County board overturns denial of housing plans
The owners of a mostly vacant building at 18701 Tiffeni Drive in Twain Harte that currently houses the town’s public library branch will be allowed to convert the upper floor into six apartment units after originally being denied by the Tuolumne County Planning Commission last month.
At a public meeting on Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors unanimously overturned the commission’s 4-3 vote on April 20 to deny a conditional-use permit that would allow for the conversion.
Building owners George Lee and Phyllis Chiu filed an appeal to the board following the commission’s decision.
Commissioners who voted against recommending the conditional-use permit were Linda Emerson, Kara Bechtle, Jim Jordan and Jerry Morrow, while those in favor were Mike Gustafson, Catherine Santa Maria and Larry Beil.
Some of those who voted against the proposal cited concerns that included the size of the apartments being too small, a perceived lack of places for children who would potentially live there to play, and confusion in the community over the project.
What the board approved Tuesday also included amending the General Plan and changing the property’s zoning from commercial to mixed use so that the renovations could move forward as proposed.
The existing two-story, 10,448-square-foot building is northeast of the intersection at Tiffeni Drive and Twain Harte Drive, just south of Twain Harte Village Shopping Center.
A tax office and the Tuolumne County Library’s Twain Harte branch are housed on the building’s lower floor, while the currently vacant upper floor contains 4,464 square feet of space that would be converted into the six apartments units ranging from 290 to 750 square feet each.
Daniel Krynytzky, a Murphys-based architect working on the project, presented the owners’ case to the board on Tuesday and sought to address some of the “misconcep
tions” about the project.
Much of the confusion apparently stems from a separate proposal being developed by the owners of the Twain Harte Village Shopping Center to convert a nearly vacant two-story commercial building on the east end of the center into 21 or more apartment or condominium units.
“Neither the owners (Lee and Chiu) nor I have any interest in that project — financial, ownership, nothing,” Krynytzky said.
Krynytzky said they’ve followed all of the county’s guidelines in developing the proposal. He also noted how there has been much commercial development where he lives in Murphys, though now it’s dealing with a lack of enough rental housing for service-industry workers and others.
Lee and Chiu submitted an initial project application to the county Community Development Department in September.
The county reportedly sent notices about the application on Oct. 18 to 41 property owners in the area and stakeholders, with three of those submitted responses in opposition to the plans.
Three people spoke in favor of the project during public comment at Tuesday’s meeting, including John Buckley, executive director of the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center in Twain Harte, who noted he has voiced opposition to other development projects in the past.
“Look, you guys have retail and commercial structures that sit around vacant throughout the county,” he said. “At the same time, there’s a desperate need for residential units in the county. … It is a struggle for me to see why this is not obvious.”
Dave Scheller, of Jamestown, expressed how he felt that the owners being forced to spend additional money and time appealing the planning commission’s denial could deter other developers in the future.
Scheller said the opponents’ arguments were flimsy and pointed to how there are apartments above commercial buildings all along Washington Street in downtown Sonora and other parts of the county.
“For this to get turned down, it’s crazy, because it sends a negative message to other developers who want to do housing,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Geez, that guy got put through hell and back and he only wanted to create six units.’ ”
All five supervisors took turns explaining why they supported the project, with each citing an ongoing shortage of available housing.
County Supervisor Kathleen Haff said the building has been mostly vacant for decades, while County Supervisor Ryan Campbell said he believes it’s the board’s role to “stay out of the way” if a person has an idea that’s consistent with the county General Plan and doesn’t pose any other serious issues to the community.
Acknowledging those who expressed concern over the project, County Supervisor David Goldemberg said he believes mixed-use has “so much potential” with the co-location of housing, services, and shopping.