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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPARADIGM PROPERTIES - ODP - 29-01A - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - LUC REQUIREMENTSThe question of order is addressed by looking at two of these standards. From a broad brush appeal the block pattern and building orientation will be the first cue that the design has cohesion. This would be followed in importance by the method of parking, the design of the parking and the ways that the parking is screened. The aesthetics of the project will be the first impression and many times will form the lasting impression that the Center gives to the public. The building design and the roof forms will give a first impression as the center is being approached This impression will be to have a unity of colors, forms, and details that visually call out that this is a designed center. A clear vehicular and pedestrian circulation pattern and the transit system integration will give the site user the second impression of the coherent nature of this Center. These two aspects of the design will be the measure of the success of the project. The balance of the standards can be said to address the detailing of the site. These may appear to be secondary in nature but the handling of these details in a proper fashion will affect how the project is perceived. The choice of materials, signage, and fencing are details that on a pedestrian scale can make or break the project. The methods of storage and screening will be important to the outcome of the project and the latter design phases of the planning process will address these items. SUMMARY The owner is committed to working to achieve the goals and policies of both the Corridor Plan and the City Structure Plan. Some of these goals and policies are commitments to the future of the project and the owner is making these commitments with the presentation of this Overall Development Plan. He will make formal commitments to these issues at the time that they are relevant to the particular phase of the design process that focuses on these issues. Our intentions are to have a high quality development that is functional, economically feasible and visually pleasing to the public. This first step in the planning process addresses the concerns of density, circulation, and orientation. We believe that the character of the development fits the intention of the master plans that the City has developed over the years for this property. The expectations of moth the City and the owner we believe are convergent. The Owners commitment to excellence in design and quality of the development is undertaken with this ODP. The property over time has been used for irrigated and dry land types of agriculture. There are no significant natural features on the site. You will find no trees or shrubs other than those planted by the developer with the existing commercial property on the site. There are no other environmentally sensitive areas on this Activity Area. This enhances the appeal of this property to be developed as a commercial site. There is no real sense of openness or expansiveness to the property. Roads surround it on all sides and the activity on these streets at times even now approach capacity. The physical construction of these sites, there relative elevation with respect to the site offers one a feeling of closure rather then one of open space. This makes the site a proper choice to be an Activity Center. POLICY — IMPROVED QUALITY AND FUNCTIONALITY OF DEVELOPMENT The project will be designed as a coherent whole. The buildings will have a grouping of similar materials, colors, and detailing. The buildings will be positioned in a campus type setting to encourage pedestrian circulation from business to business. The higher intensity uses will be the center and focus of the internal pedestrian system. Open spaces will crate nodes of activity and also serve places for vistas to the mountains. The uses will be common in orientation to the market to allow site visitors to obtain more than one service at the center. POLICY — STEADY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT The owner has intentions of designing an overall development plan for the two properties that he owns as one mixed use Activity Center. It is the intention that the ODP will serve as a guideline for the future development of the project. It is assumed that this Center will develop over a number of years. The framework as to how development will occur is detailed within this ODP. Changes will occur as the market will demand in the future but the Basic concept and methods for development will be there in an identifiable and coherent pattern. The phases one through the last will work to tie into the grid and pattern set by the ODP. POLICY — LOCATION The Center is well located based on the concepts of the Design Standards with its position adjacent to the interstate and a major east — west arterial. The intentions for the site are to have the focus of the Activity Center being its commercial and retail functions. These major functions will be supported by the lower intensity industrial, warehousing and manufacturing type of employment activities. POLICY — DESIGN STANDARDS The document outlines eleven areas of concern that need to be addressed with each design within this corridor. All of these items will have equal importance to the final outcome of how well the activity center functions and appears to people traveling along the I-25 corridor. There are three basic levels of perception of the site that these design standards are addressing. Solving the questions of order, aesthetics, and detail will be the judge as to how well the Center works. I-25 CORRIDOR PLAN POLICY — ACTIVITY CENTERS The Corridor study notes that activity centers should be located adjacent to the interstate interchanges and in proximity to major east west arterials for the City. This property meets the requirements set forth to function as an Activity Center with its location at the interchange and its adjacency to Prospect Road. The property is located on the east side of the interstate and contained within the loop of the frontage road. The owner is combining two properties that comprise the area bounded by the highway street system. These two properties will be designed as an Overall Development Plan to provide for a cohesive overall design, circulation, transportation, and materials. The project will incorporate Commercial land uses at this high visibility location will be combined with industrial type uses as a transition to lower intensity uses the further you progress from the interstate. POLICY — COORDINATION OF MODES OF CHOICE IN TRANSPORTATION The property will provide on site areas for all modes of transportation. Pedestrian circulation will be made the focus on site to limit the local use of cars within the twenty plus acre activity center. Mass transit to the site from the City will be