HomeMy WebLinkAboutHIDDEN POND ESTATES - PDP - 11-07 - CORRESPONDENCE - (8)5
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mitigation measures in response to concerns about
sound, visual concerns, and safety. The entry drive
will be a paved surface rather than a gravel road, as
it is today. The access drive will be lined on both
sides with crab apple trees that will be low branched
and will grow to about 20 feet tall at maturity.
15-mile-per-hour speed limits will be posted
to remind drivers to exit slowly. Speed tables are to
be installed in two locations along the entry drive to
further discourage speeding. The drive will be shifted
as far possible to the south, away from the residences.
The fire department requires that the entry drive be a
28-foot wide paved surface. We were striping the north
8 feet as a pedestrian bike lane so that the effective
driveway width for daily use is 20 feet and 8 feet
further from the homes.
A 6-foot tall double -sided wood fence will be
installed the entire length of the drive. Ballard
lights will provide enough light for drivers to see the
driveway, but the light will not go above the fence and
spill into the yards.
The hours of operation are being reduced from
what the performance standards allow. Events on Friday
and Saturday night will end at 11:00 p.m., one hour
earlier than the performance standards allow.
Lastly, there's been a lot of concern
regarding consumption of alcohol at the facility, drunk
driving and loud, obnoxious behavior. We recognize the
potential problems associated with these concerns and
are being proactive about dealing with those issues.
Feather Ridge will have a policy dealing with
alcohol that will have the following components: Prior
to leasing the facility to a private party for their
event, the client will agree to remind their guests to
be responsible about alcohol use and ask their guests
to have a designated driver if needed. Standard
practice at Feather Ridge will be not to serve someone
who in their judgment appears to be drunk. Alcohol
will only be served at the facility by licensed
bartenders and caterers. Alcohol can only be served
for a maximum of four hours for any one event. Alcohol
will stop being served one hour before the end of the
event. If high school or college students are renting
the facility for an event, alcohol will not be allowed
at all.
A courtesy phone and taxi numbers will be
obvious upon exiting and guests will be encouraged to
call a taxi if they do not have a designated driver.
The last thing this applicant wants at Feather Ridge
would be to have an event marred by a tragic accident.
So they're going to do everything they can to encourage
their guests to act responsibly.
That was as brief as I can make it and still
try to cover all the basis of a very complex project.
I thank you for listening. And myself, the applicants,
and the rest of our design team is available to answer
any questions you may have throughout the rest of our
evening. Thank you.
MR. TORGERSON: Thank you. Bob?
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20 individually with neighbors and groups of neighbors
21 numerous times in efforts to be responsive to their
22 concerns. The most serious concerns were related to
23 the entrance drive. I'd like to summarize for you what
24 we heard and how the project has changed in order to
25 mitigate impacts and address those concerns.
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1 with a full buildout of Feather Ridge,
2 traffic volumes are expected to be similar to what one
3 would expect with a local street or less than a
4 hundred -- or less than a thousand vehicle trips per
5 day on average. However, the trips are more likely to
6 be grouped in particular time periods. Saturday
7 afternoon in the summer being the heaviest, and winter
8 months being the lightest.
9 The neighborhood was concerned about turning
10 movements at Ziegler Road and stacking. Our traffic
11 analysis didn't find this to be a problem because the
12 facility peaks at a different time than traffic on
13 Ziegler Road peaks, and especially not a problem
14 because the facility has the option of staggering when
15 their peaks occur. So if they did have a seminar, they
16 could make sure that the seminar lets out at 3:30 or
17 4:00 instead of at the peak time that Hewlett-Packard
18 would be letting out. So they have control over that,
19 and they will make their best effort to stagger events
20 so that stacking along the private entrance drive
21 doesn't occur.
