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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-6847 Staff AnalysisFILE NO.: Z-6847 NAME: Parents and Friends of Children, Inc. - Short -Form PRD zOCATION: 4300 West Markham Street DEVELOPER: ARCHITECT: Parents and Friends Williams and Dean Architects of Children, Inc. 18 Corporate Hill Dr., Ste. 210 801 West 3rd Street Little Rock, AR 72205 Little Rock, AR 72203 AREA: 0.98 acre ZONING: R-5 & 0-3 NUMBER OF LOTS: 1 FT. NEW STREET: 0 ALLOWED USES: Multifamily and Office PROPOSED USE: Residential guest house and wellness center VARIANCES/WAIVERS REQUESTED: None requested. A. PROPOSAL/REQUEST: The applicant proposes to rezone the property from R-5/0-3 to PRD in order to construct a "residential guest house and wellness center." The applicant submitted a very detailed and well-written cover letter to staff, with the following excerpts being used to provide the project description: "Parents and Friends of Children, Inc., the owners of the property, propose to construct the guest house for the use of family and friends of cancer and neonatal patients of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (DAMS). The facility will be residential in nature, similar to the Ronald McDonald House located adjacent to Children's Hospital. Parents and Friends of Children, Inc. will own and operate both houses and will utilize the same executive director for both houses. The facility located at 4300 West Markham Street is FILE NO.: Z-6847 (Cont.) to be called the Guest House and Wellness Center. The owner's Mission Statement is: `To provide lodging and a place of refuge for: 1. Adult cancer patients of UAMS 2. Parents of neonatal patients at UAMS 3. The Wellness Center for the Auxiliary of the Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC) .' Residents will be referred by the medical staff of the Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC) or Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (CARTI) at UAMS. As a `home -away -from -home', no medical care will be administered in the new facility. Housing will consist of 15 double occupancy bedrooms for a patient and a family member. Each bedroom will have a private bath and two small closets. Communal Living Room, Dining Room and Kitchens will be provided. The kitchens will be residential in scale and are provided to be used by the residents in the preparation of their own meals. Support services will include a Food Pantry, Laundry, Library, telephone and vending area. These uses provide the `lodging' of the mission statement. To support the lodging being provided, the ACRC Auxiliary will provide services in the form of the Wellness Center. This part of the facility will provide spaces for restful and therapeutic activities such as an exercise room, music room, TV room, computer room, reading room, Conference/Board room and outdoor gardening and activity areas. These uses will provide the `refuge' needed by the residents and families facing the stress of medical treatment. The physical facility will consist of a two story, approximately 18,000 square foot building. The building will be fully sprinklered, equipped with a full-size elevator and be fully ADA accessible. The building as proposed will be classified as a Residential Occupancy, with a Construction Type V - Unprotected and Sprinklered. As proposed, the building complies with the height and area limitations of this classification . The building will face West Markham Street with an open, covered vehicular drop-off area between 2 FILE NO.: Z-6847 (Cont.) the building and an entry garden. The parking lot is accessed with a single driveway entrance located at mid -block on Rose Street and will provide 32 parking spaces including two designated handicapped spaces. A small service drive off of Rose Street will provide for the screened dumpster location as well as a place to accommodate the building's infrequent deliveries. Due to existing underground utilities crossing at mid -point of the property and the topographic slope of the north half of the property, the building has been placed to the rear of the property. This allows the building to be nested into the natural slope of the site and allows for an on -grade outdoor area to be directly accessed from both floors. The north fagade will be one story tall and portray a residential character to the residential zoning north, east and west of the site. The parking lot and entrance drive face West Markham Street and are in keeping with the 0-3 zoning of the street. Thus, by placing the building and parking lot as shown, the current zoning of the property is maintained and the uses of the new facility are sympathetic to the adjacent zoning. All disturbed areas of the site will be landscaped to exceed the minimum ordinance requirements, specifically along both street frontages, the parking lot, the entry garden area, and the building perimeter. As much as possible of the existing trees and vegetation on the north and west sides of the property will be retained. Landscaped, outdoor garden areas are an important part of the building program." B. EXISTING CONDITIONS: The property is undeveloped and mostly grass -covered. There are a few mature trees on the site. The property generally slopes upward from West Markham Street to the north. There is a paved alley within this block. The UAMS campus is located across West Markham Street to the south. There is a mixture of office and commercial uses to the east and west along the north side of West Markham Street. Single family residences are located to the north across "A" Street and to the northeast and northwest. 