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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBRICK STONE APARTMENTS ON HARMONY - PDP - PDP160019 - REPORTS - RECOMMENDATION/REPORT W/ATTACHMENTS (27)NEIGHBORHOOD INFORMATION MEETING PROJECT: Harmony Mixed Use, 402 E Harmony Rd DATE: March 10, 2016 APPLICANT: Ben Massimino PLANNER: Ryan Mounce for Pete Wray (project planner) City Process Overview:  City staff originally saw preliminary plans for the proposal at a conceptual review meeting in October 2015  Based on the proposed size and use of the project requires Planning & Zoning Board (Type 2) review. o The neighborhood meeting letter sent out to neighbors listed the project as Type 1 – this was a mistake; the project will be Type 2 as currently proposed.  Type 2 projects require a neighborhood meeting to share information about the project and to listen to neighborhood concerns, ideas and to answer questions. Notes from the neighborhood meeting summary will be provided to the decision‐maker (Planning & Zoning Board) for the project.  Neighborhood meetings for projects are held early in the design process to provide greater opportunity to incorporate neighborhood feedback.  The City has not seen or reviewed any specific project details such as site plan, landscaping, traffic studies, or drainage at this time. These documents must be provided by the applicants when a formal project submittal is made.  There is opportunity throughout the development review process to send written comments to the project planner and to provide testimony at the public hearing. Applicant Presentation:  Project is very early in the design process; tonight we’re hoping to hear from you. Appreciate the feedback and comments already received from neighbors.  Project entails a mixed‐use building feature ground‐floor office space and residential units above. 101 residential units in a 5‐story building.  Underground parking will be available under the building, with additional surface parking to the east of the building. Approximately 182 parking spaces.  Building is situated close to Harmony Rd to preserve the natural habitat along Mail Creek and push the building further away from neighbors.  Former property owner of the site cut down many trees along Mail Creek. This project would like to add a number of trees back; however, it won’t be possibly to immediately recreate what was lost due to planting size for new trees.  Access to the site will come from the shared driveway with the apartment building to the east  Residential units will be market rate.  Building will have amenities such as tap room and ‘hang‐out’ room  Driveway located to the west of the building is for emergency access only; regular vehicles cannot access it  Want to revegetate and enhance the riparian corridor along Mail Creek and along the inlet ditch  We have heard and recognize that access to the private Fairway HOA‐areas is a concern. We want to look at installing fencing or designing the landscaping in such a way as to prevent residents from accessing these areas.  Planning to have court‐yards and activity areas on site for residents  Traffic impact study has been completed, not yet reviewed by the City, showing current roadway and intersection operations will still function. Traffic study based upon 166 units, but current plans are only for 101 units.  Architecture: building will have articulation to help break up massing, as well as 3 or 4 façade changes and materials to provide a high quality structure Comments, Questions & Responses C: Comment Q: Question R: Response C (Citizen): The site seems very small relative to the size of the project, and relative to other parts of the City: Q (Citizen): What is your density, and are there other examples of 5‐story buildings nearby? R (Applicant): The site is approximately 5 acres, and with 101 units, density is about 20 units per acre. R (City): There are some other 4‐story buildings along the Harmony/College corridors; for 5‐story buildings, along Harmony near Ziegler there is a 5‐story office building and along College there is the Marriott near the mall. R (City): The density for the project is similar to a medium‐density neighborhood mixed‐use (MMN) neighborhood project – similar to 3‐story garden‐level apartments, but the density calculation does depending on the gross/net size of the property in question. C (Citizen): The density of the project is a concern to me. The surrounding residential is large‐lot single‐ family homes; the building feels too big and massive for the area and context. The character of the area is single‐family homes, many of which were built in the 1960s. Q (Citizen): What type of clientele are you looking at for this project? R (Applicant): The units will be higher‐end, market‐rate units. The building will have amenities and the units will have two‐tone paint, architectural details, granite counter tops, and stainless steel appliances. Q (Citizen): Where on the site will access be taken? R (Applicant): There will be a right‐in, right‐out drive onto Harmony Road. The other apartment project to the east was designed so this site could share access onto Harmony Road. C (Citizen): Since there is only a right‐in, right‐out, you’re going to be dumping a lot of extra traffic onto our streets (Hogan & Palmer discussed) as people try and turn around and get going the correct direction of travel. C (Citizen): We’re already having issues exiting from Hogan. Sometimes Harmony is so backed‐up that even if you have a green light, you can’t enter Harmony. R (Applicant): We feel people will learn which direction to travel to get where they need to go. There isn’t access through the neighborhood, and since the project has more permanent users as a residential/office project versus retail, people will learn which way to go. C (Citizen): I don’t feel it’s a very good proposal. You always hear people talking about location, location, location – it doesn’t feel like a good location for this type of use and intensity with the access issues. Q (Citizen): Can you talk about fire access to the site? Will Poudre Fire Authority (PFA) be able to pull in? R (Applicant): PFA can’t stage for an emergency along Harmony Road because it’s an arterial, they won’t approve plans like that, but if there was an actual emergency they would do what they have to. For fire access, the project will dedicate emergency access easements and PFA will be able to pull into the parking lot on the east side, and on a strip adjacent to the building on the west side – that strip is only for PFA, not for vehicles. C (Citizen): Why do you need the commercial space? I think you should remove the commercial and take 2‐stories of the building. C (Citizen): It feels like you’re really trying to pack the site with as much intensity as possible without regard to the neighborhood. C (Citizen): A concern I have with the right‐in, right‐out access to the site is that a lot more people may be trying to complete extra U‐turns at the Harmony/College intersection. It’s dangerous when people do u‐turns as they also have to compete with individuals traveling from northbound College merging onto eastbound Harmony. The turns also slow down traffic in the turn lanes. Q (Citizen): You are adjacent to a private amenity for our neighborhood that we maintain. Many are worried about the additional traffic on our amenity and potential liability from having them on the property. Will you be doing anything to discourage its use by your project’s residents? R (Applicant): There will be an on‐site leasing agent and maintenance personnel, and we would want to inform all of our residents not to travel in those areas and to discourage this. We’d also like to work with all of you and design the site with fencing and/or landscaping to prevent residents from being able to access those private areas. C (Citizen): If there are issues, the onus falls on us and we have to call the police. They’re already tired of coming out to the area, and we’ve recently had an uptick in homeless camping out in the area. R (Applicant): We’re here tonight to listen to you on these issues and we want to work with the neighborhood to address these concerns and make changes. C (Citizen): It seems unfair there may be all the extra traffic and use of our neighborhood, but we don’t even have sidewalks and streetlights. Those were never added or installed, even after we were annexed into the City about 10 years ago. Q (Citizen): What type of units will the project have? What is the mix? R (Applicant): The mix will be approximately 40% one‐bedroom, 50% two‐bedroom and 1q0% three‐ bedroom. All units will be market‐rate. We think many of the tenants will be in their mid 20s to mid 30s. We don’t anticipate a lot of families because we don’t have some of the amenities they may be looking for, such as a tot‐lot. Q (Citizen): What is going to happen on the other side (east side) of the affordable housing unit project? R (Applicant): I’m not sure, it might develop. We’re not looking at that site. Q (Citizen): What kind of materials are you using? R (Applicant): It will be a mix. Materials could still change, but we envision wood siding and scored stucco, corrugated metal. There could be other materials as well. Q (Citizen): Where does compatibility fit into the development review process? R (City): The project will be reviewed for compliance with Land Use Code standards, and there are requirements to consider neighborhood context and compatibility as part of the review. I believe it will be one of the critical elements of the review for a project like this. There is broader City and corridor‐wide policies for some higher intensity/density, but the Harmony Corridor Plan and Land Use Code also speak to respect and transition to existing residential neighborhoods. Q (Citizen): Are you based locally? R (Applicant): I’m from Park City, Utah. Q (Citizen): Would you like to buy my house? You’re going to have a big impact on it. C (Citizen): With the recent accessible/affordable housing project east of the site, we’ve seen a lot more people in wheelchairs along Harmony Road and trying to cross, and it’s really dangerous. Sometimes there isn’t enough time from them cross the Hogan/Harmony intersection safely in the amount of time the light stays green. R (City): We’re taking notes and comments down about traffic and travel tonight to share with the City traffic engineers. As applicants mentioned, they have completed a traffic study for the project, but it has not been reviewed by the City. They will be looking at more than just vehicle