Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council upholds grading exception for single-family pad in Alessandro Arroyo over neighborhood opposition
Summary
Council upheld a community and economic development director's approval of a grading exception to allow a 26,220-square-foot building pad within portions of the mapped Alessandro Arroyo and its 50-foot setback for a proposed single-family residence, after staff cited site constraints and a biological assessment concluding consistency with the MSHCP.
The City Council on Aug. 19 upheld a Community and Economic Development director's decision to grant a grading exception that allows the partial grading of a building pad within the mapped Alessandro Arroyo and the associated 50-foot arroyo setback for a proposed single-family residence on a 17.59-acre parcel north of Wyndham Hill and Chartwell Drive.
Planning staff explained the site is encumbered by two USGS blue-line streams that bisect the parcel and that approximately 98.5% of the property lies within the arroyo and setback. The applicant proposed a 26,220-square-foot building pad designed to mimic natural contours with contour grading, limited slope angles, rounded tops and no retaining walls; staff said a site-specific biological resources assessment determined the proposal is consistent with the Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) and would not cause impacts to mapped arroyo features under the design proposed.
Friends of Riverside Hills opposed the exception at the council meeting, arguing the city should not grant grading within arroyos, raising CEQA and wildfire-safety concerns and saying discretionary approvals of this kind have been contested historically. The speakers cited public-safety worries given recent wildfire experiences and said a thorough fire analysis and stricter protections were required. Staff responded that the project includes fire-department conditions for any future house (access, sprinklers, private hydrant, construction methods and vegetation management) and that the narrow request is only for a graded pad rather than a building permit.
Councilmembers who supported the director's decision cited the site's unique constraints and noted that similar graded pads exist on nearby properties; they also emphasized the applicant's lengthy permit process and the findings staff made under the grading code. The motion to uphold the director's approval passed unanimously.
What this means: The decision authorizes the grading exception as designed; any future house construction will require applicable entitlements and conditions (including review for fire-code compliance), and the site-specific mitigation commitments from the biological assessment will apply as conditions of approval.
