Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

All right, it's four o'clock. I now call to order the development review hearing of September 15th, 2026. Good afternoon, my name is Sheldon Ha-Singh, and I am the hearing officer for today's agenda as delegated by the director of community development, Afshar Hamid. The staff in attendance today is Leslie Xavier. She's in for summer FOSS. So if you have a project with her, Leslie is the contact today. Senior Planner Steve Lee is online. And we also have Rebecca Bustos is also online. Distribution of the agenda. The agenda is available on the city's website on the legislative public meetings webpage. So for those of you that are present today in the chambers, please silence your mobile devices. Copies of the agenda are available for your convenience as well at the entrance here. There's also a QR code available in the meeting room worth a link to the agenda. and all supporting documents. Declaration of procedures. Any procedure in order of the input for this meeting will be as follows. I will identify each project as identified on the agenda. For those items on the consent calendar, I will ask if anyone wishes to speak on the item. If a separate discussion is warranted, then I will move the item to the public hearing portion of the agenda. If a separate discussion is not needed, the item will remain on the consent calendar for approval. Those items under public hearing, I will ask staff to provide a brief report. I will then ask the applicant or representative to have, may have up to 10 minutes to speak. They should identify themselves by stating their name for the record. After the applicant or representative has spoken, any member of the public who wishes to speak on the item may provide testimony for up to two minutes per speaker. All speakers are required to state their name. Following comments for the public, the applicant may make additional remarks for up to five minutes. I will then close the public hearing and may ask staff to answer questions, respond to comments made by the applicant of the public or further discuss the item. Then I'll take action on the item. If you challenge these land use decisions in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at this public hearing or in written correspondence delivered to the city at or prior to the public hearing. Actions on the agenda items are final, was appealed within seven calendar days. Continuances, withdrawals. Are there any requests from the applicants or the public for withdrawal continuance for any items on the agenda today? None there. Would any member of the public like to briefly address any item or topic not on today's agenda? See none. All right, then consent calendar. There's one item on the consent calendar as follows. Item one, development review hearing meeting minutes of August 19th, 2026. Anyone has any comments on this item, please raise your hand. Seeing no comments on item one on the consent calendar is approved. So moving on to public hearing items. Item number two is a continuance of the architectural review for the demolition of existing structures and construction of a three-story, 692,000-square-foot office building with three levels of below-grade parking, totaling 2,050 stalls, surface parking covered by photovoltaic trellis, and a pedestrian bridge spanning Walsh Avenue, located at 2300 and 2350 Walsh Avenue. This continuance is to the October 14th development review hearing. I know on the agenda it said October 7th, but the next regularly scheduled meeting is October 14th. Noticing that, that is the item now is continued to the October 14th, 2026 meeting. All right, moving on to item number three, public hearing action on architecture review PLN 2600244 to demolish two existing office buildings for an office campus landscape amenity. It located at 2821 and 2801 Scott Boulevard. CEQA status is exempt from CEQA for section 15301, class one existing facilities. Steve, I think you're online. You have a presentation?

