HomeMy WebLinkAboutREDTAIL RESIDENTIAL - PDP - 26-01 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 2 - MODIFICATION REQUEST (4)C. It would not be possible to move the building to the east in order to shorten the
drive because the building would not fit satisfactorily on the site at this location,
access would be impaired and the detention pond area would be more adversely
impacted.
D. We believe that the location and orientation of this building as shown is good or
better than moving it east to shorten the drive. We have located it so the building
is oriented primarily to the south, overlooking the naturalized detention pond and
open space rather than facing the railroad tracks and embankment.
E. It should be noted that all the residential buildings in Cameron Mesa, Hilltop
Farm, and Redtail Pond, including this building, will be fully fire sprinklered for
maximum fire protection.
Accordingly we respectfully request approval to allow us to use a private drive for this
building in excess of 150 feet as proposed and lacking a full sized turn -around as
required, for the reasons that:
A. The granting of the modification would not be detrimental to the public good —
safety would not be jeopardized as the building is fire sprinklered, and public
access is made safer and more convenient;
B. Nor would it impair the intent and purposes of the LUC — to the contrary, it permits
the intent and purposes of the LUC to be better realized, in particular with regard
to building siting, which permits the building to look out over a detention pond and
natural area and reduces the negative impact of the railroad tracks and industrial
warehouse to the west and north respectively;
C. Our proposal as submitted will advance the public interests and the purposes of
the standard equally well or better than a plan that complies with the standard —
better access, better siting and better fire safety (fully sprinklered building);
D. The granting of the modification would result in substantially addressing important
community needs — affordable housing, proximity to work places, internal
pedestrian connectivity, external pedestrian connectivity, excellence in design and
construction, innovative architecture and planning, and neighborhoods which
provide sense of community and enhance quality of life, as is more fully described
below;
E. And the extraordinary physical conditions and situation unique to this site would
result in extreme practical difficulties and undue hardship if the standard is strictly
applied — as is described above.
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C. Providing internal pedestrian connectivity and permeability by means of the
central park -courtyard designs integrating landscape, hardscape, pedestrian,
bicycle and vehicle uses.
D. Providing pedestrian connectivity between the residential neighborhoods, and the
existing offices to the east by means of Cameron Drive, Frontage Road, public
drives, and public and private sidewalks. Furthermore, future connection of this
project to the Fossil Creek pedestrian / bike path as well as to the Mason Street
Transportation Corridor is proposed. Also, it provides connectivity via public
transit and public streets to schools, parks, library, retail, office and employers.
E. Promoting excellence in design and construction of planned residential
neighborhoods, buildings, outdoor spaces, and streetscapes.
F. Incorporating innovative architecture and planning concepts including front and
back roof step-down design; central park -courtyards concept merging landscape,
hardscape, pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle uses; interesting building elevations;
and aesthetic building frontages.
G. Providing sense of community and quality of life, which are inherent in and flow
from the essential elements of the project: a) three small residential communities;
b) each comprised of residential buildings surrounding central plazas and
courtyards; and c) all creatively merging landscape, hardscape, pedestrian and
vehicle uses in a way which enhances aesthetics, safety and quality of life.
We respectfully ask for your favorable consideration and approval of our requested
modifications. Thank you.
Sincerely, �/►��
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Jon Prouty
President
JP/hlb
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In addition to other design features, we feel it is imperative to not introduce ugly, white
painted parking stall lines into this scored colored concrete courtyard area and the
environment we are creating. Zoning has recently approved alternative parking space
demarcation by means of three scored lines for other projects and we request the same
here.
Also we do not want red fire lane lines to be painted in the residential courtyards. We
believe they are unsightly and unnecessary. The fire lane route will be just as apparent
with signage but without the red curbs. The fact that the fire lane is not for parking is
also naturally apparent, because the fire lane -travel lane will be a straight -through route
on black asphalt in contrast to scored concrete parking -courtyard areas.
