Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutA046 - Resolution approving Preliminary Plat for Ontario Park and Ontario TownesITEM #:49 DATE:10-13-26 DEPT:P&H SUBJECT:RESOLUTION APPROVING PRELIMINARY PLAT FOR ONTARIO PARK AND ONTARIO TOWNES COUNCIL ACTION FORM BACKGROUND: Iowa State University recently sold property located on the north side of Ontario Street near Scholl Road to Hunziker Development Group, LLC and 574 Investments, LLC. The owners are proposing to develop the undeveloped, 17.4-acre property (including existing right-of-way for Ontario Street and Minnesota Avenue) into projects on either side of Scholl Road (Attachment A). On September 22, City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance for rezoning this property from Special Purpose Government / Airport Zone (S-GA) to Floating Suburban – Residential Low Density (FS-RL) with a Planned Unit Development Overlay (O-PUD). The proposed PUD allows for development of up to 26 single-family detached dwellings (Ontario Park) and 71 townhome-style single-family attached units (Ontario Townes). The first reading of the PUD rezoning was approved with: a requirement that the preliminary plat and final plat be completed prior to initiating development and constructing the housing units, a requirement to address the private open space configuration and amenity details for Ontario Townes (this will be provided in a subsequent approvals), a condition that to implement a driveway plan maximize on-street parking, and a condition that the street trees along Ontario Street be placed on the private lots if necessary to provide room for overhead power lines. The proposed preliminary plat implements the Master Plan of the PUD by creating the individual lots for the single-family homes on the east side of the site and one large outlot for the future townhome development to the west, along with other common outlots. This preliminary plat addresses proposed lot lines, street, and utilities for the single family detached home lots. A future subdivision application will provide further detail for the townhome development to the west side of the site. Hunziker will develop the east side and 574 Investments will develop the west side. The project east of Scholl Road will have 26 single-family lots. The project to the west of Scholl Road will have 71 townhome units in a mix of duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes. 1 The Preliminary Plat approval is contingent upon the approval of the proposed PUD zoning. The subject property has never been platted or developed. Scholl Road and part of Minnesota were Iowa State University institutional roads and not formally dedicated as public roads prior to the proposed development of this site. Each will become dedicated right-of-way with the plat approval. Scholl Road has a requirement to be reconstructed by the developer prior to it being dedicated to the City. No future homes will have vehicular access directly onto Ontario Street. Vehicular access will be taken from new public and private streets within the development. At the time of future final plat approval, the applicant will need to submit covenants related to how the common open space will be maintained. Both sides of the development will share in the common open space maintenance and use. Ontario Park (East of Scholl Road) The applicant is proposing to have 26 single-family lots on the subject site. The properties will take vehicular access from a new internal street, Yukon Street, which will be dedicated as a public street. Yukon Street will run from the intersection with Michigan Avenue at Ontario Street to Scholl Road. The proposed lots reflect the PUD deviation request for lot width. The minimum lot width at the building line in this development is 43 feet, as opposed to the standard 50 feet. The minimum lot width at the street line is 27 feet, as opposed to the standard 35 feet. Because of the lot width reduction, staff has requested coordination of driveway approaches to minimize impacts to on-street parking options and maintenance and operational interests of the City. No lots will take vehicular access from Scholl Road, Ontario Street, or Minnesota Avenue. On the north side of the development, adjacent the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, there will be an outlot for stormwater. A landscape plan for this outlot is a requirement of the PUD. The applicant will plant a variety of wildflowers and native grasses in this space. The wildflower species chosen will attract pollinators. A condition from the PUD will require street trees along Ontario to be placed on private property to avoid conflict with overhead power lines along Ontario. Ontario Townes (West of Scholl Road) The Preliminary Plat shows the west side of Scholl Road as one parcel. The intent is to initially divide the site into the separate planned ownership of each development site. A subsequent Preliminary Plat for the west part of the development will include details individual lots for the individual units, lots for private streets, and outlots for drainage and common open space. Staff anticipates the Ontario Townes project to be forwarded for approval early this winter. The key element of the west lot is the planned stormwater treatment pond for both sites. Common usable open space will be shared as well as condition of meeting PUD open spaces requirements. 