Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP202100003 Correspondence 2021-04-19 (2)TO: Albemarle County Community Development 401 McIntire Rd., North Wing Charlottesville, VA 22902 434.358.7500 FROM: Bret Flory RE: SUP Comment Response —1720 Seminole Trail Special Use Permit SP202100003 DATE: April 19, 2021 Ms.Mariah Gleason, We have addressed the comments received on March 5, 2021. Please see our response below A. Special Use Permit 1. The narrative should be updated to specifically provide justification for the four "factors to be considered" for Special Use Permits per §18-33.40. It may be helpful to note that special use permits, when approved, run with the land. As such, the County evaluates these requests not specific to individual businesses but specific to the use and whether the proposed use is appropriate on the intended parcel in perpetuity. Response: Please refer to Section 1.e of the narrative for the justifications. 2. Parking requirements for automobile service stations are one space per employee plus two spaces per each service stall. Your narrative has identified a total of up to 22 employees on site, plus what appears to be 12 service stalls, for a total of 46 required parking spaces, but only identifies 31 parking spaces. Please clarify in your narrative whether the 22 employees will not be on site simultaneously. Off -site parking is not permitted. Response: Caliber will have and 18 employees. 7 of which will be technicians and typically, 1 technician works on 2 stalls. The site has provided 31 parking spaces thus, providing enough space for the building use. B. Comprehensive Plan Initial comments on how your proposal generally relates to the Comprehensive Plan, which in this area is the Rio29 Small Area Plan, are provided below. Comments on conformity with the Rio29 Small Area Plan are provided to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors as part of the staff report. In comparison with Rio29 Small Area Plan, the proposal is inconsistent with the recommendations of the Plan in three ways: use, street frontage design, and building form. Response: We are requesting a Special Use permit to remodel the existing building to an Auto Body Paint and Repair Shop. Rio29 Small Area plan allows that the proposed use may be permitted by exception. Bret Flory 1913 Garden Grove Court • Plano, Texas 75075 • 972.467.9749 Site has been revised to meet the frontage design requirements. This includes 16'-0" frontage zone, 14'-0" foot shared -use path, and 8'-0" separation zone Staff acknowledges that the continuation of the existing building form design is acceptable, as the current inconsistency with the Rio29 Small Area Plan is not being increased. C. Additional Comments from Reviewers Planning Comments The following comments related to planning matters have been provided by Mariah Gleason: Comments related to the Special Use Permit 1. Please revise the application materials to include the assigned project number "SP202100003 — Response: Project number has been added to the application materials 2. The narrative should be expanded to address the Supplemental Regulations for body shops contained in §18-5.1.31. Response: Refer to Section 1.d of the Narrative 3. Provide information or include a site plan exhibit to show current and/or proposed buffering characteristics/aspects of the property, such as topographic changes, tree plantings or stands, fences (transparent, opaque), etc. Response: Refer to the Architectural renderings, manufacturer's information on privacy slats for the existing chainlink fence and mesh for the metal gates. The mesh for the fence will be completely opaque to screen the vehicles. 4. Is the subject property platted as 1.00 acres? Staff research found the parcel recorded to be 1.016 acres in size. Please review and revise if necessary Response: 1.016 acres is the correct parcel size 5. In Section 1 of the Application Narrative, it looks as though there might be a clerical error. Revise the fourth sentence of the Project Narrative section to state "special use permit" instead of "special exception" Response: Narrative has been revised to state "Special Use Permit" 6. Section 1 subsection (b) of the Application Narrative suggests that the building may be added onto "Bldg SF: 9,200 (proposed)". Is this the case? If not, staff recommend removing the parenthetical "proposed" and replacing it with "+/-" if the exact building square footage is not known. Response: "proposed" has been replaced with 7. Section 3 of the Application Narrative suggests Caliber Collision is already an existing business in the area. Please clarify whether this a relocation or an expansion of an existing business. Response: The paragraph refers to the existing businesses in the area 8. In Section 4, include