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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.apz.19890822 /1{qU RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 22.1989 ~ Chairman Welton Anderson called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. with members Bruce Kerr, Michael Herron, Mari Peyton, Roger Hunt, Jasmine Tygre and Rich Compton present. Graeme Means was excused. COMMISSIONER'S COMMENTS Roger Hunt told the Commission the committee for the selection of consultants for the Rio Grande right-of-way met. Kaiser Engineers was picked unanimously. This will go before the RFTA board for final selection. They will be putting out the contract by next week. Bruce Kerr said the Council has continued the meetings on the Meadows and has set out an agenda for all of September and October. These are structured as work session rather than formally con- stituted sessions. The meetings will be on Wednesday, and Council is encouraging P & Z members to attend as many of the meetings as they can. Tom Baker, planning office, said the process for the Meadows is that there is going to be a master planning effort with the Council as the working committee with input from P & Z. Baker said one the master plan is adopted, the property owners and the non-profit groups will have the ability to submit a conceptual SPA plan and take it through the formal process. Council would like to have P & Z's assistance during the process. Kerr said Council plans to submit summaries of the meeting to P & Z members so they will know what is going on. STAFF COMMENTS Leslie Lamont, planning office, reminded the Board when they did the scoring of the Greystone Townhomes, the applicant, Buzz Dopkin, was directed to go back and look at alternatives for the wall. Ms. Lamont presented the alternatives he came up with. One thing the P & Z directed him to do was reduce the size of the fence by 40 percent. Ms. Lamont said the applicant is proposing to take out every other brick like a lattice work. The consensus of the Board was they could live with a 4 foot fence, which is a 33 percent reduction. MINUTES JULY 11. 1989 Ms. Tygre moved to approve the minutes of July 11, 1989; seconded by Hunt. All in favor, motion carried. 1 PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 22. 1989 CODE AMENDMENT DELICATESSEN AS A CONDITIONAL USE IN NC ZONE Leslie Lamont, planning office, told the Board the applicant for this code amendment is Jour De Fete, who is proposing an amendment to allow delicatessen as a conditional use in the NC zone district. Ms. Lamont said there is not a definition for delicatessen in the code. The applicant has created a definition of delicatessen, which is "delicatessen means an establishment which principally sells fresh and packaged foods and drink with limited consumption on premises; counter and counter-type seating may not exceed 15 seats and shall not include formal wait service". Ms. Lamont showed the Board the two existing NC zones. Ms. Lamont said staff recommends denial of this amendment. The primary issue is the definition which would allow seating in delicatessens. The NC district is intended to preserve locally oriented businesses. The permitted uses in the NC zone are drug store, food store, liquor store, dry cleaning and laundry pick-up station, barber shop, beauty shop, post office branch, record store, etc. The conditional uses in the NC zone are service station, laundromat, garden shop, hardware store, paint and wallpaper store, carpet, flooring and drapery shop, business and professional office and free market units which are accessory to permitted uses. Ms. Lamont said staff feels the ability for these type of estab- lishments to provide seating would increase the pressure in this zone for more intensive food establishments, like restaurants, to come in. Ms. Lamont said there are only two small NC zones. There is a risk of displacing necessary services in these zones. Ms. Lamont said the applicant is suggesting delicatessens should be a conditional use in the NC zone; however, conditional uses have become a problem with enforcement. The applicant currently has 10 seats in their store. Ms. Lamont said in the NC zone along Durant, the pressure for more tourist oriented businesses could really be increased due to the gondola and the Little Nell hotel. Jim Colombo, representing the applicant, said the purpose of the NC zone is to allow small convenience retail establishments as a part of a neighborhood, to reduce traffic generation, and to mitigate traffic circulation and parking problems, and to serve the daily or frequent needs of the neighborhood. Colombo said Jour De Fete does that and is not looking for an increase in intensive use. It is principally a food store and has always served items over the counter for consumption. This amendment would allow convenience of customers to sit down and consume the food. Colombo told the Board Jour De Fete has 80 percent business with locals and has not catered to tourists. Colombo said a food store is an allowed use in the NC zone, and that is principally what Jour De Fete is 2 PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 22. 