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CC 12-05-23 Item No. 11 Two-Story Permit and ADU Ordinance_Written CommunicationsCC 12-05-2023 Item No. 11 Two-Story Permit and ADU Ordinance Written Communications From:Kendra Rosenberg To:Piu Ghosh (she/her); Lauren Sapudar; City Council; City Clerk Cc:Permit Center Subject:ADU Ordinance adjustment considerations - 10490 San Felipe Rd. as an example Date:Monday, November 27, 2023 10:58:50 AM Attachments:_10490 San Felipe_CC Petition.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Council Members, As you consider the adjustments to the ADU ordinances for the City of Cupertino, I would urge you to consider an addendum for a specialized situation that occurs in your city. There are a series of properties that were built legally in their time with extra tall "crawl spaces". Per current City language, these spaces do not qualify as basements, as they are typically fully exposed on one or more facades, nor do they qualify as a legal story to the house, as they are typically partially buried and designated uninhabitable spaces (no insulation, few to no interior walls, no floors, etc.). However, many of these extra tall crawl spaces have ceiling heights of over 7', and some up to as tall as 10', as is the case with my client on San Felipe Rd. We are urging the City Council to allow for these legally constructed extra tall crawl spaces to be permitted to be converted to ADUs. State law allows for attic conversions, and basement conversions, but Cupertino's specialized designation of these spaces as "crawl spaces" prevents them from being fully utilized. As an example, I have attached a proposed site plan for this property. If the client built a detached ADU under current rules, they would consume the red portion of the site, being closer to their neighbors, disturbing more earth, and requiring a greater financial cost, as all parts (such as foundation) must be new. Should they be allowed to convert their crawl space to an ADU, they could use only the yellow portion shown, resulting in no ground disturbance, less disruption for the neighbors, and reduced costs for the clients by being able to utilize existing exterior walls and foundations. A few other items of note for this specific case, which may influence your specific language when writing the ordinance: - The existing crawl space was legally built - There will be no additional square footage added beyond the existing footprint - There will be no significant additional digging down underneath the house (only as needed for foundations) - The resulting ceilings will be 8'-0" or greater, as existing conditions permit. In summary, I would request that the City Council add language to their ADU Ordinance to allow for the infilling / converting of extra tall crawls spaces to become ADUs. Thank you for your time and consideration. Best, Kendra Rosenberg KNR Design Studio Palo Alto ARB Vice Chair ________________________ Letter from the client originally sent to the city in June 2020: Dear Members of the Council, I, and my husband Yuan-Chin Wang, am writing to respectfully request the consideration of allowing an ADU to be built in our existing, legal/permitted crawl space. I have lived in this area since I was two years old. I attended John Muir Elementary, Miller Junior High, and Lynbrook High School. I grew up shopping at Vallco, eating at Cupertino village, and taking summer classes at De Anza college. My husband and I started looking for our “forever home” in 2015 when I became pregnant with our first child. I knew I wanted to stay in this area -- so much so that my husband teased me for not really being open to considering houses in other locations. With the high quality of life and amazing schools, I’ve always known I wanted to raise my family here. We moved into our home at 10490 San Felipe Road just a few weeks before welcoming our son, Aston, in late 2015. Since then, we have added two girls to our family -- Aston is now 4, Karly is 2, and Haley is 10 months old. We have been very lucky to have family nearby, and it is the top reason we want to have the ADU. My parents live in Saratoga, and have been an invaluable help as we raise our three young children. My husband and I both work full-time in tech, and his career in particular has required late night customer events and international business trips, so my parents often help with staying with me when my husband is out of town or working late. My husband’s parents live in LA, but frequently come up to visit not only us but his sister and her family, who live in nearby Los Altos. His parents more recently have considered moving up here, not only to be closer to their children and grandchildren, but also for the additional support. My mother-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimers about five years ago, and her condition has accelerated in recent years. In LA, my father-in-law is solely responsible for her, so they are looking for at least extended stays with us so we can lend