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HomeMy WebLinkAboutICE ENERGY CORP HEADQUARTERS - APU - 20-10 - DECISION - MINUTES/NOTESPlanning & Zoning Board September 16, 2010 Page 11 Member Carpenter said she agrees with Member Smith and she's proud to support this wonderful addition to the area. Member Schmidt said she thinks the building looks very attractive. She thinks it'll be a great addition and any mitigation of security issues the applicant will develop for outdoor storage will be kept attractive. This is something that will work very well in the Mid -town Commercial Corridor and hopefully it'll stimulate other people to follow suit. Motion was approved 5:0. Other Business: Director Dush asked if the Board would like to provide feedback to City Council relative to the City Manager's Recommended Budget. Member Schmidt said although the topic was briefly considered at their September 10th work session, she didn't think the board has not had enough time to formulate their ideas. Chair Stockover suggested adding the topic to the October 15th work session agenda for further consideration. Meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Steve Dush, CDNS Director Butch Stockover, Chair Planning & Zoning Board • September 16, 2010 Page 10 but will probably keep one aisle open for circulation and dedicate one lane for racks for putting the roof top units on via fork lift. Essentially they'd get a single corridor for circulation and a single corridor for the storage of goods that will be below the screened wall. You are still getting access/delivery into the building. It's more a matter of being able to secure it. Chair Stockover said he's very much in support of the project and he'd like to see the wording about putting a secure gate. It benefits them to seek their valuable items safe. If the applicant is okay with it; he'd like to see it. Member Carpenter said if the applicant is okay with it, she agrees. Member Smith said if this was a standard Project Development Plan (PDP) and it was retail; we wouldn't be adding any language relative to outdoor storage would we. We would rest on the Code. Shepard said we'd be relying on the existing Code section which calls for screening of loading zones. Smith said he agrees with Member Schmidt that we don't need to add the condition. He thinks the screening wall achieves the objective of not being unsightly. He thinks the Code covers it adequately. Member Smith said we have a surplus of retail designated buildings. Economic vitality is going to be achieved by diversity of uses especially when you talk about what the Mason Corridor is going to do to the west. We need to have employment and we'll have a good employment center right there. We'll have a strong architectural statement. He believes it'll be a catalyst to further development. It takes us in the right direction in a time when we need to have responsiveness. Smith said the tool of the addition of a permitted use; this is the best example of how effective it can be. He'd rather see this than some other retail use. He's proud to support this project as requested. Member Schmidt moved to approve ICE Energy Addition of a Permitted Use, Referral from a Minor Amendment to the Toys R Us P.U.D, # 20-10. The recommendation to allow for a permitted use to be allow light industrial specifically for and limited to the research, design, development, prototype fabrication, and testing in associate with an office component to 120 Bockman Drive, the Toys R Us PUD, # 20-10 based on the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of paragraph 11 on page 9 of the staff report. A. The Light Industrial activity associated with the applicant, Ice Energy, is found to consist of research, design, development, fabrication and testing. Fabrication is on a prototype basis and not on a mass production basis. Further, the Light Industrial activity is in association with an office component. B. Adding the Light Industrial, as specifically described in the application, to the Toys R Us P.U.D. in the C, Commercial zone is found to have insignificant impacts with regard to operational and functional characteristics of the surrounding area. The proposed improvements such as new entrances, windows, and facade upgrades will improve the quality of the existing structure. The site is well -buffered from residential development. Therefore request complies with the compatibility standards of Section 3.6.1 of the Land Use Code. C. Adding Light Industrial to the Toys R Us P.U.D. is found to have an inconsequential impact on the available retail floor area inventory in the Mid -Town Commercial Corridor. Such use is found to be appropriate for the C, Commercial zone district and, therefore, complies with the criteria of Section 1.3.4 of the Land Use Code. D. Because of the proposed building and site upgrades and inconsequential impacts, adding Light Industrial to the Toys R Us P.U.D. would not be detrimental to the public good. E. The Minor Amendment to the Toys R Us P.U.D. complies with the applicable General Development Standards of Article Three and the zone district standards of Article Four. Member Carpenter seconded the motion. Planning & Zoning Board • • September 16, 2010 Page 9 Shuff said the design team has been considering that. Shuff said the 10 foot high, 65 feet long wall is the loading dock area. They're thinking of putting a south facing, full height, lockable gate so if there are items stored out there, they're secure and essentially out of view. Shuff said from a program standpoint, it gives them some outdoor storage yet from a planning/screen perspective it addresses the Board's concerns. Stockover asked how that would change the revised staff recommendation —the notation that there would be no outside storage