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Along the north side of the site, Cobalt Street, a public street, stops at the property line. Branching off Cobalt <br />Street are private shared driveways for the Birch Hill Lodges townhomes. The City's snow plow drivers have no <br />dedicated turn -around and have been using the private drives. An extension to Cobalt Street is proposed that <br />serves multiple functions: First, it includes a hammerhead to allow the City's crews to stay off the private drives. <br />Second, it provides an emergency access connection point to the development. It was not seen as desirable to <br />have more traffic use Cobalt Street due to a tricky curve further north at Sunwood Drive. The emergency access <br />will be gated per Fire Department specifications so no through traffic will use Cobalt Street. Third, a parking area <br />for four spaces is being created for visitors to Soltice Park which has no dedicated parking area. There have been <br />reports of trespassing vehicles parking on Birch Hill Lodges' shared driveways for people visiting the park. An <br />existing public trail will connect the park with the proposed parking area. A more traditional cul-de-sac is not <br />possible due to the topography. <br />Parking <br />Lord of Life has significantly more parking than they use. The parking area along the western portion of the site <br />will be removed for development. Other parking areas will be oriented for residential parking. The Church will <br />retain a "right -sized" 224 spaces. Shared parking agreements will be in place to accommodate potential spillover <br />for holidays or special events. <br />Both of the multi -family buildings will have one level of underground parking as well as surface parking. <br />Multi -family residential uses are required to parked at a ratio of 1.5 spaces per unit. The twinhomes each have a <br />one -car enclosed attached garage and driveway parking. The proposed development has 622 spaces, two more <br />than the 620 required. Half of the spaces will be enclosed. <br />Pedestrian Connections <br />The site has an extensive network of internal walkways connecting the different uses together. There is an <br />existing multi -use trail along the Nowthen Boulevard frontage of the site. <br />Lighting <br />The applicant submitted a lighting plan with photometrics. The plan has not been updated since the initial staff <br />review, however. The plan needs to be adjusted to increase light levels on some dimly -lighted areas of the <br />parking lot and to decrease mounting height in some areas. <br />Landscaping and Screening <br />The Environmental Policy Boad (EBP) noted in its review at its meeting on March 18 that the application <br />submittal included a Tree Inventory and Preservation Plan. The Subject Property is dominated by Scotch Pine, <br />Eastern Red Cedar, Quaking Aspen, and Red Oak. Over sixty percent (60%) of the existing significant tree DBH <br />inches will be preserved, which actually exceeds the minimum threshold. Furthermore, a number of the trees <br />slated to be removed include Siberian Elm, which is an invasive species. Thus, since invasive species do not count <br />towards the removal calculation, the actual percentage of significant tree DBH inches being removed is even <br />lower. <br />The proposed landscaping exceeds the minimum canopy cover requirements outlined in City Code. Plantings <br />consist of a combination of deciduous overstory and ornamental trees, as well as evergreen trees. All species and <br />sizes are acceptable. There will be some bufferyard plantings along the western and northern boundaries of the <br />Subject Property, where it abuts existing, detached single family residential properties. Ground cover will consist <br />of a mixture of standard turfgrass and a native pollinator seed mix. Both are acceptable. However, staff has <br />requested a management plan for the native pollinator mix so that the property management company will have <br />an understanding of what maintenance is needed and when. <br />At the fall 2021 neighborhood meetings, some neighbors on Fourine Street requested a privacy fence be <br />constructed. The applicant is proposing to construct a typical residential privacy fence along the western property <br />line. <br />Utilities <br />