HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-6283-A Staff AnalysisApril 28, 1997
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File No.: Z -6283-A
Owner: Southwestern Bell
Address: 11121 West Markham Street
Description• Lot 16, West Markham Street
Subdivision
Zoned• R-2 (C-3 rezoning request pending
on western portion)
Variance Re ested: 1. The off-street parking
provisions of Section 36-502 of
the Little Rock Code Ordinances
to permit: 52 parking spaces
in lieu of 67 required.
2. The location of off-street
parking provisions of Section
36-507 of the Little Rock Code
of Ordinances to permit: Use
of R-2 Zoned property as
Ingress -Egress -Parking Easement
to serve a C-3 use.
3. The area regulations provisions
of Section 36-301 of the Little
Rock Code of Ordinances to
permit: Side yard setbacks on
west side of 0' and east side
of 5'.
4. The setback provisions of
Section 36-341(h)(2) of the
Little Rock Code of Ordinances
to permit: 20' setback from
rear floodway line.
5. The buffer requirements of
Section 36-522 of the Little
Rock Code of Ordinances to
permit: Reduction in the land
use and street buffers.,
Justification: Applicant's Statement: We are
requesting certain variances to
allow the placement of a Retail
Furniture Store and Warehouse on
this property. The building square
April 28, 1997
No.. 2 (Cont.
footage total is proposed to be
24,000 square feet. Of this total,
4,000 square feet is to be a
warehouse/staging area.
Approximately 19,300 square feet is
to be a showroom with 700 square
feet of office, restrooms and sales
support area. Justification for
the requested variances are as
follows:
1. Furniture stores do not by
their nature require as much
parking as other commercial
businesses. During a recent
survey of one of our stores the
maximum number of spaces used
during a volume sale was 25
spaces. This number included
employee parking. The store
surveyed is consistently in the
top five stores in our chain as
noted by sales volume.
2. The current owner of this
property is Southwestern Bell
Telephone. They have agreed to
allow exclusive use of an
existing 24' wide drive for
ingress and egress. There will
be a 6' high chain link fence
installed to prohibit cross
traffic between Hank's
Furniture and Southwestern Bell
property.
3. This property is bounded on the
west by an Entergy substation
and on the east by Southwestern
Bell field office and storage
yard. Allowing a side yard set
back variance will have no
adverse effect on either of
these properties.
4. The rear 1/3 of this property
is designated as a f loodway. A
permanent easement will be
granted to the City of Little
Rock for this area. We are
asking to build within 20' of
this floodway. This again
should have no adverse effect
on any nearby property owners.
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April 28, 1997
No.. 2 (Cont.
Present Use of Pra erty:
Proposed Use of Property:
Staff Report:
A. Public Works Issues:
Vacant and Southwestern Bell
Telephone facility
Retail Furniture Store and
Southwestern Bell Telephone
Facility
1. Buildings are to be located 25 feet from floodway, staff
will support a local Ordinance variance.
2.A grading permit and development permit for special flood
hazard area are required prior to construction.
3. All driveways shall be concrete aprons per City
Ordinance.
4. Stormwater detention ordinance applies to this property.
Plans to remove north to south drain and easements from
adjacent property to facilitate construction, will be
required.
5. Property frontage needs to have the sidewalks and ramps
brought up to the current ADA standards with any planned
construction.
6. Driveways shall conform to Section 31-210 or Ordinance
16,577.
7. Minimum width of access drive should be 27 feet with
sidewalks.
B. Staff Analysis:
Hank's Discount Fine Furniture, Inc. is proposing to
construct a new, 24,000 square foot retail store on the
property located at 11121 West Markham Street. The property
is currently zoned R-2. The Planning Commission reviewed a
C-3 rezoning request at its April 17, 1997 meeting. The
results of that meeting will be forwarded to the Board of
Adjustment. The variance requests before the Board are
contingent upon the property successfully being rezoned C-3.
Hank's proposed development of this narrow and deep property
has generated multiple variance requests. Each issue will
be addressed separately in the following analysis.
1. A variance is requested from the parking provisions of
Section 36-502 to permit 52 parking spaces rather than
the 67 required for this 24,000 square foot retail use.
Staff believes this variance request to be reasonable.
Past experience with furniture stores has proven that
they do not typically generate the level of customer
traffic that many other retail uses do. The
application was originally submitted with 58 spaces
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April 28, 1997
Item No.: 2 (Cont.
shown on the site plan. That number was reduced to 52
when the applicant amended the site plan to provide
better circulation and the required landscaping. A
recent survey by Hank's of one of their top five stores
showed the maximum number of spaces used during a
volume sale was 25. This level of customer activity
seems typical of other furniture stores in Little Rock,
including Haverty's and Brandon's. If approved, the
parking variance would be based upon the building being
occupied only by a furniture store. Any potential
future user of the building would have to conform to
the parking standards or appear before the Board of
Adjustment for a variance.
