HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-02-27 - MinutesMINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE
SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE
A regular meeting of the City of Fayetteville Subdivision Committee was held on Thursday,
February 27, 2003 at 8:30 a.m. in Room 111 of the City Administration Building, 113 W.
Mountain, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
ITEMS CONSIDERED ACTION TAKEN
LSP 03-11.00: Lot Split (Sullivan, pp 401) Approved
Page 2
LSP 03-10.00: Lot Split
(SFCDC, pp 524)
Page 4
Approved
LSP 03-13.00: Lot Split (Fayetteville Hotel, LLC, pp 174) Approved
Page 7
LSD 03-7.00: Large Scale Development
(Marriott Courtyard, pp 174)
Page 8
LSD 03-8.00: Large Scale Development
(Ruby Tuesday, pp 588)
Page 14
Forwarded to Planning Commission
Forwarded to Planning Commission
PPL 03-2.00: Preliminary Plat (Salem Heights, pp 284) Forwarded to Planning Commission
Page 20
LSD 02-29.00: Large Scale Development
(Sequoyah Commons, pp 485)
Page 28
Discussion of Cliffs Redesign of Parking Lot
Page 45
MEMBERS PRESENT
Lee Ward
Sharon Hoover
Don Bunch
STAFF PRESENT
Kim Hesse
Rebecca Turner
Sara Edwards
Matt Casey
Renee Thomas
Tim Conklin
Forwarded to Planning Commission
MEMBERSABSENT
STAFF ABSENT
Fire Department
Solid Waste
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 2
LSP 03-11.00: Lot Split (Sullivan, pp 401) was submitted by Brandon Sullivan for property
located at 1334 & 1336 N. Salem Road. The property is zoned R-2, Medium Density Residential
and contains approximately 0.45 acres. The request is to split into two tracts of 0.25 acres and
0.20 acres.
Ward:
Welcome to the Subdivision Committee meeting of Thursday, February 27, 2003.
We had ten items on the agenda and a couple of them have been removed from
the agenda. If you are here for those particular items I will go ahead and bring
those up now and kind of tell you what we have on the agenda. The first item is a
Lot Split for Stratton has been removed. The next item that has been removed is a
Preliminary Plat for Persimmon Place. Are there any other changes to this agenda
Sara?
Edwards: No there are not.
Ward: With that, I will go ahead and start with item number one that we have which is
now number two, LSP 03-11.00 submitted by Brandon Sullivan for property
located at 1334 and 1336 N. Salem Road. The property is zoned R-2, Medium
Density Residential and contains approximately .45 acres. The request is to split
into two tracts of .25 acres and .20 acres. Sara?
Edwards: What you have here is a lot that has two frontages. The part along Salem has an
existing duplex and the proposal is to split the property and construct another
duplex on the portion fronting on Colorado Street. Everything is in as far as
water, sewer, and streets. There is some additional right of way being dedicated
for Salem Road, it is 35' from centerline because that is a collector. We are
recommending approval at this level with only some standard conditions of
approval.
Ward:
Casey:
Ward:
Edwards:
Ward:
Casey:
Ward:
Ok, thanks. I will start with Matt with Engineering. Are there any engineering
concerns on this particular lot split?
No Sir. They have got access to water and sewer on both streets.
I noticed on the plat that there is a 25' building setback that runs through the front
porch of the existing building, is that something that is normal on Salem Road?
What has happened is when Salem Road and this duplex were constructed the
Master Street Plan requirement was not the 35' from centerline so when we get
that right of way dedication it pushes that setback back causing a little bit of a
violation there but it is an existing structure.
Thanks. Who is taking care of sidewalks today?
Sidewalks are existing out there and there are no sidewalks required at the time of
lot split.
Thanks. On parks fees we have a park fee of $786, is that right?
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 3
Turner: Yes Sir.
Ward: We don't have to address the landscaping on this particular lot split?
Edwards: Not for lot splits.
Ward: Is there any public comment on this particular issue? Seeing none, I will close it
to the public and bring it back to the Commissioners.
Bunch: Matt, on the drawing on the Salem Road side it shows sewer but it doesn't show
water. That was one of the questions I had. I just didn't know where the existing
structure got it's water whether it came from Colorado or Salem.
Casey: If you look at the northwest corner of the property you can see the location of the
meters. It is coming across Salem.
Bunch: Ok, thank you.
Ward: Are there any other concerns or motions?
Hoover: I will make a motion that we approve LSP 03-11.00.
Bunch: I will second.
Ward: I will concur.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 4
LSP 03-10.00: Lot Split (South Fayetteville Community Development Corp., pp 524) was
submitted by Milholland Company on behalf of South Fayetteville Community Development
Corp. for property located at the northeast corner of Washington Avenue and 6th Street. The
property is zoned R-2, Medium Density Residential and contains approximately 0.384 acres.
The request is to split into two tracts of 0.176 acres and 0.208 acres
Ward:
The next item on our agenda is LSP 03-10.00 for the South Fayetteville
Community Development Corporation submitted by Milholland Company on
behalf of South Fayetteville Community Development Corporation for property
located on the northeast corner of Washington Avenue and 6th Street. The
property is zoned R-2, Medium Density Residential and contains approximately
.384 acres. The request is to split into two tracts of .176 acres and .208 acres.
Sara?
Edwards: Surrounding zoning on this is R-2 and P-1. There is existing water along 6th
Street. A new 6" sanitary sewer line needs to be extended to tract "A" to allow
sewer access. For the Master Street Plan, 6th Street is a historic collector, which
requires 25' from centerline to be dedicated and that is being dedicated. We are
recommending approval subject to some conditions. That is tract "A" has a
building setback of 25' required and there are 20' being shown on the rear
property line so that needs to be amended to 25'. The front setback along 6`h
Street for tract "B" should be 25' from the newly dedicated right of way line. The
third condition is although the dimension of the right of way from centerline
measures out to be 25' it is showing 15' so it is mislabeled there. The other
comments are standard conditions.
Ward: Thanks Sara. Matt, do you have any additional comments on this particular lot
split?
Casey: They are having to extend the sewer line to serve these tracts. There is an existing
sewer line up at the northwest corner but the elevation is such that they cannot get
into it. They will have to extend the line to be able to serve both of these lots.
Again, sidewalks are not required at the time of lot split.
Ward: Thanks Matt. Since this is a lot split I guess we don't have any concerns with the
landscaping right now. What about park fees?
Turner: Parks fees have been waived for this project.
Ward: At this time is there anyone that would like to make public comment on this
particular lot split item? Seeing none, I will close it to the public and I will bring
it back to the applicant.
Jefcoat: I am Tom Jefcoat with Milholland Company. We do recognize that the
dimension was mislabeled and will do the 25' setback in the back.
Ward: So all three of the conditions that we have addressed are things that you all can
take care of pretty easily?
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 5
Jefcoat: Right.
Ward: Ok, are there any other comments or questions?
Jefcoat: One thing that I would like to go on record and have said is that where we did the
setback from the encroachment on the other side, should that encroachment be
removed or that house torn down, or any modification, that building reverts back
to the old property line.
Edwards: What he is talking about is this adjacent lot labeled as lot 3 here where there is an
existing home which overlaps the property line. What we had them do is go
ahead and take an 8' setback off the garage of that structure so that we could still
have the separation of structures and in the event that that would be removed then
we would be willing to let them build up to the 8' setback line from the property
line.
Bunch: One thing I didn't understand is the condition for the setback on "A", the rear
setback is shown as 20' and it is supposed to be amended to 25', what about the
setback on B, is it the same situation?
Edwards: Tract "B" is a corner lot so you have two street frontages. You no longer have a
rear, you have to fronts and two sides so the rear setback required is 8' but there is
that 20' utility easement which becomes the setback.
Hoover: Just in general on their setbacks, I know we have it on our master work plan to
look at traditional neighborhood development setbacks because these look pretty
large to me. I was wondering if the adjacent buildings have this 25' setback.
Jefcoat: The 25' is just going to narrow it down a considerable amount from the north so I
don't know what Habitat is going to put on there.
Hoover: I was just advocating 20' or something like that.
Jefcoat: I would like to see it remain 20' and I'm sure they would too. I am not sure what
size structure they are going to put on there but that does narrow it down
considerably.
Ward: Sara, who is the South Fayetteville Community Development Corporation?
Edwards: Tom, maybe you can address that better than I.
Jefcoat: This is going to be a Habitat For Humanity project.
Ward: Ok, thank you.
Edwards: Sharon, to answer your question, we can look at surrounding properties and what
their setbacks are and if this would be consistent with other development they can
get a Variance.
Hoover: Ok, that is what I wanted to point out. There is that possibility.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 6
Ward: Are there any other comments or motions?
Bunch: What would be the procedure on acquiring that Variance? Would it have to come
back here or would it be done administratively?
Edwards: It goes to the Board of Adjustment.
Bunch: I move that we approve LSP 03-10.00 at the Subdivision Committee level subject
to the conditions as shown.
Hoover: I will second.
Ward: I will concur Thanks Tom.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 7
LSP 03-13.00: Lot Split (Fayetteville Hotel, LLC, pp 174) was submitted by James Koch of
CEI Engineering Associates, LLC on behalf of Mike Hoffman & Curtis Wegener of Fayetteville
Hotel, LLC for property located east of Mall Avenue and north of Van Asche Drive. The
property is zoned C-2, Thoroughfare Commercial and contains approximately 21.56 acres. The
request is to split into two tracts of 3.30 acres and 18.26 acres.
Ward:
The third item on the agenda this morning is LSP 03-13.00 for the Fayetteville
Hotel, LLC submitted by James Koch of CEI Engineering Associates on behalf of
Mike Hoffman and Curtis Wegener of Fayetteville Hotel, LLC for property
located east of Mall Avenue and north of Van Asche Drive. The property is
zoned C-2 and contains approximately 21.56 acres. The request is to split into
two tracts of 3.3 acres and 18.26 acres. Sara?
Edwards: This is the property just north of where the Olive Garden recently was constructed
and south of the deed restricted area of CMN. Water and sewer are both available
along Mall. Mall is a collector and adequate right of way already exists. We are
recommending approval with no conditions to discuss right now. They have met
all of our requirements at this time.
Ward: I noticed that we are showing 3.3 acres and 18.26 acres and the plat is showing
3.31 acres and 18.25 acres so there is a little discrepancy there.
Koch: We will take care of that.
Ward: Matt with Engineering?
Casey: No comments.
Ward: This is a commercial project so I assume there are no parks fees. Since this is just
a Lot Split at this point I will go ahead and open it up for public comment. Is
there anyone that would like to make public comment on this particular lot split?
Seeing none, I will close it to the public and bring it back to the committee. We
will get into the landscaping with the Large Scale Development. James, do you
have any comments on this particular item?
Koch: No Sir.
Ward: Are there any other questions, comments, or motions?
Bunch: I guess the main question I have that will probably come up under the Large Scale
Development has to do with the road between these two. I move that we approve
LSP 03-13.00 at the Subdivision Committee level.
Hoover: I will second.
