| Time | Speaker | Text |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00:15.37 | Kristina Feller | recording in progress. |
| 00:00:39.16 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:00:48.06 | Director Phipps | Good evening, Commissioner Feller. |
| 00:00:50.60 | Kristina Feller | Good evening. How are you today? |
| 00:00:53.22 | Director Phipps | Doing well. Thank you. |
| 00:00:54.69 | Kristina Feller | And. |
| 00:00:54.98 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:02:14.91 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:02:14.93 | Jeffery Luxenberg | It's 630, so I'm gonna start, is that okay? This is the March 15th meeting of the planning commission. Welcome everybody. At this point, Director Phipps, can you do call to order? |
| 00:02:28.28 | Director Phipps | Thank you, Chair. Happy to. Good evening, Chair, Vice Chair, Planning Commissioners, staff, and members of the public. This evening's meeting is being held at City of Sausalito Council Chambers at 420 Litho Street and is open to members of the public. Members of the public may also access this meeting and provide a public comment through Zoom. With that, I will move to call roll. Commissioner Assad. |
| 00:02:51.18 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 00:02:51.19 | Kristina Feller | Here, |
| 00:02:52.21 | Director Phipps | Commissioner Graff. |
| 00:02:53.54 | Kristina Feller | Sure. |
| 00:02:54.33 | Director Phipps | Commissioner Feller. |
| 00:02:55.72 | Kristina Feller | here. |
| 00:02:56.98 | Director Phipps | Vice Chair Junius. President. Chair Luxenberg. here. All right, we are all present. Quorum achieved. Thank you. |
| 00:03:04.64 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, director Phipps. The next item in the agenda is approval of the agenda. Look for a motion to approve. |
| 00:03:11.43 | Kristina Feller | So moved. Back on. |
| 00:03:14.78 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Is there any discussion? Seeing none, you can call the roll please. |
| 00:03:21.81 | Director Phipps | Commissioner Saad. Thank you. |
| 00:03:22.88 | Kristina Feller | Yes. |
| 00:03:23.63 | Director Phipps | Commissioner Graff. |
| 00:03:24.42 | Kristina Feller | Yes. |
| 00:03:25.45 | Director Phipps | Commissioner Feller. |
| 00:03:26.72 | Kristina Feller | Yes. |
| 00:03:27.88 | Director Phipps | Vice Chair Junius. Yes. Tara Luxenberg. Yes. Motion passes. |
| 00:03:33.38 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Next item on the agenda is public comments on items not on the agenda. Director Phipps, if you could explain that item. |
| 00:03:39.76 | Director Phipps | Thank you chair, this is the time for the planning Commission to hear from citizens regarding matters that are not on the agenda, except in very limited situations state law precludes the planning Commission from taking action on or engaging in discussions concerning items of business that are not on the agenda. However, the Planning Commission may refer matters not on the agenda to staff or direct the subject be agendized at a future meeting. Video or audio public comment participation is limited to three minutes per speaker. If you would like to make a comment in person. please fill out a speaker card and bring it to staff so we can call on you when it is your time to speak. Alternatively, you can raise your hand. If you would like to make a comment virtually in the Zoom application, please raise your hand. To raise your hand from a phone, press star 9. Each speaker will be called upon, notified when their time has elapsed. Thank you, Chair. |
| 00:04:33.02 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Director Phipps, are there any, I'll call for public comment if you see any. |
| 00:04:42.40 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you very much. We'll move on to the next item, item four, approval of planning commission minutes. I'm looking for a motion to approve. |
| 00:04:53.00 | Kristina Feller | So moved. Second. |
| 00:04:56.68 | Jeffery Luxenberg | It's a second, thank you. Any discussion about the minutes? in the package. Seeing none, if you could call the roll, Director Phipps. Thank you. |
| 00:05:05.42 | Director Phipps | Thank you, Chair, Commissioner Saab. Thank you. |
| 00:05:06.73 | Emily Franks | Yes. |
| 00:05:07.36 | Director Phipps | Commissioner Graff. |
| 00:05:08.35 | Emily Franks | Yes. |
| 00:05:08.71 | Director Phipps | Thank you. Commissioner Feller. |
| 00:05:10.36 | Emily Franks | Yes. |
| 00:05:11.39 | Director Phipps | Vice-Jorginius. Yes. Chair Luxenberg. Yes. Motion carries. |
| 00:05:18.12 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Item five, this is item communications. With that, I'll look for a presentation from staff, Director Phipps. Thank you. |
| 00:05:27.88 | Director Phipps | Thank you. |
| 00:05:27.96 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. |
| 00:05:28.03 | Director Phipps | Sure. |
| 00:05:28.32 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Sure. |
| 00:05:28.50 | Director Phipps | Thank you. A couple communication items this evening regarding CDD staffing always happy to provide updates. We have a number of solicitations that are ongoing. I'm happy to report that we conducted interviews for the positions of associate planner. and senior planner earlier this week and have interviews scheduled for the role of community development technician tomorrow that role is similar to a permit tech role. I plan to evaluate interviews at the start of next week based on results from interviews this week. and look forward to keeping you all posted in connection with staffing updates. Based on those updates, I'll also work with HR and provide direction to them regarding moving forward with preferred candidates. That does it for CDD staffing. I have an additional item regarding the Ferry Landside presentation. I just want to confirm with commissioners, I did share at the last meeting, Director McGowan and I were looking at bringing this public hearing item to the Commission on the 29th and I have confirmed that this item will come before the Commission on the 29th. Thank you staff for assisting in the noticing. That does it for CDD staff communications. Thank you, Chair. |
| 00:06:38.92 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Director Phipps. We'll move on to City Attorney Rudin. Do you have any updates at this time? |
| 00:06:48.49 | Mary Wagner | Now I don't have any updates at this time. |
| 00:06:51.21 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you very much. We'll move on to subcommittee reports. The first subcommittee report is the objective design and development standards subcommittee. I'll turn to Vice Chair Junius. I believe that is going to be scheduled for March 29th. |
| 00:07:08.79 | Andrew Junius | Correct. Thank you, Chair Luxembourg. We are preparing for that hearing. consultants are ready to go. And I think Commissioner Feller is also ready to go. If you have anything else to add, Christina. |
| 00:07:21.82 | Kristina Feller | I have nothing more to add. I'm looking forward to this coming on the 29th. Thank you. |
| 00:07:26.78 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you both next subcommittee is a California housing legislative working group because myself and Vice Chair genius ball turn over to Vice Chair genius. |
| 00:07:37.48 | Andrew Junius | Nothing to report tonight. Thank you. |
| 00:07:40.33 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. Standard conditions of approval for resolutions. That's my myself and and vice chair Junius at this point we are waiting for the new staffing to come on board and that will be a task that's assigned once they come on board so there's no new updates on that item at this time. Next item is the Ferry Landside Working Group, which you just mentioned. Commissioner Feller, Commissioner Saad, any additional comments on that subcommittee at this point? |
| 00:08:14.11 | Kristina Feller | Actually, it's myself and Vice Chair Junius that sit on that working group. But there's nothing more to report. We have not met and looking forward to this item coming in front of the Planning Commission on the 29th. Thank you. |
| 00:08:28.32 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Commissioner Fowler, Vice Chair, any of us anything to add? |
| 00:08:30.99 | Andrew Junius | Nothing to add. Thank you. |
| 00:08:32.69 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Next item is the housing element working group. That's commissioner Feller and commissioner Saad. That's what, where my, I went to. So apologize that on the previous working group. Commissioner Feller first. Thank you. |
| 00:08:45.89 | Kristina Feller | There is nothing new to report at this time. other than to reiterate that Sausalito did meet its statutory deadline. our Final submission is still with HCD. And they have 60 days to review that. So we are hoping to receive that. Director Phipps, if I'm not mistaken, in about another month and a half. |
| 00:09:12.74 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Commissioner Fowler. Commissioner Sider, anything to add? |
| 00:09:15.32 | Nastassya Saad | nothing more to add. |
| 00:09:16.57 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Okay, thank you both. that's Commissioner Feller and myself. We're waiting for legal to provide some process information that can go in an update of the report and Commissioner, Director Phipps, is there anything new on that piece that legal is doing? |
| 00:09:35.79 | Director Phipps | No, that's correct, Chair. Thank you for that update. And staff is working based on progress made in connection with that ordinance to schedule a follow-up meeting with the Parklet working group to make sure that we're all on the same page and that changes proposed by staff are consistent with the vision that the working group had for the program. |
| 00:09:57.22 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Okay, that's great. Thank you, Director Phipps. Finally, the Master Plan Working Group, Commissioner... Feller and Commissioner Saad, you were working on, I understand, a scope. Is there a status report from that? |
| 00:10:11.58 | Nastassya Saad | Yeah, Commissioner Feller and I have established some communication with some experts in the industry. Like you mentioned, we are looking just to scope out the master plan at this point. So we've had a few initial conversations and then we will regroup. Just to reiterate, when Commissioner Feller was our chair for the past two years. We have asked many times from city council for some funding. So we are still looking and are hopeful that we will receive some. But that is where we are, unless Commissioner Feller has anything to add. |
| 00:10:46.26 | Kristina Feller | Nothing more to add. Thank you, Commissioner Saad, and thank you, Chair. |
| 00:10:50.19 | Jeffery Luxenberg | thank you both uh with that uh we'll open up communication public uh comment on I'm sorry, Christine. Yes, Commissioner Fowler-Seyer. |
| 00:11:04.13 | Kristina Feller | Pardon my interruption, Chair Luxembourg. I just wanted to make a point that at our last commission hearing, I reported out that Director McGowan has re established most of the landslide task force to help him review what Miller Pacific is doing And I just want to note that we have not met yet at this time. but that this should be an item that we continue to update the public on at our commission hearings going forward. Thank you. |
| 00:11:40.50 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Commissioner Fowler. We'll add that to future agendas. And at this point, before I go to have Director Fips ask for public comment on this item, any other commissioners have any other updates under communications? |
| 00:11:54.91 | Mary Wagner | And Chair Feller, or actually Chair Luxenberg, I have a question for Commissioner Feller, just as a sort of Brown Act compliance point. Are you attending this meeting remotely under the just circumstances, or just cause, or the emergency circumstances exception? |
| 00:12:11.71 | Kristina Feller | Just cause, not emergency. |
| 00:12:15.22 | Mary Wagner | Okay. Are there any individuals age 18 years or older present in the room with you that you need to disclose. |
| 00:12:23.81 | Kristina Feller | No, there are not. I'm alone. |
| 00:12:26.08 | Mary Wagner | Great. Thank you. |
| 00:12:27.24 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 00:12:28.76 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, City Attorney Rudin. At this point, we will move on to, I will turn it over to Director Phipps to see if there's any public comment on this agenda item. |
| 00:12:43.44 | Director Phipps | looking to public comment. Looking for raised hands in the audience. Seeing none. Seeing no raised hands in the Zoom application chair. Oh. |
| 00:12:52.45 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you very much. At this point, we'll move on to number six, new business. We're looking for a presentation. We will have a presentation this evening from the C-level rise task force. And who's presenting for that? Director Pips. |
