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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/15/2005 Study Session Minutes STUDY SESSION MARANA TOWN HALL FEBRUARY 15,2005 PLACE AND DATE Marana Town Hall, February 15,2005 I. CALL TO ORDER By Council Member Honea at 5:35 p.m. The study session was held informally and no official roll call was given. Vice Mayor Kai and Council Member Escobedo were excused from the study session. Mayor Sutton arrived at 5:40 p.m. All other council members were present and seated at the dais. II. GENERAL ORDER OF BUSINESS 1. Presentation: Proposed residential development at The Pines (Barbara Berlin) Barbara Berlin: I am really just introducing Paula Meade from Standard Pacific Homes this evening who will be presenting what you are seeing this evening, which is a concept plan for The Pines Golf Course near Continental Ranch. I have seen some earlier renditions of this. Paula, as you know, has been working with me and several others on developing the residential design standards, which we are still working on, of course. Having some of those in mind, she has been working with the architect, and I will let her explain more about the proposal. Paula Meade, introduced Chris Kemmerly, Tucson division president of Standard Pacific; Gerrie Gray, also at Standard Pacific; John Wood with Presidio Engineering; Mike Grassinger with The Planning Center; and Jeff De Mure, president of Jeffrey De Mure and Associates, who is going to be doing the majority of the presentation tonight. Paula then gave an overview of the proposed residential development at The Pines Golf Course property, hopefully in keeping with the new design standards. She noted that if the proposed plans are received favorably by the Council, Standard Pacific will be required to do a specific plan amendment on the Phase II parcel, including a density transfer, an abandonment of Continental Links Drive, as it used to be known and a few other issues that will change lot sizes, setbacks, and heights of homes. Tonight's presentation is primarily to see if Standard Pacific designs are aligned with the Council's vision. Mr. De Mure, whose credentials include being an architect and a planner, started by applauding Council for taking bold design review steps. Mr. De Mure stated that he premises his work on architecture becoming subservient to a good design when the spirit of the design guidelines and of the community is to, in fact, make a good community. He started with the site plan relative to the golf course, arroyos and mountain views, envisioning them all become a living laboratory of what the desert is all about. The site plan is designed to promote interaction of activities, noting that the entry sequence takes on a special significance because the terminus of that entry sequence is a traffic circle and a recreation center. Mr. De Mure referred to an exhibit to illustrate what that sequence might be, indicating a bridge element to provide circulation for the recreational golfers. He noted that it also becomes a statement to be made because it is the gateway into the additional portion of the community. For MINUTES OF STUDY SESSION FOR DEVELOPMENT AT THE PINES/ IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN HONEA HEIGHTS/ AQUIFER-STORAGE AND LAND-SUBSIDENCE MONITORING MARANA TOWN HALL FEBRUARY 15,2005 the balance of the community, they had a variety of lot sizes. He then referred to some other exhibits of various elevations within the projects. Mr. De Mure noted that the architecture was an informal agrarian-inspired architecture. For the 6, 000 square foot lots, the design starts from the curb to the entry and then the front door. The whole concept behind this design was one of transparency, one of accessibility, so that neighbors can go from the divided parkway sidewalk up to the front door unencumbered, and the porch sort of reaches out and embraces the street. The garages were recessed back from the living spaces so there aren't any snout houses that were sort of snarling at the road. The colors reinforce those planes that ascend and recess from the street itself. . He noted that three variations on themes of architecture, territorial, southwestern would be employed in the designs. Some had scuffers -- some had collection boxes and downspouts. These were opportunities to introduce color and vibrancy and the things that make a community what it was. These elements would make each home unique. Mr. De Mure further indicated the process of coalescing the house and site to further enhance the community by varying lot sizes from 32 to 45 feet wide, all on the same street as well as a combination of one- two- and three-story homes within the area. These elements begin to blur the lines between that property line being a straight shot right to the back yard. His staff would like to take this concept and use it for the entire site which would create combinations of different home sites and different housing opportunities for the residents ranging in size from 1,300 to 3,000 square feet. He stated that that makes for a good neighborhood, economic diversity and architectural opportunities creates a variety of different folks that can live in a given neighborhood. Mr. De Mure also pointed out that the biggest garage was a two-car garage. He then provided some statistical data on how the garages were designed, including architecture forward designs. He noted that there would be several single-car garages. A single-car garage, even on a 20-foot- wide home was one-third of the architecture on the streetscape. A three-car garage dominates the streetscape. A two-car garage, when it was a smaller portion of the entire percentage of the home site or the home itself were the kind of elements that add a certain texture and quality to the neighborhood that they were trying to bring. Mr. De Mure continued with his presentation on park sites, safety elements and open space, noting that the designs for the development were meant to integrate with the Council's vision and not compete with existing designs. Council Member Honea raised the issue of three-story homes in the Town of Marana, of which there were none, pointing out that this was a new concept for the