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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVI(B) The Vintage At Lake Lotta Apartments, Preliminary/Final Site Plans Amendment Agenda 7-17-2001 Item VI B "CENTER OF GOOD LIVING-PRIDE OF WEST ORANGE" MAYOR•COMMISSIONER _ 0.4 S.SCOTT VANDERGRIFT CITY OF OCOEE COMMISSIONERS 150 N.LAKESHORE DRIVE DANNY HOWELL SCOTT ANDERSON OCOEE,FLORIDA 34761-2258 RUSTY JOHNSON (407)905-3100 NANCY J.PARKER CITY MANAGER JIM GLEASON STAFF REPORT DATE: July 6, 2001 TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners FROM: Robert Lewis, AICP, Principal Planner THROUGH: Russ Wagner, AICP, Director of Planning SUBJECT: The Vintage at Lake Lotta (Lake Lotta Apartments) Preliminary/ Final Site Plan Project# LS-99-006 ISSUE: Should the Mayor and City Commissioners approve an amendment to the Preliminary / Final Site Plan for The Vintage at Lake Lotta which makes changes to the approved landscape plan? BACKGROUND: • The Vintage at Lake Lotta apartment complex includes a total of 199 multifamily residential units, located on the north side of Lake Lotta and SR 50, just east of the main entrance road to the West Oaks Mall. The Preliminary / Final Site Plan was approved by the City Commission in May 2000 and construction is now nearing completion. DISCUSSION: As site work got underway, but before construction began on the buildings, the owner and contractor met with Planning Department staff to discuss proposed changes to the landscaping plan for the apartment complex. They proposed changing some of the trees and adding more trees near the entrance. They also proposed switching some of the sabal palm trees around the buildings to hardwood trees (hollies and magnolias). The owner felt that these changes would result in a better-looking project. Planning staff indicated that where the proposed changes resulted in adding more landscaping (near the entrance) the changes would not be'a problem. Regarding the proposed changes around the buildings, staff indicated that it likely would not be a problem to change some of the palms to hardwood trees; however, they were told to submit a letter detailing the proposed changes for review and approval. During the Final CO inspection on the first apartment building, it was noted that the plan that was being used to construct the landscaping was different than the approved landscape plan. They were asked to submit a plan showing all the landscaping changes for review. They were told that they could continue work on the other buildings, subject to review of the landscaping changes. They were told that all outstanding issues would need to be resolved prior to issuing a Final CO for the last buildings. POW Protect Occee's;Water Resources;t; July 6, 2001 Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners Page 2 Letters from the owner and contractor regarding some of the landscaping changes have been received (attached) and a revised landscape plan was submitted showing some of the proposed changes.- Planning Department staff has responded to two letters about landscaping, one regarding added landscaping near the entrance (indicating that additional landscaping would not be a problem) and one regarding mitigation for removing an existing 15" oak tree (indicating their concept was acceptable, but more information was needed for approval). When the revised landscape plan was reviewed it did not include all the proposed changes that were being implemented during construction — particularly the changes to landscaping around the buildings. The revised landscape plan also changed the some of the landscaping adjacent to the Mall retention pond and deleted numerous trees and ground covers that were originally going to be provided behind the mail kiosk and along the lake side of the retaining wall as well as around the retention pond. Planning staff never agreed to any of these changes. On several occasions since that time, Planning staff has verbally expressed concerns about the trees around the buildings, indicating that more palm trees were needed to be consistent with the approved landscape plan. When a Final CO was issued for each building, Planning staff included comments about review and approval of changes to the landscaping prior to issuing a Final CO for the last buildings. The owner has indicated that he does not want to add back the tall palm trees around the buildings as