Accordingly we respectfully request approval to allow use of multiple scored lines in the
concrete as our method for defining parking stalls and signage to designate fire lanes,
as recently has been permitted in our other mixed -use projects, for the reasons that:
A. The granting of the modification would not be detrimental to the public good -
the public residents and guests will still know where to park;
B. Nor will it impair the intent and purposes of the LUC — but rather it will contribute
to LUC intents and purposes relating to aesthetics, good project design, quality of
neighborhood, and de -emphasis / softening of parking areas;
C. Our proposal as submitted will advance the public interests and the purposes of
the standard equally well or better than a plan that complies with the standard —
when the scored lines fill with dirt they become permanently dark and defined in
contrast to paint which wears off every year or so;
D. And the granting of the modification would result in substantially addressing
important community needs — affordable housing, proximity to work places,
internal pedestrian connectivity, external pedestrian connectivity, excellence in
design and construction, innovative architecture and planning, and
neighborhoods which provide sense of community and enhance quality of life, as
is more fully described below.
Furthermore with regard to all of the foregoing modification requests, our plan
achieves LUC purposes and addresses community needs by:
A. Fulfilling a community need for affordable housing.
B. Providing housing immediately adjacent to offices and nearby to many other
workplaces.
E.
pedestrian -friendly buildings, a central park, courtyards, walks, connectivity
between the buildings and central park, street trees, and other project
landscaping.
F. The proposed design substantially meets the LUC intent to provide variety and
visual interest in the exterior design of residential buildings: The design of this
project meets this requirement through the aesthetic use of shed roofs, gables,
masonry, a variety of siding materials, garage door windows, stepped down
rooflines, set back entrances, balconies, porches and other exterior design
considerations.
Accordingly we respectfully request that the Director of Current Planning, or in the
alternative, the Planning and Zoning Board approve the use of the proposed front
building elevations including garage doors for the reasons that:
A. The granting of the modification would not be detrimental to the public good —
safety would not be jeopardized and the aesthetics of the project, design and
architectural features, quality of streetscape, character of neighborhood and
quality of the community would be enhanced;
B. Nor will it impair the intent and purposes of the LUC — to the contrary it permits
the intent and purposes of the LUC to be better realized, in particular with regard
to the aesthetics of the residential streetscape, having active visually interesting
building features, enhancing active living spaces along streets, contributing to
creating pedestrian -oriented streetscape and providing visual interest to the
exteriors of all of the residential buildings.
C. Our proposal as submitted will advance the public interests and purposes of the
standard equally well or better than a plan that complies with the standard — as is
described in detail above.
D. The granting of the modification would result in substantially addressing
important community needs — affordable housing, proximity to work places,
internal pedestrian connectivity, external pedestrian connectivity, excellence in
design and construction, innovative architecture and planning, and
neighborhoods which provide sense of community and enhance quality of life, as
is more fully described below;
E. And the extraordinary physical conditions in situations unique to this site would
result in extreme practical difficulties and undo hardship if the standard is strictly
applied — as is described above.
Modification #5 — Fire Lane Identification and Parking Stall Demarcation
It is our strongest wish that the courtyard portions of the residential project be
successful as an aesthetic pedestrian -friendly area integrating landscape, hardscape,
pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle uses.
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equally good public access since the use of the proposed possible Fossil
Boulevard -Cameron Drive roadway would be negligible based on traffic impact
studies.
D. The granting of the modification would result in substantially addressing
important community needs — affordable housing, proximity to work places,
internal pedestrian connectivity, external pedestrian connectivity, excellence in
design and construction, innovative architecture and planning, and
neighborhoods which provide sense of community and enhance quality of life, as
is more fully described below;
E. And the extraordinary physical conditions in situations unique to this site would
result in extreme practical difficulties and undo hardship if the standard is strictly
applied — as is described above.
Modification Request #4 — Garage Doors
Section 3.5.2(E)(5) provides that alternative garage door treatments be accepted by the
director f:
A. The LUC intent to prevent residential streetscapes from being dominated by
protruding garage doors is achieved: In our project the buildings have been
juxtaposed and no buildings are opposite each other, which assures that the
garage doors do not become a repeating or dominating motif; and in addition, the
buildings have other architectural features which are dominant.
B. The LUC intent to allow the active, visually interesting features of the buildings to
dominate the streetscape is achieved: Interesting and strong architectural
elements of our buildings are dominant and garage doors, although clearly
visible, are subordinate.
C. The configuration of the lot or other physical condition make the application of the
basic garage door standards impractical: The difficult constraints of the site
(railroad to the west, open space to the south, ponds to the east and north),
coupled with our desire to maintain maximum natural areas and open space,
require that most of the garages be at the front of the buildings rather than
accessed by alleys or elsewhere.
