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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-6019-B Staff AnalysisFILE NO.: Z-6019-B NAME: GMAC - Long -Form POD LOCATION: Southwest corner of Chenal Parkway and LaGrande Drive DEVELOPER: ENGINEER: Barnes Quinn Flake & Anderson 400 W. Capitol Avenue Little Rock, AR 72201 White-Daters and Associates 401 S. Victory Street Little Rock, AR 72201 AREA: 33.4 acres NUMBER OF LOTS: 1 FT. NEW STREET: 550 if ZONING: O-2/R-2/PCD ALLOWED USES: Office PROPOSED USE: Office VARIANCES/WAIVERS REQUESTED: None requested. BACKGROUND: The majority of this property is zoned 0-2, with a small portion of R-2 and PCD (part of the large PCD on the north side of LaGrande Dr.). The existing GMAC office building (27,000 square feet, 30 feet in height) and associated parking areas are located within the southeast corner of the property. Access to the site is gained by utilizing an existing drive from LaGrande Drive, with a future access point shown to Chenal Parkway. There are currently 268 parking spaces on the site. A. PROPOSAL/REQUEST: The applicant proposes to rezone the property to POD to allow for additional office development in two (2) phases. Phase I of the project includes construction of a 73,500 square foot (60 foot tall) office building and 402 parking spaces within the northeast portion of the property. Access to this phase will be gained by utilizing the existing drive from LaGrande Drive. FILE NO.: Z-6019-B (Cont.) Phase II of the proposed development includes construction of a 96,500 square foot office building (60 feet in height) and 783 additional parking spaces within the west one-half of the property. This phase will also be accessed from the existing drive from LaGrande Drive as well as a second drive from LaGrande Drive with the street's extension. A small portion of the property within Phase II is outside the city limits. The proposed building locations, parking areas, drives and landscape areas are noted on the attached site plan. The applicant has noted that the hours of operation for the office development will be 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday - Saturday. The applicant has shown two (2) ground -mounted signs on the site plan, one on each side of the main entry drive from LaGrande Drive. It is noted that the signs will not exceed the maximum ordinance allowances. The ordinance would typically allow signs in office zoning to have a maximum height of six (6) feet and a maximum area of 64 square feet. B. EXISTING CONDITIONS: There is an existing two-story office building and parking areas on the site. The remainder of the property is undeveloped, with the western portion being wooded. There is undeveloped property immediately west of this site and to the north across LaGrande Drive. There is a mixture of office and commercial uses to the east across Chenal Parkway. An AP&L substation and single family residences on large lots are located to the south along the north side of Kanis Road. C. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: As of this writing, staff has received no comment from the surrounding property owners. There was no established neighborhood association to notify of the public hearing. D. ENGINEERING COMMENTS: PUBLIC WORKS CONDITIONS: 1. Provide design of for Chenal. 2. Plans of all work approval prior to 3. Repair or replace is damaged in the occupancy. Chenal entrance to standards approved in right-of-way shall be submitted for start of work. any curb and gutter public right-of-way or sidewalk that prior to 4. Stormwater detention ordinance applies to this property. E FILE NO.: Z-6019-B (Cont.) 5. Easements for proposed stormwater detention facilities are required. 6. Dedicate regulatory floodway easement to the City of Little Rock. 7. Chenal Parkway has an average daily traffic count of 11,000. 8. Prepare a letter of pending development addressing street lights as required by Section 31-403 of the Little Rock Code. All requests should be forwarded to Traffic Engineering. 9. Existing topographic information at maximum five foot' contour interval 100 base flood elevation is required. 10. A Sketch Grading and Drainage Plan per Sec. 29-186(e) is required. 11. A Sketch Grading and Drainage Plan per Secs. 29-186(c) and (d) is required. 12. A Grading Permit for Special Flood Hazard Area per Sec. 8-283 is required. 13. A Development Permit for Flood Hazard Area per Sec. 8- 283 is required. 14. Contact the ADPC&E for approval prior to start of work is required. E. UTILITIES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT/COUNTY PLANNING: Wastewater: Sewer available, not adversely affected. AP&L: A 10 foot utility easement is requested along the south and west property lines. Arkla: No Comment. Southwestern Bell: No Comment received. Water: An acreage charge of $300 per acre applies in addition to normal charges. Fire Department: Contact Dennis Free at 918-3752 regarding information on fire hydrant placement and turning radii. Count Plannin No Comment. CATA: Site is not currently served by CATA. Approved for transit purposes. F. ISSUES/TECHNICAL/DESIGN: Planning Division: This request is in the Chenal Planning District. The Land Use Plan currently shows Office. The change to POD is consistent with the current land use category. 