Agenda - 02-22-1999 - 1a - Laserfiche WebLink

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100 park. The large park would have volley ball, badminton, and horse shoes. People could walk to this park, bring their children and dogs, and enjoy active recreation. There are storm water management ponds which are a primary . feature of the plan. The ponds would be buffered by hedge and vegetation, which would help to screen them from the adjacent residents. Commissioner Gordon asked for further clarification regarding the "pedestrian- friendly nature of this development. Mr. Murray stated that in his opinion there are three components that make a neighborhood pedestrian friendly. Those are that the streets are interconnected so that you can walk down a street and not have to turn around and go back the same way. You can cross through and go over another block. Sidewalks on both sides of every street is another component. The minimum requirement is something less than the five -foot minimum, which is being proposed. The final component is that you have to have destinations, such as parks or ball fields. Commissioner Gordon asked about the proposed clearcutting and asked would it all be clear -cut or would there be variations on the type of land clearing. Mr. Murray explained that over + of the property is already open property. There is an old tree line that runs through the property and that is proposed to be protected and maintained. He pointed to other areas where the tree growth would be left. He pointed out an area where trees are to be planted in locations that are currently open fields now. Red buds, Virginia pines, and other native plants would be planted to allow a woods type environment to revegetate in those areas. He pointed to another portion of the tract where the largest clearing would occur. The County has a landscape ordinance that requires revegetation or replanting of trees- both large and small, based on street frontage. That is what is proposed. There are approximately 3 or 4 trees per lot that would be replanted. Any time you see a medium to high density residential area, there is a significant amount of clearing that takes place. Once the homes are in, if you go and look at older neighborhood, most of the trees you see were planted when the homes were originally built. Planning Board member Katz asked if there was a policy about what would be done along the sidewalks and street frontage in terms of planting. He asked about types and size of trees. Mr. Murray indicated that sugar maples, willow and other varieties that would have large canopies would be planted. The smaller trees are flowering trees such as dogwood, red bud, crab apple, and crape myrtle. The size of planting would be 1 + to 2 -inch caliber at a minimum. After the initial planting each lot will have two shade and two flowering trees at the very minimum. In addition to that, there will be other landscaping features that will be provided for each home which are more foundation plantings and things of that nature. Planning Board member Katz asked about the possibility that the soil may not drain well and that the trees would be planted in soils that tend to remain moist and would therefore lose their oxygen. He asked if the developer actually knew for a fact that the types of trees that they wanted to plant would survive in those types of soil. Mr. Murray stated that the red maple, sugar maple and other trees would do well in this soil. Chair Brown asked for more detail regarding the size of the parks and what would be available in each. Mr. Murray stated that there are four parks in the plan. At the entrance to the community, off of Lawrence. Road, there is a small pocket park which would have benches and a hedge surrounding it. It is designed for sitting and enjoying the garden type area or visiting with neighbors. Another park is a children/Es otot loth with small sliding boards and other equipment designed for children from three to seven years old. After that age they lose interest and want to play elsewhere. The larger park is shown on the plan with a wooded buffer. He indicated that some clearing would occur and additional shade trees would be planted. An environment would be provided for picnic tables, badminton, volleyball, horseshoes. A - Sunday afternoon picnic for the community could be hosted in this area. This would be approximately 2.7 acres and is connected by sidewalks to several portions of the community. The last park would be a ball field or a soccer field with parking provided. These parks are not lighted. Planning Board Chair, Barrows mentioned that at the last Planning Board meeting the question came up about the surrounding neighbors using these park areas. She remembered that at that time the developers said that would be discouraged because these recreational areas would be primarily for the subdivision residents. She asked for clarification about that.