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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-012 Inf Sheet 3900 Lakebreeze Avenue North Application Filed on 5-17-01 City Council Action Should Be Taken By 7-16-01 (60 Days) Planning Commission Information Sheet Application No. 2001-012 Applicant: Opus Northwest, LLC Location: Northwest Quadrant of Lakebreeze Avenue North and France Avenue North (3900 Lakebreeze Avenue North) Request: Site and Building Plan Approval The applicant, Opus Northwest, LLC, on behalf of Twin Lakes III, LLC (Paul Hyde), is seeking site and building plan approval for the third phase of the redevelopment of the old Joslyn pole yard site and surrounding property to the south. The property in question is zoned I-2 (General Industry) and is legally described as Lot 2, Block 1, Joslyn Second Addition.. This property was recently created through a plat which combined a portion of the old Joslyn pole yard, the Dale Tile site, an off site parking lot for the Northwest Racquet Club, and a portion of the old Davies Water Company property. (Note: The Dale Tile building was demolished this past winter.) The property is bounded on the north by the Soo Line Railroad right of way; on the east by France Avenue right of way; on the south by Lakebreeze Avenue with the Denny’s restaurant site and a part of the Northwest Racquet Club property on the opposite side of the street; and on the west by the site of the Twin Lakes II spec office/industrial building approved under Planning Commission No. 2000-021. The applicant proposes in this third, and final, phase to construct a 109,000 sq. ft. speculative office/industrial building on this 8.7 acre site. The proposed use is a permitted use in the I-2 zoning district. BACKGROUND The Joslyn pole yard property, as the Commission is aware, was listed as a Federal “Super Fund” site and has been undergoing a clean up of the property to an industrial standard under a supervised agreement with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). The clean up has proceeded to a point where the U S Environmental Protection Agency delisted the Joslyn Manufacturing and Supply Company site (except the westerly portion) from the National Priority List. In June of 2000 the MPCA delisted the site (except for the westerly area) from the State of Minnesota’s permanent list of priorities. As with the development of the Wicke’s Distribution Center and the Twin Lakes II building, this proposal can proceed provided development on the former Joslyn site is consistent with the MPCA approval. We have requested the applicant to provide a letter from MPCA acknowledging that their plans are consistent with MPCA findings and recommendations. The applicant has complied with this request and submitted a letter requesting MPCA approval. We have not yet received this letter but expect to do so within the next week, hopefully prior to Planning Commission consideration of this matter. It should also be noted that the City has established a soils Tax Increment Financing district (TIF) to assist in the redevelopment of this property. This was in effect at the time of the Wickes Distribution Center development as well as the Twin Lakes II proposal and will be in effect with the final Phase III of the development plans. This site is also adjacent to a MNDOT planned upgrading of Trunk Highway 100 which includes a new France Avenue/T. H. 100 interchange. This is scheduled to begin in 2003 and will take approximately two years to complete. A connection between Azelia Avenue and France Avenue north of the railroad tracks is scheduled for construction in 2002. With these projects, France Avenue east of this site will no longer cross the Soo Line tracks at its current location. The grade of the railroad tracks at the current France Avenue crossing will be raised because of a new railroad overpass constructed at T. H. 100. This necessitates an at grade crossing westerly of the existing France Avenue, and the Azelia to 50th and France Avenue route has been chosen to meet this need and is being pursued. ACCESS/PARKING Access to the site in question is to be provided at two locations off Lakebreeze Avenue. The easterly access will be to the main parking lot, approximately at the center of the site. This access, at the present time, will be a full movement access. With the construction of the France Avenue overpass/interchange, a median will be constructed along Lakebreeze Avenue that will not allow full access to this site at this location. Access after completion of the median, will be limited to right in and right out only. A shared access with the Phase II building to the west will provide full access to Lakebreeze from these sites even after construction of the median. This will be a truck access as well to the two buildings. The City Engineer has indicated that the proposed easterly access will need to be relocated because it will conflict with an existing City lift station easement at that location. He is also recommending that a turn lane to the shared access be provided at least at the time Lakebreeze is upgraded with the France/T. H. 100 interchange construction. Parking is to be provided for the Phase III site primarily on the south and east sides of the building. The loading docks for the building will be on the north side. Access around the entire building is possible. Parking for this 109,000 sq. ft. facility is based on a combination of the office parking requirement (one space for every 200 sq. ft. of gross floor area) and the industrial parking formula (one space for every 800 sq. ft. of gross floor area). The plan calls for up to 15 percent of the building to be office (16,350 sq. ft.) requiring 82 parking spaces and 85 percent industrial, manufacturing and warehouse space (92,650 sq. ft.) requiring 116 parking spaces. The total parking requirement for this building is, therefore, 198 parking spaces for the entire site. Two hundred sixteen parking spaces are shown on the site plan, seven of which are