March 21, 2006

SUBJECT:  2005-1078:  Thomas Sweeney:  Request to initiate a General Plan Amendment to change the Land Use Designation for a 0.28 acre parcel located at 495 Central Avenue from Low Density Residential to Low Medium Density Residential (APN:  209-23-004):

REPORT IN BRIEF

The City received a letter from Thomas Sweeney, the property owner of 495 Central Avenue (see Attachment 1) with a request for the initiation of a General Plan Amendment.  The subject property is an 11,620 square foot parcel located at the northwest corner of Olive and Central Avenues.  The property owner proposes that the General Plan designation be changed from Low Density Residential to Low Medium Density Residential in order to allow subdivision of the lot into two lots.  If the General Plan is amended, the property owner plans to request a rezoning and parcel map to construct a new single-family residence on the new lot.  Due to the low density character and large lot sizes of the surrounding neighborhood, staff recommends that Council not initiate a General Plan Amendment study for the property.

At the City Council meeting on January 10, 2006, a hearing was held regarding this General Plan Amendment initiation request.  At the hearing, the applicant stated that he felt the General Plan request would not be needed, because he had information showing that two legal lots already existed on the site and that the City could grant a certificate of compliance acknowledging the two lots.  The City Council continued this request until March 21, 2006, to allow staff to review the documentation provided by the applicant.  Staff has reviewed the plans, maps and legal lot descriptions provided by the applicant and has determined that there is insufficient information available to verify that two legal lots were created at the project site.  In order to subdivide the site, the request to initiate a General Plan Amendment is still required.  This hearing is to consider the appropriateness of that request.

BACKGROUND

The 11,620 square foot project site currently has a General Plan designation of Low Density Residential.  This designation is the same as the surrounding properties.  The subject property was developed concurrently with the Bayview Haven subdivision.  The surrounding homes, specifically those located in the same 400 block on East Olive Avenue between South Bayview Avenue and Central Avenue, were built mostly in the 1950’s as custom homes on large lots between 7,152 to 14,000 square feet in size.  Although located at the edge of this development, the subject property was not part of the original subdivision, but was developed in the same time period and the large lot is consistent with the lot pattern of other homes along Olive Avenue.

The subject lot is currently zoned R-0.  The minimum lot size for the R-0 designation is 6,000 square feet.  The site is currently developed with a one-story 1,452 square foot home plus a two-car garage, fronting onto Central Avenue.   At 11,620 square feet in size, the property does not meet the minimum size of 12,000 square feet which is needed to subdivide the property into two lots under the existing R-0 zoning designation.

In 2002, the site was the subject of a Use Permit (2002-0937) to allow a 644 square foot accessory living unit to be moved to the subject site.  At that time, staff’s primary concern with the project was to maintain the site’s consistency with the low-density appearance of the neighborhood.  The application for an accessory living unit was approved on January 16, 2003 by the Administrative Hearing Officer after it was determined that the proposed accessory living unit would be compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.  A condition of approval to not allow the installation of a fence between the main residence and the accessory living unit was included in the permit to ensure that the property continues to conform to the low density character of the area.  However, the applicant has never implemented the Use permit and the accessory living unit was never constructed. 

It should be noted that a fence is currently present between the main house and the vacant portion of the project site.  Although this gives the impression that there are two lots, there is only one legal lot.  The fence location demonstrates approximately where the applicant would like to create the new lot line if the general plan land use designation is approved.

EXISTING POLICY

According to the Sunnyvale Municipal Code Section 19.92.020, only the City Council is authorized to initiate proceedings for adoption for an amendment to the General Plan.  The Municipal Code requires the City Council to first review a General Plan Amendment initiation request in order to determine if the request warrants further study.  The approval of an initiation request would allow a formal application to be submitted to further assess the merits of the proposed General Plan Amendment request.  The approval of an initiation does not commit the City Council to approve the General Plan Amendment request, nor any specific project proposal.  Submittal of a General Plan Amendment and Rezoning applications require payment of fees totaling over $9,000 and subsequent hearings by the Planning Commission and City Council.

The following General Plan goals, policies and action statements in the Land Use and Transportation Element relate to this proposed General Plan Amendment request:

Policy N1.1

Protect the integrity of the City’s neighborhoods; whether residential, industrial or commercial.

Action Statement N1.1.1

Limit the intrusion of incompatible uses and inappropriate development into city neighborhoods.

Policy N1.2

Require new development to be compatible with the neighborhood, adjacent land uses and the transportation system.

Action Statement N1.2.1

Integrate new development and redevelopment into existing neighborhoods.

Policy C2.3

Maintain lower density residential development areas where feasible.

Action Statement C2.3.2

Promote and preserve single-family detached housing where appropriate and in existing single-family neighborhoods.

Policy C2.4

Determine appropriate density for housing based on site planning opportunities and proximity to services.

Action Statement C2.4.2

Locate lower density housing in proximity to existing lower density housing.

Policy N1.2

Require new development to be compatible with the neighborhood, adjacent land uses and the transportation system.

Action Statement N1.2.1

Integrate new development and redevelopment into existing neighborhoods.

