09-18-2017 Planning Commission Packet

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16-3807 February 11,2016 Page 7 to be further west than the west boundary of the property to maintain appropriate separation from the OCB/Wayzata Blvd intersection. Note that there is an existing driveway onto Wayzata Boulevard at the very northwest corner of the property. This driveway is shared with Dumas and needs to be addressed by the applicant — potentially remove it or relocate it further west to continue to serve the Dumas property. Rear Yard Setbacks. Nineteen of the 39 lots have a rear yard (or side yard for Lots 7 & 8, Block 1) abutting either Old Crystal Bay Road or Wayzata Boulevard. Landscaping/berming is proposed along the frontage of these lots to provide for buffering of the residences from these main roads. It is unclear whether there are gaps in the perimeter buffers, and Planning Commission should consider whether an appropriate balance is established between maintaining views into the site while providing screening and separation for the homes from the adjoining roadways. While the homes on these perimeter lots are placed to meet the 50' setback requirement from the major roads, functional (i.e. relatively flat) rear yard areas in most cases will be only 20'-30' in depth. Lot Widths. Generally all of the proposed building lots have a functional width of 65 feet at the building setback, except for the 5 lots in Block 3 at the SE corner of the site. The Block 3 lots cluster around a partial cul-de-sac and are approximately 45' in width at the setback but widen towards the rear. Side Setbacks. The 45-foot lots are proposed to maintain separation of 10' between buildings (5' side setbacks each side), while the 65' lots are proposed to maintain a 10' setback on one side yard and 5' on the opposite side. The proposed site plan depicts 10 locations where there is a 10- foot separation between homes; 8 where there is a 15-foot gap; and 9 where the separation between homes is 20 feet. The typical building pad on the 65-foot lots is 50' wide and 65' deep; on the 45-foot lots the pads are typically 35' wide and 75' deep. A potential ramification of forcing the separation between buildings to be 20' throughout the development would likely be the loss of as many as 2 lots. This would reduce the development density to 2.94 units per acre,below the 3.0 units per acre threshold. Front Setbacks. Front yard setbacks as measured from the front lot line are proposed at 20 feet for lots without a boulevard sidewalk (leaving a parking area from garage door to curb of 30 feet), with a 25-foot setback for those lots with a boulevard sidewalk (leaving 25 feet from garage door to sidewalk). In each case this will allow parking of one or more vehicles in front of the garage without hanging into the street or encroaching onto the sidewalk. This ensures visibility along the road should large vehicles be parked in the driveway, and ensures that vehicles will not overlap into area used for snow storage. Lot Coverage vs. Floor Area Ratio (FAR). Zoning Code Section 78-1403, the 15% Lot Coverage limit for lots less than 2 acres in area, states that the 15% limit applies to all zoning districts; it doesn't make an exception for RPUD. However, the RPUD District does not specifically establish a `Lot Coverage by Structures' limit. Instead, the RPUD standards limit individual lots to 50% hardcover and an individual lot Floor Area Ratio (FAR= gross area of all floors divided by gross lot area) of 0.5. This means a 14,000 s.f. lot is allowed 7,000 s.f. of total floor space. For example, a 35' x 65' footprint incorporating garage space, full basement and two stories, would yield 6,825 s.f. of floor area; on a 14,000 s.f. lot the FAR would be 0.49, meeting the 0.50 FAR limit.