The Los Gatos Planning Commission unanimously rejected the Alberto Way Class A office building proposed for the intersection of Highway 9 and Alberto Way last week, citing traffic, the proposed building’s size and the loss of scenic views as reasons.

During the Feb. 14 meeting, commissioners offered their individual reasons for denying the project, building a record for the Town Council to consider if their decision is appealed.

Developers Randy Lamb and Shane Arters want to build a 74,000-square-foot office building at the corner of Alberto Way and Highway 9, but neighbors have consistently opposed the building’s size, suggesting instead that a 62,000- or 63,000- square-foot building would be acceptable.

“I, too, am concerned about the size of this building, but I do struggle with the idea of objective standards,” Commissioner Melanie Hanssen said. “We’re in a situation where the objective standards say the building isn’t too large, but then there’s the concept of neighborhood compatibility, which isn’t well-suited to pure objective standards.”

The developers have maintained they can’t make the building smaller than 74,000 square feet because it won’t meet the requirements for Class A office space. Originally, the developers proposed a 93,000-square-foot development, but in September planning commissioners wanted the project reduced by a third, so the developers brought back a new design in October with 10,000 fewer square feet, and upon request in December they proposed a further reduction of the building’s square footage from 83,000 square feet to just over 74,000.

“We spent a lot of time at the last meeting trying to get to the concept of what constitutes Class A space and there are clearly buildings out there that are less than 74,000 square feet,” Hanssen said.

Commission Chairman Michael Kane seized on that, citing a letter from the commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield that said Class A buildings can be smaller than 74,000 square feet.

“It shows that in Los Gatos there’s a Class A office building at 62,000 square feet and a Class A office building at 6,900 square feet,” Kane said.

He also quoted from a letter he received from the developers.

“One of the experts said that Class A’s can be 200,000 square feet in an urban setting and can be 50,000 square feet in a suburban setting and that was the letter I got from the applicant. I found that persuasive,” Kane said.

Increased traffic was also was given as a major reason for the denial.

“I’ve been doing this for 14 or 15 years and I have never seen a traffic report that didn’t tell me things were going to be fine and they never are,” Commissioner Tom O’Donnell said. “Then I’m told, ‘Well, we all use the same manuals,’ and I have to tell you I wouldn’t use those manuals because they’re consistently wrong.”

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Commission Vice Chairman Matthew Hudes keyed in on concerns that Alberto Way won’t be widened enough to accommodate fire trucks and emergency vehicles. Hudes called out the project’s environmental impact report as inadequate.

“We have a gridlock situation that’s directly linked to cut-though traffic and that situation is not being analyzed by our traffic impact analyses that I’ve seen,” Hudes said. “This is a highly predictable condition that occurs and recurs on certain days—Fridays and weekends—and it not only puts gridlock onto some of our arteries, it also prevents access to side streets and driveways, and that’s where my concerns come in about this project.”

The proposed two-story building has also generated controversy because nearby residents say it would obscure their scenic views. That’s one reason why Commissioner Kathryn Janoff voted no.

“The loss of views, the loss of quality of life, the impact on the neighborhood, which would be negative,” Janoff said. “Throughout the General Plan, throughout many documents of the town, the preservation of scenic views is so heavily emphasized it cannot be understated how important that is to the town.”

Commissioner Kendra Burch cited neighborhood compatibility and views as reasons to deny the project.

“As it stands, the application is not compatible with the neighborhood,” Burch said. “And very specifically, I think the item that has caused me the most angst recently is the views. You can walk up and down that street and from various angles of properties the view corridors are clearly interrupted.”

Commissioner Mary Badame was recused from the meeting because she lives within 500 feet of the proposed development.

The developers have 10 days to appeal the commission’s decision to the town council.