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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEAST VINE DRIVE STREETS FACILITY PUD OVERALL DEVELOPMENT PLAN - 30 91 - REPORTS - RECOMMENDATION/REPORT W/ATTACHMENTSITEM NO. 5 MEETING DATE 7/22/91 STAFF Ted Shepard PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD STAFF REPORT PROJECT: East Vine Drive Streets Facility Overall Development Plan, W30-91 APPLICANT: City of Fort Collins Streets Department c/o Vaught -Frye Architects and Planners 2900 South College Avenue Fort Collins, CO. 80525 OWNERS: Weyerhaeuser Corporation Tacoma, Washington 98477 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Request for an Overall Development Plan for the City of Fort Collins East Vine Drive Streets Facility. The proposed facility would convert the remaining buildings of the Great Western Sugar Factory into an office and utility yard for the Streets Department. Proposed uses include administrative offices, outside storage of materials, truck and heavy equipment storage, and indoor shop. The site consists of 32.7 acres and is located south of Vine Drive between Linden Street and Ninth Street (Lemay Avenue). The entire site is zoned I-P, Industrial Park. RECOMMENDATION: Approval EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The request for an Overall Development Plan promotes the plans and policies of the Land Use Policies Plan, an element of the City's Comprehensive Plan. With three neighborhood meetings, the major areas of concern of the surrounding property owners have been satisfied. The improvements recommended in the Site Access Study will mitigate the traffic impacts on the surrounding street system. DEVELOPMENT SERVICES 300 LaPorte Ave. P.O. Boa 580 Fort Collins. CO 80522-0580 (303) 221-6750 PLANNING DEPARTMENT V. In 1899, in order to stimulate business, the Colorado and Southern Railroad offered free seed to any farmer who wanted to grow sugar beets. A few years later, another railroad, the Great Western Railway, developed to serve the beet industry. In 1901, the first beet processing plant in Colorado was opened in Loveland'by Great Western and the Fort Collins' beets were shipped by rail to Loveland for processing. The community of Fort Collins followed by opening their own new plant in 1903. Originally• a co-operative, the plant was purchased a few years later by Great Western. It operated for half a century and contributed much to Fort Collins' economic growth, cultural development and character. The last sugar beet campaign (the growing, harvesting, and refining of the beets) was in 1954. The plant closed April 1, 1955 and most of the buildings were razed in 1964. Today Warehouse #3 remains. It was used for the storage of processed sugar and was large enough to hold 325,000 100# bags of refined beet sugar. Other Facts. Snippets. and Conjectures The sugar industry gave northern Colorado a diversified crop and "increased farm income 15% to 35%" and caused a commensurate increase in land values ---(one of the early successes of CSU). The Fort Collins sugar plant started out as a co-operative. The citizens who were involved early on were: Peter Anderson- early farmer and rancher, owner of hardware store, vice-president of First National Bank, land around sugar factory developed to house workers -became known as Andersonville. James B. Arthur- Irish immigrant, successful farmer in Timnath, Fort Collins civic leader. R. O. Tenney with Gen. Grant at Appomattox, pioneer" -water developer, charter member of Larimer County Stockgrowers Association, in 1894 led campaingn to create national forest in upper Poudre Canyon. a• r. Raftftalft owner Of milling oompany 1606ted at site of Ranchway PAGAS. Water developer ---involved in suits establishing early water law. He invested $25,000 in sugar factory (a lot of money then) and was president of Poudre Valley Bank for a number of years. J. S. McClelland- founder of Larimer County Express (forerunner of the Coloradoan) and one of the first fruit growers in northern Colorado. Charles Boettcher, founder of the Boettcher fortune, was disturbed that almost all of the mortar for the' Loveland beet plant was imported from Germany, even though all of the ingredients for cement were found locally. The quality of local Bement was inconsistent. He purchase a small cement factory north of LaPorte and started making his own portland cement. The company was named Ideal Cement Co. and was the beginning of Boettcher's Ideal Basic Industries. The beet industry required many workers, both in the fields and factory. Most aspects of the early sugar industry were labor intensive. Many German -Russians and Hispanics came to Fort Collins to work in the sugar industry. Alta Vista, Andersonville, and Buckingham Place were all beet workers' communities at one time. East Vine Drive Streets Facility, Overall Development Plan, #30-91 July 22, 1991 P & Z Meeting Page 2 COMMENTS 1. Background• The surrounding zoning and land uses are as follows: N: I-P; Larimer County Garage T; Vacant R-L; Single family homes (Alta Vista) B-P; Vacant S: I-P; Vacant E: R-L; Single family homes (Andersonville) W: I-G; The Mission (shelter) and vacant (Linden Tech Center) From 1903 to 1955, the site housed a large sugar beet processing plant, owned, for the most part, by the Great Western Sugar Company. Most of the original buildings were razed in 1964. The buildings that remain were originally warehouses. From 1955 to the present, a variety of users have occupied the premises taking advantage of the large, enclosed spaces, railroad siding, and ample outside storage. Presently, the property is rented to a lumber company (Centennial Lumber), a plastic pipe manufacturer (ADS Plastic Pipe), and a custom woodworking shop (Platte Valley Lumber). 