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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWATERFIELD FOURTH FILING - MAJOR AMENDMENT / PDP - PDP180009 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 2 - MODIFICATION REQUESTland planning  landscape architecture  urban design  entitlement Thinking outside of the box for over two decades. 419 Canyon Ave. Suite 200  Fort Collins, CO 80521  tel. 970.224.5828  fax 970.224.1662 www.ripleydesigninc.com September 5, 2018 Modification Request 3.5.2 Residential Building Standards (D) Relationship of Dwelling to Streets and Parking. (1) Orientation to a Connecting Walkway. Every front facade with a primary entrance to a dwelling unit shall face the adjacent street to the extent reasonably feasible. Every front facade with a primary entrance to a dwelling unit shall face a connecting walkway with no primary entrance more than two hundred (200) feet from a street sidewalk. The following exceptions to this standard are permitted: (a) Up to two (2) single-family detached dwellings on an individual lot that has frontage on either a public or private street. (b) A primary entrance may be up to three hundred fifty (350) feet from a street sidewalk if the primary entrance faces and opens directly onto a connecting walkway that qualifies as a major walkway spine. (c) If a multi-family building has more than one (1) front facade, and if one (1) of the front facades faces and opens directly onto a street sidewalk, the primary entrances located on the other front facade(s) need not face a street sidewalk or connecting walkway. Definition of Connecting Walkway Connecting walkway shall mean (1) any street sidewalk, or (2) any walkway that directly connects a main entrance of a building to the street sidewalk without requiring pedestrians to walk across parking lots or driveways, around buildings or around parking lot outlines which are not aligned to a logical route. Definition of Major Walkway Spine Major walkway spine shall mean a tree-lined connecting walkway that is at least five (5) feet wide, with landscaping along both sides, located in an outdoor space that is at least thirty-five (35) feet in its smallest dimension, with all parts of such outdoor space directly visible from a public street. Reason for the Request The Waterfield Project Development Plan (PDP) is a new urbanist project that emphasizes cohesive community connections and shared amenities. The proposed site plan emphasizes pedestrian connectivity and minimizes pedestrian/vehicular conflicts. Creating a walkable neighborhood has been a key design objective from the very beginning. One device used to accomplish this is to orient some dwelling units on green Waterfield PDP Modification Request – LUC Section 3.5.2 (D) (1) September 5, 2018 Page 2 of 7 Thinking outside of the box for over two decades. 419 Canyon Ave. Suite 200  Fort Collins, CO 80521  tel. 970.224.5828  fax 970.224.1662 www.ripleydesigninc.com courts or along greenbelts. In these situations the home front faces onto the green space and the garage faces an alley. Connecting sidewalks are provided along these green spaces providing access to front doors, however, there is no “street” on the front side. This is done purposely to provide an alternative lifestyle or way of living with less interaction with vehicles. Many families prefer this for safety reasons, others like it for the visual advantages or because greencourts are generally quieter than streets. While the “connecting walkway” standard works well for traditional street-oriented communities it has created some difficulty for the Waterfield greencourt lots in a few instances. The intent of this Modification Request is to clarify those situations and demonstrate that the pedestrian connections provided are equal to or better than connections provided in a more traditional, street-oriented design. Justifications The Land Use Code states that the decision-maker may grant a modification of standards only if it finds that the granting of the modification would not be detrimental to the public good; and the decision-maker must also find that the Modification meets one of the following four criteria described in the LUC. (1) the plan as submitted will promote the general purpose of the standard for which the modification is requested equally well or better than would a plan which complies with the standard for which a modification is requested; In our opinion, homes oriented along greencourts or along greenways, (where pedestrian access is provided to the front of the home and vehicular access is provided via an alley in the back of the home) provides another lifestyle option and adds to the housing diversity in our community and is not detrimental to the public good. In a few instances, illustrated on the following graphics, the design while meeting the intent, does not meet the standard precisely. Waterfield PDP Modification Request – LUC Section 3.5.2 (D) (1) September 5, 2018 Page 3 of 7 Thinking outside of the box for over two decades. 419 Canyon Ave. Suite 200  Fort Collins, CO 80521  tel. 970.224.5828  fax 970.224.1662 www.ripleydesigninc.com  In two instances, (A on the overall plan found at the end of this request and also shown below), the length of the major walkway spine exceeds 350 by approximately 60-65 feet. Waterfield PDP Modification Request – LUC Section 3.5.2 (D) (1) September 5, 2018 Page 4 of 7 Thinking outside of the box for over two decades. 