Yes, I am. Thank you, Sheldon. Let me go ahead and share. Okay. All right. Good evening, everyone. Steve Lee, project planner for this item three, located at 2801 and 2821 Scott Boulevard. The request before you is the architectural review approval to demolish two existing single story office buildings and convert the formal building footprints into landscape amenity for the remainder of the office campus, which is currently occupied by Roche in Santa Clara. The architectural review is required here because the project involves the full demolitions of an existing structure. A little bit more context for the site here. It's a 13.6-acre site located at this L-shaped parcel southeast of Central Expressway and Scott Boulevard. Just the surrounding uses north of here is office and data center, just right across from Central Expressway. Public storage to the south, vacant industrial facility at the former Owen Corning site to the east, and in the west are offices across Scott Boulevard. The current zone is LORD, and the general plan designations is low-intensity office R&D as well. Here's the site plan showing on the left, you see the two buildings to the south, southwest, 2801 and 2821 will be demolished and replacement of that, the site plan on the right shows the proposed landscape amenity. Here's the rendering of the amenities and the landscape. Here you're looking at from the campus onto Scott Boulevard. And you'll see a couple of trellis here, sitting areas, new pickleball court, basketball court, and a couple of pathways through the landscape. The project proposed to remove just three trees here and replace that with 27 new 24-inch sized box trees. So for consistency with the design guideline, the proposed project complies with the city's community design guidelines in that it enhanced the attractiveness of the streetscape with street front landscaping areas and landscape design complements the building pedestrian pathway at driveway entrance. The project is categorically exempt from the CEQA California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA guidelines sections 15301 for existing facilities in that the demolitions and landscape amenities will not expand the existing use. That brings us to the final slide here, staff recommendations. First is to determine the projects to be category exempt from the CEQA, pursuant to CEQA guidelines 15301 class one for existing facilities. And then finally to approve the architectural review to demolish two existing single-story office buildings and convert their former building footprints into a landscape amenity for the office campus at 2821 and 2801 Scott Boulevard, subject to the findings and conditions of approval. This concludes staff presentations. The applicant does have a presentation as well that I can share.

Thank you, Steve. I don't have any questions for you right now, but I do invite the applicant to the podium here. Please state your name. Make sure that I can't see if it's green. Sorry, the microphone. Is it green like this? Oh, fantastic. So it sounds like you have a presentation. Steve, are you going to share that?

Yeah, I'm putting that up right now. It's going to make it full screen. And we should be good to go.

So, first of all, I'm a pitcher I oversee planning and projects for Russia's diagnostic sites in the Bay Area, we have two sites in the media one in Pleasanton and one here in Santa Clara right on Scott Boulevard and central expressway like you've mentioned. I want to thank for your time today. And also want to thank city staff, especially Steve and everybody who helped guide provide guidance and supported us through the planning review process and we're excited to talk a little bit more about the project itself next slide please. I have our design partners with me. So Robert Shorrell is from Gensler and Marcel Wilson is from Bionic. They'll share more technical details about the project in subsequent slides. But before we talk about the project, I just wanna share a little bit more about Roche for those who are not as familiar with the company. It's a 130 year old biotechnology and pharmaceutical company focused on advancing sciences to improve patients' lives. We are eighth largest corporation in the world for research investment. And last year, about 14.2 million people were treated using our medicine. And around 31 billion tests were conducted using our diagnostics products. We have been consistently recognized as one of the most sustainable healthcare companies in the world by Dow Jones Sustainability Index. And we are proud to present this project because there are some elements associated with the sustainability. Next slide, please. So our Santa Clara site is primarily a research and development facility. We have a little bit of CLIA lab that we recently added, which focuses on the pharma services and clinical testing. And we have a small, very small footprint for the manufacturing as well. We have about 700 employees based at the Santa Clara site. We've been present in Santa Clara since year 2014. However, we purchased this site and established the campus around year 2019. And we have been doing improvements projects since then. We expect this project to further enhance our campus and provide amenity for our employees' health and well-being and set us up for the future. With this project, so if we get to the next slide. We are demolishing two single story office building like Steve mentioned, those are currently unused and you want to transform that to a private landscape amenity we want to do it in most sustainable way possible. We are looking to introduce water efficient landscape using native and adaptive species and want to divert as much material from the waste stream and landfills as part of the project and with that i'll pass on to Robert to talk more about project.

Next slide, please. My name is Robert Sherrell, licensed architect with Gensler. Steve did a good job describing the site. And this is just another orientation slide that shows the full campus, which is actually two parcels with five buildings. And you can see the two buildings in red that are the ones to be demolished and replaced with the landscape amenity. Next slide, please. These are a couple of views from Scott Boulevard. The one on the left is from the main entrance to the campus. And what you can see if you peer deeply through the trees is building 2801. It's not very striking from the street and it just kind of disappears behind the trees. If you move over to the right image, that shows a more direct view of building 2801. 2821 is hidden behind it. And that is kind of the clearest view of the building that is to be demolished. Next slide. I'd like to hand it over to Marcel Wilson, landscape architect.

