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Developer seeks rezoning of 4.8 acres at 1720 Third for 30-unit cottage- and townhome project
Summary
An application to rezone about 4.8 acres at 1720 Third would allow 20 "cottage-style" single-family homes and 10 townhomes (about 60–65 bedrooms total); the property owner is listed as Clay Smith and engineering work by Longleaf Engineering; council members expressed questions and several voiced opposition in the transcript.
City staff presented a rezoning request for about 4.8 acres at 1720 Third intended to accommodate a mix of cottage-style single-family homes and townhomes. The application lists Longleaf Engineering as the engineer and Clay Smith as the property owner.
"They're requesting to rezone to SFR 2, single family residential 2, because they wanna develop 10 townhome lots and 20 cottage style single family homes," said Zach, a planning staff member. Zach said the project would total 30 residential units with an estimated 60 to 65 bedrooms and would include a dog park, on-site green space and off-street parking.
Zach described the townhome units as typically 800 to 1,000 square feet with two-car garages and two spaces per unit for additional vehicles; he said the cottage-style units would range roughly from 600 to 1,000 square feet and be located on a single lot, with the cottage units intended as rental units unless condominiumized in the future.
Several council members voiced concern about the proposal's scale, product type and likely future use as rentals. One council member said, "that's slums of the future," and another said they would "oppose it" and would not "support that kind of development." Questions from council included whether the cottages meet any local definition (staff said there is no official "cottage-style" definition), parking ratios, drainage and the proximity to existing student housing markets.
Zach told the council the planning commission recommended the rezoning for approval and that the application was presented to the commission and recommended unanimously. The transcript does not record a final council vote on the rezoning; several council members said they planned to ask follow-up questions and the applicant (Clay Smith) was expected to be present for further discussion.
The item will proceed through the council's public-hearing and legislative schedule as required by city code. Staff and council discussion emphasized the difference between owner-occupied sales and rental management as a determinant of neighborhood impact.
