DS 22-057 (Lim): Consideration of a combined Concept and Final Design Study for the demolition of an existing 1,053 square-foot, one-story single-family residence, inclusive of a 205 square-foot detached garage, and the construction of a 1,793 square-foot, two-story single-family residence, inclusive of a 288 square-foot attached garage, in the Single-Family Residential (R-1) District, Archaeological Significance (AS) Overlay, and Beach/Riparian (BR) Overlay. APN: 010-225-003-000.

The applicant is requesting approval of a combined Concept and Final Design Study for the demolition of an existing one story single-family residence and construction of a new two-story single-family residence. A concept design was previously considered at the Commission’s July 12, 2023, and August 14, 2024 hearings and both hearings were continued with direction to make changes to the project.  The primary issues raised at the July 2023 hearing were in respect to privacy, views, light, and impacts to trees, and issued at the August 2024 hearing were in respect to carry over impacts from the July 2023 hearing primarily in respect to light and view impacts.  The applicant has responded to the issues addressed at the previous hearings, which is why the item is being recommended for combined approval. 

Adopt a Resolution (Attachment 1) approving a combined Concept and Final Design Study for the demolition of an existing 1,053 square-foot, one-story single-family residence, inclusive of a 205 square-foot detached garage, and the construction of a 1,793 square-foot, two-story single-family residence, inclusive of a 288 square-foot attached garage, in the Single-Family Residential (R-1) District, Archaeological Significance (AS) Overlay, and Beach/Riparian (BR) Overlay. APN: 010-225-003-000.

The project site is a 4,000 square-foot lot developed with a 1,053 square-foot one story residence with a 205 square foot attached garage. 

The existing one story residence is finished primarily with board and batten siding with composition shingle gabled roof forms. The applicant is proposing to demolish the existing residence and garage and construct a new two-story 1,793 square foot residence inclusive of a 288 square foot attached garage.

The new residence is proposed to be a combination of stone and stucco with wood windows and doors and a composition shingle roof. A concept design was previously considered at the Commission’s July 12, 2023, and August 14, 2024 hearings and both hearings were continued with direction to make changes to the project.  The primary issues raised at the July 2023 hearing were in respect to privacy, views, light, and impacts to trees, and issued at the August 2024 hearing were in respect to carry over impacts from the July 2023 hearing primarily in respect to light and view impacts. 

At the August 2024 hearing, the applicant presented an alternative design concept to the Commission to which the commission seemed supportive of, however, the Commission, did not have an opportunity to review the staking and flagging (story poles) and thoroughly assess or review the project.  Similarly, staff had not had an opportunity to review this iteration of the project as the design concept was just presented at the hearing.  The overall design concept (architectural style and general appearance) presented to the Commission at the hearing was substantially similar to the previous two versions of the project reviewed by the Commission with the most substantial change coming to the position and form of the second story.

The applicant has revised the project based on feedback from the Commission and is requesting approval of a combined Concept and Final Design study.  In addition to changes made to the plans, the applicant has noted to staff the following design changes:

• “Stairwell was “indented” and elongated to be set back even further from the neighbor’s nook.  Originally it was setback 11’-6” from the nook, it is now setback 14’-6”.   This was accomplished by moving the garage forward and reducing the stair treads from 11” to 10”. On the exterior, this affected the front elevation as well as the north side elevation.  To help make the roof profiles work at the front, I reduced the covered patio off Bedroom 1 and simplified the front elevation at Bedroom 3.
•  All the ceiling/plate heights at the entry level were lowered from 9’ down to 8’ except at the garage.  The garage was left at 9’ because it breaks up the front roof plane and helps create visual balance between the entry level and upper level roof designs (in my opinion). The Kitchen’s ceiling will have a raised ceiling, but the perimeter will be at 8’. 
•  All the ceiling/plate heights at the upper level were lowered from 8’ down to 7’-3”.  Since these plates are a bit low now, I made some interior ceiling adjustments to help counter that feeling by vaulting at the stairs and bedroom 2, and raising the ceiling at bedroom 3 (while keeping its perimeter at 7’-3”). 
•  The upper level vestibule was adjusted by relocating the linen closet and rearranged the skylights.
•  Most if not all of the window & door headers were reduced due the ceiling height changes.
•  While making changes to bedroom 3, I realized I had made an oversight at the southern window (#10)- it wasn’t going to work for a bed wall, so I adjusted the windows so that it would.”

