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E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y CASE PLANNER: Tim Worley REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY: Mary McCrea PUBLIC HEARINGS: CC: June 14, 2010 AGENDA ITEM: Sussex School /1800 S. 2nd St. W expanded school use as Conditional Use in RM2.7 APPLICANT & Sussex School FEE OWNER: 1800 S. 2nd St. West Missoula, MT 59801 APPLICANT’S Marty Noyd REPRESENTATIVE: OZ Architects 125 Bank Street, Suite 200 Missoula, MT 59802 LOCATION OF At the corner of South 2nd Street West and Garfield Street, REQUEST: north of 3rd Street West in the Emma Dickinson neighborhood LEGAL The legal ad was published in the Missoulian on May 30 and NOTIFICATION: June 6, 2010. The site was posted on May 26, 2010. Adjacent property owners within 150 feet of the site were notified by certified mail on May 26, 2010. ZONING: RM2.7 (residential multi-dwelling) GROWTH POLICY: The applicable amendment to the 2005 Missoula County Growth Policy is the 1998 Missoula Urban Comprehensive Plan Update, which designates the property as Mixed Use. Surrounding Land Uses Surrounding Zoning North: Residential RM2.7, or Residential 2.7 (residential multi-dwelling) South: Commercial C1-4 (Neighborhood Commercial – Intensity Designator = 4) East: Residential RM2.7, or Residential 2.7 (residential multi-dwelling) West: Residential RM1-35, or Residential 1 (residential multi-dwelling) ---PAGE BREAK--- 2 RECOMMENDATION THAT the conditional use request be approved. ---PAGE BREAK--- 3 Sussex School / 1800 S. 2nd Street West Conditional Use Request June 14, 2010 I. RECOMMENDED MOTION THAT the expanded school use be APPROVED as a Conditional Use in the RM2.7 (residential multi-dwelling) Zoning District in the location of Sussex School at 1800 S. 2nd Street West in accordance with Missoula City Zoning Ordinance, Title 20, Sections 20.05.020(D) and 20.85.070, subject to the recommended condition of approval and based on the findings of fact in the staff report. II. CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL 1. The addition to Sussex School at 1800 S. 2nd Street West shall comply with all applicable portions of Title 20, to be reviewed and approved by OPG prior to building permit approval, in compliance with Section 20.85.070(H)(1) of Title 20, Missoula City Zoning Ordinance. III. INTRODUCTION This is a request from Sussex School, represented by Marty Noyd of OZ Architects to approve the expansion of an existing school use as a Conditional Use in the RM2.7 (residential multi- dwelling) in the location of Sussex School at 1800 S. 2nd Street West. Sussex School is located at the corner of S. 2nd Street West and Garfield Street, north of 3rd Street West, and west of Russell. The applicant requests the Conditional Use in order to replace an existing building and garage with two new buildings containing six classrooms and associated bathrooms, kitchen, mechanical and storage spaces on the north side of the present school complex. The plan also includes relocation and redesign of the parking areas and a new courtyard between the buildings. IV. APPLICABLE ZONING REGULATIONS Title 20 Zoning Ordinance, Section 20.85.070(H) outlines the review criteria for review of conditional use applications. According to the Zoning Ordinance, “not all review criteria will apply in every case…[and] only the applicable review criteria need to be met.” Uses that require conditional use approval may be approved by the City Council only when Council determines that the proposed uses meet all the applicable review criteria. V. CONDITIONAL USE REVIEW CRITERIA Findings of Fact: Site Description and History 1. The approximately 111,500 square-foot subject property is located north of S. 3rd Street West and west of Russell Street, at the corner of S. 2nd Street West and Garfield. 2. Sussex School has operated at the 1800 S. 2nd Street West location since 1980. It has evolved into a multi-building campus with a courtyard. The Site Development Plan for the Conditional Use shows an existing building and garage being replaced by two new buildings ---PAGE BREAK--- 4 on the northern end of the campus. The plan also includes redesign and relocation of the parking area, and a new courtyard space between the buildings. 3. Residential uses are found to the north, west and south of the property. Land is zoned RM2.7 (residential multi-dwelling) to the north and east, and RM1-35 to the west. A commercial use (nursery) is located immediately to the south on land zoned C1-4. 4. Building permits show updates to the Sussex School campus over time. Several of these updates occurred when the property was unzoned land in Missoula County. 5. The Sussex School property was annexed into the City in January 1996, and zoned for Mixed Use at that time. 6. In 2001, representatives of Sussex School requested a conditional use to construct two classroom buildings and add associated landscaping and parking. 7. The requested conditional use was approved by the City Design Review Board on January 16, 2002. As part of the conditional use, 17 parking spaces were approved as expanded parking on the site. 8. Some of the existing 17 parking spaces would be lost with the current proposed expansion to construct two new buildings with six classrooms, and associated bathrooms, kitchen, mechanical and storage spaces. At the same time with the addition of two teachers as part of the school expansion the parking required for the school use is 19 parking spaces in accordance with the Title 20 Zoning Code parking standards. 