Council upholds planning commission, denies appeal of garage height variance at 81 Belvedere Avenue

The Belvedere City Council on Tuesday denied an appeal and upheld the planning commission’s January decision to grant a variance allowing a garage and attached carport at 81 Belvedere Avenue to exceed the 28-foot height limit in a small portion of its roof.

Planning staff had described the project as a new 4,834-square-foot single-family residence with an attached garage and accessory dwelling unit. The applicant requested a variance because portions of the proposed garage and carport roof would project above the municipal 28-foot height plane for structures within the first 40 feet from the street. Staff reported the roof encroachment occurred on two small rear triangles of the garage/carport roof and estimated that, excluding eaves, the encroaching area was on the order of tens of square feet (staff initially stated 86 square feet and later clarified the net encroachment area excluding exempt eaves is smaller).

The council heard two competing narratives. The appellants — homeowners Justin Wicket…