Staff Report

ITEM NO. D-1

PROJECT DATA

Address: 1860 Vistazo West Street

Assessor=s Parcel Number: 59-071-06

File Number: 10204

General Plan: Medium High Density Residential

Zoning: R-1 (Single-Family Residential)

Property Size: 12,526 square feet

Current Use: Single-family residential

Owners: James Peterson

Applicant: Timothy Peterson and David Thompson

Date Complete: April 16, 2002

Permit Streamlining Act Deadline: July 2, 2002

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

A proposal has been made to construct a new single-family residence with an attached secondary dwelling unit on property located at 1860 Vistazo West Street. The parcel is currently developed with a single-family residence, which would be demolished.

The proposed secondary dwelling unit would have an area of approximately 645 square feet. The unit would have a small upper level entry area, with stairs leading to the main floor at a lower level. The main floor would contain a living room, kitchen, one bedroom and one bathroom. The unit would be connected to the living room of the main residence through a laundry area and hallway.

General Plan Consistency and Zoning Compliance

Section 4.05.05 of the Tiburon Zoning Ordinance requires that the following items be addressed in the review of an application for a secondary dwelling unit:

1. The secondary dwelling unit is located on the same lot or parcel on which the owner of record maintains his or her principal place of residence.

The Assessor= s records confirm that the applicant owns the subject property, although this property is not currently his principal place of residence. A condition of approval should be adopted for this permit requiring that the owner maintain this property as his principal place of residence.

2. The secondary dwelling unit meets all of the development standards of the zoning district in which it is located.

The proposed single-family residence and secondary dwelling unit meet all of the development standards for the R-1 zone. Staff has discussed potential concerns with the applicants regarding the mass and bulk of the proposed structure. As submitted, the design of the proposed building does not follow the contours of the property, and is not properly stepped along the slope. The vertical elements of this design and the additional mass and bulk that would be caused by this building would appear to be inconsistent with the Tiburon Hillside Design Guidelines; the Design Review Board will further review the Site Plan and Architectural Review application for this structure to determine if the design is in compliance with these guidelines.

3. The secondary dwelling unit meets the current building codes adopted by the Town.

Building permits will be required for the construction of the new secondary dwelling unit and residence. All construction will be required to comply with current building codes.

4. Only one additional unit shall be allowed for each single-family parcel.

This unit would be the only secondary dwelling unit on the property.

5. The secondary dwelling unit does not cause excessive noise, traffic congestion, parking congestion, or overloading of public facilities.

A three-car garage is proposed to be constructed toward the northeast corner of the subject property. One additional surface parking space is proposed to be placed in front of and to the right of the garage opening. Access to the parking spaces would be provided by a curving driveway sloping downhill from street level.

The proposed parking configuration includes a concrete turnaround area in front of the garage. However, vehicles backing out of the garage space (particularly the space on the left side of the garage) would need to back into the area designated as the open parking space. The lengthy, sloping driveway would also preclude easily available parking elsewhere on the site, with street parking only about 20 vertical feet above the turnaround area. The proposed design, therefore, only appears to adequately provide three parking spaces on the site.

The proposed secondary dwelling unit would be situated along the left side yard setback line, 8 feet from the property line. Although the design would include several windows facing the neighboring home at 1850 Vistazo West Street, the proposed dwelling would not likely result in significant noise impacts on any nearby residents.

Vistazo West Street serves only the homes along this street within the Hillhaven subdivision, and does not appear to suffer significant traffic congestion. The additional traffic generated by the proposed secondary dwelling unit would need to utilize other nearby streets that collect Hillhaven traffic to access Tiburon Boulevard or Paradise Drive; these other streets have become somewhat congested in recent years. However, it is unlikely that the marginal increase in traffic generated by the proposed secondary dwelling unit would result in a significant increase in traffic congestion on these or any other streets in Tiburon.

6. Adequate sanitary services for the additional amount of effluent resulting from the secondary dwelling unit are available.

To date, Staff has not received confirmation from the Richardson Bay Sanitary District that they can accommodate the additional discharge from the proposed secondary dwelling unit, although Staff is not aware of capacity problems in this area. Staff recommends that a condition of approval be adopted which requires that written confirmation of A Ability to Serve@ be obtained from the Sanitary District prior to issuance of a building permit.