| 00:13:08.80 | Director Phipps | Thank you chair item 6a is a presentation from Councilmember Kelman related to Sausalito's planning for sea level rise and the sea level rise task force. I'm not seeing council member on Oh, but she is joining us in person as we speak. Council Member Kalman, welcome. |
| 00:13:33.66 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Councilman under Kalman, welcome. We're up on this agenda. We just called this agenda. |
| 00:13:38.03 | Director Phipps | It doesn't matter. or the item you've got perfect timing question council member would you would you like us to continue or um as in push to an item later on in the agenda, or are we okay to... Rock and roll. Okay, wonderful. Thank you, council member. |
| 00:14:00.10 | Director Phipps | And Councilmember Kelman, thank you very much for joining us this evening. Much appreciated. |
| 00:14:04.98 | Janelle Kelman | Hi everybody, nice to see you all. Thank you for having me. So we're talking tonight about sea level rise. So you all know me and nice to meet you all. Janelle Kilman, member of the South Dakota City Council. chair of the Sausalito Sea Level Rice Task Force. In my spare time, or originally I was an environmental lawyer, turned entrepreneur, turned local elected. And I also run a global NGO called the Center for SeaRise Solutions. So I've been looking at this issue pretty closely and excited to try to help Sausalito move some things forward. So tonight we're going to talk about some issues that I think maybe the planning commissioners might be interested in. As you know, we spent 10 years on and off the planning commission. So hopefully we can have a dialogue and I'll just try to present some information and take your questions. So next slide. |
| 00:14:58.27 | Janelle Kelman | So one of the things I really want to achieve tonight and what we're trying to figure out the city council is how to overcome a structural deficit to make sure that we are following through with some much needed infrastructure improvements. And so a vision that I want to share with you that the task force has considered for the last two and a half years is how can we make us a little more resilient. with a focus on infrastructure and reduce risk by being proactive to find long-term climate resilience and standardize the development process. Last thing we want are folks coming before you all trying to figure out how to navigate these emerging issues and anything we can collaboratively do to figure out some standardization, I think will help everybody and streamline the process. Thanks, Mike. So please don't ask me tonight how much flooding or sea level rise we'll have in 2025 and 2030 and 2050. Nobody knows for sure, but what they do know, and we've seen here as a slide, from the very recent NOAA interagency technical memo. between NOAA, which is the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, US Geological Survey and other federal agencies, is that previously it was believed it was sort of like, Thank you. slow incremental creep to flooding. And what they've discovered is that from now until 2030, that more incremental change will happen. But from 2030 to 2050, they've been able to leverage data from NASA and obviously from space to show that that actually intensifies at a rate unknown before. And so we're gonna see more flooding and increased intensity, increased frequency. And so this is from the NOAA interagency memo, a high level of view of the things that we should be considering and how we might push forward. I won't read the slide to you because you don't need me to do that. But I wanted to include this because this interagency memo was the first time that the federal government was able to come together and say, there's too many models. There's so much data. How the heck are local communities supposed to sort through this? Let's find some common denominator we can work from. So I want to refer you, San Francisco just spent several million dollars in an effort with the Army Corps of Engineers. And this is what San Francisco is focusing on and considering to be the measurements, the most likely in the upper range over those time frames that are most often looked at 2030, 2050 and beyond. And so this just gives you a range. It's probabilistic. It's one of the most difficult things about climate work is that it's uncomfortable to not have certainty. And the truth is, I thought we were going to get a lot of rain today. We didn't, right? You never quite know it's going to happen, but it will happen. And so the best thing we can do is be prepared for it. So when I took my seat on the council in 2020, I asked the mayor at the time, Mayor Hoffman, to create an appointment to the Sausalito Sea Level Rise Task Force. And this is what we've been doing. We've created an interactive sea level rise map. This map was actually put together for us by Cass Green, who owns In Above Tide. She's also a GIS and ESRI mapping expert. She's mapped all of the tidal marshlands in Marin County. She's written books on ESRI. She's on a federal advisory committee for NOAA and for NASA. She's the real deal. We're very lucky to have her. She put this map together, and we overlaid, took LIDAR and GIS, and we overlaid key infrastructure points. So you can see across the six different scenarios that the state has adopted, what our potential risk is as a community. The TL, the DR, the too long didn't read, is that if you like running water and you like electricity, all of that infrastructure is in the low lying areas. So even if you live on a hill, You should be concerned. This is available free of charge, of course, to all Sausalito residents on our website. We also took a look at a vulnerability study prepared in 2017 by Marin County. That was 2017. Lots of things have changed. Intensity has changed. Development has changed. And so one of the things we're looking forward to is updating that study. And then we issued a report to the council in 2021, 20 pages, 17 immediate, short-term and long-term recommendations after for six months. This is just a slide to show you what the interactive map looks like. This is a medium term. I'll just call your attention to the fact that in January, we had what was known as a 100-year flood, pardon me, 100-year storms. Um, So the state of California has adopted six different scenarios. Those scenarios were recommended by NOAA. The state adopted them, the county adopted them, we as a city task force decided, well, we're not gonna recreate the wheel. We're obviously gonna use those six scenarios. This is the middle scenario. And this is a Northern part of town, the Marinship area. And you can see what happens when you have a 100-year storm. |
| 00:19:37.81 | Lisa Koblenz | THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 00:19:37.89 | Unknown | Oh my God. |
| 00:19:37.97 | Lisa Koblenz | Bye. |
| 00:19:48.81 | Janelle Kelman | And again, I'll just remind you in January, that was classified as a hundred year storm. So these hundred year storms are actually happening much more frequently. Okay, so a pretty dense slide here. Just some information about what we've been doing since then. So fortunately, your leadership has asked us to step in and develop some type of standardized request form for new projects in potentially flooded areas. So the sea level rise information request form to obtain key details, I think was attached to your agenda. You probably have a hard copy. members of the public have it, And this was performed on five or six different projects that came before you, Varda Landing, 265 Gay Fry Road, et cetera. I was not involved with those, I took myself out of that process, but we had a very talented subcommittee working on that. And then the current process, and this, I think, is something we want to talk about tonight is, you know, planning commission identifies there's a need, request an assessment, who's going to perform that assessment, I'm sure you all know. We recently hired and should be starting mid-March Resilience and Sustainability Director. And so I'm assuming she's going to be running point on these things. And the last thing I want to mention on this slide is this is all based on the state of California. Ocean Protection Council, sea level rise, risk analysis and decision framework. So the point of mentioning that is, again, we didn't pull this out of thin air. We didn't make it up arbitrarily. We didn't create any of the data or any of the frameworks. We used what was already out there that had been vetted at the federal and state level. And we're bringing it to Sausalito in a way that can be applied in our community. Okay, so immediate steps that we can do. And again, these are some suggestions. You may know last year, I asked the assembly and your state senator for $4 million for sea level rise mitigation and planning. Um, we got a million dollars. And we were notified at Cal OES that we were delivering those monies. sometime in the next six to eight weeks. That money is for sea level rise mitigation and planning. So what do we do with that? Well, we can complete our vulnerability assessment. we can make sure that we have general plan consistency in our design review, which, of course, is one of the findings you all have to make. We can evaluate a shoreline ordinance. Burlingame in San Mateo County has one. We can look at a coastal overlay zone And we can also look at applying sea level rise lands to our capital improvement program and planning and find ways to dovetail those efforts together. We'll give you an example why that's so important. We're looking at a sewer consolidation right now. You may know that we handle the conveyances. We don't handle the wastewater treatment. And we worked together with the Marine Corps South Salido Sanitation District. We're looking at consolidating those services. Last year was the first year the Sanitation District actually looked at sea level rise planning in its long-term of vulnerability assessment. but they haven't really done a thorough study. And so as we look at that consolidation, how do we make sure Sausalito is protected? And I included this slide as some additional examples. Again, I'm not going to read it all to you, but these are some things that we're seeing around the country. And I include examples in this packet from Miami-Dade, from Ventura County, ways that you can, as a planning body, start to adjust and plan for sea level rise. We can look at ways to reduce the impact of coastal flooding. Do we elevate buildings? Do we enable them to float? Do we have different standards around foundation design? Can we update our building codes and our zoning? Do we have things like buffers or above freeboard distance rates that allow us to make sure that we're not gonna flood the ground floor of a building Do we create some type of coastal overlay zone that triggers additional planning or like a heightened design review, if you will? And then how do we design buildings or infrastructure to actually live with water? So the Dutch have a really cool thing called a water park. It looks like an amphitheater when it's vacant. And then when it floods, it looks like a pond. And then the rest of the time when it's not flooding, they use it for concerts and playing basketball. I'm not saying that we should build one of those here, but I think we have creativity here on the dais, creativity here in this town. What are some ways that we can think forward as we know we are going to flood and we already are flooding in parts of town? |
| 00:24:15.14 | Janelle Kelman | So there's some example of what I mean when I say zoning changes. And I would say if I had to vote from and I would vote the top three things that we could do as decision making bodies to plan for sea level rise, I would align with the capital improvement plan. I would inject sea level rise planning into our zoning. and I would standardize a process for development so everybody knows what's gonna happen, when it's gonna happen and what they can do. And frankly, it's better for a long-term investment ROI to help provide that guidance. I think that's part of what our job is. Next slide. |
| 00:24:53.86 | Janelle Kelman | And then again, just I want to provide just examples. When I say adaptation, what does that mean? We can do everything like daylight Willow Creek and restore some of our wetlands, repair and retrofit our facilities, find ways to do a green riprap, marshlands. There's lots of nature-based solutions, modify land use planning or some opportunities. There's ways to adapt that other communities have already pursued. Lots of examples. And if this body would like them, I'm sure we could provide you with more information. This is just an example I included here from Ventura County. This is one paradigm for planning that that county has utilized, how you protect, accommodate and retreat. And so this just lays out how some communities consider these things. What does it mean to protect? What does it mean to accommodate the difference between green infrastructure, gray infrastructure? I will just share with you, there's this amazing article in Scientific American that shows that building a seawall down in San Jose will create flooding in the Napa River. Sounds absolutely insane, but like I didn't write the article and I pretty much respect that periodical. So that's a type of interconnectivity we're talking about. And so this requires thoughtfulness, interconnectivity, hydrological planning. Now's the time, I think, to probably 10 years ago was the time, but now is not a bad time to also do this. |
