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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning & Zoning 03/08/2005 THE MINUTES OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION ACTING AS THE LOCAL PLANNING AGENCY MEETING HELD TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2005 CALL TO ORDER Chairman Golden called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Following a moment of silent meditation and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, a quorum was declared present. PRESENT: Chairman Golden, Members Campbell, Keller, McKey, Morris, Riffe, Sills, and West. Also present were Community Development Director Wagner, City Attorney Rosenthal, and Deputy City Clerk Brasher. ABSENT: Member Rhodus, who was excused. CONSENT AGENDA Minutes of the Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting held on Tuesday, February 8, 2005. Member West, seconded bv Member Keller, moved to accept the Consent Aqenda as presented. Motion carried 8-0. NEW BUSINESS VILLAGE AT LAKE BENNET - PRELIMINARY SUBDIVISION PLAN Senior Planner Fabre presented the staff report for the Preliminary Subdivision Plan (PSP) for the Village at Lake Bennet. The Village at Lake Bennet consists of :1::39.6 acres and is located on the northeast corner of Bluford Avenue and West Colonial Drive adjoining Lake Bennet. The proposed plan has five (5) commercial lots on :1::13.9 acres for Phase 1 and Phase 2 will have two (2) parcels on :1::12.5 acres with no entitlements as part of this PSP. The northern edge of the property abuts the historic brick Maine Street, and the eastern edge abuts a wetland area that is associated with Lake Bennet, which will be covered by a conservation and drainage easement dedicated to the City. A pedestrian sidewalk and bike path easement will also be dedicated on the upland area along the wetland associated with Lake Bennet. The Future Land Use designation for the site is Commercial with Conservation/Floodplains along Lake Bennet. The property is zoned Community Commercial (C-2), which allows development and construction of the proposed land use and the requested use is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The site is located within the State Road 50 "Activity Center" Special Development Plan and is identified as an "Activity Center" and as well as a "Gateway Intersection" in the Activity Center Special Development Plan. These classifications promote special development considerations to encourage high quality development. Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting March 8, 2005 The Village at Lake Bennett Preliminary Subdivision Plan will be developed as a commercial subdivision consisting of five (5) buildable lots for Phase 1. The proposed uses for Phase 1 includes restaurants, banks, pharmacies, and retail establishments. Phase 1 will also include relocating, engineering, and constructing Maine Street in accordance with an existing development agreement. Approximately three (3) acres between the relocated Maine street and the historic Maine Street will be dedicated to the City as parkland and water retention area per the existing development agreement. The scope of Phase 2 for this project has not yet been determined, therefore, no entitlement is being granted in this PSP. The internal road stub-outs would connect to the future Phase 2, however, the land in question was sold to another developer, so there is no way of knowing how the remainder of this site will be developed or its relationship to future development to the northeast. The access into the subject site will be provided via a right/in right/out on SR 50. Additionally, two (2) right/in and right/outs and a full access will be provided on Bluford Avenue. There will also be right/in right/out access on the relocated Maine Street. Along the entire length of Bluford Avenue, there will be turn lanes to service the individual access driveways. At the intersection of Bluford Avenue and SR 50, there will be a dual left turn lane, which will serve eastbound traffic on SR 50. Staff recommended that the City and the developer share equally in the improvement cost for the additional left turn lane. The tree preservation ordinance requires that every attempt be made to save significant trees on the site. Staff has raised numerous concerns to the Applicant about preserving significant trees for this project. It is apparent that the current Preliminary Subdivision Plan as configured will ultimately result in little to no existing trees saved. The Developer is requesting four (4) waivers: 1. The applicant is requesting a waiver from Art. VI, Sec. 6-14, C, (1), (b), ii, which requires that smaller commercial structures and out parcels situated along primary and secondary roadways will not dominate the street frontage and shall be restricted to no more than 50% of the linear roadway frontage within a planned commercial development or subdivision. The justification indicates that the developer is donating 35 feet wide right-of-way along Bluford Avenue and 10 feet right-of-way along SR 50 as an offsetting public benefit. 2. The applicant is requesting a waiver from Art. VI, Sec. 6-14, C, (1) (b), iv, which requires that no more than two (2) out parcels within the same planned development shall abut each other along primary or secondary street 2 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting March 8, 2005 frontages, although any number of out parcels may front on internal streets within a commercial subdivision. 3. The applicant is requesting a waiver from Art. VI, Sec. 6-14, C, (1) (b), v, which requires that no out parcels lot shall be less than one acre in size. 4. The applicant is requesting a waiver from Art. VI, Sec. 6-14, C, (2), (b), I, which requires a minimum 25 foot landscape buffer along public primary and secondary streets. DEVELOPMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION The Development Review Committee (DRC) met on February 23, 2005, and reviewed the Preliminary Subdivision Plan. This meeting was initiated by the developer who was interested in moving his project forward. There were considerable comments and concerns addressed from Public Works, Engineering, City Attorney, City Transportation Planners, and the Planning Division that were identified in written staff comments and/or verbally presented. The Applicant was made aware of the following issues. 