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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCP201100003 Legacy Document 2011-11-16Lrf2C;l1�ZA COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE STAFF REPORT SUMMARY Project Name: CCP 2011 -003 Staff: David Benish, Chief of Planning Ivy Fire Station Planning Commission Public Hearing: Board of Supervisors Public Hearing: November 15, 2011 N/A Owner /s: Kirtley Family Holdings, LLC /University Applicant: Albemarle County Fire Rescue/ of Virginia Health Services Foundation Office of Facilities Development Tax Map Parcels: 59 -2381 Acreage: 3.8 acres Location: the north side of Rt. 250 West (Ivy Road), approximately 1500 feet from the intersection of Rt. 250 and Broomley Road. Zoning District: LI, Light Industrial Magisterial District: Samuel Miller Conditions or Proffers: No Proposal: Compliance with the Comprehensive Comprehensive Plan Designation: Plan review for a potential Fire Station site on Rural Area north side of Rt. 250 West, adjacent to the Long Term Acute Care Hospital - Northridge Building site, just east of the Rt. 250 - Broomley Road intersection. Use & Character of Property: Use of Surrounding Properties: Office Building Existing warehouse building and parking /storage medical building /hospital, church (under space. construction), auto dealership, railroad Factors Favorable: Factors Unfavorable: 1. The site is will improve fire - rescue 1. The site is not located in the designated emergency response times to an area of Development Area the county that is not currently meeting those service standards; 2. The property is zoned for development (LI, Light Industrial), and the use and its impacts are consistent is activity, uses expected in industrial districts. 3. The site is located near the designated Development Area, and is utilizing an existing developed site. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Commission find this site for the Ivy Fire Station in substantial accord with the Comprehensive Plan. CCP 2011 -003 Ivy Fire Station site Planning Commission 11/15/11 Staff Report Page 1 STAFF PERSON: David Benish PLANNING COMMISSION: November 15, 2011 CCP 201100003 PANTOPS FIRE STATION Review for Compliance with the Comprehensive Plan (Va. Code 15.2- 2232) BACKGROUND This is a proposal to establish a fire - rescue station within an existing warehouse building (Attachment A). One engine would be stationed on site initially. One ambulance may be stationed on site in the future. An engine is manned by a crew of three, an ambulance by a crew of two. The Ivy Fire Station is identified as one of two new priority stations in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) needed in the County (the other is a station in Pantops). The service /response area for this station will generally consist of the Route 250 west corridor, from the City to the Ivy community. Current response times in some areas between the Rt. 29/250 Bypass and Crozet do not meet minimum response time standards established in the Comprehensive Plan for fire and rescue service, particularly in the Ivy area. Response times in the area will worsen when the City's Ivy Road - Bypass Station is closed in 2013. The Department of Fire & Rescue has been looking for a site for this facility for several years. Recently, the Office of Facilities Development, in conjunction with the Department of Fire & Rescue has been working with the University Health Science Foundation to secure a 20 year lease agreement for use of the site /building. PURPOSE OF REVIEW A Compliance with the Comprehensive Plan Review (or "2232 Review ") considers whether the general location, character and extent of a proposed public facility are in substantial accord with the adopted Comprehensive Plan. It is reviewed by the Planning Commission and the Commission's findings are forwarded to the Board of Supervisors for their information. No additional action is required of the Board. The Commission's action is only related to the appropriateness of the site for this public use, and is not an action or recommendation on whether the station should be funded and /or constructed. CHARACTER OF THE SITE / AREA The fire station is proposed to be located on a 3.8 acre parcel which contains the Long Term Acute Care Hospital ( LTACH), a small office building, and a warehouse. The fire station would be located in a portion of the warehouse. The site is bounded on the east by LTACH and the Northridge office building, on the west by a church (now under construction) and the Volvo dealership, on the south by Route 250 and rural agricultural land, and on the north by the CSX /Buckingham Branch Railroad. There are three homes on the north side of railroad which are between 300 feet and 900 feet from the building. CCP 2011 -003 Ivy Fire Station site Planning Commission 11/15/11 Staff Report Page 2 The property is designated as Rural Area in the Comprehensive Plan because this area drains into the South Fork Rivanna River Reservoir Watershed. It has been designated as Rural Area since adoption of the 1977 Comprehensive Plan. This area was located in the designated Growth Area in 1971 (first) Comprehensive Plan. This site has been developed and zoned for industrial or business use since at least