He spoke to the Los Gatos Town Council on March 21 in support of a new development where the now-defunct Villa Felice restaurant and lodge stand on Winchester Boulevard. The council was hearing a proposal for 33 single-family homes on the 5.91-acre lot at 15350 Winchester.

"I applaud ... the Santa Clara Development Company," said Casey, a resident of the adjacent Privada Luisita neighborhood.

Other neighbors also praised the development company and its president, Mark Robson, for being responsive to concerns, often meeting to discuss those concerns on short notice.

"If there's one phrase that would describe Santa Clara Development, it would be 'good faith,' " neighbor Paul Alpern said.

Council members generally agreed with the neighbors' comments that Robson was making a good-faith effort to listen to input from all involved parties and make changes where feasible. But that didn't stop them from questioning certain elements of the plans.

Councilwoman Barbara Spector said she had concerns about the project's intensity--the ratio of floor space to open space. Several planning commissioners had raised that issue at a Feb. 9 hearing about the project.

The developers responded by lowering the grade of the project by one to three feet in all lots and reducing the height of some of the homes themselves. Still, Spector said she was "struggling" with the intensity. Robson said he was still willing to work with the town to fine tune the project and assured that he would meet the town's standards for quality that are seen in other projects.

"A lot of it has to do with how it's executed," Robson said. He pointed to other recent developments in town, such as one at the northeast corner of Highway 9 and University Avenue, that are similar or greater in intensity but still function well.

Council members also asked why most of the parking spaces were located at the front end of the development, causing visitors to homes at the back to walk a fair distance. Robson explained that he wanted to keep the streets narrow--no on-street parking is planned--for both traffic-calming and pedestrian-friendly purposes. He said the walk to the back of the site was not quite as long as it might seem from looking at the plans.

"The goal of creating a walkable community is a good one," Councilman Joe Pirzynski said.

Three homes on the ridgeline of the property that overlooks Vasona Reservoir were also scrutinized. Council members said they wanted them to be as invisible as possible from the park.

There was also discussion of a row of Monterey pine trees that border the property to the south. The trees are aging and reportedly in poor health. Robson said he planned to replace them with 20 box trees that would have a longer lifespan.

"We're all going to die eventually, but I don't think any of us want the plug pulled before we're ready," neighbor Kris Linden said. "These are live trees that give a character to this community."

More neighbors, though, felt that the trees were a possible hazard that need to come down before they do so on their own.

All of the council members agreed that the area would serve better as a neighborhood than as another business site, voting unanimously to change the zoning of the area from commercial to residential.

Spector, though, still was not convinced that this particular development was right.

"Why wouldn't it be better to make the homes smaller?" she asked. The homes are between 2,323 and 2,945 square feet on lots between 4,250 and 6,050 square feet.

"I don't know that it wouldn't," Robson said. "During architecture and site [review] we can continue to work on that."

The council voted 4-1 to approve the project, with Spector dissenting.