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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff ReportC17T OF COLLEGE STATION VARIANCE REQUEST FOR 1815 Brothers Boulevard (09-0900256) REQUEST: Variance to Section 7.4.1 of the Unified Development Ordinance, Attached Signs LOCATION: 1815 Brothers Boulevard APPLICANT: Martha T. Martinez, RHA Architects PROPERTY OWNER: Walmart Real Estate Business Trust PROJECT MANAGER: Jennifer Prochazka, AICP, Senior Planner jp roc h azka (a~cstx. go v RECOMMENDATION: Denial BACKGROUND: The subject property is currently under construction for the expansion of the existing Walmart. The structure is being enlarged by enclosing the space between Walmart and the retail structure to the west (formerly Albertson's). Once the expansion is complete, the primary facade of Walmart will be approximately 675 feet in length with an additional 250 linear feet of tenant lease space facade (previously Albertson's). Section 7.4.1 Attached Signs limits the amount of attached signage that a commercial building or tenant lease space can utilize to a total of two and a half (2.5) square feet per linear foot of all public entry facades, with a maximum of 500 square feet of attached signage allowed for any one tenant, regardless of the size of the tenant space or the length of public entry facades. Due to the length of the facade (approximately 675 feet), Walmart is permitted a maximum of 500 square feet of attached signage. Walmart is proposing 550.64 square feet of attached signage; therefore a variance of 50.64 square feet (10%) has been requested. Zoning Board of Adjustment Page 1 of 7 February 2, 2010 NOTIFICATIONS Advertised Board Hearing Date: February 2, 2010 The following neighborhood organizations that are registered with the City of College Station's Neighborhood Services have received a courtesy letter of notification of this public hearing: Southwood Valley Neighborhood Association Property owner notices mailed Contacts in support: Contacts in opposition: Inquiry contacts: 7t7NING AND LAND USES 23 None as of date of staff report None as of date of staff report one as of date of staff report Direction Zoning Land Use Subject Property C-1 General Commercial Retail Center (Walmart and former ' Albertson s) Fast Food Restaurants. Across Harvey Mitchell Parkway (FM 2818) and Texas North C-1 General Commercial Avenue are several retail establishments, a bank, and a retail center South R-6 High-Density Multi-Family Across Longmire are apartment buildings C-1 General Commercial, R-6 Fast Food Restaurant and office East High-Density Multi-Family, PDD building. Across Brothers Boulevard is a Planned Development District retail center, duplexes, and patio homes West _ C-1 General Commercial Retail. Across Longmire Drive are two banks and a service station. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 1. Frontage: Approximately 1,000 feet along the Texas Avenue / Harvey Mitchell Parkway (2818) curve, approximately 675 feet along Brothers Boulevard, and approximately 800 feet of frontage along Longmire Drive. 2. Access: Driveways to the subject property exist on Texas Avenue (1), Longmire Drive (3), and Brothers Boulevard (2). 3. Topography and vegetation: Relatively flat with planted vegetation dispersed in parking islands and along street frontages. 4. Floodplain: N/A REVIEW CRITERIA Zoning Board of Adjustment February 2, 2010 Page 5 of 7 11 Unified Development Ordinance Section 3.18.E Criteria for Approval of Variance sets forth a set of nine review criteria to evaluate variance requests. The UDO states that no variance is to be granted unless the Board makes affirmative findings to all of the criteria listed below. 1. Extraordinary conditions: That there are extraordinary or special conditions affecting the land involved such that strict application of the provisions of the UDO will deprive the applicant of the reasonable use of his land. The applicant has stated the following: "the signs in question are a vital part of the future stability of the store as a whole. The signs over the vestibules act as 'General Merchandise' signs providing the neighborhood with an understanding of the service(s) provided within, acting as a 'beacon' by which the patrons can easily identify which door to enter to obtain the necessary items." The applicant has not identified a special condition that affects the land. 2. Enjoyment of a substantial property right: That the variance is necessary for the preservation and enjoyment of a substantial property right of the applicant. The subject property has an approved site plan for the proposed expansion of Walmart and the building is currently under construction. The variance is not necessary for the preservation and enjoyment of a substantial property right. 3. Substantial detriment: That the granting of the variance will not be detrimental to the public health, safety, or welfare, or injurious to other property in the area, or to the City in administering this UDO. Because the purpose of the City's sign regulations is to limit attached signage in order to enhance aesthetics and increase traffic safety, it is staff's opinion that the variance will not be detrimental to the public health, safety, or welfare because the attached signs will be located on the building approximately 400 - 1,000 feet from the public roadways. 4. Subdivision: That the granting of the variance will not have the effect of preventing the orderly subdivision of land in the area in accordance with the provisions of this UDO. These variance requests would not affect the orderly subdivision of other land. 5. Flood hazard protection: That the granting of the variance will noth ave the effecto f preventing flood hazard protection in accordance with Article 8, S ubdivision Design and Improvements. These variance requests would not affect the preventing of flood hazard protection. 