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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008 - May 5 td-5oo .G...~.3 Planning Commission Minutes May 5, 2008 Minutes Planning Commission City of Orange May 5, 2008 Monday-7:00 p.m. PRESENT: Commissioners Bonina, Imboden, Merino, Steiner and Whitaker STAFF PRESENT: Ed Knight, Assistant Planning Director Dan Ryan, Historic Preservation Senior Planner Gary Sheatz, Assistant City Attorney Sharon Penttila, Recording Secretary ADMINISTRATIVE SESSION: Chair Steiner opened the Administrative Session @ 6:34 p.m. with a reVIew of the Agenda. Consent Calendar: Item # 1, Approval of the April 7, 2008 minutes. There were no changes or corrections. Chair Steiner indicated he would be abstaining since he was absent at the April 7 meeting. Commission Business: Item #2, DRC 4325-08 - Elliott Residence: Chair Steiner confirmed that the project was before them because it exceeds 20% of the existing floor area. Commissioner Whitaker asked if the DRC had approved it. Dan Ryan, Historic Preservation Senior Planner, explained that the DRC reviewed the project for aesthetics but the Planning Commission made the final determination. Mr. Knight, Assistant Planning Director, said the DRC had heard the item on April 2, 2008. Item #3, DRC 4331-08, Devine Residence: No comments Chair Steiner asked Mr. Knight ifthere was any news from the Council and he said no. Commissioner Merino stated he may not be at the May 19 meeting. The Administrative Session was closed at 7:00 p.m. REGULAR SESSION: PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: None ITEMS TO BE CONTINUED OR WITHDRAWN: None Page 1 of 5 Pages Planning Commission Minutes May 5,2008 CONSENT ITEM: (1) APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE REGULAR MEETING OF APRIL 7, 2008. Commissioner Merino made a motion to approve the April 7, 2008 minutes as written. SECOND: AYES: NOES: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Commissioner Whitaker Commissioners Bonina, Imboden, Merino, and Whitaker None Commissioner Steiner None MOTION CARRIED CONTINUED HEARINGS: None COMMISSION BUSINESS: (2) DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE NO. 4325-08 - ELLIOTT RESIDENCE A proposal to construct a 564 sq. ft. one-story addition on the rear of the existing 1908 Hip Roof Cottage. LOCATION: 504 E. Washington Avenue NOTE: The proposed project is categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per State CEQA Guidelines 15303 (Class 3 - New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures). RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve Design Review Committee No. 4325-08 for an Old Towne addition that exceeds 20% of the existing floor area for a contributing residence. Mr. Ryan presented a project overview consistent with the Staff Report. He felt it was a well done proj ect. Chair Steiner found the Commissioners had no questions for the staff. Margaret Elliott, applicant, address on file, indicated she had nothing else to add. Public Hearing was opened. Janet Crenshaw, address on file, representing Old Towne Preservation Association, sympathized with the homeowner's need to have this one-story addition but it was too bad that it has such a huge FAR for that street. She liked the idea that they were using all the wood things and recycling some of the parts onto the side of the new house. Page 2 of 5 Pages Planning Commission Minutes May 5, 2008 Public Hearing was closed. Commissioner Imboden agreed with the comments about matching, however, he was not seeing any differentiating between the existing and the historic structure. Jon Califf, address on file, is the architect on the project. He explained that what they did to differentiate, because of the placement of the existing back door, was to use that as the connection between the new and old and they were able to step the west wall of the new addition back a foot and still utilize the door. On the east side, where they are enclosing the existing cellar access, they jogged the addition back in where it connects to the historic structure and they have it set back in. Commissioner Imboden understood that and appreciated him doing that because often time the demarcation is simply done with a vertical board which he does not support. He was concerned with the detailing because historically a house can be built with offsets and he didn't see anything there that tells them that this is an addition other than matching everything exactly. It is a standard and can be simply done with maybe a different molding pattern or skirt trim that could be left off that part of the building. He asked ifMr. Califf had explored any differentiation other than this offset. Mr. Califf stated that typically the direction they have gone has been to use like materials and do the differentiation with an offset or some sort of physical means. There was certainly the possibility of changing the skirt or the width of the siding. It's just the direction they have typically gotten from the Design Review which has been more along the line of matching materials and physically offsetting. He was aware that the Secretary of Interior does speak to that. Commissioner Imboden mentioned that it is a difficult thing to determine how to make it compatible while making it slightly different. He felt the solution may be as simple as replacing the skirt with siding down to the same level so when you look at the house it is very subtle but you can tell that it was built in a different time. Commissioner Merino assumed