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Council Watch
Council votes 3-2 to grant family's appeal on set-back
Vote overturns Planning Commission decision on Winchester site
By Genevieve Roja
Von Goesling and his wife, Jhaine, scored a small but significant victory with a recent Campbell City Council decision.
By a 3-2 vote, the council on Nov. 16 overturned the Planning Commission's site and architectural approval of a retail/commercial building at 3245 Winchester Blvd., upholding the Goesling's appeal. The Goeslings, who live at 1384 Walnut Drive, filed the appeal 10 days after the Planning Commission's decision. The commission on Oct. 12 approved a 3,330-square-foot, one-story building set back from the street. City staff had recommended placing the building closer to Winchester Boulevard and away from the Goeslings, who would be faced with a wall right next to their property.
Determined to fight for their privacy, the Goeslings were just as fervent at the public hearing Tuesday as they were last month.
"I don't want to feel like I'm in a prison yard and looking at a brick wall," said Goesling, who came with the intention not to strike or deny the project, but to ask that the building sit near the street with parking in back. "I'm appealing to you as a homeowner. I apply to you as a resident ... of Campbell. How do you want your city to look?"
Jhaine Goesling supported her husband's comments and decried the appearance of Winchester Boulevard, which is a mix of automotive stores and mini strip-mall shopping centers. Many of them are set back from the street.
"The minute you hit Campbell, it's not a pretty picture," Goesling said, describing the drastic change driving from Los Gatos to the Orchard City. "It's nothing but a big parking lot. Let's be proud of our city. I'm not proud of Winchester."
The Goesling's neighbor, David Brady, spoke on their behalf. "The Goeslings have invested a fortune [in their house]," said Brady, who also lives on Walnut Drive. "These [houses] are our sanctuaries out of the world we live in. We want to go in our back yard and have birthday parties and Mother's Days and not feel like we're being blocked in."
Brady added that Winchester is not helping the movement toward less traffic and congestion. "Winchester Boulevard is an expressway," he said.
Another speaker, Gary Giraud, reminded the council of a decision it approved last summer, to allow Dent Pro to have parking in the back and the store in the front. To solve the dilemma, Giraud offered another idea.
"I would suggest you could put the building to the side," Giraud said. "You'd be amazed at how much it's going to impact [the situation]. With a little vision, you'll be able to get rid of automotive row."
After the close of the public hearing, Councilmember Bob Dougherty said he would support the appeal. Councilmember Matthew Dean also announced his support and said that the 16-foot wall between the Goesling residence and the business, owned by James Smith, was "too tall, too close." The two weren't alone in their decision.
"I'm going to support the appeal, because I think there's a problem with Winchester," Council member Jeanette Watson said. "It needs a lot of help."
Vice Mayor Jane Kennedy said she felt split by the issue, and Mayor Dan Furtado, who visited the site, believed that the Goesling's large trees shielded the proposed wall.
"It seems to me out of place to force this building in front," said Furtado, who had noted earlier that consistency was the rule on Winchester. "My decision would be to support the Planning Commission's decision."
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Campbell, California
