Issue date: October 27, 1999
By MARION SOFTKY
Twelve years after 429 acres of lower Windy Hill became public open space, the 20 acres that was held out as part of the deal is about to be sold to Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell, who plan to build their home there.
The Kabcenells, who have lived in Portola Valley for 11 years, are buying the stunning property, embedded in the popular preserve, from Sacramento developer Bob Slobe for $3.2 million. Following some technical approvals by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and the town of Portola Valley, they hope to complete the purchase by the end of the month.
Mr. Slobe bought the 449 acres of lower Windy Hill from Frank Aries in 1987 with the purpose of developing it into 18-20 home sites -- and then fell in love with it.
In a deal arranged by Portola Valley real estate agent Ellie Gross-Bullis, Mr. Slobe sold the property to the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District at cost, and took his profit in the form of a 20-acre parcel where he planned to build a home.
At the time, Portola Valley was so pleased to save the prominent hillside from development, it subdivided the property into two parcels -- 429 acres for open space and a 20-acre home site for Mr. Slobe -- in an unprecedented six weeks, instead of the normal span of months or years. Ms. Gross-Bullis recalls the joint meeting of the Planning Commission and Town Council chaired by then-Mayor Kent Mitchell when the council approved the subdivision unanimously about 1:30 a.m. "It was awesome," she said. "We had a bottle of champagne."
Last week, the board of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District cleared the way for the sale of the property. It approved a reconfiguration of the parcel to exactly 20 acres, an emergency access through The Sequoias retirement complex, an open space easement to protect corridors along Corte Madera Creek and Hamm's Gulch, and realignment of a trail at The Sequoias.
The Portola Valley Town Council will take its final action related to the property sale at its meeting Wednesday, October 27, at 8 p.m. at the Historic Schoolhouse, 765 Portola Road. One agenda item relates to the new boundaries of the parcel; two others deal with realignment of the trail connecting with a town trail through The Sequoias.
Mr. Kabcenell, a software architect for Oracle, looks forward to living on the property. "We just love it," he told the Almanac. "It's sort of enclosed, not in the face of preserve visitors."
The driveway
The open space district board also gave conceptual approval to the alternative driveway from Alpine Road.
The approved driveway would be almost a mile long, more than twice the length of the Alpine Road connection, the staff report said. Further, the approved driveway would require almost 5,000 cubic yards of cut and fill, compared to about 2,300 for the Alpine Road connection.
Board member Betsy Crowder, a Portola Valley resident, supports the Alpine Road alternative. "The other is a mile long and goes through a meadow that is visible from some distance away," she said.
Mr. Kabcenell also prefers the Alpine Road access. "We and preserve visitors would be happier if we were not conflicting on the road," he said. "It's also shorter."
During a field trip last spring, several planning commissioners were cautiously favorable, and agreed to consider the alternative driveway seriously.
Review of the road, the bridge and plans for building on the property will go through Portola Valley's planning process after the sale is complete. Ms. Gross-Bullis emphasized that the new home and other facilities on the property will be subject to the town's limits as of 1987 rather than the present, more stringent rules. "I don't want anyone to misunderstand that," she said.
For Ms. Gross-Bullis, completion of the sale will end a major saga in her life. "I'm out of it," she said. "I think 13 years of hard service is enough."
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