Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

to the planning commission meeting. Today's February 17th. We have a quorum, so we are going to go ahead and start. We are expecting um Commissioner Deming, but we'll go ahead and get started. Welcome. Before we start, I'm going to read the city of Lafayette indigenous land acknowledgement. We acknowledge that Lafayette is part of the unseated ancestral homeland of the Bay Miwok people. The Bay Miwok and neighboring Aloney people have lived in and moved through this place for thousands of years. They stewarded and shaped this land for hundreds of generations. We express our appreciation and gratitude for this profound legacy which enhances and contributes to our lives to this day. We will strive to honor this land and strengthen our ties with the indigenous communities that continue to live and work in our East Bay region as our neighbors and community members. We acknowledge and honor them and their ancestors, elders, and next seven generations. Um, for tonight's meeting, if you would like to join online, there's ways to do it listed on the agenda. And I'll go ahead and take roll call. Uh, Commissioner Mason,

present. Commissioner Leange, present. Commissioner Deorgio, present. And I'm here. Thank you. Um, adoption of the agenda. Can I get a motion to adopt tonight's agenda? So move second. All in favor? I I all oppose. Uh public comments. So this is for an opportunity for members of the public who would like to provide public comment but for an item not on tonight's agenda. Okay. And do we have any online? We have no hands raised.

Okay. Consent calendar item number six, uh, December 15, 2025 draft meeting minutes. Can I get a recommendation to approve? I move that we approve the December 15th, 2025 draft meeting minutes. Second. All in favor? I I

Okay, thank you. Continue public hearing. We have none. Item eight on our agenda is new public hearings. So tonight's item um I will just remind you if you would like to speak tonight, please fill out a speaker card and you can hand it to staff. Um so this is for item AA HDP39-25 LLR06-25 Spring Hill Road Trust and LR-10 Zoning. So I'll turn it over to staff. Thank you, chair. My name is Nicole Ziddle. I am the um project planner for this phase 1 hillside development permit and lot line revision at 3535 and 3533 Spring Hill Road. Um before I get into the presentation, just wanted to touch on um what a phase one hillside development permit is. And what that does is it analyzes the sighting and massing of proposed development on a vacant lot and is reviewed by the planning commission. Um following a phase one, there is a phase two hillside development permit which analyzes the final design and site impacts of the project and that is reviewed by the design review commission for the lot line revision. Because this is two vacant lots um the hearing body to act on it is the planning commission. Hence our meeting tonight. So for some site context um both these parcels are under common ownership. They are in the northern portion of Lafayette. The parcels are accessed off of Spring Hill Road and then further by a private access easement that goes onto 3533. Um, and I'll go into the nature of the

lot line adjustment revision on the next slide. So shown on the screen is a context map and then to the right is showing how the lot line is moving. So in general 3535 which I'm going to refer to as the left parcel it currently is 27.1 acres and is being expanded to 28.8 acres. So a net increase of 1.7 acres. 3533 which is on the right is 16.1 acres and would decrease down to 14.4 acres. So decreasing by 1.7 acres. On the right slide highlighted in blue is the new lot line that is again increasing the size of 3535 to a greater acreage. This lot line adjustment complies with the goals and intent of the lowdensity single family residential zoning designation as well as the rural residential general plan designation. The single family residential land use will persist on the lot and this lot line um revision again will increase the acreage. Both parcels would comply with the development standards of their respective zoning district which is the LR10 zoning district post lotine revision. Now going into the details of the proposed development. Um they're proposing an 8,837 square ft new twostory um single family home highlighted in yellow along with a 1,200 ft detached ADU that's highlighted in blue. The main home um would actually have a maximum height of more around 27 ft high. Um this was clarified after publication of the staff report by the

