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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-5800 Staff Analysis1. Meeting Date: April 19, 1994 2. Case No.: Z-5800 3_ Reauest: Establishment of BOWMAN COMMERCIAL PARK LONG -FORM POD 4. Location: On the east side of Bowman Rd., approximately 0.2 miles south of Kanis Road 5. Owner/ADDlicant: Bowman Commercial Park, c/o Max R. Davis 6. Existing Status: Vacant and Residential Uses; Zoned R-2, Single -Family District 7. Proposed Use: Office -Warehouse 8. Staff Recommendation: Approval 9. Planning Commission Recommendation: Approval 10. Conditions or I_ssues Remaining to be Resolved: Amendment of the Land Use Plan 11. Right -of -Way Issues: None 12. Recommendation Forwarded With: A vote of 9 ayes, 0 nays, 2 absent, and 0 abstentions 13. Objectors: Andrea Goin; Melanie Adamski; Sherry Faulkner 14. Neighborhood Plan: I-430 (11) LE NO.: Z-5800 NAME: BOWMAN COMMERCIAL PARK -- LONG -FORM PLANNED OFFICE DEVELOPMENT LOCATION: On the east side of S. Bowman Rd., approximately 0.2 miles south of Kanis Rd. DEVELOPER: BOWMAN COMMERCIAL PARK c/o MAX R. DAVIS 6700 Allied Way Little Rock, AR 72209 562-2544 AREA: 10.102 ACRES ZONING• R-2 ARCHITECT: TERRY BURRUSS, ARCHITECTS 1202 S. Main St., Suite 204 Little Rock, AR 72202 376-3676 NUMBER OF LOTS: 1 FT. NEW STREET: PROPOSED USES: Office - Warehouse PLANNING DISTRICT: 11 CENSUS TRACT: 24.04 VARIANCES REQUESTED: None STATEMENT OF PROPOSAL: D The applicant proposes a PCD in order to construct an office/service center complex consisting of four buildings, three of the buildings having 28,800 square feet of floor area and one having 24,000 square feet, for a total building square footage of 110,400. Parking for 250 vehicles is proposed. The buildings would have a lot coverage of 25% of the land area. Parking and drives would occupy another 47%. Landscaping and open space, then, will occupy the remaining 28% of the land area. A 140 foot front setback off of Bowman Rd. is proposed, and 45 to 50 large trees are to be preserved to ensure a park -like entry to the complex. The remainder of the landscape areas are to be planted with dense evergreen plantings. The buildings are proposed to be 26 feet tall, and have an exterior finish of split -face block with stucco accents. Office entries will be recessed into the facade. Service areas for the buildings are in service courts which are screened with landscaping and an 8 foot tall by 15 foot long wall. The applicant proposes to occupy the front/western-most building for his own business, Davis Moving and Storage Co., and to lease the remaining buildings to tenants which have need of an office warehouse type facility. The applicant's building is anticipated to be the first phase and would be constructed in the fall of FILE NO.: Z-5800 (Continued) 1994. Subsequent buildings would be built in later phases as tenants are secured. The proposed hours of operation for businesses to occupy the facility are 7:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. The proposed signage is one monument sign for the complex name with a height of 8 feet and a maximum size of 160 square feet; building signage consists of individual letter mounted to the building facade for each tenant space, with 24 square feet per sign of maximum area. A. PROPOSALLREOVEST: Review by the Planning Commission and approval by the Board of Directors is requested for the establishment of a PCD in order to construct an office warehouse facility. The "office/service center" which is proposed consists of 4 buildings totaling 110,400 square feet on 10.102 acres. Parking for 250 vehicles is planned. A front setback off Bowman Rd. of 140 feet and the retention of many of the existing large trees is planned to ensure a "park -like entry to the complex". Service areas for each of the buildings are in service courts and are screened from view with landscaping and a wall. Dense evergreen plantings will be planted throughout the property. Individual buildings are to have facades of split -face concrete block; the building height is 28 feet. Entries are to be recessed into the facade. Tenant business names are to be identified with signs which consist of individual letter mounted on the building. One complex monument sign is proposed at the entry. No waivers or variances are requested B. EXISTING CONDITIONS: The site is a 10.102 acre site containing two homes and a 1 - acre man-made pond. The front/west portion of the site has many large trees; the eastern -most portion of the site, east of the pond, is heavily wooded and in its natural state. The pond is to be drained