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Ross ADR debates pool setback rules and whether basement square footage should be counted in FAR
Summary
ADR members and staff discussed recurring variance requests for pool setbacks and explored whether the town should change code or adopt objective standards; members also began a preliminary conversation about exempting basement area from FAR calculations and asked staff for comparative research.
Ross planning staff and the Advisory Design Review used a discussion item to consider recurring variance requests for pools and to explore longer-term code options, including potential exceptions for basements in floor-area calculations.
Planning staff summarized research on neighboring jurisdictions (Tiburon, Larkspur, San Anselmo, Corte Madera, Belvedere) showing a range of approaches: some towns allow pools within smaller setbacks or treat in‑ground pools differently, while others require variances or design review. Staff said the goal would be to reduce repeated variance requests by creating clearer, objective standards that would either permit limited intrusion for landscape features (pools/patios) or require a variance.
ADR members expressed differing priorities. Some members argued that relaxing pool setbacks for patios and pools could exacerbate overdevelopment of small lots and impair neighbor privacy and noise buffers; others said clear objective standards could reduce ad-hoc precedent-based approvals and provide predictability. Members raised legal and implementation concerns, including the potential for increased litigation if the town were to broadly relax setback enforcement and the cost and complexity of rewriting multiple zoning rules to tailor setbacks to lot sizes.
On basement FAR, ADR members discussed the idea of exempting basement square footage from FAR calculations where the basement is fully under the footprint of the main house and meets strict definitions (e.g., limited daylighting, limited headroom exceptions). Members asked staff to assemble comparative data on how other Bay Area jurisdictions treat basements and FAR and to quantify recent ADR approvals/variances for pools so the committee could assess the implications of any code change.
Staff will return with more detailed research on (1) historical ADR/council decisions on pool setbacks, (2) examples and numeric thresholds used by peer jurisdictions, and (3) options for a narrowly tailored exception for basement square footage that would not increase above-ground bulk or reduce setbacks.
