San Carlos hillside housing moves ahead

Commissioners aimed to address safety, access and environmental concerns raised by neighbors of the project site. They included along with their approval recommendations that the applicant limit hours of construction, further study the safety of retaining walls needed on stretches of the new path and explore how a gate required with the project could facilitate emergency access.

Acknowledging the range of concerns as well as reports prepared by environmental analysts and engineers, Bradley noted the complexity of building on undeveloped land along a steep incline.

“Planning and especially subdivision, especially in steep hillside properties, is always complicated, complex and requires compromise to work out,” he said, according to a video of the meeting.

Ranging in size from close to 23,000 square feet to nearly 36,000 square feet, the parcels have been in the planning stages for the 15 years applicant Ron Grove has owned them.

A settlement agreement with the Devonshire Canyon Open Space Alliance, a neighborhood group concerned about its environmental effects, put in place a requirement to install an access gate to prevent through-traffic on Winding Way and a path pedestrians could use along the future paved road. The land was also annexed to San Carlos in 2009 and, once construction of the road is underway and the City Council has approved the master plan for the site, the developer can submit plans to construct the five hillside homes, according to a staff report.

Having lived on Chesham Avenue for some 20 years, resident Kellie Baumann expressed concerns about the disruption of wildlife and vegetation at the site should new homes be built on it.

“All you have to do is go in that canyon and it’s not unsafe,” she said. “It’s beautiful, it’s amazing … It’s a very special very unique area.”

Baumann was joined by resident Diane Rahe in voicing concerns about how the plans would affect the environment. As a representative of the Devonshire Canyon Open Space Alliance, Rahe said the alliance is ready to partner with planners to ensure the best outcome for the canyon and expressed concerns about how plans to improve existing culverts along the road would affect the riparian habitat.

A civil engineer for the project explained repairs and improvements to existing culverts were aimed at preventing erosion in gullies during rainstorms and that the improvements, as well as their environmental impact, had been approved by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In response to resident concerns about whether a gate planned where the unpaved section of Winding Way meets the paved section of the street would be locked during emergencies, Roof advocated for city and fire officials to find a way to keep the gate locked most of the time with the ability for residents or members of the fire department to unlock it in cases of emergency.

Though Fire Marshal Gareth Harris acknowledged the challenges of planning emergency response in a hillside area, he looked to the construction of fire-resistant structures and the clearing of vegetation in the area to reduce the risk of fires at the site.

“We’re supportive of being able to have a more fire resistant community that’s going to be able to withstand wildfire,” he said.

Having had a large gravel truck drive into his home at 260 Windsor Drive in the past, resident David Burnell expressed his appreciation for the developer’s study of alternate dirt haul routes on the steep and winding roads. Burnell was among several residents who voiced support for limiting construction hours to weekdays after morning commutes and before rush hour to prevent large vehicles from driving on Chesham Avenue and Winding Way when many walk on the narrow roads.

“If you’re in communities where the roads are so tight, there’s so many people walking around with dogs and kids, it makes sense to start splitting loads and keep the big equipment off the road,” he said.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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