It may soon be tougher to build your dream house on high
ground.
Beginning next week, county officials will make a series of
decisions that could dramatically alter the landscape for
landowners who want to build on the hillsides.
Gilroy – It may soon be tougher to build your dream house on high ground.
Beginning next week, county officials will make a series of decisions that could dramatically alter the landscape for landowners who want to build on the hillsides.
Tuesday, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors may impose new restrictions on a developer who wants to shave off hillsides for a 17-lot subdivision above Milpitas. And later in August, supervisors and planners will get together to discuss ways to bring some much-needed pellucidity to county rules governing hillside development.
The aim of those talks is to determine whether simple changes in paint color and lighting are enough to protect the so-called viewshed, or if county officials need to consider a potentially drastic amendment to the county general plan that would impose a maximum size on hillside homes.
All those elements are in play in the controversial Milpitas development, which may be approved with a number of conditions and design requirements not typically demanded by county planners, including limiting the size of some of the homes to 8,000 square feet.
“This is a perfect example of why we might benefit from some further clarity in our planning policies,” said Rachael Gibson, land use aide to Supervisor Don Gage. “We don’t like to make policy on the fly.”
But, Gibson added, the beauty of the general plan is in the pliability of its language. Not having hard and fast rules allows planning commissioners and supervisors to approve or reject proposals on an ad hoc basis, a power they don’t want to relinquish.
“You’ve got to have rules, but you don’t ever want to make something so cut and dry that you can’t have any flexibility because not everything fits,” Gage said. “There’s always going to be arguments and there’s always going to be a gray area. It’s like me trying to write instructions on how you have to put your jacket on.”
And home builders say the move toward tightening hillside regulations is nothing but an overreaction to a few isolated cases of development hubris, such as an effort last year from a family that wanted to construct a 25,000-square foot house just outside San Jose city limits.
That proposal was rejected but led to calls from environmentalists for a rigid size limit and tougher rules. Gloria Ballard, principal of MH Engineering in Morgan Hill, said those rules would accomplish nothing but punish homeowners financially and unfairly encroach on their property rights.
She said existing requirements that limit height and distance from ridge lines, and practical concerns that limit size in many cases, have enough bite for the county to control hillside growth.
“Should everyone in the county be subject to scrutiny because there are two or three people who want to do something over the top?” Ballard said. “The general plan and [state environmental laws] give you the tools to not allow subdivisions that create an impact. And I guarantee that the scrutiny will come at a cost to the homeowner.”
Not surprisingly, environmental advocates, see it in a different way. Brian Schmidt, of the Committee for Green Foothills, is leading calls for size requirements. He said the rules need to be changed to reflect the economic reality of Silicon Valley, where the wealthy can afford to build homes beyond the general plan’s scope.
“People are building monster mansions, houses the size that no one ever thought people would build,” Schmidt said. “These houses really change the visual character of the hillside. Do you see primarily a natural area or a bunch of giant homes looking down on everyone?”
It’s not clear if there’s a lot of political support for a measure as significant as a size limit. Gage is opposed, as is Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, who is, however, advocating for several measures that would limit the kind of development allowed in the hillside.
“She definitely believes there should be more guidelines because it’s been difficult for developers and the supervisors as well,” Alvarado’s chief of staff, Kristina Cunningham, said. “Each time someone comes before us, they don’t know what’s expected.”
Alvarado wants the county to investigate the development controls of other counties when it comes to the viewshed, ridgeline development and environmental and safety issues. Many jurisdictions, including San Mateo County, have size limits, but Cunningham said Alvarado cares more about “how does it fit in the environment? What does it do for those who have to look at it?”
Ultimately, the county may try to please everyone with measures that require more from developers but still allow projects wide latitude. Interim Planning Director Mike Lopez said a likely result will be additional design review requirements that hillside builders must meet to get their projects approved.
I’m not sure it’s the general plan that needs to be changed, but we do need some regulations that reflect the intent of the board and provide the protection they want in the hillside area,” he said. “I do expect we’ll be regulating a little bit differently, but it all has to be worked out. There will be public input.”