1989 operating. colombo said he does not feel a restaurant with 15 seats and limited hours is going to compete with restaurants. Herron said he does not have a problem with a code amendment but does have a problem with stating the number of seats in the definition. Herron said this could be a condition rather than part of the definition. Herron said the building where Jour De Fete is located has deviated from the intent of the NC zone. Hunt agreed with staff's recommendation on this. Hunt said the definition of delicatessen could be as great as a 100 seat restaurant or as limited as a retail store. Hunt said he does not have a problem with defining delicatessen as a retail store. Hunt said adding seats makes an establishment become more of a restaurant and less of a retail store. Colombo said there would be no additional services but consumer would be able to sit down. Hunt said as soon as there is sit down service, there is time and employees involved in bussing the tables. Ms. Lamont reminded the Board this is a code amendment, which will address both NC zones. If this amendment passes, then Jour De Fete would apply for a conditional use. Ms. Lamont said the concern is how this code amendment will affect other businesses in the NC zone. Compton said he also supports staff's position. Colombo said the concern is that the seating would be able to increase and turn into a restaurant. That is why the number of seats was addressed in the recommended definition. Ms. Tygre said this is creating a definition for a delicatessen that is unreal- istic. Ms. Tygre said delicatessens allover the world have seating. The applicants are trying to take a word which already has a definition and trying to exclude restaurant use. Ms. Tygre said a place that sells food packaged over the counter is a food service operation which is different from a restaurant, where you go in, sit down and eat the food. Ms. Tygre said the distinction is very clear and the applicants cannot get away with calling this a delicatessen when it is a restaurant to people who are thinking about where to go and eat. Colombo said delicatessen does not exist in the city's code. Colombo said a definition of delicatessen as well as going through the conditional use procedure was the recommendation of the planning office. Colombo said food store definition already exists in the code and that is what this business is under. Ms. Tygre said the way the definition of delicatessen is written, it is a restaurant, which is not an appropriate use for the NC zone. Herron said he feels the Jour De Fete serves the needs of the local community better than some of the other businesses in the building. Herron said if the Commission says the applicant cannot have any seats under any circumstances, the Commission is saying that there 3 PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 22. 1989 are places where local can buy food but cannot eat food, which is discriminating. Peyton said food store is a permitted store but it is not defined in the code. Peyton suggested the Commission work on a definition for food store. Colombo said he cannot think of a more appropriate use for the NC zone than Jour De Fete. Kerr said it seems putting seating in this store would lower the number of people going in and out. Kerr asked why the owners would want to have seating. Colombo said the applicants are trying to serve the local population in the NC zone. Colombo said if the definition of the NC zone district is to reduce traffic generation, that is what this use does. If the condition is for convenience, that is what this use does. Olivier Mottier, applicant, told P & Z the reason for this application is that their local business is getting bigger and bigger and they need to be able to serve their clientele in the winter with a place to sit down. Kerr said he would rather come up with a definition for food store than adding another definition to the code. Anderson opened the public hearing. Glenn Rappaport said this business provides a great service and the area could use some life. Ms. Peyton said she would rather define food store and limit the seating to 10. Herron said it would be better planning to sit down on a case by case basis and determine what is appropriate for the location. John Walla said at some point the P & Z has to start saying people cannot rezone to come up with a new use. This would be a different use as a restaurant than a carry out and it takes more employees to serve tables. These employees all have to be housed. Hunt agreed tables and chairs equate to more employees. Hunt said he would consider minimal sit down in a delicatessen use. Kerr moved not to adopt the proposed code amendment and to direct staff to come up with a definition of food store for the code which would provide that limited seating for eating on premises would be permitted, with some number of seats not to exceed 10; seconded by Peyton. Herron asked whether the seating as part of a food store would be a conditional use. Kerr said he does not have a problem with that concept. Compton said seating includes tables and he would like to see if restricted to counter-type seating. Compton said he would rather see the number of seats be 7 so there is no room to congregate. Anderson said if this is a conditional use, the definition could state "minimal seating not to exceed 10". The Board can then review the number of seats. Anderson said he is concerned about creating a pressure on the NC zone as there has been on the C-1. Anderson said the proposed 4 PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 22. 