Agenda - Planning Commission - 10/04/2001

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The apartment building will consist of three stories. The proposed height of the apartment building exceeds the 35-foot maximum height for structures allowed under City Code. The applicant is applying for a variance to exceed the maximum height concurrently with the site plan review process. The first story will contain 15 apartment units and the second and third stories will contain 16 apartment units each. The building will have 6 one-bedroom and 41 two-bedroom units. The one bedroom units will be 770 square feet and the two bedroom units will range from 966 to 1,320 square feet. The floor area for all of the units exceed City Ordinance requirements. The exteriors of the structure is proposed to consist of metal siding, block and brick veneer. The roof will have asphalt shingles. The apartment building will have 48 underground parking stalls for use by the tenants and will provide 33 off-street parking spaces in front of the apartment building for a total of 81 parking spaces. Under the MR Multiple Residential, a total of 91 parking spaces would be needed for this development. The previous senior apartment development, Savannah Oaks, used a standard of 1.5 parking spaces per unit. If this standard is applied to the Lord of Life apartment building, a total of 72 parking spaces are needed. Staff is recommending that this standard be used again since very few of the residents have two cars and some have none. On September 4, 2001, the Planning Commission tabled a decision on the site plan to allow the applicant to work with the neighborhood groups regarding the proposed access drive, screening, tree preservation, safety and address any Staff concerns and return to the Planning Commission meeting in October with a revised site plan. The applicant met with residents of Fluorine St. and based on those discussions modified the site plan as follows: 1) the access road has been moved to be approximately 60 feet from the shared property line between the church and residents. The new location of the access road will not cause any of the existing trees to be lost. 2) Additional trees will be planted along the exit route from the Church to provide better screening for the resident at 14621 Fluorine St. 3) Additional plantings will be located between the western property line and Solstice Park and the access road to provide for additional screening. 4) The Church has also pledged to put additional trees along the western edge of the access road to provide additional screening for the Fluorine residents. The applicant has also met with the Fire Chief Kapler regarding a secondary emergency access to the apartment building. Based on those discussions, the applicant will extend the existing gravel drive to the east and construct concrete steps where the grade drops down to the apartment building. This change is satisfactory to the Fire Chief. The applicant is completihg the landscaping plan after meeting with staff and will be providing staff the revised landscaping plan prior to the Planning Commission meeting. Recommendation: City Staff recommends site plan approval contingent upon compliance with the city staff review letter dated August 31, 2001, Revised September 28, 2001, the property being rezoned and receiving a minor comprehensive plan amendment and the applicant receiving a variance to the height restrictions.