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PZ - Narrative Updated October 12, 2021 City of Meridian Planning Division 33. E. Broadway Ave. Suite 102 Meridian, Idaho 83642 Dear Planning Staff, Planning and Zoning Commissioners, Mayor and Council Members: AT Industrial and Sawtooth Development (the “Developer”) is pleased to present Black Cat Business center, a modern industrial business complex located north of I-84 and west of Black Cat Road. The property proposed for annexation includes four parcels of land directly west of Black Cat Road encompassing approximately 121 acres (parcel numbers S1216131860, S1216142100, S1216417365, S1216417240) (the “Development Site”), and one parcel east of Black Cat Road, which is approximately 1 acre (parcel number S1215223300) (the “Residence Site”). Concept Site Plan City of Meridian October 11, 2021 Page 2 INTRODUCTION Applications for this project include a request for annexation and initial zoning. Black Cat Business Center will provide much needed industrial business space to support and complement the commercial and residential uses planned within the Ten Mile Interchange Specific Area Plan (“TMISAP”), as well as to help meet the demand for industrial space by new and expanding businesses in the greater Treasure Valley region. Currently, the vacancy rate in Meridian for industrial and flex uses is below one percent (1%). Meridian is in danger of losing current and future business and employment opportunities if the City is not able to offer this type of product. We are currently in discussions with a number of future tenants including existing businesses in Meridian and business that would be new to Meridian, who will add value and jobs to the City if this project is approved. Project Location The annexation property is zoned RUT (rural-urban transition) in the County, is adjacent to the City of Meridian (“City”) city limits, and is within the City Area of Impact. The Developer requests the property be annexed into Meridian, the Development Site be zoned I-L, and the Residence Site be zoned R-15. City of Meridian October 11, 2021 Page 3 DEVELOPMENT SITE The Development Site is approximately 121.06 acres. In accordance with the TMISAP and Meridian’s Future Land Use Map (“FLUM”), we request that this site be zoned I-L. Building sizes and locations will evolve as necessary to meet the needs of future tenants, as well as those tenants currently working with the Applicant. We propose a multi-building, multi-phase project that includes a new collector road bisecting the property from east to west, a new collector road on the western edge of the development that will eventually connect to Franklin Road, a central outdoor gathering area, a network of walking paths connecting neighboring properties via improvements throughout our business center, and extensive drought tolerant landscaping (the “Project”). A conceptual site plan and elevations are attached, along with a phasing plan and building height exhibit. Concept Plan – Aerial Looking Northwest As a modern industrial business center, Black Cat Business center provides flex and light industrial uses in scalable buildings. The TMISAP provides that Mixed Employment areas should provide a variety of flexible sites for small businesses as well as large national or regional enterprises. TMISAP, p3-11. This Project does exactly that – it includes several flex incubator buildings along Black Cat Road, and larger double and single loaded light-industrial buildings throughout the rest of the Development Site. The smaller incubator buildings can be demised into spaces as small as 2500 square feet, and the larger industrial buildings can be divided into spaces as small as 18,000 square feet. We are already in discussions to develop ~350,000 square feet in multiple buildings upon project approval, which could include up to 500 jobs. The north-east corner of the Development Site has been set aside for a potential future fire/emergency services station. Chief Blume has expressed interest in having a fire station on this site and we are continuing discussions with Chief Blume and Joe Bongiorno to help make this happen. City of Meridian October 11, 2021 Page 4 Concept Plan – Single Loaded Industrial Building E RESIDENCE SITE The Residence Site, located at 350 S. Black Cat Road, is approximately 1 acre and includes a residence. The FLUM and TMISAP depict this parcel as Medium High Density Residential and, in accordance with that designation, we request the Residence Site be zoned R-15, which matches the R-15 zoning of the property directly to the north and east of the Residence Site. As discussed with planning staff, we request that this parcel be annexed with a separate development agreement so that the future development of this parcel not be tied to the larger Development Site. ANNEXATION AND ZONING CRITERIA As discussed below, Black Cat Business center meets all of the criteria that the City evaluates in determining whether to grant a requested annexation and zoning application: 1) the zoning complies with the applicable provisions of the comprehensive plan; 2) the zoning complies with the regulations outlined for the proposed district, specifically the purpose statement; 3) the zoning is not materially detrimental to the public health, safety, and welfare; and 4) the zoning does not result