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2006 12 14 ALRC Special MeetingA or ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPING REVIEW COMMITTEE A G E N D A A Special Meeting to be Held at the La Quinta City Hall Session Room 78-495 Calle Tampico, La Quinta, California DECEMBER 14, 2006 10:00 A.M. Beginning Minute Motion 2006-037 1. CALL TO ORDER A. Pledge of Allegiance B. Roll Call 11. PUBLIC COMMENT This is the time set aside for public comment on any matter not scheduled for public hearing. Please complete a "Request to Speak" form and limit your comments to three minutes. Ill. CONFIRMATION OF AGENDA IV. CONSENT CALENDAR: Approval of the Minutes of September 20, 2006. V. BUSINESS ITEMS: A. Item ....................... SITE DEVELOPMENT PERMIT 2006-875 Applicant ................ Mayer Villa Capri, L.P. (Larry Brose) Location ................. North side of Fred Waring Drive, between Washington Street and Palm Royale Drive Request .................. Consideration of architectural and landscaping plans for a 104,287 square foot retail center and adjacent 130,450 square foot medical office complex. Action .................... Minute Motion 2006- ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPING REVIEW COMMITTEE B. Item ....................... SITE DEVELOPMENT PERMIT 2006-877 Applicant ................ Adobe Holdings, Inc. Location ................. Within Tract 31249, on the south side of Avenue 58, west of Madison Street Request .................. Consideration of architecture and landscaping plans for four prototypical residential plans and common areas for the Village at Coral Mountain Action .................... Minute Motion 2006- VI. CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITTEN MATERIAL VII. COMMITTEE MEMBER ITEMS: Vill. ADJOURNMENT This meeting of the Architecture and Landscape Review Committee will be adjourned to a Regular Meeting to be held on January 3, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. DECLARATION OF POSTING 1, Betty J. Sawyer, Executive Secretary of the City of La Quinta, do hereby declare that the foregoing Agenda for the La Quinta Architectural and Landscaping Review Committee Special Meeting of Thursday, December 14, 2006, was posted on the outside entry to the Council Chamber, 78-495 Calle Tampico, and the bulletin board at the La Quinta Post Office bulletin board. 78-630 Highway 111, on Friday, December 8,2006. DATED: December 8, 2006 (�Z BE Y ve Secretary City a Q G:\WPDOCS\ALRC\Agenda.doc MINUTES ARCHITECTURE & LANDSCAPING REVIEW COMMITTEE MEETING A Special meeting held at the La Quinta City Hall 78-495 Calle Tampico, La Quinta, CA September 20, 2006 10:00 a.m. CALL TO ORDER A. This meeting of the Architectural and Landscaping Review Committee was called to order at 10:07 a.m. by Principal Planner Stan Sawa. B. Committee Members present: Bill Bobbitt and Tracy Smith. It was moved and seconded by Committee Members Bobbitt/Smith to excuse Committee Member Frank Christopher. Unanimously approved C. Staff present: Principal Planner Stan Sawa and Executive Secretary Betty Sawyer. I[. PUBLIC COMMENT: None. 111. CONFIRMATION OF THE AGENDA: Confirmed. IV. CONSENT CALENDAR: A. It was moved and seconded by Committee Members Bobbitt/Smith to approve the Minutes of September 6, 2006 as submitted. Unanimously approved. V. BUSINESS ITEMS: A. Specific Plan 99-035, Amendment No. 1; a request of East of Madison, LLC for consideration of landscaping plans for the perimeter of the Madison Club for the property located south of Avenue 52, east of Madison Street, north of Avenue 54, and west of Monroe Street. Principal Planner Stan Sawa presented the information contained in the staff report, a copy of which is on file in the Community Development Department. Staff introduced John Gamlin, representing East of Madison, LLC, and Don Veda, Landscape Designer, who gave a presentation on the project. 2. Committee Member Smith asked staff to explain "view corridors". Staff explained it was an opening in the perimeter landscaping that would create an area you can see through. r�yffl ��11 z affiTa Architecture and Landscaping Review Committee September 20, 2006 3. Committee Member Bobbitt stated his concern was that this site did not become like the Hideaway on Avenue 54 in regard to the berm. He asked if there was a set standard for the number of trees to be removed to create this corridor. Staff stated it was a condition of approval, but there were no standards. 4. Committee Member Smith asked if staff had any rec ornmendations as to where trees should be removed. Mr. Gamlin stated the berm has been reshaped and the landscaping is more open. 5. Committee Member Bobbitt stated he likes the plans as they are submitted. Discussion followed as to alternatives to create the .view corridor". 