With a PUD, sometimes the second, third, or fourth try is the charm

Although the Environmental Commission previously recommended the planned unit development at 4907 RM 2222 – which was subsequently approved by Council on Dec. 14, 2017– the applicant neglected to ask for one last variance that would have allowed them to complete the project without a hitch. According to Dwayne Shoppa of Stantec, the applicant representing the project at the Oct. 17 meeting of the Environmental Commission, at the time that the PUD was approved, the project team knew that they would require an additional eight feet of fill to construct a properly graded driveway to allow access to the property. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get that written into the PUD,” Shoppa said. Current code allows for four feet of fill, but in order to safely pave the driveway, the applicant asked for a variance to raise that limit from four feet to 10 feet. Shoppa said that aside from the additional fill that the project needs, there are no other changes. Even the trees will remain untouched outside of the ones that the original plan impacted; 100 percent of the heritage trees on the site will be preserved. Commissioner Andrew Creel noted that according to his recollection, “This was literally the only feasible access point and access for the driveway,” and so the request for more fill was justified on the part of the applicant. City staff as well supported the variance in light of the fact that a cut up to 10 feet was allowed under the PUD. Other than this change, Shoppa assured the commissioners that “this alignment is still the same that everybody saw with the PUD.” The commission voted unanimously to recommend the approval of this variance. Commissioner Katie Coyne was off the dais.