P&Z Tables rezoning and Riviera proposed plan
The City of Dublin Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously voted to table the rezoning application by developer Davidson Phillips Inc., on behalf of Charles Ruma, at their November 13 meeting, after noting a series of objections to the plan, and after hearing concerns from many nearby residents who attended the meeting.
More than 125 residents attended the meeting at City Hall with several voicing concerns to the Planning and Zoning Commission citing traffic impacts to the area and housing density as the main issues. The Planning and Zoning Commission echoed those concerns but also raised questions about the preservation of trees, and architectural standards.
Rezoning/ Preliminary Development Plan/ Preliminary Plat
Rezoning the Riviera Golf Club is on the agenda for the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on Thursday, November 13
Current Application | Previous Concept Plan
Background
Planning has accepted an application for a rezoning/preliminary development plan/preliminary plat application for the 167-acre Riviera site on July 7, 2014. Over the next few weeks, City staff will be reviewing the application materials for compliance with applicable codes, regulations and development requirements, and appropriate land use design principles. The submitted application materials can be found here. All materials will be considered draft until approved by City Council as part of the Planned District rezoning approval process.
Site Context
The Riviera Golf Club is located at 8205 Avery Road on approximately 167 acres of land with approximately 2,020 feet of frontage on Avery Road. The site is comprised of three parcels, divided along county boundaries, with 93 acres in Franklin County, 66.6 acres in Union County, and 5.7 acres in Delaware County. Existing zoning for this site is split along the Franklin/Union County line. Parcels in Franklin and Delaware Counties are zoned R-1 (Restricted Suburban Residential District); the parcel in Union County is zoned R (Rural District). The current zoning permits single family residences on lots that are at least 40,000 square feet. Not considering required infrastructure and open space dedication requirements, the site could yield approximately 180 lots.
- The site is bordered to the south by the Celtic Estates and Belvedere subdivisions.
- Portions of Muirfield Village are east across Avery Road.
- Grizzell Middle School and Deer Run Elementary School are to the north.
- Single family and multiple family sections of Tartan West are to the northwest.
- A series of large lot single family homes are to the west, accessed from Hyland-Croy Road (only one of these homes shares a property line with the golf course).
- Dublin Jerome High School is located to the southwest.
Proposal Summary
- The proposal includes rezoning the land from R, Rural District and R-1, Restricted Suburban Residential District to PUD (Planned Unit Development).
- The proposal is for a single-family residential development with 244 lots, which is a housing density of 1.46 units to the acre.
- The plan includes 61 acres of open space or 36% of the site.
- The permitted uses on site are proposed to include single-family residential, parks and open space.
- The main access point is proposed off Avery Road near the center of the site with new turn lanes. Other street connections are planned at Tantalus Drive and Timble Falls Drive to the south, bordering the Belvedere subdivision; and Firenza Place to the west connecting to Tartan West.
- Pedestrian connections are proposed to allow access to adjacent schools, bike paths and regional open space. The school connections have been coordinated with the Dublin City Schools.
PUD Process
The applicant has revised their proposal for the site after receiving feedback from the Planning and Zoning Commission during a concept plan review on March 13, 2014 (read concept plan review summary here). Comments from the Commission included a recommendation to lower the proposed density, the appropriateness of age targeted housing and the need to alter the design to ensure usable open space.
The applicant is requesting the review and approval of a rezoning with a preliminary development plan (PDP) and preliminary plat (PP). A rezoning with preliminary development plan is the second step in the creation of a PUD (the concept plan being the first step). The preliminary development plan requires plans showing existing conditions (including trees and vegetation) and site plans showing the proposed layout, site access and vehicular/pedestrian circulation, utilities and stormwater management, and planned open spaces. A development text is included to indicate such requirements as lot dimensions, setbacks, architectural requirements, utility management, tree preservation, and others. In some instances, the development text will defer to the City’s existing Zoning Code. Once approved, the development text functions as the zoning regulation for the site.
A preliminary plat is also required to be submitted with the preliminary development plan. A preliminary plat is an engineering document that shows proposed lot locations, lot lines, setbacks, utility easements, roadways, and dedicated open spaces as well as specifying maintenance responsibilities for the open spaces.
