HomeMy WebLinkAboutWEST PLUM HOUSING - PDP - PDP160029 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 2 - VARIANCE REQUEST301 N. Howes Street, Suite 100, Fort Collins, CO 80521 970.221.4158 www.northernengineering.com
Administrative Engineering Variance Request Letter
Date: October 26, 2016
Project: West Plum Housing Project No. 1252-001
Fort Collins, Colorado
Attn: Mr. Marc Virata, PE
City of Fort Collins | Engineering Development Review
281 North College Avenue
Fort Collins, Colorado 80524
Dear Marc:
Public safety and convenience, maintaining public use, and optimizing the use of limited physical capacity
of right-of-way are among the objectives of the Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards (LCUASS) –
Repealed and Reenacted April 1, 2007. It is with those considerations in mind that this variance request
letter has been prepared. This letter is provided pursuant to Section 1.9.4 of LCUASS to document a
proposed site condition that does not comply with the current standards.
The criterion in question is the minimum distance between driveways. Specifically, the distance between
the new driveway proposed with West Plum Housing and the existing driveways to the east at 1209 West
Plum Street (south side – Town Square Condos) and 1308 West Plum Street (north side – The District at
Campus West). According to the City of Fort Collins Master Street Plan, West Plum Street is a 2-lane
collector road. Traffic counts obtained by the City of Fort Collins in 2014 were 4,955 average daily trips1
for West Plum Street. This classifies the street as a major collector. LCUASS Table 7-3 specifies a
minimum distance of 75’ between driveway edges along major collector streets. Additionally, Table 7-3
prescribes a minimum distance of 200’ between high volume driveways and intersections along a major
collector.
Traffic projections for West Plum Housing estimate that the development will generate approximately 610
daily trip ends1. All trips will enter and exit at a single access point on Plum Street. This classifies the
access point as a high volume driveway. The proposed edge-to-edge driveway distances satisfy LCUASS;
however, the high volume driveway spacing falls short of the prescribed minimum.
Table 1 below summarizes the separation among the various high volume drives in the vicinity of the
proposed development.
Table 1 – Distance Between Driveways/Street Centerlines
West Plum
Housing
City Park
Avenue
Town Square
Condos
District at
Campus West
Lokal
(Scott Plaza)
Previous
Proposal
372' 63' 80' 176'
Current
Proposal
345' 90' 107' 203'
UP
/ / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / /
VAULT
ELEC
V.P.
V.P.
CONTROL
IRR CONTROL
IRR
VAULT
ELEC
X
/ / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / /
113'
TOWN SQUARE
CONDOS
(1209 W. PLUM ST.) LOKAL
THE DISTRICT AT
CAMPUS WEST
(1308 W. PLUM ST.)
THE DISTRICT AT
CAMPUS WEST
(1308 W. PLUM ST.)
WEST PLUM HOUSING
63'
372' TO
℄
CITY PARK AVE.
80'
EXHIBIT A
PROPOSED DRIVEWAY SPACING - PREVIOUS
FORT COLLINS, CO
E NGINEER ING
N O R T H E RN
10.24.16
D:\PROJECTS\1252-001\DWG\EXHIBITS\WEST PLUM_DRIVEWAY SPACING.DWG
WEST PLUM HOUSING
( IN FEET )
0
1 INCH = 30 FEET
30 30
UP
/ / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / /
VAULT
ELEC
V.P.
V.P.
CONTROL
IRR CONTROL
IRR
VAULT
ELEC
X
/ / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / /
113'
90'
107'
TOWN SQUARE
CONDOS
(1209 W. PLUM ST.) LOKAL
THE DISTRICT AT
CAMPUS WEST
(1308 W. PLUM ST.)
THE DISTRICT AT
CAMPUS WEST
(1308 W. PLUM ST.)
345' TO
℄
CITY PARK AVE.
WEST PLUM HOUSING
EXHIBIT B
PROPOSED DRIVEWAY SPACING - CURRENT
FORT COLLINS, CO
E NGINEER ING
N O R T H E RN
10.24.16
D:\PROJECTS\1252-001\DWG\EXHIBITS\WEST PLUM_DRIVEWAY SPACING.DWG
WEST PLUM HOUSING
( IN FEET )
0
1 INCH = 30 FEET
30 30
West Plum Housing | Driveway Spacing Variance Request | 10.26.16
D:\Projects\1252-001\Admin\W-Plum-DrivewaySpacing_VarianceRequest_2016-10-26.docx Page 4 of 4
The ‘Previous Proposal’ driveway spacing is further illustrated in Exhibit A, while the ‘Current Proposal’ is
depicted in Exhibit B. By shifting the access point 27’ further west, the distance between the proposed
driveway and the Town Square Condos driveway was increased by over 42% with the latest design. While
not as ideal from a planning or architectural standpoint, the design change was made to improve the
access spacing along Plum Street. The new driveway was shifted as far west as possible while still
maintaining usable dimensions for parking stalls and drive aisles within the structure. Because of lot
depths, the eastern most portion of the site is the most viable location for the parking structure itself.
One of the factors to consider when evaluating driveway spacing is the potential for queued vehicles to
compromise the through movements of the dominant street. Fortunately, the proposed West Plum
Housing, Town Square Condos, and District at Campus West access points all have sufficient stack lengths
prior to their first parking stalls and/or control gates. Another factor to consider is the potential for
conflicting turning movements on the main street. Based on the delay and number of westbound left-turns
into the West Plum Housing development, there will be vehicles in turning for 60 seconds in the morning
peak hour and 408 seconds in the afternoon peak hour1.
It is also important to ensure that clear sight lines are provided for pedestrian safety at the ingress/egress
point. Figure 16.5 of the Fort Collins Land Use Code illustrates this concept. Building setbacks and other
design elements for this project provides conditions that exceed the intent depicted in Figure 16.5. The
access to the parking structure for West Plum Housing allows vehicles to safely stage outside of the travel
lanes of Plum Street, while also maintaining unobstructed bike lanes and sidewalks. Additionally, the
Developer of West Plum Housing is open to a parallel on-street pullout so long as the building design can
remain as currently proposed.
The proposed driveway location can stand on its own with or without a potential pullout. The driveway
spacing variance is necessary for the successful redevelopment of the subject property. In the urban
context of the Campus West area, the proposed driveway location is unlikely to function substantially
different than a location that conforms to the prescriptive standards. The requested variance is not
expected to pose an increased detriment to public health, safety or welfare. The frequency of conflicting
turning movements at the proposed driveway is expected to be minimal. This variance will not reduce the
design life of any public improvements or increase future City maintenance costs.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Nicholas W. Haws, PE , LEED AP
cc: Martina Wilkinson – City of Fort Collins Traffic Operations
Jason Holland – City of Fort Collins Planning Department
1. Traffic engineering data provided by Delich Associates.
10.26.16