PC 10/22/97 - Laserfiche WebLink

. . . Commissioner Wright commented that usually the group that is most vocal attend the public hearings, but it does not necessarily mean they are representative of the whole neighborhood. He stated that one of the speakers suggested that this decision should be made on sound planning and that the Commission should let the political portion of it go to the political end. Commissioner Wright commented that he felt the Planning Commission did sound planning the first time and, therefore, when he reviewed the staff report he was looking at Option 1,2, Or 3. After hearing the comments of Ad Hoc Committee representatives and the developer being satisfied with Option 5, he feels he can support this Option. He noted that the only difference with Option 4 was the issue of installing signage for turn restrictions. He stated that with signage 25% of the people wouldn't abide by it, but without the signage there would be 100% of the people who wouldn't abide by it. He believes that all parties Can concur with Option 5, with the exception of the people who want Option 6. He noted that his family has been in the community since 1971, and he has seen major thoroughfares develop in all of the areas he has lived in. He noted that this has changed his quality of life quite a bit since 1971, but he did not deny the next person who came along. He noted that these changes were all shown on the General Plan. He noted that this is the same situation with this neighborhood. He commented that the traffic flow for this project has been equalized. Commissioner Dove expressed concern that the issue of affordability is being lost due to the reduction of units. He noted that the Hacienda project with 540 units included affordable units. He noted that with the reduction of units in this project to 300 it means that homes that were going to be affordable at $275,000, are now in the range of $325,000. He stated that he is also concerned that no one from the Affordable Housing Commission is present to address this project. He suggested that the Planning Commission address this issue in its action tonight or make a recommendation to the City Council that a representative from the Affordable Housing Commission be present at the City Council public hearing. He stated that it is obvious that the two lower price areas are in the south side of the project, while the higher priced homes are in the north. He expressed concern that these areas would also be divided by school boundaries. He noted that he has problems with dividing the project on an economic scale. Commissioner Dove stated that a plan without turn restrictions, except for signage, would probably lead to less problems. Commissioner Barker commented that it is unfortunate that there is no affordability in the project, but she doesn't feel Ponderosa should be asked to address this issue for this project. She noted that she does not feel it makes sense to do "new affordable," and that as things get older they become affordable. She stated that she believes the Ponderosa neighborhood should not be divided by schools and that she thinks the school district will let all of the students from this development go to Mohr Elementary School because it is a good selling point. Commissioner Barker commented that traffic calming is used when there is a bad design. She advised that Kolln was set up to be a substitute for Santa Rita Road and that this street was designed when traffic engineers were into big, wide streets. She noted that homes were fronted onto a street that was designed for 3000 cars. She stated that it doesn't make sense to have this much traffic on Kolin. She also stated that it doesn't make sense that 300 homes can be built and it will result in less traffic on Kolin because people will be stopped from turning through "police actions." She believes that there is only one way to stop that and that would be a barrier across Kolin north of Morganfield Road and the Ponderosa project should totally come out on Busch. She recognized the Committee for the work it accomplished. She commented on the proposed "chain Planning Commission Minutes October 12, 1997 rage 11