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Commission approves Northtown planned-unit development after amending road and water timing
Summary
The Livingston City Commission approved second reading of Ordinance 3,059 to rezone about 20 acres for the Northtown Planned Unit Development, adding conditions that tie a water main loop and emergency road loop to later certificates of occupancy and require financial guarantees.
The Livingston City Commission approved second reading of Ordinance 3,059 on the Northtown Planned Unit Development (PUD), rezoning a roughly 20-acre parcel from medium‑density residential to a PUD. Commissioners amended Condition 7 to change the timing for an emergency access road loop and waterline loop and added a requirement for financial guarantees to ensure completion before later certificates of occupancy.
City Planning Director Jennifer Severson told commissioners the proposal includes about 240 residential units in a mix of studio, one‑ and two‑bedroom apartments and about 1.2 acres of maintained park space, with roughly 63% of the site left as open space. The developer asked for certain incentives — including a height allowance above the R‑2 standard — and staff recommended the PUD in part because it provides public benefits the code intends to secure.
Under the amendment the commission adopted, the required waterline loop and an emergency all‑weather access route that crosses outside the PUD may be constructed on the same schedule: both must be completed before certificates of occupancy for Phase 2 are issued. The developer must provide a financial guarantee for the gravel emergency access road and for the water loop prior to issuance of Phase 1 certificates of occupancy; if the owner does not build the improvements within the specified schedule the guarantee secures completion.
Planning staff said the applicant is not requesting extra residential density beyond what the PUD ordinance allows, and the proposal would yield substantially fewer units than the maximum possible by right under the underlying R‑2 rules. Staff also added conditions to prohibit short‑term rentals in the residential units and to tie allowed commercial uses to the city’s current mixed‑use code language.
Commissioners debated traffic and the timing of off‑site improvements during public comment and deliberation. Several residents asked for more detailed traffic and emergency‑access analysis; staff and the developer said updated traffic counts were included in the application and that the fire chief reviewed the emergency‑access approach during negotiations. After discussion commissioners voted to adopt the amended conditions and to approve the ordinance on second reading.
The amendment and the ordinance carried on a unanimous vote of the commissioners present.
