The Mendocino County Coastal Permit Administrator on Oct. 9 approved coastal development permit CDP2022-0042 for Jeffrey and Carolyn Duckham to convert an existing attached garage and porch into a workout room and half bathroom, construct a 576-square-foot detached garage, and install a 6-by-44-foot therapy pool with a 759-square-foot fenced deck at 47030 Big Gulch Road in Wallowa.

The permit matters because the parcel sits on a bluff top near identified environmentally sensitive habitat areas (ESHAs) and required review by trustee agencies including the California Coastal Commission and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). Staff and the trustee agencies requested changes and mitigation to reduce impacts to coastal bluff scrub, meadow and a manmade seasonal drainage channel on the site.

Staff planner Sandy Arellano told the administrator that condition of approval 15 contains a wording correction and that the county requires BMI, Inc., the project geotechnical firm, to review final grading and foundation plans and provide periodic site observations during construction. “The last sentence of the condition should read, overall, BAI shall be consulted for alternate options and or measures in relation to the construction of this project,” Arellano said during her presentation. Arellano also summarized referral comments from the Coastal Commission and CDFW, and noted that the project packet includes mitigation measures, best management practices and site-specific conditions to protect sensitive areas.

The project’s original pool and deck location prompted Coastal Commission concern because it was about 26 feet from the ESHA. The applicant’s architect redesigned the plans and relocated the pool and deck to the southeast, increasing the setback to more than 60 feet; that change was re-referred to trustee agencies and satisfied CDFW and Coastal Commission concerns, staff said. The county also added a condition requiring a backflow prevention device per the local water district’s request (condition 17) and conditions addressing removal and maintenance of unpermitted rocks in the drainage channel (conditions 9 and 10).

Project architect Michael Baron Wyke confirmed that the materials in the record were current and that the team was “glad to see that it's finally proceeding, towards an approval, hopefully.” There were no public speakers. After hearing staff’s recommendation and the applicant’s remarks, the Coastal Permit Administrator approved the project with the conditions and the wording correction to condition 15 provided by staff. The administrator noted that the appeal period is roughly 30 days; if no appeal is filed the permit will take effect after that period has concluded.

Key project details recorded in the staff presentation include the parcel address (47030 Big Gulch Road), assessor’s parcel number 14512115, parcel size (0.86 acre), and that the new deck elevation will extend from an existing deck that sits about 30 inches above grade. The application also added removal of unpermitted rocks in an on-site drainage channel to the scope of work during review.

County conditions require adherence to the biological report recommendations, trustee-agency conditions, BMI’s geotechnical recommendations, and the water district’s backflow device requirement. The county staff report and conditions set forth mitigation measures intended to protect the on-site ESHA and the bluff edge.