Ward: I will concur.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 8
LSD 03-7.00: Large Scale Development (Marriott Courtyard, pp 174) was submitted by
James Koch of CEI Engineering Associates, LLC on behalf of Mike Hoffman & Curtis Wegener
of Fayetteville Hotel, LLC for property located east of Mall Avenue and north of Van Asche
Drive. The property is zoned C-2, Thoroughfare Commercial and contains approximately 3.30
acres with a 4 story, 113 room hotel proposed.
Ward:
The next item is LSD 03-7.00 for the Marriott Courtyard. This is property located
east of Mall Avenue, north of Van Asche Drive. The property is zoned C-2 and
contains approximately 3.3 acres with a four story 113 room hotel proposed.
Sara?
Edwards: What they are proposing is to build a private drive in between the Marriott and the
Olive Garden to the south. Along that private drive sidewalks are proposed to be
constructed on one side. They are requesting a 113 room hotel with 122 parking
spaces and that will accommodate meeting rooms as well. Right now the site is
vacant as is the rest of lot 17 with the exception of lot 17A where the Olive
Garden is. Tree preservation, existing is 9.03% and the proposed remaining is
9.03% as well. We are recommending that this be forwarded to the full Planning
Commission. There are several conditions that we have. The curb cut for this
development shall wind up with the curb cut proposed for Olive Garden. If you
remember when Olive Garden was approved there was a temporary curb cut
approved up where this private drive is with the knowledge that when this private
drive went in a new curb cut would be built for the. What we would be looking at
is either a curb cut for Olive Garden being offsite on the remainder of lot 17 or the
Marriott being able to relocate their curb cuts a little bit to the west to wind up
with that proposal for Olive Garden. They are requesting a waiver from the 5'
greenspace required between the parking lot and the eastern property line. The
property owner to the east is willing to grant a 5' greenspace easement and when
we get that easement in writing that can serve as their 5', it doesn't matter where
the property line is so we are in support of that variance. 3) Planning
Commissioner determination of compliance with Commercial Design Standards.
Right now their proposal is for a brick base on an E.I.F.S. building. You
should've got an elevation, which you have, which shows some pilasters on the
east and west elevation. Staff's recommendation at this time is that in order to
incorporate a common theme for lot 17 as a whole the Olive Garden has used
stone and we would like to recommend that in lieu of the brick that the Marriott
incorporate that same type of stone or at least try to incorporate a common theme
between the buildings which is a requirement under our Commercial Design
Standards §166.14.d.2.b which says a development which contains more one than
one building shall incorporate a reoccurring, unifying and identifiable theme for
the entire development and a development shall provide compatibility and
transition between adjoining developments. 4) The parking lot lighting shall be
full cut off sodium lighting fixtures not to exceed 35' in height. That is because it
is in the design overlay district. 5) All mechanical utility equipment and
dumpsters shall be screened. 6) That the private drive be constructed to meet
minimum street standards. They have provided a material sample board so you
can see what they are planning.
Ward: Matt with Engineering?
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 9
Casey:
Ward:
Koch:
They are providing the necessary water extensions to serve the facility and as Sara
mentioned, they are providing a private drive that must meet our minimum street
standards. They are also providing sidewalks on each side of that and there is an
existing sidewalk along Mall Avenue. I do want to point out that they are going
to have to meet all the requirements of the approved CMN storm water
management plan when the entire development was done, which is very involved
and extensive. That is something that our division is going to be holding them to
through the construction plans and when it goes to construction.
Why don't we talk a little bit about the private drive. I have kind of forgot now
why we have incorporated the private drive and what is the purpose of using a
private drive instead of a city street at this point.
My name is James Koch with CEI Engineering Associates representing
Fayetteville Hotels. The private drive is brought forth as a private drive because
we anticipate future development on the lot and in order to go ahead and do the
entire road at this point would limit the capability for development in the lot.
Whenever the next guy comes on board with a development on this particular lot
we plan on pursuing the complete design for Van Asche Drive. At this point we
just want to do a private drive, dead end, once we serve the Marriott site and the
Olive Garden site and come forward with the complete Van Asche Drive
extension with the next development on that particular lot.
Ward: Thanks James. Tim or Matt, is there any reason why we shouldn't be doing this?
Is there any negative to doing it this way?
Casey: None that I'm aware of. I would like to point out that the reason that we want to
make that private drive comply with our minimum street standards is to guarantee
that if it does become a public street that it meets our minimum standards.
Ward: Kim with landscaping?
Hesse: No additional comments.
Ward: Why don't you give us a quick overview of what has been done out there and a
little bit about the tree landscape easement and all that kind of stuff?
Hesse: Actually, the easements that are in there are the trail easement, the easement for
the wetlands. When we did this we had no requirements for tree easements. We
are just expecting them to preserve what they can of what was left. Basically they
are showing no removal with this development so they are keeping everything
that is there. We are encroaching a little bit but we will look at the construction of
this wall when it comes through for construction design and we will make sure
that they don't impede in that canopy area.
Ward: How tall is that wall?
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 10
Koch: To speak on the wall, we are planning on working with Steve Hatfield with Parks
and the guy that is doing the monitoring for the Corp. of Engineers on the site to
try and grade out our lot and marry the boundary of the trail easement with our
site and do away with our walls and still provide for a gentle slope that can be
maintained on the north side of our property.
Ward: Kim, on the type of trees and so on is that just something that is a consensus with
the developer and you all?
Hesse: As far as what is proposed for landscaping, yes. We will work that out when we
get to final construction plans. So far they look fine.
Ward: We addressed the sidewalks. The sidewalks along the private drive will be
installed as if it is a public street. At this time is there any public comment on this
particular item? Seeing none, I will close it to the public and I will bring it back
to the Commissioners. I think one thing we need to talk about is the Commercial
Design Standards and the type of materials. You have heard already a take from
our city that they would like to have some of the stone that was used on the Olive
Garden. Personally I am not sure that that is as important to me. Maybe the same
type of color scheme and so on but I'm not sure. Is this building going to have
elevators in it?
Kelso: Yes it will have elevators.
Ward: Ok. Why don't you go ahead and for the record show us what colors are going to
be used on this particular building the way you have proposed it right now.
Kelso: Of course these are the materials that are submitted to cavy this project. Some of
the colors on the elevations that I have don't truly reflect the materials submitted
here. I just feel like it is necessary for me to say that. The green is on the
awnings shown in this location on this elevation. This material is going to be
placed over the first floor. The height of the brick is the better part of 12' here
and the remainder of the building is proposed to be the E.I.F.S. material and then
of course these are the shingles that would be put on the roof of the structure
itself.
Ward:
Koch:
Trying to get a color design of what the Olive Garden is, to me the Olive Garden
is probably closer to this color right here with the river stone. If that becomes an
important item I guess we could make a determination of that at a later date.
I am not sure the source of the materials for what the Olive Garden used.
Certainly cost is a concern to our client. They have looked into doing some type
of native stone, I don't know if they found a source that was financially
acceptable to them. That is why we have the brick. It is a common brick.
Conklin: I am not sure if the stone on the Olive Garden is real.
Ward: It is manmade.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 11
Conklin: It is a manufactured stone, just so everybody understands that it wasn't shipped
over from Italy.
Bunch: Is the north elevation similar to the south elevation?
Koch: Yes Sir. The only difference between the two is that the advertisement is placed
on the south side of the building only. There is no Marriott Courtyard lighted
advertisement for the face on the north side of the building. There will be the
courtyard coming out of that first floor so that is going to have a different theme.
Hoover: I think you are going to have to have a north elevation because the footprint is not
the same on both sides.
Koch:
That is correct. What they are going to do with the courtyard is have an enclosed
area on the east and west side and this will remain open so that the hotel patrons
can see the trees and different elements on the north side of the site.
Hoover: Can you provide a north elevation for Planning Commission?
Koch: Sure, I will ask the architect for a north elevation.
Hoover: As far as the theme, which is always an issue that comes up on these. I don't see
that this needs to match the Olive Garden at all but then I try to think back when
requiring other developments to but I think especially if they have common walls
they should match. I am trying to think of reasons why you continue the theme
on and what we have done in the past. It is definitely when we have adjoining
walls but then I am thinking further down over here with Kohl's we have that pad
and continued the theme there which made sense.
Conklin: We did continue the theme with McAllister's and Party City up there also. Once
again, staff is trying to be consistent with what we have required other developers
to do. This is not directly adjacent to it within an overall shopping center but it is
across the street. Hopefully people can see that McAllister's and Party City have
some common design elements. The sunset red brick of Target and Kohl's
somewhat match fairly closely.
Hoover: Does the Olive Garden have some E.I.F.S. on it or is it all stone?
Edwards: It is all stone.
Conklin: They brought that to us, we didn't ask that.
Hoover: I guess we could've said to them that you have to be like Kohl's and do the red
brick and we could've continued.
Edwards: The only thought behind that is there is a lot between them. Our thinking was this
is all lot 17, do a theme there. Party City was all lot 2, a theme there. Kohl's and
Target.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 12
Hoover: Don't you think we need to redefine that in our ordinance?
Conklin- It is on our list for our work program including design standards and guidelines
which are much more detailed and require much more design from developers
than we have in the past.
Koch:
Our client for portions of the work in this area do have covenants for the property
in this subdivision so there is some criteria that they have set forward outside of
the scope of what the city requires.
Conklin: Has this been approved by the architectural review committee?
Koch:
Yes. They have looked at it. They have met and discussed things here. There
was a change made to the covenants and I am not sure if I have given the official
copy to the city yet.
Edwards: The change he is referring to is the covenants basically did not allow E.I.F.S.
walls, there was a percentage of 20% or something and they needed to amend
their covenants to allow for this quantity of E.I.F.S. to be used.
Ward: Before we send this on I think we need to make a consensus of what we expect
the developer to do.
Hoover: This with the north elevation.
Bunch: Would it be economically advantageous to use the brick instead of the manmade
stone is there any way you could fit in the color schemes to approximate some of
the color themes?
Koch:
My understanding to this point is that the building that we are looking at here is a
standard architectural approved element from the Marriott Courtyard and any
deviations to this would be outside of that standard. Some modifications could be
made without a major ordeal but they still have to approve it. Right now this is
their theme this year.
Bunch: It does have a certain amount of separation where the road is going to go in
between and the distance between this building and the Olive Garden, it is going
to be hard to carry a common theme with the massing. I think I will concur with
Commissioner Hoover, show us the north elevation and it looks reasonable.
Ward:
I assume that the brick color changed to match what Olive Garden put up in stone
would be a compromise. I am not sure if that is very important to me, it might be
to somebody else.
Hoover: I am going to make a motion that we forward LSD 03-7.00 to the full Planning
Commission subject to all of our comments.
Ward: Do I have a second?
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 13
Bunch: Before I do, can you explain to us why we are having another Marriott Courtyard
come before us? Did they decide to change locations? We have already gone
through the process with a Marriott Courtyard that hasn't been built yet.
Koch:
Bunch:
Ward:
I know that these guys have tried to do projects here and I believe that the
financing just was not attainable on previous attempts. We are pushing the
deadlines for getting things here at this point but it looks like that this one is going
to fly.
I will second.
I will concur. Thank you.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 14
LSD 03-8.00: Large Scale Development (Ruby Tuesday, pp 588) was submitted by Mark
Rickett of Rickett Engineering, Inc. on behalf of John Bruton of Ruby Tuesday for property
located north of Highway 62 and west of University Square Plaza. The property is zoned C-2,
Thoroughfare Commercial and contains approximately 1.43 acres with 4,600 sq.ft. restaurant
proposed.
