Danville council postpones decision on new Old Blackhawk Road development

The Danville Town Council voted Tuesday night to continue a public hearing on a new development off Old Blackhawk Road to January after a discussion dominated by tree talk and density concerns.

The development at the center of the discussion calls for 19 single-family residences on two parcels at 3743 and 3755 Old Blackhawk Road, near Blackhawk Plaza, totaling 2.97 acres.

Though the project has already gone through five rounds of review and revisions with the Planning Commission and town staff, council members felt that home massing and tree types needed to be re-examined, particularly in light of adamant opposition from neighbors of the proposed development. The public hearing will continue on Jan. 16.

“There’s not really any reason to deny this, because state law is on the applicant’s side,” Vice Mayor Robert Storer said. “Now what we have on the other side of the equation, is a neighborhood that’s extremely passionate.”

Seventeen of the 19 lots would contain houses ranging in size from 3,051-3,601 square feet, and the other two, designated as below-market-rate units, would be 1,780 and 1,964 square feet, respectively, and constructed as a duet.

The size and number of the homes garnered the most vocal responses from the 10 community members who spoke during the three-hour-long hearing.

Lisa Regal, who lives on Old Blackhawk Road, objected to the idea that the development would be “consistent and congruent” with the surrounding area.

“What’s consistent and congruent is three acres and two houses…They’re not doubling the amount of houses, they’re not tripling it,” Regal said. “Nine times the amount of homes that are on that land is what they want to build.”

Denise Lynch of nearby Pinewood Court echoed the sentiment.

“We’re not saying you cannot build,” she said, directing her comments to Andy Byde, the representative for applicant Braddock & Logan Homes at the meeting. “You are entitled to build those homes. We’re just opposed to the number of homes you’re building.”

In comparison to the proposed development, Storer pointed out the home sizes of most of the speakers at the meeting was 2500-2700 square feet, according to his calculations.

Trees were also discussed Tuesday night, as the development involves removing 98 of the 105 trees at the site — none of which are town-protected trees. As mitigation for the tree removal, though, Braddock & Logan Homes would need to plant additional screen trees in the backyards of most lots, in addition to the general street and landscaping trees proposed.

According to Byde, his company had consulted with a landscape architect, who had suggested they plant coast live oak box trees for the backyard screen trees. While live oak is slow-growing for the first 10 years, he said, the trees grow very fast after that.

But several council members, citing concerns they had received from the community, suggested a closer look at tree species type to maintain the foliage-heavy feel of the Old Blackhawk Road neighborhood in the nearer future.

“I love the oaks, but they’re so slow-growing…That doesn’t make a great screen tree,” Storer said. “But it could make individually a great tree, as long as there are some screening trees.”

At the conclusion of the discussion, staff was directed to look into home sizes and possibly incorporating one-story homes into the development, as well as lot sizes and tree mitigation, before the next hearing on Jan. 16.