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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3425 S. SHIELDS ST. MIXED-USE - PDP - 28-07 - MINUTES/NOTES - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING (3)No Text 46r IV NEIGHBORHOOD INFORMATION MEETING PROJECT A40!!f S. ,Qh1Wc42 itfYa-ux PDP DATE *' jUa- 2 Air IVA ��� •. MAP Er ■I 7_. _ `, !d N/ r 38. Question: What is the distance from the property line to closest residence? Answer: About 60 feet. Meeting concluded at 8:30pm Reply: Shields sounds like the ocean. It's not right there at the property line like this noise and traffic would be. 33. Question: This may block some noise from Shields but it will be a source of a great deal more noise. RVs don't move. They're quiet. What is the advantage to us? Answer: The ground will be visually enhanced. There will be less traffic at night. There will be stable residents and the buildings and site will be more attractive. 34. Comment: I think people would accept this proposal more readily if these were 2-story units with lower level below grade. This would transition better with existing single-family heights. There are no 2-story buildings on this stretch of Shields. Please consider bringing the height down 16 feet. We'd be more likely to accept it. Reply: We looked at many options early on. One of our goals was to provide living space with no stairs. If we sank units, none could be accessible units. If we reduced the number of units, we would fail to meet the minimum density standards. 35. Question: Could you do flat roofs and knock off 14 feet of height that way? You could do a drainage system on the roof and have cupolas. Answer: We cannot drain stormwater into the wastewater sewer. We must use a water quality pond. We used pitched roves to match the existing residential character. The residential buildings all have articulated pitched roofs for residential compatibility, scale and interest. 36. Question: Do you realize that this project will displace resident foxes? Answer: No, I didn't realize there were foxes. 37. Question: This project will be just 17 feet from Casa Grande. There is an existing drainage pipe to Laredo Lane at the southwest corner where the block wall ends. You should be aware of this. It's just a pipe, no manholes. 9 later and signalize the intersection? Shields is getting as bad as College. Was the observation by the traffic engineer done during school year/school hours? CSU traffic really adds a substantial amount of traffic. Answer: It is unlikely that there would ever be a signal at Richmond and Shields. This project does not meet the warrants to provide a light. Also, this intersection is likely too close to the Shields and Horsetooth intersection for a light. The study on existing traffic was done during peak times, not a summer Sunday. Traffic that the development generates is then added to the background traffic. The total count is what is evaluated to determine if traffic changes are warranted. 30. Question: Did the traffic engineer examine access at the intersection of Richmond and the drive that connects to the site? Answer: No, that point was not evaluated because it does not funnel traffic now. The intersections that were analyzed include Shields and the primary access point and Shields and Richmond. 31. Comment: I think you should revisit the traffic report. The stoplight at Shields and Horsetooth backs up in am rush, noon rush and pm rush. I can't see this working for anyone going north. You can't go left after Horsetooth and Richmond. Response: I agree that this is not the best scenario for traffic but the conclusion of the study is that it is within normal parameters. 32. Comment: My bedroom backs up to the proposed project. I am concerned about noise, traffic, light, loss of wildlife, and privacy. Response: This project may actually buffer a lot of the traffic noise from Shields. It also amazes me how many people drive through the existing site. Yes, cars will be driving on the site but we have done what we could think of to mitigate. Putting the buildings in the center of the site allows them to be as far away from existing residences as possible and way exceeds the required setbacks. 7 Answer: Yes, one I can think of is on Harmony, kitty-corner from Red Robin. 25. Comment: This area has traditionally been and is single-family units. 26. Question: What about lighting? Answer: We are working with a lighting designer. The lighting designer must show that light won't spill across property lines. He has also proposed lights which have house -side shields for further protection from light spill and glare. The lighting for pathways will be bollards, which are very low intensity, focused lighting. 