In accordance with CMC 17.58.040.B.2, “[Residential Design Review] for track two projects is a three-phase process requiring: (a) preliminary site assessment, (b) design concept review, and (c) final details review. The application shall not be deemed complete until the preliminary site assessment has occurred and the City has received a complete application for design concept review.”

The associated preliminary site assessment has been completed (March 2022), and two concept hearings have been held to-date (July 2023 & August 2024). While a concept design has yet to be formally accepted through resolution, there is no provision in the code that expressly requires formal acceptance of a concept hearing prior to scheduling to a final details review -only that a concept hearing (in the majority of instances) needs to precede a final details hearing.   

When a concept hearing is considered, the Commission may:

1.  Accept the design concept as submitted;
2. Provisionally accept the design concept and provide direction to the applicant on plan revisions necessary to achieve compliance with the design guidelines and/or zoning standards; or
3. Continue design concept for preparation of a new design concept if it is substantially out of compliance with the zoning standards or the design guidelines (CMC 17.58.040).

At both the previous concept hearings, option #3, above, was the direction of the commission. The applicant has returned with a project which addresses the issues raised at the two prior hearings for re-consideration and is seeking adoption of the concept findings as well as approval of the final details for the project.

If the applicant had been (or is) unwilling to make the revisions directed by the Commission, the applicant could have requested a denial of the project so that an appeal could have been filed. A denial shall not be complete until findings are adopted (CMC 17.58.040).

Figure 1. First Concept Review (July 2023) Building Outline. First Floor in ORANGE; Second Floor in GREEN. Neighbor’s residence outlined in Black.

Figure 2. Second Concept (August 2024) Review Building Outline. First Floor in RED; Second Floor in BLUE. Neighbor’s residence outlined in Black.

Figure 3. Revised (proposed – December 2024) Building Outline. First Floor in GREEN; Second Floor in RED. Neighbor’s residence outlined in Black.

Figure 4. Overlay of previous 2^nd floor outlines (July 2023 – GREEN; August 2024 – BLUE) and revised (Proposed) 2^nd Floor Outline (RED).

The purpose of this combined conceptual review meeting is to review and consider the revised site planning, privacy and views, and mass and scale related to the project. This project is under consideration for final approval and will discuss the finish details of the project. As this is a third concept review, and the commission saw a concept of this design at the previous hearing, this report will focus on the changes made between hearings and the finish details.

• July 12, 2023 Hearing
  •  Click Here for Staff Report
  •  Click Here for Video
•  August 14, 2024 Hearing
  • Click Here for Staff Report
  •  Click Here for Video

The project is located in the Beach and Riparian (BR) Overlay District (i.e. appeal jurisdiction) and therefore is appealable to the California Coastal Commission once all local appeals are exhausted.

Privacy and Views, and Mass and Bulk: Residential Design Guidelines 5.1 through 5.3 pertain to Privacy, Views, Light, and Air.  The objectives of these Design Guidelines are to “maintain privacy of indoor and outdoor spaces in a neighborhood” and “To balance and share view opportunities to natural features and landmarks.” 

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.  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.” 

At the previous hearing, the neighbor to the north had expressed concerns regarding the project specifically in respect to views, and access to light related to their breakfast nook, kitchen window, and lower floor bedroom. The views of concern were not ocean views, but views of the forest and tree canopy and of open space and access to light beyond. 

There are no second story windows on the northern elevation nor exterior balconies facing north and as such, staff has not identified any privacy impact associated with the project.  A small second story balcony is proposed to be located on the southern elevation, however, this overlooks the neighbor’s roof to the south similar to the prior proposals which was not a topic of discussion at the previous two public hearings. As there is no privacy impact, the continued concerns with the project are light and view impacts.

The applicant has revised the project based on the feedback received at the previous two hearings to address the impacts to the neighbor to the north. The overall ridge height of the structure has been decreased from an elevation point of 59.00’ to 57.16’ (-1.84’) and the 2^nd story plates have been decreased from 56.25’ to 54.5’ (-1.75’).  The proposed residence under the 2-story 24’ height limit (20’2” proposed at the most restrictive point) and the plate heights comply with the height requirements throughout. As was proposed with the previous versions of the projects, the roof is comprised of hipped roof forms moderately pitched at 4:12 throughout, as encouraged by the Residential Design Guidelines. The hips primarily run east to west with a hipped element also facing north on the second floor.

