A proposal to build a single-family residential Planned Unit Development (PUD) that would span over 91 acres from near Sandy Trail to the Collegedale city boundary has been withdrawn and original plans are being altered for a later date.
The application was brought to the Collegedale Municipal Planning Committee in July by Mike Price, of MAP Engineers, on behalf of the property owners, Blue Mountain Company. The proposal was to rezone what is currently marked as agricultural land located west of the railroad crossing at the end of Sandy Trail to the Collegedale city boundary with an access point on Orchard Drive.
The first general site plan depicted 198 buildable single-family lots. According to the rezoning request form, the PUD would provide a “community space to include existing wetlands and streams with buffers, walking trails, clubhouse and pool.”
Kelly Andrew Martin, planning economic director for the City of Collegedale, said using Sandy Trail is problematic because the developer must request and receive permission from the railroad to cross its tracks with a new public road. Such a request is not usually granted due to safety concerns, according to Martin.
“The Collegedale Municipal Planning Commission first heard the case in July and agreed with staff’s recommendation to defer until August,” he said.
“ Prior to the August meeting of the Planning Commission, staff did not receive the requested information from the applicant in a timely manner. Therefore, staff’s recommendation to the planning committee was to deny the request.”
In the planning committee meeting that took place on Aug. 10, concerns were expressed that the proposal did not include proper sewage and infrastructure plans.
“After reviewing the site plan’s technical aspects as well as a qualitative review of its appropriateness, staff recommended that the Collegedale Municipal Planning Commission defer the request pending additional information regarding access and sewer accessibility to the site,” Martin said.
In the same meeting, Price defended the project to the committee.
“The project covers 98 acres in total, 35.7 acres is community space,” he said. “That’s creek areas, buffers, community space and playgrounds. Almost 40 percent of this development is community space, which I think is positive.”
At the end of the Aug. 10 meeting, the applicant requested a deferral, meaning that another meeting would take place on Sept. 14 to look at the proposal again. However, in a recent interview with Mike Price, he confirmed that the company would be withdrawing the application.
“We’re basically taking the plan and starting from scratch,” he said. “There is no timeline right now, but we will look at everything and re-evaluate. Right now, we’re looking at using the same entry point but will consider different property zones.”
