From
Chris Hartmann
Title
S151005 - Site Plan - Trinity 161 Center (City Council District 1). Approval of a Site Plan for a 266,450 sq. ft. industrial warehouse distribution center. The 15.06 acre property, split-zoned Planned Development (PD-221 & PD-221A), is generally located east of S.H. 161 and north W. Trinity Boulevard. The property is also located within the S.H. 161 Corridor Overlay District. The applicant is Dan Warfield, Halff Associates, Inc. and the owner is Audre Rapoport, Rapoport Foundation. (On October 5, 2015, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of this request by a vote of 9-0).
Presenter
Cheif City Planner Jim Hinderaker
Recommended Action
Approve
Analysis
Consider a request for approval of a Site Plan for a 266,450 sq. ft. industrial warehouse distribution center. The 15.06 acre property, split-zoned Planned Development (PD-221 & PD-221A), is generally located east of S.H. 161 and north W. Trinity Boulevard. The property is also located within the S.H. 161 Corridor Overlay District.
ADJACENT LAND USES AND ACCESS:
North - Shady Grove Road directly abuts the subject property to the north. The property north of Shady Grove is zoned Planned Development (PD-3) District and is developed as a mobile home park. Access to the mobile home park is from Shady Grove Road.
South - The property to the south is zoned Light Industrial (LI) District and is developed with industrial uses. Access to this property is from Trinity Blvd.
East - The property to the east is zoned Light Industrial (LI) District and is developed with industrial uses. Access to this property is from Trinity Blvd.
West - S.H. 161 lies directly west of the subject property. The property on the opposite side of S.H. 161 is zoned Light Industrial and is undeveloped.
PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
The applicant, Somervill Commercial Realty, is seeking City Council approval of a Site Plan application in order to develop a 15.06 acre industrial property located within the S.H. 161 Corridor Overlay District. The proposal includes the construction of a new 266,450 sq.ft. industrial building, concrete parking and loading areas, concrete drive aisles, a masonry dock court screening walls, and landscape improvements.
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 designated Corridor Overlay District. As such, the development 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 the UDC, Appendix F “Corridor Overlay District Standards.” The purpose of the site plan review is to ensure full compliance with these regulations and standards.
PROPOSED CHARACTERISTICS AND FUNCTION:
Use
The applicant, Somervill Commerical Realty, intends to develop the 15.06 acre tract of land as speculative industrial facility that will house multiple tenants seeking smaller (typically 20,000 sq.ft.) industrial lease space . No outside storage and/or truck/trailer parking beyond those parked at the dock doors is proposed. The property is currently split zoned Planned Development (PD-221) and (PD-221A) for industrial uses. Staff has classified the proposed use as a “Warehouse” use with an accessory office/showroom component, which is considered a permitted use within the Light Industrial (LI) zone district.
Site and Dimension Standards
The unplatted subject property is 15.06 acres in size. A separate plat application (P151106) has been submitted and is currently under review. As submitted, all minimum lot dimensional standards are met. Setback standards within the Planned Development (PD-221) and (PD-221A) Zone Districts require a minimum 40 ft. front setback and 0 ft. rear setback. In this case, the property has three front setbacks, one along S.H. 161, one along Trinity, and one along Shady Grove Road. As proposed, the warehouse building exceeds these setback standards. The maximum height permitted by the aforementioned PD’s is 50 feet, which exceeds the 40 ft. maximum proposed.
Building
The proposed 266,450 sq. ft. industrial building is a concrete tilt-wall constructed structure with stone accents. The building features two (2) articulations zones located on the southwest and northwest corners of the building, as well as four (4) additional articulation zones spaced along the length of the building. The corner articulations zones are required to extend 3x the height of the building, which is approximately 40 feet. As proposed, these two articulation zoned only extend 65 feet. The applicant is seeking an appeal of this standard. The balance of the building, which includes four (4) additional wall plane changes, incudes all required surface reveals, minor articulation changes, and minimum height parapets. The building is setup with all office/retail/showroom space oriented toward S.H. 161. The loading docks to the industrial space are located on the east side of the building and are not visible from S.H. 161.
Access and Parking
Two new passenger access drives are proposed along S.H. 161. While TxDOT approval is required for this access drive, staff supports this drive approach from S.H. 161 as it exceeds the minimum spacing requirements from existing driveways and intersections. One additional passenger access drive is proposed along Trinity Boulevard. A single truck access drive is proposed along Trinity Boulevard. Staff supports the two access points on Trinity.
In regards to on-site parking, the UDC requires, for warehouse uses within buildings 25,000 sq. ft. or larger, that 20 parking spaces plus one (1) space for each additional 5,000 sq. ft. be provided on site. The applicant anticipates that approximately 110,000 sq. ft of the 266,450 sq. ft. industrial building will be used for office space, which requires one (1) space per 325 sq. ft Based on these calculations 390 spaces are required, which is the number of parking spaces being provided by the applicant.
Fencing, Buffers, and Landscaping
In accordance with Section 4.B.2 of Appendix F of the UDC, all parking or drive areas shall be located a minimum of 30-foot from the right-of-way line of public streets. In this case, a 30-foot landscape buffer is required along S.H. 161, Shady Grove and Trinity Bldv. However applicant proposes to install a 30-foot buffer along Trinity Blvd., a 25-foot landscape buffer along S.H. 161, and a 20-foot buffer along Shady Grove Road. While an appeal of this standard is necessary, the applicant proposes to increase the minimum 4% landscape area required by the UDC in the Light Industrial (LI) District to 11% of the property to off-set the reduction in the width of the berms. The proposed landscape plantings (trees, shrubs, and turf, etc.) are in compliance with Article 8 of the UDC.
Dumpster Enclosure
Three (3) dumpster enclosures are proposed to be located along the east property line.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN:
The subject property is designated as appropriate for Light Industrial uses on the Future Land Use Map (FLUM). The proposal is consistent with the plan.
REQUESTED APPEALS BY APPLICANT:
1. Articulation Zone - A reduction of the two corner articulation zone from 3x the building height (40ft x 3= 120ft) to 65 feet.
2. Landscape Buffer - A reduction from 30 feet to 25 feet along S.H. 161 and a reduction from 30 feet to 20 feet along Shady Grove Road.
RECOMMENDATION:
Since the applicant is requesting the above noted appeals, the Development Review Committee is not able to recommend full approval of this case.