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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHARMONY SCHOOL SHOPS PUD - MODIFICATIONS OF STANDARDS - 42-89J - CORRESPONDENCE - CORRESPONDENCE-CONCEPTUAL REVIEWCommunity Planning and Environmental Services Current Planning City- of Fort Collins April 4, 2002 Mr. Joe Carter Cityscape Urban Design 3555 Stanford Road, Suite 105 Fort Collins, CO 80525 Dear Joe: For your information, attached is a copy of the Staff's comments for the Harmony School Shops Neighborhood Center which was presented before the Conceptual Review Team on April 1, 2002. The comments are offered by staff to assist you in preparing the detailed components of the project application. Modifications and additions to these comments may be made at the time of formal review of this project. If you should have any questions regarding these comments or the next steps in the review process, please feel free to call me at 970-221-6750. Sincerely, Ted Shepard Chief Planner 281 North College Avenue • PO. Box 580 • Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 • (970) 221-6750 • FAX (970) 416-2020 CONCEPTUAL REVIEW STAFF COMMENTS Citv of Fort Collins ITEM: Harmony School Shops Neighborhood Center MEETING DATE: April 1, 2002 APPLICANT: Western Property Advisors c/o Mr. Joe Carter, Cityscape Urban Design, 3555 Stanford Road, Suite 105, Fort Collins, CO. 80525. LAND USE DATA: Request for a Harmony Corridor "Neighborhood Center" featuring a supermarket -based anchor. The mix of land uses include a convenience store with gasoline pumps, canopy and one -bay automatic carwash, bank with drive -through, standard restaurant, stand-alone retail, and multi -tenant retail/personal service. Estimated total square footage is 107,443 square feet. The parcel is about 17 acres in size located at the northeast corner of Harmony and Timberline Roads, south of Sunstone Village and west of Harmony Mobile Home Park. COMMENTS: The project is zoned H-C, Harmony Corridor. This particular corner is defined as being eligible for either a "Neighborhood" or "Community" shopping center, subject to review by the Planning and Zoning Board (Type Two). Within the "Neighborhood" center, the supermarket cannot exceed 49,000 square feet. Therefore, the proposed 52,443 square foot supermarket would not be permitted except as allowed per the Request for Modification to the Planning and Zoning Board. The parking lot must feature no less than 10% interior landscaping. Bicycle parking shall be provided at each building entrance, including the convenience store. All trash areas, utility meters, electrical transformers and loading docks must be screened from view from adjacent properties and public streets. 2. The 80-foot setback from Harmony Road is measured from the future edge of pavement. Please refer to the Harmony Corridor Standards and Guidelines for a full description of the requirements of land development along Harmony Road in general and development of a neighborhood shopping center in particular. 3. Electrical power can be extended to the site from both Timberline and Milestone. The location of the transformers must be coordinated with Light and Power. Transformers must be within ten feet of hard surface for emergency change out COMMUNITY PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES 281 N. College Ave. P.O. Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 (970) 271-6750 CURRENT PLANNING DEPARTMENT and screened from public streets as best as possible. Normal development charges will apply. Any modification to the existing system will be at the developer's expense. Electrical facilities are typically served from the front of the lot. Joint trench is possible with telephone, cable t.v. and internet broadband providers if these utilities cannot access lots from the rear. The street trees behind Pad "G" along Milestone must be placed in the parkway between sidewalk and curb, and spaced 40-feet (ornamental trees 15-feet) from streetlights. 4. If the internal streets are private, then no public street -lighting will be provided. Please note that all private light fixtures must be down -directional and feature sharp cut-off luminaires. Light will not be allowed to spill over the property lines. The use of high pressure sodium is strongly encouraged in order to match public street lighting and for energy conservation purposes. The applicant should be keenly aware that there are new under -canopy maximum allowable lighting levels. A Lighting Plan will be a submittal requirement. For further information, please contact Rob Irish, 221-6700. 5. There are existing utilities within the site that were installed in conjunction with earlier filings. The Water and Wastewater Department requires that sanitary sewer mains be within a 30-foot wide easement and water mains be within a 20- foot wide easement. It is preferred that water and sewer mains be placed under hard surface. All existing easements should be retained. Trees should be kept away from underground utilities in accordance with existing specifications. 