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Home My WebLink AboutWEST RANGE FORT COLLINS - PDP - PDP120028 - REPORTS - VARIANCE REQUEST:_J West Range Fort Collins Request for Four Bedroom Units Page 3 of 3 • The site is also close to two grocery stores, being approximately 1 mile from Beaver's Market at Mountain and Shields Streets and .5 miles from Safeway on College Avenue. The CSU campus offers many public facilities that are available for students to use including classroom facilities, auditoriums, medical care facilities, arts and entertainment opportunities as well as a variety of other amenities and services especially designed to serve the student population. Sustainability • Locating multi -family housing for residents where they can access the campus, shopping, employment and recreational opportunities without using an automobile is a key component of being an environmentally responsible community. West Range Fort Collins will allow 38 individuals to live in a location where they can easily get along without owning a car. This is not only highly desirable from an environmental perspective but also makes going to college more affordable to students on a budget. • West Range Fort Collins encourages the use of bicycles by providing 45 convenient and secure bike parking spaces within the building and in plazas. In addition to being able to walk or bike to campus, residents will also have easy access to the Mason Street Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) The four -bedroom units are more efficient in terms of material usage and are also more energy efficient. Data obtained from Conservice, a nationwide utility billing service that analyzes information from many properties and thousands of units indicates that electricity usage is on average 21.25% more efficient when comparing a 4-bedro6m unit to two 2- bedroom units. In other words the same four people use less electricity when housed in a 4-bedroom unit vs. being split up into two 2-bedroom units. Likewise, natural gas is estimated to be 55.13% more efficient. Additionally, less construction materials translates into less environmental impact from a construction standpoint. We believe the 4-bedroom units proposed in this development will serve the residents by providing a fun, secure and affordable lifestyle alternative without impacting adjacent neighbors. Upscale urban plazas provide leisure opportunities on -site, while City Park and the CSU campus offer expansive green spaces, sport fields, water bodies and natural areas nearby. More than adequate parking for both cars and bicycles is provided on site and there is a variety of shopping, dining, and entertainment opportunities located within walking distance of this project. Thinking outside of the box for over two decades. 401 W. Mountain Ave., Suite 100 ■ Fort Collins, CO 80521 ■ tel. 970.224.5828 ■ fax 970.224.1662 ■ www.ripleydesigninc.com 0 West Range Fort Collins Request for Four Bedroom Units Page 2 of 3 In order to increase the number of unrelated persons who may reside in individual dwelling units, the applicant must show that there is adequate open space, recreation areas, parking and public facilities to serve the occupants of the development. There are no specific criteria in the Land Use Code that addresses how to determine how much is adequate. Open Space and Recreational Amenities • The buildings are designed to create an attractive urban -living experience for the individual interested in living near CSU where they can easily walk or bike to campus. The prominent corner of the building that faces the intersection will feature an ample outdoor plaza. The plaza includes special paving, generous landscaping, outdoor lighting and a variety of seating opportunities. • The rear portion of the building also contains a plaza, as well as decorative paving in a portion of the parking area. These two spaces are versatile and can be combined to form one larger plaza, when needed. • The streetscape around the edges of the project adds to the urban -lifestyle by providing street trees, seating, landscape areas, turf lawns and convenient bike parking. • Residents living at West Range Fort Collins are just one block from the CSU Oval and the Lory Student Center. • CSU's newly renovated campus recreation center with swimming pool, gymnasium, climbing wall, fitness center and much more is less than 1/3 mile to the southwest. Just south of that are several recreation fields. • Residents are also less than a mile from City Park which includes 172 acres of open space with sport fields, a lake, natural areas, a swimming pool, playground, and a golf course. Parkin • The project is located within the transit -oriented development (TOD) overlay zone. Multi -family residential projects in the TOD have no minimum parking requirements. Fraternity projects require 2 spaces per 3 bedrooms resulting in 26 required spaces. The project is proposing exceeding this parking requirement by 13 spaces. This will provide more than one space per tenant and should insure that residents don't park their vehicles on neighboring properties. Parking permits will be required, but spaces will not be designated. It is anticipated that parking at the proposed ratio will be more than adequate to serve the needs of students that have cars with ample spaces left for guest parking. • The project promotes alternative means of transportation including walking, biking and riding the bus. The Mason Street Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is within walking distance from the project. The BRT provides transportation to Downtown or to destinations and activity centers located in south Fort Collins. Public Facilities • The proposed site is adequately served with standard public infrastructure including water, wastewater, police and fire facilities. The existing street network has adequate capacity to absorb the additional traffic within level of service standards. See Traffic Letter prepared by Delich Associates. The site is close to the College and Mason Avenues which include many retail and personnel service shops as well as a variety of restaurants and entertainment venues. Thinking outside of the box for over two decades. 401 W. Mountain Ave., Suite 100 ■ Fort Collins, CO 80521 ■ tel. 970.224.5828 ■ fax 970.224.1662 ■ www.ripleydesigninc.com 0 land planning ■ landscape architecture ■ urban design ■ entitlement October 24, 2012 West Range Fort Collins Request for 4-bedroom Units West Range Fort Collins is planned to be an apartment complex that will include 15 dwelling units located just north of the Colorado State University (CSU) campus adjacent to Laurel Street. The apartment complex is planned to include 2 one -bedroom apartments, 8 two -bedroom apartments and 5 four - bedroom apartments. In the City of Fort Collins, the maximum occupancy allowed per multi -family dwelling unit is three unrelated persons, unless an exception is granted by the decision maker. In order to provide 4-bedroom units intended to be occupied by four unrelated persons, the City's Land Use Code requires the Applicant to provide a written request as follows: 3.8.16 Occupancy Limits; Increasing the Number of Persons Allowed (E) Increasing the Occupancy Limit. (2) With respect to multiple family dwellings, the decision maker (depending on the type of review, Type I or Type 2) may, upon receipt of a written request from the applicant and upon a finding that all applicable criteria of this Land Use Code have been satisfied, increase the number of unrelated persons who may reside in individual dwelling units. The decision maker shall not increase said number unless satisfied that that the applicant has provided such additional open space, recreational areas, parking areas and public facilities as are necessary to adequately serve the occupants of the development and to protect the adjacent neighborhood. Justification The Applicant has found that 4-bedroom units are a popular lifestyle alternative for many residents. It allows four people to share an apartment in a well -managed environment. It is more secure than most single-family home rentals and the 4-bedroom unit costs less per bedroom and therefore offers a more affordable alternative to individuals on a budget. The tenants that are likely to occupy these units are also the ones likely to occupy single-family rental properties near campus. By providing safe, efficient, and high quality 4-bedroom apartment units West Range Fort Collins is helping to relieve the burden on surrounding neighborhoods and is helping to free up affordable rental housing stock to families and employees of CSU. Thinking outside of the box for over two decades. 401 W. Mountain Ave., Suite 100 ■ Fort Collins, CO 80521 ■ tel. 970.224.5828 ■ fax 970.224.1662 ■ www.ripleydesigninc.com