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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-9680 Staff Report ITEM NO.: 9 FILE NO.: Z-9680 NAME: Wallace Auto Services – PD-C LOCATION: 11415 West Markham Street DEVELOPER: Cropper Rogers Properties, LLC 11415 West Markham Street Little Rock, AR, 72211 OWNER/AUTHORIZED AGENT: Cropper Rogers Properties, LLC (Owner) Scott Wallace (Agent) 11415 West Markham Street Little Rock, AR, 72211 SURVEYOR/ENGINEER: Brooks Surveying 20820 Arch Street Pike Hensley, AR, 72065 AREA: 0.34 acres NUMBER OF LOTS: 1 FT. NEW STREET: 0 LF WARD: 4 PLANNING DISTRICT: 2 CENSUS TRACT: 22.09 CURRENT ZONING: C-3 VARIANCE/WAIVERS: None Requested A. PROPOSAL/REQUEST/APPLICANT’S STATEMENT: The applicant is proposing to rezone the 0.34-acre property located at 11415 West Markham Street from “C-3” Commercial to “PD-C” Planned Development – Commercial to allow for development of a vehicle service modification business with outdoor display. B. EXISTING CONDITIONS: The property currently contains a former bank building with drive-thru and parking. The structure has been converted into an office area and the former drive-thru canopy has been enclosed for a vehicle shop area. C. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: All owners of property within 200 feet of the site and all neighborhood associations registered with the City of Little Rock were notified of the public hearing. D. ENGINEERING COMMENTS: Markham Street is classified on the Master Street Plan as a minor arterial. A dedication of additional right of way 45 feet from centerline of roadway (CR) or centerline of right (CROW) of way will be required depending on location of CR and CROW. E. UTILITIES/FIRE DEPARTMENT/PARKS/COUNTY PLANNING: Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority: No Comments Received. Entergy: No Comments Received. CenterPoint Energy: No Comments Received. AT & T: No Comments Received. Central Arkansas Water: NO OBJECTIONS: All Central Arkansas Water requirements in effect at the time of request for water service must be met. Fire Department: Maintain Access: Fire Hydrants. Maintain fire apparatus access roads at fire hydrant locations as per Appendix D of the 2012 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code Vol. 1 Section D103.1 Access road width with a hydrant. Where a fire hydrant is located on a fire apparatus access road, the minimum road width shall be 26 feet, exclusive of shoulders. Grade Maintain fire apparatus access roads as per Appendix D of the 2012 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code Vol. 1 Section D103.2 Grade. Fire apparatus access roads shall not exceed 10 percent in grade except as approved by the fire chief. If the grade exceeds 10 percent, approval will be denied and the applicant must submit request to be reviewed by Fire Chief for Approval. Loading Maintain fire apparatus access road design as per Appendix D of the 2012 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code Vol. 1 Section D102.1 Access and loading. Facilities, buildings or portions of buildings hereafter constructed shall be accessible to fire department apparatus by way of an approved fire apparatus access road with an asphalt, concrete or other approved driving surface capable of supporting the imposed load of fire apparatus weighing at least 75,000 pounds. Commercial and Industrial Developments – 2 means of access. - Maintain fire apparatus access roads as per Appendix D of the 2012 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code Vol. 1 Section D104.1 Buildings exceeding three stories or 30 feet in height. Building or facilities exceeding 30 feet or three stories in height shall have at least two means of fire apparatus access for each structure. Section D104.2 Building exceeding 62,000 square feet in area. Buildings or facilities having a gross building area of more than 62,000 square feet shall be provide with two separate and approved fire apparatus access roads. Exception: Projects having a gross building area of up to 124,000 square feet that have a single approved fire apparatus access road when all building are equipped throughout with approved automatic sprinkler systems. D104.3 Remoteness. Where two fire apparatus access roads are required, they shall be placed a distance apart equal to not less than one half of the length of the maximum overall diagonal dimension of the lot or area to be served, measured in a straight line between accesses. Fire Hydrants Locate Fire Hydrants as per Appendix C of the 2012 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code. Section C101 – C105, in conjunction with Central Arkansas Water (Daniel Tull 501-377-1245) and the Little Rock Fire Marshals Office (Capt. Tony Rhodes 501-918-3757, or Fire Marshal Derek N Ingram 501-918-3756 Number and Distribution of Fire Hydrants as per Table C105.1. Parks and Recreation: No Comment Received. County Planning: No Comments Received. F. BUILDING CODES/LANDSCAPE: Building Code: No Comments Received. Landscape: 1. Any new site development must comply with the City’s minimal 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. G. TRANSPORTATION/PLANNING: Rock Region Metro: No Comments Received. Planning Division: The request is in the Rodney Parkham Planning District. The Land Use Plan shows Commercial (C) for the requested area. The Commercial (C) category provides for a broad range of retail and wholesale sales of products, personal and professional services, and general business activities. Commercial activities vary in type and scale, depending on the trade area that they serve. The requested area is currently a vehicle repair and modification shop. The application is to rezone from General Commercial District (C-3) to a Planned Development-Commercial (PD-C) to allow for outdoor displays. Surrounding the application area, the Land Use Plan shows Commercial (C) east, north, and west of the application area. To the south is Rock Creek. Across Rock Creek the Land Use Plan shows Residential Low Density (RL). The Residential Low (RL) category provides for single family homes at densities not to exceed 6 dwelling units per acre. Such residential development is typically characterized by conventional single-family homes but may also include patio or garden homes and cluster homes, provided that the density remains less than 6 units per acre. The land surrounding the applicant area is zoned General Commercial District (C-3) to the east, north, and west. The General Commercial District (C-3) provides for development of a broad range of general sales and service uses. To the south is Single-Family Residential (R-2). Residential (R-2) establishes areas that protect single-family uses by promoting and encouraging a suitable environment for family life, by providing a reasonable standard for light, air and similar amenities, by minimizing traffic congestion, and by avoiding the overloading of utilities and public facilities designed to service only one-family residential uses. The applicant land is currently zoned General Commercial District (C-3) and is an existing vehicle repair and modification businesses. Master Street Plan: To the north of the property is West Markham Street, a Minor Arterial on the Master Street Plan. A Minor Arterial provides connections to and through an urban area and their primary function is to provide short distance travel within the urbanized area. Entrances and exits should be limited to minimize negative effects of traffic and pedestrians on W. Markham Street since it is a Minor Arterial. This street may require dedication of right-of-way and may require street improvements for entrances and exits to the site. Bicycle Plan: There are no bike routes shown in the immediate vicinity. Historic Preservation Plan: There are no existing historic sites on, or adjacent, to this land. H. ANALYSIS: The applicant is proposing to rezone the 0.34 acre property located at 11415 West Markham Street from “C-3” Commercial to “PD-C” Planned Development – Commercial to allow for development of a vehicle service / modification business with outdoor display. The property currently contains a former bank building with drive-thru and paved parking areas. The bank teller area has been converted into an office area and the former drive-thru canopy areas have been enclosure for vehicle workshop areas. The site is located within a fully developed area of West Markham Street and is primarily surrounded by C-3 zoned properties on all sides with the Rock Creek on the south perimeter. The creek abuts an R-2 zoned residential area to the south. The applicant has modified the existing structure for use as an office and vehicle service shop. The existing building has been overlayed (wrapped) by metal framing and a plywood enclosure which surrounds the entire structure. The modifications (renovations) have been performed by the applicant without seeking or retaining a building permit from the city prior to beginning of work. The site plan shows an existing dumpster enclosure at the southwest corner of the property and no existing or new site lighting is located on the site. The parking lot currently has (14) parking spaces along the north and west sides of the property. A two-lane access drive originates at the northwest corner of the site from West Markham Street and circles the building. The drive proceeds to the existing two-lane drive through canopies on the east and west sides of the structure. The applicant has placed (parked) a rotating vehicle display trailer along the northwest side of the parking lot bordering West Markham. A permanently parked (stored) tractor trailer is at the north side of the parking lot and building bordering West Markham Street. The display trailer and tractor trailer has been placed (parked) on the site without seeking a permit or variance request from the city prior to placement. Staff is not supportive of the requested (PD-C) Planned Development – Commercial zoning. Staff does not view the request as reasonable. Although there are other auto related uses in this immediate area, Staff feels that the site is too small for the proposed use. The applicant’s proposed outdoor vehicle display, and parking of the large business trailer occupy all the parking area between the existing building and West Markham Street. This leaves very little area for employee and customer parking, and area for vehicles awaiting service or pick-up by the customer. Additionally, the applicant has begun and continued construction on the existing building without obtaining a building permit. Staff believes this small commercial lot is not appropriate for the proposed use. STAFF RECOMMENDATION:  Staff recommends denial of the requested PD-C rezoning.