accommodated to provide for efficient service of the property by the mass transit system. Transit stops will be provided as coordinated with the City Transfort. These areas will be coordinated so that pedestrian and bicycle pathways converge on site to make the use of these means of circulation easy. The incorporation of future modes of transportation will be brought into the project as they occur and become feasible. POLICY — PRESERVE NATURAL AREAS, OPEN LANDS AND VIEWS The location and local geography of the property make this property ideal for development when measured against this policy. The property is located to the east side of the interstate. Vistas and views to the east from the highway are limited due to the placement of a hedgerow of existing mature trees east of the property. This row of trees screens and blocks views to the east and the plains. The view from the interstate highway is limited because the level of the highway is approximately level with the surrounding land. Views to the east would be limited if the hedge of trees were not present. The significant views in this are to the west and the mountains. Development on the property will not interfere with view corridors from public right of ways and public lands. Prospect Road is elevated adjacent to the Activity Area. This limits any interference of views caused by development of this property. The overpass is a major physical feature in the area. Do to its height it will remain the dominant feature in the landscape. This highway overpass blocks the view of the property for travelers approaching from the north as well as from the west. The scale of the overpasses dominates the near range of focus for travelers from the south as well as from the east. This feature takes dominance in the landscape and tends to hide the site or limits the focus on the property for it will be the secondary feature on the landscape. But in the long run the mountains to the west still dominate the landscape and will still be the dominate feature when the property is developed. GROWTH MANAGEMENT POLICY GM-1.2 — MANAGEMENT AREA BOUNDARY The property is contiguous to the existing commercial development and is completely within the City Limits. The property is also within the boundaries of the Urban Growth Area. This property has been within these boundaries since the initial growth area map was developed. From a long-term growth management plan the City has recognized that this land should be developed as commercial property and that it should be developed within the City. This was further reinforced by the current Structure Plan map that identifies the property for commercial uses. It further identities it as commercial land use within the I-25 Corridor Plan The project will be provided with the standard infrastructure of water, sanitary, storm drainage, electricity, natural gas, telephone, and cable services. The infrastructure is currently developed to the site for all but sanitary sewer and storm drainage. Currently storm drainage is in place for the development on the western end of the project. This system will be augmented for continued development of the property. There will need to be other areas developed for storm drainage to properly handle the run-off water from a developed site. The electrical system, when brought into the City, will be transferred to the City from Excel Energy. The sanitary service to the site will be by private sanitary district. The property owner is currently working with the District as well as adjacent property owners to extend service to the property in time for the first development phase within the City. POLICY GM-6.1 — FEES AND DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS The property will be paying its fair share of development cost through development related fee. These fees will be paid by the project at the time of Planning Department review through the filing fees for the project. More importantly the project will be assessed fees for street over sizing, water and sewer plant fees, electrical fees, building permit fees, and sales tax as part of the development process. In addition the project will use the infrastructure of streets, sidewalks, bicycle paths, water lines, sanitary lines, and open spaces that are programmed to be completed in accordance to the Development Agreement. ENVIRONMENT POLICY ENV -I . I — AIR QUALITY OBJECTIVES The property is so located that at time of development it will be closer to the center core of the City and the population than most other new developments that the City is currently considering. This central location will allow for the reduction of vehicle - miles traveled to and from the site over other sites that offer the same commercial operations. Because the property is closer to residential areas and other essential services the reduction of travel time will reduce the amount of emissions on a local area as well as on a regional basis due to the shorter travel distance to the site. POLICY ENV-4.7 - RENWABLE ENERGY 1N NEW DEVELOPMENT The layout of the site will take in consideration the orientation of structures to allow for the solar access for as many of the structures as possible. Passive and active solar design will be considered for all buildings for this center. POLICY ENV-7.2 — RISK MANAGEMENT This property is currently listed as being within a floodplain. This is based on two criteria of the new Boxelder Basin Plan that are currently disputed by this property owner and other property owners in the area. The first criteria questioned is the rainfall criteria used for the study. This criteria assumes rain falling over the entire 70 square mile City at one time. The second is based on water at culverts that pass under 125 upstream which were constructed with the Interstate, therefore State and Federal property which the City has plugged. if either of these situations are changed the current floodplain mapping of this area is inaccurate. More that likely the property would again not be in the floodplain if either of these two criteria change. We do understand that we need to deal with approved systems that the City has in place at the time we design a PDP. We will conform to the City's mapping relating to the basin at the time of development. if no changes are made to the current basin study we will flood protect all structures and all residential and critical facilities will be constructed with the lowest floor level a minimum of eighteen inches above the defined floodplain elevation. NATURAL AREAS AND OPEN LANDS POLICY NOL-1.2 URBAN EVELOPMENT This property has been identified by the City in several studies such as the Prospect Road Streetscape Program and the I-25 Subarea Plan as prime commercial development land. This land is not identified on any of the various Natural Resource maps as a sensitive area. The use of this land for development will help reduce the pressure to develop other areas that are more environmentally sensitive. COMMUNITY