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Page 7 <br /> <br />Building Types <br /> <br />The most significant change to the guidelines content is the creation of definitions of three <br />building types for multi-family housing. With the proposed changes for the new Chapter <br />90 (Zoning and Land Use), multi-family housing includes any building with three or more <br />attached units (townhouses and apartments). <br /> <br />In order to understand the preferences of the City and of developers building in Hugo, the <br />project team held a Joint Planning Commission and City Council Session and a Developer <br />Open House to go over proposed updates to the guidelines. During these meetings, <br />preferences became clear and pointed to a desire for multi-family development at a <br />smaller scale than what is usually assumed. This led to distinctions based on size rather <br />than the type of housing. <br /> <br />While reviewing multi-family housing developments that have been promised or built in <br />the recent years in Hugo, a clear pattern started to develop. This led to the following <br />classification of building types, all of which are found and defined as the following in the <br />proposed Multi-Family Design Guidelines: <br /> <br />SMALL <br />Small buildings are defined as having eight or fewer units per building. These may <br />be either townhouse or apartment buildings and tend to fit the scale of traditional <br />single-family homes developments well as a buffer between higher density or <br />incompatible uses. <br /> <br />MEDIUM <br />Medium buildings are defined as having nine to eighteen units per building. These <br />may be either type of multi-family housing and are more compatible as standalone <br />housing developments or as a buffer between traditional single-family housing a <br />high density or commercial uses. <br /> <br />Medium buildings that are townhouses are allowed to exceed the maximum of <br />eight units per building if they utilized stacked units but maintain the same design <br />features of a townhouse. This means private exterior entrances on the ground <br />floor, private attached garages, and no common shared areas for access. <br /> <br />LARGE <br />Large buildings are defined as having nineteen or more units per building. This <br />would only include apartments not townhouses and is the more common <br />apartment style multi-family housing found in cities. <br /> <br />The key distinction here is the preference for smaller and medium buildings, like Jack Pine <br />Place or the rowhomes in Victor Gardens. Defining these uses in the guidelines and using <br />the same terms in the City Code reduces conflicts. The differences focus not only on unit <br />count, but also in how the units are designed, specifically where access points are, and <br />creates more consistency with the Building Code. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />