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HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.A.T. 22ND FILING, COMMUNITY HORTICULTURE CENTER PDP & FDP - 53-85AV / AZ - CORRESPONDENCE - RESPONSE TO STAFF REVIEW COMMENTS (3)� � Community Horticulture Center ltesponses to Staff Questions � Comments on Previous PDP Submittal 4/20/O1 In a letter dated December 20, 2000, Steve Olt provided us with 64 specific comments and questions from staff, associated with their review of our PDP submittal on November 15, 2000. Attached to the letter, there were also five Project Comment Sheets from individual departments, with further eomments and questions. With this submittal, we feel that we have addressed all of those comments and questions. Many of these have been resolved with our submitted plans and drawings. For the questions and comments requiring a verbal response, we provide that here. 1. In item number 1 of Steve Olt's letter, dated December 20, 2000, Gary Huett with Excel E�aergy asked: Will Rolland Moore Drive be constructed off site to the west on . conjunction with development of the Gommunity Honic.ulture Cenxer? If so, the utiliry easement on the nonh side of Rolland Moore Drive will need to continue off-site to the ivest. We are only responsible for designing and building the portion. of Rolland Moore Driye that is eontiguous with our site, along with a preliminary design of 500 feet further to the west. Therefore, the answer to the question is "no". 2. In item number l la, Feter Barnes with the Zoning Department stated: This is a "Com,muniry Facility ": In the E- Employment District it is a secondary use and cannot occupy more than 25 % of the. developmenx plan, Is a modification to this siandard needed? We met with Steve Qlt regarding this question. He stated that this project would be evaluated against the Centre for Advanced Technology Overall Plan, and that a modifiaation would not be needed. 3. In item number l ld, Peter Barnes with the Zoning Department stated: The City's Land Ilse Code is unclear as to what the rrmaximu»t allowed number of parking spaces is. This must be determined. In late December Jim Clark met Peter Barnes, Steve Olt, and Tom Reiff to resolve this issue. Peter, Steve and. Tom deduced that the Land Use Code provides no clear direction for the maximum number of parking spaces for this type of a project. Therefore; professional judgement was necessary, and it wa5 their consensus opinion that the proposed size of parking lot was well within an acceptable .range; given this rype of project and its anticipated usage. � � 4. In item number 11 i, Peter Barnes with the Zoning Department stated the following: The building cannot be loccued more tharc 15 feet from the right-of-way of the adjacent streets unless it eomplies with one of the exceptions set forth in Section 3.5.3(B) (2) (d) of the Land Use Code. The first exception listed in that section is a description of precisely wfiat we aze planning. It reads "An exception to the build-to line standards shall be permitted in order to form an outdoor space: such as a plaza, courryard, patio or garden between a building and the sidewalk. Such a larger front yard area shall have landscaping, low walls, fencing or railings, a tree canopy, and/or other similar site improvements along the sidewalk designed for pedestrian interesi, comfort and visual continuity." As can be seen from the illustrative master plan and the landscape plan, the area between the building and Rolland Moore Drive will be utilized for a Children's Garden and an Experiential Garden. These will be intensively planted and landscaped areas with a wide variety of trees, shrubs, flowers, walkways, patio areas, and low walls. Tall shrubs will _ provide a significant degree of visual screening; There will be a security fence (with a "see through" type of design) and there will be a tree cariopy over the majority of the area. The Children's Garden and Experiential Garden are included in the second phase of construction, which will be installed as soon as private funding is secured. That is anticipated to occur within two years of the facility's opening: As seen in the landscape plan, the fi`rst phase of construetion will include an intensively-planted garden along Rolland Moore Drive, to a depth of 30 feet. This will include the street trees along Rolland Moore Drive, in addition to extensive shrubs, perennials, and grasses. The area designated for future development as a Children's Garden and an Experiential Garden will be planted to an attractive and well-maintained cover crop. The proposed building setback creates two significant benefits to this project and, by association, to the community. First, it provides a more pleasurable experience for visitors inside of the canservatory and greenhouse, as a result of lookirig out on gasdens rather than a street and its traffic. Second, having gardens in the "front yard" beaurifully announces to the public the purpose of this facility. As a result, it also visually softens the streetscape in this area. 5. In item number 16, Gaylene Rossiter with Transfort stated: the applicant should discuss with Transfort the potential for a future transit stop near the site. Jim Clark met with Gaylene on January 8, and her request5 for a future transit stop were followed. We will reserve a locarion immediately northeast of our entrance sidewalk and adjacent to the Centre Avenue sidewalk (on top of the Sherwood Lateral box culvert) that meets her stated criteria. 