3 FILE NO.: Z-6019-B (Cont. citV Recognized Neighborhood Action Plan: This area is not covered by a city neighborhood plan. Landscape Issues: Areas set aside for buffers and landscaping meet with ordinance requirements. A 6 feet high opaque screen is required along the southern and a portion of the western perimeter which abut residential property: This screen may be a wooden fence with its face side directed outward or dense evergreen plantings which grow to a height of 6 feet within three years. G. ANALYSIS: The applicant submitted a revised site plan to staff on December 15, 1999. The revised plan provides the additional notations as required. The hours of operation, sign and dumpster locations have been shown on the revised plan. The dumpster areas must be screened on three (3) sides with an 8 foot wood fence or wall. The applicant must also provide screening of the project from the property along the southern boundary and a portion of the western boundary. This screen can be a six (6) foot wood fence or dense evergreen plantings which will grow to a height of six (6) feet in three (3) years. The ordinance would typically require a minimum of 405 parking spaces for an office development of this size. There is a total of 1,453 spaces proposed for this entire development. The applicant noted at the Subdivision Committee meeting that the industry standard for an office development was five (5) parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area. He explained that the number of parking spaces proposed for this development was based on the needs of this particular tenant. It was noted that this particular tenant required 6.5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area. This is based on the tenant being a service -type company involving heavy telephone usage and small work stations. The 6.5 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area is equivalent to one (1) space per 154 square feet of floor area. This would calculate to 1,279 spaces for the entire development which has a total building area of 197,000 square feet. Staff has no problem with the parking design 4 FILE NO.: Z-6019-B (Cont. as proposed, based on adequate buffer/landscape areas and screening being provided. As noted at the Subdivision Committee meeting, the applicant will be given extra credit (toward meeting landscape ordinance requirements) for portions of the site where existing trees are preserved. Staff recommends preserving as many trees as possible within the exterior buffer (60% of which must remain undisturbed) and interior landscape areas. Based on the fact that the western one- half of this property is wooded, staff will recommend that no additional site work be done until a building permit for that particular phase is issued. As noted in paragraph A., a small portion of the property within Phase II is located outside the city limits. This small portion must be annexed prior to a building permit being issued for -Phase II. Otherwise, to staff's knowledge, there are no outstanding issues associated with the proposed site plan. The proposed development should have no adverse effect on the surrounding property. H. STAFF RECOrMENDATIONS: Staff recommends approval of the proposed POD subject to the following conditions: 1. Compliance with the requirements as noted in paragraphs D, E and F of this report. 2. The small portion of the property located outside the city limits must be annexed prior to a building permit being issued for Phase II. 3. There is to be no additional site work within the phase areas until a building permit is issued for the particular phase. 4.Any site lighting must be low-level and directed away from adjacent property. 5. The site must comply with the Chenal/Financial Center Design Overlay District with respect to utilities. Any utilities between the rear lines of the buildings and Chenal Parkway must be underground. 6. The dumpster areas must be enclosed on three (3) sides with an 8 foot wood fence or wall. 7.Based on the fact that the majority of the property is currently zoned 0-2, staff will recommend 0-2 permitted uses as a use mix for the development. 5 FILE NO.: Z-6019-B (Cont. SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT: (DECEMBER 9, 1999) Joe White, Dickson Flake and Kevin Hutchinson were present, representing the application. Staff described the proposed POD site plan, noting that some additional information was needed. The Public Works requirements were briefly discussed. Mr. White noted that he would meet with Dennis Free regarding the Fire Department comment. The primary topic of discussion regarded the proposed number of parking spaces for this project. Mr. Flake noted that the industry standard for an office development was five (5) parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area. He stated that the proposed number of parking spaces for this development was based on the needs of a particular tenant. He noted that the particular tenant required 6.5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area, based on the fact that it is a servicing company with heavy telephone usage and small work stations. There was additional discussion on this topic. The landscape requirements for this project were briefly discussed. Bob Brown, Site Plan Review Specialist, noted that the applicant would be given extra credit for portions of the site where existing trees are preserved. After the discussion, the Committee forwarded the item to the full Commission for resolution. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (JANUARY 6, 2000) 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. 