1989 motion defines the limits and makes the seating clearly secondary to the food vending operation. Peyton asked if the motion could be amended to state no wait service. Kerr said he would agree; however, this motion is only to ask staff to prepare proposed changes and to have it come back to P & Z. Hunt said he is very concerned about restaurant type service in the NC zone. Hunt said the Board should address areas allocated with where people can eat, either seated or standing, like a percentage. Herron said he does not see why locals should have to stand up to eat. Anderson closed the pUblic hearing. All in favor, motion carried. MAROLT RANCH EMPLOYEE HOUSING CONCEPTUAL PUD/REZONING Tom Baker, planning office, said this is implementation of the housing plan dealing with the Marolt Ranch. Baker said staff is looking for direction from P & Z in the proposed conditions of the project. Baker said the formal action for rezoning will not take place until final PUD, when P & Z will also be looking at GMQS exemption, conditional use review for affordable housing in the public zone, and special review for parking. Baker said staff would like conceptual approval on the entire parcel and final approval come back in segments much like the Rio Grande parcel. Jim Adamski, housing office, said staff is dealing with the challenge of building quality housing on a quality site for low income category with 8 months of rent. Adamski said they have had about 15 meetings with a task force and have received a lot of input. Susanne Jackson, Design Workshop, told P & Z said they used the 4.3 acre parcel which was voted upon in the ballot and which was reduced from the original 10 acre parcel. Ms. Jackson said the remainder of the site is a large open meadow with a river gorge running along the edge. There is an existing trail through the property coming out on Castle Creek road. Ms. Jackson pointed out the uses on the parcel are the community garden, a hang glider landing area, a single family house, and some barns which the historical society is proposing to use. Ms. Jackson said most of the more developed area runs along the river gorge. Ms. Jackson said in developing a conceptual plan for the entire site, they tried to preserve as much of the agricultural meadow in the highway 82 corridor and put the uses along the river. Ms. Jackson said the location of the proposed employee housing is appropriate because it is near the Castleridge housing, the hospital development and the M.A.A. campus. 5 PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 22. 1989 Ms. Jackson suggested relocation of the community garden. The trail would be relocated to go around the development and come out somewhere near the bus stop on Castle Creek. The entrance would be where the community gardens are currently located. There is a parking area outside of the 4. 3 acre envelope. There are 5 building masses each consisting of twenty units. The total number of people to be housed is 300 music students in the summer and 150 seasonal employees at other times of the year. The thought is to cluster the units around a common open space to create a campus feeling and a nice social space. Ms. Jackson said they hope to remove vehicular traffic as much as possible from the interior spaces. Ms. Jackson said they considered auto disincentive programs and additional parking which could be provided at the M.A.A. campus in the winter. The parking calculations are .6 cars per unit. Ms. Jackson said there would be a shuttle van which would operate between the housing development, Truscott place, and the M.A.A. Ms. Jackson said irrigation ditches would have to be relocated to allow for planting and screening. Harry said the design of the units is an extension and coordination of the site planning. Harry said this type of housing is very unusual, seasonal dormitory type housing. Harry said they were trying to create a site plan and units that create a campus feeling and to create a place that had a sense of whole. Harry said this is based on using modules for economy and speed of construction. Harry said this units are very simple. The circulation is external, covered but not heated. The units provide two types of spaces; one in the front that would relate to the public side, and a space in the back that is quiet and private. Harry said these units will be 3 bedroom units with a common room with 2 complete bathrooms. In the winter these will be two autonomous one-bedroom units. There are 3 lockable storage units per unit. Harry pointed out the rooms would have kitchenettes; the cafeteria is not part of the proposal. There are no practice rooms. Harry Truscott, housing board, said they are prepared to sign the contract on the residential part of the project. The M.A.A. is seeing what they can do about the cafeteria. Truscott said the housing authority is prepared to go ahead with the residential only, recognizing the space may be filled with the cafeteria in the future. Adamski said they are trying to get 50 units to be occupied by June and the cafeteria may have to come later. Harry said the cafeteria would prevent traffic and improve the quality of life in this space. Adamski told P & Z if they cannot get these units on line by June, the M.A.A. will be occupying the permanent area at Truscott Place. 