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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCARRIAGE HOUSE APARTMENTS - PDP - PDP120035 - MINUTES/NOTES - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGProject: Meeting Date: Neighborhood Information Meeting PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY Name Address )301 0�l8 0?�67xrewdfro omea,5t, XaU R14-IMOO me6vv A 0262 - �" wffm�'� VxVA , „ - Pc Sll'lp'�f —��'/�cF7 CA o �U w�r� u �B'13ennQ>F� �� ZUb-O lR� CAL C63- L-- - + � o ( 5. 1 io w o S S T V�- 20 o 2- -L( !�-t9 2- `m Co L. S rx-, 6 . E o 'A Or -E f 5-1 Cd No Text Neighborhood Information Meetina Project: Meeting Location: tw n Uu G o,VllN%h . Date: PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY /o z-1 96 A t,.Cqd-r, e 13 /ZI I/'v `( 3- !/ZC(nOr /\33z zyrn r 3 51%,6-/llZo caner® lmsn. art ��7 n43 /' -�/�/G Vl -S u t ��N G 9�©.56y' 414 A-'Ck#lVL V quo - Vejo- Jo &6i,KA 1601 She y��{-5oa Ver�a.�io Csi a7covnca v� �\ /O� }��� �cc— �r �✓ t `fFll,l3�l� �r-GN51ce�r.�%� � ��� s �� ,� /��• z 12 � S � � aP6 � 0/0 ��0.f . Q�U Carriage House Apartments Neighborhood Meeting October 29, 2012 A: (developer) I am trying to be realistic. Three-story buildings are a very important component of project for feasibility. Q: If project goes ahead, what is the range of starting construction to opening? A: (developer) Around 8 — 10 months. 121Page Carriage House Apartments Neighborhood Meeting October 29, 2012 C: An opportunity to sit down and talk about these issues — possibly having a spokesperson or a few people to discuss issues. C: This is the official neighborhood meeting however that doesn't preclude other meetings from occurring. We encourage working together and some issues may always have varying opinions. A: (City Planner) I am not certain when submittal would come into City, but minimum 14 days after this meeting before a submittal could be made. Once there is a formal application, look for yellow -sign on site. Q: When the plan is submitted to the City, what is the timeline if it meets all requirements until it is approved? A: (City Planner) From initial submittal, the first round of review is 3 weeks. Staff review meeting with developer is on a Wednesday. Based on the first meeting with the City and Developer we provide comments and plans are revised for additional round(s) of review taking 2 weeks for each round. If it is ready to go to P&Z Hearing then we schedule it. Planning and Zoning Board Hearings occur on the 3`d Thursday of each month. It takes about a month after we decide it is ready to go to P&Z. Typically there is about 4 months from submittal to Planning and Zoning Board hearing however it can vary depending on the submittal. Neighbors can e-mail or send written comments to me and I will submit with my staff report to the Planning and Zoning Board. Those written comments establish you as a party of interest in terms of an appeal of the Planning and Zoning Board's decision. All comments you submit to me will be forwarded on to applicant. It sounds like the applicant would be happy to meet with neighborhood again, on a one-on-one format, possibly with a small group of neighborhood spokespeople. A: (developer) Everyone loses when a neighborhood decides to dig in and try and kill a project (The Grove). If you can, find a spokesman and get behind that person and show, as a neighborhood, what you want to see. C: (City Planner) Part of reason meetings take place before plans are finalized/submitted is so there is a greater opportunity for changes to be made to the plans prior to the developer investing a lot of resources into drawing the plans. Having the meeting early is a great opportunity for the developer to incorporate what he hears tonight into the plans in some fashion. I I I P a g e Carriage House Apartments Neighborhood Meeting October 29, 2012 A: Catamount is a personal company and we have been in business since 1991 and I am the sole proprietor for over 10 years. My previous experience is in building condominiums. This is my second apartment building built. A: Catamount Properties is not building the multi -family near DQ (Choice Center). That is Catamount Construction. Different company. C: The community recognizes a project is going to happen, but the neighborhood wants to be assured you care about the neighborhood and have invested and built the community. We want to make sure there are not so many people that it ruins the community and our neighborhood. The neighborhood wants their concerns taken into consideration. I am not coming away from this meeting feeling that my concerns are being adequately and appropriately addressed by you. A: I do want to take concerns in. I voluntarily met with the neighborhood in August 2011. We are going to pursue a 3-story development. If the neighborhood is going to try and defeat project on historic preservation issues or 3-story issues; you are not going to get there. However we can work together to find solutions on other issue the neighborhood may have. C: This neighborhood has not behaved as badly as others of contentious projects