Despite months of exhaustive research and planning - work that resulted in the rezoning of most Half Moon Bay dwellings - it appears the city has yet to solve the problem of substandard lots.
The City Council passed an urgency ordinance in an attempt to remedy homeowner complaints but officials failed to account for some zoning requirements and public right-of-way issues.
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Patric Jonsson and Tom Roman, the Casa Del Mar homeowners who first brought the substandard lot dilemma to the city's attention, are now finding that public right-of-ways on their streets and a zoning requirement have made their add-on plans just as troublesome as they were before the rezoning, albeit less costly.
The homes in Casa Del Mar were rezoned to R-1B-1, which would fit perfectly for most of the homes, they say, if it weren't for zoning stipulations that don't match circumstances on the ground.
Another constraint, aside from the zoning requirements, is the city's substantial public right-of-way buffer on most streets in this
area.
On Kehoe Avenue for example, where Jonsson lives, the city's public right-of-way is 60 feet wide, but the street's actual width is 46 feet including the sidewalks. As a result, that right-of-way encroaches seven feet from the sidewalk's end into the front yard of Jonsson's property, making it impossible for his home to conform to the front setback rules in R-1B-1.
Jonsson's home actually sits 24.4 feet from the sidewalk, which would still be non-conforming to the required 25-foot front setback.
However, this public right-of-way brings his front setback down to 17.4 feet, further reducing his ability to develop in front of his house.
Jonsson and Roman have, for the last couple of weeks, been conducting some preliminary surveying in their neighborhood. They are finding that the vast majority of homes in the neighborhood, which includes four subdivisions, are non-conforming to the front-setback requirements under the R-1B-1 zone.
In fact, of the 108 homes they've surveyed (using copper reference points in the middle of the streets) only 29 conform to the front-setback rule.
"I'm hoping I'm wrong, but I think I'm on the right track," Jonsson said.
"It's accurate to within a few inches - I'm sure of that," Roman added.
The combined minimum side setback is another characteristic of the R-1B-1 zoning that effects the homes in this neighborhood. It requires a combined minimum side setback of 20 percent; at least 20 percent of the property's width must be left undeveloped.
Neither Jonsson nor Roman is taking issue with the city's urgency ordinance.
"They fixed a ton of things," Roman said. "They never advertised it as the perfect solution."
"(The urgency ordinance) didn't create new problems, it just didn't fix the old problems," Roman said, adding that it did do away with high permit fees.
Roman and Jonsson are pleased with the improvements made at the City Council level, and maintain that any more comprehensive changes are work for the Planning Commission.
Roman and Jonsson expect numerous options to be researched, including rezoning the neighborhood to R-1 and granting overlays to allow property owners the use of the city's public
right-of-way in their measurements for front setbacks.
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