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02-27-95 PC Agenda e AGENDA GOLDEN VALLEY PLANNING COMMISSION Regular Meeting Golden Valley City Hall 7800 Golden Valley Road Council Chamber February 27, 1995 7:00 PM ! " I. Approval of Minutes - February 13, 1995 II. Continued Informal Public Hearing - Planned Unit Development No. 68 Applicant: Jim Lupient Oldsmobile Company ... Address: One Block Area Which Lies North of 1-394 and East of Louisiana Avenue .~. Request: Preliminary Design Plan Review for the Golden Valley Auto Mall PUD No. 68. The purpose of the PUD is to locate an e auto mall, car wash, Super America and lube building on the property. III. Reports on Meetings of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, City Council, Board of Zoning Appeals, Community Standards Task Force, and Valley Square Task Force IV. Other Business V. Adjournment e PLANNINGCOMMISS!ONGUIDELINESiFPR PUBLIC INPUT The Planning Commission is an advisory body. created to advise the City Council on land use." The Corrani ss ionwil 1 recorrmend Council approval or denial of a land use proposal based upon the Commission's determination of whether the pro- posed us.e is permitted under the Zoning Code and the Comprehensive Plan. and whether the proposed use win. or will not. adversely affect the surrounding neighborhood. TheCommis$lonholds.informalpublichearings on .land use proposals to enable you. tolearn,first-hand,what such proposals are. and to permit you to ask qUestions and offer conments. Your questions and conments become part of the record andwl11 be used by the Council. along with the Commission's retorimenda- tion. in reaching its decision. Taaid in your understanding and to facil Hate your comments and questions. the Commission ~i11 utilize the fullowing procedure:_. 1. The ComnissionChair wi 1l.introduce the propQsal and the recommenda-, tionffolftstaff. Corrmissionmembers may askquestipns of staff. 2. The proponent wi 11 descri.be the proposa 1 and answer any questions from the COllll1ission. 3. The Chair will open the public hearing, asking first for those who wish to speak to so indicate by raUing their hands. The Chair may seta time limit for individual quest10ns/collll1ents 1f a large number of persons have indicated,ades1re to speak. Spokespersons for groups will have a longerper1.od of time for.quest1ons/comments. 4. Please give YQur full nama and address clearly when recognized by the Chair. Remember, yourquestions/commentsare for the record. 5. Direct your questions/conments to the Chair. The Chair wi 11 deter- mine who will answer your questions. 6. : No one will be given the opportunity to speak a second time unH 1 everyone has had the opportunity to speak initially,. Please limit your second presentation to new information. not rebuttal. , ..... , At the close of the pubUchearin.g, the Corrmission wi 11 discuss the proposal and take appropriate action. ....,; '. ;. ),,:, ..:; i ~ MEMORANDUM . DATE: February 23, 1995 TO: Golden Valley Planning Commission FROM: Mark Grimes, Director of Planning and Development SUBJECT: Revised Preliminary Design Plan -- Golden Valley Auto Mall PUD No. 68 - Jim Lupient Oldsmobile Co., (JLO), Applicant At the February 13, 1995 Planning Commission meeting, the Commission tabled consideration of the Preliminary Design Plan for the Golden Valley Auto Mall. The Commission tabled this matter in order to give the proponent time to amend the plan to meet several concerns of the Commission. The following changes have been made: 1. The site plan has been changed to generally provide the required 35 foot setback along Market Street. This was a major concern of the Planning Commission. The original proposal was for a 20 foot setback along a majority of the frontage. This additional setback area will provide more landscaped area on this intensely developed site. e The 35 foot setback is not provided entirely in front of the Jiffy Lube site. The front setback area is as little as 20 feet east of the Super American driveway and as little as 15 feet adjacent to the easternmost driveway out of the Jiffy Lube. The front setback area adjacent to the Jiffy Lube is identical to the original plan. JLO has accomplished creating the additional setback area by moving the car wash about 15 feet to the south and reducing five parking spaces for Super America next to the front yard setback. This has reduced the setback from the car wash driveway to the 1-394 retaining wall from about 12 feet to 3 feet. 2. JLO has presented two alternative site plans. Option A keeps the west driveway at a 30 foot width. This provides for one lane of traffic in and out. Because of the increased setback in the area, there is about 15 feet of additional stacking in the driveway for cars exiting to Market Street. e Option B widens the west driveway on Market Street to 40 feet. This would provide two lanes of traffic into the site and one lane out. As with -2- e Option A, there is an additional 15 feet of stacking distance for cars exiting the site on to Market Street. I have reviewed both of these options with the City Engineer, Fred Salsbury. It is the staffs opinion that Option A should be chosen. There should be more than adequate