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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-10-30 - MinutesSubdivision Committee October 30, 2008 Page I of 5 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE A regular meeting of the Fayetteville Subdivision Committee was held on October 30, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. in Room 219 of the City Administration Building, 113 W. Mountain, Fayetteville, Arkansas. ACTION TAKEN LSD 08-3132: (HILTON GARDEN INN/SHILOH DR., 401/402) Approved Page 2 R-PZD 08-3116: (THE SUMMIT, 560/561) Tabled Page 3 MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT Matthew Cabe (Chair) Christine Myres Andy Lack STAFF PRESENT Jeremy Pate Andrew Garner Jesse Fulcher Greg Howe Matt Casey Dara Sanders Glenn Newman STAFF ABSENT Subdivision Committee Chair Matthew Cabe called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM. Subdivision Committee October 30, 2008 Page 2 of 5 New Business: LSD 08-3132: Large Scale Development (HILTON GARDEN INN/SHILOH DR., 401/402): Submitted by H2 ENGINEERING, INC. for property located at NW OF 1-540 & WEDINGTON, N OF HOLIDAY INN ON SHILOH. The property is zoned C-2, THOROUGHFARE COMMERCIAL and contains approximately 3.45 acres. The request is for an 81,824 s.f. hotel with 118 rooms with associated infrastructure. Jesse Fulcher, Current Planner, gave the staff report, describing the hotel project, the proposal for shared parking and drive aisles with the adjacent Holiday Inn Express. Staff is recommending approval of the project with conditions as listed in the staff report. Greg Howe, Urban Forester, stated there will be some changes to comments with the latest revisions. There may be some numerical changes in the mitigation trees, bonding amounts. I am still recommending approval. Kipp Hearne, applicant, discussed the benefit of the hotel being located in Fayetteville. Revisions to the plans referred to by Mr. Howe will increase preserved canopy, and they will mitigate with 65 trees. In addition, they have committed to mitigating for mid-level priority canopy, even though the analysis/inventory indicates mostly low priority. They also agree to plant 4" caliper mitigation trees instead of 2", and have committed to irrigate these trees. They are also trying to gain a LEED certification on this hotel. Hearne asked about the Tree Preservation area, whether that is standard on projects. Howe stated that the Tree Preservation area will preserve this area in perpetuity, to protect those trees. No public comment was received. Commissioner Lack stated he was in agreement with all recommendations and conditions. Motion: Commissioner Lack made a motion to approve the request with conditions as listed in the staff report. Commissioner Myres seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion was approved by a vote of 3-0-0. Subdivision Committee October 30, 2008 Page 3 of 5 R-PZD 08-3116: Residential Planned Zoning District (THE SUMMIT, 560/561): Submitted by APPIAN CENTER FOR DESIGN for property located at THE S END OF ROSE AND PARIS AVENUES, S OF 6T" STREET AND E OF RAZORBACK ROAD. The property is zoned RMF -24, MULTI -FAMILY — 24 UNITS/ACRE and RMF -40, MULTI -FAMILY — 40 UNITS PER ACRE and contains approximately 19.60 acres. The request is for zoning, land use and development approval for a Residential Planned Zoning District with 293 multi -family dwelling units and a church. Jesse Fulcher, Current Planner, gave the staff report, describing the PZD request on 19.5 acres, with multi -family and a church. The property is in the Hillside/Hilltop Overlay District (HHOD). The applicants have also requested to vacate a majority of the existing platted streets, to allow the development as proposed. This is a four-phase project, with the church in the ls` phase, and multi- family in next three phases. The overall development is in line with existing zoning for high density residential, and the PZD allows the flexibility to reposition the buildings, which is important in a hillside area. The project is subject to HHOD standards and Urban Residential Design Standards (URDS). HHOD standards are not being met in several instances, and there are several variances being requested. Fulcher described the variances. Staff does support some of these, but with the church specifically, we find there is too much land disturbance in those areas to support the request. There are also concerns from the Fire department and the slope of the street in the development. Because of the variances requested, we are recommending this item be tabled to allow further review. Capt. Mark Stephens, Fire Department, stated there were 6" water mains being connected to new 8" mains. He wants a copy of a study showing water pressure for the fire hydrants in this area. Capt. Stephens discussed his concerns with access to some of the areas, and water pressure and volume on this hill. James Gibson (applicant) discussed the one-way drive aisles, which are not intended for fire access, could be widened to 20' in width. Austin Rowser (applicant) stated that typically, when we get to construction drawings, we will do those studies. In general, we should have 50-70 PSI of pressure, based on the pressure plane elevation. Stephens stated that the pressure was not the biggest issue; volume is a concern, especially when attempting to fight a fire up there. He discussed the need for volume. The location of fire hydrants, volume of water are concerns. Matt Casey, City Engineer, stated that on the water situation, a secondary point of connection is needed. The one that is currently shown loops back to itself, so it does not alleviate any concerns. A water line will likely be needed to be connected to a new water main somewhere else with this development. Greg Howe, Urban Forester, stated they were meeting the minimum percent canopy shown on the plans at this time. However, changes for the plans indicate with utilities and grading, especially Subdivision Committee October 30, 2008 Page 4 of 5 around buildings H & I, he has concerns. He is also concerned with right-of-way not being vacated. Many changes might take the canopy below 30%. Gibson discussed utility easements, grading, and that the trees are primarily on property owned by the railroad. Rowser discussed trees that will remain in areas where right-of-way is located, trees will likely be returned, we don't see a street through there in the future. Howe discussed the root system under canopy, and the potential for causing damage to the root system so that the trees die because of construction. I'm willing to walk this area, though, and discuss it with the applicants. Rowser stated that they originally designed one large retaining wall, and because of concerns from the city codes, they have redesigned with it with three tiered walls. Is there a willingness to go back to a larger wall? Pate discussed the appropriateness of the portion of the project (the church) in this area, and the land disturbance required to develop the site as noted. The biggest issue is that it looks like the church site has been designed as a flat site, without any relationship to the topography surrounding, which in turn is creating a large amount of variance requests. Casey stated that the tiered walls are more preferable from an engineering standpoint. Commissioner Myres stated she believes the item should be tabled. Rowser stated they started with 6.9 acres of trees, and have preserved 5.1 acres of trees with 15' separation and parking pads. He discussed that the church building pad elevation is fixed. No public comments were received. Commissioner Lack stated he had similar thoughts about the church as staff. He discussed the previous church on Mt. Sequoyah that was denied, and its issues, which were inherently tied to the hillside and tree canopy. A church requires a considerable amount of space. Perhaps you need to look at different development pattern. You may have to stack things. Do not use a single story floor plate, for instance. I do understand there used to be a large senior center area here, with a large flat area. I would look for modifications to the church footprint to accommodate the hillside. I trust 30% tree canopy will remain, and the undisturbed area is important. I would recommend the proposal of the single tall wall. If I were engineering, I understand their recommendation from a technical standpoint. The Urban Forester would rather see trees preserved. As a commissioner, I would take the trade-off to allow the wall and save the trees. Lack discussed other issues. Motion: Subdivision Committee October 30, 2008 Page 5 of 5 Commissioner Myres made a motion to table the request until the critical issues can be addressed. Commissioner Lack seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed with a vote of 3-0-0. Pate discussed other options for the church that were also recommended for the church on Mt. Sequoyah, including using a split-level entrance, moving the building up to the street, etc. The primary issues seem related to the development form of this particular church surrounded by a large parking lot, which doesn't work well with hillside forms. Gibson discussed options for a retaining wall, saving trees in this area along the property lines. All business being concluded, the meeting was adjourned at 9:55 AM.