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BELVEDERE PLANNING COMMISSION STAFF REPORT ITEM NO. 6. REPORT DATE: 5/13/2011 MEETING DATE: 5/17/2011 REPORT WRITTEN BY: Pierce Macdonald, Planning Manager REPORT REVIEWED BY: Riley Hurd III, Deputy City Attorney SUBJECT: Appeal of staff-level decision concerning CEQA review for project involving Rezoning, Use Permit, Design Review, Retroactive Design Review, Revocable License LOCATION: 98 Beach Road OWNER: The San Francisco Yacht Club APPLICANT: John Swain ATTACHMENTS: 1. (Not used) 2. Applications and Applicant Correspondence 3. Plans, dated May 4, 2011 (excerpted) 4. Staff Correspondence 5. TJKM Parking Study, dated March 19, 2010 6. Archeological Report 7. Historical Resource Evaluation 8. Plans, dated February 11, 2010 (excerpted) 9. Resolutions 2009-024, 2009-025, 2010-006 10. August 18, 2009 and February 16, 2010 Meeting Minutes 11. Correspondence CEQA STATUS: Undetermined. APPROVAL Application has not been accepted as complete. DEADLINE: ZONING: R - Recreation and R-3, Multi-family Residential PROJECT DESCRIPTION The subject site is a 759,846-square-foot property, featuring a marina, clubhouse, accessory buildings, harbormaster building, and parking lot. Belvedere Cove is located generally to the east; Beach Road, the Land Company Park, and the Belvedere Land Company Building, to the northwest; and the Farr Cottages in the R-3C Zoning District, to the northeast. The Farr Cottages and the Belvedere Land Company Building are designated City of Belvedere Landmarks. Single-family residences are located to the west and south, multi-family residential to the east, and mixed-use commercial and multi­ family residential to the north. The site is the location of the earliest European inhabitant of Belvedere Island, Israel Kashow, and is the site of an ancient Native American midden deposit. According to City records, the San Francisco Yacht Club building was constructed in the 1930's and the last remodel occurred in 2007. On August 18, 2009, the Planning Commission held a public hearing to consider requests for a Conditional Use Permit to establish the development standards for temporary tent and canopy structures, as well as Design Review for the design and materials of the tents. The draft resolutions prepared for the item included a number of conditions of approval Staff Report for 98 Beach Road Owner: The San Francisco Yacht Club May17,2011 Page 2 related to parking, Fire Code regulations, amplified sound, hours of operation, and duration of use of the tents. The applicant explained that the SFYC is seeking to host a racing World Championship. After the close of the public hearing, the Planning Commission approved the Use Permit and Design Review by means of Resolutions 2009- 024 and 2009-025 with modifications that included the exclusion of the largest of the tents requested by the Club (7,200 square feet), and a limit on the life of the Use Permit until February 28, 2010. On February 16, 2010, Planning Commission held a public hearing on the extension of the Conditional Use Permit. The staff report explained that the prior Design Review approval remained valid. The staff report presented the number and types of calls for service to the Police Department for the project vicinity. Correspondence was received noting complaints regarding excessive noise at night, related to an outdoor fire pit and seeming changes to Club policies. At the close of the public hearing, the Commission discussed the project and a condition of approval limiting the amount of temporary floor area that could be used at one time (5,400 square feet) and setting a five-year lifetime on the permit. The Planning Commission adopted Resolution 2010-006 granting the continued use of temporary tent and canopies for special events at the San Francisco Yacht Club. Condition of approval D. included requirements for guest parking. In May of 2010, the San Francisco Yacht Club submitted applications for Design Review and Conditional Use Permit to enlarge the existing clubhouse, enlarge the Cove House, and enlarge the Cove House deck. The applications were later expanded to include a rezone of the property from R-3 Residential to the R-Recreation Zoning District and for a Revocable License. As proposed, the main clubhouse building would be expanded by approximately 688.5 square feet and the Cove House (formerly 100 Beach Road) would be expanded by 1,033 square feet. In addition, the project would include a new 1,607- square-foot raised entertainment area/deck. Project plans include a new sidewalk and fence along Beach Road, new signage, fire pit, parking plan and landscaping. On February 28, 2011, the Traffic and Safety Committee reviewed the proposed design of the new sidewalk within the public right-of-way proposed by the applicant and recommended its approval, in concept. On April 22, 2011 staff forwarded the recommendations of the City's consulting architectural historians, Garavaglia Associates, to the applicant's representative. Garavaglia