City Hall City Development Department 9500 Civic Center Drive 303-538-7295 Thornton, Colorado 80229-4326 FAX 303-538-7373 www.cityofthornton.net Mark Rogers Chief Operating Officer Roaring Fork Restaurants 15775 E. Briarwood Circle Aurora, CO 80016 RE: Summary Notes for a pre-application meeting for a proposed Cheddar s restaurant south of the southeast corner of East 104 th Avenue and Grant Street Dear Mr. Rogers: Thank you for attending the pre-application meeting on October 2 nd. We hope that the meeting, in conjunction with this letter, will expedite your submittal and the processing of your application. Meeting Attendees: City Shannon Williams, Planner I, Current Planning Mike Mallon, Current Planning Manager Chris Molison, Development Director Deb Turner, Civil Engineer, Development Engineering Heidi Feigal, Senior Landscape Architect, Development Engineering Bob Sullivan, Senior Fire Protection Engineer, Thornton Fire Department Martin Postma, Senior Policy Analyst, Policy Planning Adam Krueger, Manager of Business Attraction, Economic Development Applicant Mark Rogers, Chief Operating Officer, Roaring Fork Restaurants David Snow, Director of Construction, Snow & Associates The applicant gave a brief explanation of the proposed development. Important aspects include: 1. A proposed 8,000 square-foot restaurant with outdoor dining patio, with approximately 150-175 employees, operating hours 11 am-10 pm. Following is a summary of City staff comments from the meeting. CURRENT PLANNING Planner I (Shannon Williams, 303-538-7278) 1. A brief description of the City s Development Review Process was provided: a. The first City review is three weeks, beginning on Fridays, with comments due back to the applicant the following Wednesday.
Page 2 b. Each subsequent review by the City is two weeks, with comments due back to the applicant the following Wednesday. c. In between applicant submittals, the City requires meetings to review comments and discuss how they will be addressed. d. The City now accepts electronic submittals. Instructions are available at: http://www.cityofthornton.net/departments/citydevelopment/development/docu ments/current%20planning/electronic_submittal_handout.pdf 2. An updated conceptual timeline is provided for your information. This timeline is a general scenario for completion of the entitlement portion of your development. Combining processes can speed up the total process time, but are undertaken at your own risk. 3. Checklists for the various processes are available on our website at: http://www.cityofthornton.net/departments/citydevelopment/development/pages/checkl istsandhandouts.aspx Developments on this property may be reviewed administratively. Required processes will be: a. Development Permit (DP) Administrative process b. Civil Construction Drawings (CD) Administrative process c. Building Permits Administrative process Please note that a Subdivision Plat Amendment (also administrative process) would be necessary to grant easements, if any. 4. Overall Planning Issues a. Use: Restaurant uses are permitted by right in the 104 th Avenue Redevelopment Planned Development district. b. Public Land Dedication (PLD). PLD takes place at the time of the subdivision plat. All developments are required to provide for the parkland, open space and recreation needs of future residents and employees through PLD or payment of fees in lieu of land dedication. Commercial developments dedicate land based on eight percent of the gross land area (8% of approximately 14,030 SF (unplatted portion of lot) = 1,122.4 SF); if the acreage is less than the amount required to provide a usable park (usually five acres), then cash-in-lieu of dedication is required; or public art and amenities can be provided. The cash-in-lieu rate for commercial properties is $3 per square-foot (SF), which translates to approximately $3,367. c. Design Standards:
Page 3 i. This project will be reviewed under the design standards for 1) general commercial development five acres and larger, Sec. 18-485 18-493; 2) the PD design standards. ii. When choosing final materials and colors, consider how the building will complement more recent nearby developments. Earth-tone colors are preferred. d. Site Plan: i. Please feel free to email an updated PDF site plan for staff feedback prior to submitting for your first formal DP review. ii. iii. iv. Buffering: A high-quality wall and landscaping should be provided between this site and the adjacent multifamily property. Sidewalks and Crosswalks: Pedestrian connectivity should be addressed by providing a sidewalk and crosswalk from Grant Street to the building. Sidewalks adjacent to head-in parking shall be a minimum of six feet wide; if curb stops are provided, minimum is four feet wide. Trash Enclosures: The style and material of any enclosures should be consistent with the building. v. Parking Requirements: Minimum one space per 100 SF of the building and patio area required. Show bike parking at an appropriate location and include bike rack detail in DP drawings. vi. vii. viii. ix. Patio: The proposed patio must be at least 20 from the multifamily property line. Setbacks: Make sure that the 10 parking lot setback is observed from the property lines adjacent to the multifamily property and from the E. 103 rd Avenue internal drive this includes parking lot drive aisles. Lighting: Please see lighting standards in Sec. 18-491 for required footcandle minimums and maximums, maximum pole height, and maximum base height. Please also see Sec. II. D. of the 104 th Avenue Planned Development Standards. Signs: Monument and wall signs are approved by separate building permit and should not be included in the DP drawings. This lot is allowed one monument sign no greater than 10 in height from grade and must meet setback requirements from property line. Please see Article VII for sign requirements. A multitenant sign serving the overall commercial center is also proposed and a sign easement will be dedicated.
