HomeMy WebLinkAboutPADS AT HARMONY - PDP - 26-06 - REPORTS - MODIFICATION REQUESTModification Request
Pads at Harmony PDP
Land Images, inc.
September 28, 2006
amount and length of vehicular trips, the community will directly and indirectly
benefit from a sustainable design and reduction in emissions.
Thank You,
Jeff Hosea
Planner
Further reduction in trips will be made possible by the vertical mixed -use
being proposed for the Pads at Harmony. As seen in other examples along
Harmony Road, this is a desirable and effective design pattern. Users are
able to accomplish many activities in one stop and businesses benefit by
being grouped with other destination businesses. Allowing the minimal
increase in Secondary Uses on our site will enhance the user's overall
experience and meet the needs of the surrounding community by providing
the greatest accessibility of daily activities to the greatest number of people.
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Modification Request
Pads at Harmony PDP
Land Images, inc.
September 28, 2006
required for such use in Section 4.21(B). The following permitted uses
shall be considered secondary uses in this zone district and together
shall occupy no more than twenty-five (25) percent of the total gross
area of the development plan.
The P.D.P. contains seven buildings with the potential Principal Uses making
up 59% of the total leasable space and Secondary Uses comprising the other
41 % of the leasable space. These Secondary Uses are three restaurant
pads and a small multi -use retail space.
B. Applicants Justification
The primary reason for the Modification is to meet the community needs as
well as create a better design solution for a site with numerous physical
restraints. The Pads at Harmony site is located between two approved retail
centers and Staff is willing to support Modifications to allow a limited amount
of retail and standard restaurants. These Secondary Uses will play a
supporting role to the Principal Uses on our site and in surrounding
developments such as the Harmony School Shops, Front Range Village and
the large employment -based project, Poudre Valley Health System Harmony
Campus on the south side of Harmony Road. The Pads at Harmony
Secondary Uses will visually be integrated into the surrounding developments
by using complimentary but still unique architecture and landscape design.
Functionally, the Pads at Harmony will be assimilated into the larger
employment -based developments that surround the property by providing
necessary uses in a mixed -use design.
The uses for the Pads at Harmony have been largely dictated by the physical
constraints of the site and the extensive amount of Harmony Road frontage
that exists. Secondary Uses, as defined in the code, have been shown to
benefit from being situated along the frontage of a major roadway such as
Harmony Road whereas Principal Uses have generally thrived when
designed to occupy the rear of lots with more depth. The Pads at Harmony
site simply does not have the depth to be designed in this conventional
manner when viewed as an individual project. However, when viewed from
an overall community perspective, the Pads at Harmony can successfully
assume this role as a Secondary Use site to the much larger developments
that are directly connected to this property. Creating a high quality, mixed -
use business center will help to develop the Harmony Corridor in the vision of
the Harmony Corridor Plan.
At the request of Staff and through thoughtful design of the Pads of Harmony,
the connection to surrounding properties is further enhanced by road
connections to each development via Snow Mesa Drive. Extensive
improvements including the existing traffic light and the proposed traffic circle
are all efforts to enhance the Harmony Corridor. These physical connections
will allow users greater variety of services, reduce the number of trips
necessary and also reduce the length of these trips. Grouping the secondary
uses, such as those being proposed in a compact business center rather than
separating them along Harmony Road, will encourage pedestrian and bicycle
use by increasing efficiency for the consumer. With a reduction in the
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Modification Request
Pads at Harmony PDP
Land Images, inc.
September 28, 2006
existing services and facilties of Snow Mesa Drive to their full extent, as well
making several improvements, the project provides orderly vehicular access
to multiple developments.
A 70 foot setback zone as proposed in this P.D.P. still provides enough area
between Harmony Road and possible building envelopes to create
naturalistic berms, groves of trees and a meandering sidewalk as required in
the Standards and Guidelines. In fact, the design proposed for the Pads at
Harmony incorporates berms and swales for drainage, architectural as well
as functional dry laid stone retaining walls and 15% more landscape material
than required by code to compensate for the reduction in setback. Public
gathering spaces with sculptures and outdoor seating areas for restaurants
will bring additional life to this space and allow the architecture to become
part of the public realm rather than simply a series of undifferentiated spaces.
