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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Comments Keith Bini William LM. Nary Shaun Wardle Charles M. Rountree j olfe;;d¡!C \ IDAHO ~ .>. ~G ~ "T~V~' CITY HALL (208) 888-4433 - Fax 887-4813 PUBLIC WORKS BUlLDING DEPARTMENT (208) 887-2211 - Fax 898-9551 MAYOR Tammy de Ween! CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS LEGAL DEPARTMENT (208)466-9272 - FAX 466-4405 MEMORANDUM: Transmittal Date: September 21, 2004 City Council Hearing Date: September 28, 2004 Mayor and City Council RECEIVED Craig Hood, Associate City Planner 1'1/ SEP 2 1 2004 To: From: Re: Aromatic Sensations Parking Variance City Of Meridian City Clerk Office . Request for a Variance ITom Meridian City Code (MCC) 11-13-1 [A-C] (Off- Street Parking Required), MCC 11-13-5 (Parking Space Requirements) to Allow Reduced Parking Standards, in the O-T Zone for 128 E. Pine Street, by Kathy Hinshaw (File No. VAR-O4-005). Planning and Zoning staff have reviewed the applicant's submittal, and we offer the following comments and recommendations: APPLICATION SUMMARY The applicant, Kathy Hinshaw, has requested a variance ITom Meridian City Code (MCC) to allow reduced parking standards to accommodate the conversion of a single family home located at 128 E. Pine, in the Old-Town (O-T) zoning district, into a small retail store (see CUP- 04-031). The subject property's current parking needs are met by an existing oversized carport located off of the alley and on-street parking on E. Pine Street. MCC 11-13-5.B.2 requires retail uses to provide one (1) on-site parking space for every 200 square feet of building (gross). Per MCC the conversion of the existing 924 square foot home into a retail use will increase the parking demands of the property ITom two (2) spaces to five (5) spaces. MCC requires that all required parking for new commercial/retail uses to be located off-street (MCC11-13-1), resulting in the subject property being deficient in the number of required parking spaces provided off-street. Due to the location of the existing home and a neighboring home, the placement of new parking stalls on-site would require that the parking stalls be located in the ITont yard/street buffer, which is the required landscape buffer area for Pine Avenue of the subject property. The associated site plan for the concurrent Conditional Use Permit (CUP-04-031) proposes to convert the existing carport and concrete pad into a van accessible handicap parking stall. V AR-Q4-005 Aromatic Sensations V ARdoc The applicant is requesting reliefITom the following ordinances: . MCC 11-13-1 [A-C]- Parking and Loading Spaces Required; Change of Use; New Use. . MCC 11-13-5- Schedule of Parking Space Requirements LOCATION The subject property is located at 128 E. Pine Street, on the north side of Pine Street, approximately 200-feet east of Main Street. SURROUNDING PROPERTIES North: Alley; Single-family homes, zoned O-T South: Single-family homes; Retail business; City parking lot, zoned 0- T West: Retail business, zoned O-T East: High Desert Construction office, zoned 0- T CURRENT OWNERS OF RECORD Tony and Kathleen Hinshaw are the current owners of the subject property and Kathy Hinshaw has submitted an affidavit of legal interest for the application pertaining to the property. REOUIRED FINDINGS According to Ordinance 11-18-1, Variances, the Council may authorize in specific cases a variance ITom the terms of either the Zoning or Subdivision Ordinance. Specifically, the Ordinance lists the following Findings (MCCI1-18-3), all of which must be determined before granting a variance: "A. That there are such special circumstances or conditions affecting the property that the strict application of the provisions of this Title would clearly be impracticable or unreasonable; Staff recognizes that most parcels located in the 0- T district were not originally platted anticipating retail uses in the future. In fact, when the subject properties on this side of Pine Street were originally configured, in 1901 with F.A. Nourse's First Addition to Meridian, the lots were 30-feet wide and 120-feet deep. These dimensions are not very conducive to providing off-street parking for non-residential uses. In fact, in order to provide five (5) off-street parking stalls on this site that comply with MCC, the existing home would have to be removed. As noted in the summary above, the applicant is proposing to utilize the existing covered, 15-foot wide by 19-foot long, covered concrete slab (carport) as an on-site parking stalL The applicant is proposing to pave a driveway, ITom the alley to the stall (carport). There are approximately 40-feet ITom the back of the parking stall to the alley. The driveway to the parking stall is approximately 17-feet wide. For one parking stall this design meets the minimum requirements for paving, back-up area, and should have no more interference with traffic movement than any other property taking access to the alley. VAR-04-005 Aromatic Sensations V AR.doc 2 With the amount ofITontage this site has on Pine Avenue (46-feet), the City would recognize two (cars) being able to park in ITont of this site (see MCC 11-13-4.F). Further, the City owns a small surface parking lot (behind George's Cycles) just south of the subject property (all of the parking stalls within the City parking lot, on the south side of Pine Avenue, are within 300-feet of the proposed use). Staff fmds that the proposed use is a low-impact use and that the requested reduction of off-street parking stalls will not significantly affect the other properties in the general vicinity. Staff finds that requiring the construction five (5) off-street