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SR-121997-6D c,..rJ DEe 1 6 1997 peD SF KG RES f \plan\share\counc/l\stoas\97tm003 wpd CouncIl Mtg December 16, 1997 Santa Monica, California TO Mayor and City Council FROM CIty Staff SUBJECT" Certification of Statement of Official ActIon for Appeal of the Planning Commission Approval of Vesting Tentative Parcel Map 24847 at 502 Georgina Avenue INTRODUCTION This report transmits for City Council certification the Statement of Official Action for Appeal 97-020 of Planning Commission approval of Vesting Tentative Parcel Map 24847 to allow a two lot subdiVISion of an eXisting 5 acre parcel located In the R1 Single Family Residential Dlstnct at 502 Georgina Avenue On November 25, 1997, the CounCil upheld the appeal and reversed the Planning Commission approval based on the findings and conditions contained In the attached Statement of OffiCial Action BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT The recommendation presented In thiS report does not have any budget or financial Impact RECOMMENDATION It IS respectfully recommended that the City Council approve the attached Statement of OffiCial ActIon 1 to--D DEe f 6 1997 Prepared by Suzanne Fnck, Director of Planning and Community Development Karen Ginsberg, Planning Manager David Martin, Senior Planner Gina SZIIak, Assistant Planner City Planning DIVISion Planning and Commumty Development Department Attachments A: Statement of Official Action 2 CITY OF SANTA MONICA CITY COUNCIL STATEMENT OF OFFICIAL ACTION PROJECT CASE NUMBER Vesting Tentative Parcel Map 24847, Tentative Map 97- 003 LOCATION 502 Georgina Avenue APPLICANT The Pegasus Trust APPELLANT Sohell Alexander Solelmanl CASE PLANNER Gina SZllak, Assistant Planner REQUEST Appeal of the Planning Commission approval for Vesting Tentative Parcel Map 24847 allowing a two lot subdivIsion of an eXisting 5 acre parcel located In the R 1 Single Family Residential Dlstnct at 502 Georgina Avenue CEQA STATUS The proposed subdivIsion IS Categoncally exempt from the provisIons of CEQA pursuant to Class 15 of the State GUidelines In that minor subdivIsions of land creating fewer than four parcels In an urbanized area, speCIfically the R1 Dlstnct, would result In no Significant environmental effect 3 CITY COUNCIL ACTION 11/2o/~7 Date X Appeal upheld, subdivIsion request demed based on the following findings and subject to the conditions below Demed Other EFFECTIVE DATE OF ACTION 11/25/97 Vestlng Tentative Parcel Map 24847, Tentative Map 97-003 EXPIRATION DATE OF ANY PERMITS GRANTED: None Vesting Tentative Parcel Map 24847, Tentative Map 97-003 TENTATIVE PARCEL MAP FINDINGS 1 The proposed map IS not consistent wIth applicable general and specific plans as specified In Government Code Section 65451 and should be denied pursuant to Santa Monica MunicIpal Code SectIon 920 14 040(a) and Government Code Section 66474(a) More specifically, the design or Improvement of the proposed subdiVIsion IS not consistent with Policy 1 10 1 of the Land Use and Circulation Element This policy proVides In relevant part ~Encourage the development of new hOUSing In all eXisting residential districts. while still protecting the character and scale of neighborhoods" ApproVing this parcel map would not be consIstent With this policy based on the follOWing findings (a) The site IS zoned R-1 and IS located Within the Palisades Tract (b) The Palisades Tract was onglnally subdiVided In 1905 and IS a unique and distinctive neighborhood Among ItS special charactenstlcs are 1 00 foot Wide streets, as opposed to the 60 foot to 80 foot Wide streets tYPical for other R1 zoned areas of the City, parcels With 100 feet of street frontage, as opposed to the tYPical R 1 parcel street frontage of 50 feet, 200 foot parcel depths, as opposed to the tYPIcal 1 SO foot deep parcels found throughout most of the City, 40 foot front yard setbacks, as opposed to the 20 foot to 30 foot front yard setbacks In most of the other R1 areas of the City, and parkways and Sidewalks which are on average 25 feet In Width Each of these features have a direct and substantial Impact on the character and scale of the neighborhood 4 (c) The Palisades Tract was designed to accommodate large homes with