City Council Minutes 1999 07 06 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The phasing plan for the three lots proposes they would be developed from south to north. That is also consistent with the need for additional roadways if either of the northern two lots is developed. The development is proposed as an integrated, master planned development of three similar buildings with shared access to public streets and with a shared on-site parking and circulation system. This has allowed loading areas generally, to be screened from public view through the orientation of buildings. Four access points off Taylor Avenue are proposed, with one having restricted turning movements due to visibility concerns at the curve in the road. Building and parking setbacks have been met along the street and at the perimeter of the development. Required parking setbacks are not met on the internal common property lines, as combined parking and circulation is proposed. The applicant has provided a landscape phasing plan that provides interim side property line landscaping during each phase of development, so that at the completion of each phase, there will appear to be a completed project. No public sidewalk is required on this side of the street. However, the plan does propose a strong internal sidewalk system, including access to employee break areas. The sidewalk system also provides opportunities to connect across the street to the public sidewalk on the opposite side of Taylor Avenue. The applicant proposes to meet a minimum landscape coverage requirement of 25 percent on each site. The proposal does not meet the current zoning standard of 30 percent, though Council has generally made exceptions to that requirement in recent approvals, based on the historic requirement of 25 percent minimum landscape coverage. The notes on the PUD require the 25 percent minimum to be maintained at all times. If the potential additional loading doors are added, along with additional driveways, they may need to add additional landscaping to replace some parking. The amount of flexibility in the number and location of loading doors on each building has been limited since the original submittal. The locations of those doors have been chosen to minimize visual exposure from the public right of way. The plans have been modified to comply with the Planning Commission recommendations on this issue. Parking is provided at an overall ratio of 4.3 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area. That amount of parking exceeds the City's typical expectation on industrial projects, and actually exceeds the office parking requirement. The applicant has requested this amount of parking based on the anticipated needs of the type of high tech, R & D tenant they hope to attract to these buildings. They indicate that this amount of parking is a typical national standard for these types of speculative facilities. Staff had initially expressed concern because of the simultaneous request for Special Review Use approval for potential office and retail uses. Since the Special Review Use request has been withdrawn, that concern has been eliminated. The amount of parking proposed does 9