Walker planning commission denies Windermere condominium plan over access and safety concerns

The Walker Planning Commission voted Dec. 3 to deny a preliminary area site plan for the proposed Windermere condominium development, citing unresolved access rights, traffic concerns and inconsistency with parts of the city's zoning standards.

The decision followed hours of public comment from English Hills and Ipswich neighborhood residents who warned the project would increase cut-through traffic, endanger children at a local bus stop and alter the character of largely low-traffic residential streets. Planning Director Paula said the developer had provided a trip-generation letter estimating modest peak-hour increases but had not resolved whether permanent secondary access through a private condominium road was legally and practically guaranteed.

Paula (Planning Director) told the commission that the applicant submitted a civil engineer's trip-generation letter estimating approximately 10 additional morning peak-hour trips and 10 additional evening peak-hour trips from the proposed development, and that the project's gross density (3.5 units per acre) aligns with surrounding communities while the net density calculation used under the updated zoning ordinance yielded 4.34 units per acre for the site. Paula said those net-density numbers are within the ordinance's limits but that unresolved permanent secondary access was the dispositive issue: "If that cannot be worked out, the project cannot move forward," she said.

City Engineer Scott noted the redundant emergency access has been widened to 26 feet in the revised plan, which allows two cars to pass and is an improvement for emergency management. He also described mitigation options the commission could consider, including a permanent cul-de-sac at the end of Ipswich or small traffic controls at the connection point, but said infrastructure and private-access questions remained for the commission to weigh.

Developer Matt Rain described the project as a set of ADA-accessible duplexes and triplexes intended to serve people with disabilities and said his title company and legal counsel have given him a reasonable basis to assert access rights. "We have something on paper," he told commissioners, but he acknowledged the access agreement had not yet been codified.

Commissioner Mark moved to deny the preliminary site plan for 30 condominium units, citing the commission's earlier findings that items relating to site layout, traffic hazards and external effects (identified in the zoning ordinance) had not been satisfied. After discussion, the motion to deny carried.

Residents who spoke at the meeting repeatedly cited the Walker master plan and local studies, saying neighborhood streets are intended to discourage through traffic and that existing intersections already operate over capacity. Several urged the commission to require a downsized plan or alternative configurations that would not trigger the ordinance's interconnection requirements.

The commission's denial is a land-use decision on the PASP; Paula told the board that if the developer can resolve permanent secondary access to the satisfaction of the city attorney and engineer in the future, the project could be revisited under applicable procedures.

The commission adjourned its deliberations on Windermere and moved to the next agenda item.