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Design review board continues South Shore Drive understory project to September
Summary
A proposed understory home on South Shore Drive with a high understory and elevated freeboard was continued to September so the applicant can provide full presentation materials, including landscape plans; staff had recommended lowering understory height from 13 to 11 feet but applicants said they had already adjusted plans.
The Design Review Board continued the application for a new two‑story residence with an understory on South Shore Drive (DRB 23‑0919505) to the board’s September meeting after commissioners and staff said the presentation materials and landscape plans were not fully available in the packet.
Planning staff told the board the proposed understory is tall (13 feet between the underside of the habitable floor and the ground level) and noted that the newly adopted resiliency code allows increased heights in some cases but that the board had historically favored lower understory clearances. Staff recommended reducing the understory height by two feet (to 11 feet); applicants said they had already adjusted their drawings during permit review and that the updated plans reflect the change. The project team also said some presentation files and landscape plans were not uploaded properly to the city web submission and requested the continuance to permit a full packet for review.
Board members raised several issues including the visual effect of a high pool wall facing the golf course, coordination of landscape and tree disposition plans, and confirming utility and flood‑control related elevation assumptions. Because two board members explicitly asked for more time to examine the plans and the applicant asked for the opportunity to provide corrected, complete materials, the board approved a continuance to the September meeting; the applicant and staff agreed to a schedule for revised submissions and a follow‑up meeting before the September hearing.
The continuance was made by motion and second and passed unanimously.
