Mendocino Coastal Permit Administrator approves CDP 20240042 with condition tweak

The Mendocino County Coastal Permit Administrator on Aug. 14 approved coastal development permit CDP 20240042, a staff-recommended action to legalize previously unpermitted small structures at 31451 Bayview Avenue in Fort Bragg, subject to standard conditions and one minor wording change to a condition.

Rob Fitzsimmons, the county staff planner and project coordinator, told the hearing the application seeks to remediate prior unpermitted development including four sheds and two trash enclosures, remove a covered deck, relocate two encroaching planters to meet setbacks, approve one existing greenhouse, and allow one proposed new storage shed. “Technically, this last shed is truly new structure, not a relocation of one of the four encroaching sheds,” Fitzsimmons said, noting a statement in the staff report that no new structures are proposed was incorrect.

The staff report locates the parcel on a coastal bluff in the Todd subdivision south of the city center of Fort Bragg, near Pear Creek. Fitzsimmons said staff considered whether additional geotechnical work was needed for bluff stability and concluded it was not required for the final configuration because the new structures are sited nearer the parcel’s northeast corner and set back farther than the primary residence, but noted…