Couneil had voted on building heights
earlier it was maximum building heights. Now they were talking about adding
one or two stories to building height to accommodate equipment penthouses. He
said that the equipment in the new Apple campus is underneath.
AI Phillips, 10290 Westacres. said ifbuildeΠwant to add mechanical equipment
they should adjust the number of stories down, He stated that Council was
undoing what it had illst voted on.
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MINUfF.8 OF TIlE NOVEMBER 23. 1992. ADJOURNED REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETINO
(CC-I4IB)
Hennan Hijmans, Chamber of Commerce, said he thinks the 45 ft. maximum
height will take care of any problems and thinks Council should focus more on
setback.
Steven Haze stated the opinion that the requirement for ·very high quality
architecture, building materials and finishes· should be met in every building. not
just landmark buildings. Taco Bell confonns to three of the five criteria
mentioned and he does not consider it a landmark building.
The following policy proposals were voted on as follows:
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I. For projects to be considered for landmark building height status,
it must conform to at least three criteria a Location on a major street frontage.
b, Very high quality architecture, building materials and finishes, c. Inclusion of
cultural facilities. d. Inclusion of outdooc gathering places, pedestrian amenities
and art. e. Inclusion of uses that promote social gathering. e.g., restaurants or
entertainment activities, - It was moved by Counc. Goldman, seconded by Counc,
Koppel and passed unanimously to approve item one as amended to require four
criteria in item a and to insert the word ·public· before ·gathering places· in item
d
2. Height of rooftop architecturnl elements in Planned Development
zones may exceed stipulated height limitations if not habitable space. - It was
moved by Counc. Goldman, seconded by Counc. Dean and passed unanimously
to delete this item.
3. Review height regulations in zoning code to implement General
Plan ~eight policies. Use average curb height as a ground reference to measure
buildil\~ height - It was moved by Counc. Sorensen, seconded by Counc.
Goldma... and passed unanimously to appmvl:: this policy,
4. Mechanical appurtenances and utility structures mounted on the
roof of a building may exceed stipulated height limitations, - It was moved by
Counc, Goldman, seconded by Counc. Sorensen and passed with Counc. Dean
dissenting to rpprove as amended to require that the structures must be located in
the middle of the building and not be visible from the street and that they must be
enclosed.
RECESS: 9:08-9:20 p.m,
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Mayor Szabo announced that the mineral resources and Monta Vista portions of
the GP A would not be considered at this meeting
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MINUfES OF TIlE NOVEMBER 23, 1992, AD.IOURNED REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
(CC-tI48B)
CITY IDENTIlY - Residential Density Allocations
Associate Planner lung pracntcd the staff report.
Steven Haze asked about the necessity for realigning Bubb Road. Counc. Koppel
said she thinks the realignment would be necessary. Bubb Road could parallel
Highway 85 or the railroad tracks so there wouldn't be a split neighborhood.
Counc, Dean said it doesn't make sense to change 11e Bubb Road area and add
traffic,
Mr, Viskovich said that residential generates less traffic than office, generally
speaking, It depends on the square footage,
Mr, Cowan said the likelihood of the whole area going residential is slim.
Counc. Goldman said he doesn't want to add traffic unless some is taken away
due to commcrcialleaving. He prcfcm:d a housing unit "cap,"
It was moved by Counc. Goldman, seconded by Counc, Koppel and passed with
Counc. Dean dissenting to approve option c, assign a dwelling unit "cap" to each
Planning District
It was moved by Counc. Goldman, seconded by Counc. Sorensen and passed with
Counc. Dean abstaining to require that housing only l-c built in the Bubb Road
area if equivalent traffic is removed on a one to one basis. Counc. Dean stated
that the reason for his abstention was that he does not think we need extra people
on Bubb Road.
NEW BUSINESS
2, Request for input and direction regarding matters, including sharing of
staff and advance bond sale, if Santa Clara County Measure A on the Nov. 5
ballot is validated. This pertains to road projects only,
By consensus, Council approved Mayor Szabo's proposal regarding interim
sta.ffing and costs.
