Applicant asks to encroach into 25‑ft portion of stream buffer; proposes underground infiltration

Alex Brock, zoning attorney for the applicant Big Properties, told attendees the project includes a concurrent variance request to encroach into the impervious portion of the city's 75‑foot stream buffer. "We are staying completely out of the undisturbed buffer, 50 foot undisturbed buffer," he said, "it's just the 25 foot portion past that that limits impervious area."

Brock explained the encroachment would be limited to a small retaining wall adjacent to the parking lot, portions of the foundation footing and underground infiltration infrastructure intended to meet city water‑quality requirements. He emphasized the design choice was driven by steep topography and the narrow developable area: excavation for buried foundations and subsurface infiltration are required to keep most disturbance out of the undisturbed buffer.

The transcript records the variance request and the applicant's engineering approach but does not include staff analysis, agency review comments, or public responses; those will be part of subsequent review at formal hearings.