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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff CommentsCITY OF MERIDIAN PLANNING DEPARTMENT STAFF REPORT FOR THE HEARING DATE OF JUNE 20, 2006 STAFF REPORT Hearing Date: 6/20/2006 r rrr ►.r/ i' L TO: Mayor &City Council WED FROM: C. Caleb Hood, Current Planning Manager JU 2006 SUBJECT: Centrepointe Landscape Variance^�� File No. VAR -06-013 C*ty 60 eridian City Clerk Office Variance request to UDC Table 11-2B-3 and UDC 11 -3B -7C2 to use a portion of ITD right-of-way towards the 35 -foot wide landscape buffer requirement adjacent to Eagle Road, an entryway corridor, by Jonathan Seel. 1. SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF APPLICANT'S REQUEST The applicant is requesting a variance from UDC Table 11-28-3 and UDC 11 -3B -7C2 which require: 1) 35 -foot wide landscape buffers along entryway corridors; and, 2) the entire landscape buffer along streets to be on a common lot or within a permanent easement. If approved, the Variance would allow the applicant to count some of the adjacent ITD right-of-way towards the landscape street buffer width. The applicant is proposing to reduce the area of the landscape buffer on their property to 20 feet (see Exhibit A for proposal). The applicant's justification for the requested variance is listed in Section 4.h of this Staff Report. 2. SUMMARY RECOMMENDATION The City Council has final decision authority on Variance applications. Staff is recommending approval of the subject Variance application (VAR -06-013) for the reasons listed herein. Staff finds that the application meets all of the Endings required in the UDC in order for the City Council to grant a variance. (See the analysis, in Section 8 of this report, for more details.) 3. PROPOSED MOTION (to be considered after the public hearing) Denial After considering all staff, applicant and public testimony, I move to deny bile Number VAR -06- 013, and direct Legal Staff to prepare the appropriate findings document for denial. (You should state why you are denying the request.) Approval After considering all staff, applicant and public testimony, I move to approve File Number VAR -06-013, as presented in Staff Report for the hearing date of June 20, 2006 and direct Planning Staff to prepare findings for approval based on tonight's hearing, with the following changes: (insert any changes here.) Continuance I move to continue File Number VAR -06-0013, to the hearing date of (insert continued hearing date here) for the following reason(s): (You should state specific reason(s) for continuance.) 4. APPLICATION AND PROPERTY FACTS a. Site Address/Location: Northwest corner of Ustick Road and Eagle Road; Township 4N', Range IE, Section 32 b. Owner: Winston H. Moore 1940 Bonito Way #160 Meridian, ID 83642 Centrepointe Landscape Variance VAR -06-013 Page I CITY OF MERIDIAN PLANNING DEPARTMENT STAFF REPORT FOR THE HEARING DATE OF JUNE 20, 2006 c. Applicant: Jonathan Seel for W.H. Moore 1940 Bonito Way #160 Meridian, ID 83642 d. Representative: Jonathan Seel e. Present Zoning: C -G (General Retail and Service Commercial) f. Present Comprehensive Plan Designation: Mixed Use — Regional g. Description of Applicant's Request: The applicant is requesting a variance from UDC Table I 1-28-3 and UDC 11 -3B -7C2 which require: 1) 35 -foot wide landscape buffers along entryway corridors; and 2) for the entire buffer to be on a common lot or within a permanent easement. If approved, the Variance would allow the applicant to count some of the adjacent ITD right-of-way towards the landscape street buffer width. The applicant is proposing to reduce the area of the landscape buffer on their property to 20 feet. h. Applicant's Statement/Justification: As Exhibit A shows, once we complete ITD's required improvements fronting Eagle Rod, there is as much as 27 feet of remaining right of way, we refer to as surplus. Our request to the City is that Mr. Moore landscape this surplus right of way in exchange for reducing our 35 foot landscape buffer requirement to 20 -feet from. the CentrePoint property line. As our landscape plan shows, we propose exceeding this requirement along the majority of Eagle Road through a combination of surplus right of way and private land. ITD's long term plans don't call for using this surplus right of way. In fairness, why would ITD ask Mr. Moore to spend $1.3 million of his own funds if there was any potential to deviate from ITD's improvement plans (please see the applicant's submittal letter for more information.) S. PROCESS FACTS a. The subject application will in fact constitute a variance as determined by City Ordinance. By reason of the provisions of the Meridian City Code Title 11, Chapter 5, Article A (Table 11- 5A-1), a public hearing is required before the City Council on this matter. b. Newspaper notifications published on: May 29 and June 12, 2006 (for City Council hearing) c. Radius notices mailed to properties within 300 feet on: May 26, 2006 (for City Council hearing) d. Applicant posted notice on site by: June 10, 2006 (for City Council hearing) G'A WIWI billy 0 a. Existing Land Use(s): Unimproved b. Description of Character of Surrounding Area: This is a mixed use area. There is a home improvement store, a planned retail department store, several single-family homes, and other planned commercial uses in this area. c. Adjacent Land Use and Zoning: 1. North: Vacant, zoned C -G 2. West: Champion Park Development, zoned R-8 3. South: Future commercial, zoned C -G 4. East: Commercial, zoned C -G d. History of Previous Actions: In 2004, the current property owner and the City entered into a Centrepointe Landscape Variance VAR -06-013 Page 2 CITY OF M ERIDIAN PLANNING DEPARTMENT STAFF REPORT FOR THE HEARING DATE OF JUNE 20, 2006 Development Agreement (DA) for this site. In 2006 the DA was amended to include a 1.5 acre piece of property. All of the subject site was zoned to C -G and has a DA provision that requires each use to obtain either detailed CUP approval or receive approval for a planned development. The applicant has also submitted for preliminary plat approval on this site (Centrepointe Subdivision, PP -06-020). e. Existing Constraints and Opportunities 1. Public Works Location of sewer: Extension of mains in Ustick Road Location of water: Extension of mains in Ustick Road Issues or concerns: None. 2. Vegetation: Agricultural, with some existing trees that should be protected or mitigated for. 3. Flood plain: N/A 4. Canals/Ditches Irrigation: There are a couple of irrigation/drainage ditches that bisect the property. 