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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-04-23; Design Review Board; MinutesMINUTES Meeting of: DESIGN REVIEW BOARD Time of Meeting: 5:OO p.m. Date of Meeting: April 23, 1986 Place of Meeting: City Council Chambers MEMBERS Y CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Rombotis called the Meeting to order at 5:OO p.m. ROLL CALL: Present: Chairman Rombotis, Members Hall, Holmes, McCoy. Member Schlehuber arrived at 5:05 p.m. Absent: None. Staff Present: Chris Salomone, Community Redevelopment Manager Brian Hunter, Assistant Planner Clyde Wickham, Assistant Planner PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was led by Chairman Rombotis. 1. RP/CUP 86-7 - UNION OIL - Request for a minor redevelopment permit/conditional use permit to expand and 'renovate a service station at the northwest corner of Elm Avenue and Harding Street in Subarea 1 of the V-R Zone. Chris Salomone, Community Redevelopment Manager, gave the initial staff report, with Brian Hunter giving the report on the planning concerns and Clyde Wickham giving the engineering concerns. the site and slides were presented showing the site from different directions. A transparency was used to indicate Brian Hunter explained the concerns with regard to parking, stating a new ordinance going to Council would require four parking spaces for each automotive repair bay. This plan has seven spaces and would need twelve to comply with that Ordinance. retail building for this project, which would require six parking spaces. Most service stations have a special use permit. indicating the number of cars parked on this site. Staff used standards for a Photographs were shown to the Board Members Staff feels some of the parking spaces proposed by the applicant are not usable. space were used, two of the spaces would require backing into the pump spaces. Other spaces pull into the access to the alley, and staff feels that should be left clear. If the required 24-foot backup Clyde Wickham stated circulation of traffic would be a concern, with tankers coming through the alley on through the driveway, exiting onto Harding to Elm Avenue. Circulation would be restricted because of the size of the site and the queuing areas for the gas pumps. getting gas at the peak hour could overflow onto Elm Avenue. Vehicles MINUTES April 23, 1986 DESIGN REVIEW BOARD Page 2 Chris Salomone summarized the report from a redevelopment standpoint, stating there is an existing project on this site that does not conform to standards. There is a proposal before the Board that does not conform to development standards. There will be a gas station there for many years to come. The applicant is making an attempt to landscape the area and provide parking. All repair work being done at the station will be confined to the interior of the station. Mr. Salomone stated from a redevelopment standpoint, it would be desirable to allow the applicant to meet the City's criteria. It would be necessary to make findings for an exception, the same as for a variance. The project does need some work, but the proposal is better than the existing station. Member hall determined one 35-foot curb cut would be eliminated with the new proposal, which would be an improvement. Chairman Rombotis invited the applicant to make a presentation at 5:12 p.m. Don Trapp, Union Oil, 7219 Daffodil, presented drawings to show the Board how Union Oil proposed to resolve staff's concerns. He stated the company has a policy prohibiting tanker trucks from backing up. Any tanker truck would come through Harding Street, exit, and circle back around the block. Mr. Trapp used a drawing to show how the parking area had been redrawn, with the new desiqn providing eleven spaces. If the two spaces were not allowed, there would still be nine usable spaces. Mr. Trapp stated Union Oil acquired the site in June of last year, and at that time a plan was shown to the Planning Department indicating another bay would be added. Union Oil requires four bays on new construction. They wanted to add one bay to the existing two at this station and also provide inside secure storage. This would eliminate the outside storage there now. Union Oil is attempting to install landscaping at this time to improve the aesthetics of the site. Numerous freestanding planters have been added to gain back the landscaping lost by adding the parking spaces. Member Holmes asked Mr. Trapp whether, in the event Council approved the new parking ordinance and this site would be short of the requirements, Union Oil would be amenable to subscribing to a parking district in lieu of the missing parking spaces. Mr. Trapp answered Union Oil would be willing to proceed with anything to solve the problem. Chairman Rombotis inquired of the ratio of parking spaces required by Union Oil in relation to the number of bays. Mr. Trapp answered the policy is two parking spaces per bay, but when there are more than five bays, the parking requirement increases considerably. Board Members commented about all the cars parked in that area at the present time, and added that some of those cars obviously do not belong there. MINUTES April 23, 1986 DESIGN REVIEW BOARD Page 3 3ohn Grant, 7173 Hibiscus Circle, stated in the past this site has had some kind of U-Haul or rental trailers and extensive auto repair and used car sales. He inquired whether these businesses were to continue there and Mr. Trapp stated the lease with Union Oil prohibits any other use. Mr. Grant asked why this process of landscaping and redesigning was being done when the site was completely altered by construction last year. Chris Salomone explained the work done last year did not require redevelopment permits. building at that time. There was no change to the Mr. Grant stated he owned the property behind this property and did not want visibility lost at the corner because of a building expansion. Since no one else wished to speak on this item, the public testimony was concluded at 5:21 p.m. Member McCoy stated he felt this station was a good project. individual to control. He said if the applicant agreed to have a clause inserted in the conditions to participate in a parking district, eliminate the sale of automobiles and rental of trailers, he would be in favor of the project. The parking is a problem and would be up to the Member Schlehuber agreed the parking is a problem. He added he was cognizant of the arguments presented and somewhat swayed by them. Member Hall felt this would be a great improvement. He favored the first plan submitted with the buffer in the corner. plus. Member Hall felt all the cars shown in the photographs were not being serviced at the station, and perhaps with the redesign that problem would be controlled. The elimination of one curb cut was certainly a Member Schlehuber was reluctant to approve parking in the setback. Chairman Rombotis said the permit was issued a long time ago, and anything on that site would not meet present day standards. However, they are not violating the law. This would be a chance to get the site improved, and he felt something should be approved there. The new design will not conform to present day planning, but would be a great improvement over what is there now. Member Holmes stated that over the years he has seen numerous Union Oil Stations, and they do a good job of trying not to resemble a gas station. Chairman Rombotis stated he would like to see a revised plan come to the Board with conditions of approval. Design Review Board requested staff return as soon as possible with conditions of approval for the Union Oil request for a minor redevelopment permitfconditional use permit to expand and renovate a service station at the northwest corner of Elm Avenue and Harding Street in Subarea 1 of the V-R one. Conditions to include: 1. The prohibition of rental vehicles, trailers and auto sales. 2. Participation in a parking district for the shortfall in parking. MEMBERS Y Rombotis Hal 1 Holmes McCoy Schlehuber X X X X X MINUTES April 23, 1986 DESIGN REVIEW BOARD Page 4 There was a discussion about the setback required, with the consensus of the Board being there probably is no setback requirement in the commercial area. INFORMATIONAL: By unanimous vote, Member Holmes was elected Vice- Chairman. OFF-AGENDA ITEMS: Preview of Projects To Come Before the Board Chris Salomone referred to a chart on the wall showing major permits to be scheduled before the Design Review Board over the next few months. He gave a brief description of those projects. ERA Reoort Chris Salomone said Board Members' copies of the final report will be available the end of new week. On May 19, 1986, a town meeting/workshop with City Council/Housing and Redevelopment Advisory Committee and this Board will be held, with the public invited. There will be refreshments and the ERA team will come in and make their presentation, show slides and present recommendations. This will include approximately four and a half million dollars in public improvements and four million dollars for parking and circulation improvments. The Board will discuss this on May 14 at their meeting and the town hall meeting will present this to the public. Member McCoy stated there was a problem with the office building at 3efferson and Grand as far as parking. He said the City needs to notify the contractor in writing that he is illegal as far as parking. Chris Salomone said he had met the contractor and toured the premises. The improvements are in and he warned the contractor there would be repercussions as office professional use was approved and not medical. The other developers have been warned not to rent to medical off ices. Member McCoy said he felt it was unfair to require one parking space for every 200 square feet of office space for medical offices and one parking space for every 400 square feet of professional office space, and then not enforce the condition when space approved for professional is rented to medical offices. Member Schlehuber felt staff should prepare a report to be brought back and set on an agenda for this Board to examine the possibilities and take action. Design Review Board requested staff return next week with a report on the parking violations for professional offices rented to medical offices. A special meeting is to be held Wednesday, April 30, 1986. Rombotis Hall Holmes McCoy Sch 1 ehu ber Rombot is Hall Holmes McCoy Schlehuber X X X X X X X X X X MINUTES April 23, 1986 DESIGN REVIEW BOARD Page 5 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of the March 26, 1986, meeting were approved as amended to correct the spelling of Chairman Rombotis' name on the last page and a half. AD30URNMENT : By proper motion, the meeting of April 23, 1986, was adjourned at 5;48 p.m., to Wednesday, April 30, 1986, at 5:OO p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Respectfully submitted, CHRIS SALOMONE Community Redevelopment Manager Harriett Babbitt Minutes Clerk HB: tc Rombot is Hall Holmes McCoy Schlehuber X X X X X