Planning commission backs zoning changes to ease deck limits for Golden Hind Passage homes in flood zone

The Corte Madera Planning Commission on May 13 voted to forward to the Town Council a draft zoning ordinance amendment that would give property owners in the town’s special flood hazard area more flexibility to build uncovered decks when they elevate homes to meet FEMA and local standards.

The commission recommended that the council adopt amendments to Title 18 of the Corte Madera Municipal Code to (1) increase maximum allowed residential lot coverage by 2 percentage points for parcels in the special flood hazard area in the R-1 (medium-density residential) zone, and (2) allow uncovered rear-yard decks attached to elevated houses on Golden Hind Passage that are more than 3 feet but not higher than 5 feet to follow the same setback rules as decks 3 feet or less in height (i.e., as close as 5 feet to the rear property line).

Tracy, a town planning staff member, told the commission the application was filed in January by the owner of 299 Golden Hind Passage and that the proposed changes respond to repeated tidal and storm inundation along the town’s shoreline. “The application was filed by the owner of 299 Golden Hind Passage,” Tracy said during the hearing, summarizing staff analysis and earlier public workshops with the Flood Control Board.

Why it matters: About 1,100 parcels — roughly 34% of Corte Madera’s parcels — lie in the special flood hazard area, staff said, and raising a house typically increases the height of attached decks and stairs, pushing some decks above the current 3-foot threshold that exempts them from lot coverage calculations. “Our lower deck was completely submerged,” said Eric Bizzo, the applicant and owner of 299 Golden Hind Passage, describing a recent…