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. . 4-27-94 Plan Commission Meeting Minutes Page 2 Mr. William A. Thomas stated that he is representing Louis M. Aboussie in an attempt to rezone the property at 7400 Olive from PA and GC to MR in order to convert the existing school building to approximately 20 garden apartments and to construct approximately 20 two- bedroom townhouses on an open area of the site. The building is the old Rabbinical College site. Chairperson Marsh called on Planning Director, Al Goldman to provide the staff report. Mr. Goldman stated that the following comments are based on the information submitted by the applicant prior in the week. However, new plans that address some of these concerns have been brought to the meeting by the applicant. He has reviewed the revised plans for the proposed multi-family development of the former St. Louis Rabbinic College property at 7400 Olive. The drawings show a total of 57 apartment units, consisting of 4 studio apartments measuring about 450 square feet each, 16 townhouse apartments measuring about 900 square feet each and 37 garden apartments ranging in size from 860 square feet to 1030 square feet. Although the drawings are considerably improved from the earlier submittal, there are still substantial weaknesses in the proposal. The major problems are as follows: . Exterior windows. Except for the end units, the garden unit living rooms lack windows to the exterior; the second bedroom in four of the townhouse apartments lacks windows; and the studio apartment windows are obscured by the exterior stairs that provide access to the townhouse units above. . Building set-backs. Parking stalls and driveways are too close to apartment windows. Twelve units have windows that open directly on a driveway and 14 units have windows that are less than 10 feet from a drive or a parking area. The code requires at least 15 feet. . Parking. The code requires 86 parking spaces for a project of this size. Only 81 spaces are shown, including the 3 handicapped parking spaces (which are not really usable as shown). . Commonly usable residential open space. The code calls for approximate 22,000 square feet of commonly usable residential open space. Only about 17,000 square feet of such space has been provided. . Buffering. Single family development exists on three sides of the rear portion of the property, yet the driveway, parking and outdoor activity areas abut these properties with little or no buffering. . Floor area ratio. According to my calculations the total gross floor area is 63,200 square feet and the lot area is approximately 119,712 square feet (after the cemetery is deducted). Thus the F.A.R. is .53, which exceeds the maximum permitted by the zoning code. m-4-27.plc