Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986 08-28 PCP Planning Commission Information Sheet Application No. 86031 Applicant: Codeco, Inc. Location: 5615 Xerxes Avenue North Request: Appeal This application is an appeal from an administrative determination that a drop-in day care operation is not permitted in the Westbrook Mall Shopping Center. The property in question is zoned C2 and is bounded by County Road 10 on the north, by Xerxes Avenue North on the east, by Baker's Square restaurant and First Brookdale Bank on the south, and by Brooklyn Boulevard on the west. The appellant, in a letter dated August 12, 1986 (attached), proposed to operate a drop-in child care service at Westbrook Full in the building south of Dayton's Home store. The proposed use would involve care for up to five (5) hours of children 2-12 years of age between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. (Additional information regarding the proposed use is contained in the appellant's correspondence, attached). Staff issued a letter to the appellant on August 14, 1986 denying the proposed use on the grounds that the only reference to a child care use in Section 35- 322 of the Zoning Ordinance (uses allowed in the C2 zone) was Subsection 3q (Group day care) which specifically prohibits day care centers from locating in shopping centers (see staff letter and section 35-322.3q attached). The appellant, Mr. Gary Code, has in turn filed an appeal under the provisions of Section 35-251 of the Zoning Ordinance (attached) and has submitted a letter dated August 14, 1986- setting forth the case that a drop-in center should be treated differently than a traditional day care center. The letter points out that the hours (9 a.m. to midnight on weekends) are more similar to the hours of retail and entertainment uses than traditional day care. Mr. Code also points out that children stay no more than 5 hours and come on an irregular basis. Parents do not sign up children in advance. No meals would be provided, though bag lunches may be brought in. Parents take with them an individual pager by which they may be contacted in the event of an emergency. Mr. Code concludes his letter by urging that the City change its ordinance to distinguish between drop-in child care and traditional, regularly-scheduled day care. Staff would certainly prefer this approach over allowing day-care centers as such in shopping centers. We would accept the reasoning that temporary care of young children on an irregular basis does not require an outside play area and may, therefore, be allowed to locate in enclosed spaces in retail centers or office buildings. The present ordinance makes no distinction between various types of child care and that is why the proposed use had to be denied for the Westbrook Mall location. In discussions with the appellant, we have inquired as to the manner in which the State of Minnesota licenses drop-in child care centers as compared to the licensing of group day care centers. The appellant has indicated that the State will license drop-in centers without outdoor play areas. Our concern is that the license is distinguishable from a standard day care license, that a facility such as proposed cannot receive a general day care license from the State and evolve into a traditional day care center, contrary to the intent of the Brooklyn Center Zoning Ordinance. 8-28-86 -1- Application No. 86031 continued We have contacted the licensing division at the Minnesota Department of Public Welfare regarding the licensing of such drop-in centers in other locations. Such operations receive a general day care license with certain stipulations as to the operation, listed on the license application. This means that the State license is a general control device that has the degree of specificity desired by the City only in concert with the license application. If the City is willing to allow drop-in centers in shopping centers, a copy of both the State license and the application will have to be regularly submitted to the City to assure that the program continues to provide only temporary, non-regular child care. A draft ordinance amendment is attached for consideration by the Commission. In conclusion, staff recommend that the appeal either be denied in total, or that an ordinance amendment be adopted to list drop-in child care separately as a permitted use in the C2 zoning district. We do not recommend that the present provisions for group day care centers as a special use in the C1 and C2 zones (Sections 35-322.3q and 35-320.3b) be either altered or relocated in the ordinance. We also, of course, do not recommend that the appeal be granted in the form of finding drop-in child care to be more similar to some other permitted use listed in Section 35-322. 8-28-86 -2- Planning Commission Information Sheet Application No. 86032 Applicant: Spiritual Life Ministries, Inc. Location: 1800 Freeway Boulevard Request: Special Use Permit The applicant requests special use permit approval to operate a religious training center in a portion of the industrial building at 1800 Freeway Boulevard. The building and parcel in question are zoned I-2 and are bounded by the Northwestern Bell service building on the north, by James Avenue North on the east, by Freeway Boulevard on the south, and by Shingle Creek Parkway on the west. Both religious and educational uses are comprehended in the I-1 zoning district in Section 35-330, Subsection 3f of the Zoning Ordinance (attached). That section incorporates Section 35-322.1h (educational uses) and indirectly Section 35-320.1e (religious uses) from the C2 and Cl zoning districts. Applicant's Submittal The applicant has submitted written