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Session 1705, Minutes 10 <br />September 8, 1997 <br /> <br />They have also added a great deal of architectural details to the exterior. in addition, they <br />have increased the rear transitional yard to twenty feet according to the zoning ordinance. <br />The Planning Department's request to go to twenty-five feet causes a problem for them. <br />They have squeezed their floor plans as much as they can. This will cause them to have to <br />shorten exterior walls, which means not enough windows so that sunlight can come into the <br />units. Mr. Manlin proceeded to compare this development with other similar <br />developments around the area and their locations to single family residences and density. <br />They have designed the building according to the zoning ordinance and they have done the <br />best they could to comply with all conditions. <br /> <br />Mr. Lieberman asked about the placement of the air conditioning units. Mr. Manlin said <br />that they would be located in the courtyard area, not on top of the roofs or in the <br />transitional yards. <br /> <br />Mr. Wagner said that he was disappointed with the lack of responsiveness, on the <br />developers part, to the concerns that Council had at the last meeting. The comparisons that <br />Mr. Manlin makes to other developments, such as the Oaks, are based on totally different <br />neighborhoods and situations. Mr. Wagner said that the City's comprehensive plan is <br />dreadfully out of date and needs to be revised. Mr. Goldman's analysis points out a <br />number of shortcomings in the developer's plan, some of which Mr. Manlin just addressed. <br />There is no information on the grading and drainage. They had asked for some elevation <br />drawings of the terrain to the back of the project. Mr. Wagner said that he is very <br />concerned with the lie of the land behind the development, which slopes down from the <br />site to the backyards on Donne. This will make the apparent height even more impressive <br />from the Donne residences. Mr. Goldman mentions in his report that the transitional yards <br />are not adequate, but the developer contends that it is too difficult to comply. The feeling <br />is that the footprint of the building is just too massive for this neighborhood. Mr. Wagner <br />recalled that the request was to bring the building down ten feel not to superficially shift <br />gables, so that it appeared to be shorter. The developer had discussed the business <br />economics of not making some of these changes at the last meeting, being that it would <br />raise their costs about 25%. Mr. Wagner said that this may be an indicator that the basic <br />concept for this development is not compatible with this particular site. Mr. Wagner <br />thanked the developer for his interest in University City, that he obviously has put in a <br />great deal of time and effort on this, but he plans to oppose it and urged his colleagues to <br />do the same. Mr. Manlin said that he respected Mr. Wagner's comments, but he did not <br />believe that his views were necessarily the consensus, since has received support from <br />surrounding residents. <br /> <br />Ann Sciortino, 502 Donne, said that she does have the same feeling as Mr. Wagner <br />regarding the issues that were raised to Mr. Manlin. Mr. Manlin did talk to her and he was <br /> <br /> <br />