From
Chris Hartmann
Title
S121102 - Site Plan - 247 Gilbert Circle (City Council District 1). Approval of a Site Plan for office and warehouse uses on 2.888 acres. The subject property is zoned Light Industrial (LI) District and is within the State Highway-161 Overlay District. The property is generally located south of W. Rock Island Road on the eastern side of Gilbert Circle. The owner/applicant is Larry Causey and the agent is Walter Nelson. (On November 5, 2012, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of this request by a vote of 9-0.)
Presenter
Director of Planning and Development Bill Crolley
Recommended Action
Approved
Analysis
SUMMARY:
Consideration of a request for the approval of a Site Plan for office and warehouse uses on 2.888 acres. The subject property is zoned Light Industrial (LI) District and is within the State Highway-161 Overlay District. The property is generally located south of W. Rock Island Road on the eastern side of Gilbert Circle.
ADJACENT LAND USES AND ACCESS:
North - Immediately to the north is a sign company on property zoned Light Industrial (LI) District. Farther north is C&B Electric, Inc. on property zoned Light Industrial (LI) District. Properties to the north, south and west are within the State Highway 161 (SH-161) Corridor Overlay District.
South - To the south is a residential structure on property zoned Light Industrial (LI) District. Farther south is a commercial structure on property owned by the Trinity River Authority, zoned Light Industrial (LI) District.
East - Immediately to the east is Gilbert Circle, classified as a collector street on the city's Master Transportation Plan. On the other side of Gilbert Circle is a vacant tract of land, zoned Planned Development 149 (PD-149) District for all uses allowed in the Light Industrial (LI) District. To the southeast is a light industrial building on property zoned Light Industrial (LI) District.
West - To the west is a vacant tract of land, zoned Light Industrial (LI) District. The tract is currently used for broadcasting towers. Farther west, vacant land is designated on the Master Transportation Plan as Estes Road, a Minor arterial, 4-lane undivided (M4U) thoroughfare. There are no plans in the immediate future for construction of this Estes Road extension.
PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
The subject property is within the State Highway 161 (SH-161) Corridor Overlay District, boundaries defined in Appendix T of the Unified Development Code (UDC). Development located within a corridor overlay district must meet the minimum requirements prescribed in the UDC for the property's underlying zoning district classification, and adhere to the additional architectural standards specified in UDC, Appendix F "Corridor Overlay District Standards."
The zoning for the property is Light Industrial (LI) District. Office and warehouse uses are allowed by right in the Light Industrial (LI) District. All non-residential development located within an overlay district requires site plan approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council at a public hearing [UDC, Appendix F, Section 1.C.1].
PROPOSED USE CHARACTERISTICS AND FUNCTION:
This request is for approval of a Site Plan on 2.888 acres for two speculative office and warehouse buildings. The building closest to Gilbert Circle is 11,981 square feet and the building at the rear of the site is 3,980 square feet. The owner does have prospective tenants and understands that outside storage and/or chemical storage are not part of this request. The owner of the subject property also owns property to the north and east of the site.
UDC, Appendix F "Corridor Overlay District Standards," recommends a design sequence for industrial projects [UDC, Appendix F, Section 4.G]. The main purposes are to establish the location of articulation zones and minor articulation zones, and to apply exterior building materials. An articulation zone is required for the east building façade of the front building and minor articulation zones are required for the south and east building facades for the front and rear buildings. The proposed elevations meet this requirement.
· The required height of parapet wall screening and required perimeter roof-line setback for roof-top mechanical units are indicated on the plan. All parapet walls exceed 36 inches and the setbacks ensure that the roof-top units will not be visible at street level.
· Panel surface reveals are a minimum two inches (2") in width and frame a wall surface area no less than 225 square feet within both the articulation zone and the minor articulation areas.
UDC, Appendix F "Corridor Overlay District Standards," Section 1.B.(6) "Classification of Development Standards" establishes Section 3 and Section 4 as the development standards for industrial uses. Section 3 includes exterior building material requirements for light industrial, manufacturing, warehousing, distribution and structured parking uses.
· The buildings will be tilt-wall panel construction with EFIS accents that do not exceed five percent (5%) of any exterior wall of the building, and are not located on any portion of a wall that is less than eight feet in height from the finished grade of said wall.
· The building also includes architectural glass for less than thirty percent (30%) of any building façade. The selected material will need to have less than twenty percent (20%) reflectance and can be determined at time of building permit.
· A minimum of fifteen percent (15%) of the articulation zone shall be finished in a hard and durable weather stone. The articulation zone provides 38% stone area. The colors for the building materials will be terra cotta, brown and a neutral cream color for the stone. A color rendering has been provided.
UDC, Appendix F "Corridor Overlay District Standards," Section 4 establishes district wide requirements for both industrial and non-industrial uses. Section 4 governs certain sign regulations, some landscaping variables, service area screening and fencing requirements. Multi-tenant signs, monument signs and wall signage are allowed in the overlay districts. The applicant will submit sign permits separately.
· All parking or drive areas shall be located a minimum of thirty (30) feet from right-of-way lines along public streets. The area inside the thirty foot parking setback shall be credited toward the landscaping requirement prescribed by Article 8 of the UDC. The landscape plan meets this requirement.
A Landscape Plan was submitted that meets UDC requirements. The minimum required landscaping area is 4% of the site area. The landscape areas shown on the landscape plan provide a total of 5% of the site plan area.
· The Landscape Plan includes seven Bald Cypress trees. Three of these trees will be planted along Gilbert Circle and will meet the street tree requirement. The plan also shows that 103 shrubs will be provided, where 99 are required. The shrubs will include Burford Holly and Crape Myrtle. An irrigation system will be provided to maintain the landscape materials.
· The proposed dumpster screening is a six-foot tall, masonry wall that will match the building material and color for the primary structure. The dumpster enclosure will have a metal gate. The dumpster screening meets UDC requirements [UDC, Art. 8, Sec. 8.9.7.2].
· Mechanical equipment will be enclosed within the roof space. The applicant understands that if the need arises for ground mounted mechanical equipment; it will need to be screened from view in accordance with UDC, Article 8 "Landscape and Screening."
Access for the subject property is from one driveway location off of Gilbert Circle. The required parking for the site is 49 spaces and 52 spaces are required. A 24-foot fire lane will provide access to all parking and loading areas.
A six-foot tall wood fence will surround the parking and loading areas on the north and west sides of the site. The wood fence is allowed since it is setback over forty feet from the front property line [UDC, Article 8]. The gate for the parking area on the west side of the site will be wrought iron with a Knox lock for fire access.
ZONING HISTORY:
The subject property is currently zoned Light Industrial (LI) District. The zoning change [Z030601] from Single Family-One (SF-1) District to Light Industrial (LI) District was approved by City Council on July 1, 2003 [Ordinance 6873]. The subject property was annexed into the city on May 28, 1968 [Ordinance 1912].
CONFORMANCE WITH COMPREHENSIVE PLAN:
The Comprehensive Plan designates this area for light industrial uses. The proposed use is in conformance with the Future Land Use Map of the 2010 Comprehensive Plan.
DENSITY AND DIMENSIONAL IMPACTS:
A sampling of development requirements applicable to this site are highlighted in the attach.
REQUESTED APPEALS BY APPLICANT:
The applicant is not requesting any appeals.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Development Review Committee recommends approval of this request for a Site Plan for an office and warehouse facility in accordance with all Unified Development Code requirements.