handicap accessible stalls (a surplus of 18 parking stalls). The Commission may recall that a portion of what is now the Phase III lot was once owned by the Northwest Athletic Club located across Lakebreeze Avenue from this development. In 1986 the City approved Planning Commission Application No. 86003, which consisted of a special use permit to provide off site accessory parking for the racquet and swim club in order to accommodate expansion of the facility. A condition of that approval required a restrictive covenant encumbering 104 parking spaces on the off site lot for the sole use of the racquet and swim club. Such a declaration was executed and filed with the title to the property. This covenant still continues even though the ownership of the property has transferred to Twin Lakes III, LLC. The requirement for the 104 parking spaces must be provided for in this plan. The owner hopes to be able to lift this restriction in the future by possibly acquiring surplus property from the highway project to accommodate this need. In the mean time, they have provided a proof of parking for 107 parking spaces on the north side of the property on a portion of the site that is proposed to be used for allowable outside storage for Toro, who will occupy a portion of the Phase II building (4830 Azelia). This part of the site will be blacktopped and separated by a chain link security fence. We believe it is possible to designate this area, which can support parking for more than 107 vehicles, as a proof of parking provided a proof of parking agreement is executed requiring the owner to provide additional parking upon notice by the City. In the mean time, existing parking can serve as overflow parking for the racquet club at the same time as serving the proposed building. The nature of the parking demand is such, we believe, as to accommodate the peak hour demand for the athletic club which is in the evenings and on weekends. B-612 curb and gutter is required around all driving and parking areas and is noted on the site plan. The loading dock areas are accessed from the common drive access to the west. The building elevations show that the potential for twelve loading docks along the north wall of the building servicing this site. Access to the office areas would be along the south and east elevations where more store front or office accommodations are provided. The plan should indicate that curb and gutter will tie into existing curb and gutter located to the west along the north curb line. GRADING/DRAINAGE/UTILITES The applicant has provided a grading and drainage plan which will be tied into an overall drainage system for this entire area including the Phase II building and the Wickes Distribution Center further to the west. The applicant has received approval from the Shingle Creek Watershed Management Commission for a master plan providing a detention pond to service this overall area. The pond is located along the west side of Azelia Avenue, westerly of the Phase II building site. This overall plan has been previously submitted to the MPCA for their review and is acceptable. Plans call for working around containment areas and monitoring wells on the various sites, which will continue in order to monitor and treat ground water on the old Joslyn pole yard site. Drainage from the Phase III building and site will be handled by storm sewer which will collect water in catch basins, six of which are located on the north side of the site and are connected into an existing 24 inch storm sewer which will convey water to the detention pond area. Water will be collected in the south parking lot area and tied into, through two catch basins, an existing 30 inch storm sewer also which will be conveyed to the detention pond area westerly of Azelia Avenue. Roof drainage for the building is split with a portion being conveyed to the north storm sewer and the other to the south storm sewer. The Shingle Creek Watershed Commission will need to review the details of this plan prior to issuance of building permits. The City Engineer is reviewing the grading, drainage and utility plans and will be offering written comments, which will be attached to this report. Water service to the building will be on the north side connected to existing water main in the France Avenue right of way. Water main will loop this and the neighboring building to the west. Sanitary sewer will be provided on the south side of the building connecting to existing sanitary sewer in the Lakebreeze Avenue right of way. The building is to be equipped with an automatic fire extinguishing system that meets NFPA standards and is required to be monitoring through a central monitoring device. The plan shows the building being serviced by a total of five hydrants, two of which are existing and lay along the property line separating this site from the Phase II site. Three proposed hydrants are shown, one immediately south of the main entrance to the building, another at the southeasterly corner of the site and a third at the northeasterly corner of the building. Further review of the number and location of fire hydrants by the Building Official and Fire Chief is in order. LANDSCAPING The applicant has submitted a landscape plan in response to the landscape point system used to evaluate such plans. This 8.7 acre site requires 552 landscape points. The applicant’s proposal provides 598 points through a variety of plantings. The plan calls for 273 points in shade trees including Fallgold Black Ash, Hackberry, Imperial Locust and Swamp White Oak; 174 points in coniferous trees including Black Hills Spruce and Austrian Pine; 36 landscape points in ornamental trees including Amur Maple, Prairiefire Crabapple, Red Splendor Crabapple and Spring Snow Crabapple; and 115 landscape points in shrubs including Bush Honeysuckle, A. W. Spirea, Little Princess Spirea, Andorra Juniper and Sea Green Juniper. The landscaping is spread uniformly around the west, south and east sides of the site. The north side of the