22 There are basically three concerns around the
23 entry drive itself. There's concerns about sound,
24 visual concerns, and safety concerns. This slide --
25 slide shows the relationship of the existing houses to
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1 our proposed entry drive. The dimension from the back
2 of the house or deck to the edge of the driveway varies
3 from 53 feet to a hundred and 3 feet, the average
4 distance being 67 feet.
5 Some of the neighbors along the entry drive
6 were concerned about the sound of vehicles passing by
7 the drive during peak use times. My client hired
8 Hankard Environmental, a sound consultant, to evaluate
9 the sound issues. And Jeff Cerjan is here tonight if
10 you'd like him to go over his findings in more detail.
11 His study indicates that the average noise levels in
12 the neighborhood will not increase and that maximum
13 noise levels shall remain similar to what exists today.
14 Background sound that the neighborhood experiences now
15 is generated from H-P and from Ziegler Road.
16 Obviously, there will be additional passbys on the
17 access road.
18 The study also evaluated mitigation majors.
19 A 6-foot tall double -sided wood fence will provide
20 between 3 and 5 decibel noise reduction at the ground
21 level.
22 In addition to concerns about sounds, the
23 neighbors objected to the cars being visible from their
24 yards when the hedge was not leafed out during the fall
25 and winter months. Safety was also a primary concern
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1 of a few neighbors. The concern is that cars will
2 drive too fast, veer off the drive through the hedge
3 and into their backyards.
4 The applicant is proposing the following
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look at how tnat service drive could work, ana we have
changed it again.
The service drive is now proposed to access
the farmhouse service area off of the circle drive.
Although this creates some operational problems
regarding service vans driving by prime view areas, the
applicant's willing to make it work. The service drive
is screened from the wedding ceremony area and also
from the west -side neighbors.
Maximum anticipated occupancy for the
farmhouse itself is 70 people; although, a small
wedding of up to 120 people could be accommodated if it
were held outside in the east yard. The house and side
yard are very similar to -- in size and scale to the
Avery House on Mountain Avenue, if you're familiar with
that facility.
Parking for 25 cars is located along the
entry drive in front of the house. The house is
approximately 220 feet from the nearest residence to
the west.
Water and sewer service will be from Ziegler
Road. But because the site is lower than Ziegler, a
lift station will be required in order to connect to
public sewer. The plan is to have the farmhouse
operate in Phase I with a new septic system until the
ballroom facility is built. And when the new facility
is built, both the farmhouse and the ballroom facility
will connect to public sewer.
We had a few neighbors on the west side of
the property that had concerns during the development
of this project, and we feel that there is a lot of
buffering on the west side. First of all, we have --
excuse me -- the large scale existing canopy trees. In
addition to that, there are three rows of evergreens
there have been planted in the last year. The
applicant -- the applicant offered to build a privacy
fence along the west property line, but the -- the
people declined that and preferred landscape instead.
So in addition to the evergreens that have already been
planted, when the project is approved, the applicant
will add additional juniper tree plantings in two areas
that she negotiated with the neighborhood to block
specific activity zone areas from people's view.
The chicken coop is also being relocated to
screen the activity on the west patio of the new
facility. The backyard of the farmhouse will have
gardens and only have passive activity occurring there.
Neighbors to the west also had concerns about
music associated with events being heard in their yards
or their homes. Only stringed instruments are allowed
outside, and times are restricted. Music must end by
8:00 p.m. on weekdays and 9:00 p.m. on Friday and
Saturday. Any amplified music would have to be indoors
with all the windows and doors shut.
During the process of developing the Project
Development Plan, our design team along with the City
Staff held three separate official neighborhood
meetings. The first one was in April of this year.
Then we had another one a year after we had received
City Staff comments, and the last one was October 14th.
In addition to those meetings, Julie and Wendi had met
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on the upper level and then descend stairs to the
ballroom space which opens up to a terrace and the lawn
beyond.
The facility will accommodate up to 450
people. However, the average wedding would be between
150 and 200 people.