Action Statement N1.2.2

Utilize adopted City design guidelines to achieve compatible architecture and scale for renovation and new development in Sunnyvale’s neighborhoods

Policy N1.4

Preserve and enhance the high quality character of residential neighborhoods.

Action Statement N1.4.1

Require infill development to complement the character of the residential neighborhood.

DISCUSSION

The applicant is proposing to change the General Plan designation from Low Density Residential to Low Medium Density Residential to allow the subdivision of the existing one lot into two lots.  The applicant proposes to maintain the existing home facing Central Avenue on one lot and to build a new residence on the resulting new second parcel that would face Olive Avenue.  Although both General Plan designations allow single-family detached residences, the primary difference is that the requested Low Medium Density Residential designation allows smaller lot/home developments.  If approved, the applicant could follow up with a rezoning application and a subdivision application.  The new home would require design review.

The primary issue regarding this General Plan Amendment request is the impact the potential amendment and subsequent related applications will have on the development character of the existing neighborhood.  

A survey of the lot map of the area shows that the neighborhood along Olive Avenue, specifically west of Central Avenue where the subject site is located, was historically developed for larger lots and custom homes in the 1950s.  The lots located on the west side of Central Avenue are significantly larger than the 6,000 minimum lot size of the R-0 Zoning District, averaging 8,000 square feet in size.  Each of the homes has been constructed with distinct design differences (see Attachment C, map). 

In contrast, the lots to the north and on the east side of Central Avenue were subdivided into smaller lots, all less than 6,000 square feet in size and built as smaller tract homes that were typical in the 1950s.   There is a distinct difference in lot sizes between the two adjacent neighborhoods.  The subject site is more related by location to the large-lot neighborhood on Olive Avenue.

The applicant’s proposal would potentially create two lots that are less than 6,000 square feet in size.  The proposed subdivision would create significantly smaller lots in a block where the average lot size exceeds 8,000 square feet, creating an inherent incompatibility for the larger lot size character of the neighborhood.  The lot size would also result in smaller homes due to the lot coverage maximum, which is also out of character.  The following tables illustrate the lot sizes and patterns of the project site and surrounding area.

Lots on the west side of Central Avenue, along Olive Avenue

Lots to the north and on the east side of Central Avenue

The applicant states that his request should be approved because it is consistent with City policy based on the City Council’s recent decision to approve a General Plan Amendment application 2005-0609, for 926 S. Wolfe Road.   Staff compared this application to the subject proposal and determined that the rationale used to approve the amendment for 926 S. Wolfe Road does not apply to the project site. 

The applicant for 926 S. Wolfe Road requested a General Plan Amendment to change the General Plan Designation from Low Density Residential to Low Medium Density Residential for a 22,463 square foot lot.  This application was approved by City Council because the proposed change would continue the development pattern of the existing neighborhood.  The 22,463 square foot site was the only remaining large lot in the area and the resulting lot pattern would be similar to the surrounding neighborhood.  The primary reason the subdivision could not occur under the original General Plan designation was because an earlier street dedication and road alignment reduced the lot size slightly below the minimum required for a subdivision for four lots.   

Environmental Status

This action is not considered to be a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because the initiation of a General Plan Amendment study has no possibility of creating a significant environmental impact.  (See CEQA Guidelines Article 5, Section 15601(b)(3))  Appropriate environmental review will be conducted if the General Plan Amendment study is initiated and prior to any recommended action to change or modify the site’s General Plan or Zoning Designation.

FISCAL IMPACT

There is no fiscal impact to the City to either initiate or deny a General Plan Amendment Initiation study.  If Council initiates the study, the applicant will be required to pay all appropriate fees to cover the staff costs of preparing the study.  Should subsequent applications be filed for this project, the appropriate fees will also be required for the processing of those applications.

PUBLIC CONTACT

Notification of the City Council meeting for this item is part of the standard agenda publication.  Property owners in the vicinity of the project site are not sent notices regarding General Plan Amendment initiation hearings.  A copy of the agenda and staff report have been provided to the applicant as well as posted on the City of Sunnyvale website and provided at the reference section of the Sunnyvale Library. 

CONCLUSION

The lot pattern along Olive Avenue is for large lots.  The lot pattern in the neighborhood immediately to the north is for smaller lots.  The project site is located at the corner of Olive Avenue and Central Avenue, and the lot size is similar to the larger lots along Olive Avenue.

ALTERNATIVES

1. Deny the request for the initiation of the General Plan Amendment study for the subject site from Low Density Residential to Low-Medium Density Residential.

2. Authorize the initiation of the General Plan Amendment study for the subject site.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends Alternative 1 denying the requested General Plan Amendment initiation.  The resulting lot pattern would not be compatible with the large-lot neighborhood on Olive Avenue that the project site relates to and does not warrant further study.  Staff does not find this application to be consistent with other recent General Plan Amendment designation approvals that were approved in order to complement neighborhood lot patterns.

Reviewed by:

Trudi Ryan

Planning Officer

Prepared by: Gerri Caruso, Principal Planner

Reviewed by:

Robert Paternoster

Director, Community Development

Approved by:
Amy Chan

City Manager

Attachments

A.     Letter of request from applicant

B.      Conceptual plan for project site

C.     General Plan land use map

D.     Zoning map