TITLE
Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the hearing, consider the Belmont Heights Community Association’s appeal, and uphold the decision of the Planning Commission to approve a Standards Variance and Local Coastal Development Permit to allow the reconstruction of a second home, demolished without a permit, located at 213 Roswell Avenue within the Single Family Residential zone. (District 3)
DISCUSSION
The proposed project is the reconstruction of a single-family home on the southwest corner of Roswell and Shaw Avenue. The site is a corner lot of 5,842 square feet in the R-1-N district (Single-Family District with Standard Lots). The site was developed with two single-family homes of approximately 1300 square feet each when the applicants purchased the property in October 2004. According to assessor records, the original home was built in 1924 and the second home in 1954. The two single-story homes together cover forty-five percent (45%) of the lot and were a legal non-conforming use on the property.
In November 2011, the applicants requested a building permit to add 140 square feet to the second residence, Home “B”, at 213 Roswell Avenue, as part of a remodeling project. This expansion and renovation would have extended the existing bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen and provided a seismic upgrade, and was approved in January 2012. Subsequent to this approval, Home “B” was completely demolished.
The demolition of the home was a violation of the municipal code because it was completed without a permit. Once more than 50 percent of the perimeter of the structure was removed, the legal non-conforming rights to the unit were forfeited. In order to reinstate the legal non-conforming status of the second dwelling and rebuild the home, a Standards Variance and Local Coastal Development Permit were required.
The Planning Commission heard the case on September 6, 2012. The staff report and minutes are provided in Exhibit A. At t...
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