2. A variance is requested from the location of off-street
parking provisions of Section 36-507 to permit the use
of the adjacent R-2 zoned property as an ingress -
egress -parking easement to serve this C-3 use.
The Hank's site is being created by the purchase of a
portion of Southwestern Bell Telephone's property.
Southwestern Bell Telephone occupies the large tract to
the east. Southwestern Bell Telephone has agreed to
allow Hank's exclusive use of the existing driveway as
shown on the site plan. The advantages to this
arrangement are that Hank's will not have to put
another curb cut on Markham and putting the driveway on
Hank's side would eliminate even more parking spaces.
Although the ingress -egress -parking easement is on R-2
zoned property that property is actually occupied by a
large industrial use. The benefits to this shared
arrangement far outweigh any potential negatives.
There should be no impact on this R-2 zoned, industrial
property in allowing Hank's to have the requested
driveway and parking easement. Southwestern Bell
Telephone has other exits onto West Markham. The
access easement will be fenced off to prohibit access
from the Hank's site onto the Southwestern Bell
Telephone property.
3. A variance is requested from the area regulations of -
Section 36-301 to permit the proposed Hank's building
to have side yard setbacks of 0 feet on the west and 5
feet on the east. The Ordinance requires a side yard
setback of 15 feet where C-3 zoned properties abut
residential districts. Otherwise, no side yard setback
is required.
Although the properties to the east and west are zoned
R-2, they are occupied by industrial uses, not
residential uses. The large Southwestern Bell
Telephone complex is adjacent to the east and an AP&L
substation is located on the property to the west.
There are no buildings on the AP&L property and the
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April 28, 1997
Item No.: 2(Cont.)
nearest building on the Southwestern Bell Telephone
property is located 65 feet east of the proposed Hank's
building. Allowing the reduced side yard setbacks as
proposed should have no impact on the adjacent
properties.
4. A variance is requested from the setback provisions of
Section 36-341 to permit the proposed building to have
a setback of 20 feet from the floodway line to the
rear. The Ordinance requires a setback of 25 feet.
Although the rear 260-300 feet of this property lie in
the floodway, Rock Creek is actually located in a well
defined channel at the rear of the tract. The City's
floodplain Administrator has stated that a variance is
appropriate in this case subject to the proper special
flood hazard area development permit being obtained for
the site.
5. A variance is requested from the Buffer requirements of
Section 36-522 to permit a reduction in the required
land use and street buffers. The Ordinance requires a
street buffer of 32 feet for this lot with the minimum
dimension to be 6 feet. The applicant proposes a
street buffer of 13 feet. Commercial uses are required
to provide land use buffers where abutting any use or
zoning except office, commercial or industrial. The
Ordinance requires a land use buffer on the sides of
this property of 6.35 feet and 32 feet on the rear.
The applicant proposes a rear buffer of 260-300 feet
due to the floodway and side yard buffers of 0 feet at
one point on the west and 5 feet on the east.
Staff believes the requested reduction in buffer widths
is reasonable since the only single family occupied
properties, to the south, will have the benefit of the
large 260-300 foot buffer.
Only the front 380 feet portion of this site is
developable. The rear half of the site is located in
the floodway and will remain undeveloped. If the
street buffer were determined by the depth of the
property which is actually available for development,
it would be reduced to 19 feet. The site slopes down
from the street and the slope itself provides
additional buffering. The properties across the street
are themselves located on a slope above Markham Street.
The justification for supporting the reduction in the
side buffers is the same as noted in No. 3 above.
Although the adjacent properties are zoned R-2, they
are actually occupied by industrial uses which will not
be impacted by the reduced buffers.
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April 28, 1997
Item No.: 2 Cont.
C. Staff Recommendation:
Staff recommends approval of the requested variances subject
to compliance with Public Works Comments. The parking
variance is based upon the building's occupancy by a
furniture store only.
HOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
(APRIL 28, 1997)
Steve Roberts and Melanie Gibson were present representing the
application. There were no objectors present. Staff presented
the item and a recommendation of approval, with conditions.
Mr. Roberts stated that he understood and accepted staff's
recommendation, including the Public Works Comments.
A motion was made to approve the requested variances with the
conditions as recommended by staff. The motion was approved by a
vote of 6 ayes, 0 noes, 2 absent and 1 open position.
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