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HomeMy WebLinkAboutREDTAIL RESIDENTIAL - PDP - 26-01 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - CORRESPONDENCE-CONCEPTUAL REVIEWCreek Boulevard to the south, then it should have actively planned to do so before the time of the Cameron Park re -plats referred to above, which occurred in 1978 and 1981. In the alternative, the City could have probably purchased these lots sometime between 1978 and 1994 to accomplish its purposes. I hope the foregoing fills in the missing history and clarifies where we are starting from. don't share this comment's view that "there are problems created by the layout of the Fossil Creek Park PUD." Rather it would be accurate to say that the land planning problems, if any, are created by the Cameron Park plattings which occurred in 1978 and 1981, and the build out of this office park as platted. Furthermore, I think that in the current context, there really are not any problems. It is currently proposed that the Fossil Creek pedestrian / bike trail will connect to the Mason Street Transportation Corridor, perhaps running west through the City -owned Redtail Open Space and then north in the 200 foot wide railroad easement. In anticipation of this we will provide the City with easements to connect our residential project's walkway spine / trail at two points to the proposed Fossil Creek — Transportation Corridor pedestrian / bike path. These connections will allow the public the alternative of meandering through our project along the west edge of our detention ponds' buffer area. d. The office buildings all have a main entrances which face and open directly onto a connecting walkway. This connecting walkway which runs through the office park, connects to two public street sidewalks without crossing any parking lots or driveways and without meandering around buildings or parking lots. It connects to the Frontage Road sidewalk at the southeast of project, and it connects to the Fossil Boulevard sidewalk at the northwest of project. e., and f. Under separate cover, a modification request is being submitted to address the needs to slightly modify the connecting walkway and major walkway spine LUC provisions, and the building orientation and primary entrance requirements relating to same. Sincerely, n Prouty resident JP/vd 7 properties to the south: i) connection of Frontage Road at the south with Fossil Boulevard at the north by means of a private drive which proceeds through the office project, ii) a system of on -site pedestrian walks plus new off -site easements and walks which allow pedestrians to travel easily from Fossil Boulevard to Cameron Drive, and iii) the connection of the Fossil Creek pedestrian / bike path and south properties to the Mason Street Transportation Corridor and north properties by means of a new pedestrian / bike trail together with easements to allow public access through our residential project through the buffer area adjacent to our naturalized detention ponds / open space. 9. Park Planning b. It is currently proposed that the Fossil Creek pedestrian / bike trail will connect to the Mason Street Transportation Corridor, perhaps running west through the City - owned Redtail Open Space and then north in the 200 foot wide railroad easement. In anticipation of this, we will provide the City with easements to connect our residential project's walkway spine / trail at two points to the proposed Fossil Creek — Transportation Corridor pedestrian / bike path. These connections will allow the public the alternative of meandering through our project along the west edge of detention ponds' buffer area. 10.Current Planning a. The zoning for this property is not LMN as Current Planning indicated but rather Commercial District (C). Accordingly, multi -family unit dwellings are appropriate in this district subject to administrative review. The purposes of this district include: i) creative forms of housing, ii) planning and design that accommodates pedestrians, iii) pedestrian - oriented outdoor spaces, iv) development that links outdoor spaces to and makes them visible from the streets and sidewalks, and v) outdoor spaces and landscape areas that are integral to an open space system in conjunction with streets and connections. Our plan accomplishes all of these objectives. b. and c. The history of the adjacent property including Cameron Office Park and Fossil Creek Office Park goes back considerably further than 1996. In 1978 Cameron Park was platted, and in 1981 Cameron Park Second Filing was platted. Lots 1-15 were fully developed including grading, water, sewer, streets and sidewalks at that time and have been mostly built out. The Fossil Creek Office Park PUD did not re -plat these lots, but rather, to achieve creativity, design and coherence in the project, a PUD plan was overlayed on seven of these lots. Unless my thinking is off -base, if the City wished to extend Fossil Lei buildings either as walkouts to follow the contour, or on -grade with no basements. Initial indications are that we will have about six feet before hard shale. 8. Transportation b. It is currently proposed that the Fossil Creek pedestrian / bike trail will connect to the Mason Street Transportation Corridor, perhaps running west through the City - owned Redtail Open Space and then north in the 200 foot wide railroad easement. In anticipation of this, we will provide the City with easements to connect our residential project's walkway spine / trail at two points to the proposed Fossil Creek — Transportation Corridor pedestrian / bike path. These connections will allow the public the alternative of meandering through our project along the west edge of detention ponds' buffer area. d. The plan for Fossil Boulevard to extend south was founded on three premises which as history has unfolded are no longer valid. First, that Fossil Boulevard was going to proceed as a southerly extension of Mason Street through the site on which Wal-Mart has been built. This is no longer possible. Second, and probably more significant, that the plan to extend Fossil Boulevard south assumed that it would proceed through