To: Sebastopol Planning Commission, City Planning Staff, Sebastopol City Council members
From: Thomas Lindberg
Date: 11/9/2021
Subject: Huntley Square Development Plans
Less than 24 hours ago, I received an email from Kelly Hickler attaching the staff report for the Planning Commission meeting the next day, where the Huntley Square developers are seeking a zoning amendment to modify the zoning from R7 to a Planned Community (PC), a Use Permit, a Tentative Map, and approval of an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration for the project at 7950 Bodega Avenue. This is an inadequate time frame for review of the material.
Additionally, the staff report with inadequate time for response clearly favors the project and outlines easy steps the Planning Commission can take to quickly approve this project. The adjacent property owners have also clearly voiced their concerns about many aspects of the development.
As the public is limited to 3 minutes to voice their concerns at the Planning Commission meeting, I am writing to include input that would take longer than 3 minutes. There have been many previous reviews and responses by affected citizens of Sebastopol, but it is not clear who sees these and how any response is returned to these citizens.
As the staff report approaches the project page by page, here are some concurrent concerns in addition to the previous input to the IS/Mitigated Negative Declaration and letters to the Design Review Board, the Planning Commission, and city staff.
Bodega Ave for guests and deliveries. “There will be a landscaped pedestrian access path going from Bodega Avenue that connects to a shared courtyard…” I don’t see this on the plans. At present, the loading zone parking is one space at the western-most location along Bodega Ave.
The questions are: 1) Are all deliveries to be made from Bodega Ave? 2) Is there a ramp access from the pedestrian path above for hand carts to deliver appliances and large and heavy bulky items or do they need to navigate the 15-step stairs from the street level? 3) Are all moving vans used by new residents to move in going to use this delivery route? 4) Is there ADA access from Bodega Avenue to the townhouses?
size, reduced setbacks and reduced minimum yards in the request for zoning change from R7 to PC. While this clearly accommodates the developer, this does not in any way alleviate the encroachment on the existing adjacent properties. While the set-back for the monolithic bank of townhouses only changes from 9 feet to 8 feet, it nonetheless does not consider the current residents and the looming structure on the other side of the fence.
Page5…In the discussion of Development criteria, there is the requirement to “…include fencing, landscaping, or open space…so as to be compatible with adjacent uses. The staff report says, “The project will utilize existing fencing and provide landscaping to serve as a buffer…” At present the fences on the west boundary are laying on the ground. The fences on the north boundary are in nearly the same state of disrepair, and some of the adjacent homeowners on the east boundary have put up recent new fences. Any Planned Community should provide consistent fencing around its perimeter and the maintenance and ownership should be part of their CCRs.
studio unit. How is this accomplished with the existing plan of 4 Compact Vehicle spaces, 5 full-size vehicle spaces, and 1 ADA handicap van space? There are many combinations of vehicles that future townhouse owners will have. If no future owner has an ADA vehicle designation, there will then be 9 spaces for 10 owners. Similarly, vehicle parking spaces will likely be assigned to units, but not everyone will have a compact vehicle and the parking scheme fails.
spaces on Bodega Avenue for guest parking and deliveries is disingenuous. Signs on the Golden Ridge access that deliveries are prohibited and can only be made via the Bodega Avenue loading zone and steps will be widely ignored. What enforcement is possible?
Commission meeting is a clear indication that the developers and planning staff want this project to proceed and will move forward as fast as possible.
When we met with the developers on-site and told them that 73 average vehicle trips per day was unacceptable, they showed that they had never seen the report. While the report dates to July and this was October, the developer’s claim that it must be a new report is specious. It’s very convenient that one day before the Planning Commission meeting, the traffic is reduced from 73 trips to 47 trips. There is a real issue, despite the numbers, of the impact of traffic through the existing parking lot and within feet of the existing residents of the Bodega Flats townhouse owners.
maintenance, and operation of the use applied for will not…be detrimental to the health, safety, peace, morals, comfort, or general welfare of persons residing or working in the area…” With 22-foot monolithic structures 8 feet from the fences and less than 20 feet from the windows of the current residences on the east border, there is a clear loss of peace, comfort and general welfare for those property owners. All afternoon light and westerly breezes will be lost to the current homeowners.
brought forward by affected Sebastopol property owners and citizens about this project, including the sudden reduction of average daily vehicle from 73 to 47. Similarly, the solution by signage of prohibiting delivery trucks on the driveway easement while creating a delivery zone on Bodega Avenue deflects reality and clears the way for project approval.
Lastly, something that has eluded the rendering drawings and other input is the fact that each of the 10 units will have a heat-pump unit mounted on each roof. Heat pumps generate much noise and are purposely installed in a resident property as far away from the living area as possible to reduce the noise. With 10 of these units activated any time it is cold or hot, the ambient noise level increases for not only the current adjacent residents, but also for the Huntley Square residents.
In short, the Huntley Square has enough concerns that require future study to ensure the Planning Commission does not approve the plan at this time.
Thomas Lindberg, Owner
Sebastopol. CA 707-829-2916