such as the Grove. The City wasn't even aware of meeting you held in August 2011. The previous meeting created some distrust. What was the purpose of that meeting? We will look into appointing a community spokesman for the developer. A: The meeting in August of 2011 was a well -intended meeting of trying to present self to neighborhood proactively. I am not trying to end -run the system — I gave out contact information, but City would not have endorsed meeting as there was not a concept plan yet. A: What came out of the meeting in August 2011 was not to have a huge building, and we spoke of parking issues. Those issues have been ignored even before there were drawings. A: The code allows for a 3-story building and as it is in TOD, so it does not have to have 100 spaces. 101Page Carriage House Apartments Neighborhood Meeting October 29, 2012 Q: Would you be agreeable to another meeting when plans are further along to comment on elevations/site plan? These plans are not far enough along to inform neighborhood. A: Yes. When the plans are submitted those details will be available. I am happy to attend another meeting. C: The neighborhood is asking you to consider single and double -story nature of the neighborhood and the surrounding buildings. Look at privacy and forestry issues to help fit in with the neighborhood as plans move forward. A: We are trying to save as many of the trees as possible and large evergreen on the corner. A lot of trees on site are nuisance trees such as Siberian .Elms. Q: Is it possible this project will be built to resell and maximize your investment? What does your company do? A: We do not have a general agenda. It depends on the cycle and what the investment world/potential looks like. A tsunami of apartments in Fort Collins and it doesn't take a lot to overbuild. We will gauge the market then evaluate our options. Q: Is it possible that this project will be resold and then the neighborhood will be dealing with a different management company with completely different viewpoints than yours? A: It is certainly possible. This project is designed as a high -end apartment community and is unlikely to be sold and run it into the ground. C: If the demand isn't there, there will be cut-rate bargains to move into the property. A: People have to service debt obligations and can't reduce rents too low. Q: What is the history of Catamount Properties and your experience? Do you currently own anything other than Pure Vida on West Laurel Street? 91Page Carriage House Apartments Neighborhood Meeting October 29, 2012 A: We will have exterior cameras to watch the parking lot for these reasons, including car vandalism. In the past at other properties we have looked at film when assessing lease violations. Q: Pure Vida comes right up to fence on Bluebird. The house on Bennett to the south of the project will be highly impacted by this project. What is the buffer from a backyard fence to the parking lot? What is the required buffer? There are trees right now on the site and homes close to the road. A: Building is 15 feet from site boundary, parking lot 5 feet. A fence/landscaping to help screen headlights. Q: If we meet again, will the next plan be radically different from what is shown, or marginally different? A: The plan will differ in terms of better detail, and an understanding of how buildings fit together. We are committed to smaller, separate buildings (as shown). This design will be a better match with the articulation, elevations to make them look like large homes. Q: What about those people with the greatest impact, will there be any compensation for the dust/noise/construction/overall long term negative impact of the development on our area? There will be trash from construction workers and I notice it can get messy around construction sites. I would like to ask you for compensation for the disruption this project will cause. A: We film the construction site to police it. There will be an erosion fence & fence around the site to mitigate dust and disturbance. Q: I would like to hear more about the proposed character of the development. What mitigates that these are 3-stories and nearby structures are 2-stories or less. I am concerned with the proportions and massing. A: We only have rudimentary drawings currently. Envision buildings with portions and articulation; they won't be boxes. There will be differentiated roofs. 