HomeMy WebLinkAbout0194.093•
Harc" ]], 1993
HONORABLE CITY C~JNCll
P,lo Alto, C.llfornia
2817 Cowper Street. App,'] of varjaDct Apprpval
MeMbers of t"e Councl1:
Recort jn Br;ef
This 15 an Ippea1 of the Zoning Administrator's decision to approve; variance
for the location and construction of a new two-story, single-family residence,
with. total ~eight of 25_5 feet on I substandard 1ot, where a 17-foct max;mu~
neignt and single-story limit are otherwi S~ req!.!; ret!. This project has been
dete .... i!"le-d to be exempt from the reQuirements of the-eai iforni a Environmental
QUllity Act.
Background
On August 21, 1992, the ap~licant submitted an application for a variance t~
construct a new two-.stOl'"jJ, single-family residence with, a total "'eight of 25.S
feet on a substandard lot wheril! a 17-foot heigh.t and Single-story 1 iroit are
otherwise required. On December ii, )992, the Zoning Administrator r~~der!d a
df!Cision approving ttle variance subje-ct to ccnditions. On [}ecember 28, 1992, the
decision was app!al!d by Hr. Cox. The attached Planning Commission staff report
contains a more de-tailed project descriptio:", and history of the proposed
variance.
planning C9f!I1i$Siofl Action
01'1 February 24, 1993, the Piannjr,g Corrmissiol'l voted 4-1-0-1 (Schmidt, no;
Ojlkiln, absent) to recommend that the City Councll uphold the deciSion of the
Zoning Adm1rdstrator and approve ttle varianc.e with modifications to fir,dings 1
and 2; additiDn of i fourth finding regarding the project's compliance with the
Comprenensive Plan; ilnd addition af a condition requiring the appliclnt to
ililirotain I; 2S-fbot frarot yard setback ccnsistent 'With neighboring properties.
Intent of $y~standard Lot limitatichS
The Phnning COftITIis.sio1'1 Qu!ried staff ilbrJut the intent of the he~ght and
habitable floor restriction:> fOT substandard l<lts and to ... hat extent the variance
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process WI,S 11"1tended to provide reliJ!:f from those restrictions .. Stolff responded
that th~ original l,tont of the restriction. was to li.it impacts on neighbors
of substandard iots. Of particular ,or.cern were prIvacy, vj~$ and access te
dlyl igM. Staff suggosUd that the v.riance process was intended to provide
duign review for sect:md-st<lry const"("lJct1on, and. tftrougt\ tne ~ariince's third
finding regarding 'BPact~, d~termtne whether I plrt1cular das1gn complied with
the intent of the ~strtct~cns. Staff .ade it clear that t~ese ~ar~ances are
handled 1n the sue UMer is ani yarta~ce to sHe delft10pment regulations, where
all three findings ... ,t be 'upported in o .... r to gain opprov.J.
Staff has provided and highl ighted the City Councll and Planning Co,,"i ssion
minutes frOID the or1g1nll sl.lbshndJ!"'CI let ordinance: deliberations on t~e variance
pracess related to secDnd-stor~ construct1on on substandard l~ts_ (Minutes ire
attached. Arrows in the .argins Indicate relevant discussion or motions). The
.1nute5 include numerous references to the viriance is a des1gn review process
that also affords in opportunity to assess 1apacts an neighbors.
Although the Planning Comois.ion eventually recommended '9alnst allowin9
variances. one Commissioner's comments are ger.Aane to tne issue of whether a
lot's sub5tandard size can be cited as an unusual cirCUMstance fer the purpose
of .. ~ing the first variance finding (page 6 of the 12/18/85 Planning Commissioo
Iii nutes, COIfIIhs i oner Northwa~) _ He stated that 1 n combi nat; on with the
restrkt1Dns on height and floors. b) defirdtion I substandard 10t would meet the
first two findings of the variance; and the only a ••• that would provide
flexlbl11ty is the third finding. Toe Zoning Adooinistrator agreed with this
statement. Although this .. y haVE been the spirit with .mich the ordin.nce was
adopted. the Code provisions with respect to "riances requi ro that o.ch
subsh,ndard iot IIlUst be eyal\Jated sepantel,y for unusual c.ircumstances and
hardship, and if none can be found the variinr.e MUst be denied.
The City Cauncil ult1aately allowed variances for 5e~ond-stQry constru~tian with
in amendaent to t"e proposed ordinance stating: 'Whe .. as the intent of tne City
Council is not t. prohibit second stories. but to provide for a r.view proce.,
pursuant to other,pravision~ of the Cede to ev~iuat! the impact of the second
story on neighboring properties.-
Finding$ Jnd Cgnditipns
Pla.nn1ng Coaniss1on IIOdif1c.ations to the findings and conditions are shown below,
with additions appearing in italic and deletions appearing as strikeouts.
F;ndi.ngs
1. Tnere ire except10nal or extraordinary ci rc:umsta.nces or conditions
applicable to the property involved that do not apply genorol1y to
~roperty 1n tt1~ same district in that the site is SJJhJlJ J ev!n in
re1lt'ion to the 'Ies ul ee""h wit" l"e ... ini .. il ... R-l Zone District
definitiQn of a substandlrd 10t sib lie. e18~~en" feB 1::11 it; BAS fal'
sUe a1"ea a~d let wfet": tfole site area is 3.841 square feet wtlere
4,980 ~ square ftet is the minilT',um thresho7d l'eEltdl'ea and the
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lot wldt" is 33 f.et wnere 50 ie feot is tne threshold "e~";"e~. I,
_ddition to being substandard, the property 1£ located directly
idjac~nt to I well-used public facility, H~over Park, and tne ~icant
property of St. Mirk's Churc~, soon to be de~e'~ped with 14 ne~ t~o
story, $ing'e-f~ily residencesi
T~e granting of the app1 icat10n is ~eCe$Siry for t~e preservation
and enjo,.ent of. subst~nti.1 property right of th~ applicant, .nd
to prevent unreiSon.b1e propf'rty 105s or u.nnecesury 'hlrdship in
t",it~ eafl'4i.-u:etiePl sf ;r t'!..m :t81")' ~jelt5e __ 111 '''841~e I traA5ith~
.eheu. tAe riEl' 5l:1l1ih1s1!1ft toe .t\. 'Uf lAd "n: ell1 st..,,! hOle!" sul e
"e1g"'a'hBIJ~ Bf! the Sa..,e., Stred l!Ihek faee. if jf tne lppliciTit
c.onst.ructed a home tOo the max15U1fI lot coverage, only 2,'-97 sqUire
feet of open ,p.ce would be i.al hble. Of this, 660 square feet
would be provided in the front yard ,etb.t~, wnich \. not private
open spate. The appl1c,nt's proposal increa~ts the private op-en.
space of tne site by 250 square feet, or 10 percent of the required
open space. Tke only innediate adjacent neighbor has testified
reglrd1n9 th~ advantage Df retaining the npen area on the Tot i~d
the desire to nave I two-story house '\8 aet is 1 t,.aftSi\ieA ie\ceeR
the papk. the "ew 5tiltiLLiBR a.,d his B~ p.etllse; and
3. The granting of tfie application will not be detrimental Qr injurious
to pro~erty or iMprovements i~ the vici~ity in that thE prop~sed
home ""ets the R-l Zone District setb.cks and daylight plane
regu1ationsj Ind the lpplicant has subc!litted I sohr analysis,
showing thJt the longe:t shadow cast by the new house would iffect
only a , .. all portion of the neigh~r's yard. Additionally, there is
only ene ~igh wifidow proposed for the ,ortion of t~e second-story
facing the mdghttor; therefore, the pr;yaC1, views and access tc
daylight of the adjacent neighbor will not be significantly
affected. Tne new hou,e will not adversely impact the fu"ction or
access. to Hooveor hrk, w.,ich is currently bounded by several
multiple-story !"!sidenthl buildings. The new residence hilS been
redesigned .ith I front ~porch· feature and front dGOf, at the same
setback is. th! remainder of the block face ind will provide a
transition beb,een the new St. ~arle$ ChUiC~, subdivision and the
neighborhood, not otherwise accomplished with a single-story
residence. As revised, t~e proposed ho~se is consistent with the
rhythm and sCile of the smaller homes 11(1n9 its block face, a.nd,
should those nOUS!S develop second-story additions in the f~ture,
which is l~kely, will resembl~ those future remodels .
.f. r" the extent th.t it provides ,adequate square fDotage Ind flcilities to
support In av!'rag.! size fallf1y, ,nd whi Ie construd ion on I sma 11 lot
reduces t1te unit ClOst Qver I si.i1ir unit on a standard size 1~t, the
proposed deve 10Pflent is cons i!t ent with the i "tent of the COlllPrehens i ve
P1in l s HQusing f19Jef'lt Policy 7. ,,/lie" stites: "Encourage and foster tr,e
deve70pIRnt of new and existing /lousing I.'nits aff(JrciabJe to 101o{-,
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lIOd,.r.tt·, Ind .iddl,.·fncOft hOIJSf,~Qjds, esped,,]}, tho$e /'iotJseholr!s wittJ
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Conditions
1. The appHcant shan reduce tn.e-widt~ of th~ dr-i'le",ay to 8 f!e~ bEtwetl1 the
sidewalk. and prope-rty Hne. Th~ drivt'olli!)' shaH fhre out from the
Pnlp~rt)' i 1ne to pro-'d-j+: aceeu t('l tht cov'3'!"'!!d a"d u~cove-'-ed pilrk~ng
spices.
2~ Prior to finalization of th:e 8ui.ld~~g !'@r-mit, the ap~licd.r.t shaH p"13r.t
one .treet tr ••• 1.ng the fro'tage of tn. prop.rly, ;n t~. pub I it rJilht
of-yay between t~e sidewall. ar.d tn~ pi'()ptrty 1 ;n1;~ The location and
specl.l of the tr.e sholl ~ T.'i~ed .nd lpproved by ,he City Arborist.
irrigation shall be inst.lled t. witer the tree.
3. r". .pplf"ont sholl •• intofn .t lu.t • 25-foot front YiNl •• tbock
consf.t,.t with the lIl,jority of the ho ... on ft. block face.
Recp=ndlt1gn
The PhMing C"",,;ssion reco""",nds tll.t the City Council upnold the decision of
the Zoning AdministntoT and apprQve the nriance , subject to tne UIOdified
f 1"dings and eonditl~ns listed above (Planning Commission modifications appear
in fta'iti deletions iI,ppear iI-S :itrilceouts).
Resp~tfully su~itt.d,
~~.L_£l..J(~,HAHC'fJlIADiiOi l fr1E '
i1?uztd-R. ~dr.&4
KENNETH R. SCHREIBER ~
Director of Planning and Chief Planning Officil1
Attachlllents:
CMR: 194:93
Community Environment
Planning Comoission staff report dated 2/19/93
Excerpt ~in"tes of tne 1/6/86 City Counc'l Meeting
Excerpt .inutes of tn. 12/18/85 Planning Commission Meeting
2/19/93 letter to Dougl.~ Haynie, The Plymouth Group.
from Oliver P. Colvin
2/24/93 letter to the Planning Commission from M. Pfyl,
C. Weller. anu H. Long
Materials presented by Doug Cox on 2/24/93
Project Pl.ns (Council Members only)
3/ll/93
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Roger K. ~ohl.r, 378 Coobridge A"enue, Su1te A, P,'o Alto, CA 94306
Doug Honey, 1313 Shoreline eoule",rd, Mountain View
St. "ar.', Episcopal Church, 600 Color.do Avenue, ,,10 Alto, CA 94303
Doog Co., .485 fl Dorado AYenue, P,lo Alto, CA 94306
Herb 8orock, 2731 Byron Street, f,10 Alto, CA 9403.
Oliver P. ColY!n, 2805 Cowper Str •• t, P,lo Alto, CA S4306
TI. Triller, 310 renny.on, Pa,o Alto, CA 94301
lynn C~j.p£ll., 631 Cclor.do Aveoue, P.l0 Alt" 94306
The Pl,.outh Group, 1616 Shor,line Boulev..rd, Mount.!r. View, CA 94043
C~:J94:93 3/11/93
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SUBJECT:
,
eln Of PAlO ALTO
Memorandum
Citj (ouncil Members
2817 c.o'Flilet~ Street. Appea.) of Vari ance Approval
7
Apri1 15, 1993
On March 15, 1993, the City Council continued this ~tem because several
attachme~ts were inadvertently om; tted frorn the staff report. The full copy
~f t~e rlanning Commission staff report, including the appeal application and
minutes of the Zoning Administratcr hearings, Mas been added to the attached
corracted ,taff report to Council (CHR:194:93).
Plans for t~i1 project were distributed in the Council pack!t nf Haren 11,
1993. If you nee-d an additional set of plans~ please tall the Planning
Deparboent at 329·Z442.
~S=~ UffiETHR:StHRE I B~
D1rector of Planning and
Community Environm€nt
Attichment: CHR:194:93, with attachments (corrected copy)
Excerpt Planning Commission minutes of 2/24/93
letter from Appellant dated 4/14/93
cc: Roger Ie !(ohler, 378 Cambridge A."enue, Suite A, Pilo Alto, CA 94306
st. Mark's tpiocopal Church, 600 Colorado A,enue, Palo ~lto, CA 94303
Doug Cox, 485 El Dorado Avenue 1 Palo Alto, CA 94306
Herb Borock, 2731 Byron Street, Palo Alto, CA 94036
lynn Chiapella, 631 Colorado A,enu., p.le Alto, 94306
The Plymouth Group, 1616 Shoreline B(lulevard, Mountain View, CA 94043
Doug Haney, 1313 Shoreline Boulevard~ Mountain View
Oliver P. C~lvin, 2805 C~wper Street, Palo Alto, CA 94306
Tim Trailer, 310 Tennyson, Palo Alto, CA 94301
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Citp of J'alo )ltto
DATE: February 19, i993
P.O. 80JC l~
1'1\1.0 AWO, CA 9<J(13
TO:
P!>.EPARfD B~:
PALO ALTO PlAHNlH6 COMMISSION
Nancy ~addox Lytle and Joseph N. Colorma
REPORT IN BRIEF: 2811 COWPER STREET: Appeal of tho Zonin! Administrator',
d!ci 5ion to approve a v;rianc:e fCrr the 1 ocat i O'r'I ar.-d ccnstr-llcticn of I new
two-story, single-f.,.ily residence .;t~ a total height of 25.5 feet on a
substandard let, where I 17-foot maximum height and single-story limit iTe
oth.~lse required.
Enyironment., Asses~mgnt: Exempt fram the pr~visiQns of the California
. Environmental Quality Act.
lQne District: R-l
File Nos: 92-V·22
APPLICATION INFORMATION
Applicant:
Appellant:
Type of Application:
Dates:
SITE INFORMATION
Owner:
Roger K. Kohler
378 Cimbrldge Avenue, SUit. ~.
Pil. Alto, CA 94306
(415) 328-1086
[)augl" J. C~x
485 E1 Dorido Avenue
P,lo Alto, CA 94306
(415) 328-0741
Appeal of variance approval
Applicat;cn received 12~2a·92;
Application co_plot. 12-28-92;
Mandatory action deadlin~ ~8-~"
Saint "ar~'s Episcopal Church
600 C.lorido Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94303
(415) 326-3800
Assessbr's Parcel Number: 132·55-001
Comprehensive Plan Designation: Single-family reSidential
Existing land Us.e: Vacant
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Surrounding Land US!: Nort" :
East:
South:
"est:
R·!
Single-family residential
New subd1\1h1on, :4 .. in91e-~amilJ
homes
Hoove'!'" f'ii.:"K
Sin~le-family res~dentlli
Existing Zonin9!
Pi~el Size: 3,S41 sq'Jlre feet
pROJECT INFORMATION
Project H1sto,.y~ On August 21, 1992 t the applicant sul-,Ih~ttcd an
application fOT , varhnce to -construct iI r.e", two-story, s1ng1e-famny
res1dence with I total height of 25.S feet on a substandard l~t wher! I 17-
foot height and Single-story limit .re otherwise requIred. At the
October !, 1992 Zoning Administrator's hearing, publh: t!'stimony ~as taken
fro. the appl1tant and neighbors. The publi, hearing was left open and
continued for I Site vis1t on November 6, 1992. The app1icant ~rected
story poles on the site to show the location and height of the propos!d
second story.
On o.cember 3. 1992 the publie hearing was closed after additional pub1ic
testimony {minu.tes attached). The Zoning Administra.tor rendered i d.ac:ision
on December 17~ 1992, approving the variance subject to conditions
(decision .ttithed). On Oec~ber 2B, 1992, the deciSion was appealed by
Mr. Cox (appeal application and letter attached).
Proitct Qescription: The applicant is proposing tc construct I new 1,684-
square-foot, single-family residence on a 3,841-square-foot lot. Tne house
co~plie5 with all R-l square-footage limits ind location triterii except
t~e 17-foot, single-story li.it for substandard lots. In tne R-l z~ne, a
10t is substandard if it has i width less than 50 feet or a depth less than
SJ. feet and an area less than 83 percer,t of the minill'1.um area reQuired by
the ~on1~g of the parcel. This lot meets the sUbstandard definitiDn, witn
iI ~idth c-f 33 feet and site area of 0r'11y 3.841 ~quire feet (64"; of
required) .
In order to maxlmne the amount of open space on ttl£: lot and construct i
house close to t~e allowable floor area, the applicant has requested a
variance to CDnstruct a two-stvr} ho~se. The proposed secGnd-story is 637
sq\Jare feet and represents 37 percent of the site's allowable floor irea.
The maximum size house that could be constructed on this site .ithout a
... ·-ariance for i second story is 1,344 square feet. This number is der;\led
from the site c~verage limitation of 35 percent of the site area, and is
384 squar~ feet )ess than the allowable floor area.
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The appellant ~as based his IDpeal O~ severel iS$~e5. They ire addressed
belo~ in the order they were Tiised in the letter of app!al.
The LQ~ 1s S1gn1f1'2otly Syb$tandard: The appellant asserts t~at the
subject propeorty is Significantly substandard iill'ld, therefore, should
flot have variances gra;'lted to. S1te deve10pment regulations. The
Zoning Adm1~1~trator's d!c1sio~ tites the propertyls substandard
condition and its loc~t1on adjacent to a public park ;s !xtraordinar~
c1rcuastan:es cor.trihuting to the ne!d for pr'~acy and a nardship to
~rev'din; usablf, pr1~ate Qutdoor jiving ar~a.
Constructior. of I sEcond-stQr~ increases private outdoor op~n space
wni1e .fford1ng construction of an adequate .ize 1I0me, If toe
applicant constructed a nome to the mi~i~um lot coverage, and if the
new houst ~ere setback ~n additional 5 feet (whicn the applicant hiS
done), in line with the homes on that block face, which is encouraged
by the R-l Design Guidelines, the pri~ate open spate ~ou1d be on1y
1,672 square feet compared to a typical b.c~ yard of 2,800 square
feeL
Th& applicant prOPQses 28 percent site coverag!. which increases the
a~unt cf pr1~ite open space by 250 sQuar~ feet, or 14 percent of the
private open space. This increase brings the open space provided
closer to that provided on adjacent iots. The r~duction of site
coverage without impacting floor area, is made possible by
redistributing square footage to a ~econd floor. The need for
privacy is hlgher for this lot, in comparison t~ the ethers in the
neighborhood , due to its immediate proximity to the park.
2. Thf! PrOPDS.ed HQYse is ArchjtEg:turally Inconsistent lIIi!.h......tb.i
Neighborhood: The app!llant asserts that tne scale and architectural
character of !he propose~ house is inconsistent with the
neighborhood. He feels that tne dormers and gables used for the
house are r.ot in chancter wi th the (ottage-style houses in the
neighborhood.
Although architectural compatibility and neignborhood context are not
specifically addressed in the variance findings, as th~y are in the
home improvement exception, tne height, bulk and mass of i structure
do relate to the variance's i~act findi~9. The Zoning Administrator
found th3t the architectural e1ement~ of the proposed hcuse are not
detrimental to property or improvements in the vicinity. As stated
abcove. the hOllse compl ies with the setback. and dayl ight plane
regulatiDns~ and the applicant has submitted iI solar analysis showin9
that the longest shadow cast by the proposed house ~ould only affect
a small portion of the neighbor's yard.
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As for the arcbit.ecturil style of the house being consistent witP'i Hie
neignborhood) the proposed residence will haye a front facade which
has similar dimensions 15 the others on the bloCk face. :ke
appHcant has revised the plans to include a ~orch and front er.try
~ich are consistent with th~ maj~rity Qf homes in the ne;ghb~rhaod.
and has matched the 2S-foot front yard s~tback of tne homes on that
block.
In tne public hearing/ the prvposed dcslgn was pf~ted by the
immediate idjace~t nt1ghbor, Oliver Colvin. 2805 Cowper Str~et, who
was opposed to I s,ngle-story deS1gn extending further along his
pr~perty line and along his private r~ar yard. He further testified
regarding the advant3gs of having i tWG-story house to act as a
trlnsition between tne parK} the new subdivls10n to t~e e.st (14 new
2·story homes) and his house.
Additionally, 14 new two· story homes w111 be constructed directly
adjacent tG the subject site. These nomes include many of the s~e
arch~tectural elements 5u~h ~s dormers and gable roofs. Several ~f
the homes in tne neighborhood have had second-story additions, and at
least one neighbor who spoxe at the hearing expressed his intention
to add a second stc.ry to hi s nouse.
Dof'1!1ers ha¥'e bee-n cons1dered an effec.tive ",ay to accofflpl ish a second
f1 oor, since they .allow the architect to reduce the he1ght of roof
ridges and wall plates. Dormers were encouraged during the latest
r~vision of the R-l regulations by permitti~g prQtrusions into t~e
dayl ight plane.
3. The House Would ImPiJct H-oover Park: Tbe appellant asserts that a
two-story house in this location would impact users of Hoover Park,
which is adjacent to the site's soutnerly prQperty l;ne. The
aDpellant states that currently this area is used extensively as arl
entry into the park, specifically for people walxing their dogs. The
Zoning Administrator decide-d that the property's location adjacent to
the park pre~ent~ an unusual circumstance-. I~ fact, the d€sign Jf
the house muzt address the occupant's lac.k of pri~acy due to the
proximity of the park. This was discussed at lepgth at the pub1ic
hearings. and the concluSion was that the property owner, while ~ost
1 ikely would be someone litho considered the pub'ic park an 4r.Sset,
would still tend to construct i fence OTI the property line shared
with the park and would need adequate private space to escape from
public expos~re.
Constructlon of this house will not adversely affect the acce3S or
use of Hoover Par;c .. ~ccess to Hoover Park. i$ not limited to the area
directly adjacent to the site. The park's entire Cowper Street
frcmtlge is Dpen for entry to all .of tile park's facilities.
Additiona'ly. as piirt of the apprCl'oled 14-lot subdivision to the-east,
two new two-story homes will be constructed directly adjacent to thE
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subject prcperty. As I condltion of approying the adjacent
$ubd1y;sio~1 an additiQnai access to the park, between the t~o-story
homes was requ1red. If anything, this entrance to the park would be
.are i~csing than the one adjacE~t to the subject site. The
proposed h~US2 will nat have i greate. impatt Dn the pirk than the
propose4 subdivision to the east or the existing multiple-family
development It the .astern boundary of the ~ark. The higher ~ls$ir.9
of the proposed twc~stQry house at this entry to tn! park ~;11 cre~te
better s~try with the trees on the opposite side of the park
dl"iYh'ay~ atld could even er,hance tne park. entry.
R E COltt[!iPAT ION
Stiff recommends tnat the Planning Comm1ssion uphold the decisi~n of the
Zoning Administrator and recolIITIend that the City Council appro,~ the
yariance subject to tne findings and conditi~ns list~d below.
FTKptNGS
1. There are exceptional or e~traordinary circumstances or
condit!ons applicable to the property involved that do not
apply genera11y to pT~perty in the same d~5trict in that the
site does lIot comply with the minimum R-l Zone District site
development regul1t1ons fer site area and lot ~;dtn: the s;t~
area is 3,84] square feet where 6,000 square feet is the
ainlMUR required a~d the lot width ;s 33 feet where 60 feet is
the .inimua required. In addition to being substandard? the
prop~rty is located dlrectly adjacent to a wel1~ysed public
facility, Hoover Park. and the-vac.ant pl'"opert,), of St. Mark's
Church, 500" to be developod ~It~ 14 new two-story. s1091e
family residences;
2. Tile granting of U,e application is n.cessary for the
preservat;~n and enjoyment of a substantial property right of
the olpplicant., and to prevent unreasonable prope!'"ty loss or
unnecessary hardship in that construction of a tw~-story house
wlll provide a transition between the r.e~ swbdivision to th~
rear and the existing lower-scale neighborhood on the Cowper
Street block fac!. If the applicant constructed I h~ tD the
maximum lot coverage, only 2,497 square feet of open space
would be available. Of this, 660 square f~2t ~ould be provided
'in the front yard setback, b'hich is not pri't'ate open space.
The applicant's proposal increases the private op~n space of
the site by 250 square feet, or 10 percent of the required open
space. The only iarned'llte .djacent neighbor has tntif1ed
regarding the advantage of retaining the open area on the lot
and t~e desire to ~ave a two-story hGuse t~ act as a transition
between the park, the new subdivision and hlS own house; and
3. The granting of the application will not he detrimental or
2-19-93
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3. T~e grart1ng of the ippliclti~n .111 not be detrimentai or
injurious tc p~operty or 1mprov~nts in the v~cinity in that
tn.e pT"opDsed he_ :Beets the R-I Zone District se.th;tcls, and
dayl1gkt pl ilne rE'gli1Ition~ f1H1: tne a.ppl i cant has :!;.ubrn'itt-ed i
s().1ar analysis sp.,ow1ng t~at Hie l.,ngest snad-ow c.ast by t~~ nee.,
house wOl.ild only affect a slIall portion of the neight:-or's )fJord.
Add1tionJlly, thtre is Dnly one, high windo~ ~r,pose~ fc~ tne
portion of tn.e second-story facing the ''b.tjtlb~~, ~P'le.!fl.."·e. lh.e
privicy, views ar'ld access. to dayl ight of '~:l' z,1ja.:ent M 19hbo:
will not be sigTdficantly .affected. Ttle new ilflut:e will :'!'ot
adversely ~laPact the fllncticn Dr ac.cess til Hoovr,· Park., 'w't:k~
is currently bound!d by several multiple-story r~5idc~tial
bu11d1ngs. The new residen,e hiS bean redesign~ct with a front
·pcrc~· feltur! ar.d front door, It the same set~ick IS the
re~inder of the bl~ck face and will proYid~ i transition
between tne new St.>Mark's Chure~ subdivision and t~~
ne1gnbQrh~od, ~ot ~therwisE accDmplished with a single-story
residence. As revise~, th! PTopos!d house is COPs1stent with
the rhythm and scale of tne smaller hDmes along its b1ock. fac.e,
and, should tkcse no uses develDp secgnd-story additions in the
future, which is likely, will resemble those fut~re remodels.
CpttDITIQt(S
I. The app1 iCint sha" reduce the width of the dri '"~.Y to a feet
between the sidewalk Ind property 'i~e. The drive~ay shall flare out
froG the property lin! to provide access to tne covered and uncovered
parking spaces.
2. Prior to finalization of the Building P~rmit? the applicant Shill
plant one street tree along the frontage of the property? in the
public right~of-wa~ between th~ sidewalk ind the pr~perty line. The
lecation and speci~s of the tree shall be reviewed and approv2d by
t~e City Arbor1st. IrrigatiDn shall be installed to water the tree.
Ath:chmtnts:
LocatiDn HiP
Project Plins (Commission Members only)
Variance OeCls1on
Letter of App1ication dated 11/11/92
Letter of App1lc.tion dated S/29/92
Appe.1 App1ication and letter dated 12/28/92
Zoning Administrator's Hinutes of October 1. 1991
Zoning Administritor's Min~tes of December 3, 1992
Public Corre~pondenc.e
1-19-93
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W.i.s Sont To:
Roger K. ~oh'.r, 373 Cambridge Avenue, Suite A, Palo Alto, CA 94306
Do~g Har,~y. Il13 Sn~rel1ne 90u'e~ardt Mountain View
St. ~ark·. Epi.cop.l C~urch, 600 C.l.rado Avenue, Pil. Alto, CA 94303
Doug Cox, ~85 £1 Dorado Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 9430.
Herb Borock, 2731 ~1ron Street, P.l. Alto, CA 940~6
Oliyer F. ColYln, 2G05 Cowper Str.et, Palo Alto, CA 94)06
Tia Troller, 310 Tennyson, P.lo Alto, CA 94301
lynn Chiopell., 631 Colorado Avonue, P,lo Alto, 94305
The Plymoutn Group, 1616 Shoreli"" Bo"l.vard, Mountain Vie., CA 94043
Oi~e Sandage, Public Works Operations
2·19·93
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GRAPH] C ATTACHM,NT D~,TE: Z-111/~3 L SChe[: No N £:
TO STAFF REPORT F!LE NO, 'J2-V-Z'L
PR0JECT: Y .... RlbNC.E" FWPEF\L
NOP.TK
App1ication No. 92-~-22: 2817 CQWPER STREET
Variance 92·Y·22 is approved for the locat~on a~d ~onstruct1on of a new
two-ttory, sillgle·fimlly residence with a tGtal height of 25.5 feet on a
substlnd.rd lot whore a 17-foot ••• imum height and single-story limit are
otherw~se requirf'd, as per attached pl ins, at 2817 Cowper Str2et, Zone
District R·l, Pa.lo Alto, California, and is' subject to conc:!itions listed
below.
fiNDINGS
1. There are exceptional or extraordinary circumstances or
cond it ions app 1; cab 1e to the prope,·ty ; nvo lved that do not
apply generally to prop,rtf in the sa .. district in that the
Site does not comply with the minimum R·l Zone District site
development regulations for site area and lot width: the site
area 1.$ 3,841 square feet where 6 1 000 square feet is the
minimum requ1red and the lot widt~ ~s 33 feet where 60 fe~t is
the minimum required. Additionally, the property is located
directly adjacent to • well-used public facility, Hoo·,er Park
and the vacant property of St. Mark's (t-.uret'!, soon to be
de~e'oped with 14 new tWD-story, single-family residences;
2. The grantlng of the appl icatiofl is necessary for the
preservation and enjoyment of a substantial property right of
ttl! a.ppl icant, and to prevent unreasonable property loss or
unnece~ury hardship in that constructit:n of a two-story house
will provide a transition between the new subdivision to tne
rear and the existing lower-scale neighborhood o~ the Co~per
Street block face. If the appl icant constructed a hDme to the
~aximum 10t c~verage, only 2,491 square feet of open space
wou1cf be t'\i;.ilab1e. Of this, 660 square feet ,",auld be
provided in the frQnt yard setback, which is not private open
space. The appl icant' s proposal ; ncreases the private open
space of the site by 250 'Quare feet, Dr 10 percent of the
required open space. The only ilmlediate adjacent neighbor has
testifi~d regarding the advantage of retaining the open area
on the lot and the desire to have a two-story house to act as
a transition between the park) the new subdivision and his own
house; and
3. The granting of the application will fiot be detrimental or
injuri'Ous to prcperty or imprOvements in the vicinity in that
the proposed home meets the R-l Zone District setbacKs, and
daylight plane regulations and the applicant has submitted a
solar analysis showing that the longest shadow cast by the T'ie~
V9222.jc 12/17/92
25:ma:J"J!t:anAveru.lI! Page 1
P.O.bl-:l25O
PaloAlID, CA. 943m
415.329.2~1
415.329.2240 Fax
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hou'§;e wou'~ onl,)' affect a small portion Gf tM neighbcr's
yard. Additionally. there is oniy one, high wif!dow proposed
fGr the portion of the second·story facing the neigh!:<JT,
therefore, the prnac:y, vieiorts and access to daJl ight of thE':
adjacent neighbor will l'Iot be s;gn~fica.ntly If1~cted. Tt\~ new
house will not 1d"oIersely imp.!.ct the functi(lfl or ... ccess to
Ht'over Park, whlch is currently hounded by ..-t~·~ "'ill ~J1tir;e
story residentiil bul1dings. The new r ~ ····ce h' be'!:.
redesigned w'ith i front ·porch-feature I 'l h In dDor, at. the
same setback 2." the remainder of the bl ... _~ fi.c.e aild wll1
provide a transition bet .... en tho now St. ~'r~'. church
subd1visl0n and th! neighborhood, not otherwise acc~1ished
with a single-st~ry residence.
COI.-lllI! QN~
I. The .p~l1eant shall reduce tn, width of the driveway to 8 f.ot
bet •• en the sidew,lk and property line. Tne driveway ,h,l' fl,ro
out from the property 1 i n! to provide access to the c(J¥e:-ed and
Yncovered parking spaces.
2. PriiJr to finalization of the Bul1ding Permit, tM!:' applicant shall
plant one street tree along the frontage of the pr~p!!rty, in ttle
publ ie right-of-w.y between the side •• l. and the property 1 ine. The
locaticn and speci~s of the tree shall be reyje~d and approved by
the City Arborist. lrrigi.tfon shall be installed to w!ter the tre.e.
tJ........." ;JJLi I.:f-4K
HANCY I!t.DOOXL YT(i
Zoning Administrator
December 1), 1992
This form does root cQnstitute the ~ariance for which application was made
If the application is approved and if no appeal fr(Jm this decision ~s
filed by any person firm, Dr corporation affected by the decision on or by
December 28, 1992, you will receive a copy of your permit in the mail. If
this application is not decided to ,)'our satisf:i,ction, the decision may be
appealed to th.e Planning (omissio;, by filing iH\ appeal application 'With
th~ Planning Department and City Clerk on or before the ibo~e ~entioned
d.te.
'9222.jc 12/11/92
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c r -Joseph M. Colonna, Planr.~r
St. ~arks, 600 Colorado Avenue, r.,. Aito, CA 94,06
Roger Kob'e~, 379 Cambridge Avenue, Suite A, ~al0 A1to, CA ~4306
Tr.e Pljo1:IO'Jth Gr"up, 1616 Shcre~1n! Boulevard, Mt. 'View, CA '94043
lynn C~ilp!11it fi3l Colorado Avenue, Palo Alt~. CA 94306
!)cUt; CO;C~ 495 n [lorado Aven:.[e, Pil10 Al tOo, CA 94~06
Maurice · .... e;"dIo!9Ir, 3822 laguna Avenue. Pil10 A,ltfJ, CA 94306
Herb Borock, 2731 By,'on Str •• t. f.,o Alto, CA S4306
Duke Rohlen, 1766 Sand HIll Road, j21~, P.lo Alto, CA 9.304
V9222.jc 12/17/92
Page 3
November II, 1992
Ms. Nan<:)' Lytle
Zoning Administrator
City of Palo Alto
2S{) Hamilton Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Re: 2817 Cowper Street
Palo Alto
Dear Nancy:
-a-
Please find enclosed our resubmitted plans for our ham. at 2817 Cowper StreeL After
our meeting Friday, we have agreed to make the mcxiifica!ions YOLl s.uggcstco.d lind they
are reflected in the enclosed !\ubminaL
In kuping with our phlJooaphy of doing ~rything that is economically feasible to
reach consensus, we again have moved towards producing a property that should cause
no controveny.
The foIJo\lwing modifications were made in ajdi1ic:1 to our earlier cbanges to the home.
o We have moved the front of the home in line .... 1th the prof>erties at 28!J5
Cowper and further down the street
o We ha ... ·e received full approval from OUf sole neighbor at 2805 Cowper
who is in complete agreement with th~ changes we have made.
a The front door has been moved tD the front of the house.
o A p'JJ"ch has been added 10 enhance the continuity of the street scape.
o We have modified the square footage reducing it from 1728 to 1684
square feet in response to the request for downsizlng of the property.
1515 f~ S~ellne 6OlJ1e-~ar;l
Moontilm VIf/IV( CA 9404S.131S
'1'~ {'1S'j96C·851C
F"~)( ,'41 '5' 9Se, :E 'S
Ms-Nanoy Lytle
November 11, J992
Page 2
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Na:ru:y r ~ believe we have done e'r'erything possible to meet the spirit of the ordinance
relative to our substandard lot and have created an attractIve nome that answers all of
your suggestioIl!-We respectfully request that you appr"". this pmperrj with a clear
undemanding thaI Mr. Cox will possibly appeal no nutl.r wbat we draw, and we will
have 10 work with the City OrunciJ upholding your approval if thls occurs.
Again, thank you for Dying to work this out in a fair way, and we hope lhat these new
plans ",fleet the thinking you .bared on Friday.
Curtis S. Peterson
Chairman and CEO
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Mrs. Nancy L }1le
Zo!:lins Admini.trator
City fJl PlJo Alto
Pal00 Alto. California
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Re; Variance Req~I!; 2817 (Qvper Street, Palo Alto, CA.
Request Cor Tva story House on Substandanl Lot.
Dear Mrs. Lytle.
IOHtEI
May 29.1992
We Ite seelUna • variance to aUow the construction of! tvo story bome on
• sub standard lot in a III Distrlct as required by the !OIling ordinance. TM
proposed borne vauld oonCorm to aU the requirements of the RI Zoning
District. Tbe nev bome bas been designed to minimize the intrusion into Ibe
prJvaey of Ibe neigbboring bome.
We are basing our variance request on the following grounds:
I. Tbere are ex<:eption&! circumstances .. pplicable to the property
at 2817 (Qvper St, not applicable t!l the general property 0( the
area.
a) Tbe widtb of tbe lot is thirty three feet vbere sixty feet is
required. The majorlty 0( tbe Jots in Ille neilhborhood are
fifty feet vide and larsef.
b) The area of the property is 38-(1 .quare feet. 2159 square
feet less than the six thousand re q uired in R I districts.
c) The existin8 property is adjacent to Hoover Park. The park
is a pleasant asset for this home. However, at times the park is
very naisey and Q'OWded vith people. Allowing I two story
bome will provide the nev home owners a larger rear yard to
escape r rom the crovd s of Ihe park.
d.l A tvo story hOlne on this lot will help to visually compl~te
tbe neishborhood at the edge of Ibe pari.:. Tbe current old
asphalt driveway on the tbe site does not compliment the
neiihborbood.
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2. rile £l'llntina a tbe variance is necessary for the occupants to enjoy a
feaWllibie I;]).(lunt or property enjoyment normally coosidered to be a
sullstantial property right. and to prevent any unreasonable pro!l"'rty
Jess or UlllletelSlry hardship.
a) WitbO\l1 tl!.i. varlauce t!!e n.w homo ,",'ould oe a ODe .tory
house filling up the smoll:ct, restricting lb. usable oUI600r
1'vin& tpace.
11.) There are I o~mber 01 two.1Ory home. and second floor
addition. W .. 'Ie nelgbbOl'hood The trend in this nelgllbothood 'pre""' to be sewnd floor ad dition.. There i. 8 gOO<l cban:..
!be e:tisti.lg home ont door will ,ome day have e second floor
addition.
3. The granting a Ibe application will oat have any negative impact on
property or improvements in Ibe vlcinlty. and will not be 43etrimental to
Ibe pub(i(: belllth. slifety. general welfare, or convenience.
a) TM proposed oew home bas been designed with wider second
floor setbacks Iban required to allow greater disl.ance between
Ibe .listing home at 2805 Cowper and tile new home. Seoond
floor window. facing the neighbor have been limited to small.
higher winclov. This will limit views into tile neighboring yar d.
Tile home de'sign complies with the daylight plane requirements
of the R 1 district.
b) Tile park will benefit from !be oonstruction a new two story
home. The view from !be park will be enhanced by Ibis
small. but visually pleasing \"0 story home. Lu.dsoaping for this
home will further enhance the view from the park
c.) The Sun/Shade study on Page Onw of the 6rawings indicates
Ibat the sbadow from this new home will hive a minor
impact on Ibe yard( not the housel or 2805 Cowper Street during
Ibe morning bours 01 Ibe winter monlbs. Typical shadow
patterns for homes in Palo !dto.
d.J Because this is substandard lot. allowable floor area for this I<>t
is oniy 1728 square feet. This will not be a large. looming house.
~~~~ is greaUy appreciated.
Roger KY~er.
Architect
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erN OF PALO AL iO
, OfficI' or llie City Clerk
'APPEAl. FIlOM THE OE:;fSIQN OF ZONING /i,!)MINISTRATOR
.• ,.1,,", .,,,,':;.; I
To be tied in dupflCate within len days from dale of decWon of Zoning AdministratOl'
,"_.~I, ~F r":I.J ~trJ i
q2--V...z~k;nNO q2.-V-2.2-R"""lpl No. 9~-,fEg
Ph""" ,4-1 Iii 328-0'70}7
i'llto, Cfl Cf430{;
Zip
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Name cI AppeIIant_])OV~5 T Cox
Address 4-85" E'I J)"r",d" A\len~~, 1'alo
5'.-t;A:y
LOCATION OF PIIOPERTY; Assessor'. Parcel No. ___ -,-____ _ Zone Distrlct "R-I
S!reoI Add""", 2817 C'"wper >,/n'ee:t; ,
Name cI Pmporty Owner (II other !han appeI!ar<) _____________ _
Property Owner'. Address ----=0::---Stroot
The dEiclsloo cllhe Zoning Admlni"ratO' dated "J) U)' e kY1 be r ) 7
v.f1erebythe appllcallon of 'RQ~C2.r Ko),. ley: C M'chd;ui)
{o~inal lippiicam)
Zip
.19~
_---ly"!e~l":,,:i~tlU;Vlll.a-~=:;:;_--was _--c--"I'-:::,rl--f+-7Y',.;0C'v",e~d.~_~ is hereby appeale<l fOf the
{IIaIfanc!/use permll) (approved/denied)
P'..ANNfNG COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION TO TKE CITY CQl.,1'CII.;
Date _______ _
Remarl<s and/or Condltions:
CITY COUNCIL OEClSfON:
~e _________ _
R.mar1<s and/D< Condttions:
SUBMmAL REOUIREMEt-.,S SATISFIED:
1.
2.
3.
O.
S
Plans
Labels
Appeal AppJk:ation ForTPS
Lett",
Fee
Approved __ _ Denled ___ _
Approved __ _ DeniE'd ___ _
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9-28-92 1 IP~OO J y' G rr
We, the undersigned, request that no .ariancsz be granted for 2817 Cowper Street
SIGNATURE NAME
AiJ.IfrdJf'Jc0'l.
5tt:Vf/) ~,,>~cA
STREET ADDRESS
.? _'l-lO jj!)!2(l3-~o.k~
'" 7 D e ])xc: dJ J1,"{ _w ________ _
(/)Dr0i£U6 Af&tl< WhO (!gzqverSf:
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T~ ________________ __
Datec C -2. 2. -"/1-
Fromc ____________ _
ZONINCJPlANNING QUESTIONS
Name T>oiAG-(It? X Contact Phone Noc W<>tk:M6-71-3-i9-£/ Home <f-15"-J2g-07~ 7
Project Addms, __ 2<=...£g..J.I~7,---"C:,-,c,,-W~' ~'p::!e,",Y"_.,.;5w.f-,-y!...!..<,! :=;e--"-r _______________ _
Zone Map, Page,, _____________ ZOnc,, ______________ _
Block Mal> Bookl Page# _____________ _
County Asses",~s Map, Book. PaBe' ____________ _
Pertinent information from address file,
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TO:
FROM;
DATE:
--.,ti.-
iHE
pLYMOUTH
GROUP
Hoover Park Neighborhood Association
Douglai L Haynie, PrCSiden~
June 11, 1992
Neighborllood Meeting. Thursday,
June 18, 1992 at 7:30 P _M_
===============================================
This ietll:: is by way of introduction of The PlYlIlouth Group. We a.-e a sma!}, local
dovelopmenl firm which bas contracted to acquire a portion of Sl Mark', Episcopal
Church for developmcnL We llave in no way been involved in any of tho prior
development plans and negotiations and look forward to • ne .. , exciting opportunity to
work closely with you in your neighborhood.
--
It is ~ PlJmouth Group', intent to build under the R-l zorun code with CITY A-----I
STANDARD STREETS wilhCity stan and i standai We "'~
arc: ptoposing to build 14 single homes on ODe cul-de-sac that bacia onlo
HO<M:r Park wilh beautiful street trees and landscaping to complement your
neighborhood.
We will also be dis<=sing the planned reD"""lion and cbange to the existing Churcb
facility. And while no increase in structure axea i.< planned, if you have questions
about this development you ~.hould also plan to attend
It is wilh great anticipation mal we invite you to visit with us on ThUl:sday. June 18,
at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mark's Episcopal Church Parish Hall Iocaled at 600 Colorado
Avenue in Palo Alto, to meet with us personal1y, share wme refreshments and for us
to get to know your thoughts and needs as we move forward with this construction.
I believe you ... ill find The Plymouth Group, whose business focus is development
within aisting neighborhoods, better mOWD as "in-fill" construction, a sensitive and
interested partner who will build homes thai: will make a diff~reD~ for the communIty.
If you can jaic with us, we look forward to sharing our plans and listening to any and
an comments or questions. as 10 our objectives.
l616 /II sno.8~ne &oJ!wa,d
MO!."M3~ VIl!'W, C" !;4043-13Ui
Te+ep/1o~ \415) 9-60 8510
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HE'rb :E'0:t'ock
2"571 Eyren StrE'E't
Palo Alto, CA 94306
Octl)be r 1 f 1932
Zooir.g Administrator
City of Palo Alto
250 Hamil ton Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94301
2S17 8ow~.r street (92-V-22)
;)0 aT M6. Lytle:
~...J! .;:t h'i
r-I.!j /Ji'!'iL-
This hearing needs to b~ rfnotic~d tE'ca~sE' occupants of resid~r.cES
wi thin 300 fe I?t of the e"xterior "bo'Uocary of thl:' property as
sho~n en the city utility files ~~re not mailed meeting notices
as re;uirec by section 18.90.030(b) of tho:? F210 Alta !·:unicip.o.l
CCdF. Attached is a copy of thF addresses fro~ th~ application
fill? that shows th~t Middlefield Road addresses ~erE' noticE'd
(they are ~ithin ~OO feet of th~ exterior boundary of the entire
St4 ~ark's prcperty). but Byron street reSidences werE' not notic~d.