stacking distance for cars going to the car wash with the lanes to the west of the car wash. Staff would rather see as much green area as possible on the site. 3. Parking Issues - The increased setback in front of the Super America store is at the cost of five (5) parking spaces. This will decrease the parking on the Super America site from 26 spaces to 21 spaces. This number of spaces still exceed the code requirement of 15 spaces (one space for each 150 sq.ft. in area. The building is 3,000 sq.ft.) The remaining parking is the same for the site as the original site plan submitted for the February 13th meeting. Because of the required cross parking and driveway arrangements, staff believes the overall site will have adequate parking. e 4. Enclosing trash containers - There are four outside trash containers indicated on the plan. I would like the developer to consider consolidating some of these trash containers, especially on the auto mall site. Also, the staff will recommend that these containers are screened with the same materials as used on the respective building. 5. Landscaping - The landscape plan is essentially the same except that there is greater setback area to landscape. Also, the trees north of the Jiffy Lube and on the curve will be overstory trees to mihimize the effect of landscaping on the visibility of drivers leaving the Jiffy Lube. 6. Signage - JLO has submitted a revised pylon sign that is reduced from the approximate 400 sq.ft. to 260 sq.ft. In my discussion with JLO, they believe this sign is large enough to be seen from 1-394 and is the same size sign allowed for shopping center pylons. 7. Building Design - With the exception of the Super America store which is brick, the other three buildings (car wash, auto mall and Jiffy Lube) will each use the same materials and be similar in design. My understanding is that JLO will bring drawings or building elevations to the February 27th meeting to illustrate the similarities. e -3- . Recommendations If the Planning Commission chooses to approve this PUD, the conditions of approval would be similar to the ones found in my memo dated February 7, 1995 (attached). The date of the approved plans would change. Staff also suggests requiring that all trash containers be screened with materials similar to the building they serve. MWG:mkd Attachments: Pylon Sketch Mark Grimes Memo to Planning Commission dated 217/95 Original Site Plan Amended Plan Package e e r t..c c.c. :;r=- J. ~ ; .:>....Hi'l :::.....nHlJ I r<;HL. I .:J J. \:011.:J r. e,/e,. eQ'.o" I I I el T f-- i15-1/2- ---41-- 115-ilZ- ---1 T T .~.._~. .... 7'3-1/2" 'r. · ~ 13'~0' t · · · SUPERAMERlCA I I ~ ............ ! m~~" ~ .1 1 Muffler & III" f) I I I } -I J I 50''0" I 1 FAXED I I 1 I J PIOI~ SCAlE. ClJSTOMER APPROVAl. G\f'4002:S CDR !I~" :I 1'-0" I ADDRESS DM~!!Y J ~o~ CRT E4;~. GOLDEN V ALLEr I ~L'E" STAle ~TE t~ONNESOT A 2/16196 m~D~~NC5nEP~OF ~,~ ~ schacttracq siqns J2, MINNESOTA AVE.. N. 1610 E. QJR: RD. J I ORONOCO. MN 7J960 BURNSVIlLE. t.1N ~Hn I PHONE H01..J67 -26J1 PHONE 1612.894-2421 I I FAX/ ~07..J67..26JJ FAX/612-894--2743 I e e . . . M E M 0 RAN DUM -------- DATE: TO: February 7, 1995 Golden Valley Planning Commission Mark W. Grimes, Director of Planning and Development Informal Public Hearing - Preliminary Design Plan for the Golden Valley Auto Mall, Planned United Development (PUD) No. 68 - 4.17 Acre Parcel at the SE Corner of Louisiana Avenue and Market Street - Jim Lupient Oldsmobile Company, Applicant FROM: SUBJECT: Jim Lupient Oldsmobile Company (JLO) is proposing to redevelop a 4.17 acre par- cel at the southeast corner of Louisiana Avenue and Market Street. The purpose of the development is to create an auto mall. (Auto mall is loosely defined as a retail and service development that is aimed at the auto user.) This specific proposal is to divide the property into four lots as shown on the attached site plan. The property is currently zoned Industrial as is most non-residential land along the 1-394 corridor. The uses proposed in the auto mall are permitted in the Industrial Zoning District with a Conditional Use Permit (CUP). However, JLO has chosen to develop this parcel by the PUD process because of shared driveways and curb cuts that serve the site. Also, the PUD process allows the City to consider setback variances which allows for a greater usage of the site. Up until about a month ago, this 4.17 acre site was the site of the Valley South Office building and a former Texaco gas station. This building was razed by JLO to make roam far the auto mall. The property is currently being used to stare new and used car inventory for JLO. I counted about 175 cars and vans an the site on 2/6/95. This property was greatly impacted by the construction of 1-394. Because of the overpass of Louisiana Avenue over 1-394, this site is about 20 feet lower than 1-394. A retaining wall has been constructed along the south and west property lines by MnDOT. Access to the site is now available only from Market Street. (In the past, access was available to the site from Market, Louisiana and 1-394.) In addition, there was some property taken from this site for 1-394 right-of-way. The owner of the property at the time was