The proposed development of a new house in Inverness is receiving pushback from neighbors concerned about the impact of construction, inadequate parking and the building’s height and large windows.
Spencer Stenmark, a partner at a private equity firm in San Francisco, and his wife, Victoria, a doctor and an artist, are hoping to build a 4,284-square-foot, four-bedroom home at 20 Trossach Way. At its highest point, the building would reach 25 feet above the slope of the hill, and the walls of the modernist home are almost entirely glass.
“It would be our first home,” said Mr. Stenmark, who has two young children and is expecting a third in March. “And we would hope it’s also the only home we ever have.”
County staff were sympathetic to some of the neighbors’ concerns at a hearing before the Deputy Zoning Administrator last Thursday. In their report, staff recommended a general reduction in the building’s height and windows along the western facade to avoid an “adverse lantern effect” and development inconsistent with the rural character of the town. (The property, near the top of Perth Way, is visible in Second Valley.)
In response, the Stenmarks requested another hearing with the zoning administrator in March. “It’s important for us to have the time to be able to fully review and address the conditions in the staff report and also to fully have time to meet with our neighbors and address their concerns,” said Chelsea Edgerton, the architect for the project. Over the next month, she plans to visit neighboring homes to take photographs of the Stenmark property, where story poles are standing in the footprint of the house. She will then create renderings of the building to show that lines of sight are not an issue.
Two residents, Tim Duncan and Francine Allen, are particularly concerned. “This property is directly above my property, overlooks my house,” Mr. Duncan said at the hearing. “I’m worried once they do fire mitigation, their house will look directly down on my house, affecting my privacy.”
Ms. Allen, who lives across the valley, commented that the building would loom over the natural landscape. “The boxy, hard-edge design and preponderance of windows will look like the county permitted an office building on the Inverness Ridge,” she said, adding, “This isn’t an aesthetic critique, but a plea for acknowledgment for congruence and context of this building’s setting.”
Residents who live on Trossach Way are more concerned about what construction will mean for their privately maintained, one-lane road. The original paving was paid for by three neighbors, and no contribution was requested of the previous owners of the Stenmark property because they didn’t use the road.
Immanuel Bereket, the acting zoning administrator, said the county could not require the road to be repaved, but Mr. Stenmark offered to pay to repair any construction damages anyways. Neighbors also worry about construction vehicles using the turnaround at the end of the road to stage their operation.
“The turnaround at the end of the road is crucial for most neighborhood traffic, including residents, visitors, deliveries and the water company,” neighbors Tom and Sherry Baty wrote in a letter to the county.
“There is no parking along Trossach Way for any additional trucks or working vehicles,” commented Cindy McColl, another neighbor. “I am worried that they will be using our unpaved driveway as a turnaround for construction vehicles.”
In response, Mr. Stenmark said contractors would put in a driveway on the property for staging off the road. The downside to such a plan is that more trees may need to be removed, he said, and the county would need to approve further incursion on the land. Current plans include the removal of 12 trees: a coast live oak, bishop pines, madrones, chinquapins and firs ranging from two to 13 inches in diameter.
The Inverness Association’s design review committee also critiqued the project. In its letter, the group argued that the septic system was undersized and that a fourth parking spot needed to be identified. (The septic issue became moot when doors to a playroom and office were removed from plans, disqualifying those rooms as bedrooms, according to Mr. Bereket.) As for parking, the Department of Public Works signed off on the plans because three parking spaces are identified, and single-family residences are required to have two.
Mr. Stemark told the Light he appreciates the input because it allows for more thoughtful design, and it shows that West Marin is a special place. He said he will only hire a contractor from Inverness or Point Reyes Station who is invested in the community and is serious about minimizing disruption.
“I was born in Colorado but discovered Inverness and Point Reyes since one of my ancestors was a Swedish immigrant,” he said. “We’ve obviously fallen in love with the area since those initial visits and clearly dream of raising our family in Inverness.”