associated with the light industrial use. If it's behind a locked gate would that be considered outside storage? Director Dush said the easiest way to address that would be simply to say that there shall be no outside storage associated with this light industrial use located outside of the perimeter of the existing screen wall and that a gate, as just described, would be installed. Stockover asked if that acceptable to the applicant. Shuff said screening is required from a Land Use Code (LUC) perspective, so there is some basic enforcement through the LUC. He's not sure if that brings the assurance the Board requires. Member Schmidt said she thinks the Board is micro -managing exactly what is going on here. This is a top -notched company with a good product. They're putting a lot of investment into their building. She doesn't think they're going to want a part of it looking like a big trash heap. Schmidt said we have a complaint basis for this because there is a screening element in the Code. If the neighborhood should suddenly feel they do not like what's out there then they can file a complaint. Schmidt said if what Toys R Us had stored out there was not an issue, she didn't think what they propose would be. Also if this should revert to a commercial use, there could be a number of boxes stored out there. Schmidt said she feels we're pretty well covered so it's not going to be a "real eye sore". Her only worry would be if it changed hands later and they did light industrial research and design on large units. She thinks we have the LUC screening element and the complaint basis on which to fall back on. Her personal preference would be to not have any restrictions about outdoor storage. Member Schmidt said her comment on work shifts is this building doesn't have any windows that are directly close to the neighbors to the east. If people work late, it's probably not going to be as much of a concern as a store with late hours. Because of the way the building is designed, she thinks the neighborhood would not have negative impact. Member Carpenter agreed. She does not feel the need to add conditions relative to outdoor storage. She's comfortable with this company and she thinks we're covered under the Land Use Code. Chair Stockover said he absolutely does not want to inhibit progress of this project but when where we're talking about outside storage on the loading ramp he has concerns. If they store on the loading ramp, they won't be able to get deliveries. He does have some concerns them not being able to keep all items inside the screened area. Member Carpenter said the Code addresses that and if goes beyond that it's not the Board's purview. Chair Stockover said it's written in the staff recommendation that there should be no outside storage associated with light industrial use. He said that was conveyed with the applicants. He doesn't think we're micro managing when its' the staff's and applicant's solution to outside storage. We need to just take a moment and not burden them with something that is "undue". He doesn't think that a complaint basis is really the way to go. Stockover said there was not enough discussion at the work session as to whether they'd be able to require screening if they set large units outside. Shepard said the applicant can provide some further explanation on the operations of the loading zone. Shuff said Mr. Stockover is correct on the size of typical roof top commercial equipment. It may be the size of a small car. They do have a 24 foot wide double aisle loading dock. They are still looking at this Planning & Zoning Board • • September 16, 2010 Page 8 perspective and primarily through the State of Colorado. Stockover asked if there would be a complaint based process if someone said a lot of smoke was coming from a building. Shepard said yes. Chairman Stockover said they'd speak to outdoor storage during Board discussion. Chairman Stockover asked about the design as drawn. If they wanted to do modifications to the proposed plan; would that be handled during the permitting phase? Shepard said that would be part of building permit review. Stockover asked how much could a subsequent owner change before it would trigger coming back to the Board. Shepard said that's a very subjective question —handled on a case by case basis. Shepard said he doesn't have an exact answer for that. Ian Shuff of Aller, Lingle and Massey said relative to the hours of employment, Ice Energy currently just has the standard office hours. As far as he understands, they will not be implementing a multi -shift situation. He said you might get the occasional hard working professional working until 10 p.m. but he doesn't expect anything beyond that. Shuff said as far as air quality is concerned, this facility is just testing roof top equipment so it's just producing either cooling or heating exhaust. It's not producing any off -gassing or any kind of pollutants. Shuff said this is going to be a show piece project for Ice Energy and the City of Fort Collins. Their intent is to deliver on a high level design. Director Dush said he'd like to speak to the condition related to the allowed use considered by the Board at their work session. It addresses the gentlemen's concern about whether it'll stay the same. Dush said you had modified the language to drill a little deeper to provide clarity. It reads," The request for the addition of a permitted use to allow light industrial specifically for and limited to research, design, development, prototype fabrication and testing in association with an office component at 120 Bockman Drive (Toys R Us P.U.D) # 20-10, subject to the following condition: There shall be no outside storage associated with the Light Industrial use." If someone else came and had the same operational