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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning And Zoning Board - Minutes - 10/28/1996The meeting was called to order at 6:34 p.m. by Chairperson Bell. Roll Call: Weitkunat, Chapman, Byrne, Colton, Davidson, Gavaldon, Bell. Staff Present: Blanchard, Ludwig, Duvall, Bracke, Reavis, Deines. Agenda Review: Current Planning Director Blanchard reviewed the Consent and Discussion Agenda which consisted of the following: 1. Minutes of the April 22 and May 20, 1996 Planning and Zoning Board Hearings. (April 22nd only) 2. #40-9413 Lincoln East - Overall Development Plan 3. #48-94A Wuerker Residential Addition - NCM Site Plan Review 4. #21-89G Troutman Office Park PUD - Preliminary & Final 5. #3-94F Willow Springs, Second Filing, Tract G, Amended P.U.D. 6. #8-96A The Greens at Collindale PUD - Final 7. Modifications of Conditions of Final Approval 8. Resolution PZ96-13 Easement Vacation 9. Resolution PZ96-14 Easement Vacation DISCUSSION AGENDA: 10. #6-96 Harmony Towne Center PUD - Preliminary 11. Recommendation to City Council for the Approval of the Principles and Policies Document as part of City Plan Mr. Blanchard stated that the May 20, 1996 minutes are not included in Item 1. Member Gavaldon pulled Item 2, Lincoln East Overall Development Plan, to be voted on separately due to a conflict of interest. Member Weitkunat moved to approve Consent Item 2, Lincoln East Overall Development Plan. Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 2 Member Chapman seconded the motion. The motion passed 6-0 with Member Gavaldon abstaining. Member Colton moved to approve Consent Items 1 excluding the May 20, 1996 minutes, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Member Weitkunat seconded the motion. The motion passed 7-0. HARMONY TOWNE CENTER PUD - PRELIMINARY Mike Ludwig gave the Staff Report recommending approval. Lucia Liley, applicant representative, submitted to the Board a packet of letters from surrounding neighbors. She presented a background of the original Harmony Corridor Plan that relates to this project. She stated that shortly after the property was purchased by the applicant in 1993, two moratoriums were placed on the Harmony Corridor - one affected development in the Harmony Corridor and the other affected development of any superstores. Throughout the moratorium period, the owners worked with the City and the mobile home park residents, Neighbor to Neighbor, the Housing Authority and private groups on relocation efforts of the mobile home park residents. She stated that City Council specifically found, in the ordinance that imposed the moratorium in the Harmony Corridor, that changes to the plan were necessary to more adequately plan for the proper locations, size, quantity, type and design of retail and commercial development in the corridor. In making the revisions to the plan, City Council found that the suggested amendments were intended to strengthen the vision of the corridor and that it was a place that would be an activity center for northern Colorado. In the memo that accompanied the ordinance, it stated that all retail and commercial uses must be done within a shopping center, all future major shopping centers will only be permitted if shown on the map. This proposal is on that map. The city recognized the difference character of regional shopping centers versus other shopping centers by emphasizing that the primary focus should be on the vehicular access from arterial in non-residential collector streets. This proposal complies with the locational and site specific criteria. In regards to design standards and guidelines of the Harmony Corridor Plan, this proposal's setback is different than other properties further east on Harmony Road. These properties are not required to meet the 80 foot buffer setback that other properties typically are. The setback depends upon site constraints, what is being proposed, how narrow or wide the property is, how close to College Avenue, etc. Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 3 Ms. Liley continued by stating that the City found in the comprehensive study of superstores that they generate similar amount of traffic to normal shopping centers. Because superstores draw traffic throughout the community and region, they should be encouraged to locate at the corner of two arterials. This project does that. This project also meets the size issue of this study. Parking also meets the study criteria. She added that the variance request is for a small portion of Building A and is done solely to have a unified design and to eliminate two separate loading docks for two developing commercial projects. The second variance is to the parking lot orientation standard of the superstore ordinance. This ordinance states that a development cannot have more 50% of the entire property between the front facade of the principal building and the primary abutting street. From the onset, the applicant has maintained that a variance to this standard is not required. Staff has stated that a technical variance is required and without it they would recommend denial of the project for failure to meet one of the required standards. The applicant disagrees with this interpretation. The key question is what is the primary abutting street - the applicant says Harmony and Staff says JFK Parkway. The reason the applicant indicates Harmony is because Harmony seems to be a more significant street. It runs the entire length of the project. It carries more traffic and is a gateway to the corridor of the city. Staff originally agreed then reversed their position on the basis that Building I, because of the alignment with JFK Parkway, seems to orient more to JFK than Harmony. The standard states that one building is not isolated. The entire property must be looked at to determine what is the abutting street. In looking at this property, it is clear that the primary abutting street is Harmony Road. Under these interpretations, no variance is required. She stated that in submitting the variance justification, the applicant did not intend to waive any right to continue to assert that no variance is required for this particular standard. The applicant proceeded in this manner based upon a clear direction from the staff that unless a variance were submitted and granted, the project would be recommended for denial. Aside from these legal issues, the end result is the same. It still distributes parking around JFK