the middle of the 38-acre City -owned Redtail Natural Area and perhaps across Fossil Creek to sere the property south of Fossil Creek. This would appear for environmental reasons to be absolutely out of the question at this time for obvious reasons. And, third, that the amount of development in this area would require a public street of this size and expense. This is certainly not the case now since our project represents the last few acres of developable ground in this area which will ever need access. Currently, extending Fossil Boulevard to the south would require an abrupt (and unsafe) turn west, then it would proceed south directly over the northern -most naturalized detention pond and through about half of our proposed residential project, then it would cure east radically impacting the sensitive wetland areas between two of the detention ponds before connecting with Cameron Drive. To accomplish this would require an engineering marvel — the cost of which would be in the $500,000-$1,000,000 range — and would both destroy a large part of the natural areas we are attempting to preserve, as well as radically limit public access to and enjoyment of the remaining natural areas. I don't think the cost -benefit of such an undertaking, whether in the public or private sector, makes any sense for the very limited amount of access that would be gained. The relatively low -density multi- family project we are proposing involves 78 units. Nothing more will ever be possible on this site because of its "landlocked" nature and natural considerations. It should be pointed out that while it is not possible to extend Fossil Boulevard south to make a connection with Cameron Drive, we have designed our project not only to maximize internal connectivity (which has ancillary connectivity benefits to the existing Fossil Creek and Cameron Park Office projects), but also to provide three new vehicle / bike / pedestrian connections between the properties to the north and 5 Transportation Corridor pedestrian / bike path. These connections will allow the public the alternative of meandering through our project along the west edge of our detention ponds' buffer area. g. No cottonwoods have been cut down on the Redtail Project site. If there is concern about the cottonwoods that were cut down on Lot 13 of Fossil Creek Office Park, those trees were cut down by the Fossil Creek Office Owners Association because they were dropping dead wood onto cars. Before the trees were cut down, the City Forester was consulted and he determined that the trees were dead and recommended that the trees be cut down rather than being pruned. The few cottonwoods for which he recommended pruning were pruned and saved. 6. Fire Department a. Consistent with the Fire Department's current policy we will use campus -type numbering for the residential portion of the project. As per 3.6.2 (L)(5), the residential project will be given a street address "from the street from which primary access to the property is taken" which is Cameron Drive where it terminates at the proposed public cul-de-sac. This street address will be for the entire residential project, and will be prominently displayed on the project's entry feature immediately and easily viewable from the street. Then, each residential building will be designated with a letter A through J, in a logical fashion proceeding around the internal private drive loop for the best possible building and residence identification and for residents' convenience and emergency access. The addressing for the office portion, consistent with the Fire Department's policy, will be to designate the range of building address numbers on the entry feature / office park sign which will be clearly visible from College, and then for each office building to have its assigned, individual College address number clearly visible from the private drive roadway, which proceeds through the site. In addition, there will be a directory at the entrance to further assist in locating specific buildings / users after entering the office park. b. Limited access is a fact of this infill residential site. It is essentially a "landlocked" site with naturalized detention ponds at the north and east, railroad tracks at the west, and City -owned Redtail Natural Area to the south. The only access is via the existing private roadway that proceeds west from the end of Cameron Drive. This will be improved and will join an internal drive loop through the project to provide maximum access, safety and convenience. All residential buildings will have fire sprinklers. 7. Light and Power d. We have consulted with Terracon and are well aware of the potential for shale problems. We have minimized them with our earthwork design in two ways: i) by minimizing the alteration of existing topography especially cuts, and ii) by designing 4 north end of the Frontage Road, through Redtail Office Park, to the south end of Fossil Boulevard. This provides additional access to the buildings north of proposed office park on Fossil Boulevard and Fairway, to buildings located south of proposed project on Cameron Drive, Coronado Court and Frontage Road, and vice versa. However, these properties are primarily connected by public streets (Frontage Road, Cameron Drive, College, Fairway and Fossil Boulevard). Connectivity concerns are addressed in the response to Current Planning in Paragraph 10 below. i. A Utility Coordination meeting will be scheduled. 4. Water and Wastewater Utility a. A Utility Coordination meeting will be scheduled. 