requested by the Planning Department. Staff believes that the tall palm trees adjacent to the buildings as shown on the approved site plan are appropriate because they soften the appearance of the multistory buildings. The owner is seeking approval of this revised landscape plan, allowing him to continue with his current landscaping program, which he believes will provide a better project, even though numerous plant materials have been eliminated. It is difficult to describe all the proposed changes requested by the owner with this revised landscape plan, since all the proposed changes have not been highlighted on the revised plan as requested by staff. In addition to the landscape plan issues, there are still a few site plan issues that are currently outstanding —the enclosure around the lift station and the parking lot light fixtures have not been -done according to the approved plan. The contractor was told, in writing, that these issues will need to be addressed according to the approved site plan prior to issuing a Final CO for the last building. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Based on the plan approved by the City Commission, compared to the revised plan incorporating proposed reductions in plant materials,Staff respectfully recommends that the Mayor and City Commission deny the proposed amendment to the Preliminary / Final Site Plan for The Vintage at Lake Lotta which makes changes to the approved landscape plan. Attachments: Copy of Public Hearing Advertisement Copies of two letters from Summit Contractors describing discussions regarding landscaping Copy of an E-Mail message regarding status of inspections,dated June 12,2001 Original approved landscape plan from the Preliminary/Final Site Plan,stamped Approved for Construction Revised landscape plan showing landscaping as it is currently being constructed,date stamped June 29,2001 O:\CALEXANDER\ALL_DATA\CAPDFILE\Staff Reports\SR2001\SR01033 CC.doc Copy of Public Hearing Advertisement Date Published ORI,AND0 SENTINEL' SATURDAY July 7,2001 Advertisement NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY OF OCOEE • NOTICE IS HEREBY GIV- EN,that the OCOEE CITY COMMISSION will hold a PUBLIC HEARING on Tues- day,July 17,2001 at their reg- ular session,at 7:15 p.m.,or as soon thereafter as possi- ble, in the Commission Chambers,Ocoee City Hall, • 150 North Lakeshore Drive, Ocoee, Florida to consider approval of an Amendment to the Landscape Plan In the Preliminary / Final Site Plan for THE VINTAGE AT LAKE LOTTA APART- MENTS.The site is locafitd on the north side of SR 50 - north of Lake Lotto and east" of the West Oaks Mall en- trance road off of SR 50. The complete project file, Including a legal description of the subject property,may be inspected at the Ocoee Planning Department, 150 North Lakeshore Drive,be- tween the hours of 8:00 a.m. !and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday,except le- gal holidays. The Ocoee City Commission may continue the public hearing to other dates and times as they deem neces- sary.Any interested party shall be advised that the dates,times,and places of • any continuation of this or continued public hearings shall be announced during• the hearing and that no fur- ther notices regarding these matters will be published. Interested parties may ap- pear at the public hearings and be heard with respect to the application.Any person who desires to appeal any decision made during the public hearing may need a record of the proceeding and for this purpose may need to ensure that a verba- tim record of the proceed- ings is made which includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is based.Persons with disabil- ities needing assistance to participate in any of the proceedings should contact the City Clerk's office 48 hours In advance of the meeting at(407)905-3105, JEAN GRAFTON, CITY CLERK, CITY OF OCOEE COR3978871 7/701 SUMMIT CONTRACTORS,INC. , April 17,2001 J Robert Lewis ------.