05-28-2003 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Density. The density of the townhouse project is approximately 7.5 units per acre or 5,800 square feet per unit - consistent with the City's requirement of 5,000 square feet of lot area per unit. Adjacent Land Uses and Street Design. South of the site is a residential property (the Winter property) that staff expects to be redeveloped with townhomes in the future. Connecting the Village townhomes to Rice Street through the future redeveloped site would provide another route of access to each development. With the proposed layout, extending a private street into this adjacent property appears awkward. We recommend that the applicant revise the plan so that the main internal private street in the proposed project extends all the way to the south property line. One design option would be to curve the primary street in the project to the west as shown on the attached diagram. We recommend that the applicant also provide a concept plan to show how a townhouse project with a through street could be arranged on the adjacent property to the south. Access. The project is designed with a shared driveway to the east with the apartment complex. This is a good arrangement; however, information must be submitted to demonstrate that there is a cross access easement and a shared maintenance agreement to allow the shared driveway. Building Types. A variety of building types are proposed. Exterior building materials for all the buildings include a combination of cultured store veneer and fiber cement board siding in horizontal lap and shingle styles. Near Little Canada Road 12 two -story townhome units, labeled "C," are proposed. Two units of this type are also proposed near the south property line. This unit type has a tuck -under garage and is taller with a more compact footprint than the other townhomes in this project. Building type "D" is a two -story unit type with garages located at the front of the unit. Building types "A" and "B" are one - story units. About a third of the one -story units have side - loading garages. The proposed side - loading garages are designed so that two garages share one curb cut. This is a desirable design because it reduces paving at the curb line, provides architectural variety in the development, and reduces the number of garage doors facing the street. Planning staff views the mix of housing styles provided favorably. The design of the buildings and proposed materials appear to meet the intent of the City's Architectural Guidelines, as well as the Redevelopment Plan objectives for the area. Street, Driveway, and Parking Stall Dimensions. The proposed east/west private streets in phases two and three are only 18 feet wide. We are concerned that a street that is only 18 feet wide may make vehicle maneuvering difficult, particularly in cases where driveways do not align across the street and in the winter when snow may reduce the usable width of the street. We recommend that the private streets be 24 feet wide. Buildings 8, 9 and 12 each have a unit with a driveway that is 16 to 17 feet in length. Most of the other proposed driveways are 20 feet in length. To ensure that there is adequate driveway length to park vehicles without creating a traffic hazard, we recommend that garage fronts be 25 feet from the street curb. This results in a total minimum face to face building separation of 74 feet. 2