1. The Applicant has not submitted a complete Traffic Study. Therefore, the applicant will need to finalize the Traffic Study to meet city methodology. . The proposed roadway along Bluford Avenue raised concerns from the Public Works Department. Median separators were requested to be widened to four (4) feet. Access return radii were requested to be reduced in order to allow more pedestrian safety. Safety concerns about the right/in right/put on SR 50 were also raised. The Applicant agreed to work with staff to address these issues and incorporate them in the Preliminary Subdivision Plan prior to the Final Subdivision Plan. 2. The Applicant also requested to delay the engineering and construction of the relocated Maine Street in order to expedite Certificates of Occupancy for their end-users. The Applicant offered to bond the street in order to postpone development of the road. Staff made it clear that the existing Development Agreement would have to be amended for such action to take place. It was also made clear that the relocated Maine Street improvements must be constructed according to the Preliminary Subdivision Plan. The applicant was also informed that it is standard to build all subdivision infrastructures at the same time. As a result, the Applicant agreed to build Maine Street as part of Phase 1 subdivision infrastructure improvements. Due to lack of time to discuss the numerous remaining technical issues, the DRC voted to unanimously recommend approval of the Preliminary Subdivision Plan, subject to the developer making changes on the plans and resolving the numerous issues specified in the Staff reports and incorporating the comments raised at DRC. 3 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting March 8, 2005 STAFF RECOMMENDATION Based on the recommendation of the DRC, Staff respectfully recommends that the Planning and Zoning Commission recommends approval of the Preliminary Subdivision Plan for the Village at Lake Bennett, as date stamped received by the City on February 10, 2005, subject to the Developer making changes to the plans which resolve the issues specified in the Staff reports and the comments raised at DRC. PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION COMMENTS & QUESTIONS Vice-Chairman McKey asked if the engineering, construction, and infrastructure of Maine Street would be delayed. Senior Planner Fabre said the Developer agreed to construct the relocated Maine Street in Phase 1. City Attorney Rosenthal said that the Developer has agreed but nothing has been documented. Member Morris asked if there would be a traffic signal at the Bluford main in/out access. Community Development Director Wagner stated there eventually would be a traffic signal on relocated Maine Street. Member Keller said the plans look like every tree is to be removed from the property and he would like the Developer to leave more trees on the property. Member Sills stated his concerns with the "right-out" lane heading westbound on SR 50. Community Development Director Wagner said the lane has been discussed numerous times and F.D.O.T. has approved the "right-out" lane. City Attorney Rosenthal said the City is deferring to what F.D.O.T. permits. The public hearing was opened. Developer Owen Ewing, presented exhibits of the proposed Conceptual Plan and stated they are willing to donate 135 feet of additional right-of-way along Bluford Avenue in return for four (4) waivers. Mr. Ewing further stated they are going to save as many trees as possible but many of the trees were damaged by the hurricanes. Chairman Golden stated his concerns with the trees that are to be removed. Turgut Dervish, representing Transportation, Planning and Design stated that FD.O.T. is permitting the "right-out" on SR 50 because, if it were not permitted, it would cause traffic issues on Bluford Avenue. Bill Fisher, architect for the developer, presented design renderings of the proposed project and said each parcel would be developed in a unified manner. Chairman Golden voiced his concerns regarding the lack of design guidelines. Community Development Director Wagner said the City does not look at design features until the project gets to the Final Subdivision Plan. 4 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting March 8, 2005 A lengthy discussion ensued regarding Phase 2, which has no entitlements as part of this PSP. City Attorney Rosenthal clarified that there has not been a Preliminary Site Plan or Final Site Plan submitted for any lots in Phase 2. Chairman Golden asked how pedestrian activity is shown on the Site Plan. Joel Arnold, representing Consul-Tech, stated there would be external and internal sidewalks throughout the project. Cindy Smith, representing ABC Fine Wine & Spirit Store, voiced concerns with proposed alignment of the full access entrance on Bluford Avenue in relationship to the ABC proposed project access. Mr. Ewing said he felt the issue with ABC could be resolved. The public hearing was closed. A lengthy discussion ensued with several members of the Planning and Zoning Commission regarding their concerns with the proposed project: ~ Traffic patterns ~ Waivers ~ Landscaping and trees ~ Development of Phase 2 ~ Unresolved/unaddressed issues ~ Inconsistency with LDC and Activity Center Vice-Chairman McKev. seconded by Member Keller. moved to deny the Preliminary Subdivision Plan for The Villaqe at Lake Bennett based on the followinq comments: 1) Inconsistency with the adopted State Road 50 "Activity Center" requirements of the Comprehensive Plan and the Land Development Code; 2) Specific out parcel waivers 1. 2, & 3 are inconsistent with the Land Development Code and the Comprehensive Code and in the absence of qrantinq the requested waivers. the proposed plan does not work; 3) Too many issues raised in Staff comments. which have not been addressed and incorporated into the PSP; 4) Lack of an overall Master Plan, includinq adiacent parcels. which are not within the PSP; 5) Not a mixed-use proiect; 6) Proiect only calls for commercial out parcels. which would also be inconsistent with not beinq a mixed-use proiect; 7) Lack of a completed Traffic Study. 5 Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting March 8, 2005 Motion carried 6-2 with Members Morris and West votinq no. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:27 p.m. ~- Z~~. ;,~ ~ Brenda Brasher, Deputy City Clerk .t<t>\.:,l Me v~'f I.A c ti.\'\~ ('hcu"vl"Y\.C{C) 6