Counc, Goldman announced that the joint meeting with the school districts will
be January 8, not lanuary 15. The item is on the December 2 agenda for
confinnation.
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MINUTES OF TIlE NOVEMBER 23. 1992. ADJOURNED RI!(JUl.AR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
(CCI4IB)
By c:oosensus, Council set 1II11I8I)' 9, 1993, . the date for the CouIK:iIICity
M-..- goù setting _ion and City Maaaøer evalualion. Confirmation of this
date is sdleduJed for tho December 7 m~
Mr. Cowan said that clarification of the letter from the Cupertino Union School
District will be included at the December 2 General Plan bearing.
At 10:00 p.m., the meeting was adjourned to December 2, 1992, 6:45 p.m.
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CITY OF CUPERTINO
10300 TORRE AVENUE, CUPERTINO, CA 95014
TELEPHONE: (408) 252-4505
Cc.....A
MINUTES OF THE ADJOURNED REGUlAR. CITY COUNCn. t.uœTING
HELD ON NOVEMBER 23, 1992. FIELD TRIP, INSPIRATION HEIGHTS
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA
The purpose of this meeting is to conduá a field hip to the area of Cupertino !mown as
"Inspiration Heights."
At a later date, Inspiration Heights will be discussed in context of an amendment to the
Cupertino General Plan.
ROLLCALL
Counc. Present:
Dean, Goldman, Koppel, Sorensen, Mayor Szabo
Staff Present:
Deputy City Clerk Wolfe
Director of Public Works Viskovich
Director of Community Development Cowan
City Planner Wordell
City Attorney Kilian
Othen; present at the site:
Barbara West
Dennis West
Chuck Williams
Steven Haze
Warren Dunn
The meeting was convened in the parking lot, City Hall, 10300 Torre Avenue, Cupertino,
California, at 4:00 p.m. Council members and staff departed in a City automobile and
met the homeownen; on San Juan Road and a point designated "A" on a map of the tour
(attached).
Mr. West stated that the purpose of the tour is for Council to get a feel for the land He
pointed out that the area on one side of the road was zoned RHS, the other R I-I O. The
part zoned RI-IO had a steeper grade than the portio!: zoned RHS. Mr. West showed
Council an area that had been graded that was to accommOOate four houses. He
discussed tht" neighborhood character and density and said that the large houses proposed
here would dominate the view from the Valley. Re-engineering the hillside to
accommodate the homes would affect drainage and would require retaining walls. Mr.
West said a fault line runs through this area.
Mr. Viskovich informed Council that the road here would have to be widened and IICCeII
Þ , provided to the houses.
Mr, Williams commented on the legality of the grading and .ts effect on the people who
livnl below the graded lots.
Ms, West said the comments being made were not really site specific. development
anywhere in the area affects the community.
The group drove to point "B" on Santa Lucia near Merriman. Ms. west said the land here
is very steep. There had been significant flooding during heavy rains. She showed the
group the large retaining wall and indicated where the 440' elevation line ran.
At site 'C" on Cordova Road, Ms. West pointed out where there had been a slide during
heavy rains, There are no storm drains in the area. She pointed out her home and said
there had been water damage at that time, She showed Council the gate that closes off
Cordova Road. This had been done at the request of residents because of the narrow
road (9' wide) and a blind curve where there had been at least one accident and several
near misses. Ms. West also said that the large retaining wall doesn't provide a pleasant
view for those who must look at it day in and day out.
Site "D", located on Merce<les Road. was the next stop on the tour. The steep terrain,
rural roads and poor drainage wm: all cited as reasons for no more development in the
Þ area.
Mr. Williams pointed out his house, and said there are already six houses on &he road in
addition to the Marianist facility and Cupertino Municipal Water facilities. Homeowners
have spent thousands of dollars apiece to shore up their homes.
The residents summarized by asking Council to consider rezoning the area to RHS zone
and to be aware of the impacts of additional development anywhere in the area.
Council and staff returned to City Hall. At 5: 15 p.m., the meting was adjourned to 6:45
p.m.
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Deputy City Clerk
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