TO: CLAREMONT ARCHITECTURAL COMMISSION
FROM: BRAD JOHNSON, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
DATE: JANUARY 24, 2024
SUBJECT:
Title
CONTINUED ARCHITECTURAL AND SITE PLAN REVIEW #21-A02, REVIEW OF A NEW TWO-STORY SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENCE LOCATED AT 631 BLANCHARD PLACE - APPLICANT: JAMES MCGEE
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SUMMARY
The applicant, James McGee, is requesting approval of a new two-story single-family residence to be located on a vacant lot within the Arbol Verde 1 zoning district. The proposed residence has a total floor area of 1,796-square feet, including a two-car garage and front porch, with a 427-square-foot detached garage. The proposed architectural style is a modern International Style. The exterior is mostly brown stucco and also includes a brick veneer in a stack bond pattern and a second story balcony finished with wood siding in the front. Other portions of the residence will feature brown composition roof shingles and white vinyl single-hung and slider windows. The project plans include construction of a detached accessory dwelling unit (ADU) and an attached junior accessory dwelling unit (JADU), which are being reviewed by staff under a separate accessory dwelling unit permit (File #21-ADUP26). State law prevents the City from performing subjective design review on the accessory dwelling unit (ADU) portion of this project, so these should not be included in the Commission’s direction.
An earlier design was reviewed and rejected by the Architectural Commission. Overall, staff notes that the proposed two-story residence is a difficult fit for the historic neighborhood, but the new design with the garage in the rear yard and an offset second story to be stepped back from property lines creates massing and scale proportion appropriate to the Arbol Verde neighborhood, which is characterized by modest homes in styles limited to those from the early 1900’s to the 1950’s. Accordingly, staff is recommending that the Commission approve the project.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the Architectural Commission:
A. Adopt A RESOLUTION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA, CONDITIONALLY APPROVING ARCHITECTURAL AND SITE PLAN REVIEW #21-A02, REVIEW OF A NEW TWO-STORY SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENCE LOCATED AT 631 BLANCHARD PLACE - APPLICANT: JAMES MCGEE; and
B. Find this item is exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
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ALTERNATIVES TO RECOMMENDATION
In addition to the recommendation, there are the following alternatives:
A. Continue the item for additional information.
B. Approve the project with additional or revised Conditions of Approval.
C. Express intent to deny the proposal, specifically identifying the review criteria of Section 16.300.060.A of the Municipal Code that cannot be met and continue the item to the Architectural Commission Meeting of February 14, 2024, for adoption of a denial resolution as all of the necessary findings cannot be met.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
The costs associated with this review have been borne by the applicant.
ANALYSIS
Background
The subject property is located at 631 Blanchard Place on the north side of the street. The parcel is currently vacant and is zoned Arbol Verde 1 with a General Plan land use designation of Residential 15. The 7,500-square-foot lot is 75 feet wide by 100 feet deep. Blanchard Place starts on its intersection with North Mills Avenue and ends two blocks to the west at a cul-de-sac terminus adjacent to Claremont Boulevard. The block surrounding the subject property (Blanchard Place between Brooks Avenue and Claremont Boulevard) consists entirely of one-story, single-family residences on lots with similar configurations.
The Arbol Verde 1 zoning district is intended to retain the existing housing stock and relocate certain homes on lots that are to be occupied by future college facilities in order to ensure new development is in harmony with the modest, historic, single-family design character of the neighborhood.
This area originated as one of two Claremont Barrios that developed over time and has served multiple generations of immigrant families. In the mid 1940’s Claremont’s Intercultural Council (ICC) Housing developed a block of innovative but modest modernist houses as part of a cross-cultural experiment that integrated the working class Arbol Verde neighborhood with a mix of immigrant and Anglo families. Those homes, which include three of the homes directly south of the proposed development, have since been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In the 1970’s, Claremont Boulevard was built through the barrio portion of the Arbol Verde neighborhood, demolishing several houses, a Catholic chapel, and a pool hall. The remaining homes were mostly modest bungalows and ranch homes that were built before the era of tract housing. Through its General Plan and special zoning for the district, the City has sought to retain the neighborhood’s historic working class character, stabilize and protect its viability as a functioning residential neighborhood, and encourage new structures that complement existing historic styles, massing, and scale.
Residential properties located on this block of Blanchard Place (in the Arbol Verde 1 district) consist primarily of small post-war cottages with very simple styles including stucco walls, composition shingle roofs, simple hung windows, and small porches. One newer home on the street has Craftsman styling including broad eaves, a larger front porch with gable truss, and slider windows surrounded by wide wood trim. The subject property and all adjacent properties have a General Plan designation of “Residential 15,” and a zoning designation of “Arbol Verde 1” (AV1).
The proposed residence is set back approximately 20-feet from the front property line, which matches the average front setback for the street. Blanchard Place has a right-of-way dimension of 12-feet as measured from the face of curb to the property line, which is typical for Claremont and allows space for the sidewalk and parkway that already exist on the subject property. A shared private driveway serving four existing homes abuts the northern property line of the subject property. This driveway will not be used by the proposed development. Access to the property will be provided by a new drive approach near the southwest corner of the subject property. An existing drive approach near the southeast corner of the lot will be required to be removed as part of the development.
Architectural Commission Review on February 15, 2023
On February 15, 2023, the Architectural Commission reviewed proposed plans for a new two-story single-family residence at 631 Blanchard Place. This proposal was for a new 1,943-square-foot two-story single-family residence with an 810-square-foot detached accessory dwelling unit. The proposed architecture was a colonial revival style with wood shiplap and board and batten siding. The Architectural Commission reviewed this item and voted to continue the item to allow the applicant time to make revisions.
