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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTHE LOFTS AT PARK CENTRAL - PDP - 28-02A - MINUTES/NOTES - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING�iUribUlhHUUll Itir u1t�r�rla_� 1 vo:r �A°k GENTiCRL OGT �9. 020 / .L I Name =_GG_eE_ L::� or Ycs NO I Yell No y I ✓ I I 1, k1/ � U � � i ✓I i- I �� i C�°� � ail G� ✓ I I Ag GoZIM& -- L �Ll I � I GL �i Il 17(1 1 J t ✓ Y G. m L •. ��' for S I AlLelGH MiT OCT. 029, aosi 27. Will you use xeriscaping? A. Yes, our shrub areas will use drip irrigation and we do not have large turf areas that typically need a lot of water. 28. Could you shift the westerly driveway further east? Again, I think it's important to keep turn movements as far away from the Prospect/Lemay intersection as possible. A. This may have a more negative impact on the neighborhood than the present location and could encourage unwanted cut -through traffic. I don't think shifting it east would have any benefit. 29. I'm concerned about aesthetics and proportion. Would these buildings be of the same scale as the new 5-plex along the Spring Creek Trail at Morningside Drive? That building appears to be proportional and attractive. A. Yes, that is a 5-plex structure and similar in scale to ours. 30. I fear that we will have a canyon effect along Prospect with the new three-story building located right along the road. A. We are aware of this and that is why the building is "side -mounted" to Prospect. X 19. Could you build additional buildings to the east between your project and the health club? A. No, as this area will be needed by both us and the F.C.C. for parking. This area will be governed by an agreement and, ultimately, may be deeded to the Club. 20. Could you punch a new road south then west to Lemay? A. That would not be necessary as we already have a cross access agreement with the retail center to gain access to Lemay. 21. Pedestrians do not have enough time to cross Prospect at the Lemay signal. This whole area is dangerous. A. The traffic signal at Prospect/Lemay is timed so that a pedestrian has time to cross during the walk cycle. But, in a general way, your larger point about safety is correct and we have taken steps to design a safe environment where traffic is "calmed" by the plaza and we have provided eight foot wide sidewalks internal to our site. We also provide a sidewalk to the Spring Creek Trail. Crosswalks will be enhanced with different paving materials and slightly raised above the roadway. 22. You need to be careful not to plant large shrubs along Prospect to impede visibility for motorists. A. We are aware of the City's requirements for sight distance. 23. Could you explain more about the shifting of the Spring Creek Trail? A. The trail will be shifted to the south about 20 feet for about one-half the frontage along our site. This is because we need to build a new parking lot for the club as compensation for the parking we will be using. The City Parks and Recreation Department is in support of this concept. 24. Will your project encroach on the traffic turn -around behind the restaurant? A. No. 25. Will the height of the units be about equal to the club? A. Yes. 26. Could you go lower? A. Not really but keep in mind that these are pitched roofs, not flat. 5 floodplain has increased in size over the old F.E.M.A. maps. The new City mapping is, therefore, more restrictive. Finally, there have been significant improvements to the entire drainage basin since 1963. 11. But what about the loss of pervious surface? You can't just pave over open space and not expect to have an impact on flooding? A. First of all, much of the site is presently paved. Second, the new City mapping assumed that undeveloped parcels in the basin were impervious as a key assumption in the modeling of the 100-year floodplain. 12. Will the site have to be raised? A. Yes. Again, based on the new City mapping, a few of our buildings will have to be raised to meet the requirement that all first floor elevations are a minimum of 18 inches above the 100-year base flood elevation. 13. In my opinion, the new City modeling is inadequate and should be more conservative based on the history of flooding in the area. 14. What about flooding on Prospect Road? I've seen flooding on the roadway over the years as well. A. Our site does not drain to Prospect. Our site drains to our southwest corner. Since we do not contribute to an existing problem, we have not been asked by the City to provide any mitigation. 15. Well, it would be nice if you are going to impact our neighborhood with this development, that you help improve an existing situation. 16. I would prefer that the larger building on Prospect be reduced in size. In fact, the project would be better for the neighborhood if there were fewer dwelling units, and therefore, less traffic. I see the problem as one of intensity. A. The building on Prospect is "side -mounted" so that the short axis faces north and south while the long axis faces east and west. 17. Will the common areas be maintained by an H.O.A.? I've seen H.O.A.'s fail allowing the improvements to deteriorate and bring down surrounding property values. A. Yes, we will establish an H.O.A. for common area maintenance. We think that with the price range of the units, the owners will be motivated to maintain the common areas. 18. I see traffic safety, especially for pedestrians, and water quality as two key issues. 4 we think there will be enough parking for the F.C.C. and it will be closer to the entrance. 6. Why do you think that there will be no college students? A. We are marketing these condos on a "for sale" basis, not "for rent." Each unit will be about 1,300 square feet with a two -car garage. Our initial estimate is that these units will be offered for sale in the range of about $170,000 to $185,000. We are not marketing to college students but to folks who want to own a condo in a central location on the Spring Creek Trail. 