July 6
,
202
3 City of Palo Alto
Planning & Development Division
250 Hamilton Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Attn:
Amy French, Chief Planning Official
Jodie Gerhardt, Manager of Current Planning
Garret Sauls, Project Planner
Re:
Variance Findings for
949 Scott St
.
The letter is
to accompany our application for the
proposed project at
949 Scott St
.
to
build a new
single
-
family
residence on the property
to replace the existing residence
.
The purpose of this letter is
to address the findings and justifications
to request
a variance to
encroach into the front, side, and rear
yard setbacks
with both first floor and basement
.
Add
itionally, we are requesting a variance to provide
only one off
-
street covered parking space (where none currently exists), to exceed the maximum lot coverage, and the below grade patio allowance.
Introduction:
The lot is
zoned as R
-
2 within a mixed residential
R
-
2 district.
The property
is substandard in
size is 30
feet wide by 50 feet deep for a total of 1,500 sf.
The property appears to have been subdivided off the
rear of 353 Addison Ave
.
at some point in the past whe
n such
actions
where allowable.
The context is a
mixture of single
-
family homes of varying architectural style, size, and era of construction.
The existing development on the property is a one
-
story single
-
family home of
835
sf.
The existing
residence
encroaches within the setback distances on all sides. The e xisting
front
setback
of the home
is 10’
-
9 (6’
-
8” to the entry porch) where 20
feet
would be required. The existing side setbacks are 2’
-
10 on the right side and 3’
-
0” on the left side, where 6
f
eet
would be required. The existing rear setback is
3’
-
11”, where 20
feet
would be required.
The home was designated as potentially eligible for the CRHR, however upon the research by Page & Turnbull it was not determined to be historically significant.
For substandard lots in the R
-
2 districts, zoning section 18.10.150
provides allowance for replacing
lawfully created structures with new structures without complianc
e
with height and habitable floor
area
limitations, provided the new structure does not exceed 17 feet in height or create habitable area
above the first floor level.
This section provides an allowance for this proposed new home to replace the existing structure, however it would require a vari ance approval to keep the same location and
setbacks.
Re:
949 Scott St. variance request
July 7
, 2022
Pg
.
2 of
5 We respectfully ask for granting of the variances for the success of this project, based on the
four
findings and conditions below.
Findings:
1. The granting of the application will not be detrimental or injurious to property or improvements in the
vicinity, and will not be detrimental to the public health, safety, general welfare, or convenience
The proposed single
-
family home will maintain the existing use on the property, consistent with the current
presence in the overall neighborhood.
The
placement of the
proposed new residence
wil
l have side setbacks with greater distances than the
existing setbacks
to property lines
,
increasing
separation
s
between neighboring structures.
The
above ground footpri
nt will be
reduced from the existing conditions, creating additional distance
and privacy
between
neighboring structures.
At the proposed 4
’
-
0 side and rear se
tbacks it
would
be equi
valent to
what is currently allowable for Accessory D
welling
Units on any si
ngle family lot in t
he city.
To comply with current building codes, the new structure will be equipped with an automatic fire sprinkler system per NFPA
-
13D standards. With respect to the construction assembly, the exterior walls and eaves on the left and rear sides will comply with r equirements when building
less than
5 feet
but at least
3 feet of the property line. For the right side it will comply with the additional requirements when building between 3 feet and 0 feet of the property line.
The replacement of the existing residen
ce will result in removal of a wood burning masonry
fireplace, which is
in line with the goals of the City of Palo Alto and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. The new structure will also be more energy efficient and
will
rely on
electricity for
all appliances
instead of natural gas,
which is in line with the goals of the City’s
energy reach code.
The proposed design will be providing
one
off
-
street parking spaces,
where
it currently does not
provide
any
.
This is particularly notable for suc
h a narrow dead
-
end street with limited
vehicular clearances.
2. The granting of the application is consistent with the Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan and the purposes of Title 18 (Zoning)
The district is zoned R
-
2 to allow for one
-
and two
-
family development. Reconstructing the
property with a new single
-
family residence will maintain the objectives of the zoning.
The
residence will be one story above grade, as is consistent with substand ard lot limitations.
Noise
producing equipment will be situated in a location that complies with the minimum setbacks and decibel ratings.
T
he
proposed
size of home would be comparable to many of the ADU projects being encouraged and approved to be built throughout Palo Alto under current State guidelines.
Re:
949 Scott St. variance request
July 7
, 2022
Pg
.
3 of
5 Additionally regarding the lot size,
this existing parcel
could be equivalent to a parcel that
would
be created today under the State SB
-
9 guidelines. So neither the lot size or home size are outside the normal range of current scale under the overall zoning intent.
3. Because of special circumstances, including (but not limited to) size, shape, t opography, location, or
surroundings, the strict application of the requirements and regulations prescribed in Title 18 substantially deprives such property of privileges enjoyed by other property in the vicinity and in the same zoning district as the subj
ect property. Special circumstances that are expressly excluded from consideration are:
A) The personal circumstances of the property owner
B) Any changes in the size or shape of the property made by the property owner or his
predecessors
in interest while the property was subject to the same zoning designation.
