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Staff backs Teal Springs PUD amendment to lower minimum home size to 1,800 sq ft, require geotechnical reports
Summary
City planner presented a major amendment to the Teal Springs PUD at the Jan. 12 study session to reduce the minimum single-family home size from 2,400 to 1,800 square feet and require a geotechnical investigation for each lot; staff recommended planning commission approval and the city engineer flagged groundwater concerns that will inform foundation design.
Kelly Schroeder, the city planner, presented a major Planned Unit Development amendment for the Teal Springs subdivision at the Jan. 12 Sheridan study session. The developer proposes two changes to the PUD design report: lower the minimum single-family living area from 2,400 to 1,800 square feet, and replace a blanket slab-on-grade requirement with a requirement that a geotechnical investigation be completed for each lot.
Schroeder said the changes respond to market demand observed in the subdivision's first phase and will give builders flexibility in foundation type where conditions allow. "The first PUD amendment request ... is to change ... to require a minimum of 1,800 square feet of living space," she said, and explained that requiring geotechnical reports will let the city review lot-specific groundwater and soil stability conditions.
Council members expressed unease about changing a previously approved PUD standard and asked whether the city was sending mixed signals about policy consistency. Schroeder noted that all current property owners within the subdivision signed letters authorizing the applicant to bring the proposed changes forward. Tom Warner, the city engineer, explained that parts of the site are adjacent to Little Goose Creek and were previously in the floodplain; the letter-of-map-revision process has brought the properties out of the floodplain, but high groundwater remains a concern. Warner said the geotechnical reports will guide foundation design and that crawl-space foundations are more likely than full basements in many lots given groundwater conditions.
Councilors also raised the possibility that lowering the minimum home size could change neighborhood character and buyers' expectations, but Schroeder reiterated the developer had obtained written authorization from current lot owners and staff will continue technical review. The planning commission is scheduled to hear the amendment; staff recommended the planning commission forward approval to the governing body at next week's council meeting.
Next steps: the planning commission will consider the amendment at its scheduled hearing; the developer and the city engineer are expected to provide additional details and the governing body will act after the planning commission recommendation.
