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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAMBRIDGE HOUSE APARTMENTS - MODIFICATION OF STANDARD - 6-03B - REPORTS - RECOMMENDATION/REPORTModification of Standards for the Cambridge House Apartments, File # 6-03B October 16, 2003 P&Z Meeting Page 7 reduced parking standards should be applied to Community Commercial Districts in recognition of their proximity to walkable environments and mix -of -uses. C. Staff finds that the granting of the modification request Alternative A or Alternative B would satisfy the general purpose of the standard equally well or better than a plan that satisfies the standard because it has been successfully shown that the Cambridge House Apartments has a lower demand for parking than typical apartment complexes, and that the future anticipated site expansion's parking demand will be fully accommodated on the site. 6. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of Alternative A of the modification request. Modification of Standards for the Cambridge House Apartments, File # 6-03B October 16, 2003 P&Z Meeting Page 6 across the street from the site, and absorbs the demand of students who drive to campus from other parts of town. Residents are required to have parking permits with window stickers. Any cars parking in the lot illegally are typically towed. The retail and entertainment uses along West Elizabeth are only a half a block away, and within a two - minute walk of the Cambridge House Apartments. Additionally, this apartment complex markets specifically to students who would find it appealing to live in a location where they don't need to have a car. Existing bus lines along Shields and West Elizabeth connect the residents to the rest of town. The applicant has conducted counts of parking space utilization of the existing parking lot, given the current user types of the apartment complex, during various times of the year and at different times of the day on different days of the week. The parking counts demonstrate an extremely high vacancy rate. In no case were there fewer than 70 vacant parking spaces present on the property on any count. Staff finds that the granting of the modification would not be detrimental to the public good because City Plan has identified that reduced parking standards should be applied to Community Commercial Districts in recognition of their proximity to walkable environments and mix -of -uses. The general purpose of the minimum parking requirements is to ensure that the residents parking needs are satisfied on the development site rather than impacting the surrounding neighborhood with overflow parking. Staff finds that the granting of the modification would satisfy the general purpose of the standard equally well or better than a plan that satisfies the standard because it has been successfully shown that the Cambridge House Apartments has a lower demand for parking than typical apartment complexes, and that the future anticipated site expansion's parking demand will be fully accommodated on the site. Both Alternative A & B satisfy the criteria for granting a modification, however staff recommends Alternative A over Alternative B because it allows the new building abutting Shields to be a mixed -use building while providing active building square footage on the ground floor adjacent to Shields, which better addresses the City's desire for more pedestrian activity within the CC zone district. 5. FINDINGS OF FACT/CONCLUSION: A. The requested Modification of Standards for Cambridge House Apartments, File # 6-03 is subject to review by the Planning and Zoning Board. B. Staff finds that the granting of the modification request Alternative A or Alternative B would not be detrimental to the public good because City Plan has identified that Modification of Standards for the Cambridge House Apartments, File # 6-03B October 16, 2003 P&Z Meeting Page 5 • (Alternative A) proposes 18 new dwelling units and also provides 1,900 square feet of non-residential space in the new building and would have a minimum of 170 parking spaces; • (Alternative B) proposes 18 new dwelling units but doesn't include non- residential floor area in the new building, and would have a minimum of 174 on - site parking spaces. The applicant has proposed that the modification request meets the requirements of LUC 2.8.2 Modification Review Procedures (H) Step 8 (Standards). Please see the attached written justification by the applicant. The applicant submitted the following two illustrative diagrams, and three documents of additional background information on the current usage of the Cambridge House Apartment's parking permits: (a) A drawing titled "Cambridge House Option 1" depicting the anticipated layout for Alternative A; (b) A drawing titled "Cambridge House Option 2" depicting the anticipated layout for Alternative B; (c) A document titled "Number of Tenants vs. Number of Vehicles" showing the unit numbers, the tenants who reside in those units, and the number of