HomeMy WebLinkAboutCorrespondence Page 1 of 1
Lindsay Boyer - Parking variance
From: Lindsay Boyer
To: Natalie Ruiz
Date: 12/27/2005 11:49 AM
Subject: Parking variance
Natalie, I've been working on this variance request, and Molly pointed out an issue that I wanted to give you a
heads up on and get your thoughts. The table in Section 6.3.N. identifies the percentages of the storage v sales
for zoning, but also should be used to identify the primary use for which the parking should be calculated.
Essentially, that the building is considered primarily retail, that the parking ratio of 1:250 applies to the entire
50k s.f. resulting in 200 spaces, rather than splitting out the uses. The proposed ratio of 1:350 in your
application would then result in 143 spaces. I wanted to know if this is what you want reflected in the staff
report and amended on the application. A ratio of 1:450 would result in 112 spaces.
I apologize that I didn't catch this previously. Let me know how you want to proceed or if you have any
questions.
Lindsay
Lindsay B. Boyer
Staff Planner
City of College Station
1101 Texas Avenue S.
College Station, Texas 77840
(979) 764-3570/ (979) 764-3496 Fax
lbo_er(acstx.gov
www.cstx.gov
file://C:\Documents and Settings\lboyer\Local Settings\Temp\GW}00002.HTM 12/30/2005
WAN IPS Group
PIP-Allibi7141111. Planning Solutions
December 5,2005
Molly Hitchcock, AICP
Planning Administrator
City of College Station
Development Services
1101 Texas Avenue
College Station,Texas 77840
Re: UDO Amendment-Parking requirements for large furniture stores.
Dear Molly,
Our client, Ashley furniture is interested in developing a new 50,000 sq. ft. retail facility
in College Station. However, they are concerned about the number of parking spaces the
city requires. After developing throughout the country, they have found that their
parking demands are approximately 1 parking space / 400 sq. ft. of retail area. The
current requirement of 1/250 sq. ft. for general retail uses is excessive given the unique
operational and display needs of a single tenant,stand alone,furniture store.
In larger retail markets, more and more stand alone, manufacturer specific, retail uses are
being constructed. Locally, the few furniture stores that we have are located in existing
shopping centers that were required to meet the 1:250 sq. ft. requirement. Many new
furniture stores that are being built are specific to a particular manufacturer.
Manufacturers with a large product base are marketing directly to the consumer through
their own facilities. Currently, Lane Furniture is building a large number of stores in
Texas, moving away from the single furniture store that carries dozens of manufacturers.
This new market trend is evident in the Bryan/College Station area. For example, the
Furniture Row shopping center in Bryan consists of four manufacturers that market
directly to the public. When shopping at Denver Mattress Company, you have only one
manufacturer to choose from. The same is true with the other three manufacturers in this
facility.
1504 Foxfire Drive College Station, TX 77845 979-693-1213 www.IPSGroup.us
}
Molly Hitchcock
December 5,2005
Page 2 of 2
Furniture stores in general have very unique display needs and, as such, the permitted
occupancy of the building is not as high as a general retail use. For example, given the
floor plans of a large furniture store and a general retail store like Walmart or HEB,
building codes will determine that more customers will be able to occupy a general retail
store than a furniture store. When modifying the City's Unified Development Ordinance
(UDO) during last year's annual review, city staff identified carpet stores as having
unique parking demands based on the large amount of storage needed. Unlike a carpet
store, where there are small carpet and tile samples in the show room, a furniture store
requires a large showroom to display full-size versions of their product. Most customers
are adverse to purchasing furniture without being able to see the actual product. In
addition,buying furniture is not an impulse purchase. The typical customer does not visit
the store on a weekly or bi-weekly basis as an HEB or a Walmart.
Ashley Furniture store does not want to add anymore impervious cover to the site than
absolutely necessary given the adjacency to Carter's Creek. In addition,they do not want
to construct parking that they know will never be utilized. The proposed 50,000 sq. ft.
furniture store will consist of 15,000 sq. ft. of storage area and 35,000 sq. ft. of display
area. The current regulations in the UDO require a total of 155 parking spaces. My
client strongly believes that this is excessive given their operational needs. Even during
major sales events,my client would never expect to fill a parking lot of that size.
We request your consideration in modifying the parking requirements in Section 7 of the
UDO to allow a furniture store to provide off-street parking at 1 space/400 sq. ft. Since
timing of this development is critical, we have also submitted a variance request for the
Zoning Board of Adjustment to consider in January, 2006. However, we believe that the
UDO should make provisions for large scale furniture stores as a new market trend.
Please consider this request as soon as possible. It is our intention to request this code
change during the UDO public hearings in January. Thank you in advance for all of your
help and consideration.
Sincerely, l
/ff
atali Thomas Ruiz,A P
Principal