Lafayette planning commission approves second‑story addition at 1280 Panorama Drive, grants variance and ridgeline exception

The Lafayette Planning Commission approved a hillside development permit, an exception to development within the Class 2 ridgeline setback and a variance to reduce the front setback for a two‑story expansion at 1280 Panorama Drive, adopting Planning Commission Resolution PC 2025‑09 and finding the project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The motion passed 5‑0.

The parcel, north of Happy Valley Road in the northern portion of Lafayette, is approximately 1.57 acres and sits on a Class 2 ridgeline. City planning staff said the project would transform an existing roughly 3,000‑square‑foot single‑story house into a 4,469‑square‑foot two‑story residence. The proposal includes a second‑story art studio and an expanded garage with mechanical car stackers; the applicant described the art studio as “quite substantial at under a thousand square feet.”

City planning staff (presenter) told the commission the review before them included the hillside development permit, an exception to the 15‑degree ridgeline declination, and a variance to…