8 1 P a g e Carriage House Apartments Neighborhood Meeting October 29, 2012 A: I would try and help persuade the City. Q: You mentioned a plaza/common area on the back of the property. Parking impacts west/south side neighbors. Are there any plans for buffering those living next to the development from large gatherings, noise, headlights? You need to provide consideration for those living in the neighborhood. A: The plaza is a sitting area, gathering place. There will be community WiFi like at Pure Vida. It provides an opportunity for residents to take their laptops outside. No plans yet and we are looking for input. This plan would meet City requirements for landscaping the perimeters. C: People's housing right next to the site and needs to be taken into consideration. A: This will be a professionally managed property and there will be no renting by the bed. We take this very seriously. This is a $10 million asset and we intend to manage it well. There will not be large gatherings if we can help it. Q: I have more questions regarding onsite management. Can you speak more about that? A: We will never have someone onsite 24 hours a day. Carriage House Apartments will have professional policies and we will enforce those policies. We do not allow smoking or pets or allow loud noise/music. This will be a high -end student housing community and can't allow several bad apples to ruin the experience for others. C: Springfield Drive is a springboard for roaming freshman, looking for parties. If there are parties at the development, it can quickly grow. A: I can't guarantee there won't be parties. If a party gets out of hand it would be a lease violation and we would strictly enforce it. C: The police are so busy downtown they do not have time to take care of these issues on Springfield.- The driveway of the project could be a congregating space. Students could be making a big circuit and students alert each other to this complex from Thursday -Saturday nights. 71Page Carriage House Apartments Neighborhood Meeting October 29, 2012 A: (Developer) We would endorse neighborhood parking decals. The problem may be Students and CSU staff from outside neighborhoods poaching parking spaces. These types of developments are desirable as they are close to campus. C: There are two huge CSU parking lots that are never full. One where they will be building stadium and off -college at west Lake. We need to ask CSU to get involved. CSU may not want to pay for the improvements, there parking lot fees force users to park in nearby neighborhoods. CSU has Emily Allen paid part time and she should be involved if students are not required to buy parking. Students save money by parking in the neighborhoods. Please pass this feedback onto SHAP. Q: Will there be onsite management? A: (Developer) Undecided at this point. We will look at if it is valuable. Another layer of supervision. One possible option could be that we could split management between Pure Vida and this development. C: On site management would be a good idea being that this project is so close to an elementary school so the school isn't dragged into college antics. Q: Who considers the movement of people across Shields? It is incredibly difficult to get across the street to CSU. I am concerned for the new residents, CSU users, school kids and parents. How will adding another 100 students to the area going to increase safety in terms of crossing Shields? This is a very dangerous situation and a safety issue. A: (Developer) At Pure Vida, there was no access point across Laurel. A mid -block crossing (flashing light) was installed and helps break traffic speed at the location (Sherwood & Laurel). A: (City Planner) In addition to the application form, a traffic study will be required that looks at vehicular, pedestrian & bicycle traffic. How they move from place to place will be evaluated. Pure Vida may have be a tipping point in helping to get a mid -block crossing on Laurel Street. Q: Would you (the Developer) be an advocate of a similar mid -block crossing device? 6 1 P a g e Carriage House Apartments Neighborhood Meeting October 29, 2012 becomes clear in the plans, we would like to feel an assurance that you are listing to us and taking into account neighborhood suggestions. This will make it more livable for neighbors when you take our concerns into account. Q: (Developer) Has anyone been designated from the neighborhood as a spokesman? A designated person can help facilitate communication. A: (Citizens) After the meeting, we will look into designating one for you. C: I disagree about a lack of density near the university. Mulberry to Prospect & Shields to Taft is one of the most heavily populated square miles in the City. There are a lot of townhomes, duplexes, apartments. A: (Developer) Density is relative. Looking at 7 universities, only Laramie has less density than Fort Collins. The University of Nebraska at Lincoln and Kansas State has more density. This is what is happening (density) on Laurel Street and it is positive for the community. Densification allows students to live near campus and walk to CSU.. Q: Assuming the project goes ahead, and creates a problem on Springfield Drive— can the city do anything about temporary parking or discourage what may happen with overflow from this project? A: (Planning Manager) Usually what happens is someone makes a phone call, and then enforcement happens. Over the years, there has been creative solutions, depending on location and land -uses opportunities for shared parking with adjoining uses. For example, residential units and nearby offices can share parking because they have different peak uses periods so a private shared parking agreement may be an option. Parking issues are somewhat difficult to deal with once units are already established. Onsite property management may be the first to hear complaints and then City. Students can be creative when finding parking spaces. This is a topic everyone in the vicinity of campus has to deal with. Q: Who do we approach to look into these solutions? A: The Student Housing Action Plan (SHAP) is exploring idea of neighborhood parking permits and signage. Contact Beth Sowder to provide inputs/comments. SHAP is going up for Council consideration. 