| 00:26:15.21 | Janelle Kelman | An overlay zone is actually really interesting. This, again, is something that would trigger something akin to heightened review. I don't know if there's another terminology for it, but it's a way for you all to look beyond the FEMA flood maps, which is the historic way that we have evaluated when certain properties might be in vulnerable areas. The problem with the FEMA flood maps, and I think this is just shared nationally, is that FEMA is often underfunded. And so this flood maps are really outdated and they don't take into account storm events, intensities, king ties, storm surges. And I don't need to tell you all how much we flood on Gate 5 Road, how much we flood on the, |
| 00:26:17.47 | Lisa Koblenz | This is |
| 00:26:53.97 | Janelle Kelman | on the bike path. A lot of that is historic flood maps, but that isn't enough, I think, in low-lying communities like ours. |
| 00:27:04.74 | Janelle Kelman | I strongly urge you to take some time to look at Burlingame. Burlingame has been a real inspiration for our work. Brilliant game, joined forces with San Mateo. Of course, that county is where SFO is. and they have a large hotel district. And they received $8 million from the state a couple years ago. And they developed a JPA called One Shoreline. And with that type of momentum in that area, they were able to develop a comprehensive update of their zoning ordinance. And so their zoning code actually has guidelines for development in the Bayfront area, has a whole Bayfront commercial district, and helps new applicants understand what requirements and helps them build better projects, which I think is part of our task. Here's another example, Miami-Dade County. Actually, Florida is doing a tremendous amount of work changing climate. that. climate change, changing climate. They're doing a lot of good work in Florida and Miami-Dade is leading the way in a lot of these. They're not all directly applicable to us, but I just wanted to provide some examples. So what can we do right now? I can't overemphasize that first bullet around community engagement, not fear, just understanding opportunity. What can we do to make ourselves a more resilient city and plan for the future? I'm sure you saw, Our sea lion got knocked over. And part of that was the wave action that was hitting the shoreline. velocity. And that thing was welded and mounted pretty well. And so it's only a matter of time before that. That's an old riprap type of situation. That area begins to inundate Bridgeway, which is our main thoroughfare, of course. So what can we do? We can really engage the community. Huge, huge step with this hire for our resilience and sustainability director. And so now that's an individual that can work across community and economic development, across DPW, across the city manager's office to be able to enable collaboration. I have been working diligently with our grant writer. I think we've applied for over $4 million in resilience funds. There's FEMA BRIC funds. There's Cal OPR resilience funds. There's money out there and we will get it. I'm optimistic. The odds are in our favor. And then we can look at something like a citywide adaptation. And so this last slide here on the next slide. shows you what San Francisco has done. And I like this slide I included here because it shows you the interconnectivity between departments and the opportunity that we have to really work across one building department into public works and make sure that we're doing something in holistic fashion. And the old adage, if you're gonna dig a trench, what else can you put in that trench? And so this way we can have an opportunity to really look across that. So I think that's the one more slide, just thanking our task force. Really one of the best groups of people I've ever worked with, diligent and smart and motivated. hugely impactful to this community. So thank you to them. And thank you for you all to give me the opportunity to share. |
| 00:30:09.08 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Councilor Kellen, thank you very much. That was an excellent presentation and also appreciate the sea level rise task force on those four projects that was helpful to us. |
| 00:30:18.45 | Unknown | Great. |
| 00:30:18.70 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Obviously, a coastal resilience overlay zone would be a very helpful tool for us in reviewing projects. At this point, I would like to ask for hands from members of the commission if we have questions. Commissioner Fowler. |
| 00:30:34.93 | Kristina Feller | Thank you, Chair Luxembourg and Council Member Kellman. Thank you for your leadership on this task force and for not just keeping it moving, but growing it and really expanding the sphere of influence. I mean, it's such a critical point and I've enjoyed working with you on this and love the talk, but definitely look to you and the rest of your task force as the experts here. I just wanted to ask a couple different things because when the sea level rise task force was first established, it also include discussion about subsidence, which which is not necessarily unique overall, but certainly we have a unique issue here in Sausalito. And so as the task force has evolved, are you also looking at ways to register the issues of subsidence in our town? |
| 00:31:32.55 | Janelle Kelman | Great question. And thank you, Commissioner Feller. And thank you for your support and your participation in the task force as well. The answer is yes. So as you know, You were on the landslide task force, which looked at a geologic hazard abatement district amongst other geologic hazards in a survey. And the council did approve an RFP to go out for a geologic survey. If you don't know, I'm sure you do. Maybe people listening don't know that during World War II, one of our hills, I think it was Pine Street, was actually dynamited by the Bechtel. And then they used that dirt to build out the waterfront. And so that waterfront is fill. and when you have a seismic event it leads to something called liquefaction which makes that feel less stable And then they use that dirt to build out the waterfront. And so that waterfront is fill. And when you have a seismic event, it leads to something called liquefaction, which makes that fill less stable, turns it into a slurry. That means that as the water is coming up, the soil and the land is going down, sort of literally the perfect storm of events. And so to Commissioner Feller's astute question, we are looking at that. We are trying to embed that into our mapping. That's something that LIDAR is able to pick up. is whether something is moving down. But for historically, other parts of Marin County don't have that same issue. And so we've had to look at that from a very special point of view. |
| 00:32:41.26 | Kristina Feller | And you know, you've mentioned the landslide task force. And as you know, we've sort of been called back for service, I don't know how else to put it, to help DPW work with Miller Pacific. But you know, in it, In the early days of the task force, we talked a lot about, you know, these aren't always separate issues, particularly in Sausalito with all the underground springs and things of that kind that in weather years like we've been having you know, those springs are recharged. And so it's creating issues with erosion not subsidence per se, but I mean, it's impacting the same issue from a different perspective. And I'd love to see, you know, in terms of moving forward, I'd love to see a way where there is collaboration there and that these task forces aren't working necessarily in silos. And there's a lot of common ground there. I love your ideas about the heightened design review, the, the, an overlay zone. And then I also would like to ask you about, you know, the light industrial areas of the Marin ship. Um, So, sea level rise is really damaging for a lot of functions, but are there certain businesses or uses that are light industrial see this as an opportunity? And how do we take those opportunities that they see and build that into the potential of an overlay zone. I mean, this is why we've been pushing so very, very hard for a comprehensive master plan of the entire city All of these things we can sort of war game through a master plan And so I'd love to get your thoughts about that too and what the task force has been doing. |
| 00:34:40.62 | Janelle Kelman | Yeah, it's such a cool question because we really have opportunity. We're at ground zero here in terms of our planning. In addition to being extremely optimistic and excited about sea level rise, I'm also a big fan of the blue economy concepts. And so at the end of last year, I launched a blue economy task force to develop an innovation zone in Sausalito. And the reason for that is you may know we have artificial oyster reefs off of Dunphy Park. And that came out of a grant from the California Coastal Conservancy. Those artificial oyster reefs were actually designed and made in the marine ship in Sausalito. And so this idea is how can we diversify our tax base, create greater economic and climate resiliency by developing some of those solutions here in Sausalito, they get deployed in Sausalito. And so this is something to consider. And not surprisingly, when you think about light industrial uses, you think, concrete floors, corrugated steel, roll-up doors, things that are, can withstand some of the flooding issues that we're seeing here and maybe lend themselves better from a planning perspective to areas that are going to inundate them? |
| 00:35:44.91 | Kristina Feller | Cool. I really want to thank you and the task force for all the work you've done on the design review applications that the planning commission has received in, in some of these vulnerable areas, let's say, your input, your review, and your work with the applicants has been a game changer. And I would like to... I'd like to see a world where that is memorialized in our design reviews. in the process procedures of applicants in certain areas, of course, to be defined. And, you know, whatever this commission can do to also assist or support in a vulnerability assessment, I think that's really important. I do believe heightened design review is a necessity in some of these areas, very similar how the Landslide Task Force viewed certain areas as essential for heightened design review. But as of this evening, Um, None of that has been memorialized yet in the Sausalito Municipal Code or in our ordinances. And I would just like to close in asking for your support and endorsement. for priority funding for mission critical work that the city and the commission needs to do to update our Solstice Municipal Code ordinances and to execute a comprehensive citywide master plan that includes all of these considerations collectively together and not just individually. It needs to be comprehensive. So thank you again, Councilmember Kelman for all your hard work and that of the team. |
| 00:37:26.63 | Janelle Kelman | Thank you. If I may, Chair Luxembourg, just one response, which is that the last couple of days, the subcommittee for the task force has been working on the RFP. for vulnerability assessment consultant. we really want to do a robust effort here. We were thinking that the review would go through Director Phipps, would go to our city attorney or city manager, but it probably makes sense to also have it go through planning commission if you all are willing or interested with the goal of getting it on the last meeting in April. So I can share those timelines with you after the meeting. |
| 00:38:02.05 | Jeffery Luxenberg | That would be very helpful. |
| 00:38:03.61 | Janelle Kelman | It would be great. |
| 00:38:04.33 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Any additional questions or comments, Commissioner Filler? |
| 00:38:08.09 | Kristina Feller | No, thank you. And my sincere thanks to the task force. Thank you. |
| 00:38:12.08 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. Other questions from commission members? Yeah, the vice chair, Jr. |
| 00:38:17.53 | Andrew Junius | Thank you, Councilmember Kelman. Thanks so much for the presentation. I think you might recall when we first met, when I first got on the planning commission, you know, I'm a process guy. So. I'm very, very supportive of all the, substantive efforts here. But for me, it's like, it doesn't really matter unless the process works, if we can get something and move things along. If I had, I have a really specific question, you know, to Commissioner, Feller's point, we've had a number of these projects that had definitely had sea level rise issues in the last year or so. And I feel that we, you know, it was like pulling teeth trying to figure out what we were supposed to be doing at that moment. So we definitely need this. you know, stuff to come together as quickly as possible. Thank you for providing this materials. So the project information request sheet This is, I think this is relatively new. And I'm hoping that as kind of a temporary stopgap measure, When there's an issue that comes to the commission or at least the planning department when they get sea level rise projects there, you know, the project sponsor is going to get this. They're going to work with you, your task force, with the Sea Level Rice Task Force. they should, right? |