2 PUBLIC NOTICE: Notice for the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting followed code requirements with mailed notice to owners within 400 feet, newspaper published notice, and placement of two signs on the property along Ontario Street. PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION: The Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed the preliminary plat on September 16, 2026. Two members of the public spoke about their concerns regarding traffic on Ontario Street, inquired about whether or not the homes would be rented, and raised a question about test wells on the property. Since that time, the City Council has reviewed the rezoning application and the existing detailed information regarding traffic on Ontario and its potential impacts to side street turning movements and delays with development of the site. Information provided by the staff indicated that the intersections would operate within city policy upon the development of the site. Therefore, no additional traffic information was requested by the City Council. The question of test wells was also answered that no test wells existing on the site; only soil sampling occurs for the prairie that was previously on the site. The Commission voted 6-0-0 to recommend Alternative 1: "The Planning and Zoning Commission may recommend that the City Council approve the Preliminary Plat for Ontario Development plat with a condition for final street tree planting plan and for coordination of tree planting with driveway permit approvals subject to staff review with Final Plat." ALTERNATIVES: 1. Approve the Preliminary Plat for Ontario Development with a condition for final street tree planting plan and for coordination of tree planting with driveway permit approvals subject to staff review with Final Plat, subject to the third reading and adoption of the rezoning ordinance and PUD. 2. Approve the Preliminary Plat with additional conditions for the Ontario Park development. 3. Defer action on this request and refer it back to City staff and/or the applicant for additional information. CITY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION: The key concern for the development are mitigation of the narrow lot widths to account for street parking, access, and maintenance. This has been addressed with the plans for driveways and conditions for final review by staff. The overall design and proposed improvements have been found to meet the City’s design standards in Chapter 23, Subdivisions subject to approval of the PUD rezoning proposal. Therefore, it is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council act in accordance with Alternative No. 1. 3 The developer is seeking City Council approval of developer TIF rebate to reimburse them for the cost of the Scholl Road reconstruction as an incentive for workforce housing. At the January 27, 2025 meeting, the City Council has indicated a desire to set the maximum sale price for housing units at $425,000 and a percentage of rental housing units to be no more than 50%. All of these issues will be addressed in a developer agreement to be brought before the City Council at a future meeting. ATTACHMENT(S): Addendum.pdf Attachment A - Location Map.pdf Attachment B - Proposed Zoning.pdf Attachment C - Master Plan and Preliminary Plat Sheets.pdf 4 ADDENDUM Project Location. The property is 17.4 acres located on the north side of Ontario Street, west of Minnesota Avenue, south of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, and east of the homes on the east side of Garfield Avenue. The property has never been platted. Scholl Road bisects the site and leads to the ISU Applied Science Complex. Scholl Road is currently a private road that has been owned and maintained by ISU. Master Plan Compliance. The Preliminary Plat for this development is in conformance with a Master Plan reviewed by Council on September 22. (Council approved the first reading and held a public hearing at the September meeting. The second reading of the ordinance is on the same agenda as this Preliminary Plat.) The request is to rezone the property to FS-RL with a PUD Overlay (the current zoning, S-GA, is only to be used for government). The Master Plan illustrates the general arrangement of uses, layout of development, planned vehicular movements, pedestrian connections, and developable areas. The site will be residential in use. On the east side of Scholl Road (Ontario Park), there will be 26 individual lots each with a single-family home. On the east side of Scholl Road (Ontario Townes), there will be a mix of duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes totaling 71 units. Traffic and Street Connections. Each side of the development will have one vehicular access onto Ontario Street and one onto Scholl Road. There is no vehicular access onto Minnesota Avenue, and no new street will connect. The homes along Ontario Street will face that street but will take vehicular access from Yukon Street. Neighbors of the proposed project have expressed concern about existing traffic along Ontario Street and are concerned that the proposed 97 homes will exacerbate the traffic conditions. The Traffic Engineering Division of the Public Works Department is monitoring the traffic along Ontario Street but did not require a traffic study to accompany this development. At the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on September 2, the Commission voted to recommend approval of the rezoning request with a condition that a traffic study be conducted. To date no study has been done as the City Council has not yet reviewed the PUD rezoning request. The Yukon Street intersection was discussed at the rezoning hearing. Eastern Yukon Street aligns with Michigan Avenue. The spacing between Yukon Street and Minnesota Avenue is less than typically required based upon existing conditions and the need to align with another intersection. 