Planner Frank Fish met with trustees April 1 to further discuss the P-Zone property, currently located at the Social Services site at 101 County Seat Drive. The issue has taken up much of the board's time in recent months and after listening to public comment, Fish proposed some minor changes. First, he'd like to consider reducing the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) from 0.4 to 0.35, which would be the lowest commercial FAR presently in the village, for any offices that could be built on the site.

Further, he suggested reducing multi-family (condominiums) units from 14 to the acre to just 10 units to the acre. He also thought reducing single-family attached homes (town homes) from 14 units to the acre to just seven units to the acre and placing a 0.4 FAR cap on single-family homes could be an improvement.

"We could respect the surrounding neighborhoods with a 0.4 FAR," Fish said, adding an R8 zone would not work unless a capped FAR is implemented. "You'd have mansion after mansion after mansion," he said.

As far as single-family attached units, Fish believes they could serve existing residents well. "Many baby boomers are looking for empty nest homes like single-family attached," Fish said.

In implementing these changes to the 25-acre Social Services site, Fish said the property could still accommodate 90 single-family homes. However, in lowering the units per acre, 150 single-family attached homes could be erected, as compared to the 310 previously estimated. Further, 215 multi-family units could be built, as compared to the 310 originally suggested. As far as office space, this would decrease from 372,000 units/square footage to 326,000 units/square footage. This 46,000 square foot reduction equates to 500 vehicular trips per day.

The aforementioned figures assume roughly 15 percent for roads, Fish noted. He also stated that there'd still be approximately 440-450 people on the site no matter what mix a developer chooses to go with.

Approximately 150 single-family attached homes could generate 50 to 55 school children, as would 215 multi-family units although some present believed those numbers were too low. As far as traffic, Fish believes housing of almost any form would generate less than half the amount of traffic commercial space would.

Presently, 50-foot setbacks currently exist on Eleventh Street and Washington Avenue and Fish suggests it remain that way. Moreover, he told trustees they could eliminate the multi-family option altogether, although he admitted he likes to offer a developer more flexibility. "You could designate them to a specific area of the property," he said.

After discussing the changes with trustees, Fish said he'd like to rethink a few of them. The board expects him to present the public with the information during an April 22 meeting at village hall. Residents will be permitted to ask questions of the board and/or Fish. Further, another public hearing is slated for Thursday, May 20.