architect that um 17 is the height of the ADU around 27 is the maximum height of the proposed residence through the lot line revision. This development would comply with the LR10 zoning standards which is a 50ft setback requirement from all property lines in ADU per ADU law is allowed to have a 4ft sideyard setback. Um, and this development would comply, but an ADU is a ministerial review process, so not being acted on by the planning commission tonight. The sighting of the location is in the flattest portion of the 3535 Spring Hill. Um, it's in a previously disturbed area where roughly where a house once was. There is existing screening um of trees, a redwood stand, some oak trees around the parcel that would provide screening of the uh home. This home is also well the configuration of the parcel is also located kind of in a deep canyon. So um very minimal um off-site visibility from the proposed home. In my staff report, I added a condition of approval for um access from 3535 to I'm sorry, 35, excuse me, from 3533 to 3535. So um basically the condition was to make sure that access from that private access easement is in the um deed documents so that that access to the the parcel where the home will be is preserved but the applicant has informed me that they have already um they've already managed that in their deed and title documents. So um just wanted to share that because that condition is pretty much fulfilled um as of today.

In looking at the proposed home and its potential neighbor impact, um the closest home, which is highlighted in blue in both figures, would be 250 ft from in distance from the proposed main home and 150 ft from the ADU. The ADU would be the most visible structure from the closest home. Um but again there an ADU is a ministerial process that does allow for up to 4 feet in sideyard property lines and this ADU is plenty far distance from the property line. So overall the main house is well screened and not highly visible from the closest neighbor. So, in looking at the site sections, this is where we can kind of see how this is a two-story residence, but oftent times presents as a one-story residence. Um, you know, the existing area where the home would be cited is relatively flat, but the home is kind of fitting in with, you know, some of the existing topography and is an optimal location given the um site constraints. And looking at the conceptual elevations of the front and the rear, we can kind of further see how, you know, the home is built into the slope portion of the site and how it complies with residential design guidelines for emphasizing kind of a horizontal um massing structure and appearing not incredibly tall. Um, even though it is a twostory residence, this project was referred to our outside referral agencies and included in the staff report were the comments received from engineering, central sanitation,

East Bay mud municipal utility district and the fire protection district. Um before submitting this application, the applicants reached out and worked with the Contraosta Fire Protection District for an alternative materials and methods that was approved. Um this alternative materials and methods would have the property provide an inground pool with a draft fire hydrant at fire access road in place of having a 16 ft driveway. Condition of approval number eight ensures that um all the all the referral agency comments are incorporated and responded to into the phase 2 submittal. The project was noticed to neighbors within a 500 foot buffer of the sites and posted 10 days in advance of the meetings. Um we did receive two neighbor letters of support. one which was received before publication of the staff report and the second after. Um, apologies for the typo in my staff report. Um, the letter that was intended to be attached was a letter of support from the neighbor at 3601 Spring Hill Road, which is the parcel directly um, I would say southwest of 3535. Um this letter will be uploaded to the agenda tomorrow um pre after this meeting. Um but the applicant has indicated to staff that they have been very vocal in going around the neighborhood and talking with neighbors and getting their input and support on this project. Staff has reviewed the findings and recommends that the planning commission find the project exempt from SQA and adopt planning commission resolution

202601 approving the project subject to conditions. Thank you. Thank you. So ask commissioners are there any clarifying questions for staff? Do you know on the other parcel there's so we have no massing or anything on the other one proposed at this time right? Correct. All of the development is taking place on 3535. 3533 won't have any development on it as part of this one. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Go ahead. Hi. Um condition of approval three removal of story polls. So are the story polls up now or is that part of phase two?

No. So there are currently no story pulls up as part of the phase one. That is just a standard um condition that we add for all phase ones. Um but for the phase two um that's when the story pulls would be erected. And I have one um on page 607 of the staff report. It says that property owners within 500 ft. This is about public notice. 500 ft of the three lots were mailed a notice. What is the third lot? Apologies, that is a typo. Two lots.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. Uh we could welcome the applicants team up if the applicant would like to present. 10 minutes. Hi. Um our clients are actually on Zoom and would like to introduce themselves if that's possible. Can they raise their hand? They did say they were in the waiting room. In a waiting room. They said they were in the the Zoom waiting room. All right. Um if not I can proceed too.

We give it a minute. Can um somebody from the applicant team ensure that they look at the city at the planning commission agenda and use that link? Um it appears that there was a a incorrect link on our calendar.

Yeah. Yeah, if you want to give them a phone call or something, we could just wait a minute. Um, there was an incorrect link on there. Um, where was that? It's on the planning commission agenda. It's on the planning.