| 00:39:25.59 | Janelle Kelman | Well, so the thing about a task force is not a Brown Act committee. And so it's intended to be limited in duration. So one of the things we did a couple weeks ago is have a download with Director Phipps about transitioning that work to the professionals and away from a volunteer organization to better standardize the process and like you said, give a very clear outlook. And so I think when the new director for Resilience and Sustainability joins, I would imagine, I'll let Director Phipps address that, that she would be the point person on that utilizing this type of information request that comes from the Ocean Protection Council. We, I think, The task force members did a phenomenal, outrageously incredible job and they're ready to hand it off to the staff. |
| 00:40:06.73 | Andrew Junius | Trust me, I get that. Yeah, yeah. Okay, great. But this is where we are right now. Right. |
| 00:40:07.87 | Janelle Kelman | Yeah. |
| 00:40:12.31 | Janelle Kelman | Right, that's what was used for VARTA and- |
| 00:40:14.32 | Andrew Junius | This is gonna be handed off to the staff with the new director coming out. Okay, got it. I understand. Extremely helpful. |
| 00:40:18.12 | Janelle Kelman | That's right. |
| 00:40:18.49 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:40:20.66 | Andrew Junius | I mean, I think this is exactly the kind of thing that the planning commission should be doing and working on, you know, in the in the months and years ahead. Um, You know, I'm it's a little discouraging that all the landslide work that was done didn't result in an ordinance or some real rules. The, you know, the goal here needs to be some type of clear guidance, clear rules, whether it's zoning, whether it's, you know, overlays, you know, you name it. But it's so frustrating when projects come to us and, you know, nobody seems to know the rules, right? And it's an evolving process. We totally get that. But boy, the faster we can get, to the finish line here with some structured, So that we can get to the right You know, it's kind of like the building code, right? At some point it's going to be, this is what you got to do. You know, if you're in one of these zones and you're affected by sea level rise, Here are the rules. you know, figure it out engineering wise, again, come to us with a, with a clean bill of health so that we, You know, we planning commissioners who are you know, planners, not, or in the planning world, not so much in the technical sea level rise world can just, say thank you. You've done your job, staff has done their job, and we can clear the project without, you know, hours of debate and questions about how this works. Because as fascinating as it is, that isn't that productive at a Planning Commission meeting when we're just kind of flailing. So anyway, I guess the general thrust of my comment is thank you so much. Let's get this moving as quickly as possible. And I think the Planning Commission can be a very positive force for organizing this and moving it forward. |
| 00:41:47.22 | Janelle Kelman | That's great. Thank you, Vishar Junis. And I would also pick up on your comment. I think it'd be really helpful to think about |
| 00:41:47.47 | Andrew Junius | That's crazy. |
| 00:41:52.82 | Janelle Kelman | Do you want a coastal overlay zone? How are you going to articulate when a project requires heightened review? Because oftentimes you'll hear, I'm on bedrock. I am not going to sink. Okay, well, all of your ingress and egress will be flooded. and your key infrastructure points. So how are we going to evaluate that, to Commissioner Feller's point, from a holistic fashion, and how do we make sure that we're servicing that for our community? And don't forget, there is emerging groundwater issues. San Francisco Estuary Institute put out a really interesting interactive map that showed that much of the marineship actually has groundwater coming up, bubbling up, as you can see. And there's also groundwater contamination as a precursor. There's groundwater upsells as a precursor to above groundwater up soils as a precursor to above ground flooding. A lot of research from Dr. Christina Hill out of UC Berkeley. We know all of this, we can take action. So I fully support that. |
| 00:42:40.86 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Vice Chair Genius. Commissioner Assange. |
| 00:42:45.05 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you, Chair. Thank you Council. Member Kelman, thank you for your presentation and all the work. I had two questions and I'm wondering, In terms of an overlay, I think it's really interesting and it makes a lot of sense, but do we have to get BCDC involved in, anything if we were to get to put some type of jurisdiction down at the coastline. |
| 00:43:09.08 | Janelle Kelman | Thank you. |
| 00:43:09.11 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. Uh, I think, |
| 00:43:09.97 | Janelle Kelman | I think the answer would be no. And the reason is because they're the Bay Conservation Development Commission. They regularly fill in the Bay. if this is about... onshore. Regulation, that's not their jurisdiction. That's the city's jurisdiction. |
| 00:43:22.90 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. I'm sorry. |
| 00:43:23.03 | Unknown | Okay. |
| 00:43:23.62 | Janelle Kelman | Thank you. |
| 00:43:23.64 | Nastassya Saad | Great. And then I don't know if this is a stretch, but my first... the first place my head went when I heard about that overlay was the RHNA and the housing element. Just going through all that exercise with those 724 units, of course, you were on the housing element with us. some of our opportunity sites are in vulnerable areas. Do you know... if we were to put some type of overlay, would there be any conflict with how those opportunity sites were to play out legally with the intent of what the arena is trying to achieve. So this is not legal advice. |
| 00:44:04.97 | Janelle Kelman | And I don't know specifically, but I will say this in the plan Bay Area 2050 EIR, which is something that BCDC contributed to as a transportation region wide planning environmental impact report. call out the risk of flooding sea level rise as an impediment to transportation, housing, and other needs for the Bay Area. However, HCD didn't seem to read that document. And so it wasn't part of the housing element process. I would think that you could develop an overlay that is directive to applicants for how to build in an area in a safe manner above free free board with ingress-egress infrastructure points, not necessarily to say no building whatsoever. And so in that respect, I don't know that it's a conflict, but you all might decide that there are some areas that have this confluence of factors, whether it's emerging groundwater, plus sea level rise, plus subsidence, that make it unbuildable. I would leave it to you all to dig deeper into that. And you can use the interactive map. It has a lot of that information. So it doesn't have to, but you may decide there are some areas that are just really dangerous. |
| 00:45:14.04 | Nastassya Saad | Yeah, I think, I mean, it's a very interesting discussion. Who knew what? happens in San Jose can affect up in Sonoma that I've I would not have guessed. So I think the community outreach part of what you're trying to hit is really... I think the more we start educating the community. even people who are in it, you know, we don't know those facts. So I think it would be great and I'd love to help you with any way I can. But thank you. Thank you very much for all the work of the presentation. |
| 00:45:40.51 | Janelle Kelman | Thank you. And I'll just thank you for your work on the Housing and Element Advisory Committee as well. and for bringing that insight. I'll just say that part of the RFP that we're drafting. envisions a completion of the vulnerability assessment, and then a community-wide engagement strategy that uses a design competition. So bring in engineering consultants that can address our top three most vulnerable areas present them to the community in terms of what's vulnerable and how they might be addressed and let the community see, okay, this is how you move forward in a comprehensive resilient fashion. But I'll definitely call you. THANK YOU CHAIR. |
| 00:46:14.96 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Commissioner Saad. Commissioner Graff, any questions? Okay. I want to thank you for coming today. We are open to this April meeting, so please plan for that if you can. I want to second the idea of an overlay district because it would be helpful that we know it's going to apply and what the process is, whether it's staff or whatever. This is how you apply, and that could happen before we start to see a project and then it gets sent back and forth so that would be very very helpful um with that uh commissioner i mean director phipps if you could ask for any public comment on this item on the agenda |
| 00:46:54.51 | Director Phipps | Thank you, Chair. If I may, could I ask a question before we go to public comment? Yes, Phil. |
| 00:46:57.97 | Jeffery Luxenberg | We'll be right back. |
| 00:46:58.04 | Director Phipps | feel free. Thank you, Chair. Council member, thanks for your presentation and thank you again for joining us this evening. I wanted to ask a bit of a Strategic question. what design concepts might, be proposed in the Marin ship in response to sea level rise that represent relatively new concepts to what is currently in the Marin ship, but are important elements for new design proposals in the Marin ship to increase sea level rise resiliency. Mm-hmm. you know, just kind of putting it out there. And if you're not able to answer at this moment, that's fine. But are there some design concepts that we might want to keep in mind that commissioners can have in mind when they do review projects in the Marin ship, understanding that Some new design concepts may be coming before them that might not be in line with what is currently in the district, but represent necessary elements for moving the district's future vision forward. |
| 00:47:58.91 | Janelle Kelman | Great question. Thank you, Director Phipps. I think 265 Gate 5. is a really great example. They want to float that construction. They know that it's going to flood. And so they're making it possible to adjust to that. I mean, I don't know what else you do in an area that you see five, six feet of flooding coming and probably is going to flood from king ties and storm surges. Anyway, so I think you start to see things like that. a more holistic planning perspective and think about sediment diversion, water diversion, In some of these Dutch communities, what they'll do is they'll take a secondary artery and they'll flood them so that the main arterial pathway can remain open to traffic. So are there roadways or the public infrastructure that we can leverage to clear out flooding as well? And of course, we always find floating homes. That's a BCDC up against a little bit of a headache because we keep trying and they're not ready for that yet. But we're optimistic that we'll get there ultimately. So things that float, things that are responsive, there's a universal sonar mount built themselves a moat If you've ever gone down there, they actually built a, they put up the moat so it doesn't flood their machine shop. Things like that are simple as well. There's some standardized processes around freeboard. Three feet is sort of standard under FEMA. Five feet, six feet, what do you do to facilitate some of that ebb and flow of the time? |
| 00:49:26.96 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Director Phipps at this point. Public comment, if you could. |
| 00:49:31.55 | Janelle Kelman | Sorry, I'm sorry. Can I make one more comment? Actually, sorry. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention earthen berms, nature-based solutions, things that absorb tidal flow, species that are able to actually take in some of that inundation. A lot of opportunities are seeing that there's an architecture firm out of the East Coast called Scape. Professor Kate Orff teaches at Columbia. they did a really beautiful some graduate students came to me and they did a really beautiful sea level rise story map for Sausalito that I can share with you all that shows some of those strategies. So remind me, I'll get that too. So sorry to interrupt. |
| 00:50:06.16 | Director Phipps | Not a problem, thank you. Thanks very much, Council Member Kalman. Once again, looking for raised hands in the audience. Seeing none. Looking for raised hands in the Zoom application. Seeing none. Chair, we should be good to go. |
