SUBJECT: FILE #30301: AMENDMENT TO TIBURON SHORES PRECISE PLAN (PD #28) TO AMEND A BUILDING ENVELOPE; 15 GILMARTIN DRIVE; SUSAN SAKMAR, OWNER; ASSESSOR=S PARCEL NO. 55-253-16

PROJECT DATA

Address: 15 Gilmartin Drive

Assessor’s Parcel Number: 55-253-16

File Number: 30301

Lot Size: 27,825 square feet

General Plan: Medium Density Residential

Zoning: RPD (Tiburon Shores Precise Plan, PD #28)

Subdivision: Tiburon Shores

Current Use: Single-Family Residential

Owners: Susan Sakmar

Applicant: Mohamad Sadrieh

Date Complete: April 18, 2003

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The project is the proposed amendment to a precise plan (the Tiburon Shores Precise Plan) for property located at 15 Gilmartin Drive. The applicant wishes to amend the building envelope for this lot.

The Tiburon Shores Precise Plan was approved by the Town Council in 1985. As part of this plan, building envelopes were established for each of the 8 lots covered by this precise plan. Design Review approval was granted in 1996 for the construction of a single-family dwelling on the site, and the house was finished in 2000.

The property owners wish to construct a 396 square foot family room addition to the western side of the existing house. A portion of the addition would be located outside the approved building envelope for this property. Therefore, the applicants are requesting a precise plan amendment to expand the building envelope for the subject property to include area for this addition.

 ANALYSIS

The subject property is situated on a terraced lot on the lower portion of Gilmartin Drive. With the exception of the adjacent residence to the west at 19 Gilmartin Drive, all other lots along this side of Gilmartin Drive are situated at elevations either well above or below the level of the subject property.

The proposed family room addition would be situated toward the uphill side of the site. Due to the difference in elevations and the presence of a series of screening trees upslope from the location of the proposed addition, it does not appear that this addition would significantly intrude into the views for any other nearby homes. The screening trees either exceed the height of the proposed addition, or would grow above the height of the addition in the near future.

The proposed addition would be most visible from the adjacent home at 19 Gilmartin Drive. The owner of the adjacent residence has submitted a signed statement indicating that she has no objections to project as proposed.

The existing residence contains 4,460 square feet of floor area and 680 square feet of garage space, for a calculated floor area of 4,540 square feet. The proposed 396 square foot family room addition would result in a total floor area of 4,936 square feet, which would be 153 square feet greater than the 4,783 square floor area ratio established for a lot of this size by the Tiburon Zoning Ordinance. If the subject building envelope amendment is approved, the family room addition as currently designed could only be approved with a floor area exception.

The size of the subject house with the proposed addition would not be inconsistent with the overall development pattern of Gilmartin Drive, as many of the homes in the immediate vicinity have floor areas larger than that proposed for this property. However, most applications to expand the approved building envelope for a lot stem from a desire to obtain a reasonably-sized house, where the developable area within the envelope would result in structures that would impact other nearby properties; such requests are often approved as a means of allowing a property owner to achieve the living space allowable by the floor area ratio for the lot without creating unwanted impacts on neighboring homes.

The Tiburon Zoning Ordinance states that "the Floor Area Ratio Guideline for a lot is not intended as a target to be achieved, but is intended to indicate a reasonable maximum." It would appear that a request to build an addition that would exceed the floor area ratio of the property, combined with the need to expand the building envelope for the lot to accommodate such an addition, would represent an level of development of the property beyond a "reasonable maximum," and would be inconsistent with the intent of the Tiburon Zoning Ordinance and the approved precise development plan.

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 Tiburon Shores Precise Plan, as the expanded areas of the building envelope would not create significant view or privacy impacts on homes in the vicinity. Land Use Element Policy LU-12 requires that "new development should be located on the least environmentally sensitive and least hazardous portions of vacant lands." The expanded building envelope area would be situated on a relatively level portion of the subject property.

Staff has made a preliminary determination that the subject application is categorically exempt from the requirements of CEQA 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 Site Plan and Architectural Review and building permits for the proposed family room addition.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends that the Planning Commission:

Hold a public hearing on this application;

Determine whether the proposed application is consistent with the intent of the Tiburon Shores Precise Plan and the Tiburon Zoning Ordinance; and

Direct Staff to prepare an appropriate resolution regarding the application.

EXHIBITS