HomeMy WebLinkAboutGATEWAY AT HARMONY ROAD PUD, 2ND FILING - APPEAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGE - 1-88D - REPORTS - RECOMMENDATION/REPORT W/ATTACHMENTSITEM NO. 18
MEETING DATE 7/26/9.3
STAFF Sherry Albertson -Clark
City of Fort Collins PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD
STAFF REPORT
PROJECT: Gateway at Harmony Road Filing Two - Appeal of
Administrative Change, #1-88D
APPLICANT: Keith Hensel
c/o Adams -Avery, Ltd.
1515 Arapahoe Street, Tower 1
Suite 1525
Denver, CO 80202
OWNER: E. Martin
2912 W. 10th Street
Greeley, CO 80631
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This is an appeal of an administrative change
to the Planning and Zoning Board to add parking for the McDonald's
restaurant by reducing the landscape setback along Harmony Road.
The site is located at the northwest corner of South College Avenue
and Harmony Road and is zoned H-B, Highway Business.
RECOMMENDATION: Denial
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Land Development Guidance System allows for
minor changes to a PUD to be made by the Director of Planning and
the Director's decision on such matters may be appealed to the
Planning and Zoning Board. This request is to add parking for the
McDonald's restaurant by reducing the landscape setback along
Harmony Road. Staff denied the administrative change due to
concerns about the impact on the Harmony Road setback and increased
circulation problems.
COMMUNITY PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES 281 N. College Ave. P.O. Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 (303) 221-6750
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
Gateway at Harmony Road - Appeal of Administrative Change, #1-88D
August 2, 1993 P & Z Meeting
Page 2
COMMENTS
1. Background:
The surrounding zoning and land uses are as follows:
N: H-B; undeveloped (approved auto -related uses on Gateway
at Harmony Road, Filing One)
S: H-B; Soundtrack, proposed Amigo's Restaurant (Arbor
Plaza PUD)
E: B-P; existing gas station/convenience store
W: H-B; United Building Center (existing lumber business)
This property was annexed into the City as part of the Horsetooth-
Harmony Annexation in 1978. The preliminary PUD plan, which
included the entire area bounded by College, Harmony, Mason and
Kensington was approved in 1989. This area consisted of four lots
and included McDonald's, a standard restaurant, two service/retail
buildings and an Amoco gasoline station with convenience sales and
a one -bay car wash. The McDonald's site, which is Lot 3, received
final approval as Filing Two of the Gateway at Harmony Road in
March of 1989.
Since construction of the McDonald's restaurant, there has been no
other development activity on the remainder of the site. A new
plan was approved by the Planning and Zoning Board at the June 28,
1993 Board meeting for the northern -most portion of the site (Lot
1, Filing One) for an auto lube shop, gasoline pumps and one -bar
car wash. These uses replace the previously -approved gas station
and car wash. A preliminary plan for Lot 2 (originally approved
for a standard restaurant) was approved in 1990 for a 5,850 square
foot automotive use (auto tune and muffler shop), but has since
expired.
2. Administrative Change Request:
Staff was first contacted regarding McDonald's interest in securing
additional parking at the Harmony Road restaurant in February of
this year. An informal review of this request was provided by
staff and the applicant was informed of staff's concerns regarding
the impacts on the Harmony Road setback and on traffic circulation.
The applicant was also given information on the options of securing
additional land area to the north and amending the current PUD
plan, or submitting a formal administrative change. McDonald's
chose to pursue this matter via an administrative change process
and has subsequently appealed the administrative change decision to
the Board.
Gateway at Harmony Road - Appeal of Administrative Change, #1-88D
August 2, 1993 P & Z Meeting
Page 3
The administrative change was submitted on behalf of McDonald's on
July 1, 1993. This request consists of removing 9' of the existing
40' wide Harmony Road landscape setback (which includes a 7'
sidewalk) for the addition of 13 parking spaces for restaurant
customers. Two foot berming is proposed in this area (replacing
the existing three foot high berming) and 7 additional deciduous
and 1 evergreen trees and 42 shrubs are proposed to provide
additional screening to offset the loss of setback space in this
area.
This request was denied by staff on July 5, 1993 because of the
reduction of the Harmony Road landscaped setback and increased
traffic circulation problems by the addition of parallel parking
spaces along the drive-thru lane.
Appeals to administrative changes for PUD's can be appealed to the
Board if the appeal request is submitted within 14 days from the
date of the administrative decision. The applicant has met this
requirement and is asking the Planning and Zoning Board to consider
the administrative change.
3. Parking Analysis:
The approved 1987 preliminary plan included the following uses:
Lot 1
Amoco
(now lube,
gasoline and car wash)
Lot 2
6,000
square foot
standard restaurant
Lot 3
5,200
square foot
McDonald's restaurant with drive-thru
Lot 4
10,000
square feet
of retail and service uses in two
structures (4,000
and 6,000 square feet)
Parking was considered for the entire site covered under the
preliminary plan and was allocated, as follows:
LOT #
#
OF SPACES
PARKING
REC.
