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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZMA200600022 Staff Report 2007-08-21COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE PLANNING STAFF REPORT SUMMARY Project Name: ZMA 06 -22 The Commons at Staff: Sean Dougherty Albrecht Place Planning Commission Worksession: Board of Supervisors Public Hearing: August 28, 2007 Not Scheduled Owners: Anvince Land Trust Applicant: Anvince Land Trust represented by Steve Edwards of Terra Concepts, P.C. Acreage: 3.398 Rezone: 3.398 acres from PDSC, Planned Development Shopping Center which allows shopping centers, retail sales and service uses and residential by special use permit (15 units/ acre) to PDSC in order to utilize existing zoning (requiring an application plan illustrating the development proposed). TMP: TAX MAP /PARCEL: Tax Map 61 M, Block By-right use: The parcel contains 3.398 acres 12, Parcel 1 E that is zoned Planned Development Shopping Location: 400 feet north west of the Center (PDSC). PDSC allows shopping centers, intersection of U.S. Route 29 and Shoppers retail sales and service uses; and residential by World Court, directly behind the Shoppers World special use permit (15 units/ acre). shopping center. Magisterial District: Rio Proffers: No Proposal: Utilize existing PDSC zoning by Requested # of Dwelling Units: 0 gaining an approval for an application plan that meets the provisions of Section 8 (Planned Districts) of the Zoning Ordinance. DA (Development Area): Neighborhood One Comp. Plan Designation: Community Service Character of Property: The parcel is relatively Use of Surrounding Properties: Shoppers flat and backs up to a steep incline that defines World shopping center lies to the east of the the edge of the Berkeley Neighborhood. The parcel. Berkmar Drive is near its northern western side of this parcel is bounded by a boundary and the Berkeley Neighborhood is storm water channel. The eastern side is adjacent to the parcel on its western and bounded by a service alley associated with southern sides. Shoppers World. RECOMMENDATION: Staff has identified three site plan requirements that will need to be reflected on this application plan prior to the Commission acting on this request. Staff also makes the following recommendations on how the plan might be improved, but accepting these recommendations is at the applicant's discretion: Improve the existing service alley behind Shoppers World Better utilize existing service alley behind Shoppers World Increase buffer along Berkeley by removing proposed buffer along service alley Reduce size of and break up retaining wall proposed at western property edge Provide a pedestrian connection between Berkeley and Shoppers World STAFF PERSON: SEAN DOUGHERTY PLANNING COMMISSION: August 21, 2006 ZMA 06 -22 Commons at Albrecht Place Petition: PROJECT: ZMA 2006 - 00022 The Commons at Albrecht Place PROPOSAL: Rezone 3.398 acres from PD -SC - Planned Development Shopping Center which allows shopping centers, retail sales and service uses; and residential by special use permit (15 units/ acre) to PD -SC - Planned Development Shopping Center which allows shopping centers, retail sales and service uses; and residential by special use permit (15 units/ acre) to allow up to 32,364 sq. ft of commercial space. PROFFERS: No EXISTING COMPREHENSIVE PLAN LAND USE /DENSITY: Community Service - community -scale retail wholesale, business and medical offices, mixed use core communities and/or employment services, and residential (6.01 -34 units /acre). ENTRANCE CORRIDOR: Yes LOCATION: 400 feet west of the intersection of U.S. Route 29 and Shoppers World Court, directly behind the Shoppers World shopping center TAX MAP /PARCEL: Tax Map 61M, Block 12, Parcel 1 E MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT: Rio Applicant's Proposal The applicant had previously proposed that five parcels be rezoned to Neighborhood Model District behind or near the existing Shoppers World. That proposal included a maximum of 80,000 sq. ft. of non - residential and up to 70 dwelling units. The new proposal includes 3.3 acres and only one parcel with up to 32,364 sq. ft. of non - residential proposed as office / retail / and showroom space. The current zoning on the property is PDSC - Planned Development Shopping Center. The applicant is requesting a rezoning to PDSC (the same zoning district) because no site plan has been approved for the property since the County zoned the property to PDSC in 1980. All similar properties possessing zoning, but without development or valid application plan, are required to go through the rezoning process so that an application plan associated with the entitlement on the land can be approved. (This is a similar in circumstance to the Wittington proposal the Commission reviewed in February of 2007). Attachment A is the location map, Attachment B is the application plan, and Attachment C is