HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-17-2017 Planning and Zoning CommissionPLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION
Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 7:00 PM
Formal Meeting
Iowa City City Hall
Emma J. Harvat Hall
410 E. Washington Street
AGENDA:
A. Call to Order
B. Roll Call
C. Public Discussion of Any Item Not on the Agenda
D. Rezoning Item
VAC12-00003: Discussion of an application submitted by Marc Moen for a vacation of the public right-of-
way located adjacent to 114 S Dubuque Street.
E. Conditional Use Item
CU12-00001: Discussion of an application submitted by Croell Redi-Mix Inc. to establish a portable
concrete batch plant to support the paving operations on Interstate 80 on Lot 3 Sharpless Subdivision
located at 5085 Herbert Hoover Highway NE.
F. Consideration of Meeting Minutes: April 30 & May 3, 2012
G. Other
H. Adjournment
& Zonina Commission
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STAFF REPORT
To: Planning and Zoning Commission Prepared by: Karen Howard
Item: VAC12-00003 Date: May 17, 2012
114 S. Dubuque Street
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Applicant: Marc B. Moen
221 E. College St.
Iowa City, IA 52240
Contact Person: Marc Moen
319-430-3010
Requested Action: Right-of-way vacation
Purpose: To allow the applicant to acquire air rights to a portion
of the public right-of-way along City Plaza and
Blackhawk Park to allow the top 13 floors of a
proposed 14-story building to cantilever 4 feet over the
public right-of-way
Location: Public right-of-way adjacent to the property at 114 S.
Dubuque Street.
Property Size: 3240 square feet
Existing Land Use and Zoning: Commercial; CB-10
Surrounding Land Use and Zoning: North: commercial; CB-10
South: commercial; CB-10
East: commercial; CB-10
West: commercial; CB-10
Comprehensive Plan: Central Business District — high density, mixed use,
pedestrian -oriented shopping, office, service,
residential and entertainment area
File Date: April 26, 2012
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The applicant, Marc Moen, is proposing to redevelop the property at 114 S. Dubuque Street by demolishing
the one-story bank building and replacing it with a 14-story mixed -use building, containing retail space on
the ground -level and mezzanine level, 3 floors of Class A office space, and 10 floors of residential dwelling
units. The property is small in size, at 3,240 square feet and has public right-of-way on three sides: City
Plaza to the west; Blackhawk Park to the north, and a public alley to the south. These factors present
unique challenges for redevelopment.
The applicant is requesting vacation of air rights starting at approximately 16 feet, 8" above grade for a 4' x
40' section of public right-of-way in City Plaza that extends along the west property line of the subject
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property and a 4' x 60' section of public right-of-way in Blackhawk Park that extends along the north
property line of the subject property.
The applicant is requesting this vacation of air rights in order to cantilever the proposed new building four
feet over the public right-of-way on both the north and west sides of the property. In the application, the
applicant provides the following reasons as justification for this vacation:
• The cantilever will provide for a superior overall design of the building;
• It will create a much more pedestrian -friendly main floor retail space;
• It will maximize the amount of Class A office space on levels 2, 3, and 4; and
• It will allow for recessed balconies on the residential levels and make the residential floor plans far
more functional and marketable as condominiums.
ANALYSIS:
The public right-of-way is an important resource that provides for the movement of pedestrians and
vehicles, for open space, landscaping, light, air, and views. As an important public resource, requests for
vacations should be carefully considered according to the criteria listed below.
a) Impact on pedestrian and vehicular access and circulation;
b) Impact on emergency and utility vehicle access and circulation;
c) Location of utilities and other easements or restrictions on the property;
d) Impact on access of adjacent private properties;
e) Desirability of right-of-way for access or circulation needs;
f) Any other relevant factors pertaining to the specific requested vacation.
Vehicular and pedestrian circulation and access to private property:
The vacation of air rights will not restrict vehicular circulation because vehicular traffic is not allowed on
City Plaza or Blackhawk Park. Vehicular traffic is only allowed in the alley that abuts the south side of the
building. No cantilever is proposed for the alley side of the building.