Ward:
The next item on the agenda is LSD 03-8.00 for Ruby Tuesday submitted by
Mark Rickett of Rickett Engineering on behalf of John Bruton of Ruby Tuesday
for property located north of Hwy. 62 west of University Square Plaza. The
property is zoned C-2 and contains approximately 1.43 acres with a 4,600 sq.ft.
restaurant proposed. Sara?
Edwards: First let me say that the representative for this project cannot make it. He is out of
Little Rock and with the weather he did request that we not ask him to navigate
here. So he won't be here today. To explain the project, this did go through a
Conditional Use request late last year. 100 parking spaces were approved, the
proposal is now for 99 parking spaces. University Square is located to the east of
this property and then lot 2 is where the Hampton Inn is going to be and they are
starting construction on that now. Water and sewer are both available along 6th
The right of way for 6th Street, which is a principal arterial, has been dedicated.
For tree preservation, existing canopy is 14.79%. Preserved is 0 and mitigation is
$4,725. We are recommending that this be forwarded to the full Planning
Commission subject to some conditions. Condition number one is parking lot
lighting shall utilize full cutoff sodium lighting fixtures and not exceed 35' in
height. The freezer shall be architecturally incorporated with the building and all
roof mounted utilities must be screened with a parapet wall and we are asking that
new elevations be submitted, which depict that requirement, showing the parapet
wall on the top. 3) Planning Commissioner determination of compliance with
Commercial Design Standards. We are recommending a color sample submittal
prior to Planning Commission. The Hampton Inn was approved to be entirely
constructed of EIFS and done in different colors. At this point we just can't
determine if this is compatible with that without having those material samples.
4) All utility, electrical equipment, meters, and dumpsters shall be screened. 5)
A sidewalk shall be constructed along the west side of the private drive to connect
with the sidewalks from the Hampton Inn. 6) Pedestrian access shall be provided
from the private drive to the front door. The other conditions are standard.
Ward: Ok, thanks. Matt, do you have any concerns on this particular project?
Casey:
No Sir, I have no concerns. I might point out that they are going to be removing
the asphalt strip that serves as a sidewalk now along 6`h Street. They will be
replacing that with a 6' sidewalk located at the right of way line. It is not shown
on the drawing here but they do have a note pointing to it saying that they will
provide a 6' sidewalk along the west side of this private drive to connect to the
north and the Hampton Inn. This private drive will be under construction soon
with the construction of the Hampton Inn which was just approved not long ago.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 15
Bunch: Does that satisfy the conditions that were spelled out for the Hampton Inn? I
know there were sidewalks to get access to the shopping center and I guess 6`h
Street.
Casey:
Yes Sir, those were provided for the Hampton Inn and they also stubbed out to the
south to this lot and we are going to be connecting to that and extending it down
as requested at the time of the Hampton Inn development.
Bunch: I know some of those concerns were covered under the guides of we own that
property so it won't be any problem. I just want to make sure that we follow
through with it. What about the underground detention?
Casey: The detention is going to be handled within the parking lot and within the pipes
there will be an underground detention and storm sewer pipe in the parking lot.
Bunch: There's plenty of provision for cleanout and proper sizing to accommodate that?
Casey: Yes Sir.
Ward: Matt, being serviced by tractor trailer trucks where would they load and unload to
get in there?
Hoover: It has got to be on the north, they don't have any other choice.
Edwards: You see where they have that heavier concrete, that is obviously where they are
intending their truck traffic to go so it will hold up to the weight of that.
Ward: So you think they will do all of their loading and unloading on the north side of
the building?
Edwards: Yes.
Bunch: Do the placement of the islands permit the circulation of a tractor -trailer because
if it comes in from the north it is obviously a fairly easy shot into the building but
then it looks like they would have to turn to the north and loop back around to get
to the driveway. I guess do those meet the radii necessary?
Casey: I will have to get with the applicant to see what their intentions are.
Bunch: It looks like there could be some encroachment on the landscaped areas.
Ward: It looks like Ruby Tuesday's is going to be facing to the east, is that the front of
the hotel or the back of the hotel? How is that going to line up?
Casey: The hotel faces east as well.
Ward: This is the shopping center that is already there to the east right?
Hoover: Is this parking lot on the hotel down here?
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 16
Bunch: It is real hard to tell. They are showing these expansions of gravel and gravel.
Hoover: Right, I can't figure out what is there.
Bunch: Since we don't have a representative here. Matt, can you interpret anything on
this drawing for us where it is showing these large areas of gravel on adjacent
lots? What we are seeing doesn't show us, you may have more information of
how it ties into the adjacent property.
Casey:
Last year they did a property line adjustment and lot split. The property did come
right along here adjacent to this was a gravel drive going back in here onto this
property. With the proposal of this street, the Hampton Inn adjusted the property
line out into the street. You are worried about the orientation of what is out there?
Bunch: It is hard to tell what is existing and what is showing as proposed. Particularly on
the adjacent properties.
Casey: All of the gravel is existing and should be removed at the time of development.
This will all be paved and landscaped with top soil and grass after they are
completed. The gravel will be removed, it is just what is out there now. There
are two houses that are served by the gravel driveway and then the parking area.
The bulk of it is back here on the Hampton Inn, the parking lot under construction
now.
Bunch: The gravel area under existing sheds and existing gravel to the north?
Casey: Yes, that will be inside the parking lot to the Hampton Inn. They have the
outline, the curb shown for the Hampton Inn parking lot there on the north. This
curb here is the edge of their parking lot so all of that going to there will be paved.
Ward: Thanks Matt. Kim, why don't you talk a little bit about the landscaping required
and what has been proposed.
Hesse: These are the existing trees to be removed. When we do agenda session if we
don't do a tour we will sure give you pictures of what is out there. I couldn't find
one tree that was really worth redesigning for. There are several trees out there
that are in really bad storm damaged shape and really have not been maintained
for years. That is why I am recommending the removal of all of those. We will
have a pretty good amount of mitigation, I think it is 13 trees that we will be
planting back. Probably just like we did with the Hampton Inn if you remember,
the city will be planting trees along the bypass with their mitigation, we will do
the same with Ruby Tuesday. As far as the landscaping, we have asked them to
disperse in the parking lot more, which they have done. They have made some
arrangements to change that and most of those are larger trees that are going to be
in the parking lot. They meet our requirements.
Bunch: Kim, on the northeast corner they are showing a cedar to be removed and then
replacing it with another tree, am I interpreting that correctly? What are they
putting in there?
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 17
Hesse: I think that is a pin oak. The cedars out there, I am sure if we go on tour we will
look at those trees, but they are in pretty bad shape.
Ward: It looks like all of the existing tree inventory is in poor health, is that true?
Hesse: Yes .
Ward: Usually cedars aren't high priority anyway are they?
Hesse: It is depending on where they are at, if they are holding back a slope or providing
wildlife habitat, yes. I am sure they are providing wildlife habitat but for
purposes of grading it would be very difficult to save that cedar and due to the
health that it is in currently it wasn't worth redesigning for. Especially in a
parking lot situation we are better off with a pin oak.
Ward: Cedars pretty much hide everything.
Hesse:
Ward:
We would have to limb it up quite a bit, which you could do. It is not necessarily
the best tree. It has been hit by lightening and topped so it became more of a
shrub than a tree.
Thank you. I will open it to the public right now. Is there any public comment on
this particular Ruby Tuesday restaurant Large Scale Development? Seeing none,
I will close it to the public and will bring it back to the Committee. Sara, why
don't you go back over again what we are looking for as far as Commercial
Design Standards and colors and theme as far as this restaurant as compared to the
other buildings out there now.
Edwards: As you recall, the University Square is done in about three shades of EIFS and
brown. I'm not entirely clear on what this color is, that is why I have asked for a
material sample just to see that it is compatible with the adjacent developments.
We are looking at our Commercial Design Standards and the design overlay
district as well. The south elevation is what is facing 6th Street and the east
elevation will be facing that private drive.
Ward: Is that some kind of stone or brick or what kind of material is that?
Edwards: It looks like it is stone.
Ward: Is that the same stuff that they used on University Square?
Edwards: It appears to be.
Ward: So we've asked for a material board with colors and so on. What about signs?
Edwards: When the Hampton Inn came in they were approved for what is called an area
identification sign along this private drive. You see proposed monument sign,
there is one here and then one at the entrance on University Square along Shiloh
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 18
Drive so what they could do is put both the Hampton Inn and Ruby Tuesday on
each of those signs.
Ward: Is it going to have a sign on the east elevation and on the south elevation or just
one on the east?
Edwards: I only see the one on the east. In the design overlay district they are restricted to
one sign per building unless it can be determined that there is more than one front
facing street. That is a private drive so it is not really a street.
Ward: Did they ask for a monument sign at all?
Edwards: When they originally came to plat review they had requested a pole sign, the
design overlay district is most of this property so they wanted to put a pole sign
just outside of the design overlay district. Specifically that violated the sign
ordinance because you cannot have more than one free standing sign per lot.
They did remove that from their request.
Ward: We have got 99 parking spaces, how much overage is that?
Edwards: There is one per every one hundred square feet so we would be looking at 46 plus
30% so around 50 so they are roughly double that. That did go through a
Conditional Use several months ago.
Bunch: On the design standards for the north elevation is there an access road across the
north of this property between this and the Hampton Inn? I can't remember what
the Hampton Inn is like. I know there were some concerns. I guess since it is not
viewed from a public street I guess it doesn't have to have any particulars on the
north elevation where it is visible?
Conklin: It talks about fronts facing streets and the rest is fairly similar to commercial
design standards.
Edwards: Again, I asked them to architecturally incorporate the freezer. He said he wasn't
sure at plat review if the freezer was architecturally incorporated.
Hoover: I would say that the north elevation probably needs some additional work. I think
if we got the material boards on that that would help.
Ward: Are there any other concerns, questions, or motions?
Bunch: I don't guess we have any real concerns on the west because that is currently a
mini -storage which will probably stay there for quite some time. We don't have
that many locations in Fayetteville where those are permitted. I would imagine
that would stay that use for some time and we do have the wrap around of the
theme on the west elevation. I guess that also precludes cross access concerns.
Should they change I see that it is feasible. Other than that I don't have any
comments.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 19
Hoover: I make a motion that we forward LSD 03-8.00 to the full Planning Commission.
Ward: Do I have a second?
Bunch: I will second. Since we don't have the opportunity to deal with the applicant I am
trying to see if there is anything that we could do further to help them prepare for
the meeting since the weather precluded them being here. I will second.
Ward: I will concur. Sara, you can talk to the applicant and get all the items that we
need before it comes to the Planning Commission.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 20
PPL 03-2.00: Preliminary Plat (Salem Heights, pp 284) was submitted by Leonard Gabbard
of Landtech Engineering, Inc. on behalf of John Alford of Palmco Properties for property located
on North Salem Road, south of Salem Village. The property is zoned R-1, Low Density
Residential and contains approximately 30.96 acres with 87 lots proposed.
Ward:
The next item on the agenda is PPL 03-2.00 for Salem Heights submitted by
Leonard Gabbard of Landtech Engineering on behalf of John Alford of Palmco
Properties for property located on north Salem Road and south of Salem Village.
