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Home My WebLink AboutCSU PARKING LOT - SITE PLAN ADVISORY REVIEW - SPA150002 - CORRESPONDENCE - REVISIONSOffice of Facilities Management Fort Collins, Colorado 80523‐6030 April 13, 2015 Jason Holland City Planner Development Review Center 281 North College Avenue Fort Collins, CO 80524 RE: Research Boulevard Parking Lot –Review, SPA150002. Response to Staff comments of April 6th, 2015. Dear Jason, The Research Boulevard parking lot is still in design, with drawings due to the university and city on April 29th. The general components of the parking lot plan are unchanged in location, and scope from the SPAR submittal. Specific details regarding the engineering of the lot are being further developed based on city staff and neighborhood comments. Most of these changes are documented and addressed in the following responses. Components of the Master Plan Beginning with the master plan of the 1970’s, the University began suggesting that parking would eventually need to move to the periphery of campus creating a more pedestrian friendly core. Forthcoming new construction on both main and south campus is predominantly occurring on existing surface parking lots. As these lots come off line, new parking is needed to replace them. This proposed parking lot would not only serve the immediate south campus veterinary medical campus but also the greater campus community. Daily access to this lot is leveraged through the use of public transportation, of which Route 34 is funded exclusively by CSU. In addition to daily University needs, this parking lot is also a required component of the City/ CSU Stadium IGA. A new connection between Research Boulevard and the Veterinary Medical Campus is proposed in this parking lot. This will allow for greater access to the Medical Campus and supports access for the Transfort bus system. Future plans of Drake Road suggest that access to the facility from its current entry point will be greatly limited by a median. This connection becomes a critical access point in the future for staff and clientele of the campus. Response to Staff Comments - *Note: Comments below are alphabetically coordinated with the attached parking lot site plan. Please see the site plan for further information. Planning Services (Jason Holland): A. Detention and swale slopes should not exceed 4:1. We believe we have capacity in our detention area to accommodate this adjustment to plan. 4:1 is a maintainable slope and is what CSU would typically require in design. B. We believe that the convergence of drive aisles can be managed through a close look at signage considerations, safely giving priority to the appropriate user. C. Lighting will be provided via full cut-off fixtures as well as a dimming system that has motion detection on it. Lighting will be via LED fixtures and will meet CSU foot-candle standards. D. A landscape plant list will be provided as requested. Landscape plant material and design will meet CSU standards. Engineering Development Review (Sheri Langenberger) E. A utility plan as well as a separate site plan set will be provided to the city for approval and signature per city requirements. These will include all requested information from comments where applicable. F. Drive and sidewalk modifications along Centre Avenue and Research Boulevard will meet LCUAS requirements as well as current ADA design standards, and will be constructed as suggested in the comments. G. The project engineer will complete a visibility study for the drive aisle off of Centre Avenue. Site distances will be studied to determine if there is a potential issue. H. It is the intent that new driveways on Research align with existing driveways to the west. Additional information will be provided to document this accordingly. Environmental Planning (Stephanie Blochowiak) I. Colorado State University is not subject to the Land Codes referenced in these comments as the area in question is not subject to review. CSU has its own standards that address tree protection, landscaping, and site lighting. Although different from City code, these standard address the same issues and have the same intent. We believe that the vegetated storm water quality pond planned for this property will have much greater ecological benefit than a ditch buffer that will be impacted annually by ditch maintenance. J. All existing landscape along Research Boulevard will be maintained in the project. This will be enhanced with a landscape backdrop that screens the parking lot. PFA (Jim Lynxweiler) K. Design Engineer will provide turning templates for the parking lot design to show what has been accommodated. Stormwater Engineering (Basil Hamdan) L. Per the meeting with City staff on 4/08/15. The design team will look at alternative design solutions to provide a more “naturalized design”. Some strategies discussed were sculpting the detention area with undulating forms, buffer plantings along slopes of the detention basin. Water quality plantings and infiltration wells* in the base of the detention providing microclimates. Physical design changes to allow parking lot sheet flow into landscape islands through cut curbs. These islands would have underdrains that flow to bioswales where water would be treated. In a joint agreement with city staff, interpretive signage would be provided highlighting the features of the parking lot design and its benefits to storm water quality as a demonstration project. *NOTE: In review of the geotechnical report after this meeting, at a depth of about 10’ there appears to be an impenetrable clay layer. Further discussion needs to be had regarding infiltration wells and whether they are a feasible design solution as no alluvial layer is immediately apparent. Technical Services (Jeff County) No staff comments provided Traffic Operations (Martina Wilkinson) M. Sidewalk ramps will be detailed per LCUAS standards N. Parking lot lane widths will meet CSU standards O. Intersection improvements along Drake Research are under further evaluation with City staff and CSU’s traffic consultant as an outcome of the City/ CSU Stadium IGA. An additional lane at Gillette is potentially feasible. Adjustments to the existing entry island were recently made and may already accommodate this comment. P. A sidewalk will be added on the west side of the parking lot this will aid getting users to the relocated Centre Avenue bus stop as well as existing sidewalks. Outside of the scope of this project, additional internal sidewalks are to be constructed along the west side of the VTH that will accommodate access from this parking lot to the main entry of the facility. Water-Wastewater Engineering (Basil Hamdan) Q. An irrigation tap will not be needed. CSU has existing irrigation infrastructure at the adjacent tennis court facility. This infrastructure is tied to our non-potable system and will be expanded to provide water to the parking lot and streetscape. R. Grading plans call for 5’ of cover over the existing sanitary line in the bottom of the pond. This was determined by potholing efforts that were completed for the design. Sincerely, David Hansen, LEED AP Campus Landscape Architect Facilities Services Center North Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-6030 RELOCATED BUS STOP BUS STOP BIKE PARKING BRIDGE PROPOSED LIGHTING 454 STALLS 448 STALLS TENNIS COURTS EXISTING DETENTION BASIN EXPAND DETENTION BASIN CENTRE AVENUE GILETTE DRIVE LARIMER #2 DITCH RESEARCH BOULEVARD DRAKE ROAD BU BUUUUS BUU BBBB US STOP SSTOP SS BIKE BIK BIKKK KE KKEEE PAR PARRRRRRRR AR ARRRKING KING KINGG KKKING KIN KINGGG INN N BRID RID RIDDD IDDD IDDDDDGE GE GEE G 448 STALLS TTTTE TE TTTE TT NNNNNN NNNNNNNNNNNNN NN N IS ISS ISSSSSSSS ISSS CCCCCCCCCCCCCCOOOOOOU OUU OUUUUUUU OOUU O RRT RT RRRT RRRRRRRRRRT R SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS EEX EX EEE IS ISTI TI TTT NG NNG DDDE DE DDETE TE TEE TENT NT NTIO IO IONNNNN BA BAAAASI SI SS NNNNNNNNNNNN GI GG LE LEE LEETT TT TTT TTEE E EEE DR DRRIV IV IVEEEEEEEEEEEE LARI LA L MER ME MEE #2 D ITCH ITCCH TCH CH BAAAASSSS NNNNNNN FOURTH COLLEGE ANNEXATION - NOT SUBJECT TO REVIEW Q H O O P L R A G B C L L L L L J J H L LEGEND A Flag Note Corresponds to CSU Response Letter to City Staff Dated 4/13/2015 Proposed Underdrain Connections to Bioswales Proposed Future Sidewalk along the West Side of VTH RESEARCH BOULEVARD PARKING LOT 0’ 75’ 150’ 300’ APRIL 13, 2015 RESPONSE TO CITY STAFF COMMENTS