I'll email the property owners the correct link. Looks like the host has another meeting in progress. Nicole's gonna email it to you right now. I will put the first part like I'll let you know. Cool. Awesome.

All right. Is it Eric?

Hello. Hello. Hi. Can you hear me? We can. Can you hear us? Yes. Yes. Sorry about that. Oh, we're sorry about that. Um, so we've done so you might have not been able to hear the previous portion so far of this item. So staff gave their presentation and representatives of your team are up here ready to speak. So we're going to just turn it over to you and to your team. Great. Thank you. Okay. Excellent. Thank you. Um, yeah. Hi. Uh, my name is Eric Williams. I'm here with my wife Alia.

Hi. Uh just wanted to introduce ourselves. Um first, sorry we can't be there in person. We were planning on it. We're we're actually stuck in Truckucky right right now, hunkered down with the uh there's a storm and um unfortunately our 5-year-old's a little under the weather, too. So, we had to stay put. Um but um but yeah, thanks for for having us and for reviewing this design. Um we are a family of four. It's me, Aliyah, or my uh son is five and we have a daughter who's um 3 years old. We actually live in uh Lafayette already. We live on Spring Hill, just a couple of houses down from the the lot in question. Uh we've lived there for 2 years and um just love the neighborhood, love the neighbors, and so when we saw this opportunity for this lot, um it was kind of a no-brainer for us to go for it. Uh we're really looking forward to um putting down, you know, roots, even more roots there. Uh we've been working with uh Mike and Scott and Matt from Brana uh and Angelo from CBG and Mark and Marky Becker since actually before we went under contract. Um and we're very happy with this team uh that have have walked us through this process. Uh we're very confident in um in where we are and what they've put together. Um, yeah. I think other than that, I just want to say thanks again for for hosting us. Um, and I'm not sure who maybe Nicole did the first part. Also, thanks to Nicole. I know she's done a lot of good work on this project. Um, other than that, unless there's any questions, uh, I'll hand it back to Marky. Uh, we'll stay on the line if there are any questions for us specifically. Um, but yeah, go ahead. Take otherwise, take it away, Marky.

Thanks, guys. Um, hi, I'm Marky Becker. Uh, my dad and I are the designers on this project, and we've had the pleasure of working with Eric and Alia and the rest of the team for the last couple months getting this together. Um, this site has been great to work with. We're really happy with it. Um, go to the next slide. You can see from the overview, and Nicole touched on a lot of this, that it's an amazing building site and that it's situated in a valley and so all the like main peaks go around it, but the building site itself is relatively flat. It's at the end of a 750 foot long existing driveway. Um, that's that private access that Nicole was talking about going from Spring Hill Road. And so we're really trying to utilize the existing flat portion of the site for the main house, minimize cut and fill, and allow for the house to kind of fade into the background. The thing that the clients love the most about it and us as well is how beautiful it is. And so we would like to try to preserve that naturalness as much as possible. Um, and we've been doing that through working really closely with an amazing landscape team as well. Um, one thing that's a little bit different than what was is not different, there's one more building on the site as well. There's the study. It's up in the top leftand corner. Um, and that is also in that same 3535 property area. Um, as stated before, it's 43 acres in total, over two parcels, and it's relatively protected from the rest of the neighbors other than the ADU, which is going to rely very heavily on the shading of the Redwood Grove and um some additional landscaping as well. And this is kind of nice to see because it's a little bit more 3D. You could see the ridge lines all around it, the flat

area for the building site, and then the ADU in that corner right there. This is the landscape plan that we've been working on. Um, it's been lovely to work with. We're really trying to blend the property into the existing area so it doesn't feel like it's just been pllopped on top of the land. Um, it's one of the main reasons why we've wanted to do a mainly one-story house. It is too in some sections, but as Nicole stated, it's kind of it's kind of submerged a little bit more into the landscape because there's a little bit of a hill right there. And so, we have minimize the cut and fill on this project in general, but we have also tried to keep it as low as we can and kind of spread out over the site without taking up too much of the existing landscape. Um, we have some more some 3D renderings that we've been working on just to kind of give a little bit more depth than the elevations that we originally provided. Here you can see that we are utilizing a fairly natural pallet. Um, we're planning on doing stone, stucco, um, and a slate roof and it's really kind of spread out across the land. Um, you can see this is kind of that hill we're talking about that the second like the basement level is kind of sunk into. So, it does raise up at a certain point and becomes that flat area. This is kind of a mix between an existing image and the new building. So, you can kind of see what's already there and that we're not actually cutting very much at all on the main building site. And as stated before, this is the pallet. um slate roof, wood siding, stucco, stone, and in general, we've been really happy to work with it. We like that we don't have to do a lot of

