Agenda - Council - 04/26/2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CC Regular Session Date: 04/26/2011 By: Tim Gladhill Community Development Title: Consider Site Plan for Parking Lot Amendments for Ramsey Office Plaza Background: In 2005, the City approved the site plan for Ramsey Office Plaza, also known as the Ramsey Professional Center. The Applicant is requesting modifications to the parking lot to reconfigure existing parking spaces and add an access onto Sunwood Drive, a municipal state aid (MSA) street. Notification: Notification not required for site plan review. Information Item #: 7.3. Observations: The Public Works Committee reviewed the request as to whether an access onto an MSA roadway is warranted using the site plan submittal to understand internal circulation and access patterns and determine if the access onto Sunwood Drive is necessary and warranted. The full City Council will now be considering the site plan review request to address parking and other site planning related review. The initial approval for the Ramsey Office Plaza in 2005 was for the first phase of a three phase office complex on the Subject Property. At that time, approval was not given for any access onto Sunwood Drive, as the access was being proposed on Sapphire Street. The access on Sapphire Street and certain parking spaces are actually on the adjacent parcel, with no official access directly on the Subject Property. By approving this location for the proposed access on Sunwood Drive, Staff recommends that any access onto Sunwood Drive be aligned with any future access to the block to the south. The Applicant has prepared an exhibit to illustrate how the block to the south can be developed in such a manner to align accesses and minimize conflicts. In addition, City Code encourages shared parking and accesses for adjacent uses, and thus, the City should review whether this access shall serve as a shared access to the remainder of the block. The City has required shared access easements for all other access points onto Sunwood Drive. The Development Manager has prepared a traffic circulation exhibit that illustrates potential traffic patterns and shared access for the block. Furthermore, Staff recommends minor modifications to the parking lot configuration to preserve a corridor aligned with the Sunwood Drive access to better address internal traffic circulation patterns for the Subject Property. The Applicant has stated willingness to explore incorporating this pattern into their plans. The Public Works Committee did have considerable discussion regarding the parking stalls along the proposed Sunwood Drive entrance and potential conflicts that those parking stalls may create. Staff does not have any major concerns with parking stalls in this location, but would not recommend angled parking in this area due to traffic circulation and access spacing concerns. Staff does note that the site plan indicates certain on- street parking in an area currently guided as '15 Minute Loading/Unloading Zone'. At this time, that parking restriction is proposed to remain, regardless of approval of this site plan. Finally, the City will require additional data to ensure that future Floor Area Ratio (FAR) will be able to be met in conjunction with maximum parking requirements for the Subject Property. The Applicant has stated these plans are being developed to illustrate the ability to comply with future FAR requirements of a minimum of 0.75.