the action memo from the March 20, 2007 work session. APPLICANT'S JUSTIFICATION FOR THE REQUEST The proposal was made in response to a zoning determination that this property, though zoned PDSC in 1980 during a comprehensive update on behalf of the County of the Zoning Map, requires an approved application plan in order to utilize the existing zoning. In short, the applicant is pursuing the property's by -right entitlement, which is subject to the approval of an application plan that meets the provisions of section 8 of the Zoning Ordinance. Requests for changes by the Commission can be made, however the applicant is only required to provide a plan that conforms to Section 8 of the Zoning Ordinance, the site plan ordinance, and does not pose detriment to health, safety, and welfare. 2 The applicant had the choice of having their eventual site plan for the property for the parcel reviewed under the site plan ordinance in effect in 1980, or the current regulations. The applicant has chosen the current ordinance and the review of the project is based on that. Background The applicant participated in the Places 29 master planning process. The applicant's previous proposal included five parcels that borrowed concepts from a small area plan the Places 29 consultants had produced to demonstrate how a development such as Shoppers World could redevelop over time. During a work session on the proposal, the Commission responded to a number of questions posed by staff. In general, the Commission concluded that the applicant's proposal was exceeding the scale of what the parcel could accommodate and that concerns of the adjacent Berkeley neighborhood had not been addressed. Attachment C is the action memo from the previous work session. Because the applicant has scaled down the proposal and removed all but one parcel originally considered, much of that discussion is no longer relevant. The current proposal seeks to fulfill application plan requirements needed to develop the property with its existing zoning. PURPOSE OF THE WORK SESSION This work session provides the Commission with an introduction to the applicant's' scaled down redesign. Because the applicant is not proposing a rezoning from one district to another, the application plan considerations are limited to those of site plan requirements and health, safety, and welfare. Given a significant amount of public interest in the applicant's previous proposal, the work session also provides a forum for the public to see the revisions and make comment for the Commission to consider. CONFORMITY WITH THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN The land use plan designates the parcel as Community Service, which allows uses such as community -scale commercial, professional, and office uses providing retail, wholesale, business, medical offices, small office buildings, mixed -use core communities, and/or employment services. The Plan further states: Areas designated as Community Service typically encompass a medium site size (5 to 30 acres), collector road accessibility, water and sewer availability, and compatibility with adjacent land uses. The applicant's is proposing a rezoning of 3.3 acres adjacent to Shoppers World, which contains 13.3 acres zoned PDSC. The proposal expands the amount of community service, but keeps it in conformity with the 5 -30 acre guideline. A mixture of Urban Density Residential Uses (6 -34 units /acre) and community services uses is anticipated within this designation. The applicant proposes no residential uses with the proposal. OPEN SPACE PLAN The Open Space Plan identifies a buffer on the parcel. The applicant is showing this buffer on the western side of the parcel only. The buffer also needs to be shown on the southern edge of the parcel. Where the buffer is shown on the plan, the applicant is proposing a retaining wall. It 3 appears that the wall encroaches into the 20 foot undisturbed buffer. A buffer waiver should be submitted with the next resubmittal. NEIHGBORHOOD MODEL The Neighborhood Model is not fully applicable in this circumstance. Staff has not identified any excellent responses to the Neighborhood Model with the application plan. LAYOUT AND INTERCONNECTIONS In the last work session staff report, staff had noted that the relationship proposed between the existing service and loading area behind Shoppers World and Parcel A's southwestern boundary is peculiar. The applicant proposes to provide vehicular access to it and buffer the remainder of the edge of the parcel from the service area (the allowable location of dumpsters, restaurant waste, and deliveries by tractor trailers serving Shoppers World) with a 12' wide planted median. The applicant has chosen to use the same approach with this proposal. However, this proposal includes a 14 -foot tall retaining wall that is proposed to be inside a required buffer (as detailed later, this concept requires a buffer waiver, at a