PROJECT DATA

Address: 120 Rancho Drive

Assessor’s Parcel Number: 34-393-02

File Number: 30204

General Plan: Medium Density Residential

Zoning: RPD (Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan, PD #45)

Subdivision: Cypress Hollow

Current Use: Single-Family Residential

Owners: Joseph and Susan Ahern

Applicant: Marshall Balfe

Date Complete: October 3, 2002

CEQA Exemption: October 18, 2002

Permit Streamlining Act Deadline: December 17, 2002

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The project is the proposed amendment to a precise development plan (the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan) for property located at 120 Rancho Drive. The applicants wish to increase the maximum floor area permitted for this lot, which is currently developed with a single-family home.

The Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan currently limits each parcel to a maximum floor area of 30.0% of the lot size. The applicants propose to amend the text of the precise plan to allow a floor area ratio of 33.0% for this property.

The single-family residence on this property was originally constructed with a floor area of 2,567.4 square feet (32.5% floor area), along with a 758.5 square foot garage. The property owners subsequently converted undeveloped space within the existing mass and bulk of the house into an additional play room, exercise room, wine room and closet without first obtaining building permits or design review approvals. Of the 812.4 square feet of new space, 772.4 square feet of area is classified as basement area or has substandard ceiling heights, and therefore is not counted toward the floor area of the site. The only portion of the unpermitted construction that meets the Town’s definition of floor area is a 40 square foot hallway between the playroom and closet areas. As a result, the current floor area of the house is now calculated at 2,607.4 square feet, resulting on a floor area ratio of 33.0%

The property owners are now attempting to sell their home, and wish to legalize this unpermitted construction. As the resulting floor area ratio is in excess of the 30.0% maximum floor area permitted for this property, the applicants are requesting to amend the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan to increase the maximum permitted floor area for this property to 33.0%

HISTORY

The Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan was originally approved in 1988 by the Marin County Board of Supervisors. County Resolution No. 88-252 (Exhibit 2), which currently governs this precise plan, states that the floor area ratio for each parcel "shall be a maximum of 30%." This subdivision was annexed into Tiburon in 1999.

These house size limitations in the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan were established prior to annexation into Tiburon, and prior to the Town’s adoption of Floor Area Ratio (F.A.R.) limits in all residential zones. House size limits were placed on certain precise plans in both the County and in Tiburon in the early 1980’s, as a precursor to current floor area limitations. Current practice for the Town of Tiburon is that all precise development plan approvals specify floor area limits on all lots within a development.

For comparison purposes, under the Town’s current "default" F.A.R. standards, adopted in 1990, the subject property would be allowed a maximum floor area of 2,791 square feet, plus an additional 600 square feet for garage space. The floor area ratio provided under the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan would allow 2,373 square feet of floor area for this property. The 2,607.4 square foot total floor area indicated for this house under the requested amendment (which would be calculated as 2,765.9 square feet under the Tiburon ordinance due to the oversized garage) would exceed the Cypress Hollow floor area ratio, but would be 25.1 square feet less than the Tiburon default floor area ratio.

Three similar requests to amend the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan to increase the maximum allowable floor area were recently approved for the properties located at 70 Monterey Drive, 170 Rancho Drive and 70 Cypress Hollow Drive. The first two of these requests involved the conversion of existing undeveloped space beneath each house into living area; in these cases, the additional floor area approved did not exceed the default Tiburon floor area ratio, and the floor area ratio increase was granted only "if attained entirely within undeveloped space within the existing mass and bulk of the approved house."

The most recent request for the home at 70 Cypress Hollow Drive involved a request to enclose an open deck area and convert a one-car garage space into living area. The request would have exceeded the Tiburon default floor area ratio by 370 square feet. The Town Council approved this request, but limited the floor area permitted so that "the total floor area of the house does not exceed the Town of Tiburon default floor area ratio for this property."