Section 153.050 of the Zoning Code outlines the review and approval criteria for a rezoning/ preliminary development plan. The Planning and Zoning Commission is required to evaluate the application based on these criteria. Planning will work with the applicant to determine how best to meet all applicable review criteria, or recommend to the Planning and Zoning Commission changes to the plan to meet these criteria. Ultimately, Planning will make a recommendation to Planning and Zoning Commission on the rezoning/preliminary development plan and the preliminary plat for their consideration.
The Planning and Zoning Commission will make the final recommendation to City Council regarding the application. In addition to the application materials, the Commission will consider staff’s recommendation, public comments, and case history in making their recommendation.
Following Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommendation, the application will go to City Council for final consideration. There are two readings at Council; a first reading/introduction and a second reading/public hearing. If approved by Council, the rezoning would be effective 30 days following the final approval.
Notification of all future meeting dates will be made on this webpage when the meeting agenda is finalized. Additionally, all adjacent property owners within 300 feet of the site boundary, and representatives of surrounding homeowner associations, will be notified in writing of any public hearings regarding the application.
Frequently Asked Questions
Dublin City Schools Statement Regarding Proposed Riviera Development
Having homes built on this property will create a lot of traffic? How will Avery Road and other area streets and intersections, such as Brand Road be affected?
The proposed Riviera Club development will likely have impacts on adjacent roadways and intersections. This is the reason that the developer, as part of the rezoning with preliminary development plan application, is required to prepare a Traffic Impact Study (TIS) for City review and approval. Once staff reviews the TIS, the City will have a better understanding of what the impacts will be and what the developer will need to do to mitigate any impacts on the surrounding transportation network.
What about pedestrians walking on or crossing Avery Road?
There are shared use paths along Brand Road from Avery Road to Hyland-Croy Road and along the west side of Avery Road from north of Glick Road to south of Brand Road. The City will evaluate a roundabout at the Avery Road/Brand Road intersection this year that will include pedestrian facilities. At the proposed entrance from this neighborhood along Avery Road, the City will evaluate whether a pedestrian crossing is needed across Avery Road. The City will continue to evaluate enhanced pedestrian treatments at other locations as the project progresses and will require treatments as necessary.
Will traffic cut-through adjacent neighborhoods?
If approved, there may be some traffic from the proposed Riviera Club development onto adjacent neighborhood streets, but as those routes provide a circuitous route to Brand Road, Avery Road, or Hyland-Croy Road, it is unlikely that there will be much traffic diversion through existing neighborhoods. The concept plans show a total of 4 connection points to the City’s existing roadway system. This will efficiently disperse traffic across the available network so that no single route is overburdened. The new connections will also provide the opportunity for existing residents to route through the new neighborhood to reach their destinations.
Why doesn’t the City buy this property and make it a park?
In general, City policy views parkland as very important amenity for residents, however this land would not rank very high on a priority scale for acquisition. The City requires each residential development to dedicate land for the use as open space and the open space focus for this site would be on the stream corridors, connections to existing open space around the golf course, tree preservation, and preservation of any other high quality natural features. The concept plan application includes 58 acres of open space, which is 35% of the site.
Criteria used in considering the purchase of additional parkland include stream corridor and riparian protection, natural features preservation and the land required to provide important links to existing or anticipated destinations. To meet these objectives it is often not required to purchase all of a given property, including that which is subject to development. The City has a long, positive history of working with developers to secure the areas of a development to meet these open space and recreation objectives.
Other criterion that is used in considering the purchase of parkland is needed land for organized recreational activities. The City does not anticipate expansion of organized recreation programs in this part of the city that would require additional land.
Will this development cause the trees on this property to be removed?
The concept plan focuses development areas away from stream corridors and existing water features. Given the number of trees planted as part of the development of the golf course, it is likely that the proposal will necessitate some removal of trees. The City’s tree preservation and replacement ordinance require that trees larger than 6 inches in diameter that are in fair and good condition be replaced inch-for-inch on-site.
Will the City be changing the Community Plan to help this development be approved?