If standard setbacks are applied, the resulting buildable area would only be 18 feet wide by 10
foot deep rectangle of 180
sf
. This would not be feasible for any type of new reside ntial structure
to be built.
A typical one car garage of 10 foot by 20 foot interior would not even fit within
the
required setback distances.
As far as can be ascertained, there are no other properties in the neighborhood with such small property dimens
ions. From our study, there are no feasible home designs that would comply with all of the zoning without some kind of variance approval.
Re:
949 Scott St. variance request
July 7
, 2022
Pg
.
4 of
5 Sketch 1:
the allowable building area on this property if standard minimum setbacks where applied.
4. The
granting of the application shall not affect substantial compliance with the regulations or constitute a grant of special privileges inconsistent with the limitations upon other properties in the vicinity and in the same zoning district as the subject prop erty.
The zoning ordinance f
or
substandard
lots zoned R
-
2 provides
an allowance for
grandfathered uses,
allowing
replac
ement
lawfully created structures with new structures without compliance with height and floor
limitations.
18.10.150
Grandfathered U
ses
(f)
Existing Homes on Substandard Lots
In the R
-
2 district, single
-
family and two
-
family homes on substandard lots, as defined in
Section
18.10.040
(b), and flag lots existing on August 1, 1991 and which prior to that date were lawful, complying structures, may remain and be remodeled, improved, or replaced without complying with the height and habitabl
e floor limitations for substandard lots specified in
Section 18.10.040, provided that:
(1)
any such remodeling, improvement, or replacement does not result in a height above seventeen feet or any additional habitable floor area above a first habitable floor, except that
any structure damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster (such as fire, flood or earthquake) may be replaced to its previous size without regard to the height and habitable floor limitations imposed by this section; and
(
2)
in the case of a conflict between the provisions of this section and the provisions of Chapter 18.70, this section shall control.
With the combination of t
his zoning section
and the variance approval
, the proposed structure will
replace a lawful pre
-
existing
residence of equal size
, and will not exceed 17 feet in height or
contain a habitable floor above the first floor.
With respect to p
arking
:
i
t was suggested that
the property could
/should
be built without including
any off
-
street parking.
However that would
mean this residence is solely reliant on street parking, which is very limited in this area.
As a short narrow block, the street parking is typically full at most times of day. There is a nearby medical rehabilitation center which also regularly contribut es to the
competition for street parking.
So without
dedicated off
-
street parking access for this property, all
daily activities of loading and unloading personal items between the home and transportation will be a continual challenge.
With the limit
ed width of the lot, we won’t physically have enough width for a full two
-
car garage width, so an oversized one
-
car garage is all
that can
fit.
Since there will be no
options for driveway parking with the short front setback, the garage will be a critical amenity for this
residence.
Additionally, the extra garage width will allow for storage of other personal belongings that could typically be stored in yard space on a normal
-
sized property.
With such limited space around the
sides and rear, th
ere isn’t room for any items that could typically to be stored outside the residence, or be kept under a porch, or in a rear shed or elsewhere.
Re:
949 Scott St. variance request
July 7
, 2022
Pg
.
5 of
5 With respect to the two existing
Street Trees:
With a narrower driveway, it could be possible to keep
both street trees, though it would be e
xtremely tight.
There is only 14 feet distance between the two
trees, so even with a 10 foot wide driveway it would still just barely clear the trunks.
We are currently
proposing to remove only one of the trees to facilitate the new driveway.
For the re
maining street tree
in front of this property, we
have
adjust
ed
the driveway dimensions
to create 6 feet of separation
between tree and the driveway.
For
the
replacement of the other tree, we
could
propose
moving
it to
th
e right side to
create more separation.
But there is a street light not far away on that side, and the neighbors driveway just beyond that, so it would not be a location with improved clearances for the tree to grow.
S
o
u
l
t
imately we are
propos
ing
to relocate
t
he
one
street trees to
the left
of the
remainin
g tree
, just in front of the neighboring property
, spaced equally t
o their current location in
front of 949
.
There is a wide open section of the sidewalk planter that is not planted, so a replacement street tree would have ample room to grow, not affect any utilities, and be clearly awa y from any
driveways.
Summary:
In weighing different design directions and options for this parcel,
we have arrived at our current
proposed development as submitted with this application. We feel this embodies the best use of the property, is the most compatible with the context of the surrounding neighborhood, and poses the least impacts to the overal
l
neighborhood
, environment, and public welfare
, and will be consistent
with the Title 18 zoning intentions.
We appreciate your time in the review and consideration of our application and are available to answer any questions or to provide additional info
rmation.
Sincerely,
Daniel S. Rhoads
, Architect
Y&B
Architects Inc.