2004-50 AMENDING PLANNED DEVELOPMENT - WABASH CROSSING

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� Page 2 of 4 Wabash Crossing Homeownership PUD Amendment June 3, 2004 private and public open spaces. The plan will need to be amended further as future phases are proposed for development. PROJECT DESCRIPTION 3. This request amends the approved Planned Development ordinance to set specific standards for development of the 43 homeownership lots located in Phase 1. These lots are as shown on the attached PD site plan and are located on Leafland Avenue, Condit Street and Warren Street. Unlike the remaining renter-occupied units, these lots are planned for single family homes that will be owner occupied. The developer has been working with the Neighborhood Housing Development Corporation of Decatur to build and market these homes. 4. The overall planning of Wabash Crossing has been guided by the "Near North Neighborhood Redevelopment Plan and Guidelines," created after a lengthy planning and design process beginning in 2001. This plan proposes specific guidelines for public space definition and architectural variation, depending on the location of each building within the development. All of the homeownership lots covered by this petition front on either a park or on a residential street. The Guidelines call for an"enhanced"degree of architectural variation for lots that front on a park, and a"pronounced"degree of variation for lots that front on the residential streets. The Guidelines also set requirements for setbacks,height, etc., that are less restrictive than those found in the Zoning Ordinance. The intent of the Guidelines is to encourage compact, traditional development patterns similar to those found in the Near North when it was first developed around the end of the 19th century. 5. The petitioners have submitted eight separate home designs for the single family, owner- occupied homes. The units range from two bedroom, single story homes to three bedroom, two story homes. Styles such as Bungalow, Queen Anne, and American Foursquare are represented. These styles are similar to the vernacular styles found throughout Decatur. The "Trish" (Scheme E) and the"Laura" (Scheme H) include alternate fa�ade treatments. 6. The Planned Development site plan shows the lots which are reserved for single family home ownership. The Site Plan also shows that the house on Lot 47, originally planned as a single family rental unit,will be used temporarily as a community laundry facility. The future Phase 2 of Wabash Crossing includes a mixed-use commercial center on the southeast corner of Condit and Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. This center will include a laundry facility meant to serve the rental units within the development. Until the commercial center is built, the home on Lot 47 will serve as the laundry facility for the rental tenants. Note 5 on the plan states that the house will be converted back to residential use once a new facility for the laundry is built. STAFF ANALYSIS 7. One of the goals of the planning process was to insure good design principles to make the Near North a"neighborhood of choice"that would attract buyers and renters all along the economic spectrum. Although the homeownership units in Phase 1 will be targeted to low and moderate income buyers, after five years the houses can be re-sold on the open market. I It is important to insure both quality homes and variety in the architecture so that the neighborhood will retain its attractiveness.