D. The proposed design substantially meets the LUC intent to line the streets with
active living spaces: Central in our project is a linear park with mail kiosk,
meandering walks and benches. All 8-plex condominiums open onto colored,
patterned concrete courtyards, central to each building, which provide
connectivity to sidewalks and the central park area. In this fashion we
successfully achieve the active living space requirement notwithstanding the
presence of garage doors.
E. The proposed design substantially meets the LUC intent to create pedestrian -
oriented streetscapes: The design of this project meets this requirement with
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Modification Request #3 — Proposed Street Layout
While, as a matter of principle and policy as per LUC provisions 3.6. B and the South
College Access Management Plan, it may be desirable to have more off -College north —
south connectivity, various factors militate against this for the very short section of north
— south connectivity that theoretically could be possible by extending Fossil Boulevard
south.
A. It is only possible now (20 plus years after original conceptual transportation
plan) for this north — south street to run a few blocks because it is blocked by
Spradley-Barr at the north and a large pond at the south and City natural area
south of that.
B. Transportation studies show that even if it were possible to achieve Fossil
Boulevard — Cameron Drive connectivity, virtually no traffic would use this
roadway. This is because i) the Cameron Mesa / Redtail traffic will use the
College / Cameron Drive signal light to gain College Avenue access, and would
continue to do so even if the Fossil Boulevard — Cameron Drive connection were
built, and ii) when the Mason Street Transportation Terminal is built, the vehicular
traffic to and from same will use the planned stop light at the intersection of
Fairway and College and would continue to do so even if the Fossil Boulevard —
Cameron Drive connection were built (such traffic will not meander down through
Cameron Park).
C. Extension of this roadway south would involve massive condemnation of private
property or two right angle turns and a bridge over the pond. The first alternative
is abhorrent. The second alternative would not be very safe with two right angle
turns, would be extraordinarily expensive to build, and would disrupt and / or
virtually destroy the northernmost small pond along with such habitat and wildlife,
which presently exist there.
We respectfully request your approval to allow us to use the proposed street layout,
without connecting Fossil Boulevard to Cameron Drive, for the reasons that:
A. The granting of the modification would not be detrimental to the public good — as
no effective useful access would be denied and, in fact, pedestrian / bicycle
access would be enhanced, and furthermore the protection and enjoyment of
natural resource features would be a valuable benefit for the public good.
B. Nor, would it impair the intent and purposes of the LUC — to the contrary it
permits the intent and purposes of the LUC to be better realized, in particular with
regard to pedestrian / bicycle access, protection of natural resource features,
contributing to sense of community, and quality of life in net residential
neighborhoods.
C. Our proposal as submitted will advance the public interests and purposes of the
standard equally well or better than a plan that complies with the standard -
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Modification Request #2 — Fire Access Road Greater Than 660 Feet
The Redtail Court cul-de-sacs both are fire access roads in excess of 660 feet. This
problem is being mitigated by installation of an emergency fire access across the
median opposite from Coronado which, coupled with an emergency access easement
across the parking lot of Lots 9 and 15, will allow fire and emergency trucks from
College a second point of access to the project as well as a second point of access to
Cameron Park and Fossil Creek Office Park. This has the effect of reducing the
project's dead-end cul-de-sac from 900 feet to 750 feet.
We respectfully request that the Fire Marshall allow this fire access road to be greater
than 660 feet, pursuant to his authority as per 3.6 1 to permit such modification
when structures are provided with automatic fire sprinkler systems. Or, in the
alternative, we request that the Planning and Zoning Commission grant such
modification. Due to the constraints of this project, as far as the ponds to the north and
east, the railroad embankment and setback to the west, and the Redtail Natural Area to
the south, this design provides the most convenient and feasible point of access to this
portion of the project without significantly damaging the natural detention ponds and
surrounding private open space.
Accordingly we respectfully request your approval to allow us to use the Redtail Court
fire access road for this project in excess of 660 feet for the reasons that:
A. The granting of the modification would not be detrimental to the public good —
safety would not be jeopardized as the buildings are fire sprinklered and the
public access is made safer and more convenient;
B. Nor would it impair the intent and purposes of the LUC — to the contrary, it
permits the intent and purposes of the LUC to be better realized, in particular with
regard to building siting, which permits the building to look out over a detention
pond and natural area and reduces the negative impact of the railroad tracks;
C. Our proposal as submitted will advance the public interests and purposes of the
standard equally well or better than a plan that complies with standard — better
access, better siting and better fire safety (fully sprinklered building);
D. The granting of the modification would result in substantially addressing
important community needs — affordable housing, proximity to work places,
internal pedestrian connectivity, external pedestrian connectivity, excellence in
design and construction, innovative architecture and planning, and
neighborhoods which provide sense of community and enhance quality of life, as
is more fully described below;
E. And the extraordinary physical conditions in situations in this site would result in
extreme practical difficulties and undo heart ship if the standard is strictly applied
— as is described above.