The property is zoned R-1, Low Density Residential and contains approximately
30.96 acres with 65 lots proposed. Sara?
Edwards: Yes, there are 65 lots proposed for this subdivision. We do have a wetlands
delineation which is going right through the middle. Floodplain exists on a
portion of this site. Master Street Plan does show a collector running through this
development. Salem is a collector and Rupple is a minor arterial, Salem is to the
east, Rupple is to the west. Rupple Road is due to be constructed by a subdivision
that was approved last year. Tree preservation, there is 4.27% existing, 2.79%
proposed to remain. Mitigation is $10,350. We are recommending that this be
forwarded subject to some conditions. First of all there is an area labeled not a
part on the northern portion of this property. That has changed since Plat Review
so we are not sure if the intent is to leave that as open space or to be platted later
maybe as another phase. We are looking for an explanation on that and if it is
open space it will be maintained by the Property Owner's Association pursuant to
the covenants. We are looking for a street stub out to be provided to the south.
When the Final Plat is submitted access will be limited from Salem and Rupple.
All utilities shall be placed underground. I am not entirely clear if any of that
existing is under 12KV on the site but if it is under 12KV it will need to be placed
underground. Planning Commission determination of offsite improvements to
Salem Road. Staff has recommended improvements to include 14' from
centerline with curb, gutter, and storm drainage. Planning Commission
determination of an offsite assessment for Rupple Road. We are recommending
an assessment in the amount of $15,380. Planning Commission determination of
offsite assessments for Rupple Road bridge, that would be just north of this
property. We are recommending an assessment in the amount of $9,870 based on
the estimated bridge construction cost and projected traffic generated by this
development. Street G right now dead ends into this not a part portion. That will
need to be constructed as a cul-de-sac. City Council just passed an ordinance that
requires payment for the connection to the water lines on Salem Road and that
amount is $6,192. The other comments are standard.
Ward: Is the applicant present?
Gabbard: Yes Sir. My name is Leonard Gabbard, I am with Landtech Engineering. I am
here today for Don, he is celebrating 35 years of wedded bliss to his wife. I guess
the not a part issue, I will start with that. I have written down three items here.
The not a part issue we would bring into the subdivision later but because of the
fact that at tech review on this previously it was indicated to us that most of that
area is in a 100 -year floodplain for Clabber Creek but we could only subdivide it
into one acre lots. What we have advised our client to do is contract with Tom
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 21
Edwards:
Gabbard:
Ward:
Casey:
Hecox who is very strong in this area of getting things out of floodplains and go
for a CLOMR and follow that with a LOMR to bring that out of the floodplain,
which is probably about a year or maybe a year and a half process. At that point
in time we would be prepared to come back to the city with a portion of this thing
that would be available for development. Of course we would also have to meet
storm water pollution prevention requirements that are going into effect I think
next month. There are a lot of things that have to be done to make that property
developable. I have no problem with putting a cul-de-sac up there on G Street
and we will show that for the submission with these revisions. As far as the stub
out goes on the south side Don talked with me about it and I really didn't know
exactly where that would suit you guys the best Sara so I thought what we would
do is throw it to you all and say you tell us where you want it to stub out and we
will put it there.
Why don't you place it in the cul-de-sac, off the end of that cul-de-sac I would
say would probably be the best location.
So I could basically leave that cul-de-sac, when I do a street in and out I like to
call that an eyebrow type thing, leave the cul-de-sac and then just come south
right there. That is not a problem. All the other issues as far as the contributions
and things that were read, I believe we will be able to sign that and have that for
the Planning Commission if this is forwarded.
Matt, do you have engineering concerns? You might talk a little bit about the
offsite assessments that we have on bridges and Rupple Road and so on.
I will start with the streets. We are recommending improvements to Salem Road,
a minimum of 14' from centerline paved with curb and gutter, storm drainage and
the sidewalks. Rupple Road, which is on the west of this project is being
constructed now as part of the Clabber Creek subdivision just across Rupple to
the west the entire street is being constructed so this developer will not be
required to make those improvements. They are connecting to it and adding a
sidewalk along the east side as well as the sidewalks throughout the development
on the interior streets. As far as the assessments, the city did extend a portion of
Rupple Road up to serve the middle school up here and we have been assessing
the developments that connect to that to try to recover some of that cost and that is
how we get the $15,380. We base that on the estimated traffic generated by this
development verses the total traffic on that road. We are assessing for the Rupple
Road bridge which would be right at the northwest corner of this property across
Clabber Creek and we haven't constructed it yet but it will be done in the future
and we are trying to collect the money from the developments for that.
Bunch: Now you have this development coming through and I guess Salem Village and
the one that you recently brought through to the north of Salem Village, how
close are we getting to extending Rupple Road?
Casey:
We are getting closer but it is still a ways off. It is about $700,000. It will be a
major expense to the city. Whenever the City Council determines that that is the
priority then we will go in that direction. In the meantime we are just assessing
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 22
developments to try to get the money to go towards that. Also, I am not sure how
long ago it was but when the water improvements were clone in this area the City
Council passed an ordinance creating assessment for any developer that connects
to the water line in this portion. We didn't see that to the north but this is within
the limits that was established by the ordinance so they are going to be assessed
the $6,192, it is based on the number of lots to connect to the water line along
Salem Road.
Ward: Thanks Matt. Are there any other concerns? On Parks and Recreation?
Turner: On December 2, 2002 the Parks Board voted to accept money in lieu of land.
Since that date parks fees have been adjusted. Today 65 units are going to be
developed and that is $36,075 for parks fees.
Ward: Thank you. Kim on tree preservation and landscaping?
Hesse: I have a couple of comments for this. I am just going to point out that the trees
that are being removed are basically right here where the road is. What he was
discussing as far as the floodplain, that doesn't include trees other than right
through here so I think when future development comes in we are really not going
to impact tree canopy so much. Most of the trees are in the wetland area. I just
want to reiterate that we do not put easements in subdivisions so there will not be
tree easements per say. Leonard, is this going to be common property for the
home owner's association?
Gabbard: I am sure it will have to be. That is how Mr. Alford needs to handle it. Like I
said, we are also working with EGIS to restore this, this was a natural spring
before this pond was put in back in the 1950's and what we are trying to do with
this and we are working with Manual Barnes to restore this, this is a stream. This
was a natural flowing stream before it was dammed up so one of the things that
we are trying to do is restore this back to a natural flowing spring and that will
give us some points with the Corp. of Engineers so we can get better ratios on our
mitigation here.
Conklin: I think we need to clearly identify what is going to be common open space and
what is going to be future development. I hate to go down this road and have this
built out and the homeowner's not realize that they are going to be responsible for
this open space or realize that there are going to be additional houses built north
of there.
Gabbard: On this area here we need to shade?
Conklin: I would like it delineated somehow because we aren't asking for stub outs to the
north on C Street. You are not planning on developing this property along A
Street.
Hesse: Basically I think we are saving most of the canopy.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 23
Ward: I noticed on the tree inventory there is a 40" sweet gum that is in poor condition
and low priority and it is going to remain. Is there any reason we should have
those taken out?
Hesse:
They are in an area where they are not really affecting future homes. The same
with the hickory. Again, a lot of these are in bad shape but unless they are really
close to a home lot we would like to preserve them anyway. They will probably
stand for many years.
Ward: Ok, so that is the main concern. If it is close to where a home is going to be
setting then you will remove it.
Hesse: If it is hazardous. A lot of time, especially in large parks, we will keep a dying
tree as a habitat tree, a host tree they call it. That is great as long as it is not near a
picnic table or a playground and you just kind of weigh those values. In this
situation they are far enough away that they shouldn't be a problem.
Ward: Tell me again how you get to the mitigation fee of $10,250?
Hesse: It is just for these few trees. We classified them as low quality because of the
shape of the trees. The ordinance is to deter you from mitigating trees so the
mitigation is kind of high, it is quite expensive. I felt the same way. I thought it
was quite a bit for just a couple of trees and we relooked at that and I spoke with
them yesterday to make sure we were calculating that correctly.
Ward: These are the two or three trees that are going to be in the roadway?
Hesse: Yes.
Ward: Ok, thanks Kim. At this time I will open it to the public. Is there any public
comment on this particular item which is a Preliminary Plat for Salem Heights?
House: My name is Greg House. Where does the mitigation money go?
Ward: I will let either Sara or Kim answer that for you.
Hesse: It goes into a tree fund and the city will plant trees within that neighborhood. If it
is not in the neighborhood it goes within a mile of the subdivision.
McKinney: My name is Rick McKinney Generally I am kind of opposed to accepting fees
for park space or greenspace. I grew up or lived in the downtown area all my life.
We are down to zero greenspace for the residents there. Secondly, I would like to
remind you that at the renewal of the last OMI contract, they manage our sewer
treatment plant, they stated that our sewer system was at 95% capacity. You are
adding close to 150 toilets in this 67 housing development and that is not
including the sinks. You are adding much more sewage flow to the extreme west
side of town. I think it is projected for 2005 or 2006 that you get the west side
sewer treatment plant online, all of that has got to be pumped miles to the east
side for treatment. At 95% capacity that is going to be a very slow process. I
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 24
Ward:
Bunch:
Casey:
Bunch:
Casey:
would encourage you to consider the future on any of these developments that
you are reviewing at this committee, how much we're approving or you are
approving at the Planning Commission, City Council, and directly here of how
much capacity we have left to handle it. Thank you.
Thanks. Is there any other public comment? Seeing none, I will close it to the
public and I will bring it back to the Commissioners. Are there any other
comments or questions?
A question for staff in regard to Mr. McKinney's statements, we have periodically
asked for updates on the sewer situation, what is our latest status on that?
In the past six or eight months we have been working with the Health Department
with their concerns for capacity on the west side where everything flows to our
Hamestring Creek lift station. We have contracted with RJN of Dallas to study
that lift station and everything that flows into it. We are waiting on a
recommendation that should be coming any day on whether or not it is capable of
handling flows for the next few years or how much additional we can add and if it
is not going to handle it what we can do in the meantime between now and the
time that the west side treatment plant comes online, what we can do to carry us
over until that happens. We are waiting on that and like I said, it should come any
day.
Would that possibly involve a fee on development similar to the ones that were
refunded not too long ago for another lift station in the Hamestring Creek area?
We are not looking at any assessments at this time. It could be a possibility. I
might add that the Health Department has been looking at this very closely and
we mentioned at Plat Review to Mr. Gabbard that there is a chance that they may
not get approval until these things are done for their sewer system. We have been
making them aware of that up front so that they can proceed at their own risk until
we have got further information.
Conklin: With regard to the actual treatment plant, OMI did make a presentation to the City
Council a few weeks ago and discussed their ability to treat the waste coming into
the plant. At this time wet weather flows are the biggest problem with the plant
trying to handle that. We have been in contact with Greg Boettcher, our Water
and Sewer Operations Director, and he is aware of the developments that are
occurring. With 125 million dollar sewage treatment plant project including a
collection system, lift stations, we have been informed that we can continue to
approve developments since we are making that investment to solve the issues of
the treatment plant capacity. At this time we are not making recommendations to
deny any development based on where we are at and what we are going to be
doing on the west side treatment plant.