27. Question: What is the maximum density in the MMN Zone district? Answer: (Anne Aspen later, wasn't able to discover at meeting): There is no stated maximum density in the MMN zone district, however about the maximum possible is 15 -16 units per acre, meeting the height limit of three stories, drive aisles, setbacks, parking and detention requirements, etc. 28. Question: How big is this site? Answer: Just over 3 acres x 12 dwellings per acre = 36 units. The commercial doesn't count towards the density requirement. (Anne Aspen): We have a fixed Growth Management Area (GMA) to discourage sprawl. In City Plan, our community's vision for itself as it grows, we encourage infill and redevelopment as a means towards this end. At many arterial intersections there are commercial zones to provide shopping needs close to the neighborhood to reduce traffic trips and lengths and even to encourage other forms of transportation. MMN zone districts are higher density, primarily residential districts but which also encourage some commercial development, especially in mixed -use projects, again to cut down on longer trips to do errands and business. Again, the height limitations and other site constraints create a natural limit to how much commercial can be mixed in with the residential units. 29. Question: Traffic is going to get gridlocked. Will the City come back 6 18. Comment: I think it would be better to redesign and fill there. It might also benefit both sides. If redesigned and filled, a privacy fence would be possible. It's about privacy more than drainage. Answer: That is something we can talk about. And it's one of the challenges of development. 19. Question: How many garages are planned to be on the west side? Answer: Nine. One is handicap accessible. 20. Question: Is City sewer able to handle the additional load? Answer: Well know the answer after the staff review meeting in 2 weeks. 21. Question: What about snow removal? Guest parking? Answer: The commercial and residential buildings will be combined in an HOA which will handle snow removal. The commercial parking will be shared with residents. 22. Comment: Most average people have 2 cars. Response: (Anne Aspen): The parking standards are city-wide for residential uses and are based on actual car ownership averages. Not all people living in a two -bedroom unit have 2 cars. Statistically, it is typical for some to have just one car and that is factored into the requirement. A two -bedroom unit requires 1.75 spaces. The total number of spaces is rounded up. 23. Question: What about the RV storage displacement? Will the City rezone so more RV storage can go in somewhere else? Answer: (Anne Aspen): There are other areas in the City that are currently zoned to allow RV storage. I'm sure there's an entrepreneur out there who will see an opportunity to take up the slack. 24. Question: Are there higher density projects in Fort Collins? 5 slows the runoff to the outfall. 13. Question: What will this project do to property values? Answer: My gut feel is they'll go up. Right now it is RV storage. It will be a center for the neighborhood. The higher quality architecture will help property values. 14. Question: How long will the construction dust and noise last? Answer: Phase I will include all site improvements including the grading, parking, utilities, drainage, etc. This will last about 4-5 months. We must meet the City's noise and fugitive dust ordinances. Phase II will include the residential construction. This phase will likely take about 8-9 months. Phase III will include the commercial building and will last about 1 year. Phase II and III will be less dusty and fugitive dust and noise regulations will apply. There may be some gaps between the phases. 15. Question: Chaparral backyards back to north property line. Currently there's a fence and drainage there. What is proposed there? The neighborhood is pretty exposed to the site —we look down on the cars and RVs parked there. Answer: We've designed the site so residences are more internal so there will be substantially more distance, about 60 feet, between existing and new buildings than the minimum allowed by the City. There will be a small drainage swale on the north property line. 16. Question: The fence is on Harlan's property. Fill was added to abate a drainage problem. Answer: We looked into that. It was approved as it is in the 80's sometime. Well keep our runoff away from that area. 17. Question: The fence is sitting in a low spot, so a fence would have to be 12 feet tall to screen between the properties. How will buffering or fencing be done? Answer: We haven't gotten to that level of design detail yet. We are open to considering a fence. 4 signal and this project does not meet that warrant. 8. Question: How many people will live here? Answer: There will be three residential buildings with 12 residential units each. We are providing parking spaces to meet the City requirements. There are no minimum requirements for commercial parking but we are providing parking for that based on good rules of thumb. 