9. Per the site development plan provided with the conditional use request the applicant will provide a total of twenty parking spaces. Eight of the parking spaces are provided on the subject property, and 12 new parking spaces are proposed on the east side of Garfield Street across from the school. These 12 new spaces, perpendicular to and accessed directly from Garfield Street, are shared parking within 500 feet of the front door of Sussex School. Area Services and Characteristics 10. The subject property is within the Missoula Urban Transportation District. The property is served by Bus Routes No. 2 and No. 9. on nearby S. 3rd Street West. 11. The proposed Conditional Use is on the edge of Urban Renewal District II (URD-II). Prior to the time of the Sussex School Conditional Use Request, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency (MRA) was in the process of overseeing curb, gutter and sidewalk installation to areas within URD-II lacking those improvements. 12. Curb, gutter, sidewalk, and street improvements were planned for 2nd Street West up to the intersection with Garfield Street as part of URD-II improvements. Missoula Redevelopment Agency was approached by representatives of Sussex School in an attempt to extend improvements north of the intersection along Garfield Street adjacent to the school. 13. The Missoula City Engineering Department, Sussex School and MRA recognized that a number of area school children walk in the vicinity of the Garfield Street/2nd Street West street corner and north toward the school. Professional Consultants, Inc (PCI) was selected to re- design the street intersection and connecting areas to provide improved pedestrian facilities, street crossings, parking and traffic circulation. 14. Parking improvements are planned on South 2nd Street West and Garfield Street near Sussex School as part of the City Engineering/MRA re-design project. This includes defined parking along the northern side of South 2nd Street West, and along the eastern side of ---PAGE BREAK--- 5 Garfield Street. Some of the Garfield Street parking is shown in the Site Development Plan as shared parking within 500 feet of the front door of Sussex School. Some parking occurs today within these areas, but spaces are not defined and certain areas are not paved. 15. The parking planned as part of the redesign project is 90 degree angle parking, which requires cars to back out onto 2nd Street West and Garfield Street. These parking movements were permitted by City Engineering because of the Low Volume Residential functional classification of both roadways, and are not permitted at any higher functional classification. This classification is expected to remain the same following the re-design project. 16. Altered pedestrian facilities (onsite) are shown on the site development plan to accommodate pedestrian circulation between the two new buildings, Zip West and Zip East. There appears to be no essential loss of onsite pedestrian linkages. 17. The subject property is inside the Urban Growth Area and the Wastewater Facilities Service Area. 18. The subject property is served by Mountain Water Company. The City-County Health Department will require the school to abandon its septic system, and connect with City Sewer, as part of the campus expansion. 19. The subject property is located within an established service area for Missoula hospitals and the City Fire and Police Departments. 20. The property is located within the Air Stagnation Zone. 21. On November 4, 2009, Title 20 (the Missoula City Zoning Code) became effective. In the revised code, the Mixed Use Residential zoning district transitioned to the RM2.7 (residential multi-dwelling) zoning district. Schools are permitted as a conditional use in the RM2.7 Zoning District. Comprehensive Plan 22. The applicable land use plans are the 1998 Missoula Urban Comprehensive Plan Update (“1998 Plan”), and the Reserve Street Area Plan—1995 Update (“Reserve Street Plan”), both amendments to the 2005 Missoula County Growth Policy Update. The 1998 Plan recommends a Mixed Use land use designation for the subject property. 23. The 1998 Plan defines mixed use as areas which may sustain a variety of uses, but where performance standards are implemented. These uses include offices, residential, or small scale commercial and retail uses developed within a complex with other uses. 24. The subject property is inside the Urban Growth Area, described by the 1998 Plan as an area “generally…defined by the availability…of urban services including public safety, cultural, social, health, and transportation services.” 25. The 1998 Plan encourages the continued development of such services inside the Urban Growth Area in order to minimize the costs of service extensions and infrastructure. 26. The Reserve Street Plan acknowledged a “hodgepodge” of land uses in unzoned locations within the Plan boundaries. The application of “Mixed Use” zoning to this property and the surrounding neighborhood in 1996 largely corresponds with unzoned areas in the county north of 3rd Street West, south of Idaho Street and west of Catlin prior to annexation and zoning. Zoning Districts 27. The subject property is zoned RM2.7 (residential multi-dwelling), formerly Mixed Use under ---PAGE BREAK--- 6 Title 19. 