Parkway and Harmony but preserves and protects the view from Harmony Road better than a strict mathematic 50/50 allocation. She then introduced Don Slack, the architect for this project. Mr. Donald Slack, SEM Architects, stated that the choice of the retailer for this site is to face Harmony because it carries the majority of the traffic. In reviewing the superstore guidelines, the critical component of the guidelines had to do with where the parking fell. The requirement indicated that no more than 50% of the parking should be located between the principal facade and the primary abutting street. This requires two things to take place. Harmony Road is in fact the primary abutting street. Their goal was to find a way to not put the cars facing Harmony. What they did was to move the boxes around so that JFK Parkway splitting the site, as proposed by the Transportation Plan, a box on the eastern side facing JFK Parkway, and a singular large building with Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 4 multiple entrances facing east, west and south and forms a series of neighborhoods. This principal distinction between a traditional way out and a conceptual way out required by the superstore guidelines is the immediate compromise and change that they made to the plan in order to begin of understanding how to put a project like this together. The other components that came into play had to do with transportation circulation. JFK Parkway was a north/south street. As the property was developed, they needed to connect to JFK Parkway on the north. This required them to bend JFK through the site and bring it back to the location at Hogan. This created two parcels separated by JFK, created the shape of the Home Depot site and resulted in the remainder of the site on the west side of JFK. He stated that the other aspect of the superstore guidelines that shape the project had to do with pedestrian access. He demonstrated how the have met the guidelines for walks along the perimeters of all the streets, connections of walks from those streets into the buildings, the safe occurrence of where the pedestrian and autos cross. He stated that one of the critical things that they attempted to achieve was some sort of local reference. They chose a diagonal parking scheme which served to slow down the traffic, to allow convenient parking to those stores located in that area, and allows the pedestrian quick access to all the shops on either side. They have created a bikeway on Harmony, a detached sidewalk and a berm and wall scenario that the Harmony Corridor Plan speaks to as ways to screen and mitigate impact of traffic. He believed that in this project they have established patio and seating areas, pedestrian plaza with benches, bus traffic on JFK into the site, window shopping walkway, outdoor play area, kiosk water feature and clock tower or similar focal feature. Regarding the architecture, the size of the building is less important than the scale and humanizing of these buildings. They have chosen a palette of materials from bricks to stuccos and accent materials of awnings and fabrics that reflect some of the Old Downtown color schemes and patterns that will reduce the scale of the buildings. He pointed out that they have preserved the large cottonwood tree and about 40% of the existing trees and their total number of trees, through new landscaping, will be about 300% of what was existing on the site. Regarding the neighbors to the south, they have tried to respect their concerns. They did two primary things: 1) To keep traffic out of Fairview Estates and slow traffic down, they have created a gateway scenario whereby they brought the existing wing walls in and added landscaping and archway and a very strong pattern treatment off the edge of Harmony; and 2) to prevent through traffic north and south. Ms. Liley noted that JFK Parkway has always been shown on the City's Master Street Plan to be a four lane arterial designated to handle about 30,000-40,000 vehicles per day, which is much more than this project would generate. Matt Delich, Traffic Study Engineer, stated that the scope of the traffic study was a weekday afternoon peak hour analysis and a Saturday mid -day peak hour analysis. Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 5 Daily trip generation for this site was determined to be 24,900 trip ends on a daily basis. These are made up of the following components: pass by traffic (7,000 or 25-30% of the traffic), multi -use capture trips (3,000 or 10-15% of the traffic), and new trips (14,000-15,000). A second left turn lane will be added to Harmony/College intersection in both directions. They also will change the exclusive right turn lanes to through right turn lanes. At the Kensington intersection, they will add the east leg of Kensington along with the necessary geometry both on the east leg and the west leg to have it function efficiently and safely. They are also adding a northbound right turn lane to that northbound on College to Kensington. Signalization will be installed at this intersection. On Harmony Road, they will add a limited turn intersection. At the intersection of JFK Parkway, Harmony and Hogan, there will be traffic signals installed. Ms. Liley added that the proposed geometry have been reviewed and approved by the City's Traffic Department and by Colorado Department of Transportation. She stated that the construction cost estimates that was handed out to the Board were revised to add $46,000 of developer costs to the project. The developer will put in both through traffic improvements made and through street oversizing fees paid which is $1.782 million and will be eligible for an estimated $506,000 from city oversizing funds. These are based strictly on city code requirements. This will be determined at the time of final approval. She commented that all of the reimbursements that would come back to the developer based on the code are not general funds money but come strictly out of the city's oversizing funds and the only monies paid upon building permit issuance for development. She summarized that the city has spent time and money defining what they want to see happen in the Harmony Corridor and on this particular site. This proposal of a regional shopping center fully complies with each and every locational and site specific requirements of the Harmony Corridor. The city has also spent time defining where and how superstores should occur. This proposal fully complies with each and every locational criteria and standard. Member Chapman asked for the accuracy of projections on pass by traffic. Mr. Delich replied that he periodically does reliability checks on traffic studies that he has done. On a number of projects, he is very accurate. Harold Swope, President of Fairway Estates Property Owners Association, stated that they appreciated the developers, landowners and architects involved the neighborhood with this proposal and are for the development. One concern was drainage and they were pleased to hear that the drainage would not go into Mail Creek. Traffic is still a major concern. 90% of the homeowners would like to have a left/right turn only and did Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 6 not want traffic to proceed across from JFK Parkway to Hogan Drive. There is a high volume of pedestrian traffic on their 25 foot wide streets in the subdivision. Traffic is already cutting through Fairway Estates to avoid the major intersection at Harmony and College. Chuck Panella, Fairway Estates Board member, stated that Fairway Estates is not in the city limits but is in unincorporated Larimer County yet all the entrances and exits from the subdivision are city controlled streets. The subdivision already has a significant problem with the volume and speed of traffic through Fairway Estates. Over the last two years they have done everything they could to modify driver behavior in the subdivision. They have installed three way stop signs, increased the signage to decrease the speed. Unfortunately, this has been to little avail. He submitted a document from Captain Bob Parish from the Colorado State Patrol which stated that the area has been patrolled on three different occasions. Unfortunately, these operations were successful only in that the review of the problem still exists. Capt. Parish stated that they will continue their efforts as often as possible however with the staffing level he could not promise anything more than what has already occurred. Mr. Panella stated that they are not asking the city to fix the problem but to insure that it does not get worse with the wrong traffic management with the approval of this PUD. They go along with the approval of this PUD but ask that the access across Harmony Road directly from JFK Parkway and Hogan Drive not be allowed in either direction. Tom Smith, partner in limited business property to the south of Harmony Road, stated that he is supportive of the plan. In August, they provided to the City access design, from criteria provided by Mr. Delich, to allow reasonable access to the south so that extensive modifications would not be required at a later time during the development of their site. Planning Staff has encouraged them to have some vision relative to how they might do something with their site in the future. Anticipation of the access that goes between the two sites at this time is prudent rather than doing a year or two later. He distributed copies to the Board of his letter and preliminary access plan that would service their site to the south. Martin West, property owner adjacent to the north of this site, stated that this is a good plan but had concerns about the Home Depot site being planned on their property and the alignment of Pavilion Drive. He believed the majority of the drainage from the proposed site is being drained onto their property. Another concern is that once JFK goes through their site, their property taxes will increase. He asked that there be a solution to this problem. Robert Gallenstein, property owner directly across the street from this proposal, stated that he has been ignored by the developer. However, he stated that the proposal was a Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 7 good looking package. He had concerns about the access off of Harmony, of traffic going west, to get to their properties. He believed that he has the smallest piece of land on Harmony to be developed which makes it essential that this proposal be done right or his property will be destroyed. He asked to talk with the developer. Steve Schrader, owner of Schrader Oil, stated that the greatest change they have seen at the intersection of College and Harmony was the access denial of southbound traffic. His father worked very hard to keep access there for left bound turning across and very much negatively impacted their property. He stated that this proposal will allow them to regain access from southbound traffic on College Avenue. This will also give their customers the opportunity to get out onto Harmony Road without so much danger. They would like to improve their property along with this proposal for the safety of their customers and appearance of their property. If they get access through the Harmony Towne Center as they have been assured, then his property will have better access in the future. He added that they are in favor of approval of this proposal. Tim Dolan, 4212 New Hampton Court, stated that the developers on this project have raised the standards for community involvement with the adjacent neighborhoods. Overall, this project will be a welcome addition to the city. Beth Cross, housing counselor with Neighbor to Neighbor, stated that the developers commitment to all the residents in trying to vacate the mobile home park property and finding housing for them has been phenomenal. The developers involvement in the community is important. This is the kind of commitment that deserves the community's support. She stated that the plan looks great. Joel Bryan concurred with Ms. Cross in regards to the developers' commitment in aiding the residents. He believed that this proposal should be approved. Betty Radecki, former resident and homeowners association board member from Pioneer Mobile Park, stated that the developers did everything they could to help relocate the residents and to plan a mecca forjobs, businesses and revenue. Growth mandates expediency and support and with the support of the city, this development will be a benefit for everyone. Joe Hand, resident of Brittany Knolls, stated that he was in support of this development and seemed to be a unique place to go. This development will also create more jobs. Phil Palmer stated that he was in favor of this proposal. He believed that extending Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 8 Fossil Creek Parkway to Lemay Avenue would assist with the congestion in Fairway Estates. He stated that he looks forward to seeing this plan developed. Lou Stitzel, TRAC Housing, stated that she concurred with comments about the cooperative nature of the developers. The developers have also been helpful and supportive of the 12 unit townhouse development to the north of this project which could provide walk to work for residents of the nearby neighborhoods. She stated that the most important thing is that this development fits in as a demonstration of a mixed use district for the new City Plan. Joe Ricciardi, 1509 Buckeye, stated that he has been a resident of Fort Collins for about 3'/z years. He appreciates living in Fort Collins and the things that the P&Z Board do to make sure that projects like this and other projects do not become like the town he came from in Connecticut. Local owners and developers seem to care more about development that is done in their town. Sean Ashe, resident of south Fort Collins, stated that he strongly supports this proposal. Fort Collins has a great quality of life and is a great place to live and work. Unfortunately, with the inevitable growth that will continue, we, as a city, need to approve plans that will facilitate that growth and still protect the quality of life. This is a unique and has had a lot of effort put into it. He requested that the Board approve this proposal. Laurie Schlatter, 1100 Paragon Place, stated that she was in support of this project. She stated that she looks forward to a project in the south end of town that facilitates unique shopping and a place to gather with friends. She urged approval of this project. Cindy South, Fossil Creek Meadows resident, stated that she supported the approval of this project. She was encouraged by the compassion of the developer at the beginning of this project with the relocation of the residents of Pioneer Mobile Home Park. She encouraged the Board to approve this project. Sister Mary Alice Murphy, CARE Housing, stated that this project's company had heart in the relocation. She was impressed with their compassion and professionalism in dealing with the mobile home park residents. They set a stage for Fort Collins, and hopefully Larimer County, in that people cannot come in and just dislocate people without taking some responsibility for their relocation. Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 9 Chris Mitchell, Fort Collins native, stated that he was extremely impressed with the developer in their relocation of the park residents. He is in favor of this project. This proposal is an upgrade to this location and since Harmony is one of the first entrances to Fort Collins, will make a good impression on visitors to Fort Collins. Eldon Ward, Cityscape Urban Design, stated that he was surprised with the need for a variance with this given the interpretation of this project. He believed that it is important that when you have applicants that go this far to work with the community and design things directly out of the guidelines that citizen groups and the city put in a lot of hours to create, they should get some support. Scott Mason, 861 Sandy Cove Lane, commended the developers for the work that they did with the mobile home park residents and the work that they have done with the neighborhoods. He was a citizen participant on the Harmony Corridor Plan and at that point it was clearly defined what the land use was going to be at this location. He concur with the land use but believed the parking was too large. One of the things the big box standards call for is a pedestrian friendly network of walkways. He could not find a network in the plans, just individual walkways. He asked how a pedestrian gets from Pad One to Building A, from Building A to Building C, from Pad 2 to Pad 3, from Pad 3 to Building F, from Pad 4 to Pad 5, etc. These buildings are islands in a sea of a parking lot. The large box in the center of the facility seems more like a "Hollywood prop" than a town center. He believed that Home Depot could be moved closer to JFK Parkway and hide more of the parking in the rear. He commented that the pedestrian area that is located in front of the loading zone does not make sense. He suggested not waiving the requirement on hiding and splitting the parking 50/50 on this project. This is the first real test of the big box standards and the city should stand by these standards. He crosses College and Harmony intersection everyday on bike or on foot. He believes that what is being created at this intersection is a community barrier. He questioned how children, seniors or special needs people would get across this intersection. In conclusion, he commended the developer for their work but raised the bar for the community and asked them to attempt to achieve something that is significantly different than the standard big box commercial centers. With no further input, Citizen Input was closed at this time. Ms. Liley addressed the continuation of Hogan and JFK intersection. She stated that they agree and fully endorse the request. Mr. Bracke, City Traffic Engineer, is willing to consider and look at left and right turn movements only. She stated that the developer is continuing to work with the city on access because they affect city decisions to the south. These will be finalized between preliminary and final applications. In regards to Mr. Mason's comments, she stated that there is no distribution of parking around the Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 10 buildings. In regards to the variance request, it is the developers position that the variance is not required. Even if it were, to grant a variance where you end up with a better design, it would create more parking between the principal building and Harmony Road which is not what the Harmony Road document encourage. She added that all of the traffic generated from this project will be accounted for and dealt with in all improvements built by the developer to accommodate. Mr. Slack stated that the guidelines give them substantial direction on what they must achieve with any solution. The guidelines do not preclude one solution from another. The guidelines say that whatever solution is chosen, certain standards must be met. They have met the parking distribution, pedestrian friendly environment and pedestrian network between buildings. He believed that they should not judge so much on what other choices they might have within a site design but whether or not the site design they have chosen meet the requirements. It has been made clear by staff and support of the