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Home My WebLink AboutZ-3454-I Staff AnalysisSeptember 30, 1999 ITEM NO.: 5.2. FILE NO.: Z -3454-I NAME: Otter Creek Village Post Office - Zoning Site Plan Review LOCATION: South side of Otter Creek Parkway, just west of Stagecoach Road DEVELOPER: ENGINEER: Otter Creek Land Co. McGetrick and McGetrick #2 Otter Creek Court 319 East Markham St., Ste. 202 Little Rock, AR 72209 Little Rock, AR 72201 AREA: 2.18 acres NUMBER OF LOTS: 1 FT. NEW STREET: 0 ZONING: C-2 ALLOWED USES: Commercial - Shopping Center District PROPOSED USE: Post Office VARIANCES/WAIVERS REQUESTED: None requested. A. PROPOSAL/REQUEST: The applicant is proposing a site plan for a new post office facility along the south side of Otter Creek Parkway, immediately west of the Harvest Foods Store. The property is zoned C-2 and is the proposed Lot 8, Otter Creek Commercial Subdivision (Item 5 on this agenda is the revised plat). The new post office facility will serve the 72210 zip code area of Little Rock. The applicant proposes a 13,078 square foot one-story building located near the center of the 2.18 acre property. Two shared drives from Otter Creek Parkway will serve the site. There will be a third driveway along the east property line for postal truck access. Areas of parking are located on all four sides of the September 30, 1999 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 5.2. (Cont.) FILE_NO.: Z -3454-I building. The applicant is proposing 45 parking spaces for customers, 26 spaces for employees and 24 spaces for postal trucks. A mail drop box lane is proposed within the parking area on the north side of the building. The proposed building location, parking and drive design and landscaped areas are noted on the attached site plan. B. • EXISTING CONDITIONS: The property is undeveloped and mostly wooded. There is a mixture of commercial use and zoning to the east, south and northeast. The proposed Lot 9 of the Otter Creek Commercial Subdivision is immediately west, with vacant multifamily zoned property further west. There is an existing multifamily development to the north across Otter Creek Parkway. C. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: The Otter Creek Homeowners Association was notified of the public hearing. As of this writing, staff has received no comment from the neighborhood. D. ENGINEERING COMMENTS: PUBLIC WORKS CONDITIONS: 1. Construct left turn lanes on Otter Creek Parkway and move guard house for sight distance problems. 2. All internal streets to be constructed to City standards with dual sidewalks. 3. Repair or replace any curb and gutter or sidewalk that is damaged in the public right-of-way prior to occupancy. 4. Property frontage needs to have the sidewalks and ramps brought up to the current ADA standards. 5. Plans of all work in right-of-way shall be submitted for approval prior to start of work. 6. Stormwater detention ordinance applies to this property. Revise previous detention plans due to changes in Road elevations done by AHTD. 7. Easements for proposed stormwater detention facilities are required. 8. Existing topographic information at maximum five foot contour interval base flood elevation is required. 9. A Sketch Grading and Drainage Plan per Sec. 29-186(e) is F4 September 30, 1999 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 5.2. (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z -3454-I required. 10. A Grading Permit for Secs. 29-186(c) and (d) is required. 11. Eliminate truck/carrier entrance to Service Drive due to close proximity of loading dock. E. UTILITIES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT/COUNTY PLANNING: Wastewater: Sewer main extension required with easements to serve property. AP&L: No Comment. Arkla: No Comment. Southwestern Bell: No Comment. Water: An acreage charge of $150 per acre will apply in addition to normal charges. On site fire protection may be required. Fire Department: Private fire hydrants are required. County Planning: No Comment received. CATA: No Comment received. F. ISSUES/TECHNICAL/DESIGN: Planning Division: No Comment. Landscape Issues: Areas set aside for buffers and landscaping meet with ordinance requirements with the exception of a small portion of the street buffer which drops below the minimum width allowed of 6 feet. G. ANALYSIS: The applicant submitted a revised site plan to staff on September 16, 1999. The revised plat addresses some of the concerns discussed by the Subdivision Committee. The street side buffer has been increased to conform to ordinance standards. The access drive along the east property has been moved approximately 40 feet to the north as requested by staff. This should help solve any conflict 3 September 30, 1999 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 5.2. (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z -3454-I with the Harvest Foods loading dock. With the relocation of this driveway, four (4) parking spaces have been eliminated. A total of 95 parking spaces is proposed with this development. There is no specific minimum ordinance parking requirement for a post office. Staff feels that the amount of parking proposed should easily accommodate the proposed postal facility. Public Works has noted that a left turn lane needs to be constructed on Otter Creek Parkway for left turns into the site's westernmost drive. With this construction, the existing guard house within the Otter Creek Parkway median would need to be moved to avoid a sight -distance problem. Public Works has noted that the westernmost drive could be made right-in/right-out only and no left turn lane could be constructed at this time, thereby eliminating the need to move the guard house. When the left turn lane is constructed with Lot 9 development and the driveway is redesigned, the guard house will need to be moved. The applicant needs to revise the site plan to provide the right-in/right-out design for the westernmost drive. Otherwise, to staff's knowledge, there are no outstanding issues associated with the proposed site plan. The proposed building setbacks, parking design and landscape and buffer areas conform to ordinance standards. The proposed site plan should have no adverse effect on the general area. H. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends approval of the site plan subject to the following conditions: 1. Compliance with the requirements as noted in paragraphs D, E and F of this report. 2. A revised site plan must be submitted to staff providing for a right-in/right-out driveway design for the westernmost drive. 4 September 30, 1999 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 5.2. (Cont.) SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT: FILE NO.: Z -3454-I (SEPTEMBER 9, 1999) Bob Lowe was present, representing the application. Staff gave a brief description of the proposed site plan. Staff noted that the proposed driveway along the east property line should be moved further north to avoid conflicts with the Harvest Foods loading dock. Staff also suggested that the amount of customer parking could be reduced (48 spaces shown) and could be replaced with additional landscaping along the east property line. The Public Works requirements were also briefly discussed, primarily the requirement for a left turn lane on Otter Creek Parkway into this site. The Public Works staff noted that the existing guard house within the median would need to be moved in order to avoid sight distance problems. This issue was discussed in detail. Bob Lowe stated that he would inform the property owner of the issues and report back to staff. After the discussion, the Committee forwarded the site plan to the full Commission for final action. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (SEPTEMBER 30, 1999) The staff presented a positive recommendation on this application, as there were no further issues for resolution. There were no objectors to this matter. The Chairman placed the item before the Commission for inclusion within the Consent Agenda for approval as recommended by staff. A motion to that effect was made. The motion passed by a vote of 11 ayes and 0 nays. 5