Planning Commission approves exception to connect detached garage at 890 Brent Drive

The Cupertino Planning Commission on May 27 approved Exception Permit EXE2025002, allowing homeowners at 890 Brent Drive to connect an existing detached garage to the principal dwelling, creating a reduced side-yard setback for a portion of the house.

The permit was approved after staff recommended the commission find the project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as an existing facilities exemption and adopt the draft resolution authorizing the exception. "The project is exempt under CEQA existing facilities," Assistant Planner Jelani Mora told the commission during his presentation.

The nut of the case is whether the proposed connection would create an unacceptable nonconformity with single-family setback rules. City code Chapter 19.28 requires a combined side-yard setback of 15 feet with no side less than 5 feet. The applicants, Zen Chen and Meng Wu, proposed a 1,059-square-foot addition that includes a 327-square-foot infill between the detached garage and house, a 650-square-foot front addition and an 82-square-foot porch. Mora said the proposal retains a 23-foot front setback and a 23-foot-7-inch rear setback, maintains a 5-foot-4-inch setback on the south side and would result in a 5-foot setback at the portion of the detached garage that remains nonconforming by technicality.

Mora said the insertion between the garage and house increases the effective side-yard dimension on the affected portion to 9 feet 8 inches so the combined side yards meet the 15-foot standard for the addition area. He also noted a nearby, similar project at 874 Brent Drive was approved by the Design Review Committee in February 2010.

Applicants Zen Chen and Meng Wu described the project as a one-story addition designed to meet their family's needs. "We are a growing family, a six-person household," Meng Wu said, explaining the household includes two young children and grandparents who help with childcare. She said the addition would provide another bedroom and bathroom so family members would not have to sleep in common areas.

Public comment at the hearing was supportive. A neighbor who identified herself as Lisa praised the applicants for retaining a single-story design and for reusing existing materials rather than demolishing and rebuilding.

Commissioners asked about lot coverage, noticing and past precedent. Mora said the proposed lot coverage is 49 percent gross and 44.9 percent excluding eaves, and that notices were sent to adjacent residents and a site sign posted about two weeks before the meeting. He said the city has approved 14 R-1 exceptions since 2005 and only one prior project of this specific type.

Commissioner Linscott seconded the motion to adopt the staff recommendation after Chair Rao moved it. The commission voted unanimously to approve the permit. The minutes record the vote as "motion carries unanimously." The planning commission closed the public hearing immediately after the vote.

The approved permit includes conditions intended to ensure the connecting addition does not materially increase wall plane heights or otherwise expand the nonconforming portion of the garage footprint, according to staff presentation materials. The resolution and supporting materials for EXE2025002 will form the administrative record for the decision.

No appeals or related actions were recorded during the meeting.