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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-6881-C Staff AnalysisFILE NO.: Z -6881-C NAME: McKinstry-Threet Revised Short -form PCD LOCATION: Located on the Northwest corner of Cantrell Road and Townsend Street DEVELOPER: Pfeifer Family Limited Partnership #2 Three Financial Centre, Suite 409 Little Rock, AR 72211 FNGINFFR- White-Daters and Associates #24 Rahling Circle Little Rock, AR 72223 AREA: 2.3 Acres NUMBER OF LOTS: 3 FT. NEW STREET: 0 CURRENT ZONING- PCD ALLOWED USES: Office and Retail PROPOSED ZONING: Revised PCD PROPOSED USE: Office and Retail — Placement of a wall sign without public street frontage VARIANCES/WAIVERS REQUESTED: None requested. BACKGROUND: Ordinance No. 18,594 adopted by the Little Rock Board of Directors on November 20, 2001, established the McKinstry-Threet Short -form PCD. The development was to include a mixed use PCD utilizing 2.4 acres of a 4.19 acre tract located on the north side of Cantrell Road, east of Black Road. The applicant proposed a 3 -lot development with one building on each lot. Lot 1 was to contain a one-story 7,200 square foot building and 37 parking spaces. The use proposed for Lot 1 was an auto service establishment specializing in tire and battery service. Their services would include related services such as front-end alignments, shock absorber replacement, etc. No services related to engine or transmission repair or paint and bodywork were proposed. The building was oriented such that the garage bay doors would not face Cantrell Road. IFILE NO.: Z -6881-C (Cont Lot 2 was proposed to contain a one-story 4800 square foot building and a 25 space parking lot. The applicant proposed a mix for the building of no less than 25 percent office and up to 75 percent C-3, General Commercial District uses. The applicant further defined the use of the building by eliminating the following C-3 uses: Appliance Repair, Butcher Shop, Cabinet and Woodworking Shop, Church, College Dormitory, College fraternity or sorority, College, university or seminary, Convenience store with gas pumps, Convent or monastery, Custom sewing or millinery, Establishment of the care of alcoholics, neurotic or psychiatric patients, Feed store, Fire station, Hotel or motel, Lodge or fraternal organization, Multi -family dwellings, Pawnshop, Recycling facility, automated, Seasonal or temporary sales, outside, Secondhand shop, Service station, Tax office, Theater, Amusement, commercial (outside), Building materials sales (open), Bus station and terminal, Car wash, Crematorium, Eating place with drive-in service, Lawn and garden center open display, Lumberyard, Mini -warehouse, Service station with limited motor vehicle repair, Small engine repair, Tool and equipment rental (with outside display), Upholstery shop, furniture. No more than 1,200 square feet of the building would be an eating place without drive- in service (restaurant). Lot 3 was proposed to contain a one-story 3,600 square foot building and a 21 space parking lot. The building was proposed to be utilized as 100 percent office uses. Lots 2 and 3 would take access from an improved Townsend Street and Lot 1 would have access from a common access drive shared with the property to the west. Lots 1 and 2 would have a driveway connection. The site lies within the Highway 10 Design Overlay District. The proposed development was to conform to Highway 10 standards except for two minor points. One corner of the building on Lot 1 intruded into the 100 foot front yard setback and the landscape strip along the western perimeter of Lot 1 fell 10 feet below the 25 -foot requirement. The applicant also proposed to abandon a platted but undeveloped 20 -foot wide street right-of-way extended east to west through the site. On Mach 15, 2002, staff presented the Planning Commission at its informal meeting a revised site plan requesting they offer their opinion as to whether the proposed plan would require a full revision to the PCD, ie., return to the full Commission and City Board for approval. The consensus of the Commission was the full revision was not necessary since the proposal resulted in a decrease in intensity of use and buildings and the elements such as curb cuts, building setbacks and landscaping remained unchanged. The Commission did however request the applicant submit a revised site plan to the Subdivision Committee of the Planning Commission when the final development plan was completed. This proposal did not move forward as was presented to the Commission at their March 15, 2002, Informal meeting. An agreement was reached with Twin City Bank, which is currently located on Lot 1, in early 2003 based on the previously approved site plan. Twin City Bank has developed on Lot 1 with a slightly larger lot than was originally proposed. 