El Dorado addrE'5SeS arE' also miSSing, although som~ r~sidenc~s
on that street ~ay have been separatE'ly nctic~d if the owner
occupies the resid~nce.
This prope-rty's ...... ia.th and area arE' each merE' than 20% le-S5 than
the ~Xi8t ing standard for minimum lot sizE'. l'hE'r~fore, this
vacant lot must be merged as requirE'd by section 21.04.040 of
the Palo Alto l~unicipal Code. Thf' !'!"d?rg<?r rerruireme-nt. ~lJpliE'S
E'v~n if 'thf lot is R legal lC';t. "!-:::)u havE' <'l ;:-.,:wdatoTY Guty to
is~cE' a notice of nerB~r and hol~ a hearing. and the city has
a mandatory duty to refrain from issuing a certificate of corr.pliance
for this property prior to such hearing. 1 notified you of
this mandate in my leotter of Augus-t 6. 1992~ Tht.=-' subject ap:plicatiof,
was not file-d until August 21, 1992. .At thp merger hearing
thE' property O'wro'r::€T 'Will havE' the eppartur.i ty to demo:Jstrate
that (1) the lot was cr€'~ted thrc~gh the subdivision prcc~dur~,
(2) at ~he ti~e ., it~ cr~ation the lot f~il~d to ~~et the st&na&ra~
for lot size in th~ same manner as the ncnco~plia~c~ now exiEts,
and (3) 21: thE' time of creation thE-city ET'2ntf-O a formel eX(,ICpt:or,
pursuant to its s"w.bdivision procc=-dures to e-xpressly pe-rr:'.i t t.hE'
nonco:r.plie.DcE'. You arE" constrnirj~d to fallow -tr~E' proce-dUTE' FC"t
forth in section 21.04.050 of the FRIo Alto Vunicipal Code.
ThE d~v~loD~e~t of this lot is part of the sa~~ project ~s the
1-IS!: pfrn.it for St. 1":2irk r s cburcr. (92-trF-25) a~d thE' subdi\'i~iorj
prot:Js€'d for the church parking let (92-St.:3-.,), "basE'd on the
d~finition of IIprcject 11 in the California R~viron~pntBl ~uality
Act. Processing this vari~ncE' separately is piecemp.aling in
violation of CE~A.
The vari~~cp as proposed is not neCPs2ary fer thE' prfservation
and e-njoY::Jt:'r.t of a s'Jt".-stantial y;ro:perty ri,(r.t c: thf a.f:;·'lica~J~,
nor is it n~c~E~2ry to prev~~t ~~r~afo~a~le Frop~~~y lo~~ or
unnec€-s.3a-r-y L<Jrdf:hin.. ~nE' :;;pplicc:.nt givE'S t" .. o re2..~Dr,l'O to j;.;."'tify
thE finding for afpiic~nt·s pr~perty righ~~ Ca) a onE story hQ~e
....,ould rEstrict thE' usable outdoor livjne; SI'?Cf', (1~(] (1:) there
are-o!.h~r twu-.E,tory bome~ in thE' Tle-iehbarhc.oc an~ tr,t' home rit"xt
co~tinu~d C~ r~EP 2
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H~rb Forock! ~oning Act~iLiFtr~tor
2817 Cowp~r Street
Octob~r " 1 '992
door may sorn~cay havE' a secoDc ~tcry. }ir5t, thE' r+ornes t:!'l.c=.t
h~vE' seco~d stories ar~ on standard lots and ejd not r~~uir~
variai"'ce s. St?~ond, predictil"Je .... ;hat a nE'i {r-:bc-ring prop.e-rty o .... r~C"r
might do iE just speculation. . You are pr~~ibite~ irem
taking ~peculation into account in your decision-Making. In a~y
case, the adjoining property does not nFE'O a varian~e to buil~
:: second story.
The variance as proposed does more than pr~.idt? the appli~ent
a larger back yard. It also substantially incrE'asE'S the allo' .... able
floor area. The Iloor area of a subst~nQarG lot without a
variance i5 restricted to the allowablE' lot coverage of 35% O~
1344 squart =pet. The floer ar~a of a two story house can be
45% or 1728 sq~ar~ fe~t. Thfr~fore, unlfEs th~ propo!al is
modifi~d to rpstr!ct it to the right ~~kE~ ior, thF ap;1ica~t
...-ill eft a bonus of 10;~ .:.U~ ,,-,r 364 ~quarE fFE't.
If you choosE' to grant c;, variancp, then th~ sE'cond story should
be linite-d in sizE' so that the tetal floor area of th~ housE'
is thiE' samE' as .it ...... 01.1113 be-if it \lfE'TP limit~d tc orH" floor.
Conditioning the variance by li~iting floor arf'3 to 1344 s,:J .. :.;:are
fpet would meet the int~nt of the zonine c0dE' rpstrictions O~
SUbstandard lots and still allow the applicent to haVF 2 large
back yard "by shifting SOTllE' of the b'.lildir.g ic 8: s('cor:.d s"'tory.
As ::pre-viously natE"d, this 8.pp11cation ;:'Jf'e:s to b~ part of the
~nvironmental r~viE"w of th~ subdivisicn a~ 564 Coloreeo (an~
the use permit fit 6JO ColoTa~o) ~ Ii you choose to go ah>:?ad
",1 th thi~ hearing se-parately any .... 'ay I yo .... snc1uld le-av€ thE" pu:·lic
hearing open ppnding thp City Council action on the su~aj.vision
applicatioc, so t~at the deciSion ~akers ~AVP ttp opportu~itj
to cc~sidpr ~hether to ~SE' 2817 Co~p~r as part of the way t~E'
sUDdivisio!"j appliear:! meets thE' BE.? rE"ll-..;ire)'1,ent. If this -:'o't
is USE'C for .c. B1(R, thE'r: you mar r.avp llOTf' TeasonS to is~up 'tr.E'
var1a~ce re-quested.
TherE" is a le>tter in HiE-file-for thi::: va~io;.nce oate>d SeptE'r~It:E-r
9r 1992, from the adjoining p=cperty Q~n~r O~ivE'r P. Colvin.
This lett~r hps no hp2110g to in~ic~te ~~at applicatio~ it ~;~liE'S
to. a~d it ~a~ rpae into tt~ recaTe ~~ tt~ ~lan2inB ~o~~issic_
Qefti~g cf thp Ra~f riRt£ by t]l@ ~tll1divi~ion apflic~~t. I ho?~
z.:r. Cr:;lvir. 1_", present t:::...d,'=lY to clarify ...... }-~e-t!lfr he ',.,;rc,te tbe
letter in support of thiS vAriB~ce~ rherE is nothing in t~e
rE'cord to s'Upport that assumptior. abl::'E"r:t testiT'lony f:r-ofij r.·r. Salvin.
1 urgE' you to rpnoticp this hearing due to inad~quate notiCE',
to i~1tiate merger procpe-di~gs as previously TPqUE"stFd and as
~ou are mandated to do, to folJow CE~A by combining this a~plica~ion
~ith St. Mark's UB€" peormit and slJb<9ivision 8?plications, to li~,it
any variancE' by li~itir.g fleor area to 1344 ~quarp feet, and
to leave this hearing open until the City Council acts on the
subdjvl~ion application.
~y1l.......-=-~ttachment: l~tEl RequFEt For~
~~11 Co~pFr' (92-V-22) ;----------L':'
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Ms. Nancy Lytle
Planning Department
City of Palo Alto
250 Hamilton Avenue
P.O. Box 10250
october 9 t 1992
Palo Alto, California 94303-0862
Dear lis. Lytle:
Oliver P. Colvin
2805 Co~~r street
Palo Alto, CA 94J06
'415) 326-1397
I understand that a copy of my September 9, 1992 letter
describing OUI support of the variance application submitted by
the Plymouth Group ba.s mysteriously disappeared from the city's
file. Accordinqly, enclosed please find a duplicate original of
that lette.r.
As al~ays, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate
to contact m.e.
OPC:jd
Enclosure
very truly yours,
O<f·C~
Oliver P. Colvin
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Ms. Nancy Lytle
Planning Oepa~ent
city of Palo Alto
250 Hamilton Avenue
P.O. Box 10250
September 9 r 1992
palo Alto~ Californi3 94303-0862
Dear Ks. Lytle:
Oliver P.. Colvin
2805 cowper Street
Palo Alto, CA 94306
(415) 326-1397
We bave carefully reviewed the plans concerning the
construction of a new residence on the lot immediately adjacent
to our property located at 2805 Cowper Street. Initially we had
some concerns about the size and configuration of the proposed
new residence presented hy the builder, the Plymouth Group~
A£ter several meetings with the Plymouth Group and their
architect, they revised the plans for the new residence to
address our concerns. In particular, the new deSign is sensitive
to our privacy and sunlight rights, our paramount concerns.. We
now believe that the constru~ion of a single family home in
conformity with the final version of the plans submitte~ by L~e
Plymoutb Group would enhance the character of our neighborhood.
Accordingly, as the sole property owner adjacent to the proposed
home, we support the application of the Plymouth Group for a
zoninq variance.
We would like to submit tnis letter for public use ..
Furt,her .. ·if you hav"'!· <'\ny qu~stior;.s or cOl!Ul".ent.s, I would "",elcome
the opportunity to speak with you or your-staff.. I may be
reached at (415) 326-1397.
Very truly yours,
O· p.(?2-:-
Oliver P. Colvin
ope: jd
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Horb Borock
2731 5]rOD Stroot
Palo Alto. CA 94306
r.bru"",y 17. 1993
Palo Alto Plar.cino Commission
250 Hamilton Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94301
2817 Co~p.r street
~ar Planning Co~~iss1on:
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I oppDse tht' granting of a varian~E' for thi~ property. becou~E
th~ applicant has failed to make a~y of t~~ fi~dings re~uir~~
for a ~eriancE that arE' set !crth ir: S:ction 1S~9CLa50 of t;:1:'
Palo Alto Municipal co~e~
I urge you rE--commenc that tL.e City CC\.l.Dcil <'J',"E'Tt'urr. thE' dEcision
o~ the Zonice J.crninistl"Cl tor a!'l<:. deny the varian ce.
~.bt' site development C'ollE'trai!J.t~ for this property are the rE's:.;it
af e ~Ecision ~ade by tbe applicsr.t tc develcp this lot separai~:J
from the adjacent 14-unit singl€-fa~11y subdivision, so that
thE lot would bE €'Xf'!:lpt from the re~;.;irE'mE'nt of thE' other 1.1
lots to provia~ an in-lif'u E..:R payrnE'r..t fi.,L1121 to fivE' percent
of th~ actual sal~s price of the hcuse on the lot.
~he developer is asking $449.000 for the lot dE'vE'lQP~d ~ith
v-e.riances for he-ier.t and nUI':".bfr of h'2:bitaclE' floor:::. The EF.r.
in-lieu payment for this sales pric~, for dev~lopments of tbree
or ~ore units, would b~ ~22,450. In rE'sponse to ny comm~nts
to this ('iiect at the Zoning AdLlinistrator's hearing of :"2cEnber
3, 1992. thf developer offe~Ed a toke~ faym~nt of s~.aoo, in~tE~e
of :22.450 (or more, if thE actual sales price is more t~an
th~ ~~vFrtised 8449,000. as it ~i~t~ be after ttE' b~JE'r ~a~fs
custo~iZfd selections).
T~~ r~~lo~ale for buil~in~ a 5eccn~-s~c~y O~ th:p lJ~ i~ t~
per;;:it tho: lot to :':l.avE' a l'i:':rgl:':' b<=.c:<,:re:-c.. :::'is O-bjEC'ti'u c~~
be actievrd without ~dding gross floc:-ar~~. ~ one-~t~r~ LC~5E
on t~is lot af 3.841 s~u~re ff~t is li~ite~ ~y ~he 5it~ ccvf~aE~
of :;.;;~ to 1,344 st:.u;:;.rE fee:t. :~ot:-..ing in tl:e-appli.c2tic:c =s:..:s
for ~ore ~~~~rE fe~t a~~ ~othing fr~n th~ a;~lica~t ju~tifip~
tr.E need Ie:' worE' 6-.1UE.r€-fE'e:t. If t:,e-applicar.t n€-€'cs thE SES"Cr1C
E'tory to create a largEr backyard. tr.en you can lir.".it th'E' hc~s€'
to '.344 s~uare fPEt (the amount it could ~ev. with one !tory),
but allow that a~ount of floor area to be distributed over two
floo~s instead of one.
The future occupa~ts of the hOUSE on this lot don't neee a
largEr r~ar yard to escape fro~ the cro~es et Hoover park! a5
alleged by tr.:€ applicar.t. Hocver FarE .,:il1 b€' just as 'far frOli.
the backyard, r€'gardl~~s of how dpep thf backyard js, bE'CaU~E
it is thE' house's sidE' prope-rty linE' that abuts thp park.
---continue-d on pag~ 2---
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2817 co"'pe-r strf'E't
2.bruary 17, 1993
Feg. Th'O
1. Ther~ are npitper excpptio~al E£r pxtracrcinary circunstanc~s
or co~ditions applicabl~ to the prop~rty. The ~arrow width and
small site area cannot be ~sed to satisfy this findi~g, bp~aue~
they are thE' conditions that d~fine the lot as a substa~dard lot.
I! the de£inition of a 5ubstand~rd lot ca~ be us~d to m~~t tlji~
findi~g, th~n all substandard lots ~ould mf~t this finding.
The depth of the backyard do€' s not cha.nge thE' proximl ty of the
backyard to ROOYPI' :Park~ ThE" current asphalt d:riv€'way will
be replacE'd by thE' house, whether it is OTJe story or t\l{O storiE'S.
ThE' location of this lot next to th~ new 14-u~it subdivision
hes nothing to do .... ith mE'eting thiE' finding.
2. ~h~ graeting of the application is not necessary for th~
pr~servation or enjaym~nt of a s~bstant1al prcperty right of
the B'pplicant. and is !!2.! nE'cE'ssary to :pr~\~E'nt unr~asc~a'ble
prop!'rty loss or unnecE'ssary harC!ship. The' developer needs
to' sakE' a choicE' betwl?en TT,aximiziilg ttE sizE' of a onE--story
house a~d ~aximizing the us&tl~ cp~~ spac~. Every efvElc;e~
on E'w~ry Fi;;~ la"t ::-:,..::::"C r7:.~j:e thi~ c?"~cic~. ?r,::vid1nc; f! tr~:rl;:it:.-::'l
tEt~fpn the new 14-~~it su~div15iDn ~nd th~ Existing lower-?ca!p
neightorhood on the Co~p~r Street ~lock fac. has nothing tQ
do with ~~E'tir.g tr.is finaiag. 7~e fact that existing hO~:::E'E
on stzndard lots havp two stories. or that other k~uses or
standc:;rd 101:5 :mieht build a se cone story l:~s notting :0 co · .. ti!h
meeting this findi~g for a substan~are lot.
3. The gra~ting of this application will be d~trimental O~
injurio<.ls to pro~E'rty ace improvE'r'ler."ts in the Tie.ini"ty an~. "'ill
be aetrir:JeTI"t-c.l 'to the pu'olic health, ~~fE'tYt general '-,elf.=.r~
and convEfiience, as described in t~E t€'stimocv and pEtit!o~
of t:'1€ ati"O~al=:r:.t Dour; Cox E!Je ot!·.~r !jeigl:"t·ors·. 7he vie·.;£ o~
one neig~~or (ev~~ ths~gh the closest nEighbor) d,es not can~e:
tr.e CVoE'I'""..".·he:!.lUi.;_.::; ViE· ... -.s 0: c;:}-.t"r r€'igr::·c:rs. T!":.€ r.DLl.S€-{_;?:':; t.e-Et"_
~~:~~~:6b~~ ~~~if!~c~~~ ~~~d~E~~S~~~ !~~~~~~~ ~~~~: a~h~s~~:~~
floo: arES of 1 7~E S1~Rre fEEt (or 1,E2~ s~uare feet) 15 ~
:.::::-ge, looi7.ine: hous-€ r~la""ivi!: ~o ~iZE c: thE lot. Tl:e :.:c;;:':'..:.·:.
of ::'e-co:Jc s"tory ·,":trlc:.-.... ~ 2::C tr.E" S:..l::;/:::-;-:a:E ~tUGy .. o-.;.lC: :,E :r::-~l(;2:::t
:::·r 6: O:")E ~tory ho"W.~E'.
2. If you appr0vE the V&~iDn~e :0= hEight a~d habitabJ~ ~:oor5,
li::lit the gross ~loor 3.!'€'a to 1 t3~4 ~;·.lGrE feet.
3. If yoc approvE thE v~riancE aD' ifel ~orE' floor ~=Ea i5
pfr~1tted, li~it thE floar ar~a tc_!,536 ~~uarE ~fet~(~ie-~ay
bet'N'ee-T1 1,344 and 1,728}(35~ arid ":;l,.l of S~I..E" area) .e.~, the
Zoning .Aftmini~trator .in~truct.t?,~ thE' c!rvelcper Cf. ~-cver;_"t(>::-6.
If you allow more-thar;. 1,34.1 s·l1..la re' f~et, require a Ei·:?" p2./~_e:1t
of 5~ of thE' sal€' price.
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ZDNING ADMIHISTkATCR HEARING
Kinu! •• of October I. 1992
Nancy Lytle: 2811 Cowper Street: This is an appl1catiQo f~r a variance for
the location and construction of i new two-story single-family residence with
• total height of 2S 1/2 fe~t on I substandard lot where a 11·foot maximum
height and single 5t~ry limit art otherwise required. The environmertal
assessaent is a exempt frem the provision of the CaltfGr~1a Environmental
Quality Act and the property 'one district 'R-\'_ I. the applicant .r.,.ntl
Doug Haney: ]616 Shoreline Boulevard, Mountain View, CA., speaking for the
applic.ant. What 1 Uke to do. if I can, is !.Ise tne (I't'erbead to deal with a
couple of points that's of (avar.
Nancy lytle: Absolutely.
Doug H3nf!Y: And] a1 so would 1 j ke to supply the 3rt; st I s rEndering of a viC!w
of the ho~se from the park to ~elp in some of the discussion items. The
Plymg~th Group was told from the very first meeting with indi~;duals from the
City that it was imperative that we speak to the neighbors. On t~o dlfferer.t
occasions we held meetings ..,ittl neighbors 'Where neighbors were inV-ited to
come, specifically. Most specificilly, to speak to the adjacent neighbor.
The key for us was t~ find I house that wDuld fit within the neighborhood. As
you are aware we are &lso submitting for the 14. What happen initially was
tnere were I nueber of comments made about our plans. And we have or.e
neighbor who ~a~ ! h~ existing, and that is Hr. Ol1.er Colvi~ 'a~ point out
is clearly right tnere. Early on Mr. Colvin didn't disagree with what we WEre
~anting to accomplish and since then we ~t witk him on probably four
diff~rent occasions. If I understand, you have been given a copy of his
letter in support of the .rticle. I would like to read it if you haven't one.
Nancy lytle: We don't have a copy.
Joe Colonna.: We never received it.
Doug Haney: He sent one tnat he mailed t~ the City. I ha~e a copy that I
'llrPill b-e happy to give to you. It's a one~paragraph letter, but let me read
tt. ·Cear Ms. lytle; We have careful~y reviewed the p1ans concerning tnE
c.onstruction of a new resid€nce on the lot immediately adjacent to our
property located at 2805 Cowper Stre.t (which i, ~is addres.). Initially ••
had some concerns about the size and configuration of the proposed new
residence prfsented by t~e builder The Plymouth Group. After several meetings
.ith The Plymouth Group and their architect, tney re~ised the plans for the
new residence to address our concerns. In partic~iar the new design ;s
5ensiti~e to our privacy and sunlight rights, nur para~unt concerns. We now
believe tJ\at the construction of the iingle·faml1y home in conformity with the
final version wtth the plans submitted by The Plymouth GrQup WQ~ld enhance tke
character of our neighborhood. Accordingly, as the sole property owner
adjacent to the praposed home, we support the application of The Plymouth
Group for zDn1ng variance, ~ wou1d like to submit this letter for public
use.~ Further if you have any questions and/or comments, h! has his phDne
nu.nb-tr here.
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lhat was tr.e ccmments made by Mr. Colvin. I'm not going to deal with th~ home
in ~articular~ I am ~oin~ to ask my ~T~hitect whQ designed it to deal with
that. But I do ha'le some ethel' items that! wanted to foc\.ls on. What lIIe have
shown is not only the 300 foot diameter from our site l which is marked by a
star, we kind of did two different tnings. We looked up ar:d down ttH! Cowper
corridor is we c&11ed it and _T.at we ccnsidered trying to understand hQ~ this
home would fit into the neighborhood. What -llie found interestingly EMug!1, is
whether you go dc»m the Cowper cor-ridor and notice Dr if you take in t.he
genersl aret there are approximately o'1e·third of the lots (. little over a
third Df th~ lots) hJ.~e a1read), beer, cO!i'.ierte(j t'JIo-story homes and many of
t~em in the last three to four years. So our feeling was that the area was
turning definitely a two~sto~y neighborhood and there were a namber of people
we spoke to who hav~ plans or want t~ do it aiso. For that reason we felt
that we w~re definitely focused torre~tly tD go to two-story and our arch1tect
can de.' with t~at. Our lot has only one adjacent nei;hbor, we ha'!e his
campl ete agreement en what we ar-a try; ng t~ do here. As you know we bo~der Clr.
tne park an1 ~e a1so border on the property behind U~ and the c~urth a~d their
delegatp.s ourse1ves obviously are for a two-sto-ry 'home being behind it, and we
think tn.at is important. I am 901"9 to ask. baSically, bo pec;ple-to speak. [
asked Mr. Roger Kohler who has designed the home, wh~ deals with the pictu~e
of the property, and explain why we drew the t,oL!se tr,e way 'We did and hOIli it
fits in with Hr. Colwin's desire. And asked Mr. Trailor to address, he has
spo~e to many people who are int~rested in buy!ng a home in this area and is
also relocating. He focuses more on yards, etc_
My Damg i$ Roggr Kohler, 378 Cambridge AyenuE. I am the architect for this
particular project. Th~ first house we designe~ for this lot had three
bedroom and two bathrooms on the second floor. It allowed far a very large
rear yard which. ['ve aiways fe.lt WilS \'ery importa.nt to hive a lot of outd.oor
usable space. But in meeting with the owners next door~ we f~und out that
presented too great !)f a two-story house running adjacent to them. So we toolc.
all tne bedrooms off tne upstairs and brought their down to the lower floor
which shrunk. the reu yard I 1ittle bit, but it 11so pr~sel'1ts mc,\"'~ of 1 ane
story pcrtion (thiS is cr;e·storj port~o!'1). It is more cOJ11;:,at1bTE wittl the
rear-end of the neighbors ~ouse. Some of the porti~ns of the house or. the
second floor ~ere only covering up about 28% of tne lot co~erag2 instead of
3S~. Which in my mind is an advantage because I happen to prefer more Dpen
s.pice Dn the ground rather thin covering it up. I prefer the larger open
spaces around. We have minimum or no windows facing the adjacent neighbors.
We have lowered the plate height a10n9 the neighbor's line partly because of
the daylight plane but in part because it is adjacent to the ne1ghbor. We
have opened up the house to the park. with lots of Windows laoldng out to the
green space and the tennis courts of t~e park. We put some higher windows in
the family room and living roo~ to let the light in so that the people can see
the tall Redwood trees from inside. We have 9iven the house a 10t of va~iety;
a dormer leak which I think would fit well with the neighbor. One tr!ing that
J found is that if we were to go to iii. full one-story house, that means that
the length, we would probab1y go to a maximlim of 35'X. 10t co .... erage which would
increase the length of the house, ~hich would a1so mean from the neighbDr's
back yard, he is going to ha~e iii. one-story house which according to the zoning
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ordirlanc:e could be is nigh is 16 fcot dayl igM plane-going a1] the WiY (UJt to
20 feet from tne rear yard Dr you can ellen go to 14 het because you could
pr'Q.trud~ In f:xtri I) feet. Sa if!. other o.:QT'ds, this t'I<luse cculd .;;.c.tua.lly c.ome
a]l the WlY down to here as a one·story house. Here in fact it might have to
do tnat because yot! would prE-fer to open up the house to the park. ratner t.han
the neigh~r. J think this is ., better solution f~r tn{s house next door and
it fits .$1' .ith tht park. I thin~ th~t ~e have done I lot of interest1ng
tnings with donners. As I said, fr~m the park, so when you are in the park
this house is 9~i~g to Took very ple~sint and it wi~l be a nice thing to Took
at. One thlng that Ooug Haney did not polnt out wnich I drove by the sight
yest~rday. If you tonti~u~ $Guth on Co_per there are tkree, four, prcb.bly
five of the iargest homes, single-story ho~s, three are right one after the
other after you have passed tne park. Obvio~sly ~one of those homes could be
buil t today. So tn i 5 1 sane i ghborhood with a lot of two-story homes. I
think that the house ne~t door, the Colvin's site~ will e~entuilly beca.me a
two-story lot and r think .lmost .11 of those nou,., in th.t neignborhood will
become two-stGries. We de t~o·story homes about second floor additions about
one or two a mont~.
Nancy Lytle: Was the ov~rheid showing the two-story nouses?
DQug Haney; Yes. Showing the two-story houses in the specific area, I did
not go down farther. Obviously, where Mr. Kohler 15 taiKlng about is this
way.
Roger Kohler: Yes right here, there are one, two. three homes that are built
to the aa~imUil. ] don't even thirlk that they we-,re built under tile interil'l
regulatiD~. They are very very large. Then rignt after that is a church,
which is two and one half story high if not bigger" Down here, on! house off
t~e corner of lama Werde and Cowper is i brand n!w t~o-story home. There ire
• lot of thea.
paY9 Hangy: Tne ratio alan; Cowper, we went all the way back to Oregon
Expressway and starting with the tw~ houses rig~t next to Oregcn Expressway
all the way down, ~e found that Cowper has been delole1oped, not into the back
yards, strictly, I guess because of the traffic. peop1e have chosen to have as
much back yard as they can. We see a number of hcus~s that have been added on
to. I just wanted to show not only the specific 300 feet but ju,t • little
bit farther to kind of Q!t the impact of th~ area of the Cowper corridor for
tne property in question.
Nan~y lytle: Maybe Roger should answer this. Could yQ~ ~escribe to me ~hat
is right on the park s1de of this property? What kind of public use and
activity takes plac~?
BR9tr KQhler: Risht no~ I can tell you exactlY. ~ight he~e is l paved area
which h~5 some large 8 X B Redwood bol1ards which peop1e actua1ly mov~ and
pull back and park here. Ther~ are i group of Redwood trees right here.
Tennis courts right here. This is an open field for soccer, and on this side
of the pa~l oyey here is the litt1e le~9ue baseball fitld. This part i~ the
infant play area. So right immediately adjacent here, is actually asphalt.
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";onCl lytle: Does 'it serve as a travel corr-idor?
Roger K.,hlU: we11 H just COlM!S to a st:)P. you don't g~ anYliherE' on them.
Only people w~o Know t~at you can pick up the Redwood past park in there.
did not know that until last week. The netghbcrs in some of the me~tln9s
we've held !n conju~ction with this project haye expressed hope that the City
W<luld someday allow a parking lot in that area since it faces the park.
Hancy Lytle: ~Y question is how ha$ this hDU~~ been designed to deal vith the
issue of privacy? Homes that ha~e oper.1ngs on public spaces like that create
a desire to' bring in some sort Df privicy by design1ns out in that direction.
I don't know tnat you haYe • lot of cooice franxly. but designing it cut in
tnat d1reetion can create a re~l conflict with the privacy tf the homeowner.
Roger Kghler: Well, there is a small bedroom in the fr~nt on t~e first f100r
wh1c~ has & window ir. the corner. There is an entry, there is tne kitchen
which has a sGall window facing the park. Then there is the li~ing room which
has some large windows~ but a high one up aboye. ThE main views from the
rooms will be out to the bac~. il-.e high windows really were added so YOu can
see the Redwood tr~es that art right here. Also the setbaCK on that side of
the house is. gre~ter and] think it's a1most 7 feet. It steps back so that
the setbaCK allows for some greater planting liong thls area here. This
setback is more than this setback. There is only this area here w~ich ;s
really the ciosest and this is a small bedroom and this is the ~itchen area.
We reany, jn a skinny lot like this you really don't have much choice, and if
this. ho~se was a one-story it would be even worse because you would probably
have. long corridor down tn~ middle or on either side and you would have to
orient tne hous~ to one side ~f the let or the other.
Nancy L,·tltj; [can almost predict an apPOIntment with the resident of tnis
home six 1It011ths after it's buiit, coming in to see me and say1ng, ·we feel
like we live in a fish bowl. This is my daughter's bedroom~ she can't even
walk around. We have to Keep our drapes closeo during .11 times of the d~y or
people walk by our lot peering in. 1 feel a horrible sense Qf lack of
security .•
Roger KD~'!r: What's the point1
Hancy Lytle: My concern is whit is going to be the solution for this p~~perty
or..ller?
Boger Kohler: Ycu are allowed i i-foot fence pretty much, aren't you?
Nancy bot'..§:: 50 you ire gcing to put a 7-foot fence along the front of this
house?
ooyg Hiney: l'm sorry. Hancy. there is already a long fence bet~een the park
an.d this. house, there is already a 7-foot fence with ivy growing u.p it now.
Nancy Lytle: I hear that openness concept, in certain situatlons, work
be.ut1ful1y. but I suspect tn.t the deslr. 1s going to be tne opposite.
2'811CO ....... OCT
R2Qer Kpbler: You ~ln like ~hat, li~e an e·foot fence, i lO·f~ot fence? ls
that what you're Isking?
Hincy Lytle: If you put a 7·foot high f~n<:.e on this prcperty 1 in!, how Il'HJch
spac$ does it need and ~at is the impact?
Boger kQhje~; It's a typical si~gle-family house. The fact is that it's
better than most single-fa~11y names.
Honey Lytle: Is thls tile front of the home?
Boger Kobler: Ho. This;s the fr~nt h~re. This is the park.
Nancy Lytle: Where is the front door Ind where is the side?
Roger XQ~: Front door is right hert.
Hiney lytle: So this is tht front door entrance to tne house, thi~ is the
dining room, ~;tchen, living room window. So you are g01ng to be looking out
of tho 1 i vi og room?
Boger Kphler: Vou are going to be looking out the back doors where the big
WT"dows are to the back yard.
Hanty Lytle: All of these rooms essentially; this l~ the front elevation of
the nouse even though it is not consider the front of the nouse because there
is no doer.
Doug Hzney~ Well we can't take windows out, Nancy.
Roo@r Kohler; I don't understand why is this any different thin a town house
or' hilndreds of sfngle·family homes. Eichler homes are e-xactly the same way.
Nancv lytle: Ti'le ilnly difference is what you ha.ve Dn the other side a wery
well USEd public piec'l' of property. My ccncern is tnat you ha"/en't d::::signed
this with the publit: in mind. If the fence gees up which I s,uspect, yo,ui'"
right, that is the sa1ution, tney ue going tc haVE very little space in here
to havo any kind of yord.
~Kohltr: We ha~e a1most e feet there, we h~ve 6 feet tnere. we have 7
feet t"ere, we have again have 8 feet, we have 2 feet more than ","hat's
required. Tno other thing is the house ~ill be there and the park will be
there. There aren't 901ng to be any surprises. The park isn't suddenly
appearing and tne t"ose people ire going to buy tllis heuse, ond my gosh, the
parle. is put there. I Cin see people will buy this because the pa~k is r,C!xt
door and they want to look at the parle I think there are those set of pe~ple
ind there are other people ~ho want extreme privacy who probably would not buy
thts lot. Whether one-star,)" or two-story it going to be the same set of
hardship.
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paug Haney: C~e of t~e q~fstions tnat you askEd, if ~e d;d on!-story, WE
liter.lly have to build out aod actuolly have less room on the side but h,ve
1',0 wtndw5 then on the first floor. By havi!"1g the-master bedroom and' things
like that, with jnsu1at1on etc'J you are able ta g!t the light up above. Yo~
can see, we attually put in the 1ivi~9 room/family ro'm Ir!i the dormer there
50 that l~ght, tn!j cou1d see up to the top of the Redwood J and light wit~
curtains shut. The theory bein9, thE ~iin living Irea has the upper windo~
right here s~ that y~u can iive in the house J have the windows sh~t. have the
curt~ins shut, but be able to ha~e light in the morning. Our th~ory, we lik~
to put a lot of w1ndows int3 a home because you can always close the curtain.
]f you don't have a window, you can't make one. So we like light and airy
homes ind this is a narrow ~ome, so we literally wanted to naYe ~1nd~ws. lf
YGU look at th! ~ortn, soutn. east, west exposure, the mor~ing sun all the way
to thro~gb the late afternoon comes from the neighboring side. We minimized
the wfndow~ so yQ~ don't nive tne western ~un coming into tne house
Nancy Lytle: So the answer is that you ant1cipate that a fenc~ will go up any
Wi:Y?
Roger Kohler: l'm n~t sure. If 1 bought that, I might put a fence aft~r the
entry or even as fir as back ~ere. Eut I would probably put a 4 footer or a
5~root fence here~ I'm not sure if I would put a high fence.
Oqua Haney: W! spent a lot of time speaiing ~1th Mr. Colvin. Right now other
than hiV1~g tnis lot he is open to the park. He does not have a problem with
it. H ••••• it as positive. W. talked through the whol. thing. the idea was
t, bring the bulk f~rward so no twc-story element was in his back yard, which
is s~th1ng t~at he sugge!ted t~at we deal with. After he got done, he had a
lot of ~nput because he lives next to the park. We had four me~tings with
him, (~any. many ~ours) and ne is eXCited about this horne, he not only wasr't
ne9ltTv~ ~t was actually posltive abo~t the property and all of tn! !hings we
were d.o1ng for it. Because we wanted to know, since he had t{! 1 iYe next to
it, -how do you fee1 Hving next to the parK. you'V! been there a number of
years~ ett~· So we felt really good about tnis solut~on.
Roger Kohler: I wouid 1 ike to a.dd a personal note-that tho; reason t~is
ordinance is in here ~s that there was a developer t~ying to bUl1~ l house,
behind my house on a (1ag let thot was 4,000 square feet in size. Tnere was
ip.otn!r one on Baron Park happening at the same time in the early eighties.
At that time therE were no regulations as to two-story homes on a substandard
lot. or full fl.g lot.. At tne time it was ~e<ided that there ought to be at
1east i check so that the neighbors can have an input. Tbis was pOinted out in
one of our first meetings with staff, that wasn't that you couldn't do two~
story ~omes but the ideas was that to make sure that tne neighbors had input
and that it was OKiY witn them and what you were doing wasn't excessive. As
remember as W! went through thes! meetings in the early eighties that ,it was
very volatile. He wanted a 6-foot front yard and to cover up 80% of t~e jot
and it was major, major visions and things. So what we have done was ~ork
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wah the ne!ghbor and try til come :Jp w1U a cC!mbination that gives a. house
tf\at could re311y be lived 10 as three bedrooms, has iii nlc.p. re.ar yard .and that
the neighbor .1so ilccept.$. It will actually increase the value of h1i house
to have a nice ~~use next doo~~
Niner Lytle: Thank you. An~one &lse here to spea~ on this 1tem?
Ii. Tra,llgr, 310 T@nnyson, Palo Alto, !.'I(\ spu.kirl9 as ~ PF.TSCrt who'.s been in
ttle rea' estate brokeTige business ner:a for 20 years. ! wDu1d lik.e to say
simply th.t oyoTWhelmlngly people support two-story structures on sm.ll lots
ir. order to give them more open spac!, yard space ir. the back cf th~ir
property. particularly In their yard. if there is • choice people make
between I small hou!e and building up to tne ~aximum, having a very limited
back yard compared to the two-story house ~here they can have a little more
~cuse and open up th~ back yard, I'm not aware of anyone who would go the
~t~~r W!y. From. field stand point to the q~nera' pub1;c. it seems t~ me
that the suggested plar is the one that is most desirable.
Nancy lytle; Thank you. Anyone eise?
paye Rpss: I'll be short before tne Dnslaught begins. I lfve across the
street. My name is Dave "gSSt 2712 Ccwper Street~ in a single-story h~me next
door to a two-story home. I came out to s~e this design to see if it's
something that r c~uld support. We are on~ of the people who are 100kinq to
remodel a1though nobody asked us t~is questio~, but we are planning also ~n
adding I second story to our house. r know that Nancy and J discussed it. I
agree that the neighborhood lS headed in that direction an~ J think that it's
fine.
twl.&y Lvtle: tan you point on the ntap where you live i,. re1at1ons~ip to this
property?
D?v@ Boss: Yes, right there. T~at one right there. There;s a two-story
ho~se next tD ~S. That's the one with the white picket fence in front, it's
old-fashion sort of Victorian-sty1e cottage.
Nancy lytle: Anybody else :n yOljr neighborhood who is taHing additicn, two
story additions?
pave Ross~ Not that I know. Hot on the immediate street, no.
Nancy Lytle; Thank yo~.
Dawe BQss: In fact, I like this design. I think it will enhance the
neighborhood. It's In unattractive lot right now, it's open but I feel
satisfied with amount of open space that's availab1e at the park right now.
We want to ~o up for two primary reasons: one is in D~der not to use ~p more
of our yard~ The other one is that one of our thre! bedrooms is right gn the
stre""t now with a big windoll that op.ens right up to the str~et. It's quite
~oisy and is kind of a fish bowl and J think that as ou~ thildren age, they
will appreciate the additiona1 privacy of being able to be upstairs in the
4'81 7CO'Wf'.OCT
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bedroom ind n~t be right on tne street. 1 ~ill a150 ft~l a~ additional sens!
of sec~rity and ~rlvacy with some af those most private ro~ms being up off the
grot.ind floor. 1 .agree thilt a two-story desigr. has an opp~rtunity to provide
IIOre pr~\ilac)' in th1s type of setting than a one .. stor,)' horne 1 ik.e glven they
both will be fJ(ing right off the park. That particular cnrner of the par( is
not real i~tensfvely used 1h t~e way that the soccer field {down towards the
bacK) InC' t!1e 1 itt1e-league fi~ld are. It's most1y people walking back and
fort~~ Occisfonally, s~~one wll1 set-up i vol1!ybal1 net but it is on the
ot~er side of t~. Redwood tree,. Th.t little .,ph.lt piece that people speke
about is really a service access for the recreational department when they
need to come 1M mow the lawns or whatever needs to be done on the site t~ere,
they can pull ~ truck in through there. Sometimes it does get used for access
to tne soccer field and th~ little league field.
Nancy Lytle: But it's ~ort of i lo~ding area? rt's not a cut·tnrough for
pedestrians or thDrough fire?
Dave Ross: Not f!ally, I don't find it to be~ I ~alk ever to the park quite ~
bit. That little pi.ce of asphalt is maybe 16-feet wide (j,,,t guessing).
Nancy lytle: How do you get in the park when you walk over there?
pave Rpss: 1 walk down my side of the street on the sidewalk, cross at the
corner, walk past tnat little strip of asphalt. Usuall/~ we are headed
towards the enfant/toddler area anyway. and sort of just contin~e along there,
event~al11 get on to the grass, and over to the sand box. In my experience (I
spend a faT amount of time in the pilrk) I don't see a lot of i"tensive
pedestrian use right along the chatr.·link fence there. There's SOm€, sure
particularly when there is a let of people parked on the street to play soccer
or little league. But that is suc~ a huge impact anyway that there is poo
Saturday or Sunday morning. ~ere there i1 soccer or littTe l!igye. the entire
neighborhood for blocks around gets packed with cars or people walkin~ from
everywhi!re. It's 1; ke a big biZlrr~ or I flea marKe-t. When you have bDth of
tt!pm gOing H's really amazing. The use is so intenSive that ei,'eorybody that
lives ~;t;.hin a coup1e of blocks of the p.ark. feels lii:;e they're in iI fish-bowl.
I t,ave had people park 1;' my driveway to go play socc€r or park in front of it
and star.d in front of it and have conferences. So I dcn't see that as being
any different from this house tnar. it is eyen f~r my house ar th.ose directly
icross the street. We're all sort of in fish-bowls there but we all knew that
when we bought our houses there.
Hancv lytle: Do you thinlr. that the or,1y escape they are going to halie is to
put a fenci up essentta11y along the sides there?
Dave Ross: I agree. I think that is probably true whether it's one-story or
two-story. In this case, tl1e escape is to go upstairs. or in the back part of
the ~ouse somewhere. l'm not sure that proble~ is addressed by it being
either a one·story or a two-story ho~se. So, to the extent that this i~ an
app1lcation tD bUild two·story where an one-story is normally being allowed, I
don't see that as a turning factor.
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Maney lytle: You said that the two-story may ;ive you more f1ex1bility in
,ite pl.nnfn; to find the .scape?
~~~!-!: ~~S. r wculd support it for that reas{)n. i do~'t find Jny
n there O~ the second story.
HaDCY lytlr: Anyone else who would like to speik ~n this site?
My name Qoug 'ox, 41 live It 5 el Dorado Avenue.
~ancy lytle: Can you show me your property ~n this map p1ease.
0049 [OX: Sure. We ha~e I petition to ~ubm;t and I can point cut where all
of the petItioners live it t~e appropriate time. i live in this one here.
which is a new t~o·story house designed in March 'aa fu11y compliant with
standards. But, [ first heard aboyt this at a meeting that was really for the
plilnned subdfvisiorl t which WE: halle been meeting for about eight years. ! was
yery pleased to rec.eive i wire that announced it. Let me qtlote from UU! first
letter: -The Plymo~th Gr~up intends to build under the R-l zoning code where
City Shndord Streets, City STANDARD LOTS and City SrAlmAP.o HOUSES,' Tllis
house was briefly mentioned at that meeting. but wasn't the intent of the
Reeting. So I take ex~eption that there has not been two public ~etings to
coyer this. I did not go to the second meeting that The Pl~uth Group had,
so J don't know what was discussed. But it WIS certainly not the intent of
the persoh to discuss this nouse. When I first saw the desig~ at that timE I
objected to both the architect and de~e'opers and said that I would be a
opposed t~ 1t. They haye not ~ad any other ~i$cussion ~ith me since then.
The last three nights! 'Ye walked the neighborhood and talked to many of the
peo~le wit~in five or six houses of the park. 1 have a petition ~;th ten
people signing it all within thr~e or four houses of this lot that are
objetting to .•. J'l1 read it; ·W.e the unders.ign request that r,~ ~aT1ances
be granted for 2817 Cowper Street.-I would li~e to submit that now. Woujd
you 1 ike the arigir.a1 0)" just atopy?
Nanq Iytl",: Original, 1 think wOIJ1d be tot:tter.
DQug (ox: That will stay in the file fold~~?
NlInq lytle: Yes.
Qoug Cox: Joe afld Pat live here. It's i bo-story house. It' s on a shndard
lot. It's buiit lIIell within code. Jt's iI ver~ attract'lve-lookin9 hoose.
It's somewhat differ~nt from the other homes. They didn't design it, but the,
w~re Quite effective. This is Joe and Pat's, this is Connie and Su~anrs, they
also object. Myse1f and my wife object. Kimberly was r.ot in fa~or of it, but
it's really owned by her husband or by her son who lives in Menlo Park. r
thought he would be ~ere but he isn't. He was somewhat opposed to it. These
people are opposed to it but they wanted to see tne deSign before they
committed t~emselyes. Then I think I have two other people here, I forgot
which exaet address as I discussed it all with them. They were also ~pposed
to it, most1y 011 the basis of the sec.ond floor. It tak€s quite a long time to
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discuss t'is wit, peopl. w,,, .explaining it. Th.y got t'e flyer which was.
little oisl •• ding. It is quit. an inyest .. nt of t;~ to try to p.n the
nei;hborhood to see what people thinK about. Some people declin€d. There
were number ~f renters and they didn't t~ink they ~ad the r1ght to sign it~
and of course they do have a right. I looked up the ordinance and they
certif~lJ do. They didn't feel they d1d. This particular house had just sold
and the peGple who were livin9 there art building a house in Los Altos and
their partnts aTe the actual owners of the e~tate. S~ there ~as i lot of
difficulty obtaining ten s.fgnature-s. r ttt1nk I could have obtained more if I
had more time. Troese represent homes very close to the property wnich th!y
all bell&v! wDuld be detrimental to. the neighborhood and their enjoyment out
of it. Some ire Quite significantly affected by the vie~. The other comments
which follo. are my own comments. I object t~ a number of things. The first
one is t~e notices that were sent cut refer to a flag 1ot. This was very
confusing to people becau$e it is i substanddrd lot, not i f1ag lot. These
here didn't even understand that it was~lt that lot, since there1s nothing
thtre now but a chain-link fence, they didn't understand that. So it was
confusing to them even to .convince them something was really happening. r
think it could have been h!tter; both the legal notices were incorrect, ~he
spreld in the newspaper and all of the notices legal were incorrect. The
locatfo!l itself is highly visfb1e. As. YDU pointed out, this corridor. the il
~ corridor. the Cowper corridor 1S the main route for peeple bringing
thei!"' dog's to the park. ] ha'te to clean my sidewalk repeatedly. I know ho'll
~any dogs go by th!re. They all enter at that corner of the park. So it 1S a
heavily traveled corridor. A reply to ~ancyrs earlier question about whether
it wasn't. Jt was fElt tnat it wasn't. but it is. Thii is the entry to the
pirk, peop1e walk their dogs but to the griSs and it is heavily used. The
tennis courts are highlY ~;sib1e fro~ any second floQr, tnere too will spoil
their view. So it is I very hi9hly visible location to the whole parkj all of
these p.~ple will be affected by this. Along ,n between here would be
obsc\Jred by others but it is extreJrely visible. I would find it very h~ghly
impacted. It's also substandard' by ill larg-e margin. Ttairty feet frontage
instead of SO feet ;s an extre~~ de~iation frem the ordinance which wa$ passed
in '89 to try to guard against these thlngs. His not ask-lng for s.mall
exceptions, it's asking for ~ugh exceptions. I don't nave th! actual let
area, but I think it must be listed 35 60% of the 4,980 squa~E feet whfch is
Ili n i rna 1 .
Nancv LytlE: It's 3,841 square feet.
