FAQs • Is the City proposing to fix the look of townhomes?

Is the City proposing to fix the look of townhomes?: Although certain parts of the City, like downtown, are allowed to have architectural standards, many parts of the City are prevented from having such extra standards by the State. While staff can’t dictate design, we can dictate setbacks and structure footprints. The new code now requires if you build 3 or more townhomes in a row, each townhome has to be either pushed in 3 feet, or pulled out 3 feet, to break up the harsh monolithic block of one huge building.

Town Homes

1. Is the City still going to allow big blocks of townhomes?: The new code has changed the design requirements for townhomes. In the old code, you could have six (6) townhomes in one building, and the interior townhomes could be as narrow as 15 feet wide. In the new code all new townhomes must be on lots that are 25 feet wide. That means the townhomes on the inside are also as big as the ones on the outside. We’ve also limited the number of townhomes in a row, from 6 to 4.

2. What about the townhomes with several cars parked everywhere?: Currently, since some townhomes can be as narrow as 15 feet, that only leaves room for a one car garage, and a driveway that’s only one car wide, and deep. They do meet the minimum parking standard of two spaces per dwelling, but often there are more than two cars, and someone may not choose to park in their garage. With townhomes that are 25 feet wide, there will be room to require a two car wide driveway. This would add an additional parking space. Second, since there can only be 4 townhomes in a row, the total number of cars will go down, while the number of parking spaces would go up.

3. Is the City proposing to fix the look of townhomes?: Although certain parts of the City, like downtown, are allowed to have architectural standards, many parts of the City are prevented from having such extra standards by the State. While staff can’t dictate design, we can dictate setbacks and structure footprints. The new code now requires if you build 3 or more townhomes in a row, each townhome has to be either pushed in 3 feet, or pulled out 3 feet, to break up the harsh monolithic block of one huge building.