Good evening, Marcel Wilson, landscape architect. You're looking at a site plan of the proposed landscape amenity. And there are really three components to this. The first is a cluster of outdoor program pickleball court, a gathering area, et cetera. The second part of it is a walking loop that connects various points of access from parking areas and connects them all up into a loop made for walking and socializing. And the third part is a large meadow that will be planted with native and adaptive plants to the region. Next slide, please. The main purpose of the kind of program area is for, let's just call it workplace activities, dining, outdoor dining, informal meetings, some fitness activities. There's one area that is a pickleball court, another that is just meant to be a flexible use area. Steven said earlier, it was for a basketball court. That's not actually part of the program. and then a couple of small structures for shade. Next slide. This is a different view just showing those activity areas. The pickleball court is in the foreground. That is for daytime use only. In the middle of the screen, you'll see an area used for flexible use, and that will be a non-irrigated synthetic turf area. And then to the left side of the image, you can see the meadow. Next slide, please. And at eye level, this gives you a sense of the scale of these areas, the flexible use court on the left side, one of the small shade structures on the right. As was mentioned, there'll be many trees planted, but it'll take some time for them to grow. So the shade structures provide shade in the interim. Next. And then the other part of the landscape amenity is the meadow itself and the walking loop. And these give you a sense of what that'll be like. Very simple, a pathway and planted areas with native and adaptive species. You'll notice that there's some topography. Those are mounds that are using materials from the demolition. They're kept on site. Next slide. That is the rest of our presentation. Thank you.

OK, thank you. Very thorough presentation, so thank you for that. And I appreciate just getting a context of what the company is. So I know you mentioned there are 700 employees, and the idea is to bring people back to the office. So maybe right now or just in the future, how many employees are on average there on the campus daily?

He been tracking average attendance between 400 to 500 and we do events on side where we see like a spike in our attendance.

Okay, and then you mentioned there's maybe another campus nearby or so, so if there are events here would that be the case that members of the other campus become.

Not necessarily. Like there's some overlap of R&D activities and employees do go back and forth, but we do similar events on the other campus as well. So there's like a same management that oversee both campuses and run same type of programs.

And then I think it was mentioned about the trees. So like if they take a little while to grow, like what size are they being planted in?

A 24 inch box is what Steven mentioned in the application.

I don't have any more questions for you. So let's see if we have any members of the public. Thank you very much. So now's the time if any members of the public want to speak on this item, Scott Boulevard. So please raise your hand. Anybody hear any audience? No, online. Okay, seeing none. I'm going to then close the public hearing. I don't have any further questions. I think, well, thank you for coming forward with, you know, this application. And I know the office space is sort of, market space is sort of evolving in a way and sort of seeing, you know, a square footage go away is kind of different, but seeing the amenity in a way to incentivize employees to come back, that's probably a positive thing. So I think I can support the project and I will then determine the project to be exempt from CEQA and also approve the architectural review subject to the findings and approval. So your project is approved. There's a seven-day appeal period, so work with Steve. Okay, thank you. All right, next item is item number four. It's a public hearing action on architecture review PLN 26-00333 for the replacement of 1500 square feet of existing stucco to seven inch plank cedar mill siding on existing one-story residence located at 2727 Forbes Avenue. The sequence status is exempt, class one existing facilities. So this is a pretty straightforward project. Maybe just to get a, if there's, other than the applicant, if there's anyone from the public that wanted to speak on this item, raise your hand. Otherwise, I think we're going to waive the presentation. But I will open the public hearing. And I will invite the applicant if they want to say anything about the project. They're here. Okay. All right. So I don't really have any comments. I know this project is here because of the demolition definition that we have. Usually we see people taking away siding and putting stucco on. So this is kind of reverse. In a way, we kind of see this as more aesthetically pleasing to see this approach. So I'm going to then close the public hearing. and then going to agree with staff's recommendation, determine the project to be exempt from CEQA and then approve the architecture review subject to the findings and conditions approval.

