SIDNEY — A final plat for the Sidney Crossing subdivision was approved by the Sidney Planning Commission during its Monday evening teleconference meeting.
The commission OK’d the request of Choice One Engineering, on behalf of Sunset Development, for the subdivision plat, located on the east side of Wapakoneta Avenue, south of Hoewisher Road. The commission previously approved a preliminary plat at its Jan.21, 2020, meeting.
This subdivision plat includes 27 lots: 24 two-family dwelling lots; two open space and playground lots; one community center lot. It also included two new streets: Grace Place and Patrick Place. Grace Place is an east-west street which extends from an intersection with Wapakoneta Avenue to the east approximately 745 feet. Patrick Place starts where Grace Place ends, and curves north, then west, then south to intersect again with Grace Place, creating a circle.
Community Development Director Barbara Dulworth said although the new street alignment, which is a circle, could be named with a single name, the development proposes the flipping of houses front to back in the center of the circle. This could cause some confusion for addressing; delivery of packages, mail, and other items; and emergency responses.
Lot 7205 is the open space lot and includes natural areas with existing wetlands. This lot does not meet the lot width to depth ratio of 1-to-3.5 required per the zoning code, with a street frontage of 15 feet. The street frontage is necessary to provide access to this lot for maintenance. Dulworth said, it is a natural area with identified wetlands, this lot will not be developed. A note on the plat defines this lot as non-buildable. Code requires a waiver to allow lot 7205 to exceed the 1-to-3.5 lot width to depth requirement, she said.
Front setback lines are established for each lot on this plat at 25 feet, which matches the minimum front setback per the zoning code for the R-2, single and two-family residence district in which the property is located. The plat includes utility easements of 5 feet along all side lot lines; 15 feet utility easement along the street frontages; and 20- to 25-foot drainage easements along the north and south lines of the subdivision. A 20-foot-wide waterline easement is located between lots 7217 and 7218 on the north side of the property to provide future extension of water main to the north. Storm water detention is provided in two detention basins, one at the north-west corner of the property and a second at the south-east corner. The detention basins are located on private property and must be maintained by owner of the subdivision. The dedication statement on the plat provides a means by which responsibility for maintenance of the detention basin is continued privately, by all owners in the subdivision, in the event that individual lots are transferred so that the owner(s) of the two lots on which the detention basins are located do not bear the sole responsibility of maintenance.
The zoning code requires existing streets adjacent to a boundary of a proposed subdivision, where the street does not meet current city engineering standards, must be improved by the developer. Wapakoneta Avenue meets city engineering standards, so no improvements are necessary to the street except striping of a left turn lane. Sidewalks adjacent to Wapakoneta Avenue do not meet current ADA standards for width, but are fairly new and in good condition, so ADA-compliant wheelchair turn-arounds will be added to the sidewalk every 200 feet in conformance with the Ohio Department of Transportation requirements.
The identified location for a third fire station is directly across Wapakoneta Avenue from this subdivision. In the event a fire station is built on that property, the city intends to align its access way to the fire station with the location of the Grace Place/Wapakoneta Avenue intersection. This will necessitate a fully actuated traffic signal, Dulworth said. Were it not for the development of Sidney Crossing, only an emergency vehicle traffic signal would be required, which is at a lesser cost. As a condition for plat approval, the developer will enter into an agreement to make a single lump sum payment to the city of $50,000 on the condition that the fire station project proceeds and installation of the actuated traffic signal device commences no later than five years following the date of plat recording.
The bond or letter of credit in the amount of $50,000 shall terminate either when the fire station and traffic signal are constructed or the expiration of the five-year term of the obligation, she said.
Parkland dedication for this plat is required to be 0.432 acres per the formula in zoning code. The developer is installing a playground on the property, so Dulworth said upon the developer’s request, staff was not recommending accepting this lot as a parkland dedication. Lot 7206 is 0.102 acres, which is less than the required parkland dedication. In addition, the size, location, and accessibility to the general public does not meet the goals of the city’s park and recreation master plan. Staff recommended a fee of $21,600, per the zoning code, in lieu of parkland dedication. The funds will be used for the parks and recreation use only, Dulworth said.
Board member Merrill Asher asked if parking will be allowed on both sides of the road, to which Choice One’s representative Jeff Puthoff confirmed there will be enough space to allow for parking on both sides.
The commission voted first to accept the $21,600 in lieu of the parkland dedication. Commission members then voted to allow lot 7205 to exceed the 1-to-3.5 lot width to depth requirement and recommend that City Council approve the final plat as submitted with the understanding that engineering/construction plans and bonding or surety must be approved by the city engineer prior to the final plat being presented to council.
The recommendation is being sent to the Sidney City Council for consideration at a future meeting.
