Planning Commission OKs rezoning for five-unit project on McClellan Avenue with 35-foot height cap

The Metropolitan Planning Commission on Thursday approved a specific-plan rezoning to allow five multifamily units on two lots at 406 and 408 McClellan Avenue, after neighbors raised concerns about privacy, stormwater and design and staff said the proposal meets policy for the site.

Jeremiah, a staff planner, told commissioners that staff found the plan consistent with the city's T4 urban neighborhood "neighborhood evolving" policy and recommended approval with conditions. "Overall, staff finds that the proposed SP meets the goals of the T4NE policy and recommends approval with conditions and disapproval without all conditions," Jeremiah said during his presentation.

The approval came with conditions to address neighborhood concerns, including a clarified maximum building height of two stories and 35 feet to the top of the roof and increased landscape buffering on the west property line. Commissioners voted by voice; the motion to recommend approval carried and the commission adopted the staff recommendation with the added roof-height clarification.

Why it matters: The site sits immediately adjacent to a commercial corridor and transit service, and planning staff said its location supports an increase in residential intensity under the city's comprehensive-plan transect. Neighbors said the rezoning and development pattern will alter the long-standing single-family character of the block and aggravate existing drainage and privacy problems.

Project details and conditions - Proposal: Rezone two parcels from RS 7.5 (single-family…