Avon Town Council to review subdivision application for development on Post Boulevard
The application contemplates the creation of 24 townhome units on the site as well as the purchase of another apartment for employee mitigation
Courtesy Photo
The Avon Town Council is scheduled to review a new subdivision application for a parcel of land located to the west of Post Boulevard on Tuesday evening. The application contemplates the creation of 24 townhome lots on the site as well as the purchase of another apartment in Avon to meet the town’s employee mitigation requirements.
The council will review the subdivision application, also known as McGrady Acres, and its employee mitigation plan at its Tuesday, March 8 Town Council meeting. The public hearing is a continuation from the February 8 meeting, where council members said they did not have enough information to approve the subdivision at that time.
The application
McGrady Acres would be located on a parcel of land bordered by the Eaglebend subdivision to the west, Post Boulevard to the east, the Union Pacific Railroad to the north and the Eagle River to the south. The application would combine two existing property lots that are both currently owned by Eagle River Homes.
The application contemplates the creation of 24 townhome lots, common tracts for access drives and common green space.
The Avon Municipal Code requires that subdivision applications also include a Park Land Dedication. Based on the codified calculation, the McGrady Acres subdivision would have to dedicate 0.57 acres of land or offer cash in lieu of dedication.
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The application proposes dedicating two parcels in the development for a total of 0.26 acres and a $334,000 payment.
In the report by Matt Pielsticker, the town’s planning director, on the application, he writes: “Cash In Lieu would improve nearby public properties such as the Eaglebend pocket-park, which is in need of improvement.”
Connectivity concerns
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As the new subdivision would share a physical boundary with the existing Eaglebend cul de sac, existing homeowners expressed concerns over connectivity. In several letters included in the March 8 Town Council packet, Eaglebend residents showed a preference for allowing pedestrian, but not vehicle traffic between the new and existing neighborhoods.
“The neighbors would all want to see a condition in writing now, or no later than the subdivision approval docs, that no road access would ever be allowed from the existing cul de sac through the development,” said Roger Wilkinson, an Eaglebend resident, at the Feb. 8 meeting.
Andrea McMillen, speaking as the applicant and developer for the subdivision, said that the plan was approved with a split rail fence, which would allow for visual connectivity and pedestrian connection between the two neighborhoods, but not vehicle traffic. Additionally, this connection would be vital should a bus stop be created on Post Boulevard outside of the new subdivision.
On Tuesday, council members are expected to review this application including the proposed site design, connectivity, landscaping as well as the subdivision’s overall compatibility with its surrounding areas and more. In the staff recommendations for approval, a number of conditions are listed. This includes final utility verification, the park dedication elements, pedestrian easements to connect Eaglebend Drive with Post Boulevard, and more.
Employee mitigation
As with all new multi-family projects in Avon, the developer must also include an Employee Mitigation Plan. As defined by the Avon Municipal Code, this can be achieved with the creation of employee housing mitigation units, deed restricting existing housing units, fees-in-lieu and more.
Based on the code, the new development must mitigate for 1.3 employees. The property owner proposed purchasing a 1-bedroom unit of 750 square feet or more in size to meet these mitigation requirements.
At the February meeting, some members of Town Council expressed that their preference for employee mitigation is the creation of new units, rather than the purchase of an existing one.
“We are putting deed restrictions on existing inventory to keep them in the affordable market, but new inventory is even better because we’re adding new inventory — and we need it,” Underwood said. “We need both.”
At the meeting, McMillen said the owners would take a look at the numbers and see if something could be worked out.
“We just want to make sure we provide a house that can be right for the employees,” McMillen said.
Tuesday’s meeting begins at 5 p.m both in person and online. The discussions around McGrady acres are scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m.