Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutVI - Relaxations & Justifications 08-05-2020August 2020 PRELIMINARY PUD: Arrowleaf Park & Perennial Park Section VI: Relaxations & Justifications - Pg. 1 Section E: List of Relaxations & Justifications The following relaxations are requested for the Arrowleaf Park & Perennial Park (PUD), as shown in Appendix B.7 - Relaxation Exhibit: # UDC REFERENCE DESCRIPTION RELAXATION SUMMARY - 38.310.040.C Authorized Uses Eliminate need for Conditional Use Permit for ground floor residential 1 38.320.050 Min. Floor to Ceiling Height Reduce minimum floor to ceiling height for onsite residential buildings and a portion of the commercial buildings 2 38.410.040.B Block Length Allow a block length of 600 feet to accommodate the Senior-Living facility. 3 38.410.040.D & D.1 ROW Width 7 foot public access easement with no setbacks 4 38.510.030.J.1-2 Special Residential Block Frontage Standard Specify Building Face measurement 5 38.520.070 Service Areas Reduced landscape screening width for specific service enclosures 6 38.530.070.B Blank Walls Exempt certain wall areas from the Blank Wall provisions and propose a project specific definition for blank walls 7 Table 38.540.050-1 Parking Minimums Reduce the required parking for 1- bedroom senior units from 1.5 to 1 required spaces; and for 3-bedroom units from 3 to 2 required spaces 8 38.360.240.E.1 Rowhouse Yard Width Less than 12 feet dimensions for specific rowhouse yards August 2020 PRELIMINARY PUD: Arrowleaf Park & Perennial Park Section VI: Relaxations & Justifications - Pg. 2 Relaxations & Justification Description Relaxations of regulatory requirements are allowed for Planned Unit Developments as de- scribed in UDC Sec. 38.430.030.A.4. The review authority must find that any requested devia- tion will produce a character superior to that required by the existing standards, and that is consistent with the Growth Policy and relevant design objectives. Consistency of this develop- ment with the City’s adopted Growth Policy is shown in Section VII - Statement of Planning Objectives, while consistency with the required design objectives is described in Section III - PUD-P Plan Checklist. Justification for the requested deviations included in this application is exhibited through the projects alignment with all facets of the PUD Intent (UDC Sec.38.430.010), as well as those found in the general Intent and Purpose Section of the Code (Sec. 38.100.040). It is also im- portant to highlight one PUD review criteria specifically to illustrate the superiority of the char- acter and environment proposed by this development. Each PUD is required to earn Performance Points, minimum of twenty (20). There are any number of ways to meet this minimum requirement, however this project has demonstrated that it will earn over 1000% of the required points through the provision of 100% long-term af- fordable rental housing (See Section VIII - PUD Performance Point Calculations). This equates to the second single highest performance point attainment category for a PUD, behind only the Performance Points possible for a development that is donating 100% of the onsite residential housing to an approved nonprofit. Under this premise, it appears the City intend- ed to allow those projects that included significant affordable housing to be able to use this factor as evidence of superior quality and character. The minor relaxations requested herein therefore are highly interrelated with the project’s goal of providing life-long long-term residential housing options within the City of Bozeman. The fol- lowing narrative section details the code requirements, proposed relaxations, and logic behind each request. The calculations included herein are based on preliminary plan applications and thus are subject to minor changes prior to final plan submittal. An exhibit has been included in this application (Appendix B.7) to illustrate the location of these proposed relaxations. Moreo- ver, the plans and drawings submitted with this application illustrate the final conditions that the proposed modified standards will produce. Where there is the possibility that the relaxation may be amended by the City of Bozeman dur- ing the review process, the applicant would like to request this expectation be included as a conditions of approval to allow for the project review to continue and allow for the relaxation to be revisited prior to the Final PUD authorization. Authorized Uses in the B-2 Zoning District - Ground-floor residential Code Reference: UDC Table 38.310.040.C The UDC Table 38.310.040.C requires a Conditional Use Permit for ground floor residential in B-2 Zoning Districts. As any planned unit development is considered as a conditional use, this relaxation is not required but is specified to ensure the proposed use is reviewed and authorized as necessary. The residential uses proposed for this is intended to be affordable for a minimum period of twenty (20) years. This supports strategies espoused in the adopted Bozeman Community August 2020 PRELIMINARY PUD: Arrowleaf Park & Perennial Park Section VI: Relaxations & Justifications - Pg. 3 Housing Action Plan, including Flexible Development Standards and the Removal of Regu- latory barriers. Staff has indicated support for this request in previous comments provided during the Conceptual Review and the Concept PUD. See Section VII - Statement of Planning Objectives for responses to the Conditional Use approval criteria. 