HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - PC - 2023.04.10BURLINGAME CITY HALL
501 PRIMROSE ROAD
BURLINGAME, CA 94010
City of Burlingame
Meeting Minutes
Planning Commission
7:00 PM Council Chambers/OnlineMonday, April 10, 2023
1. CALL TO ORDER - 7:00 p.m. - Council Chambers/Online
The meeting was called to order at 7:13 p.m. Staff in attendance: Community Development Director Kevin
Gardiner, Planning Manager Ruben Hurin, Senior Planner Catherine Keylon, and Assistant City Attorney
Scott Spansail.
2. ROLL CALL
Horan, Gaul, Comaroto, Lowenthal, Pfaff, and SchmidPresent6 -
TseAbsent1 -
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Chair Gaul and Commissioner Schmid noted that they were not present at the March 27, 2023 meeting,
but watched the video and feel comfortable participating in the vote.
The following corrections were made:
March 13, 2023 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes, Page 6; second line from the top of the page :
change "pages support it" to "pages don't support it".
Vice Chair Pfaff made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Lowenthall, to approve the
meeting minutes. The motion carried by the following vote:
Aye:Horan, Gaul, Comaroto, Lowenthal, Pfaff, and Schmid6 -
Absent:Tse1 -
a.Draft March 13, 2023 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
Draft March 13, 2023 Planning Commission Meeting MinutesAttachments:
b.Draft March 27, 2023 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
Draft March 27, 2023 Planning Commission Meeting MinutesAttachments:
4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Community Development Director Gardiner noted that Item 8c - 1409 Chapin Avenue and Item 9a - 1212
Bernal Avenue have been continued and will not be reviewed this evening.
5. PUBLIC COMMENTS, NON-AGENDA
There were no Public Comments.
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April 10, 2023Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
6. STUDY ITEMS
There were no Study Items.
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
There were no Consent Calendar Items.
8. REGULAR ACTION ITEMS
a.1205 Mills Avenue, zoned R-1- Application for Design Review and Special Permit for a
second floor balcony for a new, two -story single-unit dwelling and detached garage. The
project is Categorically Exempt pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA), per Section 15303 (a). (John Mabe, JM3 Design, designer; Nitin Handa,
applicant, RRP Homes, LLC, property owner) (83 noticed) Staff Contact: Fazia Ali
1205 Mills Ave - Staff Report
1205 Mills Ave - Attachments
1205 Mills Ave - Plans
Attachments:
All Commissioners have visited the project site. Commissioner Comaroto was recused from this item for
financial reasons. Community Development Director Gardiner provided an overview of the staff report.
Chair Gaul opened the public hearing.
John Mabe and Nitin Handa represented the applicant and answered questions about the application.
Public Comments:
>Public comment submitted via email by Kitisak Larlarb and Kali Taylor, 1209 Mills Avenue: We are
residents and owners of 1209 Mills Avenue and would like to comment on the Special Permit for the 2nd
floor balcony at 1205 Mills. As next door neighbors to this property, we feel the addition of a balcony
would impact our quality of life since a balcony reduces the privacy between us and the newly developed
home. We have enjoyed over 20 years of backyard barbeques and family gatherings without the worry of
neighbors looking down into our backyard. However, with a balcony that would change dramatically .
Having been through the recent pandemic, I think we all can appreciate how valuable having outdoor
private space is and the premium it commands in terms of property value. In addition, on this side of the
block, all the houses on this row, none of them have a balcony. We believe a Special Permit would not be
consistent with the four other houses on this side of the block, specifically 1201 Mills, 1209 Mills, 1213
Mills and 1217 Mills. Finally, please consider this: the developer is going to move on after they sell this
home, while we will have to live with the consequences of lack of privacy forever. Please help us maintain
the privacy we have enjoyed for over 20 years and disallow the 2nd floor balcony.
Chair Gaul closed the public hearing.
Commission Discussion/Direction:
>The comments from the last couple of meetings have been addressed and the project looks a lot
better as a result. I am not a fan of second floor balconies myself, but they have met all the criteria and
the setback on the right side is more than the minimum required. I am inclined to approve this project.
>It appears that the landscape plan is providing vegetation to block any view from that side to the
neighbor’s side so that mitigates the issue.
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April 10, 2023Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
>I completely understand the concern and not a fan of the second floor balconies, but we did pull this
project just for the benefit of the neighbor. This is really a better version of what it used to be which varied
in sizes. The applicant has made an effort with evergreens, to put plants in. Strongly recommend to the
neighbor to put in more plants on their own side. It looks better and it mitigates the noise as well.
Commissioner Horan made a motion, seconded by Vice Chair Pfaff, to approve the application.
