PC 082207 - Laserfiche WebLink

Department would support what would be proposed and believed it would be an enhancement in contrast to a vacant lot. In response to an inquiry by Chairperson Fox regarding whether there were any three-story homes in that general area, Ms. Amos confirmed there were not and that the closest home similar in height was a two-story home across the street. THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPENED. Mike Carey, one of the property owners, noted that the concept of building attached homes was brought forward the previous week. He noted that the site was straight-zoned for 7.5 units on an 11,250-square-foot lot. He believed that the idea of attaching the homes would yield a two-cars instead of one-car or tandem parking with no street cuts. He noted that there were transit opportunities very close to the proposed development and that the residents would be able to walk to the Downtown. The maximum height would be roughly 32.5 feet or lower. He described the proposed project in detail and displayed the site plan and elevation on the overhead screen. Commissioner Olson noted that in light of the current real estate downturn, this represented a risk for the developer. In response his inquiry regarding the estimated time frame to bring this development to market, Mr. Carey replied that they may be able to start construction in the summer of 2008, perhaps completing the project by November 2008. He stated that the previous property owner had indicated that a seven-unit apartment complex had been approved for the site in 1982; however, no records of such approval have been found. In response to an inquiry by Chairperson Fox regarding whether high-density residential was composed of eight or more units per acre, Ms. Decker confirmed that was the case. Chairperson Fox noted that an 11,000-square-foot parcel measured approximately a quarter of an acre and that if it was straight-zoned HDR, there would be two or three units on that lot. She inquired how five units could be zoned on a quarter acre. Ms. Decker noted that an acre was 43,560 square feet and that this development met the high-density residential (HDR) requirement of more than eight units per acre. She noted that there was no ceiling or midpoint for HDR. Mr. Carey noted that the zoning for the entire block was mostly RM-15 and that there were several RM-25’s on West Angela Street. Ms. Decker noted that there had recently been discussions with surrounding neighbors who were concerned about the RM-15 zoning and HDR. She added that this was part of the Downtown Specific Plan process. At that time, the neighbors were asked whether they would want to downzone their property; there was consensus among the neighbors that they had no interest in doing so, because it removed flexibility on their part. With respect to traffic impacts, the entire Downtown area was exempted from the General Plan policy of Level of Service (LOS) D or higher. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES August 22, 2007 Page 13 of 20