Willow Glen Resident

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Willow Glen homeowner gets approval to add a caboose

By Mayra Flores De Marcotte

The San Jose planning director has given the all-clear to a Willow Glen couple's plans to convert a historic train caboose into a home office.

The planning director approved a development variance permit on Feb. 21 that will allow residents John Plocher and Katy Dickinson to install a 30-ton caboose in their back yard on Belmont Avenue.

The variance permit was filed because Plocher and Dickinson could not meet the city's development standards that included a 60-foot setback from the front of the property line to their caboose, said planner Rebekah Ross.

The variance allows the homeowner to add the 380-square-foot caboose with a boarding deck in a back yard with only a 7-foot setback. The parcel's unique shape allows the side yard to act as the property's rear yard, Ross said, because the Guadalupe River borders the rear of the property.

This step enables the homeowners to take the next step and file the appropriate building permits needed to convert the caboose into their office. The caboose is currently undergoing restoration.

Plocher and Dickinson began the project a year ago when they purchased the 91-year-old Western Pacific Feather River Railway caboose from the Golden Gate Railroad Museum. The couple and their children are train enthusiasts, and purchasing the caboose built in 1916 fit into their passion.

"You get the bug," Plocher said.

The couple plan to also install 50 feet of historic railroad track in the yard to go along with the caboose.

"It's something that people will be able to appreciate," Ross said.