09-19-1994 Planning Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Zoning File #1960 September 13, 1994 Pace 2 Background Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses was granted a conditional use permit for church use in 1970 on this 1.3 acre property’. A church building and parking lot were subsequently constructed, although the current sur\ey shows that the site plan was only generally adhered to. At that time the parking lot was proposed to iiKlude 52 parking stalls to meet the "1/stall per 4 persons" requirement for a 200 person capacity building. The parking lot was constructed somewhat smaller than the original pJ.oi Church use has apparently expanded to a level where during specific times the parking overflows on;o Togo Road which is extremely narrow and not suited for parking. The current request is to expand the parking lot by approximately 36’xllO’. Absent a parking layout but using the standard 300 s.f. per stall formula, the additional parking area will accommodate an additional 13 vehicles. Hardcover Variance This property' is in the »«M,000 ’ hardcover setback zone and with the recent structural additions (discussed bel'“» ) the property had reached its hardcover limit of 35%. The proposed additional parking increases 500-1,(XX)’ hardcover to approximately 43%. It may be somewhat ironic that the church at one time owned the residential properly to the west but some time ago sold that property. Unfortunately, that might have allowed the expansion without a variance had that property been combined with the church parcel. Drainage Concerns The low area between Togo Road and Northern Avenue has been subject of some concern to neighborhood residents due to past drainage problems. The Public Works Department and City Engineer are cunently evaluating the drainage needs in this area. The church parking lot may contribute significantly to the volume of runoff in the area. If this parking lot expansion is approved, the church should be expected to contribute its fair share towards a solution. Such solution might include curbing the parking lot permieter to direct drainage, construction of stormwater detention ponding facilities, or perhaps financial panicipation in a neighborhood drainage improvement. Any approval for the parking lot should be conditioned on obtaining the church's involvement in such project. It would seem appropriate that any approval recomnjondation not be forwarded to Council until the City Engineer and Public Works Department have completed their review of this situation.