1. Minimum Floor to Ceiling Height for Residential Buildings Code Reference: UDC Section 38.320.050 All residential buildings proposed for this site are to have a minimum floor to ceiling height of less than nine (9) feet. Furthermore, the western portion of the early childhood learning cen- ter is to have first floor ceiling heights of ten (10) feet. The eastern portion of the early learn- ing center building is to have a plate height of ten (10) feet, but the classrooms, entry, and multi-purpose rooms are to have vaulted ceilings. The justification for this relaxation is twofold. First, the relaxation allows the applicant to con- struct additional affordable units on this site. The relaxation also contributes to the project’s overall affordability goals 2. Block Length Code Reference: UDC Section 38.410.040.B The Senior Building, as shown in the Site Plan on the east side of the site, will be longer than 400 feet but less than 600 feet. The necessary pedestrian accessways are to be pro- vided (see #4 - ROW Width, below). The UDC allows for blocks to exceed 400 feet if necessary due to topography, the presence of critical lands, or adjacency to existing parks and open space as contained on this site. Evidence of these conditions can be found in the attached Wetlands and Weed reports Ap- pendix D. Due to theses existing site conditions, it is possible this relaxation is not neces- sary, however in the abundance of caution this request has been included in this submittal. 3. ROW Width & Setbacks Code Reference: UDC Section 38.410.040.D The UDC requires pedestrian walks intersecting blocks at no more than 600 foot intervals and specifies that these walks are to be rights-of-way not less than ten feet wide. Sec. 38.410.040.D.1 sets the expected width of setbacks adjacent to these rights-of-way. The applicant is proposing two (2) east-west pedestrian walks with associated public access easements seven (7) feet in width running the full horizontal length of the site. The applicant is also requesting no setback be applied to this public access easement. Maintenance of the public access will be provided by the owner’s association and the walk will be constructed to City standards. While the proposed design of the pedestrian walks is tied to the site afforda- bility goals, the site’s existing topography, shape, and onsite wetlands necessitate this relax- ation to allow for site development to unfold in a cohesive and predictable manner. The full seven (7) feet of the walks and the associated easements are free from obstruction, August 2020 PRELIMINARY PUD: Arrowleaf Park & Perennial Park Section VI: Relaxations & Justifications - Pg. 4 ensuring that the pedestrian experience and safety remain paramount. The relaxed building setbacks bring the pedestrians in closer contact with the onsite buildings, however they re- main separated from trash and other service areas through landscaping and appropriate separation. Finally, these proposed walks ensure complete site connectivity, linking the on- site amenities with the greater pedestrian and non-motorized pathway network. Additional information related to the onsite wetlands can be found in Appendix D. See Ex- hibit B.10 for details on the proposed site circulation. The Design Guidelines (Appendix F) and the associated attachments describe the open space maintenance. 4. Special Residential Block Frontage Standard Code Reference: UDC Section 38.510.030.J The applicant is requesting the building face me measured to the primary occupied compo- nent of the building as shown in the Relaxation Exhibit (Appendix B.7) for all residential buildings except 12-Plex A and 24-Plex B. For those buildings the applicant is requesting a relaxation to this standard for the entire structure. The building components closest to the internal pathways are largely to serve the mechani- cal needs of the buildings and do not contain living areas. The building design, coupled with enhanced landscaping proposed for these locations (Sheets L311 - L313) will ensure that the privacy of residents is protected. Here again, the site affordability goals and constraints align to necessitate this relaxation request. 5. Location and Design of Service Areas Code Reference: UDC Section 38.520.070 The applicant is proposing reduced landscape screening width for sides and rears of service enclosures in specific site locations as shown in in Appendix B.7. The trash receptacles will remain screened and have been designed to be accessible from the internal pedestrian pathways and offering onsite recycling amenities for residents. See Sheets L300, L303, and L304 for additional landscaping information for the trash re- ceptacles. 