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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAVONDALE COTTAGES - PDP - PDP140003 - REPORTS - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGDevelopment Review Center 281 North College Avenue PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 970-221-6750 fcgov.com/DevelopmentReview NEIGHBORHOOD INFORMATION MEETING NOTES These notes capture questions, comments and ideas from the meeting but are not a verbatim transcript. PROJECT: Avondale/Trilby Cottages DATE: April 7, 2014 PLANNER: Clark Mapes APPLICANT/ Terence Hoaglund, Vignette Studios OWNER: Kristen Candella, Bruce Berens, Habitat for Humanity The meeting began with the Project Planner, Clark Mapes, giving an overview of the agenda and development review process for this project. If the project proceeds to a hearing, a Hearing Officer will be the decision-maker. Applicant Presentation Designer: Property was originally approved for a gas station as part of Ridgewood Hills development. It has been sitting vacant, no gas station has come forward. The proposal is for 10 homes - 6 detached houses and 4 duplex units. The product type can be seen at Rigden Farm. Access is the existing access on Avondale, and the proposal is to also connect to the private drive cul de sac next door for a second point of access. This would require moving 4 parking stalls from the cul de sac. Existing trees along Avondale and Trilby will remain. Habitat: Kristen has been with Habitat for 8 yrs off and on. Habitat has 54 homes built in town. They are the 10th largest builder in the US. Homeowners do 300-500 hours of work, then get a no-interest loan. They have a lower default rate than banks. Hope to be part of Ridgewood Hills master HOA. At Rigden, there is a sub-HOA for exteriors of the cottages. Citizen: We LIVE in the townhouses next door – that cul de sac is a private drive, we pay fees and do maintenance. If it’s shared, how does that work? We already run out of parking every day. If it’s shared with 10 more units, parking will be more difficult with more traffic on our private drive. Designer: We have more than one extra space for every unit along with single car garage. Garages are deep enough to have trash. Citizen: Why make the connection? N e i g h b o r h o o d M e e t i n g N o t e s - P a g e | 2 Designer: Fire access -- two points of access are required because we don’t have a turnaround. Citizen: Children like to get out in the street. Not sure about additional traffic as a through street. Designer: We see the majority of access going to Avondale, not much reason to go around through the townhomes. Citizen: Is there property value in a cul de sac that would be lost if no longer a cul de sac? Designer: Don’t know. Do not expect this project would reduce values of the townhouses, just as personal understanding. Citizen: Teenagers go around and around and around at a high rate of speed in cul de sacs. Citizen: Did you do a design with your own turnaround? So you don’t have to use ours? Will take it under advisement. We did look at alternatives that make a loop and connect back out to Trilby instead. We will take another look at possibilities and talk to Fire Dept. Citizen: There should be extra parking. People have second cars, family, friends…our townhomes parking stays pretty full. It looks like parking is not going to be adequate. It will be force out onto the street, and there will be lots of trading vehicles. Little People’s daycare parking spaces are reserved for them. Citizen: We already sometimes drive down the cul de sac, then drive back out when there’s no space and go park on Avondale. So there will be more of that. It’s that point that’s the sticking point. I don’t think my neighbors were aware of this. Citizen: How about just a fire access connection with a chain or barrier? And leave the parking spaces as they are? Designer: We can check but our experience is that Fire has problems with that. In an emergency they need clear simple obvious access. Citizen: I have a friend who has a Habitat house backing up to them – I am aware of the drugs…I would be afraid of that, and then have the road access our area…it would be uncomfortable. Habitat: Kristen – I would like to hear more about that…I think if that happened we would probably know about it. Our clientele is hairdressers, firefighters, teachers…I’m not aware of any drug issues and if it happened I would likely know about it. A follow up conversation might be good. Citizen: # of bedrooms? Designer: The units are 2 BR and 3 BR, and the 2-story units can be extended in the future to 4. Sizes range from 960 s.f. to 1350 s.f. No basements. Citizen: Any reason you didn’t consider the loop? Designer: We weren’t sure about another access on Trilby so close to the existing access at Avondale. We can take another look at that. Citizen: How long would construction last? Habitat: We expect 3-4 months once approved and permitted. Then, probably 2-year buildout of homes – say 5 a year. Citizen: At Little People’s Landing we would be concerned about about machinery. Habitat: You can see at Rigden Farm…we’ve been building for about 7 years. We don’t have little kids coming in to construction areas. We build at certain times of the week. Normally 3 days a week, sometimes 4. 8 to 4. Ultimate time frames are dependent on applications for owners. Already selected 4. Time frames depend on volunteers. And sponsors. E.g., churches, breweries. N e i g h b o r h o o d M e e t i n g N o t e s - P a g e | 3 Citizen: Will it take out part of Little People’s Landing entrance? Habitat: It might move the dumpster location. We would have to work with existing daycares dumpster. But it doesn’t really work the way it is anyway. Citizen: Is the detention pond designed to carry this load? Designer: There’s a long story to detention. Rainfall standards have gone up. We will have to provide some more on our site. Citizen: Will there be irrigation for landscaping? Designer: Yes. Citizen: Do you have any study of real estate values with loss of a cul de sac? That’s the only question. Designer: No. Personal opinion only, no study, is that this development would not hurt property values of the townhomes. Citizen: Some benefits of developing this empty lot. May buffer Trilby noise. It’s a lot better neighbor than a gas station. Habitat: Kristen will arrange a meeting with the HOA and get an email to interested townhome owners. Citizen: Does the City require parking? City: Yes, 2 off-street spaces per unit in this case.