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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPINECONE APARTMENTS AND NEIGHBORHOOD CONVENIENCE PUD PRELIMINARY - 60 91C - CORRESPONDENCE - STAFF'S PROJECT COMMENTSDevelop. it Services Planning Department City of Fort Collins April 22, 1992 Mr. Eldon Ward Cityscape Urban Design 3030 South College Avenue Fort Collins, CO. 80525 Dear Eldon: The Planning Staff has coordinated an interdepartmental review of Pine Cone Apartments, Preliminary P.U.D. The following comments represent the findings of this review: 1. U.S. West has submitted some generic comments regarding telephone service that are quoted below: A. Review of these plans should not be construed as a commitment that telephone facilities sufficient to serve this project are presently available. U.S. West will provide telephone service in accordance with the rates and tariffs on file with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. B. The owner is responsible for provision of all conduit for telephone facilities within the project, and the owner provides terminal room space and power for the main terminal at the site. The owner's vendor provides all facilities beyond the main terminal to each building and living unit. C. Any relocation of existing telephone facilities required by these plans will be paid for by the developer. 2. The City's Stormwater Utility has several important comments that are summarized below. Additional comments will be made to the engineering consultant under separate cover. You are encouraged to coordinate closely with this consultant so that P.U.D. documents do not conflict with civil engineering documents. A. The Foothills Channel is a regional Master Plan drainage facility eligible for partial reimbursement under the Utility's Developer Repayment program. Funds will not, be available until 1993. Negotiations must begin as soon as possible to avoid delay at the time of Final P.U.D. B. The level of landscaping shown in the channel exceeds the normal amount of landscaping usually planted in a storm drainage facility. Such a level will require more maintenance than the City is able to provide. The issue of maintenance must be resolved at the time of Final P.U.D. 281 North College Avenue • P.O. Box 580 • Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 • (303) 221-6750 Pine Cone.Apartments Page 2 C. The location of C.S.U.'s irrigation pipe is not indicated. Permission from C.S.U. will have to be obtained prior to moving this pipe. Also, the issue of maintenance of the pipe must be resolved at the time of Final P.U.D. D. At the time of Final P.U.D., please provide a typical cross-section of the channel showing the high water line and relative locations of the bike path and plant material. E. Please be aware that in large storms, flows will overtop Timberline Road. At the time of final design, it must be demonstrated that the buildings adjacent to Timberline will not be impacted. F. There is a possibility that interim downstream improvements may be needed through C.S.U..'s property to mitigate any impacts from upstream development. G. Any improvements to the existing 54 inch R.C.P.'s under Timberline. Road due to widening of Timberline will not be eligible for reimbursement from the Stormwater Utility. 3. The City Light and Power Department will require an eight foot wide easement along all roadways. Internally, a blanket easement is an option for areas outside the building envelopes.. The risk of blanket easements is that, once platted, any relinquishment will require a vacation procedure. This may impact flexibility. 4. Columbine Cable will also need easements. Please indicate at the time of platting. 5. The following comments are from the Poudre Fire Authority: A. Buildings D, E, G, and H exceed the 150 foot fire access requirement and must be equipped with approved fire sprinkler systems for residential structures. Similarly, .all three story buildings must have residential fire sprinkler systems. Such systems may designed to U.B.C. 38-3 standards. Please feel free to contact P.F.A. for proper sizing and further details. B. Additional hydrants must be provided at entrances to both parking lots. C. Please provide "No PARKING - FIRE LANE" signs in all areas that can be obstructed by improper parking. D. The temporary fire lane must be designed with the proper surfaces, and gate, chain, or bollards. Again, please consult with P.F.A. for final details. Pine•Cone Apartments Page 3 E. The convenience store, with gas sales, will require the completion of the Hazardous Material Impact Analysis. This form should be completed and returned to the P.F.A. at the time of Final P.U.D. submittal on the convenience store. 