characteristics as this, that would be fine. If they are outside of that scope, that would not be permitted. Member Schmidt said the applicant also mentioned they're working on different improvements for water run-off so that will handle the storm water issue but otherwise it wouldn't be much different with what has been experienced with Toys R Us. It would probably be improved because there are less parking spaces and more landscaping. Board Discussion Member Carpenter said she'd like to consider the issue of outdoor storage. At worksession she was a bit concerned but looking at the plans and the way they have it set up; she doesn't think it's going to be a problem because they have screened areas for outside storage. She asked what other Board members thought. Chair Stockover said he asks himself, as a citizen board member, when he first reads a proposal what is his responsibility? He checks if it is detrimental to the public good. He also asks if this is something we'd want if the economy was good. He thinks the tool of the addition of a permitted use is a very powerful tool. He said when we consider the addition of a permitted use; we need to look at the applications even harder than they would a normal application. The Board did that at work session. He looks at this project, as yes this is something we would very much consider. Yes, it does fit the property no matter what the economic situation. Stockover said we also have to look forward. There is a chance that in the future the use could change for this building. Transfer of ownership and what it means to allowable use is a good question. Is there anything we'd want to add relative to that when we make our motion? Chair Stockover said the outdoor storage was the only thing that really concerned him. When you have prototype fabrication that means parts will come in, you'll work on them, yet they won't be sold. Is that something we need to consider here? Stockover asked if the business model changed, are we covered. Planning & Zoning Board • • September 16, 2010 Page 7 He said all the neighbors in the area are in favor of the proposal, including Continental Plaza and the Brock Investment Group (which owns building with Men's Warehouse and AAA of Colorado), Panera Bread, and the bank at the southeast corner of College and Horsetooth. They'd all like to see it come to fruition. They think it'll be a big plus for the two -block square area. He said knowing the company, the developers, and the fact that the City supports redevelopment in the Mid -Town Commercial Corridor; he thinks this project will be a big success. Frank Ramirez is the CEO of Ice Energy. He said the majority of their employees are members of the Fort Collins community. The reason for their decision for moving from Windsor to Fort Collins comes from a great love of this community and a desire to be able to bring what it is they do closer to home. They have an unusual enterprise in that they have the luxury of attracting some of the finest and brightest talent in the nation. Today they have only 60 local employees with salaries on average close to $100,000. This is not a manufacturing enterprise. This is a high technology/high value added enterprise with a great deal of intellectual property and technology that is very heavily software based. The light industrial use they contemplate in Fort Collins is principally simulation and testing of their small units and their efficacy before they're manufactured out of their contract assembly facility in upstate New York. He thinks the employees will benefit from working in the environment they envision putting together. It's similar to the environment many of them came from working in the Silicon Valley. It is collaborative and allows for flexibility in the way people work together in creating efficiency in the energy system nationally with eyes on impacting the global system. He seeks the Board's support for the project. End of Public Input Chair Stockover asked staff to address the concerns raised. He said the Board had discussed at their work session the transfer to a subsequent owner the permitted use to allow light industrial specifically for research, design, development, prototype fabrication, and testing with an office component at 120 Bockman Drive. Stockover asked about what would happen in a transfer to a new owner. Shepard said if a change of use came in for any of the permitted uses allowed presently in the C Zone, there is no public review —they always get the underlying zoning. If there is a request for another light industrial type use it would have to be very similar to what is being proposed. It would be have to be for research, design, development, prototype fabrication, and testing with an office component at 120 Bockman Drive. That could not be a micro -brewery or an injection molding plant. Shepard said the Board is considering this item tonight for this specific use and if another user would come along that fit into that category, that wouldn't trigger public review. Chair Stockover asked if there any regulations related to 24 hour operation. Shepard said no there is nothing in the Land Use Code per se but the Board has the ability under Section 3.5.1(J)—Operational Characteristics to limit hours of operation. That was put in the Code in 1997 specifically for convenience stores and LMN centers because it was getting retail exclusively off College Avenue and section line roads and putting them into neighborhoods. The Code wants to give the Board the ability to control issues related to neighborhood compatibility. Chair Stockover said the Stormwater Utilities review water quality so we'd need to pass on that. He asked who oversees air quality issues. Shepard said air quality is on an individual site basis and is handled by