6. Other property: That these conditions do not generally apply to other property in the vicinity. The applicant has not identified a special condition related to the land. 7. Hardships: That the hardship is not the result of the applicant's own actions. Zoning Board of Adjustment February 2, 2010 Page 6 of 7 12 The applicant has offered the following hardship: "The size and square footage of the Walmart sign was designed to be seen from Texas Avenue. The required parking stipulated by code creates much depth between the front of the store and the main road which makes it necessary to increase the size of the Walmart sign. Obviously the signage cannot be increased, therefore a Walmart sign that keeps the overall square footage below 500 s.f. was selected. Unfortunately, the methods of calculating signage has created a hardship in meeting the code. "The signage located above each vestibule is designed to be seen once the customer has turned into the parking lot. If the Walmart size is reduced to the next smaller size, it will compete with the signage above each vestibule which is not designed to be viewed from street level. In addition, smaller signage has proved to create vehicular traffic safety issues particularly on main roads which are not parallel to the front of the store. Obviously the smaller Walmart signage is used on significantly smaller Walmart stores that don't require the amount of parking for a larger store and can easily be seen from the street." 8. Comprehensive Plan: That the granting of the variance would not substantially conflict with the Comprehensive Plan and the purposes of this UDO. The Comprehensive Plan does not specifically speak to attached sign sizes, but does have a primary focus on community character, including aesthetics. The purpose of the sign regulations contained in the Unified Development Ordinance is to enhance aesthetics and vehicular safety. It is staff's opinion that because of the distance to the public roadway and the length of the fagade, the spirit of both the Comprehensive Plan and the UDO is met. 9. Utilization: That because of these conditions, the application of the UDO to the particular piece of property would effectively prohibit or unreasonably restrict the utilization of the property. The applicant has not identified a special condition related to the land. The subject property has an approved site plan for the proposed expansion of Walmart and the building is currently under construction. ALTERNATIVES The applicant has not proposed alternatives to the requested variance. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends denial based on an evaluation of the review criteria stated in the Unified Development Ordinance. It is staffs judgment that the nine review criteria have not been met satisfactorily. SUPPORTING MATERIALS 1. Application 2. Sign and fagade renderings Zoning Board of Adjustment February 2, 2010 Page 7 of 7 13 CITY OF C011-EGE, STATION Home of Texan A&M Uniocnity' FOR OFFI E ONLY CASE NO,: DATE SUBMITTED: L TIME: STAFF: ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT APPLICATION MINIMUM SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS: $250 Zoning Board of Adjustment Application Fee. ❑ Application completed in full. This application form provided by the City of College Station must be used and may not be adjusted or altered. Please attach pages if additional information is provided. x❑ Additional materials may be required of the applicant such as site plans, elevation drawings, sign details, and floor plans. The applicant shall be informed of any extra materials required. Date of Optional Preapplication Conference ADDRESS 1815 Brothers Boulevard LEGAL DESCRIPTION (Lot, Block, Subdivision) 4A, 4D, 4E/Block 15/Southwood Plaza APPLICANT/PROJECT MANAGER'S INFORMATION (Primary contact for the project): Name Martha T. Martinez E-mail mmartinez@rhaa/a.com Street Address 211 N. Record Street City Dallas State TX Zip Code 75202 Phone Number 214-749-0626 Fax Number 214-749-0601 PROPERTY OWNER'S INFORMATION (ALL owners must be identified. Please attach an additional sheet for multiple owners): Name Walmart Real Estate Business Trust E-mail mmartinez@rhaa/a.com Street Address 2001 SE loth Street City Bentonville State AR Zip Code 72716 Phone Number 479-204-0325 Fax Number Current zoning of subject property C-1 General Commercial Action requested (check all that apply): ❑ Setback variance ❑ Appeal of Written Interpretation ❑ Parking variance ❑ Special Exception ❑x Sign variance ❑ Drainage Variance ❑ Lot dimension variance ❑ Other Npplicable ordinance section to vary from: 10/09 Page 1 of 5 14 GENERAL VARIANCE REQUEST 1. The following specific variation from the ordinance is requested: To allow an increase In the maximum allowable signage from 500 sq ft to 550.64 sq ft. With the expansion, our stone will be over 500' Jong and we feel the size of our signs are appropriate. 2. This variance is necessary due to the following special conditions: Special Condition Definition: To justify a variance, the difficulty must be due to unique circumstances involving the particular property. The unique circumstances must be related to a physical characteristic of the property itself, not to the owner's personal situation. This Is because regardless of ownership, the variance will run with the land. Example: A creek bisecting a lot, a smaller buildable area than Is seen on surrounding lots, specimen trees. Note: A cul-de-sac is a standard street layout In College Station. The shape of standard cul-de-sac lots are generally not special conditions. The signs In question are a vital part of the future stability of the store as a whole. The signs over the vestibules act as "General Merchandise" signs providing the neighborhood with an understanding of the service(s) provided within, acting as a "beacon" by which the patrons can easily identify which door to enter to obtain the necessary items. 