DENSITY
1. What impact will the increased urban level density of the proposed Town Center development have on the evacuation plans of the entire Sunriver community and visitors during the peak fire and visitor season should there be a wildland fire?
a. How many cars per minute can be evacuated at present?
b. How many cars per minute can be evacuated after complete build out?
c. How long will it take to evacuate Sunriver after complete
build out?
(Site Plan Question) We have spoken to the Sunriver police and fire departments about their community evacuation plans and they are not ready to address the questions noted above at this time. In fact, they may not update their plans even if the Village development plans are approved. Their plans were not updated when the Fremont Crossing development to the north was approved and built.
The current Transportation Impact Analysis included in our application indicates that roads and traffic control devices will operate adequately in the area if development is completed at the projected levels even before the envisioned new roundabout and more efficient Beaver Drive road alignment are constructed. One of the primary reasons the SROA Board is requiring the realignment of Beaver Drive is to improve safety considerations in the event of a necessary evacuation.
SilverStar Destinations will continue to work with the Sunriver community and Fire District to ensure that future development is designed and built in a manner that takes life safety considerations into account. With this said, we are confident that the area can be evacuated safely, there are three major ways that new residents in the Town Center can leave the Town Center. These routes are lead to a major highway, Highway 97.
2. Illustrate with representative numbers of each type of unit the resulting mix under your suggested density language in the zoning code.
(Site Plan Question) Based upon the currently anticipated zone size, our current site plan, and average unit sizes, we anticipate approximately (420) mixed-use residential units and (130) multi-family (townhomes) units. This number falls under the maximum residential density that would be allowed under the proposed text amendment. Exact unit sizes and proposed mixes would not be proposed until much further into the project development cycle. This information would be submitted in the Site Plan application for specific buildings to ensure that all conditions of the Town Center District are met including building height and required parking counts.
3. Your proposal said that two 900 square foot hotel units would count for one residential unit for density purposes. A 900 square foot hotel unit is a reasonable two-bedroom apartment unit. Since many have Murphy beds or sofa bed in the living room, they can be occupied by up to six people. Two couples often share such units meaning two cars and two parking spaces. Shouldn’t the cutoff to count as a whole unit for the purpose of density be around 750 square feet?
The “hotel suite” model (1 bedroom plus a living area) is currently very popular in the hotel industry and these units average roughly (900) square feet. However, we believe it to be the rare condition that two couples will share an individual bedroom in a suite or one couple would sleep on a sofa bed. This is more applicable to a family with children. Hotels limit parking by their guests based upon occupancy. When occupancy is low, allowing more than (1) car per occupant is not a problem. If guests demand more parking during periods of peak occupancy, there will be other residential options within the Village and the Sunriver community to meet their needs.
