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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/19/2018 Item 4, Lopes Goodwin, Heather From:James Lopes <jameslopes@charter.net> Sent:Friday, November To:Advisory Bodies; Bill Cochran Subject:ARC item 4 - 40 Buena Vista Drive - 11-19-18 Architectural Review Commission RE: Item 4 of 11-19-18 Meeting: 40 Buena Vista Drive Dear Commissioners: The project changes are welcome and yet do not respond to the visibility of the building from Highway 101. My previous visual survey found that the site is visible for at least 20 seconds from Northbound lanes of Highway 101. Two other residences on this hillside were approved with hipped roofs and stepped floor plans, as well as facade articulation. They provide a gradient similar to the hillside and succeeded in "blending" into the hill. This project will not come close to that. This hill is too steep to build in conformity with the slope. Or is it? Can the building be stepped back on the upper floor more, to approximate the 40+% slope? The roof is an extremely low pitch, and the effect is going to be viewed as a horizontal plane. The roof should be slightly taller, and most importantly, it should have hipped ends instead of gables. Gable ends extend the long facades, which are too tall due to the desire by the applicant to have tall rooms. The north facade particularly is too linear and massive. The building as a box is the problem. The building floors should be shifted so that the first floor would have a roof for several feet on the north facade. If the upper floor north wall is located where the stairs are on the first floor, the upper floor stair entry could be next to the exterior wall. Shifting the floors may not that expensive, and the resulting stepped roofs and hipped angles will present a similar appearance as previous projects, which will benefit the experience of countless drivers on Highway 101 and the reputation of the City. Given its location, I think this project deserved to have more scrutiny by staff to achieve compliance with City policies. It is clear that the staff report just delivers the details with no significant analysis. It should be noted that the project should have a Variance if it is approved at this location. It exceeds the maximum allowable slope. An alternative location is on the property at the bottom of the hill. An excavated project could be built as is often done on steep lots. A recent example is the line of residences on Price Canyon Road just east of Pismo Beach. Another example is the homes under construction in the Righetti Hill project. The location of the project will cause dangerous exit/entry movements for vehicles, which could endanger walkers, bicyclists and drivers on Buena Vista Drive. The traffic analysis is not correct in this regard. But, at least have the building conform more to the hillside and the existing residences as seen from Highway 101. Sincerely, James Lopes -- James Lopes Ph. 805-602-1365 1 2