6. There would be a long service line needed to serve Pad H. Meter pits should be located near mains. 7. Water conservation standards for landscaping shall apply. Plant investment fees and the raw water acquisition charge are due at building permit. The Water and Sewer Department has a separate plan check fee. For further information, please contact Roger Buffington, 221-6681. 8. The Poudre Fire Authority will require that a fire hydrant be installed to serve the site capable of delivering a minimum of 1,500 gallons per minute at 20 p.s.i. residual pressure. The access drive can be private but must be dedicated as an emergency access easement with curbs painted red and signs stating "No Parking — Fire Lane." 9. Any building with over 5,000 square feet of uncontained floor area must be equipped with an automatic fire extinguishing system. For further information, please contact Ron Gonzales, 221-5670. 10. The site is located in the Fox Meadows drainage basin where the new development fee is $6,468 per acre, subject to the runoff coefficient. 11. The standard Drainage Report, Erosion Control Plan, Grading and Drainage Plan, prepared by an engineer licensed in Colorado are required at the time of submittal. 12. The detention pond will need to be enlarged to accommodate the increased runoff and meet the present rainfall requirements. The detention volume needs to be determined using SWMM. The volume increase needed can be a percentage of the total volume since the previous rainfall requirements were different for the existing developed areas. The spillway should be designed to accommodate the entire 100-year developed flow including the new hydrology for the whole basin. The outfall system for the pond was redesigned and may have been built with a previous proposal. That system, if built, has not been certified. Also, there may be some repair needed on the pan if what is there now is the final pan. 13. The Stormwater Utility presently maintains the Sunstone Subdivision detention pond. It was determined during the last review process that the City would maintain the whole pond even though new developments are now required to maintain their detention ponds. Stormwater maintenance, however, will only be provided if the expanded ponds meet certain requirements such as being seeded in drought -tolerant natural grasses needing mowing only 3-5 times/year. In addition, side slopes must be 4:1 maximum and concrete pans are required for bottom slopes less than 2%. For further information, please contact Glen Schlueter, 221-6681. 14. The Street Oversizing Fee will apply, due at the time of building permit issuance. Please note that these fees are adjusted annually. The fees vary depending on the land use based on trip generation. For example, for general retail, the fee is $4.03 per square foot. Fees are considerably higher for the convenience store with gas pumps. For further information, please contact Matt Baker, 221-6605. 15. In addition, the City collects the Larimer County Road Impact fee. 16. A Transportation Impact Study will be required. Please contact Eric Bracke to determine the scope of the study. This study will help determine the extent of off - site street improvements necessary to mitigate the impact of the project on the public street system. For example, it is difficult to imagine not constructing an off -site connection to the future signalized intersection at Harmony Road and Snow Mesa Drive. Such a connection may need on -street bike lanes and detached sidewalks as well. The Transportation Impact Study (T.I.S.) must also perform a Level of Service analysis for alternative modes. Enhanced cross -walks should be provided across the internal drive aisles. For further information, please contact Tom Reiff, 224-2040. 17. In the future, there will be bus service along both Harmony and Timberline Roads. The location of future bus stops should be determined with the development proposal so sidewalk connections can be made. Please contact Gaylene Rossiter, 221-6620 for further information. 18. The standard Utility Plan, Development Agreement and Development Construction Permit will be needed. For further information, please contact Sheri Wamhoff, 221-6605. 19. A repay is due for public improvements along all three public streets. 20. The private access drive off Timberline may need an updated Access Permit from CDOT. The City will process the application. 