Town of Tiburon
Staff Report
ITEM NO. 4
MEETING DATE: 7/25/01
PROJECT DATA
Address: South (upslope) side of Trestle Glen Boulevard west of its intersection with Turtle Rock Court (PD#18B)
AP No.: 58-061-80 & 86
File No.: 39903
General Plan: L (Low Density Residential (up to 0.3 du./acre)
Zoning: RPD (Residential Planned Development Zone - up to 0.3 du./acre)
Property Size: 13.34 acres
Subdivision: PM 10-8 (1974)
Current Use: Undeveloped land
Owner: Round-Two Development Joint Venture
Applicant: Don Henderson & Craig Pilgrim
BACKGROUND
This project was previously reviewed by the Planning Commission on October 11, 2000 and January 10, 2001. Revisions to the project made in between those meetings were found to be insufficient, and the Planning Commission directed at its January 10th meeting that further revisions be made before the item returned for review. Minutes of the 1/10/2001 meeting are attached as Exhibit 1.
Planning Commission comments and direction focused on the following issues:
Significantly reducing the visual mass of the buildings.
Further reducing the visual height of the buildings to 1 to 1 ½ stories.
Providing better visual representation of proposed homes through enhanced story poles and connecting ribbon.
Consideration of reducing the density and square footage of the homes.
Consideration of the open space being held "in common".
Breaking up of the in-common parking area along the project roadway to reduce the "parking lot appearance".
REVISED PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Tiburon Court project would create four residential lots ranging in size from 1.45 to 4.92 acres in area on the 13.25-acre site). Each lot would be developed with one single-family detached unit and accessory structures and uses. Drawings, elevations, and floor plans of the revised project are attached as Attachment A (24" X 36") and Attachment B (11" X 17" format, including reduced drawings). A detailed project description is found on pp. 3-1 through 3-9 of the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration (Attachment C).
A summary of major project revisions is attached as Exhibit 2. The major changes are as follows:
The proposed homes have been reduced to a maximum gross floor area of 2,900 square feet, as defined by the Tiburon Zoning Ordinance. This definition does not include basement (below-grade) space that does not add to the visual mass and bulk of a building, nor does it count the 600 square feet of garage space proposed for each home. The reduction in gross square footage has been attained by shrinking the buildings and by sinking them further into the ground. Approximately 1,785 square feet of "visual" floor area has been deleted from each home. In addition, the length and depth of units has been reduced to allow greater separation between homes.
As the homes have been lowered into the ground, the visual height has decreased. The actual height (measured from finished grade) ranges from a maximum of 24 feet on Lots 1-3 to a maximum of 20 feet on Lot 4. Visible height above existing grade would be a maximum of 18 feet on Lots 1 and 2, 20 feet on Lot 3, and 16 feet on Lot 4, according to application materials.
Materials have been changed to blend better with the natural surroundings. Sonoma fieldstone, wood siding, and medium to dark roofing materials are proposed. Pitched roofs have been limited to the central portion of each home, with flat roofs on outer portions to reduce visual impact.
Common parking areas have been dispersed to avoid a "parking lot" appearance, and landscaping (box trees) inserted to provide increased screening.
The project roadway has been shortened by approximately 60 feet.
ANALYSIS OF REVISED PROJECT WITH RESPECT TO COMMISSION DIRECTION
Significantly reducing the visual mass of the buildings.
Staff believes that the combination of lowering and shrinking of the homes has substantially reduced any massive, looming or out-of-scale visual effects of the project. Lot 4, the most visually prominent of the sites from Trestle Glen Boulevard, has been lowered the most of all the lots, and attains an essentially one-story appearance from Trestle Glen Boulevard. In terms of gross floor area, each home has been reduced to 2,900 square feet, plus up to 600 square feet of garage.
Further reducing the visual height of the buildings to 1 to 1 ½ stories.
Lowering the homes into the ground, a common and highly encouraged principle of the Tiburon Hillside Design Guidelines, has substantially reduced the visual height of the buildings to achieve, for the most part, a 1 to 1½-story appearance. Enhanced story poles will provide an opportunity to review these lowered heights in the field.
Providing better visual documentation through enhances story poles with connecting ribbon.
Enhanced story poles with ribbon have been erected in the field. A story pole plan is attached as Attachment D.
Consideration of reducing the density and square footage of the homes.
Square footage of the homes has been reduced as noted above. The project density has not been reduced. Elimination of a unit would reduce overall project density to approximately 0.2 units per acre, an unusually low density reserved for the most physically and environmentally challenging parcels within the Town of Tiburon.
Consideration of the open space being held "in common".
Staff has apparently failed to convey at previous meetings the extent of Town protection over the open space areas created as part of this project. The developer must grant the Town a formal and recorded Open Space Easement over the site’s proposed open space areas. The Open Space Easement is a very strict one that is readily enforced by the Town, as a homeowner on Indian Rock Court had the misfortune to discover a few years ago. A copy of the Town’s standard form is attached as Exhibit 3. Based on prior enforcement experience with the Town’s open space easements, Staff strongly recommends individual Lot ownership of open space, as opposed to open space ownership "in common".
Breaking up of the in-common parking area along the roadway to reduce the "parking lot appearance".
