HomeMy WebLinkAboutCHC ARC PB San Luis Square commentsI have been approved by the city attorney to take part in these deliberations ashavingnofinancialbenefittobederivedfromthem, but I want to state before IspeakthatIampresidentoftheFriendsoftheJackHouse, president of the JackHouseDocents, and an ex officio nonvoting member of the city’s Jack HouseCommittee. I also know and am a friendly with John Belsher, a principal in PBCompanies, and am chair of the History Center’s Development Committee, helpingtoorganizea $35,000 benefit to which John Belsher contributed $525. Finally, I notethatrepresentativesofPBCompaniesxhavetwiceofferedaquarterofamilliondollarstotheJackHouseCommitteeforimprovementstotheJackGardenscontingent, apparently, upon the approval and completion of this project.
Questions
The drawings in the large book do not include a setback for the third floor; in thePDF, they do. Which is correct?
Does PB Companies plan to remove the historic Southern California Black WalnutwithinthenortheastcorneroftheJackGardens.
Statement
The first I want to note is the extraordinary sensitivity of this site next to, and in thelightshedandviewshed, of the historic Jack House and Gardens, a public city park. Generations of Jaycees, Cal Poly volunteers, Four-H Club members, Scouts, docents, and other volunteers have devoted untold hours on this garden. Both the house andgardenwereincludedinthesuccessfulapplicationtotheNationalRegisterofHistoricPlaces, one of only 33 such listings in the county.
The second thing I want to note is that CHC and ARC recently dealt with anapplicationat1921SantaBarbarathatwasa3-story apartment building standing30feettall. These buildings range from 56 to 64 feet tall, so we are dealing not with4-story buildings but with the equivalent of 6-story buildings.
The third thing is, having done the measurements, I agree with the Jack HouseCommitteethatfigure2inthePDFproposalmisrepresentstheheightofthebuildings (lower) and their distance from the Jack House (farther); flip the 125-footmeasure, and the buildings should reach about halfway, which they don't; also, 570Marshisshownasbeinglowerthan590, but the plans list them both at 56 feet.
1. BLOCKING OF LIGHTSHED AND VIEWSHED
Community Design Guidelines 4.2.B.2. "New buildings shall not obstruct views
from, or sunlight to, publicly-owned gathering places including, but not
limited to, Mission Plaza, the Jack House gardens, and YCLC Cheng Park. In
these locations, new buildings shall respect views of the hills, framing rather
than obscuring them."
Note the language "shall not," in contrast to the "should not" of most of the otherguidelines, along with the explicit mention of the Jack Garden. In other words,
obstructing sunlight to the Jack Garden with a building is expressly forbidden.
There is no question the 60-foot sheer wall of 581 Higuera, 5 feet from the JackGardenpropertylineandoverlappingthegardenby15feetatitsedge, will obstructsunlighttothegardensandobstructviewsofskyandsurroundingtrees. (Theconceptviewofitfromthegardenthatwewerebrieflyshownwaspositioned fromunderatreesodoesnotrepresentwhatitwouldlooklikefrommostofthegarden, i.e., a sixty-foot-high angular industrial-style brick building with no setback and noscreening, as PB proposes to remove our NE corner Southern California BlackWalnuttree.)
570 Marsh will reach 56 feet. Its 18-foot-high awning (the equivalent of a two-storyresidentialhouse) appears to be 4 feet from the property line. The 30-foot-high firstandsecondfloors (the equivalent of a three-story building) is set back 16 feet fromthepropertylineintheplan. The 42-foot-high thrid floor (a four-floor equivalent) is described in the PDF plan distributed to CHC and forwarded by me as being setback22feetfromthepropertyline, but the printed plan does not show any setback. The 56-foot-high fourth floor (a five- or six-floor equivalent: think the AndersonHotel) is described as having a 34-foot-setback from the property line, but this againisnotreflectedintheprintedplans, which shows something closer to 20.
Even if we accept the PDF versus the printed plans, according to my calculations, theshadowcastby570Marshwould, even at midmorning on the winter solstice, entirely cover the Jack Park up to the Jack House. (The winter solstice is used in theguidelineselsewhereforregulationsoflightforsidewalksonthenorthsideofMarsh, Higuera, and Monterey Streets.) On summer solstice the effect would be lessextreme, shadowing about 40 percent of the space between the Jack House andpropertylineat8a.m. The rest of the year would fall in between, but the main Jacklawnwouldbesomethingtobeenjoyedonlyinthelatemorningorafternoon, especially as visitors and school groups tend to gravitate to the gazebo to rest or eat.