material describing the proposed use and a floor plan of the tenant space showing seating in the main room on the south end and classroom and office space on the north end of the space. The written material indicates that all assembly use of the tenant space would be during the evening on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. The heaviest use of the space would be Sunday evenings when a total attendance of 125 persons is expected. Evening classes would draw 75 to 100 persons, mostly adults. Office hours would be 9;00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. , Monday through Friday, the time of lowest utilization. The applicant, Judy Ellingson, has requested that the parking requirement for the proposed use be calculated similarly to a church which does not provide parking for concurrent use of all building space, but for the main assembly area. She also points out that the evening time schedule for most activities should not conflict with the normal use of the remainder of the industrial building. A proposed floor plan of the tenant space has also been submitted. The plan shows potential seating in the main assembly room of approximately 260 persons. Another 15 or so may be assumed in the stage area (orchestra, choir, piano, organ, and lecturn or pulpit) . - If this is the, only room used on Sunday evening, the -peak assembly use might, therefore, be as high as 275 persons. Staff Analysis Non-industrial uses are permitted in the I-1 zoning district under Subsection 3f of Section 35-330 of the Zoning Ordinance, provided they meet the standards of Section 35-220 and provided they are compatible and complementary to other land uses in the district and are of comparable intensity to permitted I-1 district uses (See Section 35-330 attached) . The main questions to be addressed with this application appear to be concerning parking requirements and general intensity of use. a) Parking Accepting for the moment the applicant's request that only the main assembly room be used to calculate required parking, and accepting the seating plan with a potential attendance of 275 persons, the parking requirement may tentatively be set at 92 stalls. (It should be noted that the proposed use would occupy the space formerly occupied by Viking Gym which required 43 spaces) . The balance of the uses within the industrial building at 1800 Freeway Boulevard require a total of 152 spaces. There are 212 spaces on the site. To this maybe added a potential of approximately 71 spaces at the northwest corner of the site which have never been striped or 8-28-86 _1_ Application No. 86032 continued delineated. If additional classrooms and offices are included in the total parking requirement, approximately 20 additional stalls could be required (5 office and 15 for other classrooms) . A maximum case parking requirement would, therefore, appear to be about 112 spaces. Added to the requirement for existing uses within building, a total of 264 spaces is required. This falls within the 293 spaces possible on the site. Some written guarantee that the additional spaces will be striped and delineated should be required. b) Use Intensity Nonindustrial special uses in the I-1 district are subject to the standards set forth in Section 35-220, Subdivision 2, and those in Section 35-330, Subdivision 3f (attached) . If there is a distinction in these sets of standards, it may be that the general special use standards in Section 35-220 are concerned with the impact of a proposed use on the spatial realities of parcels, streets and land uses, while the standards of Section 35-330 are more concerned with the impact of a proposed use on the character of a particular zoning district (I-1) . Both sets of standards are concerned with traffic generated and how it will be accommodated on and off the site. The proposed use is certainly somewhat atypical in the Industrial Park. One seldom visualizes an industrial building as the setting of a religious training center. However, the function of a zoning review is not concerned particularly with the thoughts which may occur to those who use the land, but with whether the proposed use will threaten either the private investments which neighbor it or the public investments which serve it. In this case, we conclude there is no real damage posed to adjacent properties or to the Industrial Park generally by the proposed training center. Other uses have been permitted in the Industrial Park which have at least an assembly aspect to them: ie. the meeting rooms and banquet facilities at the Ramada Hotel, Arlene Krolls' dance studio in Shingle Creek Plaza, and to a lesser extent the restaurant and live entertainment uses permitted at Chuck Muer's restaurant. Absent a shortage of parking or other threat to the environment, there seems no good reason to deny a use which is conprehended among those listed in Section 35-330.3f. It should be acknowledged, however, that the proposed use, even more than the previous gymnasium use, signals a growing demand for the location at Shingle Creek Parkway and Freeway Boulevard for uses more than industrial. The proposed training center is perhaps more in keeping with the more intense uses south of Freeway Boulevard or west of Shingle Creek Parkway. The evening hours of the use will tend to complement the predominantly daytime hours of most uses in the Industrial Park, but are consistent with a number of other special uses in the area (Ramada, Chuck Muer's,Earle Brown Bowl, etc). Recommendation Altogether, the proposed training center use appears acceptable in this location and approval of the special use permit is recommended, subject to at least the following conditions: 1. Tenant improvement plans are subject to review and approval by the Building Official with respect to applicable codes prior to the issuance of permits. 