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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSDP200600076 Minutes 2006-09-19 SDP 2006-076 Boar's Head Inn Meeting Pavilion - Major Amendment: Request for major site plan ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 8 amendment approval for the addition of a Meeting Pavilion at the Boars Head Inn. The property, described as Tax Map Parcel 59D2-1-2 and 59D2-01-17 is located in the Samuel Miller Magisterial District Approximately 470 feet east of the intersection of Ednam Drive and Berwick Road on the North side of Berwick Road. The Comprehensive Plan designates this property as Highway Commercial in Urban Area 6. (Gerald Gatobu/Francis MacCall) Mr. MacCall summarized the staff report. •This is Boar's Head Inn Meeting Pavilion—Major Site Plan Amendment. The application is before the Planning Commission because a number of adjacent property owners have called this application up. There is also a buffer disturbance waiver required for the application to move forward • Staff handed out some additional information. Residents of Ednam had apparently talked to Mr Gatobu directly and had given him some information. He was unable to find that information at the time when the report was generated. That is the first letter that was sent to Mr Gatobu. Apparently, they also sent that letter to the University of Virginia Foundation. The third attachment is one of the items requested, but staff only has one copy of that. It was another item that was requested before the meeting. The first item was the plant, landscaping and the pallet that the applicant is proposing for the buffer The second item is the detail of the timber retaining wall that is also within that buffer. •Staff is recommending approval of this application with conditions. Ms. Joseph asked if there were any questions for staff Mr Edgerton asked staff to provide some history on the buffer He asked when the buffer was created and what the conditions of it were. Mr MacCall replied that it was probably created with the establishment of the commercial zoning that is there. He noted that he did not know the history specifically when that property was actually zoned commercial. But, that is a standard buffer that is in the ordinance. Whenever that ordinance was enacted, which he did not have the specific date, they have that 20' undisturbed buffer that is required now. The buffer probably happened with the development of the property He suggested that the applicant might be able to speak to the actual establishment of Boar's Head and when it came about and when all of these parking lots were installed and the like. Mr Edgerton said that to do this project the Commission would have to give permission for the applicant to disturb the buffer. That is what they are being asked to do Mr MacCall replied that was correct. The applicant plans to use a 2'to 4' retaining wall with some replanting to basically establish more of a vegetative buffer. There being no further questions, Ms. Joseph opened the public hearing and invited the applicant to address the Commission. Fred Missel, Director of Design and Development for the University of Virginia Foundation, said that with him this evening were Mr Fuller, General Manager for the Boar's Head Inn and Hal Jones, Civil Engineer for the Cox Company who has helped with this plan. He asked to also introduce the public because a lot of these folks here are community members who he was sure will be speaking on behalf of this project. They have enjoyed their response and involvement. This project that is before the Commission goes through basically two levels of review in our house before it comes out into the public. That is the Design Review Committee of the UVA Foundation is one level and the second is the Office of the Architect. They work very closely with David Neuman and his folks on the design of the building as well as the design of the site. The third level, which they have benefited from, was the input from the general public. They are committed to provide a high quality site and facility They don't want to do anything that can harm the existing nature of the Boar's Head Inn in the pedestrian friendliness and the high quality of the four-diamond resort that they currently operate. That is their commitment and they would do nothing to harm that. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 9 Mr Missel continued that the location of this is a little bit tricky Generally speaking the location of it is on an existing parking area. It is currently what they deem as parking for all of our staff and the folks that work at the inn. It is impervious surface now and obviously will become the pavilion along with the drop off area. The overflow parking is shown on the plan to the left of Village Green Circle. That has been called the balloon field. They launch quite a few balloons off of that. As a matter of fact two balloons went up on Saturday They have very carefully located the overflow parking area. Incidentally, that area is used quite frequently for overflow parking currently Often times it will tear up the grass and leave it looking awful. So they have actually been very careful in two ways. One is that they can continue to launch balloons there The second thing is that they have been very careful to maintain the view as you enter the resort off of 250 It is hard to describe But, as you come in off