all planned exterior changes to the site, for example, the 6-foot screening fence and a swinging gate(s). Response: Section 4 has been revised to add all the changes specified in this comment Bret Flory 1913 Garden Grove Court • Plano, Texas 75075 • 972.467.9749 2 9. In the Application Narrative, please clarify why a swinging gate is being added to the travelway along the northeastern side of the building. Response: Section 4 notes the swing gate us being added for security purposes 10. Expand on the planned updates/enhancements to the site landscaping mentioned in Section 4 Response: Please see updated section 4 11. Please keep in mind, approval of the special use permit in no way implies approval of a site plan or any modifications to any standards. Response: Acknowledged 12. Should the special use permit be approved, development of the site and building cannot commence without an approved site plan and appropriate building permits. Response: Acknowledged Comments related to a future site plan: 1. Staff have concerns with the location of the proposed handicap parking space.Staff understands that section 4.12.15 of the County Code requires handicapped parking spaces to be located in a way that provides direct, unobstructed access to buildings by the shortest practical route, eliminating the need to cross vehicular access aisles wherever possible. However, staff is concerned that the proposed configuration may cause vehicular conflicts at the site entrance and is a difficult position for vehicles to maneuver into/out of due to sight lines and the relative building location and existing bollards in that area. Response: Please refer to the revise site plan. Handicapped parking is located to line up with the Parking spaces at the south. 2. Make it clear how vehicular circulation around the building will work, particularly with the gated travelway along the northeastern side of the building. Please be aware, per section 4.12.17, two- way access aisles must be a minimum of 20 feet in width. Response: Acknowledged. We are currently working with the traffic engineer to finalize vehicular circulation. 3. The proposed dumpster pad shown on the site plan does not appear to meet the County's minimum design standards for dumpster pads. Please reference section 4.12.19 for more information. Response: A dumpster enclosure is provided and designed to match section 4.12.19. The enclosure material is stained wood. Zoning Comments The following comments related to zoning matters have been provided by Lea Brumfield, Ibrumf eldCcDalbemarle.org: 1. Concept plan a. Identify the outdoor lighting on the concept plan, with location, height, and lumens clearly labeled. Response: The project will utilize existing exterior building light fixtures and site lighting. 2. Conformity with the Zoning Ordinance a. Lighting. Full cutoff luminaires are required for all lighting over 3,000 lumens. Full cutoff luminaires are defined as an outdoor light fixture shielded in such a manner that all light emitted by the fixture, either directly from the lamp or indirectly from the fixture, is projected below the horizontal plane. For equivalency of wattages, see section 4.17.4 of the Zoning Ordinance. Bret Flory 1913 Garden Grove Court • Plano, Texas 75075 • 972.467.9749 These requirements do not apply to security lighting controlled by sensors which provides illumination for 15 minutes or less. Response: The proposed project is to remodel an existing building without having to add space with minimal changes to the exterior. Hence, the project will utilize existing exterior building light fixtures and site lighting. b. Noise. Per section 4.18.04, maximum sound levels for a commercial receiving zone is 65 dBA, both during the daytime and at night. Noise from the repair services at the site may not exceed that dBA. Additionally, noise levels at the nearest residential district boundary, at TMP 04500-00-00- 10100, to the rear of the site beyond the self-service storage facility, may not exceed 60 dBA during the daytime and 55 dBA at night. Response: The typical day time predicted sound level for all equipment combined is 62dBA (63dBA with garage doors open).The typical nighttime predicted sound level for all equipment combined is 53dBA. This comply with the daytime noise ordinance of 65 dBA or less during day time and 55dBA at night. Refer to Section 1.c. of the project narrative for more information. c. Supplementary regulations. Per section 5.1.31, "No vehicle awaiting repair shall be located on any portion of the site so as to be visible from any public street or any residential property, and shall be limited to locations designated on the approved site plan." Due to the topography of the site, the applicant's proposed 6' tall wood fence on the southwestern border