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HomeMy WebLinkAboutC_Response_Letter_Milbrandt Architects_2003120_v1.pdf March 9, 2020 City of Renton Community and Economic Development Attn: Matt Herrera, AICP Senior Planner Subject: Permit #18-2042– 2156 N 185th St RE: "On Hold" Notice Canopy PUD Preliminary Plat / LUA19-000223 Mr. Herrera, The following is in response to your comments dated 1/27/2020 for the above-mentioned project. Our responses are numbered to match the correction letter. 1. Additional elevations have been designed for each of the proposed plans throughout the project to address this comment. The additional elevation styles include a variety of roof forms, including gables, sheds, and butterfly roofs. Modulating certain façade elements, such as pilasters and/or accompanying wall planes, along with differences in materiality to help highlight and frame certain architectural features and forms on the elevation. This, in conjunction with the roof form above, creates a variety of form and appearance from lot to lot, as demonstrated by the colored elevations and streetscape exhibit provided. In all, 18 distinct elevation types are arranged on site, including the following variety per the guidance given in your comment letter: • Lots 1-6 minimum of three (3) different exterior elevations • Lots 7-16 minimum of four (4) different exterior elevations • Lots 17-29 minimum of four (4) different exterior elevations • Lots 30-40 minimum of four (4) different exterior elevations • Lots 41-47 minimum of two (2) different exterior elevations • Lots 48-55 minimum of three (3) different exterior elevations 2. Residential Design Standards Lot Configuration – We recognize the desire to avoid a repetitive layout of the future homes. Something that can get lost in the plan view is the fact that, due to the extreme topography of this site, lots with similar horizontal dimensions are themselves exceedingly varied and are producing very different home designs. Throughout the site, homes on one side of the street will have a 3-story façade visible, and on the other side, it will be 2 or even 1 story as seen from the street, creating a huge amount of variety as seen from someone walking through the community. Homes themselves are stepping up the grade of the site, so that roofs, garages, and front doors are not even at the same elevation. We have homes here which take up 20’ of vertical relief with the garage at the lowest level, homes which take up 20’ of vertical relief with garages at the top floor, as well as homes taking up 10’ of vertical relief with garages at both the bottom and middle level. This itself constitutes a huge diversity. March 9, 2020 Page 2 of 2 Due to the severity of the grades we are overcoming on this site, dedicating the necessary land area to additionally vary all of the lot (& home) widths while maintaining feasible-to-construct homes becomes exceedingly challenging. This is the reason so much attention has been given to developing a wide variety of elevations for the product (as addressed in comment 1) as well as refining the porch entries and the look of the street facing elevations in an effort to achieve a complexity and variety within the on-site product (see below). We feel the mix of units we are proposing throughout the site, considered together, constitute superior design and have avoided a repetitive layout when grades are taken fully into account. a) Front Entries – A front porch has been incorporated into every floor plan, a minimum of 5’-0” in depth and at least equally as wide. In addition, the elevational design pays significant attention to the porch, seeking to emphasize and celebrate it as the entrance to the house through the roof form covering it and highlighting accent materials adjacent to it. The design intent is to notate the space as a gateway from the street/public realm into the private realm of the home, defining the location as the point of entry and social interaction. b) Windows and Doors – The glazing at each façade fronting the public Road A through the site has been studied and revised to comply with the minimum 25% glazing requirement at these facades. Additional windows have been added and/or existing window treatments enlarged to meet the requirement, as shown on the elevation sheets. 7. The West facing (downhill side) elevation has been revised to emphasize the entry door and porch at ground level. In addition, the plan has been revised so that the layout is now oriented to the West, with the main entry space at ground level, adjacent to the bonus bedroom, and the secondary entrance through the alley-loaded garage. Note: for the remainder of the comment responses please see the response letter provided by the Civil Engineer. If you have any additions, questions, or corrections, please let me know. Alexander Clohesey, Project Manager Milbrandt Architects, Inc., P.S.