cut and fill. We've had great rapport with the neighbors so far. Um their main concern has been about drainage and so Angelo can speak to that more. Um but that was the main thing and yeah, we're just very excited to be working on it. Um, please let us know if you have any questions. We have Scott here and Angelo and they're great as well. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Um, I'll open up to commissioners for any questions, but we'll save our discussion for after. So, Commissioner Mason. Uh, yes. I was just hoping you could go into a little bit more about drainage. Yes.

Because that frequently is something that comes totally, Angela. Maybe um if you could pull open the one of the aerial images.

Hi everybody. I'm Angelo Bertello with CBG. We're civil engineers and surveyors working on the project. Um yeah, that actually is a good one to just um to kind of give a first an explanation of the uh existing drainage features that are on the property. Uh so right at the uh the end of the existing 750 ft driveway there that you see there's an existing drainage basin that was installed um as part of prior development, prior house um as well as just management of the property. Um that drainage basin collects a big portion of the watershed that's um funneling into this valley. Uh and then it has a existing uh drainage inlet that leads water, discharges water through an existing um concrete channel that runs through the rear yards of the neighbors that are the three homes uh between the end of the driveway and going to Spring Hill where then it crosses a culvert on Spring Hill. So that's the existing drainage feature. The driveway itself, it it's in a different watershed. it falls towards the west um going towards Spring Hill Road and there's no real proposed um improvement to that. Uh in order to um manage the storm water with the development of the project obviously we're required to meet all current regul storm water regulations. So we'll we've worked with the landscape team to integrate a series of bio retention basins as well as other um swale and um uh check dams with a variety of little holding ponds. So, we're um going to be mitigating the flows that are associated with the development as well as looking to um return or recreate uh some of the swale features that had been disrupted

with some of the prior grading that had occurred on the lot. So we have um at this point we're um we've integrated uh I think in total of five different uh basins that'll do a combination of storm water treatment as well as uh detention to um mitigate any increase to flows before they're discharged from the property. Um so there's it's embedded in the landscape plan that you saw earlier, but um it's a big part of what we're working on right now to make sure that uh there's no increase in flows. I'm happy to answer further questions. Thank you. Any other questions for the applicant team? Commissioner Dorgio.

Hi. Um I I appreciated a letter from the public. Um the um Marie and Ed Bonila talking about um talking with you, you and the teams about drainage and everything. One of the things that occurred to me when I was looking through the gate um and also on Google was I'm my and I'm sure you're you're considering this is the driveway is really close to the houses and so my concern was is the driveway going to be able to sustain a lot of development traffic? You know, will the are you looking at strengthening the driveway uh in addition to the uh the runoff for that? Uh the driveway is currently paved. Um so it's it's in actual decent condition. Um however, we'll have new utilities that need to go up there. So it'll be fully improved. Um right now the d the driveway slopes actually the other direction from the neighbors. It slopes back towards the hill where it runs along a little um ditch at the bottom of the of the driveway. Um it'll be collected and managed as well. Uh there is some existing drainage features that we reviewed with the neighbors that seem to perform u maybe could perform a little better and so we talked through that with them and how there could um be some improvement that's done with the um improvement to the driveway. So we are factoring that in as well.

Um just general ones not so much on uh on drainage. Um I I know when you go through DRC they'll get more into the design and this isn't really our purview but just given where we are in the world you mentioned wood siding. How does that work in a firep prone area?

There are ways to do a um one hour or um I forgot how many hour fire rated wood siding wall. A lot of it has to do with having the correct backing. Um, we're also looking into thermally modified materials which are less combustible than just regular wood siding. And they've been really successful for us when we've been working up in the mountains. We've done quite a few projects recently in WOOI areas where we've had to provide um the correct building structure for all of those things to occur. So, a lot of it has to do with what's behind the wood and then also making sure that that wood is relatively strong and non-combustible.

