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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSDP201900069 Correspondence 2020-10-05L I N E + G R A D E C I V I L E N G I N E E R I N G October 5, 2020 TO: Albemarle County Community Development 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, VA 22902 ATTN: Paty Saternye Senior Planner RE: SDP201900069 (Afton Scientific— Minor Site Plan Amendment) Dear Paty On behalf of Afton Scientific we offer the following responses and plan revisions to comments dated August 27, 2020. Our responses are in bold italic text below each comment. Poty Saternye — Senior Planner 4. [Comment] ... C. ... Rev. 1:... Rev. 2: Comment not yet fully addressed. On sheet C2.0, the proposed plan, there appears to be a scaling problem and all of the dimensions are incorrect. An example is that 9' shows up as 9". This appears to be true on all of the dimensions, and therefore they need to be revised or updated to the correct scaling. Comment noted. See revised plans. h. ... Rev. 1:... b) ... Rev. 2: Comment not yet fully addressed. A chart has been added showing the required information. However, the following still needs to be addressed. 1) Please note that the number and type of "trees" shown in the Landscape Plan seems to be sufficient to meet the minimums LINE GRADE CIVIL ENGINEERING 1134t' STREET NE, STE. 100 CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 22902 LINE-GRADE.COM SDP201900069 (Afton Scientific— Minor Site Plan Amendment) Comment Response Letter 10/5/20201 Page 2 previously approved in SDP2000-77. The items below are to ensure chart that is included is accurate and to adjust the "shrubs" as specified below. Comment noted. 2) Please see the attached markup of the recently added "Original vs. Existing Planting Summary" schedule that was included in the Landscape Plan sheet. a. Revisions have been shown in red. Comment noted. b. This is based upon the SDP2000-77 site plan which has been previously provided to you and discussed over the phone. It is not based on the site plan you have been attaching to the back of the site plan submittal packet, which is an older approval (1991). The correct version of the plan is now included with this site plan submittal and was used for reference with the current round of comments. c. Only 17 trees are shown in the Landscape Plan (existing+ proposed) and yet the total number of trees shown in the "Combined Totals" chart is 46. The combined total cannot be more than what is shown. If I have misinterpreted the purpose of this table, please clarify. Thank you, the first table has been revised to only include planting materials specified from SDP200077 that were in fact planted. The second table has been revised to include both existing trees whose species were not proposed with SDP200077 and trees currently proposed with this SPA. d. In the "Approved Site Plan (SDP200077)" portion of the chart, I interpret the "Total Quantity Currently on Site" to be trees that are currently existing on site and were also approved and shown in SDP2000-77. If I am misinterpreting this, please clarify. You have interpreted this correctly. As a sidenote, and I am sure you have noticed, the tabulations shown do not necessarily mean that the trees were planted in the locations specified on SDP200077 (for example, the ash L I N E + GRADE CIVIL ENGINEERING 113 4`" STREET NE, STE. 100 CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 22902 LINE-GRADE.COM SDP201900069 (Afton Scientific— Minor Site Plan Amendment) Comment Response Letter 10/5/20201 Page 3 trees along Avon Street are in place of proposed willow oaks). e. The canopy calculations are not required for this site plan because they were not part of the approved site plan this is amending. IF you wish to continue to show the canopy sizes please ensure that the "area of canopy" listed for each species of trees is what canopy of that species ( if 1 1/2" caliper at time of planting) would be after 10 years of growth. Comment noted. Canopy Calculations have been removed. f. Ensure that all plantings listed in the chart are shown and labeled in the Landscaping Plan, and if they are existing, they should also be shown and labeled in the Existing Conditions sheet. If more plantings exist than are being shown that may be why some of the numbers do not appear correct. All existing plantings are shown and labeled. The numbers in the tables were incorrect but have been fixed. g. Please revise the # "5" to be a "5" instead of an "S". This must be a font issue from when the spreadsheet was copied over. Our spreadsheet clearly shows a number's" not an "S". This has been fixed. 