Reso PC20-12 0116 PC Reso Denying Appeal for 645 Sapphire

Browse Search

ATTY/RESO.0116/PC RESO DENYING APPEAL FOR 645 SAPPHIRE REV: 11-03-2020 PR Page 5 of 10 The City utilizes physical development standards such as setbacks, height and lot coverage to regulate massing. The project as proposed is minor in scale. The project proposes a 542 square foot second story addition. The site has unique site characteristics, such as a substandard size lot and lot width. The lot area is 2,980 square feet, where the minimum lot area required is 6,000 square feet and a lot width is 24.82 feet where 50 feet is required under the R-1 zoning. In order to address massing, the second story addition provides the required 6 foot second story setback and an additional setback of 9 feet in other portions of the second story. The second story is designed to provide articulation and break up the massing along the side elevations. Ms. Saucier’s backyard, as illustrated in the staff report, backs into the right side elevation, and given the distance of approximately 45 feet (estimated from GIS), from the appellants back of house to the property line, would be minimally impacted by the proposed addition Also, the second story addition has a setback of 28 feet from the front property line, where 15 is required to reduce the appearance of mass and bulk from the frontage, and has a maximum height of 20 feet, where 28 feet is allowed under the R-1 zoning district. Typically, a two-story home can range in height from approximately 23’ to 28’, dependent upon interior ceiling heights and exterior roof forms. Given the unique circumstances of the site, the project is designed to minimize the appearance of being demonstrably large and monotonous by reducing the overall height and by incorporating breaks/stepbacks along the design of the second story. iii. Ms. Saucier contends that the size and design of the structure is disproportionate to the building site creating inherent imbalance and unharmonious appearance. As mentioned above, the City utilizes physical development standards such as setbacks, height and lot coverage to regulate massing. Table 1 shows that the project conforms to the applicable development standards of the R-1 zoning district. The proposed two-story single-family residence is consistent and proportionate with the project site in that it is not only consistent with required ground floor and second story setbacks but goes further than what is required in several respects. The second story has a setback of 28 feet from the front property line, where 20 feet is required and has setbacks of 6 feet and 9 feet along the side property lines, where 6 feet is required. In addition, the project is exempt from FAR requirements, because the overall lot size is under 5,000 square feet. iv. Ms. Saucier contends that the proposed structure does not conform to the general character of other structures in the predominantly single-story neighborhood. The new second-story home is consistent with the development pattern and general character of the neighborhood, which consists of one and two-story single-family homes. There are a number of two- story residences in the immediate