Bunch: I am assuming that the recommendation here is to forward it to the full Planning
Commission and at that time we will have comments from Fire and Police and
other city services and see how they can respond to this area.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 25
Conklin: They participate in the technical plat review process. Their comments should be
in the minutes of that process.
Ward: Thanks Tim. Are there any other questions, concerns or motions?
Hoover: I have a question in general. When we are looking at a Preliminary Plat what
should we be looking for?
Edwards: Right now this is a vacant piece of property. You are looking to make sure that
streets connect.
Hoover: I guess this is where I have a problem in that I don't know where the other
subdivisions are that have come through on the map to just be assured that I know
we are connecting.
Conklin: That is why staff has consistently recommended street stub outs be connected and
stubbed to the property lines. To the south I am not aware of any developments.
Clabber Creek is directly across. There is access from Salem to Rupple to
Clabber Creek with continuation of that collector street further to the east. You
asked what you are looking for as a Preliminary Plat. As staff the process begins
with in house technical plat review with city staff and other departments looking
at code compliance. Our ordinances require us to review and comment back to
the applicant or engineer with regard to does their project comply with city
ordinances and again, that is the process where we sit down with the utility
companies outside of the city, phone, cable, gas, electric and look at what it takes
to provide that type of infrastructure to serve that development. From there it
comes to the Subdivision Committee where typically we look at as Sara pointed
out, street connections, issues with connectivity.
Hoover: I am just curious as a Planning Commissioner.
Conklin: You are also responsible for the tree protection and tree preservation ordinance
with regard to approving those tree preservation plans. I don't think you can put
one ordinance over top of another. We are looking at flood damage prevention
codes, grading, storm water, street improvements, Master Street Plan and Sara in
the staff report kind of outlined that through those items.
Hoover: Do we have a Master Street Plan map here?
Edwards: It is shown on the map included in your packet.
Conklin: Then of course we are looking at the zoning, does it meet the zoning ordinance
with regard to the minimum lot area, lot width, are the setbacks being shown
correctly, are the fire hydrants spaced correctly, are the street lights shown, are the
sidewalks shown, the street widths, cul-de-sac radius. We are looking at the
technical requirements for an urban type subdivision in a City of Fayetteville
neighborhood.
Hoover: I am assuming here that these are planned but not built?
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 26
Conklin: Yes. It is built up to here but it is not built across the creek, Salem Road. This
part will be built, this is Clabber Creek Phase I.
Hoover: Ok.
Edwards: Let me see if I can get those other subdivisions shown on here.
Hoover: I know we have all this other development going on out there but I don't know
where it all is happening in relation to this.
Conklin- We can get that to you.
Ward: Are there any other concerns?
Bunch: On the parks situation, we have obviously in very close proximity to this a school
and a complex of ball fields and in fairly close proximity another school, what
about the Clabber Creek area and the wetlands, is that on the Master Plan for a
trail system or some sort of tie ins?
Turner: I am not quite sure if it is on the Master Plan, it is still in the proposal stage
However, I believe there is a park being built either at Clabber Creek or Salem
Meadows. Salem Meadows is building a park which is adjacent to this so there
will be parkland near this development.
Bunch: And with all the wetlands in the area there will be considerable open space?
Turner: I will have to check on that one, I am not positive but I can get that for you.
Ward: Are there any motions?
Hesse: On the north boundary this is adjacent to wetlands.
Bunch: Between Salem Village and the other development that Mr. Gabbard brought in
recently there is another wetland area so there is open space. I move that we
forward PPL 03-2.00 to the full Planning Commission.
Ward: I will second.
Hoover: I will concur.
Ward: With all conditions of course.
Gabbard: Thank you Sir. The monies that are donated for street improvements, I think this
was brought up at the last Planning Commission meeting, would you reiterate if
those monies are not used within a certain period of time can the developer apply
to receive those back?
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 27
Conklin: That is correct. The ordinance states that within five years if we don't spend the
money we then hold a public hearing and the Planning Commission decides if the
improvement is likely to occur in the immediate future and hold those monies,
determine whether or not to refund them back to the developer, or refund them
back to the home owners.
Gabbard: Is the time from the time the check is written and received?
Conklin- That is how we have interpreted that ordinance.
Gabbard: And the developer has to initiate in writing that request?
Conklin: That is correct.
Gabbard: Thank you.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 28
LSD 02-29.00: Large Scale Development (Sequoyah Commons, pp 485) was submitted by
Mandy Bunch of EB Landworks on behalf of Greg House of Houses Development for property
located between Olive Avenue & Fletcher Avenue, south of Spring Street. The property is zoned
R-2, Medium Density Residential and contains approximately 2.06 acres with 39 dwelling units
proposed (48 bedrooms).
Ward:
The next item on the agenda this morning is LSD 02-29.00 for Sequoyah
Commons submitted by Mandy Bunch of EB Landworks on behalf of Greg House
of Houses Development for property located between Olive Avenue and Fletcher
Avenue south of Spring Street. The property is zoned R-2 and contains
approximately 2.06 acres with 39 dwelling units proposed, a total of 48 bedrooms.
Sara?
Edwards: There are 39 units within seven buildings. Parking, they are proposing 51 spaces,
48 is the number of parking stalls required. Surrounding zoning north, south, and
west is R-2. To the east is R-1. There are single-family residential existing to the
north, the south property is currently vacant. The east is a mixture of duplexes
and single-family and the west is vacant as well. Water and sewer run along
Olive Street. Right now there is right of way for Olive Street, 60' existing, 30'
for Center, and 60' for Fletcher all existing adjacent to this property. They are
proposing Olive Street to be improved adjacent to the site with a cul-de-sac.
Access will be through Olive Avenue which is substandard both in width and
surfacing. Tree preservation, there is 100% tree coverage existing. Preserved is
20.17%. We are recommending that this be forwarded to the full Planning
Commission subject to some conditions. Condition number one is Planning
Commission determination of required offsite improvements and required access.
Olive is currently substandard, it is 18' wide, it does not meet state fire codes.
With the allowance of off-street parking two way traffic cannot be
accommodated. The pavement and sub base is failing and likely cannot
accommodate construction traffic. The site has access to Fletcher. Fletcher
access is not proposed with this development right now. Right of way for Center
exists to the site and south from Walnut Street. Staff is recommending the
construction of Center Street and Olive Street to the southeast corner of this lot
with waivers from the minimum street standards. The sidewalks shall be
continuous through the driveway. Approval shall be subject to a vacation of
existing an utility easement which runs north/south through the property. A 10'
utility easement shall be granted on both sides of the existing 30' water line. All
buildings shall be required to meet setbacks based on height. Lighting shall not
reflect onto adjacent properties and a lighting plan shall be submitted and
approved by staff prior to installation. The other comments are standard
comments.
Ward: Ok, thanks. Why don't you introduce yourself as the applicant first.
House: I am Greg House for Houses, Inc.
Ward: Let me get other staff's comments first and then we will come back to you. Matt
why don't we talk about engineering concerns.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 29
Casey: In addition to the street waivers that Sara mentioned, the sidewalk issues will have
to be addressed after we decide what we are going to do with the streets. They
have got limited right of way and the streets and the sidewalks is going to have to
be something that we are going to work out and make a recommendation after the
determination of the streets.
Ward: Ok, are there any other concerns?
Casey: No Sir.
Ward: As far as Parks fees, what are those?
Turner: The Parks Board voted on October 7th to accept money in lieu. The fees due are
$15,327.
Ward: That is based on how much per unit?
Turner: $393 for each multi -family unit.
Ward: Kim as far as landscaping and trees?
Hesse: For the zone 20% preserved is the requirement. They are having a lot of retaining
walls in order to try to save that many trees. If it is confusing as to why we are
showing so many trees right here my thoughts are is that it is too narrow of an
area to really preserve trees and I wasn't really sure that trees would really be in
there so they went back and located trees that were smaller than what is required
to be located. My concerns are that all the trees that are here are casting canopy
over and there wouldn't be any trees here but we have found several trees here
that will provide canopy so we did count that as canopy preservation. The
landscaping meets the requirement.
Ward:
I think what I would like to do, I got a letter, you have had some meetings with
the neighbors and we have heard from the neighbors before with their concerns.
Why don't you try to address some of the concerns that you have or that they have
and how you can help maybe take care of some of those concerns. This letter I
was glancing at is dated February 26`h. Do you have a copy of that?
House: I do.
Ward:
Why don't you just highlight that as far as parking, Olive Avenue improvements,
traffic calmers, traffic control, green preservation, access to Center Street, talk
about your Bill of Assurances. Why don't you kind of go over all of these issues
and how you are proposing to handle them and then we will get public comment
and go from there.
House: Thank you Lee. I just want to say good morning and that I appreciate your
patience with this process. I know that this is not the first time before your
committee. I want to say that we have been working on this project for years.
First I met with Tim and his staff numerous times over the last several years and
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 30
even more particularly since this summer trying to come up with a plan that
would work for everybody for this property. As you mentioned, we have also met
with the neighbors in two formal meetings and then one kind of informational
meeting and have had numerous discussions with various neighbors about their
concerns and about how we might meet them on the hillside and also, as you can
see, by letter. I just want to say that we have submitted a plan that we think meets
the Large Scale Development ordinance in it's entirety. We haven't asked for any
waivers or any special consideration but are still trying to come to a plan that
hopefully people can live with. I am sure it is not going to be acceptable to my
neighbors, they would rather see it be a park. So I can show you how we got
here, one of the first concerns in the neighbor's letter of February 22"d, the
neighbors that are immediately adjacent to this property on Olive wrote me a
letter and they were very active with the homeowner's association and
neighborhood association's meetings. Their concerns were that we have not
compromised with respect to density which I will address first. I brought some
boards to share with you to just give you a brief history of how we got here. As I
said, for several years we have been working on this. In the attachment that I
submitted we have a schedule that talks about density. In trying to determine
what to do here we first looked at the maximum density that would be allowed.
We came up with based on the square footage of land, it would be possible if we
could meet all the other requirements, to build 132 bedrooms. We never even
entertained that idea. We did consider something less than that. We have some
plans that one of them was 62% of maximum density of the 132 bedrooms, I call
that the Bobby Schmitt plan which nobody was really in favor of'. It was fairly
unattractive and it had a lot of pavement and the buildings were not aesthetically
pleasing to us. We have a plan that looks like a hotel that was 42% density, it was
all two big buildings that again, from an aesthetic standpoint wasn't as pleasing.
From a monetary standpoint it probably would be one of our best alternatives.
Then we have a couple of others that I won't bore you with that we eluded to in
our submittals. As we have gone through this process in light of what we knew
were the neighbors' concerns about density we settled on the least dense plan,
which is 36% of the maximum density. This is a product of several years, not just
the last six or eight months of work on this property. The neighbors are acting
like we haven't compromised but I say tat I could've come in here and asked for
the 42% plan and then compromised but I felt like it was the best choice was to
approach the neighbors with a plan that we could live with and that was realistic
and would still be feasible so that is how we got to where we are today. Other
issues, as far as parking that they raised, I agree that that is an issue that we are
concerned about too from a practical standpoint. In our letter of response that we
drafted yesterday I have asked my architect and engineer to have a look if there is
a way to increase parking and we think that there may be a way. We will get to
that in a few minutes because it is based on some of the other issues. All the other
concerns of the neighbors we felt we were able to meet with the exception of for
sure there are Bill of Assurances. Rather than reading through the Bill of
Assurances, everything that they have asked for I will say that we have agreed we
can do in their Bill of Assurances.
