City Commission Workshop Meeting

APPROVED:2/17/2022 MINUTES City Commission Workshop 5:30 PM - Monday, January 24, 2022 - City Hall CALL TO ORDER: 5:32 P.M. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF QUORUM AND PROPER NOTICE PRESENT: Commissioner Nan Cobb, Vice Mayor Emily Lee, Commissioner Karen LeHeup-Smith and Mayor Michael Holland EXCUSED: Commissioner Willie Hawkins 1 WORKSHOP ITEM Presentation by Randall Arendt regarding "Designing Greenspaces First for Neighborhoods with Greater Livability" Mayor Holland called the meeting to order and then turned it over to Consultant Randall Arendt. Randall Arendt explained his approach to creating developments that are green both environmentally and economically with multiple benefits for developers. He cited various benefits to developers and then noted a number of already developed projects stating that the process does not reduce the amount of allowable density. He reviewed the Omaha greenway network and its suburban park system master plan and emphasized the amount of paved trails, neighborhood parks and planned trails built in conjunction with their sewer expansions. He explained his approach to reduce the lot sizes in order to create more open space without reducing the density. He commented on the benefit for the City or County to predesignate open space which helps the developers foresee how their open space will meet up with the next development's open space. Mr. Arendt then explained how the process works using the developers' site analysis maps and site walks to design the green spaces first. He provided various additional examples of already completed developments using his design approach. He emphasized the need to have site analysis maps first and use those to conduct the site walks to determine which trees to save and how to preserve the open space by reducing the lot sizes. He explained how he works with the land owners and developers on a project. Mr. Arendt then explained his four-step design process and how those steps might be interchanged as follows: 1) Identify potential conservation areas; 2) Locate house sites; 3) Connect homes with streets and trails; and 4) Draw in the lot lines. He emphasized this process is done on an individual site basis, not area wide. He then commented on secondary conservation areas. He explained how the process may vary between different projects and emphasized the difference between conservation design and normal design processes. He gave a detailed example of how to apply the process using drawings for a project that included historical sites. He stated the sketch plan should be Eustis City Commission Workshop Page 1 of 4 January 24, 2022  done by a landscape architect or planner, not an engineer. He added that the inexpensive sketch plan should be prepared first and then the preliminary plan. Mr. Arendt stated that the four-step design process is always applied on a site-by-site basis and is best when it follows an area-wide plan showing potential greenway linkages creating an interconnected network of conservation lands including woodland habitat and productive farmland. He commented on "clueless clustering" where the open space primarily consists of "left-over, meaningless, fragments". He cited projects that used that type of design under codes that that require insufficient open space and allow it to consist of "meaningless fragments". He indicated those codes also did not require the layouts to be designed around the site's important natural and cultural features as the first step in the design process. Mr. Arendt stated that a City can determine if its codes need updating for conservation subdivision design (CSD) by critically examining the layouts of recent developments and analyzing whether they resemble the examples of CSD or do they more resemble the layouts of the cluster designs. Mr. Arendt emphasized that designing around the natural and cultural features needs to be the first step. He recommended looking at the aerial photographs and on the ground. He stated that the conservation lands usually consist of high quality woodlands and productive farmland. Mr. Arendt then discussed maintaining full density by trimming lot widths and area to create value-adding open space. He commented on a developer who previously did everything by their formula and then converted to his design. He compared his process to golf course communities where the golf courses are designed first and then the homes are put in. He cited various early cluster design developments from 1960. He commented on the benefits of not having homes back up to the highway but backing up to horse pasture or other natural features. He then cited a Lake County development - The Park at Wolfbranch Oaks - on one acre lots. He indicated he noted it shows how to design around the natural features and stated that along Wolfbranch Road, you do not see the backs of any of the homes. Mr. Arendt then commented on the difference between what is in the comprehensive plans and how that is developed under the zoning regulations. He then reviewed the Battle Farm development in Massachusetts at 5 du/ac and explained how they incorporated low income units without bringing down the other property values. Mr. Arendt then reviewed the use of greenway design in "new urban" developments and explained how greenway conservation can be accomplished with urban densities. He then commented on how the City can require this style of development so the City has more control. He suggested developers be told they can only get the density they want if they use conservation design. He explained