of 250 you look across the lake, which is in front of the Amvest Building They felt that it was very important to maintain that view It is a strong entrance to the inn and to the neighborhood They did not want to do anything to affect that. They have actually had the parking lot laid out so that they could see and confirm with the balloon operators and our view point that it was in keeping with our desires. Mr Missel continued that the 20' buffer that was discussed was established in approximately 1965 when this was established as a resort. He did not think that it was added in the meantime. The buffer is currently planted To the north there is an existing retaining wall adjacent to the office complex, which is similar to what they are planning to do here. The transportation with the vehicular access back there will not change and will continue to exist. The reason for the wall was for obviously reasons of grade They have worked very closely with the neighborhood and had one neighborhood meeting that was open to the entire neighborhood. All of the Ednam community is the adjoining property owners. They have also had several subsequent meetings with individual property owners. Most recently on Friday they met with a group of folks that represent the Ednam Village Homeowner's Association to discuss a planting buffer and actually increasing the buffer on the actual Ednam common area between the Ednam Village and the proposed Meeting Pavilion The other concerns that were raised by the neighbors, that have made this a better project, were noise primarily from the air handlers and from the emptying of dumpsters during off hours. They have done a study and actually hired a consultant to do an acoustical study of the inn both from the interior transmission of sound during events and also listening to the roof top units. There have been suggestions that they will actually assist in making the decibel level minimum. They are planning to implement those changes. There have been concerns about light spilling off There are very strong cut off fixture requirements by the County, which they will obviously comply with The service area was another issue. Again, the service area for this building admittedly is against the rear property line They are allowing that travel way to continue to exist and will as he had discussed with many of the neighboring land owners continue to work with them on delivery times and schedules and so on. They think that it is important to note on this project that the primary intended use of this is for mid-week conferences. Rooms will be sold during mid-week and the folks that are parking in front of their rooms will be attending the conferences. That is the primary use of this pavilion Obviously there will be the occasional weekend event. That will be scheduled during times when folks are not in the office buildings and are not close by They are very focused on parking. They can't have an establishment that does not have enough parking, but they also understand that they don't want more parking than they really need to have. So it is really a balance. The fortunate thing is that he thought that they have been able to do a good job of hiding the parking in this overflow lot so that when it is not necessary it really does disappear He felt that they really have to see it to fully understand that. Those are the main items. But, they are very committed to continuing to work with the neighborhood. They feel that they are as much a part of then neighborhood as the neighbors are. They have been told by many of them that they are an amenity to the neighborhood There is nothing that they are going to do to make this less of a quality resort than it currently is. He would be happy to answer any questions. Ms. Joseph asked if there were any questions for Mr Missel. Mr Cannon asked what the relationship of the University of Virginia Host Properties, Inc. is with the University of Virginia. Mr Missel replied that the University of Virginia Foundation, which is what he is a part of and which is the owner of the Boar's Head Inn and property, has a for profit subsidiary That for profit subsidiary is Host Properties. They are the ones who are funding this and not the University of Virginia. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 10 Mr Cannon asked counsel if he was okay to participate since he worked for the University of Virginia. Mr Kamptner replied that it was okay Mr Edgerton noted that in a number of the letters from adjoining property owners and neighbors there was a strong suggestion for considering a ground source heat pump that would not have any air handler units that would generate a lot of noise. He asked if the applicant has pursued that. Mr Missel replied that they have looked at ground source heat pumps and it is cost prohibitive. Mr Edgerton asked if they calculated the energy savings because it cuts their energy by about a half Mr Missel replied that they have done that. He believed that they have a ground source heat pump in the Ednam building, which adjoins this. What they have done is taken the units on the roof and sunken them into a well so that the units are invisible. Mr Edgerton noted that they would still make a lot of noise. Mr Zobrist said that he stated that the overflow parking would be invisible. Mr Missel replied that it would not be invisible, but they feel that it is well camouflaged. As you enter the property