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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-04-26 MinutesMINUTES OF A PLAT REVIEW COMMITihh MEETING The Plat Review Committee of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas, met at 9:00 A.M., Thursday, April 26, 1979, in the Directors Room, City Administration Building, Fayetteville, Arkansas. CITY REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT: City Manager Don Grimes, Inspection Superintendent Harold Lieberenz, Sanitation Superintendent Wallace Brt, Fire Inspector Larry Poage, City Engineer Don Bunn, Planning Administrator Bobbie Jones. UTILITY REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT: John Kehn (Arkansas Western Gas); L. 0. Ferguson (Warner Cable), Dick Shaw (Southwestern Bell Telephone). DEVELOPERS AND CONTRACTORS PRESENT: James L. Herrin (First National Bank), Joe Brennan (Joe Brennan Construction Company), Leo Heckathorn (Joe Brennan Construction Company). The only item for discussion at this meeting was the proposed construction plans of First National Bank to erect a new building on Lots 7 thru 13, Blcok 28, Original Town Plan, which encompasses the entire East side of the Square extending to Center Street on the North, Mountain Street on the South and to the alley between East Avenue and College Avenue on the East. Mr. James L. Herrin was present on behalf of First National FIRST NATIONAL BANK Bank and Mr. Joe Brennan and Mr. Leo Heckathorn of Joe East side of Square Brennan Construction Company were present on behalf of the general contractor. Mr. Herrin informed the Committee that he was present at the suggestion of Harold Lieberenz to discuss the necessary fencing and walkway requirements around the construction site. He called attention to the 10 ft. alley running North-South along the East side of the site and another East-West alley running from the first mentioned alley to College Avenue. He said the construction should have no effect on the latter alley. He noted that the Continuing Education Center on the Northeast corner of East Avenue and Center Street would be under construction at the same time as the Bank and would probably continue construction for the same period of time. Mr. Herrin outlined tentative proposals for fences and walkways as follows: Center Street: A covered walkway will be needed on Center Street. Since that street is narrow and serves as a main feeder onto the Square, and also is a one-way street, one driving lane might be sufficient; however two -driving lanes would be more desirable. He proposed that the Bank and the Continuing Education Center cooperate in the construction of one covered walkway down Center Street with the side of the street it would be on indefinite. He said he understood that the Codes permitted them to take up to one-third of the street, from the curb outward; and if both construction projects did that, it would leave only one driving lane. Depending on where the 4 -foot covered walkway was located, the Bank might only need to block off the parking lanes on the South side of the. street. East Avenue: The Codes call for an uncovered walkway. He said they have studied the traffic flow and volumes up and down Center Street and have noted that most of the people coming West up Center Street either go to the Old Post Office Restaurant or to the North side of the Square. Since J. C. Penny's has vacated the South side of the Square, foot traffic of • • • Plat Review Committee April 26, 1979 -2- of people walking up Center and turning South on East Avenue is not very great. They plan to request permission to erect only a fence instead of a walkway. Mountain Street: The Codes call for a walkway; however, they would like to just put up a fence without a walkway and direct the people to the South side of the Street as much as possible. He said the number of pedestrians using Mountain Street is less than the number using Center Street. The North-South Alley: The Codes require the Bank to erect a 6 -foot high, solid board fence down the entire length of the alley. The alley is only 10 feet wide. There are some power and telephone poles in the area, but Mr. Herrin did not know whether they were actually in the alley or on private property. If they are required to put up the fence, it would be right on the West line of the alley and would seriously affect access for fire control, sanitation services, and commercial deliveries to the businesses of XcRoy-McNair and the Redbird Cafe, according to Mr. Herrin. Mr. Herrin proposed that instead of putting up the solid board fence, they be permitted to close the alley and block it off at each end during construction, except for traffic coming into and out of the site. He cited those needing access to the alley as: Fire Department, Sanitation Department, Police Department, McRoy-McNair, and a few other businesses that need access into the alley. He said they would have some materials and supplies stored on the site during construction which they would need to protect; but promised that the full 10 feet of the alley, plus some space for maneuvering, would be kept clear. Mr. Herrin said he has talked to McRoy-McNair and the Redbird Cafe and they have both agreed to his proposal so long as McRoy-McNair can get into their parking for their employees behind their building and so long as Redbird's sanitation service will not be disrupted. The customers for these two firms use street - side parking. Other comments were as follows: 1. Harold Lieberenz (Inspection Superintendent): The Bank may take this to the Building Board of Appeals which has the power to vary any and all of the Code requirements if they see fit to do so. Mr. Lieberenz requested that each one present respond as to how the various proposals would affect their particular operations. The Bank has appealed to the Board of Appeals and the hearing will be held Wednesday, May 2, at 4:00 P.M. Anyone who wishes to attend that meeting may do so. He said the Board might permit them to just close the alley to the general public, but leave it open to others who must use it for deliveries and