COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES AGENCY

DATE:

January 9, 2006

BOARD MEETING DATE:

January 31, 2006

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

300 ft. radius

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Marcia Raines, Director of Environmental Services

SUBJECT:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Consideration of a request to revise condition of approval number 20 from case SMN 96-0009 (Minor Subdivision) to allow an existing house to be demolished. Condition number 20 had required the existing home to remain until ten years from the date of recordation of the parcel map for the subdivision (until October 6, 2007). The applicant wishes to revise this condition to allow demolition of the existing home before this date because the house is dilapidated and in poor repair.

RECOMMENDATION

Revise condition of approval number 20 associated with Planning File Number SMN 96-0009. All other conditions of approval would remain as originally approved.

VISION ALIGNMENT

Commitment: The proposed project keeps the commitment of “Offer a full range of housing choices.”

Goal: Number 9, which states: “Housing exists for people of all income levels and for all generations of families.”

Allowing demolition of the existing structure and construction of a new home would provide a safe housing unit that is compatible with the existing neighborhood.

BACKGROUND

Previous Actions

In February of 1997, the Board of Supervisors approved the three-lot subdivision at 999 Menlo Oaks Drive in unincorporated Menlo Oaks by denying an appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval. The Planning Commission had taken the case on appeal from the Zoning Hearing Officer and had added condition of approval number 20 in order to preserve the existing home for a minimum of ten (10) years.

Condition number 20 reads: “The existing home on this property shall not be removed or demolished prior to ten years from date of recordation of the parcel map for this project. Any accessory structures or additions to the existing home shall be designed to conform to the design of the existing building, to the satisfaction of the Planning Director (see Attachment A).” The parcel map was recorded on October 6, 1997, meaning that the existing home is required to remain until October 6, 2007.

History and Proposal

In June of 2005, the applicant contacted Planning staff and asked that this case be reopened and that his request to delete the condition be brought back to the Board of Supervisors for consideration, based on additional information about the condition of the house. On November 16, 2005, staff received a copy of an engineer’s report. The report states that the house “is badly deteriorated,” will not meet current building codes, and should be replaced.

DISCUSSION

Staff recommends that the Board revise condition of approval number 20 as requested by the applicant for the following reasons:

1.

The engineer’s letter documents significant structural problems with the home and recommends its replacement. Building inspection staff conducted a site visit and concurred with the conclusions of the engineer’s letter.

2.

In response to a pre-public hearing notification, staff received only two letters of opposition, as compared to the ten letters received in 2000. The recently received letters are included as Attachments F and G.

FISCAL IMPACT

Allowing the home to be demolished now might result in a small negative fiscal impact with the County Assessor’s office in the short term due to lower assessed value. However, assuming a new home is built, the long-term fiscal impact would be slightly positive due to higher potential assessed value.