there is a significant grade change between the elevation of Ednam Drive and the parking. Mr Zobrist noted that he understood that, but was concerned about everybody else that was around there that have to look at it every day from their offices. Mr Missel said that they would comply with the planting requirements. He believed that this falls under the Architectural Review Board review Mr Zobrist asked if they had gone before the ARB yet. Mr Missel replied no that was their next step. He was actually on the County Architectural Review Board, but did not realize that was the next step They were not sure if it was going to be reviewed by the ARB Ms. Joseph said that looking at the plant list and she assumed that they were going to plant at 6' to 8' She asked if that was the plant size. Mr Missel replied that was correct. Ms. Joseph asked if they had worked on this list with the neighborhood. Mr Missel replied no, that this planting plan because of the phasing the submittal of the site plan it was not submitted as a final landscape plan Just in the last two days they have taken what were just circles on a plan and applied names and species to them. The planting plan from a massing standpoint has been designed by Nelson Byrd Walsh They have not finalized that. What will be added to that plan will be a plan that will include landscaping on the Ednam Village common area. They did not think that had to be part of the site plan submittal primarily because they were still in the process of working that out with the neighborhood. Ms. Joseph said that the unfortunate thing is that they are here for a waiver request for the buffer so they need to know what is going in the buffer Mr Missel replied that is accurate from the standpoint of what is going in to the buffer What were not shown on there are plants that they have committed to putting in that are not on their property So the buffer is correct and it is the other areas that are not shown. Mr Cannon asked if there is an intrusion into the buffer zone. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 11 Mr Missel replied that is correct in the form of grading and a low retaining wall. Mr Cannon asked what would be the consequences of avoiding that intrusion. Would they be able to build this facility? If so, what would they have to do to it to accommodate the limitations? Mr Missel said that from what he understand the travel way or access way would essentially be pinched on the back side. That wall enables them to have a travel way that is a standard width. They would still be able to build a facility, but he thought it would cause access problems for folks going to the Ednam rooms and circulation problems for folks who are dropping off at the pavilion and going to the overflow parking areas and some other areas. He could not tell them how many iterations they did for the access and drop off for this. It is a very complex setup Mr Cannon said that he would take it that there was not the opportunity to reduce the size of the structure or other components of the site. Mr Missel replied no, that actually there is a 50' setback and they are right up against that 50' building setback. Mr Cannon said with the size of the building now, and Mr Missel replied that was correct. There being no further questions for Mr Missel, Ms. Joseph invited other public comment. Thomas J Kelly asked to correct one thing that Mr Missel said which was that they are Ednam and not Ednam Village. If they are familiar with the three Ednams they are the one in the middle. If they refer to the photograph, in the upper right hand corner they will get some idea of why they are concerned about noise, lighting and all these other items because that is Ednam. It is flat, but it continues to rise Many of the folks that are here tonight live in residences that are at the top of that hill. Noise, as you know, does rise also. That is why they are very much interested in those things. They agreed that Mr Missel and the entire group have worked very hard with the neighbors. Last Friday they got together and went over placing of plantings on their property, but to help shield this property So they are happy with their arrangement and they have been good neighbors. There are some issues that they are trying to work with. They have not seen the results yet because they have not had time to develop the entire plan But, they continue to do that. They learned something tonight about this buffer that he would like to pursue a little more because it is going to be right up against their property there also They have built a wall in the placement of some of the dumpster, which is an issue. With regard to the placement of the dumpsters, that is a whole service area back there. So noise is a factor He recognized that this is a management situation and not a construction situation. They are concerned about it in the short run and the long run. In other words, during construction that is one issue and then later all of these issues come to bear But, they are very happy to work with Mr Missel. He has been great in that regard. He has responded to our people and he is still delivering material to them. They could not ask for a better neighbor in that regard. K.K. Wallace, resident of 549 Dryden Place, said that they live approximately 200' from this proposed project. Mr Kelly mentioned the property elevation Their home is 3 stories high and the bottom floor of their