parking stalls on this site is impracticable due to the existing dimensions of the property (46-feet wide by 145-feet long), the location of existing structures on this narrow lot and in the alley, the close proximity of this site to a city-owned parking lot to the south, and available on-street parking in this area. Further, staff believes that eliminating landscaping in this area to accommodate parking in the ITont yard would be detrimental to the overall feel and appearance of the Old-Town district. B. That strict compliance with the requirements of this Title would result in extraordinary hardship to the owner, subdivider or developer because of unusual topography, the nature or condition of adjacent development, other physical conditions or other conditions that make strict compliance with this Title unreasonable under the circumstances, or that the conditions and requirements of this Title will result in inhibiting the achievements or the objectives of this Title; On January 28,2003, the City Council approved a Conditional Use Permit (CUP-02- 033) application and concurrent Variance (V AR-02-016) application for a retail use directly to the west of the subject property (124 E. Pine Avenue). The above-mentioned applications requested CUP approval to convert an existing home into a retail business, and a variance to provide only two (2) on-site parking stalls for the retail use. Similar to the findings for approval for V AR-02-016. staff believes that strict compliance with the City's parking requirements would prohibit the redevelopment of the subject property to a retail/commercial use. It is simply impossible to provide five (5) off-street parking stalls on this site, due to the dimensions of the subject parcel. The City has adopted goals, objectives, and policies that support mixed uses within the Old Town district. Should off-street parking be strictly required for all properties in Old Town, staff believes that a majority of the properties would be restricted to a residential-only use and would not redevelop. Staff generally supports the redevelopment of the smaller, older lots in the original Meridian Township, as these conversions allow for a more vibrant downtown area. Staff finds that strict compliance with the City's parking requirements on this site would result in an extraordinary hardship to the developer due to the circumstances surrounding this property mentioned in the previous finding. Further, staff finds that enforcing the conditions and requirements of the off-street parking ordinance will inhibit the objectives of the allowing Old Town to be a mixed use area. V AR-04-005 Aromatic Sensations V AR.doc c. That the granting of the specified variance will not be detrimental to the public's welfare or injurious to other property in the area in which the property is situated; Staff anticipates that the variance will not be detrimental to the public's welfare or injurious to other properties in the area (no negative testimony was offered at the P&Z Commission hearing for the Conditional Use Permit application). Further, the Council has granted parking variances to properties with similar situations within Old Town and staff is unaware of any harmful impacts from these parking variances- Staff recommends that the Council reference any written or oral testimony provided at the public hearing, as well as staff's analysis, when determining whether or not the surrounding properties may be negatively affected by granting a variance. D. That such variance will not have the effect of altering the interest and purpose of this Title and the Meridian Comprehensive Plan." Staff finds that the issuance of a variance for reducing parking standards to allow the redevelopment of a small piece of property in Old Town will not have the effect of altering the purpose and/or interest of the Zoning Ordinance or the Comprehensive Plan. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staffis recommending approval of the parking variance for the following reasons: . The City has a surface parking lot in this block of Pine Street, on the south side of the street that patrons may be able to use; . Pine Street does currently allow on-street parking in this area; . This site has constraints on the alley side that would make adding additional parking in the rear very difficult; . Staff does not anticipate that this will be a high volume retail business. ACHD anticipates that this business will generate forty-one (41) vehicle trips per day (see ACHD staff report); . Requiring the applicant to provide five (5) parking stalls on-site would be detrimental to the atmosphere of Old Town as set forth in the Comprehensive Plan and the Downtown Marketing Strategy; . That there are such special circUmstances or conditions affecting the property that the strict application of the provisions of this Title would clearly be impracticable or unreasonable; . That strict compliance with the requirements ofMCC would result in extraordinary hardship to the developer because of unusual topography, the nature or condition of adjacent development, other physical conditions or other conditions that make strict compliance with this Title unreasonable under the circumstances, or that the conditions and requirements of MCC will result in inhibiting the achievements or the objectives of MCC and the Comprehensive Plan; . Granting the specified variance will not be detrimental to the public's welfare or injurious to other property in the area in which the property is situated; and . The subject variance will not have the effect of altering the interest and purpose of MCC and the Meridian Comprehensive Plan. V AR-04-O05 Aromatic Sensations V AR.doc 4