215 Blackfield Drive Conditional Use Permit

To:	PLANNING COMMISSION
From:	DANIEL M. WATROUS, SENIOR PLANNER
Subject:	215 BLACKFIELD DRIVE: CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT #10010; REQUEST TO ALLOW A TEMPORARY PORTABLE OFFICE TRAILER CONGREGATION KOL SHOFAR, OWNER; JEWISH COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL, APPLICANT
Report Date: Meeting Date:	JANUARY 5, 2001 JANUARY 10, 2001

A proposal has been made to temporarily place a portable office trailer on the Kol Shofar synagogue property located at 215 Blackfield Drive. The trailer would provide temporary office space for a private high school (Jewish Community High School) which will soon begin operations on the site. A conditional use permit is required under Section 2.04.02 of the Tiburon Zoning Ordinance for the establishment of a new building associated with a private school.

The proposed building would be a 28 foot long, 8 foot wide portable office structure. This building would be located adjacent to an existing storage and movement center north of the main building on the site. The office building would be placed on a level spot to the side of the existing storage building, at a location which is visually buffered by a surrounding grove of mature trees. The proposed building site would therefore be minimally visible to nearby homes along Reedland Woods Way, Vista Tiburon and Via Los Altos.

The proposed office building would house some of the preliminary office functions for the future operations of the Jewish Community High School, which will take the place of the Ring Mountain Day School on this property in the Fall of 2001. Until the existing school has vacated the premises, the headmaster and assistant of the new high school require office space to coordinate with parents and students prior to the school year. Once the high school is open, the offices would relocate to the permanent building on the site and the temporary office trailer would be removed.

During the 2000 annual review of the conditional use permit for the synagogue and day school on the property, the Planning Department determined that the proposed high school would constitute a decrease in intensity over the existing day school use (Exhibit 4). Therefore, a separate conditional use permit is not required for the operation of the high school. The entire conditional use permit (synagogue and day school uses) remains subject to review on an annual basis.

Policy LU-9 of the Land Use Element of the Tiburon General Plan states that residential land use categories, such as the Medium Low Density Residential category for this property, may include, among other uses, educational facilities and churches. The installation of a temporary office trailer to serve the administrative needs of the future high school on the site would therefore be consistent with this land use policy.

Section 4.04.02 (a) of the Tiburon Zoning Ordinance states that the purpose of the conditional use permit review is to "determine whether the location proposed for the Conditional Use applied for is properly related to the development of the neighborhood as a whole." The location of the proposed office trailer would be situated well within the interior of the 6.94 acre site. Views of the trailer from nearby homes would be screened by the topography of the property and a number of existing mature trees. This temporary trailer location would therefore appear to be properly related to the development of the surrounding neighborhood.

Section 4.04.02 (c) of the Zoning Ordinance states that this permit review should "evaluate whether or not adequate facilities and services required for such use exist or can be provided." While the existing day school is in operation, there is no on-site office space available for use by the future high school. Adequate facilities for this temporary transitional use do not currently exist, but can be easily provided by the proposed office trailer.

Section 4.04.02 (c) of the Zoning Ordinance states that this permit review should "stipulate such conditions and requirements as would reasonably assure that the basic objectives of this Ordinance and the objectives of the General Plan would be served." In order to keep the proposed office structure from becoming a permanent expansion of the uses on the property, it is recommended that a condition of approval be imposed on this permit requiring that the trailer be removed no later than September 30, 2001.

To date, Staff has not received any written public comments regarding this proposal.

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

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