7. Will the condos have access to the Club's driveway out to Prospect? A. Yes. 8. I'm concerned about the amount of impervious surface being created by this development, the stormwater runoff and the impact on the riparian ecology along Spring Creek. How will stormwater be handled? A. We have been directed by the City's Stormwater Utility to detain storm flows for water quality purposes. This will capture the low flows and allow the pollutants to settle out before flows are discharged into Spring Creek. For the 100-year storm, however, the City wants our stormwater to get into Spring Creek as quickly as possible and beat the peak of stormwater entering the creek from upstream. During a large storm, water quality ponds have limited value as pollutants are diluted and flushed downstream. 9. What is the capacity of the pond? A. The pond capacity will be in conformance with City requirements. Again, this will not be a large volume pond that you typically see with new development. Rather, it will be a pond sized for water quality, and therefore, smaller. Since the site is adjacent to Spring Creek, the City prefers the 100-year storm be directed into the creek without detention in order to beat the peak. 10. I've lived here a long time and have seen this area under water on more than one occasion. In addition, I've talked to Glen Johnson who has farmed in east Fort Collins for decades and who agrees this area is prone to flooding. There have been serious floods in 1939, 1952 and 1963. Of course, we all remember 1997. 1 think it is foolish to develop this area. A. Our civil engineer has been in contact with the City's Floodplain Administrator. Our project is being designed to meet all current City requirements which are stricter due to the 1997 flood. For example, prior to 1997, the rainfall design criterion was 2.89 inches per two hour time period. Now, it is 3.67 inches. In addition, based new mapping on the Spring Creek basin after 1997, the 100-year 9 A. Our transportation impact study indicates that this project will not lower the Level of Service at the Prospect/Lemay intersection. (Level of Service is a measurement of delay and scaled A through F.) Our project is designed to have cross access with Park Central retail center so.residents can access Lemay as well as Prospect. This will provide an alternative to Prospect during peak times. 2. It's interesting that you mentioned other potential uses for this site. I for one would prefer a bank, office or retail instead of 34 dwelling units. At least at night and on weekends, those folks go home. A. Our traffic engineer cautions that a bank, office or retail use would generate more traffic than 34 dwelling units. Banks and retail uses are open on Saturdays as well these days. We are also hoping that some of our residents will take advantage of our location and use the Spring Creek Trail or Transfort route number five (Lemay) as an alternative on their commute to work. The Spring Creek Trail connects to the employment area on East Prospect. 3. As a resident of Highlander Heights, I can tell you that traffic on Prospect is compounded by the school zone at Welch Street. So, not on only do you have heavy volume, but you have cars slowing down and then speeding up. This just makes it more difficult to gain access to Prospect. This project will just add to the problems. At some point, we all need a protected left turn. A. The City traffic operations engineer has indicated that there will not be a new traffic signal installed on East Prospect as a result of our project. The point to remember is that we have access to both Prospect and Lemay so there is an alternative route if Prospect is to busy for a left turn. 4. I think you need more parking spaces than 1.75 spaces per unit. You will have at least two occupants per unit. And then if you have college students in there, you will probably have four occupants. I'm concerned about parking spilling over to our neighborhood. A. We have provided parking in sufficient numbers to meet the requirements of the City's Land Use Code. In doing so, we are not counting the garage spaces, only the driveway and surface spaces. By providing two spaces in the garage as well as driveway and surface spaces, we think there will be ample parking and no impact on the neighborhood. 5. What about when the Fort Collins Club has special events and tournaments? I've seen that parking lot full on those occasions. Prospect is too busy to cross if Club parking spills over into our neighborhood. A. We are providing a new parking area for the F.C.C. as compensation for the loss of existing parking. While the replacement is not exactly on a one -for -one basis, 2 SECOND NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING MINUTES PROJECT: Park Central Condos DATE: October 29, 2002 APPLICANT: Mr.& Mrs. Doug & Connie Dohn and Mr. Larry Stroud CONSULTANTS: Rachel Linder, V-F Ripley and Associates Frank Vaught, Vaught — Frye Architects Tricia Kroetch, Northstar Engineering CITY PLANNER: Ted Shepard This is the second neighborhood meeting for this project. The first was held on July 23, 2002. Minutes to that meeting are available. The request is for 34 attached single family dwellings (condos) on approximately 6.5 acres located south of East Prospect Road and north of Spring Creek, immediately west of the Fort Collins Club. There would be two parking spaces per unit in a garage on the ground level and two living stories above. There would be additional surface parking as well. The project is considered part of Park Central and there would be joint access to connect all three parcels (retail center and health club). In addition, there would be some parking reconfiguration for the Fort Collins Club and a slight shifting of the Spring Creek Trail to the south. Some of the dwelling units would be offered as "mixed -use" in that the garage space may be converted to first floor office or home occupation. On August 1, 2002, the Planning and Zoning Board approved a Request for Modification of Standard that requires that each building be within 200 feet of a public street sidewalk or within 350 feet of a major walkway spine. Four of the six buildings are not within these specified distances. Unless otherwise noted, all responses are from the applicant. QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, COMMENTS I. I live on Luke Street and I'm concerned about traffic. As it is now, you can't turn left on to Prospect during the rush hour. I don't see how the folks living in this project will be able to turn left on to Prospect either. Traffic backs up from the Prospect and Lemay intersection restricting turn movements.