02-25-2004 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTUS CITY COUNCIL TT±rBRUARY 25, 2004 space is a policy issue for the Council. If the basement is considered as storage, the proposed parking is 1 space per every 265 square feet of office space, plus 1 space per every 1,000 square feet of basement space. The Planner indicated that the issue comes back to ensuring that the basement remains storage and is not used for additional office space. Anderson noted that the parking formula is similar to that utilized for an office/warehouse building, one calculation for the office space and another for the warehouse space. Anderson noted that the formula utilized for the other townoffice projects developed in the City was based on office usage only. Fahey asked why the departure for this development. The City Planner reported that the City amended its code in 1999 for the Blacktern project and allowed a 10% discount of gross square footage for unusable space. The Planner indicated that it has been found that the small office complexes have a greater percentage of gross square footage in unusable space than does the larger office projects. Anderson asked how many stories were proposed for this project. Mathern reported that the buildings will be two stories with a basement. There are no windows proposed for the basement level, which is a means of insuring that this space remain storage and is not converted to office. John Clem, Mendota Homes, reported that the building codes require two means of egress, stairway and windows, for any areas that are habitated. Clem pointed out that if a townoflice owner applied for a building permit to convert the basement space into office space, the building permit would be denied because the egress requirements of building code could not be met. Clem suggested that the restrictive covenants as well as deed restrictions can be placed on each of the townoffices that limits the basements to storage. LaValle pointed out that the City would have no control over basement space that is converted to office space without a building permit. LaValle asked if the buildings would be sprinklered. Clem indicated that they were not planning to sprinkle the buildings, but would do so if required to. Fahey again raised the parking issue. The City Planner stated that the question was how the City could prevent the storage area from being converted to office space given such a conversion would result in the need for additional parking. Anderson suggested that abusiness-licensing program would result in periodic inspections of businesses from alife/safety standpoint, but would also allow for monitoring of space utilization. Anderson compared this project to au office/warehouse building and the conversion of warehouse