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Design board approves 2-car garage at 4 Owlswood Road with visibility condition
Summary
After substantial public comment from neighbors concerned about views and driveway safety, the Design Review Board approved a plan to enclose an existing car deck at 4 Owlswood Road as a two-car garage and added a condition requiring corner glazing to improve sightlines.
The Tiburon Design Review Board on Tuesday approved a proposal to convert an existing car deck at 4 Owlswood Road into a two-car garage with a small storage area, attaching a condition requiring glazing on the right-side wall to improve visibility for vehicles backing onto a narrow private roadway.
Applicant Anne Forell presented the application on behalf of homeowners Courtney and Vasili (owners of 4 Owlswood). Forell described a steeply terraced site in a private cul-de-sac and said the existing residence sits about 8 feet below the roadway. The proposal calls for a modest two-car garage (roughly 19-by-19 feet) with a monoslope roof that matches the house’s shed-roof vocabulary, and a small storage area sized to accommodate e-bikes and household storage.
Numerous neighbors spoke at the hearing. Several residents who live along Owlswood Road said the garage would block a widely enjoyed view of San Francisco Bay from the roadway and from private yards. Neighbors also raised safety concerns for vehicles backing out of a garage that nearly reaches the roadbed. Neighbor Carolyn Wendler told the board that a past design agreement with an earlier owner had included restrictions on a garage on that side of the house; other neighbors described ongoing use of the site for vehicle turnaround and said the new garage could remove that informal turning space.
The applicant responded that no recorded covenant memorializing prior neighborhood discussions was found in town records, that the project team had tried alternatives and concluded the proposed location had lower neighborhood impact than an ADU or other schemes, and that glazing or other visibility treatments could mitigate blind backing.
After extensive board discussion about views, site constraints, and public safety, the board approved the draft resolution and the requested variances, finding the topography created a practical difficulty. The board added a condition requiring glazing to improve visibility: the approval specifies a minimum glazing area of roughly 10–15 square feet on the garage’s right side (as viewed from the street), with the bottom of that glazing’s sill no more than 24 inches above the garage floor, or an alternative glazing plan that provides equivalent sightlines, to be reviewed by staff.
The board recorded the motion as passed by voice vote with no members opposed. The approval includes the standard CEQA exemption finding.
