Over the past few days, I’ve been approached by several petition workers whose first words are something about keeping Netflix in Los Gatos. Personally, I am so tired of hearing about the big “Netflix” scare that I simply wave them off and pass on by. I suppose I should really stand there and listen to their entire spiel for the sake of fairness but I’m just plain tired of hearing this public relations bull.
A real estate developer, Peter Pau, and the Carlyle Group (a 170 billion dollar private equity firm from Washington, D.C.) acquired the Albright property to develop it into something that would make them money. From the outset, the developer and his representative, Mr. Shenk, have linked the business that is the biggest source of tax income for Los Gatos, Netflix, to their project. In fact, in the beginning, there was no formal linkage between the developer and an intended tenant, Netflix, simply a “perceived” linkage fostered by the developer. Also, from the outset, the developer has chosen to disregard the limits about building size and density set down by the town of Los Gatos in its general plan. Initially, his proposal was to build his new buildings 85 feet high, more than twice as high as the 35 feet allowed by the General Plan, totalling more than 550,000 square feet of commercial office space. That strikes me as being a bit audacious. But, with a little assistance from the Los Gatos Planning Department, the proposal invoked a work-around the 35 foot limit by calling itself a “Planned Development,” which purportedly allows certain exceptions to the zoning rules as prescribed by the General Plan.
The town’s Planning Commission, made up of community volunteers appointed by the Town Council, refused the proposal even though it was a PD (Planned Development). The Proposal was obviously in violation of the intent of the General Plan, which was developed and written by the people of Los Gatos, not its employees, nor outside developers. The Proposal didn’t warrant an exception to the law or the General Plan’s zoning rules as it was not a simple variance to existing rules and laws, but a blatant disregard of them. Ultimately, a sympathetic Town Council, concerned about the perceived linkage between the developer and the town’s biggest source of revenue, Netflix, reversed the decision of the Planning Commission to allow the developer’s initial proposal to go forward – at 85 feet in height.
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Community members concerned about the disregard for the Town’s General Plan instigated a lawsuit which required the developer to present an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) regarding the proposal, which should have been done in the first place, even before the proposal went to the Planning Commission. The law suit prevailed and town had an EIR prepared by independent consultants that was paid for by the developer. The resulting report determined that the environmentally superior alternative for a developed use of the land was to build 350,000 square feet of commercial office space, with two buildings at 45 feet in height and two at 35 feet, these two meeting the General Plan’s standing limit. The developer insisted on more height and square footage and appealed the decision once more, to the town council. The membership of the council had changed . . .
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