The ballroom facility is sited so it takes
advantage of the topography. The building appears to
be a one-story structure from the south and then steps
down the slope so that it is a two-story building on
the -- the north side. It was designed that way so
that it -- it doesn't appear out of scale with the
historic farmhouse, and also it would have less visual
impact to the neighborhood to the west.
The back lawn and terrace is oriented to the
northeast. The pond's wetlands and natural area will
be preserved as a buffer.
Parking for 104 vehicles is provided to the
southeast of the ballroom facility, adjacent to H-P's
parking lot, and also steps down the hill. Evergreen
trees are used to screen the parking in the service
area from view. Sidewalks provide pedestrian
connections from the parking area to the ballroom and
to the farmhouse facility. Detention is located to the
east of the parking lot.
Lighting is kept to an absolute minimum.
We're using 14-foot standards in the parking lot, which
is down from the usual 25-foot standoff -- standard.
Cutoff fixtures are provided, and pedestrian scale
lighting will be provided along pathways.
Phase I is going to include the farmhouse
facility and the improvements along the entry drive.
The farmhouse facility is being maintained as it exists
with only minor alterations, including interior
renovations and landscape improvements. The landscape
area to the east of the house will be used for outdoor
weddings or other formal gatherings.
This activity zone was originally planned to
be behind the house, but because neighbors to the west
objected, feeling that their privacy was being
compromised with activities being taking place in full
view of their backyard, the applicant agreed to move it
to the east side. When we did that, we -- it become
necessary to move the service drive to the west because
the service drive right now actually exists on the east
side of the house. So the applicant -- in addition to
moving it to the east side, the applicant also agreed
to retain the garage building to further buffer that
activity zone on the east.
The farmhouse in the east yard will be
enclosed with a low decorative fence and planted with
annuals and perennials much like it would have appeared
in the 1900s.
All right. However, back to the service
drive. Because when we came to the work session and
listened to the Board's comments, there was a concern
about the service drive being on the west, adjacent to
the neighborhood, and also concern that it be -- being
under the trees. That was a concern of the Natural
Resources Department. So we decided to take another
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zoning district exists to the west. And two estate
residences exist to the north. So you can see that the
15-acre site is -- is in a transition land use area,
between industrial sites and a medium density
neighborhood.
The 15-acre size makes this site twice the
size that the performance standards for reception
centers requires. The existing trees, the pond, and
natural area was also a plus. Not only do these items
and other vegetation create the desired pastoral
setting, but also provides an aesthetic buffer between
the neighborhood and what will be a new facility here.
The only point of access is from Ziegler
Road. And this is a slide of the entrance off of
Ziegler Road. An existing private drive connects this
property with Ziegler Road. There is an existing
6-foot hedge that runs the entire length of the
driveway.
Direct access from an arterial street
provides easy access for people that would attend
events at this facility while not dragging traffic
through a neighborhood; although, the access drive is
adjacent to a neighborhood.
A 60-foot right-of-way was reserved for
public access to this property when the adjacent
properties were subdivided.
The most appealing aspect of the site,
however, was historic farmhouse and barn. The
two-story red brick house is eligible for the local
historic designation. The house and barn not only lend
a nostalgic charm to the site, but the intent is that
they become a integral part of the facility.
The house is about 2,000 square feet on the
main floor. So it's big enough for small meetings,
seminars, small parties, teas, luncheons, that sort of
thing. And the second floor provides a special setting
for a bride's dressing room. The barn will be used as
a storage facility and perhaps a groom's quarters in
the future.
Not only does Feather Ridge plan on
preserving these historic structures for a generation
to come with this creative, adaptive re -use, but many
people from the community are going to get a chance to
see these historic -- these bits of local history when
they attend events at -- at the Feather Ridge Event
Center. So I think it's -- it's just one of the
greatest ways to preserve a historic site in Fort
Collins.
Lastly, the site is -- is in the UE zone, as
Bob, explained, where reception centers are allowed as
a permitted use.
