Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Large Scale Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning commission approves 77‑unit Ball Avenue project with conditions to protect trees and refine stormwater design
Summary
After revising stormwater and grading plans, the commission approved final site plan review for a 77‑unit residential development at Ball Avenue with conditions requiring modifications to the retention basin and measures to avoid grading within drip lines of high‑value trees; the approval preserves a playground and requires additional engineering choices to minimize tree impacts.
The Planning Commission approved final site‑plan review on Sept. 25 for a 77‑unit townhome development on the east side of Ball Avenue, subject to conditions that the developer further modify stormwater measures and grading to avoid damage to high‑value trees in the adjacent ravine and water‑resource protection setback.
Staff recalled the commission’s December 2024 preliminary approval and said the major remaining concern was potential disturbance within the 75‑foot water‑resource protection setback for a creek tributary at the ravine bottom. The original detention design had been revised: geotechnical borings found sand that permitted a retention approach and eliminated the previously proposed outlet to the ravine, and the applicant relocated the basin outside the 75‑foot buffer to meet the protection requirement.
City stormwater staff confirmed the revised layout and geotechnical data make the retention facility feasible to meet stormwater standards, but commissioners and staff identified locations where grading limits come close to the tree drip lines and where sanitary sewer crossing and construction margins could temporarily disturb high‑quality trees’ root zones.
Commissioners and staff worked with the applicant’s engineers to craft conditions requiring that the retention basin be adjusted — or alternative decentralized stormwater techniques used — to eliminate encroachment into drip lines of high‑value trees, while explicitly prohibiting solutions that would remove the project’s planned playground. A second condition requires that grading within the drip line of high‑quality trees along the north property line be avoided; if grading is unavoidable, the applicant must use retaining‑wall systems or equally protective measures to prevent damage to those trees.
With those conditions, and standard site‑plan conditions (detailed tree‑protection fencing, clarified playground equipment details at permitting, and trenchless sanitary sewer installation where feasible), the commission approved the final site plan. City stormwater staff and the applicant agreed to continue technical refinement during permit review.