3. The unnecessary hardship(s) involved by meeting the provisions of the ordinance other than financial hardship is/are: Hardship Definition: The inability to make reasonable use of the property in accord with the literal requirements of the law. The hardship must be a direct result of the special condition. Example: A hardship of a creek bisecting a lot could be the reduction of the buildable area on the lot, when compared to neighboring properties. Please see attached statement. 4. The following alternatives to the requested variance are possible: 5. This variance will not be contrary to the public Interest by virtue of the following facts: The requested sign square footage does not create a physical or visual hazard for the redevelopment of this parcel and helps to enhance the character of the building and the nature of the proposed business. The applicant has prepared this application and certires that the facts stated herein and exhibits attached hereto are true, correct, and complete, IF THIS APPLICATION IS FILED BY ANYONE OTHER THAN THE OWNER OF THE PROPERTY, this application must be accompanied by a power of attorney statement from the owner. if there Is more than one owner, all owners must sign the application or the power of attorney, if the owner Is a company, the application must be accompanied by proof of authority for the company's representative to sign the application on its behalf r title, Hate hllKIW goals W G 10/09 page 2 of 5 15 Zoning Board of Appeals Sign Variance Walmart #1150 1815 Brothers Boulevard Item #3: The size and square footage of the Walmart sign was designed to be seen from Texas Avenue. The required parking stipulated by code creates much depth between the front of the store and the main road which makes it necessary to increase the size of the Walmart sign. Obviously the signage cannot be increased, therefore a Walmart sign that keeps the overall square footage below 500 sf was selected. Unfortunately, the method of calculating signage has created a hardship in meeting the code. The signage located above each vestibule is designed to be seen once the customer has turned Into the parking lot. If the Walmart size is reduced to the next smaller size, it will compete with the signage located above each vestibule which is not designed to be viewed from street level, In addition, smaller signage has proven to create vehicular traffic safety issues particularly on main roads which are not parallel to the front of the store. Obviously the smaller Walmart signage is used on significantly smaller Walmart stores that don't require the amount of parking for a larger store and can easily be seen from the street. Based on the intended use of the signage, the actual square footage of the signage and safety concerns, we ask that the proposed Walmart signage be accepted as submitted. 16 VARIANCE REQUEST FOR 1815 Brothers Boulevard (09-0900256) AERIAL: The item before you is a request for Variance to Section 7.4.1 of the Unified Development Ordinance, Attached Signs for the Walmart located on Texas Avenue at Harvey Mitchell Parkway. As you are probably aware, the subject property is currently under construction for the expansion of the existing Walmart. The structure is being enlarged by enclosing the space between Walmart and the retail structure to the west (formerly Albertson's). Once the expansion is complete, the primary fagade of Walmart will be approximately 675 feet in length with an additional 250 linear feet of tenant lease space fagade (previously Albertson's). TEXT SLIDE: Section 7.4.1 Attached Signs limits the amount of attached signage that a commercial building or tenant lease space can utilize to a total of two and a half (2.5) square feet per linear foot of all public entry facades, with a maximum of 500 square feet of attached signage allowed for any one tenant, regardless of the size of the tenant space or the length of public entry facades. Due to the length of the fagade Walmart is permitted a maximum of 500 square feet of attached signage. Walmart is proposing 550.64 square feet of attached signage; therefore a variance of 50.64 square feet (10%) has been requested. AERIAL: The Unified Development Ordinance sets out criteria for variance approval in Section 3 - nine criteria outlined in your staff report. I'll briefly touch on some of those points. In general, staff does not feel that the granting of the variance would be contrary to the public health, safety and welfare of the City... however, I also do not feel that the applicant has identified an extraordinary condition related to the property that creates a hardship. As a special or extraordinary condition, the applicant has stated the following: "the signs in question are a vital part of the future stability of the store as a whole. The signs over the vestibules act as `General Merchandise' signs providing the neighborhood with an understanding of the service(s) provided within, acting as a `beacon' by which the patrons can easily identify which door to enter to obtain the necessary items." As the resulting hardship, the applicant has offered the following: "The size and square footage of the Walmart sign was designed to be seen from Texas Avenue. The required parking stipulated by code creates much depth between the front of the store and the main road which makes it necessary to increase the size of the Walmart sign." The applicant also identifies the City's method of calculating sign square footage as a hardship. The applicant has not proposed alternatives to the requested variance. Staff recommends denial based on an evaluation of the review criteria stated in the Unified Development Ordinance and outlined in your staff reports. It is staff's judgment that the nine review criteria have not been met satisfactorily. PICTURES - show series of pictures of property...