help. With the new ADU rules, we thought we had found a great solution. However, a separate detached ADU would consume a significant portion of our backyard, reducing the space for our children to play. It would also be on the downhill side of the house and close to our neighbors, which would be more disruptive to them. We are lucky enough to have a full height (legal) significant "crawl space" beneath our house. Our crawl space has 8' clearance in most places, and up to 10' in some areas. There are existing walls and floors already in place. This seems an ideal location for the ADU: it is closer than a separate structure, more space efficient for the property, and much more cost effective for our family, since the primary structure already exists. We would simply be finishing the interior areas and making the space habitable. We worked with our designer and developed an ADU floor plan. However, after being reviewed by a member of the Cupertino Planning/Building staff, we have been informed that it will not be allowed as it would make the crawl space into a third floor, which Cupertino does not permit. The new ADU rules of California make exceptions for ADUs built into existing attics. We are asking the Council to consider that this is a comparable situation, and would be highly beneficial for all parties involved. We sincerely appreciate your time and consideration. Respectfully, Angela Cheung & Yuan-Chin Wang -- Kendra Rosenberg KNR Design Studio kendra@knrds.com 650-308-8745 47 8 484 48 2 480 47 2 4 7 0 48 0 484 482 47 6 4 7 2 4 7 0 46 8 466 478 47 6 47 4 480 474 SA N F E L I P E R O A D ( 2 0 ' ) 4"6"FRUIT 6"OAK M-FRUIT 8"FRUIT 8"FRUIT 21"CEDAR M-FRUIT 23"CEDAR 8"TREE 8"CYPRESS 7"FRUIT 18"OAK 24"OAK 15"15"OAK 14"OAK 8"FRUIT RP=508.14 TWO-STORY STUCCO HOUSE GARAGE TOS=482.51 RP=509.23 PLANTER PLANTER LAWN NEIGHBORING HOUSE CONCRETE DRIVEWAY SL O T DR A I N RAISED WOOD DECK RAISED WOOD DECK WOOD STEPS WOOD RETAINING WALL RE T A I N I N G WA L L , TY P STEP CONCRETE GR A V E L PA T H RO C K BO R D E R CONCRETE G U A R D RA I L FENCE CHANGE 5' IRON FENCE 6' WOOD FENCE FENCE CHANGE 7' WO O D FE N C E GA T E 7' WOOD FENCE CO N C R E T E CU R B & GU T T E R CO N C R E T E CU R B & GU T T E R AS P H A L T BE R M CO N C R E T E C U R B & G U T T E R 6"VC P NEIGHBORING DRIVEWAY ACCESS NEIGHBORING CONCRETE DRIVEWAY ACCESS W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 PUBLIC ROADWAY DOC.# 6636971 (EXCEPTION #6) 14' INGRESS/EGRESS FOR THE BENEFIT OF LOT 215 (P-MAPS-13) DOC.# 6991101 (EXCEPTION #7) PUBLIC ROADWAY AND UTILITIES DOC.# 8130250 (EXCEPTION #9) 120.0000 PUBLIC UTILITY AND APPURTENANCES EASEMENT DOC.# 8893813 (EXCEPTION #10) EXCLUSIVE EASEMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF 22766 ALCALDE ROAD RIGHT-OF-WAY, INSTALL POWER, DRAINAGE, SEWER AND PIPELINE, RIGHT TO PLANT VEGETATION NO STRUCTURE OR LIVING THING TO EXCEED 14' HEIGHT DOC.# 10359870 (EXCEPTION #12) 240.0000 R.O.W. PER 837-M-36 240.0000 R.O.W. PER 837-M-36 LANDS OF CHEUNG & WANG 8,926± SQ.FT. GROSS 0.20± ACRES GROSS LANDS OF DHAMDHERE LANDS OF BROWNE LANDS OF COALSON S89°40'00"E 86.42' S0 0 ° 0 0 ' 0 0 " E 1 0 9 . 0 0 ' N89°40'00"W 77.36' N0 4 ° 4 4 ' 5 7 " W 1 0 9 . 4 3 ' PROPOSED ADU IN CRAWL SPACE BELOW ALTERNATE ADU IN BACKYARD Al l d r a w i n g s a n d w r i t t e n m a t e r i a l a p p e a r i n g h e r e i n c o n s t i t u t e o r i g i n a l a n d u n p u b l i s h e d w o r k o f K N R D e s i g n S t u d i o a n d m a y n o t b e d u p l i c a t e d , u s e d , o r d i s c l o s e d w i t h o u t w r i t t e n c o n s e n t . © 2 0 2 0 K N R D e s i g n S t u d i o Sheet Scale Date Project 13.JUL.2020 CHEUNG-WANG RESIDENCE No.Date Issues and Revisions 10490 San Felipe Rd. Cupertino, CA 95014 Cheung-Wang RESIDENCE Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) APN: 342-44-023 AS1.1 Site Plan with ADU placement Exhibit 07/13/20 City Council Petition 1ST FIN. FLR. (+0'-0") ROOF PEAK (+25'-11") SECOND FLOOR (+8'-6") 2' - 2 " 6' - 8 " 2' - 2 " 6' - 8 " 6' - 8 " (N) ACCESS DOOR TO CRAWL SPACE NO WORK ON UPPER FLOORS (N) WINDOWS IN (E) STUCCO SIDING (N) EAST ELEVATION SCALE: 1/4" = 1'-0"2 EXISTING STUCCO WALL TO REMAIN EXISTING STUCCO WALL TO REMAIN 1ST FIN. FLR. (+0'-0") ROOF PEAK (+25'-11") SECOND FLOOR (+8'-6") (E) EAST ELEVATION SCALE: 1/4" = 1'-0"1 EXISTING STUCCO WALLS, BLANK EXISTING STUCCO WALLS, BLANK EXISTING STUCCO WALLS, BLANK Al l d r a w i n g s a n d w r i t t e n m a t e r i a l a p p e a r i n g h e r e i n c o n s t i t u t e o r i g i n a l a n d u n p u b l i s h e d w o r k o f K N R D e s i g n S t u d i o a n d m a y n o t b e d u p l i c a t e d , u s e d , o r d i s c l o s e d w i t h o u t w r i t t e n c o n s e n t . © 2 0 2 0 K N R D e s i g n S t u d i o Sheet Scale Date Project 13.JUL.2020 CHEUNG-WANG RESIDENCE No.Date Issues and Revisions 10490 San Felipe Rd. Cupertino, CA 95014 Cheung-Wang RESIDENCE Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) APN: 342-44-023 A4.0 Exterior Elevations 1/4" = 1'-0" 0 1'2'4'8' AREA OF WORK