Point Reyes Light - December 2, 1999
Big house still too big, Nicasio and Marin planners say
In a special meeting last Tuesday at Civic Center, staff of the Marin planning department was unable to persuade the landowner to seriously shrink his plans to build a 8,305-square-foot multi-structure residence near Nicasio Square.
County senior planner Tom Lai called the meeting with the Nicasio Design Review Board and Charles McBurney of Ross to discuss ways of reducing the size and visual impact of the residence McBurney has proposed to build at 2 Nicasio Creek Rd. in the Nicasio Valley Ranch subdivision.
Of five main issues discussed, Lai said that he and Design Review members came to an agreement with McBurney and his attorney, retired county supervisor Gary Giacomini, only on the less significant matters.
"I think we reached common ground on four of the issues," Lai told The Light. "But the most important area we couldn't come to an agreement on is the size of the reduction."
In October, Marin planning commissioners voted down McBurney's application on the grounds that the 4,672 square-foot main residence and its outbuildings were too large to meet the guidelines for development in the Nicasio Village Planning Area.
All parties agreed last week that:
The 2,022-square-foot barn could be 22.5 feet high, even though the height exceeds the town's planning guidelines by 7.5 feet.
The property fence - originally proposed as a solid board fence - would be a "farm style" post-and-wire fence, except for around the 16- by 40- foot swimming pool.
More vegetation should be planted to reduce the visual impact of the compound and screen the buildings from the road.
The color of the main residence would be off-white, matching the color of nearby St. Mary's Church.
However, as to the size and scale of the project, McBurney and Giacomini proposed a reduction in the main residence of 600 square-feet, or just over seven percent overall.
Throughout the application process, Nicasio Design Review members have been calling for a 38 percent reduction in square-footage, while Lai recommended to Marin planning commissioners in September that the project should be shrunk by ten to 25 percent.
In rejecting the project at an October hearing, planning commissioners did not specify how small the project must be before they would approve it.
Noting that negotiations between McBurney and Design Review members have been going on for more than a year, Giacomini told The Light this week that McBurney and his wife, Linda Bacon, plan to once again revise their application and take it before the commission.
"They can't do a 40-percent reduction. It just doesn't give them the house that they want," Giacomini said. "We'll come up with a revised application and then we'll see what the commission does."
Jeff Kerr, co-chair of Nicasio Design Review, said that while last week's meeting did resolve some of the outstanding issues, the overall size of the project remains a significant problem.
"We have been saying to this applicant from day one that [the compound] is too big," Kerr said. "We would like to see it reduced substantially - around 38 percent. But they seem reluctant to do so."
Kerr said that the relatively minor matters agreed upon - such as the color of the house - could resurface in future discussions if the size of the compound remains too large in the eyes in the Design Review Board. "If it were to remain too large, then we would be likely to lobby for a darker color," he said. "All of the other issues are affected by the size determination."
Kerr added that Design Review plans to continue to work with Lai and McBurney if a "meaningful reduction" is considered, and hopes to see the revised plan before McBurney's next meeting with the planning commission in January.
Lai explained that he moved the scheduled presentation to planning commissioners from Dec. 6 to Jan. 24 to allow more time to help McBurney and his architect make the necessary revisions.
Despite receiving a letter from the Marin Conservation League opposing the project, Lai said he would likely accept a ten-percent reduction if the other criteria about fencing and screening get met.
A follow-up meeting between Lai and McBurney has not yet been scheduled.