As a high quality, self contained and compact business center, the Pads at
Harmony is helping to develop the Harmony corridor in a manner consistent
with the Harmony Corridor Plan.
Pedestrians and bicyclists will be able to travel parallel to Harmony Road
along an 8 foot wide sidewalk that is set as far away from vehicular traffic as
possible. Connections to the cross walk at Snow Mesa Drive will allow for
maximum safety while gentle curves in the walk for the length of the property
serve an aesthetic function. Through thoughtful design, the negligible and
inconsequential reduction in setback will be unnoticed by users of the spaces
as well as motorists along Harmony Road. Creating an environment that
supports walking, biking and the car will allow the uses of the site to be
connected to the community and provide a superior location for businesses
along the Harmony Road corridor.
As mentioned, the proposed 70 foot setback is to the maximum building
envelopes, but the actual physical walls of the 7 buildings vary from 70 to 80
feet from edge of pavement. This building articulation is designed into the
site to provide for an aesthetically pleasing streetscape. Additional visual
interest will be generated by superior architectural design, as demonstrated
on the P.D.P. drawings, creating a greater quality of project. The building
massing has been essentially dictated by the configuration of the site,
Harmony Road setbacks, buffering of residential areas to the north and
parking visibility requirements. The Pads at Harmony has taken these site
liabilities and used them to create unique, attractive and pedestrian scaled
architecture. The creation of public spaces and mixture of multi -level mixed -
use buildings will establish relationships and transitions to adjacent land
uses.
4) Overall Secondary Use — Request for Modification:
A. Standard at Issue —Section 4.21(D)(2)
The Standard states:
"Secondary Uses." All secondary uses shall be integrated both in
function and appearance into a larger employment -based development
plan that emphasizes primary uses. A secondary use shall be subject
to administrative review or Planning and Zoning board review as
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Modification Request
Pads at Harmony PDP
Land Images, inc.
September 28, 2006
the site level as well as acting as a link to the two surrounding large
retail centers.
III. Provides the location for business in a prime location along the
Harmony Corridor.
IV. Provides shopping and service areas convenient to both residents of
the Mobile Home Park and Harmony Corridor and employees of the
corridor, in particular the regional Poudre Valley Health System
Harmony Campus.
C. Development Standards Section 4.21(E)(2)
In the case of multiple parcel ownership, to the extent reasonably
feasible, an applicant shall enter into cooperative agreements with
adjacent property owners to create a comprehensive development plan
that establishes an integrated pattern of streets, outdoor spaces, building
styles and land uses.
The Pads at Harmony will act as a unifying project by connecting the
Harmony School Shops and the Front Range Village in terms of land uses as
well as physically by providing a connecting roadway between the three
projects. Agreements are in place or being developed to include vehicular
access easements as well as storm water retention and detention
agreements.
3) Harmony Road Setback- Request for Modification:
A. Standard at Issue — Section III General Standards and Guidelines for
Harmony Corridor
The Standard states:
"Developments located along the Harmony Road Frontage east of
Boardwalk Drive, shall provide a minimum 80 foot setback from the
future edge of pavement, as determined by the City."
The P.D.P. contains seven buildings with their potential building envelopes
set at a 70 foot setback, but actual building walls set between 70 and 80 feet
from the edge of pavement due in part to building articulation. This setback
encroaches 10 feet into the minimum setback zone.
B. Applicants Justification
The primary reason for the Modification is the physical constraint and
hardship of developing a parcel that is at most 279 feet deep from the future
edge of pavement. This uniquely shaped lot allows for very limited possible
design configurations. An 80 foot setback zone reduces the project's lot
depth by 30%. Additionally, the 24 foot drive to connect Harmony School
Shops and Front Range Village that has been requested by staff and
designed into this P.D.P. reduces that buildable depth another 9%, leaving
only 163 feet of buildable and parkable space. By maximizing the use of the
Page 3 of 6
Modification Request
Pads at Harmony PDP
Land Images, inc.