APPEARANCE AND DESIGN POLICY CAD-1.4 — STREET TREE DESIGN The streetscape throughout the property will follow a formalized pattern to reinforce the patterns of the site -specific design of public open spaces, buildings, streets, and pedestrian ways. POLICY CAD-2.2 — PUBLIC SPACE DESIGN Within the project public open spaces such as plaza's, courtyards, transit stops, and sitting areas will be provided as a part of the design of the project. These features will be linked to the central pedestrian circulation system. POLICY CAD-2.3 —ENTRYWAYS The project will enhance the key entryway to the City at 1-25 and Prospect by landscaping the area continuous and integrated with the landscaping for the project. The combination of native species of grasses and plants that roll into the site will soften the impact of the monotonous landscaping of the 1-25 corridor. The contrast between the two different landscape styles will be blended to soften the urban edge that a commercial development at times can provide. The four sided landscaping combined with four sided design of the buildings provide a good image as an entry to the community. POLICY CAD-3.2 — COMPATIBLITY The project will consist of commercial buildings that will reflect the local character architecturally. The massing, colors, and detailing will contribute to the distinctive quality that is being established for the 1-25 corridor as well as the commercial development along the Prospect Road corridor. ECONOMIC POLICY ECON-1.2—ECONIMIC DEVELOPMENT The project meets the goals set by the City by increasing private investment in the community, by providing primary employment opportunities and areas, and by creating a positive environment for businesses to locate. POLICY ECON-1.3 — INFRASTRUCTURE Easy access is provided to this site by its location along an international transportation corridor, which is 1-25. The property is in proximity to a major arterial, Prospect Road, which provides continuous connection to the City transportation grid. A collector street (the frontage road) completes the inventory of streets that a development of this nature requires. These structures are currently in place. The project will provide upgrades and multi -modal improvements to these streets. The system is basically in place. TRANSPORTATION POLICY T-1.1 —LAND USE PATTERNS The property will be developed in accordance to the current standards for the support of mass transportation, parking patterns and in particular in this Corridor development that has a defined nature and campus like effect. The project with its unity of materials and orientation of the buildings to each other provide the campus atmosphere. The direct connection of the buildings to each other from a pedestrian spine strengthens the campus image. POLICY T-1.2 — MULTI -MODAL SREETS The design of this property will incorporate means of circulation that will make travel equally covenient for people'no matter which means of transportation they choose. POLICY T-1.3 — STREET DESIGN CRITERIA The streets within and adjoining the annexation will be designed to the current Larimer County Urban Street Standards. This coupled with City of Ft. Collins Street standards will minimize conflict between transportation means. Detached walks provide the separation and perception of safety that encourage pedestrian circulation. POLICY T-2.2 — TRANSPORTATION STOPS The property will integrate mass transit stops within the project. These stops will be for regional private systems that provide transit to regional transportation hubs and for the inclusion of public services if and when they are extended to this area of the City. The design and location of stops will be integral with the design and be a prominent feature of the design. Pedestrian routed will lead from the stop area to all of the uses on the site. POLICY T-5.2 — CONNECTIONS The project will promote pedestrian circulation by clearly defined pedestrian paths that lead to the buildings and public open spaces directly from oft' -site pathways. All building entries will be formally defined and will be served by the pedestrian pathway system. The differing land uses will be connected rather than being separated by the pedestrian path system. POLICY Y-6.1 — STREET CROSSINGS The street crossings will be enhanced to show a predominance of the pedestrian over the automobile. These enhancements will be obvious to both motorist and pedestrians. POLICY T-7.1 — PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES Pedestrian facilities and features will be included along the pedestrian path system that are located to take advantage of views, protection from the elements by the built environment as well as at staging areas for public transportation. Buildings will incorporate design elements that appeal to the pedestrian scale. Amenities such as patios, out -door dining, and courtyards that enhance the quality of life for people working at the site as well as those who visit the site. PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES COMMUNITY -WIDE LAND USE POLICY LU-2.1 - CITY-WIDE STRUCTURE The property is defined as being in the I-25 Corridor. The regional plan for this area calls for specific land uses, density, means of development, and criteria for development. The property owner intends to develop the land in accordance to these standards, which will insure that the goals of a compact development occur. This area is identified as a commercial oriented activity center and the intentions of the owner are consistent with this land use designation. All means of transportation will be addressed by the project design so the project will link into the transportation networks existing and planned for the district. This includes pedestrian as well as all types of wheeled vehicle. POLICY LU-2.2 — URBAN DESIGN The design standards and guidelines for the Corridor have set expectations for the aesthetic appeal of this area that the project will adhere to. These standards will give the Corridor a unity from Berthoud through Fort Collins that will be pleasing and identifiable to those using the Corridor on a daily basis as well as user friendly for those using the Corridor to pass through the area. It is the intention of the project to meet the expectations of aesthetic appeal and be consistent within the property itself and cohesive with other projects within the corridor. The quality of construction materials will match those found within the general vicinity as well as being consistent with the quality of construction found along the Prospect road corridor. POLICY LU-3.1 — GENERAL AREA DESIGNATIONS The Structure Plan for the City has identified this property as being within the boundaries of the existing Urban Growth Area, The Structure Plan further defines this area as being Commercial in nature and relating to the Community on a regional service level. It is the intention of the Owner to develop the property consistent with these overall goals.