So thank you, 334 project.

Item number five, the public hearing action on architecture review. PLN 26-00047 for 882 square foot attached accessory dwelling units to an existing 2,215 square foot, one-story single family residence located at 150 Elmhurst Court. CEQA status is exempt from CEQA. Class one exemption existing facilities. I think we have a presentation on this one. Leslie, if you're here for prior items, you don't have to stick around. Just so you know, don't have to stay for the whole thing. Thank you.

All right, thank you. So the request before you this afternoon is an architectural review permit for the addition of an 882 square foot attached accessory dwelling unit to an existing 2,215 square foot single story single family residence. For the Santa Clara City Code, the request requires an architectural review approval through the development review hearing as there is an addition to an attached accessory dwelling unit that does not match the height of the existing residence. This is the existing site lot size is approximately 6275 square feet, it is surrounded on all sides by single family detached residential units, the general plan designation is very low density residential and the zoning is our one six l single family residential. These are the proposed building elevations the existing one story single family residence is in the foreground, with the accessory dwelling unit seen in the background, the accessory dwelling unit is taller than the existing single family home, but does still meet the height requirements of the zoning code. City Council Chambers, This is the site plan so on the left, you have the existing site plan and on the right, you have the proposed with the addition of the new ad you the setbacks meet the required setbacks of the code with four feet to the sides and rear they're actually proposing five feet at the rear. And this is the floor plan for the accessory dwelling unit. It's two bedrooms and one bathroom and living area. Sorry, two bedrooms, two bathrooms. The proposed project complies with the city's single family and duplex residential design guidelines in that the masking scale on balance are appropriate relative to the homes within the neighborhood. The project proposes a shed roof consistent with the patio home guidelines with the use of a low or slope gable or shed roof being acceptable in the neighborhoods. ACTION BEING CONSIDERED IS CATEGORICALLY EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT PURSUANT TO SECRET GUIDELINES SECTION 15301 E1 WHICH IS EXISTING FACILITIES AND THAT THE PROJECT IS A SMALL ADDITION TO AN EXISTING SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE. Staff is recommending that the hearing officer determine the project to be categorically exempt from CEQA and approve the architectural review for an 882 square foot attached accessory dwelling unit to an existing 2,215 square foot single family residence located at 150 Elmhurst Court, subject to findings of conditions of approval. This concludes staff report. We're here for any questions.

Thank you. Oh, hold on. Not right now. Hold on. So thank you for that. So now I'd like to invite the applicant to speak, whoever the applicant is. Okay, go ahead and come here and now is your time to speak for the project.

Yeah, so I think Leslie summarized it very well. I mean, the project is a normal accessory dwelling unit, very much compliant with the neighborhood and the standards by the city of Santa Clara. And I really want to thank the planning department and specifically Summer Foss for her help throughout the project. Thank you so much.

Okay, thank you. I may have some questions for you, but it sounds like maybe we have someone that wants to speak on this item. Yeah.

You might I just got here, I was working and I just got out of school teaching a class and what my my question was is that a 26 Christopher court, which is in the pepper tree neighborhood was that already convened. or comment, no I think that's coming up later okay then i'd like to talk about that one all I was going to ask was this in regards to the ad unit is I just need some clarification. even though it is exempt from CEQA, the question I have is this, is that is the property reassessed in regards to the county property taxes with an ADU?

I don't have any experience with that, but.

