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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-10188 Staff Report 072125 ITEM NO.: 12 FILE NO.: Z-10188 NAME: The Gardens – Conditional Use Permit LOCATION: 9621 Tall Timber Boulevard DEVELOPER: Charles B. Turner (Owner) 889 Ridgeway Street Hot Springs, AR 71901 OWNER/AUTHORIZED AGENT: Joe White (Agent) 25 Rahling Circle, Suite A-2 Little Rock, AR 72223 SURVEYOR/ENGINEER: Joe White & Associates 25 Rahling Circle, Suite A-2 Little Rock, AR 72223 AREA: 7.6 acres NUMBER OF LOTS: 1 FT. NEW STREET: 0 LF WARD: 7 PLANNING DISTRICT: 12 CENSUS TRACT: 24.05 CURRENT ZONING: O-3 A. PROPOSAL/REQUEST/APPLICANT’S STATEMENT: The applicant is requesting a conditional use permit to allow the existing developed property to be utilized as a mental health and therapeutic community facility. The facility will operate twenty (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week. B. EXISTING CONDITIONS: The site is located on the east side of Stagecoach Road and contains an existing one-story building. The building was previously occupied by the Bible Doctrine Church of Little Rock (Heart’s Journey). Properties surrounding the site contain a mixture of zoning and uses. C. NEIGHBORHOOD NOTIFICATIONS: All owners of property within 300 feet of the site and all neighborhood associations registered with the City of Little Rock were notified of the public hearing. D. ENGINEERING COMMENTS: ADA Access shall be shown to the Right-of-Way. Handicap Parking shall include one van stall 11ft wide with a 5ft minimum aisle. Drives may not exceed 40% of the lot width. Northeast drive raises concern due to island within Tall Timber Blvd. Dumpster enclosures must be permitted as a fence and anything 7ft in height or taller measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall/fence shall be designed by an Arkansas Licensed Engineer (Structural). Contact Planning and Development Dept., Engineering Division at 501-371-4817 or at 501-918-5348 for inspections of any work in the public right-of-way prior to placement of concrete or asphalt or for on-site clarification of requirements prior to commencing work. Failure to do so can result in removal of any improperly placed concrete or asphalt at the expense of the owner or contractor. Hauling of cut and/or fill material on or off project sites over municipal streets require approval prior to a grading permit being issued. Contact Public Works Traffic Engineering at 621 S. Broadway 501-379-1800 with any questions or for more information. Damage to public and private property due to hauling operations or operations of construction related equipment from a construction site shall be repaired by the responsible party prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy. ENGINEERING COMMENTS (PUBLIC WORKS): No comments. E. UTILITIES/FIRE DEPARTMENT/PARKS/COUNTY PLANNING: Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority: No comments received. Entergy: No comments received. Summit Energy: No comments. AT & T: No comments received. Central Arkansas Water: All Central Arkansas Water requirements in effect at the time of request for water service must be met. Fire Department: Full plan review. Parks and Recreation: No comments received. F. BUILDING CODES/LANDSCAPE: Building Code: Provide the following information: Previous Use appears have been a church. Proposed Use appears to be Institutional Construction Type? Confirm single story 1191.8 sf? Appears to be 11,981 sf. This appears to be a change of occupancy from a business occupancy to an Institutional occupancy. This will most likely require the installation of Fire Sprinkler and Fire Alarm. Project is subject to full commercial plan review and approval prior to issuance of a building permit. For information on submittal requirements and the review process, contact a commercial plans examiner: Curtis Richey at 501.371.4724; crichey@littlerock.gov or Tim Whitener at 501-371-4875 twhitener@littlerock.gov Landscape: No comments received. G. TRANSPORTATION/PLANNING: Rock Region Metro: No comments received. Planning Division: Land Use Plan: The request is in the 65th Street West Planning District, District 12. The Land Use Plan shows Office (O) use for the requested area. The Office (O) use category represents services provided directly to consumers (e.g., legal, financial, medical) as well as general offices which support more basic economic activities. The application is for a Conditional Use Permit. This site is not located in an Overlay District. Master Street Plan: Stagecoach Road is a Principal Arterial on the Master Street Plan. Principal Arterials are roads designed to serve through traffic, and to connect major traffic generators or activity centers within urbanized areas. The standard Right of way of 110 feet is required. Sidewalks are required on both sides. This street may require dedication of right-of-way and may require street