Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Let's call to order the Planning Commission meeting of July 27th at 7 p.m. The city does not tolerate disruptive behavior in our meetings. Sunnyvale prides itself on the rich diversity of our residents. We are committed to creating a culture of belonging where members of our diverse community feel included, safe, and respected. This planning commission is considered a limited public forum, which means the commission can regulate the time, place, and manner of speech. Speaker comments must be limited to the agenda item being considered by the commission for consent calendar, or pu

Okay, oral communications. This is now the public's opportunity to address the commission on topics not listed on today's agenda. This section is limited to 15 minutes and may be extended or continued after the public hearings or general business section of the meeting. Individuals may only speak once during oral communications. This Planning Commission meeting is a limited public forum, and the Commission can regulate the time, place, and manner of speech. Speaker comments during oral communications must be limited to matters within the Commission's authority, which is known as the Commission

If we wanted to have a presentation on this subject or some other subject, how do we agendize that?

And do we have a mechanism where we can... make a recommendation to council on something that, you know, that we just choose to make a recommendation on?

Yes, just a quick thing for staff. First of all, my understanding is that most of the data center demand is actually in there. neighboring city of Santa Clara because they have their own utility and correspondingly much lower rates for electricity. Aside from that, do we have any projects in the pipeline for large data centers?

All right, I will go ahead and close the oral communication. Now I will go ahead and open public comment on consent calendar items. Please submit a speaker card to the recording officer. Raise your digital hand now or dial star nine on a telephone to indicate you wish to speak. I will call on members of the public participating in person first, followed by remote participants. Speakers will have three minutes to speak. Does anyone... in the room want to speak on the consent calendar item before we hear from remote speakers recording officer do we have any remote participants wishing to speak o

Okay. Moving to our next item. Item two. This is 26-0689, proposed project related application on a 0.26 acre site, special development permit to construct four townhomes and associated site improvements and maintain the existing single family home, a heritage resource, and tentative map to create five residential lots and one common lot. Um, is there a staff presentation?

All right. Thank you for the presentation. I will now ask for questions from my colleagues. Commissioner Pine.

Thank you. Thank you, staff, for the presentation. These questions are mostly for the benefit of members of the public. I'm pretty sure I know the answers to them. So this already went through the Heritage Preservation Commission, and am I correct in noting that uh they made the findings relating to the that this doesn't have a negative impact on the historic nature of the property our decision tonight is focused on the is is focused on the the findings for the special development permit the tentative map and conditions of approval that is correct Thank you. And also since we had the continuan

Thank you. So just as a note to members of the public, We're making the decision. We have to make a decision tonight. There's no scenario where we could have a continuance where we ask the developer to come back and do something else. We can't continue this item passed tonight. We actually have to make a call tonight. So just for benefit of members of the public, this is the last hearing on this item. Thank you.

Thank you for the presentation. Just a couple of largely for the public. clarifications right in the recommended findings that states that there are three story buildings in the neighborhood. Do you know where those are exactly because I know that the two adjoining properties right are not three stories and fine.

So it's a special development permit, right? So we have to be able to make one of, one or both of of two findings right that it complies with the general plan the loot and so on or that it uh generally conforms with the the look and feel of the neighborhood correct that's correct okay so that's the sunny vale level of approval we have to be able to make at least one of those findings but this also intersects with state law right and commissioner pine i think it's sb 330 where we're limited to five meetings but that law also makes it so that we can only deny if there is, I think the language is

So we now, we allocate 10 minutes to the applicant at the beginning of the public hearing to address the Planning Commission. along with five minutes at the end of the public hearing. Is there an applicant presentation?

All right, I'll go ahead and open the public hearing on this specific item. Please submit a speaker card to the recording officer. Raise your digital hand now or dial star nine on a telephone to indicate you wish to speak. I will call on members of the public participating in person first, followed by remote participants. Speakers will have three minutes to speak. Okay, so I have a few speaker cards here. So first, Julia Gorski.

Can I ask you a quick question? Where is this house relative to this?

East side. Okay. So the house right on Crescent, is that what you're saying?

All right. Thank you. Is it Arkady Gorsky?

Thank you. But I do have a question. Yes. I have been to the site. Is your house next to the historic house?

So this would be the windows that look into your house across that big driveway.

I see. We had a meeting on this a couple weeks ago, and no one spoke. So.

Point of order, I cannot believe that remarks made from the audience under the microphone are audible to members of the public listening remotely.

Yeah, I guess if you can answer that, because people watching on Zoom cannot hear. Okay. Is it because the sign went up that you knew to come to this?

All right. All right. Thank you. Thank you. I have one more card in the room. Shivani Gupta.

Alright, thank you. Are there any other speakers in the room? Alright. Oh, Commissioner Pine.

Thank you, Jared. Question for staff. The staff report says the original hearing date was noticed by sending 1863 notices to surrounding property owners and residents adjacent to the subject site. Is there any way we can basically confirm that this happened?

Okay, recording officer, are there any remote participants? All right, thank you. I will... Right. So having no other public participants, the applicant now has five minutes at the end of the public hearing.

We may have some questions from my colleagues.

Yeah, thank you. A couple questions. First of all, the solar study, this is the one that is in our packet as a G-Golf 008 as the solar shading analysis reference. Just for everybody's reference.

