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Design panel continues 3 East Terrace deck remodel; asks for specific landscaping plan to protect neighbor privacy
Summary
The Tiburon Design Review Board continued the application for a deck and stair reconfiguration at 3 East Terrace to a date uncertain and required the applicant to submit a detailed landscaping plan (species, box size and dimensions) and evidence of fire-district review to address neighbor privacy concerns.
On June 18 the Tiburon Town Design Review Board continued review of a proposed deck and stair reconfiguration at 3 East Terrace, asking the applicant to return with a detailed planting plan reviewed by the local fire district.
The board voted 3–0, with two members absent, to continue the matter after hearing objections from an adjacent property owner and discussion of screening options. The applicants and their contractor had requested design approval for modest expansions to make the upper deck usable, but board members said they needed specific landscaping details before acting.
Owner/applicant Liz O'Neal and contractor David Grabbam told the board the project began as an interior remodel and expanded into a reconfiguration of upper and lower decks and a relocated staircase to improve circulation. Grabbam presented point-cloud scans and renderings and said the proposed upper deck depth would increase from about 8 feet 9 inches to roughly 14 feet 7 inches after a 5-foot-10-inch addition; staff and the applicant stated the application is counting 78 square feet of new lot coverage and that the net zoning variance requested is about 15 square feet.
Neighbor David Louie, who lives at 21 North Terrace, urged the board to deny the change or require significant modifications, saying the plans and on-site activity were not shared with him before the application and arguing the relocation of the stairs and added deck area "will have a devastating impact on the privacy and well-being" of his home. "Those stairs will provide the only access from the expanded upper deck to the pool and lower deck, concentrating all foot traffic next to my house," he said.
O'Neal responded that the intention of the design is to make the deck functional while reducing direct sightlines and moving activity away from the neighbor; she offered to add screening plantings and said laurels planted on their side of the fence have worked for other projects. "Privacy is important for us, too," she said.
Board members pushed for performance-based screening and specifics rather than general promises. Several members said they would accept an initial mature planting height and a cap on mature height (the board discussed a mature height cap of about 15 feet to limit shading) if the applicant provided a planting plan that included species, box size and spacing and if the plan were vetted by the fire district. Staff reiterated that any fire-district requirements would supersede local planting conditions and that the town does not enforce a single prescriptive landscape spacing standard.
The board closed public comment and made a motion to continue the item to a date uncertain so the applicant could submit a landscape plan showing species, box size, planting locations and dimensions and provide documentation that the plan was reviewed by the fire district. The motion passed 3–0 with two absent.
Next steps: the applicant must prepare the detailed landscaping plan and coordinate review with the fire district; the board will consider the materials at the continued hearing.
