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TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS • May 13, 1998 Staff Report to the Planning Commission RE: SITE DEVELOPMENT PERMIT FOR A NEW RESIDENCE; LANDS OF WONG; 14470 DE BELL ROAD; FILE#268-97-ZP-SD-GD. FROM: Suzanne Davis, Planner SD APPROVED BY: Curtis S. Williams, Planning Director RECOMMENDATION That the Planning Commission: Approve the requested site development permit, subject to the recommended conditions in Attachment 1. • BACKGROUND The Planning Commission considered plans for a new residence on March 25, 1998, and continued the application for redesign. The Commission expressed concerns about the overall height of the house (27 feet), the height as measured from the lowest to highest point (35 feet), the lack of stepping at the rear of the house,two-story vertical elements on either side of the front entry and the height of the foundation wall below the balcony (seven to eight feet). The Commission considered revised plans on April 8, 1998, and again continued the application, directing the applicants to lower the height by at least two feet, to reduce the height of the foundation wall under the rear terrace to five feet or less and to consider stepping rear elements on the house. The applicants have submitted revised plans which address the concerns of the Commission. DISCUSSION The following comments were made by the Commission at the April 8, 1998 meeting (staff responses are in italics: • Reduce the overall height by at least two feet. The building pad was lowered eight inches, reducing the sectional height by this same amount. The Commission requested an overall height reduction of two feet inclusive of the eight-inch reduction already proposed The height was further lowered by changing the roof pitch. The total height reduction is just over two feet with the revised plans. • Reduce the height as measured from the lowest to highest point. The height as measured from the lowest to highest point was indicated to be 35 feet on the original plans. This was reduced to 31 feet three inches with the first revision. The current plans have reduced the lowest to highest height to 28 feet four inches. • Reduce the height of the foundation wall below the balcony to five feet maximum. The footprint of the house has been changed and the foundation wall would now be five feet away from the existing retaining wall at the pool area. The wall would be four feet high, although the balcony breaks up the wall so that it would appear to be even lower. The