Town of Verona letter Re: Ardent Glen

Re: Ardent Glen Preliminary Plat and Plan Submittal  

Dear Plan Commission Members,  

Please find a list of comments, concerns and questions compiled from Town of Verona Board of Supervisors, Plan Commissioners and staff related to the Ardent Glen Preliminary Plat and Planned Development Submittal.  Thank you for your consideration.  

The following section references the adopted City of Verona Northwest Neighborhood Plan and how the Ardent Glen proposal fails to meet the recommendations of that plan.  

• While this neighborhood is in transition to more urban uses, and even after it is built out, it will be necessary to consider how new urban homes will relate to adjacent farmland (page 16) o The proposed preliminary plat does not include any of the neighborhood plan’s mitigation strategies for the lots adjacent to farmland. 
• Clustering of development should be used as a way to preserve open space, environmentally sensitive natural resources such as woodlands and wetlands, scenic views from existing residences, and protect natural features such as steep slopes. Clustering will ensure that development can occur, while preserving important natural features to the maximum extent possible. (page 21) o The application does not address this provision of the neighborhood plan. 

• Suburban residential areas will contain both single-family and duplex lots consistent with the requirements of the City’s Zoning Ordinance with a maximum of five units per acre for the Neighborhood Residential (NR) zone with a potential Planned Unit Development (PUD) overlay zone. The majority of the low-density residential area will be 8,000-20,000 square foot lots with street yard setbacks ranging between 20 and 30 feet on any new streets within the neighborhood. In areas near more intensive uses (e.g., medium- and high-density residential, commercial), it may be appropriate for 8,000-10,000 square foot lots with 15- to 25-foot setbacks, front porches, and garages set back from the primary facade to create a more walkable street.  

• Contrary to the neighborhood plan, the proposed preliminary plat shows all lots except for those in the proposed District V Twin Homes to be smaller than 8,000 square feet.  In fact, they are all smaller than that 6000 square foot minimum lot size as defined by the Zoning Code.  Has the applicant proven they meet the requirements for a variance to the zoning code? 

• As noted above, the plan allows the lot sizes of 8,000-20,000 square feet to be achieved through Neighborhood Residential (NR) zoning with a possible Planned Unit Development (PUD) overlay but does not provide for reduced lot sizes as part of the PUD. A PUD allows for exceptions to the Zoning Code, not for exceptions to a comprehensive plan/neighborhood plan.  

• The neighborhood plan does allow for smaller lot sizes in areas near more intensive uses. This situation is not applicable to the proposed preliminary plat.  The proposed preliminary plan is inconsistent with the low-density residential area requirements as described in the Northwest Neighborhood Plan.   

• There is a 100-foot wide setback along County Highway PD within the low-density residential zones. This should be planted with native grasses and flowers to keep maintenance of the setback low. Mounds and/or trees or shrubs may be used to reduce traffic noise and provide privacy (page 21).  

• The preliminary plat shows stormwater ponds in much of this setback area.  Stormwater facilities are inconsistent with noise reduction and privacy features such as mounds, trees and shrubs.  

• The setback on PD in the preliminary plat is shown as less than 100’ without explanation for the reduction.  

Language from the Veridian Proposal  

• The proposed housing variety allows the project to create a wide spectrum of housing types and price points including workforce housing, first time home-buyer options, move up, luxury and senior/retirees. (page 2)  

• Where is the workforce housing in this development?  Workforce as defined by  whom?  

• The proposed neighborhood reflects the regional development systems present on the site and incorporates detailed stormwater management and floodplain design strategies…  
  • What are these floodplain design strategies?  
  • The “flood study” is yet to be completed so it is not yet clear that the preliminary plat will meet the 500-year floodplain requirement of the urban service area approval.   

• The required Park Dedication acreage is 16.78 and they are providing 15.5.  Is a variance being sought for this or are they choosing fees in-lieu of land? Is there a reason that the minimum requirement has not been met?   

