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HomeMy WebLinkAboutESKIN PUD - PRELIMINARY - 48-95 - CORRESPONDENCE - RESPONSE TO APPLICANT'FE 5r 1l u PUD A1.TeeJJA-n Vc- A BUSINESS SERVICE USES POINT CHART E For All Criteria Applicable Criteria Only Criterion Is the Criterion Applicable Yea No I II III IV Circle the Correct Score Muiripller Points Earned IXII Maximum Applicable Polio a. Transit Route X 2 0 2 — b. Sot'in College Corridor X. X 2 0 4 — 8 c. Part of Center X X 2 0 3 — 6 d. Two Acres or More X I X 2 1.0 3 -- 6 e. Mixed -Use X X 2 0 3 — 6 f. Joint Park `ng 1 2 0 3 &0- " g. Energy C -)nservation X 112131410 2 8 h. Contiguity X X 2 0 5 10 I. Historic Preservation 1 2 0 2 J. 1 2 0 k. 0 I. :E2 0 .._. Totals �4 ,50 v vl Percentc:�e Earned of Maximum Applicable Points V/VI = VII L�B vu Land Development Guidance System for Planned Unit Developments r The City of Fort Collins, Colorado, Revised March 1994 - 73 . n 4P MM,1�4 2-7/5 attorneys, insurance agents, etc.); we do not want a noise factor, upstairs from our business, to deal with. 2. POINT CHART E (See attached) We feel we have sufficient points to qualify for an all office space PUD. Criterion (c) should be answered yes. We are contiguous with the commercial area directly to our west. We also feel that we are an excellent transition from the high impact commercial that starts at the corner of College and E. Drake and abuts our property on the west. These additional points would put us over the 50% needed. 3. EXPENSE We would like to use our preliminary plan, that is in your file, as our proposed plan for this amended preliminary and final. We know we have to add some landscaping details and obtain drainage reports etc. but we would like to avoid spending more money on plans that we have done and redone over and over again. 4. CO-OPERATION Now more than ever we need this PUD. Drake is already a major east -west street and the expansion is going to bring it even closer to our front door. This building will never be acquired for a single family dwelling again. We feel that this is very obvious. We would like the city's co-operation in helping us keep the additional expense of this PUD to a minimum. We have noticed how the city can push projects through with very little public attention, such as the Drake expansion. We were not notified by mail as to any neighborhood meetings or any Council meetings. If we had known in a more timely manor about the expansion we feel that our expenses to date would have been considerably less. We would have continued our original request with our original plans. We think it probably would have been approved because there are similar situations in town that have already set precedents for this same type of PUD: The Camera Shop at Prospect and Shields is a perfect example. It is in a much more residential area, then we are, with no commercial abutting it. Please respond to our proposal, in writing, prior to March 15. Time is becoming an issue and we do not want to go any further with pursuing this or negotiating with the city on the Eminent Domain until we hear from you. Yours truly, Avram and Belinda Eskin 123 E. Drake Rd. Ft. Collins, CO. 80525 2-28-96 Dear Mr. Blanchard: We are writing to you' to make some requests that we feel are appropriate and logical. You are probably somewhat familiar with our PUD and the process that we have already been through. We originally requested a PUD to turn our building at 123 E. Drake Rd. into all professional office space and personal service shops. After our neighborhood meeting and submitting our preliminary plans it was suggested by Mike Ludwig that we go for a mixed use of professional office space on the first floor and a residential apartment on the second floor. We were basically told that the City staff would not support all professional office and the P&Z Board would follow suit. So we amended our request because any PUD approval would be better than no change. In January we got an preliminary approval from the P&Z Board for professional office/residential rental. Not more than one week later we got a call from the city engineers and was first told of the plans to expand Drake on our block. This planned expansion would bring Drake about seven feet from our front door. This will- drastically impact the usefulness of this property as any type of residential dwelling. Even the appraiser, that the city sent, voiced his opinion that; "If this were vacant land no one would ever buy it for residential 'use." So that is why we are writing to you. We want to amend our plans back to all professional office and personal service shops. We would like the city's co- operation in doing this as much as they want our co-operation in acquiring our land. We do have some hurdles to get over, they are: 1. PARKING The neighbors would like to see all additional parking to abut the commercial to the west instead of on the Harvard side. We have room to put seven spaces on that side. If all of our existing spaces could be "grandfathered" in as "legal" spaces we would have a total of at least thirteen spaces plus the availability to share existing parking with the State Farm office next door. We feel this is plenty for our planned usage. Our office takes up the first floor (1755 sq.ft.). We now operate with only six spaces and 90% of the time we have only two vehicles in addition to our own in the lot. We could leave the seven back spaces vacant for the offices occupying the second floor (1835 sq.ft.). We plan to rent this space to low density professional offices (i.e., accountants, engineers, Must be for the Ill neighborhc<xL use and enjoyment of the residents of the project and/or surmunding [2) Must be ar -,ved by the City. (d) No final plan shall be approved for any portion of a planned unit development- approved with a residential density bonus for providing neighborhood public facilities until the necessary legal documents have been submitted and approved. (7) Existing Neighborhood or Community Path or Community Facility (a) To qualify for points on the Density Chart, an existing neighborhood or community part or community facility muse Ill be intended for use by the public, and (2l be developed, under development. or funded and programmed for developmenL K. Variance Procedures The Planning and Zoning Board is empowered to grant variances to the provisions of this section. The decision of the Planning and Zoning Board on any application for a variance shall be set forth in writing in the minutes of the meeting of the Board. Variance,requests