The only reason why I'm asking is that I'm planning to do a remodel in my neighborhood at Pepper Tree on Miles Drive. And the architects that I've been speaking to who have been working in the county on numerous projects are indicating to me that ADU units are not being reassessed. If you have an existing home and you build an ADU unit, that the property is not being reassessed as new construction. And I just wanted to know if you knew to verify that.

I don't know. That would be a good question for Santa Clara County Assessor's Office.

Well, the only reason why I'm saying is that if I'm interviewing architects, which I have been, is that that may be really good information to put in on the packet. One of the reasons why I say is many years ago, Gloria Sierra, who I used to work with with planning, I gave her a packet of information to ADU that came out of Santa Cruz County at that time. And City of Santa Clara had not adopted any ADU plans at that time. So this is good info if it's valid. It's actually a really good incentive.

Thank you for that feedback.

Thank you. Okay, is there anyone then for this item at Elmhurst Court? Anyone else wants to speak on this item online? Okay, I still have questions for you, the owner. Yeah, please, thank you. So I know there's the existing patio home and it's kind of low squat. And so the height really isn't, it's not very tall when you think about it. The drawings make it look a little more exaggerated, but I'm wondering the backside, you have a set of windows and doors, and then you have like a couple of other windows above the door and a window. And I think that might be in the attic. Can you confirm that?

Yeah, so basically I think the attic is only for half the house. The other one, we did not choose for an attic so that there would be a higher ceiling. So that is the area in which we have higher windows just for light and airiness to be there on the portion that does not have the attic. So if you look at this living room and the dining area, it does not have the attic. The rest of it has the attic.

okay so okay i see it's like a transom okay right uh that sounds that sounds good okay thank you very much all right so then uh we have no other members of the public then i will uh close the public hearing and then um Thank you for bringing your project forward. And I understand all the different iterations and designs on it, working with staff. It was a bit challenging when you have the patio homes, they're very low in squat. So adding something to it in today's sort of standards, it is somewhat difficult to do and make it compatible. At the same time, we have state laws that we have to follow. So with that, I'll determine the project to be categorically exempt. And then also approve the architecture review subject to the findings and conditions of approval. So your project is approved. You have seven appeal days to work with Summer on any submittal building plans. Thank you. All right, moving on now next to Christopher Court, actually. So public hearing action on the architecture review, fill in 2600268 for the complete demolition of existing single-story residence and the construction of a new 3,309-square-foot two-story residence with six bedrooms, six-and-a-half bathrooms located at 826 Christopher Court. CEQA status is exempt from CEQA class three new construction. So I know we didn't really hear anybody from the public, but maybe we have some plans. We can just kind of show up and just kind of walk through what's going on. And then we'll invite the applicant and the member of the public.

Okay, so this item. is for the complete demolition of the existing single-story residence and the construction of a new 3,309 square foot two-story residence with six bedrooms and six and a half bathrooms at 826 Christopher Court. This is the site plan here. You all can see it okay. Okay.

It might be a different sheet on the plans that shows that. We should have that.

So this is the footprint of the existing. And this is the proposed.

Okay.

Yes, correct. It is on Christopher Court. And then this is the second floor. And you can see the outline of the first floor. And here's the front elevation again from Christopher Court. And the rear elevation. The side in the rear. This is the existing, it's sideways.

Okay, yeah, go ahead. Okay, thank you. So we'll move on to the applicant. So we'll have these plans and they can speak to them a little bit as well. So just see if your applicant, Steven, is that you? Steven Mao, are you the applicant?

