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• 7. Traffic Calming: The entry road to the south uses a green to greet residents and visitors alike. It slows traffic with a "horizontal speed bump"...of a kind that won't generate the famil- iar driver antagonism and danger that results from typical speed bump or excessive stop sign use: the all to familiar reaction: " if you're going to try to slow me down, then I'm going to speed up to make up the lost time". 8. Carefully Selected Street Widths: The greens-parks, the openspace and trails are all con- nected with streets having carefully selected street widths. By allowing on-street parking and background planting a continuous traffic speed calmer is installed. Elk River Station's roads will be designed to cause inconvenience to drivers who would attempt to drive too fast for a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood. But the interconnected roads provide a greater emergency vehicle access potential than most communities with cul-de-sacs. 9.Welcoming Trees: The entry road to the north is an expensive road not typically seen in stan- dard subdivisions. It is "single loaded", (with homes accessed on only one side). Thus pre- serving existing trees on the other. The north side of the road thus acts as an aesthetic contrast to the commercial and higher density housing to the south. These trees will work to lower the density perception, despite the positioning of the apart- • ments just beyond this preserved row of trees, walking out to the wetland beyond...if the trees are saved. The detail planning and design of utilities, walls, material storage, road accesses, etc., etc., must accomplish the goal of preserving this row of existing, mature trees. These trees must be augmented where the depth is narrowed, due to parking lot position and where the existing trees thin out. 10. The Most Number of Residences, Close to Great Amenity: The plan also introduces the idea of putting the highest density next to the highest amenity. This is an idea opposite of con- ventional planning rules (where the highest density land uses are commonly placed next to the lowest amenity site feature, such as highways). I holds great appeal with the City, only if the construction does not destroy the very woods we wish to use to elevate the rental values and preserve as gateway to the ownership homes. 11. Sidewalks and Trails:Just as the roads lead to attractive places,we have shown the City an extensive, interconnected trail and sidewalk system. We have also spoken of the issue of set- backs for homes being different than setbacks for garages. The distance a building can be comfortably built from a sidewalk is closer (10-15') than from a typical suburban road without a sidewalk...with one major limit. The buildings entry door must be elevated a minimum of 30 " from the back of side walk, and, sheltered to create a tran- sition, semipublic-semi private space. Covered or recessed, 4-5' deep entries and porches with • a depth of 8 feet are the answer. May zz,zoo! page 3oF6