Okay. Yeah. I know if I were there, I'd want to be very sure. Yeah. My second question is, is there any plan for the other parcel? It's the same owner, right? Owner. And and because it seems like I was trying to look just on my my map that has a little 3D element. This really is the only real flat. Although there is some up on the ridge as you go. I guess that's west I think.

Yeah. Where you say ridge line on the right side there. I'm not positive where the parcel edge is, but because it it seemed like you could have put that in either parcel, right? because you moved the line one way or the other to because it went right through the middle. I it's not our purview as well, but they could just keep it undeveloped, but I'm just curious if there's any plan for that. There is no plan to develop that area. No, or or the other parcel the other parcel. Okay. All right. That's my That's it. Thank you. Thank you.

Go ahead. Just to follow up, I think with the overriding concern is we want to make sure we're not doing anything here which would jeopardize the next parcel of course and they're coming and you guys come back in and ask, hey, you know, we need a favor. We need to ask for this variance and that variance because it's the only option. Yeah, of course. The staff report does speak to I think staff correct. The staff report speaks to the fact that both parcels could be developed based on even after this proposed law split and still meet the requirements for the R10. That's correct. Okay.

What wasn't that on just the the area of each parcel, not necessarily its developability?

Yes. So, yes and yes. So after the lot line adjustment, it would comply with lot size, required lot width and lot depth. Um so in the LR10 zoning districts, it's a minimum of 10 acres. In the um the other parcel not being developed with I think it would be like 14 acres with, you know, a required 50 foot setback from all property lines. So we did kind of a staff did a rough analysis and was able to find that there could be a development on that parcel that would meet the setback requirements. Okay. Well, I I guess I think what Commissioner Mason said is a good point. Not that that's what they're doing, but we have been here long enough, a few of us, to see these splits happen and then sometimes they get sold off and then the next group says, "I'm kind of screwed here." And so I I don't know how we would uh perfect that comment, but I think it should because I would hate for these folks to, you know, devalue the future if that's what they want. But if, you know, they can do whatever they want, it's their property. Um, but if the next group come in comes in and asks for a favor, we've made it clear that at this point, you know, unless it's a, you know, I mean, sometimes variances make sense, but it shouldn't be one that was the cause of this, I guess, is what I'm saying. And I I don't want to prejudice anyone, but we've just seen this happen. not that exact thing, but the second time coming in and being forced to ask for things that if we thought about in the first place, we probably wouldn't be being asked that. So, anyways, good point.

Okay. Any other questions for the applicant team? Okay. Um, if we want to open up to public comment, so if you're in the room and you would like to speak, if they'll allow a speaker card and then if anyone's online. All right. Um, I do have a speaker card for Carlos Roy. You will have three minutes to speak. Uh, thank you. U, my name is Carlos Roy. I've lived on Spring Hill Road for 7 and a half years. As you know, Spring Hill Road from Goyak to the Girl Scout camp is very narrow. So any major construction project like this one does raise questions that I just want to be sure that the planning commission and the city are considering and working to mitigate. I also want to be sure that the scope creep complications and errors with setbacks made in previous projects in our neighborhood such as the major project at the end of the culdesac at Spring Hill Lane do not arise in this project. Uh as I understand it, Mark Becker, who is overseeing this project, also oversaw that one. My main questions focus on the road itself, traffic considerations, staging and parking, and the potential for scope creep. Number one, what plans are in place for protection of the road integrity given the inevitable number of large construction trucks entering and exiting, especially given that, as I understand it, road work is soon to be completed to repair the section of Spring Hill Road from Goyak to Spring Hill Lane. There's still significant damage in front of the major project that was completed at 3577 Spring Hill. Uh the road is in horrible condition uh at that spot and I have no idea what the plans are to repair that from a past project. Number two, who will be responsible for road repair should it be needed during or after the project? Number three, where will staging take place for construction vehicles in this project? This has been a major problem

in our neighborhood for prior such projects and even for smaller projects. It creates a crowded and dangerous situation for the elderly neighbors and children in the neighborhood. Uh as well as the potential for an emergency evacuation situation. The when those big trucks come in and park, there is no parking in the neighborhood. So I'm very very curious where staging is going to take place for a project like this. Number four, will dirt dug out for the project remain on site or will it be trucked out? That's also a consideration for the roads. And lastly, as part of the project, is any work planned at the owner's current home at 3540 Spring Hill Road? And I only asked this um I know that Commissioner Radnich asked about the three lots, but the staff report that was given tonight referred to all three projects. So, I'm curious uh if there's any work being planned at 3540. Thank you.

