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they have had issues with massing, particularly the Bourg's who live west of the site by way of the fact that they would look out of their home into a two-story structure as opposed to having the ability of looking over a one-story home and see the existing older home at 2015 Neal Street. Mr. Dolan then presented the proposed first floor, which was requested as an expansion of an existing home. However, there is very little of the existing home that would be retained. He pointed to the wall that would remain labeled in red and located in-between the existing and proposed home. He then presented a display of the second floor and noted there were concerns about massing and how this was viewed primarily from the front on Neal Street and also from the Bourg's property. These were discussed at length by the Planning Commission and also at a subcommittee of the Commission. The applicants agreed to some revisions to the home which reduced the appearance of the massing from the front and from the Bourg's side. The floor plans were rearranged such that the front deck became much smaller and the study was pulled around to the back. Mr. Dolan then presented the revised second floor plan and said there now exists a large hollow space on the right, lower-hand side which gives some relief to that floor plan and pulls the building back away from the property line and the Bourg's property which reduces the appearance of the mass. He showed the west elevation changes as viewed from the Bourg's, noting that the volume grows at the rear of the house where some of the square footage was moved from the front. The east elevation does not change dramatically except that there is more volume in the back. With the relocation of the space and room volumes, it affects the roof plan which with the most recent revision and reduces the overall height of the home by 18 inches. Mr. Dolan said the Planning Commission also requested story poles which were erected and up for a number of months. There was one misleading part of the story poles where the orange material was to portray the dimension of the home; however, it extended all the way to the property line and not 5 feet away from it. Mr. Dolan then presented a photo montage by the applicant which shows the relationship to the street and surrounding structures. Staff's evaluation of it is that it is accurate and demonstrates what the massing of the building will look like if the project was constructed. Staff concludes that spacing between the homes to the left and to the right is satisfactory. But, it becomes more difficult to make that conclusion because of the location of the former garage which is now a ceramic studio which sits on the property line. The relationship between the proposed home and that structure is very close and closer than most relationships as seen in the downtown neighborhood. At the Planning Commission meeting and throughout the process there has been a lot of discussion about what the FAR should be. This is difficult to assess because of the unique situation of two homes on one lot. If combined, they are within the FAR limits of 40%. However, if one pretends they are two lots as they appear from the street, the smaller pad is only about 2,800 square feet and about 1,500 square feet counted towards the FAR, which equals 54%. While not a technical zoning violation, it should be highlighted. Mr. Dolan further stated that staff actually disagrees with the square footages provided on the plan and has included its own measurements along with those represented on the plans as presented by the architect. He said the plans state that the proposed home is 1,844 square feet and staffs measurements show it to be 1,710 square feet. Councilmember Sullivan questioned if the 1,710 square foot measurement included the garage, and Mr. Dolan replied yes. Councilmember Sullivan said it seems as if the rules on whether garages are counted in FAR's changes depending upon the project. For some projects, the first 200-400 feet of the garage is counted towards the FAR but anything beyond that is not counted. Now, staff is not including it in the FAR. Mr. Dolan explained that in some cases there have been PUD's that have tried to address the history of the City in the code not counting garages as part of the FAR. If one starts to build enormous 4-5 car garages when doing a PUD, staff has said they cannot exempt all of the square City Council Minutes Page 8 of 25 February 7,2012