HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-5934-A Staff AnalysisApril 24, 2000
Item No.: 1
File No.
Owner:
Address:
Description:
Zoned:
Variance ReVested:
Justification:
Present Use of Property
Proposed Use of Property:
Staff Report:
A. Public Works Issues:
No Comments.
B. Staff Analysis:
Z -5934-A
City of Little Rock as Trustee for
the Central Arkansas Library System
120 Commerce Street
Part of Block 8, Pope's Addition
GB
A variance is requested from
the parking provisions of Section
36-417 to permit a reduction in the
number of required on site parking
spaces.
The site has been maximized for
parking with no additional space
being available. The new downtown
zoning which will be effective in a
few months will not require
parking.
Vacant building
Book sales, coffee shop, artist
co-op and galleries, meeting room
The Central Arkansas Library System proposes to remodel the
vacant Cox Building located at 120 Commerce Street as a
mixed use development.
The building is 3 stories with a basement and has a total of
18,000 square feet, divided roughly into 4,500 square feet
per level. The basement level is to be used by the Friends
of the Library for book sorting and quarterly public book
April 24, 2000
Item No.: 1 (Cont.)
sales. The first floor is to contain a retail book store
and coffee shop. The second floor will be developed as an
artists' co-op, containing studios and galleries. The third
floor will house an art gallery and a 75 person meeting
room. It has been determined that the mixture of uses
requires 67 on-site parking spaces based on the following
parking requirements taken from Section 36-417 of the Code:
Art gallery 1 space per 400 sq. ft.'
Art studio 1 space per 300 sq. ft.
Book store 1 space per 300 sq. ft.
Restaurant/coffee shop 1 space per 300 sq. ft.
Auditorium (other public seating uses) 1 space per 3 seats
On December 27, 1994, the Board approved a parking variance
for the Main Library building located west of Rock Street.
As part of that development, a 54 space parking lot was
developed east of Rock Street, north of East 2nd Street.
That parking lot was subsequently expanded to the east, to
the Cox Building. Through this proposed redevelopment of
the Cox Building, the overall parking lot will be redesigned
resulting in a total of 85 parking spaces. This gain of 31
spaces is less than the 67 spaces needed for the Cox
Building.
Staff is supportive of the requested parking variance. The
project is located within the pedestrian oriented River
Market district which depends upon off-site parking located
on the surrounding streets and public parking lots. The
proposed development is compatible with uses in the area and
the available on-site parking exceeds that typically found
in the River Market area.
On March 7, 2000, the Board of Directors passed the
Ordinance rezoning this property to Urban Use district as
part of the major Downtown Rezoning Initiative. The Urban
Use District has no on-site parking requirement. The new
zoning designation will be effective in September 2000, at
which point this parking variance would no longer even be
necessary.
C. Staff Recommendation:
Staff recommends approval of the requested parking variance.
E
April 24, 2000
Item No.: 1 (Cont.)
BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT: (APRIL 24, 2000)
The applicant was present. There were no objectors present.
Staff presented the item and a recommendation of approval.
The applicant offered no additional comments.
The item was placed on the Consent Agenda and approved by a vote
of 3 ayes, 0 noes, 1 absent and 1 abstaining (Floyd).
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