of the property, will likely screen vehicles from Seminole Trail to the south of the property. However, the parking spots in front of the property may not be used for vehicles awaiting repair. Response: All vehicles received for repair will remain behind the screened wall. Engineering The County Engineer, Frank Pohl, fpohi@albemarle.org, has provided the following comments: 1. The minimum travel way width for two-way access aisles shall be 20-ft where the travelway is not adjacent to parking spaces [18-4.12.17.c.1 ]. Response: Revised site plans shows 24'-0" wide access aisle at the south and 20'-0" wide access aisle at the north 2. The access aisle around the building is 16-ft on the south side of the building and only 12-ft when entering the gate on the north side of the building. Provide a 20-ft wide access aisle where two-way travel is proposed and indicate one-way travel around the building where 20-ft cannot be provided. Response: Revised site plans shows 24'-0" wide access aisle at the south and 20'-0" wide access aisle at the north 3. The minimum travelway width for one-way access aisles shall be 12 feet, with the exception that 16-ft may be necessary to allow for bypass traffic [18-4.12.17.c.2 and 3]. Additional signage may be necessary if both one-way and two-way aisles are proposed. Response: Revised site plans shows 24'-0" wide access aisle at the south and 20'-0" wide access aisle at the north 4. Where the travelway is adjacent to perpendicular parking spaces, the access aisle width must be either 20-ft wide or 24-ft wide, depending on the parking space width [18-4.12.161. Response: Revised site plans shows 24'-0" wide access aisle at parking spaces Entrance Corridor/Architectural Review Board (ARB) Comments The following comments related to the Entrance Corridor Guidelines have been provided by Khristopher Taggart, ktaggart(a)albemarle.org: Bret Flory 1913 Garden Grove Court • Plano, Texas 75075 • 972.467.9749 4 1. The ARB does not recommend approval of the Special Use Permit as proposed because screening issues have not been resolved and it is not clear that the visual impacts can be sufficiently mitigated. The applicant should return for a work session with the ARB to review alternate fence designs that are more coordinated with the building, and options for mitigating the view of the new rooftop equipment, including but not limited to: alternate equipment locations, paint color, and/or landscape screening. Response: We have received approval of the proposal from ARB during the work session held on April 5, 2021. Fire/Rescue Comments The Fire/Rescue reviewer, Howard Lagomarsino, hlagomarsino@albemarle.org has no objections to the special use permit but has provided the following comments that will need to be addressed during the site plan review process: 1. Please provide ISO needed fire flow for the structure's intended use. Response: 2,000 gal/min for 2 hours 2. Please provide ACSA available fire flow test. Response: This has been ordered and will provide with the site plan submittal 3. Knox Box will be required. Please place a note indicating this on the plan. The location of this can be coordinated with the Fire Marshal's Office. Response: The Knox Box is located at the south sliding door gate. 4. An unobstructed path of 20ft is required for emergency vehicle and fire apparatus access so that all portions of grade level are within 150 ft of the emergency vehicle and fire apparatus while on access road. Response: Revised site plans shows 24'-0" wide access aisle at the south and 20'-0" wide access aisle at the north 5. Gate on north side of building is two narrow and restricts access of emergency vehicles and fire apparatus. Width is required at 20 ft, unobstructed. Response: Revised site plans shows 20'-0" wide access aisle at the north 6. Clarify locations and distances to closest hydrants. Response: Refer to Site Plan for hydrant locations 7. Clarify square footage of space and determine need for fire suppression sprinkler system (if required, fire department connection needs to be within 100 ft of a fire hydrant and on address side of building) Response: The building area is 9,200+/- SF. Fire Suppression sprinkler is not required. While the VDOT has no objection to the Special Use Permit, we have received comments for the site plan. We are currently working with our Traffic Engineer to address the comments to get us through the initial site plan submittal. The attached letter shows that the Caliber Collision will generate fewer trips than the Goodwill. We are confident that we should be able to address all other comments for the site plan submittal. Respectfully, a y; Bizet dory blory(a)crossarchitects. com 972-398-6644 x 301 Bret Flory 1913 Garden Grove Court • Plano, Texas 75075 • 972.467.9749