This next slide is our site and landscape
master plan for the facility. The new facilities are
designed to be compact and centrally located on the
site to preserve the natural areas and to provide the
maximum amount of buffer to the adjacent neighborhood.
The new facility is proposed to be 7500
square feet. Of that, up to 5,000 would be a ballroom
facility. It's -- it will be built in a two-story
configuration, with conference and meeting rooms
located above and a ballroom below. Guests will enter
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the applicants representative, which is Linda Ripley.
MR. TORGERSON: Great. Thank you.
MR. ECKMAN: Mr. Chairman --
MR. TORGERSON: Yes.
MR. ECKMAN: -- do you want this portion of
the applicant -- or this presentation by the applicant
to count against their time or not?
MR. TORGERSON: This will be -- no, the
applicant's presentation proper will count against
their time.
MR. ECKMAN: Very well.
MR. TORGERSON: Thank you.
MS. RIPLEY: Thank you, Chairman Torgerson
and Members of the Board. My name is Linda Ripley with
VF Ripley Associates. And I'm here tonight
representing Julie Baker and Wendi Meyer, who are the
applicants for Feather Ridge PDP. Also with us
tonight, my associates, Andy McFeron is going to be
operating the PowerPoint presentation and using the
arrow pointers as we point things out. Jim Martell is
legal representation for Julie and Wendi, is here
tonight. Dave Lingle is our architect. However, since
he's also a board member, he had to excuse himself.
Mike Oberlander, North Star Engineering, our
civil engineer is here; Matt Delich, our traffic
engineer; Jeff Cerjan, our sound consultant; Ed Church,
a waste water consultant. All these people are here
tonight to answer questions and provide you full
information about anything on the project. We also
have a lighting consultant and Dennis Sinnett plans to
build this project if it is ultimately approved.
So with that, I want to begin my presentation
by talking about, briefly, just the vision for Feather
Ridge to remind the Board and members of our audience
that the vision for Feather Ridge is that it will be a
peaceful and serene place, away from the distractions
of the urban core. It's intended to be a place where
people can escape to a quiet setting for a retreat or a
meeting or a conference. It's also a place to
celebrate special occasions, especially weddings, but
not only weddings, also anniversaries, birthday parties
or perhaps a retirement dinner would be held in a place
like this. The most popular, of course, is weddings.
Smaller gatherings might also be christenings, teas,
fundraiser luncheons, things of this sort. So quite a
variety of what we lump under a term "special events."
Feather Ridge is also -- that's what it is.
What it is not, it is not a place for music venues.
It's not a place for outdoor concerts. It's not a
place for wild parties, and it's not a place for
sporting events.
The Thomas property was chosen for a variety
of reasons. This aerial context photo shows how the
property sits in relation to the surrounding land uses.
The Fossil Creek inlet canal borders the property along
the east. Gravel mining operations exist to the
northeast across the canal. Large lot development
exists along Mariah Lane and the lower part -- lower
than the canal. Hewlett-Packard and Agilent exist
along the south side. And Woodlands Park subdivision,
a medium density residential development in the RL
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it makes that secondary access almost -- well,
financially impossible. It can probably be done,
but . . .
And we also noted that we were -- it was
pointed out to us where the new, large reception area
is going to be built and which of the farm buildings
are going to go away.
But we also noted something interesting, that
there's a lot of noise generated by Hewlett-Packard
utilities right in the front yard of the building, a
loud humming sound. You lose it when you go around,
but it's there. I'm sure you get used to it after a
while.
Those are some of the things that we learned.
And we -- the landscape, the area, and also the house.
They're doing a lot of work on the interior of the
house. And the outside of the house has been well
preserved. So that's pretty much what we learned from
that one. Thanks.
MR. TORGERSON: Great. Thank you, Judy.
It's good to have that on the record. Paul?
