Planning commission presses developer for traffic study as residents warn Far West Drive is unsafe for proposed 39‑lot subdivision

At a Far West City Planning Commission work session, residents and city staff discussed a proposed subdivision that would add roughly 39 lots off Far West Drive and increase vehicle counts on that road from about 65 existing residences to roughly 104 — a change the presenter described as "a 60% increase." The commission pressed the applicant and city engineers for an engineering traffic study before deciding what roadway improvements or developer exactions would be required.

The dispute centers on Far West Drive, a narrow, partly vacated street the presenter said measures 20 to 25 feet of asphalt in most places, and that in winter operations by public works can leave a drivable surface as narrow as about 15 feet. "We're already pushing the limit of what Far West Drive can safely handle," the resident presenter said, adding that the road also serves pedestrians and schoolchildren walking to Mountain View Park.

Why it matters: City code and the planning commission's general‑plan guidance treat a collector street as requiring a substantially wider right‑of‑way. The presenter told commissioners the municipal code and general plan call for collector streets to be 60 to 80 feet wide (a minimum 60 feet), which the presenter said would translate to a roughly 40‑foot driving surface — about double the existing asphalt. The presenter also read from a 1988 ordinance (Ordinance No. 88‑330) that narrowed and vacated part of Far West Drive and noted…