The Donald and Mary Elizabeth Winbigler house at the corner of Fremont Road and Campo Vista Lane had been a favorite subject for local artists for many years. In the Spring when the plum trees were in bloom, as many as a half dozen artists would be at work at the same time. The house is recognized in the town's General Plan.
All of this came to an end in August 2002 when the new owners destroyed the historic house without a permit. The construction plans called for retaining the old house and making the new additions in the same French Provincial style.
 Historic Winbigler house showing "story poles" of new construction |
New construction showing missing original Winbigler house
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Because the original historic house (which predated Los Altos Hills incorporation) was higher than the current city code, the new owners were granted a height variance to make the additions compatible with the original house. A reasonable decision.
Investigations after the house destruction showed that the builder was working with 15 month old plans that differed markedly from the plans approved by the town. This strongly suggested that the demolition was planned from the beginning after obtaining the height variance. A "stop work" order issued by the town has been in effect since August.
On September 12, 2002, the Planning Commission revoked the height variance and directed the new owners to apply for a new construction permit with plans that meet all town code conditions. This order has been appealed to the City Council which was scheduled to hear the appeal on October 17, 2002. At the October 17 Council meeting, the hearing was continued (delayed) until November 7, 2002. This seems to be an obvious political ploy to defer this very sensitive issue until after the Nov. 5th election, thereby avoiding election impact. Does the Council plan to approve the new structure in spite of the violations?
This destruction of this town treasure represents a willful violation of their permit by the new owners and an inexcusable failure by the town's building department staff to monitor the construction. Where was the management that the Council was supposed to provide?
Watch for the Council's decision. Will they uphold the Planning Commission's decision, or will they give a mild hand slap to the owners and let them proceed? Their action will tell you how seriously this Council takes the town's building requirements and their management responsibility. Unfortunately, we won't know until after the election. Does this convey a message to you?
The issue here is the Casey/Fenwick Council's unwillingness or inability to enforce the town's building code in an even-handed manner that prevents scofflaw construction.
