[OldNorth] 630 F Street

[Dan Quickert]

The Planning Commission turned down the 630 F Street application last 
night, by a 3-2 vote.

Primary reasons for the denial were the project's scale and profile for the 
site (shading, privacy, viewscape). Commission members stated that the 
increased Floor Area Ratio requested (52% vs 40% guideline) was 
inappropriate **with the current design**. They said that the project would 
have been more acceptable if the same floor area was configured differently 
- for example, one-story or with one of the stories below ground.

The Commission denied the application 'without prejudice', which means the 
applicant can come back with a revised plan.  And of course the decision 
can be appealed to the City Council.

The neighbors to the project's north came and spoke, as did Peter Gunther 
and myself.
The neighbors spoke of the impact the project would have on their use and 
enjoyment of their backyard, on the lack of sunshine in their house in 
winter months. Peter and I spoke about the issue of the intent of the 
'neighborhood guidelines' height limit for accessory structures vs second 
units (the loophole); the small-scale character of the neighborhood; the 
small lot sizes; cumulative effects of piecemeal losses of viewscape and 
open space; etc.

One very good comment and positive suggestion by commissioner Donna Hunt: 
those who are getting a benefit from a projected use, should bear the costs 
of that use. Thus the negative effects of a project should be kept on site 
as much as possible.

In this case, the negative impact is crowding or loss of openness.  This 
can be kept on-site by making the structure 1-story, which will take up 
more backyard space (onsite) rather than sky-space (offsite). (that's my 
paraphrase of it, not her actual words)(actually this whole line of 
reasoning is something I spoke about in front of the Commission on a 
different project)

Dan Quickert