2. Land Use• The site is zoned I-P, Industrial Park. This zoning designation is for light industrial park areas containing controlled industrial uses. The I-P district is designed for industrial uses in proximity to areas zoned for residential use and along arterial streets. The request for an Overall Development Plan was evaluated by the criteria of the Land Use Policies Plan, a component of the City's Comprehensive Plan. The following policies are promoted by the proposed Overall Development Plan along with accompanying explanations: The 32.7 acres are located entirely within the municipal incorporated area. The site is contiguous to existing urban development (Alta Vista, Andersonville, Buckingham, Linden Tech Center). 1126. Availability of existing services shall be used as a criteria in determining the location of higher intensity areas in the City." East Vine Drive Streets Facility, Overall Development Plan, #30-91 July 22, 1991 P & Z Meeting Page 3 The site is served by acceptable levels of services including water and sewer, street capacities, police and fire response times, and availability of parks. 1139. The City should direct efforts to promote improved traffic and pedestrian circulation and public transit to areas north and northeast of the City." The site is located in the northeast area of the City which is a desired direction for growth. 1143 (f). The City should encourage landscaping of open spaces with appropriate native or drought resistant varieties of vegetation along with attractively developed green areas to provide a balanced and pleasing cityscape." Parcel B of the O.D.P. is 9.3 acres and is designated as "Stormwater Detention/Access Easement". This parcel will be landscaped with drought tolerant grasses and made much more attractive than the present condition. 1159. Industrial uses may locate in less hazardous flood plain classifications provided proper mitigation of the flood hazard and water quality is preserved and the floodplain is protected consistent with the City's Open Space Plan and the entire project is approved by the City." There are two flood plains in proximity to the project, Dry Creek and the Poudre River. Both of these flood plains remain undeveloped and undisturbed by the proposed uses. Two stormwater pre-treatment ponds will help filter stormwater runoff before storm flows enter the natural drainage channels. All proposed drainage and landscaping improvements have been reviewed and approved by the City. 1160. Industrial uses should locate near transportation facilities that offer the required access to the industry but will not be allowed to create demands which exceed the capacity of the existing and future transportation network of the City." The site is served by Ninth Street (North Lemay Avenue) and Linden Street. The Ninth Street access will be for the public and employee access. The Linden Street access will be for the Streets Department trucks and their maintenance or construction related vehicles, and for general truck deliveries. This segregation of traffic will minimize the impact on the adjacent residential neighborhood (Andersonville) to the east. East Vine Drive Streets Facility, Overall Development Plan, #30-91 July 22, 1991 P & Z Meeting Page 4 1161. Industrial development should locate within the City or consistent with the phasing plan for the urban growth area, where the proper sizing of facilities such as water, sewer and transportation has occurred or is planned." The site is served by existing and adequate public facilities. Staff finds that the request for an Overall Development Plan for the City of Fort Collins East Vine Streets Facility is supported by the plans and policies of the Land Use Policies Plan. 3. Neighborhood Compatibility: Three neighborhood meetings have been held with residents of the surrounding area. In general, the neighbors are in favor of the City Streets Department becoming the owners of the property. City ownership is perceived as providing long term stability and offers advantages of local control versus out-of-town landlords with a variety of tenants. The major points of concern of the neighborhood are summarized as follows: A. Traffic on Ninth Street is a problem and must be mitigated. Andersonville is unique with homes and driveways fronting on a busy street. Except for snow storm emergencies, trucks and heavy equipment will not be allowed to access Ninth Street. Only employees and visitors will use the Ninth Street access. Also, according to the Streets Department Site Access Study, (Delich, 1991), a traffic signal is warranted at the Vine/Ninth intersection. With signal control at this intersection, there will be less stacking on northbound Ninth than presently blocks driveways. B. The Lemay Bypass is needed now. The intersection of Vine and Lemay, along with the railroad tracks, combine to cause stacking problems. Ninth Street is proposed to be terminated at the railroad tracks with a cul-de-sac while Lemay Avenue is proposed to skirt around Andersonville to the east and be elevated over the railroad