Community Design Guidelines 4.2.B.3. “New buildings should not shade the
northerly sidewalk of Marsh, Higuera, or Monterey Streets at noon on
December 21st, Information demonstrating this objective shall accompany all
applications for architectural review as detailed on application checklists.”
According to my calculations, 581 Higuera will completely shade the northerlysidewalkofHigueraonDecember21st.
2. RESIDENTIAL INFILL REGULATIONS
5.3.B.) "An infill residential structure should incorporate the traditional
architectural characteristics of existing houses in the neighborhood"
5.3.C.) "The height of infill projects should be consistent with surrounding
residential structures"
Community Design Guidelines enjoin developers to (1.4.A.4.) "design with
consideration of the site context in terms of the best nearby examples of
massing, scale, and land uses when a site is located in a notable area of the city
for example, the downtown)"; (1.4.A.5.) "protect the scale and character of
historic neighborhoods" (note, not just formal historic zoning districts);
3.1.A.2.) "avoid 'boxy' structures with large, flat wall planes" (this describes
581 Higuera).
Additionally, (4.2.B.1.b.) "New buildings that are significantly taller … than
adjacent buildings shall provide appropriate visual transitions); (4.2.B.1.c.)
For new buildings adjacent to buildings included on the city's Inventory of
Historic Resources there shall be heightened sensitivity to the mass and scale
of the significant buildings"
The block bounded by Higuera, Carmel, Nipomo, and Marsh Streets currently has 28structuresonit, two-thirds of them one-story buildings (19) and one-third two-story buildings (9). The two-story buildings are largely low-profile apartment andofficebuildings. The four buildings that San Luis Square would replace are all one-story buildings.
Forty percent of the current structures are late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century residential and domestic structures. Twenty-two percent of the structuresarecurrentlyresidential, and an additional 14 percent are part of a historicresidentialcompoundpreservedasamuseum.
One-eighth of the block is occupied by the historic, master listed, and NationalRegisterofHistoricPlaceslistedJackHouseandGardens, directly adjacent to two ofthebuildings.
In short, this is a block whose defining characteristics are a low profile andpreservationoflate-nineteenth-century and early-twentieth-century domesticarchitecture, including the Master List Jack House, Contributing List WilkinsonHouse, and 1876 Martin Cottage, pictured in the historic 1877 Bird’s Eye View ofSanLuisObispo.
The blocks of Higuera, Nipomo, and Marsh that face the development consist evenmorepredominantlyofone-story buildings: 21 of them, or 75 percent, compared to5two-story buildings (18 percent) and 2 three-story buildings (7 percent). Thirteenofthese28structures, or just under half, are late nineteenth and early-twentieth-century houses, include the master listed Norcross House and Kaetzel House, and
the business structures include the master-listed Golden State Creamery compound. Most of the houses are still residences rather than offices.
3. ZONING
Zoning for the area is capped at 50 feet. PB is asking for a variance to go to 56 to 64feetnexttoapublic, historic space, and protected space with no apparent reasonotherthantomaximizeprofitsandcreateprivateprivilegeattheexpenseofthepublicenjoymentofopenspaceandhistoryandthecommunitybondingandunderstandingthatthisincreases.
4. PRIVACY REGULATIONS
Community Development Guidelines: (3.4.C.1.c.) "Multistory buildings should
not be placed adjacent to residential private open space areas (e.g., rear
yards)" (this is analogous to the public open space of the Jack Garden);;
5.4.A.1.) "New development should respect the privacy of adjacent residential
uses through appropriate building orientation and structure height, so that
windows do not overlook and impair the privacy of the indoor and outdoor
living space of adjacent units" (again, analogous to the privacy and serenity of
the Jack Garden).
It appears to me that the rule against obstructing lightshed and viewshed of publicparkandgardenspacesservesasplaceholderfortheseresidentialguidelines. Gardens should be a place of quiet and serenity, where people can relax and not beoverlooked, overshadowed, and overwhelmed by large residential, office, or retailstructures. Public parks and gardens are the open space of people who do not haveanyoftheirown. As a result, they are infinitely more important to protect thanprivateopenspace.
