Planning Commission denies Waters family appeal over Peacock Court home, citing design and water‑system concerns

The Santa Clara County Planning Commission voted 6–1 on Dec. 18 to deny an appeal from the Waters Family Trust and uphold a zoning administrator’s Nov. 5, 2021 denial of a concurrent design‑review and grading application for a single‑family home with an accessory dwelling unit at Peacock Court in unincorporated Cupertino.

Staff told the commission that although the project meets objective development standards for height and wall length, the discretionary findings for form and massing could not be made because the structure remains visually dominant and insufficiently stepped into the hillside. Environmental Health staff also concluded the existing Peacock Court Mutual Water Company will‑serve letter is not sufficient: the proposed project would cause the small water system’s service connections to exceed state thresholds, triggering a state referral and raising uncertainty about water‑system compliance prior to permit issuance.

The project before the commission…