HomeMy WebLinkAboutHICKORY COMMONS - Filed OA-OTHER AGREEMENTS - (2)Planning, Development & Transportation
City`y of Engineering Department
Fort Collins 281 North College Avenue
P.O.Box 580
Fort Collins,CO 80522.0580
970.221.6605
970.221.6378-fax
fcgov.com/engineering
January 23, 2012
Bob Gowing, PE
Apex Engineering
238 Walnut Street, Suite 200
Fort Collins, Co 80524
Re: Hickory Commons—variance requests to the off-site design requirements
Dear Bob,
This letter is in response to the variance request letter sent to Andrew Carney dated November
25, 2011,regarding a variance request to the off-site design requirements for Hemlock Street
adjacent to the site.
The variance request to Section 7.4.1 of the Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards
requesting a variance to not provide the required off-site design of 500 feet in each direction
from each property line has been denied.
If you have any questions,please contact me at 221-6573.
Sincerely,
2-4jz('-6'Ll7
Sheri L. Langenberger, P.E.
Attachment
cc: Helen Migchelbrink, City of Fort Collins
file
1
APE X ENGINEERING
238 Walnut Street • Suite 200 • Fort Collins, Colorado 80524 • 970.797.2906
November 25, 201 1
Mr. Andrew Carney, P.E.
City of Fort Collins, Engineering Department
281 N. College Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80524
RE: Hickory Commons - Variance Request
Dear Mr. Carney,
The purpose of this letter to request an engineering variance for the requirement to provide
1000' of preliminary design for the off-site portions of Hemlock Street, as required in
section 7.4.I of the Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards.
The comments provided by the City on the Preliminary Development Plan for the project
indicated that construction of Hemlock is not required, since the ultimate disposition of
Hemlock is currently unclear. As you probably know, a development project must be
extremely cost-efficient to be successful in the current economic environment. We agree
that constructing Hemlock at the present time is not warranted, and appreciate your
comments in this regard. We also believe that preliminary design for the off-site portions of
Hemlock is not productive at this time, and would like to pursue a variance to that
requirement.
Currently, Hemlock is a gravel surface street with minimal usage. There is a Natural Area to
the south of the street that is unlikely to ever develop. The costs of improving Hemlock for
a simple project such as a parking area would seem fiscally prohibitive. Aside from the
Natural Area, there are only two other properties that have exclusive access from Hemlock,
as shown in the diagram below:
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The other properties off Hemlock have access from Hickory Street to the north. The
property shown as "I" above is vacant, and the property shown as "2" contains a single
family residence. It is extremely unlikely that these two properties will develop in the
foreseeable future in such as way as to economically justify improvement of Hemlock, nor
would those improvements be a reasonable expense for such small developments.
The proposed site plan for this project has been revised to eliminate the previously
proposed emergency access from Hemlock. A turn-around will be provided within the site
in accordance with PFA guidelines, and the sole access will be off Hickory. The revised
development plan does not include vehicular access to Hemlock. Hemlock in its current
condition is very flat both longitudinally and in cross section. Drainage is inadequate and the
existing access points are substandard. While design for the portion of Hemlock 500' in
both directions could be provided, we do not feel that it would be worthwhile. At some
point in the future, this 1000' of preliminary design will need to be extended into the existing
substandard areas. This will require extensive revision of this design to deal with the non-
standard vertical geometry of the existing condition. The effect of this will be to render
most of the off-site preliminary design unusable. We believe that the prudent way to
prepare an adequate design for Hemlock is to design the entire stretch of street holistically,
which is clearly beyond the scope of this project.
For these reasons, we believe the requirement to provide 500' of design in both directions
should be waived in this instance. We propose to provide the City a preliminary horizontal
design for the adjacent portion of the street along the "frontage", as opposed to providing a
plan/profile off-site design with limited value. This can be used to prepare the cost estimate
for escrow purposes. It simply does not seem reasonable to require this off-site design, nor
is it a wise use of limited financial resources which could be used to improve the project in
other ways.
Thank you for your consideration of this request. Please let me know if you need any
additional information.
Sincerely,
Bob Gowing, P.E.
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