HomeMy WebLinkAboutINNOVATION ISLAND - ODP - 40-05 - CORRESPONDENCE - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING (5)Steve Olt - Re: Fwd: FYI/Concernec ;zen Page 2
>>> Gregory Byrne 09/30 3:52 PM >>>
>>> Anne -Marie Hewitt (Lilly Tellez-Garcia) 9/30/2005 2:34:13 PM >>>
Hey Greg. I hope your day is going well. I received a phone call from a citizen, and I just wanted to pass
along the info to you. She was at a Habitat for Humanity meeting at Taft/Harmony, and was disappointed
by the lack of information on the part of two members of the planning department. She was specifically
referencing traffic improvements and building/basic proposals. I'm not sure who she was referring to, and
she did not want to leave her name or contact number. I thought I should pass the information on to you,
for what it's worth.
Thanks!
Anne -Marie Hewitt
CC: Marc Virata; Sheri Wamhoff
Steve Olt Re: Fwd: FYI/Concernec izen .,___Page 1'
From: Steve Olt
To: Cameron Gloss; Gregory Byrne; Pete Wray
Date: 10/04/2005 4:41:09 PM
Subject: Re: Fwd: FYI/Concerned Citizen
The meeting this citizen is referring to was the Innovation Island neighborhood meeting held on
September 28, 2005, at Webber Junior High School.
This is proposed to be a Habitat for Humanity multi -family project containing 27 dwelling units in 6
buildings on about 3 acres. Habitat is also proposing an office/retail building of about 18,000 square feet
on another 1.4 acres directly next door to the multi -family. They are hoping to offset some of the cost of
the residential project with the non-residential portion. Habitat will be submitting both an ODP for the entire
property and a PDP for the residential portion of the development at the same time, to be reviewed
concurrently.
Present at the neighborhood meeting were:
" City staff - Steve Olt & Marc Virata from the City
Development team - Don Tiller & Terence Hoaglund of Vignette Studios
- Candace Mayo of Habitat for Humanity
- several Habitat for Humanity board members
- several Habitat for Humanity residents
Neighbors - approximately 30 people (mostly from the residential neighborhood directly south of the
project
site)
I gave the initial "standard" presentation (introduction, purpose, City process). I made it very clear in the
purpose portion of the presentation that the potential applicant had not yet submitted a formal
development proposal to the City. Therefore, because little information is yet available for review, staff
responses would be very limited relating to technical issues associated with the development.
Don Tiller of Vignette Studios then gave a presentation of the project. He described the nature of the
project (number of units, site layout, architectural character) and how it would be accessed. After that he
opened it up to questions & answers.
There were several concerns expressed about this being an affordable housing project, its compatibility in
this area, and the intended price point for the dwelling units. The question about traffic improvements did
come up and Marc responded by saying that the improvements to West Harmony Road are probably
close to ultimate improvements because they have been made in recent years. He stated that the required
TIS for the project will help determine what, if any, improvements need to be made to South Taft Hill Road
(and possibly to West Harmony Road, for that matter). Because the applicant has not yet submitted a
development request to the City we do not have a TIS to review.
There was another question about what effect the Building on Basics tax issue would have on the streets
and transportation system in the area. My response to that question was that I did not know off the top of
my head what was proposed in the tax issue that will be going to public vote in November.
I think it is unfortunate that the citizen who called with concerns would not leave us with a way to respond
to her in the future. Again, I made it very clear at the beginning of the meeting that we, as staff, have a
lack of information available to us until a development proposal is submitted to the City. The purpose of a
neighborhodd meeting is to bring the developer/applicant together with the affected neighbors prior to a
development proposal being submitted so that a conceptual plan can be presented and discussed.
Steve
P.S. I have heard that we will be receiving a development submiital on Wednesday, October 5th.