Tonight, despite a well reasoned, strongly articulated presentation by our architect,
Bill Araluce, and a recommendation for approval from the City staff, our request for
a revision of our project to increase the overall height of the building from 27.5
feet to 28.5 feet was rejected by a 3-1 majority of the Planning Commission.

This denial of revision allows our project to move forward at the already approved
27.5 feet height. We have finished with commissions and review boards and the like.
Now we just have to go through plan check and corrections, and we should have our
permits. I will be visiting the plan check front desk to give some face time in the
near future so that my permits won’t be shuffled to the bottom of the pile (hopefully).

Prior to tonight’s meeting, I was preparing to appeal a denial verdict and had spoken
to the family lawyer about appealing the Planning Commission decision to the City
Council. As I wrote about in an
earlier post, the municipal code states that 30 feet is the max height for buildings
in my zone. If that is the law, then it seems to me that the Planning Commission has
the burden of proving that there are compelling reasons for not allowing up to the
maximum height. However, at our meeting, we were required to prove our need for the
increased height. The commissioners made comments like ‘I feel the project is already
too big’, or ‘I don’t think they need the extra foot’. It shouldn’t be up to them
to decide what I need or don’t need. The law is in place to avoid these arbitrary
decisions.

<sigh!>

Anyway, after talking to my dad, we decided that it is more important to move the
project along than to have the extra foot on the second floor. So, no appeals, and
we continue down the road….

UPDATE: Our local paper, the Coastal
View News, had a reporter at the Planning Commission meeting who filed this
report. We are at the end.