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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMODIFICATION OF STANDARD (943 E. PROSPECT RD. - RITE AID) - 6-99 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - MODIFICATION REQUESTJun-03-99 07:08am From-SNEPARDSON ELEMENTARY +9702266378 T-201 P.02/03 F-755 TO: Planning and Zoning Board City of Ft. Collins FROM: Diane Moyers 935 C. East Prospect RE: Rite Aid Modification Request #6-99 Meeting to be held on June 3 and continued to June 13. As a resident of Prospect Springs, which is adjacent to the proposed Rite Aid store (just west and on the north side of Prospect) I have to object strongly to the proposed modification request for access and parking. . The impact of this proposal on traffic will be terrible. It is now almost impossible to turn into our driveway at some hours of the day so to allow such a large development with its attendant traffic would be irresponsible of the city. The property is zoned low density mixed use neighborhood district. Please see that it stays that way. There is no way to maintain a low density neighborhood with a Rite Aid store parking and the traffic it will bring. Thank you for considering my input in this matter. Sincerely, Diane Moyers impair the intent and purposes of the Land Use Code in regard to the LMN District. The proposed parking lot is a small 14-space extension of the overall Rite Aid parking lot. We anticipate that this parking lot will experience less vehicular activity than the remaining parking lot for two reasons. First, the parking area is a dead-end parking lot without through circulation and secondly, the parking spaces are the farthest from the front entrance. The lot is well landscaped and it is screened with a six foot privacy fence on the south and generous landscaping on the west side. Parking lot lighting has been kept to a minimum consistent with city lighting standards. One parking light standard is proposed to be located at the west end of the parking lot. The standard is 25 feet tall with down directed, cut- off type lighting fixtures that match the rest of the center. Surrounding land uses include an American Insurance office to the west and Prospect Springs Condominiums to the south. The only residential dwelling unit affected is located to the south approximately 11.5 feet from the edge of the proposed parking lot. With the six foot screen fence and proposed landscaping, the condominium unit should not be adversely affected. There are two large existing trees near the property line on the south that will be retained. We do not believe that either the condominiums or the office development will be adversely affected by the parking lot development. B) Secondly, the plan as submitted will advance or protect the public interest and purposes of the standard for which the modification is requested equally well or better than would a plan which complies with the standard for which a modification is requested; Property to the east of Parcel D is zoned NC. It is likely, given the location near an arterial intersection, that the property to the east will develop as a neighborhood commercial center. Prospect Springs Condominiums are located to the south of Parcel D and also wraps around to the west. An American Insurance office is located to the immediate west. If Parcel D does not become part of the neighborhood commercial development at the corner, it will be a single family dwelling sandwiched in between commercial development. (See Sheet 1) Given the small size of Parcel D ( 8,276 square feet ) and limited access contraints, it would be very difficult to develop other allowable uses such as a day care center or office building on the property. We believe the proposed plan which incorporates Parcel D into the neighborhood commercial development is a better land use alternative. The resulting land use pattern will be neighborhood commercial at the corner, adjacent to office use and multi -family, transitioning to single family homes further west. approximately .26 acres from the developable property. Consequently, providing adequate parking for the Rite Aid Pharmacy/Foodmart is not possible without acquiring additional property. Since properties further south are not for sale, the applicant's only option is to acquire Parcel D located to the west. Without Parcel D the Rite -Aid development would have less than 30 parking spaces to serve a 13,800 square foot pharmacy. The City's Land Use Code would allow a maximum of 55- 66 parking spaces. Since there is no on -street parking available, we believe more than 30 parking spaces are needed. Justification We understand that in order to approve the Modification Request the Planning and Zoning Board must make the following findings: A) First, the granting of the modification would neither be detrimental to the public good nor impair the intent and purposes