Yes. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes, I can. Okay, great. Thank you so much. Yeah, I am the applicant. Good afternoon. And thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak today. My name is Stephen Mao, and I'm here with my wife, Joanna, as the homeowners of the property before you. We moved here from Texas in 2014. and fell in love with the city almost immediately. And what started as a place we moved to for work became the place where we built our life. Since then, Joanne and I have gotten married, and now we have four young children, ranging from nine years to just nine months old. And as our family has grown, our home needs have grown with it. We've reached a point where we simply need more space, not just for the toys and books today, but for the years ahead as they grow up. But there's something even more important behind this project. We don't want to leave. This is where we want to raise our children into members of a broader community, to be protective citizens. This is where we want to build our families' memories and traditions. And this is where we hope to stay for the rest of our lives into retirement and hopefully one day welcome to next generation. And over the past 12 years and into the future, we strive to be active members of the community. Joanna serves as a board member of our school's parent-teacher organization, and we both regularly volunteer at our children's elementary school. Our children participate in various sports throughout the city, including Santa Clara PAL soccer, SVNJB youth basketball, and Westside Little League baseball. We are also proud to have supported the Magical Bridge Foundation and its playground in Central Park, which we are fortunate enough to be able to walk to on a regular basis and enjoy. And even in the everyday things, we've come to really appreciate what makes living here special. You know, from our weekly runs to Stan's Donuts to the reliability of the services we receive from Santa Clara utilities, there are just so many things about Santa Clara we just can't imagine giving up. And these connections are meaningful because we don't just view this as the place where we want a piece of property. We view it as our community, an extension of what we consider family. And that's really why we're making this investment. We aren't looking for a temporary place to live. We're simply trying to build a bigger house. We're making a long-term investment in the place where we want our family to continue growing. We love the city, we love our neighborhood, we love our children's school and the community we've built here. And rather than simply leaving to find a home that has more square footage, we're choosing to stay and invest in the community we already love. We hope that you will join us in this and enable our project to continue in the next steps. Thank you very much for your time and for considering our application.

Thank you, Stephen. I see that there's another hand. I think maybe it's meant for the architect. Wan-Chen?

Hi, everyone. Can you hear me?

Yes, I can.

Great. Yes, I'm Wan-Chen. So I am the architect for this project. I have my manager, Eugene Singh, right next to me. I would like to briefly present the design, if I can share my screen.

Yes, go ahead.

I don't think there's an option here for me to share my screen.

I'll promote you to a panelist and then you will be able to. Okay, you should be able to share now.

Thank you. So our project is located in the corner of Mills Drive and the Christopher Court. The existing house has a very, the garage is sitting right facing the corner. So it's very obvious from the corner view. And our proposed design, trying to improve that, so we propose the garage to be facing the Cardassac, the Christopher Court, along with the entry. However, we still keep in mind that this is a corner lot, so we're trying to have the massing and the floor plan to activate the corner lot using the front porch wrapping around and the window treatment placing here at a second floor kids playroom. Besides that, we have also selecting the natural material as you can see the stone veneers and the wood sidings and also the buildings massing is compatible with the neighborhood context. The neighborhood is majority of them are having a range style. So that's how we came up with the design here. That's all for my presentation.

Okay, thank you. We may ask some other questions of you, but right now I'm just going to see if there's anyone from the public that wants to speak on this matter. If you're online, please raise your hand, or in person, we have a gentleman.

Go ahead. Hi, I'm Oscar Pizzurto. Steven, this is Oscar Pizzurto down at 2921 Miles Drive, the neighborhood watch captain. I've seen your family grow in our neighborhood. I remember inviting you down when we had our annual 4th of July, we would close off the street. I've seen your family grow to four, three boys, and now you have a young daughter. I look forward to seeing your project. It looks fantastic. I like the layout, and I know that you're very much vested into our neighborhood. Excellent-looking project. All the success, and you get the support from me.