Dovg (gx: So it's 1,100 square feet, aimost a third of It's actual size Tess
than standard. It does clear1y lower the standa.rds for the irrrnediate
neighborhood and it impacts me. I made i finanCial cemmitment. ti~~, energy,
making cOo1nections t the psychtllogical, fr-iends arid acti ... ities (sporting
neighborhood associ ation); t,hi s is. a major impact. r al so think what's being
done is sp~culatiye financial development and r den't think that is the worst
deviation fr~ the ordinances of the City. I would be mucn mare in favor if
it was a family that was ~urrently 1iv;ng there and the family ~as growing and
wanted to add some bedrooms upstairs. I woul<:l be much more sympa.thetic. But
if it fs just pure financiil speculation, I ilm Quite oppose to it. It affects
my view. that's another objection I have, which is detrimental to my enjoyment
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of the pirk. It will definitely block my ~ie~ of the tree t~at were discussed
aJld the greener,)' and stuff. Also, Joe-and Pat were quite c(1ncerned too
because it reilly affects them !ven more. The SCi'! of the seco~d floor,
thf!re is I lot of dis.cus51on about sca1e and the comprehens;v.e plan. That is
why these oroinlnces for substandard lets were pass~d because it creates a
very till structure t~at invades the privacy of the passe~bys. Not on1y does
it conC!"M1 the occupants ·hut it is iii big impact of i1 very dennite1y used uea
of the park. So ( have to disagree ~itn that. 1t is gcing t~ be kind of
~nt1~idlting t~ ~alk along here ind have i twO·stOTY structure right tnere+
Tnere used to be a c~mm"nlty building here in the old Hoo'er Scnool and th.t
was the lait thing t~at was torn down. We had a lot of "!ighbarhood meetings
there before it disappeared and thi s road rema1n!d. It is P"Iot lJsed as a
service road by the park. People from ~afntena~ce general1) park down ~y the
p1lY arel because they can park underneit~ the trees and keep the cars cool.
It is sometimes people that play baseball here, pullout th. posts and park
the~r cars there. "I'm not sure now 1 egal tMat is. 1 wouid just prefer the
road t t~e I~phalt went away and plant some more grass so that we can get more
enj~yment uut Qf the park. It's just the remanent of the o1d uses of it and]
thlnk event~al1y will be handled and go away $0 that it doesn1t alter any
permane~t buffer in any s~nse of the word.
Re-garding thi! he1ght and mass of 1;~e butTding. These houses OYEr here are to
be rebuilt. They will be second floor. They are all standard_ As I said I
have no <lbjections _·ittl those-. I tnink that Roger is a good. architect.
usually. But these are the 20-foot setback and their size, their scale, their
maSS is going to be well set back from the park. This is li'e a 6-foot side
yard with almost straight up. so I hue no idea ho-w: much: the day1 ight zone is
violated but it is gOing to be extremely close to ~ark users and it wtll be
extremely detrimental for enjoyment to hiYe th1S so clese to the park~ These
are set we'1 bac~, So again. it's a ve~y nigh ~~aet lGcation. I guess 1t
meets t~e fact that this is heavily used. All old people that come from Alma
down here with their dogs, they all enter through here. The w,ole
neighborhood enters throu~h there. The only other natura1 break in tne
Cowper/Kipling, this is. Mat~der~ Creek if this is matted earth but the on11
nu:t street dOIiffl is loma Verde. So this is the rlatura1 corridor for the
e~tire stretch all the ~4Y to there, a11 the way to Oregon. All the way do~n
to loma Verde. That Is how they get to the park. ~any, many dogs go by and
peoplej it's really enjoy!d. A two~story house there is inconsistent with the
neighborhood. There are I lot of red dots. (two-story houses) I'm sure
there's fIOre coming and I'm sure they will be compliant witt. the standard law
ordinances because I think it's hard t~ get a variance. and it should be hard
to get a __ ariance. ] think it should t>i! re.aliy, reany. rea.lly looked at.
This house here t~at shows a second floor is a very sma.ll old addition on tap.
It's like a one bedroom addition. It is set in or. both sides of the wall and
sits way, way back of the propertJ. So It is a very inconspicuous second
floor. Tne rest of this whole street, if you look at it from any yantage
pOint from this side of Cowper is all one floor. So it's inconsistent with
that. I think that it's kind of incorrect to justify something that we have
ordinances against on the specu1at\on that others will be ~econd floor
eventually, mayt. that's tru, but it still does not justify the fact that it
is a substandard lot. There are same other ways that it is inconsistent ~ith
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the architecture i~ the ,rn. From tlere, several inconsistencies of
architecture which s~ould be one of the guidelines for ~heth~r this shouTd bE
111owed. All t~e entrances of 111 of the houses from this side, 11' the way
to ~ .. t.adero Creek are ill 0'"' the front side of the house not the side yard.
That's 4n inco"siste~cy. Tne~ all hi~e cute porches. This one I'm root su~e
wnat it his it's around. [think it ~as a ~1. 1 think thfy'~e done away
w1th the c~erhan9. Whic~ wcu1d be extr~~ly inconsistent.
Naner Lytle: Are ttlere any photographs of this wall face available?
Roger KDh'~: We hive gf~en scme t~ Joe when we first met with him but
apparently they are not in the file.
Joe Colonn,,: Th:ey wre ir. the file original'l)'.
Nancy Lytle: But the homes along that block basically hay! ~orches?
poua Co;; Many of th~ have porches. They all h~ve an entry.
Ha~cy Lytle: Front door ent~ifs off the sid~walk?
paug (ox; That ire on the front 'of the ~ouse. T .. o of tnem, the doors
actually are perpendic~lir to the street; oniy two. Which still in the front
have a front porch; not one exc€ptior.. Tniit.'s two b1ocks; both sides al' the
way to Matadero and J'~ sure beyond. That's all the time we had to look at
this morning. r guess if there \5 a littje history. J would 11ke to talk
about it too. This .noie ide. of scale and gTiduiting up from low density to
higher denSity, I remember coming down talkin; to the City Council .fter I
bought my house in the late 70's and Hoover Park went, away and the South Wood
Apartments developed. This tomprenensive !)lan said that you stlould go up to
RM~30 in gr.dy:tions and tne school district gave me an asking for RM-2 and
RM-lJ. The City siid ~On9 well take nine more units that you have~'t even
uke<t and we wi 11 extend RM-lO ri gnt out to the eug£! of the park and we'll
build those suckers right up, straight up,· So no';lf t!',ere are three fl oors
straig:ht t.i~ at the end of the park. When ynu walk along her-e trjing to enjoy
th~ park you get a very unccmfortabie fHlin9 Gil'ld you don't d,,, it again. Just
rtiiH. along there and th2"1 have i setback l.an·::Is:ape stri p~ whid! was
negotiated, [tis just i very IInc:omfortable feeling. People de not waH .along
that end of the park. They just Ivoid it. We have more housing but the park
it not useful there. So [1m really sensit1ve to th! use of the s~lle and the
use of what ~i9ht happen there. It seems to me that these people are asking
for a whole list of exceptions.
Boger Kohler~ There a~t no e~ceptions.
Nancy lytle: Excuse me. I'll! :lorry. But 1 w.:::u1d like you to please hold' your
comments. Wait to be recognized.
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pqyg {ox: Tne major excepttor. is to the ordin~nces which ~er! included in
1989 to ~eal with substlfidard lots. It's very weil defined and it relates
back to the COliprehensiYe Phn P.a1icy '3, Program I. and that the ma1n thing.
the qu.aHti' of the ne;gf-lborhood. It's directly in support of tMse ind there
is no reis~n to deviate from it.
Nancy lytle: Mr. Cox, [ will answer your question regarding the Zan! checKlng
tnlt is in the file ind it complies w;t~ ill aspect besides the su~standard
development regu,.tion.
poya Cox: All the setbaeks, the F]~or Area RatiD, tne daylight zone?
Nancy Lytle: FAR is right to the ma~imum.
Dpyg Cox: Whfch is tne Side yard?
~anty lytle: The side yards aTe the t_o Tong property lines.
DQug Cox: Tne ~econd floor does not extend to the end of the skylight zone at
10 feet, 45' in t~e f~ont? Even with the gable?
Nancy Lytle: It doesn't extend except since yeu designed your home, we
modified the regulations to allow for ~retrusions in the daylight plan.
Doug Cox: l~. aware of that.
Nancy Lytle: As long as they do not exceed 24 feet in beight and i is feet
linear l!ngth, tk .. t is an il1owab1~ pr-\llrusion and the protrL;sion on both side
of the building meet that requirement. So that is considered compliant with
that. The reason for that was to help break·up frankly, the look of 'the
tent-affect of the daylight plan. So it was considered desirible
architecturally to have those protr~siDns
Doug Cox: S~ consider it deslrable, ] do not consider it desirable. It's
the enjoyment of the park. If I had the gable hangin9 over my head at the
maximum 24-33 feet up, I find It objection.b'.. My house has a'l hip roof,.
find it confonns more to I'1Y neighborhood and I am mud ha!1pier 1; ving in it,
That is just a personal opinion. The ~afn exception is the cnief ordinance of
the substandard lot to control heig~t, ~ass, and bulkj particuTarly in a very
hignly yisible location. I see no reason to deviatt from the ~rd;nance i~
they are. Thank you.
Nancy lytle: Are th3re any other pers~n to speak to this item?
~hiape1Ja! 631 Calorado Avenu,. My question basically does relate to
this road. Ir, the hearing it Ue Planning COMnission, as yc>u know, t"r-ee of
the commiSSioners at least, mentioned the parking situation, being able to use
the church parking, access to the church parking.
Nancy lytle; In fact that condition was added:.
2£"7COWP_OCT 1 011 192-
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lvnn Ch1ape:l h~ Ye~. A~ I measured that road I there " .. as so~t"'d ng 1 ike
28 feet between the fence. ~er. that 'o.d is. W,. something like 12 feet to
each hne Of 13 feet; it was Tlot i tr1\1hl road. It's it; \le-ry 'Usable road.
Nancy Ly~~ yo~ mean the paved pcrtlcn of the lot that y~u are ta1king
about?
LYnn Ch1aqe.]h: TM! pa't'ed p~rtion en the park ac.cess. My concern is that if
in fact ~at was requested, and I know pr.batly Ooug has already tal~~d to the
park as well, about puttfng tnis road thro~gh tc their parking let in the
back. I worry thot jf you put this house is designed, would that influence
you or someone later of not .llowing this road/or a110wln9 this road to go
through. Would it hiV. any b • .,lng If H •• h~"se w .. therel That might 1>.
inlportant because if in fatt tt'lis becomes a parking lDt for l1ttle leaglJe and
soccer then all of the cars will now be divert!d down Colorado. As it is no~.
they are cominS! in from every wr,fct~ wa.y. There are probably fi'ie or six ways
th~y C~~ co~ in. The Three Comrniss{oners said that this is n~t a lotal p~r~.
I think you have to consider that if th~t is going to be a road~ if you are
going to allow the pirking for 11ttle league. socter. park use. etc.
Nancy Lytle: That isn't part of the proposal currently, to add that other
ro ad tn rough.
Lynn Chiapella: No, but if it comes back to you and you use that as an
obstacle. then it is a part of this. Well there is a house right there and
it"s only six feet away so tlOW I c.an't approve a road because you han! to take
t~at into consideration that first of 111 they proposed this second of ail he
contacted tne park, third of a'l the Planning Commissioners backed him up pr
it went through~ Now you are being .asked about I: r.ouse ttl at is going to be
o~ly six feet from what potentially might ~ I tWD-lane good siz~d access road
because there 15 Z8-30 feet there. which is plenty big fnr i road. So yOy
have to consider that if you would rul~ against it because of the ho~se then
you are not considering ttle big picture. r think that is. ~hat has been safd.
Therf's a big picture here. It's a11 being done by pit!ces and each time J
(ome in tnere is i litt1e piece over here, here and here and something's
missing. But 'WIhCit yOI,.l need to consider is the entire now Md site. No cr,e
is doing that in essente. Insteed it's the Sime as South lJooo' or any other
project. We'll look at this little pi ere but we lrion't consider that piece.
W!ll this road is going to be very interesting ~hen this comes up because
there is no access to what is now being described is a CitI~ide park and not a
neighborhood park by at least three planning commissioners in yo~r presence
and the presence of ill attendees. I know that Tim Trailor and Haury Dawson
have ta1ked lbout the plans too which is a nice f~ature. But it would require
taKing l hard look at the entire picture, not three little tiny pieces whi,h
is what you are doir.g now. .
Nancy lrlle; ~our comments are ~el1 taKen. The road proposal is not
currently part of the previous approval on these plans. T~ere is no access
guarantee~ in fact, at this point. What I suggest is that you, if you support
that concept. you need to raise that issue w1tM the Council as they will look
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It thlt recommendation by the (ommission. This is doubtful that tnis will be
ri1sed otherwise. The Pirk and Recreation Department when tney we~e
conceptually discussing t~at idea saw I constraint to field co~figurat1Qn ~;th
th~ exte~s1on of the road"
Lynn Chiapglll: ~e told me t~at h~ ~ad 2 constraint because of the trafflC
problems created by the church. Itls hard to say. An that I'm saying that
th~re fs I big picture here and I little picture and beca~se the leg work was
done, b\,lt it rwas net in any of the church·' S dociJml?i1ts 1 ik.e 1 n Document 0
·Possible Parking for littie league/Soccer-which ~ouldn/t c~ange your traffic
picture from say 600 t~ 1,000 or whate~er. N~ne of t~e$e were i~ the
additional document or proposal and 1 think what has happen do~n the road
you'V! got a c~letely different anima' thap ~kit you thought you started
with. I s.e that .11 of this being tied together but you still have three
little tiny pieces each one that affects th. other b.t the overall picture is
belng lost. So that's my problem.
~CY Lytle: Thank YOlO. Anyone else here to speak toddy. Please.
Kerb Borack 3731 Byrp" Stre!t. There's been a lot of time taken at this
meeting especially on the building plans and I .... ·asn't aifllare that was something
subject to this heari~g. They need to be ~'ear about whether they are
approving specific building plans or is it possible conditions, to approve
varlance for spetific b~11ding plans.
Nancy lytje: The variance is .always tied tc the bullding plans and we do have
the opportunity to condition their appro~al. We want to make sur! that they
Met all tne required findings for I variance and one f1n1i ng O~'Ji ously is
exceptiona1 extraordinary circumstances about this lot. Another;s the issue
that the denial of the application would remove i substantial property right
or create In unnecessary hardship. The final one is that there be no
d~trimental affect to properties in the vicinity. The issues of impact on the
park lfe very relevant is are the topics about creating a liveable ~ome on
this 10t with constraints to work with i very narrow property adjacent t~ a
very publ ic space. We are all tln the right track. here. lhe design is
definitely the subject of this action.
HeT"b Borock: I very much appreCiate that. 1 bplie\'e that there ere .unrelated
tapics that were discussed. That this hearing has to be re-noticed because]
believe tnat the occupants of residences within 300 fe~t boundary of tne
property as shown to the City. Utilities files were not mailed. Many notices
as required by Section 18.90.0300 of tne Palo Alto Municipal Code. I hav~ a
letter, I'll give you iI: copy. I haVE! attached to that a copy of the addresses
shown on the label reQ~€st form that~s part of this file. The reiSO~ 1'm here
is beca~se you've had a homeowner from [1 Dorado speaking for you. He may
ha~e gotten the notice but [1 Dorado is not on t~e list and you don't show him
or the 1 abe\ reQuest form refers to the util Hy records so you g€t all of the
tel' ants .
Nancy lytle: Are yoo saying that we ncticed too far?
za17Cc;.'WJ' ,OCT UN' 192
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Herb BQro&k~ No. l'm saYlng that, . + 1 ~on't say that you notice too far.
beca.use is we discussed before, U~is is iI part of the c.hurch property and you
shouid not1-':e the i!ntire exhrior-boundary, Ir. fact, you did notice
"jddlefieTd Road but you didro~t n.otice 8yro~ Street. Also missing on the
la~l req~~st form is El O~rado Avenue. I ~ould make that request. Not
having had t~at kind of notice I even thought the ~~eting .as next wEek, Th~
notice in thE pape-r did indicah' iI flag lot and I know tha.t you can't nave
f1a9 lots in Palo Alto. r just ~as wondering what th~s is. all about.
Nancy Lytle: We do ~ave ex;st1~g flag lots in the code s~ctlon for
first-ltory construction.
Herb Borock.: But I'SO you car,'t ha\le anymore fl ag 10ts+ You can' t cn~.te new
flog lots.
~aDCt lytle; Correct. you (an't create them.
He,'b 8argd: That is the diffenl":ce between the situation.
Nancy lytle: You can't create substandard lots either.
Herb Borock: And you will be creating a lot in i neighborhood which is a flag
lot. The property's width a~d area ire each mure than ZO% less than the
existing standards for the minimum lot s.ize. Therefore. the substandard 10t
must be merged as required by Section 21.04.040 of the code and this applies
to a lot eYen if it is a legal lot. I believe that a mandatory duty to issue
a notice of merger and hold a hearing and the City has a ~andatory duty to
r~fr~ from fssuing a certificate of c~mpliance for this property prior to
such ~ear;ng. I notified you of this hearing on August 6th and this
application tame in on A~gust 21st. At the merging hearing the property owner
will haye the opportunity to demonstrate that (1) the lot was created through
tne subdiVision proced~ret (2) at the time of it's creation the lot failed to
meet the s.tandard for Tot siz~ in the s.ame manner as the lot ,o~l;~nce now
.xist and (3) at the tim. of cr.ation th. City gr,nted a formal .xceptio"
pursui~g to it's subdivision procedures to Express that ne committed the non
complianc~. You are constrained to (olTow the procedures set forth in Section
21.04.050 of the code.
I believe that the deve'~pment of this lot is part of t~e same project as ~f
tne use permit fDr St_ Mark's Church and the subdivision proposed for the
Church/s parking lot based on the definition of project in the California
Environmental Quality Act+ Proc~ssing of the variance separately is pie-ce
mealing in violation of CEGA. The variance pro~osed are not necessary for the
preservation and enjoyment of the substantial property rlght of the applicant
nor is it necessary to pre .... ent unreasonable property loss or unnecessat",
~ardship_ [believe this is the second finding.
The applicant gives two reasons to justify tne finding for their property
right. first, is that the one-story house will be striped of useable outdoor
liYin9 space. Second is that their are other two-story homes in the
neighborhood and the home next door might someday be a second story_ In the
.t817CO\\4',OCT 101'192
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first ~a~e thp ~~s that havE second stories are on standard lots anj you tan
take a look It all the homes that are ~ha.wr. here. Also pre<lictir,g wha.t I:
ne!ghb~r1ng pr~perty owner might do is just speculation and y~u a.re prohibited
from taking speculation fnto ac,cunt in y~ur decision-making. In an~ case •
tne adjoin1n9 property d"~s not need a variance to build the second !tory.
The Ylrfar.ce propos!d does more tntn prov;~! the applicant a larger back yard.
[t lise 5ubstantillly increases the allcwable flQor area. T~e floor area of
the substanda~d lot without a var~ance is rtstr~cted to the allowab'e lot
coverage of 3S~ or 1,344 $~uare feet. The floor area of a two-story nous~ can
be 45% or 1,72S 'Quore fe.t. Therefore, ""less toe proposal is modified to
re.trict it to the right height, the applicant .ill get. bonus of 10% fAR on
384 squart feet. If you cn!lose to grant the variance ther, ttl! second st.?ry
should be limited in size so that the total floor area of the house is the
same as it .o~ld be if it ~~e limited to on~ floor. Conditioning vartance by
limiting floor area to 11 344 square feet would meet the intent of the zoning
code restrictions on substandard lots and still allow tne applicant to have a
large back yard by shifting so~ of the building to a 5ec~nd story. 1n fact~
by restricting it to tnat size you could move some of the now first floor to
the stcond floor and have even a larger back yard if that is really t~e right
var1ance that is requested.
As previously noted this appllcation needs to be part of the environmental
review of the subdi~ision at 564 Colorado and tne use permit at 600 Colorado.
[f you t~ocse to go a~ead with thiS nearing separately any way you should re~
netice tne pub1ic bearing.
If th1s lot is used for a BMR then you hive more reasons to issue the
variances requested because of t~e publi~ benefit. There is i letter in the
file for this variance dated September 9th from Mr, Colvin that was read to
the Planning Commission. That may answer t~e question. The ~pplicant was
wandering why you didn't have a copy of the letter that was read into the
records today.. I dCfn't know why the Planning Cormliss;on letter ended up in
this file but that's wnere it is. Th€ file that was read into the record as
you heard was nat in that file and I don't Know how that ct.anqe 'Was made or
whn made it. 1 urge lOU to re·notice this headng due to ina,deql.iite notice to
initiate merger proceedings as pre~iously req~ested and as you are mandat!d to
do to follow CEQA by combining this application with St. Mar~'s use permit and
subdivision applications lnd to do a vayiance by limiting floor area to 1.344
square feet and to lea~e tnis hearing open until the City Council acts on the
suMi ~ision appl i cation.
Nancy lytl?: What is the date that the Council will hear the St. Mark's
subdivision applicatton?
Herb BorQCK: There has been no noticing O~ it.
Joe Colonn.: October 19th.
Nancy Lytle: That's on the tentative aQenda. but there hasn't been a notice
of the nearing~ They annour.ced it at the Commission meeting.
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Herb Bprpck; ThE public hearing, the City Clerk puts out the hearing notices.
Nancy Lytle: Just throlJ;h t~e piper.
Herb eqrGd.: Tha.t's right. But that has.n't nappenc-d.
NanCY lytJe: T~at has~'t happened. But t~atrs when it's tentatiY~ly
schedul.d.
Qgug Cox: It wa.n't in the paper for, r think October 18th.
Herb Bpr~; Byt we officially don't know ~hat is happening that day until
the clerk. actually causE'S thi! notite to be publisheci.
Hinev Lytle: ThanK you very much for your comments. Is there anyone else
here to speak to this item? Plea!::!.
Tim TrailQr 3]0, Tennyson. ] have two to three comments in response, s,tting
here 115tening. Herb suggested that all tne second story houses ~re on
standard lots. In fact, if you lOOK up ther! almost all of them are on substa~dard lots.
Nancy lytle~ YeH.I mean substandard as 50 feet wide?
Tim Tra11or: Less than 6,000 square feet and less than one dimension reqUirement.
Nancy tvtle: He's talk.ing about a definition of substandard. They nave to be veiy substantially substandard.
Tjm Trailor: I understand that but the fact is t~at they ire less than 6,000 square feet.
Nancy Lytle: That doesn't mean that you are substandard 80%, right?
Tim TnjJor: I must also say tn.t ... 1'11 .ithdraw from further tCrmlent,
Doug Haney: [will speak. v2ry Quickly. Doug Haney at ]-516 Shore' ine. I 'Want
to touch on a coupl~ of these p~int. We did ha~e a meeting we said that we
were talk.ing about all the different topics that we have in~olved. We want to
be very, very clear that this is a separate 10t. The church property that we
have acquired is a separate lot. There is i property line there already.
There are three distinct properties tha~ we are dealing with.
Nancy lytle: I think that our attorneys are on record on that issue. You
don't need to even dwell on it. J follow the ad~ice of our attorneys. It's a
ver~ legalistic issue that Herb has raised here and it's the subtlety that I'm
not going to tamper with. They ha ... e advised me that thi' .. application cart
proceed separately and we are obligated to process it SEPlrately.
281'l'COWP (lCT
10.11/92
rIG_ 16
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Dquq Hapgy: ~ust one aore quick tning and that lot is 33 feet wlde, not
30 fHt. Just to see thit you have very clear reading (1n that. : just wanted
,t to be noted because ~t's all done visually i~d we ire ke~ping i tape
record. Thirty percent cf the peeple on the list against us all have second
story homes ind I'. confused by their ~~9ativism towards that. I just want to
~ sure that it's clear. ~s far zs we the developer are CD~cern. we did not
'ihow the fence between the park be~~g that the owr.er waul d havE' the
opportunity to either leave I 6-fo~t c~.~n lin~, put a solid fence cr do
whatever they wanted at our expense. If that'$ going to be a condition he
wanted a final wall or fence or so~thin9 ll~e th.t, it's conditioned of
approval, I don't thtnk we have problem wlth that.
Tim Trailor: One more quick t~ing. Tic Trailor, 310 Tennyson. ] don't thinK
tnat it's been pOinted out that a ~ouse can be built there no matter what. B~
going through this process and by your "pproving and scrutinizing this second
story, you have tne ability, the influence, the decision and the setbacks of
this property. You haie i 8 foot s~tback now, the.v can go to 6 feet without
any scrutinJ~ ~1tnout questions whitsoeV~rt just puttjng in building plans.
It is clearly in the best interest of thes! nei~hbors to have the s:rutiny of
this hearing and haye tnis thing approved.
Bogtr KDhler: ·r ,",auld like to say i couple of Quick things. Rogtr Kohler
again. It was pOinted out that these two lots haile excessi\le setbacks. They
in fict hi •• 5-foot setb.cks, they happen to fill right up to the property
line They're built to the maximum. There are no special set baCKS on these
twa lots here. They in fact nave a gre.;;ter"" house built aga; nst the property
line on t;,is one. The fact tha.t they haye an entrance on tht side is
irrelevant whether it's one story or two story. The entrance of the house 1S
gDing to be on the Side of the nouse because th~ parking requirements are
imp.ct~ by the city. The entrance will h ••• to be on the side of the hous"
It's irrelevant whether itls tw~ story or one story. That is where the
entrance is going to be. Secondly, is in active ~mbeT of my homeowner's
association ~nd i p!rson priyat~ly, I find lt objectionable that pe~ple witn
two-story names object to someone else building I two·story house. I think
those who haye it and don't want to gille ,t to somebody else, I just don't
th1r.k that's right in a ne1ghborho~d assoc1itfon. The house right across the
street is 9iant. It~s one of the ugliest houses in the neighborhood and for
the;; to object to tr.is nic.e 1 ittie ...
Hanev Lytle: Just also remember that in tne spirit of cooperation. keep
personal emotions out of this.
RQger Kqblgr: Well, [ have been through this personally and for years I
couldn't sleep.
Nancy Lytle: This win be the last speaker .
.2'I17CO"",,",QCT 10",,92
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Doua Cox: W~ have certain ordinances that people spend a lot of time, effort,
energy and wisdom in tne cr~ating. This is an attempt to d~vilte from a well
known, very well stated~ ..,ell k.noitlln ordinance. It has significant detrimental
impact. The people in ptltition are noted whether tni!j' have ~ppealfr.g houses
Ire not. [certainly deslgr.ed my house to ..,hat w.s ~ode. I spent a lot time.
1 did the floo~ rlesign myse1f and roof design 1nd had minimal impact.
Nancy Lvtl,: let me conclude by saying my ir,tent is to continue thh matter.
[ want to continue it for se~!rai reasons. The first of which is I want to
see I eass'~g study of this ~ouse on this s1te. I .ant to be abla t~ see from
a perspective of the park and .lso from the perspecti~! from the neighborhood
1tself. I want to get a sense for ho~ this house is go5ng to relate to tn~
park. My re.Soo for doing that fr.nkly, is that I think that the main
justification for th1s application is th,t the property is situated verJ clos.
to a very public space. The ability to obtain some privacy, some useab1e
outdoor arei is I justifiable reaSDn fer coming in with tkis a~pl1catiGn.
may be WTong. but J would like to get out and get I sense of that in the
field. One of the oth~r reascns tnat ~ould be benef;cial to have a second
story here j althoug~ 11m not convinced that a second story should be on this
hO'Jse by any means? but one jU5tificatior. for it in addition that has flot been
raised by tne applicant is this lot is so narrow, and let me say that the
City's position is that this is a buildable lot. Although without this extra
process it's only buildab1e as a sing1e story. lhat's th~ on1y thing that you
can bui1d witnout a variance. You cannot be a secQnd-st~ry house without this
process and these findings. Another justification r se£ for a sec~nd story is
that without it th1s housf! is going to be wery unsubstanttve 10ok.ing from the
street. You are gQing to see mere1y i garage door. 1 dQn~t think. that
creates i good image for us for a single-family nome or. a streetsca~e. ] am
concerned tnough about the fact that there is no sense of entry Dn the front
Df this house. It does not present a porch as the other homes do. ] ~ould
hope tnat we can think a little bit about that, a~out the prese~tation to the
street ilTId how the character is from the front. 1 appreCiate ",hat Roger said
that you aren~t g~;ng to be able to get a front door eff of this necessarily,
but you can at Teast get some kind of I entry feature so when yo~ get into the
side entry it blends in be-tter with the other homes on the street. I'm
concerned about the way it's gOing to feel from that portion of the park as
you look tip at it. What I would like t~ have the applicant do is to put some
poles up to mark the ridges of tni! roof. I want you guys too, t~ think about
whethe~ or not you have achieved the best ~alue for this property. There's
9D1"9 tc be tennis galTles going on n .... er he"re~ there's gOin9 to be ill lot of
activity in and out of this property. What are the spaces inside this unit
90in9 to feel 1 i k! and ha'{e you really gi\"en every opporttlnity to the
residents here to escape fram some of that when they want to? Now obviously
people wh~ buy her~ are nDt going to be the kind of people th&t wint the most
private property possible. From the testimony today. this ne";ghborhood is
community oriented because every weekend they see an influx of many, many
pi!ople. r~at's i great part of the neighborhood. That's an attracti~e part of
the neighborhood that people wh~ live here we would hope are going to hi.e
that love of people and the desire to live by a park because it creates that
sense of community. But I do see that there ~ight be some ability to improve
this design so that it dOi!s relate to the neighborhood better. ] would like
n!7CO~.OCT
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to be able to iet a feeling fer how that mass rei~te$ to the park ~pace. The
neighbor on tnis s+de whQ woul~ b! concerned normally seems to be very
sat1$f~ed with it. ! Ilso want to ~et a senSE for now it fits fnto the street
scape IS I two·storJ structure. I think it needs to be done ~ith the ~assin9
set. J 11so see the point that Mr. Borote has ralsed a legal issue and he
•• nts to ha\lt the abn tty to co~t1r.ue that issues through the appeal procea
for tne St. ~ar~'5 use ~rm1t. That this lot sh~uld be plrt of the entire
appl1cation. ~ has that right. J th1nk we need to ~ke sure thit d!ci5i~n
by the Ccu"cl1 occurs befcre th1s decision here t.ke, pl.ce 50 th.t t~e
Council tin draw on ~t. [don't agree tnat ~ are doing t~is piece-meai.
th1nk th.t we Mid. every effDrt tD de the 'h"rc~ use permit and tke
subdivision .11 on the ,ome 'genda. I don't think this little su~st.nd.rd lot
being developed independently has any cumulative affect on those decision as
defined by C£QA, I thjn~ it can be looked at as • very separate 1ittl.
development indeed. Thilt's what our attorneys advised. So I don't agree with
th.t pOint, But I do think th.t it', •• 11 worth, , . Wh.t I will do is
cDntinue it to a date certain to allow for re-notice. rt is sensible for us
to continue it. let's go annd and get the Tlotices. We -.ill ha .... e the ~roper
lan9~a~eJ the-substlndard lot lan9u~ge in5~rted. We will make sure that £1
Dorado is 1ntiuded in that notification. When will bp. the r.e~t available time
to do th.t?
Joe Cclonna: first week Tn November.
Ha~cy lyt)e: November. Which will allow us a deCision on t~e Co~ncil as
well. Oid yo~ want to speak? Did you want to point a clarification? You
want to tell Me what hardship thiS is creating?
PPyg Haney: Yes. Doug Haney, 1616 Shortline. I just find that three otntr
properties we've sp~cifi(illy listened t~ staff's recomme~dation to -meet with
neighbors who will be affected", We do SO, no one spoke up, The only
neighbor that is adjacent to the property wrote I letter in absolute sopport
of thfs. r thin~ continuing this ~fll just continuously cost monel and effort
and it is. extremely hard in this financiai time for anyone te build. ~! are
in fill builders, t~is is. .... hat we do. We are very sen!:iitive~ we feH W~ tried
repeatedly. r l.i:nderstood Uat this wheTe cormdssion's jl.'b iWas net to t~rn
do"om thinss, but to have it relilewed so it could be anyone wh{l tJold ... it
.ffected their horne. r don't think that anything said here toda.y affected
their h~ in any way and th!t is just my position.
Nancy Lytle: 1 hear your frustration. The point of the process ... there
is a distinction in this proc~ss, is you heard from Mr. Kehler, that there are
from other variances and r should explain this difference. When the Council
did adopt the flag lot and substandard lot restrictions, they qua1ified their
adoption of those restrictions by saying that they wanted them treated a
little more gently than tne normal variances. That they didn1t want them to
be considered as harshly as otn!rwise ~;th other aspects ~f site development
regulations. The reason for that is they rec~gn;zed that there was
sensit1vay "In these situations but that they c.ould work. very iWell in some
places. rn t~e case of flag lot they adopted in fact additional findings that
are necessary. The-y didn't do that for substandard 1 cts. They fe1 t that
1011/92.
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then were situations that simply wou~d not be appropriate. Thh may be one.
I dcn't know. It's not un!JstJill for us to reqlJest the stOt,)' poTes, frank.l,)'. We
irt to prot~ct in thos~ f1ndi~9s. residential nefghbori, ;nd the public at
large. Tne applicant said in testimony several times that there is only one
ildjilcent ~ropert..Y owner. It's not true. There is another adjatent property
owner which is tn. City of Pal. Alto and the public ha. free acce.s to th.t
space. We do need tD t~1nk about the relationship that is going to occur
there btcause bid fi~ighbors aren~t sometning that we is plan~ers want to set
up. I don't want to ha~e t~e f~ture owners of this house detestfng th~ users
of that park In the long run. That can hoppon if you don't r.al1y think out
that relotionship and at least .11"" sOllie opportunity for those people te sort
of escipe frOll the crowds tl,.t happon thore. I'm thinking .aybe a little ..,re
open court yard space on the outside so you Ire not 7ight up against I fence.
]$ t~ere SOle way of getting mare at the front so that you can sfgnify front
entr.t? I'. not sure. We C,;1J1 discuss it in the field. S(I the nearing wi" be
a IIOntk frotl now? The 5th of NovolOber. Whit r wo.,l. 1 ike to do is ,et it up
for 5:00 in the field. Not to hive it her •.
Is it still light at 6:001
DOlig Haney: It's daylight saving tfme. Fiv~ o'clock it's gOing to be dark.
Nancy lytle: Fiye o'clock is gaing to be dark?
pQUa Haney; Yes 1r. ~ovember.
DOuG Cox: I'. like to s.y something •.. I think that r have put in the
record I number of detrimental comments lnd presented a petition from ten
people~ In fact six homes 11' wit~in one, two. three, Dr five houses of the
lot is an 1nconvenie~ce and I severe impOSition on me to taKe away from work
today. It', really hard to go around to talk to peopl •• it's hard for them to
came 1n~ Obviously four peopir Slid that they would br here, there not here.
] don't believe ~lt ['~ hearing is far as tM~Y are net being detriment to the
surrounding nrighbors and the inconvenien~! we're putting on them to h~ve
continuous hearir.gs during the day rather than at night. It's almost seems
desirable to go ahead' and lIik~ iii deciSion in t~e field.
Nancy lytle: My purpose in continuing tn~s is in response to your argu~nts
to thit doetriment. 1 would like to actually have an ability to go out and see
in the field what you ore talking about. But l'~ nat gO;'9 to be able to do
tf"lat unless itls daylight. I've got to see it to analyze it, so it's got to
be daylight.
Herb SorocK: I understand Mr. Cox~s concern. He would like the fiEld visit
to be during on a weekend. But that's «i~d of a burden to ask for you to be
doing that. Normally, we can try to do tnis during normal working hours.
Tnat really the difficulty of that to choose a day little 1~a9ue or soccer is
playing, you might get iI .• ~ So what ~e are trying is a compromise and r
understand ... We will try it on a weekday.
2B 1 JCOWP.OCT l011r'91
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HiDe. Lit!.: Tn. neighbors ~et h.-. it 5:301 The written correspondence is
fine. If they want to submjt it to us in writin9 and tn!y can't eome down we
will ~aye to accept tnat. But ~hat we Jrf going to do is go at 4:00 so that I
can see these poles o~ it's nvt going to do me any good. Anybody is ~e'come.
We w:ll re-notice it ~1t~ that in ~ind, so that they can make pl~ns. And ~e
. will do tl'lilt for the day Ifter C"f the normal hear1ng which is November Sth.
Doug CQx: I think it wi)1 reall! be I mis-justice for those p~ople tkat w)11
be coming h!re on Thursday i~d continue on friday that they .o~ld hlV~ to ma~e
new .rrangement. it work. So you will tell tnem on the notice that it will be
en Friday?
Nancy lytle; Yes. Joe said that we car. do that.
(1rt Peterson; Real quick question. Kirt P~terson. 16J6 Shoreline, Mountain
View. ,. that the e.rliest possible time ... tne meeting is actually on the
19th. The City Council me!ting. But then you would have to wait two full
weeks after that before we can actua1ly 0eet on this matter?
haney lytle; Can we do it tne Friday be fare ar.d still get the notice out? He
would like to somehow mo~e it up from that Friday. Can we go sooner and still
go to a full notice?
Joe (o]onna: I can't go sooner and get i full notice out. ] wouldn't be able
te notice anything sooner thin the ~.tings that we are talking about. Legal
notices 90 out twelve days before.
Nancy lytle: Thank you very mu~h.
:tll1COIiW,OCT 10/' /92
p~ 23
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Za.IHC ADXINISTRATOB HEARINg
Minutes of Oece~r J, 1992
Ka, Lytl.: 2817 Cowpa~ street. It's an application tor a variance, for
the location 8rtd constrv,ction of a t ... o-story. single family residence
wit..ll a total height of 25 1}2 .teet O!"l. a subatal1d.a.r"-lot 'Where a 17--foot
maxi~ height and single-story are othervise required.. !'he
environment.al assessment is exempt from the provision of California
Environmental Quality Act and the property is located in an R-1
single-family zone district. This item W&S continued for a field visit,
and is now back to the tinal public hearinq on the matter. We have seen
a revision in the plans and we might start with the applicant describinq
what revisions have taken place.
DOUg Haney. Co-g'tUip.r/appl iCCInt. 281' Cowper Street. As you know fr-om
the very be9inning from our first meeting ~it~ Joe we fee! tha~ we have
done everythinq in ou~ power, especially what was requested of us, and
that V~1i ';0 meet ~ith the ne;S,qhbors, but specifically we ha.ve one
neighbor Mr. Colvin, Mr. ~nd Mr6. Colvin next door to qo over~ This is
the seventh iteration of this house. The Col vine are 100\ in favor of
this property, I think they may have shared with you when we visited the
site~ lie have made the continued adjustments to the p~opertl" to reflect
the number ot items that you brought to our attention at that time~ We
believe at this point 'We have done 100\ of the things that were
requested of us. Those specifically are to bring the house back in line
with all th~ cthar houses on the street; No 2 was to put a porch and
brinq the front door around to the front of the house and reconfigure
the house; and No.3 was to remove what ~e consider, I won't say a major
amount of square footaye but a subs~antial amount of sql.1are footaq8,
bringing it ~own from (if 1 can remember) 1~72S feet to 1~684 square
feet. which brought the massinq down substantially. We think that is in
the heart of the matter, ~e have done everything we thir~ we have been
requested to 40 and we respectfully request approval.
Ms. Lytle~ Can I ask one question about whare the square ~ootage is
being remOV8~. Where ~ere the locations that you cut back?
Roger Kohler: I am thE architect working on the bouse. These two
bathrooms vere shrunk~ The living W~,G shrunk a little bit and then the
master bedroom sliq'htl}Y. There was sOllie pop-out he.re; this ~hole area
came out further. So it 'Was a lot of little places everywhere, so the
whole thing shru~~. It wasn't one spot.
Mr. Lytle: The 9arag~?
Roger Kohler: No. The qarage is at the minimum required by the City.
Hs. Lytle~ It's always been that way?
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Roger Hohler; ~eR.
Pnkrloyn: Did you take oft the frcnt?
Boger Kphler: No. not really. We too'k; .3 little bit of is gable but
Daaically there is a lot of little places we took it off. So the .. 'hole
house Bort of shrunk.
poug H,o@yt There is ons thing Nancy on the outside elevatior.~ We had
the two qables O~ the side~ Both of them ~ere out~ This one right here
is bro~9ht back farther into the house. It's offset by about 2 feet,
just once again from the front of the t-.ouse, giving it eo less of .,
massing on the front of the house, brouqht that into the body of the
house.
Boger Kohler:
on~ spot.
So the ~hole thir.g sort of shrunk~ Ie wasn't jU3t the
Ms, Lytl,:. Thank you. Anyone else from the applicant group to speaJt on
this item? O.k. Letl s open it up to the general public. Is there
anyone hear to speak to 2817 Cowper? Yes.
It's good that you come a little forward. We're actu~lly experiencing
qrave audio difficulty ~ith this room an~ equipment. Eventually ve will
~ qetting a microphone hookad; it's suppose t~ solve everything. But
waive experienced problems ~ith that solution this morning in the ARB.
so, I think in the interi& let/s have people come up here and speak ~
bit closer to the microphone.
Doug Cox, 4S El Dorado Av@. Diagonally across the intersection from the
applicant'S house~ I attended t"'b.e first formal hearing in these
chambers and second meeting at the site also, and bave all along, th~ugh
I have not interacted directly with ~ne applicant on the design of the
house except for these meetings. The lot is signiiic&ntly below the
substandard lot minimum both in width and area. Along cowper Street, on
that side of the street, I 'Would guess about 1,C('IO ft, in bQth
directions (one direction which is the park of course but still it's
true) there is no other two-~tory house$ except fer one which is a small
second-floor addition (proLably one bedroom in tbe back of the house).
So tor consistency sake there are no adjacent two-story houses that
would jUfitify an exception to the ordinance disallowin9 a second floor.
At the first formal meetinq .I delivered a petition to you froll! ten
people includ.ing six houses all within three to four houses of the
applicant's house; all not wanting any variances to be qranted.
Specifically they were opposed to any second floor on that lot. That
corner of the park also is an avenue for pec!estrian traffic ir.to the
park froll! mos.t of the mid-town area; from beyond CO""Per (like at
gipling) on over to Alma, all the way from Luma Verde, bacK to O~egon
Expressway. There are no other passage ~ays across Cowper other than
Lema Verde and E1 Dorado. So that corner of the park is going to be
heavily used by the pedestrian park ana that's where people walk their
:m6COWl"ER..DIlC
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doq& 'Co the park. The second tloor, I think that it's qood that t:t~ey
have 5calecl back but still it is a second-fl~r and it 'Will loom over
people entering the park from that corner~ I still remain oppose to it.
I think it will aftect a great number of the public and the si9na~ures
of the petition ~ill de!i~itely in fact bear enjo)~ent of the
neighborhood. In my opinion, if the ordinance does not apply to this
lot and there is no a~jacent second floors to say that it would tit in,
then the ordinance& shouldn't be in the laws that \I1e have. I think
clearly it'6 a &ubatandard (percentagp viseJ like 30' below width and
area, and if there is an exception made then we should throw the law
out. That's all I have~
Ms. Lytle:
please~
Thank you very much. Anione else to speak to t.'1is item,
Herb Borock. 27Jl Byron St. I attended the site visit on November 6th.
At that time, as I recall the Zoning Administrator indicated a
compromise in square footage of around 1,500 square feet. The
substandard lot without a variance, the gross floor area would be
limited by t-~e site covereqe of 35\ or 1,344 square feet. By percitting
a second-story, 'What the variance application would do is up the grcss
floor area committed to 1,728 square feet. The midpoint between the two
of those is 1,535. I thought I heard the applicant say it was just a
ver)' small difference ~etween the maximum and ~hat is on these drawings.
1 would appreciate it it I could ~ake a look at the total amount that is
shown here.
Ms. Lytle: Page Sixteen?
Herb Borock. 2731 Byron: Wher-e is it. Sc' 'What's there now is a gross
floor area of 1,684 square feet. which is only 44 square fee~ less than
it vas before and that's insignificant. I don't think that's responsive
to the dire~ion that was qiven by the Zonin9 Administrator and then
agreed to ~hich is approximately 1,500 Sq'..lare feet. The application is
justified on a need for a larger back yard. But you can create a larger
back Ydrd with t""o-stories without adding any square footage. So I try
to think about what the appropriate trade off wou.ld be since ....-hat's
really qoing on here, I thir~. is a financial request for more square
footage. In ad~ition to meetinq the Zoning Administrator's request for
a compromise square foot8ge which this is not, it seems to me that what
might be appropriate as an exaction in return for that this would be the
below market rate contribution that would be required if this lot was
developed with the other lot next door or owned by the same property
owner. That would. be. 5' of qross sales price. Since. this lot is
developed as a single lot, it's exempt othe~ise in that new payment.
I have previously presented an argument. I believe that it should have
been developed together with the others ana therefore would have had
that 5l payment. So in summary, the square footage is not responsive to
what was discussed at the site visit. The difference is insign:ficant
and certainly if additional square footaqe is added ever the 35' of the
site, 1 suqqest this BMR contribution. I differ from my neighbor~ It's
711~
L
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not that 11m opposed necessarily to a second story b"'lt there is nothing
in the application t:bat justifies even ::me square inch OilOr-a. than the
35\a Xn fact it d08-6n't ask for that purpose~ Thank you.
Hs. Lytle: Anyone else to speak on this item, 2817 Co~~er?
Tim Trailor. 310 Tennyson. I'm .peakinq on behalf of Oliver Colvin the
immediate neighbor and only nei9hbor that is siqnificantly affected at
this point. I would like to remind you that he is full 6upport of this
applica.tion~ The two-story house is there CI,t his request because he
does not want a single-Etory house next to him maxed out along the foot
print that would be allo~able. His feeling along with th~t of architect
and other professionals ar-e that 4 t· ... o-story house is much more in
keepinq with what he would like tor his house next door and ho_ he ~ould
like to live. So in spite of some of the other folks that have whatever
~qenda they have, tor Hr. Colvin who lives there, (next door) this is
somethinq that has been neqotiated ove.r a period of time -..:ith' his
involvement &nd keepin9 with his wishes.