Thank you. And I'm sure the applicants team was taking note of some of those to be able to speak, but we'll see if there's any other comments online. We do have one hand raised for Doug Zazio. Doug, you should be able to unmute now. Perfect. I'm good. Appreciate it. Thank you for your time, everybody. You assume you can hear me. Yes, we can hear you.

Great. Uh Doug Del, I'm at 3541 Spring Hill. We are the My wife Kelly and I are the closest neighbors to this project. Um we have been in this situation for 27 years. Um and so very familiar with the location, the history. Um perhaps we are the keeper of history of this this part of the valley. Um our our just to start off with Eric and Leah have been great neighbors. They've been very forthcoming about what they're planning, what they're trying to do to be inclusive. Um I think overall my wife Kelly and I would would love for this plot to never have a house there, but this is perhaps the best of our worst situation. So we're we're very happy to to welcome him and Erica Leah to be close to us from a standpoint from a location. I think the last point raised a little bit about the road conditions and staging because we are a narrow road. We are private at the point where it does come up onto Spring Hill. So previously when there have been road conditions, we've had to raise funds amongst ourselves. This is not a city of Lafayette concern. This has also not been we've been told many times a city of Lafayette concern for drainage. So we are very very self-reliant on that and as an example given had we had a heavier rain today I probably would have been up on that property mucketing uh streams and things. So drainage is a big concern. I will say that again Eric and Angelo and the team have been very very open and Mark about trying to accommodate what has happened where water goes and how it flows. So I'm also very openly excited about the fact that we will get a better drainage situation that things will mitigated and I do feel like they're

listening to us at this point in time. So, we're from that said, and we've got some concerns, but I feel like they're listening to what our concerns are at this point in time, having neighbors that have flooded out and had prior issues. So, but overall, we're happy we have the project going. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Are there any other speakers? There are no more hands raised.

Okay. Uh this would be an opportunity for the applicants team if you would like to speak to any of the items that were brought up um about balancing the dirt staging location. Um it sounds like there's curiosity for road maintenance, road repairs. Um yes. Hi, I'm uh Scott Smeigielski with Brana Development, excuse me. Um so speaking to the road repairs, our standard practice before we start a project like this is to document the road condition. Um so we physically go take pictures, video of the road leading into the project and if there is damage done, we're responsible for making the needed repairs. It's kind of as simple as that. It's just a visual look at the road before and we know the trucks are heavy and they can cause damage. I mean, we work in Lafayette often and that's our standard practice. So, um, speaking to staging, the property is big. So, once you're back in the actual property, we have a lot of room to work and move and stage material. So, from that standpoint, I think that's going to be kind of the plan. We haven't developed a construction plan quite yet. Um, it's still pretty new on how we would do it, but we would certainly take advantage of the size of the property once you're back within the actual footprint of where we'll be building. Um, and then also too, when we build in Lafayette, and concrete typically is the biggest kind of truck after truck after truck. Um we we do there's spots in Lafayette that we do stage concrete trucks knowing that we're going to have a lot of trucks coming in a certain day. So there's certain areas that are zoned and we use frequently for that type of situation.

Then I think uh cut and fill I don't know the final quantities yet. Maybe Angelo can speak to that. Yeah, the um current grading design has a balanced earthwork that's uh I think it's actually in the staff report for,00 yards cubic yards of um cut and fill. So right now we're projecting a balanced earthwork. Um certainly materials will need to come and go um but the earth moving part is um targeting to have a balanced operation.

