Lafayette design panel recommends council approve 17-unit Oak Hill Place after changes, tree removals noted

The Lafayette Design Review Commission on June 9 recommended that the City Council approve Oak Hill Place, a 17-unit residential subdivision at 3600 Deerhill Road, after staff and the applicant described site design changes and mitigation for tree removals and the commission added conditions on screening and lighting.

The project, TR9707 (Oak Hill Place), proposes 17 single-family lots with three attached accessory dwelling units on a roughly 3.19-acre site, with a developable area of about 2.3 acres, and includes a major subdivision, hillside development permit, grading permit and tree permit, Senior Planner Stephanie Cervantes told the commission. "The project includes a major subdivision with a hillside development permit, the grading permit and a tree permit for 17 new units, with 3 attached ADUs," Cervantes said during the staff presentation.

Cervantes said the site is zoned R-10, lies just north of the BART parking lot and Highway 24, and is a few blocks from downtown Lafayette. The applicant proposes five parcel types (open space, road/vehicle access, memorial area to remain as-is, and a small parcel for a new sewer easement) and a central community park intended to preserve an existing valley oak. The project calls for removal of 95 trees, 80 of which staff identified as protected; the plan proposes replacement plantings and other mitigation, Cervantes said.

Applicant representatives described design choices intended to reduce apparent bulk from adjacent…