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Published on 08/24/1998 All articles from this issue

Design task force will tour, review houses

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

The good, the bad and the ugly. All turned up on the big screen during a slide show of houses in Los Altos at a meeting of the city's residential design guidelines task force.

During the summer, the 15 members of the task force took pictures of houses around town that they thought "worked" and those that didn't.

Then, at the Aug. 26 meeting, the group reviewed the pictures.

Some they liked. "Large house but fits well on the lot." "Significantly remodeled, but you can't tell from the street."

Some they didn't. "Hideous." "The second story looks like a box on top." "Completely out of context."

Committee members didn't like "huge chimneys" or "terrible" two-story front porches that said, "We have arrived."

An interesting thing about the slide show was that the same house sometimes turned up twice: one person used it as an example of good design; another saw it as bad design.

The task force members thought this review would help them discern themes and language that could be incorporated into the city's residential design guidelines as the task force works to clarify what is and isn't OK.

"We're not saying a house is bad," said task force member Bruce Skov, who is also a planning commissioner.

What members are trying to say is what is "appropriate or inappropriate," for residential design, said planning director Larry Tong.

The committee intends to address compatibility issues with new and remodeled homes, according to their statement of the problem.

During the past 12 months, several residents have had their two-story remodel plans turned back by the planning commission and the city council when neighbors have turned out objecting to the design or to a two-story house in a one-story neighborhood.

Young families who want to remodel are saying, "Help! Tell us what does work. Don't send us back to 'go guess.'"

Many think the design concerns are a community reaction to some of the large new houses built to the maximum allowed for a lot. These are legal, but dwarf others in the neighborhood.

Mayor Kris Casto said she thought fewer than 5 percent of the houses are creating the problem.

At the committee's meeting tonight, members will be driving around town in two vans, reviewing houses they identified during the slide show.

"This is a very diverse group," Casto said. "If this group can come to a consensus, the issue will be well massaged."