HomeMy WebLinkAboutGreen Balance Homes Informal No. I-09008.pdf Report Complied On January 6, 2010
REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor & City Commission
FROM: Brian Krueger, Associate Planner
Chris Saunders, Interim Planning Director
Chris Kukulski, City Manager
SUBJECT: Green Balance Homes Informal #I-09008
MEETING DATE: January 11, 2010
AGENDA MEETING ITEM: Action
RECOMMENDATION: That the City Commission provides consideration, comment, and direction
for staff on the recommended options as outlined in the attached staff report.
BACKGROUND: In late 2009 the City was approached by Rotherham Construction for guidance
regarding a proposal for a large number (23) of building permits for single family detached homes
within the Valley West Subdivision. The proposal was for single story homes that were to be street
loaded (vehicular access to the garage from the public street) in an area where alley access is available.
Although no zoning standard exists in the Development Ordinance that disallows street access when
alley access is available, the Valley West Covenants and the City’s policy language strongly supports
alleys and alley access for dwellings in areas where alleys are available.
The primary concern of staff and question for the Commission is whether the approval of this number of
street loaded access along Stafford Avenue would alter the character of the Valley West Subdivision
beyond what was anticipated when the City granted overall approval of the Valley West Planned Unit
Development.
FISCAL EFFECTS: Fiscal impacts are undetermined at this time.
ALTERNATIVES: As suggested by the City Commission
Attachments: Staff Report with Attachments
Informal application materials
Commission Memorandum
46
Green Balance Homes Informal #I-09008 - Staff Report 1
CITY COMMISSION STAFF REPORT
GREEN BALANCE HOMES INFORMAL #I-09008
Item: Green Balance Homes Informal --- Consideration of street accessed
garages within the Valley West Subdivision.
Date/Time: Bozeman City Commission on Monday, January 11, 2010, at 6:00
P.M., in the Commission Room, City Hall, 121 North Rouse Avenue,
Bozeman, Montana.
Report By: Brian Krueger, Associate Planner
Department of Planning and Community Development
Staff Recommendation: Provide comment and direction for staff to proceed with option A, B,
or C outlined below.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RECOMMENDATION:
The City of Bozeman’s Department of Planning and Community Development, in conjunction with the
City Engineer’s Office, City Staff, and Development Review Committee have considered the matter of
addressing the Green Balance Homes Informal; and as a result, recommends that the City Commission
direct City Staff to proceed with the following action:
Option A: Require Lots 17, 30, 32, 33, 37, and 38 to have alley loaded access per the Valley West
Subdivision Covenants, the Valley West Planned Unit approval, and City policy.
Option B: Require the applicant to submit a major modification to the PUD application (CUP) in
order to review this issue in more detail through a formal application and provide an
opportunity for neighborhood noticing and public comment.
Option C: Approve the issuance of building permits for all lots proposed in this application with
street loaded access without further review and defer authority of the issue to the Valley
West Architectural Review Committee.
BACKGROUND
In late 2009 the City was approached by Rotherham Construction for guidance regarding a proposal
for a large number of building permits for single family detached homes within the Valley West
Subdivision. The proposal was for single story homes that were to be street loaded (vehicular access to
the garage from the public street) in an area where alley access is available. Although no zoning
standard exists in the Development Ordinance that disallows street access when alley access is
available, the City’s policy language strongly supports alleys and alley access for dwellings.
47
Green Balance Homes Informal #I-09008 - Staff Report 2
The Rotherham Construction proposal is to construct 23 single family detached homes along the west
side of Stafford Avenue within the Valley West Subdivision. Out of the proposed 23 homes 18 of the
homes were proposed to take direct access from Stafford Avenue. Stafford Avenue is one block east
of Cottonwood Road and includes alley access to all lots along the street. All the lots proposed to
access from Stafford Avenue in this proposal are 5,000 square foot Restricted Size Lots (RSL).
Although no City zoning standards exist to clearly address the question of alley access vs. street
access, the covenants for the Valley West Subdivision do include language to limit the number of
street loaded homes per block where the block has alley access available. Article V, Section 1.c states
“Unless otherwise prohibited by a no-access strip, or alleys are not available, a maximum of 30% of
the lots on each block will be allowed vehicle access from the street. The VWARC (Valley West
Architectural Review Committee will grant approvals based on adjacency conditions. The intent is to
distribute street access points along both sides of the street, creating streetscape variation and breaks
within on street parking.”
The City generally avoids involving itself in matters within the private covenants of a subdivision
other than those that were directly affected by or required by a City condition. In the case of Valley
West the alley loaded homes were not a requirement of the City, but proposed by the developers of
Valley West. The primary concern of staff and question for the Commission is whether the approval
of this number of street loaded access along Stafford Avenue would alter the character of the
subdivision beyond what was anticipated when the City granted overall approval of the Planned Unit
Development.
