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Home My WebLink About740 Crossway Road - Application� .' � . , Helen Tawber �lar�nin�; �ide Ci�y o� Burlingame, Ca. Dear D"nrs. Towber, 6-5-81 KtC�iV�1� � JUf� 8- 1981 CITY OF BURLIN�AM� PLANNING P�PT, I an a�plying to the City of Burlingame for a Variance Permit. I have lived at 740 Crossway Rd. Burlinga.me with my wife and daugh- ter since 9/22/71. _ ',Js lease our 2-bedroom house from Darrel Smith- an attorney�: who live� zn Oregon. The lot is 130' by 50'. Our.•back yard entails over 76' o� the total length. Our nearest neighbor are the Galls who live at 744 Crossway. l�rs Gall has 3-sons and one daughter; Tim, Dennis, Teri, �nd Abbey naw all in their mid twenties�arnd all but Tim are presently living at heme, Mrs Ga11 and her son Derx�.is have been extremely inquisitive about our personal li�res. '�ecently Dennis questioned my ten. Je� r old daughter jus� reVvr�ing from school. He wanted to know what I was do � n� f or. a living. -� . °�r e sids of their house has over 15 v�+indows, 2 skylights, and 2 porcY�es that look directly in�o aur bs.ck yard: See pho �o;� / ��- ;��en we first �noved in ti�ae really were not too botnered by them be- � cause t'r_ere vs�ere 3 large fruit trees and t�r�o large evergree� trees inc�L:�i�g a Go�.s� �e��ood and a�itto�po�u.m. Ths Ga.11s had the red- �vood ti^ee cut �.ov�m. leaving a large opening in�to our yard: The fol3.c�,�uving few years the 3 fruit trees-- ax�ple tree, loauat treer and an a�oricot �ree, all died creating more of a.n opening. Recently a st�ono gust �f wind blew dou�m the 20" pittosporum tree leaving.:�o barrier from the neigh.bor' s�vindows what-so�ever. . If you look at photo�l3�►�,-i'r�you can readily see what I meari with re-- gards to exposure. I built a temporary blind to black their view to my garage. See photo,�'�- g � , Our back porch is re�.11y a sun deek that we loved�sitting on until tre tr�es 1^rere all gone. I had to build another structure to try to regain �ore privacy. See pY�loto� q-to ' The b� redsRrood fence as you can see in the drav��ing and photos does no �ring to block any of= the G?lls• windov�•s and thei�- dri`ve=' way i� a��ro �i�aLely 8. 5" highez• than �y back yard. i�iy fence �vould have to be aL least 6`8.5" to block the view from anyone stanc3ing outsicie in their yard and at least 9' -to black the view from their den �vindows and back porch. See photo~,� �� _ . r.ven at �' the bamboo fence trat I have recently put up, only blocks 1/2 oi i ��ir �e�.roo:� ��rindows 1/4 of the�.r side porch, and r.one of trei�- skylight windo;�s. See proto� /S Their skylight windo�vs oversees our whole yard� bedroom, and bathroo:n. � , ., 2. �ooking out our dining room, bathroom and bedroom rvindows, we see the r.ei�;i�bor's driveN�ay vr'rich as you can see in �hoto�s-� is full of g�.rbage and �.n old dishwasher w'nich has been there sin.ce beiore this past � P�iother' s Day. In pro�oT 18 the neighbor's pet— a Bulldog, is sitting on their voreY�, iach time we go into our back yard or open our bedroom �,vin— dows, the dog sees us and barks. This summ�r we wanted to install a Diatomaceous Ewrth Swi� ing �oal in our back yard. Yie would like to be able to enjoy it without them wonderin.g what we are doing everytime we go out there. In pY��oto.�` jt -�� you see a�other neighbor whose house also overloo'_�s o�r yard. The difference howeyer, is that it daesn't create a problem si� L2 ti�z2 bo �h sha� e a mutual respect for each parties privacy. Tn the ten years that we have lived here, we have only cor�blained t�o the Galls about their dogs barking or defecating on our yard. ':�e have �ever sai� anyt�zing a'aout tneir overbearing curiosity about us or about their bo�rs loud parties, or 'peer cans/firecrackers ir_ our yard, or parking in front of our driveway, or even theix� staring at us as we ce�e a�.� go. N;y v�ife is now 7 months pregnant. She will soon be home all the time 'to eare for the baby. I axn extremely concerneci novr more than ever with regards to the need for privacy. �'�e had to .erect the bamboo fence for cost reasons. It is very ex— pensa.ve for redwood� these day� and the fact that this is not our hor�e, �ve would be paying out o� our pockets for some-trYin� we ca.n' � ov:m, i�ot to ��nvion the fact that the fence by itself is not �,de— qua�e enough for privacy. Their house is too hign and has too �any windows. The obvious answer to this tiroblem is re—planting additional trees to block �heir �ie�v. But it takes �ime for the trees to reach suf— ficien.t size to do the job. In the m�an time some additional con— structi.on has to be made. T pro�ose to put an additional 3' in height on the existing 6' red— wood fence. The material �r�ould be green corru�ated fiberglass. See phot�;�`�9 /��a Th� fene� �vouia r_av� to cover fro� the ba�k oi my house to th� f'ront of their garage approximately 57.5' in length. See photo,� j and drawing for dimensions. The bamboo f ence covers 26* and the existin.g redwood fence covers the remaining 31.5'. In photo��3 you se� my wife holding a Brazilian Penper Tree. It is a fast growing evergre�n and in 4 years it r��ill be large enou�h to cojTer a large portion of the yard.e,the tree can a�tain a hei�ht of - 40' . I planted tr�is tree myself out of my own pocket as �vell zs numerous x�ittosx�orum along the area in question. They are uery dense and can be used as either a hedge or as a tree. In 4 to 5 ye�.rs t�ey will replace the need for any variance that is need d now and the ya�d wi11. be totally secluded againa �lease note that� the �ruit trees that have grown �rild along the redwood fence are very s�arse and they loase there leaves each year. I plan to remove the� as soon as the other trees fill in. �. � ,� , � . . I have also added a plan fax f encing off the � side of our house �vith a b' ba:�.�ao fence t�lat s�vill rur_ parallel to the neighbor's exis ��`. 3� fence. This wiill give us additional privacy so we don't look on to their driveyvay c�rere they �eep their trash. The � 6t foot ience is an anpropriate si.ze because their property and ours ara at the same level. See photo�� ,�'-� � Directi�g my focus to Chapter 25.54 Variances, Seetion 25.54.020. Section �a} Because of the high visibility by the Galls in�o our back yard and by the fact that there ' ' is absolutely no vrhere we can go to obtain any privacy, we are forced to limi� the use of our yard. Section (b) There is no irrmediate alternative to a vari- ance re�;arding our case to maintain privacy and enjoyment in our yard. , Section (c) The r�aterial I plan to use is commonly used every-rrhere. It is manufa.ctured �'nr the use T plan for it. .. that o�' f encir_�; as ��Faell as for additional privacy (height) and as a r��i��. barrier. It is very safe and proroerly ins�alled is attraetive. - Seetion (d) The �ranting of this variance in rio'.w�.y- � vvill create a precedent in the community. The permit in my case is dealing uvi�th ex�rer�e- ly exae�tional circumstance�; the level of the properties are uneven, and a�l the trees : �.n my yard died leaving no natural barriers. The new trees planted will eventually al.levi- ate any need ior maintaining this permi't. Si r ,. .i ' �` � Cli � rd �r�dquist ' �'� � �� $