2 IFILE NO.: Z -6881-C (Cont. On October 5, 2004, the Board of Directors adopted Ordinance No. 19,196 revising the previously approved PCD. The amendment modified the rear and side yard setbacks for proposed Lots 2 and 3 of the Candlewood East Subdivision. A 15 -foot west side yard setback and a 15.4 foot east side yard setback were approved for Lot 2. A west side yard setback of 15 -feet and an east side yard setback of 15.3 feet was approved for Lot 3. With the reduced side yard setbacks a more densely planted landscape area would be provided. The approval included a rear yard setback for Lot 2 of 22 -feet and the front building landscaped area was increased from 4 -feet to 6 -feet. The revised PCD allowed 3,600 square feet office on Lot 1, 4,640 square feet of commercial on Lot 2 and 3,148 square feet of office on Lot 3. A total of 11,288 square feet, of which 4,640 square feet of commercial and 6,748 square feet of office was approved for the development. A. PROPOSAL/REQUEST: New Balance has opened a new store in the new retail portion of the development located at 13900 Cantrell Road on Lot 2. The store requests a revision to the current PCD zoning to allow signage on the west fagade of the building. The sign will occupy 24.3 square feet of wall space. The west fagade does not have direct street frontage, however, it does have visibility from a nearby access drive. The sign on the west fagade is an important marketing tool for the New Balance store to identify its location to those potential customers who cannot see the entrance sign when traveling from the west. B. EXISTING CONDITIONS: Twin City Bank is located on Lot 1 and buildings have been constructed on Lots 2 and 3. Highland Drive has been constructed complete with curb -gutter and sidewalk. The area to the east of the site is a tree covered site. The area to the north of the site houses an office building and a plat for two additional lots was recently approved. Further west of the site is a commercial shopping node, with restaurant uses and a grocery store. There are a mixture of uses to the south of the site both residential and non-residential in nature. C. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: As of this writing staff has not revived any comment from area residents. All property owners located within 200 -feet of the site, all residents located within 300 -feet of the site who could be identified, the Westbury Property Owners Association, the Secluded Hills Property Owners Association, the Westchester/Heatherbrae Property Owners Association and the Pankey Community Improvement Association were notified of the public hearing. 3 FILE NO.: Z -6881-C {Cont. D. SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT: (August 5, 2004) The applicant was not present due to there being no technical issues related to the proposed request. Staff stated the item had not been routed to the reviewing agencies. Staff stated the request was to allow signage without public street. There was no discussion of the item. The Committee then forwarded the item to the full Commission for final action. E. ANALYSIS: There were no outstanding issues associated with the request from the April 20, 2006, Subdivision Committee meeting. The applicant is proposing the placement of signage along the western facade of the existing building. The site is located within the Highway 10 Design Overlay District which has specific development guidelines for ground mounted signage but wall signage is typically allowed as per Section 36-557(a) of the City of Little Rock Code of Ordinances. This section states all on -premise wall signs must face required street frontage except in complexes where a sign without street frontage would be the only means of identification for a tenant. The proposed location of the wall signage does not have public street frontage. The signage is existing on the western fagade and the site is currently under enforcement for placement of signage without a permit. The applicant was issued a permit for the placement of wall signage along the front fagade and the eastern fagade of the building which have public street frontage. The sign was placed along the western fagade instead of placing the sign on the eastern fagade. A notice was issued and the applicant chose to request a revision to the current PCD zoning in -lieu of removing the sign. Staff is not supportive of the allowance of the signage without public street frontage. Staff feels the existing signage located on the front fagade of the building is adequate to identify the business and allows for adequate visibility. F. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends denial of the request. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MAY 11, 2006) The applicant was present representing the request. There were no registered objectors present. Staff presented the item indicating the applicant had submitted a request dated May 11, 2006, requesting a deferral of the item to the June 22, 2006, public hearing. Staff stated the deferral request would require a waiver of the Commission's By-laws with regard to the late deferral request. Staff stated they were supportive of the By-law waiver request and the deferral request. M [FILE NO.: Z -6881-C (Cont. A motion was made to approve the By-law waiver with regard to the late deferral request. The motion carried by a vote of 10 ayes, 0 noes and 1 absent. There was no further discussion of the item. The chair entertained a motion for placement of the item on the consent agenda for deferral. The motion carried by a vote of 10 ayes, 0 noes and 1 absent. STAFF UPDATE: There as been no change in the application since the previous public hearing. Staff continues to recommend denial of the applicant's request to allow signage along the western fagade of the building. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (JUNE 22, 2006) The applicant was present representing the request. There was one registered objector present. Staff presented the item with a recommendation of denial. Mr. David Hamilton of Seiz Sign Company addressed the Commission on the merits of the request. He stated the sign was a small wall sign occupying only 25 square feet of the fagade area. He stated the building placement did not allow visibility from the west of the front sign. He stated if the signage was approved the signage would not result in a greater amount of allowed signage since the development did not place signage on the eastern facade where signage was allowed due to the adjacent street. Mr. Bart Dickinson of New Balance addressed the Commission in support of the request. He stated the store sign was important to the business since the western sign was the only way for customers to locate the store. He stated the building was hard for customers to find because of the curvature of Cantrell Road in the location of the store. He stated many customers passed the store and were force to turn around and come back because of visibility issues. He stated the existing vegetation from the east blocked view of the store and signage. Ms. Ruth Bell addressed the Commission in opposition of the request. She stated the Highway 10 Deign Overlay was very specific on signage. She stated the League of Women Voters supported the sign ordinance and the Overlay District. She stated in fairness the Commission should support the existing ordinances in place. The Commission questioned if a monument sign was in place. The applicant stated there was a monument sign located along the eastern portion of the property. Mr. Dickinson stated the building was unique since the building did not parallel the roadway. He stated the building was angled which did not allow visibility from the west. He stated the signage did play a role in the decision to locate in the center. He stated he did not locate in a mall or strip center and preferred a stand alone building to service the needs of his customers. He stated a number of his customers were medical 61 IFILE NO.: Z -6881-C patients or elderly who were not able to walk distances to the store and desired pull up and park in front of the store. A motion was made to approve the request. The motion failed by a vote of 5 ayes, 5 noes and 1 absent. A June 22, 2006 O.: B FILE NO.: Z -6881-C NAME: McKinstry-Threet Revised Short -form PCD LOCATION: Located on the Northwest corner of Cantrell Road and Townsend Street DEVELOPER: Pfeifer Family Limited Partnership #2 Three Financial Centre, Suite 409 Little Rock, AR 72211 FNCIINFFR- White-Daters and Associates #24 Rahling Circle Little Rock, AR 72223 AREA: 2.3 Acres CURRENT ZONING ALLOWED USES NUMBER OF LOTS: 3 PCD Office and Retail FT. NEW STREET: 0 PROPOSED ZONING: Revised PCD PROPOSED USE: Office and Retail — Placement of a wall sign without public street frontage VARIAN C ESNVAIVERS REQUESTED: None requested. BACKGROUND: Ordinance No. 18,594 adopted by the Little Rock Board of Directors on November 20, 2001, established the McKinstry-Threet Short -form PCD. The development was to include a mixed use PCD utilizing 2.4 acres of a 4.19 acre tract located on the north side of Cantrell Road, east of Black Road. The applicant proposed a 3 -lot development with one building on each lot. Lot 1 was to contain a one-story 7,200 square foot building and 37 parking spaces. The use proposed for Lot 1 was an auto service establishment specializing in tire and battery service. Their services would include related services such as front-end alignments, shock absorber replacement, etc. No services related to engine or transmission repair or paint and bodywork were proposed. June 22, 2006 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: B(Cont.)FILE NO.: Z -6881-C The building was oriented such that the garage bay doors would not face Cantrell Road. Lot 2 was proposed to contain a one-story 4800 square foot building and a 25 space parking lot. The applicant proposed a mix for the building of no less than 25 percent office and up to 75 percent C-3, General Commercial District uses. The applicant further defined the use of the building by eliminating the following C-3 uses: Appliance Repair, Butcher Shop, Cabinet and Woodworking Shop, Church, College Dormitory, College fraternity or sorority, College, university or seminary, Convenience store with gas pumps, Convent or monastery, Custom sewing or millinery, Establishment of the care of alcoholics, neurotic or psychiatric patients, Feed store, Fire station, Hotel or motel, Lodge or fraternal organization, Nlulti-family dwellings, Pawnshop, Recycling facility, automated, Seasonal or temporary sales, outside, Secondhand shop, Service station, Tax office, Theater, Amusement, commercial (outside), Building materials sales (open), Bus station and terminal, Car wash, Crematorium, Eating place with drive-in service, Lawn and garden center open display, Lumberyard, Mini -warehouse, Service station with limited motor vehicle repair, Small engine repair, Tool and equipment rental (with outside display), Upholstery shop, furniture. No more than 1,200 square feet of the building would be an eating place without drive- in service (restaurant). Lot 3 was proposed to contain a one-story 3,600 square foot building and a 21 space parking lot. The building was proposed to be utilized as 100 percent office uses. Lots 2 and 3 would take access from an improved Townsend Street and Lot 1 would have access from a common access drive shared with the property to the west. Lots 1 and 2 would have a driveway connection. The site lies within the Highway 10 Design Overlay District. The proposed development was to conform to Highway 10 standards except for two minor