Title
Design Plat and Final Plat -Cottage Grove Cluster Subdivision (B)
Petition 17SUB-04DB, Rick Hall, agent for Dixieland Enterprises, L.L.C. Design plat and final plat approval of Cottage Grove Cluster Subdivision, 17 lots on 6.51 acres more or less. Located in the vicinity of Northwest 54th Lane and Northwest 34th Street, west side. Zoned: RSF-2.
Explanation
The City Development Review Board considered a request to approve a design plat of Cottage Grove Cluster Subdivision at a public hearing held March 11, 2004. By a vote of 6-0, the Development Review Board approved Petition 17SUB-04DB with staff and Board conditions. On August 9, 2004, the City Commission approved Petition 17SUB-04DB, Cottage Grove Cluster Subdivision, by a vote of 7-0.
During review of the construction drawings for Cottage Grove, the one-year approval period for the design plat lapsed. The petitioner failed to request an extension of time from the City Commission prior to the August 9, 2005 time frame during City staff's review of the construction drawings. On February 7, 2006, the petitioner submitted their application for final plat approval, not realizing that the design plat had lapsed. The petitioner is now requesting that the City Commission reapprove the design plat and concurrently approve the final plat of Petition 17SUB-04DB, Cottage Grove Cluster Subdivision.
The petitioner is proposing to develop a 17-lot cluster subdivision on 6.51 acres more or less, utilizing a 22-foot-wide private roadway system that will lie within a 40-foot wide "Common Area." The subdivision will have a density of 2.61 dwelling units per acre, on property zoned RSF-2, that allows up to 4.6 dwelling units per acre. The total number of dwelling units proposed in the cluster subdivision is lower than the number of dwelling units (29) that would have been otherwise permitted by the density standards in the zoning district in which it is located.
The cluster subdivision process allows the petitioner to reduce the lot size, width, depth, and building setbacks as long as they meet certain conditions and are approved by the City. The RSF-2 zoning would normally require 7,500 square foot lots that are a minimum of 75 feet wide and 90 feet deep. Lots in this cluster subdivision will range in size from 4,786 square feet to 7,535 square feet. When individual lot sizes in this cluster subdivision fall below 7,500 square feet, 75% of the total square footage of each lot below 7,500 square feet must be set aside for "cluster open space." In this case 20,299.5 square feet of cluster open space is required to be set aside and a total of 137,643 square feet of land (includes wetlands, buffers, common area and retention areas) will be preserved as cluster open space. Also, when lots in a cluster subdivision abut lots in a developed subdivision, the widths of the cluster subdivision lots must equal 75% of the lot width required in that zoning district. All abutting lots to the Appletree subdivision are greater in width than the minimum allowed.
Since the last City Commission meeting, the petitioner has received support from the City Arborist and the City's Public Works Department to not require a masonry wall along a portion of the south property lines in an effort to protect existing trees located along the common boundary between Appletree subdivision and Cottage Grove Cluster subdivision. In addition, a large live oak, that was to be protected and located within the center of the end cul-de-sac in Cottage Grove, was found to be diseased and has been approved for removal by the City Arborist.
Fiscal Note
None
Recommendation
The City Commission: 1) reapprove the design plat of Petition 17SUB-04DB with City staff's amended recommendations, eliminating the requirement for a masonry wall along a portion of the south property line and allowing the removal of the existing live oak tree from the rear cul-de-sac; 2) approve the final plat of Petition 17SUB-04DB, with City staff's amended recommendations as stated above; and 3) adopt the following resolution: A Resolution approving the final plat of "Cottage Grove, A Cluster Subdivision", located in the vicinity of Northwest 54th Lane and Northwest 34th Street, west side; authorizing the City Manager or designee, to execute a Surety Agreement to secure the construction of public improvements; providing directions to the Clerk of the Commission; and providing an immediate effective date.
Alternative Recommendation A: 1) The City Commission approve the design plat and final plat without City staff's amended recommendations, by requiring that the masonry wall be installed, and if the existing live oak is removed, require that a replacement live oak be planted within the cul-de-sac; and 2) adopt the following resolution: A Resolution approving the final plat of "Cottage Grove, A Cluster Subdivision", located in the vicinity of Northwest 54th Lane and Northwest 34th Street, west side; authorizing the City Manager or designee, to execute a Surety Agreement to secure the construction of public improvements; providing directions to the Clerk of the Commission; and providing an immediate effective date.