may be granted if the Board determines that the granting of the variance would neither be detrimental to the public good nor impair the intent and purposes of this section, and if the applicant demonstrates: (1) That by reason of exceptional topographical, soil, or other subsurface; conditions or other conditions peculiar to the site, undue hardship would be caused to a subdivider by the strict application of any provisions of this section. or (2) That by reason of exceptional conditions or difficulties with regard to solar orientation or access, undue hardship would be caused to a subdivider by the strict application of any provisions of this section. or (3) That the plan as submitted is equal to or better than such plan incorporating the provision for which a variance is requested, or �) That the granting of a variance from the strict application of any provision would result in a substantial benefit to the City by reason of the fact that the proposed project would help satisfy a defined community need (such as affordable housing or historic pre=vation) or would alleviate an existing problem (such as traffic congestion or urban blight), and the strict application of such a provision would render the project practically unfeasible. L. Enforcement of the Requirements and Conditions of PUD Approval. The occturence of either of the following events may subject the applicant to the enforcement remedies contained in Sections 29-4 through 29-9 of the Code: (1) Failure to comply with any terms, conditions. or limitations contained on the site plan, landscape plan, building elevations or other approved documents pertaining to a planned unit development which has received final approval from the City. (2) Failure to comply with any conditions of record imposed by the Planning and Zoning Board upon its review of the overall development plan or preliminary or final plans for the planned r, unit development under the provisions of this section. Land Development Guidance System for Planned Unit Developments The City of Fort Collins, Colorado, Revised September 1994 . 108 - than one hundred (100) full-time employees during a single eight hour shift"? While your property is contiguous to commercial development on the west, that is not a shopping center or office park. Nor is your property functionally a part of that development. EXPENSE: If you propose to change the proposed uses approved in your preliminary application, you will need to resubmit a new preliminary application. We will continue to only charge the small project development review fee of $200.00. However, you will obviously have the necessary expense to prepare the appropriate documents for a complete application including final utility plans. COOPERATION: We will cooperate with you in the processing of whichever application you choose to submit to the extent possible. However, our review of any proposed PUD is governed by City Code as it is outlined in the Land Development Guidance System. The acquisition of right of way and the expansion of Drake Road is not one of the review criteria that staff or the Planning and Zoning Board consider. You should be aware that if you choose to pursue an all commercial application and continue to fail the point chart, there is a variance procedure available. Even if staff does not support the variance, you would have the opportunity to make your case in front of the Planning and Zoning Board. I am including a copy of the variance criteria that would have to be justified to gain approval of a variance. By the way, there are both similarities and differences in comparing your property with the Camera Shop. While the Camera Shop does not currently have commercial development in the area as you indicated, the City is currently reviewing a large commercial project proposed for the property directly across Prospect Road; the Camera Shop is located directly at the intersection of two major arterials; and, while it did receive a variance from the Business Service Uses point chart, approval was conditioned on the requirement that it provide both commercial and residential uses in the structure and that it provide adequate parking as required by the Code. I trust this information will be helpful as you decide how to proceed with your development proposal. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, Robert E. Blanchard, AICP Current Planning Director cc: Mike Ludwig, City Planner Community Planning and Environmental Services `MkkA- �. Current Planning March 13, 1996 Avram and Belinda Eskin 123 E. Drake Road Fort Collins, CO 80525 Dear Mr. and Mrs. Eskin: Thank you for your letter expressing your desire to amend your preliminary PUD approval to allow your entire building to be used for office space and personal service uses. Should you decide to pursue a change to the approved preliminary, you will need to submit either a new, amended preliminary application or submit a combined preliminary/final application reflecting your new proposal. While I recognize your concern over the pending widening of Drake Street, the street project itself does not enter into staffs analysis or the awarding of points on the Business Services Point Chart used to evaluate your proposal. In your letter, four "hurdles" were referenced: PARKING: Any request for an entirely commercial use of your property would require a minimum of 16 parking spaces. This calculation is based on the standards recommended in the City's Parking Program. My understanding is that you only have the ability to provide 11 off-street spaces at this time since two of the spaces adjacent to Harvard Street do not conform to City Code. As you noted, there is the opportunity to share parking with the State Farm office. Before that is accepted by the City as a potential solution, a joint parking agreement would have to be negotiated (your preliminary application only received partial points on this line item since you had negotiated only a joint access agreement). POINT CHART E: Your proposal does not meet criterion "c" of the Business Service Uses Point Chart (Point Chart E) as you contend. Specifically, this criterion asks: "Is the project contiguous to and functionally a part of a neighborhood or community/regional shopping center, an office or industrial park, located in the Central Business District, or in the case of a single user, employ or will employ a total of more 281 North College Avenue • P.O. Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 • (970) 221-6750 FAX (970) 221-6378 TDD (970) 224-6002