3 FILE NO.: Z-6847 (Cont.) C. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: The Hillcrest and Capitol View Stifft Station Neighborhood Associations were notified of the public hearing. As of this writing, staff has received no comments from the neighborhood. D. ENGINEERING COMMENTS: PUBLIC WORKS CONDITIONS: 1. Markham Street is listed on the Master Street Plan as a minor arterial. A dedication of right-of-way 45 feet from centerline is required. 2. Rose Street and "A" Street are listed on the Master Street Plan as a commercial streets. Dedicate right-of- way to 30 feet from centerlines. 3. A 20 foot radial dedication of right-of-way is required at the corner of Rose and "A", Rose Street, and Markham. 4. Provide design of streets conforming to "MSP" (Master Street Plan). Construct one-half street improvements to these streets including 5 -foot sidewalks with planned development. 5. Plans of all work in right-of-way shall be submitted for approval prior to start of work. 6. Stormwater detention ordinance applies to this property. 7. Prepare a letter of pending development addressing streetlights as required by Section 31-403 of the Little Rock Code. All requests should be forwarded to Traffic Engineering. 8. Relocate existing 36 inch drainage pipe and provide drainage easement. Plans of all work shall be submitted for approval prior to start of work. 9. West Markham has a 1998 average daily traffic count of 13,000. 10. Alley exists and needs to be maintained to provide access to adjacent property owners. E. UTILITIES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT/COUNTY PLANNING: Wastewater: Sewer available, Capacity Analysis required. Contact Little Rock Wastewater Utility for details. AP&L: No Comment received. ARKLA: No Comment received. Southwestern Bell: No Comment. 4 FILE NO.: Z-6847 (Cont. Water: No Comment. Fire Department: Contact Dennis Free at 918-3752 regarding the height (clearance) of the covered drive. Countv Planning: No Comment received. CATA: No Affect -Site is on Bus Routes #1, #8, #22. F. ISSUES/TECHNICAL/DESIGN: Planning Division: The request is located in the Heights/Hillcrest Planning District. The Land Use Plan shows Office and Low Density Residential for this location. The property is currently zoned 0-3 General Office and R-5 Urban Residential and the zoning request is for a Planned Office Development to build a temporary living facility. City Recognized Neighborhood Action Plan: This property is located in an area covered by the Hillcrest Neighborhood Plan "A `Blueprint' of our Community." The neighborhood action plan calls for locating intensive uses at the edge of the neighborhood, establishing buffers between residential and non- residential uses, and controlling the erosion of the neighborhood's quality resulting from incompatible land uses at the edge of the neighborhood. Landscape Issues: The proposed street buffer width along Markham Street drops one foot below the minimum allowed at any given point of six feet. The full buffer width required along Markham Street is thirteen feet. The proposed street buffer width along Rose Street drops two feet below the minimum allowed at any given point of six feet. The full buffer width required along Rose Street is eight feet. A six foot high opaque screen, either a wooden fence with its face side directed outward or dense evergreen plantings, will be required along the eastern perimeter adjacent to residential property. 5 FILE NO.: Z-6847 (Cont.) G. ANALYSIS: The applicant submitted a revised site plan and additional information to staff on April 27, 2000. This information addresses all of the issues as raised by staff and the Subdivision Committee. The following revisions have been made to the site plan: 1.Building height noted -maximum of 40 feet. 2.Dumpster screening provided. 3.Sign location noted - monument -type, height - 30 inches, area - 30 square feet. 4. Parking reduced from 32 to 30 spaces. 5.Increased buffers along West Markham and Rose Streets provided. 6. Relocation of storm drain provided. 7.Street improvements shown, including "A" Street. 8.Breakdown of building area noted: 13,500 square feet - Guest House 4,440 square feet - Wellness Center There is an existing paved alley which runs east/west through this block. The alley is not a dedicated right-of- way, however, the other property owners within this block have a "prescriptive right" to use the alley. The applicant has noted that the appropriate signatures will be obtained from the required property owners and that formal petition to abandon the alley will be filed with the Public Works department and taken to the City Board. As noted, the applicant will relocate an existing storm drain on this property. The applicant has noted that they will continue to work with Public Works regarding this issue. The applicant has also noted that the covered entry on the front of the building will meet or exceed height clearance as defined by the fire department. Otherwise, there should be no outstanding issues associated with the proposed site plan. The applicant has done an excellent job in addressing the issues associated with this development. Staff feels that the proposed project represents a nice infill development and should have no adverse impact on the general area. C•" FILE NO.: Z-6847 (Cont.) H. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends approval of the PRD zoning, subject to the following conditions: 1. Compliance with the requirements as noted in paragraphs D, E and F of this report. 2. Any site lighting should be low-level and directed away from adjacent property. 3. The dumpster should be screened on three (3) sides with an 8 foot opaque fence or wall. 4. The existing paved "prescriptive" alley must be abandoned prior to a building permit being issued. SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT: (APRIL 20, 2000) Mark Alderfer and representatives of Parents and Friends of Children, Inc. were present, representing the application. Staff briefly described the proposed PRD, noting that additional information was needed. Mr. Alderfer provided a north/south section through the property to the Committee. This was briefly discussed. The paved alley within this block was briefly discussed. Mr. Alderfer noted that this was not a dedicated alley. Staff noted that there were prescriptive rights for the other owners along the alley to use it. Staff instructed the applicant to obtain sign -offs from the other abutting property owners to the west. The Public Works requirements were briefly discussed. The landscape and buffer requirements were also discussed. Staff noted that there was sufficient area to provide the required six (6) foot landscape strips along West Markham and Rose Streets. After the presentation, the Committee forwarded the PRD to the full Commission for resolution. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MAY 11, 2000) The staff presented a positive recommendation on this application, as there were no further issues for resolution. There were no objectors to this matter. 7 FILE NO.: Z-6847 (Cont.) Bob Turner, of Public Works, noted that Public Works supported a waiver of the required 20 foot radial dedications of right-of- way (corner of Rose and "A" Streets, corner of West Markham and - Rose Streets) and a waiver of the required 30 foot right-of-way dedications for Rose and "A" Streets. The Chairperson 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 8 ayes, 0 nays, 2 absent and 1 open position. 8 May 11, 2000 ITEM NO.: 13 FILE NO.: Z-6847 NAME: Parents and Friends of Children, Inc. - Short -Form PRD LOCATION: 4300 West Markham Street DEVELOPER: ARCHITECT: Parents and Friends Williams and Dean Architects of Children, Inc. 18 Corporate Hill Dr., Ste. 210 801 West 3Zd Street Little Rock, AR 72205 Little Rock, AR 72203 0.98 acre NUMBER OF LOTS: 1 FT. NEW STREET: 0 ZONING: R-5 & 0-3 ALLOWED USES: PROPOSED USE: Multifamily and Office Residential guest house and wellness center VARIANCES/WAIVERS REQUESTED: None requested. A. PROPOSAL/REQUEST: The applicant proposes to rezone the property from R-5/0-3 to PRD in order to contruct a "residential guest house and wellness center." The applicant submitted a very detailed and well-written cover letter to staff, with the following excerpts being used to provide the project description: "Parents and Friends of Children, Inc., the owners of the property, propose to construct the guest house for the use of family and friends of cancer and neonatal patients of the University of Arkansas for_Medical Sciences (UAMS). The facility will be residential in nature, similar to the Ronald McDonald House located adjacent to Children's Hospital. Parents and Friends of Children, Inc. will own and operate both houses and will utilize the same executive director for both houses. The May 11, 2000 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 13 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6847 facility located at 4300 West Markham Street is to be called the Guest House and Wellness Center. The owner's Mission Statement is: `To provide lodging and a place of refuge for: 1. Adult cancer patients of UAMS 2. Parents of neonatal patients at UAMS 3. The Wellness Center for the Auxillary of the Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC).1 Residents will be referred by the medical staff of the Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC) or Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (CARTI) at UAMS. As a `home -away -from -home', no medical care will be administered in the new facility. Housing will consist of 15 double occupancy bedrooms for a patient and a family member. Each bedroom will have a private bath and two small closets. Communal Living Room, Dining Room and Kitchens will be provided. The kitchens will be residential in scale and are provided to be used by the residents in the preparation of their own meals. Support services will include a Food Pantry, Laundry, Library, telephone and vending area. These uses provide the `lodging' of the mission statement. To support the lodging being provided, the ACRC Auxiliary will provide services in the form of the Wellness Center. This part of the facilty will provide spaces for restful and therapeutic activities such as an exercise room, music room, TV room, computer room, reading room, Conference/Board room and outdoor gardening and activity areas. These uses will provide the `refuge' needed by the residents and families facing the stress of medical treatment. The physical facility will consist of a two story, approximately 18,000 square foot building. The building will be fully sprinklered, equipped with a full-size elevator and be fully ADA accessible. The building as proposed will be classified as a Residential Occupancy, with a Construction Type V - Unprotected and Sprinklered. As proposed, the F, May 11, 2000 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 13 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6847 building complies with the height and area limitations of this classification . The building will face West Markham Street with an open, covered vehicular drop-off area between the building and an entry garden. The parking lot is accessed with a single driveway entrance located at mid -block on Rose Street and will provide 32 parking spaces including two designated handicapped spaces. A small service drive off of Rose Street will provide for the screened dumpster location as well as a place to accommodate the building's infrequent deliveries. Due to existing underground utilities crossing at mid -point of the property and the topographic slope of the north half of the property, the building has been placed to the rear of the property. This allows the building to be nested into the natural slope of the site and allows for an on -grade outdoor area to be directly accessed from both floors. The north fagade will be one story tall and portray a residential character to the residential zoning north, east and west of the site. The parking lot and entrance drive face West Markham Street and are in keeping with the 0-3 zoning of the street. Thus, by placing the building and parking lot as shown, the current zoning of the property is maintained and the uses of the new facility are sympathetic to the adjacent zoning. All disturbed areas of the site will be landscaped to exceed the minimum ordinance requirements, specifically along both street frontages, the parking lot, the entry garden area, and the building perimeter. As much as possible of the existing trees and vegetation on the north and west sides of the property will be retained. Landscaped, outdoor garden areas are an important part of the building program." B. EXISTING CONDITIONS: The property is undeveloped and mostly grass -covered. There are a few mature trees on the site. The property generally slopes upward from West Markham Street to the north.-- There is a paved alley within this block. 3 May 11, 2000 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 13 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6847 The UAMS campus is located across West Markham Street to the south. There is a mixture of office and commercial uses to the east and west along the north side of West Markham Street. Single family residences are located to the north across "A" Street and to the northeast and northwest. C. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: The Hillcrest and Capitol View Stifft Station Neighborhood Associations were notified of the public hearing. As of this writing, staff has received no comments from the neighborhood. D. ENGINEERING COMMENTS: PUBLIC WORKS CONDITIONS: 1. Markham Street is listed on the Master Street Plan as a minor arterial. A dedication of right-of-way 45 feet from centerline is required. 2. Rose Street and "A" Street are listed on the Master Street Plan as a commercial streets. Dedicate right-of- way to 30 feet from centerlines. 3. A 20 foot radial dedication of right-of-way is required at the corner of Rose and "A", Rose Street, and Markham. 4. Provide design of streets conforming to "MSP" (Master Street Plan). Construct one-half street improvements to these streets including 5 -foot sidewalks with planned development. 5. Plans of all work in right-of-way shall be submitted for approval prior to start of work. 6. Stormwater detention ordinance applies to this property. 7. Prepare a letter of pending development addressing streetlights as required by Section 31-403 of the Little Rock Code. All requests should be forwarded to Traffic Engineering. 8. Relocate existing 36 inch drainage pipe and provide drainage easement. Plans of all work shall be submitted for approval prior to start of work. 9. West Markham has a 1998 average daily traffic count of 13,000. 10. Alley exists and needs to be maintained to provide access to adjacent property owners. 4 May 11, 2000 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 13 (Cont.) E. FILE NO.: Z-6847 UTILITIES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT/COUNTY PLANNING: Wastewater: Sewer available, Capacity Analysis required. Contact Little Rock Wastewater Utility for details. AP&L:= No Comment received. ARKLA: No Comment received. Southwestern Bell: No Comment. Water: No Comment. Fire Department: Contact Dennis Free at 918-3752 regarding the height (clearance) of the covered drive. County Plannin : No Comment received. CATA: No Affect -Site is on Bus Routes #1, #8, #22. F. ISSUES/TECHNICAL/DESIGN: Planning Division: The request is located in the Heights/Hillcrest Planning District. The Land Use Plan shows Office and Low Density Residential for this location. The property is currently zoned 0-3 General Office and R-5 Urban Residential and the zoning request is for a Planned Office Development to build a temporary living facility. City Recognized Neighborhood Action Plan: This property is located in an area covered by the Hillcrest Neighborhood Plan "A `Blueprint' of our Community." The neighborhood action plan calls for locating intensive uses at the edge of the neighborhood, establishing buffers between residential and non- residential uses, and controlling the erosion of the neighborhood's quality resulting from incompatible land uses at;the edge of the neighborhood. 