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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFOSSIL CREEK ESTATES PUD PRELIMINARY - 50 92D - MINUTES/NOTES - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGSUMMARY The following are QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, and RESPONSES expressed at a Neighborhood Meeting for Fossil Creek Estates Annexation and Planned Unit Development (PUD). The applicant proposes 131 single family lots on 42.66 acres, located west of Shields Street and approximately 1 mile south of Harmony Road. The property is currently in the County. The recommended zoning is rlp, Low Density Planned Residential with a Planned Unit Development condition. The proposal would therefore be reviewed as a Planned Unit Development, and must meet the criteria of the -Land Development Guidance System. MEETING PLACE: MEETING DATE: MEETING TIME: CITY PLANNER: McGraw Elementary School September 1, 1993 7:00 p.m. Kirsten Whetstone Note: All responses are by the applicant or consultant unless specified: COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, CONCERNS 1. our major concern is with the proposed density. Three dwelling units per acre is not compatible with the surrounding area, which includes the large lots at the Ridge, Scenic Knolls, Applewood Estates, and Clarendon Hills. There is also a large rural property to the south of this property. 2. I want to comment on the density as well. The 3 DU/acre should not be a given. We would like to be able to influence the decision. 3. Are you doing a study to determine the impacts of high density housing on the open space? I am concerned about impacts on wildlife in the area. I have heard that there will be a raptor viewing area to the west of this property. What impacts will housing have and will you be providing any buffer areas between the houses and the open space? We will consult with the Natural Resources Department to see what they will require in terms of a study and what information they may already have on impacts to wildlife as a result of housing developments. The City does not consider 3 DU/acre as high density, but rather as a minimum for low density residential development. The City is acquiring some additional land south of the open space area, which may be for a buffer area. Some of the open space area •gill act as a buffer. This is a very large open space area. 4. Are there any wetlands on the site? What are you proposing to do with them? Yes, there are wetlands. We will have them surveyed and will attempt to include these areas in open space tracts rather than on lots. We will work with the Natural Resources Department to design our project around the wetlands and provide mitigation if necessary. 5. Will Shields Street be widened with this project? Will improvements include sidewalks? Yes, we will be obligated for improvements to Shields Street. The Engineering Department will determine whether the improvements are built with this project, or built with a certain number of lots, or whether we would pay for the improvements and the City would build it at a later date as part of a capital improvement project. Improvements would include a 5' detached walk. 6. Will the District water line be connected from Taft Hill to Shields Street? What will that do to our water service and pressure? Yes, that would be done with this development. Your water service would not change, you would still be served by the District, but the pressure should improve over what it is now. 7. The proposed entrance to this project will be a safety issue. The hill, entrance, and intersection of Fossil Creek Drive and Shields Street is a dangerous situation now, it will only be worse with more traffic. Improvements to Shields Street as a result of this development would have to meet the City's design standards for an arterial street. The City will look at site distances, turn lanes, decel lanes, etc. We are having a traffic study done to look at these issues. The improvements should make the situation better. 8. Soils in the area are difficult. There is high ground water as well. 9. There is evidence of ground settlement in the area and swelling soils are a problem. Will you do a soils and groundwater study to look at this problem?. Will you require engineered foundations and de -watering systems? We are aware of the high water table and expansive soils. We will be submitting a soils report with our application. We will also require engineered foundations, sub -drains for de -watering, and other engineering solutions. We will have to meet City standards for construction. 10. I want to comment again on the wetlands and wildlife areas and want to make sure that the impacts on these areas are studied. We will meet with the Natural Resources Department to see how to address these concerns. 11. Will these be comparable houses to our own? What price. range are you proposing? Will these be custom homes or tract houses like those in the upper part of Clarendon Hills? What sort of widths are you proposing? The houses in Scenic Knolls and Applewood Estates have been selling in the $500,000 range. We are concerned about our property values with housing that would not be comparable. We have two product lines for the two general lot sizes. The smaller lots, more to the interior of the development, would be for the 65'-75' widths at $130,000 to $175,000. The.larger lots, along Shields Street and the open space area, would be for the 80' to 90' widths at the mid $200,000. (Showed some slides of the two product lines). We are proposing a 50-50 mix of product lines. 12. Is Fossil Creek Drive planned to extend east to College Avenue someday? Would it be an arterial street like Shields or Harmony Road and would the proposed street in this development be conducive to an arterial street? It looks like it is not straight enough or wide enough. The Street Master Plan does not show Fossil Creek extending east or west from Shields Street as an arterial street. As far as I know there are no plans to connect Shields and College by way of Fossil Creek Drive. Fossil Creek Drive in our development would be designed as a local street, although the divided median near Shields would make it wider. We are required to provide the median to satisfy the Fire Department's access concerns. We will address the issue of connecting Shields Street and Taft Hill Road in our traffic study. The City is looking for a location for a collector type street in this area, but it would.probably occur further to the south. 13. What percentage of your site would be open space? We haven't calculated the exact figure, but the amount that would be in open space tracts would be about 10%. 