Board Continues Ashbury Street "Monster Home" Appeal, Asks for Top-Floor Setback Options

Neighbors opposing a proposed single-family dwelling at 1055 Ashbury argued the project is oversize for the lot, will overshadow yards and alleys and is characteristic of the "monster-home" development trend the city has recently debated. Appellants presented petitions, photos and sunlight analyses and asked the Board to shrink a previously granted 7-foot rear-yard variance.

The project sponsor and counsel said the design responded to difficult lot topography and that the property had prior Planning Commission review followed by a variance decision in January. Planning staff and the Zoning Administrator said the project lies outside the interim Corona Heights controls and had been through normal review; they noted that several design changes (removal of elevator/roof penthouse) had already been made.

After extensive public comment both for and against the project, and discussion among commissioners about scale and the appearance of the fifth story in the rear, the Board voted unanimously to continue the appeal to May 13 and instructed the permit holder to return with drawings that show a rear setback on the top floor. The motion was intended to allow the Board, with a full complement, to evaluate whether a stepped-back top story would adequately reduce neighborhood impacts while allowing the approved development to proceed.

Speakers in the record included neighborhood appellants (Michael Danz and others), project counsel John Kevlin, and Planning Department staff including Zoning Administrator Scott Sanchez. The continuance preserves the previously upheld variance but seeks design alternatives for the top floor the Board requested the permit holder propose options before the next hearing.

The item was heard as Items 7A/B on April 29. The Boards direction requires permit-holder drawings to be filed prior to the continued hearing.