The City Council has backed off design standards for a new housing development planned for an area known to be a habitat for the ornate box turtle and a site of an ancient Indian burial ground.
The move went against the recommendations of city staff and complaints from neighbors.
The council shelved the standards that would have required all houses built on lots narrower than 60 feet to have garages that are flush or set back from the front wall of the house.
Southgate Development’s proposed Sandhill Estates is a 379-lot subdivision planned for 147 acres of environmentally sensitive land along Gilbert Street. Southgate construction coordinator Glenn Siders said the company would not comply with the city’s proposed standards because of the financial impact it would have on the project. Siders said he wants to give prospective buyers the option to build whatever style house they want. The council agreed.
“I do not get into designing someone’s home,” Councilman Mike O’Donnell said. “Ultimately the buyer should determine that.”
But Karin Franklin, the city’s planning and community development director, said the standards that were proposed comply with zoning in the area.
The council voted to require that homes be built 5 feet further from the streets. The council said the change should address aesthetic concerns that staff had hoped to solve with the garage standards.
Neighbors weren’t happy with the compromise.
“You can’t get away from the fact that these are rowhouses with a total lack of character,” neighbor Karen Dawes said.