• The proposed site plan is very similar to other Veridian Developments in the City and does not take into consideration the surrounding land uses in terms of overall aesthetics and the rural nature of the Town.  On page 6, the description of the single-family homes states: This will create an integrated and diverse neighborhood that blends easily into the surrounding Verona neighborhoods. This is simply not be true as there are no other surrounding City of Verona neighborhoods.   Further, as mentioned above, the proposed preliminary plat does not include any transitions to neighboring agricultural uses.  

• As a condition of the approval of the urban service area amendment for the Marty farm, the City of Verona and the applicant agreed to the following:  

• Conduct a safe overflow analysis which routes the 100- and 500-year flood events, as defined by FEMA, through the development. Runoff from the 100-year event must stay in the Right-of-Way, while runoff from the 500-year event may encroach on private property but cannot flood a structure. Elevations of key buildings shall be set above the routed 500-year flood elevation.  

• The proposed preliminary plat shows only a 100-year flood elevation. It would be useful to include the 500-year flood elevation to confirm that this urban service area amendment condition will be met.  

• The Town of Verona supported Veridian’s Range Trail development as well as Whispering Coves as development projects that resulted in annexation of Town land into the City. These developments were in Area A of the Boundary Agreement and made good land use planning sense.  They were contiguous with current City of Verona residential areas.  The Ardent Glen proposal will essentially create a City residential island in the middle of the Town.  This island will have:  
  • No mass transit options  
  • o No commercial options  

This will effectively create a scenario where residents of the neighborhood will get in their vehicles to do anything and get anywhere – putting significant strain on the surrounding rural road system, which the Town is expected to maintain and keep safe; providing bike facilities on PD will not encourage use due to the lack of subsequent reduction in speed.  

Further traffic concerns/questions:  

1. Considering the proposed CTH PD expansion, will the proposed 24 feet of additional right of way on CTH be adequate?  

• Based upon ITE standards, the approximately 9 trips per day per residential unit will yield an additional 3650 trips per day upon development build-out.  We have reviewed the basic traffic projections and warrant analysis prepared by AECOM for the Ardent Glen Intersection and Shady Oak Lane with County Highway PD which finds no traffic signals are warranted.   A complete Traffic Impact Analysis should be submitted for both the Shady Oak Lane and Ardent Glan intersections to determine if additional warrants beyond the 4-hour warrant is satisfied. Specifically, for Warrant 1 condition B (interruption of continuous traffic).    

• The town has a concern that as traffic volumes on CTH PD increase ( i.e. widening and extension to Country View) that traffic generated from both the Ardent Glen development as well as from the adjacent Hexagon Property, combined with insufficient gaps on County Highway PD will force drivers to use Shady Oak Lane to the north to Midtown to reach their  destinations, or cause drivers to take unreasonable risks to make left turns into or out of the Ardent Glen and/or Shady Oak Lane intersections. Shady Oak Lane consists of 2 10-foot lanes, a 2-foot shoulder and no pedestrian facilities.   Current traffic on Shady Oak Lane is approximately 400 vehicles per day. Based on a 50% split for the projected developed traffic, the daily traffic on Shady Oak Lane and Mid Town Road could increase by 1200 vehicles per day.   

• The current design has a total of 21 lots with frontage on Shady Oak Lane. Typical lot frontage varies from 102 to 51 feet.  Maintaining numerous driveway culverts in such narrow lots will be difficult and will be difficult to mow/landscape. Please indicate if the section of Shady Oak Lane along those lot frontages will be curbed and/or widened.  

Additional Questions:  

1. What type of structure and/or culvert is planned for the street intersection over Lower Badger Mill Creek opposite Oak Hill Court?  

• Will there be any screening/berming for the existing property at 2947 Shady Oak Lane?  

• What type and style of street lighting is proposed for the development and intersections?    

• There seems to be several pieces missing from the submittal necessary for Preliminary Plat approval.  Please see below.  

Sec. 14-1-31 – Submission of Preliminary Plat.  

(b) Public Improvements  

(d) Environmental Assessment  

• Street Plans and Profiles
  • Soil Testing 

Respectively Submitted by: Sarah Gaskell  

                                            Planner/Administrator, Town of Verona  

This letter is entered in the public comments submitted to the City of Verona plan commission.