2640 Telegraph Avenue - Berkeley, California...20000142 and Design Review Permit #08-30000071 to...

L A N D M A R K S

P R E S E R V A T I O N

C O M M I S S I O N

S t a f f R e p o r t

2120 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 Tel: 510.981.7410 TDD: 510.981.7474 Fax: 510.981.7420

E-mail: [email protected]

FOR COMMISSION DISCUSSION MARCH 4, 2010

2640 Telegraph Avenue

Use Permit #09-1000103 to demolish an existing two-story, 2,500 sq. ft. medical office building and construct a new, two-story, 4,408 sq. ft. medical office building and Variance #10-10000010 to provide five off-street parking spaces where 15 are required. (Zoning: C-1, General Commercial;

Planner: Nathan Dahl)

I. Application Basics

A. Zoning Permits Required: Use Permit, under BMC Section 23C.08.050.A, to demolish a main building used

for non-residential purposes. Variance, under Section 23B.44.010, to reduce the number of required off-street

parking spaces for a new medical office building. B. CEQA Determination: Categorically exempt from environmental review pursuant to

Section 15303 of the CEQA Guidelines (“New Construction”). C. Parties Involved:

Applicant: Kava Massih Architects, 2830 Ninth Street, Berkeley CA 94710

Property Owner: The Berkeley Telegraph LLC, 3010 Colby Street, Suite 220 Berkeley, CA 94705

2640 TELEGRAPH AVENUE LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION of 8 March 4, 2010

File: G:\LANDUSE\Projects by Address\Telegraph\2640-2650\LM Demolition Referral\LPC_03-04-10_2640_telegraph.doc

Figure 1: Vicinity Map

Subject Site

2640 Telegraph

Telegraph Avenue

Andronico’s Supermarket

Parking Lot

N

LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION 2640 TELEGRAPH AVENUE March 4, 2010 of 8


Figure 2: Site Plan

Telegraph Avenue



Table 1: Land Use Information Location Existing Use Zoning District General Plan Designation

Subject Property Medical Office C-1 Avenue Commercial

Surrounding Properties

North Medical Office C-1 Avenue Commercial

South Food Service C-1 Avenue Commercial

East Retail Grocery C-1 Avenue Commercial

West Multi-Family Residential R-2 Medium Density Residential

Table 2: Special Characteristics Characteristic Applies

to Project?

Explanation

Environmental Management Area

No Environmental Site Assessment Report submitted by the applicant indicates that there are no environmental management issues or required mitigation measures as part of the proposed project.

Landmarks Preservation Yes The pre-existing building was over 40 years old, but was found to not have special architectural or historical significance.

Table 3: Project Chronology Date Action

January 3, 2009 Zoning Officer issued Administrative Use Permit #08-20000142 and Design Review Permit #09-30000071 to construct a 1,500 square foot second story commercial addition to an existing 2,515 square foot medical office building for new total square feet of 4,015 and to reduce the number of required off-street parking spaces for new floor area from 13 to 7.

July 30, 2009 Zoning Officer issued Administrative Use Permit Modification #09-70000014 to allow parking reduction of 7 spaces where 13 were required, to waive an additional 2 spaces, thereby reducing the required parking for this property from 13 spaces to 5.

August 13, 2009 Applicants obtained building permits to construct the project.

November 24, 2009 Building Inspector issued stop work order because more than 50% of exterior walls had been demolished.

December 9, 2009 Applicant submitted for Use Permit application to demolish the building and rebuild the project as “New Construction” and a Variance application to provide five off-street parking spaces (consistent with the previous AUP approvals), whereas 15 spaces would be required per today’s parking standards according to the revised project floor area.

January, 28, 2010 Public Hearing Notices Issued

February 4, 2010 Referred to Landmarks Preservation Commission via staff

February 11, 2010 ZAB hearing – Project Approved

March 9, 2008 PSA deadline1

March 4, 2010 Review and Comment by Landmarks Preservation Commission

1. Project must be approved or denied within 60 days after being deemed complete if exempt from CEQA, or 60 days after adoption of a negative declaration, or 180 days after adoption of an EIR (Govt. Code Section 65950).



Table 4: Development Standards

Standard BMC Sections 23E.36.070-080

Existing Proposed Permitted/ Required

Lot Area (sq. ft.) 6,070 6,070 No Requirement

Gross Floor Area (sq. ft.) 2,515 4,408 * 18,210

Floor Area Ratio 0.41 0.73 3

Building Height

Average (ft.) 17 25

40

Stories 2 2

2

Building Setbacks (ft.)

Front 5 5 0

Rear 68 52 13’6

Left Side 0 0 0

Right Side 5 5 0

Parking Automobile 7 5 15

*Previously approved sq. ft. total for the building 4,015 sq. ft. However, the applicant had not counted uninhabitable spaces, like the electrical and mechanical rooms as square footage. Now, the square footage complies with the definition of gross square foot as specified in the Zoning Ordinance. The shell of the building and its interior layout including the foot print, the dimensions and the plan on both floors are exactly the same as shown in the previously approved AUP.

II. Project Setting A. Neighborhood/Area Description:

Telegraph Avenue is one of Berkeley’s primary north-south boulevards, a commercial corridor extending from the Oakland boundary in the south and the U C Berkeley campus in the north. The older existing 1- and 2-story buildings along the corridor are occupied by a wide variety of commercial uses, including gas stations, schools, restaurants, retailers, financial institutions, personal service providers, and offices. The newer, mixed-use projects tend to have 4 to 5 stories with ground floor commercial users and residents above.