5 1 P a g e Carriage House Apartments Neighborhood Meeting October 29, 2012 A: (City Planner) The Neighborhood Conservation Buffer Zone (NCB) is contained in Article 4 of the Land Use Code and parking requirements are not contained in zone district standards (Article 4), they are contained in Division 3.2 Site Planning and Design Standards of Article 3, General Development Standards. Division 3.2 of the Land Use Code states that in the TOD Overlay, no parking is required. Division 3.10 TOD standards apply to lands south of Prospect Road and the High Density Mixed Use zone district. TOD assists in promoting multi -modal transportation, one of the policies of City Plan. Q: Less than a mile away is single-family development only. How did this get converted to multiple units? A: (City Planner) I think there may be a bit of a misunderstanding. The Neighborhood Conservation Buffer Zone district was never converted. The NCB has always allowed many uses such as single family homes, duplexes, multi -family, offices, medical clinics, funeral homes — many different types of uses within the NCB zone district are permitted. C: It is my understanding that the last time students surveyed students on if they owned cars, 80% said they bring cars with them. Even if they are riding bikes they need to park their cars somewhere. I believe the TOD and Mason Corridor will require a change of values and education. C: Students have to get to Fort Collins, they have their cars. If parking isn't required, they will overflow on the public streets. Currently, Springfield Drive is heavily trafficked including many pedestrian, bicycles, skateboarders ect. Cars are being parked somewhere and City is allowing city streets to be overrun by cars on streets. With so many cars parked in front of my house it is difficult to get and out of my driveway, especially with the inability to see over cars, through tinting. A: (Developer) We are planning as much parking as the site will allow. Pure Vida has 47 reserved parking spaces, and the development so far is working well. It may not be the development at hand that is the issue. Commuter students are poaching spaces in residential neighborhoods as they drive into campus. There is no real density around CSU campus and until there is, students will drive in from outlying areas of the community and park their cars in the surrounding neighborhoods. C: I don't see increasing density as a solution in areas around campus. This project is adding a potential 100 beds and maybe 80 cars. Cars are already lining Springfield Drive. Adding 50 cars could be parking on nearby streets and there aren't many parking spaces. It will be difficult and dangerous to drive down our streets. There are safety issues for neighborhood children and college students. Springfiled Drive and Shields are already busy streets and increasing density in the areas dangerous situation to put people in. Q: You (developer) have been talking about the proposal for a year. There is a commitment in terms of time and cost and understanding the nuances of the process. We understand that development occurs and projects need to be viable. As more 4 1 P a g e Carriage House Apartments Neighborhood Meeting October 29, 2012 A: (City Planner) The Neighborhood Conservation Buffer District standards regulate density in this instance. It states that 24 units/acre and below, an administrative hearing, above and a Planning & Zoning Board hearing. The site is about 1.5 acres. 50 dwelling units/1.5acres is about 33 du/acre — that would mean a P&Z Hearing. C: This is the same plan as last time. The neighborhood had concerns of height (3- story buildings not fitting in the neighborhood and the number low number of parking spaces). I appears as though the concerns from neighborhood were ignored. A: (Developer) Neither is a code element. There are issues on the development end when taking height into consideration. C: There are single story buildings across the street from site and in the surrounding areas adjacent to the project. The doctor's office across street is single story. The office building nearby is two stories. There are no 3-story buildings in this area. Q: What are the density requirements of the code for the site? What was the Code when it was originally developed? There must be some restrictions on number of units. A: (City Planner) No maximum density in terms of specific number of dwelling units. The Neighborhood Conservation Buffer district regulates density though minimum lot area size and Floor Area Ratio as opposed to strictly limiting the number of units. However, some zoning districts in the City (such as the