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Home My WebLink About5/6/2019 Item 2, Mills (2) Goodwin, Heather From:Bell, Kyle Sent:Tuesday, April 30, 2019 9:18 AM To:CityClerk Cc:Scott, Shawna Subject:FW: 974 Rachel Court Design Attachments:Concerns Regarding the Proposed Home at 974 Rachel Court (Complete).pdf Importance:High Please provide the attached letter as correspondence to the ARC hearing on May 6, 2019 for Item #2 (974 Rachel). Kyle Bell CDD Associate Planner T 805.781.7524 From: Russell S Mills < Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2019 11:36 AM To: Bell, Kyle <KBell@slocity.org> Cc: Russell S Mills <RMills@csuchico.edu>; Amy Bertorelli <bertorelliamy@hotmail.com>; Fritz Heimbigner <runfritz@gmail.com>; Yvonne Blanchard <yvonne@aurorapropertyservices.com> Subject: 974 Rachel Court Design Importance: High Kyle: Attached for the City’s consideration is a communication from the Board of the SLO Terrace HOA, with copies to the Board and to the HOA’s property manager. I will give you a call after you have had a chance to look through everything. Thanks, Russ (530) 210-3866 1 Planning and Zoning City of San Luis Obispo Attn: Kyle Bell, Associate Planner (KBell@slocity.org) March 28, 2019 Re: 974 Rachel Court Kyle: The Board of the SLO Terrace HOA has unanimously authorized me to convey to the City the attached list of concerns regarding the proposed home construction at 974 Rachel Court. This document was discussed and approved at an open meeting of the HOA, which was also attended by the owners of the subject property. Please communicate this list to all individual’s involved in the City’s evaluation of this project, including the architect, the property owners, and the ARC. I also request that you communicate with me any significant developments as the City’s review unfolds, which I will then share with the Board and our property manager. Of particular interest will be the scheduling of this item with the ARC and any recommendations the City may have regarding the proposed project that relate to the aforementioned concerns. At some future time, but prior to the issuance of a building permit, the Board will need to consider what, if any, concerns it may still have regarding the project and what actions might be appropriate depending on the circumstances. Thank you for your help with this and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Russ Russell Mills, President Board of the SLO Terrace HOA (530) 210-3866 rmills@csuchico.edu 1 Concerns Regarding the Proposed Home at 974 Rachel Court (Lot 17/18) Approved by the Board of the SLO Terrace Homeowners Association March 27, 2019 The Board of the SLO Terrace Homeowners Association (HOA) is charged with maintaining a consistent character for the neighborhood and with maintaining certain common facilities, e.g., retaining walls, drainage structures, and landscaping. These responsibilities are applicable to all lots in the neighborhood, including any new construction on these lots, and are expressed in the HOA’s CC&Rs. There also exist San Luis Obispo City documents that address aspects of the proposed construction and that sometimes overlap with the Board’s responsibilities. Of specific applicability is the Community Design Guidelines (Section 5.3 - Infill Development) and the Terrace Hill Open Space Conservation Plan. The following list of concerns employs the principles and objectives expressed in these documents and derives from the plans and renderings viewed at the City of San Luis Obispo planning department on March 18, 2019. 1. The preliminary design is generally inconsistent with the existing homes on the north side of Rachel Court. This inconsistency, as compared to the existing homes, primarily relates to the excessive plan size of the home and its excessive height. The Community Design Guidelines state as a general principle “(i)nfill residential development should be compatible in scale, siting, detailing, and overall character with adjacent buildings and those in the immediate neighborhood.” The westerly portion is three stories (garage + bedroom/studio + loft), while all existing homes are two-stories (garage + main house). The easterly portion