By Linda Taaffe

The Los Altos City Council was scheduled to make a possible precedent-setting decision Tuesday night that would either allow or prohibit the construction of a home based on its architectural style and neighborhood compatability.

The contemporary home proposed for Benvenue Avenue fits the city’s design guidelines, except for style. The 3,645-square-foot home featured a flat roof with sand-finished stucco and zinc metal siding. Benvenue is a neighborhood with a predominant mixture of one- and two-story ranch and Mediterranean-style homes.

Residents said they hoped that a denial would place stronger emphasis on housing styles in the future.

The council was scheduled to make a decision after the Town Crier’s press deadline.

More than 40 residents in the Benvenue neighborhood petitioned the city council to reject the house. Some hoped that the council would adopt stricter guidelines to preserve the character of transitional neighborhoods.

The city’s design guidelines are too widely interpretive, residents said. Design should be key in preserving the character and integrity of a neighborhood, they added. Under city guidelines, new houses in transitional neighborhoods “should not set the extreme and should be designed to soften the transition.”

The city’s planning department said the house possessed architectural integrity but recommended the Architectural and Site control Committee deny the plans because of significant style deviations from the rest of the neighborhood.

“Staff feels the new contemporary-style home will introduce an abrupt change to the existing neighborhood character,” according to a staff report.

The site control committee approved the plans.