Forest Character: Residential Design Guidelines 1.1 through 1.4 encourages preserving significant trees and minimizing impacts on established trees; protecting the root systems of all trees to be preserved; and, maintaining a forested image on the site.
The site contains one, significant Coast Live Oak at the northern corner of the property. Additionally, there is one dead Coast Live Oak and three tree stumps proposed to be removed, as well as four non-significant Coast Live Oaks proposed to be removed. The Forestry Department has reviewed the proposal and determined that the addition is adequately set back and will not likely impact these trees, and the tree removals are acceptable with a tree removal permit.
The Forestry Department also recommends planting one lower canopy tree and one upper canopy tree from the city’s recommended tree list. Special Condition of Approval #26 has been drafted requiring the applicant to plant one lower-canopy tree and one upper-canopy tree from the city’s recommended tree list on-site and Special Condition of Approval #27 has been included requiring a tree removal permit be obtained (refer to Attachment 4).
Privacy and Views: Residential Design Guidelines 5.1 through 5.3 encourages designs that preserve reasonable privacy for adjacent properties and maintain view opportunities to natural features.
Staff has not identified any privacy or view impacts associated with the project. All new windows are proposed to be high windows with no anticipated impacts to neighboring properties. The windows and doors to access the interior courtyard porch are proposed to be located closer to the neighboring property than existing conditions, however, the glazing area is proposed to be reduced in size (refer to South Elevation in Attachment 5, Sheets A1.2 & A2.1). The project meets the design guideline objectives for privacy and views.
Mass and Bulk: Residential Design Guidelines 7.1 through 7.7 encourages a building’s mass to relate to the context of other homes nearby; minimize the mass of a building as seen from the public way or adjacent properties; and, relate to a human scale in its basic forms.
The proposed residence and garage additions are compatible with the existing residence and do not significantly increase the overall appearance of building’s mass. The plate height at the existing carport would increase by approximately 2.5 feet to accommodate the new addition; however, the new gabled roof will sit below the height of the existing roof ridge.
There is currently one non-conforming building feature: the existing residence does not currently meet the composite setback requirements at the location of the existing carport. While a three-foot setback is maintained on the northern and southern portions of the lot, the 10-foot composite setback is not met (only a 6-foot composite setback). The non-conforming walls are proposed to be maintained throughout the proposed alterations in accordance with CMC 17.36.030, which states, a “lawful nonconforming structure may be maintained, repaired, or altered as long as such maintenance, repair, or alteration does not increase the nonconformity and all work performed conforms to all of the requirements of this chapter.”
Per CMC 17.70.010, alteration is defined as,
“…any change, addition, or modification of any of the supporting members of a structure, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders, that changes the exterior architectural appearance or materials of a structure or object. “Alteration” includes changes in exterior surfaces, changes in materials, additions, remodels, demolitions, and relocation of buildings or structures but excludes ordinary maintenance and repairs.”
As the non-conforming feature is the wall’s location within the composite setback, and not the height of the wall, the proposed additional height is an alteration to the existing wall, as defined in CMC 17.70.010, which does not increase the composite setback non-conformity. Special Condition of Approval #25 has been included to ensure the non-conforming walls are maintained throughout construction to allow for the additional height. Figures 4 & 5 in Attachment 2 feature the non-conforming wall.
Building and Roof Form: Residential Design Guidelines 8.1 through 8.5 encourages traditional building forms; using restraint with variations in building planes; using simple roof forms that are in proportion to the scale of the building; and, roof eave lines that are low in scale. Guideline 8.3 states to “limit the number of subordinate attachments, such as dormers, to avoid cluttered design.”
The existing residence has simple building and roof forms. The proposed additions and modifications are architecturally appropriate, compatible with the existing residence, and are not overly complicated. Like the existing residence, the additions will be single story and simple in nature. The new roof forms (residence and garage) are proposed to be gabled roofs to match the existing style of the residence and finished with Landmark Pro Composition Shingle. The roof will be pitched at 4:12 for the residence and the garage.
Site Coverage/Landscaping: The applicant is proposing to reduce the non-conforming site coverage from 1,159 square feet to 472 square feet. The new site coverage includes a 419 square feet of spaced decking located in the interior courtyard and the rear of the residence, a 37 square-foot permeable paver driveway, and a 16 square-foot impervious entry landing.
The applicant has included a landscape plan depicting new landscaping throughout the property. The landscaping is primarily composed of wood chip paths with flagstone walkways. The forester has reviewed and approved the landscape plan, with the condition that one upper canopy tree and one lower canopy tree are planted on-site. The landscape plan also notes “all areas disturbed by construction will be seeded with “Agrostis Pallens” (a native grass). Per the Residential Design Guidelines, “front yards should be informal gardens, rather than the traditional grass lawns,” and “lawns visible from the street are inappropriate to the forest setting and should be avoided.” Special condition of approval #28 has been included stating any grass shall be limited to the rear of the residence and not visible from the public right-of-way (refer to Attachment 4).
Right-of-way Character: Residential Design Guidelines 1.5 through 1.7 encourages maintaining an informal open space character of the right-of-way; maintaining trees and natural vegetation; and, designing parking areas to reinforce the forest image.
The existing right-of-way is in a natural state with a limited number of minor encroachments (a small pile of stone rubble, possibly part of a deteriorated dry stack wall). Special Condition of Approval #29 has been included requiring that all encroachments be removed prior to final inspection (refer to Attachment 4).
Detached Garage Design: According to CMC 17.10.030.A.1, "To encourage variety and diversity in neighborhood design, detached garages and carports may be authorized by the Planning Commission within the front yard setback facing the street and within an interior side yard setback," provided that the proposal is compliant with the following Municipal Code requirements: 1) At least 50% of the adjacent right-of-way is landscaped, 2) The proposed setback encroachment would not impact significant trees, 3) Free and safe movement of pedestrians and vehicles in adjacent rights-of-way is protected, 4) All development on-site will be in scale with adjacent properties and the neighborhood context consistent with adopted design guidelines, and 5) Placement of the garage or carport in the setback will add diversity to the neighborhood streetscape.
The new detached garage is proposed to be 11’x20’ and will be 10’2” tall at its ridge. The finish materials and color will match the residence. The garage will be accessed from the street via a 37 square foot permeable paver driveway on the property which would extend into the public right-of-way and connect to the edge of pavement.
The detached garage would leave at least 50% of the adjacent right-of-way landscaped, and will not impact any significant trees. The garage itself is setback 3.5’ from the property line and will not impede pedestrian or vehicular traffic. Additionally, the proposed garage is in scale with the residence and adjacent properties and will add diversity to the neighborhood as the majority of existing garages are attached to the residence and significantly setback from the right-of-way.
Finish Details: The existing board on board siding is proposed to be replaced with a stucco finish; the new garage would also have a stucco finish. The residence and garage are proposed to be painted “PPG CHIMAYO SAGE” with “BEHR PALE PALOMINO” trim. The new roof of the residence and garage would be Landmark Pro Composition Shingle. All windows throughout would be wood.