such. The Board may require the Bank to construct a fence between the alley and the building site, or they may delete the fence requirement entirely. He requested comments regarding the proposals, not only for the alley, but for the abutting streets as well. 2. Wallace Brt (Sanitation Superintendent): Mr. Brt said he was concerned only with the alley, but thought he would have the greatest problem of anyone present. Mr. Brt suggested blocking off the North end of the alley completely. He said he would agree to them putting up a gate or a cable across the South end of the alley and locking that during the hours that construction was not in progress if they would provide him with a key to the lock so he could get a truck in the alley around 6:00 A.M. to empty the trash container. The driver • Plat Review Committee April 26, 1979 -3- could either relock the gate or cable, or he could leave it open as they wished. He said the container is located on the East side of the North-South alley and on the South side of the East-West alley, so he will need to travel only from Mountain Street as far as the East-West alley. He will need a 40 ft. by 40 ft. space to the West of the container in order to turn the truck around and exit back onto Mountain Street. He did not object to a solid board fence between Center Street and the East-West alley, but said it would be impossible to empty the container with a fence between Mountain Street and the East-West alley. He said the container is used by both McRoy-McNair and the Redbird Cafe and he did not know whether or not McRoy-McNair would agree to having the container moved down by the intersection of the North-South alley and Mountain Street. He said the container belongs to McRoy-McNair. Mr. Herrin and Mr. Brennan indicated they could leave the 40 ft. by 40 ft. area West of the container clear for the Sanitation truck since they would need a "staging area" for themselves. 3. Larry Poage (Fire Inspector): Mr. Poage said the Bank appears to have considered any problems the Fire Department might have. He stressed the following points: (a) The fire hydrants on the intersection of Mountain and East Avenue and on the intersection of Mountain and the alley must be kept accessible from the streets at all times. (b) Blocking the North end of the alley would be acceptable, but the South end would then have to be kept open, because they need access to the rear of the existing buildings along the East-West alley in case of fire. (c) McRoy-McNair+s building has an exit out the back and into the alley. That is a required exit, and they must be able to exit that door and escape through the alley. Do not block the alley so that we cannot get into it at any time. Mr. Poage asked what they proposed to have on the South end of the alley. Mr. Herrin said they would have a cable with a lock on it and would furnish the Fire Department with a key. Mr. Poage cautioned that the lock should not be one which cannot be cut with a bolt cutter, as the truck would have a bolt cutter on it, but might not have the key. He pointed out that some locks cannot be cut with a bolt cutter. Mr. Poage said he saw no reason why they would have to drive the full length of the North-South alley, because they would have more than one fire- fighting apparatus in the area and would fight fire from both the alley and from the street. Mr. Poage said that having a wall down the West side of the alley would hamper the operation of the Fire Department because they might have to get their fire stream or squirt truck in there. Don Grimes questioned whether it might be possible to construct the wall across the North end of the alley so that a fire truck could crash through it if need be. Mr. Herrin asked about putting up a gate there also and giving the Fire Department a key. Mr. Poage said he thought the reasoning of the Code for a wall was to protect pedestrians. He stated that he thought there was more likelihood of an accident or fire requiring emergency access during construction than under normal circum- stances. He also mentioned that a solid board fence would contribute to the spread of fire, should one occur. He said if they could get emergency access from the alley onto Center Street, it would make it possible for the Fire Department to lay lines down the alley to fight a fire. 4. Don Bunn (City Engineer): There is an 8 inch line for water along East Avenue with a "T" off it and there should be a tap behind the sidewalk. • • Plat Review Committee April 26, 1979 -4- We can locate it for you. There is also a 6 inch water line at the fire hydrant on the Southeast corner of your site and there is a "T" off another 6 inch water line near your Northeast corner on Center Street. The Bank may have to move the fire hydrant near the intersection of the alley with Mountain Street because of the stairway shown on the plans. It could be moved just to the West a little. The water line runs up the North-South alley almost to Center Street. We have a meter in there somewhere that serves McRoy-McNair and we will need access to that meter in order to read it. That is the only meter back there that Don Osburn mentioned to me. Mr. Bunn said if there was a meter in the alley which had served the drug store or Hunt's, then it would need to be "killed" if it had not already been done so. Mr. Bunn said there is also a sewer line going up the North-South alley and he did not anticipate it giving his department any trouble, but the chance existed they might have to get in there to work on it. Mr. Bunn asked to see a copy of the building plans for the proposed water service. He needs to know the size of meter they will require. Mr. Bunn said he would give them some standards for the meter boxes and pit. He stated that "domestic" service would be separate from the fire service line. 5. John Kehn (Arkansas Western Gas): We have an 8 -inch, wrapped gas line in the North-South alley, near the West edge of the alley. It has been about 10 years since it was put in, but Mr. Kehn said he thought the scars from the cut might still be visible. He said if the services to the drug store and Hunt's had not already been "killed", it should be done soon. Once those services are killed, the Gas Company would not need access back into the alley until the Bank required service, unless the line should be broken or if something happens on the Continuing Education Center to require them to get into the alley. 