Council. He indicated that he did like the design of the buildings and asked for clarification on recessed garages. Mr. De Mure then described the term "architecture forward" and illustrated this design on almost all the homes, varying from 3 to 10 feet, some flush with the porch in the front, some with a two- one-split garage, where there was a side-entry garage and a front-entry garage. On the larger home site, the design incorporates a tandem base to fit three cars. He also addressed the look and MINUTES OF STUDY SESSION FOR DEVELOPMENT AT THE PINES/ IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN HONEA HEIGHTS/ AQUIFER-STORAGE AND LAND-SUBSIDENCE MONITORING MARANA TOWN HALL FEBRUARY 15,2005 dimension of a porch to be included in the design. Council Member Honea raised the issue of play areas for children -- basketball courts, tennis courts, and picnic tables and things of that nature. Mr. De Mure indicated that programming of the parks element was not part of the presentation, but that he would be happy to come back before Council with a full rendering once design standards were approved. Ms. Meade concurred that tonight's presentation was conceptual rather than concrete, and that the issues of parks and safety and connectivity to trails and other amenities as well as lot size would have to be discussed during further meetings with staff before requesting Council approval of any design concept. Mayor Sutton also recognized this presentation was to gain an indication of whether the builder was moving in the right direction as opposed to asking for blanket approval of the proposal. He, too, was concerned about pedestrian safety and the attractive element of shopping just across Cortaro that would make pedestrian safety in and out of The Pines a priority. And that there should be some park element located on the north side of Cortaro to avoid hazardous crossing getting to and from the new District Park which would be located on the south side of Cortaro near Silverbell. Mayor Sutton then inquired about the demographic of the buyer of the homes at The Pines. Mr. De Mure first indicated that an emerging group of buyers that represents about 40 percent of all the buyers out there. Right now, 70 percent of the builders build for less than 40 percent of the market. There was a huge demand for a different kind of housing, for a different kind of community. This group was called 'cultural creatives'. They sort of go across the board in terms of age and generation and they don't really conform to any specific demographic of being dual income, no kids or being an empty nest, but there was a variety of ages. Ms. Meade indicated that there was possibility for some rear-load design if they want to go to a higher density, similar to an alley concept. It would, require, possibly, a little narrow street in the front, but they hadn't thrown anything out, other than they were obligated to do 6,000 square foot lots in Phase I. It was zoned for that. In this Phase II, they may respond with a totally different type of layout. Council Member Blake asked if the garages could be put in the rear of the homes. Mr. Meade responded that typically, it doesn't work that way. You either had all the garages in the back or in the front. There was a way to mitigate that garage door with a recessed garage door that doesn't just hang there in front, and you had some other architecture that goes with it. But either you go all rear or all front. Council Member Blake then asked about the concept of having side-entry garages and running a drive down the side of the house with an auto court in the back. Mr. De Mure responded that there could be solutions to that issue. After lengthy discussion on the merit of moving the garages and lot sizes as well as providing a diverse design with wide appeal, and again noting that tonight's presentation was preliminary only, Mayor Sutton indicated that there was enough direction from this Council to give the go- ahead to look at a different concept. MINUTES OF STUDY SESSION FOR DEVELOPMENT AT THE PINES/ IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN HONEA HEIGHTS/ AQUIFER-STORAGE AND LAND-SUBSIDENCE MONITORING MARANA TOWN HALL FEBRUARY 15,2005 2. Presentation: Proposed options for roadway improvements within the Honea Heights neighborhood (H. Thomas Gill) Mr. Gill noted that the Town continued to work with the county to get the sewer in there. The next step was how to put streets back together and provide for pedestrian access. He then presented Kevin Thornton, manager of the CIP Engineering division, and a representative from Sage Landscape Architecture and Environmental to present options and cost data for pedestrian improvements in Honea Heights. Mr. Thornton noted that Town staff, with the help of Sage Landscape/Architecture, prepared three alternatives regarding paving of the Honea Heights neighborhood roads following the construction of the proposed sewer system the county was going to be building here this year. The roads within Honea Heights total approximately three miles in length. Bryan Sager, with Sage, was here tonight. He was a licensed architect with Sage and would be able to provide information on the landscaping options that were being presented here. In addition to the three options presented here, they were able to do other variations on those. Town staff would like direction from the Mayor and Council regarding which option to pursue further or variation upon an option. The design of this project would take place concurrently with the construction of the sewer system. Roadway construction of this project would take place following completion of the sewer system, assuming the funding was available. Option one, basically, consists of asphalt paving, curb, and associated drain improvements, sidewalks, and landscaping. The asphalt paving that they were proposing on this was 32 feet in width, which meets the current subdivision street standards. Parking would be allowed on the street with this alternative. The project cost for this option was the most prohibitive at a conservative $5.7 million. Bryan would discuss the landscaping that they were proposing for this option. Option two that they were presenting tonight