04-17 Zoning- Amending the Zoning Ordinance at 1248 and 1258 N. Twyckenham Drive

Home Browse Search

There are a variety of sizes of homes in the area from one story modest dwelling to medium sized two story homes. The homes closest to the project site are on the small to modest size. The home to the East faces onto White Oak Drive which leaves a smaller side building fagade facing S.R. 23. The proposed project consists of Townhomes that can have a maximum height of 40 feet and three stories, with common walls between the units. This type of housing based on the ordinance creates a larger overall massing than existing detached homes on smaller lots. The ratio of massing at this project site is unique in that the massing of the largest grouping of Townhomes is being done in relation to the home on the corner of S.R. 23 and White Oak Drive. This home faces White Oak and only the side fagade of this home faces S.R. 23. This creates a large massing ratio difference from the allowed 2 times to a seeming high number of 9 times. If the project was allowed to compare the massing of the largest proposed Townhome building to the adjacent home on Twyckenham Drive, the variance request would have been from the allowed 2 times to just 5 times. This results in a major inconsistency due to how the adjacent homes face the public streets and the size of those homes being used for comparison purposes. Under the City Ordinances those adjacent homes can be as large as 2- 1/2 stories and a height of 40 feet in the MF1 district, 35 ft. in the NNZO district, which would lower the massing ratio significantly. The proposed project will blend with the mixture of dwelling styles, sizes and architecture in existence. The owners do not believe the approval of the proposed new Townhomes will have a negative impact in the neighborhood as they will be placed along the two existing busy arterial streets. This location does not lend itself to new single family home sites. The proposed Townhomes will also help to provide some sound mitigation from the noise on the busy streets, to the existing single family home sites located east of the project. The Petitioners do not believe approval of this request will have a negative impact on surrounding properties. 2). From the requirement that all front doors, mailboxes be oriented towards, visible from or facing the primary street frontage for the building located at the rear of the site and allowed to have a stand- alone mailbox for all units. The NNZO Ordinance requires all building front doors, mailboxes and facades to be visible to and oriented towards the primary street frontage of the project. This requirement does not allow for the efficient placement of buildings, parking areas or driveways on sites of varying configuration and size. This does not allow for the postal service to provide mail service they usually require for twnhome developments. The owners do not believe approval of this request would have a detrimental effect on any surrounding property. 3). From the requirement that Driveways shall be no more than twelve feet (12') wide at front property line to a maximum width of 20 feet. As this project does not have access to any public alley, the only driveway into the site would be from Twyckenham Drive. This location was chosen as it allows for the maximum stacking of vehicles using the intersection of S.R. 23 and Twyckenham Drive. The Community Investment Department asked that the driveway be limited to a 20 ft. width. The driveway needs to be at least 20 foot wide to allow for vehicles entering and exiting the project to do so without creating traffic conflicts on Twyckenham Drive. The Petitioners do not believe approval of this request will adverse affect on surrounding properties. 4). From the minimum 25 ft. side and rear setback to 5 ft. for parking on the east property line. The owners would like to have a parking area for visitors. The location would be at the southeast corner of the site. It would be screened from the adjacent properties by a proposed screening fence. The ordinance allows for a driveway to be located in the rear yard setback but does not refer to parking spaces. With the proposed screening , the Petitioners do not believe approval of this request will have a detrimental effect on any surrounding properties. I � MAR, J