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Z-8746 Staff AnalysisFEBRUARY 27, 2012 ITEM NO.: 6 File No.: Z-8746 Owner: Shreeji Krupa Equity Group Applicant: Kunal Mody Address: SE Corner of W. 10t" Street and Martin Luther King Drive Description: West 100 feet of Lots 1, 2 and 2, Block 405, Lincoln Addition Zoned: C-3 Variance Requested: Variances are requested from the area provisions of Section 36- 301 and the parking provisions of Section 36-502 to allow construction of a restaurant/office building with reduced rear and street side setbacks and a reduced number of parking spaces. Justification: The applicant's justification is presented in an attached letter. Present Use of Property: Vacant Proposed Use of Property: New Restaurant /Office Building STAFF REPORT A. Public Works Issues: No Comments B. Buffer and Landscape Issues: 1. Site plan must comply with the City's landscape and buffer ordinance requirements. 2. The City Beautiful Commission recommends preserving as many existing trees as feasible on this site. Credit toward fulfilling Landscape Ordinance requirements can be given when preserving trees of six (6) inch caliper or larger. C. Staff Analysis: The C-3 zoned property at the southeast corner of W. 10th Street and Martin Luther King Drive contains a vacant residential structure located within the south half of the property. A building which once contained a funeral home use was recently removed from the north half of the property. There is a small amount of paving within the northeast quarter of the property. FEBRUARY 27, 2012 ITEM NO.: 6 (CON'T. The applicant proposes to redevelop the site and construct a new two-story restaurant/office building within the east half of the property, as noted on the attached site plan. The first floor will contain 2,000 square feet and house a "Subway" restaurant. The second floor will have 2, 100 square feet and contain offices. The building will be located 49.5 feet back from the front (west) property line, 18.5 feet from the rear (east) property line, 13.67 to 15 feet from the north street side property line and 57.5 feet back from the south side property line. A small area of outdoor seating will be located on a patio area (approximately 375 square feet) on the north end of the building, along the W. 10th Street frontage. The proposed building will have a drive-thru window on its east side. The applicant is proposing three (3) driveways to serve the development. The main drive will be from MLK Drive at the southwest corner of the property. Two (2) exit drives will be located along the W. 10th Street frontage. Paved parking will be on the south and west sides of the building. A total of 14 parking spaces is proposed. The driveway on the east side of the building will serve the drive-thru window. This drive will allow stacking of seven (7) or eight (8) vehicles on the site. Landscaped areas will be located along all property boundaries. The Public Works Department has approved all driveway locations. The applicant is requesting three (3) variances with the proposed development. The first variance is from Section 36-301(e)(2) of the City's Zoning Ordinance, which requires a minimum 25 foot street side setback for structures in C-3 zoning. The applicant is requesting a variance from this requirement to allow the building with a street side (north) setback of 13.67 to 15 feet. Section 36-301(e)(3) requires a minimum rear (east) setback of 25 feet. The applicant is requesting a variance from this ordinance standard to allow the building with a rear (east) setback of 18.5 feet. The final variance is from Section 36-502(b)(2)/(3) of the code which requires a minimum of 28 off-street parking spaces for this office/restaurant development. The applicant is requesting a variance from this ordinance requirement by providing 14 paved off-street parking spaces for the proposed office/restaurant building. Staff is supportive of the requested variances. Staff views the request as reasonable. Staff is viewing the development as urban in nature, very similar to the restaurant developments along Broadway. The property is located a short distance from the UU zoning district (across 1-630 to the north), which requires no specific building setbacks (in most cases) or minimum off-street parking. This property is located across MLK Drive from the very large Arkansas Children's Hospital campus and a half block from State DHS offices. The applicant anticipates that a large amount of the restaurant business will be walk-up traffic from these surrounding developments. Staff concurs with this anticipation. Additionally, there will be stacking space for seven (7) or eight (8) vehicles on the site which will serve the drive-thru window. Staff feels that it is appropriate to allow more urban development standards for this property, with the reduced setbacks FEBRUARY 27, 2012 ITEM NO.: 6 (CON'T. and parking. Staff believes this proposed development will have no adverse impact on the adjacent properties or the general area. Staff will suggest tying the parking variance to this proposed restaurant use (Subway) only, as other restaurant uses could possibly produce more traffic than a "Subway" restaurant. If the restaurant use changes to a different brand, the parking variance must be brought back to the Board of Adjustment for review. D. Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of the requested building setback and parking variances, subject to the following conditions: 1. Compliance with the City's Landscape and Buffer Ordinances. 2. The number of seats within the area of outdoor seating must not exceed 50 percent of the number of seats inside the restaurant. 3. The parking variance will be for the "Subway" restaurant use only. If at any time the restaurant brand changes, the parking variance must be brought back to the Board of Adjustment for review. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT: (February 27, 2012) Alim Muhammad and Ron Woods were present, representing the application. There were three (3) objectors present. Staff presented the application with a recommendation of approval. Ron Woods addressed the Board in support of the application. He explained the proposed use of the property. He noted that the site plan complied with the Public Works requirements. Kent Taylor and Lori Howard, of Arkansas Children's Hospital, addressed the Board in opposition. Mr. Taylor explained that he was not opposed to the proposed use, but had concerns with traffic and its impact on the area. He explained that the drive-thru could back-up onto Martin Luther King Drive. Ms. Howard explained that there was a crossing guard at the corner of W. 1 & Street and Martin Luther King Drive in the mornings to serve the school across W. 10"' Street. She further discussed the issue of traffic related to the school use. She also questioned where the employees of the office and restaurant uses would park. Jim Whitaker also addressed the Board with concerns. Mr. Woods met with Mr. Whitaker in the hallway to discuss the project. After re-entering the hearing, Mr. Whitaker noted that he was not opposed to the project and left the hearing. Chairman Yates asked about the Public Works issues with the application. Nathan Charles, of Public Works, noted that Bill Henry (Traffic Engineer) had approved the FEBRUARY 27, 2012 ITEM NO.: 6 (CON'T. proposed site plan. Monte Moore, of the Planning Staff, explained that Mr. Henry had signed -off on the proposed plan. Mr. Woods explained that the site was a challenging property and felt that the site plan was appropriate. He noted that he relied on the traffic engineer's review of the issue of traffic circulation. Rajesh Mehta asked if there was going to be a dumpster on the site. Mr. Woods noted that a dumpster would be located at the southeast corner of the property. Staff noted that a small dumpster could be located adjacent to parking space #7 and shown on the plan, with the average buffer width being maintained along the east property line. Chairman Yates asked Mr. Taylor about the traffic engineer's approval of the site plan. Mr. Taylor noted that Mr. Henry was usually tough on site plan review, but explained that he still had concerns. Staff explained how the driveways would function, noting that the two (2) drives to W. 10th Street would be exit only and the drive from Martin Luther King Drive would allow entry and exit. The issue of crossing guard hours for the school was discussed. Vice -Chairman Smith explained that the market would take care of any traffic issues, and people would not come to the site if there were traffic problems. The issue of emergency traffic in the area was discussed. The issue of proximity of the city's UU zoning district was also discussed. There was a motion to approve the application as recommended by staff. The motion passed by a vote of 5 ayes, 0 nays and 0 absent. The application was approved.