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Memo to Mayor and City Council/P 01-14 September 17, 2001 Page 3 Analysis Waiver to Townhome Moratorium When the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 01-07 establishing the moratorium, Section 5 of the ordinance allows for a waiver of restrictions from the ordinance. Section 5 states: "a waiver may be granted where the city finds substantial hardship caused by the restrictions and finds that the waiver will not unduly affect the integrity of the planning process or the purpose for which the interim ordinance is enacted". The applicant, in their letter dated July 27, 2001, states that they feel that the application can proceed during the moratorium due to the following reasons: 1. The proposed uses are within the anticipated density and character of development for this site. 2. The property in question serves as transition from commercial to open space. 3. The development is a logical extension of Trott Brook Farms and is being constructed by the same company. Specifically, number 3 above would be the very reason that staff would recommend that this project is not eligible for a waiver at this time due to the preliminary nature of the draft revised ordinance and the work completed to date. One of the issues the City Council requested the Planning Commission review was the location and number of townhomes in any given area within the City. The applicant is making no substantial design changes from the existing Trott Brook Farms building designs to this development, and that has been a concern expressed both by the City Council and the Planning Commission. Rezoning Request If the waiver to the townhome moratorium is granted, the next application to consider is the rezoning. The applicant is requesting a rezoning from Rld, Single Family Residential, to PUD, Planned Unit Development in order to allow the mixed residential use to be approved. The underlying land use designation for this parcel is Medium Density Residential, which would allow up to six or eight units per acre in density. The applicant's proposal is suggesting a gross density of 3.76 units per acre. The net density is 4.88 units per acre, which would be consistent with the underlying land use of Medium Density Residential. The Commission and the City need to evaluate if the lower density rambler- style townhomes would provide an adequate buffer and an increase in single-family units would be preferable. As proposed, only 12 percent of the project is single family. Preliminary Plat and Conditional Use Permit The preliminary plat consists of 156 individual dwelling lots, either single-family, rambler townhomes or condominiums. There are also three common lots provided in the plat and one outlot, Outlot A. Outlot A is intended to be used for an entry feature and will preserve a stand of trees along the east property line adjacent to Hillside City Park. S:\PLANNINGXuMICHMC\CCREPRTSkP01.14.DOC