Guidelines aiming to tame ‘monster homes’ in Redwood City

A soft cap threshold of 3,000 square feet — or a .45 floor area ratio — won urgency council adoption Aug. 29 and requires homes exceeding those standards to undergo Planning Commission review. The square feet of the lot, divided by the square feet of the building area, represents floor area ratio.

Redwood City hired Lisa Wise Consulting in San Francisco to assist the municipal staff with work that included preparing residential design guidelines.

The draft guidelines for new two-story single-family homes and second-story homes are another measure, with the soft cap, to deal with monster homes.

Planning commissioners are expected to provide direction on the next steps for the guidelines.

The consultant will then draft design proposals that will be released for a second round of comment. Action by the Planning Commission and City Council will follow.

In a separate agenda item, commissioners will consider plans to demolish a house built in 1937 and construct a two-story residence.

Owners of the home at 227 King St. near Whipple Avenue reduced the overall square footage by 352 square feet, reduced the height from 28 feet to 26 feet and changed the architectural style from Spanish mission to modern farmhouse to maintain the look of the streetscape, a staff report said.

“The proposed house meets all applicable development standards for massing including setbacks, height and lot coverage and is designed to be proportional to the site,” the report said.

“The proposed project is consistent with the development pattern of the neighborhood which consists of one- and two-story single-family houses.”

The development proposal for King Street was deemed complete Aug. 20, 2019, and the urgency ordinance adopted later by the City Council does not apply, a staff report said.

Redwood City Residents for Responsible Development appealed the city zoning administrator approval for the construction. That appeal sent the matter to planning commissioners. A representative of Redwood City residents could not be reached Monday for comment.

“The proposed house does not conform to the general character of the other structures in the vicinity,” the group said in its appeal.

The city’s Historic Resource Advisory Committee reviewed the existing house because of Redwood City policy requiring an evaluation for a demolition of a structure built before 1940, a staff report said.

The evaluation concluded the property is not eligible for listing in the California Register of Historic Resources. The historic advisory committee concurred in the findings.

Planning commissioners meet 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, in the City Council chambers, 1017 Middlefield Road in Redwood City.

ryan@smdailyjournal.com

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