Title
A Public Hearing to Consider: PLN16-0592 - 1310 Court Street - Applicant: Michael and Jen McAnaney. The applicant request Planning Board approval for a Design Review and Variance to waive parking requirements for the conversion of an existing basement to create more than 750 square feet of new floor area in a single family home.
Body
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board
From: David Sablan
Planner II
BACKGROUND
Alameda Municipal Code (AMC) Section 30-36 Design Review requires design review approval for minor modifications to the exterior of a home. The applicant at 1310 Court Street is proposing to excavate an existing basement to create just over 1,000 square feet of new living space (Exhibit 1). The components of the project that require Design Review are: 1) the addition and alteration of windows in conjunction with new floor area, 2) the removal of an existing chimney for purposes other than seismic hazard abatement, and 3) the enclosure of an exterior staircase.
AMC Section 30-7.6 Off-Street Parking requires Alameda homeowners to add an additional parking space when adding over 750 square feet of additional living space, if the property does not currently conform to the off-street parking requirements. In this case, the ordinance requires two off-street parking spaces and the property does not have any off-street parking spaces. Previous property owners built a fence that obstructs access to the existing single-car garage, in violation of AMC Section 30-7.3. Therefore the applicant is required to remove the obstruction and re-establish the single-car garage and to add at least one off-street parking space. The applicant does not want to remove the obstruction nor add the additional space; therefore, the applicant is requesting that the Planning Board approve a variance from AMC Section 30-7.6 and waive the requirement to add an additional parking space and waive Section 30-7.3 which requires that exiting park...
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