of the Land Use Code; The NC - Neighborhood Commercial District is intended to be a mixed -use commercial core area anchored by a grocery store and a transit stop. The main purpose being to meet consumer demands for frequently needed goods and services. The current NC area located at the intersection of Prospect and LeMay Avenues does not include a grocery store. We believe the proposed multi -faceted Rite Aid Pharmacy/Foodmart clearly meets the definition of what a Neighborhood Center should include. The 13,800 square foot store will provide a variety of goods including food, paper products, greeting cards, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products and prescription drugs. In addition, the store also provides a variety of services including concert ticket event sales, photo finishing and health oriented services like mammograms, flu shots and blood pressure checks. Granting this modification would make development of the Rite Aid Drug Store possible. Since the proposed Rite Aid development meets the definition of the purpose of the NC District, granting the modification does not impair the intent and purposes of the Land Use Code in regard to the NC District In fact, development of the store would provide neighborhood residents with goods and services currently not available within the existing Neighborhood Center. The LMN— Low Density Mixed -Use Neighborhood District is intended to be a setting for a predominance of low density housing combined with complementary and supportive land uses that serve a neighborhood. Typically, Low Density Neighborhoods would be clustered around a Medium Density Mixed -Use Neighborhood with a Neighborhood Commercial Center at its core. The proposed land use pattern from west to east along Prospect Road fits this description. Single-family homes located to the west are adjacent to a mixed -use neighborhood consisting of condominiums and office development followed by the proposed Rite Aid Pharmacy/Foodmart, and Park Central Shopping Center, the neighborhood commercial core situated at the Prospect Road/Lemay Avenue intersection. Therefore, we believe granting the modification would also not VF RIPLEY ASSOCIATES INC. Landscape Architecture Urban Design Planning Modification Request Rite Aid Pharmacy/Foodmart 1113 Stoney Hill Drive Fort Collins, Colorado 80525 PHONE (970) 224-5828 Parking Lot Extension FAX (970) 224-1662 This request is for a modification to Section 3.2.2(D) of the City's Land Use Code which addresses Access and Parking Lot Requirements and specifically to section 3.2.2(D)(3) which states that "only off-street parking areas provided to serve uses permitted in a zone district predominated by residential uses will be allowed in such district." In other words, parking spaces which serve a use (in this case the Rite Aid Drug Store) which would not be allowed in the LMN District cannot be allowed in the LMN District without a modification. The applicant is proposing to build approximately fourteen off-street parking spaces in the LMN — Low Density Mixed -Use Neighborhood District to serve a Rite Aid Pharmacy/Foodmart in the adjacent NC — Neighborhood Commercial District. Background Approximately 3.8 acres of property located at the southwest corner of Lemay Avenue and Prospect Road was zoned NC — Neighborhood Commercial when the city's Land Use Code was adopted in 1997. The area zoned NC had been previously developed and includes a gas station at the corner along with two residential properties to the west and four residential properties to the south. The applicant has been successful in being able to assemble five individual parcels of land at the southwest corner of Prospect Road and Lemay Avenue. (See Sheet 1) Parcels A, B,C, and E all fall within the NC — Neighborhood Commercial District. Parcel D, however, is located in the LMN — Low Density Mixed -Use Neighborhood District. The assembled properties zoned NC at the comer together create a parcel that is only 1.22 acres. The property becomes even smaller when new city street standards require additional right-of-way on both Lemay Avenue and Prospect Road to be dedicated with development of the comer. The additional right-of-way dedication will remove F RIPLEY AS40(71A FS INC, TRANSMITTAL LETTER May 21, 1999 PROJECT / NO: Rite Aid - Request for Modification TO: Ron Fuchs — Fort Collins City, Current Planning ENCLOSED PLEASE FIND: Forward Prints For A royal Mail Returned Original For Your Use UPS Vellums Specifications As Requested Delivery x Documents Shop Drawings For Your Files Pick -Up Disc Computer Disk Airbome Dear Ron, Please find enclosed a copy of the modification request letter on headed paper. Please call if you have any questions. Yours sincerely Louise Herbert VF Ripley Associates 1113 Stoney Hill Drive, Fort Collins, Colorado 80525 • 970-224-5828 FAX 970-224-1662 • E-MAIL vfripley@frii.com