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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-09-22 City Council (22)City City of Palo Alto Manager’s Report TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL 2 FROM: DATE: CITY MANAGER September 22, 1997 DEPARTMENT: Planning and Community Environment CMR:397:97 SUBJECT:REQUEST OF PROPERTY OWNERS OF TRACT 709 FOR CONSIDERATION OF SINGLE STORY OVERLAY ZONING FOR .THE BLOSSOM PARK UNIT 1 NEIGHBORHOOD: 97-ZC- 11, 97-EIA-23 RECOMMENDATIONS This report transmits a June 2, 1997 request from the property owners of.Tract 709 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 0n the attached map (Attachment I). 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 overlay to the Walnut Grove neighborhood. On April 26, 1993, the overlay was applied to the Green Meadows neighborhood. On January 21, 1997: the overlay was applied to Tract 795 of the Charleston Meadows neighborhood. The City is currently reviewing the overlay for Tract 840. The. attached letter from the property owners of Tract 709 (Attachment 2) requests application of the single story overlay zone to the 19 single family parcels contained in Tract 709. Survey results reported in the letter indicate strong neighborhood support (79 percent) for the application of the single family overlay zone. POLICY IMPLICATIONS The project must be determined to be consistent with the Pal0 Alto Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance. CMR:397:97 Page 1 of 4 Comprehensive Plan 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. Zoning Ordinance 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. DIS~ 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 chauge 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 witha single story deed restriction, these guidelines are to be treated with a greater degree of flexibility (than neighborhoods without the restriction)." Tract 709 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 Suvvort An application for an (S) overlay zone map amendment should meet with "overwhelming" support by owners of the affected property. The application is accompanied by signed requests from 15 of the 19 properties within Tract 709. 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% rate of support can be considered overwhelming and the first criterion can be met. CMR:397:97 Page 2 of 4 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 oftrapdzoidal 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 19 properties included in this application, 17 are currently single-story. Homes in this neighborhood were all built 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 19 lots, six are between 6,000 and 7,000 square feet and four are between 7,000 and 8,000 square feet. Applying the flexible interpretation described above for defining moderate lot size, 10 of 19 or 53 percent of the lots are between 6,000 and 8,000 square feet and can be considered moderate in size. Of the remaining lots, four. are smaller than 6,000 square feet and five are larger than 8,000 square feet. 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 meets all four of the criteria established by.the Single Story Height Combining District (S) Overlay Zone Guidelines. City initiation of the zone change process is recommended because the Tract 709 neighborhood cannot apply for the zone change without written authorization ~om 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 neighborhood to obtain the necessary authorizations and file the zone change request for all 19 parcels. City initiation of the zone change means that no fees would be charged. ALTERNATIVES. The alternatives available to the City Council include: 1)Expand or contract the boundaries of the proposed overlay district, or CMR:397":97 Page 3 of 4 2)Deny the request to initiate consideration of a single story overlay zone for the Tract 709 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 October 29, 1997. Following Planning Commission review, the application will return to the City Council for a public hearing tentatively scheditled for November 17, 1997. ATTACIIMENTS 1.Location Map 2.June 2, 1997 request from the property owners of Tract 709 for City approval of a single story overlay zone 3.Single Story Height Combining District (S) Overlay Zone Guidelines CC:Forest Carroll, 4239 Ruthelma Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306 PREPARED BY: Chandler Lee, Contract Planner KENNETH R. SCHREIBER Director of Planning and Community Environment CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: Y HARRISON ’ Assistant City Manager CMR:397:97 Page 4 of 4 RM-30 Date: 9-22-97 June 2, 1997 TO: JL N 06 1997 Oep~rtment ol ~lanmng and " City of Palo Alto Zoning Administrator for Sul:~t~ ~v~q~uncil/ Planning Commission/City Council FROM:Property Owners of Tract 709 Blqssom Park Unit No. 1 SUBJECT:Request from Coapplicants of Tract 709 for Application of the Single-Story Height Combining District (S) Overlay Zone to the Present R-1 Zoning of the Tract We request that the zone for Tract 709 be changed from R-I to R-1 (S) We are attaching the following documents in support of.this application: A copy of the official deed restriction!which limits residences in Tract 709 to one and one-half stories in height, iThe deed restrictions continue in force for successive periods of ten years each :unless a majority of the owners vote to. change said covenants (see page 2 of the Declaration of Restrictions).. A copy of the Single-Story Height Combining District (Si Overlay Zone Guidelines prepared by the.City of Palo Alto. There are only ~ two story housesin this zone ( ’~,Z ’~ ;3 / ,,~-,V’~ z-/Z. 5~’-,~- Ruthelma). A copy of the "Neighborhood Request to the Property Owners of Tract 709" which was distributed to all property owners in the Tract. Absentee owners were sent the same information by mail. Follow up flyers were distributed to everyone who did not respond to the first contact. Thus a serious effort was made to contact every owner. 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 ~ of the 19 properties in the Tract are attached. A written list of signers is included. We are also attaching a list of the property owners whose signatures we were unable to obtain. W~ feel that the ~ signers easily represent "overwhelming" support for the overlay zone. -2- 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’709 is attached. The Tract boundaries were established in 1950. The streets involved are all.of the houses on Ruthelma except for the four next to Edlee Street, and one house on the corner of Charleston. The neighborhood is still almost completely one-story houses in a compatible neighborhood of similar architectural style homes. To meet the overlay guideline request for "Moderate Lot Sizes" - ~ of the 19 lots are between 6,000 and 8,000 square feet showing that most of the lots are of generally compatible size. There are -~ lots smaller than 6,000 square feet and ~ that are larger than 8,000 square feet. Please contact me if you need further inform,ation. Also we would appreciate your letting us know the next step in this process.. We hope that the overlay will free ¯neighbors from any need to take legal action~ against their neighbors who may start to build 2-story houses. Sincerely, Forest Carroll, 4239 Ruthelma; 493-5309 Sinqle-Story Heiqht Combininq District (S) Overlay Zone Guidelines The following guidelines are intended to guide City staff and decisionmaker~ in the consideration of zone change requests for application of the Single-Story Height Combining District (S) overla~ zone. For neighborhoods inwhich 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 SuDDort 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. 2.ADpropriate-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 deve$opment. These boundaries will be recommended to the Planning Commission and City Council by the City’s Zoning Administrator. 3.Prevailinq Sinqle-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 developed in a manner consistent with those deed restrictions. Furthermore, it is desirable that homes be similar in age, design and a: sguide, doc 1/12/93 Page i o 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 lot sizes with a generally consistent lotting pattern. A moderate lot size is to be defined as 7,000-8,000 square feet. 1/12/93 Page 2