determined that the Cove House was a potential historical resource. Staff had communicated the possibility that the Cove House could have historical resource value at the initial contact with the applicant. Staff suggested amendments to the proposed design based on this potential. On April 29, 2011, staff forwarded staffs determination to the applicant's representative that the analysis of the traffic impacts of the project could not be completed based on the parking study submitted by the applicant. Staff had communicated the insufficiencies of the parking study at the initial submittal of the parking study. Staff requested additional information regarding the types and sizes of events held at the San Francisco Yacht Club and the measures that the Club takes to manage parking and traffic. Staff Report for 98 Beach Road Owner: The San Francisco Yacht Club May 17, 2011 Page 3 ANALYSIS At this time, the applicant requests Planning Commission review of an appeal of staff's determinations that the project's environmental impacts cannot be evaluated with the level of information available to staff. Most of the projects reviewed by City staff that are not exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) end up being processed as a "Negative Declaration" or a "Mitigated Negative Declaration." These documents certify that the City is able to state unequivocally that a project will not have a potential adverse impact on people, plants, animals or places. At this time, staff is not able to make the finding that the proposed remodel and expansion of the Club will not have a potential adverse impacts on traffic and cultural resources. Staff's preliminary analysis is included below. The appeal letter is included as Attachment 2. Parking and Traffic CEQA states that a lead agency shall not prepare a Negative Declaration if it determines that there is "substantial evidence, in light of the whole record ... that a project may have a significant effect on the environment" (Guidelines Section 15064(a)(l)) or if it is presented with a "fair argument" that the project may have a significant impact even though it may receive information to the contrary (Guidelines Section 15064(±)(1 )). The Initial Study Checklist that is provided by Appendix G of the State CEQA Guidelines includes a series of specific questions that are used to determine if a project may have a significant environmental impact on traffic and transportation, such as "Will the project:" d) Substantially increase hazards due to a design feature (e.g. sharp curves or dangerous intersections) or incompatible uses? e) Result in inadequate emergency access? At this time, staff cannot rely on the project information to determine that there will not be a potential adverse impact associated with the proposed expansion of the San Francisco Yacht Club because there is substantial evidence that inadequate parking could impact area traffic circulation and emergency response. The basis for this determination is provided below. The applicant submitted a parking study prepared by TJKM, dated March 19, 2010, to support the proposed Club expansion. The report evaluated the parking associated with a single event held on Friday, February 19, 2010 for 24 people in the Cove House. The clubhouse was open to members while the event was occurring. According to the report, a minimum of 97 parking spaces of the 186 spaces provided on Club property were available throughout the evening. The analysis of the parking demand noted that over 20 public parking spaces also were available within a two-block radius of the Club and that the Club has an informal, on-going agreement with a private parking lot in Tiburon for increased capacity of 150 parking spaces. The TJKM parking study assumed a parking rate of 1.5 guests per vehicle. The 1.5 variable represented a typical scenario where half of the guests drove alone and half drove with another person. The parking study did not evaluate an event during the summer or the sailing season, a time when many people hold special events and when more residents and visitors are in Staff Report for 98 Beach Road Owner: The San Francisco Yacht Club May17,2011 Page4 Belvedere enjoying the summer weather and the area's busy summer social calendar. The study did not include parking demand created by Club employees, special events such as The Leukemia Cup, The Kitchen Tour, weddings and regattas, or the added capacity represented by temporary tents. In addition, the Club is one use on several legal lots. TJKM did not identify the special parking needs of uses which provide facilities and parking on separate legal lots. TJKM did not find a potential for traffic congestion and so did not recommend measures to manage parking demand, maintain safe traffic flow or avoid roadway obstructions. At this time, staff cannot rely on the parking study and finds that there may be a potential adverse impact associated with the proposed expansion.

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