Remarks by Galen Kim Davis
81 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 4
- Play at 44:43
“Thank you, Chair. Thanks for the presentation. So I have a question. There's going to be an HOA for this community, correct? Yeah. Okay. So the fact that the fence along Wolf and to a lesser degree, Luster Leaf are not going to be directly on the sidewalks, right? So will it be the HOA's responsibility to keep those areas clean and tidy? Yeah. Okay. Not the individual homeowners? No. Okay. Thank you.”
Planning Commission · Sep 14, 2026
- Play at 54:54
“I was going to second the motion, so that's why I have my hand up. But I think a three-minute recess is appropriate.”
Planning Commission · Sep 14, 2026
- Play at 1:01:07
“Okay i'm reading GC GC dash six and it says 12 and a half percent not 15% so 12 and a half percent of seven would be. Seven eights point 875.”
Planning Commission · Sep 14, 2026
- Play at 1:10:00
“Yes, I'm supporting this motion. The developer has been incredibly responsive to all the stakeholders. Thank you for that. I won't go on with a lot of praise. I know you want to get out of here. So it's a good project. It, it conforms to all the rules. I urge my fellow commissioners to vote yes on the motion. Commissioner Shukla.”
Planning Commission · Sep 14, 2026
- Play at 1:22:49
“I guess this is a little bit procedural. When we get to the motions, how do we propose that staff make sure they bring up in the item for consideration not actually changing any of the proposed texts or anything but that they need to be aware of a certain item and debate it or consider it in the city council meeting and so how would we is that just a something we add to the motion”
Planning Commission · Sep 14, 2026
- Play at 1:23:35
“Okay. I think I should probably do that after the public hearing, though the gallery is empty.”
Planning Commission · Sep 14, 2026
- Play at 1:51:04
“sorry, between screens and out there, I don't know whether to wear my glasses or not, on SB 937. This is so typically speaking, you know, the way it's being proposed is we have our fee arrangements in the ordinance and then we say, unless state law says you can't do this, right? And I just want to make sure this gets before City Council because this is not normally how we do things right. SB 9 is a great example of how much work has been put in in public deliberation to make sure we get the city implementation correct. I'm personally okay with this because the conditions under which this bill…”
Planning Commission · Sep 14, 2026
- Play at 1:54:42
“OK, so I'm not going to put it into the motion. I trust that staff will make sure city council is well informed. So I am just going to follow staff's recommendation, follow alternative one, introduce the ordinance. Actually. Because we had a modified ordinance, it should be, I believe, attachment three, correct? Okay, I just checked it. Yes, so it says it's a slight modification to alternative one. Introduce the ordinance attachment three amending Sunnyvale municipal code title 19 zoning to repeal and replace chapter 19.78. Okay, I think, do I need to go through the whole list for staff for…”
Planning Commission · Sep 14, 2026
- Play at 1:56:31
“Yes, this is one of those technical legislative things that we do periodically. I think staff's done a great job with this and parsing the state law and getting this into a form to make our code compliant and user-friendly. So I made the motion. I'll be supporting it. I urge my fellow commissioners to support it as well. Thank you. Commissioner Pyne, to your second.”
Planning Commission · Sep 14, 2026
- Play at 1:53
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 13:57
“So, yes, our new objective design standards come into effect on Thursday, right? And there's no, in these new objective standards, the two claims that are made in the appeal, they appear nowhere in the objective design standards. So going into a hypothetical idea, if we were to grant the appeal and deny the permit and then the applicant reapplied on Thursday, what would the process be then?”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 15:03
“So it would be a similar process. We would do this all over again.”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 15:09
“Okay, thank you. That's my only question.”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 31:03
“Yes, thank you for your your comments in your presentation this is quite likely the The best articulated appeal I've seen I've been on Planning Commission Just bringing up the hypothetical from before right that the guidelines that you're stating were passed in 2003 They are being replaced this Thursday and the applicant has spent a good amount of time and money and I'm sure energy and emotion on putting these plans together. So I imagine that they would reapply if we were to grant the appeal. Have you gone through the new guidelines that are coming into effect and do you foresee?”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 31:56
“Okay, so you have not considered if you're granted the appeal, what happens next?”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 32:51
“Okay, you've answered my question. You have five minutes at the end to further express yourself.”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 1:02:35
“I'm not quite ready for a motion just yet. But yes, I went through and read the whole 2003 standards. They're so vague and grant so much discretion that honestly, it's kind of hard to call them standards. I think what is coming into effect is maybe returning us to the rule of law because those standards are frankly an invitation for amateur architecture from the dais. So under these standards, I can find a way to justify just about anything I want to say. And that just bothers me. So I think we have a big improvement coming forward. We spent a lot of time on them. You can ask Ashna. I had a…”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 1:12:45
“I'm ready to make a motion, actually. So my motion is to take the staff recommendation, which is alternative one, deny the appeal and uphold the decision of the director of community development to approve the design review based on the recommended findings of approval in attachment three and subject to the recommended conditions of approval in attachment four.”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 1:13:15
“I second the motion. Vice Chair to your motion. Yes, and to my motion. I want to thank the applicant for All the information that you shared, it showed that it's harder to build in this area than one would suspect. I look at the lot sizes, and I see 11,000 square foot lots, 9,000 square foot lots, and it's just like, oh, my God, you could go crazy. And then we see all the easements. I know there's the floodplain, and so it's actually pretty restrictive. I was very curious as to why the houses are angled here. And that explanation was really helpful. I've been talking since before I got on the…”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 1:27:20
“This may actually be for the city attorney. Okay, so we have an appeal of an MPP here and we have an appeal letter. So what is the scope we consider? Are we limited to issues that are raised in the appeal letter? Can we consider the MPP as a whole, whether it was properly granted? If you could just tell us what the ground rules are here. Yes.”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 1:28:00
“Okay. So it's like the approval doesn't exist and we're adjudicating it. Okay. Thank you. That was my question. Thank you.”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 1:39:28
“Vice Chair Davis. Thank you, Chair. I was able to collect my thoughts here. So I'm looking at table in the municipal code, table 19.28.080, specifically at 4C. This is permitted, conditionally permitted and prohibited uses in residential DSP blocks. So this is block 10, right? So looking at 4C, accessory uses, commercial and personal service uses, incidental to and in combination with residential uses. So my understanding of commercial and personal service is that's... what you tend to think of hair nails estheticians but but not massage because massage is called out separately is my…”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 1:41:08
“And the fact that perhaps there's a neighboring business that is a personal service but no one's living there really is an independent factor. It has no bearing on this.”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 1:41:32
“that's that's interesting when did this requirement come in 1993 1993 okay and so I guess sweet five has been salon since before 1993 so our research seems to indicate that it existed we have a sign permit that was issued okay excellent excellent Okay, and circling back, this is a de novo consideration. So we have to be able to make the same finding that the services offered by the applicant are different enough that they are not included in personal services, personal and commercial services.”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 1:43:14
“Okay, and so really what we're talking about is once the finding is made, was the law properly applied? Or what would be the proper application of that finding? Maybe that's a better way to say it.”
Planning Commission · Aug 31, 2026