vehicle permits registered to each unit; (d) A document titled "2003 Parking Counts" (Exhibit D) depicting the quantity of full and vacant parking spaces counted at anticipated peak demand times between Wednesday, January 29, 2003 and Sunday, February 2, 2002; (e) A document titled "2002 Parking Counts" (Exhibit E) depicting the quantity of full and vacant parking spaces counted at anticipated peak demand times from May 3ra to 9th, 2002, and from December 11 th to 19th, 2002; 4. ANALYSIS OF MODIFICATION REQUEST This site has a rare combination of several factors that truly reduce parking demand. Such factors are unique and specific to this site, and may not be present on sites within just a few blocks to the west or north of the site. Clearly the proximity of the campus to the east allows students the ability to only need to cross Shields Street, to get to campus. Additionally, the Moby Arena parking lot is directly Modification of Standards for the Cambridge House Apartments, File # 6-03B October 16, 2003 P&Z Meeting Page 4 should share parking areas and quantities. A portion of any project's parking requirements should be satisfied be satisfied by on -street parking. b. Parking lots will not dominate the frontage of pedestrian -oriented streets or interrupt pedestrian routes. Lots should be located behind buildings, in side yards, or in the interior of blocks to the greatest extent practicable. c. Large -surface parking lots will be visually and functionally segmented into several smaller lots, if practical. Land devoted to surface parking lots should be reduced, over time, through redevelopment and/or construction of structured parking facilities. 2. THE MODIFICATION PROCESS (A) Section 2.8.2(H) of the LUC specifies that in order to approve a modification the Planning and Zoning Board must find that: (1) the granting is not detrimental to the public good, and that (2) the plan as submitted would satisfy one of the following: (a) the general purpose of the standard is satisfied equally well or better than a plan that satisfies the standard, or (b) the proposed project would, without impairing the intents and purposes of the LUC, substantially address an important community need specifically and expressly defined and described in the city's Comprehensive Plan, adopted policy, ordinance or resolution, and that the strict application of such a standard would render the project practically infeasible, or (c) strict application of the standard sought to be modified would result in unusual and exceptional practical difficulties or exceptional or undue hardship due to exceptional physical conditions unique to such property. 3. APPLICANT'S REQUEST The applicant requests a modification to Section 3.2.2(K)(1)(a) of the Land Use Code to reduce the required number of off-street parking spaces in one of two alternatives: Modification of Standards for the Cambridge House Apartments, File # 6-03B October 16, 2003 P&Z Meeting Page 3 planning process that may be useful in future policy discussions." Elements from the report that may be useful in this report include the following: • "Both the City and CSU are confronting the negative impacts of escalating car traffic on the visual and pedestrian environment. Both are looking for ways to support alternatives to car driving, and to repair decades of neglect of urban considerations such as the pedestrian realm and storm drainage." • "Most sites maximize parking, with lacking or substandard setbacks, landscaping and sidewalks. Thus parking hinders, rather than supports, the pedestrian realm. This is contrary to the approach of the City's Comprehensive Plan." • "Multi -story redevelopment would apparently depend on structured or shared parking provided by a parking district or the City. This would likely introduce fees or permits for the first time in Campus West." City Plan's Principles and Policies for Community Commercial Districts provide additional guidance to consider in the evaluation of the modification request as follows: • Principle CCD-1: "Community Commercial Districts will be community -wide destinations and act as hubs for a high -frequency transit system offering retail, offices, services, small civic uses, and higher density housing. The physical environment will promote walking, bicycling, transit and ridesharing, as well as provide a high quality urban life for residents. Vertical mixed -use will be encouraged." • Policy CCD-1.10: "Relationship of Buildings to Public Spaces. Buildings will reinforce and revitalize streets and public spaces, by providing an ordered variety of architectural features that may include entries, windows, bays and balconies along public ways. Buildings will have human scale in details and massing. While vertical mixed -use is encouraged, maximum building height will be limited to 5 to 6 stories." • Policy CCD-1.18: "Parking. Reduced parking standards should be applied to Community Commercial Districts in recognition of their proximity to high - frequency transit service and their