North 40 development moratorium expires

After allowing a moratorium on new North 40 development applications to expire, the Los Gatos Town Council is once again accepting proposals on how to develop part of the property.

The moratorium applied to the 20 acres that comprise the second phase of the North 40 project and was initially designed to give the council enough time to re- evaluate the parameters for the entire North 40 development.

But the council also decided Wednesday night that the plan governing the project will remain essentially unchanged, adding just two new provisions that give develop- ers the option of filing a planned development application or negotiating a development agreement with the council.

“With a planned development you are imposing conditions on the developer, he’s had no ability to negotiate the requirements,” Town Council Attorney Robert Schultz said.

In contrast, a development agreement is a contract, with things such as building heights and open space negotiated up front.

Any development application that’s received will be subject to public hearings and council approval.

The Netf lix headquarters project that was approved in 2013 was a planned development.

“Through a development agreement we could have obtained, I believe, many more benefits for the community,” Schultz said.

The motion to leave the Specific Plan unchanged, except for adding the planned development and development application options, was approved 3-2. Council members Marico Sayoc and Barbara Spector voted no.

Spector was concerned the council was leaving the door open to a repeat of the Phase 1 controversy that landed the town in court. The developers’ application met Specific Plan requirements, but residents didn’t like it and the town council rejected it.

So, the developers sued and the town lost. In June 2017 a judge ordered the council to approve Phase 1. Councilwoman Sayoc wanted assurances that any Phase 2 housing that’s built will fit the town’s housing needs.

“We don’t need any more above moderate housing,” Sayoc said. “But we need very low, we need low and we need moderate, and any remaining housing that is put on this property I would like to fit those income parameters.”

The Specific Plan allows for 33 homes to be built in Phase 2.

A concept from developer Grosvenor Americas would have 294 homes built in Phase 2. Grosvenor can still proceed with that concept since the town can’t dictate what developers propose.

“It’s up to an applicant to come forward with what they want,” Councilwoman Marcia Jensen said. “By adding a planned development option or development agreement option the town can also say ... what it wants in a more specific fashion than the Specific Plan.”

The amount of commercial square footage that can be built in Phase 2 is between 332,000- and 367,000- square- feet. The higher figure applies if a developer wants to build office space or a hotel exceeding 35,000- squarefeet, Town Council Manager Laurel Prevetti said.

The Specific Plan decision preceded a public hearing on continuing the moratorium that Schultz said could no longer be justified.

So, the town council simply allowed the moratorium to expire.