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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOLD TOWN FLATS - PDP - PDP130022 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - PLANNING OBJECTIVESOld Town Flats (Block 23) Statement of Planning Objectives July 31, 2013 (i) Statement of appropriate City Plan Principles and Policies achieved by the proposed plan. The proposed project supports Plan Fort Collins’ principles and policies in the following ways: Economic Health: The project will immediately provide construction jobs, supporting the economic health of the community. The project will also supply housing for expanding Fort Collins businesses. Environmental Health: The project will conserve resources and reduce greenhouse gases by providing energy-efficient housing. Green construction practices will utilize sustainable products, limit construction waste, and recycle waste to the extent possible. Air quality will be improved and greenhouse gases reduced by providing housing near the heart of downtown on the new MAX BRT route adjacent to the Downtown Transit Center, allowing residents to walk or ride bikes or busses to Old Town, the CSU campus, shopping and other destinations. The density of the project allows for responsible land use. Community and Neighborhood Livability: This project will contribute to a compact pattern development and will provide a transit-oriented activity center. This site has been specifically identified as a target for infill and redevelopment. Community and Livability: This project helps manage growth by providing housing on an infill site in a compact development. Safety and Wellness: This project will increase the safety of cyclists by providing an improved, 90-degree rail crossing on Mason Street. Safety for multiple modes will be maintained by locating parking to the interior of the site, thus reducing vehicle conflicts with pedestrians and cyclists. Physical and mental wellness is promoted by the proximity to numerous amenities, Culture, Parks, and Recreation: Located near the new Museum of Discovery, the Lee Martinez Farm and Old Town, Old Town Flats offers a wide variety of cultural opportunities, including movies, theaters, science and history education and discovery, the Old Town Library, restaurants, hands-on farm experience, and other entertainment. The project’s adjacency to the Poudre Trail, Lee Martinez Park, and Washington Park will provide ready access for many forms of passive and active recreation, such as biking, running, softball, basketball, tennis, Frisbee, and playgrounds. High-Performing Community: The project will provide opportunities for improving diversity within the city by offering a community of housing to a variety of people (professionals, young families, students, and empty-nesters) in an open, non-discriminatory way. Transportation: This project will support the ETC (Enhanced Travel Corridor) concept by providing housing directly on the Mason Street ETC and adjacent to the Downtown Transit Center. LIV 4: Development will provide and pay its share of the cost of providing needed public facilities and services concurrent with development. Access points, sidewalks, right of way street trees and landscaping within the project will be paid for by the developer. Principle LIV 5: The City will promote redevelopment and infill in areas identified on the Targeted Infill and Redevelopment Areas Map. Policy LIV 5.1 – Encourage Targeted Redevelopment and Infill This site is within Figure LIV1, Targeted Infill and Redevelopment Areas of the City Plan and meets this policy. Policy LIV 5.2 – Target Public Investment along the Community Spine The project is on the corner of North Mason Street and maple Street and is located on the community spine identified in City Plan. Policy LIV 6.2 – Seek Compatibility with Neighborhoods Located in the Civic Center Downtown Sub-district, the architectural design shall be in context of its surroundings and be compatible with the established architectural character of Downtown Fort Collins. Compatibility shall be achieved through techniques such as the repetition of roof lines, the use of similar proportions in building mass, similar window pattern, use of materials that have similarity on color shade and texture. LIV 10.1 – Design Safe, Functional, and Visually Appealing Streets Well lit streets with street trees and detached walks are included within both street frontages of the development on Mason Street and Cherry Street. Mason Street will be enhanced to provide a wider walk with seating nooks that have plaza spaces at both north and south ends of the site. LIV 10.2 – Incorporate Street Trees Street trees will be included per standards at least 40’ O.C. along all public ROW’s. LIV 11.2 – Incorporate Public Space Public spaces will be included on the corner of Maple and Mason Street as well as the northern end of the site on Mason Street. Additionally three seating nooks will be provided adjacent to the sidewalk between these areas. LIV 14.1 – Encourage Unique Landscape Features The seating nooks are unique gathering spaces for a variety of seating, gathering, mingling and will be located within a rich native landscape. LIV 14.2 – Promote Functional Landscape All planting will be designed with native/adaptive plants, emphasizing foundation planting LIV 14.3 – Design Low Maintenance Landscapes Native and adaptive planting and a minimized turf area reserved for functional/multi-use lawns will allow a minimum of maintenance. Shrub beds will be maintained without excessive pruning or ‘snow-balling’ of shrubs. LIV 21.2 – Establish an Interconnected Street and Pedestrian Network The street and pedestrian network will allow access from the North Transit Center for MAX through to the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery and the Poudre River trails along