6. The Parks and Recreation Department has expressed an interest in shifting the 24 inch C.S.U. irrigation pipe so that it is routed under the turf in the detention area rather than through the parking lot. P & R would like to be involved in any discussion regarding the relocation of this pipe. 7. It is strongly encouraged that the detention pond area be planted in a naturalistic fashion using a drought -tolerant seed mixture. Also, the trees and shrubs selected for the channel area along the north property line should be native and require a low level of maintenance. These specifications are not required at the Preliminary P.U.D. stage but are passed along for consideration at the time of Final P.U.D. 8. Any and all handicap access ramps that empty into or are contained within the handicap parking space should be relocated since the parked vehicle renders the ramps unusable. It is preferred that the handicap space be located central to the parking bay. During snow storms, parking bays are usually plowed so that snow is stored on the raised landscaped islands at the ends of rows. This impacts the handicap population unfairly if the reserved stalls are all located at the ends of rows. 9. Please indicate whether the covered parking is a garage or carport. 10. Please indicate whether the bicycle parking is covered or a bike rack. Staff is curious as to the bicycle parking arrangement that was used in Boulder as that community has a popular bicycle path network. The data table represents 140 bicycle parking spaces, how many spaces per rack? il. Street trees along Timberline Road should match the formalistic planting style established by the New Fort Collins High School rather than a random style. Also, the street trees should be located in anticipation of the major arterial right-of-way so they do not have to be relocated in the future. 12. .Will there be berming around the front of convenience center? Berms of moderate height will help soften the eight parking spaces facing the intersection and help mitigate the internal hard surface area. The level of landscaping and buffering for the c-store will be closely evaluated at the time of Final because of the high visibility at the intersection of an arterial and collector street. Pine Cone Apartments Page 4 13. Staff applauds the amount of bicycle/pedestrian paths. provided. This network meets the intent of the yet to be decided Pine Cone O.D.P. There should also, however, be a consideration for linkage with the future residential project to the north since the Neighborhood Park may become a logical destination. Is this connection expected to occur on Pine Cone Circle, east of the apartments? Please indicate how the bicycle/pedestrian network is coordinated with future, off -site parcels. These linkages are considered important in light of the trade-offs made regarding internal collector street access to Parcel. A of the Pine Cone O.D.P. 14. Staff is concerned about the powerful tendency to park directly in front .of one's individual unit. This could create a problem of parking on Vermont (and Pine. Cone Circle) for units facing south in Buildings B, A, L, and K. This problem is noticeable at the Landmark Apartments where Hobbit Street is relied upon for parking, while adequate space exists in the internal parking lots. To discourage this natural tendency, it is suggested that strong consideration be given to berming and dense landscaping along Vermont, and that portion of Pine Cone Circle that is adjacent to Building K. Please bear in mind that Staff still prefers buildings to front on Vermont, not parking lots. 15. Building L, in particular, suffers from lack of.easy access from the interior parking lot to the southern entries. It is suggested that internal sidewalks be extended from the nine parking spaces to the west, and from the six parking spaces on the north. Without these connections, Vermont on -street parking provides the closest route to the entries. 16. Similarly, an internal sidewalk should be .extended from the eight parking spaces east of Building A to serve the south entry. You are encouraged to explore other solutions that will minimize parking on Vermont, which will be a collector street at this location. 17. You are obviously very familiar with efforts to coordinate the New High School with the Timberline Partners commercial corner. Part of this cooperative effort is to reach a degree of architectural compatibility. It is likely that the exterior materials will include some brick or jumbo brick. Staff encourages a similar type of masonry to be included on the Pine Cone Apartments. Brick is an effective material to establish residential character and promote neighborhood compatibility. Please indicate on the architectural sheet what materials are anticipated. Pine Cone Apartments Page 5 18. Three story structures need generous foundation plantings. Berming also helps to lessen the impact of structures reaching a height close to 40 feet. At the time of Final P.U.D., the landscape plan will be evaluated based on the ability to soften the heights of the structures, especially along Vermont and Pine Cone Circle. .Good examples include Fort Ram Village and Courtney Park. Bad examples include Landmark Apartments, Collinswest, and Sun Ray. 19. It would be helpful to know the location of the office and the manager's residence, and how many parking stalls are anticipated for employees, managers, and customers visiting the office. This concludes Staff comments at this time. Please note the following deadlines for the May 18, 1992 Planning and Zoning Board hearing: Plan revisions are due May 1, 1992 P.M.T.'s, 10 prints, renderings are due May 11, 1992. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please call our office to set up a meeting to discuss in detail. Sincerely, Ted Shepard Senior Planner TS/kdb xc: Sherry Albertson -Clark, Chief Planner Kerrie Ashbeck, Civil Engineer