Agenda - Council - 08/24/2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 8 PRINCIPLE 4. Ensure residential areas that are adjacent to the river or riverfront parks or that are visible from the river or opposite bluff are within a district that provides a consistently high level of protection. Some of the areas that fit this definition are already in District C, but district C does not expand far enough from the river in many places to provide the kind of viewshed protections we think the 116G requires. We think it is most appropriate to create a district that adheres to the spirit of the original intent of the Urban Open Space District in the Executive Order. Specifically, "The lands and waters within this district shall be managed to conserve and protect existing and potential recreational, scenic, natural, and historic resources and uses within this district for the enjoyment of the surrounding region." It happens that most areas in this resulting district would be characterized by predominantly single family homes built to medium densities (roughly 2 to 6 units per acre). We favor regulating the resulting district with the simplest scheme necessary to achieve the desired objectives, which results in two options that should be weighed against one another. OPTION 4. I. Utilize District A as the core district that applies to areas that are predominantly single-family residential structures built to medium densities (roughly 2 to 5 units per acre). As proposed under Principle I, we suggest using District A to focus on protecting the core natural, cultural and scenic amenities in the corridor. However, it seems quite conceivable that the standards in District A and District C will be so substantially similar in practice that it makes little or no sense to separate them. As such, we could justify folding all predominantly medium density single-family residential areas into District A. OPTION 4.2. Retain District C as the core district that applies to areas that are predominantly single-family residential structures built to medium densities (roughly 2 to 5 units per acre). This option is the one that is largely taken in the Draft Districts. The only rationale we can see for establishing District C distinct from District A is to deal with differing vegetative standards; otherwise, we think the same set of standards that apply to District A could also apply to District C. RECOMMENDATION 4.3. Revisit the range of areas placed in the district to ensure they fit comfortably together as a district. Again, we were unclear what requirements needed to be met in order for land to be designated as district C — and sense some potential tension over these definitions. For example, would a height standard specified in District C for Brooklyn Center, which is very suburban and of lower height, be the same height standard we would want applied to the City of Lilydale, and vice versa? PRINCIPLE S. One district should pull together only Critical Area lands that have negligible unique impact on the river's ecological, cultural and scenic resources.