| 00:50:20.39 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you very much, Director Phipps. At this point, we wanna move on to new business. At this point in the agenda, I wanna ask any commissioners if they have any ex parte communications they need to disclose. Commissioner of South. |
| 00:50:34.27 | Kristina Feller | nothing to declare. |
| 00:50:35.66 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Alicia Feller. |
| 00:50:37.24 | Kristina Feller | Nothing to declare. |
| 00:50:39.37 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Vice Chair Junius. Nothing to declare. Commissioner Graff. |
| 00:50:46.41 | Richard Graef | nothing to declare. |
| 00:50:47.62 | Jeffery Luxenberg | I also have nothing to declare I did meet with Emily I didn't meet Emily Franks who's the owner of 99 cloud view when I visited the site, but there were no expert take communications with that we will have. Item seven, which is 99 cloud view road director Phipps if you could explain the process for public here. |
| 00:51:10.64 | Director Phipps | Thank you, Chair Luxenberg. For attendees interested in understanding our typical public hearing process, We'll start with a staff presentation followed by planning commission questions of staff. Applicant will provide a presentation. followed by Planning Commission questions from of the applicant. Then we'll have a public comment period, three minutes per speaker. There will be an applicant rebuttal time section with their reserve if applicable. And if there is reserve, Finally, there will be a planning commission discussion, deliberation, and ultimate decision. Back to you, Chair. |
| 00:51:43.99 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you very much. With that, Ms. Gonzalez, if you could do your presentation. |
| 00:51:54.41 | Magda Gonzalez | Good evening. Let me share my screen. |
| 00:52:13.16 | Magda Gonzalez | I am presenting a project for 99 Cloudview Road, the Franks residence. The applicant is Nora Frey with Great Design. The property owners are Emily and Ian Franks. The project record is 2022-00227. The request is for a design review permit with hide and review. The proposal consists of a two-story, 1,620 square foot addition. Two decks at the rear of the property, one is 88 square feet and the other is 110 square feet. It also proposes to convert the existing three-car garage and crawl space into livable space. and add a two car garage at the front of the property off of Cloudview Road. Um. It also proposes to add gable roof dormers, composition shingle roof, new window and door trim, as well as a new garage door and a new front door. It will also include a new sewer injection system and a new electrical system. and the existing solarium exterior stairway and pedestrian gate will be removed. These are some of the materials that they're proposing to use for the composition shingle, the metal roof, the trim as well as the siding and the exterior light. |
| 00:53:50.89 | Magda Gonzalez | The project meets all the requirements for this zoning is compliant with the maximum roof. They are proposing to raise the roof line by 21 inches, but it will still be compliant with what's allowed. THAT ZONING ALLOWS FOR A 32-FOOT MAXIMUM HEIGHT. and they are proposing to bring it to 25 feet, six inches. the building coverage for flurier ratio and impervious surface is also met. However, since they're The request is over the 80% allowable for building coverage and the floor ratio. It requires hide and review, and we've made the findings for that and submitted them. They currently have a three parking garage and they're proposing to add a new two car garage, which still complies with what's required. And they're also proposing a parallel parking space at the driveway. And this is within their parcel and it would have an effect on the CITY'S PUBLIC RIGHT-AWAY. There is a mature Monterey Cypress at the front of the property. It is designated as an undesirable tree on the Sausalito Municipal Code. However, the property owners are proposing to preserve longevity of all of the trees on site, and they will only be performing some trimming. on that tree and like I stated, they provided a tree protection plan. that will include protection for every single tree that's currently on the site. |
| 00:55:39.14 | Magda Gonzalez | staff performed historic analysis for this property and deemed that the site is not of historic significance. because there is not a There is no information that support that it has contributed to California's history or cultural heritage. It is not associated with the lives of persons of importance. The residence has only had two property owners. The previous property owners were not people of importance historically. And neither are the current property owners. the style of a structure does not embody a distinctive characteristic. And it does not, it has not yield any information or it's not expected to yield any information that would be important for prehistory or history. The project is exempt from California Environmental Quality Act, subject to section 15301 and section 15303. Staff has provided findings for the design review and the Hyaderm review for this project. and staff recommends that the Planning Commission adopt a resolution to approve the design review permit with height and review for the project as proposed. Subject to conditions of approval, alternatively the planning commission may continue the hearing. for additional information and or project revisions, or direct staff to prepare a solution for denial stating the specific reasons. any one or more of the findings cannot be made. That concludes my presentation. I do want to note that we received a comment from the neighbor at 94 Cloudview. Her concerns were regarding the Monterey Cypress, which is located at the from the property. She wanted to know how I would be preserved. And the applicant has provided a depiction of the canopy for the tree. And I would like to show that to you. Give me just a second. |
| 00:57:51.98 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 00:57:52.03 | Magda Gonzalez | Thanks. |
| 00:57:52.28 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:58:00.13 | Magda Gonzalez | So this is the current coverage of the canopy for that cypress tree. Monterey, Cyprus. They are proposing to trim it |
| 00:58:06.05 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. We're not Ms. Gonzalez. We're not seeing the drawing. We're just seeing your staff. |
| 00:58:12.57 | Magda Gonzalez | Oh, okay. Give me just a second. |
| 00:58:33.15 | Magda Gonzalez | Are you able to see my screen now? |
| 00:58:35.09 | Unknown | Yes. |
| 00:58:36.11 | Magda Gonzalez | Okay, that is existing. Canopy for this tree. They're proposing to trim it and it would look something like this. It would be reduced. Like I said previously, Deemed an undesirable tree, therefore a permit wouldn't be required for this tree, but because the property owners want to preserve the mature landscaping, they're taking these measures and providing the tree protection plan along with this diagram to show you what they intend to do. in an effort to also address the previous comment regarding provided by the property owner at 94 Cloudview, which she had concerns regarding the light that will be placed at the new garage. She says that the current existing lighting glares into her property, so she was a bit concerned with that. The applicant has submitted a new proposed lighting for that, and I will show that to you as well. |
| 01:00:05.78 | Magda Gonzalez | I apologize, I doesn't want to connect. |
| 01:00:11.65 | Magda Gonzalez | Okay. |
| 01:00:15.30 | Magda Gonzalez | So this is the new proposed garage lighting. It will be facing downwards to minimize any potential glare onto that neighbor's property. That concludes my presentation. I'm open for questions. I believe she is there at the chambers with you. |
| 01:00:36.16 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Ms. Gonzalez. Can you go back to that before we ask for questions of the commission? Go back to the drawing you just showed with the canopy of the tree. I'm a little confused about what that is at the current canopy and you said they're going to trim it or was that what it will be like when it's trimmed? |
| 01:00:56.00 | Magda Gonzalez | They are proposing to trim it. I couldn't show it. Do you wanna see the existing one or the new one afterwards? Trimmed. |
| 01:01:04.62 | Jeffery Luxenberg | I guess the drawing you showed, was that after it was trimmed or? |
| 01:01:07.93 | Magda Gonzalez | I showed two, yes. One currently and one I will look after it's trimmed. |
| 01:01:13.14 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Can you just show both of those so we can see those? |
| 01:01:15.15 | Magda Gonzalez | Yes. |
| 01:01:15.98 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:01:24.92 | Director Phipps | As Ms. Gonzalez loads it up, it seems to... be the intent of applicant to trim the tree line in line with the new proposed footprint. |
| 01:01:39.84 | Director Phipps | Thank you. |
| 01:01:39.86 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Um, what does that mean? So this is the current, Ms. Gonzalez, is this the current canopy? |
| 01:01:49.46 | Magda Gonzalez | This would be the new one. |
| 01:01:51.10 | Jeffery Luxenberg | This would be the new one. |
| 01:01:52.19 | Magda Gonzalez | Yes. |
| 01:01:56.36 | Jeffery Luxenberg | It has been, Chuck. |
| 01:02:03.68 | Unknown | you Thank you. majority of it and goals 20% of the family tree will be under the Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:02:15.18 | Unknown | Bye. |
| 01:02:15.24 | Jeffery Luxenberg | I'm going to have you come up in a second because Commissioner Feller can't hear from the audience. But the purple is not, Ms. Gonzalez, the purple is what it would be, what it's been trimmed to because the purple is not, is not even. Yeah. That's not correct. Okay. Well, we'll let you either in your presentation or after as we ask questions, we'll ask that. Thank you very much. Sorry about that. With that, I will open it up to questions from the commissioner and I'll look for raised hands. |
| 01:02:37.81 | Lisa Koblenz | Okay. |
| 01:02:55.15 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Commissioner Graff. |
| 01:02:57.79 | Richard Graef | Yeah. Thank you, Chair Luxenberg. Thank you. I'm not sure I heard this right, Magda, but did you say the existing garage was a three-car garage? Correct. And they're proposing a two-car garage. And then you mentioned a third parking space. Is that an existing parking space or would this create a new parking space? I'm not quite sure about... your explanation of the parking. |
| 01:03:34.59 | Magda Gonzalez | Yeah, the parking space will be located on the driveway. They are proposing to, yeah, for the driveway to also serve as a third parking space. |
| 01:03:44.53 | Richard Graef | I see. Okay. Thank you. |
| 01:03:48.55 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Can I just ask a question in that regard, Commissioner? You said it was parallel. So they're proposing putting it parallel, meaning a parallel space to the street or perpendicular to the street? |
| 01:04:03.30 | Magda Gonzalez | parallel on the street. Well, it won't be on the street, but face parallel to the street. |
| 01:04:08.39 | Jeffery Luxenberg | So blocking both garage spaces? |
| 01:04:12.53 | Magda Gonzalez | Yes. |
| 01:04:12.90 | Jeffery Luxenberg | I see. Okay. Thank you. Any further questions, Commissioner Graff? |
| 01:04:12.97 | Richard Graef | Thank you. |
| 01:04:17.74 | Richard Graef | Um... Uh, |
| 01:04:24.27 | Richard Graef | No. Thank you. |
| 01:04:26.21 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Commissioner Graff. Other commissioners? Commissioner Fowler. |
| 01:04:32.08 | Kristina Feller | Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Magda. Can you just quickly point out to me where the standing seam metal roof is versus the composite shingle roof is. I didn't follow that. |
| 01:04:47.17 | Magda Gonzalez | Yeah, give me just a second, please. |
| 01:04:51.52 | Kristina Feller | And as you're pulling that up, is it also the blue color that, |
| 01:04:51.56 | Magda Gonzalez | And as. |
| 01:04:56.03 | Kristina Feller | or what is perceived to be a blue color. |
| 01:04:59.22 | Magda Gonzalez | Yes, I'm going to use the same image that I have regarding the canopy. As you can see on top, there's a portion that shows a metal roof. And then in the middle, there's the composition shingle roof. And there's a roof at the entrance of the |
| 01:05:16.87 | Unknown | and there's a lot of people. |
| 01:05:17.28 | Kristina Feller | Thank you. |
| 01:05:20.55 | Magda Gonzalez | house as well. |
| 01:05:23.81 | Kristina Feller | So I can't see your cursor, so maybe Where is the metal roof? If you can just point out where the metal roof is. |
| 01:05:34.01 | Magda Gonzalez | At the top corner of the canopy, of the tree canopy, those blue lines That's a metal roof. |
| 01:05:41.78 | Unknown | So, |
| 01:05:41.90 | Vivian Wall | metal. |
| 01:05:42.28 | Unknown | Bye. |
| 01:05:42.89 | Magda Gonzalez | and they're also extend on the rear of the house on the Southwest portion of that house. That's also a middle. |
