Planning commission recommends council approve 74-unit Discovery Place PUD and preliminary plat with conditions

The Ames Planning and Zoning Commission on Oct. 15 recommended that the City Council approve a planned unit development and preliminary plat for 3200 University Boulevard, a 74-unit residential project known as Discovery Place, with conditions requiring final amenity, parking and tree-planting plans and confirmation of a county cross-access easement.

City planning staff said the PUD allows 74 dwelling units on the site — 14 townhome-style units and 60 apartment units — organized as two 18-unit buildings and several 12-unit buildings, with one covered parking space provided per unit in garage structures. “It has a cap of 74 units on it, and we’re looking at the layout of those 74 units on the property to approve a site plan,” Kelly of the city Planning Division said during the staff presentation.

The property borders a county park to the south and a Workiva parking area to the north. Staff described the project’s design as context-sensitive but noted two key staff conditions before council review: a usable open-space amenity required for developments exceeding 50 units and updated details confirming parking-lot tree plantings and spacing. Staff also said the developer must provide evidence that Story County has approved a shared-access easement that will allow the private driveway to cross county property; that approval must be in place before construction begins, staff said.

The project’s stormwater approach was a central topic in questioning. Staff and the applicant said most on-site runoff will be directed to a northeast stormwater basin that meets the city’s quantitative and qualitative stormwater-management standards. “There are intended to be a graded swale behind that building there…that drains behind the proposed garage structures into the stormwater management facility in that northeast corner,” said Jason Ludden of Snyder and Associates, the applicant’s representative. He added that the applicant has coordinated a prairie seed mix with the county and that off-site easement documents are before the county board of supervisors.

Commissioners asked whether the prairie buffer could be extended onto county land; staff and the applicant said the applicant cannot transfer required site obligations onto county property and that any planting on county land is a county decision. Staff recommended focusing prairie planting on the east side of the site as the transition to the park, and noted the steep slope and stormwater easement on the north side limits the usability of open space there.

Staff explained plat-specific elements to commissioners: the PUD’s private street will function as a 26-foot-wide fire lane, meaning no parking is permitted on the private drive; apartment buildings will be separate lots while parking will be located on a collective Outlot X and managed through association documents. Staff said buildings are sited outside the 100-year floodplain and that the utility plan will loop the water main through the site to connect to University Boulevard.

Commission action and next steps

An unidentified commissioner moved that the Planning and Zoning Commission recommend that the City Council approve the major site development plan for 3200 University Boulevard with required amenity details and updated parking/tree-planting plans prior to council approval; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote. The commission then voted to recommend approval of the preliminary plat for Discovery Place Second Edition; that motion also passed by voice vote.

Both recommendations carry conditions staff said must be addressed before the council hears the project: (1) confirmation that Story County has approved the cross-access easement and any related off-site work, (2) submission of a final plan showing the required open-space amenity or a staff- and council-approved alternative, and (3) finalized parking and tree-planting details that meet city standards for spacing and accessible spaces within covered parking. The applicant stated it will address staff comments before the council submittal.

The commission adjourned after briefly previewing upcoming items for the next meeting.