Refer to Figures 5-7, below.

Figure 5. Overlay of previous Concept Review (2^nd review – August 2024; BLUE) 2^nd Floor Outline and Revised (Proposed) 2^nd Floor Outline (RED) with Dimensions. Also see figures 1-4, above.

Figure 6a. Massing Comparison – West (front) elevation; RED = revised (proposed) building outline; GRAY = 2^nd revised plans (from August 2024 hearing)

Figure 6b. Comparison of previous proposal (left) from August 2024 hearing and revised/proposed design (right).

Figure 7a. Massing Comparison – North elevation; RED = revised (proposed) building outline; GRAY = 2^nd revised plans (from August 2024 hearing)

Figure 7b. Comparison of previous proposal (top) from August 2024 hearing and revised/proposed design (bottom).

Staff recommends commission deliberation as to whether the project complies with Design Guidelines and Concept Findings pertaining to view impacts.  In staff’s opinion, the project complies with the Design Guidelines and findings pertaining to mass and bulk, and impacts to the neighbor are best addressed through discussion on view impacts, as has been the case at the prior hearings, though in staff’s opinion, the applicant has addressed the previously direction of the Commission.

Finish Details: The proposed finish materials are consistent with the Residential Design Guidelines.  The new residence is proposed to be finished with a combination of stucco with stone veneer building elements.  A mix of wood divided light cottage windows and wood framed picture windows are proposed throughout (refer to Attachment 3, Sheet A6).  The stucco siding is proposed to be “diftmist” and the windows, trim, and fascia are proposed to be painted “pure white” -all colors are by Sherwin Williams.  The residence is also proposed to have a composition shake roof by Certainteed in a “Autumn Blend” finish (click here for manufacture’s product information). 

Figure 8. Finish materials – From Attachment 3; Sheet A7.

Figure 9. Rendering of Front Elevation.

Landscaping and Lighting: A minimal landscape plan has been included in the project plans and includes the location of the new upper canopy tree which is required to be planted on-site, as well as the location of new rain gardens used to support the site’s stormwater management. However, the plans do not include details regarding information regarding proposed plant materials and rather include notes including, but not limited to: landscaping to be natural; all landscaping shown is for design intent only and shall be selected and approved by owner prior to installation.  

CMC 17.34.040 requires all new development or substantial alteration of existing development shall require submittal and approval of a landscape plan. As provided in CMC 17.34.040.D.2, “The decision-making authority for the development permit shall also approve the landscaping plan or may delegate approval authority to the Planning Director who shall review the plan in consultation with the City Forester.” Standard Condition of Approval #21 requires submit a landscape plan for review and approval by the Community Planning & Building Department and the City Forester for consistency with the applicable requirements of the municipal code prior to issuance of a Building Permit.

One style of light fixture has been proposed -a wall sconce.  The fixture is proposed to have the light source shielded and downlight, and will be 365 lumens; within the allowable output.  Landscape lighting has not been proposed at this time.

Archeological Overlay.

The required Archeological Resource Management Report (required for projects in the AS overlay) was submitted by the applicant and prepared by Kaitlin Ruppert, RPA, of EMC Planning Group (report dated August 2022). The results of the reconnaissance survey were negative and no further action is required. Standard Condition of Approval #17 requires that all activities involving excavation shall immediately cease if cultural resources are discovered on the site.

Public Correspondence: At the time of writing this report, staff has not received correspondence from any party regarding the revised project.

Alternatives: As an alternative to approving the combined Concept and Final Design Study, as recommended, the Commission may act on the Concept Design alone, and:

1. Accept the design concept as submitted;
2.  Provisionally accept the design concept and provide direction to the applicant on plan revisions necessary to achieve compliance with the design guidelines and/or zoning standards; or
3.  Continue design concept for preparation of a new design concept if it is substantially out of compliance with the zoning standards or the design guidelines (CMC 17.58.040). 

Staff recommends the project be found categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), State CEQA guidelines and local environmental regulations, pursuant to Section 15303 (Class 3) – New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures. The project includes the demolition of an existing single-family residence and the construction of a new single-family residence in a residential zone and therefore qualifies for a Class 3 exemption. The proposed project does not present any unusual circumstances that would result in a potentially significant environmental impact, and no exceptions to the exemption exist pursuant to section 15300.2 of the CEQA Guidelines.