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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCBC 07-06-2006LITTLE ROCK CITY BEAUTIFUL CoMMiSSioN MEETING NOTICE The City Beautiful Commission will hold its regular meeting at 11:15 a.m. on Thursday, July the 6t11, 2006, in the Sister Cities Conference Room on the second floor of City Hall. AGENDA Call to Order: Karol Zoeller, Chair Roll Call: Welcoming of new CBC member: Approval of the Minutes: June 01, 2006 Treasurer's Report: Ann Ivey Old Business: ■ Landscape Brochures New Business: • Committee Reports Informative meeting on upcoming landscape variance requests by city staff Adjournment: City Beautiful Commission ♦ 723 West Markham ♦ Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 ♦ (501) 371-4864 The City Beautiful Commission held its regular meeting Thursday, June 01, 2006, at 11:30 a.m. in the Sister Cities Conference Room on the second floor of City Hall. Chair Karol Zoeller called the meeting to order. MEMBERS PRESENT: Jan Hicks Cita Cobb Karol Zoeller Ann Ivey Ross Piazza John Beneke ALSO PRESENT: Stacy Hurst, Board of Director, City of Little Rock Dana Carney, Zoning & Subdivision Manager, Department of Planning & Development, City of Little Rock Christy Marvel, Plans Development Administrator, Department of Planning & Development, City of Little Rock Joe Rantisi, General Manager, The Capital Hotel Ward Lile, Architect, P.A. Smith & Associates Sarah Burr, Landscape Architect, P. A. Smith & Associates OPEN PUBLIC MEETING: ITEM NO. 1 C. B.C. 595-NEW MATTERS -The Capital Hotel, downtown STAFF REPORT: City Staff began the meeting regarding the development of a surface, valet parking lot to be located at 100 Main Street. The UU zoned property located at 100 Main Street is currently occupied by a multistory building, which contains office space and a parking deck. The building occupies the entirety of the half block on the west side of Main Street, from Markham to Second Streets. The property owners propose to remove the building and construct in its place a surface parking lot to serve as valet parking for the adjacent Capitol Hotel. The parking lot is to contain 173 spaces, with access drives from both Markham and Second Streets. Portions of the parking lot will allow for double and triple stacked parking. The lot will be enclosed with an ornamental brick and steel fence and landscaping. On April 24, 2006, the Board of Zoning Adjustment approved several variances from the Zoning Ordinance in conjunction with the proposed parking lot. A variance was approved to allow the surface parking lot to be located between the building and the abutting street. A variance was approved to allow a reduced street buffer width of 4.5 feet on the Main Street perimeter. A variance was approved to allow the double and triple stacked parking spaces, with some of the spaces having a reduced depth. A variance was approved to allow a sidewalk design different than that required in the Uu district. The last variance allowed the elimination of street trees due to the overhead power lines for the trolley system. The property owner is now requesting several variances from the Landscape Ordinance to allow development of the proposed parking lot. The first variance requested is from the perimeter planting strip requirement of Section 15-96 (a) to permit a reduced planting strip along the Main Street perimeter. The Code requires a width of 6.9 feet for this strip based on a twenty-five percent reduction for development in the mature area of the City. The applicant proposes a 14.5-foot wide planting strip, only 4.5 feet of which is located on the property. The remaining 10-foot portion is located in the public right-of-way. The second variance is from the perimeter planting strip requirement of Section 36-96 (b) to permit a reduction in the number of trees within the three street perimeter -planting strips. The Code requirement is 5 trees on the Markham Street perimeter, 10 trees on the Main Street perimeter and 5 trees on the Second Street perimeter. The applicant proposes to plant 2 trees on the Markham Street perimeter, 5 trees on the Main Street perimeter and 2 trees on the Second Street perimeter. The third variance is from the interior landscape area requirement of Section 15-97 (a) to permit a reduction in the area of interior landscaping. The Code quires a total area of 3,430 square feet of interior landscape area for this parking lot. The applicant proposes a total area of 1,511 square feet. The final variance is from the interior landscape area tree ratio requirement of Section 36-97 (c) to permit a reduction in the number of required interior trees from 13 to 4. Staff is supportive