Adam, the zoning administrator, approved a development permit and minor-exception request Dec. 4 for the Walter Duplex at 212 South Cuyah Seville, finding the project categorically exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and attaching conditions on roofing, landscaping and a secondary stair.

Lexi, the assistant planner, told the hearing the subject site is a 4,784-square-foot lot supporting a 1,631-square-foot duplex and that the proposal includes a 135-square-foot interior addition and a 65-square-foot covered patio on Unit B. Staff said the duplex is nonconforming along the street-side yard setback but the proposed addition is less than 50% of existing square footage and therefore does not trigger a major remodel determination. Staff recommended Resolution ZA25-027 approving Development Permit 25-469 and Minor Exception Permit 25-470 and said the project is consistent with zoning, the general plan and city design guidelines.

An applicant representative said the team seeks two deviations from staff recommendations: to retain a secondary staircase that provides Unit A with direct access to its garage and street, and to allow a lightweight barrel-shaped composite roof or similar material rather than requiring clay tile because the existing structure cannot support heavy clay tile without costly structural upgrades. "We would very much like to have the building still look like what is in the neighborhood, the Spanish look," the applicant representative said.

Adam said he understood the applicant’s economic and structural constraints but expressed concern about approving a roofing material that would visually mimic an adjacent historic clay-tile roof. "I don't want to approve something that would inadvertently take away from the historic resource," he said, and proposed deferring final approval of roofing materials to the city planner during the building-permit process, with mock-ups to be reviewed on site.

On landscaping, staff and the design review subcommittee recommended several changes, including larger street trees and a decorative wrought-iron treatment; engineering recommended any planting or wall in the public right-of-way be limited to low-lying ground cover and subject to a minor encroachment permit. Adam required a condition (4.14) that ground cover be provided in any right-of-way area where the proposed sidewalk is not constructed and directed the applicant to revise the landscaping plan to demonstrate maintenance of proposed materials if the secondary staircase is retained.

Adam moved to find the Walter Duplex project categorically exempt under CEQA (Class 1) and to adopt Resolution ZA25-027 approving Development Permit 25-469 and Minor Exception Permit 25-470 with the added conditions: approval of the secondary staircase provided the landscaping plan is revised, deferral of final roof-material approval to the city planner (clay tile not required), and a ground-cover requirement in the right-of-way where sidewalk is absent. He noted zoning-administrator decisions are appealable to the City Council by the applicant or the public within 10 working days.

The zoning administrator closed the public hearing and encouraged the applicant and staff to work during the building-permit and construction process on final roofing mock-ups and landscaping details.