Planning 2012-03-22 Item 4 - Osterly Park Townhomes - Attachment C - Staff Report Dated 11/2/09

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III. LANDSCAPE I SITE TREATMENT Landscape Design and Design for Screening and Separation In the landscape design for the Osterly Park Townhomes, the plantings are arranged to focus attention to high- visibility locations of the site, to reduce the appearance of paved areas by adding greenery, and to provide for screening and separation. Two of the areas of the site in which there is a notable concentration and variety of plantings include the front yard areas at the back side of the public sidewalk along S 144 Street and 34 Ave S. The concentration of tress and shrubs at these entry points to the site help to signal the entrance to the development while at the same time helping to separate the public realm of the sidewalk from the private development. Other areas on the site with a high concentration of plantings include the two recreation spaces, including the kids' play space and the more passive recreation area that includes a picnic table and open lawn area. The large number and variety of plantings helps to make the recreation areas focal points within the development. Shrubs placed at the back of curb and along the perimeter help to direct pedestrian traffic along the sidewalks into the recreation areas, and to provide a sense of enclosure that still allows passersby and residents in surrounding buildings to casually observe activity. The location of shrubs and trellises adjacent to the sidewalks along the access drive similarly direct pedestrian traffic moving to the front entrance of townhouse units, while acting as a symbolic barrier to separate the more public space of the private access drive from the front yard /private recreation areas of the townhouse units. Landscaping within the southeastern corner of the site, where the front entrances to triplex units are located along the south property line, includes several trees which help to screen from view the adjacent apartment building located to the south. The location of trees on the south side of units B 12 and B 13 also works to help screen from view the La Roche apartment building located to the east. In order to reduce the appearance of paved area on the site, changes that were made to the original landscape plan include the following: Street trees were added to the southern portion of the private access road in between areas of on- street parking. In contrast to the northern area of the project site, the parcel configuration within the southern area of the site provided more width to allow room for on- street parking and landscape islands to accommodate street trees. A two -foot landscape strip in between the townhome buildings and the sidewalk along the private access road was added. While relatively narrow, these two -foot spaces provide enough room for plantings including bamboo and tall growing grasses, which help add greenery on either side of the private access road, while at the same time helping to screen blank wall areas along the sides of first story of the townhome buildings. Trellises attached to the side elevation of the townhome building also help to add greenery to the streetseape while adding visual interest to the side of the townhome buildings. A trellis attached to the wall area in between the garage doors on the rear elevation of each building was added (with the exception of the "C" units, which have the front door of the units on the same side of the building as the garage doors). JR Pa Lc 13 of 26 11/05/2009 H:ADcsiLn Rcvicw \Otitcrly Townhomcs \L08-076 L08-079 Ostcrly Park Sub livision &DcsipRcvicw SR. loc 41