building is higher then the top of Ednam Hall. So they look over top of all of that and look down on Ednam Hall with no intervening building They are very concerned about the site and the sounds associated with this proposal. His letter is the one Mr MacCall referred to that the Commission just received When Mr Missel talked about the sound, as he understands it, in the staff report staff is talking about measuring sounds from inside the building radiating outward But, not the air handling that is going to be on the roof Although this will be in a well on the roof, they still are concerned that it will look like an industrial site with them looking down on air handling equipment on the top with the noise emanating from that. That is their main concern Mr Missel and the general manager of Boar's Head Inn did visit his home and saw what they were talking about. That has yet not borne any fruit that they can tell. They are very concerned about the disturbance of a quiet residential neighborhood immediately adjoining this. Edgar Heiskell, resident of 553 Dryden Place, asked to endorse what the neighbors of Ednam have said tonight and add a couple of comments. He lives just a couple of houses up the hill from Doctor and Mrs. Wallace. There are a couple things that Mr Missel said that he thinks they should shine a bright light on what their concerns are. He twice spoke about being concerned about not doing anything to impair the ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 12 quality of the Boar's Head Inn guests. They are concerned about the impact on the neighborhood and the neighbors who have been there adjacent to the Boar's Head Inn, particularly the noise issue. They have seen no disclosure whatsoever since they first inquired two months ago about what acoustical studies have been done. They have heard the assurances tonight that they have been done. They have heard the assurance that this is not cost effective to go to the more environmentally friendly means of the heating and air conditioning. They are deeply concerned that this application would be approved without disclosure of exactly what the acoustical studies reveal and what the impact is going to be on the people that live in that cone of noise that is going to be emitted from the rooftops. They think as a matter of public duty there ought to be an inquiry as to what those studies have revealed and just how seriously they did look at alternatives. There is no need to pollute with noise when a viable alternative is available, especially one that is going to be energy saving They think that it is extremely important to require disclosure here. They have not made the disclosures to the neighbors, although they made their inquire two months ago. They have seen nothing in the public record to indicate that they have made disclosures to the staff They think that is a minimal requirement other than just blanket assurance that yes they have looked at this and are going to take care of it. Right now for the Commission it is just a planning problem, but it can well become an enforcement problem later if the Commission does not at least require these disclosures. So they would urge the Commission to require the disclosures so that they can see. Tom Hurst said that although the Boar's Head is a wonderful asset to our community he was appalled to hear tonight that they were considering paving the area that has been referred to as the balloon field. Because after all what is the Boar's Head Inn. It is a wonderful hotel/inn with wonderful dining and sports facilities. It is also the wonderful feeling when you drive into the inn and you see to the right the wonderful lake and the beautiful green space. He has had the opportunity to go up briefly in a balloon from that balloon field. He thought that was something essential about the.Boar's Head Inn in that feeling that you get when you drive in and see that wonderful space. He was appalled that was being considered tonight to be a parking lot. He had thought that underground parking was something that they should be considering whenever possible. He felt that the letter from Mr Heiskell says it best. They value the Village Green quality of the entrance to the Boar's Head and are distressed that this bucolic area of land would be paved thus impinging on one of the most beautiful and rare green spaces in the region. It is one of your most precious assets that in our opinion should not be impacted He fully endorsed these comments. He thought that the owners of this facility do need to come to their senses and realize what is essential about their property and at what point do they lose the nature that they are also attracted to Due to lack of laser point tonight, he did not know where this area they were talking about was, but he was also concerned if there was impact on motorists on 250 if trees or other buffering along 250 would be removed He would be very opposed to that. There being no further public comment, Ms. Joseph closed the public hearing to bring the matter before the Commission Ms. Joseph said that the major item before the Commission was the disturbance of the buffer Since Ms. McCulley is here she would ask her about this. The ordinance has all kinds of regulations on sound and sound emission. So if there is excess noise because of whatever is out there that is when the County can come into play and go out and read some decibel levels and