5. TREE COMMITTEE
PB companies proposes to chop down the huge California Black Walnut tree in thenorthwestcorneroftheJackGarden, as its canopy extends over 20 feet into theirproperty, which would preclude placing 581 Higuera 5 feet from the property line. This is one of our historic trees, mature and with a canopy topping the carriagehouseandvisiblefromtheroadwhentheJackHousewasdonatedandclearlyof amaturitytohavebeenplantedbyNellieJack. In addition, it seems unlikely that thesix33-year-old redwoods and 1 historic redwood would survive the excavation oftheparkinglot. I should note that PB Companies’ earlier proposal to the Jack HouseCommitteewastochopallofthemdownasobstructingtheirtenantsviewsandtheplannedentrytotheparkinggarage.
6. CEQA REVIEW
Historical Resources Guidelines 21084.1. "A project that may cause a
substantial adverse change in the significance of an historical resource is a
project that may have a significant effect on the environment. For purposes of
this section, an historical resource is a resource listed in, or determined to be
eligible for listing in, the California Register of Historical Resources. Historical
resources included in a local register of historical resources, as defined in
subdivision (k) of Section 5020.1, or deemed significant pursuant to criteria
set forth in subdivision (g) of Section 5024.1, are presumed to be historically
or culturally significant for purposes of this section."
In other words, the Nation Register listed and master listed Jack House is deemed ahistoricalresource, and as the Jack House and Gardens were included as an integralunitintheapplicationforNationalRegisterlisting, they are also a historicalresource.
Public Resources Code Section 5020.1(q): “Substantial adverse change
includes demolition, destruction, relocation, or alteration such that the
significance of an historical resource would be impaired”
This is clarified by:
California Office of Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Series 1:
What is ‘substantial adverse change’ to an historical resource?”
The CEQA Guidelines provide that a project that […] alters those physical
characteristics of an historical resource that convey its historical significance
i.e., its character-defining features) can be considered to materially impair
the resource’s significance."
The building of a sixty-foot wall directly adjacent to, and blocking the views andlightfrom, an historic garden and house complex definitively alters the physicalcharacteristicsofthishistoricresourcethatconveyitshistoricalsignificance, i.e., itscharacter-defining features.
IN SHORT, I DON’T KNOW WHY WE’RE LOOKING AT THIS.
Motion: Continue the project to a date uncertain with the following directional items:
PB Companies shall1. Keep all buildings’ height, mass, and placement from obstructing sunlight to, orviewsfrom, the Jack House Gardens during normal hours of open space use (dawntodusk) throughout the year. 2. Keep 581 Higuera’s height, mass, and placement from obstructing sunlight to thenorthernsidewalkonHigueraStreetatnoononDecember21st. 3. Keep building height consistent with the surrounding 1- and 2 story residentialstructuresandtherebyprotectthescaleandcharacterofthishistoricneighborhood. 4. Reduce the height of all buildings to no more than 50 feet and no more than threestories. 5. Incorporate the traditional architectural characteristics of existing houses in theneighborhood. 6. Design all buildings with consideration of the site context in terms of the bestnearbyexamplesofscale, massing, and land use, including the Master List JackHouse, Golden State Creamery, and Kaetzel House. 7. Provide setbacks to mitigate the 'boxy' structure and large, flat wall planes of 581Higuera. 8. Show heightened sensitivity to the mass and scale of the historic Jack House andGardensbyreducingtheheight, mass, and scale of 581 Higuera and 570 Marsh andbyprovidingappropriatesetbacks. 9. Use appropriate building orientation and structure height in 581 Higuera and 570MarshsothatwindowsdonotoverlookandimpairtheprivacyandserenityofthehistoricJackGardens. 10. Redesign 581 Higuera and 570 Marsh to protect the historic Southern CaliforniaBlackWalnuttreeatthenortheastcorneroftheJackHouseGardensandthesevenredwoods, both recent and historic, along the Jack House Gardens eastern propertyline, by setting structures back from their canopies and excavation from their rootsystems. 11. Provide a detailed and adequate plan to protect the historic Jack House fromvibrationandsubsidenceduringconstruction. 12. Provide a parking garage plan that takes into account flooding in this historicallymarshyandflood-prone area.
Community Development staff shall13. Review the project for its compliance with CEQA. 14. Forward the project to the Cultural Heritage Committee and only after CHC’sapprovalofit, based on compliance with the Community Design GuidelinesregardingthehistoricJackHouseandGardens, other facing Master List andContributingListproperties, and the historic character of the neighborhood andwithCEQA, advance it to the Architectural Review Commission.