and leveled.) The topography is rolling, with a rise across the site from west to east of 45 feet. Existing zoning of the site is R-2. R-2 property lies immediately to the west across Bowman Rd. To the north is R-2 and MF -18 property; a skating rink is a non -conforming use in the R-2 property along Bowman Rd. immediately to the north of the site. To the south is a large undeveloped MF - 12 site; to the south-east and east is a large undeveloped 0-3 site which is part of the Koger Center property fronting on Centerview Dr. C. ENGINEERING/UTILITY COMMENTS: Engineering reports that Master Street Plan improvements on Bowman Rd. and dedication of the required right-of-way will be required. The Stormwater Detention and Excavation Ordinances are applicable. 2 FILE NO.: Z-5800 (Continued) Water Works reports that on-site fire protection will be required. Wastewater reports that a sewer main is located on the property. No permanent structures can be built over that existing sewer easement. Arkansas Power & Light Co. and Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. will require easements. Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co. approved the plat without comment. Landscape review indicates that the buffer width along Bowman Rd. is required to have an average minimum width of 27 feet, and along the eastern perimeter to have an average width of 33 feet. The full buffer requirements, without transfers, are 40 feet and 50 feet respectively. A 6 foot high opaque "good neighbor" wood fence or dense evergreen plantings will be required to screen this use from the residential properties to the north and south. D. ISSUESILEGAL/TECHNICAL/DESIGN: All required information and documents have been submitted. There are no remaining deficiencies. The appropriate land use designation for the proposed site would be mixed office and warehouse. Planning staff has concerns about the loss of residential uses in the area, since there are abundant areas shown on the plan for commercial, office and transition zone uses. In addition, recent zoning actions have created localized traffic problems to the north. Therefore, land use decisions along the Kanis and Bowman corridors must be carefully reviewed so as not to further compound the problem. If the Commission wishes to change this area to nonresidential use, a plan amendment to allow such a change will be presented to the Board of Directors. E. ANALYSIS• The applicant maintains that under the current zoning, MF - 18, the site could be developed with 180 multifamily dwelling units and the total square footage could be approximately 144,000 square feet. The lot coverage ratio could be, then, 33% of the land area. Traffic would be significantly grater than it would be with the proposed development. Staff concerns include: 1) The ratio of office to warehouse space is not specified, and this needs to be 3 FILE NO.: Z-5800 Continued delineated on the plan; 2) The means of buffering the site from adjacent residential and office uses needs to be "fleshed -out" and specified; 3) The open space at the front of the property needs to have further clarification noted which makes the maintenance of the "park -like" look a permanent feature; 4) The means taken to make the use blend with the surrounding uses need to be addressed, and the color of the exterior walls and roofing material need to be specified; and, 5) The site lighting needs to be appropriate and specified. SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT: (MARCH 3, 1994) The applicant, Mr. Max Davis; a representative from Barns, Quinn, Flake & Anderson, Ms. Melanie Gibson; and the architect, Mr. Terry Burruss, were present. Staff presented the proposal and reviewed with the applicant and his representatives the deficiencies noted in the discussion outline. Mr. Burruss indicated that the needed information and documents would be forthcoming. The Committee forwarded the item to the Commission for the public hearing. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MARCH 22, 1994) Staff presented the item and pointed out that the staff recommendation had inadvertently been omitted from the printed agenda; that the staff recommendation was for approval of the POD with the stipulation that each of the office -warehouse buildings is to have a minimum of 25% of the floor area dedicated to office use. Mr. Max Davis, the applicant, presented the proposal, and indicated that the front 150 feet of the property along Bowman Rd. was to be left in its natural state to be a park -like area, with large landscape buffers also being provided along the two sides and along the rear of the property. He stated that he wanted to be a good neighbor. Commissioner Oleson questioned Mr. Davis about the two objectors who had left, asking if he had had a chance to talk with them and determine their concerns. Mr. Davis reported that one person who had indicated an objection had left and that he was unable to talk with her; the other, after seeing the plans and seeing the photograph of the area that would be left as a park/buffer along Bowman Rd. had indicated that her concerns had been put at ease. Mr. Davis indicated that the office -warehouse center would be upscale buildings, catering to upscale clients, and would fit into the neighborhood. Staff reiterated that each of the office -warehouse buildings is to have a minimum of 25% of the floor area devoted to office use. 4 FILE NO.: Z-5800 (Continued) Commissioner Oleson asked for clarification that the office use would be along the front of each building, and that service areas would be at the rear of the buildings. Mr. Davis responded that the front of each building would look like an office building, and that service courts would be at the rear and would be screened with masonry walls and landscaping. The buildings would be equal in height to 2 -story buildings, but the storefront would be limited to the first floor. The buildings would be very similar in appearance to the Mega -Market building on W. Markham St. Mr. Davis outlined some of the types of clients he would be recruiting for the center, including service -type businesses. Ron Newman, of the Planning staff, indicated that a Land Use Plan amendment would be required, and that one would be forwarded to the Board of Directors if the Commission recommended approval of the POD. He explained that the plan amendment would reflect a change in the land use from low density multi -family to mixed office -warehouse. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of the POD and of the land use designation. The motion carried with the vote of 9 ayes, 0 nays, 2 absent, and 0 abstentions. 5 ITEM: Amend the City Land Use Plan - I-430 District LOCATION: South of Ranis, west of side of Barrow REQUEST: Amend plan from Low Density Multifamily & Multifamily to Mixed Use SOURCE: Staff - Rezoning Request STAFF REPORT: As part of a rezoning request, Staff reviewed the I-430 District. Multifamily is recommended for the site. For the proposed use a commercial or mixed use category would be appropriate. With the existing zoning and land use pattern a mixed use designation would be appropriate for the overall area. There is office, multifamily and a small amount of commercial from this site north to Ranis Road. Both existing land use and zoning reflect this mixed use pattern. The mixed use designation encourages residential use, and nonresidential use recommended with the Planned Unit Development process. This designation comes closest to the spirit of the existing plan while recognizing existing conflicting uses and zoning. The use requested (PCD) is consistent with the standards of the mixed use designation. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Denial March 22, 1994 ITEM NO.: 14 FILE NO.: Z-5800 NAME: BOWMAN COMMERCIAL PART -- LONG -FORM PLANNED OFFICE DEVELOPMENT LOCATION: On the east side of S. Bowman Rd., approximately 0.2 miles south of Kanis Rd. DEVELOPER• BOWMAN COMMERCIAL PARK c/o MAX R. DAVIS 6700 Allied Way Little Rock, AR 72209 562-2544 AREA: 10.102 ACRES ZONING• R-2 ARCHITECT: TERRY BURRUSS, ARCHITECTS 1202 S. Main St., Suite 204 Little Rock, AR 72202' 376-3676 NUMBER OF LOTS: 1 FT. NEW STREET: PROPOSED USES: Office - Warehouse PLANNING DISTRICT: 11 CENSUS TRACT: 24.04 VARIANCES REQUESTED: None STATEMENT OF PROPOSAL: 0 The applicant proposes a PCD in order to construct an office/service center complex consisting of four buildings, three of the buildings having 28,800 square feet of floor area and one having 24,000 square feet, for a total building square footage of 110,400. Parking for 250 vehicles is proposed. The buildings would have a lot coverage of 25% of the land area. Parking and drives would occupy another 47%. Landscaping and open space, then, will occupy the remaining 28% of the land area. A 140 foot front setback off of Bowman Rd. is proposed, and 45 to 50 large trees are to be preserved to ensure a park -like entry to the complex. The remainder of the landscape areas are to be planted with dense evergreen plantings. The buildings are proposed to be 26 feet tall, and have an exterior finish of split -face block with stucco accents. Office entries will be recessed into the facade. Service areas