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Alternative Compliance Request October 14, 2020 TLG Project No. 120085 Alan Tiefenbach via email: atiefenbach@meridiancity.org Current Associate Planner Community Development Department City of Meridian 33 E. Broadway Ave., Ste. 102 Meridian, ID 83642 RE: Request for Alternative Compliance A-2020-0165 | Hickory Warehouse | 1135 N. Hickory Ave., Meridian, ID Dear Mr. Tiefenbach: This letter requests approval for alternative compliance for the Hickory Warehouse project relative to the requirements of UDC 11-3A-19 “Structure and Site Design Standards”. Background: The Applicant has submitted materials for Certificate of Zoning Compliance approval for the Hickory Warehouse project, a 206,996-sf building to be constructed on a 9.877-ac parcel at 1135 N. Hickory Ave. The parcel is zoned “I-L”. The building will contain predominantly warehouse space and can be demised into multiple tenants. The truck loading dock area of the building is oriented on the western façade so the building mass screens the docks from the adjacent public streets (Hickory Ave to the east and State Ave to the south). To provide flexibility to accommodate varying tenant needs, opportunities for office space with building entries are located at several points around the east and south sides of the building, oriented to the public streets. Passenger vehicle parking is proposed near these building entries, but also along the north perimeter of the property. Reducing the amount of parking on the south and east (public street sides) of the building and relocating this parking to the north or west would cause it to be impractically far away from the office areas of the building, where most people arriving to the building will enter. The walking distance from the northwest corner of the site to an office entry on the building’s southeast corner is nearly 1,100-ft. Standards: Per UDC 11-3A-19 “Structure and Site Design Standards”, for properties greater than 2-ac in size, no more than fifty percent (50%) of the total off street parking area for the site shall be located between building facades and abutting streets. Alternative Compliance can be considered if “2) strict adherence to such standards would create inconsistency in the design objectives of the proposed development”, in which case the Director may consider an alternative design proposal through the alternative compliance provisions in section 11-5B-5. Page 2 of 2 Per UDC 11-5B-5, the Alternative Compliance provisions provide for alternative means to meet the intended purposes of certain design regulations when compliance is not feasible or the alternative means are superior to what is required. The Director’s approval of alternative compliance is appropriate when the overall design proposed by the Applicant meets or exceeds the requirements and is not detrimental to public health, safety, and welfare. UDC 11-5B-5 also requires that requests for Alternative Compliance be predicated on conditions where “Safety considerations make alternative compliance desirable.” Request for Alternative Compliance: We request the Director’s approval of Alternative Compliance regarding the requirements of UDC 11-3A- 19, specifically to permit the Hickory Warehouse to locate more than fifty percent (50%) of the total off street parking between the building facades and Hickory Ave or State Ave. Specifically, the project proposes 235 total off-street vehicle spaces with 182 (77%) located between the building and street. We encourage the Director to approve this request on the basis of three factors: 1. The proposed building orientation is appropriate by locating the truck docks on the west, away from the public streets. This provides opportunities on the street sides for office space, enhances wayfinding, greatly improves the architectural appeal from the public street, and allows for greater landscaping. 2. The passenger vehicle parking areas are properly located to be convenient to the office areas of the building where most visitors are expected to enter the building. Redistributing parking to the north or west edges of the site so that no more than 50% of the parking is along the streets would require placing 65 of the 182 vehicles much farther from the building entries. As noted above, some parking would be as far as 1,100-ft from the building entry on the southeast corner. 3. The placement of passenger vehicle parking away from the truck loading is safer. Co-locating parking with truck traffic increases the likelihood of collisions between vehicles. Further, parking too near truck areas can result in pedestrians traversing truck areas when walking from their vehicles to the building. As proposed, the orientation of truck and passenger vehicle parking in separate areas enhances public safety. The proposed project design, as described in the context of these three factors, is superior to what is required by UDC 11-3A-19, and is not detrimental to public health, safety or welfare. Thank you for your attention to this application. Should you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email (jason@thelandgroupinc.com) or phone at 208-803-1930. Sincerely, Jason Densmer, PE, Principal The Land Group, Inc.