find out if they are within the County's noise ordinance regulations. Ms. McCulley replied that is correct. It is measured at the property line. The maximum for the adjacent receiving zone, which is residential, would be 60 decibels in the day and 55 decibels at the night. The County would measure it if there is a complaint. Mr Edgerton asked what would happen Ms. McCulley replied that they would have to take measures to attenuate the sound to keep it below the maximum levels, whatever that may be. There are a lot of different options. But, it is not something that they would require as with the Certified Engineer's Report for an industrial use that they have to actually proof that they meet that level before they construct. That is in terms of how the ordinance operates. It is not a requirement prior to construction for this kind of use. It is required for things like commercial kennels and so forth ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 13 Mr Strucko said that the primary concern here among the residents is noise, and yet there is a buffer zone that is in existence and this application is requesting a waiver to enter into that zone. He asked if that was correct. They would be moving the potential source of noise closer to the residents. Mr Edgerton said that this structure does not exist. This is going to be a huge physical building and topographically the concerned neighbors are all above it looking down on it. The applicant has said that they have looked at ground source heat pumps, which was one of the suggestions. In ground source heat pumps there is no outside air compression at all. Therefore, there is no noise. All of the heat transfer occurs underground and it is done with a series of wells or trenches. It cuts the energy cost by 65 percent. The national average of pay back with energy is about 6 years. Frankly, he did not buy the applicant's suggestion that it is not cost effective. This is real technology that is available today The applicant is choosing not to spend the money There is additional up front costs. That would be one solution for the sound issue and the visual pollution of looking down on a rooftop full of compressors, which is what this will be. It will be like looking 1 down on the top of any flat office building It is a viable alternative and it is available right now He noted that he had one on his own home and they work beautifully Ms. Joseph said that if they were not encroaching on this buffer they could do whatever it is by right. The only reason that they are here is because they are encroaching into the buffer Adjacent owners can call up an item before the Planning Commission, but that is why this item is here Mr Edgerton noted that on the plan within the 20' buffer it appears that the cutouts are already there that are paved, gravel or whatever He questioned how that work has been done without encroaching into the buffer The buffer appears to continue all the way and yet this drawing shows a paved area here. He presumed it was a path that somebody has cut in So obvious there has been an encroachment on the buffer previously with all of this. If he heard the applicant correctly this, which is currently a gravel parking area, they need that space to provide this service to this facility Without the buffer they are pushing right up against the edge. So he was curious and would like to know what concern anybody has about the fact that it appears that the buffer has been violated already He asked if staff has any knowledge about that. Mr Fritz said that to the best of his knowledge it predates any regulation and there has been no violation cited in all of the information that they have Mr Edgerton asked if the buffer continues along that area. Mr Fritz said that the buffer still technically exists there, but it is a nonconforming use. Mr Cannon said that in the staff report it says that the Commission can waive this requirement if it has been demonstrated that the grading occurring is necessary and will result in improved site design provided that screening requirements are met and existing landscape is substantially restored. He asked if there is any further grasp or information on the demonstration mentioned here that grading or clearing is necessary or would result in improved site design Is there any further loss? Have they had cases or opinions on that standard previously or has it been applied previously? Mr Kamptner replied that the Planning Commission has approved the waiver in other circumstances where entry into the buffer area to do some improvements resulted in a better design and better screening was provided. Mr Cannon asked necessary for what to accommodate a by-right facility Mr Fritz noted that the Commission has approved it for a number of reasons including that it improved the circulation on site and allowed better building location or additional recreational facilities. There are a number of different things, but the Commission needs to make that finding on each individual case There is no standard answer Mr Strucko said that he was going to make a connection between this buffer issue and the concern about noise. He felt that the two are related. A buffer can be screening visually and he believed for noise as well. It is the distance between a particular use and another use. In this instance a meeting pavilion and ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 14 residential use. He