At its meeting on Tuesday, September 20, the Coronado City Council will vote on the building code recommendations that the Residential Standards Improvement Program (RSIP-3) committee made last spring. These include off-street parking restrictions, second story mass and building height limitations, roof deck standards, FAR revisions and Design Review Commission requirements.
The recommended changes were prepared in response to complaints that too many cottages and bungalows were being scraped and replaced with country-estate sized homes, causing loss of privacy and sunlight, among other issues.
This is the third time the city has formed a committee to evaluate development standards to “preserve the quality of life and village atmosphere.” While progress has been made (i.e. the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for a new home is four times smaller than it was in 1980), many residents still complained that houses are too large, too tall and setbacks too small. This time the council asked committee members to “be more aggressive and come up with stronger tactics to fight development.”
At the May 3, 2016 meeting, the council accepted the recommendations under protest from some in the real estate and construction industry, who felt that some changes were too restrictive, especially the one that gave the Design Review Commission veto power over design features for houses that exceeded new requirements.
Realtor Renee Wilson, a member of the RSIP-3 committee, said having to go to design review will be costly and time consuming. “If you have a change, you have to go back to design review to get approval for that change,” she commented.
Carrie O’Brien, whose husband John heads Flagship Properties, echoed Wilson’s concerns. She said, “There is nothing objective about design review.” They suggested, as did other realtors and contractors who spoke at that meeting, continuing the current point system which can allow an increase from a base FAR to a set maximum FAR by incorporating additional design features. Architect Kevin Rugee called it “one of the best systems in the country.”
Others see the point system as full of loopholes that allow developers to overbuild. People often refer to the rule that allows you to get FAR points simply by planting a tree, which often gets dug up a soon as the house is built.
A public hearing was held on July 12, 2016 outlining the recommendations to be made by RSIP-3. For complete details on the history of RSIP and the detailed recommended amendments to the municipal code, see the council meeting agenda which can be found on the City of Coronado’s website (the RSIP details begin on page 119 of the .pdf file (labeled as page 99)).
The council will also consider new fees and policies for recreational services, programs and facilities, including the Tennis Center, the Boathouse, the John D. Spreckels Center and Lawn Bowling Green, Aquatic Center and the Banquet Room. Recreational fees and policies were last amended in January 2015. The new fees are based on cost recovery, market rates and demand.
At the request of City Councilwoman Carrie Downey, the recommendations also contain a provision to allow Coronado special interest groups restricted use of meeting rooms for free. She has long championed giving community groups access to recreational meeting rooms. Currently only the Winn Room at the library is available.
The meeting begins at 4pm in the City Council Chambers, 1825 Strand Way. A complete copy of the agenda can be found on the City of Coronado’s website.