Low Density Mixed Use Neighborhood District) have density maximums related to number of units. Code came into effect in 1997 and there are frequent changes to the code. Q: How often is the Transit Oriented Development Overlay Zone evaluated? Why is our area included in TOD even though we are far away from the Mason Corridor? I feel that this inclusion in the TOD doesn't fit in our Neighborhood Conservation Buffer Zone with the inclusion of TOD zone with reduced parking requirements. A: (Planning Manager) Property already has an underlying zone assigned to it, in addition the zone can have the TOD overlay if within defined boundaries and brings in new/different requirements. Still using and evaluation the standards adopted by City Council. Q: What defines the TOD overlay? What does it even mean? A: (City Planner) Generally, the TOD boundary runs along the targeted infill and redevelopment areas identified in City Plan (City's Comprehensive Plan). South of Prospect, there are additional standards that apply to the district. C: (City Planner) The Student Housing Action Plan (SNAP) is evaluating parking and other impacts of student housing in areas around campus. Please contact Beth Sowder in Neighborhood Services from City to become involved in SHAP and provide input regarding this effort. Q: Do the requirements of TOD precede NCB zone district? How does the overlay district interact with NCB district? 3 1 P a g e Carriage House Apartments Neighborhood Meeting October 29, 2012 Q: Why was the cooling off period May -October when the Landmark Preservation Commission decision was in October? A: (City Planner) Landmark Preservation Commission decisions are independent of the development cooling off period. The determination of eligibility process is located in Chapter 14 of the Municipal Code. The "cooling -off' period is in the Land Use Code and applies to Development Review applications. The applicant applied for a "stand-alone" modification of standards to Planning & Zoning board, which was appealed April 3`d The "cooling off' period was Q: TOD code provision (LUC 3.10) shall include convenient outdoor area — what is the designated transit station for this area? A: (City Planner) That code provision applies to projects south of Prospect Road. The TOD parking requirements are not located in Section 3.10, they are located in Section 3.2 and are part of the General Development Standards. Q: Is there a section of the code that includes north of Prospect Road? A: (City Planner) Article 3 of the Land Use Code, the General Development Standards, minus Section 3.10, applies to north of Prospect Road and the Neighborhood Conservation Buffer District standards. Q: Is there a main entrance off Springfield? A: Yes. C: I am concerned about the entrance being located on curve. Visibility will be difficult and I think there is a high potential for accidents. The fence on other side of the street was previously knocked down. Slowing bumps make it better. There are 20-25 cars parked on the street on a normal day. This project adding parked cars, in conjunction with the curve of Springfield Drive, creates a high potential for accidents. With 50 spaces proposed, there will be at least an additional 50 cars parking on the street & parking/traffic issues. A: Each building has 10 units. There are 5 buildings proposed for 50 units and about 100 beds. At Pure Vida, for example, not all residents have cars. Q: Coming off Springfield Drive onto Shields Street is adding a lot of traffic and there is also Bennett Elementary nearby. With this proposal, it will be even more difficult to make a left-hand turns going northbound onto Shields Street. Q: Will each unit be a 2-bedroom unit? Bedroom numbers have a profound impact on the neighborhood. A: The bedroom count is not finalized at this time. It will be a combination of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units, for about 100 bedrooms. When the submittal is made, number of bedrooms will be known. Q: Is there a maximum number of units based on acreage? 2 1 P a g e Fort Collins NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING SUMMARY PROJECT: Carriage House Apartments, 1305 —1319 South Shields Street MEETING DATE: October 29, 2012 APPLICANT: Charles Bailey, Developer, Catamount Properties CITY PLANNER: Courtney Levingston, City Planner, City of Fort Collins The meeting commenced at 6:00 p.m. with an introduction of City Staff and the Applicant's team. After the introduction, City Staff explained the City's review process as it relates to this development proposal and explained opportunities for citizens to engage in the process. At 6:20 p.m. the Applicant gave a project description and then took questions, comments and input from citizens as well as responding to questions and comments. The meeting adjourned around 7:27 p.m. Unless otherwise noted, all responses to questions and comments are from Mr. Charles Bailey, Principal, Catamount Development. Q: Is the application the same as development plans? When the application is put in, we'll know what is in the plan? A: (City Planner) Yes.