6. Committee Member Smith suggested just moving the trees or grouping them together to create the openings. 7. Committee Member Bobbitt suggested their landscaping plans for the slopes be sensitive to where the irrigation lines are placed to not allow the slopes to be eroded as well as keeping the weeds cleaned out, 8. There being no further questions, it was moved and seconded by Committee Members Bobbitt/Smith to adopt Minute Motion 2006-030 recommending approval of Specific Plan 99-035, Amendment No. 1, as recommended. Unanimously approved. VI. CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITTEN MATERIAL: None VII. COMMITTEE MEMBER ITEMS: None IVA I I 1111111111111111�-Al 011 LOIN 1.1011 LVA I I ki I a There being no further business, it was moved and seconded by Committee Members Smith/Bobbitt to adjourn this Special Meeting of the Architectural and Landscaping Review Committee to a Regular Meeting to be held on October 4, 2006. This meeting was adjourned at 10:23 a.m. on September 20, 2006. Respectfully submitted, BETTY J. SAWYER Executive Secretary r. M?Pnnrq\ai RrxQ-7n-nA nnr 2 20"M ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPE REVIEW COMMITTEE DATE: DECEMBER 14, 2006 CASE NO: SITE DEVELOPMENT PERMIT 2006-875 APPLICANT: MAYER VILLA CAPRI, L.P. (LARRY BROSE) ARCHITECTS: PREST-VUKSIC ARCHITECTS (RETAIL) BURGHARD DESIGN GROUP (MEDICAL) WILLIAM PARRISH DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS (MARKET) LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS: RGA LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, INC. ENGINEERS: MSA CONSULTING, INC. REQUEST: REVIEW OF ARCHITECTURAL AND LANDSCAPING PLANS FOR 104,287 SQ. FT. RETAIL CENTER AND ADJACENT 130,450 SQ. FT. MEDICAL OFFICE COMPLEX LOCATION: NORTH SIDE OF FRED WARING DRIVE, BETWEEN WASHINGTON STREET AND PALM ROYALE DRIVE BACKGROUND: The project site is a 25 ± acre site on the north side of Fred Waring Drive between Washington Street and Palm Royale Drive in the Community Commercial zone. The newly constructed Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School and a small vacant commercial site are to the north of the site with residential uses to the east across Palm Royale Drive and south across Fred Waring Drive. To the west in the City of Palm Desert are commercial and residential uses. This site was proposed by this applicant for a 10 acre commercial site and 15 acre residential subdivision in early 2004. The project then proposed was recommended for denial by the Planning Commission and eventually withdrawn by the applicant. PROJECT PROPOSAL: Proposed is a commercial complex and medical office complex (Attachment 1). The 104,287 square foot commercial complex will consist of 10 acres on the west end of P:\STAN\MAYER VILLA CAPRI\2006 SDP TPM\SDP 2006-875 ALRC RPT.DOC the site, while the eastern 15 acres of the site is proposed to be an 130,450 square foot medical office complex. While the projects are separate, there will be vehicular cross access between the two via a common driveway at the projects common boundary connecting to Fred Waring Drive. Commercial Center: The commercial center on the west portion of the site will consist of a supermarket with several attached, retail shop spaces, a freestanding drugstore, and six additional freestanding retail buildings. The Building 1 pad is shown as a future phase and not included at this time. Building 10, which is to be a drug store, is not a part of this request because, according to the architect, the floor plan and elevation plans submitted for it do not match due to a change in tenants. It will be submitted at a later date. The center has two driveways to Fred Waring Drive and two to Washington Street. The easterly driveway on Fred Waring Drive will be shared with the medical office complex to the east. The project is designed in a desert contemporary style of architecture, utilizing flat roofs, square corners, popouts and recesses, multi -color smooth plaster walls, stone veneer on towers, metal canopies and trellis', awnings and tower roofs. Exterior plaster colors will be five shades of tans to browns plus a deep green. Metalworkand accents will be dark brown with the stone veneer multi earth tone colors. The curved metal roof where used consists of a standing seam metal in a clear anodized aluminum color. The building heights vary from approximately 20' for the freestanding retail shops to 24' for the supermarket. There are tower structures on most of the buildings which are several feet higher than the adjacent building walls. Medical Office Complex: The medical