Prior project drawings depicted a single paved area along the roadway containing all off the "in-common" parking for the development, creating the appearance of excess paving and hardscape. Revised drawings show the common parking spaces broken into three different locations and with large box trees interspersed where needed to provide screening. Staff believes that the "parking lot" appearance has been eliminated.
ADDITIONAL STAFF-SUGGESTED PROJECT MODIFICATIONS
Landscaping Buffer Along Trestle Glen Boulevard
The Commission has strongly favored a buffer area with a naturalized landscape treatment along the Trestle Glen Boulevard frontage of the property. Revised drawings depict an adequate buffer area to achieve the desired landscaping effect. Any buffer landscaping should begin behind the 10-foot widening strip along Trestle Glen Boulevard that is being offered to the Town for roadway/bike lane purposes. The revised Schematic Landscape Plan, dated 16 March 2001, would "maintain and supplement existing shrubs in the buffer area in order to preserve the rural character of the Trestle Glen Corridor". The drawing does not propose landscaping beyond the "residential use area" of Lot 4. There is an additional 570 linear feet of property frontage west of "residential use area" of Lot 4. The Commission should determine whether landscaping of this lengthy strip would add or detract from the rural appearance of the corridor, and provide direction accordingly. Either way, Staff believes that the schematic landscape plan for the buffer area should be greatly enhanced at the next level of Planning Commission review, that being the tentative map review. A condition to that effect is part of the draft Resolution.
Public Trails
A ten-foot wide public trail is proposed to be constructed by the developer across parts of proposed Lots 1 and 2, connecting Trestle Glen Boulevard to Porto Marino Drive. The trailhead at Trestle Glen Boulevard has been relocated on the most recent drawing approximately 70 feet to the west to coincide with a slide repair area. Staff is not convinced that this is a superior trailhead location, but the final trail alignment will be determined at a later stage of project review.
The project would also offer a ten-foot widening strip along Trestle Glen Boulevard for dedication to the Town for bicycle, pedestrian, and roadway widening purposes. Staff believes that an additional public pedestrian easement should be secured connecting laterally across the property’s middle-to-upper reaches to the adjacent Lower Trestle Glen property. This item is included as a condition of approval in the resolution.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
An expanded Initial Study and draft Mitigated Negative Declaration for this project was prepared under contract to the Town of Tiburon by the consulting firm of Nichols-Berman, and released for public review and comment on September 1, 2000. Numerous letters were received on this document in addition to comments offered at the two public hearings. Responses to these comments have been compiled along with project revisions into a Final Mitigated Negative Declaration document (Attachment C).
The conclusion of the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration is that changes to the project made since the first Planning Commission hearing in October 2000 have acted only to reduce potential impacts of the project on the environment. Project modifications have resulted in reductions in the potential for aesthetic impacts through size, height, and visual mass reductions and changes in building materials. Potential hydrology impacts have been further reduced through decreases in impervious surface. Potential traffic safety impacts at the project roadway entrance have been further reduced by improving the sight distance to the east. On-site parking has been increased substantially.
Mitigation measures presented in the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration have been accepted in writing by the applicant would reduce all potential impacts to less than significant levels.
CONFORMANCE WITH PLANS, POLICIES AND ORDINANCES
Detailed analysis of General plan consistency and Zoning Ordinance conformance was provided in the staff report of October 11, 2000. Staff believes that the project, on balance, furthers the goals, objectives and policies of the Tiburon General Plan and Tiburon Zoning Ordinance. Revisions made to the project over the last nine months have improved the conformity with Town goals and policies, especially in terms of visual mass, bulk and appearance of the buildings. The revised project would result in a more harmonious transition between the Tiburon Boulevard and Paradise Drive areas of the Town of Tiburon.
The key to a successful implementation of this project will be to ensure that the homes actually built in the field strongly resemble the masses, colors, materials, and general appearance of the homes shown in the approved application materials. The draft Resolution is structured to achieve this critical end.
FUTURE ACTIONS REQUIRED
The Planning Commission’s approval of this project would be in the form of a recommendation to the Town Council for project approval. The Town Council would then hold a separate public hearing to consider the project and the environmental determination. Should the Commission vote to deny the project, the denial would be final unless appealed to the Town Council.
If the Precise Development Plan is approved by the Town Council, subsequent Town permits would include a Tentative Subdivision Map, Parcel Map, Subdivision Improvement Drawings, Site Plan and Architectural Review approval for each lot, and Building Permits for each residence.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff believes that project modifications result in a superior development that on balance is consistent with the goals and policies of the Tiburon General Plan and conforms with the principles of the Residential Planned Development zoning district. A draft resolution of approval is attached as Exhibit 4 for consideration by the Planning Commission.
EXHIBITS
Planning Commission Minutes of 1/10/2001 meeting.
Letter from Don Henderson dated March 27, 2001 describing modifications to the project.
Form of Grant of Open Space Easement.
Draft Resolution.
ATTACHMENTS
Full size drawings (6 sheets) prepared by Lawrence P. Doyle revised 5/21/01.
Tiburon Court Conceptual Architecture Plans Booklet, received July 2, 2001, prepared by DTH & Associates, 11"X17" format (includes reduced site and grading plans).
Final Mitigated Negative Declaration dated July 2001, prepared by Nichols-Berman.
Story Pole and Building Envelope Staking Plan (11" X 17") for field use.
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