in an adverse impact upon the delivery of services by any political subdivision providing public services within the city including, but not limited to, school districts. FUTURE LAND USE MAP Both the FLUM and TMISAP support I-L zoning for the Project. The majority of the Project is designated Mixed Employment within the TMISAP, and a smaller portion of the Development Site is designated Low-Density Employment. Because the predominate designation is Mixed Employment, it is appropriate to apply Mixed Employment to the entire Development Site. The Comprehensive Plan states: City of Meridian October 11, 2021 Page 5 Future Land Use designations are not parcel specific. An adjacent, abutting designation, when appropriate and approved as part of a public hearing with a land development application, may be used. A designation may not be used however, across planned or existing collector or arterial roadways, must not be used on a parcel not directly abutting the designation, and may not apply to more than 50% of the land being developed. (3-9.) Within the Mixed Employment land use designation, the City’s industrial zones (I-L and I- H) are appropriate. I-L zoning is also appropriate in the Low Density Employment designation. As shown on the maps below, surrounding property uses and zoning supports I-L zoning here: · Property to the north is designated Mixed Employment and Low Density Employment on the TMISAP and is zoned RUT and M1 in Ada County; · Property to the west is designated Industrial on the TMISAP and is zoned RUT in Ada County; · To the south is I-84; and · To the east to Black Cat Road; property across Black Cat Road is designated Medium-High Density Residential and Mixed Employment on the TMISAP and zoned RUT in Ada County. City of Meridian October 11, 2021 Page 6 Future Land Use Current Zoning PROPOSED DISTRICT REGULATIONS The purpose of the Light Industrial District (I-L) is to provide for convenient employment centers of light manufacturing, research and development, warehousing and distributing. In accord with the Meridian Comprehensive Plan, the I-L district is intended to encourage the development of industrial uses that are clean, quiet and free of hazardous or objectionable elements and that are operated entirely, or almost entirely, within enclosed structures. Accessibility to transportation systems is a requirement of this district. UDC § 11-2C-1. Black Cat Business center provides in demand manufacturing, heavier office build-out, flex industrial and accessory retail, warehousing and distributing facilities in this region. The project is compatible with other uses in the general neighborhood and with the existing or future character of the general vicinity. The Project will not adversely change the essential character of the area as planned and provides a highly sought-after industrial business use along Interstate 84 while providing a buffer to future residential and other uses to the north and east of the Project. Views of the development from the north are minimized with a 50-foot landscape buffer. SERVICES Staff has confirmed that municipal services, including sewer, are available to the Project. This development will not adversely affect any local governmental services. The applicant has started discussions with City staff about dedicating the north-east corner of the Development Site to the City for fire/emergency services purposes. City of Meridian October 11, 2021 Page 7 Concept Plan – Aerial Looking Southeast COMPLIANCE WITH TMISAP GOALS Black Cat Business center demonstrates the vision and goals of the Ten Mile Interchange Specific Area Plan (TMISAP). As a modern business center, it is designed with a central gathering space where employees can meet and eat lunch, all in a way that is compatible with its underlying use. The land use element of the TMISAP is designed, in part, to “provide for industrial opportunities in consideration of future improvements to Highway 16,” and to “capture the full economic advantage of the Ten Mile interchange to enhance the long-term fiscal health of the City of Meridian and the Treasure Valley. TMISAP, p. 3-3. Black Cat Business center helps to attain these related goals. The new collector road bisecting the Development Site will connect to McDermott Road/Highway 16 upon development of the adjacent property to the west, providing easy freight access to the Project. The Development Site provides an ideal location for local and regional manufacturing and production business, which in turn provide the jobs and goods and services upon which Meridian residents rely. The TMISAP explains, “Industrial demand is strong throughout the Valley” TMISAP, p. 5-4. The purpose of the Mixed Employment designation is to encourage a diversity of compatible land uses that may include a mixture of office, research and specialized employment areas, light industrial including manufacturing and assembly, and other miscellaneous uses. Mixed employment areas should provide a variety of flexible sites for small, local or start-up businesses as well as sites for large national or regional enterprises. TMISAP, p. 3-11. This is exactly what we propose – flex and light industrial business uses in scalable buildings that can suit the particular business needs and size of users. The variety of building sizes and scalable design we propose will provide