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Home My WebLink About1997-07-21 City Council (20)City of Palo Alto C ty Manager’s Report TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: Planning and Community Environment DATE:July 21, 1997 CMR:336:97 SUBJECT:REQUEST OF PROPERTY OWNERS OF TRACT 840 FOR CONSIDERATION OF SINGLE STORY OVERLAY ZONING FOR THE CHARLESTON MEADOWS 2 NEIGHBORHOOD -- 97-ZC-4, 97-EIA-6 RECOMMENDATION This report transmits a March 24, 1997 request from the property owners of Tract 840 for City approval of a Single Story Overlay Zone. Staff recommends that the City Council initiate and refer to the Planning Commission consideration Of a Single Story Overlay Zone for the R-1 single family area shown on the attached map (Attachment 1). City initiation of the zone change would result in no City fees being charged. BACKGROUND On July 13, 1992, the City Council adopted a Single Story Overlay Zone (S) as part of the Zoning Ordinance and applied the Zone to the Walnut Grove neighborhood. On April 26, 1993, the Zone was applied to the Green Meadows neighborhood. On January 21,199% the Zone was applied to Tract 795 of the Charleston Meadows neighborhood. The attached letter from the property owners of Tract 840 (Attachment 2) requests application of the Single Story Overlay Zone to the 61 single family parcels contained in Tract 840. Survey results reported in the letter indicate strong neighborhood support (79 percent) for the application of the Single Story Overlay Zone. City initiation of the zone change process is recommended because the Tract 840 neighborhood cannot apply for the zone change without written authorization from each property owner. With some property owners expressing opposition to the zone change and others not responding to the neighborhood survey, it would not be realistic to expect the CMR:336:97 Page 1 of 5 neighborhood to obtain the necessary authorizations and file the zone change request for all 61 parcels. City initiation of the zone change means that no fees would be charged. POLICY IMPLICATIONS The project must be determined to be consistent with the Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance. , The area is designated for Single Family Residential use in the Comprehensive Plan. The proposed single-story use is allowed within this Comprehensive Plan designation. The uses and site development regulations are consistent with the following Comprehensive Plan objectives, policies, and programs: Urban Design Element, Objective, page 42, "Promote the orderly and harmonious development of the City and the attainment of the most desirable land use and improvements through the review of new development." The area is designated Single Family Residential and is well suited for this use. The site is surrounded by similar and compatible residential uses and forms a coherent pocket of single story development in this area. The application is consistent with all development regulations of the R-1 zoning district. The Zoning Ordinance specifically provides for the application of this (S) Overlay Zone as established in the Single Story Height Combining District (S) Overlay Zone Guidelines. Compliance of the application with these guidelines is discussed below. DISCUSSION The Single Story Height Combining District (S) Overlay Zone Guidelines, adopted by the City Council on December 14, 1992 (Attachment 3), establish criteria to guide city staff and decision makers in the consideration of zone change requests for application of the Single Story Height Combining District (S). The Guidelines specifically state that "for neighborhoods that contain and have been developed consistent with a single-story deed restriction, these guidelines are to be treated with a greater degree of flexibility (than neighborhoods without the restriction)." Tract 840 has been developed consistent with a single-story deed restriction. The subject application is evaluated against these criteria as follows: 1. Level and Format of Owner Support An application for an (S) overlay zone map amendment should meet with "overwhelming" support by owners of the affected property. CMR:336:97 Page 2 of 5 The application is accompanied by signed requests from owners of 48 of the 61 properties within Tract 840. Because the neighborhood has been developed consistent with a single- story deed restriction, the (S) overlay guidelines stipulate that this criterion should be treated with a greater degree of flexibility. Therefore, the 79 percent rate of support can be considered overwhelming and the first criterion can be met. 2. Appropriate Boundaries ’ An application for an (S) overlay zone map amendment should be accompanied by ~a map indicating the address and location of those owners who are co-applicants for the zoning request. Boundaries should define an identifiable neighborhood. -The application is accompanied by a map showing addresses and locations of the