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Special Planning Commission Meeting <br />Minutes – Wednesday, June 15, 2011 <br />Page 4 <br />Mr. Lamb noted that a recurring theme from property owners through the public meeting <br />152 <br />process was to avoid zoning for vision as opposed to the preferred zoning for the market; <br />153 <br />and initial concerns expressed by those developers on restrictions of the proposed <br />154 <br />Regulating Map. Mr. Lamb advised that, based on those recurring comments and <br />155 <br />concerns, attempts were made to address both the City’s vision and market realities of <br />156 <br />the property owner/developer. Mr. Lamb noted that the market had a certain time frame <br />157 <br />and cycled, but the vision was more long-term; but both concerns were appropriate. In <br />158 <br />the case of Twin Lakes, Mr. Lamb noted that the AUAR provided the overall and ultimate <br />159 <br />threshold for development and if attempts were made to be any more specific with <br />160 <br />building frontages, those attempts would bump into those thresholds. While unable to <br />161 <br />spread development throughout the entire acreage, Mr. Lamb advised that the focus was <br />162 <br />on those most important public realm pieces and making them more visible through <br />163 <br />identifiable corners, while attempting to facilitate more flexibility. <br />164 <br />Member Boguszewski expressed concern about the potential “hodgepodge” nature of <br />165 <br />various frontage designations within each block. <br />166 <br />Mr. Lamb advised that the attempt was to respond to concerns of developers and <br />167 <br />landowners. <br />168 <br />A brief discussion ensued identifying and defining the AUAR and worst case scenario <br />169 <br />thresholds for the benefit of new Commissioners unfamiliar with previous development <br />170 <br />and City Council and Environmental Quality Board (EQB) approval of the AUAR; and its <br />171 <br />correlation with the Zoning Code and the Regulating Map and Plan. <br />172 <br />Member Wozniak expressed his surprise to see flexible frontage as a designated use; <br />173 <br />however, in this case, he opined that it seemed appropriate, but in some of the features <br />174 <br />(e.g. parking within 5’) it seemed to move away from the purposes of urban design <br />175 <br />principles previously applied to the Twin Lakes area. Member Wozniak asked Mr. Lamb <br />176 <br />and/or Mr. Paschke to address about this result and whether it was strictly an attempt to <br />177 <br />address some market concerns. Member Wozniak asked for more detail about the <br />178 <br />consideration given to those design principles and how they entered into the overall <br />179 <br />thought process. <br />180 <br />Mr. Paschke, from a staff perspective, noted that it would be unrealistic to implement <br />181 <br />100% of urban design principals to their fullest extent on every parcel, since the types of <br />182 <br />buildings and allowed uses would vary, and a way needed to be provided to build some <br />183 <br />flexibility into the Plan, allowing development to occur and not be too prescriptive like the <br />184 <br />previous iteration of the Plan when initiated. Mr. Paschke noted that, since every building <br />185 <br />had four sides, as long as the frontage and applicable sides were addressed, flexibility <br />186 <br />was needed for articulation of the non-visible areas of the building (e.g. dock doors for <br />187 <br />deliveries) to accommodate various uses, while retaining attractive frontages, whether <br />188 <br />right up to the frontages, or located elsewhere on a site in some instances. Mr. Paschke <br />189 <br />noted that each block or development area may hold a mix of uses and parking <br />190 <br />alignments or needs, but could still comply with urban design standards, with some <br />191 <br />realistic modification and flexibility. Mr. Paschke noted that there was still lots of internal <br />192 <br />discussion occurring, with additional tweaks after this draft being presented, and would <br />193 <br />always remain a dynamic document, but allowing for this initial approval to facilitate <br />194 <br />developers awaiting its creation and holding up their proposed developments for that to <br />195 <br />be accomplished now. Mr. Paschke opined that it was staff’s opinion that the current <br />196 <br />draft, with a few minor revisions yet in process, made the most sense as it relates to the <br />197 <br />public realm and the connectivity hoping to be achieved. Mr. Paschke noted that <br />198 <br />consideration would need to be incorporated into proposed developments for those <br />199 <br />pedestrian connections or trails related to infrastructure improvements or those already in <br />200 <br />place; as well as things yet to be enhanced or reinforced in those areas. <br />201 <br />Mr. Lamb opined that the entirety of the Twin Lakes Urban Design Principles was quite <br />202 <br />comprehensive, and to some extent, very detailed for actual application if applied evenly <br />203 <br />and in its most intense form, it may be difficult to accommodate that level of development <br />204 <br />pattern today compared with when it was first developed. However, at the same time, the <br />205 <br /> <br />