2 January 6, 2000 ITEM NO.: 10 NAME: GMAC - Long -Form POD FILE NO.: Z-6019-B LOCATION: Southwest corner of Chenal Parkway and LaGrande Drive DEVELOPER: ENGINEER: Barnes Quinn Flake & Anderson White-Daters and Associates 400 W. Capitol Avenue 401 S. Victory Street Little Rock, AR 72201 Little Rock, AR 72201 AREA: 33.4 acres NUMBER OF LOTS: 1 FT. NEW STREET: 550 if ZONING: 0-2/R-2/PCD ALLOWED USES: Office PROPOSED USE: Office VARIANCES/WAIVERS REQUESTED: None requested. BACKGROUND: The majority of this property is zoned 0-2, with a small portion of R-2 and PCD (part of the large PCD on the north side of LaGrande Dr.). The existing GMAC office building (27,000 square feet, 30 feet in height) and associated parking areas are located within the southeast corner of the property. Access to the site is gained by utilizing an existing drive from LaGrande Drive, with a future access point shown to Chenal Parkway. There are currently 268 parking spaces on the site. A. PROPOSAL/REQUEST: The applicant proposes to rezone the property to POD to allow for additional office development in two (2) phases. Phase I of the project includes construction of a 73,500 square foot (60 foot tall) office building and 402 parking spaces within the northeast portion of the property. Access to this phase will be gained by utilizing the existing drive from LaGrande Drive. January 6, 2000 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 10 (Cont.) B. LW a FILE NO.: Z-6019-B Phase II of the proposed development includes construction of a 961500 square foot office building (60 feet in height) and 783 additional parking spaces within the west one-half of the property. This phase will also be accessed from the existing drive from LaGrande Drive as well as a second drive from LaGrande Drive with the street's extension. A small portion of the property within Phase II is outside the city limits. The proposed building locations, parking areas, drives and landscape areas are noted on the attached site plan. The applicant has noted that the hours of operation for the office development will be 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday - Saturday. The applicant has shown two (2) ground -mounted signs on the site plan, one on each side of the main entry drive from LaGrande Drive. It is noted that the signs will not exceed the maximum ordinance allowances. The ordinance would typically allow signs in office zoning to have a maximum height of six (6) feet and a maximum area of 64 square feet. EXISTING CONDITIONS: There is an existing two-story office building and parking areas on the site. The remainder of the property is undeveloped, with the western portion being wooded. There is undeveloped property immediately west of this site and to the north across LaGrande Drive. There is a mixture of office and commercial uses to the east across Chenal Parkway. An AP&L substation and single family residences on large lots are located to the south along the north side of Kanis Road. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: As of this writing, staff has received no comment from the surrounding property owners. There was no established neighborhood association to notify of the public hearing. ENGINEERING COMMENTS: PUBLIC WORKS CONDITIONS: 1. Provide design of for Chenal. 2. Plans of all work approval prior to 3. Repair or replace Chenal entrance to standards approved in right-of-way shall be submitted for start of work. any curb and gutter or sidewalk that K, January 6, 2000 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 10 (Cont. E. FILE NO.: Z-6019-B is damaged in the public right-of-way prior to occupancy. 4. Stormwater detention ordinance applies to this property. 5. Easements for proposed stormwater detention facilities are required. 6. Dedicate regulatory floodway easement to the City of Little Rock. 7. Chenal Parkway has an average daily traffic count of 11,000. 8. Prepare a letter of pending development addressing street lights as required by Section 31-403 of the Little Rock Code. All requests should be forwarded to Traffic Engineering. 9. Existing topographic information at maximum five foot contour interval 100 base flood elevation is required. 10. A Sketch Grading and Drainage Plan per Sec. 29-186(e) is required. 11. A Sketch Grading and Drainage Plan per Secs. 29-186(c) and (d) is required. 12. A Grading Permit for Special Flood Hazard Area per Sec. 8-283 is required. 13. A Development Permit for Flood Hazard Area per Sec. 8- 283 is required. 14. Contact the ADPC&E for approval prior to start of work is required. UTILITIES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT/COUNTY PLANNING: Wastewater: Sewer available, not adversely affected. AP&L: A 10 foot utility easement is requested along the south and west property lines. Arkla: No Comment. Southwestern Bell: No Comment received. Water: An acreage charge of $300 per acre applies in addition to normal charges. Fire Department: Contact Dennis Free at 918-3752 regarding information on fire hydrant placement and turning radii. County Planning: No Comment. CATA: Site is not currently served by CATA. Approved for transit purposes. 