CATT Gross Floor Area January 17, 2017 Presentation to Town of - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

CATT Gross Floor Area January 17, 2017 Presentation to Town of Truckee Planning Commission

OUTLINE 2 1. CATT Timeline 2. Two Town Methodologies – Building Div & Planning Div 3. What Others Do 4. Process 5. CATT Proposal 6. CATT Proposal in Context 7. Recap

CATT TIMELINE 3 Mid-June 2016 CATT member shares concern about East River SFR plans rejected by Truckee Planning Division as a result of calculation methodology for Gross Floor Area – calculation methodology was not consistent with industry or Building Division methodology June 21 At Planning Commission Meeting where GFA text change in Development Code is proposed by Town staff, CATT receives delay to discuss/remedy confusion July-Aug CATT asks for meeting and agenda item to discuss but is told this is not high priority October 18 CATT sends letter asking for official interpretation November 1 CATT meets with Town Planning Manager Denyelle Nishimori Nov-Dec CATT/Denyelle have ongoing dialogue Jan. 5, 2017 CATT meets with Denyelle to prep for Plann Comm

TOWN BUILDING 4 Area Calculation for Stairways At the Building Working Group meeting on October 11, 2016, Truckee CBO Johnny Goetz said building officials have always counted stair area the way CATT is describing: 1x on 2-story and 2x on 3-story buildings.

TOWN PLANNING 5 Email from Denyelle Nishimori - January 4, 2017 “ we essentially use a literal application” Gross Floor Area is calculated “literally” as written in the Development Code “without deduction” for stairways. This is done for land use purposes.

VISUAL – 2 story 6

VISUAL – 3 story 7

WHAT OTHERS DO 8 For STAIRWAYS: Nevada County Planning & Building Departments From: Craig Griesbach [mailto:Craig.Griesbach@co.nevada.ca.us] Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2016 9:15 AM To: Jim Smith <Jim@marktannerconstruction.com> Subject: RE: Gross floor area We both count the stairs once since it is only really one floor area. We count storage spaces and “usable areas” only. We don’t count crawl spaces with dirt floors not intended for storage or usable space regardless of head room. Craig Griesbach, CBO, CASp Director of Building Community Development Agency County of Nevada (530) 265-1583

WHAT OTHERS DO 9 For STAIRWAYS: Placer County Planning Department On Wed, Dec 14, 2016 at 3:43 PM, Steve Buelna <SBuelna@placer.ca.gov> wrote: Hello Kristi, I’m assuming you are speaking to how Placer County calculates floor area. Placer County would only count the stair area once. Depending on the difference between conditioned and non-conditioned space, your position that the top floor is simply a hole in the floor seems very reasonable.

WHAT OTHERS DO 10 From: Scott Perbetsky Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2016 8:29 AM To: Sue Horne <Sue.Horne@co.nevada.ca.us> Subject: RE: CATT Question - how does your office count floor area? We take the stairs out once if they are overlapping. If it’s a 2- story they count once. If it’s a 3 -story they count twice. Hopefully that makes sense. Let me know if you need further clarification. Scott Perbetsky Appraiser II Nevada County Assessor's Office 950 Maidu Ave. Nevada City, CA 95959 (530)265-1284 scott.perbetsky@co.nevada.ca.us

WHAT OTHERS DO 11 The East River subdivision has a SF size limit for homes. East River HOA did not count the upper-most level of the stairway as floor area for the single family residential project that first brought this issue to CATT’s attention in June. East River HOA approved the plans as submitted by the homeowner but Town Planning rejected the HOA-approved plans. The plans had to be re-drawn, incurring additional expense and construction delay.

PROCESS 12 Strong reaction from CATT a result of surprise and lack of awareness. No record of past public discussion or Director’s Determination re how one definition could result in two different interpretations – no background information provided to CATT when requested in August. Stairway calculation was not part of Mass and Scale discussion by Planning Commission in 2011/2013 so where did this come from? Matters of Town policy development and implementa- tion have traditionally involved the public with clear description of desired intent (from General Plan to Development Code) – the Town has prided itself on transparency and due process. Planning Commission in June 2016 agreed that public discussion was appropriate and necessary.

TOWN TEXT 13 Development Code Section(Section 18.220.G): Gross floor area. The floor area within the inside perimeter of the exterior walls of the building or area under consideration, exclusive of vent shafts and courts, without deduction for corridors, stairways, closets, the thickness of interior walls, columns or other features. The floor area of a building, or portion thereof, not provided with surrounding exterior walls shall be the usable area under the horizontal projection of the roof or floor above. The gross floor area shall be calculated or computed in accordance with the Title 15 (Building & Construction) of the Municipal Code.

CATT TEXT 14 Gross Floor Area. The floor area within the inside perimeter of the exterior walls of the building or area under consideration exclusive of vent shafts and courts, without deduction for corridors, closets, the thickness of interior walls, columns or other features. For stairways and elevators that connect multiple levels, floor area shall be counted on all levels as if it were a solid floor except that the area of the stairway or elevator shall not be counted as floor area on the top-most interior level served by the element. Where a room in a building has a sloped ceiling, no portion of the room measuring less than five (5) feet from the finished floor to the ceiling shall be counted as floor area. For crawl spaces and basement areas, any area with a structural floor that has a ceiling height of 7’ - 0” or greater and is enclosed with walls shall be counted as floor area. Gross floor area shall include carports but not porches, patios, porte cocheres, decks, or walkways, whether covered with a roof or not. The gross floor area shall be calculated or computed in accordance with the Title 15 (Building & Construction) of the Municipal Code.

CONTEXT 15

CONTEXT 16

FAR 17 Phoenix Executive Building 20,036 SF 19,878 SF 20,543 SF 21,815 SF 22,821 SF

FAR 18 Floor Area Ratio

RECAP 19 Make minor change to Planning Division calculation methodology so it is consistent with Building Division methodology and industry standard Maintain Building Division STAIRWAY calculation methodology which is also used for fee calculations and County Assessor Minor change is common sense action that does not trigger higher level CEQA review Minor change does not change any site requirements for Residential or Non-Residential development (set backs, height, open space, coverage, FAR) Minor change informs the public about what is and is not counted for Gross Floor Area Minor change leaves open the question of Mass and Scale for future discussion and alternate ways to measure mass and scale, if justified

THANK YOU! 20 Thank You for listening. We are happy to answer any questions you might have.