28. Title 19’s Mixed Use Zoning shared some residential zoning characteristics with Title 19’s R- XII Zoning District, including a residential density of up 12 dwelling units per acre. Up to 16 dwelling units per acre was permitted in Mixed Use Zoning if certain neighborhood compatibility standards were met. 29. Schools were a conditional use in the Mixed Use Zoning District under Title 19. They remain a conditional use in the RM2.7 zoning district, requiring approval by the Missoula City Council. 30. Properties to the north and east are zoned RM2.7, and RM1-35 to the west. The property to the south is zoned C1-4, or Neighborhood Commercial with an intensity designator of 4. 31. The lot size, height and building setback standards for the RM2.7 Residential district are as follows: the minimum parcel size is 3,000 square feet, with 3000 square feet required per unit; the minimum front yard setback is 20 feet; the minimum interior side setback is 5 feet; the minimum street side setback is 10 feet; the minimum rear yard setback 20 feet; and the maximum building height is 30/35 feet. 32. Per the Site Development Plan provided with the Conditional Use Request, the proposed location of the new buildings on the Sussex School site show buildings 20 feet from the northern property boundary, which exceeds the 10-foot side-yard setback for this property. Maximum building heights are 18 feet according to building elevations provided as part of the conditional use application packet. 33. The subject property has a lot size of approximately 111,500 square feet. The minimum parcel area requirement in the RM2.7 is 3,000 square feet. Conditional Use 34. The increase in parking demand as a result of the two new Sussex School teachers triggers requirements for compliance with Title 20’s Landscape Chapter, Section 20.65. Section 20.65.100 allows an applicant to submit a landscape plan covering the limits of the project, prepared and stamped by a landscape architect licensed in the State of Montana. 35. The submittal includes a landscape plan. Both existing vegetation and proposed tree and shrub plantings are included. The landscaping plan shows existing trees that are proposed for preservation near or adjacent to the north property boundary. This plan is stamped by a landscape architect. 36. Short-Term and Long-Term Bicycle Parking are shown as part of the conditional use application. 37. According to the submittal packet, the replacement of an existing building and garage with the two new buildings will decrease overall massing of structures on this site. The current classrooms are contained within a building currently called the Zip Building. This will be separated into two buildings to be termed Zip West and Zip East. 38. Building design includes articulation, low-slope roofs, and a scaling resembling residential uses. Residential-scale outdoor lighting is proposed. Conclusions of Law: 1. Whether the proposed use complies with all applicable standards of the Title 20 Zoning Ordinance; 1. The proposed addition complies with all applicable standards of the RM2.7 Residential ---PAGE BREAK--- 7 zoning district, or conditions have been imposed by the Missoula City Council that bring the conditional use into compliance. 2. The parking plan proposed as part of the Conditional Use is compliant with Title 20 parking standards. 3. Title 20 landscaping requirements are met with the landscape plan submitted as part of the conditional use. 4. The new building’s compliance with all applicable sections of the Title 20 Zoning Ordinance is required per the recommended condition of approval and will be confirmed prior to building permit approval. 2. Whether the proposed use is in the interest of public convenience and will not have a significant adverse impact on the general welfare of the neighborhood or community; 1. The 1998 Plan suggests continued development of cultural services within the Urban Growth Area. The existing school and proposed addition further this goal and provide convenient access to a culturally significant resource. 2. The use is established in the neighborhood by virtue of school’s presence as a use prior to annexation and zoning in the city, and later as a Conditional Use under the Title 19 Zoning Code. The school has operated in some form on the subject property for 30 years. 3. The school use has not adversely impacted, nor is it anticipated to adversely impact, the general welfare of the neighborhood or community. 4. The modified off-street parking, re-designed local traffic circulation in the vicinity of the school, enhanced pedestrian facilities and street crossings, and residential-scale expansions on the site in combination appear to cause no ill effects to the general welfare of the neighborhood or community. 5. Architectural, setback, and landscaping considerations of the conditional use accommodate the needs of the adjacent single dwelling residence to the north. 