HomeMy WebLinkAboutCED 131 Valley View Avenue Appeal - Appellant PPT131 Valley View
Appeal of Reasonable
Accommodation Approval
Appellants’ Presentation
Plans Are Inherently Deficient
•Parties agree the ADU shown on approved Plans has not been approved despite language in Resolution
•Without ADU, there is no support for Master addition
•Not an approvable, complete Plan
•With ADU (or ADU will be built within 3 years), it’s a “substantial remodel” and fire code kicks in, and house must be fire hardened
•Plans with ADU add roughly 1,000 square feet to a 1,400 square foot home, meeting the definition of “substantial remodel” and triggering fire hardening retrofit (SRMC 4.08.120)
•If Applicants build the proposed ADU within 3 years, it’s a “substantial remodel” and construction must be upgraded
The Requested Accommodations Have No
Nexus to Mobility Disability
•Bay Window and 15 x 18 Dining Space Have No Nexus
to Disability; should go through regular design review
•Even reducing dining room to still generous dimensions
increases side setbacks significantly, improving fire
safety for adjacent home
Properties are Close Already and Would Get
Closer
Neighbors
Tried to Meet
and Confer
Example by Michael
Rex
Improved Design,
Less Expensive
Inherent Gap in Accessibility –
Main Living Floor Where Accommodations Are
Requested is Not Accessible
•Covered Front Patio and Enlarged Master Bedroom and Bathroom
are reasonable, except that they are not accessible from
driveway/garage
•Steep, nonconforming stairs externally and internally not changed to
increase mobility
•No request for elevator, ramp, or other mode of enhancing accessibility of
main living floor
Harm to Neighbors –Fire Safety is Not An
Individual Effort:
Distance + Materials = Enhanced Safety
•USA Today Article April 1, 2025 by Elizabeth Weise – “A first-of-its-kind neighborhood in California fights fire just by existing”
Harm to Neighbors Continued
•Neighbors on either side of Project have invested considerable resources into hardening their homes; this work is made less effective if home in between is both very close to their homes, and not fire hardened.
•Homes are backed by Eucalyptus forest = explosive fire danger burning at extremely high temperatures, increasing risk of spread
•Decreased distance between structures + flammable materials = less safety
•Thus far, Fire Department has not agreed to request to review plans/smaller setbacks for fire safety; Appellants request fire department review as part of interactive process
Findings that Cannot be Made: 2, 3, and 4
SRMC Section 14.26.060
Findings. The written decision to grant or deny a request for reasonable accommodation shall be consistent with the Acts and shall be based on consideration of the following factors:
1. Whether the housing, which is the subject of the request, will be used by an individual with a disability under the Acts;
2.Whether the request for reasonable accommodation is necessary to make specific housing available to an individual with a disability under the Acts;
3.Whether there is an alternative accommodation which may provide an equivalent level of benefit;
4.Whether the requested accommodation would negatively impact surrounding uses or properties;
5.Whether the requested reasonable accommodation would impose an undue financial or administrative burden on the city; and
6.Whether the requested reasonable accommodation would require a fundamental alteration in the nature of a city program or law, including, but not limited to, land use and zoning.
HUD Guidance – Not Every Reasonable
Accommodation Request Must Be Granted
“To show that a requested accommodation may be necessary, there
must be an identifiable relationship between the requested
accommodation and the individual’s disability.”
“A housing provider can deny a request for a reasonable accommodation
if . . . there is no disability-related need for the accommodation.”
HUD Guidance Document regarding Reasonable Accommodations, at page 6-7
Appellant Requests:
•Grant the Appeal
•Require Interactive Process to Improve Plans before Approval
•Examination by Council and/or Staff of Nexus to Disability and which accommodations are necessary, and options that result in less harm to neighbors
•Review by Fire Department
•Regarding ADU:
•Structural Support of Master addition included in plans before approval if there’s no ADU planned
•Or application of fire code to Substantial Remodel if ADU is planned
•Condition of Approval clarifying that future construction of ADU as shown on plans within 3 years will require retrofit to fire building codes