# 12 ) WAV-01-16 COLEMAN AIRPARK II & III WAIVER PUBLIC HEARING STAFF REPORT To: Planning Commission Meeting date: February 10, 2016 Item: WAV-01-16 Prepared By: Marc Jordan GENERAL INFORMATION: Applicant: Owner: Requested Action: DND Holdings, LLC DND Holdings, LLC Approval of a waiver to reduce the landscaping and parking requirements Parcel(s): 139-17-611-005 and 139-17-611-007 Lot area: Comprehensive Plan: Location:. Existing land use and zoning: 19 + acres Mixed-Use Employment (Proposed amendment [AMP-02-16] to Heavy Industrial) Northeast corner of Coleman Street and Evans Avenue Undeveloped; M-1, Business Park Industrial District (Proposed reclassification [ZN-03-16] to the M-2, General Industrial District) Surrounding land use and zoning: North: Chelten House Products, M-1, Business Park Industrial District West: Office/Warehouse, M-1, Business Park Industrial District East: Bigelow Aerospace; PUD, Planned Unit Development District South: Annie L. Walker Park and Single-Family Residential; R-1, Single-Family Low Density District
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The applicant is requesting Planning Commission consideration to waive (reduce) the landscaping and parking requirements. Specifically, according to the applicant s letter of intent, the applicant is requesting consideration to reduce the required parking by approximately 25 percent, and to eliminate foundational landscaping next to the buildings. The applicant has indicated that an increase in landscape density next to Coleman Street, Evans Avenue, and Clayton Street in the form of two rows of trees, off-set and planted at 20 feet on center, and two (2) large potted plants at each building entrance would be the compensating benefits. The applicant filed two accompanying requests (AMP-02-16 and ZN-03-16) to amend the Comprehensive Plan and to reclassify the subject site to support industrial development. The proposed amendment to the Comprehensive Plan is to change the land use designation from Mixed-Use Employment to Heavy Industrial. The proposed property reclassification is to change the zoning from M-1, Business Park Industrial District to M-2, General Industrial District. Both applications are also on this agenda for Planning Commission consideration. The site plan submitted as part of this application shows one (1) large warehouse building and 45 individual smaller buildings with attached outside storage yards. The buildings range in size from approximately 3,043 square feet to 5,096 square feet. The associated storage yards range in size from approximately 2,781 square feet to 5,780 square feet. In total, the applicant is proposing approximately 310,000 square feet of warehouse and office space, and approximately 136,000 square feet of outside storage area. DEPARTMENT COMMENTS: Public Works: Fire Prevention Division: Please see the attached memorandum. Please see the attached memorandum. ANALYSIS: In the accompanying applications to amend the Comprehensive Plan and reclassify the subject site, staff is not supporting those applications. As a result the proposed development and waivers would also not be supported, as this development is not appropriate within the current zoning designation of M-1, Business Park Industrial District. However, should the Planning Commission determine that the amendments to land use and zoning were warranted, then the following discussion within this analysis section will address the specific waiver requests. The applicant has requested two (2) waivers to the development standards for the proposed development. The first waiver is to eliminate the required foundational landscaping at the primary entrance to each building. Title 17 requires a planter area with a minimum depth of six (6) feet in front of the building. Based upon the approximate width of the larger building and each smaller building and a planter depth of six (6) feet,
approximately 9,510 square feet of landscaping would be required to meet the foundational landscaping requirement for all buildings. When calculating the amount of landscaping which includes the perimeter landscaping, required parking lot islands, and required foundational landscaping, approximately 71,438 square feet of landscaping is required. The proposed waiver equates to approximately 13 percent which is less than 50 percent of the required landscaping, and would be considered as a minor waiver in which one (1) compensating benefit is required. With the exception of the large warehouse building, the proposed development is essentially a condominium type of industrial complex, for sale or lease, and the smaller buildings are not fronting an external street, but only internal drive aisles. As a result, any foundational landscaping would only be visible from the internal portions of this development. Therefore, staff has no objections to this specific waiver. The second waiver is in regards to reducing the parking requirements. The applicant is proposing to construct one (1) large warehouse building, and 45 buildings, totaling approximately 310,000 square feet. Furthermore, each of the smaller buildings is proposed to have its own storage yard, totaling approximately 136,000 square feet. The site plan shows that 559 parking spaces are required, and 420 parking spaces are proposed. This equates to an approximate 25 percent reduction in parking, and because it is less than 50 percent, it would be considered as a minor waiver in which one (1) compensating benefit is required. The parking calculations for warehouse buildings between 3,001 square feet and 5,000 square feet are based upon one (1) parking space per 500 square feet of floor area. The parking calculations for warehouse buildings between 5,001 square feet and 10,000 square feet are based upon one (1) parking spaces per 750 square feet of floor area. For buildings larger than 125,001 square feet, the required parking is based upon one (1) parking space per 2,000 square feet of floor area. (Note: A 10 percent reduction may be applied to each building when calculating the parking requirements.) The parking requirement for outside storage is one (1) parking space per 750 square feet of outside storage space for storage areas less than 3,000 square feet. Storage areas more than 3,000 square feet require one (1) parking space per 1,000 square feet of outside storage space. The parking requirement for accessary office space associated with the warehouse is one (1) parking space per 500 square feet. (Note: The applicant has not provided any information regarding accessary office space. Therefore, parking requirements may increase, depending upon the amount of office space.) Essentially the large warehouse building (without office space) requires approximately 72 parking spaces, and each of the smaller buildings (without office space) is required to provide between 10 and 15 parking spaces to accommodate the warehouse and storage area. The site plan shows that approximately 197 parking spaces are provided around the large warehouse building. For each of the smaller buildings and the associated storage yard, approximately four (4) to seven (7) parking spaces is allocated for each facility (building and associated storage yard).