Page 4 x. Bus Stop: It appears the existing RTD bus stop on Grant Street will need to be relocated. The project will be routed to RTD for comment during the Development Permit review. DEVELOPMENT ENGINEERING (DE) Civil Engineer (Deb Turner, 303-538-7583) 1. Drainage: a. Water quality shall be required for the site. This may be accomplished by using the alternative methods outlined in Urban Drainage Flood Control District s Volume 3 or other approved means. b. This development will be required to submit an erosion control plan and a State Discharge Permit and Storm Water Management Plan which is required by the State for all new developments in excess of 1 acre. 2. Access - Grant Street: a. The southern proposed access shall only be a right-in/right-out due not only to its proximity to the full movement intersections at both 102 nd Avenue and 103 rd Avenue but also because of the existing storage and taper for the southbound left turn lane on Grant Street. b. The radii at the proposed right-in right-out access along Grant Street shall be 45 feet to meet the guidelines outlined in Table 500-1 of the Standards and Specifications. c. ADA ramps with truncated domes shall be required for the ramps at the new access location along Grant Street. d. The City strongly recommends moving parking spaces away from access points due to potential conflicting movements with vehicles backing out while cars are entering or leaving the site. e. The City strongly recommends aligning the access along 103 rd Avenue with the Texas Roadhouse access to the north. 3. Additional Comments: A warrant analysis has been completed by the City. The intersection of 103 rd Avenue and Grant Street does not meet warrants at this time and it does not appear to meet warrants with the addition of the proposed development.
Page 5 THORNTON FIRE DEPARTMENT (TFD) Senior Fire Protection Engineer (Bob Sullivan, 303-538-7651) The Thornton Fire Department s Fire Prevention Division has reviewed the submittal, received September 25, 2013, for the above project and has the following comments: 1. Proper turning radii for fire apparatus shall be confirmed on all new roadways and driveways. This shall be done by showing a B-40R truck template successfully moving through all turns, in both directions, on a site plan of this project, including all entrances to the site from existing roads. If the B-40R template encounters any obstacles (curbs, parking spaces, the building, etc.) in the process of completing the turns, then the width of the roadways/driveways shall be adjusted accordingly. Contact the Thornton Fire Department at 303-538-7651 for proper dimensions of the B-40R template, if needed. 2. The required fire flow is based on the total fire area of each building as defined by the International Fire Code (IFC, 2012 Edition)(i.e., the total floor area, in square feet, of all floor levels within the exterior walls and under the horizontal projections of the roof of the building), as well as the type of construction. a. The preliminary estimated fire flow requirement for this building, based on the assumptions of Type V-B construction, a fire area of approximately 7,939 square feet, and full automatic fire sprinkler coverage throughout, designed and installed in accordance with NFPA 13, is 1,500 gallons per minute (gpm) at a minimum residual pressure of 20 pounds per square inch (psi). This flow shall be provided by a minimum of one (1) fire hydrant, with a maximum spacing of 500 feet between fire hydrants. The maximum distance from any point on the street frontage side of the building to a fire hydrant shall be 250 feet. b. Based on this preliminary information, it appears that the location of the existing fire hydrant on Grant Street, adjacent to this site, will be sufficient to meet these requirements. 3. In accordance with IFC Section 903.2.1.2, this Group A-2 Occupancy shall be provided with an automatic fire sprinkler system throughout, designed and installed in accordance with the requirements of NFPA 13. 4. In accordance with IFC Sections 903.4 and 903.4.1, fire sprinkler system supervision, alarms, and monitoring shall be provided, designed and installed in accordance with the requirements of NFPA 13 and NFPA 72. a. If the fire alarm control panel will be installed in a location other than the main entrance of the building, then a fire alarm annunciator panel shall be provided at the main entrance of the building. In addition, a fire alarm annunciator panel shall be provided in the fire sprinkler riser room. 5. In accordance with IFC Sections 904.2.1 and 904.11, an automatic fire-extinguishing system, designed and installed in accordance with the appropriate NFPA Standard(s)