consisted of asphalt paving that would match the existing widths that were out there, a stabilized, decomposed granite path, as well as landscaping that was not quite as formal as option one. The existing pavement width out in Honea Heights varies from approximately 20 feet to 24 feet. One problem with this option was it would likely limit availability of parking within the right-of-way, due to the narrow street width, and they would be using much of the existing shoulder area today as a pathway as well as landscaping. The project cost estimated for this concept was approximately $1.1 million. Option three, the least expensive of the options, basically consisted of repaving the existing streets. Once the sewer project goes in, the streets were not going to have an asphalt surface until the Town comes back in and replaces that. The cost for this option was estimated at approximately $600,000. Mr. Sager then gave an overview of each of the main options, identifying trees, shrubs and open spaces on each - formal and informal plantings. He also noted that the ground treatment could be asphalt, left natural or with some decomposed granite spread, which was standard. Council Member McGorray asked about the option with the decomposed granite, stating that she MINUTES OF STUDY SESSION FOR DEVELOPMENT AT THE PINES/ IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN HONEA HEIGHTS/ AQUIFER-STORAGE AND LAND-SUBSIDENCE MONITORING MARANA TOWN HALL FEBRUARY 15,2005 noticed only two shrubs between the walkway and the street. Would the planting be continued all the way so the walkway wasn't right adjacent to the street? Mr. Thornton responded that with this option, there was the ability to meander the walkway as well as further down there were a few more plantings, but they were hard to see at this distance. Between the road and the pathway, they want to keep the shrubs low, but there would be shrubs there. The decomposed granite would be similar to what you see along Dove Mountain Blvd. After a general discussion regarding sidewalks and public meetings regarding the streets in Honea Heights, Council Member Comerford asked how on-street parking would be necessary. Council Member Honea responded that most of the lots in Honea Heights were large, varying from about 15,000 feet to a half acre. On the east end of the neighborhood, the lots were fairly large in general, so there was not a lot of need for on-street parking or for vegetation as there was a lot of vegetation existing there now. That would eliminate about $275,000. Mr. Thornton noted that one of the things that added to the cost was curbing, and they had to deal with drainage a lot more than if they leave it as it exists today. They could do a sidewalk option with this for not too much more. There was a difference between the DG and the sidewalk, but it was not a huge difference as far as cost goes. Mayor Sutton asked for a cost per item on the options. The costs of additional right-of-way were pretty expensive too. He also inquired as to what promises had been made to the residents without requiring Council approval. Mr. Barr noted that there wasn't a hard promise for sidewalks. They talked about the opportunity to go in there. They had always talked about when you go in and you move the new sewage system in there, they had the opportunity to re-build that neighborhood. That was what they were talking about right here. If the costs were minimal between DG versus asphalt versus concrete sidewalks, you can go with the concrete and put them on one side. Mayor Sutton: I think they can work something out, so look at the cost per item that they were talking about on these, break it down. When that comes back to our agenda and they start meeting more, they would figure it out. 3. Presentation: AQuifer-Storal!e and Land-Subsidence Monitorinl! in the Tucson Active Manal!ement Area Report (Brad DeSpain): Mr. DeSpain introduced David L. Schmerge and John Hoffman from the US Geological Survey, noting that the Town had become cooperators with other water entities in the Tucson region and basin to do a land subsidence monitoring and Aquifer-Storage. Mr. Schmerge described an overview of the using gravity measurements. Noting that this was the first time he had presented any information to Council, he also spent some time describing the equipment. The goal of the presentation to Council was to look at the storage changes that they had seen in MINUTES OF STUDY SESSION FOR DEVELOPMENT AT THE PINES/ IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN HONEA HEIGHTS/ AQUIFER-STORAGE AND LAND-SUBSIDENCE MONITORING MARANA TOWN HALL FEBRUARY 15,2005 the Tucson basin, including Marana, over the last couple years. I am, also, going to show you the results for land subsidence as well. Generally speaking, what they were seeing in Tucson basin, especially in the northwestern part, was where they predominately seeing the largest storage changes over the several years, including the area of Marana that they were looking at. If I recall, they need the map to see how large the area was, but they saw 100,000 acre-feet of storage loss in the northwestern part of Tucson basin, which would be, for that study area, about half a foot of loss per year. In Avra Valley, on the other hand, for the northern and central part, they were seeing storage increases. For Marana itself, they saw both the largest storage loss, which was in the Tucson basin loss, but they also saw the largest storage increase in the study area, which was at the airport in Avra Valley. There were several re-charge facilities there. The single largest loss was near the Santa Cruz River. There was an equipment malfunction, and Mayor Sutton asked if, in the interest of time, Mr. Schmerge could bring his presentation back the following week. III. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Sutton adjourned the meeting at 6:45 p.m. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing are the true and correct minutes of the study session held on February 15,2005. I further certify that a quorum was present. ....,,'\1Ul','l ~'_\. OF ~ ~ § ~'~\\'''"'''''' ~~ ~O~~ ~ ~ ::: ¡.;:;, I CORPORATE' \. ~ -S QOc¡ == - -SEAL- - ~ ~---: ì ;: ~ ð~~ ~ ~J,J:iIZ. 19"1\..." .II'U"\\~