said he was hinging his decision on the concept that there is a viable alternative to alleviate the noise concern Short of the applicant demonstrating the adoption of this alternative he was not inclined to grant a waiver into the buffer Mr Morris said that if they were going to have the units on top of the roof it was going to increase the possibility of noise pollution to the residents around there. So in that is going to be the case for construction he was reluctant to do anything to the existing buffer Mr Craddock said that he would like to see some information about the noise of those units on the roof and the effects into the buffer and to the adjoining property owners as the sound would be easier to attenuate it now than later If there was some study done and they came within the acceptable County levels right from the beginning would be best. He thought that the geo-thermal was obviously a cost savings and more energy efficient way to do it, but he was sure that with screening, wells and things like that they can make the units on the roof hidden He was also concerned about paving over the balloon lot. He wondered if they could have some kind of pervious treatment in there as opposed to asphalting right next to that lake that has had such a history with Charlottesville Oil across the street. Mr Fritz noted that the applicant could propose any variety of surfacing materials as long as it meets the design standards of being a stable dust free surface, but they could not require that. , b 1 Mr Craddock agreed that was really not part of this, and Mr Fritz noted that there was no direct relationship between the waiver request and the surface material for the parking area. Mr Zobrist felt that the application was a bit premature. He felt that the business interests have outweighed the community interests and the aesthetic interests that he thought to be one of the great gems of our County He was inclined to not facilitate this development without further study and without further looking at it. Ms. Joseph said that they need more information. Mr Cannon noted that he had some questions because he did not know anything about heat pumps. He did not know anything about paving techniques for grassy knolls for balloon landing sites. The balloons are beautiful when they fly over his house. The Boar's Head Inn is a quality establishment that contributes a lot to the community and has preserved the landscape of considerable beauty and appeal. He would trust them as a general matter that they would continue to do that in their own self interest. But, there are issues raised by the neighbors that he felt were legitimate issues and that he did not see fully resolved on this record. It would be nice to have more time and see this developed a little further before taking action. Mr Morris said that he felt that he heard the applicant state that they had done the acoustical studies and they had that report. He asked if this would be a perfect opportunity if they chose to ask for a deferral so that they could bring those forward. Ms. Joseph said that might be because she agreed with Mr Zobrist that this is a little premature. There is not information and they just received the planting plan today and the neighborhood has not really talked about the planting plan and how that might affect them She asked Mr. Missel to come forward so they could talk about whether they might want to request a deferral at this point. Mr Missel thanked the Commission for recommending that. A lot of the questions raised by the neighborhood have already been answered and with the communication back and forth just time has not allowed them to share those. To be honest they would like to look further into the ground source heat pump If they could make that financially work. He supported sustainability and that was one of the things they were striving to do on this building and in other areas as well. So he would like to spend some more time looking into that. He asked to defer, but would like to ask what that means as far as the delay How long would it be before they come back? Ms. Joseph replied that it is usually based on how quickly they could get something back before staff So it could be an indefinite deferral. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION—SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 15 Mr Missel asked what the shortest amount of time it could be Mr MacCall replied that it all depends on how long it takes the applicant to get the information back to staff Mr Fritz said that the shortest amount of time would realistically be two to three weeks just to get a report pulled together and get them the information. Mr Missel said that they would probably need that much time too to communicate with the neighbors. He made a formal request for a deferral. Motion. Mr Strucko moved, Mr Morris seconded, to accept the applicant's request for indefinite deferral of SDP-2006-076, Boar's Head Inn Meeting Pavilion—Major Amendment, which included the waiver request of Section 21 7 3 to allow the disturbance of the buffer The motion passed by a vote of 7 0 Ms. Joseph stated that SDP-2006-076, Boar's Head Inn Meeting Pavilion — Major Amendment was indefinitely deferred to allow the applicant time to provide additional information to staff and the neighbors regarding the buffer and the alternative methods of dealing with the noise concerns of the proposed rooftop units.