-• City of Ocoee 150 N.Lakeshore Drive Ocoee,FL 34761 Re: THE VINTAGE AT LAKE LOTTA 00-003 Subj: Landscape Review Dear Mr.Lewis: Tarragon Development,Concepts in Greenery and Summit Contractors would like to thank you for taking your time out of your busy schedule for a landscape review on Friday,April 13,2001. During this review, Concepts in Greenery presented a set of As-Built Drawings specifically describing the changes that have been discussed with you and/or Russ Wagner with the City of Ocoee. These new drawings described the changes from Sable Palms to hardwoods at a 3 to 1 swap and also changes to the Clubhouse center island and entrance road area. After briefly reviewing this site and the drawings presented,you recommended that Summit Contractors and Concepts in Greenery proceed with the planting scheme as previously installed on typical buildings. You also said,upon receipt of these As-Built Drawings you would review them with Russ Wagner and forward any and all comments to Summit Contractors for further review. Once again,Summit Contractors would like to thank you for your assistance with this matter. Sincerely, SUMMIT CONTRAC RS,INC. /92 Don Voorhees Project Manager Encl. cc: City of Ocoee File Steve Brownley,Concepts In Greenery Tim Burns,Tarragon Burl Smith Steve Gammon Paul Sowders 6877 Phillips Industrial Boulevard • Jacksonville, Florida 32256 • (904) 268-5500 • Fax (904) 268-5889 SUMMIT CONTRACTORS, INC. TRANSMITTAL No. 00511 6877 Phillips Industrial Blvd. Phone: (904)268-5500 Jacksonville,Florida 32256 Fax: (904)268-5889 PROJECT: THE VINTAGE AT LAKE LOTTA -- - DATE:4/24/01 ::q r; TO: City of Ocoee — -- i fl 1 F: LANDSCAPE REVIEW 150 N. Lakeshore Drive . . 1 i i Ocoee, FL 34761 A,P R 2 5 2001 i HONE #: 407-656-2322 ATTN: Robert Lewis WE ARE:SENDING:.;: •` _ SUBMITTED FOR = . . ACTION TAKEN:•.. ❑ Shop Drawings g Approval ❑ Approved as Submitted g Letter I f Your Use ❑ Approved as Noted ❑ Prints [r As Requested 0 Returned After Loan ❑ Change Order gr Review and Comment ❑ Resubmit Er Plans ❑ Submit ❑ Samples SENT VIA:.: `.r. 2 ❑ Returned ❑ Specifications [i Attached ❑ Returned for Corrections ❑ Other: ❑ Separate Cover Via: ❑ Due Date: ITEM NO.,COPIES.DATE .: ITEM .NUMBER ,_- REV.NO:mDESCRIPTION , °: STATUS 1 1 4/17/01 Letter regarding Landscape Review 2 1 4/4/00 REDLINE- Landscape As-Builts Remarks: CC:City of Ocoee File Signed: Don Voorhees Expedition • ITIECEfivEin SUMMIT CONTRACTORS,INC. May 22,2001 Robert Lewis City of Ocoee 150 N.Lakeshore Drive Ocoee,FL 34761 Re: THE VINTAGE AT LAKE LOTTA 00-003 Subj: Follow-up Meeting . Dear Mr.Lewis: This letter is to follow up our meeting of last week where you,Mr.Tim Burns,and I discussed landscaping at the Lake Lotta Project. Mr.Tim Bums and myself expressed our concerns about your discussion with me saying that your boss,Russ Wagner had requested additional palm trees to be planted around all buildings. Other areas were discussed where you had requested more planting material be added to the entrance road mall fencing area that had not been originally discussed. Summit Contractors has discussed the removal and replacement of all of the pine trees on the north property line by no later than June 15,2001. The meeting concluded that you would take all of Summit's and Tarragon's concerns back to the city to discuss further. Summit Contractors and Tarragon is in hopes that the City of Ocoee will abide by previous landscape design changes and verbal approvals for this project discussed on several previous occasions. Thanking you in advance for your immediate attention in this matter. Sincerely, SUMMIT CONTRA ORS,INC. Vc;:6-t-1,7: -.z44,--- Don Voorhees , r Project I- ld ct Manager ` b h c n r I v- Encl. a 6` Ce w.r-e-'S0�'''' cc: City of Ocoee File Burl Smith .2_01, 1' -54- Steve Ga fihion .µsS 1 F'\5 ""•tr`Cc1 a"- ygi Bums , 10,45 cApi"5 b\x-A--s i 6877 Phillips Industrial Boulevard • Jacksonville, Florida 32256 • (904) 268-5500 • Fax (904.) 268-5889 Lewis, Robby From: Lewis, Robby Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2001 5:03 PM To: Wagner, Russ Cc: Velie, Martin; King, Ellen; Gleason, James; Shira, Jim Subject: Current Status of inspections at Vintage Apts As you are aware, there are still a few outstanding issues at the Vintage Apartments site currently under construction (f.k.a. - Lake Lotta Apartments). The biggest issue is landscaping around the buildings, but there is also an issue related to the fencing around the lift station. They are proceding with construction in spite of these issues, with the intent of resolving them before the project is completed. They currently have inspection requests in for Final CO's on Buildings 6 & 7. (Total of 12 buildings, only four remaining after we sign off on Buildings 6 &7.) To summarize the landscaping issue, they have made several changes to the landscaping as they are