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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. Page 6 of 6 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 Page 5 of 6 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 Page 4 of 6 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 1136 East Stuart Street, Suite 2040 Fort Collins, Co. 80525 ■ Phone: 970472-8954 Fax: 970-472-8955 ■ landimaaes(aUrii.com ■ www.landimagesinc.com