The Cupertino Courier

Council OKs scaled-back plans for hillside home

By Pam Marino

The City Council unanimously approved the plans for a 4,550-square-foot home on a steep hillside, despite concerns from neighbors who cited a landslide that endangered a home in the same area.

Councilmembers said they were satisfied with testimony that the drainage plan and retaining walls planned for the site will actually improve the current runoff situation on the hillside.

Phillipe and Anne Dor have been trying to get approval for the home on a hillside off Stevens Canyon Road since July, when the Planning Commission sent their original plans for a 6,500-square-foot house back for further work. The proposed home will sit on top of a ridgeline, and the commission said it needed to be scaled down so as not to mar the view of the ridge from a distance.

When the Dors finally got a new hearing for their "dream home" in September, the Planning Commission split 2-2 on the scaled-down plans, with one commissioner absent, which meant the proposal failed.

At last week's City Council meeting, residents of Ricardo Road, located across Stevens Canyon Road from the base of the Dors' property, said they were concerned that grading--expected to involve 3,300 square feet of earth--would create a landslide onto Stevens Canyon Road, similar to one that occurred last January on Mercedes Road. The home at the bottom of that hillside was "red-tagged" by the city, sending its owner into a two-bedroom apartment while lawyers scuffle with the insurance company over who pays for the damage.

However, an expert hired by the Dors told the council that he does not believe the failure of the Mercedes hillside was caused by the construction of a new home at the top of the hill. Civil engineer Maury Nelson said he believes there is a history of landslides in the immediate area of Mercedes Road, but not at the Dor site. Nelson also said that in the case of the Dor home the drainage plan for the site, which includes retaining walls, would actually improve the way the runoff is handled on Stevens Canyon Road. The water, which now just runs off the hillside into the street, would be channeled into drains that would lead directly to city storm drains, he explained.

Public Works Director Bert Viskovich agreed with Nelson that the drainage plan would improve the situation on Stevens Canyon Road, which neighbors said can become inundated with water during heavy storms. He also said the road itself will become safer because the Dors, as a requirement of construction, must widen the road by 10 feet at the base of their driveway.

After listening to all the evidence, councilmembers agreed that the plan was a workable one, despite concerns from residents on Ricardo Road.

"It almost sounds like to satisfy the neighbors, we would have to deny it altogether. I don't think that's fair; people have a right to develop their property," Burnett said.

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