Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Los Altos Hills committee hears call to redefine gravel so it won’t count as full lot coverage
Summary
A landscape architect urged the town to treat loose, no‑fines gravel as permeable and to exclude certain defensible‑space gravel from maximum development area calculations; staff and members agreed to agendize the item for formal review after a motion passed to allow discussion at this meeting.
Susan Landry, a landscape architect, told the Environmental Design & Planning Committee that gravel can be a safer substitute for wood mulch in defensible space because “Cal Fire is very clear, zone 0, no wood mulch.” She asked the committee to clarify how the town defines gravel so loose, coarse, no‑fines material on non‑compacted subgrade would be treated as permeable and not counted toward the town’s maximum development area (MDA).
Staff explained the current practice: concrete and asphalt count 100% toward MDA, gravel patios wider than 4 feet have historically been…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