~ Lytle: Thank you. Any other speakers? Yes.
Rog@r Kohler. 4291 Wilkie Way. It was the early 80'S that a develop~r
was qoing to build a house behind my property en a flaq let, substandard
even more than this. At the time this ordinance was not in effect and
he could basically do anything he wanted within the zoninq ord.inance.
Also at that time there .. ere several homes at Baron Park .."hleh were
built on flag lots. As a results of these situations and partly because
of my involvement this ordinance came about. This home is not
necessarily seeking a vA~iance. But it's my understanding that the way
the ordinance is written that it is required for homes that qo over the
one-story to meet with their immQQiate neighbors and work with them tor
a house that is O~K. with everybody. That is all we are coing here.
We've worked with the nejghbor and he's accepted it. Tha~~s the intent
of this; itrs not a full variance. It's not really a variance request;
is it?
Ms. Lytle: To ans~er that j it is a variance. It's an odd situation and
I can see why it leads to because the council ~hen.they a~opted the flag
lot ordinance put a condition on that adoption. They didn't have any
other processes at the time but a variance process. ~~at they said was
"we don't mean t-~at this doesn't work eye~here. There are going to be
situations il'l town where this will work, but we want s;:)mc: kir,d of
public review. public notice and an eval~ation with some extra findings
about compatibility, privacy and other impacts; they need to go along
vith this review.-So the variance was used in a manner that is not
traditional in this case. Then the substandard lot ordinance came along
and they said It yeah \ole 'Want to do it just like we do the flaq lot-.. hen
they adopted that. But I can appreciate why that action on their part
has led to some confusion. But it is ~ variance that t~ey are utilizing
to do this.
L
11/V92
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"-.::;~:. .-.'0.,"'''''
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JII
Roger Kobl@r: One thing that was. said earlier ·.a~ that there lUere no
two-atory homes vithln a thousand: f •• t~ ! 15.·.J.bmit this photoqraph ot the
houae directly across the atree~ and these are homes directly on the
other side of the park. I peI"sonally ·..,orked on one secor.d-flocr
addition about tive houses 80uth ot this house. So there are t~o-story
haaes in the nsighborhood. I'~ no~ quite ~ure. why they said there were
not~ Thatss a114
Ms, Lytle: And you're the project architect as well.
Roger ggbler: I'm also a citizen ot Palo Alto.
MI. Lytle: Any other members of ~~e public who would like to speak to
this? Officially t~ere are no new speakera before 'We make a second
rouncL We have a lot of' other application or. our docket. This is our
third time for discus.ion on this proje~t. I would like to try to keep
it to reasonable. discussion. Ar.yono else ne ... to speak to the item.
O.K. We had one point of clarific&tion from the applicant. It sounds
like it maybe a.nother clarification. Hopefully 'We can restrict
ourselves to presenting new information.
pouq Honey. the applicant. I just want to ~larify a little bit when
someone asked about trying to compromise. There was a set compromises
that we have varied frOIil~ If' I remember correctly at our meetin5l' and I
e.poloqize if I dian 't, we tried very, very hard to come up with a
compromi&8 at that time. This is cur third meeting ot trying to define
scmethinq that could be approved. It appeared, not only appeared, it
.as stated as such by certain people who have spoken today ~~at there
was no bouse that they vere going to be happy 'With. What we tried. to do
w&& absolutely to follov to the letter the words that you apoke; that
was our qoa1 and that is what directed us and our architect to make the
chanqes ..
M§, Lytlft: Thlllnk you.
Herb Sprgck: I just w~nt to respond to Roger Kohler's comments about
the flag lot~ A flaq lot is a lot that is an island surrounded by other
neighbors. The comments that he made are correct; they do apply to flag
lots. This is a substandard lot W'hich is on the street and the
neighbors that are impacted on it are a wider group and also as Mr. Cox
described in terms of how much this varies from the standard lot is also
the question of precedent setting. I understand that there could be
some conrusion between flag lot and substandard lot as I recall~ The
public notice might have said. ~fla9 lot-instead substandard lot. But
there is a clear difference bet~een the two. The only thinq in common
is the variance for a second story ~~~ they are different situations
completely.
Ms. Lytle: Thank you.
2716COWPU,DSC 1211/92 "' ..
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poug Cox: I would like to respona to sev~ral points that were brought
up. One ia with Olive.r (the next door-neiqtlbor). I had early
conversations 'W'ith him. He was oppos.ed to the S8c=-nd. floor. As time
vent on he realiZed that we waE goinq to have projects; buildinqs in his
back yard anc1 his &ide. yard because of the n~"'" eubdivision (14 new
houses) and he thought it was in his best interest to qet along with
these people and compromise. When I presented the petition to him later
on he declined to sign it and his wife too explaining his position that
he wanted to q&t ~lonq with the developers~ If that 'Were an issue, I
ce~inll' pick that tact too., But he did not dissuade me in fact he
probably encouraged me toO continue the peti ticn and to poll the nearby
neighbors as to their position of the ~ass scale of proposed building.
1 only had two nights to do it. I/~ sure that in the surrounding area
I could qet a lot more people that would be very willing to siqn th~
petition di&&qreeing with the mass scale or the narrow building so close
to them and so visible to so many people on Cowper. This is a highly
visible lot since it is a corner lot. Second, my point about number of
two-atory houses 'Was on th.at same side of Cowper which would be most
compared in size, mass and sc.ale~ You are not going to see so much the
ones on the other side. But the one on the same side of cO¥per is only
one almost within 1,000 ft. perhaps more. so, it 'Would be very
prominent and people would wonder why would an exception be qranted when
therQ aren't two-floor houses there. Soy, anyone who came by the~e will
notice that. I discussed this with one COUncil petson getting back to
your interpretation of the laws, ordinances and their motivation which
is of course not available for me to deliver to the public to read~ He
was extremely surprised that this second floor is even beinq considered
for this lot. So I think that there ~re differences in opinions as to
the applicability of this law.
It does go b~ck to the Comprehensive Plan too as to the objectives and
the ways of implementing the policies. We want to preserve the niceness
of our neighborhood and mass and scale is a problem. This seems to be
the way to address it~ When it deviates so much from the standards set
up by the scbstandara law then we should not have the la~ at a1] because
it would be totally up to law suits and everything else when its appliec
so liberally.
Hs. Lytle: Thank you. Alright. I think that concludes our-public
hearing on the first site. Thank you all for coming and speaking. I'~
. sure we are not going to be able to please everybody no matter what we
do here~
Z'll6C"O\llP1!l; . .oEC
---------------------------------
MOTION CONrtMuEO EXCERPT City Coune;' minute:5
of J3nuary 6. 1966.
RESCL,UnO" '~5S ."t1thd" • REsa(.UTlO~ Or T~E COUNCIL Il~
t~E tITY OF PALO AI.. TO ","CC:(PIUG A !l'OIU: (IF AR:T fli:O~
RICH~.D SHAfFER"
II:[SDU1TIOft 5oi55 erItl!;l .. d ·R£SOLlJTlO~ OF THE tOUl'ICIL OF
tHE tIn ljji' PUO ALTO ACCEPTING A won OF' ART FROM
tAROl'. MOFST~TT£R"
RE"SOLlJTIOH 641j.7 I'nt1t'eil "RESOUJT!OH OF BE COUNCil. OF
t~E cIt, OF PAlo A~TO ACCEPTI"' _ ~OR{ or ART FRON DA~IO
Il!.J"
RESOlUlIG" 64'8 ~nt!tled ·~E5~LUTIO~ OF THE tOu~C:l DF
THE eITY OF '''1..0 AI. TO ACenTING A itOH OF ~RT flCK
6[RTFU~E IlE1B[i'·
RESOLUTlOIl Utig entitled "RE$OUlT!OH DF THE CCUI'fCIL O!=
TflE cftr Or PALO ALTO ACCEPrrMG A WORt OF ARi FRO" MAR'
ClIO"'£UQ"
RESOu)l[ON 6470 entHhd ·RESOluno~ Of THE COL1~Cll OF tHE cITY Of ,ALO ALTO A~CEprIHG ~ ~ORK OF ~~T FiO~ t~~~
POLlOCS: .. USH'"
RESOLUTIOIi 611111 ut'tl~d -RESOLUTIOIi OF" THE tOU"C!L OF"
THE tif, OF pALO ~LTO ~CCEprl"; ~ WD~~ OF ART FROM A~El£
SEL TZU·
RESOLUTIClfrj 6472 tntltl!'d "aESOLtlTION OF THE COUIICIl OF fat eIli OF pKLC ALTO ACCEPTI"G A WOR~ vr ARi FRO~ KEITH
BOrLE-
RE"SOLUTIO" .6473 !'ntit1ed ·RESOLUtIO~ OF" T~E COUNCIL OF
lHt tIfY Of PALO AI. TO ACeE'PTI 'Ui A WORI!: O.~ RRT nOM LEE
IIIltHAEL A.L1'MA'II"
IlESOLUTJOJl 60CH en:.1tled "M[SOLtJTrQIt {IF iHE CUU"e!:.. OF
(kt cn, or ""LO AUO ACCE,rHl~ .. WORK. Of U" fROM
UTHUIIl£ $. IHAl"
.'£SOLUTION 6415 el'lt1tT~d "HSOLUTIO~ OF THE" COUNCIL OF
THE tIlt OF '.LO AlTO ~CCnTUG A WoU OF ART FROM" "R ..
".D MR~. l~k~M SH[R"
Kil.YQr'" CO~b !'1ot,e4 tnt :ast~nllmed piec'!'",f lIrt ''''is d15.?1~)'ecl in tne
l>a", or t~e Council Cnil.m:Jers.
~CTIOft PASSED unln1~ou~11.
Plll'lnfi'l'ii COIIIIIss1aner "am ~lIrs~ S~!d tl1e "1111'11'14"9 CO!lllmlssi011
r.~iewed the recg.~ended crdj"anc~ reg~rdi~9 ~~ve1opmtnt of ~ome;
Oft $lIb$ta,,~a.rd lets in December", inC: vottd una"i~ou'S:1 to recom_
lIend a t\e-tght \i.!I,(t.at'Ofl of lCl f~@:t for r.,'J(aes. Qf1 t~o"e 'ot!.. i~f:
CO.llfss1on be11Hed th~ limitatiOn ... :s 1/1 t~e best iMtere5ts of
the d~~elop!'r. t~e ho~eo~n~r of t~e 5ut5ta~dil.r1 lot, lnd the
IdJQ1rI1rI9 n!'19hllOtS ir. t~rll15 o~ Pih'IICj. The COIlHli551ci'l .110
recollllltnded iI (hln~e jn the City Cour,,,;l recol'lHnendecl ord1!"1anc!, to
uclu:h n.e portion of t71~ ordinarlce \Ojhic.n 'imited C::Ul'.itruction o~
those raolle'S to one floor'" of hilcita:Jle il.rea. The Comlllsslol'1 ludll!
tl'ie p .. ..-tic\:l.r rec;om-ner.4atlOrl to Ct'uncil for three reill~OI'lS.
FIrst. the COIIIIIIss1p1 :>elie'li!!d ::hll! lll-foot t,efSht li11litatiOl'l alone
placed,. U\lere restric.tiOrl on corntrllcttOl1 or'! 5ubsta"~:lilrd lots.
" tallill bul1"inS , hOllle on SU:'~r l lot ~o~ld be co"fued to ,
6 6 ~ 1
1/05/815
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'0 ••
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to,,;.1f1ed pujlcjlng roJl.,l./l!iI! prel;!sel, derined by sHOacts. ~l1e day-
11snt plane wlljcll .IIS puti""larl.)' ef'ft:ctlH'!;lfl 51J~" lots, ~l'j~~.t.
U\~ ,lte c.O'oH!ragl!. "fl.irt~'U!~ lirn1t.!!t!or'l ~;rl habiUlble floor '!;pHt
w1t-~h tt1e 11re~dJ <!eflr1tl! wcll<lIl11! _as ,tnflec:eS$U'Y. 1t .lso $i.l9-
gened I new bll11dirl\i ~eHrjc.tjor. upon substu'dard lots WT1lc.h .as
fOot i.posed 1rI any s111l11ar "/Inner or. In ..... otl1l!r-sir.~le fatl111y l.:lt.
hcor;d. the pOi"tiClI'I of t"e ~rdIrH,;-,ce I!lig~t inhit:lH :""'!glr,ative u:se
of Sl.lbStilor1~H<I lat •• Tile re:strlc.tions alrNd1 suggested nade /'tome
c:onstrl.lctier'l <!lrricylt, The optloils nadable to an arch\t!C-t iI1\!
Slilil/es.ted by t~e 2D~f'':lll!. ~,ej9ht lilllit, suc." <IS loft'S ilPI:l lI'!elH~
nines.. shOLl::! be er1.cOi.lr'~ed an'! net p<"Ol1itllti!d. Flr:a',!,. the ;;"1"_
tlon of t"e CH'dinu;;e ~jSh: ~! particu1a!"ly (l'iftlc",lt to e ..... orce
and pr-ebib1j tncol.!r-aged hcm!-owners to rerlo~ilt!' ttlelr homes in III"
-wnderiil1"Ot,ln". !11.esa1 lIIarlr,er, n1.a-C:cmmissIOr! preferred to 1nst;~
tllte-an ordinanCI! w1tn • lIIere r!!!!5ocr':at1e passibil ity 0' COll1pl~af1::e
oIin;l tlelle~e1:! tnt 2G-foot r,e-i'5lht 1 il'llit uti'Sfied H_
C.e~nc11.Hdll~r Le"'~ InHl,!/'5ot.C.Oil. ~a'!i~11 an ,,]1 t~e
appltC&ble t~ the tf1ve-lope fo~ 5ubstan4ar'd l~ts ••
• ab'5tll'ldard lot y:ao; no c~Q!>e!" to it.s ~elg:t'.bQ:'
sto r.!' on a reg Lil u 1 'J t •
1.0 1'1 1 ro ~
50t C IJ fLlj
t~a n
eiem",nt'S
stor)' 01"
a 5tcc;nd
lonlny A<!1IiJ'listrltCIr :leb Br»",n s.aid trlat 'Wl:S trIJe.
COU~(j13.~b.r Fletc~er re-fer-red to the Pl eronin9 C'J~m'ssion ~in~te5
.nd U1d there lIal !II ccanmerot froll st!ff t!1at if tne st~uctures
.. ere I">ot 1 hli 'I. !'d to one st 0 r..!' , tr.t' Cit)' .olllc !j1'1lt a bOle_lilt, f1,t
roof t-utlding. 5~e aslled ir trtero! lO"as SOlllet~lns Counc.il c.o<!ld do
to put I da.111,.ht piant, Cll' ,uybe it co~ld tle called! SClllethirl~
else, to reQ.uire ta~eri"':1 off of tne roof.
Zordr:S AclIIlln1strator Sob 8,0"'1'1 uiel Caurlcil co~ld irlstitwte • more
s..rlngent d."liSl~t plar:e re-iuirell1tllt tl1"rl 1I"1t j"'_ pr~se"tl..l' r.ad
I'ot'" tile /\-1 .lone. He 1u",gestl!:d l'IIal'I1S t~e erd inar.c.e .$ 5111pl e Ind
..,niforll .as peuiDle-s.o HaH woi.ild not ha~e a .. it:!e variet..!' of day
light ploir.e ordinances t.o dtHrHH! fer-11:-1 l.anes.
\;OUt'lC n~p!ler Fl etcher lH~ed if the the prl'sent :lay1 ight p1ane
pr""event.ed flit !"t:J.ors.
Mr. Brown Uld no. r~e present <:i:'1~iht plar,! Grc!lnal'lce w1tll I
stand.rd sf)l;-foot ntba.cf: .',1o .. ed • bujldi!1~ .. all h~l~nt 01' 18
feet et the Set.baCI 1tl'le; 53, witn t!le 2a·foa:: ~H!'i9~t li'flH, it
(.;lIJle: tie achieved by bein!j eig:ht-feet away from the pt'"o~er::y
1 In e.
~,ce "'a)'or lIeol1l':/ refe~re~ to the gri!;ndf.tt~'!!~ ciau.:(!. an1 ciar-;_
fied troe "!) t~e or-dtr-.anc.e "as p"eserot.!cd. a~ e~istirJ:;l b'.:.ill,jins
IOl1ich burnt!l~. !:ILlt did rIOt conform 'Q~Td MO:' t:'! ret;."llt,
"'r~ tlrOlln 5aicl that lO"as c~rrect. end
O"ar.e lee he,j bnld4er 1 aMgIJa~1! far a
allalleeJ. for rec;ol'lstructiorJ ,r de.stroyed
t'le be! ;e ... ed Ci t.)' Attor1'le.:!
~randht~er c1au:s.e IInic.~
b)' nlt\lra1 c.tuses.
Councilmelll:>er t!ecnte-l <:lueried if one hid !II ane-story ~o\lse each
floor COUld take 10 to 12 fe!!':t, a!'ld.so one aJUl.c:l reascr.ably ';et \d boo-story
with 20 feet if it we..~ flat.
~r .. erown Si;ld )'es.
Ccur.c11,1t1l!11ber lIenl!!1 referreel to tile pl'rll1its 1oI!~;CI1 went tl1rQU9!l
the Plannlnr;; [iepart~ent. and Hk.ed if C{)l,lnci1 all a .. !!\! s€cor-.d
itery ill'1tftl; the 20 feet, ill'hetner the, .. ere apt t~ see more boxy
tjPe b~ildl"~~ ill'it~ an un1 imlte~ ZU feet.
./IIr. BrO.rJ telle ... ed t~e a"'S\fer 'ilia. ye ...
n1!iII' sln\ile-futilj hQ"lIes an~ additions,
lIaJ.illizlns t~e dere!Ofl~e'Jt po~entia1 111
Ili!:se:l orr p1.tns seen (or
tne te,lden",-y .~s towarcls
tl1e b.Jf1dlng en~e1ope.
5 e 9 2
~ i 06 ! tl. &
~ corrected
•
~.!~r Co~b ~pclarte t~~ publ Ie he.~in~ Op~B.
Col~rI "'1 ell: , 21)0 ~4no{Pi ~treet. 11'lPC in Col!e9" Ttr-r.e.~, whic~
n.l~Fltlorr.Qgd OI~~ a St"CB~ advocate Of restrlc:tirq; de~elopll'1eBt Of
;\oIbostanc!.lI"d lots. fle f .... o!'"e(l tne o~i~lf1.el resc1utlor. 1!SH'r'ltl.lly
I ill1ting deo·HloplI~nt. to Oile story o~ HltlStll1d!fc! lots. T":e logle.
~en.irtd tU_ aroe-stor, HllIitllt10" WI$. nOt to stOll) D@opie from
.t> .. i1ding t.o st(iries~ bllt r.tller to bllCk t.lO~story <:Ie,.·elopments
dver to .. w'ria-">CI!! prOCess to ell~\oIre l'IIore ;'lei~"~ornooc! lnp .. t Into
tFle p .. tH"e~l .''1":1 to .~Io. tnl;; i/\nl:le;-.nil nei!tllt:crhOoo esseflt-;ll"1y
to NiteR SOIlt. kind o( agf"ee01lent over .,.!'I.t tr:e hOi.l'!;e ~1;!'t loc~
lile. colleg~ rerr!c" :-.ad ~'I1.,11 le:lts .hlc.h could te sut-dhi.te1
jntn 2S-foot. wIde lots, ariel tht lss .. e ... a;s r10t t"~ dew-elep.'I'd!l1t of l
s1ngle tot. but rath~~ two sutlst6ncl'rd lots. rlut to e.!c~ (.!:l'1er, Ol"
thr~t or fcur. S~t~'ng l ZO-!o~t n~~9~t '~.it .a~ ~Qt ~ ~~6 SOlU
tion If fact'd wHIl on'" _ sh~1e S;Jtl"Htindar<l lot 0" iI bTod., bl.:t
Coll!;! Tenll'l did r,ot ~.ve c.~.t 1 "I):' \ll'y , S'Colllitl1hHiI' lit. 30 plra
C!l\t of tne leU lIterl c.ol'lprised elf assembled" 2S-foot lots; and.
therefort', they W!~e ,ulnertlbl« to a seil of twc-story. bloc~'-type
I\l).tJ'S.eS \tH!o. p.eopl ~ try1n.g to 9~t t~t IIi.)( ,,,U!'il '~Ol,ll\t o~ 1I ... r.ey O\1t
or Ull!' 0:..el111'::9. He stron!llly reqillmer:deo iI onp-HQry he19r1t lilll
Hattan on suDstlrlelRrd lats .n(l fo~ • lIore aggresshe "ria1'l('2
not'''c.tioM process 111c1(.1O:;01l paning O!1 the '~t tl'le rae!: t.her-e
.auld be I .,rianr:e hearing on 1t so ~eopie w~o wal~ed ~y and .e'~
orrended c~~ld sell! _h6t htlPP!fltd. ~e belle~e~ t~e ti.lrre~t ~&rfa
Ince not1flcuioll j1re"t'.ss was prillHil!1 mailIng to poeopil!". Ind
Iri..!ilhgs W1Irlt Istr~/. bllt I notlri(Hioll po~ted Pt1 the ll;lt O!1e to
t_o _eeki in a~Yln,e and .ai~tained t~e~~ .4$ pr~D'b11 more effec
tive f~ de.elcpln~ nejghbor~oOd input than t~e m~ili1gS.
1iO!l~r I:oh'er. 4291 W;lkie I/illy. said for t~~ p.st two to HI!"ee
.,llears ttl!!,)' ~re in contact .. Hn. the o.,..t1~r of tr'e sttbst.ndarci Tot
beMn1j hi$ lot. IS 'lfi!1I as 1'O\.lT' ~r f~"te ottle; roel!;l'l"tHHii Qtre::.t~y.
6./ld tnru otr.~1' 1 ~t$ 4C ross U!! creel:. '1"011; U,e sutl stsndard 10t
atoQllt wlljc" thejl !lac! tailed to tne City ..,d the PoiSt. o.ners .... !1
of the1l went t.MrO\lgf! a lot of il.'.lOlly ..,11 grief of atlout .h.t I«.H.lTI:I
happen ~1tn. tn. lot. He ef'!'ouraSoied COliI'll: 11 to pin dowr\ "tnt ordifl.,,"'" s.uc.1\ t.l'ltt eveT'.1(!.{\e l.f1I!"tI f:J;..:.l1l' wlHt CO\l\l:i l\ap"~e-I'I Oil a '1\.1b
st!rHlard ht .nd tnere would be I1P dout.~. In tI .... ! past, they ne~er
qi.lite tne • .mu wo~lc: h,pp~lI. T~ere Ali91'1t be • varilnce, bioi':. t~eJ
ha(l to UH: to the Planning C'lIIr.miuiOr! or City Cour!Gil ,rid it EI-ot
coo(us1ng, He pojnt~<! OLlt i-utlnalldllrd 1"ts _'He~ 1n effec;.t:, a
(I)'" 0'( yuh""e. HI Ule-Illselves.; the, ... er-e ~!.It'!('" til"" stf,nI1Hd.
lots and~ ~s S.,H:Il, sr:o..-Id be treated olfferutTy. .-slltlst,lIdard
fla~ lot nu. Itore 1111PHt than a substllld3rd lot .. Ilic~ tac,,"d I
street.. It Mail t~i.'! pote"t.i~' of lm,?H!H111 t"I'e ttle T':u~tler of
hOllies. 01' lots t.hu I re~1l1a~ sub'!;tanCII.rd ;~t fHin9 He nreet.
He i.Iry~d Or! !t l!l~t s~~stlndar~ f1a~ lots. th! ord111anee be .~tt
ten as originally ."Ote;l on by the City COi.l~cll; t~a.t COrtS~r~ct1CI'I
be: limite-d 11\ l'1e. CC:'lHr.:ct1or" to o~e-5tory i" heigh!:, oPle-story
hiH.it~l:ll e splICe lrr feet in ne"\gMt ~ afl~ tnat no va:rlance. te
grant~j~
(;'),mcH:..ell!ber S .. turi,n; I1'Jte,r HI /l!r. K(.~oIer's (:'""II~It'l1t<l~J tli.'!Fart ttle
Planning Co .. ~is.s1o(). he made roo c;Jlllllle"t 011 the s1l9!,1est10rl re_
gltcing approll(.n.ins tnt l:l!.:tI~Sh'l pill",","" l-j;.t~!! ~ifferent.1y t.h~n
It p!"'~serlt. He asted w'roy.
~r. rl(or.ier beTie"'ed ne litiS a 1 iHle eOr!:flJsed ,t "tl1e tim'!. He
be1it:'1ed tile COOl1llel'it.s about tne doSyli;;,t p\a/le. c.~ t~e ~Llildlng of
O:.Qr.ttl'\uQU'1O t,wa-sto"',Y 'llia!.l.s wo!s ?r@tt)' MIle.n. sett.1e¢~ If it 'oI~S ~ct
Ue-cHe, !Ie still advo'at!o Som! for~ of limitil":; t"",o-s~ori COr!.
s.truction ill :.~1 19~i ewe~ill'''·ere II'netner sllhsta'loard or sttlO'llJa!"d.
l.o-story walls tlrl;l I rUi.at,ion of tne roOQf ~;r.es should tle b .. ilt
~nto , lordn~ ardln.nce. In filct. the 1,iJiJU foot (Ioor area ratio
(FAR] l'Ia{l no bedrifl~ on trle liU~Ht cr tl1e blJ:k cf a h.olll.e. He
believed tnt Citi wculd SUO" iiH' ~H'J' tld~n_ll.lt HruC'toJres ou11t
out to the d.ylight .Dlal1~ wit~ to'le OiHk. h~lf a 10ft al1d the 'rent
1I.1f two-sto!"y o.l',ces. Tner~(orr. t.ne "'OoLllk of a ne .. 110:..o~t! was nOt
,ffeCted at 1;11 tly t~e FA~ of l,[,lLl{l 'SClHil"e feet.
~--...... --,-----~----... ,.-" .. _.., . .,.-------
6 E 9 '3
1/06/815
'~U'lclli1~.Q~1'" S~t.criu'l I!.ke-d If Mr. KJ~ler ~t111 achOca!ed
proceuu tt.at InVII!'!tI!ilHe.:l tI':e doy11ii!1t plane-In sOllie fast.jorl.
Sill Arli'stron;. 363 wr.ltclelll fllat!, salel iI1s "ous~ back!d up to
the 1ct neJt to "r, Kor.ler's hou$!. Ht !>Ilpperttcl t"~ on:tn,ulc~,
but (lid rIOt suppo)rt a'10VI"'[I .. ",rilrlct$ for tr.~ secofld UO!"J'.
Var14ncll!'s botlltr~d tlla. particularly CrI substandard 10:;s. In trle
case c'f "293 ,,'11.(1e 1Iit:)'. tr1! ur;!,r,ce p~(Ic;ed<.lre il1 1984 "as on1.1 a
far •• '1~J to gfv@ tr.t b~llder £~a~tl, ~~~t ne wa~ted. The ~rI~~l
IroOla O;)pcslti.)n or thl!' s ... ..,oundll1g 28. nei9hbo"s stelDed to nlHn
nl)thln~ t,I"tll tney lI~pea.l!d ~rod the Plant11ng: COlIIlIIls~iC"1I a9re<!'d
'111tll un. _h.et Ilre"efttld it from r.!lpp~r'\in'i a9~III, "They wo.dd b-e
bac," to sqllere 'or.e. Afte!" 101 I HEI .ent tnfougll for tr.,..ee YI!'Hi,
r1e war-tee! to beihve I'll! hl!l.rd vron!i. bl.lt withi" th" list ~ora Mr~
Fle.ing and /III". Kcnler told hila ~~dl!"" tt,e pr-oposed ordll'lJ.nce, t.l)!,
ZCR1ng Mlillnl:strator would hi!Ve '10 dHric:ulty q~drltins Mr. flelllirl9
a Ylrilnc,. ~het Mas the ~olr1~ of eyell iending out notices if thl!
OI.i'tGCiU! was. tle:ided before V.e n,rierl::! Jjas evell applied for. H'
.. 11 tru res.trictlcns ttu!y strove fer 011 -:;libst~r>.<lara lots could be
overturnpd erb1tr.erll1 bl oroe Illdly~dual just as bl!fore, the fte~
res.trictiol'ls were t1 .lI!'lInl/l'J!"SS as the oid restrlctlor1s. lie
ur~li!'d Council to 'Wctl! to ki'ep tnt orillinal or.l!·story concept a",d
not allow 'IIrhncll!'s. at 1ellst :011 sut-star.dar-d r1a!l lets.
l'IicPl.oe1 Flemf~~. ~"6 "'e.)'bell. vas a build!!!" in Palo Alto IIrld the
oIWer af 42S3 IIl~k!", ihy. HII!' c1 jJr1fied ~r. 8ro ... n told him if ~.Is
propf!rtl lliit the !j!'oyru'S set fortll 101" variance .. , there lias II
blSis. for grentin~ the vdri .. nce. The iS~ue beforl! Cou~c!l ~a" the
s.,Hsivene!is .,r deveToplie-ntos MI osin1le·fanln, l'arcl!los deelllorl to he
subst.,uJdry ~n rll!'loii~ron ~o 5urr<lu(lo:liny "'(!i~loborhaUrl'i. Ttle 5i1U!
issue .as. Defore C,",uncl1 re':lar-c.;ng school ,p~opertles socn to Ile
offered for nili!'. lrl tll .. t ColiH. it was d@'e~ed lIec;eHa')' tc .~t~1'"
ttle sizt Df tne bulldlny e~.l!'ltl~~ to reduce tr.e SIlO!' ()f th:e
hOt,lses~ T~e S.ulution. wllic;h Council approved, reduced the s!z. of
tile m .. ss af tne ~O~Ses. The reco~mendationS ~efore tou~c;il that
e'lenl!l~ werti .e'llt to I!Gco~pTls.1I the sarlle 1I0al for S-UOstanclH'd
lcts. He r.ol'ed t~e CH.1 C,HI"cil ~O:;:CQ~pl'l5htd tile 9G-al .ithouf.
lIal:1ng fnequ~tltll!' propl!rt)' rl~~tS for owner.s of' H~cstlndard or
st.lllr,dard lets. The ~r1Yac.)' issue to support,. & li1lHaticl'. on
sl!cone! storlf!s of 5ubstl'ldard lots held no lIIerit-The impact of a
seC-OM stor.)' byilt on. Substllrldard lot. .ai u.ct1y tne Sll1l1e 01'1 a
oei!;hi)Qr as. a Ucond stor,. built on II stlll'ldard lot. If It WilS
tr-\le •• n r,eighbors. of 'thOse properties; st'lol,lld nll .. e tile rl;nt <:'0
hne a sa.y il'l Iri'.~t tile :stf'l,Ict:.lre !ooKeti like 0'1 tl1eir r'OeiSh/}or's
rrcperty, and t~ere na~ too be elll/Ity fr:;l' 1)0:'" c;wner-s. If' COl."ti1
lIt"dllted to redl.lc.e tne lI'olssi'o'lI!l'll!ss of trj-! nO<.lses O!1 s.Jbstal'ldncl
lets. they needed to deal wiUI t~e t;ui'~iI't9 ern'elope~ T~l!re
5hOIl!t1 !1ot Cie a .:Iesi~n review in pl !ce f()l· it; C1' if tnere 'W.ts, it
srlou1~ DI!! just 4. desi~r> :-e\1~ew, a."cI I'I~ c:;ue:s;tion~cI wne!':~er the
v',rlance process .as. set IoIp to ~o t~at. It was a ~rOCI!S$ W'i1ere! a
sta~dard was set and tner~ were ~~ceptlon~ to it, He queried t~e
s.tandar4 h t8!"IIIS IC"f substandilr-d lotI. 'IIl1lt Wf,S t~1! I!ltc.pt',OI'l tQ
t~e standard. If tnere was an ord1~a~cll!' 1u~~ t~.t ,11 s~h5t!n6ard
lots could not haye sec;ond stor11!S and rl! OWrled a substandard lot,
wllit .,S lIis. Uceptlan~ In t"'e cllse or l1iS o.m prcpert.)'. till!
llln1tlt1oll cf .10t beirll: .. Cile to nave a second story Orl tne l~t
llalted tne bulldinlj spaCI!! bec:'.J$! of pari(ir;~ a'ld: Httlatr5 to 3M
ta 40U ~quAre feet. ~O~ Ga"1 CGl,Ild fil1d roo~ In t~elr IIGuse ~it~
JUQ tc-.~O sq\,l~,.e feet to ha .. e thel'll~elves. t~ell'" ch'.ldre,,~ iI
spouse. I"~ other !i'W~J!9 quarters. i/itn II 2G-fCQt h~13ht l!l!Iita_
tion, TIl! believed tr1ero! liaS iI pO!iSiboilHy, if tll~j ysed !.ne Slme
F"iI concept'S, U.ey lilCuld tnf1uenCI! ttl@" m.esslu!1e$5. of tr.e houS!!'.
T~rO\l9h a. c~mblnat.jor-or thCise .itll a d<lyllgnt Jl1H'\!,~ !~ey coule
~n it, but tile "lIria~cl! process as SloiggeHed ;11 the sto&ff recom·
~ena~tjcn was inequitilble.
i)ob ... oss. 4010 o rill I!! , cOIHitatul,ted Iotoi.JIOr COtlO
Woolley. fie s.pol:e oilS Cr:a1rtr:ln of the Lane
tOQ~jttel! for t~e ~!rr~~ Parr .55~cilltio~ [B~A].
slJbstanl1.erd lots .erl! differerlt in n!tl!fe and
,!;riC: ¥ice "'.tyor
ll'\oe ilrul ZO{\h~
1"rH!' SPA bel il!\led
c~iIIor-ac;ter rrom
£: 6 9 c
1/06/6&
•
-
U,ndard lots &!IJ Jlresented' a dlf~erent c;lass of pr-otl!e", .. !f1 tel"ll'l'
cf the-IHIHl1ins E'!\ul-G;.t &1\1 ttlelr {~yH;l 01\ t.~oe. Mightlars.. ~I'\I!
f"eljulreG 41':'er-er.t tl"iI'H .. e-nt irl de-voi!'lop'f!~ !",. lets. Tl1e SPA.
llrgtCl CouA(.il adop: rewu1,etl0ns sbs11ar. if riot it:enticai. to
thelSf: ir) trll! prop<lsecl ordi!!lIIrlCe. lJl1t.1i toun~'l was "'i\~>f1g to
appl" ,n FA~ tQ &11 re.51dential lots 1" t.rle Cit] riot Ji.'H rllliltl4
l:lt ul!ldhlsions, the'1 would h.ne ~he s~.,.,~ lI .. oble;~L O..,e possible
.aPj.lrO.cl1 to 111l1tin~ the b.i1t 01 t~e blJlldi..,~ .. ;tno..:t I!)(ot;.uslow.e
li.lt.tion on lidl1g s~acot OJ,s to 1 i~H it ttl onl! Mb1tab!e f1l;1or
a!;)oowe 't-I\e nl.tlJr.l gr.de. F{Jr u: .•• p1e. if O'lt, toot t.-:e ~'I.I~ ... ~
sutlsta.r.ct.rd li:lu in 4\11 11-1 l1elgt1t1ornooc:, 6,000 sql.llr"e feet, a3
jHtr",ent "115 • 4,91:Hl sqiJar"e foot lot ... hi~~ .11{J.ec & rlOYs.! of
1,7'3 s~u~r~ f~!' to be ~~,\, .t t~~ O.~S lot COf~r~9~. cur~tnt'J
.ilowed by the ~rdif1en~t. whl(.11 ... n Ollll!' l'!atlit.bT~ f1oor"~ ... 11oli i ng
beicW4!ilt'ld. daowetopasnt per.HUIl d'e~~10pl;lfHlt of !lV!r" 3,.01) !.q"llrt'
feet. W'h1cll was. !.~b$t';'It1l1 hou~2'. It wa~ e"poenslYe. bitt 11"
pe(!ple W4 ... tl!'~ to bulld • b1-1~ .. e'. p.rt or it oelali ~rl{je. Uley
c.ou1d. 0.0 s.C!. l~ tt-r.t or ct~e1"' 'f.itlt~o~S. h~ belh __ e::: it 'lll'llS
t04 d1ffi.:.uH .n:! tj~ot cor..sulli"S for the COUrlC ij ~r;d saff to come
up .1tn I(lj;lst_ents to trill' :ay119ht plane iIrId 5etb'::la f(lr Every
Ito".:eh.a.ble: t.rpe of J:one CH' Sllbn/lnll4r~ t,p.e of 10t wit"'!! lonifS.
M. '9reed wfth staff to keep it 1i~p'e; .lId, t~erefor"e. the type
or ordlnolncll!' befere COLlne'!l was tne bot!!.t approac" and h~ ur"g!d
Coy!'Idl support. .
Ladltt, !{tn, 180 P.al() 1.1 to. AV'f!!tue. 51.i4 hIs Miq~bor~cod .r1S.
enttrell 's.ub1t.ndtrd: l~ts. The nel;htlOr"ho{Jd "U orle inc! htO-StClr,
f'esl.:lu,es .nd der=sit.r wtlS never. problem, ~i!19 U ilr.:.hite-.::t
iIlld hl1l1ng d~elt liit" tne trlr1anCI!! ~r"oces.sr wl1el'l one Ip~1ill"d for" I
",ulan". It ,oul<1 .1wIlYS tie .ppel11~. 1-:: was. huse Cl(.lt that
see:tlec! to be neower en~Ht!SI. It was iJrl1"air to tl'le Cit! :Staff.
C~unltil, .and the propertJ ow~.rs to p~t everybody t~rou9t1 the pr"o
cess. The 1ssOie .-as nut oll-e or t_o stories. it WiS buil. He
bel i ___ cd tnt ardin.nel! ecopote<1 elf'l ~ef' c,oM .. trnir.\i t.he r.e'lll sc.I'o-oe1
sites lt~1ting the FAR .as a re8sor..ble •• .r to look It the pr"ob-
1ft .. tluiny tne 5i::e of the tlOY~t proport'oll to the sfle of tl'le
lot. los t)le lot. !lot s.lller, the hOLise prOp<lr"t1o ... a11, ;,l-at
s",,11e-r 4 it ;lide sel'ue to hI. Ind soT __ e(! .1.1-.;.11 or tl'!~ problelll. 0"
subst.t;rldard lots perh4ps the fllCeption for" 40G squa:r"e feet for <1:
gar"Age was too gr"ut. &(ld perhaps lin eXCtfltlon .rea of onl, 200
S'll.l,,!'e teet shoilld be illloWl!!d, He be-l ieved the 20-foot lid wOlllcl
)"k,f're, Me SIW ZC-!c,"1. n.t tOlles 11'\(!, as a tleSls:'Jer, ',t .,50
vnn tlley tr led tQ get .a.'1 tr"U for I 10nSi till!!. Slope "oofs
ter.ded to .1n1"fze tile irapHt !If the hcus~. T~e1 scrterlea t~e
!ff~ct for the nei:!lhbors. and tly puttlfl; I 20-foot lit! 0'1 it, it
teot slope roofs .wlY. Ke believed 1:: lfOul~ be. d1s.!ster-.
C.OOlI'lC" c.r.lylc! rower the dayl i;ht pl lne 011 iutlstlnd.arcl 10-:s 1'~Ur'll
the .. ta .. ting pa!nt of 12 feet for a SC,ndar"d lot dO_i'L :':;l lC feet
on a s~b~t.r.d~rd let, lihJc./\ 11so ~~nlmized the en~elope aile! acc~~
~~~s~eQ. Whlt. C.c\I!'Ici~ OJ:e~ tr")"r,,: to /I.~r.1e~e. tit: tlcpeli tCIl"~\'
.~uld c.ot:5id~r Ue liter ... !.tiowts. in<l ~r.d up with I ~1rect, under
s.tanl;1lltlle proce-ss Ipplied City-wide. so peopl!!: ,f1e_ .. lIdt they were
yeuing when they stepped 1n, and It eGhie ... ecl VI! SCI'" of reduc.ing
the '!sUII' impi';~t of t~e Mus.a, to tne St.r"eet Il'ld t~e nei;htlors.
MIliJor Cobb ~e(llfl!'.:l tl'l~ putlll~ I;e!llrlttg: closed.
)IIOilOJl; CQOIflC.1)II".ber hnnl .o'led.
.Oapf the stiff reco •• end.tion !~po~1n9
li.iting t:.onstructlQ.r:. to sinsle stOl"l
t.lned.
~!('1>"'~e-d
;a ZO-foot
t,:nl e.s.$ a
hJ n.t,tler. \0
b!1~ht li.lt end
urian'e is ob-
ORQIU,f(CE FOR. fIRST 'EA.OrI(G en.titled.
cOuNcIL OF lHE cln OF PALO "LTO
{ZONING CGDE} TO RE&UL."H K[.
·ORIHItAItC£ OF
"'fENOfIl'G TITLE
COHSTlnJCTJOH
THE
lB
O.
~UBST~MDARD ~OT$·
6 6 9 S
1/Q6/85
• •• .....,;_v> ________ • ____ _ • _ •• -,-.-.0," ... ' ,_~_,---, __ •
COl.lftcHIIIHber 1iI~;'U!!1 •• 10 n:lt StlnlllJl"e .bout the 20 feet. She did
"ot k:,u,,_ if sttff (;ol,jld es.t1I11at@' ~o" tall t~e dr,p!'!r-1!!S w@'re in
the CClI.III..::11 C"I_aef'J. bllt 5i't@' bellevo!'d t"~1 Wi'r-~ p1"'Obllbl, ab-Ql,jt 24
feet. ~~th. L~O-itory house, t~el were tllklnll a~o~t t'9ht feet
frOIl the "rt'pert, line •• Olleh .... perlllltted \l1'1~er the dlj'll;ht
p,1t.tI@', so H IiIIIS s.-tUt .. bto; pi.ee. St1,e 'lin Mt ti-.rni~_rj .1tll: a.
but B III'S ~"Ir"tled t~r-QU!lr. and 1t _as "'at the pjJbl1C SUllied tCl
be set1sf1'd .lt~. U~less COu~Gil put the second story li~'t.t.o~
In .he ~rdjt1/11t1Ce. she believe~ ar.:hitec:t$ lol():;ld lIIillJ:inf1ze lne~r
s.p:Jc:e by b~ild:iri9 tJfo-storl t-oxu, w!1lcll w~s !'lot ~I.t COl,jl1c\T or
tfl.e l',e1g1'otHH'S ... ntee t.o S~t •• 'It,1'. tl'le one_stery "m't!.ttc~. 'ttle
ulle bu)( couTd Itill be b1I11t, but habitable SPdC~ In the secO~d
part lJf tne box 1f01J1C r;-Ot be !1 ~o~2d a'ltno~t I ur1I:rl-te. She
t'el1ne~ tn" re!ll.llltlo~ Io'O~!~ resu1~ il1, sll'1gTe·stoiY .-ittl I
~edked r~Q! or IppllClltlon for I ~Irl.~ce to b~ll~ r.llblt!blt sp.ce
01\' uc.cf'o\1 Story. whiel\ tl'l'l!l'\ 'i\O:"',,11 I PC\lb",\C. p1"Oet:5S "m"re~y ........
there w.s SQlle hlrness to a<:lj!cet1t n!!191lb-or~ wilerI!' CherI!' .. ert" ~
Hlbs.tlnQill"d l3t~. SI-e ~r=,ed 1ier ccl1e~~ue. to s~pp"rt the st.rf
reco'3l'e"c!tt;C~a
t.O\ll'\cn.n'Ott II e~n ir.ttnae-~ t., SlIpptH't tne lIotio". He I.l'tlt 'rIce
~'yor .0011., ,~u SOil'll! Id:Jltio,ul la~gyaile to propose 1;' due
COYf'n loin 1 C.ll was ~t' Ilful to stlo'W Cr/uru: ~ l.' ~ 1"tt~,t 'W!.\. to reg ... ~d.
It. as a flexible proC.ess .. hereby if it 'JIOrted O'Jt and ttle Sec.o~cl ..
haoHIIDle floor lude sense ur..:Ier tlH! vlrl.nce-process, t.~!Pl it
woll'cl De .llowed. He I\IJ~ted to prt!s.erlle t7l~ nexibilHy l!f'1d d11:l
not IIlHlt to ha .. e.n absolute rule as. propoud 0 .... Lhe PJut1in.;'
C~l(lI.fss-ul.'I.. He 4ppr-e,1at.ed ?l.'l. K).(''&h's c.o.gent r~mf,rl:;.s. but ~t
settled: tCJ hl_ the Pllnnin\i COffi;~issiCin s~o~e as if tne &i te-rn.tiv@
.as II: fiat-o;,.!t prohibiticn of s.ecOnd floors liltll nc PQBibi1 ity Cif
• nrtan,e •• hi,,, wH /lot ..... at h4! interlded. He "ilnted t~ look. bt
UII! possib"itl of Stt;;Onll ftoors. tie cjid riot want 11:"1 .!tosolyte.
prohHlit"\ol". beei.'J~e he b~'ievt!.11 (..0\.1,..",11 wi1".ted to l!I\c.ol.lrlto~e Sle~?l!!
to blll1d o:'! tr.3se Tots. SLJb!Stllncl!I"d lots ~reserlted u'liqu@' pro/:l
lells. The p4rl.liel bet"een su~standard lots ud the S''-OO' d15-
tric.t'lo surplus sc~ool "i~es "hic~ CO;.lno;;11 :,,,d disc:uBed the past
t.e .~nt~~ •• ere dift~rent 5itu!tions. The di'f~rencl! to ~i~ .,~
sulatlnd.rl.1 lets C.iJ1I\1I in ... '1Uil!t1 1:n1l hid TlCl'e p .. ob' ems b)' trot'
hct the,. wert' suDstandard. Tiley c:oyld be suastu.dard 111 a
v.rietJ of different W!15 ilnd deql"ees, .nd t>ec.Ju!;.~ of Ute ltai"ietJ.
COl.ln:,l1 h4d to treat tneCl in a dHferel'lt 'Wal l~d ~·;th a Tet of
flu1DlIit,. One possibllitl' fflT'" flexibl1ity ~dS 'or staff to
hear t"~' issue W1 ttl re~il;"d co • va.r hlllc'e. lie lMeW pcapl e ." wily5
co~vl"i~ed tile ~4ri.nce ~rucess did nut give pe~ple enouy~ Motice.
