Goddard council set to vote on duplex changes. A look at revised new rules

The Goddard City Council will consider duplex regulations with several revisions at its July 6 meeting after hearing from the Wichita Area Builders Association. But the essence of the proposed building covenant is staying generally unchanged.

Among the changes included in the most current version of the duplex building covenant:

• Developers will need to include at least one “active amenity” owned and maintained by the developer or, eventually, by a homeowners’ association. Options include everything from a swimming pool, playground and splash pad to a sport court, dog park or clubhouse. Originally, three resident-serving amenities would have been required along with a minimum of a half-acre for public use. No acreage minimum is mentioned in the latest version of the proposed covenant.

• A minimum of two trees per lot are still going to be required, but developers now have the option of paying a fee to the city to get the trees planted instead of having the trees planted before a certificate of occupancy is issued.

• Developers now will be required to have at least five different building designs — originally the number was six — and there must be at least two lots separating a repeating design pattern. Originally, developers were going to be required to have at least five lots between repeating patterns.

• In addition, windows originally were going to be required to make up at least 10% of the front wall of the home. Now, the city could allow sidelights, transom windows and other transparent or glazed design elements to contribute to this number.

• Originally, garage doors were not going to be allowed to cover more than 50% of the front of future duplexes. As proposed, that number has been changed to 60%.

• While future developments may still not include more than 40% of the units as duplexes, the revised covenant will allow initial phases of the project to have more than 40% duplexes as long as the entire project still meets the 40% standard.

• A new requirement has been added to the covenant: Each newly constructed duplex built at grade and without a basement must include a storm shelter or safe room designed to provide protection from severe wind and tornadoes.

• Last month, the City Council did approve a sound separation requirement for duplexes. As part of the proposed covenant being considered on July 6, the sound separation requirement for duplexes is being further defined.

Tyler York, president and CEO of the Wichita Area Builders Association, said before the July 6 meeting that he thought the revisions were steps in the right direction, but they didn’t go far enough.

He specifically cited the 50% requirement on garage doors going to 60% as something that is going to be difficult for some builders to make happen at the best price points.

The other thing he mentioned was the 40% cap on the number of duplexes.

“They’re still limiting the most in-demand housing product to 40% overall,” York said. “That’s probably going to be an issue. We’ll see what builders and developers do with that.”

Goddard City Manager Craig Crossette told The Eagle before the July 6 City Council meeting that he feels good about the compromises that have been made.

“It’s been a lot of time and effort,” Crossette said. “I’m grateful for our partner developers and builders. I think our City Council members showed that they were willing to come to the table and listen to their concerns. I also think they did a good job of listening to our citizens’ concerns, which are legitimate concerns. The community should have a say in how the place looks.”

The Goddard City Council meets at 7 p.m. July 6 at 118 N. Main St.