site is mostly blacktop and contains the loading dock area and the previously mentioned storage space for Toro and proof of parking area. The shade trees, coniferous trees and ornamental trees are planted in the green strip areas along the France Avenue and Lakebreeze right of way. Shrubs are contained in planting areas at the main entrance to the parking lot as well as the main entrance to the building. Foundation plantings include shrubs and deciduous, shade and ornamental trees. These are provided for in soded areas around the west, south, east and northeast corner of the building. Island planting areas include shade trees and shrubs in the south parking lot. It should be noted that the actual landscaping point calculation is 645 points. The allowed distribution does not give credit for some of the shade trees planned for the site. All in all the total of landscape points would be 645 while allowable points are 598, both in excess of the minimum required. BUILDING The applicant has provided building elevations and a floor plan for this speculative office/industrial building. The building elevations show the location of loading docks on the north side of the building and a more office/store front exterior along the south and east sides of the building. The exterior finish is to be a precast wall panel with 12 inch reveals and accent bands that are carried around the building. The south elevation provides glass entry doors and a store front type window at various locations. The building is identical to the Phase II building to the west of this site. LIGHTING/TRASH The applicant has submitted a lighting plan indicating compliance with City Ordinances. The plan shows a mixture of freestanding and wall mounted lighting. There are three double fixtured freestanding light poles in the south parking lot and ten wall mounted light fixtures, five of which are on the north wall (loading dock area), three are on the south wall and two on the east wall. The fixtures shown indicate a boxed type of fixture shielding light and directing it downward on the site. The foot candles shown on the lighting plan do not exceed those authorized by city ordinance. The ordinance requires that lights contain lenses, reflectors or shades so as to concentrate illumination on the property and to prevent glare off site. The lighting fixtures indicated should meet this standard as well. The plan does not show any outside trash area. Apparently trash will be contained within the building. If, however, there are trash facilities out of doors or compactors, they must be screened with a screening device that matches the building exterior and contains a solid opaque gate. The outside storage area for Toro indicated previously in the report is allowed per city ordinance. Screening of this area is only required if it abuts residentially zoned property, which is not the case. This application is for site and building plan approval and requires no public hearing, therefore, no notices of the Planning Commission’s consideration have been sent. RECOMMENDATION Altogether the plans appear to be in order and approval of the application is recommended subject to at least the following conditions: The building plans are subject to review and approval by the Building Official with respect to applicable codes prior to the issuance of permits. Grading, drainage and utility plans are subject to review and approval by the City Engineer prior to the issuance of permits. A site performance agreement and supporting financial guarantee in an amount to be determined based on cost estimates shall be submitted prior to the issuance of permits to assure completion of site improvements. Any outside trash disposal facilities and roof top and on ground mechanical equipment shall be appropriately screened from view. The building is to be equipped with an automatic fire extinguishing system to meet NFPA standards and shall be connected to a central monitoring device in accordance with Chapter 5 of the City Ordinances. An underground irrigation system shall be installed in all landscape areas to facilitate site maintenance. Plan approval is exclusive of all signery which is subject to Chapter 34 of the City Ordinances. B-612 curb and gutter shall be provided around all parking and driving areas with the exception of where surmountable curb is provided for handicap accessibility. Curb and gutter shall be indicated on the plan as tying into existing curb and gutter to the west, along the north curb line. The applicant shall submit an as built survey of the property, improvements and utility service lines prior to release of the performance guarantee. The property owner shall enter into an easement and agreement for maintenance and inspection of utility and storm drainage systems prior to the issuance of permits. The applicant shall provide appropriate erosion and sediment control devices on the site during construction as approved by the City Engineering Department Storm water drainage systems and the detention pond shall be approved by the Shingle Creek Watershed Management Commission prior to the issuance of permits. All work performed and materials used for construction of utilities shall conform to the City of Brooklyn Center’s current standard specifications and details. The applicant shall provide written confirmation from the MPCA that the Phase III soil management plan is approved and further that the construction details are consistent with the MPCA’s approval of the response action plan. The plan shall be modified to relocate the easterly access in accordance with the recommendation of the City Engineer. The applicant shall enter into a proof of parking agreement with the City acknowledging the need for 104 additional parking spaces on the site and that they will install said parking upon a determination by the City that any or all parking spaces are required. Said proof of parking agreement shall be filed with the title to the property prior to the issuance of building permits. 5-31-01 Page 7