the ready-to-occupy space that employers are actively seeking to create jobs in Meridian and will allow smaller entrepreneurial businesses to grow and expand within the same building. City of Meridian October 11, 2021 Page 8 Fronting Black Cat Road, the Project includes several flex incubator buildings with an office component. The rest of the site will consist of larger, double-loaded and single-loaded light- industrial buildings that are highly demisable to allow for maximum flexibility for future tenant changing needs. Concept Plan – Flex Building L3 Black Cat Business center stands ready to attract employers with high-paying jobs in industrial development. By providing as-built and build-to-suit sites, employers can immediately begin operating their businesses in Meridian in a highly-desirable and convenient location. The larger buildings can be demised into spaces as small as 18,000 square feet, and the incubators can provide spaces as small as 2500 square feet. We are already in discussions with tenants to develop ~350,000 square feet of space upon project approval. As shown below, Meridian has less than a 1 percent vacancy rate for industrial business uses, and the Treasure Valley as a whole lags behind its peer markets. Not only does this Project help attain the economic goals of the TMISAP, it also incorporates the design principles of the TMISAP, despite many of the elements not being required within the Mixed Employment designation of the TMISAP (3-49). Black Cat Business center includes a central outdoor space that serves as a gathering stop for the Project. This large space can accommodate food trucks, bocci ball and other outdoor games, and will be landscaped with water-conscious landscaping. City of Meridian October 11, 2021 Page 9 “Mixed Employment areas should be designed to encourage multimodal travel and convenient circulation to supporting uses located within the area. This would include multiple access points to help disperse traffic, and a complete system of streets, sidewalks and pedestrian and bicycle paths to provide circulation within the area and connections to the surrounding roadway, pedestrian and trail systems.” TMISAP (3-11). The Project includes a network of walking paths and the southern border includes a pathway in accordance with Meridian’s Pathway Master Plan. The Project also includes new collector roads in accordance with TMISAP 3-16, connecting Black Cat to the east with new future new development to the west and a new collector road that will eventually connect the west side of the Development Site to Franklin Road. We will improve our collector road to include bike lanes if desired by staff. The buildings include a Base, Body and Top (3-50) are 1 or 2 stories in use (3-50) (consistent with the 1-4 stories called for in the TMISAP, 3-50), and they vary in height even greater than typical 1-2 story buildings. “Service entries and loading docks are located on secondary and tertiary streets and screened from public view” TMISAP (1-3). Except for the smaller flex buildings along Black Cat Road, the buildings will be oriented north-south, and screen walls and landscaping will minimize views of loading docks. The Project also includes large setbacks to minimize its effects on neighboring properties. As shown in our concept site plan, we propose several flex incubator buildings along Black Cat. These flex buildings are smaller in size, tend to have increased office build-out, and will have on-grade garage doors between buildings and screened from Black Cat with landscaping. These buildings will meet all the TMISAP 3-50 design guidelines for mixed employment areas: - Placement: small setbacks, 0% parking on the front - Height: 1-2 stories - Vertical Rhythm: Base, body, top differentiated with color variation and architectural details - Frontage: 20% glazing and single plane wall max distance is less than building height. While we strive to meet the majority of the TMISAP 3-50 design guidelines on the larger single and double loaded industrial buildings, not all TMISAP design guidelines are appropriate or practical for this approved industrial zoning designation. City of Meridian October 11, 2021 Page 10 - Placement: The majority of these buildings (A, B, C, D, E, F, J) will have small setbacks, with only buildings G & H having larger setbacks with parking on the front. There is less than 30% parking on the front when evaluating all these buildings together. - Height: 1 story but can accommodate mezzanines. Building heights vary from 38-48’as shown in the graphic above, so will appear more like 2-4 story buildings. - Vertical Rhythm: Base, body, top differentiated with color variation and concrete score lines - Frontage: o Due to security and visibility concerns, the light industrial use of the buildings does not support windows across the entire frontage, however we propose enhanced glazing at corner entry elements as shown in the renderings. o To minimize the max distance of single plane walls on the wider double loaded buildings we have added additional entry elements between the corner entries. On the single plane wall, we are using a combination of color variation, concrete scorelines, and enhanced landscaping and planters to minimize the appearance of long blank walls. Fenestration is a secondary design consideration per 3-31 of the TMISAP