large yards and It was developed consistent with this design Consequently, the Palisades Tract presently contains large, old homes surrounded by substantial yards and gardens (d) As a result of ItS broad streets and pathways, large lots, old homes, ample yards and gardens, and substantial setbacks, the Palisades Tract proVides more open space than any other reSidential neighborhood In the City (e) The City Itself IS extremely dense with a land area of Just 8 square miles and a population of approximately 90,000 people Moreover, the combination of an ocean Side location, fine climate, vigorous economy and urban facIlities, services and entertainment venues make the City an extremely deSirable place to work or viSIt Consequently, on any weekday, approximately 200,000 persons are present In the City, and on weekends, thiS number frequently climbs to 400,000 or more Population denSity and congestion both present threats to the quality of life In the City Given the City's denSity, the Palisades Tract and the open space It prOVides are a unique asset to the CIty (f) Between 1947 and the early 1970's, a number of subdiVIsions of the parcels occurred In the Palisades Tract These lot splits were approved administratively as a matter of right In 1976, the City Council adopted Ordinance 1024 whIch repealed the nght to subdIVIde lots as a matter of fight and required public notice of a vanance application to approve lot splits under certain conditions In 1984, the City Council adopted Ordinance 1294 to Implement the State SubdiVISion Map Act and require Planning Commission approval of subdiVIsion requests Since 1976, no lot spilt has been approved In the Palisades Tract Consequently, more than fifty percent of the on91nal100 foot parcels In the Palisades Tract are still Intact and the anginal character and scale of the tract has been maintained However, the loss of any additional 100 foot parcels would adversely and Irrevocably serve to change the character and scale of the Palisades Tract RedUCing lot Width from 100 feet to 50 feet would reduce the required sldeyard setback by 50%, resulting In less open space between homes and greater development denSity Additionally, redUCing an eXisting 100 foot Wide parcel mto two 50 foot WIde parcels would be InconsIstent With the onglnal deSign and plan for the character and scale of the Palisades Tract and the resulting development would be out of scale With the majority of the other properties In the neighborhood (g) ThIS dIvergence from the scale and character of the neIghborhood would be even more stnklng given the location of the proposed lot split since the two 50 75 foot Wide parcels which would be created by the proposed map would be narrower than the vast maJonty of the eXisting parcels on Georgina Avenue 2 Based upon the findings of fact specified In Paragraph One above, the proposed 5 ---- map should also be denied pursuant to Santa Momca Municipal Code Section 920 14 040(d) and Government Code Section 66474(d) Since the site IS not physically sUitable for the proposed density of development as a two lot subdiVIsion 3 Based on the findIngs of fact specified In Paragraph One above, the proposed map should further be demed pursuant to Santa Monica Municipal Code SectIOn 92014 040(h) Since the proposed subdiVIsion IS InconsIstent with Santa Momca Municipal Code Section 9 04 08 02020 which provides In relevant part that "the R1 District serves to maintain and protect the eXisting character of the residentIal neighborhood" VOTE Ayes Ebner, Feinstein, Genser, Greenberg, Holbrook, Rosenstein Nays Abstam' Absent O'Connor NOTICE If thiS IS a final deCISion not subject to further appeal under the City of Santa Monica Comprehensive Land Use and Zoning Ordinance, the time Within which Judicial review of thIS deCISIon must be sought IS governed by Code of CIVIl Procedure SectIon 10946, which prOVIsion has been adopted by the City pursuant to MUniCipal Code Section 1 16 010 I hereby certify that this Statement of Official Action accurately reflects the final determination of the City Council of the City of Santa Monica. '--- "\ -----... ~ "'--"-'---' \, .jCw 0..-1- ~ C\-~I t~'1 f ~>-' '-U Mana Stewart , Date City Clerk F \PLAN\SHARE\COUNCIL\STOAS\97TM003 WPD 6