From
Chris Hartmann
Title
S150405 - Site Plan - Bardin Road Warehouse (City Council District 4). Approval of a Site Plan to permit the construction and operation of a 430,180 sq. ft. speculative industrial warehouse intended to accommodate up to four (4) tenants. The 20.73-acre property, split zoned Planned Development 30 (PD-30) and Planned Development 55 (PD-55), is located at the northwest corner of Bardin Road and Matthew Road. The property is also located within the S.H. I-20 Corridor Overlay District. The agent is Lisa Swift, GSO Architects, the agent is Vanessa McElroy, RLG Engineering Inc. and the applicant is Gary Horn, Mohr Acquisitions LLC. (On April 6, 2015, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of this request by a vote of 9-0. The City Council tabled this case to the May 5, 2015 meeting. On May 5, 2015 this case was postponed to the June 2, 2015 Council meeting.)
Presenter
Chief City Planner Jim Hinderaker
Recommended Action
Approve
Analysis
SUMMARY:
Consider a request for approval of a Site Plan to permit the construction and operation of a 430,180 sq. ft. speculative industrial warehouse intended to accommodate up to four (4) tenants. The 20.73-acre property, split zoned Planned Development 30 (PD-30) and Planned Development 55 (PD-55), is located at the northwest corner of Bardin Road and Matthew Road. The property is also located within the S.H. I-20 Corridor Overlay District. The agent is Lisa Swift, GSO Architects, the agent is Vanessa McElroy, RLG Engineering Inc. and the applicant is Gary Horn, Mohr Acquisitions LLC.
ADJACENT LAND USES AND ACCESS:
North - The properties to the north is zoned PD-30 for industrial uses and PD-55 for commercial uses that includes indoor warehousing. The properties are developed with industrial warehousing: Jason's Deli and Cooper Tire, respectively.
South - To the south is Bardin Road which is a principal arterial, four-lane divided (P4D) thoroughfare on the City's Master Transportation Plan. The property farther south is also zoned PD-30 for industrial uses. This property is currently a vacant, undeveloped tract.
East - To the east is Matthew Road which is a minor arterial, four-lane undivided (M4U) thoroughfare on the City's Master Transportation Plan. The surrounding properties to the east are zoned Single-Family (SF-1). The residential development includes large tract single-family detached homes and the Calvary Baptist Church.
West - The property to the west is zoned PD-55. This property is part of the subject tract that is being established as an outlot slated for future development.
PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
The applicant is seeking City Council approval of a proposed Site Plan to permit the construction and operation of a 430,180 sq. ft. speculative industrial warehouse intended to accommodate up to four (4) tenants. The subject property is currently split zoned PD-30 for Industrial uses and PD-55 for Commercial uses as detailed in Ordinance No. 3123 approved on March 4, 2014. These planned development districts allow inside warehousing and storage as a use by right with an approved site plan. The site plan will be reviewed for compliance with the specific development standards contained within PD-30 and PD-55 and other applicable standards including the Unified Development Code.
In accordance with Section 16.2.1 of the Article 16 of the Unified Development Code (UDC), site plan approval is required whenever a project is located within a Planned Development District. In addition, development located within a corridor overlay district must meet the minimum requirements prescribed in the UDC for the property's underlying zoning district classification, as applicable, and adhere to the additional architectural standards specified in UDC, Appendix F, "Corridor Overlay District Standards." The purpose of the site plan approval is to ensure full compliance with the regulations and standards of the PD-30 and PD-55 and the Unified Development Code, including Appendix F.
PROPOSED CHARACTERISTICS AND FUNCTION:
Use
The applicant, Gary Horn of Mohr Capital, intends to develop the 20.73 acre tract of land located at the northwest corner of Bardin Road and Matthew Road as speculative industrial warehouse facility capable of housing four (4) tenants. Outdoor storage is limited to truck and trailer parking.