Une of the price .. Qf • s.ysteitl ~ ... ch.s theirs. _4'>. )IeQp:le ~ad. t.o pe.,
ittent10~. The t:ity pres~l'ItlJ' hi:! aM el ;l.to-r.a:u notif'caticr; PfQ
ceSs, a.n;:! if people clid not re:!c trl2ir mall 0:" lco( .me~ ~ lot W!s
posted. etc •• trlere ltere pro:ll er.1S~ !):J~ tn.e t:i tl COyi d o~i'y do 015
w\!11 a~ the.)' c.c.ui~. The vil~iat1ce "fIHl!'Sii ~'.Ild be I fall" Dn~. 011
ben.,f of Jl\r-. Br-ollr,. !\t (l1d net beii"~t f;)r • 1I{l>:-.t.\\t !l.r. Brc'oj~
prt'jlldged In)' c.oBe 'Wllictl lliiiqht ~o tlefllre i1ilP. It W4! just rlct t~e w., the CltJ st,ff Mandled tl1irt~s. ~e did Mot ~no. whethe~ )
val'l'ncl!' ..aul4:1 s~cceed. it depended on hOIll it worked out. tte
int.el'lded to UlOI~ort tne ~(Jt101'1. afld when Vice ~ilyor 'Iooi 1 I!Y ir1tro
oucea the iUIl!'nOIUI'\t" !'Ie .1 so lntel'\Ol!'tl to support it.
COUI'lCillletHll!r Bechtel uid !fter relldit1-Q Ul@' stlrf rtcolllllr.e"ldiltlcrl
and ttl~ Pl/1;nMll'g COllllli~sicll lI'li"lltes. s~e ... s perSI,Jad .. d tel S~PIi01"'t
the s.ta r1 rec.o ... enoation. S~e r:o~ment@'d .bout the ~embe:r 0' tile
plIDllC .~O .s~ed abeut the difference between a sec:o"~ ~torl on a
st,r1\:I.P"d let .. , opjJosed to a substandard lot 1" tetliS of lmJlllCt on
tt\e ~et'it\~ors.. Thert ,,~ .. defit..-it"!!'ly 4 o1Hfe.rence beci.use C(l •
sutlstarldarCl lot, tile builder or :t(ll'l1l!'o.,."er _a .. lIore likely tel buila
to t"-e ..... i~ ... 1ft a110\lj'2/:1 b'!c a""e tr:ey I'I<HI' a st",,1 1 H o1rllOyi\t to pI a,
.;t.h~ On, stan<!ard lot~ o~e 'Was more lil:eiy to) /lav! II greater
s.etbaex UUII'l rltqu j red. "nd f" ... ~de :I!!~~se to PldYt' tl1@' Orlt!-!.to ry
\~.'tltitJn n prQ-pos.~d by s.t&ff. al!Oj) ilnc'll~l'Ig t\l,e {)j)~{)r-t\lr,'t1 fat
re ... ie •• nd POUibl11t)' Of ..... ria"c~.
6 6 9 6
1/0~ /86
'~' -. -
•
~~-----~~--~--~---~----~-~~~-----------
"llee K6YO'" woolley Uld w~e" s.ne recd the starr report, ~he was
pleutc w1\11 tl'le idu ~f iIT'I ~?p'!lrt~l1H) f",r .. YU~II'1c.~ prc!;e,ss
bee-flust SilO!: 1>1'1 lev!!d de-~1gn wu .l".,)') the ~e)'. It was 110t
",S\i,d11 POHlbl .... wft~ 1I:~1 ta "nt .. I"'!1ie'll' process, 5.0 1t .. as left
to l I\fltt~r Qf dt~en$io!l.~. On t.r,e o:!'It'r hiU\d. wr.e:1 s"le read thoe
ora~n.n't~ i1: soul'lchd IS. If tnt lnhnt ns to p"oh1b:t 5i1l"o:"1cl
storle5. 5111!' e:,11ed stlH for ,'iilr1f1cJt'\tp!'<, 111'10 _as HSllred ~r.e
1nleont _is to prolride a revil!lo' proc.ess be(cri! • secon1 5~ory IIlas.
IIpprovE-d.
AMENDMENT: 'ice K'1<11' "ooTley _ove1. ij;e(.oru;H!'d by K1t1". to .dd ...
~ fourth Wh.~e.s ~o reid. ·~herels t~e inte~t of th. Cit' Co~~~~'
is net to prob1bft I!'c')t)d 'Stories. tout to prlJ~1de fer. rt";itw
process purs~.nt to Dther provl,1Gns Dt the Code '0 ~r.luat~ t~e
1.9.~t of the ,e~Qna Itor1 on ~ef~~~Qrt~g prc~erties.·
to<lnc:\lllutoer Ltv,)' u1l: ... ~ fo'"" !;'1arH'itlt~ofl 0"1 \Ii~at ,t 1I\!"loflt to
·ev~luat! the 'lIpa~t.·
~;c.!" tl.ijOr lilJc,'1iey refl!r!"l.'<J t<1 the 9'dl'l~in'l CC","lSS'OI'l 1I\i".'Jte ...
S~e uiet tne,., l1li.$ rl(J ~I.nil!t UIlO'o.Slt'on to s.e-cc.tlc! 'Sterles; ttll!'''e
• .as simply. bei1ef ttl,,:; ,.!th • 2.'.i-.:Jr :lO-foct iot, ttlt! :1te~ed to
lie: eor,. nns1the to) ttle plledent of t~e ""indo'l(S oII'Id 9a~lts .... tc~
~ha~ s~e .'Itlt by ·lep.ct-w.s bottl from the 5t.n1polnt or D~T~
Jr.d of pr~H'(". $tlf; de' H::.'Hate'y l.I'Sot<! l VI·s .. e 'ofOrd be,-t.(Js!. s.h!.
did not ~ant to. tit 1. dowrI tn Iflyone factor to be el'illuatee!,
Coun.c.illtember LevI Slid therl! were hilo f'~erlts by 1II'~lc" CO!Jrlcil
e .... luated -i.pact,-Or'le .as arctlltt'cture so. tne ... ar·iilrl~e bE'cuI!!' ..
"In l."cn~t~ct.\I"I~ re-v~e __ • ;lif"~ tl'le-Sf:t~ntl ",as prhIG)'. 1II'01l'tI ,,\'Ie
prhac1 ~tand .. ,.d be tile S411le na,'oH:l 15 useet fer I staflcud iot
~r wOlil d the,., be a alore r19"rous standard af ~~iv.a'J' from th~
s~bst~ndard tot.
'f'1ce "'aye-r "II""~Y ut4 'It Will 5 TlDt clur-iy st"lte~, a.l'ld s\';e be~
11~It~d it was tile point of halting tr.e reyie. becavse ;f Covrlcil
coulC1 !Ott liP sOlee cle.r nat'ldar-ds, t~er, it "illS l~e pr-e'F~rJ.t;Te IIIII11Y
to go. Sin"t sui:lst,,:'U:,rd Tots "ute.a sa «,uc". '\!1e ~eiiHli!d
st.ff's. 1dU II:'IIiS for Courlcii tCl provide reltit!'w P"O(:I!'H r&ttl .. r
than set plIra.ners.
C"u/lc·j1.e .. ber Lelty ~pprec;.ted t.h~ @'.1tril "lo'ne,·eas.-becI~se h ....
",..p,.t.t.Jl.tt,ot.d. IlCU'" wH,fI. 1,h.. Plan.ninio (;.0 .. 111$$(':,..'1 r.CQItIll.",dllltiQ'I tt'l4/1.
w1t~ t~f St,ff reeo~l.n~'t10~ fo, tne reaSO~5 Co~m.s1fon.r ~ars~
jndic~t~d, Regarding t~e l~p.ct an pr-I~a,]. it .as the first tj~e
tne QY;!'50tion Will ndHd since th~ rest:"iC:'C10r'l5 Or"! I sw:'st"l1dllrd
jOt IImi'::!1 'lJtre c.e\,l'H::.p~d bJ' ~ 2u~~ol:.t hei~~t 1~ltiaticn arid pro
.'-Ge~ t.tI. 'HII'Ie 1e ... ~' t/f prhH.;; c:": ., ~l.lb~:tr.r'~ilrO ~o! ~'" tf'l~ !:'it.1
Il,d ~~ a stan:lard lot. ThO!I e'l''Ore, if COYneil e.alut.teCl ttlE'
i",.,act, it: ap~e"f"ed thejl .. ere gO~I'!i to hi! .. e a more riSjo,·""s ~:'a"'d.
ud for the: Sl,ItJst .. ruLlrd ict th~r'I tne .5tilndHQ' lot, IIhi-::h seerPed
ynf.fr. Tne "e~t GliutiOr'l was t~~ illlplICt in terms of ilrChltec
tl,lrai nlll1'!~!lt1!,. ,.rdt:tI "IS t~e fUI'IO;}1If:ntlli ruSOI'i CtluT'>c'ihrrembH
Renzel state4 wlien 51\e Origt!'1al1J' .,de ':he 1I0t[0!'1. A.s she po'nted
Q~t. Coun.:;il W'5 concerned til1ey '\If'CJuld ~ave 'bOles 0'" silbslanc!,rd
lott~ .rt~. fro. an. arctlitectur.tl st/IJl.(~9'"tnt. C0l1nei1 .. 15 ynccm.
tort,tlll' illt1t~ it, He: Uked for stloff's 1r1pwl in te:,ClS or tnt
"'Iri,nc ... procedure i!:S "I IIII~J of e~al\Jbt'ing :'l'Ie 1!lrc~ittttur~ 01" tr,t:
~c~ines$ of th~ s~bsta~dilrd lot.
tlr, I:lr 0 Wl'\ ~v.ld Mt C~a.!"lctl!riU tl'\~ OPPIl(t;.!,1ity c~ t 1/ar{;tnGe
proce-5:5i a' fl.illtinSi an lrchitec:t..wal review of strut:.t\,:res. The
thi"e! fi nding: h tt1e .ilI"H.nce ptoctH .,/1$ o'~e ~f detrill1ent to
surroundirtSi pf'npertles., IIh;Ol fiMlng allowed" t~e City lo have it
deslgn re\fi@',.~ At that pOInt. staff lcoio:.ed Bt the impiicts of I114SS
I.l'o(t Pl.llI. of a I\\)lte, f,!'oc, ,;1'00 privil{..Y 'im.pGct\ on MjO\!\\I'IS re§.i~
denCts. b~t oOt St;l "uJet. iln archite,tv.rll reY1ew wt"tere th., spe,iflt
~e'i9n ,~d Sty'! or a ho~e _as Und!f olsctetionary r~f!~~.
£ 6 9 ]
1/05/8&
COwIlCnllellth!i" LI!'fl .-s*:ed H S!.I"a'S st~~.1/11r'.i fop" prhlCJ would be
~ore rlioro~s for t~! twb~t!~d~rd lot 'ha~ t~~ st.nd~r~ lot.
!lCr-. I1rowr! uld 1t 'Was d1fftc<Jlt to US-.... EI'. He" i" *;he (.a5e of
,tlnduc 'ots "nete tn .. re WI! tn Ipoi'lc<lUo!1 for I varli!n:i!', staff
perf Of lit <I I dU;51" ru1e. func:.t1cn \O~i,1'I looked o1t prha:cy il1lp!c:f;$
~n IdJOln1ng ~roperLles.
(.o\:rlc:iiIU'''''Er Sttt\7rl .. So be!le~!d Cou,v::;l WiU (I!~lln; III;:" I vi"l· !.",. t.1l-.,.r.it,r. tl'ilH" .. ert thrt-e "u!1'SitiOT'ls t.5.50til'.:.f"<j, &ru1 'It (li(l
nc~ 1114tttr wt1etMI!:" it •• 1 /I s<.Ibst.andilfd or I stlndard lot. :he
r!.lles. d1d not. th!llnge btC,l1se tP,ey did Mt t.;t'f'! t"'~ I;<t~or'ty to dO
5CO 1'n terlls -G" 110" "<lr'filrlc:.es k'ere Id!ll1f1~s.tl!f'ed. K .. wre~t!ed lOa"
the .Hlbjec:t 11'1d fQl.Il1d .erit 1., severa' COl"lfliC'ting pO!r!ts r.la.;'
by thli!: r1.fll:'-'nl) COII.II1i'1S1(1!l. ~t.H. ~nd'il{idu.41 at<ll.t/ers of tl\e p.1.01;)
lit trile: s~o k.1!. Ir'Id frail r;i s c~l 1 I!'~!iues. MI! 1'<1 vore:l .!ppro!(.he l
.. I'I~!:II I.Itllhetj FAR. dlJ'lj(,l~t I'lln\! •• nd 5I!'tb!cf:s 1:'1 .. d~it'on to
the sIte Ire. coverlqe .~~ other co~~tr.l~tS In'fo1¥l!'d tn '~J
loning. Ite belh ..... d 1t ",11 !,oBlbTe to cOflle :lp 'I ... it ..... lu.trh
apprOJell wn1c-~ 'apraud !'lOw to dUt .. it;, S,C)III!. of Ll-tt probh~ s.lt~
:J"4t~o"S 1rH.:rusln911 Ii!'n;Oi,lntered" but dilt 'Hlt tltlloi!\le it _a-s
Council's joll to design H~ He :'u)ectt'.:J tile del1bli!'r.t1on tile
~i anning Coallliss1cn !lil'Ve to t1Jt' "inae 'but '5upporte-~ tl>e IrHitl(1,' .s
.ade lind ..... e"d~. It di::l net 'SMut t~e door 011 fl.lrther redell of
~OlO to !tlproa(.h tI-.e s~bjec:t, and rHher that !11 C(ll.Incn!:te!!'lbers.
lIe1IOfH"S of the Pl.lbl1\: •• .,.d ~ntere.ted parties !'I.ed the e~portl.lrlitl
to rec:o •• end lon1nlJ c:h.n5lil!'S for !:cl1'!i1deration (lurlllll UI!! Cl.lrrent
year rn'ew. ~e sUP'Ported .-hlt .. 01$. being proposed ilIlul l(;ceote6
U'le fut l'Ie had: 4:'1 OppOl't .. nitJ to propose otl1er cholnges in ."
order:, pro~ l'H.
Ccql~'i1.emt:ler Renu1 &110 !'iupported: the nelldment, Ind us,",lIted it
41d. Mt p.ret:'uae tlte lon.1r.~ Mm.tnist.ratcr 1'rCI1\ not. gra1\Ung •
.. ,rieIlC! ,1' I'll' c:ol,jld IlGt llatl!' the fitld;n9~ IOith ~e'Spl'ct to "
seCOnd stOf'),. JuH tlC'Cl!!us.e Ccunc.i! did '1'lt i"tt:l1d to precl ... de
t~e. CI~d ",at _un tne lcnirlg Mmin1Strator r,;gtn nllt prtc!l,jde the"
if the IPprcprhte flndinills cOl.lld net be ude. She Iske<l If th"t
."s suff's Ilndi!rsu,\'!d'irJg ot the oUIl'l'Id.l!nt.
JIIr. e:~:lwn $/lid it .. 15 the c.se ill .11 Ta:ridnc:e proceljures.
Coundll1ft1ber R2'lIlel SiJjJ yeClP"S !lIlCl the CitJ' !'lad II singh, stln.)'
r'Lll e .t six feet frell the property 1 irl!. 11'd' the SH(ln<l ster)'
cCl.Ild onl, go up ~jn~ teet fro. the propertJ' 1 ine. AS I re~~lt of
5dUlt 'W~rill:rlce rel1uests arid the da11iqllt piHe, Cou~..:l1 cillnge~
it. inC pf'e~e'l'.t". t·I!-c..use tile ollyl ~!'l\t ~i line-"'3"> ra"'iSl'~. peop! e
'o~ld bl.llr~ t"l'O fUll storjes sill: fli!'et fr 0 I'll t'1~ property l!~e.
111'1;,,, I03S it tall t:l\li1ding tc f'Lh'l' Sil feet f!'r)pp four p.p"oper!..\'
line. Historic:ally flec.,,1!" h!cI n"t bl.lilt as ~l.H:h. ~<Jt we-l'e
stArting to dO 'SCI. [::o~Ol;1ic:S Clf ltna lOH "'e,I1'::' ir fleO))'e op11e.,.ed
tlH:.!f c.C)\jl~ t!.'l it, t.t\ty ?!.,oi !. t\\S~ ~:"~t-f. .H\~ up.tcttd to be !ble
ttl do it. Therefore, Council 51.ig'l1t ~nd ~p honing to addp"ess th~
iss,tle e;.,.ill I;S mori! cas.es .!n~ pro~le~s oC!:urre-d', but in the IIEar!·
tfll::e, ttle 'J1eruJment-was proooilbly the b!'H Counc:.il co1J1..:1 do. S~e
sappo:"ted tne a~end~ent.
Councilllmtler Fletcher believed trle sc:.enari~ COl,lnc:.i1l111elllbef Atrllel
raised OllIS OIore 1 ;.r:e1, to happen en 1<Jb:stII'Hlud lots. tlec"u:se of
the r;cl1flnea area. Srle lIol comfortable witt1 tne varia"'ce feature
of tl1e llt.ln Ilotiorl t)1i!'r;aYSoe it a.llowed f[H-fluibil it,., '!lId 15 lien.
tjOrll!~ by !I memoer Of tr,e PLlblic. "ali lot~ d!'ser~ed utr. s~eclat
sensitive tre.t~ent. T~e variantt proce~tlre too~ t.re of .!r'1y lpe
.;'i,1 .,ro.blelliis-1." specif;, (.He'S.
~ountilm!.tler Plltitu~'; saiCl i~ appeared Council ~~i ~nc:lear a~out
.hlt it was try1rJIj to iIIo,c:olllpli~h. He :lid not agree witl'. Courlcll·
.enber SutoriUi t~at b .. ,.ns,e it wa~ en Ute a~erlda Cou,.,c:.i1 had to
vote on it. If COlJncl1 was url.!.bTe to embrace • ~olution to the "',r1, c'lff\t\l't pro~1ern. tTl?! 5.1>O\l\a 1i'J't-90 1t.!'I~.ec 'IIith the 501\1.
t10n. He aSked naff 110w IIIjny pro;lertiei ;~ that c6te90~..\' IIlgllt
be expeCttd to reque1t • vdri~nce.
6. E 9 e.
1/05/36
•
i
."
"r, 8rowr. :;;4111
pet-cent. of toM
"I, or 5flother.
it WII1 difficult ta s~J'. b\Jt prOl:ll:!ly 6') to 75
'f.riLf\O;I!$ i!>su.ed OIe:"1I!. fo!'" "iu'tls.t!.l'Id4rd lots tl't C!''I!
Co-=n,i1t11ellb~r PHlt;Jccl Hld' the,l!' "RHo • .,19" prObatlil1t-,. ghet1
tl'te ecol'lo..":s. of o .. nlr'l'll ttl", TO\.5 and __ hat people w<1Il1ted to C:o 011
tr.u. eller, s1r.gH. Q:'\e to b.e. (!e~e1.a"l!d 'Wollid 9.':0 bl!.ron~ the ZQlllng
Ada1nlstretor and t~erlt wel.de: bnic..liy tie )1'1 adll'lil11strH'vel
"olHlcll prccedure In. .>,pro'lil!ll ear;;11 one. Ke lsio:.ed if that AlIS
.,r.i!re UII!l "'ere he4:ted. It seECIe-d to lll-m iI Vlriance, 'oy its ctf1-
~itlol'l. w~S In except!ol'l proce~1 ~~ic~ OT\~ prtferrt~ to el'lCount.r
t"~e11 H ';'-top-1o!. foliowed tt=.e rule> •• I1Q tH111dl"9 it 11't IS -II mar._
"'HIII'!:'!t p"'oc.SS •• 1 • IloIstU:e. C;:,ur·::l1 •• 15· ~itSIC!lllJ S!)'i!1S t ... erJ'
s\JtlSltr){lu'(f p-rope1"'tJ' .01,/1<1 e(1~ I."P (l.'1 t!'1e ZO"':I'l; ~dm:"1.tretor-'s
cI,"H .ftd prOb.bly ner:tull1y lit tile City Counc'l, .:-c he ,"O')IC l'1Ot
su "~j)rc ... 1n!l nit process. If C(lul'lc;i~ 'Was u,,~apli.Y "it~ t~e 20-
allt 11.1t, 1t sl'tl;H.·Id: be ref~r"ed ~aC:1: to t~e Plal'lrlin; CO!lla!ltssfc'1.
Council 5~~l,Ild be lIorll! t.l ur 'HI I;tf'i!.t 1t "'ilS tryIng t.o ac.c.c:mplfs~
£rICI let tU Plii1:IHI;IH~ CCllrninlori Cleat "la t~e hSl,ie 11'l ,"orll! depOt
thu :.1,11 could It tI1e C~~rt.'il \eve"l.
SUBSTlilJTE LI!',,.. tel
stvdy~
MOTION: CownC:"lIeliber ~Ititucci .O\'l!HI,
~I!'er blct to the 'l&nn1/'li COII~fssio"
seconded by
tor runner
COUIlc.;!e.e,.tIoer Le¥y seconc!etl tlU' ~ot;on ft.,!'" "I,/r-~oses of di5c::unlt;n~
1'-was a ,lttle toO ':'1!;Iue as it I'reS!!'nt1y stood, Dtlt the dfrect10ra
IIIe.S apPiopriate. COl/rac,1 ~a5 100ti"!l for the ?lannlng C{'ru~i5s{on
to re~1ew t~ree ele~ents: FA~; setbac~s; and nei9~t restriction.
l'\e b~)'\~'it=4 l.ht: r.ei-gYlt rl!stl'ht.l!;ltl ·w!.!> e':.stJ'Jt'a:iy &ppr!;l?rlatei
tilere Shoold :be • 2a-foot or 501'lH! Innr:f Of heiS .... t restrictit::ff lIlore
rl!strll:tjYI!! ti'1dI~ III a St<!r1(:,~j'J hH. If' tht'.!' hell! • clJUIbirodUO'l cf
SitU let ;.et~ .. ct, F"~~ ual hei!lht iestriction, then the-r-e was hr
less rlfleci for t"e ¥U'iancf piOCe~s. It' tM! ~.!i:el'" of tr'<e referral
I\ot~on cOf\s.ef\te~, ht' "'iHlted tMe Plal'l"lil'l9 COll':m1!o!o~on to cCf\:;.h~1!r" an
.. p~ropriate c(l~bi,u.tlcn of s:etbacK., FAR, anel ~ejllht rl!'St~1I:t!oro
for ~ubst.nd~l"'~ lots.
"'AlE I!. AIilO $fCO~D OF 5Uil5HTUTE MOTlOII' "G~EED TO IftCORPORAT[
U.kG.U"'iii. to IISl tKE ""''' .• nH'''G C~~ISSl{)\II TO tOI'lSt{)[I, "" "'PII,OPRtJ.n,
t~BINATION OF SE18ACI~ flOOR AREA RAHO~ AIO H(Je.HT REStRICTlON
C.ouocilanber PUltucc:1 lISted fe1'" cl.,..lflcHl:ll1. He rec.,11ed: it
'lias not withfn the ,,~r.,.rew (Of tne Architectural "e~iew Board (liftS)
to r~~.e. $'~. fa~ily re!oident1.1 pre?~rt11!':., !oo th~, ~erl!
ttlkin; abOyt z"l1i'lS f;lnd~ of r~strlc.t.i"l1s as (lPPOSjI(l to ~dm1"j5-
trati.,.e or c.o"mlttee re~i'll"w pror:etlurrs. 1-:: ~~!o not plJrt of the
~rac~ss to h~le A~~ i"~aTled. ~o ne ~verjed ~"e:he~ CDuncil ShD~l~
also ,or'lsid~r the" pOi.it-jllt.)' of a different tyCleo of r2lle_
prot.e~s thA~ tn~ ~ar1anc~.
M.a)'or Cot.b belie"ed Caunc:ihlC!l1Iber Pat\tiJCC~' 50 interp~etHj,"rI ... a5
correct. fie asked .heth~r he w';l1-:.ed to lr'.c1ude Aro:B rev1e« U iMrt
of tile substitute ~otlan.
co","cnlll!lllber Pat1tl.lccl Iske~ .... hethe!'" tl'le Af!:S, by its ch!itei, _15
renr1ct'!d f!OIll laoking at Sll1'Ql!,.fuily re5idel1tial prope:"til!!5.
H CDur,cil 111\11l1'fl!d tl1e ARiI, woul:! it be a lI1ajor c~ill'1~e :n t.he
al:lfllirli!)trath'e procedure.
Ci'ty At~o"ne)' uiane LeE' t,larifieel the current ARB ortli!'laro.:e did
not pro"':de ror re~ie~ tl)' the AilS of '!;;ngle-fa",i1J developments.
C(;iJndhemtll!r Fatituc.ci clarifie\J the ordir.ance cOllld be 11'. Cd 1.
f"i ad •
'5 6 9 9
liDS/\!5
\
-
CCUflcn.~Der Le¥j' uid he ran sOO1le of HiS' :'l<Jrl:it::ers tr,r'Ou~1l 'ttl ~ell!
.. n.&t. !iIU 1I0<lSe tl'lcy WOllld J1!~e, IPHI HSII:IIin51 til! SubHl'ldar"d lot
was 4.0UO ~Guare 1'eet--ht ,"nde;,,~too}rj t:'1~ ifihim\lrJI s~~s.tarld,!,"d 10':
• .!~ 5.lJOO--4nd 1f the)' were 1 imited to 11f1~le-story cOl'er'ge. it
'101" 1.400 squere teet. A t""o-car ga;"~ge ,,"as 40~ !qiOarl!' feet, SCI
the:; wt!rt 111l1tll1:' t"emselves to • Muse cor I,QuO s"ulre feet.
Itr.lc~ wa'S a ,.aI1 hOLJse. Tne ~cu5e wo .. lt1 ~rO~,ah~JI 'lat. he cordu-"""""-
che to a "dI~li witJ1 c"lldrer>. _hie" w~S $OI~eth1n~ he "'J!1~e-d to ~
erH;o.-r'ye ;:'1 0111 COfl$';.r .. ction. Therefore, the 1.000 'l-tl,-ware foot
1111:ftlt1on autor::ati::al1y prClyije<l.11 jncent~ve tc ti':~ tll.,lild~'-to
try to .et I: wa!"jance. Tr.e b .. I1'ci~r w.~ ther'l heo t~Ie ... ar1an,;e
proceu ~1eil had tne ~rl1nte-~~l!d circurnsttrlce of .'!do:rog slQ;'1if1-
clilrltl,)' to t..l'le co'S:. :>ec,u$e tile ~~11!:!l!"r Md to i!lill hIs arcll1t~ct to
develop Ii ternathe set'S or .,1.1'1.5 end to i!lp~ul 'those 9111flS to the
variance procedure. I/Ind poss;bl" to .see en appelil1 of t~e .. al"-
ance. It. wa.s <1 slllnif1carlt I'II.untl"!:" of t,Qurs ~or .an IIrCi1itect. aile!
in ta1lin'i ICO,"'!: a. SII.11 t';o,"se. It was a sl';lr.ific.nt percentagll!'
&pl>re:::i.tlc.n f~ the ,,,,'!it. of U1e I':ouse. ht.her than t\e1119 .ble to
prol';..!e III ::Iodest-si ted f1ouso!' '-"'ic" $t!',1 hDused I fIll':lll,. tile,)'
llIou1d 1ns.tead nut. lIIodest-s'zed ho l.oS II! Df hi~h UP~'l~1! ..niell
prClbab1, serve,d .s • hO\l$l! fer ~eople .,tilo"t ehilciren wt;II!1"1' the,.e
were tltO fairly high lnco!!le'S for the l1C1usehold. ~«' er::c:o,,"a9!d h~S
colleil\lue$ to Tet tr.lI!' Planniny C<:l"rr.1S,;io~ h'7e or."!' rltore ::ry tCl
fi!"d • \:filY o"t of tile clileiMla COlin,jll1l!ilIber.5 Pltitll.:;c:i IIncl
Suter1us el earl, delineated.
tOllr'lcllI:1H1D'!r fletcher "p~Osed t"e 5l.itostlt.-te cotion. Thl! mora
tor;~111 on bu'ildln~ on sl:onll.l'Idard lots el(p 1 red MaroC-h 1, l:'thOiJ9"
It c-oy'.~ ,be utellded. Mr. IIroW!1 p'01rlteel O\Jt virtua:ly all SLlb
stl"d.r~ lot b",ilders Wtl1t fO'r I •• r-ianee 11'1 .nl event, 'SQ tnot:
process wauld 1Iot be (. .. t b.)' H"djr.~ it tllle~ tD Ue Plaf1n1n~
COlllliHlon 111d. r!,-:,..rninjf Ii it 1'1 .a different fOf'"I,q.' .. bee-au'S!!! St:~-
.5t'fI~ard 10t1 presented many con~tr.jnts. If t~e Plan"in~
Cc;u1ufon ucl Couf.cj1 cue liP wit.r. .n FAIi~ j"dging by lihat. they
did to ;!I~ scncol 501ta FA!1 s1tlution. sl'le beli"evea the Cit.y would
pl'"cb .. b1y holU bu11dfngs ',1' too bIg fClr tPle lots. Fin.!:l:!. 5h~
had rn;: probla witt. Wh.t tounei1 \f(!S I:ftflr ... h~c" -.;s, to redllce
'the to1lpact ~r b~l1cn"~S 011 the-neiyh:)or.5 froll! $uc,stUlci.rel l~ts,
.rld she was confo!"hb1e wi'" tile orig;n.l Illation.
Couileill11elltler BecMr:l concurred with the COIlIlle-nts of Counc1h.enlber
Fll!tcMr .. nd rel'llinded lIer collUYLJi!S the jS$\;I! was before the
Plannins; (;01llIl1'1$10n fcr III Ollt II. 50 , and the COII~iH'IO?l ,"",dilt! pl'ob.bT,
J"st 5S ScO" net ~et It bAC~.
VicI! lo1.!yor 100011ey did riot illlagirl2 staff
ilttJosl! 411 aamil1i5tr.ti~e bUl",ifln Ofl l:'er'l'.
ef',lI'isi,ji\I!d adn:ini'St.erin!:l the ordi;H,n::e tney
~lJld as I( C;ur,c.il to
SMe IS ked !)ClI. H! ff
P;"(l po sed •
... r. Sl"OWI'1 elid l'Iot bel~e"ie it W,H.n aci~il1istr.ti'e b .. r~ef'1. T~e
nUliber of sub-st.ndard lots as de-f1 rlul tlJl tr.e ord in UCil!" ~ere re1.~
tht"ly fe'll 'in tile CQl'II!IIurlity SO would not ,,,"OUl1t to • great in-
erell51!' In 'Var-ianee ipp1 ic-etions. H€" clarlfiec! the questiorl Io"S
110,"" staff 1!u,:)ined <1dllinisteril'lg re1aced to 1'10'" tr.e ap~li:.an:;
.o~ld Ileal w1tl\ the l1e. re:;ul ations.·
I'Ir. Browl'l doubte" the 1!rid!1Ce-s W(luld Jr.,cre-ese ~':Jre trlan fo"r or
fi ... e a. .,rUr.
Vice ~ayor ~oolley ~.d qua1~s about it or .oul~ r.Clt ha ... e mOl'ed the
I: lI'IerldJIIerlt, b .. t lJith t.n! al1s,wr:!r frolr. sta!f she o~po'5ed the sub~ti
tyte motion.
t:r'lL.ln,il:;'('~IJ)~r .:.lein t\ill nl)t r.rdie",,~ (:')'I'1r:llml"~I,,,;-i.",,,,y Wi?" Cr')rr!'c:t
tile I .. rlle-it '5Ilb~L,IrIi.ldrtJ lot Wd, :',=WiJ s.~uare fl'et. Tile,)' w~re
ealtin!:l about 83 ~I!rcer'lt. and he cluifiecl' B3 ~ercent ~rod"ced tl'le
0),000 Sllu.re fel!t or,I,1n.trlfl e,oo'.J squarl!' foot l'1eigtlbOl"hOOd5o. ilnd
thlre could be lUlier SL-bstBndilro lots \n :Htler l"Ieighborhoods.
6 7 0 Q
1 fa 6 i' 8 5
-
.';. ...
~,,:{~-:'-':"<:-:."-:
:·._~~~:g-1:~ ::
'";~}~'~1
'~~.:
, ,--_ ...... ..... "v.,,<~"
~r. grow u1d U ... t ... as correct. The b~s1~ It-I, ... ~ich ... u. 6,000
Squill" f'e~t su~t!ilIrd lot '51:e, .oLlid t.e 4,1180.
Cou.-.cl1/!'l,!libl!l" t:lell'l c.la!'lri~d if th~ri' ... as one of t.he n.i;t1bcr.
"Clod~ w1tll er1 8,000 lIIIir.lmulII, .. ~ubs~ancard lot ~\J1d be 83 ;ercent
of 8,000. or Ippro~fmatelJ £,5QO.
"'1'. 31'0"" said r1 gl'lt,
t:OlJllc11~Ntter (lei ... st1,n'ed t:.,e ~1'!'WS of CO\Jncii'llI;r,.~er5 flet(her
ud Bechtel, Council I:'U seeir'!51 01 C.1HSic cOr'!fror'!t~t~or'! Det.een
cHir!! for ceru1nty ven,' .. s desire for rlurbi1Hy~ H@ IJrlcen,tood
it lrld .... 5 uSllal1y for certaif1ti 50 people trlewr ... here the)" '\IIere
y~irlq on $IjC~ tl'lfft9S, b(lt he be! ill!Ve~ tne ~earch (0: I IUthell,Hi
til roraul. When Ultjng !bOl:t substaF'clar<f lots was Ii 5e.erc;~ for
solllulling 110t ac~ie."ab1e. T;1e pr~ble!1 .ns sl..lbstlntlarl1 ·IOt~.
all10st 11.1 c!ef':dtiofl, cloict not 11!'J'til tl1usehes to It. n."r, were
too .~"Y ,arht13f1S. Tht'Y p"u@llted tOO lI~fll ~Holll ellis; the.)' III'!re
tOQ sensltht!, p.,.tic.uTa~'y 1n denloped nel';lhborI'lOOds; t~e,.
crelted all types of p"'eIl1e~s .hi~h dl~ ~Dt ler1d t~eftse1veJ to th~
Iu,th.atfcil far.uT t. Tht.i$, I'le Ilel iewed Cou~c n ... as better off
opting for f1uHlf1It,., which lie/HI:' ue variance prec;lI!'ss. It was
hl!lpflJi fer Vice ~.yor "colley's (jlJEstlllns to pOint out COllr1cl1
was uning .boLlt • prCltlle<l rt!.el1y not H:!ot itstistlcallJ' sl~,,~f'i_
Cilllt.
C(Hrnc.fl~l!'PIllet" Renul op.I'oacj the ref;e.-r.l to thl!' Flan"I..,g:
Co •• lssion, If Co 1.1..,-; 11 had better dea1t Itith the ov!!rill i-I
zon@s, they pro!!a!!11 ~Illd not !1He s" ma.,..,. ;nolivldlJ.l it el!ll 5 with
w~lch to deal, T~~ eCO~0.lC5 or la~~ U5t depen~ed on the zo~lng,
If Co tJI'.cf 1 I!TOlled the e(:QnOll:icS to ~Mape .. "hat ti'tel' did" the
zoni"g, '\.~ey would los'! .ny .esthetic con5i~er!otic" whltSoever.
Counc.l1 shou1d lIo;::e the "~illl(iir,9 COl!lmi$.5ion, 1:'1 its re ... it!w or thl!'
lOnln!i ordille".:.e. clid In On·the~9r"'Lln<l r,nie'" of e.a:;.r;:.t1,. 1I0tl the
Clt/'So l:ctlir.!!l ot'Cl1ruflce playecj jl1 rUllty, .nd perhap!i reI/lew U~
standa.rds the. City hsd for astlletlcs first. ""lytle ther1 t:OI,j'"Ii
'Wculd be atilt to develop a. cQllIlpreMn~ir~ ordiunce fo~ t~e Cit)'
I!nd s.atisfa.ctarj' t~, ",eO)pil!. [;, the lIIeolntinl!O, CO(lncii h.d to deal
ifit" tt"iose 1nai1Jl1d"al hSlJl!'s ol~d shol,jlil 'ie!. 01'1 ..,ith it.
SU8STITUTE "OrlON fAILED bJ
'fo\1n.1 ·.,.e.-
AMEICD"IIEIIT rASSED vn,n'.ousl/.
n:;;e ~a.."ar ltIool1ey n<!(! oll'lot~er lmerldment cOl1ce'"ni"g tr'!e ·~,..,;;r,il
flil~er· dause, 1I111!'r1 it 'll'il5 at tr,e Ccun.:n liBet, t.ne lnte"! .. a5
ta silo.., ar'! e~is!'tn':{ str\J-;t\Jrl!! wrr:i,~ burned dOw;'), :'lJ~ was not
c.0"'or21"". to be teb .. i1t. Sr,!!: ;ropo!iej tne wt.y tn[ a::nenamer:t w~s
wr1tten te changed S~ .n e~1~tin9 ~:ru(ture couTd b~ reb~ilt even
ff it .!s not co~(or~in~.
AXE~D~t~T: 'iel!! Na,or woo'r~1 .ov~d, seco"d~d by (lefn. to
ruiu the ord:ln.nce to .ild UI!' rollowln~ llngulge tQ t~e end: .f
St'c.tlon lS.12.05!ild). '" ... ce-pt tPlat u)' struttur .. S tlla.t He dn_yed
or d .. stre/ed by lI.ahu".l cl151ster ~nch as f1rl!', floOd, or urt!'l
qUIte} _IJ be repl.ce-d '5 they eJfJtecj .ithout reglrd L~ 6.1 .et~~
la-foot height 11.1tat,on or (lJ.itltlon re~pef.ting ha~!t.bll!'
1100r .. ,. •• ) ••
COI,lr>ci1."J)@r lI.en,el tnelto' the ti,tJ' ~ad tr • .e!. lyce of COlidltio:l en
ot~t' .. lotlln~ ch/l"'~es. and ask.ed heOti .taff lI<easllr~d OtIh.at was the:-e
~efort--whlt ~a$ USl!'d 11 • bolSis. S~e asked if it ~~cj to be there
wltll • ouil~irI\j per-lIit or samellody' ~ S~.J'-!ie.
C"ief Pla.nnln.~ Official Brl..lce Frel!'land saiil if tr1ere .ere pla~s 0'"
f1le, Ut City would uU them. For InaliJ af t~t ne19hborl'loOds. Iti.t~
s,l,ItlS!andl.rd lot5~ they often de.lt ... ·,th old: s~r"ctW'res 4-nd often
did "Cil h.""2 atJeQuate r.aocor:.(!s. It f/a. flirlJ' rare for a t1ol..lse to
be s.o !Otter1y demotished It .. as impossillll!' to deter~irle Whit .as
6 1 0 1
l/O(i /S6
-
t~er-e, tllJt It '1lIlS po~slell! to
Qe •• ltte~ or feet 5t611' h~~
d~III't .I~" .her. it IrcS!.'.
·----~~~~---------------~
rta~e ~ l'Ioojse tlio,," ~P. etc~ It; to\Jl~
a ttar-tt ti~lo!. b'Jt ~l lIIo:.:ld h!.~1I!. t:) be
VIce ~'lor ~oo11ty .1II~l tbe lII~tn~~efit be~au~~ She he11e¥ed t~u~c'l
•• S rtll1J flrui1ng Obj~;:ti"'r1 in the C.OIllIll~lIllty to ,~~n9t~ and III
exiSting str~clvr~ ~al not som~t~ing the n~ighbors felt i~pacted
c'y_ The), 1 ived with it, _ere tj:;:ed to a, a.::ce-l1ted it, ."'0: tnere ..
fore, it lias. not .;rIreiu.on'b;~ to ,11" ...... ~jit1I\g :H~uctl,lrE~ to be
r-ebui'l.
AJillENDMHT ,1. SSE D \I n &n i .01..1$ 1:J.
~CT1DN AS A~£H~ED PASSED by III wote ~f ~-l. Patftuccf yot1ng
• 110.·
Vice p\,)lQr Wot}ll~y. I,.llalr or .~e "elic-,)' /lind rro,;-::ed1.H·€'~ [~lijlJ
CouHtee. uid tnt itUI ~a.s heard in AL.I~UH it .l:S h'!l<1 1;,
'~I!lll\it~ee. so SOlte. o~ the. \:l1J.!:!1,(.'s ('OrlCl!.r"s (.QU'rj tie. ,c.<,ol'/.t').~dat'!(1.
it returned ill ~QvHbe.r. and the re.tised triter:, pani!d wtt" two
cro'''!jes.. The first lIo-dHit.tio=1 wu 1n ~o. 11 of "-t-tIllC.~ment 1 t<l
CMll:1Ul:6. IIInel inc;:reaSilQ tl'U! II'Itr'limu;'l1 Il\~t..arlce. frO;!l St' het to 100
fee:, 'Which cn.rqJe. .as. lIade in res,,"ollH to Il~rthants c-oncernll!'eI
lClout COlllpe.t1 t1 pn frOIl II'lI!'nd-::lrs.. Thll!' sec. 0 f'i(! ehan",e .as to ellc.~ilt
Lytton Plaza. 'ie"~ors iOI'O'Illd only l1ave to be SO feet from. simi_
lar tlu;I"e.SS if they were. located a,rOl,lr.(f Lytton Plaza. The bel ief
\lllIliS l...l'ttO)n PI,&U. .Ifli~ uniqlli!' iU\:! t. pll'@' .. tle:'"i!' ?fcC?I" to\li~ t:l'ljOy
'What tl'h:!'y p~J'·th.sed and Stay PLlt. Ce~jI'Jcil!tlemtler Fletcher-o!Idde~
there .... " IIPr'"e spllc.e In Lytton Plll!. tn acco"r!'C'd .!te "en:jors 50 it
WillS not il\e:pprO~H"1 .. te to hl"fe-'Wtlldors. elos.e'-tngetl'ler in t.hat
l~c.ation, ~O$t of the discus1ion centered arau~d Ite~s 7 ~nd 8 or
Att4Cnetnt l to CMI(:101:5. bet!! of wht~" du_lt .itll t.'~"r'"arttl!.
either for ... "ner-Ool!Chlllel1t 01'" " pu~h>:art between fiJ:ed otljeet.s.
SL,ff ~.1d It efi~t feet t~ere w'~ ~o~e ~11aqree~zn: from the p~b
'.ie., bllt ~tlf1' bei1evii!'o str-Ol'l'ilj t"'e hll!'hy LJsege of s1deWILItS
l)OifTlto IIIn requ1 red there be ar! eight-foo t e1 urlllilce betlleen
vend~r Ind ~ fj~ed object. F~rther. t~e Sr. AS$istant City
Attarne, be1ieved 't wiIoS faportant to riot IIlte Iny ex.:eptlDiu.
1I1thOUr;jh t-h_ C::o_1I;1ttee ",as. as-ked to Ift'le 'So,,"e, bel..lll$e It IIIOLJld be.'
hUd. t'il ~,feM! the '3rd~nlfl'f-1f ~t ~"e net ur,~fot'S. T!'tere"1;'$
5a.~ Goncern over'" pre1 lfer.tion of p~shcar'"ts. Th, Co,,"mittee liked
the L'o~'1to ... '" prlln.el1tly. t~t dId net ..... nt to se~ the nU"Il:JI!-r of
~u'heart • .:loLJtll i!':I. She ri!'feni!'Q tc tl1~ maps IIttl~l'Ied to
CpUC101:6. ~t'ld sajd tnere. wet! ~~"'1 Hen in Downt(Hi"', es.~!!c;ii111'y
along :.I"'iv!!r>-~t!'~ IIItliere. t:'1e.re. lIIe:e l2-foat !.ido!.~!ti 511 tnfu'e was
I!l'1ouyh for .1\ ei9ht·root clei!'rllnc.e pr~u I Uite!!·foot pU'iltcilrt.
/IIr. l.illLrie-rlllan provHled a 1eng lin of problems i" t~e ClowntO'W11
dr-e,J wnlc:n _doe the IH,IICI!r"" of pcn'ible le~at~ons reiati,eil few.
"OTlOJl: CChlAcill1ellber WnQlle,r .avec\!. uconded bl Bechtel. to
Ido~t ~be PIP Co.~1tt,e reco~aelldat1an r. Proposed S1dewalt
Encro.chBeht ,nd Pwshcart Re'Wie.'. Criteria ~~d 'r-ocedur,s. that the
CitJ CO\l'IIC'fl adopt tne '.I!nd~d ,r-iter1~ and prOt;l!tSlart$ for .'t~·
aat"l incorporatIon within .pproprl,te $I!ctions of the M~nlcl~al
Code. wIth the e~ce9tlon that 1. AttlChllent l. No. II, the SO feet
be chAn'ilt!~ to 100 feet with the further i!"J:cept1on thlt lytton
'llzl rr~lIlo.if! .at SO feet. ,and cll"ect staff to preplre the '''!'CI!'U.ry
o~g1n~n~e~ ~a ,.p\e.ent the cr{ter{a 4"4 proc.ed~res in proce~stn~
enc.rolell.ent pe."'Ii'~'1 .and' pushe.rt yel1dor Ifcense oIpp\fc.ations.
1'11,(e ""e"~gl':~ .;94 les lI:..,b05. ~ajcl the Arc:),it~t:tur<lli Reviell Boar(;l
(ARt)) "'.riled. to add sorne re>:luirelillents, 411cl he-Hked "if they w!.HJld
ta tn the new ordfrll,1ce.
P1"inClpal F'la.n!'ler 6eor-':re Z1mmermJrl ui4 u ti'te Jl'l.Qtion pres€'rltly
real.1. ttle "Ito! rl!cOlIl\eniSilt.~-o"'5 -.o\J~~ Mt. b" ~~c.cr!Jonte1.
6 1 0 2
lIC6/B.€,
EXCERPT cf Planning Carrmission
rr,inutes' of December 18. 1985.
ra. plama'::':o.a .e~i.dCJ;l; _t ill r ..... l .. r
Decaber-U, nils .t l'~H "... .t t..b.