office complex will consist of five buildings, with the northern three buildings proposed to be two stories in height and the southern two buildings near Fred Waring Drive proposed at one story. There is one driveway connecting to Palm Royale Drive and two driveways to Fred Waring Drive, the westerly one being the shared drive with the retail center. The easterly Fred Waring Drive entry leads to the front door of the proposed medical building where a circular drive with a water feature in the center and drop off area and several close handicap parking spaces ex,ist next to the building. The circular drive intersects an east -west drive that provides access to the commercial center and Palm Royale Drive. Only the architectural plans for the main "flagship" 44,850 square feet two-story building in the center of the complex have been submitted. The medical building is designed in a desert contemporary style of architecture utilizing the same type of architectural features as the retail center. Exterior plaster colors will be similar or the same used in the retail center. Metal work and accents, including a curved standing P:\STAN\MAYER VILLA CAPRI\2006 SDP TPM\SDP 2006-875 ALRC RPT.DOC seam metal roof over the tower feature, is to be clear anodized aluminum color, with the stone veneer used being the same as that used in the retail center. As required for office buildings, carports will be provided for at least 30% of the parking spaces. Plans for these have not been submitted, but they will be compatible with the desert contemporary architectural style of the building. Two small carports are located near the one story buildings, while most are located near the two story buildings. Entries are provided on all four sides of the building with the main entry facing Fred Waring Drive where a water feature and circular drive are proposed. On south side of the building, following the curve of the circular drive and adjacent to the front door is a covered arcade. The building parapet is proposed at 30' high, which is lower than the 40' high allowed in the Community Commercial zone. Inside of the parapet wall and mounted to the roof will be a painted louvered equipment screen which will add an additional four feet of height to the structure. While it will screen the roof equipment, it is also designed to be an architectural feature of the building. A tower (with the curved metal roof) over the north and south building entries will be 43' high. Landscape Design for both projects: A landscape plan for the entire site has been submitted showing specific trees and shrub types. The plan includes a plant palette with sizes for the project. Trees are shown at 24" to 36" box size, with Date Palms at 14' and Mexican Fan Palms at 25' high. Shrubs are shown at 15, five and one gallon sizes with groundcovers at five and one gallon size. The landscape design is desertscape in nature with no use of turf indicated. Additionally, plan blow-ups with more landscape detail are provided for the area around buildings 2-4 of the retail center and the area around the proposed medical building and water feature have been submitted. Along the Washington Street and Fred Waring Drive perimeters a meandering sidewalk is shown with some berming in the planter areas. At the corner of Washington Street and Fred Waring Drive a water feature is shown surrounded by planting. Planted retention basins are shown at the northeast corner of the site adjacent to Palm Royale Drive on the medical complex site, and to the east of Building 10 on the Commercial center site. ALRC DISCUSSION ITEMS: Although the buildings have been designed by three different architects they are compatible in design, color and materials. Overall the desert contemporary style project is attractive and similar in design to other projects in La Quinta. However, there are items that warrant discussion. P:\STAN\MAYER VILLA CAPRI\2006 SDP TPM\SDP 2006-875 ALRC RPT.DOC Commercial Center: For most buildings there is a lack of depth in the architectural treatment to the building exteriors. Generally, except at corners, popouts and recesses are minimal which creates an unattractive appearance and does not provide adequate shadow depths and solar protection over glass and doors. Some glass areas, such as at the market entry are over one story high with little or no solar protection. Furthermore, this creates an out of proportion appearance to the entry. The nature of the design does not provide shaded arcades along walkways around the commercial buildings which during warm months is desirable. The front elevation of the supermarket building except for the tower is essentially the same height. Some height variation would