Agenda - City of Santa Monica

design, resulting in a street elevation consisting of base, middle, and top sections
that visually reduces the overall building mass of the elevation. The building
design is consistent with the intent of this standard, and t herefore staff is
supportive of this modification.
9.04.10.02.040 Building Volume Envelope: Buildings shall not project beyond the
building volume envelope which requires additional setbacks/stepbacks as the
building increases in height. This would result in either a tiered stepback of floors
3-4, or additional average setbacks throughout the entire elevation. As designed,
the project slightly exceeds this requirement. Similar to the building stepback
requirement above, relief from this particular standard allows for flexibility in
design. As designed, the proposed façade still provides depth and variation at
the street elevation that achieves the design goals intended by this provision, and
therefore staff is supportive of this modification.
9.04.10.02.111(d) Private Open Space: For residential uses in commercial
districts, residential units exceeding 375 S F in area requires 50 SF of private
open space, defined as outdoor open space designed adjacent to, accessible
from, and at the same elevation as the primary space of the residential unit. For
the project, 6 (studio) of the 53 units do not have private balconies/open space
and do not comply this requirement. Although the six studio units do not comply
with this requirement, the 750 square foot common roof deck would provide
common open space for residents nonetheless.
9.04.08.15.070(b) Ground Floor Height: The ground floor level floor-to-floor
height shall be a minimum of 18 feet within the front 75 feet of the building. Due
to the upper residential floors designed 9’-10” feet from floor to floor, an average
natural grade approximately 6 i nches below the finished floor line, and t he
maximum building height of 45 feet, an 18 foot ground floor level floor-to-floor
height cannot be achieved without reducing the height of the residential floors or
reducing the number of stories (15’-0” ground floor to floor height proposed). As
mentioned, with exposed ceilings, the ground floor would have a floor-to-ceiling
height of approximately 14’-0” that would still provide for a v iable commercial
space, which staff finds acceptable. Staff recommends Condition No. 13 that
requires the ground floor commercial tenant spaces to maintain exposed ceilings
to ensure adequate floor to ceiling heights for prospective commercial tenants.
The project generally includes modest variations above zoning requirements, which
should be considered when analyzing the level of community benefits for the project.
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