The motion carried by the following vote:
Aye:Horan, Gaul, Lowenthal, Pfaff, and Schmid5 -
Absent:Tse1 -
Recused:Comaroto1 -
b.1205 Howard Avenue, zoned HMU - Application for Commercial Design Review for a
second floor addition and facade improvements to an existing two -story mixed-use
building. The project is Categorically Exempt from review pursuant to the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), per Section 15301(e)(2). (Stanford Chiang, CM
Construction, applicant and designer; Anna Chan, property owner) (75 noticed) Staff
Contact: Catherine Keylon
1205 Howard Ave - Staff Report
1205 Howard Ave - Attachments
1205 Howard Ave - Plans
Attachments:
All Commissioners have visited the project site. Senior Planner Keylon provided an overview of the staff
report.
Chair Gaul opened the public hearing.
Richard Terrones, designer, represented the applicant and answered questions regarding the application.
Public Comments:
>There were no public comments.
Chair Gaul closed the public hearing.
Commission Discussion/Direction:
>Would like to see a landscape plan to show that shrubs are placed at the bottom of the new stairs
landing.
>On the left elevation, consider dropping the dark brown piece to the bottom of the window to align with
the window to the left by the stairwell.
>The project looks great. Appreciate what the applicant has done in response to the comments we ’ve
had. The front of the building looks remarkably different and better. I like the louvers on the windows, they
are a neat detail. The windows look much better and more aligned. I like the difference in materials,
depth, and heights. It hits the modern theme of the street. Unfortunately, some of the other boxed
buildings are not as interesting as this. It adds a lot of interest, and I am in favor of this project.
>I appreciate the changes as well. The whole package looks a lot more thought of and consistent all
the way through. I would not lower the wood; I like the half window on the left because it gives you
unintentional shading to some degree. If you lower it, you will have to lower too much to hit anything
appreciable and then it will get in the way of other things. I appreciate the new entry. I did not feel that the
old bricks there were working with the new design intent. I like the project and appreciate the extra effort
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April 10, 2023Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
put into the drawings.
>Nice job; it was like day and night. It is not a deal breaker, but I am very interested in proportions, you
might just want to fiddle with that. I may not know enough about construction, particularly with the
aluminum product, I can see how this may look cool with the windows on the left side, but it would be sad
for it to just be cut off. There was a flashing at the top that was shown on the rendering, it would be nice
to be painted the same color to make it feel more complete. I really appreciate the improvements made.
Chair Gaul made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Schmid, to approve the application with
the following added condition.
>that prior to issuance of a building permit, the applicant shall submit an FYI application for
Planning Commission review of a landscape plan.
The motion carried by the following vote:
Aye:Horan, Gaul, Comaroto, Lowenthal, Pfaff, and Schmid6 -
Absent:Tse1 -
c.1409 Chapin Avenue, zoned CAC - Application for a Master Sign Program for a sign
above the ground floor and to exceed allowable sign area on an existing commercial
building. The project is Categorically Exempt from review pursuant to the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), per Section 15311 (a) of the CEQA Guidelines. (Nick
Ford, Golden Gate Sign Co. Inc., applicant and sign designer; Cullinane Trust, et. al.,
property owner) (102 noticed) Staff Contact: Ruben Hurin
This application has been continued at the request of the applicant.
9. DESIGN REVIEW STUDY
a.1212 Bernal Avenue, zoned R-1 - Application for Design Review for a first and second
floor addition to an existing single -unit dwelling with an attached garage. (Elaine Lee,
Elaine Lee Design, applicant and designer; Monica Seaney and Sergey Sokolov,
property owners) (66 noticed) Staff Contact: Brittany Xiao
This application has been continued for further review by Planning Division staff
10. COMMISSIONER’S REPORTS
There were no Commissioner's Reports.
11. DIRECTOR REPORTS
Community Development Director Gardiner noted that at April 3, 2023 City Council meeting, there was an
overview presentation of the Town Square project. We are now in the construction document phase which
is the last design phase before construction commences. The presentation is available in video format;
the presentation slides are available at www.burlingame.org/townsquare.
12. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
No Future Agenda Items were suggested.
13. ADJOURNMENT
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April 10, 2023Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
Notice: Any individuals who require special assistance or a disability-related modification or
accommodation to participate in this meeting, or who have a disability and wish to request an alternative
format for the agenda, meeting notice, agenda packet or other writings that may be distributed at the
meeting, should contact Ruben Hurin, Planning Manager, by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, April 10, 2023 at
rhurin@burlingame.org or 650-558-7256. Notification in advance of the meeting will enable the City to
make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting, the materials related to it, and
your ability to comment.
Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the Planning Commission regarding any item on
this agenda will be made available for inspection via www.burlingame.org/planningcommission/agenda
or by emailing the Planning Manager at rhurin@burlingame.org. If you are unable to obtain information
via the City's website or through email, contact the Planning Manager at 650-558-7256.
An action by the Planning Commission is appealable to the City Council within 10 days of the Planning
Commission's action on April 10, 2023. If the Planning Commission's action has not been appealed or
called up for review by the Council by 5:00 p.m. on April 20, 2023, the action becomes final. In order to
be effective, appeals must be in writing to the City Clerk and must be accompanied by an appeal fee of
$745.00, which includes noticing costs.
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