After four years and a flipped lot, 400 Oakdale Avenue redesign wins approval

At 400 Oakdale Avenue, the Planning Commission approved design review and a parking variance for a new 3,846 sq ft two-story residence with an attached one-car garage, an 800 sq ft detached ADU, a new driveway, fencing, landscaping and a pool. The approval hinges on a lot line adjustment with the neighboring parcel at 404 Oakdale Avenue that would turn the property into a reverse corner lot, letting the house shift north toward the rear boundary.

“I don't think those trees can will be saved when you're building within a few inches of the trunk, and that's fine if that's the decision we make. I just want to be clear that I don't think those trees will be saved.”— Commissioner Dan, on tree preservation at 400 Oakdale

Staff recommended approval, telling the commission the revised design "shifts the primary residence north towards the rear property boundary," which would preserve the views from the living areas of 404 Oakdale. The applicant's representative said the project has been in the works for four and a half years, calling the latest plan "basically a full redesign based on Dan's advice to flip the lot."

Not everyone was satisfied. David Benady, a neighbor at 230 Chapman Drive, told the commission he supports the applicant's right to build but said "it's astounding to us that this is what the neighbor is left with" and that the home "will always feel like a home that ended up in the wrong location." Commissioner Dan pressed the point on tree preservation, warning that construction so close to the trunks would doom nearby trees regardless of what the commission decided. Another commissioner floated shifting the house 3-5 feet south to save plum trees at 230 Chapman and create a planting buffer, but the applicant balked, saying they'd already redesigned three times and a further shift "will take another four months." The attorney for 404 Oakdale's owners, the Gauge family \u2014 who she said are selling the property for a dollar \u2014 said the family had no remaining concerns about the design.

The commission voted 5-0 to approve both the design review and the variance, with Commissioner Valerie saying she had no objections to the design as proposed. The project still depends on the lot line adjustment going through.