07-20-2009 Planning Commission Packet

Home Browse Search

, j . . FILE 09-3418 July 20, 2009 Page 5 of 5 would increase from 19. 94percent to 27.57 percent. The maximum allowed is 15 percent. .,r:- z, Staff Recommendation Staff s ana.lysis of this application is unchanged from the concept application: What is proposed is simply too much for this site. There is no space for adequate parking or landscaping. If there are not enough parking spaces, customers will park in the 3465 Shorelirie Drive parking lot, on Kelly Avenue and/or in the Lunds' parking lot. The � pavement of Kell� Avenue is only 28 feet wide, not wide enough for on-street paxking. There may congestion as drivers look for a parking space. Eventually businesses may move or close if the parking is inadequate. . Landscaping, especially adjacent to a street, is important to creating an atlxactive commercial . area. Trees, in particular, have many environmental benefits. Not only do they provide shade, filter the air, and buffer noise, a recent innovation is to have to runoff from parking areas flow into landscaped areas planted with trees. The landscaping, especially the trees, . absorbs the runoff. The most of the proposed landscaped areas are minimal and axe probably too sma11 to sustain the plant materials for any length of time. In addition to concerns about the variances staff has concerns about the design of the building including compatibility of the facade of the existing building with the additions, the detailing on the front and sides of the additions, and the architectural treatment of the rear walls of the additions. Some of these concerns may be addressed with more detailed plans. Staff also has concerns about the connection between the upper and lower parking areas. The stairs would be about three feet wide with retaining walls on both sides. (Similar to the existing stairs.) There would be a similar narrow passage between the building and the dumpster enclosure. This would not create a welcoming situation. The stairs could be opened up by changing the location of the retaining walls but there is no obvious way to eliminate the passage between the dumpster enclosure and the building. Monuments signs are limited to ten feet in height. Sta.ff would point out that the view of the bottom portion of the proposed sign for east bound traffic would be blocked by vehicles in the adjacent parking spaces. Action Requested If the Commission is satisfied with the proposal or the applicant is amenable to making it satisfactory the Planning Commission should give the applicant direction and ta.ble consideration until the grading plan and drainage calculations have been received and found satisfactory by the City Engineer and the revised plans submitted. If the Commission is not satisfied with the proposal and the applicant is not amenable changes to make it satisfactory, the Commission should make a recommendation for denial. The applicant could then choose to have Council initially consider the proposal with or without the grading plan and drainage calculations. An approval could not occur without the City Engineer's approval of the grading plan and drainage calculations.