TO: PLANNING COMMISSION

FROM: DANIEL M. WATROUS, SENIOR PLANNER

SUBJECT: FILE #30202: AMENDMENT TO HIGH MEADOW PRECISE

DEVELOPMENT PLAN (PD #38) TO AMEND A BUILDING ENVELOPE; 5 HIGH MEADOW LANE; LONE OAK PROPERTIES, OWNERS; ASSESSOR=S PARCEL NO. 58-100-72

MEETING DATE: JULY 10, 2002 REVIEWED BY: SA

PROJECT DATA

Address: 5 High Meadow Lane

Assessor’s Parcel Number: 58-100-72

File Number: 30202

General Plan: Low Low Density Residential

Zoning: RPD (High Meadow Precise Development Plan, PD #38)

Current Use: Vacant

Owners: Lone Oak Properties

Applicants: J.L. Engineering

Date Complete: June 21, 2002

CEQA Exemption: July 5, 2002

Permit Streamlining Act Deadline: September 3, 2002

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The project is the proposed amendment to a precise development plan (the High Meadow Precise Development Plan) for property located at 5 High Meadow Lane. The applicant wishes to amend the building envelope for this lot.

The High Meadow Precise Development Plan was approved by the Town Council in 1999. As part of this plan, building envelopes were established for each of the two parcels covered by this precise development plan. A single-family dwelling has been approved and recently constructed on the property located at 1 High Meadow Lane. A Site Plan and Architectural Review application has been approved by the Design Review Board for 5 High Meadow Lane, although no building permits have yet been issued for this home.

During the review of the High Meadow Precise Development Plan by the Planning Commission, alterations were made to the originally proposed building envelopes for the lot at 5 High Meadow Lane. However, when the Site Plan and Architectural Review application for a home on this lot was submitted for Design Review approval, the plans inadvertently indicated the originally proposed building envelope for the property, rather than the modified envelope ultimately approved by the Town.

The Town has recently discovered that a portion of the house approved by the Design Review Board for 5 High Meadow Lane extends outside the approved building envelope for this lot. The location of several retaining walls would also extend beyond the building envelope.
To remedy this discrepancy, the applicant has requested to modify the approved building envelope for this lot. The applicant proposes to expand portions of the eastern and western sides of the building envelope, resulting in a 951 square foot increase in the area of the building envelope. Concurrently, the applicant is proposing to cut back a portion of the northeast corner of the building envelope by 951 square feet. Therefore, there would be no net change to the size of the building envelope as a result of the requested amendment.

ANALYSIS

The building envelope for the subject property is situated 300 feet or more from any other homes along Sugarloaf or Heathcliff Drives. The building site is also situated at an elevation well below other residences in the vicinity.

The Planning Commission review of the building envelopes for the High Meadow Precise Development Plan focused on protecting the existing stands of dense oak woodlands on the lower part of both lots. During the review of that application, the building envelopes were reduced in size to minimize the removal of oak trees during the construction of homes on the site.

The proposed building envelope modification would expand the envelope slightly on both sides, and cut back the lower edge of the envelope. The proposed envelope expansions would intrude slightly into the wooded areas on either side of the existing building envelope. However, it appears that more woodland area would be preserved by the modified lower portion of the building envelope than would be removed on the two sides by the proposed envelope expansions.

The house design approved by the Design Review Board conformed to the building envelope as currently proposed. During the review of the Site Plan and Architectural Review application for the house on this site by the Design Review Board, it was apparent that the location of a house on this site would result in no view or privacy impacts on any nearby homes. Therefore, the proposed building envelope modifications should not have any injurious affect on any other property in the vicinity.

 ZONING AND GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY

The proposed project has been reviewed for consistency with the requirements of the Tiburon Zoning Ordinance regarding precise plan amendments and the Tiburon General Plan. The project appears to be consistent with the overall intentions of the High Meadow Precise Development Plan, as the portions of structures within the expanded areas of the building envelope would not create significant view or privacy impacts on homes in the vicinity. The amendment would be consistent with Land Use Element Policy LU-12, which requires that "new development should be located on the least environmentally sensitive and least hazardous portions of vacant lands," as the modified building envelope would protect as much or more of the oak woodlands on the property as the originally approved building envelope.

 ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

The project is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act per Section 15301 of the CEQA Guidelines.

FUTURE ACTIONS REQUIRED

The Planning Commission's approval of this project action would be a recommendation to the Town Council. Should the Commission vote to deny the project, that decision would be final unless appealed to the Town Council. If the amendment to the precise plan is approved by the Town Council, subsequent Town permits would include building permits for the proposed home at 5 High Meadow Lane.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends that the Planning Commission hold a public hearing on this item and adopt the draft resolution recommending approval of the project to the Town Council, subject to the conditions contained therein.

EXHIBITS

1.    Application form and supplemental material

2.    Planning Commission Resolution No. 99-03

3.    Minutes of the October 28, 1998 Planning Commission meeting

4.    Minutes of the November 12, 1998 Planning Commission meeting

5.    Minutes of the January 27, 1999 Planning Commission meeting

6.    Town Council Resolution No. 3320

7.    Draft resolution

8.    Submitted plans