Okay, thank you. Yeah, I don't have any other questions or comments. I think the project is designed well. It meets the city's design guidelines for single family houses. So I'm going to close the public hearing then. I see no other people that want to speak. And again, thank you for proposing this project. I understand, you know, demolition and construction, there's a lot going on. So do coordinate with your neighbors. You know, there might be big trucks or excavators and things like that, and a different timing of the phases of this project. So that would be important for your neighbors to understand that. So with that, I'm going to determine the project to be exempt from CEQA, consistent with the new construction as three, as well as approve the architectural review of this project subject to the conditions and findings. Your project is approved and there's a seven day appeal period. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, moving on to item number seven. It's a public hearing action on architectural review PLN 2600272 for a 619 square foot first floor addition to an existing 2,124 square foot one-story residence resulting in 3,170 square foot, one-story residence located at 2790 Glorieta Circle. CEQA status is exempt from CEQA pursuant to class one existing facilities. This one does seem to be pretty straightforward, I think, with the addition up front. So I'm just going to ask a poll, see if there's anyone here other than the applicant that wants to speak about this project. And I'm leaving now. The none they're just going to waive the presentation from staff and then. So another call here for if the applicant wants to say anything about the project, you can. Okay, see nothing there i'm going to close the public hearing and. I will agree with staff and their recommendations so determine that the project. is exempt from CEQA pursuant to class one existing facilities and approve the architectural review subject to the findings and conditions of approval. So the project is approved. There's a seven day appeal period. Thank you. Item number eight. Is architecture review a major significant property alteration permit for the proposed addition of a right-side dormer on the second story, two new double hung windows, an extension of the rear roof to the existing ridgeline of the existing two-story residence listed on the historic resource inventory located at 580 Lincoln Street. I know this went to the HLC. What was the result of the HLC? What was the, I didn't see that in the staff report, You know, just sort of anything.

The HLC recommended approval.

Okay, fantastic. All right. So this one too, I think is pretty straightforward. I don't see anybody online. I just see, I think you're the applicant. Architect, okay, fantastic. I'm just gonna, I'm gonna waive the presentation, but open the public hearing if you have anything that you wanted to say about the project.

Thank you. Certainly, I won't waste your time. But I do want to talk about it for just a moment. Lee Gaines Chow is my client. He approached me about two years ago wanting to legalize an apartment that was on the second floor of this home. And this apartment has been in existence for, I mean, coming up on 80 years. I mean, for quite some time, right? And he tried to get a address for it. And that started this chain of events. of that's brought us to here, getting planning approval for an existing apartment that's upstairs. Unfortunately, when you're up there, you can't use it, right? This has got this beautiful kitchen that's like this tiny little itty bitty kitchen, right? And it's got this bathroom that's got this like weird ceiling, because I guess back in the day when they made it, it was just trying to make the best of what you had. But allowing us to put in this dormer, which is not street facing and is subservient to the street facing facade of the home, and is also subservient to the existing ridgeline of the home, I think it keeps the integrity of the historic nature of the home intact while separating what is new versus what is existing. And it creates an opportunity for the city to fulfill its mandates of building more housing. And knowingly, this isn't going to be some kind of high-priced rental. This is going to end up being something for his family. So I would hope that you guys would go along with staff recommendation to approve it. And if you have any questions about the design or about the work at all, I'm happy to discuss it with you. Thank you.

Yeah, I don't have any questions. I know things that go through the HLC kind of respect that thorough review, especially for store structures. So I did review the plans. I don't have anything in particular. So I'm just going to see, I don't see anybody lying, but I just have to ask the question. Anybody have anything to say about the project? Any comment? Okay. Nothing there. So thank you for proposing this project and working with our staff on it, going through the process.

Summer was fantastic to work with. She's quite lovely.

Great. Great. Good to hear. So I'll close the public hearing. And then I will determine the project to be consistent, to be exempt from CEQA. And then as well as approve the architecture review, a major or significant property alteration consistent with the HLC recommendation, consistent with the findings and conditions approval. So your project is approved.

Thank you so much. I really do appreciate your time and your efforts on this project.

Thank you. Thank you. Right, so that is all of the agenda today. Thank you, Leslie, for stepping in. I now adjourn the development review hearing at the time of 4.47. The next regularly scheduled meeting is on October 14, 2026 at 4 p.m. Thank you.