6 PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 22. 1989 Baker said the parks department has outlined a list of things they would like to see in the park zoned area. Baker said the appro- priate time for these specifics is at final PUD. Baker said this review for the park zoned area can be done independent of the housing program. The concerns of the sanitation district on the easement has been addressed. Baker said staff has asked RFTA if there can be a more direct connection between this housing and the bus stop. Right now it means walking up hill and across Castle Creek drive. Hunt asked if there is a more direct route to get to the Marolt barn and is this area going to be lighted. Baker said the engineering department has concerns about the access road, which may be a cut in the hillside. The water department was concerned about the 20 inch transmission line and relocating that. The applicant is working with the water department to create an easement so that the line does not have to be disturbed. The applicant is addressing the concerns about fire hydrants and sprinklers. The county engineer is concerned about access to the site, and the dangerous sight lines on the curve. There is likely to be more traffic on Castle Creek road with this project and the M.A.A. campus. Baker said the city should re-initiate efforts in getting a trail between the music school and the Marolt property. Baker said the first review standard for this project is consist- ency with the city's plans. Baker said generally this is consis- tent, however, there is some discrepancies with the adopted Marolt- Thomas concept plans. Baker said this will be addressed later. Baker said another review standard is off street parking. Baker said the housing authority will be doing similar auto disincentive things as they are doing at Truscott place. Someone with cars will be paying more. There will be a shuttle system. Baker pointed out the landscape plan is very sketchy. The plan talks about berming on the north side of the site. Baker said he would like direction from P & Z about the landscape plan. Baker said he toured with Al Blomquist on the irrigation system on the Marolt. Blomquist has expressed concerns that the conceptual plan show a more elaborate irrigation system with a different configura- tion so that when the highway department comes in to develop the entrance to town, there is an adopted document to keep in place things the city needs on this property like trails, ditches and park land. Baker said staff finds the conceptual layout of the architectural site plan very acceptable. Baker said P & Z should look at the design strategies, discuss the merits, and give the applicants direction if this proposal is acceptable or P & Z wants another concept explored. Baker said the traffic and pedestrian circula- tion is another design standard, which revolves around the access 7 PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 22. 1989 point and safety consideration. Baker said there is a proposal to move the access further south. Al Blomquist, PCPA, told Council they met on the site. Their recommendation is that the on-site parking be moved. Blomquist said PCPA feels the landscape screen or berm should be very significant and have planting on top. The roadway access should be off the hospital intersection. Blomquist said there are some problems with the irrigation on site. Blomquist said PCPA feels much of the site should be reserved for athletic fields and other park uses and this should be pedestrian oriented. Blomquist said in order to get people riding the buses, something has to be done with the design to make it an attractive way to travel. Blomquist said this property is served by two ditches. The Holden ditch is also the source of 50 percent of the golf course irriga- tion. The Marolt ditch also crosses the property and goes to the golf course. Blomquist said the parks department has applied for $50,000 to clean these ditches. The only way to get to the Holden ditch is through this site, which is very narrow. Blomquist said PCPA feels the ditch cleaning work should be done this fall as part of the fast track of this project. The ditch should be run to the edge of the trees and a pond installed, paid for by the city. Blomquist said the location of the highway will affect how the access the trails and the irrigation are handled. Harry Truscott, housing authority, told the Board they have a tight schedule for these units. Truscott said these suggestions will require more design work. Truscott said the housing office has never considered the irrigation work as part of their application. Blomquist urged the housing authority ask Council to fund the ditch work to be done this fall. Baker said the recommendations of PCPA