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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-06-11 Bd Comm minutesMINUTES IOWA CITY BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 1996- 4:30 P.M. CIVIC CENTER - COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Bender, Lowell Brandt, Patdcia Eckhardt, Bill Haigh, Tim Lehman MEMBERS ABSENT: None .STAFF PRESENT: Scott Kugler, Anne Burnside, Jeff Hadng OTHER PRESENT: Steve Kohli CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Eckhardt called the meeting to order at 4:33 p.m. ROLL CALL: All members were present. CONSIDERATION OF THE APRIL 10, 1996, MINUTES: MOTION: Haigh moved to approve the minutes of the April 10, 1996, meeting of the Board of Adjustment, as pdnted. Brandt seconded. The motion carded on a vote of 4-0. (Bender arrived at 4:38 p.m.) SPECIAL EXCEPTION ITEM: EXC96-0007. Public headrig on a request submitted by Steve Kohli for special exceptions to allow a 3,200 square foot restaurant and to modify the padzing requirements on property located in the CN-1, Neighborhood Commercial zone at 200 Scott Court. Kugler said the request is for two special exceptions: to establish a restaurant and to modify the parking requirements in the CN-1 zone at 200 Scott Court. Kugter stated an amendment to one of the exceptions had been received regarding the square footage of the restaurant. The submitted plan shows a 3,200 square foot building and an 8 foot by 22 foot walk-in freezer on the north side of the building. Building officials have determined that the cooler should be included in the square footage calculations. The addition of the cooler bumps the total square footage of the building to 3,376 square feet. Kugler said the second special exception would permit 35 parking spaces to be installed, with room for an additional 11 spaces included in a "landbanked" area at the east end of the parking lot. When the restaurant is built, the landbanked area would have to be seeded or covered with sod. The landbanked parking area could be converted to parking if the applicant can demonstrate the need for the additional parking. Kugler said it should be made clear that the end result could be a situation qo 9 Board of Adjustment May 8, 1996 Page 2 very similar to what the Board denied in September 1995, although the size of the restaurant and the number of customers it would accommodate would be reduced. Kugler said three changes have occurred to the proposal since September 1995. One, the applicant has reduced the size of the building from 4,000 square feet to 3,376 square feet to bring it more into scale with the intent of the CN-1 zone. Two, the applicant had originally requested 46 parking spaces for the 4,000 square foot building, and this has been reduced to 35 parking spaces with the possible addition of more spaces in the landbanked area. And third, a number of the amenities that are required in the CN-1 zone, which were lacking in the original plan, have been added to the current proposal. Kugler said that before the Board can approve the request, it must meet all specific standards contained in the Zoning Chapter for the zone in which the proposed use is located, and also satisfy the general standards for granting a special exception. The CN-1 zone regulations require a special exception for restaurants larger than 2,500 square feet in size. The CN-1 zone is intended to serve mainly the residents of the surrounding neighborhood. The CN-1 zone regulations tend to minimize the amount of traffic being drawn into the neighborhood by limiting the size of restaurants within the zone. The Board previously approved a special exception for Walden Square to permit two restaurants up to 3,200 square feet in size. In keeping with previous decisions made for the CN-1 zone, Kugler said that staff recommends that if the site plan meets the requirements of the CN-1 zone design provisions and ~f the parking modification request is determined to be appropriate, the request for the 3,376 square foot restaurant be approved. Kugler said the CN-1 zone parking requirements were amended in 1995 to reduce the number of spaces required for most uses in the zone, and to place a cap on the number of spaces that may be provided at 110% of the req'uired parking. At the time the amendments were made, staff site surveys indicated that parking lots in Iowa City's existing CN-1 zones were rarely more than 40% occupied. This seemed to be consistent w~th information contained in published articles and reports on neighborhood commercial developments. Therefore, the parking requirements for most uses in the CN-1 zone, including restaurants, were reduced by roughly one-third. The standard for restaurants was reduced from a standard of one per 150 square feet, or equal to 1/4 of the occupant load, whichever is less, to a standard of one per 225 square fe~t, or equal to 1/4 of the occupant load, whichever is less Kugler said ~n applying the new standard to the proposed restaurant, only 16 spaces would be permitted based on the floor area of the building without approval of a special exception. The applicant has indicated that the restaurant is to have 110 seats. Based on the standard of 1/4 of the occupant load, 30 spaces would be permitted. Staff realizes that the reduced standard may not be appropnate to apply to every s~tuation, and that requests for special exceptions to increase the allowable parking may be necessary The current site plan indicates that 35 spaces are to be installed, w~th room for an additional 11 spaces included in a "landbanked" area at the east end of the parking lot. The landbanked parking area could be converted to parking if the applicant demonstrates the need for the additional parking. Staff indicated to the applicant dudng rewew of the previous request that 30 or slightly more spaces may be acceptable. The maximum number of parking spaces permitted based on the proposed 4,000 square Board of Adjustment May 8. 