Pedestrian circulation will not be impeded by this vacation, since the vacation of air rights starts at about
17 feet above the ground. In effect, the cantilevered building wall will extend four feet over the
pedestrian plaza and the park, and will serve as a sort of canopy that provides pedestrians protection
from inclement weather and shade. Canopies on retail frontages are a common and desired feature as
they allow not only shade and protection for pedestrians, but also prevent reflections on storefront
display windows that allow better views into the interior shop space and protect window displays from
damaging sunlight. While some cantilevered building wall designs could result in a dark, tunnel -like
environment on the pedestrian level, staff finds that in this case given the short length of the building wall
along the main pedestrian route within City Plaza (only 40 feet), the relatively minor depth of the
cantilever at only 4 feet, and the approximate 17-foot height at which the cantilever is proposed will be
sufficient to prevent a tunnel -like environment along City Plaza.
Emergency and utility and service vehicle access:
An access lane for utility and service vehicles is already designated within City Plaza and the vacation of
air rights will not interfere with this access. The alley along the south side of the building also currently
provides access for utility and maintenance and delivery vehicles and the proposed vacation will not
interfere with the functions of the alley.
Location of utilities:
Utility corridors are already established within City Plaza and the alley and this vacation will not change
or impact the location of these utilities.
Impact on access for adjacent properties:
The proposed vacation will not impede access for adjacent properties, since the vacation of air rights
starts more than 16 feet above the ground and will not affect the adjacent alley right-of-way.
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Desirability of right-of-way for access or circulation needs
City Plaza and Blackhawk Park are highly desirable public resources for access to businesses, for
pedestrian circulation in Downtown Iowa City, and for light, air, open space and views. Therefore any
vacation requests within these public rights -of -way should be carefully considered both with regard to
any potential impact on the resource but also whether the vacation will result in a public benefit.
As mentioned above, since the vacation is for air rights, the right-of-way at the pedestrian level will
remain public. Given that the building will project only 4 feet over the right-of-way at a height of nearly 17
feet, the impacts on light, air, and views along the pedestrian plaza and along Blackhawk Park will be
minor. The applicant has provided some visual representations of how the building will look from a
pedestrian level (see attached). Staff finds that the encroachment will not block views of adjacent
businesses or any important vistas within the community.
In most cases, it would not be necessary to vacate the public right-of-way to allow a cantilevered building
design, since such a design could occur within the bounds of the private property by simply recessing
the retail storefront level 4 feet back from the front property line. However, in this case, where the
property is so small, recessing the ground level floor of the building would create a very constrained
retail space when one takes into account all of the ground level floor area that is needed for stairwells,
elevators, lobbies, and the mechanical and fire control rooms. Ensuring quality retail storefront space is
one of the goals in the Central Business District, so allowing this cantilever design will maximize the
amount of retail space possible within this constrained lot, while also providing the pedestrian -friendly
canopy effect mentioned previously in this report. There are several additional public benefits that may
result from this vacation:
One of the economic development goals for the City is to provide new employment opportunities
in the Downtown area. The lack of available Class A office space has been identified as an
impediment to achieving this goal. The vacation will allow an additional 1200 square feet of
Class A office space on the 2"d, Td and 4th floors of the building.
The proposed vacation will also allow enough additional living space in the residential units to
allow the balconies to be recessed within the building wall, creating a more aesthetically
pleasing building design and more usable outdoor space for tenants without sacrificing quality
interior living space needed to attract permanent residents to Downtown, which is another
economic development goal for the City.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff finds that the proposed vacation meets the criteria for right-of-way
vacations as outlined in the City Code. Therefore, staff recommends approval of VAC12-00003, a request
to vacate air rights starting at approximately 16 feet, 8 inches above grade for a 4' x 40' section of public
right-of-way in City Plaza that extends along the west property line of the subject property and a 4' x 60'
section of public right-of-way in Blackhawk Park that extends along the north property line of the subject
property.