compensated for the taking for highway purposes and reduced access. The proposed development of the site is intense. The proposal is to divide the property into four lots in order that a Mermaid Car Wash, Super America, Auto Mall and Jiffy Lube may be built. Because of the shape and limited street access to the site, there must be shared access from Market Street to serve the four lots. Internal Circulation & Access The proposal that has been submitted to the City indicates three driveways into the site from Market Street. (The easternmost driveway that serves the Jiffy Lube is of minor concern because it will serve fewer trips.) The two western- most driveways will serve the majority of the trips to the site including the car wash and Super America. City staff has spent a lot of time reviewing this plan and has hired a traffic consultant to review the internal circulation . Golden Valley Auto Mall PUD 68 Page Two e pattern. Staff's opinion (Planning and Engineering) is that the internal circu- lation system will work and if there are problems, the problems will have little or no effect on traffic in Market Street. Staff has requested several changes to the site plan which have been done including the elimination of a third driveway off Market Street and the moving of the driveways as far to the east as possible. Staff has also determlned that the site is designed to adequately handle truck traffic, including the delivery of gas to Super America. When staff received t~is plan, the concern was both internal circulation and the effect of the development on Market Street. In order to determine the effect of the proposed traffic from the developments on Market Street (including the Saturn site) the City nired a traffic engineer. The engineer, Glen Van Wormer of Short Elliot Hendrlckson (SEH) determined that substantial improvements were necessary to Market Street before this development could go ahead. These impro- vements include the wlaenlng of Market Street from Louisiana Avenue to a pOint about 900 feet to the east (near the entry drive to Perkins closest to 1-394). This widening would i~c]ude two lanes with a center turn lane. This would ease the existing and potentlal traffic problem at the intersection of Louisiana and Market Street. In addition, the City will be constructing a traffic signal at the intersection ~ of Market and Louisiana in 1995. This will be funded with a combination of .., State Aid funds allocated to the City by the State and assessments to bene- fitting property owners. JLO would be one of the benefitting property owners. The improvements to Market Street will be paid for solely by assessment to ben- fitting properties. (Saturn PUD No. 63 and the Auto Mall.) JLO has agreed to the assessment. Staff will be recommending that none of the developments in the auto mall be issued certificates of occupancy until both the road reconstruction and signals are completed. It is anticipated that the road construction will occur this summer with completion in the Fall of 1995. Construction of the auto mall buildings will also start this Spring with Fall 1995 completion planned. In order to accommodate the road widening, JLO will be dedicating an additional 10 feet of ROW along the south side of Market Street. This will bring the total width of the Market Street ROW to 70 feet. This will be adequate for the 44 foot wide street with room for sidewalks if needed. The proposed driveway locations have been coordinated with the one driveway location into the Saturn PUD on the north side of Market Street. The main driveway east of the Super America building will be across from the Saturn access. This was recommended by the City Engineer and consultant. Drainage & Utilities The City Engineer has reviewed the drainage and grading plan for the site. The ~ proposed plan will adequately handle the drainage in a manner consistent with .., City, State and the Bassett Creek Water Management Organization poliCies. Utilities are available to the site from Market Street. All utility plans must be approved by the City Engineer. . . Golden Valley Auto Mall PUD 68 tit Setback & Landscaoina Setback and landscaping is an issue of concern to the Planning Commission at this location. These issues were discussed in detail when the Saturn PUD was approved in 1993. JLO is requesting variances from the required 35 foot setback from Louisiana Avenue, Market Street and 1-394. In the case of Louisiana Avenue and 1-394 there is a retaining wall which makes the need for a 35 foot setback less critical. Along Market Street, JLO is proposing a 20 foot setback for the first approximately 360 feet east of Market and a 30-35 foot setback in front of the Lube store. (As stated previously, JLO will be dedicating an additional 10 feet of ROW for Market Street in order that it may be widened.) The proposed 20 foot setback along Market Street is the same as on the north side along the Saturn PUD. If this setback were to be increased, the uses would have to be shifted to the south with the possible reduction of green area along the 1-394 retaining wallar the reduction of buildings or parking areas. tit . Page Three JLO has submitted a preliminary landscape plan. I believe