2 � � 6. In item number 22, Mare Virata with Engineering asks: Is this a rriinimum or mnximum parking allowance type of land use? According to Peter Barnes, in the meeting referred to in item number 3 above, this is a m�imuin parking allowance type of land use. 7. In item number 3�, Mai�c Virata with Engineering asks: Who builds the Spring Creek trail ? As noted on the plans included in this submittal, the Park Planning Deparrment will be responsible for building the bike trail. 8. In item number 33, Tom Reiff with Transportation Planning asks: What type of events are going to occur at this facility? This will determine the traf,�`'ic generations. In a late December meeting, Jim Clark discussed this with Tom Reiff. In general, the facility will be used for a broad range of visitations by individuals, famili.es, small groups, and school cla_sses for enjoyment and education, There is also the intent to use the facility for relativety small coneerts (up to 300 people), wedding receptions, and other' special events. This information, along with visitation estimates, was discussed with Matt Del'ich, who incorporated it into his Transportation Impact Study. 9. In item number 35, Tom Reiff with Transportation Planning asks: Will there be medians in Centre Avenue? As previou.sly explained to Tom, we are proposing striped left turri lanes "in the middle of Centre Avenue, but no medians. 10. In item number 36, Tom Reiff with Transportation Planning states: The Transportation Impact Study ignores the bicycle/pedestrian level of service,from the Spring Creek trail to this faciliry. , This has been corrected in the revised Transportation Impact Study. 11. In item number 37, Tom Reiff with Transportafion Planning asks: Flow will the unprotected cross-walk across Centre Avenue work? At thiS time, we are anticipating relatively infrequent use of the crosswalk, and for fairly small numbers of people. Witt1 that in consideration, along with the lower speed limit on Centre Avenue and the long site distanee, it seems that a striped crosswalk and pedestrian crossing signage would be adequate. There are many existing crosswalks in Fort Collins with no more safery than that, which caTry an equal or greater amount of pedestrian traffic. At any rate, if the usage or safety risk does turn out to be higher tlian 3 � r� � anticipated, we could consider the option of hiring a crosswalk guard to assist pedestrians during larger special events. _ 12: In item number 40, Tom Reiff with Transportation Planning asks: How wide is the bicycle/pedestrian trail? The existing bike trail on the west side of the site is 8 feet wide. The new trail along Spring Creek will be 10 feet wide, with a 5 foot wide soft running path parallel to it. 13. In item number 41, Tom Reiff with Transportation Planning asks: Wll bicyclists be riding through this facility? No, bicycle riding will not be allowed within the fenced-in aiea of the horticulture center. 14. In item number 1 of the Transportation P'lanning Comment Sheet, Tom Reiff suggests: Explore increasing safety lighting outside of the bike tunnel under Cerctre Avenue, where an "a,�j`-ramp " trail merges with the main trail. � On February 8, 2001 Jim Clark mentioned this suggestion to Craig Foreman, Park Planning Division manager. He said that he will research the issue and consider alternatives. 15. In item number 2 of the Transportation Planning Comment Sheet, Tom Reiff suggests; Explore the potential to jointly improve the trail with the Parks and Recreation Depanment. As indicated on the drawings in this submittal, the Park Planning Department will be upgrading the bike trail on this project's site to a ten foot wide concrete trail with a parallel five foot wide soft running path, in conjunction with ttus project. lb. In item number 6 of the Transportation Planuiug Comment Sheet, Tom Reiff asks: What is the purpose of the diagonal parking in the visitor parking lot? The diagonal parking is provided for the benefit of the occasional tourist/visitor that arrives via a truek pulling a camper/trailer or a motor home. 17. In an Apri14, 2001 meeting witti Steve Olt, Marc Virata, Doug Moore, Steve Seefeld, Craig Russell (EDAW) and Kay Forc.e (EDAV�, city staff asked a question regarding the anticipated number of visitors and required parking. Here is our response. It is anticipated that this facility will have an initial peak demand of 150 people, with an associated parking need for 100 vehicles. This will be accomodated by the Horticulture � � � Center's 72 space parking lot� in addition to the 30 spaces being offered across the street by the NRRC, for over-flow situations. The installation of the Crreat Lawn in a future phase of construction will create the potential for having events that would draw approximately 350 people. Prior to scheduling any such events, however; accomodations for additional parking would obviously need to be made. This could include the NRRC agreeing to allowing more overflow parking spaces in their parking lot (at times when they are not needing the parking) or a similar agreement with a future office building built on the south side of Rolla,nd Moore Drive. If the parking spaces can not be secured, then the larger events would not be scheduled.