419 Canyon Ave. Suite 200  Fort Collins, CO 80521  tel. 970.224.5828  fax 970.224.1662 www.ripleydesigninc.com  In three instances (B on the attached overall plan found at the end of this request and also shown below), the connecting walkway crosses an alley. In order to provide the most direct access to a public street sidewalk, the design proposes to cross an alley. Alleys have a low traffic volume and vehicles are moving at reduced speeds. To further increase pedestrian safety and to make the pedestrian experience as pleasant as possible, we propose to enhance the crossing by providing special paving at these crossings. This will accomplish two purposes. The special paving will alert drivers to the fact that pedestrians may be crossing the alley at these points and the special paving will be more visually interesting. Waterfield PDP Modification Request – LUC Section 3.5.2 (D) (1) September 5, 2018 Page 5 of 7 Thinking outside of the box for over two decades. 419 Canyon Ave. Suite 200  Fort Collins, CO 80521  tel. 970.224.5828  fax 970.224.1662 www.ripleydesigninc.com  In four instances (C on the attached overall plan and shown below), the major walkway spine meets the criteria with one exception. The walkway spine is required to be a “tree-lined connecting walkway that is at least five (5) feet wide, with landscaping along both sides, located in an outdoor space that is at least thirty-five (35) feet in its smallest dimension”. In the proposed design the walkway is tree lined, five feet wide, with landscaping on both sides, located in an outdoor space that is at least 35 feet wide. The discrepancy is that part of the 35-foot outdoor space is located within private lots. Waterfield PDP Modification Request – LUC Section 3.5.2 (D) (1) September 5, 2018 Page 6 of 7 Thinking outside of the box for over two decades. 419 Canyon Ave. Suite 200  Fort Collins, CO 80521  tel. 970.224.5828  fax 970.224.1662 www.ripleydesigninc.com Conclusion The decision maker may grant a modification of standards only if it finds that the granting of the modification would not be detrimental to the public good, and that: (1) the plan as submitted will promote the general purpose of the standard for which the modification is requested equally well or better than would a plan which complies with the standard for which a modification is requested; or (4) the plan as submitted will not diverge from the standards of the Land Use Code that are authorized by this Division to be modified except in a nominal, inconsequential way when considered from the perspective of the entire development plan, and will continue to advance the purposes of the Land Use Code as contained in Section 1.2.2. A - Cases where a Major Walkway Spine exceeds 350 feet The Major Walkway Spine exceeds 350 feet in two areas where dwelling units front to a greenway. We maintain that where dwelling units front on to a green court or a greenway, the walk in front of these homes is a public sidewalk. It will have a public access easement and it acts the same as a public street sidewalk connecting people from their home to other places in the neighborhood. The only difference is that the vehicular street has been replaced with a green space. This arrangement has the following advantages:  Fronting on to a green space provides an alternative way of living with less interaction with vehicles.  It has the advantages of being safer, visually more interesting and quieter than fronting onto a public street.  People living in these dwelling units don’t walk any further to access neighborhood amenities or to leave the neighborhood on foot than they would if they lived on a public street. Given that homeowners will access a public sidewalk right out their front door, we believe this particular Modification Request is not detrimental to the public good and only diverges from the Land Use Code in a nominal inconsequential way (see criteria 4 above). B - Cases where the connecting walkway crosses an alley In instances where the most direct access to a “public street” sidewalk, requires crossing an alley, we maintain that the proposed plan is equal to or better than a plan that would meet the standard (see criteria 1 above) for the following reasons:  First we would argue that providing a “connecting walkway” to a “public street” sidewalk is superfluous because these dwelling units are connected to a public sidewalk at their front door.  Crossing the alley is only one pedestrian alternative. There are other pedestrian options that don’t require crossing an alley.  Alleys have a low traffic volume and vehicles are moving at reduced speeds.  To increase pedestrian safety and to make the pedestrian experience as pleasant as Waterfield PDP Modification Request – LUC Section 3.5.2 (D) (1) September 5, 2018 Page 7 of 7 Thinking outside of the box for over two decades. 419 Canyon Ave. Suite 200  Fort Collins, CO 80521  tel. 970.224.5828  fax 970.224.1662 www.ripleydesigninc.com possible, we propose to enhance the crossing by providing special paving at these crossings. This will accomplish two purposes. The special paving will alert drivers to the fact that pedestrians may be crossing the alley at these points and the special paving will be more visually interesting. C – Cases where the Major Walkway Spine is partially within private lots In all four cases the proposed Major Walkway Spine is located within open space that exceeds 35 feet in width. The other attributes of a major walkway spine, including shade trees, 5-foot wide walk and landscaping on both sides, are provided. The plan could be changed to meet the standard by reducing the depth of the front yards. We believe the alternative plan is equal to or better than (see criteria 1 above) a plan that would meet the standard for the following reasons:  Some homeowners would prefer a semi-private front yard space over a shared greencourt. Note that a shared greencourt is provided in other locations in the community,  The proposed plan offers a different housing lifestyle from other areas in the neighborhood. We believe providing different housing opportunities and lifestyle choices will make the neighborhood more interesting, unique and desirable than neighborhoods where all the housing, lots and open spaces have less diversity.