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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-04-22 - Minutes• • • MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE A meeting of the Subdivision Committee of the Planning Commission was held on Friday, April 22, 1983 at 1:30 P.M. in the Central Fire Station, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Barbara Crook, Melanie Stockdell MEMBERS ABSENT: OTHERS PRESENT: Don Hunnicutt Bob Whitfield, Carl Williams, Leon Edens, Harry Gray, Bobbie Jones, Suzanne Kennedy The first item to be considered was the approval of a concurrent plat for the Oakland Townhouses to be located at 1376 Oakland Avenue, north of Helly Street and south of Sycamore Street; property zoned R-2, Medium Density Residential District; owner, Robert Whitfield, was present. CONCURRENT PLAT OAKLAND TOWNHOUSES 1376 NORTH OAKLAND AVENUE ROBERT WHITFIELD, INC. Barbara Crook asked what provisions were to be made for handling drainage on the site. She commented that this is a requirement, that the property is a relatively flat piece, and that she believed the elevation of the ground at the corner of the buildings is somewhat lower than the elevation of the ground at the nearest property corner. Whitfield said the grade of the parking area from the east to west will have a natural fall and water will be gathered at the curb on the south side of the existing townhouses, and then at the end of theunits, at the corner of No. 1 and the curb, there will be a grate, so the water will go under the driveway entrance into the RCP and carried down the borrow ditch. Crook stressed this issue must be worked out with Clayton Powell, Street Superintendent, that his concern will mainly be that drainage does not run out to the street. Carl Williams, property owner to the south, asked how much fill Mr. Whitfield had put in, in the area about fifty feet from the back property line. Whitfield said it would vary from two to three feet. Williams said he thought the fill would act as a dam to the rainwater that used to flow across the back of the Whitfield property from Williams' house (Melanie Stockdell arrived at this point, 1:40 P.M.) Williams said he did not think the borrow ditch on the east side of Oakland was big enough to handle the water. He said the drainage problem starts on Holly Street where it comes from the fire station at Leverett and when it gets to Holly Street in front of the Schumaker Apartments the culvert is not adequate to carry it, so it runs to the east side of Oakland Street and flows naturally to the north, across Edens' parking lot, into Williams yard and then to where the fill is. Bobbie Jones made reference to the letter she received from Mr. Williams and memos in response from the City Engineer and Street Superintendent, all included in the agenda Mr. Williams noted that Clayton Powell's memo says this is a low lying area, that the borrow ditch is supposed to handle q4 • Subdivision Committee Minutes April 22, 1983 Page Two the drainage, but Williams thinks someone would have to dig that ditch and concrete it to make it handle five to ten times as much drainage as it can handle now. He says at times it runs out of the Edens Apartments into his yard 6 to 8 inches over the curb. Crook asked if Williams was saying the fill stops the drainage coming from Williams' property and going to the north. Crook said, if the applicant handles the drainage on the site, the Committee had no way of not approving the plat. Bobbie Jones said if, by Mr. Whitfield's actions, the flow of the water is obstructed, he could perhaps be liable for damages to someone else's property but that is a matter between the property owners. Williams said he thought it would help if the culvert on Holly Street were enlarged, since the problem starts there. Crook said the Subdivision Committee has no authority to handle the problem of the fill on Mr. Whitfield's property causing drainage problems to Mr. Williams' property. Jones said the property is zoned R-2 and she did issue a permit to construct apartments; the purpose of this plat is so Whitfield can sell individually owned units; he could have accomplished the same purpose by doing a horizontal property regime, but chose not to. Williams asked if the Committee could get the culvert enlarged to lessen the flow of water down the East side of Oakland Street and recommend to the Street Department the digging and concreting of the ditch so it can carry more water. Crook said she would recommend the owners contact the City on that problem. She asked both property owners if they had gotten together to work out the problem. Whitfield said Powell had mentioned to him the ditches need to be cleaned out. Bobbie Jones said it may take a joint effort by the neighborhood to approach the Street Department. Williams asked Whitfield if Clayton Powell had required him to add the fill to