5 Staff did not believe utilizing a Minnesota Avenue connection in lieu of connecting Yukon Street was the best option for accessing the site. Neighborhood sentiment was also against additional traffic on Minnesota Avenue. Staff did not consider limiting access from Ontario Street to Scholl Road believing the trip generation for the east side homes could be accommodated as proposed. Street Trees Streets trees are required at a rate of 1 tree per 50 feet of street frontage for new residential development. The applicant shows a street tree plan with trees along Yukon, Ontario, and Scholl. Coordination of planting along Yukon is a condition of approval to address streetlight and driveway placements. The Ontario trees will likely need to be placed within the front yard of the lots to allow for adequate spacing from the overhead lines. This will be a condition within the final approval of the PUD plan and is a condition of final plat approval. Trees along Minnesota have not been required due to the overhead power and not homes fronting along Minnesota. Private Driveway/Street. The internal streets for Ontario Townes (west of Scholl Road) will be owned and maintained by the homeowners’ association. Further details for Ontario Townes and its private streets will follow in a subsequent preliminary plat. Both sides of the private streets will have sidewalks. At the time of final platting, an engineer will certify the design and accompanying details. Shared-Use Paths, Sidewalks, and Trails. The recently adopted Comprehensive Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan (Walk Bike Roll) shows a shared-use trail extending north from Ontario Street through the ISU property and connecting over a bridge across Ioway Creek to Moore Memorial Park. The west side of Scholl Road will have the beginnings of this trail, which will terminate near the railroad right-of-way. Further funding for the remainder of the trail has not been identified. The development will fill in a sidewalk gap across the north side of Ontario Street the existing overhead power poles will remain and the sidewalk will be set inside of these poles to the north. Both sides of Yukon Street will also have sidewalks, as will the internal, private streets for Ontario Townes (west of Scholl Road). A private trail within the outlot will curve around the stormwater facility for Ontario Townes. The sidewalk on the east side of Scholl Road will stop at Yukon Street, as there are no plans for the City sidewalk network to extend onto the ISU property, this is a waiver of city street improvement requirements due to unusual circumstances and constraints of the railroad. 6 There is an existing sidewalk on the east side of Minnesota Avenue that connects to a pedestrian path on the bridge over the railroad tracks. There is no room on the existing bridge for a sidewalk on the west side of Minnesota As such, staff are not requiring a sidewalk on the west side of Minnesota Avenue and again waiving the improvement requirements because of unusual circumstances and conditions. Stormwater Management. Two stormwater facilities will be built, one on each side of Scholl Road. The east side (Ontario Park) will have a stormwater facility that sits between the single -family lots and the railroad tracks. The west side (Ontario Townes) will have a larger stormwater pond in the northeast corner of that site. Release of stormwater from the detention facility must comply with City and state stormwater treatment requirements. The site has been designed to comply the City’s Chapter 5b requirement with the primary design standard of releasing water at not greater rate than a 5-yr stormwater storm based upon existing conditions. Utilities and Easements. The property is within the Ames Electric territory. Ames Electric maintains overhead transmission lines across the Ontario Street frontage and along Minnesota Avenue. An electric easement exists along Minnesota Avenue. City water and sewer access will come from Ontario Street and Scholl Road. For Ontario Park (east of Scholl Road), the water line and the sanitary sewer line will be both 8 inches in diameter. The water line is required to loop through both sides of the development. The utility easement is shown with the preliminary plat. An existing stormwater line runs from Ontario Street to the northeast across the western part of the development. This line will be moved and placed in a 30 -foot storm sewer easement that will feed into the stormwater pond for Ontario Townes. 7 Attachment A Location Map 8 Attachment B Proposed Zoning 9 Attachment C Master Plan and Preliminary Plat Sheets 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19