the late 1960s /early 1970s. The site is served by water and sewer. SPECIFICS OF THE PROPOSAL The proposed station is intended to be a mid- to long -term County operated facility. The County is proposing to lease the facility for up to a 20 year period. The site is being offered to the County by the University of Virginia Health Science Foundation and the County and Foundation are still finalizing the lease agreement. County staff has had difficulty in the past finding other sites in the area that are available for purchase /lease and that meet the location requirements needed to provided adequate response times to area. The station will be smaller than other "full size" stations in the system (such as the Monticello or Hollymead stations). The facility would be approximately 6,000 -7,000 square feet in size and include living quarters and service space for duty crews. The will be no other use or public meeting space provided with station. The station will have three bays but only one engine would be located on the site, at least initially. An ambulance may be stationed at on site in the future depending on need. The third bay provides the option to accommodate a tanker truck, if needed in the future. It is expected that daytime shifts be covered by career staff and nighttime shifts may be supplemented, if not entirely covered, by volunteer staff. The engine would be manned by a three -man crew and an ambulance would be manned by a two -man crew. The station would primarily serve the area along the Route 250 corridor between City and the Ivy area. Provision of this station will reduce pressures for the Crozet and Seminole Trail (and City) stations to cover Rt. 250 West corridor, including the one of more populated and developed portions of the County's Rural Areas. Besides numerous residential subdivisions built in the 1970s and early 1980s, the Route 250 West corridor /Ivy area includes two elementary schools (Meriwether Lewis and Murray) and the Ivy "crossroad area," consisting a restaurant, stores, churches, and offices, as well as businesses along Morgantown Road. Current average response times to some parts of the service area do not meet the recommended response time in the Comprehensive Plan. Ideally, the station would open once the City's Fontaine Station comes on -line and the City's Ivy Road — Bypass Temporary Station goes off -line in early to mid 2013. This timeframe for opening the County's Ivy Station is considered critical for providing adequate service to the area. Response times will deteriorate even more in the area once the City's Bypass Station shuts down, unless replaced by this station. STAFF COMMENT The purpose of this review is to determine if the proposed location for the Ivy Fire Station is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. This proposal has been reviewed based on Comprehensive Plan policy, including transportation recommendations, the Community Facilities Plan, and the Open Space Plan. CCP 2011 -003 Ivy Fire Station site Planning Commission 11/15/11 Staff Report Page 3 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Community Facilities Plan The Community Facilities Plan, a component of the Comprehensive Plan, provides the following guidance regarding the development and location of community facilities: Objective: Give priority to facilities which address emergency needs, health and safety concerns, and provide the greatest ratio of benefit to the population served. Staff Comment: This is an emergency service facility which is needed to meet service standards established in the Community Facilities Plan. Objective: All sites should be able to accommodate existing and future service needs. All buildings, structures and other facilities shall be designed to permit expansion as necessary. Staff Comment: The proposed lease area and renovations will provide for space to accommodate future service needs. Objective: The location of new public facilities should be within the County's Development Areas so as to support County land use policies. Development Areas such as Communities and Villages will serve as service center locations for the Rural Areas. Only in cases where it is not possible to locate a new facility in the Development Area due to physical constraints, or the nature of the facility, and /or service(s) provided, will public facilities be allowed in the Rural Area. The location of community facilities can be an important factor in determining where development can and will be accommodated. Therefore, the provision of community facilities must be carefully coordinated with the land use plan to ensure the adequate provision of facilities and services to accommodate existing and anticipated development. The primary focus of the land use plan is to encourage development in the Development Areas; the necessary facilities should be provided to support this pattern of growth. In certain cases it may not be appropriate, or possible, to provide facilities solely in the Development Areas due to the nature of the service or other unique circumstances. However, the priority is to provide the highest level of service to the Development Areas [emphasis addedl. Staff Comment: This objective provides some flexibility to locate public facilities in the