PARKING
RATIO
GUIDELINE
LOT
1
5
SPACES
N/A
N/A
LOT
2
63
SPACES*
10.3:1,000 GFA
60 SPACES
(10:1,000
GFA)
LOT
3
64
SPACES**
12.3:1,000 GFA
78 SPACES
(15:1,000
GFA)
LOT
4
40
SPACES
3.3:1,000 GFA
40 SPACES
(4:1,000
GFA)
* This plan was replaced with the 5,850 square foot auto
tune/muffler shop, which included 28 spaces, at a ratio of 2:1,000
Gateway at Harmony Road - Appeal of Administrative Change, #1-88D
August 2, 1993 P & Z Meeting
Page 4
gfa. The recommended City guideline for this type of use is 2
spaces per 1,000 gfa.
** One of these parking spaces was later deleted via administrative
change in order to accommodate the width needed for a parking space
for the disabled.
As this chart shows, parking on the approved preliminary plan for
the entire site was less than the City's recommended parking
guidelines for the various uses and clearly relied on the concept
of shared parking so that the entire site would have adequate
parking. Since the site directly to the north has not yet
developed, there has not been a potential for McDonald's to use
shared parking.
4. Administrative Change Analysis:
In reviewing the administrative change, staff found that the
proposed request would reduce the existing landscape setback along
Harmony Road, an arterial street and would increase congestion near
the drive-thru, with cars using the drive-thru, "escape" lane and
cars parallel parking. While the applicant is prepared to provide
additional landscaping and replace the existing berming, staff
believes that this is not adequate to offset the loss of 9' of the
existing 40' setback (including a 7' sidewalk) along Harmony Road.
The Harmony Corridor Plan, adopted in 1991 (after McDonald's was
approved and constructed) includes this intersection of College
Avenue and Harmony Road as the western -most edge of the corridor.
The 80' setback applies to properties located east of Boardwalk
Drive. For areas located between Boardwalk Drive and College
Avenue, the following elements are suggested to be incorporated
into development proposals:
Wide setbacks, naturalistic berming, meandering sidewalk,
groves of trees, plant material from selected palettes,
wildflower masses, daffodil masses, stone walls and black
picket fencing.
While there are no specific setbacks in place in the Harmony
Corridor Design Guidelines for this location, the reduction in the
existing setback along Harmony Road does not serve to further the
design element suggesting wide setbacks.
There is an apparent need for additional parking at the McDonald's
restaurant, but the placement of parking as proposed in the
administrative change, in a location that parallels the drive-thru
and escape aisles, would only serve to increase traffic congestion
on the site.
L
•
Gateway at Harmony Road - Appeal of Administrative Change, #1-88D
August 2, 1993 P & Z Meeting
Page 5
For these reasons, staff denied the administrative change.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff has denied the Administrative Change for the Gateway at
Harmony Road PUD, Second Filing and recommends the Board deny this
request for an appeal of the staff decision.
•
•
A D A M S-
Planning and Zoning Board
City of Fort Collins
281 North College Avenue
P.O. Box 580
Fort Collins, CO. 80522-0580
A V E R Y L T D.
Development Consultants and Consulting Engineers
Re: Request for Approval of administrative changes to PUD for
McDonald's
Dear Board Members:
On behalf of the McDonald's Corporation, We would like to request
that the Planning and Zoning Board approve the proposed
modifications to the existing McDonald's site located at the
corner of Harmony Road and Mason Street.
Due to increased patronage at the site, McDonald's feels it is
necessary to increase parking for the convenience and safety of
its customers. The current proposal would remove approximately
9-feet of a 40-foot landscape area along Harmony Road to make
room for 15 additional parking spaces. To offset the loss of the
landscaping, a new berm will be constructed between the sidewalk
and expanded parking lot. The reshaped berm will be planted with
deciduous and evergreen trees as well as various shrubs.
The increased hard surface area will contribute less than 1 cfs
to existing runoff from the site. A drainage study would be
required to determine the effects of additional runoff on the
downstream areas. The use of on -site detention could be used to
negate any adverse conditions created by the increase in runoff.
The drive aisle between the existing drive up window lane and the
parking area will remain approximately 15-feet wide. This lane
will continue to circulate traffic through the site. The 15-foot
width is adequate for both vehicles and pedestrians considering
the low speeds of any vehicle. Since pedestrians currently must
cross drive lanes to enter the building and parking is allowed
adjacent to the main circulation lanes, no additional hazards
greater than those which may exist are being created.
1515 Arapahoe Street Tower 1, Suite 1525 Denver, CO 80202 (303) 820-4454
McDonald's does not anticipate any adverse pedestrian or vehicle
safety problems as a result of increasing parking on the site.
Fifteen feet of landscaping, an existing seven -foot sidewalk
detached 9 feet,a total distance of approximately 31.5-feet,
should provide an adequate landscape buffer between the proposed
parking and existing curb and gutter of Harmony Road. Even though
the total area of open space is being reduced to provide the
additional parking, the streetscape will be enhanced by the
inclusion of mature trees and shrubs along Harmony Road.
Respe� Submitted
Keith E. Hensel P.E.
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