7. The Secondary Dwelling Unit is a maximum of one-third of the allowable floor area for the property, or 1,000 square feet, whichever is less, and no floor area ratio exception is required.

The proposed secondary dwelling unit has approximately 645 square feet of floor area, which is less than one-third of the 3,253 square foot maximum floor area allowed for a parcel of this size.

8. The secondary dwelling unit is structurally attached to the main single-family dwelling (or is an existing detached structure built prior to January 4, 1984), and is located on a lot not less than 10,000 square feet in area.

The proposed secondary dwelling unit would be structurally attached to the primary residence on the site. The subject property has a lot size of 12,526 square feet.

9. The secondary dwelling unit is to be occupied by no more than three (3) persons.

The proposed secondary dwelling unit would contain only one bedroom, and is therefore unlikely to be occupied by more than three persons.

10. Principal access to the proposed secondary dwelling unit is through an entrance other than the entrance to the primary unit.

The entrance to the proposed secondary dwelling unit would be separate from that for the primary residence.

11. Two on-site non-tandem parking spaces are provided for the secondary dwelling unit.

As noted above, three garage spaces and one open parking space are proposed to be provided to serve both the single-family residence and secondary dwelling unit on the site. However, the open parking space would not appear to provide a practical fourth parking space, due to conflicts with other vehicles backing out of the garage. Therefore, only one parking space would be available for the secondary dwelling unit.

Section 4.05.05 (11) of the Tiburon Zoning Ordinance states that the Planning Commission may make an exception to the requirement for two parking spaces "if circumstances of the individual case warrant," and each of the following findings can be made:

a) The rented unit shall be limited to occupancy by an individual or group of individuals with one vehicle if there is one parking space, or no vehicle if there are no parking spaces. Vehicle includes auto, boat, trailer, or recreational vehicle.

The Planning Commission has limited parking to only one vehicle for a number of secondary dwelling units in the past.

b) The parcel has limited available area for creation of additional parking spaces; access to the parcel is difficult.

As described above, access to the site is difficult, due to the sloping terrain forcing a steep driveway down from the street. However, as the applicant is proposing to demolish the existing structures on the site and construct a new home and secondary dwelling unit, there would appear to be available area for the creation of a four-car garage, or at least four independently available parking spaces.

c) Adherence to the requirement of two additional non-tandem spaces would create more of a disturbance to the neighborhood and surrounding environment than an exception.

Proposed parking spaces would be located on a portion of the site well below street level, and screened from view from neighboring homes. Therefore, the requirement for two additional parking spaces is unlikely to create more of a disturbance to the neighborhood and surrounding environment that an exception to this parking requirement.

d) The exception to the non-tandem and/or two parking space requirement will not cause traffic or parking congestion and will not overburden existing public or private streets.

An exception to the parking requirements either would not affect or would decrease traffic in comparison to the provision of two parking spaces for the secondary dwelling unit. However, the proposed parking arrangement would likely cause guests to the site to park on the street, increasing the parking congestion currently noticeable on Vistazo West Street.

It is apparent that the design for the proposed project does not provide adequate parking for the new single-family residence and secondary dwelling unit on the site. The Planning Commission should carefully review the proposed plans and determine if the appropriate findings can be made to grant an exception to the two-car parking requirements for the proposed secondary dwelling unit. If not, the Commission should either recommend design modifications to accommodate adequate parking on the site or deny this application.

General Plan Consistency

Staff considers secondary dwelling units to be an excellent means of providing affordable rental housing in Tiburon. Such units also address a need identified in the Housing Element of the Tiburon General Plan. General Plan Policy H-22 states that the Town should A encourage throughout the community the voluntary delivery of rental housing, especially for senior households, singles, single parents, and young households, by allowing secondary dwelling units in locations consistent with ordinance requirements and criteria.@ As noted above, the proposed secondary dwelling unit complies with both the requirements of the R-1 zone and the standards for secondary dwelling units contained within the Tiburon Zoning Ordinance. An application for Site Plan and Architectural Review for the new residence and secondary dwelling unit has been submitted, and will be scheduled for review by the Design Review Board upon approval of the subject conditional use permit.

ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS

The project is categorically exempt from the requirements of CEQA per Section 15303 of the CEQA Guidelines.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends that the Planning Commission 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. Site plan, floor plans and elevations