O1dr.&.ll Ctlliall pA" id illl_
... dlll "13 1HId:D. ... d.I.,..
/)1,1 turll Can ter. vitI'.
IOU CAU
~: e<-h.iOflerl OIr-bt.l:llttl k
"ortbwa,.. Wheeler
&!!.!!!.:
Staft l"t"e.eur: i~rt J1!:otrn. l.oui1l.l Adaitliltntor
Sarab QlI ... ,. ..... oci.t. "~.a.olleT
!TUce Fr.-hod. a,.i'l"f I'Ia:mina: otfieial
KArl_I Pnode!'s ... t, Senior ...... i.tnt Cit,. Attor.Je,.
Chairwul cunea: lbe !'int i.t: .. 011 tb •• ~da is Ute a~r0'9al of
tb ne .. til of. ;tlIDDLIl.E eOMd .. iO<:l -.in'l!" ••
!lId~1l CallHl: 'nIe fiue let o! mautu .re tho.. or
CC:tob.r .30, 1913, be tbH"l .ecrrr.ctiOlU or additi'Otl' to th.ue
-u,tlu,.1 (Jknte} It b.u beau *"'14 by cc-l.uioner 1lh.el.r ud
... c.orul..,d by c-i .. ::ooc.r lIoreb •• ,. t~lt _ appro.l th.e .i~t. •• of
October )0. &1.1 than ill; U't'tlr .... ,. aye.
Q::li~1I. Culln.: ttl. out •• t of Diutle •• iI fr .. lIiiovu.r 5.
19B5. I h ... e Ia.t! C'~n-ee't-iCl1Ul to th","e aill .. llt...... oa p. 13. under
~laiOlHlr itI .. ler', r_rkl ••• cOfId pcta(l:apb. third Li_ tre.
the-botto. .booulc:l riM "PZ'~jac:t that La ia ttle offio," DOt
oUe-riSC' .ho~ p, 11 • ., t'_zu bllfwa.y dO'l"ll. t:Mi pe~. nc:crnd:
1l,Aj .bOt,lld read:, "Rd' re re.diae it rill H :-fe.biat furtMr
reviev" not!! wiU M rec:eiT:i.n, furtbO' uri... .Are tbert otbar
corrlaCtiou or ad.4itiouat (.DOI). Tour .otioa La: III'" i!l ord=.r.
It be. bftl1 ~ 'by cc-iu ioan OIt'uua..n atHI .. .eauded ~y
c-i ... iC'Mr .OTthwl' ~t. we .ppZ'O"t'e the .Wllt"'l of l'I~.r 6.
All tbou ill !....-or .. y eye.
>",~":·-~~,,-;.c,,""C,,,,,,.n: 'nI. fit'.H .oet Df sl.n1.Jt.. .re thou, of
Move.tl!r 20, l!il85. #.1:'. tbert eorreetielll or ... -:diti01l." to tiJen
llinutu? {lI01!.oeo) It h .... beea W/lIe':= by c.x...i ... ionH Wbeett.r ... Ild
ncc=lled by co.aiulooer CUll8U tb.u-~ &pprQ'f1 tile aillUt .. !;If
JlOYe:.oet: 20. AU tlIo .. ill favor ,.,. lye.
>fOTIO!I' c.Ul.tIll: nIt e&rrie. UlJlttL.ou.ly •
A.ser.4a I tn Due .HIoCifie.tiOll. of e!.e lotIai11l orilin.lIl.el to t'ueriet
'11._ dl!l,",lo~t or bl:ildiag .ddition. O'll
.ubltn.cl.erd loti ia. tnl 1-1 di.triet.
"r. lrQ¥ll; Till. !be H ... ff !'"eport '>Itlieb 1!:1u blv ... r,.Ie-r1 tQ ...
oel.lbbor~ood _tiul vit~ eolle,. TerTlee ruidellt. t.hl~ ...... beld
ctl Deen:.bn U. I would 1i ... tD re;wrt thu. Mr. 're-el.nd Ind I di<:l
_eet rith Ccl-lle,e Terrlc:e ",lid.lIt... The ren.erd C:;Jallll'"'' IrOli.
tha' _Itilq _. apprCl"t'al I..Ild eonc:urrelle ... with tbl It.ff prope>l.l
req\,llitinl I YlriUlce for ton.tU .... CtiOD of I .eCOtld .tory Oil I
1 .. /18/85
-2-
•
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-
, .
c~lt ... dud lot. !O" .. IIr. I .l:!01,;!cI aotl tblt tbt-pel},p1il Itlndins
t~ ... dlal did £_1 cut tba C.:Iih,'t!! Trn-aC'e _=_[0;-£11& ulO\l.ld I:I"/;
be lifted It tbh ti.ae. to .110\1 ad.Etiau.l. Iu.ff nU<i, ot'
pt'opo .. h to _rIO! .... !:t.tIZl ... rcjI lou tbrollJh .. ,uhdi-.oi1iau proc ....
nil, 1I'OIJld likl l:ut pcrtiaa of tbe Itud'y tc: ~ con.identf by
It.f!. u4 nt~d tc r:..'1e ca..:f.:uion &114 c.olJ:lldl SOrIIoSt"-,, boeforl
tb~ Jul,. t~i.u.d::m of tbe IlKlrAt:n'i..... Iu t~ cf tn~ it_ l'OO..l
M" ia f<:0Ilt: of .!O'.): tOllip.t, tbey IITrI ~ follvor ot tb.1I It,d!
pf'<Ipual.
C9?iu-tonet 1'\l000til'l!',r; t'.xh'r ll\e propo,.iI Cl:nfill.ED.e~j dClu thi,
..... 0 !:bat b&1-.nta will QO't be pcnitted1
!ill'. ~~~ t.... the"., t.b, oedira.t:,,:. i. ftitt.o, b .... eotl 'I/'Ould
t.. tltUtlhd ... o=HI babiu!:t'te floot, UI Qot!linJ; ('ould t. built .~.
C·nde.. We vou.H 111.",,1; that tile onlwllcl could k _ifi,cI to
Iflxclu4ti b.1..-nt an...... If 1"':1 look at Sub-nct.ion C of ::I:e
ordi.cuce. were it d.t:inu habit .. l::lIII floc.u 1;0 il:u:1u.Je l(lft .. ~
.. ,.u.o..r-., Uli .wI.1;' .r."~ we N<lld 't1&Il.t t!ult~ if .it il )'our
d .. ue, 70U cOuld .add: abut: lItXel..cli::l.J but:aflltl.-a .. o.entl u""
ad .... u.etll)' defiMd in th. [)nifar'll: luildiq Co4.~ '11 there ,bou.ld be
DO dt:fil1itiClllll pw\-I .. vitll th.t:.
OI:ei-r.an Cullen: I. thl", an7 dHferCDct J>..n"een tbat~ IlZ.d ... yU!s:.
"~bit&b-ll!! flOOr' .bdl be a~t IT.Q"!:",
M:r. !tQIIR\.. yea. Ue pnfu !Jot tc blVl ea.t tTl"'! of vtltdiQI.
bleAWle it il I1ftell diffieu1t to ,ut.bUlb Judi. G:'.;:!e. (Ill ch.s.ule
r.di( .. U7 it:. I constructioa pt"Qject, 10 rltbeI" tlll:n t:ry:inl tc
de fiDe Jl'sele, _ prlftl:' jllH tg '-I.dude b .... :l!alDt ,neal.
eo-iui<>roer Wheeler-: A " .... ticu of dll'i!ic.ti01l. !'be propoucl;
".rei U:.aDCI becfCITI!' lU t~ ian t 1fIo)1I1d. epp 1,. tg ·Iubl ~ .. rd lou.
ch:,.ndl, bllt the .arAto:ilQl itnit IppIi.. Qt:IIJ' tC eolI«:11I!
ferrecil-, COrTec:U
~: Yill. !IIi.-on.i~Ile.e .. by it. 'IIOTd.u.l. I;'.-o'f;al" the
'IIOr"COt'iUli citywide, ucecpt fr;n: CoUep !en-Ice. ill Secticu 4. 'lbI!
Cle'dilurJlou dI4u..!" pr:opoled II'OUId cpply .. _11 toO canl,_ !er-rIU' ..
boWe'ver, tiM aoI'lItorU. WO\lld r_in iu pllct' II'C.ti.l .hI,.. '0 it
W!>ULI .£111 1'00elude c:mutl;'uc:t:iou oc .Ub.tolndllrd loti, ill CoOUep
"!err.e.e.
Ch .. i~11 C\l.llen~ I will 1IOY open thl ?J~lic "!I1I .. dDt:-ne fir.llt
ct.-rd il fro& Mlrt,'. Pl.tt.
l'b::-th. pl.!:t, :22e.~ !.ovdoill.. pdo Alto: If" OI1e CJf the Cctllege
Te::-r.a(e re • .i"eat •• t the .eetl!1i". a<=! .JUlt ".:He:! tc ••• in C~flr.
., .up~rt for U.e propeul. I.:hink it ill PI:rticulc:-l, lII"!"raiti.n
to OlD: ae-elil. ic Colll!'Je l'''J:'r.(~ • ..nar. we b"YII 15 foot hlt.a vb.i(h
are: • 'probl_ for .... eryoIll. Pll"ti('Ularly youel fD.t alii who C.1UJ.I)t
1;',.. .. o"b11 lhe ."ith t\lo or -.ore ch:i.ldrer; iu II too .qu.~ foot
boute, OUll! .tory, Oft II 25 fMt lot. Tbo!.re i, .b.tllut.ly no blUlket
oppo.itioa to "(cr.Ja .toriel. Then il .t..ply .. fell!"lillJ eb"t all ..
"l:i bot lot or • JIl loot lot (end VI! h&'I4!: a&::I1 of th.lu .iu e:.llele
terr .. ce)~ we lIeee: to b. :acre .nliti¥e til tM pl.e.....,.~ of 1I"it.daw.~
,.bl ... Itc. 50 p::"Vllidil1l f'Jl:' public It!tpu.t to III .. cond JtoJ:'itl.
rell1l7 .Jolin ..... IT ... I: P6rt of the Colh,e Terrace prc;;bl_. vit.~
tlw: ueeptiotl of tt .. lot _rler liu prcbl_, wbich i. n.ot cavend
b, tb.h q.J'VaJ~ I jU5t vllMad to .. y that 1 .upport the pt"OpeN1.
o>.ir.all. CUll!!!lI: n..nk 10~. r .ppreci.etl Jour c:.osina tOftiihc. ill
oi.dditiol!. to 70ur COIIIU!i to the oUl!!!r _lIttins:. to TecinfOTCI the
.. ilhborbood feeliDs: 011 tili ... tteT.
)!ic:h~t Pleailll, SZ6 Ka,cell J. ... e.ll.ue. Palo Aho: I .h.~1!' .twIt
c.olIceru about the ."b.t.a.Dclu-d lot UI 1'.10 alto .t 429) 5hlk.u WII'y.
•
, . For ~. prlar"pO" of ay d.i,e~.don~ I wuJd lilu to eMil,. ml tn ....
",taDdlt4" ~d ".ubu:IClurd" I vo111of li"1;1 t'l '1.1'" "Caocfl)nUDC" AM
"!IOQ¢OV.fe>"iD,." "Sul:t,Uod4;rd" lap'li .. lee'Ir, "nd I d-oo'[ fiu
th.tt i:M lot ..... nlaU, ell tbat SLi:;b d.ifIerQ.[ 1:h.la atblt leta,
other ~ tte,1 ailbt flot coofo ... u&cd,. to vb.f.t .:dIU ill tbe
uli,bbot"bQOo.! .1ru.t:I,.
I ICr.I l,IDd"r'ltoUld pt'hlC'7 "illl an lu ..... bioi':: I tl:ilU:: tb..t~ it noc
perti.hlu to o:x:.c!)Qf~K loti iu OJ .1)'. The 1iI_ ill-loll
.ppU •• to cUIlforaill, loU t!l tile I_e d.,re.. I fail to .... vi'l~u
d«"dopillt .. ooneO;nf~ hI;. lIu m, IIO't"I u.~ct :nJ princy or .nI
~ij~' ~IC. the devdoJlllolllQt cl 0& eou.!-:.rwiq lOt .. If.., :.et,bbor
)uilt • Z-.tOl7 ~t'Un OD • e~forlliAl lot, thllt b .. jlUt: U -a.
iBpf'ct I;r.II "y pti." .. C1 .. d~ • .,. lxIildiUJ .... c:oud uory O!I. .. ,.
D01IcoafOt":lillJ lot. !'hI!! iap.ct ia IXlictl, cCQ ._ wbla ,o.ebC)41
100&.. iDeo .,. b.e~,.&rd. I dm:' t lee: oUI7 differeuu, _d do zw[
wi tbeN: ,hould bee 11l-.1 il!1cludor;. of • rtO!:lconfonic:l lot. Th~"
are 'DO 101: .. ?TVPlTt1 ri,bt.t tlu;n the'u u. OIl cOI1hr:.U.1 lol... It
..... to aIJ thi. ::'1 a._Ire lialit.r.tiOti = tho! prapnt1 rilhta Df
~lorwi:1 lot O'Ii'IMIr,.
lJ!I 1'IP1'II. to .,. o.tII lot 011 IHllr.,ie Va,.. beUUII: ef tht Mtb.or;:u aDd
perti.ns :re.tricdcna. I ItDd up beilll Ihle to tluil.d 350 to 400
~'Qre tM:: OU .,. lot. I uk you~ bov M111 of ,.00.1 wo'lld 'ilaDE to
Ii¥e ill • 3S0 to 400 .q,uan fcot hffl,j".... I .. told that I could
.ppl, fM' a .,.ri.cuc'. lut., 'IIlu~.ratlUldinl of ene .... cri-.I:'. ~roc: ...
i, CUt I ~,t ,bOOll' • harc1 .. b:iPJ or e:u:.ptiCICUI drclllUltane .....
Otller tbaD the fcet tha t ., lot ia 50 het leu thao th ... Iti.u-~ I
cf4 Dot bnoe • har4ab:ip OT e:.;ceFtionaI c~re~U:llce. '''riap' mi.
U: bow t21 • ..ariaOI:' procen :ill: .... :: to, btl u .... ~ -, public fena
a.cd. • d,dpo rnie1.'. It ..... to __ a1~eacl' ha ..... proc ..... it;
,lac. for that witbill the cit,.. I allo ha-.. tQ .at arteif vtletbu'
thi. _ld ..... 11f1 fen-a lfaaip r ....... i..v. If that proc ... it ['3 be
.ppU"'~ Iboul4Q't it dn 'be ,pplied to Iltbu pia,; .. cof propert,.
La Palll Alta Rea tbft'e :i.1 ac7 t.p..ct on '111:lpbQt'l. lUl't the
~I:t j1.I.ar ... aaeh _ ~tI of C01I;f;traini lot. a. it i~ to
~foftliq 10t.f I 1AIder.taud the .s..in 'til redace kn .1Id
..... I -r"d f do DOt HIte to lIoeiLd lar,. atld kll1:,. bvuel. I
lib to blliLi __ 11ft u..t. I ~o not Wlllt to l",lUd a J.OOD .q,IU.:rI
f_t boue OIl • lot. J ~2oa to 1 • .5\Xl "uat:1t f'$t I'OO:Jld b ... re th&a
Keqil&~. fwoo badrooa. tva b.thl ia fiD., ltut 'Yitll the
lwUtioa. !POll an, ,i",ia, _~ I (&IIi't ....-en do tb4t~ I,ft alao ut
bei.q told 1IIIIat 1.S!.!!. do. Dc I b .... to I~d U,iJOo-3.000 to .p,l]'
lor • yttiaoce. toO toe turQ4ld 40V1l., to tr,. ".ia. .'QCI 114il1., nd
finally b~ to pt throlllil I pro.;: ... of cO"lId-.tiO'C an.c1 ,.t ."
.:MIe), Meet r don't ••• "'H' tite rui<!e:!.i'Clal .n tb·U ull _. u
• n(l'ncol1[OT-.iIlI lot ~er, vblt I CIQ do tlIrClllb thi./ll .ariloce
P·QCe-... otber thin bit·ar-.i.II, whieh lit •• ,.'oary UD!a:ir to-.e.
I~ _ld appqt to _ tlIat tbet'l ara othll!r 11tlrlllti ..... tt.t l-1'e
OPQ. It ...... to lie tiw.t th flQOt' .:raa r.tio apF-liecl' to .It a-I
lot.. citywide ~lci ~'''l'lir. tblt buiIdie, .in. Iholiid .. reb
builcl:illl lata. If,.O'II. In IO:i.'!lI to i.apo.a. 10.. \:ind: of .quitable .1)1 pr-a.: .... it h.a. to appl, to .11 pro,...rt,. OWUftl ia !'ala Alto.
A !toor area ratio .tlov .... rytx.d:,. to bu. tb' ._ liait.tioa.a,
Ind tb.,. k:now rlaieb ",id,UDaIL ttl'!!" b.v. to opante !meier. There
IIr' IUI~. It b c1efillld. Ia the proc. ... th.l.t ,TGu a:.
,rope.iIl'. the pid.lial Ire -0 looal au.! UlJd.f:i.I1K. I.IId II:Ifair.
~&i~ CJJlha: Kr. J~ ..... :poiot of c:lariiic.ti.01I. woliid ,."u
pl .... taU u.I wh.t the fee i .. for applyio" for • vITiaoc-e?
Mr. Brovp= It ia '125 fo: • r .. .id.etial uri.uc:e.
Lad-ell: eil!. 790 hie Uto A'II.-:lu., palo Alte: J'I.I .. t to d.nif,. that
1 •• t c~t • ..,.t I)f tile eoat of "-Fpl,.inl fnr I ..... ri.l1ee for IU)'~
lite _. to dr." .uc! lIu~t .:ite plao ••• e!dr .... u •• P_e! i.t take ..
• bout 3 de,.. vortb of 'I!'Ork~ Illd th.t h .merll ttle COtt h.
"-'-~~----"---"
lz/l9/as
-4-
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1 wut t(Oo t.&lk • litth .~t thi.. iuu... !t)r priaary ~tIOc.rn. WIHI'O
:r: UM tl:Iroq"b the pr'O'P01a1. 1M. tbl i.*6lcnc::e &'hn .. a ",rho_c,.
.ual1ar4. lar Iyb,tg.darc5 loti cd fer lund,..:-!! lot •• vt..icb CQI be
l.::Ij.~t. 1 lin :h: I neii:II'borlloo.d of .i..nd b<mleJ •• _ 2-. tory •
... _ill.le .tOrJ'. ald. I fDl&04 i~ h 9Hy IU,. ttt livi ritb. I_
-":iI:.,d ,"Ol,';t tbot ob .... i.oD. riu. pri",cl' I'" YI!!!', c~riou.. &1 to
¥ilA" pooph e" dolll, ill tb.~lir b.ack ,.ard.. Lo:..c .,e. 1 I nTud
t:.h..tt if I wucld pri .. ac1 ill a-y bttdrQQC. I V'Culd puU tbe d"U;poeIl,
. ~ it' I dilirl't. I o~d th_. 1 .tlO pllotltd ... tr~e in • pbee
or two ilQd me IrOrll:ed litHI tOO, hoph bave _o.,.d til live in
2 ... tOTY _i.b'!wYbooq ill Pile:; .A.l~c lor R l=a: tiIH: vieaaue ~!lTitii
:-hi.. c1i .... tZ'CN.l! effeet r:I[ ,dYer::" iDvuinll.. I .. ,ho ~oaellrt:.d
.move t:M-thOU&ht tbat if 1CK'-_.l-t to:; b;;zLH ... eGad .tor,. you can
Ir.-I, .faT • W&T1anu. ] 'II&'H fouad til.at tbltTl Ira 131M ~h. i.n
hie Alta that .l'tbOUl'" ,..,.. UtJ Ipply !e-t ... Vlrunc., :i.e: b.c~ IIQ
UI.-pti= wt fOU will DOt ,lr&nc "rune" fOT thi. &lIa tbil.
tOg ~ "Ite ygur tL-ami .pi'l,. !out; :!ou't botm, bee.c. •• _ arl
ac-l.nJ tel dtteJ' it. 1 .. c!X!elllTlled that that ('Oil-lit hoe-cOla!: thl:
ltudard~ ~rfi.el.&lI,.~ tbn,u.b ltat! ~rc1;:nn .. , • Ited"rd cO\lld
bI!t &d~ptld eh.tt hadull, '.", tbh .\.II not nf:~ I:JU, to be
~ ... d:. It h II tokeD. .,,",ice, and I _ Dot .uu !:bat I flHll
c/MIfQTI:able witb the id ... ~t 1 cu .Iv.,. •• ppl, 101' a 9ariance.
if ] holY •• ,eclat eir~tnfle., vl:.eu often. ape.:ial cireuaatance.
enll ipOf'ftd ..
l'bl (:~c.pt: of " .... at. UGt babe UJd\,l::!_d I fiud .. Uttl~
IIp .. tt:l.!l& &I ve il~ :[ !:aye , haule th.I t 11&1 _ l:i ttl. 10' z 10 I
b ...... t that 1 OVI fOUlld ~ic,lJ uu!ul for furnlcel an4 wtlr
b ... ten:, cd .. littl, Itorate. lD' .... U bOUie, t..hat 11 reaH,
"l'lIIry iapot'taat, .ad i. _ futu:re tb.t i. !lot oftll:l found in
Cali£onU.a. kt il YIII%"! Ye1uable-. I CCfl 1_ that it co;,Ild be
.ouae4, eo! 'pe.rbcpt' 10lIl1 yro9U:i.oa wi,bt be .. el. to &uticip.&te aa,
,bu",. lat to tte1vd:e Lt wee it could be I .... ry u.eful lad
fll'QctiOlWll pal't of I -.1I bOllR: IbouLd boe ]oot;.cI inte fllrtllir.
1 'IIOul" pt'efef to ... nl 0.4 f.iOO't I"" ratio qpli,.d cityvir4. I
tw'k thlt thl "AI M:Nld U.it the un ef tbot IUN" UUl .tiLl
.11011 the ov.ot'r tbII rip.!: cud prlt;'il",,1 to d.iu_ributl tb ..... ~f
h4 bouae upan tbe ht •• !Ie cboo .. l. If 101J are ll11.it= b" II.
fLoor aru. Tatio, &ad you Ule allo H,,-ilI, oc • IintIe f1;)(1r. OfU!
_,. or .-..otilcr, .. ~a01l: i, lOil1.l te -.riaiu t&.t. N:e.Juee of the
eeoaoaici or tlN li.tqtiO'll. so ti:ley u,= nill l0in.c to ,0 prope-rty
lilte to pro,.rt,. Iille. cd 10\1 are eOyel'iel .ora rrolID'd thlt vIY
~ if yO'\l .Uov tbq to ba" two Itorie.. IJJ e1Ulple ill that i r
,rail. ~ •• lot Dr roulbI, eo • 49, wflieh JiI'tluH 'tie jllJo! tl.TII!I,
au!!. ~.andard, ,.011 VOt.lld 1I, .. e ro\,li~l, .,000 Iq u.ilre fee:, .. nd "ou
vNld ~.e CII IUow,lIre lIuildit:l; .ite of I,OCW 'Q'.I.f;r. feet. &I1d if
you taile 400 .quara fel!!t out for tile requin~ IIr-ale, yCN arl! left
;,r.i.th 800 .qllu'e het -a Y~ tiJ!!t 2-\ndroo. I-blttl be"'I"', _ybe
Ollly QUE bedroc. ad 011. b.ath. hi any cue, till!! poiD.t fO)t" •
• tu4&l"lI tllat Ioal already bel!!a dhcuued aad lai!":: in thl!' city 'M:
if it lookl-likoof that h the _" it i. 1C'a, te go, I tbilllt u.,:
abOl.lld appl, UDiIo~, to all 10~. IaYU:I til look .c.al;.bia., up
e9~t~ 'OU YAnt to do .~thiDI &D~ d.ecicll! if 11: il tbi. blo~a
bere or tben!!~ ~ic'h ,r-ovp i. it ir., hs~irol all kind, of dUolI
I t.:;da:rclll. I thil'll!. 1II'OI.I1d be 8.lcb -.o1"1! c01lfuloin.l:, ,Ild: H&ll,. Dot
"'CJ' Edr. I .. ~d b.fon that ] think the dl"li.pt pl&D1! .ordUaaIl.U
ia pc:rt of tbe probl... It force, thl!! lablu to tb.,. ZrOt:l~, 2C faet
fr .... tbl!! fNlGt, creatlu, tile: affect Dl .-i.llaL iaplC: C7I1 chi
.trut. s.o.e yari .. t,-of tbl! d .. !~.;'gbt pIllae en the ,ide. LIlci _
d."Urbt p141M' fot' tbe ft'Ollt woold find. au:b .. re lIt:idyilli ... i,u.al
e!fe.c:tll 1m tile .tr~t". n.t DfleUo to be lOOked illto, blc.1I1!! you
C&ZI »lila thrauc,b the ~ Cf"eac:ant Puk devdoPIIlI!ut. iItId ue 1:1011 it
hu ~b.1Id thinr to the fr.oD.t. j, ailtake ... littll ""rie-tJ ou
tbe aid;: vo"ld D<Iot iaJ>Qu Q'Q tbe Il.eiahbor-'. privle,. Iud .. kl! for
-...ciI II~ i'lItlllTelti:a, conto.ru and .of~eu tbe _.1 Df t!le bOlil"'::'.
12/18/8:5
-5-
, -.. -:::"" ........ --~~.--"-'---.--
lrsei. Or.l&. 31' !1 C.rwelo. p,10 ,Ute: 1 vocui.::l like to "dru.
t.be ,robl_ r .. i .. ~ t-.1 tb. two lp-.alLer. 'b1!Core _. I 4on'[ k.n<N
C7t.hi.a, u..cn.t iE!Y"~DQ; or pTiVI(Ji bowYlIr. i~ .,,_ to _ it-i,
~ tbti cat.,ory of .. peuC'lU;l .... \,lU. so if 1m.! ha ..... viod~
1.xalci.D. a.ft .JOl.""t .. .i.hm', b.aJ"l.N. I.Dd tbu .... &11 in ... iOCl of
privacy, J ~~Ull ... wt I lot of JIfIIo:pil around PdQ Alto e&ll. lII.e
thair MiJ;bml. I t'hink that h.v';'n, I wil!r,jQ¥ l~kil14: ill thoe
:1111.i.Pbor', yard d"... bOt c:o~ .. thllu • l'iohti':"e of ,:6'1'&:,..
Abo I 1I'Ol:1tI liat' to ... , tluW:1:I 'Hide v ... :ill the $-: Je •• Ikrc\lry
M~' b.£~ l',t Su~4C7J ~(~cr 3, 198~ about priv.c, 111
.-.ua!... Yea.: eu. lpe=ld U ,OCO tl:l 'bllJ •• i4ao ~. 11:.4 Ii. it It
your Daithbor', lot. 'YO\! den I t ~. to ba'll' • viDdov ChilT'll U
!"C1I. !hink it :t. riCiiC:111cru.a~ !t iI nCJ *u, z:iHc\llO\Ll to 'piI~d
tbouau.(ll of u.llar. [0 INt 011 • "C:CJ'Cd ,tcry to took ioto tb,
_ip.t.or'. ,.-ottd. Sg I do Ui[ [hiDk • ue-Imd • ~"r:J and b .... iu, •
viltdCJlll' loowl lntc Ule !:II~ilbbor" yard b.,.e bY thin, to do ... itb
t IMI in¥uiOl'l of priv .. cy.
"orr Jollier .• 2:'1 iiilkie IMT. Pale "'lto~ I hav •• C811 ~irllct ~i.elU:. nUl IWo.uD4..trd lot.. nue ia a lot behUd 117 !louu:
tbat h oq;oin., IIDId ""ather it 1.. lOiIlJ te" "built M1, or BOt. I
_ clIO au arellit.e:t. ,0 I ... peaic.iI:I, beN! ft~ twe dilfuent
ri-,.:tiotl. A. au .srr.lliteet. >[ thic\ tht: QrdiIl.u=~ h !iDol; the "'7
it. ia V'l'ittell. aud TIrUII.'I<:".' an tha apP!'~rietl!! tilial tCi Iu"e fer
leco.nd ,tor.,. additiOOl. !"'t.... a n·.id~t ae." hadnl 1i"lII'd a!lod
VO!' •• " vitti Ule _ilhbor-c around tbl. .",Iauodud lot fOT tbe l .. t
2-1/2 ~n, I dCll:l;'C u.iU I would like to bne otb.,", re.idaJu of
Palo Alto ao tbf'O>.llb the .tn .. .nd tralaA thlt ::: .tld ." ueiJhilO1'I
bne b.d to 10 thrC\IUJb far at.;olit 2-1f;: ,un. I think tIM!
or4i.vaC'e .boaU Ie ia. •• writteD, with 1:10 V.riClC'1t al1wed l:n
McotlCl flevr aUidou. 1. tbinli; the lMilhbon .ho",ld 'know ..u.ctl.1
what C&Il H done 011 uie :nb.teadard lot, '0 the,. ua. Ih. vi.tlI it.
but to lui.,., t!l1'C tlI..,. ba". to 10 bef<:,T. tbe plalUli'lll c_u.ioo and
tM citj' COWIlci1 :bo en .!ftl'l:'t tCi .t.O~ .ecODd !lOOt' additiOQ.l vilie:b..
in oou u •• ~ noa arT ... t,. obtt"lUli,.., it Tt:"J c!a'Cl'~llot.ll to II.. 1
c:a:z. iaalilM otb-= PJ:'op,u·ti .. a :ta hlo <o beinl tb •• _ va,.. I
wuld lik. to raca-ad that TOll Inforc. tl:a ord.iua.e. •• .rite,""
IUIII iDcl'Jid.e b. the ordl~c;. tbe .tat~t t_het tbl plaal!.ial"
C'o..i .. iDrl 'C'ec:~. tAat th.re " 'DC "uil:llcu .llovd.
eolin Hi~k, nJO JI;~C'. 5trHL hlQ Aleo: [too .ttel1ded the
_tULI :1.11 eoU .. p TIU'ace lut "".IL, ar.d I .. here to leud ay
.upport too elle ... lU'<t. I .. lao _ut to pou:n'i! 'Jai~ on. th-.t th.t
I p.::t fortb. at that _tius atld .t: prl!'Vio~ _erina' of thi.
,roup. i: fHI tberl: iI a .t-J:'0lll aead fOr .orll-ctichborbOo.l o-r
loc.l input :lIvol"'ic., .ort kia<1a IIf develo .... a.t. 111 CoUele
terrate, 1 thin 'We f_1 it .orl t.ban "oIt bc:CIIl.Iae 10''' are
cClapTe .. ad i.e .... ry ti.ibtl,.. Rd n fHl &117 kiod of hvdo,.enc,
"b.ath .. r :i.t b •• r'tiMId&llil!l,l.. I:Jt' d-.Jlitica, C1: OI!V cQ1Utructia.u
prob.blt .are '0 tbQ, other Deirbllorh~. where lot. Ira a licth
l ..... r .. d tben ia • little .ora of a buffer. .u. a r, .. 'Ult.
oei,nborhood !eel;il:ll' tend: to na.o laid, hi,h, .D<:! thia •• let ,.fIr)'
up •• tcillj;. IiitI had I.fI. ~_ph! 1Iolula,. Wen thft. vu • de.olitiao
tb.lt 0011047 klMV Abc:M.lt. It cae a. kind of • aoU'pdu: to all
COllcerued, nd :it. c.aa& Aa • ,u:rpTiaa to the JHl:ople doius ch.
d_lir:1a.a that p:lQpla did aot iialov .bout it. It ia frutratit:il.
Doe of tbe tbilLl" tnlt I _ioI lUI!: to ... dOlle-to .tart rn(llv:''II1
.cae of then pl'obl_ i.e .. ae<;u:Q;i.1I ehat aI ... t raquire, .or.
'D.iahborbood: ::!IIput. ] b.ft bHb ~VlIt_d h • eou.ple of t:.ba.e,
._o.lt uotUi, tha Patar coutt. Bill d_tI!lc.paect .t: StUlf,,~I1, "t:,j~b.
toea: Cod ImovtI atl;l., DOoi Imls. I th.itl;\[ elo.e to .. ,ur, to filloal1,
n.ah". At tt.. e~d .,f it:, the devdopaetlt tlla: elM out va. 'aUCb
better thllll what it _taTted out II, it loolI.. b.ttt!:r, .l1d people on
botb .id .. of tbe de"dopalel1t .r ..... e:l::: uppin vitb it. Gi",.,c tha
ILiitd. o! prall'II!'!" _ au i:-1:1l.tI;rUlIl to ..ee in pile. Uta fOr
inena •• d dI'Yelol*lrot acd: buiidio, "'P .0 thJ,t tlu' .trllctllu .. tl;:bu
i
< ,
the p:-opfrt1 'nI~, _ ee,d to take '" 10C\il. .l.t c.v i:bl411 of
..ehe1I.i_ t.b.t will allow ,.op18 to • .,d'_lIte YIult tbut d.llip'
loot like. ]t i. P'lrfeetl,. pouibh to hild -ntbiD. th. code
IOMtb.i.1 u.t em b •• Il .. t..olutl "'n..Itt"'Cl,jt.1 cd: will violnl the
• ., .. ,illiU.ti .. of falb fen )'iIIeu. On the other bud, it i ..
~bl,. Iha pw,iMI to do F"l'leticIIU.1 the ...... thint;, but vi~h I
little ..... U11l C!.d deallu,. Ie-t lo.ethiro, tMt ... gl everybod,
f .. l h&;rpJ and IN1 th.t the,. III c_ ou.t nrmh'l. 1 viab I coulcl
Ih" 'JCU I toocI loll. a.echani_ fen-d~i.n, thil, 111.11 1 c.&tll1:Je.
e.cept tCl I",. Ulat I f .. 1 it it 10000t"b-ifii th .. t lIer-r.. to be 40'D1,
Clef i, .~tbiQ.l th.e;t P ... lo Alto • .on th.ttl arnt citi .. ill
ClIlifon.a. i! !lot thl eou:utry. i •• quippM: to tt"J" and od"ul witb.
Set 1 t:lrov th.et out ... I challl!!l,.. It i, .000000t:bitll ttwt I 'ltQuld
like to .. Ite h -.t (Jf tb ... EOIliq-i"a .. ~ and J thillk it vo .. ld:
hillp to eIi .. 1 nth • lot of lbe proO:" that other ,people hullt
broulbt I;I? tODia:bt.
Ch.-i~n Calleu: will IlO¥ cle.e tbe pcl>He: hen-ie, ~d return
tail ite. to 'the c~ .. iO«:l.
C~UdOlMr ~d,",: I haT. I qUllciO!:ll for lU. huderaau. If I
_ lDt.~.tiA&: Mr. Kobl.r' .. rCltarb. I UiiDk b. ',I~lted thlt we
::~l::t to perhil,. twrrl ~ pt"O'l'i.ion ia. til:! orlliMQce .. iti~b 'll'lJuIof
prohibit the Irantinl Df .... rifttc •• ~11 lublt't1urd l~ta. uU!lIun&
tbst ., hterprec..tiOll bil r ... rka il eorrect:, ... tiler!!' le,.l
c(7JUtraiuu to OU!" doinr: th6t1
M' •• Pr.nderJut; W. 10 ,l1rNd,. bave I couple of LII.t:I.l!(;U ill whicb
'll'uib..ou are not lilloved. h'i4'c.tid dttluit,. ilOilO!, and the
Jitulti~ of the upculioa of I clnlcOllfon:in& 1.1111. TeM.! cannot ,at
a "'lricuc:1!' f~ th.t ro.!!e~ Se prob.lb!J it u le.lIll,. po. ... ibh to I"'. ao YlIri.-ucl!' it ellC7Vad. But it would tlot be oIz:I ...-no:t.eut to
thU ... ctio!!., I. Vl;"ittlU, but r.t!!.r, a ,..rt of th. "uiAn.::",
net-LOll whic.b lpeab to vbat 1'0\1 cae lit variac.,. fOl'. A •• 1vI,..
tbftl!; wou1d DNe! to be I teod riltiaaal Nail' fOT -kina tb.t
di,tuu::tiOll to ":r. ao ...... -riGlc. for tbil ";IIa:rticular .itu.tioD.
Ot.i-nlr.l. Cl.Jllt''iI:: IIl);'t it llI:e,uu"," fOr tlJerl 11_,... to be .o.tI
pou':'ble 1.111 relief h= re.trietionll .uc.b ... we are cOl:ltea,h.tiD.t:
to:aipt7
MI.. PretJilet''' ... t;
prc:"l/ided? iT")
Do yeu -.-a. lOIN .ort of .ct.iai,tr.ttive procell
lIot dv.,..~ D{).
Co_inioller ftoIr.h: I hIVe Ie"",rd que.tiOtll of cl.rific.~ion. III
Jack Sut<J"riu,' .-0 vhieb il .-nlched, IQd wilier. we. r .. !!:r· co II
provillina tlJe IOlie fot thil perticLllIr defillitiol'j oI ub.tan,lIlrd
lot,. he pl:opond • rniled vor4il11 whieb defie.".. ... bataoderd lot,
II Ie ... the £ilt7 feet~ or .. clertb of h .. tblO 63 faet~ and IIIl.
1tON. h .. thai! 4,!l80 .q.W1re f.et. the aIIIIIJ that "'I ... re dilcWI"iol
tD!l-4J:M: :Iou IlOt -a,tiO"Il that 4,94a filtl:re~ hut ~tiotll tlIe __
50 foot: ",id:tb, tile 13 foot d.eptb aad ao ""'~ l~ ... than 13 per.:~nt
of til'" aini=nJ .. ru reil\l.i:red lor the c.onilll or tne parcel. So it:
_e ... to .. that cou.ld b. diff:!:rent in diIfITIa.t 1I.iahbtlTbood .... if
VI!! ,0 witt the lI3 pe.rcent.
K:r .. Btown: ~at i. correct. l'be. 4,980 .quaTe fe .. t :re(err • .:l to itJ
CouncillllNb-u Sutcriu,' _ ..... ,peel-ficall,. Iddre.Ju,; Collel"!
Tllr-Ice. 4,9S0 .qulre fee~ iii 83 pereea.t Qf 6,OOC aqulrl feet,
wb,ich is til •• -1 atatJdard il:l cellel' 'renec;e. %bit Vi,.. .... tlded in
the cicyvide .O'ratoriue, re:::ornizilll tb.e fact thAt ¥II bav! I-I
c:om!:.iniag lIi.ttict .. with laia.itwa lot .ilec of 7,000. 8,OGO .-ncr
10,000 Iqu.rl!: feet. So tbe ~:'t1"ide .. ratori ... II" -.ead.,d to pic.
up 83 pot"tent oI lot arU to recognize the diffoereat lot .. i ...
Jtaadarda~
12/12f85
-1-
-.. ~-~--~---------~.-~--------------------------~~---.
c-.:. .. iooer ICaTlb: SCI' an .. ill the D.i.~moDd, ju.t t~ tak" it
OM n.p furth.r. that b .. vt .c;; .t&lIdcrd lot ahe or 5,000 '''1:~T.
i_to tb1i .t5b,tlIoG..rd ht W<M.',14 thlll be dc.!iulld .... Ic-U!ill.l a..:
l;,CoOO ia. rl'pou", &Dd II] ,.,rcellt La TI'P'O'WI1
JiIr. JT'WD: .0. !ei,hbot"hQOdI that an ..... r .. 11, 4nc:lopot'll all
J,OOC .,~ IO'!)t lou Ira "!mild 1-1, 10 tb~ -.illi-lot .i ....
"c.eGrd.i.ltJ; t'J tl:i, ord.iallll1C-I, i. 6,000 'q!JoI.re rect, lel 83 ptrei.U or
tJI. 1It!1lt-~ .tu4&rd ii, one •• I( • .in, do-u to ",no 'q_rl
fHt.
~ .. ion.r PIIInh: I!l. D.i,b~rnoo4 vben tlIoli .tu-dnd lot du
l' '.QOO Iq.w.n l •• t, I)byhulll, .. ,,,b.t.wud lot of 4,980 it !lot
Y'UJ' illllb.u.Dd&ri nthil!. tb4t DtI:r.'~OI'bood. I _ voll4l1rin, .hthu
T"U. oil. tit. _La, ptfIr,oQ ... kitt. dlci.,imul about " ... riIOUI ia ~.
_Lihb<;:-bood.l li.ke tut, would .,...k CoG bow you wtlu!d ....... hat.
thOle otbft C::01l.du"ltiou.
Jill'. aN*D~ Certailll, i..r. .U 'f' .. riece Proc:t~dinp. t:~e Ii ... and
cO'IIoti.pudou of othn lot. 1:1:1 tbjOlt i-tiate a.i.t.b~hHd 11
t.a1Lm U!t~ .ceOgJt, .1 _1.1 II cbe Itolt044l'd fOf" tMt 1011in&
di'tric=. :bat it u,.,... to be locatd ill-. Jut ye.I~ ullitlllborhD04
c.bat'Ute-c i •• factor in the "'Irl.u.u COI1aider .. c:lcm..
a..i~ !C.I"rah: n. .. coud qutla:iMl t)f ciarifielltiQn t hpe 141 ifI
\:IJ'M of ..... t: " _ra ul!tini .b<r:lt eulhr r ..... rdUil. b"~lI.
Attu • c~t frv. • a jle.tkar , 1 "'At'" to _lll! a=1I tb.t ... III
_d.raUA~ tbIIt _ vera talkLni .. bout e:a.eill.dill, bu_ntl rna til..,
h..Ibitabh floor ll.iu:t:i.\JIIo. 11 tl1.t eOTrect!
Xr. BrOW!!; That il COrTICt. That ia O'.Jr 'lIUueiOll, .ill::e
b ..... M .. de c.ot re.ally hllve .. aub.t&tltial viaVAl i..ptict ou the
lIei.bbOThoodal.
co-ilaiaallr JIorte .... r: lOT I:la:riU.c:aciOil. _1.d! .1ou 10 tbrOl.lp tbe
tbr_ fiDdlill. .. that ~n be .. u for the Ir&lltial of eM ",u-iaucel'
Hr. lIrowa! C<u't.liDl,.. I will a_niu th_. nalln -..:. be a _iq.~ dnwu~ "lni .. to tbe propert}', aDd the d.efic.iti.:m. of
pro,.rt, iAcl0a4 .. IloCIt lXIII, the !atld INe that which i .. aUiuG co
the lM:Id!; ..eoDdlJ'~ tAlt tt.llra i. a __ iq.uI or unnau:a"::r
bar"'!:!ip ralatiq; hoe ~I! ~i'iue charaetulIticl (If the p't"operty;
!lOll lud,., that it wiU 1I0t. Cietri.eutall,. ialM'c:t the a.eilh~CII'hQO'J
or ao:Ijoiallas pro'P*rt iu.
c.os.inioner :!iIortm..r: So ..... ith tlIiI au'bu.sDd"rd lot .. ad vith ~hil cTI!:L~(a, 1'""' al.olt 'ha ... " tvo of t~ thru, riJ,ht oI£. !t" !IDol, ..
area w.,!"~ .Y'""' 1Ir'O\I1d ha.~ ec.y fi .... d~iHtl" ... to whether 701,1 It&:lt
tM ... adane-t: il the iap.llct 0:1 tile ne i&hbcrrlwod.
OlairMI'l CUHea: I M ... I • q. .... oItio;m for at,lf. I 'bay. bull ,oie,
throu.&h the nt,. CQIIIlc-il m.c,\lU", &!HI it .pp.,u. that tbe od,igal
act-ian. iJ\cl!Med "'vithallt Nnefit-of ... "'ariane •• -kit [ _ D!)C '111'1:
if th&t b..:t to dQ witb tb. ~ t.eilb;: er DOt. !lot "inl at the
-.cu,: .(aDd tbe bl:iaht I~bow bll:c.-.([julted), tt.a fiu.l cowcil
..,til:>1l ia.::lw;le.l "without HMfit of ... "ariance." 0uI! of the
.,. .. 'kc-. tOflL&ht .. iel thlt va. i'llchd.d ill the .. tioc..
Hr. Jr'O'InIr TIle wordie, "1 have bu:c a~t unfo.tu.:oate. b-ut the
Imderst.aDdiQl _. that 11)4,1 could de ceTUiti tllinl' a. a _ttel" of
riibt vi. t brxlt bue fit 0 f • .'Ti.c.ce. Witb.. "ad.lllc-a. :.hen, ,.011
C0i.l1d do 1IOftI. i.e., you could! add e .e.coc.d! .tor)' with a veriaccl!.
c~iI.i.OIler Hor-til"'a!:
.. iuut.el. I h.1 tnat
I read: t:broulh .. 11 of the cit1 C:ClIlDc:il
thair c-tnleerc., ¥hicb ... aclll:»eel b,. thll!
12118/83-
->-
-
C'OOc.nI CIt tlMI _i,b.boT"l. hac Nell "rJ Nil iJdd~ucd by thic
ofti..D,aa,c.c. tb. O':ly t.hiq I _ld' to &d.d t~ it 'll'CUld be the
__ di.q: tUt tI'(Xl.id U:!:l\>.:1:1 bu ..... e. I~ (b~ bcbi~bh flC'<ll aru.
liai.t.tio:l. tb~out .ct of lor-ttl AI:le!'iu, b,iu,.:!ltc a.1 a
rcther ~ oc~ce. 1 bY. Moe. in .. o.e thee-he", beC!l. VIIT,.
.,.U dOH .. (_U, roo.a. alld eWl:l bedrO<al!. So "b,,1). Y(lu ~ve ,
.... 11 lot, it :iI i..portaut that th:t au:x.u. -.alOnt of .ql .. re
ftloQt.&r be all~ •• c Icc ••• it i. lIot IIU i""luitioo. l:oll tbe other
1l&i~". I doc't thiak the" :t. _,-illteutiOCl en tht part of the
=itJ CQWIdl teo C'IIJ; dCWtl on the :u.biHty of ~ 'l.I.b.taoi!ard lat ••
It W.I jlUlt to c:ut dowu on tbe iapaet thet u.,. lxIild.iIlI' on tl:,
,tlbctcnd&r'd lor would bTe em it. lId.pbft.. Sa 1 do !I.U .... e that
t'be iad'lldi.m. of bac..-ur. voqld be c ..ny ri .. tbi.q toe do. ]:t
~ld. at lult, lin people th4I op'dOlll. cho\lld eMJ 10 cb()Ou .ru~
i! ell • .co-ao-iec ~k, ~ pt .aT" habitabl_ floor &"t"U tbu. jUlt
O:le floor. a!td it 1fOl!.1d DOt b .... oCI! t.,put on the tI.il~Orl.
