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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20220690 Crescent & Jefferson Zoning Amendment 22-1022 Liberty Saratoga Density Analysis Final 142 Grand Avenue Saratoga Springs | NY | 12866 291 River Street | Troy | NY | 12180 518.587.7120 | phinneydesign.com Date: October 20, 2022 Project: Liberty Saratoga Workforce Housing Project No.: 22201 Memorandum- Density Analysis for Liberty Saratoga Workforce Housing Site Statistics: The full site is 30.28 acres Jurisdictional wetlands are 9.09 acres Non-jurisdictional wetlands are 0.31 acres Total wetlands are 9.40 acres. Total non-wetland is 20.88 acres. No other constrained lands exist on the site. Density: 198 apartments are proposed, which requires a minimum lot size of 13.64 acres, as calculated below. Density is defined in the UDO as “the number of dwelling units per acre.” UDO 21-4. To determine allowable density, it is necessary to use the minimum lot area set forth in the applicable district. Minimum Lot Area per unit in the UR-4 District is 3000 sf per dwelling Unit, or 14.52 units per acre. Lot Area is defined as ”the total area within the boundaries of a lot, excluding any street right-of-way, usually defined in square footage.”UDO 21-22. 198 units x 3000sf/du = 594,000 sf = 13.64 acres 13.64 required < 30.28 lot area 13.64 required < 20.88 unconstrained lot area Lot size is adequate whether or not you include the wetland area in the calculation. Conservation Design: If the project were to remain RR-1 and did not seek a zoning change, the planning board would undertake a conservation design analysis. This includes an analysis of the constrained land, calculation of base density of remaining developable land and application of any density bonus. Constrained Land – Any land classified as wetlands, watercourses, 100 year flood plains, steep slopes over 15% and 2000sf or greater in area. UDO 16-5 Per FEMA flood map 36091C0442 E, the project is in Zone X which is beyond the 500 year floodplain Developable Land area is the total lot area area minus all constrained lands. UDO 16.8.A.2.b. Buildable Area. “The portion of a lot, excluding required setbacks, where a structure or building improvements may be erected.” UDO 21-3. The only place the term “buildable area” occurs in the UDO is in the list of defined terms. Liberty Saratoga Workforce Housing 10.20.22 P a g e | 2 In the Liberty development, 30.28 total acres on site – 9.40 constrained lands = 20.88 acres of Developable Land. If this were developed as an RR subdivision under the Conservation Design standards, the wetland area plus 10.44 acres would be placed under a conservation easement. 9.40 constrained land + 10.44 (50% of developable land) = 19.88 acres to be conserved. The area shown in blue demonstrates that the site as designed could accommodate a conservation easement area of 19.88+ acres. The owner can build the development indicated on the plan above and still conserve the same amount of land that would be required if they were building a Conservation Design RR subdivision. If the owner put this into a conservation easement, the City would not “lose” any conserved land by changing the site zoning to UR-4.