for the buildings are in service courts which are screened with landscaping and an 8 foot tall by 15 foot long wall. The applicant proposes to occupy the front/western-most building for his own business, Davis Moving and Storage Co., and to lease the remaining buildings to tenants which have need of an office warehouse type facility. The applicant's building is anticipated to be the first phase and would be constructed in the fall of 1994. Subsequent buildings would be built in later phases as tenants are secured. The proposed hours of operation for March 22, 1994 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 14 Continued FILE NO.: Z-5800 businesses to occupy the facility are 7:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. The proposed signage is one monument sign for the complex name with a height of 8 feet and a maximum size of 160 square feet; building signage consists of individual letter mounted to the buildinq, facade for each tenant space, with 24 square feet per sign of_ maximum area. A. PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Review by the Planning Commission and approval by the Board of Directors is requested for the establishment of a PCD in order to construct an office warehouse facility. The "office/service center" which is proposed consists of 4 buildings totaling 110,400 square feet on 10.102 acres. Parking for 250 vehicles is planned. A front setback off Bowman Rd. of 140 feet and the retention of many of the existing large trees is planned to ensure a "park -like entry to the complex". Service areas for each of the buildings are in service courts and are screened from view with landscaping and a wall. Dense evergreen plantings will be planted throughout the property. Individual buildings are to have facades of split -face concrete block; the building height is 28 feet. Entries are to be recessed into the facade. Tenant business names are to be identified with signs which consist of individual letter mounted on the building. One complex monument sign is proposed at the entry. No waivers or variances are requested B. EXISTING CONDITIONS: The site is a 10.102 acre site containing two homes and a 1 - acre man-made pond. The front/west portion of the site has many large trees; the eastern -most portion of the site, east of the pond, is heavily wooded and in its natural state. The pond is to be drained and leveled.) The topography is rolling, with a rise across the site from west to east of 45 feet. Existing zoning of the site is R-2. R-2 property lies immediately to the west across Bowman Rd. To the north is R-2 and MF -18 property; a skating rink is a non -conforming use in the R-2 property along Bowman Rd. immediately to the north of the site. To the south is a large undeveloped MF - 12 site; to the south-east and east is a large undeveloped 0-3 site which is part of the Roger Center property fronting on Centerview Dr. C. ENGINEERING/UTILITY COMMENTS: Engineering reports that Master Street Plan improvements on Bowman Rd. and dedication of the required right-of-way will be required. The Stormwater Detention and Excavation Ordinances are applicable. 2 March 22, 1994 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 14 [Continued] FILE NO.: Z-5800 Water Works reports that on-site fire protection will be required. Wastewater reports that a sewer main is located on the property. No permanent structures can be built over that existing sewer easement. Arkansas Power & Light Co. and Southwestern Hell Telephone Co. will require easements. Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co. approved the plat without comment. Landscape review indicates that the buffer width along Bowman Rd. is required to have an average minimum width of 27 feet, and along the eastern perimeter to have an average width of 33 feet. The full buffer requirements, without transfers, are 40 feet and 50 feet respectively. A 6 foot high opaque "good neighbor" wood fence or dense evergreen plantings will be required to screen this use from the residential properties to the north and south. D. ISSUESILEGALITECHNICALIDESIGN: All required information and documents have been submitted. There are no remaining deficiencies. The appropriate land use designation for the proposed site would be mixed office and warehouse. Planning staff has concerns about the loss of residential uses in the area, since there are abundant areas shown on the plan for commercial, office and transition zone uses. In addition, recent zoning actions have created localized traffic problems to the north. Therefore, land use decisions along the Kanis and Bowman corridors must be carefully reviewed so as not to further compound the problem. If the Commission wishes to change this area to nonresidential use, a plan amendment to allow such a change will be presented to the Board of Directors. E. ANALYSIS• The applicant maintains that under the current zoning, MF -18, the site could be developed with 180 multifamily dwelling units and the total square footage could be approximately 144,000 square feet. The lot coverage ratio could be, then, 33% of the land area. Traffic would be significantly grater than it would be with the proposed development. 