building the project, some minor changes and some more significant changes from the plan that was approved by the City Commission. The most significant problem seems to be related to their plan to switch many of the trees adjacent to the buildings from sable palms (in groups of 2 or 3) to holly trees for the most part at a ratio of 3 to 1 (3 palm trees replaced with 1 holly tree). In verbal discussions with me early in the construction of the project, I suggested that in general, we probably would not be concerned about changing some of the palm trees to holly trees. However, I don't recall ever indicating that we would allow them to switch out the palm trees at a rate of 3 to 1. We have a letter from them suggesting that we agreed to the 3 to 1 switch, but we never sent them a letter indicating that we would agree to that switch. While I was inspecting the first building, I.discovered that they were constructing the landscaping on the site according to a landscape plan that was very different in many ways from the landscape plan that was approved by the City Commission. We signed off on the first building with the understanding that we would work with them to resolve the differences in the landscape plans. Since that time, as we have been discussing the landscaping, they have been constructing the landscaping with the 3 to 1 switch of palm trees to holly trees, and we have signed off on four additional buildings, subject to working out our differences on the landscape plans. I have told them (Tim Burns-owner, and Don Voorhees-contractor) that we would not object to some of the palm trees being replaced with holly trees, but for the most part, we want to see the landscaping constructed according to the approved landscape plan. We want to see a lot of palm trees around the buildings because they soften up the appearance of these two and three story buildings. So far, they have been resistent to adding back the palm trees, citing what they believe was our"verbal agreement"to allow.a 3 to 1 switch and the fact that they are already way over budget on landscaping for this project. During our discussions in early May, we told them that we would ask the City Manager to visit the site with us to compare the approved landscape plan with the landscaping they are constructing and get his opinion on whether they will need approval from the City Commission for the changes they are implementing. You indicated that when you presented this issue to the City Manager, he indicated,without seeing the site, that he thought they might need City Commission approval. My understanding is that the City Manager still intends to visit the site with us and to see the landscaping in order to finalize the conclusion that they need,City Commission approval. Regarding the lift station fence issue, I sent a series of E-mail messages to Jim Shira at the end of April to clarify his position on this. He wants the chain link-fence around the lift station, as currently constructed, but he does not care if we require them to construct a decorative fence outside the chain link fence, as long as it is not located on property that the City would be responsible to maintain if the;City..ever takes responsibility for that lift station. We decided that we would ask them to construct the decorative fence around the chain link fence, because the approved plans indicated that the lift station would have a decorative fence. I believe I relayed this information to the contractor(Don Voorhees) in May, but I haven't found a record of that conversation. I visited the Vintage Apartments site this morning to inspect Buildings 6 and 7. The landscaping around those two buildings has been constructed like it was on all the previous buildings with the 3 to 1 switch (3 palm trees replaced with 1 holly tree, for the most part). However, none of the landscaping in the recreation area or along the eastern buffer wall has been constructed yet. I spoke with the superintendent(Charles Clark) this afternoon and told him that we would not be signing off on Buildings 6 and 7 at this time, partly because the landscaping at the eastern end of the site is not yet done, but mostly because we have not yet resolved the landscaping issues. He said he would relay this information to Don Voorhees. Please let me know if there is anything else you want me to do at this time to help us move forward on this project. Thanks Robby 1