CTroyMathis
27 December 2002, 01:25 AM
In the suburbs.................................
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Getting pickier on new houses
City plans to adopt minimum standards for neighborhoods
12/25/2002
By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News
City officials are a little more discriminating about the kind of houses they want built in Grand Prairie these days.
And they plan to put builders on notice that they won't accept anything less.
Planning officials have proposed standards that call for a variety of housing types, sizes and styles, along with heavier landscaping, jogging and biking paths, and other amenities for new residential communities.
"These would be the absolute minimum requirements, to me," Deputy City Manager Tom Cox said. "Go build it like this, or go build it somewhere else."
The City Council's development committee has tentatively approved the standards.
The Planning and Zoning Commission is slated to consider them in January, with the City Council expected to consider adopting them in February, Planning Director Bill Crolley said.
Though the standards would not be firm requirements, he said, the council, through the zoning process, would be able to hold developers or builders to the standards.
In effect, the standards would be a negotiating tool. In return for adhering to most of the standards, council members would be more likely to approve zoning changes or variances to some requirements or standards, such as house size, lot size or building materials, Mr. Crolley said.
"We're just trying to say there are certain consistencies here we think ought to be part of new developments in Grand Prairie today," he said.
Among the standards are:
• Streets would be curved, rather than a traditional grid style.
• Developments would have two points of access.
• Communities would have jogging paths, open spaces and other amenities.
• Porches and other architectural elements would be encouraged.
• House styles would be mixed so that no two homes would look alike within 200 feet.
• No more than one-fourth of the development would have front-entry garages.
• Minimum lot sizes would be 7,200 square feet and minimum house sizes 1,800 square feet.
• Each lot would include four, 3-inch trees to be chosen from a list of approved trees, and 40 gallons of approved shrubs.
• Yards would be irrigated.
• Homeowners' associations or public improvement districts would be established to maintain public spaces.
Certain exceptions would be granted in return for preservation of select existing trees.
"We're upgrading pretty significantly," council member Frank Robertson said. "Still, they are qualifications I think a lot of developers would be happy to meet, and we're simply upgrading new housing that's going to be built in Grand Prairie in the next five to 10 years."
____________________________
Getting pickier on new houses
City plans to adopt minimum standards for neighborhoods
12/25/2002
By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News
City officials are a little more discriminating about the kind of houses they want built in Grand Prairie these days.
And they plan to put builders on notice that they won't accept anything less.
Planning officials have proposed standards that call for a variety of housing types, sizes and styles, along with heavier landscaping, jogging and biking paths, and other amenities for new residential communities.
"These would be the absolute minimum requirements, to me," Deputy City Manager Tom Cox said. "Go build it like this, or go build it somewhere else."
The City Council's development committee has tentatively approved the standards.
The Planning and Zoning Commission is slated to consider them in January, with the City Council expected to consider adopting them in February, Planning Director Bill Crolley said.
Though the standards would not be firm requirements, he said, the council, through the zoning process, would be able to hold developers or builders to the standards.
In effect, the standards would be a negotiating tool. In return for adhering to most of the standards, council members would be more likely to approve zoning changes or variances to some requirements or standards, such as house size, lot size or building materials, Mr. Crolley said.
"We're just trying to say there are certain consistencies here we think ought to be part of new developments in Grand Prairie today," he said.
Among the standards are:
• Streets would be curved, rather than a traditional grid style.
• Developments would have two points of access.
• Communities would have jogging paths, open spaces and other amenities.
• Porches and other architectural elements would be encouraged.
• House styles would be mixed so that no two homes would look alike within 200 feet.
• No more than one-fourth of the development would have front-entry garages.
• Minimum lot sizes would be 7,200 square feet and minimum house sizes 1,800 square feet.
• Each lot would include four, 3-inch trees to be chosen from a list of approved trees, and 40 gallons of approved shrubs.
• Yards would be irrigated.
• Homeowners' associations or public improvement districts would be established to maintain public spaces.
Certain exceptions would be granted in return for preservation of select existing trees.
"We're upgrading pretty significantly," council member Frank Robertson said. "Still, they are qualifications I think a lot of developers would be happy to meet, and we're simply upgrading new housing that's going to be built in Grand Prairie in the next five to 10 years."