CITY POLICIES REGARDING ACCESS AND STREETSCAPE DESIGN:
The City’s zoning ordinance under Section 18.16.070 Residential Garages states “Detached garages
are encouraged when they are compatible with the existing neighborhood pattern. Vehicular garage
access on nor principal facades and /or alleys is also encouraged.”
The City’s Growth Policy, the Bozeman Community Plan, includes the following goals related to this
topic:
Objective LU-4.3 Encourage the creation of well defined residential neighborhoods. Each
neighborhood should have a clear focal point, such as a park, school, other open space or community
facility, and shall be designed to promote pedestrian convenience. To this end, the City shall
encourage the use of historic Bozeman neighborhoods, including a significantly interconnected street
system as models for the planning and design of new residential neighborhoods.
Goal C-2 Community Circulation—Create a circulation system both vehicular and pedestrian that is
fully connected, integrated, and designed for ease of use.
Objective C-2.1 Require adequate and efficient circulation in all subdivisions and site plans and
provided connectivity between development and major destinations for both the pedestrians and
vehicles, including human powered vehicles.
Objective C-2.3 Require alleys in all new development both commercial and residential where
feasible.
48
Green Balance Homes Informal #I-09008 - Staff Report 3
Objective C-4.2 All new residential buildings should be designed to emphasize the visually interesting
features of the building as seen from the public street and sidewalk. The visual impact of garage doors,
driveways, and other off-street parking will be minimized and mitigated.
ANALYSIS
The Valley West Subdivision is a Planned Unit Development (PUD). The City has granted numerous
relaxations from the zoning ordinance to this development. The intent of a PUD is to promote
maximum flexibility and innovation in the development of land while providing a high level of urban
design and overall development quality to the community. Many of the initial relaxations requested to
the Valley West Subdivision have been subsequently incorporated into the City’s ordinance as
minimum zoning requirements. This is due in large part to the City policy direction to support
traditional neighborhood development (TND) and developments that emulate the development patterns
seen in the historic subdivisions around the core of the City.
Valley West is seen as a leading traditional neighborhood development in the City. This is due, in
large part, to the extensive use of alleyways in the subdivision design. Removing street loaded garages
and driveways from the street increases the quality of the streetscape and increases safety for the
pedestrian by eliminating or minimizing the number of drive accesses a pedestrian must cross as they
walk down a street. Moving garages and garage entrances to the alleyway allows home designers to
place more pedestrian friendly features on the front façade of the home such as porches, stoops, and an
increased number of windows. Houses may be placed closer to the street, and the area used for
driveway parking area may be landscaped. Moving garages to the alley way facilitates increased on
street parking area and snow storage area along the boulevard, while also moving the heavy truck
traffic of garbage collection to the alley.
All the lots proposed to access from Stafford Avenue in this proposal are 5,000 square foot Restricted
Size Lots (RSL). Street loading these RSL lots can be problematic to the extent it creates non-
conformities with access separation standards of the code. This is often the reason alley loading is
recommended for RSL’s. Minimum separation between access points is 40’ per UDO section
18.44.090.D.2.b for local streets. This standard is generally only enforced with site plan size
developments as enforcement of the standard at the building permit level can be untenable and
unenforceable.
Per the narrative letter included in the application the applicant argues that the multifamily housing lots
located across the alley from the lots will cause traffic conflicts for his homes at full build out and
during construction. These multifamily lots in question are currently undeveloped except for a five-
unit townhouse style condominium project directly behind Lot 17 as shown on the applicant’s exhibit.
Two parking spaces were provided for each of these three bedroom units. The developer for the five
unit project took advantage of a parking relaxation granted to Valley West that allocated parking by
square footage of the unit (with a required maximum of 2 spaces) instead of one parking space per
bedroom which is the current requirement for residential units.
Whether or not the parking for the multifamily units will actually be problematic is a hypothetical
question. The changing residential real estate market and lending landscape may encourage the
subdivision developer to replat the lots for single family detached homes or a new development pattern
may emerge for the multifamily market in Bozeman. Staff believes the construction parking issue
along the alleyway when the multifamily lots develop can be mitigated with the cooperation of the
49
Green Balance Homes Informal #I-09008 - Staff Report 4
City, builders, and the VWARC. The only certainty today is Stafford Street and the impact that this
proposal for street access may have on that streetscape.
Staff seeks further discussion and policy guidance from the City Commission on this issue. Staff has
provided three options for Commission consideration and discussion. As this is an informal
application, no formal motion is needed, but staff requests that each Commissioner comment on the
proposed options.
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64