of the requested variances. The property is currently occupied from property line to property line by a building that contains a parking deck. Any landscaping around the site is minimal at best. The proposed redevelopment, even with the requested variances, should result in a more attractive site. The width of the planting strips on the Markham and Second Street perimeters are 11 feet and 10 feet respectively, exceeding the 9 feet required by the landscape ordinance. Although the Main Street perimeter -planting strip is only 4.5-feet in width on the applicant's property, an area 14.5-feet in width will be landscaped, including the area within the right-of-way. The applicant has proposed to help mitigate the reduction in numbers of plants and area of landscaping by increasing the size of trees and shrubs to be planted. Within the perimeter planting strips, the applicant has proposed to plant October Glory lied Maples with a 3-1/2 inch caliper; larger than the 2-inch caliper required by Code. Within the street perimeter planting strips, the applicant proposes to plant Needlepoint Hollies 4 feet on center with a height of 48 inches at planting; taller than the 30 inches required by the Code. Seven -gallon size Evergreen Clematis vines will be planted along the street perimeters to grow up on the decorative fence. Additional plantings consisting of a Yoshino Cherry tree and azalea shrubs will be located at the corner of Main and Second Streets. Each of the interior islands will contain two Tulip Poplar trees with a caliper of 3-1/2 inches and nine Needlepoint Hollies with a height of 48 inches at planting. Landscaping on the Louisiana Street perimeter of the site, west of the hotel, will also be upgraded. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of the requested variances subject to compliance with the following variances: 1. Compliance with the approved plan, including plant size. 2. A franchise must be obtained for all improvements located in the public right-of-way. COMMISSION ACTION: Commission Warren inquired whether four distinct issues had been considered regarding the proposal of a surface parking lot. The issues discussed were as follows: 1. The aesthetics of the parking lot for the Main Street corridor? 2. The life of asphalt increases with the increase in shade provided by trees. 3. The heat that is generated by the masses of asphalt and also the lack of shade trees for the customer's vehicles. 4. The aesthetic view of the parking lot from hotel residents above. The applicant stated that indeed, these issues had been discussed, addressed, and resolved. The applicant feels like this is the best option with all of the perimeters of the site. Commissioner Cobb inquired whether or not the area would have an automatic irrigation system? The applicant and city staff stated that indeed it did require irrigation and that it was shown on the landscape plan as part of this approval. Commissioner Laha noted that one of the proposed trees seemed to be located within the vehicular triangle; thus creating a blind corner. Staff noted that it would work with the public works department in assuring that was resolved. Motion: Troy Laha made a motion to approve the variance request as submitted. Second: Ann Ivey seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. CLOSE PUBLIC MEETING: APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: Motion: Commissioner Laha made a motion to approve the minutes as written. Second: Commissioner Cobb seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. TREASURER'S REPORT: City staff noted the following per Ann Ivey: Little Rock City Beautiful Commission Treasurer's Report 06-01-2006 Beginning Balance as of May 04, 2006 $3 3._ 2�8 Credits Interest on Account .64 Total credits $0.64 $3,361.4Z Debits X Total debits $ 0.00 $3 3�42 Ending Balance as of June 01, 2006 OLD BUSINESS: $3 321.42 Ann Ivey requests new Eye of the Beholder nominations from the Commissioners. Keep Arkansas Beautiful Update: Chair Zoeller noted the need for KArB board candidates. The Board recently invited Mr. Nash Abrams to be involved. It will require 4-5 hours per week. The training for the board will be soon and upon completion will solidify the affiliation. NEW BUSINESS: Staff inquired the use/functionality of the mailed/hard copy of the monthly agenda and minutes. Motion: Commissioner Cobb made a motion for city staff to merely send the electronic file of future CBC information. Second: Commissioner Piazza seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. It was agreed there is no longer a need for a hard copy; therefore, in the future an electronic file is all that will be sent. Adjournment: 12:20 p.m.