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CITY OF SAN
JOSÉ, CALIFORNIA Department of
Planning, Building and Code Enforcement 801 North First
Street, Room 400 San José,
California 95110-1795 |
Hearing
Date/Agenda Number P.C. 11/28/01
Item No. |
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File Number PDC 00-12-125 |
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STAFF REPORT |
Application Type Planned Development Rezoning |
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Council District 9 |
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Planning Area Edenvale |
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Assessor's
Parcel Number(s) 458-18-011 |
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PROJECT
DESCRIPTION |
Completed by: Teresa Estrada |
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Location: Southerly
Terminus of Hampton Falls Place, approximately 360 feet southerly of Branham
Lane |
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Gross Acreage: 0.4 |
Net Acreage: 0.4 |
Net Density: 10.0 DU/AC |
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Existing Zoning: R-1-8
Residence |
Existing
Use: Vacant |
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Proposed Zoning: A(PD) Planned
Development |
Proposed Use: Four (4)
Single-Family Attached Rowhouses |
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GENERAL PLAN |
Completed
by: TE |
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Land
Use/Transportation Diagram Designation Medium High Density Residential (12-25 DU/AC) |
Project
Conformance: [ X ] Yes [
] No [ X ] See
Analysis and Recommendations |
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SURROUNDING LAND
USES AND ZONING |
Completed
by: TE |
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North: Single-Family
Attached Residential |
A(PD) Planned Development |
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East: Single-Family Detached Residential |
R-1-8 Residence District |
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South: Guadalupe River |
R-1-8 Residence District |
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West: Guadalupe
River |
R-1-8 Residence District |
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ENVIRONMENTAL
STATUS |
Completed
by: TE |
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[ ] Environmental Impact Report found
complete [x] Negative
Declaration circulated on November 7, 2001. |
[ ] Exempt [ ]
Environmental Review Incomplete |
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FILE HISTORY |
Completed
by: TE |
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Annexation
Title: Robertsville No. 2 |
Date: July 2, 1959 |
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PLANNING
DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTION |
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[ ] Approval [ x ] Approval
with Conditions |
Date: _________________________ |
Approved
by: ____________________________ [ ] Action [X]
Recommendation |
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APPLICANT /DEVELOPER/OWNER |
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Richard D. and Barbara J. Henry 6806 Elwood Road San Jose, CA95120 |
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PUBLIC AGENCY COMMENTS RECEIVED |
Completed by: TE |
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Department of Public Works See attached
memorandum |
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Other Departments and Agencies None received. |
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GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE |
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ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS |
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The applicant, Richard Henry, is requesting a Planned Development Rezoning of approximately 0.40 gross-acres from the R-1-8 Residence Zoning District to A(PD) Planned Development to allow the construction of up to four (4) single family attached units on a flat, triangular, and vacant parcel adjacent to the Guadalupe River.
The project site is a landlocked parcel located behind an existing condominium complex that was built in 1991 (File No. PDC91-01-004). Subsequent to the approval of the adjacent development, the City Council changed the General Plan Land Use Designation of the subject site to Medium High Density Residential (12-25 DU/AC). The intent was to encourage the site to develop as part of the existing larger adjacent townhouse project. The adjacent project was designed to facilitate future access and utilities connections to the subject site. Access to the project is provided from Branham Lane via Hampton Falls Place, a private street that stubs at the site’s northerly property line.
Other adjacent uses include single-family detached houses which back-up to the east of the project site. To the west and south, across an existing access road for Santa Clara Valley Water District, is the Guadalupe River.
Project
Description
The proposed project consists of four single-family attached rowhouse-type units on individual lots arranged in two buildings. The existing adjacent stub street will be extended onto the site as a private driveway. The units are situated along the easterly portion of the project site and face the Guadalupe River. Each of the two-story units include a 2-car garage. Four surface parking spaces are provided across the common driveway.
The proposed rowhouse units each have a building footprint of approximately 1,050 square feet and contain three bedrooms, with a net living area of about 1,890 square feet per unit. Each of the units has a fenced private back yard plus a smaller landscaped area in front of the unit.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
An Initial Study was prepared for this project and a Negative Declaration was circulated by the Director of Planning for public review on November 7, 2001. The primary environmental issues that were addressed include potential impacts to archaeological resources and to the riparian corridor.
Archaeological Resources
The
project site is located within an archaeological area considered sensitive to
prehistoric resources. An
archaeological report was performed for the Planned Development Rezoning for
the adjoining townhouse complex to the north.
This report indicated no evidence of prehistoric or historic era
cultural resources, however, the possibility exists that buried cultural
deposits will be encountered during grading or other earth- disturbing
operations associated with development of the site. The project applicant has agreed to provide archaeological
monitoring of the site during excavation activities to mitigate for any
impacts. A qualified
archaeologist is required to monitor all subsurface grading and construction
activities to reduce impacts to archaeological resources to a less than
significant level.
Riparian Corridor Impacts
A biotics report
prepared for the proposed project identified the riparian habitat in this
particular area to be of low quality.
There are, however, reaches of the Guadalupe River where the riparian
habitat is much better. Due to the low
riparian habitat quality adajacent and near the project, the biologist has
recommended a reduced riparian setback of 50-feet, which would provide adequate
protection for the biotic habitat of the riparian corridor. A mitigation and monitoring plan to revegetate the project site was also
identified to reduce impacts to the riparian corridor to less than significant
levels(see analysis for additional discussion). The report also concluded that
the project site did not show signs of occupation by burrowing owls.