3 January 6, 2000 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 10 (Cont.) F. G. ISSUES/TECHNICAL/DESIGN: Planning Division: FILE NO.: Z-6019-B This request is in the Chenal Planning District. The Land Use Plan currently shows Office. The change to POD is consistent with the current land use category. City Recognized Neighborhood Action Plan: This area is not covered by a city neighborhood plan. Landscape Issues: Areas set aside for buffers and landscaping meet with ordinance requirements. A 6 feet high opaque screen is required along the southern and a portion of the western perimeter which abut residential property. This screen may be a wooden fence with its face side directed outward or dense evergreen plantings which grow to a height of 6 feet within three years. ANALYSIS: The applicant submitted a revised site plan to staff on December 15, 1999. The revised plan provides the additional notations as required. The hours of operation, sign and dumpster locations have been shown on the revised plan. The dumpster areas must be screened on three (3) sides with an 8 foot wood fence or wall. The applicant must also provide screening of the project from the property along the southern boundary and a portion of the western boundary. This screen can be a six (6) foot wood fence or dense evergreen plantings which will grow to a height of six (6) feet in three (3) years. The ordinance would typically require a minimum of 405 parking spaces for an office development of this size. There is a total of 1,453 spaces proposed for this entire development. The applicant noted at the Subdivision Committee meeting that the industry standard for an office development was five (5) parking spaces er 1 000 s are P , Qu feet of floor area. He explained that the number of parking spaces proposed for this development was based on 4 January 6, �000 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 10 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6019-B the needs of this particular tenant. It was noted that this particular tenant required 6.5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area. This is based on the tenant being a service -type company involving heavy telephone usage and small work stations. The 6.5 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area is equivalent.to one (1) space per 154 square feet of floor area. This would calculate to 1,279 spaces for the entire development which has a total building area of 197,000 square feet. Staff has no problem with the parking design as proposed, based on adequate buffer/landscape areas and screening being provided. As noted at the Subdivision Committee meeting, the applicant will be given extra credit (toward meeting landscape ordinance requirements) for portions of the site where existing trees are preserved. Staff recommends preserving as many trees as possible within the exterior buffer (60% of which must remain undisturbed) and interior landscape areas. Based on the fact that the western one- half of this property is wooded, staff will recommend that no additional site work be done until a building permit for that particular phase is issued. As noted in paragraph A., a small portion of the property within Phase II is located outside the city limits. This small portion must be annexed prior to a building permit being issued for Phase II. Otherwise, to staff's knowledge, there are no outstanding issues associated with the proposed site plan. The proposed development should have no adverse effect on the surrounding property. H. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends approval of the proposed POD subject to the following conditions: 1. Compliance with the requirements as noted in paragraphs D, E and F of this report. 2. The small portion of the property located outside the city limits must be annexed prior to a building permit being issued for Phase II. 0 January 6, 2000 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 10 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6019-B 3. There is to be no additional site work within the phase areas until a building permit is issued for the particular phase. 4. Any site lighting must be low-level and directed away from adjacent property. 5. The site must comply with the Chenal/Financial Center Design Overlay District with respect to utilities. Any utilities between the rear lines of the buildings and Chenal Parkway must be underground. 6. The dumpster areas must be enclosed on three (3) sides with an 8 foot wood fence or wall. 7.Based on the fact that the majority of the property is currently zoned 0-2, staff will recommend 0-2 permitted uses as a use mix for the development. SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT: (DECEMBER 91 1999) Joe White, Dickson Flake and Kevin Hutchinson were present, representing the application. Staff described the proposed POD site plan, noting that some additional information was needed. The Public Works requirements were briefly discussed. Mr. White noted that he would meet with Dennis Free regarding the Fire Department comment. The primary topic of discussion regarded the proposed number of parking spaces for this project. Mr. Flake noted that the industry standard for an office development was five (5) parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area. He stated that the proposed number of parking spaces for this development was based on the needs of a particular tenant. He noted that the particular tenant required 6.5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area, based on the fact that it is a servicing company with heavy telephone usage and small work stations. There was additional discussion on this topic. The landscape requirements for this project were briefly discussed. Bob Brown, Site Plan Review Specialist, noted that the applicant would be given extra credit for portions of the site where existing trees are preserved. After the discussion, the Committee forwarded the item to the full Commission for resolution. C January 6, 2000 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 10 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6019-B PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (JANUARY 6, 2000) 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. 7