help break up the monotony of this horizontal roof line. The same is true for the northwest elevation that faces Washington Street and northeast elevation that faces the middle school. Additionally, architectural treatment such as, stone columns, popouts or recesses are needed on the northwest and northeast building elevations to provide architectural depth. Though the drugstore architecture is not being considered as part of this submittal, it is important to note and consider that its located in a prominent location at the intersection of Washington Street and Fred Waring Drive. Therefore, the site design and architecture will need to be attractive and compatible with the balance of the project. Site plan changes are needed to provide safer and circulation and less potential parking and drive aisle conflict points. This will necessitate making sure drive aisles intersect cross aisles at 90 degree angles and removing parking spaces in areas where there are only 3 or 4 spaces in a row. The vehicular connection between the commercial and medical complexes is the common driveway to Fred Waring Drive. There is a jog between the connecting aisles to this driveway. The drive aisles need to align as we believe a significant amount of traffic, especially those wanting to turn east on Fred Waring Drive leaving the commercial center, will cut through the medical complex parking lot. This can be achieved by moving Building 7 south and removing a small portion of Building 6. The food court can be relocated to the area between Buildings 7 and 8. To the north at the western end of the project is a small vacant commercial lot. To improve traffic safety on Washington Street Staff will recommend to the Planning Commission that the commercial site provide a cross access easement to the north. In return that developer will be required to grant a recipical easement. Trash enclosures need to be moved so that they are behind buildings and not visible down perpendicular drive aisles. P:\STAN\MAYER VILLA CAPRI\2006 SDP TPM\SDP 2006-875 ALRC RPT.DOC Medical Office Complex: The use of a louvered equipment screen is often used an afterthought to screen roof equipment. In this case, it appears to be proposed as an architectural feature. The possibility of increasing the distance between the screen and exterior wall should be considered. The ALFIC should review this feature to ensure it is an integral part of the building. The circular drive in front of the main office building has head -in parking spaces that will create traffic hazards when backing up. The end spaces, at a minimum should be deleted and replaced with landscaping. The medical office building is designed with two story high windows on all sides. Although a sun shade is provided between the floors, it is too high to provide full shading of the lower glass and there is no second story shading provided. The building appears to be busy with detailing that detracts from or possibly hides the lack of architecture. The ALRC should review this aspect of the project and determine whether revisions are warranted. The future northeasterly medical office building closest to Palm Royale Drive is indicated to be a two story structure. While it is outside the height restricted area required adjacent to Fred Waring Drive, it is relatively close to residences across Palm Royale Drive to the east. To minimize incompatibility with those residential properties, the building should be restricted to one story and consistent with the design for Buildings 11 and 12. Landscape Design for both projects: Including the landscaping for both projects provides a continuous design for the entire site. The east side of the intersection of Washington Street and Fred Waring Drive marks a General Plan designated Primary Gateway point or entry into the La Quinta. As such, the City would like an east bound City entry sign and appropriate landscaping on this corner. Increasing the landscape area at the corner by eliminating parking spaces adjacent to the corner and wrapping around along Fred Waring to the driveway would provide adequate area for the signage and a significant landscape statement (Attachment 2). The project site has excess parking spaces according to the submitted plans which can be reduced without negatively impacting the proposed uses. On both projects there are areas such as parking spaces in front of buildings (i.e. supermarket, drugstore, etc.) where diamond tree wells are needed to both provide a soft breakup of the building and provide the required parking lot shading. This also includes the northern end of the parking spaces in front of the supermarket. The meandering sidewalk is shown touching curb on Washington