02-27-08 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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property and the All- American Recreation parcel. In the space adjacent to the building, 4 -5 ornamental trees would greatly improve the site aesthetics by buffering what is otherwise an uninterrupted concrete wall. To the south of the building, the applicant identifies "Rain Garden" seeding. This ground cover should be adequate — the applicant should verify that proper maintenance of this material will occur to allow complete establishment of the ground cover, as well as ongoing survival. Rain Gardens in commercial applications can greatly benefit from irrigation — otherwise they can be difficult to establish. The parking lot to the west of the building is shown to include bituminous surface and concrete curb in accordance with ordinance requirements. By code, a total of 82 parking spaces would be required for this facility based on use and square footage breakdowns provided by the applicant (one space per 200 square feet of office, one space per 350 square feet of manufacturing). The new parking lot includes 48 spaces, with and addition 33 spaces of "proof of parking" located on the north side of the property on existing bituminous surface. This parking supply should be adequate, however, the City would reserve the right to require the improvement of additional "proof -of- parking spaces if demand is demonstrated. To the far north of the property, an existing metal shed is located which is not (apparently) related to the use of this property. As a part of this PUD expansion, the City may require removal of this non - conforming use and structure, or establish a timeline for removal by PUD development contract. It is not clear from the application materials what the long -term use of the property may be — this should be clarified as a part of this application. There are other redevelopment needs in the immediate area, however, this applicant does not control those other sites. Finally, the applicant is seeking approval of the use of a temporary office trailer during the construction period to allow continued operations. The temporary building would be located to the south of the proposed expansion. This would appear to be an appropriate request, with the condition that the trailer is removed from the site within a reasonable period of time (such as 90 days) following occupancy of the new expansion. Summary and Recommendation The Express Image PUD is consistent with the existing uses of the property, as well as the City's discussions for land use in this portion of the PUD zoning district. The proposed building represents an improvement in the building materials, even though the building is only slightly visible from Rice Street. Planning staff would recommend approval of the proposal with the following conditions: 1. A colored concrete panel is used, rather than grey (applicant should propose a material for City approval). 2. The applicant add shrub plantings in the rock planting area along the west boundary line. 2 12