walkable environment and mix of uses. On - street parking should be maximized. Parking structures should be encouraged, including ground floor retail or service uses. All parking must provide for visibility, personal safety and security. Other parking considerations include the following: a. Shared parking is encouraged for nearby uses in quantities reflecting staggered peak periods of demand. Retail, office and entertainment uses Modification of Standards for the Cambridge House Apartments, File # 6-03B October 16, 2003 P&Z Meeting Page 2 COMMENTS 1. BACKGROUND The surrounding zoning and land uses are as follows: N: CC — Existing neighborhood comprising mainly of multi -family housing, fraternities, and sororities, NE: CC — Existing Church, existing residential four-plex, existing group home at the southwest corner of W. Plum and Shields, E: CSU (not zoned) — Colorado State University main campus, S: CC — Existing Commercial businesses abutting Shields Street and West Elizabeth Street, Existing Church, W: CC — Existing neighborhood comprising mainly of multi -family housing, and single family detached housing. The property is west of Shields Street, east of Scott Street, south of W. Plum Street, and was annexed into the City as part of the Twelfth South Shields Street Annexation in July of 1965. On February 20, 2003, the Planning and Zoning Board granted the owner of the Cambridge House Apartments a modification to Section 3.2.2(K)(1)(a) of the Land Use Code to reduce the required number of off-street parking spaces that would be required for an anticipated building expansion of an additional 18 dwelling units and 1,900 square feet of non-residential space. With the existing 102 apartments and the proposed expansion, the amount of required parking was reduced from a minimum of 213 spaces to a minimum of 175 spaces. Due to unanticipated design constraints, the applicant has discovered that there isn't enough space on the site to integrate 175 parking spaces and a new mixed -use building, so the applicant is requesting a slightly different modification to Section 3.2.2(K)(1)(a) of the Land Use Code. The applicant proposes 2 alternatives, and requests that the Planning and Zoning Board choose one to approve. Both alternatives would include building the originally anticipated additional 18 dwelling units, however the first alternative (Alternative A) proposes to also provide 1,900 square feet of non-residential space with a minimum of 170 parking spaces, while the second alternative (Alternative B) doesn't include any non-residential floor area in the new building, and would have a minimum of 174 on -site parking spaces. The Campus West Community Commercial District Planning Study Report was a public planning process conducted by the City between Fall, 1999 and Fall, 2001. This report was the result of the Campus West Subarea Plan process, that was originally anticipated to be an adopted plan, however it was determined that the process did not result in policies or recommendations that warranted such adoption. The report proclaims itself to be "open- ended on a number of key questions, offering explanations and information from the ITEM NO. 7 MEETING DATE 10 16 03 iiA STAFF Troy Jones Citv of Fort Collins PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD STAFF REPORT PROJECT: Modification of Standards for the Cambridge House Apartments, File # 6-03B OWNER: Chris Ray Cambridge House LLC 1113 W. Plum Street Fort Collins, CO 80521 APPLICANT: Don Brookshire Eastpoint Studio 3207 Kittery Court Fort Collins, CO 80526 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The applicant is requesting a slightly different modification to Section 3.2.2(K)(1)(a) of the Land Use Code than was previously approved for the site. The applicant proposes 2 alternatives, and requests that the Planning and Zoning Board choose one to approve. Both alternatives would include building an additional 18 dwelling units, however the first alternative (Alternative A) proposes to also provide 1,900 square feet of non-residential space with a minimum of 170 parking spaces, while the second alternative (Alternative B) doesn't include non-residential floor area in the new building, and would have a minimum of 174 on -site parking spaces. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of Alternative A to modify section 3.2.2(K)(1)(a) of the Land Use Code. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This is a request for modification to the following section of the Land Use Code: 3.2.2 Access, Circulation and Parking (K) Parking Lots — Required Number of Spaces for Type of Use (1) Residential and Institutional Parking Requirements (a) Attached Dwellings - This section of the Land Use Code requires that multifamily dwellings provide 1.75 spaces for each two -bedroom unit, and 2.0 parking spaces for each three - bedroom unit. COMMUNITY PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES 281 N. College Ave. PO. Box580 Fort Collins, CO80522-0580 (970)221-6750 PLANNING DEPARTMENT