traffic and operations, but also focusing on bikes, pedestrians, etc. R (Applicant): We will be building the sidewalk frontage along our site to connect the two pieces of existing sidewalk into one whole. Q (Citizen): When you say market‐rate or market rent, what does that mean specifically? R (Applicant): We’re still analyzing what the exact rents may be, but for example a 1‐bedroom may be about $1,100 a month, and a 3‐bedroom around $1,850 per month. R (Applicant): We don’t think there will be many students given the location further away from CSU and the rents. We believe our residents also want a quiet environment and we want to be good neighbors – we’re not going to be installed speakers outside, disco balls, having large parties. We’ll have a full‐time person present, and one element we like to do at our projects is to offer a reduced rent rate to someone like a police officer and have their presence available at night. We’re concerned about the safety and well‐being of our residents and yours, and also we want to protect our investment and reputation and be good neighbors. Q (Citizen): You keep mentioning you are going to try and do this or that, when are we going to get some formality? The site has been proposed for many different projects in the past, and it’s been a parade of developers promising things that never come to fruition. R (Applicant): As mentioned, we say try because we’re very early in the process and the design isn’t finalized yet, so when we say try, we mean that but ultimately design and configuration could and likely will change. That’s why we’re here tonight is to listen to your concerns and ideas and see what can be incorporated. C (Citizen): The very fact we are here tonight is because of promises that were not kept. Originally, we were told this area was to be a golf course. C (Citizen): I think the traffic is going to be horrendous, and the noise for the residents living right along Harmony will be terrible. I’ve heard from residents in the affordable project, and they have to run water features or white noise generators in their rooms to drown out the traffic noise. I feel this is intrusive to our neighborhood views, and I am opposed to the project. The size and massing is ridiculous at this location. C (Citizen): A lot of us fish in those ponds; it will be hard to see the views and general atmosphere impacted by the proposal. Q (Citizen): Are you intending to allow residents to have pets? R (Applicant): Yes. Q (Citizen): Where will they take their pets? There’s nowhere nice to go but into our neighborhood. R (Applicant): They can take them down the street. R (Citizen): They aren’t going to walk their dog along a busy road like Harmony when they could go to a nice area like Fairview. C (Citizen): There are really no other 5‐story buildings around, this is out of context. The site also sits above many of the homes in Fairview, so to us it’s going to look and feel more like a 6 or 7 story building. C (Citizen): The photo/aerial you’re using is old, from before the trees were cut down on the property. The landscaping your showing won’t be that thick as what’s being suggested by your drawings. You also should be showing full 360‐degree views and what it will look like on the back‐side from the Fairview Estates angle – you’re only really showing the front along Harmony Rd. R (Applicant): We’re not trying to deceive anyone with what is being shown. We used the latest google aerial for the site plan background, we’re also early in the process and not everything is set in stone to show in renderings yet – still very early in the process and it costs a lot of money to prepare those. Q (Applicant): What is a height that would be acceptable at this location? We’d like to hear from the neighborhood perspective. The zoning allows 6 stories, and we also have to keep in mind general financial feasibility, but what are your thoughts? R (Citizen): 5 and 6‐stories is not compatible. R (Citizen): Something about half the size. C (Citizen): The main interest or player who isn’t at these discussions tonight is the decision maker for the project, the Planning and Zoning Board. In the community, we have certain policies, staff, and board members that are in love with density. When you use the argument of compatibility, it may not register to them as it does to us. Our neighborhood was developed in the county, we have large lots, and we’re the ones that look like a misfit or an anachronism to the larger area of the College and Harmony corridors. When you talk about traffic, the traffic study completed only addresses the adequacy of the proposed traffic. The traffic study will find ways to justify that everything is going to be fine, and the City staff only relies on what the traffic study, largely the opinion of the traffic engineer who creates it, tells them. Given these factors, you have a developer directly asking the neighborhood what you would like to see changed and what could make this a better project, and the neighborhood should work to this end, but you also need to be realistic; something will eventually be developed here, and it does have to make financial sense for the developer. The City will be all over a project like this with the density, and they look at our 2 acre lots as more important than all