2. The special use permit is subject to all applicable codes, ordinances, and regulations and any violation thereof shall be grounds for revocation. 8-28-86 -2- Application No. 86032 continued 3. The special use permit is issued to the applicant as operator of the religious training center and is nontransferable. (This condition does not prevent a change of ownership or management of Spiritual Life Ministries, Inc. , but applies to any operation wishing to use the space which is not a continuation of the operation proposed under this application) . 4. The owner of the property shall enter into a deed restriction guaranteeing the striping and delineating of up to 71 parking stalls at the northwest corner of the site upon a determination by the City that parking demand on the site exceeds the available number of parking spaces. Said deed restriction shall be executed and filed at the County prior to the issuance of building permits. The plan for striping and delineating parking stalls shall be subject to review and approval by the Zoning Official. 5. Special use permit approval is exclusive of all signery which is subject to the provisions of Chapter 34 of the City Ordinances. 8-28-86 -3- 1 1 Planning Commission Information Sheet Application No. 86033 Applicant: Lombard Properties Location: Shingle Creek Business Center Central Lot Request: Site and Building Plan The applicant requests site and building plan approval to construct a plaza with two pools, a pavillion in the central parking lot of the Shingle Creek Business Center complex, west of Shingle Creek Parkway and north of Freeway Boulevard. The property in question is zoned I-1 and is bounded on the north by RCM Plaza and the Spec. 11 building, on the east by the Parkway Place office-industrial building, on the south by vacant I-1 zoned land, on the southwest by the Ramada Hotel, and on the west by vacant I-1 zoned land. The proposed plaza is an aesthetic improvement to the central parking lot and does not constitute a separate use requiring parking spaces, etc. The plaza is to be located along the south side of Tract C, R.L.S. No. 1564 (the northerly of the two tracts which contain the central parking lot). It is approximately 54' wide north to south and 270' long east to west. A perimeter planting bed varying in width from 5' to 12' shields the central paved plaza from cars parked to the north and south. The plantings include 10 Honeylocust trees, 7 Japanese Tree Lilacs, 5 Radiant Crabs, a Red Maple, and 6 Colorado Spruce. In addition, a number of shrubs are proposed, including Broadmoor and Sea Green Junipers approximately 4' apart in the perimeter planting bed. Spirea shrubs are also indicated in the northerly planting bed and near the pavilion. The plaza area is to contain a 20' square pavilion on the eastern end cantilevered over a large reflecting pool about 75' long and 12' to 24' wide. At the west end of the plaza is to be a fountain with vertical acrylic cylinders (similar to the fountain at Peavey Plaza) flowing into a smaller pool. In the center of the plaza six picnic tables are to be located. Benches are provided in appropriate locations near the water features. A sidewalk is also planned to run south of the plaza toward the future office site at the northwest corner of Freeway Boulevard and Shingle Creek Parkway. The remainder of Tract C, R.L.S. 1564 will be devoted to parking spaces except for greenstrip areas separating the parking lot from the private drive serving the interior of the business center known as Parkway Circle. Part of the lot is already paved and the remainder should be completed this year. The City holds a financial guarantee for its completion and the possible construction of a ramp. The fact that the plaza area will reduce the number of stalls in the central lot by 64 increases somewhat the likelihood that a parking ramp will be constructed. However, this is offset by the fact that the Spec. 12 site (west of the lot) will no longer be allocated spaces from the central lot (See application No. 86034). One concern of the plan for the central lot is the narrowness of the greenstrip adjacent to Parkway Circle. Most commercial and industrial parking lots are separated from public streets by approximately 15' of boulevard and 15' of greenstrip. In the winter, this generally allows for snow storage without kicking the snow from pavement to pavement. In this case, however, some portions of the central lot will be separated from the private road by a greenstrip of only 7' width without any boulevard. Since the lot is fairly large and the roadway is over 40' wide, it is obvious that there will be inadequate space for snow storage on the site. 8-28-86 -1- Application No. 86033 continued In the near future, the snow will likely be stored on the central lot. However, as occupancy of even existing buildings reaches 100%, there will be greater demand for all the parking spaces on the central lot. As a result, the snow will have to be removed from the site or cars may begin to park on the private road. Staff recommend that the private road be designated entirely as a fire lane to prevent this second option from developing. Altogether, the plans for the plaza area and central lot are in order and approval is recommended, subject to at least the following conditions: 1. Building, plumbing, mechanical and electrical plans for the pavilion, fountain, and pools are subject to review and approval by the Building Official with respect to applicable codes prior to the issuance of permits. 