co- applicants. The map indicates an identifiable neighborhood of rectangular shape that is easily defined by existing street patterns. Therefore, the second criterion can be met. 3. Prevailing Single-Story Character An area proposed for an (S) overlay zone map amendment should be of a prevailing single- story character where the vast majority of existing single homes are single-story. It is desirable that homes be similar in age, design, and character. Of the 61 properties included in this application, 60 are currently single-story. Homes in this neighborhood were all built by Eichler in the early 1950s. Therefore, the third criterion can be met. : 4. Moderate Lot Size,~ An area proposed for an (S) overlay zone map amendment should be characterized by moderate lot sizes (7,000 to 8,000 square feet) with a generally consistent lotting pattern. Of the 61 lots, 32 are between 6,000 and 7,000 square feet and eight are between 7,000 and 8,000 square feet. Applying the flexible interpretation described above for defining moderate lot size, 40 of 61 or 66 percent of the lots are between 6,000 and 8,000 square feet and can be considered moderate in size. Of the remaining lots, 11 are smaller than 6,000 square feet and 13 are larger than 8,000 square feet. The size of one lot is undetermined. The neighborhood has a generally consistent lotting pattern that is defined by a grid of public streets and cul-de-sacs. Therefore, the fourth criterion can be met. The subject application therefore meets all four of the criteria established by The Single Story Height Combining District (S) Overlay Zone Guidelines. ALTERNATIVES The alternatives available to the City Council include: CMR:336:97 Page 3 of 5 1) 2) Expand or contract the boundaries of the proposed overlay district, or Deny the request to initiate consideration of a Single Story Overlay Zone for the Tract 840 neighborhood. FISCAL IMPACT There is no direct fiscal impact of this proposal. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Should the City Council initiate review of this application, an environmental assessment will be conducted and will accompany the staff report to the Planning Commission. STEPS FOLLOWING APPROVAL If the Council elects to initiate this zoning application, staff recommends that the application be reviewed by the Planning Commission at a public hearing on August 13, 1997. Following Planning Commission review, the application will return to the City Council for a public hearing on September 15, 1997. ATTACHMENTS 1.Location Map 2.March 24, 1997 request from the property owners of Tract 840 for City approval of a single story overlay zone 3.Single Story Height Combining District (S) Overlay Zone Guidelines PREPARED BY: Chandler Lee, Contract Planner DEPARTMENT HEAD REVIEW: KENNETH R. SCHREIBER Director of Planning and Community Environment CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: ~ HARRISON Assistant City Manager ClVIR:336:97 Page 4 of 5 CC:Phyllis Klein, 4264 Newberry Court, Palo Alto, CA Douglas Beetlestone, 4232 DarlingtonCourt, Palo Alto, CA Carlin Otto, 231 Whitclem Drive, Palo Alto, CA CMR:336:97 Page ,5 of 5 Attachment I PF CS(H) RM-30 Project: Charleston Meadows; Tract 840 Request of property owners of Tract 840 for consideration of Single Story Overlay Zoning File Nos: 97-EIA-6; 97-ZC-4 400 ft 800 ft Scale: 1 Inch = 400 ~ Date: *-*-96 North Attachment 2 March 24, 1997 TO: FROM: SUBJECT: RECEIVED 1997City of Palo Alto Zoning Administrator for Submission to Ci{~ " Council/Planning Commission/City Council DEPARTMENT 01~ PLANNIN(~ AND ~+OMMUNiTY ~Vr~kOPMFJ~Prope~y Owners of Tract #840 Requesl from Coapplicants of,Tract 840 for Application of lhe q~ _ ( ; Single-StoW Height Combining Dis{riot (S) Overlay Zone io the Present R-1 Zoning of {he Tract We request that the zone for Tract 840 be changed from Rol to R-I(S) We are attachin,q the followin,q documents in support of this application: A copy of the official deed restriction which limits residences in Tract 840 to one story. Section one of the document limits residences to one story in height. A copy of the Single-Story Height Combining District (S) Overlay Zone Guidelines prepared by the City of Palo Alto. The introduction to these guidelines says that neighborhoods that have a single-story restriction and that have been developed consistent with that restriction are to be treated with a greater degree of flexibility when they apply for the overlay zone than those that do not have the deed restriction. There is only one two-story house in this Tract. Therefore this application should be considered generously. A copy of the information packet which was distributed to all property owners in the Tract. Included in this packet was a copy of the Single- Story Guidelines mentioned in paragraph #2 above. These packets were hand delivered to all property owners living in the Tract. Absentee owners were sent the same information by mail. At