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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSDP201400052 Correspondence 2014-07-14 Now' Noiro' MECHUM'S TRESTLE LLC July 14,2014 Department of Community Development Albemarle County,Virginia Subject: Mechum's Trestle, LLC Site Plan Pre-Application: Anticipated Exceptions/Waivers Needed Reference: June 9th Meeting with William Fritz, Ron Higgins(Albemarle County)and Troy Austin (VDOT) Dear Albemarle County Staff; We appreciate your meeting with us on June 9th to discuss our plans to improve property designated as Tax Map 57,Parcel 31 A. Consistent with its zoning classification,and its prior use,our intention is to restore the property to its use as a 100-seat restaurant. This requires restoration of a 4,000 sq.ft.structure and 52 space parking lot. History: The subject property has been utilized as a restaurant since the 1960s. It began as Pop and Ethel's. Subsequently it was Gallery Restaurant and The Ridge Restaurant. In 1995,a site plan was approved that contemplated a considerable expansion of the restaurant. The plan attached hereto seeks to restore the use to something more consistent with the pre-1995 state of the property. Recent Progress: 1. The structure will have access to sanitary sewer service,via an existing tap to the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority's sewer line. RWSA last confirmed the existence of this tap and sewer line in April 2013. RWSA's permission contemplates a 100-seat restaurant use. 2. We gained approval to drill a fresh water well on the property from the Virginia Department of Health in August,2013. This approval (Attachment 1)can be extended administratively. VDH's permission was based on a 100-seat restaurant use. 3. We have received a determination from Albemarle County Zoning Department (LOD 2012-005, Attachment 2)which memorializes as nonconforming a significant portion of the parking area that is required to support the desired use.The structure is deemed to be a continuing, nonconforming structure. 4. We have a signed Letter of Intent with a well-known,experienced restaurant developer who has a several existing establishments in Richmond and throughout Central Virginia,as well as 3 in Charlottesville. It is their desire to up fit and open a restaurant on the property whose design and theme reflect both the historic nature of the site,as well as its prominent position on an entrance corridor to Albemarle County. Additional Requirements: 1. Based on our preliminary site plan drawing,we have a number of parking places depicted within the stream buffer, more than 50 feet away from the stream. For these spaces,we are seeking an administrative modification that will allow these spaces to be used in support of the primary,approved use. 2. Additionally,we are showing 5-6 spaces which are within 50 feet of the stream. We understand that this modification requires approval by the Board of Supervisors, who will be informed by reports filed by engineering staff. Again,our contention will be that use of these spaces can be justified by their support of the primary,approved use. Additionally,we are prepared to take all reasonable and appropriate measures to ensure that the impact of this development within the stream buffer will be mitigated through typical means. 3. On the north side of the parking lot,we are proposing to build a retaining wall to support portions of 6 parking spaces. Some amount of fill will required be required to complete this element,which will require some form of exception/modification. We look forward to working with the County to gain the necessary approvals to carry out these plans to transform this property into an attractive and productive addition to the Ivy Road entrance corridor to Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville. Best regards; Mechum's Trestle,LLC Melton McGuire Bill McKechnie Peter Neill Attachments: Attachment 1: Office of Drinking Water Permission to Drill 8.19.13 Attachment 2: LOD 2012-005 4.22.13,with Attachments A&B \LDT-E — OAS SiX0 r •ex '4eC-t.