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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFOSSIL LAKE P.U.D., THIRD FILING - COUNTY APPROVAL - 33-01F - CORRESPONDENCE -17. Traffic Operations - I have not received any comments from Traffic Operations Department, but as soon as I do I will forward them along. If you have any questions regarding these comments, please contact me or any of the departments listed above. 5igcerely, jI (,' Tro on s Ci pl E (c) The street tree standard [Section III.A.4.b.(2)] - City Staff feels that the "public interests and purposes" of this standard are explained on page 31 of the Fort Collins Comprehensive Plan where it states, "Tree - lined streets and boulevards throughout the city, with inviting, landscaped walkways, parkways, and attractive medians, will add to the image of Fort Collins as a safe, comfortable community." Please advise the applicant to reword the justification to the modification request to this requirement to explain how the proposed plan will advance or protect the public interests and purposes of the standard for which the modification is requested equally well or better than a plan that meets the standard. If the applicant provides such justification, City Staff can recommend approval of the modification request to the Planning and Zoning Board. 11. Current Planning - In order to give the applicant sufficient time to address the above issues and work toward a City Staff recommendation of approval to the Planning and Zoning Board, the most realistic hearing date to shoot for would be the June 21, 2001 Planning and Zoning Board Hearing. My staff report is due on Friday June I` for that hearing, so all issues need to be resolved prior to that date in order to proceed with City Staff recommendation of approval. 12. Natural Resources - No Problems. 13. Stormwater - Drainage and Erosion Control Plan should be provided. 14. Stormwater - Need to show that facilities designed with previous Fossil Lake filings were designed to accommodate flows from this parcel. 15. Transportation Planning - Please see the attached comment sheet from the Transportation Planning Department. 16. Advance Planning / Current Planning / Transportation Planning - The 8 foot wide pedestrian path connecting the project with the path along the southern property line funnels all pedestrian traffic through a private driveway area. The pedestrian connection standard [Section III.B.3.e.(1)] requires walkways within the site to be located and aligned to directly and continuously connect areas of pedestrian origin and destination. City staff's interpretation of this standard in this case is that the pedestrian origin would be the units within this project and the neighborhood to the north of the site (approaching on foot along the street sidewalks from the direction of the Stonewater Court / Shallow Pond Drive), and the destination is the pedestrian path that runs along the southern property line of the proposed site. Requiring all the pedestrian traffic to funnel through such a private vehicular space (between buildings F and G) does not satisfy this standard. Some shifting around of some of the building locations and flipping the orientations of some of the buildings would allow this path to directly connect the central intersection within the site (Stonewater Drive / Stonewater Court) to the 8 foot trail along the southern property line. Please see the attached sketch 'to the redlined landscape plans. Code 4.2.1.H. This process would require the requests to go to a hearing by the Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Board and that a recommendation is forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners. This section of the Larimer County Land Use Code states that the County Commissioners will grant modifications to these standards only in exceptional circumstances and if the alternative plan, as submitted, will advance or protect the public interests and purposes of the standard for which the modification is requested equally well or better than a plan which complies with the standards for which modification is requested. It goes on to clarify that in ascertaining the "public interests and purposes of the standards," the County Commissioners shall give great weight to the specific language of the standard, taken in the context of the regulation in which the standard is contained and in the context of the applicable provisions of the Vision, Goals, Principles, Policies and Structure Plan of the City Comprehensive Plan (City Plan). 10. Current Planning - If the applicant wishes to proceed with the modification requests, the letter from the applicant titled "Requested Waivers" needs some refinement before City staff can support any modification requests. The following issues with regard to the requested waivers need to -be resolved: (a) The pedestrian connection standard [Section III.B.3.e.