Staff has concerns regarding the waiver to reduce parking. According to the site plan, each of the smaller buildings has between four (4) and seven (7) parking spaces allocated for use. Parking for each of these buildings is going to be reduced further as the submitted site plan does not show the required landscaped islands at the end of each parking row. As a result, one additional parking space in each segment of a parking row will need to be removed to accommodate the required landscaped island, further reducing the parking proposed by the applicant. Furthermore, the site plan shows 11 trash enclosures within the area of the smaller buildings for use by 45 buildings. Staff is concerned that 11 trash enclosures is not sufficient for the needs of 45 individual buildings. The site plan also does not indicate the amount of accessary office space. Typically, approximately 10 to 20 percent of the building is allocated as office space. As a result, additional parking spaces may need to be removed to accommodate for additional trash enclosures and additional parking spaces added to accommodate for office spaces. Lastly, the site has been designed to subdivide each building and storage yard into individual lots. If this were the case, handicapped parking has not been provided for each building. Handicapped parking spaces have a minimum dimension of 13 feet in width, and 18 feet in length. The standard parking space has a minimum dimension of nine (9) feet in width, and 18 feet in length. Accommodating the handicapped parking space for each building will remove additional parking. While the applicant has indicated this waiver equates to approximately a 25 percent reduction, when the above factors are considered, the reduction appears to be greater than 25 percent. The applicant has also not submitted a parking study to support their proposed request. Staff is concerned that this type of parking reduction could create traffic and parking issues within the development that could impact the streets and surrounding areas. It is staff s opinion the subject site will be over built and cannot support the proposed development. When a site is developed with less parking and multiple tenants, parking complaints are eventually brought forth to the City. As a result, the complaints cannot be resolved if there is no space to increase parking. The reduction in parking has the potential to impact the surrounding developments and could become a code enforcement issue at a later date. (Note: The above analysis only reflects an analysis of the proposed waivers to parking and landscaping. The proposed development is considered as a major site plan and would be reviewed administratively with the building permit. However, the applicant is subject to comply with all development standards, and no other waiver is implied with this request. Therefore, modifications may be required to the site plan or building elevations when a thorough review is completed.) Approval Criteria: In order for a waiver request to be approved, the applicant must meet all of the following criteria: (1) The applicant has provided compensating public benefits in accordance with the request in Table 17.2-2, and
(2) That the granting of such application will not materially affect the health or safety of persons residing or working in the neighborhood and will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to property or improvements of the neighborhood. It is staff s opinion that the proposed waiver to parking would impact the people working within the proposed development. The request to reduce parking could also have an impact on other businesses or the park and residential in the area as employees or customers may utilize the parking associated with those developments, or park on public streets where parking would not be allowed. The proposed waiver could have a material affect on the health and safety of those working and residing in the area. The applicant is proposing as compensating benefits for both waivers to parking and the elimination of foundational landscaping, two rows of trees planted off-set at 20 feet on center and two (2) large potted plants at each building entrance. Because this would essentially double the amount of trees along the perimeter next to Coleman Street, Evans Avenue, and Clayton Street, the compensating benefit would be acceptable for one (1) of the required two (2) compensating benefits. Staff would also recommend that the required ground coverage in plant materials be increased from the required 50 percent to 75 percent for the remaining compensating benefit. However, as staff is not supporting the requests to amend the Comprehensive Plan or zoning, this request is not appropriate. RECOMMENDATION: The Community Development and Compliance Department recommends that WAV-01-16 denied and forwarded to the City Council for final consideration. If however, the Planning Commission determined that the proposed waivers are warranted, the staff recommends the following conditions: Planning and Zoning: 1. That, unless otherwise approved through a variance, waiver or other approved method, this development shall comply with all applicable codes and ordinances. 2. The applicant shall provide compensating public benefit as set forth below: a. Two (2) rows of trees shall be provided at 20 feet on center next to Coleman Street, Evans Avenue, and Clayton Street. The two (2) rows of trees shall be off-set, and each tree must be 24 inch box or larger. b. Seventy-five (75) percent of ground coverage shall be for all landscaped areas. c. Two (2) large potted plants with an automatic irrigation systems to the potted
plants shall be provided at each building entrance. 3. Prior to issuance of a building permit, the applicant shall submit to the City for review and approval a parking study that supports the reduction in parking. Should the parking study support a lesser reduction in parking, the applicant shall provide the parking as supported by the parking study. 4. The waiver shall become null and void should the City Council not approve the associated requests (AMP-02-16 and ZN-03-16) amending the Comprehensive Plan and Reclassifying the subject site. ATTACHMENTS: Public Works Memorandum Fire Prevention Memorandum Clark County Department of Aviation Letter Table 17.12-2 (Compensating Public Benefits Schedule for Waivers) Letter of Intent Site Plan Landscaping Plan Building Elevations Clark County Assessor s Map Location and Zoning Map