HomeMy WebLinkAboutNEW PROSPECT - PDP - 4-10 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE REQUESTrVIGNETTEi
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Ted Shepard January 13, 2009
City of Fort Collins
281 North College
Fort Collins, CO 80521
Dear Ted,
Please route this alternative compliance request to the appropriate departments. The purpose of this request is to propose an
alternative compliance to Fort Collins Land Use Code 3.2.3 Solar Access, Orientation, Shading (B) Solar -Oriented Residential
Lots, as permitted by LUC 3.2.3 (E) Alternative Compliance.
Situation: New Prospect is an infill project located on the south side of E. Prospect Avenue in the 800 block. The site is
physically constrained by existing development to the east and west, existing residential along E. Prospect, and by city natural
area (Spring Creek) to the south. All three of these make it difficult to provide a traditional street network on this property. In
addition, the south east comer of the site is further constrained by the 100 year flood plain and floodway, two existing sanitary
sewer lines cross the bottom 1/3 of the site, All of this combined, makes an efficient layout of this site difficult at best,
particularly with regards to solar orientation meeting the requirements of LUC 3.2.3(13).
Proposed Alternative Plan: The proposed alternative plan maximizes compliance with LUC 3.2.3(B) to the extent permitted by
the site constraints. The LUC requires 65% of the single and two family residential lots conform to the definition of a "solar -
oriented lot","with the proposed alternative plan providing 44.4%. Since the only public street connection that ties to existing
streets is located in the extreme northern portion of the site, there are no other alternatives to provide access to the rest of the site,
other than running streets in a north -south orientation. In this case, we are proposing a looped private drive to provide access to
all lots. Where, we do have an east -west drive, we have oriented as many lots as possible in a north -south direction to meet the
requirements of LUC 3.2.3(B). Unfortunately, with the primary orientation of this site being north -south, the majority of the lots
have an east -west orientation. However, we feel that this could be advantageous for solar orientation for several reasons:
1. The lots on this site are fairly narrow, so most of the orientation as provided by code would be taken up by garages, not
the best optimization for solar.
2. With the long side of the lots in an east -west orientation, , and presumably corresponding wall and roof orientation.
there is better opportunity to provide passive solar opportunities, and and an even better opportunity for solar panels to
be placed on roofs.
OtherAlternatdves: Norte are inherently feasible.
Considerations for Proposed Alternative Plan Approval. The developer would like to request approval of the proposed
alternative plan based on the following merits:
1. - The proposed plan does foster connectivity within the neighborhood with the provision of a central green and
connecting walkways.
2. The preferred plan preserves the existing topographic conditions on the site as much as possible, in which there is a
significant elevation delta with the adjacent south properties.
3. The preferred plan provides maximizes solar oriented lots meeting LUC 3.2.3(B) within a constrained site. In addition,
the remaining lots do have considerable, if not more, opportunity for solar access with wall and roof orientations.
Thank you for your consideration of this alternative compliance. Please include in your comments to this submittal reference to
and your decision pertaining to this request.
PO Box 1889 • Fort Collins, Colorado 80522-1889
(970) 472-9125 • Fax: (866) 902-4163