HO'I'IOK: co..i. .. io~r lIartb_l:
ClrdiuDCI .. _ad.d t.o iDc]udl
~~t.
I ... 1 thl!! a!loption oI the
tbe pouibUity of Daildilli a
Chai~ OtIlhtH Let'l ulu the ~~t .epolrate1,., to btl lur.
tb.ar: "ltr:ro~ iI iu accct"d:. I M'I"e nCt bMrd Ib1Y DUet di.c:uuion
._ ret. I ha~ to alrH 'Witb Jttw,t ~ .. ioc..r lIortb'V.a7 uid. I
flNl tlIat b,l __ l""l w.e of the lot d~1 not Lcfrilll"l ~ the
_i,\UJ.or.~ aDd C:IITtamll' it nhn.!:a' t.bl ability or peop!e to .1IIe
tbei.r prCtJ>f!rt]. We hna to Ralhe that people ~o tll1t4 tD UIII
tb.i.r propert,., iI .. 'nI:Iit til tn, tbeow H,d,lIl b.3n in Pde AJ.to,
eJpeeaU,. the ~ .. f-.il:t. ... wbo need lpace rOT child!'tll aaol
n.::reatl.CIIII, etc:.· So ] .. ir! :'1;rOT of til.! "'1lI_lIt.
_s~: !oJ
~lIt.
Dr the
c-iIJiOller O:l!rilUIlIJeIl: 1 _ c::ert.4ialy L:-! I ... ..-or of the
_1:1 ..... t. 'bot .. bav1. difficulty "f the whoI .. hue of bab:itabh
UNIt .re... It: ia cot .:1_: to _ '12011' thia h lOi.o., to be:
4I:Ifoned, &ad it • .-. to til it il il:l1.-iti:lJ poIe>pla to .ioht. t.b~
lft. We-_n ulltiD, befare th~ __ tiD. about enforc:la, tlIe floor
are. ratio. eM' 1I'OQ1d ... hAva to ,0 door to dOOT 1I:&kiu, eur-a
.-.eone baa: DOt &dilled C 10ft or llilUaaiDe. I do:l't ban trO-:Jble
rid! the 2G fOClt hiab t liaitatiOQ. lrg t I de baTe tTO'o.lb hi witb tht
nsulatiua o! -m.at people do rit!! floor &r-e.t. I'" D.ot prepoln!:d to
.upport W. part of the ~dilW.uell _,-v.y. 1'hh c~tteit:l,. _'It!!C it
better, ~C it iI 1'.0: ,";otaU), palat.feo:'111 to a..lei ~Il.e IH'O'f.i.liO'll 01 Lb,
~.eeellt.
OI .. i:-r,en Cullen~ I vould likc to ru::po~ to that. ""' draady h«vO!
Chat pr""oies with aU of .3Ut regulatit.ua. Tbn-I"II people eddi:l.J,
the eqtliva!ent of IfIcocd 1hIeHioi ~tll. 'kitc.benl~ etc: •• Ilil the
eulon:&8I11t hu al"17' bMa a pr.lbl_. It il diIfieult U'.lt to hav.
npht.iaa.... ~"t. s.o I don't r_11)' VOIietltaad r=:r objac.tion.
co.ria.i(1I'I1!T OIrllte1l,.Il: I ClQ ,-"tae a very plea .. :ntl), duilP1ed
IP ht· l_el bou e tb.a WU'tlld 11(1 t beYa terribly .. ell. ~c t. IIll:!
IIJ'CIULd J;,e oa1y 20 fellt biab aOl::i would: ba n,tri.::tld UDd.r tbia,
... hieb t ehuu: VOI.Ild be liU,.. [dOll't u:;)illntaa.d th. uud for
n:atric:.tinz u... heipt. !lIa priva'::7 illue I tll-nd to aire' with.
Whee en,-bo-d,. .PUtt a lecou::i Itory O'Q~ ,.0'..1 iap.ect ~. privIC:,. of the
a.eilhbOTI. alit rutrictiu.l ODe pu--ticular kind of lot ill thilr va,.
n-alI,. botherl ...
OIainun o.:Uetl: I C\llpec:t that if the b .... tlc it ek(.luded, we
..,. have c_ of thoee apUt level bouaec.
co-iuiooeT H&rah: I ca.tee .. te tb.e '~Il.t abou.t the 20 feet.
I VCI'\I.ld aueh pt'lI.hr to leave it .. t a 20 foot bCcilht .!ld .. top
12/18/8.5
+
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tlift'.-I aha 1fOCI14 a&"H' that: ,.. abcu.U eacuurlre poII~pl. to phc",
hll~t.. I bapplll to livill i~ Olll!! of lba f." bOI .... n in pdo Alto
t:.ue b& •• fvll N".ot. 11Id I bI...,. th. "108.1iq' of ,b.:JloIt I balf
uno l*)pl. ilt .,. b ... ~I::~ blteau .. lbl} do 'll.ot han eM. So 1
c-.etaia~l' IU.PPOTt ........ ~t.. vould d .. o Iu.ppcrt III :b .. nre in th'"
flCl'OT I~ eoa~apt.
OIli~ eulhll: h then! aD:" otber dhc::.J.Iuioa 0tI tho! tint
~t1 All of tbou ia. f .. TOT of _a.diftl tb .. crdinacc. tCl
IK1~1 .,.. .. -.tl [l'1)1li the h&bit.&bla flOQ'E' .na~ .e that babitab1e
b&1~c... 1101:: 'ton,e bueaeotl, would k I!!lILduded. An tho-.I!! i!l
h't'O'r, 111117*' DppoI.dt (1I:ro.'
i!ona. CAW!D; Tblt cln:i .. ~au.ou..l,. lri.tb cc..i .. ioner Binch
.bNnt.
K::1t!CII:: ec-iuiMl'r :;:tIru.U:naen: I.evl!! that: '"' rONCV'l!! thi.
~ s..~!;iCID C fn. tbl fec-~kd ori!il1Celli.
ceeirtllCtl ~lh1H It bu w,ftI ..".ed and Ililconcled that: we r~e the
b..abitabole floor liaitation.. whieb ia It .. C iu tbl ntliM!1ee. A.D.,
di.CUI.ioa.! I wet to "'} t.hI.t -tbia il III it~ that ... dinctl,
retarred :i.e thi.Il !~ b"! the city e_dl. Pe~,. it it t* for
• COImc:U.-cc-i ... ioa 'IJOrkiar .... ion.. Woe b .... 'DOt hotd one of tholli!
l!!~buI ... foe-qllite -ail,. !hilo.opbie&lly. 1 un 10 &loal with
tbu~ but vliet 1 f."l Yill happeo h tb.at '!rhea it ,ell to t.b, cit!
c!;!UZIcil, th"', .:u r ... io fir. on IIh&t elie, r.ec.ae!lded to lie. 50
do 10Q ~t to MCot in thare~ aad Ei", the. auothl!!r r"-~'-tioa
diftn-o:ct to:'011 tbdr re(:~9tiou:'
eo.-i .. iOO\eT OIrittr.l'H: IlIe 1:O~eil co li.ten to our
"~4eti_ OJ:' l!ot~ lovt ! f_1 ,:Il obliptio:a to 'l4'n .. ov:r Til".
Gb?d.uiane:r ftgEthvaz: 81..,1:0.& bM.., prlll_t .t u... r..u dei>ee1e, I
ulUS tU £_1 the .~ th,a!t o..!niOtl4l' Dlllell do.... I.e. Tcadias:
tbroulb. tM __ '''I 0: t:lc tit} ~ciI _tillJ* it VO'<Ild .. _ thllt
t~ dhcLlJ;.Md nia rlther thorQQlb1,. ",<5 tbl COZItU1l _I tut
~e 'QCI t M cor viMon II i.&btt t:be. • r.aee =:0 look iuto other
~pb'l propu·tl. Jlb.iloaophiclU" I _ in ,b.o1utl alP'elllM'llt
ritb. eo.auliODet' Olori.t ..... aa. ~rt.&illl,. ... ell .rehit.ct, [wwtd
like to 1M •• f_ :re.t.rietioal II POllib1e.~ n.e .. C'U loinl to be
diffil:tjlt rlltrittiCUl, It beat, to "peratoe: unda:r. So I .-
1J~.t twa. I do rail it 11 tb, C>l>lir.atioa of tt.1!! plumiOl
e:~ .. iOfl to Ii .. , Oln" rlc.-ncl.ati.m, a.nd .,. b_rt: cl!'rtaint, lie •
...-re. witl~ -if y-ou _ted to let illto b,u_lIt..11~ if we nil t01.nt
to lin", th6UI Tutri(,iO'l1lo~ b ... t I ful. phil .... "'aphica::.~"!. .n~
clI=-c:tl"!~ [ flel. ] vould "te to eliaiuu it c:oa.,lete1y.
Co..iuiGfteT ltI.nl'l: [t"a. to _ that the kiD"" of thift .. ~ .re
tdk.iq; .bc;ut rut you could do .ithia that ]0 fc;lOt !!eiJbt. \I.Ii ...
loI~ .... Ul.Qw •• etc. i, eK&ct1J tbl kiDd of thio, IIfI!! VllIIt 1::.0
.a~01.lnI. OQ ._11 lot. -the "ll 1'la,.,.4 WI. Qf t.I1_ floor arel
tba.: it wit-biD ttll NMmurhl thl: we !lefil1-e. So I ~o rtOt ''''I!! an,
poillt io. elte:ludint; then po .. ibiliti ...
Chai ~n CU I hn ~ 1 ',rla 'Wi tb .n o! JOU. aDod ] vi II TC'te vi tll!
you, tNt I IIItI'\I.ld lIy thn 1 thillk it it eo uphill battlc. aDd it. i.
tiae that _ .it dowu vith tn.!: eit} tOW!<:il .. ftd dilcu, ... ~ of
th ••• i .. l;lU.
"I. Pr~derl •• t: If IOU ere ,0il1l to Yote on tbi' .atiOtl~ reDO~in&
Sub .. :cti01l C, thau prob.bl, in tile gnlUSfathOllt" cla1,Ule~ vhie:b iI
Sl.Clect\oa D~ t!l. u.ferl!!Dt.I! to b,biUble floor Iru ilb.:J .. e • firlt
£loot' .hould be dllac-Iii &1 part of tb.&t .atioa.
1.2/18/15.5
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a..i~ eu.Uell.: tiil.! ~ .oti~ u.c:l.'.acI. Uw.t~ co-i .. i~T
Olorat.clluelll ('h.}
a.d~!I; W1.hl1~ I. th,r. Qf llt..bn dilll:::v..li.oa on tbi •• otic!I;l
na. aoUOll (t.b.u 11 &1:1 _~t) U toO r~ he.. th. entiu
.slobnc:ioa C and tM,t put of Sab"c;tiOl1 D wtticb nfer. to
lIAbie.ble !loot" IItca.
~i .. :ioun lonhvg' to I~U.. wtut _ hII.,. ... 1.1 aIC~iOll.llll)'
~ .. IId, tile ccue!1t1a ol tb. e-.i .. i~ il that tb •••
re.trietiotu!! U9 quit. ;-qtrictiv.. ~o ed<! til. floor hIIbitui01l
ft.Itrict.iCtrl r-Ml1l1 C\l.t. 40W'l ~b.t_tiJ.1l7 ern the -.ouat of u.e "lUI
CIItl .. I:: ClUt of II 'IU"J' ._U loOt. ~. id.a ot hn'inr: _ualli.bea 01"
lofta vjtlti.o .. 20 flWlt .~II ... _ toO _ t'l " B. eac:el1ft1lt i<k&
for ulI::r...,i..-ubito.ilit,. of ... ery ... n atructur... !il:lce th.
Min COI:;CItnl i. fen-the public, ~d t!;trlforl .. bd tile (OV1!~nt
tIMt npM.llillti th.1 ptlbli.c IbO!;llcf b.au, voolcl be til. iapec:t rut
c:bUe .u .. ·..lctur .. un .PhraicIIlb OIl W lurrovuclinJ tl=iJ~orhQoOd.
Smea .... rl uu::IIZcIUl' rutrictiona th.It .6Vltrl,. cut clove ca ta.
d •• aDd. 'hO!!.lJht. ad: thnef<n-e the bu,lk, of tbaMi n"cturu~ ...
rNU,. lboule! IIIIIt dilcourl" .a&l1 iu.Po.-ti."'1 u.e of t!I~ "01.-th&t
ca be crq.t~ DIldlr the re",ht:iou. 1 belien thlt il :hI
COIUIe:o.II~ ot the plaaa.iul ~i.. .. iO&l~ &lid that it U Utpo:rtht to
:011:"' tnat _ ... ~ to the cit1 co;mr.:iI. """ oliN ,enuiolel, -"""-
eorlOflt"Aed that thell: 111&0 Iota be: 1UI.1i by r..ililtl!l .. veIl u .........
pouibIa. lie flel, oil II. e~uioa, th.tt thil Utl be dotl. lIitb
wfw,iI: ill h lb. DTdinatle.. oIUUi rit!!out til.1 .u4itiou.al "'r')' diffic:dt
f"Il:.rietioa of onl1 _ fifX!T.
a. .. iNiln Cull .. a. YOU h..1in l~ri.&ld it: .. e:ry veil, co-i .. icmer
Bortmlal' PuttU,1 CII cnae laitec:iOD tlwt i. 1"1:1". i. quit& _.h, witbout puttinz: 01lI tIIree liaai~t:iou th.at alike UI.It:
l..-riC1 t.bII~ ~ i.at~.
Xr. PI"lud: I eq. cl::r"taiDly I ... IOhlTe the e.c..iuioa h to~ OJ:I
tbi&. -.d 1 _ aGe: I'ppe~ U) tIT -he! ~ ,our clireet:1oa. but tbu u Prob.bl,. oU lca:t&o.te win Chi ItoItf will ...u • H,.ut.
COtItr&xy rlloC~tion to tlHI cit, couaeil. Our f ... lu, 11 th.tt
tJJ. .. ill poil:!t _d P'ltpQ.. of tIM! ... rUn.:o ,roc:fllllra 1MI, tell u.ct.
t.c ezwl>l .. I prC)Cell wbara 'tbon iI .:7nI potati..111 lOT nipbD'mood +
~t. Our fUlliq u th.et tM ... 11 Iota do pruent a IDechl
k.i~ Clf ot prahl .. "hu_ it: ia "ppT'CIpriau t.o live people p'l.Iter
1~rv.tiD, lIf what: tile daaipz fll "tile bouae will bt~ ,..rticl,I.lari,.
tbinp like plollce.IlC ~f riUOII"I. ~ un DO coet.rol oon:r Chit it:.
• uon:.aJ .':'l1fh !WI, houae. rb il .1-.1 to be of leu CI_rOUt:
provUloa t.hil.Il iOUl, to full duip. r_i_. In .£:.ct., III! ... ie-t
it .. II eoepT~he be.~a .e.. _ore tw:i.chbonloocl io.p.ut io...,tlaitive
.,itll.lltion.l rit!lout ,okl .. u. tbe ... , to foIli de.iF review. lien
tDat • 20 flJOc heilht lwt, IIlLovinl • I.coocl .. tltry~ ia 1fCiD.a: 'Co
laM tc. .e<=end .tOTie. ",ith flit roofl, pet"lu:p.a _ry UIl&ttr.IIeti ..
• ttuctl,l.l'" .... ratAtt tb&c h&ll4I:o.. lo!:te. Peopl. will H te.pud: tc
uti :be ..ntu. IIIcaad nOT}' ... u!loieabl. floor u ... ~ _eniDl tb.q
rill be pubiu, th1l1r lIeoad' at~ vaU. riJbt ap t~ the 20 f .. et •
.so fO'l' U;. reC:03;"d. we pro-c..bl,. "ill take .. C:D'Qtnry polititw:l to th.
~iI.iOl.l.
O:I.i~Q eulletl: hrt..ap.l 20 fut ill uot t:i:le risht fiKUrf". hrb.a,.
_ .b09ld H euai.ilU:&' • hlllelr llu..Pu of fll-t. if TOil "ant .to "keep
it vitblu t..b.1 I)De .tory" All! ! ... rtbar e!i.c~ .. ioa1 AU tho.a :i::I mOT of tM _II-'o.t., .. ,. a:fl!. Clp1M)led? 101)08. '!hat ,. .. It.
\CU.i...au."l,.. BOIl" back to tII~ .... ift .otion.
n.. .io. _tioa w .. _~ by c-iuioa'r .ortb .... , .. .ad nc:ol:lded by
C~ ... iClller Cb.riat.t!a.lItlI~ t:h&t :h~ the plillUli.~ c~i .. itrl1
r-ec:o..tw IIdopt.ioa af th .. Ittac.bn 4r.ft o:rdiu.anc:., .. _"Qdeet, to
tlle cit, eIJ'UDcil, fic::!iu, that tlU! add.itic:m.l conitlll r •• tdctiocu
oa .ub,tudud 1.-1 ht. rill Clot ha: ...... clltl"u.~ul i.,..ct on tbe
12:/1.8/85
-11-
.... it~nt. All, lurtber ~HIlew.liOol! .6.11
a]1l. Oppoae ii~ '"one). 'r.!at ,.Utl
eo-"_"''';.o::''O~:r Rirleh ... ~.:U:.
::110". ill I:lvar. .11
!,ID.f;lli ..... a:l,. li'i~h
Mz. f'r_hDd: lbat
M.1'"ina 0rI ..lanU--'l-r, Ii.
ApPlicati..::tJ of ... COCI Oil ec.".n:!, for litl!
t.Dd dnip. .tppro.,.: It 7aO S.1l Antouio 10.1<1
to c:c.,ht:. r~ddiul of elliur:itJ. , ••
• ~ti(Jll. iu.ulli.a, ~ I.<QderJrCP\Qd fuel
t&DU. c: .. .,il!r'. buildiA,. rutrOC*~ an<! De..,
hid il1&4.d. with card loel:. OpeTlt.iOIl
,",.cit,. rila 10. as-tl-16ie5--ID'-iZ, "oae
diltr.ict cs (kniu eo-r<::i.l).
Qlair.c:t Cullen: Sincl! tbere a1'l 'Q.Ct Itaff c~t .. or l{Ueuioa.
Ier: luff. I rill 0p8Z11 tbti public bead.lll. 1 bavi O1Ily one Ultd.
<:a:a .... I('n, :525 W. !bird Btrel!'t. ltufareJ, CA: I repre-ul1t the
ap,hcllnt. "oI(:OQ 01.1. Ibn'. I::UtI bet"'"' )'Ul.I bl!tor •• d.,.t I YU:r
.F. ed _ back. lie haYI! r-e:viewH: th. Itstf r.~~orLI:t:iO'CIi aDd:
~itiOtUl Df approval. I!UI lind '00 ~obl~ with tb.. I" a\lul!
tUt t.here it! aOGe e.olletna lbo4.It ~e buildioc (:oIc;u. We Ir ..
villiDI to 'iJ'lJrlr. vitb lbe bu.il~i.D, color.. i'Ia .iao colrrr.t &-J:'e 'IIot
_11 rlf1ect.cd in the rl!tlldI!Till" ne,.. Ire battil:r. io rli'.li~y. a'Od
baTt! hu Ibn tblll ttll t-radition"l bLed a!ld: whitl. I vould 111.0
lite to poi~t out that tb~ buildill,J Ire quite .. all. ¥bicb .. ,.. not
be (:l~iU !TOII the elevatiOfl'.
Chli~c CuBalll: t 111 ..... quelti_ ~or you. I III: JlOt .... re .bethar
u..t 2o-.lllon liai~ WII. ..~t'G&1l7 r<lIc~d,.d b, !.bl Pire
o.pt;rt..o:t. TIl. filNll .. taff r~llatioa .ay.. ooze ,.1l<r.l liKit
.. n.tltYeT Ihe the !,,ire DePlllrt:.h.t HC~I.· vtJ.n. ,01.1 VU.
beT. betore-~ it a", .. d to _ ,~ .. id thi.J va.a .. ,hCII for trucl:.& to
'" II~.
!!..:...-!!!!.: lfe curreut1.1 have Cr\lCU fiHial op. .... M.. O,ne-:1 MI
.... 11. IN ,It .oeoe bi. ri.1 :ben.. Our at.IIa.ler bad • ..-.
c-OII"ta:r .... tiou with the riT. Dep,trt8f:nt .abd fed. coafOTtlbIe that be
c.au 1II'Qrk with tb •• If ~ b.ye to It&]' with the 2o-pUOIl. liait, it
U IOU, to be II.U i.po.:i.tiCJtl. I ehiAl: we i, vl!y it i. worded tltat
way. Mo,t O'f tha trl.lckl Ira 'sHO p110n.. I'II~,. cO'Uld ·uentlT
tbeil:' eaN • I"'COI:I<l .. Ild third d ...
ca-uuill1l.r IIIOTtltvlr: Wh.at il the Ilell!:d t~ Tlutrict thl! n~n-of
,..110111 ill. the fiTlt place?
"r. Ioal: I CU40t a.-r for the It'fI. but 1 btU..,.,. tile ccmCI:rtII
iI N:1 .. TdiElj: tlla peT'O'n vUo c.o.eJ il'l, .tid. eM noule ill IDd thl!::l
_lka at"C\.lncf hil vodlic:ll!~ .1lMI:II it ~o overflow. It it • I.fet,..
pT.c .... tiOQ •
.!!.!~; 1'1\11.1: 11 correc t. It iii I .. fl!-(I.I"l'd' to li.11it elle IaOUllt
of fuel that eould M .pil1ld.
co-h.iO'r.er liIortill .. ,,...:
fl(:ilitll!!.T
Hr. I~I: Va bue ,bout 22 f.c:ilitiu: ill t"'e c .. rd lOck fuel
o\'Cratioo, "OIl it i. 1I0t doal at an1 or tb ••
tiT. he~land: The po;Iillt i. th..&t tbue .rl analtecoied, .. nil we do not
un ._01)1 thlre w.tchin, over th_. ether tlla'll t. ... 1!! u.er.
12118/8:5
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<-._ . ........!.---
,.,~.J fC,
~ r'/r-,s Cn~
~-u/'"'$'
VIA FIICSlllIY;
Mr.. DoU9las: L .. Haynie.
Ths Plymouth Group
February 19, 1993
1616 N. Shoreline Boulevard
Xountain Vie~, Calltornia 94043-1316
Dear Ms. Haynie;
Oliv~r P4 Colvin _ I I g
2805 Cowper street '1~1 ~
Palo Alto, CA 94306
(415) 326-1397
We underst~~ that the city of Palo Alto Planning Commi~6ion
will consider an appeal from the decision of the Zoning
Administrator concerninq the cons~ruction of a single family home
on the lot immediately adjacent to our property located at 2805
cowper Street. While we respect the views ot our neighbor l Doug
cox, we nevertheless support the consensus-based decision of the
Zoning Adainietrator and urge to the Planning c~mmission to
uphold that decision~
As a well-respected home builder, the Plymouth Group has
recognize4 the personal, as well as financial, impact that the
proposed home would have or.. the. neighborhood. In con.""lecticm with
that recoqnition$ your firm has solicited the input of various
neighborhood groups and individuals over the last nine Eonths.
In fact, ~s you know, we initially voiced some concelns about the
size and configuration of the proposed new residence butr afte~
several meetinq5 wi~~ you and your architect, the plans for the
new residence were revised to address our concerns~ In
particular, the modified design is sensitive to our privac~ and
sunliqht riqhts.
Your firm has also a~dre9sed the concern5 of other
neighbors. For instance, I was present at the neighborhood
meeting held at the site on November 6, 1992. I was impressed
with your firm's willingness to reach a compromise with both the
neiqhbors and the zoning Administrator. I believe this spirit of
cooperation exhibited by the Plymouth Group is one of the key
reasons wh}' the Zoning Administrator no .. stands squarely behind
your proj ect ,
In short, we believe that the construction of a quality,
sin;le family home built in accordance with th~ recommendations
of the Zoning Administrator will enhance the character of our
valued c~mmunity~ Accordingly, as the sole property owner
adjacent to the proposed home, we support the decision of the
Zoninq ~dministrator.
-.
t
I ,
1 •
1
1
I
Hr. DoUglas L. Haynie
February 19. 1993
Page TWo
,
Because of my ~usy 8cheaule, I ac not anticipate appearin9
at the City of Palo Alto Planninq Commission hea~ing on
WednesdaYJ February 24, 1993. As &uch, please feel free to
present this letter to the Plar~inq commission at that time.
Further, 1 would welc01Ile the opportunity to speak diractly with
any members of the Planning commission it they should have any
questions. I may be reached at (415) 326-1397.
very truly yours,
o .~a-e-
Oliver P. colvin
OPC,jd
,~, February 24, 199,
Planning Cor.uoissl<>n
Qty of 1'1110 Aim
2-.coo Hamilton Aveoue
I'alo AllO, CA 9~3111
We. the undersigned fl<lglloo,., suppon the Zon'. . . the 'Vanan" for the new \W()-Story, smgle~f: iJ 1 g -:drruLUstraLot'S dcc.$ioo 10 appt"m'e
OW mjUCSlS of <he immed"' """ j ,.,,,den"" .. 2817 C<>~ The
. • l3~ ",,,ghbor Mr Oliver C<> . ". r-" n«<ls
:: sall$factiOD. The Plymouth Grou~ ~ pUI I~ tlI
lvin
of 2805 C<>wpt'r, have been mel 'botbood. _~e er I proJec1 thal win enhance the
ADDRESS
•
.r ~a ,:t/o/~ 4'./,-,A?,...t 4/k
~"lf Gtor~ 1/1.'~ fc.d6 #:fc, -
-.....
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, ''';/' ~.~~~;:~~' . : i,L::"t,'~_W~>~ j ';';'r1j
FEB 25 1993
., ......... ~
NfO~DI'IILOIIIoIIII"
(}Irc;.HLtGHI~ I
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PLANN.E\'G CO~ThnssION !lmn.JTES
~y: ;;i 1f'l3
The Planning Commission met in a regular meeting on February 24, 1993 at 7:35 pm
in the Council Chambers with Chairman Jla>clwn presid ing.
Present
}I.bsent
Staff Present:
ROLLCALL
Conur-issioners Beecham, Carrasco, Callen. Glazier, and Schmidr:-
Commissioner OjaJdan
Susan Case, So!nior Assistant Oty Attorney
Nancy lytle, Chief Planning Official/Zoning Administrator
Joseph M. Colonna, Planner
James Gilliland, Manager, Planning Projects
Chairman Beeclum-We have so:ne special circumstances tonight in that the
miaophop.es are not working L"1 the Coc.ncil Chambers, so we will move shortly to
the conference fOOIIL We would like to welcome the Boy Scouts from Pack SO,
Den 4 with their den moilier. We welcome you here for YDur cW..zenship badge. We
hope you lea.-n a lot and stay "'ith us.
RECESS TO MOVE TO CONFERENCE ROOM
AGENDA ITEM NO.1
2817 Cowper Street. Appeal of Zoning AdminU;trator's decision
approving a varianoe for a new tw<Mlory, single-family residence
with a total height of 25.5 feet on a substandard lot where a 17-foot
maximum height and single-story limit are otherwise required.
Envirorunental Assessment: Exempt from the pruvision oi the
California Environmental Quality Act Zone District R-l.
File No. 92-V-22
Commj"";oner c..;;en--l would like to know whether the porch, which has been
added to the plans ,moe they were first proposed, is included in the FAR?
Joseph Coloma-No. Arty area that isn't enclosed by three or more walls isn't
counted in the FAR
Co .. ullissioner Cullen-I thought if it was enclosed at the top.
Mr. Colo~H it i, covered and only hilS two walls it isn't counted in the FAR
February 24, 1993
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Commissioner Sclunidi-Would staff refresh our IneIl'.ories about !he original
subdivision approval? Was this originally part of !he St Mark's change.
Nancy LytI~Nc>. They actually came in at the time of appUcation and established
the separateness of this parcel through. Certificate of CompUance. There has been
an issu-e" however, that has recurred throughout the hearings on the matter ... where a
member of the public, Herb Borock. maintained that he didn't think that was
appropriall! ur correct. He felt it should ha,;e been mErged v.ith the remainder of
the property and considered pa.""! of the entire subdivision _pplka"o"" We did not
decide that, nor did the Commission. It was always a separate piec~ over to the
sid€, and then this application came in separately.
Commissioner Sclunldi-Is it being do •• e by the same developer?
Ms. Lytle-rm no! sure exactly how it will be handled eventually. The application
is through the same party, however.
Commissioner ~ you refresh my memory as to what the Intent of the
substandard lot regulations were in terms of FAR. the onHtory limit, and
the site coverage.
Ms. LytI_We had two ordina.'lOi!S that were adopted, which had similar
requirements. The fiIs! one was the flag lot ordinance. n,ere was a lot of
oontroverny in the community each time a flag lot was developed. The second story
portion of that flag lot developml!I1t had become extremely oontroversial, primarily
because flag lots are w..dged in between the back yard of all kinds of properties.
The COWldl adopted an ordinanoe that oet • single-story restriction on flag lots.
After taking testimony on that is.,ue, though. they agreed that many neighborhoods
provided testimony show'.n8 flag lots do wvrk in some locations. There are some
neighborhoods, in fact, where you have a whob series of flag lots a"d that's actually
the pattern in the neighborhood. So the Council when they adopted that ord.tnanoe
said they und=tood there are some situations where two-story hO'.JSes on flag lots
will work and they wa!tted to make it clear that it didn't mean they Worl!
proluoiling them, but they felt there needs to be • series of fmdings made about
privacy and impact on adjaoent properties' view sheds, prior to any seoond-story
being approved. They intended to use the variance as the mechanism for doing
that. It was an odd ordinance for that reason, in that the preamble 10 it that the
Council laid the foundation with was softer than YOll would traditionally consider a
variance to be. But they did adopt it in that manr..,..
Then they came along with a substandard lot ordlnance ard they didn't adopt
additional fmdings, but they said at that time that they wanted to treat it the same
way. There may be situations where it will work on substandard lots, but they felt
it needed neighbor notification in each instance and it needed 10 be looked at ,'ery
closely. It needs 10 go through a dlscretionary process and findings that are like a
4 Februarv 2<4 1993
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varimce. The feeling 'Was that it was softer than a normal variance. I tl-lnk if you
had a home impro\'ement exception process at the time .. it might have b«!n what
they used, what they WeTe sfrivi.'lg for. N~ghborhood character and observing tJ-.e
patt'!rnS in the neighborhood was really important to the Cour:cil a,r,d pnva,:y
as well.
C:Jmmissione:r Ca:ttas.co--Was there any intent that the site co'.'~age would be the
goverrung factor in the £Ioor area?
Ms. Lytle-Well, it would be defaeto, essentially. If you're limited to a single story,
ther. your site coverage is limiting your floor area. But I don't think they real! y
discussed that sp«ificaJly, other than to say there are some instances where it will
work, end there are rome instances where it won't work. The Council thought that
this process was the best thing we have for weeding out where it doesn't work.
Commissioner CuU~I was on the Commission when both of these ordinances
were proposed and passed. I wanted to reiterate what Ms. Lytle said. Particularly
in • substandard lot it was felt that a lot of young families might be buyir.g into this
and we wanted :0 be somewhat flexible about what they could do. In some areas,
a. ... d we used College Terrace as an example, any substandard lot that was hemmed
L'l on both sides by other houses, which were also substandard lots, we thought that
there should be reslridions on the amount of deveiopment However, beause there
would be variations from one substandard lot in one area to another~ it was felt that
itw .. important 10 have d\i.ediligence. The appe!lant is saying that we need to go
by the exact regulations that are in the ordinance, but the ordinance has built into it
an exemption or variance process, whlch most of OUI ordinances do. That is to take
care of exceptional circumstances or differences from one place to another. That is a
legitimate, legal process.
Sus.m Case-That is correct.
ChaJrma,., Beecham-In reading section 18.12.055, it talks about substandard lots
having reslridions on them. Basically, it says if it's substandard, you have to do
certain things. !n the staffs recommended findings, it says that beause the lot is
substandard that that is o.n "xtnordina..'Y circumstance and, therefore, this is a
reason for a varlilflce to t.\e orc:ii.N.nce as it applies only if you are substandard. I
don't understand that.
Ms. Ca.se-I would like you to address your questi<", to the staff. I say that because
they are given authority to write findings and to make their "pitch" for why they
believe that is a good finding.
Ms. Lytle-When you think 01 the manner in which the Council reached this
conclusion .bou! substandard iots, I think the perception Was we know they are
always going to meet that exceptional e:<traordinary circumslanre finding beause
February 24, 1993 5
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they are all substandard. ""'hat we want to know is, is thEre going to be a
detrimental effect. Is that last finding going to be met in this case. Also ill the case
o! flag lot:l they added additional,findings that ~e necessary. TI'lat's the rationale
we've tal«!n. They are always exceptional and extraordinary becAuse they are
substandard and in the instance of tl-is specific application, we've got other
circumstances as well that are ~xceptional and extraordinary. The attorney has
made the orgument that the logic is circular, that it doesn't hold up well, but they
would qualify automatically for that first finding. just by virtue of being
substandard.
Ms. Caso>-The reason I didn 'I make stail tum around L'tat /ir.ding, is that they have
other circumstances that I feel do justify the findings Il".t is made L'1 FmdL'1g #1,
where ifslocated relative to a park and next to the other subdivision. .
Ms. Lyt1<>-Remember that circumstances of being small in combination of the other
factors means that they can't enjoy S\!bstantiaI property rights. It is an inter-related
factor, even though I appredate that the logic is circular. Because iI's such a small
lot we don'l have the oppornutity for open space.
Chairm.zn Beecham-I know small lots are normally exceptional. My second
question is, how long has thls been zoned R-l1
M& Lytle-We don'l know the answer to that. W. will reseorch it. I know it has
been at least five years. I assume it has been longer, but I don't know the
exact specifics.
PUBUC HEARlNG OPEN
Douglas J, COX 485 EI Dorado Avenue, Palo AIlo (AppeUan,l-Beforel get into the
tra..."1Sparendes, I wouJd like to make some general comments, There are some really
interesting issues here ... b that the substandard Jot is our only mechanism for
controlling and limiting the ve:-tical scale and proportion of slWmy, smolllots, like
!his one. It's. relatively new law_ I very much followed the procedures. I used to
wO!k at the Research Labs and had lunch in College Terrace. For ten years r would
read my sciente fiction stories and walch these skinny, tall buildings go up, Some
of them are rather novel. They presented an interesting visual perspective, which
people started to get upset about' and eventually this new ordinance came to pass. I
will be asking you to overturn the variance on the basis that totally disregarding the
substandard let ordinallce and allowing complete bulld out for standard lot
restrictions that is 44% FAR ... "d 26 feet total daylight plane protrusion. which is
also allowed for standard lots, creates. vertical scale mass six feet Ialler than the
widest portion of the bullding and overhangs where the second floor exterior walis
overhang the first floor in the garage area. That's unacceptable to the most affected
neighbors across the street. A lot of attention has been given to the adjacent
property owner and he's quite happy, but he sees the side view, not the skL-1ny tall
6 February 24, 1993
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water tower type effect. The pec ~le across the street have signed a petition which
we originally handed to the Zorung Admlrllstrator during the fU"St meeting. It
involves six houses that direcUy look at the house a."td ten signers.
This is the fror.! visual perspective (referring to transparency), w~jch this ordinance
was supposed to rontrol and limit and which has totally been thrown out by the
v:uiance. I would like to ask you how many Commissioners have read my five
page appeal letter?
Chaimwt B..,cham-It is in our packet and we have all read it
Mz. Cox-I apologize thai it isn't very thoroug."-I had to write it the weekend after
Clristmas because of the time requirements, and I had to neglect my house guests
and it got Idnd of short and not very romplete. It was uruorl'.mate that I had to
",,'rite it then.
The basic problem is that due to blJilding speculations, the developers would like 10
maximize their eronomic retum by building a very expensive three bedroom, th. ....
compl('te bath house "'ith liv'.ng room, dlning ara, and the whole bit on a former
driveway. This was the driveway into the St Mark', parking lot, which is bei"g
changed into the subdivision. It is only 33 feet wide, and significantly substandard.
It's well u.nder the minimum thresholds. The thresholds that are in the ordinance
are 83% thresholds, so if you 're 83% snWIer in width or depfu and area, then it is
substandard. The lot could accommodate a real nice 2-bedY'OOm, 2-bath house and
fit into the neighborhood quite well. The proposed design really doesn't fit at all
with the currer.t neighborhood.
It's amazing how much time you car. spend on t:h.e$e issues. I've spent well over a
week's time, two days vacatiot"~ two days "romp" times, plus numerow weekends
and late nights follow'.ng this issue through aIllhe hearings s'!"lee the middle of June
of ... t year. Sc, I feel I can take up more of your time tv appeal the issue. I want to
make sure I cover all the points .
. This is significantly substandard. It's just a driveway. It was never allotted during
lot formation to be a regular lot I guess legally it'. supposed to be separate, but it
=tainIy has been • driveway forever and it's fOal skinny. The substandard lot
ordinanre seys no second flom with FAR of 35%. Their speculators have presented
designs that request almost the complete 45%, comple!;i)y ignoring the substandard
ordinance and with no compromises whatsoever. There have bee.. ... three hearings,
including a site visit where the Zoning Admi.-listralor asked foe the second floor to
be reduced somewhat The result at the December 3,1992 meeting was for a second
floor redu.ction of 17 square feel That's really insignificant There was no real
compromise. They want a complete ~bedroom, 3-b,th house because it typically
sells a lot better, so I can understand their position. I don<t think it fits, however. I
don't understand tha-they offered a letter that said they would pay some extra
Februa~ 24, 19~ 7
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money for their extra feet, meaning the)' felt that they kind of over built 2nd rather
than redesign or renegotiate, they offered to pay some money. I don', know what
that means. I don't understand it. There's a rebuttal about thaI. I don't know if
that's an acceptable thing to do. I've never seen it ",1th a..T\ R-llot ..... there a developer
offers l!1oney to over build the lot and.seek a variance. rYe seen if v..'ith subdi .... isions
and Mth the 14--house lot.. cond()!;'l.i..~um subdivisions do that, but I've nevcr seen !t
on an R-l single family Jot
The Zoning Administrator grantee! a ccmplete variance, a FAR of 44%, where there
was a small change because the fron! door was movee! around and the porch that
was asked about no longer """as counted as first fiOOI area. So the entry that was on
the side was built out and things changed. Things dropped and 0 couple of
bathrooms upstairs got squeezed a couple of feel That's about it! That's along way
from 35%, It's a double whammy to the neighbors _eros< the street who are the
most affected people, Not only does it tot.iliy ignore the ordinanC<!, but it allows
this daylight zone protrusion exemptions. There are 15 feet and 12 feet, which tend
to spcead wider at the top of the building !coking from the fr"nt You have dormers
that go out on both sides, so the top is wider and so it's skinrJer. It looks more like a
water tower. I call!ro!t the "double whammy." It would be nice if we could stick
",>ith our ordinances. It would bo?: rdce if we could follow our rul es.
1 would propose a compromIse. I would like to see if anything. a maximum FAR of
40%, half-way between 35% and 45% and limit the second floor to a good master
bedroom and make a better dose!. I dont think there should be any overlw-.gs
because they !cok weird and that's a really unusual and unique thing about this
l>ulldJng.
So, how substandard is it? H",e's our new lot minimums (referring to
lranspa.-ency): 100 reet, 60 feet wide, 6,000 square feel ~ 83% threshold, are
these. What it is, is 116 feet. ~t's okafo That's the standard depth. But, here's
33 feet. Jrs 55% of this numo..I and the area is 64% of this number, so it's
sigT'jficantly below and less than t."e t.'u-esl-",Ids. It's really, really a substandard lot
The standard R-l rules do not adequately control the vertical scale proportion when
the lot is skinny and small. It just doesn't work out. ~t's why it came to pass.
That's OUT only control of that. It's a relatively new law. Why aren't we following
our la'WS .... our ordinances, and our Comprehensive Plan? I don't understand it!
Commissioner Cullen-You did hear my previous question, didn't you. that our
rules and ordinances and laws provide for relief from them L. terms DE ,'manees
and they are as legal as the ordinance itself
M]', Cox-l understand.
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Commissioner CulIen--Then 1 don't understand your quesbon when ),OH ask why
we don't follow the rules. We are follovdng them.
Mr. Cox-Sure, and I hope to prove and to cor.vince you that going from 35% FAR
to 44% (almost the maximum FAR for this lot) isn't appropriate.
Commissioner Cullen-I would appreciate 't if you would not call this an
illega:p~.
Mr. Co~I didn't say it was illegal, but there are charges floating around that we·r.
using the ordinances and ilie Comprehensive Plan more as a guide thar. as an
absolute l2.w. rm not disagreeing witi'. th.t either. I disagree with Litis particular
variance.
'This transparency shows 11,. profile of Cowper Street from Colorado A venue and
Matadero Creek. Hoover Park is h"",. It is adjacent to the park. In this unique
visual perspective there are only Olle-story houses except for the little knob on this
one. It's a one-bedroom knob in the back oenter of the building so that the pitch roof
goes right up to it and it barely sticks up above the roof. It's really small. It's really
skinny and tall. This transparency is kind of abstract, but I wantoJ to get the
impression .cross that all the people on Cowper Str2E!t have to see this from various
.:,g!es. It's going to be • very visible building. AIl of these, of coun;e, could be two
stories. There are no substandard lots except this along Cowper that I know aboul
It's very unique. You can see the corresponde:u:" between this square footage
(referring to transparency) and these. It's significantly smaller than the typical in
the ne;ghborhood.
Commlasioner Sclunid~l think it would be usclu1 to point out that your drawing
isn't to any kind of scale.
Mr. Cox-It is. This is 15 feet, 11Us is 2S feel
Commissioner Sclunid~But it doesn't relate to the width.
Mr. ColO-Actually it does. These are 50 feet, this is 55 feet a little wider. This is a
side view of the ho",", on the corner of Cowper and Colorado. They are different
scales, but it is to scale.
Commissioner Glaziu-But there's no relationship to visual re.ality when someone
locks at il That implies the house that'. bebg proposed is eight tim.,. as high as it
is wide.
Mr. Cox-Well, it is six feet taller than it is widel wh~ch] think lsludicrous. I am
sayillg that the vertical/horizontal scale ... to show it, I would need a projection
system that wrappeJ around the room, so I used two different scales. This is 25 feel
February 24, 1993 9
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and these are typically 15 feet, which is2 feet, 8 feet, plus 5 feet for the roof. This is
going to be the tallest building L" this Vl!'ual plane all along that Olock of Colorado
to Ma~adE'ro Creek.
A lot of attentiotl has been gl"en to the adjacent property O\ol,Tied by Oliver Colvlrt
He had ~IOUS concerns about his pr:f./acy and he got them covered ",'it..~ the
de,'e1opers. That was cooll The neighbors across the street, including myself,
weren't really treated quite so well. We didn't haye lunches and private meetings,
nor did we have much. discussion. We came to the he~gs and that was'about it
But what Mr. Colvin sees is a side view. He sees a nomtal scale of v."idth a.."1d
height He doesn't see the skinny front width. He doesn't see the lL"usual scale
proportion in the front. He doesn't see the over!lang around the garage on the
second floor. The neighbors do and the pedestrians who walked by the front of it
will too.
I think it is detrimental and injurious to the neighborhood. We've pretty nLuch gone
oyer this. Since we'", totally throwing this out and not doing any compromise with
it, it's like the ordinance never existed. Well, if it didn't exist. why did we ever pass
it? \'Vhy don't we compromise somewhere bet-r'leen 35% and 45%? We
acknowledged by passing it that substandard lots are a potential problem. I don't
IL"1derstand it!
rve gone CVer the fact that it's taller than it is wider, which is very incor..sistent
almost anywhe.-e, except for water towers. It's taller than ar\y existirg house on the
same sites. If it's a substandard lot between two existing twcrfloor houses, th.an it
would be perfectly okay because it wouldn't stand out. It wouldn't be alarming. !!
would just fit it. If there a..~'t the other two-story houses to justify it it just doesn't
seem right We're not asking for 4 foot change in the side yard "ariance, or an extra
couple of feet for an adequate bathroom on some weird lot. We're asking for this
whole thL.,g to be thrown out like it never existed. That's wr..>t [find hard to accept
The overhangs are particularly objectionable \0 me. I don·t like )\Ouses where the
serond floor hangs out ov'" the fitst floor. Dormers are nice architecturally. They
are great in the old town part of Palo Alto, but that aren't around Litis area.
I mentioned a petition that I circulated. I took 2-1/2 nights to do it back before the
first meeting. ! became alarmed about the project back in June when it was
presented during the church subdivision discussion, where it really wasn't
announced to be discussed, but it was. Anyway, I got ten signers. This is my house
(referring to transparency). I'm diagonal. My view isn't as bad, but these people
have a very direct view. It took me alot of time and re;earch to go around and talk
to these people. To get somebody in Palo Alto to sign. petition is no easy chore. I
had to talk wit..', them I to 2 hours apiece. They didn't even know where the flag lot
was. It was announced as a flag lotI but isn't a flag lot; it's a substandard lot. Of
course there's no house there, so there's no street number.
10 February 24,1993
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Mr. Cox-The people wh<> declined to .,ign were Mr. Colvin, my neighbor, and
Susan. They declined. Th ... people (referring to rranspal'Emcy) are renters and
they didn't care. These are people who are living in their parent's house while their
house is being builtin Los Altos and they didn't feel they should take, position.
These are also renrers and they didn't wan! anything to do with it either. Those are
the houses that I talked to in 2-1/2 nights. I had a mind to set up a booth ane! get
signatures of all the people who pass by. A lot of people don', like to L"trrrupt their
ille and take a week off work to do all this work and corne and talk to you. All the
Zoning Administration hearings are during the day and it's very dL'fiC'J.H to get
to them.
nus tra.-.sparency is to emphasize the fact that this is a very "'.sible lot. In tenns of
the park usage, the street here does not have another cross street going in this
direction until Lorna Verde. Practically all of the Midtown, from here all the way
down to. Alma ar.d all the way cut to Oregon comes through either El Dorado or
Cowper and passes through the front of this house. The Zoning Administrator has
given a lot of consideration to the occupants of this proposed house, but not mud, to
the privacy of the park users. There was a concern when you build a new house
that you worry about neighbors. These ni!ighbors are pedestrians and they use the
park. They would like to have a pleasant visual perspective of the house that goes
up thene also. I think t."ey would like to sign a petition, if I had the time to do it so
they rould get their feelings e>pressed aiso.
This transparency addresses how many twtHtory houses there are. I call this one i!
visual en viror.menw perspeC!i ve. Here's the house. Here's the one side that I show
the profile of. Here'. the oottom side. There are four. nus one is the little knob I
showed you eatiier, a small knob at the back centeroftlle house. This one is a fairly
large house. II's unique. It's Spanish style. Some people don't like the ardtitecture.
The current occupants didn't build it A sheetmetal <:ontractor did quite .while
back. It is" 9.soo square foot lot. That's a big lot. I think they are entitled to a full
house. Both of these are over 6,000 squarF.! feet and they are very modest. This one
is the little square on top 01 the garage. nus one Lhe Donnetelll brothers did quite a
few years ago and is quite attractive.
Commissioner Cuil en---CouJd you ttill US what size your lot is and how many
stories you have? '
M:. Cox-I"s 5,200 square feet and ii's two stDries high.
Commissioner Canasco--Do you know what the FAR is on your house?
Mr. Cox-It is larger LIlar. 45%. II's a 2,600 square foot house. I hope you don't
dedde to tear mine down after this meeting! My house is my design, my floor
layouts, both floors and the hip roof all the way around it .~e my design.
Februal)' 24, '993
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CommissIoner Carrasc<>--Do you lcncw what the FAR is on 2302? It appears \0
be more?
Mr. Co~I don't knew. but ~,rith a 9.,500 square foot lot; there is a garage and an
aputmOTIt in the back. It's a double lot. 1 think it's fairly low. When they did it,
they had to tif!"ar down a garage that was in the ceni:e:r to make up for it. That house
was done a rouple of years before mine. Mine was done relatively recently~ but the
rules were like three ordinances ago when 70% was the limit. I think 1 did 52% or
55%, 1 don't really >:now. The hip roof design, I believe, keeps it fairly modest. I
think I did. pretty good job on it I cer..ain1y tried to keep it nice. I was very aware
of some of the discussions and problems in the community. I'm quite happy m it
~ transparency shol-'.'S the dormers. How many dormers are there in this visual
perspective environment? There is or.e. I think the developers misrepresented this
as a two-floor house; it's really a one-story with an added donner, so it looks like
mo floors. Anyway there is only one dormer there, so dormers aren't a big t.1Ung in
our conununity. We have more cottage use. Dormers are nice because they ke>ep
the walls low and do nice thmgs for heights, but as I pointed out earlier, they also
extend the width of the front view of the second floor, which makes it terrible in
my mind.
nus tnnsparency shoW'S where the second floor overha..."\gs on one side of the
garage ... so if you're looking at the front of it, you see 3 narrow garage on the second
floor U-.. fs wider, although the full house on the bottoI!'. is wider than that. That
was between Colorado and Matadero and this transparency shows Cowper from
Oregon to Lema Verde. I didn't want to be acrused of cheating or overIookIDg
anythIDg. It's kIDd of fun to look at statistics 'utd to walk down the street and see
them all. You still have 77% at one story. That's most of them About 23% are !we>
story for a total 19. There are five dormers. There are a couple of very nice look:ng
tv/o-s~'Ory houses on large lots just bclov.? Maradero Cre-ek. There are no overhangs.
They are all primarily cottages and ranch houses~ with ilie except of Patton, who
boughtU-.a!hugeIot
This transparency shows some insight into the hearings and negotiations that we've
had. The size of the lot is 3 . .841 square feet; 35% is 1,344 s~uare feet. If it was just
the first floor, that would be it. The first plan came out greater than 45%, but I thmk
the applicant, Mr. Kohler, corrected that I think the staff asked for some new
calculations and new plans subsequently showed up, reducmg it down to 45%.
That gave them a third bedroom with a complete bath, and a mast .. I bedroom ,,~th
a complete bath upstairs. It was fairly well built out upstairs for that lot, which is
the maximumJ as we know.
During the site ,1sit, the Zoning Administrator suggested they decrease the top
floor somewhat to help out some more, They did, but by oni)' 17 square feet. They
took. couple of feet off the lengths of two bathrooms, so they did not do any
12 Febru. ry 24, 1993
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compromising mth the full3--bedroom, ).·bath hOllSel nor the overhangs, or
anything else.
1t would be :::ny preference that it would be developed this way (refe-rring to
transparency). Of roUTSe, if there is good. reason not to) then a compromise position
would be something like 40%. 1hls would allow a very nice master bedroom,
master bathroom upstairs and a larger closet. Right now the master bedroom closet
seems it little in.ldequate in my mind. Then yon could do away "'ith L'at third
bedroom and baL'!!OOID and it would make a real rJce house.
Commissioner Cullen-Would you think that would be a family house?
Mr. Cox-Well, there a.re I lot of cottages in that whole neighborhood that have
been US€d for families, yes. I think a family of three or four would be very rJce
with it.
Commiosioner Cullen-With only two bed ... =?
Mr. Cox-Th.t's what 1 had until I rep!a"'d mine. Large families should buy large
houses on large lots, ideally. Building I large house here is not going 10 m""e it
affordable far anybody, except elite people. I could never have built my ho'ISe
unless I bought it in 1978. I could never buy that house again
Commissioner Cullen-rm not talking about that. rm talking about the standard
that you're raising here about wtLat would be a reasonable development on this
property, which is what is before us, and the HUD requirements for even BMR
houses would require for I family more than two bedrooms, unless you had only
one child, or two children of the same sex.
OUIimlan Beech.am--Commissioner Cullen .. do you not understand what Mr. Cox
is saying?
Commissioner Cullen-Yes, J understa.'1d I'm wondering about his standard
about what the development of that property should be.
Mr. Cox-rm saying that what's difficult in this neighborhood is that there are
mostly 2-bedroom houses or cottages along this whole slTeet. Some of them are
3-bedrooms; most of them have one bath. They have raised some pretty nice
families along there. They have done well .t Palo Allo High School and they excel.
Surely we would all like to live in • bigger house and wish we had more room. I
personally wouldn't want to live in the proportions that this house wi.ll be built in.
It would offend me. r wouldn't want to live the.-e. I would enjoy the park, though.
That would be a bonus. [like p .... ks.
You asked about families. I would like to be very honest ,,;th you. When we built
our house, we were expecting a family. This is my serond marriage. We had two
FebnJary 24, 1993 13
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m.ist:arriages and we have not been able to have kid5. All we have is a cat It's still
nice. I'm r.ct complalnlng. I'm just saying that i! took two years to build when it
was supposed to take seven months and we had a lOf of pro.";!ems.
That's basi~y my request We should either follow the ordinance~ or as a. baC:i<;,up,
let's corl"Lpromise Li.d say 40% \Vhy would.\'1 that work out? But, to totally just
ignore the fact that you ever even thought about this ordinance ...• lot of
committees and time formulated it and passed it with good inlen t, and now we're
just ignoring it.
In dosing, there's ene thing. rm avoided rebuttals of some of t."e thing> in L'1e
Zoning Adrnlnistrator's rebuttals. I don't know that !laving a large private backyard
is justification for the variance in my own mind. In my mind it doesn't justify,
There's always a tradeoff. If you'v!' got.e. lot and if you're the !'lome owner, you
have It tradeoff between t.", size of your house and the size of your yard. Maybe
you want to go up one bedroom and make some sort of compromise again, but just
to justify a huge top story doesn't seem proper reason, particularly with the park
next dOO!'.
Anotr..er t..lting Li the letter that gets to how we catch our tail going l1!'oW'l.d in drdes~
is that there was a comment about Southwood Apar!ments in the back of Hoover
Park and their height Justified the ooght of this building. When I first bought my
lot, I went to the Council aru:i gave testimony, For t.'1at L"ey didn Hollow the
Comprehensive Plan. It was the old Hoover Elementary School and the school
district came in asldng for 90 units, Low and behold, staif gave them 99 units, They
didn't even ask to. them. They totally ignored the Comprehensive Plan because
they like their school districts to be rich and prosperous. So they said, take ni..,e
more, The point was that the Comp",hensive Plan said that when you go from zero
"tories to multiple density, you should scale jt up, so L". school came in properly
"'ith a" RM-20 strip, followed by an RM-30 strip, whie; caused 90 units. The staff
said, make all of it RM-30 and then you can have 99 units and IIlake more money.
That's Yw-hat flew! rro not saying that wasn't good or bad, because it was se~ way
back and I get qualms when I walk in front of it because it kind of looms over you.
There's ever. a planting strip, which was nice, My point is, though, now it's heirg
used a; justification to say that this height is proper, It's like, if we dor,'t follow the
Plan, we don't follow the rulE'S, or come up ,,~th good reasons to grant variances,
1.'1en we .. .." just going to sper,d a lot of time and be very L~efficient just holding
ouro"","Il.
Roger K. Kohler, 378 Cambridge Avenue, St. A, Palo Alto CApplicanti-1 was the
archit ..... tect who worked on this house with the Plymouth Group. When we first
started the project, we met with City stoff and reviewed the parameters of the
substandard lot zoning ordinance. Since I was invoh'ed with the development of
that property way back in the earl)' 80', when a de,'eic>pertried to bu.ild a flag lot
behind my house, I was quite aware of the circumstances berund it The idea was
14 February 24, 1993
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not to say you rould not build a second floor addition on substandard lots or flag
lots, but the neighbors would be "otiRed and work together to obtain somet-lUng
that was agreeable, In my case, the person wanted to r .. we an 8 foot front yard,
which wasn't a=pmble.
We met with the staff. presented some draw'.ng<. and then we submitted them and
met with the neighbors. Unforl'.matciy. I think we kind of did it in." odd way. We
submitted the drawings and then me! with the neighbors, We me! with Oliver
Colvin and his family and t.~ey had some concerns, so we made some changes to the
drawings. We took one of the bedrooms off the second floor and put it on the fir"
floor, We eliminated I."" windows that face out to his property. We tried to do
some interesting things with dormers so that the house would not have a box look.
We then set the house back a full 2S feet from th" property line, w!>Jch is more in
keep'ng with most of the homes along Cowper Street Then we rubmitted the
drawing< and met with the Planning Commission for a variance hearing. There
were more concerns stated at that meetL'P\g. Then we met out at the site. At the site
we taJIced with the Zoning Ac:lmiItistrator, who strongly suggested a porch. which
would be more in keepL'lg with the neighbors. and we thought that was line and
thought that worked OUt very well. So. we added th<o porch and we reduced the
size of the house somewhat I imagine that 17-20 square feet isn't a lot. but it is
something that we did do. We now have a porch and we set it back 25 feet
I would like to make a few responses to the previous speaker. Mr. Cox convet'ienay
avoided talking about the homes in this area of Cowper (referring to tra:'sparency).
There are several twc>-story homes .long here. This is a photograph of the one
adjacent 10 Matadero Creek where Mr. Cox', grap!>Jc Slopped. This is a large two
story house. His house is right here and is a large two-story house. The house
almost directly ao'055 the street from the site is a very large hOine. a good portion of
which is two stories.
One of the comments made by the Zoning Ad.ministrator .t U,e ""rionce hearing
was that she felt that since this was • large two-story home here (referring to
transparency) on one side of the park. having a two-story house here might act as a
bookend for the park and sort of define the definition of the park. I think that's
what would happen with this house. Another comment was made that th<o .ccess to
the park was right along this particular property. Jr. fact, it really isn't There is.
strange driveway, which the City uses for access to the park. Most people go
around that 20 feet. The access to the park is over here 20 feet; it's not adjacent to
this house. I have a photograph that I took of a woman with. baby carri~ge as she
walked by. She came around the comer and came halfway up the street and went
across the street
I have an arcJ.Jtectural rendering of the project. which I will show you. The
dormers will be facing the park. Also, in response 10 one of the hearings, these
windows have been raised, which isn't shown.in the drav.ing. These two '''-lndows
February 24,1993 15
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have been shortened, so the ,~ew from these bathroomE into the park have been
minimized. We have somewhat miJ'I.imi2:ed the '1o\'ir1dows into the park on the
second flOOr3 basically because of the way the floc.r plan worked out. The lower
windows are opening into the fence area... I thL.u in general it's a fairly nice house.
Most of the people who have looked at it think W, attractiv~.
We have worked with thenplghlxm;. We've responded to the staffs com.!nents, and
we would like to be able to build the house. Thank you.
Commissioner Carrasco-l also agree that it is a nice looking house. Regarding L'1e
intent of the ordinance, something ttoubles me. You were probably at those
hearings. Was it the intent that the .35 site coverage does, in fact, gov .. " the FAR
on lois that become more and more sub5!andard, less than 85% of standard?
Mr. Kohler-I think !:he intent of the whole ordinance issue was really there wasn't
%r,uch talk about floor.,.ea ratios because they didn't exist at the timP_ There was no
talk of that It had to do with concern mth overview of the neighbor's yard, That
was L"e big issue. The bulk of the size of the property. L'l the case of my lot, ",;th a
8-10 foot di;!ance from my rea! property line ro his house, and various other things,
like it was a mammoth two-story house and it would ha"e loomed over fOUl
backyards. Since that time there were other flag lots who had the same problem.
The major concern was that serond floors be designed such that they respond to the
neighbors' concerns, not that you couldn't have them. They could make
compromises, or do whatever they could to fit in with existing ,;ews of 1. ....
neighb<m and where pearle had L'leir patios and thingsllke \:;.;.L 0". of the
comments that WE talked about with the neighbors next door on Cowper was that
even if we stayed with a ~tOIy home, the height limit is 17 feet and with 20 foot
rear yards and front yards, we could, ir. fact, cover anoL".r 15-20 feet down the ,ide
of his property line on that side, wNch is probably the side we would have buil t a
house on and opened it up to the park. He preferred to have the second floor up
toward the front of the property becAuse he envisioned that somed~y h. might built
a second floor on. his house as well.
Commissioner CaIUSCO-Does t..'1.e rear end of your second story line up mth the
courtyard?
Mr. Kohler-Not quite. It's very close, but not exactly in line mth it. It's a little bit
further back.
Doug Haney, 1313 Shoreline Boulevard, Mountain View-I am president and CD
owner of t."e Plymouth Group. The Plymouth Group is a small developer. We have
done in excess of 400 homes. I can't tell you how many sites. We have never been
appealed before, so we've never been in this situation. I would like to try to explair.
our thinking and why we're involved in this and answer a few of the questions 1v1!.
Co, asked. We bought this lot and the reason we look it through separately was
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becaute it was, .ccording to City staff, • deflned lot, whereas, we had to get a final
map for the 141015, so it was a totally different tracking mechanism. We intended to
take theLr"J. in the way it waS gui ded to us...
We approached staff and it was very ciEa."' that thE" City of Palo Alto is "<ery sensitive
to the neighbors and what they thlnk. We had a meeting ,,~t-" the neighbors. The
next door neighbor, Mr. Colvin, is. rea! estale litigator, He is an aftorney and he
sues developers -just what we needed next door! I can honestly say that I have
had over a dozen meetings with him. He and his wife are wonderful people, but
they are very dear about property rights, He does know his law on property rights,
We designed a house that met their needs,
I was so concerned about neighbors and neighborhood coalitions, Mr. Steve Long,
who is presIdent of me Midtown Homeo;>:ners Association is not here tonight He
said he would come to the Council meeting, I asked him whether this opposition
was reaJly wide-.pread, He said he didn't know anybcdy other than the people that
Mr. Cox has talked with who feel SO badly about this. His lot is right next to the
entry on Cellarado and we worked very closciy "ith him-He has obviously had the
same issues and we're putting the street next to his house. All I want to do is clarify
that we have had over seven meetil1gs ... we'\'e tt'.ade over 30 changes to the hOU5e1
and we've reached compromise with everybody. At the open meeting we asked
whether there were a.llY compromises, because I want to compromise. rather than be
appealed and haW! >ameene dislike what we're doing, At that time, and to my
surprise, Mr. Cox saId that there was no comprOlr.ise other than a ar.e-story house
that he would ao:ept So, we quit trying to oompromise, other thal'. doing loo%!n
our estimation of what was expected and asked of u.s. We added the porch, we set
in back. ek. When we look at a faII'J.ly home, and that's what we build mostly, one
01 the logic of not ha,1ng just a master bedroom and bath upstairs L. because people
having children and who oould afford a 1,680 square foot home, if they have a baby
they won't want the baby dowr.stalrs and the Ir.aster bedroom upstairs. It doesn't
",,>ric: in that kind of configuration. If you go to a second story home you usually
need two bedrooms next 10 each other. It wasn't !n our estimation a logical way to
do it, so we appealed and said we would like to do a three bedroom unit ,,1th
smaller bedrooms, I want to be very clear about the ~tra dollars for the .quare
footage-We're not trying 10 buy approval. It was not ever intended to be thaI way,
It was .. statement that if those extra feet, ii for some reason somebcdy thinks we're
only doing those feet for money, we'll pay a 8M!< fee, we wanted I" be rea! clear it
wa.<n't our intent to try and abuse any kind of system. We wanted to do the best
house for the neighborhood that w. could.
I would like tQ read a few paragraphs from Mr, Colvin's letter dated
February 19, 1993;
We undtrst;.nd tlull the City ol Puo Alto Planning Commission u'iII consider
an appeal to Ihe dec;.;-;"" of the Zoning Adm;nistralClr concerning tl-..
February 24, 1993
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construction of /I singl'e ftmu1y ".orne on a lot imme1iiJtely adjacttlllO aur
propaty located at 2805 Cw'P<" Stnzt. vthile we respect Ihe "iews of <m'
neighbor Doug Cox, U'e nroenheless support the ccmsensus-bflsed decision. of
the Zoning Administrator and urge the P1.anning Commission to uphold {hat
dedsian.
tIs. weJl-rtsptded hortll buIlder, 'r", Plymoulh Group iuts recognized the
persmtlll, as wel! "5 fi,umcitll impact that the proposed !tome would Iuroe an
the neighbarlwod. In connection wilh lheir rn:ogrzition, ya'Jr firm as solicited
the input of ""'*"JS neighborlwod graups .1111 il1lli!ridllAls aver the /;>sf nine
monl/-... In fllCt, llS ,"" iou1w, we initiJJJly ""iced some concernsaOOuI the
siu aJUI ccmfigurolion of the propostd resid.."1Ice, but oft'" sewrai meetings
with you.11II :;auT archilect, the p"m. fer lhe new residence were rer;ised 10
address Ctlr concerns. In particular, the mDdified design is senf'itive to our
priv<Icy aJUI sunlight rights. Your firm iuts lI!so addressed Ih" c,,"cerns of
other neighbors. For instance, 1 was pre:xml at lhe neighborhood meeting held
at the site on Naoember 5,1992. I um impressed by yzmr firm's wiUingness
to ,etlCh. compromise wilh both Ihe neighlxns.11II the Zoning Administralor.
1 beI~ this sphere of cooperalion exhibited by are Plymouth Group is on, of
the key '1!ilSGTIS why the Zon ing Administrator nOW suznds belt; 1111 your
project.
In sllOn, we beI~ the constTuctian of a qwzJity, single-frmu1y home buz11 in
accordmtce with the ,eccmmeJUIJltions of lhe Zoning Administrator tum
enJuznce tire character of our valued community. Accordingly, I2S the sole
property owner adjacenl 10 the propostd hortll we support the decision of the
Zoning Administrator.
Commissioner Schmidt-Have you built other houses on iots this small?
Kirk Peters~ 1616 ShouHne Boulevard, Mountain View-I am CO-O\\"I\et of the
Plymouth Group. We've built houses on lots as small at 3,500 feet and in some
cases, to,","ll homes} whic..'l are not really on individual lots.
Commission"" Scl1midt-Town homes that shar. property lines and walls? (Yes)
Ha ,. you built in Palo Alto?
Mr. Peta-sen-We've built homes in Palo Alto, but not on a lot this small.
Commissioner Schmidt-Do you have a.'y idea what the smallest lot was in Palo
Alto t.'u>t you built on?
Mr. P£tenen-I believe it was 7.s00 square feel
18 February 24.1993
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Lynn OJapella, 631 Colorado A,'enue, Palo Alt<>-l feel that a small house would
be appropriate on that lot. I actually don't believe that 1,344 square [-eel is that small
a home for a sta:1:er home for a young couple, a young couplE" y.'ith a children, or
even two children. Exrept in PaJo Alto .. most places 1,200 to 1,400 square feet wou.1d
be a startP.:r home for a youns; family. I don't know if that's what you've bu.ilt in Sa.!1.
Jose or other projects, but! do know that is very typ;cally done in Sunnyvala and
certainl~-where I come from;,-, Chico. All of our fmilly bought small homes to start
with. I don't think it's a hardship to put that kind of a home; I tltink iI's just not
done in Palo Alm v~ much. In fact, th2Y come to my house because I have 9,600
square feet and I have a 1,500 square foot house, and say it's not really habitable
because ob\iousJy this is meant for a San Francisco wealthy f=ily. They would
knock it down and put up. 3,500-4,000 square foot home, which is the maximum
!My could get on my lot. My iePJing is that makes it unaifordable for young
couples and young people to move to Palo Alto.
The more we support knocking down small houses and putting in large houses, the
more we limit the diversity of the people who can move to Palo Alto. I have really
seen quite. change. I don', have allY specific objection to the house or to "is design,
or anything else in that respect. I actually have no problems with those areas. What .
I do have problems with is the direction in general that Palo Alto is going. wi-dch
has become more a."d more exclusive, less and less affordable, fEwer young prople
who can really afford to move here, .. ,d those who do are basically fairly wealthy.
Very few young families starting out can afford a starter house in Palo Allo because
basically the price is over $300,000. Or-J Y in this last window of opportunity have r
seen people moving in when the prices ha ,'e been lower. Whether you consider it
on this house or not, I think you really should look at that on substandard lots
knocking down.oWl houses. Parenthetically, St. Mark's project knocked down
three BMR or small houses, ITom 900 square feel in which a family of three lived,
a."ld I thir.k the largest of the three was probably 1,400 square feet and as many as
nine people lived in L'l.t house. There we:e 5-7 childrer, and the parents. They
certainly found L'lat house habitable and were very happy to have it. A family just
moved out with a family 0; five, and that house was 2-bedrooms, 1-bath or
3-bedrooms, 1-bath, end it was approximately 1,200-1,400 square feet. I would hope
that you would look at the direction that you are going and that you don't make this
an exdu..crlve enclave. Thank you.
Commissioner Cullen-I sympathize with what you ha ve said There are !'to
houses being knocked down on this prof"'rly, so it isn't like we're shutting
somebody out. What we're doing is building a house thai could hopefully be sold
to a family with c..ltildrer ... J dor:t know if it will, but at :east if .it is of sufficient size
to accommodate children, and we do know from the census that there are more and
more famiIie<; with cltildren moving into Palo Alto, and the below Kindergarten rat.
is very high. If you restrict the size of the house to 2-bedrooms, J would be
Febr~ary 24, 1993 19
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concerned about whether you can market it to a family, admittedly probably
somewhat affluent, but a family with children. Do you have any f..,ling .bout that?
M .. 01lape1l-1 guess r didn't make myself very dear. A starter home is
considered to be 3-bedrooms, 1-or 2-bathrooms. At least that has been my
experience, and that's what my family did build in Chico and Dur~..lm, and that is
w:at we have invested in, and L'tat is what r know some people are building in
South San Jose, SUl"U\yvale, Mountair. View, and in Redwood City. They are 1,200-
1,450 square feet. I am saying that bigger is not necessarily better and not
everybody has to have 5-7 rooms for themselves. You will exclude that family that
wants to have more and more bat..luooms, etc., but rm saying there are many people
who would be glad to fin d property ot 1,200·] ,450 square feet with 3-bedrooms and
1-or 2-bathrooms. r know it sounds incredlble to you, but believe me, those houses
do exist I happen to live in a relatively small house and I have lived with as many
as four people in the past, with an occasional fifth person. I'm saying that pa.-t of it
is your expectations have changed to think we must have higger houses w'ith more
sp.ce. I don't believe that's true; r think it's just an expectation. Typically you will
find 1,200 sq'.1al"e feet will be a 3-bedroom. 2-bath house. Granted, it's small. You
don't have a grand master bedroom.
Commissioner Can-asco--Ar~ you including the garage in the 1,200-1,400 square
feet?
Ms. Chlapella-No,I did not include the garage. I was thinking of the house itself.
Herb Borod<.2731 Byron Stnet, Palo Alto-Earlier there was mention of aooounts
with sta1f .bout an issue that I had raised requiring manru:tory merger of this lot
with the adjacer.1 property. To briefly summarize that, the Cooe speaks to
mandatory merging when you have a lot that is vacantI as in &Js case, and is more
than 20% below standard, which this is. The decision that has ~ made, on the
basis of advice from staff, has h .. ·o parts. The fi."'St addresses !.he questior as to
whether !he lot is legal or not. The Cooe section that rm referring to in the
subdivision ordinance applies to legal lots, as well, SO that's irrelevant. The second
is that now that the decision is made, essentially the public is being told, if you don't
like it, you should take us to court. As a previous d ty attorney once said to a
member of the public, even if half of our decisions are wrong. they will probabJ y
stand because most people won't want to go to court on most of the decisions that
theyobj<!ct to. That was the history that 1 brought up on the mandatory merger, and
since it was !aised again tonight, I repeat it again for the record.
The question was raised about the flOOT area ratio of the appellant's ho!.L'*!, or other
houses in the neighborhood. Those are not relevant to your decision. To the extent
that they "'e, what you should do is compare those FARs wit}, what was is allowed.
On the case of Mr. Cox's house, I believe it was about 70%-75% that what was
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"''hen I came here tonighl) tho'~ght rl,ere were two possible ways you could go
about making your decision, The firs! way is the one) prefer, and the one) believe
the law require; you to make. Thls l' a quasi-judidal proceeding and you're
required to make rer"..ain findings. My letter to you ::Iated February 18, 1993 points
out that none of those three findings are metl and t. .... erefore I belie.."e this application
for a v.nance should be denied and that you should recommend HIlt the City
Council overturn the decision of the Zoning Administrator. The second way to
make a decision that I though! of, is the way that) think cities operate. That is,
basically what city ccundl's dOl is make detenr.inations about what the value of
pieces of property are, If you intensify the use on a piece of proP""IY, such as this
one with. va.riance, that raises the value of the property Sometimes the way to go
about making L'>ose decisions is that they need solne incentive. One article r read
calls them "briDes," Not In t.lte sense that someone is going to be bnbing a public
official, but In the sense of having some good things, like a cvntnbution to the below
market progTaIn.
It occurred to me that this particular lot is in it situation next to a i-i-Uf'jt subdivision
of tw<Hitory !>ames built out to the current ma>dmwn FAR. which is a decision that
is created by the applicant be<:ause that's the applicant's proJ"'!'!Y as wei!. Ii the lot
had been merged, as r believe it should have, it would have been included in that
subdivision, and it would have been required to meet the full BMR payment. If the
applicant Wa."ts the same rights as those other 14 lots to build two-stories, 45% FAR.
I believe that they should pay the full 5"" below market rale price. That'. assuming
that you feel you can go ahead and grant the variance, even though) don't believe
any of those findings ca.., be made
Tonight I heard a !hind way of making the decision. That is to create r,ew I~w by
having discussions here tonight and determining wht was the law supposed to say.
I think if. very dear. The ordinanre speaks for itself That is, t.'tl, is to be treated as
a variance and you have to make findings like you would for any other variance If
:here is alegl5latlve history that says oa-.erwis/!, that infonrution would have been
induded in your packel f", tonight's meeting, The fact that it is missing. speaks to
the truth of what rm saying.
There has been some confusion about flag 10:' versus substandard lots, The publl<
notice for the Zoning Ad.min.istrator's hearing refern:d to it as a flag lot, which it is
not. It is a substltndard lot. Mr, Kohler. testimony and his personal history in
hclplng create the City Council', changes to the ordinance on flag lots speaks to an
entirely different issue than the one that is raised here with substandard lots. In the
case of a flag lotI you have a lot that is an island surrounded by a limited number of
defined neighbors and they are the ones who are dire.:t1y concerned. The way you
would go about getting approval to get a variance in that case for changes, is to go
to the immediate neighbor and make sure that immediate neighbor is happy. A
substandard lot is an entirely different case. Here you have a lot that is affected not
[.lSt by an abutting neighbor, btlt the rest 01 the neighborhood. That is w'oy Mr.
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Cox', idea was appropriate to go a:round to the neighbcrs and see how they felt.
They don't all have to come ha-e tonight. That'. why people have petitions and are
able to have someone come and represen t t.;"em..
. The question has \lea'. raised by Cctru:Ussioner Cullen L" answer to Lynn ChiareUa,
whether this;. a family house or not. This is a part of Palo Alto where not only
have most of tho Sdloo1s been dosed, but this is a pl.ce where there has been
something built on those lots. For'examp)e, the 99·units on the former Hoover
SchooL The closest schoo! is passed Lorna Verde and down near Emerson. You
know from census data what percentage of the homes are going to be occupied by
families with school age children and to decide that this single particular house be
constructed for a particular group of people I believe is the wrong way to go about
making a decision. In any case, that's not what this quasi-judicial hearing is about.
It's about meeting findings that are set forth in the Code.
There is a question of how much square footage t.1Us house allows and f.he question
of whether or not the porch shot'ld be included in the square footage. As originally
designed, the house was 1,728 square feet, which is the 45% FAR and there was no
porch. Now you have a situation where the square footage has been dropped 44
feet and you have a por--h.. D'.Jt it isn't counted in the square footage. Tnere's a
question of compromise. I believe Mr. Cox mentioned the mid~way compromise
between 35%-45% FAR. whic." the Zoning Administrator also mentioned in the
instructions to the applicant at the November 6, 1992 field stcdy from which there
are no mi."\utes.
The concerns of both Steve Long and Oliver Colvin were expressed well in one of
Mr. Colvin's letters. That is, by devciopi. ... g housing on whal is now the church
parkmg lot, it me"'" the parkmg lot gelS moved someplace else. rna!' •• majO!
benefit to anyone in those surroundir.g houses. A previous proposeo tl .,-elopment
for this property was to place a denser life-are development at the other e.."1d of the
property so that the parking lot and driveways would have remained next to
Mr. Colvin's house and nexttoMr. Long's rouse. So the fact that Chis is being
developed with R-t housing. which is what the zoning requires, and is being
developed on former driveways and parkmg lots next to those two individual.,
obviously they are very bappy with what is going in there. That'. a tradeoff and a
benefit that they receive.
To get back to t."e original purpose of this hearlr.g.it is to meet those findings. As it
has been brought out on the first finilir.g. circular reasoning was used due to the fact
that it is a substandard Jot. The fact that if is next to a park, the extraordinary
am,mstances have to do with what the need is. The need is that the activities of the
park aren't on the part that is right up against where the house is, it is elsewhere
and providi.'g a bigger backyard doesn't make it any f.mher away from the park's
activities because you still have that >am. border with the park. I don't believe that
22 February 24.1993
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first finding can be met, and I don't believe-the other two can eit.":er, as I expressed
in my Je\Ier.
What it romes down to is, do YOll d';"y thi, application outright based on the
findings, or do you, for whatever reason, want to give some more square footage to
t.~e applicant. If you want to give some more square footage, obvious!y less is better
than more, but once you get into the sit ... ation of doing it that way, I guess you
might as well requl!e that 5% BMR p.}""ent and then you might as well have the
.arne kind DE development you woald have had and the same transactions
financially with the City if this lot had been merged in the first place, wl>Jch is what
I thi"k the I. w requires. TIu:.nk you.
PUBUC HEARING CLOSED
Commissioner Cullen--I would like to narrow this down. bil We have been ail
over the map on thi.;. The last speaker seems to be broadening what we're talking
about, and since the City Attorney has ruled that the whole business of whether this .
is supposed to be part of !he other subdivision is mute ...
Susan easc-Iwould like to clarify that. The speaker from the Plymouth Group
may have implied, but I am sure didn't mean to, that he was forred te> go through a
Certificate of Compliance rather than a map. That isn't true. He had the right
because he could establish lot lin .. to do it by a Certificate of Compllana> and
therefore not need to put it within the confines of the map. He could very wen have
induded it within the map and changed the bounclaries. Also, the current
Subdivision Map Act for the State would not allow us to for", a merger. You have
to meet certain circumstances, whic:." don't exist In this case, and you have to have
adopted an ordinance In conform.:,,,, with the Map Act, which Palo Alto has not
done. The merger ordinance that we have is an old one.
Commission .. Cullen-So essentiany you're confirming what I was sayIng?
Ms. Casl>-I'm COI'.flIming that what is before you is proper with respect to the
subdivision. This is all properly before you. The speaker is COI"!'ect. The issue has
10 do with fi:,dlngs.
Commissioner Carrasco-After visiti"g the neighborhood and looking at the plans,
r feel that the plans have been designed well. I had a problem with making the two
findings, In particular the fi.-st one with the circular r""",...mg. However, after
listening to Ms. Lytle and understanding the Intent of the ordinance that the City
Council imposed, I think it is an exceptional ar.d extraordinary circumstance. The
most difficult flnding that I had was the enjoyment of substartial property rights.
The way I interpreted it was that property right should be .35 and that the site
coveng. should, in fact, govern the FAR. Again after listening to stafl and listening
to Mr. Kohler, who was at that meeting where the ordinana; on substandard lots
February 24, 1993 23
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wa.. spoken about. I thlnlc that t!,e intent there wa.. not to prevenl sewnd stories,
which mean:; that it would go to the underlying FAR of the 101, but to work those
.second stories out with the SU.'''Tounding neighbors and to sensitively design a house
that would fit in witll the immedi.te neighbors and the neighbors on the bled and
then alor,g the street face. So, In my opinion P..nding #2 ha. been satisfied. I think
that L". enjoyment of substantial property rights is legitimately enjoyed better with
that second story. The third finding was an eosy findir.g for me to make, that it was
not detrimental to the su..-rounding properties. In fact from a design point of -;j""", a
IWO-5tory building if it did not infringe on neighboring properties In lonns ofilS
shado"" .. is not detrimental to L"-t neighborhood. 'Therefore, I can see how staff has
made these findings and I concur wi th them.
MOTION: Commissione Cazr.a.sro-l move to accept staffs recommendations.
SECOND: Commissioner Glazier.
Commissioner CUUm-1n finding #1, L,e first sentence refers to exceptional and
extraordinary circ-.J.mStanoes that to me apply to all substandard lots. I do not think
it is ne<:essary in this particular application to even state that. I would e1imlnare that
fiMt sentence and mal«! the finding read: The properly is 10000ted directly 4d jacm I to a
u>ell-used public faPJily, HOOfJ<f Park tmd th£ ""ami property cf St. Mark's Church, soon to
be dEveloped with 14 new~, single-{amr1y resiJUnces. Those are exceptional and
extraoromary and are cir=tances that relate to this specific property and do not
relate to other substandard I,*, in Palo Alto. Becaus" H is adjacent to a public park,
it is not Impacting on an immediately adjacent property on the other side, atld
therefore that is an exceptional circumstance to the development of this property.
.J.MtNDMENT: CoJllDJ.issioner Cullen-I would amend the motion to eliminate
the first sentence in F~.,ding III because it appUes to any
property wl:-Jch is substandard. The exceptional circumsta.nce is
the location of this property and what is adjacen. to it, not the
fact that it is a substandard lot
Ms. LytIe-I would like to add some cluity, I think we made an error in finding III
and our intent is not g~ig across to peopie very well. If we made two corrections
to the numbers, I thlnlc H would clarify what we were trying to do. In finding #1 it
says the site aTea is 3,841 squOTe feet where6,00Q square feet is the minimum
required. We should have said 4,980 .quare feet is the substandard lot definition.
Also, the finding says • ... 33 feet where 60 feet is the minimum required." That
should say • .. .33 feet where 50 feet is the defirJtion of substandard.' I thlnlc our
point would have been more clear to say that this is a substantial substandard lot;
it's even tighter than what is considered to be a substandard lol If you looked at
the lot coverage and the allowable house size and backyard size for a normal
substandard lot, this Is even more constrained than what it would have been.
24 Febr~ary 24, 1993
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Commissioner Cullen-That to me does not justify the variance. The fact that it is
even more constrained would.make you almost go in the opposite direction.
Ms. Ca.se--¥ou -don't want to totally elimlnate the first sentence, do you'? You
would want to include that there are exceptional or extraordinary circum.stances~
wouldn't you?
Commissioner CuIlez>-Yes.
o.amru.n B1>eclwn--My understanding is that tl,e amendment is to chal1ge finding
'1 following the color. (:) to read ·-the sile "' ... is 3,841 squar' fett wher, 4,980 square
~ is the substandard dejinif.on, Dnd the lal width is 33 ~, wh.,.. 50 feet is the
substandard division.
Commissioner Cullen--That is not the amendment. That is staffs correction.
Chainnan Beedwn-So the amendment would delete fr,e reference to the Jot being
of substandard size as a finding. I would not support that amendment
AMENDMENT DENIED
MOTION 2: Commissioner Cullen-I would move to delete the reference to
substandard size in finding Ill.
SECOND: None.
MOTION CANCEllED DUE TO LACK OF SECOND.
Commissioner Sclunidl-I am not really convinced that this project does meet the
findings. I think that the developer knew :rcat this was a substar.dard lot and he
went ahead with the Certificate of Compliance, which implies a variance could ~
pursued. In looking around the neighborhoocl. there are a variety of shapes and
sizes of houses. This neighborhood has more varied housing than a lot of other
neighborhoods. However, I think that it seems as though we are trying to put too
much house on a small lot. The rendering shows the side that indicates the large
part of the house. When you look at it from the streel< it will look like a very
narrow house and it will have two narrow strips of land and fences on both sides. I
would be more inclined to accept greater than the allowed floor area if it had been
""ploned as a single story house, looking at varying the side setbacks instead of the
"railrc;ad car" appro?.ch. If you look at the floor p1en, it seems like it is trying to be a
big house in many ways with :l-bedxooms and 3-bathrooms and large rooms, but
the group living area is not well-sized; there isn't mudl sforagei the garage is
minimum standard; and you would not be able to open the side door into the
garage as is indicated on the floor plan with. car in the garage. You can barel)' get
February 24, 1993 25
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in and out of. car in that ga:;age. It wo.uld probably be used for ,to,age and thell
tho cars would be parked In frent of the house.
The Zoning Administrator has said that privacy is an issl.!e on the pal"k side. The
neighbor has said privacy is an issue on the other side. We're kind of saying we
can't really look at either side ",,-ithout worrying about that issue. That seetn$ to me
a ~nmct and a problem a.."1d I would. like to express In y opinior.. about a portion of
that also, If this does get approved as a tw~fOry house, I think the neighbor, Mr.
Colvin, would find that the bJa.."lk wall looking riglu into his house would be much
more imposing thar •• wall with • DOuple of "indows. W. have neighborhoods all
of the world with tw<Htory house; looking at .. ch other and into one another's
yards. Even though Palo Alto has responded to • couple of neighborhoods that
have sigrJficant amounis of glass and said that a single-story i, appropriate in those
areas, [hope that Palo Alto doesn't p,oceed and say we shouldn't have any
neighbon looking down into neig.'Ibor's side yards or back y;.rds.
I also think that even though there are tall two-story houses around that
neighborhood and around the park, that as this part of the neighborhood works, it
would be a better transition to the park to step down to a one-story, rather than a
two-story, even though several of the other houses along that street are t",o-story
and there will be tw~tories behind in the new development
Chaimum Beecham-rve been sitting on the fence on this and rm going to jump off
on the side of the motion, but re!ucu.nt:1y. [certainly share Commissi~ner Sd\IrJdt's
concerns a bout the look of the house in the front -the boxcar look. I support
finding III that it is exception.al, I think it Is exceptional in particu1ar because it is
extremely small in size and I think that is an appropriate findin&-even given the
serond of the ordinance that we're talking about here. The property right finding
ca.., be made because the general approach in the O:y towards sloes of houses is the
smaller the lot, t.'Ie more FAR that is allowed Up to the minimum size of 6,(l00
square feet you have 45% FAR allowed. So, the intent is the smaller the lot, we
want to encourage or enable an original size house given the otherwise limitations.
That is the implied property right i.'\ this case. The intent of the ordinance, I believe,
is to ensure that this issue comes to force to ensure that the second finding of
property rights and the third findlng of detriment in particular can be made. For
me, the hardest finding is an t.'te third finding regarding detrimental effect on the
neighbors. !.coking up and down that street, the street is full of small roltoges, The
• .reel has very few tw<rstory houses along Cowper in that section. I think cottages
are in general appropriate to that ilr"..a.1f this were a design exception application, [
would say that a tw~tory house is not enhancing the compatibility In this
neighborhood, but an the other hand, [ cannot find it is detrimental to the .
neighborhood.
AMENDMENT:
26
Oll1innan Bee~r would like to request that the maker of
the motion ma.ke tv.ro small amendments to the motion. On
February 24,1993
ACCEPTED:
finding 112 it reads: • ... construction of • two-s tory house will
provide it iransition. ... I don't thinJc a Iwc>-story house in this
location is a. transition, especially cOl"Siderlng that dle most
obvious transition is from the park to the houses on the left of it
as you look at it. I think that transition is not appropriate in tNs
ease and isn,'! a major point~ SO I would ask t..ltat the reference to
transition be deleted.
The other item is more major to me, ar.d that is to add a
condition to specify the setback .hall be 25 feet, which is what
the applicant is agreeing to do. I would like the maker of the
motion to include that in t}1js motion.
Additionally, I would amend the motion to L"ciude the stili
rerommended changes to finding #1 to make reference to 4,980
being the substandard defmition in size and 50 feet being the
substandard definition for width.
Corrunisslonet Carrasco a."ld Com.missiGner Glazier.
C!)mmissione.r C'ulJen-1 appreciate the effort that was made by tN, applicant to
try and come to terms with what the restrictions were on this prop"..r!y. I
particularly appreciale the front addition to the property. fm not sure that solid
wall next door, as Commissioner Schmidt pointed out, is going to be in the long run
what the neighbor will like, but If that's what he 15 saying now, and who knows
what the future neighbors will say, then I think the fact that you've been open to his
amcems is good. I am sony I didn't get a second to my motion that this is not an
exceptional circumstance because it's a substandard lot. but I do agree with the rest
of the findings and with the other two findings. I thinlc this neighborhood is
generally a good family neighborhood. There may not be as many elementary
school ch.ildren as yet. but I am sure there are still l1'Jddle school ch.ildre:> there and
we know that the ""''SUS say. thene will be elementary school ch.ildren. Like Ms.
OUapella, I bought a house of the same size along time ago also, but circumstances
change and your family grows and changes and you sometimes need more room.
Sp."" becomes very paramount inside the house when you have more two ch.ildren.
I hope this will work out in that area and I think it's important to say that this
complies with our Comprehensive PLan ;" that we are lOOking for housing for
families with children and we're intending to encourage them. That, I think, could
have been an additional finding hene because it would have facilitated the size of
the house on what is a small lot
Commissioner Gluier-I'm glad Commissioner Cullen brought up the issue about
families. I didn't like, nor do I think it b appropriate to have one set of residents in
the Cily try to impose or suggest that their personal standards for an appropriate
living space are right for others. As two car..,. couples become the norm, rather
February 24. 1993 27
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than the exception, and both mom and dad work, as many couples and individuals
telecommunicate and need spa"" to work at home, as lif .. t)'!e choices change, and
with two individuals working who would like I<> have a larger kitchen or bathroom,
or add a fa:mily room to get away from it all eve..')' now and then" to suggest WC-Leat
was right in size for an earlier era, may not be right for what it is today, We live in
• 1,500 square foot house and it was just fin. for US when it was just the two of us.
Now little William is her. and h,,'s 5-] /2 months old and we're bursting at the
seams, We don't have extravagant lifestyles; we don't have L.,door swimmL'g pools
or anything like that We would just like space to sit down and write out cur checks
and a couple of bathrooms so there isn't. long line in the mornIng, So, 1,500-1,600
sq-.ll>n feet for a family even with just one child is":t outrageous. In a lot <>f ways,
it's maybe not enough. It's good that homes like this will he here because it will
give young families a chance to stay in Palo All<>, instead of having to go elsewhere
10 buy • bigger lot and a bigger house. r think it's important that we be flexible in
these type; of situ. nons and allow houses to be built wherever families can come in
be<:ause there aren't enough of them in town. rd like to see more,
AMENDMENT: Commissioner Cullen-Since this is a quasi-judicial finding, I
would!ike to add an additional finding that it is consistent with
the Colr.prehensive P'.an, which encourages housing for
families with children.
M& Gose-You .,.., certalnJy welcome to add that if you like. Charter does don't
have the same CXJl1Sistency requirements that general law does do. It is always very
good p!anningto do tltings in concert with yOUl' gene.-al plan, however, so that's
why I say you ore more !han welcome to add that findir.g, but it isn't spedli.calJy
raquired under our zoning ordinance for a variance.
ACCEPTED: C=issionor Can:~ and CDmmlssioner Glazier.
MOTION CARRIED: The motion was carried by a vote of 4-1, willi COl!UT'iS$;oner
Schmidt voting no and Conunissioner Ojakian absent, to
aCU?t staff. recommendation with the following changes:
(1) Cllanging 6,000 square feet to 4,98Q square feet on the
suJn;tandard lot size and cha.."\ging 60 feet to SO feet as the
substandard lot width in findi'-.g 111; (2) Deleting the
reference to transition In finding #2; (3) adding a condition
regarding the 25 foot setback; and (4) .dd.ing • findL-l.g that
it is in compliance with the Comprehens;,"e Plan. IItan tD be
forw1uded fO City Cawncr1 March 15, 1993.j
28 February 24, 1993
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