Street and Fred Waring Drive. The sidewalk should be revised to not touch curb except at corners or other similar points. Screening of parking lots areas needs to be provided by use of short decorative walls. P:\STAN\MAYER VILLA CAPRI\2006 SDP TPM\SDP 2006-875 ALRC RPT.DOC Date Palm trees are shown at the medical building entry area at a 14' height. In the past concern has been raised with the transplanting of "older" palm trees in pedestrian areas as they have presented a hazard. Provided the trees are 14' high, their use should be acceptable. The plant palette shows Crape Myrtle as a small accent tree. Additionally, the Littleleaf Ash also proposed as a small accent tree is semi -deciduous. Evergreen trees may be more appropriate to use. The majority of the northern boundary of the project is adjacent to a public school. Planters are provided along this area with a variety of shrubs and trees. The planters in areas adjacent to the school buildings should be heavily planted with canopy trees to provide a visual screen. RECOMMENDATION: Recommend to the Planning Commission approval of Site Development Permit 2006- 875 subject to the following Conditions of Approval: 1 The following revisions shall be made to the satisfaction of the Community Development Director: Commercial Complex: A. Building wall height variation within code requirements shall be provided for the supermarket on the front (southwest), northwest elevation that faces Washington Street and northeast elevation that faces the middle school. B. Architectural treatment such as stone columns, popouts or recesses with minimum three foot depth shall be provided on the northwest and northeast building walls of the supermarket. The supermarket entry shall be studied to reduce large expanse of glass. C. An east bound facing City entry sign shall be provided on the corner of Washington Street and Fred Waring Drive. The landscape area at the corner shall be increased in size for this entry sign by eliminating adjacent parking spaces to the satisfaction of the Community Development Director. D. Back-up areas shall not encroach into required 20' perimeter setbacks. E. Drive aisles in the commercial complex shall intersect at cross aisles at 90 degree angles and parking spaces in small planter areas where there are only 3 or 4 spaces in a row shall be removed and replaced with planting. F. The commercial complex's east -west drive aisle to the center driveway on Fred Waring Drive shall align with the main east -west drive aisle through the medical office complex. To accomplish this Building 7 shall be relocated to the south. P:\STAN\MAYER VILLA CAPRI\2006 SDP TPM\SDP 2006-875 ALRC RPT.DOC G. Trash enclosures along the north and east boundaries of the commercial complex shall be relocated to be behind Buildings 4 and 7, respectively. H. Building popouts and recesses shall be a minimum three feet deep to provide shadow depth and glass protection. Covered arcades or trellis' over walk areas shall be provided and will be considered during review of building elevations. The building and landscape design for Buildings 1 and 10 of the commercial complex shall be reviewed by the ALFIC and Planning Commission as an amendment to this SDP. Medical Office Com J. Medical Office Building 13 shall be one story in height. K. The circular drive in front of the building has head -in parking spaces that will create traffic hazards when backing up. The two end spaces at east and west ends, at a minimum, should be deleted and replaced with landscaping. L. The two story high windows shall be provided with solar protection as needed for summer sun. M. The building and landscape design for the four remaining medical complex buildings shall be reviewed by the ALFIC and Planning Commission as an amendment to this SDP. General Requirements for Project: N. The meandering sidewalk shall be revised to not touch street curb except at corners or other similar points. 0. The planters in areas adjacent to the school buildings should be heavily planted with canopy trees to provide a visual screen of the commercial site. Planters along north property line under 10 feet wide shall be increased to a minimum 10 feet wide to accommodate trees. P. Final planting and irrigation plans shall be reviewed by the ALRC with final approval by the Community Development Director. Q. ADA pedestrian access shall be provided to the satisfaction of the Public Works Department. Crosswalks shall be provided at common Fred Waring Drive driveways between Commercial and Medical Office Complexes. Sidewalks shall be provided along common driveway between east -west Medical Office Complex and Fred Waring Drive. P:\STAN\MAYER VILLA CAPRI\2006 