Commission reviews 704 South Morris addition; staff recommends rain-barrel mitigation

The commission reviewed an application to construct a new 1.5-story addition and perform interior remodeling at 704 South Morris Street. The applicant and project representatives described the plan to replace a front porch with an addition and to use space over an existing stone courtyard. Staff noted the parcel is outside the 100-foot critical buffer and that the project does not trigger floodplain review for that reason.

Commissioners and the applicant discussed reducing impervious area by converting roughly 530 square feet back to grass or mulch, which was said to lower lot coverage to about 28.5%. Staff recommended stormwater-mitigation practices including a rain barrel; the chair suggested using collected roof water "to water the garden" as a mitigation measure. Later in the meeting, landscape architect Miles Barter and architect John Hutchison identified themselves and reiterated design details and flood-elevation requirements for parcels actually in the floodplain.