Davidon Presentation to Victoria on November 28, 2012

Davidon Homes, Jeff Thayer Presentation

to Victoria Homeowners' Association

November 28, 2012

History of Plan Development

• Original project proposed in 2004.
• Delay in the project because of these factors:
  • City master water plan and General Plan took four years
  • 2008 – the economy affected the City
• City has gone through five planners.
• The environmental consultant quit working on the Environmental Impact Report (EIR)
• Metropolitan Planning Group (M Group) began managing the Petaluma Planning Division.
• WRA – environmental group is now doing major updates to the EIR because of the time lapse from the first EIR
• The EIR that WRA is using is based on 93 homes.
• The EIR uses the original study of traffic—it does not include the new additional traffic that has developed in the last couple of years for Helen Putnam parking.

Davidon Evolution

• 58.5 acres
• Maximum plan yield 118 lots – went down to 104 lots with 100 ft. urban separator
• First discussion with City was 93 lots with a corridor for red legged frog
• Talked with Fish & Game and U.S. Wildlife in order to mitigate red legged frog home
• Now at 66 lot mitigated alternative with improvement of frog habitat. Mentioned that Davidon was not required to be in compliance with the General Plan 2025.
• Talked with Mr. Oliver (doesn't know first name) who is with a group concerned about traffic. Incorporated a roundabout on Windsor.
• 3 acre kiddy park on corner of D Street and Windsor
• Relocated the red barn across Kelly Creek and included seven parking spaces
• Red barn currently cannot be used because it is structurally unsound and has lead paint. After rehab, it could be set up as an interpretative center
• Will have a bridge crossing to the walking path along Kelly Creek
• Now 300 ft. urban separator
• Homes are set back on D Street
• 66 unit plan is named "Scott Ranch" and has:
• 37 acres of open space
• 29 acres graded
• Impervious surface of 467,000 sq. ft.
• 1.13 units per acre—lots range in the 9,000-10,000-11,000 sq. ft. range
• Houses are 3,300 to 4,300 sq. ft. in country, Tuscany, and traditional styles. Mentioned that he wants to take a look at the square footage again—will have an internal discussion
• No one-story houses— the square footage allocated for the homes would not allow space for one-story homes
• Suggesting a 40-space parking lot and connecting walking trail with county for Helen Putnam Park
• No memorandum of understanding with county
• Talking about maintenance
• Does not want to see a parking fee so high that car parkers will continue to use Oxford Ct. Does not want to recreate a neighborhood parking problem for the new development.
• Make parking lot attractive

Red Barn Discussion

• Why interpretative center? At last minute of the discussion of the General Plan, Teresa Barrett wanted the red barn left in place.
• Davidon disagrees about keeping the barn in place and is volunteering an alternative by moving the barn across Kelly Creek.
• Thayer sees the red barn as something worth rehabbing. The red barn has to be refurbished because it will "blow over" soon, and it has lead paint, etc.
• No one has volunteered to have it be used for the public.
• Will not request that the new HOA take care of the barn.

Traffic Control

• Concerned about traffic coming fast from Marin.
• In So. California, saw an idea. Traffic light at bottom of a hill. If a car is 8-10 mph over the speed limit, the stop light goes on.
• In Danville, is aware of a device that flashes the car speed.

Questions

• If no one steps forward for the barn, what will happen? No one to take care of it. Thayer said that this is open for discussion. He thought the entire red barn issue was an effort to create a controversy. The City Council can decide to do away with the red barn if they want.
• What about the Helen Putnam Park (HPP) parking lot of 40 cars? Physically have room to add the parking lot. HPP is interested. Think it can be done. Davidon will do the installation. Davidon is taking a risk. Davidon is taking a "slash and burn" attitude now, which is usually done during the formal approval process.
• Do you have a written agreement with Fish & Game? No, but discussions have occurred.
• Is the stock pond permitted? Thayer did not know. Based on certain criteria (if it needs to permitted and it is not), it could end up taking many years to get the permit.
• Who maintains the path to HPP since it is public access? Don't know. Would like to see HPP increase their boundary and turn it over. An endowment is not feasible. Maintenance is a component. County has money to obtain but not maintain.
• A question was asked about one of the PowerPoint slides depicting the homes at the stop sign next to the old basketball court. A large home appears to be higher than the existing slope of the land. Was the hill built up to accommodate this house? Didn't know. Would have to check.
• What about potential slides? Thayer said that the slide area will not be built on (in the hills above the stock pond and in the hills over by the HPP fence line). What about the potential slides from Victoria given the slide history? Davidon is confident in using an experienced soil engineer so that no slides will occur.
• What will be the responsibility of the new homeowners' association? Thayer said that the new association would contribute to the Victoria park expenses. Thayer also said that the new homeowners' association should not be responsible for the maintenance of the barn, the parking lot, or the trail. Uncertain who would be responsible for this maintenance or whether any of these issues are enforceable.
• Is the proposed kiddy park at the corner of D and Windsor a public park? Did not hear a definitive answer. If it is public, is parking available?
• Concerns about public safety were expressed because Windsor Drive is the only street available to use in case of an emergency for so many homes. The new development could add additional homes possibly totaling 400 homes only having one road to exit in an emergency. Public safety is a concern.
• Jeff Thayer will meet individually with Victoria homeowners to discuss placement of new homes and privacy concerns for existing and new residents.

How long will the process take?

• EIR released shortly (December or January)
• One year in designing
• Start grading in 2014
• 9-10 months of grading depending upon the weather. Will bring all equipment and leave it in place on the land.
• Does not know the routes (Windsor or D?) to be used for construction workers or equipment. Will build 6-8 homes at a time. Will sell homes and then start building the next group.
• Estimated sell 25 a year. Depends on economy.
• Have not talked about where the models will built
• Someone was concerned about the length of time of development and traffic on Windsor. Asked if the connector between Windsor and B Street could be opened for safety and traffic relief.

Note: Jeff Thayer used a PowerPoint presentation that showed the proposed lots and homes built on the lots. This is the presentation that he planned to use with the Planning Commission and the Petaluma City Council.

1. The presentation showed the original 93 homes and the mitigated plan of 66 homes.
2. The computer-generated views were a) immediately after construction; b) with newly planted trees; c) with tree growth (5 years later?).
3. Computer-generated viewpoints were from south D Street (looking northwest); from the top of the Pinnacle development; at the stop sign on Windsor at the previous basketball court park [only looking at Windsor toward D Street, not including the proposed homes on the hill north of Windsor];