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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes__________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 1 June 20, 2017 PLAN COMMISSION MINUTES June 20, 2017 PRESENT: David Borsuk, Thomas Fojtik, John Hinz, Steve Cummings, Kathleen Propp, John Kiefer, Michael Ford EXCUSED: Ed Bowen, Jeffrey Thoms, Robert Vajgrt STAFF: Darryn Burich, Director of Planning Services; Brian Slusarek, Assistant Planner; James Rabe, Director of Public Works; Deborah Foland, Recording Secretary Chairperson Fojtik called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm. Roll call was taken and a quorum declared present. The minutes of June 6, 2017 were approved as presented. (Hinz/Borsuk) I. ACCEPT SIDEWALK & TRAFFIC SIGNAL EASEMENT AT 606 EAST MURDOCK AVENUE The City of Oshkosh is requesting acceptance of a sidewalk, traffic signal/base/pole, and conduit easement for installation of sidewalk, traffic signals, and related equipment. Mr. Slusarek presented the item and reviewed the site and surrounding area and discussed the current land use of the property which is industrial. He reviewed the site plan for the proposed easement and discussed the reason for the request and the dimensions of the easement area. There was no discussion on this item. Motion by Propp to approve acceptance of an easement for property located at 606 E. Murdock Avenue. Seconded by Borsuk. Motion carried 7-0. II. ACCESS CONTROL VARIANCE TO ALLOW REDUCED SPACING OF DRIVEWAYS AT 2500 BLOCK HARRISON STREET The petitioner is requesting an access control variance to permit a 77 foot separation between driveways, where municipal code requires a 125 foot separation. Mr. Slusarek presented the item and reviewed the site and surrounding area as well as the area proposed for the driveway placement. He reviewed the site plan and discussed the separation requirements for driveway accesses and the reason for the variance request. He also discussed the use of the site for a personal storage facility which will have minimal traffic volume and the existing utility pole that would need to be removed for the driveway to meet the minimum separation requirements of the zoning ordinance for placement without granting a variance. __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 2 June 20, 2017 There was no discussion on this item. Motion by Borsuk to approve an access control variance to allow reduced spacing of driveways for property located at the 2500 block of Harrison Street. Seconded by Kiefer. Motion carried 7-0. III. APPROVAL OF A GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR A MULTI-TENANT RETAIL/OFFICE USE LOCATED ON THE 1000 BLOCK OF N. WASHBURN STREET The applicant requests approval of a General Development Plan for the construction of a multi- tenant retail/office use located on the 1000 block of N. Washburn Street. Mr. Slusarek presented the item and reviewed the site and surrounding area as well as the land use and zoning classifications in this area. He discussed the proposal for the construction of three commercial structures on the subject site which is consistent with the City’s Comprehensive Plan and is a permitted use in the underlying zoning district and meets the requirements of the planned development overlay. The project is proposed to be constructed in two phases and would be utilized for retail and commercial uses. He discussed the entrances, parking area, and access drives for the development and reviewed the conceptual site plan. He also discussed the internal circulation and pedestrian accesses as well as the number of parking stalls which will exceed the maximum number of stalls allowed by code. He reviewed the ground signage proposed for the site, the conceptual landscape plan, and the landscape islands in the parking lot that do not meet code requirements. He stated that final plans for all aspects of the development would be reviewed at the time of the specific implementation plan submittal. He discussed the storm water management plans which would require approval by the Department of Public Works during the site plan review process. Building elevations have not yet been submitted but would require approval when the specific implementation plan is reviewed. He also reviewed the conditions recommended for this request. Ms. Propp stated that the number of parking stalls seems excessive as it is more than twice the amount permitted by the zoning ordinance. Mr. Burich stated that Ed Bowen was the petitioner for the request and has not yet arrived but he would be able to address this concern. He further stated that it may be due to the fact that they are confined to particular footprints for the placement of the structures related to the other developed sites adjacent to this parcel and this development would still require approval of site details at the time of the specific implementation plan submittal. Mr. Borsuk questioned if the building designs would come back for review at the time of the specific implementation plan approval. Mr. Burich responded affirmatively and stated that this item was a general development plan only and the process is meant to identify concerns that may be noted so the petitioner would have adequate time to address these issues prior to the submittal of the Specific Implementation Plan. __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 3 June 20, 2017 Mr. Borsuk stated that he had concerns regarding the appearance of the structures from both Highway 41 and N. Washburn Street and that the petitioner should be aware that the Commission had higher expectations of what the elevations should look like from the street in this heavily traveled area. Mr. Burich discussed other developments in this vicinity that had similar concerns when constructed. Mr. Borsuk discussed that this parcel is within the Highway 41 corridor and the structures would be facing the street side and therefore should require something more extensive than usual for aesthetic purposes. He also questioned if with the development of a banking facility on the site if a traffic study had been completed to address concerns with stacking issues. Mr. Burich responded that the stacking for the bank facility would come back into the site within the drive aisles contained on the parcel and should meet code requirements