6. Dick Shaw (Southwestern Bell Telephone): We have aerial cable on the pole line in the alley. Between two and four months from now, we will be taking our cable between Center Street and the East-West alley down and putting it underground. We will serve the Redbird from that point with a service line. We don't have anything in the North-South alley between Mountain Street and the East-West alley. We will have to get some heavy equipment in there to bury that line. If the West side of the alley is fenced, 10 ft. will make it tight for us to get backhoes in there to work. The poles that belong to the Telephone Company will be removed by the Telephone Company if there is no one else left on them when the cable is buried, or they will be abandoned to SWEPCO and the last one off the poles will remove them. Mr. Shaw said they would have about a 4 ft. wide ditch to work in and asked Mr. Grimes if there were any plans to resurface the alley. Mr. Grimes said there are no plans at present, so the cut would have to be repaired. Mr. Shaw said that after the telephone cable is buried, they would not need back into the alley until the Bank needed service. 7. L. 0. Ferguson (Warner Cable): We have an overhead line in the alley that serves the Mountain Inn Hotel. Whatever SWEPCO does with their service, we will do the same with ours. If they go underground, so will we. 8. Bobbie Jones (Planning Administrator): Mrs. Jones said her main concern is how they will furnish parking to meet the Zoning Ordinance requirement. Basically it requires one space for every 300 sq. ft. of floor space for offices. She said she had not checked the recent set of plans, but had • Plat Review Committee April 26, 1979 -5- discussed the matter with the Bank's architect sometime last year. If the parking cannot be furnished on site, any off-site parking (on other parking lots or in the proposed parking garage) must be approved by the City Planning Commission. A written application must be submitted for this in the form of a letter and must outline where the spaces to be counted are and how many there are. A waiver in the number of spaces required would have to be requested from the Board of Adjustment. The spaces which are shown on the plans as backing out into the alley would also have to be approved by the Board of Adjustment, as this does not conform to the Zoning Ordinance. 9. Don Grimes (City Manager): We do not want any holes drilled into the street pavement in connection with putting up the fences or walls. The sidewalk along East Avenue which will be damaged during construction is to be replaced with the same type material there now (exposed aggregate). In constructing your walkways, you are to leave all fire hydrants accessible from the street. On Center Street Mr. Grimes suggested that they estimate which side of the street carries the most pedestrian traffic and build the walkway on that side of the street, then leave ane, good, wide driving lane open. On East Avenue Mr. Grimes stated he felt that they should leave one, good, wide driving lane open and also leave the street -side parking on the West side of the street, then they could come on out into the East side of the street. Mr. Grimes asked Mr. Lieberenz if the contractor could put up a solid wall on the inside along East Avenue and just have an open fence between the wall and the traffic. Mr. Lieberenz said they plan to ask the Board of Appeals to eliminate the requirement for a walkway along East Avenue. Mr. Lieberenz noted that he had previously advised the Bank that they could only block off the pedestrian island along East Avenue. Mr. Grimes indicated he did not object if they got on out into the street itself so long as there was one good driving lane and the parking on the West side of the street. Mr. Grimes also indicated he thought Mountain Street could be restricted to one good driving lane, and keep the parking and sidewalk on the South side of the street open. Nr. Herrin stated that Mr. Lieberenz's letter had suggested putting up chain link fencing at the street intersections so that people could see through them and not have a blind corner. Mr. Shaw told Mr. Herrin that for a construction phone it might be necessary to set a temporary pole on the Bank's property and bring the service out from behind McRoy-McNair. Mr. Lieberenz asked how the contractor expected to receive his deliveries of materials. Mr. Heckathorn and Mr. Brennan said that on another recent project in the area the trucks had come up Center Street from College Avenue. Having only one driving lane might create a problem here. The question was raised as to whether or not they might be able to block off both ends of Mountain Street, put a flagman at the ends of it, and route the delivery trucks up Mountain Street from College Avenue. Mr. Grimes suggested they contact the Police Chief before doing this, and indicated it might be permissible on an occasional, temporary basis, but that they should get the Police Department approval each time. Floyd Hornaday (SWEPCO) was not present at the meeting but discussed the matter with the Planning Office later and submitted the following comments: SWEPCO does plan to place their facilities underground in that alley, but the poles • • Plat Review Committee April 26, 1979 -6- will have to remain in the alley for another 2 or 3 months at least. We would have to have some way of getting access into the alley on a 24 hour basis in case of an emergency. We would have to know who had a key to the lock, if it is locked, and how we could reach them at any time of the day or night. Mr. Hornaday said they also have bolt cutters, but that some locks are made of tempered steel and cannot be cut with bolt cutters. The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 A.M.