improvements. Bicycle Plan: Stagecoach Road is a designated bike route in the Master Bike Plan as a Proposed Class II Bike Lane. Class II Bike Lanes provide a bike lane on both sides of a roadway for the sole use of bicycles as a separate facility.Tall Timber Blvd is not shown on the Master Bike Plan with existing or proposed facilities in this area. Historic Preservation Plan: The application, as shown, should have no effect on identified historic resources. H. ANALYSIS: The applicant is requesting a conditional use permit to allow the existing developed property to be utilized as a mental health and therapeutic community facility. The facility will operate twenty (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week. The Gardens is a therapeutic community with current facilities in Sherwood and Texarkana. The Gardens proposes to occupy the existing developed property with a living facility for sixteen (16) individuals. There will be up to eight (8) staff employees/care givers at the facility at any given time. The Gardens provides care for adults diagnosed with a serious mental illness and/or intellectual disorder. The Gardens provided the following information regarding their clients: “Our admission screening is similar to a tenant applying for residency (just like any of us would do). We run thorough background checks on each potential client. We are extremely selective & have weekly conference calls to vet applicants. We meet potential clients prior to admission. No one on the sexual registry is accepted. We do not allow any drugs or alcohol on the property & clients are subject to drug screening if use is suspected. We do not accept clients with current substance abuse issues. We accept approximately one (1) out of every five (5) applicants.” The site is located on the east side of Stagecoach Road and contains an existing one-story building. The building was previously occupied by the Bible Doctrine Church of Little Rock (Heart’s Journey). Properties surrounding the site contain a mixture of zoning and uses. Two (2) driveways extend south from Tall Timber Boulevard providing access to the property. The western driveway will serve as primary ingress/egress. The applicant notes that the easternmost driveway from Tall Timber Boulevard, the driveway closest to the single-family residential neighborhood, will be gated and used only for emergency access. The existing building is 11,918 square feet in area. The applicant intends to remodel the building as needed for their use. The existing parking lot located on the north side of the building provides ample parking for staff and visitors. Staff feels the parking is sufficient to serve the proposed use. The applicant notes that transportation is provided for all clients, and they will not be roaming the streets and neighborhood. The applicant is not proposing additional signage at this time. Any future signage must comply with Section 36-553 of the City’s Zoning Ordinance (signs permitted in office and institutional zones). The site plan does not show a dumpster at this time. Any dumpster placed on the property must be screened to comply with Section 36-523 of the City’s Zoning Ordinance. The site plan does not show perimeter fencing at this time. Any fencing erected on the property must comply with Section 36-516(e)(2) of the City’s Zoning Ordinance (fences and walls). Any new sight lighting must be low-level and directed away from adjacent properties. The applicant provided responses to additional information regarding all issues raised during staff’s review of the application. To staff’s knowledge, there are no outstanding issues. Staff is supportive of the requested conditional use permit. Staff feels the applicant’s proposed re-use of the developed site is an appropriate use at this location. The property is over seven (7) acres in area and will be occupied by only sixteen (16) residents. The proposed facility should prove to be a very quiet and low traffic use. The property is located along a principal arterial roadway (State Highway 70). The only daily vehicular access will be from the westernmost driveway near the intersection. The majority of the property is undeveloped, and tree covered. There is an existing land use buffer along the east property line, ranging in width from one-hundred (100) feet to two-hundred (200) feet. In staff’s opinion, the proposed use will have no adverse impact on the surrounding properties. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of the requested conditional use permit, subject to compliance with the comments and conditions outlined in paragraphs D, E and F, and the staff analysis, of the agenda staff report, and the following condition: The conditional use permit will be for “The Gardens” facility and operators only. If “The Gardens” ceases use and vacates the property, the conditional use permit will become null and void, and will not be transferred to another user.