Previous Direction from the Architectural Commission
At the February 15, 2023, review of the project, the Architectural Commission provided a variety of comments. Specific comments and recommended revisions to the project included:
• The proposed architectural style (Colonial Ranch hybrid) and materials were not compatible with the neighborhood.
• The second-story design was overly massed such that its scale is out of place with the primarily one-story neighborhood. There are opportunities for a second story level that are designed to have a less imposing appearance.
• The proposed residence is located too close to the existing residence to the east and results in the second story towering over the easterly neighbor.
• The street-adjacent garage is unprecedented for the neighborhood and would potentially introduce the problem of a front driveway being used as a parking lot. The neighborhood typically features garages located in the rear yard.
Project Description
The applicant, James McGee, has proposed constructing a new two-story single-family residential unit located at 631 Blanchard Place. The new residence will have a total square footage of 1,756 square feet with 918 square feet on the first floor (including a front porch) and 828 square feet on the second floor. Integrated on the first floor of the residence will be a junior accessory dwelling unit on the east side of the home and a detached accessory dwelling unit in the rear. As previously noted, these additional dwelling units are part of separate permit (21-ADUP26). Their square footages have not been included in this floor area analysis.
The proposed residence will have a total of four bedrooms; three of which are on the second level. The second level will have two bedrooms that share a bathroom and a master bedroom with master bathroom. The first floor will feature a kitchen, dining area, family room, bathroom, and bedroom. The residence will be setback 20’ from the front property line, 39’7” from the rear property line, 5’ from the eastern property line, and 27’2” from the western property line. Outdoor living area is provided at the rear of the home as lawn areas. Front landscaping will include a new Crape Myrtle tree and two African Sumac tree with additional trees along the side and rear property as depicted on the landscape plans. The project also proposes a new street tree, a Crape Myrtle, which is listed in the City’s designated street tree list.
Parking
Development standards for the AV1 zoning district requires two covered parking spaces for single-family residences. The project’s parking requirement is satisfied through the provision of the detached two-car garage.
Design
The proposed residence is designed in the International Style, a simple modern style dating from the early 1900’s. The design features a 3:12 asphalt shingle roof and single-hung and sliding windows. The exterior walls will be finished with stucco and portions of the front façade will feature a brick veneer in a stack bond pattern and wood siding along a second story balcony. The second story balcony door as seen on the front (south) elevation will have a transom window above. The proposed color palette consists of light brown walls, light brown wood siding, red brick, white windows, matte black light fixtures, and a medium brown roof.
The roof will feature a low pitch shed roof style with opposing directions on the east and west portion of the home such that it creates a faux butterfly roof appearance from the east and west elevation. The maximum height of the roof is 23’8”. A small front porch with a flat roof projects over the front door. The plate height is 9’ for both floors.
Basis for Recommendation
Staff finds that the proposal satisfies all the architectural design review criteria listed in CMC Section 16.300.060.A for the reasons stated in the draft approval resolution. Staff is supportive of constructing a home and the proposed ADU’s on the property, which is a vacant lot in an otherwise fully developed residential neighborhood. The project is consistent with applicable development standards including lot coverage, parking, floor area, and setbacks. The modern architectural styling is appropriate given the presence of the historic ICC home directly south across Blanchard Place. As such, staff recommends that the Architectural Commission approve the proposed design.
Issue Areas
Although staff finds the current proposal to be vastly superior to the previous design, there are a few issue areas that should be considered by the Commission.
Windows - The project architect is proposing vinyl slider windows on many of the window openings. Current and past homeowners on this block have replaced their original windows with vinyl slider windows, likely as a low-cost alternative to the original windows. The original windows that do remain on this block of homes appear to be double hung wood windows. The Commission should consider whether a higher quality window product should be required for these new structures. If long-term maintenance is an issue for the owner there are alternative choices including wood clad, double, or single hung windows.
Roof Pitch - While the current proposal includes a modest 3:12 roof pitch, staff believes a lower pitch, perhaps 2:12, might allow the home to better blend with the flat roofs of the ICC homes and would also reduce the overall height and perceived mass of the building to better blend with the smaller homes on the north side of the street.
Plate Height - The proposal includes 9-foot ceilings on both the first and second floors. While modest by today’s standards, 9-foot ceiling heights are rare in the modest homes of Arbol Verde, which consist almost exclusively of 8-foot ceilings. Reducing ceiling/plate heights on one or both stories of this home would allow the structure to better blend with the neighborhood.
CEQA REVIEW
The proposal is categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under Section 15303 - New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures in that the proposed project consists of one single-family residence in a residential zone of an urbanized area. Therefore, no further environmental review is necessary.
PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS
The agenda and staff report for this item have been posted on the City website and distributed to interested parties. If you desire a paper copy, please contact Melissa Sanabria at (909) 399-5499 or via email at msanabria@ci.claremont.ca.us.
Notice of this meeting was mailed to properties adjacent to the subject property on January 11, 2024. A copy of this report has been sent to the applicant and other interested parties.
Submitted by: Reviewed by:
Brad Johnson Chris Veirs
Community Development Director Principal Planner
Prepared by:
Daniel Kim
Assistant Planner
Attachments:
A - Draft Resolution
B - Revised Plans
C - Plans from February 15, 2023, AC Meeting
D - AC Meeting Minutes - February 15, 2023