2. Grading, drainage, utility and berming plans are subject to review and approval by the City Engineer prior to the issuance of permits. 3. B612 curb and gutter shall be provided around all parking and driving areas. 4. Underground irrigation shall be provided in all landscaped areas to facilitate site maintenance. 5• Plan approval is exclusive of all signery which is subject to Chapter 34 of the City Ordinances. 6. An as-built utility survey of the site shall be submitted to the City Engineer prior to release of the financial guarantee for the central lot. 7. The private road known as Parkway Circle shall be designated as a fire lane in its entirety. 8-28-86 -2- Planning Commission Information Sheet Application No.86034 Applicant: Lombard Properties Location: 6601 Shingle Creek Parkway Request: Special Use Permit The applicant requests amended special use permit approval for off-site accessory parking for RCM Plaza, Parkway Place, and Ramada Hotel on the central parking lot at the Shingle Creek Business Center north of Freeway Boulevard and west of Shingle Creek Parkway. The Spec. 12 ,site (vacant land west of the central lot) will no longer have an allocation of stalls from the central lot. The land in question consists of two parcels, Tract C, R.L.S. No. 1564 and Tract C, R.L.S. No. 1572 which are zoned I.I. and are located roughly in the middle of the Shingle Creek Business Center. Existing Allocation The existing allocation of spaces in the central lot was established under Application No. 84010. That application acknowledged a plan that provided 340 spaces in the central lot on grade and the potential of 157 additional stalls through the construction of a ramp on the northerly portion of the central lot. The existing allocation of stalls in the central lot, therefore, totals 497 spaces. This total is distributed as follows: Ramada Hotel 61 spaces Spec. 11 102 spaces RCM Plaza 202 spaces Parkway Place 82 spaces Spec. 12 50 spaces Total 497 spaces Causes for Change What is happening under the proposed amendment is roughly the following: 1. The Spec. 12 site is being removed from central parking allocation. 2. The allocation for Parkway Place is being increased because of greater office occupancy in the building (approximately 70%) than comprehended in the original approval (50%) . 3• The new plaza area proposed under Application No. 86033 is reducing the number of on-site stalls in the central parking lot from 340 to 276. 4. The allocation for the RCM Plaza is being significantly reduced because the building is smaller than planned in early 1984 and more stalls have been provided on the RCM site. New Allocation The result of the above changes is a new allocation as follows: 8-28-86 _1_ Application No. 86034 continued Building Spaces Required Provided On-Site Off-Site Central Lot Shingle Creek II 152 50 102 RCM Plaza 226 176 50 Parkway Place 254 156 98 Ramada Hotel 443 428 65 315 Ramp The new allocation of 315 total stalls exceeds the new central lot layout of 276 stalls by 39 stalls. More than 39 stalls would have to be provided in the ramp since some surface stalls would be lost in the construction of the ramp. There is presently an agreement between Lombard Properties and the City stipulating that Lombard will construct a 185 stall ramp (157 net additional stalls) upon a determination by the City that parking demand in this complex requires it. Although the ramp comprehended in this agreement exceeds the requirements of the revised allocation, it is recommended that it be continued in its present form at least until all the buildings served by the allocation are occupied and fully operational. Future Considerations Lombard Properties is presently pursuing acquisition of the southerly portion of the MTC site. This land could also be used as off-site lot for buildings in the Shingle Creek Business Center. However, any buildings using that site would be limited to that site for off-site accessory parking and must also be within 800' of the stalls to be dedicated for its use. The MTC land is, therefore, more limited in its usefulness. Another consideration for the future is the prospective development of a five storey office building on the vacant parcel at the northwest corner of Shingle Creek Parkway and Freeway Boulevard. That building will likely require an allocation of stalls from the central lot, perhaps more than the 50 allocated to RCM Plaza which will probably shift eventually to the MTC excess land. The Spec. 12 site, as a consequence, will provide the last escape valve to finally accomodate total parking requirements with or without a ramp. It should be clear, therefore, that the proposed allocation is an interim measure that will likely be changed again when the office site and building plan is submitted for approval. In view of its interim nature, we recommend that the existing ramp agreement be kept intact to allow greater flexibility in the planning of the respective sites remaining in the Shingle Creek Business Center. Recommendation Approval of the proposed parking allocation for the central lot is recommended, subject to at least the following conditions: 1. The revised declaration establishing parking rights for the Ramada Hotel, RCM Plaza, Parkway Place, and Shingle Creek II shall be reviewed and approved by the Zoning Official and the City Attorney prior to filing at the County. 2. The performance agreement and financial guarantee for the central lot and the agreement between the City and Lombard Properties for the possible construction of a ramp within that lot shall remain in effect until all need for the ramp has been removed by approved and construction developments within the Shingle Creek Business Center. 8-28-86 -2-