14. Are you providing an access easement along the irrigation ditch, the Trilby lateral? How wide would this be? Would fences be allowed along the ditch? Access to both sides of the ditch would be helpful from a maintenance perspective, especially when the ditch is burned out of tumbleweeds, etc. Yes, we are showing a 15' access easement for maintenance of the ditch and for pedestrian access along the ditch, if that is wide enough. We are also showing pedestrian connections to the City open space areas through our development. We would anticipate that easement would be an all weather sort of surface, not paved, but surfaced for mountain bikes and horses. The south side of the ditch is not on our property so I assume that access is already in place. Fencing would be open type, three rail fencing throughout the development. The only solid, privacy. fencing allowed, would be around patio areas close to the house. 15. Construction debris is a real problem and can interfere with the operation of the ditch. This debris can really be a maintenance problem. What do you propose to do about this? We will look into the possibility of incorporating, something in the contracts with builders, contractors, etc. to address this. We would want to be able to enforce some kind of regulations on. construction debris. 16. Will these be custom homes? It doesn't seem like they could be custom at those prices. I am concerned about the houses all looking the same, like the upper part of Clarendon Hills. All of the houses should be different. We will have a selection of models, from several different builders. 17. I am very concerned about the height and architectural character of the houses. I don't want to see the situation at Clarendon Hills with the tall 3 story house, the. one with the walk out basement and two full floors above it, right on the hill on Shields Street. If these houses are tall they will block the -views of the foothills. We will have an architectural review board or committee which will review all of the plans. We will look at the possibility of writing some architectural controls to prevent the Clarendon situation from happening on this side of Shields Street. We would like to see some height, architectural, landscaping, screening, etc. controls so that the houses will match the topography of the area. 18. I don't want the houses to all look a like. Watch the roof lines, 3 story elevations, heights on the hill, materials, etc. We would be glad to meet again with anyone who is interested, to talk further about architectural ideas, including landscape mitigation measures that can be required, such as planting evergreen trees to screen walls, etc. 19. The annual ditch burning maintenance program will be a concern to future home owners. There can be a lot of smoke and there will be increased conflicts. This is not the only ditch in the area that is burned. 20. Have you looked into liability issues with the ditch? Who's liability is it? What about kids building dams and disturbing the ditch. What about the safety issue of a ditch running behind these homes? We will look into these concerns. 21. Mulches used adjacent to the ditch should be rock or other non -burnable type materials. 22. Are the restrictions on ditch maintenance, such as burning, the same in the City and the County? We will look into this. The ditch is for the most part on the property to the south and would therefore remain in the County. Although, the ditch does encroach in a few places on the property which would be annexed. 23. Could the ditch be put in a pipe? What would be the advantages and disadvantages of this? We will look into this. 24. The design of ditches through the Ridge PUD ate a good example. You should look at how the Ridge has treated the ditches. They have been very cooperative and maintenance has not been a problem there. You should talk to more people about this issue and get more information. We will take a look at the ditches in the Ridge. Maybe you could suggest some names of people we could talk to who have experience with ditches, maintenance, burning, and housing developments. We would definitely like to have more information. 25. You will need to spell out to future owners, that the ditch has precedence in this area. The developer and owners need to fit in to the existing situation, in terms of lots, landscaping, and on -going operation and maintenance of the ditch. This development can not interfere with operation of the ditch. 26. The low area on Shields Street, at the intersection of Shields and Fossil Creek, is dangerous. In the winter there are a number of wrecks at this location. Will this area be improved? We will be designing and constructing Shields Street, in that location, according to City standards for an arterial street. The existing conditions probably do not meet the standards. 27. The area at the top of the hill, at your south property line on Shields, is also dangerous. You need to look at widening this area, south of your property, so there is a smooth transition from 4 lanes back to 2 lanes. 28. My concerns are with the driveway south of your property on the west side of Shields. Would the widening impact the driveway? It could be right in the middle of the taper area. All existing driveways will be considered in the design of Shields Street widening. It is our hope that we could improve the situation on Shields. .29. We would be very interested in having input into the architecture, materials, roofing, etc. We could schedule another meeting to discuss the architectural requirements, covenants, restrictions, etc. if you would be interested. We will use the sign-up sheet from tonight's meeting to contact people who are interested in a second meeting. 30. We can give you some other names of people we know who would be interested in that meeting. 31. Do you know if the Parks Department is planning to build a parking lot or trail head for the open space area off of Shields Street?, We can check into this. At this time I believe the City is talking about a trail head off of Taft Hill Road. 32. The walking distance to schools has increased for Junior High School students. The Jr. High in this area is straight north of this property, about 1 and 1/2 miles. Are you planning to construct a trail to facilitate pedestrians? I have concerns about the children walking to school along the arterial street. I 'am not sure at this time what the City is planning as far as trails through the open space area. We will be providing connections to the open space as well as constructing a 5' detached sidewalk on Shields Street and sidewalks throughout the development. 33. Are there any plans for new schools in this area? The existing schools are over -crowded. Staff: The School District will be sent a copy of the population projections for this development. I am not aware of any new schools planned for this area, but will look into this matter. 34. Where is the park planned for this area? We will have to contact the Parks Department to find out if there are any parks planned for this area. 1 I V45, NEIGHBORHOOD INFORMATION MEETINGDid vssi` C?-AAe T-I¢rEs �gNNE1l %ron7f �Uitlln�r R4p✓NE0 Olr You Receive Written NotlIIcation of this meeting? Correct Address. Name Address tP Yes No Yes No /ji-s4 Wld3fdnFi 7A J-- — — ir,{W 'E-214CA F�IZ E�t►J ,tZt�ll� LaR p ✓ ra attcG/wta L tea :54i Bk5vi Leo- (l,Oa-oo rN fit, p CK-e,h-,-0 ✓ /C)oc) �Sc-eitIL �.. .. jAL v_ vll $ ✓ ✓ l � 113 L �� if2D SCP�)!C ICI- (3ra Nso -A/L� jh a A—b waldo �D� �lavte of