Second Story Gets Cut Down After Neighbors Cry Foul Over Lost Views, Privacy

At 16 Elm Avenue, the owner asked the Planning Commission to approve demolishing the existing house and building a new 2,970 sq ft two-story home with an attached 175 sq ft garage/gym, plus a floor-area exception pushing the home to 0.214 FAR (3,148 sq ft) against a code max of 0.192, and a slope permit covering 362 cubic yards of grading. Architect Rich Pearlstein described the design as blending Mission Revival style with "biomodern" elements, including planted green roofs, and said the second story was tucked into an existing hillside cut to soften its impact.

“I've been a Larkspur resident for 21 years... I told them a year ago what we were starting to do... there's no question there was an impact... but I understand that certainly from 20 Elm there will be impact. I mean there's just no there's no getting around that.”— Mike Folk, property owner, 16 Elm Avenue

Staff recommended approval with conditions and a Class 2 CEQA exemption, but neighbors weren't satisfied. Emily Leiden of 20 Elm Avenue said the new second story looms over her backyard and blocks her Mount Tam view from the deck that serves as her main living space, and argued the second floor shouldn't exist at all, or at minimum needed a real redesign. Trisha Lacy of 110 Acacia Avenue questioned whether an accessory structure converted to an ADU in 2024 should even qualify for the 800 sq ft FAR bonus, since it wasn't originally built as an ADU after July 2023, and asked for protection of heritage oak and maple roots during grading.

Owner Mike Folk didn't dispute the impact on his neighbors. The commission split the difference: it approved the project 4-0, but added conditions requiring the second-story plate height be dropped 6 inches, the roof pitch reduced from 6:12 to 5:12 on all gables, and the east-facing second-story windows redesigned using the applicant's own alternate configuration to cut privacy impacts.

City Considers Giving Up a Slice of Public Road to a Fire-Rebuilt Garage

A routine rebuild permit after a house fire turned up a surprise at 2 Palm Avenue: a survey found that a long-standing private garage and driveway actually sit on a 3,470 sq ft crescent-shaped piece of Palm Avenue's public right-of-way. The property owner, after exhausting other options and pursuing a quiet title action, is now asking the city to vacate that portion of road so the garage can stay put legally — a request that needs a General Plan conformity finding from the Planning Commission before it can go to city council.

Staff argued a private structure sitting in the public right-of-way is a liability the city shouldn't carry, and said an encroachment agreement wasn't seen as a viable alternative to outright vacating the land. But a commissioner pushed back, asking why the city would give up fee title to a narrow, fire-prone street rather than keep a reversible encroachment agreement in place — especially with future fire-access and road-widening needs in mind — and wanted to know whether the fire department had weighed in yet.

With that question unanswered, the commission voted 4-0 to continue the item, sending it back for further reports from the fire department and public works on safety, liability, and alternatives before it returns for a vote.

Chipotle Wins Approval for Cost Plus Plaza Despite Parking and Turn-Lane Worries

A Chipotle is coming to 2062 Redwood Highway at the Cost Plus Plaza, after the Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit letting a restaurant into part of the shrinking Vitamin Shop space, in the L1 light-industrial zone. The restaurant would run 10:30 am to 11 pm daily with about 8 employees per shift, up to 12 during promotions, and deliveries scheduled off-hours with no exterior changes to the building.

“We've actually expressed directly to staff that we're really supportive of the study of that area and would love to see some kind of a traffic light or turn corridor safety improvement.”— Ari Blum, Catalyst Real Estate, representing the property owner

Commissioners weren't fully convinced the numbers added up. One pressed the applicant on expected customer counts and delivery/pickup volume, openly skeptical that shrinking Vitamin Shop's footprint by 2,000 square feet would really cut its customer traffic in half as the trip-generation study assumed. Property owner representative Ari Blum countered that Cost Plus Plaza's 291-space lot runs only about 41.9% occupied at peak, with room to absorb demand in the lot's underused southern end.

The bigger worry was the road, not the parking lot: commissioners flagged the left turn out of the shopping center as difficult and dangerous, given nearby Highway 101 traffic and an emergency veterinary clinic drawing its own cars, and asked the owner to support any city study of a fix. Blum agreed, and the commission approved the permit 4-0.