Rural Area to due to the "nature of the service" or "unique circumstances." This flexibility was specifically contemplated for public safety facilities which may have unique location needs in order to meet response time standards for certain areas. While this site is not located in the designated Development Area, this location is one that will allow the recommended response time to be met, particularly along the Rt. 250 West corridor and the larger Ivy area, which is located in the Rural Area. The property is currently zoned LI, Light Industrial and similar or more intensive impacts can occur on from by right uses that could established on the site. The existing structure will be used for the use with some modification including reconstruction /relocation of loading docks serving the other remaining space in the warehouse building. CCP 2011 -003 Ivy Fire Station site Planning Commission 11/15/11 Staff Report Page 4 Service Objectives: 1. Achieve an average response time (how long it takes once the call is dispatched from ECC until a fire apparatus arrives on scene) to fire emergency calls of five minutes or less in the Development Areas and thirteen minutes or less in the Rural Areas. 2. Achieve an average response time (from time the call is dispatched from ECC to time an EMS staffed vehicle arrives on- scene) to rescue emergency calls of four minutes or less in the Development Areas and thirteen minutes or less in the Rural Areas. 3. Construct fire and rescue stations at strategic locations throughout the County to help achieve desired response times to all emergency calls and increase the level of service. Staff Comment: Current response time in some of areas of the service area exceed 20 minutes for fire and rescue responses, well above the recommended 13 minute average response time for the Rural Areas. With the closure of the City Bypass Station in 2013, response times to Urban Area section of Route 250 corridor could also drop below the recommended five minute average. Analysis of travel times from the proposed site indicate that the recommended response times can be met for the projected service area. Staff opinion is that the proposed fire station site is consistent with the Community Facility Plan recommendations. Transportation The Transportation section of the Plan notes the following regarding Route 250 West: "It should be recognized that ...Route 250 West provide[s] both access for inter- regional travel and access for the major commercial and residential areas of the Urban Area and City. Road improvements should be designed to accommodate anticipated traffic demands and present [road] capacity should be utilized to the greatest extent possible." [Land Use Plan, p. 179] Recommendation [p. 183]: Maintain existing cross - section of Route 250 West from Route 29/250 Bypass to the 1 -64 interchange. One potential impact of the station is traffic conflict when entering Route 250 during emergency calls. Traffic control devices will be installed to allow fire - rescue staff to control the existing traffic lights at the North ridge /LTACH site entrance and at the Route 250 /Broomley Road intersection. This will allow emergency vehicles to enter the road without conflicts with through traffic. Otherwise, the overall impact to traffic impact from this use will be minimal. Open Space Plan The Open Space Plan is part of the Comprehensive Plan and identifies areas of critical resources and open space recommended for protection. The Open Space Plan does not identify /recommend any resource areas for protection on -site. CCP 2011 -003 Ivy Fire Station site Planning Commission 11/15/11 Staff Report Page 5 OTHER ISSUES: Route 250 is a designated as an Entrance Corridor. Due to the topography of the site /area, the surrounding development, and distance of the site from the road, only a small portion of the building and site is visible from the Entrance Corridor. Modifications will be subject to review by the Architectural Review Board. Noise impacts during emergency responses should not be significant due to small number of apparatus stationed at the site. In addition, engine sirens will not be activated until the vehicle reaches the entrance onto Route 250, thereby mitigating the impacts to the adjacent LTACH facility and the nearby residences. SUMMARY Factors Favorable: 1. The site is will improve fire - rescue emergency response times to an area of the county that is not currently meeting those service standards; 2. The property is zoned for development (LI, Light Industrial), and the use and its impacts are consistent is activity, uses expected in industrial districts. 3. The site is located near the designated Development Area, and is utilizing an existing developed site. Factors Unfavorable: 1. The site is not located in the designated Development Area. Staff finds the proposed site and scale of activity for the proposed Ivy Fire Station in substantial accord with the County's Comprehensive Plan. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Commission find this site for the Ivy Fire Station in substantial accord with the Comprehensive Plan. ATTACHMENTS: A. Location Map B. Aerial Photo of Site (2 pages) CCP 2011 -003 Ivy Fire Station site Planning Commission 11/15/11 Staff Report Page 6