the Colorado Department of Health and the Environment. The City of Fort Collins does not have on -site air quality standards in the Land Use Code. There are sections in Article 3 of the Land Use Code that talk about air quality and water hazards but they have to be specific to an application. Shepard said there are air quality standards specific to water treatment plants. He said this sometimes comes up on drive-thru banks and restaurants and idling engines. In the past our position has been we do not have hot spot air quality land use regulations. We approach air quality from a regional Planning 8 Zoning Board • • September 16, 2010 Page 6 employees. On the south side, the employees will also have an area with tables, benches, and enhanced landscaping. Chalona said on the back (east) side there is a 6 foot high wall where storage can occur. Currently there are dumpsters and generators. The client does not intend to have any storage of materials out there for very long. All the trees currently there will remain. The project will give them an opportunity to improve storm water quality. They are currently working with an engineer to keep water drainage down. It currently all washes off the hard surface into a drain pipe. In conclusion, they support staff recommendation for approval of the addition of a permitted use and for the minor amendment. They don't believe storage is an issue as the existing walls screen the delivery/short-term storage areas. They are willing to follow the Land Use Code as to requirements relative to additional screening. Public Input Steven Ogle of 3945 Landings Drive, Unit A6 is a neighbor to the east. While a board member for their HOA, he is speaking for himself. He has concerns about the potential for working triple shifts--24 hour per day. They didn't see that with Toys R Us. They'd like to make sure there are no air or water quality issues. His other main concern is about "transfer". He said this company may grow and move on; he asked how will it work? Will it be an automatic transfer to another light industrial use or will there be an opportunity for public comment? He doesn't see any problems with what's being proposed by Ice Energy but that doesn't mean that some future company might not raise concerns for them. Ogle said he hopes they follow through on their plans not to keep equipment stored outside where it can be seen by them. He thinks the proposed improvements are a nice addition to the building —very pleasing to the eye. He hopes they follow through as proposed and what they'll see at that site in the next year or so. Jim Palmer, 4323 Shoreline Drive, is there on behalf of the South Fort Collins Business Association —a newly created association. They formalized the group in June 2010 and currently have roughly more than 35 local business and property owners. They are in support of the addition of the permitted use and minor amendment for the former Toys R Us. It would be a tremendous benefit for the area. Throughout the years they've encountered some challenges with mid -town —accumulating vacancies "north of 650,000 square feet. This proposal would reduce that number by 5% and provide prime employment. Ed Zdenek, 1210 Kirkwood, is a local architect. He's very involved in the South College Avenue area. He supports, in principle what's happening with this project. He is involved in trying to lease and construct many of the facilities in the mid -town commercial corridor. He thinks the addition of alternate uses in that area will be very helpful. He's seeing 800,000 square feet of available space —that is significantly larger than our mall. To suggest it can just be filled with retail is very optimistic. Adding other uses could increase the viability of that area. He thinks this particular project is taking a building that is rather plain and turning it into something delightful. It's also adding interest at a pedestrian level. He thinks a great addition to the Mid -Town Commercial Corridor; pivotal to their study. Mark and Wendy Cohen live at 2718 Beaver Court. They are the owners of the property at 3600 Mitchell —the strip commercial center. They'd like to ask for the Board's support of this project. They think it'll be a great enhancement to the City. Wendy said it's currently an eyesore. She agrees with the neighbor from Landings Drive that it needs to be regulated with regard to future light industrial. Spiro Palmer, 7400 Streamside, owns the flower shop north of the proposed project. He is also a part owner of the property at 3720 Mitchell and the four story office building on the east side —Western Bank. Planning & Zoning Board • • September 16, 2010 Page 5 Member Hatfield noted they are going to reconfigure the parking lot to delete some parking. He asked will there be adequate parking after the reconfiguration. Shepard said yes. Applicant's Presentation Michael Chalona, Land Images, said he will provide an overview. In addition, he said the architect Ian Snuff of Aller, Lingle, and Massey Architects will discuss building improvements. Chalona said the property located at 120 Bockman is the redevelopment of a building that has been vacant for two years. He said as we all know economic health is predicated on diversity and the allowance of new uses into the Mid -Town Commercial zone district. The project has the ability to be a catalyst to redevelopment in the mid -town area. It's close to public transportation which is 'key' for this client. It meets the zone district standards, the general development standards, and the criteria of Section 1.3.4(A) of the Land Use Code (LUC). He said the project is compatible with the surrounding land uses. In fact, the project would have less impact then the previous tenant (Toys R Us). He said there will be less truck