3) The label for the shrubs along Avon Street Extended does not yet include their species. They have also not been included in the landscape schedule. They are required landscaping, since they are planted in place of the previously approved trees that were removed. Therefore, their quantity and species must be included in the Landscape Plan and planting schedule. The quantity and species of shrubs planted on the steep slope along Avon Street Ext, are now included in the landscape schedule. 4) See comment "viii." Below about shrubs that are required to mitigate the view of the 9 parking spaces along Avon Court, and near the monument sign. Comment noted. LINE GRADE CIVIL ENGINEERING 113 W' STREET NE, STE. 100 CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 22902 LINE-GRADE.COM SDP201900069 (Afton Scientific— Minor Site Plan Amendment) Comment Response Letter 10/5/20201 Page 4 iii. Ensure that all existing or proposed tree or shrub has a label, for the tree type, that is referenced in the landscape schedule. Rev. 1:... Rev. 2: Comment not yet fully addressed. See comment "ii" above. Comment noted. Labels have been added to all trees and shrubs, in particular the labels for the shrubs along Avon Street Ext. and near the building have been updated to include the quantity and species of existing shrubs. viii. In the approved plan there were 3 Japanese Yews and three Red or Austrian Pines along the Avon Court parcel boundary. These evergreens were meeting a requirement for mitigation the view of the parking lot. If they are not to be replanted, then at a minimum shrub should be planted between Avon Court and the parking lot at 5' on center and at a height of 12' at time of planting. Rev. 1: Comment not yet fully addressed. Although the 4 Japanese Yews shown on the approved site plan are shown as being replaced (see below) they do not accomplish the visual mitigation that would have been provided by evergreen trees between Avon Court and the parking. Fully address this comment as specified above. Rev. 2: Comment not yet fully addressed. No shrubs have been added at the front of the 9 parking spaces facing Avon Court. Although 5 yews are being replanted the pines (see original comment above that lists all of the landscaping in the approved site plan) are not exiting or shown as proposed. Those pines would have mitigated the view of the parking spaces and cars from Avon Court. Add a row of shrub, spaced at 5' on center and at a height of 12' at time of planting, along the front of these 9 parking spaces to mitigate the view from Avon Court into the parking lot. L I N E + Comment noted. There was confusion because we thought the GRADE added willow oaks to replace the three pines would be sufficient, but I see that evergreens are preferred. Shrubs have been added as requested. I assume that 12' was a typo and you mean that the CIVIL ENGINEERING shrubs should be planted at a 12" minimum height. 113 4 STREET NE, STE. 100 CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 22902 LINE-GRADE.COM SDP201900069 (Afton Scientific— Minor Site Plan Amendment) Comment Response Letter 10/5/20201 Page 5 Rev. 2: Comment not yet fully addressed. The hatching and labels in the comment above has been added. However, a note in the "Project Information" area of the cover sheet references "Critical Slopes". Please revise this note to state "Steep Slopes". Comment noted. See revised plans. k. Rev. 1 [NEW COMMENT]: Show the location of all loading spaces in the site plan. Address the following: i. Show the spaces including hatching and labels. Rev. 2: Comment not yet fully addressed. Although there appear to be two loading spaces, only one is labeled. Please fully address this comment by providing a label for the second loading space. Both loading spaces are now labeled and dimensioned. The second loading space is under the covered storage area. Rev. 2: [NEW COMMENT]: Revise the note, pointing to the front entrance area of the building, on the Landscape Plan that says, "Dwarf Japanese Holly have been removed per ARB entrance Corridor approval' to instead say, "Dwarf Japanese Holly have been removed. ARB entrance Corridor guidelines are not currently being applied to this section of Avon Street Extended". The applicant has been allowed to remove those shrubs. However, it is my understanding that it was not part of an "approval' but just a revision to the area where the ARB Entrance Corridor Guidelines are currently being applied. There was an application (ARB2017-103 Office Renovations- Afton Scientific) where this was initially being reviewed and may have been "approved" but it was decided by the County that the project and approval was not required. Please clarify if there is other information I am not considering. The note about the Dwarf Japanese Holly has been revised per your comment. L I N E + GRADE CIVIL ENGINEERING 113 W' STREET NE, STE. 100 CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 22902 LINE-GRADE.COM