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Home My WebLink AboutWATERGLEN PUD PDP - 71 93A - CORRESPONDENCE - FIRE AUTHORITY REQUIREMENTSON STREET PARKING BY NUMBER OF GARAGES 0 Cars on Street per House 1 44 • Three car garages' .15 • Two Car garages .37 0 One Car Garages .72 ON STREET PARKING BY COST OF HOME 0 Cars on Street per House 1 so Low Cost 1 .65 lo Moderate Cost • .35 High Cost .18 • Average a e; show a clear correlation between the number of garages, the apparent cost of housing, and the number of vehicles parked on the street. For example, the survey found that in high cost neighborhoods with three car garages, only .15 cars were observed per lot. This contrasts considerably with lower cost neighborhoods with one car garages, of .72 cars per lot (see attached illustration). The implications here, .are that the potential for parking obstructions is much less in high cost, three car garage areas then in others. In these cases narrower streets may be appropriate. . The second area of study will be private streets and parking lot configurations. These are. used commonly in apartment complexes, cluster housing, and in some cases single family developments. These private streets are typically 24" in width. Because off-street parking and parking lots are provided, we are most concerned with the amount of parking provided, points that attract improper parking, signage, and the potential for successful parking controls. This fall we will be conducting surveys of many such private street configurations to determine the design factors that affect emergency access. The third area of study is low density rural development. In many cases four or less lots (County MRDs), are serviced by a single access road. In some cases the current standards do not provide the width that is needed to provide adequate fire protection, especially. in wildland interface areas. We are presently working with the Loveland and Berthoud Fire Departments, as well as the County Planning and Sheriffs Departments on -this, as it is a county -wide issue. We hope to have these standards rewritten for county review by this fall. (streetwi.wp5) u Fire Prevention Bureau 00 102 Remington Street Il l hQd Fort Collins, CO 80524 � -J 303-221-6570 303-221-6635 (Fax Number) To: PFA Board of Directors From: Warren Jones, Fire Marshal Av. Date: August 17, 1992 Re: Street Width project An important element in providing high quality fire protection and emergency services is an adequate transportation network. This network must allow both emergency vehicles to travel quickly to an emergency, and provide adequate space for those vehicles and personnel to operate safely and effectively. A critical component of this is street width. Unfortunately the wider widths needed for the best fire protection, often conflict with developer's desires for lower costs, increased design flexibility, and the exclusive appearance narrower streets project. It has been our experience that this issue has about a ten year life cycle. The last time we examined our current standards was in the early 1980's, and we are beginning to receive pressure from some developers and other design professionals to reduce our street standards. For this reason, we are reexamining our standards with the intent of verifying our needs, and proposing any modifications that may be indicated. While we are not asking for any board action at this time, it is possible that we will be bringing the board proposed revisions to our current standards latter this year. Throughout the rest of the summer and into the fall, we will be examining three areas. The first is typical urban/suburban single family subdivisions. The current standards call for 36' streets, with some a allowance for 28' in special circumstances.. The reason for this width, is to provide two travel lanes and on -street parking in front of each lot, while still allowing 20' of unobstructed width for fire apparatus and firefighters to operate. We have recently conducted field exercises -that clearly show that 20' is the minimum our response forces need to operate safely and effectively. This spring we conducted parking surveys in many different neighborhoods to determine the relationship between different types of housing, on -street parking, and potential obstructions to fire equipment. The results of this survey PROTECTING LIVES & PROPERTY v n Fire Prevention Bureau • 102 Remington Street _ Fort Collins, CO 80524 303-221-6570 303-221-6635 (Fax Number) To: Tom Peterson Sherry Albertson Clark Mike Herzig Rick Ensdorf From: Warren Jones, Fire Marshal Date: March 8, 1993 Re: 28' Street Standards It appears that we have been recommending variances to the normal 36-1 street based on a variety of factors. In most cases I have not had a problem with these, but do think it may be time to codify the criteria we have been using and get it in the street design manual. Based on the field survey we did last year, there are some street, lot and housing configurations that don't seem to contribute to normal parking obstructions and as such, may not require the full 36' width. In our survey we found that in higher end single family housing, especially those with three car garages, the incidence of on -street parking is very low. This is compared with lower end housing where the number of cars parked on the street is considerably higher. I know there are other criteria such as length of street, number of houses served and traffic count that influence this but for us potential parking obstructions is the major factor. Based on the variances that have been made on some recent projects, I believe that we should come' up with a new 28" (maybe 301 or 321) width criteria so that we are working from an established standard and not past precedent of variances. I'.m open to any combination of factors that describes the situation we want. I have included a copy of the survey we did last spring. I am available at any time to begin studying. this issue. I think it would benefit us all to modify the street design standards and save ourselves some time as well as the time of developers. PROTECTING LIVES & PROPERTY -Fire Prevention Bureau 102 Remington Street oz&Ahwr�4� Fort Collins, CO 80524 303-221-6570 303-221-6635 (Fax Number) December 17; 1993 Ron Phillips Interim Planning Director City of Fort Collins 281 N. College Fort Collins, CO 80524 Dear Ron: I am enclosed a copy of the parking survey,.conducted in 1992. We have used the results of this survey to justify the 36' street width requirement in single family housing subdivision. As you know, downsizing street widths from 36' to 28' has been discussed as an issue in the affordable housing arena. It is the policy of the Poudre Fire Authority to not allow this sort of downsizing. We view this issue as a level of service we provide to our customers. Narrow street widths make our operation much less safe for not only the people we protect, but also the firefighters providing this service. The Poudre Fire Authority has available a video tape showing our operation. We can also illustrate our position with photographs. If you would like to see these items, please contact me. Sincerely Mike Pr Fire Ma PROTECTING LIVES & PROPERTY 4 •. Fire Prevention Bureau • 102 Remington Street 1 1�0 Fort Collins, CO 80524 303-221-6570 303-221-6635 (Fax Number) To: Steve Olt, Project Planner From: Mike Pretz, Fire Marshal Re: Waterglen P.U.D. Date: February 28,1994 The developer for the Waterglen P.U.D. has requested a variance from the normal 36' wide street width to 28' wide streets. The developer also states that off street parking will be provided by using the garage and driveway. Moreover, he will designate the opposite side "No Parking" and use private enforcement to enforce this restriction. The Poudre Fire Authority recommends that the Planning and Zoning Board deny the request for the use of 281street width in this subdivision. The only exception to this is along Waterglen Place where dwellings are on one side of the street. The denial for the use of the 28' street width is for the following reasons: Emergency access for fire vehicles would be compromised by parking on both sides of the street. The width of many of our apparatus exceed 12 feet. For example, our Telesqurts need 12 feet of area to be properly set up. The ladder truck requires at least 16 feet of width to ensure proper safe operations. Although the developer plans to use private contractors to enforce the parking restriction, there are no provisions in the City of Fort Collins codes to allow this to happen. Private enforcement on a public street simply cannot be done'. PROTECTING LIVES & PROPERTY