CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT #10204

REQUEST TO ESTABLISH A SECONDARY DWELLING UNIT

BACKGROUND

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.

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

This application was first reviewed at the May 8, 2002 Planning Commission meeting. At that meeting, concerns were raised regarding the proposed off-street parking for the two dwelling units on the site, particularly in light of the limited on-street parking available on Vistazo West Street. The Commission also raised concerns regarding the overall visual size and scale of the proposed structure. The application was continued to the June 26, 2002 meeting to allow the applicant time to address these concerns.

The applicant has now submitted revised plans for the proposed project. A carport would provide one additional open parking space adjacent to the proposed three-car garage. Two additional off-street parking spaces would be provided on top of the carport and garage, leading off the proposed driveway.

Other changes have been made to the overall design of the proposed single-family residence and secondary dwelling unit. The revised plans reduced the overall floor area of the two dwellings by 147 square feet to 3,037 square feet, which would be 215 square feet below the floor area ratio for this property. The revised plans also indicate a building design that steps more along the slope of the site, resulting in a reduction in the height and overall mass and bulk of the proposed structures.

General Plan Consistency and Zoning Compliance

The previous Planning Commission review of the subject application addressed all of the items to be reviewed for a secondary dwelling unit application under Section 4.05.05 of the Tiburon Zoning Ordinance. As previously noted, the Commission’s review at the May 8^th meeting centered on the parking provided for the proposed structures. Section 4.05.05 (5) states that the Commission should determine if "the secondary dwelling unit does not cause excessive noise, traffic congestion, parking congestion, or overloading of public facilities," and Section 4.05.05 (11) states that "two on-site non-tandem parking spaces are provided for the secondary dwelling unit." The revised plans would increase the off-street parking available on the site from the three practical spaces previously proposed to a total of six spaces, each of which would be fully accessible at all times. The revised plans therefore appear to comply with each of these code requirements.

The prior Staff report for this application addressed potential Design Review issues with the previously submitted plans, most notably the mass and bulk of the proposed structures, and a design that did not follow the contours of the property. As noted above, the currently submitted plans include modifications that appear to have addressed these concerns.

Section 4.05.05 (2) states that the Planning Commission should determine whether "the secondary dwelling unit meets all of the development standards of the zoning district in which it is located." The proposed parking deck on top of the garage would be situated within the required front yard setback, and could not be approved without a variance. However, the Design Review Board has approved numerous requests for reduced front yard setbacks in the Hillhaven neighborhood and other areas with similar slopes; in many of these cases, the variances have been granted to address potential parking concerns by placing garages or other parking spaces closer to the level of the adjacent street, helping to avoid steeply sloping driveways. Although the plans as currently proposed do not comply with all of the RO-2 zoning standards, the proposed design appears to be consistent with that of numerous other approved homes in the same or similar zones.

As mentioned in the previous report for this project, Staff considers secondary dwelling units to be an excellent means of providing affordable rental housing in Tiburon and addressing 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.@

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends that the Planning Commission take public testimony on this item, close the public hearing, deliberate upon the project merits, and adopt the draft resolution granting conditional approval of the project.

 EXHIBITS

1. Draft resolution

2. Letter from Thompson Studio Architects, dated June 18, 2002

3. Planning Commission Staff report dated May 3, 2002

4. Minutes of the May 8, 2002 Planning Commission meeting