that the plan does a good job on what property is available for landscaping. As indicated on the site plan, there is a substantial amount of impervious surface on this 4.17 acres (76%). Only 24% of the property is green due to the number of buildings, parking, and driveways. The previous development of this 4.17 site was also sUbstantially impervious. Architectural Plans JLO has also submitted architectual drawings for your review. The Super American building will primarily be brick, the Jiffy Lube will be a rock face block finish similar to their other buildings in the Twin Cities. The car wash is proposed to be made of various block colors as is the auto mall bUilding. I am generally please with the architecture of most Super America buildings and I am glad it is the prominent building in the development. Sfgnage The plan for signage includes one pylon sign indicating the four uses in the PUD. The shared pylon sign is proposed to be as high as needed to be seen by I-394 traffic. A sign stUdy needs to be submitted to the Inspections Department justifying the height request. The size of the shared pylon sign would meet all requirements of the sign code. In addition, each of the four uses would have a monument sign and building signage. All such signage shall not exceed the requirements of the City's Sign Code. Covenants Staff has also received a copy of Covenants that will run with the property. The Covenants address issues such as shared access, parking, utility easements, signage and maintenance. This Covenant shall become a part of the PUD Permit. Parking Staff has reviewed the parking plan. As indicated on the site plan, the parking exceeds the requirements established in the code. . .. Golden Valley Auto Mall PUD 68 Page FOl- Recommendations The Planning and Engineering staff have spent a significant amount of time reviewing the plans for this PUD. A number of changes have been made by JLO to accommodate staff1s requests. Of prime importance was the ability of the City road system to handle the addi- tion trips to the site. JLO has agreed to pay for the necessary road improve- ments to Market Street and to pay a portion of the signal that will be going in at Market and Louisiana. JLO is also dedicating 10 additional feet of ROW on the south side of market Street so Market Street may be widened. With these traffic related improvements, staff believes that the four new stores will not have an adverse impact on the street system. JLO has also presented other information to the City indicating that the site will adequately function. This information includes drainage and grading plans, landscape plans, utility plans and architectural plans. JLO has presented information that the site will function. However, the Planning Commission must review the overall impact of the development. There is the concern regarding setback areas, density of the site, and the development concept. _ Staff has expressed concern to JLO about the density of the site. JLO answer has been that the four uses on the site will function and provide needed ser- vices to the community. JLO believes the four uses work well together because of the use mix ie. the auto mall and Jiffy Lube are relatively low traffic generators and the car wash and Suepr America are the high generators. Staff has felt that less building area would allow the site itself to function better. The City's traffic engineer has looked at the site and believes it will function adequately and that any problems will occur on the site rather than on the public street. I believe the proposed uses will be good for the area. 1-394 has an auto orientation with the existing car dealers and other auto users. The Super America station has been needed in south Golden Valley for some time due to the lack of gas stations and a convenience store. Because the auto mall is over 500 feet from any residence, it should have minimal effect on the residents of the area. The following are conditions the staff recommends for approval. 1. The revised site plans dated 1/23/95 and submitted by RLK Associates Ltd. as part of the application become a part of the PUD approval. 2. The property shall be legally platted and recorded, with the designation "P.U.D. No. 68" to be a part of the plat's title. 3. The "Declaration of Easements, Restrictions and Real Covenants" be _ attached to the pun Permit. ~ 4. JLO agrees to pay for the upgrade necessary to Market Street and to pay its fair share for the signal construction at Louisiana Avenue and Market Street. , . . . . Golden Valley Auto Mall PUD 68 Page Five 5. No "Certificate of Occupancy II may be issued by the City to any of the four buildings until after the road and signal work are completed to the satisfaction of the City Engineer. 6. The shared pylon sign may exceed the normal pylon sign height if it can be shown it cannot be seen from 1-394 if not raised. The height shall be the minimum needed for 1-394 visibility. All other signage on the site must meet the requirements of the sign code. t~WG: mkd Attachments: Location Map Narrative dated October 5, 1994 Pylon Sign Design and Monument(s) Design Draft of Declaration of Easements, Restrictions and Real Covenants Plans (attached)