Hearing officer approves front-setback modification for Westmont College Ocean View Apartments trash enclosure

Tess Harris, Staff Hearing Officer, approved a front-setback modification on April 22 to permit a single trash enclosure at the front lot line serving the 11 and 15 Ocean View Avenue apartment properties owned by Westmont College.

Pilar Plummer, associate planner with the City of Santa Barbara Planning and Zoning Division, told the hearing the two lots each contain two-story, 12-unit apartment buildings. Staff said the rear parking lots are nonconforming: "There is a total of 24 spaces shared between the 2 lots and the requirement is 48," Plummer said. The restriping and other site work were brought forward to resolve an enforcement case for restriping done without a permit.

Plummer said staff and the Architectural Board of Review (ABR) supported placing a single trash enclosure at the front lot line for serviceability reasons and to avoid removing parking spaces; ABR requested that the enclosure be properly screened and that landscaping be restored. She said a minor zoning exception will be required when the item returns to ABR if the enclosure exceeds 42 inches within 10 feet of the front lot line.

Harris noted that while it is generally not ideal to locate a trash enclosure in the front setback, the site's constraints and nonconforming parking made the proposed location reasonable in this case; she emphasized the need for screening and for the enclosure to remain closed except when serviced. Harris also noted a recommended condition that an off-site trash-enclosure easement be recorded so the enclosure serves both lots.

Harris found the work exempt from CEQA under Section 15301 (existing facilities), made the modification findings consistent with the zoning intent and approved the modification. The approval is subject to appeal to the planning commission within 10 calendar days as recorded in the hearing.