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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHARMONY SCHOOL SHOPS 4TH FILING MAJOR AMENDMENT AND 6TH FILING REPLAT - 42-89L - DECISION - MINUTES/NOTESChairperson Lingle called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. Roll Call: Campana, Lingle, Rollins, Schmidt, Smith, Stockover and Wetzler Staff Present: Gloss, Eckman, Waido, Shepard, and Sanchez -Sprague • Director of Current Planning, Cameron Gloss, reviewed the agenda noting Member Campana's conflict with Consent Agenda Items 2-7 and Discussion Agenda Item 13, Harmony School 4th Filing Major Amendment & 6t" Filing Replat. Campana left the chambers for the motion/vote on the consent agenda. Citizen participation: None. Consent Agenda: 1. Minutes for November 16, 2006 and March 15, 2007 Planning & Zoning Hearings. 2. Resolution PZ07-01 Right of Way Dedication Front Range Village project 3. Resolution PZ07-02 Right of Way Dedication Front Range Village project 4. Resolution PZ07-03 Easement Dedication Front Range Village project 5. Resolution PZ07-04 Easement Dedication Front Range Village project 6. Resolution PZ07-05 Right of Way Dedication Pads at Harmony development 7. Resolution PZ07-06 Easement Dedication Pads at Harmony development 8. Resolution PZ07-07 Easement Dedication at Capitol Hill Addition Subdivision 9. Resolution PZ07-08 Easement Dedication at Morans Subdivision 10. Resolution PZ07-09 Easement Dedication at Morans Subdivision 11. Resolution PZ07-10 Easement Dedication at Morans Subdivision Discussion Items: 12. Foothills Mall Urban Renewal Plan 13. #42-89L Harmony School Shops a Filing Major Amendment and 6t" filing Replat Member Schmidt moved for the approval of the consent agenda which includes minutes for November 16, 2006 and March 15, 2007 and Resolutions PZ07-01 through PZ07-10. Member Rollins seconded the motion. Motion was approved 6-0. Member Campana returned to the Chambers 0 • Planning & Zoning Board April 19, 2007 Page 7 Wetzler noted there are a lot of things at the mall that do not work. Until presented with new ideas, he's confident in City Council's ability to evaluate and to determine which action to take. He's more inclined to err on the side of accepting, approving and moving it forward. The motion passed 4:3. Project: Harmony School Shops 4`h Filing Major Amendment and 61h Filing Replat, #42-89L Project Description: This is a request to amend a final plan, formerly known as Timberline Village Shopping Center, located within a portion of the Harmony School Shops 40 Filing. The purpose of the amendment is to accommodate an entirely new group of tenants which would be anchored by a 24-hour fitness club. In addition, there would be a mix of retail, restaurants, and a beauty school. Total leasable square footage is 85,524 square feet divided among three buildings one of which is a multi -tenant, large retail establishment. The site is bounded by Harmony Road, Timberline Road and Milestone Drive. It consists of 11 acres and is zoned H-C, Harmony Corridor. The Major Amendment includes a Request for Modification of Section 3.5.4(C)(3)(c) which pertains to the backside of the large retail establishment. Recommendation: Approval of the Modification and Major Amendment Hearin§t Testimony, Written Comments and Other Evidence: Chair tingle reported that Member Campana has declared a conflict of interest and has left the chamber. Chief Planner Ted Shepard reported Harmony School Shops 4`h Filing Major Amendment and 6th Filing Replat, #42-89L is a request to amend a final plan, formerly known as Timberline Village Shopping Center, located within a portion of the Harmony School Shops 4`h Filing. The purpose of the amendment is to accommodate an entirely new group of tenants which would be anchored by a 24-hour fitness club. In addition, there would be a mix of retail, restaurants, and a beauty school. Total leasable square footage is 85,524 square feet divided among three buildings one of which is a multi -tenant, large retail establishment. The site is bounded by Harmony Road, Timberline Road and Milestone Drive. It consists of 11 acres and is zoned H-C, Harmony Corridor. The Major Amendment includes a Request for Modification of Section 3.5.4(C)(3)(c) which pertains to the backside of the large retail establishment. This has to do with the fact that the applicant contends that due to the existence of the regional stormwater detention pond, it is practically infeasible to construct a berm, with landscaping, as required by the standard. Staff has evaluated the request and agree the granting of the modification would not be detrimental to the public good and is equal to or L� • Planning & Zoning Board April 19, 2007 Page 8 better than the standard because the setback from the rear lot lines of Sunstone 7`' Filing by a distance ranging from 95 feet to 120 feet significantly exceeds the 35 foot requirement. Michael Chalona, Land Images Planning Consultant, representing the owner thanked