7.2. SR 07-06-2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The proposal includes a 91-unit apartment building and 24 townhome units. To support the additional traffic load, the developer will extend the frontage road through a dedicated right-of-way that connects with the neighborhood to the west, providing an additional access point to Trunk Highway 10. Comprehensive Plan The Comprehensive Plan guides the property for high density residential uses and has been scheduled for high density uses since the 2014 update. Transportation connections, not volume, are of concern, but the project is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The target density per the comprehensive plan is 8 to 20 units/acre, and the proposed project comes in at 10 units/acre. Planning Commission Meetings On May 25, 2021, the Planning Commission held a public hearing concerning the proposed project. After receiving public testimony and discussing the applications before them, the Planning Commission unanimously continued the item and asked the applicant to complete a traffic study. The applicant completed the traffic study, and the Commission again reviewed the application on June 22, 2021. A summary of the discussions is outlined below. Traffic The results of the traffic study show an increase in the number of trips through the West Oaks neighborhood. An increase would be expected as a result of any development on this parcel and the study estimates 15 percent of all trips will utilize the existing public streets through West Oaks. The study further estimates that the remaining 85 percent of the daily trips would utilize the new frontage road connection to Highway 10. This percentage may fluctuate but is based off the assumption that most residents will commute for work, and the most efficient route will be the new roadway extension through Big Lake Township. Additionally, in evaluating a livability standard for residential roadways, the traffic study and the public works director both believe the additional traffic on existing and proposed city streets will not increase beyond levels generally held as livable standards for a residential roadway. The Commission discussed the results of the traffic study and had concerns with the findings, which ultimately lead to their recommendation of denial. Specific concerns included the referenced livability standard. The general standard for city streets is 150 to 175 vehicles per hour (peak hour) without severely impacting a streets livability. Estimating 108 existing trips during the peak hour plus adding the traffic from the new development would not exceed this livability standard for Yankton and Xerxes. The public works director notes in his memo that if 85 percent of all peak hour trips from the new development were to utilize the West Oaks neighborhood, the livability standard still would not be exceeded. Additionally, it was stated during the public hearing that the streets are smaller than normal as they had been designed for the current development only. Yankton and Xerxes are built to city standards and of the same width as the new streets in Miske Meadows, Waco Street east of the golf course, and are wider than Mississippi Road south of the golf course. These streets include sidewalks for off-street pedestrian movement and have been designed to handle traffic beyond what is currently utilized by the existing uses. Highway 10 Traffic/Crash Information Staff collected crash data for two nearby segments of Highway 10. The first segment between County Road 15 and Waco Street saw a total of 85 incidents since 2011. Of those crashes, two resulted in serious injuries, and eight resulted in minor injuries, the remaining 75 incidents resulted in possible injuries or property damage. Nearly half, 46% were single vehicles running off the road, and another 16% were collisions with deer/animals.