Mason Street by utilizing the proposed wider sidewalk condition. The east-west movement will additionally be enhanced that connects midblock on Maple through to Mason Street corner Policy LIV 21.4 – Provide Access to Transit The wider sidewalk on Mason Street provides direct access to the Downtown Transit Center. LIV 22.4 – Orient Buildings to Public Streets or Spaces The building fronts Maple Street and Mason Street. LIV 22.5 – Create Visually Interesting Streetscapes With native landscape, seating nooks and street trees, the streetscapes on Maple and Mason Street will be visually interesting. LIV 22.6 – Enhance Street Design and Image Mason Street and Maple Street will be tree lined with inviting walkways creating comfortable places to be. LIV 22.8 – Reduce the Visual Prominence of Garages and Driveways The wider Right of Way along Mason street will allow for a variety of topography to create mounded landscape beds with native grasses and perennials to help screen the parking beneath the building along Mason Street. LIV 23.1 – Provide Neighborhood Parks and Outdoor Spaces With the limited space on downtown city block the wider Right of Way along Mason Street is viewed as an opportunity to create a lineal park with double row of street trees, a combination of lawn and native landscape combined with unique seating nooks and plaza. LIV 30.2 –Connect to Surrounding Neighborhoods Sidewalk connections enhance pedestrian connectivity and bicycle connectivity on all street frontages of the site. LIV 30.3 – Improve Pedestrian and Bicycle Access Pedestrian access is improved along Mason Street and bicycle access is also improved with updates to create a safe 90 degree crossing at the railway line. This safe crossing does not currently exist. LIV 31.4 – Design for Pedestrian Activity The wider sidewalk design along Mason Street has been designed to allow for greater pedestrian access to the north and south of the site. The addition of MAX will likely result in additional pedestrian flow to the Poudre River Trail and the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery (ii) Description of proposed open space, wetlands, natural habitats and features, landscaping, circulation, transition areas, and associated buffering on site and in the general vicinity of the project. The site occupies the south-west quadrant of Block 23. The open space available for the project pertains specifically to the right of way along Mason Street as a wider condition typical of downtown blocks. This wider right-of-way has afforded the project an opportunity to enhance this area into a linear park condition. This concept allows for more pedestrian movement north and south while creating unique and attractive public gathering spaces at the corner and the northern extent of the lot. In between are public seating nooks that offer a variety of seating arrangements. The landscape is proposed to consist of native grasses and perennials, which utilize the lower water use species in Colorado. Street trees play a major role in defining human scale and the significance of the wider pedestrian sidewalk along Mason Street. This sidewalk allows people to access the Poudre River Trails and Fort Collins Museum of Discovery from Mason Street and the Transit Center for the new MAX. The enhancement of Maple Street also allows for easy pedestrian movement east and west in front the site. (iii) Statement of proposed ownership and maintenance of public and private open space areas; applicant’s intentions with regard to future ownership of all or portions of the project development plan. The proposed project site is currently owned by NBH Bank, N.A. and is in the process of transferring ownership to a single purpose LLC. Once ownership has transferred to the new LLC, they will assume maintenance of the site. (iv) Estimate the number of employees for business, commercial, and industrial uses. Not Applicable (v) Description of rationale behind the assumptions and choices made by the applicant. The L-shaped building is oriented to provide a strong urban edge along Mason Street and Maple Street. The ground level façade will intertwine residential entries, seating and outdoor plaza area to create a dynamic urban street. Pedestrian scale elements and features will be incorporated to enhance the street-level experience. The building facades are scaled to be compatible with the surrounding context. This also allows the parking to be tucked under the building and mostly hidden from the street. Pedestrians will circulate primarily along the perimeter street edges. This site is also across the street from the Downtown Transit Center which will allow for easy access along the new MAX route. (vi) The applicant shall submit as evidence of successful completion of the applicable criteria, the completed documents pursuant to these regulations for each proposed use. The Planning Director may require, or the applicant may choose to submit, evidence that is beyond what is required in that section. Any variance from the criteria shall be described. See attached Modification for Compact Parking (vii) Narrative description of how conflicts between land uses or disturbances to wetlands, natural habitats and features and or wildlife are being avoided to the maximum extent feasible or are mitigated. Not Applicable (viii) Written narrative addressing each concern/issue raised at the neighborhood meeting(s), if a meeting has been held. A Neighborhood Meeting was held on June 5, 2013 and a summary of all comments/questions and responses was issued by the planner, Ted Shepard. We have reviewed the summary and believe the proposed project has addressed many of the neighborhood questions. (ix) Name of the project as well as any previous name the project may have had during Conceptual Review. Current Name: Old Town Flats Name used at PDR: Block 23