least one of the several signature collectors spoke to almost all of the property owners in the Tract. Follow-up flyers were distributed to everyone who did not respond to the first packet. Thus a serious effort was made to contact every owner. o To meet the first overlay guideline request for "Level and Format of Owner Support"- ,Signed requests for the single-story overlay zone from the owners of 48 of the 61 properties in the Tract (78.69%) are attached. A written list of signers is included. We feel that the 48 signers easily represent overwhelming support for the overlay zone. We are also attaching a list of the property owners whose signatures we were unable to obtain. o To meet the second overlay guideline request for "Appropriate Boundaries and the third guideline request for "Prevailing Single-Story Character"- A map showing the boundaries of Tract 840 was part of the packet. The Tract boundaries were established by the Eichler development in 1951. The streets involved are Newberry Court, Darlington Court, and parts of Edlee, Whitclem, Charleston, and Park Boulevard as shown. Again, at the present time there is only one two-story house in the Tract, 4254 Newberry Court, predating by many years the purchase of the Tract by Joseph Eichler. Many of the houses have been remodeled in various ways, but the neighborhood is still a one-story, compatible neighborhood composed of Eichler homes. ¯ 6. To meet the fourth overlay guideline request for "Moderate Lot Sizes"- ¯ Size of lots were included on each of the signature forms. Forty of the 61 lots are between 6,000 and 8,000 square feet showing that most of the lots are of generally compatible size. There are 9 lots smaller than 6,000 feet and 11 that are larger than 8,000 square feet, and the size of one lot was undetermined. These calculations are based on the tax assessor/TRW figures and may or may not be accurate for irregularly shaped lots. Please contact any of the following if youneed further information. Also we would appreciate your letting us know the next step in this process. Sincerely, Phyllis Klein, 4264 Newberry Court, 493-5345 Douglt s Beetlestone,Darlington Court, 493-5409 Carlin Otto, 231 Whitclem, 858-2103 A NEIGHBORHOOD REQUEST TO THE PROPERTY OWNERS OF TRACT 840-- " Here is the tract: CHARLI~S.TOH MI~AI)OW.I. UNIT No, 2 ~-- Attachment 3 SinGle-Story HeiGht Combininq..Distric~ Overlay Zone Guidelines The following guidelines are intended to guide City staff and decisionmakers in the consideration of zone change requests for application Qf the Single-Story Height Combining District (S) overlay zone. For neighborhoods in which there are no single-story deed restrictions, or where such restrictions exist yet have not been strictly adhered to, applications are to be evaluated through more rigorous use of these guidelines. However, for those neighborhoods that contain and have been developed consistent with a single-story deed restriction, these guidelines are to be treated with a greater degree of flexibility. i.Level and Format of Owner SupDort An application for an (S) overlay zone map amendment should meet with "overwhelming" support by owners of affected properties. These owners must demonstrate, . by providing documentation that includes a written list of signatures, an understanding that they are co- applicants in a zone map amendment request. Appropriate Boundaries An application for an (S) overlay zone map amendment should be accompanied by a map indicating the address location of those owners who are co-applicants for the rezoning request. Boundaries which may correspond with certain natural or man-made features (i.e. roadways, waterways, tract boundaries, etc.) should define an identifiable neighborhood or development. These boundaries will be recommended to the Planning Commission and City Council by the City’s Zoning Administrator. 3.Prevailinq. Sinq%e-Story Character An area proposed for an (S) overlay zone map amendment should be of a prevailing single-story character where the vast majority of existing homes are single-story, thus limiting the number of structures rendered .noncomplying by the (S) overlay. Neighborhoods currently subject to sihgle-story deed restrictions should be currently deve!oped in a manner consistent with those deed restrictions. Furthermore, it is desirable that homes be similar in age, design and a : sguide, doc 1112193 Page I character, ensuring that residents of an area proposed for rezoning possess like desires for neighborhood preservation and face common home remodeling constraints. Moderate Lot Sizes In order to maintain equitable property development -rights ’within an (S) overlay area compared to other sites within the R-I zone district, an area proposed for an (S) overlay zone map amendment should be characterized by moderate !or sizes with a generally consistent lotting pattern. A moderate lot size is to be defined as 7,000-8,000 square feet. a : s~uide, doc