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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP200900015 Review Comments Special Use Permit 2009-06-04COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE Department of Community Development 401 McIntire Road, Room 227 Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 -4596 Phone (434) 296 -5832 Fax (434) 972 -4012 June 5, 2009 Peter M. Thompson, Executive Director Senior Center, Inc. 1180 Pepsi Place Charlottesville, VA 22901 RE: SP 2009 - 00015, Senior Center Dear Mr. Thompson: Thank you for your recent submittal of a special use permit application to relocate the Senior Center to property in the Four Seasons development, at 200 Four Seasons Drive, Charlottesville, Virginia. The information provided with your initial application for a Special Use Permit has been reviewed by the Department of Community Development, including the Planning Division and the Zoning and Current Development Division. The County Engineer, Albemarle County Service Authority, Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, and the Fire /Rescue Department, have also reviewed the project. Comments are also expected from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation and will be forwarded as soon as they are received. Comments from reviewers are summarized below. Conformity with the Comprehensive Plan: The Comprehensive Plan designates the subject property Urban Density Residential, which includes schools, universities and colleges and ancillary facilities and public facilities and utilities in Neighborhood One. The requested Special Use Permit is consistent with this designation. The Special Use Permit is also consistent with the draft Places29 Master Plan. Neighborhood Model: This special use permit request is for a relocation of the existing Senior Center to an existing building with existing parking in the Four Seasons development. Since the Senior Center does not expect to make any changes to the exterior of the building, a Neighborhood Model analysis has not been done. Staff Comments The site at 200 Four Seasons Drive is currently owned by ACAC and is used for a number of activities. Staff understands that when ACAC sells two of their three parcels to the Senior Center, some of the current ACAC activities are expected to remain and the existing parking lot and driveway will be shared by the two owners (ACAC and the Senior Center). ACAC will continue to own and operate the parcel with the swimming pool, as well as lease space from the Senior Center for certain activities that will take place in the building where the Senior Center will be located. SP 2009 -015, Senior Center, Peter M. Thompson, June 5, 2009 2 The chart below summarizes the current uses of the entire facility as operated by ACAC, the current attendance and /or parking requirements, and what will happen to that use after the building is sold to the Senior Center, as described in a letter from ACAC, dated June 1, 2009 (see Attachment B). The Senior Center has provided the following information about participation and traffic at their current facility on Pepsi Place (e -mail attachment, April 30, 2009): Currently, we average in a given day: • 225 participants in our on site programs • 25 paid and volunteer staff on site • Total: 250 visits Based on observation and member surveys, on an average day: • 5 participants walk • 5 -10 use CTS • 5 -10 use JAUNT Current ACAC Uses ACAC Uses after Sale of Property ACAC Waterpark Will continue to operate during the Averaged 262 visits per day in summer months. 1 July /August 2008. Heaviest Maximum of 3 swim meets each year. attendance on weekends. Maximum of 3 swim meets per year. ACAC Summer Camp Will continue, but on a limited basis. Most activities will be held offsite, except for aquatic activities. 2 Campers will be bused to the pool facilities, so there will be no impact on parking. 3 ACAC After School Will cease to operate. ACAC Birthday Parties Will no longer occur inside of the building and will only be held at the water park. 4 No information on how much parking this use requires has been provided by the applicant or ACAC. ACAC Academies Will continue to operate in the Arena, but only during a portion of the year. Highest use will be during the winter, 5:30pm to 5 11 pm. No information on what type of use this is or how much parking is used has been provided by the applicant or ACAC. 6 ACAC Tennis Will continue to operate, generating a maximum demand for 28 parking spaces. 7 Charlottesville Day School Will move to another location. The Senior Center has provided the following information about participation and traffic at their current facility on Pepsi Place (e -mail attachment, April 30, 2009): Currently, we average in a given day: • 225 participants in our on site programs • 25 paid and volunteer staff on site • Total: 250 visits Based on observation and member surveys, on an average day: • 5 participants walk • 5 -10 use CTS • 5 -10 use JAUNT SP 2009 -015, Senior Center, Peter M. Thompson, June 5, 2009 3 • 5 -10 trips use their community jitney bus, e.g. Colonnades, Our Lady of Peace • —220 people arrive by car • We estimate 25% of participants share a car to the Center; the remainder come one person per car. • Therefore, we estimate an average —165 car trips daily. We do project this to increase as we move into the Four Seasons site as we will have approximately 85% more finished space in this facility. Parking Staff's primary questions /concerns with this Special Use Permit relate to the adequacy of parking during peak events once the Senior Center has moved into the building on Four Seasons Drive. We understand that, during swim meets, parking can be an issue with the current use of the property. We want to avoid exacerbating this situation with this new approval and wish instead to use this opportunity to improve it. The information provided to staff thus far does not fully address the parking situation during peak events. We also do not know enough about the ACAC Academies or ACAC Birthday Parties and their parking needs. Staff needs to know what these activities are and how many parking spaces they will need even if the activity will take place only in the pool area once the Senior center moves into the building. Since both the Senior Center and remaining ACAC uses will be sharing the parking lot Unless the Senior Center is closed during swim meets, a parking study should be submitted as part of the review of this Special Use Permit application. Based on the information provided, it appears that the concurrent activities could include: a) a swim meet, b) Senior Center activities; c) ACAC Academies, and d) ACAC tennis. Please indicate whether this list of activities is correct. If necessary, a parking study should address the following: 1. How many existing parking spaces are there within this property? 2. How many parking spaces are available by shared parking agreement? Are there limitations to when these spaces are available, for example, weekdays only? 3. How many spaces are typically used by swim meets, the Senior Center, ACAC Academies, and ACAC tennis? Actual data from counts taken each hour during these activities is most reliable. 4. Provide a summary which shows the total number of parking spaces required and the number available, to show that parking requirements can be met for all the uses. Water and Sewer: Both the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority and the Albemarle County Service Authority have reviewed this application. Based on their reviews, no problems with water or sewer are anticipated. Special Use Permit Conditions. Charlottesville Day School currently operates in the building under a number of conditions. There have been a number of other special use permits approved for activities on this site. At this juncture, we do not know which uses will terminate on this property, as described in the chart above. Please let us know which uses are intended to continue with the Senior Center. We will need to know the type of use, the frequency with which it occurs, and how conflicts with other uses will be addressed. Staff will need to determine which of the existing conditions should continue, which should SP 2009 -015, Senior Center, Peter M. Thompson, June 5, 2009 4 be deleted entirely, and which should be replaced by conditions, if any, on operation of the Senior Center. Because complete information regarding uses on the site that will /will not continue after the Senior Center acquires the property was not received in time to review them for this comment letter, staff will draft conditions once you resubmit in response to this letter (see paragraph below). The draft conditions will be sent to you in a separate letter. Resubmittal. When you are ready to resubmit, please provide that resubmittal on a resubmittal Monday (see attached schedule). Make sure to put my name on the cover page of your resubmittal. After you have resubmitted, staff will provide a set of written comments for your review prior to setting a public hearing before the Planning Commission. In those comments, we will advise you as to whether all substantive issues have been resolved or if additional resolution is needed. A public hearing with the Planning Commission will not be advertised until you advise us that the project is ready to proceed to a public hearing. At that time, the legal advertisement will be run in the newspaper and a staff report will be prepared to go to the Planning Commission. Please be advised that, once a public hearing has been advertised, only one deferral prior to the Planning Commission's public hearing will be allowed during the life of the application. The only exception to this rule will be extraordinary circumstances, such as a major change in the project proposal by the applicant or more issues identified by staff that were not previously brought to the applicant's attention. As always, an applicant may request deferral at the Planning Commission meeting. If you have any questions or would like any additional information, please contact me at (434) 296 -5832, X. 3438, or e-mail me at: jwiegand @albemarle.org Sincerely, Judith C. Wiegand, AICP Senior Planner Attachments: A. Copy of Letter from ACAC, dated June 1, 2009 B. Comment Memo from Albemarle County Service Authority, dated May 29, 2009 C. Comment Message from Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, dated May 28, 2009 Cc: Amelia McCulley, Zoning and Current Development Glenn Brooks, Engineering Bill Fritz, Current Development Gary Whelan, Albemarle County Service Authority Joel DeNunzio, VDOT Mary P. Reese, President Senior Center, Inc. 1180 Pepsi Place Charlottesville, VA 22901 SP 2009 -015, Senior Center, Peter M. Thompson, June 5, 2009 5 Phil Wendel Four Seasons of Virginia, LLC 923 Garden Blvd. Charlottesville, VA 22901 Chris Craytor, Vice President ACAC Fitness and Wellness Centers 923 Gardens Blvd. Charlottesville, VA 22901