Agenda - Council - 08/25/1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I '! ! I I i Site Plan Review: Senior Apartments July 30, 1998 ':~age 2 of 4 Setbacks: City Code requires a front yard setback of 35 feet, side setback on a comer of 20 feet, side setback on the interior side of 10 feet and rear yard setback of 35 feet. City Code also requires a 40 foot landscaped buffer area between non-residential uses and R-1 and R-2 residential uses. Staff is recommending that this 40 foot buffer requirement be interpreted to also apply to the higher density R-3 and Multiple Residential developments adjacent to R-i and R-2 residential uses. Therefore, the building must be sited at least 40 feet from the common boundary with the adjacent single family homes to the south. The structure setback from CSAH No. 5 (Nowthen Blvd.) and State Highway No. 47 (St. Francis Blvd.) is 60 feet from the center of the right-of-way plus the local applicable s.etback. The proposed'plan exceeds all the above listed structure setback requirements. Grading and Drainage: The City Engineer was not available to review the Drainage and Grading Plans this week. The Engineer will be attending the Planning Commission meeting to deliver a verbal report. His comments will also be forwarded to the developer. Landscaping and Screening: Staff interprets City Code to require a 40 foot wide buffer area with screening where the higher density housing of R-3 and Multiple Residential districts abut single family districts..Screening is required to be a minimum of 5 feet in height and may consist of berming, plantings, fencing, or a combination thereof. In the case of the senior apartment building, this screened buffer area is required along the south property line and the proposal is to preserve existing tree cover in that area. Because this screened buffer area is crucial to an approved development plan, Staff is recommending that the Landscape Plan be modified to provide more detail on the quantity and species of trees to be preserved on the south property line. In addition, the majority of the trees in this area are deciduous and would not provide year around screening, therefore, the addition of conifers is appropriate. The site plan also needs to be modified to include the species and size of the proposed plantings. The distribution of plantings is acceptable. A suggestion for consideration is that an option for a garden or courtyard setting be provided for the residents off the northwest comer of the building. Off Street Parking, Design: City Code requires all driveways, off-street parking and maneuvering areas to be surfaced with bituminous paving and finished with B-612 concrete curbing. The site plan does not expressly indicate the type of curbing and paving to be installed and Staff must be provided with a revision accordingly. Off Street P, arking, Spaces Required: City Code requires 1.5 parking stalls per one bedroom unit and 1/2 stall for each additional bedroom per unit. The site plan shows 29 one-bedroom and 21 two-bedroom units. The total number of parking spaces required under the Multiple Residential regulations is 86 and the site plan proposes 8 I, 56 of which are underground garage stalls. The plan is deficient of five parking spaces by City Code standards. Tom Dillon, Vice President of Dunbar Development Corp., provided City Staff with a report on the off-street parking provisions at two other County HRA senior housing facilities in Ham Lake and Centerville, and an additional site in Chanhassen. That report reflects that an average of 1.5 parking stalls per unit is sufficient as very few of the residents have two cars and some have