RECEIVED
MAY 0 3 2022
City of Pacifica
April 26, 2022
Planning Director
Pacifica, CA
Dear Christian:
My wife and I own an 8.5 acre hillside parcel on Barton Place. It has 300 feet of street frontage.
With decades of experience as a Civil Engineer, specializing in hillside development, I prepared a plan showing how two houses can be built with a minimum of disturbance to the hillside.
Grading for each home would be equivalent to that for a swimming pool on a flat lot. All development would be along the street frontage, and over 90% of the lot would be untouched.
The property has an HPD overlay. The slope formula in that overlay prohibits any development whatsoever. The property is now listed for sale for the second time. Inquiries from builders always die away quickly -- no followup and no offers, in this highly desirable neighborhood. HPD makes the property unsalable for development. Pacifica is responsible for what is tantamount to a taking. I intend to pursue legal action if this is not rectified quickly.
Our attempt to subdivide into two lots has been obstructed in many ways by the Planning Department. We were required to show that water can be provided to new houses, and asked for a traffic study. It has become apparent that the Planning Department's philosophy is to deny or severely restrict development of open space wherever and however possible. The HPD formula does that, but is so absurd that it would deny any development on all of Barton Place if the twelve houses there did not already exist. This is potentially very embarrassing to the City and could profoundly affect its credibility in zoning matters.
The Town of Los Altos Hills also treasures open space - it has a one acre minimum zoning. I worked with the Town, architects, and about a hundred clients in grading design for houses. I also provided slope density calculations using the Town's formula, which permits reasonable use of steep land. I suggest you either abandon the preposterous HPD formula entirely or adopt Los Altos Hills' version.
Returning to the subject of our property, there is an extensive network of concrete ditches which convey storm water down to the street and prevent erosion or washouts. I have personally maintained those ditches for forty years, but at age 86 can no longer even get up the . hill. So who does Pacifica intend to hold responsible for maintaining the ditches and "preserving" the land on this hillside design it approved?? The lot is suitable for two houses and should be so designated in both the General Plan and the Zoning Ordinance. Two owners would then have incentive for maintaining the ditches above their own houses.
One of your staff members recently told our Real Estate Broker and me that your department would limit the size of houses to 800 sf. We fail to see how this is consistent with good
April 26, 2022
Planning, which presumably exists to make a more desirable community. I know the neighbors on Barton Place, and they want whatever is built to be compatible with what already exists, not cottages. They also would prefer neighbors to be homeowners, not renters.
Two homes on a 300 foot frontage would be widely separated, further guaranteeing a feeling of open space even in the development area. To meet what I believe is a reasonable use of the property it would be helpful to change the General Plan designation to Very Low Density Residential, which states, "the number of units will be determined by the physical conditions of the site...."
But the immediate goal is to sell the property, which can be done by removing HPD.
Sincerely,
J. Gerald Clements
Cc City Manager
City Attorney