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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSILVER OAKS PAIRED HOUSING PUD - PRELIMINARY - 14-88K - MINUTES/NOTES - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGE 0 NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING MINUTES PROJECT: Silver Oaks Amended Overall Development Plan Silver Oaks Commercial Preliminary P.U.D. Silver Oaks Paired Housing Preliminary P.U.D. DATE: January 6, 1994 APPLICANTS: Ken Scavo and Don Albers ARCHITECTS: Ric Hattman and Jim Gefroh CITY PLANNER: Ted Shepard The meeting began with a description of the project. The commercial area consists of individually owned office buildings for medical and professional tenants. The convenience store features a one -bay automatic carwash. The residential area consists of 10 structures of paired housing units for a total of 20 units. QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, COMMENTS 1. What are the sizes of the units? RESPONSE: The ranch model will be between 1,350 and 1,400 square feet. The two-story will be between 2,000 and 2,400 square feet. This does not include basements but basements will likely be provided. Each unit will have a two car garage. 2. What are the price ranges? RESPONSE: Ranch: $85,000 to $90,000; Two-story: $95,000 to $100,000. 3. What is the distance from the driveway to Horsetooth Road? RESPONSE: About 45 to 50 feet. 4. Will these units turn into rental housing? RESPONSE: The units will be offered for sale. There is no property manager or rental office to handle rental situations. Of course, as with any real property, any individual owner is free to rent out a unit. 5. Is this project connected in any way to H.U.D.? RESPONSE: No. • 6. Is there common landscaping or individual lots? RESPONSE: There will be common landscaping maintained by a homeowners association. This includes snow plowing, roof repairs, exterior wall repairs, and exterior painting. 7. Why is the tract changed from "Church/Daycare" to "Paired Housing"? RESPONSE: The size and shape of the parcel was pre -determined by school site. The size is not large enough for a church which typically needs about seven acres. The size is too large for a single daycare user. With proper separation, the parcel seemed well suited for duplex units. 8. Could you reduce the density? The ten buildings look crammed in. How about considering seven buildings (14 units) instead of ten buildings (20 units)? RESPONSE: As a townhome project, the density of seven dwelling units per acre is about average. This type of living does not require large individual lawns. Townhomes are a good transitional buffer between the elementary school and Horsetooth Road which is classified as an four -lane arterial street. 9. For the commercial area, wouldn't it be better to bring the traffic directly off Taft Hill Road rather than off Bronson as proposed? This way, traffic does not enter the neighborhood. RESPONSE: The City's Transportation Department has very strict policies about the location of access points along the City's arterial streets. These streets are designed to carry large volumes of traffic across town and not be inhibited by individual driveways serving individual businesses. Traffic to and from the site is collected at Bronson which is set back a certain distance from the intersection of Taft Hill and Horsetooth Road. Introducing another curb cut between Bronson and Horsetooth Road would impede traffic flow. 10. Is there a possibility of not having a convenience store? We already have these services one mile north at Drake Crossing and one mile east at the 7-Eleven. The office uses seem O.K. because they are quiet on weekends but the c-store would generate lots of traffic. RESPONSE: If a convenience store at this location saves two miles (round-trip) by not having to go as far to the other locations, then this helps keep traffic off the arterials and helps reduce vehicle miles travelled. This helps keep down emissions which cause our air pollution. The City policies encourage these uses to locate out in the neighborhoods to bring services closer to the customers. It is our belief that the facility can be designed attractively. The purpose of a pitched roof on the c-store and the gas canopy are intended to promote a residential character. 11. The c-store site should do a better job of routing customers back onto westbound Horsetooth Road. Rather than weaving through the office park, customers heading home may go west on Bronson then south on Auntie Stone, back to Horsetooth Road. This brings unnecessary traffic through the neighborhood and past the school. RESPONSE: This is a good comment. We will look at this. Keep in mind that there is a stop sign at Bronson and Auntie Stone that may discourage this type of cutting through. 12. As neighbors, we have a big concern that this store not be a 24-hour operation. The store should close at a reasonable hour every evening and not attract customers all night long. RESPONSE: This is not an unreasonable request. It may be that this location would not warrant being open 24 hours per day. One c- store operator in Fort Collins, Schrader Country Store, closes their stores at 11:00 p.m. The developer is willing to work with prospective operators about limiting the hours of operation. 13. The big problem out on this end of town is the bottleneck created by Taft Hill Road not being four lanes. On a regular basis, traffic backs up from the Drake/Taft Hill intersection all the way back to the fire station on Devonshire. This is a distance of greater than one-half mile. The City keeps approving projects on the southwest side of the City but does not take steps to mitigate the traffic congestion. Growth is occurring faster than the ability to handle the traffic. This is not good planning. RESPONSE: This is a good comment. Taft Hill Road is classified as a four lane arterial street, with the continuous center left turn lane. There are parcels on both sides of Taft north of the site that are still in the county, not within the City limits. This creates problems in the timing of a road widening project. If there is no reasonable chance that these intervening properties will re -develop, and thus trigger road improvements, then the City must take a hard look at funding a road widening project out of the capital improvements fund. 14. Will there be a traffic signal at Bronson? RESPONSE: Probably not due to the proximity to the signal at Horsetooth Road. If signals are too close to each other, then there is problem with what traffic engineers call "signal progression" which means signals must work in concert with each other to move traffic. 15. What will be the mix between ranch units and two-story units? RESPONSE: We are not sure at this time about the exact mix. The mix could be four ranches per one two-story, or a fifty-fifty split. It is likely that the ranch and two-story will be paired together to create the most attractive setting. 3 0 16. Will there be landscaping along Horsetooth Road? RESPONSE: Yes, there will be two-inch caliper street trees along the street. Behind these, there will be evergreen trees to provide a visual buffer and separation from the arterial street. The City takes a very close look at the landscaping, especially along arterials. 17. Do your drawings assume the full arterial width along Horsetooth Road? RESPONSE: Yes. 18. Did you mention that the carwash will not be self -serve? RESPONSE: That is correct. The carwash is part of the c-store operation. Customers must make arrangements inside the store with the clerk to use the wash. It will close when the store closes. It will use an automatic brush, not a self -serve situation. 19. Do you have a construction date? RESPONSE: No, there is not construction timetable until an end user is secured. Right now, there is no end user. 20. The City should know that there are large semi -trucks using Taft Hill Road to bypass the weigh and check station on I-25. We can hear these trucks at night. The City should set up a mobile weigh and check station to see if there are loads that violate the City Code. Taft Hill Road is not set up to handle this truck traffic. RESPONSE: This is a good comment. You are encouraged to contact the Police Department to officially report this violation. 21. Are there any other examples of paired housing that we can look at that would help us visualize this type of housing project? RESPONSE: Yes, there is a project called Flagstone which has been approved for paired housing. Flagstone is located at the corner of West Harmony Road and Larkbunting. y