guidelines, which expressly call for “more flexibility.” Given the strong demand for this type of product, we expect that the Project will reach full build-out in 8-10 years. Concept Phasing Plan COMPLIANCE WITH COMPREHENSIVE PLAN GOALS The requested I-L zone for the Development Site fulfills the City’s planning goals and objectives outlined in the TMISAP and the Comprehensive Plan. The majority of the Development Site is designated as Mixed Employment on the FLUM. The I-L zoning designation is supported by the TMISAP’s zoning compatibility matrix (2-7) and by the Comprehensive Plan (3-10). In areas City of Meridian October 11, 2021 Page 11 designated as Mixed Employment, the TMISAP (3-11) provides that buildings will range in height from 1-4 stories, and have total floor areas of 10,000-1,000,000 square feet, and our proposed development falls within these recommendations. The buildings are divisible to 18,000 square feet, and incubator spaces may be as small as 2500 square feet. The buildings are designed to accommodate 2nd floors and/or mezzanine space to meet future tenant’s needs. Black Cat Business center also carries out the City’s Comprehensive Plan goals as follows: Section Comprehensive Plan Goal and Project Compliance 3.06.02D Plan for industrial areas with convenient access to state highways or the rail corridor, where appropriate. The development is conveniently located north of Interstate 84 on Black Cat Road. As the properties directly to the west develop, two new collector roads will connect this development with McDermott/Highway 16 to the west and Franklin Road to the north. It is also in close proximity to the future Highway 16/Interstate 84 interchange. 2.08.02 Pursue economic development opportunities with technology, healthcare, environmentally-friendly manufacturing, light industrial, and professional service industries. This development provides an in-demand light industrial business use within the City, which type of development currently has a less than 1 percent vacancy rate in Meridian. 2.09.03B Promote Ten Mile, Downtown, and The Village as centers of activity and growth. Black Cat Business center sits squarely within the TMISAP and provides much needed industrial business space within the area to support future businesses and jobs in this area, and to support the development of the region as a whole. 3.03.00 Direct and prioritize development in strategic areas and in accordance with corridor and special area plans. Black Cat Business center exemplifies the vision and goals of the TMISAP by providing a well-designed, interconnected industrial business center with convenient access to the federal and state highway systems. 3.07.02A Require pedestrian circulation plans to ensure safety and convenient access across large commercial and mixed-use developments. As depicted on the Meridian Pathway Map, this project will increase the overall livability and sustainability of the surrounding area by providing a network of walking paths throughout the site with connections to the surrounding properties/communities. 3.07.01A Require all new development to create a site design compatible with surrounding uses through buffering, screening, transitional densities, and other best site design practices. City of Meridian October 11, 2021 Page 12 Light-industrial is an appropriate use of this site. It is appropriately situated along Interstate 84 with close, convenient access to Black Cat and future access to Highway 16/McDermott Road. The development includes a 50- foot landscape buffer on its northern boundary to screen properties to the north, as well as a 25-foot buffer between the development and Black Cat Road. The buildings are set back 25-50 feet from the property boundaries, providing an even greater buffer between the more intense use and less intense uses to the north. Smaller flex incubator buildings are located along Black Cat to help transition from the residential zone across Black Cat to the larger industrial buildings on the west side of the site. 4.04.01A Ensure that new development and subdivision connect to the pathway system. Black Cat Business center provides a pathway along its southern boundary, which will connect to future development in this area. 5.01.02G Require attractive landscaping and pedestrian friendly design within new developments. In addition to the significant landscaping proposed for this project and the southern pathway, this industrial business development also includes a large, open space, ideally situated for customers, employees and neighbors to eat lunch from a food truck and gather with each other. 6.01.01H Require pedestrian access connectors in all new development to link subdivisions together and to promote neighborhood connectivity as part of a community pathway system. As mentioned above, this development includes a pathway along its southern border to connect with future pathways. It also includes sidewalks along Black Cat and the new collector roads. CONCLUSION Thank you for your consideration of this annexation and zoning application for the Black Cat Business center. The proposed development is consistent with the proposed I-L zoning, the City’s TMISAP, the Comprehensive Plan, and applicable criteria in City Code. We are excited to bring this quality industrial business development to a great site in Meridian.