Building
The warehouse is proposed to be constructed primarily of concrete tilt wall with panel surface reveals. To accommodate the potential for multi-tenant use, the proposal includes articulation zones at each corner of the building thus allowing for up to four (4) tenants to occupy the building. The articulations zoned include horizontal and vertical relief as well as simulated stone, glass, a small percentage of E.F.I.S and metal panel awnings, which are all in keeping with PD-30, PD-55, and the design standards of the S.H. 20 Corridor Overlay District. The proposal also includes two minor articulation zones located at the center of the east and west facades. These articulation zones help break up the visual length of these façades and enhance the appearance of the warehouse. Also, the warehouse is oriented so that the east façade, which faces existing residential development, does not have any dock doors and thus no truck activity. All of the dock doors are located on the south and north sides of the building, 41 and 45 dock doors respectively. The proposed warehouse design also includes parapet walls ranging in height from a minimum requirement of 36-inches to 9-feet.
Access and Parking
The development includes two separate access points from Bardin Road and two separate access points from Matthew Road to ensure that each tenant (up to four) has unfettered access should all of them decide to fence and gate their property. Firelanes and 'Knox Box" gated access will be provided to ensure cross access for emergency vehicles. A total of 220 passenger vehicle parking spaces are provided with 8 handicapped spaces, which meets the minimum requirement of the UDC. Also, 38 trailer spaces are provided along the south side of the building, which will be buffered by landscaping as well as the detention pond and two commercial outlots located along the frontage of Bardin Road. Access to these outlots are accommodated via cross-access easements and a requirement that any fencing and gates for the warehouse must be set back from the road far enough so as not to interfere with the access to these commercial lots.
Fencing, Buffers, and Landscaping
While not part of this review, due the speculative nature of the warehouse, the property is likely to be fully enclosed with a perimeter fence and security gates to be provided by the individual tenants per standards outlined in Article 8 of the UDC. A 30-foot landscape buffer is provided between the parking lots and drive areas along both Bardin and Matthew Roads. Perimeter parking lot screening is provided and offset every six (6) feet per linear sixty (60) feet of length, as required adjacent to ROW. The proposed landscaping plantings (trees, shrubs, and turf, etc.) are in compliance with Article 8 of the UDC.
Dumpster Enclosure
A double sized dumpster screening enclosures are proposed at the center of the warehouse on both the south and north sides of the building. The enclosures will be constructed of painted concrete w/reveals and painted metal gates.
UPDATE SINCE TABLING:
One of the questions we asked the applicant to address is could his plan work without truck access to Mathew Road. Attached is with a site plan showing no access to Mathew and three driveways on Bardin. Also included in the attachments is his analysis stating that if the building was reduced to the size shown on the attached site plan that the project would not be financially viable.
SAVANT GROUP TIA:
This memorandum describes the traffic study performed for the proposed Bardin Road Warehouse in Grand Prairie, Texas. Existing traffic data was collected on two separate days as part of the investigation, and the number of trips which the warehouse facility is expected to generate was calculated in two separate ways. At each step, the most conservative values were used in the analysis to ensure that the study represents the most critical traffic scenario. Once design values for post-project traffic were calculated, the results were compared to the City of Grand Prairie's Unified Development Code criteria to identify the associated post-project level of service.
The results of the study show that both Bardin Road and Matthew Road are anticipated to remain at the highest level of service as described in the Unified Development Code. The expected amount of additional truck traffic is not anticipated to be great enough to cause an observable degradation in the level of service for either roadway.
TRANSPORTATION SERVICES COMMENTS:
The Transportation Services Department has reviewed the Traffic Study/Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) prepared by Savant Group. The Savant Group followed engineering practices in preparing the study and the City of Grand Prairie Transportation Services Department concurs that the additional traffic will not cause a noticeable change in the roadway activity. The study shows that the additional traffic generated by the development is insignificant compared to the capacity of the roadways. The study shows that there is not a capacity issue on either roadway, Matthew Road or Bardin Road, with or without the development.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN:
The subject property is designated as appropriate for Commercial/Retail/Office on the Future Land Use Map (FLUM). The proposal is inconsistent with the FLUM. Annually the City amends the FLUM to resolve conflicts between zoning and FLUM designations.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Development Review Committee recommends full approval of this case.