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functionally and aesthetically merge landscape; hardscape; pedestrian, bike and
vehicle uses. Also, they provide connectivity via sidewalks to a large, central
park which includes a plaza area, mail kiosk and numerous small sitting / tot lot
areas for informal socializing.
The project is an infill project between offices and retail to the east, warehouse -office to
the north, City -owned Redtail Open Space to the south, and two hundred foot wide
elevated railroad track embankment to the west with residential beyond that. The
project has been designed with high sensitivity to the three naturalized detention ponds
located between the proposed residential and the existing office uses.
Connectivity is being provided between the project residential uses and existing offices
to the east, and also between project and existing warehouse uses to the north, by
means of Cameron Drive, Coronado Court, Frontage Road, public and private
sidewalks, and connectivity to planned bike/ped paths between Fossil Creek and the
Mason Street Transportation Corridor.
Project is adjacent to the Redtail Natural Area to the south and overlooks three
naturalized detention ponds within the project. Project has 30% of private open space,
which provides residents with the opportunity to take an evening walk safely, enjoy the
adjacent natural areas, and get to know their neighbors. This also is a key design
element, which benefits pedestrians, provides a sense of community, and enhances
quality of life.
Modification #1 — Dead End Private Drive Over 150 Feet
The private drives have been changed to public streets with the exception of a single
private drive to access Building I. This private drive is approximately 200 feet in length
and lacks a full size turn -around as required.
We respectfully request that the Fire Marshall modify the emergency access
requirements to allow the foregoing described emergency access road, pursuant to his
authority as per 3.6.6(B)L11 to permit such modification when structures are provided
with automatic fire sprinkler systems. Or, in the alternative, we request that the
Planning and Zoning Commission grant such modification.
Additional reasons in support of the foregoing request are:
A. The west part of the Redtail Pond neighborhood is severely restricted with the
railroad tracks to the west, the detention pond to the south, established industrial
buildings to the north, and a relatively narrow access way to the east.
B. Furthermore, the site is relatively narrow at its east end, and relatively wider at its
west end. Thus the west end is the best building site location because of the
property's configuration, and also the best location from a planning standpoint.
Accordingly, the access drive will be somewhat longer than 150 feet.
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LAGUNITAS REDTAIL INC.
3944 JFK Parkway, Suite 12 E, Fort Collins, CO 80525
970-226-5000• Fax 970-226-5125
July 24, 2002
Kevin Wilson, Fire Marshall
Cam McNair, Director of Engineering
Cameron Gloss, Director of Current Planning, and/or
Planning and Zoning Commission
City of Fort Collins
281 North College Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80525
RE: Redtail Project / Modification Requests
Dear Planning and Zoning Commission Members:
Introduction
Redtail is a unique mixed residential use project consisting of three complementary sub -
neighborhoods adjacent to each other, which make use of this difficult infill parcel in a
way that incorporates good planning, good architecture, and respect for environmental
considerations. They are: Hilltop Farm (Buildings A-F) at the northeast, Redtail Pond
(Buildings G-1) at the northwest, and Cameron Mesa (Buildings J-Q) at the southwest.
In each there is a unifying contemporary -traditional architectural theme, pleasant
landscaping, and a sense of cohesiveness and community. All units are residential
condominiums for sale.
Hilltop Farm (Buildings A-F) is located on a small hill previously the home of Mill
Brothers Nursery. It overlooks College Avenue to the east and has mountain
views to the west. A major purpose of Hilltop Farm is to create a very attractive
neighborhood of affordable housing for sale.
Redtail Pond (Buildings G-1) is located immediately adjacent to the planned
Fossil Boulevard cul-de-sac. Units overlook naturalized detention ponds and
private open space to the south.
Cameron Mesa (Buildings J-Q) is located on the mesa west of the planned
Cameron drive cul-de-sac. Units overlook two naturalized detention ponds to the
east, one to the north, and thirty-eight (38) acres of rolling Redtail Open Space to
the south. The buildings open onto pedestrian -friendly courtyards, which