Portola Valley planners give go-ahead to The Sequoias expansion plan Portola Valley planners give go-ahead to The Sequoias expansion plan (September 08, 2004)

** New use permit increases beds for non-Sequoias patients.

By David Boyce
Almanac Staff Writer

The Sequoias retirement community won the right to build a new 21,500-square-foot facility for 24 physically frail residents on the north end of its Portola Road property, next to the parking lot of the Windy Hill open space preserve.

In a 3-0-2 vote, the five-member Portola Valley Planning Commission voted Wednesday, September 1, to approve the amendment to The Sequoias' conditional use permit.

Commissioners Linda Elkind, Ann Wengert, and Arthur "Chip" McIntosh voted for the amendment; chairman Craig Breon and commissioner Leah Zaffaroni abstained. There is a 30-day window to appeal the decision to the Town Council.

The decision also allows The Sequoias' to convert its current "physically frail" facility to a treatment center for the mentally-impaired, and increases the room available for patients from Portola Valley and nearby communities, said spokesman Mel Matsumoto.

"We look forward to providing our residents with experienced and innovative care for the mentally impaired and physically frail," said Barbara Hood, president and CEO of Northern California Presbyterian Homes and Services, in a prepared statement. "We are also pleased with the decision to increase the number of outside admissions."

Difficult decision

"It was a very difficult decision, simply because of the size of the building," said Ms. Wengert. Six years of effort by the town staff, The Sequoias management, and the Architecture and Site Control Committee weighed heavily in her considerations, she said.

Among the changes agreed to: the building will have a flat roof instead of a pitched roof; lighting and noise levels will be reduced; and more landscaping will help hide the building, which will have the maximum allowable 28-foot walls.

"It was important to be able to move forward with a program that is reasonable and will ensure (The Sequoias) further success," Ms. Wengert said.

In abstaining, Mr. Breon said he had several concerns about the building: its mass, its nearness to the property line, its visibility from Portola Road, and what will likely be a looming presence over the Windy Hill parking lot. Visitors there "are going to be looking up at a huge wall," he said.

He said he was torn between these concerns and the need for the facility. "I thought we could have worked harder to see a facility that was a little smaller (but) at the end of the day, the people at The Sequoias deserve a good facility. They pay a lot to be there."

In a separate 4-1 vote, Mr. Breon rejected the project's environmental document, known as a mitigated negative declaration, which did not fault the building's visual impact. The town planner had recommended approval.

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