can be addressed when P & Z goes through the conditions. Baker said the rezoning issues are addressed in the SPA. The city will not take final action on the rezoning until the final PUD. Baker said the adopted Marolt/Thomas plan shows water features for either alignment. The P & Z has discussed the ponds on this property in the past. Baker said staff does not have a problem with re-routing the ditches but needs to figure out an acceptable way to deal with this so that it does not affect the housing proposal. Baker said there is a conceptual plan with the existing highway and the trails work on this. Baker said staff would like to see a conceptual plan with the direct connection for the highway and showing how the trails system would work. Baker said the highway EIS will be coming in soon. If the city has conceptual plans which buttress the need for trails and ditches, there is more leverage to get the highway department to help fund the changes. 8 PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 22. 1989 Baker recommended conceptual PUD approval with conditions. The first condition deals with a more direct pedestrian route between the housing development and the RFTA bus stop. Hunt agreed with Blomquist's access suggestion opposite the hospital road for both pedestrian and cars. Ms. Jackson told the P & Z they looked at this for the access. with the steep grade and the lines of sight, it is difficult for safety and turning reasons. Hunt said he would like it designed so that it can be safe. Ms. Jackson pointed out it would require large road cuts. Ms. Tygre agreed the vehicular access has to be at the same point at that to the hospital. Ms. Tygre said this project should be able to use the existing bus route with greater frequencies to the bus service. Jim Adamski, housing director, said a road cut at that point on the property is impractical. Adamski said he will work with the design team to see if anything can be done. Baker said he will change the condition to add, "the applicant is to investigate a better solution to the access road that brings it closer to the hospital and that the pedestrian access is going to be changed to reflect what the PCPA proposal illustrates, and that RFTA headways should be improved." Anderson said the last part may be premature; that RFTA will increase their headways when the demand is there. Baker said the second condition is to improve the lighting along the pedestrian ways. Adamski said they will do this on their property. Baker said this condition only suggests on the Marolt property. Hunt said he feels ultimately lighting has to go along the path to the bridge. Anderson said lighting to the bus stop is the highest priority and eventually they would like to see it to the pedestrian bridge. Baker said the next condition deals with maintenance and requests that city staff come to a maintenance agreement on what walks should be shoveled. Compton pointed out currently the bridge is being used as a ski trail in the winter and shoveling is not compatible. Baker said there is 4 feet width available on the bridge for pedestrians. Baker said the fourth condition deals with the shuttle system and how it is going to be operated. Baker said these details should be supplied at final consideration. Adamski said they would like to see how the shuttle system works at the Red Roof, how the intersection is going to work, and design around this. Adamski said there will be a shuttle service for occupants of this project. The fifth conditions deals with the cafeteria and how food service will be handled for the winter resident. Adamski pointed out there are some cooking facilities available. Harry Truscott told P & Z the housing board has discussed with the lessees of the restaurants at the Red Roof about starting food service for winter use. Truscott said they have been told that seasonal people will not use 9 PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 22. 1989 a cafeteria. Truscott said they would like to leave the cafeteria as an M.A.A. possibility. It is doubtful that it will be used for seasonal employees. Ed Zasacky said he feels that public projects should be held to the highest standards or the city will be left open to criticism. Zasacky said P & Z should be extremely careful with this project; make sure the landscaping is done right, have a feasibility study done. Hunt agreed the cafeteria will not be used by winter residents. Hunt said he feels the units should have an efficiency kitchen at least. Truscott said the employee housing was successful last winter with a microwave only. Hunt said this is setting the seasonal employees up as second class citizens. Baker said he will add that the applicants are going to investigate a more elaborate eating facility in the units. Hunt said the sixth condition deals with trail between the music school and the Marolt property and who should take the lead in that. Baker said he feels PCPA and the parks department ought to take the lead, that it is inappropriate to expect the housing authority to do this. Baker said the museum is being accessed from the trail. Baker said the trail should be adequately built to handle service traffic. Baker said the community