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Council begins process for approving 330 University
By Jeff Kearns
The meetings, meetings, meetings appear to have paid off for developer Bill Hirschman, who has finally started down the last stretch in his long attempt to get a housing development approved at 330 University Avenue--and, perhaps more impressively, has made a convert out of his (formerly) most vocal opponent.
The Town Council introduced the planned development ordinance for the 26-unit project July 19, and scheduled a final hearing for Sept. 7.
Hirschman, who may have grown somewhat cynical about the process after so many hearings, shrugged it off after the meeting. "I'm not sure what to think, now," he said.
Paul DuBois, who has never missed a chance to speak out against the project, said he's still not happy with the project's potential traffic impact, but said the development itself wasn't so bad. "Mr. Hirschman has produced 45 iterations, to where this is one I even like," he told the council.
Traffic has always been the defining issue of the project, which connects to University Avenue about 200 feet south of Highway 9.
"I think Mr. Hirschman has a nice project with lousy access, and there's nothing we can do about it," one Miles Avenue resident said.
The council voted 3-2 to introduce the ordinance, with Mayor Jan Hutchins and Randy Attaway voting nay.
"I'm really concerned about that left turn into the project," Hutchins said. "Unless the project has access through the neighborhood out back, it really is going to be a problem."
Before the application comes back in September, town staff will write up new language for a circulation mitigation plan included in the ordinance.
Instead of directing Hirschman to make his proposed improvements to the intersection (by widening the right-turn lane onto eastbound Highway 9), the new condition would have Hirschman give the town a deposit equal to the cost of the improvements.
The town would hang on to that deposit until a traffic study on the downtown area is completed, which would also give town officials a chance to get a second opinion from their new traffic engineer (who took over in June) and talk to Caltrans about the possibility of new signals at the intersection. Because it is a state highway, Caltrans controls the lights on Highway 9.
Once the town has more information on how best to handle what changes--if any--are needed at the intersection, officials would be able to decide how to use the money. Hirschman said he estimates the cost of improving the intersection at $100,000 to $150,000.
Hirschman's application was originally for 22 new units, but planning commissioners in June recommended approval of the project if Hirschman agreed to add four more units to the plan by turning four of the units into duplexes.
Hirschman agreed to make the change, which also increases the number of below-market-price units included in the plan from two to three. The plan also calls for one of the houses on the four-acre site to be demolished and another to be remodeled.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