staff for their help in moving the project forward to this stage of review by the Board. He would like to outline why this plan is better and why it should be approved. Better design solutions for the surrounding neighborhood including improved residential sound buffering from the traffic noises generated by Harmony. The site is bordered by residential neighborhoods to the north and east. The buffering to the north consists of a combination of an existing stormwater detention pond, landscaping and architectural features on the north elevation of the large retail establishment (health club, retail and private vocational school). The separation between the commercial buildings and the rear property lines of the homes in Sunstone Village 7U' Filing ranges from a low of 95 feet and a high of 120 feet from the large retail establishment. The buffering to the east is provided by a 45-foot building setback and landscaping. Overall, buffering is accomplished by a combination of distance and landscaping that mitigates the impacts potential conflicts reasonably anticipated to exist between residential and commercial land uses. • Less intense service use with the removal of a grocery store from plan • Fewer buildings/more landscape • Better distribution of parking • More public space and pedestrian access. The sidewalk circulation system provides for a walkway connection from Milestone Drive to the large retail establishment. Similarly, a walkway will be constructed to the east property line and tie into the Pads at Harmony, located east of the site and in front of the Harmony Mobile Home Park. This walk will continue east to Snow Mesa Drive and Front Range Village. Interior sidewalks, crosswalks and plazas are provided throughout the project to facilitate movement among buildings and the three plazas. • Lighting. Parking lot lighting will feature down -directional and full cut-off fixtures. There are no foot-candles that exceed the maximum allowable. Decorative pedestrian -scale light fixtures will be provided at the plazas and along walks at the building entrances. Wall -mounted fixtures will also be down -directional. • 360 degree architecture for the large retail establishment, there is an allowable exception to the build -to line since there is an internal connecting walkway system and outlying pad buildings that are closer to the public streets. For the two smaller detached buildings, these buildings are required to be set back from Harmony Road at least 80 feet. All three buildings exhibit sufficient architectural variety by the use of wall articulation, consistent use of quality materials, clearly defined building entrances, and generous use of windows, arcades and awnings. These three buildings feature a recognizable base and top by use of different concrete block as a wainscot and a variety of roof lines. These buildings are slightly differentiated yet provide a sense of cohesiveness that helps unify the center. • • Planning & Zoning Board April 19, 2007 Page 9 All four facades are articulated. All but the north elevation feature store -front details with entrances, windows, arcades and pedestrian amenities. Traffic Management. Milestone Drive is a collector street between Timberline Road the private access drive into the center. East of this access drive, Milestone transitions down to a local street. The only reason to use Milestone Drive would be to gain access to the immediate neighborhood. All of the neighborhood streets curve and have posted for 25 miles per hour and do not outlet onto a collector or arterial street that would be an attractive cut -through destination. Timberline — Milestone Intersection. There will not be a traffic signal at the tee intersection of Timberline and Milestone as it is located too close to the Timberline/Harmony intersection. Instead, the intersection will be designed with a "channelized tee" to allow Milestone westbound left turns onto southbound Timberline. The turn movements will be controlled by a re -designed median in Timberline Road. Harmony — Snow Mesa Intersection. The Harmony/Snow Mesa intersection is now signalized allowing full turn movements. Snow Mesa is a north -south collector street that serves the present and future phases of the Poudre Valley Hospital Harmony Campus. The north leg aligns with the present access to Harmony Mobile Home Park and will be further improved with construction of The Pads at Harmony commercial center. With cross access, this intersection will complete the circulation system for the general area, including Harmony School Shops and Sunstone Village 7h Filing Chalona believes it's a great project for the neighborhood and the city. It'li contribute to the economic health of the city as a number of national tenants have already committed to the project (contributing to its stability.) There is also room for local business to work within the project. For all the reasons listed above, he requested the Board approve the major amendment and modification