3. Whether the proposed use is compatible with the character of the surrounding area in terms of site planning, building scale and project design; 1. The Conditional Use submittal included a site development plan, exterior building elevations and landscape plan that demonstrate a general design consistent with the character of the surrounding area. 2. The proposed addition of two buildings on the northern end of the property either complies with all applicable standards of the RM2.7 Residential zoning district, or the recommended condition of approval, if imposed by the Missoula City Council, will bring the conditional use into compliance with zoning district standards. 4. Whether the proposed use has operating characteristics that are compatible with the surrounding area in terms of hours of operation, outdoor lighting, noise, and traffic generation; and 1. The proposed addition to the school use will operate on an unchanged daily schedule. Use and occupancy of the subject property will likely be concentrated during normal working hours. 2. The outdoor lighting and noise characteristics of the proposed addition to the school use are compatible to the use on this site as it exists today. The light and noise resulting from the proposed addition to the school use will be similar to the use as it exists today. ---PAGE BREAK--- 8 3. Parking, access, and surrounding road infrastructure are adequately sized and designed to manage the traffic generated by the proposed addition to the school use with the planned improvements to the 2nd Street West/Garfield Street intersection, continuing north on 2nd Street adjacent to Sussex School. 5. Whether the proposed use will not have a significant adverse impact on traffic safety or comfort, including all modes of transport (non-motorized and motorized). 1. Traffic safety adjacent to the school will be enhanced and updated to urban standards by the redesign of both Garfield Street and 2nd St. West as part of an expansion to the URD-II street/sidewalk improvement project. 2. The proposed use will be accommodated by sufficient onsite pedestrian circulation and the increased safety afforded by non-motorized facilities expansion/enhanced road crossings included as part of the part of the Garfield Street/2nd Street West URD-II street/sidewalk improvement project. 3. The proposed addition to the school use will not have a significant adverse impact on traffic safety or comfort, regardless of the mode of transportation. The existing motorized and non-motorized transportation infrastructure through and around the subject property is adequately sized and designed to manage the anticipated loading. VI. AGENCY COMMENT MUTD: “Mountain Line has no comments.” (Stephanie Lawson Millar, Transit Planner) BUILDING DEPARTMENT: “No concerns about the project except for obtaining the required building department permits.” (Don Verrue, Building Inspector) CITY ENGINEERING: No (written) comment received prior to issuance of staff report. HEALTH DEPARTMENT – “If they are increasing use, and sewer 1. abuts the property WATER QUALITY DIVISION: and is within 200 feet of the school, or 2. is within 200 feet of the septic system, they would have to then connect, assuming that the city would allow the connection. Relevant citations from Reg 1: Section 13(B) and Section Basically, anyone that increases use has to meet current regulations. As part of the current regulations, if sewer is available, then they would have to connect…” (Erik Englebert, Health Department) HEALTH DEPARTMENT – “The Air Division at the Health Departments has no concerns AIR QUALITY DIVISION: with this Conditional Use proposed by Sussex School” (Ben Schmidt, Air Quality Specialist) OPG TRANSPORTATION “OPG Transportation has no comments.” (Ann Cundy, Senior DIVISION: Transportation Planner) POLICE DEPARTMENT: No comment received prior to issuance of staff report. PARKS & RECREATION: “We do not have any park or trail concerns with this request ---PAGE BREAK--- 9 from Sussex School.” (Jackie Corday, Open Space Program Manager) FIRE DEPARTMENT: No comment received prior to issuance of staff report. HISTORIC PRESERVATION: No comment received prior to issuance of staff report. URBAN INITIATIVES: No comment received prior to issuance of staff report. CITY ATTORNEY: No comment received prior to issuance of staff report. VII. ATTACHMENTS A. Title 20, Section 20.85.070(I) Conditional Use “Factors to be Considered” B. Applicant’s Submittal Packet ---PAGE BREAK--- 10 Attachment A Title 20, Section 20.85.070(I) Conditional Use “Factors to be Considered” Factors to be Considered In determining whether all applicable review criteria have been satisfied, the city council may specifically consider the following factors: 1. that new buildings and structures are located to create a positive relationship with their environment, both urban and natural; 2. that the site design properly addresses building orientation, open space, light, sun exposure, views and protection of natural features; 3. that buildings, structures and uses are compatible with adjacent properties and uses in terms of physical design elements such as volume and mass management, building materials, color, open space design, screening, and any other design elements considered important by the design review board; 4. that the overall project will be functional, attractive and safe in terms of pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular access; parking; loading; and servicing; and 5. agency and public testimony.