A new six-story development is in the works outside the apartment moratorium boundary.
The design of The Parker was submitted to the Auburn Board of Zoning Adjustment at the April 1 meeting.
The developers, CA Ventures, presented the plans to the board to request a variance requiring buildings built in the Urban Core District to be built out of brick with accents of stucco, limestone or wood.
The board denied the variance request in a 3-2 vote. The original plan for the building as presented to the Board, called for 41.7 percent brick and 31.3 percent glass, with the rest of the building being made of cement.
Although the board denied the plan, CA Ventures resubmitted plans that called for more brick to on the exterior, according to Forrest Cotten, director of the Planning Department.
“As a result, I was able to approve (the design) based on my interpretation of the ordinance,” Cotten said.
Staff comments on the variance request pointed out that too much brick on a large building can make them seem overwhelming, and the ordinance requiring the use of brick was meant for smaller buildings.
“I think (the ordinance) certainly needs to be looked at,” Cotten said. “I’m not saying that necessarily needs to be changed.”
Cotten said ordinances in other cities are more prescriptive, but Auburn’s ordinance allows only brick with other material as accents.
“What percentage needs to be accent,” Forrest said. “At what point do the other materials become more than accent material.”
The Center Court apartment complex at the corner of Wright Street and East Glenn Avenue is the proposed site of the new development.
The building would be approximately 75 feet tall, according to city documents.
Cotten said although the developers will still have to submit more plans to the city, they can all be approved administratively.
“We get phone calls all the time from various people about various properties,” Cotten said. “But there’s out there that appears to be as real as this.”
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