Developer shares update on plans for nearly 100 new homes at Sylvan Corners

By Mike Hazlip—
Representatives from Woodside Homes presented further details on plans to build more than 90 homes on a vacant site near Sylvan Corners during a community meeting at City Hall on Tuesday.

Vice President of Land Acquisition and Development for Woodside Homes, Michael LaFortune, revealed elevation drawings and detailed fencing along the perimeter of the development.

LaFortune also said the traffic study that was part of the environmental impact report is now complete. Woodside Homes accepted all of the recommendations outlined in the publicly available study, according to LaFortune.

By using various mitigation efforts to improve traffic efficiency and encourage pedestrian travel, Woodside Homes estimates the development will increase traffic by about two to four percent during peak times, LaFortune said.

Traffic exiting the neighborhood would only be allowed to make right-hand turns onto southbound Auburn Boulevard, while northbound traffic along Auburn Boulevard will have just one left-turning entrance at the north end of the site.

LaFortune said Woodside Homes has agreed to set aside funds that could be used for future signage that would limit southbound traffic along Auburn Boulevard from illegal U-turns at Old Auburn Road.

Traffic impact mitigation efforts also included modifying the phasing of the signal lights to reduce traffic backing up along Auburn Boulevard, adding signalized and channelized right turn lanes, and extending the southbound bike lane with green skip striping, according to a previously released traffic study.

“We worked well with the city staff to come up with the mitigation measures that will help to ensure that this project has nominal to very little impacts or increasing the traffic flow,” LaFortune said.

If final plans are approved, homes facing southbound Auburn Boulevard would be separated from the busy street by two rows of trees, fencing, and landscaping, according to Nick Haskell of Haskell Planning and Design.

Haskell said a space he called the “public realm” will help improve the aesthetics of the street-facing homes while separating the private residences from Auburn Boulevard. About 20 feet will separate the homes from the street, according to Woodside Homes.

Street-facing homes were a condition of the development aimed at improving the look of Auburn Boulevard by avoiding sound-walls commonly seen along sidewalks in other areas, Haskell said.

The northwest corner of the intersection will be set back from Sylvan Corners by a detention basin as required by engineering plans, LaFortune said. The area will be landscaped and surrounded by decorative fencing to encourage passive recreation.

Fencing along the property line with Sylvan Middle School will include a locked gate that the school will be able to control, LaFortune said.