points. One corner of the building on Lot 1 intruded into the 100 foot front yard setback and the landscape strip along the western perimeter of Lot 1 fell 10 feet below the 25 -foot requirement. The applicant also proposed to abandon a platted but undeveloped 20 -foot wide street right-of-way extended east to west through the site. On Mach 15, 2002, staff presented the Planning Commission at its informal meeting a revised site plan requesting they offer their opinion as to whether the proposed plan would require a full revision to the PCD, ie., return to the full Commission and City Board for approval. The consensus of the Commission was the full revision was not necessary since the proposal resulted in a decrease in intensity of use and buildings and the elements such as curb cuts, building setbacks and landscaping remained unchanged. The Commission did however request the applicant submit a revised site plan to the Subdivision Committee of the Planning Commission when the final development plan was completed. This proposal did not move forward as was presented to the Commission at their March 15, 2002, Informal meeting. An agreement: was reached with Twin City Bank, which is 2 June 22, 2006 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: B {Cont.} FILE NO.: Z -6881-C currently located on Lot 1, in early 2003 based on the previously approved site plan. Twin City Bank has developed on Lot 1 with a slightly larger lot than was originally proposed. On October 5, 2004, the Board of Directors adopted Ordinance No. 19,196 revising the previously approved PCD. The amendment modified the rear and side yard setbacks for proposed Lots 2 and 3 of the Candlewood East Subdivision. A 15 -foot west side yard setback and a 15.4 foot east side yard setback were approved for Lot 2. A west side yard setback of 15 -feet and an east side yard setback of 15.3 feet was approved for Lot 3. With the reduced side yard setbacks a more densely planted landscape area would be provided. The approval included a rear yard setback for Lot 2 of 22 -feet and the front building landscaped area was increased from 4 -feet to 6 -feet. The revised PCD allowed 3,600 square feet office on Lot 1, 4,640 square feet of commercial on Lot 2 and 3,148 square feet of office on Lot 3. A total of 11,288 square feet, of which 4,640 square feet of commercial and 6,748 square feet of office was approved for the development. A. PROPOSAUREQUEST: New Balance has opened a new store in the new retail portion of the :development located at 13900 Cantrell Road on Lot 2. The store requests a revision to the current PCD zoning to allow signage on the west fagade of the building. The sign will occupy 24.3 square feet of wall space. The west facade does not have direct street frontage, however, it does have visibility from a nearby access drive. The sign on the west fagade is an important marketing tool for the New Balance store to identify its location to those potential customers who cannot see the entrance sign when traveling from the west. B. EXISTING CONDITIONS: Twin City Bank is located on Lot 1 and buildings have been constructed on Lots 2 and 3. Highland Drive has been constructed complete with curb -gutter and sidewalk. The area to the east of the site is a tree covered site. The area to the north of the site houses an office building and a plat for two additional lots was recently approved. Further west of the site is a commercial shopping node, with restaurant uses and a grocery store. There are a mixture of uses to the south of the site both residential and non-residential in nature. C. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: As of this writing staff has not revived any comment from area residents. All property owners located within 200 -feet of the site, all residents located within 300 -feet of the site who could be identified, the Westbury Property Owners Association, the Secluded Hills Property Owners Association, the 3 June 22, 2006 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: B Cont. FILE NO.: Z -6881-C Westchester/Heatherbrae Property Owners Association and the Pankey Community Improvement Association were notified of the public hearing. D. SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT: (August 5, 2004) The applicant was not present due to there being no technical issues related to the proposed request. Staff stated the item had not been routed to the reviewing agencies. Staff stated the request was to allow signage without public street. There was no discussion of the item. The Committee then forwarded the item to the full Commission for final action. E. ANALYSIS: There were no outstanding issues associated with the request from the April 20, 2006, Subdivision Committee meeting. The applicant is proposing the placement of signage along the western fagade of the existing building. The site is located within the Highway 10 Design Overlay District which has specific development guidelines for ground mounted signage but wall signage is typically allowed as per Section 36-557(a) of the City of Little Rock Code of Ordinances. This section states all on -premise wall signs must face required street frontage except in complexes where a sign without street frontage would be the only means of identification for a tenant. The proposed location of the wall signage does not have public street frontage. The signage is existing on the western facade and the site is currently under enforcement for placement of signage without a permit. The applicant was issued a permit for the placement of wall signage along the front fagade and the eastern facade of the building which have public street frontage. The sign was placed along the western fagade instead of placing the sign on the eastern facade. A notice was issued and the applicant chose to request a revision to the current PCD zoning in -lieu of removing the sign. Staff is not supportive of the allowance of the signage without public street frontage. Staff feels the existing signage located on the front fagade of the building is adequate to identify the business and allows for adequate visibility. F. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends denial of the request. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MAY 11, 2006) The applicant was present representing the request. There were no registered objectors present. Staff presented the item indicating the applicant had submitted a 0 June 22, 2006 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: B (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z -6881-C request dated May 11, 2006, requesting a deferral of the item to the June 22, 2006, public hearing. Staff stated the deferral request would require a waiver of the Commission's By-laws with regard to the late deferral request. Staff stated they were supportive of the By-law waiver request and the deferral request. A motion was made to approve the By-law waiver with regard to the late deferral request. The motion carried by a vote of 10 ayes, 0 noes and 1 absent. There was no further discussion of the item. The chair entertained a motion for placement of the item on the consent agenda for deferral. The motion carried by a vote of 10 ayes, 0 noes and 1 absent. STAFF UPDA There as been no change in the application since the previous public hearing. Staff continues to recommend denial of the applicant's request to allow signage along the western facade of the building. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (JUNE 22, 2006) The applicant was present representing the request. There was one registered objector present. Staff presented the item with a recommendation of denial. Mr. David Hamilton of Seiz Sign Company addressed the Commission on the merits of the request. He stated the sign was a small wall sign occupying only 25 square feet of the facade area. He stated the building placement did not allow visibility from the west of the front sign. He stated if the signage was approved the signage would not result in a greater amount of allowed signage since the development did not place signage on the eastern facade where signage was allowed due to the adjacent street. Mr. Bart Dickinson of New Balance addressed the Commission in support of the request. He stated the store sign was important to the business since the western sign was the only way for customers to locate the store. He stated the building was hard for customers to find because of the curvature of Cantrell Road in the location of the store. He stated many customers passed the store and were force to turn around and come back because of visibility issues. He stated the existing vegetation from the east blocked view of the store and signage. Ms. Ruth Bell addressed the Commission in opposition of the request. She stated the Highway 10 Deign Overlay was very specific on signage. She stated the League of Women Voters supported the sign ordinance and the Overlay District. She stated in fairness the Commission should support the existing ordinances in place. 5 June 22, 2006 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: B (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z -6881-C The Commission questioned if a monument sign was in place. The applicant stated there was a monument sign located along the eastern portion of the property. Mr. Dickinson stated the building was unique since the building did not parallel the roadway. He stated the building was angled which did not allow visibility from the west. He stated the signage did play a role in the decision to locate in the center. He stated he did not locate in a mall or strip center and preferred a stand alone building to service the needs of his customers. He stated a number of his customers were medical patients or elderly who were not able to walk distances to the store and desired pull up and park in front of the store. A motion was made to approve the request. The motion failed by a vote of 5 ayes, 5 noes and 1 absent. 0 ITEM NO.: 13 NAME: McKinstry-Threet Revised Short -form PCD Z -6 881-C LOCATION: located on the Northwest corner of Cantrell Road and Highland Drive Planning Staff Comments; 1. Provide notification of property owners located within 200 -feet of the site, complete with the certified abstract list, notice form with affidavit executed and proof of mailing. The notice must be mailed no later than April 26, 2006. The Office of Planning and Development must receive the proof of notice no later than May 5, 2006. 2. There is currently a sign located along the western fagade of the building which does not have a permit. The permit was issued for signage along the eastern fagade of the building. Variance/Waivers: None requested. The site plan was not routed to agencies for comments. The request includes the placement of signage without public street frontage. Revised plat/plan: Submit four (4) copies of a revised preliminary plat (to include the additional information as noted above) to staff on Wednesday, April 26, 2006. Item # 13