| 01:05:53.96 | Kristina Feller | I mean, we can certainly ask the applicant, but since you're the planner to this and you've made a recommendation for approval here, I'm sure You've likely asked the question, why the change in material? I'm just curious why the change in material here and why the blue versus a very dark Um, composite. shingle |
| 01:06:16.91 | Magda Gonzalez | They wanted to make something lighter. Most of the colors are softer than what is on there now. The orange has color that's there is pretty strong. So they wanted to do something lighter and that combines with the rest of the homes on the neighborhood. |
| 01:06:35.93 | Kristina Feller | So is the whole, as they build this new, you know, the new part of this house, are they going to repaint the whole house the same color? |
| 01:06:43.96 | Magda Gonzalez | Yes. |
| 01:06:45.18 | Kristina Feller | The orange. |
| 01:06:46.21 | Magda Gonzalez | No, not the orange. The orange is what's currently on there. They're going to replace all that. Yes, they're going to paint it. |
| 01:06:52.32 | Kristina Feller | All right. And then can you just walk us through, you know, there's a lot of change here on the site. And I'm excited about the project, it was very unclear about the landscape. And as you know, I sent an email ahead of time about landscapes. not being able to find a landscape plant. So the narrative did not really match what was being shown on the drawing side. I just want to make sure I understand what the landscape plan is here. and if there's site lighting incorporated in that landscape. |
| 01:07:26.34 | Magda Gonzalez | So the landscape was, the plan was to, RETAIN ALL THE LANDSCAPED BID THAT THEY CURRENTLY HAD WITH THE EXCEPTION OF adding drought tolerant lawn on the Southwest portion of it. There's, um, rig patio there, so they were going to pull that and add a drought tolerance and they're gonna add some planters on top of the deck, the proposed deck as well. And then just at the pathway at the front of the entrance. |
| 01:08:00.52 | Kristina Feller | Okay. |
| 01:08:01.50 | Magda Gonzalez | but everything else they're proposing to retain. |
| 01:08:04.74 | Kristina Feller | Okay. I'll leave any other questions for the applicant. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Luxembourg. |
| 01:08:11.32 | Jeffery Luxenberg | thank you commissioner fellow any other questions from panel here With that, I'll have the applicant. I'm sorry, okay, Commissioner. |
| 01:08:19.78 | Nastassya Saad | I'm sorry, Hoke. Thank you. I just had one point of clarification and I'm assuming it's just a typo, but in the page two Magda of the staff report, It said that the application was filed February 16th, 2023. Is that supposed to be 2022? Everything else follows? January 2023 seems slightly out of order. |
| 01:08:47.69 | Magda Gonzalez | No, it was on 2023. |
| 01:08:54.57 | Nastassya Saad | Okay. Okay, and then let me ask you one quick question about the Southern Marin Fire District I just want to make sure I'm understanding it. And I can also ask... the applicant, I just had it. It's under water supply on page three. Um, Is there a requirement there to upgrade the existing Fire hydrant. Are you aware |
| 01:09:29.03 | Nastassya Saad | that Any fire hydrant installation or existing fire hydrant upgrade shall be required is how it's reading. Is that for the applicant? Is that a condition for the applicant? Yes. |
| 01:09:39.40 | Magda Gonzalez | Yeah. |
| 01:09:39.65 | Vivian Wall | Thanks. |
| 01:09:40.52 | Nastassya Saad | Okay, great. Thank you. I just wanted to clarify that. Thank you, Chair. |
| 01:09:44.05 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. I do have one quick question, Ms. Gonzalez. The geotech report was very thorough. Is there a condition that we can add to the proposed conditions requiring the recommendations of the geotech? Because I thought they were... Well done. |
| 01:10:10.12 | Magda Gonzalez | Yeah, we can add that as a condition of approval. |
| 01:10:13.06 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Okay, thank you. With that, I'm going to have the applicant come up and Ms. Franks, who's presenting? Are you presenting or is your architect presenting? You both are both come up to the podium. So the commissioner that's on Zoom can hear as well. You'll have 15 minutes to do your presentation. Feel free to save some of that time because we'll have a public comment period and whatever time you save, you can have a rebuttal at that point in time. |
| 01:10:45.01 | Emily Franks | Hi, and thank you all. I'll be as quick as I can, I suppose, here. First of all, this is not our first home in Sausalito. We own the house next door to it at 105 Cloudview Road. We lived there for 11 years and when we bought that house, we did four and a half years of construction and improved that house. from buying it for approximately a million for selling it for approximately 4 million. So We've done this before and it went really well. And we were planning on staying in that house until this opportunity came up and we thought, We don't mind moving one house over. So, and in fact, when we made the offer on 99, we were the lowest bid. Bye. they went with us because we weren't going to flip the house. We were going to stay there and we know the neighborhood and they liked us and they wanted us to continue this. So it was a family that had been there for since the 50s. So I think that shows, you know, we're a nice little addition to the neighborhood. In fact, you know, my husband and my kids, proud members of our community, kids went to Sparrow Creek and Willow Creek for many years. And we love it here in Sausalito and that's why we're staying. Um, One of the reasons we bought it was it's got a lot more yard, which is wonderful. Both of our kids are very involved in sports and they'd love to kick a ball around with a little more space. Um, and soccer and sports. all of that. Also, my parents are aging and it would be a nice place for my dad to come and stay with us and possibly my stepdad one day. as they continue on. And we did speak to all the neighbors in November before we even brought the plans to the city to say, here's what we're proposing. In fact, before we did our due diligence before we even bought it and made an appointment with a city planner. And I had Nora drop some very rough sketches of what we were thinking to do. because we didn't want to have a big ordeal. here. We were trying to do what we wanted, but keep it within reason for everything. And when we spoke to the planner, he said, you know, I can't obviously approve this, but it looks relatively reasonable. And we've stuck to that, what we were doing. We did go around to everyone in the neighborhood that might be affected by what we were doing by raising the roof a little and extending it a bit. And pretty much everyone was positive and encouraging and happy that we were doing what we were doing. and address anybody's concerns so we could move forward with this. What else? Since we put the story polls up, this last couple weeks. A lot of people in the neighborhood have walked by and said, you know, we love what you're doing. Thanks for improving on the neighborhood. We're looking forward to not seeing this big red house. So we're happy, we're excited, and we just want to get it done as soon as possible so we can move in and get on with our lives. |
| 01:13:46.41 | Nora Frey | I'll let you take it from here. I'm Nora Frye. I'm the architect. |
| 01:13:48.22 | Emily Franks | Thank you. |
| 01:13:51.76 | Nora Frey | I'd like just to say start with it. We think it's a pretty straightforward and modest project. We're not asking to remove any trees. We're not asking for variance. It complies with all the zoning requirements. The goal was to provide a remodeled and expanded house for the families need, but also to not have a negative impact on any neighbors. That's why we didn't suggest adding another story to the house. We're only going to suggest going up 21 inches. And we did use the existing chimney as a reference point when Emily and Ian met with all their neighbors. Most of the addition, like Magda said, occurs on the lower level. And there is an addition in the front yard, but it's only one story. I think that the height is well below and the setbacks are very generous. Just on the rear side, the 73.75 from the back of the house, and then the tank house is 40 feet wide, so it's almost 114 feet before you get to the property line at 10 Channing. On the east side, there's a 16 foot wide access road to the tank property that's never going to be developed. It's 24 foot six inches house from 99 to 95 and then the garage of 95 is 29. or 28 feet five down the hill. And then the house is further, it's 46 foot four inches. So there's a lot of separation, both horizontally and vertically because it's downhill. on the west at 107. 99 is not parallel to the property line, so it ranges between 24, 6 and 30 feet 9 house to house. We are keeping all the mature landscaping for privacy. We only are proposing one window on that side on the upper floor. There's no window in the dining room. That window is at a kitchen sink, so it's not going to be, it's not a living space there um we are going to have plantings on the west side of the deck for privacy um and then across the street at 102 garage to garage is almost um 42 feet house to house 74 feet when you take into consideration the setback and then the width of the road and parking on both sides and where their house is located. I think the setbacks are very generous. Like Emily said, I haven't heard of any issues about problems with the house. That's why we submitted what we had reviewed earlier with the neighbors. I got an email from Magda at 2 o'clock this afternoon from the neighbor at 94 with the concerns of the tree. We have a very robust arborist tree protection plan. We've had two arborists there. We've got one arborist. I actually emailed him the other day just to make sure if I need to cut a limb, is it okay? He said yes. They've reviewed the plans they've seen the story polls they're confident that the trees and not going to have any issues. There there's 13 protective measures there's for inspections they inspect before we have equipment on the site. They inspect right after the protection goes up they inspect while we're excavating and they can inspect at the end so. I have confidence in him. The tree's been there for 60 years. It's weathered all sorts of storms. A few months ago, after Emily and Ian met with the neighbors and they were concerned about their views, and I believe they asked if you could trim the tree and give them more light and views, which they did. The tree's canopy is even smaller now, and any branch that was... week at all has been removed and these past two really brutals and very high wind events, there wasn't a single limb that dropped there so I think that tree should be fine. I already addressed the setbacks. I have some pictures I can show you about the garages, all the garages on The west side of 99 going up the hill are very close to Cloudview. There's five or six of them, every single one from 107, 19, 115, 119, 125. Across the street, there's 102. 94 and then I believe 106 all have garages right near the street. So what we're proposing is not anything different than any neighbor has been. enjoying for the last 50 years. |
| 01:18:38.99 | Lisa Koblenz | you. |
| 01:18:39.07 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:18:39.12 | Lisa Koblenz | So, |
| 01:18:40.85 | Nora Frey | And then the issue about the light, they showed the light, all the lights are gonna be dark sky compliant. there was a photo of the existing light that Emily had no idea was on at night. If she would have been notified, I'm sure she would have turned it off, but they just moved into the house and you didn't know it was existing. Um, I think the, The main My main, in summary, I just want to say this thoughtfully, carefully designed. with not only the clients, but the neighbors in mind. It's going to be a beautiful house. It's going to be an improvement to the neighborhood. It's going to be well built, high quality materials. I do want to address clarify the material issue there. Magda, I don't know if you can show the the um a 2.0 um plan or share your screen on some of the elevations The metal roofing is not blue. It's gunmetal gray. It's listed in the drawings and in the color material palette. It's a very subdued palette. It's very neutral and natural material materials and colors. The stripe section at the back, that's the metal roof. And in the stripe, those are the standing seams. That's why they're vertical stripes. And in the front, in between the two gables. That's the only place that we're having that. The reasoning is because it's low slope. You can only have for comp shingle, you have to be three to 12, three vertical to 12 horizontal. the metal roof can go down to as much as a half inch. That's why we're doing that. And then the canopy, It was my response to the comment from the neighbor about we were going to be compromising the canopy of the tree. More than half of the tree, the house was under the canopy. And so I did a very quick analysis and it's less than it's 20%. And that was based on the survey that we had done months ago. And since then, the canopy has been reduced because of the trimming. So I don't think it's an issue at all of concern. And then there was another I wanted to make about the timing of ARSA middles. I believe I submitted first December 5th. There was in the file, there should be my original letter to the planner commissioners and the planner was dated, I believe, November 19th. So I think it was my feedback from the planning department other things they wanted to see on the drawings, and then me resubmitting that, that was giving a date in January, February. Thank you. So I'll save whatever time left for questions or comments. |
