REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Action on Rezone and Variance for the property located at 130 Serena Way
Report
BACKGROUND
The property owner of 130 Serena Way, George Tsai, is requesting that his property be rezoned from the A-Agricultural Zoning District to the R1-6L Single Family zoning district and that a Variance be granted to the property for deviations from the R-1-6L Zoning District development standards including allowance for a two foot and two inch side yard setback on the north side of the property. For the north side of the property a three foot side yard setback is normally required and allowance for an existing 648 square foot detached garage when 480 square feet is the maximum allowed for a detached accessory building.
The property was annexed into the City in 1969 from the County, and assigned the A - Agricultural zoning designation upon annexation. A 1974 City-initiated rezoning was never acted upon and the property has retained the A - Agricultural zoning designation.
DISCUSSION
The property owner is requesting the rezoning to facilitate the long-term use of the site as a single family residence consistent with neighboring uses, and to allow future expansion of the existing residence and construction of an accessory dwelling unit. The City's practice is to require issuance of a Variance in cases where an action initiated by the property owner, such as the requested rezoning, would result in a non-conforming condition. The degree of non-conformance (e.g., a setback 10 inches less than the requirement and an accessory structure 168 square feet larger than the maximum) exceeds the 25% variation from the Zoning Code that may be approved administratively and thus requires approval of a Variance by the Planning Commission or City Council. Although the variance was approved by the Planning Commission, the variance needs to be approved with the rezoning, and the rezoning must be approved by City Council. Staff determined that the proposed r...
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