ATTACHMENTS:
• Vacation exhibit
• Conceptual floor plans
• Graphic representations of the proposed building
Approved by:
Robert Miklo, Senior Planner
Department of Planning and Community Development
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CITY OF IOWA CITY
MEMORANDUM
To: Planning and Zoning Commission
From: Andrew Bassman, Planning Intern
Date: May 4, 2012
Re: CU12-00001: Croell Redi-Mix Inc. Conditional Use Application-5085 Herbert
Hoover Highway NE, Lot 3 of Sharpless Subdivision
Croell Redi-Mix Inc. has filed an application for a conditional use permit to establish a
temporary, portable concrete batch plant on a 12.74-acre lot located at 5085 Herbert Hoover
Highway NE. The batch plant would be used to support paving operations on Interstate 80. The
batch plant would cover roughly 8 acres of the property, which is owned by Sharpless Auctions
and would be leased to the applicant. Since the property is located within the City's
extraterritorial review area (Fringe Area B), the County's zoning ordinance requires the City's
review and comment on the application. If opposed by the City Council, a four -fifths majority
vote of the Board of Supervisors would be needed in order to approve the application.
The proposed site is bounded by the Sharpless Auction building to the west, Interstate 80 to the
south, Herbert Hoover Highway NE to the north, and by agricultural land to the east. Access to
the site would be from Herbert Hoover Highway NE, by widening an existing driveway to 85 feet
and adding granular surface material as needed to create a stable roadway. Drives subject to
heavy loads from trucks carrying concrete and delivering raw materials would be constructed to
a six-inch minimum to prevent pumping of subgrade and rutting. Activity from the batch plant
would be surrounded by a berm constructed from existing material stockpiled on the site.
Fringe Area Agreement: The Fringe Area Agreement for Area B states that on the balance of
land in Area B that lies outside Iowa City's projected growth area, agricultural uses are preferred
and until otherwise changed by amending this agreement, this area should be restricted to uses
consistent with a rural/agricultural area as indicated in the Johnson County Land Use Plan. The
Johnson County plan does allow this type of temporary use provided that a conditional use
permit is granted. Since the proposed facility would not be permanent, and the applicant has
indicated that after the construction project on Interstate 80 has been completed, all areas
without vegetation or stabilized with granular material or pavement would be seeded and
vegetation restored, the proposed batch plant does not appear to conflict with the Fringe Area
Agreement. Since this area is outside the City's anticipated growth area, it is also not contrary
to the City's long range Comprehensive Plan.
Environmental measures: The applicant invited comment on the impact of the project from the
Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The application included a letter from the DNR
providing a record of review of protected species, rare natural communities, state lands and
waters in the project area, which included review by state parks, preserves, recreation areas,
fisheries and wildlife personnel. The DNR found no site -specific records that would be impacted
by this project. The applicant has stated that best management practices for sediment and
erosion control, according to the Iowa Storm Water Management Manual, would be used. The
applicant has stated that sediment and erosion stabilization would occur as soon as possible but
not more than 14 days after completion of the activity that disturbs the affected areas.
Water and sewer: The applicant has submitted a storm water site plan. The applicant
addressed issues raised in a review by the Johnson County Soil and Water Conservation
District. The JCSWC review stated that permanent storm water structures would not be needed,
since the facility will be temporary. The applicant has stated that one or two portable toilet
facilities —to accommodate the four to 20 employees working at the site —would be used. The
applicant has stated that wastewater from the operations would be minimal, all water would be
delivered to the site, and water from concrete washout would be contained within washout
areas, which would be excavated and feature stable side slopes. The applicant has also stated
that water spilling around the batch plant would flow to the exiting intakes, which would have
inlet protection installed around them. The applicant has acknowledged the responsibility to use
best management practices as outlined in the storm water pollution prevention plan.
Temporary use: The application form submitted to the County notes that the proposed facility
would be temporary. The general permit for the storm water pollution prevention plan, issued by
the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, is limited to three years. The batch plant must be
removed within 180 days of completion of the construction project.
Dust control: The applicant has stated intent to control dust on the site, but has not indicated
how dust control would be handled. The County should review whatever dust control measures
are being proposed for this facility and be comfortable that this issue is being appropriately
addressed prior to approval of this application.
Staff recommendation
Staff recommends that a letter be forwarded to the Johnson County Board of Adjustment
recommending approval of CU12-00001, a request for a conditional use permit to establish a
temporary, portable concrete batch plant on a 12.74-acre lot located at 5085 Herbert Hoover
Highway NE.
Approved by: .
Robert Miklo, Senior Planner
Attachment
Location map