GENERAL PLAN CONFORMANCE
The project site is designated Medium High Density Residential (12-25 DU/AC) on the San José 2020 General Plan Land Use/Transportation Diagram. The proposed rezoning would allow development of the project site at a net density of 10.0 DU/AC, consistent with the use of the Discretionary Alternate Use Policy (Two Acre Rule). This policy allows development to occur at the next lower density range of Medium Density Residential (8-16 DU/AC) pursuant to appropriate findings (see analysis for additional discussion). The Two Acre Rule is more commonly used to allow projects to develop at the next higher General Plan density range.
The
key issues analyzed as part of this project include: 1) conformance to the
Riparian Corridor Policy Study, 2) conformance with the Residential Design
Guidelines, and 3) Use of the Discretionary Alternate Land Use Policy (Two Acre
Rule).
Conformance
to Riparian Corridor Policy Study
According
to the Riparian Corridor Policy Study, a 100-foot riparian setback should
typically be provided for high quality riparian habitat dominated by native
tree species. The Policy allows for
setback exceptions to be considered in limited instances as long as basic
riparian habitat protection objectives are achieved. The policy also identifies a number of circumstances which may
warrant consideration of setbacks less than 100 feet. In this case, two of the special circumstances apply to the
project: 1) the project site is an urban infill location where most adjacent
properties are already developed and parcels are generally small (one acre or
less), and 2) the site is of unusual
geometric characteristics. Adjacent
development next to the riparian corridor was previously developed with a much
smaller setback from the riparian edge.
A
biotics report prepared for the proposed project identified the riparian
habitat to be of low quality. As
previously indicated, due to the low riparian habitat quality within the
project reach, the biologist has recommended a reduced riparian setback of
50-feet to be adequate buffer to protect the riparian corridor. Some development could encroach into this
50-foot riparian setback area, however, the biologist has indicated that this
is acceptable provided that any encroachment within the 50-foot riparian
setback be mitigated at a 1:1 ratio to reduce any potential impact to the
Riparian Corridor. Substantial scrutiny
was given to the biotics report and the physical development constraints on the
existing site. Staff subsequently determined that the project legitimately
warrants an exception to the standard 100-foot setback requirement with mitigation
as recommended by the biologist. These
mitigation measures have been incorporated into the project.
The proposed project substantially conforms to the key elements of the City’s Residential Design Guidelines (RDGs) for rowhouses with regard to architecture, setbacks, parking, and open space. The proposed project is not visible from a public street and has significant site design constraints given the pre-determined access point, unusual shape and riparian setback considerations. For this reason, strict adherence to all of the design policies is not as important as it might be for other less constrained and more visible sites. Only two RDG policies are not in strict conformance; 1) provision for the requisite 180 square feet of front yard landscaping for each of the units, and 2) limitation of the garage façade to less than 50% of the width of the unit.
Front Yard Landscaping. Although the front yard landscaping is less than 180 square feet, the site compensates for this by virtue of the substantial landscape and openness that occurs on the other side of the common driveway. Since the access point to the site is fixed along the middle of the northerly property line, the unit placement is forced to the easterly side. Fitting even modest size structures between the driveway extension and the existing houses to the east, necessitates and warrants a degree of flexibility. Staff determined that maintaining an appropriate setback from the adjacent houses to the east is more important than front yard landscaping, especially considering that the site is not visible from the street.
Proportion of Garage Width to Living Area. The design guidelines recommend that the garage façade not exceed 50 percent of the width of the overall unit. Exceptions can be granted, pursuant to the guidelines if a combination of compensating design features is included. This project falls slightly short in that regard, but it does provide a cantilevered element over the garage that does help de-emphasize the garage façade. As indicated previously, the site design constraints warrant relaxation from strict adherence to the complete conformance.
All other key aspects of the design guidelines are being met with this project with regard to setbacks, parking and open space. The proposed buildings are well articulated with pitched roof design. The applicant has revised the roof design slightly from the original submittal to provide better articulation and reduce massing. Architectural detailing, including stucco, wood siding, cedar trellises, and balcony rails are attractive and appropriate with the neighborhood character. The proposed structures on-site are compatible in terms of materials and colors and are compatible in terms of proportion and scale with adjacent structures.
Further refinement of building architecture, landscaping, and project details will be reviewed at the Planned Development permit stage to ensure the most appropriate design.
Use of Discretionary Alternate Use Policy (Two Acre Rule)
The Two-Acre Rule of the General Plan allows residentially designated parcels of two acres in size or less to be developed at the next higher or lower density range. The General Plan Land Use/Transportation Diagram designation for the project site is Medium High Density Residential (12-25DU/AC). The proposed rezoning would allow development of the project site at a net density of 10.0 DU/AC, consistent with the next lower density range of Medium Density Residential (8-16 DU/AC). The proposed type of development provides an appropriate transition between the exiting single-family houses to the east of the site and the townhouse project to the north. Given the site constraints, development at a higher density would have made conformance to the more important design standards of the RDGs more difficult.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
Notices
for the public hearings and environmental review were distributed to the owners
and tenants of all properties located within 500 feet of the project site.
RECOMMENDATION
Planning staff recommends approval of the proposed Planned Development Rezoning for the following reasons: