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DRC continues review of proposed fourplex at 110 S. Willow Street over parking, massing and materials
Summary
The committee continued final review of a proposed fourplex at 110 S. Willow Street (P26‑095110) to allow applicants to revise the parking‑level treatment, east facade and corner expression; the continuance passed unanimously (5–0).
The Design Review Committee voted unanimously on June 10 to continue the final review of a proposed fourplex at 110 S. Willow Street (P26‑095110) to allow revisions addressing parking‑level expression, basement daylighting and facade materiality.
Greg Brown, the project’s collaborating architect, outlined a demolition and replacement of an existing four‑unit building with four new units: two market‑rate units on the upper floor and two deed‑restricted workforce units partially below grade. The design uses ground‑level parking entered from the alley, private stair/elevator access for market units, and a basement lounge with a “bunk room” plan; Brown said the team is coordinating livability standards with the housing department.
Planning staff noted an administrative adjustment request to permit a thicker stone veneer and minor overhangs into setbacks was denied; the denial may force a thinner veneer or a narrowed garage aisle. Committee members extensively questioned the proposal’s approach to the parking level, particularly the plan to use frosted windows to give a residential appearance above a garage. Several commissioners said the frosted glazing risks reading as a disguised garage and urged an “honest expression” of the parking function or alternative treatments to improve pedestrian experience and daylighting for the basement units.
Other DRC concerns included east‑wall massing and materials, the prominence and symmetry of stair towers, the scale and neighborliness of the rear elevation, and how basement units would receive daylight and fall‑protection treatments for pedestrian safety. Staff and the applicants discussed stormwater routing (on‑site swales, oil/sand separators inside the garage) and landscaping constraints near the building due to wildfire interface setbacks.
After discussion, a committee member moved to continue final review for further development addressing DRC comments; the motion was seconded and the continuance passed 5–0. Staff said the project will return with updated street‑level perspectives, clarified material selections (including any proposed aluminum or wood siding on the rear elevation), window/well details for basement units, and revised parking geometry or façade treatment to reduce the appearance of a garage at street level.