SIDIR TPM\SDP 2006-875 ALRC RPT.DOC R. Screening of parking lots adjacent to perimeter streets shall be provided by use of short decorative walls. S. Diamond shaped tree planters shall be provided between head of parking spaces and buildings to provide code required shading. Attachments: 1 . Architectural and landscaping plans 2. Drug store area plan Prepared by: k�v� LAW-4 Stan Sawa, Principal Planner P:\STAN\MAYER VILLA CAPRI\2006 SDP TPM\SDP 2006-875 ALRC RPT.DOC ATTACHMENT #2 �-- 17— - - RETAIL REIAIL %IW 4 �G3 RETAIL RLLLL�� BU� 2 LFM-TFFV w w 0 sula I z DRUG ST( MARKET wl� 5 III,,, �' rrillit I I i I u 110 1 RETAIL o U Ll RETAIL �NTER RETAIL RETAIL WASHINGTON & FRED WARING DATE: ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPE REVIEW COMMITTEE DECEMBER 14, 2006 CASE NUMBER: SITE DEVELOPMENT PERMIT 2006-877 APPLICANT: ADOBE HOLDINGS, INC. ARCHITECT: SOUTH COAST ARCHITECTS HERMANN & ASSOCIATES REQUEST: CONSIDERATION OF ARCHITECTURAL AND LANDSCAPING PLANS FOR FOUR PROTOTYPICAL RESIDENTIAL PLANS AND COMMON AREAS FOR THE VILLAGE AT CORAL MOUNTAIN (TR 31249) LOCATION: WITHIN TR 31249; ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF AVENUE 58, ± 1/2-MILE WEST OF MADISON STREET BACKGROUND: The Village at Coral Mountain (Tract 31249) consists of two parcels, which together comprise of an area of approximately 33 acres (Attachment 1). The subdivision map was approved by the City Council on September 16, 2003. A Site Development Permit (SDP 2004-820) was approved by the Planning Commission on January 25, 2005. The Site Development Permit was valid for one year following the approval, and subsequently expired on January 25, 2006. The applicant is now resubmitting the same, previously -approved prototypical plans for four unit types (with some minor changes in architecture and floor plans), new common area concept landscape plans, and detailed entry gate building plans. PROJECT REQUEST: Units: The applicant has submitted prototypical plans for four unit types and common area landscaping (Attachment 2). Each plan is designed with three elevation treatments and twelve color and material schemes (Attachment 3). The unit plans utilize a Spanish or Mediterranean style of architecture and vary in size from 3,050 to 4,065 square feet in area. All units have cedar wood garage doors and clay tile roofing. Plan One and Plan Two are single -story, while Plan Three and Plan Four will be two- story units. Each unit has the following characteristics: Plan One: 3,040 sq. ft. 2 BR with casita or 3 d BR 3-car garage (1 -car side -entry) Plan Two: 3,230 sq. ft. 3 BR with guest suite 3-car garage (1 -car side -entry) Plan Three: 3,835 sq. ft. 3 BR with optional den/office Upstairs casita/guest unit and sky deck 3-car garage (one tandem space) Plan Four: 4,060 sq. ft. 3 BR with upstairs bonus room and sky deck Option for 4 th and 51h BR upstairs Casita off open courtyard 3-car garage 1 -car side -entry Preliminary typical front yard landscaping plans have been submitted for each of the four unit types (Attachment 4). Typical front yard landscaping plans include a minimum of two to four trees, a variety of shrubs, and turf. Plant materials identified appear to primarily be low water users with plants typically used in the desert. Common Area: The common area plans include one large common area, the Avenue 58 perimeter, and two entrances, one primary and one secondary, along Avenue 58 (Attachment 5). The large common area is comprised of dry creek areas surrounded by desert accents, decomposed granite walking paths and bridges, numerous benches and trash receptacles, and a lake with a rock crop waterfall. Both the dry creek area and the desert accent area consist of 3"-6" river cobble with decomposed granite planters. The plant material includes those used in the production home front yards along with a few additional plants. The perimeter landscaping along Avenue 58 includes a 6-foot high theme wall, a landscape buffer wide enough to accommodate Mexican Fan Palms and additional shrubbery, an equestrian/multi-use trail, and a smaller landscape buffer between the trail and Avenue 58 (Attachment 6). The equestrian trail material consists of decomposed granite, and the city -standard equestrian PVC railing runs adjacent to the trail. The theme wall runs along the perimeter of the project, as well as in the entrance areas, and consists of a white stucco finish with matching pilasters and caps. The primary vehicular entrance on Avenue 58 consists of a roadway flanked on both sides by lakes, both with rock crop waterfalls, the main entry gates, and an unmanned guardhouse (Attachment 7). The primary entry gates are wrought iron, with dark brown, simulated