these other public objectives? Don’t look at this as if you are trying to kill the project, but work with the developer s and be realistic. C (Citizen): I repair the poles on the bridge/dam along Palmer. Those barriers were placed there as part of the King Soopers development many years ago to block cross‐traffic through the neighborhood, but I can imagine this development will cause many of the same issues. The current barriers are flimsy and people will still try and drive over them and break them. We have signs, but those don’t stop anybody either. We’d like to see if there is a more substantial solution to continue blocking off traffic access on Palmer over the bridge. Q (Citizen): Have you developed other projects similar to this elsewhere? R (Applicant): Yes. C (Citizen): If you move forward, I think you really need to focus on traffic solutions. Q (Citizen): What basis did you use to determine your rents and market? R (Applicant): We had a market study and research prepared; we evaluate many different types of statistics, and based on this it looks to be a good market and location for the units and rent we expect. R (Citizen): I was involved with a project Downtown many years ago, and we did the same type of market analysis and research, and promised us what we wanted to hear – that we could fill our building at a given rent, but it never materialized. I feel like sometimes these studies only tell us what we want to hear. C (Applicant): We want to thank everyone for their comments and feedback tonight. It sounds like we need to work on the massing of the project. We thought the riparian buffer corridor was going to be a strong element of the design and so to protect that area, it pushed the building footprint to be smaller and then taller, but maybe it isn’t. We can’t give you everything you want, but we want to reevaluate and look at the issues raised tonight. Q (Citizen): You have the open parking areas near the east property line pretty close to the creek. Are the headlights going to go straight across and into neighbors’ homes? Can you put up a wall? R (Applicant): Yes, landscaping isn’t shown, and we could consider a wall as well. The City also has standard for parking lot perimeter landscaping. One concern we have with a large wall would be tagging, but we’ll look at all of these options. C (Citizen): Fairview was developed in the 60’s, with a rural character. We don’t even have street lights or sidewalks. To add more people using the streets to walk seems like it would be unsafe without the necessary infrastructure. We’re also having more issues with vagrants throughout our neighborhood recently. Q (Citizen): What do you intend for the ponds? Will you protect the ponds? What can you do to offer protection for our open space that is a large selling point for our properties? R (Applicant): We are focusing our design on that area and it is to be heavily landscaped and we’re also considering a fence close to the building and the remaining land closer to the creek and ponds with be a natural area, much as you see and experience it today. Q (Citizen): You said you will have pets, are there any other restrictions? R (Applicant): There will be pet size limitations, but we are planning to let residents have pets. C (Comment): One of my questions is, why here? It just doesn’t feel in context with the neighborhood. You mentioned your target demographics, but I feel those types of individuals would be looking elsewhere in town to be closer to other amenities. I’m also worried about the impact on the natural environment. Already there’s been a big increase in the amount of trash and debris in the creek and this could make it worse. Q (Citizen): What are next steps? R (City): From the City‐side, we’ll be summarizing the meeting notes and will send those out to individuals who signed up to receive email updates. There are also several items we’d been looking for before a formal submittal could be made by the applicants, such as the Ecological Characterization Study for the site. R (Applicant): We believe it would be good to have another neighborhood meeting as well. R (Citizen): Could we suggest several additional neighborhood meetings? I would also strongly recommend a 2‐story project. Q (Citizen): Is it possible to make the building lower but go wider/longer or break it up a bit? R (Applicant): We can look at that, and many other different ways. Two key constraints are the ditch and locating further away from this to preserve the natural habitat buffer area, as well as fire code so Poudre Fire Authority has access to all sides of the building. These are big challenges. C (Citizen): I just moved out a 5 story building in Denver where I was on the HOA board. My sense is your price point may be low and you may get a slightly different demographic. The reality is that as much as you try and control low‐noise and respectful environment, sometimes there are going to be parties, and they’ll drift out on the balconies, and there will be noise and visual eyesores. C (Citizen): I would appreciate 2 or 3‐stories with underground parking and no pets. C (Citizen): I believe the best use of the site is as open space. You should check with the City natural areas departments to see if they are still interested in purchasing the property.