RE. ITEM NO. 3 & 4: FINAL PLATS FOR HUTTON FARMS WEST NO. 1 AND N0.2; NORTH OF PETERSON ROAD & EAST OF MONTEREY WAY

Dear Chairman Haase and Planning Commissioners:

The original purpose of planned unit developments was to provide development options without the constraining regulations of conventional zoning. This flexibility was granted in exchange for the predictability of adopting binding plans. When PUDs were converted by state law to zoning districts, it was understood that development plans were to be submitted at the same time as the rezoning, as an inseparable part of the zoning application.

When Lawrence later separated the preliminary development plan requirement from the rezoning application, this created an ordinance with open-ended options and almost no restrictions. In order to counteract the unpredictability of the subsequent PUDs, the City adopted Ordinance 6745: 20-1004.1 RESTRICTION OF USES AND BUILDING TYPES. When this provision was used, it allowed the PUD zoning districts once again to be predictable, with each rezoning unique to each PUD--the original intention of all PUDs--regardless of when a development plan was submitted and/or revised.

Unfortunately, the importance of conditioning the zoning in PUDs, allowed by 20-1004.1, is too often overlooked. In the case of Hutton Farms West, the stated intention of the developer to develop Phase 1 as detached single family dwellings, one dwelling per lot, has not been reflected either in the PRD-1 rezoning or in the adopted Preliminary Development Plan. This leaves the only instrument to determine building types as the Final Plat, enforceable privately as a restrictive covenant on the plat. Because of this and the need for common maintenance of open space and the private "streets," as well, we suggest that it is essential to require a homeowners' maintenance association.

We also note that although the Preliminary Development Plan shows sidewalks, there are no pedestrian easements marked on the Final Plat.

We hope that the Planning Commission will correct these deficiencies that have occurred in the approval process of Hutton Farms West.

Thank you for your consideration.

₍S₎incerely yours,

Carrie Lindsey Alan Black, Chairman

President Land Use Committee