Ward: Why don't you go over that?
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 31
House:
That we would have assigned parking for each tenant for each unit. There would
be no on street parking except directly in front of the development and it would be
on the east side only. There will be no access to Fletcher Avenue. There would
be an onsite manager or a 24 hour contact for resident neighbor concerns. That
snow and ice removal would occur within 12 hours, that landscaping will exceed
the City of Fayetteville standards and that the Bill of Assurances addresses
building designs in terms of durable materials and roof slopes. The structures will
be of a quality material and they will stand the test of time and wear and tear of
multiple tenants. This is not a tract development shall I say. We are going to do
stucco and brick exteriors. We are going to have terraces and planting areas. Our
parking design is linear to add to the look. I am pleased with the way the project
looks. Our goal is to attract higher end tenants and in order to do that we have to
design a project that is going to be tasteful. Many of you may be familiar with
our work, I feel like we have only done tasteful things in at least the last decade.
We have no complaint with the Bill of Assurances. The green preservation, some
of these others, I don't really understand percentages of green space and all that, I
would rather the architect or engineer address those because they understand how
we calculate it and so forth. The access to Center Street, that has been a big issue.
This plan was submitted, and I eluded to this in some of my letters, based on
meeting with the city Planning staff and coming up with a plan that seemed
acceptable. Since that time staff has changed their minds about what they think is
necessary for this project. That is why I believe we were tabled at the last
meeting. I have been opposed to the idea of connecting to Center for two reasons.
One is I felt that the neighbors wouldn't support it because of the increased traffic
that would come through the neighborhood. I didn't just love the idea as a
resident myself. The second is how it is going to be paid for. In meeting with
Mr. Conklin over this matter he suggested an alternative would be to construct the
streets in what he suggested would be not normal street standards of full curb and
gutter, storm drainage, sidewalks on both sides, that we construct more in keeping
with what is already in the historic district as far as width and improvements. The
other issue is still how do we pay for that. My concern is that if we are asked to
pay for it all that that is not fair because it opens up a big chunk of undeveloped
land for other people to develop at our expense. How we pay for that, whether the
city should pay for that with the rational nexus idea we haven't determined. My
other concern is if we submit and say yes we will go ahead with this plan, this is
going to cost me again, we are still trying to determine how much in planning to
redesign this thing so that it can be acceptable and I am reluctant to keep trying to
hit a moving target as far as our submittal is concerned. I am looking for a way to
go through this process where maybe it can be approved conditioned upon certain
things and then we say ok, we will come back and we will take the cul-de-sac out
of our plan, add some parking to our plan and agree how we are going to do the
offsite improvements. Otherwise, I have got to spend money to redo the plat and
then come in and everybody says "We don't really want that anyway." I meant to
get with Tim again because the neighbor's support of connectivity completely
shocked me. I just received that the evening before last. I am willing to talk
about that where this submittal doesn't show that but how do we go forward
without this moving target?
Ward: What about opening up Fletcher Street, connecting through Fletcher?
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 32
House: The neighbors are not in favor of that. The topography of that makes that very
difficult. It is a very steep change from Olive to Fletcher and the neighbors seem
to be vehemently opposed to that. I am not sure that that satisfies Planning's
concerns about connectivity to the main traffic flow.
Ward:
Let's talk a little bit about one of the conditions that we are going to discuss is the
offsite improvements on Olive to bring you up to standards. Can you address that
a little bit as far as what your take is on that?
House: First my take on that is that we have been out there with a tape measure and it is
mostly 20' wide, not 18', there are a few portions that are 18' but most of it is 20'.
That is and the condition of the ditches and so forth are common to the whole
hillside and on into the historic district. If the plan is to go to Center Street part
of the compromise, from staff's standpoint my understanding is that further
improvements on the existing portion of Olive would not be necessary because we
are tying in and the traffic can flow through rather than having to turn around and
then come back.
Ward:
One of the big calls that the Planning Commission is going to have to make is
whether to open into Center Street or do the cul-de-sac as you have got shown on
your plans now and what offsite improvements that we would require to make
that a feasible project.
Bunch: Are the rights of way easements and dedications existing on Olive to permit such
things described in condition one or would that require procurement of land from
existing land owners?
Conklin: There is platted right of way for Olive and Center Street. What I have asked is to
look at what it would take to make that connection. I also asked that I don't want
them to just take a look at our minimum street standards and say it can't be done.
I think Fayetteville wouldn't be Fayetteville today if you had to build to our
minimum street standards most of Mount Sequoyah and a lot of Fayetteville
wouldn't be built under the current street configuration and the pattern that we
have. That is what I wanted to look at the possibilities. Matt, I will give you the
Engineering perspective.
Bunch: The initial part of my question was whether or not the right of ways exist on Olive
in order to make improvements, sidewalks and widening and such from Spring
Street to this development and then of course follow up if it were to go around to
Center if sufficient rights of way exist to produce what has been requested.
Casey: The right of way is existing.
Edwards: For Olive there is 60' all the way up and we have got a 20' street proposed to
allow emergency vehicles.
Casey: On Olive it is sufficient to do all the requirements. Center Street is where, as Tim
mentioned, we would have to be creative in connecting it and take a look at our
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 33
minimum street standards. With only 30' of right of way you couldn't put a 24'
back to back street in there with sidewalks and storm drainage so we would have
to take a look at what we've got and what you all want to do and staff could be
comfortable with as far as allowing something less than our minimum street
standards.
Bunch: Has anyone looked at a rational nexus for improvements of Olive based on the
impact of this proposal? If Olive were upgraded what the share with additional
traffic and such would be attributable to this development?
Conklin: Staff always make a recommendation and then we allow the developer if he
thinks our recommendation does not meet that rational nexus standard they can
propose something to the Commission and staff will consider this. On a previous
development we just required them to extend that street 100' down to the south
property line for Salem Heights. They have 65 lots, single family homes for
connectivity. My opinion is, let me address Mr. House's concerns about staff and
where we are at, staff initially looked at improvements onsite and offsite for this
project. Last August the City Council did pass a resolution to take a look at R-2
areas and unplatted areas and do a zoning study. With that, I think this goes back
to Sharon's question too of what are we looking at. We need to take a look at
more than just this project. This hillside is zoned R-2, 24 units per acre. What is
it going to take in infrastructure to build this out? It is occurring. We have
developments on Olive Street, we have another development up on Fletcher
Street. This area that in our initial calculations has a density of about 1.8 units per
acre. If we are going to go back and redevelop this hillside and densify it what
street improvements will it take to handle that traffic? We hear a lot about traffic
on Mount Sequoyah and what it is going to need to function at 24 units per acre.
That is what staff is looking at right now. It is zoned R-2, that is the city policy
with regard to land use. If it remains R-2 in my opinion we need to require the
street extension of Olive Avenue. It is in front of their project. Staff did not
recommend Center Street and we didn't recommend Fletcher. Once again we are
trying to balance this rational nexus and how much is required. I would like to
point out though, I find it interesting when we say it is difficult or impossible to
develop these streets but at the same time we build parking lot aisles and parking
lots throughout this entire development all the way up to Fletcher Street. If it is
dangerous to have a street at these grades I'm not sure how safe it is to build
parking lots at those grades. I know a street and a parking lot aisle are not the
same but at the same time we say we can't do it here on public right of way but
we go up this hillside from Olive almost all the way up to Fletcher Street. I think
we need to take a look at where we need to make those connections. Yes it will
open up the hillside, it is zoned R-2. Staff will start the process of identifying
what the existing infrastructure is in this R-2 area and what it will take if it
remains R-2 to serve the increased traffic and densities of this hillside. Staff's
position is that we do need two connections to Olive and Center. If you look at
their plans they are showing a gravel drive in poor condition. I have walked this
drive and it seems very feasible from a non -engineering observation going out
there you can walk it and you can see that cars have been on it and that it is
feasible that it could be built. That is our recommendation.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 34
Hoover: I have a couple of questions. On Center Street how many feet are you talking
about being improved? I don't know where it is on this map.
Bunch, M: It is approximately 430'.
Hoover: Am I reading this correctly that all of this is R-2 on Olive?
Conklin: All the way over to Dickson.
Hoover: And no neighbors have come in to rezone their property to R-1?
Conklin- We are doing a zoning study also.
Hoover: All of this is R-2 on the other side of Center?
Conklin: Yes. Which is why as staff looked at this in more detail if we are going to
redevelop Mount Sequoyah from 1.8 units per acre to 20 units per acre, I had this
discussion with Mr. House, that what are we going to need for infrastructure in
that area to serve it? I understand that this is your project but I am looking at
projects back to the south, back to the west. In my opinion we are going to need
additional streets and we should complete the street pattern where possible. That
is probably one of the reasons why we are not recommending Center. It is fairly
steep between Olive and Fletcher. We walked that portion of Center between
Olive and Walnut and it seems feasible. People are driving on it today.
House: Two things about that. Honestly, we have two alternatives. One is to put the
streets in now and open it up for development for the other undeveloped
properties or continue with the cul-de-sac plan and when the next people come in
let them pay for the portion that effects their land rather than asking us and the
city, or however we do this, to open the whole hillside up. Frankly, it is six in one
hand, half dozen in the other to me. I think from a community standpoint what is
the hurry? If you are talking about down zoning then if you have us put in streets
you are going to have more of a human cry to keep the down zoning than if there
are unimproved right of ways out there that the property owners, most of them
will say 'we probably won't do this for another five or ten years'. That is the cul-
de-sac plan. If we put in the streets it is going to be opening the door. I have
talked to property owners on the south side and that is just what they are waiting
for.
Conklin: Mr. House, is development bad then in this area if we open it up?
House: Obviously from a practical standpoint the less development the more our property
is worth. I don't know if it is bad Tim, I am just saying that every six months we
have an ordinance change. I call it incremental down zoning with the tree
ordinance and the hillside drainage ordinance and now we are talking about
unimproved infrastructure, you have to replat and come through Large Scale.
Legally the city has decided to make it more difficult to develop. I don't think
that we should be punished for having spent money to go through the process to
try to finish our development while other neighbors who are out there, maybe they
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 35
want their land to be R-1. I think the Chaddicks would rather it be Agricultural,
which is their right to do what they want with their property. All I am saying, and
it really doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me, I am just throwing that out
there as a policy thing that if we put the streets in, however we pay for them
whether it is part us and part the city or however that works, that is going to open
that up for development and everybody ought to be aware of that verses the cul-
de-sac idea makes it more private down here at the end of the street and it
probably will impede development for some longer period of time while these
ordinances are having another look at and while you are considering down
zoning. I am just throwing that out there. From my standpoint, I think infill is a
good idea. I think it is helpful for the whole community. The more people live in
and close to downtown the better all the goods and services are that we enjoy
downtown because there are more people going to Collier's and going to the local
restaurants and walking to do it rather than driving. I walked the last few days
because it was snow downtown to my office, it was delightful. I think that is
possible by having infill. I am not opposed to infill, I am just throwing that out
there that that is something that you are encouraging by asking for this kind of
activity.