how developers can design creatively around the trees and drainages. He then commented on how to situate greens and parks as terminal vistas and cited the importance of curving streets with parks on the outside edge of the curve. He then discussed "attached greens" where lots abut on one or more sides and fronting multi-family on parks. Mr. Arendt commented on how side-entry garages can eliminate the need for alleys or rear driveways. He stated lots at 55 feet or less should not have front-loading garages but should have either alleys or side-entry garages. He emphasized the need to plant trees Eustis City Commission Workshop Page 2 of 4 January 24, 2022  along alleys, not just along streets. He then cited the use of "closes" which are short, boulevarded cul-de-sacs and provided examples of their use and the use of green streets or "mews". He commented on how they save developers money, sell faster and collect premium prices. He added they can be used with multi-family as well. Mr. Arendt then contrasted foreground open space versus house-backs facing streets and discussed pocket neighborhoods with approximately ten units per acre. He emphasized the need to not allow house lots to back up to an existing public road. He cited the use of pocket neighborhoods for infill development. He provided an example of public housing in Colorado using the pocket neighborhood concept stating it is a great idea for public housing . Commissioner Cobb noted that a number of the homes shown were two story in order to reduce the size of the lots with Mr. Arendt responding it is cheaper to build a two-story versus one-story due to the smaller roof. She commented on the bungalows shown towards the end of the slide show. She confirmed that he assisted with development of the City's land development regulations with Mr. Arendt indicating he was part of a larger team and gave a presentation but he didn't actually write any of the regulations. Mr. Arendt indicated that Lake County asked him to draft up some model regulations for them that the City can look at when they are completed. He suggested that the Commission look at some of the developments recently done and how they compare to his process. Tom Carrino, Interim City Manager, explained that the City's land development regulations do incorporate Mr. Arendt's four-step design process but the City did use a different consultant. Vice Mayor Lee asked about the public housing and how much was the square footage with Mr. Arendt indicating the ones in Seattle are approximately 900 to 1100 square feet. He commented on how the cottage style could be constructed a little larger if needed. Vice Mayor Lee then stated that some of the examples seem to be tall and narrow and asked if the rooms are smaller. Mr. Arendt responded that he didn't believe so and suggested they could probably look at model homes in Baldwin Park. He indicated they could probably be constructed with larger rooms and even open floor plans. Lori Barnes, Development Services Director, explained that the City's form-based code divides up the City as Urban, Suburban and Rural and the regulations for Rural development are stricter than the Suburban design district standards. She indicated that the City has not had a project come through in the Rural design district as of yet but the Pine Meadows project will be the first. She explained that the Lake Lincoln developer did focus on retaining the majority of the mature oaks in their neighborhood park and provided a greenway around the stormwater pond. She further explained that when designing on a smaller site, rather than 200 acres, it is more challenging to connect the spaces. She stated there is a proposed development planned for the north side of Lake Lincoln that is planning a greenway tract along Estes Road so that, as future development comes in along Estes, the Planning Department can look to connect those open spaces. She suggested that the City could consider modifying the code to bring their design Eustis City Commission Workshop Page 3 of 4 January 24, 2022  regulations more in line with Mr. Arendt's process such as not allowing the rear elevations to front on public streets. Mr. Carrino commented on the need for density to make extension of infrastructure practical. He asked Mr. Arendt to comment on the possibility of obtaining 2, 3 and even 5 units per acre while designing around the conservation areas that need to be preserved. Mr. Arendt commented on a development that obtained additional density due to earning density credits by having 40% low income housing and how those elements were disguised. He added that to get the right to have higher density, they need to do more with architecture and provide work force housing. He commented on the high cost of housing and allowing higher densities based on providing affordable housing. Mayor Holland thanked Mr. Arendt and confirmed that it would be OK for Comm issioners to contact him to ask questions. He thanked Lake County for providing Mr. Arendt for the presentation. He reminded the Commission about the community input meeting on Tuesday at the Curtright Center. 2 ADJOURNMENT: 6:58 P.M. These minutes reflect the actions taken and portions of the discussion during the meeting. To review the entire discussion concerning any agenda item, go to www.eustis.org and click on the video for the meeting in question. A DVD of the entire meeting or CD of the entire audio recording can be obtained from the office of the City Clerk for a fee. MICHAEL L. HOLLAND City Clerk Mayor/Commissioner Eustis City Commission Workshop Page 4 of 4 January 24, 2022