DB90 designation signals redevelopment on Hart Lane

A proposal to rezone several tracts of land on Hart Lane to allow for more intensive redevelopment under the DB90, or Density Bonus 90, zoning district was recommended by the Zoning and Platting Commission by an 8-1 vote during a public meeting on Feb. 18.

The locations at 7201, 7201 and 1/2, 7205, 7121 Hart Lane in the Northwest Hills neighborhood are currently zoned MF-3, or Multifamily-Medium Density, a zoning type intended for lower-density apartment complexes.

Those lots are currently occupied by three apartment complexes surrounded by parking lots that Michael Whellan, an agent speaking on behalf of the applicant, Price Acacia Cliffs LLC, said during the meeting are around a half-century old and nearing their “end of life.”

If ultimately approved by City Council, the DB90 designation would enable developers to go through with a plan to demolish those apartments and build between 650 and 700 new units on the property.

Commissioner Betsy Greenberg, the sole “nay” vote on the motion, noted that the advertised rent for the roughly 290 units currently on the site is about $400 lower, on average, than the low end of the affordability limits on any new units set by DB90.

“We’re getting back some income-restricted units but not at the same affordability of what’s being lost,” Greenberg said.

Chair Hank Smith responded to Greenberg, pointing out the age of the units as he defended the proposal.

“The concern I’ve got is, the facility is so old and run down that at some point, it’s going to become uninhabitable, and it may be reaching that point already,” Smith said. “If we do nothing, then you’re going to have no affordable units on the site, versus the redevelopment which is going to give us considerably more.”

“Albeit, maybe not as deeply affordable,” he added.

The version of the proposal accepted by the commission was amended by Planning Department staff, who suggested removing an MU, or mixed-use, combining district and including a CO, or conditional overlay, combining district prohibiting certain uses on the property.

Sherri Sirwaitis, a planner with the city presenting the staff recommendation, said that they proposed removing the MU district to remove any alternative to DB90 and the affordability requirements it includes.

Commissioners Lonny Stern and Carrie Thompson, who ultimately voted to approve the proposal, spoke against the limitations imposed by the conditional overlay, which both Planning staff and the applicant said was intended to make the development more palatable to neighbors.

The overlay would prohibit virtually any commercial use of units on the property, including restaurants of any size, pet care services, barbershops, salons and grocery stores. Typically, commercial uses are a requirement included with DB90, with the intention of promoting neighborhood walkability and small-scale commerce as community benefits.

Price Acacia Cliffs LLC requested to be exempted from that requirement, which the Planning Department said in its report they would support.

In expressing her opposition to the seeming exception, Thompson cited the prevalence of DB90, and the ground-floor commercial requirements it includes, in recent rezonings across the city.

“This commission is even forcing that deep into neighborhoods, so this feels like a strange protection,” Thompson said.

No neighbors spoke against the proposal at the meeting, although a few submitted letters speaking against it that cited traffic, noise and other quality-of-life issues they contended the redevelopment would cause.

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Posted In: Zoning, District 10