without the necessity of the completion of a traffic study. Mr. Cummings commented that the parking seems excessive due to the size of the stores as some of the uses may be office and not retail uses. He thought that the parking layout may be related to the fact that some of the site may contain contaminated soils due to its prior use. Mr. Burich indicated that the developer will have to move forward with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources regarding any site contamination and storm water management concerns related to this development. Mr. Cummings questioned what the timeline was for the development. Mr. Burich responded that the petitioner is moving forward with the general development plan to initiate the project and the Specific Implementation Plan may be coming forward as soon as possible most likely in the next few months. He further stated that the parking concerns will need to be addressed prior to the final plans coming forward. Ms. Propp again questioned the need for the excessive amount of parking on the site. Ed Bowen, 601 Oregon Street, petitioner for the request, stated that this was the general development plan only and is just the initial idea for the site. He discussed the parking issues with both his partners in the development and city staff and the number of parking stalls will most likely be reduced prior to the submission of the Specific Implementation Plan. He felt that they would be open to conditions to alter the number of parking stalls and that the nature of the site is unusual and is restricted as to what can be placed on the site and where it can be located in relation to the number of buildings constructed, the amount of building square footage and position. He stated that he understood the need to meet the parking thresholds as well as the need to design the site to meet with these other criteria such as the square footage that is dictated for the size of the structures in agreement with previous development components. __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 4 June 20, 2017 Mr. Burich indicated that the Commission was not approving a conditional use permit for the number of parking stalls allowed at this time which would be required as currently submitted and that the petitioner will need to find ways to reduce the number of stalls and provide more green space on the site. Mr. Cummings discussed the possibility of the use of the property as a landfill in the past and the ramifications of this previous use. Mr. Bowen discussed what may have been buried on the site previously and that they have performed the digging of test pits for composition verification and have completed soil borings to confirm if contamination exists on the property. From the results of the tests thus far, it does not appear that the site is contaminated however some locations are appropriate for parking lot purposes but not for the construction of buildings. He further discussed the cleanup of the site and the further research to be performed to verify the condition of the property. Mr. Cummings questioned what the timeline was for this development. Mr. Bowen responded that the southeast structure is already in the stage of at lease and the northwest building is also at lease for a potential user and that they would need to be in the ground by this summer for site preparation. He does not yet have a timeline for Phase II of the development however he is looking at late this year and early next year for the first phase and possibly Phase II at the end of next summer and occupancy in the following year. Mr. Borsuk discussed how the development is going to be viewed from N. Washburn Street and Highway 41 in relation to architectural detail and landscaping as this was a highly visible area and aesthetics for this site was of great importance to the community. Mr. Bowen discussed the development of Dick’s Sporting Goods and Petsmart which are big box stores that have designated building design plans and that the tenants for this development would be small users that have less leverage on building elevation requirements. He further discussed the new zoning ordinance requirements that remove some of the choice for architectural design as there are more components that are required to meet code standards and fewer choices to be made regarding this issue. He assured the Commission that full building elevations would be provided at the time of the specific implementation plan submittal. Ms. Propp commented that she looked at the Washburn Street side of the Dick’s Sporting Goods development and is not impressed by its appearance as they met the required standards only and she was hoping that this development would be more aesthetically pleasing. Mr. Bowen continued discussion regarding the big box store requirements for their building construction due to its layout and company design and the reasons for these requirements. Mr. Fojtik questioned if the other buildings in this vicinity block the view of this development from the street. __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 5 June 20, 2017 Mr. Bowen responded that the view from the Panera Bread development may block the view of this development however the site will be highly visible at this location. Mr. Borsuk stated that the city is told that development is confined to certain designs by big box store requirements and discussed the issue that they can alter these designs in other communities if required by code standards. He felt that staff should reach out to the trade associations on how to deal with this situation as national chains have multiple designs for their stores that can be utilized and he felt that legitimate requests for architectural design can be made of these types of developments. Mr. Burich discussed different communities and different requirements for building standards in all areas and that the city has the ability to add conditions to address these concerns regarding aesthetics however some developments may move to another community if the requirements in this area are too restrictive compared to other locations. Mr. Cummings agreed with Mr. Borsuk regarding the national chains having the ability to improve the aesthetic qualities of their developments if required and that the recent CVS development is not impressive