ITEM NO. 8:              PRELIMINARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR AUTO DEALERSHIP; SOUTHWEST CORNER OF 33RD STREET AND IOWA STREET (PGP)

 

PDP-04-02-04:  Preliminary Development Plan for an auto dealership.  This proposed commercial development contains approximately 0.57 acre.  The property is generally described as being located at the southwest corner of 33rd Street and Iowa Street.  Submitted by Paul Werner Architects, LLC, for Auto Exchange incorporated.

 

STAFF PRESENTATION

Mr. Patterson introduced the item, a preliminary development plan for a used car lot and accompanying offices on the corner of 33rd & Iowa Streets.  He said the existing building on the subject property was intended for demolition and replacement.

 

Staff described the subject property as a long and narrow lot of approximately 0.5 acres.  This was a small lot for commercial development and a lot size waiver had been granted when rezoning was approved a few years ago.  A number of periphery setback waivers were now requested.

 

Mr. Patterson reviewed the issues listed in the Staff Report:

·         The subject property was developed without a plat (prior to annexation into the City), so this preliminary development plan would also serve as the preliminary plat for the property.

·         The adjacent subdivision and development plans were approved with notes on their final development plans that the location of the cross access easement would be determined by the City.

·         The City considered the access shown on the current site plan too close to the intersection of 33rd & Iowa Streets, and recommended – at minimum – that appropriate signage be placed at the access point.  Also recommended was a requirement for an agreement not to protest the formation of a benefit district for improvements to 33rd Street and the intersection of 33rd & Iowa Streets and the placement of a note that the City had the authority to construct a median in 33rd Street in the future.

 

The Staff Report discussed the balance between the City’s preference for additional landscaping at this gateway location and the applicant’s wish for high-visibility of vehicles on display.

 

Staff recommended approval of request with conditions as listed in the Staff Report.  Staff also recommended approval of the requested waivers with a separate motion.

 

Comm. Burress said the Commission was “boxed” into considering a development plan with less than desirable access because the City “did not push hard enough” when the previous property owner chose not to take part in the PCD involving several surrounding properties. 

 

Staff explained the notes and requirements placed on surrounding properties in an attempt to make a future opportunity to correct the 33rd Street access issue.

There was discussion about mechanisms for the City to acquire the right-of-way needed to provide alternate access to a public right-of-way for the subject property, thus allowing the elimination of the existing 33rd Street access.  Comm. Burress suggested the City condemn or purchase the right-of-way outright.  Mr. Patterson described a possible method suggested by the Director of Legal Services which would not require funding.  The City could determine the location for appropriate access, record this determination with the Register of Deeds and wait to see if any of the impacted property owners filed an appeal against the determination with the Board of Zoning Appeals within the regulatory time period. 

 

Comm. Burress referenced the opinion of the City Traffic Engineer and Public Works Director that Iowa Street would remain a 4-lane road and the right-of-way dedicated by this development plan was adequate.  However, Comm. Burress believed Iowa Street would someday have to expand to 6 lanes and asked what the Commission could do to protect their ability to make the 6-lane road improvements in the future.  Staff said the Commission would have to deny the setback waiver along Iowa Street, which would make the lot exceedingly narrow and difficult to develop for any commercial use.

 

Chairman Haase said the Commission was supposed to consider waivers in light of their benefit to the City gained, not according to the applicant’s gain.  He asked Staff what rationale could be used in this case.  Mr. Patterson responded that gains to the City would include the private funding of improvements to this gateway intersection, including landscaping, sidewalks and the replacement of a building that had outlived its economic usefulness.

 

It was suggested that the City would be better served if the waivers were denied and the Commission “held out” for a design that would close the 33rd Street curb cut.  It was understood that this would make the lot unsuitable for the proposed business.

 

APPLICANT PRESENTATION

Paul Werner, Paul Werner Architects, spoke on behalf of the applicant, agreeing it would have simplified the matter if the previous property owner had taken part in the adjacent PCD.  Mr. Werner said access for the property was impacted by the parties in the PCD, including Uno’s, Culver’s and Penney’s.  Uno’s had been agreeable to shared access arrangements, but Culver’s and Penney’s had denied these offers.

 

The applicant agreed with Culver’s that sharing the Culver’s access was a bad idea, but Penney’s refusal to allow access to the internal driveway was problematic.  Mr. Werner explained City’s Legal Department made a determination that the internal driveway easement existed, although it was not clearly defined in the surrounding plats, so in theory the applicant did not need Penney’s permission to use this access.

 

The applicant was confident that the agreement with Uno’s would be successful.  However if this was not the case, Mr. Werner said the project would return with a necessarily worse access design (right-in/right-out) that would have to be approved because there was no other way to provide the required access.

 

The applicant was amendable to Staff’s conditions, including the Agreement Not to Protest requirement and the note regarding a possible 33rd Street median.

 

Mr. Werner said the proposed use was ideal for this site because the traffic generation would be very low, adding fewer vehicles to the existing problems in this location.    He noted that the right-of-way on Iowa Street, with the requested waiver, matched the adjacent properties to the north and south.

 

There was discussion about alternative businesses that might be able to use this site if the waiver were denied.  Comm. Jennings pointed out that most retail businesses would not fit on the narrow lot because there would be no room for loading docks.  It was established that stock for the car lot would be unloaded in the Uno’s parking area or on the 23rd Street Auto Exchange site.

 

It was verified that no maintenance work would be done on the subject property.

 

PUBLIC HEARING

No member of the public spoke on this item.