21. If there is existing overhead electrical lines along Harmony, then this line should be placed underground. This line may be owned by R.E.A. 22. A replat is preferred to vacate unneeded easements and to dedicate new easements. Also, after consultation with CDOT, Staff will determine if any additional right-of-way is needed along Harmony Road. 23. A Fugitive Dust Permit will be needed from the Larimer County Health Department during the construction phase. The trash collection system should include facilities for recyclable materials. Native plants and grasses are encouraged versus irrigated blue grass sod. Check for prairie dogs and burrowing owls prior to grading. For further information regarding any natural resource issues, please contact Doug Moore, 221-6750. 24. The existing trees should be evaluated by Tim Buchanan, City Forester. Significant trees should be preserved. If not, then trees lost to construction must be mitigated as per the formula in the Land Use Code. Undesirable species such as Siberian Elm and Russian Olive, or other non-native trees should be removed. For further information, please contact Tim Buchanan, 221-6361. 25. The parking calculation lists the potential uses individually. This would not be the correct approach as all parking within the center would be available to any of the individual businesses. Section 3.2.2(K)(2) refers to the land use category "shopping center." This category is allowed a maximum five spaces per 1,000 square feet resulting in a maximum of 537 spaces. 26. The double drive -through lane on the south side of Pad A is discouraged. Ingress and egress appear awkward. There are conflicts in that the location is at the intersection of the two main drive aisles for the center plus the carwash exit lane. The drive -through creates unnecessary impervious surface requiring water quality treatment and stormwater detention. Idling cars contribute to the tailpipe emissions that create our brown cloud during atmospheric inversions. Informal evidence leads Staff to conclude that these facilities are rarely used. This space could be better used as a public pedestrian area with landscaping rather than given over to the private individual needs of the automobile. 27. As we have discussed in prior meetings, there needy to be direct and well - designed pedestrian sidewalks, plazas, and other amenities to promote walking from both the Sunstone and Harmony Mobile Home Park neighborhoods. The plaza between Pads F and G appears to be crowded by the loading zone. Perhaps this loading zone does not need to be extended so far north. The drive aisle between Pads G and H should be designed to be "street -like" with sufficient cross-section or wide sidewalks for bicycles. If necessary, street trees could be placed in tree grates in order to accommodate a wider sidewalk. Staff recommends that the developer take inspiration from City Comforts, by David Sucher, City Comforts Press, Seattle, 1995. This book provides numerous ideas on how to add pedestrian and bicycle amenities into retail shopping center. 28. The west side of Pad H should be designated as a pedestrian plaza as well. 29. All restaurant pads should include outdoor dining opportunities with permanent patios or moveable furniture on wide sidewalks or plazas. 30. Restaurant pads will need an area for solid screen walls for dumpsters, loading, and the outdoor -facing portion of the walk-in cooler/freezer. 31. The convenience store should also include an outdoor patio. Please see the Schrader Country Store in the Harmony Village Shopping Center as an example. 32. Much more landscaping/berming will be needed to buffer the gas pump area along Harmony Road. Generous use of evergreens may be needed for year-round screening. 33. In terms of architecture, the developer should draw upon the character established by the original Harmony School and its sensitive gymnasium addition. Sections 3.5.1(A — F) address compatibility issues. 34. The Harmony Mobile Home Park will need more screening than shown in order to buffer the loading area. 35. The applicant should be aware that pad users that desire a national prototype identity would be subject to Section 3.5.3(D) which calls for compatibility with the context and character established by the center and surrounding neighborhood. Consequently, such standard corporate architecture would be modified accordingly. 36. In order to promote a more attractive streetscape along Harmony Road, Staff would be interested in seeing alternative layouts for Pad C. For example, the reverse mode layout should be investigated where the c-store is placed along Harmony and the gas pumps and canopy is more internal to the center. 37. A neighborhood information meeting will be required. It is recommended that the meeting take place as close to submittal as possible. The Planning Department will create the notification map for the neighborhood meeting. Please notify the Planning Department at your earliest convenience if you desire to proceed to this next stage.