requests. Member Schmidt asked about pedestrian access from the mobile home park to the east. Chalona noted it was not possible to make connection due to the mobile home park fence and the individual lots beyond it. Member Wetzler expressed concern about the use of landscaping materials that might hinder visual corridors at the end of the parking lanes, as you go into main traffic patterns. He wanted to know how tall the landscaping material would be and if sap from trees would be an issue in the parking lots. Chalona responded that that shrubs would grow up to 24-30" and trees at the installation time would be visually clear below five to six feet. There is a mix of trees as required by Code. He's been in conversation with the City Forester and believes the mix, the size and the placement are all acceptable as to Code. With regard to the sap, it's his impression that sap comes from trees that are unhealthy. Member Schmidt asked if this development was considered a "Big Box". Shepard responded yes and that was why there was a modification request —it's required for Big Box only. Member Smith asked what the neighborhood concerns had been and where their collaborative efforts had take place. Chalona responded that concerns raised at the neighborhood meeting had been the buffer between the residences and the development and pedestrian access. Planning & Zoning Board April 19, 2007 Page 10 Member Smith asked in the context of hours of operation for clarification on the classification of this Big Box project --previously it had been designated a neighborhood center. He noted there are also community and regional classifications in the Code, would staff please explain the difference from the original to the current proposal. Shepard explained given the mix of tenants, this project is a community scale project drawing customers outside the neighborhood whereas with a grocery store it had a neighborhood classification. Chair Lingle asked for a visual of what the previous proposal had been. Shepard reviewed the differences from a slide provided by Land Images. Public input Joe Heiney, 1912 Timberline Lane, lives to the west of the proposed development. Traffic and how it flows was a concern. He lives on a cul-de-sac west of the Diamond Shamrock and his only access out is a right on Timberline (heading south.) With the proposed expanded median he will no longer to turn left when he's driving north on Timberline into the development. He noted it's a nightmare now and will only become more so with the changes. If you look at the Safeway Center or Old Chicago, it allows entrances but coming out it makes it difficult to get from point a to point b. Suzanne Tyler, 4436 Stoney Creek Drive is very thrilled about the development. Her only concern is the detention pond. With a hard rain the other day, it was a big mess. She's concerned with all the hard surfaces in the parking lot and whether it will be a flooding problem in the long term. Public Input Closed Matt Delich, the development's traffic engineer consultant, addressed the issues raised by Heiney. The proposal calls for a channelized tee —full movement intersection without a signal because it is so close to the intersection at Timberline & Harmony. Alternatives for getting to Heiney's home on Timberline Lane when heading south on Timberline are to go south to Caribou and make a u-turn or take a right in/right out of the shopping center. It's not an ideal situation, but with Timberline designated as a six -lane arterial, the traffic management options are limited to those proposed. Shepard reported the detention pond was recently regraded and will be reformed and recontoured to be wider and deeper as a part of the Walgreens building permit. There is no ground cover at this time. When work is completed and ground cover added it will be large enough to handle run off from this and future development. Member Rollins asked if street standards require that a full median run from Timberline to Caribou. Yes standards do require that but until funding is identified either through capital projects or street oversizing, a full length median has not been installed. Member Schmidt made a motion the Planning & Zoning Board approve Modification 3.5.4 (c ) (3)( c) based on the fact that it would not be detrimental to the public good and staff findings 2 through 5 listed on page 13 of the Staff Report. Member Wetzler seconded the motion. The motion passed 7:0. Member Schmidt made a motion to approve Harmony School Shops 41h Filing Major Amendment and Wh Filing Replat, # 42-89L based on the Findings of Fact on pages 15 and 16 of the Staff Report. Member Smith seconded the motion. • • Planning & Zoning Board April 19, 2007 Page 11 Chair Lingle thought the major amendment design over what had previously submitted had been much improved. He especially appreciated the work with staff on improved pedestrian access. The motion passed 7:0. Other Business: None, Meeting adjoumed at 8:30 p.m. larve'd 'TMgle, B'oVa'0'i'