minimum). An access easement permits the applicant to utilize the service alley. Though staff does not feel the applicant has made the best use of the existing service alley behind, the concept can be approved under the site plan ordinance. A redesign of this area would be at the applicant's discretion. Question for the Commission: Does the Commission encourage the applicant to attempt to create a better relationship with the Shoppers World service alley and this proposal? Staff believes the applicant should utilize the existing service alley by placing the proposed buildings beside it and developing a hierarchy of travleways, pedestrian facilities, and additional landscaping adjacent to Berkeley. The plan proposed seeks to buffer the alley with a 12 -foot wide strip of landscaping. The plan places two large buildings in the middle of the parcel and serves it with a travelway and a repetitive parking program. Staff believes the buffer along the alley should be removed and the buildings should be aligned along the alley so it can be more fully utilized. Staff believes the buffering proposed along the alley should be moved to increase the size of the buffer adjacent to Berkley. Staff believes this change will provide the applicant with the opportunity to decrease and break up the proposed 14 -foot tall retaining wall shown in the required buffer adjacent to Berkeley. A cross access agreement exists for this property from Berkmar Drive / Shoppers World side entrance and the system of travelways associated with Shoppers World. That would be the project's primary access. Engineering is concerned that additional uses proposed on the property will generate additional traffic along the existing service alley behind Shoppers World. Staff recommends that the alley be improved with striping and signage for safety and convenience. Previously the applicant proposed two entrances to the property from Berkmar Drive. This was a concern for VDOT. The applicant's current plan only provides one access point on Berkmar: through the side entrance to Shoppers World. Initially, the applicant proposed a pedestrian connection to the Berkeley subdivision. Staff notes that a rustic, but well used pedestrian path exists on the property now. Staff believes that applicant should try to make a pedestrian connection as pedestrian traffic between the two areas is likely to continue and increase with this proposal. 2 Question for the Commission: Does the Commission the Commission encourage the applicant to pursue staff's recommendations? Staff has not identified a site plan conflict with the proposal, but believes that the applicant should work with the Shoppers World owner to investigate improving the service alley behind Shoppers World and provide a pedestrian connection between the property and the Berkeley subdivision. The following issues have been identified as needing to be addressed in order for site plan approval. These issues should be addressed before resubmitting: The plan site plan will require a critical slopes waiver. A 20 -foot undisturbed buffer is required adjacent to both the northern property line as shown and the Eastern property line. A waiver to allow the construction of the retaining wall in the buffer is required. Applicable access easements with the existing shopping center should be noted and identified on the plan Utilities Parcel A contains a water line that serves the Berkeley neighborhood and uses along Berkmar Drive, including the fire station. This line will need to be realigned and rebuilt to allow the development plan proposed. The applicant is aware he will need to coordinate a solution for this with the Albemarle County Service Authority. Storm water Management The applicant proposes managing the entire volume of storm water from this development through underground detention. In general, this approach is acceptable in the County's urban areas. The general develop plan indicates the applicant will address storm water quality and quantity through the system proposed. Cultural and Historical Resources It has been determined that no cultural or historical resources on the site. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Staff has identified three site plan requirements that will need to reflected on this application plan prior to the Commission acting on this request. Staff also makes the following recommendations on how the plan might be improved, but accepting these recommendations is at the applicant's discretion: Improve the existing service alley behind Shoppers World Better utilize existing service alley behind Shoppers World Increase buffer along Berkeley by removing proposed buffer along service alley Reduce size of and break up retaining wall proposed at western property edge Provide a pedestrian connection between Berkeley and Shoppers World 5 ATTACHMENTS ATTACHMENT A — Location Map ATTACHMENT B — Application Plan ATTACHMENT C — March 20, 2007 Action Memo