- — 104sc 1P 1-. OW -> eitiewitterfiramItINtrta., Ot„crempd- EL Nixie Nanl Megan Yaniglos From: Bill Fritz Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 11:49 AM To: Megan Yaniglos Subject: FW: Mechum's Trestle There is a later email from `Ion about the parking. I will try and find that one also. William D. Fritz, AICP Chief of Special Projects 434-296-5823 ext. 3242 From: Bill Fritz Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2014 4:28 PM To: 'Alan Franklin' Subject: RE: Mechum's Trestle Here is what I have come u)with: Activity more than 50 feet from the stream but within the stream buffer requires a modification. This modification may be approved administratively. Activity within 50 feet of the stream requires a modification. This modification may only be approved by the Board of Supervisors. Any questions you have about stream buffer impacts should be directed to the County Engineer, Glenn Brooks. Fill in the floodplain (of any amount) requires review. Balancing cut and fill is still considered fill. The Flood Hazard Overlay District Regulationf- (30.3)were just recently amended. With the information currently available it is unknown if it will be possible to author ze fill administratively or if a special use permit is required. One concern is that the fill may be within the floodway. If the fill is in the floodway a special use permit will be required. Please review the provisions of Section 30.3. Any question;about interpretation of the provisions of the section should be directed to the County Engineer, Glenn Brooks. The ordinance provisions may be found here: http://www.albemarle.org/upload/images/Forms Center/Departments/County Attorney/Forms/Albemarle County Co de Ch18 Zoning30 Overlay Districts. df - 1f% llodd Ve cri.Nct, mhh> Or V60AN" ,(SP) Based on the information p.ovided to me by the Deputy Zoning Administrator, Ron Higgins, the parking adjacent to Route 240 is not non--confo ming. It must be redesigned in order to meet the minimum setback of 10 feet from the property line. This should r rovide adequate area for landscaping. If you do request a special exception for landscaping you may do so under the provisions of Section 32.3.4. Any request for special exception will be reviewed by the Board. Any disturbance of critical slopes will require a special exception. You will need to follow the procedures set out in section 4.2.5. Any request for special exception will be reviewed by the Board. The plan reviewed at the preapplication conference did not show a dumpster or stormwater facilities. They will need to be provided. I hope this is helpful. If you have questions please feel free to call me. William D. Fritz, AICP Chief of Special Projects 1 A ■ w Nki Illir 434-296-5823 ext. 3242 '"a"° From: Alan Franklin [mailto:afranklin @waterstreetstudio.net] Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2014 5:14 PM To: Bill Fritz Subject: Mechum's Trestle Hey Bill, Just touching base. Thought maybe I may have given you a mixed up email address. Thanks, Alan waterstreet www.waterstreetstudio.net facebook 1 twitter 2 Megan Yaniglos From: Bill Fritz Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 11:50 AM To: Megan Yaniglos Subject: FW: Mechum's Trestle This is the parking one. William D. Fritz, AICP Chief of Special Projects 434-2.96-5823 ext. 3242 From: Bill Fritz Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 4:52 PM To: Ron Higgins; Amelia McCulley Subject: RE: Mechum's Trestle Sorry, if I misunderstood. My fault for pulling the trigger to soon. Easy enough to fix. Please let them know that they will need to address the lack of landscaping next to Route 240 then. They will need to request a special exception of 32.7.9.5 under the provisio is of 32.3.5 and 33.5. William D. Fritz, AICP Chief of Special Projects 434-296-5823 ext. 3242 From: Ron Higgins Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 2:46 PM To: Amelia McCulley; Bill Fritz Subject: RE: Mechum's Trestle Hello, Bill: I did not actually confirm whether the parking location they are proposing is still nonconforming. I did tell you that I though the row of space in the front setback no longer existed that way and that I believe they had lost their existing nonconforming status. However, I was wrong. Amelia's letter of 4/22/2013 was very broad but clearly stated that the parking was existing norico )forming. Therefore, they do not need a variance for the 10 foot parking setback. Ron Higgins From: Amelia McCulley Sent: Wednesday, June 25 2014 1:21 PM To: Ron Higgins Subject: FW: Mechum's Trestle Let's talk. I don't rememJer us agreeing this was the situation. From: William McKechnie [mailto:wmckechnie©comcast.net] Sent: Wednesday, June 25; 2014 11:03 AM To: Amelia McCulley Cc: Alan Franklin Subject: FW: Mechum's Trestle i Now Hi Amelia; I received a couple 'bounce-backs' from Albemarle's server—just wanted to confirm your receipt. Thanks, Bill From: William McKechnie [mailto:wmckechnie@comcast.net] Sent:Tuesday,June 24, 2014 11:04 AM To: 'Amelia McCulley' Cc: Alan Franklin (afranklin@waterstreetstudio.net) Subject: FW: Mechum's Trestle Hi Amelia; We had our site plan pre-app meeting on June 9th, regarding our plans to restore a restaurant to the property. Bill Fritz and Ron Higgins were both in attendance, as well as Troy Austin with VDOT. Bill Fritz had kindly offered to summarize comments on issues that would need to be addressed with our next submittal, and those are found below. While we are happy to address all comments, we are hoping to not have to revisit too many issues which have previously been addressed. Namely, we are confused by Ron's comments concerning the (lack of) non-conforming status of the parking associated with the property, in light of your 4.22.13 determination letter, which was referenced in the meeting. Can we continue to rely on your determination to protect the status of the parking as depicted in our 6.9 DRAFT, as attached? As an aside,Troy has said that he believes that all 'line of sight' issues, relative to our proposed parking configuration, have been eliminated. Again, we are happy to proceed with the process, but would like to confirm that which we assumed was settled. Please call if you would like to discuss; Best regards; Bill William McKechnie 434.906.5787 wmckechnie@comcast.net Mechum's Trestle From:Alan Franklin [mailto:afranklin @waterstreetstudio.net] Sent:Saturday,June 21, 2014 9:11 AM To: wmckechnie @comcast.net Subject: Fwd: Mechum's Trestle 2 wr Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Bill Fritz <BFRITZ @albemarle.org> Date:June 19, 2014 at 4:27:57 PM EDT To: Alan Franklin <afranklin @waterstreetstudio.net> Subject: RE: Mechum's Trestle Here is what I have come up with: Activity more than 50 feet from the stream but within the stream buffer requires a modification. This modification may be approved administratively. Activity within 50 feet of the stream requires a modification, This modification may only be approved by the Board of Supervisors. Any questions you have about stream buffer impacts should be directed to the County Engineer, Glenn Brooks. Fill in the floodplain (of any amount) requires review. Balancing cut and fill is still considered fill. The Flood Hazard Overlay District Regulations(30.3) were just recently amended. With the information currently available it is unknown if it will be possible to authorize fill administratively or if a special use permit is required. One concern is that the fill may be within the floodway. If the fill is in the floodway a special use permit will be required. Please review the provisions of Section 30.3. Any questions about interpretation of the provisions of the section should be directed to the County Engineer, Glenn Brooks. The ordinance provisions may be found here: http://www.albemarle,org/upload/images/Forms Center/Departments/County Attorney/Forms/Albem arle County Code Ch18 Zoning30 Overlay Districts.pdf Based on the information provided to me by the Deputy Zoning Administrator, Ron Higgins,the parking adjacent to Route 240 is not non-conforming. It must be redesigned in order to meet the minimum setback of 10 feet from the property line. This should provide adequate area for landscaping. If you do request a special exception for landscaping you may do so under the provisions of Section 32.3.4. Any request for special exception will be reviewed by the Board. Any disturbance of critical slopes will require a special exception. You will need to follow the procedures set out in section 4.2.5. Any request for special exception will be reviewed by the Board. The plan reviewed at the preapplication conference did not show a dumpster or stormwater facilities. They will need to be provided. I hope this is helpful. If you have questions please feel free to call me. William D. Fritz, AICP Chief of Special Projects 434-296-5823 ext. 3242 3 From: Alan Franklin [mailto:afranklinwaterstreetstudio.net] Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2014 5:14 PM To: Bill Fritz Subject: Mechum's Trestle Hey Bill, Just touching base. Thought maybe I may have given you a mixed up email address. Thanks, Alan waterstreet www.waterstreetstudio.net facebook,twitter 4