Ward: Are there any other questions Tim?
Hoover: Staff, have you had any other thoughts in general about street connectivity to the
south of Center for the future? I don't know what the topography is over here.
Conklin: We don't have the rights of way. Fletcher Street goes down through to Huntsville
Road.
House: The unimproved right of way does.
Hoover: Ok, so we have right of way right here.
Conklin: The Highway Department at one time thought about taking Hwy. 45 through
Fletcher back down to Huntsville.
Hoover: Ok, right now we have got the right of way going like that so that is something
that could happen?
Conklin: That plan was abandoned due to opposition I believe from the neighborhood.
Hoover: I am trying to figure out what conceptually happens with all of this when it is built
out. Say we do this connection then what happens next with development, if, as
he says, this promotes development through quickly and then we are going to
have to figure out what are we doing with the rest of the connection and is that a
possibility.
Ward: There is no easy answer.
Hoover: No. That is all right of way there so that is a possibility?
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 36
Conklin: That landowner doesn't have any current plans as far as developing at this time as
far as I know.
House: If there is a street there that might change.
Conklin- The right of way is there.
Ward: In order to get this thing going on, I will go ahead and open it up to the public for
comment. We have heard a lot of these same public comments before. I don't
want to hear them again. We have got records of them in the minutes and so on.
If you have got some things that you can add that will help us make some
decisions that is what we want to hear. Those are real important to us. We
understand most of the problems. Like I said, we have got minutes of all the
things that have been said before and we have read them many times.
Bryant: Holly Bryant, 107 N. Olive. Sharon, as you were questioning about the R-2, I
think it is necessary Tim if you will explain how far the R-2 encompasses. We
are talking Dickson Street is the northern boundary all the way down to
Huntsville Road would be the southern boundary. Fletcher is the eastern
boundary, College is the western boundary. Another point to make is I'm sure
there is a map that shows the big clumps of land that are undeveloped that are R-
2. There are about three or four families that own those and those properties have
been in those families for generations. They have not been developed as of yet
and I don't foresee them being developed, certainly not as R-2. I urge you to be
proactive. There is no easy answer but we must think about the future of
Fayetteville when it comes to the possibility of this huge amount of land that is R-
2 and how to handle the traffic if in fact, it were developed R-2.
Ward: Thank you.
Caulk: Bob Caulk, Missouri Way. The last meeting I did speak for the Mount Sequoyah
South Neighborhood Association and I don't plan on repeating myself. In
looking at this and discussing it the last time parking was the big issue and
seemed to drive traffic issues and a lot of other things around it. When I look at
finishing out Center Street and Olive down to Center Street, I look at that as a
way of generating significant offsite street parking because Greg, if he does
manage to rent to upscale couples like he wants to is going to have a real parking
problem. The USA Today on Tuesday pointed out that the average household
income less than $10,000 has 1.3 cars per family. The average household with
income greater than $75,000, the kind of people he is going to be looking for,
have an average of 2.4 automobiles per family. Parking is going to be a real
problem. Finishing these streets out is an awfully strange way of generating
parking that is necessary in my opinion. I think a better way to do it would be to
look at the possibility of keeping the parking spaces at 51 and reducing the
number of units by eight to ten. That would basically allow effectively 1.5
parking spaces per single bedroom and two parking spaces per two bedrooms. I
think that would be a better way for everybody involved to solve the problem.
Ward: Thanks for your comments.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 37
Bryant:
House:
Bryant:
House:
Bryant:
House:
Bryant:
House:
Bryant:
House:
Bryant:
Ward:
McKinney:
Lois Bryant, I just have a question for Mr. House. On opening Center Street,
what neighbors did you speak to?
I have spoken with the people on Olive.
No, I am talking about Center Street. The people on Olive they don't live on
Center Street so that would be fine and dandy with them, you open up Center
Street you are not doing anything to Olive but who did you speak to on Center
Street?
I spoke with Verda Watson who has a piece of property on this Center Street right
of way. I spoke with Charles Lear who has a piece of property on Center Street
right of way. My understanding is that in one of the last meetings the people that
represented me visited with the neighbors that live down on Center.
No. Nobody spoke to me. I live down on Center, my dad owns the other house.
They may not have spoken with everyone that lives down on Center.
You did not speak to all the neighbors on Center and get all of our opinions.
I did not say we spoke to all the neighbors.
You presented it as an opinion from the neighbors on Center Street presented as
an opinion of the neighbors you spoke to.
How do you feel about the connectivity of Center Street?
I am against it. I told you that beforehand. I am against it. Even with the
easement, you are going to be taking off of other people's properties which if we
decide to develop any of our property we can't do much of anything with it.
Thanks for your comment.
Rick McKinney again. As far as the improvements to Olive Street, I believe that
you should encourage that. When you run cement trucks, lumber trucks, and all
the supply trucks that they are going to need to build this, it is going to break
down that street which is in somewhat of a process of deterioration because of age
at this point in time. I presume this meets your grading ordinance with the
hillside and the grade that that is or we wouldn't be even talking about this.
Again, Parks and Recreation, I oppose accepting money for green space. There is
the recently developed water treatment park up the hill that is no more than
concrete walls and a grassy knoll. You have very little area here for the
neighborhood to use as green space. I know Greg is planning on using these
apartments for young married couples. Young married couples sometimes have
children very quickly. Again, the sewer issue. I appreciate Tim's comments after
my objections here. Again, when Lindsey and Company does their development
at 6th Street down there, you are adding roughly 90 to 100 toilets to this
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 38
Ward:
Sinquar:
neighborhood in an area where we know the sewer system is to a point of aged
condition and deterioration. I would encourage you now and in the future to
consider the number of units that you are allowing in these developments. The
gentleman sitting here next to me, that had the property out there on Salem,
informed me that you have got three other housing developments out there that
you have already approved in addition to this one today. We are adding a lot of
approvals that are going to hit in the next couple of years before the west side
plant goes online. Thank you.
Ok, is there anyone else from the neighborhood?
I am Leslie Sinquar, I own the property adjacent to this proposed development. I
am not sure that this is the most appropriate forum for one of them but first of all
my biggest concern is Mr. House will be required to widen and make our block of
Olive Street bigger increasing the capacity for the traffic. However, then what
happens? This will bottleneck all of this additional traffic from the complex will
then be bottlenecked onto very narrow, steep Spring Street. Beyond that Olive
Street in the next few blocks north are very narrow and very substandard,
particularly between Dickson and Lafayette. There are deep ditches. If cars are
parked there is only one lane of passage and Spring couldn't handle a lot of
additional traffic just within the few blocks of Olive further north. My children
walk home from school down Olive Street and there are no sidewalks. There are
deep ditches. My daughter has already had a couple of close calls due to the
increased traffic from Mr. Schmitt's project on Olive Street due to the on street
parking. There have been numerous evenings that I have been concerned about
emergency vehicles being able to get through with the increased traffic that would
be. I am thinking the city, before this type of project is approved, we really do
have to look at where all this traffic is going to go beyond our block of Olive and
without sidewalks beyond that with the school children walking home as well
because their lives will be in danger. Like I said, I'm not sure if this is the most
appropriate forum. I wanted to address this to Mr. House previously. I am real
concerned about the building next to mine which will be facing Olive Street and
then behind that there will be another building that will run parallel to my
backyard. I know that your requirements are only the city ordinances that you
have to follow the law, I am very concerned about balconies, back porches,
whatever may be on the building that runs parallel to my backyard. Already in
the townhouses facing Fletcher whose backyards are adjacent to my backyard,
over the years renters have come and gone. There have been good renters, there
have been bad renters. There have been good renters who have had big parties.
There have been drunks on the balcony on the back that on more than one
occasion have harassed my children playing in the backyard. Even set way back,
when the leaves are off the trees even though the townhouses facing Fletcher,
even though there is a great distance from my backyard, there is a considerable
distance, even still there has been a problem with privacy and with the renters
having interaction with my kids when they have been in drunken states. Now
there is not going to be much distance at all between the back of that one
apartment running parallel to my yard and my yard, very little buffer, very, very
little buffer. I would like to see increased buffer. Preferably natural buffer with
more trees, I like more space and more trees. However, if that is not possible I
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 39
Ward:
Chaddick:
Edwards:
Chaddick:
Ward:
Gable:
Ward:
would at least like to see a large privacy fence. The other issue I would like to
just throw in. I personally deeply object to that particular area being referred to as
infill. I would like to invite anyone who sees it that way to join me for a hike. I
have always known that it would someday be developed. I had no idea it would
be to that degree of density. To pass it off as infill, to use that term to make it
look like an environmentally positive thing, like this is infill, this is a good thing
for the environment, I think of infill as developing areas, vacant lots, warehouses,
whatever, to accommodate people for housing. This is adjacent to a 91 acre
wooded area forest and the wildlife that we have, I have five deer in my yard in
the morning. I have always accepted that that land would be developed. It really
hurts me to have it be referred to as infill, like it is a good environmentally
positive thing. As I said, I would like to invite anyone who sees it that way to join
me on a hike. Thank you.
Is there anyone else that would like to make public comment?
Yes, Susan Chaddick, I live on the corner of Spring Street and Olive. I just think
it is ludicrous to talk about 48 bedrooms and 51 parking spaces. One of those
being a handicapped parking. When we have guests where are they going to park?
I ask you, where are they going to park? When you have a one bedroom
apartment couples both working to pay the standard cost of this housing, where
are they going to park, one car behind the other car in a slot? This is in my
estimation a huge, huge problem that you all are faced with. I would like to ask,
Mr. House makes comment in his letter to us that 1.3 spaces per unit is the
maximum allowed, is there a possibility of getting a waiver from that 1.3 and
even moving that up to 1.5?
Yes, a waiver can be requested for additional parking.
Then I will continue to harp away at the parking issue. It is a huge, huge problem.
Thank you.
I am Julie Gable and I would like to reiterate the parking problem that we have
right now. The block just north of us where Bobby Schmitt has built some
duplexes, it is really difficult to get out, especially with the snow right now. It is
difficult to drive down the street and he has parking within his complex. Time
and again there are cars lined up. I counted 13 that were just lined on the side of
the street and it is really difficult to get by, especially somebody in an SUV
vehicle. I would really like to reiterate the problem that we are having with that
and the proposed development is going to increase it many times of what it is
right now. I think we really need to address this and do something positive for the
neighborhood. Also, looking at our neighborhood as a near historic site with the
confederate cemetery. I would like to keep the flavor of our neighborhood, not
necessarily the same, along with the Mount Sequoyah look and feel. I don't have
an easy answer but I would really like to make that really adamant request.
Thank you. Is there any other public comment?
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February 27, 2003
Page 40
Bryant:
Ward:
I think I would simply like to ask you to consider what a renter is going to feel
like if they come home at 5:30 in the afternoon and they don't have a place to
park onsite. I can't imagine renting where there is no possibility of being assured
that when I come home in the afternoon from work that I am going to be able to
park. If there is the upscale renter that you are proposing to rent to, especially if
there is a couple, I can't imagine people paying the upscale rent when they don't
have a place to park.