B. Site Conditions:

The subject parcel is located on the west side of Telegraph Avenue, between Derby Street and Carleton Street. The site is across the street from the Andronico’s Grocery on the east side of Telegraph. A 2,500 sq. ft., single-story office building was constructed at the front of the site in 1939 and has historically been occupied with medical and dental offices. Currently, the site contains a partially demolished wood-framed shell that was under construction until November 2009, when demolition exceeded the approved scope work and no longer qualified the project as an “addition”. Construction activity has been suspended pending Board approval of the project.



C. Background:

Administrative Use Permit for commercial addition. On January 3, 2009, the Zoning Officer issued Administrative Use Permit (AUP) #08-20000142 and Design Review Permit #08-30000071 to construct a 1,500 square foot two-story commercial addition to an existing 2,515 square foot medical office and to reduce the number of required off-street parking spaces for the property from 13 to 7. On July 30, 2009, the Zoning Officer issued Administrative Use Permit Modification #09-70000014 to waive an additional 2 off-street parking spaces, thereby reducing the requirement to 5 because of a requirement from the Building and Safety Division during the plan check review process to modify the parking layout to accommodate for an ADA compliant parking space. Bicycle parking was provided as partial compensation, and a parking survey was completed that showed there was adequate on-street parking in the vicinity.

Because the project was an addition to the existing building, it was not subject to the development standards for new buildings, and was granted a waiver in required parking because the Zoning Officer was able to make the required findings per Zoning Ordinance Section 23E.28.130 and .140. (See attachment # 5) Because the applicant demolished too much of the building and must now obtain a Use Permit to build the project as “New Construction” rather than an “Addition”, a reduction in required parking based on the total new square footage of the building requires the approval of a Variance.

Unauthorized demolition of a lawfully non-conforming building. The building permit for the project (BP #09-2258) was issued on August 13, 2009, and construction began shortly thereafter. In November of 2009, demolition of the existing building exceeded the approved scope of work when portions of the building were removed when they were determined to be structurally inadequate in the field. This action was taken by the contractor without authorization from the property owner, or permission from the City. The removal of more than 50% of wall area is defined a “demolition” under Section 23F.04.010. Because this technical demolition has occurred, the proposed construction is defined as a new project and, therefore, is fully subject to the C-1 development standards for new buildings. In this case, the project conforms in all respects except as to parking. Additionally, since the applicant had originally calculated the previously approved project as a 1,500 sq. ft. addition, whereas the actual size of the addition is actually 1,893 based on the definition within the Zoning Ordinance, which includes space such as electrical and mechanical rooms and other uninhabitable space, this approval of this application would require the waiver of two additional parking spaces, or ten total parking spaces waived, providing five off-street parking spaces where 15 would be required for this size building and this use.



III. Project Description On December 9, 2009, the applicant submitted an application for a Use Permit to demolish the building and build the previously approved project as “New Construction” and a Variance application to provide less off-street parking than the lot development standards for the district for new development, i.e., 5 total spaces where 15 would be required. The project as “New Construction” proposes exactly the same building design in terms of location, height, setbacks, and overall appearance and function of the building, as well as the same amount of off-street parking and overall layout as previously approved in the Administrative Use Permits issued by the Zoning Officer.

In meetings and email correspondence with staff the applicant has expressed that his clients, the owners of the property, are financially unable to develop a project that would conform to the off-street parking requirements and would not be able to continue the medical practice at this site nor afford to retain the property without approval of a Use Permit and Variance. According to the applicant, a redesign of the project to incorporate the required 15 off-street parking spaces on a relatively small lot size of 6,070 sq. ft. would require a dramatic change to the design and engineering of the project potentially costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Additionally, the applicant contends that they have investigated the possibility of installing parking lifts as a way to provide the required parking, but that this option would also be financially infeasible as the estimate for such lifts were quoted at around $700,000. The applicants and owners believe that these factors should be considered and found to be an exceptional circumstance that warrants approval of the requested Variance.

IV. Community Discussion A. Neighbor/Community Concerns:

At the time that this report was completed, staff had not received any letters of opposition.

B. Committee Review: This Variance and Use Permit applications were not referred to the Design Review Committee because the project has not changed since it received Staff-level Design consideration and approval on January 3, 2009 (DRSL #09-30000071). Design Review Staff confirmed with the Design Review Committee Chair at the January 21, 2010 meeting that the new project would not have to be reviewed by the Committee because the final project will be the same as previously proposed. The subject medical office building was more than 40 years old and, therefore, would have been subject to consideration by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) under Section 23C.08.050.C prior to issuance of a Use Permit for demolition. However, the inadvertent demolition has already occurred and there is no longer a structure to consider. Staff referred this application to the LPC on February 4, 2010 as an informational item and again on March 4, 2010 as a discussion item.



V. Recommendation

Staff requests that the LPC review the attached materials and find that the project does not result in the demolition of a building of architectural or historical significance.

Attachments:

1. Project Plans, received December 9, 2009 2. Photos Staff Planner: Nathan Dahl, [email protected], (510) 981-7410

2640 Telegraph Avenue - Berkeley, California...20000142 and Design Review Permit #08-30000071 to...

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