Staff Report

ITEM NO.   E-2

REPORT DATE. 2/21/02

ASSESSOR=S PARCEL: 058-121-26

HISTORY

The Owlswood West Precise Plan was adopted by the Town Council in October, 1980. The plan designated four lots for the construction of single family homes, and established building envelopes and other zoning restrictions for the lots. Development on the subject parcel, labeled parcel "D" on the Precise Plan, was limited to a specific building envelope, and a floor area limit of 4,300 square feet was established (site plan for Owlswood West attached, Exhibit #2).

In February, 1990, an amendment to the precise plan was reviewed by the Town Council. The amendment requested an adjustment to the building envelope, and to increase the floor area above 4,300 square feet. The Town Council approved the location of the proposed building envelope, but did not approve the increased floor area (February 7, 1990 Resolution, Exhibit #3). The Town Council found that an increase in floor area was not warranted for the following reasons:

1.    The 4,300 square foot limit imposed by the Precise Plan provides for a reasonably-sized home and does not inhibit the reasonable use of the land.

2.    Other properties in the Precise Plan area have successfully complied with the house size limitations.

3.    Approval of the increased house size would constitute a grant of special privilege to the applicant.

Subsequently, the applicant submitted an application for design review that met the building envelope and floor area requirements. The residence was approved by the Board of Adjustments and Review in May, 1990.

The current owner obtained the property later in 1990, and had a different concept of how the property should be developed. A new plan for a house was designed which resulted in a different building envelope, and another Precise Plan Amendment application to adjust the building envelope was filed with the Town. The Town Council approved the adjusted building envelope in February, 1992, (resolution attached, Exhibit #4) and the Design Review Board subsequently approved the design of the home. The work on the home was completed, and an occupancy permit was issued.

For the past several years, Staff has been working with the applicant to rectify modifications that have been done on the property without the benefit of a Building Permit, or Design Review approval. The applicant has indicated that the most recently submitted plans are accurate in showing the as-built conditions of the site. Upon review of the submitted plans, it is apparent that the current structure does not comply with the floor area limitations and building envelope requirements of the Owlswood West Precise Plan. The applicant is requesting that the as-built modifications be approved in this Precise Plan Amendment.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

For this Precise Plan Amendment, the applicant is requesting as-built approval for an adjustment to the building envelope location, and an increase of the floor area to a total of 5,087 square feet (in lieu of the existing 4,300 square foot limit). The floor area for the structure was increased when the middle-level balcony was enclosed, and when a bedroom in the lower-level was created. The building envelope for the property was violated when a retaining wall was constructed on the south side of the residence.

Floor Area Increase

The balcony on the middle-level was open to the air when the design of the home was approved in 1992. This balcony has since been enclosed, and now counts towards the overall floor area. A lower-level bedroom has been created in an area that was previously considered a "wine cellar" in the 1992 plan. Bedrooms are habitable spaces, and therefore count towards the overall floor area; the originally approved wine cellar was not approved as habitable space and was not included in the floor area calculations for the house. Furthermore, when a portion of an inhabitable space, i.e. a wine cellar, is converted to a habitable space, i.e. a bedroom, all the areas sharing an interior door with the new bedroom are then considered habitable space. All of the wine cellar area of the lower level must now be considered habitable space, and therefore be counted towards the overall floor area. The following chart illustrates the portions of the home that are now considered habitable spaces:

Building Envelope Adjustment

A retaining wall has been constructed on the south side of the property, and is located approximately four feet beyond the approved building envelope. The height of the wall varies, but reaches approximately 15 feet as the structure is cut into the hillside. The wall is adjacent to the newly created bedroom on the lower level, and was constructed in order to obtain the proper window space for the bedroom. The applicant is requesting that the building envelope be expanded four feet to accommodate the retaining wall.

ANALYSIS

The property owner has applied and received approval for a few of the recent modifications on the subject property, but there are still several issues to be addressed. The Building Official has been in communication with the applicant during construction, and has discussed what is necessary to bring the project into compliance with Town Codes. In an attempt to clarify the status of the on-going project, the Building Official outlined the most recent issues in a letter dated December 7, 2000 (Exhibit #5).

Two of the items that needed to be brought into compliance were the addition of the lower-level bedroom, and the enclosure of the middle-level balcony, as described above. The space used for the bedroom was converted from a subterranean wine cellar without first obtaining building permits or Design Review approval. The Building Official indicated to the applicant that the unpermitted bedroom was not in compliance with Town Code because there were not adequate window openings. In an attempt to solve the problem, the applicant constructed the retaining wall to expose the new bedroom, and installed windows, again without first obtaining the necessary Town approvals. The retaining wall was also constructed outside of the approved building envelope, in violation of the Owlswood West Precise Plan. The enclosure of the middle-level balcony was also constructed without permits, creating floor area in excess of that allowed by the Precise Plan.

The applicant has indicated that all the un-permitted improvements are incorporated into the submitted plans, and all the work has been completed on site. All of the improvements are not visible from outside the home, except for the retaining wall on the south side of the structure, and the balcony enclosure on the middle-level of the residence. The retaining wall can be seen from the street and the front of the property. The balcony enclosure can only be seen from the residence itself, and the pool deck. However, neither of these improvements have a significant visual impact on the neighborhood.

GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY/ ZONING COMPLIANCE

The proposed amendment would not change the residential use of the property and is consistent with General Plan policies. The underlying zoning for the property is RPD (Residential Planned Development). This base zoning is supplemented by the provisions contained in the Owlswood West Precise Plan, including building envelopes and floor area requirements. The project is in conformance with the base RPD zoning, and is consistent with the Precise Plan provisions except for floor area, and building envelope location.

When the base zoning regulations for a parcel do not establish the allowable floor area (FAR), the Town’s default FAR criteria is often used as a guideline to measure a project’s consistency with the surrounding neighborhood. The size of the subject parcel is 25,761 square feet. Therefore the Town’s default FAR for the parcel would be 4,576 square feet, in addition to 600 square feet for the garage. The applicant is requesting an FAR of 5,087 square feet, which otherwise would require a Floor Area Exception if the property was located in any other residential zoning district.

ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION

This proposal is categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as specified in Section 15303(e).

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 subject additions.

RECOMMENDATION

The Planning Commission should take public testimony on this item, close the public hearing, deliberate upon the project merits, and direct Staff to prepare an appropriate resolution.

EXHIBITS

1.    Application form and supplemental materials

2.    Owlswood West Master Plan (site plan only)

3.    Town Council and Planning Commission Minutes and Resolution #2671-Approving building envelope expansion adopted February 7, 1990

4.    Resolution #92-03- Approving the adjusted building envelope adopted February 12, 1992.

5 .    Letter from Building Official, dated December 7, 2000

6.    Submitted plans