5. Natural Resources Applicant has met many times with Natural Resources over the last four years to propose the non -development of residential site (and its sale to the City at applicant's cost) and otherwise to assure the most environmentally sensitive development of this site. Some of the isolated naturalized detention ponds (all of less than 1/3 acre in size) will be slightly impacted by the development and appropriate mitigation plans will be submitted. The three naturalized storm drainage detention ponds will be buffered from the closest residential buildings by an average buffer of 63.5 feet. Approximately 50% of the residential site will be maintained as natural area / open space (not including landscaped areas). Two of the residential buildings, 25 feet of walkway spine / trail, and the improvement of existing entry drive will impact some vegetation with wetland -type characteristics (however will not impact the detention ponds), and such areas will be fully mitigated as per our mitigation plan which is being prepared. The average buffer between the buildings (eight new residential buildings, one new office building and one existing warehouse / office / parking lot), and the edge of the naturalized detention ponds peripheral to such ponds is 63.5 feet. This is in excess of the 50-foot buffer, which is the buffer required from naturalized detention ponds and which Natural Resources is requiring here. However, it may be more significant to note that the six buildings (five residential and one office), which front directly on these naturalized detention ponds are setback an average of 82 feet from same. It is proposed that the Fossil Creek pedestrian / bike trail will connect to the Mason Street Transportation Corridor, perhaps running west through the City -owned Redtail Open Space and then north in the 200-foot wide railroad easement. In anticipation of this we will provide the City with easements to connect our residential project's walkway spine / trail at two points to proposed Fossil Creek — 3 traffic along College, ii) the land form, namely a steep banking on the project site along and adjacent to College, and iii) an established pattern of existing buildings which makes a pedestrian -oriented street -front infeasible namely because of the established parking lot and steep banking (between the old ' Weberg" building and College), and because of the established landscaping, median and Frontage Road to the south (between Fossil Creek and Cameron Office Parks and College). Furthermore and in reference to the foregoing, our land plan includes connecting walkways which link our office project to Fossil Creek and Cameron Office Parks to the south, as well as to Fossil Boulevard and College sidewalks to the north. In addition, the plan includes internal walkways providing access between all of the buildings and parking areas, and providing connectivity to off -site buildings. Also it provides for future connectivity to the planned Fossil Creek pedestrian / bike path and the Mason Street Transportation Corridor, and when this connection is in place, will allow public access thorough our project by means of the walkway spine / trail through our detention ponds' buffer area. The second exception is that the larger and otherwise non -compliant front yard area is required for the logical connection of the Frontage Road through our project to Fossil Boulevard. It is also required to provide for storm water drainage, detention and water quality. 2. Stormwater Utility Department e. Off -site easements through the Natural Area have already been negotiated and recorded. 3. Engineering Department e. Private drives will be used to provide internal access to the residential portion of the project and to provide both internal access and additional cross access within the office portion of the project, as per Section 3.6.2 (L). In the residential portion, the private drives provide internal access to and within the residential portion of the project from the public street cul-de-sac located at the west end of Cameron Drive. Such private drives will only provide access to property within the residential development and will not attract "through traffic" since there is no outlet, the residential portion of this project being "land locked" with detention ponds to the north and the east, railroad tracks to the west and City -owned Redtail Natural Area to the south. Residential buildings will be fire sprinklered and the private drive will be looped through the project to maximize residents' convenience and emergency access. In the commercial portion, the private drive provides internal access to parking and office buildings. Also, the private drive creates additional cross access from the 2 LAGUNITAS REDTAIL INC. 3944 JFK Parkway, Suite 12E, Fort Collins, CO 80525 970-226-50009 Fax 970-226-5125 July 7 2001 Troy Jones, Planner City of Fort Collins Current Planning Department P. O. Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 Re: Redtail Mixed Use Project / Response to Conceptual Review Staff Comments Dear Troy: My response to your Conceptual Review Staff Comments dated September 25, 2000 follows. The same numbering of paragraphs and subparagraphs as was used in the Conceptual Review Staff Comments will be used in this response so that paragraphs correlate. I will only be responding to comments which require explanation, analysis, modifications, or other. If I do not respond to a comment, it is because we are complying with same and / or it is primarily an informational comment that we understand. COMMENTS: 1. Zoning Department b. Our proposed office buildings along South College Avenue approximately align with the existing buildings, namely Woodley's Furniture (previously Weberg's) at the north and the office buildings at the south. Furthermore, our project links the sidewalk at the north which runs along College with the sidewalk at the south which runs along Frontage Road. We accomplish this with a meandering sidewalk from the north into our project, across a safe crosswalk set well back from College, south through a landscaped area, and past our detention pond / open space to connect with the sidewalk at the south. Given the challenges of the significantly different existing land plans and uses to the north and to the south, as well as the topography, we feel that our proposed plan is consistent with and aligns with the existing uses to the extent reasonably possible. The office buildings to be located along College will be set back more than 25 feet from the street right-of-way, however, they fall within two exceptions. The first exception is that our planned street sidewalk better serves the purpose of connecting commercial destinations due to i) the high volume and the speed of 1