[BoulderCouncilHotline] Re: Floor to Area Ratio discussion

[Carlisle, Cynthia]

Council,
First, thanks to Chris Cragnotti for emailing and letting us know his experiences in Glendale with some of the land use issues we are experiencing in Boulder, and second, thanks to Lisa for opening up the conversation to us and the larger community.

From Mr. Cragnotti’s experience in helping to preserve his city’s economic livability and its “feel” and look—its human scale-- it seems that what Boulder needs is the political will to carry through on some of the things we talk a lot about—housing affordability, working to make the traffic mess less,
preserving the retail and service base we need.

Political will needs come from us: difficult on the front end, as Mr. Cragnotti notes, but achieves the goal in the long run.  I look forward to working with you, Council, on this issue and hope it doesn’t get punted into the vast planning maw.

Cindy

From: Morzel, Lisa
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2018 12:24 PM
To: Council <council at bouldercolorado.gov>; HOTLINE <HOTLINE at bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: Fwd: Floor to Area Ratio discussion

Council

Last week we received an email from Chris Cragnotti, a commissioner on the Glendale, CA historic preservation commission, who happened to be visiting Boulder and watched council's discussion on large lots and large houses. I replied to Chris and that ensued a constructive discussion.

Please read below for an objective approach implemented by Glendale.

Start from the bottom and read upward.

Thanks

Lisa


Hi Lisa,

Nice to hear from you.  We rarely see full demolitions in our city.  I suspect the main reason being that because we have such tight FARs it just doesn’t make sense for a property owner to tear down a house and replace it with something that is only marginally bigger.  The average size of an original house on a 10,000 SF lot for instance is probably 2,400 SF.  In our District I zone a property owner is capped at 3,000 SF on that 10,000 SF lot.  It doesn’t really make financial sense to tear down that 2,400 SF house just to build something that is only 600 SF larger.  We do have a lot of additions to our older home stock, however, additions that usually take a house to its maximum allowable size.

The other big component that we have in Glendale, that I did not go into in my initial email, is our Design Review Board (DRB).  Our DRB is a 5-member panel of “qualified” Glendale citizens who review the plans for larger scale modifications or rebuilds if a house is indeed being torn down and replaced.  Any addition of 700 sf or larger automatically triggers review by the DRB.  They are tasked with ensuring the overall design is not hideous.  That doesn’t mean that the original style of the house can’t change, but if it does it needs to comply with some basic tenets of good design.  Most developers/homeowners don’t really want to deal with the DRB so they keep their modifications under 700 SF.

The final, and most recent thing our city has done to help maintain the conformity of our neighborhoods, is the implementation about a decade ago of Historic Overlay Zones.  Our city is known for its large “population” of revival architecture, in particular Spanish revival.  We have other styles, too, but Spanish is our main one.  We have I think 8 Historic Districts ranging in size from 5 homes to 500 homes.  In those districts, homes are not allowed to drastically change their style.  A Spanish has to stay a Spanish, it can’t be made into a modern or something like that, plus the city has more control of the materials a property owner may choose from when when making modifications, the most important of those being the types and style of allowable windows and doors.  More than anything, cheap windows and doors can really make a pretty house ugly.

There is also one unintended restricter to expansion that works well in one of our 40% FAR neighborhoods and that is our indigenous tree ordinance.  The neighborhood that has the 40% allowable structure size also happens to be an area of town that has larger lots that are populated with California Live Oaks which are one of three protected trees in Glendale.  These trees can’t be cut down and they require a certain amount of space around them which inhibits the expansion of structures in many cases.

I will say, one of the biggest complaints I hear is how restrictive Glendale is in terms of development.  All I can say to that is, thank goodness because I drive through neighboring cities and cringe at some of the stuff I see.  Beyond just large homes towering over smaller ones, there is so much bad design out there.  Parts of Burbank are an abomination.  Whole blocks are just littered with apartment sized single family homes that are just ugly, never mind big.

If you’re curious about our architecture, here is a link to my company’s real estate website, www.Character-Homes.com<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/KfyzCZ6rEXi51vBmHK49j8?domain=character-homes.com>.  We represent a wide variety of housing stock in town but you will see that the majority is Spanish.  You will also see that there is almost no newer construction.  Some homes are cosmetically updated inside, of course, but you will see most homes still retain their original classic style on the outside.

Watching your meeting the other night is really the first one I have ever seen.  Like I said, I just happen to read in the paper that you were going to be discussing FARs and that is such a hot button issue in my world here in Glendale that I thought I would see what you guys are dealing with.  I am sure your staff is very capable of providing you thorough guidance on the subject and in fact you may have already gone down this road partially in the past.  All I wanted to get across is that this is old news here in Glendale.  Our residents saw the writing on the wall 25 years ago and pressured a then receptive city council to nip the things in the bud.  I will say that there is no way these restrictions would pass muster with our current council and in fact some of us are worried that the council we have today will try to ease them up a bit.

Hopefully you’re traveling for fun!!  Feel free to ask me anything.  I will do my best to provide you will whatever information you need.

P.S. so far you are the only council person to reply to my email.  I was not expecting to hear from anyone actually but I thought you might like to know that.

Regards,
Chris
G&C Properties
Broker Associate
Voted Glendale’s Best Real Estate Agent
by Glendale Newspress Readers, 2017 & 2018

At The Historic Kenneth Village
1409 1/2 W Kenneth Rd.
Glendale, CA 91201
818.389.0761 cell/text
www.ChrisCragnotti.com<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/jytXC1w3k7iMrgWjiX-E2G?domain=chriscragnotti.com>
www.Character-Homes.com<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/KfyzCZ6rEXi51vBmHK49j8?domain=character-homes.com>
DRE #: 01401809






On Oct 18, 2018, at 7:08 PM, Morzel, Lisa <MorzelL at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:MorzelL at bouldercolorado.gov>> wrote:

Hi Chris

Thank you very much for writing and sending your email and links   Interesting approach.

