Planning commission approves demolition and replacement building at Charter Oak animal-rescue site

The Saint Helena Planning Commission voted unanimously Feb. 3 to approve a demolition permit, major design review and two minor design modifications for a proposal affecting a Charter Oak Avenue animal-rescue site. Staff recommended the project be found exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under CEQA Guidelines §15302 and adopt the required findings and resolution.

Staff presented the project as an application (PL 25013) for the property identified in the staff report as 1354 Charter Oak Avenue, describing demolition of an existing 1,450-square-foot modular office and construction of a new 2,140-square-foot modular office building to continue administrative and animal exam functions on site. During the motion and resolution read into the record, the address was recorded as 1345 Charter Oak Avenue; the record therefore contains inconsistent address references.

The staff presenter said the site is nonconforming in several ways (for example, on-site parking within the front setback and some…