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Home My WebLink AboutTOPANGA AT HILL POND PUD - PRELIMINARY - 2-87H - CORRESPONDENCE - APPLICANT COMMUNICATION� �I.�UGHT • �'°'� FRYE c�rchitects July 21, 1993 Mr. Ted Shepard Planning Department City of Fort Collins 281 N. College Ave. Ft. Collins, Co 80522 Re: Spring Creek Village (formerly Topanga at Hill Pond) Dear Ted, I am in receipt of a letter dated July 10, 1993 from the Prospect/Sheilds Neighborhood Association regarding the above proposed project. The PSNA continues to harbor ill feelings for this proposal primarily based on the land use and its intended student population. The proposed apartments will be rented like any other complex in the City, on a first come, first serve basis. It would be discriminatory to turn any person away interested in renting under the terms of the lease. By providing 1,2,3, and 4 bedroom units many options exist for living arrangements including married students and non- traditional aged students, furthermore 88 ground floor units will be designed to comply with the Fair Housing Act and be accessible to the physically disabled. It is true that the concept of this proposal will primarily attract the University student. It is untrue that every occupant will be identical with the same schedules, driving habits, and destinations. Furthermore, given the alternate methods of transportation this site offers; walking, biking, and Transfort, traffic patterns will not be destructive to the surrounding neighborhoods as alleged by PSNA. It is important to recognize that this site has no direct vehicular connections to or through the adjacent neighborhood but rather gains access only from an arterial street. Likewise many measures have been taken to provide options for bicyclers and pedestrians to access trails and bikeways on and around the site. The proposal is accused of failing to meet the All Development Neighborhood Compatibility Criteria of the LDGS. However, after 7 weeks of review by the Planning Staff, the neighborhoods position is not supported. We also disagree with their assessment of the following: , � , �_ . , , � ,� . �_, :;�. : . ..�� . ��,,,��, �..,��: � � � ,. , � �._ . ,_ , �.�. _-� � � _ _ � T. Shepard Page 2 Irrtensiiy of Use: • 614 bedrooms on 21 acres is no more intense than an average apartment complex in the City. Courtney Park Apartments has 456 residents on 15.82 acres for a density of 29 people/acre. This project calculates at the exact same density. Relative Scale, Bulk and Building Height: The mass and scale of this project has significantly improved over previous proposals in two major areas. First, the building size has been reduced with the six plex being a 60x60 footprint. The ten plex is 60x80 and features a 1 1/2 story end elevation. The building height has been reduced from 40' to 33', no greater than a typical 2 story house. Second, the buildings have been removed along the eastern boundary increasing the distance to homes along Walenberg from 240' to 350'. A one story maintenance building was relocated to the eastern side of the property and 5'-6' berms incorporated along the entire eastern property line. Eighty five evergreen trees have been shown on the berms to create a year round visual barrier. Increased Automobile Traffic: As PSNA stated, any development of this site will add to the existing traffic on Shields & Prospect, however the Transportation Department has reviewed the Traffic Impact Study and concurs with the findings that the level of service on the surrounding streets will remain within an acceptable range. Furthermore, the location offers attractive alternatives to the use of vehicles thereby reducing average trips per day. Increased Bicyde/Pedestrian Traffic Through Sheely Addi�on: This proposal has been sensitive to the neighborhoods concerns with increased bike and pedestrian traffic in the area. We have agreed to construct a new walkway and bridge connecting the Walen�erg sidewalk to the Hobbit Street sidewalk to accomodate school children who currently use this route. We have also designed an 8 foot trail system through our project connecting south to the Spring Creek Trail and north to the intersection of Shields & Hobbit to relieve traffic on the Importation Canal Trail and incourage our residents to travel north along Shields. Discussion is currently underway with the City to extend a spur of the Spring Creek Trail north and east to connect with Centre Avenue adjacent to the Holiday Inn. Given the alternatives for travel from this site it is unlikely that bicyclists or pedestrians will have a major impact on the public street system in the Sheely Addition. � , � • T. Shepard Page 3 Addfiona! Air Pollution Along the Spring Creek Basin: This proposal conforms to every policy contained in the Land Use Policies Plan regarding rrvhere higher density residential uses should locate. Many of these policies are aimed at locational criteria with the intent to reduce vehicle trips. When higher density uses are developed near CSU, employment, parks, and with access to public transportation, residents have options for transportation to work, school and recreation. We feel that this proposal will not have an adverse impact on air quality given the alternatives for transportation. Increased Noise Pollution: The claims made by PSNA regarding noise at other projects are inappropriate for this site given the amounts of setbacks, buffering, landscaping and attention to building size and placement. This project is "immediately adjacent" to single family homes and condominiums only if one looks at the property lines that separate the parcels of land. Extensive existing landscaping occurs along the Spring Creek Trail which has a 120' easement. Likewise the Importation Canal has an 80' easement and Walenberg Drive a 54' R.O.W. These distances are natural buffers and do not include the setbacks that occur internal to the site. Increased Light Pollution: Again, distance and buffering will greatly improve any light spillage to surrounding neighborhoods. The type of building lighting in place at Ram's Village will not be used at Spring Creek Village. Down lights will be incorporated on buildings to prevent glare and low cut off lights will be used in the parking lots. In closing I would like to quote from a Case Study on Multi-family Housing prepared by The Urban Land Institute: "Multi-family housing types encourage more compact development, which can serve the social objectives of open space preservation, energy conservation, reduced automobile travel demand, and more productive use of infrastructure." We continue to feel that Spring Creek Village will be a high quality alternative lifestyle that will be a well managed, well maintained, well designed project that � .� • � T. Shepard Page 4 • can indeed be an asset to the community and a compatible use within an existing neighborhood that currently has a blend of housing, office, commercial and retail uses. Be t Regards Frank Vaught FV/pf cc: Ron Gray, Topanga Enterprises