Page 6 and manufacturer s requirements, shall be provided in each Type I commercial cooking hood. 6. All fire protection system installations (fire sprinkler systems, fire alarm systems, kitchen hood fire suppression systems, etc.) require a permit application submitted by a licensed contractor, including shop drawings, necessary calculations, and manufacturers specifications for system components. Installation work on individual fire protection systems shall not proceed until a permit for that system is issued by the Fire Department. Plans and permit applications for all fire protection system installations shall be submitted prior to the issuance of the building permit. a. Any variances to the policy described above shall be approved by the City of Thornton Chief Building Official. 7. In accordance with IFC Section 506, a Knox key box shall be provided at the main entrance of the building. The Knox box shall be a Model #3200 Series or larger, and can be ordered directly from The Knox Company at www.knoxbox.com. The building owner shall provide at least one full set of keys for the building, including keys to all interior and exterior doors. 8. In accordance with IFC Section 510, this building shall have approved radio coverage for emergency responders within the building, based upon the existing radio coverage level outside the building. Once the building is fully enclosed, and prior to completion of the project, an approved contractor shall provide testing of the public safety radio signal strengths within the building, including a formal report summarizing the results of the testing. If the radio signal strengths within the building do not meet IFC and City of Thornton Fire Department requirements, then a public safety radio amplification system will be required in the building in order to meet these requirements. Contact the Fire Department at 303-538-7651 for additional information. 9. In accordance with IFC Section 503.2.7, as amended by the City of Thornton, the grade of fire apparatus access roads shall not exceed 7%. 10. Roads shall be permanently signed and/or marked NO PARKING-FIRE LANE in accordance with municipal sign/traffic standards and the following specifications: a. There shall be no parking for a distance of 15 feet on either side of a fire hydrant. b. Roads less than 26 feet wide shall be marked as fire lanes on both sides of the road. c. Roads at least 26 feet wide but less than 32 feet wide shall have at least one side of the road marked as a fire lane. d. Roads at least 32 feet wide need not have fire lane markings. If you have any questions, please contact me at 303-538-7651. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT (LA)
Page 7 Senior Landscape Architect (Heidi Feigal, 303-538-7363) 1. The property requires 20% of the lot to be landscaped with 75% of the landscaped area covered with living plant material (at maturity). 2. All parking lot islands should be a minimum of nine feet wide to be landscape but we would accept cobble set in place in the narrow end islands. Sod is not allowed in parking lot islands per Code. 3. Parking lots with over 50 spaces require 10% of the parking stall square footage as parking lot island square footage. An island is defined as being bordered by 2 parking spaces of a parking space and drive aisle. 4. Head in parking that faces a minor or major arterial street should be screened with continuous landscaping (does not need to be a hedge of the same plant or even linear. Leave a 1-2 clear zone for vehicle overhang. 5. The overall site cannot exceed a Moderate water-demand as defined in the Code. 6. The Code has specific tree and shrub requirements for parking lot islands, overall landscaping and street right-of-way areas. Please review the Development Permit requirements on the City website checklists. 7. Plants in rock mulch shall be chosen from the Low and Ultra-low City plant lists. Please review the City Plant list on the website that categorizes plants by water-demand and group similar water need plants together. 8. Utility boxes shall be screened from the street as much as possible. 9. All right-of-way landscaping and snow removal is the responsibility of the owner or assigns of the adjacent property. 10. All landscape areas require automatic irrigation system coverage. The landscaping can be irrigated with the domestic water meter. 11. Irrigation Construction Drawings are required to be submitted with the Civil Drawings (CDs) and must be approved by the City Landscape Architects before the CDs will be stamped. 12. The City s website contains checklists for the different submittals and a plant list that separates plant material into water-use categories and recommends areas for use. Call if you have any difficulty locating the Landscaping link on the website. 13. The Certificate of Occupation (CO) will not be issued for the new building until the landscaping is installed. If weather does not allow landscape installation at the time of the CO, a cash surety (150 percent of the cost of landscaping and irrigation) is required. 14. We encourage the applicant to schedule a pre-design meeting with the LAs before submitting the Development Permit landscape plans to get further details on specific
Page 8 requirements for the submittal. Review the Development Code for further landscape details and requirements that will be needed down the road. END OF COMMENTS Please feel free to contact me at 303-538-7278 with any questions. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Sincerely, Shannon Williams Planner I SW/ cc: Mark Rogers (mrogers@rfrco.com) David Snow (david@davidasnow.com) Mike Mallon, Current Planning Manager Chris Molison, Development Director Deb Turner, Civil Engineer Jason O Shea, Development Engineering Manager Heidi Feigal, Senior Landscape Architect Bob Sullivan, Senior Fire Protection Engineer Martin Postma, Senior Policy Analyst Adam Krueger, Manager of Business Attraction File: pre-app file: V:\PLANNING DIVISION\Pre-Applications\104th Ave Redevelopment\104th Ave Redevelopment Cheddar's\Meeting Summary.doc