gardens will be part of the final PUD. Hunt asked if the more direct trail routing to the pedestrian bridge is part of condition 7. Baker said he will add this in one of the conditions, number 7 might not be the right one. Baker said this direct route can be looked at at final PUD. Baker told P & Z the papers for the sanitation district's process for the emergency line extension have been addressed. The tenth condition addresses the water line and determination if the housing can be sited in such a way as to eliminate the need for relocating the 20 inch main transmission line. Ms. Jackson showed this would required some relocating of buildings to accommodate a 20 foot easement with no buildings around the water line. Ms. Jackson said they need to know the exact location of the line water before siting the buildings. Baker said the 11th and 12th conditions will be dealt with; these are fire hydrants and sprinkler systems. These are required by the building code. Baker said condition 13 states that the staff has some concern about the pedestrian bridge over the access road. Baker said he does not know if this is essential to keep the grade down or to separate pedestrians from traffic. Baker said getting a pedestrian bridge high enough to allow trucks under will make it quite visible from the highway corridor. Baker said the applicant should address redesigning the pedestrian access to the bus stop and if that bridge is needed. Ms. Jackson said they can take some 10 PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 22. 1989 cross sections from the highway to determine how visible this bridge will be. Baker said the rationale for this is to keep the snow on the cross country trails for the winter. Baker asked whether this is a good enough rationale as opposed to just taking one's skis off and walking across the road to the downside of visibility and cost. Ms. Jackson said this bridge would create a gateway to the project. Compton said he would like to see a bridge studied to see if it feasible. Adamski said they tried to make this project something that is not hidden with a berm. Hunt said he hopes the pedestrian bridge becomes unnecessary with the realignment. Hunt said he could live with a bridge and some recontouring. Baker said condition 15 the city wants to know what the applicant proposes to do in terms of paving the trails. Adamski said anything they are putting on the site should be paved. Baker said bike racks on the project should be part of the final presentation. Compton suggested that the bike racks be designed into the buildings rather than out in the open. Baker said recycling containers should be provided on-site. Baker said condition #18 is the conceptual SPA issue and showing the direct connection and a trails system that works with that direct connection. Anderson asked who should be responsible for this and how will it effect their application. Anderson said the highway connection will affect how trails and irrigation are planned throughout the property. Baker said the highway connection does not affect the housing. Baker said staff can recommend to Council that PCPA work with the parks department on developing a conceptual plan that will address the highway entrance, trail alternatives and irrigation. Kerr said he fails to see the rationale of moving the parking anywhere but to the east of where the buildings sites are. Kerr pointed out there are acres of open space to the north of these buildings and he does not see a reason to create a separate parking lot when it can be put along the access road into the site. Ms. Jackson said the idea was to create a campus atmosphere. Filling this up with cars minimizes the open space. Harry said these are minimal units, tightly packed, and the amenity is to make the open space pretty great. Baker said the direction he needs from P & Z is whether this proposal seem excessive, rather than actually designing the parking. Tygre said the parking is excessive and it can be reduced somewhat, brought closer to the buildings. Tygre said the plan should be discouraging automobile use as much as possible and should be reduced. Tygre said the smaller paved parking lots are, the more attractive it is and the more likely people will use other forms of transportation. 11 PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 22. 1989 Hunt said he feels the same number of parking spaces can be condensed into less area. Hunt said the parking is in the appropriate place. Hunt said the applicants should address the ability to maintain the ditches in the future. Hunt said these buildings are rather major monoliths and if they can be broken up and angled more, it would make it a nicer project. Compton said he generally likes the plan. Hal Clark said P & Z should address how the other users of the property will be handled. Ms. Jackson showed how some of the buildings will be broken up. Tygre moved to approved conceptual PUD for Marolt Ranch with the conditions as listed in the planning office memorandum as amended at this meeting; seconded by Hunt. All in favor, motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m. ~~ ~L--& <bAa""'J- N CH, I Y CLERK }Jr~ () (Now you know why they were so good!) Jan