| 01:21:32.31 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you very much. You've got 414 left after getting questions from the commissioners. With that, I will look for raised hands from the commissioners if they have questions of the application. Uh, |
| 01:21:49.04 | Richard Graef | Yes. |
| 01:21:49.96 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. |
| 01:21:50.45 | Richard Graef | uh, |
| 01:21:50.96 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. Missionary Rough. Thank you. |
| 01:21:52.02 | Richard Graef | Yeah. Oh. Thank you, Chair. I, well, looking at the drawings and looking at the West elevation, A3.2, and also at the roof plan. Um, I was having a hard time looking at the drawing and visualizing how the new roof articulates with the old roof. And it just was not clear that I couldn't figure out the geometry there. And I thought it would be nice to clarify that so that I understood it better. where the roof kind of laps over the other roof and, Can't see it at this scale over on the left-hand side. Yeah, there. Yeah, right. Yeah, there. What's happening there? It looks like there's a little gap in there. It's just hard to understand how those two forms are coming together. |
| 01:22:57.95 | Nora Frey | over the gammel. Yeah, it's probably easier to see from the A 2.0. |
| 01:23:10.46 | Nora Frey | It's the gable gets cut back. So, um, You can see. So the gable, can I point or something? |
| 01:23:23.48 | Jeffery Luxenberg | You can walk up to her. Yeah, there we go. |
| 01:23:25.09 | Nora Frey | Okay. |
| 01:23:29.12 | Director Phipps | And I'm happy to take direction in terms of where you'd like me to zoom in |
| 01:23:40.60 | Unknown | And then people and show the first validation of this case. Yeah, so there's two equal cables right here. And here you can see the colorful panel connecting there. |
| 01:23:49.44 | Lisa Koblenz | Uh-huh. |
| 01:23:52.48 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 01:23:56.22 | Unknown | So |
| 01:24:00.90 | Unknown | So does that make sense? This just gets cut back there. And this is going to slow down. So just add a little bit of a slope and then this will keep |
| 01:24:11.43 | Richard Graef | So they are connected somehow. It just wasn't clear from the drawing and I was just mystified by that, but I'm gonna trust that you know what you're doing there. |
| 01:24:25.48 | Unknown | you All of it. |
| 01:24:28.66 | Richard Graef | all of |
| 01:24:30.26 | Unknown | You know, |
| 01:24:31.27 | Richard Graef | Oh, okay. All right, thank you for that. And tell me a little bit more about the lawn that you're proposing. |
| 01:24:45.55 | Kristina Feller | Artificial turf. Probably. Thank you. Well, we're- |
| 01:24:48.77 | Richard Graef | Oh, I see. So it's not a drop tolerance. lawn. artificial. Yes, no. |
| 01:24:56.96 | Nora Frey | I was saying drought tolerant if you wanted to do, I was trying to, remove the brick patio so that we remove the hardscape and, |
| 01:25:05.38 | Unknown | about that. |
| 01:25:07.28 | Nora Frey | I, you know, I think for I think probably the drought tolerant is better because it it recharges the aquaphor, but, and we also have existing grass. |
| 01:25:15.20 | Unknown | You know, recharge. And they also have it. |
| 01:25:19.97 | Emily Franks | Thank you. |
| 01:25:20.02 | Unknown | Oh, gosh. |
| 01:25:21.20 | Richard Graef | Okay. Um, All right. And, uh, maybe on the site plan, you could point out a little bit, a little more, where you're proposing this parallel approach. parking. |
| 01:25:42.45 | Nora Frey | Okay. |
| 01:25:43.21 | Richard Graef | Um, |
| 01:25:44.61 | Nora Frey | Yes, I will. |
| 01:25:47.72 | Richard Graef | I think I can, I don't have a drawing in front of me, so I, |
| 01:25:53.30 | Unknown | It's just the mention. Yeah. See this dash line? Thank you. |
| 01:26:00.59 | Richard Graef | Oh, okay. So one would have to parallel park there like you would at a, I, |
| 01:26:13.05 | Richard Graef | Uh-huh. |
| 01:26:18.95 | Unknown | and I think one of them you Thank you. They have two people parallel posts. Thank you. |
| 01:26:28.37 | Richard Graef | So if you're driving into that parking spot, how do you do it? Just show me on the plan how you drive in. |
| 01:26:37.89 | Unknown | I'm. Thank you. |
| 01:26:38.97 | Richard Graef | Yeah. you Right. |
| 01:26:51.20 | Richard Graef | That's all the questions I have right now, thank you. |
| 01:26:54.17 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Magda, can you leave that up just for now? Cause I think we'll keep going back to it. Commissioner Fowler will call you on you in a second. uh realistically i just want to ask a question to follow on since we just talked about this parking space realistically it would somebody more likely park in this in the street is there enough clearance uh where you would park against where that walkway is and you wouldn't park all the way to the garage if you parked a car there does it block the street at all |
| 01:27:26.28 | Emily Franks | No, it wouldn't. You were there the other day. Did you see the two cars that were parked? |
| 01:27:29.40 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Yeah. |
| 01:27:32.12 | Emily Franks | parallel to each other in that spot there, kind of at the front. |
| 01:27:36.04 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Yes. |
| 01:27:37.28 | Emily Franks | So that's right where the garage is going to be. |
| 01:27:39.56 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Okay. |
| 01:27:39.58 | Emily Franks | Okay. I'm sure we can. |
| 01:27:41.17 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Were those spaces on your property or in the right of way? Those were on the property. Okay. I see. Okay. Thank you. Other Commissioner Feller, I think you had your hand up. |
| 01:27:44.39 | Emily Franks | right away. |
| 01:27:53.42 | Kristina Feller | Thank you, Chair. This is directed to you and Director Phipps, actually. When the applicant's architect misphrase at the screen, you're not picking up her comments on the public record. I just wanted to point that out. So if somebody wanted to summarize that for the public record, if anyone had to ever reference this, we'd be unable to do so. |
| 01:28:19.96 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. I'll let the architect just do a quick summary of what you just did at the screen. It wasn't much, but okay. |
| 01:28:31.72 | Nora Frey | I was just pointing out the location of the third parking spot that's parallel at the front of the garage. |
| 01:28:40.69 | Kristina Feller | Okay, and you were also talking about a roof line with Commissioner Graff. If you could just repeat that just for the purpose of the public record only. |
| 01:28:51.03 | Nora Frey | It's the roof line. The question was about the roof line of the garage. And I was pointing to the southwest portion that's gonna be basically cut back So the two gables, when you're looking at the front of the house, are equal. And then as you're going along at the back of that, it just gets cut back. |
| 01:29:12.93 | Kristina Feller | Perfect. Thank you for stating that for the record. I appreciate it. Chair, no further questions from me. |
| 01:29:19.82 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. And also add, you mentioned that the entire roof is brand new. |
| 01:29:24.15 | Nora Frey | The entire roof is brand new, yes. |
| 01:29:25.89 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Dr. K. Other questions of commissioners? Thank you. With that, we'll open it up. I'll turn it over to Director Phipps, open it up for public comments. |
| 01:29:38.80 | Director Phipps | Looking for any raised hands in the audience this evening, seeing one. |
| 01:29:45.64 | Unknown | on. |
| 01:29:45.91 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. |
| 01:29:45.94 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 01:29:45.99 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. If you can come to the podium. |
| 01:29:46.41 | Director Phipps | Yeah. Come on down to the presentation dais over here. You have three minutes, and we will let you know when your time elapses. And please state your name and your place of residence for the record. |
| 01:30:00.23 | Vivian Wall | Vivian Wall at 94 Cloud View. I wrote the letter. I don't know, did you get copies of the letter with the pictures? |
| 01:30:06.90 | Jeffery Luxenberg | We all received copies earlier this afternoon. |
| 01:30:09.82 | Vivian Wall | Okay, great. Thank you. So, Let me just say, I know Emily and she did come by to discuss the... the plan for expanding the house. I think it grew a little bit from when we first had that discussion. I mean, the garage... grew in height to The I don't know how tall it is, 25 feet tall or something, as did the addition on the left-hand side But. I assume that is within their purview to do that. I did write about the trees because we've had so many trees come down in Sausalito recently. And this tree, if you can look at the picture that I enclosed, I don't know, it must be a 100-foot tree. It is 60 years old. And if this tree were to have its roots affected by a foundation that goes down two and a half feet. I just hope this 60 year old tree survives that because if it comes down, it can come down on my house, can come down on the house next to me where the little 98 year old lady lives. So, you know, like I wrote in my letter, I don't profess to be a tree expert, but we are. creating a two and a half foot deep foundation under some portion and I didn't measure it. It looked, if you look at the picture, it looks like a, you know, with the story pulls up, it looks like a pretty, big area of the surface of the root structure would be affected by that. But I'm not a tree expert. I'm going to leave that in the hands of tree experts. And I will say that, you know, those of us who live on cloud view really value our cypress trees. The city may not view them as protected and may call them undesirable, but they are very much a signature element of our street and our neighborhood if you've been up there. So, you know. may call them undesirable, but they are very much a signature element of our street and our neighborhood if you've been up there. So, you know, my intention is certainly not for that tree to, you know, come down in the process of building the structure. Anyway, thank you very much. That's all that I have, and I appreciate the concern for the light. Thank you. |
| 01:32:38.40 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. |
| 01:32:44.73 | Director Phipps | next speaker. Welcome. Please say your name and your address for the record. |
| 01:32:47.57 | Lisa Koblenz | I'm Lisa Koblenz and I live at one of my husband. I live at 107. So right next door. And there are some new windows that are going to be going up on the side that faces us, which we're fine with. The only thing we just want to be sure that the planters that they've mentioned, which would be on that deck. facing towards our house. are going to actually be there and they're going to block the view because we don't want to see into their deck and what's going on there. And we don't want them to see which has been the case until now. So we just wanna be absolutely sure that will be. respected the way it is in the plan, it will happen, and we will have no concerns about our privacy. |
| 01:33:34.12 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. |
| 01:33:37.65 | Director Phipps | Looking for additional hands in the audience, seeing none. Looking to the Zoom application for raised hands, seeing none. |
| 01:33:43.62 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Director Phipps. At this point, you've got four minutes to respond prior to starting the clock on that, 4-odd, 4-14 or whatever, prior to starting the clock on that. Magda, can you bring back that site plan that shows the tree? Can you just, one with the purple on it? Oh. |
| 01:34:03.54 | Director Phipps | Yeah, I'll bring it back, Chair. Okay. Oh, the one with the purple, I believe Magda will have to show you that one. Excuse me. Um, |
| 01:34:12.78 | Jeffery Luxenberg | I just, you said the tree's been trimmed. I just want to understand whether, does it go, is it now trimmed back so it won't go over the existing, the proposed additions or it's still over? I just want to understand that drawing because I wasn't sure what was current. The bigger black line around there, the big oval was what it used to be. Yes, the other thing. |
