Minutes: (TND) Traditional Neighborhood Design: February 2007

City of Evansville
Tradition Neighborhood / Residential Design Committee
Subcommittee of Evansville Plan Commission

Regular Meeting
Tuesday, February 27, 2007, 6:00 pm
City Hall, 31 S. Madison Street, Evansville, Wisconsin

MINUTES

Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 6:05 pm by Bill Hammann. Present: Bill Hammann, Gil Skinner, Mason Braunschweig, and Sandy Decker. Absent: Tony Wyse, Sharel Surles, and Gwen Walker. Also present: Tim Schwecke and Dan Wietecha.

Approve Agenda. The agenda, as distributed, was approved without objection.

Review of Initial Draft of Code.

a. Photos. Dan Wietecha provided a series of photos of newer housing from the west side to illustrate a variety of architectural features and to aid discussion.

b. Design Standards. As context for the evening’s discussion, Tim Schwecke provided an outline of a future Article XI for the zoning code. Schwecke also distributed an updated draft for general provisions and definitions and standards for single-family homes under the future amendment.

As drafted, application for design requirements will be considered by the building inspector. Among other things, the draft proposes a minimum floor area, minimum roof pitch, and permanent foundation for single-family houses. It also limits the size and placement of attached, front-loaded garages. It contains regulations to avoid repetition of similar building elevations.

As drafted, the ordinance provides a list of architectural features with point values. New single-family houses would be required to score 100 points to comply with the minimum architectural design standards. The committee reviewed the list of 39 features, adjusted point values, and clarified language.

The committee noted that input needs to be gained from builders regarding the feasibility and costs of features on the list.

Schwecke provided a map showing the areas where the proposed design standards would apply. Consensus of the committee was to exclude certain areas such as the historic district (which would be held to a different set of design standards) and make the new ordinance applicable everywhere else by default.

c. Accessible Housing. Schwecke distributed a draft ordinance for accessible housing, noting that houses meeting these requirements would be held to a lower point threshold for architectural design features. He asked committee member to review the draft before the next meeting.

Meeting Reminder. The next meeting is Tuesday, March 27, at 6:00 pm.

Adjournment. Without further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.