Board carries amended 60 Bay Avenue site plan after county-ordered changes and driveway safety concerns

The Bureau of Highlands Land Use Board carried an amended major site-plan application for 60 Bay Avenue to the board's August 14 meeting, requesting that revised site plans and turning-movement exhibits be submitted at least 14 days prior for review by board professionals.

Applicant counsel Donna Jennings said the amended submission responds to Mammoth County’s denial of vehicular access from Bay Avenue and the county’s conditional requirements. The applicants revised the design to remove the previously proposed driveways on Bay Avenue, convert two garages on Bay Avenue into storage, flip a driveway to Shrewsbury Avenue, and accommodate a county-requested right-of-way dedication. The project would increase units from four to five and elevate the building out of the flood zone as previously authorized.

Douglas Clelland, the project civil engineer, testified that the amended plan proposes five off-street parking spaces on site and relies on available on-street spaces to meet the redevelopment plan’s parking requirement. He presented on-site observations (July 2024) that found 14 available on-street spaces during a weekday evening count and six during a midday Saturday check, and he said the project could gain two on-street spaces by closing an existing curb cut on Bay Avenue.

Board members and the board engineer pressed the applicant on circulation and safety: Clelland’s turning-movement exhibits showed one instance of a partial, split-second lane incursion when a vehicle turns into the northernmost driveway movement on Shrewsbury Avenue. The board requested explicit, scaled turning-movement diagrams showing vehicles making the maneuvers while the adjacent spaces are occupied and asked the applicant to consider widening an apron/curb cut or other plan changes to avoid any incursion. The applicant agreed to revise the plans and to provide the requested exhibits.

Owner and applicant David Cahill told the board he has owned the property since 2018 and that backing maneuvers on the block are common among neighbors; he asked the board to work with the county-driven changes so the project can move forward. The board concluded it needed the engineering revisions in written form before taking final action and unanimously agreed to carry the matter to the Aug. 14 meeting, with a deadline (July 31) for submission of revised plans to permit a two-week review window by staff and consultants.

Next steps for the application are explicit: the applicants must submit revised site plans that incorporate the board-engineer’s comments, turning-movement exhibits showing maneuvers with vehicles in parked positions, and any waiver requests (for curb-cut width or apron modifications) that arise from the revisions. The board specified that materials must be filed in time to allow the board engineer to complete a review ahead of the continued hearing.