How are demolitions handled in Glendale?

Thanks much. I have more questions but am traveling now. I will write next week.

Lisa

Lisa Morzel
Boulder City Council Member

303-815-6723 c
303-938-8520 h

On Oct 17, 2018, at 2:35 PM, Chris Cragnotti <chriscragnotti at mac.com<mailto:chriscragnotti at mac.com>> wrote:
Madame Mayor and Esteemed Council Members,

My name is Chris Cragnotti and I am not a resident of Boulder, CO, but rather a native and current resident of Glendale, CA.  I also serve as a commissioner on our city’s Historic Preservation Commission.  Glendale, CA is bordered by the cities of Los Angeles, Burbank and Pasadena and some of Southern California’s loveliest mountains.  The population of Glendale is slightly larger than that of Boulder at approximately 200,000 and our median home values and rental values are just slightly higher than those of Boulder.  The vast majority of our SFR housing stock dates back to 1920’s-1940’s.  I was visiting Colorado this past weekend and spent that snowy Sunday hiking up to the Flat Irons outside your fair city.  Taken by your charming town, I scrolled through the local news and saw that the issue of mansionization was going to be discussed at last night’s meeting.  Mansionization and Floor to Area Ratio are topics that Glendale wrestled with a couple of decades ago.  Our council at the time created a robust set of regulations that were not one size fits all but slightly nuanced for each neighborhood.  I am a big fan of our FAR regulations.

Here is a link to a chart that breaks down our 3 FAR Districts<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/EmznC2kDlJupLryxt9pXMb?domain=qcode.us> but here they are in summary:

District I: 30% of the first 10,000 sf of lot and 10% thereafter
District II: 40% of the first 10,000 sf of lot and 10% thereafter
District III: 45% of the first 10,000 sf of lot and 10% thereafter

Note:  Glendale does not include garage space (attached or detached) or any outdoor patios/porches (covered or otherwise) in the living space calculation.  Living space is contained within the walls of the habitable structures only including any Guest Houses or ADUs.  Also, once the total living space area passes the 3,500 sf mark, the city requires a 3-car garage.  Almost no homes in Glendale were originally built with 3-car garages so that is an additional restriction/requirement when expanding a house.  The vast majority of our single-family home neighborhoods are either District I or II.  Our lot sizes range from 6,000-15,000 on average with most in the 7,000-10,000 range (these ranges are not researched, but rather what I am approximating from experience).  Only recently has Glendale allowed the conversion of garages to ADUs to comply with state regulations on the subject.  As mentioned, those ADUs count toward the overall square footage area.

Here is a link to our Zoning Map<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/F30WC31VmJipj3N8tvTp_9?domain=glendaleca.gov>.  The Olive and Yellow colored areas on the map are our main SFR neighborhoods.

As a licensed REALTOR®, I am a big fan of private property rights but as a property owner, I also acknowledge that individual property owners don’t live in a vacuum.  Modifications I make to my house affect the overall character of the neighborhood.  Glendale has the most restrictive FAR regulations in the region and because of that we have the most conforming streets around.

Also as a REALTOR® I see first hand the repercussions of mansionization.  The home buyers who shop in Glendale are doing so not only because we have such charming neighborhoods, but also because it is so much more affordable than the other cities in our region.  For instance, the same 3+2 1,800 sf house on a modest 8,000 sf lot in Glendale sells for 20%-30% less than it would in Studio City (a nearby area of the City of Los Angeles) mainly because in Studio City that 1,800 sf house can be scraped and doubled in size.  In Glendale’s District I neighborhood, a homeowner would be restricted to 2,400 on that same 8,000 sf lot.  The cities of Los Angeles and Burbank have only just recently started down the road you all are headed and are exploring tighter FAR regulations.  Sadly, the horse is very much out of the barn in most areas of those cities.

Watching your impassioned meeting last night, I see that you will be tackling the issue in the coming weeks and months.  If you are looking for anecdotal information, I encourage you to have your staff look to Glendale as one of the cities they study.  As I mentioned, Glendale is similar in size and our FAR regulations are now a couple of decades old and very seasoned.  Because we live in a vibrant region it should be somewhat easy to see how those regulations have affected us as compared to our neighbors who do not have them.

Why am I a fan of our tight FAR rules?  I appreciate the conforming nature of our streets.  We have blocks and blocks that look much like they did when they were built.  We don’t have huge new mansions towering over our charming single story Spanish and Traditional houses.  Our homes are respectfully positioned with space between neighbors and surrounded by tall mature trees and grassy yards.  I also appreciate that we are, relatively speaking, still affordable.  We have many first time home buyers moving to our city and folks who don’t move far when they do.

Thank you for taking the time to read this message and I wish you all the best as you tackle this issue.  I can’t impress upon you enough how important it is.

Regards,
Chris Cragnotti
G&C Properties
Broker Associate
Voted Glendale’s Best Real Estate Agent
by Glendale Newspress Readers, 2017 & 2018

Commissioner, City of Glendale Historic Preservation Commission

At The Historic Kenneth Village
1409 1/2 W Kenneth Rd.
Glendale, CA 91201
818.389.0761 cell/text
www.ChrisCragnotti.com<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/jytXC1w3k7iMrgWjiX-E2G?domain=chriscragnotti.com>
www.Character-Homes.com<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/KfyzCZ6rEXi51vBmHK49j8?domain=character-homes.com>
DRE #: 01401809


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