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Commission approves 2526 Great Highway addition with privacy, window and no‑deck conditions
Summary
After neighbor objections about sunlight and privacy, the Planning Commission approved a third‑story and rear addition at 2526 Great Highway only after the sponsor agreed to frost a second‑floor side window, remove a third‑floor side window and accept a recorded notice preventing a front third‑floor deck without return to the commission.
The Planning Commission approved discretionary review for a proposal at 2526 Great Highway to add a third story and extend a rear second‑story addition, subject to conditions intended to protect adjacent neighbors’ privacy and sunlight.
Planning staff recommended against taking discretionary review on the basis the project fit neighborhood patterns of third‑story additions, met residential design guidelines and the added setbacks would limit mid‑block impacts. Neighbor petitioners (Kelly Martin and Pete Alcorn) objected to two north‑facing windows that would directly face into their second‑ and third‑story living spaces, to a potential future front‑deck off the proposed third floor, and to a second‑story rear extension that projects beyond other homes on the block and could cause additional morning shadowing on their patio.
The project sponsor said the contentious windows were never intended to be clear, offered to frost the disputed rear side window, and said the front third‑floor area had not been designed as a deck. After testimony and discussion commissioners sought a balance between the sponsor’s ability to develop and the neighbors’ privacy and sunlight concerns.
A motion to take discretionary review and approve the project carried with unanimous support conditioned on: removal/elimination of the third‑floor side window identified as Window 31; frosting of the second‑floor side window identified as Window 26; and a recorded Notice of Special Restriction (NSR) preventing construction of a third‑floor front deck without a return to the Planning Commission. The sponsor agreed to the conditions and the commission found the additions would not create unusual light/air impacts beyond those mitigated by the conditions.
Next steps: Planning staff will incorporate the conditions into the permit; the recorded NSR will require future owners to return to the commission if they seek a front third‑floor deck.
