02/18/2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Yang Chiang Yuan, Laura Court, spoke to his experiences with the Town during the planning and construction phase of his new residence. His project had taken four years. • He was very impressed with the Town's consistency and rigor in enforcing the zoning requirements and guidelines. He was surprised with the Town's approval of the grading exception for the Nashashibi project. His primary concerns with the proposed project were.the impact on the neighbors' privacy and drainage issues. Devendra Kumar, Laura Court, immediate neighbor to the project, addressed Council. He expressed his concerns with the project. They included: the size of the residence; the appearance of a three story home; the height of the home; the amount of cut required for the project; the impact the home would have on their privacy; and, the alignment of the driveway that would make the headlights of cars very visible. He spoke on behalf of his neighbors (Lytle) that were not able to attend the hearing and hoped the Council would take into account the concerns they had identified in their correspondence. ,4pplicant's Representative: Terry Szewczyk, Applicant's Civil Engineer, addressed the Council. He submitted a set of documents that included photos; cross sections; and building elevations of previously approved projects with Grading Policy exceptions that he believed were comparable to their request. Additionally, Council had before them as an attachment of the staff report an exhibit that had been submitted by the applicant that outlined Findings for approval of the Grading Policy Exceptions. Szewczyk spoke to the concerns that had been expressed by neighbors during the public • comments. He suggested that the project would address the drainage issues and minimize run-off from the site. The drainage issues on the Lytle home would be alleviated by a berm located by their property. Landscaping would be used extensively to mitigate the privacy concerns of Mr. Kumar. Mayor Warshawsky noted that the applicant's presentation had indicated that they were amenable to addressing the drainage concerns that had been voiced by the neighbors. The outstanding issue was the extensive cut and fill required for the project. The area was situated in the Quarry and there was a feasibility of some flexibility, however, he was uncomfortable with setting a precedent for the overall 20' cut. Warshawsky asked if the applicant had considered any other approach to the design that would minimize the need for the Grading Exception that had been requested. Chip Nilsen, project architect, responded that the design had gone through numerous iterations with the client for approximately 6-8 months before submittal to the Town. The staff review and Planning Commission review was an additional 8-9 months. The design had been dictated by the difficult site that included a very steep slope and narrow lot. The driveway design addressed the fire truck turnaround requirement and was a resolution that best addressed neighbors' concerns for minimizing the impact of vehicle traffic and headlights. Additionally, the purpose of the grading was to remove the fill. Devendra Kumar, neighbor, shared several photos of the story poles for the project that illustrated what the views of the proposed home would be from his property. 8 City Council Special Meeting Minutes February 18,2010