(1)] - The justification letter states, "Our previous experience with these homes demonstrates that traffic to the individual units (both vehicular and pedestrain) issues almost entirely from and is related to the interior, not the exterior/perimeter. Multiple walks from units to street walks would, therefore not effectively enhance pedestrian movement ..." City staff feels that the "public interests and purposes" of this standard are explained on page 9 of the Fort Collins Comprehensive Plan where it states, "New development and redevelopment will be organized and woven into a compact pattern that is conducive to pedestrian, bicycle and public transit travel," and on page 27 where it states "Pedestrian facilities will elevate the importance of the pedestrian." This justification does not clarify how the proposed plan will advance or protect the public interests and purposes of the standard for which the modification is requested equally well or better than a plan that meets the standard, therefore, City Staff cannot recommend approval to the modification request with this justification. (b) The street design standard [Section II.B] - Work with Sheri Wamhoff from our Engineering Department on whether or not the City Engineer would recommend an engineering variance to this standard. If the City Engineer would grant an engineering variance, City Staff would support the modification request when it goes to the Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Board. 3 4. Engineering - For this site, with the amount of parking provided by there plan and on the adjacent streets the City Engineering department would support a variance to Section 19.2.3 of the Lorimer County Urban Area Street Standards for the requirement to provide 1 off -site parking space for each residence that has frontage on the cul-de-sac. 5. Engineering -Provide It concrete to the property line with the pan at 5tonewater and Shallow Pond. 6. Engineering - Would like to see the design of the faux stone walls within the Cul-de-sac islands. Maybe a safety concern depending on the design. Walls are not normally allowed within medians. 7. Engineering - It should be noted that the statements in your text regarding the sidewalk widths are incorrect. Trilby road will have a 5 foot detached sidewalk and all other adjacent roads will have a 4.5-foot min detached sidewalk. 8. Current Planning - If the Lorimer County Planning Department determines that this application is subject to current standards, then the following standards from the "Larimer County Development Standards for the Fossil Creek Reservoir Area in the Fort Collins Growth Management Area" will apply: (a) The pedestrian connection standard [Section III.6.3.e.(1)] requires walkways within the site to be located and aligned to directly and continuously connect areas of pedestrian origin and destination. City staff's interpretation of this standard is that the pedestrian origin is the proposed units, and the destination will be the surrounding neighborhood, therefore sidewalk connections need to connect each and every building to the surrounding street sidewalks of Trilby Road, Shallow Pond Drive, and Snowy Creek Drive. (b) The street design standard [Section II.8] requires the street right of way width of Stonewater Court to conform to the Fort Collins street standards, which would require a 51 foot wide street right-of-way with a detached sidewalks and a 9-foot utility easement adjacent to said right- of-way. If Stonewater Court does not proceed as a public street, then there is a huge problem with the design in that it will be impossible for the current design'to meet the 'orientation to a connecting walkway' standard as specified in Section I.F.5.b.(1) of the said Fossil Creek standards. If Stonewater Court does proceed as a public street, then the "orientation to a connecting walkway' standard is satisfied with the proposed design. (c) The street tree standard [Section III.A.4.b.(2)] requires the street trees along Stonewater Court to be spaced along the street at 30 to 40 foot spacing intervals. 9. Current Planning - If it determined that the above standards apply, and the applicant wishes to request a modification to those standards, the process for accomplishing such a modification is specified in the Lorimer County Land Use 2 Comm '.ty Planning and Environmenta. �rvices Current Planning City of Fort Collins May 2, 2001 Matt Lafferty Larimer County Planning Department P.O. Box 1190 Fort Collins, CO 80522-90 City staff has reviewed the proposed Fossil Lake P.U.D. 3rd Filing that has been submitted for the Planning Commission review and hereby offer comments. DEPARTMENTAL CONTACTS: Current Planning- Troy Jones 221-6750 Advance Planning- Clark Mapes 221-6376 Engineering Department- Sheri Wamhoff 221-6605 Stormwater Utilities- Basil Hamden 221-6681 Natural Resources Development Planner Doug Moore 221-6750 Transportation Planning Tom Reiff 416-2040 Traffic Engineering Ward Stanford 221-6820 COMMENTS: 1. Engineering - The City might be willing to support a variance for the attached sidewalk if the attached walk was a minimum of 5 feet. It should be noted though that if this project was in the City of Fort Collins the variance would not be granted as the detached sidewalk system is in keeping with the neighborhood character design. 2. Engineering - The 20-foot setback for the garage doors from the back of walk needs to be maintained. The City would not support a variance to this. A clear walk area needs to be provided. Allowing shorter driveways would cause the sidewalk to be blocked when somebody parked in the drive. 3. Engineering - Have not shown the standard 9-foot utility easement behind the sidewalk. How are the utilities going to serve the site? With attached sidewalk a greater than 9-foot easement is typically needed. A 13 foot easement was the requirement when attached sidewalks were a part of the standards to accommodate the utilities behind the walk. Need to show how the utilities can serve this site and get the utilities to agree that the standard easement is not needed. 281 North College Avenue • PO. Box 580 • Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 • (970) 221-6750 • FAX (970) 416-2020