for such a highly visible location. He further discussed other issues relating to big box developments such as the changes in retail use, issues with challenging assessments of their property, and the large asphalt parking lots that are left behind when the store closes. Mr. Burich continued discussion on this issue and the importance of wanting quality developments in the community however that there are also some developments that may walk away from building in this city if aesthetic requirements are overly prescriptive as they will move to another community in the vicinity and the community has to be prepared to accept that. Mr. Hinz commented that there is a lot of open space between these buildings which could provide area for additional trees to be planted between the buildings and the street to improve the aesthetics of the site. Motion by Borsuk to approve a general development plan for a multi-tenant retail/office use located on the 1000 block of N. Washburn Street with the following conditions: 1) Formal pedestrian access separate and distinct from the vehicle drive lanes be provided connecting the pedestrian crossings at the internal roadway intersection through the subject development to the public sidewalk on N Washburn Street. 2) A Conditional Use Permit be granted to permit the parking facilities to exceed 125% of the development’s minimum number of required parking spaces in conjunction with Specific Implementation Plan review process. 3) Proposed internal parking lot landscape islands meet code requirements upon Specific Implementation Plan review process. Seconded by Hinz. Motion carried 7-0. __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 6 June 20, 2017 IV. THIS ITEM WAS WITHDRAWN FROM THE AGENDA V. PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED CREATION OF TAX INCREMENT FINANCING DISTRICT NO. 33 LAMICO REDEVELOPMENT; DESIGNATION OF BOUNDARIES AND APPROVAL OF PROJECT PLAN Tax Incremental District No. 33 (the “TID” or “District”) is a proposed 5.5 acre blighted area district located on the former Lamico property at 474 Marion Road. Creation of the District is intended to assist with the removal of existing blighted and functionally obsolete structures, environmental remediation, and other site preparation costs to allow for construction of a 140 unit multi-family residential complex oriented towards university student centric housing. Proposed TID No. 33 is encompassed by TIDs Nos. 13 and 21 (partial overlay of 13) and is the last vacant former manufacturing parcel remaining in this historic industrial district outside of the active Mercury Marine property. The City created TID No. 13 to facilitate redevelopment of the Marion Road/Pearl Avenue area and conducted all the land acquisition, relocation, site clearance and preparation, environmental remediation, and infrastructure development in the surrounding area. TID No. 33 represents a departure from the City’s historical development involvement in this area because the developer is conducting all the acquisition, clearance, remediation, etc. at the site to facilitate redevelopment. The City anticipates making total Project Cost expenditures of approximately $3.9 million to facilitate redevelopment within the District. This total is comprised of approximately $3.3 million in potential “pay as you go” development incentives towards the $18 million project. Hard construction costs for the multiple family development are estimated at approximately $11 million. The Project Plan also identifies costs for public utilities and cul-de-sac construction at the ends of both Dawes Street and Riverway Drive as well as pedestrian trail connections through and outside the District to connect with the riverwalk trail to the south. Mr. Burich presented the item and reviewed the site and surrounding area as well as the land use, zoning classifications, and the boundaries of the TID district. He also reviewed the map depicting the other previous TID districts in this area and discussed improvements included in the TID project plan. He discussed the increment associated values to be offset and reviewed the parcel identification map of the area included in the TID boundaries. He also reviewed a map depicting the proposed improvements included with the development of the site that will result from the creation of the TID district and a map depicting the current conditions on the site. He discussed the detailed list of project costs and the cash flow projections and stated that the TID could be closed in 2029 or 2030 which would be earlier than some of the other TID districts created in the past. He reviewed the Internal Rate of Return which would be 4.43% without the TIF and 10.95% with TIF assistance. Mr. Borsuk questioned if in the development agreement there would be a minimal value established for the property. __________________________________ Plan Commission Minutes 7 June 20, 2017 Mr. Burich responded that the approximate land and improvements value would be $15.2 million. Mr. Borsuk then questioned if there would be any guarantee that this value will not be reduced. Mr, Burich replied that with “pay as you go” development incentives. there is no minimum assessed value established and public improvement costs may affect this value. These issues will be addressed with the developer’s agreement, Mr. Borsuk also questioned where the next water tower property would be located. James Rabe, Director of Public Works, stated that the future water tower property would be located at the northeast corner of the site and displayed on the map the area. He explained that there will be a land swap for future area for rebuilding of the water tower in approximately 75 years and that the developer will be acquiring the site where the current water tower is located and the land swap will provide area for the future tower when needed. He indicated that this land exchange is currently being coordinated between the city and the contractor. Motion by Borsuk to approve the creation of Tax Increment Financing District No. 33 Lamico Redevelopment, designation of boundaries and approval of the project plan. Seconded by Kiefer. Motion carried 7-0. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at approximately 4:50 pm. (Hinz/Propp) Respectfully submitted, Darryn Burich Director of Planning Services