To: City Council
From: Brielle Johnck and Steve Schmidt
Re: Daylight Plane
The Climate Action Plan Doesn’t Go Far Enough Menlo Park has found itself in a full court press on climate action efforts. Switching from natural gas involves changes as to how we heat our homes, heat our water, and cook our meals. These changes have found property owners researching the feasibility and cost of heat pumps and solar panels.
Solar panels are an element in our effort to reduce our use of natural gas. Solar needs access to the sun. Tall houses can be a problem. What are the rules? What are the protections for homeowners? The current building ordinance allows two-story 28 ft tall houses to be little as 5 ft from a neighbors side yard. A 28 ft tall house, even with a second story recess can shade a neighbor’s solar panels, their vegetable garden, their clothesline and an outdoor patio.
There is a missing piece of the climate action vision Big, tall houses are being constructed all over the city and some are not only shading their neighbor’s solar panels but depriving them of effective future solar installations. The electric costs to run heat pumps used in heating and cooling homes can be offset by solar panels. Where are the protections for homeowners who make the financial commitment to switch to electric?
History of Building Ordinance 21 years ago, when solar was the new wave, the Menlo Park Council studied a revision to the residential design ordinance. The goal was to reduce the use and the cost of electricity. Residents wanted assurances that their solar panels would be protected from neighbor’s construction projects. They asked for a voice in the approval process of new construction in the immediate neighborhood. An ordinance that reduced the daylight plane angle and enabled neighborhood participation in the approval process was drawn up and adopted by the end of 2002. In January of 2003 a new council majority of Micki Winkler, Lee Duboc and Nicholas Jellins rescinded the ordinance.
Today’s Scrape and Build Approach Here we are today in a storm of city-wide demolitions of small houses being replaced by imposing 28 ft high 2-story homes that maximize allowable floor areas and height limits. Adjacent neighbors near these new constructions are losing their sunlight, their privacy and their solar access.
Can Solar Access be protected? How can this problem be addressed and can it happen while the City continues to encourage residents to switch from gas to electric in their homes? New regulations about setbacks, building heights and daylight plane requirements can spare the worst of the negative impacts on adjacent neighbors to a new construction or remodel. Electricity is cleaner than gas, but more expensive, which can be defrayed somewhat by heat pumps and adding solar.
Today’s Unfortunate Reality Because the City’s current building ordinance allows 28 ft tall houses with the daylight plane at 45 degrees, neighbors to the north will find themselves in the shade for a good part of the day for a good part of the year. The Planning Commission continues its practice of damaging homeowners by giving green lights for construction of tall houses with 5 ft side setbacks on substandard lots. The Council needs to close this loophole.
Solutions to be Considered Reduce the daylight plane from a 45 degree angle to a 30 degree angle. Reduce the height allowed from 28 ft to 25 ft at maximum. Increase the side setbacks on substandard parcels (less than 65 ft wide) from 5 ft to 6.5 ft as they are for standard parcels in the R-1-U district. A lot that is only 50 ft wide (as most in the Willows are) is not suitable for a 2-story house with only a 5 ft side setback. NOTE: Felton Gables, a neighborhood with large parcels voluntarily created a zoning ordinance that sets its daylight plane maximum at a 34 degree angle. Concern for their neighbors was a priority.
Please add this discussion to this year’s goal setting session as a priority. The Climate Action Plan needs a tweak and it is an important one. We stand at the ready to give Council Members a site visit of one of more egregious examples of a residential project .
