Staff Report

ITEM NO. E-2

BACKGROUND

A proposal has been made to convert the unfinished ground floor and loft space adjacent to an a two-car garage within an existing accessory building on property located at 103 Reed Ranch Road. The proposed secondary dwelling unit would have an area of 945 square feet. The lower portion of the proposed unit would contain a living room, kitchen and laundry area. The upper level would be connected by an interior stairway, and would include a bedroom and bathroom.

This application was first reviewed at the January 9, 2002 Planning Commission meeting. At that time, concerns were raised by several neighboring property owners regarding potential privacy impacts on the adjacent uphill homes at 105 Reed Ranch Road, and the potential visual impacts of the unscreened parking area at the front of the property. The Planning Commission these concerns, and directed the applicant to redesign the secondary dwelling unit to relocate the entry to the other side of the building and redesign the parking area.

The applicant submitted revised plans for this project, which included the following changes:

1.    The entry for the proposed secondary dwelling unit was relocated from the north side of the structure to the south side of the building, facing into the interior of the lot.

2.    The large living room window facing the home at 105 Reed Ranch Road was eliminated.

3.    Both surface parking spaces are now proposed to be located on the south (left) side of the existing driveway. Two other parking spaces would be provided by the remaining garage area.

4.    Additional landscaping was proposed to be planted along the front property line and to the south of the expanded parking area to screen vehicle parked on the site. The applicant has proposed to plant 3 large shrubs (melaleuca nesophila) and 5 medium-sized shrubs (nerium oleander) to the south of the parking area to provide screening to vehicles driving northbound on Reed Ranch Road. In addition, 5 low shrubs (dietes vegeta) were proposed to be planted closer to the front property line to screen part of the parking area for homes across the street.

5.    A preliminary landscaping plan was also provided for the property on the south side of the structure. The applicant proposed to plant a vegetable garden in this space, along with other low shrubs and ground cover.

These plans were reviewed at the February 27, 2002 Planning Commission meeting. At that meeting, it was the consensus of the Commission that exterior changes to the accessory building were adequate, but that the proposed parking area was too exposed to the street and neighboring property owners. The application was continued to allow the applicant time to meet with a landscape architect and prepare revised plans addressing this concern.

ANALYSIS

Revised plans for the front of the property have been prepared by a landscape architect and submitted to the Town. The two off-street parking spaces would now be situated at angles to the driveway, with one space on either side of the driveway. One purple-leafed plum tree would be planted on either side of the driveway entrance, each adjacent to an existing tree to remain along the front property line; one more plum tree would be planted adjacent to the left parking space. Additional screening would be provided by the planting of an L-shaped hedge of pittosporum eugenioides to the front and side of each parking space.

The original Staff report analyzed the items to be addressed in the review of an application for a secondary dwelling unit by Section 4.05.05 of the Tiburon Zoning Ordinance, and found the application to be in compliance with these requirements. Discussion at the January 9, 2002 Planning Commission hearing on this application centered on the adequacy and potential visual impacts of the proposed off-street parking. The revised parking and landscaping plans have been prepared by a landscape architect as directed by the Planning Commission, and should adequately screen any vehicles parking in these open spaces, and to mitigate the view of the additional paved surfaces.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends that the Planning Commission take public testimony on this item and adopt the draft resolution granting conditional approval of the project.

 EXHIBITS

1. Draft resolution

2. Minutes of the January 9, 2002 Planning Commission meeting

3. Minutes of the February 27, 2002 Planning Commission meeting

4. Planning Commission Staff report dated January 4, 2002

5. Planning Commission Staff report dated February 22, 2002

6. Revised project description

7. Revised plans