ANALYSIS

All of the unpermitted space is situated within previously undeveloped areas beneath the originally constructed house. This construction did not involve any exterior expansions to the walls of the residence. Several windows and doors were constructed for the exercise room and play room; these openings face into landscaped portions of the site, and are only minimally visible from neighboring homes on either side of the subject property. The applicants have submitted a petition signed by the property owners of both adjacent properties, indicating their support for the subject application.

Concerns were raised during the review of the previous precise plan amendments at 70 Monterey Drive and 170 Rancho Drive that these requests could set precedents for other floor area increase requests in the subdivision. The contentious history of the development of this subdivision was also noted, and concerns were raised that these additions would constitute a "back door" approach to achieving additional floor area beyond the limits specified within the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan. As part of both approvals, the Town included qualifying language noting that the following special circumstances were considered in the approval of this request:

The additional floor area requested by these applications did not significantly exceed the maximum floor area currently permitted by the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan, as the additions exceeded the 30% floor area ratio by 270 or 420 square feet, respectively.

The proposed additions were located within the existing walls of the houses, and did not result in any increase in mass and bulk to the existing residences which could impact nearby property owners.

The applications either did not add any bedrooms (70 Monterey Drive) or added a bedroom and bathroom to an existing two-bedroom house (170 Rancho Drive), and were therefore less likely to encourage more residents than a normal house, or increase the intensity of use of the residence.

The proposed requests had been evaluated by the potentially affected neighboring property owners, who raised no objections to these applications.

The requests required no additional excavation on the site, as the area beneath the existing garages had already been excavated to the level required to accommodate the proposed additions.

Using these qualifications to evaluate the proposed request, the subject application would increase the floor area for this property to 234 square feet above the maximum floor area permitted under either the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan, but would be 25 square feet below the Town’s F.A.R. standards. All portions of the unpermitted construction are contained within the existing walls of the house. No bedrooms have been added by the subject additions. No objections have been raised by surrounding neighbors to the subject request, and no excavation would be necessary to construct the proposed additions. This application would therefore appear to be consistent with other previously approved requests to amend the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan.

ZONING AND GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY

The proposed project has been reviewed for consistency with the requirements of the Tiburon Zoning Ordinance regarding precise plan amendments and the Tiburon General Plan. The project appears to be consistent with the overall intentions of the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan. The requested increase in floor area would not significantly alter the visual mass and bulk of the existing home, and would not result in a dramatic increase beyond the originally approved floor area limits for this lot.

Policy LU-22 of the Land Use Element states that "the Town shall adopt housing size limitations for residential development as part of the Zoning Ordinance for reasons detailed in Open Space and Conservation Policy OSC-6 [which states that "the Town should encourage well-designed projects that enhance its image through the development and design review processes. Monotony in design, and massive structures and site coverage that overwhelm the surrounding area, shall be avoided."] Possible methods include, but are not limited to, floor area ratios, coverage, height, bulk, and square footage limits." The proposal to allow additional floor area wholly within undeveloped space within the existing mass and bulk of the approved house would be generally consistent with this requirement, as the additional floor area requested would not dramatically affect the originally designed mass and bulk of this residence.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

The project is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act per Section 15301 of the CEQA Guidelines.

 FUTURE ACTIONS REQUIRED

The Planning Commission's approval of this project action would be a recommendation to the Town Council. Should the Commission vote to deny the project, that decision would be final unless appealed to the Town Council. If the precise development plan amendment is approved by the Town Council, subsequent Town permits would include Site Plan and Architectural Review and building permits for the as-built additions.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends that the Planning Commission hold a public hearing on this item and determine if the proposed application is consistent with the Town’s standards for precise development plan amendments and the Town’s recent direction regarding similar applications to amend the Cypress Hollow Precise Development Plan. If the Commission determines that the application should be approved, it is recommended that the draft resolution recommending approval of the project to the Town Council be adopted.

EXHIBITS