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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTHE GROVE AT FORT COLLINS - PDP - 16-10B - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 2 - ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE REQUESTExhibit B Alternative Compliance Request April 6, 2011 The Grove at Fort Collins Project Development Plan (PDP) Request for Alternative Compliance LUC 3.6.3 Street Pattern and Connectivity Standards (F) Utilization and Provision of Sub-Arterial Street Connections to and From Adjacent Developments and Developable Parcels All development plans shall incorporate and continue all sub-arterial streets stubbed to the boundary of the development plan by previously approved development plans or existing development. All development plans shall provide for future public street connections to adjacent developable parcels by providing a local street connection spaced at intervals not to exceed six hundred sixty (660) feet along each development plan boundary that abuts potentially developable or redevelopable land. This is a request for Alternative Compliance for sub-arterial street connections to and from The Grove at Fort Collins PDP. The land is owned by Colorado State University Research Foundation (CSURF) and is located west of Centre Avenue and south of the City’s Horticulture Center. The site is bordered on the north and west by existing wetlands. Centre Avenue is the eastern boundary of the property and the Larimer Canal No. 2 is the boundary on the south. Northerland Drive located north of the site is stubbed to the edge of the PDP. In order to meet the standard, Northerland Drive would need to be extended into the Project Development Plan. In addition, the development plan would be required to provide Local Street connections spaced at intervals not to exceed six hundred sixty (660) feet along the southern edge of the project adjacent to the Larimer Canal No. 2 because it abuts potentially developable land. The southern edge of the property is approximately 1,650 feet long and therefore would required two streets crossings of the canal. The Alternative Development Plan proposed in this PDP does not extend Northerland Drive to the south and does not propose crossing the Larimer Canal No. 2 with streets. The Alternative Development Plan is better than a plan that would meet the standard for the following reasons: Extension of Northerland Drive • High quality wetlands are located immediately south of the Northerland Drive stubbed street. Extending the street would require filling in the wetlands causing disruption to the existing wildlife habitat and ecosystem. In addition to the temporary construction disturbance and permanently placed fill material, the increased vehicular activity, headlights, etc. would further compromise the habitat beyond the constructed limits of disturbance. • The street extension would also cross a drainage way that carries storm water from the Windtrail neighborhood and other adjacent subdivisions to Hill Pond and Spring Creek. This drainage way has not functioned as originally planned for complex reasons having The Grove PDP Exhibit B – Alternative Compliance Request April 6, 2011 Page 2 of 3 to do with sediment deposition, vegetation, unclear maintenance responsibility, property ownerships, floodway issues, etc… Crossing this important drainage with a street would make proper drainage even more difficult and could potentially increase the risk of flooding for the adjacent neighborhood. . • Extending the street to the south would require crossing the FEMA 100-year floodplain and the floodway. Sound environmental planning would advise against building a street in a floodway for health and safety as well as environmental reasons. • Neighborhood residents attending the neighborhood meetings have supported the elimination of any vehicular connection between their neighborhood and the proposed development. Crossing the Larimer Canal No. 2 • The Larimer Canal No. 2 along the southern border of the project has been identified as a wildlife corridor by the City’s Natural Resource Department. Building streets across a wildlife corridor violates City standards designed to protect and enhance the natural habitat and features of this unique natural area. LUC 3.4.1 Natural Habitats and Features (C) General Standard states: To the maximum extent feasible, the development plan shall be designed and arranged to be compatible with and to protect natural habitats and features and the plants and animals that inhabit them and integrate them within the developed landscape of the community by: (1) directing development away from sensitive resources, (2) minimizing impacts and disturbance through the use of buffer zones,(3) enhancing existing conditions, or (4) restoring or replacing the resource value lost to the community when a development proposal will result in the disturbance of natural habitats or features. • Building streets would disrupt the flow of wildlife through the corridor and potentially endanger the lives of animals living in it. Furthermore, the streets would degrade the quality of the enhanced buffers zone proposed adjacent to the canal . • Given the elevation of the canal, the extensive grading required to do so would further alter the natural topography and cause additional impact to the wildlife corridor, habitat, and overall aesthetic. • The ditch company is not likely to support street crossings of the canal if an Alternative Development Plan can work. The agricultural purpose of the canal would conflict with the urbanization caused by street crossings. The introduction of cars, bicycles and pedestrians serves to increase conflicts such as trash accumulation, maintenance challenges and safety concerns. The Alternative Development Plan • The Alternative Development Plan provides vehicular street connectivity to Centre Avenue in two locations on the east and to Shields Street on the west via Rolland Moore Drive. The resulting extension of Rolland Moore Drive provides vehicular connectivity with neighborhoods to the west that currently does not exist. • With the extension of Rolland Moore Drive , Bridgefield Lane provides vehicular connectivity between the neighborhoods north of the PDP and the other land uses in the square mile. • The Alternative Development Plan provides for striped bicycle lanes on Rolland Moore Drive and provides appropriate width for bicycle travel on the other streets proposed in the development. • In addition, the current development plan includes an off-street bicycle trail through the proposed student housing project increasing the convenience and safety of riding The Grove PDP Exhibit B – Alternative Compliance Request April 6, 2011 Page 3 of 3 bicycles through the project as a student resident or as a member of the larger neighborhood and community. • The site plan provides bicycle and pedestrian connections to the existing Spring Creek bicycle and pedestrian trail system located north of the project. The Spring Creek Trail is one of three main urban regional trail systems serving Fort Collins. The trail system provides extensive recreational opportunities as well as access to a variety of activity centers. • The Alternative Development Plan places equal, if not greater emphasis on alternative forms of transportation. Pedestrian and bicycle connections are emphasized due to the proposed use of student housing and its proximity to the main CSU campus. • The site is located near an existing Transfort bus stop, and near the Mason Corridor BRT. Providing pedestrian and bicycle connections to the mass transit stations further encourages the use of alternative modes of transportation. In Summary • In summary the Alternate Development Plan will provide enhanced bicycle and pedestrian connectivity within the PDP and beyond. The pedestrian and bicyclist will be able to access parks, recreational opportunities, schools, commercial uses, and employment uses, within the section mile • The streets that are being proposed in the Alternative Development Plan will distribute traffic without exceeding Level of Service (LOS) standards. • Lastly, the Alternative Development Plan eliminates negative impacts to high quality wetlands, avoids constricting an important drainage way, eliminates impacts to the FEMA floodway and avoids negative impacts to natural habitats and features associated with the designated wildlife corridor along the Larimer Canal No. 2.