his property. Whitfield said the driveway has to be at least a foot higher in the back of the lot than it is at the front of the lot so the driveway will drain towards the borrow ditch, which is one reason for the fill. He said normally the finished floor elevation is the same grade for the full length of the structure, he said if he had stair -stepped the units he would have run into drainage problems in the parking area. He said when the project is finished, his lot will be drained better than it was before. He said right now there is a diversion ditch from Mr. Williams' property onto his (Whitfield's) property. He said the property owner to the north has built a barrier on the northeast corner (a two -foot gravel pad for parking) so the water will not pass into his Georgetown Square Apartments. Mr. Whitfield said he had taken 12" of topsoil off his lot so the structure will not crack and settle and he had brought in gravel. Barbara Crook recommended Mr. Williams (1) contact the City to see what can be done to handle the water before it gets on his lot; and (2) talk to Mr. Whitfield about keeping the damage to a minimum. She said, planning- wise,there is very little the Committee can do. Bobbie Jones suggested also that Mr. Williams approach the Community Development Director and the City Manager. Williams said Powell told him he had recommended adding the fill. He asked who is responsible if the drainage gets in his house as a result of the fill. Jones said this is a legal issue, that he would have to take action against Mr. Whitfield, to be settled in court. loo • Subdivision Committee Minutes April 22, 1983 Page Three Whitfield pointed out all the lots are low, said the property had been rental units which had not been cared for, that all the surrounding neighbors had diverted their water onto this piece of land, which had become a settling pond. He said there is a diversion ditch and another ditch on Mr. Williams' property which diverts the water out to the borrow ditch on his south property line, which has not been maintained, and could possibly be cleaned out and serviced so that some of,the water could be diverted back to the borrow ditch. Williams stated even if the ditch could be cleaned out, it is still too small. Barbara Crook said Clayton Powell's plat review comment that there must be a minimum of 6" SB2 base and sub -base on the widening as necessary did not include any comment about surfacing, and nothing is on the plat to indicate how much is going to be done. Bobbie Jones said this was not needed on the plat. Whitfield said Powell has requested working drawings of what is proposed and Powell has given him a full set of specifications. Whitfield said he told Powell they would use concrete, 6" of SB2, expansion joints in pavement, pavement will drop 1/4" on a parabolic per foot to the edge of the curb, the street will be widened to 15 feet, the curb will be 6" concrete and, from the expansion on the outside edge of the concrete, there will be a 4 foot concrete sidewalk, underneath the area will be an 18" open clearance RCP, there will be a line of site and grade consistent with the existing tiles and sidewalks that have been constructed to the south. Crook asked if any- thing was needed in writing to show the extent of this work. Bobbie Jones gave Mr. Whitfield an Evaluation of Site Related Improvements form prepared by she and Mr. Powell to sign. Barbara Crook pointed out an error on page two of Plat Review Committee Minutes of April 7, 1983, that Don Bunn's comment: "he wanted sewer in the middle of the green area" should read that "he wanted water in the middle of the green area". Crook said she had a question about the necessity of the 25 -foot utility easement which was requested, expressing her concern about the possible loss of trees. Jones explained the utility companies will ask for more easements now because the City's regulations have forced them to be out of the right-of- way or on the edge of it. Harry Gray said another reason for requesting such wide easements is that water and sewer must be ten feet apart and sewer and gas must be ten feet apart. Crook pointed out, in this case, the gas line is in the street. Bobbie Jones said, if the City needs to re -build the street, they have to ask the Gas Company to relocate their lines. Melanie Stockdell asked what is the procedure when a utility company requests an easement and the property owner doesn't want to grant it. Bobbie Jones said one reason the utility company requests easements is for repair purposes and for the reasons stated by Gray. Melanie Stockdell moved to recommend approval, subject to Plat Review comments and the signing of the Evaluation form. The motion was seconded by Barbara Crook and passed, 2-0. MOTION • Whitfield stated they have decided to run the existing 2" water line a little bit further to the east, to the middle of the