9. Question: How many tenants will there be in the commercial space? Answer: That will depend. There are no specific tenants lined up yet. It is likely that the ground level will be a number of small retail or office businesses with larger offices above. (Anne Aspen): It was pointed out that there was an error in the notification letter —there is one building on Shields, not two. 10. Question: How big is the project? What about the elevations? Answer: The site is just over three acres. There will be 8237sf of commercial in the front building and a total of 15,411sf in the residential buildings. 117 parking spaces will be provided, 58 for the residential and 59 for the commercial. The commercial building is 39 feet tall plus some tower elements on the corners. The residential buildings are also 39 feet tall. We've used brick, stone and softened the sides with stucco and other detailing. We've also varied the roofiines for visual interest. 11. Question: Will you sell the property or keep it and manage it? Answer: Right now, we're thinking well construct and keep/manage the residential part of the project. Well probably sell the commercial part of the project or stay involved as part owners and partner with commercial developers. We are local and want to be good neighbors and citizens. 12. Question: What is south of the project? Pond? Container? Answer: That is a water quality pond. It is proposed to be 40 x40'x8' deep with landscaped, terraced walls. A water quality pond 3 connection. Another attendee pointed out that a majority of the attendees and neighbors are senior citizens and typically drive not walk to their destinations. 3. Question: Who is the target buyer for these units? Answer: Young professionals. Two -bedroom units are probably too small for most families and the rent will probably be too high for most students. All residential units will be for rent. 4. Question: Where will access to and from the site be located? Answer: One off Shields at existing access location, secondary access off Richmond behind the Grease Monkey. 5. Comment: I use the RV storage lot, and daily. It is very difficult to turn left on northbound Shields or even right on southbound Shields from Richmond. How will folks be able to get out? I have to loop around the neighborhood. If others loop too, this project will increase traffic through the neighborhood. Response: This is one of our concerns too. We will work on this. We hired a traffic engineer to do a Transportation Impact Study, which is required by the City. As a part of creating the report, the engineer sat at the intersection and observed traffic firsthand. There are times when folks have to wait more than one minute to exit, but it is within the tolerances allowed by the City regulations. 6. Question: What about flood control? Answer: During the 100-year storm event we had recently, I observed that all runoff comes from off the Chaparral green space. Our project must control our own runoff. There is a water quality pond proposed for the southeast corner of the project. We will be required to release water from the site at the 2-year historic levels, so in fact there will be less runoff than there is currently. 7. Question: Will there be a traffic light at Richmond and Shields? Answer: No, not as a result of this development. A certain number of vehicle trips generated trigger the installation of a traffic 2 PROJECT: 3425 S. Shields DATE: August 27, 2007 APPLICANT: Chris Matkins, Wes Lamarque, Joanna Frye CITY PLANNER: Anne Aspen This is a request to redevelop an existing single family lot with outdoor storage to a mixed -use project with one commercial building on Shields and three 3- story residences behind. The property is located within the City of Fort Collins and is zoned MMN—Medium Density Mixed -Use Neighborhood. The meeting started at about 6:35pm. After a general introduction by Anne Aspen and an overview of the City's development review process, Chris Matkins walked the audience through the proposal. Anne opened up the meeting to a question and answer session. The following questions and comments are those posed by audience members. Answers were provided by the applicant unless otherwise noted. The audience was 50-60 members strong and was roughly 2/3rds Casa Grande residents, 1/3rd Chaparral residents. QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, COMMENTS, RESPONSES 1. Question: Is the owner the same as the developer? Answer: (Anne Aspen): It depends. Sometimes the developer is the owner and sometimes not. (Chris Matkins): In this case, the developers have the property under contract. 2. Question (by Chris Matkins of the audience): What do you think of having a pedestrian connection through the site to Shields and vice versa? In favor, raise your hand. Response: No hands raised. (Anne Aspen): Just to clarify, those opposed, raise your hand. About 2/3 of the audience of 50- 60 members raised their hands. One attendee pointed out that 100% of the Chaparral residents were opposed to such a 1