Commission approves 41-unit High and Riverfront townhome PUD with condition to add up to 16 trees

The Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the High and Riverfront planned unit development, a 41-unit alley-loaded townhome project next to Freeman Park, with a condition requiring up to 16 additional trees negotiated with the Parks Department.

The applicant, Tyler, introduced the proposal as roughly 2.7 acres with about 15 units per acre and described design choices intended to reduce neighborhood impacts: semi-enclosed second-floor balconies oriented toward the park, underground stormwater to free up common space, and two on-site amenities — a dog park and a community garden. "This project is a new field development next to Freeman Park," Tyler said during his presentation.

Staff (Seth) recommended approval to city council but flagged several variances tied to the PUD: private street frontage where public-street frontage is usually required, and a requested reduction of the standard 20-foot landscape buffer along Hyatt Street to 15 feet. Staff described the minimum landscaping standard (a tree every 30 feet on public street frontage, tree-plus-shrub counts on private streets and one tree per 5,000 square feet of required landscaping) and asked the commission to document the specific equivalence they would expect to accept the reduced buffer.

Public comments were mixed. Dr. Paul Brook said he had retained counsel and urged caution, while neighbor Matthew Mehan — speaking as a resident — supported the project but asked for additional buffering around the dog park and a sidewalk tie-in to the adjacent greenway. “I walk that spur almost every day,” Mehan said, citing pedestrian connectivity as a benefit.

Commissioners spent time clarifying the landscape mitigation. Staff provided a rough area calculation and estimated that the community garden (about 1,300 sq ft) plus additional trees could more than offset the 775 sq ft difference created by a five-foot buffer reduction along Hyam/Hyatt Street. Commissioner (speaker 2) moved to approve the PUD "with the additional enhanced vegetation up to 16 trees as to be negotiated with the parks"; the motion was seconded and passed by roll call (ayes recorded at SEG 846–851). Two commissioners had recused themselves from the PUD discussion before deliberations began.

The commission's recommendation and the condition to negotiate tree placement with Parks will be forwarded in the staff report to City Council for final action.