that the owner had discussed with Mr. Califf about creating a color palette that makes the garage compatible with the addition and existing house to make it look like one piece of property or ownership. Mr. Califf indicated they were not proposing to do that but they would be open to that. Commissioner Merino also noticed the relationship between the existing garage and the addition creates a very narrow gap. He was wondering if since the applicant has some health concerns with easy access, would the Commission be seeing an application in the future where there would be a modification from the addition to the garage. He thought the stairs coming off the new additions did not look ADA compatible for someone who has a disability and trying to get into the garage. Mr. Califf stated that the original desire of the owner was to just connect the house to the garage. Because they have a historic structure they couldn't and it would need to be kept separated by a minimum of six feet. He mentioned the applicant is not wheelchair bound yet but he will be in a few years. The idea was currently to keep the back step but in the future they would build a ramp. Page 3 of 5 Pages Planning Commission Minutes May 5,2008 Commissioner Bonina asked about the basement access outside the building today and how they are proposing to bring it back into the building. He wanted to know if there were any modifications to the area they are proposing and is there a different stairway going into the basement. Mr. Califf explained that currently there is a concrete stair that was redone some years ago that comes out to grade. The only modification they are going to make is to take off the existing shutter doors and then build an additional three raisers from where it currently ends up to the floor level and then inside there may be a single-leaf or double-leaf door but the same sort of in-the-floor access connecting to the existing stair. Commissioner Merino asked Mr. Ryan, without violating the historic standards, how to make the individual projects that are built at different times stand alone and still create some sort of unifying element or something that ties these things together as one particular property. Mr. Ryan explained that a lot of times people do consider repainting their property and tying the paint and trim colors in or landscaping might provide some unity between the two architectural styles. Typically they don't tell people to paint their house or what color but a lot of times people do end up repainting their home. Commissioner Imboden made a motion to approve DRC 4325-08, Elliott Residence, with two additional conditions. The applicant was in agreement with these additions. 1. Skirt board be removed from the portions of the building that are an addition and replace with siding that matches. 2. Applicant work with Mr. Ryan and encourage them to work toward bringing a more consistent color scheme to the entire property. SECOND: AYES: NOES: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Commissioner Whitaker Commissioners Bonina, Imboden, Merino, Steiner and Whitaker None None None MOTION CARRIED (3) DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE NO. 4331-08 - DEVINE RESIDENCE A proposal to remodel the exterior of a flat roofed, two-story, box shaped, detached garage and accessory/game room to reflect the design elements and exterior treatment of the existing 1905 Hip Roof Cottage residence. LOCATION: 506 E. Almond Avenue NOTE: The proposed project is categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per State CEQA Guidelines 15303 (Class 3 - New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures) because the project involves exterior modifications to an existing accessory structure. Page 4 of 5 Pages Planning Commission Minutes May 5, 2008 RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve Design Review Committee No. 4331-08 for an increase in roof height for a non-contributing accessory structure. Mr. Ryan presented a project overview consistent with the Staff Report. He indicated it was one of the more fun projects to work on because it's not often someone comes in to redo something from the past to make it look better. Sean Devine, applicant, address on file, was glad Mr. Ryan was as excited as he is to get the project going and make it look like it belongs in Old Towne. Public Hearing was opened. Janet Crenshaw, address on file, representing OTP A stated she wasn't crazy about the balcony sticking out and taking up so much room but she loves what they are doing and the expense they are going through to make it fit into Old Towne. Public Hearing was closed. Commissioner Merino said from his perspective it was a terrific project and the entire property is brought together and it looks terrific from a design perspective and he hopes to see more of these come before the Commission. Commissioner Whitaker made a motion to approve DRC 4331-08, Devine Residence. SECOND: AYES: NOES: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Commissioner Merino Commissioners Bonina, Imboden, Merino, Steiner and Whitaker None None None MOTION CARRIED (4) ADJOURNMENT: Chair Steiner made a motion for adjournment to the next regular scheduled meeting of the Planning Commission held in the Council Chambers on Monday, May 19,2008. SECOND: AYES: NOES: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Commissioner Bonina Commissioners Bonina, Imboden, Merino, Steiner and Whitaker None None None MOTION CARRIED MEETING ADJOURNED @ 7:25 P.M. Page 5 of 5 Pages