neighborhood that they have met the requirements. Member Byrne commented that there are two kinds of people, given a choice in their daily activities, in this world; those that will drive and those that will walk. In regards to Table 4 of the Traffic Study, he asked for clarification of the level of service for the intersection of College and Harmony. Mr. Delich replied that the analysis in the applicant's notebook was done with the background traffic only. Two different things came into play in the analysis. The analysis in the black notebook was more refined. He used a cycle length of 100 seconds and got a level of service F conditions. In the other book he used a cycle length of 110 seconds. This analysis was done within the last month. The report he did was done in February 1996. Since that report was done, there has been three updates from the transportation and development community. Member Byrne asked what "short range" meant. Mr. Delich replied that it is build out of the site in a few years. Member Byrne asked if this project is proposing a geometry that does not have a standard yet. Mr. Bracke replied that this proposal is not under the new street standards. The new street standards state that there are three travel lanes in each direction, 8 foot bike lanes and landscaping median and can provide a left turn lane. This is not necessarily at the intersection. At the intersection, as a rule, always provide auxiliary lanes, whether they are left turn, double left turns or right turn lanes. Congestion occurs at the Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 11 intersections. Providing those auxiliary lanes help decrease that. The street standards, either the old or the new, do not address geometry at the intersection. Member Byrne had concerns about the pedestrian and bike crossings at Harmony and College. Kathy Reavis, City Traffic Department, stated that details can be worked through as to how to design the crossings at these major intersections to make them more pedestrian friendly. There are opportunities with this plan that can be employed. In the pedestrian plan it was discussed that the radius at the intersection would be as tight as possible in order to slow down the turning vehicles. It also had to do with how the ADA ramps were designed and by making the radius smaller it allowed to do more of the trough style ramps that direct the pedestrian in the direction they want to go versus ones that go out to the middle. Member Byrne commented that what is happening here is that a standard is being created ad -hoc without the kind of discussion that is needed. In terms of what is most important is at the intersections because that is where people will cross on bikes and walking. He asked how many vehicles, once this project goes in, per day will be on Harmony and on College. Mr. Delich replied that the counts that are done are typically done during the peak hours eluded to earlier. These are one hour duration. Daily trip generations are not easily understood and no real analysis is done on it. Member Byrne stated that he would like to promote is getting projects that have a high component of traffic issues in them to go through the Transportation Board and having them look at the transportation aspects. He asked if there has been any discussions on getting the big traffic problems through the Transportation Board before they come to the P&Z Board. Mr. Bracke stated that the Transportation Board's primary role is to provide policy guidance to City Council and not operational type of issues. He added , in answer to Member Byrne's question, that there would be 30,000-33,000 cars per day on both College and Harmony if this project was built today. Currently, there are about 27,000 cars per day. Member Davidson asked how many lanes will there be on Harmony when this project is built out. Mr. Delich replied that there would seven lanes on Harmony at the intersection on the Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 12 east side of College. Currently there are six lanes. On the north side of College it would be the same as it currently is. Member Davidson asked how much time would a pedestrian have to get across College with 8 lanes. Mr. Delich replied that the typical walk time is from 3'/2 to 4'/2 feet per second or 28 seconds. It would be the same across Harmony. Member Davidson had concerns that the walk sign would not be long enough for pedestrian to cross a 12 lane street before a car in the right turn lane begins to turn. Mr. Bracke stated that with areas where there is high pedestrian activity, there are signs at the signals that do not allow a right turn on red when pedestrians are present. For the most part it is obeyed but there are violations of it. On this particular intersection, however, he has looked at extending the time to get across when the pedestrian button is pushed. Member Davidson stated that he does not see this intersection as pedestrian friendly at all because a pedestrian would be in a panic mode when they are trying to cross the street. He asked if there are any other possibilities. Mr. Bracke replied that there are a few short tunnels in town but when there are 100 foot tunnels it is more terrifying for some people, especially at night. Overpasses seem to work well when you have the opportunity channel all the pedestrians from a great distance. Most of the overpasses that were built in the 1970s are considered ineffective and they are not being built right now. The ones that are being built are over extreme barriers such as interstates or major limited access type highways. Member Davidson asked what the total cycle time would be if the pedestrian time was extended. Mr. Bracke replied that the cycle time would probably be increased to 120 seconds. That time would be taken from the green arrow. Member Weitkunat asked if an entrance would be built off of Pavilion Lane. Mr. Bracke replied that the expectation is that when Mr. West develops his property he will extend in some fashion over to JFK Parkway. What this project wants to do is to project an access point that exists along the western edge up to and connecting with Pavilion Lane which would provide a secondary way in as well. Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 13 Member Weitkunat asked, on Pad site 3, if the pedestrian crossing is along a loading dock. Mr. Bracke replied that this is a trash enclosure and is on the east side of the pedestrian walkway. As they look to refining the details at final, this is something that will be reviewed. The history is that the number of service trips versus the number of pedestrian trips should not create a conflict. Member Weitkunat asked if Building I has residential access to Penter Estates into the site other than walking along Harmony Road. Mr. Bracke replied that this is correct. Harmony Road creates the public connect and is screened and bermed. Member Gavaldon asked if the city was willing to put in a left/right turn lane at the Hogan Drive intersection. Mr. Bracke replied that the residents have asked that this to be a right out and left out. The only way to control this effectively is with a median. However, a median is not an option because of the fire station. It will be signed as a left out, right out and left in only. Chairperson Bell asked what is anticipated with Schrader Oil property in terms of access points and on the property on the south side of Harmony Road. Mr. Bracke replied that in terms of Schrader Country Store, they are not looking at any change in the access other than the elimination of his left turn in. He currently has access on Harmony and on College. He added that the people who own the property south of this proposal have asked for the inclusion and median design. Currently, they are providing a 3/4 movement with this intersection and medians that will work its way down and not providing a left turn in. Chairperson Bell asked for clarification regarding the Home Depot site extending out onto Mr. West's property. Mr. Slack replied that at the stage of final application, they would complete negotiations with Mr. West to cost share the property so as to facilitate the loading that would tie to an eventual detention pond for both properties as well as the extension of Pavilion and the drive from their property. Chairperson Bell asked for staff opinions as to the traffic issue given there may be Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 14 another shopping center lined up with Harmony Towne Center. Mr. Bracke replied that Fossil Creek are already signalized and Fairway Lane is also scheduled to be a signalized intersection. The neighborhood has fears that people will cut through the neighborhood to avoid a large intersection. The city has agreed to look at and try the modified turning movements. Member Colton believed that Harmony and College is not a safe intersection for bike and pedestrian connections because the Staff Report states that "The majority of bicycle and pedestrian traffic to the center will be from residential development to the north and east of this site. Minimal bicycle and pedestrian traffic to the center will be from the west and south due to the non -pedestrian character of the intersection of two major -arterial streets (Harmony and College)." Mr. Bracke responded that the intersection itself is the intersection of two major arterials. The principal function of a local roadway is to provide access, slow speeds and low volumes. The principal function of a major arterial is to provide mobility with limited access, high volumes of traffic. Most people view the general size of the intersection as hostile. There is not much that can be done about that. However, there are things that can be done to make it better such as different pedestrian crosswalks, refuge islands and medians and extended green times. It will be safe but yet intimidating for the normal person to cross the intersection. Member Byrne asked where is the opportunity for there to be outdoor activity. Mr. Slack replied that the focal point is an area where lots of activity can occur which is 6,000 square feet contained within a small area with extensions. There is nothing to preclude the possibility of shutting off two entrance points to through traffic and making that area a festival area. This requires management and organization and they believe that within this design this connection is a critical component to allow this to happen. They have congregated the people along the shops ono the south side of the project that will be looking for people to congregate and to welcome that level of congregation. Member Gavaldon quoted Page 30 of the Harmony Corridor Standards and Guidelines relating the berming and the setback. He asked for comments on the relatively small portion of berming and landscaping along Harmony Road which is small compared to the magnitude of the project. Mr. Slack stated the they are looking for a landscape palette that is similar to the palette that exists to the east. They have taken other hints from the guidelines about the walls and the need to berm and that there is separation between the pedestrian and the Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 15 traffic. The berm itself is created by the wall on the project side so that when you are internal to the project, you experience the wall and the relationship of enclosure to separate the project from the street system. The bike path exists on the travel lane of Harmony Road which is an inherited city standard. Through all of this, the buffering requirements along Harmony Road have been achieved. The other aspect that takes place for the piece of the project throughout the center section of the project is that they were able to bring the buildings close to the street edge. The guidelines anticipated this condition, allow for it and give them the guidelines under which to deal with it. Member Gavaldon commented that this is a very large complex and there is the opportunity to make this a showplace. He believed that it was coming in a little short in terms of the landscape aspect. Mr. Slack stated that they had to weight the types of amenities that are being talked about. By taking areas that could have been green along Harmony and moving them to the edge of the store front on both sides of the stores will reflect some of the downtown characteristics. Soft green does not automatically represents a gathering space. Member Colton asked if there could be a pedestrian mall between two retail areas. Mr. Slack replied that it could be an option to move Pad F up and moving the drive aisle south of it. A fear might be that it would be too close to Harmony Road. However, this could be looked at. Member Byrne asked if two story structures were considered. Mr. Slack responded that this was considered. It was found that two story structures would not be economically viable for this sort of project. It takes a special place in terms of the density of the market to require this to occur. Member Byrne asked if there was any discussion about public money in terms of public facilities that may not be economically viable but may make the overall project more of a magnet and a community center. Ms. Liley stated that there was some discussion and the City Manager indicated that there was not monies available for this particular project. Chairperson Bell asked about the 12 foot sound wall on Building I. Mr. Ludwig stated that this was a block wall and the attenuation is caused by a filling inside. Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 26, 1996 Page 16 Chairperson Bell commented that this is a regional site but seemed to be awfully intense in its nature. Member Chapman asked about the bus stops and how the passengers would embark and disembark from the buses. Mr. Slack pointed out the locations of the bus stops and stated that if the bus needs to come into the project and stop at one location or another, then they should make accommodations for this. On JFK, there is a pull out so there is room for the bus to get out of the travel lane. The pedestrians then go to the connection at the street, then a crosswalk and then to a sidewalk directly to the Home Depot site or north or south along the walkway on JFK to cross at the signalized intersection or the uncontrolled intersection. Member Colton asked to discuss other big boxes in town and their buffering. Mr. Ludwig replied that the only other regional shopping center is the Harmony Market Shopping Center. There is an access drive on the rear side of the buildings where they stack their palettes, etc. This has been an issue with the residences to the south of the center. Chairperson Bell stated that there are transitional uses in that area that serve as transition and buffer. Member Colton did not believe that a 35 foot buffer was sufficient. Member Byrne asked if there was any possible future alternate route that people might take with a new roadway that would go from Harmony over to South College south of Harmony that would take the burden off of Hogan Drive. Mr. Bracke stated that there was some plans for Palmer Drive to go through but they have been abandoned at this time. Options are limited since it is entirely built for the most part. Member Weitkunat moved to approve the variance for Article 2, Section 2, The Design Standards and Guidelines for Large Retail Establishments regarding parking lot orientations for Building I. Member Chapman seconded the motion. Member Weitkunat commented that part of the reason she brought this forward for Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 17 approval was that based on this particular piece of property is at a disadvantaged cut by JFK Parkway. There are two primary streets and she believed that it is questionable as to which one is the primary street. With either JFK or Harmony as 50% of the parking, it still cuts his property in half which creates a parking issue anyway. Therefore, it seems like this would be a reasonable solution to what has been addressed. Member Colton had concerns about the adequacy of the buffering and the parking issue. He questioned if the land use could be less intense and meet the guidelines. Ms. Liley stated that in terms of the intensity, calculations have been done about intensity on the site. The regional shopping center minimums, 30 acres and 250,000 square feet of gross leasable area, takes you to is a ratio of 8,300 square feet of gross floor area per acre. If you look at the center overall, 36.5 acres and 335,500 gross floor area, you end up with about 9,000 gross floor area. This is only about 800 square feet of gross floor area per acre more than what is required. Mr. Slack stated that Home Depot has agreed to redesign their footprint to work as well as it can on this site based upon the guidelines. This boils down to looking to create a standard of parking that is irrelevant to the size of the building. The reason for the variance is because of the question about whether Harmony or JFK is the principal street. Secondly, if they move forward numerically with the parking on JFK being less than 50%, all this does is push the parking to Harmony Road. They attempted to achieve a balance. Member Weitkunat stated that if the primary were Harmony, this project would not need a variance. The motion to approve passed 7-0. Member Weitkunat moved to recommend approval of Variance Article 2, Section 3, The Back Sides for Building A for the reason of the procedure portions of the standards number 2 and number 3. Member Gavaldon seconded. The motion passed 7-0. Member Byrne moved to continue this item based on the following criteria of the Land Development Guidance System which is A2.1, A2.6, A2.4, A2.2 and A2.12. He had concerns in terms of the off -site impact was the arterial intersections of Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 18 College and Harmony where the needs of pedestrian/bikeway has not been adequately addressed. He suggested that the Board take the time to fully review the impact of creating standards on large intersections. He also encouraged that there be a recommendation from the Transportation Board in terms of vehicular movements on the arterial streets and how that plays with pedestrians and bikes. Chairperson Bell stated that the Board has to be quite clear, if considering the continuance of a project, to the applicant that it is something that is within their means to improve. Member Byrne asked that how does the Board address a problem with any project regarding pedestrian/bicycle needs being addressed so that opportunities for these travel modes are integrated into the overall city pedestrian/bike system. Mr. Duvall stated that this could be addressed through Staff or ask the applicant to gather more information. All the Transportation Board could do is look at the same information and arrive at a recommendation. They do not have any more ability than that. Mr. Ludwig stated that another option would be to take this to the Transportation Board between preliminary and final. Member Colton suggested that this needs a specific pedestrian/bicycle transit plan for this intersection. Member Byrne stated that he feels uncomfortable with two different traffic impact analysis for this project. Everything that is done in this community when it comes to automobile circulation is to count cars and then start adding lanes. The intent of the pedestrian plan and the street standards is not to do that. What he would like to have is a specific pedestrian/bicycle plan for the intersection of Harmony and College. Mr. Blanchard stated that this is exactly what is in the plan, is a plan for that particular intersection. The fact is, on the major arterial/arterial intersections, they are planned on a case -by -case basis, especially under the Development Review process, which is a reactive process. Member Byrne listed his concerns which are two different traffic impact analysis where there are discrepancies and a comment from Transportation that says that some things are in the process which may be available by final but he wants to look at them before final. Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 19 Member Colton concurred with Member Byrne. Member Weitkunat stated this is a preliminary PUD and various things will happen before final. If the Board has concerns regarding the PUD and the movement of pedestrians and traffic within it, then those things will be addressed by final. As far as traffic at the intersections, she believed that the numbers were there and they know what it will generate and what it will do. The fact that this PUD meets the land use plan as presented, it is an appropriate land use, it is appropriate to the Harmony Corridor Plan, it will be a regional shopping center, it has followed various criteria as established through the Harmony Corridor Plan as well as the big box retail. If there are minor issues that can be addressed through the approval of the preliminary, then this is what the Board should be looking at. She personally has a major concern when they begin to address the entire community pedestrian/bicycle traffic movement in this whole area. This is beyond the scope of this development. To penalize the developer in time for something that is a community flaw is something that needs to be worked out on the side and not through the developers and their projects. Member Colton seconded the motion to continue. Member Gavaldon commented that he would support a stronger traffic plan but he does not want to penalize the developer for tools that the Board needs to work on to be more pro -active. Chairperson Bell asked Member Byrne if his main concern is that there are two different traffic studies and if so is there another approach besides delaying this project so his requested information could be worked into this. Member Byrne believed that things should not move forward until they are right. Member Gavaldon stated that this is a big development and there are a few issues that need to be resolved. He believed that there should be some validation of data that they just receievd on Friday. He is also data driven and does have concerns with this but if this is continued, the process will be thrown into a tailspin and not progress forward. However, if they approve it with conditions it will do greater justice to the overall program and will meet the needs of everybody. Member Colton agreed that the traffic issue is a very serious matter. He wants specifics to make sure that it is safe and not intimidating. Mr. Bracke stated that the traffic study that was in the Board's packet was done in February. During that time, there was a number of different analysis that were Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 26, 1996 Page 20 performed with JFK, without JFK, with different lane configurations and different cycle lights. At the time that they received the traffic study, they said that the intersections all failed. Since that time, they have a number of different analysis looking at different geometries of that intersection, at what it is going to be in a master street plan, etc. The last analysis that they had showed that they can work with this intersection at 110 second cycle length at Level of Service D into the long range future. This is the information that evaluated. In terms of the standards for intersections, there are not any. This intersection as a major/major arterial intersection, is going to be double left turns, regardless if this project goes in. Just the long range traffic will still carry high volumes of traffic. In terms of safety, they will give more than adequate green time for people to get across that intersection. If it becomes congested because it doesn't have adequate laneage, drivers make stupid decisions and it becomes less safe. That is when the accidents happen. It is safer during free flow situations. Mr. Delich's stated that it was not necessarily the software, there have been updates and was re-evaluated in different geometries and different cycle lengths. They have been working with this developer for the last eight or nine months. Member Byrne stated that he still has not been given a solution for a right turn on red with cars on a major intersection. The only solution he can arrive at is that there is a red light for all cars when there is pedestrians present. No right turns on red until there is a right green arrow for the car to turn right. This will assure the pedestrian of crossing safely. Mr. Bracke stated that this would be a community education effort and how we drive and treat other people along with enforcement. Member Byrne withdrew his motion to continue based on the traffic impact. Member Colton agreed, as second, to the withdraw motion. Member Colton stated that he still had concerns with the 35 foot buffering. Member Chapman stated that looking back from the street to the east, he had the impression that there were mostly duplexes with fenced backyards. If there is a 35 foot setback with a 20-40 foot backyard, they are not close to the wall. With berming and landscaping, it will soften the wall quite a bit. He did not see much of an impact and, if it complies with the standards, it would behouve the Board to approve this project. Member Weitkunat moved to approve Harmony Towne Center PUD Preliminary. Member Gavaldon seconded. Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Board October 28, 1996 Page 21 Member Davidson commented that this should be approved only if something is done about the setbacks on Harmony Road. Member Weitkunat amended the motion by adding the condition that the applicant explore getting a deeper buffer to mitigate the visual aesthetics of all the cars that would be seen from Harmony Road. Member Gavaldon agreed with the amendment. The motion to approve with conditions passed 5-2 with Chairperson Bell and Member Colton in the negative. The meeting adjourned at approximately 12:20 a.m.