is two stories, but because it is situated on the elevated portion of the lot its overall height is comparable to the three-story westerly portion. These are also critical concerns as the entire project backs onto the Terrace Hill Open Space. The Terrace Hill Open Space Conservation Plan states as Objective 3.7 to “(m)aintain, protect, and improve aesthetic views as seen from various locations throughout the City of San Luis Obispo.” Also, it is at this time unclear if fencing will be proposed and what the impact of this fencing will be, if any. 2. There are multiple encroachments in HOA easements that exist over significant portions of the project (e.g., the large drainage swale that traverses the back of the lot, the retaining wall and the slope that surround the Rachel Court cul-de-sac, including the portion that runs up the slope at the westerly end). These impacts need to be evaluated and considered by the City and, subsequently, by the Board if they remain as elements of the design. A drawing is attached showing the approximate location of the HOA’s easements as an overlay on this project. 3. The raised deck in the front of the main house appears to extend over the HOA’s dual retaining walls that border the cul-de-sac and the wall that runs uphill from the westerly end. These areas are protected by multiple HOA easements. The deck also appears to extend over the HOA’s common landscaping between the two walls. 4. The proposed home includes a dedicated studio apartment with loft. The HOA CC&Rs prohibit a secondary dwelling unit on this lot. This is partly justified by the critical shortage of parking on and near Rachel Court. This is a problem now that would be amplified by adding two new residences at the end of Rachel Court, where there is no on-street parking. 2 Additionally, as this lot is on a cul-de-sac, one side of the driveway appears to have insufficient length and excessive grade to accommodate a parked vehicle. The other side of the driveway has greater length but appears to be too short to accommodate longer vehicles. 5. A new retaining wall is proposed along the westerly property line, close to a parallel existing retaining wall and a small concrete drainage channel. This channel drains a portion of the land behind the existing homes on this side of Rachel Court. The new retaining wall could potentially inhibit access to this channel for cleaning and maintenance. 6. The existing homes on the north side of Rachel Court are situated so as to provide privacy between each house. This is facilitated by the relatively small elevation differences between the adjacent properties. For the proposed new home, the elevation of the studio (330.93 FF) and the loft (339.98 FF) is excessive and may allow occupants to look into the back-patio area of the adjacent existing home (325.37 FF), including from the studio’s patio and only entrance. A taller fence could potentially block this view but would also detract from the openness of the adjacent back patio. Note that renderings do not accurately illustrate the location of the new patio as compared to the plan view. 7. The plans call for relocating the HOA’s existing electric meter, which provides power to the common irrigation system. The HOA’s irrigation valves also appear to be near the proposed steps. The proposed new location of these facilities is unknown to the Board at this time and the responsibility for moving these facilities, if they are to be moved, is currently also unknown. +++ ''++''&!$)&( ! %! %! , &(##+!! , )&#)((& , &(##+!! , &(## +!! , )!# %&$% )!# %&$% )!# )'(&$$" & ' , $ # & ( ' + ! , $#&( '+! , ('# +('"#((&% #+!! %! %! %! ' ' ( ' * ' ' ' ' ' !% ' ' ' ' !% ' !% %&$% )!# '()$ '($& '(%' '(%' '(%' ' ' !% ' !% , &*+- %&$% '(%%&( +!! %&$% +!! '($&"&#'"#( '(%' ' '(%' ' ' '(%' ' ' ' +!!'"#(($(- % ) '(&((&'"#( ' ' ' %&$% '+! ( ( (+ (+ (+ (+ ' (+ (+ (+ ' ' ' ' ' %! + '' , 0 10 20 ft2:1C-1 D- 1 E-1EXHIB I T F see 6.1.A(2) of C C R’s TREE EASEMENT SLO TERRACE LOT 17/18 PORTION OF 2019.03.06_181443 PRELIMINARY CIVIL SHEET OVERLAID WITH EASEMENTS FROM SLO TERRACE HOA CCRs EXHIBIT C-1, STORM DRAIN EXHIBIT D-1, LANDSCAPE EXHIBIT E-1, WALLS (CITY) EXHIBIT F, SLOPE TREE EASEMENT (CITY)