1996 Page 3 foot building was 20. The applicant has reduced the size of the building to 3,376 square feet to bring it more in scale with the intent of the CN-1 zone. but feels that 46 parking spaces are still necessary to run the business successfully Kugler said adding to the difficulty of the parking issue in this situation is the design of the CN-1 development in which the restaurant is proposed. Rather than the development being designed as a coordinated commercial center with a number of businesses sharing a common parking area, the property has been subdivided into individual lots around a cul-de-sac. This makes any kind of shared parking arrangement difficult, even if the different businesses within the development have different peak use periods. The recently approved plans for Walden Square required no parking modifications, in part because the design of the development allows for shared parking to easily occur without specific agreements between individual business owners. Shared parking arrangements could occur in this development if agreed to by adjacent property owners, but it is likely that a development with this design will need more parking due to the physical separation of the various businesses in the development. Kugler said while staff is concerned about tile excessive parking in this CN-1 zone, given the difficulties in meeting the parking requirements created by the design of the development, the proposed solution seems reasonable in that the excess parking would not be installed unless it is clearly demonstrated it is necessary. Staff recommends that the Board's motion include a provision allowing the Director of Planning and Community Development to approve the conversion of the landbanked area to 11 additional parking spaces if it can be clearly demonstrated that the 35 space parking lot is not adequate. To demonstrate that the parking area is not adequate, staff would expect to see: 1) information on the number of vehicles located in the lot and/or parked in the street, recorded at regular intervals over a reasonable period of time to establish the existence of a long term problem rather than a one-time event; 2) photographs showing a full parking lot and spillover parking within the street or on adjacent lots, illustrating recurnng problems rather than a one-time event; 3) any other evidence that suggests that the parking lot is inadequately sized for the proposed restaurant. It would also seem appropriate to allow a reasonable period of time to expire prior to submitting the request to ensure that parking problems, if identified, are ongoing and continuous. A period of six months seems reasonable Staff would likely follow-up on any request for expanding the parking area with observations of its own pnor to granting the request. The decision of the Director could be appealed to the Board by the applicant if he does not agree with the Director's assessment. Kugler said staff recommends that if the application is approved, some type of curbing (asphalt curbing. concrete curbing. etc.) be required between the landbanked area and the parking lot. Staff feels that this area should be viewed as a permanent parking area unhl the need for the landbanked parking area is established. If it does turn out that the excess parking is not installed, ~t will be difficult for the City to require the installation of the curbing at a later date. Kugler said in regard to the general special exception standards. staff finds that the apphcation is consistent with the standards. Kugler sa~d a more detailed s~te plan will be required as part of the site plan rewew process. pdor to the building permit being issued. Board of Adjustment May 8, 1996 Page 4 Kugler said staff recommends that EXC96-0007, a request for special exceptions to allow a restaurant up to 3,376 square feet in size, and to modify the parking requirements to allow 35 parking spaces to be installed on property in the CN-1 zone at 200 Scott Court be approved, conditioned upon the installation of curbing at the east end of the 35 space parking lot, and that the "landbanked" parking area shown on the site plan, containing up to 11 additional parking spaces, may be installed only upon approval by the Director of Planning and Community Development if the applicant, after a period of at least 6 months from the date of occupancy of the building, cleady demonstrates a need for the additional parking. Haigh asked if there is any precedent for the "landbanking." Kugler said no, it is a relatively new provision. Eckhardt asked what number of spaces the 110% parking cap would allow. Kugler said 16 parking spaces would be 110% of the required parking based on the floor area of the building. Eckhardt noted the requested parking would be greater than 300% of the maximum allowed parking. Brandt asked whether the Director of the Department of Planning and Community Development would solely make the decision on the granting of the additional 11 spaces. Kugler said a full site plan would be required in which several departments would be involved. Based on these findings, the Director may then grant approval or denial Public hearing: Steve Kohli, 3129 Dubuque Street, thanked staff for the recent progress on the proposal. Kohli displayed a parking site plan for the typical Neighborhood Commercial zone Kohli said the Director of the Department of Planning and Community Development, Kann Franklin, had asked him if he would be