70 Cypress Staff Report

To:	PLANNING COMMISSION
From:	DANIEL M. WATROUS, SENIOR PLANNER
Subject:	FILE #30102: AMENDMENT TO CYPRESS HOLLOW PRECISE DEVELOPMENT PLAN (PD #45) TO ALLOW ADDITIONAL FLOOR AREA; 70 CYPRESS HOLLOW DRIVE; James Brown, owner; Assessor=s Parcel No. 34-392-08
Report Date: Date:	AUGUST 3, 2001 AUGUST 8, 2001

The project is the proposed amendment to a precise plan (the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan) for property located at 70 Cypress Hollow Drive. The applicants wish to increase the maximum floor area permitted for this lot, which is currently developed with a single-family home.

The Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan currently limits each parcel to a maximum floor area of 30.0% of the lot size. The applicants propose to amend the text of the precise plan to allow a floor area ratio of 32.5% for this property.

Plans have been submitted (Exhibit 4) which illustrate the additional floor area which could be constructed on this site. An existing open deck to the rear of the first floor would be enclosed to extend the existing family room of the house, with an area of 134 square feet. An existing one-car garage would be converted into a 236 square foot home office, while a two-car garage would remain intact. These additions would increase the floor area of the house by 370 square feet, from the existing 2,611 square feet to 2,981 square feet. As previously noted, the requested amendment would increase the maximum floor area for this parcel to 32.5%.

The Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan was originally approved in 1988 by the Marin County Board of Supervisors. County Resolution No. 88-252 (Exhibit 2), which currently governs this precise plan, states that the floor area ratio for each parcel "shall be a maximum of 30%." This subdivision was annexed into Tiburon in 1999.

These house size limitations on the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan were established prior to annexation into Tiburon, and prior to the Town’s adoption of Floor Area Ratio (F.A.R.) limits in all residential zones. House size limits were placed on certain precise plans in both the County and in Tiburon in the early 1980’s, as a precursor to current floor area limitations. Current practice for the Town of Tiburon is that all precise development plan approvals specify floor area limits on all lots within a development.

For comparison purposes, under the Town’s current "default" F.A.R. standards, adopted in 1990, the subject property would be allowed a maximum floor area of 2,916 square feet, plus an additional 600 square feet for garage space. The floor area ratio provided under the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan would allow 2,748 square feet of floor area for this property. The 2,981 square foot total floor area indicated for this house under the requested amendment would exceed both the Cypress Hollow and Tiburon default floor area ratios.

Two similar requests to amend the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan to increase the maximum allowable floor area were recently approved for the properties located at 70 Monterey Drive and 170 Rancho Drive. Both of these requests involved the conversion of existing undeveloped space beneath each house into living area. In each case, the additional floor area approved did not exceed the default Tiburon floor area ratio, and the floor area ratio increase was granted only "if attained entirely within undeveloped space within the existing mass and bulk of the approved house."

The physical characteristics of the previously approved sites within the Cypress Hollow Subdivision are dissimilar to those of the subject property. The previously-approved properties sloped down from the street, and therefore included undeveloped crawl space areas beneath existing garages. The subject property is relatively level, with no significant undeveloped space within the exterior walls of the existing building.

The proposed garage conversion would involve minimal exterior changes, with windows replacing the existing garage door. The proposed family room extension would be visible primarily from the adjacent homes at 80 Cypress Hollow Drive and 145 Rancho Drive. The addition would not project beyond the building envelope for this property, and would not result in any view impacts for neighboring residences.

Concerns were raised during the review of the previous precise plan amendments at 70 Monterey Drive and 170 Rancho Drive that these requests could set precedents for other floor area increase requests in the subdivision. The contentious history of the development of this subdivision was also noted, and concerns were raised that these additions would constitute a "back door" approach to achieving additional floor area beyond the limits specified within the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan. As part of both approvals, the Town included qualifying language noting that the following special circumstances were considered in the approval of this request:

Using these qualifications to evaluate the proposed request, the subject application would increase the floor area for this property to 233 square feet above the maximum floor area permitted under either the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan, and 65 square feet above the Town’s floor area ratio standards. The garage conversion portion of the subject request would be contained within the existing walls of the house, but the family room extension would expand the exterior walls of the residence. No bedrooms would be added by the proposed additions, although the proposed home office could conceivably be used as a bedroom in the future. No objections have been raised by surrounding neighbors to the subject request, and no excavation would be necessary to construct the proposed additions.

Although the scope of the proposed project is roughly the same as those of the two other previous projects, this application would be the first amendment to the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan that would exceed the Tiburon Floor area ratio, and would involve an expansion that is not contained entirely within currently undeveloped space. If the proposed family room extension was eliminated, the remaining portion of the project would comply with the Tiburon floor area ratio and would not involve any exterior expansion of the house.

As the application, as submitted, does not comply with the Town’s floor area ratio requirements, the Planning Commission may wish to consider the following findings required by Section 4.02.08 of the Tiburon Zoning Code to grant exceptions to the floor area ratio requirements:

The proposed family room extension would replace an existing exterior deck. This addition would not significantly alter the visual size and scale of the existing house, and would not affect the existing relationship of the house to the physical layout of the site. The requested addition would therefore appear to be eligible for approval of a floor area exception, if this property were not bound by the floor area ratio established by the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan.

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 Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan. The requested increase in floor area would not significantly alter the visual mass and bulk of the existing home, and would not result in a dramatic increase beyond the originally approved floor area limits for this lot.

Policy LU-22 of the Land Use Element states that "the Town shall adopt housing size limitations for residential development as part of the Zoning Ordinance for reasons detailed in Open Space and Conservation Policy OSC-6 [which states that "the Town should encourage well-designed projects that enhance its image through the development and design review processes. Monotony in design, and massive structures and site coverage that overwhelm the surrounding area, shall be avoided."] Possible methods include, but are not limited to, floor area ratios, coverage, height, bulk, and square footage limits." The proposal to allow additional floor area mostly within undeveloped space within the existing mass and bulk of the approved house would be generally consistent with this requirement, as the additional floor area requested would not dramatically affect the originally designed mass and bulk of this residence.

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

The Planning Commission should determine whether the proposed addition is consistent with the direction established by the Town regarding the similar requests at 70 Monterey Drive and 170 Rancho Drive, or whether the additional floor area should be redesigned to better conform to these previous applications.

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 Site Plan and Architectural Review approval and building permits for the proposed addition.

Staff recommends that the Planning Commission hold a public hearing on this item and determine if the proposed application is consistent with the Town’s standards for precise development plan amendments and the Town’s recent direction regarding similar applications. If the Commission determines that the application should be approved, it is recommended that the draft resolution recommending approval of the project to the Town Council be adopted.