Monte Sereno commission delays SB 10 overlay for two Winchester parcels after neighbors raise safety, privacy and notice concerns

The City of Monte Sereno Architectural Commission on Dec. 3, 2025 declined to recommend a draft SB 10 multifamily residential overlay for two Winchester Boulevard parcels and asked staff to return in February after exploring additional objective standards and alternative sites.

Asher Cohn, principal planner with EM Group, presented the proposed overlay and staff recommendation to recommend the draft ordinance to City Council, identifying parcels at 15785 and 15791 Winchester Boulevard and explaining that SB 10 would allow up to 10 units per parcel while SB 684 could enable small‑lot splits. Cohn said the draft sets a 7,000‑square‑foot maximum building size and an average unit size of about 1,750 square feet. “The recommendation tonight is for the commission to receive and recommend the draft multifamily residential overlay zone ordinance for adoption by City Council,” he said.

Residents who live near the parcels urged the commission to withhold recommendation. Samara Fishwick, who said she lives at 17581 Via Sereno, told commissioners she and neighbors received late notice and were concerned about traffic and children’s safety on walk and bike routes to nearby schools: “We were given very late notice about this… it was basically 10 days before Thanksgiving,” she said. Other neighbors cited heavy tree cover, narrow lot depths, owner opposition and privacy impacts to Eichler‑style homes.

In deliberations commissioners discussed potential objective standards that could address privacy and sight‑line concerns, including larger second‑story setbacks, limits or obscuration of second‑floor windows, and landscaping or material requirements to preserve the neighborhood’s wooded character. Staff cautioned that objective standards cannot be so restrictive that they make the number of units infeasible under SB 10 or run afoul of Housing and Community Development (HCD) expectations.

After public comment the commission voted to not recommend the overlay to City Council at this time and to refer the draft back to staff to develop possible objective‑standard modifications and to explore alternative parcels or voluntary homeowner proposals; the commission asked staff to return to the Site & Architecture meeting in February. The motion passed on a roll call showing recorded yes votes from Commissioners Lipcetic, Vistana, Lawler and Diem.

Staff said the proposal is an early step in a process that would come before council later; staff also said notices and outreach to residents within 300 feet of the sites had been mailed in October and meeting materials remain available online. The commission’s referral lets staff incorporate community feedback before any council hearing.