3 March 22, 1994 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 14 (Continued) FILE Na_: Z-5800 Staff concerns include: 1) The ratio of office to warehouse space is not specified, and this needs to be delineated on the plan; 2) The means of buffering the site from adjacent residential and office uses needs to be "fleshed -out" and specified; 3) The open space at the front of the property needs to have further clarification noted which makes the maintenance of the "park -like" look a permanent feature; 4) The means taken to make the use blend with the surrounding uses need to be addressed, and the color of the exterior walls and roofing material ne9d to be specified; and, 5) The site lighting needs to be appropriate and specified. - SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT: (MARCH 3, 1994) The applicant, Mr. Max Davis; a representative from Barns, Quinn, Flake & Anderson, Ms. Melanie Gibson; and the architect, Mr. Terry Burruss, were present. Staff presented the proposal and reviewed with the applicant and his representatives the deficiencies noted in the discussion outline. Mr. Burruss indicated that the needed information and documents would be forthcoming. The Committee forwarded the item to the Commission for the public hearing. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MARCH 22, 1994) Staff presented the item and pointed out that the staff recommendation had inadvertently been omitted from the printed agenda; that the staff recommendation was for approval of the POD with the stipulation that each of the office -warehouse buildings is to have a minimum of 25% of the floor area dedicated to office use. Mr. Max Davis, the applicant, presented the proposal, and indicated that the front 150 feet of the property along Bowman Rd. was to be left in its natural state to be a park -like area, with large landscape buffers also being provided along the two sides and along the rear of the property. He stated that he wanted to be a good neighbor. Commissioner Oleson questioned Mr. Davis about the two objectors who had left, asking if he had had a chance to talk with them and determine their concerns. Mr. Davis reported that one person had left and that he was unable to after seeing the plans and seeing 4 who had indicated an objection talk with her; the other, the photograph of the area that March 22, 1994 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 14 Continued FILE NO.: Z-5800 would be left as a park/buffer along Bowman Rd. had indicated that her concerns had been put at ease. Mr. Davis indicated that the office -warehouse center would be upscale buildings, catering to upscale clients, and would fit into the neighborhood. Staff reiterated that each of the office -warehouse buildings is to have a minimum of 25% of the floor area devoted to office use. Commissioner Oleson asked for clarification that the office use would be along the front of each building, and that service areas would be at the rear of the buildings. Mr. Davis responded that the front of each building would look like an office building, and that service courts would be at the rear and would be screened with masonry walls and landscaping. The buildings would be equal in height to 2 -story buildings, but -the storefront would be limited to the first floor. The buildings would be very similar in appearance to the Mega -Market building on W. Markham St. Mr. Davis outlined some of the types of clients he would be recruiting for the center, including service -type businesses. Ron Newman, of the Planning staff, indicated that a Land Use Plan amendment would be required, and that one would be forwarded to the Board of Directors if the Commission recommended approval of the POD. He explained that the plan amendment would reflect a change in the land use from low density multi -family to mixed office -warehouse. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of the POD and of the land use designation. The motion carried with the vote of 9 ayes, 0 nays, 2 absent, and 0 abstentions. 5