Minutes - Council - 04/13/2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Thc f'our units that are requesting to deviate from City Code are located adjacent to Riverdale Drive and are designed in a way that does not create a town house "wall" effect. Three of the four units side yards are located adjacent to the exterior boundary line and the remaining unit is designed so that tile front doors will overlook Riverdale Drive to an existing town house development. The intent of the 30 foot exterior boundary line requirement was to provide a reasonable buffer fi'om an existing low density residential development to a higher density development and to try to eliminate a "wall" of town homes to be created along a public street. It appears that the intent of the exterior boundary line setback is not completely applicable to the units proposing to deviate from City Code. 25foot building setback from public street right-of-way: There are 3 public streets provided and several cases where the units are less than 25 feet from the public street right-of-way. Tile development will be providing the required public street right-of-way width. Staff is not concerned with snow storage since the maxinmm public street right-of-way is being provided. The 25 foot public street right-of-way restriction was intended to be applicable to the garage portion of the townhouse unit in order to establish a 25 foot driveway. The proposed development is providing a layout that results in the structures accessing or are located adjacent to a public street fi'om the side yard, rear yard, and front yard. Since City Code does not adequately address how to apply the public street right-of-way setback, the proposed development appears to be requesting several deviations. The proposed Heritage Town House units function a little different than a typical town house unit the City has approved in the past. The ttcritagc units have tuck-under garages that are located at the rear of the unit. In most cases the units are accessed by two streets, one street provides the owner vehicle access and the other street provides the visitor access. In all cases the units will also contain a 5-foot sidewalk located in fi'ont o1' the unit to provide a pedestrian pathway to the front door. Therefore shifting the units closer to the public right-of-way makes sense, as this will reinforce the pedestrian friendly access to the unit. 25foot building setback fi'om private street: The minimum unit setback being requested from a private street is 23 feet. The City Council recently approved Town Center 2'~d Addition, a townhouse development that contains driveways that are less than 25 feet in length. The City Council seemed to exert some level of comfort in approving a plat that contained a driveway less than 25 feet in length as long as the structure was adjacent to a street that allowed for parking. The development is proposing one situation where the unit driveways are 23 feet in length and is not located immediately adjacent to a street that allows for parking. There is one case where staff feels it needs to be looked at more closely, where there is access from a 24 foot street without a secondary street in close proximity. Staff feels there either needs to be 25 foot driveways, the street needs to be 28 feet, or additional parking needs to be provided in that area. City Council/April 13, 2004 Page 22 of 33