MR. ECKMAN: I would just want to point out
to you, you also got a memorandum from Bob Barkeen that
summarized the observations that were just mentioned.
And so you have that in writing. And we will make that
a part of the record.
MS. MEYER: Okay. Thank you.
MR. TORGERSON: Thank you, Paul. I should
also note that I visited the site personally and
observed many of the same things that our fellow board
members noted.
I'll go ahead and turn it over to Bob for
staff presentation at this point.
MR. BARKEEN: Thank you, Mike -- Mikal.
The -- as you mentioned, the next item up for
discussion tonight is the Feather Ridge Project
Development Plan. This is a project for a Small Scale
Reception Center which is to be located on 15 acres of
land north of the Hewlett-Packard campus and east of
the Woodland Park Estates subdivision.
The site is currently zoned Urban Estate. It
was recently annexed and zoned Urban Estate earlier
this year. The use of a Small Scale Reception Center
is permitted within the Urban Estate zone district.
And that was permitted pursuant to a Land Use Code
change that was part of the fall 2003 Land Use Code
changes that was adopted by the City Council again
earlier this year.
There are two modification requests that are
accompanying this Project Development Plan. And I will
describe those in greater detail in the later part of
my presentation.
But before I do give my full presentation, I
would like to turn it over to the applicant first. And
they will do a -- do an overall description of the site
itself and of the proposed project itself. They'll go
over that, and then they'll turn it back to me. And
then I'll give more of a staff -- a summarization of
the staff report and some of the issues related to the
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1 project itself. So now I would like to turn it over to
Page 1
PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD
CITY OF FORT COLLINS
300 LaPorte Avenue
Fort Collins, Colorado
December 2, 2004
Feather Ridge Project Development Plan #20-04A
[Type II Planning and Zoning Board Review]
Members Present: Mikal Torgerson, Jerry Gavaldon,
Judy Meyer, Jennifer Carpenter,
Sally Craig, Bridgette Schmidt
City Attorney: Paul Eckman
1 PROCEEDINGS
2 MR. TORGERSON: Well, good evening and
3 welcome back to the December 2nd Planning and Zoning
4 Board session. The remaining item on our agenda is the
5 Feather Ridge Reception Center Project Development
6 Plan. I had indicated before the break that I would
7 offer neighborhood representatives 15 minutes. And it
8 was suggested by a fellow board member that we offer 20
9 minutes. And in talking to a neighborhood
10 representative, he indicated that that would work for
11 him.
12 I should also make sure that it's on the
13 record that the Planning and Zoning Board conducted a
14 site visit. Unfortunately, I was ill that day. So
15 I'll leave it to our vice chair to go ahead and bring
16 us up to speed as what was observed on the site.
17 MS. MEYER: Thank you, Mr. Chairman_ On
18 Monday the following board members went out to the
19 Feather Ridge site: Myself, Jerry Gavaldon, Jennifer
20 Carpenter, Sally Craig, and Bridgette Schmidt. The
21 staff that was present was Cameron Gloss, Bob Barkeen,
22 Paul Eckman, and Doug Moore.
23 Some of the things that we learned were that
24 there's a shrub along the road that's going to come in,
25 from the main road to go down to -- we went into a
1 backyard. And there's a shrub protecting the backyards
2 along there.
3 Doug came out and talked to Sally about the
4 trees. And there's a wood lot of trees there. They
5 aren't necessarily protected trees. But because
6 they're a wood lot, they're going to remain there
7 because as a type of tree it is, it isn't a protect --
8 an extremely important tree.
9 We then went around the farmhouse to where
10 the outdoor ceremonies are going to be and viewed the
11 east area of the house. It drops down to what I think
12 is called the Poudre wall. And it kind of drops like
13 this. And the closest road that you can make it a
14 secondary access is this Mariah Lane. And it would
15 have to jig and jog. And there'd have to be a bridge
16 over a ditch, and then jig and jog to get up there. So
Page 2
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