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Commission approves variances for 19 Campanile lots to accommodate alley-loaded home plans
Summary
The commission approved Variance 25-00002 to allow 8 lots a 3.5-foot encroachment (35%) and 11 lots a 1.5-foot encroachment (15%) into the required 10-foot front-yard setback in the Campanile community, citing smaller lot depths and limited extent of the request; the applicant is D.R. Horton.
The Cathedral City Planning Commission approved Variance 25-00002 on March 5 to permit limited front-yard setback encroachments on 19 lots in the Campanile residential community as the builder, D.R. Horton, prepares to build the remaining lots in the subdivision.
Planning staff described the request as two separate deviations from the standard 10-foot front-yard setback: eight lots would encroach 3.5 feet (35 percent) and 11 lots would encroach 1.5 feet (15 percent). Staff reported that the Campanile subdivision was approved as a planned unit development in 2004 and that D.R. Horton has acquired the remaining 83 vacant lots. Assistant Planner Manuel Rocha told commissioners the lots backing the central open space are only 19 feet deep, compared with 24-foot-deep alley-loaded lots elsewhere, creating a plotting constraint for some standard house footprints.
Mario Bridal, D.R. Horton’s project manager for Campanile, said the variance was requested after the development team discovered the reduced lot depth during preparation of precise grading and building plans. Bridal described options considered — a lot-line adjustment and design revisions — and said the team concluded a variance would be the cleanest path for the limited number of affected lots. Bridal added that many of the proposed encroachments are porches and that a 15 percent encroachment could be processed administratively, but the 35 percent requests required Planning Commission approval.
Commissioners pressed the applicant on alternatives, including using smaller standard plans or pursuing lot-line adjustments. The applicant and staff said lot-line adjustments would involve third parties (the HOA that owns adjacent common areas) and would complicate and delay the project. Several commissioners and staff noted that the encroachments would not be readily visible from the open space because the lots back a broad landscape area and that only a small, scattered set of lots is affected.
Rudy Provost, D.R. Horton director of land acquisitions, located and cited a portion of the original PUD staff report indicating front-yard setbacks pertain to lots that front streets, supporting the applicant’s position that the encroachments are appropriate for lots that back common open space.
After discussion, Commissioner Bedard moved to adopt a CEQA notice of exemption and approve Variance 25-00002 based on the findings in the staff report; Commissioner Mead seconded. A roll-call vote recorded Commissioners Bedard, Lee and Mead and Chair Malecoff voting yes.
Staff recommended and the commission made findings that the reduced lot depth and the limited number of affected lots constitute exceptional circumstances justifying the variances and that the variances would not adversely affect neighborhood character or safety. The commission’s approval covers only the variance request for the 19 lots; all building permits and grading must conform to the approved plans and applicable codes.
Votes at a glance: Variance 25-00002 — motion to adopt CEQA notice of exemption and approve the variance based on staff findings; mover: Commissioner Bedard; second: Commissioner Mead; vote: Bedard — yes; Mead — yes; Lee — yes; Malecoff — yes; outcome: approved.
