A rezoning and conditional use permit for a 22-unit townhouse development planned for a 2-acre site to the east of Magnolia Avenue, between Sixth and Ninth streets, was approved Thursday by City Council.
An abandonment of an undeveloped alley so the construction project can proceed was also approved. The Planning Commission had earlier recommended these zoning actions and approved a site plan for the project that is going on an undeveloped sloping site that is currently pasture and trees.
The land was rezoned from R3, residential limited, to R4, medium density residential. The CUP includes conditions to allow for exceptions to the usual setback and height limits in the R4 district. The front setbacks from Magnolia Avenue were reduced from 30 to 20 feet, and the side setbacks on Sixth Street were reduced from 15 to 10 feet. The height limit was raised from 35 to 40 feet.
The developer, DWK Holdings LLC, is building 22 three-story units that will have gross square footage ranging between 1,700 and 2,600 square feet. All but six of the units will have garages.
There will be a one-way private drive running through the development. The entrance to the drive will be on Magnolia Avenue at the northern end of the development, near Ninth Street, and the exit from the drive will be onto Sixth Street at the southern end.
City Manager Jason Tyree said a turning lane into the development from Magnolia Avenue will be delineated this summer when this main thoroughfare is repaved and the traffic lines repainted.
City Council members have expressed concerns about the speed of traffic going north down the Magnolia Avenue hill next to the planned development. Tom Roberts, the city’s director of community development, presented traffic data that showed there had been five automobile accidents in the past four years along this portion of Magnolia Avenue, with one resulting in injuries and the others causing some property damage.
This project is to be one of the biggest residential developments in Buena Vista in years. The city donated the land to Mountain Gateway Community College a few years ago with the idea that the college would sell the land for residential development, with the proceeds from the sale defraying the costs to develop the Wilson Workforce Training Center, which is set to open on Forest Avenue this summer.
