Commission accepts concept for large two‑story house with conditions to reduce street massing and protect neighbor views

The Carmel-by-the-Sea Planning Commission accepted the concept design for DS25299, a proposed 2,460-square-foot two‑story residence with a 254-square-foot attached garage and an 800-square-foot accessory dwelling unit on a 6,000-square-foot lot, subject to conditions intended to address tree protection, massing and potential view impacts.

Staff emphasized tree protection requirements after identifying three significant trees on site and noted that the applicant’s plans must show decks and grading wholly outside 6-foot root protection zones or provide construction details that avoid excavation in those zones. Staff also flagged a drafting anomaly in garage dimensions: a conforming parking stall must measure at least 10 by 20 feet.

Designer Alan Leman presented the architectural intent — simple volumes, sculptural massing, and fenestration to break up large walls — and said the team would work with the forester and staff to revise planting and grading. He told commissioners the plans avoid window-to-window alignment with the north neighbor and that decks and supports can be engineered to protect root zones.

A north neighbor, Christopher Love, said the proposed house looked “too massive” for the street and said views from his living room would be "severely compromised." Commissioners acknowledged subjective view concerns and debated how best to reduce the appearance of unbroken vertical mass on the street-facing west elevation. The commission directed the applicant to return with revised plans showing mitigations for massing (for example, more pronounced volume offsets, landscaping or recessed upper floors), documentation that deck footings avoid protected root zones or use cantilever footings, corrected garage dimensions, and proactive outreach to the north neighbor. The motion to accept concept with these conditions passed by roll call.