5 May 11, 2000 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 13 (Cont. Landscape Issues: FILE NO.: Z-6847 The proposed street buffer width along Markham Street drops one foot below the minimum allowed at any given point of six feet. The full buffer width required along Markham Street is thirteen feet. The proposed street buffer width along Rose Street drops two feet below the minimum allowed at any given point of six feet. The full buffer width required along Rose Street is eight feet. A six foot high opaque screen, either a wooden fence with its face side directed outward or dense evergreen plantings, will be required along the eastern perimeter adjacent to residential property. G. ANALYSIS: The applicant submitted a revised site plan and additional information to staff on April 27, 2000. This information addresses all of the issues as raised by staff and the Subdivision Committee. The following revisions have been made to the site plan: 1. Building height noted -maximum of 40 feet. 2.Dumpster screening provided. 3. Sign location noted - monument -type, height - 30 inches, area - 30 square feet. 4. Parking reduced from 32 to 30 spaces. 5. Increased buffers along West Markham and Rose Streets provided. 6. Relocation of storm drain provided. 7 Street improvements shown, including "A" Street. 8. Breakdown of building area noted: 13,500 square feet - Guest House 41440 square feet - Wellness Center There is an existing paved alley which runs east/west through this block. The alley is not a dedicated right-of- way, however, the other property owners within this block have a "prescriptive right" to use the alley. The applicant has noted that the appropriate signatures will be obtained from the required property owners and that formal petition to abandon the alley will be filed with the Public Works department and taken to the City Board. 6 May 11, 2000 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 13 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6847 As noted, the applicant will relocate an existing storm drain on this property. The applicant has noted that they will continue to work -with Public Works regarding this issue. The applicant has.also noted that the covered entry on the front of the building -will meet or exceed height clearance as defined -by -the fire department. Otherwise, there should be no outstanding issues associated with the proposed site plan. The applicant has done an excellent job in addressing the issues associated with this development. Staff feels that the proposed project represents a nice infill development and should have no adverse impact on the general area. H. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends approval of the PRD zoning, subject to the following conditions: 1.Compliance with the requirements as noted in paragraphs D, E and F of this report. 2.Any site lighting should be low-level and directed away from adjacent property. 3. The dumpster should be screened on three (3) sides with an 8 foot opaque fence or wall. 4.The existing paved "prescriptive" alley must be abandoned prior to a building permit being issued. SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT: (APRIL 20, 2000) Mark Aldefer and representatives of Parents and Friends of Children, Inc. were present, representing the application. Staff briefly described the proposed PRD, noting that additional information was needed. Mr. Alderfer provided a north/south section through the property to the Committee. This was briefly discussed. The paved alley within this block was briefly discussed. Mr. Alderfer noted that this was not a dedicated alley. Staff noted that there were prescriptive rights for the other owners along the alley to -use it. Staff instructed the applicant to obtain sign -offs from the other abutting property owners to the west. The Public Works requirements were briefly discussed. 7 May 11, 2000 SUBDIVISION ITEM NO.: 13 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-6847 The landscape and buffer requirements were also discussed. Staff noted that there was sufficient area to provide the required six (6) foot landscape strips along West Markham and Rose Streets. After the presentation, the Committee forwarded the PRD to the full Commission for resolution. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MAY 11, 2000) The staff presented a positive recommendation on this application, as there were no further issues for resolution. There were no objectors to this matter. Bob Turner, of Public Works, noted that Public Works supported a waiver of the required 20 foot radial dedications of right-of- way (corner of Rose and "A" Streets, corner of West Markham and Rose Streets) and a waiver of the required 30 foot right-of-way dedications for Rose and "A" Streets. The Chairperson 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 8 ayes, 0 nays, 2 absent and 1 open position. 8