Gig Harbor design board asks developer to keep 40-foot school buffer, approves grading approach for Rosedale preliminary plat

The Gig Harbor Design Review Board on April 24 reviewed the Rosedale preliminary plat (PLDR220025), a proposal to divide 38.63 acres at 5200 Rosedale Street into about 31 single-family lots, and voted to ask the applicant to revise a requested reduction to a 40-foot zone transition buffer adjacent to school property while approving the applicant’s proposed approach to grading and cut-and-fill for the site.

The board convened for the design review hearing after staff introduced the two specific requests under the city code: an alternative to the zone transition standards (Gig Harbor Municipal Code 17.99.200, which can be used in place of the prescriptive 40-foot buffer in certain circumstances) and an alternative approach for maintaining natural topography and retaining walls under 17.99.240. “We’re here for the consideration of 2 design alternatives pursuant to Gigaherald Municipal Code 17 98 0 5 5 for the Rosedale preliminary plat, application file number PLDR220025,” Senior Planner Jeremy Hammer told the board and public during the staff presentation.

Why it matters: the lots proposed sit largely along the school district parcel and its athletic fields, and residents raised repeated concerns about wetlands, runoff, well levels and traffic. The applicant told the board the buffer reduction request was driven primarily by grading, tree root-protection zones and a desire to provide larger, usable rear yards on some lots—not to increase overall building area. The applicant also said the project currently models about 46,500 cubic yards of imported fill and is requesting authorization for up to 60,000 cubic yards as plans are…