Property owners face new rules in regard to what their homes
need to look like
Morgan Hill – New rules telling hillside property owners what their homes need to look like from the valley floor were adopted Tuesday by County Supervisors in a unanimous vote.
Among other things, the new zoning regulations limit what colors new homes can be painted – highly reflective colors such as white, are out – and require home developers to include more extensive landscaping and retention of natural vegetation in their plans.
A total of 3,300 parcels mostly in the unincorporated foothills of South County and areas east of San Jose are affected by the rules.
A number of hillside property owners were angered by the changes, arguing that their constitutionally protected property rights are being curtailed.
Ted Halunen, who owns property in Saratoga, San Jose and Los Gatos, said the study is biased because it doesn’t take into account how valley developments appear from up in the hills.
“I’m looking down,” Halunen told the board, “and what I see in the valley isn’t very pretty. This is discriminatory of minority of people”
Most of the 3,300 parcels contain homes already that won’t be subject to the regulations. But property owners who want to build new homes now face an additional design review process that could add $1,500 to their overall development costs, said Bill Shoe, principal planner for Santa Clara County. Nevertheless, Shoe said the amount is relatively small compared to overall development costs that can run as high as $40,000 dollars for an 8,000-square-foot house.
Tim Chadwick, who owns property in the east foothills of San Jose, said his property is not visible from valley floor but its development is still limited under the new zoning rules.
“It is going to be something that’s listed if I want to sell the land,” Chadwick said.
The rules won’t affect the dozen or so property owners who are currently “in the pipeline” with new developments, Shoe said, referring to those who had filed applications for permits before Tuesday. So long as those property owners complete the steps needed to get their permits approved in the next six months, their projects can move ahead without having to adhere to the new regulations.
The zoning amendments were the result of a yearlong Viewshed Protection Study conducted by county planners. “Viewshed” is planning jargon for scenic hillsides visible from valley floors. A number of cities in west Santa Clara County, including Saratoga and Los Gatos, already enforce similar zoning rules.
The county’s study was carried out at the behest of the board of supervisors to propose ways of tightening controls on designing humongous homes on the hillsides that are unpopular with how homes speckled throughout unincorporated hillsides appear to residents living in the valley.
While Supervisor Don Gage recently said he didn’t push for the study, he appeared to fully support its recommendations Tuesday when he made the first motion to adopt the ordinance amending the county’s zoning code.
“I tend to stick to property rights on most issues,” Gage said. “But I also agree with the need for a viewshed. I think staff’s recommendations include enough of a compromise.”
On the other hand, Gage hinted unsightly development often goes unchecked on the valley floor.
“I’d rather see 5,000 square-foot homes on 10,000 square-foot lots than on 4,000-square-foot lots,” he said. “To me that’s gross, when you pack them in like sardines.”
Shanna Boigon, a member of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, said the rules could amount to micromanaging property owners’ affairs.
“The ones who are not in compliance (with existing zoning rules) are the ones we need to be going after,” she said. “Not the people who take care of their land.”