Okay. Thank you. Um just going through my notes because since we have already collected public comment, I'm just going to try to go through my notes to see if there's anything else that I remember the commenter touching on and then I'll open it up. Um yeah, one sec. Uh something else we heard just to kind of start your thought process is traffic. Um, so I think that was it. Traffic and then Commissioner Mason. Yes. I just uh one thing that kind of gets lost sometimes in all this is first of all I find the more you talk to the neighbors the better off you are. But the concern is with traffic is not just parking, road noise. It's making sure, you know, it's safe around little kids. You know, kids going to school, riding their bikes, and, you know, some of the big trucks can't see, can't hear, or whatever. So, anything you can do and that's something that is best handled between you and the neighbors so you can find out when there might be more concerns and uh deal with them approp appropriately and not have to constantly run back everybody running back and forth to the city to referee. Thank you.

Okay. Um, anything else from staff? We're good. Um, I can in regards to the public comment, I can offer one kind of clarifying point. Um, I think it was brought up the what's going on at what would potentially be going on at the property owner's current home because of mention of three projects. And I think that relates to um, Chair Ratinich's your earlier question about um, noticing to three parcels, but that was a typo and it only encompasses the two parcels, not three. So, as far as staff is aware, nothing going on on the property owner's current parcel.

So, any other developments, redevelopments for an existing parcel or the parcel that's not currently included tonight, but is part of the lot line would all be separate application down the road, if ever. Correct. Great. Thank you. Okay. Uh then we'll close public comment. We'll bring it to the planning commission for discussion. Anybody want to start? I'll start. Great.

Um, I think this is a really u wonderful looking project. I know we're focused primarily on two portions, the hillside development and also the um the lot line adjustment. In both of those instances, I I'm I can make findings for those two portions.

Thank you, Commissioner Leange. Um, I can make the findings. Um, I think we asked the right questions. I appreciated what plan commissioner Mason added to the to the record about the future if the future comes with the other parcel. Uh, it's nice to hear from applicants and neighbors that they've talked. We've had our share when they don't. Sometimes they meet for the first time in this room. So, I'm glad and I would suggest you guys talk too because there's some concerns. So, I'm ready to make I'm ready to vote whenever we're ready. Commissioner Mason,

uh I too can make the uh support the findings. Uh I think the I don't want to use the word challenges because that's too strict, but the areas of runoff and things like that everybody is aware of and uh they'll be dealt uh precisely. Although one thing I will throw in there, although it is not our concern at this stage, uh the city gets very very particular when you cut down oak trees and it's a heavily heavily heavily forested uh site and cut down redwood trees. So I would be prepared for those at the next phase for those challenges to appear and think through how you're going to approach it. Um, and obviously that would although you're not dealing with the the adjacent parcel, that would come up on there, too. But I I can support it. And uh although we're not I'm not we're not design review, I think you picked a good house for the lot. Thank you.

Thank you. Um I can also make the findings. I think this is a beautiful project. I think a lot of thought went into it. I appreciate the communication with the neighbors and actually listening to the concerns of the neighbors to not only make it a great project for the property owner but also for the community. Um we're looking at the siding. I think it is the best location and again I think a lot of thought clearly went into it. I can make the findings for both components tonight. So I will take a motion. Anyone would like to make a motion? I propose that we find the project exempt from SQA, adopt PC resolution 2026-01 approving the project subject to conditions. I'll second that.

All in favor? I. All opposed? None. Uh the item does pass. There is a 14-day appeal. Um but thank you. Okay, moving on on the agenda. Um, that was item 8A. Item nine, other business, ARC volunteer for virtual meeting on Friday the 27th at 9:30. I I'm willing to do that.

Thank you. Item 10, commissioners reports. Any any reports? No. Okay. Planning director's report. Item 11.

Yes. Thank you, chair. Um Stephanie Svantes, assistant planning director. Just uh want to remind the commissioners and anyone in the public that we will have a joint meeting on Monday, February 23rd with the design review commission. It will be downstairs in the um I'm blanking on the name of that room, but it will be down the arts and science room. Thank you. Um and we will be discussing the project at 949 Moraga um during that joint meeting between DRC and planning commission. Is that 700 p.m.? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Um anything else? Okay. Meeting is adjourned. Thank you everybody.