willing to sign a shared parking agreement. Kohli said initially he was not interested because his own parking was tight. Kohli said he is concerned that insufficient parking may be detrimental to the Streit business. If word gets out that there is insufficient parking for the restaurant, people may just go elsewhere rather than hunting for a parkling space. Kohli said he is also concerned that the parking iS insufficient to meet the capacity of the restaurant. Kohli noted some economics.about the necessity to provide sufficient pa~king for the size of the restaurant, or Streit may expenence economic hardship. Kohli expressed that he would hope the cost of the curbing would not be excessive, only to have it removed six months after occupancy Bender asked Kohli what his interest is in the site of the proposed Streit restaurant. Kohli said he is to be building owner of record, and Streit will lease the building from h~m. Bender asked Kohli if he had any ~dea where the article in the press had originated. Kohli indicated he had no part in it. Bender ~nquired about the parking arrangement as depicted in the site plan with regard to the south border of the property. She wondered whether the depicted parking arrangement was the most efficient use of space for the parking area. Kugler said staff Board of Adjustment May 8, 1996 Page 5 had suggested moving the parking area further to the south along the property line such that the parking area could be expanded and used in conjunction with the property owner to the south when that property develop§. Kohli said he had agreed to move the building further south to provide more space between the building and the condominium units to the north. Kohli emphasized he does not intend to sneak additional parking in behind the building, however. Public hearing closed. MOTION: Brandt moved and Lehman seconded the motion to approve EXC96- 0007, a request for special exceptions to allow a restaurant up to 3,376 square feet in size, and to modify the parking requirements to allow 35 parking spaces to be installed on property in the CN-'I zone at 200 Scoff Court, conditioned upon the installation of curbing atthe east end of the 35 space parking lot, and that the "landbanked" parking area shown on the site plan, containing up to '1t additional parking spaces, may be installed only upon approval by the Director of Planning and Community Development if the applicant, after a period of at least 6 months from the date of occupancy of the building, clearly demonstrates a need for the additional parking. Lehman said he tends to agree with Kohli regarding not "landbanking" 11 spaces and just providing all 46 parking spaces from the start, but nonetheless, he would agree to this motion. Brandt asked staff what type of curbing will likely be required. Kugler said something of a permanent nature, like concrete or asphalt, would be required in order to prevent parking on the grass Brandt said he feels 46 spaces is a bit substantial for the CN-1 zone, given the nature of the zone, but said he would be interested in the cost of the curbing. Ha~gh said he agrees with Brandt and would also be ~nterested in the cost of the curbing. Haigh said he has reservations about this size of a restaurant in this particular type of zone, but said he likes the "landbanking" aspect and is interested in how it will play out. Bender said clearly there are some separate issues at work on this request. One, is the restaurant. which according to the Zoning Chapter is permitted ~n the CN-1 zone. ~f the applicant can meet the standards. Bender said she feels the standards have now been met and looks forward to seeing the restaurant go in Bender did not see the restaurant as ~nvolving any k~nd of a health or safety risk to the general welfare of the community. Bender said the applicant had made a lot of progress over the previous request. Bender sa~d she did not feel the structure would impede development on or property value of the surrounding properties in any way, and felt the restaurant would not detract from the neighborhood. Bender sa~d she would have trouble accepting 46 spaces if ~t were not absolutely necessary Bender said she agrees with all of the reasons the cap on the parking requirement was reduced by roughly one-third in 1995. Bender said she does like the concept of "landbanking," however, and finds the plan acceptable with that provision. Board of Adjustment May 8, 1996 Page 6 Eckhardt said this is an unusual development, but said that does not mean the Board can throw out the standards. Eckhardt said this request does appear to be pushing the envelope a little. However, as the applicant has agreed to meet all of the standards requested by staff, Eckhardt said she can accept the "landbanking" concept, and thus the request. The motion carried $-0, BOARD Of ADJUSTMENT INFORMATION: This is the last meeting of the Board at which Anne Burnside will provide legal counsel. The Board thanked Burnside for her generous contributions to the Board and the City over the · years. Haigh and Eckhardt said they are likely to be absent from the August 1996 meeting of the Board. OTHER BUSINESS: There was none. ADJOURNMENT: Haigh moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:29 p.m. Lehman seconded the motion to adjourn. The motion carded unanimously. Patdcia Eckhardt, Board Chairperson Melody Rockwell, Board Secretary Minutes submitted by Jeff Haring. IOWA CITY BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 1996 - 4:30 P.M. CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBERS SIGN IN SHEET 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Z 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 1Z 18. 19. Address