distressed wood. The unmanned guardhouse is approximately 20 feet in height, and consists of two towers, a porte cochere, and a fountain. The guardhouse is constructed of brick veneer and stucco, and has 2- piece clay tile roofing. The guardhouse is non-functional and serves only an aesthetic purpose, as the automatic gate is the main entry into the project. The gates at the secondary entrance on Avenue 58 are constructed of wrought iron. ANALYSIS: Staff finds that the overall architectural style and design of the proposed units to be acceptable. Section 9.60.310 of the LQMC states that a dwelling located next to a project or tract boundary shall be limited to one story if an existing one story dwelling is within fifty feet of the common property line. If no existing dwelling exists or if there is vacant land, there is no restriction on the placement of two-story units. Staff is recommending that ALRC discuss the possible distribution of one and two-story units on all lots adjacent to the eastern and southern project boundaries. Adjacent to the eastern boundary of the project is vacant, unentitled land. Adjacent to the southern boundary is the Andalusia residential development, with no unit layout at this time. And adjacent to the western boundary is parkland, and staff does not feel that the same requirement is needed. The garage doors are proposed to be cedar wood. Wooden garage doors are typically discouraged due to maintenance issues, but these proposed doors are heavily framed and do not present the same issues. The architecture and layout of the entry guardhouse and surrounding water features are also acceptable, and comply with Zoning Code requirements. However, staff recommends that an additional turnaround be added closer to the primary entrance gates so that vehicles that cannot gain entry do not have to back up the length of the main driveway to get to the existing turnaround at the simulated bridge. Additionally, staff recommends that ALRC discuss the use of the water features and any viable alternatives. The common area concept is similar to that employed in design of the Stone Creek project, which is located directly across Avenue 58 from this tract. The landscaping plans call for Chilean Mesquite and Bottle trees, which the ALRC has discouraged use of in past projects. Also, the landscape palette shows the use of California Peppers, which ALRC has had past concerns related to wind damage and other related maintenance issues. In general, the landscape palettes presented are acceptable. The submitted landscape plan details are not to scale, so the applicant will be required to submit to -scale plans for final review, and also to present water calculations to illustrate compliance with LQMC Chapter 8.13. Staff also recommends that the equestrian/multi-use trail along Avenue 58 be redesigned with the smaller landscaped buffer relocated to be adjacent to the perimeter theme wall, the larger landscaped buffer adjacent to the street, and the trail in between. This minimizes any impact that vehicles traveling on Avenue 58 may have on users of the trail. RECOMMENDATION: That the Architecture and Landscape Review Committee recommend to the Planning Commission approval of Site Development Permit 2006-877, subject to the following Conditions of Approval: 1 Replace the Chilean Mesquite, Bottle, and California Pepper trees from the landscape palettes with alternate tree types. 2. A vehicular turnaround shall be added in front of the primary entrance gate to allow vehicles to turn around prior reaching the gate without having to backup the length of the driveway. 3. A no -turf front yard option shall be provided for all types of lots. 4. Final landscape plans for on -site planting shall be reviewed by the ALRC and approved by the Community Development Director prior to issuance of first building permit. Final plans shall include all landscaping associated with this project, including perimeter landscaping. 5. The applicant shall redesign the equestrian trail so that the smaller landscaped buffer is adjacent to the wall, the larger landscaped buffer is closest to Avenue 58, and the equestrian/multi-use trail is located in between. 6. Building heights shall be limited to one-story/22 feet, for a distance into the site of 150 feet from the Avenue 58 ultimate right-of-way line. 7. The applicant shall comply with all conditions of approval of Tentative Tract Map 31249. Prep Jay W\Ou Assistant Planner Attachments: 1 . Location Map 4. Conceptual Landscape Plan 2. Unit/Floor Plans 5. Common Area Elevations 3. Front Yard Landscaping 6. Unmanned Guardhouse Detail ATTACHMENT#1 l4v ll� -�4, �,Iy -'I 11V i p z, �4 rT' 5� 58TH AVE! In 0 N 62ND AVE