The Future Land Use Map in the Community Plan identifies this site as ‘Parks/Open Space,’ which includes private golf courses. As part of a concept plan review, staff will analyze the proposal in terms of adherence to the Community Plan. There is currently no process outlined in the Zoning Code to consider an amendment to the Future Land Use Map. In general, if a rezoning request is approved that permits a land use that is different from the Community Plan, at some point an amendment to the Future Land Use Map should be forthcoming.
During the 2007 Community Plan update, the initial land use assumption was for the Riviera Country Club to potentially redevelop for residential use at a density of about 1.5 dwelling units per acre. Through the Plan’s public review process, City Council elected to identify this site as Parks/Open Space. Prior to the 2007 Plan, the 1997 Future Land Use Map identified the west half of the site as future Metro Park and the east half as ‘Residential – Medium Density’ [1-2 dwelling units per acre].
Is the City capable of providing adequate public services to this project, including water, sewer, and police protection?
Public Water Service: A 12-inch water line exists on the east side of Avery Road. This will be the main connection point for this development to obtain public water service. Looping of the water line system will be accomplished along any new streets as well as connecting to the existing 8-inch water lines in the adjacent subdivisions. This connectivity will provide adequate public water service for development of this property without adverse effects to existing users on the system.
Public Sanitary Sewer: The North Fork Indian Run sanitary trunk sewer exists along the southern and western boundaries of this property. This 18-inch sewer line was installed to provide service to land to the northwest of this site as part of the development of the Tartan West subdivision. When the extension was made in 2003, an analysis was performed that indicated capacity issues downstream in the trunk sewer with full build-out considered for the land in northwest Dublin. This analysis assumed that this property would remain as a golf course.
Due to the proposed change in use of this property from golf course to single family housing, the impact of this change on the City’s trunk sewer will need to be studied. The developer has engaged EMH&T to perform this sanitary sewer modeling. Engineering worked with EMH&T on the sewer to be modeled and with data collection. The developer’s team analyzed the existing conditions, the capacity of the sewer at a build-out scenario that matches the current Community Plan, and an alternative that includes this property as a single family development. This effort demonstrated the impact of the development on the trunk sewer. The original deficiency remained. The applicant has informed staff that their Engineering group is working on solutions to address the deficiency.
Stormwater Management: The development will be required to follow Chapter 53, the Stormwater Regulations. The existing ponds on the property could be used for this if enough investigation is done and the correct modifications are implemented to demonstrate compliance.
The tributary for the North Fork of Indian Run provides ample outlet opportunities for managing the stormwater on this property. The latest FEMA maps show that this tributary has a 100-year floodplain bisecting the site. Adherence to the requirements of Chapter 151 is required for this area. At the northern side of the site, an area that is outside of the FEMA designated floodplain, along one of the streams, will need to follow the Stream Corridor Protection Zone (SCPZ) regulations in Chapter 53. Existing developments in this area have arranged their lot layouts to avoid any new lots being created in the designated floodplains. This minimizes the need for flood insurance requirements for future residents.
Will the construction of this development cause my taxes to go up?
There are three components that make up a property tax bill:
- The various tax rates which are requested by taxing authorities, such as school districts, park districts, townships, and cities and approved by the voters;
- The assessed value of the property; and
- Any special assessment, if applicable.
The county auditor is responsible for determining the fair market value of all properties within the county. The assessed value of the property, which is 35% of the fair market value, is then used as a basis in calculating the property taxes.
Property taxes increase when one of the three aforementioned components are impacted in such a way that would result in higher taxes. For example, if voters approved additional levies from a taxing authority, property taxes may increase. If assessed value of a property, as determined by the county auditor, has increased, property taxes may increase. And finally, if a special assessment is placed on a property for items such as street lighting or weed assessments, property taxes may increase.
Additional information is available from the Franklin County Auditor’s Office at www.franklincountyauditor.com or via phone at 614.525.4663
Will the construction of this development have a negative effect on my property values?
Given that the fair market value of all properties within the County are determined by the County Auditor, it is not possible for the City of Dublin to determine what impact, if any, the construction of this development will have on surrounding properties.
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