Did a little bit of research and found the permit for the Superchargers. Record Type: Commercial - Service.
Permit E18-013 -- Install 6 Tesla EV charging stations (which translates to 12 chargers stalls...plus there will be (4) level 2 non-Tesla charging stations) @ 170 Los Gatos Saratoga, Los Gatos, CA. Status right now is listed as Corrections.
Applied for on 1/29/18. Expires 8/13/18. Other than it's in "corrections" status no other info I could find on the City site. Has construction started or is it still in the planning/review stage? Haven't driven by in a while.
Great info! I started poking at the same records, and finally found if I traversed all options some more info:
Here's Planning Review:
Planning Review
Due on 02/05/2018, assigned to jp
Marked as Corrections on 02/13/2018 by jp
Comment: Pursuant to Section 29.10.155 (h)(1) wheel stops must be continuous curbing and shall not be separate blocks. Please modify the plans accordingly to address this requirement.
That gets to what I say about removing trees ought to be capital punishment. If they are trying to put the charger pedestals out further from the property line, then they would want wheel stops that are not continuous. However, the above suggests that they would want to push the chargers closer to the property line, and thus they would want to dig up closer to the property line, where all the trees are and closer to some of the tree roots. I suggest to anyone who wishes to build charger lines without disturbing trees that they put the trench as far from the tree roots as possible, and have them dive into the SuperCharger mounts in such a way they miss trees and tree roots. My thinking is that they put the main trenches out in the middle of the parking lot, and run little hand-dug branches into each mount from there. I am concerned that would actually be
more trenching, and someone would want to just use a cut approach, and they'd end up killing even more trees. I can't wait until all digging is done by robots and is programmed to bypass all trees and roots, and the human element of murdering trees is removed.
I'm thinking of better alternatives. So far, the typical rules that electrical must be many feet down are getting in my way.
The curb thing is comparitively easier: just construct a continuous curb further out into the parking lot, that still meets parking lot specs. Doubtless, the problem is that the parking lot is already as tight as possible, and there's no way to do that. Another method is to move the pedestals out of harm's way. I don't know a good method to accomplish that other than pedestals that fold out of the way down to the ground and are foot-traffic worthy, or are rubber and you can crash into them without harming them. I like the rubber pedestal idea a lot, actually. Unfortunately, termites and other insects love to eat rubber. So, it would have to be some odd synthetic flexible material tested for infestation control, resilience, and toxic harm.
Here's the code section for the curbs:
(h) Curbs, wheel stops and markings. Curbs, wheel stops and markings for parking lots and spaces shall be provided as follows:
(1) Except for spaces which serve single- or two-family dwellings, all off-street parking spaces shall have wheel stops. Wheel stops must be continuous curbing and shall not be separate blocks. A continuous concrete curb may be permitted with breaks in the curb to allow for drainage to meet Best Management Practices methods for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requirements.