5. Hazards: None identified. 6. Size of Property: 31.37 acres f. Landscaping — Per the Future Land Use Map, both Ustick Road and Eagle Road are designated as "Entryway Corridors" adjacent to this site. As such, the UDC (Table 11-2B-3) requires a 35 -foot wide street buffer adjacent to both roadways. The landscape plan proposes a 20 -foot wide buffer along Eagle Road. The UDC requires landscape buffers along streets to be either placed in a separate common lot or a landscape easement. The applicant has submitted the subject variance to allow a 20 -foot wide landscape buffer along Eagle Road (please see attached Landscape Plan). 7. AGENCY COMMENTS MEETING On April 14, 2006 staff held an agency comments meeting. However, no comments were provided for the Variance application. Please see the public record for the Variance file for any written comments that may have been submitted by other agencies. 8. UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT CODE REQUIRED VARIANCE FINDINGS Staff finds that the following UDC sections are pertinent to the Variance application (staff analysis in italics below section): 8.1 The City Council shall apply the standards listed in Idaho Code 67-6516 and all the findings listed in Section 11 -5B -4E of the UDC to review the variance request. In order to grant a variance, the Council shall make the following findings: A. The variance shall not grant a right or special privilege that is not otherwise allowed in the district: The applicant is requesting to provide a 20 -foot wide landscape buffer on this site, where 35 -feet is required. In addition to the 20 feet of the applicant's property proposed for landscaping, up to 27 feet of ITD right-of-way will also be landscaped by the applicant (the submitted landscape plan shows sod within the right-of-way, no trees or shrubs are proposed). Staff is generally supportive of this request. There are portions of the right-of- way ight-ofway where turn lanes and acceleration and deceleration lanes reduce the adjacent "surplus" right-of-way down to approximately 10 feet. Staff has contacted Stanley Consultants who is working on the roadway improvements for Eagle Road in this area. Centrepointe Landscape Variance VAR -06-013 Page 3 CITY OF MERIDIAN PLANNING DEPARTMENT STAFF REPORT FOR THE HEARING DATE OF TUNE 20, 2006 Gary Funkhouser, of Stanley Consultants has verified that, except where there is a deceleration lane to turn into this site from south bound Eagle Road, at least 15 feet of surplus right-of-way will exist adjacent to this site. By requiring the applicant to provide a full 20 feet of landscaping on this property, the City is ensured that at least a 35 -foot wide landscape buffer will be provided along Eagle Road. If the applicant provides at least a 20 -foot wide landscape buffer on their property and landscapes the surplus right- of-way, staff finds that a special privilege will not be granted to the applicant. Staff anticipates that other property owners along Eagle Road will ask for similar variances, if the Council approves the subject variance. If Council is inclined to approve this variance request, Staff asks that you provide direction on if you would like to see the standard changed in the UDC for landscaping requirements along Eagle Road. By providing this direction, Staff will be able to provide better information to future applicants. NOTE: The UDC requires a 10 -foot wide pathway along Eagle Road. The applicant's landscape plan depicts this pathway within the 20 -foot wide landscape buffer and not within ITD's right-of-way, reducing the landscape area on their property to 10 feet. B. The variance relieves an undue hardship because of characteristics of the site; When ITD purchased the right-of-way from the subject applicant, staff believes that ITD envisioned Eagle Road being wider than five lanes, as currently planned for this area with the Eagle Road Corridor Plan. To ensure that the subject property owner is not stuck with maintaining and enhancing the surplus right-of-way adjacent to this site after ITD gets done with the Eagle Road improvements, staff recommends approval of the subject variance. NOTE: Staff has contacted ITD staff about the feasibility of vacating the surplus right-of-way back to the applicant. ITD staff was not supportive of this proposal. C. The variance shall not be detrimental to the public health, safety, and welfare. Staff finds that allowing the landscape street buffer variance on Eagle Road will not be detrimental to the public health, safety, and/or welfare. 9. RECOMMENDATION Staff believes that the applicant's request meets the "findings test" forrg anting a variance (see Section 8.1 above.), and is recommending a roval of the variance with the following rovisions: 1. That the applicant be required to provide a 20 -foot wide landscape buffer easement along the Eagle Road frontage of this property. 2. That the applicant obtain approval from the ITD to landscape the surplus right-of-way for Eagle Road adjacent to this site. Surplus right-of-way shall mean all area behind the curb. 3. Landscape materials shall be generally installed as shown in the Landscape Plan in Exhibit A, and in compliance with the requirements of the UDC. Centrepointe Landscape Variance VAR -06-013 Page 4 CITY OF MERIDIAN PLANNING DEPARTMENT STAFF REPORT FOR THE HEARING DATE OF MARCH 21. 2006 ExhibitA 12 Exhibit A Page I o4q4 %mp" 4sonbsU aouWwA 8)Ul0d JG4u83 '� I art' =11P Wow() ........ .. .. . CITY OF MERIDIAN PLANNING DEPARTMENT STAFF REPORT FOR THE HEARING DATE OF MARCH 21, 2006 � It l l Isonboji souepeA IKU10d -ANU83 Exhibit A Page 2 p�#I�III "