September 28, 2006
considered from the perspective of the entire development plan, the surrounding users and
neighboring developments. A neighborhood meeting was held in July of 2006 and the
P.D.P. is considered to be compatible with the surrounding area.
1) Background:
The surrounding zoning and land uses are as follows:
N: LMN; ARC Harmony Mobile Home Park
S: HC; PVH Healthcare Campus
E: HC; Front Range Village (regional shopping center)
W: HC; Harmony School Shops
The site is located in the Basic Industrial and Non -Retail Employment Activity
Center as per the Harmony Corridor Plan. Since the site is located between two
approved retail centers, staff is willing to support a limited amount of retail and
standard restaurants.
2) Compliance with Preliminary Design Review Staff Comments and the Land Use
Code:
A. Permitted Uses:
The Pads at Harmony is located within the Basic Industrial and Non -Retail
Activity Center (BINREAC), wherein neighborhood convenience shopping
centers are allowed. Further, principal uses such as those that make up the
majority of this project; medical office, general office, and limited banking
services in particular; are allowed in the HC zone.
B. Land Use Standards. Section 4.21 (13)(1) — Harmony Corridor Land Use
Standards
All development in the H.C. Harmony Corridor District shall comply with
the Harmony Corridor Land Use and Locational Standards as adopted by
the city and the following specific standards to the extent that such
standards apply to the property proposed to be developed.
The site design has attempted to respond to the Harmony Corridor Plan by
providing an orderly, efficient and attractive transition of vacant land to urban
use. More specifically, the site:
I. Maximizes the use of existing services and facilities by improving Snow
Mesa Drive from a private drive to a publicly dedicated street continuing
to provide access to the ARC Mobile Home Park and additionally
serving as a main vehicular access point for the Pads at Harmony,
Harmony School Shops and Front Range Village.
II. Promotes the development of the corridor as a high quality, self-
contained and compact business center. The proposed multi -level, true
mixed -use concept of this design takes the self-contained philosophy to
Page 2 of 6
September 28, 2006
City of Fort Collins Review Staff
281 North College Ave
Fort Collins, CO 80521
Pads at Harmony Modifications
Project: Pads at Harmony P.D.P.
Applicant: Bellisimo Construction, Inc.
3702 Manhattan Ave.
Suite 201
Fort Collins, CO 80526
Owner:Bellisimo Construction, Inc.
3702 Manhattan Ave.
Suite 201
Fort Collins, CO 80526
Project Description: The PADS at Harmony is located at the northeast and northwest
corners of Harmony Road and Snow Mesa Drive consisting of two parcels containing
approximately 8 acres and 1350 linear feet of Harmony Frontage. Both parcels are
undeveloped vacant land. The PADS at Harmony is a small infill project sandwiched
between Harmony School Shops to the west, Front Range Village (regional shopping
center) to the east and ARC mobile home park to the north with access to all three being
provided through the PADS at Harmony project via Snow Mesa Drive. The P.D.P. includes
a request for two modifications of standard to allow a slight increase in the amount of,
secondary uses allowed and a slight decrease in the Harmony Road setback due to unique
site restrictions.
Executive Summary: The first request for modification is to change the 80 foot standard
setback of Harmony Road to allow building envelopes to be placed at 70 feet from the
ultimate edge of pavement. This 10 foot reduction in setback will allow for a superior site
design and increased building articulation. It does not necessarily mean that buildings will
be physically set at that 70 foot setback, but their building envelopes will allow the high
standard of architectural design demonstrated in the PDP. It is the intention of the design
that this reduction will visually create a good or better solution to a site that is lacking
adequate lot depth.
The second request for modification is to increase the amount of secondary uses allowed on
site from 25% to 41% overall. With staff support, this request is based on the P.D.P. as
submitted, and will not diverge from the standards of the Land Use Code and Harmony
Corridor Standards and Guidelines except in a nominal, inconsequential way when
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