6. Blank Walls Code Reference: UDC Section 38.530.070.C.1.c The applicant is requesting to exempt certain wall areas from the Blank Wall provisions and to substitute a blank wall dimensional standard for review for the remainder of the project site. The applicant is proposing to exempt the following elevations from the City’s blank wall standard: Senior Building - north elevation of Area D (Sheet SP128); west elevation of Area C (Sheet SP127), and the south elevation of Area B (Sheet SP126). The applicant is further requesting to replace the definition of blank walls for the remainder of the site as follows: A wall (including building façades and retaining walls) is considered a blank wall if it is over twelve feet in height, has a horizontal length greater than 20 feet, and does not include a transparent window or door. August 2020 PRELIMINARY PUD: Arrowleaf Park & Perennial Park Section VI: Relaxations & Justifications - Pg. 5 The proposed areas proposed to be removed from review under this Code section and the change in blank wall definition do not reduce the overall character of the Bozeman streetscape. Moreover, this request represents the minimum change necessary to allow for project development. These relaxations do contribute significantly to the overall site afforda- bility, and therefore represent a balanced approach this request. 7. Parking Minimums Code Reference: UDC Table 38.540.050-1 The applicant is requesting relaxations to two parking standards for this site. First, the appli- cant is proposing to provide one (1) parking space for each of the one-bedroom Senior Building units as opposed to 1.5 required spaces. The applicant is also proposing to relax the required parking for all three-bedroom units from three (3) required spaces to two (2) required spaces. This reduction will eliminate 42 spaces required for the Senior Building and 40 parking spaces for the three-bedroom units, representing a reduction of 82 parking spac- es without any reductions (Note: The available reductions due to the presence of an adja- cent bus transit stop located within 600 feet of the project site would reduce the required parking by ten percent (10%), or eight spaces, therefore the requested relaxation is to re- duce the required onsite parking by 74 spaces. This calculation also does not take into ac- count the 21 proposed on-street parking spaces proposed to be constructed on Sacco Drive.). All other parking is to be provided as required by the UDC. The City at one time allowed developers to pay cash-in-lieu of parking at a rate of $5,000 per required space eliminated. That fee has now been set by the City Commission at $25,000 per required parking space eliminated. For this project, assuming the elimination of 74 required spaces, this amounts to a project savings of between $370,000 to $1,850,000. The relaxation requested for the three-bedroom units in in accordance with incentives for Affordable Housing 38.380.130, which allows for reduced parking for three-bedroom dwell- ings for the construction of lower-priced homes (AMI 65% - 80%). While rentals are exempt from Affordable Housing Ordinance, the applicant is none-the-less proposing to create long- term rental affordability options at this site (Appendix E). The applicant is requesting to use this reduction, one that aligns with the UDC Affordable Housing allowances and supports the 2019 Bozeman Community Housing Action Plan Flexible Development Standards On- going Strategies. The applicant is proposing that the City allow this relaxation as a test case for flexible parking standards for specific populations and projects. Whereas this request is related to the overall project affordability the project also represents an infill neighborhood connected and adjacent to existing commercial and residential areas. Therefore, the provision of additional onsite parking may not be necessary and this expecta- tion aligns with the applicant’s experience on similar projects in Montana (See Appendix O), where seniors utilizing cars less frequently and families with children occupy three- bedroom units more frequently. The applicant is also proposing onsite transit options, such as pedestrian trail improvements and the construction of an onsite bus stop, to meet the needs of the senior residents. The applicant has begun discussions with HRDC about providing service to this site (Appendix N). 8. Rowhouse Yard Width August 2020 PRELIMINARY PUD: Arrowleaf Park & Perennial Park Section VI: Relaxations & Justifications - Pg. 6 Code Reference: UDC Sec. 38.360.240.E.1 The Architectural Site Plan (Sheet SP002) and the Rowhouse Plans (Sheets SP117-122) show yards that meet the dimensional standards necessary for private rowhouse open space except in three specific instances. The eastern two (2) units of Rowhouse B are 18 feet wide by 8.5 feet deep, and the eastern unit of Rowhouse A is to be 18 feet wide by 10 feet deep. There is also an additional private yard for the western unit of Rowhouse A that is oriented in an askew manner due to the adjacent steep topography, however the required dimensional standards have been met. Useable open space for rowhouses is required equal to ten percent (10%) of the building living space and be dimension 12 feet on all sides. The building living space for all row- house units is 1,508 (1861 total square feet minus the 353 square foot garage area) square feet, requiring 150.8 square feet of open space for each unit. The applicant is proposing 153 square feet for the eastern two (2) units of Rowhouse B and 180 square feet for the eastern unit of Rowhouse A. This relaxation is requested due to the site topography, onsite wet- lands, and shape. Additional information related to the onsite wetlands can be found in Ap- pendix D.