| 01:34:40.12 | Emily Franks | Thank you. |
| 01:34:40.16 | Unknown | Yes, that was massive. Thank you. |
| 01:34:42.32 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Right. Now what is it? I guess it's my, it's smaller... |
| 01:34:42.33 | Emily Franks | Right. |
| 01:34:42.40 | Unknown | Right. |
| 01:34:46.10 | Emily Franks | of the world. It's significantly smaller and we actually took quite a few limbs completely off that were near the house. And I took some pictures of it before we came down today, but they're on my phone, so unfortunately I can't put them up here. |
| 01:35:00.47 | Jeffery Luxenberg | That's okay, I just, the question I have is, is it now no longer going over the addition on the left or going over the garage or it will go slightly over that or just some general idea. I don't need an exact. |
| 01:35:13.97 | Nora Frey | I think it's going to go slightly over, but not nearly as much as this. But the other thing to know is the tree is 94 feet tall. It's limbed up, so it's not going to be near. You know, the fire department is going to require clearances as well. Um, And the Franks don't want to have any issues either with a tree falling on their house. So the arborist that we talked to and I've been working on projects for about 25 years and I've had these situations before and it's really true that You meet with arborists and instructional engineer when you're forming the foundation, if there's anything they know, they call right away and you modify your foundation. And the other thing I'd like to point out is that you're only having a foundation underneath the wall. For example, the garage is a slab on grade. That's not going down on any roots. So, um... One other thing I wanted to mention about this tree is the new electrical service is going to be underground, so it's not going to be an issue for the wires on the Franks. |
| 01:36:19.11 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Okay, thank you for that. And you've got four minutes and 14 seconds if you wanna respond to anything you've heard this evening. |
| 01:36:26.59 | Emily Franks | Well, the tree is not over the garage. It is. slightly over the house where we're putting in the addition, but it's quite high. And if we need to take out another member or two, that's not a problem. |
| 01:36:31.92 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Okay. |
| 01:36:39.06 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Okay, thank you. And I think we all realize it's much higher than what you're proposing. The tree goes up significantly above, above, you know, the new elevations of the house, new elevations of the roof. With that, do you have any other comments based on anything you've heard? You have three minutes, 42 seconds now. |
| 01:36:60.00 | Emily Franks | Do you wanna go? There's only one additional window that's actually being put on the west side of the house. everywhere else there is existing windows that are being replaced. So, and the one that's is quite further down from where they live. It's at the end of the house. I don't know how else to describe it, but further south. And as far as putting planters up, that's never been a problem that's actually in the drawings. That's what we have full intention to do as well. |
| 01:37:29.55 | Nora Frey | Yeah, I would just like to say that Emily, they've lived at 105, which shares the driveway with 107 for 10 years. 11 years I think both parties want to maintain their privacy and I don't see a problem with that I had a project. Oh, probably eight eight or so years ago it's 97 Santa Rosa that was approved and we did a very similar thing we had planters there, it was all set up the still there, it was fine and it solved the problem. |
| 01:38:02.03 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Okay, any other comments or you're done with your presentation? Well, thank you very much. At this point, we'll bring it back up to the dais and I'll entertain comments. Look to start with Commissioner Saad. |
| 01:38:20.46 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you, Chair Luxenberg. I think overall I'm a proponent of this project. I think I am able to make the findings. I think the setbacks are quite generous. I think I would like to just understand and I don't know if I think we're at the dais now so I don't know if I lost my opportunity and maybe you guys can help me in terms of that window that we were just discussing if that's what's where that is in terms of in relation to one of those setbacks. But I do think all the setbacks are quite generous. There's tremendous concern there, especially if the planters are shown on the drawings. Um, I think we've clarified the parking situation. That was a question. Thank you, Commissioner Graff. I don't have any issues with the... With the colors, I think the overall concept makes sense. I'm not sure I saw the tree protection plan necessarily quite clearly. I don't know if I missed that. I think the concept was written, but I don't know if it was... an attachment, so excuse me if I didn't see it. |
| 01:39:30.31 | Jeffery Luxenberg | It's right there. |
| 01:39:31.00 | Nastassya Saad | If it's maybe in the plans? It's right there. Yeah, okay. Okay. So as long as that's documented, and I think from the arborists, it's in the plans, yeah, thank you. Um, I'll leave that in the hands of the arborist. I don't think I have concerns around the roots of that cypress as well. So I'm leaning in favor, open to discussion, but would most likely make a motion for approval. |
| 01:39:55.84 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Commissioner Saad, Commissioner Graff. |
| 01:39:59.67 | Richard Graef | I'm not sure. Thank you. I'm not sure. Yeah, I can make the findings. I don't have any issues with it at all. So I would second the motion. |
| 01:40:16.98 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Commissioner Graff. I haven't had a formal motion yet, but we'll get to that. Commissioner Feller. |
| 01:40:25.39 | Kristina Feller | Thank you Chair. Yes, I totally support the project. I can make the findings. I wanted to thank the applicant and their architect, Ms. Frey, for being sensitive to the findings that we actually have to make and addressing them in their design in the presentation, which makes it a lot more streamlined and easy. So this is a great example of how to do this right, so I appreciate that. I mean, for me, it's really focusing a little bit more on how to how to potentially condition or in a couple conditions to make sure that this can be successful. So I would be interested because of the tree protection plan, which I thought was an excellent plan. well-documented in the drawings. And I appreciated that. I want to make sure that we get a full demolition done. before the new construction because this project or the existing building I should has been under and ownership for so long. There's always unforeseen conditions that have a high probability of showing up. And so what I don't want to do is sort of be half pregnant with the project. and to streamline it, I would hope that we could complete the demolition before the new construction actually started. That will help. move this forward very quickly. And of course, any design changes I would want to come back to this commission. But other than that, I am ready to support an approval. |
| 01:42:02.50 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Commissioner Fowler, Vice Chair, Jr. |
| 01:42:06.06 | Andrew Junius | Thank you, Chair Luxembourg. I agree that it's a good project. I think we're going to get to a vote here, hopefully, pretty quickly. My only comment would be to agree with Ms. Koblins. I'm a huge fan of cypress trees when they're called undesirable. somewhat offended, but that's okay. We're going to save the cypress tree. I think I agree the tree protection plan is a good one. It sounds like you're taking care of the tree. So thank you for trimming the tree and taking care of it. And I'm ready to vote. |
| 01:42:30.98 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you, Vice Chair Junius. I also am very supportive of this project. I think the architect has done lion's share to understand what's in the neighborhood, design a project that makes sense for the neighborhood, and well done. So I would like to see a condition regarding the geotech report, just because that will protect both the owner and the neighborhood as well as the city. So with that, I'll be looking for a motion on this project. |
| 01:43:06.83 | Nastassya Saad | I'll make the motion to approve So, I guess I'm gonna read out the whole Do I read out the whole... I've never made a motion. |
| 01:43:16.33 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Um, |
| 01:43:16.87 | Nastassya Saad | I've always seconded. |
| 01:43:17.78 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Director, Phipps, do we want us to identify? |
| 01:43:18.99 | Nastassya Saad | to identify the entire project. |
| 01:43:21.22 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. project numbers. |
| 01:43:22.05 | Nastassya Saad | I just proposed. |
| 01:43:22.10 | Jeffery Luxenberg | for people. |
| 01:43:23.31 | Nastassya Saad | with conditions? |
| 01:43:24.40 | Director Phipps | I don't believe so. I think a summary is fine. City attorney, if anything is untoward in your opinion, please feel free to jump in. |
| 01:43:28.72 | Mary Wagner | uh, |
| 01:43:34.13 | Mary Wagner | Yep, I'm here. Um, yeah, I mean, I think a motion to approve the staff recommendation. Um, I think the only thing that you may or may not want to address in your motion is I understand there was a comment made with regards to a condition for the geotechnical report and compliance with that and I don't know if Commissioner Zod, you want to include that in your motion or not? |
| 01:44:01.08 | Nastassya Saad | I would, yes, definitely support that. So I'll make the motion to approve and take the staff recommendation for approval with the condition for the geotechnical report inclusion and to Commissioner Feller's condition, if that's included, for the demolition to happen. before building. |
| 01:44:26.34 | Kristina Feller | And any design changes to come back to the planning commission? |
| 01:44:29.77 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. And any design changes to come back before this commission? |
| 01:44:33.68 | Andrew Junius | second Thank you. |
| 01:44:35.69 | Jeffery Luxenberg | So we have a motion for approval for staff recommendation with those three additional conditions. Any further discussion from the commission? |
| 01:44:44.70 | Richard Graef | Yes, thank you. Do we wanna condition |
| 01:44:44.72 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:44:48.28 | Richard Graef | the privacy issue to make sure that the planters and the, foliage in the planters is mature and dense and tall and, that it does its job. |
| 01:45:06.62 | Nastassya Saad | I think it's in the... I don't think we need to condition it further. I think it's quite robust in the plan. |
| 01:45:12.28 | Richard Graef | I think it's |
| 01:45:14.88 | Nastassya Saad | if you're comfortable that they'll follow the plans, which is part of the... I trust they will. Yeah. |
| 01:45:20.71 | Andrew Junius | I certainly agree. Thank you. |
| 01:45:24.26 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Any further comments from any of the commissioners? With that, a roll call vote, please, Director Phipps. |
| 01:45:32.43 | Director Phipps | Commissioner Saad. Thank you. |
| 01:45:33.56 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Yes. |
| 01:45:33.57 | Nastassya Saad | Yes. |
| 01:45:33.83 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. |
| 01:45:33.93 | Director Phipps | Thank you. Commissioner Greff. |
| 01:45:35.28 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Yes. |
| 01:45:36.05 | Director Phipps | Commissioner Feller. |
| 01:45:37.34 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Yes. |
| 01:45:38.23 | Director Phipps | Vice Chair Junius. Yes. Chair Luxenberg. Yes. Motion passes unanimously. |
| 01:45:45.72 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Okay, moving on to item eight, to entertain a motion for adjourned. |
| 01:45:51.12 | Andrew Junius | Thank you. |
| 01:45:51.14 | Nastassya Saad | So moved. So moved. |
| 01:45:52.78 | Andrew Junius | and |
| 01:45:53.23 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Oliver Fiber, Thank you. |
| 01:45:54.62 | Nastassya Saad | I know. |
| 01:45:54.67 | Jeffery Luxenberg | I'll see you next time. Bye. |
| 01:45:55.10 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:45:56.62 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you all. Thank you all for coming this evening. |
| 01:45:56.66 | Nastassya Saad | Thank you. |
| 01:45:58.85 | Director Phipps | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:45:58.90 | Jeffery Luxenberg | Thank you. |
| 01:45:58.94 | Director Phipps | Thank you, commissioners, members of the public. |
Lisa Koblenz — Neutral: Expressed support for the project but wanted assurance that the planters on the deck facing her house would be installed to maintain privacy. ▶ 📄