 

CLOSING COMMENTS

There were no additional comments from the applicant or Staff.

 

COMMISSON DISCUSSION

Staff was asked to explain the process and impact on right-of-way and setbacks if Iowa Street were widened.  It was discussed that this would require the City to obtain a number of existing buildings and would involve the relocation of existing utilities.

 

Chairman Haase suggested the proposed use was not suitable for this gateway location and commented that a medical office (doctor, dentist, etc.) would be more appropriate and could succeed without the 33rd Street access.  It was discussed that these kinds of uses would generate more traffic than the proposed use.  Comm. Eichhorn noted the cooperation of Uno’s to this point and wondered if that would change if a different use (that would generate more traffic) were proposed.

 

Staff responded to questioning that the lot was zoned to allow any commercial use except automotive repair and few of these uses would generate less traffic than the one proposed.

 

Comm. Burress asked Staff to develop language that could be added to the development plan as a condition that would communicate the Commission’s opinion that the City should try to acquire the right-of-way needed to provide alternate access and close the 33rd Street access.

 

Comm. Erickson said she understood the visibility needs of the proposed use, but she felt that more landscaping was needed because of the properties gateway location.  The applicant’s representative said this was a fair requirement.

 

 

ACTIONS TAKEN

Waivers

Motioned by Comm. Eichhorn to approve waivers #1-5 as presented in the Staff Report.  Comm. Burress asked that waiver #1 be split out into a separate motion.  Comm. Angino seconded the revised motion to approve waivers #2-5 as follows:

 

  1. Waiver from required 30’ to proposed 28’ for peripheral setback from 33rd Street;
  2. Waiver from required 30’ to proposed 25’ for peripheral setback from intersection of Iowa Street and 33rd Street;
  3. Waiver from required 30’ to proposed 2’ for peripheral setback from the west side of the property adjacent to an existing planned unit development; and
  4. Waiver from required 30’ to proposed 4’ for peripheral setback from the south side of the property adjacent to an existing planned unit development.

 

Motion carried 7-1, with Comm.’s Angino, Burress, Eichhorn, Erickson, Jennings, Krebs and Riordan voting in favor.  Chairman Haase voted in opposition and Student Comm. Brown voted in favor.

 

Motioned by Comm. Angino, seconded by Comm. Eichhorn to approve waiver #1 as follows:

 

  1. Wavier from required 30’ to proposed 15’ for peripheral setback from Iowa Street.

 

          Motion carried 5-3, with Comm.’s Angino, Eichhorn, Erickson, Jennings and Riordan voting in favor.  Comm.’s Burress, Haase and Krebs voted in opposition.  Student Comm. Brown voted in favor.

 

Development Plan

Motioned by Comm. Angino to approve the Preliminary Development Plan for Auto Dealership with the conditions listed in the Staff Report and with the additional condition:

 

5. Additional landscaping shall be placed on the eastern property line according to the landscape design guidelines for gateway development.

 

Motioned by Comm. Burress, seconded by Comm. Eichhorn to amend the motion to include the following condition:

 

  1. Existing 33rd Street access shall be eliminated if the City can provide alternate access to a public right-of-way.

 

          Motion to amend carried 7-1, with Comm.’s Burress, Eichhorn, Erickson, Haase, Jennings, Krebs and Riordan voting in favor.  Comm. Angino voted in opposition and Student Comm. Brown voted in favor.

 

Motion on the floor was to approve the Preliminary Development Plan for Auto Dealership and forward it to the City Commission with a recommendation for approval, based on the findings of fact presented in the body of the Staff Report and subject to the following revised conditions:

 

  1. Filing of a cross access easement across Lot 3A, Dunigan Subdivision;
  2. Provision of the following revisions to the Preliminary Development Plan:
    1. Note the recorded book and page numbers referenced for the cross access easement from the subject property across the Pizzeria Uno Chicago Bar and Grill property (Lot 3 Dunigan Subdivision);
    2. Graphically show the access easement from the subject property to the public street;
    3. For note No. 16, change 1 space/400 SF to 1 space/200 SF of floor area of commercial use;
    4. Verify sanitary sewer line location and reflect accordingly;
    5. Reflect all utility, sanitary sewer, and access easements (may be separate instrument);
    6. Access to the sanitary sewer main is greater than 15’ through easements. The public sanitary sewer will need to be extended from its actual current location to a point in which the service line can properly access the main;
    7. Provide a trash enclosure area or appropriate trash service note to the approval of the Solid Waste Division;
    8. Provide ADA sidewalk access where the sidewalk crosses the one-way exit lane;
    9. Show the location and identify any waiver(s) granted by the Planning Commission;
    10. Provide a note on the Preliminary Development Plan that states, “The City shall have the right to manage traffic along 33rd Street and should operation and/or safety problems develop in the future the City may construct a median along 33rd Street;” and
    11. Show proposed signage on an elevation.
  3. Provision of an Agreement Not to Protest the Formation of a Benefit District for future improvements for 33rd Street and the intersection of 33rd & Iowa Street;
  4. Provision of an executed agreement with the Southern Star Central Gas Company to permit and define type of encroachment over the Gas Pipeline Easement;
  5. Additional landscaping shall be placed on the eastern property line according to the landscape design guidelines for gateway development; and
  6. Existing 33rd Street access shall be eliminated if the City can provide alternate access to a public right-of-way.

 

          Motion carried 5-3, with Comm.’s Angino, Eichhorn, Erickson, Jennings and Riordan voting in favor.  Comm.’s Burress, Haase and Krebs voted in opposition.  Student Comm. Brown voted in favor.