Thank you all for your comments. I will close it to the public at this time. Really
what I get from this Greg is that from the additional infill most people have
brought, as the statistics have shown, a lot more vehicles into the neighborhood
than what is even allowed or maybe recommended by our Planning Commission
as far as parking. I do live on Mount Sequoyah. All the streets up there, even
Assembly, which I live on, is a state highway, it is very narrow, there are cars
parked up and down it and it is almost one way most of the time. People have to
park somewhere. I think parking is probably my main concern too. I would like
to see you address that. My personal opinion is I still like your concept with the
way you are putting this in as far as the cul-de-sac and the widening of Olive and
making it a much better and more usable street. I am not sure that I am really
excited about opening up either Fletcher or Center Street personally but there
again, I am just one person on a committee of nine and we try to make the best
decisions we can with what we have to work with meeting all the city ordinances.
We have looked at this fairly hard a couple of times now and I'm not sure that any
of us will ever come to a compete census on this. There are nine members on the
Planning Commission and we always have varied ideas of what we think should
be done. There are some people that think we ought to put a super highway right
across Mount Sequoyah and some people are adamantly going to block that for
sure. Everybody has their different take on how things should be done. Do you
have any other statements that you would like to make?
House: Just a couple of quick ones just to help. I will start with the last. Our design is
traditional.
Chaddick: I think I am talking more about the parking all along the street.
House: I am not sure that can be helped. In the historic district you have parking along
the street. Most people don't even have garages in the historic district. To the
parking, I believe that we can definitely get to the maximum allowed by the
ordinance, which is 1.3 onsite and then have on street, adjacent to our property, as
the neighbors have requested, another eight spaces, which brings us to 1.44,
which kind of allows us to stretch the code as it is written. I agree with that. From
a practical standpoint I feel that that is necessary. I will say that we don't rent just
to couples. We get a lot of single people that rent one bedroom apartments and
that is part of what we aim toward. I think the ratio of 1.3 to 1.44 will work for
us. Secondly, I just want to point out that we are proposing the same number of
bedrooms that are allowed in R-1.5 zoning. We are not even coming close to the
R-2 as far as what we are asking for in density. With respect to Leslie's
comments about balconies, the buildings are turned so that there is pretty much a
blank wall towards her property and not balconies. As far as traffic, we have
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February 27, 2003
Page 41
submitted a professional traffic study regarding traffic safety. My understanding
is if we didn't do anything we are in good shape.
Ward: Commissioners, do you have any questions?
Bunch: I have several questions. Matt, at one time we had before us a development
further up the hill. I may have asked you this previously, Ron Petrie brought us a
map of the sewer situation on Mount Sequoyah. There was one system of sewer
lines that was at capacity and having problems and another section of the sewer
system that appeared to be flowing quite well. Can you elaborate on how this
relates to the different sewer layouts on the mountain?
Casey:
I will have to check on that for you. I did look at this with Mr. Petrie when this
first came in and that didn't come up. An assumption would be that it is not in the
area of concern but I will double check with that if there are any problems.
Bunch: We beat around the bush a lot on densities and from Mr. House's standpoint I
appreciate his comment that he continues to shoot at a moving target. We have
got neighbors all speaking of different densities. One neighbor over here says that
one less building and more parking would be acceptable. The question I have is
have you all gotten together, Mr. House and the neighborhood association and the
neighborhood come to a conclusion to present to Mr. House saying this is the
density that we can accept. You are putting the pressure on us to listen to
comments from a multitude of different neighbors expressing different densities
and then you are expecting Mr. House to respond to all of these and spend his
money but it seems to me that it would be imperative that the neighborhood get
together and say if you are going to have a unified front you should have a unified
front on what you will accept, you have one on what you won't accept. If we are
going to make progress why can't we do things like that? We have a meeting
Tuesday night on New Urbanism and Smart Growth. I would like to definitely
extend an invitation to the neighborhood association concerned with this to look
at those. We are having all these people come in and speak of Smart Growth and
New Urbanism. People on the outlying areas say we want infill, we don't want
sprawl and it all comes down to the situation where people want infill, want infill,
until it is in their backyard. Until we can open up some dialogue and get some
communication and have people make commitments and say what you will
accept. Also on revising the hillside standards and the development standards. I
feel like the information that we are getting in a meeting like this can go a long
way in helping what we are looking at in the future. Yes, we have a big block of
R-2 from Fletcher west if that needs to be revised then we need good dialogue
from the people live with the situation and can show us the errors in that. We are
put in a position to make decisions for people often times without good
information. If you all could attend that deal Tuesday night and then if you could
get with Mr. House and talk to him about what kind of densities are acceptable. I
think we can shorten this process considerably.
Chaddick: The letter that you got from Mr. House was a reply to our letter that we sent him.
We were advised not to bargain specifically on number of units, the way we
should best approach it would be to request more parking spaces because that is
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February 27, 2003
Page 42
really what we are talking about. By code those are the issues. The traffic, the
safety, the topography, those are the issues that stop or continue a project. By
ordinance and code he is under the R-2. If that is what you want us to do, if you
want us to come and say we want it 15 units and two bedroom units, I don't think
legally we can do that.
House: I was pleased to see the letter from the neighbors that signed the letter.
Chaddick: Don't get us mixed up with the Mount Sequoyah Neighborhood Association.
These are just the Olive residents.
House: But these are the people that are most affected I think we can go 80% of the way
to meeting their needs. The real issue I see is who pays and how much offsite
development do we do. The rest of it, the parking and the Bill of Assurances and
the garbage enclosures and the tree things and all of that, I think we are on the
same page on. The real issue is whether we do a street in front of their house and
the connectivity if I am paraphrasing that correctly. I think we can get the parking
at least that meets the law.
Ward: Mr. Bunch, are there any other comments? I am ready to get out of here.
Hoover: If I can get staff to just explain quickly, what improvements are you suggesting on
Olive and exactly where?
Conklin: Extending Olive down to Center Street and then extending Center Street down.
Hoover: You are not talking about anything offsite from Olive to Spring at all?
Conklin: We are trying to have a balance there. Require connectivity and building new
streets and not doing any additional work.
Hoover: So no improvements from Olive to Spring, only in front of his property and this
would be a narrower street in front of this property on Olive?
Conklin: We need to talk about the issue of on street parking. There is 60' of right of way
here, I think we would want to make sure that we could have on street parking
and have two way traffic.
House: We thought we could still do the 20' pavement and then have the additional for
parking.
Conklin: As you can tell he hasn't provided a plan and I think everything is up for
discussion here. My biggest issue was not just looking at this project but looking
at the entire hillside and regardless, I heard let's build streets and let's not build
streets, if it is single-family homes or if it is apaitments, in order to develop you
are going to need a street. Unless you leave it open space and you don't develop
it. Even on single-family homes like Olive Street has a street in front of each
house. That is a typical urban city type development, a house with a street in
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February 27, 2003
Page 43
front of it. Whether it is single-family or apartments we are looking at a street
extension and connections.
Hoover: Let me ask you this. If this were a new development further out and not infill,
what would we be requiring the developer to build?
Conklin: On larger complexes or apartments?
Hoover: This size. In a similar situation but where we are not infilling, like the last
Preliminary Plat that we had.
Conklin- That is why I brought up that plat. We require street connectivity, the
connections. This is already kind of set on this plat.
Hoover: I am just saying that we are not asking the developer to do anything that we
wouldn't ask someone else to do if it weren't infill. I guess I'm thinking if this
were out there he would have to develop this street here wouldn't he?
Conklin: This is what is challenging about these unequated subdivision plats, these paper
subdivisions. We had the same issue up on Rochier Heights, Ken Marvin didn't
want to build any of that street out. There are hundreds of lots up there and
streets. At the same time we are land locking property. Typically on an
apartment complex. Let me answer your question, this is a traditional grid type
street pattern. You look at a map of Fayetteville on the wall right there it is a lot
more dense, it is platted in lots and blocks traditional design of street systems. As
you move out you have more cul-de-sacs and dead end streets and everything
funnels out onto an arterial street system and everybody has to go on the same
street to either get to downtown or to the mall. I guess I can't answer your
question because it is a whole different street pattern system that Fayetteville
historically was platted with, that is residential lots and blocks verses creating a
subdivision with stub outs and cross connection with arterial streets that pick up
the traffic. You probably wouldn't have three streets on three sides of a project.
Hoover: Ok.
Ward: Commissioner Bunch?
Bunch: Mr. House, do you feel that you have enough information that you can do
whatever is necessary between now and the full Planning Commission for this to
be forwarded? I know there are some issues that will never be settled. I guess
there haven't been any technical changes.
Edwards: Are you going to add parking?
House: Definitely I would like to add parking but I would like to do it in a way without
having to spend a bunch of money. I would like to go forward with approvals
upon us getting to 1.3 or whatever it is rather than me coming in and replatting
and redoing drainage and redoing the whole thing and you all say we don't want
to forward it anyway.
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February 27, 2003
Page 44
Conklin: I let Mr. House come forward with this project because I don't want someone to
spend the time and money if the Commission is not going to require the street
connections. Offsite street improvements, that needs to be decided.
Bunch: Ok. That being said, I will move that we forward LSD 02-29.00 to the full
Planning Commission where it can be discussed further with public meetings and
maybe you can get some definitive information.
Hoover: I'll second.
Ward: I will concur.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 45
Discussion of Cliffs Redesign of Parking Lot
Hesse:
The reason I am bringing this to you is this plan shows more than the minimum
requirement. When we went out to inspect it for final approval they met the
minimum but they didn't meet the plan. We need direction of can we approve it
this way? We know that you approved this layout however, this layout wasn't
built exactly They do meet the minimums except one area that I will discuss
lately. Overall, we need to have direction from you all do you want us to bring
these things back or do you want us to make an administrative decision?
Ward: I think as long as it meets our minimum you can make an administrative decision.
If it meets our standards that is all that matters.
Bunch: Are you talking about someone coming back and leaving a great long expanse of
asphalt?
Hesse: When I say minimum they would meet the 12 parking spaces, this shows like 6.
The other item is there is an area on here that would call for a waiver, they do
have 20 spaces without an island. We could go about this two ways, they could
put the island there or we could ask them to put trees along that side.
Bunch: I like the trees along the side because a lot of times the trees in the islands may
not survive.
Kelso: There is a lot of drainage in this particular location and that is why we were
thinking it would be better if we could plant the trees along the sides verses the
island.
Hesse: We would require double the trees. I am afraid they wouldn't survive on this
island anyway.
Bunch: On some of these projects that have come through we have looked at specific
locations for islands and we have called them out in the minutes like this here to
break this up or it was a tradeoff like out at the hospital or something like this but
I think these were just more or less meeting standards. When in doubt bring it up
but in this particular case I think it is ok.
Hesse: They put in a lot more trees than what were required. We would ask them to put
more right here because we don't have an island.
Bunch: That would have an effect on it too depending on how many teeth we had to pull
to get the trees. This would save a lot of trees, add a lot more landscaping trees
and so having some latitude to shift these around I don't see any real problem
with that. It is still the general idea. There will be some probably where it does
make a difference.
Hesse: Ok.
Ward: As long as they meet minimum standards.
Subdivision Committee
February 27, 2003
Page 46
Bunch: You should ask Commissioner Hoover, she may have a different idea.
Hoover: I think as long as they meet the minimum standards and we are getting more trees
that is fine with me.