shipments, less storage, and less traffic. The hours of operation would be reduced from its previous commercial use. Chalona said the operation consists of an office that will take up approximately 19,000 square feet. The remaining 26,500 square feet will be for research and development (R&D). That is the component for which they are requesting the addition of a permitted use of light industrial —the research laboratory component. They will produce single prototype units based on designs developed in the administrative office portion of the building. They will be looking for improvements to efficiencies and elimination of kinks or bugs that may come up in products in the field. It's important for this company to have scientists, engineers, and R&D staff work in the same building. Chalona said shipments will be for small components and small pieces of sheet metal. There is a northern area concrete wall that is 6 feet high and 20 feet long and a southern area concrete wall that is 10 feet high and 65 feet long wall that screens everything. R&D noise will be managed to allow for administrative work, conference room meetings and training. The operation will be very compatible for the area. Chalona said the property, which was built in 1991, needs upgrades. They'd like to move away from commercial "sliding glass" display design to a more corporate presence with new windows being added to the west, north, and south side. Ian Shuff of Aller, Lingle and Massey said most of the improvements will be to the west side. The design is based on the concept of ice and energy. The cube represents energy and the glass box represents ice. The west wall will have much larger windows installed for the offices and conference room to have a nice corporate fenestration. In addition they will be cutting in/adding windows to the north and south side to improve natural light. The building already had a number of sky lights and they plan to use most of those as well. The current concrete walls will have a three color scheme. The west wall may require reconstruction in which case they are still exploring whether that'll go back to block or some other compatible masonry material. They will be adding another entry on the south side that slightly mimics the west entry —adding some articulation to the southern portion of the structure. Chalona said other improvements will be made to the site including removal of about 55 parking spaces to create either a more enhanced front plaza or to convert it into landscape. There will be six new landscaped islands to the parking lot as well as foundational landscape on the north and west sides. They'll be improving the landscape on the south side. A more pronounced traffic circle entry into the site will be added. In the center there will be a sculpture and some signage. The area will help pedestrians transition from Mitchell Drive. They'll be creating a plaza in that area that can easily be accessed by Planning & Zoning Board • September 16, 2010 Page 4 Staff recommends approval of the amendment to the initial zoning ordinance. Board Questions: Member Schmidt said she'd like to make clear for the record that what would happen is, if approved, this property would remain in the 7"' ne for as long as n�ssary until there is a new update to the Harmony Corridor Plan. Schmidt asked if there are no other deadlines when it would need to move out of the "T" Zone. Mapes said no. Mapes added the City or the owner can request rezoning at any time and it's required that application be proces�within 60 days of the request. Member Schmidt asked Clark if we'd be following the current Structure Plan Map as far as the guideline for what would be appropriate zoning. Mapes said if there`was any reason that anyone would initiate a rezoning request, we'd look aMe Structure Plan Map for guidance. Public Input / \ None Member Schmidt made a motion to recommend approval of the amendment to the initial zoning ordinance for the Riverwalk Property removing the requirement that the "T" Transition zoning be limited for one year. Member Campana seconded the motion. Motion was approved 7:0. Project: ICE Energy Addition of a Permitted Use, Referral from a Minor Amendment to the Toys R Us Project Development Plan, # 20-10 Project Description: This is a request to add Light Industrial as a permitted use on a specific site, and a Referral of a Minor Amendment to the Toys R Us P.U.D. (Planned Unit Development) located at 120 Bockman Drive. The request consists of converting an existing 45,500 square foot, vacant, retail building into an office and light industrial facility. As proposed, there would be 19,000 square feet converted to office and 26,500 square feet converted to Light Industrial. A new, 630 square foot entry feature and outdoor plaza would be added to the west facade and the parking lot would be reconfigured to delete parking and add the plaza. The site is 4.18 acres and zoned C, Commercial. Recommendation: Approval Hearing Testimony, Written Comments and Other Evidence Members Campana and Lingle recuesed themselves from participating in discussion/deliberation due to a conflict of interest. They left the chambers. Chief Planner Ted Shepard noted the request has been reviewed in conjunction with the Mid -Town Commercial Corridor Study and the criteria of Sections 1.3.4 and 3.5.1, which address compatibility within the zone district and the surrounding area. The Minor Amendment to the existing P.U.D. complies with the applicable criteria of General Development Standards and the Commercial Zone District Standards. Staff recommends approval of the Addition of Permitted Use and the Minor Amendment to the Toys R Us P.U.D. Shepard referred to discussion at the Board's work session and provided draft language for a condition of approval.