green area. (0l Subdivision Committee Minutes April 22, 1983 Page Four Next was to consider approval of the Large Scale Development plan for an apartment complex to be located in the 1300 Block on the East side of Leverett Avenue between Lawson and Holly Street; Leon Edens, owner; property zoned R-2, Medium Density Residential District. Mr. Edens and Harry Gray, Northwest Engineers, were present. LARGE SCALE DEVELOPMENT PLAN PROPOSED APARTMENT COMPLEX LEVERETT AVENUE LEON EDENS Melanie Stockdell asked if Mr. Gray had met with Don Bunn to discuss the water location. Gray said there will be a 2" city -owned line with a dedicated easement to serve water needs and there will be a private sewer line. Barbara Crook brought up the topic of possible street widening, as brought up by Clayton Powell in Plat Review Committee. Bobbie Jones explained that Contracts can expire 3-5 years from signing, but not the Bill of Assurance. Crook asked if Mr. Edens was willing to grant easements every- where there is supposed green area, as requested. Gray stated at this point that he had not known about the 40 foot easement requested on the east, but was aware of the other easements. Gray said the 15 -foot easement on the south is really needed; if all utilities were ever relocated, the 25 -foot easement would be needed. He said he was only concerned about the utility companies keeping him from building fences. Bobbie Jones suggested Mr. Gray prepare the easement forms and include a statement to the effect that fences are not restricted. Gray pointed out that there was a 20 -foot building setback required on the north anyway. Barbara Crook said if Mr. Gray needed any help on working out the easement situation with the utility companies, to let them know. Crook said the legal description has not deleted the street right-of-way, as requested in Plat Review Committee. Gray said he would prepare new % descriptions for the utility easements and for the street right-of-way. Crook noted there was no indication of what the surfacing will be for the parking area. Mr. Edens said it would be concrete. Crook asked if the area would be curbed, and she said if they were going to drain off the south side, there needs to be some indication in the way of a curb cut. Gray said drainage will be to the east. Bobbie Jones said there is a requirement for wheel stops or bumpers. Melanie Stockdell asked, if they decided to curb it at the east edge and had openings for drainage, what is done after they make the curb. Gray said they would leave it like a two -feet curb cut; he said if there is any erosion, they would have to fix it later. Crook said a proposed concrete sidewalk is indicated along Leverett, but no location or width is shown on the plans. Gray said the sidewalk is shown behind the curb; though he did not show the width, he intends to build a four -foot sidewalk in addition to the curb. Crook asked if Gray had checked with Freeman Wood, Building Inspector, regarding the flood plain. Gray said he had not, but noted that he must fulfill the flood plain requirement. toa • • • Subdivision Committee Minutes April 22, 1983 Page Five Crook asked what has the practice been in this area of town on widening the street. Bobbie Jones said there was no precedent. She said Clayton Powell may have meant to say (in Plat Review Committee) that the require- ment could be for the difference between the existing 26 feet and 31 feet, and not for the difference between 26 feet and 48 feet (for a collector). She said they have never before required a property owner to pave anything more than a 31 foot wide street. Bobbie Jones explained also that the Bill of Assurance: would stay with the land, even if the land were sold. Barbara Crook said she was inclined to require the Bill of Assurance, which means this development would have to go before the Planning Commission for final approval. Melanie Stockdell moved to recommend approval, subject to submittal of easements required and the revised legal MOTION description for street widening (before a building permit is -issued) and subject to executing a Bill of Assurance for the owner's share of costs to widen the road to a maximum of 31 feet total width at some future date. Bobbie Jones said she did not know if City Attorney McCord had yet filed the writ of supercedous on the Green Space Ordinance which was overturned, so she does not know whether to apply the ordinance to this property. She said she would check into this before Planning Commission meeting on April 25 and said if the ordinance does apply, it will only be for the new units. It was decided to delay approval of the Minutes until MINUTES the next meeting, since Melanie Stockdell had not been present at the last meeting, and Barbara Crook was the only other Subdivision Committee member present at this meeting. With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:40 P.M. 103