10/27/2004 Env Bd Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • • Fox Den Acres page 3 MUSA Reserve: The comprehensive plan and the growth management policy establish a specific number of MUSA acres for residential growth for stage one (prior to year 2010). The area of the site to be built on is within the current MUSA. Growth Management, Units /Year: There are no lots available for 2004. As seen in the table at the end of this report, 164 lots have been approved for year 2005. No more than 12 more lots could be allowed for year 2005 to bring the total to 176, which includes the 20% discretionary flexibility. This lot restriction creates an obstacle for this project to proceed as a conservation development. It will be vital for the developer to be able to final plat enough units to make the project financially viable. This issue is not a surprise. It has been part of the growth management discussion for some time. Proactive planning must accommodate the long term as well as the short term. Viewing the future in one -year increments should not be the main method for planning the future of the community. Just as mother nature is not easily described by arithmetic lot size dimensions, growth over time cannot be planned and managed primarily with annual lot totals. Such a method acts as an obstacle to sound planning when considering longer term goals. PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT, PRELIMINARY PLAT Lots: In order to preserve as much open space as possible, lot dimensions have been adjusted. A handful of lots have less area than the R -1 minimum. Many lots are less deep than normal zoning requires. However, the additional area behind these lots is greater than a normal lot would include. In much of the plat, the open space behind the lots extends for several hundred feet. The feeling of openness is greater, though the actual lot line depth is less than normal. Another means of increasing the common open space is the use of decreased setbacks from the street. The setbacks in this project will be 25 feet from the right of way rather than the normal 30 feet. (Remember that the right of way included more land than the actual paved street.) This 25' setback is allowed by the PUD standards. Streets, Access, Parking: The rights of way for the internal streets is 50 feet. This is less than the normal 60 feet. The pavement width, back of curb to back of curb, is 28 feet rather than the normal 32. These are two more ways of increasing the open space in the project: narrowing the rights of way allows for more open space behind the lots. The narrower pavement reduces impervious surface. The PUD standards specifically allow the pavement to be reduced in this way. The comprehensive plan for the community includes this as an area to be developed. One road is stubbed to it in a previous development project, as are water and sewer. In the past, many neighborhoods were created with only one access, but now we want to provide more than one . Therefore, we must look for another access option if the comprehensive plan is to be implemented here.