tracks and Vine Drive. The streets in this area will be subject to a "Northeast Quadrant Study" conducted by the City's Transportation Department. It is likely that these improvements will not be implemented in the short range future. The improvements recommended in the Site Access Study assume that the present conditions will prevail and that the Lemay Bypass will be a future East Vine Drive Streets Facility, Overall Development Plan, #30-91 July 22, 1991 P & Z Meeting Page 5 condition that will relieve the neighborhood of cross-town traffic. C. The intersection of Buckingham and Ninth Street is offset and substandard. Improvements must be made. Buckingham Street will not be used by the proposed facility. There is no direct access from Buckingham to the site. The intersection is indeed offset and will be the subject of the "Northeast Quadrant Study". Immediate improvements to this intersection will not be made as a result of the Streets Facility operation. D. A community meeting room within one of the renovated buildings should be provided and made available to the residents of the B.A.V.A. neighborhood. Rather than a meeting room, the portions of Parcel B to include a and a picnic shelter for the improvements will be similar to Hall. Streets Department will improve basketball court, irrigated turf, benefit of the public. These Washington Park adjacent to City Copies of the minutes of the neighborhood meetings are attached. 4. Transportation: The Site Access Study indicates that traffic from the Streets Department facility can be accommodated on the area streets. The study concludes that a traffic signal is warranted at the Vine/Ninth intersection at the present time. In order to improve the efficiency of the operation at this intersection after signalization occurs, it is recommended that geometric improvements be made to allow maneuvers to continue even though a train may be present on the Ninth Street railroad crossing. The access to Linden Street is acceptable for the Streets Department if the access is pulled back from Vine by 200 feet. When Pad D develops, the Linden Street access should be moved to the southerly property line of the site. In the long range future, Linden Street is planned to be modified to create a new four-way intersection with Redwood Street. In conclusion, the improvements recommended in the Site Access Study will mitigate the impact of the proposed facility on the surrounding area. East Vine Drive Streets Facility, Overall Development Plan, #30-91 July 22, 1991 P & Z Meeting Page 6 RECOMMENDATION: Staff finds that this request for an Overall Development Plan promotes the plans and policies of the Land Use Policies Plan, an element of the City's Comprehensive Plan. The Overall Development Plan is found to be compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods. Transportation impacts can be mitigated with the improvements recommended in the Site Access Study. Staff, therefore, recommends approval of the City of Fort Collins East Vine Streets Facility, Overall Development Plan. No Text I i I � Fa _ - _ . EXISTING SITE /� Ni11E PHASE EAbr vE� owvE TTTm I F -I Nr11XEDo SRE ♦ a C FViS1E RECYCIEp ASPHALT STORAGE OPERA. ESTREET3 P�Awry PROPOSED SITE„a.,�a,P ATTORNEY'S CERTIFICATE PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD APPROVAL LAND USE BREAKDOWN GENERAL NOTES LEGAL DESCRIPTION �x8 STORA WATER DEiEH IACCEM EASEAF -• I.� iV.Vi3� liiiViYz to . °a; VICINITY MAP P II EAST VINE OVERALL STREETS DEVELOPMENT PLAN FACILITY P.U.D. FORT COLLINS COLORADO O THE GREAT WESTERN SUGAR FACTORY Fort Collins, Colorado A Brief History Prepared for Dick Beardmore by Jim Reidhead May 1, 1991 Background From 1867, when President Andrew Johnson ordered the Camp Collins army outpost closed, until the late 1870s, the future of the town of Fort Collins was in question. A small ranching and farming community, the town struggled to survive. Three events helped ensure the town's future: In 1868 the Larimer County Seat was moved from LaPorte to Fort Collins. In 1872 the Colorado State Legislature voted to make Fort Collins the home of the new state land grant college under the federal Morrill Act of 1862. However, no money was appropriated to start the college. Local citizens, prompted by the fact that other Colorado communities wanted the college, joined forces: John C. Mathews and others donated 240 acres of land south of town and.William F. Watrous and John J. Ryan borrowed $3,000 in Denver, using their own collateral,. to start the college. Five students enrolled in 1879.' In 1877 the railroad came to town. Two early areas of research for the new Colorado State ultural_College_were_crop irrigation and sugar -best culture. Charles Boettcher, having made money in mining in Leadville (he had a small hardware business on Jefferson Street in Fort Collins in 1874, but left because he had doubts about whether the railroad would come to Fort Collins) started a sugar beet processing plant in asand Junction in the early issos, it failed, but he and his colleagues (he was in business with a Mr. Campion ---the little town south of Loveland is named after him) learned from their experiences and, still believing in the future of sugar beets, started an enterprise which later became the Great Western Sugar Co.. Sugar beets were being grown in northern Colorado at this time, but were being shipped by rail to Grand Island, Nebraska for processing.