From
Chris Hartmann
Title
S150602 - Site Plan - 1814 Egyptian Way (City Council District 1). Consider a request for the approval of a site plan located within the S.H. 161 Corridor Overlay District for the purpose of expanding the parking areas. The property is zoned Single Family-One (SF-1) and is addressed as 1814 Egyptian Way, generally located at the northwest corner of S.H. 161 and Egyptian Way. The agent is Craig Wilson, The Wallace Group and the owner is Malgorzata Osinka, Sisters of the Holy Family. (On June 1, 2015, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of this request by a vote of 9-0.)
Presenter
Chief City Planner Jim Hinderaker
Recommended Action
Approval
Analysis
PURPOSE OF REQUEST:
The Sisters of the Holy Family, located at 1814 Egyptian way, is proposing to expand their parking lot. They are located within the SH 161 Overlay District, which requires site plan approval. To the planning staff, the expansion of the parking areas was considered minor issues and could have been approved administratively; however, the applicant did not meet all the landscape requirements of an Overlay District. Because of these deficiencies, staff was not comfortable administratively approving the parking expansions.
ADJACENT LAND USES AND ACCESS:
Direction |
Zoning |
Existing Land Use |
North |
PD-164 |
For Single Family-Zero Lot Line and Office |
East |
SF-1 |
Single Family Detached |
West |
SF-1 |
SH 161 |
South |
SF-1 |
Single Family Detached |
BACKGROUND:
January 3, 1996: A site plan was administratively approved by the Planning Department for changes made to the site plan as part of a Specific Use Permit Request, previous approved in 1972, city case file# SU720601.
March 15, 2011: City Council approved the Corridor Overlay District Standards (Appendix F) and the S.H. 161 Overlay District Standards (Appendix T) as amendments to the Unified Development Code.
December 10, 2013: City Council approved an amended S.H. 161 Overlay District appendix (Appendix T) for the Unified Development Code.
April 14, 2015: The Planning staff processed for the approval of a site plan for the purposes of expanding the parking area.
May 21, 2015: A legal notice was published in the Fort Worth Star Telegram of the upcoming public hearing
May 21, 2015: The Development Review Committee (DRC) meeting was held. Staff met with the applicant to discuss the proposal. The proposal was cleared to move forward subject to conditions found in the recommendation section of this report.
May 22, 2015: A legal notice was mailed to affected property owners of the upcoming public hearing.
June 1, 2015: This item is scheduled to be heard by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
June 16, 2015: This item is scheduled to be heard by the City Council.
PROPOSED USE AND CHARACTERISTICS
1814 Egyptian Way will continue to function as a religious facility for the Sisters of the Holy Family. Parking has been an issue for this site. The applicant has stated that during larger functions there is not enough parking, leaving some, who attend, parking in fire lanes. In order to mitigate the issue, the applicant is proposing to expand the parking areas.
Parking:
The site currently has 37 parking spots. The sanctuary currently has 126 seats, which requires 42 spaces. The applicant will be adding 74 spaces, which will provide the site with a total of 107 spaces. The total parking area increase will be about 21,800sqft bringing the total parking areas onsite to roughly 68,500sqft.
The proposed parking expansion meets the requirement of the UDC.
Landscape and Screening:
Because this site is within the SH 161 Overlay District, the new parking area is regulated by Appendix F and Article 8 of the Unified Development Code. As required, the all parking areas must be screened from the rights-of-way. The new parking area will be screened by a 3ft high solid shrub hedge. The parking lot is surrounded by existing trees and surpasses all parking lot landscaping requirements providing at least 1 tree per 20 parking spaces and all parking spaces are within 100ft of a tree's center.
Appendix F requires two landscape elements that the applicant's proposal does not meet:
1. Any perimeter parking lot screening to be offset by at least 6ft for every 60 linear feet of screening area length.
2. All parking or drive areas shall be located a minimum of 30ft from the right-of-way lines along public streets.
The parking area will be setback 5ft from the property line and does not provide the ability to offset the shrub row 6ft and required by Appendix F. Staff does recognize that there is already an offsite landscaped buffer, of about 50ft, between the western property line and the paving of the SH 161 service road.
CONFORMANCE WITH COMPREHENSIVE PLAN:
Because churches are allowed by right in all zoning districts, this use is consistent with the Future Land Use Map and the comprehensive plan.
APPEALS AND EXCEPTIONS:
The applicant has requested an appeal to the landscape ordinance. Due to the design of the parking area, the applicant is not able comply with the following landscape requirements:
1. Any perimeter parking lot screening to be offset by at least 6ft for every 60 linear feet of screening area length; Appendix F 4.3a
2. All parking or drive areas shall be located a minimum of 30ft from the right-of-way lines along public streets; Appendix F 4.B.2a
The applicant has provided a letter which is attached to this report, asking for an appeal from the 30ft parking area buffer.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff cannot fully support the parking area site plan, due to the above mentioned appeals, but does not object to the request's approval.