Planning Commission approves Oak Hill Place subdivision plan with conditional fallback over neighbor easement

The Lafayette Planning Commission voted 5–0 to approve a revised plan for Oak Hill Place (project TR9707), a 17-unit subdivision with three accessory dwelling units on Oak Hill Place near Highway 24 and the BART station, subject to conditions and a conditional fallback if a sewer-easement relocation with a neighboring property cannot be finalized.

Staff presentation and project scope

Senior Planner Stephanie Cervantes summarized changes made after an earlier March hearing: the developer moved the main driveway south, increased the unit count from 15 to 17 under a density bonus (25% density bonus requested), enlarged several unit footprints, increased parking from 30 to 34 spaces (two spaces per unit), added a public sidewalk along Oak Hill Road, and reworked grading so the site would require a net import of fill rather than off-haul.

“Under the general plan land use designation the site is allowed a maximum of 14 units; with the density bonus the site can accommodate up to 18 units,” Cervantes told commissioners. The project team requested 1 concession (to be reviewed under the city’s new tree preservation ordinance) and several waivers for development standards including a waiver to allow some parking in front-yard setback areas, r10 lot width/depth exceptions, and limited height exceptions for a small number of units to read as three stories in parts of the terraced site.

Why it mattered: the project repurposes a 3.19-acre parcel into a cluster of smaller single-family homes…