Planning panel narrows PD overlay draft: caps townhome blocks at four units, tightens open-space and bonding language

Farr West planning commissioners spent a lengthy session refining a draft planned-development (PD) overlay ordinance, agreeing informally to limit townhome groupings to a maximum of four units, increase minimum open-space requirements, and tighten performance-bond language covering public infrastructure.

The changes aim to preserve usable public open space, give the planning commission and city engineer clearer discretion on traffic and stormwater requirements, and keep surety instruments focused on public improvements rather than private amenities. Commissioners said the draft will be sent to the city attorney for legal review before returning to the commission.

Commissioners debated whether to allow duplexes in PD developments and repeatedly returned to a single practical rule: a maximum of four units per attached townhome “building” for the ordinance text. Several participants said that approach avoids creating opportunities for larger multiunit blocks such as five- or six‑unit buildings. Speakers cited local examples — including a multiunit building visible from one commissioner’s home and a triplex from a prior proposal — as a reason to keep the block size small so the development reads more like houses and less like large apartment blocks.

The draft raises the…