08 ATTACHMENTS 9 -16 - Laserfiche WebLink

Mike Meyer, President of Greenbriar Homes Communities, Applicant, stated that Greenbriar has built six high-quality communities in town in the past and has made many contributions, including the 320-acre community park on the Bernal Property which he is delighted to see has now been improved and looks great. He indicated that tonight, he is before the Commission to talk about a new community; Lund Ranch. He noted that they basically have worked very hard with their community outreach to respond to people's comments that they wanted maximum open space and minimum development. He stated that Greenbriar wants pre-determined house sizes; it wants respect for the hillside ordinance, and it wants quality homes that fit into the larger community. He noted that they have been very environmentally sensitive: they have a small footprint, they have public trails, they are building on the flattest portion of the property, and the EIR states that their alternative, Scenario 1, is the environmentally superior alternative. Mr. Meyer thanked staff and the Commission for their work in defining the key concepts here regarding slopes, the ridge, and setbacks. He indicated that Greenbriar agrees with those concepts and hopes the Planning Commission will agree as well. He then made some comments on a couple of issues: 1. Artificial slope. Past Planning Commissions and City Councils have been consistent in saying that they should go back to natural slopes, and as long as those natural slopes are less than 25 percent, they should be allowed to include them in the community. He indicated that, in effect, Option 1 is the alternative they support. 2. Ventana Hills agreement. As Mr. Dolan earlier stated, the City Attorney has indicated that this is not legally enforceable, and Greenbriar was not a party to any of these agreements about Lund Ranch. The Bonde Ranch approval was made in 1991. At the same time, Shea Homes was conceptually designing a plan for 150 homes on the Lund Ranch location which would require two accesses. Now, many years later, Greenbriar is down to 50 homes with only one access, which avoids any significant traffic or circulation impacts. Then, in 1992, the North Sycamore Specific Plan was done, and Lund Ranch was not a part of it either. Finally, in 2008, Measures PP and QQ were passed, the point of which is that the electorate intended to protect the integrity of the hillsides. Mr. Meyer stated that he cannot understand why controversy over Measure PP is being invited over a road that is not necessary. He commended staff for laying out three options as to this road consideration, and one of those options, Option 1 is to maintain this trail, which is their plan. He noted that Options 2 and 3 are to build the foot of this road which is about four football fields long. He asked Rick Hopkins, the project's biologist from Live Oak Associates, to discuss the impact of this additional road. Rick Hopkins, Ph.D., Principal and Senior Conservation Biologist/Ecologist at Live Oak Associates, Inc. in San Jose, stated that he has been providing ecological services on various iterations of the Lund Ranch projects since the year 2000. He indicated that during this time, they have evaluated a number of project designs, all of which have one thing in common: each new iteration worked to reduce impacts to sensitive and EXCERPT: PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES, June 24, 2015 Page 11 of 45