HomeMy WebLinkAboutSE202200037 Correspondence 2022-06-01waterstreet idio
May 23, 2022
Mr. Frank Pohl, PE
County Engineer
County of Albemarle
401 McIntire Road
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
RE: 2000 Marchant Street Loading Space Requirement Waiver Request
Dear Frank,
Pursuant to Section 4.12.13(f), on behalf of the applicant, Virginia Pacific Investments,
we would like to request waiver/modification of the requirement to provide a
dedicated loading space as part of the site plan improvements as required by Section
4.12.13(c) - Loading Areas.
The proposed site plan adds eight (8) small "maker space" cottages to create a mixed -
use, live/work environment on the light industrial (LI) zoned parcel that currently only
serves residential use. The intent of these "maker space" cottages is to provide small,
affordable workshops for 1-2 workers to perform small-scale, hand-crafted
manufacturing of goods with living quarters for the artisan workers above the
workshops.
Anticipated "maker space" manufacturing activities:
• Creation of glass, wood, clay, metal, plastic, or fabric objects
• Processing of food/foodstuffs
• Assembling finished parts to create completed objects
• Recycling objects into objects with different uses
• Repair of goods
The square footage of each of these workshops will be less than 325 square feet. In
addition to minimizing the cost of rent, the limited workspace size will in turn limit the size
of raw materials delivered and finished goods produced. Given the size constraints of
the workspace and the anticipated goods produced by the artisans on site, the owner
does not anticipate the need for large-scale delivery trucks on site, but rather small
package trucks and sprinter vans intermittently during the day.
A dedicated loading space displace one of the parking spaces in the proposed
parking lots. Site constraints do not easily allow for the additional length/width required
for conversion of one these parking spaces to a loading space within these parking lots.
The parking lots are shared by the "maker space" users and the residents of the on -site
apartment building so we do not anticipate that parking lots will be full or busy with
traffic during normal working/delivery hours which will allow sprinter van/package truck
access as shown on Figure 1.
111 3r6 street se charlottesville, virginia 22902 434.295.8177 t wate rstreetstud io. net
Figure 1
We feel that Figure 1 depicts a very realistic scenario of day-to-day delivery truck
movements, regardless of the presence of a dedicated loading space
It is our opinion that the site and the neighborhood public health, safety, and welfare
would be better served by the extra parking space as shown on the site plan instead of
a dedicated loading space and that the sketch in Figure 1 shows how the requirements
of Section 4.12.13 - Loading Areas is addressed without a dedicated loading space.
Thank you in advance for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
OIL qll��
Alan Franklin, PE
Waterstreet Studio, LLC
111 314 street se charlottesville, virginia 22902 434.295.8177 t wate rstreetstud io. net