I just want to be clear for everybody in the room that this is what we've, at least I know that's what I've been looking at. I just want to be clear because I know there was some question about whether there was solar shading analysis. So I just wanted to call everyone's attention to that. Second, there was a comment from a member of the public regarding concerns about the current upkeep of the property. Kurt, do you have any comment on that?

Do we have any other questions from commissioners? I have a question. Well, one is, uh a comment that uh it would be held this was great information that you just gave us about the height of the surrounding buildings it would be helpful if that would show up and this project and others in the drawings so we could but we have provided those in the drawing there's a cross section showing those exact Heights so it's on G zero G002 at the bottom of the page has the Heights and you can see it's noted there

Okay, and so the balconies are on the second floor of your building?

And the third story windows, is there any frosted glass or any mitigation there?

Yeah, sorry to pop my hand up again, but I'm looking at the, I'm now looking even closer at the date stamps on these and I see that the solar study on G008 is also December 23rd, 2025. So, am I correct in saying that the solar impact would actually likely be be less than what we see on the g008 solar study given the height reduction that's correct there's almost no impact at all like it would never even reach out it wouldn't even reach yeah it's thank you i would say that to staff i it would be helpful in the future to make sure that when our plan sets do reflect things like height revisions a

All right. If I didn't do it already, I will close the public hearing and now ask for a motion for my colleagues. For discussion, yes.

Vice Chair Davis. I just had one more question for staff. So I was looking at the land use and transportation element of the general plan, the LUT, which we updated in 2024. And it shows it as this has been zoned for this zoning level. I think it's R3, medium density, right? That was not new zoning in 2024. The zoning has been there for quite some time, if my understanding is correct.

Okay. I know how hard it is to find. I wouldn't hazard a guess as to how far back, but we're looking at many, many years that it's been zoned for medium density zoning. Okay. So it was set to medium density at some point before 2024. We can say that conclusively. Yes, you can safely say that. Yeah, I suspect that it was probably zoned for that on the previous version. You know, we're looking at decades is my guess for that. That's my question for staff. I saw someone else's hand up if they wanted to make a motion.

I was going to ask this to the chair. I was actually planning on asking the exact same question that Commissioner Davis, that Vice Chair Davis asked.

OK. Can we get a motion? OK. Vice Chair?

Sure. Let me pull up the terminology so I get this correct. My motion is to follow staff's recommendation. Let me scroll down here. which is alternative one, find the project exempt from CEQA under the class 32 infill exemption and improve the special development permit and tentative map with the recommended findings in attachment three and recommended conditions of approval in attachment four. And that's my motion.

Do we have a second? Commissioner Pine. Second.

Okay. To my motion, I know it's rough when new development of, let's call it an underutilized parcel that you neighbor. comes in and so on. In fact, it was a 1,000-foot well right behind my house was just approved that will pull water out, and I won't actually get that water. That's my back neighbor. I was recused from the whole item. This was just before the planning commission and the city council. This is part of living in a city. you only have rights on the property that you own, right? And the city sets rules and regulations. The state does as well. And property owners have the right to d

Yeah, on this project, I'm able to make the required CEQA exemption finding. I'm able to make the findings for the special development permanent hand of map with the recommended findings and attachment through an recommended conditions for approval and attachment for. I live in a fairly small apartment that when I moved in was, had a one-story building in the neighboring lot and i think like a giant like backyard or something i know and some years ago it was redeveloped into a set of three-story townhouses so i am sympathetic to the i am honestly sympathetic to the privacy concerns to the just

And I'll just comment that I will also be supporting the motion. As mentioned there, we don't have a legal basis to reject it, even if we wanted to. I am sensitive to the privacy issues. This comes up frequently and I live in a house that has the back wall is all glass and so I'm definitely familiar with these concerns but all of these projects were originally these long lots with poultry building with a house in front and poultry buildings and back have pretty much all been redeveloped with mostly with townhomes or some sort of multifamily development. And this is one of the last ones to be d

All right. Thank you. And staff, what is the fate of this project?

All right. Thank you. Uh, congratulations to the, uh, developers. So the next portion of the, uh, agenda is for oral oral reports and announcements by commissioners and staff to, uh, share information. Do commissioners have any non-agenda items or comments? I have a question for staff. It seems like for various reasons we continue to have people showing up who didn't know about projects. um if if we wanted to let's say uh put up signs for the study uh for study issue for the study session uh of course in addition to the final uh meeting uh what would be involved in doing that is it are we is t

Because usually the second meeting is the final meeting. So, and that's where they get the noticing. For the formal hearing, right?

We get it twice. You're saying there's a separate community meeting different from the study session?

I see. OK. But how do they find out about that?

OK. I don't know why, but we always have a lot of people who claim they never got the notice. I throw a lot of my mail away too.

Vice Chair Davis, I'd just say that I don't know that it would ever make it above the line, but at some point we should probably revisit the noticing policy. Some things have changed, especially like around the scope of the Planning Commission as There's just a lot less discretion than there used to be. There's no more armchair architecture from the dais. But at the same time, with all the things we have to consider, I don't know that that ever makes it above the line. So thank you.

All right. Planning Officer, do you have any non-agenda items or comments?

All right, then I will adjourn the meeting at 8.11, and I want to thank everyone for your participation in tonight's meeting.